Late night with Just Blaze, flicks from the IFC party

In the very wee hours of Saturday morning, when porters are packing up the chair from the previous night's REOPENED party, Just Blaze keeps the wheels spinning while b-boys and b-girls claim the dance floor.



Thanks to H2L for the video.

"No movies, straight graphic novels." - Max Glazer
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On Tuesday, April 14, The IFC Channel held a party celebrating two excellent programs, Sam Mason's Dinner With The Band and Thu Tran's Food Party. In attendance was Andrew W.K., the band Gators!, Au Revoir Simone, the Vega/Neon Indian posse, wizard of electronica CX Kidtronik and Bad Brilliance. Images below...


...by Gina Sachi Cody, photographer.

...by Kelly Samardak, at MediaPost.

...by Jason.

Win FREE spots to CANAL RUBBER with Matthew Dear and Lee Curtiss

Santos & Fixed present
CANAL RUBBER: Matthew Dear, Lee Curtiss, JDH & Dave P, Eli Escobar (downstairs)
$10 Adv/ $15 dos/ FREE downstairs with Eli
Win FREE spots at Hifi Cartell
Thursday, April 15 11:00PM
21+
TICKETS HERE

When the promotional duo FIXED sets up shop at Santos Party House, what occurs are some of the most unspeakably raucous parties New York City has ever witnessed. Resident FIXED DJ’s Josh Houtkin and Dave Pianka are insidious masterminds of programming and promotion with knowledge of dancefloor dynamics unmatched by any other team in the metropolis. Now they're bringing us the weekly party New York has been waiting for, on the only sound system that can do it justice.

Also hitting the decks is Lee Curtiss, whose new EP on the aphrodisiatic Get Physical label Love In The Key Of Freak has received almost as much love from the critics as it has from the dance floor. His catalog also boasts releases on Spectral and Wolf + Lamb, and his R4=M,N,O,P collection (Rhumba) is loved for its wrenching portrayal of inter-personal themes through house and neo-disco. Equally notable are his official remix spots for international sensations like Butane and Pheek.

Rocking the basement level is DJ/Producer Eli Escobar, protégé of Bobbito Garcia and beat provider for the likes of MIA, Amanda Blank and The Glass. A mastermind of urban dance music, he has the most discerning palette for electro and hip-hop in their myriad varieties. This week, headlining upstairs is genius of electronica Matthew Dear, whose production work freely shifts from minimal house to electro-pop freely and cleverly. He has been tapped for remixes by the likes of The Chemical Brothers, blackstrobe, Hot Chip and Postal Service.

FOR THE PROPER BOUNCE, TRUST CANAL RUBBER!

TOMORROW - Free with RSVP: Streetlab and more

Greenshoelace.com, Scion and The Musebox
Streetlab, The Hush Now, Bottle Up & Go and Das Racist (DJ)
Wednesday, April 14
7:00 PM 18+
RSVP HERE FOR FREE ENTRY

STREETLAB
Fans of rock and dance music alike have New York City duo Streetlab to thank for creating catchy and danceable versions of some of their favorite tunes. Since 2001, friends Mark “Cosmo” Lamorg and Ryan Leary have been exploring the pastiche between classic rock tunes and their rump-shaking potential with an irresistible formula for electronic remixes. After years of re-inventing popular tracks such as The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” the pair began venturing into writing original material, including “NYSound,” a single that has generated a multi-faceted degree of buzz and coverage since its 2008 release. Since gaining the support of various top-notch radio DJs and record labels, and receiving praise from media outlets from the likes of Billboard Magazine and URB.com, Streetlab is gearing up to release its full-length debut, slated for an April 2010 release. (Official bio)

THE HUSH NOW
Treading the line between dusty early 90's indie and the melancholy pop of the oughts, The Hush Now achieve the artisanship that puts them heads above their peers. They garnered widespread media attention when they released their David Newton-produced EP online before playing a single live show. Their Boston brewed sound is a refreshing diversion for the New York underground.

BOTTLE UP & GO
Slide guitar – hell yes. The brash two-piece garage outfit is becoming quite a sensation in Brooklyn, Middletown, and nearby galaxies. A smooth, powerful voice, well-articulated riffs and jackhammer drums are the hallmarks of their bombastic sound.

DAS RACIST (DJ SET)
Since emerging out of the ether not more than two years ago, Das Racist have become the most sought-after force in experimental hip-hop. The trio eschews any posturing whatsoever in lieu of confronting the truth, however brutal or bizarre it may be, on top of off-kilter electro production. Their breakout single "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" has become rap music's most successful foray into absurdism, but the real meat of their lyrical repertoire are the densely constructed prophetic commentaries on globalization-era oppression, as well as hilarious multi-syllabic throught trains as unpredictable as the subways on which they were written.
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718 SESSIONS FEATURED ON VIMBY

This isn't exactly brand new, but it's no less educational.

VIMBY - 718 SESSIONS

Trans Am and Nice Nice live!

Trans Am and Nice Nice live at Santos Party House
Saturday April 17
7:00 PM 18+
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

TRANS AM
For those of us who love improvisational fusion but long for the driving force of punk rock, Trans Am are filling a substantial void. The Bethesda trio formed in the early 90’s during their stint in DC skacore outfit Bomblast, and was recruited by Chicago-based multi-isntrumentalist and producer John McEntire for collaborative purposes, essentially drafting them to the Thrill Jockey label. Their sound is danceable, polyrhythmic progressive rock, mostly instrumental, shrouded in layers of noisy electronica and merciless percussion.

