Golden Triangle’s First Birthday Party

Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party gets Stalked Smashed and Blocked

another week of tunes for baboons

The train keeps a rollin’ all night long for yet another solid week of good times and sketchy tunes. Look for upcoming events with NYNT faves like Ian Svenonius, Kid Congo, Jaiko Suzuki Excepter, Golden Triangle, Five Dollar Priest, and many more while the Night Train to pulls into New Orleans, Austin, and Los Angeles in February and SXSW in March!

Wednesday, Jan 16, Motor City (127 Ludlow, Lower East Side, Manhattan), 10pm, FREE: Grand Mal’s Bill Whitten and Hopewell’s Jason Russo were separated at birth and New York Night Train is bringing the odd couple back together for a night of classic rock tunes. Bill likes to spin lotsa glam and NYC r’n'r. Jason likes that too but prefers his cup o’ meat a bit more hallucinagenic. The Soul Proprietor remains a loose cannon capable of anything. But what happens when these three handsome dark haired longtime amigos get together has yet to be witnessed by the public. Swing on by if only to share the black magic of unholy trinities.

Thursday, Jan 17, On! Sixties Discotheque Party, Beauty Bar (231 E. 14th, East Village, Manhattan), 11pm, FREE: New York Night Train’s latest venture is a collaboration between the Soul Proprietor and rollingmusical encyclopedia on wheels and rock machine, the indomitable Ms. Melissa Fanni Tutti - turning dance music platters centered smack dab in the center of popular music’s greatest and most diverse decade. Making a go at channeling the variety inherent in the playlists of the discotheques and radio of the era plus much of the stuff that was too underground at the time to get there, we attempt to cover soul, garage, freakbeat, boogaloo, AM radio pop, British Invasion, electric blues, girl groups, bubblegum, frat rock, late r&b, early funk, early psychedelics, discotheque schmaltz, boogaloos, tropicalia, yé-yé, latin delights, etc. Get it? ON! C’mON, turn ON!

Friday, Jan 18, Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party, Savalas (285 Bedford, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 10pm, FREE: Friday night New York Night Train’s Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party will be the location of the second meticulously organized crime against general goodness and decency by the shadowy duo of Josh Styles and Mr. Jonathan Toubin. Their last big heist, on New Years Eve at Glasslands, found the two culprits firing round after round of garage, soul, freakbeat, British Invasion, glam, and punk recordings in the 45 rpm 7″ format into an innocent mass of dancing bodies. The culprits got in and out of the crime scene so with such efficiency that the only evidence they left behind was a chalk outline of a guy named Dave behind the DJ booth and a broken pair of headphones - still steaming from the sonic gunplay.

Reports of the dastardly duo’s whereabouts since the big scam indicate that they separated to duck the fuzz since going on the lamb. Styles was spotted turning platters at his Smashed! Blocked! party at Beauty Bar and beating a shabby trap-kit with an infamous musical combo who go buy the name of Stalkers. Toubin has left a recklessly conspicuous trail of vinyl at dives in both Brooklyn and Manhattan including repeat offenses at Motor City, Beauty Bar, and Savalas as well as crowded events like his Soul Clap and Dance-Off and Heavy Trash concert.

While the police are planning a sting operation on Friday night at Savalas between 10pm and 4am, they are still pursuing any information leading to the whereabouts of these elegant criminals. Local authorities encourage all civic-minded citizens and vigilantes to be there for back-up. Admission is FREE so your attendance so all you have to lose is your life and that quarter inch you will dance-off the sole of your shoe.

Saturday, Jan 19: New York Night Train’s Loose Caboose, Club Midway (25 Avenue B, East Village, Manhattan), 10pm, FREE:The night train’s gonna chugga chugga chugga to the city Saturday night. Come find the rockin’ caboose of the week of NYNT parties upstairs every week from here on out either with the Soul Proprietor or one of his hand-picked favorites continuing NYNT’s time-honored Midway freak show tradition! The tail end of the train’ll be shakin’ all over under sideways down all over the track to the good, the bad, and the funky. This week Mr. Toubin’s in the driver’s seat. Much more than merely a sideshow.

