Of the four weekends in May, only the first was available for everyone to get together. We were short a few people due to circumstances, but it was still a good time. Dwayne, Ryan, Melody and I had a great meetup. We started the night with a circuit of Songs You Can’t Live Without. We each played one in turn, then repeated once. This, I think, is a great way to start the night. With more than four people though, it might need to be cut to one song per person. I’m trying to come up with numbers for things like that. Five participants, five-minute songs, how many fit in an hour? I think from here out though, when it comes to spinning the record or CD, we’re going to limit that to 30 minutes or so per person. That way we can still have a reasonably early night.
Anyway, I started the show by playing (and apparently introducing to everyone) the Avett Brothers record, “I and Love and You”. This is a double-LP record, so I only played the first LP, which takes just around thirty minutes. This got good response from everyone, even though it’s not the standard fair. I do think this is a good break from the typical norm we spend our time listening to. Down-home, roots country. Bluegrass. Wonderful album.
Dwayne went next and played us a reggae CD that he says is a classic. It’s called “Night Nurse” by Gregory Isaacs. This entire album is only 33 minutes long, so it fit without having to skip any tracks. This is a nice reggae branding of love music, a lot different than the one he brought to the first Note Night. Very enjoyable, and made me want to be sitting by a pool with a drink in my hand, watching – well, watching things. Thank you, Dwayne, for putting that in my head.
Ryan finished the Spins with Beck’s “Guero” CD, which we listened to most of. This is another break from the typical norm – for all of us. Beck is an extremely talented musician, and it’s hard not to hear something you like on one of his records, even if you don’t like it all. However, we were all in agreement on this one. We all liked it all. Great stuff by a really innovative musician. We had a great time with this album, for sure. Thank you, Ryan!
Not having Lisa there, we didn’t do any dancing, sadly. She’s the dancing queen, you know? But we still had a great Spotify Singles Session. There were several fuck-you themed songs, starting with Sara Bareilles and her perfect F-you song, Sweet As Whole. Melody made a charcuterie board and sandwich fixings, and I served up a batch of old-fashioneds to get the night started. The whiskey flowed and the music blasted. What a great night. We are looking to grow the group a little bit. So if you know anyone, you might want to bring them by.
Next month’s premeditation topic: Bring your best movie soundtrack. Since this is the assignment and the Secret Spin, we will be playing the whole albums, unless you bring Forrest Gump, which is like two hours’-worth of music. Furthermore, I will allow them to be played from the Spotify computer, since not everyone buys soundtracks. I know I don’t. See you next month!