Excellent Chemlab interview! Lots of great words from our pal Jared...

reading an excellent biography of Victor Hugo, the man responsible for this amazing quote (ladies, take into account it was written in the mid-1800's!):

"Reason is intelligence taking exercise. Imagination is intelligence with an erection." Love it...

Crunk vs Umpaloompas: "I Don't Like The Look Of It" by DA Backwudz,

Check out Kelly Frazier's comprehensive cover story on Ghostly International in today's Real Detroit Weekly.

Ghostly's most fully realized public offering to date, Idol Tryouts Two is now available at finer record stores (both real and virtual) everywhere.

Moz's brand new LP Ringleader of the Tormentors will be released next Tuesday. The EP You Have Killed Me is currently available from Bleep.

More on Multi-Touch Interaction here. Potentially the biggest practical leap in interface hardware design since the mouse.

Completely unrelated, but I really want a chicken shooter.

Our good friend Dan Selzer informs us of that Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84, will be speaking tonight about New York City during the postpunk era and the crossover synergy between the downtown art world and the downtown music scene.

The Downtown Show: The New York Art Scene 1978-84
NYU's Fales Library
70 Washington Square South
6:30 PM, FREE

Also tonight in NYC, Ghostly International reminds us that Mobius Band is performing with with Editors and Stellastarr* at Warsaw. Word has it that last night's sold out show was quite the bomb, so we advise getting there early and checking the Warsaw site for more info.

Meanwhile, in the other Oslo (not the bar in Detroit)... (DJ Deadswan on the right)

Cool Hunting has an interview with Richard Linklater about his highly anticipated new film A Scanner Darkly.

Once upon a time in Detroit, there was nowhere to consistently hear the music we really truly loved, so after a year of honing our anti-format in the back room of Detroit's legendary Untitled nights and random spots in NYC, we got together in the basement of an abandoned skyscraper and threw a party. It was dark, dank and kinda smelled funny, but the oddest assortment of freaks and geeks crawled out of the woodwork to dance to a mash-up of long forgotten post-punk gems, offbeat nu-electro, then still burgeoning neo-dance-rock, and whatever else we decided to throw down. There were apparently more like-minded outcasts than we could ever imagine, and within a few months we had moved to slightly less ghettofabulous digs, and to equal parts joy and utter bemusement, the party was drawing lines around the block. This Saturday night Dorkwave and friends celebrate the second anniversary of the grand experiment called Les Infants Terribles.

To punctuate the occasion, we are extremely pleased and flattered to be listed among URB Magazine's Next 100:



"Half of the six members of Dorkwave weren't even DJs before the crew started - born from a sort of spazmatic dance-off contest held at DJ-promoter Jonnie O's Untitled techno night. The techno is still present, but buried in electro, pop, industrial, and tunes that could really just be described as... Dorkwave."

The April issue of URB is on news stands now.
[Photo by Bethany Shorb]

Derek says, "be UNTITLED tonight."

We invite you to celebrate two years of the party nobody knew they wanted.



Two and a half weeks (including two all-nighters) attempting to top the Beatles... large size here.

from the mind of my multi-project collaborator friend comes the sexy nerd-rock (?!) of Max Van Schlanger (loosely extrapolated: "Big D**k"). "Four-Eyed Freak" is the perfect song for brushing off that fat girl with glasses in art class who won't stop leaving pictures of your name with flowers around it and the letter "i" with a heart for a dot in your locker.

Just above Freeman's Restaurant, acquire a made-to-measure suit for your favorite discerning taxidermist.

FSC's emphasis on durability translates into a crisp, structured suit body that will soften with age, but will always maintain its form. The suits are built around Swiss cotton and black horsehair canvas with black gossamer linings that reveal the basting and other remnants of construction. For Taavo, the finished product is peerless. "The integrity of how it holds its shape after months -- you can't compare it with these super-flimsy pussy suits that everyone is obsessed with."

[as seen in Refinery 29.]

Celebrated author Douglas Coupland flies halfway around the world to meet Morrissey and records a number of impressions after 105 minutes spent with the enigmatic singer.

... He's 46 and makes no attempt to 'young himself up'. Admirable.

... He doesn't mind being recognised in public but doesn't like the notion that he has to look 'good' or a certain way.

... His head (this is really weird, and I hope it doesn't go outside the boundaries of taste) is enormous. It's like a huge Charlie Brown parade float head. I walked into the bar to meet him and I saw this guy across the room with this massive head and I thought to myself, 'Man, that's one massive head', and it was Morrissey.

This and many more insightful observations in Coupland's exclusive interview for the Guardian UK.

Former Michigander Will Tigertt's uber-hot NY restaurant Freeman's will be opening its new dining room very soon. As reported by Curbed, the decorative focal point of the expanded digs will be the largest collection of bird box taxidermy in America.

