David Byrne To Lecture at the Bell House

On Monday, January 11...

David will present a short video/audio lecture called "Creation in Reverse," speaking to the ways that venue and context shape artistic creation, followed by a Q&A.

The lecture is free (first come first served) and begins at 8pm. More info on the Bell House here.

Byrne spoke a bit about this subject at the Center for Architecture back in February of 2007.

Read more...

DJ Mix from The Glass/Plant Music Xmas Party Tonight!

In case you're on the fence about going to Plant Music's Christmas Party tonight at Ella, here's a great mix from the Glass. Dominique Keegan (who is half of the Glass) will be one of the deejays at Ella tonight. Download the mix & check out the tracklisting below. Also be sure to check out Eli Escobar's (who is also deejaying tonight's party) live set from the Ete D'Amour party in July in this post.

The Glass - October DJ Mix tracklisting

1) 'Count Your Lovers' (DJ Kue's Sunrise Mix) Plant Music Exclusive
2) Small town Romeo 'Boom' feat Shad K. (Sammy Bananas Remix) Plant Music Exclusive
3) Fake Blood 'Fix Your Accent'
4) Gossip 'Love Long Distance' (Riva Starr Vocal Mix)
5) Dj Wool 'Strobelight' feat. Subtitle (Arveene & Misk Remix) Exclusive
6) Tittsworth 'Here He Comes' feat. Nina Sky & Natalie Storm (Stretch Armstrong & Jaime Fanatic Remix) Plant Music Exclusive
8) Malente 'Little Secrets' (Jack Beats Remix)
9) Detboi 'Y'all Want Mo' (Sinden Remix)
10) Miike Snow 'Black and Blue' Savage Skulls Remix
11) Detboi & Foamo 'Girls'
12) Trevor Loveys 'Organ Grinder' (The Count's 'Big B Morgan' Remix)
13) Will Eastman 'Feelin'' (Nadastrom Mix) Plant Music Exclusive
14) Ursula 1000 'Rump' (Tom Piper's rump-a-dub-dub reFreshness)
15) Bonus: Casxio 'Seventeen' (The Glass Remix) Plant/The-Hours Exclusive

Read more...

David Byrne/Fatboy Slim Collab "Here Lies Love" to be Released!

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's collaboration, Here Lies Love, which has been in the making since at least 2005, is finally going to be released February 23rd on Nonesuch. Originally labeled a "song cycle" by David Byrne, the series of original compositions focus on Filipino political figure, Imelda Marcos.

Byrne performed the material as part of his curated Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall nearly 3 years ago. I went and was completely floored.

While I would love to see this produced as it was originally intended (as a performed "disco opera"), the physical release (which includes 2 CDs, a DVD, and a 100-page book) looks like it's beautifully done, and features tons of amazing guest vocalists including Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine), Sharon Jones, Róisín Murphy, and Cindy Lauper. Tracklisting, which includes the complete list of guest vocalists is below:

Here Lies Love Tracklisting

CD 1

1. HERE LIES LOVE
Vocal by Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine)

2. EVERY DROP OF RAIN
Vocals by Candie Payne & St. Vincent

3. YOU’LL BE TAKEN CARE OF
Vocal by Tori Amos

4. THE ROSE OF TACLOBAN
Vocal by Martha Wainwright

5. HOW ARE YOU?
Vocal by Nellie McKay

6. A PERFECT HAND
Vocal by Steve Earle

7. ELEVEN DAYS
Vocal by Cyndi Lauper

8. WHEN SHE PASSED BY
Vocal by Allison Moorer

9. WALK LIKE A WOMAN
Vocal by Charmaine Clamor

10. DON’T YOU AGREE?
Vocal by Róisín Murphy

11. PRETTY FACE
Vocal by Camille

12. LADIES IN BLUE
Vocal by Theresa Andersson


CD 2

1. DANCING TOGETHER
Vocal by Sharon Jones

2. MEN WILL DO ANYTHING
Vocal by Alice Russell

3. THE WHOLE MAN
Vocal by Kate Pierson

4. NEVER SO BIG
Vocal by Sia

5. PLEASE DON’T
Vocal by Santigold

6. AMERICAN TROGLODYTE
Vocal by David Byrne

7. SOLANO AVENUE
Vocal by Nicole Atkins

8. ORDER 1081
Vocal by Natalie Merchant

9. SEVEN YEARS
Vocals by David Byrne & Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond)

10. WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?
Vocals by Cyndi Lauper & Tori Amos


Full info on the release is here. Also, brace yourself for what might be the artist formerly known as David Byrne:

In the meantime, I have decided to rebrand myself, inspired by Philip Morris changing their name to Altria, Blackwater to Xe, and the train I'm riding on right now that calls itself Acela - none of which mean anything, but they are cleverly evocative. When I decide on the magic word, you'll be the first to know.

Read more...

Plant Music Christmas Party this Wednesday!

I was going to write a big "holiday parties" post, but then realized there really aren't that many happening. In any case, what looks to be a great one is going to be happening in just two days, this Wednesday (12/16) at Ella thanks to New York label, Plant Music and Nicky Digital (who recently won Paper Magazine's People's Choice Award for Best Nightlife Blog):

All the info is on the scary Carol Channing flyer below:



Be sure to RSVP and also check out Plant's recently started blog for some great downloads and label news.

Read more...

Findlay Brown Covers Wham's "Last Christmas"

Findlay Brown (who you can read much more about here), recently did a whistle-y, beautiful, poignant cover of Wham's classic poppy holiday track, "Last Christmas".







You can download Findlay's version here and look forward to the US debut of his latest album Love Will Find You January 12th of next year. Also, if you happen to be in New York on January 13 stop by Joe's Pub to see Fin perform live.

Read more...

This Weekend in New York

Here are some dance-worthy happenings:

Friday

Always good disco with David Bruno and Robot Blair:



Saturday

I knew nothing about John Tejada until I read this interview, but one thing I have known for a while is that Justin and Eamon have yet to lead me wrong in terms of good times on the dance floor:



Meanred is throwing another one of their "Lose Your Shit" loft parties. I'm particularly excited that Eli Escobar is deejaying since the last time I saw him (at Ete D'Amour in July) he was great. You can download that set here. Info on Saturday's party below:



Have fun getting down this weekend! Also, there are more options that I haven't gone into detail about in the list in the left sidebar.

