New Years Resolutions
If you manage to do nothing else in 2008:
Dec 31, 2007
Dec 30, 2007
Random Black Ghosts Stuff
I was going through a bunch of starred stuff in Google Reader. Came across:
DJ Touche's Best of 2007
Then what I thought was a really interesting Interview with the Black Ghosts in which they mentioned the graphic designers that did all their album art, Check Morris. They allude to how awesome the cover of their full-length album is going to be. I have to agree:
Have You Heard?
Surkin's got a new track up on his myspace (White Knight Two) and it's pretty awesome.
Also, XLR8R did an interesting article on Institubes.
A good time to remind you:
March 27 - Cut presents the Institubes tour featuring Para One, Curses, Surkin, Bobmo and the Trouble & Bass dj's at Studio B
Yo
I am messing around with the layout. Things might look a little jacked up for a bit...but hopefully not.
*edit* So that's all over with minimal jack up-edness. Now there is stuff (links, etc.) on both the left and the right of the main blog posts instead of just on the right. Probably the most noticeable thing is the list of upcoming shows is now on the left side. Also renamed some sections, added that little thing from Hype Machine of tracks I'm especially into right now, etc.
Dec 28, 2007
Guns N' Bombs at Hiro, 12/27/07
GNB-ed it last night with Paul and Mike, had an amazing time. So much fun.
From the beginning I had mixed feelings about even going to see Guns N' Bombs to be honest...I had heard one of their earlier mix tapes and liked it, saw Johnny dj solo back in August and wasn't feeling it, and haven't really been able to get into their most recent mix tape. But...I had been at my parents' place in the suburbs since Friday and needed a break.
I am so glad I decided to go. Walked in right around 12, maybe 5 peeps in line, the dance floor is EMPTY. Very weird. I'm guessing a lot of people are out of town for the holidays. Busy Paul finds me almost immediately, I find Mike while Paul is gone for a little bit. He comes back, introductions are made...it's like a ridiculous electro-loving triangle.
I dunno who the opening dj was (I just found out it was Alex English and Peter Makebish who I've seen a bunch, but this set seemed especially awesome for some reason) but he was reading our minds. It was really weird. We start talking about the D.I.M. remix of the Presets' My People and 10 minutes later he plays it. He also played the Chems Block Rockin' Beats which Paul had to point out to me because I was talking and not hearing it at all. The dj also dropped some other older stuff from around that time - The Prodigy (I think they played Smack My Bitch Up, but I'm not 100% sure I am remembering correctly), Green Velvet's La La Land. Then Paul and I are talking about how neither of us are really that into the Presets, but how their stuff remixes really well (kind of like the Klaxons)...and 20 minutes later the dj drops the Soulwax remix of Klaxons' Gravity's Rainbow. ESP!
Finally...a little after 1, Guns N Bombs go on, we all move to the floor and it's non-stop get-down bangers the whole time. The combination of drinking and relentless dancing have made me able to remember only one of the songs they played - I am assuming it was their remix of Muscles' 1 Inch Badge Pin. Hah. In any case...despite my horrible memory...I assure you it was a great dj set. And I don't wanna play favorites...but the sets banging high points seemed to happen more when Filip was behind the decks.
For those of you not up on the Guns N Bombs' game, check out more about em here.
More Ed Banger News
Last week and now again - more Ed Banger-related news:
Justice x H&M - Fashion Against Aids
Ed Banger greeting card with Justice XMAS mix cd - Maybe someone will post it on the internets soon...
SO-ME +41 = Justice T-shirt
The best for last:
From the peeps that brought us Moustaches Wild - Mas Forever:
"The Rapture, Busy P, & JD Samson of Le Tigre will be our next throw down. Put a hold on Feb. 1 or 2, 2008 in NYC. Full details next week!"
Bussssy P!
