Play Something Good

Check out our more recent movements via Instagram:
Play Something Good on Instagram

It has been a fun, rewarding and busy season working with so many lovely people. We had the pleasure of returning to some amazing locations and also getting to work at some new venues which we have added to our updated venue list.

Just the other day a funny memory from adolescence popped up in the middle of our conversation. We couldn’t stop laughing as we reminisced: trying to go for a jog while holding a Sony Discman. Picturing this made us erupt in laughter. We had completely forgotten what it feels like to have to hold such a device in a way that kept your music from skipping – it would really cramp your style!! In fact, that distinctly difficult way of listening to music really isn’t that far in our past. Technology has changed music in every imaginable way from how music is released, how it is paid for, how it is made, how it’s received, and how we feel about it.

In honor of musicians who have incredible stories to tell from their respective heydays, when everything about music was completely different, here are some amazing books and memoirs for this years gift guide. Does it matter if you love their music, their style, or even know who they are? Not really, they are portals to another time and place told by some prolific characters, beautifully written, in an industry that looks totally different today!

	George Clinton, “Brothas Be Like ,Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?: A Memoir” P-Funk’s master front man eccentric, who has influenced so many genres and artists.
	Rick James and David Ritz, “Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James” Posthumous memoir from a dude who lived a wild party lifestyle and before he became a funk-disco superstar he played with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell!
	Carlos Santana with Ashley Kahn, “The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light” Pioneer of Rock and Latin fusion who rose to major success
	Viv Albertine, “Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.: A Memoir” Guitarist for the Slits and who discusses the incredible London punk scene of the 70’s with close friends in The Clash and The Sex Pistols among others.
	Kim Gordon, “Girl in a Band: A Memoir” Indie Punk whatever you wanna label it, Sonic Youth’s front woman has exerted a huge influence on so many musicians both male and female with her sound, style, creativity, and her strong sense of conviction on everything from politics to feminism and art, and helped popularize the work of such visionaries as Spike Jonze, Todd Haynes, Gerhard Richter, Mike Kelley, and Richard Prince.
	Herbie Hancock and Lisa Dickey, “Herbie Hancock: Possibilities” Herbie Hancock is a living legend and jazz pioneer, one of the first jazz pianists to give synthesizers a shot and has a career spanning six decades.

And just for fun here is some footage that predates our era of course but really shows how people used to buy music – they would interact with one another at record stores, they would meet like-minded fans, and if they wanted to know what was new, they would have to come in and look for it. Also, check out how much space is needed for this stores stock! Isn’t it staggering how all of that stock in that entire store could fit onto one device now? And does that make our experience more special or less? What do you think?

It seems like holiday music begins playing everywhere as soon as the Thanksgiving plates are cleared from the table! From there, it’s pretty incessant and ubiquitous until the New Year has passed. Do you love it or hate it?

The primary songs in rotation end up being the same as they were since Keith Haring did the cover for that holiday album in 1987. Here are a few less observed Christmas songs we have come across over the years:

Lou Rawls – “Christmas will Really be Christmas” produced by the legendary David Axelrod:

And last but not least, this super heavy and psychedelic ode to the Post Office by Paul Revere and the Raiders:

We just updated our venue list with many of places we’ve played since last checking in. This blog needs some serious tending to when the high season rolls around. We thought that we would show you some places our awesome clients have celebrated  their weddings this year.

