10.31.09: Masquerade Macabre
Two private lofts and a steampunk bar, 9pm-9am, 21+ | Facebook
Gemini & Scorpio
cordially request your presence at
Masquerade Macabre
A marvellous and mysterious event...a Halloween celebration of the extravagant and the grotesque...a 12-hour spectacle of atmosphere, costumery and diverse entertainments...an explosion of live music, dancing, circus arts, fire and late-night revelry, snake-charmed into an absinthe-fueled early-morning speakeasy.
With: A demonic dance floor by Brooklyn Wonderland with DJ Stylus, DJ Dirtyfinger and Reaganomics, plus live percussion by Blood Drums...Hand-cranked phonograph music by WFMU's DJ Michael Cumella...Exotic Balkan rhythms by Raya Brass Band...Victorian music box mix, toy piano mayhem and circus techno by Sxip Shirey...An explosive fire experience by Dan Glass...Remixed vintage beats and frightfully sexy dance grooves by DJ Shakey...A pineal-tingling sunrise blend of live flute over world electronica by SuKhush...Live vintage soul + funk remix breakfast set by Cloud.
Plus: Fantastical face & body painting by Painteresse Elyzabeth...Frighteningly accurate fortunes told by practitioners of the occult arts...Mystifying calotype likenesses produced in front your very eyes by Tsirkus Fotografika...Delectable treats served all night, and breakfast at 7am...
And for the daring few: absinthe and other mind-altering potions by The House of St Eve (yes, t.h.o.s.e. cocktails...)
Costume inspiration:
Dark Victoriana, macabre carnival, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Georges Melies & Brothers Quay films, Edward Gorey, cabinet of curiosities
More on our artists below:
More on our artists:
Demonic dance floor by Brooklyn Wonderland!
Exciting eclecticism: DJ Stylus
DJ Stylus has DJ'd at numerous bars, clubs, and parties around NYC. In 2007 he started the Brooklyn Wonderland underground loft-party series, to showcase DJs, MCs, live music, performance, and video installation, not as separate performers but as an integrated and spectacular whole. These parties quickly gained a devoted following and inspired dance-floor frenzies.
Bass-Bass-Bass: DJ Dirtyfinger
DJ Dirtyfinger brings the Bass-Bass-Bass of all origins: Baltimore club, Miami bass, Dirty south, Chicago booty house, Detroit ghetto tech, Brooklyn, Baile funk, Juke, Dance hall, Dubstep, New Orleans bounce, and more. He's been rocking parties of every possible size in NYC for the last 8 years, playing at Webster hall, Santos Party House, The Natural History Museum, The Getty Museum, and Bike Kill--alongside such notables as Japanther, The DeathSet, The Black Lips, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Rub, Gang Gang Dance, Ninjasonik and others. He was voted "Favorite Brooklyn DJ" in the NYpress 2008 "Best of New York" readers poll.
Irresistible ethno-mesh: DJ Reaganomics
DJ Reaganomics is resident of the famously variety-obsessed Rubulad parties, and never fails to deliver bangers from all over the world: kuduro, juke, batucada, cumbia, bhangra and other examples of regional underground shake appeal.
Wondrous entertainments!
Antique crank-up phonograph DJ: Michael Cumella
Michael hand-cranks two period disc phonographs with 78's circa 1900-1929 for a culturally arresting, quirky and engaging musical experience that transports the listener to the previous century. The music ranges from ragtime to dance bands, instrumentalists to songsters. Visually fascinating and vastly entertaining, this obsolete media presentation is a treat for the eyes and ears. Since 1995, Michael (aka MAC) can be heard on WFMU's Antique Phonograph Music Program: 91.1 FM in the NYC area at 7pm every Tuesday.
Scorching Balkan Brass: Raya Brass Band
Raya Brass Band is the newest fiery Balkan band to come out of the village of Brooklyn, NY. This mighty quintet of tuba, bass drum, accordion, trumpet and clarinet exuberantly delivers the swirling, dynamic music of northern Greece, the southern Balkans and the Romany people. In true village style, Raya Brass Band gives audiences a direct and unmediated earful of sonic energy from the middle of the dance floor. With Greg Squared on clarinet and sax, Ben Syversen on trumpet, Matthew Fass on accordion, Don Godwin on tuba, and EJ Fry on tupan (traditional bass drum).
Curious objects and impossible sounds: Sxip Shirey
Sxip Shirey is a real life circus composer and maestro of Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, The Daredevil Opera Company & gypsy punk ensemble Luminescent Orchestrii. "Haunting" - The New York Times (2008). "Sxip conjures a world of infernal calliopes and cotton candy machetes wielded by Gypsy crones with angel feet" - SF Weekly. "Compelling...ominous original music" - The New York Times (2009). The Halloween set will be a special treat, as the proximity of the party location to the artist's studio will allow him to bring some of his most unusual toys - some never before seen live in concert.
Jazz swingin' beats: DJ Shakey
DJ Shakey, aka Julie Covello, has been a professional nightclub / mobile disc jockey / wedding dj for over 14 years. She is also a record collector, music consultant, and veteran of the music video industry. She specializes in diverse music, music in media, dance parties, and special concepts. Her music collection includes over 9000 vinyl recordings and cds. She is a party co-ordinator, promoter, experienced host, and has performed on radio, internet, and television broadcasts.
World-beat grooves: SuKhush
Rachel lays down live grooves & improvisation on the C Flute over husband Vish's DJ sets of funky world electronica (breakbeats, downtempo & psychedelic chill-out). SuKhush developed its pineal-tingling blend of the organic & technological while Vish and Rachel owned and operated their own nightclub in Bombay, India, during the early 2000s. Joining the New York scene in 2005, Vish and Rachel launched 6362MetaForce - an artistic collective and on-line boutique promoting the fashion, music, parties and community of the global bohemian lifestyle. SuKhush has remained a flagship project of 6362MetaForce, performing throughout North America, Europe & India.
Live remixed classic soul: Cloud
We're pretty sure you guys don't know who Cloud is. So check this out, and imagine these beats feeding your ears while we feed you breakfast. Mmmm, delicious!
Exciting diversions!
Fantastical face painting: Painteresse Elyzabeth
Painteresse Elyzabeth will be offering her exquisite freehand Face & Body Artistry. From small sexy embellishments to ornate masks, from tribal to victorian, in black and white or vivid color, with glittery tattoos and special long-lasting phosphorescent Glowing makeup. Dare to become Illuminated! (You can reach the fabulous Elyzabeth at Painteresse*at*yahoo.com)
Silver film magic: Tsirkus Fotografika
RA Friedman's Tsirkus Fotografika is art, fantasy, time travel and alchemical wizardry. Tsirkus reinvents the modern portrait invoking the spirit of the itinerant tintype artists of old while mixing in retro-futurism a la Jules Verne and a bit of Dr. Caligari-esque mystery. It's instant art made on real silver film, an experience of collaborative creation, an encounter with the dark and perilous science of photography, and a chance to swim in the fiery waters of mad genius! All this is topped off by a sitting fee that belongs in the 19th century. "Steampunk Photography!" - Egophobia Magazine, Romania. "Friedman's frozen photos have the look of splashy oxidation - sometimes sexy and wasted, sometimes gloriously wretched, always stately." - Philadelphia City Paper