I'm not sure that readers outside of the Southwest truly understand the ugliness of mid-June days that reach highs of 107 degrees. Allow me to explain.
107 degrees means that it's already somewhere around 80 degrees at 6 a.m. Thus, it is impossible to sleep one minute past sunrise. By 9:30, when you have to leave to drop off some work stuff in another part of the Valley, it is just hot enough for you to realize that you will not be able to work out today. You make sure that the air is running and the windows are shut before you leave the house, lest you come home to an oven. By mid-afternoon, you realize that you totally forgot to turn in that last piece of paper to prove that you have paid off the right authorities about that traffic ticket. In the time that it takes to walk from the car to the courthouse, your bra sticks to you. Inside, the line is fifty people long and there are only two clerks present, just because that's what it's like at any office of State bureaucracies. Even though the air is on, it doesn't mask the fact that you are crammed in a room with fifty other sweaty bodies, standing almost completely still for an hour. You get home in time to take a second shower that day, because there is no way you are going to a party looking like it's 107 degrees, and then head over to your boyfriend's house in the South Bay, which takes two hours on account of the fact that every car over 10 years old will overheat at the top of the hill.
So you and the boyfriend head down to a loft party a few hours later because your friend tells you that you really should get there before it packs. It's a little before 10 p.m., but the heat has not subsided and, even though the loft is nowhere near half-full at this point, it is deathly uncomfortable. You're thinking that maybe you should have just worn the cutoff Levi's that you have had since 9th grade, but then you see a bunch of hipsters wearing nearly identical cutoffs and you think, Okay, I'm suffering, but at least I don't look like everyone else. You and the boyfriend meet up with your friend and you start to chat as you sit through sets by various local bands memorable only for the fact that one managed to slaughter your favorite Stone Roses' song. Your friend runs off to shoot pictures and you and your boyfriend slide against the wall down towards the floor because, if heat rises, then it should be cooler down here, right?
As the loft fills, the heat grows more oppressive and the vodka tonics have about the same effect as Diet Coke because you have managed to sweat out everything you consumed. Your friend hands you two cans of Sparks that he hijacked from the VIP area and you start to drink one, but it's so sugary sweet that it gives you a headache. MSTRKRFT starts to DJ and your digging it, especially when the guys mix in parts of "La La Land." All you want to do is dance, but every time you try, you feel like you might collapse. You head to the bar and purchase two bottles of water. You press one against your forehead and one against the back of your neck, which further musses up your formerly stick-straight hair. If you weren't used to this, you might be upset, but, since you are from California, you know that any night on the town in this weather means that, sometime before midnight, your hair will fall limp with the few natural waves reappearing and your makeup will melt. Still, you are getting really into MSTRKRFT because these guys are that good, so you stick it out until somewhere close to 2 a.m., when you are about to collapse from the heat.
The next day, it takes over an hour to drive back to your place, a 405 crawl where you pass overheated engines every mile. You get home, jump in the shower and pull on those old cutoffs and try to get something productive done inside the air conditioned home until you must, as Marc Almond once sang, "start the nightlife over again."

I was kind of surprised when one of my friends told me he was promoting an '80s club in Riverside. I was more surprised when my brother wanted to go.
Club Noir happened rather fast, from what promoter Dan Samaro told me on the smoking patio. There was a need for a new '80s club since Incahoots lost its own to Klub Empire on Saturdays. With the help of some friends, they were able to secure a night at The Downtown Supperclub in Riverside's historic Mission Inn district, last Saturday. With that done, they did some quick promoting at Klub Empire and word of mouth. It turned out to be a good thing, as Martha Stewart often says.
The atmosphere was rather kick back, with some dark elements. A black and white movie was showing on the screen as the DJ spun some dark classics like "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus, "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush, and "She's Lost Control" by Joy Division with some current flavour by Interpol and She Wants Revenge.
Hopefully, next week will draw a bigger crowd. It's 21+ and a something new to do in the I.E.

