The Bloody Beetroots and Hearts Revolution at Hiro 3/6/08

Sorry it took so long to post this review!

Busy Paul and I met up to see the Bloody Beetroots at Hiro, but first we witnessed Hearts Revolution. I didn't really know much about them. I'd heard about the whole Choose Your Own Adventure concept for the remixes, thought it was was a cute idea. Some pretty good people did remixes, so I figured the band itself would be pretty good. WRONG! It was probably the most painful show I have been to this year. The beats and everything are very good, but the singer, Lo, is HORRIBLE! This is not a matter of me not liking her voice or style...the girl could not sing.

She actually made me think of Yelle (whose performance at Hiro a few weeks earlier was the complete opposite - check out the French pop awesomeness) only because she was petite and her singing was more like YELLing. She then bitched about it being so late, being tired, and ended saying something like "this is our last song, I have to go to bed." Cry me a river. You are making music for a living and selling cool stuff out of an ice cream truck. I am sorry to hear you are tired at midnight on a Thursday night.

For once the masses at Hiro seemed to actually be listening to the music, and accordingly just kind of looked blankly in the direction of the stage. Nobody was really moving. You could definitely sense some crowd/vocalist tension.

Thankfully their set wasn't terribly long. Before I knew it the Bloody Beetroots were erasing any bad feelings with some wobbly, ill beats. They were really great. Their set was super energetic, one banger after another. I can't remember that much of what they played specifically this far removed from when the actual show was, but I can tell you there was a lot of their own stuff being dropped and a lot of stuff by fellow Italians, Crookers.

Got a couple of cellphone pics of the masked men below:

 

Also, you should definitely check out the mix the Bloody Beetroots did for the No Love Lost Records Mixtape Project (which I can safely say I am obsessed with at this point).

TRACKLISTING:

01. Goose - "Everybody (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"
02. Hostage - "Gluttony (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"
03. Martin Solveig - "C’est la Vie (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"
04. The Bloody Beetroots - "We Are From Venice"
05. The Bloody Beetroots Feat. Congorock - "Blutosky Fucks Popeye (Ep Version)"
06. The Bloody Beetroots - "Butter (Ep Version)"
07. The Bloody Beetroots Feat. Congorock - "Rombo (Draft)"
08. Audioporno - "Choo Choo (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"
09. The Toxic Avenger - "Escape (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"
10. Timbaland - "Miscommunication (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"
11. The Bloody Beetroots - "Wacky Children (Preview)"
12. The Bloody Beetroots - "I Love The Bloody Beetrroots (Radio Edit)"
13. The Bloody Beetroots - "Detroit (Ghetto Edit)"
14. The Bloody Beetroots - "III to Destroy"
15. Goose - "Blackgloves (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)"

ps - in a bizarre twist of fate Hearts Revolution is opening for Yelle at the Highline Ballroom in May:



Tickets/info here.

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Simian Mobile Disco, One Step Beyond at the Museum of Natural History 3/28/08

I wish I could tell you how awesome the Simian Mobile Disco show was on Friday, but I wound up standing in that spot...you know the one where everyone decides they need to pass through, so you are constantly moving out of someone's way? That is where I was.

Initially everything was cool...we were about 20 feet back, SMD was doing their thing...banging as always. And then we got shifted to the aforementioned spot and it pretty much turned into a shitty experience. Eventually we realized it wasn't going to get better so we moved to the back. At that point the show was nearly done.

As far as I know SMD didn't really change things up too much compared to the other times I've seen them. They played most of 'Attack Decay Sustain Release', their remix of 'Ladyflash' by the Go! Team, and their remix of Klaxons' 'Magick'.

My favorite part of the night was very nearly running into SMD (physically) as they walked past the guest list table (which we were just leaving) to take some photos near a big dinosaur skeleton. Chuck and I then lamented about how much we love them and how they are such awesome dudes. *sigh*

Sorry I don't really have much to say about the show given my whack experience. Luckily Mike and Paul were up front having an awesome time which they documented rather thoroughly (according to a text message I received mid-show about their "media whoring", lol). I will direct you to what will undoubtedly be more accurate reviews of the awesomeness that is a live Simian Mobile Disco show as soon as they post them.

