DOWNLOAD: Âme - Setsa (MP3)

Dixon

A cold has prevented me from hitting many a dancefloor so far this week. As I mentioned at the end of part 1 of the Week In Dance, Micachu & The Shapes play the second New York show on their tour, at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (10/2). Check out a video of Tim Exile (who played Santos Thursday night) remixing Micachu & The Shapes, live, below and don't forget that following the Micachu show Martyn, Kotchy, Starkey, DJ Sharmaji, and Samiyam will also be at Le Poisson Rouge (11pm, now changed to 21+).

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2) (Dixon, Tim Exile, Micachu, Mixhell, Stretch Armstrong, Toxic Avenger & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Mishka Presents: Ninjasonik - Darth Baño Mixtape (MediaFire MP3)

Boy 8-Bit

Last week in dance I only made it out one night, but had an absolute blast! Friday night I headed to Public Assembly around midnight to see Boy 8-Bit. While he didn't go on for an hour or so, his 1-1/2 hour long set was well worth the wait. From about 1:30 until 3, he played a UK-influenced, yet diverse set. He opened with his track "The Suspense Is Killing Me" which he manipulated to be a little more subtle than usual - a great starting point and indication of what was to come.

The rest of the set was a pretty current mix, punctuated with some of his own tracks (including some from the Baltic Pine EP which I strongly recommend - info on the release in last week's post) as well as Boy 8-Bit's own impressive take on some already awesome tracks. From a remix of Fake Blood's "Mars" (a track I thought couldn't get any better) to Bumblebeez's "Rio" (a track I never thought I'd be glad to hear) to what might have been (but I'm not certain) an extremely messed with, instrumental only remix of TTC's "Travailler"...Boy 8-Bit's set at Public Assembly was easily one of the most unpredictable, exciting, dance-able sets of this year.

While I find this week's dance prospects a bit less exciting, there certainly is a lot going on:

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

DOWNLOAD: Tim Sweeney Live @ Sunday Best - August 16 (MP3)

Joakim

It's been a very exciting week in dance, with both Bassment Jaxx and Royksopp show announcements. Unfortunately we still have to wait a few months before those happen. In the meantime, here is what's going on this weekend:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2) (Joakim, Michna, Theo Parrish, Holy Ghost, Soul Bowl, the Drums & more) "

Pilooski @ the Scion Radio party @ Plan B - August 11, 2009

It's been an interesting week in dance so far. Tuesday night Pilooski was great, as expected, at the Scion party at Plan B. Unfortunately nearly everyone there was in "hang out & BS" mode instead of dancing. At any given time there was probably a maximum of 5 people dancing which was frustrating. You can lead a horse to water...I had an excellent time anyway and hopefully people will dance more when Pilooski is back here on September 26 (location tba).

Wednesday night at Le Poisson Rouge was the complete opposite. The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band opened for Friendly Fires and there was a pretty good amount of dancing going on during their set. Their sound is kind of like a blend of classic rock with hints of funk & soul which I'm not sure how I feel about yet. They were super enthusiastic and fun to watch though.

Unfortunately, immediately after their set, things started to go downhill. Set-up and sound check for Friendly Fires was over an hour and I was standing next to a very drunk & annoying girl (not to be confused with the one at Thursday's show) and matching friend. Despite the extensive set-up, when Friendly Fires finally started the sound was not great! The vocals sounded off to begin with and lead vocalist Ed McFarlane's habit of intermittently pulling the mic away from his mouth as he sings (which usually is not a problem) sounded like a cd skipping at times because the band was so loud. The band's addition of a little horn section to the mix was interesting at first, but ultimately seemed unnecessary most of the time. Removed from these couple of things everything else was typically awesome Friendly Fires. Everyone was dancing away, but I couldn't really get into it after the hour+ wait.

