DJ set — April 5, 2015
Discography @ The Baltimore House
with DJ Mark & DJ Andy
Kristin A/B – Vinyl set
(Kristin Archer & Kristin Lee B)
For our second ever DJ set, we went all out! With my birthday just a few days away and Kristin B’s in May, we made it a festive party complete with loot bags and balloons. We wanted to create a really upbeat, springtime set. To hype up the night, we also co-hosted an episode of I Heart Hamilton on 93.3 CFMU.
It was blast being back at Discography – huge thank you again to DJs Mark and Andy for having us! We hope to be back soon!
In the meantime, you can catch us tomorrow night (June 11th) at The Spice Factory for SACHA’s 40th Anniversary Dance Party. The party goes down 8pm-midnight!
Florence + the Machine – Shake It Out
KA: Florence is such a huge artist for us both. It’s become the tradition to start our sets with a song that means something special to us. I knew this one would get me emotional and had to hold KB’s hand throughout it to keep me calm. I also took a minute to listen to this one through the headphones and it was so neat to hear it in the space of Baltimore House.
KB: Thank- you Florence, or as we affectionately call her, Flo.
Alvvays – Archie, Marry Me
KA: Good vibes on the night of our set – earlier that evening on Indie88 they played Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie’s cover of this song as we were getting ready to go. We also thought it would be neat to start the set with some of the artists we played last time, kind of as a continuation. So these first four tracks are repeat artists.
KB: Still can’t get enough of this record. It’s so pretty and calming.
Habibi – Sweetest Talk
KA: If we had a band, I feel like it would be a cool style like Habibi. Next project for Kristin A/B!
Lowell – The Bells
KA: Lowell performed at Baltimore House just a few days after our set. We were excited to see her at this particular venue because she has such a fun live show and likes getting close to the audience.
KB: Also she’s a babe! And a bad-ass lady boss.
Purity Ring – bodyache
KA: KB picked up Purity Ring’s sophomore album Another Eternity and it’s a lovely opaque white vinyl, but that made it really stressful trying to find the right track to play in the dark! The album is fantastic; I’m really glad to have been introduced to it.
KB: On Last Gang, the same label as Death From Above who also appear in this set.
Caribou – All I Ever Need
KA: We thought of the album art for Our Love as inspiration for the poster for this Discography session. I love this album cover so much. Including Caribou, we played a total of four local artists during this set, which we love to do as much as we can.
KB: The colours blue, pink, and yellow on the album cover are spring-like as well, making it a good background for the poster. Hope no one minds.
Etiquette – On And On
KA: I first saw Etiquette (Julie Fader and Graham Walsh’s latest project) back in November at Baltimore House during one of New Hands’ residency shows. Their debut album Reminisce is so great and I was happy to pick up a copy when they returned last month. It’s also been a pleasure to get to know Julie and interview her.
KB: I think the vibe of this song is one that is representative of not only this set, but the type of music we want to play as a duo. This song is going on the list of responses I have for when people ask me what our sets are like.
Tennis – Never Work For Free
KA: We both saw Tennis back in May 2013 when the opened for Haim in Toronto and have been into their album Ritual In Repeat ever since. KB picked up this record and we were excited to play this track. I would love to pair Tennis with Haim another time.
KB: I find the wife/husband dynamic of Tennis very cute, also it’s impossible to resist dancing when this record plays. Give into it!
New Hands – Whichever Way You’ll Have It
KA: New Hands is my favourite local band and I am still so sad that they have disbanded. This song means so much to me and I was really pumped up to play this 45 single of it. It was the best being able to sing along to my favourite lyric, “I’m alive and can’t say no” from up in the booth!
KB: Related story, we got to see their last show at Baltimore House. They played on that same stage.
Rich Aucoin – Are You Experiencing
KA: We love Rich. He is such an inspiration to us and we hope that we can bring the same uplifting, positive energy and love into everything we do. The way Rich uses his music and live show to connect with people and create a shared experience is incredible. It also gave me such a boost to hear his lyrics blasted through the venue: “When you give it all up / You get it back”
KB: Another person we have seen perform at Baltimore House! During the JUNOs.
