I have never, ever done this in the history of dsquared, and I apologize beforehand…but I will not be posting descriptions for the tracks below. I know this is a disservice to the artists and while I would love to give each one the attention it deserves, I have a massive headache from my exploits last night.

I went out with a friend last night who I hadn’t seen in a long time. She’s generally up for anything so we decided to have dinner at a wine bar and then head over to Debonair Social Club for No Tell Motel, a burlesque night we’ve been to in the past. Everything is going great – we have some wine, good food, run into friends at Debonair…and then the show starts. It’s not the burlesque I’ve seen before. No…it’s SS-XXX, a hardcore, S&M erotic show. With mouths agape we watched as three corset-wearing, gas-mask-donning dominatrix pretended to break into a hotel room and take an unwilling couple captive. Let’s run down some of the things we watched them do:

-Engage in Japanese rope tying
-Cut off the “innocent” woman’s nightgown and pretend to rape her with a strap-on
-Slather fake blood over the “victims”
-Put ribbons of fire on their skin using a baton dipped in lighter fluid
-Use a mechanical saw against metal plates strapped to their crotches

Yeah, not cutey pasties burlesque. I am not being dramatic when I say we were both completely sobered up by the end of the performance. Afterward we went outside to decide what to do next and ran into Kenny, a friend of mine who is also the MC for the night. I think it’s worth mentioning he was wearing an epic fake mustache and fake bling about the size of a softball. He quickly pulled us into the fold of people who were making a trip up to Jojo Baby’s studio in the Flat Iron building above Debonair.

Here, we need to pause. If you don’t know Jojo Baby – he is an institution in Chicago. An artist, doll-maker, nightlife personality and much more, Jojo is just one of those people you know or know of if you are in Chicago.

I was excited to go up as I had never seen Jojo’s studio. The catch was, the front door of the building was not working. No matter, we walked around to the back and used the fire escape to go up – but not before I saw an old friend of mine across the street who randomly was guest bartending at a club called Ohm. I ran over, quick hugs and hellos and then went back across the street to climb the fire escape.

The entry to Jojo’s studio is like a vintage carnival. With a neon-green gate and large painted “dog boy” poster above the door, it was a sight to behold. We walked in, down twisting corridors that had stacks of everything from Raggedy Ann dolls to wooden ducks and baby shoes lining every bit of free space and finally emerged into the studio proper where we chatted with Jojo and made friends with his two three-legged chihuahuas (sweetest dogs ever). My friend and I felt like the night was sensory overload. To the right was a skeleton with a glittery headdress, back in the hallway was a lofted spaceship for guests to sleep over and towards the back of the studio a pile of colored cords about four feet high and the length of the wall.

We eventually left (THANK YOU to Jojo for hosting us) and then decided to pop over to Ohm to properly say hello to my friend who was bartending. We walk in and OMG it’s FARLEY JACKMASTER FUNK AND GENE HUNT. I think we danced for about two hours straight while someone walked around with congas and another punctuated the songs with a whistle (when was the last time you heard a WHISTLE at a party?).

As we prepare to leave, I stop by the booth to tell Gene Hunt how much I enjoyed his set and let him know about my journalism background in case he ever wants something reviewed. He instantly becomes very earnest with me and gives me his card. “Call me. Seriously, my personal number is on this card. I know exactly who you are. Call me tomorrow.” I think I was too dumbstruck to say anything.

At least the cab ride home was uneventful? Ok, time to pop some Tylenol and go back to bed.

Clinton Sparks Feat. Pitbull & Fatman Scoop: On To You (Silk Wolf Disco Dub Refix)
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Samantha Fu: Theme From Discotheque (REFILL Remix)
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Beyonce: Control (Redlight Remix)
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Cassius: Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes (Don Diablo Remix)
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Dragonette: Fixin To Thrill (Villains Remix)
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El Paso Hot Button: James Ames Dame (Trash Yourself Remix)
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Bat For Lashes: Daniel (DJ Kue Remix)
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The Gap Band: You Dropped A Bomb On Me (DJ Kue Remix)
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Jay Z Feat. Alicia Keys: Empire State Of Mind (FnDannyBoy Remix)
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Lil’ Jon: I Do (Pance Party Remix)
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MSTRKRFT: Bounce (Banana Dynamite Remix)
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Sawgood: Get Up To Oinked
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Sawgood: We Are A Candyman
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Simian Mobile Disco: Audacity Of Huge (Dada Life Guerilla Fart #10)
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