LET'S ELECTRIFY!!

Edgewood Electronic Music Festival 2010


So, as I have become accustomed to, something came up at the last minute and Matt asked me to participate. Apparently this was the first year of something called the Edgewood Electronic Music Festival, which is basically a weekend during which all of the bars and restaurants along the Edgewood corridor would be promoting and having DJs and bands and specials and what not. You know, your typical neighborhood raise-awareness weekend fest/block-party type of thing. Being really not in the loop I am not sure I understand the concept or inner-workings of it. Noni’s was not one of the major hubs or involved in the planning as far as I know. And I didn’t really get the impression that there was anything expressly “electronic”-centric about any of the proceedings, but whatever.

The Old Fourth Ward is another one of those Atlanta stories that happen once a year or every few years. A run-down ghetto neighborhood is slowly being built up and rehabilitated, little businesses moving in, art spaces, indie-types, good restaurants. It’s a well-worn story, half gentrification, half neighborhood togetherness and pride. It’s a good thing. The point being, I like Edgewood Ave. and I like the Old Fourth Ward and I am glad to be some small part of a burgeoning area/scene in my city.

Matt expressed an interest in me DJing this Sunday then reneged, seeing as GUSH was so close. He was also a little reticent because I don’t spin vinyl (back to that whole thing), which struck me as odd, since it was supposed to be an “electronic” fest. Seems like vinyl would be sort of anti-intuitive. But then a moment later he had this epiphany about one of the big acts that was spinning on Saturday. A woman, whose name I forget, but who is apparently a big deal and has been around forever. He’s like wait a minute, she spins CDs and other shit, not just vinyl. OK fine maybe we’ll put you on, Brian.

It was up in the air until, like all things with Matt, that last minute. I was informed that I would be going on from 3-6 on Sunday as the first slot in a 3 DJ day/night. Also being featured after me were two of the other regular Friday night DJs (including the kid that had a big problem with me in the first place, using my computer. I mentioned that in a rant on a previous GUSH post right? If not I’ll get back to it at some point. He’s just a vinyl DJ who had some not so nice things to say about your truly at first for no reason other than that I DJ on a computer. I think we have sort of buried the hatchet now but at the time it was a real bummer to me, I hate when haterz wanna hate and talk shit and all you’re doing is trying to do the best job you can and help everyone have a good time.) It was not really promoted and, moreover, Noni's doesn't even open on Sundays until I think 5, so the cards were pretty much stacked against anyone being there. Which I accepted as just the way it was gonna be.

In other Matt last-minute news, I got a voice-mail like a couple days before the deal and he asked me to do a flier for it (pictured above in an unfortunately wrongly cut-off scan, I’m working on a better one to replace it…). So I jumped up, always excited for a project/assignment, even if it’s sort of futile for its function. To his credit, Matt did not realize that I don’t make my fliers on the computer (I do it old school, typing, copy machines, etc…) and said afterwards that had he known that he wouldn’t have troubled me with it. In the end it was fine. I went in with one idea and, as usual, came out with something way cooler. I was pretty proud of the design I came up with. It was not Matt's expressed desire but I decided to try to spin the flier. I thought that it would be nice to make it sound like there was a larger plan/idea behind the Sunday roster. I imagined it as a sort of intentional showcase of the Friday night regular DJs. Like, hey check it out, here's what we have goin' on on Fridays that y'all are missing out on. Nice idea, and, if I do say so, well spun and executed by me, but totally useless and wasted as an advertising tool, considering that no one saw the flier and no one was in the restaurant. The road to Hell...*

(of special note, the scan I have of the flier on here right now is one that Matt made, unsupervised by me, and has thus, accidentally, had about a half inch of the right-hand side cut off. I mean, its all supposed to look cut off, but not the right side where the important info is. I'm working on getting a better scan of this, not that anyone besides me gives a shit)

So we showed up a little before 3 on Sunday, set up and hung out. It was slow and dead and Matt and I were both sick. I had my first ever hot toddy and Jenn was reintroduced to her love of/blown away by (Noni’s) bloodymarys.

