Artistic Love Affair

There's certainly an art to throwing a good party, so leave it to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to organize another gala of undeniable magnitude. The seventh annual Artists Ball fund-raiser is augmented this year by an import of bicoastal radiance. New York's Hercules and Love Affair (producer Andrew Butler plus vocalists including Antony Hegarty) punctuates the elliptical tradition of garage disco edits with the trill and thrill of Chicago house's raw regimentation, supple camp strings, and electro's spare yet muscular loops, plus additional springy arrangements. Also appearing are socially conscious liquid lyricist Mos Def and the cascading dream-pop of Rogue Wave at a soirée designed by Stanlee Gatti.