Cut!

Just got back from the Datarock/Passions/Low Budget/Trouble & Bass night at Studio B...I had an excellent time, though there were definitely highs and lows.

I arrived, I guess about 15-20 minutes into Passions' live set, which was dope. He was just tearing it up...twisting knobs, tweaking everything possible, taking out the bass, and then dropping it. It was awesome. However! hardly anyone was dancing! There was a bunch of people going nuts in the front...and everyone else was kind of just standing around, or dancing very mildly in place...meanwhile Passions is busting out some serious shit. Despite the Shark's efforts over the PA it didn't really start to pick up until it got towards the end of his set.

Passions whole set was awesome, but some highlights for me were the very unexpected "My Moon, My Man" remix...it was like the Boys Noize remix (which I love) with an extra heap of bass. One of the other tracks he dropped that was excellent was his remix of the Teenagers' Homecoming, which you can get at Palms Out Remix Sunday. The few times it's come up on my ipod so far I was kind of indifferent, but after hearing, recognizing, and loving it tonight I need to check it again.

After Passions, the Captain played a short, but tight little set. Princess Superstar's "Licky", Sinden's "Beeper", and I think the point where everyone went bananas...Mr. Oizo's "Patrick 122". That track is sick. I've been loving it since I first heard it from Them Jeans, but hearing it played in somebody's set took it to a new level of dope. Can't wait to hear the man himself drop it at Studio B next weekend. You must have heard about that by now...if not it'll be in my post tomorrow about the insanity that is next week here in NYC. But anyway...back to the Captain...he delivered!

Next was Datarock...I saw them a couple of months ago at Studio B. My main motive for going to Studio B tonight was to see Passions and the Cut crew, not Datarock. The review of the last time I saw them holds true for tonight. Cheeky Norwegian pop...rocking, occasionally banging...but not one of the bands I have to see when they are in town.

Don't get me wrong, they were energetic and put on a good show. I just don't like em that much live. My love for them is where their songs are remixed and thrown into dj sets. Anyway...I took the time they were on stage to take a breather, grab a beer, and listened to them more passively as I moved around the club. Whereas the last time I saw them, there was the moment of irony when I saw a guy who looked like Duckie from "Pretty in Pink", and they then proceeded to play a song about Molly Ringwald, tonight's irony came when they sang "Sex Me Up" (a song I originally mistook for some random David Byrne I hadn't yet heard when my ipod was on shuffle), and I was thinking to myself that at certain times the Talking Heads' influence on their sound is quite apparent...the next song they announce is called True Stories. Quite amusing.

Somewhere between 2 and 2:30 Datarock finished. Oh! I forgot to mention that while I was getting down to the Captain's fine set, Datarock proceeded to walk right past me to get to the stage...which was way more amusing than it should have been because of the tracksuits. It is even funnier than that picture indicates because there are 4 or 5 of them, not just two...all in matching track suits. And this is coming from someone who loves tracksuits (I have a serious Adidas problem)...

So...2somethingish Low Budget gets on the decks and I am in love. At first he has some weirdo remix of the Rapture's "Whoo Alright Yeah Uh-huh" on. The vocals were not the normal vocals. It sounded like a different voice altogether, but I was glad just to hear the song. I should probably say before I go any further...I went into this set without ever having heard any of Low Budget's stuff before. Shortly after W.A.Y.U.H., he played Apache, always a crowd pleaser. Then...the key to my heart...Simian, We Are Your Friends remix...I yell along every time. I am in a state of bliss afterward, and then I pray my ears are not deceiving me when I detect LB is about to drop Soulwax's remix of Klaxons' Gravity's Rainbow! Dope! At this point I was so happy. In my head I am thinking, "Yay! A new favorite dj!"...then I make a pit stop, I hear him play a remix of Robot Rock...and then after a bit it gets all rap and hip-hoppy. Don't get me wrong...I like both, but in small doses. It was like that until I left with only a few breaks (the Rapture's House of Jealous Lovers, Blue Monday...the goddamn PB&J Whistling Song!)...shortly after that, the PB&J that is, I figured there was to be no going back to the more electronic/dance side, so I bounced the 20 minutes before close, and avoided the scurry for a car home.

So overall...thumbs up to the Captain for the dope set, the Shark for getting everyone hyped, Passions for the bass. Loved the first half of Low Budget's set, and appreciated Datarock's cheeky-ness. The end. 5AM...bedtiiiime!!!! Oh! I almost forgot. Passions's guest DJ'd on the Fader's show (the Let Out) Friday night on East Village Radio, which you can listen to here.