The Girl at the Bar Has a Blackberry

You know you spent too long in school when you're at a club and you start thinking about Hyperreality and Jean Baudrillard. That was the case last night, a night that could have been considered hyperreal for a variety of reasons, most of which won't make sense to people reading this. But the kicker during the evening was when I pulled out my Blackberry and realized that my friend Roo was online. I was in a bar where I didn't know a soul, where I was too tired to drink or dance, so I started instant messaging him. I told him where I was and he mentioned that people might think that I have issues, a variety of issues.

"That might be the case," I answered. "Were it not for the fact that half the people here are on their phones."

And that's when I started thinking about when I read Simulacra and Simulation. After postmodern French philosophy starts to make sense, it will invade your mind at socially inappropriate moments, like when you're trying hang out in a nightclub and IM your friend without looking like too much of a geek. I started to think of hyperreality in terms of the people I see everywhere interacting with other humans over a smart phone, a symbol of communication, as opposed to actually communicating with the people who are in the room with them.  And I wondered, if Baudrillard had lived long enough to see the iPhone or the Blackberry Storm, what would he think? 

T.H.E.M. on Logo

Thee Human Egomaniacs, aka T.H.E.M., are Justin Nylander and Christiana Eastman, two childhood friends who got their start in the dance pop world working for Stacy Q's fan club. I met the duo in 2002, when they released their debut album Sin, Win and Grin. At the time, West Hollywood wasn't the Z-list celebrity cesspool that it is now and I was DJing at this small club called The Parlour that turned into a bit of a hang out for every crazy club kid who worshipped Klaus Nomi and Grace Jones. One night, Justin and Christiana came to the party, which was called Transmission, and introduced themselves, handing me a copy of the new album. I immediately fell for a song called "Here We Go Again" and, afterwards, their cover of "Sex Shooter." Both became regular features in my Wednesday night DJ sets. T.H.E.M. then played live at the club (I think they were the first live act I booked there). They drove up that night in their cotton candy-colored limo and started unpackin a bunch of mannequins dressed in T.H.E.M. gear, who would surround Justin and Christiana as they played. It was great fun and probably one of the most successful live performances at Transmission.

Later on, I think right around the time I was ready to end Transmission, Justin and Christiana announced that they were moving to Florida. I haven't actually seen T.H.E.M. in person since, although we do keep in contact online, and I quite miss seeing the pink limo pull up to the side of the club and hanging out with them on Halloween (they always have great costumes, the best being when they came in drag as each other). But, despite moving across the country, T.H.E.M. hasn't lost their creativity or sense of humor. "Beautiful," the video above, is a good example. The video was released last year and is still making waves on Logo's video show "The Click List". In fact, you can vote for it, if you so choose on the television station's website.

Fullmetal Alchemist Is Back

I got all annoyed whilst searching YouTube for Fullmetal Alchemist AMVs. See, my favorite manga/anime also happens to be one of, if not the, favorite manga/anime of every person with horrible taste in music. Every time I look for FMA AMVs, I come up with dozens, maybe even hundreds, of clips involving metal bands that clearly failed remedial spelling (replacing a C with a K does not make you cool or clever, except maybe if you're a cat because cats can't spell).

(To my hipster friends: you might think this point of reference is incredibly dated, but if you listen to KROQ, than you know that, ten years after the fact, it is still a very real thing.)

Okay, back to the point, I was getting all angsty about the dearth of FMA AMVs that I could stomach when I came across the clip posted at the top of this entry. It may be two years old, but it's new to me and incredibly fun. AMV creator xShigurex matched up the Elric brothers and friends with "Un Lapin," a super-cute number from ye-ye girl turned children's music artist Chantal Goya (she starred in Godard's film Masculin Feminin). Then she drew the series' characters chibi style and mixed in some actual FMA footage.

All this is to say that Fullmetal Alchemist is coming back for a third season. The good people at The Anime Blog posted a teaser and, although I can't understand a lick of Japanese, it looks like it's going to be something special.

Related: "The Anime Collective: Baka Deshi Productions"

New Depeche Mode!!!!

My friend Annie, the co-founder and only other member of the San Fernando Valley branch of the Alan Wilder Appreciation Association (actually, it's the only branch), sent an email to advise me that she heard the new Depeche Mode single on KROQ and that it's apparently the second most requested song on the station (the site, though, says that it's number three). Since I've taken to listening to German courses in the car, I was unaware of this development. So, I hit up YouTube, typed in "Depeche Mode new" and came up with this clip from the Echo Awards in Germany.

