Special Collab: Absolute Vibrant Cinematics x Cover to Cover

On March 20, DJ Manu and DJ Orange collaborated on DJ Manu's show, Absolute Vibrant Cinematics, for a special dose of chaos. In lieu of DJ Manu's usual playlist curation or album spotlight, both DJs decided to play it fast and loose. They used The Shfl, a random album generator, to determine what album they would listen to. It selected the 1979 album (GI) by Germs, an American punk-rock band. This is the only studio album they ever released, and, at a breezy 38 minutes, it gave DJ Orange and me an exciting but all too brief glimpse into their stuttery, jittery sound.

Each track averaged about a minute and a half or two minutes, and unfortunately, due to its mature content, the final track, clocking in at over nine minutes, had to be skipped. Punk-rock doesn't feature heavily in DJ Manu's track listings for his show, but it was an enjoyable romp. Still, the show was an hour long, so something had to be done about the final half hour. After some deliberating, both DJs decided to play an album DJ Manu recommended for fitting into the time left and for its music, Elliot Smith's 1997 masterpiece, Either/Or.

A long-time favorite of DJ Manu's, the quiet, intelligent indie-folk and lo-fi of Smith's record provided an interesting counterpoint to Germs's wild and wonderfully slapdash ruckus. Standout tracks from Either/Or include "Angeles," DJ Manu's personal favorite from the album, as well as "2:45 AM" and the classic "Between the Bars," one of Smith's most covered songs. Alas, due to mature content, some of the tracks from Smith's album were also not played, but this worked in favor of the DJs, who were able to finish the show just as The Pub's karaoke was starting, which DJ Manu has emceed for two years now.

Overall, this special collaboration between DJ Manu and DJ Orange offered a fun new album and a laidback return to an old favorite, one DJ Manu hopes DJ Orange will listen to again in the future. And for all of you readers: try The Shfl-- it's a fun and inventive way of finding new music to groove to, study to, or even music that just might change your life. Until next time!