The Coldwave Hits Chinatown

There are clubs that I like and clubs that I love. M/R/X-Wolfpack, which goes down the first Saturday of every month at Roberto's, falls into the latter category for three simple reasons. First, the dudes in the M/R/X room play things that I manage to completely stump me (and I'm actually a pretty good trainspotter). Second, the dudes in the Wolfpack room play things that I know but haven't heard in years (like "Giddy Giddy Carousel" last night). Third, the selection of performing bands is always excellent.

I should also mention that the promoters create a nice ambiance inside goth sports bar Roberto's.

This was the Wolfpack room before people arrived.



This was the M/R/X room, also taken shortly after doors opened. (We went to Philippe's for French dip sandwiches, so we got to the club unusually early.)





Last night, the club hosted an event for Wierd Records, a New York label whose only band that rang familiar to me was Blacklist (I found them through Rich Girls Are Weeping and the name stuck in my head because it's a Legendary Pink Dots song). Apparently, Wierd is also an NYC club that looks far more interesting than all of the trite-sounding NYC clubs I read about in magazines.

Since this was a Wierd party, DJ Pieter Schoolwerth of the minimal electro and coldwave club/label played a lengthy and interesting DJ set. I'll be honest, I had no idea what he was playing, but the music prompted three most-likely-straight guys to strike homoerotic poses on the dance floor. Additionally, the two bands scheduled for the evening were from the Wierd family.

Xeno & Oaklander were the first to play. This is a Brooklyn based duo that sounds a bit like Depeche Mode in that phase between the loss of Vince Clarke and the full-time gain of Alan Wilder. I imagine that sentiment means nothing to people who are not Modies and, yet, I feel no need to explain further.






Martial Canterel played well after Xeno & Oaklander finished. In fact, Canterel went on so late that we were all effectively kicked out of the club as he hit the last note of his last song. Like his Wierd Record cohorts, there is a dearth of biographic information on Canterel. I will just say that he is one man with a keyboard setup that plays in a minimal fashion similar to Fad Gadget sans the nutty stage show.







At some point, Don Bolles spun in the Wolfpack room. This must have been while one of the bands played because we missed the set. I'm sure their were some darkly psychedelic and totally obscure jams involved.