It was a tough set. Initially I was excited for it because I thought it would be a laid back time slot that allowed me to fuck around and play stuff I wouldn’t normally play when I am trying to carry a Friday night. Alas, it did not turn out lie that at all. The bartenders on were characteristically gruff and snide (lots of making fun of what I was playing at the outset, or so I thought, I tend to get a little over-sensitive about this stuff), Matt was there all day, and the room was empty. So I was feeling pretty self-conscious about what I was playing. I ended up in this weird limbo middle ground of not really being able to experiment and stretch out like I wanted and also being reticent to play exactly the same kind of set I’d play at night, on a Friday. Music, like drinking, travels very differently in the daylight. I think I came through OK but it was not all that I imagined it to be. Kind of not one thing or another, a tepid-feeling middle ground between it all that was unsatisfying to me.

Eventually some folks came in and hung out and it was OK. I got a couple accolades on my song selections and, in the last hour, Matt came up and suggested I stick with the dance stuff I had been playing as he had some friends there that would appreciate it. So I did.

Around 5:45 Chad, my relief DJ, came in and there were a few terse, awkward moments of us exchanging formal "hello I am this person/nice to meet you’s". He informed me that he was just gonna set up and smoke a cigarette and then start whenever, and I told him I was at the point that I was just fucking around and he could start whenever. I was trying to be magnanimous.

It got to this point in my fucking around that I was playing “Shutterbug” by Big Boi which I always feel like, in my mind, makes a good segue into “How Soon Is Now” by The Smiths, and I didn’t see him so I went for it. As soon as "How Soon" came on he walked in and said “are you planning on playing all 7 minutes?” and I felt like a dick. Though he then informed me he was cool with it and was only asking because he hadn’t actually gone out and smoked yet. So I played it through and then he fired up.

Jenn and I proceeded to pack up and eat a really killer dinner at a table. Noni’s has awesome food. And uh, that was that. It was nothing big, just a little fill-in gig.

The set went, I believe…





Totally Wired-The Fall
Grinding Halt-The Cure
Still Ill-The Smiths
Girl U Want-Devo
Three Girl Rhumba-Wire
There Goes My Gun-Pixies
Sing Me Spanish Techno-New Pornographers
Move On-Hot Hot Heat
Niacin-Nothing Painted Blue
Radio,Radio-Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Youth In Transit-Clickers
Soft Pyramids-Q And Not U
Oh-Fugazi
Bad Education-Tilly & The Wall
Helicopter-M. Ward
Atlanta Skyline-The Weight
New York, New York-Ryan Adams
Timebomb-Old 97’s
Rum To Whiskey-Murder City Devils
For Boston-The Hold Steady
Timorous Me-Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
The Boys Are Back In Town-This Lizzy
You’re Losing Out-Two Gallants
A More Perfect Union-Titus Andronicus
Clampdown-The Clash
Save It For Later-The English Beat
East Sun, Son-Gobble Gobble
Indoorsy-Baths
Heartbeats (Rex The Dog Remix)-The Knife
Not In Love (Featuring Robert Smith)-Crystal Castles
Blue Monday/Heads Will Roll (Mashup, by yours truly)-New Order/Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Flux-Bloc Party
Raindrops-Basement Jaxx
Music Sounds Better With You-Spacedust
Dance Yrself Clean/All Talk (Mashup, by yours truly again)-LCD Soundsystem/Kid Cudi
Bad Spell-Judi Chicago
Kelly-Van She
Lost Main Title-Michael Giaccino
Gimme Sympathy-Metric
Set Yourself On Fire-Stars
Worked Up So Sexual-The Faint
House Of Jealous Lovers-The Rapture
Contort Yourself-James White & The Blacks
We Got Cold, Coughed And Forgot Things-Liars
Give It Up-LCD Soundsystem
Groove Is In The Heart-Deee Lite
Bust A Move-Young MC
Flashlight-Funkadelic
Shutterbugg-Big Boi
How Soon Is Now-The Smiths





























it is 2:49 am
this is the seance





























xx