Trust me on this one.

Toronto's Trust supported Balam Acab's NYC show last Thursday and I gotta say, they were the headline of my night. Submerge yourself into some dark electronic dance by listening to "Candy Walls" and the Bulbform LP, both released by Sacred Bones. "Candy Walls" is a crooning sway that'll rock your body back and forth, while "Bulbform" whips the hips with a foggy techno sound that's abrasively hypnotic.

9_5. Words by A Girl Who Couldn't Get In: Fool's Gold Day Off @ City Winery, NYC

On Labor Day a friend and I got out of Brooklyn and headed to SoHo, a.k.a. my second 'hood, for the annual Fool's Gold Day Off fest. We made it to the event... with the exception that we didn't make it INTO the event.

The website urges attendees to come out early as "attendance is based on capacity," and the flyer is proven evidence that this warning was all in the bill. Juicy J of the Three6Mafia and weed aficionado fame headlines with Just Blaze, Bros. Macklovitch (A-Trak & Dave1), Araabmuzik (see post for how awesome he is), and more + special guests. Since Electric Zoo ended the day before, it's guaranteed that the special guests were going to be real treats for the crowd - one of them being Diplo and his forever unforgivably amazing dog tee. (See this photo I copped from Facebook. Glorious.) So of course everyone and their moms are going to make the trek to this event. It seemed acceptable to arrive an hour later than the start time because a) 2 p.m. is too early to those hungover from weekend BBQs and b) doesn't the majority arrive fashionably late to these all-day events anyway?

A surprise to many, it turns out that this was housed in a confined backyard of the City Winery with capacity of what must have been a teeny number. Long lines for both general and VIP admission were in queue and hopefuls stick around waiting to get in on the fun. A small crowd of kids in front of me grew agitated as event staff members and Fool's Gold representatives tell them that entry is closed due to capacity and fire hazard regulations. Fool's Gold wristbands were distributed among those in lines in hopes of alleviating the tension, though I didn't see them as guaranteed admission but symbols of a lost cause.

The metal gates are locked and what was once a linear line became a cluster and eventually a terrifyingly annoying cluster of teens/"adults" scheming to "stick it to the man." The premonition of madness laid in these words said by the king of brainstorming next to me, "There's more of us than them." Next thing you know, the whole front successfully plowed through the gates and failed an attempt to run to the event. I then see an event staff who previously tried to work with the crowd come out breathing fire through words, telling everyone that the event is indefinitely closed and no one will get in. Speechless and shaking heads at what just happened, the lingering crowd finally dispersed.


So it's almost like I was at the event. A piece of 2011 history for my autobiographical scrapbook.

So I'm going to say what's been on everyone's mind at that point, but may have not been said: the event organizer(s) needs to change the way these free shows are done. This whole ordeal took me back to December, when Fool's Gold hosted a free-for-the-public, admission-limited holiday party at Tammany Hall of which was headlined by Manny Fresh. Boom! Line down the street, barely moving, vips with an entourage of too many were cutting through, and those arriving on time suffered near hypothermia just to try their luck on getting in. Those in line got rowdy because they're freezing their asses off, and (surprise) authorities arrived to tell the crowd that they should go home.

I LOVE the label and its roster, and I'm sure these events were fantastic to those involved and those who were lucky enough to be a part of the crowd, but if you know that your events are going to be this big for the love of God please do not book them in small venues and, while doing so, advertise it as a free event for everyone. Either do what Mad Decent does with their block parties and book them in open air venues in which people can easily come and go, or host an admission lottery. I vehemently condemn the behavior of those who roughed it up with authorities and bum rushed the gates, but precautions could have eliminated this stupidity. If those in VIP can't even get in, then I say this is a problem that needs to be addressed and fixed at the next event. That's just my two cent.

