Felix Cartal @ Webster Hall - February 27, 2009 (Nicky Digital)

There was quite a bit going on last week, but I hardly went to any of it. I did most of my getting down at the David Byrne show Saturday night at Radio City, which I (unlike Jon Pareles) found to be a great show.

On my way home from David's show Friday night I found myself at the Studio at Webster Hall just to buy a friend a birthday drink. I caught some of Futurecop's set, but it was a bit too much, too soon after David Byrne for me to absorb any of it or make any judgment.

Fortunately I wound up sticking around and getting my ears used to hearing electronic music long enough to realize Felix Cartal was tearing it up. His set was full of bangers, many of which I hadn't heard before. One was a remix/mash-up of Daft Punk's "Oh Yeah" and "Rollin' & Scratchin'" that was sick and featured a weird little vocal periodically saying "rollin' & scratchin!". As good as Felix's set was, I was exhausted and left before he was done.

This week is brimming with good deejays and I am almost glad I won't be around to have to make any of these decisions you're going to face, specifically for Friday & Saturday night. Here's what's happening:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Mixhell, Frankie Knuckles, Italians Do It Better, Glass Candy, Chairlift, more...)"

DOWNLOAD: MSTRKRFT - Bounce ft. N.O.R.E. (Felix Cartal Remix) (MP3)

"In advance of Fist of God, the follow up to 2006's landmark The Looks, Toronto dancefloor juggernaut MSTRKRFT is set to release a Maxi Single of club-banging blog fave, and F'N MTV theme song, "Bounce." The eight-track offering, due via Dim Mak Records on October 7th, features the original N.O.R.E. and Isis of Thunderheist-assisted track, released in April, "Vuvuvu," and a plethora of remixes from rising stars in the dance community."

Continue reading "MSTRKRFT - 2008 Tour Dates, new album & a remix "

DOWNLOAD: the Bloody Beetroots - NLLR mix (zSHARE MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Felix Cartal - NLLR mix (zSHARE MP3)

Kavinsky (CRED)

As I mentioned last week, after a string of disappointing deejay sets I've been reluctant to allow myself to get too excited even when acts I've previously been amazed by come to town. I did a pretty good job of staying calm leading up to Kavinsky's set at Studio B on Saturday. Firstly, I have to give props to Jen Lasher for spinning a set that was much more interesting than many more well-known DJ sets I've seen recently. She covered quite a lot of ground in terms of dance music, and she wasn't afraid to drop a few oddballs and pop songs in there either. She took a relatively tame and sparse midnight Studio B crowd and whipped them into a dancing frenzy by the time Kavinsky took the decks at 2.

When that finally happened I found myself desperately hoping his set would be good and thankfully it was! He started off well, playing Mr. Oizo's remix of "Merrymaking at My Place" by Calvin Harris (who makes his way back to NYC this Monday), and D.I.M.'s remix of "My People" by The Presets a few songs in. He also played some electro that was less recent, but worked well despite this because of his timing, choices, and good mixing. About a half an hour or so in, something shifted, and Kavinsky's set went from good, to one of the most fun sets I've ever gotten down to. It was the perfect mix of classic dance tracks, brand new electro (he played the two new SebastiAn tracks which are perfect for the floor and a loud system), old electro, and random-ness (Phil Collins - Sussudio?!). He kept "the B"'s floor the most packed I've seen it in a while until a little after 4. It was easily one of the best sets I've witnessed this year. You can read my more detailed review here and stream a playlist I made of close to 20 of the tracks Kavinsky dropped at the B that night.

This weekend is another one full of dance. Get ready to start making decisions. Here is what is happening on Thursday (April 24, 2008) alone!.....

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (last week & tonight)"