Steve declares War (and peace) in Seattle

 (cause we know that diamond is so for the robots as opposed to Kanye based on Steve's setlist)

Of course I've had an interest in watching Steve Aoki DJ as it seems like a lot of people do. That's exactly what puts Steve in such a unique position. How many people go to watch a DJ? Don't they go to dance?
Equally inspired by Meg's unapologetic love of Aoki during my week spent in Vancouver B.C. and Panda Toes' recent assessment of his skills on the decks, I set out via Greyhound to Seattle on a Friday to take in Stevie live and in person at the War Room.

I arrived just around midnight to a crowd decked out in shoelace headbands, fur coats (yuck! I had to dodge the people wearing them like I was in a warzone. Ain't no way that's gonna touch me), a plastic crown, skinny jeans and suspenders. And someone was doing the running man. Un-ironically. That vision sums up where in the arch of hipsterdom a good majority of the people there were at... pretty well actually. And I'm not saying they're were ahead of the curve in that. The opposite. Run for cover, it's the Yuppies! Scarier than hipsters? That aside, there was a girl who looked like Kid Sister there. She was entirely too cute.

When I arrived there was no crowd-surfing, no screaming interaction between Steve and the attendees, no anything - just Steve fully engaged in the Serato set-up in front of him. WTF?! That wasn't the scene for very long though...

Soon Steve was drunk enough to start swinging from chords, standing on his set-up, falling over, jumping up and down and swinging his locks around with wild abandon to whatever it was he was playing at each given moment.

He played enough Daft Punk to make you think you were either at a Daft Punk concert or that you were catching a Flosstradamous set.

It was all rather hilarious. I had way more fun watching him spiral than I did when I was dancing to "Ready to Uff." The thing is, he's got some skills. I'm not going to skip through and omit how much shit (mostly from Gawker) he gets for being the DJ he is and the hipster backlash that gets pinned on him as if he's the mascot of the sect. How obnoxious can one be starting their career under the name Kid Millionaire when you are indeed the son of a millionaire; in Steve's case son of Benihana founder Rocky Aoki? hahaha But it was a tongue-in-cheek obnoxiousness...

I think the reason he gets the resistance is he is indeed a superstar DJ, but many other DJs of the globe-trotting caliber are less in your face - selling on their skills more than on personality. And a lot of Steve's success isn't hinged on having paid his dues in crummy clubs. I think that and the whole lifestyle tag may be what rubs people the wrong way.

But come on, how can you not automatically celebrate someone who uses what he has to release Pony Up!  Seriously!?! I will forever be thankful for his label Dim Mak's releases, from Pony Up! to Bloc Party's first American release(s) to the Mystery Jets and oh so much more.

And he's pretty rad at mixing songs too. A skill he displayed on and off because the power to his decks and laptop kept going on and off, again and again, messing with his flow, but in no way halting the party.

He doesn't come across as a caricature of some party DJ, but just as someone who wants to have a lot of fun and is doing so.
More power to him.
If he can and has the opportunity to do all that he does, then why not?

Steve 'space

Green Velvet is so sick. I discovered him through a mix CD during a trip to San Francisco back in 2003 that he appeared on. While the love affair has seen it's dormant periods, right now is a time of crushing excitement namely cause Joee Irwin's brand spanking new newsletter just linked "LaLaLaLaLa (Nside My Mind)," a tune that's completely gotten inside of my mind.
I love that when speaking to Edwin of Foals this past Saturday, he said he loved techno. My reply? "Green Velvet loves techno too!" hahahaha Love me his lyrics in "Shake and Pop"...
Aoki's true touch to the track kicks in at about 2:30

Shake and Pop (w/ Kid Sister's Guest Drop) Green Velvet Steve Aoki Edit MP3

More of my photos from the War Room on fffffflickrrrrr

Related/unrelated: I am so digging Mark the Cobrasnake lately. So digging him after watching this video interview on Jezebel.

Also from the Gawker stable: Aoki family shizz

Why must Michael Cera be just so damn cute... but only 19!? Boo!
 

Comments

[j kent]

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/swarm/urb-vs-pitchfork-great-steve-aoki-debate-2008/

Pitchfork wins my award for best line:

"That said, a broken dishwasher also has a beat to it, and sticking someone’s gussied-up 1987 Maytag front and center at the trendiest L.A. hot spot would undoubtedly get both scene-stealers and scene-makers on the floor in time for a Cobrasnake photo op."

