photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Edward Hagen

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

Starting back up where we left off, Friday (May 29th, 2009) at Métropolis/Savoy was the spottiest evening of the 2009 Mutek Festival. Unfortunately, it was just too difficult to bounce from room to room during Bounce Le Monde night. The live-leaning performers on the Métropolis main stage, including baile funky Original Hamster & Nego Maçambique (Curve), dub-pop trio Jahcoozi (A-Records) and especially the crowd-pleasing Tijuana-meets-electronica Nortec Collective, had their fans, but many festival-goers wanted proper 4/4 after yesterday's breakbeats, so the much smaller Savoy room was rammed. This caused a half-hour-plus line to the second floor entrance for much of the evening. Those lucky enough to have been in the Savoy by choice or accident for Ernesto Ferreyra (Cynosure, Cadenza) and Mike Shannon (Cynosure, Plus 8, Wagon Repair) were treated to two of the smoothest sets of the fest in a room packed full of grooving bodies.

Pictures from Mutek Day Two continued below...

Continue reading "Mutek 2009 - in pics & review (part 2)"

The lineup is coming together for Pop Montreal 2009 (September 30th to October 4th). Confirmed acts include Butthole Surfers, Fever Ray, Dinosaur Jr., Lou Barlow + The Missingmen, Loudon Wainwright III, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Thee Oh Sees, tUnE-YaRdS, to name a few.

Those interesting choices (like Lou Barlow with some configuration of Mike Watt's band?) are just part of the fest's usually-strong lineup. Full lineup so far, below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal 2009 - initial lineup (Fever Ray, Os Mutantes, Butthole Surfers, Lou Barlow + the Missingmen...)"

DOWNLOAD: Luke Solomon - Live at Sunday Best, 6/7/09 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ghislain Poirier - In the Mix on Sinden's Kiss FM radio show 5/21/09 (MP3)

Tyler Askew & crowd @ Loving Day Flagship Celebration - 6/7/09 (Willie Davis)

I haven't been out dancing yet this week, but still have plenty to tell you about last weekend, specifically Sunday and how it's turning into my favorite day to get down. Things began a little out of the ordinary, trekking over to 23rd and the FDR for the Loving Day celebration (of the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia which legalized interracial marriage in the US, which happened not too long ago in 1967!). The vibe was great - everyone just looked happy and was hanging out. Unfortunately not many were dancing to the great soulful, jazzy, housey set Tyler Askew was playing. I'm going to blame it on the massive line that had formed for the free BBQ being given out. In any case, I got down with a small group of strangers and learned more about Loving v Virginia which you can do here as well as learn about throwing your own Loving Day celebration.

Luke Solomon @ Sunday Best @ the BKLYN Yard - June 7, 2009 (cloud_city)

From there things picked up in terms of dancing. I headed down to the Gowanus yet again for Sunday Best. It was slightly less packed than it was for Mr. Scruff - still quite a crowd. I'm not sure how they did it, but food & drink lines were pretty much nonexistent and the bathroom one is still there, but much shorter. There were all the makings of a great Sunday as Luke Solomon started his set around 7, following through with 2 great hours of an interesting blend of house, soul, techno, and even hints of tech-house that had the tiny dancefloor overflowing with people. You can download his set at the top of this post, and check out other past sets from Sunday Best here, or better yet, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS.

I was perfectly happy by the end of Sunday Best and could have just gone home...but the Lower East Side is just so close thanks to the F-train, so I headed to the Rivington Hotel for Été d'Amour with Tony Humphries. The penthouse was packed with people dancing when I arrived, as it had been for Dimitri's set the weekend prior. Unfortunately it didn't last long. After hanging out on the roof for an hour or so it dawned on me that I couldn't hear the music at all. The sound only improved slightly one flight down, and by the time I was back on the main penthouse level I realized something was very wrong. The volume was way down thanks to someone complaining...so frustrating as Tony's set was great, just not loud enough! I've been assured that this week things will be under control for Stretch Armstrong's set, but more on that in a bit. First here is what's going on Saturday (6/13):

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2) "

1. Sunset Rubdown, Witchies & Elfin Saddle -
   June 12, 6pm @ Studio B, 18+ - TICKETS
2. Ghostly International's 10-yr Anniversary Bash w/ Lusine, Deastro, Michna & DJ Mike Servino - June 12, Studio B, 11pm, 18+ - TICKETS
3. Bishop Allen - June 13 @ Studio B, 6pm, 18+ - TICKETS
4. Ninjatune showcase with Daedelus, Ghislain Poirier & Megasoid - June 13, Studio B, 11pm, 18+ - TICKETS

Brightblack Morning Light is also playing Studio B during the fest, but no tickets for that one yet. I think the Dodos are too. The full list of bands playing is HERE and HERE.

We've got another slew of announcements for you today, starting with Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsoon, whose Tallest Man on Earth has been added to the Brooklyn Vegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg (along with John Vanderslice and more TBA) on Friday, June 12. We're also pleased to inform you that the good people at the legendary Ninja Tune Records will be hosting a showcase, featuring Megasoid, Daedelus and Ghislain Poirier.

Continue reading "Northside Fest lineup expands w/ Ninja Tune showcase, etc"

by Andrew Frisicano

Moderat

Mutek, "the premier North American festival for forward-looking electronic music and digital creativity," will happen this year from May 27th to May 31st in Montreal. The announced line-up includes Moderat (the Modeselektor + Apparat collab visiting Webster Hall on May 30th) and many, many more (line-up below).

Before that, the Mutek show goes on the road, with a six-date tour stopping at Studio B in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 11th. Performers for that date will include:

Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts (Oslo, Musique Risquée, Circus Company, Mutek | Berlin) live
Claro Intellecto (Modern Love | Manchester) live
Andy Stott (Modern Love | Manchester) live
MLZ (Modern Love, Pendle Coven | Manchester) dj
Pangaea (Hessle Audio, Hot Flush | London) dj
Ezekiel Honig (Anticipate, Microcosm | Brooklyn) live

Poster, full Mutek lineup, and other information, below...

Continue reading "MUTEK - 2009 Montreal festival lineup & tour "

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...)"