MUSIC ARCHIVES This Old House
by Tricia Romano
It is high time for a different musical revival, innit? Dara and DB—and a roomful of raving lunatics—think so, too. For the past few months they’ve been gathering in the name of aceeeid and ‘ardcore at Bar 13 for a monthly Thursday-night party called Sorted, where they’re reliving a misspent youth ‘aving it large at the Hacienda in Manchester.
Of course, as in a lot of revivals, most of the people in attendance weren’t actually there the first go-round. But DB is true old-school. The London DJ moved to New York in ’88, “the year rave culture took over the U.K.,” as he puts it. Soon after, he was hosting and spinning parties at MARRS and Nasa and throwing illegal events called DEEP.
“New York was so different,” he reminisces. “Clubland was so alive and exciting back then, as opposed to the Giuliani era.”
While DB says he’s not usually one to take a trip down memory lane, this was different. “We [DB and Dara] did it as a self-indulgent thing, wanting to play all these old records. We invited lots of friends, but we couldn’t believe the turnout,” he says of the 300-plus crowd. “We are still really shocked by how many people came out. Kids from North Carolina came up for it. It’s bizarre. We don’t even know how they heard about it.”
As much as the young ‘uns’ thirst is quenched by the house, ‘ardcore, and Manchester stuff that the duo is spinning, DB definitely knows what year it is. “I’m too old to be doing this!” he laughs. “I feel really young when I’m spinning and the next morning I’m like, ‘Oh my god.’ ” Yeah, me too. The next Sorted is Thursday, January 30, mates!
I didn’t know the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were so into Duran Duran. Rumors that the hot New York threesome have been locked away in the studio with Duranny Nick Rhodes are apparently wrong. On the YYY Web site: “Our favorite new rumor: YYY are in the studio with Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran. Ha. We are actually in the studio with Andy Taylor.” They shoulda picked the cute one, John Taylor.
Interpol, those dour, dapper dons of New York new wave, have found the perfect avenue for their music: A TV show about death. Yes, two of the gruesome foursome’s songs, “Obstacle 2” and “Roland,” are being featured on the HBO dark comedy Six Feet Under, of which the boys are—not surprisingly—big fans. They told NME they watched the morbid show “compulsively” while recording their debut, Turn On the Bright Lights. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?
Those annoying little blue people, the Blue Man Group, are set to become rock stars. Those still recovering from the band’s performances with Moby and Jill Scott during last year’s Grammys have another nightmare to relive. The theater group’s inked a multi-record deal with Lava Records, with the first one, The Complex, slated for release this April. The debut will feature collaborators as varied as Dan the Automator, Dave Matthews, Tracy Bonham, and Esthero—and will also feature the blue boys’ unique instrumental inventions.
Techno heads will be pleased to learn that the Detroit Electronic Music Festival—now in its third year—is back in the hands of Detroit’s techno musicians. Derrick May, Carl Craig, and Kevin Saunderson have been given the contract to put on the much beleaguered festival. Craig, who helped found the festival, was dismissed as creative director in 2001 by producers Pop Culture Media, after a high-level disagreement over the direction the festival should take. Since then, Pop Culture has been fending off allegations that they haven’t paid artists promptly.
May and Co. have a large job ahead of them. The event is just four months away, and unlike last year, when Pop Culture received $300,000 from the city to put on the show, they must rely on sponsorships. Still, the fest’s back in the artists’ hands. And you didn’t believe in karma?
Mixer magazine is no more. The seven-year-old dance-music mag shut its doors last week, but fans shouldn’t be too upset. In its place will be Big Shot, which is starting its new life with a 70,000 circulation. The mag—run by ex-Mixer editor Darren Ressler—hits stands on March 18 (just in time for the Winter Music Conference). The first cover? Those Fischerspooner tarts.