My biggest issues are with the scene he's poster-boy for, I'm sure Steve's probably a down to earth guy in person and a blast to party with.

[sleeptilsunday]

pitchfork aint sheeit...

[meg]

before i actually read your post - let me just say that that comic strip is far too awesome!!!!!

[bearears]

He's not an untalented DJ, but that doesn't mean a fucking thing if your set consists of horrifically obvious and uninspired dance music for drones. He's not interesting. At all. And for him to have the kind of stature he has as a DJ now--stature that was, yes, handed to him--is straight up offensive.

[meg]

hahahah, now that i've actually read this post - i love it even more. hahah
and of course, my unapologetic love is the highlight for me.

[Hopefully enlightening]

Meg said it well "He's not an untalented DJ, but that doesn't mean a fucking thing if your set consists of horrifically obvious and uninspired dance music for drones"...

Steve Aoki is the embarrassing spokesman for the young, narcissistic (Cobrasnake, and every other retarded party photographer), American Apparel sweatshirt and ad loving, essentially molested by consumption dead generation.. our generation y... Niina.. you have so much more to offer than this! I read your blog often, and I've never even bothered to bookmark it, because I know I will come across it somehow and some way.. meaning, you are reaching out far and wide!

I hope no one is paying you, or sending you free AdiColor shoes or 10deep all over print hoodies.. because I know you have more energy than to waste time with rich coked up DJs from Southern California essentially skull fucking (or attempting to) everyone you know, with uninovative, mediocre, consumer driven BULLSHIT!

ha HA what a tirade!

[Nilina]

Ohhh hot button issue! While I HATE certain scenes, I don't/try not to hate/dislike individual who I have yet to meet. Why not focus on liking the people I have?
I really can't get behind the whole hipster scene because that much vanity and vapidness isn't only eroding this generation, it's serving as a poor model to others.
Steve Aoki doing what he's doing and Cobrasnake taking pictures isn't doing anything to harm me personally so I'd rather focus my negative energy on things that are - like lack of health care and immigration... How any human is illegal I will NEVER understand -- in hopes of change.
That said, I really encourage people who don't like Mark the Cobrasnake to watch the video interview linked about. I never thought I would identify on ANY level with him but he comes off as human and he talks about how his photos aren't good and shit like that. He doesn't take himself seriously AT ALL and doesn't come off as self-important in the least which I NEVER though possible. I mean isn't that the hallmark of being a hipster?

Anywayssss - I was not a fan before I saw Steve and I'm still not. But I just realized he doesn't bother me. If he can get away with what he does, why should I feel personally offended by it/him which is what some people seem to feel.

I realized what he's selling is to hipsters and yuppies and other brain-dead people. I don't consider myself to fall into any of those groups so what he does doesn't apply to me in the least. Therefore why judge it? From DJ sets to screen printed hoodies.

I don't think it was a waste of time to put up this post and declare that he does not bother me. There are plenty of other rich people that don't use their money for releasing music domestically that would otherwise remain unreleased so you know what - I agree with where he's sinking his money when it comes to Dim Mak. If Mystery Jets didn't have an album in the US, they wouldn't have toured here. Same with a few other bands who I love. And some small part of me can appreciate Steve Aoki for having the label regardless if it's for vanity and such.

I encourage you to read my fictional story "Culture Junkies."
http://localcut.wweek.com/?p=2685

A character talks about the Cobrasnake and the affect of American Apparel and Last Night's Party and Vice on "our generation" after some drunken hipster chick tries to pick him up and seems to share some elements of your opinion "Hopefully enlightening," but with a slightly different perspective.

Seeing Steve live put me at peace with him and his role in the hipster scene.

[Hopefully enlightening]

i only like it when this guy writes about steve aoki..

http://www.thearabparrot.com/

[timo]

yuppie shit. Steve Aoki and the entire Hollywood scene is tacky now and will look even more tacky in the future. So plastic, so stupid. They entertain yuppies and the readers of Entertainment Weekly think he's edgy. All he looks like to me is some former California punk geek who bought a bunch of expensive digital equipment and that entertains on yuppie youth and trust fund babies.