Chicagoist 10th Anniversary Party Music: Matt Roan

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 22, 2014 3:10PM

Matt Roan has been a mainstay in Chicago's music scene. While most know him as the tall, dapper gentleman behind the decks at most happening nightlife parties, Roan also spent plenty of time behind the drum kit in a number of local bands including The 1900s. We asked him to DJ our 10th anniversary party tomorrow night because his musical sensibilities closely mirror Chicagoist's own philosophy when it comes to creating a successful party mix—who cares what genre it is, if a song's good, Roan's into it and can fit it into any mix.

We don't know what Roan has in store for us tomorrow, but we're confident it will blow your mind while skipping all across the musical map. Our opinion of a good DJ tends to be heavily based on their depth of musical knowledge and their nimbleness at mixing the various sections of their internal encyclopedia of songs to create something that surprises while bringing a smile to our face and our asses to the dance floor; be that floor in an indie club or a champagne bar, it doesn't matter to us if the tunes are righteous.

We've collected a few of Roan's mixes below for your streaming and downloading pleasure but we urge you to look at these as a primer of just one small corner of his skills, since catching him live opens up a much wider palette streaming forth from his mixer.