CMJ '07

Friday this blog turned one year old. The first post was my CMJ picks...I was grasping at straws a bit. I wasn't into many of the acts that were around, and out of what I ended up going to I don't remember any of it being that great. This year looks to be the total opposite. I have read many are disappointed with the line-up this year, but if you like dance music there is no cause for complaints, other then not being able to be in 8 places at once. Here's the breakdown:

Wednesday the 17th:

Brooklynvegan Day Party at Pianos - a bunch of bands are playing from 12-4:30 5:30 and it's free. I don't know anything about any of the bands, but I do know that the Black Ghosts are dj-ing in the bar area from 4-5pm.. I also apparently have the whole Brooklynvegan party schedule all wrong! There's a great big post with all the info over at Dave's blog. The Black Ghosts are dj-ing from 4-5, but on Saturday. Sorry for the misinformation.

Their stuff I've heard is great. I stumbled upon them while looking up Simon Lord (singer of the now defunct Simian) who is one half of the Ghosts. They make some good electronic tunes with the perfect balance of vocals and bang. Simon's vocals are also good for consoling yourself now that Simian are no more. As far as their dj-ing goes, I've never seen them live, but they have 2 mixes up that are pretty unique and definitely danceable. Click here for more info on the Black Ghosts, their own jams, and to download those mixes. Click here for the set times of the other bands playing the party.

Later that night, 2 options:



Ever since their great set together in May, I am all about seeing A-trak & Mehdi again. And I also feel like I need to see Kavinsky again after some weirdness prevented me from enjoying his set that I theoretically should have loved.

Option 2:


Black Ghosts from 11-1!

I know I'll miss the Black Ghosts at BV's party b/c I will be at work :( I might try to catch their show later at the Delancey and just hope A-trak, Mehdi, and Kavinsky aren't on at Hiro during that time and head over right after the Black Ghosts are done.


On to Thursday the 18th:

SMD at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. If you read this blog at all you should know by now not to sleep on this. I would however, recommend sleeping on the Invisible Conga People (one of the opening acts, who unfortunately also opened for them at the Gramercy Theater in September). They will put you to sleep which is definitely not what you need right before a Simian Mobile Disco live show. Also, XLR8R did a little segment with them about their live set-up...crazy stuff!

and/or



I want to see New Young Pony Club just so I can find out of if any of their songs are as good to sing to torture my roommate as Ice Cream. And more seriously...I actually like that song and their album has been getting great reviews so it would be nice to see if they live up to the hype.

Muscles also has a song called Ice Cream and is also playing that night. I saw him when he was here back in April but I didn't really know what to make of him and was too busy bugging out about Soulwax to care. Since then I heard a few of his songs...cheeky, catchy, fun and danceable. To top it off Simian Mobile Disco will be doing a dj set at this party after their show earlier in the evening. They tear it up behind the decks. I cannot wait!

other Thursday options:



Unintentionally caught Shout Out Out Out Out's set when I went to see DJ Orgasmic & Cuizinier in August and they turned out to be a really good live electronic band. Very upbeat and energetic.



Another chance to see the Black Ghosts. Dominique Keegan is also a really good dj. Used to see him at APT back in the day and loved him because he played things I always thought I would play if I knew how to dj.


Friday the 20th:

Simian Mobile Disco at the Apple Store (Soho) at 2pm. Free!

I took off from work so I could go - also partially because I mistakingly thought the Brooklynvegan day party was the same day and I would be able to see the Black Ghosts. Whoops..I'm sure there's other stuff to do. And it will be nice after all the crazyness Thursday night to not have to rush into work at 9.

2 options for the evening:



Tried but failed to see MSTRKRFT at CMJ last year. Never have seen em live before, but they do some nice remixes.

Option 2:


Another chance to catch Muscles. Trouble & Bass bang and will make you get down. 200 Orchard is a great spot to do so.

Saturday the 20th:

No-brainer! Justice and Midnight Juggernauts at Terminal 5!

Followed by:


or

Some of the best disco from the Wurst guys and David Bruno...a bunch of other peeps too.

Sunday: die of exhaustion.

Monday: maybe see Justice again?

This week is going to be awesome, but I am mildly horrified by the amount of stuff happening.

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Old school (kind of)

Tonight:

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this goes. I usually like Juan's stuff but the past few times I saw him I wasn't that into it. Whoever does Juan's myspace stuff posted this in a bulletin about tonight:

I think Juan plays right before Moby, so it will probably be heavier on the Disco, slower house and techno, acid, etc. He has some acid stuff he's been meaning to air out for a while, plus about 12 new or yet-to-be-released DFA records he just picked up at the DFA headquarters. Hercules and Love Affair, Shit Robot, The Juan Maclean, and of course DFA's newest sensation, Holy Ghost. Which reminds me, Alex from Holy Ghost is dj'ing tonight as well as Stretch Armstrong.

Way back in May Moby killed it! I heard he's probably going to be playing some stuff from his new album that's on it's way. Not sure how I feel about that. Never really was a Moby fan until I saw him dj this year. It's supposed to have a disco spin to it though so who knows.

And somehow despite living in New York and going out a lot I have never seen Stretch Armstrong dj.


Kind of toying with the idea of seeing Klaxons at Webster Hall tomorrow now that I am more into their stuff since I first saw them...but probably not. $20 ticket not so appealing right now...along with the large-ness of Webster...though it's nice and loud there. We'll see.

Saturday...I am sooooooooooo excited for this show:

I predict it will be a madhouse and I can't wait!

CMJ picks later tonight or tomorrow...

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Beggin'

Went to the Wurst monthly last night. Arrived right on time to catch the excellent Pilooski at his first show in the US. There was a definite sound shift when he got behind the decks - some weird modern, yet somehow classic disco that was deliciously bass heavy. Absolutely loved it. He did not play Beggin though...if he did I missed it b/c I left early (not so much early but before he was done) for absolutely no reason. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Unfortunately I think that is as exciting as my Columbus Day weekend is going to get - Nothing like Labor Day. Nothing good going on tonight. This Saturday (but I dunno if I have the strength, hopefully it's just my hangover talking):



Good to have a weekend off I guess, especially with all the CMJ insanity around the corner...

