photos by Ryan Muir

"People who speak in magazine copy will call 2009 The Year Of The Electro Gal. With La Roux and Little Boots leaving their signatures on the last 12 months, it falls to Philadelphia rapper-slash-singer Amanda Blank to own the last quarter of 09.

Blank's been around for almost half a decade. Her potty mouth has been front and centre on electro-rap masters Spank Rock's most beloved tracks (most notably Bump, where she name checked herself as a "boastful bitch MC") and she also appeared on the Diplo Vs Santogold mixtape, as well as NASA's debut. But due to record company machinations and her own caution, her solo debut, I Love You, is only coming out now." [Guardian]

Amanda Blank brought Spank Rock along for her late-night performance at One Step Beyond at the American Museum of Natural History on Friday night (9/9). Spank Rock DJ's Devlin & Darko were also on the night's bill. More pictures (NSFW?) below...

Continue reading "Amanda Blank, her guest Spank Rock, and Devlin & Darko @ the Museum of Natural History in NYC - pics"

Last week I only made it out to Fixed on Friday. While I wasn't floored by Annie Mac and Dada Life's selections, their energy behind the decks was infectious and had the crowd going wild in the basement of the Tribeca Grand. It was really a great time, regardless of whether you were super into the music, or not. This week there is a lot going on. Consider this you warm-up to CMJ...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1) (Amanda Blank, One Step Beyond, Dim Mak, Holy Ghost & more) "

LCD Soundsystem, RJD2, Devendra Banhart, Mum, The Decemberists, Neon Neon, Devlin & Darko, My Morning Jacket, VHS or Beta, Diplo, Gnarls Barkley, Tim & Eric, Black Moth Super Rainbow, and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are among the artists contributing tracks to Causes 2, an album to benefit Darfur (out March 2009).

Causes 1 is out now and has tracks by Animal Collective, Bloc Party, Death Cab, Spoon, The Shins, Bright Eyes, Cornelius and many others.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and the Decemberists are also among the artists who contributed to Dark Was the Night, a new comp to benefit the Red Hot Organization which will be released in February.

Sharon Jones just announced some tour dates. My Morning Jacket will be at MSG on New Years Eve.

A video trailer for Causes 2, below...

Continue reading "Causes 2 - a new CD comp for Darfur w/ LCD Soundystem, My Morning Jacket, Decemberists, Sharon Jones & many more"

DOWNLOAD: Kevin Saunderson - Live @ Sunday Best @ the Yard, 7-13-08 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fires of Rome - Set In Stone (Dada Life Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ghislain Poirier - Cosmopolitan Bass Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ghislain Poirier on Solid Steel Radio - 10/3/08 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kill the Noise Presents: TURN OFF / TUNE IN - VOL. 2 (MP3)

In the wake of the always fun, yet draining CMJ Music Marathon, two adages came to to mind: no rest for the weary and part of the weekend never dies. Like a dance-intensive extension of CMJ, last week in dance featured many acts from across the globe, though ultimately (at least from where I was standing) the French owned the dancefloor.

Strangely enough, my week in dance began, not in a club, but rather at the IFC. Thursday night I was fortunate enough to catch an intimate screening of "A Cross The Universe", the documentary by Romain Gavras, So Me, and Justice. I have to admit, I had a few preconceived notions going into this screening. I really didn't think I was going to like it based on the (NSFW) trailer. Images of kids going bananas, some more asininely than others, brought back entirely too many bad memories of the crowd that surrounded me at Justice's shows last fall at Terminal 5. I'm all for going crazy and having a good time, but there are enough people acting like assholes without a documentary glorifying them.

I don't want to spoil it, but after some initial footage of throngs of crazy Justice fans, it became apparent that this wasn't going to be the typical show-to-show tour documentary. Instead I found my preconceptions of a 90 minute long fan-film, crushed, and replaced with a shocking, behind the scenes look at Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge's adventures, mischief, and misadventures. Romain Gavras paints an unexpected and hilarious portrait of the pair, matching them with an equally amusing array of supporting characters from tour personnel to friends on the road, who dare I say, ocassionally steal the show away from French duo.

The film plays at times like a comedy more than anything: It's the Xavier and Gaspard show, only there's no acting and no routine. It's not so much that what is happening is funny (ok, in many cases it is), but rather Xavier and Gaspard being completely deadpan as event after hilarious event transpires. Initially funny situations and predicaments are transformed into laugh riots as Xavier barely responds, directing frustrated eyerolls and looks toward Gaspard. As amusing as I found this film, I thought it succeeded in giving the audience a very real image of what life is like on the road with the French electronic act as they experience their sudden rise to fame. However, as I left the theater there were ultimately two things I could not stop thinking:

1. Wow. That was f-ing hilarious and
easily better than any comedies I've seen this year.
2. I really can't wait to see Justice again!

Luckily I didn't have to wait long at all....

continued below....

Continue reading "the Thursday & Friday night in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Justice, a documentary, Josh Wink, Ulrich Schnauss & more...)"