Joe McGarry, one half of the Factory-esq duo Pop Noir, dropped one of the two best lines of the night before the band performed the first of two New Order covers during last night's set.
"We're doing three covers because people like to hear songs they know and, well, nobody knows us."
The third cover was "Love Will Tear Us Apart."
I had never seen Pop Noir before and despite the roughness of the set (two of the three vocal mics were way too low), the duo did a fine job. The original material is definitely influenced by New Order, Joy Division and probably a bunch of other bands that came out of Manchester in the late-1970s and early-1980s, so the covers made perfect sense. When they did "Temptation" at the end of the set, both went into the crowd. Luke, who does most of the vocal and keyboard contributions, grabbed me to dance. I felt like a young Courtney Cox in a Bruce Springsteen video.
The other best line of the night came from Tony, the friend who taught me the wonders of Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage years ago.
"Yeah, there's going to be a sitcom based on my life," he said to Carlos and me. "It's called Absolutely Fagulous."
Daniel would have found the comment funny. Too bad he was at the Metro in Riverside.

I really love the crowd at Diskoteka, a nice mix of people and no snootiness. The set went rather well. Y'know how I say that everyone in LA loves Depeche Mode as much as I do? It's a fact. I should do a mega-mix of Depeche Mode some night. The dancefloor might end up resembling the Tower on Sunset when DM did a signing there years ago. Next week will be a completely different mix of tunes, so make sure that you are there. See previous post for details.

Peaches-- Set It Off (GMF Mix)
Sisters of Mercy-- Alice (Dirty Funker Mix)
White Stripes-- Blue Orchid (Dirty Funker Blue Mix)
Depeche Mode-- Behind the Wheel (Lexicon Ave. Mix)
The Bravery-- Fearless (Richard X Mix)
Cutting Crew-- I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight (The Full Embrace Mix)
Audio Bullys-- Shot You Down
Basement Jaxx v. Blancmage-- Where's Your Ceiling?
Marc Almond-- Tears Run Rings (Justin Strauss Mix)
Franz Ferdinand-- This Fire (Playgroup Mix)
Vitalic-- La Rock 01
Zombie Nation-- Kernkraft 400
Beyonce-- Work it Out (Unreleased Tainted Mix)
Bloc Party-- Two More Years (MSTRKRFT Mix)
The Smiths-- What Difference Does It Make?

Here are some cell phone pics of Pop Noir. Enjoy. Check out the band's music while your at it.

Don't forget about tonight. Here are some reasons as to why you might want to go:
-- Marc Almond took hold of my heart when I was but a little girl dancing to "Tainted Love." Now I have a hard time playing sets without including something he did.
-- White Stripes just sound so good with a big ol' dance beat.
-- Bloc Party has grown on me considerably.
-- Remember all the Depeche Mode obsession that you have read about in the past on this blog? Yeah, it could happen in a club too.
-- The biggest reasons: Bobby M. and Saint Patrick are some of the finest DJs in town.

Diskoteka Tonight @ The Airliner
2419 North Broadway
Los Angeles, CA
(2 blocks east of the 5)

Oh, and make sure you read the first of my monthly reports on Los Angeles for London-based website, Music Truth.

As far as Ladytron's Witching Hour is concerned, "Weekend" is not as strong of a single as "Destroy Everything You Touch," but, then again, neither was "Sugar." In short, nothing on the album is as immediate as the album's second single, but it is all good stuff, including "Weekend."
The new cd single for "Weekend" features the Virgin Tears Deepraved Weekend Mix, a nearly eight minute reworking filled with slap-happy snares and a synthline that sounds like windshield wipers on a dry window, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Still, however, I'm not quite feeling this remix yet. Perhaps it will grow on me or, perhaps, I will come into a vinyl copy with alternate mixes. Right now, it just seems like the mix sort of meanders. It is the kind of piece that I might throw in for two minutes if I was playing a set that a bit more heavy on the glitch and less focused on things that resemble proper songs, but, for now, I'll probably stick with the original.

