Not more of the Samo . . . For the past few months, the socially conscious scribble-scrabble of ’80s art sensation Jean-Michel Basquiat has packed in a similarly excessive crowd at the Museum of Contemporary Art— most notably at its Saturday Night Vision events. These weekly parties — which featured screenings of Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat biopic, hip-hop karaoke, and DJ sets from Grandmaster Flash,Kinky,DJ Nobody and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore — attracted the likes of Drew Barrymore and her Fab beau, Heather Graham, Billy Zane, Zack de la Rocha, Frankie Muniz and Beastie Boy Mike D. But Basquiat went bye-bye last weekend, and we joineddawdlers to get one last look at the Warhol cohort’s frantic, graffiti-inspired works (from early days as homeless tagger “Samo” to his later doped-out mega-pieces). Friday, Anthem mag’s bash unveiled Reebok’s latest bid to commodify street/hip-hop culture: limited-edition Basquiat kicks going for $140, in a sneaker-sexist selection of biggie men’s-only sizes. [Now that dead guys can do corporate sponsorships and everything, maybe Kurt Cobain could help Guitar Center “hip” up its image, too.—ed.] The following eve marked the final after-dark showing, with DJs Michael Stock and Benjamin Whitefrom the Echo’s hot new Sunday promotion Part Time Punks,who’re actually full time if ya ask us. Stock’s a filmmaker currently working on a BBC doc about Joy Division, and White’s an Amoeba Records vinyl expert and member of improv-rockers Go Go Airheart. Thrills and Pills While the Basquiat show kinda glossed over the obviously drug-induced nature of his work, MOCA more than acknowledges the relationship between art and mind-altering substances at its newest presentation, “Ecstasy: In and About Altered States” at the Geffen Contemporaryin Little Tokyo. After nodding out (in a good way) to BRMC’s moody set at the Fonda Saturday (along with Goo Goo Doll Johnny Reznick!?) we popped into the show’s members-only opening, where DJ Sandra Collins was outside spinning electro in seriously rave-y surroundings (trippy video screens, blow-up furniture for lounging, buckets of Good & Plenty, which not so coincidentally look like ’ludes). The whole thing took Nightranger back to the mid-’90s, when map points, rickety warehouses and nitrous balloons made for a good time at undergrounds like Under the Paw Paw Patch. The exhibits’ installations only enhanced the effect, with magic-mushroom imagery, flashing lights and rainbow confetti. Helpful hint: Don’t go to this one sober like we did! Whipping Boys In gloomier news, fans of the S&M-ish smackdown Club Dungeon at ADhave been gettin’ conflicting e-mails the past couple of weeks — some saying the club is closed and others saying it ain’t. Turns out promoters Michael Stewart and Bruce Perdew (a.k.a. The Evil Club Empire) have parted ways with DJ Courtney — and, judging from goth chat-room gossip, not too amicably. Courtney will continue the club for the moment; this dark duel is sure to heat up again come Halloween when ECE’s Perversion-style hellfest at Boardner’s goes head-to-head with Courtney’s Bondage Ball at Avalon— each hoping to scare up the biggest bunch o’ bondage babes. Boo!
