YO, THE Party is over. Since we last spoke, 92.7 The Party has bit the dust. Rumors about the new format raged for a few days, especially since Power 92.7, its replacement, played only 2Pac for its first day on the air. I've been trying to decide if that was retarded or a good marketing scheme, and I still haven't made up my mind.

I'm down for hip-hop, but we don't really need another commercial station here. On the bright side, it does mean I can hear the Ying-Yang Twins whenever I want. I really like the Ying-Yang Twins. It's like they looked at how stupid rap can be and thought, "Shit, we're going to just totally take this over the top." The best part is that they don't ever ask anyone to take them seriously, whether they're rapping about being Toys 'R' Us kids or calling that bitch Bojangles. Two weeks ago I saw a BET show on them where they were stoned and driving their hoopty and got pulled over by the cops (who subsequently let them go because they were "on TV"). They then proceeded to drink copious amounts of what seemed to be cough syrup and to fall asleep during their press photo shoot. It ruled.

And speaking of rap, everyone go pick up the new E-A-Ski album. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, just go buy the damn thing. It's sick. No, it's hella sick. You know what else is sick as fuck? The new San Quinn album, I Give You My Word. It's even more hecka tight than San Quinn's dad hitting on my friend Rab. Yes, that's right. San Quinn's dad works coat check at the Independent on Divisadero, and if you play your cards right and flirt with him, he'll call you "baby girl" and give you a free promotional poster.

Goth talk

While one side of my musical persona is getting thug, the other side is becoming more sensitive than Conor Oberst having man PMS. That's because, in the last month, a slew of male singer-songwriter albums have landed on my desk, the majority of them electronic. Techno is trying to out-emo the indie rock set, and frankly, it's doing a pretty good job.

Erstwhile folkster Erlend Øye (of Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience) trotted out his DJ Kicks compilation earlier this month, featuring him singing Banarama's "Venus" and the Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" over tracks by Röyksopp and Cornelius. That thawed the electro ice a little, only to be followed by two rather disturbing albums. Patrick Wolf's Lycanthropy came out this month on Tomlab, a German imprint that's home to Xiu Xiu, the Books, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Wolf's a man, despite his name and that of his album, who sings about pedophilia, among other things, and boasts some alluringly dark sampler pips and squeaks as his backdrop.

There's a new record by Gravenhurst coming out on Warp in June that's gothic to the maximum – kind of the Cure meets IDM meets Nick Drake. Get the razors out.

Straddling the line somewhere in between Øye's sweet-foreign-exchange-student-ness and the new suicide jams are the Junior Boys and Colder. The former have a new album out, Last Exit, on Kin Records that pairs some New Order lyrical sensibilities with pared-down electro, while the latter, on tastemaker label Output, is a fashionable little slice of post-teen angst from Parisian Marc Nguyen.

You can expect to hear a lot more of this stuff in the months ahead, although summer is a weird time for a goth revival. However, should your black lace not be moth-eaten and your spirit not buoyant due to our new weather (oh sun, how I missed you!), Nako from Popscene has a new goth/not-goth monthly called Shutter (first Tuesdays) at 330 Ritch. Parasol-wielding Davy from AFI played at the last one, and it's probably one of the few places in town where you'll hear PJ Harvey, Sisters of Mercy, and My Bloody Valentine on a dance floor. See you in the shadows.

Erlend Øye plays, with Broker/Dealer, Sat/8, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., RX Gallery, 132 Eddy, S.F. $10. (415) 474-7973.

Patrick Wolf plays June 14, 9 p.m., Hotel Utah Saloon, 500 Fourth St., S.F. $7. (415) 421-8308.

Zen Records Night, presented by Urban Montage, features house with the Zen City Records crew and drum 'n' bass with Mal and Sharp, Wednesdays, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., Cloud 9, 34 Seventh St., S.F., $5. (415) 355-9991.

Shutter, with Nako and friends, June 1, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., 330 Ritch, S.F. $5. (415) 541-9574.