Hopefully things will be better this Saturday (8/15), but before we get into that...last Saturday was the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (BEMF). This was my first time going to the festival, which is now in its second year. Heading there after Dark Disco in the Park, I arrived at the Old American Can Factory around 8 to see a decent-sized crowd hanging out in the courtyard. There was a nice set-up of food vendors in the back, opposite the main stage, a bar down a little alleyway, and a second stage indoors. Nobody was really dancing when I got there as Jupiter One's set had just ended, but within a few minutes that changed when OCD Automatic went on, playing a nice little mix of some electro favorites (like Mylo, which I haven't heard out in ages).

At this point I was still exploring the space and getting my bearings...when I went inside and saw Plant Music's Kap10Kurt was on I was really excited as I've come very close but have never actually succeeded in seeing one of his sets. Unfortunately this time was no different since he was done by the time I figured out the bar/drink tickets situation and got back to the stage.

Young Love (who I've seen before and am not a fan of) was on the main stage and I was beginning to realize that forgetting to print out the schedule of performers was not the best move. I spent most of the night scurrying inside and outside to see who was on and hit a lull pretty early on where I didn't like the acts on either stage for a while.

Thankfully around 10, Free Blood (who I had never seen before) went on. I really enjoyed the live guitar over the electronics in the background and Madeline and John have a really good dynamic.

From there things really heated up. JDH & Dave P were deejaying when Shy Child soundchecked over them pretty loudly (which I thought was really rude at first, until I realized that's how pretty much everyone was doing it the entire night). Thankfully JDH & Dave P were able to resume where they left off after Shy Child's set, bringing the packed courtyard's dancing to a frenzied pace by the time the Juan Maclean went on.

At that point I was exhausted and wasn't really looking forward to their set, since the last time I saw the Juan Maclean back in October I did not enjoy their performance at all. The only reason I stuck around was to see how the show would compare to that performance. As soon as they began I was glad I decided to stay.

From the get-go I could tell it was going to be a totally different show. All the somber, underwhelming slow disco jams were gone, and Nancy Whang wasn't straining her vocals this time. Juan and the band played track after upbeat track including newer ones like "One Day" and "Happy House" (which you can see videos of, along with the Juan Maclean tour dates here) and oldies but goodies like "Give Me Every Little Thing". The whole set was very lively & bouncy and everything sounded great (from the synths to the drums to...the theramin) as the modern disco's vibes permeated the crowd. The crowd was accordingly losing it, and it was the most wild Juan Maclean show I have ever been to. It was a great ending to BEMF (for me...the festival went on for hours more, but I was done for the night).

This weekend there is no rain in sight and there are plenty of opportunities to dance outside! Make the most of this good weather (though there are some indoor events too), starting with Saturday (8/15):

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

DOWNLOAD: The Black Ghosts - I Want Nothing (Sinden remix) (MP3)

Ghostland Observatory @ All Points West - Day 3 (more by Chris La Putt)

Last week in dance it seemed like there was even more than usual going on. While I missed what looked like a typically awesome night of deejaying from A-Trak & co. at Webster Hall on Friday I made it out to the Tribeca Grand Saturday night to see Dirty Sound System. Unfortunately the dirty duo did not live up to my perhaps too high expectations after seeing their French partner in crime, Pilooski, kill it back in May. They played some tracks I was happy to hear out...Tiga's "Shoes", the Pilooski edit of Elvis' "Crawfish"...I was even glad to hear Dolly Parton's "Jolene". However, after an hour of many classic pop tracks, with very little mixing (which I anticipated but was hoping wasn't true for the pair who refer to themselves as "more selectors than traditionnal dj's") I was left a little disappointed, hoping for something a little more left field.

