It’s only Monday, but I’m posting to remind you to make your plans for the weekend now. This Friday, November 3, I’ll be back at Grand Star Jazz Club for another round of Larry G’s long-running indie dance club Underground. Tickets are available now on Eventbrite, so scoop up yours as soon as possible.
Continue reading I’m Back at Club Underground on Friday, November 3
Back in 2009, I was standing in at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo for a massive Giant Robot exhibition and ended up chatting with one of the artist’s in the show, Albert Reyes. I had just started working full-time at L.A. Weekly, so I hit him up for an interview and then he invited me to his Halloween house party/art maze. Considering how many stories of mine have been lost within the black hole of the Internet over the years, I’m surprised that short interview is still online. Over the years, I interviewed Albert a few times, the most recent for Los Angeles Magazine in 2019, when he had a solo exhibition at Eastern Projects in Chinatown, and have seen a number of his haunted houses. This year, for the second year in a row, I got to DJ at Albert’s haunted house.
Continue reading Here’s What I Played at Albert Reyes’ Haunted House
Sometime before 11 p.m. I had to take off the blazer. I had tried to hang longer in the Battle Royale costume, but the dance floor upstairs at Grand Star Jazz Club was already full and it gets pretty warm behind the DJ gear. Advanced tickets for Club Underground’s Halloween party had sold out and, from what I could tell, people showed up early and ready to party. I don’t even know what to say about last night except that the energy was high and people were down to dance to anything, as you can probably see from the set list below. See you back at Underground on Friday, November 3. Happy Halloween!
Continue reading Here’s What I Played for Club Underground’s Halloween Party on October 27, 2023
October might have been stressing me out this year, but I felt an instant sense of relief inside The Mermaid last night. I was there to DJ another week of Dolce Vita’s Italo Horror Disco, this time with DJ Alex Arias. The first thing I noticed is that the Halloween display in the bar has grown larger and more detailed since I last played there earlier this month. The centerpiece is a mermaid skeleton, who is surrounded by a bounty of odds and ends, from crystal balls to eyeballs to skeleton hands. The glow-in-the-dark paints and swaths of fabric help give the impression that you stumbled upon this altar while underwater. It’s super cool. Stop by The Mermaid and check it out this week if you have a chance.
Other than that, it was great to play with Alex for the first time. I loved his set. Plus, some friends stopped by, which made the night all the better. Here’s what I played in my sets last night. Also, a reminder that I’ll be playing Underground’s Halloween party on Friday, October 27 and there’s a low ticket alert for the party, so get yours as soon as possible.
Continue reading Here’s What I Played at The Mermaid for Italo Horror Disco on October 24, 2023
The moment I saw the khaki skirt, I knew that my Halloween costume issue was going to work itself out. I actually found two khaki skirts wedged in a rack at the Glassell Park Goodwill. One was a mini that could work in a pinch. The other was slightly longer and fuller. It had a wraparound belt and some buttons down the front, but still looked a little more like a school uniform. I shoved it into the cart and headed over towards the men’s department to find a blazer.
Halloween parties are this weekend and I still didn’t have a costume. So, of course, I showed up at Goodwill with no plan.
Continue reading My Last Minute Halloween Costume Shopping Adventure at Goodwill
On Saturday morning, I finally finished watching the entire original Dark Shadows series. After IDK how many months of binging through storylines about vampires, witches (RIP Lara Parker, who played the best daytime villain ever), werewolves, portals into parallel universes, a creepy kid who keeps getting possessed by ghosts, a doctor who prescribes sleeping pills and seances, etc., I’m not really sure what to do with myself. Or, at least I wasn’t until last night’s gig at Vidéothèque, when I spotted a Groovie Goolies box set in the Halloween section. Now I have a week to power through this early 1970s cartoon series in between work and Halloween DJ gigs.
Continue reading Here’s What I Played at Vidéothèque on October 21, 2023
Disco Matinee returns to the first Sunday of the month at Grand Star Jazz Club on November 5 from 3 to 7 p.m. Special guest DJ Jen Rock joins residents Liz O. and Jus’ B for an afternoon of classic, Italo and nu disco, plus a little hiNRG, freestyle and whatever else lights up the dance floor. If your jam is a mix of Donna Summer, Taana Gardner, Lime, Daft Punk and Purple Disco Machine, head on down to Disco Matinee.
The Grand Star is located at 943 N. Broadway, inside Chinatown’s Central Plaza, right next to the Bruce Lee statue. There is both street and lot parking in the neighborhood. The venue is also located across Broadway from Metro’s A line stop in Chinatown.
Disco Matinee is a 21+ party. The cover is $5 (cash or Venmo) at the door. See you on the dance floor on November 5.
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It’s zombie boyfriend season! There are a lot of Halloween-friendly songs I love, but my absolute favorite (or, at least, my favorite that isn’t part of a horror more score) is “Mi Novio Es Un Zombi” from Alaska y Dinarama. It has one of the best music videos ever. You think it’s just a concert clip, with Alaska bouncing around stage in a very fierce outfit singing about her boyfriend’s bad teeth and yellow eyes and then— all of a sudden— Freddy freakin’ Krueger pops out of the crowd, mingles with the band and starts caressing Alaska with this slasher movie hands. Just watch the video. And check out my playlist from No Controles! at The Offbeat, the first of what will probably be a handful of times I’ll play “Mi Novio Es Un Zombi” in the next week or so.
Continue reading Here’s What I Played at No Controles! on October 19, 2023
This week, you can catch me playing a few records at Vidéothèque’s Opening Party on Saturday evening, sometime between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Plus, I’ll be at The Mermaid on Tuesday, October 24 to drop an even spookier Italo Horror Disco set than the one I played earlier this month. But, there’s still a lot more than that happening in the next handful of days. Keep reading to see what my L.A. music event recommendations are for this week.
Continue reading L.A. Music Events: Friday, October 20 through Thursday, October 26
The marimba from Señor Coconut’s cover of “Trans Europe Express” reverberates down Elmyra Street, about half a block away from Homage Brewing. I recognize the song instantly because there’s a copy of the 12” single that’s been in my collection for more than 20 years. It was something that I loved on a conceptual level— German producer moves to Chile and releases Kraftwerk covers in various Latin American music styles— but also turned out to be a useful record to own if you like people asking “What is this?” when playing all-vinyl bar DJ gigs.
Continue reading Digging for Vinyl at In Sheep’s Clothing x Japonesia x Homage Record Fair