If you're not heading out to New Jersey for All Points West, there's another free Pool Party again this Sunday. Here's the line-up:
Dan Deacon | Deerhunter | No Age
(also, a special round robin set including Ed Schrader, White Rainbow, Infinite Body)
More information at http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/h2oshows/.
Dan Deacon, "Crystal Cat"
Leonard Cohen recently announced that he's extending his 2009 world tour and will be returning this fall to play 15 more U.S. dates. He'll be in New York City at MSG on October 23rd, and tickets will go on sale August 10. Fans will tell you that seeing the acclaimed singer/songwriter/poet perform is an unforgettable experience - but it also takes a toll on your wallet (tickets usually cost about $100 or more a piece).
Fortunately, AEG Live and FREEwilliamsburg are giving away a pair of the highly coveted tickets to one of our lucky Twitter followers (if you aren't part of our crew yet, follow @freedubya here). Just send us a tweet or a RT with the hashtag #FreedubyaLC. We'll randomly select a winner a week from today, on August 7. Good luck!
Brooklyn kiddos collectively filmed, cut and produced a film about smaller Brooklyn kiddos:
In New York City's changing Lower East Side, a group of older Puerto Rican women are brought together with a group of inner city youths to create an original play from the stories of their lives. Over a twenty-week period, the participants confront stereotypes and examine their own histories, exploring themes of immigration, relationships, coming of age and growing older. Woven together, their stories take on new meaning, first as they are spoken across generations, and later when they are performed in a sold-out show.
I am impressed 12 filmmakers with 12 visions can come together to produce one film and am ready to have my heart melt all over the place by the finished product. Last showing during the Latino Film Festival is tomorrow and tickets are here.
Simian Mobile Disco, you make me wanna stop being producitve and have a dance party on my bed. As if the video and Chris Keating's (of Yeasayer fame) lyrics weren't enough to get you moving, there's always the reeeeeeeeemix. Yeah, that's right I'm Funk Master Flex-ing it.
The new album, Temporary Pleasure, drops on August 18th and you should be excited. With special contributions from The Gossip's magnetic Beth Ditto and Hot Chip's fellow dance master Alexis Taylor, there's a simple way to make your Pleasure a little more permanent-- just press repeat.
Download "Audacity of Huge" (Naum Gabo Remix) here (you're just a right click away) and get the fever.
Noisevox on Noisemakers, our newest platform to watch John Norris wax poetic on music, has been keeping us up with some of our current favorites on the scene. With the likes of Animal Collective, Dan Deacon, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, this week's sit down with Brooklyn based Here We Go Magic explores touring with Grizzly Bear, becoming an actual band, and what to expect on the next record.
Check out the South Street Seaport rendition of breakout hit "Fangela" after the jump. And catch up on past and future interviews on Noisevox here.
I'm just kinda speechless.
The Hoveys' loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has no windows, which means more wall space for deer heads.
Ah, this is just a lovely room of death, isn't it Ace?
Interesting side note. One of the sisters, Porter Hovey, is currently in what looks like first place for the Mad Men casting call contest. Go vote, we guess. Better a neighbor than that guy from Houston.
Photo by Michael Weschler c/o The New York Times
Time published "A Brief History of Hipsters" today, because we all need that, and captioned the above Getty photo of people tossing water balloons in McCarren with, "Hipsters participate in a water balloon toss as they try and beat the heat at Tom Stofka Garden park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City." Oops! What's that about?
In fact, Tom Stofka Garden is the beautiful memorial garden at the park's Driggs Avenue entrance, named for the deceased former Director of Brooklyn Forestry, Tom Stofka. He helped get the city's first tree census off the ground, among many other wonderful things.
Anyways, they talk about this whole problem everyone's having with moniez and how it affects everyone in W'burg...
The hip have been hit with a double whammy of economic reality — more are struggling to pay the rent as parental support dries up, and their carefully gentrified neighborhood is gradually being infiltrated by squatters inhabiting Williamsburg's stalled building projects. Hipsterdom's largest natural habitat, it seems, is under threat.
Update: They fixed it to read, "New York hipsters participate in a water-balloon toss at Tom Stofka Garden in McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn," which is STILL wrong. They aren't in the freakin' garden. Sheesh.
Update 2: TimeHipsterGate is over. Everybody go home. It now correctly reads, "New York hipsters participate in a water-balloon toss at McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn."
Following announcements that Caroline Fidenza's Saltie is opening down the block and Stephen Tanner will take over Black Betty across the street, Spuyten Duyvil and Fette Sau owner Joe Carroll has further bolstered his claim to the corner of Havemeyer and Metro, as if it were ever in doubt. He tells that he has been quietly preparing a haute snack food joint in the building adjacent to his legendary bar, 355 Metropolitan. (Not to be confused with the ongoing Knitting Factory transformation at 361.) Though the menu is far from finalized, as a loyal son of Bergen County, Carroll will assuage the needs of Garden State natives with Jersey diner-inspired fare such as hot dogs, homemade sausages, White Manna-style burgers, disco fries, and pork roll, AKA Taylor ham. Major construction has yet to begin, so expect a mid-fall opening, at which point one of the only remaining reasons to jump on NJ Transit or a PATH train will to bribe an underpaid, unqualified elected official. (Too soon?)
It's pouring out, so it's fitting that this wonderful video of Woods' "Rain On" performance at the Whitney just hit my radar. It was performed there as part of the Dan Graham: Beyond live music series. After the jump, enjoy No Name a new song they played called "Blood Dries Darker," shot by the same filmmaker.
Filmed in one continuous shot on July 24, 2009 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. All visual effects were done in the camera, as I was shooting. The architecture inspired me to try different things, like turning the camera 45 degrees clockwise to capture a vertical image
Beyond: Woods // No Name from Ray Concepcion on Vimeo.
All you need to know is on the flyer:
Mmmm, yummy!
Via Pitchfork
Early reports on Diplo and Switch's Major Lazer project mentioned that M.I.A. would make a guest appearance on the album. Then the official tracklist came out-- and M.I.A. was, well, not on it.Download the mix here.But now, the influential rapper-singer-firebrand has shown up on a new Major Lazer mix, created for Mishka's Keep Watch series. (Via Gorilla vs Bear.) Her verse easily overshadows everything within a 100-mile radius.
"I say where's the daddy?" she repeats over the autotuned "Baby" riddim from the Major Lazer album before dismantling male dominated culture and paternal negligence like only she can. "Look at all the babies growin' up in the muck/ Lookin' up at the fucked up men like, 'Yuck'." If anything, motherhood has only made her more fierce. "I ain't gonna raise my son like that, 'cause this is a woman's world and he knows that," she concludes.
The M.I.A. tracks is at 11:20 and it pretty much rules. More info about the mix at mishkanyc.com.
In other FREE music news... check out this aptly-titled release by Venable, "Where's the Happy." It's melancholy, like early Cat Power or Gillian Welch, but in a beautiful way. Highly recommended. [Thanks GD]
Animal's been tracking the sudden rise and fascinating public decay of the Williamsburg Faile Wheels at the hands of humanity over the past few months, as the two unique pieces of street art have gone from freshly cut spinning columns of beauty to missing and/or trafficked pieces of stolen art. After the second wheel mysteriously returned to the street just last week, local graffiti writers wasted no time to mark it up with splatter and tags (Omar, we're looking at you).
But, in just a matter of days, somebody went and cleaned it all up, and unknowingly removed the original Faile-applied paint in the process. What we're left with here is a fossilized carcass bolted down at North 6th street; a bruised and battered chunk of its former sculptured glory that nonetheless represents the creativity of some and the greed and disregard of others.
[photos via Zoltan and disconotdisco]
Tonight at the Delancey Jay Buim, one of our homies over at the awesome 'zine Free Danger (and one part Rude Dude), will be premiering his documentary Todd P Goes to Austin. This SXSW adventure, following some of the hottest bands on the DIY scene, showcases local legendary promoter Todd Patrick. Come out and celebrate tonight with performances by Team Robespierre, So So Glos, some super secret guests, and a DJ set by the man himself-- Todd P.
The film touches on a "generation of artists creating and performing music on their own terms"-- otherwise known as anything worth listening to here in our native Brooklyn. And although Todd P tends to be a contraversial topic amongst the local music community, there is no doubt that his shows, at neighborhood staples such as Market Hotel, are amongst the most enjoyably raucous ones we've ever been to.
Did we mention FREE Colt 45?? Doors @ 8pm, Movie starts at 9pm; FREE with RSVP!!
We got a chance to catch up with Director Buim about the meaning of DIY, the death of the record label, and the best eats in Austin, TX-- check out the rest of the EXCLUSIVE interview, and details about tonight's event, after the jump...
FREEburg: So Jay, how did you you first get hooked up with Todd Patrick?
Jay Buim: In the summer of 2006 I was leaving to go to LA to work on a documentary and Todd helped me throw a going away party. It was at this lunch spot across from the Death Star waste treatment plant in Greenpoint. The Death Set, Heloise and the Savoir Faire, and Drop the Lime played. At one point someone brought out a large tray of hot dogs. It was magic.
He's a bit of an enigma-- What was your approach to get Todd P involved with the film?
It was pretty straightforward. I told Todd that I wanted to make a documentary about him, he humored me and went along with the idea. The first interview I did with him was on top of an abandoned oil container down by the water with a romantic view of Manhattan.
How did the film come to fruition? Was this a statement you were trying to make about the current music scene? Or were you trying to portray what Todd has been doing in the music scene himself?
I borrowed a camera from a friend and started shooting interviews with Todd and shows he would put on. My friends Taylor [Cohen] and Otto [Arsenault] in LA agreed to help me and they started shooting shows out West. As SXSW came around I convinced some more of my friends to help out and we borrowed whatever we could and set out to shoot, somehow accumulating almost 150 hours of footage.
I wanted to make this movie because I thought what Todd was doing was a greatly needed service to our community and from that all this amazing and exciting music was getting made and heard. I wanted to capture that as it was happening. Also on top of that Todd is one of the most interesting people I have ever met.
What does DIY mean to you? And how is what's happening now, namely in Brooklyn, different from DIY movements of past generations?
DIY to me means not making excuses for not doing something, not worrying about failing, pretty much just working hard and doing what you feel like you have to do. I don’t think what’s happening now is much different from the past except for the fact that the networks have gotten larger and stronger thanks to the internet, Myspace etc. Bands have been traveling around in shitty vans and buses forever and that is not going to change anytime soon.
With the death of the record label and the overabundance of quality music because of the Internet, where do you think the industry is heading?
Since there is less money for business lunches the people who were in it for the wrong reasons will leave and go on to other things. But there will always be people who care about getting good music out there, maybe more people taking it into their own hands now than before. Its like hitting the reset button, getting a fresh start.
A lot of footage in Todd P Goes to Austin was shot by the bands themselves-- why did you decide to get the bands involved behind the camera?
I wanted to film everyone as they were touring down to Austin simultaneously so it was out of necessity. Most of the bands were friends of mine but I didn’t really know Mika Miko personally so I figured that anything they would shoot themselves would be much better than what a stranger in their van would get. That sounds weird-- “stranger in their van.”
What do you think was the standout performance at SXSW '09?
Pictureplane and HEALTH at Ms. Beas.
I know you're a big fan of food-- What was your favorite meal/restaurant find on the road?
I am not a 400lb man but the Kerbey Lane Café in Austin has this spicy queso dip with two scoops of guacamole in it that will make you want to stop there before your 6AM flight out of Austin.
What is the craziest thing that happened when you were out in Austin?
At the end of the week, after being up for who knows how long, Todd decides to throw an after hours party. After trying to find the location under the freeway it turns out that a hooker had died, bringing in ambulances and lots of cops. One of the people in our car starts throwing up in the middle of the street right in front of the cops.
Everyone was either losing their mind or sleeping, trying to convince zombies to shoot wasn’t easy. The footage shot that night looks like even the camera was tired. Todd finds another place for the show. As Ninjasonik are playing, Spankrock and Blaqstarr show up, Diplo starts playing drums and somehow it all seamlessly morphed into a Deer Tick whisky jam that didn’t end til 7 in the morning.
What do you have in store for us in the future?
I’m doing research right now for my next documentary, making a video for my friends Future Islands and I’m moving back to NJ to write a script about the Jersey Devil. Also my girlfriend and I make a whole mess of work under the name Free Danger too.
And finally, if you were a sandwich, what kind would you be?
Whitefish, sable, capers, onions and cream cheese.
