New York’s dance music scene has been evolving since the 1970s. Many events started as a way to give marginalized communities, mainly queer people of color, a space to safely be themselves and feel free on the dancefloor. From the underground to the mainstream, the scene has grown and the city has seen everything from Paradise Garage to Studio 54, the Mudd Club to Limelight, Cielo to Santos Party House, and most recently, the shifting club scene from Manhattan to Brooklyn.
For the past six years, Love Injection has been celebrating the constantly shifting cultures of dance music in NYC. The fanzine pays homage to the people who helped build the community, with cover stories on legends like Frankie Knuckles, François K, Danny Krivit, DJ Harvey, Dope Jams, and Justin Strauss, as well as new heroes like Octo Octa, Analog Soul, The Lot Radio and Papi Juice.
Love Injection has quickly become an essential monthly read for anyone interested in music and dancefloor cultures. Each edition features in-depth interviews with DJs, musicians, artists, and promoters,profiles on record labels, record stores, and nightclubs, and record reviews and DJ charts.
Co-founded by DJs Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele, the passion project has also grown into a radio show and record label. Bertisch and Raffaele host the Love Injection show on The Lot Radio every Saturday at 10am EST. Love Injection Records was born in 2020 with three releases so far, all three sharing the music of NYC artist Conclave.
The pair's devotion to NYC dance music can also be witnessed in real life at their events at Brooklyn’s Magick City. The Universal Love parties saw Bertisch and Raffaele curate every detail from sound and decoration to record selection. Eight events were held since 2018, giving their readership an opportunity to come together and celebrate the city they read about in the zine.
While Bertisch and Raffaele anxiously await the safe reopening of nightlife in NYC, they have selected 10 songs for the Greylist series.
1. “Perdón (Original Mix)," Conclave
2. “Jacaranda," Luiz Bonfà
3. “Let Me Go," SAULT
4. “Misery Train," Suicide
5. “Return to Forever," Airto
6. “Reasons," Minnie Riperton
7. “Plant Up," Prince Far I
8. “Alger la blanche," Nicolas Godin
9. “Haki," Mim Suleiman
10. “At Last I Am Free," Monade
You can hear the latest Love Injection Records release, “Perdón” by Conclave, on Bandcamp. You can explore the past editions of Love Injection fanzine and radio here.
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