DREAMONS : SCORPIO
Music by : Joe Claussell & Paul Nickerson Date : October 24th 2026. Location : Cosmic Artts. 56 Bogart St. Broooklyn, NY
What about our stars has kept us enchanted for thousands of years? These lights, a glowing, moving lattice work which hovers and comforts through the darkness, have been studied and interpreted by all of Earth's cultures; they are our signposts of change, for the passage of time but also our faithful guide. They’re an eternal constant, shared by and uniting us all in their charted motion, containers of our collective dreams yet proof of our limitations in their beckoning, distant wink. Enemies and redeemers, worlds unto their own, unknowable however prevalent. They remind us of our divine, faultless placement within all that exists.
Our contemporary planet is a mysterious and lamented one—at odds with its past, with the sacredness of its inhabitants, unsure of the direction of its next steps. Did Kepler expunge the wonder from our world forever when he rationalized our cosmos? Did the Age of Enlightenment simply shift our fervor from the pasts’ modes of understanding to a new realm of facts and unarguable truth through inference and observation? Astrology, Zoroastrian cosmology, divination, magic… all taken from us, replaced by knowledge and science with capital K’s and S’s. Where, how, does the past meet the present?
Starting Saturday. October 24th, Joe Claussell and Paul Nickerson unite Cosmic Arts and Dope Jams yet again for an answer to our current cultural malaise and existential stagnation: DREAMONS. A new series inspired by their past PASSAGES collaboration, this event will focus on what can’t be expressed through traditional dance music. Gatherings will fall on the Saturdays of each month aligned with the changing signs of the zodiac—12 in all. Listeners will be asked to surrender to the changing tides of universal energy by bringing pillows, blankets, yoga mats, caidal tents or any other unwinding aid to soothe themselves into a state of calm to accompany the voyage over the course of 2 distinct 1.5 hour sets. Join us, the devout and the secular, amongst the light-pollution concealed New York City stars, for a night of sound and vibration to replenish the body and spirit.
A strangely enticing community of outcasts, rogue adventurers and veteran music obsessors make their home in this bizarre yet beautiful amalgamation.
From the majestic foothills of the Catskill Mountains to the polluted canals of Brooklyn, Dope Jams Kaatskills is the roving record emporium turned communal event born out of the ashes of the storied Dope Jams shop in Bed-Stuy. From monthly gatherings at Public Records to the annual summer camp in Oak Hill, the mission is simply to BE FREE!
“Dope Jams know how to throw a sweaty, no-frills, no-bullshit fun-as-fuck dance party. I wound up at one late last year already at a full lather, the room dark save for washes of flickering lights. A half-dozen friends and I entered and immediately started to move, immersed in the deepest waters of deep house. For hours, the dj’s whiplashed their heads from the vantage of the store’s in-house DJ booth, gauging the crowd and grinning maniacally as they levitated the party at will. And we had to keep moving, well into the witching hours of the night.
By day, the magick items the shop stocked seem downright cheesy: Nag Champa incense that infused your clothes, skulls that held candles, Crowley books. But at this hour, these items become decidedly more sinister, this dance now turning into a ritual. It’s a heavy realization to have. And right around 3 am, right when our energies began to lag and the door out onto the street beckoned, they built up the room’s intensity to a pitch before breaking into an old-school hip-hop set with The Jungle Brothers and De La Soul. It was refreshing after so much mysterious, amazing music. But they then went straight to the pleasure zones: “Crazy in Love,” “Promiscuous,” “Rump Shaker,” “Jingling Baby.” It was a glorious payoff, a serotonin rush to beleaguered dancers, and one of the finest nights out in the city.”
Andy Beta, MTV
FOREST FINDS by Paul Nickerson for Love Injection
A new monthly column from Dope Jams' Paul Nickerson. Tune in as he reports on the goods from the woods direct from his Wonka-esque parkland 'Locust Grove' in the Catskill Mountains - home to a nightclub, THE CREAMERY; a record shop, DOPE JAMS; a campground, CAMP GALLAGHER; and his 40,000 plus record collection.
From the confines of the temperature controlled West Oak Hill headquarters we have been adding a large selection of used 12”s and LP’s to our Discogs shop. Classic Rock to Classic House!
“Few storekeepers have been as passionate about the music that they sell — or about New York house of the 1990s in general — as the cantankerous team that presided over Dope Jams. With an unparalleled selection both new and classic and an off-the-beaten path location, the store became a cult destination for serious house and techno collectors, who wore a hazing from its holier-than-thou employees as a badge of pride. Whether you loved them or hated them, there was no one like Dope Jams.”
“Dope Jams isn’t merely a clubhouse for dance music pranksters; it’s the embodiment of a critique, though one that falls outside the realm of the strictly intellectual. It’s the last reserve of dopeness in a world they see as increasingly bereft of it….but they must know their model isn’t for everyone, that, like the ultra-orthodox Jews living a few blocks up from the shop, they ultimately have to coexist with an outside world operating under very different rules, for better or worse.”
“It was only when we started perusing the wall-mounted racks of new releases that we realized we were dealing with something we’d never encountered before: a store unafraid to speak the truth. Not objective, inarguable truth; but its own truth, righteous and largely convincing.”
“ In a world of too-safe critics and techno-back-patting, they’re unafraid to speak their minds but at heart are just a couple of characters with an outspoken true love for music.”
Nearly a decade in the making, Catalyst marks Julion De'Angelo's long-awaited debut album, a bold statement of artistic vision and musical dedication. Across eight tracks, the album pairs driving rhythms with rich melodies, showcasing Julion's distinct approach to dance music. From the Beatdown house momentum of "The Tundra" and "Antheme" to the expansive jazz textures of "Karma" "Confused Ones," & a new mix of "Consciousness" (featuring Detroit keys virtuoso Ian Fink), each composition unfolds with intention, creating an immersive listening experience that feels both physical and deeply personal. Julion De'Angelo has crafted a polyrhythmic masterclass that celebrates life. Honoring Detroit's legacy while refusing to be confined by it, Catalyst embraces tradition as a foundation for innovation—bridging soulful experimentation, organic composition and contemporary dance music into a sound that is distinctly Julion's own.