As always, Taibbi nails it
Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with Max Baucus, Bill Nelson, or anyone else. If the Obama administration wanted to pass a real health care bill, they would do what George Bush and Tom DeLay did in the first six-odd years of this decade whenever they wanted to pass some nightmare piece of legislation (ie the Prescription Drug Bill or CAFTA): they would take the recalcitrant legislators blocking their path into a back room at the Capitol, and beat them with rubber hoses until they changed their minds.Go read it all.The reason a real health-care bill is not going to get passed is simple: because nobody in Washington really wants it. There is insufficient political will to get it done. It doesn’t matter that it’s an urgent national calamity, that it is plainly obvious to anyone with an IQ over 8 that our system could not possibly be worse and needs to be fixed very soon, and that, moreover, the only people opposing a real reform bill are a pitifully small number of executives in the insurance industry who stand to lose the chance for a fifth summer house if this thing passes.
It won’t get done, because that’s not the way our government works. Our government doesn’t exist to protect voters from interests, it exists to protect interests from voters.
God bless Russel Fong. We've been wanting to interview this dude for months but were frankly a little terrified. If you've ever visited Williamsburg, you've undoubtedly seen/heard him. His name is Lawrence LaDouceur, aka The Bedford Ranter.
Study For "A Moral Society" from russel fong on Vimeo.
Our third Hipster Foldable, has arrived and now we have to fumigate. It's the Gutter Punk. As you've undoubtedly noticed, they've invaded the 'burg and now we can expect a surge in lyme disease from the ticks festering in their nasty-ass beards.
In case you missed the story in the Daily News, here it is:
Heroin-addict hobos from around the country are overrunning hipster haven Williamsburg - living in stalled luxury condo projects in the trendy Brooklyn neighborhood. The squatters, from middle-class families, hop freight trains to the city, where they can earn up to $150 a day panhandling in Manhattan. At night, like plenty of other borough commuters, they return to their homes: grubby hideaways inside boarded-up lots that pock the once-booming neighborhood.As we suggested before, don't give them money. Instead, use this much more sanitary, stench-free bank and save for your own future."I've got to sleep somewhere, and I might as well do it in Williamsburg," said Stuart, 22, a Florida college dropout.
The admitted alcoholic and heroin user makes $15 an hour panhandling in Union Square, holding a sign that reads "Traveling Broke and Sexy."
"The girls here like it that I'm dirty and I ride trains," he added.
The vagrants - who also call themselves "crusty punks" - swarmed into Williamsburg this spring, drawn by open-minded young people and vacant lots.
Packs of punks and their mangy dogs clog Bedford Ave. in the evenings. They sprawl drunkenly on the sidewalk and heckle hipsters for money and cigarettes.
"There's a big crowd of us here," said Sethry, 20, of Portland, Ore., lounging near North Ninth St. one recent night. "Every night it's a party with all our friends."
Instructions:
1. Download the Gutter Punk foldable here (.pdf)
2. Print
3. Cut along black solid lines
4. Fold along dotted lines and tape, as instructed
Thanks again to Bryan. And remember, send us photos for future foldables! We want to feature local celebrities—who doesn't want a Todd P foldable? Or perhaps the creepy pastor on Bedford, if we ever muster the courage to approach him.
DOWNLOAD THE GUTTER PUNK FOLDABLE PDF HERE
Previously:
The Hipster Grifter
Hip Kyp Malone
The Black Lips
Health
More Pics after the Jump!
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (Right before they pulled the plug)
Los Angeles based noise rockers, HEALTH, love New York crowds, so let's show them what we're made of at the Waterfront today. With their battle cry drums and synth charged vocals, this darker and more polished version of Brooklyn's comparitive Aa just simply rocks. And in good faith, I'm going to suggest that the probable thunder and rain we might experience today will play as the perfect backdrop to their rumbling sound.
And although these guys love to rock, the slew of danceable remixes out there transform their technologically advanced thrash into a male enhancement answer to the likes of Chromatics and Glass Candy. In this sense, the band acts a bit like an interesting contradiction to itself-- metal inspired riffs you can dance to? Sounds like the things I actually like about LA, not to mention the band's Deep V merch shirts. Yummy.
Our very own Lisa Baldini caught up with frontman John Famiglietti about larger venues, playing songs from their September 8th release Get Color, and how Brooklyn crowds are the best. Check out the interview, along with a zoothorn heavy video of HEALTH, after the jump.
And remember, gates open on the Waterfront at 2pm. So get there early to catch the guys with Grupo Fantasma, The Black Lips, and Trail of Dead. I expect lots of dudes there.
Is there a difference from when you prepare for a show in your hometown of LA verses a place like New York?
Not Really. Other than things like flights and stuff like that.
Health shows are always charismatic and pretty upbeat; do you feel a need to break through the stand and nod mentality often associated with New York crowds? If so, what's your ideal crowd reaction?
Actually New York crowds are fucking amazing. We've had a few shows in Brooklyn that were quite literally the ideal crowd situation. People were AMPED. I love you guys.
Having come up through a music community that prides itself on a DIY ethos, does playing the Waterfront shows feel like a milestone--perhaps even a validation--in your career?
Yeah...but not from a DIY perspective. I feel wierd in that respect. But yeah mostly as this type of music playing this type of show. If that makes sense.
Sometimes bands who move from small to medium size venues to larger setting have a hard time translating their sound and stage presence; do you worry that a large outdoor setting will affect your normal rapport between yourself and the audience?
We don't really have any audience rapport in the traditional sense. Personally I love big stages and festival stages. Its completely different but I think we do alright in that setting. But I cant see it so I don't really know.
Of all the bands on the bill, who are you most psyched to play with and why?
Black Lips. Ive never seen em before for real (saw the GZA thing at SXSW). We opened for Trail of Dead in Houston once before.
Your latest album comes out in September, what tracks are you most excited about previewing?
All of them. We've been playing the first album's songs for years now. Its nice to play new songs.
Metropolitan Ave between Bedford and Berry
Motel Motel, the alt-country indie gem that have been circulating on my good morning alarm clock mix for the last year, debut the video for "Coffee" of the New Denver LP. When the Village Voice asked the band about the video, Mickey Theis had this to say:
"Matthew [Murphy, the director] had told us that we were going to shoot it on the property of his childhood home. What he didn't tell us is that he hadn't cleared it with the family that is currently residing there."
I hope this plays out like part of some mystical role play dream Murphy had as a child a la Where The Wild Things Are, except instead of monsters-- beautiful ladies.
Download "Coffee" here.
And in case you missed it, check out MM's Daytrotter Session which includes two unreleased tracks!
Now we wished we'd braved the weather! via
South 6th and Berry
The Dirty Projectors headlined a packed show last Sunday
It's going to be hard to top last week, but this week's line-up looks pretty good too:
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead | The Black Lips | Health | Grupo Fantasma
Doors open at 2 and the headliners have been playing between 5:30 and 6. Lots more information at www.freewilliamsburg.com/h2oshows
If Flyswatter dude shows up, send us pictures!
The Black Lips - Short Fuse Video
Meanwhile, the shittiest burrito place in the city, L.A. Burrito, somehow still remains open. We're going to miss you Bonita!
Says Brooklyn Based, via Gothamist
Bonita I on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg will serve its last taco on August 15. Owners Andrew Tarlow and Mark Firth, of the Marlow and Sons/Diner empire, have long had a contentious relationship with the landlord (”He hates me,” Tarlow tell us. “Always has.”) and the restaurant has never been able to get a full liquor license for the space, so they’re closing up shop. Get your plate of pork nachos and your sidewalk spot while you still can (or head to Bonita II in Fort Greene).At least we still have Papacitos and La Superior. That said, Gothamist is totally right about La Superior's tacos being a little too precious.
image via
[photo c/o flavorwire]
Flavorwire's Stelios Phili went shopping at Beacon's Closet with the Vivian Girls, and documented his brave transition to Vivian Man.
By the time I went through my different photo shoot ideas - a) make me a Vivian Boy, b) the ideal Vivian Man, c) their backup dancer, d) a Vivian Girl — they were already excited. Every 5-year-old girl’s dream is to clothe their male best friend, and every 5-year old male plays along, because high heel shoes seem pretty sweet at the time. Whether or not I was the manifestation of their preschool nostalgia, the Vivian Girls were ready to have fun. Allowing oneself to be the human male mannequin for the Vivian Girls is not a sacrifice, no, it is an honor.
Here's the photo gallery. When they've run dry of their will to play dress-up games with neighborhood bloggers, the Vivian Girls will be playing the Whitney Museum with These Are Powers on July 31st before shipping out to Sweden and Finland in August. They'll then be back on home turf come August 25th at Death by Audio. Their sophomore album Everything Goes Wrong drops September 8th.
We don't know what's worse, the creepy, lap-bouncey, crack-bearing plushies or the gutter punks. Make them go away.
Now, the plushies are delivering:
Club Animals has been criticized for being pointless, but the pointlessness is the point. In the latest addition, we are personally delivering a 100% sugar crack rock (multi-colored and multi-flavored with snow cone syrup) to your Brooklyn house on demand. Expect a 7-foot tall man in a plush, blue mascot head, white gloves and a tuxedo to come knocking soon after you call or text for delivery. You can purchase a few candy crack rocks for $1 a pop in a 1" x 1" crack bag. Can't say too much here because y'know it's drugs.Call or Text 347-742-2293 for delivery at the appropriate times
***Serving Brooklyn L Train Bedford to Montrose stops ONLY***
From our favorite free drink informants:
Yep. In a rare moment of heat-induced sobriety, we finally got our act together and decided to pamper the easily distracted army of iPhone users with what they really want - another app to brag about.Just in time for your summer party needs out comes Free Booze, the Myopenbar iPhone App. The listings are fed to your iPhone in real time, replete with our incisive and hilarious editorial, maps of locations of open bar events for the day and iPhone's amazing mapping and direction capabilities. You can even submit an open bar you might know of, right here, through the app.
In true Myopenbar fashion, the app is free...
Ok, do you see the tinyness these guys call their practice space here in good ol' Williamsburg!? So the vocals aren't the best in the video, but these guys are booming with energy live-- especially on stand out track "MR2".
Download the self titled EP for absolutely $0 on the Miracles of Modern Science website, and you'll be blown away.
You know the deal-- Follow us on twitter and RT for a chance to win a pair of tickets to this Saturday's show at Le Poisson Rouge for The Albertans CD Release Party.
MoMA has one of my favorite websites; it's pretty, has intuitive interface and lots of fun flash. So I was not surprised in the least to find they would have an interactive visit planner that has such lovely design. The planner logs into your facebook, asks a couple of questions and then plans a full day of MoMA activities suited to your taste.
According to my planner, I should go August 6th and watch Lord of the Rings, go tot the gallery talk about Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism, and see the James Ensor exhibit. Well, I'm glad my August 6th is sufficiently scheduled with all of my favorite things.
(via Swiss Miss)
Put your diets on hold and tear off your skinny jeans, it's time to Pig Out at 3rd Ward!3rd Ward & Brookyn Based present the 2nd Annual Pig Roast & Dance Party. Stand by as Pig Roasting Extraordinaire Tom Mylan (from Marlow and Sons, Diner and Bonita) and Chef Eric Sherman turn 200 lbs. of hog into finger-licking good & nicely priced pork tacos. We'll also have sides-a rice, beans and mexi-slaw and Brooklyn Based will top you off with some ice cream.
Featuring live music from Stumblebum Brass Band, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, In Cadeo and DJ Tanner all afternoon.
Plus bring your own t-shirts for $1 for pig inspired screen-printing & wear your sweetest smile for a carnival-style photobooth.
[Image via]
Love him or hate him, Jay-Z will be taking over the sadly canceled Beastie Boys slot on next week's opening night of All Points West.
Personally, I've got isses with Mr. Cocky himself (I happen to be a Nas fan), but that doesnt mean I won't be all sorts of hands up happy when one of New York's finest takes the stage. Did I mention this is going to be the hip-hop icons US festival debut?
Can I get a...
Joan Wasser, musically referred to as Joan as Police Woman, has played with legends-- Lou Reed, Antony and the Johnsons, And Rufus Wainwright. In turn, as a solo artist, making her the stuff legends are made of.
Wanna check out her deeply moving performance at 92Y Tribeca this Saturday, July 25th? Follow us on twitter, and just RT the contest tweet for a chance to win a pair of tickets.
And be sure to keep an eye out in the next few days for our interview with the lovely lady herself!
NPR Music hosted a splendid showcase last night at Joe's Pub featuring Lee Fields, Fight the Big Bull, and The Phenomenal Handclap Band.
We caught Richmond, VA's Fight the Big Bull first. Their performance was wrought with experimental jazz fusion, but fortunately it was the mirthful kind. The all-instrumental performance incorporated a seven piece brass section, double percussion, as well as plenty of laughs and facial hair.