Read more...

Air to tour North America in March!

The excellent electronic French duo of Nicolas Godin and JB Dunckel, better known as Air, are returning to North America for their first shows here since 2007! My first time seeing Air was at the Theater at Madison Square Garden when they were last here in May of '07. I was pretty new to the band at that point, and their live set absolutely floored me...so, SO good. I had three people (2 of whom I don't even usually ask for music advice) tell me to go and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Con for us New Yorkers...the show is at Terminal 5. After many debacles at that venue, the key is just to get there hellishly early and hold down a spot. It's worth it in the long run not to be far away or under that awful overhang. Anyway...here are the dates. GO SEE THEM (even if you are only into them *a little*). Their new album, Love 2 is out now on Astralwerks.

March 13: Fillmore - Miami, Florida
March 14: Hard Rock Live - Orlando, Florida
March 15: Centerstage - Atlanta, Georgia
March 17: 9:30 Club - Washington DC
March 18: Electric Factory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 19: Terminal 5 - New York, New York
March 20: Berklee Performance Centre - Boston, Massachusetts
March 22: Metropolis - Montreal, Québec
March 23: Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, Ontario
March 24: Riviera Theatre - Chicago, Illinois
March 26: Fox Theatre - Oakland, California
March 27: 4th & B - San Diego, California
March 28: Walt Disney Concert Hall - Los Angeles, California

Read more...

Update! December shows

Sorry it's been ages. Working toward making up for it, here is a breakdown of a lot of awesome things happening this month (& next year). The complete list (which will continue to be updated over the next few days) is in the column on the left, but some shows/parties I am particularly looking forward to are below:

Tonight and tomorrow the Sights are at Bruar Falls and Cake Shop. I first saw the Sights at Southpaw 4 years ago, where they were opening for the Caesars. Basically...they have a very classic rock sound, which is nice. Very good "hang out in a bar and down some beers with your friends" rock. At least that is what I am calling it, as of right now. Check them out.


Friday night (December 4th) Flashing Lights is happening at 88 Palace. I saw Boy 8-Bit there last year and it was one of the most memorable parties I've been to. Everyone was going crazy. It's in a dim sum restaurant in a mini-mall in Chinatown for crying out loud.

Anyway...the main reason I am going is Electrodrone is about to have a small stroke over Todd Edwards. I haven't seen him this excited (over anything that isn't dubstep) since Soulwax. And I had a pretty banging Todd Edwards remix of a Surkin track on my computer so...it should be good.



RSVP (& preview some jams)

The amount going on Saturday night is insane. Lately, seeing friends win out over who's deejaying, so I am forgoing much awesomeness to hang out with them at Sullivan Room (and also check out Mixer Assassin...half of whom I saw deejay at a friend's bday and was great!). Some other awesome things happening that I will be skipping, but recommend:

Ghostland Observatory killed it at All Points West this summer - very dancey and electronic, but delivered in a very rocking way live. They will be doing the same at Terminal 5 Saturday night. Friendly Fires have been great every time I've seen them (except maybe the last time I saw them at Le Poisson Rouge...though I might have just been cranky b/c of the ridiculous wait before their set) and are playing a sold out show at Webster Hall.

Ewan Pearson is excellent and is deejaying Mister Saturday Night at Market Hotel. Check out an interview here and Ewan's Groove Column.



Advanced tickets available here.

Also on Saturday, the aforementioned Sights are at Maxwell's and Fixed has brought over one of the less on the radar Ed Banger's, Breakbot to deejay the back room at Public Assembly:



On Sunday, (one of the best parties - vote for them at Paper's Nightlife Awards) Sunday Best rages on at the Bell House with residents Doug Singer, Eamon Harkin, and Justin Carter.



Looking ahead...

December 8 - Scion A/V Presents: A Night At Made To Play CD Release Party with Jesse Rose ( I ALWAYS miss this guy), Riva Starr, Zombie Disco Squad, Oliver$, Idiotproof, Gina Turner, and Alex English at Love. RSVP

December 11 - Brandon Eaves (Rude...has great taste in music) at Sputnik

December 18 - Lee Fields (is as close as you can get to seeing James Brown perform live) at Southpaw

December 20 - Tortured Soul (is a band that performs house music, live) at Santos

December 31 - Famous Friends New Years Eve with Trouble & Bass and Party Like Us Records hosted by Finger on the Pulse with AC Slater, B.Rich, Udachi, The Captain, Star Eyes, Jubilee, VDRK, and Bradley D (not thinking about NYE at all yet, but here is one option)

February 25 - Ulrich Schnauss (is fucking amazing!) at the Bell House. I always feel kind of ridiculous when I get THIS excited about someone who makes very mellow, atmospheric music. The truth is...it starts off mellow and works up to a beautiful bang. And the last time I saw Ulrich (opening up for Sasha...don't ask!) his set got really banging at the end...very synthy and crunchy. I loved it. Can't wait for this show in February.

Hopefully more updates will be on their way soon. Have an awesome weekend!

Read more...

Sorry for the lack of posts

I am going through some rough shit and it totally sucks!

Anyway...I am going to be out of town this weekend hanging with the fam, but if I were here, here's what I would do:

Saturday night check out 2020 Soundsystem at Santos. I saw them last December, and while it took me a little while to get into their set, I wouldn't hesitate to check them out again. Dominique Keegan from the Glass/Plant Music is going to be performing with them. It should be good. All the info is on the flyer and you can get tickets here:



Also worth checking out Saturday night, but I don't have time to go into detail right now: Russ Chimes w/ Famous Friends , Finger On The Pulse , kap10ku@t , VDRK and Bradley D at Le Poisson Rouge.

Have a good weekend!

Read more...

Interview with Findlay Brown!

Compared to CMJ's past, I found this year's schedule to be a bit tame. Despite this, there were some highlights, and Findlay Brown's show at Bowery Ballroom on October 21st was definitely one of them.

Findlay Brown at Bowery Ballroom - 10/21/09

As Findlay emerged from backstage solely with keyboardist Rob Gentry in tow, I was momentarily concerned since all the prior times I'd witnessed Findlay perform he was accompanied by a full band. However once the pair began, my initial worry immediately dissolved as the stripped down set-up allowed Findlay's talent for delivering beautiful Fifties & Sixties-influenced tunes to shine. Despite revealing that he was "scared shitless" to be playing without his band after the first few songs, Findlay effortlessly delivered track after track from his sophomore album Love Will Find You (out January 12th on Verve). I was fortunate enough to catch up with Findlay a week later to discuss the show, the new album, and much more. Check out the full interview below:


I saw your show Wednesday at Bowery Ballroom, where you said you were scared shitless...is that entirely true?

