Beatique

Tag: Kneecap

  • Slayyyter “I’m Actually Kinda Famous” + Underground Set List 5/08/26

    Slayyyter Worst Girl in America album cover
    Cover for Wor$t Girl in America by Slayyyter

    I’ve been trying out songs from Wor$t Girl in America since the new album from Slayyyter came out a handful of weeks ago. So far, the songs have done pretty well, but last night, “I’m Actually Kinda Famous” kinda popped on the dance floor. TBH, it was a song that I had been thinking about playing since the album came out, but I wasn’t sure if I could make it work. But, hey, you gotta take some chances in life and your DJ sets.

    Anyhow, last night I was DJing at Club Underground. (I know I said I wasn’t DJing this weekend. Surprise!) It was somewhere after midnight. Sextile “S Is For” (also on this month’s mix) was playing and people were getting really into it, especially a group near the DJ booth. I mixed in Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Heads Will Roll,” the A-Trak remix, and that group by me screamed and danced even harder. I thought, okay, if they’re down with Sextile *and* Yeah Yeah Yeahs remixed by A-Trak, they’re my people and probably already into Slayyyter. So, I slowed down “Heads Will Roll” a pinch, sped up “I’m Actually Kinda Famous” a lot and mixed them thinking, this is either going to suck or it’s going to slayyy. I guess the latter happened because the group I had been eyeing was now all over the dance floor and other group at the back of the dance floor started jumping up and down and screaming for the song.

    Anyhow, kids, the moral of the day is to go with your gut and make it work. Here’s the set list from last night. Songs from the past year or so are in bold and link back to other other mentions on this here blog.

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  • Listen to the May 2026 Edition of Beatique

    Beatique May 2024 mix cover


    The May, 2026 edition of Beatique is up on Mixcloud right now and I hope you’ll give it a listen. This month’s set includes a few current club hits from the likes of Sextile, Fcukers and Alice Glass, an electroclash throwback and a big ol’ ‘90s club banger. There are also a couple 1960s/early ‘70s jams and new tunes from Tomora, Kneecap, Fontaines D.C. and more.

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  • Album Review: Kneecap Fenian

    Kneecap Fenian Album Cover

    The first time I heard Fenian, the new album from Kneecap, was at a listening party in January. It was a private thing- mainly press and industry, I think- in the back room of an LA pub where the album played once and I spent the bus ride home scribbling notes about the album’s clubby flow, its nods to ‘90s hip-hop- there’s definitely a Wu-Tang energy in there – and the killer drum ’n’ bass track in the middle of Fenian. This isn’t an overstatement or the result of a hype-buzz, but I was genuinely excited for the new album. 

    The second time I heard Fenian was roughly three months later, on the album’s May 1 release date. In between, I had amassed the digital singles- the album’s title track is now one of my current favorites to play when I DJ at Underground– and scrolled through enough posts that half my Instagram timeline would have me convinced that this is the most anticipated album of the year. TBH, I’m not sure if that’s the case for anyone but myself. But, whatever. Fenian is top-tier album.

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  • New Kneecap, Ladytron + More of What You Heard Upstairs at Underground

    Kneecap "Fenian" single cover
    Cover of “Fenian” by Kneecap, which came out on April 1, 2026

    It was great to see people dancing to “Fenian,” the single from Kneecap that came out last week, upstairs at Club Underground last night. It’s such a killer song. Plus, it fit into the ‘90s Nite vibe. TBH, a lot of today’s dance music does. 

    I wasn’t in the theme room last night, so it was kind of anything-goes upstairs, but I did dig up some of my ‘90s to drop in the set. “Born Slippy,” “Halcyon and on and on” and “Papua New Guinea” are all songs that are pretty formative to my taste, as in I heard them when they were new and was like, “WTF is this?!” Also got in some early 2000s jams that I haven’t played in a minute, like “La La Land” from Green Velvet, which I used to play so often that I have multiple copies on vinyl with multiple remixes. 

    As for new tunes, “A Death in London” from Ladytron was also in the set. I really like the sax on that song and it sounds so good early in the night. It might end up becoming my go-to from the band’s latest album. 

    Anyhow, thanks for dancing at Underground last night. See you next week! Set list is below. Songs from the past year or so link back to other mentions on this blog. Also, three songs from last night are on this month’s Beatique mix, so give that a listen on Mixcloud when you have a chance. 

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  • Listen to the April 2026 Edition of Beatique

    Beatique Mix April 2026

    The April 2026 edition of Beatique is now live on Mixcloud. This month’s installment features new music from Slayyyter and Kneecap, throwbacks from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Armand Van Helden, plus lots more. If you want the whole tracklisting, you have to listen, but there are links to posts related to the songs and/or artists at the bottom of this post.

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  • February 2026 Beatique Mix: New Tunes from ADULT. and Kneecap + More

    Beatique February 2026 mix cover

    It’s time for the February edition of Beatique, which is now up on Mixcloud and embedded here. Again, I’m not posting the full set list because some things should be a surprise, but it does include a couple new songs that I want to mention. Last week, ADULT. released “No One Is Coming,” the lead single from their forthcoming album, Kissing Luck Goodbye. There is so much tension packed into this song that it feels like being trapped inside a nightmare, which is probably also a good description America right now too. I have a feeling that’s the point. Also last week, Kneecap dropped “Liars Tale,” the first song from their next album, Fenian. It’s dark and it’s brutal and I love it. Between ADULT. and Kneecap, I think my rage soundtrack will be covered this spring. 

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  • A Gorillaz Earworm + More of What You Heard at Club Underground on 1/30/26

    Cover of Gorillaz The Mountain
    “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. 

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  • Chromatics, Chumbawamba + More of What You Heard at Club Underground 1/16/26

    club underground grand star jazz club january 16 2026 (photo: Liz O.)
    View from the DJ booth (Pic: Liz O.)

    Played the second half of the night in the Underground room for Club Underground x Synthwaves last night. Fantastic crowd, as always. Got in a nod to David Lynch with a remix of Chromatics’ song “Shadow.” Didn’t play anything extremely new, but did get in some of last year’s faves, like Sextile “Rearrange” and Confidence Man and Jade “Gossip.” Dropped in “Tubthumping” near the end for a reason. Heed the wisdom of Chumbawamba, friends. Set list is below. New-ish stuff links back to other mentions on this blog.

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  • 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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  • 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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