The evening's biggest draw was The Phenomenal Handclap Band, who have been designated by many critics as the premiere dance-rock collective of 2009. Their stylized electro-funk/rock is reminiscent of '70s psych and soul, but also smacks of the same kind of exotic indie flair that makes imports like CSS and New Young Pony Club so irresistible. The group's repertoire is a bit limited at the moment, and the audience heard most of their just-released self titled debut LP - including fan favorites "15 to 20" and "You'll Disappear." While we couldn't quite detach ourselves from the sexy tambourine-wielding girls in the group (wonder if they ever fight about who has the chicest outfits?) the evening was an intimate and enjoyable affair.
And best of all? You can stream the concerts here if you missed out. More photos after the jump...
Fight the Big Bull
The Phenomenal Handclap Band
All images by Clarissa Roudabush
Image c/o PSFK
Last night, I was able to head down to Santos Party House to check out the latest gem from Stones Throw Records LA-based Mayer Hawthorne. Easily, Hawthorne's music echoes the Motown era soul of his birthplace--a fact that he doesn't deny. However, unlike many acts whose retro revival feels like wearing your influences on your sleeve, Hawthorne is charismatic enough to pull it off--with a tight backing band to boot. His stage presence is still a little stogy between songs, but those moments were few and far between as he churned out one potential hit after the next.
Mayer Hawthorne has yet to drop his full-length album, so I am sure it will be awhile before New York sees him again, but when he does, it's not one to miss.
Blame it all on the youth.
“I could handle 250 of what were mostly my friends, but the crowd kept getting younger and rowdier,” O’Brien said. “There were discussions of how to keep making money without letting in undesirable people.” According to him, however, “a steady flow of mismanagement” ensured this never came to fruition. There were also issues of delegation. “Nobody could ever agree who was really in charge,” explained O’Brien.
Jamie Peck chronicles The Shank's rise and fall at the New York Press.
I've been missing California a bit lately (i.e. here, and here), but all it took was a little Northeast quartet called Wild Light to remind me how I really feel.
Currently on tour with Stellastarr* (although mostly in California!?), the guys are giving you a chance to show them how you feel via a fan uploaded music vido contest. Details after the jump...
Wild Light, on tour with their new critically-acclaimed album Adult Nights, has launched a fan-created video contest in response to pre-existing fan footage on YouTube. In a video announcing the contest, band member Seth Pitman explains: “We’ve seen some great fan-created Wild Light videos up on YouTube recently, and honestly, I want to see more.” To submit a video for the contest, go to www.youtube.com/wildlightfanvideos and post your home-made video of any song off Adult Nights. Submissions will be accepted from now until August 31st, 2009. The winner will receive video placement on Wild Light’s MySpace page as well as an autographed CD, a t-shirt, and a pair of tickets to the Wild Light concert of their choice.
A lovely young thing compiled this list of her notable boyfriend criteria. Among the desired characteristics: smart, funny, likes comics, art and good shoes.
Among the negatives: annoying, tight pants, bad tattoos, "think you're soooo smart," bad hair, and bad music.
In other words, the majority of our neighborhood males are undesirable boyfriends! It's time to start looking elsewhere, ladies.
Rooftop is screening a night of animated films for the Animation Block Party this Friday at 8pm on the lawn of Automotive High School (next to McCarren).
Venue: On the lawn of Automotive High School Address: 50 Bedford Ave. @ North 13th St. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) Directions: L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave. Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location 8:00PM: Doors open 8:30PM: Live music by Teengirl Fantasy, presented by Sound Fix Records 9:00PM: Film 10:30PM: Filmmaker Q & A 11:30PM-1:00AM: After-party: Open Bar at Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave. @ Driggs) Courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner Tickets: $9 at the door or online Presented in partnership with: 5 Gum ® , Cinereach, New York magazine, City Council Member David Yassky & Automotive High School
You can get tickets here, or just head over and comment on this facebook status for a chance at winning two tickets to the screening!
Deer Tick's in town on the heels of the release of their fantastically gruffy sophomore album, Born On Flag Day, playing at the Ballroom this Friday ($13/15). Time-straddling musicians like front man John McCauley III only come around so often. Clear your schedule and grab a ticket. Here's a great little video session shot recently in Houston, TX:
Via Laundro Matinee, which also has full mp3 downloads of the session.
Foreign Born, with vocals often compared to young Bono's range, cranked out a collection of sleepy sunshine melodies shimmering with California summer fun on their newest LP, Person To Person, released late last month. "Winter Games", the first single of the band's sophmore full-length, with it's clap along pop sound and cloudy distortion, is perfect for a drive along the coast. Those of us stuck riding the subway here in the city that never sleeps, don't worry-- this album doubles as a drunken sunset soundtrack. These are hot weather anthems just the way we like 'em, with visions of busted fire hydrants and beach-geared babes on bicycles.
Well, if you're in the mood to daydream, we've got a pair of tickets to see these LA swoonsters with The Veils on August 3rd @ Bell House... Excited!? Well, all you've gotta do is follow us on Twitter and RT this post.
And just because we love you, you can check out the psych-pop video for "Winter Games" after the jump!
If you weren't at yesterday's Pool Party, you could have fooled us. It was packed. It was a great time all around with Dirty Projectors proving they warrant the hype and Magnolia Electric Co. demonstrating why they're one of the best alt country acts to come along since Son Volt. Next week, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The Black Lips, Health, and Grupo Fantasmo.
Hopefully, that dancing dude with the fly swatter in his shorts will be there too (check him out after the jump).
Dirty Projectors
Magnolia Electric Co.
It was packed!
LOTS of pix after the jump
Flyswatter Dude
The Blonde Redhead guy was there
Fly Swatter Dude
I've got a new piece over at The Huffington Post. The jokes write themselves with these crazy rightwingers:
While appearing on the Rachel Maddow Show last night in the recurring segment "It's Pat," MSNBC pundit Pat Buchanan accused the Lesbian Coalition of America (LCA) of discriminating against him.Read it all here. And if you missed the video I'm satirizing, I've posted it after the jump."I'm as qualified as anyone to head this organization, and for them to not consider my nomination to head the executive board is reverse discrimination against white males," said Buchanan.
Buchanan was nominated by the group's senior board member, Alexandra Tillman, who suffers from dementia and assumed Buchanan was a lesbian after seeing him several times on Maddow's show. The nomination was quickly blocked by a majority vote.
Buchanan was outraged by the rejection. "No one is more qualified to head this lesbian group than me. I'd enliven the LCA and help them move in a new direction," wrote Buchanan in the New Republic.
He talked about the LCA's decision with Maddow on MSNBC last night.
"I've long felt kinship with the lesbian community," Buchanon told Maddow. "Why do you think I'm always on your show, Rachel? I pride myself in being a bit of a hag."
A photo from that Spank Rock show we tweeted about Saturday night.
Nobody got arrested on the bridge which Spank Rock, and Ninjasonik, apparently had everyone jumping up and down on to see if they could make it bounce.
L train platform, you are unique, even if the 'free bounce' plushy fish freaks us out.
At first when I heard the drums and saw the dreadlocks I was like “oh, great. Hippies.” But man, it was so much more. The bald-headed woman dancing in the sneakers was so beautiful and confident, just magnetic — and that horn line’s been running through my head all weekend.Then I saw the guy in the furry fish costume over there, jigging his legs and holding the sign offering “Free Bouncy Rides.” He just happened to be there, unrelated to the band. Apparently it’s a whole thing that’s been going on this summer. And I got so creeped out and happy, all at once.
Fight it, man. You've got the support of millions of us fans worldwide.
"So it's a little bit of a setback — it's a pain in the ass — but this is something that's very treatable, and in most cases ... they're able to completely get rid of it, and people don't have continuing problems with it, and they've caught it early and it's not anywhere else in my body. So, that's the good news."
To allow time for treatments and what not, The Beastie Boys won't be playing at All Points West Festival next week.
We were lucky enough to catch this performance last night at The Yard, a beautiful venue overlooking the Gowanus Canal. It was an amazing show with only a handful of people in attendance. UN:ART:IG has some video:
UN:ART:IG says
One day before his huge Summerstage appearance at New York City's Central Park Lee Scratch Perry [with Alpha Blondy] played a secret show in Brooklyn at the BRKLYN YARD. Billed as Dubblestandart plus very special guest the Austria/Jamaica connection was joined by Ari Up of The Slits for the final encore
The weather looks good for Sunday which is great news since Pool Party #2 is set to be a good one. Excluding the upcoming Grizzly Bear/Beach House show, this is our favorite line-up of the series and it will undoubtedly be packed. The space is large, so we don't expect people will be turned away, but it's probably best to get there early. No booze allowed, but last week security was allowing people to bring in water and non-alcoholic beverages. Umbrellas were even being permitted for the sun-averse. Food and beer are available inside.
Doors are at 2pm and these are the set times:
4pm: Crystal Antlers
5pm: Magnolia Electric Co.
6pm: Dirty Projectors
More information at www.freewilliamsburg.com/h2oshows
Magnolia Electric Co. - "What Comes After The Blues" Live at Cafè del Teatre Escorxador 19-06-2007
Tonight marks the closing party of the Bushwick Biennal at Nurture Art, so if you haven't had a chance to check out the survey of local emerging artists, you have until Sunday to do so.
Below is another artist on artist interview featuring two of the participants in the biennal: Kevin Regan and Radek Szczesny.
Kevin Regan: So tell me about the artist collective you were in with Lolo. What was it called? Is it still active? I heard something about it from Jeremy. This was something you were doing over in Williamsburg, no?
Back in Gainesville, Florida, in the mid 90s, just before I moved to New York, I opened an alternative art space with a couple friends of mine (John Cason and Matt Roberts). It was called Blank Space. I was involved in it for a year and then I moved to New York. We did 10 art shows during that time. We also lived in the space. It was a blast. The whole set up was a little unusual for Gainesville which is more about old houses than industrial spaces. Sometimes Bushwick reminds me of Gainesville.
C/O Kevin Regan
Radek Szczesny: Yeah, I was part of a group called OpenGround, which used to run a space over on Grand in Williamsburg. It was started by friends of mine from school, Jenny Walty and Patrick May, who at the time found this place that used to be a pool hall, and started an artist run gallery. I think it was around 2000. Being generous about their space (which they also lived in) and very open about the whole process of curating, they would invite about twenty five artist each year to self curate, promote and set up about six show each season. It was all done by consensus, with people having this really active dialogue about their work and affinities emerging. I remember it as being very helpful in terms of figuring out how to present your work to the public, and also supportive and fun--the openings were kind of all nighters, with DJs or bands (destroying a few PA systems in the process) taking over later in the night. Since Patrick and Jenny gave up the space on Grand, we have become a sort of loose network of collaborators, coming together for studio crits, group show we curate, and occasional bbqs. Last year, during the Bushwick Open Studios, we put up a show in an old hair salon on Central. I'd say that the ethics of DIY, punk rock and strategies of the early seventies New York artists like Gordon Matta-Clark with things like Food restaurant, or Fashion Moda up in the Bronx were the guiding spirit of the whole adventure. Essentially we wanted to create a homegrown support system for ourselves, and mix it up with the community that was around us. Being a former punk rocker, how do you feel that whole set of ideas and aesthetics has influenced your work?
Regan: It has definitely influenced it. I'm very influenced by an idea and aesthetic of punk and DIY. But it’s one that includes things like early Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, the Minutemen and Meat Puppets. I guess it's basically SST records in the mid 80s with album covers decorated with Raymond Pettibon drawings and Richard Kern photos. This stuff is some of my formative influences. I would also include zine culture, Re/Search, Semiotext(e), Hakim Bey and his idea of the Temporary Autonomous Zone and Robert Anton Wilson's notion of "guerilla ontology." There’s something DIY that connects all this stuff.
I thought it was really interesting seeing that book about Drop City in your studio. I love stuff like that too. There's a form you paint that resembles the dwellings on the cover. It shows up in several of your paintings. Didn't you say you bought the book partly because of this?
C/O Radek Szczesny
Szczesny: I think I bought the book because I was doing research on intentional communities and how viable they are, But the cover, or the Buckminster Fuller geodesic domes that were on it was a happy accident, and I can say that I am very much inspired by complex mathematical or natural structures. The painting that you mention is a pairing of a natural tree and one that represents almost a mathematical rendering of it. And, as you pointed out, while the regular tree looks pretty self-contained, the digital tree looks like it could just keep going and spread everywhere. I like contrasting these notions of nature vs. technology, or nature vs. architecture, and imagine the possibilities in their interaction. That of course goes back to Fuller, who imagined his domes as the perfect way of integrating with nature. The funny thing is that the domes didn't, really, and like so many of the images from that time, they look like dated visions of failed utopias. But I like repurposing the images of that time anyway. For one, it reminds me that a lot of those ideas need to be investigated further, and two, I like the strategy of playing off of something vaguely familiar and with a heavy associations and twisting it around to mean something else.
