You Schmooze You Lose: The Prodigal DJ

After a three week hiatus, your DJ has returned from the murky depths. She has regrouped and is ready to sling her aural assault in your general direction. I have missed you, heathens. Have you missed Miss Motherfucker? No matter, we don't have time for reminiscing. The songs compiled for this set is a musical missive describing the bruises of a battered mind and a worried heart. Good news though, the Kaiser has retreated to the enemy base and the allied troops are still in tact. So onward and upward and off into this long overdue Schmooze. You Schmooze, You Lose: An Imaginary DJ Set By Jennie Willis Silver Apples- Misty Mountain Kicking things off is this mysterious track from the late-sixties electro duo Silver Apples. The rudimentary pulse of Simeon's hand built synthesizer evokes the feeling of impending emotional doom...but not without a few moments of ecstasy beforehand. Spacemen 3- Transparent Radiation (Flashback) Let's linger in our delirium with this mainline version of this Red Krayola song via Spacemen 3. The band's motto was "taking drugs to make music to take drugs too," and this adage certainly rings true with the distant strings and guitars, as well as vocals dispatched from the opposite end of reality. Big Star- Feel Alas, reality has to come crashing down at some point, and here it is with this raucous litany from the legendary Memphis group Big Star. This track lays down the law in clear cut terms: "You just ain't been trying. It's getting very near the end. I feel like I'm dying." David Bowie- We Are the Dead The theme of this reflective and subdued track from Bowie's post-glam opus Diamond Dogs is the relationship between Winston Smith and Julia from the dystopian Orwell novel "1984;" However the sad realization that the affair should have ended before it began can be taken as universal. Low- Point of Disgust Have you ever poured your heart out to someone, only to have your words pass by their comprehension time and time again, no matter how you strain to expound your point of view? This gentle slowcore dirge from Low believes you have. The Modern Lovers- I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms Tension and anxiety over love was never so upbeat. The world can be a hard place indeed, so why is it so difficult to find a set of non-accusatory arms to provide solace from the cold morning? Maybe it's not that difficult after all. Maybe we're just searching in the wrong places. Nico- The Fairest of the Seasons Time to take a breath from all our pondering over the irrelevant. Time to put the situation into perspective. We might still be unsure, but this lilting track informs us that it's time to move on. Thee Oh Sees- Gilded Cunt This muffled garage track from Thee Oh Sees reflects that slight notion of hesitation on your part as you wait for hours for someone who will never arrive. Yet you still show him that you love her (or him) and that it's all you know to do. ? and the Mysterions- 96 Tears Vindictiveness is one thing we do well here at the Schmoozer. Just remember, no matter how bad someone might make you feel, how low they drag you, they'll have their fair share of tears somewhere down the line. They're gonna cry.