+ for the love of all things stuffed, a tresure trove of taxidermy oddities, via we-make-nomey-not-art.com.

Whuzza! The Vitalic show last night was amazing. We were told that the amps at Oslo had never received such a thorough workout (and today's hearing damage is testament to that.) Techno is in dire need of more rock'n'roll attitude, and nobody serves it up better than Pascal Arbez. Check vitalic.org for the remaining tour dates.

Since we've received requests, here is my half of the Dethlab playlist for Saturday evening:

Zoot Woman - Hope in the Mirror
The Crash - NY (FU Tourist remix)
Eurythmics - Love is a Stranger
Interpol - Obstacle 1
The Jam - Beat Surrender
Munk - Kick Out the Chairs
Renegade Soundwave - Cocaine Sex
Oxia - Refelxion (Kiko remix)
Who Made Who - Still Hot (Tomboy remix)
Ellen Allien - Washing Machine is Speaking
Tiga - Burning Down the House [Best cover ever!]
Superstars of Love - Sleaze 2 Please
Christian Morgenstern - Violence
John Lord Fonda - Personal Jesus [People didn't seem to be into this one, which I totally don't get. It's a "grrrrrrr!" Depeche Mode cover on Vitalic's label - what could be better? Maybe they thought it was that crappy Marilyn Manson cover....]
The Hacker w/ Perspects - Flesh & Bone
Alter Ego - Satanic Circus
vintage drum machine demo [Vitalic intro - thanks Alex!]
TDR - Thorax [My new favorite track. Hot.]
The Hacker vs. Vitalic - Shari Vari [We asked first. He loved it. Triva tidbit: this was recorded at Vitalic's studio on 9/11.]
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock [Can't ever go wrong here.]
Combichrist - This Shit Will Fcuk You Up [Most evil track ever.]
Solvent - Think Like Us (Alter Ego remix)
Passion Boys - Passion Boys Are Firemans [Teh hotness.]
Radio 4 - Dance to the Underground (Playgroup remix)
Mylo - Destroy Rock'n'Roll
Tiga - Brothers

Rave tonight.

Pre-sales will be available at Record Time in Ferndale until 6pm. Only $10.

St. Patrick's day musicks, Detroit style:

The Motor City's online electronic music community DetroitLuv presents Bandwidth. This month's edition features an array of the city's best talents behind the turntables. My personal favorite, Toybreaker will be playing from 12-1am.

The Works
1846 Michigan Avenue, Detroit
18+|10pm|$5 before 2am


Carl Craig's Planet E label presents Demon Days, featuring C2's first hometown appearance in over a year. Hot.

Oslo
1456 Woodward Avenue, Detroit
18+|9pm|$15

Detroit Demolition Disneyland's blue brethern in Rotterdam has sadly fallen to the wrecking ball.

Blasphemy!

This is about as stupid as The Cure touring without Robert Smith.

You've probably read this several times on this very site, but a little last minute reminder for our dearest in New York City...

Our favorite Frenchman, Mr. Pascal Arbez a.k.a. Vitalic kicks off his first ever North American tour tonight at Avavlon in NYC (which will always be Limelight in our hearts.)

Please note it's an early show - as in 8pm-12am! Support DJs include Kim Ann Foxman, Cowboy Mark and Function, so as soon as you're done reading this, grab a slice and your flask, get on over there and be part of music history. After Limelight... er, Avalon, shoot down to Chinatown for the afterparty at Happy Ending. It's also former Dorkwave guest and all around super-nice and super-talented guy Marcos Cabral's birthday. Jacques Renault and Max Pask are also playing. (Max Pask you probably know from that amazing Soulwax remix I play all the damn time.) Party like a rockstar on a school night, call in sick Friday, then get your energy up for Ellen Allien Saturday at Avalon. Yes, Lisa and Mark are trying to kill you.

Vitalic will be playing at the The Mod Club in Toronto Friday night, then packing up Bridgitte and all his synthesizers and heading to Detroit for the remainder of the weekend. Pre-sale tickets for the show at Oslo on Saturday are exclusively available from Record Time in Ferndale, MI.

Mark Ronson's new Radiohead remix - just
Some favourite characters from my daily bcn walks- come alive.

Devolution is a new piece by the Australian Dance Theatre, featuring prosthetic limbs, large-scale robots, and a kinetic set.

"As performing entities, the robots are given equal status to the human bodies in the work, albeit with some major operational differences. I haven't tried to conceptually separate robots and humans as different 'species' but have been interested in the collision and confluence of the two. Let's see what happens when we collide these operating systems - that sort of thing. It's as much an experiment in morphology and function as anything else," explains Australian Dance Theatre's artistic director, Garry Stewart."