Heavy Trash-men take out the Williamsburg waterfront tonight!

Heavy Trash, Puddin’ Tang, Feels So Good Let’s Do It – January 11, Glasslands (289 Kent, Williamsburg), 8pm, $7:

New York Night Train more than thrilled to bring Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray’s way out rockabilly project Heavy Trash to Brooklyn Friday for a rare NYC appearance to kick-off a world tour in support of their latest full-length Going Way Out With Heavy Trash. Anyone who knows anything about Spencer, or had the thrill of witnessing his vigorous showmanly performances with Pussy Galore, Gibson Brothers, Honeymoon Killers, Boss Hog, Blues Explosion, and many more, are well aware that the man is much more than one of the most prolific, distinctive, and stylish forces in contemporary music, but, briefly and bluntly, he remains a rare rock’n’roll heart who brings it like no other every time. Verta-Ray, a truly unsung hero of the NYC underground, isn’t only responsible for the lightning-fast, yet elegantly tight and soulful guitar incisions in Speedball Baby and Madder Rose, but is also the unseen hand behind a number of classic recordings by everyone from the Subsonics to Andre Williams. Tonight their band includes a supergroup rhythm section consisting ofPhil Hernandez, the skin-pounder behind Yoko Ono, John Cale, Ray Davies, and many more, and neighborhood surf/rockabilly legend and former Coyote master, the sinister Simon Chardiet on upright bass. While rockabilly is certainly their main frame of reference, this subterranean switchblade quartet zigzags around and beyond generic constraints to create a raw frenzy that flirts with tradition but remains undeniably vital and immediate. Get it while you can because these jetsetters never play NYC shows!

Puddin’ Tang, who just released their debut album What’s Our Name?, best known for their legendary Velvet Underground impersonation filmed by Jonas Mikas, are purveyors of a rough bohemian homespun collision of “Cool It Down”/“Train Comin’ Round the Bend” late-Velveteen roll, swampy Tony Joe White humidity, and John/Exene masculine/feminine vocal trade-off/harmony – or not. You gotta just see it for yourself. Feels So Good Let’s Do It!, Williamsburg’s latest rock assemblage, including familiar talents like Bonnie from the Witnesses, Tina from Bad Wizard, and Jamie from Breakup Breakdown, light the first match of the evening with their second show ever.

Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party w/DJs Jonathan Toubin and Jim Sclavunous – January 11, Midnight – 4am, Savalas (285 Bedford), FREE:

New York Night Train will host the afterparty at its weekly Ants in Yr Pants Dance Party two blocks away at Savalas. This week Soul Proprietor and Conductor Mr. Jonathan Toubin will be joined by none other than guest DJ Jim Sclavunos. Jim, the current drummer for Grinderman, percussionist for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and leader of the Vanity Set, is also a former member of the likes of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, 8-Eyed Spy, Sonic Youth, Tav Falco and the Panther Burns, Alex Chilton, The Cramps, Congo Norvell, Gunga Din, and at least a few dozen more. This tall handsome debonair gentleman, who, we regret to inform the ladies recently tied the knot, moonlights behind the decks under the pseudonym DJ Goofy. A regular guest at NYNT events, Sclavunos spins an eclectically tasteful mix of playful party favorites from all over the map. Goofy… but also a darkly perverse get-down!

What could you possibly have better to do?

http://www.heavytrash.net/

http://www.myspace.com/heavytrash

http://www.myspace.com/puddintangtime

http://myspace.com/theglasslands

http://www.thevanityset.com/jimbio.html

http://www.myspace.com/savalasbar

melt those icicles with dancing hot as an Ohio Players gatefold

OK. I know you’re tired and cold, but I am too. Wait. Wrong tactic. I know you’re cold and tired, but popular science has shown not only that dancing both improves circulation and makes you warmer but that it also helps battle fatigue. That sounds better, non? Come see me kiddies - the parties aren’t slowing up in the New Year!