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Sondre Lerche

Though it really wasn't my intention, this blog has mainly focused on electronic music, bands and dj's of a banging nature. But...I do listen to a lot of other stuff too. I guess first it was Royksopp whose Poor Leno and Remind Me introduced me to the gentle voice of Erlend Oye...which I further explored with his even calmer, yet still electronic solo album, Unrest. A few months later I made the move to the non-electronic, acoustic-ish, vaguely folksy Kings of Convenience. The move to Sondre Lerche was inevitable, though the first time I saw him at the Astralwerks CMJ showcase in 2004 I had mixed feelings and thought he was kind of pompous. I realized later it was just me reading into things, and his prefacing every song was just part of his Norwegian charm (which is what everyone mentioned in this post has in common in case you missed it). In any case, the point of this post is, Mr. Lerche will be playing a couple of shows in November - one on the 26th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and one on the 27th at the Bowery Ballroom. I suspect you will get to hear some of the songs he did for the Dan in Real Life soundtrack. Tickets for both shows go on sale at noon EST today.

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No James :(

As I mentioned before James (Ford) from Simian Mobile Disco broke his collarbone, so he's not dj-ing at Hiro on Thursday as planned, which I suspected would happen, but hadn't heard until late last night. So now here's the deal:



I have no idea about Kele from Bloc Party. I never got into Bloc Party. Just posting the flyer so you're in the loop and because the Glass are good. I've already seen them a few times though, but I have not seen Pilooski and I absolutely love what he's done to Frankie Valle's Beggin', so I will be here:

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Korrupt with Switch and Sinden at Studio B 9/29/07

Saturday night the Korrupt party was very

Seriously though...I was pretty drunk by the end of the night...thankfully not in the "oh my god, this girl's a mess" way, but more in the "this is serious fun but I won't be able to remember why tomorrow" way.

The trouble started at my apartment at around 9:30 when Chuck and Greg came over. We shot the shit, had a few drinks, somehow wound up watching old footage of Prodigy on Youtube. Got to Studio B a little before 12. It was pretty empty. I think Max Pask was dj-ing at that point. I ran into my friend Dana from work which was awesome. Kept running into her throughout the evening. She introduced me to Larry Tee. He was very nice. Probably 45 minutes or so after were arrived DJ Ayres started his set. He was on for a while. I wasn't really too into either of their sets for some reason. We kept trying to figure out when Switch & Sinden were going to go on. Greg actually split early b/c he had to go to work the next day, so he didn't even get to see him. Dana split at some point too but I don't remember when. Sinden didn't wind up behind the decks until 2! I really liked the beginning of his set. He played a lot of stuff I knew I heard recently, but wasn't able to identify which was a nice change from all the stuff I've been used to hearing out. He played Beeper which was icing on the cake. At 3 Switch finally went on. By that point Chuck and I were gone. We had gotten there so early and weren't really getting down during the opening sets so we were drinking the whole time instead. Unfortunately it all caught up with us right when Switch started. I can't for the life of me remember a thing about his set, other than it being loud and good. I have no idea what tracks he played. It's like a big blank in my memory, all I remember is hitting the floor hard with Charles and it being over so quickly. Sorry folks, that's all I got.

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Fuijya & Miyagi at Bowery Ballroom and Claude Vonstroke's Dirtybird party at APT 9/27/07

Arrived at the Bowery just before Fujiya & Miyagi went on a little after 11. They played an excellent, highly danceable show. The crowd was definitely into it, getting down, singing to themselves, etc. and clapping like maniacs. It was nice to see them so well received. They played a lot of songs from Transparent Things, and kept it interesting with some new songs that were on the funkier side. I tried to keep track of the setlist in my head...but it didn't go so well. I know they opened with Ankle Injuries, followed by Collarbone seamlessly transitioning (which was awesome) straight into Photocopier, but then they threw in a couple I had heard at previous shows but whose names I didn't know and it was all over. Another great show by the Brits, but some complained it was a bit short...just about an hour in total. I would have liked to hear a couple of more songs during the encore, but I was fine with it not being a super long show. One thing I noticed about the show...I felt like everyone near me was really young...like a college freshman field trip to the Bowery or something. It was very weird. Check em out at the Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight (which I hear has been transformed into a Bowery Ballroom clone) if you missed out last night. It will be serious fun. I had such a good time I am tempted to go again.

Anyway, after F&M I headed over to the Dirtybird party at APT where Claude Vonstroke was killing it. I have never seen APT so packed! You could barely dance and it was sooooo hot, but still a lot of fun. He was just playing really funky, loud, deep house/techno hybrid shit. It was great. Stayed there until nearly 3 which is why this is not my best post. The next New York Dirtybird is on October 25th with Tanner Ross if you're looking to get down.

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This Weekend

Here's what's going on. Starting Thursday:

Fujiya & Miyagi at Bowery Ballroom. I really like these guys. Seemingly effortless, subtle bang that is harder live than their studio album would indicate.

Followed by this at APT:


For some reason I find it difficult to make myself go to APT straight away, but if I'm already out I'm usually inclined to swing by if something good is going on. Been reading a lot of good stuff about Claude and this party.

Friday F&M are playing again, this time at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Saturday, Meanred holding it down yet again:



I can't wait! The last time Switch was dj-ing in New York (which I think was a while ago) I wasn't really familiar with his stuff. Then in the months following I kept hearing great remixes by him and was kicking myself for not going. To top it off I realized he's also Solid Groove who's responsible for the track "This is Sick" which I have loved for years. So yeah...I'm really looking forward to this show, both for him and Sinden whose stuff I really don't know much of other than Beeper.

Sunday this is going on, but I will be out of town...something in the cosmos is preventing me from seeing the Twilight Sad:

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Block Rockin' Beats

Ahhh! In case I haven't alluded to it enough...the Chemical Brothers are my favorite dj's. I got into them my freshman year of college. Up until that point I listened to...dun dun dun...some pop crap that was on the radio, some rock...Sublime, 311, the Chili Peppers; John Mellencamp, and Harry Connick, Jr. Fucking weird, I know. Anyway...one day right at the end of the fall semester hardly anyone was around. Most people had finished their exams and left. I was about to do the same. I swung by my friend Chuck's room to say goodbye, and he was cleaning his bathroom with Star Guitar blasting from the speakers. I asked him what it was. He sent it to me over our speedy 3rd floor file sharing network. When we got back from the break he burned me a copy of Come With Us. My ex-boyfriend Jay got me tickets to see them at Hammerstein in April for Valentine's Day...and it blew my mind. That summer I started listening to more of their old stuff, then the Chems came back in the fall for CMJ...the Audio Bullys, Erlend Oye, Simian Mobile Disco (when it was still the 5 of them), and Cassius were all on the bill with them...and that basically opened the dance music floodgates for me.