Luckily by the time they started letting people in and I got to All Points West on Sunday, things had turned around. Mogwai (who I'd never heard before) sounded great from the beer garden and Ghostland Observatory, who former Week In Dance writer David Bruno had urged me to check out years ago, lived up to the hype. What was already a great night ended on an even better note, with everyone in the Queen of the Valley Tent going crazy for Etienne de Crécy's live set:

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

DOWNLOAD: Jacques Renault - July "Summer In The City" DJ Mix (MP3)

Alex From Tokyo @ People Don't Dance No More - July 8, 2009 (David Bruno)

Hopefully you've had a good week in dance so far. Wednesday night I enjoyed some house & disco loveliness from Robot Blair, David Bruno, and Alex from Tokyo at People Don't Dance No More at the Annex. This weekend there's much more house, disco, and otherwise headed our way, starting with Saturday (7/11):

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

MALUCA

Last week in dance was not my favorite. I enjoyed Losoul's set at Sunday Best, and the urban landscape "Afterparty" at Warm Up at PS1 (though not the music so much) . More about both of those in Part 2 of the Week In Dance. For now, here's what's happening Thursday & Friday:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1) (MALUCA)"

DOWNLOAD: Damian Lazarus - Dr. Whiskers Theme (MP3)

Pilooski @ Mutek in Montreal - May 28, 2009 (Thesorus)

No dancefloor destruction to report yet, but that will definitely be changing this weekend. There's so much good stuff headed our way, starting with...

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

DOWNLOAD: Moby - Shot In The Back Of The Head (MP3)

Feadz @ Webster Hall - April 17, 2009

There was a lot happening last week in dance. The amount of great options for Friday alone was overwhelming...there was Flying Lotus and Kode9 at AMNH and the Juan Maclean (who recently added a NY tour date with the Field) played Le Poisson Rouge.

I opted to go to Webster Hall to see Feadz and Etienne De Crecy. Feadz literally bounced his way through his entire set which included a bunch of recent electro, and a little bit of this and that thrown in...all of which he manipulated and tweaked to perfection. Partial setlist (and much, much more) below...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Etienne De Crecy, Simian Mobile Disco, Moby & more...)"

DOWNLOAD: Eamon Harkin - Live at Mister Saturday Night 2.28.09 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: DJ Hell - The Angst Pt. 1 (MP3)

Jack Beats @ Studio B - March 13, 2009(CRED)

Studio B saw a lot of excitement this past weekend. Friday night it was more packed than I've seen it in a long time with everyone getting down to the dubstep/heavy bass/French sandwich of beats delivered by Trouble & Bass vs. the Institubes Terror Club. Bobmo had people moving with his 90's tinged housey French goodness. A.C. Slater proved a great addition to the T&B crew, working the crowd with a set that was both dancey and full of bass. Everyone went bananas when he dropped "Rock It Out"...someone even crowd-surfed. Jack Beats made a great New York & US debut with his UK flavored mix that was heavy on the bass, a little dubsteppy, and pleasantly unpredictable (a Phoenix remix?!). He also held it down behind the decks for much longer than anticipated when Das Glow temporarily had gone missing. When Das reappeared, he quickly made up for his absence seamlessly steering the predominantly bass heavy evening into a more mild, but still very danceable, French direction.

Saturday night things only got better. It was only around 12 and the B was already packed with people dancing to a set from Nick Catchdubs. Just shy of an hour later A-trak & DJ Mehdi hit the stage and together treated the crowd to over 3 hours of awesome dance music. They played tons of new stuff and great older stuff, along with some surprises. A-trak & Mehdi were excited and that energy transferred to the crowd making Saturday night's one of the most fun, upbeat, and awesome deejay sets of '09. Check out some of the great footage Electrodrone took at the party. It really captures the vibe and electricity of the crowd, not to mention some great tracks. Here's one of A-trak & DJ Mehdi dropping "Show Me Love", and there are a few more here:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta "

DOWNLOAD: 2020Soundsystem - Shiver (live at sonar) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Robot Blair & David Bruno - Live From People Don't Dance No More Jan 2009 (MP3)

Congorock @ the Scion Radio party @ Plan B - February 17, 2008 (CRED)

Last week in dance wound up being pretty amazing despite being off to a rough start (literally). Friday night Webster Hall was packed to capacity - the Justice hype is still alive. Only half of the duo (Xavier de Rosnay) was scheduled to deejay as well as Busy P. Around 12:30 Busy P opened his set with a punk song followed by "Cut Dick" by Mr. Oizo. This immediately reminded me of his set at Le Royale last March which consisted of a lot of current electronic tracks with loads of pop, rap, anything mixed throughout the set. It was one of my favorite shows last year and I was hoping for the same on Friday.