Thursday, Jan 3, On! Sixties Discotheque Party, Beauty Bar (231 E. 14th, East Village, Manhattan), 11pm, FREE: New York Night Train’s latest venture is a collaboration between the Soul Proprietor and walking musical encyclopedia and rock machine, the indomitable Ms. Melissa Fanni Tutti – who, last time I checked, also has the blues. But that’s why we need to make the party move more than ever - turning dance music platters centered smack dab in the center of popular music’s greatest and most diverse decade. Making a go at channeling the variety inherent in the playlists of the discotheques and radio of the era, we attempt to cover soul, garage, and freakbeat plus a dash of boogaloo, girl groups, bubblegum, frat r&b, psychedelics, discotheque, boogaloos, tropicalia, yé-yé, latin delights, etc. Get it? ON! C’mON, get ON! Get off at ON! Plus, hardcore legend Mark Ryan spins up front!

Friday, Jan 4, Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party, Savalas (285 Bedford, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 10pm, FREE: Msssr. DEREK STANTON!, he of AWESOME COLOR fame, has briefly returned from Michigan to make you shake those icicles all night long. Any of you who’ve caught me and my amigo spin before are well aware that you’ll find a relentless mix of Detrot R&B and R&R. Plus, tonight, don’t be surprised if Mr. Stanton also pulls out his arsenal of funk weapons. A greasy night of good bootiee. Slide on in my cold little snakes!

Saturday, January 5: Soul Clap and Dance-Off 7, Glasslands Gallery (289 Kent, WIlliamsburg, Brooklyn), 10pm, $2: This is the jam where New York Night Train’s Jonathan Toubin proves why he’s the Soul Proprietor - spinning only the finest in soul 45s, obscurities, novelties, and classics spanning late-r&b to early funk but centering on mid-60s burners - exclusively for your dancing pleasure. Our MC is once again the lovely and charismatic Laura Lee and this month’s neighborhood celebrity judges include DESTINY of Shock Cinema, GINA of Moisturizer, Les Sans Coulettes, World Inferno Friendship, etc., JOSH LEE HOOKER of the Headless Hookers, Sean of SamIam, Fakers, etc., and the world’s most dynamic r’n'r projectionist SPENCER of A Place to Bury Strangers, Warlocks, Death In Vegas, etc.. The Soul Clap and Dance-Off is rapidly turning out to be one of the city’s more unusual contests and one of my kookiest events as more and more freaks from god knows where show up to win the pot of gold - but it also retains its organic authenticity and mellow intimacy. Thaw yr toes while finding out if you can bank off your skills in a big way, or just dance and witness - either way you get crazy soul music and dancin’ ’til you can’t take it no more. And this is the last one that’s only $2 - get it while it’s hot…

And, next week, not only will you find the New York Night Train’s Motor City esoteric excitement with Mr. Nicholas Ray, Beauty Bar bounce with Melissa Fanni Tutti, Savalas with the legendary Mr. John Spencer himself, and Daddy’s solo, but you’ll also find live performances Thursday by Berlin’s Jeans Team at Marquis Dancehall’s going away party and John Spencer, Matt Verta-Ray, and Phil Hernandez’s new rockabilly supergroup Heavy Trash with NYNT favorites Puddin’ Tang at Glasslands!

From Low-Down Holiday Blues into a New Years Frenzy

Since last week’s parties turned into some of the strangest and most intense I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve had a mean case of holiday blues, I have no idea what to expect from this no-man’s land bridging Christmas and New Years – from me or from you. But, rest assured, my DJ partners and I will continue to kill from the heart regardless…

Wednesday, Dec 26, Motor City (127 Ludlow, Lower East Side, Manhattan), 10pm, FREE: Tonight’s guest bailed and I’m gonna take this by myself. Though I wake up every day grateful for my charmed life I have and the bountiful love I get from you all, and nothing but the best things continue to happen to me, I’ve lately nonetheless been the reluctant owner of one of the deepest cases of the blues I’ve ever known. Today John Lee Hooker’s been helping me along and I imagine that tonight I’ll go down that pitch-black lonely blues road, but, who knows, after a couple of drinks, I may just be ready to burn the whole place down. Either way, it’ll be gritty and, as always, like the fat man, I’ll be ready, willing, and able to rock’n’roll all night. Don’t fight it, feel it… with me!

