Deadmau5 @ webster hall

It was thanksgiving eve, one of the craziest event of the year (when you think about it it's really New Year's, Christmas, Halloween, and thanksgiving eve that pack the clubs like No Other!) 

Webster hall,  B'n'T,  Guido douchecentral, featured Deadmau5 as they main DJ. After a fight between some cocked up motherfucker and a seemingly innocent second party, Deadmau5's devilish laughter blasted across the room before he started his set. The minimalist DJ didn't have to work much to get his crowd pumping, and he didn't sweat it either. To a doped-out crowd, he kept the promise set through them by his CD. He added very little to the pre-disposed tracks. The music very good for someone who sees and hears Deadmau5 for a first time. His CD "Some Random Title" is the real cornerstone in minimal techno trance. 

The Budos Band

O-O-o-o-o-oh, yessss. More phat, funky beats PLEASE. 

The Budos Band.. yeah, you like that baby. That's the new sound we're riding with, it's the smooth beats we're going to make love to. These guys know what they're on about, they were raised in soul and funk, they grew up in the southern most point of the United States... wait, what?!?! Fuck! They're from Staten Island...

   Well, these Daptone Records ambassadors sure know how to put together a jam. These cats got three albums in the bag and a talent that spread evenly over the 12 members of the band. Some 5 different percussionists –from drums to congas, lay the foundation for the increadible winds collective – two trumpet players, a baritone and a tenor saxophone– topped by an electric and a bass guitar, and somehow, they managed to get an organ in the mix. The result: a banging cocktail that'll catch a bunch of different music enthusiasts, from pop to jazz, for an all-out, mind-fucking, back-in-time experience.  

Sam Jayne and The Simpson Soundsystem

A friend of mine sent me a bunch of songs from artists I didn't know to save me from my music writing block. I've been in a music rut of Techno and Girl Talk. The song that caught most of my attention was "Darker Still" by Sam Jayn And The Simpson Soundsystem. So after a few satisfactory listens, I checked them out on the broad cyberspace to find –essentially– nothing. Not a myspace page, not a website, just several sites offering a track up for download. 

Nice! That's about as hidden as I love my music. Since I can't tell you anything about the band, because even my itunes won't give me substantial stuff to work on, I'll tell you a bit about what I know. It has some Moby-esque elements of electro, but really, it's not. No, this track is a bonifide, hit-you-in-the-face-cause-you've-likely-never-heard-this-before smooth indie track. Almost like a Pink Floyd record without the experiment. Can't wait til I get some more info about these dudes

Hot Chip @ Terminal 5

Two songs into Hot Chip's recent gig in NYC, and I regretted not tripping on X. But with every great rendition of each song of their new album, Made In the Dark, and the temperature rising amidst the crowd of Chipheads bobbin' to the sultry sounds emanating from the speakers, I figured I would have probably died before even hearing their nasty break-down of "Hold On."

The quintet hailing from the UK, with an already well-established following in the States since their last gig at Webster Hall, keep pushing the boundaries of their own tracks at every show they perform. With the exquisite qualities of each song in the new record, the show could have really gone either way, disappointing over-enthusiastic fans or taking them on a sweet electronic ride; or in their case, causing one TOTAL, mind-fucking, roller-coaster musical experience. "Shake a Fist," "Out at the Pictures," and "Ready for the Floor" were distorted in a new light that their initial genius a new appealing aspect. But they really fucking nailed it with "Hold On," which was originally my favorite track on the album, by completely tearing up the rhythm, starting by speaking out the lyrics of the song with absolutely no back up from any of the instruments. Because it is arguably the most dance-ready track of the lot, the tension in the crowd was soaring. We were all hanging on to the edge of temporary insanity unable to figure out where this song was going. 

And they kept the crowd hot until the end, when they started off "In the Privacy of Our Love" with Sinnead O' Connor's "Nothing Compares To You." This was the ultimate cathartical orgasm to the intense sonically sexual experience I had just been a part of. No drugs, just sound.

The Dandy Warhols @ Terminal 5

It's the end of an era. The rock era. The get-drunk-and-get-loose era where people get smashed at concerts and raise hell. Well, maybe not... but it sure felt that way last night at the Dandy's concert at the Bowery's Terminal 5.

The crowd ranged from teens to mid-lifers (but the median was probably around 35, which could explain the lifelessness of the gig). The mosh pit was a subdued ensemble with a few young and reckless fans who seemed to be desperate to revive the hall. 

The set list was a mix of song picks from their new record ...Earth To The Dandys and their two greatest albums Welcome To The Monkey House and Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia.

They did a terrible version of "You Were The Last High" and "Bohemian Like You" (but the crowd still cheered the loudest for their biggest hit). "Holding Me Up" and "Get Off" were rather accomplished on the other hand.

There was one song which was really worth the concert when they pulled out the electric drum pad and seemed like they were just improvising. Aside from that, the concert was a disappointment. And it was confirmed when the band had to say something to the audience about "the strange room perfume" going around (referring to the couple of rebels smoking weed indoors) and when one avid fan who jumped onstage to dance to the last good song of the evening got in trouble with the concert security. What kind of a society have we evolved in?

