What is Vinyl Shuffle?

This blog is a tribute to the years that I lived in a loft in downtown LA.  I spent all my time alone, on the turntables, and was kept company by my  record collection.

Living there was a bit like a musical Seinfeld.  I was always home, and people would drop by (sometimes through the door, sometimes through the fire escape).  My records were always unorganized, but I seemed to know where to find them.  Others didn’t, though, but that didn’t stop them from finding something to throw on the turntables — out of that, grew a little game we dubbed “vinyl shuffle”.  The rules were simple.  Two or more could play.

• Step One:  The FIRST DJ up would start by closing his/her eyes, and picking a record from the shelf and hand it to the SECOND DJ.
• Step Two:  The SECOND DJ would then put that record down on one of the two turntables (whichever was available) and begin playing any song from that album of his/her choosing.
• Step Three: As soon as the song began playing, that DJ would go back to the shelf, and blindly pick another record and hand it to the FIRST DJ.
• Step Four:  The FIRST DJ would take the record, and then place that on the other available turntable, pick a track and mix in that next song in whatever way they wanted.  No rules.  As soon as the new track began playing, he/she would go over to the record shelf and…

Back to step one!

We’d repeat those steps until:

• a) sunrise
• b) neighbors called the cops/landlords/etc or stood outside my fire escape with arms folded, in a passive agressive manner.
• c) someone’s mom/girlfriend/wife/son/daughter called them home
• d) we ran out of cigarettes/drinks/etc
• e) someone broke a needle

OK. So, it wasn’t totally random.  The song selection was chosen by the DJ, but the record wasn’t.

And,  given the limits of time…..
(what if the person before you picked out a one minute song!  Better get busy!)

Or a lack of knowledge of that album…..
(How do you mix in a song you’ve never heard before?  Just do it!), etc].

Or having to mix into/out of a non-music album….
(spoken word, or a sound effects album, or…)

Well, that’s what kept it truly random.  And lots of happy accidents occurred… most of which never made it to tape.

So.  For everyone who didn’t get a chance to visit my loft during those salad days, I hope you enjoy the mixes that you’ll find on this site — those “happy accidents” that can come from a truly random shuffle of music combined with the warmth you can only get on vinyl.

And for those artistic and musical geniuses that did get to stop by (Jon Dobrowolski [@jonatisokon] of This Generation Tapes, Kaz Masud [@bcguru] of Brocolli City, gifted keyboardist and composer Joe Caro [@josephdominico] of Subterranean Collective, the legendary and talented Overton Loyd [@overtonloyd], Joy Osmanski [@joyosmanski], Verdell Wilson [@missrftc],  the good folks/artists of Lost Souls [@lostsoulscafe], and many others, including several homeless people [it’s true!]… Thanks for all the inspiration and Happy Accidents.

And a special thanks to my love Andrea [@frenelda], who took me away from my loft in the city, and brought me down to our little artist’s shack by the beach in San Clemente, where the Vinyl Shuffle game lives on, and will be posted here for your musical enjoyment.

Tis