a slice o’ cielo…
12. Cielo, New York
- Jorge Hernandez
Louie Vega sounds off:
“Cielo captures New York City nightlife at its finest. Perfect sound, decor, atmosphere, and a great crowd.”
Danny Boy
Lately I cannot get Danny Tenaglia out of my life. In Miami, I was at almost every gig. For my birthday last Thursday, we were at Cielo for an old school set by DT. We came across Cevin Fisher at the door, and Joeski in the bathroom – the ones with no urinals, only stalls with chest-high demi-shelves. Andy, (s)natch, was “at the booth”. And now, after several weeks of back and forth between the publicist and Resident Advisor, it looks like I’ll be hanging out with Danny at his famed Long Island City loft. Allegedly, he has the old Paradise Garage “Levan” speakers. Of course, I’ll be asking him to drop the lost New Order remix that Simon Dunmore mentioned when I interviewed him. Then there’s the fact that his latest CD is on Tommy Boy, and that Andy is helping with the publicity. They used to be tight, I’m told. I’ll be sure to hit up Andy for some grease. It’s supposed to be a definitive feature, which means lots of typing. I’ve never owned a Danny Tenaglia CD, and I don’t think of him as an album artist. To me, Danny means after-hours and marathon sets of tribal, progressive house. Back in the, um, late 90’s the Friday night sets at Vinyl were essential. It was something a broad mix of people could agree on, from the bridge-and-tunnel set to the industry hipsters and downtown dimming luminaries. M.(dealer), W.(porn star), Terre and I often found ourselves prancing the dawn away in the stripped-down sweaty beat box that also hosted Body & Soul on Sundays. Man, once upon a time, Manhattan was a great place to dance. I guess when I finally sit down with Danny, I can start there…that is, once he “gets back from Ibiza…”
DANNY TENAGLIA Ultra Music Festival WMC Miami 2008
[via FoxyTunes / Danny Tenaglia]
WMC08: Long Days Journey into Disco Nights
Something I typed up on the Crackberry, waiting for the plane to take off from Miami to NYC:
When I think of Miami, I think of Brian de Palma’s 80’s gangster flick Scarface – of Tony Montana and his “liddle fren”. Because I’m a House music head, I also think of his other friend, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Elvira, in her plantinum bob and razor sharp bangs, in her slinky, silky dresses, all coked up in the nightclub, dancing to Debbie Harry’s (Moroder-produced) “Rush, Rush”.
And from the moment you land in Miami, rush, rush is all you do, for Miami is not only home to one of the most chaotic airports in the country, it is also home to the Winter Music Conference. And every year, like migrating birds, media and party people from all corners of our increasingly warmer planet alight on the silicone and steroid-powered strip of sand known as South Beach to schmooze and celebrate this thing we call DJ Culture.
From the moment you step out of the terminal and the warm air hits your face, to the moment you jump in a cab and race down the causeways as palm trees zip by while Latin Jazz plays on the radio, to the moment you berate your concierge for botching your overpriced reservations and hustle the publicists and door whores who wield clipboards like Saint Peter – Miami is all about the rush, rush. How you manage to survive the week is likely best kept “off the record”.
The final Earplug piece is here.
The Resident Advisor group feature is here; there’s a sample below.