So given the history of how I got into the Chemicals I was psyched to be going to the show with Chuck, Greg, and Chuck's Uncle John like old times. There were also a bunch of people who had never seen the Chems before (H-dizzle from work, his girlfriend, Greg's brother, his friend Brian who bought my extra ticket, and a few other people). I swung home after work to drop off my stuff and eat something, then got to Chuck's at 7. We drove over to Hammerstein with Jon about 20 minutes later, met up in line with Brian, got my dollazzz!, then went in. Got a spot a little less than halfway back, toward the right. The Rub were dj-ing...I had seen Ayres dj solo and he was really good, but all together the Rub just weren't doing it for me. They played some good tracks...the Justice remix of Never Be Alone, Mylo's Drop the Pressure, Switch and Solidgroove's This Is Sick (which I never heard on a big system so that was kind of dope)...but to be fair I was very distracted and excited about the Chemical Brothers and the Rub couldn't lure me in. Anyway...after a bit everyone else we were meeting up with started to trickle in and before we knew it, it was 9:30.

The Rub had just cleared offstage when the background droning noise of No Path to Follow started faintly in the background. Knowing the Brothers were about to hit the stage had everyone losing their shit. Finally they came out, the tension broke with Galvanize. It's probably one of my least favorite studio releases from the Chems, but they left me with a new found appreciation after hearing it at their show. That's one of the things I love about seeing the Chemical Brothers live, they have you loving songs you were never really that fond of, that you'd never thought you'd like.

In total the show was 2 hours which included a 30 minute encore. I honestly can't give you a play by play of what happened even though I remember so much of it. I hadn't seen the Brothers in 2 years and in that time I've been exposed to so much new music, so many great bands and dj's coming through New York City. And I've had a great time doing that. There have been nights where I thought I was going to drop from dancing so much. But. For me, nothing compares to the Chemical Brothers. There's just a very specific feeling I get at their shows that has yet to be repeated with any other dj's or bands. For those two hours I was a different level of happy. I was just getting down and going crazy like I hadn't in the past 2 years. Every song they played made me happier than the one before it, and by the end I fully remembered that this was how I felt every time I saw them prior (this was my 6th time - 4 live shows, 2 dj sets).

If I had to go into specifics, highlights for me were:

Do It Again (again not one of my favorite tracks at first, but it had been growing on me after hearing Busy P drop it hard in a dj set...done live by the Chems it killed, the visuals were great too - blue and red silhouettes of two guys dancing)

It was good to hear them drop the classics like Block Rockin Beats and Hey Boy, Hey Girl that always make the crowd lose it, myself included.

During Temptation/Star Guitar I freaked the fuck out as Star Guitar is my favorite Chemical Brothers song. I freak out whenever they play it live.

Surface to Air was beautiful. It's a beautiful song that subtly builds to a bang. I really loved the live version. The visuals were perfect...again silhouettes of people, this time girls, floating through the air, and also butterflies all in shades of blue.

Ending the show with Chemical Beats was really great because it got me in the mood for old school Chems stuff. I was already in the mood for it already. I have been listening to their early stuff now more than ever and was a bit bummed that I probably wouldn't hear much of it at this show. But the encore was the icing on the cake - Leave Home?! Sunshine Underground?!!? And Das Spiegel (favorite track off of We Are the Night) thrown in for good measure. I couldn't have asked for a better show or a better ending.

Set list thanks to sneakerbeater from the Chemical Brothers forum:

No Path To Follow
Galvanize
Burst Generator
Do it Again
Get Yourself High
Hey Boy, Hey Girl
All Rights Reversed
Krafty Numbers
Out Of Control
Dont Fight Control
Temptation / Star Guitar
Surface To Air
Under The Infuence
Saturate
Believe
We Are The Night
Golden Path
Acid Children
Chemical Beats

Leave Home
Block Rockin Beats
Das Spiegel
The Sunshine Underground

There's a ton of stuff from this show floating around the internets. Great footage on youtube. The first one that comes up that's 20 minutes of footage condensed into 10 is good if you want an overview. This guy recorded and uploaded the whole show broken down into a bunch of parts on youtube , but there's a link here in part 1 to download a high quality version of the full show.

Also, alldj.org has audio of the entire show. The volume's a bit low, but it does the trick.

Photos from the McCarren Pool show and more photos from the McCarren show. I found these a while after posting my review of the Hammerstein show, and realized I never posted a review of the McCarren show - in short, it was not as good as Hammerstein, but due to a variety of extraneous factors - crowd, venue, volume, timing, etc., not the Chems' themselves. A lot of those photos are very good though so I wanted to put the links somewhere so I would have them and also to share them.

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Feel Better James!

From Simian Mobile Disco's blog:

SMD regret to announce that the Leeds Cockpit Live show has been postponed.
Unfortunately James Ford broke his collar bone whilst on tour in the USA.
Its difficult for him to travel (and use his arm!). Other dates are
unaffected for now but please check back for further announcements regarding
SMD touring/djing. Once again, SMD are sorry they won't be in Leeds tonight
but the date will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

Ouch. That sounds hellish. Get well soon James!

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Boys Noize and Pink Skull at Studio B - 9/14/07

After the Underworld show in Central Park I was pretty tired, but Boys Noize was dj-ing at Studio B. He's one of my favorite dj's. I went home, ate something, hopped on the G to Studio B. I tried to get there early so I could catch Pink Skull (at David Bruno's urging!), but I only was able to see them peform 2 songs even though it was only 12:15. The 2 songs I got to hear were pretty awesome though. A very energetic bunch of guys, making some highly danceable stuff with a very live quality to it (there's a drummer and guitarist, and a guy on turntables). Definitely would have liked to hear more, but c'est la vie.

JDH & Dave P spun for a bit after that, then Boys Noize started up around 1 or so. Now it could have just been me...but I did not have a good time! One of my favorite dj's, who's had me losing my shit on multiple occasions...and I did not have a good time. At all. I just could not get into it. Here are some factors that I believe may have contributed:

1. I have trouble shifting gears from one type of music to another sometimes. Perhaps the jump from Underworld to Boys Noize was too much (but then why was I able to get into Pink Skull?).

2. I was tired.

3. The dancefloor was REALLY packed. Some girl flailed and hit me in the eye. Then some hippy chick came over and was B.O.-ing up the space. So I moved away and then some guy was either trying to dance with me, or just was being forced way too close to me by the number of people on the dancefloor.

4. Perhaps I have seen Boys Noize too many times in the past year (this being my 5th), and I hate to say it, but I found his set to be a bit predictable. I would recognize the song he was playing and found myself thinking now he's going to drop the Bloc Party remix, or Michael Jackson, or Pump Up the Jam...which would have been fine if it happened once or twice...but it happened a lot.

As much as I hated to do it, I was tired and bored...so I skipped out early on his set. I'm hoping it was just a fluke incident, and more me than him. Hopefully he will be back here a bit further down the road, on a night when I haven't already gone to one big dance show.

