Oldies But Goodies
On New York subways, people rarely look at each other. They look up, they look across, they look through. . . anywhere to avoid eye contact. One of benefits of wearing interesting shoes is that I can at least entertain my fellow public transportation patrons as they look in the most common direction: down.
My latest Melissas, pictured above, are from an older season and bear an even older image: that of original Disney character Oswald, a poor little ignored rabbit that has fallen off the Disney radar thanks to Mickey and Co. Yet somehow, in this new rendering of an old cartoon, Oswald reclaimed fame. Similarly, I’d like to bring back the art of eye contact. It’s odd that our eyes are oft closed in a city that supposedly never sleeps.
Speaking of sleep, I am exhausted, but wanted to leave you all with a lullaby for adults. Typically, the mix I do for I <3 Mondays is to start your day, but this one is for you to end it. With this melodic mix of progressive house and soul, the Rraul.com crew brings it home with this Colors Church podcast hosted by DJs Jota Wagner and Wander A (and, to its credit, a case of beer). It’s so beautiful that it actually made me cry on the bus yesterday, though I am not sure if I did so more from the music or from the saudades I felt when I heard Brazilian Portuguese again (the first few minutes consist of the hosts describing upcoming shows and parts of their set).
Nevertheless, give this mix a listen as you lay your head down on your pillow, or even as you commute in the morning. Hopefully, it will compel you to look up, see the world with open eyes, and take in all the beauty you can hold.
Jota Wagner & Wander A – Colors Church Podcast (Rio de Janeiro Edition) for Rraurl.com
(follow the link and click “play” to listen)
tracklist and podcast subscription info after the jump
I can’t believe it’s already Monday. In what seems like the shortest weekend I have ever lived through, I managed to get a great deal of things accomplished, though not nearly enough. The dreaded first day of the work week is upon us all once again, but there’s no shortage of hope in the morning motivation that comes to us care of 
I’ve said it 
Usually, when I think of Mustangs, the first thing to come to mind is the car. Next? The horse after which is was named. (How’s that for amazing branding?) But right after that, my mind goes to Renaud Deru and Andy Faisca, the Belgian DJ duo that makes up Mustang, one of Gomma’s newest label signings. Continuing with Gomma’s usual funk-filled disco rock and roll sound, Mustang brings it home with this mix they did for Juno Plus:
This is just a reminder that you only have 10 more days left to listen/download the Retail DJ February Tracklist (free music, people, free music!) AND the Cassius live DJ set from the 1999 Winter Music Conference (that is nowhere else on the web, seriously).
Just in case you were curious, there was no I <3 Mondays post yesterday because I was off for Presidents’ Day! Yay for holidays. I take them far more seriously these days, though I still somehow end up working on something else. As of late, that been my baby, my side interest, my special project: 
Catching a falling star is a) really hard and b) not possible (because technically, they are meteorites!). But every now and then, with the power of a lot of hope, determination, luck, and work, our most difficult of goals, using the falling star as a metaphor here of course, can be achieved, “caught” at the most unlikely of times as they seem to fall far out of range. I recall saying in 
This afternoon, I woke up with mysterious bruises, a killer headache, and very sore neck. The reason? A lot of dancing at the Brodinski show, and the rest: unknown. Tomorrow is Monday, already, and I shockingly did not get everything I needed to have done accomplished this weekend. I worked Friday, went to the NSR show Friday night, slept an hour and a half then worked Saturday, took a disco nap, went to Brodinski, and slept. Here I am, on the quick eve of a new week of work, feeling sore, busted, and altogether brain dead, but I know I will be ok tomorrow. I’ve got good music on my side. 
Hopefully, by the time this post goes up, I’ll be en route to the airport (yes, again) on my way home to Memphis, TN to visit ma famille for a few days. One of the interesting things about Memphis is that it’s the home of blues, not to be mistaken for the country music hub, which is Nashville, TN. Back in the day, Memphis used to be one of the major the go-to place if you wanted to get started in the music industry, particularly as an artist from the South. Nowadays, Atlanta and Nashville have taken over as the southern musical hotspots, but Memphis still has come out with some interesting music as of late, albeit more in the rap genre than blues or jazz.
