Friday night, the moon was out, and frost bitten air ran amuck through the desolate streets of Chinatown while organized chaos took place in the basement of Santos Party House. Deathrow Tull was at it again. The band was able to fill the basement to capacity on the first ‘winter’ night of the 2011 season. The bodily warmth of the packed audience was a delightful contrast from the horrific street cold. It was apparent that everyone was ready to absorb and engage in an energetic live show. The lights turned red as the band and crowd unanimously chanted “Deathrow Tull Will Kick Your Ass!” The chant bled into the first song of the set, and the eve kicked off with a bang.

Deathrow Tull is truly a Brooklyn gem. We are currently living in an age where new music constantly bombards and overwhelms us with options galore. More often than not, the easiest decision is to abandon the new and stick to what is familiar. However, after months of persuasion to give Deathrow Tull a chance by various adored music palates, I caved and immediately cursed my own self-deprivation. This group is unlike anything I listened to in a long while. The instrumentation consists of two white-male rappers, a stunning singer who’s face resembles Brandy but voice is a mix of an urban princess and angelic Goddess, a guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, and drummer. Together, they create unique funk/ska/punk/hip-hop tone that somewhat mirrors Sublime.

My mouth was on the floor as the set progressed. Soulful tunes like “You ain’t got the fire like I do” were balanced with the playful yet harmonious “We are your energy, we are your Friday night”. A bit of Bob Marley crept out of the group as they soulfully danced through “When the Revolution come” and the crowd be nuts as Deathrow closed with the White Stripes, “Seven Nations Army”.

Mid-set the band started to chant, “Deathrow Tull Ain’t Nuthin’ To Fuck With!”  From that statement alone, you might gather that Deathrow is some hardcore gangster group who likes to spit flow while pointing a middle finger towards the sky. And honestly, they can be that. But what is special about Deathrow is that they are more than that. This is a collective group of immensely talented musicians who melted the cold out of my Friday night. HiFi will keep you posted about their upcoming shows, and we highly suggest you go. Raw talent is not to be taken for granted, and it felt refreshing to get a healthy Friday night dose of it.

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This Saturday, Discovery celebrates its two year anniversary at Santos Party House with a fantastic line-up featuring DJ Harvey and Kyle Hall, sure to inspire some serious moves on the dancefloor.

DJ Harvey’s sound can be described as a mix of classics with fresh house, an approach which led him to star at nights such as ‘New Hard Left’ and ‘Moist’ at Ministry Of Sound in the nineties. He has made his name through DJing, scratching and especially re-editing, often together with Gerry Rooney on the now legendary Black Cock label. “I was aware of the whole edit thing that came out of the US and Paradise Garage scene and there were tracks I would play two copies of or record them to the reel to mess around with as I was Djing and re-editing for me was just an extension of that,” says Harvey. “When you have a residency you are playing records week after week breaking new stuff and it’s a way to keep things fresh and exciting and put your personality on the music.”

Omar-S, Theo Parrish and other Detroit luminaries call Kyle Hall one of the most talented youngsters around. Kyle Hall has been DJing and recording music since he was prepubescent, and was mentored by some of the most notable names in contemporary Detroit techno.

Get your advanced tickets HERE!

This past Saturday, bass reigned supreme once again in New York City; SUB:STANCE, the seminal Berghain bass night concocted by Hotflush boss Scuba, finally made its way to New York City to invade Santos Party House and brought bassheads, househeads and techno-fiends out from the torrential downpour pelting the streets and inside a dark, deep vibe that took over both levels of the venue. Ostgut-Ton’s Steffi took over the lower level of Santos with a rousing three-hour set of Berghain-blessed techno and house while Appleblim, Addison Groove, Paul Spymania and the O.G. Scuba took over on the top level and threw down something legendary. All in all, SUB:STANCE at Santos was one of the more well-executed nights of electronic music New York has seen in quite a while.

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Emika – Drop The Other (Scuba’s Vulpine Remix)

Thursday May 12, Dark Disco returns, this time bringing the beats to Santos Party House in the form of a CSS after party. CSS will be performing a DJ set, with opening sets from Justine D and Lorraine Sangre. With three sold out shows in New York City, CSS is sure to bring some great tunes for an even better time.