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Underworld in Central Park - 9/14/07

When I heard Underworld was playing Central Park (months and months ago) I bought a ticket right away. I was only familiar with their big songs that everybody knows, but they were some of the first guys out there making electronic music and I knew it was something I shouldn't miss. Despite my best efforts to get through their whole catalog before the show came around, I was only able to get in a few listens of dubnobasswithmyheadman and the Pearl's Girl EP. Honestly it didn't matter...I knew less than half of what they played, but the show was great anyway.

When I heard the bass thumping as I wandered through the park I got the same weird Alice in Raverland feeling I had when I saw the Chemical Brothers there 2 years ago. I arrived a little after 6, found Chuck and Greg pretty quickly and we secured a good spot, dead center, maybe a little further than halfway back. James Holden was dj-ing in the meantime...decent, nothing mind-blowing or anything.

Underworld hit the stage at 7:30 and it was a non-stop good time. There was a very good vibe from the crowd. I have never seen so many different types of people with such a wide range of ages at a show, all having a good time. Every time I looked around me people were either getting down, or had their eyes closed and looked to be having a religious experience. The actual music was banging. They played a lot of their more well-known hits and some stuff off of their new album (Oblivion With Bells, out in the US on October 16th). Setlist below thanks to URB.

1. Luetin
2. New Train
3. Crocodile
4. Pearl’s Girl
5. Biro the Leggy
6. Two Months Off
7. Rowla
8. Glam Bucket
9. Rez / Cowgirl
10. Born Slippy Nuxx
11. King of Snake
12. Jumbo

Their set flowed extremely well. There were parts that had everyone moving, then they would mellow it out a bit with a slower track, but then come back again with the perfect banger. It was really a great, well-rounded, fun show. It was also awesome to hear them play their own stuff, loud and live, especially songs I knew like Rez, Cowgirl, and Born Slippy.

I thought the whole show really had an old school feeling. Most of their songs that I knew were from my early days getting into dance music, so it reminded me of that time in my life and alot of the other stuff I was listening to then (Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, etc). Having the show in the park gave it a very free, outdoor party vibe. I've never seen so many people so happy at a show. The weather was perfect. The skies were clear. There were some nice, old school Atari visuals and big light up balloons. From where we were, the stage, the whole space, was framed by trees with these lights shining through, and music banging all around us (though it definitely could have been louder)...it was very surreal.

I really didn't have any expectations for the show because I wasn't that familiar with Underworld's music. If anything I was trying not to get too excited because I didn't want to feel let down if I wasn't that into it. I can gladly say seeing Underworld live was a great experience and probably one of the most fun, carefree, good feeling shows I've been to in a long time.

Some great photos here and here, and a very interesting review from someone who knows way more about Underworld than I do, Tony.

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Labor Day Weekend Extended - Modular Monthly, Wurst Monthly, Worst Saturday

For some reason despite all the madness that was going on here over labor day weekend, I felt the need to keep going well into the next week.

I didn't think I would make it out Thursday night after spending most of Wednesday recovering (at work) after getting literally just a couple of hours of sleep after the Yo Yo NYC party. But somehow I wound up heading down to the Modular Party at 200 Orchard to check out the Bang Gang. I had been reading and hearing so much about them...only trouble is...I am not sure if I ever actually saw them dj. Hah. This is ridiculous. Some guys were dj-ing when I got there... probably somewhere between 12 and 1. They were good. Playing a lot of stuff I've been hearing out quite often, but in good way that made it same new and danceable. Then at some point it switched to JDH & Dave P - also good. Then I left to go to the bar and was waiting for a while and when I got back the floor had cleared quite a bit and there was just one guy I didn't recognize dj-ing. I was kind of underwhelmed at this point, so I left to head over to the Wurst monthly at APT.

I got there a little before 2. I think it was My Cousin Roy spinning but I didn't really get a good look behind the decks because I was too busy dancing along with half of the downstairs of APT. Every time I go there I have such a different experience. Either you're up to your neck in bitchy pretension and everyone's too self-involved to dance, or it's very laidback and the crowd is shitty and just not dancing, or as was the case that night: the crowd was great, not pretentious, and was relentlessly getting down. There was modern disco being played that you could not not get down to. Stayed 'til it closed!

Went to work Friday with the plan of watching West Wing and crashing on the couch the second I got home in the hopes of falling asleep and waking up in time to either go to People Don't Dance No More or Fun. Problem #1: my roommate took the season of West Wing I was up to home with him for the weekend. Problem #2: I fell asleep on the couch, realized this around 9, rolled over kept sleeping, didn't wake up again until 2:45...and sadly that was that.

Unfortunately things were downhill from there in terms of nightlife that weekend. I made an impulse decision to buy a ticket to see Patrick from M.A.N.D.Y. dj while I was making breakfast Saturday morning. Stuff on M.A.N.D.Y.'s myspace was decent, and they're on Get Physical as is DJ T who blew me away at Moustaches Wild the week before. I thought it would be good to try something new. WRONG! At least in this case. First of all the ticketfast ticket said Shelter was on 39th and 5th. It was not. It was on Varick near Vandam. I was running late to begin with so I took a cab which actually wasn't that bad $-wise. I got there...and it was like the Holland Tunnel off ramp dumped directly into this place. I really am not a big fuckhead snob about crowds. I usually just try to ignore them if they bother me and have a good time anyway...but this was like tight shirt, gelled hair, muscley Guido-esque dudes and girls with fake nails. Can't fault them for the big hair, haha. Seriously though it was a bloodbath, but I could have dealt with it if the music wasn't horrible. It was like deep scary house...but not good deep house...like hellish house that people who don't listen to electronic/dance music think of when you tell them you like dance music. At first it was really bad, then after about 15 minutes the dj's switched and it got slightly better. I tried to wait it out and give it a chance, but I just thought it was bad and had to get outta there. I wound up sticking around for only an hour altogether. Found out that the second guy who had gone on was Patrick from M.A.N.D.Y....disappointing, but you need a night like that every now and then to keep all the really good stuff in perspective I guess.

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Yo Yo NYC - Busy P at Love 9/4/07

Pardon me for playing catch up here but there has been so much happening I haven't been able to keep up. Way back on labor day weekend there was that awesome Moustaches Wild party at Studio B. Busy P's set was so solid that night I had to go back for more so I hit the Yo Yo NYC party at Love with Eddie (who mistakingly slept on the party Saturday night). Got there at 11:30 or so. The place was already packed. I'd never been there before, but it lived up to the psychadelic blue light cave with a monster soundsystem descriptions I had read in the past. The soundsystem was really excellent...whoever was dj-ing when we got there was playing stuff you never though you'd want to hear, but it was vibrating through your body loud, but crystal clear - everything sounded good. The vibe at the party was really good. Everyone was having serious fun and getting down. I think the 40's may have helped too.

