Stupid MySpace

I've been trying to post this for over a week on MySpace and kept getting "unexpected errors". Finally Joe suggested I sign up for a Blogspot account. I was reluctant at first because I don't want this turning into an ACTUAL music blog but stupid MySpace left me with few other options. As for the name - I wanted to pick a Latin legal phrase but all the ones I really liked (such as "res ipsa loquitur" and "quantum meruit") were taken. For the record, "fiat justicia, ruat caelum" means "let justice be done, though the heavens fall". Please let me know if you have any issues with the new format, this might be my one and only post here but who knows.

With that bit out of the way: I know this is very belated (see above) but I promised concert reviews, so here are some concert reviews. Starting March 17th I went to four shows in four nights. First up was Simian Mobile Disco at Sonotheque; my boy Kyle and the Dark Wave Disco crew throw great parties and this was no exception. SMD didn’t play a lot of their own material, but they did play "Hustler" and that’s all that really mattered. Their set was different then I expected, they played a lot minimal-ish stuff, but I still had fun. See? Since SMD are from London, I wore my Fabregas jersey and five people came up to me to talk about Arsenal; I should to start wearing it out more often so I can make friends with more Gooners. Sonotheque has become one of my favorite venues in the city. They book quality acts, have a good system and play wacky foreign films on four projection screens during the show. This time it was Survive Style 5+ starring former English soccer star Vinnie Jones (actually, wacky doesn’t adequately describe this movie - more like insane). The next night was Digitalism at Subterranean; I missed them last time they came through so I was super stoked for this one. Johnny Love from Guns N Bombs opened and played a killer set: Fake Blood, Switch, Crookers, Bloody Beetroots, even Twocker – all the stuff I love. Digitalism got on and after minor technical difficulties (the bass went out briefly) they absolutely destroyed Sub-t. They played everything off Idealistic plus new stuff and since it was "live" they were able to remix everything as they went along. As a result even their more laid back songs turned into absolute bangers. It was really one the best shows I’ve been too, I feel bad for anyone who wanted to go but didn’t (you know who are). Sub-t was packed, the aforementioned Kyle was 25 feet away from me but I couldn’t even get over to him, and the energy was amazing from start to finish. I can’t find videos (or even pictures) from the Chicago show but here’s one from the Montreal tour stop that’s a pretty accurate depiction of the awesomeness:

After a much-deserved day off it was time for the show everyone and their mom had been waiting for: Justice and Diplo. The Riviera is pretty darn big and this one sold out weeks in advance; tickets were going for $75 and up on Craigslist. I made my way to Uptown a couple of hours early and met up with Joe. After grabbing a bite to eat down the street from the theater we fortunately only had to wait in line (yes, there was a line 90 minutes before showtime) briefly before the doors opened. At this point I have to give special mention to the bearded lady who gave us our 21+ bracelets. We’re not talking peach fuzz here; I mean full-on, dark, me-after-not-shaving-for-two-weeks facial hair. I guess if you pay for a concert at the Riv, the freak show comes free. The theater itself is also worth talking about, during its heyday in the 1920s it was one of the grandest venues in the city but they haven’t exactly kept it up. I hadn’t been there in years but it was even more of a dump than I had remembered. When we took our spot right in front of the stage I took special note of where the emergency exits were just in case the building collapsed during the performance. After what seemed like forever (the Riv was pretty packed by this point), Diplo finally took the stage. Like I said in the last blog, nobody, but nobody, rocks a party like Wes Pentz and our boy did not disappoint. He started off with some old-school Chicago stuff (it’s time for the percolator!) before launching into the typical Mad Decent mash of Bmore, Baile, Dancehall and Electro. Following in the vein of the last Hollertronix EP, there were definitely a lot of Hard Rock-ish elements to the set and at the very end he played a Dead Prez remix that I absolutely must get my hands on. Things got crazy while Diplo was on but not too crazy; I knew all that would soon change. After another extended delay, the Riv went dark and the first eerie strains of Justice’s intro came floating through the speakers. As soon as the giant cross lit up, the crowd just exploded. Enveloped by a seething mass of humanity, I was no longer an independently functioning sentient being. If the crowd pushed forward, I went forward. If the crowd swayed to the left, I went left. If the crowd bounced, I bounced. When Xavier and Gaspard came through in October I watched the show from the relative safety of balcony at the Metro so this was my first Justice mosh pit. After a while it got too crazy even for me so I let the crowd push me back a good thirty feet from where I started to a spot that was far less turbulent. It’s funny because Joe ended up getting pushed to the same place as me. Musically it was pretty much the same as the October show, which was fine with me because that one was amazing. They played almost everything off †, tweaked and distorted almost beyond recognition. Prose doesn’t really do the performance justice (bad pun intended), so check out these videos from the night I found on YouTube:

