colours in waves

Let's go back in time a little.

Last friday (not last night), i miraculously succeeded in my double-feature. First i went to see Rufus Wainwright at the Beacon Theater and then ran over to the Bowery to cacth South.

Most memorable moments of the show:
1. Having a nice comfortable seat close to the stage (dude, i'm not getting any younger, so i totally appreciate being able to sit down).
2. Rufus' strongly fragile voice.
3. The hilarious stage banters and song introductions, i.e. Harvester of heart is apparently about a straight boy Rufus met and who ended sleeping with him, and how since then Rufus thinks it could happen again (i swear it was funny when he told the story).
4. His heartfelt renditon of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah
5. The seven or so talented musicians onstage, who also all sang backup.
6. Go or Go Ahead, one of the most grandiose and emotional songs ever written.
7. The great Pretty Things, previously dedicated to Michael Jackson, now dedicated to Martha Stewart.
8. Seeing Greg's face drop when Rufus mentioned that he once played with Courtney Love (Greg's, erm, idol).
9. The entire band coming out in witches outfit for Oh What a World.
10. Witnessing Rufus' brilliance once more.

After leaving in the middle of Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk during the encore, i arrived at the Bowery just in time for the english trio South (in this case with an additional musician onstage). I've loved South since the first album, and their second record With The Tides is a strong follow-up. In fact, i would even say it's a better album as a whole, for there are no fillers and each song stand on its own, while blending perfectly in the dreamy yet upbeat atmosphere of the album. Live, the band has a lot of fun, they dance and headbang a lot. They also all switch back and forth between all instruments. For their american comeback, they played mostly tunes off the new album and a few old favorites from the first record, they even dedicated Paint the silence to those who have followed them from the beginning... i took the dedication very personally indeed. Someone once said that South is rock music for dance kids, and i believe this statement couldn't be more true. South has the ability to reconcile both very prominent genres in the UK in the most subtle, interesting and natural manner.

On valentine's day, The Shins played a packed Irving Plaza and yes (not surprisingly) they were amazing. My one complaint would be that the volume was a bit low... or maybe i was just too far from the stage. Regardless, they played a super tight set from all over their repertoire, proving once more that they own the indie music world.

Last sunday, Jasper and i threw our second DAY AFTER, and oh man, it was fantastic! Dennis Cahlo started on the decks with some bossanova and went into some cool 80s songs from the likes of Echo and The Bunnymen and The Mighty Lemon Drops. Arthur & Michael Stellastarr* took over a bit later and spun everything from The Raveonettes to Technotronic (!). And imagine listening to all that while watching Donnie Darko on the big screen in the background, genius! Thanks again to everyone who came by and witnessed some pretty bad drunkeness. The next DAY AFTER will be sunday Feb. 29th. All details coming soon.

After the DAY AFTER, the busy weekend ended with yours truly DJing at Filter 14 for Modern Snack Bar. I think my friends enjoyed my set, otherwise i only detected crowd reaction when the Buzzcocks came on, go figure. Here's how it went down (more or less complete, and more or less in this order):
Blur - Beetlebum
South - Same old story
Lush - Heavenly Bodies
Lio - Banana Split
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date with the night
The Shins - So Says I
The Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon
Plastic Bertrand - Ca plane pour moi
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
Doves - Pounding
The Smiths - This Charming Man
Buzzocks - Ever fallen in love
Blondie - Atomic
The Fever - Ladyfingers
Radiohead - Idioteque
Radio 4 - Dance to the underground
The Stills - Changes are no good
Super Furry Animals - Receptacle For The Respectable

I'll be DJing again at the new hot party Misshapes soon. Yeah!

I'll be back with a review from the killer VICIOUS we had this week.

misshapes

What do melodynelson.com and the new Pixies site, pixiesmusic.com, have in common?? Same fantastic designer, duh!

The word in the streets of new york city is that my friend Greg, along with Leigh and Geo, is starting a new saturday night dance party! Something new is always something good. It's called Misshapes and promises to be quite fabulous and debaucherous, but most of all it's a night that focuses on the music and the variety of guest DJs. The first Misshapes will happen this coming saturday, the 21st, starting at 11pm and will be kicked off by Ultragrrrl and Miss Modernage on the one and twos. A duo who will make your ears bleed and your feet ache until 4am.

Lots of show reviews will be posted here someday... just kidding, tomorrow. By the way, i'm still ticket-less for Franz Ferdinand.

...

Tomorrow night, Jasper and i are having another Vicious with some quite great up and coming bands - here are the details:

Tuesday February 17th
8pm :: $7 :: 21+

8pm - The Somnanbulants
9pm - Boyskout
10pm - Bling Kong
11pm - Inouk
Guest DJ: Aaron of The Hong Kong

All this sponsored by ASCAP, Rheingold and thruthflies.com.