I’ve long been a fan of Modeselektor, but when I think about the German DJ/production duo, the one release that always pops into my head is their 2009 installment for Get Physical’s Body Languageseries. Somewhere in the last 20 minutes of the mix, a space techno woosh morphs into Animal Collective’s song “My Girls.” It was completely unexpected and made me fall for a song from a band that I was otherwise ambivalent about. The best DJs do that and Modeselektor are still amongst those I would consider the very best.
Cover of International, the final album from Saint Etienne
At a certain point, getting stuck at JFK isn’t so bad. By midnight, the crowds are gone. After 2 a.m., most of the few travelers left are sleeping. I don’t know how they do it. The chairs at the gates are uncomfortable and I can’t bring myself to stretch out on carpet that people have been trampling over all day. So, I pop in my earbuds and finish an assignment that’s due on Monday while bobbing my head along to the Bob Vylan and Kneecap albums on my laptop. Then I remember that Saint Etienne’s latest, and last, album, International, came out on Friday, so I look it up, buy a digital copy, and tune in.
International is a perfect finale for the long-running, British indie pop trio and, really, the ideal music for this very strange night. Saint Etienne have spent the past 35 years making music, and creating an image, that blurs the past, present and future. Their breakthrough single, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” was a cover of a Neil Young song reconfigured with a Burt Bacharach-meets-Stone Roses sensibility. From there, Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell made mod pop and house jams, flirted with Eurodance and experimental electronic music and played with psychedelic and ambient sounds, all the while showing a real reverence for both the most commercial and underground histories of 20th and 21st century music. As International is an intentional final album, it draws from all of the influences that have appeared in Saint Etienne’s music since the dawn of the 1990s.
IDK how much I should explain here, but I’m just going to assume that we don’t have the same timeline and don’t hear all the same music in our scrolls. Confidence Man is an Australian dance-pop group with a weirdo KLF sensibility. If you go to my DJ gigs, you’ve probably heard “Angry Girl” many, many times, often with The Rapture “House of Jealous Lovers.” Jade Thirlwall is a British singer who I don’t really know much about outside of the Wikipedia entry I read. Last month, they released a song called “Gossip” that’s fire. It’s very Basement Jaxx-meets-Princess Superstar. I finally got around to playing it last week at Underground and it did pretty well. This week, it did even better.
Most of the new tunes turned up early in the set: Alison Goldfrapp “Find Xanadu,” Pulp “Got to Have Love,” Ora the Molecule “Nobody Cares,” etc. I don’t even know what really constitutes “new” anymore, but we’ll save that rant for another day. Thanks to Larry G. for having me play Underground last night and thanks to everyone who hit the dance floor, especially those of you who stuck it out until the end of “My Girls.” Set list is below.
Last week, Hunx and His Punx released their first new album in over a decade. Walk Out on This World is an album several years in the making and the backstory is marked by tragedy, including the death of bassist Shannon Shaw’s fiancé in 2022 and, more recently, the Eaton Fire, which devastated Seth Bogart’s neighborhood. You might think that would make for a somber album, but Hunx and His Punx don’t play like that. Walk Out on This World is real, an album that acknowledges that life is rough without dropping the beat.
Album cover of The New Eve Is Rising by The New Eves
Earlier this month, I read a review of The New Eves album The New Eve Is Rising, which referenced The Slits and The Wicker Man, on Bandcamp and promptly bought the album based on my love of post-punk and the original 1973 The Wicker Man, which is the only version of the film that matters and, yes, I’m including that overhyped waste-of-time Midsommer when I say that. But, back to The New Eves. The album is killer and I’ve been wanting to play “Highway Man,” but haven’t because it seemed like the first play should be for a very specific crowd. That brings us to Underground on Friday night. I was playing upstairs. It wasn’t packed or anything, but there were a handful of goths in flowing skirts dancing to “Christine,” the Siouxsie and the Banshees song, and, I thought, if anybody is going to get The New Eves, it’s them. So, I played the song and every single one of them stayed on the dance floor for the whole three minutes and 43 seconds.
I finally got around to playing Confidence Man’s new track, “Gossip,” as well. It did pretty well and someone came up to the booth and asked about it, which is a good sign. The same person then mentioned a mashup that I played way back in the day that was Ladytron and Kylie Minogue. I love that one, but, I said, I literally only have it on vinyl. There’s a story behind that record too that I’ve been meaning to post, but you’ll have to wait for it.
Anyhow, the set list is below. New/ish tunes are in bold.
It’s been a minute since I’ve DJed at The Mermaid, long enough where I hadn’t seen how the corner near the DJ booth now looks like an underwater cave (see pic above). It’s super cute. Anyhow, last night was an open format set, so you heard everything from new Alison Goldfrapp and Tyler the Creator to oldies from Brenton Wood and Creedence Clearwater Revival to everything in between. Set list is below.
If you’ve been paying attention to the singles that Alison Goldfrapp has dropped this year, then you have an idea of what to expect from the singer’s new album, Flux. It’s a pop-minded album that does, at least at times, recall her work with Goldfrapp, the duo that bears her name. Still, “Reverberotic” and “Find Xanadu” aren’t the only jams on this album and, if you’re a fan of those two songs in particular, definitely get Flux in your queue asap.
Flux is Goldfrapp’s second solo album. Two years ago, she released The Love Invention, a dreamy disco collection that was one of my favorite albums of 2023. With Flux, the sound is a little more rooted in the singer’s legacy while maintaining a contemporary sound.
Jeffrey Runnings’ final solo album is out now on Independent Project Records (Pic: Liz O.)
In the extensive liner notes by Camilla Aisa, Jeffrey Runnings says that it wasn’t his intention to release the music that he was recording on a thrifted 8-track machine. But, in a tragic turn of events, Piqued would be Runnings final solo album. Last fall, the musician, known for his work as bassist and singer of For Against, learned that he had advanced stage cancer. Over the course of the next few months, he was able to finish up the collection of songs and work with Independent Project Records, who had previously released For Against albums, to begin approving the artwork. Runnings died on March 3, 2025 at the age of 61. Piqued was released posthumously in July. It is both a testament to Runnings’ creativity and a loving tribute to the musician.
View from the DJ booth: Vilevo live at Nocturno (Pic: Liz O.)
Vilevo played live last night at Nocturno and their set was fire. I watched from the DJ booth, both above and behind the stage, so I really could only see the backs of the musicians, but I saw the way the crowd lit up when they played and that was really cool. Anyhow, I bought their album, Recopilación, this morning and am listening to it right now. Give it a listen when you have a chance.
Alice Glass dropped a new single a couple weeks ago, “Catch and Release,” and it slayed last night. Instant banger. You’ll definitely be hearing this more in the coming weeks/months. Other new tunes in the set include “My Love” from Lebanon Hanover, which turned up pretty early in the set, plus “Everything We Thought We Knew” from N8NOFACE and “Rearrange” by Sextile, both of which I started playing at Underground in the past few weeks. Then there are the new-ish songs that I’ve played at Nocturno previously this summer, but are definitely getting more people out on the dance floor now: French Police “Sugar Killer,”Mareux “Nonstop Romance” and Ultra Sunn “Wrong Floor.” Set list is below.
There’s one new song that I really wanted to play last night, but couldn’t fit it into the set, so you’ll have to wait a few weeks until I’m back at Underground. Other than that, thanks for dancing and here’s the set list. Anything new-ish is linked to a related post or, if there is no related post, a YouTube clip.
