Two days ago, I became the lucky recipient of The Gossip's brand new 12" single, complete with a Le Tigre remix.
Produced by Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and Ryan Hadlock (Twilight Singers), "Standing in the Way of Control" is all deep and dirty Dischord-style bass and Greg Dulli-style soul vocals. In fact, if the rest of the Gosspi's upcoming album, Standing in the Way of Control, is as good as the title track, this could very well be the band's Gentlemen, the spine-tingling combination of rock and soul that makes listeners shiver and mutter, "Holy shit!"
While I have always liked the Gossip, I had a problem with the recording quality of previous albums. Beth Ditto has the sort of voice that can and really must resonate throughout the entire club, and yet the prior albums always seemed to low and grainy to ever play to a club filled with people who need to hear that voice. Hers is a voice that will cause thunderstorm tears to pour down your face as you realize that you feel just as trapped as the words in her song. This single is larger than life or, at least, larger than the dive bars in west end towns (or, actually, it's east end towns over here). It's an arena-ready dance/punk track if ever there was such a thing.
Le Tigre provides the remix on the flipside. It's a Daft Punk-goes-Acid sort of mix, the sort of sound that I had hoped to hear on their last effort, This Island, but didn't. (Was anyone else disappointed with that record?) The mix is heavy on the echo, leaving Ditto's cries of "Hey, Yeah" to sound like something straight out of Messiah's "Temple of Dreams." It's a middle of the night track bound to get everyone running to the dancefloor. I hope to test it out soon.

• Some people just don't learn. Despite the lipsyncing debacle and generally crappy songs, Ashlee Simpson has once again risen to the top of that steaming hot pile of crap known at the Billboard Charts. Buried in the roughage is Depeche Mode's Playing the Angel, who debuted at a respectable #7 (and, according to today's LA Times, the cd is the second biggest seller in Southern California). I wonder if Ms. Simpson will be able to accomplish that twenty years from now.
• Speaking of learning, I'll be honest with you, I didn't know that Happy Monday's dance jam "Step On" was actually a cover until I heard Steve Jones play the original John Kongos version last night. Apparently, the members of Tsar didn't realize that either, but when they mentioned this to Jones, he seemed to not realize that there was another version of "Step On." Or, maybe he was just being, well, Steve Jones.
• Fr/Action, the side project of David Friede from Ganymede, is holding a remixing contest. Break out your copies of Logic or whatever it is the kids use these days and get cracking. All of the info, including the isolated vocals, can be found here.
• For those of living in and around Orange County, check out Infrared tonight at Bravo Nightclub in Anaheim. In the front room, DJs will be spinning industrial, electro, goth and synthpop. Upstairs, my old DJ buddy Gerber is playing the darkest in 1980s music. I dare you to go up and ask him for some "love songs from the KOST."
• I really enjoyed reading this article on twee pop in Pitchfork. Perhaps you will too, especially if your name is Estelle and you read it all the way through and you start thinking of, say, 1997 at a college on a bluff when you played Belle and Sebastian so often it drove me crazy until you converted me and I became a huge B&S fan as well. Oh, and there are also many names that will make you say, "Shit, I totally forgot about that."
• If anyone out there is like me and actually has to cancel out on social events or try to rearrange schedules due to the lack of coins in a sofa necessary to fill up a tank these days, read this and prepare to scream.

Years ago, emo kids would mock goth kids for being "so spooky." Now the tables have turned.

After twenty-eight years, I have finally figured out what is wrong with the rest of the world. They actually look to Los Angeles for guidance.
Best quote from the article, "Another fan e-mailed Hunter to suggest that he take pictures of shoes more often because she'd appreciate knowing what outgoing young women in Los Angeles were currently wearing on their feet." ("To See and Be Scene: With his camera, LA's Cobra Snake is both definer and darly of hipster subculture." Daniel Hernandez. Column One. Los Angeles Times. Tuesday, October 25, 2005.)
Perhaps I should also note that this is at the top corner of the front page of today's paper, which Rosa Parks' obituary is at the bottom corner. It might mean absolutely nothing, but, then again, this is Los Angeles.

I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated to attend a fashion week soiree at Steinberg & Sons in Los Feliz last night, given that the e-vites predicted huge crowds and asked for people to RSVP for no more than three guests. After we got through the door without having to give a name to the bouncer and noticed that the open bar served good vodka, Carlos and I decided that fashion week parties are the way to go.
Really, though, it wasn't the alcohol or the celebrities and quasi-celebrities that caught our attention. Once again, we were stuck by the power of Ming and Ping. Even via satellite, Ping exudes the sort of energy one can only hope to catch at a show. Ming, present in the flesh, stepped down from his palanquin (carried by two ninja who stood by the stage with arms folded over chests for the rest of the set) and led a half-hour dance party. Ming and Ping's monkey friend was out of control, stroking his tail in time to the music and freaking the girls in the audience. The dancers were on a serious glitter kick, spreading it like fairy dust across the crowd. Meanwhile, the brothers cracked jokes, paid a brief homage to Milli Vinilli and flirted with crowd favorites. To close the set, the boys led a cover of New Order's "Perfect Kiss," wherein they brought the main man from sponsor Colorcalm (whose first DVD involves a collaboration between Peter Seville and New Order) for some serious cowbell action.

To hear Ming & Ping, click here.