SEBASTIAN FOR PRESIDENT

We've always considered him the most arguably underrated artist on Ed Banger, but I think we have a serious contender for DGAF Winner of 2011... and World President of 2012.



This video doesn't do his show at the Avalon (Friday, September 9) any justice (pun intended); you HAD to see this in person. No spoiler alerts here, but if you missed a date on his recent Primary Tour, I can only hope for your sake that he keeps this up for the next time you're able to catch him.

No need to rig that shit, our votes are already in.

It ain't Halloween unless it's HARD

ALL PHOTOS BY OUR FRIEND KAREN PEDROZA. THANKS GIRL!!! :)

I always thought Halloween was one of those holidays that of course reached its prime in childhood. I mean, dressing up in a costume and getting free candy? You can't top that. As an adolescent, I discovered things such as Knott's Scary Farm, to much disappointment (I found it more annoying that anything, but that's another story). I started to be at a loss every year for costume ideas. Besides, all the costumes for women were getting annoyingly "sexy". And with no Halloween parties REALLY worth going to, I just accepted that I'd outgrown the holiday.

That is, until in 2008, HARD revived the holiday for me. I can't imagine Halloween without it anymore. It's now back to being the holiday I look forward to the most! It's WAY more fun than trick-or-treating, and good music is also good for your health, unlike candy (no pun intended). I've also realized that dressing up is something you should NEVER grow out of. You're an adult, and you can come up with more ideas and more elaborate costumes. HARD Haunted Mansion, we salute you.





We arrived this year a little late, but we managed to score free street parking around the USC campus. We did miss Busy P, which was a bummer, but ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I AM GLAD TO HAVE MADE IT IN TIME FOR CROOKERS. THEY NEVER DISAPPOINT. They played a lot of their old fidget hits, and kept the crowd relentlessly going until they ended it with a Boyz II Men song. They will always be DGAFavorites and DGAF heroes.

Rusko was dirty and heavy... fucking dope. I definitely wanna see him again. I don't give a shit, I loved the tracks he produced for M.I.A.'s latest album.

Fortunately Shimosh remembered JUST in time that SebastiAn was playing indoors, and we clamored to get back into the Harder Stage. There was understandably a huge crowd wanting to get in as well. The setup is great so that when you walk into the indoors stage, you're already up at the front by the stage so you don't have to fight your way up from the back. SebastiAn KILLED it as usual. He is DEFINITELY one of the most underrated (if not THE most) DJ out there right now. He always plays pretty flawless sets. Very DGAF.

Now, we were SUPER bummed that Mr. Oizo had to be cut from the lineup (apparently due to visa issues). He was definitely one of the acts we wanted to see most. (He was replaced by Diplo, who wasn't a bad choice at all.) Now Mr. Oizo sure didn't play... but we did see him there! In the crowd! With TWO Flat Erics!!! WTF??? We're not trying to start any internet rumors or anything...





Bloody Beetroots were a good close to Saturday night. It was a more mellow live set, but they still made you dance. You don't mess with the Bloody Beetroots or their genre-defying live shows. Ever.



We returned Sunday as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. 2 days of HARD is always tiring but worth it. It just feels more epic. We ended up getting there late again, but we scored free street parking for the second night in a row! We managed to get there for the start of A-Trak and Flying Lotus. It was a TOUGH decision, and a kind of painful one, but we decided to check out Flying Lotus as we hadn't given him a chance at HARD Summer. We'd seen A-Trak play a mind-blowing set at the Ed Banger 7 party back in February, and it was tough knowing we'd missed another one, but we had to make a choice. I did not regret that decision at all, because FlyLo was nothing short of sick. He killed it with his ominous, eclectic mix of tunes. I believe the hype now.

We saw a bit of the special guest, who was Miiike Snow. As much as I wanted to stay, I needed to go to the Hard stage to see the act I was looking forward to the most that night: Underworld. The last time I'd seen them was 11 years ago at the Santa Monica Civic Center! Yes, ELEVEN years!!! How time flies. 1999's "Beaucoup Fish" was one of my favorite albums when I was younger, and I was dying to see what they'd be like in 2010. I was NOT let down. They were as vital as ever. It's hard to believe they've been around for 30 years!!! Karl Hyde is super DGAF... he's got way more energy on stage than performers half his age and dances around with an undeniable presence. Their music is uplifting but with dark undertones, and doesn't sound dated a decade later. "Two Months Off" felt like a total ray of light, "King of Snake" was a glorious surprise, and "Born Slippy" was the finale that just burned down the house.

Underworld just couldn't be topped. We caught some of Boys Noize and Jack Beats, who were both tearing it up, but by that time I was too tired and blown away by Underworld. But we already can't wait for the next HARD event.