I was. I was totally unprepared to not have a band. It was a bit like, what are we doing? Remembering how to come in and what the arrangements were - I probably shouldn't say it, but I think I smoked too much weed when I was a teenager and I just have such a bad memory, especially for words or things like that. If something changes like that, it's very hard for me to get my head around it. I'm good at repeating things over and over and over again and then I get it. It takes me weeks to remember the arrangements and even my own songs, the chords. If I don't play it every day, I just forget it.


Had you rehearsed with Rob (the keyboardist) before the show?

About an hour.


Well, you really couldn't tell. I've seen you perform before with the full band and it was obviously different, but you didn't seem uncomfortable.

Well I wasn't uncomfortable when I was actually singing. Once you sort of get carried away by the feeling of the song...I got into it. I enjoyed the majority of it, but yeah, I was a little nervous. I'm quite a nervous performer really, or, I can be. I get very nervous before I go on, to the point where I can't imagine actually doing it. I just think, there's just no way. How can I get up on that stage? Do you know what I mean? And then, as soon as you get up there, some calm sort of comes over you somehow. You know, it's a bit like, well I've got to do this. Where am I going to go? And it must be something along the lines of you realize, that you know it's not that bad.


I know you used to be a boxer. Did you have the same kind of nervousness before matches?

I wasn't actually a boxer as such. I used to fight a lot. It's a bit blown out of proportion. I did do some kind of organized things when I was a teenager, but it definitely wasn't on a professional level. It was actually a kind of street thing, but it was organized.


When you did the other show on Sunday at Littlefield, was it set-up the same way, with just you and Rob?

It was just me, but Rob did get up and play a couple of songs. There was a piano there. I actually prefer it that way. I used to do a lot of acoustic shows in London when I was first starting out on my solo thing. I almost prefer this attitude - I don't know if I'm going to play tonight, type of thing. I'll think alright, I'll do something and not have it planned and it be very sort of off the cuff and go with the mood and then if I get someone else up to join me. It feels like the pressure's off. I'm not very good under pressure. So I was actually a lot more comfortable that night because it felt more unrehearsed in a way.


You recently toured with Duffy and Au Revoir Simone. Did you notice any difference in the way you were received by their fans? Were either of the acts' fans more receptive?

I think they were both equally receptive. We've been really lucky with touring of late with this sort of new sound. The difference is, when I was playing with Duffy, we were playing to around 4,000 people every night, sold out, and it was a bit of a more mainstream audience. I think that the atmosphere was probably different on some nights, but it went down well. People enjoy it. There's not that much of a difference really.

When we played with Au Revoir Simone, some of the nights there were only 10 or 15 people there but it went down well every night and it was more of a kind of muso sort of crowd with Au Revoir Simone, who were, I would think, harder to impress in some ways, but they really enjoyed it. With the Duffy crowd you've got more of the sort of hecklers and things like that, which I really thrive on. It's that thing we talked about before - it's more, kind of an improvised element. If I think, oh I've got to think of something to say between songs, or say something witty or charming, it's not very good for me, but if somebody shouts something at me it's inspiring. We can get something going. We can get some banter going.


Has there been any difference in the way you've been received at home in the UK vs. in the US?

I think people are a bit more enthusiastic here (US) for the kind of music I'm making. I think people are a little less cynical here. They like the classic thing. They don't mind if you're ambitious, if you've got an ambitious kind of sound. I think a lot of the music scene in England, especially London is very, sort of left-field. It's got to be quirky. It's got to be indie, sort of thing. I think it's gone down actually slightly better here, the new record. My first record wasn't released here. It was more of, like a folk thing and that went down really well in England.


Talking about the last album being more folk-oriented, was the move away from that sound to the more Sixties sound intentional or did it just kind of happen?

Well the thing is actually, the folk thing I think was a bit more of a...how can I put it? That was me going away from my natural sort of style, I think more than what I'm doing now. I've always been into a sort of bigger sound, a more produced sound. I was in a group before I did that first record and it was a very full sound, but it was more of like a psychedelic, sort of Sixties psych meets early electronica, kraut-rock sort of thing. I've always been really into strings. The Beatles have been my first love and still my greatest sort of love, so that kind of production.

But I broke my leg, I got run over by a taxi between records and things I'd been getting into a lot were like Phil Spectre and Roy Orbison. I didn't have any of my record collection with me because I was staying at my sisters house, so I just listened to a lot of stuff online. I was downloading a lot of stuff off of iTunes. I think it was mainly that kind of music, but I think this record is actually more true to the kind of music that I will make for the rest of my life than my first record.

My first record, I'd almost given up on the trying to make it, type thing. I had some records out with my other group, but it was a very indie left-field thing. I'd sort of given up on chasing the big deal and the success and things like that and I was going through a very turbulent time with my girlfriend. In fact, she was living in Denmark and we pretty much split up at that point. She's now my fiance actually. I've been with her, like 10 years.

Basically that record was almost like glorified love letters. Poetry, love letters, put to music. It was just like, look this is how I feel and I wasn't in a band. The band had split up, so I just had a guitar and started doing some demos and it kind of happened by accident, if you know what I mean. I wanted to do something intimate and beautiful just for her, so I wasn't going to do my old sound with loads of guitars and loads of noise because it wouldn't have had that quality that she could have really related to. And that's probably why I got a record deal and things started going well for me, because it was just a pure thing and I had almost given up on the commercial aspect of music. I was just doing this purely for her and then people heard it.

I think that's life in general. Even if you think about Buddhism or these zen guys. You've got to desire enlightenment to start with, but as soon as you stop desiring enlightenment, that's when you've become enlightened. You almost can't want something to get it. And I think that's why, in some ways, I don't know if you find it, but you seem to get things at the wrong time. It's like I'm not bothered about this thing anymore. It's like, god, two years ago if you would've told me I'd have had this I'd have been over the bloody moon, but now it's just like yeah, alright. Now I want this other thing. It's when you stop wanting it, that's when it happens I think.