(ad)Vantage Point

Damn, the Antwerp crew did it again. They did it better. dEUS' latest record (I can't say new, cause it's been out for a while, I've just been busy... listening to it). The first single, the Architect proves once again, indie bands can make you dance over and over and over again without necessarily being classified as an electronica band. 

The whole record isn't a dancing mix either. Both "smokers reflect" and "Popular Culture" are slower tracks, but they're quite catchy. And not in a retarded, watered-down, I'm-trying-to-be-deep-and-I-come-across-emo kinda way either! These dudes actually captured the essence of that certain something. The song "Popular Culture," is about globalization led by the US. And the critique is as constructive as its topic. Understandably, this band is frustrated at the crystallization and anything and everything that hails from Uncle Sam's land. Artists from small European countries are at a disadvantage from the get go. 

"Smokers Reflect" is so insightful and diverse at the same time, that they covered most variances of human nature and that most people, smokers or not, will recognize themselves in the smooth, melodic verses of Tom Barman. For God's sake, stop reading my non-sensical blabber and go check out the best artists from my hometown!

8-bit's 1a2v1 is 2 sexy 4 ur club

If you've ever been to Prague, and happened to end up at its science-fiction-inspired Cross Club, then odds are you heard a lot of 1a2v1. The underground
junkie's hang-out is often soundtracked by drum-n-bass and 8-bit music. 1a2v1, a Czech 8-bit sound developed by Jaro Haro and visually enhanced by VJ Kolouch, set the mood in the Meth-infested club. The mix of locals and expats dancing to the music swaying around in a trance on the deserted dance floor. For the rest of the group, the music serves as a conversation filler, as half of them
roll joints while the other half is rolling on E.

1a2v1 created a few slow tracks and some more faster beats. Some of their songs give you the impression that you know the video games they sampled the beat from. It makes it so much harder to resist loving it. Tracks like "MUERTE" are too slow for a dancing vibe, and they don't make up for it in beat variety. Their performance of "Confused", at the SPERM festival in Prague, was not hyperactive, but the bpm variance got the crowd going... not to mention the visual aid. If you were convinced enough to check out their MySpace, but need a quick pitch to keep you interested, tap a video instead of the player, because the songs aren't quite complete without Kolouch's touch

Rupert Shean- The one man Radiohead

I was surfing Youtube, in search of some new, cool Trip-Hop artists. Naturally, by typing "trip hop" in the key word search, the first results generated were all titled "Trip Hop." After, clicking away a few videos, RU appeared in the related videos with a clip titled "Hypnotic Trip Hop Beats Through A Classical guitar." The track was every bit as compelling as its title. But even after this brilliant Jazz improv demonstration, I had no idea that what had yet to come were going to hit me as hard as they did. The next track I clicked on was called "Then
To My Surprise." It carried the same emotions as the introductory track, but I was already getting more into it.

Like a dose of heroine, the third one is the one that got me hooked. "And When You Grow Up" reformatted my heartbeat to synch up with its rhythm.
The comments on all his tracks shout the same message "Fucking Brilliant!" "Excellent!" and one after the other requesting a CD. The artist replied to one of his praising that he was working on a double CD, one with his raw, unedited drum'n'strumming and the second one, a remix of his tracks with an electronica dimension. I've never wanted to buy a record more than I want to possess this prodigal work. With 119 subscribers, Shean made one of his videos, my introduction to this music, circulate over 24,000 views while the rest of his vids have not attracted more than 3,000 views each. I could say more about this artist, but I'm just wasting the time you could be spending listening to his pieces...

The Strawberry Jam @ Levontin7, Tel Aviv

The Strawberry Jam, a Tel Aviv-based, post-punk band, were performing at the Levontin7, an underground club in Tel Aviv, along with an 8-bit artist from New York. The all-girl trio is influenced by ‘80s noise rock and contemporary indie rock. Dressed in clashing prints and colors mainly from American Apparel, the girls have made it clear they’re not going to follow the trends and the rules.

They started the set with “Cowbell,” which is a punk track influenced by The Wizard of Oz. Moriel, the lead singer, has the rebel attitude of a good girl gone wrong. She starts out by shouting her lyrics “Somewhere over the rainbow/ there’s a place of freedom/ I wanna go there.” When they finish the first song, Moriel declares in Hebrew that her bands makes music to dance to and at the end she will give a heavy-weight champion belt to the best dancer… no matter if he is fat or not!
They followed with “Do You Have A Pen,” that starts out with a fast intro à-la-Sex Pistols, and breaks down into a slower, rhythmic interlude, then back into the punk tempo. The sonic roller coaster made the audience go nuts. Hadass immediately followed with the drum phrases for “Shoes” so they would not loose the momentum of the crowd. The audience was dancing and clapping in a harmonic trance that intensified at Carla’s guitar cue. The gig felt like an underground noise rock gig in a Brooklyn basement from the 1980s. In the middle of the song Moriel screamed “Stop, Stop, Stop… that fucking sucked!” and the crowed went wild as they went on playing the song in a faster, beat up tempo.
The best song of their set was “Cupcakes.” This track has the best commercial potential and could likely be the first single of an Ep. The guitar licks are addicting and the same goes the lyrics. They don't have an Ep out yet, nor are they selling any tracks yet, but check them out at MySpace