And so the question remains, what do you think? I dig the bombasticness of it, which is something that you can only do successfully if you're a nearly thirty year old band that has spent the bulk of your career playing arenas. Part of the reason that I have been a hardcore Modie since the tender age of ten (Mom and Dad, I'm still pissed that you wouldn't let me go to the Rose Bowl) is because of the band's knack for mixing up the monsterous jams that scream like a crowd of 100,000 kids in black ("Never Let Me Down") with more intimate songs ("It Doesn't Matter") and combine that with some amazingly strange remixes (the On-U-Sound version of "Master and Servant"). Hope I get to see them at the Hollywood Bowl this August. It would be even better if I finally got to interview the band.

Update: MySpace just debuted the official video for "Wrong."

Electrohouse Party

If you are ever in Los Angeles, you need to hit up a Droog event. The DJ/promotion team's parties aren't like anything you would imagine if your only exposure to Hollywood nightlife comes from The Hills and TMZ. In plainer English, their parties are fun, no pseudo-celebrity bullshit and no poorly mixed banal radio hits. Last night's party at The Room on Cahuenga Blvd. was an amazing alternative to the local Oscar night madness.

The night's secret guests were Tiefschwarz (photo above), who are amongst my favorite remixers (seek their mix of Depeche Mode's "John the Revelator"). The duo played early, from 11 p.m. until about 12:45 a.m. and it was beautiful, tons of slick electro house that made dancing more of an involuntary response than an action. We made it up to the front of the packed crowd (an amazing feat in itself given that Sunday is typically horrible for 21+ clubs and the bulk of the Hollywood clubs I've seen have been slow for the past few months) and kept up with the groove until it got too hot to continue.



Following Tiefschwarz was Matias Aguayo, who popped into Los Angeles after playing a slew of dates in Mexico. Aguayo is a member of Bumbumbox, a Buenos Aires-based collective that performs live alongside pre-recorded DJ sets playing through a boom box. We got to hang out with Aguayo, who is based both in Buenos Aires and Paris, for a bit before the set and chat about things like City of Quartz. He played live with compelling Euro-electro vocals and tons of pop hooks. We hope to see him playing in LA again.

Clubs We Love: XY:XX at Miss T's Barcade

Miss T's Barcade is a retrogeek watering hole in Koreatown filled with classic video games and toys that date back to the time that Atari and Nintendo ruled the living rooms. For someone like me, who stopped playing video games when Street Fighter II got huge, this is the perfect spot to veg out whilst standing upright. But the truth of the matter is that I was never very good at anything outside of my personal Big Three (Ms. Pacman, Tetris and Super Mario Brothers), so, if I do join in the gaming madness, I tend to hit every button until I blow up something.

Saturday night, though, we didn't get to play anything, due to the huge crowd at the club and, at least on my part, a lack of quarters (been using up those in an attempt to avoid more parking tickets). Without the games, the Barcade is still a good time. Special thanks to the bartenders for pouring serious soju Cape Cods.

We typically hit up the Barcade for XY:XX, which is the new party from Job Leatherette and Eric Dead of M/R/X. The club takes place on the third and fifth Saturdays of the month and it's a can't miss party. XY:XX is far more low key than M/R/X. There are no bands and people tend to come as they are, no Vivienne Westwood or Cabaret outfits here. The music is primarily synth-punk, mostly stemming from the 1980s. I only have the vaguest idea of what is played here as Job in particular never fails to stump this electronic freak.

Part of what makes the Barcade special is its location. Koreatown is now what Hollywood was when I started clubbing in the mid-1990s. It's a place to people watch. For example, when headed out onto the sidewalk for a smoke last night, there was a bit of street theater going on at the corner and then, out of the crowd bolted a bike rider covered in lights. He kindly let me take his picture.

Kawaiietly Please

Since seeing Kawaiietly Please for the first time last summer, I have been wanting to write about the Lolita noise project. Last weekend, I had the chance. The story went live over at the LA Weekly last Monday and so far, the response has been tremendous. Please take the chance to read it when you have the chance.

If you're reading this because you like my stories about weird music, American otaku goodness and other slightly geeky (just slightly) interests, check out my Twitter page, as I tend to update there first.

Ow, My Back

Last night, I headed out to Don Bolles' Club Ding-a-Ling for the tribute to Lux Interior. Full story over at the LA Weekly.

Sometime when I was trying to get the photos of Bolles and Howie Pyro, I raised my arm above the crowd and feel a deep, painful pull.

Oh, shit, I thought.

But the show must go on, right? So I kept snapping away and taking notes. Didn't wince until I was in the car with the windows rolled and music blaring. Then I went home and finished the story.