It doesn't come out for another week or so, but you can stream it at http://www.radio-indie-pop.com. Thanks Paul, for letting me know about this.

We went to the Scion party at the Roxy tonight for three very good reasons: 1) It was a tribute to David Bowie; 2) The Scion party with Biz Markie and Grandmaster Flash was a lot of fun; 3) The parties are always free.
Given that this was a Tribute to David Bowie and there were several DJs named on the e-flyer, we figured it would be a bunch of turntablists messing around with Bowie records all night. We were wrong.
Shortly after Carlos, Juan and I arrived and realized that there is no way anybody without connections will ever get to sit in a booth at the Roxy, the DJ finished his first set and an oversized funk ensemble took to the stage. I thought I saw this happen on One Life to Live yesterday and was quite convinced that my fascination with the soap opera had prompted me to imagine that I was actually trapped inside Llanview, PA. Yesterday, during the typically cheesy nightclub scene, Vicki's alter Nikki tricked her daughter Jessica to go to the car with her, where she then forced Jess to let out her alter, Tess. Right then, as I watched the rhythmless attempt to "get funky," as the MC said, I hoped that I too could split and that my alter, Diz, could take over and start shrieking across the club. Alas, I remained wholly Liz and wholly bored. Such was the extent of our boredom that Carlos and I started making up My Space profiles for everyone within our vicinity and Juan began messing around with his phone.
"He's updating his My Space profile," Carlos whispered.
"No way! Is that really what you're doing?" I asked Juan.
I fell for the joke.
The David Bowie tribute turned out to be million-piece funk band plus a handful of singers. "Rebel Rebel" does not lend itself to such a genre. "Fame," "Ashes to Ashes" and "Sound and Vision" do, but, we couldn't get into it and left.
I told the guys outside that, in all honesty, I can't think of a David Bowie cover that I really love. I like Bauhaus' rendition of "Ziggy Stardust" only because its an acknowledgement of the similarity between Peter Murphy and Bowie. The band's original work is infinitely better and, as far as Bauhaus' covers go, "Telegram Sam" is far superior.
"It's his voice," Carlos said. "When someone has as distinctive a voice as David Bowie, it can't really be covered."
He's right. Regardless of whether or not a person can hit every note in the given Bowie song and regardless of what stylistic changes they make, it will always sound like karaoke because there just isn't that twinge where it sounds like his voice might crack and he might fall to the ground pleading "Can you hear me, Major Tom?"

Saturday, April 29th

Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Common, Damian Marley, Atmosphere, Carl Cox, My Morning Jacket, Ladytron , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tosca, Cat Power, Animal Collective, HARD-fi, Derrick Carter, Devendra Banhart, She Wants Revenge, The Walkmen, The Juan Maclean, Audio Bullys, Imogen Heap, Lady Sovereign, Deerhoof, The Duke Spirit, Editors, stellastarr*, Lyrics Born, Matt Costa, The New Amsterdams, The Zutons, Platinum Pied Pipers, White Rose Movement, Chris Liberator, Colette, Joey Beltram, Hybrid, Wolfmother, The Like, Living Things, Nine Black Alps, The Section Quartet, Infadels, Youth Group, Shy FX & T Power, Infusion.

Sunday, April 30th

Tool, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Paul Oakenfold, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, James Blunt, TV on the Radio, Sleater-Kinney , Mogwai, Coheed and Cambria, Gnarls Barkley, Coldcut, Phoenix, Digable Planets, Amadou & Mariam, Little Louie Vega, Mylo (DJ Set), Seu Jorge, Wolf Parade, The Go! Team, Kaskade, Metric, Art Brut, Dungen, The Dears, Jamie Lidell, The Magic Numbers, Los Amigos Invisibles, Jazzanova, Michael Mayer, Mates of State, Gilles Peterson, Gabriel & Dresden, The Subways, Minus the Bear, Be Your Own Pet, Giant Drag, Kristina Sky, The Octopus Project.

About time I got around to this. A few photos of the night:

Oh shit it's me!!!

