punched in the throat

This is pretty much how my body and head feel right now. Sorry for lack of posts. Be back soon!

night living

If you're in the Bay Area tonight, no excuses: come out to this awesome show!

WEST OAKLAND RAVIN' WITH:

Eats Tapes

Sex Worker

Bookworms

Jaws

PLUS ALL NIGHT:

MINDFUCK VISUALS by 7EV3
&
QUEERJUNKTECHNOPUNK DJ SETS by TREES (aka deep movements)

in the basement

Today, the first in a special mix series coming at you from deep movements associate DJ Leo. That's him above in my old co-op bedroom in Ohio. Ugh, that yarny blanket! So gross. But that room was killer.

Anyway, DJ Leo does a weekly radio show on WOBC called "In the Basement," and it is always a treat full of deep grooves from the crème de la crème of house, including many of my favorites from the Nu Groove catalog and some newer Euro joints. Last Thursday's show was particularly rolling (as I'm CERTAIN this week's episode will be), so we've decided to include some of his live radio mixes on the blog every once in a while. Check out the playlist and download the biz below— you won't be disappointed.

Pepe Bradock - Life
STL - Moonlight Reflections
Hunee - Rare Silk
Chicago Underground Council - 2 Days
Unknown Artist - b1 untitled (The Nature of Retribution, Prescription)
Liberty City - Some Lovin'
The Utopia Project - File #3
Noni - Be My (Friend)
Underground Solution - Luv Dancin
Melchior Productions - Everyone's A Winner
New York House 'n Authority - Park Avenue South
Abacus - Come On
Simply Red - Thrill Me (MAW Mix)

DJ Leo- In The Basement 2010-01-14

Tomorrow, surprize...

homoerotic

Because we have a special treat coming up in the next day or two (!!), right now I'm going to give props to my boy Aaron-Carl, one of my favorite Detroit producers. A fabulous and fierce (and kind!) queen, Aaron's been tearing it down since 1996, working with everyone from "Mad" Mike Banks to Johnny Dangerous to Kelli Hand to Dyed Soundorom. A major force in the LGBTQ house/techno and hip-hop communities, Aaron is ALL ABOUT IT. Check out the W.A.R.M.T.H. Sessions, his weekly radio show, here.
Now for some YouTube love. Seriously, watch/listen to all of these. Imagine if he came to the Bay sometime soon! MMMM.

It seems that every few years or so, a new generation of people gets really excited about the life and work of Leigh Bowery. If you don't know who Leigh Bowery was, I will leave your education up to this very comprehensive summation from a few years back at Dennis Cooper's blog (which you should be reading anyway). Another great place to start with Leigh is the Charles Atlas documentary, The Legend of Leigh Bowery, which is available in its entirety for viewing here.

When you're done looking through all of THAT, watch this:



And then when you're done watching THAT, download the remix of Minty's "Useless Man" by The Grid, who are apparently still extant and making new albums. Kind of a product of its time, yes, but there's something about it that I find wildly charming. Perhaps it is that British electro-house sound that led to electroclash that does it...Anyway, enjoy!

Minty- Useless Man (The Grid Extended 12" Mix)

i get a feelin'

Today, I'm going to be a little lazy because I have tons of stuff to do. But here is my XLR8R review of Anthony "Shake" Shakir's retrospective collection, out soon on Rush Hour, as well as one of his most jackin' tracks for your listening pleasure.

Real Detroit techno heads have been repping Anthony "Shake" Shakir's work for years, but only a few outside of that small scene have given him his due, if only because his profile's rise has been restrained by health issues and limited-run releases. Thanks to Amsterdam's Rush Hour, though, Shake's obscure status is finished. A rhythm master in the truest sense of the phrase, Shake's many skills are displayed here: there's the jacked electro-funk of "The Floor Filler," the dusty Dilla-like beats of "Detroit State of Mind," and the dubby techno hypnotics of "Perseverance." Paired with tracks like "Assimilated," which sounds like a hissy predecessor to today's UK funky, or "Arise," which incorporates what might be the best Steely Dan sample in dance music history, Frictionalism guarantees that Shakir's amazing work will never be overlooked again.

Anthony "Shake" Shakir- Get A Feeling

Weekend lazes tomorow.

for real

Whenever I feel sick I get all emotional and listen to Arthur Russell tracks and become a weeping lovelorn mess. Give me one more day and I'll have some techno tracks for you... but for today, "Me For Real."

"Its me

Still on my bike

Love is turning

Do it again

It's you that I like

Do you you say it's not true

Do what I want

When I want to

Now I want to

In my heart beating

Beating far

Into the far, far future

Me for real

Me for real"

Arthur Russell- Me For Real

ergh

Feelin' a little low— seems like the cold might be back? Who knows. Anyway, I'll post two tracks for download tomorrow. Right now, though, I just want to drink some tea, take a bath, and laze.

(By the way, Skeletons are the shit! I had forgotten about the track above until just recently, when the melody came into my head. Check out the Ghostly site or Shinkoyo site for more info on their jams).

world on wires

One of the most anticipated records of 2010 is the new slice from Pantha Du Prince, Black Noise. It continues in the direction taken on his accaimed 2007 record, This Bliss, but contains more glassy atmospherics and a more defined indebtedness to minimal classicists like Steve Reich. "Welt am Draht," which may or may not be a reference to the synonymous made-for-TV film made by the always-welcome Rainer Werner Fassbinder, is exemplary of what the album can do: hi- and mid-frequency melodies weave in and out of each other in lovely syncopations, warm synth and vocal washes provide spine-shivering ecstatic moments, and explicit, heavy kicks are eschewed in favor of propulsive prepared bells. Certainly an early contender for 2010's album of the year, this is perfect to jack up loud on snowy days while wistfully looking out at winter sunlight.

