12.02.01
A few weeks ago I wrote a bit of advice to Junior Vasquez, whose party
at Exit is ailing. Here's just a portion of it:
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.. Lists don't mean much but isn't it embarrassing
for someone who used to brag about being the 'world's most famous DJ' to
not even make DJ magazine's
Top 100
DJs list? Especially when your ex-rival is #3...
Junior, oh Junior. Will you ever find a way to fit into this city's nightlife again? Go back underground. No posters with your mud-plastered mug all over the city. Play more innovative textures and beats like you did at Sound Factory. Shed yourself of spectacle, pop music remixes, and the empty theatrics of Aviance. Abhor drama. Rid yourself of sycophants. Start fresh and new and get back to the MUSIC. Oh wait - that sounds like Danny Tenaglia at Vinyl. There's a fine line between love and Diabolique. |
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I have a lot to be thankful for this week, mainly
that I'm not George Harrison. Bye George!
I write this under the duress of a high fever. Oh, what I will do for you, my intrepid viewers. Last week I got free tickets to The Vagina Monologues where Didi Cohn talked about 'gina for 2 hours. That's a lotta 'gina. It was amusing but I found one of the monologues to be dated, the one about reclaiming the word 'cunt' as if 'cunt' were such a nasty word. 'Cunt' has been one of my favorite words since I heard my friend Evelyn's favorite song in 1995, Robbie Tronco's 'C.U.N.T' . Of course she's Dominican so maybe its only middle class white women and Jews who are offended by the word. I am neither middle class nor a white woman nor a Jew nor Dominican and nor do I have a cunt; but if I did, I'd certainly love mine. Who wouldn't? Cunt cunt CUNT! Its a great word and rolls off the tongue like fresh sushi. After Vaginas we went to Barrage, a midtown gay bar where we were conversely surrounded by cock. Everyone there looks weird. They wear either sweaters or button up shirts with collars and everything is tucked in. At one point I found myself surrounded by lawyers and investment bankers and wondered if their money would rub off on me. After enough people had asked where I lived (the Lower East and loving it) I realized that they thought I looked weird. Certainly a change of pace compared to the seedy joints I usually frequent. A few weeks ago I wrote a cunty (but fair) review of Earth. 95% of the emails I got in response were in complete agreement, and often more critical than I was. The other 5% were from Junior's obsessive fans, of whom there seem to be less and less, imploring me to realize that parties need time to grow and that for instance, the Paradise Garage wasn't a huge success when it first started. True, but the Paradise Garage was a new entity from an unknown (at the time) DJ in a city where clubgoers had a lot more choices than they do now. Junior is the self-proclaimed 'most famous DJ on the planet' (although he hasn't said that in many years since its so obviously untrue), and frankly the party should be kicking ass because there's really no competition for Saturday after hours. But hey, be my guest if you want to spend $30 for lackluster music, horrible lighting, a dismal sound system, overbearing security and a rude staff at a club that's decked out with cameras, really out of the way for most people and doesn't open til 6am.
I'm the last person who'd ever say that things were better back in the day and everything sucks now, blah blah blah, because its all relative. People who say such things are jaded bores. But one can't deny that things have definitely changed. Not just the crowds and attitudes and dress, but also Junior's musical taste which underwent a complete transformation between Sound Factory and Arena. Like most of the Factory regulars, I did not 'get' Arena, but I have to give Junior credit for coming up with something new (and successful) there. He has yet to do the same anywhere else. I realize probably that most of the people reading this never had the chance to go to the original Sound Factory. You all must be curious as to what I'm talking about. How different could Junior's spinning have been? You may have some commercially released singles or compilations from that time, but that's not the same as hearing a DJ live on a regular club night, is it? Unfortunately, scientists haven't invented a way to go back in time. But the House of Diabolique has. We're going back in time right now to January 1995 and will stream to you 90 minutes of Junior Vasquez live at Sound Factory - i.e. actual live spinning recorded off the board. You'll hear Junior being creative on a regular night at the legendary club, just a few weeks before Sound Factory was permanently closed. Go here for the taste. Nouveau Junior fans will be shocked at how different his style is.. and Factory regulars will revel in this trip down memory lane... but all will be dancing! |
Real Audio is required to
hear
anything.
