Category Archives: The Playlist

New Music

Future Islands, TR/ST and More January 2024 Music

Album covers for Future Islands People Who Aren't There Anymore and TR/ST EP
Album covers for Future Islands People Who Aren’t There Anymore and TR/ST EP

It’s Saturday morning on the last weekend of January and I’m listening to the new Future Islands album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore, for at least the third time since it dropped the previous day. I’m thinking about which songs might turn up in my DJ sets soon. I’ve yet to make up my mind. 

Sometimes, I listen to a new release and know immediately which song I’ll claim for my sets. That was the case when I heard TR/ST’s new EP the previous day. I wasn’t even fully awake when I pulled it up on Bandcamp, but was somehow cognizant enough to have very clear opinions on the songs. “Robrash,” which actually came out in December, was an obvious banger, but too stompy for my tastes. “Run,” featuring Cecile Believe, would probably do well on the dance floor, but the vocals give me Electric Daisy Carnival flashbacks, so I’ll pass. That cover of “Being Boring,” though, is gorgeous and exactly what I would play.

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The Playlist

Here’s What I Played at Klub Nocturno on January 20, 2024

View of the dance floor from DJ booth at Catch One in Los Angeles for Klub Nocturno January 2024 (Liz Ohanesian)
One of these days, I’ll remember to take a real photo instead of screencapping my video clips

I don’t know what to say about last night except, thank you, Klub Nocturno! I played in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room from open to close, where the night went by so quickly, at some point, I realized that it was past 1 a.m. and I had yet to play “Blue Monday.” 

I noticed people had started dancing during “Something to Remember Me By,” which was great on account of that being my favorite song from The Horrors.” When I dropped “10:15 on a Saturday Night,” which ended at the time stated in the song title, I looked up and the room was pretty full. It was a really fun crowd and I’m very grateful to have had the chance to play for them. 

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The Playlist

Here’s What I Played for Dolce Vita at The Mermaid on January 16, 2024

Photo of skulls on the wall at The Mermaid in Little Tokyo Los Angeles (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)

For as long as I’ve been DJing, I’ve been keeping track of my set lists. Somewhere in my, er, archives (really, boxes of folders that I haven’t gone through since college), there are probably old playlists of my KXLU shows and crumpled bits of paper from my early club sets. I started sharing the set lists online before social media mostly so that people who went to the clubs could familiarize themselves with the new music and people who weren’t in L.A. knew where they could dance to Ladytron or Miss Kittin or whoever when they visited our fine city. (And, that actually worked, I did meet people from as far as London and Berlin who saw my set list in some electro-indie-whatever forum.)

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The Playlist

Here’s What I Played at Club Underground on January 12, 2024

Photo of large Alladin Sane David Bowie banner outside of Grand Star Jazz Club in Los Angeles for Club Underground Bowie Nite on January 12, 2024 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
The Bowie banner outside of the Grand Star on Friday night. (Pic: Liz O.)

My first club gig of 2024 was Underground’s Bowie Nite on January 12. Both floors of the Grand Star Jazz Club were open, so Larry G. played all the David Bowie jams downstairs. That’s also where people were able to get their Bowie makeovers from Miho. Meanwhile, I was upstairs playing all the other Underground jams, or as many as can be squeezed into a four hour set. Thanks to Larry for having me play and for everyone who spent some time on the upstairs dance floor!

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Adventures in L.A., Got It On Vinyl

New Year, New Vinyl

Records from Musical Youth, Detroit Grand Pubahs, Body of Light inside Going Underground Records in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles from "New Year, New Vinyl" by Liz Ohanesian
Records from Musical Youth, Detroit Grand Pubahs and Body of Light inside Going Underground Records (Pic: Liz O.)

My first quandary of 2024 occurred late in the afternoon on January 1 inside Going Underground Records as I quickly flipped through a crate of indie releases alphabetized by the letter F. There, I found Kate Fagan I Don’t Want to Be Too Cool and Future Islands As Long As You Are on vinyl, both of which I could use in my collection. But, when it comes to new vinyl, I need to exhibit some restraint. Which should I choose? 

In the end, I chose neither. 

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The Playlist

Here’s What I Played at Club Underground’s New Year’s Eve Ball

Club Underground New Year's Eve Ball December 31, 2023 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
I probably should take pics, but I don’t, so here’s a screenshot from some video I got during “Tren al Sur.”