8_3. CRYSTAL CASTLES @ NEWPORT MUSIC HALL, COLUMBUS

So for this sold-out, Crystal Castles show at Newport, I decided that for the first time, I wanted to watch the show from the balcony. One, because I learned my lesson about the misery of trying to dance in a tin-of-sardines-kind of a crowd when I saw M.I.A. at NYC's Hard Fest last year (and had a heavy storm come through and made it more miserable... go find the videos); and two, because I busted out the Rick Owens racer tank dress I gifted myself for my birthday and, although flexible and comfortable for a night of dancing, I don't think I trust its integrity rubbed against some sweating bodies. But cool story, let's move on with the actual show.

My two male buds and I arrived around 7:40 p.m. to 3/4 of the venue already crammed - the opening act didn't take the stage until 8:30! During that idleness, I pointed out to my friends a particular person in the crowd who may have, in the words of my friend Kent, "reached his peak a little too early." His enthusiastic jazz hands, hair whips, and air thrusts had us in hysteric. There was a good 30 minutes ahead of him before the show finally started. Poor dude couldn't hold it in any longer. The Columbus-based opener was not my cup of tea, but everyone else seemed to be gulping them up. To put it succinctly, whoever manned their lights should be paid generously, there was some rock 'n' roll (which I had little appetite for that night), and the keyboardist/vocalist would definitely do well in a mid-'00 Blood Brothers sounding band (which is not bad, really).

Crystal Castles finally went on around 10 p.m., though prior, members of the crowd and I speculated a possible second opener due to the presence of a drum set. (Did they always have a touring drummer?) Nope, that was for them, and of course the fogged up theater should have made it all more obvious. Amidst the flashing strobes in their hell of an impressive lights arrangement, they opened up with "Fainting Spells" and bulldozed through the first half of their set with all the hits. You couldn't see Ethan and Alice until "Baptism" kicked in, which is when their hunchback silhouettes had everyone go bananas and I'm practically losing my shit over the song's hypnotic trail. I've somehow managed to record the next song, "Courtship Dating," in its entirety (video below). If there was any problem I had about this show, it's that there were minor occasions, like the "Courtship Dating" performance, in which the vocals were hard to discern.

Sorry for the shaking camera. Can you blame a lady for dancing?

Alice will hand over anyone's ass in being the most energetic frontwoman for a live performance. Almost every time I come back from the dark, there goes Alice's feather-like body walking, sprawling, and fucking crawling through the sea of heads and hands gravitating to her beckoning like magnets. Those were the only instances of contact with the crowd, because otherwise they were completely removed. They did not check in on how the crowd was doing, verbally making it known that it's Crystal Castles on stage, or even said thanks. But really, is there any need or demand to break the mood with some small chat? Hell no. As the lights erupted and escalated like a fireworks show and hits like "Empathy," Celestica," and "Crimewave" (fuck yeah) had everyone feeling themselves up, and "Not in Love" had everyone nearly toppling over the balcony rail just to sing along, the group made sure that everyone was there to dance in their own ecstasy. If you didn't and you just stood there to "watch" them, then you're probably went bat blind staring at the violently pulsating strobe lights.

They came back onstage for the encore with not a word out of their mouth (no surprise there), and Alice comes out smoking a cigarette like a boss and swaying her shoulders and hips as "Intimate" slowly leaked out of the speakers. Two more songs came after that before they called it a night, but at that time my friends and I dashed to the door to avoid the crowd rush. And failed. It was in the rush that I noticed that the Crystal Castle male fanbase was total babe-topia, and it certainly wasn't saving me that these Josh Hartnetts and Simon Nessmans came through with shirts unbuttoned and hair side-swept behind their ears. (In Ohio?! How come I rarely see these men around?!) I met up with a friend who told me that being in the pit was, given the circumstances, surprisingly bearable. Now combining these two instances, I'm starting to wonder whether having all the free reign to dance on the balcony with this great view really was the better alternative.

Night accompanied by these lovely shits. I swear they were thrilled the entire night.

Disconnect Myself

//TENSE// - Disconnect Myself by Mannequin Label

DE RIGUEUR MIX #2: SWEATY SUMMER DANCE MIX

a.k.a. THIS is how you do summer.
From Mad Decent on Vimeo.

