Red This Ever: Selfless
Three years ago, Kamar and I were asked to play the Baltimore Music Conference. Aside from playing at Sonar (one of my favorite warehouse-style clubs), the highlight of our trip wasn't the conference at all. Our friend Michael stole us away for a night to take us to The Depot, a venue that, if you're from Chicago, I would describe as sort of a cross between Darkroom and Liar's Club. The bill included , kindred soul to our new wave/synthpop/industrial focus, and the fantastic . But the best part was the headliners; Red This Ever absolutely blew us away with their energetic guitar-fused synthpop. I have since kept a Red This Ever button on my purse, and Kamar and I never forgot them.
You can imagine how excited we were when Michael told us they were coming to town. We jumped on the chance to book them, and so this Sunday, Atomic takes its first leap into live music. I couldn't ask for a better lineup, and Kamar and I hope that when you see Red This Ever, either at the show in Chicago or , that you're as impressed as we were that night in Baltimore.
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Pic Vicious: LA Dreamer + Beauty Was Her Burden
Atomic returns this weekend with a ! We are really excited about both of these bands, so I'll do a post on each.
Pic Vicious' classic synthy sound is sparse and dark. Their theatrical presentation, complete with props and costumes, is not. I love the juxtaposition and I couldn't resist posting a video, but the fancy trappings aren't even necessary; this pair sounds great even when you can't see them. Check out "Wicked West" on their for what happens when new wave meets dubstep. No, really. They're known for their live shows, and a quick search of YouTube will evidence why. I can't wait to see them Sunday.
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A new chapter for Atomic
As of next Thursday, I will be quitting my residency at Neo. Along with me goes Atomic. This wasn't an easy decision to make, and Kamar and I are not really happy about it, but circumstances being what they are, it's for the best.
Looking into the future:
• Kamar will continue his residency at Neo on Thursdays under a different name.
• This blog will remain and continue to be updated.
• There will still be Atomic events, though they will be less frequent and at alternate venues.
In other words, not a whole lot is changing, aside from me not being in the booth on Thursdays. If you go to Atomic, I encourage you to continue to go to Neo on Thursdays to support Kamar, and if you read the blog, then keep reading the blog. to be invited to future Atomic events, one of which I'll be posting about soon.
I've been at Neo for over four years, and it's been a great time. I've made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about the place, the music, and the people, and I'll carry that with me as I leave. Thanks to everyone who came and drank and danced, not just at Atomic but at all of my gigs at Neo over the years. I hope to see your faces again on my next dance floor.
-Qbot
Tribute to Gary Numan: Radio Heart + My Jesus
Tonight we celebrate the career of electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, and we'll be giving away tickets to his show at on Tuesday. He'll be playing his signature album Pleasure Principle in it's entirety. Also playing: the amazing and beyond definition Recoil (which I'll blog about this weekend), and Daniel Myer project Architect, rounding out the lineup appropriately with a little noisy techno-industrial.
Radio Heart was a project of Hugh Nicholson, a friend of Gary Numan's. Elton John and Ray Cooper also contributed vocals on various tracks, but the three songs featuring Numan are by far the best on the album. The single "Radio Heart", released in 1987, is far more mainstream pop than his own output, and likewise achieved more chart success than Numan had on his own at the time.
My favorite Gary Numan album does not come from his smashing glam-meets-new wave '80s-era work, but his 2000 release Pure. Following in the wake of his wife's repeated miscarriages, Numan took a page from Trent Reznor's book (and one he himself inspired, no less), and wrote an industrial-inspired epic of pain and scathing religious commentary, as exemplified in "My Jesus".
Radio Heart: Radio Heart feat. Gary Numan
Gary Numan: My Jesus
Posted: October 21st, 2010
at 8:00pm by qbot
Tagged with 1987, 2000, alan wilder, architect, atomic, british, daniel myer, elton john, gary numan, hugh nicholson, industrial, metro, new wave, pleasure principle, pure, radio heart, ray cooper, recoil, trent reznor, tribute, tubeway army
Comments: 2 comments
Rayaline: Ashland
I met Marcos Raya years ago, when Kamar and I were djing at Uptown Lounge. All I remember is that he was there with Mr. Bobby, and some shots were consumed and a lot of geeking out about music was done, and we parted ways that evening with plans to do a Front 242 tribute at Neo, which Marcos and Bobby both did a fantastic job at several weeks later.