When I heard heard The Farm back in the early '90s, they were part of what seemed like another British Invasion of bands: Blur, Ride, Curve, Charlatans, Saint Etienne, et al. But there was something different about them. The first single I remember, "All Together Now," had this anti-war/pro-football (read: soccer) message. The song was inspired by Pachelbel's "Canon in D" and a Christmas Day Truce from World War I. It almost got lost among the other socially conscious songs of the era.

My favourite of their singles "Groovy Train," was a bit more upbeat and dancey. It tells the story of a guy meeting an attractive girl and she invite him to board the Groovy Train. I never thought the song to be particularly influential, but it's got a great guitar riff and a video featuring lead singer Peter Hooten eating ice cream and other band members boarding a bus painted to look like their album, Spartacus.


Check out "Groovy Train".
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Luckily, Spartacus and a best of album are available on Amazon.

"Blue Orchid" as remixed by Dirty Funker.

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If you listen to this and then check out Dirty Funker's remix of The Sisters of Mercy classic "Alice" that I posted on Monday, you will probably note that the two are structurally identical. You will also note that the BPMs are the same, or at least nearly the same. Hence, I do mix both tracks a lot in my sets. This "Blue Orchid" mix has been a favorite and, therefore, a staple of my sets for about a year now. I prefer it to any of the dance mixes of "Seven Nation Army" that were all the rage in 2003. Being primarily a rock DJ who ended up dabbling in techno and house a few years back, I appreciate the sturdy guitar riff-meets-ass-slapping beat of this track.

Also, I have some new goodies from the likes of Kill Hannah, The Presests, Tomkraft, Clear Static and more. You will probably hear some of those on Sunday as well.

This is going to be an 80s Aerobic/Beach theme (dressing up is optional) party held at Little Radio which is in the industrial part of Los Angeles. It's tucked away so the 5-0 can't shut it down.

DJ's for the night shall be Big Blackhawk, Franki Chan (iheartcomix) and Adam 12 (She Wants Revenge) and live music by L.A. darlings Monsters Are Waiting and, most importantly, MSTRKRFT.

MSTRKRFT (pronounced "Master Craft") is the incredible remix duo comprised of Jesse Keeler (Death From Above 1979) and Al-P (producer Al Puodziukas).



Their work ethos is simple: only the original drums, bass and vocal tracks remain and get remixed into funky dance/disco tracks. They've remixed the likes of: PANTHERS (THANK ME WITH YOUR HANDS), DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 (SEXY RESULTS), THE KILLS (NO WOW) and METRIC (MONSTER HOSPITAL). Their hot remix out now is their remix of WOLFMOTHER's "Woman."

Their debut full-length, The Looks, is set for release July 17 and will feature all their remixes alongside original tracks such as "Easy Love."

Check their MySpace for some more tunes.

I can't even tell you how excited I am to be DJing in between sets from Ectomorph and Solvent. This is just the coolest show to hit L.A. in a long time. Now, a few of my friends were like, "but it's Father's Day." Yeah, but it's at night, late at night. Maybe your dad is like mine and falls asleep right after dinner, the effects of getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to make it Downtown by 8:00 a.m. or whatever. Plus, if you're family is anything like mine (and a lot of my friends), get togethers always mean fielding questions about when you are going to get married or when you're going to pop out your first kid. Yes, dear readers, you will need to go out Sunday night, crave it like Cold Stone ice cream. This is the place to be on Sunday.
So, why am I so ga-ga over this show? Here's the first reason:

Solvent "My Radio"
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I started playing this at Transmission after I heard an IDM DJ drop this at one of Carlos' gigs. It originally appeared on Ghostly's Disco Nouveau compilation 12" series (later, also on CD). Then it turned up on Solvent's album, Apples and Synthesizers.

Here's the second reason:

A Number of Names "Shari Vari" (Ectomorph Remix)
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This was another regular in my Transmission sets, an Ectomorphic (um, that's seriously cheesy, I can't believe I just wrote that) update of a Detroit techno classic. This is actually taken from Miss Kittin's Electroclash mixed CD that came with a copy of Muzik magazine back in 2002 or thereabouts. You can hear it being mixed into "Rippin Kittin" and "Frank Sinatra." This is because I am lame and have not figured out how to transfer vinyl to MP3s yet.

