may thank you / set-list

Last night was unbelievable! Such a great crowd, awesome music, and unstoppable dancing. I would love to personally thank everyone for coming to SHIFT's MEMORIAL SATURDAY BASH last night! You were all great! For those of you that couldn't make it- that's okay. We hope you can make the next one on SATURDAY JUNE 27!

Set 1 (10:00-11:30)
The Presets - Aeons
Placebo - Pure Morning
The Faint - Posed to Death
Shiny Toy Guns - Major Tom
Peter, Bjorn & John - Nothing to Worry About
Phoenix - Lisztomania
Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Michael Jackson - Scream
The Roots - The Seed
Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent
Janet Jackson - What Have You Done for Me Lately
The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up
Dragonette - I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
Thunderheist - Sweet 16
Daft Punk - Around the World
Sneaky Sound System - When We Were Young
Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko
Lady Gaga - Boys Boys Boys
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (RAC Remix)
Metric - Help I'm Alive (The Twelves Remix)
Fischerspooner - Supply & Demand
Chromeo - Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Rihanna - Breakin' Dishes
Bananarama - Venus
Empire of the Sun - Half Mast
Thunderheist - Bubblegum (Wax Romeo Remix)
Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity of Huge

Set 2 (12:30-3:00)
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is Playing at My House
The Rapture - Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh-Huh
Pulp - Disco 2000
Peaches - Show Stopper
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control (The Faint Remix)
The Faint - Worked Up So Sexual
Annie - Anthonio
Mariah Carey - I'll be Lovin' You Long Time (Designer Drugs Remix)
The Veronicas - Untouched
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (L.A. Riots Remix)
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
Jupiter One - Countdown
Digitalism - Taken Away
Lady Sovereign - Let's Be Mates
The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers
Scanners - Lowlife (L.A. Riots Remix)
Milke - Love Get Out of My Way
The Crystal Method - Come Back Clean
Britney Spears - Do Somethin'
Lily Allen - Fuck You
Hot Hot Heat - Talk to Me, Dance with Me
Peaches - Fuck the Pain Away
Scissor Sisters - Filthy/Gorgeous
Beck - The New Pollution
Nelly Furtado - Maneater
The Presets - Are You the One?
Le Tigre - After Dark
The Caesars - Jerk It Out
Hole - Celebrity Skin
Dragonette - The Boys
Franz Ferdinand - Turn It On
Pay TV - Miss Capitalist
Beck - Mixed Bizness
Morningwood - Nth Degree
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
Pink - Bad Influence
Melody Club - Electric
Metric - Dead Disco
Le Tigre - TKO
The Sounds - Dorchester Hotel
The Cardigans - My Favorite Game
A-Ha - Take On Me (The Twelves Remix)
The National - Apartment Story

...cuz you don't REALLY wanna go to the beach...

We're t-minus 50 hours or so from the SHIFT Memorial Saturday Bash and the Majr and I couldn't be more amped! We've got a great DJ lined up for the guest hour: ReddAJ, one half of Razzmatazz (which is next Saturday, May 30th @ Black Cat - don't miss it!), and the reigning Brit-pop queen of DC! Also, a great big THANK YOU to the folks over at Brightest Young Things, who've been so kind as to feature us on their site and let the Majr and I take over their BYT Favorite Song of the Day feature.  Check it out!

So, whether you're boycotting the beach and staying in town or just dropping in for the weekend, swing by and help us wreck the discotheque! As always, SHIFT is free before 11, 5 bucks after, with $5 Philly Specials (shot of Beam + a PBR), $4 rail cocktails/beers and $2 PBRs. 21+ (sorry, kiddies). Hope to see everyone out on Saturday dancing your faces off!

B!, Lt. Lush

sucks and non-sucks

SUCKS

DC's oft-inability to promote any form of individuality. I love this city, but it is often a glass half empty and a three-quarters full of crap. Perhaps it is the lack of middle class and muted group theory in action. Perhaps the majority ever-so-interesting white male american christian/jew culture is just blowing us away with its innovation, and thus rendering us paralyzed by its magnificence. Perhaps it is a load of horse-shit. That's right. Sucks to your assmar.

NON-SUCKS

Why simply complain? If you want to change a culture, you give it more smack than Whitney Houston's diet. Because sitting, yelling, and brooding like a low budget whore never solved anything- WE DANCE, BITCH! This Saturday is SHIFT's MEMORIAL SATURDAY BASH! I have been working on the set a bit, trying to get the perfect vibe for Saturday, and I am really excited about it! Greater than that, I am feverish to be in the booth with DC's Brit-pop Queen, DJ ReddAJ, who rocks my socks with every quarterly Razzmatazz. She's the bee's pajamas and cat's knees, wrapped so hard into one that they are in a mating frenzy of asinine proportions. Get ready to boogie, shake, and enjoy all that is good dance (indie dance, indie rock, brit-pop, electro, non-crap pop) music. Hooray.