Probably 30 minutes or so into getting there the Trackademicks crew started their set. I hadn't heard of them before, but the day of the party I kept getting various emails about it from which I learned they are part of the San Francisco "hyphy" movement, which frankly cracked me up. When I went to Montreal a few months ago Eddie and I met this guy Ian through a mutual friend who proceeded to explain what hyphy was when we gave him blank looks when he mentioned it. His explanation went a lot like this (to be read in super thick French accent): Hyphy, it's like the new hippy. When I went out to Caleefornia everyone was just having such a good time. It's like if I die tomorrow everything will be ok because everything is beautiful, life is beautiful, it's just hyphy! See that guy over there (look over to see a bunch of dudes jumping on the hood of a car), that guy's hyphy."

Riight. We thought the dude was kind of out there and were kind of glad we were out of the loop on that one. But then somehow or another I realized that it was an actual whole hip hop movement out of S.F. and I jokingly printed this out from wikipedia before we embarked on our little adventure at Love. After having a good laugh we embraced the term "thizzle" as our own, as an alternative to hurl "...i.e. I don't know if I'm going to be able to hold it together tonight, I might thizzle all over the place". Serious fun.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for the whole hyphy experience. It was kind of fun for the first few songs, but then it all started to sound the same. So we took a little detour down Macdougal, and headed back to Love around 1, right at the beginning of Busy P's set. It's all a bit fuzzy since it was a couple of weeks ago...but he was playing good stuff, expected, but good - Justice, Daft Punk, and alot of other stuff.

I had a good time, but I thought it lacked something compared to the set he played at Moustaches Wild. It might have been what he was playing or it might have been the crowd. He played some of the same stuff as he did at Studio B that night, but it wasn't having the same effect. Case in point the Chemical Brothers' Do It Again which had everyone losing their shit and shouting along Saturday night, got only a lukewarm response from the crowd at Love, so much so that Pedro stopped fading the song out because nobody was shouting "Do it again". Other songs that had gotten great reactions at Studio B (Dizzy Rascal's Pussyhole) also didn't go over as well for some reason. There were definitely other moments and other songs that had the crowd going...but I just can't remember them specifically, and found Pedro's set from Saturday to be more consistently awesome. Towards the end things took a very hip-hop ish turn and for me it was just kind of winding down (but the crowd seemed into it). I think overall the crowd was more hip-hop than electronic oriented and that's what made the crowd vs. my reaction to the two different parties and dj sets so different. Overall it was a good experience, but just not the unstoppable dance experience of three nights prior.

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It's the Beat - SMD at the Gramercy Theater

We (Eddie, Chuck, Greg, me) arrived around 10 in the middle of JDH & Dave P's set. I see them a lot between their monthly Fixed parties and supporting other acts...I kind of take them for granted. One of the reasons I wanted to start dj-ing in the first place, way back when, was because the opening dj's I would see were just SO horrible. I couldn't help but think I could do better if I just knew how to work turntables and a mixer. JDH & Dave P are way better than the vast majority of openers I've seen over the past 5 years, but I'm always so pumped for the headliner that I kind of just wait through their set. I usually note a few standout tracks here and there (like the ridiculous remix of the Chemical Brothers' Salmon Dance that they played) but don't usually get down even though I like most of what they play. Chuck and Greg were pretty into them though which kind of got me thinking that I short change them a bit. They're actually good djs.

Anyway...after a bit of banging from JDH & Dave P, Invisible Conga People went on. Shockingly a lot of people around us seemed to think they were Simian Mobile Disco...maybe because one of the guys' hair was a bit like James from SMD's?...I have no idea. One would think if you had enough sense to buy tickets to the show you would at least realize what a far cry Invisible Conga People's sound was from SMD's. Invisible Conga People...I don't know if I would say they were bad, but they were not what the crowd needed. JDH & Dave P had everyone happy and dancing...and then the two dudes from Invisible Conga People came on with some really mellow electronic, droney, lullaby shoegazey stuff. It didn't make sense for that place and time. They finally stopped close to 11.

JDH & Dave P got everyone moving again (which I think everyone was eager to do after Invisible Conga People). By the time they finished and got all their stuff cleared out, it was midnight when SMD hit the stage. And they hit it hard for about an hour straight. Out of my little crew I had dragged out with me I was the only one who had caught their show at Studio B a few months ago. I had tried to convey the loud analog explosion that was about to happen, but apparently I didn't do a good enough job. We all emerged from the show pretty fucked. The little bleeps and blips they opened with from Sleep Deprivation gave no indication of what was to come, but I knew once the bass and beats hit they wouldn't stop. Jas and James covered most of what's on Attack Decay Sustain Release including Hustler, It's the Beat, and Tits & Acid. I'm sure they also hit some of the lesser known tracks on the album, I just can't i.d. them upon hearing yet. They also threw in the excellent non-album track Animal House and their remix of the Klaxons' Magick. There was a super quick break during which everyone went crazy, and SMD returned the favor delivering the excellent "I Believe" along with a lot of on the fly bang to close out an awesome show.

We had all intentions of hitting the after party for what I'm sure was an amazing dj set, but after sitting there dumbfounded after the intense hour of bang SMD brought I think we made a wise decision in deciding not to go. I feel like I have been over extending myself lately, trying to do everything resulting in a shittying up of otherwise awesome evenings. I felt especially better about skipping SMD's dj set when I saw this yesterday:

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Dance, dance, dance...

Ahhh...still recovering from all the madness that happened here last week (reviews to come). I of course caught some sort of death cold/allergy in the meantime that I thought had gone away, but going to happy hour Wednesday probably wasn't the best idea. So now it's back, worse than before. I missed all the French blogger/dj madness that went on at Hiro last night so that I could go to bed at 10 pm...yes, 10 pm...in preparation for this evening's activities:


Really looking forward to this. The weather is awesome today. The dudes are legendary. Should be a great show.

Followed by this:

Boys Noize is always awesome

Followed by another night of double madness tomorrow:

Simian Mobile Disco live show at the Gramercy Theater! followed by:



I've seen them dj and their live show and neither left anything to be desired. If you're not convinced watch some youtube then buy your ticket!

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No rest for the weary

Tonight:

RSVP

or



Friday:


or


Free if you RSVP

Saturday:

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Another New York Justice date

Due to popular demand a second Justice show has been added at Terminal 5 for October 22nd. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

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Moustaches Wild at Studio B!

