Shuffled! Theresa Hwang
Shuffled! is a regular column appearing most Thursdays here on BPRLive. Each column, we welcome someone from the API* community to share some thoughts about the music they listen to. Check out the Shuffled! archive for past articles. (Apologies readers, we are no longer linking to online playlists.)
Today’s Shuffler: Theresa Hwang
Theresa is constantly looking to find joy and create meaningful beauty in the everyday. Her work has ranged from youth educator to urban designer. Her goal is to build- community and architecture. She’s worked with a bunch of different community-based organizations in the Boston-area from Chinatown to Dorchester. and she’s studied a bunch of different disciplines from glass blowing to civil engineering. Her goal is to feel the city breathe.
She sometimes blogs at broadleafstudios.wordpress.com.
Her shuffled is 100% real, no skipping/deleting/advancing/ignoring of songs. She’s surprised none of the songs from Rockband showed up.
So we shuffle…
all that i got is you
ghostface ft. mary j. blige
this song found its way onto my itunes by way of the giles2genius mixtape. awhile back bpac family members made hiphop101 CD’s for our homey, eugenius, to share our love of hiphop and give him a primer. this ended up being an epic project where people shared their jaaaaams, and circulated them. it was an influx of some of the best mix CD’s i’ve received in a long, long time. oh this song also makes me think of the video, specifically when ghostface is sitting at the piano pretending to play. this song tugs at heartstrings- ghostface the poet.
music makes me high
lost boyz
this song brings me back to the glory days of high school. sitting in 7-11 parking lots, late nights at fort totten, and my mom’s ’88 oldsmobile. my first copy of this song was on tape, dubbed over a free church cassette with scotch tape covering the tabs/holes (ya know what i mean). mr.cheeks’ lyrics + freaky tah’s (RIP) hyping= some of the best times of my adolescence- which is why this song made it onto my hiphop CD (see above).
summertime
dj hen boogie ft. jeni fujita (from dj wonway’s- makossa classics vol.1)
so, i’m not sure how i got this mixtape, i have a feeling i downloaded it from those event emails i randomly receive. (i’m a sucker for free mixtapes/downloads.) i somehow find myself on bay area events announcement lists, it kinda makes me envious because i read headlines of amazing artists constantly rolling thru the bay… realizing the dearth of solid music venues in boston. this song is a beautiful remix of porgy and bess’ summertime. jeni fujita’s voice is deep and thick with tone- the type of voice that makes a korean karaoke-singer wannabe swoon. some of her claims to fame: she sang backup for lauryn on miseducation and did lots of work with the entire fugees camp.
baby, did you hear (danger mouse remix)
dinah washington
i’m not a huge danger mouse fan, i don’t have any of his full albums. i got this song from my super emcee homey- T.Vu of magnetic north fame. we have a tradition, every time she comes up to boston, i feed her beer and freestyle space, she feeds me music. last time, she gave me the verve remix albums. famous dj’s + jazz classics = musical explorations that are dooope. this remix of dinah washington is interesting. the track has a hazy, crinkly feeling to it, as if it was recorded off a phonograph. it seems as if it’s highlighting the historic period of the song- recognizing the past is the past. there’s a bit too much button-pushing for me on this track, but i appreciate what danger mouse is trying to do with it.
bounce
ayro
feel good vibe, slightly sentimental, and soulful lyrics- all the components for a deep house classic. this is the closing track from boston-based dj bruno’s winter music conference ’08 mixtape. i met the local deep house scene about 3 years ago, in villa victoria at a soul revival party. i was formally introduced to the scene by way of my partner/dedicated househead a few months after my initial meeting. it blew my mind that these house monthlys brought out many of the progressive, slightly boho, and beautiful people of color in the city (i mean with parties called utopia, uhuru, soul revival and be free, how can you not?). the vibe is electric, beats too full, and i’m learning- dancing from the inside can truly set you free.
Last 5 posts by shuffled
- Shuffled! North Star of the BROWNSTAR Revolution - December 10th, 2009
- Shuffled! Pen Khek Chear - November 25th, 2009
- Shuffled! Maanav Thakore - November 19th, 2009
- Shuffled! Jerry Ma - August 13th, 2009
- Shuffled! Tanzila Ahmed - August 6th, 2009
Tags: Shuffled!.
3 comments
there are really awesome remixes on the verve album, i love listening to it on rainy days and lazy sundays.
your description of the house monthlys sounds like events you can find often in LA and the bay, i miss that scene!
I love your Shuffled! And it isn’t just about the songs that you’ve picked since I really only recognize the first song off that giles2eugene mixtape (which by the way is truly a lovely mix… I listened to it on my plane ride to Poland).
I don’t know what it is, but your description of each track is so authentically you—honest, straight—but yet so educational too. And succinct.
To be honest, I think reading your Shuffled makes me think of how I will miss the exuberance and energy you bring to bpac when you finally leave boston to do greater things.
Okay, that’s enough of a public tribute… now, I’m going to go seek those tracks and feel the vibes that you describe.
[...] a photo of Charles Kim admiring a(nother) beautiful Boston Progress Arts Collective wall. Recently, Theresa Hwang and Sophea Khem designed and built/installed this incredibly wonderful outdoor Open Artists in [...]