Style-wise it was - great and super varied, however, crowd-wise I was in hell. It was super crowded. We wound up in a bad spot where people were passing through every other minute and it made the whole thing (which was awesome musically) pretty much un-enjoyable. The crowd only got more intense once Xavier went on. His set was much, much better than his set at Le Royale last April. He played some new stuff, along with some electro bangers from the past year, plus a hint of pop and some dance classics and mixed it all together beautifully.

the Week in Dance continues...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta"

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...)"

DOWNLOAD: Dead Pixels - Words Are Poison (One Man Party + R Kid Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Findlay Brown - Promised Land (Dimitri From Paris remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Findlay Brown - Holding Back the Night (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Findlay Brown - I Had A Dream (Solo Acoustic Version) (MP3)

Findlay Brown

Continuing from Friday and heading into Saturday night, or should I call him Mister Saturday Night?...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Matthew Herbert, Josh Wink, Modular Weekly, Findlay Brown & more...)"

DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - dj mix (Sendspace zip)
DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - They Live! (Felix Cartal Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - All the Cash (Glitch Mob Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Golden Filter - Solid Gold (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Peter, Bjorn, and John - Lay It Down (The Golden Filter Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stacey Pullen on A Brand New Vibe, 1/13/09 - Best of 2008 Mix (MP3)

This past weekend was infinitely better than the anticlimactic one the weekend prior. Friday night JDH & Dave P warmed up the crowd at Webster Hall with some good, current dance jams. Following that the crowd seemed a bit jarred by Lovelock's more mellow, slow building set, but by the end everyone had eased into it and was more than ready for the heavily 80's tinged French freak-out that followed thanks to the rest of the Valerie Collective: College, Anoraak, and Russ Chimes. Each of their sets had their own little nuances, but I had no idea who was deejaying when (though I've since confirmed the order listed above is the one in which they went on). Suffice to say...everyone's set was good, danceable, 80's yet modern, and definitely a pleasant change from what's been making the blog rounds lately in terms of dance music.

Last weekend is going to be very hard to top (and I haven't even told you how awesome Saturday night was yet), but there are a lot of both new and familiar faces in town. Someone's bound to make you happy on the dancefloor. Here are some possibilities starting with Thursday (1/29) & Friday (1/30):

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (TH & FRI w/ Lindstrom, the Golden Filter, Evil Nine & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Move D Live in New York (Mediafire MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Romanthony - Away From U (YouSendIt MP3)

Hopefully you made it dancing through to today and didn't let the cold stop you from getting down. Stay warm and keep moving - there are plenty of dance-worthy reasons to brave the cold this Saturday (1/17) and next week too...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta "

DJ Reid Speed @ Studio B - December 31, 2008 (CRED)

On New Years Eve I ended my two week long dance-less streak, arriving to a very full and fun Studio B whose NYE bash was in full swing at 1am. Sinden was already on, but I didn't really have a chance to get pay attention because I lost my jacket and was spent the first hour I was there looking for it. I temporarily gave up the search so I could hit the floor and attempt to enjoy the music. The timing was great as I was able to catch Jokers' of the Scene's set right from the beginning which was a wonderful, upbeat, thumping, crunchy, well-balanced mix of mostly new stuff - I recognized maybe 5% of their set which is becoming more and more rare.

