We had an amazing day on Saturday. Those looking for a diverse and danceable selection of current New York sounds were well satisfied by the third Warm Up of the year. The beautiful weather and NY-centric lineup combined for an incredibly enthusiastic, record-breaking crowd day. New York has always been home to incredible house music and hip hop, and the PS1 courtyard hosted a survey of those genres’ various mutations and evolutions.
The day started off with JDH + Dave P, whose FIXED has been unifying electronic music and indie audiences on the dance floor for years now.
New Jersey DJ MikeQ followed with an electrifying, bass-heavy set of his trademark synthesis of contemporary Ballroom/Vogue-house tracks and club music. Ballroom, a style that evolved out of NYC’s 1990s voguing culture (portrayed in films like Paris Is Burning), has recently raised its global profile, finding fans and dancers from all walks of life. With the genre’s ascent, MikeQ, resident DJ at Vogue Knights and head of his own Qween Beat imprint, has become its most prominent new name. He proved he deserves his title as the “Queen of Modern Ballroom” with a righteous set of his own tracks, remixes, and edits, peppered with different versions of the genre’s touchstone track, “The Ha Dance” (which was originally composed by the group Masters At Work, featuring Warm Up alums Todd Terry and Kenny Dope).
MikeQ was immediately followed by a set of unhinged and bubbly rap from Le1f, an MC who has taken clear inspiration from the beats and rhythms of Vogue house. The audience, which by this time was packed to the back edge of the courtyard, bobbed and nodded along to the set, getting noticeably more animated when Le1f played his song “Wut,” a track that recently became an unlikely summer smash and lightning rod for controversy in the rap world.Sepalcure, a NY/Berlin-based duo fresh off of a world tour, and Ghostly International’s Matthew Dear closed out the day with a truly inspiring and ecstatic image of the distances house music has traveled recently. Sepalcure sampled from contemporary British bass music, Chicago footwork, and their own reworks of house classics like Crystal Waters’s “100% Pure Love.” Matthew Dear’s set drew from his background playing all incarnations of house music, displaying the skill of a master—and making people freak out to songs they’d never heard before like they were tried-and-true classics. It was an incredible way to end an incredible day.
Coming up Saturday, July 28:
We have to begin this post with a bit of unfortunate news about tomorrow’s Warm Up. Due to visa issues, South Africa’s DJ Spoko won’t be able to attend. We’ll miss him (and look forward to welcoming him back to the museum at some point), but we were also fortunate to secure an appearance by London’s incredible Oneman, about whom you can read more below. Our lineup this week continues to expand on the genres, styles, and nationalities represented in this summer’s programming.
Joining us from the UK are two of the most prominent faces of classic and current club music, MJ Cole and the aforementioned Oneman. MJ Cole’s tracks, such as “Sincere” and “Crazy Love,” have become synonymous with the classic sounds of UK Garage music and the melting-pot sounds of early-2000s London. Oneman, a DJ on London’s Rinse.fm, has toured the world with his modern-day update of that sound—a fusion of UK Garage, dubstep, R&B, and UK Funky. His mix for the dance-music institution Fabric was just released this week.
Sudanese-born Sinkane and Russian-born Slava (both currently NYC residents) will be gracing us with live sets as well. Sinkane, aka Ahmed Gallab, touring drummer for Yeasayer, Caribou, and Of Montreal, among others, creates a sophisticated and ebullient fusion of contemporary music. Incorporating everything from soul to rock and jazz to pop, his recent 12″ on DFA Records proved that he will soon be an important voice voice in front of the drums as well.
Slava created his own unique fusion as well, using piles of synths, samplers, and drum machines to create a wholly unique and soulful version of Chicago’s juke and footwork sounds
The day starts off with a bright, summery set from Van Rivers, who is known as a producer for artists like Fever Ray, Blonde Redhead, and Glasser, but is also a talented dance-music producer in his own right. Having toured the world DJing icier techno sounds, he has recently introduced warm disco, funk, and house sounds into his repertoire.
As always, we wholeheartedly recommend that you buy tickets in advance to skip the lines. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you tomorrow at Warm Up!