I told you about this show before. Perhaps I didn't tell you that I'm going to be DJing in between the bands. Well, I am. So, in addition to the rare opportunity to see both Ectomorph and Solvent live in Los Angeles, you will also have a chance to dance to sweet electro-pop, hard-hitting dance classics and a mess of remixed indie tracks that you really wish you had.
But, it gets better. I have tickets to giveaway. Yes, the first two people topost something awesome in the comments section for this entry get on the list with a +1. Can you beat that? I really don't think so.

Last night, I picked up the new issue of The Big Takeover, hoping it could get me inspired to do editor things. Instead, I spent a good hour consumed with an interview with Editors. You can find some outtakes of the interview over here.
There were two portions of the interview in the magazine that I found really interesting. First, Jack Rabid makes the comment that there is a sense of "desperation" onstage that isn't present on the album, which is pretty much what I wrote here a bunch of times. Glad someone else noticed that.
Second, there is this bit when Editor Chris talks about the West Coast leg of the early-2006 tour and how he had an obvious eye infection and people wouldn't talk to him. Now, I found this really odd considering that Ivan and I were hanging around talking to him after the Cinespace show in January, smack in the middle of the pink eye debacle and there were tons of people vying for his attention.
Anyhow, this is a cover of Stereolab's "Laresistance" that Editors performed on the BBC. I have looked around and it doesn't appear to be available anywhere.
Editors "Laresistance"
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I think it's from the same session that brought us the "Feels Good Inc." cover that The Rich Girls are Weeping posted a while back.

Then, if you have not heard this already, check out Corinne Bailey Rae's cover of "Munich," taken from a KCRW session.

Corinne Bailey Rae "Munich"
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...or Warner Bros. doesn't know what to do with Muse.

Remember them? They were that British rock band who made a splash a few years ago at the tail end of the Brit Rock Invasion, disappeared when rap-rock took over, then reappeared thanks to the fast-selling Absolution that earned them a spot on the mainstage at Coachella 2004.

They've got a new one coming out a month away from now. The only reason I found out was through a sticker I found at Floyd's Barbershop on Melrose Ave.

...

The current single is "Supermassive Black Hole." Check it at their site.

After delays and more delays The Playwrights' new album, English Self Storage, is now available in the U.S. You will not hear any audio clips on this page because it is now readily available for public consumption.
New Yorkers, you can check it out at Norman Sound, who has a listening post up this month.
67 East 11 St
New York City,
NY 10003
www.normanssound.com

Everyone else, go to your local record store and look for it.

I guess this post ties in with last night's HIM show. While I would never consider HIM a goth band, per se, there definitely is the influence in the songs. When I interviewed Ville, he talked about being a fan of The Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim, which shows in the songs. In fact, oddly enough, I picked up a copy of Dark Light a few weeks before I even knew I would be interviewing the band as a birthday present for my friend Reagan just because I figured that since she was really into Fields during our early college years, she would probably be into HIM. I haven't been able to pin her down for her thoughts on the album as she is hiding out in a library studying for the bar and probably won't re-emerge until August.
But I digress. This post isn't about HIM or Fields, its about those few sublime moments when goth dance hits end up in the hands of big-time remixers. It's not a large movement to say the least, but what is out there is pure black-velvety fun.

