krts is back at Monkeytown with Ryan Uzi to blow your mind

My man krts is back in action (he's having a busy fall after a nice little break from being so festive) at Monkeytown on November 7th with an audio/visual catharsis that will inspire you and make you wanna get out there in the brisk air and clear your mind and move forth with your life and progress and have those ups and have those downs.

Seriously, you're going to want to make your reservations at the link below. Oh and the cheese plate is pretty good at MT. Oh and did I mention Charlie Pino and his bretheren in Gold Fiction will be there? Oh yes.

From the information booth at my Facebook wall:

After 3 sold-out Monkey Town events, Krts welcomes another emotional roller-coaster of live indie-hiphop/electronic music with live video projection story-telling from award winning filmmaker Ryan Uzi of Light Harvest Studio. Together they tell the story of "The 6th Floor Walk-up" - An intense ride of LIVE mind bending visuals with indie-hiphop styled melodic, romantic, heart breaking and fun LIVE instrumentation.

**WITH A SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY CHARLIE PINO OF the fun indie-rock/american garage band GOLDFICTION!
myspace.com/goldfictionband


This may be the first collective of Krts and Ryan Uzi but, they're not amatuers at grabbing the minds, ears, and hearts of their audience.

Krts's Monkey Town shows had the critics hyping it as "a blend of hip-hop electronica à la Radiohead and Sonic Youth" (Village Voice). Trip-hop legends Nightmares on Wax (Warp) called his latest track "Doran Penny Roller" an "indietronic meets Zapp" crowd-pleaser on their latest 2009 compilation album, “Wax On - Volume 2."

Krts has shared stages with The Beatnuts, Machinedrum, Melo-X, Daedelus, Eliot Lipp, Mux Mool, Mexicans with Guns and others.

Light Harvest is the live multimedia performance work of award winning filmmaker Ryan Uzi. He creates complex visual atmospherics on subjects ranging from politics to paganism, from seductions of New York City to secluded train rides aboard the Orient Express.

Ryan Uzi's cinematic approach to video mixing and projection design has been seen with some of the worlds best DJ's including Felix da Housecat and Mark Farina (Mushroom Jazz), as well as commissioned for live events with the Guggenheim Museum, Diesel, Prada, Adidas Y3, and Flavor Pill Magazine.


****YOU MUST RSVP @ monkeytownhq.com/reservations.html *****

KRTS OFFICIAL WEBSITE
krtsmusic.com
KRTS MYSPACE & VIDS:
myspace.com/krts


RYAN UZI OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
light-harvest.com

The Powerstrip Circus Launch Party on Thursday June 4th: Be There, Or Be Lame

The friends at Powerstrip Circus, New York's premiere underground dance/hip hop/electro/awesomeness collective is finally giving themselves due props with an official launch party on June 4th (Thursdays in the summer are so bangin'). The place? Coco 66 in Greenpoint. How much? 5 bucks and a pristine mind to be blown.

All the details can be found at their site and on Facebook, but the real kicker is seeing the whole PSC mindtap in action. These guys hit a groove and just keep pinching it; even if you're not dancing, you automatically look cooler if you have people like KRTS at your back.

It's a great way to kick off summer and push the hotness to 11.


View Larger Map

Ever wanted to do something not lame during dinner time? Check out Reflections @ Monkeytown with DJ Slouch and KRTS

I know I know, usually most days it's sometimes a bit odd to be strolling to an early event during dinner time (I guess I don't do Broadway shows that often) but you won't be disappointed nor will you get seats if you don't grab tickets to Reflections @ Monkeytown on May 2nd featuring local favorites DJ Slouch and KRTS. It's all from the folks at Powerstrip Circus. They'll be performing simultaneously, which means both your hemispheres should be sufficiently blown for the night. You could literally stomp on other people's parades later in the evening and still come out on top. It starts at 7:30, which gives me enough time to digest some fish and chips at Spike Hill at the Bedford L. To go along with the funky fresh sounds (or as KRTS put it, his most "emotional show" which has to involve a lot of moments of "UNGH! YEAH" aka some soul people), you got visuals that will trip you harder than a soccer slide tackle from VJ's Firefly and Sima.

RSVP to powerstripcircus@gmail.com or as Powerstrip Circus says, go to the Monkeytown website. So maybe that seared duck breast will pull me away from Spike Hill or the free pizza down the block...

Body Movin' We Be Body Movin': Slouch and KRTS with others at Public Assembly Friday March 6th

Everyone's favorites, Slouch and KRTS are back in the mix with a full lineup at Public Assembly, which is respecting the old Galapagos name and filling the bills with some great beats. Should be a great show, starts at 10pm and it's only 10 bucks. Get to their websites for more info:
Slouch
KRTS

For the whole story, go to Powerstrip Circus article. Also see the flyer below.

AVAAZ with Zero Bridge @ Public Assembly 12.05.08

AVAAZ can be described, as taken from their moniker: Electro Global Discotek. An organization dedicated to cultural partying with some South Asian flair, as the tuxedo'd MC got the crowd in on the up and up while the DJs were spinning mid-tempo mixes with a bit of drum 'n bass and jungle thrown in for a global measure. Scenes like this always make me want to don glow in the dark contacts and make like Nas in the beginning of Belly with the pulsating beats as theme music.

