Mallory's Picks of 2012

Top 3... Rebirth, catharsis, and subterranean rivers.

Dead Can Dance - Anastasis. Intensely calm and ancient, like the sea of grass slowly rising and reaching out to the sun. They made the top of my list, as a sign of gratitude for the experience this music has given me.
Swans - The Seer. The darkest and weightiest of them all, as powerful as black earth, Swans destructure and restructure your soul. Yet the flipside of this darkness is catharsis. This is sheer slow-burning force cleverly disguised as music.
In Death It Ends - Forgotten Knowledge. Eminently bewitching and tension-fueled, this music makes me think of the strong, pitch-black current running underneath reality as we know it.

The rest:

Aimon - Flatliner
Morten Harket - Out of My Hands
School of Seven Bells - Ghostory
Trust - TRST
In Strict Confidence - Utopia
Tristesse Contemporaine - Tristesse Contemporaine
Julia Holter - Ekstasis 

2012 Jazz Releases I Love

This Sunday's 9 to 11 set will highlight some of the best jazz albums of 2012. In my opinion, these include: Trio Libero features a trio with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and Michel Benita and Sebastian Rochford. It's a beautiful album with master musicians who are exemplars of what jazz musicians can be. Brad Mehlbau Trio's Where Do You Start is another beautiful jazz album featuring Mahlbau's stunning piano playing. I will be highlight several others as well - all from 2012. There's great music from 2012 and I look forward to even more great music in 2013.

Christmas Jazz on Sunday Morning for Sway

The world of jazz is full of wonderful Christmas music and it will be on display on Sunday morning at The Velvet during my regular 9 to 11 AM SLT Jazz time slot. I will be spinning John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Dexter Gordon and dozens of other jazz greats who celebrate the holidays with that special jazz panache. In the holiday spirit, all tips will go to the Together For Sway fundraising event. Sway is a Second Life® furniture-maker who has always been among the first to volunteer for charitable events. She is now facing several months of recovery after surgery and the community of Second Life is working to help sustain her during her recovery. Please swing by for the Christmas Jazz and to make a contribution in the spirit of the season. 

Solstice bells

The Velvet's Xmas party gathers the seasonal solar celebrations all under one roof in a celebration of goodwill and excellent music! Live DJs and no shortage of reindeer, fine wines, festive fodder and dancing elves. 

DJs Kanjena the Solstice Witch from 3-5pm. 

Paradox the demonic Krampus from 5-7pm 

Maht the Merry Lord of Misrule 7pm onwards.

Expect the usual selection of predictably unpredictable sounds from disparate genres 

Happy Sunshine.

Dox's 2012 Favs tonight

Hey all, I'm playing part 1 of my sets of personal favs from 2012 tonight. Hope you can come by and check out what I think rocked 2012. I'll be playing Django Django, Thee Oh Sees, Tame Impala, Bob Mould, Deerhoof, Crocodiles, Fresh & Onlys, Ramona Falls, Imperial Teen, Tindersticks, Grizzly Bear, Micachu, David Byrne & St. Vincent, Wedding Present, Jack White, Islands and more 5-7pm at the Velvet

Pol Arida at the Velvet

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of hosting a live performance by the incredible Edinburgh based musician Pol Arida; "the Hitchcock of Songwriting" as Nick Cave called him.
I did wonder what Olde Nick meant by that? Is Pol rotund and artistically sadistic? Is he really good at long camera shots that reveal something terrible? Actually the second one fits, he is capable of telling a story in a cinematic prose that reveals a terrible truth, and he does that with the suspense building guitar style known as the hammer.
It was a great gig, a real success, we had 37 people there at the peak, until they started crashing (good old Velvet sim) so big thanks to all who came, massive thanks to Pol, and huge thanks to the promoter M4SK, who runs the Lumeria art gallery on the Velvet sim. There will be more gigs in the new year including some names considered legendary in the music business.
Here are some photos by our resident snapper Dammi Quan.

noise

Every day I find the best song ever, sometimes more than one a day, and this one has been the best song ever so many times that it's about time it was shared today, here, in this receptacle of ghosts, to dwell haunted here by your motion captured shadows.
This band were a Japanese radical psychedelic noise band who were also heavily involved in political situations, protesting against the wankers who run the world. Nothing much changes, the wankers always run the world.
The music makes the world a better place.

Youthless - "Good Hunters"

Hey there everyone, just want to share this tune with you guys. Energetic and a good boost to start the weekend.

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Spooky Jazz

When I first approached the idea of doing a Halloween theme for my Sunday Jazz set, I thought I would just pepper in a few of the obvious songs such as That Old Black Magic and I Put a Spell on You. However, digging through my music this past week, I was surprised by how much there is that is perfect for Halloween.  In fact, the challenge was deciding what not to play. So much so that I am starting at 8:30 a.m. so I can play Miles Davis' inimitable Bitches Brew.



