As social distancing measures were being lifted in New York following 15 months of closure, we were lucky enough to get together with Dweller for an extra special Juneteenth and re-opening celebration. Our next live recording comes from that weekend courtesy of Discwoman party-starting professional, SHYBOI.   Across an epic two hours she burned through turbocharged techno, kaleidoscopic breakbeat and raw, freaky, rave euphoria.

Massive shouts to SHYBOI for the music, to Frankie for pulling the strings, to Lou for the technical treatment and to everyone who was in the place for this one.

Nowadays Live And Direct 011 - SHYBOI

Available on Audio Cassette and digital download directly from the label’s Bandcamp @ https://djbeige.bandcamp.com/album/amen-vol-1

T4T LUV NRG is proud to present “Amen! Vol. 1”, a breathtaking DJ mix tape conceived and blended by Detroit’s DeeJay Beige. “Amen! Vol. 1” is a singular presentation of a sound developed by Beige that is very personal and deeply connected to their history. Beige’s mix is an amalgam of ecclesiastical breaks and gospel house delivered with intensity and soul power like only they can do. Prepare to be enthralled with one of the most exciting DJs currently burning their way through the American underground. From the Holy Ghost TO YOU, this is Beige! Be not afraid…

ARTIST STATEMENT:
In the strictest sense, Amen! Vol. 1 is the result of more than a year’s worth of obsessive brainstorming, digging, planning, arranging, re-arranging, and countless discarded takes. And in another sense, this mixtape has been in the works for the six years since I started DJing, the ten years since my baptism as a teenage club rat, and for my entire life, which for better or for worse has been shaped by The Church and church music since birth. 

My mother was a promiscuously Christian divinity school dropout who pushed my family through a run of increasingly conservative churches: Unitarian, Episcopal, Baptist, Presbytarian, Charismatic-Evangelical, and probably a few others I forget. My fathers family on the other hand were career scientists and committed atheists who also all happened to sing in church choirs for fun. I cannot remember a time when Beethoven, Bach, folk hymns, old negro spirituals and gospel were not playing in my house, day in and day out. 

Cutting ties with both family and organized religion in my early teens left a void of community and belonging that wouldn’t start to be filled until my first experiences with clubbing (sometimes with drugs, sometimes without) years later. And when I started collecting records years after that, I gravitated heavily towards any music incorporating the familiar imagery, themes, musical motifs and language of church (especially Liberation Theology) which remained kind of bittersweetly comforting long after I stopped trying to believe. This might sound heretical, but over the last several years “gospel” has become much more of a feeling to me than a genre or even a sound. As far as I’m concerned, the rave, the club, the congregation, the choir, are only different ways to experience a many-sided mystery. 

For this project, I wanted to challenge myself to imagine going beyond just using a little soulful house to end the night or the mix on an uplifting note, and instead program a fantasy “gospel rave” for a thousand of my closest friends dancing in a field on a moonless night. How would I do my best to deliver a powerful, meaningful, salvatory collective experience from midnight until sunrise? Amen Vol. 1 is a snapshot of that imaginary night. 

The need to use contrasting peaks and troughs to create a sense of narrative for your audience includes emotional or spiritual contrast just as much as it does changes in BPM or a kick pattern.  So, it was important for me to try exceeding simply the emotions associated with “praise” music (like joy) because encountering the truly divine should also inspire fear and awe. Disregarding genre as much as possible, each piece of music was chosen for the sensation or sentimental meaning it inspires for me personally: you probably wouldn’t call most of them “rave tracks”, and plenty aren’t explicitly religious at all. Finally, of course I had to make sure that Detroit and Chicago were properly (but not exclusively, that’s for another mix) represented in the tracklist. Where I’ve ended up, grounded by a repeating classic “anchor track” for each side, is an attempt to simulate Genesis and Revelation, the Good News and the Flood, the dark night of the soul and the moment of salvation–whatever those might mean for you. Can I get a witness?

Beige - AMEN! Vol. 1

Debut BASEMENT set for Ron and Ryan's party "Wrecked"

3 hours of vinyl. Raw and funky.... Just how i like it.

Devoye at WRECKED

Juanita's Mix 081 with Kilopatrah Jones @kilopatrah-jones

Q. How would you describe yourself?
A. A quiet dancer who uses music to connect with others. 

Q. How long have you been a part of the NY music scene? 
A. About 12 years as a dancer but 6 years as a dj. (I was a curious kid who stayed in the street)

Q. Tell us a little bit about this mix.
A. This mix is a little rude, sticky but sweet. I wanted to pull elements from my queer haitian identity and experiences as an NYC native. A lot of the tracks selected are from DJs and artists I look up to. The grooves, syncopation and cuts I mix are to paint a picture of it being 2am in the club, you are pumping & dancing so hard that you are sweating your hair and clothes out but you can’t stop because the music feels too good. In my own way if I was old enough to play at sound factory or the tunnel, this is what it would sound like!

