Darwin Deez, Mixel Pixel and more

Darwin Deez, Scary Mansion, Mixel Pixel and Gordon Voidwell
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
7:00 PM 18+
Tickets Available Here

DARWIN DEEZ
The effectiveness of Darwin Deez’ droplets of pop genius lie in their/his/hir carefully articulated guitar harmonies and infectious beats. Darwin Smith, former Creaky Boards guitarist and Meher Baba follower, makes use of every trope within the spectrum of disco and post-punk, formatting them into stripped down but satisfying numbers. Choreographed dance routines are standard for his notoriously colorful live sets. Bill Pearis of BrooklynVegan called them “hard to dislike,” and NME found his self-titled debut “easy to fall in love with.” He currently works indie imprints Lucky Number Music and Rough Trade Records (UK).

SCARY MANSION
Scary Mansion is the musical wing of Leah Hayes’ multimedia empire. The attractive trio articulates her bipolar folk-pop that ranges from danceable to gothy. Her wavering yet strong voice regularly garners comparison to Cat Power and Morrissey. Music Omh writes of her album Make Me Cry, “Her background is in art and anti-folk, so one might have expected to find an (over)abundance of acoustic quirkiness in this, her latest incarnation. But what we get is something more immediate and accessible.”

MIXEL PIXEL
The prolific Rob Coradetti was based in rural Minnesota and collaborating through the mail during the 90’s, but thankfully he moved to the East Coast in 2000 to turn his vision into Mixel Pixel. The trio sounds like the Pixies digitized by the late 80’s most advanced technology. Their alternative but poppy sound is more for suitable trip-outs than dance-offs, and they’ve fitted their music accordingly with some mindblowing visuals and spiritually uplifting lyrics. They have shared the stage with They Might Be Giants, Grizzly Bear, Of Montreal, and Man Man to name a few. According to Qromag, “To fans of indietronica and indie-pop, this is the continuation of a beauuuuuuu-tiful friendship….”

GORDON VOIDWELL
Post-modern head music from a South Bronx prodigy should sound something like Kurtis Blow jamming with Depeche Mode and Parliament. In that respect, Gordon Voidwell (aka Will Johnson) succeeds in spades, and then some. Their neodisco grooves are unashamedly funky, but they’re also sharp and concise enough for indie nerds, not to mention swathed in psychedelia, social commentary and irony. His singles on Cantora Records have been lovingly received by the media and the underground alike, as Voidwell is now a professed favorite of Mark Ronson and Das Racist.

Quintron, Jeff The Brotherhood, and Ava Luna coming in June!

Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Jeff The Brotherhood and Ava Luna
Sunday, June 13, 2010
8:00 PM 18+
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT

Not much is known about the mysterious Quintron, aside from his bizarre and spectacular talents. Returning to the Party House for the third time, his expert organ keyboard and organ work pairs up with swampy electro grooves to create rhythm and blues for the 23rd century. And while he might be a musical Stephen Hawking, he’s an instrumental Dr. Moreau. Quintron brings with him several of his own hybrid musical inventions designed specifically for booty-thumping Cajun jams.



Quintron’s partner in crime, Miss Pussycat, created some legal issues for us when she raised the roof with her puppet show, posing a structural risk. We had to close the venue for three months in order to adjust the columns and foundation, meanwhile creating an elaborate scheme in collaboration with the media to keep up the appearance of a bustling venue. We are deeply ashamed, and we think a third performance is the right way to celebrate. Miss Pussycat is the founder of the Pussycat Cavern theater and proprietor of Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans. This may be a puppet show but it’s realer than real life.

JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD
The psychedelic leaning proto-grunge of JEFF The Bortherhood is, for all its grittiness, incredibly tight and cohesive, each riff, hi-hat line and guitar effect falling perfectly into place. Their affinity for danceability makes them a powerhouse of modern garage, though they number only two members who are also real life biological brothers. Popmatters praises their 2010 album Heavy Days, saying, “With Jake on guitar and vocals and Jamin on drums, the brothers fuse together hard psych, muscular power-pop, and punchy punk in order to spit out a melodic speedball of pure rock ‘n’ roll energy.”

AVA LUNA

Ava Luna’s sound is hard to pin down, but “post-punk space-funk” might describe their incorporation of sensuous harmonies fused with jagged, urban grooves. The principle songwriter, vocalist Carlos Hernandez, builds understated and deceptively complex arrangements, recalling the likes of Stevie Wonder, Chad Hugo, and TLC at their best. The L Magazine named them one of the 8 Band You Need To Hear, saying, “Nothing is ever really front and center here, rather pushed just off to the side, briefly passing through your periphery and then disappearing just moments before popping up somewhere else entirely, and the result is some of the most immediately engaging and smart music currently coming from our city.”

Fuzzy memories...

