Hey folks,
Just wanted to mention that I had a great time out last night at Shine in
NYC dancing to Ben Watt and Jay Hannan who together run the Notting Hill
club event called "Lazy Dog." If you can catch them in your city (schedule
below) you're in for a real house music treat!
DJ Reda opened up the night with a house set that was decent with one track
I recognized (Francois K's remix of Ame Strong's "Tout Est Blue.")
Jay Hannan then stepped up to the plates around 11:30pm with a packed
audience of a wide age group and proceeded to build up the pace and the vibe.
I'm still a relative newbie to house so I didn't recognize anything that he
spun in his first set but it was all good.
Then Ben Watt came onto the decks and started out with a few strong songs
and then went nuts with a killer 3 anthem trio that had the whole place
cheering, whistling and waving hands. Ben went from the Lazy Dog remix of
Sade's "By Your Side," to Negrocan's "Cada Vez," to Kenny Dope's dub remix
of Monday Michiru's "Sunshine After the Rain." After giving us a breather
for a few tracks he brought in the EBTG vs. Soul Vision "Tracy In My Room"
remix and brought the house down! Everyone was screaming and yelling and
whistling- it was amazing. I've been to Shine maybe 4 times this summer
and never saw a crowd as pumped as it was last night (at least at the peak
of Ben's first set.)
The night would have been perfect if Ben had played Todd Terry's remix of
EBTG's "Missing." I wasn't into house when that song was really big and it
would've been amazing to hear Ben spin that next to the newer remixes
they've done.
I spoke to Ben briefly before he went on stage to ask him what's coming for
releases. He said that "Tracy in My Room" is going to be released early
next year and that after that they're planning a "Back to Mine: EBTG" which
will be a lot like Groove Armada's (Ben even mentioned that
compilation.) So we can look forward to those. "Tracy in My Room" is
going to be a stormer next spring. The Lazy Dog remix of "By Your Side" is
already a stormer by my estimation.
One funny incident happened right after I bumped into a friend's
girlfriend, Daisy. Daisy was complaining to me because Ben had just handed
the decks back to Jay and she wanted Ben back on. She said something to
the effect of, "Why doesn't Ben get back on the decks- we've heard this New
York DJ before." I politely informed her of who Jay was and his connection
to Ben, but it was interesting because as the night wore on, Daisy's was
right on the money. Ben and Jay both threw down a set that wouldn't have
sounded that far away from a 80's NYC house set. It's not that they were
playing only classics (although they did throw a few in) it's just that it
was ironic that 2 UK DJs were playing New York house to a New York crowd,
who was loving it (for the most part.)
I don't think that Lazy Dog is breaking any new boundaries of house per
se. I think that they're cresting the wave of deep house and having a
great time with it. I think that the demand for deep house is growing
quickly as some other genres are having a hard time growing beyond an
initial fan base. Imho, it's still too early to tell if UK Garage/2Step
will take off here in the US.
Can anyone help me identify three songs that I didn't recognize:
1. one with Tracy's vocals where she's saying "Are you all alone? When are
you coming home?"
2. one old NY garage track by the Kleptomaniacs (?)
3. one with a refrain that was "Every time I hold you I hear music, sweet
music"
thanks!
Gen
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Lazy Dog Tour Dates
Thu. Nov 16, 2000: 9:30 Club - Washington DC
Sat. Nov 18, 2000: Sugar - Los Angeles, CA
Sun. Nov 19, 2000: Baltic Room - Seattle, WA
Mon. Nov 20, 2000: SOMA - Boulder, CO
Tue. Nov 22, 2000: Smart Bar - Chicago, IL
Wed. Nov 23, 2000: Roxy Blue - Toronto, Canada
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