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.

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.

More Mark Lane

My profile of Mark Lane is now online, it will also be running in tomorrow's print edition of the LA Weekly.

In addition, you videos from Saturday night's show are now available on MySpace.

M/R/X Back in Action

I think I nearly went crazy since Roberto's stopped hosting clubs and M/R/X-Wolfpak went on hiatus. Thankfully, the club came back to host Mark Lane's first LA gig in twenty-five years. Lane is one of L.A.'s first synthpop performers and he actually didn't earn his due recognition until he moved to Europe in the mid-1980s. I would tell you more, but I have a profile of him coming out on Thursday and don't want to spoil the story.







Everybody, it seemed, came out for the event. We ran into many old friends and a few new ones, like Carmen of the blog La Carmina. I had met Carmen and her friends on Thursday at Perversion and recommended that they hit up the club, which they did and seemed to enjoy immensely.

The crowd was keen on dressing for the occasion. Lace and heart-shaped mouths were a big hit. I'm not sure if it was part of a theme, but it looked amazing.







I would post more, but it's time to hit the town again.

Photos: M/R/X-Wolfpak, 8/02/08

Over at the LA Weekly, I blogged about Wierd's new compilation in connection with the listening party at M/R/X-Wolfpak. After the listening party, there were bands. Here are some photos.

VV Morgue (please note the awesome ruby slippers).









Magick Daggers (less pictures because my batteries died)

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.