Intro/Genesis
Phantom Pt. I
D.A.N.C.E.
Stress
We Are Your Friends
Let There Be Light/Scenario Rock Remix [Nice one, Joe!]
Phantom Pt. II
Encore/Outro
Bonus: Diplo – Diplo Rhythm

Those vids came out surprising well considering all the general madness that was going on at the time. I think they do a great job of capturing the beautiful chaos that was the show. I’m really glad there aren’t any pictures of me from directly afterwards. Given the all the pushing and bouncing, combined with fact it was roughly 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 Celsius for my European friends) inside the Riv, I’m sure I looked something like a drowned rat. The night was still young when we got out so we then had to decide which afterparty to hit up. Diplo was playing "the official" afterparty at Debonair Social Club while Justice was playing a DJ set at Sonotheque. Given the huge demands for tickets for the actual concert, I assumed both parties would be at capacity by the time we got there so Joe and I decided on The Bloody Beetroots show at Smartbar. Hailing from Venice, The BBs are neck and neck with their Italian compatriots Crookers as my new "favorite thing in the universe". I caught The Beetroots two weeks earlier playing with MSTRKRFT and LA Riots at Vision and they absolutely stole the show; I couldn’t wait to see them again. I’m sure the other parties were great but I can’t imagine they were any more fun than this one. The BBs dropped one of the better sets I’ve ever heard, all killer no filler. I’ll have more on this later, but mark your calendars for April 23rd because they’re returning to Smartbar with LA Riots for a free show (you need to RSVP here). The following night I was headed back to Smartbar to see Switch and Duke Dumont but their flight from London was canceled on account of that day’s blizzard. Disappointing though it might have been it was probably a good thing; my mind, body and (especially) my ears had already taken quite a pounding... A few non-musical things before I get to the Mp3s: Caitlin is walking! It’s so adorable; we were all at La Casa de Idziak to watch basketball and took turns following her as she ran in circles around the first floor. Lots of fun for me, though I can see how Guy and Aileen might get a little tired after a while... The White Sox season has started better than expected but I’m still not sold on the pitching. The offense does look improved so while we might not win, at least we’ll be entertaining. If you like Chedderwurst and lots of runs, maybe we can catch some games at the Cell. Mmmmmmmmm, Chedderwurst... I’m getting my ’08 fishing license this weekend, the smallmouth bass moving into Monroe and Burnham Harbors should be afraid. Very afraid...

Back to the music, there is an awful lot this time. These have been posted on other blogs, I'd give them all credit but I'm lazy. Like I said, this was only supposed to be on MySpace. So ya know, "direct link" means right click, save as; "zShare" or "mediafire" means single click and follow the instructions. I double checked all the links so there shouldn’t be any problems. Let me know if there are... I wish you all could have experienced The Bloody Beetroots set at Smartbar, so here is the tracklist as far as I can remember. I know I’ve posted some of these previously but I want to make sure you have them - these are all "must haves".