It was quite a long time later that I found out that Marcos actually made music. As Rayaline, he's on Kompute, one of Chicago's best electronic dance music labels. His output is as broad as his interests, with everything from electro bangers to thoughtful techno. He's supposed to put out an album soon, but I won't hold my breath; with all of his djing and vjing gigs, he's a busy guy. We're lucky to have him as a guest at Atomic this week, and I expect he'll be one of our best guest djs to date.
He sent me a couple of tracks, but I had to post "Ashland", as it reminds me just a wee bit of Yello. See you Thursday!
DownloadRayaline: Ashland
Tiger Baby: Love Will Tear Us Apart
Since we're doing a tribute to Ian Curtis this week, I'm going to take this opportunity to post a song that I love but never play: Tiger Baby's excellent cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Done in their signature sweet-but-meloncholy style of synthpop, this is by far my favorite cover of this song that I've ever heard. As I mentioned in a post last month, this isn't their only great cover, either. If you like this, you'll find it's very representative of Tiger Baby's original material, which I highly recommend.
As for why I never play it:
Frankly, I don't have the balls. I'm afraid the crowd will lynch me if they hear anything but the original. Also it has this 30 second long beatless break in the middle--that's a long time on the dance floor. But Darrel keeps requesting it, so maybe someday...
Tiger Baby: Love Will Tear Us Apart
Taken from their 2006 album Noise Around Me, .
Posted: July 13th, 2010
at 6:52pm by qbot
Tagged with 2006, atomic, benjamin teglbjaerg, danish, darrel, ian curtis, joy division, nikolaj tarp gregersen, noise around me, pernille pang, requests, synthpop, tiger baby
Comments: 1 comment
Panic! 4 year anniversary / Aztec Camera: Good Morning Britain + The Smiths: Panic
. I don't even remember how Kamar and I met Pogo and Arturo, but it's no surprise that the new wave djs with the Blondie-named night and the Britpop djs with the Smiths-named night were fast friends. I don't think Debbie Harry and Morrissey ever hooked up, but if Atomic was a girl, Panic would be our quirky British boyfriend. We're there almost every month -sometimes in the booth- and Arturo is one of our favorite regulars and guest djs at Neo. In either case, it's always a good time, and we're glad to help them celebrate their fourth anniversary.
In honor of Panic, I've chosen the oft-overlooked Aztec Camera single "Good Morning Britain", featuring vocals from Mick Jones of The Clash, from their 1990 release Stray. And of course this post wouldn't be complete without "Panic" by The Smiths. See you tonight!
Arturo, Kamar, Qbot, & Pogo
Aztec Camera: Good Morning Britain
The Smiths: Panic
Posted: April 24th, 2010
at 5:17pm by qbot
Tagged with 1986, 1990, andy rourke, arturo, atomic, blondie, british, craig gannon, darkroom, debbie harry, johnny marr, kamar, mick jones, mike joyce, morrissey, neo, panic, pogo, qbot, roddy frame, stray, the clash, the smiths
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Atomic’s 2 year anniversary / Cut Copy: Sands of Time
Join us tonight to celebrate two years of the best new wave party in Chicago with special guests .
How time flies...
People ask me sometimes how we get so many people to come out to Neo on Thursday nights. There's a lot of factors involved (remnants of a built in crowd, people really like Depeche Mode, Neo's new wave-steeped history), but the short answer is that Kamar and I knew what we wanted to do; we had a good idea, we executed it, and it worked. We've never gotten a whiff of press coverage. We're more likely to pluck our guest djs off of our own dance floor than book a big name. At the end of the night, what brings people back every week is the energy of the music and the crowd, the feeling that everyone is welcome, and that anyone can be and dance how they want.
The first thing we decided, and the one thing we've very much stuck to our guns about, is that it's not an "'80s night". We've all been to '80s nights. There's nothing special about most of them and we've all heard more than enough cheesy pop for our lifetimes. It's not what Atomic is about. There is an astonishing number of current acts in the new wave/synthpop/new romantic genres, and the best way to keep the music -and the crowd- fresh week after week is to include that.
The one band that matches our style perfectly, hands down, is Cut Copy. Their New Order-reincarnate sound has been a staple every week for the last two years, right in there with all the Soft Cell and Human League where it belongs. Now if they would just get a little more prolific...
DownloadCut Copy: Sands of Time
"Sands of Time" is unreleased;
Posted: April 8th, 2010
at 2:46pm by qbot
Tagged with 2 years, 2008, 80s, anniversary, atomic, australian, cut copy, dark wave disco, depeche mode, kamar, neo, new order, new wave, qbot, sands of time, synthpop
Comments: No comments