There is something similar going on in your work, almost a violent fuck you to the images that are available, nay, streaming into one's visual field. For example, you talk about how you like to use the "wrong" images, so can you maybe explain how do you mean wrong, and what is that impulse about?
Regan: I love the connection between the book cover and your paintings. Happy accidents are awesome. There’s something about communes that fascinates me too. I've been studying a particular "intentional community" too. It's called Children of God. It’s a little bit different because it is Christian community — cult really — that advocates free love. They started up in the late 60s. All the original members were hippies, Jesus Freaks. They were apocalyptic which is a weird kind of utopianism.
I guess what I mean by “wrong” is making the choice that seems like the bad choice. I guess its transgression writ small, a way of undermining my inner aesthete. But the thing is, in the end, it all ends up aesthetic anyway (at least to me). So then it becomes really about peeling back layers. But the funny thing here is that there is always another layer underneath. I think it's an act of negative self-transcendence. I think this relates to the masks in my work. We talked about this some when you were in my studio. I think the masks are some weird combination of self-revelation and self-transcendence. But you've kind of got masks in your work too. I would say they're in your monster paintings. But I was kind of wondering about it in relation to your found image paintings as well. Do masks figure much in your thinking too?
Szczesny: I'm actually kind of scarred of masks--there is a level of anonymity and attached (lawlessness)[that's not the word I want to use] that freaks me out a bit. They definitely make Halloween the edgiest holiday. But it's also a thing that attracts me to them. Monsters are people I know and love and see around me, with their features disfigured. It's almost like a smudged fingerprint, a partial match. You know-- "the names have been changed to protect the innocent." In another way, the monsters are also about creating a certain distance--there is enough information in those drawings so that they can be placed in the specific time and place, and they become "types" that people can identify with. So, it comes back to this vague echo of familiarity, but with a twist. On the other hand, the found image drawings I’ve been making are a way of closing the gap, and making them somehow closer--I have been collecting these iconic images, and drawing them with sepia ink as if they all were part of some family album. I guess it makes for a pretty turbulent family history. The desire to translate them all to the same language comes from wanting to be explicit about how involved I am (we all are) with the narrative of history. This is the notion that makes me think of Laocoon and its agonizing desire to extricate your self from this historical grasp. As if a right perspective and distance would absolve you from the responsibility for it.
It seems the use of mirrors in your work carries a similar weight, albeit one that is pretty specific to the medium you are using--the digital collage made real, messy and definitely not flat, and then mirrored as a gateway of this other order. Your image of Ronald Reagan, multiplied, feels to me like a joke on your own name, but also as this evil twin shadow, who also substitutes for the recent president. Do you feel like your work exists in parallel planes that make up a whole, or it more of a ba"bush"ka[ha ha] doll effect?
Regan: Do you mean matroishka dolls? The dolls within a doll within a doll... Yes! They actually are something I think about. I'm very interested in the loop as a compositional figure. But I like the parallel place thing too. Some of the pieces definitely play with the idea of the mirror as a portal to or through some higher dimension.
I have to tell you one of the things I really like about your work is the dusky, nighttime feeling I get from it. I think you paint film stills from a dream — dream still. Maybe it's because of the dark washes but I think the figures you paint a part of it to. You know what I mean?
Szczesny: That's cool--I think of them as pictures from the prom dance at the end of the world, there is a certain loneliness in them, but maybe also mapping out a shape of things to come after. So yes, a dream.
Walter Cronkite announces death of JFK
From 2-6pm later today, the North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition will unveil the India Street Mural Project, located on India Street between West Street and the East River. Japanther, Ninjasonik, Dilian, Small Black and Behavior will perform, and the artists Ali Aschman, Joshua Abram Howard, Robert Seng, Chris Soria, Skewville, and Eve Biddle & Joshua Frankel will be on hand to "flaunt their goods." There will be food, "dodgeball, chalk muraling, and lots of jumping, dancing, and prancing." And of course, the neccessary afterparty at t.b.d. with drink specials from 6-8pm.
Photo via.
It's that time of year again. The Ninth Annual Siren Festival is tomorrow at Coney Island and as usual, the line-up is pretty solid. Built to Spill, Spank Rock, The Raveonettes, Frightened Rabbit, and many more. We're most excited to see Micachu & the Shapes. Full schedule below.
In other outdoor concert news, The Yard is hosting a dubtastic picnic with a "very special guest," and tonight Superchunk and Versus are playing a free show at the South Street Seaport.
Granted this guy seems a little smarmy and sounds like a more shrill version of Wallace Shawn, but still, we're glad somebody said it.
“They are literally stealing a hundred million dollars a day. Goldman Sachs is stealing every day on the floor of the exchange. They should be in the Hague, they should be taken on financial terrorism charges. They should all be thrown in jail”
Shut up already. Call it adult contemporary if you like. We just call it purty. [via]
Gawker is annoyed by Andersen's new book, Reset, where he tells us measly serfs that we should enjoy the recession. After all, it's a learning experience. Writes Andersen:
It's time to ratchet back our wild and crazy grasshopper side and get in touch with our inner ant, to be more artisan-enterpriser and less prospector-speculator, more heroic Greatest Generation and less self-indulgent baby boomer, to return from Oz to Kansas, to become fully reality-based again.... Yes, we must start spending again, and we will. But we've all known people who, having survived the 1930s, never lost their Depression habits of frugality. And so it will be again.And it gets worse:
[E]ven after the economy recovers, deciding to forgo that third car or fifth TV or imperial master bathroom or marginally cooler laptop will come more naturally.
Fifth TV? Christ. Thankfully, Gawker sums up our thoughts to a tee
But we're getting tired of hearing cultural and economic evangelizing about the upside of the fact that people literally can't afford to eat from well-heeled, comfortable intellectuals whose book parties probably cost more than the median income in a lot of the decimated towns across this country whose misfortunes they are fetishizing as some kind of return to bedrock values.Go read the whole damn thing here.
South 2nd and Havemeyer
The Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective has a screening event at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this Friday night based entirely around the impending apocalypse. It's called: The End!
There will be an apocalyptic screening of 20 short films produced by members of the collective and a special live performance by The Midnight Masses (features members of Dragon of Zynth and Trail of Dead).
After the jump, check out the promo video which absolutely confirms my suspicions that Bedford Walks was entirely organized by The Zombie Union to create an apocalyptic harvesting field for braaaaians..
Details:
The End - Friday, July 17, 2009 8:00PM @ the Music Hall of Williamsburg - 20 Short Films about the End of the World. Live music by Midnight Masses DJ Barney Iller. Hosted by Fritz & Christina.
20 artists presenting their take on what love is via oil, acrylic, wood, photography, video, among other mediums. Love for me is not leaving the neighborhood to check out art.
My favorite DJs, Knight and Gale (although Florence is missing?) are taking care of the set so the soundtrack will hopefully augment the night of art (and love).
104 Meserole st. ~ Brooklyn ~ 7pm
Ponytail, with their infectous experimental pop, have been steadily winning our hearts with each live performance. This past Sunday, at the waterfront kick off to the Pool Parties, was no exception. Whenever this band comes to mind, I always find myself using the same adjective-- primal. While collective tongue-roll, wail, and yelp are not what one usually considers as vocals, Molly Siegel, echoed by Dustin Wong, contorts her sound in a most transfixing sort of way.
Backed by clangy guitars and flooded by cymbals, Ponytail's natural vibrance seeps through it's own medium, feeding their audience with raw energy. If you've been in the crowd, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This is the kind of noise rock that, rather than the lyrically thought-provoking prod of neo-folk, induces physical emotion. Just really good fucking stuff, period.
We caught up with Molly about her primal honesty, Fleetwood Mac, the importance of downloads, and most importantly, our longing for the next LP... Check out the interview after the jump...
Let's start at the beginning, Ponytail was originally an art school class project. Did any of you know each other before getting involved in the class? And how did the sound unfold-- did you make a conscious decision to go in the direction of experimental music, or was it a natural occurrence?
Well, I knew Dustin somewhat and Jeremy and Ken knew eachother pretty well, we also had a fifth member who Dustin and I knew. I think we all knew we wanted to make music that we would want to listen to/rage to, which I guess is mostly good experimental music and maybe straight pop. We just used what we knew.
What band or musician would you say is one of the most effecting, yet more obscure, influences on your music?
For me the most direct influence is The Pixies, I feel like I actually thought about them more than any other band while we were doin stuff. We have influences across the board tho. Right now I think were all pretty into 80's pop like Policey stuff. Also Max Tundra...
With artists such as yourselves, Dan Deacon, Double Dagger, Future Islands, and Beach House, Baltimore is buzzing with off the beaten path sound. What do think it is about the city that inspires the scene?
It's cheap and really easy to do stuff but it's connected enough to other cities not be in too much of a bubble, even though it can feel like that sometimes. It's also so off the map you can kinda hide, ya know.
Ponytail shows seems to induce a sort of primal honesty in the audience, why do you think that is?
Thanks! Yeah I hope so, I love the sound of that. I can definitely get on the primal tip, I think it's really important. One thing I think we are always striving for as a band is honesty, you can't take yourself too seriously.
Art school kids, doing art school things...
Some musicians say that being on stage is like therapy in a certain sense, I would imagine especially so in your case, considering the noise and movement-- how do you feel when you're performing?
Yeah I have been equating it with that in my mind lately actually. At my best I feel really receptive to what's around me and connected to my angst and then just let it out from there. It feels really awesome! These days it feels particularly great when other people get psyched.
What has been your favorite song to perform &/or write?
Beg Waves always really does it for me.
When on the road, what is something you can't survive without?
My sleeping bag and Fleetwood Mac ;)
Any current music obsessions you'd like to share with us?
I havn't had a computer for a few months so I havn't been able to download which has been killing me but I am pretty obsessed with what MEN are doing. I've been really psyched by the live videos I've seen. Also Bird Names have been impressing. Also the obvious top 40 hip hop ;)
Can our mouths start watering for a third LP anytime soon?
Give us a few :)
Recently, as part of an art project at Bushwick Open Studios, I made a list of things I want to accomplish this summer. What are 5 things you plan on doing before the warm weather fades?
Man there's lots of things, I just got off being on tour for forevs so I havn't done much for a while. I wanna work on other music/dj stuff and go swimming in the lake as many times as possible, those are top of the list.
[Photo c/o Damon Winter]
Now that Williamsburg has turned into a post-apocalyptic-halted-condo-construction wasteland it's attracting a nasty infestation: Gutter Punks. From The Daily News [via]:
Heroin-addict hobos from around the country are overrunning hipster haven Williamsburg - living in stalled luxury condo projects in the trendy Brooklyn neighborhood.Ew. Can we fumigate? Given the excess of crusty-ass beards and plaid in the neighborhood, it's no wonder they feel at home.The squatters, from middle-class families, hop freight trains to the city, where they can earn up to $150 a day panhandling in Manhattan. At night, like plenty of other borough commuters, they return to their homes: grubby hideaways inside boarded-up lots that pock the once-booming neighborhood.
"I've got to sleep somewhere, and I might as well do it in Williamsburg," said Stuart, 22, a Florida college dropout.
The admitted alcoholic and heroin user makes $15 an hour panhandling in Union Square, holding a sign that reads "Traveling Broke and Sexy."
"The girls here like it that I'm dirty and I ride trains," he added.
The vagrants - who also call themselves "crusty punks" - swarmed into Williamsburg this spring, drawn by open-minded young people and vacant lots.
Packs of punks and their mangy dogs clog Bedford Ave. in the evenings. They sprawl drunkenly on the sidewalk and heckle hipsters for money and cigarettes.
"There's a big crowd of us here," said Sethry, 20, of Portland, Ore., lounging near North Ninth St. one recent night. "Every night it's a party with all our friends."
Williamsboard has a huge thread on this nasty phenomenon.
Williamsburg's very own Gutter Punks, "BB Guns" (l.) and "Robert" (r.): If you see these two don't give them money and, it should go without saying, but don't give them sex either.
Apparently, Dave Eggers isn't busy enough writing the screenplay for Where the Wild Things Are, Away We Go, being the founder of McSweeney's and heading up the nonprofit 826 because his new book Zeitoun comes out today.
Dave Eggers spent two years interviewing and researching Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American who was arrested when he went out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help his neighbors and check on his rental properties. He was detained for over three weeks and refused medical attention, all while being harassed about being a Muslim. Probably not the best beach reading, but goddamn, does Dave Eggers knows how to tell a story.
Also, while less literary titillating, the fur covered edition of Where The Wild Things would make an amazing gift.