Thursday, Dec 27, On! Sixties Discotheque Party, Beauty Bar (231 E. 14th, East Village, Manhattan), 11pm, FREE: New York Night Train’s latest venture is a collaboration between the Soul Proprietor and walking musical encyclopedia and rock machine, the indomitable Ms. Melissa Fanni Tutti – who, last time I checked, also has the blues. But that’s why we need to make the party move more than ever - turning dance music platters centered smack dab in the center of popular music’s greatest and most diverse decade. Making a go at channeling the variety inherent in the playlists of the discotheques and radio of the era, we attempt to cover soul, garage, and freakbeat plus a dash of boogaloo, girl groups, bubblegum, frat r&b, psychedelics, discotheque, boogaloos, tropicalia, yé-yé, latin delights, etc. Get it? ON! C’mON, get ON! Get off at ON!

Friday, December 28, Ants In Yr Pants Dance Party, Savalas (285 Bedford, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 10pm, FREE: It’s gonna be hard for either me or you to retain our blues when noneother than TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone returns to Ants In Yr Pants! Kyp last time brought an extraordinary, unique, and highly unpredictable mix of everything under the sun and made the party people go crazy all night. This time New York Night Train Soul Proprietor Mr. Jonathan Toubin is trembling with fear that Mssr. Malone will blow him clear out of the booth once more - but that’s exactly why everybody knows that both amigos are gonna step it up a notch for your dancing and listening pleasure. You WILL step hard and heavy all night long….

Saturday, December 29: Club Midway (25 Avenue B, East Village, Manhattan), 10pm, FREE: By this point I have a feelin’ the holiday blues is gonna be fading into pre-New Years excitement. If you’re in Manhattan, you gotta come find me upstairs where I’ll be continuing my time-honored Midway freak show tradition! Expect to bite into the good the bad and the funky with a hard rock center to break your teeth on. I’ll taker responsibility for your hearing loss but not your dental bills.

Sunday, December 30: Sin Sin (85 2nd Ave, New York, 10002), 10pm, FREE: Tonight I do my first gig downstairs at this East Village institution. While you may imagine this bar is a bit highbrow for me and what I do, take note that I was invited to do this by Javad, a New York underground bar legend since the early 1990s – slinging drinks at places like Barmacy, the early Beauty Bar, and many more. A long-time Seattle punk rocker whose older brother is noneother than John Bigley, the singer for the U-Men, Javad likes it raw and told me that he only only wants the grimy rock’n’soul. And so rock’n’soul is exactly what he, and you, will get. Other exciting news is that I will be joined by noneother than one of my favorite DJs in the city, Beauty Bar owner Mike Stewart, as well as Little Steven’s gogo dancer Tara Fitzgerald!….

Monday, December 31: Glasslands Gallery (289 Kent), 8pm, $10: This jam, organized with the help of Dr. Wizard, not only includes live sets by the almighty Stockers, the swampy Puddin’ Tang, the rockin’ Electric Shadows, and the mystical Sorceress, but, after the New Year turns, dancing with DJ sets by Smashed Blocked’s Josh Styles, me, and very special surprise guests. The cover includes a glass of the finest midnight champaign. This is gonna be one of the wildest and most out-of-hand parties of both 2007 and 2008. See ya father time, Baby New Year is here and….

Tuesday January 1: Motor City (127 Ludlow, Lower East Side, Manhattan), 4am - ?, FREE: You read it right, Baby New Year’s gonna be at Motor City, who has a 24 hour New Years license. Immediately after the Glasslands show I’m toting the crates over the bridge. This is gonna be so messed up and amazing. There’s nothing like sitting at a legally opened bar at 7am with folks wandering in and out from the parties. Ludlow is gonna be New Orleans and nobody sleeps ’til Brooklyn. I’m so stoked and will spin you into the New Year until 11 am or until you can’t take it no more – whichever comes first - if only to remind you that the Night Train does not stop and will not be outlasted….

and on January 2, as always on Wednesday, my new work week begins again….