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Cut presents the Institubes Paris Terror Club at Studio B with Para One, Surkin, Bobmo, and the Trouble&Bass dj's 3/27/08

Met Busy Paul outside the B at midnight. There was no line and the place was relatively empty. So surprising with the big guys from Institubes in the house and no other super big shows happening that night. New Yorkers and their weird dancing habits...eventually more people got on the floor once the Frenchies went on, but the B wasn't full at all. It was a nice change from the sweatbox it has been lately, but a disappointing turnout for such a talented little crew. Anyway...

Mathhead was spinning when we arrived, switched to the Captain shortly after. Both decent sets. I enjoyed the Captain's more (which probably had something to do with the fact that I was there for all of it, vs. 20 minutes of Mathhead's). At some point he dropped 'E Talking' by Soulwax (I am pretty sure it was that song, but my memory is fricken shot...I need to start taking Ginkgo) which was good to hear out. (ps - when are those Belgians coming back?!).


After the Captain, Bobmo (side note to Busy Paul - TO THE BOBMOBILE!!!) went on. At first we thought it was Surkin because he opened with a Surkin track (again, can't remember which one) and they are both little dudes, but then Shark yelled something like "give it up for Bobmo!!!" Overall I thought his set was pretty good...definitely had a bit of an old school feel which was nice, plus a hint of B-more. And then you remember that the dude is 17, so it was actually relatively amazing.

Para One was up next. There was definitely a shift...more electro/techy sounding and he was totally getting his knob twist on which was cool, but was getting a little eh by the end. It was a decent set, but wasn't really that into it for the most part. There were some parts that were very good...hearing him drop 'Dundun-Dun' was pretty amazing, and he dropped a TTC song towards the end.

Surkin closed out the night. I think his set was the best out of everyone's that night. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely had me getting down in a way the other sets hadn't. He played some of his own stuff which was great - Hoes Get Down (which I think every dj dropped that night) and Radio Fireworks, some good French electro - Daft Punk, etc., and some old school stuff. Just a really fun danceable set. The party went until 3:30. A super quick car ride home from the B, the workings of a post about disco sirens, and a hilarious g-chat with Busy Paul left me going into today with a precious 3.5 hours of sleep! Yea-yuhh. SMD with everyone and their mother tonight should be dope.

ps - Paul was media-whore extraordinaire. Hopefully he will have some photos and videos to give you a full impression of the evening up on his blizzog soon.

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WTF is the electro triangle?!

If you've been reading this blog you have probably come across mention of "the electro triangle", "the triangle", etc.

In case you are wondering wtf I am talking about...the electro triangle is me, my friend Mike from themusic.fm, and my friend Paul who recently launched his blog Thump Thump on Thursday. We became friends through our shared love of electro. I've known Paul probably 2 months longer than I've known Mike. One night the three of us all wound up out seeing Guns N'Bombs at Hiro. That night "...introductions are made...it's like a ridiculous electro-loving triangle."

Just thought I'd clarify...

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Tortured Soul at the Highline Ballroom and Modeselektor at Studio B 3/21/08

Friday I was off from work. Spent the day having an exhaustingly fun time going on adventures with Eddie. After doing a ton of stuff we went to see Tortured Soul at the Highline Ballroom. On their myspace they are described as "live soulful house" which I would say is accurate. They have a few songs that are really right on, they totally nail it and make you want to get down. Some are a bit more mellow and kind of ehhh. Overall definitely worth checking out though. Just to put things into perspective, if I wasn't totally exhausted by that point in the day I probably would be raving about them. The first few songs were really awesome and I was dying to get down, but my legs just said "Hmm, no, sorry. No dancing for you."

At that point I just kept thinking about how nice it would be to head home and go to bed. But I had bought a ticket to Modeselektor at the B, and Mike was already on his way over there. So we left the Highline around 1 and headed over to Studio B. Thankfully getting some fresh air and chilling on the train for a while brought on a second wind.