-The Majr

song of the month

Some songs are just worth a big virtual high five, and possibly a jig.  No joke.

When The Crystal Method shocked my system with the amazing LP, Vegas, I was a teenager on the cusp of addiction.  I had come across a few albums here and there, such as Version 2.0, that had dominated my eardrums.   TCM allowed me to experience electronica that did not necessarily fall into the elecro/rock paradigm, and it is fantastic to hear them come back with such an excellent tune.  

I have been talking a lot about this song recently, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  Off their latest LP, Divided by Night, and featuring the smooth vocals and smart lyricism of Metric's Emily Haines, Come Back Clean is the song of the month.  Easily.

Listen to it.  Love it.  Tell your grandma.

-The Majr

please judy, no more lesbian jam

SHELLSHOCK!
Hope not.

SHIFT mix #14

No, you're never, never far gone-
So, get your leather on.

dupont 4H wrap-up / set-list

A huge thank you to Aaron Riggins of 4H and Aaron Gillespe of Dupont Hotel for having me yesterday. The set went really well, and the crowd was especially relaxed and receptive. No pun intended. They were great, I had a blast, and the rest is history. Thank you again. Good music lives on!

The Set List
Shiny Toy Guns - Major Tom
Frankmusik - Confusion Girl
Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
Robyn - Cobrastyle
David Bowie - Modern Love
Santigold - Say Aha
Lady Sovereign - So Human
Peter, Bjorn & John - Nothing To Worry About
Little Boots - New In Town
Nine Inch Nails - Meet Your Master (The Faint Remix)
Britney Spears - Breathe On Me
Fatboy Slim - Praise You
Tilly and the Wall - The Freest Man (CSS Remix)
The Rapture - Get Myself Into It
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
Moby - Disco Lies
Lady Gaga - Money Honey
Garbage - Stupid Girl
Lykke Li - Little Bit (CSS Remix)
Sherrel - Woman
Dragonette - I Get Around
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Me + Yr Daughter
Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Royksopp - The Girl & The Robot (feat. Robyn)
Daft Punk - Around the World
Sneaky Sound System - When We Were Young
The Virgins - Teen Lovers
Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls (Vince Clark Remix)
Fischerspooner - Supply & Demand
Metric - Help I'm Alive (The Twelves Remix)
Basement Jaxx - Take Me Back To Your House
Filthy Dukes - This Rhythm
The Delays - Valentine
The Vanish - Hold On
Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand a Chance (Chromeo Remix)
Kylie Minogue - Boombox (L.A. Riots Remix)
Scissor Sisters - The Skins
Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (L.A. Riots Remix)
Crystal Castles - Crimewave
Friendly Fires - On Board
Basement Jaxx - Hey U
MSTRKRFT - Easy Love
The Veronicas - Untouched (Designer Drugs Remix)
IAMX - Spit It Out
Annie - Anthonio
The Whip - Trash
Lily Allen - Fuck You
The Crystal Method - Come Back Clean (feat. Emily Haines)
White Rose Movement - Girls In The Back
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
Ladytron - Sugar
Daniel Bedingfield - Gotta Get Thru This
The Killers - Spaceman (Sander Van Doorn Remix)
PayTV - Miss Capitalist
Beck - Mixed Bizness
Pink - Bad Influence
Kylie Minogue - Red Blooded Woman (Whitey Remix)
Frankmusik - In Step
A-Ha - Take on Me (The Twelves Remix)
The Cardigans - My Favorite Game
Phoenix - 1901
The Killers - Shadowplay
The Sounds - Dance With Me
Scanners - Lowlife (The Teenagers Remix)
Frankmusik - Gotta Boyfriend
Peaches - AA XXX

the majr - guest dj @ 4H [DuPont Hotel]

Yours truly, The Majr, will be DJing the uber-popular HHHH tomorrow at the Dupont Hotel from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. I hope everyone can make it. It is going to be a lot of fun, and the set I have been preparing is looking pretty fabulous. Everything from to new Indie Dance/Rock to Pop (that does not blow). It is going to be a fantastic time of welcoming summer and lushing yourself silly with cheap drinks.

It will also be a fantastic dress rehearsal for next weekend's SHIFT MEMORIAL SATURDAY BASH, on May 23.