The parties happen monthly and Public Assembly is a good place for it (the former Galapagos, which is now in DUMBO) with it's lax bar but nice pool in front and plenty of space to gyrate (although the crowd was a bit sparse at times depending on the set). This time around they threw in a curveball and some of New York's finest, Zero Bridge, put on a terse and forceful 40 minute set of an impassioned mix of U2 and indie pop sound with a hint of The Clash. Pushing through with tunes like their newest single "How Long" and "Late Bloomer", mixing 'manifesto' cuts with the lead singer Din's commanding prescence (being tall is advantageous), and you have a really nice rock concert in the middle of all the electro pulses. Mo, the drummer/kid brother of Din, headbanged like a wily teenager which was great, and backed by former Orange 9mm bassist Greg, they quickly got on track after the first song's timing was off initially.

The crowd was taken aback by it a little but Zero Bridge is very danceable and judging by how many people congradulated them afterward, AVAAZ gave their shimmiers a little taste of rock and Zero Bridge in turn won new converts.

Here's their video for "Late Bloomer":

zerobridge Late Bloomer


And then afterward the accomplished British actor/rapper (Path to 9/11, Deadset) Riz MC transitioned things back to the gyrating hips with a short set, rollicking along with chaotically fast beats and polemics. His style didn't translate well to the denizens of this party but, at the same time, gotta appreciate and give props to pushing the pace like an unruly spin class. He's big across the pond and I'm glad I got to see him rap.

Check out Riz MC on IMDB

For more info on AVAAZ events, go to their official site.

For more info on Public Assembly visit their official site as well.

Check out Zero Bridge on www.myspace.com/zerobridge and pick up their EP Havre de Grace digitally here.

Slouch and KRTS @ Karma Lounge 11/13/08

Now while I do not have the background or know-how to put the music that Slouch and KRTS throw down in context, I do know a groove when I feel it, and both these guys have it in spades, as evidenced by the trip I took for an hour or so at Karma on Thursday (see video below of krts, horrible phone pictures to come soon). Karma's hookahs being longstanding and flavorful, I was in for a really cool show, and it certainly took the sting off of watching the Pats loose a heartbreaker to the Jets at the Hairy Monk...

There's something to be said for music that seamlessly weaves into life's nightlife soundtrack, especially in this city. I showed up a couple minutes into KRTS's show (I apologize for not being able to review the early sets on the bill), and he was already pumping into full swing with echoing old school breakdowns and pings here and there to get people's brains flowing. Several younger cougars were weaving their hips in and out of these landscapes but krts wasn't there to play nice. His LP Posing Flower has a more laid back collage of melodies and connected dots, but his set this time around pushed the barrier a little more, there was more force and sweatier funk to it. Once he found the groove he stuck to it, and it's a great formula: take a hip hop beat and throw expiremental electronica over it, making the listener work at it but at the same time keeping the mid-tempo bumpin' going. It's like going to a soul funk show but decidedly weirder as he builds you up and brings you back down and up again but with the noises of a machine and production rather than blaring horns and higher-power vocals. The beats were huge. By the end of Slouch's set, everything overheated and the speaker connection blew. The great thing is KRTS is also a showman when performing; sure musicians get into their work, but it's like he's attacking his set up like a hawk lasering in on the prey, it's pretty infectious.



And then I noticed something else, with Karma's vibe in terms of it's lighting and low-ceiling basement, coupled with Mr. Teoh's self-developed editing software to fully get the attention of my eyes with the VJ'ing (besides the girl across from me who was wearing pajama pants and a fanny pack, I guess we call that unique?), it felt like the brothel scene in Roger Dodger a little.

KRTS transitioned into DJ Slouch's set with no breaks and it was cool to see the change of pace but keeping a similar groove down. Slouch looks like a serious technician, a little less light and more somber than the KRTS set but no more or less for it. The music slowed down just a touch and pierced the show with a kind of cleanliness almost; if KRTS was the rambunctious kid who got everyone riled up, Slouch was the cool older brother who brought a different brand of funk. Should I pull out the Matt Dillon Mickey Rourke analogy in Rumble Fish? I dunno, but that's the second Mickey Rourke reference I've made in the past 24 hours. Slouch was a smooth operator with a sip occasionally from what looked like a whiskey on the rocks. Unfortunately for him, as I stated earlier, the connection was fried for half his set but he came back for the last minute strong. If you were dancing to his set, it's like you shouldn't be breaking a sweat because there's a constant flow that restrained and focused. Cool stuff.

Catch Slouch at Karma often, it's a great fit. You'll want to check out his E.P. Labor and his Travels. Find out more about him:
Slouch on MySpace
Slouch Official Site

For KRTS, to learn more visit his official site or MySpace or on YouTube.

And here they are, really nice guys, KRTS is saying, "here's my hand, take it" :