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Category: The Playlist

  • Everything You Heard Upstairs at Club Underground’s New Year’s Eve Party

    View from the stage upstairs at Grand Star Jazz Club for Club Underground's New Year's Eve Party 2025/26 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    View from the stage upstairs at Grand Star Jazz Club for Club Underground’s New Year’s Eve Party 2025/26 (Pic: Liz O.)

    Last night, my friend asked if I had a song for the new year. I didn’t. I thought about it, though, and answered Kneecap “H.O.O.D.,” more for the band than for the specific song. They’re the group I would consider the MVP of 2025, one that has had a lot of bullshit thrown their way just for speaking out against the genocide that so much of the world has watched transpire on their phones. Yet, they’ve stuck to their principles and refuse to be silenced. They’re the real deal in a time of fakers and I appreciate that so much. That’s the kind of energy we need this year. 

    Anyhow, I played upstairs at the Grand Star for Underground’s New Year’s Eve party. Super cool crowd. Thank you all for being there, especially on a rainy L.A. night. It was great to overhear someone in the crowd saying, “I love this song…it’s Confidence Man” when “Gossip” came on. Even better to hear from people who came up to the booth because you were excited to hear “Juicebox” or “¿Porqué te vas?” or some other song that I can’t recall right now. Hope to see more of all of you in 2026. Set list is below. The 2025 songs link to other mentions on this blog. 

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  • Everything You Heard at Club Underground on December 26, 2025

    Bruce Lee statue in Los Angeles Chinatown Central Plaza after 2025 Christmas storm, December 26, 2025 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    If you’re ever like, “I can’t find the Grand Star!” just look for Bruce Lee. (Pic: Liz O. 12/26/25)

    Last night at Underground might have been the first time ever that I’ve played “Friday I’m in Love” at a club. The reason is that, yesterday, news broke that Perry Bamonte of The Cure died. He had been playing with the band live in recent years and is in The Show of a Lost World (a terrific concert film that you really must see). However, his tenure with the band in the studio was from 1992-2004, so any song I played in tribute would likely have to come from Wish and, really, it would have to be “Friday I’m in Love.”   That’s just how it works out. 

    Anyhow, the Christmas storm finally ended right before the club opened and it was great to see people out and about. Thanks so much for dancing last night. Club Underground is on Wednesday next week for New Year’s Eve. Both floors of the Grand Star will be open. Larry G. and I are on the decks all night. It will be a good time. NYE at Underground always sells out, so be sure to get your tickets in advance. 

    Get tickets for Club Underground’s New Year’s Eve Party at Grand Star Jazz Club

    Set list from last night is below. All 2025 releases are linked to other references to the band on this wee blog. 

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  • Best of 2025 + More of What You Heard at Klub Nocturno 12/20/25

    Crowd shot in new wave darkwave room at Klub Nocturno in Los Angeles on December 20, 2025 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    View from the DJ booth in the new wave/darkwave room at Klub Nocturno on 12/20/25

    I’m writing this on Sunday morning and the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, so IDK what to say except that last night at Klub Nocturno was a vibe. I DJed alongside Milagro in new wave/darkwave room. Played a few of my favorite tunes from this year, like “Women Respond to Bass” by Sextile, “Catch and Release” from Alice Glass, Pixel Grip’s “Reason to Stay” and “Everything We Thought We Knew” by N8NOFACE. People danced. Good times were had. Anyhow, set list is below. The newer songs (past year or so) are in bold and link to other mentions here on the blog. Wishing you all happy holidays!

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  • Ultravox Brings Together New Remixes, Minimal Synth B-Sides and More on The Collection Deluxe Edition

    Ultravox The Collection deluxe edition cover

    Back in 1984, Ultravox released The Collection, a best of compilation that brought together 14 singles released over the course of four years. If you’re new to the band, The Collection is a good place to start because it contains the jams of the band’s Midge Ure era, like “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes,” “Reap the Wild Wind” and, of course, “Vienna.” It was my first Ultravox record, pulled from a used bin in a San Fernando Valley record store for $2.99 back in the late 1990s. Last week, a deluxe edition of The Collection was released and, if you’re already a fan, you probably will want this in your collection. 

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  • Best of 2025: Top 10 Bangers

    New wave vs. darkwave room at Klub Nocturno, Catch One Los Angeles Saturday March 8 (Photo: DJ Liz O.)
    You may have danced to some of these songs in the new wave vs. darkwave room at Klub Nocturno (Pic: Liz O.)

    After writing this list of the top 10 bangers for 2025, it’s clearer to me that the sound of the dance floor is changing. The songs that have been working well at the clubs are the ones that don’t follow the strict vibe code of Spotify playlists. Instead, we have “northern soul, but make it Britpop,” “post-punk by way of Piper at the Gates of Dawn” and “Irish grime for the moshpit.” None of those songs would make sense together on an algorithmically-generated playlist, but they all made it into the DJ sets I played at Underground just this past Friday. 

    At least amongst those who regularly leave the house, there are still people who want to dance to music that they don’t already know, that doesn’t hold nostalgic value and doesn’t quite fit into the narrow parameters of genre. That gives me a bit of hope in the midst of the new AI era of music that has been thrust upon us. 

