I'm standing under the awning outside of King King and I can't light my cigarette because the lighter stopped working for reasons that seemingly have nothing to do with its fluid levels. The guy next to me gives me a light. He's wearing a hoodie, with the hood covering most of his head and says that it almost feels like winter out here. When somebody says that, it's like writing "I'm not from L.A." on your forehead. I tell him that I grew up here, this is the only winter I know. I say that it's not as bad as last month. He missed it. We didn't exchange names, just kept talking for a few minutes. He asked me if I wanted some crackers. I declined.

Later on that night, I looked at the guy without the hoodie mixing down the jams and, gee, I think I was chatting up Matthew Dear.

We got to Compression early enough to get in for free and catch a splendid set from Amber Reyn. I have never seen her play before, but I think I'm going to have to head out to the clubs whenever I see her name on the bill. Her set was heavy on the minimal. She dropped Paul Wolford's "Erotic Discourse" at some point and Carlos and Juan looked at each other and grinned because last year they said that song would be huge and, as it turns out, they totally called it. Towards the end of the set, she played Golden Boy with Miss Kittin doing "Rippin' Kittin." It was the Ellen Allien mix. My friends who went to Transmission regularly will confirm that this was the version I played nearly every week for two years (My favorite way to play it was with the Superpitcher mix of Dntel "This is the Dream of Evan and Chan."). It still sounds hot with all of its distortions and the little creaks in the beat. It was a treat to hear it.

I'm not sure which of the DJs played between Amber Reyn and Audion. I danced for a long time. Then Carlos and I found and open booth and decided to sit down. The craziness of this past week caught up with me and I put my head on Carlos' shoulder and closed my eyes. Then I saw the light of a flash bulb against my lids and a guy tapped me.

"She has to wake up," said the bouncer.

Thing is, I wasn't asleep. I could tell you that roughly three tracks had passed since I shut my eyes. I was aware of the beats the whole time. I knew that Audion just started his set. I was just starting to get a headache.

I went outside to get some air. Robert and Paola were the first two people in a line that stood still. We chatted a bit. I went back inside. Felt the beat and started dancing for about more than hour.

We left just after 2 a.m. I can't party all night anymore, especially when I'm still on a deadline.

Btw, this was the first in what is set to be a series of Spectral-related performances at Compression.

Labels: Amber Reyn, Audion, Clubs We Love, Matthew Dear