Go HARD and go DGAF.

aNYway: day 7

Yes, it turns out that Day 7 was also the same day as the Ed Banger 7 at Terminal 5. Here's where the visuals go down in both quantity and quality a little bit... of course my backup digital camera that was working fine right before the trip decided to crap out on me during the trip when I needed it. I mean on the upside, it still took photos. On the downside, the display was broken so we couldn't see for shit what we were taking pictures of. talk about the blind leading the blind! The camera also stopped taking pics too, it got filled up and we had no way of deleting them to make more room. We should have been better prepared, but whatever. We still managed of course to have the time of our lives, and also take a few pics from that night:







We arrived a little late, but managed to catch the very end of Mehdi's set. The place was already packed and bumpin'. Coat check was already closed. The special guest was A-Trak, as he dropped what seemed like a nearly flawless set, except he did not play the obvious Duck Sauce crowd pleaser "aNYway"! He did somehow manage to fit in the intro of "Circle of Life" from the Lion King without skipping a beat, though. Utterly baffling. But the crowd was going insane, with good reason. The next surprise guest was Uffie, who had a short 2-song set. She was cute but not hugely impressive. I am still confused as to what happened after her set, right before Busy P came on. Everyone got on stage as this giant cake was unveiled, and there was a balloon drop... I just can't really explain it. I still have no idea what happened. Just watch this video to get an idea:



The crowd was getting more chaotic, and I had to get out of the crowd as Busy P started his set. (It's awkward being stuck in a dancing crowd when you have to hold onto you coat.) I love how he drops the Crookers remix of "To Protect and Entertain" every time he plays. Busy P always knows how to bring the party, it's a well known fact.

Justice are cute if a little low on bass. Gaspard is not doing anyone a favor by wearing those creepy glasses. I once told him he was hot at Cinespace and I couldn't imagine doing that now. We realized we were actually more excited for the afterparty with SebastiAn, So-Me, and Feadz. After Shimosh gave A-Trak a high five in the hallway, we decided to roll up to the Webster Hall in a taxi. It was a good decision, as we arrived just as the party was starting. So-Me was already killing it!

The smaller venue and more low-key vibe made a huge difference, as there was actually room to get up to the front, and more importantly, to dance! We'd already decided the afterparty was way more fun. When So-Me took us back to the '90s with "You've Got to Show Me Love", it was more like, you've got to So-Me love. But when he continued the '90s with Wu-Tang's C.R.E.A.M. (which is WAY more fun to sing at karaoke than Prince's "Cream", by the way), that pretty much made my night. The only major difference I've noticed between NYC and LA electro fans at clubs is that EVERYONE KNOWS WU-TANG LYRICS IN NYC! I felt right at home. Peanut Butter Wolf would have been be so proud.

So-Me ended his set by doing a VERY DGAF backflip into the crowd. Then SebastiAn made his entrance by playing none other than Mariah Carey's "I Can't Live (If Living is Without You)" which cracked us up and confused the hell out of us al the same time. Then he flipped everything on us when he began the 11 minute long mind fuck of an intro of his new song "Threnody". The whole crowd was left in a state of suspense until the song dropped, and the party kicked up again. SebastiAn is never short of surprises when he DJs, which definitely makes him one of the most interesting around right now. He does it all with a straight face, no matter how ridiculous it gets. Even when he plays a string version of Killing in the Name Of.

Now Feadz, who we practically discovered that night, is a completely different kind of DGAF. I don't remember seeing anyone else from Ed Banger who was feeling it more than he was. I don't remember seeing him stop dancing around for a second, and he was clearly wasted and making the most out of it. He even messed around with the crowd a bit before throwing an Ed Banger 7 t-shirt into the crowd, waving it around like a matador would with a bull. The shirt was even red, LOL and he was getting a kick watching the crowd freaking out in anticipation. Hell, I was too, and I was in the crowd! I still have no idea how he managed to pull off a really smooth DJ set while most likely drunk. He seemed to know every word to every song he played though... if Busy P brings the parties, Feadz definitely brings the fun.

The afterparty was over at 5 a.m. with no regrets whatsoever. What followed was an odd taxi ride back to Greenpoint, which involved our taxi driver picking up an additional customer who was about to get ripped off by a private cab. We'd officially discovered that the G train, near our friend's apartment, wasn't running from a nice old lady who randomly started talking to us when we got out of the taxi. Good thing we took a taxi. Good thing we're DGAF.

Busy Discotheque

What an amazing party. We are officially stoked for Hard Summer.

We got there at around 1015 this time, and Acid Girls were rockin' their solid house beats. People were slowly coming in around then, so it wasn't packed, but in about an hour the place was filling up fast.
The Mad Decent Basement party was pretty great, they know how to party. ;) There was a good vibe going on downstairs and people were dancing and having a good time. They seem to consistently drop dirty baile funk/fidget house that sometimes make it tempting not to go back upstairs... but the Acid Girls was getting the crowd pumping and there was a good bunch of crazy partiers.

