Nosferatu welcoming you to the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Klub Nocturno on Friday, January 17, 2025
If New Wave vs. Darkwave were a real battle, IDK who would have won. Last night, in the Loft at Catch One, where I DJed all night for Klub Nocturno’s fundraiser for those impacted by the recent wildfires, new wave was visibly the clear winner. Nothing packed the floor like the ‘80s jams last night. However, the requests were overwhelmingly for the darkwave bangers and the groups nearest to the DJ booth, some of whom were dancing virtually the entire night, definitely were into Boy Harsher, French Police, Molchat Doma, etc. , so darkwave was also a winner.
Anyhow, here’s the set list from the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Klub Nocturno on January 17, 2025. The only new song— as in the first time I’ve played it out— in the set is “God Whispers” by Soft Vein, whose latest album, Through Blinds, came out on Friday. Check it out if you’re into dark, EBM-influenced synthpop, which you probably are if you’re reading this post.
The Beatique 2024 Year End Mix is here. I recorded a live set at home featuring songs from all of the albums featured on my Best Albums of 2024 list, plus a few of the bangers that made their way into my DJ sets this year. I didn’t want to rank club hits this year, but there are four songs that really stood out for the crowd reaction that they get. Those are: French Police “Her”; Twin Tribes “Sangre de Oro”; Blood Club “No Quiero Bailar”; Glass Spells “Hechizos.” All four songs are on this mix. There are also a couple songs that actually came out in 2023, but turned up in my sets this year, so I figured those were worth including as well.
But, this isn’t a club mix. Think of it more like a college radio show without the mumbly airbreaks. There are some more ambient tracks, rock songs, etc. in here as well. The mix is a little over an hour-and-a-half, so put it on whenever you have time to listen and, if you like it, share it. Thanks for listening and, for those of you in L.A., I hope to see you at Underground’s New Year’s Eve party on Tuesday night. Scroll down for the set list.
I’ll be back at Underground with Larry G. this week. Join us at Grand Star Jazz Club for a special Friday the 13th edition of Club Underground. It’s darkwave night and my birthday party, so don’t miss out on this one. Advance tickets for Underground on Friday the 13th are available now and, while you’re at it, click here to pick up tickets for Underground’s New Year’s Eve bash.
“What else is happening this week?,” you (didn’t) ask. Well, here’s the lowdown. Saturday night is going to be a busy one this week. Cut Chemist, one of L.A.’s very best DJs, and friends are playing at Lodge Room. Lara Sarkissian, an amazing producer who merges both modern electronic and traditional Armenian music, is playing live at Sooki Studio in Frogtown to celebrate the release of her debut full-length, Remnants. Plus, later in the evening French pop soirée Décadanse is happening downstairs at the Grand Star, while goth night Disintegration goes down upstairs.
Sunday is the annual Depeche Mode Convention at Avalon, which is always a good time filled with DJs, tribute bands, contests and host Richard Blade. This year, Devotional and Blasphemous Rumors are playing live and the DJ lineup includes Alex Transistor, Larry G., Protokall and Dark Chrystal. It’s also an all ages event. On Monday, Museum of Home Video, the fantastic found footage livestream, will be at Vidiots, where IVOR hosts “A Holly Jolly Dollython” filled with music videos, live clips and TV performances. Check out the trailer to see what’s in store. There’s a lot more happening in L.A. this week too, so check out the list below.
The crowd in Nocturno’s New Wave vs. Darkwave room on Saturday, November 30, dancing to Mareux “Lovers from the Past” (Pic: Liz O.)
It’s 9 a.m. and I just poured my second cup of coffee after waking up an hour ago, so last night is a still kind of a blur. I played in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Nocturno, which was lit almost from the start. Like, I remember seeing people dancing in the line for the bathroom by the third or fourth song of the set.
I finally had the chance to play “Digital Slaves,” from Gesaffelstein’s latest album, Gamma. I’ve been listening to the album for a few months now and keep going back to that song because the lyrics are very 2024, but the sound is very 2004, and that juxtaposition makes a lot of sense in my brain. But, I haven’t had a gig where I thought it would work until last night, right after I heard the screams for She Wants Revenge “Tear You Apart” and noticed that the room was packed. Tl;dr is that “Digital Slaves” did really well and it’s a total keeper in the sets now, which is nice because I haven’t really played his music out since The Lash closed.
Anyhow, overall, the vibe was more darkwave than new wave, which is always fun. Thanks to Nocturno for having me play and for everyone who hit the dance floor last night. Check out the set list below.
Beetlejuice hanging at Alex’s Bar, October 17, 2024 (Pic: Liz Ohanesian)
I think I have a backlog of playlists that haven’t been posted, but this one is from last night at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach for Klub Nocturno presents Darkwave Night. Thanks to everyone who was there. The energy was fantastic. I’d write more, but I’m still half-asleep, so peep the playlist below and I’ll see you on the dance floor soon. Click on this link to see what gigs I have on the calendar for the rest of the month and follow along on Instagram.
This was my new from DJ booth in the Jewel’s Room at Catch One for Nocturno on Saturday, August 31. (Pic: Liz O.)
It’s Sunday morning, I’ve hardly slept. I have Sacred Skin’s song “Call It Off” running through my head and Depresion Post Mortem’s cover of “Yo Voy” fighting to overtake it. Still, I’m going to try to explain last night’s gig at Klub Nocturno in a way that people who normally don’t know what I’m rambling about will understand. It might not work, but we’ll try. (Scroll down if you just want to see the set list.)
