Don’t Hate Them For Pangea – Evil Nine Lives! (Updated)

I’m not the promoter, and am not really in the market of judging another promoters decisions (OK, so I still do it sometimes), but there has already been a little chatter about the decision to put one of the hottest electronica production crews out of the UK on the non-existent stage of swankster nightclub Pangea. !!But!! Before you let the venue selection influence a knee-jerk decision to not go to the show, think about it. Evil Nine indeed lives, and will be living for one night in our little Austin music mecca. So hang up the venue preference and catch Pat and Tom in the flesh. Tickets are $10 only $5. And, if you want to step up your swagger, shell out $15 for a reserved table in the VIP section.

When Evil Nine dropped “We Have the Energy” on their 2004 album, You Can Be Special Too, I fell in love with their work. The song push through like a massive uprising in your soul. I made you want to get up, move, and all get together and wreck shizt. Their sound was so huge and their statement was so powerful, I had no qualms about committing to love this band. Then, as soon as their beautiful and majestic mastery of electronica entered my world, my hope for new material quickly faded.

During the early days of MySpace, they were one of the first production teams that I followed. I remember bulletins/posts that would reveal the competition between making their own noise vs. dealing with the noise of their neighbors. There was a small incident during MySpace’s Snocap store launch that nestled the gangsta stylings of a young hip-hop artist by the name of “evil” in the center of their page. And, of course, there were the random progress updates riddled with F-bombs that made me remember why I liked them (and why I actually kept logging into MySpace). These guys weren’t just good… they were real. No pretension… just two friends making damn fine music.

Most of the tracks from their 2004 release, as well as a few singles they put out here and there, are still found in my playlist rotations. Much to my surprise, in 2008, Evil Nine dropped the appropriately titled album, “They Live!” Thankfully, the band detached from the MySpace game and launched a full website and blog… even adopting a bit of twitter action to keep fans hanging on to their latest bouts of mischief. Not only did they rise from the grave, but they have come out swinging. I could’t not be happier to see Pat and Tom giving it another go, and kicking ass in the process.

So, enough of the chit-chat. The band has put up their latest remix of the Eagles of Death Metal’s track Wannabe in L.A. for download. If your not familiar with their work, you have a week to get acquainted. Not in the mood to download? Well, have a listen:

Evil Nine will be performing on February 6, 2008 at Pangea. Presale tickets are available through GrooveTickets for $5 ($15 for VIP). Pangea is located at 409 Colorado St. in downtown Austin.  The show is being produced by Disco Productions and Night Culture World. Black Tie Beats and DJ Red open up the night.

Video: Evil Nine featuring EL-P. “All the Cash”