« WhoMadeWho, Fujiya & Miyagi, and Walter Meego @ Mercury Lounge (CMJ), NYC - pics | Main | Women, etc.. @ the PTST day party @ Cake Shop - pics »

Posted in dance | music | pictures on October 26, 2008

the Juan Maclean played Bowery Ballroom & Santos (pics)

Bowery photos by Tim Griffin, Santos photos by Faith-Ann Young

TJM @ Bowery Ballroom

"Dressed in a dark blazer and white pants (after Labor Day, mind you!), John MacLean looked more like a professor than a dance-rocker. Perhaps his fashion sense is a remnant from his days teaching English in New Hampshire? Following a set from Chairlift, a Brooklyn-based trio whose career received a kick-start after Apple licensed "Bruises" for an iPod commercial, their fleeting allusions to Television and Bjork were bulldozed by The Juan MacLean's dance floor pastiche and their fondness for disco, house, and techno. Though MacLean's vocals sounded a little off at times (probably due to technical problems), when he's not singing and playing keyboards, he's constantly adding hand percussion and tweaking gizmos that give his music an interesting effect. Most notably, the icy vocal of singer/keyboardist Nancy Whang (of LCD Soundsystem) is a perfect yin to MacLean's yang. Their union shined on "Give Me Every Little Thing," a throbbing, squelchy, funky number laden with Theremin. Thankfully void of needless irony, it tipped its hat to Parliament-Funkadelic. Along the way, they dropped "Happy House," the first single from their forthcoming album, The Future Will Come, and it was a definite highlight. If tonight's performance is any indication, the future for The Juan MacLean looks very bright." [BigShotMag]

The Bowery Ballroom show (10/18) happened a few days before the DFA CMJ showcase at Santos that Juan also played....

The Juan Maclean came on late closing out the DFA showcase...around 12:45- 1? John/Juan the man and his trusty troupe, including Nancy Whang and ex-!!! drummer Jerry Fuchs, brought dance chaos to the cold concrete floor of Santos. He oscilalted between a smorgasbord of samplers, tambourines, and modern electronic gadgets....and tastetested a track from upcoming album, The Future Will Come. Crazed lights and lasers added to the otherworld sci-fi vibe (that and the pills that were going around)... -Faith

Free Blood (featuring ex-!!!'s John Pugh) was also on the Santos bill.

More pictures from both Juan Maclean shows below...

---

Recent Related Entries

• What's going on Saturday?
• Naam releasing LP (MP3), playing w/ Om, the Tee Pee CMJ showcase & The Charleston w/ a secret guest headliner
• Insound Party, After the Jump, Holiday Shores, Effi Briest, Beach Fossils, Phantogram & more in This Week in Indie
• Future of the Left touring in October, Japandroids too - Polyvinyl @ CMJ, Trail of Dead & other 2009 tour dates
• Raekwon celebrating new album w/ 2 NYC shows - guests include Ghostface, Talib, Beanie Sigel, Slick Rick, more...
• the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2) (Joakim, Michna, Theo Parrish, Holy Ghost, Soul Bowl, the Drums & more)
• Lovvers returning to America, playing Brooklyn (CMJ) w/ JEFF the Brotherhood (new album) - tour dates, MP3, video
• Saddle Creek: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Old Canes & Orenda Fink ++ Rural Alberta Advantage & UUVVWWZ dates
• Deradoorian cancels Glasslands, Dirty Projectors tix on sale
• the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1)

Tags: Chairlift, chk chk chk, CMJ, DFA, Free Blood, Holy Ghost!, LCD Soundsystem, Santos Party House, The Juan Maclean

Posted on October 26, 2008 8:57 PM

--

« WhoMadeWho, Fujiya & Miyagi, and Walter Meego @ Mercury Lounge (CMJ), NYC - pics | Main | Women, etc.. @ the PTST day party @ Cake Shop - pics »

---