Converge, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts, Black Breath live, by Paul Birman and Black Bubblegum (more at BrooklynVegan)

The Twelves and Grum (more at NYCElectro)

reOPENed (Just Blaze, DJ Soul, Max Glazer, DJ Gravy, Micro Don and guests) by Gina Sachi Cody

Soundclash: Just Blaze & Alchemist tour, in Paris date featuring DJ Premier and Nick Javas (more at DJPremierBlog)

VICTOR CALDERONE at Dance.Here.Too

DANCE.HERE.TOO with Victor Calderone
Saturday, May 22, 2010
10:00PM 21+
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

Tribal house guru Victor Calderone got his bearings at the tender age of fifteen with the help of his older brother, already immersed in the NYC electronic music scene. Since then, he has gone on to produce for some of the biggest names in the business, including Madonna and Sting. His collaborative efforts alongside Grammy award winner Peter Rauhofer, featured at Dance. Here. Too. last month, helped catapult Calderone to even greater fame.

The inquisitive can find his podcast available here.

QUE BAJO?! featured in New York Magazine

The weekly Que Bajo?! party with residents Uproot Andy and Geko Jones has been all over the press since it began its weekly stint at Santos. Recently, New York Magazine gave them prime real estate in their "The Bars of New York" feature. Below:

That's "cumbia."

So yeah. Every Wednesday at 11pm. This is your life, stop fucking around and party correctly.

Ellen Allien's "Our Utopie"

Ellen Allien has just debuted a new music video. Behold:




She'll be bringing the sounds on May 29th in a joint venture between FIXED and the Dance.Here.Too crew (Benny Soto & Rob Promotions). Tickets are available here. More on that soon...

Discovery with U-Tern - FREE before midnight with RSVP

DISCOVERY: U-Tern with residents VDRK and Free Magic
Saturday, May 8, 2010
11:00 PM 21+
RSVP HERE

Named “Best New Party” by the L Magazine, Discovery is a “fun first” party dedicated to electronica-based neo-disco. Bright, bassy and fancy-free, the party combines the funky aesthetic of the 70’s with techno and synth-pop. Resident DJ’s VDRK and Free Magic are mix virtuosos who hold down one of the best crowds in nightlife history.

Joining them for the night is U-Tern, producer of intricate electro-disco whose influence comes from the origins of disco and early house, the likes of Jellybean Benitez, Gap Band and Prince. His technique, however, is straight futuristic, splicing whirlwind synth lines with complex broken beats. Aside from his brilliantoriginal production, his remixes and edits have earned him a loved spot in the scene, and he takes especially well to classic, soulful material (his Marvin Gaye mix is off the chain).

FREE before Midnight with RSVP at http://www.adiscoparty.com/

Cinco De Gallo is upon us - Que Bajo + Mex and the City + Queens Collective

More info here (or just scroll down).

Andrew W.K., Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors) and more!

FOR THE MOUSTACHE YOU LOVE:
Andrew W.K. (solo piano set), Mon Khmer, Roadside Graves, Deradoorian
Monday May 3rd, 2010
7:00 PM 18+
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since the first funding in 1954, LLS has awarded more than $680 million in research funding.

ANDREW W.K.
The recent wave of interviews, articles, and even a town hall-style meeting, was an attempt by Andrew W.K. to combat the bizarre controversies and conspiracy theories that surrounded his identity. But ultimately, nothing has proven more effective to certify his authenticity than his recent critically lauded and explosive musical performances. Shortly before returning to full-ensemble rock shows and the US release of his “lost third album” Close Calls With Brick Walls, he turned heads with 55 Cadillac, an LP of improvised solo piano performance released on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label. Dynamic, diverse and technically flawless, the album is the product of a lifetime’s mastery of the instrument and an anthemic aesthetic that made Andrew W.K. an international superstar. After a string of highly publicized SXSW shows, he will be returning to the solo instrumental format at Santos Party House.

MON KHMER
The Berklee-trained quintet Mon Khmer create ethereal, groove-based and layered indie rock without the effects overdoses and computer-generated “lo-fi” sounds that are dominating the scene. Despite bucking the trends, they have earned praise from BrooklynVegan, Stylecaster, Dummymag (UK) and The L Magazine, who calls them “heavy and dense, but in the best possible way - you can pick up something different with each listen.” Their harmonized guitar riffs tumble into space-age synths and pulsing drums that maintain danceable, head-nodding rhythms.

ROADSIDE GRAVES
For Roadside Graves, art imitates death. The theme of mortality rules the lyrics of John Gleason, whose seven-piece ensemble includes a farfisa and banjo and features a heavy, country fried twang and gospel harmonies. Of their 2009 LP My Son’s Home, Pitchork says, “There are moments of haunting, fragile stillness here...Perhaps most admirably of all, the Roadside Graves excel at the brave and difficult paradox of suffusing death with life, injecting vivacity and humor into their reflections on mortality.”

DERADORIAN
As the bassist for the Dirty Projectors, Angel Deradoorian has already earned a reputation for clever, unsettling pop music. Her psychedelic side project is a foray into the dark side, buoyed by instrumentalism in the realms of folk and electronica, capped with a vocal range that easily slides from subdued to booming.