OMG, as the kids say. The fine folks of Part Time Punks who you may remember from their special tribute to a very special record label, are at it again and up to all good. They’ve managed to put together a crazy awesome line-up of “post-punk” (or punk, or rock, or whatever you want to call it) bands, both young and old but young at heart. And what bands! A Certain Ratio! Pylon! Medium Medium! Savage Republic! The Nightingales! Nervous Gender! The Urinals! Wild Stares! Some of these are classic west coast legends, while some have never played out there. You know who else has never played out there in LA? Yours truly, DJ Dan Selzer on the wheels of steel, stuck in freeway traffic. I’ll be joining the esteemed Chuck Warner from Hyped2Death as well as David freaking J from Bauhaus and Love and Rockets and Dave Newton from the Mighty Lemon Drops playing records between bands, during sound-checks and other inappropriate times. I’ll probably play only 7″s. On top of that, the night before there’s a little pre-party show with a live performance by Adult. and DJing by Hang the DJs, Part Time Punks and…yes…myself. A little late-night disco-punk/disco italo wave dance CD set.

So did you get that? Saturday the 15th, Adult., Hang the DJs, Part Time Punks and Dance Selzer DJing. Sunday the 16th, a million awesome bands, as the flyer above says…it’s all day Sunday November 16th at the Echo in Los Angeles, city of night. Isn’t that how the song goes? LA post-punk festival, sunday afternoon, drive through your suburbs, into your blues.

Man, even the new bands are awesome. Vivian Girls are the hottest thing in Brooklyn, easily the second coolest borough in New York, Ariel Pink just so happens to be something of an Acute label-mate, the Muslims I have no idea about but I think they’re playing upstairs at Santos tomorrow where I plan to be for Greg Wilson’s DJ set downstairs, so maybe I’ll hear a bit in the hall. And the Softboiled Eggies? Awesome. Other bands? Probably awesome.

But can we talk about these oldies? The Urinals! The purity, the simplicity, the harmonies, as good as it gets, folks! And the Nightingales! I have a vested interest as they were the Prefects, but as a live band the Nightingales of today are probably better than the Prefects or Nightingales ever were. Probably better than the Fall, Captain Beefheart and Faust as well. Savage Republic? I saw them in Park Slope a few years ago on a cold winter day. They were setting oil drums on fire and taking their shirts off. A Certain Ratio??? I just got a copy of their “Live in America” CD on Melodic, which is just fantastic (thanks David). OK, it’s from 1985, but if they’re half that good I’m set. Pylon? Medium Medium? Nervous Gender? I have no idea, but seriously, even if you’re only into some of these bands, how can you miss this? That’s why I’m mentioning this in advance, so you can book your flights. I’ve already got my itinerary. Fly to LA. Go to Amoeba. DJ some. Sleep a little. DJ some more and see 1,000 amazing bands. Forget CMJ.

MR MOJO RISING!

oh yeah, there’s also gonna be all kinds of videos and stuff. Check out the Echo website and the Part Time Punks myspace page.

And soon this blog will be more then me promoting DJ appearances (though I’m always down for more of those). We’ve got a new CD coming out in a week or two, a bunch of Viva show to catch up on, and who knows what else.

Hello. Will have some actual Acute news soon (2nd Lines CD! Upcoming vinyl releases!) but have to mention some events. Our annual Halloween party will get the push in a few days, but first I have to spread the word about this last minute event. It’s the NYC release party for Morgan Geist’s new solo CD, Double Night Time, out now. The album is a subtle and sublime distillation of Detroit Techno and electronic pop influence, aimed less at the dancefloor and more at those late night drives through city streets. I’ll be joining Morgan, his Metro Area partner Darshan Jesrani, and Warp Record’s Jimmy Edgar. Not being a world-famous producer of electronic music like the aforementioned stars, I’ve got the opening spot, so show up early when the music will be extra good and the crowd relaxingly sparse, you’ll have room to dance and breathe, you know?

So in case you can’t see the above flyer:

Morgan Geist/Double Night Time release party
Wednesday October 15th, 2008
Santos Party House
100 Lafayette St. NYC
10PM/$5/21+

I suppose now’s also a good time for a quick re-cap of my last visit to Santos. After Wild Combination premiered, the downstairs of Santos filled up really quick. Steve from Audika brought a mix of music, ranging from some obscure and even unreleased Arthur Russell material to music from Arthur’s personal collection. We got to hear some Arthur faves like Terry Riley, Abba and Fleetwood Mac, as well as the version of Talking Head’s Psycho Killer that Arthur played cello on. Then the live show started, early because everyone was afraid the band would be drowned out by Black Dice who were performing upstairs. Jens Lekmann was joined by some of Arthur’s old friends and collaborators, Ernie Brooks, Steve Hall and Peter Zummo. Despite the usual loud crowd, it was quite touching and beautiful. After that, I got to play a solid 40 minute set of nothing but Arthur Russell disco and people started dancing right away. At midnight, JD from Le Tigre took over and played a fun and eclectic set, then I DJ’d from 2 till 4 and had a totally great time. I don’t know what DJing upstairs will be like this wednesday, but downstairs is a great room, great size, amazing sound. Hope I get the chance to play there again.