Got there about 2. Mike told me Modeselektor had only been on for about 15 minutes (unfortunately I missed everyone else deejaying that night). They had the place going nuts. Their sound was big and banging. One of the first songs I heard them play when I arrived was 'Une bande de mec sympa' by TTC (which is a track that Modeselektor produced). It was great to hear on a loud system. Super fun to dance to. I was bugging out that they played it because up until a couple of days prior it was the only Modeselektor song I had ever heard. I think it was also the only track I recognized the entire time they deejayed. The rest of their set was super hard and banging, but in a different way than what I've been used to lately. The tracks they were dropping were pretty diverse, but all had the bang in common. My only complaint...they only played until 3. Such a bittersweet ending. I guess when someone goes on that late I expect them to close out the night. Still an excellent experience. Would definitely go out to see them again.

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DJ Kaos in New York this week!

An unexpected discovery on myspace this morning -

DJ Kaos seems to be doing a little tour of the US, and he's hitting New York this week!

(of course on 2 nights that other awesome stuff is happening)
Thursday, March 27th at 205.
Friday, March 28th at the Tribeca Grand. Checked DJ Kaos' myspace today and this date is no longer listed. It says he will be at the Tribeca Grand on April 5th (next Saturday) though.

"Berlin-based DJ Kaos has been producing twisted disco tunes for a number of years...Expect nothing short of amazing, with a range from acid techno to true-blue disco."

Yea-yuhh!

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Mark your calendar - Moby, Dj Mehdi, and Tommie Sunshine at Hiro April 3rd

Moby, Dj Mehdi, and Tommie Sunshine at Hiro April 3rd!

*edit* Even better:



RSVP/$5 advanced tickets available here

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!

One of the best things about writing your own blog is doing whatever the hell you want, therefore:



30 never looked so good! You rock! Thank you for a ton of jams that never would have graced my ears if you were not born, I hadn't met you and you hadn't recommended them to me!

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Boy 8-Bit at Glasslands 3/13/08

Met up with Mike and Paul last night to see Boy 8-Bit at Glasslands. We got there on the early side considering doors were at 11:30. Mike had quite possibly the most hellish subway adventure ever on the way over. Things weren't too great when we got inside at first. Neither of us had been to Glasslands before and everyone was just kinda standing around at that point, not really dancing (thought T&B dj's were playing some good stuff). We explored the place, got some beers (another problem was we each had limited cash, no atm's around that we knew of, and no tab) and parked ourselves on a couch and started bs-ing about music (shocking).

The place gradually filled up. Not sure if it was DJ Tameil or Tim Dolla deejaying (it might've been a joint set), but they were pretty good. Played a diverse set...everything from Daft Punk to a sick re-work of Aretha Franklin's Respect, Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton (hah, wish I were kidding). Seriously though, barring that last song, it was a nice set.

We had gotten off the couch and started dancing just before Boy 8-Bit went on. He was awesome. I don't even know how to describe what he played because it didn't really sound like anything I've heard before. In the beginning things did have an old school computery 8-bit tinge to them, but very subtle, not in your face. I recognized maybe a handful of tracks out of his set, but I don't know any of the names, just know I've heard em before. I don't really know what to call what he played. For simplicity's sake I guess you could say it was electro, but definitely more of a UK sound, not French at all. A banging, non-stop set, like nothing I've heard lately. He tore it up until close to 3:30. Check him out. He'll be at SXSW, then up in Canada...then all over Europe. Hopefully he will be back soon after that.

Really bad cellphone pics (one cool thing was the dj booth was set up in front of this tiled wall w/ different designs, looked all pixelated - funny since it's Boy 8-Bit - you can kind of see the wall in the pics):

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Videos of Justice & Chromeo at MSG from Nickydigital

Nicky Digital got some great footage of both Justice and Chromeo on Tuesday. Check it out!:

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Justice, DJ Mehdi & Busy P, and Chromeo at the Wamu Theater at MSG 3/11/08

After some initial feelings of ehhh leading up to this show due mainly to the cost of the ticket and some horrible Justice experiences at Terminal 5, by Tuesday I was ready to go. This was mainly due to listening to the Justice album straight through (something I always used to do leading up to concerts, but haven't done in a really long time). That album plays really well. I always used to listen to the whole thing when I first got it. Doing that a few times over the last couple of days got me really excited for the show.

By the time I got my ticket and got in to the Wamu Theater it was already close to 8:30. The seated section had a decent amount of people, but definitely a lot of empties at that point. The floor was hardly full at all - just a relatively small bunch of people (maybe 70 or so?) all dancing like crazy right in the front. I walked around the bunch shocked at how empty the floor was. Seriously, it was less than a third full at that point. I positioned myself over towards the left/center and proceeded to get down for the remaining 10 minutes of Busy P and DJ Mehdi's set. It was awesome. I forgot how much DJ Mehdi gets into his sets. He was grinning and dancing, having a great time. Glad to see that, but so annoyed at myself for running late (but not as annoyed as I'd be if Busy P weren't deejaying here on Friday).

While they were setting up Chromeo's stuff I was taking everything in. I noticed that there were tons of young people there - high school kids everywhere. So weird, but they were totally into it. When Chromeo went on (at 8:40) they went crazy, were singing along, and yelling song requests (specifically Bonafied Lovin). They seemed legitimately into it. Good for them. They have way better taste in music than I did when I was in high school. Haha. I also realized there are several awesome pros of a high school vs. hipster crowd:

1. High schoolers appear to bathe regularly and wear deodorant.
2. They couldn't drink so they weren't wasted and flailing and dancing into people.
3. The majority of the guys hadn't had their growth spurts yet so I had absolutely no trouble seeing the stage entire time.

Honestly, all kidding aside, all of those things are absolutely true and contributed to this being a better experience than the Terminal 5 shows.

So back to Chromeo...they were very good! They played all their usual suspects (not in this order, and I am probably missing 1 or 2 songs):

Bonafied Lovin
Tenderoni
Me & My Man
I Am Somebody
Needy Girl
Momma's Boy
Outta Sight

At 9:40 Justice went on. The curtain revealed the cross and Marshall stacks set-up and the madness began with Genesis and never let up. I can't tell you the order, but they played basically the entire album (though I don't think they did Valentine!) along with some extra awesomeness thrown in - their Franz Ferdinand remix, the We Are Your Friends shout along (which ruled!), NY Lipps (which nobody seemed to know!) by Soulwax.

The crowd had really good energy the whole time. Even when the floor got more full (I don't know if it ever actually filled all the way up, couldn't tell when I looked back) there was still enough space to dance. Everyone was close b/c they wanted to be near the stage, but there wasn't the sardines in a can effect that happened at Terminal 5. You had enough personal space to comfortably get down. I wound up near a small herd of high school kids that were not annoying at all. There was only one guy in front of me and I could see past him with no trouble at all. I could see Xavier and Gaspard the whole time which I think was a critical element in having a better time at this show vs. Terminal 5 (where I was waaaay back and could only see the cross and Marshall stacks). You could see Justice getting into it, which made you get more into it. Serious fun. I think Justice had a good time too. Xavier ran out towards the end to take video of the crowd. Gaspard was pumping his fists a bunch. I like to see deejays having a good time.

They also were super appreciative of the crowd. They came out from the behind their gear towards the end a bunch to clap for the crowd and wave. Xavier got down on his fricken knees at the end to thank the crowd. Super gracious dudes.

So anyway...a dope night. Much better than Terminal 5. Wamu Theater is great. The show was worth the 70 bucks. I'll take high schoolers over hipsters any day.

Oh, and also, the sound: it was RIDICULOUSLY LOUD. I had earplugs and it was still loud and I could feel it vibrating through my body.

Obligatory cellphone camera pics!:

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What's happenin this week

No 'Week in Dance' this week, but it probably would've looked something like this:

Thursday:

The Trouble&Bass crew line up another solid party bringing in the wonderful Boy 8-Bit from South London. He's done remixes for loads of artists on Southern Fried Records and other labels and his 'Fog Bank EP' is scheduled to be digitally released on Trouble & Bass on March 25th. XLR8R wrote a short piece about him last month, but I prefer the unabridged interview.

If you're looking for something to get you going for tonight, Trouble & Bass have a lot of mixes for download on their myspace. I love all the T&B deejays, but I have to recommend the Drop the Lime mixes especially - quite good.




If you're looking for something a little less bass-heavy for Thursday Dave is back deejaying at 205 with his People Don't Dance No More party. With Dan & Eugene from Escort, Liv Spencer (Still Going/Dfa), and Robot Blair deejaying it's sure to be a disco-friendly affair.











Friday it's back to the French electro goodness that has thankfully been passing through New York more and more lately. Ed Banger head Busy P stops by between Justice's DC and Boston tour dates to deejay at Le Royale. RSVP here to get on the $10 reduced list. There were a limited number of advanced tickets sold, but there aren't any left. Le Royale is a pretty small venue that will fill up quickly so get there early.





Saturday the madness continues at Studio B with JDH and Dave P's Fixed party. Should be a great night of live electro with Australia's Cut Copy and Philly's Pink Skull. Pink Skull are scheduled to go on at 11:30, Cut Copy at 12:30 w/ JDH & Dave P deejaying the rest of the time. Online tickets are sold out. Tickets will be sold at the door the night of the show for $12.










If you're getting tired of Studio B/electro/Brooklyn, that same night woobly house master Jesse Rose will be stopping by Sullivan Room's Watergate party on his 'Playing Around' tour. Jesse will be releasing his first compilation 'Playing Around' on his label Made To Play on April 28th.

"showcasing made to play's finest moments as well as previously unreleased exclusive cuts. this double cd includes tracks and remixes by jesse rose, claude vonstroke, trevor loveys, sinden, chris duckenfield, oliver $, deadset, magik johnson and many more.

the concept is simple, the tracks are made, dj's play them and dance floors go mental. as main stays in the sets of dj's like switch, luciano, claude vonstroke, dj t, and derrick carter you will have without doubt been rocking away to the unmistakable sound of made to play in clubs over the last few years. the formula is tried and tested every time..."

If the album is any indication, should be a night of great dance music. Advance tickets available here. Jesse's not over here too often so don't sleep on this!

DJ Fame and resident dj Van Scott are also spinning. I haven't seen DJ Fame before, but have seen Van deejay many times. He plays very eclectic mixes, jumping from genre to genre, with making you move being the common ground.

Get out there and get yourself warmed up for the rest of March. There is no let up when it comes to good shows this month.

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Busy P deejaying at Le Royale Friday

RSVP here for $10 reduced admission list. You can also buy a $10 ticket in advance from that same link (which I highly recommend in order to avoid some doorman BS).

Also, this is not official in any way...but been talking to a bunch of peeps aka Dave and we noticed that Justice is playing DC on Thursday and Boston on Saturday...making it possible for them to swing by NY on Friday. The flyer says "+ guests". Cross (haha, that was not intentional) your fingers.

Sorry I didn't get to post the full details on this earlier. Just got back into the swing of things with going out over the past couple of weekends, and quickly got super behind on posting. Also, suddenly found myself writing 'the Week in Dance' over at Brooklynvegan (thank you Dave & Dave!) which kinda threw my posting for a loop here last week. Should be back to normal as I get used to doing both (hopefully soon).

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DFA Dance Party at the Moma 3/1/08

Went to the DFA dance party at the Moma last Saturday not really knowing what to expect. It was thrown in conjunction with the exhibition Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today.

Honestly, I thought it was going to be kind of weak. How banging could things get in an art museum? I instantly knew I was wrong when I walked into the Moma. The music was loud and pounding which was surprising - I expected things to be a little more on the mellow disco side.

Walked around a bit. The open bar was great until the lines started getting ridiculous, at which point of course some of the best jams were dropped (Cut Copy's 'Lights and Music' and 'Blind' by Hercules and Love Affair).

Even though the music was great the party overall was kinda weird. You could definitely tell who was there for the art and who was there to get down. The floor was packed, but there was an equal number of people (if not more) just schmoozing. It wound up being fine once I got over being weirded out by the people just hanging out.

