SBTRKT and Cubic Zirconia @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 11.1.11

Aaaaaaaarooooooooon! and Sampha 

Truth be told, we get blasted into hyperspace quite often at shows. Our addiction to this feeling is what keeps us attending concerts despite ourselves. So after a night of mind-melting dance madness hosted by SBTRKT we had a change of heart: there's no use in planning to skip shows and save money next year.
Hell, we can't even sit out on an opener when planned if the music moves us.

NYC's own Cubic Zirconia's got us up off the floor and shimmying with timbale-happy disco house bangers. Once we caught wind of what was happening on stage, the sassy singer Tiombe Lockhart won our approval. Fearless and sensual, it was difficult to keep your eyes off her. She reminded us of Buraka Som Sistema's resident dancing queen Blaya but left much booty shaking to be desired. We'll chalk it up to her dress being too tight for her to get down harder than she did. Shit did get dark real quick for the last track, a rocking finale with Lockhart rightfully screaming her ass off. It was totally out of left for CZ virgins like ourselves but cool all the same.

Our own cool was lost upon catching the dynamic duo that makes up SBTRKT live set up their stations. Seeing Aaron Jerome and Sampha slay at this summer's MoMA PS1 WarmUp did little to prepare us for the craziness of a proper headlining show. A short set sandwiched between acts in broad daylight was great but there's a different quality to the energy of headlining the night and we couldn't be more psyched about the possibilities.

After a brief introduction from Mr. Jerome, the guys went head first into "Heatwave" while we plunged into insanity from the sound. The sold-out crowd moved to tricked out versions of songs from SBTRKT's out-of-this-world self titled debut. Sampha's sweet yet melancholy honey-rich voice got the best of us during "Trails of the Past" and "Something Goes Right," grooving as we wept inside. The particularly awesome Drake mix of "Wildfire" and a sick extended mix of our favorite "Pharaohs" (which they didn't play the first time we saw them) were no cause for tears but a dream come true, it was absolutely mental. Also thrown in the loop was new-to-our-ears title track from the equally euphoric Step in Shadows EP. I kicked myself after listening to this live since the EP has been sitting in my computer for weeks, untouched. Currently it's all I listen to. Snail said it's better we didn't listen to the EP before or we'd whine about how they didn't play more of it. She had a point.

All night, Aaron jumped from drums to theremin to mixers and laptop like a mad scientist, frenetically fetching the right test tubes for this surreal dance experiment he and Sampha were conducting on the audience. The result was a hallucinogenic experience that left us all crazy for more. After a stunning encore with "Never, Never" and a purchasing of the vinyl, we left on a high. Refusing to believe it was over we were forced to ask "Where's the afterparty?" To our delight they're to return for Phase II of the experiment in March and we're counting the days! --Cheep

Photo from SBTRKT's Seattle date by David Lichterman

PS1 WarmUp: TURRBOTAX® DJs/Bronze/FaltyDL/SBTRKT/Four Tet 7.9.11

Four Tet - Photo by Loren Wohl (via Pitchfork)

Our first outdoor dancey pari of the summer this Saturday was quite the beasting affair.

Snail had to stick around longer than we planned reporting on the tragic murder of Facundo Cabral, so we arrived at the museum fashionably late to the final beats of Bronze's far out primitive-sounding madness. Weaving through the number of freaks shakin' it in the sunshine, we found a good place on the stairs to nestle our booties and save our energies for the potential craziness of Four Tet's set.

With FaltyDL's sweet mix in the background, we bobbed our heads and engaged in our usual crowd watching, picking out the best and (laughing at) the worst body movers on the floor. Among the pelvic thrusters, ravers, giraffes, and the bouncy-kneed gringos rose a very special dancer: the bearded dude with the maritime hat and devil horns icon pin. This guy not only blew our minds with his unique moves but also with his inability to give an effing shit. Not since "Sweatpants" at Modeselektor, had we witnessed this kind of grace and non-fuckery. He worked the crowd and inspired other crazies to follow his lead, but no one could step to him. We would've given that whole crowd for clones of him moving at the same time, forever, he was that solid.

SBTRKT hit the stage soon to an even more densely packed audience,  complete with an African tribal mask wielding fan. It was exciting to listen many of the tracks from the LDN producer's terrific debut full length bumping into the warm afternoon air and live drums in the mix. After scoping out a decent spot on top of the stairs near the stage and the booming speakers, we caught a glimpse of SBTRKT and Sampha, masked as expected, finishing up a super-short set and got quite distracted when Kieran Hebden came on stage to set up his gear. There we were, ogling at these dudes-- what happens when we're in the presence of greatnesses we have crushes on. When SBTRKT was done, the mask came off to reveal a royal hotness and it was understood why the man really covers up that face of his: he wants his work to cause the boners not his beautiful face. Fair enough, at least now we've seen it.

After missing Herr Hebden inaugurate the Mr. Sunday parties Memorial Day weekend, we were long overdue for an eye and ear pleasing via Four Tet and this second chance to see our boy DJ outdoors was not to be passed up.  We were nervous, blind to what he might spin, hoping he'd play his collab with Burial and Thom Yorke "Ego" and his Rocketnumbernine remix of "Matthew and Toby."

For an hour and a half he ripped it up -- in flip-flops nonetheless. His own "Love Cry" opened a sick mix of jazz, reggae, hip-hop and electro joints including tracks by Caribou, Nas, P. Diddy, and LFO. He seemed to have played everything under the sun but the songs we wanted... womp. No matter, despite this small sadness, we shook what our mamas gave us as Kieran hit it out the park, as per usual. The frenzied masses behind us affirmed, going mental, even crowd surfing!

Danced to sweaty and tired hungry messes, we took ourselves to a local diner for some grub before heading back into Manhattan for some Pinkberry and the trip home. Super psyched that our first summer dance party went off without a hitch and so many more are on the horizon. Tonight we're going to be living the dream and bringing on the heatstroke with Ratatat, Omar Souleyman and Black Pus at Central Park Summerstage. IT WILL BE GRAND!

Check out more photos of the party here