Still carrying the brightly lit torch from the recent Harri show, Animals Dancing are doing it to us again, presenting two of New York’s finest: Prince Language and DJ Spun – and I must say, the flame will be burning mighty hot for this one. Taking place in the Mercat basement, the king of all dungeons, boasting a beautiful sound system and ample dancing vibe.

Prince Language (NYC – The No Comprendo – DFA/k7/Editions Disco)

Prince Language’s acclaimed remix work for artists like LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture, Lindstrøm, MGMT, The Juan Maclean, Joakim, Editors, Sons and Daughters and Armand Van Helden, as well as numerous re-edits for the mysterious Editions Disco label, have earned his tracks a place in the sets of DJ Harvey, Tiga, Carl Craig, Rub N Tug, and Gilles Peterson, and have made him one of the go-to remixers in dance music today.

His series of mixes entitled ‘The No Comprendo’ have been some of the most talked about mixes of the last few years. In addition to numerous remix projects, he is currently at work on the forthcoming debut album of Prince Language & The No Comprendo as well as an upcoming project with Liv Spencer (Still Going, House of House).

Born and raised in Chicago, Prince Language has been strongly influenced by the city’s rich musical tradition, especially its heritage as the birthplace of House music. Raised on a steady musical diet of tapes of disco and house legends Ron Hardy and the Hot Mix 5, Language began DJing at Chicago warehouse parties and soon found himself holding down numerous residencies throughout the city.

Moving to New York in 1999, he soon met Philadelphian DJ Rich Medina, and together the pair established the now-legendary Stoned Soul parties. In 2002 he formed NegroClash, which has featured artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, Juan Atkins, Marshall Jefferson, DJ Spinna and Larry Heard/Mr. Fingers and in 2004 the Village Voice named NegroClash the “Best party in Manhattan to dance sweatily to smart music.”

DJ Spun (NYC – Rong Music)

Starting his music career in San Fransisco in the early 80’s, playing alongside bands such as the Dead Kennedy’s and Black Flag, DJ Spun began his DJ career opening for Kurtis Blow, and from there went on to his now legendary club nights, and appearing at countless parties the world over.

In 2003, with partner Ben Cook, they started the label Rong Music to release their own style-bending, genre-blending music as well as releases from Mudd, Chicken Lips, Woolfy and many others. The label offshoot, Tu Rong, also releases re-edits and remixes from the classic Nu Groove label.

Spun has released records on NOID, Editions Disco and Watchawannado and his recent remix work has included James Chance and the Contortions and Mudd as well as collaborations with Liv Spencer(House of House, Still Going), Eric Duncan(Rub n Tug, Still Going) and Daniel Wang.
Currently residing in New York City, Spun’s P.S.1/MoMA’s prestigious Warm Up Music Series is acknowledged as NYC best Summertime Party with “Warm Up” averaging 4000 attendees each Saturday. He’s also resident at APT. and 205 club with Eric Duncan of Rub n Tug.

Support from Animals Dancing residents Otologic and Tornado Wallace. Tickets from all moshtix outlets, promoters and from the venue (9348 9998). Or you can purchase directly from this link. First release $20; second release $25. Game on.

And here are some tracks by Prince Language, a great array of his remixes and beautiful edits:
MP3: LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 (Prince Language Remix)
MP3: The Droyds – All I Ever Wanted (Prince Language Remix)
MP3: The Rapture – Get Myself Into it (Prince Language Disco Edit)
MP3: The Juan MacLean – Happy House (Prince Language Dub Mix)
MP3: Gino Soccio – Love Is (Prince Language Edit)
MP3: Von Spar – Troops (Prince Language Pleasure Mix)
MP3: Ahmed Fakroun – Yo Son (Prince Language Edit)
MP3: Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – You Can’t Go (Prince Language Edit)

And now it’s DJ Spun’s turn:
MP3: James Chance and the Contortions – Incorrigible (Liv Spencer and DJ Spun Mix)
MP3: Paul Simon – Late (DJ Spun Edit)
MP3: 33 1/3 Queen – Steal Blue (DJ Spun Disco Re-Edit)

Ireland’s very own Shit Robot (Marcus Lambkin) is currently downunder for his first Australian tour. Signed to DFA, Marcus has brought our three 12″ releases: “Wrong Galaxy” (2006), “Chasm” (2007) and just recently “Simple Things (Work It Out)” (2009), and has remixed artists like Simian Mobile Disco, Dondolo, The Juan MacLean, etc.

I’m a bit late on this post (as he has already played a few places already) but Melbournians/Perth kids can catch him this weekend. If you are in Melbourne, definitely come along this Saturday to our good blog friend’s, Scatterblog’s, festival “Scatterfest 2010” featuring Shit Robot, NASA, James Amato et al.

