DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - Meddle (AC Slater & DJ Skeet Skeet remix feat. Goldielocks) (MP3)

Matthew Herbert @ Studio B - February 7, 2009

Last week in dance wound up being a lot of fun. Friday night I went to see Little Boots at Studio B. I arrived sometime around midnight and was shocked at how packed the floor was by the time she went on around 1:15. Despite her set being good, especially her cover of Giorgio Moroder's "Love Kills", and including everything I expected after seeing her at CMJ, overall I wasn't as engaged by her performance this time around. It was just me though. Everyone in the place was bugging out and there really wasn't any good reason not to. As brief as her set was, the late start (she was originally scheduled to perform at 12) derailed the entire rest of the night and I ended up missing both One Man Party and Danger at Webster Hall. A friend there texted me highlights of One Man Party's set which read like a more intensely awesome mix of the Soulwax/2ManyDJ's remixes and current electro that he played at Webster last month. As great as it sounded, the regret really hit when I watched the following video of the beginning of Danger's set which started with "Ave Maria" and went into a great live version of "9h20":

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Streetlab, Matthew Herbert, Justice, One Step Beyond, DJ Sneak, more...)"

by Showtrotta

DOWNLOAD: Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Rmx) (Sendspace MP3)

Sinden at Hiro Ballroom, NYC - April 10, 2008 (Nicky Digital)

Lately I've hit a spell where deejays I am really looking forward to seeing are very disappointing. Last weekend the spell continued...

Saturday I was quite excited to see Justice's Xavier de Rosnay deejay at Le Royale. I'd had a great time hearing him drop a mix of very current dance music with tons of unexpected pop and classics at Studio B following the Oct. 20th Justice show at Terminal 5. Unfortunately something was missing at Le Royale on Saturday. For the most part his set can be broken down like this - the first hour was mainly electro tracks, the second was mainly pop. Things could have been a lot better if more of the electro and pop were played together, and if more new electro tracks were played - I still love the Soulwax remix of Justice's Phantom Part II, but I remember first getting really excited about that track last April.

Thursday night saw the same problem with Steve Aoki dropping all the standard electro fare, heard over and over for the past year. I left mid-set which I am pretty reluctant to do, but it honestly was that bad. Thankfully the night wasn't a complete wash as Sinden spun an intensely banging set of grimey, UK-styled tunes that had everybody losing it. A-trak's set that followed was good as well, but a little less intense. For me the highlight of his set was when he dropped the Fred Falke Remix of Golden Cage by The Whitest Boy Alive (download it above).

much more below....

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1 - Thursday stuff)"

Xavier de Rosnay

As you've probably already heard, Xavier de Rosnay of Justice is deejaying at Le Royale tonight. Yes, $20 is kind of steep, but I have to agree with Anon. 12:23's comment:

"their DJ sets are a million times better than their actual live shows. the stuff they dropped into their set at their afterparty at studio b (post-terminal 5, not msg) was brilliant."

Xavier spins an excellent blend of electro, pop, and tons of the unexpected. Take Justice's Xmas mix or their Essential Mix for BBC's Radio 1, make them a bit more electro/dance heavy and that's probably what you can expect for Saturday's set. Tickets here

And two less pricey options for Saturday:

Gui Boratto

A few months ago you couldn't read an electro blog without see Gui Boratto's 'Chromophobia' on a "favorite albums of '07" list. Unfortunately this is one I still have yet to pick up, but I have heard and read enough to know that Saturday's show should be nothing short of amazing. Not a traditional, crate-digging deejay, expect to hear a range of his own tracks and remixes delivered live with the aid of his laptop and a few controllers adding an upbeat and immediate feel, "Making the Minimum Sound Like More".

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Saturday & Sunday)"