So yes, Sunday Morning Jazz will be all jazz - and it will be spooky.

Welcome to My Nightmare tonight with DJ Dox

Tonight's set will terrify and traumatize the living daylights out of you. It will haunt your nightmares, spook the horses, breath down the back of your neck and disconnect your phonelines. Truly scary, or just disturbing and deranged songs about murderers, psychos, stalkers, and other charmers to celebrate Halloween in proper fashion. This ain't trick or treating. Nick Cave, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Decemberists, Dalbello, Clinic, Warren Zevon, Massive Attack, Brian Eno & David Byrne, Modest Mouse, Steeleye Span, Sufjan Stevens, and more 5-7pm at The Velvet. Be there if you DARE

Bewitched.

Because Horror is a full time job, because the witches are the good guys, because the secret power of magic is love, because truth is an odd number, because because because because, because of the wonderful things we does...

I Rocked with a Zombie (tomorrow night!)

Tomorrow night I'll be bringing out the *un*dead with my ALL ZOMBIE set! From 7-9pm get your best zombie look together and stagger n' crawl on down to the Velvet a.k.a a fairground/shopping mall/bar/abandoned warehouse/other cliched place where all the townspeople are holed up to keep zombies out (shaw, like they can keep us out, the more brains we eat the smarter we get!) to feast on a bloody rotting mess of indie and punk tunes. That's tomorrow, fright night, Saturday night, be there with organs to spare.

Vampire Weekend (not the band)

Tonight in my series of Halloween inspired playlists, it's all about those bloodsucking mofos, the vampires. A blood-curdling set of vampy songs that doesn't suck, but it's got a lot of bite, and insert other bad vampiric puns here. No songs from the Twilight soundtracks, just Pink Mountaintops, Helium, Jonathan Richman, Voltaire, Flying Lizards, Rocket from the Crypt, Wesley Willis, Bauhaus, Slint, Planet Smashers, Dr. Dog, Pet Shop Boys, Roky Erickson, Birthday Party and more 7-9pm at the Velvet.

Nice Weather For Ducks - 2012

A very cool tune for this week post. This track is from the album "Quack!" from Nice Weather for the Ducks which is their first album.

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Satan Said Dance

I'll set the place on fire with sizzling hot songs about the devil tonight at the Velvet 7-9pm, as a precursor to my Halloween sets coming up soon. Burn up the dancefloor with me as I play evil devil music your mama warned you about from the likes of B-52's, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Band of Skulls, Say Hi, Blitzen Trapper, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Teenage Fanclub, Pinback, PJ Harvey,Iron & Wine, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Gil-Scott Heron, INXS, TV on the Radio, Vaselines, Dax Riggs and more.

Happy Pills & Season's Trees

Hello all,

Althought you all may say that Norah Jones is completely main stream, the truth is that the two tracks I am posting here today were made together with Danger Mouse which is not that mainstream. In my opinion both tracks are awesome.

The track Happy Pills is from the latest Norah Jones album - "Little Broken Hearts" (Danger Mouse as producer) and sounds very much like a pop theme:

This other track is taken from the album "Rome", from Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi featuring Norah Jones:

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Cinema with Mallory

Tonight I’ve got songs used in some of my favorite films, cinema-themed songs, original soundtrack, all fused together with quirky style and sense of melody, ranging from entrancing and gripping to chic and melancholy.

Jeanne Moreau - "Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves" (featured in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film Querelle)

Come dressed as a movie character or as you are!

Move Theme Day/Night

Now showing! The Velvet presents, in glorious technicolor and panoramic sound: Celluloid Heroes. A day of music from the movies that are beloved by 5 DJs from 1pm to 11pm. Come in costume as your favorite cinematic characters (or not, up to you). Buy some popcorn with "delicious yellow sludge" (to quote Enid from Ghost World), don your 3D glasses and grab a frontrow seat today, Saturday, September 29th at the glamorous Velvet theater.

Schedule:
1-3pm: Wiseblood Wisent
3-5pm: Kanjena
5-7pm: Mallory Cerise
7-9pm: Paradox Messmer
9-11pm: GypsyDoctor Donat

Julie & the Carjackers - Mr. Williams

Hello all,

I was keeping this music in my backlog here, the rhythm embraces the bossa nova at least, which is very cool. It also like takes me to a 70's atmosphere on the south side of the American continent.

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

"The joy you find here, you borrow"

Just a quick thank-you to everyone who made it to my birthday set yesterday. It meant a lot to me to be able to share my all-time favorite songs with you, the songs that have a lot of significance in my life.

