Treehouse

Treehouse Salutes Pavement!!!

2010-10-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight, in Las Vegas, Pavement is playing one of the final shows of its 2010 reunion tour, after last week playing four consecutive, already-legendary nights at Central Park's Summerstage. How momentous was this occasion for Treehouse? Well, one of us went all four nights, and the other twice, and our friends and family accompanied us each and every time. (If Treehouse has a community indie-rock band, Pavement is surely it.)

So we wanted to celebrate the moment, and share our admiration for Pavement for all to enjoy. Here's a couple of bits of rare media that we've been carrying in our hearts and souls for - gasp! - 20+ years.

The original single-tracking-shot video for "Debris Slide," from Perfect Sound Forever, quite possibly the greatest 10" ever released.

And...newly "discovered" (thanks Pavement2010 Tumblr) live recording of the band, pre-fame but in full-fledged, flighty, furry power in August of 1990 (quite possibly from Maxwell's).

Pavement - Live at Maxwells (Aug 12, 1990) by herjazz

Photo from Brooklyn Vegan by Dominick Mastrangelo

Treehouse 016 Reviewed!!!

2010-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everybody who came out to the Greenpoint debut of Treehouse, featuring Sal P and Safety Scissors. Not only was it a smashing success, with folks dancing 'til they kicked us out; but in a very unexpected development, the Village Voice's "Sound of the City" actually reviewed the evening's festivities. Much thanks to new FoT Chris Tarantino for the kind words.

FURTHER READING: "Salvatore Principato Fist-Pumps with New Jerseyian Abandon at Treehouse" Village Voice 9.27.2010

Treehouse 016 - Sal P + Safety Scissors

2010-09-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Treehouse is pulling up roots and branching out to Greenpoint this Saturday. We hope you'll join us as we try out a new home with new (and old) friends. We have high hopes for a high-energy jammy.

We also have special guests this month who we're very excited about.

Sal P was the iconic singer of Liquid Liquid, the short-lived early '80s NYC post-disco phenomenon with a long arc of influence ever since. (Their classic track "Cavern" became the rhythm for Grandmaster Flash's famous "White Lines," and the legendary Glasgow club night was named for their song "Optimo.") Here's a Sal P mix from Tim Sweeney's Beats in Space radio show. And below is a clip of Sal and Liquid Liquid performing "Optimo," a jam that's birthed to genres, bands and parties from New York to Glasgow and beyond, shot at this summer's Primavera Sound Festival in Spain.

Safety Scissors is an old pal—he played the Mishpucha blowout "Put On A Happy Face" (with Swayzak and Moosaka) at Filter 14 in 2001 —and he's just moved to Brooklyn (from Montreal, and before that Berlin and San Fran) and started playing out and making tracks again. His records are some of the most interesting and advanced electronic music of the last decade, and we're psyched to see what he plucks from his past and present.

We're now using our Treehouse Facebook for RSVPs (and updates/mixes, etc.). So say you're attending there and it's only $3. Otherwise it's $5 at the door. Also follow us on Twitter for fun stuff.

See you on the dance-floor.

Treehouse 016
Sat., Sept. 25, 10p-4a
Special Guests: Sal P + Safety Scissors
Residents: Raspberry Jones + Treeboy
Coco66 (actually the bar next door at #68)
66 Greenpoint Ave. (btw. West + Franklin St.), Greenpoint, Brooklyn
$3 w/RSVP; $5/door

"The Record: Contemporary Art & Vinyl" @ the Nasher Museum, Durham, NC

2010-08-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years, Treehouse's Piotr Orlov has been assisting long-time friend and collaborator, curator Trevor Schoonmaker, on a museum show about vinyl records. Not the typical "album sleeve art" exhibition, but, in Trevor's words, a show about how "artists use the vinyl record as metaphor, archive, artifact, icon, portrait, or transcendent medium."

The result is The Record: Contemporary Art & Vinyl, featuring the work of artists such Christian Marcalay, Malick Sidibe, Carrie Mae Weems, Jasper Johns, Robin Rhode, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Mingering Mike and numerous others, and which opens to the general public at Duke University's Nasher Museum in Durham, North Carolina on September 2nd.

In addition to contributing a central essay to and helping edit the catalog, Orlov will be DJ'ing the museum's special opening night party on Wednesday, August 25th. Orlov's tag-team DJ partner for the evening will be another FOT (Friend of Treehouse), Dave Tompkins, who also contributed an essay to The Record's catalog.

Dave recently published a book entitled How to Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocoder From World War II to Hip-Hop - The Machine Speaks, which has been garnering fantastic reviews and is a staple on the Treehouse book-shelf. He's also spent the summer making rather insane mixes, like this one, Spine Blowing Decisions Vol. 26, co-piloted by Chairman Mao (check the player/download in top left corner).