Last night, Klub Nocturno took over Catch One, which is this massive, multi-room disco that has an amazing history going back to actual disco L.A. There were five dance floors of varying sizes going all night: Rock en Español vs. Cumbia, Indie vs. 80s, Deftones Night, Corrido Night and Sad Bunny Night. I played Indie vs. 80s in the Jewel’s Room, where the dance floor is on the ground level of the building and a staircase in the corner leads up to a mezzanine, where the DJ booth is located, before heading towards the second level of the club.
I have a view from the booth that overlooks the dance floor and stage. Usually, it’s not until right around 10 p.m. that I see the room begin to fill with people. Last night, I started playing at 9:30 on the dot and began to see signs of life on the dance floor three or four songs into the set. By the time I mixed “Rippin Kittin” into “Something to Remember Me By,” the dance floor was alive and growing.
The first time I heard people scream for a song that night was during “Love My Way,” the Psychedelic Furs classic, which was maybe at around 10:30 p.m. The energy was incredible. I’d look down and see this big mass of people under the purple and red glow of the lights. I could hear them singing along to The Strokes song “Reptilia” and Le Tigre’s big ’00s club hit “Deceptacon.”
When the intro of “Smalltown Boy,” the Bronski Beat’s jam, faded in at midnight, the screams were wild. TBH, that’s really the song of summer 2024, even though it’s literally 40 years old. I hear it everywhere from clubs to the A Line.
The room hit its peak at midnight. People chanted through “Living on Video” and sang along with “Two of Hearts.” There were dancers in the mezzanine lounge area too, so during the stretch from “Smalltown Boy” through “Goodbye Horses,” I felt like I was DJing in the middle of the dance floor.
It was one of those nights that passed all too quickly. I looked at my laptop, noticed it was after 1 a.m. and realized that I had to start dropping the big sing-a-long numbers— “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “There Is a Light,” “Just Like Heaven”— immediately and try to squeeze in as many requests as I could. (I had more than four hours of requests, which came in before the party started, loaded into Rekordbox.) Anyhow, it was an awesome night and you can see my set list below.
View from the DJ booth in the new wave/darkwave room at Klub Nocturno. (Pic: Liz O.)
There were a lot of requests for the new wave/darkwave room at Nocturno on Saturday night. Most of them came before the event and I started a separate playlist in Rekordbox just to keep track of them. The most requested song of the night was “Club de Vampiros” by French Police, which you heard a little after midnight at the start of my second set.
My favorite request came in person at the club, maybe a little before 1 a.m. Someone asked for Miguel Bosé, which I was happy to oblige. For a minute, though, I feared that I wouldn’t be able to play it after all because the night was coming to a close and I kept thinking of big songs that hadn’t been played yet, like “Tainted Love.” Fortunately, though, “Amante Bandido” made an appearance right before the last song of the night.
As always, Nocturno was a blast. Thanks for dancing and thanks for the requests. Keep reading for my set lists.
The scene at Grand Star Jazz Club for Decadanse x Underground on July 5, 2024
Decadanse x Underground was such a great time and I’m happy to have been a part of it. DJs Pierrot and Fifi LaRoux played French pop on vinyl downstairs. Larry G. and I brought the indie vibes upstairs. We switched off on the controllers about every half hour or so.
“Amour Ex Machina,” from L’Impratrice’s new album, Pulsar, did pretty well for my first time playing it out. “Digitalism in Cairo,” the Digitalism track that samples “Fire in Cairo” by the Cure, made a reappearance after many years. People probably don’t recall it was a big track back in the ‘00s.
Anyhow, I’ll be back at Underground next Friday, July 12, for Siouxsie x Yeah Yeah Yeahs Nite. Tickets are already available on Restless Nites, Dice and Eventbrite.
Check out my set list from Decadanse x Underground at Grand Star Jazz Club on July 5, 2024.
Cover art for Get There, the new album from Model Child
It’s always a good idea to sign up for band mailing lists. If I hadn’t added my info to Zoot Woman’s mailing list, I wouldn’t have known that the band dropped a new album, Maxidrama, this month.
On Saturday, it felt like summer had arrived. That is unfortunate if you, like me, have an aversion to sunlight and sweat. The upside was that I was DJing in the new wave/darkwave room at Nocturno on Saturday night, so I could avoid the sun. Since online tickets had already sold out, though, I had to prepare for a hot night. That’s when fishnets really come in handy. In fact, I think fishnets and Sambas might end up being my 2024 club uniform. After a four-and-a-half-hour DJ set, I felt pretty good. (Three cans of water probably helped too.)
It was a really fun night. There were stilt walkers who came out to the stage in the new wave/darkwave room twice, dancing to French Police and Sisters of Mercy during one set and Depeche Mode and Visage in the other. The crowd let out disco calls during “Blue Monday.” It was a vibe.
Boy Harsher’s remix of Chelsea Wolfe’s song “House of Self-Undoing,” which was released earlier in the week, made its second appearance in my sets this weekend. Since it’s brand new, I’ve been testing it out early in the night, but I’m really into it, so you’ll probably be hearing this later in the nights going forward. The remix is available on Bandcamp, by the way, so get it into your own collection if you’re so inclined. (That’s not an ad or a sponsored link, btw, but Bandcamp is my personal first choice for digital music.)
