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  • Nature Is Healing on horsegiirL’s Debut Album (+ My Club Underground Set List 6/05/16)

    horsegiirL Nature Is Healing album cover
    horsegiirL Nature Is Healing album cover

    You might not expect to read this, but I’m way into Nature Is Healing, the new album from horsegiirL. If we’re IRL friends, though, you might think, yeah, Liz would totally be into something that sounds like the rave at an anime convention. And that’s true. But, there’s also a lot more to horsegiirL than DDR beats and pitched up vocals.

    Just to back up a second for anyone who is like, wtf are you talking about? HorsegiirL is a DJ/producer/singer known for wearing a horse mask, or horse prosthetic face makeup, who had a viral hit some time back called “My Barn My Rules.” She’s known for playing hard, fast dance music- roughly equivalent to what ‘90s ravers would know as hardcore or happy hardcore- and has been buzzy for a good while. She played Coachella in 2025, made guest appearances during Wet Leg and PinkPanthress’ sets at this year’s Coachella and will be opening for Robyn at the Forum in September. 

    Nature Is Healing is horsegiirL’s debut album. It dropped yesterday and it’s a genuinely strange and subversive album. Musically, it’s not really something you can categorize. You’ll have something like the single “That’s My Beach!” that brings together a summer party sound with a play on words to talk about respect for the beach or “Only the Best,” which satirizes materialism. Then there’s “An Apple a Day,” with its relentless kick drum and campy, Europop-style lyrics and vocals, and “Fun Guy Fungi,” an avant-garde, new age interlude. Last night, I tried out “Hands Hands Hands,” a synthpop tune with bit of a Kylie Minogue vibe and a touch of house percolating underneath. Hopefully, sometime soon, I’ll have the chance to play “Music Goes On” because I love how it morphs from euphoric rave track to Pure Moods jam. The sounds are all over the place on Nature Is Healing, but it makes sense as an album because the songs all seem to tied to this very My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic-meets-Nausicaä Valley of the Wind message about taking care of the planet and each other. Right now, it’s not too often that we see people making art that’s both light-hearted and serious, so, if you’re looking for something that hits those notes, I recommend checking out Nature Is Healing. 

    Last night’s set list from Club Underground is below. As always, the new-ish stuff links back to previous mentions on this blog.  In addition to horsegiirL, the other brand new song from last night is “Every Single Weekend” from The Avalanches and Jamie XX. 

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  • Mekons Reveal “Dark Underbelly” of Horror on New Dub Album, Horroble

    Photo courtesy of Mekons
    Photo courtesy of Mekons

    “War Economy,” from Mekons’ 2025 album Horror, is a quintessential post-punk jam with a funky pogo beat, urgent guitars and snarling vocals that rip through lyrics as relevant to the Thatcher/Reagan era as they are to today. When Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu) reconfigured the song for the newly released companion album Horroble (Mekons vs. Tony Maimone In Dub Conference) he teased out an even more ominous quality, with vocals echoing as if the past and present were joined in chorus to sing the same song. In a way, that’s what “War Economy” is about.

    “This excursion into Iran doesn’t make any sense, logically. They can’t even explain it,” Jon Langford says on a video call. It’s the first week of April and the Chicago-based Mekons co-founder is on vacation in Georgia. “Apparently, now we’re fighting to open the Straight of Hormuz, which was open before we started fighting the war.” 

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  • Interpol Nite at Club Underground, Belle and Sebastian + More Happening This Weekend in L.A.

    Interpol Nite Club Underground Los Angeles June 5, 2026

    Friday night is Interpol Nite at Club Underground with both floors of Grand Star Jazz Club open, so you’ll get your Interpol singles and deep cuts plus your indiepostpunkdarkwaveelectronewwave Underground favorites. Larry G. and I are DJing all night and the 21+ party starts at 9:30 p.m. Advance tickets are available now, but, wait, there’s more. 

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  • Beatique Mix June 2026

    For the June Beatique mix, I decided that I would just play music for an hour or so and post the results whether or not I flubbed any airbreaks or mixes. The whole point of that is that I think it’s really important to keep the imperfections as a sign that there’s a real person making stuff for no real reason other than to just do it. We’ve been in this creepy, brand-centric cycle of culture for so long, where everything we share is supposed to function as a commercial for the next hustle, and it’s really easy to forget that we should do things just for the hell of it. DJing is my job- or, one of my jobs- but I also listen to a lot music because I like it. And sometimes I work out sets at home because I want to know how to songs fit together. It’s kind of practice, but it’s also just kind of how my brain has worked since before I realized that DJing was a job that I could do. 

