This isn't really a live event seeing as it already happened when I was in New York on 15 March 2007, but it was a blast and I was anticipating writing about it when I saw some pics and YouTube video(s) of the show on the Brooklyn-based hipster blog, Dirty Down. The show itself was awesome. As you can see from the video: lights everywhere, bass thumping, crowd full of young people ready to get down to some excellent electronic music. It's just weird seeing pictures, because I kind of remember people from the crowd and could probably tell you specific things about people if it didn't border on creepy. Booka Shade is amazing, the whole concept of minimal-ish techno with live instrumentation really pushes their performance into the next stratosphere. Obviously I'm not the only one who thinks so because the place was packed and everyone knew the big songs by heart. All that excitement plus the Bmore club sounds of Scottie B + King Tutt, who I actually have a compilation of but didn't realize it until afterwards. Overall, an excellent show by XLR8R and Cut NYC. I would have really loved to be in New York for Ellen Allien and Miss Kitten (BPitchControl showcase), but alas I have obligations in Virginia. Although, according to Dirty Down it was quite the party as well. Check pics here. Also, if you don't have Booka Shade's Movements yet, you need to get on that shit.
I saw this when I was walking through the Lower East Side (Rivington at Ludlow) after I had just trekked across the Williamsburg Bridge and thought it was a really clever marketing gimmick. Of course this isn't the real Paul's Boutique per se (same address), but I'd buy an overpriced sandwich from them.
*I'm only posting one song for this one because this track happens to be 12'33 in length and contains several ingredients, much like boullabaisse, a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. (see Wikipedia)
The record market in New York is in an interesting state right now. At almost every record shop I went to, I found crates and crates of 12" records from all sorts of early 1980s electro and hip-hop legends. I was trying to figure out why this was until I came up with a satisfactory theory. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when all of this stuff was coming out, it was only coming out in New York. Almost all of these artists are New York based and record companies were convinced that hip-hop was just a fad so they didn't extend their distribution chains beyond the region. All the ghetto kids who spent a couple of buck to have a piece of early hip-hop cut to vinyl back then are grown ups now. Chances are they don't own a record player and vinyl records are of little use to them. All of these old records end up in record stores across the city in such numbers that the prices are heavily deflated.
For instance, at one shop I found an original pressing of Newcleus' 1983 electro hit "Jam On It" with the instrumental on the flip side. Complete with the pressing plant sleeve and in mint condition. At another shop in Brooklyn (Sound Fix on Bedford Ave.), I found tons of Afrika Bambaataa, Whodini, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, and Big Daddy Kane for prices of between $2-$5 each. Sure, they're 12" so you only get one to two tracks, but who doesn't want to say they have Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" on original vinyl? Unfortunately, I was broke by the time I made it to that store and all I could afford were two dollar bin picks. Used to be when I went through the dollar bin I couldn't find anything I seriously wanted, but now I know enough to be satisfied with dollar pickings. I got two 12" records: One is a hip-house (the weird period where some people tried to mix hip-hop and house music) classic and the other is diva house that went to #1 in the UK and topped charts elsewhere around Europe. Enjoy!
