this is fyf

What to do: this weekend

This.

First? It's cold. Bundle up...and I'm not even saying that 'cuz I'll be doing coat-check at Snaxx (Westside Tavern. All the way to the back. See you at 10pm? 10:30? 11? Come when you're ready.).

Not this.

Earlier, there's a Toys for Tots thing that's not Toys for Tots -- however that works (The organizers were scolded by the Marines for calling it that, apparently?), and this Toys for Tots thing that's not allowed to be called Toys for Tots is THE place to see and be seen from what I hear...sort of like Cherry's in Cherry Grove?

Like Cherry's, it's a wonderful place to get a drink - the event is one long open bar...though every open bar I've ever been to has actually been a pretty fucking miserable place to get a drink because of all the queens crowding, elbowing and generally giving all kinds of entitled realness effeckssscksckss trying to get their measly shot glass of juice w/ splash of vodka.

Wait...did I mention there's an open (beer) bar at Snaxx from 10-11pm? No? Well there is and...ignore what I just said about open bars, 'k? Seriously, if there's an open bar I WILL go to, it's Snaxx'. 

Also, I've never been to the Not-Toys-for-Tots-"Toys for Tots" event myself, so you really shouldn't base any of your expectations about the event or the attendees on anything I've said. Clear?

Ok. So there's NTFTTFT, Snaxx...and Clubber Down Disco under the Chelsea Hotel with Ryan Smith at the door and my partner-in-crime(s committed long ago) Tai Chi inside. I'm not sure who's spinning tonight, but it doesn't really matter cuz they'll play disco and it'll be cute and that's that.

What else? Let's see...there's Paul Alexander (The Ones) MC-ing again (you know he was one of the MC's for the famed Jackie 60 parties back in the day at Mother?) at a party at Sugarland with DJ Emjay (He of Wonderbar and Starlight fame). 

Also in Williamsburg, Mondo returns just in time for FYF Friend and Fashion contributor Kiger Hansen's birthday. He'll be celebrating Mondo-style (does he do anything any other way?).

If you walk for body, head over to Splash and enter to win $250 at the F*Word in their stripper contest. James Anderson has a new(-ish...I think it's the second one?) party at The Monster, and Gumbo hosts the first of two parties this weekend - this one in DUMBO, Sunday's down in Miami!

There's stuff tomorrow, including Cheryl at Brooklyn Museum's Free Saturdays, a coat/clothing drive at Excelsior in Park Slope, a Hanukkah Pink Mafia for media networking at Julius', Xanadude on Ice at Public Assembly Loft and FYF Contributor Dave Huge's A Very Collider Christmas at Stonewall, and Sunday...but I really don't have to tell you about them, do I? You know to look at the FYF Calendar for more/details by now, surely!

Regardless, stay warm and have a great weekend!

This weekend...

Queens Pride is this weekend!

So...if you haven't been keeping up on Facebook/wherever...there's a (VIRULENT!) rumor that Ms. Minogue will make an appearance at the F Word's reactivation at Splash tonight. Personally? It all sounds too much like a PR wet dream, but I look forward to receiving first hand reports/twits/stat updates! Question though...why do these pop princesses ONLY show up at Splash?! Used to be the Roxy was the spot, now it's Splash?! What's the common element here, gayleuths? Give us the tea!

Pyromaniacs, hose lovers and hotties at Pyrophilia in deepest Greenpoint tonight. The venue is t.b.d Bar and sounds super cute! Part of an ongoing series from The Blood Dumpster. Sounds very Dexter!

Also in the wilds of Brooklyn (Deepest Bushwick to be exact), Mark Louque and Miss Pappas bring you XOO at Tandem Bar with special guest Michael Magnan. Crunchy, crusty fun!

On the opposite side of town and with (perhaps?) a little less edge/crunch, but as much soul/steeping (makes a good tea!), Snaxx at Westside Tavern (Back of the bar, down the stairs...DANCE!) is earthside on its bi-weekly transit.

Just up 8th Avenue, who knew Upright Citizens' Brigade was up so late!? Funny folkster Ben Lerman performs with t h i n s k i n j o n n y. Funny songs is what you'll hear. Funny ha ha. 11:30pm is showtime!

The weekend continues below...

Hierarchy - The Bars of the West Village

12. Stonewall
11. Boots and Saddle
10. The Hangar
9. Pieces
8. Cubby Hole

Spin the Deejay - Damian Cote

Providence native, Williamsburg resident Damian Cote (pronounced like “Nestle,” in case you were wondering) has been having quite the 2010 – and if you’ve been hanging out in any of the city’s more recession-friendly establishments, chances are you’ve heard his delicious blend of leftfield, scuzzy rock, pop and electro. Just a few months ago, he played for the approximately 9000 hirsute revelers who shoved into Julius’s for the latest Pinups issue launch, and his party Buddies (Tuesdays at Nowhere) remains a friendly destination for the facial hair set.

How do you organize your music collection? Depends on the medium. CDs are mostly alphabetical by artist, with maybe the 50 most recently played on top of the others until I get to realphabetizing. Vinyl and cassettes are completely randomized, while the iTunes is sorted according to my needs at the time.

What are the top five tracks in your iTunes, all time?

1. Pylon – “Cool” (24 plays)
2. Richard Hell and the Voidoids – “Love Comes In Spurts” (20 plays)
   
3. Modern English – “Someone’s Calling” (17 plays)
4. Severed Heads – “Lonestar” (17 plays)
   
5. [TIE] Clan of Xymox – “Muscoviet Mosquito”, Peaches - "I Feel Cream” (16 plays each) 

Sounds about right.

