Your trusty correspondent took a week off last week, partially to recover from his trip to Berlin, where he attended the noted dance emporium Berghain, a club in the direction of which some ‘heads probably bow and pray five times per day'. As you've read before, Berghain, located in an abandoned power station in East Berlin could easily stand in for any number of sets from the Tim Burton Batman films. Seriously the venue is no fucking joke. This week’s featured jockey Mark Louque will be playing at Berghain in a few weeks! So don’t step.
How do you organize your music collection? UGH...this is the hard part, but in a nutshell I organize my digital files in playlists and my vinyl by genre then alphabetized. I do not own any CDs.
What are the top five tracks in your iTunes, all time?
- Wax Poetic – “Sea Grass” (60 plays)
- LCD Soundsystem – “Yeah (Pretentious Version)” (54 plays)
- Matthew Herbert – “Foreign Bodies” (52 plays)
- Voices of East Harlem – “Right On Be Free” (49 plays)
- Britney Spears – “Boys” (48 plays)
What's your current typical tech set up for playing out? At home? When I play out I use Technics 1200mK2 turntables with Ortofon Nightclub E styluses and my Black MacBook (which I've nicknamed 'Oprah'), Traktor PRO, and an Audio 2 DJ sound card. The only difference at home is that I use a Presonus Firebox for my sound card.
What requests won't you take? I will not consider playing any artist whose name sounds like a baby's first word and other vomit of that nature.
You’re bombing. What's the next track? Gwen McCrae – “All This Love”. More importantly, what was the record that caused me to bomb? Get rid of her!
Who should play your funeral? I would like a giant orchestra playing Chopin's 'Funeral March' at half speed for 24 hours straight.
What are you when you're not a DJ? Full-time friend & lover, part-time know it all. Oh, and I make music, buy/sell records, bartend, and argue with my dad about the effects of a patriarchal society on a man's ability to love - he doesn't understand.
You're trapped on a desert island. Which diva have you brought along to eat? Aretha - DUH!!!
Top ten:
- Falty DL – All in the Place (Rush Hour)
- Pilooski – Rvng of the Nerds Vol. 10 (I Get Rvng)
- Discodromo – Ionio (Hnysndsysm)
- Erdbeerschnitzel – Tonight is Today (3rd Strike Records)
- FCL Let's Go (Wax Recordings)
- Unknown – Get to My Baby (TBD Extension) (Golf Channel Recordings)
- Nick Chacona – Be Like Olive (Levon Vincent Remix) (Mood Music)
- Rodion & Hugo Sanchez – Tape Oxyde (Hnysndsysm)
- Brend Harris - “Making Love” (Dream Records)
- Red Lion – “Living Together” (Claremont 56)
In addition to his impending dance with the bears in the pale Berlin moonlight, Mark has a busy April planned. New York dates include Rebel with Alon Geva on 4/16 (hey, that’s tonight!) XOO at Tandem in Bushwick on 4/17 (hey, that’s tomorrow night! (236 Troutman, Jefferson Stop on L Train), and the Cock on 4/30. He’ll also hit the Roxy in Boston on 4/29 and he’ll be playing Fag Bash in P’Town at the Fo’c’sle from 5/26 through the end of the summer. For more info, check Mark's website and his biweekly radio show and podcast “The Crave Club”.
Mister Dave Hughes has lived in Chinatown, the East Village, Tribeca, Long Island City, and Harlem, and he currently hangs his hat in Williamsburg. He likes politics, disco and whiskey. His writing has also appeared in Slant, New York, and other fine publications.
Image via Mister Isauro Cairo
