You won’t see much more than a few lights inside “Party/After Party,” but you’ll hear, and feel, a lot.
On April 16, “Party/After Party,” the sound installation from esteemed DJ/producer Carl Craig, opened at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo. I interviewed Craig for Southern California News Group prior to the opening, which you can read online. (If you don’t have a subscription, but do have a Los Angeles Public Library card, log in through the LAPL portal to read it.) However, I didn’t get to walk through “Party/After Party” until this past week. It was both an incredibly familiar and unusual experience.
I hate to break it to you in the midst of this “indie sleaze” moment, but the late ‘00s weren’t that cool. It was the era when poseurs and paparazzi flocked to Hollywood and West Hollywood to catch a glimpse of the misadventures of Lindsay Lohan. Bottle service was on the rise, as were the profiles of well-connected, but barely competent DJs. People started dressing up for Coachella, a baffling development to anyone who ever stepped near a porta potty on the final evening of the festival. This was also the time when it was obvious that we were in an endless war and the divide between the haves and have-nots was just going to get bigger. The late ‘00s foreshadowed all of today’s bullshit, but people were too entranced by gossip blogs to notice.
Lest I ruin your enjoyment of early 21st century nostalgia, I’ll let you in on one really cool thing that happened in the midst of ‘00s L.A. That was Sean Carnage’s Monday Nights. Between the mid-’00s and mid-’10s, Sean put together weekly showcases of local and touring underground artists first at Il Corral in East Hollywood and then at Pehrspace in Historic Filipinotown. Over 1100 bands played the events. Some became well-known, at least in indie circles. Most were just really cool.
Wow, thanks so much to everyone who came out to Disco Heat at Songbird last night. We had such a fun crowd. Special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to stop by the party since it went weekly in March and, especially, to those of you have helped spread the word. You’re awesome.
Jus’ B and I will be back next week with more Disco Heat for you from 9 p.m. until close. There’s no cover, but feel free to let us know you’re going on Eventbrite, Facebook or Instagram.
On April 6, you can catch me, Liz O., with Jus’ B at Songbird in Chinatown for Disco Heat.
Jus’ B and I have known each other for many, many, many years and recently started playing together in late 2022, when I launched Disco Heat at Songbird, and the vibe has been amazing. That said, if you haven’t been to Disco Heat yet, you really should check it out this week. And, if you have stopped by the party before, make sure you join us again this Thursday night.
Have you been to Disco Heat yet? If not, come down and check us out at Songbird on Thursday, March 23. Joining me this week is guest DJ Don French of Club Surge. Don and I have played so many fun sets together over the past few years and I’m super excited to hear what he has in store for us.
Star Creature Universal Vibrations is a Chicago-based record label dedicated to “contemporary boogie” that’s been around since 2015. They first hit my radar a couple years after that, back when Salt Box Records had a brick-and-mortar in Chinatown and I picked up a new release from a Russian outfit called Venus Express II based almost solely on the cover art. As it turns out, the record was just as cool as the album sleeve, so now I consider Star Creature to be a mark of quality for funky, synth-heavy tunes.
I have one DJ gig this week and it’s going to be a good one. On Thursday, March 16, Disco Heat, my weekly residency at Songbird in Chinatown, is happy to welcome special guest DJ Marcus from Tune in Tokyo. If you’re a city pop fan, this is the night to attend.
Between the launch of Disco Heat’s weekly residency at Songbird and the afterparty celebrating the release of Taleen Kali’s fantastic new album, Flower of Life, last week was a blast. Let’s keep the party going. Here’s where you can find me this week.
