I like the retro styles and moves of the kids -- mostly black, Jheri-curled, and dressed to kill (but don't miss the swivel-hipped Napoleon Dynamite lookalike at 3:00). But I really dig the music they're getting down to.

"Sharevari" is a classic: arguably the first Detroit techno record, and a key part of the transatlantic exchange that created modern electronic dance music. In it, you can hear the Kraftwerk and Moroder that the producers had clearly been steeping in.

But you can also hear the many Italo-disco records to come that would cop its Eurotrash-in-deep-space vibe. (For a long time, the singer's cheesy fake accent and broken English had me fooled into thinking this was an actual Italo track.)

And you can recognize the blueprint of almost three decades of hard, dark, late-night floor-fillers that have followed since.

Previously: The Axis of Techno

It's the coolest exhibition of multimedia art, speculative gadgetry, and new and hacked technology around. And as always, it's completely free.

(Previous ITP show coverage here.)

(Via BoingBoing)

Initial impressions: Solid, familiar. Their trendy French producer didn't take them in any shockingly new directions. I do hear some interesting gated drum sounds -- along the same lines as what Portishead's been playing around with lately.

I'm still kicking myself for having missed their 2004 show at the Hammerstein. Hopefully they'll return to NYC soon.

Splice + Warper = Overload!!! @ The Tank

The Eclectric Company, Shakey and Moldover present:

PLUS: DJ Maxx Klaxon spins new and classic electronic sounds all night!

7pm - 1am
$10 at the door
$7 with RSVP (contact splice.nyc@gmail.com by 4pm Thursday)
$5 with Bent Festival hand stamp
ALL AGES!
21+ to drink

The Tank at Collective: Unconscious
279 Church St. btw. Franklin & White
A, C, E, J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, Z, or 6 to Canal Street
1 to Franklin St.
212.563.6269
www.thetanknyc.org

So was that a sly reference to Jay-Z?

If it's true that the cooler candidate always wins, then Barack's got this one sewed up.

UPDATE: Matthew Yglesias noticed it too.

UPDATE: Yeah, he knew what he was doing: "I have some Jay-Z... on my iPod." And see also.

Here's a screening I've put together in conjunction with the Monkeytown guys. Sorry for the short notice...

Monkey Town presents:
Silent Films + Unique Instruments Festival
Battleship Potemkin and Metropolis

Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS (1927/1984, 80 mins.) blended Art Deco futurism, shameless melodrama, class struggle, and a sexy robot into a science fiction masterpiece. Much footage from the 210-minute original has been lost forever; this restored and "enhanced" (with color tinting) version was released by electro-disco producer Giorgio Moroder in the mid-'80s. Moroder also produced the soundtrack, which features Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, Jon Anderson, and other New Wave-era rockers. A heady mixture of cinematic art and pop kitsch.

Sunday, April 13
Admission: Free ($10 drink/food minimum)
Showtimes: 7:30 and 10pm
Reservations are recommended (718.384.1369)

Monkeytown
58 N 3rd St
(btw. Kent & Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Map

Lots of cool gear, arranged on a circular table which they move around while performing. Money quote: "The whole idea, really, was that we'd try and create a kind of TARDIS type thing for us to mess around in..."

(Via TheMusic.fm)

See also: SMD's beautiful video for "I Believe" -- shot in an impoverished part of Romania. Background:

[The director] told them, “I’m not laughing at you, this isn’t going to be a piss-take joke video.” We talked with [him] and said, you know, “We trust you, ...you go, do it.” At first the people in the village weren’t happy with him filming because they had heard about “Borat.” Eventually through interpreters he explained himself that what he wanted to do was respectful.

The Sharper Image catalog listing makes it clear that this is not a real musical instrument:

With the beamz, there should be no performance anxiety at all because — whichever beam you break, in whatever sequence — your music is guaranteed to be harmonious. All discordant chords and sour notes have been programmed out so everyone plays great.

Unfortunately, the video gives the impression that all the music this thing comes preprogrammed with is utter shite. And the people "playing" it look like big dorks.

Perhaps there's a way to adapt/abuse/hack this device into producing some interesting sounds (does it output MIDI signals?)... but for $600, I'd rather buy some real music gear instead.