    All of the songs here are ranked by how I’ve seen crowds respond to them at my own gigs, primarily at Underground, where I’m DJing on New Year’s Eve, and/or in the darkwave room at Nocturno, where I’ll be playing on December 20. The only “metrics” I’ve used here are eyeballing the size of the crowd and the enthusiasm of their dancing. TBH, enthusiasm is more important than size, so if there are fewer people dancing, but they’re screaming out every word of the song, that matters. Anyhow, what I’m getting at is that I trust my ears and eyes more than any music or social media platform that is designed to be gamed.

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  • Kneecap, Pulp, Confidence Man and More of What You Heard at Underground on 12/05/25

    Kneecap "H.O.O.D." (2025 Remix) cover
    Frankly, I’m impressed by how many of you know all the words to “H.O.O.D.”

    Thank you to everyone who made it out to Underground last night and for all the birthday wishes. I’ve always been pretty low maintenance about birthdays just because mine competes with Christmas parties (and competed with finals back when I was in school). So, I learned the best thing to do is book a DJ gig the weekend of my birthday and say, “I’m playing here, if you want to come by and say hi.” I’m always pleasantly surprised by who I see. Anyhow, outside of this playlist and one really short and shaky video for the ‘gram, I don’t have much documentation, so you’ll just have to trust me when I saw it was a vibe. 

    As usual, the set list is below. Songs released in 2025 are in bold and link back to other references to the band on Beatique. And, before I sign off, tickets for New Year’s Eve at Club Underground are already available on Dice and Eventbrite. Two floors of indie, Britpop, darkwave, post-punk dancing all night. Get your tickets asap. 

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  • Habibi Funk Gets Into the ‘Bourj Hammoud Groove’ with Ara Kekedjian Collection

    Cover of Habibi Funk 033 Bourj Hammoud Groove by Ara Kekedjian title is written on cover in Armenian alphabet

    From its first note, “Mini, Midi, Maxi,” the opening track off Bourj Hammoud Groove, Habibi Funk’s new Ara Kekedjian retrospective, will transport you to another time and place. You don’t know where in the world you are, but it’s somewhere around the end of the 1960s and you’re feeling very jet set as you shimmy against psychedelic lights in your Paco Rabanne fit while smoking a really long cigarette. The band is giving Jacques Dutronc energy with a song that falls somewhere in between “Mini, Mini, Mini” and “Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi.” You don’t really understand the lyrics, but it doesn’t matter. Vibe transcends language at the global disco-a-go-go. 

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  • Chin Up Buttercup, Austra Dropped a New Album and It’s Dance Floor Magic

    Austra Chin Up Buttercup album cover

    If there is one song on Chin Up Buttercup that summarizes this fifth full-length album from Austra, it’s “The Hopefulness of Dawn.” The six-minute epic opens with a cavernous, echoing intro that plays up the ethereal quality of Katie Stelmanis’ voice. Then, at about two-and-a-half minutes into the song, the raver synths kick in, rising with her voice as a new rhythm overtakes the song. Stelmanis’ name-checks Ray of Light as an influence and, indeed, “The Hopefulness of Dawn” does play out like Austra’s twist on the title track from Madonna’s era-defining 1998 album in that it’s an ecstatic, almost spiritual, slice of dance music. 

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  • New Saint Etienne and Everything Else You Heard at Underground on 11/14/25

    Saint Etienne International album cover
    Cover of International, the final album from Saint Etienne

    Had been meaning to get “Save It for a Rainy Day,” from the latest Saint Etienne album, into my club sets for a good minute. It was sort of appropriate that the first time I played it out was at Underground last night, on account of the rain and all. The whole album, International, is fantastic. It’s also Saint Etienne’s final album, so do pick it up when you have a chance. 

    I forgot to take pics. It’s okay, we can use our imagination. Shout out to the handful of people who were on the dance floor for nearly the entire night and to the Kneecap fans who know all the words to “H.O.O.D.” I was impressed. Set list is below. The new-ish stuff is in bold and links to other mentions of the artists on this site. 

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  • Ultra Sunn, French Police, N8NOFACE and Everything Else You Heard in the New Wave/Darkwave Room at Nocturno 11/01/25

    Crowd shot from DJ booth in new wave vs darkwave room at Klub Nocturno in Los Angeles November 1, 2025 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
    View from the DJ booth in the new wave/darkwave room at Klub Nocturno, 11/01/25 (Pic: Liz O.)

    It’s Halloween weekend and the Dodgers won the World Series a handful of minutes before the club opened. Needless to say that the vibe was strong at Klub Nocturno on Saturday night. I was in the DJ booth in the new wave vs. darkwave all night and, even when the room was at its most densely packed, people seemed to be in a really good mood. Ex Lover played live and I enjoyed their set. 

    There wasn’t anything extremely new in my DJ sets last night, but I was happy to see more people out on the dance floor for the new-ish songs from Ultra Sunn, French Police, N8NOFACE and Alice Glass. Set list is below. All 2025 releases are in bold and link back to previous mentions on Beatique. 

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