It's a little early for me to declare siesta season, but I'm already in that mindset. Probably not a good thing as I still have two weeks before I sit half-asleep and partied out in an ill-fitted green gown at my college graduation ceremony. (What the... ?!) Ramblings aside, nothing screams summer like some sweating body-on-body action, billowy crop tops, lawn parties, popsicles, fireworks, and dance music that will help you dip low, slow and to the floor.

The mix is divided into two parts. Download both for the complete compilation of music that, I hope, you'll want to blast during a joy ride or through your outdoor stereo system. To help you readers discover something new to love, I tried to cover various grounds of music and artists - even threw in some Ohio love with tracks created by friends Cassius Slay and DJ Self-Help. So if you like anyone on this mix, go do some further diggings and buy their stuff/attend their shows.



Stop bumming and start twerking. Mediafire links are below the track listing.

_PART ONE TRACKLISTING
1. "Hot-N-Fun feat Nelly Furtado (Boys Noize Remix)" N.E.R.D.
2. "Masta Blasta (Original Mix)" DILLON FRANCIS
3. "Run Hide feat. Amanda Blank (produced by Diplo)" TROUBLE ANDREW
4. "C'Mon!" TIESTO VS DIPLO (TOADALLY KROSSED OUT REMIX)
5. "BASED" CASSIUS SLAY
6. "Paris Orly" DEUX
7. "Gunbeat Falls" SHABAZZ PALACES
8. "Tent in Your Pants" PEACHES
9. "Time of the Season (Self Help Remix ft. Kain)" DJ SELF-HELP
10. "Green Velvet - Everybody Wants" KID SISTER
11. "Hold On" HOLY GHOST
12. "Jungle First Date" NIGHTBEAST
13. "Behind the Stars" PANTHA DU PRINCE
14. "Ringfinger" NINE INCH NAILS
15. "Tits & Acid" SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO
16. "NYR (Will Eastman remix)" OUTPUTMESSAGE

_PART TWO TRACKLISTING
17. "Chains" GATEKEEPER
18. "Love At First Sight" ABSOLUTE BODY CONTROL
19. "Sex Sax" DROP THE LIME
20. "Only Girl Part Two (Rihanna vs The Cataracs)" DOSVEC
21. "Riverside (Moombahton Edit)" DAVE NADA
22. "Look At Me Now feat. Busta Rhymes & Lil Wayne (No Big Deal remix)" CHRIS BROWN
23. "I Got A Lot (New New New)" MIKA MIKO
24. "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" CSS
25. "DVNO" JUSTICE
26. "Something to Do" DEPECHE MODE
27. "Lead Head" //TENSE//
28. "Over (dJ eSenTRiK Remix)" DRAKE
29. "Murderers" JOHN FRUSCIANTE

Get the Mix:
SWEATY SUMMER PART 1 (Mediafire)
SWEATY SUMMER PART 2 (Mediafire)

3_23 - 27. NYC

:: DAY 1 ::



In the ass crack of dawn of Wednesday, March 23, I took a Greyhound from Columbus, Oh., to my (future) stomping grounds for a hot, four-day impromptu visit. A lot of people find the Greyhounds to be the doom of traveling, but I personally don't mind it. I am also part scum. The solution to surviving a 14-hour bus ride, in which stops are aplenty and the fear of lost luggage never alleviates, is to just sleep through it. The 14 felt more like 7 and I had a chance to catch up on some recommended jams I've been putting off on listening, as well as revisiting the classics. The following track below best summarizes one moment of the trip when a man who reeked of fries and wet cigarettes took a seat next to me and occupied his Allentown to Newark trip by either rocking in his seat or talking loudly on his phone.

When I got off the ACE to these lines, excitement caused me to heave. I come back feeling like I never left. I got on the F and had to transfer to the J on Essex because of late night lines. You know what that means: I got here around midnight; didn't get on the J until 12:50 a.m. Ugh. Arrived at my friend Meghan's place in South Williamsburg and because we haven't seen each other since winter, chat up a storm until 3 in the morn. Meghan keeps me up by either taking me out dancing until venue staff kicks us out (New Year's Day, ayo) or getting into some serious girl talks.