	501 Union We have worked here quite a few times and adore the staff here and at their sister space across the street, The Green Building. It’s very central in the heart of Gowanus with an industrial feel and an atrium space too!
	Alder Manor We have worked here numerous times and are always charmed by the spooky beauty of Alder. It’s a gilded age mansion with the perfect amount of gentle decay and privacy for a great setting. The main entryway makes for a beautiful place to dance all night on 100 year old marble floors.
	BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) BAM has its own sound staff and a full DJ booth so we are able to offer reduced pricing here. This cheerful couple work in the creative arts and so it meant a lot for them to host their wedding in a space that has such a rich history in the creative realm but also could pack a crowd that wants to dance!
	Battery Gardens RIP Zelda. Manhattan’s only wild turkey who we met here. Pretty special to be by the water!
	Belle Haven Club This private club is gorgeous and is right on the water with a dock view and very kind group of staff. Weddings here sprawl into a tasteful tent and though its a private club they were very cool with a raucous dance floor!
	Boscobel Stunning view of the Hudson from this high point on a hill! Weddings here are generally tented because there are no other indoor options, but the grounds are absolutely beautiful.
	The Atrium at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens This striking and modern space is an architectural award winning addition to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and has sweeping curved glass walls. Guests can dance inside and wander out onto the candlelit terrace that is both very private and thickly planted with beautiful and rare greenery.
	Jane’s Carousel Though it’s a bit odd how publicly situated this venue is with its shared boardwalk, it has one of the best views we’ve seen and centers around a painstakingly restored classic 1922 carousel. Because it is so open it is great for a cocktail style weddings and it was a fun perk to see strangers on the boardwalk dancing as we DJ-ed for the wedding guests!
	Cubana Social This awesome restaurant in the heart of Williamsburg is owned by a passionate young Cuban chef with immense talent and great taste. It is occasionally rented as a medium sized wedding venue with an open plan, art-deco accents, super-friendly staff and an in-house sound system. It feels so private despite its very central location.
	Dumbo Loft and Dumbo Spot The Dumbo Loft is a fun and open warehouse style space situated in the heart of Dumbo and they have a smaller space called the Spot, just across the street. The big open dance floor is great for a crowd that gets down!
	Ham House This is an impressive hillside Italianate Mansion in Tivoli NY which has been lovingly updated by its owner.  Dinner and dancing generally takes place in a Sperry tent set on the clay tennis court, but there’s also a modern pool garden that’s amazing for cocktails that feels like it’s right out of a painting!
	Housing Works This well loved neighborhood bookstore undergoes a quick transformation and becomes a great space for a medium sized wedding. This couple and their crew were big record collectors so we brought out the weirder stuff and they loved it and partied all night.
	James Michener Art Museum This is a new space enclosed in glass and facing a modern stone courtyard. The museum allows guests to wander through the galleries as well. This couple did an elaborate first dance and magic tricks for one another which was a first!
	The Kaaterskill This venue is not far from Kingston NY in the Catskills and it has recently been updated. There’s an Inn onsite along with several spaces so that you can really take over. Adorable alpacas and sheep graze in a nearby pasture and create an farm atmosphere. The barn space where the party goes down opens out onto grassy fields where the views of the stars are incredible.
	The Lace Factory A fun artist couple has been careful not to overdo their updates to this riverside factory building from the 1920’s and it retains so much character and worn wood floors and huge old windows that make for a great dance space. There’s also an enclosed grassy courtyard.
	Mondrian Hotel Soho This lovely wedding started on the roof terrace of this boutique hotel with an astonishingly broad view of downtown Manhattan. Not kidding, it is the tallest building around at 25 stories. It then progressed into the ultra modern Isola with attached brick garden for dinner and dancing. So pretty for the warmer months.
	India House This venue is super old-world-NYC down in the financial district. It has such a classic feel of an old club from the Gatsby era with lots of spaces to explore.
	My Moon Tables must be moved following dinner to accommodate a dance floor at My Moon but that didn’t hamper this fun couple and their guests from having a wild night of dancing. It’s an impressive amount of space for its location in the center of Williamsburg.
	Oheka Castle This is a very large venue! The ‘castle’ itself was originally built in 1919 and is the second largest private home in the United States.
	The Foundry at Lake Oswego This venue has a state of the art sound system already in place and its riverside location makes it a great place for an evening walk before a wedding. Just a few minutes away from the heart of Portland.
	The Wythe Hotel We love the Wythe and Abby frequently DJ’s up on the roof at the Ides. Their wedding/event space has the same broad warehouse feel and includes an attached outdoor terrace plus amazing food from the adjacent Reynards restaurant. It’s completely sequestered from the rest of the hotel, you’d never know it was there but yet there’s tons of space.
	The NoMad Hotel This rooftop is a rare oasis in Manhattan that stays clothed in a gorgeous Morrocan inspired tent with elaborate rugs for 9 months out of the year and looks right up to the Empire State Building. There is a tiny cupola up there that would be great for small dinner parties. Their staff couldn’t be more gracious!
	Grand Ballroom at The Plaza New York City’s most fabled hotel is the Plaza and the grand ballroom is in no way an understated place to have ones wedding, with gilded moldings and a perched balcony for a DJ booth!
	The W Union Square Even though this hotel has been modernized this ballroom retains its prewar feel and design and it enough intimacy for a fun dance party.
	620 Loft at Rockefeller Center Up there in a revered building such as this who knew you could find such a tranquil garden and a tastefully minimal loft for dining. On a warm June night this couple came out onto the terrace to dance and party under the skyscraper lights, pretty cool setting.
	Ramscale Studio We have worked here numerous times and appreciate how flexible the space is, with 2 terraces and 2 lofts all on the same level. It has a great city view of the Hudson too, which guests can enjoy from the windows when it’s cold outside or from the terrace in warmer months!
	Greenpoint Loft This rustic old factory loft space is huge so it needs a bit more sound equipment than our average but it is awesome! It also has a mezzanine, a roof deck and tons of room to do whatever you imagine. The extremely dear couple we worked with here most recently had a crowd of all ages dancing nonstop.

