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FRIDAY
Sure, after all these years as a demigod of the DJ scene, Sasha can still turn out an effective remix (of the Chemical Brothers or Madonna, for example), and he can still give that adrenaline rush to fawning clubsters when he goes for beat-broke. But his debut solo disc, Airdrawndagger, couldn’t fall any flatter: It lacks tuneful ideas, numbingly noodling its way from one Pro Tools-enabled sequence to the next. And with beats largely absent, an all-too-winsome homage to Jean Michel Jarre has you quickly searching your shelf for alternatives. Sasha further baffles in the seemingly endless interview streaming from his Web site. The self-absorbed DJ uses words such as “lush” and “warm” (“Dremples”), “heart-wrenching” (“Magnetic North”), and “dark” (“Immortal”) to describe his tracks. It turns out that “dark” was his mood after suffering a perforated eardrum in a car accident; so much for techno angst. But let’s forget all that, shall we? After all, a party is a party, and on a live playing field, Sasha’s programming will probably deliver some beats and vibes and stuff. Right? He spins at 12:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 16, at Nation, 1015 Half St. SE. $35. (202) 554-1500. (Mark Williams)