Meghan's vegan diet = fridge stocked with the healthiest food. My health freak self was totally digging this pumpkin granola cereal concoction with almond milk and dried cranberries. (Can't say Craisins because that's a registered trademarked of Ocean Spray - which I was not eating.) The breakfast prepped me for a day of getting my shopping fix out of the way.

Of course I went to Supreme - but this time not for myself. Got my brother the Supreme x Thrasher magazine t-shirt. He wanted the hoodie, but he didn't give me + $100 for it. Meghan and I walked through SoHo to Bond Street to check out my favorite (can I stress it enough?) NYC boutique OAK. When we got to the door, I had difficulties opening it and gave up after multiple jerks. The sales associate gave me a nonchalant stare as she hung some Maison Margielas on their silver racks. We inferred that the store may have closed itself for a personal shopper, so we decided to make a quick stop at Hospital since it was just a 3-minute walk away. My random purchase of Arkanum's "Fran Marder" on picture disc ended up being a rare find - limited to 100, holla. Meghan and I ended up making a new friend at the shop, the Boston transplant Jim. All three of us geeked out over arena shows of bands like Iron Maiden (more of Meghan's forte), Slayer, and Megadeth. Jim, if you're reading this, please keep in touch!

Our second attempt at OAK succeeded over an embarrassing realization: you had to push the door to enter. Whoops. Thanks for the pointer, photography man staring at me from your white van. After trying on some basic wears from OAK and A.OK (25% off basics) and drooling in envy over Rick Owens, I ended up getting a poncho and a slouch A.OK v-neck tee. Meghan got the Alexander Wang hoodie I've eyed for ages and jealousy struck me for a few seconds.

(why am I making this pose... ?)

Capped off our day by walking through Saint Mark's. Outside of the historical Trash and Vaudeville clothing store was Ray Goodman himself smoking a cigarette and talking it up with another man who was equally eccentric in attire. Goodman pretty much posed outside like this. Can't say my style encompasses the glam of the 1975 NYC punk scene, but I literally had troubles getting myself out of a pair of distressed, acid marbled stretch jeans that won my heart. It took 15 minutes to get out of it and throw it over to Meghan who also wanted to try it on.

Later that day I met up with former co-intern at Opening Ceremony and legit chick Kristen Mom at Don Hill's to check out Trouble Andrew's "Leaked" Album launch party. We got there too early and faced some awkwardly unpleasant openers. Had we got there 2 hours later, we may have stayed up to seeing Trouble Andrew finally perform, but there were too many acts on the bill and our patience was running dry by the third act. My 1:30 a.m. return home may have been the earliest I've ever returned from a night out here. I later regretted not checking out Bag Raiders instead at Santo's - which would have been cheaper than the $9 I spent on beer at DH.

:: DAY 2 ::

Met up with my friend Alex during his lunch hours. He treated me to Chipotle in celebration of his enrollment into CalArts, and because I edit the essay that helped get him into the school. We walked through NYU to his restaurant of choice 4 out of the 7 days in a week. Outside two students (?) were filming with a glass plate and we couldn't help but stare. Our sweet tooth craved La Colombe coffee so we walked back close to his work and got our caffeine intake. My mocha took effect until what seemed like 10 that evening.

Note : be careful following street signs around Greenwich Village. The broken streets will suck you into its painfully confusing maze of bench parks and roundabouts. I eventually walked over to Washington Square park wearing nothing but a heavy knit sweater, tights over leggings, and 5" platform heels, so I plopped myself on a bench both freezing and throbbing in pain. My friend Brian ended up joining me 20 minutes after our set meeting time, but I was in panic because my phone died and I had little to do but freeze to death and wait. It ended up being a blessing because a) there were dogs everywhere, and b) SwaggerNYC duo Sian-Pierre Regis and B-Rad Izzy approached me to be featured on the website. Schooled Regis on how to properly walk up steps in platform heels in the process, and he seemed impressed. When Brian finally arrived, we took the subway to MoMA to take advantage of what was my first "free Fridays" at the museum.

