Kraftwerk begin their eight-show run at MoMA tonight (4/10), and MoMA is now selling a limited edition Kraftwerk boxset, but, as you know, there's more! MoMA PS1 in Long Island City is also doing this thing...

Kraftwerk - Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
On view April 12, 2012--May 14, 2012

In conjunction with Kraftwerk - Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 at The Museum of Modern Art, an eight-channel video and sound installation especially developed for the exhibition is now on display in the MoMA PS1 Performance Dome.

Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider founded Kraftwerk In Düsseldorf in 1970 and set up the pioneering Kling Klang studio, where all Kraftwerk's albums have been conceived and composed. By the mid-1970s, Kraftwerk had achieved international recognition for its revolutionary experimentation with sound and imagery. Its compositions, which feature distant melodies, multilingual vocals, robotic Beats, custom-made vocoders, and computer speech, anticipated the impact technology would have on art and everyday life, capturing the human condition in an age of mobility and telecommunication. Kraftwerk's innovative looping techniques and mechanized rhythms, which had a major influence on the early development of hip-hop and electronic dance music, remain among the most commonly sampled sounds across a wide range of musical genres. Kraftwerk uses robotics and other technical innovations in its live performances, illustrating the belief that humans and machines make equal contributions in the creation of art.

Continue reading "Kraftwerk stuff happening @ PS1 too (installation & fest)"

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...)"