    Even though this was made on the fly, there’s a flow to it. A lot of the songs relate to each other in ways that won’t make much sense to anyone who isn’t me. The first part is mostly related to stories I recently wrote or am in the middle of writing. The second half is club stuff, although not all of the songs have made it into my club sets yet. None of them are transitions that I’ve practiced prior to recording this. I’m just kind of figuring them out here. (The Angelé/Justice song and the Slayyyter one I played in reverse order the previous night and, tbh, I prefer that flow.) This is all background stuff that nobody really cares about, but, whatever. We’re living in the dead internet era and I have no illusions that anyone is actually reading or listening. But, because it helps me think things through, I made an annotated set list with links back to references. 

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  • That HiNRG Madonna Remix From Peggy Gou and More of What You Heard at Club Underground 5/29/26

    Accidental photo from DJ booth at Club Underground on May 29, 2026
    Accidental photo from the DJ booth, 5/29/26. (Pic: Liz O.)

    I’ve never been super into Peggy Gou, but her “Energy” mix of Madonna’s new single, “I Feel So Free,” is incredible. It’s an ‘80s hiNRG throwback that works because it doesn’t sound like what Madonna was doing in that era, so it becomes this crazy speculative fiction mix, like imagine a 1984 where Pet Shop Boys and Madonna collabed and it was all produced by Bobby Orlando in between sessions with The Flirts and Divine. That’s what this Peggy Gou remix sounds like. Anyhow, the remix has been out for a couple weeks and I finally had the chance to play it last night. It was one of those now-or-never moments because I had just played “Blue Monday” and “Living on Video” and figured there wouldn’t be any other moment during the course of the night where a new banger that sounds like an old school jam would work. 

    Two other songs that I tried out for the first time last night are the Fcukers mix of the Angelé and Justice song “What You Want,” which worked really nicely in between new Slayyyter and old Daft Punk, and “Piss Artist,” which is honestly my favorite song on Gelli Haha’s album, Switcheroo. I love it because it’s the sort of NSFW song that you used to only hear in clubs- trust me when I tell you that “Fuck the Pain Away” and “Frank Sinatra” were not radio songs- and that’s a bit of a dying breed of music. 

    Anyhow, set list is below. Songs that are from the past two years are highlighted and (usually) link back to other references on the blog. 

    Next week is Interpol Nite at Club Underground. It’s going to be a vibe, so make plans to go. Advance tickets are online now. 

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  • Going to See Ladytron on Friday? Your Ticket Will Get You Into Club Underground for Free

    Club Underground Ladytron Afterparty Flyer

    This Friday, May 29, is darkwave night at Club Underground. I’ll be playing from open to close and you can check out this set list from last month’s darkwave night if you want an idea of what you *might* hear on the dance floor. Friday is also the night that Ladytron plays The Novo. For those of you who are going to the concert, stop by Underground afterwards and you can enter for free. Just show your concert ticket at the door. Otherwise, tickets for Underground are available online now and in person at the Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown when the doors open at 9:30 p.m. 

    Tuesday, June 2, is primary election day in California and Cal State L.A. put together a guide to voter guides, which is super helpful if you happen to have a very healthy distrust of everything you’ve read or seen lately. And now for this week’s recommendations. 

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  • Devlin and the Harm on the Sopranos Needle Drop That Inspired Debut Album

    Devlin and the Harm press photo by Natali Hopkins
    Photo: Natali Hopkins

    Devlin McCluskey had been on a Sopranos kick that sent him down a music rabbit hole. Remember the episode where Christopher relapses, with carnival lights twinkling and Fred Neil’s song “The Dolphins” playing in the background? “That set off me obsessively listening to that song and then trying to find more songs that sounded like that,” McCluskey says on a recent video call from Cathedral City, where the formerly L.A.-based musician now lives. 

