i found that essence rare

Congratulations to legendary post-punkers Gang of Four for signing a deal with V2 Records! With all the new bands ripping them off, it is perfect timing for a come back. Check out this new version of To Hell with Poverty up on itunes.

I'm very excited and honored to be the guest DJ at TISWAS tomorrow night! It's been around for a long time, and it was the first rock party i started going to on a regular basis a few years ago. It's also the place where many local acts made their debut. I'll be on around 12:30am and promise to make you dance Disco 2000 style!

take off your clothes

Can i just say that watching this footage of New Order's performance of Love will tear us apart (via Ultra) on Jimmy Kimmel gave me serious chills. Tickets for New Order's hammerstein show went onsale when i was on vacation, so i totally missed out. If anyone is selling a ticket for face value, email me please.

I actually didn't watch the episode of Jimmy Kimmel that night cause i was attending a show that will probably end up as one of my favorite shows this year.
Openers Saints and Lovers played their tightest and probably best show to date. As someone in the audience told me, it was light years away from their previous gigs. No kidding, the trio was amazing. They mixed in the familiar with two or three brand new numbers that far surpassed anything else we've heard from them. The audience loved it, and by the end of the set, the room was pretty full. If you missed them this time, they'll be playing again next saturday may 7th at the mercury.

Then arrived Morningwood... the only other time i've seen Morningwood live was when they played an entire show of Black Sabbath covers about 2 years ago, so that doesn't count. I can't believe this band's been under my radar for the past 3 years, and this was only my first time seeing them live. In one sentence, they blew me away. Talk about a sweaty, sexy and raw performance, Morningwood is like a shot of pure rock in your blood. Every member on that stage had such refreshing and raucous energy. Of course, you can't talk about a Morningwood show without mentioning singer Chantal's electrifying stage presence. Imagine a female version of Marc Bolan, that's Chantal: full-on stage attitude, crazy big hair, insane dance moves, born to be on stage yet totally relatable and adorable girl. She came out wearing a sheriff outfit, and demanded the new york city crowd to move their asses and prove that we're not the stoic audience that everyone likes us to be. Needless to say, we all proved her right. Besides her brilliant use of props (horses, water guns) and facial expressions, the girl has quite an impressive vocal range and delivery. And the songs? So catchy, i'm still singing in my head New York girls and Take off your clothes two days later. By the time the set ended, i was dying to hear their forthcoming debut album.

When The Raveonettes came on, i only had a few minutes to spare before heading over to Lit for ATOMIQUE. I watched about 30 minutes of their set, and was really impressed by how much the band has grown. Less stiff, more dynamic, better vocal harmonies, and in my opinion, much better songs from the new album. I definitely regained a new appreciation for the band. And I particularly enjoyed the fact they're now really embracing their strong 60s girl groups/Phil Spektor production influences on some of the songs.

Saints and Lovers open with a mesmerizing set.

Don't fuck with Chantal Claret!

During Take off your clothes, crazy Kenyon jumped on stage to show off his stripping talent. For more Kenyon stripping check out a Unisex Salon show near you.

jerk it out

I forgot to mention that i picked a winner for the Nouvelle Vague contest, but know that all the song suggestions will be going to the band!

Tonight, i hope you have a ticket to see the sold oud show with The Raveonettes / Morningwood / Saints+Lovers at the mercury, should be quite the night. Whether you're going or not, you should come to LIT for ATOMIQUE after 11pm, we'll have a little afterparty for S+L and some cool Caesars goods to hand out (no iPod shuffle though!)... and of course great music all night long!

hit me again

So today, i wanted to thank everyone who came to Lit on friday, and prior to that to Lit on wednesday for ATOMIQUE. Friday was quite insane, i spun for five hours straight and played music from all over the spectrum. I did get a lot of requests, and since i was on for a long time, i tried to squeeze in everything that was requested. The peeps who go to Lit on fridays are very cool and very complimentary which makes it even more fun for me. I'll be back there on friday soon again. Wednesday was just as great. Eamon and i tend to play a little more oddities, a little less requests, we mix it up, and it's all good. So again thanks for coming by this past week where we had people dance until 3:30am, and hope to see lots of you guys this week!

Last thursday, i checked out Neon's first nyc show at the mercury lounge. They had technical difficulties, but that didn't prevent the aussie band from rocking and impressing the place. Hit me again is by far their catchiest and most addictive song and the one i was most looking forward at the show. Catch them next time they make a US appearance.

Added: Hit Me Again - Video:
QT | WM high | WM Medium | Real High | Real Medium

Last week, we had a very special and very packed Vicious. It was a reunion of sorts as three of the bands had already played the party. As anticipated, these bands are all doing great things these days. The Hong Kong signed to Ric Ocasek's new label and just finished recording their debut album produced by Ric. Benzos will see their debut album release on May 17th, and do i need to say that you all need to hear it? It's a real gem, one of these records that will stay with you for a long time. As for The Harlem Shakes, they've just finished recording a demo some of the Phantom Planet guys, and if it comes out as good as their live shows, they'll soon be the darlings of the town.
The one band who made their Vicious debut was Eugene. You haven't heard the name yet, but i have no doubt you will sooner than later. Eugene is a local quartet that i would best describe as intelligent pop-folk fronted by a charismatic singer whose voice is extremely reminiscent of Nick Drake's. Only at the early stages of their career, they're proving to be accessible yet very unique, with quite the potential to grow a significant fanbase in a short amount of time. MP3 coming...

Finally, thanks to Cathy for sending the link to this amazing video of La Ballade de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg - featuring Jane Birkin. This is one of the songs off of the album L'histoire de Melody Nelson, which inspired the name of this site. This video is so 70's, it's priceless, and of course the song has one of the best and most memorable basslines. Click here, enjoy!