PTR: Have it All

A couple of years ago, while interviewing Richard from Arling & Cameron, I asked who he was excited about. He said Planning to Rock. Digging further, I’ve found other fans include Peaches, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, David Byrne, the Knife, Karl Lagerfeld, Hugo Boss among others. I should have listened and paid more attention. Janine Ronstron, multimedia artist, could turn Broadway on its head with her theatrical mashups of genres and mediums – glam, video, punk, art: it’s in there. I’m at a loss for what it is, exactly, but that just adds oomph to the hoorah. This is what happens when a classically-trained musician goes ape-shit with the Elmer’s glue and a Casio. PTR, Rock on.

Passerby bye…

Got this from Andy, and found it on Gawker. The word-of-mouth west-end hole in the wall on 15th street with the flashing lights where the high-brow went to get down low seems to be shuttering its wee glass doors to make way for luxury condos. The Meat Packing district, like most of NYC, has been gentrifying so rapidly, it’s really not a surprise. It’s almost an afterthought. While it was there, I’m glad to have had the opportunity to jump-start Monday nights for a post-trauma downtown posse including, er, passerby childhood heroes like Malcolm McClaren, Anthony Hayden Guest, Liquid Liquid’s Sal Principato, gifted DJ’s like Danny Wang, Ben Davis (Paper) and GusGus, and after parties for fine folks like Prefuse 73, Manitoba and Fourtet. Bruce at Time Out and Tricia at the Village Voice gave us plenty of love and support – and we were just the wee little party amidst a week’s worth of larger, wilder nights. When our six months of Back Room were up, we packed our disco tent and moved on. We returned briefly for a downtempo Thursday that limped along at a sequel’s pace but ultimately for so many reasons we just took flight. The scene, as it was, would soon come undone, as bottle service took over downtown and NYC nightlife sputtered to its current still-life. Quoting Passerby’s manifesto “The past was indeed the golden age and the present only drags us into the insipid future.” Ciao, for now, Manhattan…
*Sniff*

PS1 Warms It Up

PS1’s Warm Up opened its 2007 season with the theme “Liquid Sky”. Go figure. We got wet. It was hot, cloudy, but mostly clear and sunny, so I hopped the “E” line to 23/rd Ely in big bad ass LIC. It was the usual pack of stylish art whores shaking their collective groove thing to the sounds of Tim & Tim, and DFA, among others. I arrived around 5pm and the line went completely around the block and back to the front, almost. It bumped right up against the end of the shorter “List” line. I started to get in the regular line, but quickly abandoned that noble intention. I scanned the girls working the clip-boards, flipping their sheets, pulling the pens from their hair and scratching names off, or shaking their heads. I found one I got a good vibe from and went up to her. “Hi, Before I get in this line, can you make sure my name’s on the press list,” knowing it likely wasn’t since this was a last-minute decision. I rattled off my name and a couple titles; one clicked. As luck would have it – “We never got that list on time. So, you’ll just have to sign yourself in. And, remind them to have the list in on the night before the event,” she winked.
While I was wandering around outside the same crowd control guy kept bumping into me. Maybe it was my hot pink shirt that attracted him? Whatever the reason, the second time he singled me out, I waved him away – “You need to find someone else to focus on cuz I’m beginning to think you like me.” I was going to get super sissy on him and threaten to have him fired, but even in my altered state, I knew better. So, I backed off. He did seem mighty suspect though. I went into the galleries to cool off.
Instead, I only became mildly re-irritated when I stumbled into a dark gallery showing a video clip of a guitar being dragged by a truck through the dirt. It instantly reminded me of the Byrd lynching/dragging/dismemberment in Texas, and of the appropriation of black music by white musicians as symbolized by the electric guitar. Were they laughing at us again? I was the only one not laughing. All the other granola children thought it was cute.
So, back outside I went, emerging into the sun and spray to the sounds of Murk’s staple, “Some Lovin’” – the Liberty City single tickled everyone. The crowd was stripped down to summer skimpies – sarongs, shorts, flip flops, tube tops, wife beaters, sunglasses, beer, cigarettes. The boys seemed to be working a Louis Sullivan thing, with their manicured beards, updated with jaunty l’il hats and ironic T-shirts. The girls were either exotic sex kittens with parasols or just one of the guys. More than a few of them were “fruit flies.” Also in the crowd – iPhones.
I was going to stroll down to Water Taxi Beach for Prins Thomas, and then to Studio B in Greenpoint for DJ Vadim’s set with Scruff, but by the time I took my first break outside – avoiding the beer lines and overpriced snacks – I was done.
Vadim lives in Brooklyn, and I’m sure Prins Thomas will be back since he and Lindstrom just dropped a set of remixes. And I just didn’t feel like hustlin any more for the day. Club years are like dog years. Just cuz we make it look easy, don’t mean it is. As long as it’s fun, we’ll keep puttin’ it down for the cause.

PS1 – Roofie

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PS1

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PS1 – Dancers Get Some Lovin

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assume vivid astro focus

a very anxious feeling
May 3rd – June 30th, 2007
Opening Reception: May 3rd, 6 – 8 pm

Botero’s Abu Ghraib

While we’re on the theme of horrors and torture and such – an oldie but goody: Botero’s Abu Ghraib.

The Art of Abu Ghrai

All photo credits: AP Photo/Francois Mori

Photo: Revista Diners