My ex-roommate the pop star

There was an extremely fun (and blurry!) couple of years when I lived in Chicago. No offense to my beloved L.A., but in the summertime, Chi-town is arguably the most fun city in America. But it’s hard not to party like a crazy person for the few scant months of sweltering heat when the city is buried beneath a deep freeze for most of the year.

One of those Chicago years was spent sharing a loft with DJs Colette and Dayhota, both charter members of the SuperJane DJ crew with Heather and Lady D. I call it my “Real World” year. If those walls could talk, they’d be really rich screenwriters by now. It was so much fun I eventually had to flee the city to avoid the non-stop party that life became out there.

I’ve always kept in touch with my old pals, and was so excited when Colette’s new album showed up in my promo pile. It’s called “Push” on Om Records, and is a super-fun collection of Technicolor dance tracks and CoCo’s lovely voice. I can’t stop playing “Funny,” a lush, downtempo hip-hop track that rides on an ocean of thick synthesizers akin to productions by the Neptunes. It’s such a nice song that I got kind of emotional with pride listening to it. If you like sweet dance beats attached to actual songs, give “Push” a whirl. Check Colette out live when she performs a free show (with a full band!) at Amoeba on Sept. 28. She brings out the band again at The Vanguard the following evening.

Colette, you’ve come a long way, sister. Rock on.