North 3rd and Kent Ave
In case you missed the dance of the Giglio on Sunday, Rumproast just posted a great video of this amazing Williamsburg tradition:
Here's a nice overview, via The Daily News:
The Giglio [weight: 3+ tons—KK] is a statue on top of about a 65- or 70-foot tower decorated to look like a lily, and the statue on top is St. Paulinus. The Giglio is made up of a steel and aluminum frame, and it’s in three or four sections that are hoisted into place with a crane. The face of the Giglio, which is the lily, is made out of papier- maché and wood and cardboard tied to the frame ... and the face of the statue is painted. So the statue of Paulinus sits at the very top of the lily tower, and on the base is a 10-piece band that plays music (and the guys in the band like to eat - they’re pretty heavy!) and the Giglio “dances” to that music when lifted.Gothamist has some great pictures here and you can read about this 100 year old tradition here. [Thanks Rumproast!]So why do neighborhood men risk throwing out their backs to hoist it?
Well, it’s a reenactment of the ritual that took place. Roughly about 100-130 guys pick up the statue, and the statue is lifted several times through the afternoon, and we dance through the streets to the music. And then, of course, the boat [another 3 tons, requiring another 100 men] is lifted at the same time, which signifies St. Paulinus coming back to Nola, and the Giglio is the lily meeting him. And the boat and the Giglio are lifted together a few times during the festival and come together. The dancing of the Giglio happens three different times during the 11-day festival, beginning today.
Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear fame brought to my attention (via his twitter) that Camera Obscura is giving away their new lovely single, French Navy, in honor of Bastille Day. Hurray! The music video is pretty much amazing too, in a, why-am-I-not-in-love-with-a-beautiful-boy-traveling-all-over-Europe-like-these-assholes, kind of way.
Song is here.
I haven't been able to stop watching this video for about two weeks now. And I just got super excited for this Sunday's Pool Party with my dear sweet Magnolia Electric Co. and, after a last minute bail by White Denim, Crystal Antlers. This might be my favorite line-up of the summer? What do you guys think!?
Back in February, Anti released a very un-February sounding record called The Spirit of Apollo. It's essentially a hip-hop party record featuring a pretty amazing (albeit absurd) roster of guest appearances including David Byrne, Method Man, KRS-1, Chuck D, RZA, Karen O, Tom Waits, M.I.A., Kanye West and Lykke Li. The critics were BRUTAL. Case in point, Pitchfork gave it a 1.6:
Iit would be nice if The Spirit of Apollo had a compelling reason to exist beyond just showing off these guys' Buddy Lists. Because this album is a mess. And worse than that, it's a directionless, vaguely condescending mess that wastes the talents of some people who really should've had better things to do. "Music and art have the tremendous power of bringing people together, and this is our goal: To show through these mediums that we are all one race of human beings," say the liner notes. Which, okay, fine. Noble goal, even if it is the sort of thing that 10th-graders say when they're trying to sound sensitive. But when your idea of creating community is to mush artists of different genres together into a character-free paste, all you're really doing is making a good argument for genre xenophobia.Ouch.
We don't get the angst. In fact, we think Pitchfork should give Spirit of Apollo another listen. Sure, it's a dumb, ridiculous record that's never going to be mistaken for being cutting edge. But that's not the point. Like the first Gorillaz record, Spirit of Apollo exists to kick out the summer jams. And it delivers. It's carefree fun from start to finish. And come on, how can you not love a record that pairs Kool Keith and Tom Waits. Forget what you've heard and give N.A.S.A. another chance.
one more video after the jump:
It's giveaway time! Thanks to the kind folks at All Points West, we've got one pair of 3-day festival passes to give away...to you. Just head on over to facebook.com/freewilliamsburg and leave a comment on our most recent status mentioning the giveaway (this one).
Here's the line-up, and you can still buy tickets, here. They're going for $219.00.
Below the jump, behold! A widget! It's got all sorts of nifty APW festival information.
Good luck!!!
ENTER THE CONTEST AT FACEBOOK.COM/FREEWILLIAMSBURG
ENTER THE CONTEST AT FACEBOOK.COM/FREEWILLIAMSBURG
ENTER THE CONTEST AT FACEBOOK.COM/FREEWILLIAMSBURG
ENTER THE CONTEST AT FACEBOOK.COM/FREEWILLIAMSBURG
And p.s. follow us on Twitter for all sorts of smaller ticket giveaways every week: twitter.com/freedubya
Gawker is reporting that artist Dash Snow has died of a heroin overdose. They credit several sources in the article. If you are familiar with Snow's work, you could never really delineate between his intense lifestyle and his artistic output.
I hope the old Irak crew does a befitting memorial.
The Santos Party House Sessions have been going strong for the last couple of months. This week's promises to be great with an appearance by Growing--which just so happens to include the most recent curator for the weekly residency Sadie Laska. Check them out before they head to the UK.
The consensus is in: the new Williamsburg waterfront venue is far superior to McCarren Park Pool. It's more spacious, there's a breeze, the view is better, the sound far superior, and yesterday, even the weather behaved.
Still, we must confess to one major gripe. Namely, what's up with the fence? Those who decided to drink found themselves cordoned off, away from the music like protesters at a peace rally. (While we're complaining, why no Brooklyn beers or veggie food options?) Still, we didn't let these minor grievances ruin our day.
The weather was perfect and, though we missed the opening act, Ponytail, Fucked Up, and Mission of Burma all delivered the goods. Our personal highlight was hearing Marty Markowitz forgo cursing by thanking "Effed Up" for performing. Also, we were happy to see the indie icons David Cross and Ira Kaplan enjoying the show.
It was a great kick-off party for the new venue and we are looking forward to next week's show featuring Dirty Projectors and Magnolia Electric Co. It finally feels like summer has arrived in Williamsburg!
More pix after the jump.
Fucked Up
Ew
Yo la Tengo's Ira Kaplan
I have a new piece over at HuffPost. Here's a taste:
In what many have perceived as a reversal, president Obama upheld the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy by refusing to state his opinion of the film "Bruno." The President, who attended a screening in Dupont Circle on Saturday night, was asked his opinion of the film this morning by former presidential correspondent and current member of the White House Press Corps Helen Thomas.Check it all out on The Huffington Post."Don't ask me that, Helen," stated an uncharacteristically flustered Obama. "Look, I'm committed to opening up the dialogue about this and, yes, changing my current policy, but now is not the time to address this." [...]
Many activists contend that given the success of "Bruno," the time is now for the president to speak out in support of non-traditional films such as the ones made by Cohen.
OR, we could bring ghostriding to the 'Burg. Who's with me?
Adam Goldberg makes music we actually want to listen to
So we posted the video for "BFF!" a little while back...and then we scored an interview with the man himself on LANDy. Check out excerpts from a chat on going from being overwhelmed by years and years of drives of music to working with Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips and Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart on Eros and Omissions (in stores now).
What does LANDy mean and how did you come up with concept for the album?
LANDy is anything you want it to mean really. As I always say, "This LANDy is your LANDy - this LANDy is my LANDy" so it's open to interpretation. Some people have their own ideas of it - [during recording we] did start referring to my dog the sheriff as sheriff LANDy [dog barks on cue -- seriously].
I didn't have some sort of over-arching concept for a record per say. I had just been recording stuff for years and years and years, but I didn't really feel like I had found my sound. [Then] the song writing had evolved to a point where I felt comfortable with putting it out. I met up with these guys - a guy from a local band called The Black Pine here [in LA] and just started playing and recording with them a little bit. Around that time in 2002, I started writing more and more. The first song we recorded was "I'll Be Around," which is on the record.
It wasn't until I went to Oklahoma and recorded these three songs with Steven that I felt that maybe that's the beginning of an actual album. [...] It was the first time I was trying not to just wing it all on my own - there was a lot of people who collaborated musician-wise.
What's the first record you remember holding in your hands?
Oh boy - I think it was a Phoebe Snow record - the all white one.
How long have you been making music?
Well it's subject to debate and interpretation whether it was music or not - I'd say it was '93. I just woke up one day and got a guitar and amp and a 4 track and started writing and recording stuff. I played drums in high school - but never that seriously.
Can you explain the process of getting people involved with the record?
It was really organic - basically there's sort of the same four or five groups of people that reappear. There's this one guys named Eric Siegel who plays bass in the live configuration of our band. On the record he plays bass, guitar and piano. I went to high school with Eric - he and I were a band in the '90s - occasionally we'd play out. It was a different kinda of music - I'm not entirely sure it was music.
And then I met these Black Pine guys and they became collaborators on this and I did stuff with them for my movie I Love Your Work. And then I met Steven at a Flaming Lips show and I asked him if he wanted to have some music in I Love Your Work - so that was the first collaboration we had. And my assistant editor from I Love Your Work plays violin on a couple of tracks. My sound designer did some drums loops and effects stuff on a couple of tracks [...]
Did you start out as a fan of Steven or were you already friends?
I was a huge Flaming Lips fan and a couple friends of mine said that they had met him when they were [in LA] rehearsing with Beck - and they told me he really wanted to meet me. And I was like "Really?! Wow." And then a friend of mine at Warner Bros was working with them on the radio circuit - and she took me to my first Flaming Lips show at the Knitting Factory [in Hollywood] and of course blew my mind. And I met Steven after wards and at the time I was actually second only after Thom Yorke (I don't know how I made it up the list that far) of his list of man crushes. I think I'm no longer on the list - it was a hot period for me on this list. And I reciprocated - and we hung out a couple times and I was sort of on my way to asking the Flaming Lips to do music for I Love Your Work [...] and it became clear to me that they were just too busy. So by default I had to come up with something for this last sequence in the movie was in fact a musical sequence so I had to write something - so I just started writing it. [It] was one of the first things I wrote on piano - so I got Steven to work on that. If I was to add up all the days I've spent with Steven it's probably 15-20 days or something - but he's one of those guys you feel like you've known for a long time.
What was it like recording at The Ship with Aaron?
It was a total cluster fuck. He had a finite time frame and I had a finite budget, so taking all this stuff and simultaneously recording stuff - "BFF!" being one of the more epic ones and all this old stuff I had that wasn't labeled. [...] I had the flu - it was definitely intense. It started out as a two week booking - I spent most of that recording new songs - and then I added another about two weeks.
Who are some of your musical influences?
I have so much music that I like that I'm not even sure where I would begin. I can hear something and be like, "Let's use that sound." But I've never been as a songwriter that can hear something and say "I'm going to write a song in that style." I've definitely never been one of those people who can listen to something and then play it.
I can remember listening to a bunch of Divine Comedy a few months prior to writing "BFF!" The outro of "I'll Be Around" - I wanted it to be sonically-inspired by the layering and looping of Elliot Smith's "Everything Means Nothing To Me." When we were recording in Oklahoma some people said it was sounding a bit Pink Floyd-ish - I obviously have a lot of reverence for them but everyone is going to have their own subjective opinions. When I was a kid Bowie and Elvis Costello were who I listened to A LOT of -
What's next?
When I got back to LA in March [after living in Williamsburg for three months] I turned part of the garage into a rehearsal space - and now we're up to eight in the band including me. We've played twice before - once at the Echo and once at Spaceland - 9 o'clock gigs - just trying to get our footing. I'm not the world's most comfortable live musician - but I think we're getting a place that is interesting and cool. We're just kinda booking gigs - to see how it goes.
Today in McCarren Park, a woman named Alma was handing out copies of an email she'd sent a friend. She was pretty sparing in the details, but she's fed up with gossip and communications issues and also talks to ghosts. Unlike most of us, who'd write a pissed-off tweet, she channeled her frustration into a 2 page long manifesto and took it to the streets. I don't know how evangelical Alma is about her mission, but if someone could forward this to the Bedford Preacher, it would be a big help. Images of Alma's email after the jump:
The First Water Front Pool Party of the summer!
Mission of Burma , Fucked Up , Ponytail , Jemina Pearl
Today, JellyNYC's Pool Parties debut at their new location on the Williamsburg waterfront. Food and beer will be sold inside, but like last year they won't be allowing you to bring your own booze or food.
Here are the set times:
Mission of Burma - 6pm
Fucked Up - 5pm
Ponytail - 4pm
Jemina Pearl - 3pm
More details and directions here.
Fucked Up - "Crooked Head"
As many of you know, we are big fans of the New York Eye and Ear Festival. The second incarnation features bands from allover the New York experimental spectrum in three very distinct venues along with film screenings and a well curated record fair to boot.
Tonight's line up is for me the most exciting. This is a must for any adventurous music lover.
Check the remaining line up after the jump.
Sat, July 11
92YTribeca, Manhattan
>>> 92Y MAIN STAGE <<<
__1:00am Blacklist
._12:30am Martial Canterel
.._12:00am John Wiese
..._11:30pm Freshkills
...._11:00pm Infinity Window
....._10:30pm Living Days
......_10:00pm Axolotl
.......__9:300pm Island’s Eyelids
........__9:00pm Grasshopper
**********************************************
Sun, July 12
Death By Audio, Brooklyn
_12:00am Murdertronics
._11:30pm Team Robespierre
.._11:00pm Talibam!
