NYC: MoMA MiXX with Hercules and Love Affair and Mickalene Thomas

Giving a weird turn to the term “celebrity DJ,” MoMA’s new dance series, MoMA MiXX is combining real DJs (in this case, Andrew Butler, mastermind of Hercules and Love Affair, pictured above from FADER 53) with prominent artists, in this case, the stellar Mickalene Thomas, both playing sets of music that has been influential to them. In MoMA’s words: “MoMA MiXX pairs major artists with world-class musicians or DJs. At each dance party, both the DJ and the artist will spin a set of music that has been influential in their lives and work—a “MoMA mix” that will subsequently be available for download on MoMA.org.” For better or worse, this party has tickets available for $75. But it’s a benefit! With an open bar! And disco! This Saturday from eight to midnight.

Video/Stream: Deep Red, “Fun Girl”

A few years ago, we saw Nomi perform at a barbecue at a bar. We knew then that her voice was major but the rest of the show was a bit thin. She played over super billionth-rate Wu Tang beats, if memory serves, with them being played on the PA through a CD Walkman. So back when we heard she’d be on the Hercules and Love Affair record we were stoked to hear her backed by some force. Then we saw her sing “Blind” and the wowee factor went through the roof. Now with a slightly whittled group of three—Andrew Roposo and Morgan Wiley, also of Hercules and Love Affair—she is singing with Deep Red. They played their first show a few weeks back. Nomi wore a cape. The dudes looked like dudes. And the music sounded like a thicker more future focused version of what she does in Hercules, a cybernetic pronouncement as opposed to a forlorn disco sob. Word on the street is that “Fun Girl” is coming out as a 12-inch some time soon, but this video and a stream of the song on their Myspace works as a tease for now. And for those of you in New York you can catch Deep Red at Highline Ballroom on March 20th.

LA: Legions of Disco 2 with Andy Butler and Pat Mahoney

If you’re a Californian, or just like hanging out somewhere in or around Los Angeles then head to Club 740 this Friday February 20th for Legions of Disco 2 featuring Andy Butler of Hercules and Love Affair and Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem, along with the usual resident DJs Victor Rodriguez, Chris Bowen, Blackdisco’s Nitedog & Lovefingers and PeePlay from Honey Soundsystem SF. We know that is a lot of names to keep track of, but if you’re partying past 5am you’re probably not going to worry about it too much anyway. Buy tickets here and check the full flyer after the jump.

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FADER 53: DFA Feature

Read Matthew Schnipper’s feature on the next wave of New York City dance label DFA Records after the jump.

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Video: Hercules And Love Affair, “You Belong”

We were going to say this video is the gayer version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give It Away” video, but upon watching the “Give It Away” video again, turns out that is pretty explicitly gay. Both videos feature a lot of deserted landscapes with shirtless men dancing, except RHCP’s video has way more body paint. Despite that, and despite the reluctance of the gender studies parts of our minds to assign sexual preference to anything as inanimate as music, “You Belong,” is, ultimately, the gayer song. “You belong to him tonight, there is nothing you can do,” and something somewhere between freestyle and acid house = not straight. And thank god for it. Someone has to have enough ferociousness to dance in front of a screen of animated houndstooth. Or maybe they’re just trying to trip us up and the whole crawling out of the ice/science fiction/tundra dance vibe is an ode to Ursula K Le Guin and The Left Hand of Darkness and we’re deep into a multigendered utopia of boundless love.

Live: Tippy Toes At Lucky Cat

Reggie Watts, you should probably get a haircut. Aside from that, nice job with the singing. Serendipitously, we caught Tippy Toes, the band he fronts along with pretty much every member of Hercules and Love Affair, play on Saturday night at this tiny bar with a mosaic and long bathroom lines. After a month of touring fancy festivals in Europe the Herc rhythm section was tight, slap-bassy and raw. Watts has his voice controlled like his throat is a very specific shofar, bleets and bursts and warm echo serenades. It’s almost weird to see this live, sweet soul disco that exists in most young minds only as vinyl crinkles. Did Cloud One play shows in bars? Is that what we saw, updated version? Or throwback cover band? Is Escort shook? Is there better music to listen to while drinking white wine?

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Live: Hercules And Love Affair At Studio B In Brooklyn

Gays love Hercules and Love Affair. Straights, too, and those in between. Moms and dads, bartenders, curmudgeonly friends, drunk Jews, women with pincurls, women with stringy hair, tall people with glasses, they all love Hercules and Love Affair. But mostly gays. They love Hercules and Love Affair the same way rabid Japanese teens must have loved Bruce Springsteen in 1986, crush the barricades and cry at the sight of an icon style love. Which is weird, because Andrew Butler is shy. Outfitted in shirts identifying all band members as “banjees”, (except Nomi, who identified herself as being really toned), his group jammed around him while he perfected tones on headphones. He kind of looked proud, but mostly he looked freaked out. It didn’t matter. In this video of “Blind” (for which we hoped Antony would show up and murder shit, which did not happen) you can see the crowd banana-ize themselves. We were all there for the same reason, group pride for what was happening onstage. That and to see the dudes from Horse Meat Disco DJ until 4AM.

Read FADER’s extended coverage of the Hercules show after the jump, including a proclamation of sorts of the return of downtown New York.

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Video: Hercules And Love Affair Explains It All

The two month countdown for the Hercules and Love Affair album to be released in the US begins today. Or, if you are us and spent a lot of your measly American dollars on the import vinyl, you only have two more months to feel cool. If you haven’t found the album via other means, a good appetite whetter is this video of Andy Butler aka H+LA going song by song about the album. “There’s a lyric that I took for a tattoo on my little brother’s chest…the lyric is ‘don’t give up on your desire,’” is our favorite sentence. Then he talks about Arthur Russell, love songs, trumpet solos and encouragement. This is like DVD commentary except without gloating and with the weird adage of watching Butler fidget on a white couch. Wonder if he was thinking about what to do with his hands.

Video: Hercules & Love Affair, “Blind”

Is this about losing your virginity? Or global warming? It’s unclear, but we can respect its Tarsem steez. This is the UK video for Hercules’ Antony-featuring single, so hopefully DFA will counter with something weirder, like a full-on recreation of Godspell with trained cats. We have been jamming “Blind” a lot lately and think Antony’s next album should be all Arthur Russell joints like this, even though I Am A Bird Now got us through some things. Check out FADER 51 for our Gen F on Hercules and Love Affair.

Freeload: Hercules and Love Affair, “Hercules Theme”

Hercules and Love Affair’s got a bit of “Street Player” sleaze here, on a big brassy disco track. We were at their Myspace page every twenty minutes a month or two ago, streaming “Athene” until our little Italo disco hearts and brains melted. This is a sidestep from there, seventies traditional, complete with panting and string flair, not altogether far from our modern favorites Escort. Monday mornings are usually more Garfield than Saturday Night Fever, but we guess it’s time that changed.

Download: Hercules and Love Affair, “Hercules Theme” (requires registration)

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