Marianne Faithful - "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

Birds & Batteries - Let The Door Swing

Hello you all,

To be on the dancing spinning side of the week, catch this from Birds & Batteries:

Have fun!
Lobito Brando

The Order Of Death

Life is very circular, cellular and granular.
What goes around inevitably smashes through your window in a speedboat.
This is the best thing and the most terrible thing in popular cultural form that I have seen this week, beauty and terror and fantastic music.

Best Youth - Honey Trap

Hiya all,

Although this is a 2011 release the Best Youth tunes are airplaying mostly during 2012. For me they are fresh, and I really love their cool sound:

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Fading American Dream

For most of us, Labor Day has become the last big party weekend of summer. It's celebrated with picnics, not parades. Its connection to labor unions and the history of labor is all but forgotten.

Of course, we've never had an easy relationship with Labor in this country. International Labor Day is on May 1st - a day chosen in recognition of the Haymarket Riots in Chicago. If you think it's odd that the rest of the world celebrates a seminal event in American Labor history while we do not, it's not as odd as having our own Labor Day designated in honor of one of Labor's big defeats.

Our Labor Day is set in September in honor of the Pullman Strike - which was a defeat for Labor as the government stepped in and intervened on behalf of the Pullman company, forcing the workers back to work. Yet that is the event that is commemorated by the US Labor Day. It's appropriate, though, since our government has long had a hostile relationship with Labor.

Small wonder then that Labor is in decline and the American Dream is fading with it. In that light, then, I prepared a set with songs inspired by the Labor movement and by the state of the Worker. The music is is varied, as you can see from two samples from the set.


 

 Hazel Dickens was the voice of the miner's union. A bluegrass singer from a West Virginia mining family, she wrote the soundtrack to the history of coal mining. She has sung most of the great labor songs from Which Side Are You On and Fire in the Hole to Black Lung and Roll the Union On.


 

 Street Dogs is a Boston Punk band with a working class worldview and an activist heart. While their music is a world apart from Hazel Dickins, they are right beside her in spirit and heart.

Sunday Morning Jazz Goes to the West Coast

My usual 9 to 11 Sunday Morning Jazz set will stick to the West Coast this morning, but that's still a full plate of jazz served piping hot with your coffee. Among the best of West Coast jazz are Dexter Gordon, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Cal Tjader, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis and many more. I was listening to Tom Russell's Hotwalker today and got inspired.

The Living and the Dolls.

For the enthusiasts of tension-driven indie sound, stranger arts, haunted dolls, and exquisitely dark imagery: a machinima with the music by M4sk 22 and John Hyatt, starring truly yours.

The Wallies - At the Fair

Hello everyone!

Just let me know if these guys are doing or not an awesome sound? Their last EP called "Cream" is from July 2012. So make way for The Wallies:

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Apollo 440 - "Love Is Evil"

Enjoy.

Destroy

I love Prince Rama, and this single from their forthcoming concept album is super.

It was nice to be back at the Velvet after a long vacation, but my system failed me and I didn't get to play my set, so we all missed out on cartoon dancing to this super song.
I'll try again next week, hope you can make it, and you, and you too. x

Moon Duo - Sleepwalker

Hello all,

This last week I came across this tune. The sound of Moon Duo made me remember the sound of rock bands from the 80's-90's. Awesome sound and atmosphere simply love it...

So here they are Moon Duo with "Sleepwalker":

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Fri @ 7pm SLT - Next Level Beats

I have something really special planned for tonight. I have picked out 120 minutes of songs that I felt are fairly epic in terms of beat quality and dance quality. It's like, if I could kick your ass with just 30 songs, what would I pick? And this is what you will get. Come listen and dance. This is gonna be a good Friday.

We Trust - Time (Better Not Stop)

Hey you all, how is everyone doing?

I'm being away from SL but never stop thinking about great music to share with you here on Velvet.

The tune for this week post is one of the most amazing musics I came across last year (2011) so it could be some old for some of you guys, and can be refreshing and new for the rest of you. As I always say music is never old...

 
Take care, Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Cars, Cars and More Cars

Tonight's set is an ode to the car. From The Doors to They Might Be Giants, Johnny Cash to The Kinks, musicians have had a lot to say about cars. So car lovers - from 5 to 7 is your time tonight - at The Velvet

Velvet Sim

Sharing a lovely photo of the sim Dammi took yesterday.

Saturday, 5-7SLT

In my tonight’s set on the day of our sim opening, I’ll revisit some of my favorite musical moments of 2012, mainly of the deliciously dark variety. As a little preview, here’s something from a duo whose sound has been characterized as “at once funereal and exhilaratingly romantic”...