..._10:30pm Total Abuse
...._10:00pm Drunkdriver
.....__9:30pm Pygmy Shrews
......__9:00pm Opponents
Kittens Ablaze performing on N 7th & Bedford
Bedford Ave is shut down to traffic, so go get a handroll made on the street in front of Wasabi, do some shopping, or Yoga, or Twister-- all on the street... Then walk slightly East and get yourself some zepolles and go on a carnival ride by the BQE. Sounds like a nice way to spend a breezy Saturday to me.
Photos by Yoon Kim
Last night at Williamsburg's new Brooklyn Bowl, Flavorpill hosted the first ever concert bowling extravaganza featuring O'Death and a band I've been dying to see live, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt. Pleasantly surprised by our dear CMJ and SXSW staple, the Ice Cream Man, I entered the glowing space shortly after consuming my cherry flavored Powerpuff Girls pop.
The space was overwhelmingly huge, finished with stained wood and dark leather couches. I had heard of its extravagance, but Brooklyn Bowl really took me by surprise. Around each corner, there was more... but all with the looming notion of "is this really neccessary?" I'm not a bowler, so maybe I don't get it-- especially since, well, don't we have the Gutter (just a few blocks away) already? After some time in this new almost waterfront paradox, I was ready for some music...
O'Death began their set with a slightly confused "I don't think we've been the first band playing in a place before", as they unleashed some serious barnyard thrash on the crowd. Coming off a three week tour with Les Claypool, you could tell that there were some diehard fans in the audience, if not by the Phish-esque dancing, then the yelps and shirt removal helped. Altogether, a performance I recommend seeing up close, but I'm a sucker for country strings.
Next up-- TPDR. Putting this unlikely pair together was, indeed, strange. Although both entertaining in their own right, O'Death seemed to adapt quite well to their surrounding of bowling shoes and brew. Whereas Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, whose show relies largely on audience participation, seemed somewhat vacant in comparison to what I hear is usually an emotional and wildly affecting spectacle. Handing out costumes and performing amongst the crowd, they did their best to bring the intimacy to this (did I mention HUGE?) space. I wish I could have transported the Terror Pigeon crew to the Market Hotel where they would have translated better amongst the likes of Javelin.
Luckily, I was able to make it over to Market just in time for their set, where after a few songs I spotted Neil of Terror Pigeon, longing to be with his own kind. Amongst the sweaty dance outbreak that Javelin requires, I had an epiphany-- have I just gotten used to everyone looking and smelling and sounding like shit, that a place like Brooklyn Bowl could make me feel uncomfortable enough to induce a Wonder Years inner monologue?? If that be the case, at least I know home is a land of cute boys, PBRs, and dance parties.
Tucked away on Graham Ave., the new seafood restaurant Sel de Mer has been overshadowed by its less understated neighbor Mesa Coyoacan. That's a travesty, because Sel de Mar offers great seafood at reasonable prices and the best fish-'n-chips in the neighborhood. Plus, now they're open for brunch. We just feasted on the Salmon Eggs Benedict—the salmon was cured with a touch of Sambuca which perfectly complemented the saltiness. Delicious. Decorated to look like a pier-side seafood shack, Sel de Mar is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Highly recommended.
This is what Grub Street says:
Think of the menu at Sel de Mer, a new seafood-focused restaurant in the old Najeeb’s space, as “a Mediterranean–meets–Long Island kind of thing,” says chef-owner Jeff Slagg: whole roasted dorade and three moules-frites preparations, but also steamers, fish-cake sliders, and fish and chips. That goes double for the new bar. “I wanted it to look like an old dock,” says Slagg, who did a stint at Oceana and more recently ran the kitchen at Sweetwater. “I’m just really into the water.”We've got more information and a menu in our restaurant section.
Also new to the neighborhood: Hachi. The entrees are on the meh side, but the sushi is great and very affordable.
image c/o Grub Street
Ponytail
This Sunday, JellyNYC's Pool Parties debut at their new location on the Williamsburg waterfront. Here's the line-up:
Mission of Burma | Fucked Up | Ponytail | Jemina Pearl of Be your Own Pet
Gates open at 2pm and best of all it's FREE. We've got directions and the full schedule for all the pool parties at www.freewilliamsburg.com/h2oshows.
The Mikroknytes will perform at Paris London West Nile as part of the Brown Wing Overdrive night with Hiccup (Chuck Bettis, Luke Calzonetti and special guest Oran Canfield) and Mikey IQ Jones. The show starts at 9pm with a $5 donation. The set will include the debut of a new video work Esotear by Derek. Mikroknytes have been known to create a heavy dose of euphoric drone that open all your chakras.
HICCUP
(Luke Calzonetti - electronics / Chuck Bettis - electronics & throat + special guest Oran Canfield - drums)
Hiccup is usually a duo, birthed during BWO, of Luke & Chuck; but this night the are joined by another Child Abuse member, Oran. They specialize in high-octane,trance-inducing energy.
MIKEY IQ JONES
(Mikey - electronics, drums, voice)
IQ has been rocking the solo thing pre-BWO and is putting the finishing touches on his solo record. His gig @ Roulette blew some minds and this night will probably repeat such an affect.
Come join the ritual!
@ WEST NILE
285 Kent (btwn south 1st and south 2nd street)
Brooklyn, NY
9pm
More information: www.shinkoyo.com/parislondon/
[image: Mikroknytes - Velvet Bank Album Cover]
Matt & Kim playing Jesse Jane and Daylight at Pier 54 July 9th for Hudson River Park's "River Rocks" show. Shot by unARTigNYC, soundtrack by Aa.
Evidently, this is the 3rd most important news story in the world today.
"He's an old soul with an enormous amount of creative artistic energy that pours to him and from him," said Conner, who works as a "soul intuitive" in Los Angeles, California....And despite all of Jackson's troubles, Conner said he believes the star will have an opportunity at success and fame again.
Unlike other souls that stay in the nonphysical realm anywhere from 70 to 150 years, he said, he believes the singer's soul will return quickly -- within the next 20 years -- because Jackson was such a perfectionist that he will want to "pick up where he left off."
There has been word of a strange liquor license swap between Motorino and its pizza-topia predecessor, Una Pizza Napoletana, for a while now. Finally some clarity: it looks like our Motorino, one of the neighborhood's biggest success stories, will be taking over the the UPN space when chef, er, pizzaioli, Anthony Mangieri, takes off for the West Coast. The news comes just as Bruni declared both joints to be among the city's best, so I suspect the East Village will eventually learn to cope with their loss. [Eater]
Meanwhile, on the waterfront: Jimmy's No. 43 owner and cook-off maven Jimmy Carbone is throwing a locally-sourced BBQ contest at the LIC Water Taxi Beach on July 21, from 6-9pm. For $35, you'll get to gorge yourself on not only the contestants' fare, but that of Fette Sau and the upcoming Fatty 'Cue as well. As The Feedbag points out, and Eater recently surmised, this could be your last best chance to try the 'Que before you actually have to get your hog-loving self down to South 6th Street.
Hachi, the 'hood's newest pan-Asian joint, is now open, and surprisingly not on the Bedford strip. The decor of the Grand Street spot may be about as subtle as a Jack Black, but early reports from the FreeW crew suggest that the very affordable sushi is well worth the visual affront, though the entrées don't fare as well. Full menu and pics at Grub Street.
For a heartier meal, you can head over to Pop's at North 8th and Bedford to catch their hot dog-eating contest tomorrow, July 11, at 4pm.
And last, a venue so new all we can tell you is the name: Bakeri. Work on the old St. Helen's Cafe spot on North 7th and Wythe has managed to come quite far without attracting any attention. More info when we have it. [Thanks, Skeeter]
Metropolitan
Somehow, this seems like a perfect fit for him:
MGMT celebrated America's birthday by putting on a show - enjoy photos by Yoon Kim!
Brooklyn Bridge Park's Movies With A View kicks off its 10th Anniversary Season tonight with cult favorite Raising Arizona. This is easily the best outdoor movie spot, sorry McCarren (although Summerscreen's line-up is better), you just can't beat being surrounded by the lights of the bridge. Get there early to grab a spot to enjoy the DJ, short film, and feature presentation -- which starts at dusk. |
Thursday, July 9 Feature Film: Raising Arizona Short: Ami Underground directed by D.W. Young DJ: DJ DRM |
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Thursday, July 16 Feature Film: The Maltese Falcon Short: Under the Rollercoaster directed by Lila Place DJ: MonkOne |
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Thursday, July 23 Feature Film: Paper Moon Short: The Coffee Bird directed by Bryan Brinkman DJ: Tim "Love" Lee |
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Thursday, July 30 Feature Film: To Catch A Thief Short: Icebox Blues directed by Jesse Ash DJ: DJ Ayres |
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Thursday, August 6 Feature Film: The Return Of The Pink Panther (1975) Short: It's Good to Be Green directed by Michael Garvey DJ: Soulstatic |
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Thursday, August 13 Feature Film: Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid Short: Birdman of Brooklyn directed by JL Aronson DJ: Nick Name |
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Thursday, August 20 Feature Film: Catch Me If You Can Short: 6 a.m. directed by Carmen Vidal DJ: DJ Emch |
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Thursday, August 27 Feature Film: Edward Scissorhands Short: I Am Not Obsessed directed by Imani Dean DJ: Oneman |
From their press release. [Juan Maclean image via]:
Building in the inaugural success of 2008, Famous Friends, a New York-based promotion company, in conjunction with Noise Problem, a leading multi-faceted music agency, are pleased to announce the line up for The Second Annual Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (BEMF). Spanning two stages, indoor and out, BEMF will be headlined by The Juan Maclean (live) and also feature Young Love, Jupiter One, Adventure, Shy Child, Home Video, Free Blood, Awesome New Republic as well as dozens of other DJs and performers.Line-up after the jump.Famous Friends will be announcing a very special surprise guest headliner via twitter on the day of the show. Follow them at http://twitter.com/famousfriends to receive the latest news in advance. The line up is listed below.
BEMF is an all-day event for emerging and established dance artists celebrating the vibrant music scene found in the city of New York. The festival will bring together New York's veterans and up-and-coming talent, along with some special out of town guests, and will be held on Saturday, August 8th at Old American Can Factory, located at 232 3rd Street in Brooklyn from 4PM to 4AM.
Adding fuel to the fire, the festival will offer a free open bar courtesy of Pabst Blue Ribbon from 4PM - 6PM. Advance tickets are $25 and can be purchased at BrooklynEMF.com. RJD2 will not be performing as previously announced.
We are holding back the announcement of the co-headliner until the day of show where we'll announce them via twitter.
Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival's Line Up:
The Juan Maclean (live)
Young Love
33hz
Shy Child
Designer Drugs
Jupiter One
BELL
Free Blood
The Cloud Room
Home Video
Adventure
Codebreaker
Kap10kurt
Awesome New Republic
The American Dream Team
JDH & DAVE P (FIXED/ RVNG)
Roxy Cottontail
Larry Tee
DJ Ayres
Finger on the Pulse DJs
Viking
Flashmen
Jubilee
Udachi
Purple Crush
NROTB
Tayisha Busay
LEIF
Rude Crew (w/ Rude Bear!)
VDRK
Subdrive
Galbis
Free Magic
Chaz & Jason Pants (Palms Out Sounds)
Terror Dactel
Charlie Tippie
Gavin Royce
Kids with Snakes
Tonight at Le Poisson Rouge, Chris Garneau celebrates the release of his highly anticipated sophomore album, El Radio-- and we've got a pair of tickets for one lucky reader to join in the fun!
Much like Michigan has Sufjan Stevens, Brooklyn's Garneau holds up his melodic quirkiness like a flag against a windy sea current. His trembling heartfelt lyrics had me at 2007's Music for Tourists. Some of the gloom from the previous album has lifted, and been replaced with a sort of playfulness. The seamless transition of these two sounds is best showcased between the meloncholy Cat Power-esque piano of "Hands on the Radio" to the sweeping horns and marching drums on "No More Pirates". Rarely do you see this kind of talent have fun with their work, and you can feel the sentiment in the tapping of your own toes-- or in the obsessive repeat cycle I currently have ballad "Hometown Girls" in.
Navigate your way to our Facebook page and comment on the contest thread for your chance to score a pair of tickets to the show tonight. And if you see Chris, be sure to thank him for bringing forth some honest melodies for us to set our heart's ticking to.