Dec 26, 2007
Best of 2007
Last week I posted the half serious Best of the Beards 2007. But of course...I had to do actual Best of's for this year:
Top 10 Albums:
10 - Fujiya & Miyagi – Transparent Things
9 - The Whitest Boy Alive – Dreams
8 - TTC – 3615
7 - Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
6 - Ed. Rec Volume II
5 - Boys Noize – Oi Oi Oi
4 - Justice – Ý
3 - Black Ghosts – Anyway You Choose to Give It EP
2 - Chemical Brothers – We Are the Night
1 - Simian Mobile Disco – Attack Decay Sustain Release
Top 20 Shows:
20 - Korrupt at Hiro with A-trak and DJ Mehdi, 5/2
19 - A Touch of Class at PS1, 7/7
18 - Curses at the Annex, 5/18
17 - Teki Latex and Surkin at Hiro, 11/29
16 - Boys Noize at Hiro, 6/28
15 - Mr. Oizo at Studio B, 6/9
14 - Fool's Gold Tour with A-trak, DJ Mehdi, and Kavinsky at Hiro, 10/17
13 - Erol Alkan and Justice at Studio B, 10/20
12 - Institubes night at Hiro with Curses, Boys Noize, and Para One, 3/15
11 - Ed Banger Records at Hiro with Busy P, DJ Mehdi, Justice, and Sebastian, 3/29
10 - MSTRKRFT at Studio B, 10/19
9 - Busy P and DJ T at Studio B
8 - Simian Mobile Disco dj set at Studio B, 3/10
7 - Soulwax at Studio B, 4/18
6 - Simian Mobile Disco at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10/18
5 - Daft Punk at Keyspan Park, 8/9
4 - Air at the Theater at MSG, 5/10
3 - Simian Mobile Disco live at Studio B, 7/7
2 - Underworld in Central Park, 9/14
1 - Chemical Brothers at Hammerstein Ballroom, 9/21
Other good electro shows worth mentioning:
Masters of the Universe with Trouble & Bass dj’s, Curses and Moby at Studio B, 5/5
Chromeo and Flosstradamus at Hiro, 7/5
Passions and Data at Hiro, 8/30
Moby and Tommy Sunshine at Hiro, 11/15
Faux Punk and David Bruno at Studio B, 12/7
Best non-electro shows (not ranked since I went to so few this year):
2/1 - David Byrne, from the Knee Plays
2/3 - David Byrne, Here Lies Love
11/26 - Sondre Lerche at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
More bests and other random-ness:
Best of 2007 - Simian Mobile Disco
Most slept on dj’s – the Black Ghosts
Best show I don’t remember at all (due to intense boozing with Chuck and Greg) – Switch and Sinden at Studio B
Best Beard – Paul Angelides (original full beard, pre-handle bars)
Best blast from the past – Chuck and Gregarona
Best return to New York – Eddie Shea
Best Advice – You should really check out Soulwax - David Bruno
Best People I’ve met through my blog – 3-way tie – David, Paul, and Mike
Best Girls to go to shows with – Dana for dj’s, Kristin for rock
Best person to randomly run into over and over again while out getting down – Van Scott
Best Fictional Remix Name – Kelly Watch the Stars (otherwise you’re fucking fired from the observatory remix)
Most Work Friendly Electro Album – tie: Daft Punk’s Discovery and Chemical Brothers’ We Are the Night
Best electro-related work moment – tie: My top 40's loving boss retaining everything I’ve told him about Daft Punk…and randomly asking “do they dj in a pyramid?” at least once a week about whoever’s playing on my ipod (regardless if they are Daft Punk or not) and my boss asking “is this the Chemical Brothers?” whenever a Radiohead song comes on.
Best family supporter of banging jams – my brother, through his incessant repetition of “Mr. Oizo” and “Busy P” in French accents, despite the fact that he would probably hate their music if I ever made him listen to it
MVP’s – red bull and red adidas
Least Hellish Crowd – (most of the time, until recently) Studio B
Best Excuse to Dance during the daytime – Warm-up at PS1
Best mix to clean your apt/do anything that takes a long time – Justice BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
Best Consecutive run of awesome shows - CMJ
Most unexpected night of serious fun - 12/7/07 – Daft Punk Alive release party w/ Faux Punk & David Bruno
Dj set I had very little idea about but banged beyond anything I could have expected – MSTRKRFT
Best dj set by someone whose stuff I didn’t know at all – DJ T
Dec 24, 2007
All I Want For Christmas
There wasn't really anything in particular I wanted for Christmas this year. But then yesterday I spontaneously felt compelled to listen to every Mr. Oizo track and remix on my ipod and realized how desperately I wanted him to come back to New York again. And then today I got this in an email:
Yea-yuhh!!!
One awesome Mr. Oizo remix that I have been loving ever since I downloaded it back in June - his take on Jamelia's "Something About You". I don't know anything about Jamelia, I just know that Mr. Oizo's remix kills. I just now listened to the original version on her website and it has made the remix infinitely more amazing. Be sure to check out the original vs. his version.
Dec 23, 2007
New Years Eve 2007/2008
Is anyone else really disappointed by the options for NYE in New York this year?
It's not that there's nothing going on here, it's just that I feel like what is going on is stuff that could be happening any other weekend here. There are no super duper NYE line-ups here like there are in other cities, the two most notable examples:
LA:
and Montreal:
Here is what I would consider doing here:
The Wurst, Rongest New Year's Ever with Doug Lee, My Cousin Roy, DJ Spun and Liv Spencer from Still Going at APT.