Sorry to be biased, but the highlight of the night was Busy P & SebastiAn. When Busy P & SebastiAn got there, they got mobbed by everyone who wanted pictures and autographs from them. And by silly girls who had silly gifts for them...


.
These cats are way too nice. They are adorable and polite to all their crazy hipster fans. They played an extremely eclectic THREE HOUR set that kicked off with Black Sabbath, and continued with "Wake Up", and our personal favorite remixes: "Busy P" (Crookers), "Killing in the Name of" (SebastiAn), and "Electric Feel" (Justice). They also made sure to drop a few tracks from Daft Punk and Justice, and rocked the crowd with everything from the Strokes to Notorious BIG. Sorry LMFAO, but no one knows how to rock the beat and rock the show like the Ed Banger crew.



As we predicted last week, Busy P wins DGAF of the night. He would not stop dancing around and he passed out drinks to the front row. So DGAF.

However, we have a runner up this time—a guy who was rocking out way too hard in the front. it was awesome.




Now we're heading out to HARD Summer...who knows what retardery awaits us.

DGAF Profile #4: Flat Eric + Mr. Oizo

via Mr. Oizo's twitter

Flat Eric is an adorable, yellow fuzzy creature from Filmmaker/Musician/Artist/Frenchman Mr. Oizo (real name: Quentin Dupieux)'s head. Flat Eric was based on another creature that Oizo had made before, named Stephane. Eric is almost exactly like Stephane, except Stephane has ears and Eric does not.
Here is Stephane in Mr. Oizo's "M-Seq"


very similar indeed.

However, Eric gathered a lot more fame and exposure after starring in a series of commercials for Levi's. He drove around with his friend Angel (Phillipe Petit) avoiding the police and getting haircuts:


The name "Flat Eric" came from the idea that he was run over by a car that flattened his head, but that got scrapped. The name stuck, though, and thus the Levi's commercials were born (i guess).

Flat Beat, by Mr. Oizo—a huge hit in 1999 in Europe:

That noise that Flat Eric makes is just too much. I love it. <3

He sits in a huge office, makes calls to whoever he wants and plays Flat Beat for them, and smokes sausages in place of cigars (wtf?). Did i mention he's a muppet? i think most other muppets sing silly songs about counting or cookies or mah nah mah nah. Flat Eric was made by the Jim Henson company, built by Janet Knechtel. And do other muppets end up on the cover of Heat?


probaby not. Coolest muppet ever. Yes, even cooler than those on Avenue Q.
Flat Eric has a cult following by more than just little kids learning how to spell and count. Flat Eric is awesome.

But the real reason Flat Eric is such a DGAF character is because of his creator, his daddy: Mr. Oizo.


Mr. Oizo (ps, pronounce it Monsieur Wah-Zoh) is a French artist who makes badass films, badass electronic music and is just a total badass weirdo. According to Wikipedia, he was signed to F. Communications after Laurent Garnier of FCom bought a car from Quentin's father and found out about Quentin's crazy artsy talents and asking Quentin to direct his video for "Flashback" in 1997. He released Flat Beat in 1999 and the EP sold over 3 million copies. Three Million. That's a lot of copies.
His music is fucking weird. FCom even called his second album, Moustache (Half a Scissor) unbearable (but that's bc they're fail and Mr. Oizo is win and knows better and left their sorry asses and signed on to Ed Banger)—it's weird, but it's awesome. I am totally fascinated by this weird man and his weird music and his weird film and his all-around weirdness. He's not limited in his art—he's made a few music videos, directed the Levi's ads with Flat Eric, and has a couple movies: Nonfilm (2001) and Steak (2007).

Nonfilm is a totally bizarre film set in the desert, kind of goes nowhere, and shot all hand-held and freely. It has Oizo's friends and fellow DJ/electro artists Kavinsky & Sébastien Tellier. I did not understand it, but it was just so surreal and hilarious and it's because Mr. Oizo DGAF: "fuck standard filmmaking, i'm going to go to the desert and shoot a shoot and call it a film." And for that, i salute you, Quentin.
Steak, however, makes me bow down in worship (think: WE'RE NOT WORTHY! —Wayne & Garth). I don't even know how to describe it, except that I thought it was the funniest thing to exist in DVD form. It's about two friends (Eric & Ramzy, a famous French comedy duo) who have been separated and reunited in a time where facelifts and big retro trucks are the fad, and the Chivers are the coolest of the cool. It's also reallly fucking weird and they drink milk all the time.



lol. Sébastien Telier and Kavinsky are also in this movie, along with Oizo's Ed Banger labelmate SebastiAn. Mr. Oizo, Tellier and SebastiAn made the (weird) soundtrack for the movie. It's amazing.

Honestly, I don't know if Quentin Dupieux gets into a ton of crazy shit and get up to some crazy antics and does a shit-ton of drugs like some of our other DGAF highlights, but he just makes such rad shit that he's a DGAF badass.
yeah, fuck the haters.


but who cares? @oizo3000