Formed in 2003 in Sao Paulo by a group of friends with an unquenchable thirst for good times and indulgence in all things pop and art, CSS rose to notoriety with the help of a thriving creative community, underground club scene and a little thing called the internet. Pulling together their numerous talents, the band drew legions of international followers entranced by a universally accessible, albeit original and off the wall, look and style.

The band name is Portuguese for “Tired of Being Sexy” (taken from something Beyoncé once commented to the press: “I am tired of being sexy”).The live performance CSS offers is uniquely energetic and entertaining. Lovefoxxx dodges among her bandmates and involves the audience in virtually every song. Sá, Cintra, and Parra switch instruments so often it’s easy to forget where they started.

Advanced tickets can be purchased HERE, or at the door. Be sure to bring your CSS/Sleigh Bells ticket stub if you’ve got it for super reduced $10 entry at the door.

I first became aware of Lindstrøm my first year at university, back when his collaboration with Prins Thomas was at its peak. After leaving my jacket at a boy’s house, I had it returned to me the next day with a big smile and a space disco mix CD in the pocket. To be fair, my original perception of Lindstrøm’s sound might have been a bit skewed due to the lovely circumstances around which I acquired his music. However, I’ve kept listening ever since, watching him cease his work with Prins Thomas and develop his project with Christabelle. However, it has always been his solo work that has truly interested me, as I feel and have always felt that this is where he always himself the most creative freedom; where his voice is heard the most clearly. It is also in his solo work where, as a Scandinavian myself, I can hear the influence of his place of upbringing – the combination of the cool and modern sounds that technology has ushered in combined with the echoes of misty forests, the warmth of small basement bars during the icy winter, and the intimacy of everything just being a bit smaller.

I was curious to see which direction he would take his set in last Thursday at Santos Party House, as the more melodic strains of space disco are not necessarily what New York City clubkids are accustomed to. As I expected, his set began with fairly straightforward modern house tunes, continuing the momentum that JDH & Dave P had built through their opening set. However, he consistently maintained the connection to his roots as an electronic “composer,” with his set becoming increasingly melodic and meandering as the night went on. While he kept his selections danceable, he seemed to allow himself to step back into his space disco sensibilities a bit more as the hour grew later, as if he had to win the crowd over first with a more traditional beat before he introduced his more individual sound. Lindstrøm dropped both “I Feel Space” and “Another Station” later in the night, two of my personal favorites of his older productions, which were both more than well received by the crowd.

Check out the full photo gallery HERE.

There’s nothing like the prospect of a truly awesome weekend to inspire a productive workweek. This week, Fixed has made it easy for you to sort out your after dark plans, as they’re offering up two killer parties with some outstanding house talent. Thursday, February 10, Norwegian DJ/producer and pioneer of the space-disco sound Lindstrøm will take Santos Party House on a voyage through the stars, and Saturday, February 12, rising stars Azari & III will take the stage at Le Poisson Rouge, supported by Teengirl Fanasy‘s synth heavy beats.

Raised on country and western music in the outskirts of the Norwegian oil town Stavanger, Lindstrøm now lives in Oslo where he is making contemporary disco and running his Feedelity label. Coming from gospel choirs, country and rock bands without any knowledge of dance music whatsoever, he entered the scene rather freed from any preconceived notions of style and trend parameters. He hung on to the habit of making music by playing melodies on real instruments, and the fact that he plays all the instruments on his recordings – guitars, bass, keyboards, drums and percussion- enables him to make music inspired by whatever his influences are at the moment. Lindstrøm today enjoys a cult-like status within dance music circles, although the humble guy himself is happy doing what he loves on an underground scale. He likes to have control over both his own music and publishing, which is why he releases all of his music on his own label Feedelity in collaboration with Oslo`s Smalltown Supersound.

Stream Lindstrøm’s “I Feel Space” below.

Advanced tickets for Lindstrøm can be purchased HERE.