Anyway, if you are in-around Durham-Chapel Hill, evening of Wed. 25th, holler at Treehouse, and we'll get you in.

UPDATE: Some photos from the opening night of "The Record: Contemporary Art & Vinyl" at the Nasher.

Superstar DJ Record Fair @ The Flea

2010-08-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

The third annual Superstar DJ Record Fair is coming to the Brooklyn Flea, Sunday, Sept. 19, to the vault at Skylight One Hanson. So if you want to unload some old 12"s, LPs, 45s, or even CDs, we still have room for more vendors.

We'll have 30-40 vendors this year, including faves from past years like Other Music employees, Halcyon, DFA Records, and all sorts of DJs parting with their bloated collections. And we're bringing back the Buy that Record game, where vendors DJ for 20 minutes, with every song they play for sale on the spot. Fun.

Wanna sell? Just drop the Flea a line for more details.

Photo courtesy Kate Glicksberg/Interstatial.

Shake v. Outer Space

2010-08-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Anthony Shakir - Detroit State of Mind (SDC's Pulsating Alien Mass Mix) by spacedimensioncontroller

One of Detroit's (all-too) secret gods gets the remix treatment from one of techno's wunderkinder (who will be making his live NYC debut at The Bunker on September 3rd). Big Choon!!!

Andy Votel: Biker Mix B-Side

2010-08-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

Andy Votel's Biker Mix B Side by TimeOutNewYork

A great, short and sweet mix that Treehouse 015 guest Andy Votel made for Time Out New York on the occasion of his long mid-August weekend in the Big Apple. Climb Up + Get Down.

Treehouse 015—Andy Votel + Mahssa

2010-08-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

The 15th Treehouse is this Saturday, Aug. 14, at Littlefield, and we think it will be quite fun. We hope you will be there to drink and make merry with us.

We chose Kate's photo of the legendary Greenpoint record trove The Thing for this Treehouse because our special guests are crate-diggers extraordinaire. (That's also why Wax Poetics magazine is onboard as a Treehouse partner this month.) Expect rarities, heavy grooves, and musical map-crossing, all with an eye toward the dancefloor.

Andy Votel runs Finders Keepers and B-Music, two labels that relentlessly unearth vinyl castoffs and bring them the public recognition they deserve. Folk Is A Four Letter Word, Well Hung, Music to Make Girls Cry, the list goes on and on. Trainspotters take note. Here's a cool mix of his.

Mahssa curated the heralded Pomegranates compilation of '60s and '70s Persian pop music (on Votel's B-Music label), and we can't wait to hear what she pulls out of her crate on Saturday. Here's a Mahssa mix.

FYI Andy and Mahssa are in town for these cool film and DJ performances this week that are part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's "Film Comment" series. Check it out.

It's $5 this month, but free if you RSVP.

To keep up with the Treehouse, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

TREEHOUSE 015

Sat. Aug. 14, 11pm

Special Guests Andy Votel + Mahssa

Residents Raspberry Jones + Treeboy

Littlefield, 622 Degraw St. (btw. 3+4 Ave.)

$5; FREE w/RSVP

Treehouse at Unsound: Thur. Feb. 11, 2010

2010-01-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

As part of its association with the inaugural Unsound New York festival, Treehouse is proud to announce an evening devoted to electronic rhythms created in New York.

Treehouse at Unsound, the New York Electronic Music Showcase, will feature live and DJ sets from great veterans of the New York scene, as well as newcomers creating uncompromising new sounds. The evening’s special headline set will be provided by Morgan Geist, among the city dance-music scene’s eminence grise, one-half of the influential duo Metro Area, and the man behind Environ Records. Buyoed by the 2009 success of “Robotic Hypnotic Adventure” (Wurst Edits), the Neurotic Drum Band (the veteran duo of John Selway and Elliot Taub), will perform a “decks & FX”/DJ-meets-live set, showcasing the pair's mix of classic house, Italo and techno. The all-analog live set by the young duo Blondes (Oberlin grads Sam Haar and Zach Steinman) will feature the deep Kosmiche grooves that have drawn comparisons to Manuel Gottsching and Delia & Gavin.

Listen:

Morgan Geist

Blondes

Treehouse resident DJs Raspberry Jones & Treeboy will kick off the evening. Brooklyn visuals by Kate Interstatial.

09.00 pm: Treehouse DJs Raspberry Jones & Treeboy

10.00 pm: Blondes (live)

11.00 pm: Neurotic Drum Band (decks & fx)
12.00 pm: Morgan Geist (DJ)

@ Littlefield, 622 Degraw, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tickets: $5 w/ RSVP to treehousebklyn@gmail.com / $8 at the door.