    That Sopranos needle drop prompted McCluskey, previously of The Dead Ships and now of Devlin and the Harm, to dig into more sounds of the 1960s and 1970s that were unfamiliar to him. There was “Something on Your Mind” from the bluesy singer Karen Dalton and Scott Walker’s “The Old Man Is Back Again” and playlists loaded with Donovan tunes. “I’m the kind of person who will listen to one song over and over and over or start my morning listening to one song every morning for months and months,” says McCluskey. That was the case here.

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  • Imagine Peace with Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at The Broad

    War is Over If You Want It Yoko Ono and John Lennon The Broad Yoko Ono Music of the Mind Photo: Liz Ohanesian
    Inside Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at The Broad (Pic: Liz O.)

    Right before the press preview for Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind began, we were invited to add wishes to one of the olive trees in the plaza outside the entrance to The Broad. I picked up a small white tag and a pen and wrote a single world. Peace. Simple and inoffensive, I thought. Or, maybe not. Peace is complicated according to the politicians who say we need to bomb our way to it. And peace is offensive according to the people who get completely bent out of shape when you suggest that our tax money might be more wisely spent on— IDK— education and health care instead of constant war. But, I know for a fact that I wasn’t the first person who tied a hope for peace onto the Wish Trees for Los Angeles installation and it’s safe to assume that many more will do the same before the exhibition ends in October. 

    Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind, which began its tour at London’s Tate Modern two years ago, is a career retrospective of the avant-garde artist that takes visitors from the mid-20th century to the fairly recent past. The exhibition’s stop at The Broad marks Ono’s first ever museum solo show in Southern California, so it is a landmark event and one that shouldn’t be missed. 

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  • Depeche Mode x New Order Nite at Club Underground + What’s Happening Memorial Day Weekend in L.A.

    Depeche Mode New Order Club Underground 2026

    This Friday, May 22, is Depeche Mode x New Order Night at Club Underground. Both floors of Grand Star Jazz Club will be open and Larry G. and I will be on the decks all night. Party starts at 9:30 p.m. and it’s 21+. The Grand Star is located in Chinatown’s Central Plaza, next to the Bruce Lee Statue. 

    Plus, Underground is doing two room parties for the next few weeks, with Darkwave Nite happening again on May 29 and Interpol Nite on June 5. Advance tickets are available now. 

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  • The Tricky Thing About Vinyl DJ Gigs + Set List from Footsie’s 5/16/26

    Fontaines D.C. Romance on vinyl in DJ booth at Footsies in Los Angeles (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    The last song of the night at Footsies, “Favourite” by Fontaines D.C.

    It’s pretty rare that I play vinyl sets these days, but, last night, I packed up two record bags to play at Footsie’s for my pal Malvada’s party, Acid Rain. It was a good night. The rumor I heard while standing next to speakers was “blah blah blah punk show blah blah blah shut down” and so a bunch of people headed over to the bar instead. Footsie’s was packed, roughly, from 11 p.m. until the lights came on and the last note of the last song (Fontaines D.C. “Favourite”) played. 

    Vinyl is tricky to DJ for a lot of reasons, but the one reason people don’t really mention is that it’s a challenge to play a vinyl set that doesn’t sound retro. A lot of times, retro is the goal of the party, so it works. If you’re just playing a general alt/indie/whatever set on vinyl, that’s not the case. It happens, though, because used ‘80s records are still plentiful in L.A. shops and new vinyl releases, when you can find them, are pricy relative to what DJs actually make. (Also, there are people who get really rude when you don’t play KROQ’s greatest hits of 1986, but we’ll save that rant for another day.) 

    Point being, I usually only buy new releases on vinyl when they’ve become my personal favorites and when I feel like I can play them out at some DJ gigs. In the past few weeks, I picked up copies of the latest albums from ADULT., Dry Cleaning and Kneecap, so those all made it into last night’s set. 

    The upside of vinyl, at least for a DJ who has been around for a minute, is that you’ll inevitably come across some records that you haven’t played in a long time, or, maybe, ever. I pulled The Faint’s Danse Macabre for last night’s gig because, back when it came out, at least five songs off it were hits at the clubs where I DJed. It actually is an important album for the early 2000s, but one that’s been overlooked in the years since. The Bloc Party song in last night’s set, “Tulips,” is one I probably haven’t played since the ‘00s. IDK why. 

    Set list for last night is below. Songs from the past year or so link to other references here on Beatique. 

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