Tropic of Cancer “The One Left”

The Legendary Tiger Man - Radio & TV Blues

Hey guys,

For this week post I'll bring a music from a musician called Paulo Furtado, who's solo artistic name is "The Legendary Tiger Man". This guy not only have his own solo project, but he also works in a band project called Wraygunn (which I should post in a future post perhaps, I really should!), and he still works helping another musicians on their own projects. This guy really enjoys what he does and really have passion for music and art, and he is giving us a great collection of wonderful tunes. So let's hear the man...

 

 
Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Monday Night Miscellany from a Very, Very Complex Person

I can't say I have any organizing principle or theme for tonight's set. It's a mix of pop, rock, country and folk. Great songs, fabulous voices, interesting lyrics. It's just music - without regard to genre. Voices you may hear tonight: Jack White, Feist, Regina Spektor, Loretta Lynn, Jewel, Jenny Lewis, and Justin Townes Earle with bands from Waldeck to Monsters of Folk and Morphine.


From 5 to 7 PM SLT at The Velvet

This is not a very well thought out blog as I have very little time to write it. Just a quick note to say that I'll be playing another set of rockin' indie tunes tonight. There was going to be a theme of moody songs because the week had been so tough for me, but I decided it's too soon to depress everyone. And besides, I feel like cheering myself up with my usual mix of indie goodness.

Hopefully next week, I will be a little less scattered, with a fun theme.

Micro Audio Waves - "Sunshine Sunlight"

Hello folks,

For the last two weeks I've been traveling in my vacations. Now I'm back home so now it is the time to post here for you one great tune from a band called "Micro Audio Waves":

You'll be amazed by these guys, their sound sometimes resembles "Metric".

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Turn and turn about

YoYo subbed for me yesterday (I was fortunate to attend), so logically I will be subbing for Kanjena today from 3-5. (Will she be there?)

A Velvet patron recently recommended to me the No Smoking Orchestra led by musician and filmmaker, Emir Kusturica. Interesting! But I was more enthralled with a sort of predecessor of that band (for whom Kusturica briefly played bass and wrote a couple songs), Zabranenjo Pusenje, from Sarajavo, who played together  from '81 - '91. As Wiki tells it, they were a formative force of the New Primitivism cultural movement.

"The discourse of New Primitivism was primarily humorous, based on the spirit of Bosnian ordinary people from the cultural underground. They introduced the jargon, rich in Turcisms, of Sarajevomahalas (suburban neighborhoods) into the official musical and TV scene. Most of their songs and sketches involve stories about small people - coalmine workers, petty criminals, provincial girls etc. - put in unusual or even absurd situations. There are comparisons between Monty Python's Flying Circus show and New Primitives methods, as they share the short sketch form and utilize absurdity..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Primitives

What could be bad about that?

Wiki says, "Contrary to the then-prevalent punk rock and new wave, Zabranjeno Pusenje created a distinctive garage rock sound with folk influences..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabranjeno_Pu%C5%A1enje .  But they are punky in the purest sense - vital and socio-politically obstreperous.

If you can understand Serbo-Croatian, all the better. But I can't, and I'm still charmed.

Fri @ 7pm, I begin

Morgan here – posting all late at night due to excitement and lack of time before my set. Technically, this is the day of my set, so I guess it’s fine. 

It’s been nice to watch the new Velvet come together. I’ve been coming to Velvet since the year it first opened, so I am a long time regular of this awesome place. I love how much it has changed and grown. It’s pretty rad – dare I say better than the last one?

Anyway, I have recently been recruited into a DJ staff position and I will be having my debut opening tonight at 7pm sharp. I’m not totally new to DJing as I used to spin at some places. Night Light and No Label. (RIP) My first DJ gig was at Ooh La La. I never planned my sets. I just went with what I felt and let the set take its natural course. I've got quite a few songs queued up right now and am really happy with how this set is turning out.

This is the first time I have ever carefully hand-picked a set prior to spinning. For me, this is a big deal – landing a DJ slot at the very place that has been my refuge for so long. Tonight, I plan to introduce myself with songs that are from the heart, songs that speak to me on a personal level.  I'll play the songs that have been accompanying me on countless bus rides to school and work for the past two years, some new, some old. A lot of you know me through talking to me, but it's about to get a tad more intimate. Funny how we can speak through music whenever our words fail us.

The New Velvet's Special Weekend

I will be playing some rockin indie tunes tomorrow at the new Velvet. Such as the Japandroids :)

 

I hope you will join us for this monumental event featuring many talented DJ's and  help us break in the new Velvet and help out in raising some funds for our abrupt move. 

 

Click the image below for a SURL to the new Velvet location.

New Velvet Dreams

The Velvet clubwarming weekend is here and tonight I’m going to play various things that just make me happy, work wonders for my energy levels, touch me, and make me think of other special days in my life.

