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Fatoumata Diawara

If you ever had any doubts about whether the global pop promotion game was an intellectual enterprise as well as an entrepreneurial movement, this year's 10th pairing of NYC's annual Global Fest with the yearly Association of Professional Arts Presenters' conference would set you straight.

APAP first emerged (as the Association of College and University Concert Managers) in the late 1950s out of a small, visionary network of college arts programmers who wanted to increase and diversify the kinds of cultural enrichment to which mainstream America had access. Being a college-based organization during the red-baiting '50s meant this group was also aware of the political ramifications of promoting every type of music, dance and theater as equal in social value.

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Los Angeles is to X as New York is to the Ramones. Discuss.

Actually, not exactly. As X frontwoman Exene Cervenka relates, if it wasn't for a review slagging the Ramones, X might not exist. Seems the negative notice assured future X guitarist Billy Zoom that another band was as aberrant as he wanted to be, and, joining with bassist John Doe, the duo sowed the seeds of X.

X play 11/30 and 12/1 at Irving Plaza, and 12/7 at The Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ.

See Also:
- X's Exene Cervenka Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis
- Interview: Exene Cervenka of X
- Live: X at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza

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Judy McGuire

Editor's note: This weekend, Jarvis Cocker performed at the Whitney Museum in his Relaxed Muscle guise as part of the choreographer Michael Clark's "Who's Zoo" residency. The performance brought together dancers both trained and amateur, and Seattle Weekly's Dategirl/The Official Book Of Sex, Drugs, And Rock And Roll Lists author Judy McGuire was one of the lucky people who got a crash course in dance. In honor of Cocker's band, Pulp, beginning its two-night run at Radio City Music Hall this evening, we got her perspective on being involved in the performance.

We were called "zombies" and "klutzes" by the Post and compared to an "encroaching plague" by Gia Kourlas at the Times, but the reality is, we were sculptors, writers, lawyers (okay, only one), painters, trendspotters (again, only one), entry-level assistants, actors, students, filmmakers, bookmakers, art dealers and historians, and the un/under-employed. We were the "non-dancer" element in choreographer Michael Clark's "Who's Zoo" residency at the Whitney Biennial.

Why would non-dancers be part of a dance performance? Well, I never really got a firm answer to that, but I've been a fan of Clark's since I saw a documentary about his company—including the late Leigh Bowery—dancing to the Fall back in the '80s. So when I heard they were looking for volunteers I signed on immediately. The only requirement was that one had to be able to sit down on the floor and get up quickly. I might not be able to entrachet, but I sure can stand up.

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"Getting ready to tear this bitch down!!! Funk Flex!!! Mean!!! Webster hall!!!"

Those familiar with Funkmaster Flex, Hot 97's nighttime DJ and the one man Jay-Z and Kanye West trusted to break Watch the Throne lead single "Otis," know that on top his love for boom bap and muscle cars, Flex is something of a tech dork, fiending for the newest tablets and phones, blogging at inflexwetrust.com, and bragging on air about his Twitter followers and Facebook friends. Two months ago, however, he added another social network, joining Instagram (the self-described "fun & quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures") and amassing nearly 20,000 followers who are greeted throughout the day with photos of everything from Flex's kids to his computer screen.

To outsiders, this mass of images might seem daunting, but upon closer inspection, it turns out to be as good an introduction to the life of our Best Radio DJ in New York as his 60 Minutes of Funk mixtape series was to Tunnel-era rap. For this reason, we're jumping off Flex's most recent post, a low angle shot of his dentist preparing to clean his teeth, with the caption "Dr. Feldman getting in crazy!!! Dentist time !!!!!," and bringing you this brief beginner's guide to an Instagram account that's as singular as its owner.

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Yetis, torchings, references to the online rumor mill—yes, the Spike Jonze-directed clip for the Beastie Boys' Santigold-assisted "Don't Play No Games That I Can't Win" has it all and then some. In the clip, the group and Santi are transformed into puppets and then hunted down by an evil squad that is so infuriated by the Beasties' existence, they actually sport anti-Beasties uniforms; through it all, the group is very exceedingly polite to those people—and, uh, mythical Himalayan creatures—who help them get out of jams. (You can never have too much etiquette these days, I suppose.) Clip below—just make sure you carve 11 minutes out of your day to actually watch the whole thing, since there are a couple of blink-and-you'll-miss-'em one-liners that are quite giggle-worthy.

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His band may be called the Foo Fighters, but Dave Grohl wants the world to know that said nomenclature does not serve as carte blanche for people to get their conflict on during his concerts. During the Foos' Monday night show in London, he stopped mid-song to eject someone who was causing a ruckus in the crowd: "You don't come to my show and fight, you come to my show and fucking dance, you asshole!" he shouted as the guy was shamed/escorted out. I think that'd be a pretty good t-shirt slogan! Also, how lousy do you have to feel after being kicked out of a free show by virtue of nothing more than your ragey ways? Here's hoping the guy went home and looked up the origins of the Foos' name to alleviate his confusion over the night's purpose. [Via]

In the days before MP3 blogs blanketed the land, there was Epitonic, which offered users the opportunity to download select free MP3s from mostly indie labels and could easily be rifled through for hours on end (especially since it launched in the tail-end of the dialup era). The site went dormant in 2004, but after a successful Kickstarter campaign raised enough money to bring it back from the dead, it soft-relaunched last month. Today it returned in slightly more roaring fashion, complete with a couple of exclusive-to-Epitonic tracks and a few playlist-type features. The site's virtual shelves are now stocked with currently buzzy acts like The Weeknd and the Joy Formidable, but there are quite a few gems in the archives. Eight very biased suggestions, after the jump.

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The scene last night. Pic by Santiago Felipe

A brief public service announcement: Canadian post-rock juggernaut Godspeed You Black Emperor is here all week, with five sold-out shows that began Monday at Terminal 5, will end Thursday and Friday at the Church of St. John the Apostle, and in between are descending upon what might well be the best venue in New York; their show last night at Brooklyn Masonic Temple was a thing of very, very intense beauty, and tonight's encore will be more of the same. And while all these gigs have been sold out forever, a small clutch of tickets for tonight have just been put on sale. You ain't gonna get much more catharsis for $25. So enjoy yourself, and prepare yourself: Here they are at T5, trying to blow the house down.

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If Todd gets his way you may not miss the old place much

Totally did not expect to see über-promoter Todd Patrick beaming from the virtual pages of both Grub Street, but there he is and the Voice's own Fork in the Road, eagerly discussing the new restaurant/club he's looking to open at Avenue A and Third Street in the East Village, at the spot most recently home to Aces & Eights, a beer-pong-hosting house of evidently ill repute. Working with Two Boots mastermind Phil Hartman, Todd P's vision is twofold: tamales and free jazz, roughly speaking.

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And here's what it'll look like

The September shuttering of deified NYC record store Fat Beats was a somber occasion for hip-hop fantatics nationwide, the definitive marking of the end of an underground-rap era, a sad sign of the times that surprised no one and depressed everyone. (The tiny West Village spot's going-away party was pretty great, though, if you managed to get in.) Fatbeats.com lives on, though, and now comes word that every so often they'll invite everyone to Brooklyn for a little party at their warehouse.

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