Original post here. Super excited to head down to Chicago and re-immerse myself into the familiar. I remember I did a Chicago theme’d mixset a few years back, so I decided to post it again. If you’re totally sick of my mixsets my man Jorge was featured on WNUR a few weeks ago! Check out his mixset HERE – now THAT’S the Chicago sound.

Here’s what I have planned / want to do so far (99% of which will probably change hee hee):

Fly in
Portillos with Mark & Chris
Cook with cousins
Lou Malnati’s
Hang out in Logan Square / Wicker Park
Clint / Jacqui chillaxathon?
Spin with Jorge somewhere
Sekrit favorite bar (NOT TELLING)
Do the tourist thang
Al’s Beef
Italian Ice
Rehearsal Dinner
Rhoda’s Wedding
Brunch @ Ann Sather’s or Wishbone

You can download the mixset here (Right-click and choose Save As…) via the Dogglounge, or sample the entire mixset using the audio player below:

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[See blog post to listen to audio]
Special*Dark – Chicago An After Hours Memory Mixset
(Runtime 57 minutes)
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~Spec

Saved the company some $$$ by dj’ing the company party at the Seattle Space Needle! Good times, good times. Quick video before everyone showed up. Had to keep it family friendly and even though I played newer tracks for the kiddies at the end of the night… here’s a string of songs I mixed together to open the night with:

Kool and the Gang – Celebration
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
Cindy Lauper – Girls Just Want to have Fun (X-Mix Remix)
Kool and the Gang – Fresh (12” Remix)
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
Blondie – Ring My Bell
Technotronic – Pump up the Jam
John Legend – Green Light

Say what you want about these tracks, but they’ve been time-tested over and over again through hundreds and hundreds of cheesy wedding receptions. 4 years ago (!!!), I retired from mobile DJ’ing, but that doesn’t mean I forgot how to rock a party! Hee hee.

Wheeeee.

~Spec

Via Skratchworx. Midi controlled sexiness. I love my Technics 1210’s, but I’d love a separate scratching gizmo to take on the road with me.

SELL THIS PLZ!

~Spec

Flickr album here. So the gig went well and it was a really great turnout for a FREAKIN’ Tuesday. It was everything that the flyer said: Jorge spun the vinyl and I played the horn. Good times, good times.

Jacqui, Clint and Jake stopped by – looking totally FIERCE btw – and had a few drinks before Jorge and I performed. I also saw Neyno and his girlfriend Claire (it was so nice to meet you!). *Whew* – Damn, that’s a lot of links! YAY blogsphere (Clint did a quick writeup too!)

To finish off the night / early morning, we ended up @ Arturo’s tacos on Western Ave and threw down on some Posole (tripe soup) and lengua (tongue) tacos – one of my favorite reasons for going out into the city… FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD.

YAY Chicago Nightlife

~Spec

I found this mixset archived on an old backup DVD and decided to give it another post, since it’s one of my favorite mixsets. Here’s what I wrote about it two years ago (wow, 12.14.2004!):

Another mix out for you guys. I haven’t made such an emotion fueled mix since this one right here. This might not have the best tech skills, but the tracks are great. I made this a 8+ months ago. Its a mix of Downtempo (The Breakups) and Deep Haus (The Makeups). So kick back, pour yourself a drink, and listen to my story.

So yeah, it starts off with a sexy vocal sample from M Flo’s Miss you (fyi, onegai means please in Japanese) and continues with a blend of downtempo, ambient (Alice loves the scream @ the 17:40 mark) and hip-hop (with one of my favorite Blackalicious tracks). Then, as if a heavy storm magically decides to subside, Bjork starts the pick-me-up beat at the halfway point and even has a cool down track @ the end.

You can download it here (Right-click and choose Save As…) via the Dogglounge, or sample the entire mixset using the audio player below:

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[See blog post to listen to audio]
Special*Dark – Breakups n Makeups Mixset
(Runtime 50 minutes)
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Also, my DJ Mixsets page – under the usual pseudonym Dj Special*Dark – has (finally) been updated. If I find any more in the infinite depths of my archives, I’ll make sure to post them up on the main page. Feel free to ask for track id’s, if I have the time (lol and if I can pinpoint the information) I’ll make sure to share the wealth!