I literally just walked in the door (wrote most of this at about 4:30 am) from Mustaches Wild. It was one of the best shows I have been to this year. Seriously.

I have to say...I have never really personally believed in love at first sight. But then I saw DJ T. He had me from the second he put his first record on. It was just blissful beats and no BS. For the most part, like 95%...all his own shit. None of which I'd heard (save if any of it was on his myspace) until just then. It was just pure and simple banging. It was like...take any awesome dance track floating around today and strip it down, take out all the extra bullshit (crunchy and delicious as it may be) and just distill it down to it's original state. This dude was just dropping these crystal clear, awesome beats. I was ready to get down on one knee. Seriously. DJ T, if you are reading...set the date my friend.

Ok...so DJ T was not the reason I went out tonight. I went out to see Busy P. I had a feeling I might be into DJ T's sound from what I heard on his myspace and because I've tended to like the guys on Get Physical thus far. When I was full fledgedly getting down to his set I had a feeling it was going to be one of those nights. And it was...and then some. DJ T spun from about 1 until 2:45. I did not stop moving the whole time. Shamelessly getting down. It was excellent. Hearing someone play mostly their own shit for almost 2 hours, stuff that sounds like none of the stuff I have been listening to for months. It was exactly the vacation I needed from all of my blog recommended jams, though I love many of them...they are getting played out.

At 2:45 I was so happy you could have told me Busy P wasn't coming and I would have gone home without a care in the world. That's how good I thought DJ T's set was. But anyway...Busy P finally got on the decks at about a quarter to 3. He played so much stuff...it was one of those instances where I should have been taking notes, but couldn't because it was so good. It was one of those dj sets where every track played had everybody losing their shit. It was great. These are some standouts:

Pussyhole - Dizzy Rascal
Killing in the Name Of - Rage Against the Machine (Sebastian's remix)
Window Licker - Aphex Twin
Do It Again - Chemical Brothers (I had just gotten in an unusually long line for the restroom when I recognized the beginning of the song and proceeded to run back to the dance floor. It was awesome. That's not my favorite track on We Are the Night, but Pedro did it up right. He kept fading out the "Do It Again" so everyone was yelling it instead. Fucking awesome!
Alot of Justice including: Stress, Phantom (not sure if it was part 1 or 2), D.A.N.C.E. (not sure whose remix)
Daft Punk - possibly Aerodynamic but not 100% sure
Rapture - Olio
Mr. Oizo - Transsexual
Stronger - a really awesome, slowed down remix (btw, that A-trak remix floating around...not too found of it. I don't think that track needs any speeding up)

Busy P's set was another example of it's not what you play, it's how you play it. I have definitely heard a lot of the songs he played, played out in clubs a lot of times in the past few months. Tonight he breathed new life into them. It was one of the best dj sets I've experienced this year. During it I was reminded of the first few dj sets I'd ever seen in person (Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim)...I had this feeling inside that I'd experience during the first few sets I ever saw where everything was just new and stirring up my insides, almost giving me chills - it's a combination of something inside, being in awe and disbelief, all the while being unable to stop moving while in a state of complete happiness.

It was a great, great evening. Way too many camera phone pics:

DJ T!


DJ T + Busy P = TP!


Busy P!



And it was all made even more awesome because it was free thanks to Mas.

Also...Happy Birthday to Turntable Lab's Unemployed Lloyd who I somehow identified amidst all the dancing and chaos. If you don't have to clean you apartment like I do today you could go to this:

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Double-mint!

Yea-yuhh...

Just read a post on Pitchfork about Justice's "expanded" world tour, when I noticed a little asterisk next to the New York date (among others)...and what does it say next to the asterisk but...

* with Midnight Juggernauts

That show just got twice as dope! If you got that free itunes download a few weeks ago of "Road to Recovery" you definitely know what I am talking about...

ps - currently seeking replacements/supplements to "dope" and "banging"

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Passions and Data at Hiro

Arrived at Hiro around 12:30 or so right behind Alan Astor which was kind of funny b/c my friend Dana from work asked me about him the other day. Wound up talking to him for a second about his work with Curses because the door guy gave him my ticket by mistake. Speaking of Curses! Don't miss that show tonight!

Anyway...Passions started pretty much right after I got there. I swear, everyone in the Trouble & Bass crew can really throw down. Passions' set really blew me away. It was just what I've been missing on the dancefloor lately. He played a lot of stuff I didn't know, which was good...nice to not hear the same 10 tracks that have been dropping in every dj set I've caught recently. One of the tracks I recognized was Renegade Master by Wildchild, excellent to hear it being played out! Passions played some of his own stuff too including his remix of Teenagers' Homecoming, and his remix of Nine Inch Nails' Head Like a Hole...dope! I really like his style of dj-ing a lot too. He's super aggressive, just going at it - it's like he's at war with all his equipment. He'll do this thing where he kind of mellows out a song and then brings it back but 10 times the normal amount, and not in the typical way you take all the bass out of a song and then drop it...it's almost like he takes the whole song out except for one itty bitty thing and then brings it all back...but back and on steroids. The man at work:





After a very brief segue way by Alex English, Data started his set. He started with a dope remix of Chromeo's Tenderoni and really held it together on the dancefloor for his entire set. I was really glad I decided to go out to see him because he reminded me of one of the things I really like about dj-ing. He played a lot of songs I'm tired of hearing out at this point...but his timing and the way he dropped them made it not matter. It was like they were brand new songs. I thought some of the highlights of his set were From Disco to Disco by Whirlpool Productions, followed by a quick sample from Prodigy's Girls into Data's Aerius Light. Ridiculous! Other dopeness - Justice's remix of We Are Your Friends followed by Stardust's Music Sounds Better with You. He also dropped Sebastian's remix of Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of...I don't really like Rage Against the Machine...but that remix is great! So anyway...bottom line is Passions and Data both played really great sets. An excellent start to what will hopefully be a bangin weekend!

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Cassius tour US in 2008!/ CMJ 2002

A little bird just told me that Cassius



is planning a big US tour for next year!

I have secretly been hoping this would happen ever since I saw their latest album (15 Again) on the horizon last summer.

For those of you not familiar with them, Cassius is 2 dudes - Boombass and Philippe Zdar. I'm not sure how to describe their sound. It's really French (but not like Ed Banger French, though Busy P is their manager), but in a more upbeat, peppy, housey, feel good way. Haha...I just read this on their myspace: "
"2 french friends makin music for living better". It's true...

