Episode #8 - "Cities"
Don't worry, country mouse. We'll show you around.
Don’t me wrong - I love the country. I grew up mainly in small towns in the NE, and I’m pretty sure the moment I fell in love with my now-ex-wife was when we were driving around the Snoqualmie Valley and she said, “You’re getting the backroads tour from a small-town girl!”
But there is just something about cities. They share qualities, and yet each is distinctive in its own right. They are more than a place - cities are living, breathing, evolving organisms, a concept captured in books like John Shirley’s City Come A-Walkin’ or the Great Cities novels of our (IMHO) greatest living sci-fi writer, N.K. Jemisin.
A city is something you really need to experience at shoe-level. You can’t understand a city by driving through it - you need to touch it, to move within it, to hear it. Because cities also have their own soundtracks, which is probably why this theme of “Cities,” a theme we had visited once before in our pre-podcast days, exerted such a strong pull to be revisited.
Usually, this is where I compliment the Dilletante DJs on once again fully understanding the assignment, but this time that involves contorting my arm around to pat my own back because for this session, Rob stepped into hosting duties while I got to dabble in some list curation of my own.
We hope you enjoy listening to them as much as we enjoyed making them, and we are already back at work crafting a new batch!
You can also find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Jim's list:
Wax Tailor | Street Scent | In the Mood for Life | 2009
Wax Tailor | No Pity | In the Mood for Life | 2009
Ryan Gosling | City Of Stars | La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | 2016
Steering Jets | Cruising | Cruising | 2022
J. Cole | Trouble | Born Sinner | 2013
Nina Simone, Sofi Tukker | Sinnerman - Sofi Tukker Remix | Sinnerman (Sofi Tukker Remix) | 2021
50 Cent | In Da Club | Get Rich Or Die Tryin' | 2003
King Von | 2 A.M. | Levon James | 2022
Tove Lo | Habits (Stay High) | Queen Of The Clouds | 2014
Tom Waits | Little Drop Of Poison | Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards | 2006
G. Love & Special Sauce | This Ain't Living | G. Love And Special Sauce | 1994
Zach's list:
Dawes | Time Spent in Los Angeles | Nothing Is Wrong | 2011
James Taylor | Looking For Love On Broadway | JT | 1977
Little Feat | Oh, Atlanta | Feats Don't Fail Me Now | 1974
Low Cut Connie | Boozophilia | Call My Sylvia | 2012
Nina Simone | Baltimore - Live At Vine St. Bar & Grill/1987 | Let It Be Me (Live) | 1987
Pulp, Jarvis Cocker, Steve Mackey | Sheffield: Sex City | Intro: The Gift Recordings | 1993
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | By the Time I Get to Phoenix | Kicking Against the Pricks | 2009
Randy Newman | Burn On | Sail Away | 1972
Pretenders | My City Was Gone | Learning to Crawl (US Release) | 1984
Souxsie and the Banshees | Cities In Dust | Tinderbox | 1986
José's list:
Pet Shop Boys | West End Girls | Please | 1983
Roni Size, Reprazent | Watching Windows | New Forms | 1997
Flavien Berger | La féte noire | Léviathan | 2015
Dorothy Collins, Raymond Scott | Lightworks | Mahattan Research, Inc. | 2000
The Rolling Stones | Miss You | Some Girls | 1978
Black Pumas | Sauvignon | Chronicles of a Diamond | 2023
Tom Waits | Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson) | Nighthawks At The Diner | 1975
Black Sheep | Go To Hail | A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing | 1991
Tangerine Dream | Bonding By Candlelight | Three O'Clock High (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | 1987
Kae Tempest | Perfect Coffee | Let Them Eat Chaos | 2016
Bad Colours | Maybe I Should Move To LA | Always With U | 2022
We’ll be back to the usual line-up for next episode, but there have been rumblings around The Needle Exchange about some guest DJs in the future, so stay tuned!
Once again, a great podcast. From choosing of a theme, to compiling a playlist and sharing, to critiques from each DJ, it's always fun, and educational. Thanks, guys!