Hades, I'm Only Dancing

In some ways, the new Hercules & Love Affair single, "You Belong" reminds me of David Bowie's "John, I'm Only Dancing." The former has a house beat and contemporary synths with Nomi and Antony's yearning voices overlapping. The latter is a stomping glam classic that often gets overlooked, probably because it's usually tacked on the end of special edition releases of Ziggy Stardust.

Lyrically, there is a tumultuous, sexually ambiguous relationship between the protagonist and whoever he/she is addressing. Both songs are a little flirty, slightly moody, and tease the listener to some degree.

When I first heard "You Belong," I thought of it as the John character in Bowie's song, letting go of the person he was holding on to. I'm not sure what triggered this random thought, but I hope it's intriguing nonetheless.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Walking on Jim Lambie's color chart floor at MOMA.

All apologies for the extended absence, as I've been relocating my entire life to a completely new coast. Despite my worldly travels, I've actually only lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, except for a four month stay in the U.K.

I went to New York City last year and everything about it felt right. And so here I am, having a new life adventure. I found a hot piece of real estate with cool roommates in Brooklyn and everything has been going well so far.

I was surprised by how comfortable I felt leaving San Francisco. Perhaps it was the support of all my friends and family, who encouraged me that NYC was the right thing for me.

To be honest, it actually didn't hit me that I was leaving until I unplugged my stereo system and packed it up for storage. It was one of the last things I packed. So many years singing and dancing around in my bedroom, getting ready to go out and playing records I had just purchased at Amoeba and Streetlight.

The last album I played on my stereo before packing up was New Order's Technique. I had just come back from selling a bunch of DVD's at Amoeba, and used the exchange credit to buy four albums: Blondie's Eat To The Beat, Hercules and Love Affair (self-titled), Missy Elliott's Miss E... So Addictive, and the New Order album.

Pretty much all four albums had songs I was very familiar with, and I purchased them as a kinda of comfort food before I left for my trip: albums that would keep me warm and feel familiar, while still being new.

The album of this moment for me has been Ciara's The Evolution. I can't believe people weren't into this when it came out late 2006. It's a solid, creative, interesting piece of dance, pop and R&B. Where was I when "Promise" came out? I have been listening to this album non-stop since I got it.

Ciara can be so beautifully vulnerable, awkward and self-conscious. She's also very passionate about the music she makes. I'm looking forward to her new three album Fantasy Ride project.

Get Away From The Bar

I'm totally into the old school vibe and upbeat sound of Dizzee Rascal's "Dance Wiv Me." The video is really fun, and kid with the stache behind the bar (looking like he's up way too late past curfew!), is Calvin Harris, the producer of the track.

I was not familiar with Calvin before seeing the video, but I found out that he's only 24 and responsible for two of my favorite tracks on Kylie Minogue's X album ("In My Arms," "Heart Beat Rock"). Incredible!

It's nice to see Dizzee having a good time with this track. I saw him during his Showtime tour and was charmed by his live presence. Plus, he makes really good albums, although Maths + English didn't really do anything for me.

I'm hoping Dizzee's upcoming album will have the dance theme he's been flirting with for some time (Basement Jaxx's "Lucky Star," for instance). Snoop Dogg makes a good predecessor.

He's also featured on "Toe Jam" by Brighton Port Authority (Fatboy Slim/Norman Cook), which also features David Byrne (!). The video is pretty ridiculous. It's almost like a promo for CBS's new Swingtown.

Last Night The DJ Saved My Business

I am sure you're sick of all this disco nonsense, but one parting thought: is disco a good business idea? (via ILM). Love how she name drops Hercules and Love Affair and Chromeo. Which reminds me, I gotta pick up the H&LA album. From what I've heard of it, dance music suits Antony's voice very well.

Germans Do It Better

About a year ago, when Sally Shapiro was about all I listened to, I was looking for a good italo disco compilation that inspired the music of Disco Romance. Last week, I found Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics 1977-1985. I listened to a few tracks in the store, and liked a few, including a Kano song called "Now Baby Now." Kano is one of the most famous italo disco bands, and its music is hard to find, with no proper reissues in sight. They're most famous for being sampled by Tag Team on "Whoomp! (There It Is)."

