LIVE MUSIC: Cults @ The Black Cat - 1/14/11

Let’s just get this out of the way: I had every expectation of starting another year of covering shows with a bang, and instead it began with a giant MEH.

Now before you get all up in arms, screaming “But I LOOOOOOVE CULTS” and “You’re a stupid head” hear me out. I love Cults too. There songs are impossibly catchy, impeccably written and without a doubt they put out one of the better albums of 2011, if not the most fun album.

But all of this does not a good live performance make.

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You Got Your Rock In My Dance: M83 @ The Black Cat - 10/29/11

Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not a fan of “electronic” music. Maybe it’s because of my age group, maybe it’s because I’m not terrifically hip and therefore incapable of “getting it”, or maybe it’s because I simply require more from what I put in my ears than a banging beat, some retro synths and a buildup every 3-4 minutes to keep me on my toes. If that sounds too “get-of-my-lawn” for you then fine, but it’s really not that.

The purpose of dance music is to make people shake their ass, but that doesn’t often happen in the comfort of your own home or on your daily ride to work on the Metro. It happens, or is meant to happen, on the dance floor. Couple that with the simple fact that it really doesn’t take much to get people’s asses moving, and you can maybe see where I’m coming from. For me, dance/electronica is an  art form that too often get’s dragged down the seventh circle of synthesized hell where dorm room/Garageband using stoners crank out repetitive rhythm after repetitive rhythm while they stare at the pretty lights bobbing in time to their “creations” and think “Whoa man. Crispy”

On the other hand though, there’s M83.

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Thing You Should Be Doing: M83 @ The Black Cat TONIGHT!!!

The Good News:
French musician Anthony Gonzalez aka M83 is beginning is beginning his world tour right here in DC tonight at The Black Cat!

The Bad News:
That s@#@ sold out MONTHS ago, yo!

Got your ticket? We certainly hope so. Seeing Gonzalez's "very very very epic" new album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (read our review here) brought to life on the stage should be, well, epic. So epic in fact that they had to add another show giving you not one but TWO chances to get your electro-dreampop freakout on.

Or maybe he just needs all that time to get through all of the songs on this gigantic album.

Either way, we've been looking forward to this show for a long time, and now the day is finally here. For those of you not in the door, NEVER FEAR because we have it on good authority that they'll be back this Spring, so be at the ready. And if you really can't wait that long, your old friend Craigslist is always there, waiting to give you what you need.

So get excited people! We'll see you at the early show (#weareold) and be telling you all about it sometime this weekend. Here's to what is sure to be a very, very, very epic Friday night!