I told you about this back in September: Rogue Taxidermist To Unveil E.V.E. on Halloween. Friday, Halloween night, 7pm sharp. It’s free, and there will be beers littered throughout the animal parts!

The Guggenheim is finally free of all the crappy scaffolding and now you can see the Frank Lloyd Wright building in all its glory. Better yet, admission is free tomorrow. So if you are in the mood to get your art on, head on up to Museum Mile. Current shows include theanyspacewhatever, Catherine Opie, Rauschenberg Memorial, and Jenny Holzer’s light projections on the building–I think it’s only viewable at night.

Image c/o BlurA14
Hat tip Jaunted

To the woman playing hard-core iPod porn on the L train this morning, thank you for such an entertaining journey under the East River. Seriously folks, from approximately Lorimer St. to 3rd Avenue, this woman was playing some serious, butt-humping porn and yelling at her iPod, giving some twisted commentary that could be heard from both sides of the train. “Oh, here we go, here we go, THERE YOU GO, GET IT, GET IT, OHhhhhhh Damn, let’s get a close-up, zoom in, wake up New York check this shit out, close-up New York City!!!”.
Passenger reactions varied. The woman closest to this iPod looked like she was about to throw up. Next to her, a 17-year old kid pretended to read his book, but he was really just staring over the pages, watching some 9-incher pound its way through the L-train walls. Behind me, some dude egged the whole thing on, and it made it all the more hilarious. “Thank you for playing that right now”, he said with a laugh. She loved the encouragement, and at one point offered to act it out, even starting to straddle the dude next to her. And then, just like that, the scene ended. We hit 3rd avenue, and our friend announced, “That’s it! Show’s over New York!”, packed her iPod away, and things returned to their normal, sleepy bubble a few yards under Manhattan.
I wish I had taken a picture to share with y’all. But then again, I’m glad I didn’t. That poor, mid-level executive standing behind that glistening bare-ass would’ve seen herself later today in an e-mail from co-workers, and she would’ve cried. And now, now I can go get my coffee.

We haven’t seen anything this terrible/hilarious since the One Bank ballad hit the internets. A tribute to David Ogilvy:

At MTVMusic, you can watch like, literally every music video ever. Great job, MTV networks! I’m actually really proud of you for not holding on to this treasure trove of music history. At the site, you can watch and embed all the clips in really high quality, thereby guaranteeing an afternoon of wasted walks down memory lane. Check it:


Update: Lisa thinks i’m a sell-out. Thoughts?

img c/o joystiq
The video game company behind the hit franchise Street Fighter took over Bushwick’s Bodega Friday night to let fans sample it’s latest version. Gaming blog Joystiq was there, and posted a rundown of the event. Hilariously, the suits at Capcom were a bit uncomfortable with the location, saying the neighborhood wasn’t “safe” nor “clean”.
All they had to do was google “Is Bushwick Safe?“, and they would’ve gotten a simple, straight up answer from our neighborly blog, BushwickBK. Regardless of their corporate fear, the event looked pretty cool, as Bodega brought in a few XBox 360′s for people to play in the back. From Joystiq:

In spite of that ominous rule, we have no choice but to talk about Capcom’s incredibly well-orchestrated community event last Friday night. It’s rare to see a games company reach out to the fans with early access to its most anticipated games. It’s even rarer to see a games company conduct a PR event in a location like this: a converted bodega in the middle of Brooklyn.
We were told that some of the higher-ups at Capcom were uncomfortable with the location, and for good reason too. The neighborhood wasn’t “safe” nor “clean,” being one of the few neighborhoods in NYC that hasn’t been hit by rapidly spreading gentrification. Guys in suits would never come here. And that’s exactly what this event was about: reaching out to real fans (who, as you know, don’t wear suits).

