UPDATED LINE-UP!
THE RAINCOATS
SECTION 25 (Factory Records)
GANG OF FOUR (Guest DJs Hugo Burnham & Dave Allen)
THE JAZZ BUTCHER
MEDIUM MEDIUM
KID CONGO POWERS
SAVAGE REPUBLIC
VIV ALBERTINE [THE SLITS]
ABE VIGODA
RAINBOW ARABIA
WEAVE
THE INTELLIGENCE
CHRISTMAS ISLAND
SHARK TOYS
BLESSURE GRAVE
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
+ guest DJs +
Dave Newton (MIGHTY LEMON DROPS)
DAN SELZER (ACUTE RECORDS)
PART TIME PUNKS is the name of the club which happens every Sunday night at The Echo in Los Angeles. Started in May 2005 by DJ-partners Michael Stock and Benjamin White, the club celebrates/investigates the Post Punk period and its sub-categories (DIY, synthpunk, minimal synth, punkfunk, punky reggae, new wave/no wave and industrial) as well as occasional excursions into Indiepop and Shoegaze. Not only in the form of the music Michael and Benjamin spin for the dance floor (on vinyl only), but also the bands booked to play.
The bands that have played the club have included a mix of classic Post-Punk bands (The Slits, ESG, Medium Medium, Nikki Sudden, Chrome, Nervous Gender, Savage Republic, Kid Congo Powers, Spectrum, Phil Wilson) and the best up-and-coming bands who are mining the Post-Punk world of obscurities for their inspiration (No Age, Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda, Ariel Pink, Love Is All, Tokyo Police Club, Tussle, Glass Candy, Chromatics, Cause Co-Motion, Indian Jewelry, New Bloods, The Strange Boys, Times New Viking, The Tough Alliance, The Go Team). Not to mention an impressive array of Guest DJs: Buzzcocks, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Alan McGee, Calvin Johnson, Ian Svenonious, Juan MacLean and Cut Chemist (the Sunday before last).
In short, PART TIME PUNKS has always been ahead of the curve in looking back. While punk is now retro and retro is standard fit, Post-Punk is just on the slender margin between history and pop-culture. It falls between the cracks – in the music world, in the film world, even in academia. While the word has definitely entered the vocabulary of most musically-minded kids and adults alike, most folks think it means “DFA” or, best case scenario, “Gang Of Four” or maybe “Joy Division,” when what Post-Punk really means was the most musically-diverse time in popular history: 1978-1984. Of course, Part Time Punks has always been about the mix of that period and those records AND the very bestest, newest bands who are basically mining those tracks for their influences–as opposed to yet another dancepunk rehash.
The Very Best is this awesome new collaboration with Radioclit and Esau Mwamwaya, a singer from Malawi. They released a mixtape of remixes with artists such as M.I.A, Vampire Weekend and BLK JKS.
The Very Best are playing July 16th at The Echoplex in LA.
It’s June 3rd and it is my birthday. Tiffany and I were in Paris for a couple shows. Our scheduled show on the 3rd with Wavves and Lemonade was cancelled last minute due to Wavves cancelling the remainder of their tour. But this was a blessing in disguise cuz we knew that Omar Souleyman had a gig in Paris that night.
So, us and our friend, Clemence, planned for a night of middle eastern music and food. We arrived just in time for the last 10 tickets at this small performing arts center. Alan Bishop and Mark Gergis from Sublime Frequencies were Djing sick shit before Omar hit the stage. The local Parisiens looked pumped for the show along with myself and Tiffany. I don’t think Clemence knew what she was getting into.
Then, Omar was introduced to the stage by Mark Gergis and the party began. About an hour of Debke party beats, sick saz solos, micro tonal keyboard heaven and chants and rhymes by Omar. After the show, the Djs continued playing sick shit. We hung around hoping to meet the band. Our hopes came true when we first met the sick keyboard player and had someone translate to him that he was rad. We then met the saz player and the poet and I had everyone sign my vinyl copy of Omar’s record. But still no sign of Omar. But decided to hang around longer.
Then about a half an hour later the keyboard player wrangled us up and said we can go upstairs to meet Omar. We were super exciting but nervous too. We climbed the stairs passing Alan and Mark, which I hit up for autographs as well, cuz they are rad for everything they’ve done. Entering the room we see Omar sitting down on an old lazy boy chair. We were shitting. We didn’t know what to do. There was another fan in the room who spoke arabic. So, I had him translate to Omar that he’s the reason we started Rainbow Arabia. Omar then reached out to us and pulled us in his arms. We felt great love and appreciation from him. It was amazing. The picture explains the rest.
Our 2nd EP is set for release on July 27th, 2009 on Manimal Vinyl Records. It will be released in the US, UK and EU. It will include four new tracks, a new version of “I Know I See I Love I Go” and 2 remixes of “Omar K” and “Let Them Dance”. The record was co-produced by Butchy Fuego (Pit Er Pat).
The first two of many remixes are up on our myspace.
www.myspace.com/rainbowarabia
“Let them Dance” was remixed by Brenmar (www.myspace.com/brenmarsomeday ). His real name, Bill Salas, is the beat and electronic element of the band These are Powers. His slicing and dicing gives the song a fresh, electronic feel. Make sure to pump it through a loud system and don’t be shy on the low end.
“Omar K” was remixed by Chaotic Evil. This is a first for him on something other than his own music. He is the frontman of dubsters Future Pigeon and is a dubmaster as well. He is more of a psychedelic, space dubman. You can hear his style on his Satanic ‘83 Arcade remix of Omar K. He extended it up to 7:14 for an unending psyche, trance dance party.
