Cool music to impress my friends

[Ben X]

Suggestions, please, for tracks to put on a playlist for a house party so everyone walking in will think "man, this is a trendy, hip party that I feel cooler and sexier just for being at". Any genre, any decade.

So far, I've got a mix of indie like Florence + The Machine and hip-hop like MIA, plus some Guns N Roses...

[Scrobbs]

Skream, Distance and Digital Mystikz (Dubstep).

The Bug, Team Shadetek (ragga)

Fat Freddy's Drop (Kiwi dub/reggae band)

Anything from Roll Deep (Skepta et. al) (Grimey beats)

Christ., Bola, Bitstream, Belbury Poly (Electronica)

Fingathing, Jimpster, Edan, Dr. Octagon, Non-Prophets, Snoop Doggy Dogg, RJD2, Skinnyman, The Goats, Roots Manuva, The Roots (Hip Hop)

Paliament, Funkdelic, Curtis Mayfield, Ronny Jordan, Sly & The Family Stone, Us3 (Funk/Jazz)

Ian Brown, Metallica, Faith No More, Foo Fighters, System of a Down, New Order, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Roses (Rock etc.)

[Ben X]

Awesome stuff, thanks Scrobbs! (Specific tracks are even more helpful, if you can be arsed.)

Unfortunately, I think I need to stay away from rock/metal unless it's fused with some more 'hip' genre. Might have to demand Epic by FNM goes on though...

[Scrobbs]

If it's for this weekend, I'm not sure that I will have time, as I'm just finishing up preparation or an interview tomorrow, then I'm off to visit my folks, back on saturday to go to Donny for sat evening, working sunday morning, then possibly hooking up with Nachimir for a gig on sunday evening.

If it's for a few weeks hence, I'm sure I could knock something together.

[Ben X]

If it's for this weekend, I'm not sure that I will have time, as I'm just finishing up preparation or an interview tomorrow, then I'm off to visit my folks, back on saturday to go to Donny for sat evening, working sunday morning, then possibly hooking up with Nachimir for a gig on sunday evening.

If it's for a few weeks hence, I'm sure I could knock something together.

Oh, don't worry about making any massive playlist or anything! I was just looking for a few track recommendations to sprinkle over the evening so all the kids think I'm cool. Your earlier post has inspired me a little already!

[SignorSuperdouche]

As I'll tell anyone who'll listen these days, The La's are amazing. They're relatively old and obscure (apart from There She Goes, but nobody knows who sings it anyway) and you're guaranteed some indie cred. I'd recommend Knock Me Down or Feelin', bonus cred points if you can get hold of the Mike Hedges versions.

[toblix]

Hedge Fund has some excellent hardstep tracks (LBBP '02 is a great album if you can get it) with high bpm a nice rolling bass seq's.

[Ben X]

Ooh, I think There She Goes is a good call for that "hey, I haven't heard this in years and it's still ace!" reaction. Or if I'm unlucky the "Jesus, what is this, granddad? I think I remember it from an Argos advert or something yeah?" reaction.

EDIT: Just missed your post, thanx toblix! I'll give it a listen tomorrow. Bedtime for Benji.

Edited November 19, 2009 by bbX1138

[Psych]

Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well, Down the River by the Sugar Plant; Mike Doughty

Nursery Rhyme Breather; UNKLE

Feel Like a Rocket, We are on a Chemical Push; Voicst

Asterisk; Orange Range

Haruka Kanata; Asian Kung-fu Generation

Tainted Love (the original non-popular version); Gloria Jones

Broken Mouth Blues; Nic Armstrong and the Thieves

[toblix]

EDIT: Just missed your post, thanx toblix!

Now I feel bad.

[Garple]

"Keep it Pure" by The Tough Alliance

"52 Girls" by The B-52s

"Etheric Device" by Glass Candy

"Only Shallow" by My Bloody Valentine

"Je n'attends Plus Personne" by Francoise Hardy

"Computer NR. 3" by France Gall

Edit: Oh! And definitely "Je T'aime Moi Non Plus" by Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg...possibly "Bonnie and Clyde" by Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot, depending on how far you wanna push the hip French pop thing.

[n0wak]

a mix of indie and hip-hop

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[Ben X]

This is going to be the raddest party ever, thanks guys!

Don't worry Toblix, I've got til the end of the day to add new stuff!

[toblix]

No, I feel bad because I made that up. I don't know anything about the crazy music people usually talk about here, so I was trying to see if I could fabricate something without it being noticed. I'M SORRY!

[ThunderPeel2001]

No, I feel bad because I made that up. I don't know anything about the crazy music people usually talk about here, so I was trying to see if I could fabricate something without it being noticed. I'M SORRY!

Evil man!

Ben, I can't help but think that a party, that's relying on a playlist hastily put together on a forum made up of gaming geeks, is not going to find music as its strong point... I just can't see it happening (not least because I'm sure we all have completely different tastes).

MIA is a good starting point, I think. After that, maybe you could hook up Spotify or something and let the inevitable DJ wannabe take over (and hope he's got the same tastes as your party crowd).

Maybe it would help if you described the "vibe" you want? Are we talking "fun and pop-y" or "trendy and poserish"? Are there going to be large amount of being who hate rock music, or are they a rocky crowd? This is really mission impossible, if you ask me! (Although I'm the worst at gauging at crowd's musical tastes, so maybe I should keep out of it.)