Goose - Everybody (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)[direct link]
Goose - Blackgloves (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)[direct link]
The Bloody Beetroots -Ill to Destroy [direct link]
The Bloody Beetroots & Congorock - Rombo
The Bloody Beetroots - I Love The Bloody Beetroots [direct link]
The Whip – Muzzle No. 1 (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)[mediafire]
Timbaland - Miscommunication (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)[direct link]
The Toxic Avenger - Escape (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)[direct link]
Michael Sembello - She’s A Maniac (Bloody Beetroots Remix)[direct link]
MSTRKRFT - Bounce (Bloody Beetroots Remix)
Crookers - Purple Lens Game (Bloody Beetroots Remix)
Crookers – Love to Edit [direct link]
Adam Sky vs. Mark Stewart - We Are All Prostitutes (Crookers Remix)[direct link]
The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance (Crookers WoW Remix)[zShare]
Don Rimini - Let Me Back Up (Crookers Remix)[direct link]
Boy 8 Bit – Wolf Run
Boys Noize – Oh [zShare]
D.I.M. – Is You (JFK Remix)[mediafire]
The Presets – My People (D.I.M. Remix)[direct link]
Busy P Feat Murs – To Protect And Entertain [can’t wait for this to come out, here is a vid of The BB’s playing it in LA]
Jokers of the Scene – Ya’ll Know The Name [direct link]
The Count of Monte Cristal – Bounce That Ass [direct link]
New Young Pony Club – Ice Cream (Herve Goes Bananas Remix)[direct link]
Foamo – Movin It Over Here [mediafire]
Switch – Twisted Jazz [zShare]
Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name Of (SebastiAn’s Late Night Laptop Remix)[direct link]

Yelle – A Cause Des Garcons (Tepr Remix)[direct link]
Yelle – Ce Jou (Fisk Remix)[zShare]
I’ve got a slight (ok, HUGE) crush on Yelle. Before her concert on the 29th I need to learn French so I can propose. Maybe it would help my chances if I learned to dance like these guys.

The Count & Sinden feat. Kid Sister - Beeper (Clean Edit)[zShare]
The Count & Sinden feat. Kid Sister - Beeper (A-Trak Remix)[direct link]
The Count & Sinden feat. Kid Sister - Beeper (Fake Blood Remix)[direct link]
The Count & Sinden feat. Kid Sister - Beeper (Detboi Remix)[direct link]
I don’t know if you heard but I was in a music video for some song called "Beeper". Well, the single came out last week so show some love and buy it.

The Count & Sinden - Stinging Nettle [zShare]
Alphabeat - Fascination (The Count And Sinden Remix)[direct link]
Ron Carrol - Walking Down the Street (The Count & Sinden Remix)[zShare]
A dubstep-ish joint from Graeme and Josh plus two typically banging speed garage remixes.

The Count – My Condition [direct link]
The Count – B-More Forward [direct link]
Bumblebeez - Rio (Herve Remix)[zShare]
Elektrons – Get Up (Herve Gets Down Remix)[direct link]
You should know what to expect from Joshua Harvey by now.

Mystery Jets - Hideaway (Switch Remix) [direct link]
There’s been lots of buzz around this track and it’s frrrreeessshhh. Not a rip, I found a clean one for all you DJs (and wannabes).

SebastiAn - Motor (Distort Edit)[direct link]
SebastiAn v. Klaxons - Motor Interzone (Klash The Disko Kids Edit)[zShare]
A couple of "Motor" teasers, this track is going to be so epic.

Justice – DVNO (Justice Remix)[direct link]
Justice – DVNO (Les Petits Pilous Remix)[zShare]
Justice – Carpates [direct link]
Scenario Rock – Skitzo Dancer (Justice Remix)[direct link]
The single for DVNO finally came out (if you haven’t seen the new video yet – go here, now) and I’ve also came across some other Xavier and Gaspard related goodies.

Diplo feat. Deize Tigrona – Bandida [zShare]
Diplo – Red Chili Ward 21 V2 [direct link]
Kanye West – Flashing Lights (Diplo Remix)[direct link]
Young MC – Busta Move (Diplo Remix)[direct link]
Wes being Wes. Here you’ve got Baile, Dancehall, Rap, Rock – crazy.

The Bloody Beetroots – We Are from Venice [direct link]
Alex Gopher – The Game (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)[direct link]
Had enough Beetroots yet? Good, me neither.