We feel fortunate as we look back on 2012. We worked with some really lovely couples, some incredible new venues, and some talented and creative people who make great weddings come together. Thank you all!

	Gangnam Style: Do you hate it or do you love it?? We will let you decide… This song came out of South Korea from virtual obscurity and almost overnight it blew up all over the world… that’s for sure! While we commend PSY for his success, we are pretty sure that Gangnam Style has now joined the ranks of ‘The Macarena’ or ‘Who Let the Dogs Out.’ Remember those cringe-worthy songs?
We were spared by Sandy, but sadly a lot of wedding vendors, whom we deeply respect, were not so fortunate. This Brooklyn Based flower company is partnered with an old college friend, and unfortunately their Red Hook warehouse took a hard hit during Sandy. They have rallied since then and are back on their feet. Check out their blog updates from that time.
	On a sad note, we lost a friend and a fellow DJ from San Francisco, the inimitable Matthew Africa. In addition to being an accomplished attorney and one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet, Matthew was a longtime DJ, and record collector, who was respected among fellow high-caliber DJ’s across the country. He had impeccable and vast knowledge but would never be a snob about it. He perished in a car accident this fall and we miss him terribly. It is sad to know that someone who was so deeply knowledgeable about music and always was willing to share what he knew, will no longer be able to do so. His depth, taste, insight, and general awesomeness live on through his classic mixes. Rest in Peace friend!
Levi Levi Levi!!! Levi Stolove is one of our favorite people with whom we’ve worked. So much so, that he actually shot our wedding in 2010. Levi definitely transcends the things that make it so easy to be a photographer these days. It’s not just his eye, but his demeanor that comforts people into just the right moment when he can capture it and freeze it perfectly in time.
	Lots of great music came out this year from all directions, but if there was one track that grew on us even after hearing it all over the radio for months, was Usher’s “Climax.” In our opinion, the single of the year, with almost a dozen or so different runner-ups nipping at  it’s heels. Diplo‘s minimal production really gave this track something unique.
We fell in love with Tame Impala’s 2010 album ‘Innerspeaker,’ so we were excited for their second album, ‘Lonerism’, and it did not disappoint. It was our favorite LP of 2012. You listen to it and it’s just everything all at once- perfect psychedelia that doesn’t sound like it’s trying to be retro, perfect electronica without being a boring monotonous breakbeat. And from these kids who probably grew up loving classic hip hop, that influence is buried in there too if you know what to listen for. To quote Pitchfork, it feels like “the subliminal whisper becomes a rhythm track, a barreling drum break is severely tweaked to sound like an oncoming rush of bison”.
	We travel a lot for work, and one of the silver linings to that travel is the amount of amazing things we find out on the road. Thrift Stores in Maine to Garage Sales in Texas… nothing is safe. Here are a few memorable things we found in 2012: Our favorite vintage record score of 2012, was Ted Lucas’ self titled LP that we found in Portland, Oregon at Crossroads Music. I could go into detail explaining what makes this recording so special, but I’ll let you figure it out. Just have a listen.
Abby was standing next to the counter flipping through a book as I was buying some rap singles from the dollar bins at a Philadelphia shop. I looked over, and it was hard to keep a poker face when i saw what she had just found– ‘Native Funk and Flash’ This WAY out-of-print gem captures the beauty of 60s and 70s San Francisco fashion, with an emphasis on crochet and embroidery.
	When they tell you that you can’t buy anything for $5, you can tell them about this – a late 60’s motorcycle vest worn to perfection. A perfect piece of Americana captured at a flea market in Fall River, MA, on the way home from a beautiful wedding in Cape Cod.
In Washington State, we stopped by the Hama Hama oyster farm and got an amazing tour of the boat and facilities. Harvesting oysters is such an amazing trade! It also culminated in a glorious feast of some of North America’s finest shellfish.

Phew! That was a close one. We almost lost our sound systems to flooding down in the Gowanus Canal, but preparations bought last minute from a neighboring Lowes saved the day! We truly hope that all of our tri-state warriors stay safe out there. Long Island and Jersey, you are in our thoughts.

