The contemporary Nu Disco sub-genre of dance music is revered by people who love its graceful tempo and have experienced its strange magical dancefloor powers. This magic returns to San Francisco on Saturday September 27th 2008 when the VHS crew and myself present Paul T along with Jeno and Leonard a non-club location.
Paul Takahashi, aka Paul T, is an underground culture trendsetter whose disco djing skills have earned him high degree accolades in the avant Nu Disco scenes. Paul T sees Disco through different lens. He drops drippy filtered psychedelic ’spaceship-landing’ Nu Discospheric selections mixed in an expert fashion with keen attention to vibe and programming. He was recently featured on Tim Sweeny’s highly acclaimed Bside radio broadcast, BeatsInSpace, out of New York. A friend of mine described this radio recording as “crucial.” Listen to it here.
Years ago Paul teamed up with the voodoo disco prince, Dj Harvey, to produce LA’s highly acclaimed Dj Harvey Sarcastic Disco events. Paul helped mature and foster a scene of serious disco music aficionados and veteran partiers who come out of the woodwork to celebrate the Disco warehouse spirit.
This will be Paul’s first show in San Francisco (he once played a wack fashion show here, so that does not count!).Paul has a reputation for being very selective about where he performs. This following clip from a gig in Mexico (Mexico has a rich history of loving disco music) displays Paul’s dj headnodding groove as he pounds a disco sample through the floor:
We made sure to secure a safe underground spot to make this event go off.Here is a very short video clip of Paul building a crescendo at a party in Mexico, we never really hear the drop but the energy is building:
Paul will be accompanied by Leonard of Tocadisco, an underground music guru (Leonard is very sought out for his limitless knowledge of rare vinyl recordings), and Jeno, our local Wicked veteran and headliner for the BackToBack parties.
In all, Paul T is the underground dj’s DJ.I am very excited to work with VHS to help bring Paul T to San Francisco. I personally look forward to repeating the Disco magic I experienced at a Dj Harvey show back in May. I cannot wait to feel the power of the beat through the mind of Paul T. 19 Heron St, $10 at the door, 10pm to 6am. See you there dance suckas!
This is a short entry that I feel compelled to comment on. This is one of the most surreal videos in political history. Dirty-lyric Reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee showed up to support republican presidential candidate John McCain at an Central Arizona High School. Does McCain really know what the lyrics to the song “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee are really about? OK.. how can anyone not laugh their ass off, or at least sit there in disbelief as Daddy Yankee goes around kissing all the high school girls while McCain sits there probably having one of the most awkward white man moments in history. It is ridiculous that McCain is really trying to win votes by having Daddy Yankee support him. Latin mothers who do understand his lyrics should be upset. Oh, and not to mention Daddy Yankee claims that McCain has always “fought for immigrant rights”? Daddy Yankee, please do your research first. I pose the question, who are these people anyway?
My dirty secret is that I use a Blackberry, yet I attended the iPhoneDevCamp. This is because I love iPhone apps. I believe iPhone app developers are defining and creating the future standards and expectations for portable hand-held device functionality. I love technology regardless of the platform. I will get an iPhone when it allows you to record video, that is my hold up.
My entire goal was to arrive by 2:00 pm for the unveiling of the applications built by teams of developers who in most cases met the day before for the first time. Many great applications were developed, each presentation was a few minutes long. You can read about it all from Andrew Mager who was there live blogging the event both days.
My personal highlight was performing 10 push ups during Jon Bardin’s demo of his Push-Up Counter app. I get an applause at the end which was actually for the application but it might have all helped because Jon’s app ended up winning a category. I’d like to think that my “interactive” demo influenced the judges decision.
Other highlights: I had a very pleasant time hanging out cross-legged on the floor of a side room with most of the Medialets team. They built an ad-network for native iPhone applications. Their blog is a sensational read I believe. They sponsored the huge amounts of beer for the event, this Marin Brewing Co. Peach Beer was amazing. It was also great to briefly hang with 15 year old blogger/entrepreneur Daniel Brusilovsky who launched Teens In Tech on the following Monday morning.Video is courtesy of Andrew Mager.
@Techcrunch Meet up 08 - “Internet Famous” Julia Allison signs her first Aug 08 issue of Wired Magazine in which she is the cover girl. Her die hard fan, Andrew Mager, was the first and only one to request an autograph that night. She was happy. The cool part of the story is I decided to go at the last minute. I hit up Andrew Mager who was set on going to meet Julia in person and get his copy of Wired autographed. Upon arriving and waiting outside the entrance for a cue, Michael Arrington himself walks by and waves us to follow him in. Thank you Michael
Julia Allison was the featured cover story on Wired Magazine’s Aug 08 issue - “Internet Famous” they called her. Mager had been Twittering about her earlier and it became more special when Allison revealed it was the first Wired cover shes ever signed. This prompted me to whip out the Canon TX1 and start shooting video. The party was extra exciting for me thanks to Kabbodle’s lovely Community Manager Kristi Herwarth who crowned me with a pink feather boa. Lots of fun specially when meeting Chamillionaire and McHammer and of course Julia Allison
In this video my friend Noah came over and showed me his latest DIY project. He installed an in-line Hydrogen-On-Demand system into his Jeep Cherokee. It apparently increases his miles per gallon and claims that he is spending less time at the pump, effectively saving money. After some anticipated curiosity on my part, he finally came over and showed me his hydrogen cell contraption. Upon first glance I thought “nice science fair project” but when the engine started and the reaction occurred - “watch out Flux Capacitor.” I take no responsibility for this information and I am not claiming it is correct. I am only relating to you what my friend Noah was up to.
Saturday night 5/3/2008, I was pulled out to Oakland to see Dj Harvey instead of my usual round to the monthly Kontrol party. I can not be more glad at the turn of events. I witnessed the best underground Disco set I have ever seen in my life and I have seen great ones from Andre Hachett and Maurice Fulton. Although I like Disco for its wide spectrum of funky styles I usually get a little tired of it after a half hour - the vocals drive me a little nuts. This night however changed my opinion of Disco but it’s also because Harvey has a rare deep and underground vintage disco track arsenal that only him and a few dj’s on the planet own.
I saw Harvey once before in 2000 but I didn’t like it. On this night however, the stars were aligned and he came down with the phenomenal disco force that only a well strapped dj veteran like him can. Let’s have a reality check here. Dj Harvey is old school - I don’t know his true age but you can read his Wikipedia entry and get an idea of how far his dj career goes - He is no spring chicken - he is more like the wise owl - check out his greying beard. As a dj for 14 years myself, I was impressed by every selection he made. I recognized 2 songs all night - 4 hours.
Description: Funk-Rock with a Disco kiss on it. A deep blend of washed out guitars, funky-tribally drums rhythms, wet high hats, psychedelic drone strings, far away sounds, dance friendly rock and just the right amount of Vocals. It is one of the most eclectic sounds I have ever heard yet, under the umbrella of Disco.
The show was small, it was one of those events that drew true disco music lovers - only those who knew were there, about 100 strong which Harvey kept dancing for 5 hours straight. I myself got lucky and met a great dancer on that dance floor. We danced till sweaty - two and a half hours straight before we finally took a water break What a lucky guy her boyfriend must be - he was not there. Too bad for him, on that night Harvey made her and I connect body moves to the underground Disco Beat Check out his site and learn more about Harvey: http://www.harveysarcasticdisco.com/
