Editor’s note: 2 DJs and a Boombox is exactly that. Jake, a former DJ at Campustown bars, and Moss Pit, a local mobile music DJ, play a few tunes for each other and let their thoughts flow.

Jake and Moss Pit: One, two, three …

MP: Scissors win again.

“Stolen Car”

Beth Orton

MP: Beth Orton’s probably my favorite female voice.

J: Is this her debut?

MP: No, she put a record out a year ago and the single “She Cries Your Name.” It never really did that well on radio, but “120 Minutes” played it. All the magazines gave her rave reviews.

J: That’s why I wish MTV would play videos. With all the shows they got, you never see any actual breakthrough artists. And you’re not going to hear them on the radio until after they’ve had five Top 40 hits.

MP: Beth Orton has a really thick voice — a lot of tone quality.

J: Very Fionaesque.

MP: She’s actually British and she went through the rave scene, rather than the folk scene. Her first recording was on the Chemical Brothers’ first record. A lot of the songs on her records are with an electronic back beat.

J: I need to get up on all that Euro stuff since I’m going to London. I need to get hip to the scene.

MP: Who’s your favorite female voice?

J: Probably Janis, as for just a hellacious voice that stands apart from the rest. I like female vocals a lot.

MP: It’s relaxing to listen to.

“Guilty”

Matthew Ryan

J: This is a song I was turned on to by my fellow cleaning buddies at People’s. It’s a song that the first time you hear it, you feel like you’ve already heard. It’s got such a good hook to it, and it just guides your way through it.

MP: That doesn’t happen a lot.

J: Maybe it’s because I like Zellar’s voice a lot, and he reminds me a lot of him.

MP: Yeah, he does. I know he’s been to People’s a few times, but I don’t remember when.

J: I guess a couple of guys have met him and say he’s a pretty cool guy. I think they were having a few beers with him, and they didn’t realize he was the entertainment.

This list type of lyrics either comes through well, like I think it does here, or it fails big time. I hate Alanis Morrisette’s “Thank You” song. I’m like, “Stop thanking people. You sound like a damn Academy Award winner.” But I like the parallel structure in this song.

MP: It’s a typical bar ballad. He mixes a lot of different vocal styles. You can definitely hear some Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. And Bruce Springsteen.

J: Which, if you’re going to take from singers and blend their styles, that’s a good group to choose from.

MP: I don’t know if I could listen to an entire CD of this guy.

J: Does it sound like he is whining too much?

MP: Yeah, not to say I don’t whine all the time.