Ultra Day 1 at Bicentennial Park
Roots and youth collided full force at the 10th Ultra Music Festival at WMC 2008. On day one, the audience at The Crystal Method’s afternoon set on the Rabbit Hole stage looked like a casting call for the latest Larry Clark flick. A plethora of ravers roamed the grounds decked out in neon fishnets, flashing rainbow pacifiers, sparkly butterfly wings, and fuzzy Pocahontas boots. It was like the Summer of Love had never ended. I am seriously considering moving my stocks from eco-energy to glo-stix. Elsewhere on the grounds, every other DJ had one or two classics ready at hand. On the main stage, Eric Prydz threw the already hyped crowd into a tizzy with a reworking of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’, and a mashup of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’ and Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good.’ Later in the evening, Justice unleashed a brutal electro-grime set, including their own ‘We Are Your Friends’ and Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’. Justice were all fist-pumping revelry until the finale when they closed with ‘Modern Love’ by Bowie, which sent me scampering to the Amnesia Ibiza stage where Lee Burridge, and earlier James Zabiela, were both dropping chugging, Balearic sets that seemed almost designed to make me forget about the Justice finale. The place to be hands down on day one, however, was the Carl Cox and Friends tent. Carl, if you’re reading this, you owe me a new pair of pants because I crapped my old ones. From the second Cox took over from Danny Tenaglia, the tent nearly collapsed in excitement. Earlier in the day, Josh Wink had jumpstarted the rumble on Biscayne Boulevard with an acid-laced tech-house set that segued perfectly into a takeover by Ritchie Hawtin. By the time Tenaglia showed up, Hawtin was tearing through a retro conclusion, mashing up the Track’n The House mix of ‘House Nation’ by the House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House, ‘Reach for Me’ by the Miami-homegrown, Murk-produced Funky Green Dogs, and UK acid queens Wee Papa Girl Rappers’ ‘Heat It Up.’ Not to be outdone in the classics department, master of ceremony Cox looped Giorgio Moroder’s ‘The Chase’ through Ian Pooley’s Hyperdisco mix of Dave Angel’s ‘This is Disco’. When he got around to Inner City’s crossover hit ‘Big Fun’, Bicentennial Park was seconds from becoming Atlantis. Cox’s undulating, spine-snapping rhythms and steel-toed backbeats kicked relentlessly. Was it tribal, Italo, techno? Were we in Detroit, Berlin, Manchester? By the time I tore myself away, blissfully deaf, dumb and numb it didn’t matter. Bouncing around under glitter confetti beside an electric android on stilts and witchy-poo go-go wenches, I was so out of sorts I even drank from the communal water bottles which were coming around without even thinking about cooties. Cox and friends had ripped open a wormhole in Miami, we all gladly drank the Kool-Aid and like randy time bandits, jumped right in. For the sake of my own ears and sanity I even checked in on Tiesto and the rest of the festival – all of which seemed suddenly underwhelming. Feeling born-again, I felt like testifying “Take the needle off the record, y’alls and take some notes!” So, go ahead, call me a Cox sucker – I’m the smilingest sucker this side of the emergency room. –Jorge Hernandez
Gui Boratto: Like You
My interview with Dj, producer Guillherme Boratto is up on Resident Advisor.
Up next – Kelley Polar on Earplug; after that Jamie Lidell.
Enjoy.
Gui Boratto: Like you
Kompakt’s man from Brazil is an unlikely candidate for techno stardom, writes Jorge Hernandez. There’s hope for us all yet.
Sounds of Summer in the City
Summer in the City equals free (or cheap) music. This summer, it seems Water Taxi Beach is the place for DJ heads, beating out old reliables PS1 and Central Park Summerstage. Resident Advisor reports.
The Beach Party is a series of parties happening on Water Taxi Beach, a strip of sand in Queens overlooking Manhattan. There’s a covered, wooden dancefloor, sand and a great view, and this year’s lineup is better than ever. The Beach Party kicks off on June 30th with a night featuring space discoist Prins Thomas and ends on September 1st with an Innervisions showcase featuring Dixon from Berlin and Alex From Tokyo. In between you can catch nights with NY talents Grandmaster Flash, In Flagranti and Tim Sweeney as well as Gilb’r from Château Flight, Underground Resistance and Zombie Nation alongside residents Justin Carter, Probus and the Brothers’ Brothers. Take that, Ibiza! 
June 30 with Prins Thomas July 7 with In Flagranti July 14 with Gilb’r From Chateau Flight July 21 Turntables on the Hudson July 28 with Grandmaster Flash Aug 4 with Tim Sweeney Aug 11 with The Underground Resistance Assault DJ Squad Aug 18 with Akalepse Aug 25 with Zombie Nation Sept 1 with Dixon And Alex From Tokyo