The aesthetic that permeates their two-decade discography is subversive and absurdist, dismantling musical tropes and lampooning oppressive post 9/11 politics. Tracks like “Total Information Awareness” and “Play In The Summer” dement familiar pop elements with angular improvisational deconstruction. This unique approach has earned them tour spots alongside Tool, The Fucking Champs, Tortoise and The Bronx to name a few. According to Dummy Magazine, their 2009 live compilation What Day Is It Tonight “captures the fire, invention, dexterity and hilarity of a band that, if the selections of this record are to be believed, have been at their room-obliterating best for 15 years.”

NICE NICE
Equal parts sound manipulation and bizarro pop, Nice Nice create quite a brazen cacophony for an unassuming duo. Their technical mastery of the drums and guitar provide all the fuel necessary to power their twisted avant garde explorations. Their album on Warp Records Extra Wow arrives on April 6.

Tickets also available at:
OTHER MUSIC
15 East 4th St
New York, NY 10003

Just Blaze grinds out; Yelp filter strikes

There are certain living geniuses whose efforts to stay behind the scenes have proven futile in the information age. This is especially true for someone as prolific and tech-savvy as producer and DJ Justin “Just Blaze” Smith, whose dexterity on decks can make a break sound like it was meant to be sampled, or live arrangements sound cohesively hip-hop. Like Quincy Jones and DJ Premier, he belongs to a lineage of luminary producers whose involvement in any creative project will immediately garner attention from the musically inclined. That buzz has been instrumental in launching the careers of now marquee acts like Saigon, Freeway, Jay Electronica, Kidz In The Hall, and invigorating reigning stars like Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, DOOM, and Mariah Carey. He is also a Friday night resident at dancer’s oasis Santos Party House, headlining the Friday REOPENED residency with hip-hop comptroller DJ Soul, Caribbean mixtape virtuoso DJ Gravy, reggae sound splicer Max Glazer (also Rihanna’s tour DJ), and one-man party crew Micro Don.

MTV Shows

Perhaps the most-talked about collaboration in the music press right now is Just’s involvement in Eminem’s Relapse 2, about which he told MTV, “The wordplay is crazy, the metaphors are crazy. [Em]'s really back on his game. He had his ups, he had his downs, he's back way, way, way up.” Detroit battle jester cum media giant Eminem asserted his commitment to verbal wizardry on Relapse, and has also recruited Dr. Dre and The Alchemist for tracks on the sequel. Blaze continues, “The fact that he's branched out working with a lot of different people now, collaborating in a lot of different ways that he never has before, I think he's going to surprise a lot of people."

Just was also tapped to officially remix the Daniel Caine Orchestra theme song for the new A-Team movie, dropping in June. The track debuted at REOPENED and received a breakdancing ovation. Blaze has also announced the forthcoming release of a house music 12” through A-Trak’s Fool’s Gold records.

More intriguing projects involving Just Blaze are confirmed, details on the way. Just remember you heard it here first. Well, you actually probably knew most of this. We just wanted to put it in perspective.

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Yesterday, the news broke that the Yelp.com consumer review site is providing the option to view ratings that have been “filtered” from the pages of businesses. Coincidentally, that was also when I had a call scheduled with one their sales reps who clued me into this development when I asked about the controversy. Yelp is actually a fun and useful site for planning dates and the like. But upon looking at the filtered results for Santos, one might notice that the vast majority of them are perfect 5 star reviews.

To put it bluntly, Santos Party House has never sent its own employees to write Yelp reviews, though for a while the filter missed a glowing review from our owner’s wife. Neither have we campaigned to have our patrons sign up and rate, though it’s weird that Yelp seems to not want us to. They won’t reveal their algorithm for filtering, but it seems to follow the “no avatar, didn’t publish” protocol….
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Another gem from Elliot Aronow's Our Show, featuring TV On The Radio's Kyp Malone:

Baby Dee live Saturday!

Baby Dee with guests live!
Saturday, April 10
7:00 PM 18+
TICKETS HERE

BABY DEE
The only classification that sticks for Baby Dee is “anomaly.” The Cleveland-born piano and harp virtuoso has been a transgender circus act act Coney Island, a musical director for a Catholic church and an elevated tricycle-mounted street performer. After decades of itinerant musicianship, Dee buckled down in 2000 and recorded her first solo full-length on David Tibet’s Durtro imprint. Since then she has collaborated with a number of artists including Psychic TV, Max Mosto (Anthony and the Johnston), Current 93, and Robbie Lee. Her 2008 record Safe Inside The Day from Drag City was produced by Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Matt Sweeney, and her revamped A Book of Songs for Anne Marrie was produced by Maxim Moston.

Dee’s whirlwind of innovative technique matches with her incredibly emotive and transgressive songwriting style. Often chronicling the tribulations of the downtrodden and outcast, her vocal performance leaps from trauma to manic ecstasy in the blink of an eye, convincing as if she were regressing into memories mid-performance. Her vocal style is only matched by her piano and harp mastery, which melds the textures of Americana, western art music, jazz and pop all into one distinctive sound.

Sander Kleinenberg at Dance.Here.Too

Progressive house heavyweight Sander Kleinenberg cites Jellybean Benitez, who has also headlined at Dance. Here. Too., as one of his influences. He is known for his audio visual mixing which adds to the electric drama of his act. Focused on infectious bass lines and funky vocals, Kleinenberg is a big room favorite around the world. He boasts eight critically acclaimed studio albums as well as remixes for Eurythmics, Vincent de Moor, Röyksopp, Justin Timerlake and Janet Jackson.

Openers Sleepy & Boo are all about stripping the electronica scene of inflated pretention and filling it with a carefree, fun-obsessed attitude, not to mention the best in trance and techno. When not perusing their DJ monikers, aptly lifted from Super Mario, they are Basic NYC, grinding promoters of the city's illest deep house parties.