[Patters]

Unfortunately, I think I need to stay away from rock/metal unless it's fused with some more 'hip' genre. Might have to demand Epic by FNM goes on though...

Kind of put me out of the question, but I'll suggest some other stuff.

Almost anything by Amon Tobin (supermodified or out from outwhere are the best albums), Animal Collective are also a good bet. Both are electronicish.

[Nevsky]

Oh man, if we're putting Spotify in the equation, then boot it up and slap on Soundway's awesome compilation Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-1979. That stuff is all kinds of groovy.

I'm actually quite serious. It's a great album, and would definitely work in a party atmosphere. Depending on the guests, obviously. And there are always some good compilations on Spotify, like Kraftwerk's The Mix. Very low maintenance. Slap it on and chug booze for the next hour or so.

[Ben X]

To answer the various questions, it's a house party that is likely to be full of trendy 24 yr olds. Not poseurs, but people who know what's going on in music. I want some tracks that make it feel like a cool party - if the host puts on a cool mix, it's probably a cool party - and gets people to feel like they can dance because the music's not embarassing.

For all I know, though, it'll descend into Take That and Britney Spears by midnight.

[Garple]

If it were me, I'd also play:

"Adult Books" by X

and

"Rock & Roll Club" by Richard Hell & the Voidoids

But that's art punk, and I've never thrown a party.

--------------

Also:

"Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy

"Kill All Hippies" by Primal Scream

"Common People" by Pulp

"Godstar" by Psychic TV

"Lucretia, My Reflection" by The Sisters of Mercy

"Always See Your Face" by Love

"Can't Seem to Make You Mine" by The Seeds

And just for the sake of love...I'd probably throw on

"Reel Around the Fountain" by the Smiths at some point, but I don't necessarily reccomend it at this party (you might get away with playing the Cure though).

Depending on the people, I'd probably be avoiding anything trendy enough to be reviewed on pitchfork, unless it's in the reissues section (no Vampire Weekend! They're a good band, but they've got to be against the rules in this situation). Even though they've got a lot of cache with hipsters, my instinct is to avoid Animal Collective and Panda Bear (except his obscure, out-of-print first album) but maybe you can make the exception of some live acoustic recordings of Avey Tare and Kria Brekken during quiet moments if there are any.

Then again, I'm kind of anti-hipster, so if these people are mainline hipsters, that probably changes everything. Also: I don't know if British hipsters are different (see, I was going to make reference to Pabst Blue Ribbon, but it's England, so...)

How would you describe the average expected party guest.

Edited November 20, 2009 by GrouchoClub

[miffy495]

Oh man, any party that fires up "Party All the Time" gets instantly more awesome.

X and the Voidoids are great choices, but possibly not in line with what you're looking for. For recent hip-hop-y stuff, I like to throw on Aceyalone. His most recent album "Aceyalone and the Lonely Ones" I think I talked about in the Dancing Thumb thread, but to reiterate, it's kickass hip-hop with Motown backup singers and music. One of my favorite finds of the year, and great party music. He also has an earlier hip-hop-reggae-fusion album called "Lightning Strikes" which is useful if your crowd would rather have reggae than motown.

[ThunderPeel2001]

To answer the various questions, it's a house party that is likely to be full of trendy 24 yr olds. Not poseurs, but people who know what's going on in music. I want some tracks that make it feel like a cool party - if the host puts on a cool mix, it's probably a cool party - and gets people to feel like they can dance because the music's not embarassing.

For all I know, though, it'll descend into Take That and Britney Spears by midnight.

I'm perplexed by this. What does "know what's going on in music" mean? I have friends who are totally into hip-hop, but they're friends with people who love dance music and I'm friends with all of them and I like alt rock. I think we all know "what's going on", but probably only in our respective fields...

I don't think there's any real "everyone thinks this is cool" music, and the biggest convergence of popular tastes is pop -- which you seem to have dismissed (although I do think MIA is on the right side of "good taste/current/pop".) I don't think Guns N' Roses (as much as I could fully recite you any song they ever recorded) would necessarily go down well, but what do I know?

So ultimately, I'd suggest just being yourself and playing the music you like... Your mix already sounds good to me.

Just my 2 pennies for the advice jar.

[JonCole]

Maybe so obvious that I didn't need to point it out, but Robert Ashley's band named I Come To Shanghai has gotten a hell of a lot of play in my car stereo. Not to mention the fact that they have a pay-what-you-like system for the album MP3's, which I took full advantage of for free and later preceded to buy the physical copy because I enjoyed it so much.

[Patters]

Maybe so obvious that I didn't need to point it out, but Robert Ashley's band named I Come To Shanghai has gotten a hell of a lot of play in my car stereo. Not to mention the fact that they have a pay-what-you-like system for the album MP3's, which I took full advantage of for free and later preceded to buy the physical copy because I enjoyed it so much.

Same here, apart from the car bit.

[Moelman]

pBjBFEByEDE

This track was featured on an episode of csi miami at a party, it must be good

also Chris Cornell is amazing

[ThunderPeel2001]

This track was featured on an episode of csi miami at a party, it must be good

also Chris Cornell is amazing

Pfft. Don't listen to him Ben, you'll be a laughing stock. THIS guy is amazing and guaranteed to get any parted started...

ip_K5DHZlfg

While you're here, check out this ACTUALLY awesome mash-up...

Michael Jackson vs 10cc

Probably not party material, but it is damn cool.

(More here, for anyone who's interested.)

Edited November 21, 2009 by ThunderPeel2001