Midnight Juggernauts @ Le Poisson Rouge - September 13, 2008 (CRED)

Last week/weekend in dance was one of the best I've had in a long time.

Thursday night at Santos, Cassius' Boombass played a more mellow set compared to the Cassius set from '02 that I remember so fondly. It picked up at times, but around 3:30 when the music took a retro turn with Pump Up the Jam and This is Acid, I headed home.

Friday I found myself last minute at Été d'Amour's party on the Mini Rooftop which wound up being awesome. From there I headed to Robot Rock where I couldn't tell if Linus Loves set was just ok, or if I was just having trouble shifting gears from Trevor's funkier style to Linus' more straight-up electro.

Saturday night I witnessed the best performance yet from Midnight Juggernauts. I think it all boils down to the soundsystem. Though the Bowery Ballroom show was better than seeing them at the cavernous Terminal Five, I thought the Midnight Juggernauts' spacey, guitar-driven, electro-peppered tracks found their perfect balance thanks to Le Poisson Rouge's impeccable soundsystem. I didn't have the best spot either. I watched the the show from a spot off-center, to the immediate right of the stage. All of the more subtle, electronic loveliness, previously obliterated at Terminal Five, and overshadowed slightly less at Bowery Ballroom, fully came through, delighting the audience with the electro-space sound that brilliantly shines through on Dystopia.

Sometimes it's better to quit while you're ahead, but instead of heading home after the great Midnight Juggernauts show, I headed to APT to see Kaos. His set was a nice mix of modern and classic disco I've come to expect from him, but the place was DEAD, especially for a Saturday night.

Sunday marked the great end to a nearly flawless weekend in dance. Holy Ghost started things off on the mellow/discoey side at the Yard, followed by a great set by Stretch Armstrong. He played a great mix of literally everything, a lot of which I wasn't familiar with along with some current tracks I love (the Boys Noize Happy Birthday remix of Cut Copy's Lights and Music). Unfortunately it was early, and daylight and nobody (myself included, despite almost doing it multiple times) had the nerve to hit the floor. Once Feadz began his set people gradually started getting up to dance. Going in I had absolutely no idea what to expect from Feadz. I don't like Uffie so I never really took the time to check out Feadz extensively. It became apparent almost immediately that I had been missing out. A set that began with a hip hop track quickly moved from genre to genre, touching on techno, house, b-more, and everything in between without a single misstep. The young Frenchman treated the now packed floor to a nearly 2-hour set that was as bouncey as he was, bopping up & down as he scurried between the decks.

I never made it to Minitek over the weekend, but I heard it didn't all go as planned.

A week like that is going to be hard to top, but before we get into that, we have a contest! We have 5 copies of the deluxe, double-CD edition of the Chemical Brothers' Brotherhood to give away. Details on how to win are at the bottom of this post, under all the Friday night events....

Continue reading "the Friday night in Dance w/ Showtrotta"

FUCKED UP played here last night:

Yeasayer & No Age play on a car-sponsored NYC roof tonight (9/13).

Lightning Bolt, Growing, Krallice + "HUGE secret guests" are playing a Todd P show in Brooklyn today. More details below...

Continue reading "No Age play for MINI tonight, Fucked Up played Generation Records, Special Guests are playing a Todd P show"

For 10 days the rooftop, located on 10th Avenue and 36th street, will be a perfect end of summer hang-out. High above the Hudson River, the MINI Rooftop NYC will feature a daytime wellness area and an open creative space. The daily events include a "Morning Sanctuary" (Yoga and Pilates in the open), "Studio Sessions" for talks and a nightly "Lounge and Celebration" Party. The not to be missed opening and closing parties are in collaboration with Dazed and Confused and V magazines. The location is built by Matthias Hollwich and Marc Kushner aka HWKN, an architecture firm focusing on the creation of innovative and responsible manmade environments. Apart from the Rooftop itself, The MINI Space website will be the other spot to see what's going on up there. Videos and report backs will be regularly uploaded. It will also be the way to sign up for special events and parties. If you want to be a part of this event, make sure you sign up to stay on top of what's going down. Or up!