Enjoy it. It’s been a favorite of mine for a while.

~Spec

Just like they’ve done so many times before in Minneapolis, MN, Milwaukee, WI, Detroit, MI and Seattle, WA… the Dogglounge.com duo of The Curious J and Special Dark is coming at you live and direct – this time in their hometown and birthplace of HOUSE MUSIC: Chicago, IL. Tomorrow night, from 10am – 4am, you’ll find the deep organic beats that you’ve come to love from Dogglounge.com’s resident DJ accented with the return of mellow melodies performed live on the horn.

ROFL. That was the worst fake public release statement anyone has ever made in the history of mankind. LOL. Seriously though, if you’re in town and got the time, make sure to visit us downtown! It’ll be a good time, I promise! Hit me up via comments / twitter if you need any more information. Viva house music!

See you tomorrow!

~Spec

I spun a mixset on Christmas… only so I could claim the mixset title Eggnog Uprising. LOL. This first iteration of this (hopefully) annual series of mixsets was straight bumpin’ fron the start and eases into some lush, sexy-time beats at the finish. It has a couple of tracks you’ve heard (Say Yes @ 17:35) before and a few you haven’t… like a Ben Watt remix of a Frou Frou track (28:30) and the uber chill Odori All-Star’s Fish Go Deep (32 minute mark). We peaked at 150 listeners, including new friends from Holland! I hope we made your holiday evening special!

You can download the mixset here (Right-click and choose Save As…) or sample the entire mixset using the audio player below:

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[See blog post to listen to audio]
Special*Dark – Eggnog Uprising 2007 Mixset
(Runtime: a little over 44 minutes)
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Still working on the other mixsets to be live… but for now…

…Enjoy!

~Spec

In the next few weeks, I’ll be going through another life-changing event… which means I’ll be packing up my DJ gear… which means new Dogglounge mixsets will be put on hold for at least 1.5 months. In the meantime, check out my archives, as well as my co-residents for their new takes on the deep house flava. The LOLcat pictured above will be spinning MC WALRUS’s – WHERE MY BUKKITZ AT!?!?! and Invisibl-Feelinez – Caturday on repeat 25 hours a day, 8 days a week. Yeah.

Mixsets will come back, I promise!

~Spec

Seriously… 70 minutes of bump, bump, bump. It starts with a happy vibe, moves into a lil Latin / Afro-Cuban (lots of crazy drums), gets a little insane @ the end and finishes with one of my favorite all-time tracks (thanks Jorge for the heads up!). Oh, and of course… some scratching to add to the “live-ness” of the mixset. By the way, I feel like it’s my responsibility to let you know that it’s getting harder trying to design album covers. I feel like I’ll be overlapping styles pretty soon (lol if I haven’t already).

You can download the mixset here (Right-click and choose Save As…) via the Dogglounge, or sample the entire mixset using the audio player below:

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[See blog post to listen to audio]
Special*Dark – You’re Perky, I’m Frisky Mixset
(Runtime: a little over 70 minutes)
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YAY Mixes @ Work!

~Spec

Margaret requested that I re-upload an old mixset, Study Breaks: Volume 1… so uhhh… I did. Hee hee. One of my favorite mixsets, it’s a bit on the jumpy side… so be prepared to shake your ass! An excerpt (from the same post from almost exactly two years ago!) follows:

Since I’ve convinced you to do your work like a good co-ed should, I made a lil mixset for you just in case you needed something to distract your A.D.D. long enough for your brain to soak up some important facts. It’s in the same family as my other mixsets, but this is the harder, more in your face 2nd cousin that the adults try not to talk about. Right click (or Ctrl + click) below and select Save As… to download:

You can download the mixset here (Right-click and choose Save As…) via the Dogglounge, or sample the entire mixset using the audio player below:

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[See blog post to listen to audio]
Special*Dark – Study Breaks Mixset: Volume 1
(Runtime: 55 minutes)
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Enjoy!

~Spec