I also just want to say that the Velvet was the first club I went to after a long time away from SL. And I wanted to stay, even though it was obviously troubled at the time. With the club coming back to life with Maht as the manager, I found myself thinking of it as my SL home more and more often... Over this time, he showed me a lot of trust, not least of all by inviting me to become an assistant manager, and I genuinely appreciate that. Knowing that someone has faith in you is simply priceless. Yes, the Velvet is a true SL home to me: one I want to flourish, grow, and remain as musically inspiring and intellectually stimulating as it is now.

Finally, I want to thank my dear friends Dammi, Belle, Lux, and Kanjena for supporting me in my Velvet endeavors, either through advice, creative collaborations, being there for me whenever I felt disheartened, and many other ways.

David Bowie - "Outside"

A Heartfelt Expression of Gratitude

Velveetas,

My post yesterday was supposed to just be an invitation to come to our party this weekend, but I found I had a lot of emotions I need to express about our club, what it is, and why I love it. However, I was sadly remiss in not acknowledging the contributions of two people, without whom this week would not have been possible, and the club could well have just died.

Lux Chiantelle is a name most of you know. She's been a dj and an assistant manager at Velvet for quite a while. Mallory Cerise has been around for less time, but is no less valuable. Between them, they alerted me to the problem in the first place, helped me find the land to move the club to, and helped, oversaw or outright did so much of the work to make our new club a home. They did a thousand thankless tasks this week, all out of love for a fictional nightclub that we have all agreed is somehow of crucial importance. From researching items from the old build, to Lux's amazing rebuild of the iconic Velvet sculpture, now updated and even better than before, Mallory and Lux worked ceaselessly from the moment we realized there was a problem to the time of this writing. The three of us will likely remain pretty busy with all of this throughout the next week or so as well.

I've been getting a lot of congratulatory messages in the last few days, but I hope that all of you will find a moment or two to thank Lux and Mallory, indefatigable heroes of Velvet, who propped me up when I was injured, perked me up when I was tired, and did so much of the actual work to make this thing happen.

If I am to get credit for anything, it is in choosing such capable, loyal, and wonderful people to lean on in what would have otherwise been an unimaginable week. From the bottom of my heart, I wish to thank them both. I will try and do so better than this in private, but I felt it was important to do so here, in public, as well, so anyone who reads our blog would know how important they are to Velvet and its future.

While I am thanking people, I also want to thank each of the djs who have recommitted to this new version of Velvet, donating their time to play music for people whether it was their timeslot or not. Some of them will have ended up playing three or more times in as many days by the end of the weekend, just so we'd have something happening if people decided to come and see the new build.

So I find I have a theme for this celebratory Grand Reopening weekend. For me, this is a weekend of gratitude that the club exists at all, and is populated with so many wondrous, huge-hearted compatriots ready and willing to carry a load in service of something they have decided is bigger than any of us could ever hope to be on our own.

Viva Velvet.

Maht

Hey, there's a new club?!?

Eleven months ago, I took over as manager of the Velvet. It was not a job I especially wanted, but I felt I had a duty to the club, and to myself, to try and be a stabilizing force within this virtual place that had come to mean so much to me over the years. The club seemed to be in trouble, we had few active djs left, and I felt that I could either step up and see what I might do to fix it, or else walk away entirely from the place I thought of as my home in Second Life.

From the start, I had been uncomfortable with the layers of distance that existed between me as the manager of the club, and the people who owned the land, the build, and the club itself. It's hard to feel like you're in charge of anything but scheduling when you cannot decorate for Xmas because no one will log in to remove the Halloween decor. I asked for, and got, some additional permissions with regard to the club, but it still seemed like it was a matter of time before something happened that I would need to deal with and find myself unable to.

On Monday, events transpired that put the club's future in peril. A seemingly routine instance of the sim being unavailable was revealed to be a permanent deletion of our sim. The sim's owner was no longer an avatar in Second Life, and Linden Labs had deleted the sim. They allowed us a 24-hour reprieve to gather our belongings and clear out. I acted as rapidly as I could to secure a new sim, in partnership with Bohemian Ghost, where Velvet would be the cornerstone of the land we developed. In case it escapes notice, please note that the name of the sim on which we are now situating our little haven is "Velvet."

I not only had to claim new land, but also needed to build a new Velvet. And to do both of those steps meant I was now claiming ownership of the Velvet for myself. I have gotten blessings from some of the original folks (the ones I could reach). At the very least, the club's daily operation and its land are finally consolidated into one place. This won't make much of a difference to most visitors to the club, nor to most of the djs, but it makes a lot of difference to me, and it will make a difference to whomever should hold the job of Velvet manager if I decide to depart in the future.

