Live from New York... It's Saturday Night

Hey everybody,

Hope you're all having an amazing weekend. Jade and I are in New York... as I write this, I'm looking out over the city from the 37th floor of the W Hotel in Times Square.

Sweet!

I do love New York (though I don't have one of the cheesy t-shirts, nor do I plan to buy one anytime soon), even if nothing can ever take Boston's place in my heart ("I love that dirty water... Boston, you're my home!")

But there's no doubt New York has it all over when it comes to the dance scene. We got in kind of late last night (damn traffic), so we pretty much just partied here at the hotel. First we did martinis in The Living Room, the W lounge. Man, it's beautiful. And so are the people! ;)

After getting properly sloshed down there, we managed to raid the mini bar in the room... our New York pals met up with us and before long there was champagne poppin' for all! Finally, we ended up in The Whiskey Bar, the hotel's dance club.

Tonight... who knows!

I was a little disappointed with the music at The Whiskey Bar... more typical, Top 40 hip hop. But The Living Room had an awesome collection of downtempo electronica... I have to admit, I was having a little too much fun (and too many drinks) to pay attention to the specific songs... but I know I caught the Passengerz Remix of Madonna's "Love Profusion" at one point. I remember because of the ear splitting squeal Jade let out in my right ear :)

But anyway, my favorite part of the W Hotel experience has been the CD that they give you in the room. I mean, if I didn't already have half the songs, I'd be a very excited guy! Haha. More hotels should leave custom mix CDs, don't you think? It's a great way to set the mood and summarize the overall "feel" of the hotel. In this case: Young, modern, and sleek.

I think you'll agree the tracklisting is pretty sweet!:

* Goldfrapp "Ooh La la"
* Motorcycle "As the Rush Comes"
* Imogen Heap "Have You Got it in You?"
* Mylo "Emotion"
* DJ Krush feat. Esthero "Final Home"
* Natalia Lafourcade "Mango"
* Mocean Worker "Tres Tres Chic"
* Nina Simone "The Look of Love"
* DJ Krush feat. Zap Mama "Danger of Love"
* Helicopter Girl "Umbrellas in the Rain"
* Andain "Beautiful Things"
* Dirty Vegas "Walk into the Sun"

I mean honestly, did someone tell them that a DIVA DIVO blogger was going to be in this room? Haha.

Not a bad collection, huh? Nice way to spread the word to travelers about dance artists, too.

Alright, time to hit the town again. Leave a message, and let me know WHAT SONGS you would pick to put on your own hotel mix CD.

In other words, if you could pick a few songs that best summarize your city's attitude and dance scene, what would they be?

Chew on that until I get back!

Later,
JOHNNY