If your taste in music lives at the intersection of 1980s alternative, 1990s Britpop and 2000s indie- and if we know each other IRL, there’s a good chance it is- then this is your week for new music. Heavenly just dropped their first full-length album in 30 years! Plus, Voxtrot has released their first new album since the MySpace era. And, of course, you know Gorillaz are back. Reviews for all three albums , plus the latest album from Jupe Jupe, a Seattle band who really gets why people still love the new wave bangers, are below.
“The Happy Dictator” is the first single from The Mountain, by Gorillaz, out on February 27, 2026
I am really excited for The Mountain, the new album from Gorillaz that’s due at the end of month. Three of the album’s already-released singles made it into my Gorillaz x Daft Punk set upstairs at Club Underground last night. The set list is below and, as always, songs from the past year or so are highlighted and link back to the artist’s tag on this blog. Thanks for dancing!
It’s time for another theme night at Club Underground and, on Friday, February 6, we’ll be bringing back one of my personal favorites— Gorillaz x Daft Punk Night! Both floors of the Grand Star Jazz Club will be open with DJ Larry G. and me, Liz O., playing all night. On the first floor, you’ll hear songs from Gorillaz and Daft Punk, plus indie, Britpop, post-punk, synth and electro dance. Second floor is Gorillaz, Daft Punk, post-punk, electro, new wave, darkwave, goth, synthpop and dance. You know this is going to be a good one too, since Gorillaz has a new album, The Mountain, coming out later this month, five songs from which are already out now. (You may have already heard “The Happy Dictator” at Underground.) Tickets are available now on Eventbrite and Dice, so get yours now.
“The Happy Dictator” is the first single from The Mountain, by Gorillaz, out on February 27, 2026
“The Happy Dictator” is an earworm. On the few occasions that I’ve been able to play the Gorillaz song at a club, I’ve woken up the following day with it stuck in my head. This morning is no different. I played it early at Underground last night and now it’s lodged in my brain, with Damon Albarn and Russell Mael trading off vocals on a loop.
I don’t plan sets at all. I just drop 24+ hours of music on my laptop, sort it by BPM and then figure it all out as the night goes on. So, it’s only in hindsight that I can say that last night’s set at Underground was probably influenced by being at the anti-ICE protest/march in downtown Los Angeles earlier in the day. “The Happy Dictator,” “Police on My Back,” (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang,” “Shout to the Top,” “Tubthumping,” blah blah blah. Whatever is stuck in my head makes it into the set and then the set gets stuck in my head. That’s a DJ brain for you.
Anyhow, thanks to those of you who made it out to Underground last night. It was a blast as always. See you next Friday for Gorillaz x Daft Punk night! Set list is below. New-ish songs link back to previous mentions here.
Heaven 17 “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”
Over the weekend, I realized that it’s been a few months since I made a mix, so this is a quick set with some dance tunes and some rock tunes. It’s mostly new music, but I threw in a couple oldies that fit my mood. There’s no real adherence to genre because that’s not how I listen to music at home. All of the artist names on the set list below link to where they’ve been previously mentioned on Beatique.
It took a while to get this recording on to Mixcloud, but you can now hear the first hour of my set from Club Underground for Gorillaz x Daft Punk night, recorded live at Grand Star Jazz Club on August 11, 2023.
I’m back at Underground on Friday, August 7 with Larry G. This week, it’s Gorillaz x Daft Punk night and both floors of Grand Star Jazz Club will be open. We’ll be playing our favorite tracks from both Gorillaz and Daft Punk alongside a mix of indie dance, post-punk, synthpop and more. Tickets are available now on Eventbrite.
It’s probably pointless to write about Cracker Island, the latest album from Gorillaz, almost a month after it was released. It’s already been heavily reviewed. It’s a Billboard chart hit. If you’re into the long-running collaboration between Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett and a revolving cast of star musicians and producers, you probably already have Cracker Island.
Still, I’m going to write a couple paragraphs about Cracker Island here just in case you missed it. After all, it is very easy for the albums you want to hear to get lost in the algorithms.
After the algorithm decided that I wanted to see little more than Madonna clips for virtually an entire weekend, I lost some of the enthusiasm for Confessions II. It was overkill and I resent feeling like I’m being manipulated by my fucking phone. On Friday morning, though, I gave the whole album a listen. Then I bought it and listened a second time and a third. I think I’m on the fourth listen as I start to write this. It’s good. Really good, but maybe not in the way the album’s title to leads you to believe.
Confessions II is a real sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor. It’s not a rehash of the 2005 hit album, but rather a continuation of the work that Madonna and Stuart Price began some twenty-odd years ago. So, it’s an album of club music that’s about the club and about life. It’s incredibly smart and thoughtfully made, the opposite of the slop that overwhelms us on the daily. That might be part of the point. (Speaking of slop, ignore all the hype clips and watch the full video of Madonna’s tour of her London home in Vogue Italia. It’s worth 10 minutes of your time.)
Back to Confessions II. It’s a heavily referential album, both to Madonna’s back catalogue and to other dance music artists. It’s also an album-as-a-memoir, with Madonna delving into stories from her early years in New York, her romances and her relationship with eldest daughter, Lourdes Leon. The music history and personal history come together on “Danceteria,” which is the song that I played at Club Underground last night. It’s an important song because all the song’s musical references, as well as the names she drops throughout the song, are foundational to what we know as alternative and club culture now. This is the album’s, “Listen to Mother” moment.
I’ll probably have more to say about Confessions II in time, but, my first impression is that this is an incredibly strong Madonna album, easily up there with Confessions on a Dance Floor, Ray of Light and Music in the hierarchy of Madonna albums. Get it. Listen to all one hour and four minutes of it. No skips.
And now onto last night’s set list from Club Underground. New-ish songs (released in 2025/26) are in bold and link back to previous mentions here on Beatique.
If anyone reading this is into martial arts flicks, go see The Furious, which is in theaters right now. I caught it last night at Alamo Drafthouse and it’s a wild ride. The basic premise is that a mute handyman is chasing after the men who kidnapped his daughter and joins forces with a guy who is trying to find his wife, a journalist who went missing while reporting on a local kidnapping ring. The two vigilantes fight their way through clubs and warehouses, revealing a conspiracy involving, nefarious local elites along the way. The fight choreography is tremendous, the gore is artful and the few jump-scare moments make sense with the plot. And, just when you think the movie is about to end, an epic final boss battle unfolds. Plus, the score, a mix of instrumental metal and Prodigy-style hard electronic compositions, is an excellent complement to the action. (There’s also a new Captain Murphy/Flying Lotus track on the soundtrack that is out now.)
As for DJ gigs, my next one is coming up on Wednesday, June 24. I’ll be playing Green Galactic’s 33rd anniversary party, which is happening at LP Vinyl Bar in Hollywood from 8 p.m. until midnight. Yes, I’ll be playing records. No, I don’t know which ones yet. Stop by and find out.
For this weekend and early next week, here are my recommendations.