The Sisters of Mercy "Alice" (Dirty Funker Mix)
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Our first goth-goes-house selection comes from Dirty Funker. This is the remixer responsible for those Nirvana remixes ("Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Lithium") that were all the rage a year or two ago. I don't really care for those, though, mostly because I still contend that Nirvana is the most overrated band to ever surface on a radio frequency. Dirty Funker, however, is also responsible for the remix of White Stripes' hit "Blue Orchid" that I've been playing at most of my gigs since last summer.
Actually, if you are around when I DJ, there is always a good chance that I'll drop this mix of "Alice" as well. It never clears the floor, even when the crowd isn't that goth. I came across the mix in an Amoeba bin two years ago and actually thought it was a proper Sisters' release. It's cover is in the same black and gold color scheme as the original "Alice" 12" single and the fonts and icons match those of a Merciful Release (The Sisters' label from which all of the pre-First, Last and Always singles stem). That said, I almost put the record back, thinking that I already had this single. Fortunately, I quickly realized the inconsistencies on the cover, namely the line that reads "Dirty Funker Mixes" and snapped up this baby.
"Alice" is, imho, one of The Sisters' top three songs (the other two being "Marian" and "Lucretia, My Reflection") and this remix highlights the desperate beauty of the original. Most of the song is in tact, with just the additions of a longer intro/outro, a mega-dance beat and a breakdown. The breakdown is the kicker, a wailing interlude that makes you wish that you still had one of your ankle-length chiffon skirts from the Indian store so that you could twirl properly.
I found this site that sells Dirty Funker's wares, but didn't see this 12" on it. My best suggestion is to look through the rock remix section at Amoeba, because I see copies there pretty often. The 12" features "Doktor Dirty Funker's Avalanche Dub" on the flipside.
As for the original version of "Alice," you can find that on Some Girls Wander by Mistake, which is a collection of the band's early singles. It's pricey, but well worth your $30, particularly if you aren't a vinyl junkie. While The Sister's 12" releases don't pop up in the used bins as often as Soft Cell or Kate Bush material, they aren't that difficult to find. Of these "Alice" and "Temple of Love" (which I always thought would make a great addition to a drum'n'bass set) turn up most frequently. Perhaps there were more copies of those printed. The initial release of "Alice," dating back to 1983, is a double-A/double-B side. "Floorshow" accompanies "Alice" on the A-side and, trust me, you want this track. "Phantom" and a cover of "1969" are on the flip.

The line for tonight's HIM concert ran from the door of the House of Blues, up the side street, around the corner and down Sunset for the length of five store fronts. Megan the Water Moccasin met up with me when I reached the corner and we stood there together with me trying not to laugh. I pulled out my phone and started texting.
"You know," she said. "You texting just reminded me of something."
"I'm texting you," I remarked.
She started laughing and told me the story she had started, about her and her friend text messaging each other at the Tribute to Evil show while standing two rows apart. I think this might have been worse.
A minute later, Megan got my message.
"The girls in front of us look like G.L.O.W. wrestlers."
She messaged me back.
"Four of the five are wearing the same bondage belt."
Text messaging has made shit-talking the most secretly awesome treat on the planet. Our line was so tightly packed that there was no way I could make a crack about the girl in the skin-tight leopard pants, corset top and sequined jacket or her friends in the equally hideous Frederick's of Hollywood discount rack garb. That sort of stuff needs to be discussed, if only so that we can feel better about our own basic black.
We were at House of Blues to review HIM (by the way, you can read my interview in the new issue of The Rockit). That said, I don't want to say much about the show. However, I do want to make it clear that Ville Valo is the world's coolest smoker. That guy sucks down more cigarettes in a 90 minute show than I do in an entire day (excluding days that involve clubbing). Megan and I were estimating one cigarette for every song. The amazing thing is that he still managed to sing during the entire set. If I were smoking that much on stage, I'd probably be choking on phlegm halfway through the second song. Mmmm, tasty.
Ville also has a very chic way of flicking his cigarette over his shoulder when he is done. It matches his swagger. I wish I could flick a cigarette with such finesse. I tried it once out of my car window, but it flew in through the backseat and burned my friend's ass. Totally true story.
I think Megan and I might be fullblown HIM fans. We snagged promo posters off the railing for ourselves.
Oh, and just to get back to the text messaging thing, the guy next to me, got a message during the show that Dave Chappelle was hanging out at Spaceland tonight. I'm not one for passing on celebrity sightings, but, dude, when it's Dave Chappelle, you gotta spread the word.