After Jokers, Reid Speed played a good set that was a lot of fun incorporating some current electro with old favorites (ie Prodigy), some Nintendo samples, and total oddballs (Diddy/whatever he's calling himself now - Bad Boy For Life) which worked surprisingly well. The ridiculous bill for the evening was far from over, but the dj (who I didn't recognize) after Reid's set started playing a lot of Jungle which I wasn't into, so I called it an early night (for New Years Eve anyway).

continued below...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta"

DOWNLOAD: MUNK & The Disco Devils Mixtape (zSHARE MP3)
DOWNLOAD: TELONIUS Rome Oct 08 Mixtape (zSHARE MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Whomadewho's 2008-09 New Year's Eve Party Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gomma Dance Tracks Compilation Vol. 1 medley (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: SebastiAn - Momy (Erol Alkan's Murrr/O/Durrr Re-Edit) (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Circlesquare - Untitled (For Christmas) (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: The Rub 2008 Part 1 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Rub 2008 Part 2 (MP3)

It's the first dance post of '09 and regrettably, I have not been out dancing much since the Scion party with Fake Blood, Lifelike, and Franki Chan on December 16th, but next week there will be a review of a great New Years Eve spent with Sinden and Jokers of the Scene (among others) at the soon to be closed Studio B. In the meantime, here are a few great ways to dance straight into 2009....

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta"

"The idea is like Guitar Hero with the arrows on your keyboard. Naturally, a lot of fun right off the bat.

Add to that a very social experience. You choose to "dance" for people (either flirty, flashy, or funny), and leave a comment for them, sort of like an IM conversation. Comments are auto-generated, so even if you don't really want to say anything in particular, it's still quite funny to have this pseudo-chat." [David Rusenko]

DOWNLOAD: The Black Ghosts - Any Way (Fake Blood mix) (MP3)

Sebastien Tellier @ LPR - Dec 11, 2008 (natkg)

From Tuesday my week in dance hit a slight hiccup. Thursday night (12/11) it was pouring when I arrived at Le Poisson Rouge for Sebastien Tellier and despite not waiting outside long at all, I still entered the venue sogggy. Unfortunately I also arrived just in time to see Hearts Revolution. I've seen them once before. I'm fine with their beats and I like some remixes of their tracks, but I find their shows to be atrocious (ouch - ed). It's mainly due to Lo's singing which is shrill and unpleasant to begin with, but the lead vocalist's unnecessary commentary which included complaining about the bright stage lights this time around (and wanting to go home and go to bed the previous time I saw her) was not helping matters. Thankfully their show was pretty short and Sebastien Tellier was on not too long after.

While Sebastien Tellier had my Tellier fanatic-friends and I bugging out when we last saw him at Hiro, this time around the experience was much more subdued. The stage show was a little toned down - less pelvic thrusting and fun with the microphone. I brought a Tellier-virgin along and was concerned about what he was thinking of Frenchman... Though everyone seemed really into it, and it was still a decent show, my distance from the stage, and concern that my friend was/wasn't enjoying himself, and a slightly less outrageous performance, made his show at Le Poisson Rouge fall short of the madness I experienced at Hiro in July.

Luckily things picked right back up where they left off Friday night...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Sebastien Tellier, Fools Gold, Fake Blood, Lifelike, Trus'me & more...)"

DOWNLOAD: Tittsworth - WTF (Nadastrom remix - Stretch Armstrong Edit) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tittsworth - WTF (Eli Escobar remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Presets - This Boy's In Love (Lifelike remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Runaway - Use Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy (Grandmaster Flash remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Daisy O'Dell - (3 live mixes): Electro Bounce, Groovy Disco Breaks, and Boogie Hits (yousendit MP3 link)
DOWNLOAD: Mikix The Cat - Freeze (Kanji Kinetic remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Captain's Holiday Mix '08 (Mediafire MP3 link)
DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - All the Cash (Glitch Mob Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Acquaviva - November '08 Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Drlkt Freddie - Airtight (MP3)

Fake Blood is not Soulwax

I took two nights off after my early start Wednesday night, leaving me eager to hit the B Saturday night for a party that featured a nice mix of deejays that were both familiar and new (to me). I arrived in time to catch the tail end of Van Scott's set which featured a dancey Lykke Li remix, a super-voded mix of Little Boots' "Meddle" (which I later found out was by Treasure Fingers), and lots of other recent tracks.