You obviously have a strong connection with older Sixties music. Is there anything more contemporary that you're into?

Well actually I really like a lot of the sort of new disco stuff that's around at the moment. You won't hear it in my music apart from, I did do a track with Andrew Hodge and Lee Douglas. Andrew Hodge is Lovefingers. We did a track, last time I was in New York, together. It's going to be on a twelve inch. I don't know, hopefully it's going to be released here. It's kind of like a side project thing I wanted to do because he did a really good remix of one of my tracks. I'd been a fan of his for a while. I know he hasn't done that much stuff, but I know all his edits, I'd been a big fan of and like DJ Harvey, people like that. So I thought, oh well I'd quite like to do something similar, so we did a track with him and I also did a track with Brendan Lynch who's a great producer in Britain who's worked with Primal Scream and people like that. So I like all that type of stuff.

I think the modern stuff that I like is generally more experimental. People like Kieran Hebden - Four Tet, Warp's stuff, you know, glitchy music and other things like that. I think in my last band I was into so many different styles of music - a lot of exotica and world music and things like that and I'd try and put it all in one song. That can sometimes work. Some people can pull it off. For us it was a bit too much at times and what I realized from starting the solo project was what I'm really good at is melodic music - things with nice melodies. So it was like, I'll concentrate on that, and I'll embellish that melody and make that melody come out more and everything that I add to it has got to be pushing that melody and the voice and if I want to do any crazy stuff I'll do that in another scene, another way. It's been great just doing those two tracks recently. I want to do more of that, more electronic music - some stuff like Vangelis type style. I want to do some Bladerunner kind of music, but with vocals as well. Ballads with just synths and stuff at some point.


From the current record, you never would have guessed that.

Exactly, exactly. But I deejay sometimes, I used to deejay a lot and it was a lot of different music - electronica, African stuff, psych, funk, disco. I've got a very varied taste but like I said, with my own thing I've kind of realized what I'm good at and I just want to stick to that and make that as good as possible, rather than diluting it with lots and lots of influences. As far as stuff that's similar to mine - there's a guy called Richard Hawley from England who I really love. He's very much influenced by the Everly Brothers and Santo & Johnny and the whole Fifties/Sixties thing. I love the Fleet Foxes record. I know everyone did - it's nothing original. That got me big time. Around my first record I was listening to a lot of Will Oldham, Iron and Wine, James Yorkston, people like that. A lot of the kind of contemporary folk artists, but I generally listen to more old stuff.


I was surprised to see there were a lot of remixes of your tracks. What is your view of the process of remixing in general? Do you view it as a positive thing?

Yeah, I do. I think it can really add something. When you write something on your acoustic guitar at home, it's very exciting to think about how it's going to turn out when you record it, when you add some guitar, when you add some drums. Then there's another bit of other excitement when you give it to someone else and they do something completely different with it and it can keep just growing and evolving. The exciting thing is, possibly it can never stop. It can just keep going. People kept doing covers of it. People kept remixing it. It's got a life of its own. I think, anyway, where that song's come from isn't necessarily me. I think it's come from somebody else. I won't use the word divine or anything, or the word god, but I think it's come from somewhere. I've got like, this friend that's feeding me stuff when I need it. Sometimes he's not around and I'm like, look mate, what's going on? I'm here. I'm ready to go. I'm doing my part, what about yours? Come on, give me a bit of help here. Cause I feel like you have to almost coax it. Sometimes you sit there with your guitar and there's just nothing. There's just nothing and other times it's just coming. It's like going for a good shit. You have to brew it. You can't just fuckin' pop it out. You have to wait. Get it all nice and bubbly.


With the remixes, did the label pick who was going to do them or did they go to you for input?

They go to me for input. My label back home is owned by my management and they're a sort of dance-orientated outfit really. They've got A-trak and Simian Mobile Disco and a lot of other stuff like that and they actually know more about the deejay and the dance scene than I do. I'm a bit out of the loop on that stuff these days. So they definitely come up with a lot of the remix suggestions, but I had a couple of my own like Zongamin and Lovefingers was my first choice. I heard an edit he'd done of a John Martin song. I think it's called Summer of Lovefingers and it was just like, who is this guy ? I think I discovered him through the Beats In Space radio show and just thought this guy knows his shit. This guy's got taste.


Were there any other remixes that you were partial to other than Lovefingers'?

There was a Dimitri from Paris one that was really good. I did a cover of Joe Smooth's "Promised Land", you know, the house hit. It was for a B-side. I wanted to do something in my style but not like a Gene Clark song or an Elvis-type tune. I wanted to do something that's completely out of my genre, but do it in my style and then Dimitri From Paris did a mix of it and I actually prefer it to the original.

Wow.

Yeah,it's wicked.

I've heard it.

Oh you've heard it. Which one do you prefer?

I kind of view them as separate things.

They're totally different. He's pretty much replayed all the instruments.

It's so bubbly.

So poppy and not yet, summery. Yeah, I love it. I was really surprised. And he's done this weird tuning thing with all the harmonies and made all these chords with the voices. Really good.


Did you go to a lot of events during CMJ?

I didn't go to any. I went out with friends to places and got extremely drunk, but I don't think I went to one other gig when I was here.


The new album is coming out in January. What are your plans after that? I'm sure you'll tour...

Well, I'm moving here in January. We're doing the Letterman Show on the 12th. I think that's the same day as the album release and then we go on tour pretty much after that I think. I think I'm getting a couple of new band members from the States because I don't think the whole English band can make it.


Are you going to be touring solely North America?

I think for now. I think there's an east tour planned, all penciled and then a west coast and then maybe we'll work our way up to South By (Southwest).


Are you thinking about a new album?

Yeah. I recorded the new album that's coming out in January, a year ago, so it's been a while


Do you have an idea where the next record's going?

At the moment it's going to go more into the sort of spaghetti western kind of vibe, but with songs. Still very melodic. Still with similar influences. You know late Fifties early Sixties kind of thing, but big tunes. Big productions. I'm even thinking I might, going against what I was saying before, bring in a few synths, but it will be very subtle, like mood based things. Some kind of subby sounds, just to give it a bit of drama, a bit of darkness.

Read more...

