Spring Break
Justice feeds the bass-hungry hipsters at Sonar
Issue date: 3/13/08
There are many of us who have fallen all too willingly into a novel addiction. Mine began this past summer at a Daft Punk concert, while others have gotten their first dose at clubs and concerts around the world. I will freely admit it: I am totally addicted to bass.
I speak of sound waves somewhere below 200 hertz. Purists will insist on a waveform below 100, but I believe a wider range of sound is capable of getting the job done. We addicts sit at home in front of fancy hi-fi systems, or clutching expensive headphones against our heads, trying to recreate the effect of our first exposure.
But this is just a placeholder for real bass, merely the methadone of club music. What we really need is walls of speakers, stacks upon stacks of air-pummeling diaphragms. We need to feel our jeans vibrating behind our knees and our hearts rattling against our ribs.
Finally, we need to dance. We don't care what we look like, one hand in the air, jumping and rocking with the music. Once the beast below grabs hold of us, nothing else matters.
As such, the promise of a Justice concert, with DJ Mehdi opening, is a Godsend. Both acts are from Paris and are on the same Parisian label, Ed Banger Records, the city and company known for producing life-saving house music.
Justice came into prominence last year with their hit "D.A.N.C.E." which earned them three associated Grammy nominations.
They've been touring the world seemingly non-stop, including a sold-out show Wednesday in Madison Square Garden. DJ Mehdi, lesser-known but still notable, has been rocking clubs for over a decade.
DJ Mehdi opened Sunday night at Sonar with a killer remix of Jape's "Floating," which immediately put him in my good graces. Mehdi worked the table furiously, but wasn't one of those DJs who pretends that he's actually performing all this music. When he was simply letting a track play, he would move away from his booth and dance. He sang along to his tracks, a smile on his face the entire time. As a fellow concertgoer put it, he seemed like "a pretty chill dude."
I speak of sound waves somewhere below 200 hertz. Purists will insist on a waveform below 100, but I believe a wider range of sound is capable of getting the job done. We addicts sit at home in front of fancy hi-fi systems, or clutching expensive headphones against our heads, trying to recreate the effect of our first exposure.
But this is just a placeholder for real bass, merely the methadone of club music. What we really need is walls of speakers, stacks upon stacks of air-pummeling diaphragms. We need to feel our jeans vibrating behind our knees and our hearts rattling against our ribs.
Finally, we need to dance. We don't care what we look like, one hand in the air, jumping and rocking with the music. Once the beast below grabs hold of us, nothing else matters.
As such, the promise of a Justice concert, with DJ Mehdi opening, is a Godsend. Both acts are from Paris and are on the same Parisian label, Ed Banger Records, the city and company known for producing life-saving house music.
Justice came into prominence last year with their hit "D.A.N.C.E." which earned them three associated Grammy nominations.
They've been touring the world seemingly non-stop, including a sold-out show Wednesday in Madison Square Garden. DJ Mehdi, lesser-known but still notable, has been rocking clubs for over a decade.
DJ Mehdi opened Sunday night at Sonar with a killer remix of Jape's "Floating," which immediately put him in my good graces. Mehdi worked the table furiously, but wasn't one of those DJs who pretends that he's actually performing all this music. When he was simply letting a track play, he would move away from his booth and dance. He sang along to his tracks, a smile on his face the entire time. As a fellow concertgoer put it, he seemed like "a pretty chill dude."
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