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October 22, 2004
The Fledgling Culture of the Night and Thursday Oct. 28
If there is one thing Bloomberg has done to this city that will always send me up, even though I think 311 is f'in great, is that he's moralized (vaporized) the spontaneity, anarchic, freedom loving dementia, America (and I) look to New York City for. Choking the random beauty out of this place in exchange for the Smooth Wheels of Commerce, and suburban charm. Could there be any other time when the Republicans would think it alright to host their convention in a city they despise? Would we think it ok, under any other administration, to close a dance venue because an Exit light was burnt out? Pointed attemepts at reeling in any "unorthodox" venues, parties, or events have choked New York of one of its most vibrant qualities and cultures. Reel 'em in pipes Bloomy, make sure they pay their Licenses and Sting 'em when you find even the most inance code violation. Turning (questionable) quality of life tickets into million dollar revenue streams, pushing us into a Real Cultrual Stasis. Dancing without proper permits? Get a ticket, and you also get the establishments Liquor License called into question.
Would it be ok, at any other time, to say that the APT dancefloor is one of the few great places remaining to shake it? If only because, its not your corporate uber-club playing Sasha's latest trance CD to a floor of drunken frat jocks looking to score?
Tricia Romano, at the Village Voice, has been doing a fine job at chronicling the slow demise of New York nighttime culture, watching us, New F'in York, hemorrhage artists to Berlin, close techno venues, and ticket Djs for the offense like "Operation of Sound Reproductive Device Without a Permit." A short video was done for Thirteen's New York Voicesabout the issue... And a LES nonprofit, Legalize Dancing NYC also educates folks on the incursion on our Civil Liberties. We won't even hazard a discussion of the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act of 2002 ($250,000 fine w/ clubs shut down, if they're found guilty of keeping "drug-involved premises", whatever the hell that means).
Reminds me of that Autechre record Anti EP, which battled the UK's Criminal Justice Bill of 1994 (Sections 63-67), calling for police intervention at any gathering where it was even suspected that "repetitive beats" might be played. Bloomberg, take note... Autechre wrote this on the cover of the EP:
Warning: Lost and Djarum contain repetitive beats. We advise you not to play these tracks if the Criminal Justice Bill becomes law. Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played under the proposed new law. However, we advise DJs to have a lawyer and a musicologist present at all times to confirm the non-repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harrassment.
So it was on this note that I realized next Thursday was going to be a rollicking good time, at one of two places... Which is the shame, one of the two places, will get the Heads who would normally show force at the other. Not to mention, is it any wonder there are no venues, when Michael Mayer is playing a Rock venue like the Bowery? I love Bowery, but Heh? And Really, is it that hard not to book two of the finest DJs around on the Same Figgin' Night? There is barley a trickle of hops these days and now I gotta choose between Theo Parrish and Michael Mayer??? Both of them played the Best Sets I've seen in 2004. Mayer's performance at Volume earlier this year was, shall we say, jaw dropping... And Theo's recent set was, shall we say, eargasmic? Adult Rave! Well, here are the listings...
Kompakt Party
Live: Reinhard Voigt
DJ: Michael Mayer
Bowery Ballroom 10p
6 Delancey Street
$14
Theo Parrish
APT 10p
419 West 13th Street
$8
Posted by jmarston at October 22, 2004 11:58 AM