10p - late / open bar and classic New York hors d’oeuvres from 10p – 1a for $100 / $25 after 1a for general entry / email newyears@aptwebsite.com to reserve space / (disco, house, classic techno, and other celebratory stuff)
I love My Cousin Roy, but I don't love the idea of devoting my entire New Years Eve to APT.
Then there's this:
I would be happy with this if it weren't New Years Eve. I've been to all of Moby's Degenerates parties so far and only at the last one did I even start to think that it was getting a little repetitive. I love Jacques Renault and just started getting into Holy Ghost...but still...not sure if this is how I wanna spend NYE.
Those were pretty much the only two things I was considering until this landed in my inbox yesterday...
Brodinski jumped out at me as one of those dj's I've been meaning to check out, but hadn't gotten around to...and I happened to stumble upon this set he did earlier this month. I'm only a half an hour into it, and it's pretty great.
Still don't know what to do...
Woohoo!
A break from the banging jams to bring you the newest addition to the Showtrotta family:
Joseph John
Born: 12/23/07 - 11:05am
Weight: 9lbs. 5 oz.
Height: 20.5 inches
Congrats to my bro and sister in-law on their new baby! You guys are awesome!
Dec 22, 2007
Jordan Dare at the Knitting Factory (not!!) and Boys Noize at Hiro 12/13/07
So last Thursday I was pumped/stressed out by the amount of good stuff going on.
I skipped Ulrich Schnauss even though I really wanted to go which wound up being good because he didn't start his set until 1.
I had been on the fence about the Jordan Dare show because I was fighting off a cold and feeling like shit on and off all day. In the end I decided to go, but of course, this is the one instance where things start on time at the Knitting Factory, so I missed Jordan Dare. I did proceed to see every other band I had no interest in seeing. The Foreign Islands were really boring, definitely an over-hyped band. We are Wolves were at least interesting. I liked a song here and there, but overall not my cup of tea. Kind of electro rock-ish. I liked the music but I found the singer's voice kind of irritating which pretty much killed it for me.
The show got out at 10 which left precisely enough time to go home and sit there for like 30 minutes before going to Hiro which obviously would have been really dumb, so I went to Starbucks.
Got to Hiro a little earlier than necessary but I could only sit and drink tea for so long. Waited in a super short line to get in. The two dudes in front of me drove in, didn't think there would be a line, didn't wear jackets, and were standing in 20 degree weather in t-shirts. They're talking about how pumped they are to see Boys Noize, to see "them" spin. How you can be so pumped about someone and not know that is is just one guy is beyond me, but whatev. Lol. I'm guessing they were from NJ...haha.
Anyway...luckily what started off as a hellish evening was saved by Paul, open Bass Ale bar for an hour, and a banging set from Boys Noize. It also should be mentioned that Louisahhh who dj'ed before him was killing it.
I forget what time Boys Noize went on, maybe 1 or a little earlier...but he immediately proceeded to drop a ton of tracks off of Oi Oi Oi. It was awesome. I maybe would have liked to hear them woven in throughout his set instead of having most of them right in the beginning, but I will take what I can get. That album is made for the dance floor and sounds amazing on a big system. I've waited too long to write this review so I can't really remember a lot of specific songs he played but it was a pretty solid set. One track I can remember him playing is "Merrymaking at My Place" by Calvin Harris at which point I freaked out because it is my new jam (preferably the Mr. Oizo remix). Overall his set was pretty good, much better than the last time I saw him.
2008
I'm off from work until January 2nd! and luckily things are pretty tame in New York so I don't feel too torn about being up north at my parents indefinitely. My bro & sister in-law are having a baby any hour now so I have been holding it down at the rents house waiting for a phone call because who wants to sit in a hospital waiting room agonizing for 4 hours?
This has left me with plenty of time to scour the internets during which I discovered:
Monday, January 21st - Blogger's Delight hosted by La Decadanse with Numero#, Sports, and more.
I am soooo excited to see Numero# because I missed them when I was up in Montreal this summer. Note to self *buy tickets to shows before seeing the Simpsons movie*. Numero# are probably best described as French electro-pop. Their song "Hit Pop" was all over the radio up there. It is quite possibly the perfect light summer electro jam. Don't sleep on this show. It's free and what else are you doing on a Monday night?! Nothing.
And this is quite a ways down the road, but if 2008 moves anything like 2007 did March will be here in like 3 days, which is awesome because:
March 27 - Cut presents the Institubes tour featuring Para One, Curses, Surkin, Bobmo and the Trouble & Bass dj's at Studio B.