[via Interactive Architecture dot org]

iTunes continues to impress with its ever growing selection of indie releases and difficult to find 12"s. Apple recently added Jake Fairley's 2004 gnarz-pop opus Touch Not the Cat, released by our friends at Paper Bag Records.

I'm still waiting for Vitalic's Citizen label to get on the iTunes train, because I want the new John Lord Fonda LP, but am much too lazy to go to the record store and order it.

Bleep.com now has the entire Citizen Records catalog.
La Rock!

'82 Toyota Camry full size RC car, complete with Knight Rider soundtrack.

[via Jalopnik]

found a great band on MySpace my toys like me. kind of like Tricky:the 2006 model.

Almost too good to be true! The Wookie Holiday Special is on YouTube.

[via DataWhat?]

Welcome back Computerlove!

CPLUV 3.0 public beta went live over the weekend. Check out all the new features and resources.

The excellent architecture, real estate and city life blog Curbed recently launched SF Curbed, dedicated (obviously) to Bay Area living.

iPods hacked to run Pac-Man.
"It was only a matter of time."

Here's a little in-progress preview of the Les Infants Terribles anniversary flyer...



(Several layers have been turned off in the image above, as to not be total spoiler.)

Block out April 1st on your calendar (and the next couple days for recovery.)

Norwegian industrial band Combichrist will be DJ'ing in the United States in late March/early April. Click here for Everybody Hates the DJ tour dates. Their single This Shit Will Fcuk You Up has been a Dethlab/Dorkwave staple of mine the past few months. I swear it's the toughest, catchiest, dirtiest boot stomper of a track since Chemlab's Suicide Jag, back in '94.

Combichrist is also working on new music for the cyberpunk epic The Gene Generation, scheduled for summer 2006 theatrical release, starring Bai Ling - who's assassin costume was designed and fabricated by our very own Cyberoptix a.k.a. Toybreaker.

Everyone has watched this video 100 times already, but it just never gets old...

Vitalic live. Next Saturday. Not to be missed.

The business.



One of my favorite private labels from Detroit, Wounds of Sarah presents Official Business, a preview of their fall '06 menswear collection this Saturday.

Expect the unexpected at this imaginative runway show. Guests should meet at the Financial District People Mover Station in Detroit March 11th, at 3:30pm. A reception will follow at the Pure Detroit Design Lab.

Read a bit about tomorrow's show in the Metro Times, and remember to bring fifty cents for the tram.

If you finally bought that Bently Coupe you've always wanted and can't bare not seeing it all the time, this apartment is for you

Yes to frequency modulation. cEvin was down with the ESQ-1.

iTunes hipster pick of the week: Cut Copy's Going Nowhere remixes. Teh hot. Also, not brand new, but still teh hot: Boy Neu by Boyz Noise.

Not misquoted, just an unrelated aspect to the article, and inaccurate. it was actually Lets Go Crazy... which I thought we had retired a year ago because it was so overplayed.

it's probably early to get excited about "Life of Pi", Jean-Pierre Jeunet's next project, based on the book

Interesting review of Dorkwave's pre-party for the Metro Times BlowOut:

Does Team Dorkwave have officially licensed groupies? It seems every time the DJ crew spins, there's a pocket of giggly young things right up front. They were there at Wednesday's Blowout pre-party, interchangeably hot like paper dolls cut from 30 years of music history. A new wave girl, a punk rock girl, a goth girl, a techno girl - come to think of it, maybe there's one for every genre the Dorkwavers mash up.

Ridiculous.

For those wondering, I have been working diligently on our anniversary flyer six hours a day for the past week. Hope to have it ready by the end of this week. The party will be Saturday, April 1st (no fooling) at Corktown Tavern in Detroit. Ridiculousness guaranteed or your money back.

Speaking of Sixteen Horsepower (two posts down,) one of the greatest American Gothic bands ever has sadly parted ways. They are however set to release a brand new live DVD in April, to go along with last year's double DVD, both on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. The double DVD features the previously mentioned Brothers Quay video for Black Soul Choir, and two Joy Division covers. Shit... no excuse for not owning this already...

The two times I saw 16HP are easily among my top 10 concert experiences ever. The first was back in '97 or so, supported by Two Star Tabernacle, which of course later evolved into Blanche and the White Stripes.

If you're into dark, southern gothy stuff (read: if you're a Nick Cave or Tom Waits fan,) also check out the new film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, featuring 16HP's David Eugene Edwards, the New York Dolls' David Johansen, and Johnny Dowd. Aside from the easy but not necessarily fair comparisons to Cave, Waits, and Hank Williams Sr., Dowd has carved his own distinct voice from the diseased, blood-stained underbelly of Americana, earning such memorable reviews as "...like a serial killer trapped in a vacuum cleaner."

Yes, I actually watch TV...