MAP

SUBWAY: M/R to Union St; any train to Atlantic Ave./Pacific St.; F/G to Carroll St.

New to Treehouse? We're a monthly party thrown by Eric Demby and Piotr Orlov, long-time dance-music writers, collectors and DJs, and community activists. Since kicking off in the spring of 2009, Treehouse has played host to sets by Todd Edwards, Kieran Hebden, Jace Clayton, Alex From Tokyo, Todd Sines and others.

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Time Out Says Todd is God

2009-11-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

And they're right. Bruce gets right to the roots of why we're so excited to have Mr. Edwards in the 'House on Wednesday. Great job on the photo by KG too!

[007] Return of the King: Todd Edwards

2009-11-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

We're pretty sure this is gonna be an awesome Treehouse. Todd Edwards, a sort of secret god of garage house as the originator of the "cut-up," which is now standard issue among producers of every stripe, will be in the 'House.

Todd gets props from dance-music heads in the know, but that's not enough. (Daft Punk, for one, gave him his due via a collaboration on Discovery, "Face to Face," a song that rules.) So we're dragging him all the way from Bloomfield, New Jersey, to put him in the spotlight, where he belongs. He's pretty psyched about the gig, and even put together a special mix (below) just for the occasion.

Treehouse will be taking over the main room of Littlefield for the first time, which can only mean one thing: bring your dancing shoes!

Climb up + get down with us.

Treehouse 007

Wed., Nov. 18, 2009

10pm

Special Guest: Todd Edwards

Residents: Raspberry Jones + Treeboy

Littlefield, 622 Degraw St. (btw. 3+4 Ave.)

Gowanus, Brooklyn

Absolutely FREE

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Todd Edwards - Treehouse mix by Raspberry Jones

A Ghost in the Treehouse!

2009-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Treehouse 006 is creeping up on you October 21. We're pretty sure you'll be getting down after climbing up to this month's hang.

Mike Servito and SV4 of the excellent, and now 10-year-old, Ghostly International label will be joining us for the evening, purveying the sort of warm/minimal/deep Detroit-based techno and house that makes your body think fun and your head feel funny. For a taste of their game and where they're coming from, check out this Self-Titled profile and attendant mix. Yum. Here's a killer Servito mix from when he did the Bunker party earlier this year.

Because it's CMJ and we want a nice crowd and hopefully a dancefloor too, we're putting on a more serious party. Which means we're charging $5 just this one time. If you come before 10pm it's still free.

Treehouse 006

Wed., Oct. 21

8pm-2am

feat. Ghostly International DJs Mike Servito + SV4

Residents Raspberry Jones + Treeboy

FREE before 10pm; $5 after (Free all night w/CMJ badge)

Littlefield

622 Degraw St. (btw. 3 + 4 Ave.)

Gowanus Brooklyn

Out the Comfort Zone w/DJ /rupture + Gamall

2009-09-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

For the next Treehouse we're climbing up to a new level of getting down, which we hope to sustain through the fall and beyond.

In the Treehouse tradition, for 005 we'll be featuring two friends branching outside their comfort zone. DJ /rupture (ne Jace Clayton) is known for his triple-turntable global riddim incursions, but of late he's been all about cumbia, the Latino street music. So we're indulging him with an all-cumbia set at Treehouse, which will be welcome new music to many ears. Check out the archives of /rupture's WFMU Mudd Up! show, which rules.

Old pal Gamall works music of all kinds, especially house and techno, appreciates sounds from every corner of the globe (he's lived everywhere), and has played with some of the coolest cats you know and love. But he's a Sheffield native, and he's got a special soft spot for Northern Soul, the UK underground '60s black-soul sound. Unfamiliar? G's got Northern Soul in spades, and he'll walk you through a history lesson at Treehouse.

Treeboy and Raspberry Jones hold it down the rest of the time, naturally. Oh, we're starting an hour earlier (8pm) for all those pre- and post-paternal units and those with day jobs.

Treehouse

Wed., Sept. 16: 8pm-2am

Guests: DJ /rupture + Gamall

Residents: Raspberry Jones + Treeboy

Littlefield: 622 Degraw St. (btw. 3+4 Ave.)

Gowanus, Brooklyn

Absolutely Free

Welcome to Treehouse

2009-08-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

The next Treehouse is Wednesday, August 12, at Littlefield, with resident DJs Treeboy + Raspberry Jones, and special guest Ulysses.

Treehouse

Wed., Aug. 12, 2009

9p-2a

Littlefield, 622 Degraw St. (btw. 3+4 Ave.)

Gowanus, Brooklyn

Absolutely FREE

www.treehousebk.com

feat. Treeboy (Brooklyn Flea, BK) + Raspberry Jones (Newly Lost Edge, BK)

Special Guest Ulysses (Scatologics, NYC)

Climb up + get down!