Thanks to Bryan “Johnny Recordseed” Waterman, who led the West Coasters down the Record Club path two summers ago and taught us the importance of strict rules, the LA Record Club is still going strong. As Jen noted yesterday, the club met in Palm Springs this past weekend, supposedly for some hard-core listening. Everyone brought not only their record club picks for the round, but a full mix to play at some point as background to the strenuous lounging going on. Some intrepid DJs (Tremain and Wager) spun their sets live on the wheels of steel, switching out their vinyl as the mood inspired them (yes, we had two turntables, a mixer, and crates of records imported from LA for the occasion). I must commend, in particular, Tremain’s blasting of ONJ/ELO’s “Xanadu” as an especially bold and inspired Friday-night choice.

The rest of us constructed our mixes in advance and simply popped in the CD when our turns came, but the results were no less atmosphere-enhancing.

However, the weekend peaked on Saturday night—at the keynote event, perhaps–fulfilling its true purpose when we finally got focused enough to have an actual record club. What a challenge! There was so much swimming and lounging and thrifting and dice-rolling and cocktailing to be done that finding a few hours for something so structured almost felt like an intrusion. Since we didn’t get around to this until about 10:30, we agreed to limit our meeting to a single round and relax the no-talking rule normally imposed on first-round plays. The results, perhaps due to the extended nature of our meeting, were epic (literally so, in several cases)—not to mention peppered with superhooks. We wish you all had been there.

To re-create (and recreate): turn lights low, turn volume up. Here’s the playlist:

1. Tim: Henry Padovani, “J’y Vais Pas Tout Drois.” Timo sez: “I hadn’t heard of Henry Padovani before just a couple weeks ago. As happens a lot, Jen brought home a bucket of CDs that had been culled from the library at work. The sticker on the jewel box informed me that he was the first guitarist for The Police, founding the band with Stewart Copeland, who then recruited Sting to join. Andy Summers joined, and for a couple of months they had two guitarists. During the first recording sessions, however, Padovani got fired. I guess his sound didn’t quite fit in. You can read more here. Padovani recorded this album in 2006, with Sting and Stewart Copeland playing on one song (not this one). The whole album is a delight.”

2. Autumn: Islands, “Creeper.” Autumn sez: “I picked my song because it is on high rotation on my summer mix that is currently in production. My friend Matt Dalton recommended the song to me and it is my favourite from the album ‘Arms Way.’ Plus, it went well after Tim’s funky French man intro song and was well suited for a dark mid-century house in the middle of Palm Springs.”

3. Lisa T: MGMT, “Kids.” Tremain sez: “I picked my song because it makes me dance. I wish I was following MGMT all over the planet as a dancing groupie.” She’s right–we all waved our hands in the air and sang along to this one. Control yourself! Take only what you need from it!

4. Jeff: The Velvet Teen, “A Captive Audience.” This one totally set the stage for some monumental grandiosity–it’s like it gave us permission.

5. Jeremy: The Microphones, “The Glow, Part II.” Jeremy sez: “This is the title track from one of my favorite albums, which was recently re-released. Equal parts light and dark, soft and loud, polished and ragged. And altogether beautiful. Plus, it reminds me of seven summers ago, sipping scotch until the wee hours on the Watermans’ NY balcony… “

6. Scotty: MSP, “Where Do We Go From Here?” Godfree sez: “I picked this song because the pure pop joy shines through — I can easily imagine the band members’ shared exuberance when they listened to the playback for the first time.”

7. Jen: Aesop Rock, “None Shall Pass.” J-Man sez: “I’m obsessed with this song – it’s always running through my head. I’m fascinated with the processed vocal textures and the cadence of his rapping. Any rapper who uses “zeitgeist” in his lyrics is A-O.K. with me. The video is equally fascinating – check it out.”

8. Swells: Guillemots, “Sao Paulo.” Horns, strings, bells, pain. This little angstfest is so sweeping that it embarrassed me a bit while playing it full volume for a captive Record Club audience, but I have to admire the grand, unabashed sentiment of these earnest London hipsters. Okay, it takes a scoche of endurance. Stick it out. I kinda love it.

9. John Wood: Serge Gainsbourg, “Melody.” I must add that this song was the perfect ending—we could totally envision the pop-art credits rolling.

Let’s say you’re up next (or anywhere you want in the mix, really) and I’m fixing you another cocktail to get you ready–what’s your pick?