Archive for the atomic tag

Depeche Mode Tribute this Thursday!

Every year, we do a tribute to Depeche Mode, one of the most popular and influential electronic bands that ever was [I'd place them just under Kraftwerk]. There's hardly anything I can say about them that hasn't been said, but certainly this week we'll be playing some DM tracks that don't normally get a lot of attention, right next to plenty that do. The frustrating bit about doing these is that there's always about 5 songs that, at the end of the night, I'm kicking myself for not playing. Six hours isn't even enough time for a band who has been putting out consistently good work for 30 years.
The particularly amazing thing is how while their early stuff still holds up pretty well after all this time, they've progressed so far as to sound almost nothing like those first albums--and yet still sound like the same band. To illustrate this, I've chosen to post "Monument", from the 1982 release A Broken Frame, a new wave track so minimal it can barely be danced to, whispering of techno and covered in fantastic '80s bleepy synths. In contrast, their recent single "Wrong" is loud and in-your-face, and the synths, now joined by guitars, are darker and harsher. This version is a remix by dubstep master Caspa [who coincidentally is playing at Smartbar on the same night]. The genre-overlay is really well done, and I think it says as much about the versatility of Depeche Mode's songwriting as Caspa's production skills.
Download and dig in, we'll see you on Thursday with a whole lot more!

official website
Depeche Mode on Amazon.com

Lykke Li: Little Bit [CSS remix]

It's 6am and the sun is coming up. Kamar just dropped me off and these potato things from Dunkin Donuts are soooo good, you have no idea...
Such a great evening at Panic! I got there way too late to hear Arturo, but caught a rare Britpop-ish set from Chicago-legend-via-Berlin Scary Lady Sarah, who had the place so packed with friends that my head was spinning even before the Maker's Mark got to me. We moved on to Late Bar, Dave Roberts' new place, with Peroxide and Stormy, and made some new friends there, too.

I should probably go to bed, but I can't stop listening to this Lykke Li remix lately, which may have something to do with me starting off my set with it Thursday night.

Here's to hoping your weekend is going as well as mine.

Youth Novels on Amazon
Official Website

Yello: Bostich

Last night started off really slow--after all, a good portion of our crowd was at The Queen Is Dead early in the night--but by the time Arturo went on and The Handsome Devilz arrived, it was a juggernaut. While Kamar was rallying the dancers over to Neo, I got to do a long early set. One of the things I love about doing early sets at Atomic is that I get to experiment a bit and gauge reactions before I play a song to a packed floor. Will they dance if I play this? Will the regulars run up to the booth screaming about how they love it or how they'll strangle me if I ever play it again? Sometimes, I realize that I should've been playing it at 1am all along.

Such is the case with the Yello classic "Bostitch". It blows my mind that this single was released in 1979. Typical of Yello's style, it's sophisticated, dark, and avant-garde. It's very new wave, it's really tech-house, it's vaguely industrial…and no, that is not Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb singing. Actually it's Dieter Meier [himself a very interesting person], the conceptualist half of Yello, whose ideas are executed by self-claimed perfectionist Boris Blank, who reportedly has a library of over 100,000 samples he made from scratch.

Now in their 60s, Meier and Blank are still making music as Yello, and it's still just as good. Most of their current work is in soundtracks these days. Recently, they've worked with Audi and been the subject of a documentary. I hope I'm half as cool as they are when I'm their age.

"Bostich" is on their debut album Solid Pleasure.

Solid Pleasure on Amazon
Yello Official Website

The Handsome Devilz: Girlfriend In A Coma

What I love about the Handsome Devilz is that they are the least pretentious musicians I have ever met. They know they’re talented and have had success in other bands playing their own music, but they absolutely love The Smiths and Morrissey and dedicate a night a month covering their heroes at the Abbey Pub. Lisa and I are big fans of their night “The Queen Is Dead” and look forward to hosting their after show party on the last Thursday of every month. If you go to the show this week, remember that Atomic is free with a wristband or ticket stub from the Abbey and you’ll get to hear Guest DJ Arturo spin a Smiths/Morrissey set!

Electronic: Getting Away With It

In honor of the New Order tribute this week at Atomic, I present Electronic. Electronic served as a side-project of New Order lead singer Bernard Sumner. Joining forces with him was ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, both sharing a mutual love for both electronic (obviously) and house music.

This likely combo also dragged along Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys for the ride on their 1989 debut single "Getting Away with It." Rumor has it that the lyrics of the song were a parody on Morrissey's lyrics and public interviews, including the chorus: "However I look / It's clear to see / I love you more than you love me."

The first Electronic album of the same name is ranked highly among my favorite work of Sumner and is definitely worth pursuit if you are new to the band.

Hear this song and other New Order related tracks this week on Thursday, February 4th for Atomic at Neo... See you in the dark.

Electronic on Amazon

New Order: Tribute at Neo 2/4/10

I  still get excited every year when we do our New Order Tribute Night. It’s not only a chance for us to play a bunch of New Order that we don’t normally play at Atomic, but it’s now one of the few times a year that I indulge in the brilliance of one of the most influential bands over the last thirty years.

The two songs here represent two completely different New Order styles, but they share that sentimental touch that ties the history of the band together. "Dreams Never End" is from their debut album Movement. Musically, the album still had a Joy Division feel to it, but it laid the ground work that turned them into international pop stars later in the decade. It's one of the few New Order songs with Peter Hook on vocals. Listen to Dreams Never End (1982) and then The Cure’s Inbetween Days (1985). Trust me. The second song, "Here to Stay" was recorded for the 24 Hour Party People Soundtrack in 2002 and was dedicated to Martin Hannett (Joy Division/New Order producer), Rob Gretton (Joy Division/New Order manager), and Ian Curtis (Joy Division lead vocalist).

New Order Online [official fansite]

Allez Allez: Allez Allez

I got a text from the manager of the club the other day.
"Did you play Yeah Yeah Yeahs last night? Or the Ting Tings? Something you played late."
"I got it. Tegan and Sara..."

I knew someone was going to ask me this. If I didn't know better, I'd probably think it was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, too. Given the current resurgence of post-punk and new wave, this song doesn't necessarily sound like it was released in 1981. And I'm pretty sure that at least one of Karen O's personalities believes that she actually is Sarah Osborne*. Listen, though, and you'll hear the band's name chanted throughout the song. They want you to know that they're not Tegan and Sara, or Ting Tings, or Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or all that was to come after...

From their album African Queen, and also available on their Best Of [released just last year]

*A bit of '80s new wave trivia: Sarah Osborne left Allez Allez when she married the lead singer of Heaven 17.

Sleeper: Atomic

I've always thought it was appropriate that we named our new wave night after a song that was both new wave and punk. Blondie ties the two together well, and it fits the spirit of our events; "new wave" is more of a guide than a rule. Given our interpretation, it also seems fitting to post, as our first song, not the original but rather a newer cover.

Sleeper didn't really put much of a stamp on this song; play it simultaneously with the original, and they're almost note for note the same. You might ask what the point is (and I'm not entirely sure), but I like to imagine that, sometime while this was being recorded, they realized there was no point in screwing with a good thing.

Available on the Trainspotting Soundtrack

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