CMJ Friday Awesomeness (mini-post)

Friday there are a ridiculous number of great ways to get down, but as much as I would have liked to, I didn't have time to write a post about them all. So...here are just three of the many awesome events happening tonight:

While it would take a lot to top the great time I had at last years Insiders, this year's looks pretty great as well. Hercules and Love Affair perform great live disco, in a way very few bands are doing nowadays. Aeroplane continue to look promising (though I have still yet to see them this week!). James Zabiela has been getting tons of positive feedback lately. I fell in love with his Utilities double mix album several years ago and am excited to get to see him again in a setting that is not Pacha. Shinichi Osawa's opening set for Fatboy Slim in June was great - very hard, but not too in your face. The Fantastic Nobodies' performance art, aka crowd-feathering, during Modeselektor's set at Bowery Ballroom back in January was quite an experience. All in all, it should be a great night. Tickets (plus the set times) are available here.



Plant Music, one of my favorite labels in New York & in general is throwing a CMJ party at Union Docs. The entire line-up looks pretty solid, but I am especially looking forward to seeing Nadastrom, Stretch Armstrong, and Kap10Kurt who I have witnessed great sets from before. Full info below:




Though it is technically not a part of CMJ, I think it is definitely worth mentioning that Dimitri from Paris is deejaying at the Rivington Hotel penthouse. I've seen him a number of times over the years (including a set at the Rivington Hotel penthouse back in May) and he never disappoints. Expect lots of great old disco, house, and awesome tunes.



RSVP here.

Read more...

CMJ Thursday Awesomeness

Last night at Bowery Ballroom Findlay Brown and Midnight Juggernauts were pretty great. Reviews will be up in the next few days.

Today (Thursday, 10/22) I am not too pumped about any of the "official" CMJ functions. A-Trak is deejaying at B.B. King's with lots of hip-hop oriented deejays...but that's about it. Here's some info on a bunch of parties that look promising:

Fixed always delivers. Their CMJ Freakout Chapter 2 is happening at the Tribeca Grand Thursday and while I have yet to check out anyone out of the line-up (save for Aeroplane)...I'm pretty certain you will have a good time regardless. If you don't trust me or them, preview some of Parallels', Aeroplane's, and Ian Orth's tunes, then RSVP to getrad@igetrvng.com to get in FREE. You can also download an October mix by Aeroplane here. Full info below:




Wednesday Fool's Gold continues with their strong CMJ presence, hosting a second showcase, this time at N8 in Williamsburg. The line-up looks pretty interesting. Be sure to check out Jokers of the Scene:



Free with RSVP.


Meanred rage on with night 2 of 3 at 88 Palace. If you haven't been there before, it is a dim sum restaurant in mini-mall by day, that's turned into a crazy party spot at night - so much fun. Check out their line-ups for the next couple of days, RSVP, and try to catch NROTB (some electro-brawlers from Montreal who have put together some great mixes, which you can download on their myspace):




DFA is having a CMJ party at Brooklyn Bowl (which is a great venue if you haven't been - try the milkshake with Bourbon & Nutella). Yacht is playing live and Special Disco Version, Still Going, Shit Robot, and the excellent disco duo Holy Ghost are deejaying:

Read more...

CMJ Wednesday Awesomeness

I've been going through a whole bunch of annoying personal stuff, so it's taken me way longer than usual to actually look into and get excited about CMJ. Thankfully it has finally happened! I'm not really looking forward to anything happening Tuesday, so here are some suggestions for Wednesday (10/21):

In terms of actual CMJ showcases, there are two I am really excited about. In the grand tradition of CMJ, they are of course on the same night with some overlap in terms of set times:

M for Montreal has hit the road and come to New York for CMJ. They are putting on a showcase at Arlene's Grocery featuring a bunch of bands from Montreal (and free poutine!). The line-up & set times are on the flyer below and more details on the bands can be found here. Out of the line-up I've only seen We Are Wolves, and wasn't really into them. I've heard good things about Malajube and my friend Eddie who has steered me wrong, maybe once in the 5 years that I've known him, has reported that Duchess Says (who is also playing the BrooklynVegan day party at Pianos on Thursday) is awesome.




Another showcase I am really looking forward to is happening at Bowery Ballroom. I'm not familiar with most of the line-up, but the two acts I do know of are really great. The first is Findlay Brown who manages to channel an array of great artists (Roy Orbison, Elvis, the Beatles, Johnny Cash) without being irritating or sounding clichéd. He was excellent when I saw him back in February, as well as the two times I saw him in April. Check out those posts for reviews as well as some downloads.

The second act I am very familiar with and delighted to be seeing again is Midnight Juggernauts. After witnessing their live show in many different venues in which the loud, almost metal-ish guitar and drums dominated, Le Poisson Rouge finally got the sound right last September allowing all of the bits of electronic loveliness that make Midnight Juggernauts so good shine through.

You can download some tracks from both Findlay Brown (including "Holding Back the Night" and a solo acoustic version of "I Had A Dream") and Midnight Juggernauts ("This New Technology" remixes by Memory Tapes, Nile Delta, and the Juan Maclean, plus a b-side - "Fantastic Valleys") here.

You can read more about the rest of the line-up (which includes Fanfarlo, The Postelles, TigerCity, and Freelance Whales) here and if you don't have a badge tickets are available here.

Also, FYI...Findlay is playing a second show at Littlefield on Sunday and Midnight Juggernauts are playing a bunch of other shows over the course of CMJ:

October 21 - Hype Machine Day Show at Santos



October 24 - The Windish Agency Presents at Santos.


Also on Wednesday:

Takka Takka are playing in a showcase at the Knitting Factory (which I still can't believe, is now in Brooklyn). The first and last time I saw Takka Takka was at last year's BrooklynVegan day party at the Knitting Factory (there are some pics and an interview here)...I saw maybe 2 or 3 songs, but that was enough to make me like them. Info on the rest of the line-up & ticket info is here.

They are also playing Union Pool on the 21st and Popgun's CMJ party on the 23rd at Glasslands.


Moving away from showcases and getting into more late night/dance-related activities...

I think my only exposure to Aeroplane has been their remix of Friendly Fires' Paris, which is honestly all I need to be convinced to see them at Fixed's CMJ Freakout Chapter 1 at Santos. More info below:



Aeroplane will also be at Fixed CMJ Chapter 2 the following night (10/22) at the Tribeca Grand Hotel and at Insiders 2009 at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza on Friday (10/23) (more on that later).