Crookers – My Penny [direct link]
Rye Rye - Wassup (Crookers remix)[direct link]
AC/DC – Thunderstruck (Crookers Remix)[direct link]
Kid Cudi – Day N Night (Crookers Remix)[direct link]
Edu K feat. Marina - Me Bota Pra Dancar (Crookers Edit)[direct link]
Had enough Crookers yet? Good, me neither. In fact, I just got word from some who knows that Phra and Bot are coming to Smartbar on June 20th!!!

MSTRKRFT – Vuvuvu [direct link]
MSTRKRFT Feat N.O.R.E. – Bounce [direct link]
For being America’s hat, Canada puts out an inordinate amount of good music. People have been waiting (and waiting) for JFK and Al-P to drop these and I can see why.

Jokers of the Scene - Y'all Know The Name (Flosstradamus remix)[direct link]
HeartsRevolution - CYOA (Flosstradamus Remix)[direct link]
Some new remixes from the glamour boys of the Chicago scene.

Kriss Kross - Jump (Customized by D*L*I*D)[direct link]
I heard this on The Toxic Avenger's NNLR Mix (best mix series EVER) and it brought me back to my youth. This will kill at your party.

Buraka Som Sistema feat. M.I.A. – Sound of Kuduro [zShare]
BSS + MIA = Fire

UNKLE – Restless (Fake Blood Remix)[zShare]
Fake Blood can do no wrong; I’ll post his new South Rakkas Crew remix as soon as I get my grubby little hands on it.

Boy 8-Bit - Fogbank [zShare]
Boy 8-Bit - Fogbank (Jack Beats Remix)[zShare]
All the kids over on the Pottymouth Board (you should sign up) are going nuts for "Fogbank" and the remix has that wobble bass you can't get enough of.

Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor (LA Riots & Villains Remix)[direct link]
Kid Sister - Control (LA Riots Remix)[direct link]
Jupiter One - Countdown (LA Riots Remix)[direct link]
The Toxic Avenger - Escape (LA Riots Remix)[direct link]
VHS or BETA - Can’t Believe a Single Word (LA Riots Remix)[direct link]
A whole buncha great new stuff from LA Riots, they’re just killing it right now. If you missed them at Vision, go see the show April 23rd at Smartbar with The BBs. That’s an order.

Ghostface Killah – Charlie Brown (Yuksek Remix)[direct link]
Thieves Like Us - Drugs in My Body (Designer Drugs Remix)[direct link]
Thanks to Kyle for putting me on these. I can’t stress this enough: make friends with DJs and bug them about music every time you see them.

Real 2 Real - We Like To Move It (Twocker Remix)[zShare]
Moston & Malente – F’d Up (Stupid Fresh Remix)[direct link]
HeavyFeet feat. Switch MC - Sick Like That (Santiago & Bushido Remix)[zShare]
Primary 1 - Hold Me Down (Foamo Remix)[direct link]
The Ghost Frequency - Never Before... (Destroy Disco Remix)[direct link]
Great fidget tracks I’ve heard in various places.

Krames – Sound of the Police [direct link]
Krames is coming in from NYC later this month, should be fun.

Jahcoozi - BLN (Chris De Luca vs. Phono Remix)[RapidShare]
Heard this in the mix and tracked it down for ya.

Goose – Bring it On [direct link]
Prototypes – Je Ne Te Connais Pas [direct link]
Saul Williams – List of Demands [direct link]
I’m glad there are hipsters at ad agencies picking good music for commercials. Goose and Prototypes in Mitsubishi ads, Saul in the new Nike SPARQ campaign.

So that’s it. There is lots of fun stuff coming up in April, you should really come out. I recommend everyone to sign up at Going.com; it’s by far the best way I’ve found to keep tabs on what’s going on in the city. And once you pick a few events you like it starts recommending similar ones. It’s not just concerts and parties; it lists everything from fashion shows to museum exhibitions. Go here to see what I’ve got planned... I can’t believe this thing has gotten 200,000 views already. I’m (not really) famous: