The color of sound.

In The New Yorker a few weeks ago there was an interesting article by Eric Konigsberg on the industry of color and how choices about forthcoming trends are made. One segment stood out rather prominently to me, although it didn't catch my attention so much for its information on color as it did trigger an inner flash of recognition.

Most scholars of color theory acknowledge that although our color likes and dislikes may have some innate basis ... they are also subject to manipulation. "It's easy to come up with really obvious colors that you know people will like because they've always liked them," [Leslie] Harrington [a color consultant who helps manufacturers determine the palette of their products and packages] said. "But it's much better if you can come up with something subtle and sophisticated—you know, like the orange that somebody who's not an orange person likes?"

That sounds to me to be an awful lot like my philosophy on DJing. from time to time I catch some flack for not lugging around crates of records, or even books of CDs, anymore since that challenges what some view to be a DJs penance for playing their music and expecting people to listen. But, and I've stated this before, I still approach the whole experience based on disc jockeying. yes I can beat match, and I stand in awe of folks that are turntablists that can cut and re-cut a song in a live setting until it sounds like something entirely new, but to me the most important skill a DJ can posses is the selection of just the right song for just the right moment.

Now, the way this all clicks into the quote above should be fairly obvious by now. the easy part of DJing is picking the tunes you know everyone will love. Sure, this helps an evening along, and everyone will probably have a blast, but will they remember the evening as a singular event afterwards? Probably not.

No, to me the real skill is playing the songs people either forgot they loved, or the tracks that they've never heard before but can't live without once they've been exposed to them. It's finding the orange that someone who's not an orange person is going to like.

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Sound colored in.

The above thoughts on DJing are especially appropriate today, since this evening I return to The Pontiac with a guest, DJ June Cleavage, whose DJing philosophy is rather similar to mine. It's also fitting that it's -2° F outside, since the first time she spun with me it was the middle of summer and the inside of The Pontiac was roughly 117° F!

So let's try to fill the place up with folks and achieve a temperature somewhere comfortably between those two extremes. "Rock and/or Roll Tuesdays" only occur every other week now, and due to the short month of February there will be no "Drop, Rock, and/or Roll" at The Continental until March, so you've got to get in your doses of DJ Tankboy and friends when you can.

So suck it it, bundle up, and come on out tonight!

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Teevee notes.

No spoilers here, but last night's 24 renewed my faith in the series. Psychologically taut and expertly paced, they really got their rhythm back after a few place-holding episodes. I actually did the stereotypical "covering one's mouth in shock" at multiple points of the evening.

Plus, bonus points to Photogal for totally calling the twist in the final five minutes a FULL WEEK AGO! Way to decipher those clues, hon!

I also finally was able to take in The Sarah Silverman Program, and to all the critics who have been panning it I have one simple question: Are we all watching the same show? Because the program I saw was hilarious. It was so funny Photogal was laughing, and she laughs at just about nothing. Yes, much of the humor is mean, but goddamn if it isn't effective.

The only thing I'll grant the naysayers is that there are perhaps one or two too many "doodie" jokes, but if that's all I've got to put up with in 22-minutes of almost non-stop comedic gold, then I'll totally let the doodie slip.

Totally let the doodie slip? Maybe that was a poor choice of words.

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I'm no fan of Spin, but I'm a fan of these bands, so ... VOTE!

Both Office and Bound Stems (pictured to the right) are on competitive brackets for Spin's Artist Of The Year (based on bands picked as "Artist Of The Day" on their site in 2006) and it's no secret both are local favorites of mine. So, if you feel inclined, head on over there and register your vote for both (vote for Office here and vote for Bound Stems here) bands so they can move onward and upward to the next round.

My history with Office goes waaaaaay back, so I've decided to post the track that inspired me to do my first show with them a few years ago. It's an older one off their The Ice Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls disc, titled "Plus/Minus Fairytale." It's a little rougher than their later work, but it has this total charm that instantly won me over. Enjoy.

MP3: Office "Plus/Minus Fairytale"
M4A: Office "Plus/Minus Fairytale"