Also Thursday night, Fool's Gold is having a CMJ rager at 88 Palace with a pretty big line-up...though the only act I've seen before is Vega (who I didn't like live). The rest of the line-up looks promising though:




Nicky Digital is having his own CMJ showcase at Ella. I've seen Kap10Kurt deejay before and he's on Plant Music, so I'm pretty sure his set should be good and Bad Brilliance's live show is apparently a sight to see. The rest of the line-up & info is below:




Young Robots (a new label launched this year by Pittsburgh's Relative Q, Philadelphia's DJ Apt One, and New York's Skinny Friedman) is having a CMJ Jumpoff at Pianos:




Disco Social at Trophy Bar! Not sure about the rest of the line-up but Amir will play some good stuff:

Read more...

High Rollers at Brooklyn Bowl - Ticket Give-away!

This Saturday is the second edition of Flavorpill's High Rollers party at Brooklyn Bowl. It's a really fun spot, the food is great (try the poppers!), and it's LEED certified...and now it's going to be bouncing with some great disco tunes from Glass Candy, Mike Simonetti from Italians Do It Better, plus Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter. I have 1 pair of tickets to give-away, so if you want 'em shoot me an email at showtrotta at gmail dot com with "High Rollers" in the subject line and your first and last name in the body. Details on the party below:

Read more...

Jamie Lidell Announced as Part of New York's Warp 20 Celebration!!

I haven't posted about Warp's 20th Anniversary celebration in New York because I wasn't excited about the line-up until I read this, this morning (via Jamie Lidell's Myspace blog):

Hello Folks,

The little elves here in web-land would like to announce that Jamie will be appearing at the Poisson Rouge in NYC on September the 5th as part of the Warp20 celebrations. I know what you are saying, "but I saw the flyer and there's no mention of that..." Yes, well it's breaking news. You heard it here first.

More info on the line-up is on Le Poisson Rouge's website. Tickets are already on sale. Info on the rest of the Warp 20 events on the flyer below:



There is also more extensive info over on BrooklynVegan.

Read more...

Royksopp to Play Webster Hall November 23 & 24th

Norway's Royksopp are playing Webster Hall on November 23 and November 24. Pre-sale is tomorrow (8/19) at noon (don't know the password), regular sale is Friday (8/21) at noon.

The last time I saw Royksopp happened to be at Webster Hall, back in 2005...and I wasn't as into it as usual (though they were still good) because I had seen the Chemical Brothers just a couple of weeks before. But! the first time I saw them was at Irving Plaza in the spring of 2003 and it was awesome. There was a guy dressed up as Leno from Poor Leno...who came out and danced in the middle of the crowd when they played that song. Ah...memories! Don't miss them at Webster...and check out the video of the classic, Poor Leno, below:

Read more...

Photo Update: Pilooski and All Points West

I uploaded some photos last week:

From Pilooski at Plan B, 8/11/09

From All Points West - Day 3, 8/2/09

which were all great sets/shows. I also took a couple of videos of Etienne de Crécy's set All Points West which you can check out below:

Read more...

Boys Noize Announces Power World Tour

Boys Noize has just announced a tour in promotion of his new album, Power, due out in October on Boys Noize Records. Tour dates below (click to enlarge) as well as album cover & tracklisting:



Boys Noize - Power - tracklisting

1. Gax
2. Kontact me
3. Starter
4. Jeffer
5. Transmission
6. Nerve
7. Trooper
8. Drummer
9. Sweet Light
10. Rozz Box
11. Nott
12. Heart Attack

Read more...

A mirror ball shining bright in a provincial disco on a Tuesday night

Back in May I only managed to catch about 45 minutes of Pilooski's dj set at Mister Saturday Night, thanks to my un-wise decision to see Moderat at Music Hall of Williamsburg (which started way behind schedule). However, in just those brief 45 minutes I was absolutely floored by Pilooski's set - great selections and he absolutely tore it up in terms of mixing & manipulation (check out the video below).



Tonight he is deejaying Scion's free monthly at Plan B (21+, 11pm - 4am) along with In Flagranti (NSFW), Bullion, Cosmo Baker, and Blue Jemz.

If you aren't familiar with Pilooski I highly recommend checking out this post at Tracasseur (an excellent music blog, based out of Stockholm) which has a nice little round-up of some great Pilooski edits you can download. You can also grab a fairly new remix of Jarvis Cocker's "You're In My Eyes" (Discosong) over at BrooklynVegan, and a recording of Pilooski's set at Mister Saturday Night over on Eamon Harkin's blog.

If you're in New York tonight - DO NOT miss his set!

Read more...

Mayer Hawthorne US Tour Dates!

This fall Mayer Hawthorne will be doing his first, full US tour in support of his debut album A Strange Arrangement, out this fall on Stones Throw.

Recently Mayer played a few shows here & there, including one at Santos, which was awesome! You can read more about it at the end of last Week In Dance. Tour dates below.

Sat, Sep 05: Seattle, WA at Bumbershoot Festival
Thu, Sep 10: Los Angeles at The Roxy
Sun, Sep 13: San Luis Obispo at Downtown Brew
Tue, Sep 15: San Francisco at Rickshaw Stop
Wed, Sep 16: Santa Cruz at Catalyst (Atrium)
Fri, Sep 18: Portland at MusicFest NW
Sat, Sep 19: Eugene at WOW Hall
Mon, Sep 21: Salt Lake City at Kilby Court
Wed, Sep 23: Denver at Larimer Lounge
Thu, Sep 24: Omaha at The Waiting Room
Fri, Sep 25: Chicago at Dark Room
Sat, Sep 26: Ann Arbor at Blind Pig
Sun, Sep 27: Toronto at Drake Hotel
Tue, Sep 29: Boston at Great Scott
Wed, Sep 30: Philadelphia at Johnny Brendas
Thu, Oct 01: Brooklyn at The Knitting Factory
Fri, Oct 02: New York at Mercury Lounge
Sun, Oct 04: Washington DC at DC9
Mon, Oct 05: Chapel Hill at Local 506
Tue, Oct 06: Atlanta at Druken Unicorn
Wed, Oct 07: Orlando at The Social
Fri, Oct 09: New Orleans at Parish, HOB
Sat, Oct 10: Austin at Red 7
Wed, Oct 14: Scottsdale, AZ at Chasers
Thu, Oct 15: San Diego at Canes

Read more...