Azari & II have been describes as hungry, reckless, and taking the world by storm with their relentless love beats and fanatical siren songs. They want to free your spirit through raw ass dance music all night long! The mysterious duo from the northern steppes of Canada started a fire burning with the brazen Hungry For The Power, a single released last fall that is continually blowing up with fans ranging from Annie Mac to Grizzly Bear, Boys Noize to Broken Social Scene. The follow up smash, Reckless (With Your Love), is currently serving up a dose of techno soul that’s highly addictively repeatable. With remixes for and by the likes of Health, Munk, Booka Shade, Le Le, Bot’ox, Ali Love, Sidwo? Nacho Lovers, Mano Le Tough, Runaway, Cosmo Vitelli and Mathias Aguayo, the electronic world is waited with bated breath to see what comes next.

Stream Azari & III’s “Reckless With Your Love (Tensnake Remix)” below.

Teengirl Fantasy is Logan and Nick, two friends at Oberlin College in Ohio. It’s tough to classify Teengirl Fantasy’s music within one genre – both Harmonia and CeCe Peniston serve as equal reference points. Teengirl Fantasy’s love of drone, 4/4, and warm gating synths force new classifications of electronic music. Their debut album, 7AM, was released in September 2010 through True Panther Sounds/Merok labels.

Advanced tickets for Azari & III and Teengirl Fantasy can be purchased HERE.

To say that Uproot Andy and Geko Jones brought the heat to Que Bajo?! at Santos Party House on Thursday night would be an understatement – the place was on fire.

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As with all things truly significant and foundational in my life, I cannot recall when music first became so essential to my existence. It seems to me that is has been present since birth, with the only change being that which manifests itself as the progression of my aural preferences and tastes. I can trace my audiophilic development throughout the years across many genres, with each new musical door being opened by a key artist. When I was 11 it was 1960′s rock & roll and it was The Doors; when I was 14 it was punk and it was the Sex Pistols; when I was 16 it was trance and it was John Digweed, when I was 18 it was electroclash and it was Felix Da Housecat, and when I was 20 it was modern techno, house and the future of electronic music, and it was James Zabiela.

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I personally can’t imagine a better way to work up an appetite for a Thanksgiving feast than dancing the night away with one of my all-time favorite producer/DJs James Zabiela. Good thing I’m being given the opportunity to do just that, as on Wednesday  November 24, Dance.Here.Too. brings the legendary electronic artist to Santos Party House, with an opening set from Sleepy & Boo.

Hailing from the UK, and mentored by Sasha, James’s sets and releases are strongly influenced by tech house, electro house and breakbeat stylings. His unique capitalization of all available mixing aid “utilities” give his performances characteristic depth and professional production quality. Knowing what a great track should sound like – and the place it can be taken by warping and twisting it – is James Zabiela’s forte. Layering different sounds with the aid of two Pioneer CDJ-2000s, a Pioneer EFX-1000, Korg Kaossilator, MIDI controller and a laptop, his hands and ears don’t let up for a second. James’ style is trippy, bleepy and deeply groovy. Oh, and watch out for a few gnarly basslines along the way, as those nasty, dirty sounds have become an inherent part of Jame’s signature sound. Scratches, loops, and fluttering chord changes are all par for the course in a Zabiela set.

Advanced tickets can be purchased HERE and will also be available at the door.

On Thursday night, Santos Party House and Fixed hosted Simian Mobile Disco for the fourth gig of their quarterly residency New York City. Fixed residents JDH and Dave P had the party going strong before Simian Mobile Disco took over the decks. I loved peering into the DJ booth to see a stack of vinyl, something you don’t see that often these days, and was in total awe when the disco ball did its thing and spread glimmering, clinquant joy across the room.

Things really picked up around 1 AM when Simian Mobile Disco took over. Their sound really suited the venue, especially combined with the multitude of lights and colors that changed with the beat. All night we were treated to that distinctive dirty electro sound that SMD are so famous for, and we even encountered cheeky little remixes of old electro-house classics.

By 2:30 AM, people from the dance floor had migrated to the stage, bodies jumping and fists in the air. When SMD dropped “Audacity of Huge” from Temporary Pleasures, the room lit up and the crowd went wild, as people clambered up onto the rail surrounding the DJ booth and danced with their arms in the air, beaming from ear to ear. It was one of those magical moments where the music took over and all you could do was smile, dance and sing along.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ALBUM BY DUNCAN MCKIE