The first and last time I saw Cassius was during CMJ of 2002 (back when I didn't know what CMJ was). I had just started listening to electronic/dance music that spring...mainly a lot of Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim. I didn't fully realize it at the time, but that show really influenced a lot of what I listened to immediately afterwards, a lot of which I still listen to now.

It was CMJ so there were a billion "openers". We arrived just as the Audio Bullys were finishing up, catching just their last song or two (remember that song, We Don't Care?), followed by a horribly awkward Erlend Oye. I really felt bad for poor Erlend, especially in retrospect. The Audio Bullys had just done what I had gathered was a very lively set and Erlend was up there playing songs from his solo album "Unrest" which had just come out (it's very mellow, electronic, a bit of a retro feel at times). And by playing I mean introducing each of them in his soft Norwegian voice, putting the needle on the record and then singing. He got booed. So sad. I didn't particularly like or dislike his set...I mainly felt bad for him, but Unrest wound up being in heavy rotation for me that winter and spring.

If my memory serves me correctly Cassius went on next. They did a full out dance your ass off from the get-go set. I remember being in awe the whole time - watching Philippe behind the decks, doing magic while chain smoking for the entire set. I could see the smoke coming up from the turntables when he would set the cigarette down for a few seconds - ah, I had forgotten how close we were to the stage. All the while he was on the decks, Boombass was doing god knows what, twisting knobs, pressing buttons, sampling, etc. I had never really seen anyone dj before. The only other show I had been to at that point was seeing the Chemical Brothers in April of that year, from pretty far away, so I mainly experienced the visuals and the music, didn't really see much of Tom or Ed themselves or what they were doing. So it was completely mind-blowing to see these 2 guys just going at it with all this equipment, making this bouncy, lively music come out. You didn't have a choice, you were dancing. Right around this time "Sound of Violence" was their new single. It featured Steve Edwards on vocals. It was one of the last tracks they dropped...only Steve Edwards was actually there and sang it. Dope! Can't wait until these guys come back here!

The last opener was Simian Mobile Disco back before it was just James and Jas, but rather James, Jas, Alex, and Simon all from Simian... It's all a bit hazy but everyone was kind of around the laptops, but then ultimately a few would stray away and start wiling out (I remember Simon just chugging away the whole time) while mainly James and Jas killed it with a mix of various jams...some old, some new, some remixes of their own songs...good stuff.

And then...the Chemicals went on and it was over. I had seen them in April but I had just started listening to them then, wasn't all that familiar with their stuff, mainly just "Come with Us". This time around we were up front, right against the guard rail, and I had been listening to them for almost a year at that point. It was the full on Chemicals experience where I first really appreciated it and was able to take it all in. It was great. I remember feeling so happy during and immediately following it...and whenever I thought about in during the next few weeks. I'm still exactly the same way when it comes to seeing the Chems live. It's been almost 2 years since I last saw them and now it is just 23 days away! and I get to see 'em twice! And there are a whole bunch of awesome shows between now and then!

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After the Jump Festival

Saturday I volunteered at the After the Jump Festival. The day show actually wound up being inside which was probably better since it was sooo hot out. I wound up having a good time, met a lot of people, saw a lot of bands - none of which I'd ever heard before. None of them were really stuff I would regularly listen to, but they all put on very energetic performances and seemed to be having a good time.

Locksley was one of the first bands to go on and their show was very lively. Ra Ra Riot also really went all out - towards the end of their set they were really on. They started to sound very Police-ish. One of the last songs they played "St. Peters Day Festival" was written by their drummer who recently passed away. It was a very poignant moment when they mentioned it in the beginning, and a lot of emotion came through as they played the song even though it was an upbeat, loud one. The last band that went on was Spectrum. They were very atmospheric and shoegazey. Initially they reminded me of Ulrich Schnauss a bit (which I was glad about since I will be missing both of his NY shows since they fall on the same days as the Chemical Brothers). Overall though they are a bit different than Ulrich...their lyrics are more prominent, but they definitely have a similar sound in terms of the music.

I left Studio B around 8:30 to stop home, eat something, change, before heading back for the night show...but I never made it back. I Wound up having dinner and drinks with my roommate and our friend Mark...and then I was pretty much down for the count - I had been at Studio B since 11 and was pretty beat. Oh well...c'est la vie...I had a really good time during the day. There was a pretty good turnout. Everything seemed to run very smoothly and people seemed to have a good time. From what I've read the night show was pretty awesome and a lot of money was raised for NYC school music programs which was what it was all about. I missed Riot in Belgium...but I'm glad it all went as well as it did and that I got to help out with an event for such a good cause.

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Saturday!

This is going on:



Been meaning to post about it for a while now, but work has been super busy and I have just been crashing as soon as I get home.

It should be fun. The day shows are free. It's supposed to be 93 degrees tomorrow (an appropriate temperature for August, not like that BS earlier this week).

The night show is not free, but all the profits go to supporting music education in NYC. I'm looking forward to it because all the bands playing
(both day and night) are ones I've heard a lot about, but have somehow never actually heard.

The Music Slut's last post seems to cover everything you need to know about who's playing, what time, etc. along with a bunch of interviews with the bands.

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The World's Made Up of This and That

Saw Electroma at midnight on Friday. I have to say having a late night at Hiro, followed by work, and 4 episodes or so of West Wing did not leave me in the most receptive state for 10 minute spans of silent robots driving a Ferrari through the desert. I did not doze off though! I got what was going on but at the same time left the theater feeling a bit mindfucked. It took me a day for it to all kind of sink in before I could even really form any conclusion about it. I appreciated the work and creativity that went into it. I would like to see it again after seeing all these other films my friend Eddie told me they paid homage to in Electroma. I'm glad I went.


Saturday I did my default early Saturday evening activity...went to PS1. Got there about 7 and the dj was kicking. Some good older disco, moving toward some great more modern stuff...none of which I knew. It was good, dirty disco...like, let's go do it after this party's over disco. It was like that until about the last half hour...then it got a bit housey...like diva housey. And then there was this endless build up that kept seeming like it was going to break and almost would, but would then just start over and build more. I couldn't take it. I left, walked to the grocery store which was closed, and then it sounded like it had picked up again and gotten pretty bangin as I walked home. Oh well. C'est la vie. Also...I don't know who the dj was! I'm pretty certain it was one of these 3:

DJ Spun
Ben Cook (aka Stranger)
Eric Duncan (Rub n Tug)

They're the only 3 dj's on the bill for yesterday. I emailed someone at PS1 about it-

So Eleanor from PS1 got back to me really quickly, but I kept forgetting to post it. Apparently DJ Spun went on at 7, and from 8 to 9 Ben Cook, Eric Duncan, and DJ Spun were all on the decks. So the bang wasn't coming from any one person specifically.