Franki Chan followed with an excellent mix of some tracks I didn't recognize along with some new favorites including Whomadewho's "TV Friend" (one of the remixes that just came out at the end of last month) and a lovely hybrid version of the Soulwax remix of the Chemical Brothers' "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" that featured the original "super star deejays" vocal sample instead of "2manydj's" but as far as I could tell, retained all the instrumental parts from the Soulwax remix.

Princess Superstar took the evening in a highly dancey meets retro direction, dropping some current stuff mixed with some updated, oldie but goodie classic 90's tracks. Her set segued into Larry Tee's with the pair performing a live version of their hit "Licky" that's had dancefloors freaking out since last winter. Larry's set had everyone getting down and remembering what an innovator the pioneer of electroclash was and continues to be.

The night ended with a bang that unfortunately, hardly anyone was left to see: Nadastrom absolutely killed it. I'm not sure what specifically was great about their set ...it might have been the song selection, excellent mixing, just the right amount of wobbly bass...but one of the most satisfying elements of their set was the enthusiasm the pair maintained as the not too big to begin with, Studio B crowd dwindled down to a few handfuls of people:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Fake Blood, Lifelike, Larry Tee, Tittsworth, Moby, Evil Nine & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Red Foxx - Live atLovelife, Providence 5/9/08 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Joee Irwin - Decks, Box & MBP (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: LA Riots - Remixes, Volume 1 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: LA Riots - live at I Love Techno, 11/15/08 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BM LINX - 123CAT (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Twelves - When You Talk (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Friendly Fires - Paris(Aeroplane Remix) (MP3)

After spending 3 relaxing, but tame nights in suburbia over Thanksgiving I was more than ready to hit the floor this past Saturday night. I arrived to a pretty full Studio B (especially considering it was only 11:30), that was already getting down to the beginning of 2020Soundsystem's set. The live electronic band from Leeds started off with some mellower, techno sounds which seemed to progress as their set went on, becoming richer and more upbeat with each successive track.

As I was getting more and more into their set, two thoughts kept coming to mind: 1. I really wish the drummer would get going on those drums. It was puzzling to see a live electronic band using programmed drum beats while their drummer sat calmly, quietly adding subtle taps on the drums and cymbals. and 2. I really wish they had somebody singing.

After a while I spotted Dominique Keegan in the crowd which reminded me that he had done some vocals for 2020. A few minutes later Ralph Lawson (dj,beats, etc.) called Dom onstage, where he lent his vocals for the last few songs of their set which included 2020soundsystem's remix of "Won't Bother Me" by the Glass as well as what I assume was "No Order" (one of the tracks they had collaborated on prior) and some others. Dom's vocals and presence coupled with drummer Danny Ward finally pounding on the drums really brought everything together into the live electro-techno dance party I was hoping it could be.

The fun continued from there as JDH & Dave P took the crowd into a great, varied deejay set of some awesome, recent tracks I hadn't heard played out much (if at all). You can download one particularly notable one, Aeroplane's remix of "Paris" by Friendly Fires' (who will be here next week!) at the top of this post.