Tracklist:
I'm Not Dreaming (Mystipsychotix Mix)- K.C.Y.C.
4 D.D. (For Devotion) (I Want You Mix) - K.C.Y.C.
Love Me Tonight [Junior's Sound Factory Mix]- J.D. Braithwaite
4 D.D. (For Devotion) (Smoothie Harden Mix) - K.C.Y.C.
I'm Every Woman (The Runs Mix II) - Whitney Houston
Ah yeah (club mix)- Flexter
The House Phreak- St. David
Good Time (Time Razor’s B.A.V Mix)- Sleepless
Reste Sur Moi (Blue Velvet Mix)- Patricia Kaas
Stay Together (Armand's ''Crazy'' Trauma Mix) - Barbara Tucker
Sex Machine (Erotica Mix)- 20 Fingers
Everyone Over there (Getting Robbed) (Roc-s SP1200 Dub) - Roc & Presta
Warm Leatherette (Danny Tenaglia Mix)- Club 69
Georgy Porgy (Armand Van Helen Remix)- 3D
Can’t Stop (Acid Rain Forest Mix)- Plez
C.U.N.T. (She’s Cunt, She’s Pussy)- Robbie Tronco
Throb (David Morales Legendary Dub Mix)- Janet Jackson

Juanita's Mix 081: Kilopatrah Jones

Two hours of sonic gems, brought to you by Rose Kourts. This episode's selections are themed around the gem amazonite, which holds vibrations for hopefulness and manifestation, creative expression, serenity, and acceptance of life's fluidity.

https://www.instagram.com/rose.kourts

GEMS with Rose Kourts: Amazonite @ The Lot Radio 03-15-2023

The recording from my opening set at Nowadays's monthly Nonstop party.
Recorded on 04/29/23

Nowadays Nonstop Recording 04/23

https://soundcloud.com/rosekourts

For Deep South ATL, I leaned into the idea of sharing a Rose Kourts jam session in its purest form. This is a free-flowing power hour of tracks and records I’ve been digging lately. It’s eclectic and funky, full of energy and crunchy, groovy, acid-heavy sounds that get my heart pumping, feet stomping, and stank face going. Especially as a queer Black Southern gal, it is both a pleasure and an honor for me to contribute to this fantastic series. Y’all better turn it up, enjoy!

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Rose Kourts is a Brooklyn-based DJ, radio host, and organizer, known for blending musical styles and influences with a signature touch and a buoyant energy. Since bursting onto the scene in 2019, she has quickly become a favorite at New York’s most buzzing clubs and parties, electrifying dancefloors and airwaves alike with dynamic selections that reflect deep digging sensibilities and a love and respect for the underground. Rose Kourts' selections bloom into soulful warmth as easily as tense menace, and she wields this versatility with a philosophy of fun that extends to her monthly Lot Radio resident show GEMS, her work as a co-founder of DIY renegade party Sweet Kicks, and as the head of local club night NOW. 

Rose Kourts can regularly be found whipping dancefloors into a sonic frenzy at Brooklyn venues such as BASEMENT, Nowadays, Good Room, Paragon, Bossa Nova Civic Club, Mood Ring, and Public Records. The last year has seen the artist blossom into not only an established mainstay in her local scene, but also a growing presence at clubs and events across and outside of the US. Her travels outside of New York have thrilled dancers and won her a growing international fan base across electronic hubs like Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit and beyond.

The DJ has played festivals such as WIRE Festival, Dweller Festival, Fourth World, Shaker Mountain, Slingshot Festival, London’s Keep Hush, and Boiler Room; storied parties with collectives including WRECKED, The Carry Nation, BOUND, and The Bunker in NYC, LA’s Ostabahnhof, Miami’s Proibidae, Berlin’s Body Language, and Copenhagen’s Fast Forward; and as direct support for legendary artists like Mr. G and Moodymann, DJ Stingray and Helena Hauff, Robert Owens, The Egyptian Lover, and DJ T-1000, among other seminal talents.

Deep South Podcast - 117 - Rose Kourts

Breaking down the barricades - long-time NTS neighbours, Physical Therapy & Finn finally join forces for 2 hours of House & Garage.

https://www.nts.live/shows/finn/episodes/finn-16th-june-2023

Finn & Physical Therapy 160623

"DJing and lecturing aren't different practices for me. I just fuse them together." The scholar and performer reflects on bringing critical ideas to club spaces and writing about raves.

madison moore is a true multi-hyphenate: an artist, scholar, DJ and assistant professor of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. Despite having a hand in so many seemingly disparate endeavors, however, moore sees their work across academia and music as being intrinsically interconnected, and their mission is to find ways to bring theory and practice into one space.

In this conversation with journalist and former RBMA editor-in-chief Aaron Gonsher, moore reflects on how he was first inspired by figures like Paul D. Miller (AKA DJ Spooky), who brought DJ technologies, parties and theory together. "Knowledge doesn't have to be gate kept behind a JSTOR portal," he says. "It doesn't have to be an institutional access thing. You can bring the knowledge, bring the ideas, bring the fun out."

In a series of performance lectures focused on queer nightlife, moore teaches about the historical context around dance music and the significance of the club for queer Black folks, explaining that he sees performance as a critical tool to spread ideas. He explored this fusion of academia and dance music at his recent nightlife residency at The Kitchen in New York—where he curated a series of public programs with DJs, artists, scholars and queer nightlife performers—and in his book Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric. To hear his reflections on these projects and more, listen to the episode in full.

Photo by Rome God

EX.668 madison moore

ANY029: SPRKLBB
SPRKLBB
he/him
@sprklbb 
instagram.com/sprklbb

WHAT IS ALWAYS?
Now

WHEN WOULD YOU NEVER?
Yesterday

TELL ME ABOUT YESTERDAY
Never! :]

WHATS SOMETHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOU?
Do you have a bigger card?...

from @teakup: WHAT IS A MEMORABLE/INFLUENTIAL CATCH-22 YOU HAVE COME ACROSS OR EXPERIENCED?
Life!

ANY029: SPRKLBB

Guest mix for Ash Lauryn's Underground & Black show that aired on NTS March 31st, 2020

NTS2 Underground & Black Guest Mix

Live recordings from the Nowadays dancefloor in Ridgewood, New York City.

Nowadays Live And Direct 011 - SHYBOI

Nowadays

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