Favorite Song No. 352: The Rapture – Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks

While I was building my list of favorite songs I realized that many of the songs I chose are by bands and singers whose work I know nothing about other than one or two songs. When I discover a new song, I seldom go beyond that and check out other songs from the artist. Is that weird? I had never given it any thought until just now, when I sat down to write about this song and realized I know absolutely nothing about the The Rapture, and I know only one of their other songs. You’d think that since I like two of their songs I’d have dug into their discography to find out if I like the rest of their stuff, but nope, I’ve only ever heard those two songs by The Rapture. Am I nuts?

Whatever the answer to that question is, I really love this particular song, and for all I know, the rest of their music is as good or better, but I’ve never thought to look into it. I only know this song because I heard it in a movie, Rules of Attraction.

The other song (listed below the article) I discovered when someone once requested it when I was DJ’ing. Requests from audience members is actually how I discover a lot of music. I know the stereotype is that the DJ knows all the music, but really, it’s a give and take, and I take as much as I give. Maybe even more than I give, as audiences tend to want to hear music they are already familiar with. So yes, a common way for me to discover music is when clients or dancers request it. My job, after all, is “mobile DJ,” which means I play requests for guests. Normally I field those requests ahead of time. If I’m DJ’ing a wedding, I ask the couple to tell me in advance the songs they want to hear. Before I became a wedding DJ, I used to DJ college and high school dances. For those events, I’d have the social coordinators post a request sheet on which students could write song requests. In both cases, I would end up hunting down lots of songs that were previously unknown to me, and once in awhile I came across a song that I really liked.

Maybe because I was usually tracking down dozens of songs, I didn’t often have the chance to branch out and audition additional songs by the bands I was seeking. I focused on finding the specific song the guests wanted, and that was that.

As for today’s song, I heard it in a movie and it stuck with me, and became a fixture in my sets whenever I played for indie rock crowds. It’s a great track to drop in when the energy is already high and you want to send dancers over the edge.

Other Favorite Tracks by This Band