Shit Robot tour dates:

22 Jan – Empire, Brisbane
23 Jan – Goodgood Small Club, Sydney
25 Jan – Sugar, Adelaide
29 Jan – The Republic, Perth
30 Jan – The Espy, Melbourne

I was lucky enough to get an interview with Marcus as we talked about his past, various club scenes, Plant, New York, moving, James Murphy, DFA, his new album and everything robots:

PATCH: Halloooo Marcus! How was your Christmas and New Year?
MARCUS: It was great, relaxing at home with the whole family.

PATCH: And how’s the family?
MARCUS: The family are doing great. My wife is a bit upset as I just got back from NY and now I’m going to Australia and she’s stuck at home with our daughter.

PATCH: How’s the preparation coming along for your Australian tour? Will this be your first time in Australia?
MARCUS: Yes, first time. I’m really looking forward to it. I have a lot of friends here and I can’t wait to see them. Some of them moved down here when I went to NY, so it’s been a long time.

PATCH: OK, so let’s go back in time. Tell me about growing up in Ireland. What was the early club scene like? Tell me about your childhood, etc ?
MARCUS: I think I had a pretty good childhood. I grew up in a not so great neighborhood, but not so bad either. It was a little rough, but we also lived close to the sea and surrounded by countryside. We built camps a lot and one of my friends had a dirt bike, so it was a lot of fun.
After finishing school I started to venture in to Dublin on the weekends to go out to clubs. I found some old mates from my neighborhood were already involved in the “Rave” scene. That’s when I started to go out religiously. My friends would organize coach trips to illegal raves in the countryside or clubbing in Belfast. It was pretty sweet. There was only a handful of us doing this at the time, we thought we were great, we thought we had found the solution to the worlds problems.

PATCH: I’ve read in an interview with James Murphy & Pat Mahoney that you were more “punk oriented who turned rave”. Is this true?
MARCUS: I guess you could say that, I used to listen to Killing Joke, Dead Kennedys and the Clash before I got into dance music.

PATCH: So these days, what do you find yourself listening to? Also, what artists impress you lately?
MARCUS: I listen to old stuff a lot, I’m not really up on the new bands. I like to listen to Fleetwood Mac, Bowie or T-rex. I am really enjoying the new Hot Chip record though, it’s great.

PATCH: Today, has much changed in Ireland? Do you still enjoy playing there when you get the opportunity to do so?
MARCUS: I love playing there, it’s one of my favorite places to play, it rules. I love going home. I don’t know if it’s because I’m from Dublin and I’m on DFA, but I get a great response when I’m there, I love it. It has changed a lot since I last lived there though. A lot of money was pumped in to Ireland with the Celtic Tiger, nobody had any money when I lived there.

PATCH: Tell me about moving: why did you initially decide to move in 1992? And why New York?
MARCUS: I just knew I wanted to travel somewhere. I was actually thinking about moving to Australia with my mates, but then I won a Green Card in the lottery. I also had a cousin in NY at the time, so I said “why not,” I’ll give it a year and see what happens.

PATCH: And now you have ended up moving again, living comfortably in Germany. Is there a great comparison between Europe and America?
MARCUS: Yes, especially with music. You can play anywhere in Europe, but In the States you are limited to the big cities. Dance Music is not as mainstream as it is in Europe.

PATCH: Were you already DJing before you secured three gigs and two residencies in New York?
MARCUS: Just about, I was just starting. I had a party with a few friends at a place called Brownies in the east village on Sunday nights. I learned to DJ in front of people there. There’s a huge difference between DJing in your bedroom and DJing to a crowd. It’s a totally different experience.

PATCH: Tell me about your “Save the Robots” two year residency?
MARCUS: It was a pretty sweet gig. I used to play upstairs on a Saturday night. It was pretty mellow as Robots was more of an after hours place and it didn’t get going until 4am. It’s a shame there’s nothing like Robots around anymore, that place was really special and a quintessential part of NY as I knew it.

PATCH: How did the three Plants (Plant Records, Plant Saturdays and Plant Bar) come about?
MARCUS: After Dominique Keegan and myself started up Plant records we threw a record release party that turned out to be huge. We found out that we were much better at throwing parties than running a record label.
After throwing the Plant parties for a few years Dominique got the chance to open a Bar. He drafted me in and we turned it into the Plant bar, it was a natural progression for two Irishmen in NY.

PATCH: When James showed you the ‘crap’ robot drawing, what was the first thing you said? (if you can remember…)
MARCUS: Ha ha!

PATCH: I want to know why James was drawing robots in the first place… was it for a flyer?
MARCUS: Yes, it was the flyer for the first “Shit Robot” party at Plant bar.

PATCH: So this drawing led to the name for the so called “Shit Robot Parties” (ran also with James Murphy) held at the Plant Bar. Face Magazine stated Plant Bar to be the “coolest and loudest bar in New York City” (10/02). Paint the readers a picture of what went on in Plant Bar. These parties must’ve been huge!
MARCUS: No, they weren’t really that big. Plant Bar could only legally hold 74 people. Of course there was more like 150/200 people in the place on a good night, but it was still pretty small. The best parts of it were the lock-ins. At 4am we’d kick everybody but our friends out and lock the doors. This tended to leave the place half full though. We’d play records and drink for hours.