Things are looking good for '08.
Dec 20, 2007
Thursday Night
If I were going out tonight (instead of finishing Christmas shopping and doing my laundry), this is where I would go:
Dec 19, 2007
Ed Banger Records News
Looks like some exciting stuff coming in '08 from the Ed Banger crew:
Looking forward to the Busy P US tour, the new Mr. Oizo album...but the scarf left me wondering who DSL was. Turns out they are some new French hip-hoppers on Ed Banger. They have some pretty sweet tracks on their myspace. I like "Les gelules du Dr. Banner". They obviously remind me of TTC a little in that they are both French hip-hop groups, but DSL's beats have a very different sound. They seem to be a bit faster, a bit more complex too - more layers of sound than TTC. I'm not saying that they're better! Nice to have some new French hip-hop to listen to though...speaking of which - Downloaded this really good podcast of French hip-hop from XLR8R about a month ago that I'd been meaning to post about. Just noticed one of the tracks is by DSL. Hah. Well there ya go...
Best of the Beards 2007
As the end of 2007 looms near, the time has come to reflect on what is really important...
BEARDS!
2007 was a year full of great electro jams. Behind every great jam, a great man. And on his face...a great beard. Coincidence? I think not!
Here are just a few of the great electro beards of '07. See if you can guess whose they are. Click the link at the end of the post for the answers and info on the men behind the beards.
Click here to see how right or wrong you were and to learn more about what these 'staches accomplished in '07.
Dec 17, 2007
Radio 4 news!
via their website:
"Yes its been a while but we have news. In January 2008 Radio 4 will be entering the studio with their new favorite production team,The Brothers, (!!!, Professor Murder) and recording a brand new batch of songs. Some of these songs will be released on RCRDLBL soon after. Also, on January 25 the band will play their first NYC show in some time at Studio B in Brooklyn. DJs and a full lineup will be announced shortly...Elsewhere work on the Antonino Dambrosio/Tim Robbins film, Let Fury Have the Hour, is continuing and the band will be providing most of the music for that film which is due at the end of 2008.... Anthony Roman's collaboration with British dance act X-Press 2 has been released on Tommy Boy records here in the US. The album is called Makeshift Feelgood...
Happy Holidays kids."
Dec 13, 2007
Super Thursday
If the amount of stuff going on tonight doesn't give you flashbacks to CMJ I don't know what will.
Early show:
Haven't seen anyone on the bill live before, but I'm going for Jordan Dare. Hadn't heard of him before until my friend Paul emailed me about him. He has a great sound - banging and crunchy. Reppin Montreal too!
After that show is where things started to get tricky for me.
I'm going to this:
I've gone on enough tangents here before about how much I love Boys Noize so I'm not going to bore you with another. I hope he plays some stuff off of Oi Oi Oi like he did at I Love Techno.
Here are the other things I'm skipping since they overlap with Boys Noize and/or will have me running around Brooklyn/Manhattan like a lunatic:
Don't know about the other bands, but Nintendo + Baltimore = OCDJ.
It's free...you have the dudes from the Rapture dj-ing, plus David Bruno. If his set is anything like his last one it should be a great time.
Finally, the show I am probably the most pissed about missing:
I love Ulrich Schnauss. His music is really mellow and atmospheric, but in a live setting it somehow works up to a beautiful bang. I know if I go after the Knitting Factory show I will just be in a daze and too worried about cutting it too close for the Boys Noize show to enjoy it.
Anyway...get out there, don't let the weather stop you!
Dec 10, 2007
Dec 9, 2007
Bad!
Right now, Tiefschwarz is dj-ing at Studio B, and it looks something like this:
Ok, maybe not that bad, but tonight confirmed Studio B is definitely taking some kind of hellish dirty jerz turn. I am hoping it is just temporary.
A little before 2, Tiefschwarz went on, nothing crazy. They dropped a very subtle version of Daft Punk's Teachers after a while which had me buggin out a little. Teachers is the song I ALWAYS want to hear played out somewhere that still has yet to happen...it got my hopes up, but I liked what they did with it. Unfortunately, with that my expectations jumped, and they proceeded to play some kind of progressive nightmare that I could not get into. Left a bit after 3.
WHACK!
I know you need a bad night every now and then so you appreciate all the good shit that comes through New York (which is actually a lie I tell myself so that I am less pissed when I have a shitty night), but does it have to be a night when so much oher potentially good shit is goin down? I'm really just pissed that Tief was so bad, and that I missed Peer Pressure because of it.
Thank goodness for Boys Noize on Thursday...
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