It was such a 2023 ending to the year. I was upstairs DJing at Underground’s New Year’s Eve Ball and preparing for the countdown. My stupid iPhone does everything but count down the seconds to midnight. So, I find a website with the time in L.A. down to the seconds. We’ve got 15 minutes to go. I slow things down with “Por Que Te Vas” so people can get their drinks. Keep it mellow with “Tide is High” and “Rock Steady.” We’re about three minutes away from midnight when I work in “E.V.A.,” then one minute, then 30 seconds. Then the website crashes, because, of course that’s what will happen at the end of the year where everything stops working. We got through the countdown regardless, but I’m adding  “watch with a second hand” to the list of antiquated things I need to get this year because nothing new works. 

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DJ Diary, The Playlist

Here’s What I Played at La Cuevita on December 22, 2023

La Cuevita bar in Highland Park, Los Angeles (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Waiting for the Lyft outside of La Cuevita. (Pic: Liz O.)

We were right around a dark stretch of the 110, near where the freeway crosses the L.A. River when I saw very brief flash of light and heard my Lyft driver gasp. Somebody was running across the freeway, he said. I looked to the side and saw a figure— thin, dressed entirely black save for the sneakers, which had something reflective on them— climb over the barricade. I don’t know about the driver, but I was stunned for the rest of the ride home from La Cuevita, remaining mostly silent through the end of “Personal Jesus,” which was bumping in the car, and then nervously tapping the beat of “This Charming Man” on my leg while thinking about how grateful I was to have gotten such a good driver right before the surge pricing went into effect on the Friday before Christmas. 

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The Playlist

Here Are My Top 10 Albums of 2023

Composite of album covers for top 10 albums of 2023 from DJ Liz O. Includes cover images for Taleen Kali Flower of Life, Grey Factor, 1979-1980 A.D., Optometry After-Image, Decisive Pink Ticket to Fame
Included in my top 10 albums of 2023 are (top row) Taleen Kali “Flower of Life,” Grey Factor “1979-1980 A.D.” (bottom row) Optometry “After-Image,” Decisive Pink “Ticket to Fame”

I don’t know if the annual “best of” lists are necessarily fair. There is still a virtual pile of 2023 albums on my Bandcamp wishlist and running list in my head of albums that I need to hear. There are likely new albums from bands I follow that I don’t know about because, well, you know how social media works these days. Then there are the albums and bands who aren’t even on my radar, but will be next year, or the year after that, or maybe a half-decade down the line. Still, I made a list of my top 10 albums of 2023 that include music you may have heard in my DJ sets IRL, on Mixcloud or a few of the radio appearances I’ve done this year.

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The Playlist

Here’s What I Played for Dolce Vita at The Mermaid on November 28, 2023

Two classic margarita drinks with salted rims at The Mermaid in Little Tokyo Los Angeles (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Margaritas at The Mermaid (Pic: Liz O.)

A few years ago, I finally got over my fear of tequila (we’ll save that story for another day) and realized that I love margaritas. They’re tart and salty with just a hint of sweetness underneath, all qualities I appreciate in everything. The Mermaid, where I play (more or less) monthly as part of L.A. Industrial’s party Dolce Vita, is home to a very good margarita. In fact, I would say, no matter who is bartending on any given night, it’s consistently the best classic margarita I’ve had. I don’t know the secret. I just know that it’s so good that I keep going for the margarita instead of working my way through The Mermaid’s ample menu of cocktails, even though I know from experience that their specialty drinks are delicious.  

So, that’s my tip for you today. Get yourself a margarita next time you’re at The Mermaid. Here’s my set list from Dolce Vita. Catch me next week at the Grand Star on Sunday, December 3 for Disco Matinee and on Friday, December  8 for Depeche Mode Night/My birthday at Underground. 

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Got It On Vinyl

It’s Time for a Christmas Disco Classic From Charo

Charo "(Mamacita) ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus?" 12" single with Tom Moulton mix released on Salsoul in 1978. Seen here at Pasadena City College Flea Market. (Photo: Liz Ohanesian, February 2022)
That time in 2022 that I found the 12″ single for Charo “(Mamacita) ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus?” at PCC Flea Market. (Photo: Liz O.)

The 12” appeared in the midst of a deep dig through crates set up inside a Pasadena City College parking garage during the monthly PCC flea market. I had already excavated records by Harry Nilsson, Tangerine Dream and Patrice Rushen when a friend, whose visit to Los Angeles was the catalyst for this adventure, called me over to a booth filled with soundtrack albums and soul records. I flipped through As the Record Turns ‘ vinyl selection and paused when I noticed “(Mamacita) ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus?” the 1978 disco Christmas single from Charo, “A Tom Moulton Mix” released as an extended 12” single on Salsoul with a stamped note on the backside of the cover that read:

 “In all my life, the most happy time of the year is Christmas and I want to share it with you. When you play this record I’ll be with you. Merry Christmas. Love and cuchi cuchi, Charo.”

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