PATCH: And obviously this is where your DJ name comes from as well?
MARCUS: Yep, to be honest though, I never thought it would go this far. I wasn’t thinking past the first 12”.

PATCH: Do you still tend your Plant projects?
MARCUS: No, I left that to Dominique many years ago. He’s a lot better at that stuff, I shouldn’t be in control of anything.

PATCH: I’ve read that you taught James & Pat how to DJ. Is this correct?
MARCUS: I wouldn’t say that I actually sat them down and gave them lessons, but I guess they picked some of it up from me. I mean, James was always talking about it and he was fascinated with the whole thing. With Pat, he came later and I did give him a few pointers. I also gave him a pile of records to get started. It helps to have a load of records when you are learning to mix.

PATCH: Was it tricky introducing dance music to a “dance hating” (at the time) James Murphy?
MARCUS: No, he wasn’t really a dance hater. He just hadn’t been exposed to anything good. He was really excited about stuff like Mr. Ozio’s “Flat beat.” He really loved that one. I’m sure he had his doubts about plenty of the stuff I was playing him, but he kept his mouth shut.

PATCH: Can you tell me about the early DFA days where you got involved with James Murphy (after the Shit Robot parties) and the DFA label?
MARCUS: Well, I had been friends with James long before DFA and the Shit Robot party. He had been pushing me to make music for ages, it was only after my move to Germany that I finally managed to get something finished.

PATCH: Would you say your sound is very unique to DFA?
MARCUS: I guess you could say that. I don’t think of myself as something unique on DFA, I think most of the stuff from DFA is pretty different.

PATCH: Finally you have a new album coming! What can you tell us about it? Any special guests featuring on the album?
MARCUS: Yes, I’ve got lots of special guests, I’ve been very lucky. I did songs with Alexis from Hot Chip, Al Doyle lent a hand too. The Juan Maclean did vocals and played some guitar, Nancy sings on there, as does Janine from Planningtorock, Saheer from House of House and there’s more.

PATCH: Shit Robot, “Save the Robots”… am I seeing a trend here? Are you a techy nerd at heart?
MARCUS: No, definitely not. I’m a retard when it comes to techy stuff. I am getting better though. Because of where I live, I’ve been forced to learn how to fix stuff myself.

MP3: Shit Robot – Wrong Galaxy
MP3: Shit Robot – Chasm
MP3: The Juan MacLean – No Time (Shit Robot Remix)
MP3: Idioma – Landscapes (Shit Robot Remix)
MP3: Simian Mobile Disco – It’s the Beat (Shit Robot Remix)

HUGE GIG ALERT!! HUGE GIG ALERT!! HUGE GIG ALERT!! HUGE GIG ALERT!! HUGE GIG ALERT!!

Late Night Date Presents: SPECIAL DISCO VERSION FEAT. JAMES MURPHY & PAT MAHONEY (DFA/LCD SOUNDSYSTEM)

SUPPORTS: The Juan MacLean (DFA/DJ set), Andee Frost, Flight Facilities (U-GO-B & Jimmy2sox), Nick Foley, Ando, Herbie, Pet Shop DJ’s (Francis Chang & Kablam!), Crysknife (myself and my DJ partner Lex), Kris Baha & DMan, Vinnie van Goh & Jordy, Popacap, Joff Chamberlain

This special event is happening on Friday January 8, 2010 at Royal Melbourne Hotel (629 Bourke Street, The City).

And for those who have little knowledge of the two lads, James Murphy is co-founder of dance-punk label DFA Records and also part of the group LCD Soundsystem with fellow bandmate Pat Mahoney (drummer). When DJ’ing together they are known as Special Disco Version.

Definitely not a night to be missed (had to change my flights to return to Victoria earlier!). The mighty Bozak will be in full force as well for that authentic disco feel. Oh, and if you look up during the night you may be lucky to see 5000 white balloons filling the ceiling of the room for that, you know, special disco feel (once again).

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased from In the Mix, Ticketmaster, through DJ’s/promoters or you could just contact the blog.

Both of these next tracks are edits Murphy & Mahoney did for a release that was put out on the label Moxie. Classic stuff.

MP3: Special Disco Version – Feels So Good (“Donald Byrd – Love Has Come Around”)

And who could forget the Fabric they did – it’s a must have.

Our favourite indie-disco-pop act Cut Copy have done a marvelous remix of the ultimate DFA anthem of 2008, as you guessed, “Happy House”, by raddest of rad The Juan MacLean. Buy this sucker at Itunes right now.
MP3: The Juan MacLean – Happy House (Cut Copy Space Is the Place Remix)

And while on the theme of being in a place in space, one of my favourite tracks from the cult classic italo-mix ‘Mixed Up in the Hague, Vol. 1‘ is up for aural pleasures aswell.
MP3: The Jonzun Crew – Space Is the Place