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