And while I'm on PS1...you really should check it out if you haven't already. There are only 2 Warm Up parties left! I have no idea about any of the artists playing those 2 days, but when the music's bad I usually just have a beer or two and look at the "art". I use quotes b/c a lot of modern art and I don't get along, but when I looked around the first floor a week or so ago some of it was actually good. Also brace yourself for the crowd...hipsters, art snobs, dumb bitches in stilettos who step on your foot while they spazz out pouring a cup of Coke for their boyfriend (don't ask). If you move up to the front though people are usually getting down pretty viciously if you're into that. And if you're more of a stand/sit around/talk with your friends person it's pretty spacious toward the back and there are these hammock chair installations and food and stuff like that. It's a nice way to spend some time outside, get down, hang out on a Saturday.


And now I will kiss any credibility goodbye with my overly simplified review of the Daft Punk show at Keyspan 2 weeks ago. I had a good time. When I think back to the show there were definitely moments were I was losing my shit. But there were other moments where I was just kind of eh and looking forward to what was next. I didn't have best view of the visuals, but what I did catch was pretty cool. I loved looking up and seeing two robots grooving in the booth. BUT...I did not personally find this to be a life-changing, most awesome, top ten shows I've been to experience. I also wished they had played more older stuff from Homework, like Teachers...I would have died happily if they played Teachers...and just more oldish stuff in general (Digital Love) instead of so much of their newer stuff from Human After All...like Steam Machine. I have to admit hearing it live did give me a new love for Robot Rock though. Also, I thought it was a bit too similar to their Coachella set from last year which I unfortunately had listened to earlier in the week. But...I have to say, I downloaded the live set from the BK show that is floating around the internet...and after getting over my urges to kill the two girls talking throughout way too much of it, I totally got into it and was having flashbacks, getting excited, and getting goosebumps listening to the set...so who knows.

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Drop the Lime at Hiro

So last night I did this:



I skipped Inner Party System b/c I went to their myspace and they sounded like the Killers. Arrived right before Drop the Lime went on. He killed it as usual. There is so much I like about seeing Drop the Lime spin:

1. Lots of bass
2. His sets always bang
3. I don't know most of what he spins
4. Out of what he spins, the stuff I do recognize is usually great and underplayed - case in point, the Switch remix of the Black Ghosts' "Face" and Party Crashers Unite - Put Your Hands Up 4 New York both of which he played last night.
5. He plays a lot of old stuff and a lot of new stuff and a lot of different styles and it somehow all works great.

So yeah...it was an hour and a half of bliss and getting down last night. I can't say it enough - the next time he's around go see DTL! (ps - if you're in New York, the next time around will be August 31st at the Fixed Party/Institubes Paris Terror Club tour under his other name - Curses! (which bangs in a totally different, excellent way) along w/ Para One (live), Surkin, and DJ Orgasmic at Studio B. What a stacked bill! Should be an awesome night.

Also, speaking of Institubes...Midnight Juggernauts' song "Road to Recovery" is a free download on iTunes this week and it bangs! I had forgotten I downloaded it and when it came up on my "recently added" playlist I definitely took note. Get it while you can. It's a good one.

Some shitty camera pics of the man at work from last night:





After Drop the Lime, Johnny from Guns'n'Bombs dj-ed. I had listened to a mixtape of theirs earlier in the day and was looking forward to seeing Johnny dj, but from the get-go I just wasn't feeling it. He started off with a Kavinsky track which was fine except...this is New York. Kavinsky himself was just here last week. I personally would like to see dj's dig a little deeper. Yes, most of the Ed Banger catalog is really good, and banging and gets people moving...I love it. But...there are other labels...and other songs/artists not on the map as strongly right now that could be played. There are songs that need to be remixed a billion times other than D.A.N.C.E. Don't get me wrong...I'm the first to get down when I hear a good Ed Banger tune dropped in a set...but starting the set out with one just rubbed me the wrong way. He followed it with Princess Superstar's "Licky" another track I really like...but I'm getting tired of hearing the same 10 songs all the time. I stayed for probably a half hour of Johnny's set, then left.

Have a good weekend peeps. Not sure what's going on. Catching Electroma tonight. Buying some Justice tickets at noon.

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Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, more particularly, this morning was HELLISH! It took me over 2 hours to get to work, but Daft Punk is tomorrow...and now...I just got info on this in an email!

Chemical Brothers & Ladytron at McCarren Pool! the day after the Hammerstein show. I could cry.

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Travailler!!

Caught these 2 guys last night at Hiro (Cuizinier & DJ Orgasmic). Had serious fun gettin down with my boy Eddie, his sister, & their friend Rachel. We hit the floor hard, but shockingly it was first to Shout Out Out Out Out. I thought they were just one of those bands I kept reading about so often that they couldn't be good. But they got down to business - a good electronic, live band with a lot of energy and highly danceable. Makes tonight's decision even harder (check the flyer below).



and also Dave's disco bike party which looks like a lot of fun (you get in free if you rock some biker apparel), though I have yet to hear Prince Language...



So anyway...after some filler tracks while they were still kind of setting up, I'm going to say Orgasmic officially opened his set with Travailler which had Eddie and I losing our shit. I don't remember the next few songs he played, but they were good and kept us going. Then he kind of hit a bit of a lull where they were a bit too slow, but shortly after that Cuizinier did his thing and got everyone going again. One track I never heard before sampled Tina Turner's "Simply the Best", and they had everyone shouting "the best" over and over. It was pretty dope.

Anyway...time for me to travailler (to work), and if you haven't yet, check out the video. Some have never been the same...

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Back!

Rolled up in NYC on Sunday night after a blissfully banging 9-day trip to Montreal (more on that later) with my favorite New Yorker. Thankfully there will be no come-down from my vacation. This week:



It's not the full TTC gang (no Teki, no Para One :( ), but it is Cuizinier and DJ Orgasmic...there's a banging remix of TTC's "Travailler" done by Orgasmic over at the week in dance. If that track's not reason enough to go I don't know what is. Free of course...

Friday is the conflict trifecta:



The Modular Monthly, which I am pushing solely b/c of Domie from A Touch of Class, who had me losing my shit on the dancefloor at PS1 a few weeks ago.



Conveniently located just blocks away from the Modular Party...Drop the Lime at the Annex. One of my favorite new dj's I've gotten into this year. Great new stuff with an old school feel and bang aplenty.



My minimal, robot-loving friend...saw him a few months ago. Still a bit dumbfounded by the whole experience, and this could be a good time to clarify things. He did play the Chems EBW 8 or 9...

Choose wisely kids!

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