The whole color theme of the evening wound up being pretty awesome. I didn't actually look at the exhibit, but the museum had a bunch of color-related elements worked into the event like these big light panels next to the dj booth, rainbow stripes covering the steps, and (probably the coolest thing) pretty much the entire mezzanine level covered in twister mats. There are a few camera phone pics of those things below. The Fader did a little write up about the event and people's outfits (bright colors were encouraged in Moma's description of the event). You can see the rainbow steps in one of them.

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Fool's Gold Tour 2 Details and NY Tickets on Sale

Full details on the Fool's Gold Tour 2 have been announced. It's actually Fool's Gold & Dim Mak's Screaming Bloody Murder Tour. All dates to the right.

Tickets for the NY show at Hiro are on sale here.

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Escort at Southpaw 2/29/08

Sorry for the lack of updates. Finally getting back into the swing of things after being sick and feeling super rundown. Hadn't been to a show in 20 days which is a crazy record for me.

I broke the 20 day no-show streak by hitting Southpaw with Eddie (one of the few people I know who knows the meaning of "good disco") to see Escort. Basically the only thing I knew of Escort was their video for 'All Through the Night'.

After an extended journey to the BK due to BS-ing on the train and missing stops, and a whack cab driver we arrived at Southpaw at 11ish. This actually wound up being fine since Escort didn't go on until 12:30, allowing ample time for several games of Big Buck Hunter which is pretty messed up (but there is something fun about yelling "critter bonus!!!" haha).

Anyway...Escort were awesome. They are a live 18-piece band which really took the fire and put it under disco's ass. The sound was very bouncy and lively and good for the get-down. They played for just about an hour and ended their set with 'All Through the Night' asking where the freaks in the house were at just before doing so - the answer was everywhere because at that point the whole place was bugging out! Overall a great band and experience. You don't get to see live disco every day, so don't sleep the next time they're around.

Also I have to say how good it was to be at Southpaw for a change. Hadn't been to a show there in literally years. That place has a great vibe and is a really fun place to see a show.

Here's the setlist from that night thanks to Dave at Slap You in Public:

Starlight
Turn it Back
Love in Indigo
Miss Broadway
Can't Fake the Feeling
Dancer
Get on Up
Bright New Life
All Through the Night

Dave's also throwing this party next week w/ Dan & Eugene from Escort deejaying:

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Busy P dj-ing in NY!

Busy P is dj-ing at Le Royale next Friday (March 14th)!! Will post more info once I get it. Bussssyyyy P!!!

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Crookers Mix

Phra & Bot are at it again. Haven't listened to the mix yet, but it looks good. Start gettin hyped, they're coming here in...June. Hah. It will be here before you know it! I already can't wait.

Get the mix here. Tracklist:

1.Midnight Juggernauts - Scorpius
2.Crookers - Big Money Comin
3.Krames - Sound of The Police
4.Santo Gold - Creator (Scottie B mix)
5.Ron Carrol - Nike Spinnin' (The Count & Sinden Remix)
6.Moby- I love to move in here (Crookers CRACK mix)
7.Boy 8 bit - Wolfen
8.N.E.R.D. - Everyone nose (Phra Re-fix)
9.DJ Godfather - Short Dick Man
10.Skream - Midnight Request Line (Chavy Boys of London mix)
11.Rico Tubbs - Gangsters
12.BSS - One Blood Kuduro
13.Cupid - Cupid Shuffle (Bird Peterson Remix)
14.Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction (Wideboys bassline mix)
15.The Whip - Trash -(Crookers mix)
16.Bumblebeez - Rio (Boy 8 bit mix)
17.Bumblebeez - Rio (Crookers mix)
18.Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Crookers mix)
19.Dada Life - The Great Fashionista Swindle
20.Bloody Beetroots - Boom Night
21.Azzido da Bass - Dooms Night (Crookers BUM mix)
22.Crookers - Purple lens game - (Bloody Beetroots mix)

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DVNO video

This is/is going to be everywhere now/really soon, but it's yet another visually exciting video from So Me/Justice/Ed Banger so I am posting it anyway:

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