Winner announced at 4pm, so hurry up and get some! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Coney Island needs your help. At the end of this month, politicians will be voting on a controversial measure to stick a number of large, sun-sucking hotels right in the heart of Coney Island. But this doesn't have to happen. Coney Island USA and the “Mayor” of Coney created this friendly but important little PSA to sum things up and show off an alternative plan to save Coney Island:
“Politicians DO listen to the public. Make some noise; July is the month,” says Zigun, who rallied on the steps of City Hall last month with the grassroots group Save Coney Island.“The future of Coney Island is being decided now. It’s an American treasure; let’s develop it the right way, the good way.”
If you feel like getting involved and speaking out, you can find your City Councilmember by typing in your street address and borough on the City Council’s About page.
For more reading, visit Amusing the Zillion.
Surrounded by some of the loudest, sidewalk-hogging-est places in the neighborhood—Zabloski’s, Sea, Hugs—it’s not a huge surprise that the nearly month-old Green Canteen, on North 6th between Berry and Wythe, has flown a bit under the locals’ restaurant radar. But, like a too timid carbon cap-and-trade bill (I’m looking at you, House of Representatives) the place has something going for it that will either finally get the eco-ball rolling or deter future attempts, depending on its success: the state’s first silver-LEED certification granted to a restaurant.
To snag this not-inexpensive honor, the owners (one of whom used to head Olive Garden and Burger King, naturally) hit all the right notes: 100 percent wind power; low flow faucets and toilets; compost bins out back with regular shipments to a farm in Jersey; and a top-of-the-line HVAC unit spitting out air described by manager Mike Hewitt as “the best this side of the Alps.” The dining room’s long wooden banquets, laid out under gorgeous prints of the neighborhood in its industrial heyday, were even fashioned out of ceiling beams carved out of the original structure, part of the requirement that renovations make use of recovered materials.
Because it would be a tad hypocritical to serve rib-sticking, butter-soaked fare in such a pristine environment, the expansive menu of (mostly) Mediterranean dishes--flatbreads, salads, sliders, chilis, and hummus bowls--errs on the lighter side and items are dished out in portions meant to satisfy without requiring newly-bored belt-notches. Surprisingly low calorie counts are also posted prominently online, and they’re not even seeking a liquor license or offering doggy bags, to further discourage over consumption. Of course, with a few exceptions such as the Hudson Valley duck burgers, this sort of menu doesn’t invite destination dining so much as trusty regulars seeking a light and locally-sourced brunch, lunch, or dinner nearby. Here’s hoping there are sufficient numbers of these people nearby, because, like all those compost-able leftovers, a Silver LEED certificate is a terrible thing to waste.
Green Canteen
106 North 6th Street
718-387-5900
Underwater Peoples, the folks who got us longing for the sunshine with the perfect summer mix, will be releasing a split 7" record on Monday, July 13th. And who will be delivering the musical goods, you ask? Well none other than New Jersey's finest-- on Side A, Ducktails' tour de force, "Parasailing" and on Side B, the 7" debut of hometown pal, Julian Lynch, bringing the mystical lo-fi sound one could only expect from this crew, with "Topi" and "Garden 2." Plus, the cover art was made possible by fellow Real Estater Martin Courtney.
And that's not all! With your $7 purchase of the record, you'll get a DVD including two Richard Law videos that will be making their way to YouTube shortly. So email the guys at underwaterpeoples@gmail.com to get your copy-- before they're all sold out!!
The best marketing tactic ever, after the jump...
This was a photo I recieved from the guys over at Underwater, along with the album artwork. Which I think should be included in your $7 well spent. So here it is for free-- now go buy the record!
Impossible to resist, huh? Well, you also have my personal promise that it's worth it ;)
And be sure to catch Ducktails at Monster Island with U.S. Girls and Nonhorse on July 16th!
Image via MACROSEA
“We heard about dumpster pools—one was done by Curtis Crowe of the band Pylon in Athens, Georgia a few years ago, and others have done it, but usually smaller—and decided we wanted to do it this summer in Brooklyn as a test site/prototype. We (David Belt, Alix Feinkind, and myself, who are Macro-Sea) heard about in late February. In late May we found the location, and from the time we got the dumpsters to the opening on July 4th was 12 days. We would like to do them in the parking lots of the strip malls and show people that with not too much expense you can creatively reuse what is basically considered urban detritus and make something really cool and fun and also fairly easy to put together." — Jocko Weyland
If anyone sees any of the dumpster pools in the neighborhood, let us know!
Source: Ready Made
Check out the Grand Opening of Williamsburg's newest Vintage Boutique-- Old Made. More than just a clever name, owners Leah Kroll and Frances Pezik are bringing you some of the cutest vintage clothing and accessories the 'hood has to offer.
In addition to all the cuteness, they've recruited some awesome local talent for this Friday's opening including music from Drew Citron, Beeping Sleauty, Unsolved Mysteries, Graffiti Monsters; and local arists Ethan Cook, Chelsea Harris, Ivy Weinglass, Eric Von Massey and Morgan Silver-Greenberg.
And the fun doesn't stop after opening night, expect revolving art shows, live music, and maybe even some store front BBQs in the future. Make an appearance on Friday between 7pm and Midnight for a celebratory cocktail off the Lorimer stop, or at least to peep the killer MJ memorial in the window.
A tiny tribute to MJ, spotted from LA Burrito on Bedford Ave.
From the studio of Interpol and The National producer Peter Katis, as well as their own bookish depths of musical charm emerge Fanfarlo. This whimsical quartet of string, horn, and backyard folk vocals, is the perfect mix of meloncholy Devotchka with a happier pop core, like local faves Motel Motel. In addition to their already long list of musical talents, they seem to be quite crafty too! From KEXP:
Fanfarlo not only released their debut themselves, but they also handcrafted 500 limited editions of the album — housed in special foil-blocked, embossed linen-covered dvd-shaped box, packed with an exclusive set of heavyweight letterpress printed postcards featuring the band’s artwork and lyrics — themselves! They set up a production line in their own living room and handpacked each one[...]The sets were originally available through Rough Trade but are long gone by now
And just when you thought you were out of luck... FREEburg is giving away a Fanfarlo Box Set to one lucky reader! Just follow us on Twitter @freedubya and ReTweet the Fanfarlo contest for a chance to win!
Take a looksy after the jump for photos of the Fanfarlo gang making the Limited Edition Reservoir Box Sets, as well as a download of "Luna", the first single off the self released debut album.
Download "Luna" here.
The L's Summerscreen outdoor film series returns tomorrow (Wed.) night with Reality Bites, and food and drink urges will be tamed by Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, DUB Pies, San Loco, Two Boots, Sixpoint Craft Ales and Wine Australia. The "doors" to the McCarren Park ballfields open at 6:00, and Brooklyn band Wild Yaks will be playing at 6:30. After that, it's all Ben Stiller and his time capsule of early 90's deliciousness to wet your whistles.
Yacht Rock MJ: "How am I supposed to stick my dick in some pussy, when you got me singing like one"
Undoubtedly, you've all seen Yacht Rock already. If not, go here and watch them all. They're a few years old, but they still hold up amazingly well. The Wikipedia summary of the plot, is almost as hilarious as the videos. Check it out after the jump.
The series depicts some realistic aspects of the music, but builds exaggerated storylines around them. For example, main protagonists Loggins and McDonald receive inspiration from a fictional Yacht Rock impresario named Koko Goldstein, whose death in Episode 2 ultimately leads them to go their separate ways musically. Another example is the series' presentation of several real-life characters. McDonald is an idealistic and earnest singer/songwriter, but takes both "smooth music" and himself far too seriously. Loggins is his easygoing friend and frequent collaborator who eventually abandons smooth music in favor of commercial hard rock in the 80s, which strains their friendship. The portrayal of John Oates as the abusive, foulmouthed leader of Hall & Oates, exerting sometimes violent control over the milquetoast Daryl Hall, is clearly different from reality, in which Hall is the main lead vocalist and songwriter with no hint of a rivalry. Christopher Cross is depicted as a wide-eyed, timid newbie whose song "Sailing" is lauded as the "smoothest song ever". Loggins' former partner Jim Messina is a bitter wino who hates Loggins for his success and perceived betrayal. Michael Jackson is depicted as a hard-rock enthusiast who believes his partnership with guitarist Eddie Van Halen will lead to an endless parade of female sexual conquests. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the Doobie Brothers' lead guitarist, is seen threatening to kick McDonald "out of the Doobies" if he doesn't write them another hit. The real Baxter did bring McDonald into the band but he quit himself after achieving their greatest commercial success because of his displeasure with their new commercial sound and attitude. The Eagles (portrayed here as jock-like meatheads) and Steely Dan (portrayed as snarky nerds, with Donald Fagen speaking in an incoherent babble of Scat) really did insert lyrical references to each other in their music, as depicted in the show, but these were actually friendly in nature, not part of a longtime grudge involving baseball bats and lunch-money shakedowns.
Hey, freelancers and the unemployed. Sheila over at ASSME thinks its time you liven up and r-e-s-p-e-c-t yourselves:
This Friday, July 10th, let’s all make an effort to all put on pants. Fridays are often a time for a more relaxed dress code in offices. But not for the jobless. This Friday, take a shower in the morning, fix your hair, and put on some nice clothes even if you won’t be leaving the house. Nice shorts and skirts OK too, but NO boxers or pajamas–you must wear clothes that you could actually go to a job in. (Send in pics if you want!)
So there you have it. July 10th. Put on your pants. We'll be making house calls to check up on each and every one of you in support of this ambitious cause. (h/t gawker)
Go for a Williamsburg art gallery walking tour this Saturday at 2pm with "art critic and art tour guide," Merrily Kerr. It leaves from the Williamsburg Walks WGA table on Bedford Avenue near N. 5th Street and will last approximately 1.5 hours. The $10 tickets can be bought on the spot or online.
I just posted a piece on Palin's insane resignation speech over at the Huffington Post. Here a taste
Responding to criticism that many were confused by her resignation speech on Friday, Governor Palin issued another press conference today to explain her reasons in "plain English" and without the use of sports and/or fish metaphors.You can read it all on The Huffington Post."When I last spoke about the issues at hand here on Friday," stated Palin, "I was addressing hardworking, average Americans who understand what it means to be a leader. Average Americans also understand sports metaphors and the direction a dead fish will move when in a particular body of water that has a current." [...]
Critics say that today's press conference was even more confusing than the one held on Friday, further muddling the governor's reasons for departure. Still, Palin did manage to shed some light on her ability to make an eight-minute speech without taking a breath.
"They don't call me the Barracuda just because I'm tough," she told reporters referring to her uncanny ability to forgo breathing.
"Sometimes, I prefer making speeches without breathing at all. I'm an avid runner and depriving my brain of oxygen sorta feels like having a runner's high. Plus, I know the First Dude will catch me should I get too dizzy. He's a deacon at our family's Pentecostal church and has lots of practice catching fainters who have had demons exorcised."
Most scientists say that when the brain is deprived of oxygen it can no longer function properly, and that this could explain the governor's inability to communicate clearly. But fervent Palin supporter, Dick Kristal, contends that the brain can operate just fine without oxygen.
"Excess carbon emissions cause global warming, too little oxygen can cause decreased brain activity, blah blah blah blah blah," said a visibly agitated Kristal. "These are clearly just theories, pseudo science promoted by liberals."
Now that you're all comfortable with our Facebook ticket giveaway platform, we're switching things up.
Japandroids, the 2-piece garage rock band from Vancouver, will be rolling thru the LES for one night only before they continue off to Boston for the rest of their Post-Nothing tour-- and we've got a pair of tickets for you.
I've got to say that at my initial introduction to Japandroids, I was thouroughly impressed. Listening to the tracks, I would've never guessed below a trio. The first track off the August 4th release, "The Boys Are Leaving Town", is the quintessential summer song-- the kind you could walk off into highway heat haze to. Plus, I'm a sucker for angsty dudes that guitar riff for love.
So follow @freedubya on Twitter, and Direct Message us with the best way to beat the NYC heat, and a pair of tickets for the July 11th show at Pianos could be yours. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
Okay. Now that someone's grandfather over at the WSJ has discovered this wacky new trend, can we officially agree that skinny jeans are passé and start phasing them out?
Explanations abound for why men would want to wear jeans that look so uncomfortable and impractical. Some fashion observers say skinny jeans' hold on certain men stems in part from the wearers' desire to show off their gym-sculpted bodies. [...]The brands also hope the changes will make their skinny jeans appeal beyond the urban hipsters, skater-types, rockers and hip-hop fans who already wear them to men with meatier legs. "I'm an avid cyclist and need to have more room in my jeans because my quads are getting worked on so much," says Michael Ball, co-founder of premium denim brand Rock & Republic, which late last year added stretch to its men's skinny jeans [...]