I'm hoping that you all enjoy the new space. I know the floor has been somewhat controversial. Some people seem to love it, and some seem to hate it. To me, that is the clearest indication that it's the right floor for Velvet. The old floor seemed to provoke a lot of the same responses in people. We still have our bloodstain, and if you look closely at the current floor, you may notice that there is a ghost of the old checkerboard laid over the new tiling. Those who do not like the new floor are reacting to that same sense that motivated me to build the club anew in the first place: the Velvet has meaning, and it's important that it continue to exist. Cosmetic changes to the club's decor will never alter the spirit and the community that exists here.

My goal with the new build was to preserve the feel of our beloved, familiar space while making it into something new. Where I could, I have purchased a lot of the same furniture that we had at the old place, I have recreated, duplicated or bought some of the props and oddities that used to clutter our floors. I have also taken pains to not just recreate the old space, because this is meant to be a new version of Velvet. We have our ties to the past, but we are looking into the future, planting roots for what I hope will be many years of music and conversation.

This weekend, we are having the official Grand Reopening celebration, with 30 hours of tunes spread across Saturday and Sunday. The goal is to welcome you all to what I hope will be a place that means as much to you as our former location meant to us. The other goal is to try and raise some money to offset the additional financial burden our new arrangement brings. But mostly, it's an excuse for a party, which is something Velvet has always done well. So come hang out, hear some tunes, and get swept away by whatever momentary lunacy has struck our collective fancy.

I think we need a place like Velvet in SL, and that is why it took me no time at all to decide it was worth the additional money and time to build it again. I think it's important to have a place where the music is eclectic and dear to the heart of the person playing it: from Vivi and Albert playing jazz and swing tunes; to Dox's love of early 80s post-punk blended with interesting stuff that came out on Tuesday; Mallory's love of the darker things; Cajsa, Nuala and YoYo's delightful eclecticism; and all the rest of us, who play a sometimes staggering array of music that can delight, or transport, or awaken something in our listeners. Every dj who plays at Velvet (and, I suspect, each of the people who come out to hear them spin) is someone who loves music, and who gets excited by the prospect of sharing that passion with others. This is why they are my family in SL. In that respect, we are all the same, and I am honored to be able to shepherd the Velvet into its latest incarnation as a home for music and the people who love it.

The faces change sometimes, the club gets a new look, new music comes out. But always, I hope, there is the Velvet. So please, join us this weekend as we celebrate our new future, tell stories about our shared past, and dance our asses off to the music of some of the finest djs in Second Life.

-Maht

Velvet Relocation!

Hello Dear Velvet Friends,

Due to unavoidable circumstances the Velvet has moved to a new location. We are looking forward to another funtastic five years of music and frivolity. This weekend we will be having a housewarming fundraiser stay tuned for more details :)

Come join us at our new location (click the image for an SURL):

Hello all,

I am new to the Velvet family, and this my first post here.

Since one of the rules here is to play the music we love, I'm sharing with you today a song from a guy called David Fonseca. This one is taken from his latest album.
  

Let's see if you all like it as much as I do.

Cheers!
Lobito Brando

Brunch Time With Belle!!

Wooo some new Ty Segall in store for you today and a new Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti tune (OMG this song is sooo sexy). See you at the place where music matters!!!

In the Summertime When All the Leaves Are Green

It's sunny and warm and sort of perfect today - a great day for BBQ, hot dogs, beer and rockabilly. Hope you can head on down to the Velvet for some of the most fun music there is. My set is from 5 to 7 tonight.

It's no secret

Actor Ernest Borgnine passed away over the weekend, at age 95.
A few years ago on Fox "News", he gave away the secret.

Speaking of which, I'll be enjoying myself at The Velvet tonight, 7-9pm, SLT.
I have plenty of music to share with you, and that's big fun for me.
I wonder what I'll play?? Let's find out together.

Brunch With Belle!!!

Zola Jesus at Amoeba Music Hollywood...what a dumb shit I wasn't there!!!!!

Born to Go

Well we weren't born to sit around doing nothing were we? We have brains and bodies and this mind that enjoins the two, so we have to do something, right?
You can't do much without passion though.
The message from the powers that be is an instruction in paranoia, with the intention of sapping our will, making us scared to move, scared of people who are different, imposing fears to make us passive to their demand for our servitude...it's an old trick.
The passionate people are marked as the crazies, but what is really crazy? We are here on this spinning ball of rock in the middle of fuck knows what? The one thing we can rely on is the fact that we are part of this circular process, and that's a revolution.
Have no fear.
This is the machinima created by the music and art collective M4SK 22 for the MachinUWA 5 challenge in Second Life.
I did some of the character acting and some costume design.
The theme was "seek wisdom"

The Velvet is a great collection of minds, bodies and pixels, I hope to spend more time there now summer is here! x

Saturday Magic

I just want to share a few photos, taken by my dear friend Dammi Quan, of the theme event Kanjena and I had this Saturday. Kavisha was inspired to do a really impressive, breathtaking, professional grade light show during both of our sets and I just can’t begin to tell what a wonderful experience it was. Also many thanks to Dammi for creating an enchanted, highly atmospheric mirror with a beautiful tarot slideshow.