Reggae is a genre that divides–most people either love it, or don’t. There isn’t too much middle ground. As with all genres, we accept that, and in our work we know that we have to put our clients’ tastes in music first and shape what we play around that framework. Whether you love reggae or not, it is noteworthy to mention that the roots of DJing and using 2 turntables and a mixer, truly started among Jamaicans.

“The sound system concept first became popular in the 1950s, in the ghettos of Kingston. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers and set up street parties. In the beginning, the DJs played American rhythm and blues music, but as time progressed and more local music was created, the sound migrated to a local flavor. The sound systems were big business, and represented one of the few sure ways to make money in the unstable economy of the area. Turntablism, the art of using turntables not only to play music but to manipulate sound and create original music, began to develop.”

It’s a pretty remarkable influence on modern culture for such a small country. This coming Monday, August 6th, marks the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence. In honor of that, we went to see a screening of the classic 1978 movie “Rockers” at BAM cinema . It was the opening screening for their current film festival featuring 4 days of films from Jamaica. Rockers is filled with incredible reggae from that era, and the cast features real musicians from the time including Jacob Miller, Big Youth, Dirty Harry and Burning Spear. It is an incredibly real portrayal of the great styles of that era in Jamaica and is a modern take on the Robin Hood storyline.

In another nod to Jamaica, Abby will be DJ-ing a party tomorrow, Saturday, August 4th, out in Montauk at Ruschmeyer’s . In their outdoor space, the Sandbar, from 5pm to 9pm playing all reggae, all vinyl from her deep and extensive collection of roots era reggae records. Blackwell’s Rum the official sponsor of the event, was started by Chris Blackwell of Island Records fame. Sunday, there will be a live performance by the legendary Sister Nancy. If you are lucky enough to be out at the beach, please come say hi!!

You never know what you will discover. At Play Something Good, we share a love for thrifting, searching flea markets, and looking for treasures all over. It comes from our years of searching out records, but we love finding clothes, art, books, housewares, vintage stereo equipment, and musical instruments. We have learned a lot from what we have found over the years. Recently we were at an old consignment store in Philadelphia that was closing after 57 years in business. Abby has been finding amazing things there since she was a teenager. For years she noticed an interesting little hat that had always been perched on the head of a stuffed monkey in the window display. (a stuffed animal that is, not a real monkey) We both tried to tempt the staff to sell it to us, but we were always met with a– “that’s not for sale.” This particular day, the store announced it’s closing so Tom gave a final attempt at getting the hat. What do you know? Five Dollars!

The hat was really cool- it was a skipper hat shape, it looked older and had the  name “Lester Lanin” hand painted in script on the brim. There was something intriguing about it. Who was Lester Lanin? About a month later, in another city, at another thrift store, we came across another Lester Lanin hat! This one had a different shape but the same signature script writing right there on the brim. We had to know who he was, and so, upon further inquiry we found out that Lester Lanin was once a very famous bandleader and a great New York success story.

He began his career in the roaring 1920’s playing at cotillions and homes of the wealthy in New York and Philadelphia. He continued to become a hard working, successful and famous society band leader with recurring gigs at the inaugurations of Presidents Eisenhower thru Carter! He kept up, always embracing and learning new music from his start in the 1920’s through the 1990’s! What a vast repertoire!

From his obituary in the New York Times:

by 1992 had played 20,000 wedding receptions, 7,500 parties and 4,500 proms. He supplied danceable happiness to several generations of the richest and most beautiful people on earth, at events ranging from Queen Elizabeth’s 60th birthday party to the wedding of Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel to the private parties of the DuPonts, Chryslers and Mellons. He made music for Grace Kelly’s engagement party, and at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. He wrote “My Lady Love” in honor of their marriage.”

His trademark was his hats, which would be given away, tossed into crowds toward the end of parties, emblazoned with his name in signature script. They were a sought after souvenir and status symbol. At the time of his death in 2004 at age 97 it was estimated that 50,000 hats were given away over his long and impressive career. We loved learning about him by sheer coincidence through finding these hats. It’s inspiring to hear him interviewed about his life and work as he seemed to embody the spirit of what it means to rock a party. Be tight, entertain people and have fun:

‘Whoever you play for, try and make sure you were part and parcel of something happy, so if the woman whose party it was sees you on the street 15 years from now,
she’ll say, ‘Lester, you made my party.’ ”- Lester Lanin