Pieces and Places: Desperados

(let's discuss the music I hear in district-area bars, coffee shops and other fine establishments)

Desperados is the neighborhood bar I always forget about. My friend group came here on Halloween and had an amazing time with $3 rails and the best bar food anyone can find in this city. Between fries with homemade Cajun sauce and homemade fried pickles (frickles), one can really do no wrong here. It's guaranteed to be quiet, the bartenders are always super friendly and it's a place two people can have a real conversation. I got especially lucky with our bartender last night. He was chatty, was providing great service and had this killer playlist going. A few songs into the evening and I knew it was time for another "Pieces and Places".

Date: December 25th, 2013 (Christmas!)

Time: 7:00 to 11:30 PM

Vibe: Dead quiet. A few beautiful folks waiting out the holiday at the bar.
Drink of Choice: two Shock Top drafts, an order of fries, two Abita Purple Haze bottles, and two mystery beer + shot combos. Merry Christmas to me! 

All I should say about this playlist: it was the best of indie music and had me intrigued for the entire four hours of my stay. The following songs were the stand-outs and my favorites:

I Stand Corrected by Vampire Weekend - the best quote came about when this song was playing "Nostalgia. It gets you deep. Like when you were back in your mother's womb." 

Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "it's like they're playing all the songs from Rock Band."

West Coast by Coconut Records - the song that hit all the right feelings. "I miss you, I'm going back home to the west coast."

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John - "I can never get over this song." I'm fortunate to only hear Young Folks at the right times and at the right places. I find myself circling back to it only occasionally and the magic is always preserved.

Fences by Phoenix - the bartender streamed quite a bit of Phoenix over the four hours I occupied a bar stool. Can we all take a moment to appreciate Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for all it did to the band and to alternative music? While I love older Phoenix, their pinnacle was truly reached here. 

Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap - I've thought about this song being the forefront of my wedding playlist many times during my life so far, "a moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs." Is there anything more to life? 

Start of Something by Voxtrot - "Voxtrot is on this playlist. It's perfect now." Somehow, anyone who loves music as much as I do, will include The Start of Something on their quintessential mixtapes. It's a phenomenon.

Smiley Faces by Gnarls Barkley - While Crazy was the stand out track on St. Elsewhere, Smiley Faces was just as catchy and just as loved by me.

Such Great Heights by The Postal Service - Do I really need to say anything here? Put it on any playlist, anywhere and I will always appreciate those four and a half minutes of bliss.

Wake Me Up by Avicii - Avicii outdid himself with this song. It appeals to the mainstream stations, the EDM crazies and those of us who lean toward indie-folk music. He blended so many genres together in such a gorgeous way. I'm not sick of this song yet and it's always welcome.

Steady, As She Goes by The Raconteurs - "Is this Jack White's other band?" "Yes, but this is their only good song." Ouch, but true. I'm pretty sure this is the number one song I hear while out at the dives.

Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine - a night isn't a night unless there's some Florence Welch coming over the speakers. I used to religiously listen to her on the long metro rides back to Silver Spring. I'm not commuting for social purposes anymore, so it's nice to hear her wrap up a fantastic bar playlist.

I encourage everyone to check out Desperados. I can never figure out why the bar remains so quiet. The drinks are good, the food is top notch (go just for the Cajun sauce) and the background music will keep you on your stool. You will find me here on holidays and those quiet weekday nights when I want to sit down, drink a beer and crank out some work.

Pieces & Places: Coffy Cafe

(let's discuss the music I hear in district-area bars, coffee shops and other fine establishments)

Coffy Cafe is one of my three favorite coffee shops in this city. Being from Seattle, I'm extraordinarily picky with both how the coffee is and the overall feel to a place. Coffy has a special place in my heart - the board game group I'm a part of meets here every Wednesday. The coffee is fantastic, the crepes are delicious, the service is top-notch and the best part? It's mod themed. As a thrifter, collector and lover of mid-century-modern vintage decor, I am in heaven.

Date: August 25, 2013. 

Time: Early-mid afternoon. 

Vibe: Mostly the Sunday working crowd. Things are pretty quiet.
Drink of Choice: Large Iced Americano, extra-ice. 

Rio by Hey Marseilles - "Borders can keep me if Rio will have me to dance and to drown." 

