Monday, June 15, 2009

black beta


I was stoked to play a few tunes with my DJ partner Anna for the Black Dice/ Awesome Color/ Soft Circle show last night at the Bowery Ballroom. Over the years, I've no doubt seen Black Dice more than any other band in NYC, and every encounter only convinces me that they are one of the heaviest bands out there today, at once hardcore punk and electronic and noise and avant-garde yet not belonging anywhere. And once Danny Perez's insane video projections are added to the mix, it's an assault on all eyes and ears that no one is close to topping. But my admiration of the group might already be evident. I even jotted down my setlist (which I never ever do elsewhere), which veered from New Age to R&B to post-punk in a few moves:

Tibetan Bells/ Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings: "Wrathful Deity"
Children's Hospital: "Left Handed"
Francis Bebey: "Binta Madiallo"
Spiritual Singers: "African People"
Studio: "Life's a Beach" (Todd Terje's Beach House Mix) at about 38 rpm
Tom Tom Club: "Spooks"
Black Cock: "Love Finger" also at about 38 rpm
Aaliyah: "One in a Million"

(Anna's set and Soft Circle's set)

Ut: "Mosquito Boticelli"
Honey Bane: "Guilty" (JD Twitch re-edit)
Grace Jones: "Private Life"
Jackie Mittoo: "Ayatollah" (real world relevance!)
Funkadelic: "Be What You Is"
The Residents: "Diskomo"

(and then Awesome Color, Anna's second set, and Black Dice)