Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Home

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

A couple of weeks ago, I was MC & DJ for a Wedding in Westchester County, NY. The Bride and Groom had chosen Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Home as a Bridal Party Dance Song after their First Dance. It was so much fun! Everybody of all ages ended up dancing, whistling and singing on the dance floor! It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had as a professional Wedding DJ in quite a while. I will recommend this song for future events now that I know even folks that are not interested in this particular musical style will be able to join in and have fun.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Home Music Video

How Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Home Came To Be

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American band led by Alex Ebert, who is also a vocalist of the power pop group Ima Robot. Their first show as a full band was played July 18, 2007 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Their first full-length recording, Up from Below, was released digitally on July 7, 2009 and physically on July 14, 2009 on Community Records. Their second full-length album, Here, was released on May 29, 2012.

Ebert began work on a book about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe after breaking up with his girlfriend, joining a 12-step program for addiction, and moving into a house with his lifelong friend Nicholas Raymond Kellen. According to Ebert, Sharpe “was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind…but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love.” Ebert later met singer Jade Castrinos outside a downtown Los Angeles cafe.

What do you like best about Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Home?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

DJ Non-Traditional Romance Mix (Rock Jams)

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

I am finding no matter how hard I try, I always seem to have songs that would work perfectly that just don’t fit or make it on these mixes. This time it was the next in the DJ Non-Traditional Romance Mix Series, Rock Jams.

DJ Non-Traditional Romance Mix (Rock Jams)

[m3j track= “Non-Traditional-Romance-Mix.-Rock-Jams.mp3”]

I do not get to play as much Rock Music as I used to and grasp at the opportunity when presented. While compiling the list of DJ Non-Traditional Romantic Mix songs over the last few weeks, it stared at me that there were enough Rock songs to make a mix of just Rock Romance! Of course, like I shared above, the amount of songs that I marked for this mix and what could comfortably fit in a mix below 100MB just didn’t work. No worries, I had fun and I think those of you Rockers out there will have something to enjoy! There may be a DJ Non-Traditional Romance Mix Rock Jams Part II at some point including more female voices than this mix, which only has one female lead vocalist.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

I gratefully continue to receive calls from Brides and Grooms requesting their professional Wedding DJ to play Rock Music at the Cocktail Hour and Reception of their Wedding. This makes me happy since Rock Music is not as popular today among younger people as it was before the rise of Hip Hop, Rap and R&B. Of course, just like Hip Hop and Rap, the professional Wedding DJ needs to be mindful of not playing music that is too hyped-up or loud during the Cocktail Hour of Weddings and make sure those who are elderly or want to enjoy conversation and relaxation during the Cocktail Hour, are not overpowered by the music. This is what I created the DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix for.

It is hard for me as an ‘old school’ professional DJ to make mixes that cut songs short and segue to songs that maybe do not belong together in order to include enough tunes to offer Brides and Grooms a large enough sample of what we can play at their Cocktail Hour or Reception in a mix like this. I even struggle when doing this with Dance mixes but when it comes to Rock, I struggle greater due to the nature of Rock Music and the integrity of the lyrical content and musicians talent. I guess we all have to make some concessions as professional Wedding DJs to serve our Brides and Grooms best and help them decide what music they want at their weddings.

DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

This same mix would also work well as a sample for a Birthday, Anniversary or Reunion Party for those whom would like Rock Music played during Dinner at their event too!

Let me know what you think.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

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Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

I find it fascinating which and when certain 80’s songs like Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams, pop into current music requests again. Recently, I have noticed that many of the Hall & Oates hits are being replayed with enthusiasm. Hall & Oates were sort of their own genre for a little while, often being referred to as ‘Blue Eyed Soul’. This was during the period when musical genre split social and cultural groups to very specific audiences and it was rare for a group like Hall & Oates to reach multiple groups. Another group that had success with this were The Doobie Brothers, especially when Michael MacDonald went solo.

Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams Music Video

This song in particular, Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams, is a great song for a professional DJ since it can be mixed with Pop, Dance, Oldies, R&B and Rock seamlessly. Last Thursday night, Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams worked perfectly with an 80’s Rock set but also on Friday night with some Pop and Dance stuff from the same period.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

The other night I was at an event dancing with some friends and the DJ played this version of Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army. I had not heard Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army before and it rocks! It is an exclusive mix for the film G.I. Joe” Retaliation. The funny part is that the DJ is someone I trained as a DJ! This is one of the beauties of music; it never ends with its constant surprises and inspiration.

Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army Mp3

The Glitch Mob - Seven Nation Army Remix (The White Stripes)

I have typically not been a big fan of overplaying remixes and mash-ups but am starting to open my mind lately due to some really fun versions I have heard and moved to in recent weeks, especially, Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army.

“Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army was also featured on the February 1, 2011 broadcast of Democracy Now!, where it was linked to the massive pro-democracy demonstrations then occurring in Egypt. Speaking with Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy, host Amy Goodman said “That music is in your ears and head all the time, you said, Mona,” to which Eltahawy replied:

It’s a loop, Amy, because every time I hear the opening lines—”I’m going to fight them off. A seven-nation army couldn’t hold me back”—it just takes me to Egypt, where people—I’ve never seen anything like it. Literally, nothing can hold them back. Mubarak shuts down the internet, shuts down the train system, shuts down almost the entire country, and still they come. It’s beautiful.”

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)is a classic song and The Beastie Boys are legends that have left a legacy across genre and generations. I remember when I was the professional DJ at a graduation party for a friend of mine. Halfway through the night, my friend Mark came up and handed me a record and said, “Play this”.