Chromeo DJ-Kicks Tracklist Announced + Show at Irving Plaza!

Check out the tracklisting for Chromeo's DJ Kicks below:

1. Kano: "Ikeya-Seki"
2. Pierre Perpall: "J'aime Danser Avec Toi"
3. Toba: "Moving Up"
4. France Joli: "Gonna Get Over You"
5. Donna Allen: "Serious"
6. Lovelock: "Maybe Tonight"
7. Chateau Marmont: "Solar Antapex" rework
8. Val Young: "Seduction"
9. Soupir: "Larmes de Métal"
10. Lifelike: "Sequencer"
11. Carmen: "Time to Move"
12. Shotgun: "Don't You Wanna Make Love"
13. Cheri: "Murphy's Law"!
14. Leo Sayer: "Easy to Love"
15. Shazam: "Luckier"
16. Chromeo: "I Can't Tell You Why"
17. Diane Tell: "Tes Yeux"
18. The Alan Parsons Project: "Pipeline"

And...the awesome pair from MTL will be doing just one show in New York this fall before their new album comes out (details soon hopefully):



Tickets available here.

Read more...

Justice to DJ Webster Hall October 29

I could say much more about this but I am exhausted & feel like I am catching a cold. In short...the last time Justice deejayed at Webster Hall it was crazy and a lot of fun. Exhibit A:



They will be back at Webster Hall on October 29th! Tickets go on sale this Friday at noon.

Read more...

Showtrotta Interview with Pedro "Busy P" Winter!

At the end of last month I had the opportunity to interview Pedro Winter (aka Busy P, head of Ed Banger Records & former manager of Daft Punk) following Miller's GFC (Global Fresh Collective) Vision event (a series of panel discussions curated by Pedro, focusing on both global and local issues affecting music) which you can read all about over on BrooklynVegan.

One topic that generated much debate at GFC Vision was piracy. Check out some of Pedro's thoughts on it, how Ed Banger Records has been affected by it, and how Pedro has been responding to changes in the music industry in the interview below:


Earlier when Matt Mason was talking in the first session about piracy you said you didn't like how kids are being made out as thieves when it comes to illegally downloading music. You said they were just consuming music in a different way. Can you explain that a little bit more?

Especially in France, but I think it's the same everywhere...politicians and society are trying to explain that when you're (illegally) downloading it's like you're stealing a cd in a shop or stealing a car or robbing something and it's not the same. I'm not a judge but I'm just saying be careful with using words like "thieves" and "stealing" because our society is already completely lost. We don't have any more boundaries and scaring kids even more will make them even more crazy and I think they are crazy enough. I'm saying all this just as an answer to all the politicians and all the major companies who oftentimes are trying to be a bit like the police. I prefer to be on the side of the kids.


Have you found that piracy is hurting Ed Banger?

Of course. I should not say "of course", I should say probably. It's too easy an excuse for major companies or artists who are not selling records anymore, who are not smart enough to find and to propose some new things. I think it's the role of the artists and the producers and the whole artistic team to scratch their heads and try to propose something...add some value to music.

Earlier we were talking about the value of music. Who is going to decide the value of music? The old value was a $20 cd or a $15 cd which was crazy at the time, and nowadays we realize it was nonsense. So when it comes to valuing one MP3 at $1, who decides if it's cheap or if it's not? Of course it's overpriced! $1 for nothing, for a digital thing! But we are living in a society and we need rules in order to all live together. With the the value of music there are definitely no rules.

What I'm dreaming up and I think we are lucky to be part of this, are new companies who can react to the market and who can react, more than the market, to our time, and this is what we're doing with Ed Banger. In the beginning my main money was coming from the sales of 12-inches. I used to sell a lot. Nowadays I am selling less and less...around 1500, which is nothing. It's still cool nowadays because most of the labels are selling around 500, so we are still selling but now I decided for about 6 months now when you are buying a 12" from Ed Banger you are getting a free digital. This is something we just came up with this because we realized it was a good thing. It's not forcing the kids, but it's telling them, follow us and we're making moves for you to also be happy and get your music on your ipod. With Justice we still sold 400,000 records worldwide which is still an amazing figure but I imagine if we would have been around in '97 we would have sold 1 million I think. I'm happy to speak about that but I'm happy to live nowadays. Some people can regret not being in the good old times, but I'm so happy to be in my time now.


What made you start offering the digital files along with the vinyl releases? Did it just seem like a good idea?

Yeah, it's a good idea. I've seen it with someone else - I didn't invent it. I think I've seen it with a Sonic Youth album or Radiohead...I don't remember exactly. I think I've even seen it at Other Music or a store like that. I looked at the sleeve and there was a sticker "free digital download". I thought it was a good idea and then I asked my team if we could make it happen. So now in all the Ed Banger records there is a little card with a private code to download the songs. It's a smart idea. It's a natural idea, a natural thing. Sometimes people are thinking too much or analyzing too much - they don't think about the simplest thing. Giving away a digital thing while people are buying a concrete cd or album - I think it's a smart idea.

It's just a smart thing. Me, I'm not scared about all this, about all those changes. It's good to change. There were way too many bad habits. I'm sure it's the same in the US - in France we are making fun of show business. We're making fun of 80's show business, how it was all about spending money. Like, "you want to go in the studio? Yeah, I'll pay for the studio." and artists asking for millions in advances.


At Ed Banger have you been doing anything specifically to deal with the piracy problems?

No. I didn't do anything to fight against it. I created more content, more attractive stuff to "fight" it. I will not go against it because, to be honest, I think it's way too late. There is no way we can stop it. I'm not going to fight against it. What we are to do is improve our creativity and what we are offering. I told you how I'm doing 12-inches with the download codes but I didn't tell you how now I'm not even doing normal 12 inches, I'm doing picture discs with the download codes, making it a special object. The kids are following us. I didn't speak enough about it today but it's important and I think this is what we managed to create with Ed Banger - to get the kids to feel they are part of a family, part of a movement and i think this is what is protecting us from the kids just downloading. They are happy to be part of Ed Banger because they have the cd at home. They have the t-shirt. They have whatever. I'm pretty happy. I didn't plan it, but I'm happy. It's all working out. But don't tell that I didn't plan it, because I like people to think I am a genius at marketing.


