A hot and sweaty dancefloor number just in time for summer. Nickodemus has been ruling the NYC dance music scene since the mid-nineties as a resident DJ at Giant Step up until presently with his work with the Turntables on the Hudson parties. On record, his name is synonymous with sunny grooves and he can always be counted on to bring big-booty-shakin’ bounces. Lately, I’ve been digging his work with Quantic, and his remixes of Billy Holiday, Mexican Institue of Sound, and Ocote Soul Sound. Now he’s ready to drop his sophomore album, Sun People next month on Eighteenth Street Lounge music. Nickodemus touts a cornucopia of world sounds collaborating with artists from all corners of the globe including Mandingo vocalist Ismael Kouyate and New York’s Real Live Show. Nickodemus is to music as TajÃn is to mango. Sprinkle liberally and dig it.
Sun Children (feat. the Real Live Show) [MP3, 5.9MB, 192kbps]
Guilty pleasure confession time. Culture Club. It was Chuck Davis in my Sophomore health class who told me that that one girl was actually a boy. Chuck knew these kinds of things. Chuck could draw the Adam and the Ants 
Sean,
More rock ‘n’ roll ashes rise! This time the demise of Hot Snakes (itself touting an impressive ancestry) and D.C. underdogs Edsel gives way to Obits, a collision of East and West Coast post post punk. For a bunch of guys who’ve been there and done that Obits maintain a surprising freshness. Rick Froberg continues his sneering vocal attack—imagine Mick Jagger singing for The Germs. Musically, the band takes its cues from, well, wherever it wants to. Sped up surf riffs dominate “Pine On.” One sound remains constant throughout: good old-fashioned rhythm ‘n’ blues. Nowadays we call it rock ‘n’ roll. It never goes out of style.
A quick tip for the Coachella bound: Etienne De Crecy proves it’s dope to be square. De Crécy makes his U.S. debut this Sunday night at Coachella and he’s bringing his tricked out, larger than life Rubik’s Cube-Lite Brite. I won’t bore you with describing how the thing works. Watch the video to see this beautiful monster in action. The contraption was designed by fellow Frenchmen Exyst and when The Killers asked them to design a similar cube for their European MTV performance Exyst declined. The Killers ripped off the light show anyway. Of course, their version ended up looking like an, over-the-top, seizure inducing Hollywood Squares set. But that’s beside the point
Project Jenny, Project Jan soften the downtime since their debut album two years ago with this new collaborative EP. Considering the topic, their ode to unrequited love, “Pins and Needles,” featuring Fujiya & Miyagi, settles into a smooth club groove, while their work with percussion wunderkinds and fellow Brooklynites So Percussion and Mixel Pixel stirs up darker, primordial feelings. The emotional range on this EP seems to span eons and reminds me of Shriekback’s dark tone on Oil and Gold. It’s unexpected (but not unwelcomed) from the usually playful PJPJ, but they return with their usual pluck on the final tracks with Adam Matta and Clack Singles Club. No matter their mood, Project Jenny, Project Jan has left me with a bout of paresthesia, eagerly anticipating their next album, due before year’s end. 
Mapquest Project Jenny, Project Jan. Go ahead. I dare you. You’ll have a hard time pinpointing the Brooklyn duo because they’re all over the proverbial map. When their debut EP opens up with the marching band sound of “Fight Song,” you know you’re in for a treat. On their first full-length, XOXOXOXOXO, they start the party again with a nice brass section, giving way to a bright samba number. The freestyle-stylee vocals of Jeremy Haines keeps the tracks loose and the whole album will get you shake, shake, shaking your caboose, dancing the duck-duck-goose. Feeling down lately? These boys are sure to get you up and out of your seat with a little bit of banjo, a little bit of swing, a little bit of hip hop, a little bit of reggae and lots and lots of fun. Philly, Boston, Montreal, Toronto and Cleveland brace yourselves for this Brooklyn brand of electro-karaoke coming your way live next month with Fujiya & Miyagi. A match made in dancefloor heaven.
Brian Evenson looms dark, haunting myths. His raw, unflinching language will not leave you alone. Not ever. A modern-day, literary Job, Evenson sacrificed religion and family for the Word. For his new novel, Last Days, he added, ironically, to a previous novella about a recently dismembered detective, Kline, whose services are being forcefully sought by a fundamentalist group, a sect that believes literally in the biblical exhortation to cut off or pluck out any offending member of the body, hand, eye, lip, whatever. They threaten to subtract from Kline again unless he agrees to help them solve a murder amongst their numbers.
One of Charlene’s principal players also had his fingers in a sweet little pie called Sugar Free Records back in the ’90s. I credit that label for bringing Beulah to my consciousness, and for that I’ll be a long time grateful. So I had high hopes for this record when it showed up in the mail and I’m pleased to report I’m not disappointed. Their new single is simply thrilling: wailing, shimmering, jangling guitars create a warm wall of sound; vocals, unrushed, take their time sauntering in and out of the airy melody and just as I settle in, wishing the song never ends, it ends. Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! And that’s just the first song. I’m always geeked to file another band between my Galaxie 500, Rain Parade, and Slowdive collections. For those of you in and around Boston, keep your eyes peeled since you’ll probably have the first chance at catching them live. No sign of upcoming shows yet. If Charlene were a tree and it fell in the woods, yes, it would make a sound. A big, beautiful, noisy sound.