You all made it a very special evening for me.

Back with Breakfast with Belle!!

Today, from 3 to 7SLT

Thanks to Lux for this amazing poster!

Happy Ninth Birthday, SL! DJing at SL9B

Like many of The Velvet DJ's, I signed up to DJ at SL9B. Most of us were trying to sign up for today so we could wrap everyone's Friday in Velvet. I was the lucky one who kicked the day off with a set at 6 AM. It was fun and I was thrilled to see YoYo and Nuala stop by. Because the theme of the SL9B is community, I decided to put together a list featuring the songs of community resistance and liberation from around the world. I was asked to post the playlist because many of the musicians were new to people, so here goes:

1. I Shall Be Released -  Nina Simone 
2. Baghdad -  Ilham Al Madfai
3. Africa Democratie (Democratic Africa) -  Ismaël Lo 
4. Aiwa -  Emmanuel Jal (Here's a link to Warchild by Emmanuel Jal)
5. Gula Gula -  Mari Boine
6. Soundtrack to the Struggle - Lowkey
7. I Am Resistance -  Rico Pabón 
8. N.E.S.T.A. (Never Ever Submit to Authority) -  Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra 
9. Papa Stop the War - Chicco 
10. Antigua -  Tom & Joy & Tony Allen
11. Liberator Of The Spirit (For John Coltrane) - Kamau Daaood 
12. Whispers in the Deep - Stimela
13. No Agreement, Pt. 2 - Fela Kuti 
14. Fight to Win - Femi Kuti 
15. La Bush Resistance (Featuring Tomer Yosef) - Balkan Beat Box
16. Let's Save The World - Enzo Avitabile
17. Fight For Your Mind - Ben Harper
18. People Have the Power - Patti Smith 
19. If I Ruled The World - Nas
20. The Revolution Will Not Be Online (feat. JerriZ) - Jay Cee Carroll
21. Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley
22. Cease Fire - Bunny Wailer
23. Djirim (The Orphan) - Thione Seck 
24. Clandestino - Manu Chao
25. Chatma - Tinariwen
26. Unplayed Piano (Chris Lord-Alge Mix) - Damien Rice 
27. We Shall Overcome - Charlie Haden (different version) 
28. What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

Lux's Licks...Tuesday...

                            Cat Power – “Ruin”Download

Guaranteed Fun.

Tonight's set is an eclectic mix from the funk jazz of Galactic to the lyricism of Andrew Bird to the neo-disco of Escort to the anthemic harmonies of Fun. By the way, one way to guarantee there will be fun is to play Fun. at least once. Right?

From 5 to 7 at The Velvet

Witch House Atmospherics

Trippy downtempo music from dark dance floors, mysterious and sensuous at the same time. Pour yourself a fancy, strange-looking drink and join me. Or get drunk on water, as Gilles Deleuze would have it.

5-7SLT @ The Velvet

Subbing for Julesette today

Unless I find out someone already grabbed it, I'll sub for Julesette today, at 3-5.

I am falling in love with Kishi Bashi. I'll play something from his new album. And something from Zammuto's and Squarepusher's new releases.

See you there.

Loving some Crocodiles right now :D

Tiger Milk - The Game

An Estonian electro project I've been enjoying lately. Stylish, sensuous video, perfect for the summer.

Staying Positive

I'm finding my feet here on Friday evenings. I admit I miss the Saturday afternoon crowd and the wonderful (and sympatico) dj who used to follow me - Kanjena. So please do come help me break the Friday night ice. I have a lot of hot music lined up - my favorite, an eclectic and stream-of-consciousness, something between a meander and an explosion. Punk, world, indie and alt rock.

At the end of a long car drive yesterday I found myself falling in love all over again with The Hold Steady. So I will play a track from Stay Positive. But here's a treat just for blog-readers: Ask Her For Adderall, which you can only find on the vinyl version of Stay Positive, or the special edition CD.

Lux's Song of the Week

Speaking of covers...

... No, not cover tunes, exactly - - though I'm TOE-dilly looking forward to Cajsa's Dylan cover set tonight - - no, speaking of covers, I just had album cover art on my mind.

I miss it.

Lining the right-hand margin here are a couple of the album cover images to some music I think I'll be playing during my Velvet DJ set tonight.

