02/16/08 The Join w/Clay Parnell & Tom Hamilton/Biodiesel/Glitch Mob/Sub Swara @ Studio B, Brooklyn, NY

This was my only time at the short-lived, much loved Greenpoint dance club. Its anything-goes vibe, paired with its relative inaccessability in the quiet Polish enclave of Northwest Brooklyn made it a destination for fans of quality danceable electronic music.

This President's Day weekend event featured yet another incarnation of the New Deal's amorphous The Join project, pairing the former's keyboardist and drummer with Brothers Past's bassist Clay Parnell and guitarist Tommy Hamilton, a man of many scarves.

Rounding out the bill was Biodiesel, Clay's live drum&bass project with breakneck drummer Johnny Raab, and two glitch and womp DJ collectives, Glitch Mob and Sub Swara.

LISTEN HERE!
MORE PICS HERE!

12/31/07 The Join w/Marco Benevento & Joe Russo @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY

I almost skipped this show and I wish I had.

With the combination of the Benevento/Russo Duo and two thirds of The New Deal, this should have been a great show, but it had so many factors going against it. This incarnation of The Join was unfortuantely lesser than the sum of its parts. I guess their styles just did not mesh.

To add insult to inury, tickets were pretty expensive, which is to be expected on New Year's Eve in New York City, but still a con. We arrived late and missed the first set, which was our fault, but still on the list. Finally, the show ended at 12:30 on the dot, way too early for a New Year's Eve show. At least there was a nice balloon drop at midnight.

Despite all that, the night managed to be one for the books, thanks almost entirely to the events that transpired after this debacle of a show.

07/28/07 The Join w/Marc Brownstein & Aron Magner @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY

When the New Deal bassist Dan Kurtz formed an the electropop group Dragonette with his wife, the remaining members of the trio created this collaboration project featuring a rotating cast of the finest improvisers on the jam scene.

This show paired the New Deal's keyboardist and drummer with two members of the Disco Biscuits, Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner.

It was a high energy dance party, just as I would've expected from a mixture of two of my favorite groups. The tunes were mostly jams with a dash of New Deal and Disco Biscuit flavor, along with a couple of choice covers.

This was my first time at the Highline Ballroom, named after the nearby abandoned Highline railroad tracks, which would soon be transformed into an elevated park.

Listen to the show HERE.