Decompressed and Nostalgic

So much for keeping up while I was on vacation, but I am finally decompressed and back to writing.

There has been and air of nostalgia around my apartment, and here is part of the soundtrack.

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As of this summer, it's over three years since my last weekly DJ residency (out in Vancouver). Back in those days, it was all about fitting 100 people into a bar made for 60 on a Sunday night. Back alley entrance, and noise complaints from the apartment buildings across the street. Our playlists were dominated by DFA releases, indie rock, disco-punk, italo-disco, '80s new wave, the No New York, Anti-NY, and Young New York compilations, Playgroup, Kitsune, Gomma, and the rest.

Munk was one of my favorite artists at the time, and when he remixed Vivien Goldman for the Anti-NY compilation, it was magical. Not a dancefloor filler, but one you could put on as the crowd arrived. I still play the original from time to time.

Vivien Goldman - Launderette (Munk Version)
Vivien Goldman - Launderette

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So what about that crazy '80s new wave revival? Bands with names I don't even want to mention on here. But there were some good ones, like I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness -- who finally released their album a few months back, after teasing us with their debut EP three years prior. Ah the summer days of '03 reliving the summer days of '83 when I wasn't old enough to give a shit.

Danse Society are a criminally underrated product of the early '80s, and listening to their back catalogue, one wonders why a re-release of their 2001 compilation hasn't come about over the last year or two.

Danse Society - Somewhere

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On to the summer of '04 when Lansing-Dreiden released their first album, a patchy but enjoyable mix of '80s and '90s cliches sewn together with threads of '60s psych. Now, with their latest album, they've managed to pull it together into a well-conceived whole that transcends the cliches; one of my favorites this year. The Mili-Vanilli look-alikes in their latest video (for "A Line You Can Cross") were a master-stroke.

Lansing-Dreiden - Part Of The Promise
VIDEO: Lansing-Dreiden - A Line You Can Cross (MOV)

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The Fever (Lansing-Dreiden label-mates) will be playing at The Reverb tonight (May 30th) in Toronto. Hope to see some of you there.

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Nice to meet you last weekend, Merckeda and friends.