Before I knew it JDH & Dave P surrendered the booth to excellent Berlin deejay/producer Ewan Pearson. Despite producing & remixing loads of acts over the past ten years, and creating an equally impressive amount of his own tracks, Ewan has flown under my radar save for a handful of remixes. I had very little idea what to expect from his set. From 1:30 until the lights came up at 4, Ewan treated the enthusiastic Studio B crowd to a set that started off on the techno side of things and gradually got deeper and more techy as the night went on. Ewan's set was one continual build-up that ended with him touching on a variety of genres from electro to disco to house while somehow still maintaining the deep, techno feel. I would love to provide a setlist for such a great night of music, but my limited familiarity with Ewan's tracks combined with the amount of new material a friend told me he was playing made that impossible. He played a great, very stripped down version of Tiga's "Mind Dimension" toward the end and that was literally the only track I could identify the entire night - a pleasant change from hearing deejays play the same 15 songs which inevitably make you lose it on enough floors until they eventually bore you.

If you didn't make it out that night or if you did and want to hear more, Ewan was on Beats In Space on Tuesday and the show is available to stream/download. 2020Soundsystem will also be back in the states in March.

Things don't really seem to get going until Friday(12/5) this week, so that's where we're starting:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (2020Soundsystem, Ewan Pearson, the Rub, the Martinez Brothers, more...)"

DOWNLOAD: Streetlab - EP Release Exclusive Mix (MP3)

Friday night, 10/31, Halloween!, is here and boasts an impressive amount of great bands spread all over the city. Have fun trick or treating around to as many as you can or pick one and get down:

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

This weekend is another one full of great dance events. Hopefully with options ranging from outdoor disco to Moby's rock band side project there's something for everybody.

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

Saturday is/was the end (at least until next summer) of a lot of outdoor dancing in New York. It's also unfortunately a hurricane?! Saturday is/was the final Warm Up party at P.S.1, the final Beach Party at Water Taxi Beach, and the final People Don't Dance No More boat party! :( Info on all 3 and more below:

Continue reading "the weekend in Dance w/ Showtrotta"

by Showtrotta

Does it Offend You, Yeah? @ Webster Hall (more by Chris La Putt)

Hopefully you had a good Labor Day weekend in dance. I started mine off with two great deejay sets at Santos last Thursday night. The first was Pharrell'. It was before 11:30 and he already had the floor getting progressively more packed and moving to a set that was surprisingly more melodic and on the groovy house/slightly discoey side than I expected from one of the Fluo Kids. Around 12:30 33hz played a set. It wasn't the best I've witnessed from them. Their usually fun and pleasant retro-pop jams seemed less lively and sounded fuzzy which I credit largely to a robot voice effect they used on the lead vocals for the entire show. Close to 1:30 Alan Braxe went on and treated the crowd to a set that was the perfect balance of classic and updated French house with tasteful hints of electro. We were having such a good time that I don't remember too many tracks specifically, but a few he played were his and Fred Falke's remix of "Bossy" by Kelis. He teased with, but never fully dropped "Music Sounds Better With You". He played "Lumberjack" by Alan Braxe & Kris Menace, and the banging ending of his set consisted of Soulwax's "E Talking" into "Hung Down" by the Presets (both of whom are touring and will be in NY soon-ish). The whole time Alan was really getting into it - clapping, smiling, etc and the crowd reciprocated, mirroring his enthusiasm as they hit the floor.

For me the weekend wound down from there. Saturday I caught a half hour of Hey Convict!'s set at P.S.1 which was decent and very disco-oriented. I took James Chance and the Contortions' set that followed as an opportunity to get some food and hang out, as even after listening to a few songs, it all just sounded a bit too improvised/noisy to me. By the time it was nearly 7:30, I think I was as excited as I've ever been (or will ever be) to hear Matthew Dear. His set with Ryan Elliott started off much more energetic and banging than when I saw him at One Step Beyond a few months back and for a few moments I was feeling optimistic about the set. Unfortunately that was short-lived as things started to sound too repetitive too quickly. There is also something about the beats and effects in Dear's style of music that sounds very sterile (to me).

On a more positive note, there is plenty going on this week again:

Continue reading "the Thursday night in Dance, 'new' Chemical Brothers"