we saw: Environ Bar Mitzvah

Jewish Disco, ya heard?

After checking out the ultra-hip, brightly-colored extravaganza put on by DFA at the MoMA, we headed to Studio B to check in with one of our other favorite labels, Environ Records, who were celebrating their 13th year anniversary with a Bar Mitzvah to make their mothers proud.

We walked in just in time to catch the start of Kelley Polar's set and were immediately taken with his unique brand of electro-pop. (Take the best parts of Chromeo and Junior Boys and blend it together with the funky disco elements of Metro Area and you are left with Kelley Polar.) Following a brief stand-up comedy routine featuring Environ founder Morgan Geist and head Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan, Metro Area got behind the decks and spun the hottest disco you've never heard until the early morning hours.

Kelley Polar's new album is available on iTunes right now and will be in stores this week. Check out a few tracks at his MySpace and also be sure to have a listen to a live Metro Area set from 2003 that is one of our favorites. PS- that is in fact Mr. Morgan Geist himself featured in the above photo. Lookin' sharp.

Kelley Polar MySpace
Metro Area- Live @ 10 Days Off, July 2003

How We Spent Our Halloween

"We Came to Get Down"

While you kids were out TP'ing the Jones' front yard and egging the Thompson's house, we were raging the New York Magazine Halloween party at the Judson Church featuring White Williams, Kudu, Chromeo and the man himself, Dan Deacon. Lots of slime and an Open bar! Tough to beat. Hope everyone enjoyed the day of the dead.

Starring: Chamillionaire and Chamillionaire

Peter Sellers did it. Mike Myers did it. Nowadays it seems everybody's doing it. From local television commercials to major motion pictures, the increased accesibility of low-budget visual effects has led us to an all-important question. Why be in a video when you can have five of you in a video?

In Chamillionaire's sassy double video for "Hip-Hop Police" and "The Evening News" (below) Cham and partner-in-crime Slick Rick play multiple characters, often confronting one another, eh, I mean, themselves. Judging by the song's lyrics, this concept is no stretch. The vereses were designed to play as conversations between policemen and the rappers.



For another take on this post-modern fad, check out Chromeo's video for "Rage" (below) off their 2004 debut, She's in Control. In this case, Chromeo's Dave-1 and P-Thugg are responsible for all the sounds and instruments on the track, so why not have them play all the intruments in the video?

nu musik: Chromeo

"Let her see that Fancy Footwork"

As violence continues to ravage the West Bank, two childhood friends have taken it upon themselves to prove that Arabs and Jews can in fact get along, and make killer synth-laden disco pop at the same time. Dave One and Pee Thug are better known as Chromeo, and they have recently released their second LP Fancy Footwork on VICE Records. Think of it as the funky soundtrack to the 'Roadmap to Peace'.

Chromeo's music may be decried as overly kitschy by some, but this is also where its appeal lies: cheesy synth-lines, borderline plastic beats, and shallow lyrics about girls, clubbing, and ego-boasting dominate the album, yet these elements are what makes the music fun and easily danceable. As their name suggests, Chromeo's music is meant to be taken at surface level only. There is no need to overthink what is going on here; instead, hit the dance floor and enjoy the shiny exterior.

Chromeo is currently wrapping up a tour in support of Fancy Footwork with Bobka favorites Flosstradamus sharing the bill. Check out a track and video from the LP below, and help Dave and Pee promote peace in the middle east.

Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin'

a video for the track 'Fancy Footwork':