Pantha Du Prince- Welt am Draht

Faggin' it up tomorrow, maybe.

can't forget

JUST LOOK AT HER!!!

Marlena Shaw is my girl, and the Diplo remix of "California Soul" always reminds me of how much I love her AND how much California (depite some of its BULLSHIT) is the place for me. It was great to sleep in my bed in West Oakland again.

Tomorrow, new sounds, but before anything else happens, I DEMAND that you go to Light Asylum's myspace page and listen to everything these two have up. They KILLED it last Friday (and so did Blondes and Teengirl). Seriously, this is my new favorite band.

But without further ado:

Marlena Shaw- California Soul (Diplo Remix)

swipe that

Off to New York... look forward to another post on Saturday.

But for today, I give you a track from one of the finer deep house producers coming from Europe, Amsterdam's Makam. Amazing how he gets a perfect sort of Kerri Chandler feel down here, propulsive yet high, laid-back but forever hustling.

Makam- New York Hustler

And if you're in the five boroughs, come out to this great show on Friday! Obviously, all of these people are the shit, and all of them are friends. Escape the cold to dance in the heat of a smelly Williamsburg basement!

TEENGIRL FANTASY —– homecoming show!
:::: Blondes
:::::: Light Asylum
| MONSTER ISLAND BASEMENT |
128 River St @ Metropolitan Ave | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8pm | all ages | $7

Be there or be lame.

work me goddamnit

One of my top-played old-school house tracks is Jack & Jill's "Work It Girlfriend," originally released on Strictly Rhythm back in 1992. The queen behind the opening a cappella, as well as the track itself, is the almighty Franklin Fuentes (pictured above). A legend of the New York house and ga(y)rage scene, Fuentes also was the impetus behind Junior Vasquez's 1996 Billboard #1, "If Madonna Calls." Seems the ball'rs have been dissing Madonna for being a stealing, unoriginal hag long before DJ Sprinkles manifestoes on the subject ever saw the light of the day. Today, I present both "Work It Girlfriend" and "If Madonna Calls," so get voguing. And work me goddamnit.

Jack & Jill- Work It Girlfriend

Junior Vasquez- If Madonna Calls (Junior's House Mix Radio Edit)

Both of these tracks have classy garage rhythms, fierce vocal clips, and enough jackin' power to make a corpse dance. Do it.

caught with the meat in your mouth

I have a cold. I was supposed to go to New York tonight to see Salem play, but that isn't happening. However, I encourage any in the five boroughs to go to that show, and then party it up at West Nile (just down the street) with Teengirl Fantasy and loads of other awesome people afterwards. I will be in town for the Blondes/Teengirl Fantasy/Light Asylum show on Friday, so I'll see you there!

As my Facebook friends know, I've been all over these early-to-late-'90s issues of Cometbus that I bought in elementary and middle school, and just unearthed from years of detritus at my parents' house. What's weird is that as I've been reading them, my musical tastes (along the punk gamut) have been coinciding with bands mentioned in specific issues of Cometbus. So, Aaron tells one of the Kevin stories about The Dicks playing a show at Berkeley High (it got cancelled), and what do you know? I'd been listening to Kill from the Heart for two days straight. Or Aaron makes a reference to some dude saying, "Fuck you, do you know the Dead Boys?" And I'd been listening to "Sonic Reducer" on repeat for an hour earlier in the week.

As a sort of tribute to Cometbus, which is my favorite zine ever produced (and it continues, miraculously!), and to Aaron himself (though I doubt he'll read this), I'm posting a track from each of these fine punk bands. If you don't know them, you've been missing out, so get wild.

The Dead Boys- Caught With the Meat in Your Mouth

Gary Floyd lives! Check out the Queer Issue of MRR from a while back for an awesome piece by him about how the Dicks started in Austin.

The Dicks- Little Boys Feet

Tomorrow, something more house-bound.

cause you belong to me

Okay, I missed yesterday. Whatever. Happy New Year!!!

Since I first posted it in 2008, I've been receiving endless requests for a re-up of Norma Jean Bell's "I'm the Baddest Bitch (In the Room)." Understandable, duh, because it might be one of the best tracks to ever grace a set of speakers. And the Moodyman mix below is even better.

I sent this text message to my girl J9 at 2 am from a car in Ohio. I was coming back from seeing Tortured Soul with Nick from TGF, occasional deep movements contributor Leo, and this boy Tristan, who might be the most insane fucking driver I've ever experienced in my entire life. Sure, he was drunk, but he'd be holding a cigarette, rolling windows up and down compulsively, changing CDs, and changing lanes, all at the same time at like 90 mph. And braking. A lot.

The only thing that kept me from leaping out of the car was when this track came on, and I got all warm and started vamping out because who cares if I'm going to die in a fiery crash? I'm the baddest bitch in the room.

We eventually made it back okay, and almost two months later, J9 puts this up on Facebook. God to the damn.

Norma Jean Bell- I'm the Baddest Bitch (In the Room) (Moodymann Mix)

Oh, and I forgot to mention that once I got back to town from the insane drive, I go up to my friend Alie's place and the party has cleared out but my three best bitches are all dancing around like maniacs to "Orinoco Flow" by Enya, spilling beer all over me and kissing me. Truly one of the best nights of 2009. More to come in 2010, sans the insane driving, hopefully.