I always thought of Hey Marseilles as Seattle's music sweethearts. Rio is one of those songs that instantly brightens my day. The minute I hear the clapping, I smile. 

Reach Out and Touch Someone's Hand by Cataldo - "there's no doubt, it's time to make some new plans." 

Prison Boxing is truly one of the greatest albums to ever exist. Reach Out and Touch Someone's Hand is one of those tracks I always forget to listen to, since it's at the end of the album. I find it honestly hard to move on from Don't Lose That Feeling. But, hearing the song out and about makes me realize how much I've been missing out on.

Way Back When by Kodaline - "Those will be the days that won my soul."

I've barely given Kodaline a listen in the past and that's a shame. This song fit in well here - it has a more old-fashioned sound than a lot of indie-folk nowadays. When I looked this song up, I wasn't entirely sure it'd be modern. 

Verdict: Unfortunately, the music was turned down shortly after deciding to write this. As much as I want them to play 1960's and 1970's music to go with the theme, I'll never be upset with a typical Seattle-esque coffee shop playlist.

I encourage everyone to check out what Coffy Cafe has to offer. If you're ever here on a Wednesday around seven, you'll find me with the board game crew in the back.

Pieces & Places: The Red Derby

(let's discuss the music I hear in district-area bars, coffee shops and other fine establishments)

First of all, I'm going to throw out a disclaimer. I just spent six hours at The Red Derby drinking for a great cause. This is my friend group's usual hang out for many reasons. There's an amazing rooftop, decent food, properly made drinks and the perfect CoHeights/ Petworth vibe. However, it's also a fantastic place because of all they do for charity. Today, if consuming drinks off of a certain beer list, all the proceeds went to Dash DC. It was the excuse we needed to meet up and get our day drinking on. 

Without further ado, it's time for the first round of "Overheard At":

Date: August 4, 2013.

Time: Around 3:30.

Vibe: Post-brunch, casual weekend drinking, enjoying the best DC summer weather we've had yet.
Drink of Choice: PBR. So much PBR.

The Playlist:
Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional - "my hopes are so high, that your kiss might kill me. So won't you kill me?"

Dramatic, much? I think this was the song that sold me on this blog series idea. The choice was the right amount of emo and flashback for the mid-twenties post-brunch crowd. While I was never into Dashboard myself, other members of my group were getting deep and nostalgic.

Swing, Swing by All American Rejects - "Days swiftly come and go. I'm dreaming of her. She's seeing other guys. Emotions they stir."
While Dashboard was everyone else's middle school flashback, this was mine. I don't even know what else to say.

Islands in the Sun by Weezer - "And it makes me feel so fine, I can't control my brain."
Honestly, if it ain't Buddy Holly, I'm going to tune out any Weezer that gets played.

Kids by MGMT - "A family of tree wanted, to be haunted."
Man, MGMT. This is my high school flashback. The only problem is, MGMT put out a grand total of three good songs. Kids is on the bottom of that list. Time to Pretend would have been more well-suited, as it really should be the CoHeights "hipster" anthem.

Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer - "Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight."
Me: "THIS IS THE GREATEST LOVE SONG EVER WRITTEN"
I don't think there's any other 90's song that gives us as many feelings as this one. The girl in this song seems to be on one really great date. From now on, it's going to serve as my dating litmus test. If you can't make the fireflies dance, you're out of my love life.

Polish Girl by Neon Indian - "never said, but nearly sung about a million different ways."
This played downstairs. I knew I knew this song, but I couldn't put a finger on it. I hid in the stairwell for about 30 seconds wanting to figure it out. I tagged it in my phone note as "some weird electronics song that I know but can't place. Doi doi doi doi doi doi". The best part is, I googled "sounds like M83" and found it. Yeah...

Verdict: Thanks, Red Derby for playing an elecletic mix of songs that somehow sounded right in a playlist together. It was the feel-good amount of nostalgia and feelings. Or, maybe, we were all a little tipsy off of $3 mimosas and PBRs.

Please consider a donation to Dash DC, a local nonprofit providing "relief to survivors of domestic and sexual violence, through emergency and long-term safe housing, and innovative homelessness prevention services." And, of course, stop by The Red Derby for an effortless time.