*****************

Newsflash -> SHIFT has revamped its myspace! Check it out!

Fischerspooner - review

Fischerspooner, 08May09
Webster Hall, NYC

With apologies to Ms. Spears, Casey Spooner is the true ringmaster -- all eyes on him. Whether he truly is an egomaniac or just accesses this persona on stage matters little; even a casual observer would crown him a performance art powerhouse.

Casey's crew consisted of five porcelain doll dancers conducting an avant-garde ballet, decked in torn leotards, bondage gear and whatever shiny things were left on the rack at American Apparel. Their movements were modern and frenetic, embellishing on the electrobeats with incoherent chatter and sadistic smiles to "The Best Revenge" and "A Kick in the Teeth" At times they were robotic and silent, others they darted around mirrors with motorcycle helmets, orbiting Casey in deliberate motions that forced the crowd to notice a lyric, bass line, or (of course) Casey himself. They attended to him with feathered capes, and in return, he played footage of their rehearsals and how they beat out hordes of dancers who never made the cut.

It was an eye-popping spectacle to say the least, and as Casey humbly noted before leaving the stage, "that is what they call a show."

Fischerspooner accomplishes something live that none of the 200+ act I have seen have been able to do: a complete sensory experience. One part modern dance, one part fashionista-tacular, and a shitload of amazing musical performance.

Casey Spooner owns the stage with enough LCD and stage-light manipulation to induce epilepsy, and bass-lines that I am pretty sure vibrated my pancreas.

Musically, every track was solid and accompanied by the type of interpretive dance that would make Cirque du Soleil piss its glossy self. Favorite tracks were "A Kick in the Teeth" , "We Are Electric" , "Supply & Demand" , and "Danse en France." The latter, in particular, was interesting because in the last :45 of the song, it was taken from its original deliberate delivery to the D.I.M. remix (which is an amazing 145bpm electro punch in the face). As far as "surprise likes," this show definitely made me love "Supply & Demand" a lot more.

It was the all-around experience. "A Must See," as the critic douchebags usually call it. But- you must see it.

Set-List
Amuse Bouche
Happy
Get Confused
Money Can't Dance
A Kick in the Teeth
Emerge
Supply & Demand
Danse en France
Sweetness
Cloud
The Best Revenge
We Are Electric
Never Win

- The Majr & Joe Gizzi
Photos by the brilliant Chris Gamio

Franz Ferdinand - review

Franz Ferdinand, 07May09
Roseland Ballroom, NYC

They owned the stage for 90 minutes from Bite Hard to This Fire, with stellar renditions of Michael (my favorite), Take Me Out and Lucid Dreams in between. No flaws. Unbelievable energy. Crafted. Intense. Amazing set choice. Brilliant rapport with the audience. There is barely anything left to say...

The Set-List
Bite Hard
Dark of the Matinee
No You Girls
Turn It On
The Fallen
Tell Her Tonight
Walk Away
Michael
Twilight Omens
Do You Want To
What She Came For
40'
Take Me Out
Outsiders
Ulysses
Lucid Dreams
This Fire

Rating: f***ing amazing

the majr's top 60 music acts

TOP 60

1. Radiohead
2. The Faint
3. Franz Ferdinand
4. Garbage
5. The Weakerthans
6. Damien Rice
7. Rufus Wainwright
8. The Presets
9. Ben Folds
10. Metric
11. Fiona Apple
12. Beck
13. Arctic Monkeys
14. Interpol
15. Fischerspooner
16. Otis Redding
17. The National
18. The Alkaline Trio
19. The Vines
20. Placebo
21. The Helio Sequence
22. Dido
23. Designer Drugs
24. The Dandy Warhols
25. Arcade Fire
26. Alanis Morissette
27. Stars
28. Death Cab For Cutie
29. Stellastarr*
30. The Killers
31. Jimmy Eat World
32. The Hives
33. Moving Units
34. Bright Eyes
35. Whitey
36. The Dixie Chicks
37. Muse
38. Lucinda Williams
39. Depeche Mode
40. LCD Soundsystem
41. Rage Against the Machine
42. Hot Chip
43. We Are Scientists
44. Does It Offend You, Yeah?
45. MSTRKRFT
46. Goldfrapp
47. Basement Jaxx
48. The Postal Service
49. Cut Copy
50. Scissor Sisters
51. Snow Patrol
52. Coldplay
53. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
54. The New Amsterdams
55. Ladytron
56. Aimee Mann
57. Alan Silvestri
58. The Who
59. Dwight Yoakam
60. Hans Zimmer

All acts of whom I not only love singles, but often complete albums...