from Yuck on Vimeo.

This song and video play out like an introduction to Theophilus London. But if you’ve been in the game, he has been putting out solid mixtapes, singles and EPs for the past few years. It is great to see he is finally getting some recognition from a major media sources (Whattup, MTV!). This song is banging and a great tease for Timez Are Weird These Days coming out next month.

Let’s go play basketball!

I like The Strand and Tompkins Square Park as much as anybody, and I think that Cults have put out a fun summer record with their self titled debut. But as far as the places they talk about in this Spin “Underground Guide” are not necessarily off the beaten path. It feels kind of like Michael Cera in that movie where he goes to all the cool indie places in New York (including Electric Ladyland!) – these places are undoubtedly cool, but it’s been a while since we’ve been really excited about them.

Watch this video of  Dom cover arguably the best (Prince) song ever, “Little Red Corvette”.  We saw them perform it at Brooklyn Bowl Friday and while this video is not from that specific performance its still pretty great.

Quilty

Everyone doing ok from the weekend?  A little hungover? A little sunburnt?  Yeah, us too.  Here is a list of our favorites from the festival.  Some you might know and some you might not but hopefully you will a find a place in your heart to let them all in a little… or a lot.

Quilty

Grunge heavy hitters, Quilty, have been playing their way through Brooklyn for a while now and its about time you take notice.  With a sound that plays like Best Coast meets Nirvana (with a dash of Fugazi for good measure) how could you go wrong?  Front woman Sarah Dupuis’ guitar shreds and sweetly sinister vocals hold her in the same esteem as the 90′s alt punk queens of yesteryear and it cannot not go unmentioned that this three piece foregoes use of a bass guitar and instead rocks out with a distorted trombone.  They play this upcoming Tuesday the 21st at the Make Music NY festival.

Wise Blood

This was certainly the most entertaining act that we saw at Northside.  A couple of months ago the Fader posited that Wise Blood might be the most improved live act of the year (when they first started playing it was a complete shit show, as in they couldn’t finish a show) so there was a lot to look out for.  Its still a shit show but at least they sound great–Pittsburgh bred singer/ producer Chris Laufman has an almost rock/ rap quality to him backed by impeccable beats and samples that pack a hell of a lot of soul.  Also, he is quite the character,writhing around on stage, throwing trash cans (or anything he could find really) and declaring in between songs that “he will no longer be gay” and will “stop making out with skinheads.”  According to their facebook they will be taking a break to record but see them again live July 21st at Bowery Ballroom with Theophilus London…trust us, you won’t want to miss it.

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One of the highlights of The Northside Festival, Eleanor Friedberger played a great set at Europa on Saturday night. Bradford Cox was up front enjoying the show. Ted Leo was the surprise opener. (No sign of Courtney Love who was spotted roaming the ‘burg Saturday afternoon.) We’re all looking forward to Friedberger’s solo record out on Merge July 12.

c/o Pitchfork

Airing this Sunday at 9/8c on USA, Smith will play the role of Columbia University mythology professor Cleo Alexander. In the episode, based off the now notorious series of injuries from Broadway’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” Detective Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) calls upon Alexander to explain the meaning of the Icarus myth.

Making her on-screen acting debut, Smith told TV Guide, “I knew that it wasn’t going to be simple, but it was a little more daunting than I expected.”

She also said that D’Onofrio, who brought her on the show, helped her prepare for the role. “He’s been taught by the greatest, and he taught me, so I feel like if I had to do it again, I’d be really good,” she says. “He’s such a great actor, such a great director and becoming such a good friend.”

To see an exclusive clip of Smith’s performance head over to TVGuide.com.

In the meantime, we have a different performance by Smith for you to enjoy.

c/o Block Magazine

Williamsburg’s demographics may be changing, according to David Maundrell, President of Aptsandlofts.com.

As reported on The Real Deal Magazine’s twitter feed: “As families and retirees move into Williamsburg off the Bedford L stop, hipsters are moving east along the L,” Maundrell said yesterday at the Green Pearl Brooklyn Real Estate Summit.

Can Williamsburg survive these population changes and maintain its edge, or will its indie cred be lost to pension checks and baby strollers?

Leave it to BuzzFeed to be brutally honest (and dead on) on their “Hipster Subway Map.”  Sad but oh so true that it consists of only 4 transit lines: the L, F , JMZ and R trains.   We like the detail at the end of the L that says “You passed out again”… I mean we’ve all been there right?

larger version of the map here

image c/o The New York Times

Recapping some of your weekend commuting options:

The L sucks.

The G sucks.

And now the East River Ferry may or may not suck.

Today, the NY Waterway issued a special advisory, stating:

[T]he large number of travelers we are carrying has resulted in many boats reaching their Coast Guard mandated capacity and the loading and unloading of large crowds has at times caused delays in scheduled departures. We expect this to last throughout the free trial period which ends on June 24.  If you plan on using the East River Ferry during the free period, especially during the weekend of June 18th and 19th, you should anticipate long boarding delays.

Oh well. Chillax – it’s the weekend!.  Enjoy the view during that long platform/pier wait, or simply explore those other alternative modes of transportation.