Radiohead / FourTet & Rocketnumbernine / Falty DL & Pearson Sound @ Roseland Ballroom 09.28.11

Photo by Erez Avissar

The sudden announcement of Radiohead's two-night stint at Roseland Ballroom made our hearts skip a beat. This near-coronary doubled in intensity when Mr. Kieran Hebden dropped the news about the complete first-class line up: Falty DL, Pearson Sound, Rocketnumbernine and himself were also on the way.

Just a year ago, we fell in love with Rocketnumbernine. Four Tet's remix of "Matthew & Toby" and their Gilles Peterson session on heavy rotation led to daydreams of seeing them live. A little show some place magical like Glasslands would do. Instead, these Londoners were set to make their big-city debut opening for Radiohead. This was not to be missed, even if fighting against overloaded servers and rabid fans for tickets was set to be a bloodbath. We lost the battle, leaving the W.A.S.T.E. presale and the Ticketmaster fiasco empty-handed. The war, however, was won. Thanks to an selfless act of kindness -- one impossible to pay forward -- the universe granted us a way in for the first night.

Typically, we arrived early to secure spots close to the stage. Around 7:30 p.m., Falty DL, the lone New Yorker in this band of Brits, made us proud sharing DJ duties (and blueberries) with Pearson Sound, the only man left for our ears to discover that night. The two played an array of danceable madness including favorites by Caribou, Daphni, and Hudson Mohawke. It was heavenly but the crowd seemed difficult to sway, some growing restless as the set drew near 9 p.m. Anxiety even prompted a tiny crew to boo, to which a Philip Seymour Hoffman look-alike in the surrounding RH army replied, "That's not cool, man!" and cheered to make up for it. Respect! Here, anyone indulging the rude and impatient quickly got the axe.

Rocketnumbernine and Four Tet by Dana Yavin

When Four Tet and Rocketnumbernine came on stage our loud cheers for these relatively unknown guys sparked the curiosity of the people around us. They inquired about them and dutifully we said to expect sheer brilliance. "Matthew & Toby" filled the space -- a dream manifesting before us -- as the trio worked their instruments, exchanging glances and grins. "Steel Drummer" took a whole new pulse live, generating a roar of approval from the crowd. Our newfound buddy, Frank, squealed "This is the best opening act for Radiohead I'd ever seen!" (11 times garners the man indisputable cred, yes?) YES!.

Radiohead by Erez Avissar

Left in high spirits, everyone savored the anticipation for Radiohead, united in surrealism. The band came out to a scream-fest, opening with a beautifully-arranged "Bloom" from The King of Limbs, a layered record that becomes an engulfing beast live. Since hearing the tweaked tracks via Nigel Godrich's "From the Basement," "Saturday Night Live" and "The Colbert Report," it was expected they'd mix TKOL up at Roseland with Mr. Clive Deamer. Of course, no HD video could compare to the energy of tracks like "Little By Little,"  "Feral" and "Lotus Flower" thrown in our faces live with a hyperactive light show.

As the set progressed, each song inspired gasps, mad sing-alongs, hand-holding and sighs. We were blessed with a breathless crowd during piano songs like "Codex" (!!!) -- this silence broken only to collectively shush a single "woo!" after the song began -- and "The Daily Mail." Ed's whole 'fuck yeah!' demeanor as he rocked out to the erratic part was a huge highlight of the night.

Same goes for one of our ultimate favorites, "Myxomatosis" because as Thom said "it is fucking cool," and added to the current sick-of-all-the-inhumanity vibe in New York City at the moment. We yelled the shit out of it, dancing without a care. The equally all-too-relevant "Bodysnatchers" was a thing of literal goosebump biz. Like back in the day at All Points West we went nuts almost losing our necks, hands holding tight while shaking our good frames and screaming the lyrics hardcore.

Jonny Greenwood by maryw.

When "Subterranean Homesick Alien" kicked off, another roar crashed forward. Absent from their sets since 2003, many hoped to get this little gem from OK Computer. It ended up sounding like the best pop song ever... for a planet where good music rules the radio. "Everything In Its Right Place" felt cathartic, opening with an homage, a few lines of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" before breaking into the tune we've come to adopt as a bit of a mantra. "Morning Mr. Magpie" was a surprisingly electric rager.

After an end-of-show fake out, the dudes changed into something a little more comfortable. Colin repped with a Caribou Tee whilst Ed settled for a jacket removal and a significant unbuttoning of his shirt. There's no such thing as trying to be sexy with Ed O'Brien, the man is a natural. As Stephen Colbert would say: "Why British?"

Cheep shed some tears while singing "immerse your soul in love" during "Street Spirit," confirming that even Thom forgetting the lyrics because he's "going senile," took nothing from the power of this track.  Not ready to say goodbye, our time was forced to a close with "Nude," its falsettos elevating us like a dandelion disintegrating out into space.

With exhaustion creeping in by the minute, we walked away in silence with full hearts on fire, depleting energy and disbelief robbing us of a proper way to vocally express the insurmountable gratitude we have for this night.

Dedicated to Tom & Ben Page, with Love & Respect-- C&S

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

Modeselektor/Falty DL @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 9.26.10

Modeselektor always keeps it fresh.

The Cheep and the Snail have seen the German producers 4 times and each time has been a different kind of party.

We walked into a techno trip out about 10pm with FaltyDL behind the laptop. We assumed our positions on the balcony and looked for characters in the crowd. There were your basic dysrhythmic dancers that garnered a giggle or two but not one topped our darling hand twirler Sweatpants. To our sadness he did not make it to this shindig as far as our eyes could see. So our only entertainment proved to be Falty's twitchy arm freak-outs during specific beat drops and break downs. Who says DJs are boring to watch?