Memo to Dali from the future: Should've made this painting much larger. So underwhelmed by the dinkyness of the size.

Brian to Man Ray.

Watched the Pollock biopic two days before seeing this exhibit. The violent flicks of paint on these canvases as so much more palpable in the flesh. Good move on my part.

Got interactive.

Later that night, met up with long lost lover Jess and Brian to check out Pendu night that had Gatekeeper as its headliner. Found out around this night at a million other great shows were going on that night as well - including Capsule, Caspa, and Dave Nada. Regret not busting out my Make Up Forever dark purple lipstick; not regretting scoping out the sea of brooding, foppish babes in attendance. But enough of that, the flawless bill that also featured Streetwalker (1/2 of White Car) and Innergaze blissfully (or doomfully?) filled me with some underworld darkbeats. Gatekeeper's near flawless set had rapidly flashing car beams muffled in a layer of thick fog. There's something odd about seeing a stumbling, drunk goth though... shouldn't they be honing a face of apathy at all times? Meghan tried to get off work at the Times to meet up with us at the venue, but it was at capacity. Our matching Litas walked around the block to the Levy to hopefully settle that score.

:: DAY 3 ::

Had to meet up with Jill before I leave the following morning, so she insisted on meeting up at her apartment in the early afternoon to grab some lunch. We walked past McCarren Park into Greenpoint to eat at this mosaic-tiled Mediterranean restaurant that was well in my price range. I forgot the name of the restaurant, but I'm sure if you ask someone where one can order some bomb-ass rosemary fries, that person would direct you to this place. I spent a healthy $8 on this veggie sandwich meal and had to photograph it before it disappears into my belly.

We looked too good to not be photographed, so it had to be done. Afterward, I went into the LES to pick up one other item from Supreme and made a spontaneous purchase on a skate zine called "Hand Job Sk8 Zine" done by a guy who goes by the name of $haggy. Flipping through, I was entertained by his compilations of clippings from defunct skate magazines that contained his letters to these magazines' editors. May have to order the back issues; they were only $1 each anyways.

I was unnaturally elated over Nunslaughter playing a show in Brooklyn so I made sure I went. Planned to meet with my friend Jon after he gets off of work at the show, but beforehand faced the lulling awkwardness of patiently waiting solo for the show to start. I sat quietly at the bar drinking two cans of Lagers, eavesdropping on one of the Nunslaughter members talking about Tom Jones. Jon eventually arrived and joining us was his friend Mark. Our interest in the openers were lukewarm so we trekked through the arctic wind tunnels of Bushwick to Mark's place, at which he showed us a new release from his label The Year Is One. I've managed to get back to the Acheron in time for Nunslaughter to start, and lost the boys in transition because it turned out they were unfamiliar with the band's catalog. I've managed to snap some style shots as the band did a brief sound check. Never expected to get some helpful pointers from a band that plays "devil metal."

Tip #1: Knee rips must fold out like an open book.

Tip #2: add some gloss to your obligatory Bathory back patch.

Tip #3: Tell people to "deal with it" with a pair of aviators.

Tip #4: if you gotta stud the boots, for the love of God invert that cross.

I've poorly positioned myself in front of the PA speakers, setting myself up for a painfully short stay during their set. If I remember correctly, they played a good amount of songs from "Hell's Unholy Fire" so I was content enough to excuse missing half of their set. The pit got serious, and a heavier, stocky dude accidentally grabbed my head and slammed it against the speakers. I had to peace because the blood gushed out of my lips and the venue had no paper napkins. I managed to pat off the excess blood, but the pooling layer of skin was in need of ointment.

My trip home involved taking the wrong direction on the F, having to walk 20 blocks north due to construction to get to a station in which the F was going South, saw the Chrysler building in its shining glory, waiting for the notoriously slow late night J train, and coming home to Meghan who checked out early from The Death Set gig. We talked about our night over Italian bread and olive oil dip, but by 4 a.m. I had to pack up and get at least an hour of sleep for my 9:20 a.m. bus departure. Passed out cold on the way home.