But to my disappointment, the collection overall is pretty boring. The songs are either extremely annoying ("Burning Love," "Tina Are You Ready") or try very hard to sound like American soul and funk ("Dreaming," "Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side)." Red Dragon Band's "Let Me Be Your Radio (Part 1)", sounds oddly like The Rapture's "House of Jealous Lovers."

This comp has little to do with what I enjoy about italo disco - that is: spacey, synth heavy, dramatic dance pop. The liner notes are very informative. I just wish they would have included songs by more of the artists they praise: Capsicum, Vivien Vee, Change and Capricorn.

I can't differentiate what I'm hearing on this comp with what I hear on Disco Deutschland Disco: Disco, Funk & Philly Anthems From Germany 1975-1980. It's a far more interesting listen, with fun gems like "You've Got The Power, Pt. 1" and "Fashion Pack (Studio 54)". Whatever genre you call it, Disco Deutschland did it better. To be quite honest, it's all just European disco to me.


A few months back, Disco Workout posted an interview with San Francisco DJ Bobby Viteritti, one of the most famous San Francisco DJ's of the late 70's and winner of 1979's Billboard DJ of The Year. There's an amazing piece of SF history: a free MP3 from a party at the Trocadero Transfer in 1979. This is the real thing -- what people really danced to in 1970's San FranDisco. I was surprised by the fantastic sound quality. Needless to say, there's lots of Donna Summer and Diana Ross.

So Long Robert Rauschenberg

Persimmon, 1964 (Source). I saw this beautiful collage/painting at the SF MOMA in 1999 with my friend Amanda. I never quite forgot it.

Estate, 1963 (Source).

Persimmon Coronation (Runts), 2007 (Source). The fruit revisited. His work in recent years took advantage of lots of white space.

Winter Pool, 1959. One of the few mixed media sculptures I took a photo of at the MOMA in NYC April 2007.

Speaking In Tongues, 1983. Not my favorite TH album cover design (despite the award), but certainly my favorite TH album!



One of my favorite artists passed away last week. Robert Rauschenberg was an artist I was genuinely excited about anywhere his work was exhibited. To me, his work was always alive, vivid, imaginative and exciting.

London We Go Hard

Listening to "Shove It" on Santogold's new album, I am taken back to 2005 when a lot of music fans had an investment in grime and British hip-hop, thinking it would breakthrough to American audiences in no time. I was definitely a believer, completely fascinated by everything I heard from Dizzee Rascal, Kano, Wiley, Lady Sovereign and all the young MC's on Run The Road.

Santogold is from New York, but Switch, a remixer and producer of the track, is British although I don't think he has any ties to the grime scene (M.I.A. is not considered a grime artist). "Shove It" has an East London dub sound that makes you smell the doner kebabs and see the track suits and trainers. I know she's really singing about the pride of poor creatives in NYC, but it drives my imagination. The song overall reminds me of Riko and Target's "Chosen One" from Run The Road.

Spank Rock makes an appearance on the track and for once, he keeps his rhymes relatively clean. He changes his flow on here as well, and I had to check the liner notes to make sure it was him.

Listening to Madonna's Hard Candy where she finally delivers on the promise of a completely disco, dance pop album that Confessions On a Dance Floor was supposed to be, I wonder what the queen of pop could have done by filtering the East London sound.

Hard Candy 's got the beep-beep's and whistles from Donna Summer's "Bad Girl", sweeping strings and lots of funky bass. I'm a fan of "Heartbeat," "Miles Away," and "Beat Goes On," especially when Kanye sings the pre-chorus after doing his rap. "Incredible" brings back her debut album singing voice.

After over a week of listening, I realize Hard Candy doesn't have the return listens of Confessions, the album with "Get Together," one of my favorite Madonna songs of all time. I understand her motives for making the album, but I'm not satisfied.