What's your current typical tech set up for playing out? At home? Out, it's almost always a Numark CD mixer of some sort. The NYC standard. I spin a combination of iPhone and CD mixes created at home. They are randomized mixes of all the genres I play, sourced from other CDs, vinyl, cassettes, and digital downloads. I always have at least 50 with me out of the 250+ I have amassed to date. At home, I have the laptop with headphones or some small desktop speakers, or my mostly Technics stereo. I have had this receiver, turntable and speakers since 1988. The cassette and CD players were purchased within the past 6 to 10 years.

What requests won't you take? If I don't have it with me, of course I don't play it. If I have it, and can find it amid the tracklists on the CDs, I will play it, almost unconditionally. Unless I just played or am currently playing (you would be surprised how insanely often this actually happens) said artist, at which point I might ask for a backup. If a person starts asking for something that is completely different from the general sound I'm giving, I tell them that there's nothing that I can do to help them, aside from expand their horizons. These people usually ask for the same 3 artists. If they ask for Gaga while I'm playing, say, The Damned, I tell them to go to a bodega, because if one of her songs isn't on in there right now it will be within a few minutes.

You're bombing. What's the next track? If you mean 'bombing' as in the dancefloor is empty, then it's an N/A. I'm not concerned with people dancing. When I'm not personally happy with what's happening, it is B-52's or maybe Tom Tom Club. Palate cleansers. BTW, if I have a song stuck in my head that I need banished, I conjure TTC's 'Genius of Love'. It bulldozes every other song into the ground, then fades away itself shortly after. So I can hear the birds.

Who should play your funeral? Get that pipa player on the 4-5-6 platform at Union Square, mike him up, and everybody get completely obliterated at Nowhere Bar. Or have Blixa Bargeld do one of those cool digital-delay-based talks he gives in Europe. No, no, I know. A silent procession around the big fountain in the Carre St-Louis in Montréal. For 23 days. 

What are you when you're not a DJ? Usually I'm enjoying taking part in one or more of 3 of the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth.

You're trapped on a desert island. Which diva have you brought along to eat? Leigh Bowery and Divine, when they were alive.

Damian's current top ten, in no particular order:

• The Damned – “Melody Lee”
  
• Japan – “Adolescent Sex”
  
• Bo’Tox – “Blue Steel”
  
• Buzzcocks – “Boredom”
  
• Cabaret Voltaire – “Sensoria (12’’ Mix)”
  
• Shout Out Out Out Out – “Dude You Feel Electrical”
  
• Annie – “Heartbeat (Phones Maximo Remix)”
  
• Newcleus – “Computer Age”
  
• Marina and the Diamonds – “I Am Not a Robot (Penguin Prison remix)”
  
• Coil – “Anal Staircase”

This weekend, you can catch Mister Cote playing dance music at Large Hardon Collider on Saturday night at Stonewall [full disclosure – the same goes for your intrepid correspondent]. Buddies keeps packin’ them in on Tuesdays at Nowhere, and he’s also an occasional fill-in at Lovedolls Superstar (Mondays at Beauty Bar) and Rockbar.

Mister Dave Hughes has lived in Chinatown, the East Village, Tribeca, Long Island City, and Harlem, and he currently hangs his hat in Williamsburg. He likes politics, disco and whiskey. His writing has also appeared in Slant, New York, and other fine publications.

This weekend...

  
If your week looked like this...

So we're blowin' up here at FYF, kids. But who cares!? Does yesterday matter when it's the weekend and you want to know what to do? Not even.  So, without further ado, here's the (admittedly non-exhaustive, but expansive nonetheless) rundown:

Friday - Xavier gives you tall, lanky go-go during The Penny Arcade Experience (7pm, Le Poisson Rouge).  Snaxx puts a "Spring" in your step (10pm, Westside Tavern, Basement). Mr. Black teams with The Cock for...wait for it...Black Cock! (whodathunk?)...with Eddie and co. hosting the shit out of the space (11pm, The Cock).  Ricardo guest DJs with a at Hard On @ The Eagle (10pm, The Eagle), my boy Oscar Rada celebrates his birthday at a raucous edition of F*Word (Alexis Arquette will be in the house, leaving no doubt as to it being a wild night.) (10pm, Rebel) and Brian Rafferty and Ryan Sorkin launch a new night at The Norwood (like Soho House, but for artistic types) with the promise of MOREWOOD (11pm, The Norwood).

Saturday - Crisis on Eighth Avenue presents Dress'd To Kill! with guest DJs Gant Johnson and Austin Downey joining Rich King upstairs (10pm, Elevate); FYF Contributor, Dave Hughes teams with Damian Cote under his DJ pseudonym, Dave Huge, for Large Hardon Collider (10pm, Stonewall); DJ Jeff Jackson and Disco Connie are mighty real at Double Headed Disco (1opm, Nowhere Bar); DJ Billy Beyond is playing all the divas gays love at Dance: 208 (last hour is a Madonna-thon, but I don't think anyone from Glee will be there.) (9pm, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center), and Mister Saturday Night moves to a new, secret location in a loft in Brooklyn where residents Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter hold it down (well) all night by themselves due to their guest DJ Danny Wang being held up from attending by the volcano predicament in Europe. ("WHAT?! No Wang!?" I know...I know. Hopefully you got your fill Friday at Morewood.) (10pm, RSVP for location).

...and that's what's happening in New York!

Photo via Moss' brand new blog.

Stonewall

• 43 Christopher Street, near Seventh Avenue South  Map   Website