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March 27, 2007
Mixin' It Up
As Glen Frey once said, the heat is on.
No more hiding behind my brother’s wedding: now we’re square in the crosshairs for all to see. As a mature individual, I’ve taken to this new position in the spotlight by drinking heavily and playing “Psychonauts” on the PS2. Good times.
In truth, we’ve done a lot of the leg work already on our end, and by “we” I mean “she”. I know my place, and nowhere in my place does “choosing a florist” exist. So she steps in and does a lot of the leg work, which leaves me the tasks of idly scratching myself and saying, “And that’s going to cost…how much?”
The one area in which I can actually contribute something of value to the day is, of course, music. I’ve been making compilations since I was old enough to work a boom box, and this day will truly be the culmination of all those previous attempts at creating the perfect mix. Everything’s being thought, rethought, remixed, reordered, New Order-ed, and New Kids on the Block-ed. No Rolling Stone will be left unturned. (You get the point. Even I'm punned-out right now.)
While we have hired a DJ, he’s essentially going to play the mixes we create. So I’ve been working on three separate sections of music: the cocktail hour, the dinner hour, and the “boogie on down, dear lord, what is my cousin doing to that potted plant” hours that will follow dinner. The latter is proving the trickiest, as we’re going for a chronological mix (my idea, if I can be so ego-centric). Motown to today, baby. The Four Tops to Timbaland and everything in between.
The trick for me is to tow the line between the familiar and the “gee, I’ve never heard this iat a wedding, but know what, this is perfect!” There’s a good middle ground that’s almost never explored at weddings in lieu of people playing the same freakin’ songs at every wedding. Nothing against the Village People, but there ain’t gonna be no “Y.M.C.A.” at this joint. Ditto for “We Are Family”, “I Will Survive” (at a wedding? Really? People think this is a good idea? Really?), “Oh What a Night”, and “Celebration”, or any dance that involves a group of people achieving some typ of formation and performing simplistic, ritualized motions (I’m looking at you, “Chicken Dance”, “Achy Breaky Heart”, “Macarena”, and you, “The Hustle”. More like “The Hussy”, I’ve heard you so often.)
So I thought today I’d give you a taste of each of these sections. These may or may not end up in the final cut, but they are looking like strong contenders. Tell me what you think: does this “sound” like a fun night? (Heh, get it, “sound”? ‘Cuz I’m playing you music, and stuff. God, I’m so darn clever sometimes.
Cocktail Hour
LCD Overdrive, “Daft Punk Is Playing In My House”
The Cure, “Love Cats”
Blur, “Coffee and TV”
Dinner Hour
Roxy Music, “More Than This”
Air, “Cherry Blossom Girl”
Death Cab For Cutie, “Soul Meets Body”
Watch The Potted Plants Hours
Adam Ant, “Goody Two Shoes”
The Caesars, “Jerk It Out”
Moby, “Bodyrock”
Posted by Ryan McGee at March 27, 2007 09:59 PM
Comments
"Love Cats" kinda creeps me out, honestly.
Posted by: Jeanna at March 28, 2007 02:49 PM
Here are my observations:
1. a moody, atmospheric wedding it shall be...
2. I like the more uptempo numbers for the cocktails and then cooling it out for dinner. Will get people fired up.
3. I have to give myself some dap for also using the chronological mix for my wedding, that was for my dinner music (the dance music wasn't chronological but arranged in sets that kind of went together by genre)
4. I certainly concur and applaud avoiding all songs that you here at every damn wedding. But, that being said people like songs they know, particularly when they know the words. I thought of it as a chance to use some just fun songs that I normally wouldn't admit I liked. Got to get outside your own tastes a little bit. In fact, I think the few songs that I used that cleared the dance floor were songs where I indulged my own taste too much.
Anyways...I am sure your final set will rock and/or roll (although be prepared to want to make revisions to it by post-wedding day 1. I am still thinking about one particular gaffe I made.
Posted by: Nick M. at March 28, 2007 04:34 PM