During Matt Mason's discussion, there was talk about the whole business model changing in terms of the music industry. Where do you think it's going to head in general and do you think it's different at all specifically for electronic and dance music?

To answer the last part I'm sure electronic and dance music is a special thing rather than urban hip-hop like Rihanna which is pop nowadays. We are still alternative music and I want to feel like that. This is how I feel Ed Banger is. I feel Ed Banger is more like an indie label rather than another dance label. I prefer to be next to Domino, XL...those labels, rather than other, boring, electro labels who are just putting out club hits. But again, it's a bit too early for me to speak about it now. We are only 6 years-old. We have stuff to prove and a lot of work to do, but I get feedback because I know the people at Domino. I know the people at XL and both labels welcome us as their little brother and I am happy with that.

The business model is definitely changing. We've been talking about it all day. To go where I have no idea, to go where I don't have a crystal ball and to be honest with you... I know the business side of it because I've been doing it for 15 years, but i don't care. Also because I'm in a good situation I manage to make projects that get enough money to reinvest and keep going. Maybe in one or two years I will wake up and my bank will call me and say "Pedro, you're out of money" and then I will be scared, but nowadays I have enough money. I set up my label with the money I made from working with Daft Punk. Then I got money from Justice and reinvested it back into the label. People know about Justice and Daft Punk, but they don't know about Krazy Baldhead, Mr. Flash, SebastiAn, Feadz, or DJ Mehdi, and I have a lot of other smaller projects that I hope are going to be big soon, but I'm not in a rush. I'm doing projects that don't make money, but I'm happy with it. The time when you would spend a lot of money on marketing or advertising and things like that is finished - there's no point. Having an advert in a magazine doesn't help anything. It's cool for you and the artist - "Oh, you have an ad in this magazine!" - it's nice, but it doesn't do anything. It's good for the head.


Is there any specific direction that you see Ed Banger heading in the future?

I just follow the flow. To be honest with you I am starting to feel a bit fed-up myself about all the noisy electro stuff we've been doing for the last few years, so now even when I'm deejaying I'm playing more techno, calming down a bit more. We are finishing albums from Uffie and SebastiAn at the moment and I hope we are going to surprise people. I'm pretty confident with what we've been doing, but we'll see. We'll let the people judge once it's out. Of course we're going to, not change - it's not a question of changing, but evaluate and grow up. But it's true, Ed Banger is definitely not going too much more into distorted disco stuff .


Can you talk a little bit more about your Cool Cats project that just started?

Cool Cats is a brand. Let's say it is a sub-label of Ed Banger Records - usually a music label can't give birth to a clothes brand but we did it this way. We created it in February, so it's still brand new. The simple aim is to be in a proper position with our merchandising. We've been doing it old school and a bit stupidly and now we've decided to do it well because there is a demand. There are so many people asking for it. We had to react.

Also, as with the label, it's just fun to do it. I'm not a clothes designer, but right now it's easy just to choose the t-shirt and So Me is designing. Now we are working on jackets and some more complicated stuff. It takes time but we are not in a rush. We'll grow slowly and slowly.

It's also a way to balance with the lack of record sales. It's a whole package. A lot of people are telling me we bring Ed Banger as a brand rather than just another music label and I'm cool with that. We have to be careful not to be overexposed, but again this is not something we are choosing much. The most important is that we manage to keep producing stuff that makes us happy and then after that we'll see if the kids are following it.


The Cool Cats website has you, DJ Mehdi, and all the other Cool Cats (Fafi, So Me, and Michael from La MJC) blogging - is that just to engage people? What made you add that element to the site?

For a long time I wanted to do a fanzine, but nowadays there is no reason to do a fanzine. We have our blogs. It's crazy because I used to blog on two other sites. I used to blog on the Japanese site, Honeyee, and for the Los Angeles based, Arkitip which I loved. It was cool and I said while I'm blogging for these other people we should do our own. It's the Cool Cats blog and it's just a funny way to share just a little bit more of what we are doing, with our fans and people who don't know us. It's a funny thing too. I like doing it it goes with the whole package of being accessible. It's something new. It's something that is possible nowadays, like a couple of years ago with Myspace and Facebook and all of that, where finally people are able to reach the artists. We've been pretty good at this game. Kids like the fact that they can be friends with us. At our stage it's still cool...it's not like we're as big as Justin Timberlake or someone like that. At our stage, this is what I like with this kind of fame thing with Ed Banger especially with Justice or with Uffie. People really relate to our artists and I like this new thing we've done with electro artists having a face. I know what I'm talking about because I've done it with Daft Punk. They were hiding and it was all about the music, all about the concept. Nowadays it's changed. Now I think the kids want to understand who's behind the decks, who's behind the machines and I like the relationship with the fans. When they stop you in the streets it's always lovely and funny, rather than just people that have seen you on tv. They don't know who you are and what you do - "Ah, you're the guy from tv". That would be so sad. I know that Daft Punk were scared about it, about this kind of fame, but nowadays with all these blogs relating our life, "Oh I was there yesterday. I was doing this. I am doing that." we are creating a bit of a normal relationship.


In the last part of the discussions today there was a lot of talk about collaborating and also merchandising and co-branding. Do you think that with music and labels now, sometimes you run the risk of those other things overshadowing the music itself?

No, no I'm not scared of this anymore. If you would have asked me this question ten years ago I would have told you the opposite, but nowadays it's not a problem anymore. Both brands and labels or artists understand they can find a good way for each other to take advantage of the collaboration. On the artists' side it's good to take the money as we don't have any more money from record sales. Brands spend half the money they used to spend on ad agencies and they go directly to the artists. Every week I have brands approach me to do things with Ed Banger...Coca Cola, Nike, Uniqlo, Eastpak.

Talking about the co-branding & collaboration overshadowing the music - I'm not scared of that because I am confident in the music that we are doing, but there is a negative point. I realized it myself. One day I was looking at myself and said we are going too far. I was deejaying with the Ed Banger headphones. My cd case was Ed Banger. I was wearing an Ed Banger backpack. I was wearing a Cool Cats t-shirt. I was wearing the Busy P Nike's. My girlfriend told me this actually - she told me, "Pedro I think it's too much now". It made me realize this is the point where we have to be careful. We make mistakes sometimes, but I'm not scared about co-branding and stuff like that. We have to make it original. But of course there is danger.

Read more...