I'm playing here every Friday this February. Dance, dance, dance.

My friend and classmate Sarah and I have finished another report for KPFK's Indymedia on Air, which will air today at 3:00 p.m. in the west. If you have a terrestrial radio, you can pick it up on 90.7 F.M. in Los Angeles and 98.7 F.M. in Santa Barbara. If you are outside of LA/SB and want to listen, or you don't have a radio, go here.

I got this from Anthony. If anyone knows how to get a copy of it in the US, let me know. I highly doubt that it will air on BBC America, but you never know.

BBC's Jesus sings Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
by
Ben Dowell
Thursday January 26, 2006
[http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1695198,00.html]

The BBC plans to mark the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ this Easter with an hour-long live procession through the streets of Manchester featuring pop stars from The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and featuring songs by The Smiths and New Order.

In the programme, called Manchester Passion, a character representing Jesus will sing the legendary Joy Division anthem Love Will Tear Us Apart before dueting his arch-betrayer Judas on the New Order hit Blue Monday, according to senior church sources involved in the production.

Mary Magdelene, the penitent whore of the New Testament, is also getting in on the act: she is being lined up to sing the Buzzcocks hit Ever Fallen in Love (with Someone You Shouldn't have) accompanied by a string band.

Former Happy Monday and Celebrity Big Brother winner Bez will play a disciple.

The climax of the event sees Jesus sing the Smiths classic song Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now as he is being flayed by Roman soldiers. He will then come face-to-face with his Roman prosecutor Pontius Pilate with the two of them singing a duet of the Oasis hit Wonderwall and its chorus:

"I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me?
And after all
You're my wonderwall."

The broadcaster, which plans to show the event live on BBC3 on Good Friday, insisted the event was inspired by "the way Bach and other composers fused music and the Passion story".

The "contemporary retelling" of Jesus' last hours will begin with the messiah - who is yet to be cast - singing the Robbie Williams hit Angels, which will mark his procession into Jerusalem.

In this case, Jerusalem will be represented by Manchester's gay and red light area near Canal Street and the Passion scene will pass via Chinatown and St Peter's Square to culminate in Albert Square.

The march will be followed by members of the public who will be encouraged to join in the singing of relevant anthems, which include the M People hit Search for a Hero Inside Yourself.

The crowd will carry a large white cross and the public will also be asked to bring a symbol of their own burden - "something they are personally concerned about" - according to senior church sources involved in the programme.

The crowd will be joined by Bez - the entertainer famous for shaking his maracas on stage with the Happy Mondays. He will be accompanied by former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and Black Grape saxophonist Martin Slattery.

The event will end with the resurrected Jesus singing an as yet undisclosed song from the top of Manchester's town hall.

The show is being made by the corporation's classical music television department, which has won plaudits for its experimental music and drama work overseen by its head, Pater Maniura.

These include Flashmob: the Opera - a live opera event staged among commuters at Paddington station in London in which members of the public performed a song inspired by the Orpheus legend - and the forthcoming Riot at the Rite, a dramatisation of the notorious first performance of Stravinsky's ballet the Rites of Spring, to be aired in March.

While the event is likely to raise eyebrows among more traditional-minded Christians, it has the broad support of both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in the area.

Church of England spokeswoman Gillian Oliver said: "We are working with the BBC on this and are very pleased to be taking the good news of the gospel onto the streets of Manchester. If anything, something like this can translate the old story into new terms."

Canon Robin Gamble, canon evangelist at Manchester Cathedral, has been tasked with encouraging churchgoers to attend the event.

"I wouldn't know a Buzzcock from a ballcock so I couldn't really comment on the music. All I can say is that they are not doing a Christian service, it is a piece of contemporary theatre and that is going to get people to think about the story in modern terms," he said.

"It is going to come from the streets, with the sounds of traffic and people bustling around and it will make people think about this story in a new way. It is going to be challenging and shocking and is going to get things rumbling - it's going to be brilliant."

A BBC spokeswoman declined to comment on the details of the line-up but promised that the event would be "exciting".