(7-9pm, SLT, following that Cajsa set)

I imagine I'll also be playing some tunes recorded in this century, never fear - - but these images are facsimiles of the art that appeared on vinyl LP jackets once upon a time. Y'know, real cover art!

Granted, I'm a fogey and I still have attachments to things of the past, my past. 

I love putting together music sets to share with you from my iTunes library, but I still tend to think of mp3 files and even CDs as facsimiles of the music I truly enjoy. It's not so much an audiophile issue, my hang-up isn't about sound quality, and digital files are hugely more convenient in many ways. 

I think really it's just pangs I have every now and then about missing the practice of being able to hold a record sleeve in my hand while I'm listening to the music.

Studying the art, the session info, the liner notes, and reflecting on all of it while the record plays. 

It's an object that's connected to the music. They go together.

So these days, as that tactile experience occurs less often, I find myself obsessing over tracking down these little images of "real" cover art to attach to the mp3 files in my library. (I'll always require something to obsess over)

Seeing the tiny cover image on my laptop is the closest I can get, I suppose, but I keep thinking they look like postage stamps.

(Postage stamps still exist, right?)

Rant accomplished, see you at 

The Velvet!

The Medal of Freedom

What do Bob Dylan and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Israeli President Shimon Peres, author Toni Morrison, civil rights campaigner and National Farm Workers Association co-founder Dolores Huerta and astronaut John Glenn have in common? They were all awarded the Medal of Freedom last Tuesday.

Dylan was honored for his long career and the considerable role his music played in the civil rights movement. Certainly his music is part of the fabric of our history. Dylan was a trailblazer and a transformative singer-songwriter whose music changed the course of the American soundtrack. In honor of this recognition - the highest award any civilian can receive, I decided to do a set of Bob Dylan covers. That's right - all covers - for four hours on Monday from 3 to 7 PM SLT.

The range of people who covered Dylan is kind of amazing, from Johnny Cash to the Ramones, from Link Wray to Antony Johnson, his music has been recast for pop, country, soul, reggae and electronic sounds. It's an amazing journey. I hope you can come.


 

Breakfast With Belle

It is as simple as ABC, stroll on down to the Velvet and brush off the Saturday night leftovers with me. I will be playing some tunes by Silversun Pickups, Mexican Institute of Sound, Wild Belle and much more.

Yo Digo Baile

Hope to see you there.

:)

I'm So Back!!!

Debuting my new Friday evening time slot. Back from hard drive crashes and all kinds of spurious adventures.

And it's my birthday. Well, close enough. It's my birthday set anyway.

To celebrate: a long reggae set that I hope will make you swoon, even if you didn't think a long reggae set would be that interesting. New Sidi Toure. Then a bunch of awesome women including new music from Sarah Jaffe, Regina Spektor and the intriguing Eliza Rickman (with her toy piano). Then some R&B and some Brit pop and various indie treats. A lot of stuff that I love. Let me share it with YOU. Or if you are reading this after the fact, do join me on future Friday evenings at 5 slt.

Filling in for the fish

I'm grabbing Koi's slot tonight in what promises to be far less double entendre-ridden than what I just wrote. Er, yeah. Here's a video for one of the tunes I'll be playing. It's full of summery images and fun, far away places (not to mention one laugh out loud edit that I could watch again and again).



At 7, Maht will be rocking per annum 1991, aka my most interesting year.

Summer Begins - Let's Go to the Beach

There's a reason Memorial Day has become the beginning of summer - a day of picnics and family fun in the sun. It's the first work holiday since the beginning of the year, ending the longest stretch of unbroken work of the year. School is out or soon will be and in the northern hemisphere, the days are getting longer, warmer and more promising.

So to celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer, I thought I would play the music celebrating the most summery music of all - surf guitar and the rocking music that developed around surf culture. My set starts at 5 PM SLT.


And bring your swimsuit!

Breakfast with Belle!!

Shake Shake Shake your sleepy self on down to the Velvet for some Sunday morning fun!! I will be playing some tunes by White Denim, Bear in Heaven, Chromatics and much more.

Hope to your pertty faces :)

At The Velvet 11AM SLT

A positive message in a negative land?

Maybe! Today @ 1pm SLT, at The Velvet, is a collage of... collage. Negativland, front and center. Bring your thinking caps, or a dunce cap, they'll both work. Take a load off and have fun with sound!

"This is all true, it's water I drink"

I love taking leisurely strolls in my musical collection and this week I came across the song off the first full-length album from the Brazilian group CSS that fitted smoothly in my set for this week. The rest of the songs on it strike me as perhaps less interestinf, but this one is deliciously defiant and mysteriously playful. So that'd be a little preview. Hope to see you tomorrow!

CSS - "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above"