A while ago I posted about these so-called “obscure English post punk bands” I’ve been listening to, and one of them was Desperate Bycycles, which it seems are also sometimes spelled correctly, like Desperate Bicycles. Anyway, just so happens that I’ve stumbled upon their entire discography, available for free, here. As the man who put it there, Derek Erdman, says: “Man, I sure am awesome to people who spend a lot of time on the internet.” Thanks Derek.
ALSO: Dude, this is rad!
HALLOWEEN: Was insanely fun. The house was decorated to the nines, complete with an entire front room dedicated to this elaborate demented doctor’s table display thing. Two bands played, Wet Confetti and Knock it Closer. I heard a little bit of Knock it Closer, featuring Liam from the Snuggle-Ups, whose CD release show with the Thermals was completely awesome the night before. Knock it Closer if a little more rocky, less PLUR and more angst, sort of like a faster Cure. I was upstairs DJing when Wet Confetti came on, so I heard their set as a loud grind beneath my feet, which was kind of surreal.
Figure 2: Everything goes pink. Figure 1 is below.
After that the CUM LAZER (that’s me and my friend Steve’s DJ “collective”) was in full effect. The house was packed to the gills, with people spilling out onto the street. We had a fog machine and many many technical mishaps. For a while the speakers were making loud fart sounds, the kind that eat up all other frequencies when they hit and make the crowd go whiney. Once we cut the bass it was all good for a while, then mysterious electrical/wiring problems started popping up, whereby the sound would just inexplicably cease. Happily, shaking the speaker wires like voodoo sticks seemed to please these evil sonic demons.
Despite these setbacks we managed two of our better sets ever, one uptempo for before the cops came, and one blunted-but-funky for the post-cop late crowd, before the cops came again. Hits of the first set included Freak Nasty’s “Da Dip”, Salt n Peppa’s “Push It”, and that perenial hipster favorite “Hey Ya”. There was some rock too , but I only remember the Cars. Hits of the second set included “Spill the Wine” by War (one of my favorite songs ever), “When Doves Cry” by Prince, and “Galang” by M.I.A. (one my favorite songs right now, which really belonged in the first set).
I’ve never deejayed a vibe as unique and perfect as that during the second set. People drunk and beaming, in great costumes, finally able to talk and move without fear of being crushed. Low lights and very low volume. People conversing and dancing, at the same time. A delicate crescendo from near nonexistence to near exuberance, interrupted by the cops at just the right moment (again). Dude, it was rad!
