2025: shows of the year

December 17, 2025 · by · in

It gets harder and harder each year to convince people that I don’t just live at Nowadays … but I sort of really do, erk. Two notes in general for the year: there were a higher than usual number of beatmatching errors, from DJs that usually don’t make them, which seemed odd. Also, everyone was makin’ out — if people are decrying that the kids are not having sex, please send them to Cooper Ave, my goodness.

Donato Dozzy @ Nowadays Nonstop

My notes here say, correctly, that “Dozzy did not play one bad record”, which I think is true. An effortless step through contemporary techno, with lots of the minimal revival, but likewise lots of dub and psych influences, with a bit of heavier stuff at the end. Comprehensive and excellent — and a delight to see some pals there!

Ben UFO @ Nowadays Nonstop

Yes yes, again. This was the weekend of Wire Festival and I think some K Bridge parties as well, so the best DJ of his generation was not that busy, and maybe a bit deeper and more Detroit, just a bit? But he also dropped “Fena” and shook the room, so maybe it’s just same old Ben as always.

Nidia x DJ Nigga Fox @ Nowadays Nonstop

I could not stay awake for all of this one, as I was coming from a friend’s wedding, but Container was great and loud, Deli Girls apparently had a drum kit set up, somewhere, but our friends from Portugal were amazing — weirdo house beats, some maddening half-time 6/8 things, and spike-heavy loops.

Theo Parrish All Night @ Nowadays

I went to one of these earlier in the year, which was great (and just amazingly busy early), but this one stole it. I think a lot the “loop” that genre-bending DJs go through — house, disco, detroit techno, house, repeat — this time Theo played almost no house music, subbed in jazz and Nina Simone for disco, and despite the room being there, played an empty-room-esq listening party for an hour.

CCL All Night @ Nowadays

If I didn’t think it underrated their achievements, I’d nominate CCL as the new Kwisatz Haderach — this set had multiple start-the-next-record-on-2 to shift basslines over, CCL played what sounded like two 1970s britisih blues revival records back to back, etc etc — and I got to hear “Torn In Two” (see tracks) on the Nowadays sound system, a dream!

Powder @ Nowadays Nonstop

No, you just go to Nowadays to dance for 6 hours in the morning — but why not? This set was great and housey and 90s … and then Powder slid in a last half-hour of slinky, weird dark ambient, sleaze-forward dubby techno, and left us all in a daze.

Giles Peterson, Kieren Hebden, Emma-Jean Thackray, Marshall Allan, etc – Jazz Dance @ Xanadu

Peterson has been saying “Jazz Dance at Dingwalls” for something like forty years now — to his credit, I stress, especially when he can bring lineups like this to a roller disco in Bushwick. The whole thing was a wonder, including Marshall Allan at 100, EJT both playing and DJing, and a bunch of nerds watching Four Tet play jazz freakout records … but those of us who knew were cutting it up on the dancefloor.

Honors, we love you all:

  • Antal playing boogie and city pop and latin disco at Nowadays, a lovely time.
  • The terrifying but compelling ambient room at Wire Festival — great sounds, very hard to get in or out of.
  • Donis and Aquite at Mr. Sunday, killer dancers and a Chaka Khan sing-a-long, amazing.
  • Akanbi at Nonstop with his own dude on talking drum.
  • DJ Clent at Nowadays, endless post-footwork power.
  • Jessy Lanza at Public Records, playing more post-step than Pearson Sound, who she was opening for.
  • Vladimir Ivkovic / Lena Wilikens at Nowadays, for those who know / want all their records played on 33.
  • And a very special thanks to Duane Harriot for playing Toto’s “Africa” at Mr. Sunday, what a jam, what a jam.