PREVIEW Here’s how the grumpy jockey wonkette in me kinda wishes the Fool’s Gold vs. Dim Mak record label showdown goes down. In this corner: Montreal vinyl cut-up whiz and Fool’s Gold cofounder A-Trak, winner of the 1997 DMC World DJ Championship at 15 and prime mover of the ’90s turntablism movement. In that corner: Dim Mak owner Steve Aoki, a self-proclaimed "kid millionaire party king" who barely touches vinyl, inspires an entire Internet hatrix due to his immense popularity on the neon indie/cheap sunglasses scene, and often raises the question, if a DJ can’t mix for shit but the party still goes off, does it matter?
Ding! We have a winner. Sorry, Aoki, but Monsieur A-Trak’s all up in your laptop ass like the A in Canada. Everybody switch back to vinyl.
But I gotta be fair. After years of relentless touring, Aoki’s gone easier on the Human League sing-alongs and Michael Jackson breakdowns and has pepped up his sets with some much-needed prickly subversion. Meanwhile, A-Trak has been warming up crowds for Kanye West by backspinning Justin Timberlake. Now is it an even playing field? We’ll see on Saturday, when both take the stage with wacky Sammy Bananas, Alameda’s Trackademicks, and electro-hopper Sinden.
A-TRAK AND STEVE AOKI With Sammy Bananas, Trackademicks, and Sinden. Sat/19, 10 p.m.–4 a.m., $15–$20. 103 Harriet, SF. www.blasthaus.com