OK, so maybe Stinkweeds staffer Dario Miranda isn't exactly running around flashing his bits and pieces but he might as well be. We'll get to that later.
In Phoenix, Monday nights traditionally belong to DJ Shane Kennedy and his "Torch and Twang" evening at Carly's Bistro where he plays everything from beat jazz to obscure oddities to modern indie rock goodness. When it was announced gritty crooner Tom Waits new album, Bad As Me, would be dropping this month it was only logical that Kennedy and Stinkweeds would team up to celebrate with a listening party. Waits is a staple in Kennedy's repertoire of records and a favorite among the Stinkweeds crew.
From 8 p.m. to 11, the ANTI records release will be played in its entirety while giveaways are dished out and prizes awarded to Tom Waits trivia winners. As for Miranda's undressing? That takes place at the Crescent Ballroom immediately following the release party. There, Miranda and the rest of the Stinkweeds staff, along with New Times' own Jason P. Woodbury and Jessica Hill, will be playing their 15 favorite songs of all time.
Check it: Fifteen favorite songs. Of. All. Time.
A compilation of this magnitude isn't just a personal and intimate query into a music lover's soul, but pretty much the ultimate invitation to scrutiny. We caught up with Miranda to talk about the all-night Stinkweeds affair for more details.
And in case you need an added incentive to join in on these shenanigans, purchasing a drink at Carly's tonight, earns you a dollar off a drink at Crescent.
On the Tom Waits listening party:
Dario Miranda:We've been trying to do more listening parties lately and Tom Waits being, all of us who work here anyway, one of our favorite artists, we thought that would be a good thing. Separately from that, Shane Kennedy suggested doing a listening party at his night at Carly's that he does every Monday. You're almost always guaranteed to hear a Tom Waits song when he DJ's there. So independently of us thinking about it, he made the offer so we thought, that's perfect, we can just go ahead and get on his night.The people that do go to his night's are mostly Tom Waits fans, so they're the type of people that would be into that sort of thing.
On his 15 favorite songs:
The funny thing is, we're all album listeners if anything. It's been a lot of fun trying to figure out what our favorite songs are.
I've DJ'd a little bit before, but it's very different when you're asked to play your 15 favorite songs. DJing just for people, that's nothing. You're just playing music that you think everybody will like but when you're asked to play your 15 favorite songs ... like that's such a big thing. It's definitely a little bit different than just trying to entertain a crowd. It's entertaining people and exposing yourself at the same time.
The challenges of compiling such a list:
There's two problems for me: One is that I just like to listen to entire albums. I don't even have favorite songs in those albums, I just like to hear the entire thing. The other thing is that I grew up listening to world music and jazz and just a lot of weird shit basically. And the other part of it is, I cant play that 25 minute long Charles Mingus song that I absolutely love. I'll be playing a Charles Mingus song but it's not a long one, but it will have the elements of that song that I like. So that's been kind of the challenge for me and probably everyone else as well. That's the fun part of it though. Figuring out what are the songs that always stick with you. It hasn't been so much surprising myself as it is rediscovering things that I forgot I loved.
I think with the iPod culture, there's this tendency for people to make a playlist and just go back to the same songs. All of us that work here, we don't do use iPods in that way. You know -- we buy albums, we buy CDs. We go home and put a CD or a record on and we listen to it all the way through.
It's such a weird thing. Fifteen favorite songs. You feel so naked.