Today is officially my day of sort-of-rest. I thought about going to the doctor to try for something stronger than Advil, but I figured that would involve three hours in a waiting room with contagious people. Fortunately, a double dose of Advil offered some relief. Other than that, I'm sitting around watching anime DVDs.

Craziness

It's been a hectic few days filled with deadlines and more deadlines, but deadlines are a great thing to have when you're a freelancer, so I'm definitely not complaining. However, I do have to keep the posting to a brief series of bullet points.

• We got to see Lady Sovereign on Friday. It was great, but I'll have to post about it more extensively later.
• Saturday was the opening of LA Myth at Meltdown. You can read my thoughts on the show over at the LA Weekly.  LA Myth runs through February 21 and you can view a (so far partial) catalog here.
• Sunday, I finally finished a story that I had started in November. Then I got to watch Big Love, Flight of the Conchords and the new season of Mark and Olly. Completion feels good.
• Yesterday, I met up with a really amazing local musician at Bon Chon in Koreatown. It was such a good interview that I lost track of time and got a parking ticket. Oh well, it's not like I've never done that before. You'll get to read the story next week.
• Animal Sounds, the comic strip created by Jeaux Janovsky and myself for The Rockit a few years ago, has a new home. You can read about the adventures of professional record store geeks Manda and Pedro in Vegas Rocks. For those not in Vegas, Jeaux has posted the first installment.
• This week is Reader Appreciation Week at La Carmina. Go check it out, leave a comment and maybe you shall win some very cool prizes.

Lady Sovereign Is Back

Lady Sovereign is playing Underground tonight. It's going to be off the hook.

Because Sometimes, You Must

Carlos got the itch to leave the house and since I always have an urge to escape the glare of the computer screen, I accompanied him to Air Conditioned in Venice.

We recalled that back in our college days, this was a pretty sketchy bar. Now it's slick and modern, hosting a crowd of t-shirt and jeans Westsiders and burners, who I swear only exist within a mile of three mile radius of Venice Beach. We had never been to this bar before, although we had made a pact six months earlier to come down on a Wednesday to check out Irwin's Conspiracy. Tonight just happened to be the night, in part, or primarily, because Derek Michael and Baseck were playing.

We had seen Irwin's Conspiracy before, at the Abbot Kinney Festival, but that was outside in the midst of a September afternoon. Inside the club, with one or two video artists projecting giant psychedelic images behind a one-man drum/electronic/theremin band, the vibe is different. I, for one, was more inclined to dance, even if by dance I mean twitching my leg as I sat down on a sofa.

Henry Strange looked instantly familiar to me as he hit the stage after Irwin's Conspiracy with his ponytail bouncing up and down. In fact, we had seen him on Halloween at a Droid Behavior party somewhere in the warehouse riddled depths of Vernon (we think). His set was primarily dubstep oriented and featured a live bassist/MC and a dancer.

Derek Michael and Baseck played together, with Michael DJing in front of the stage and Baseck hiding in a corner while scratching. These two work really well together and I would love to hear something akin to a 12" single (at least) from them.

Related Stories:
Weird Ripper: Baseck Redefines Dance Music with Two Turntables and Two Game Boys
Droid Behavior: Robot Rock

Costumes and Props Galore

Tuesday, I checked out Premiere Props' warehouse in El Segundo for the Underworld auction this weekend. Story and photos with the Weekly.

Franz Ferdinand

Last Friday, I went to Amoeba to check out Franz Ferdinand's free show. You can read the recap over at the LA Weekly.

The Big Coachella Debate

Last night, we stopped by XY:XX . XY:XX is a party hosted by the M/R/X crew that happens ever third and fifth Saturday of the month at the Barcade in Koreatown. It's a minimal synthpunk party and last night was a tribute to Fad Gadget. Since we are huge Fad Gadget fans, attendance was mandatory.



While we were there, we had the same discussion with several of our friends throughout the course of the night. Do we go to Coachella this year?

Normally, the answer would be, eh, whatever, but this year, in addition to Antony & the Johnson and Hercules & Love Affair (will Antony sing his parts with the latter?) Throbbing Gristle is playing. Given that we're all freaks for any sort of weird electronic stuff, particularly that which involves performance art, it is almost required that we go see the originators. But, can we handle the heat, port-a-potties and dust clouds peppered with horse manure?



I've been to Coachella enough times in the past, both as press and as a civilian. I would much rather go as press, just because when you're running around all day, you have less time to dwell on the heat and contemplate just how disgusting port-a-potties shared by 40,000 people are. So, if I have the opportunity to cover it, I'll probably go. If not, then I won't. Truthfully, though, I'm more interested in pre, post and mid-Coachella semi-secret shows that will inevitably occur across Southern California.