“What is it?”

“Don’t worry, just play it”.

It was his party so I played it. It was The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party). I was hooked. Very few artist have been as experimental and creative with their bold attempts to try few things for themselves and for all musicians simultaneously like The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).

The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) Music Video

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

One of my favorite songs of all music, Jeff Buckley Hallelujah. Jeff Buckley Hallelujah was initially written and recorded by Leonard Cohen, released in 1984 and brought back to fame when K.D.Lang sang her version at the opening ceremonies in Vancouver at the 2004 Winter Olympics Games to an estimated 3 million listeners and viewers. Every version of this song I have enjoyed but, the Jeff Buckley Hallelujah version moves me in a way few songs can. Jeff Buckley Hallelujah was ranked #259 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004. Many artists and composers have pointed to Jeff Buckley Hallelujah and have claimed it is the closest to perfection of any song ever.

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah Mp3

Hallelujah

It did not enjoy any commercial success when Jeff Buckley was alive but many years later. He died in 1997 and Jeff Buckley Hallelujah gained popularity in 2006 and then went viral in 2008 reaching the top of Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs. Jeff Buckley Hallelujah has been featured in many films and TV shows expressing both the joyful and sorrowful aspects of his rendition.

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah Live Music Video

Cohen himself sang different lyrics live than he recorded on the original studio version. He has embraced the various different versions in style and lyrics that have been recorded and performed since by all the artists interpretation of the song creatively alternative to its original.

As a professional DJ, I play Jeff Buckley Hallelujah whenever it makes sense and fits the energy of the event. I like to play this as a closing song, again in situations where it fits.

K.D.Lang Hallelujah Live Performance at Winter Olympics

{embed]http://youtu.be/rVq0L4kkpKM[/embed]

Here are the lyrics to the 1988 version via Leonard Cohen.

Baby, I’ve been here before.
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.

Yeah I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch,
But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
No it’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah…)

There was a time you let me know
What’s really going on below,
Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
And the holy dove, she was moving too,
Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there’s a God above,
As for me, all I’ve ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it’s not a complaint that you hear tonight,
It’s not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
No it’s a cold and it’s a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn’t much.
I couldn’t feel, so I learned to touch.
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong
I’ll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

One of the marvels of the technological age in the music industry is the various ways a song can become a hit. Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young went from #48 to #3 on Billboard HOT 100 this week, it is the highest ranking yet for the group Fun.. Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young has been featured on TV shows “Chuck” and “Glee” and was still not a hit. It took a Chevy commercial during the Super Bowl with Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young for this song to receive the notoriety it deserves.

I also find it entertaining that folks insult each other over how they found out about the artist or song. To me, the source is not important. If you like a song or found it increased the enjoyment of a TV show, movie or commercial, good for you! Music has the magic of shifting anything into something special with the right song. This is the job of a good professional DJ. We take traditional occasions and turn them into a lasting memory and an event to talk about with excitement. Music can do that.

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young is a fun video and creative in its presentation. I appreciate the unique story they tell in the video, while continuing to hold the energy of the Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young. Have fun.

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young Music Video

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young is a song recorded by American band Fun for their second studio album Some Nights (2012). It was released on September 20, 2011 as the lead single from Some Nights. Musically, “We Are Young” is an anthem that incorporates the genres of indie pop, alternative rock, and power pop. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many noting the song as a breakthrough for the indie genre and praising the song’s catchiness. “We Are Young” has attained commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in several countries.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays

Posted on February 10, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

It was on this day in 1979 that Brenda Ann Spencer started shooting at the elementary school across the street from her house. She killed two and wounded nine others. The gun was a .22 that her father gave her for Christmas. When asked why she did it, her response was simple, “I don’t like Mondays”. It was one month later that The Boomtown Rats performed Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays written by bandleader Bob Geldorf for the first time. He was inspired for Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays during an interview when it hit him, “It was such a senseless act. It was the perfect senseless act and this was the perfect senseless reason for doing it. So perhaps I wrote the perfect senseless song to illustrate it. It wasn’t an attempt to exploit tragedy.”

Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays Music Video

For several years the radio stations in San Diego, the place of the crime, would not play Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays on the radio to honor sensitive listeners who may not appreciate Geldorf’s peculiar humor.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman

Posted on February 8, 2013 by DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Roy Orbison was one of our great voices in pop music. He grew-up listening to and playing Rockabilly and Country and Western in Texas. Between 1960-1964, Orbison had 22 singles place on Billboards Top 40. He was elected into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Bruce Springsteen was his presenter. Roy Orbison Pretty Woman reached #1 on Billboard and stayed there for three weeks.

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman Music Video

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman is a great song that has been covered by many artists and still is today. Roy Orbison Pretty Woman shows up in films including Dumb and Dumber and Pretty Woman, as well as a Van Halen cover in Weird Science. Roy Orbison Pretty Woman has even made its appearance in several Bollywood films.

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman from Film Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts

Roy made a comeback when teaming up with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne to form the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys. He died of a heart attack soon after that. His first wife and two of his sons died of separate accidents.

Five years after its release, in 1969, the single was awarded gold record by RIAA. Orbison posthumously won the 1991Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his live recording of the song on his HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #222 on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

Believe it or not, I had the “45” of Roy Orbison Pretty Woman when I was a kid. It was not a hit any more by that time though, but as a child that did not matter to me. Now I still play Roy Orbison Pretty Woman as a professional DJ.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Fun Rhode Island Wedding DJ

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Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Home