Click on through for more pictures, or heck, I’ll just post ‘em here:

Jay Reatard
My ears are still ringing this afternoon (even though I was indeed wearing earplugs last night) because Jay Reatard, Vivian Girls, and Cola Freaks took FULL advantage of the hefty sound system at Santos Party House for their sets.
It was decidedly Mr. Reatard’s night, as he drew a much denser crowd than his openers. Denmark’s Cola Freaks had had a strong post-hardcore meets post-punk feel, with not a single audible word from their lead singer – who was full of hyperactivity and bulging neck veins. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his more stoic bandmates.
The über-hyped Vivian Girls were also on the lackluster end of the spectrum, albeit sweet.
“I’m so tired from playing so many shows,” admitted singer Cassie Ramone between songs. But as her redheaded bassist Frankie Rose quipped, “At least this show isn’t CMJ!”
Jay, with his curly mop of hair, 2-minute long song catalogue, and his Flying V guitar upped the ante for sure. He drilled through tons of great material including “It’s So Easy,” “See/Saw,” and “My Shadow,” and rarely paused between songs as he whipped his head every 3-4 seconds. In his guitarwork, vocals, and stage presence he demonstrated the togetherness and tenacity that has accumulated lots of fans in the past year or two.
It was hard to get our asses off the couch after the lllooooonnnngggg week that was CMJ, but everyone that headed to Santos on Sunday night found it worth it – I just hope my eardrums stop pounding by Tuesday morning or so.


Jay Reatard


Vivian Girls


Cola Freaks

Photos c/o Mark Iantosca

img via flavorwire
Orient Ave. is quickly becoming one of our favorite streets in the ‘burg, as it features steak-knife stabbings, squatters, and Williamsburg’s own Michel Gondry (who, it turns out, is no longer missing). The latter, Mr. Gondry, is apparently busy shooting some kind of top secret project outside his house today, which he kinda-sorta told a passerby is a music video. Flavorwire reports:

Last night I passed by two guarded, trash bag-covered cameras in front of his house that had been set up earlier that day. When I asked the guys watching the equipment if Gondry was involved, they smiled but would not confirm it. When I then asked if Michel Gondry was paying them well to stay up all night, they said yes.

She returned this morning to check back in and see what the deal is. “I returned at 7 a.m. this morning and spotted Gondry busy sweding with a group of lackeys. One of them joked that they were working on a student film; Gondry told me that he was shooting a music video but would not reveal the artist.”
I’m betting its someone awesome, as Wikipedia lists Gondry as a director on videos for pretty much all of the world’s biggest artists – from Beck to Kanye to the White Stripes, and everyone in between.
He’ll be at Strand bookstore tonight promoting his latest book, You’ll Like This Film Because You’re In It, tonight, so hopefully someone will get the skinny and send it in.

c/o Clarissa Roudabush
I spent the final two nights of CMJ in Brooklyn, and I’m feeling Negative Nancy-ish about the entire thing. As with any massive marathon like this, you can expect to sift through lots of shit to find the gold, but this week that felt particularly true.
Obvi there were sweet acts like An Albatross, Designer Drugs, The Teenagers, Cheeseburger, TK Webb & the Visions, and Pattern is Movement that played locally in our fair neighborhood Friday/Saturday, but I feel like we already know and love them. Isn’t CMJ supposed to be about seeing new talent, and growing a big ole’ semi over unheard-of bands, and getting all riled up about the next year or so and who is going to blow up? Was CMJ even fun? Am I the only person who found this week to be a heinous adventure into the depths of bad music and annoying people sporting colorful badges?
Although I did collect a handful of new favorites from CMJ, which made my suffering worth it:
-Starfucker
-The Physics of Meaning
-Bell
-Wild Sweet Orange
-Stars Like Fleas
And bands that I’ve already fallen in love with – like Monotonix, Au, Hot Lava, and The Ruby Suns – worked their usual magic yet again in NYC. But dang, I’m so happy it’s OVER!
(I’d really love to hear some suggestions from you guys if you got to see any great bands during the marathon that other people should know about – post ‘em below!)

c/o Maniac World