Chloe won Project Runway? Are you fucking kidding me?! Her collection was nothing but bad prom dresses. Utterly lame. Santino Rice was the only one of the three finalists who had any business being there at all.

Notice the too-quick-to-read disclaimer at the end of the show that says something to the effect of, "the judges must consider the opinions of the producers." The producers apparently have no clue about current style. (another example, and another, and another, and another, and another...)

Lame.

Imagine the amazing work (and havoc) if Bethany Dethany and Benson were both on the show. I want to see how Heidi Klum would deal with a dress made out of live bats. That's television!

More classics via YouTube:

His Name is Alive videos Can't Go Wrong Without You and Are We Still Married? by the Brothers Quay.

(Still searching for the Quay's pieces for Michael Penn's Long Way Down and Sixteen Horsepower's Black Soul Choir. I haven't seen those in years - please hit me up if you know where to find them.)

Santiago Calatrava's latest: Malmo, Sweden's Turning Torso

Scott Klinker, Cranbrook Academy of Art's Designer-in-Residence and head of the 3d Design department, is currently featured on the front page of Detroit's AIGA chapter for his current exhibition at Cranbrook Art Museum.

Beware the next weapon in the culture war arsenal: ultrasonic youth deterent. Lucky me, I fried my eardrums years ago.

Comic Eugune Mirman has some updates to his site since we last visited. Sexpert might be the funniest thing I've seen since Robot...

Nice review of Vitalic's OK Cowboy LP from the Purdue University newspaper...

"If techno is the music of the future, then this is the music for its gritty underbelly, the one in which rocket bike gangs cruise through the skyway on their way to the zero-gravity dance floor."

Mr. Arbez starts his first ever US tour this month, and we couldn't be more giddy here at the Lab. Vitalic live dates as follows:

03/16 New York, NY - Avalon
03/17 Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club
03/18 Detroit, MI - Oslo
03/22 Philadelphia, PA - Fluid
03/23 San Francisco, CA - Boca
03/24 Chicago, IL - Smart Bar
03/25 Miami, FL - Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel (M3 Music Conf.)
03/26 Miami, FL - Versace Mansion (you read that right.)

+ Vitalic's live John Peel Session from 2004. Listen for covers of The Normal's Warm Leatherette and Crash Course In Science's Cardboard Lamb, as well as a quirky rework of his own la Rock in which I can only imagine he's playing with sock puppets(?)

Too funny:

"Gibby Goes Techno" from the Boston Phoenix.

(I also love that when you Google "Gibby Miller", the first link that comes up is Dorkwave.com)

Oh, design battle is on. My lovely partner in crime just totally kicked my ass with this flyer for next Saturday's edition of Sass.

View front | back

Note the custom stencil work on rubber and the Bosch level of detail. Damn.

This anti war piece is an really great use of type design and will get you on your feet shouting yes at your computer screen.

Momus reports from his first day on the job at the Whitney Biennial.

I couldn't imagine doing improv performance art all day, every day for three months. It will be interesting to see how the piece evolves over the course of the Biennial.

Sex Pistols boycott Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony with hand written letter. View it at the Pistol's site.

I like this very much.

Last night's Dorkwave party to kick off the Metro Times Blowout was much fun. I also learned a few important things:

1.) I have absolutely zero patience for ironic music.

2.) No matter how well you plan and pace, people will always buy you shots when you're throwing a dance party, and it will always hurt in the morning.

3.) #2 combined with #1 can sometimes make me a mouthy asshole who blows amps with industrial music to cleanse my ears of said ironic disco. Sorry.

4.) I have the honor of working with some of the best people in the whole world. (That one I knew, but I'm still impressed every single time.)

In it's ninth year, the Metro Times Blowout features over 200 Detroit area bands at 20 venues over the next three days, and is the largest local music festival in the United States. Check here for articles on some of the other excellent featured artists.

The Detroit city council reversed their previous decision and voted to turn over control of the Detroit Zoo to the Zoological Society last night. In effect, the zoo will continue operating without noticeable change. Apparently lead pisser in the political pissing match that almost got this beloved institution shut down in the first place, city council member Barbara-Rose Collins again voted against releasing control of the zoo to an organization with the means an expertise to manage it. Her current term expires in 2009.

The inventor of the flash mob tells all

"The basic hypothesis behind the Mob Project was as follows: seeing how all culture in New York was demonstrably commingled with scenesterism, the appeal of concerts and plays and readings and gallery shows derivingless from the work itself than from the social opportunities the work might engender, it should theoretically be possible to create an art project consisting of pure scene—meaning the scene would be the entire point of the work, and indeed would itself constitute the work."

"shake what the motherland gave you": the amazing VW GTI launch page...equipe your car of choice and take'er for a spin. the film actually changes with different selections (i recommend tornado red paint and leather seats for openers). "are you a girl?"...