Bleachers – Rollercoaster
KA: KB introduced me to Bleachers and now I totally love his album Strange Desire. We were excited to pair him with some Springsteen.
KB: Like the songs with personal meaning Kristin A has mentioned, this is one of mine. As for the Springsteen thing, Jack is also from New Jersey. He has also been seen wearing denim vests during live shows.
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
KA: If you’re on Twitter, please connect with us @djskristinAB, because we love interacting and especially love it when people live tweet during our set, as we also do! Our friend Don sent out an excited “BRUCE!” tweet during this one!
KB: Bruce always plays Hamilton when he tours and I think he has a good fan base here because of that, this was definitely the song our friends were most excited to hear.
Arkells – Dirty Blonde
KA: Another clear vinyl that makes it unbelievably tricky to play, I was stuck putting this one on! We had a record amount of transparent vinyl during this set. I loved getting to play Arkells and choosing something other than a single, to switch things up.
KB: The thing with clear records is that you can see the lines for the songs on both sides. It’s also dark up there, lights flashing… sorry KA.
Young Rival – Got What You Need
KA: We love Young Rival! One of my favourite local bands, for sure. It was so cool hearing Aron D’Alesio’s signature vocals blast through the venue.
KB: I think Aron may have given me this record actually, haha.
Death From Above 1979 – Right On, Frankenstein!
KA: We were really excited to amp up the volume with some DFA 1979. We’ve been scheming up a harder-sounding mini set for the future.
KB: One of my favourite bands, ever.
July Talk – Summer Dress
KA: Easily one of our favourite bands, we can’t get enough of July Talk. I couldn’t wait to buy the extended version of this record so we would have this song to play. Peter Dreimanis’ yelp at the beginning kills me everytime. When cueing it up, it would play backwards and it just made me laugh so much.
KB: I have a crush on Leah.
Modest Mouse – Lampshades On Fire
KA: KB is a huge Modest Mouse fan and I haven’t dug into their stuff enough. This song off their new album Strangers To Ourselves was awesome to play. Andy was up after us, and he actually played their classic tune “Float On.”
KB: So into the new Modest Mouse album. It just came out after eight years since their last album. Worth the wait.
The 1975 – Chocolate
KA: I will never tire of this song; it just sounds so happy to me, despite it’s apparent subject matter. We wanted more people dancing by this point!
KB: This one goes out to my friend Joe – he bought this record for me and we’ve seen them a bunch of times, I even have a 1975 tour shirt now.
Coldplay – Sky Full Of Stars
KA: Coldplay is one of my favourite bands and this is probably the only song off Ghost Stories that we could get away with playing. It makes me feel so uplifted and happy to hear it, which is what we want to achieve with our sets.
Stars – No One Is Lost
KA: I hadn’t listened to Stars’ new album No One Is Lost but KB is a big fan and I’m so glad she brought it into the mix. It fits our vibes perfectly.
KB: Really wanted to play “Trap Door” but this one fit better – that will be in a future set for sure.
Arcade Fire – Afterlife
KA: At this point we were getting frustrated that more people weren’t busting a move! So I decided to run down and do a lap around the room to get people hyped and move them further onto the dancefloor. It worked!
KB: This also means I was left alone with the turntables for an extended period of time, a first for me. Happy to report I held it together.
RAC – Cheap Sunglasses
KA: This one was new to me too – another solid KB pick.
KB: I saw Andre, the man behind RAC, with a band, open for The Knocks at the Danforth. I regret not picking up the record then, but I didn’t want to carry it at the show because I wanted to dance.
St. Lucia – Wait For Love
KA: KB picked this one up just in the knick of time for us to include it in our set and we loved pairing it with “Rio.”
KB: #6 on my top albums of 2014 (yes, I made a list)
Duran Duran – Rio
KA: The crowd definitely reacted to this one – it’s a classic. People were singing along.
KB: Dedication to my friend Kim, this was for her. She’s the biggest Duran Duran fan I have ever met – the band name is the password for her Wifi network.
Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime
KA: The crowd really perked up to this one too. It’s hard to decide what to go out with but this was a fun one to end on.
KB: One of those classic $1 flea market record finds!
