Halcyon is probably in a class all by itself. It is a coffee shop/antique
store/artsy hipster without the pretentiousness hang-out/record store (and
they have AMAZING house records and cds, by the way) /eatery, wine, imported
beer/DJ station
It looks like something hip you might come across in Soho, but without the
bullshit and pretentious posing since it is in Brooklyn and is run by some
of the nicest people you could meet. The DJ line-ups are what really HAVE
ME, however. I will come from one end of the city down to Halcyon just to
hear the DJs there because you get EVERYBODY from DJ Rekha from Basement
Bhangra and Mutiny in the mix (playing tracks from Talvin Singh and Nitin
Sawhney, just to name a few) to Alexi Delano who is a tech-house God and
very well-respected in the music world, to bedroom DJs who can really turn
it out to a World Music night, A Tech-House night, a Gay themed night,
plenty of deep house, etc. And the music is always of the highest quality
and the sound system is better than in some of the NYC dance clubs.
It isn't a dance space (except for the ASE parties with Danny Krivit where
they clear the furnature out) so it isn't a house party per se, but I call
up a few times a week just to find out who is spinning and there is usually
some guest or other that I have been dying to check out. (Alexi Delano and
Casey Hogan from Sonic Groove come back again next Wednesday night for THC)
I could go and see Alexi spin in Centro-Fly or at his residency at the Jet
Lounge, but both are pretentious spaces and I would prefer the intimacy of
being up close and personal to the music and the DJ in a warm and charming
atmosphere with a nice collection of people lounging out on the couches with
coffee or checking out records on the turntables in the back any day over
those other venues.
There is one underground house party here in NYC that is worth mentioning as
a perfect example of a REAL house party that is still underground with a
great community of people and atmosphere and that is a party called Hamsa at
Bar 169. The deepest of music and a beautiful househead and industry crowd
who come out to DANCE, this party has become one of my favorites on the
scene. They do not advertize, only have flyers at the party and it is still
jam packed with people because of the respect they have gotten word of
mouth. The same "real house party" label could be put on a party like Destiny in
Brooklyn.
And of course, there are nights at Body and SOUL that do not compare to
anywhere else when the vibe is on, the music is as deep and fierce as it
gets and it seems as if you are among a family that happens to soak in dance
and joy and the celebration that is house music.