Though the jeans may be getting easier to wear, the look isn't easy to pull off. The trick is to wear skinny jeans with slim-fitting shirts and pointy-toed dress shoes or dressy boots. Any squarish, loose or, worse still, boxy-fit sweater or shirt can make a man's proportions look out of whack and his legs way too skinny.
[Thanks Kevin]
Get off the internets and go do your American duty of spending money and roasting in the sun on this July 4th at Williamsburg Walks. Bedford between N4 and n9 are a pedestrian mall with seating, tables, vendors and all sorts of fun things. It's going on right now and patriotic as ever.
Happy July 4th, everyone.
Over at the L Mag, they're feeling nostalgic. Even I have been sucked into thinking about the past. So, I've decided to do some bringin' it back a la Pomp & Circumstance. Starting with the video that kicked off the summer of '08, before quickly disappearing (but definitely not before starting some Royal Oak style rooftop foot stomping), sorta like this year's (more lo-fi) tribute to a tribute. Thing is, it's still relevant, especially for those of you that are getting out of the city this weekend... Unlike those other summer kick off princes, MGMT.
Check out some been there, done thats that are oh-so-last summer after the jump.
[image via]
Hipsters at the Beach
Let's not let this happen again this summer. Can we all promise each other that beaches are for bathing suits? Thanks.
The Wackness
The movie that we loved to hate, or hated to love... I can't remember which. As a NYC kid, I can say that most of my high school summers unfolded like this. I even have a friend who was very much like the Mary Kate character. Which brings us to...
Mushrooms
Is it me, or is everyone talking about these right now?
KIDS
Had to include this horrifying coming of age flick, since it's basically The Wackness, just a million times more scary. SO when you're off getting some this summer, remember to wrap it up.
That American Apparel Skirt
You know, the one everyone you know has.
Feathers
I blame these guys for the whole nouveau American Indian chic movement.
Comment it up with your memorables from summers past!
Neon Indian, the electronics-gone-sad collaboration between Alan Palomo and Alicia Scardetta, shall be releasing a debut full length just in time to play soundtrack to our summer memories. You know, right around mid-October when you realize it's almost Halloween & you don't have a costume. This hazy musical mumblecore will scroll through your brain with flashes of hand holding which quickly disappeared once the BBQ sauce sticky PBR cans got recycled.
It took a minute for these tracks to grow on me after GvB first introduced us. But sometimes all it takes is a fan video to make us change our minds-- (also, anyone who quotes Clueless is ok in my book):
Right click away here, for the single "Terminally Chill" off Psychic Chasms, which hits the streets October 13th.
I know I certainly am! And I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but with the announcement of GravyTrain!!!! at the closing show, I nearly wet myself. Here's why:
In 2002, I headed West. And where did this newly free New Yorker end up? Well, Oakland, CA! And as I sped down the I-80 across the Bay Bridge, with my equally annoying high-pitched roommate in tow, I would belt out the racket hook of "Hella Nervous" as my only exception to uttering the meaningless adjective(?) that is... hella.
GravyTrain!!!! will always have a special place in my heart. So when this year's "Pool Parties" come to a close, think of me and my personal Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl, no matter how stupid they, or I, might have been.
Were you or someone you know recently the victim of a Niko Bellic-style crime scene? We found a Craigslist listing that might point you in the right direction:
Totally NOT creepy stuff i need to get rid of. (Williamsburg)
I am "moving away", so i need to get rid of some things that might me useful to some one. shoot me an email if you want anything.items are as follows:
-Pair of crutches
-Black Uniqlo trench coat size small
-Lead Pipe
-2gal jerry can, red
-Black leather gloves mens size s-m
-ww2 leather ammo pouches
-Perfectly good notebook, with some pages missing.have a nice day
Oh, we will. Have a nice move. We're still friends for blogging about this, right? I wouldn't, uh, what anything to happen or anything. Kinda missing the days of free couches and stuff.
Aaron Goodman pictured with his dog Parker. The terrier died last week after drinking contaminated water [image via]
It's turning into the week of sick dog stories, but this story is very upsetting.
Parker died by playing in the places he loved. The 6-year-old rat terrier dog is believed to have caught Leptospirosis, a fast-moving illness transmitted through water infected by rat or mice urine. Doctors suspect that the dog contracted the disease from one of North Brooklyn's dog runs, which have been awash in mud and stagnant puddles during June's heavy rains.Within days, Parker went from scampering in his Williamsburg home, to suffering from kidney failure so severe that he had to be euthanized last Sunday. No details were available about the other dog.
The city reported 17 infections among dogs in 2007, with two cases linked to Prospect Park, according to the most recent city data. Last year, officials notified Brooklyn veterinarians to watch for the disease...
“He wasn't eating. His skin turned yellow,” Goodman said about Parker. “They just couldn't do anything for him.”
Dog runs in Greenpoint and Williamsburg lack fresh water and suffer from poor drainage, which owners believe could have contributed to the outbreak.
It's very rare that a commenter in disagreement with us here on FREEwilliamsburg counters one of our posts with something other than "you f##%king hipster i hate hot dogs and my neighbor's trust fund makes sex noises," or whatever you people say. So, we were a bit proud when commenter Shawn Richardson countered Lisa's post - Sad News for Berliners and Fixies - with a freakin' essay!
I don't even really know what he said, because for the most part I have a crippling case of ADD and I tuned out after he wrote, "Here comes the logic." That was enough for me. The fact that he even offered to bring a bucket of logic to our dinner party made me smile. So, we've decided to re-post that comment here as its very own, self-sufficient, living and breathing blog post. For context, he's responding to the one-off question on the original post, "Who wants to organize a protest?"
Ladies and gentlemen, here for your reading pleasure, is commenter Shawn Richardson's logical rebuttal to Lisa's post about fixies in Berlin. After the first paragraph, the rest of the post is below the jump.
Here Comes The Logic, by Shawn Richardson
I don’t think anyone wants to organize a protest; nor should they want to. Are you currently located in Berlin? I think it’s safe to assume you’re not since you’re posting on a blog called FREEwilliamsburg. I can understand your reason for being upset, angered, etc. about the subject. Although, the matter of the fact is that protesting something trivial (in the grand scheme of things this is trivial if you want to admit it or not) like this so far away from the affected area will have very little if no effect (I’m being gracious by saying “very little”). Here comes the logic...
Let’s flip the coin. The German Autobahn has roughly 3,500mi of roadway with no upper speed limit for passenger cars and motorcycles. This is often considered a sort of Mecca by driving enthusiasts. The Eisenhower Interstate System, the US equivalent of the German Autobahn is about 6 times larger in total length but has 0 miles of roadway with no speed limit. Now, I can imagine that this might upset some gear heads in Germany because their brethren across the pond do not get to enjoy the luxury and thrill that they do. How much would you sympathize with these people if they organized a protest in Germany against the traffic laws made in America? You have to admit that this kind of sounds silly and would mostly likely go nowhere.
Take a step back and look at the situation. There are some people who ride fixed gear bikes that have just as much if not more control of their movements than their freewheeling friends. On average though, people do not have the skill to scrub speed as fast on a fixed gear bike as they do on a freewheel bike with brake levers. It’s much easier (for the average rider) to modulate the braking force with a lever as opposed to resisting forward motion of the crank arms. I mean, I agree that theoretically both bike designs can come to a complete stop in the same distance. Since both are capable of locking the wheels then they are inherently capable to holding the braking force at impending lockup where maximum stopping force is achieved. Like I said though, the average user is safer with brakes rather than relying on their leg muscles to stop their bike.
You would agree with me that traffic laws are designed to maximize safety, correct? Speed limits are put into place because it has been calculated that the average (actually below average) driver could not maintain full control of their vehicle or maintain proper reaction times if they were traveling at a faster rate. No Passing Zones are established on straight roads because the below average performing vehicle could not pass a slower vehicle in that distance. Both you and I know that we can drive our cars above the speed limit safely and that we can pass slower cars most of the time even there is a double yellow line, but the laws are there to protect us and other drivers from the percentage of people who do not have superior (or even average) driving skills.
This same mentality of “Safety First” has been taken by German lawmakers with this decision. They’re not trying to rain on anyone’s parade or secretly take action against a niche group of cyclists. They are just trying to maximize the level of safety on their roadways, nothing less, nothing more. So putting this all together, do you really want to call for a protest against safety? I think not. I mean, unless you call attention to yourself by riding like an asshole, then authorities will most likely never know that you’re riding a fixed gear. It’s when people do ride aggressively and disobey other traffic laws that they get attention and this is when their bikes get impounded fixed gear or not.
In closing, this is not meant as an attack. I’m just trying to open your eyes to the reality of your call for a protest. I have nothing against fixed gear bikes. I think they are the sexiest mode of transportation around. It’s all go, no frills; everything is there for the purpose of moving forward. Do I get a chuckle whenever I see a hipster on a fixed gear out of the saddle struggling to make it up a steep hill or spinning their legs to death going back down said hill? Yes, it’s silly, but do I have anything against it, no.
A funny thing happened on the way to opening Phorum, the one-week old pan-Mediterranean restaurant on Starr Street in Bushwick. Enzo Gugliuzza and his wife Anna Maria Palmiotto, Italian natives and long-time foodie travelers, were so in love with the idea of opening a restaurant in the building they owned and lived in that they ended up building it in what had been their own living room. “I evicted myself,” said Gugliuzza, now a Queens resident.
Their loss looks like Bushwick’s gain, though, as the menu does have that labor-of-love vibe: house-made mozzarella, at least one pasta that can be tailored for vegan palates, and a couple of wine options for less than twenty dollars a bottle. With the guidance of head chef John Ciccinelli, the couple even went so far as to create some wholly original recipes themselves. A green apple and cinnamon ravioli is paired is served in a Hudson Valley duck ragu and a lamb sausage with panelle (Sicilian chickpea fritters) and mint yogurt blends Middle Eastern, Italian, and Greek cuisines.
Those dishes, along with appetizers of braised artichoke hearts in olive oil, mint, and garlic and PEI mussels with chorizo, white wine, cilantro, and smoked paprika, as well as a pork chop stuffed with spinach, asiago, and prosciutto have been the early hits. The biggest draw, however, might be the surprising affordability: no entrée is over $16 and diners can have pizza or pasta for as little as $8. (Note: the older menu on their website lists significantly higher prices.) In the age of the more profligate Rye and Walter Foods--something even Bruni commented on recently--such low prices alone may elevate Phorum to part of a holy trinity of Bushwick dining, alongside Roberta’s and Northeast Kingdom.
Phorum
50 Starr Street, Bushwick
718-417-7830
phorumonstarr.com
by Dave Thomas
Humpday
Comedy continues to dominate, with Big New Releases from Sacha Baron Cohen and Judd Apatow, though Harry Potter will pwn the month.
July 3
PUBLIC ENEMIES
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) vs. John Dillinger (Johnny Depp).
WILL IT SUCK?
Gotta say I agree with the choice of director. Michael Mann (who co-writes) made his bones on cops and robbers. One of his co-writers, Ann Biderman, also has some good crime under her belt (Primal Fear, Copycat). Cast doesn't exactly suck, with Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Rory Cochrane and Lili Taylor thrown into the mix.
Early buzz is good.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
It's Purvis vs. Dillinger, not Batman vs. Jack Sparrow. Ice Age will pull any demo that might otherwise make that mistake. $78mil.
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ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
In case you were wondering, yes, they do have a plausible explanation for dinosaurs being around during the Ice Age. Well, an explanation, anyway.
WILL IT SUCK?
Co-director of the original and director of the sequel is back, along with writers from the original plus Simpsons vet Mike Reiss. So there's hope. Also Simon Pegg joins the voice cast, and that's always fun.
Early buzz is meh.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Ice Age movies are only getting bigger grosses, but this is the first time they've launched in the summer. 2nd frame of Transformers is nothing to sneeze at, but at least there's a cushion of a weekend before Harry Potter hits. $205mil.
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I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
How to Lose a Guy in Five Dates
WILL IT SUCK?
Wasn't Nia Vardolos just in a romantic comedy? This one has more in common with Big Fat Greek however, given that she wrote it and co-stars with her Greek co-star John Corbett. Also her directorial debut. And how they kept Judah Friedlander out of the trailer is beyond me. Vardolos penning the screenplay tips the odds in favor of not suck.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Meh returns for Ruins bode poorly for this. $10mil.
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THE GIRL FROM MONACO
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Guy falls for girl and his bodyguard gets involved somehow.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is meh. From writer/director Anne Fontaine whose Coco Chanel biopic starring Audrey Tatou has yet to hit the States. This is considered her least impressive work by IMDb'ers. (The Chanel pic, btw, is considered her best).
Co-written by Benoit Graffin, which I only bring up because he also wrote Priceless (also w/ Tatou), which you should go see now.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Likely to be overshadowed. $750,000.
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July 10
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BRÜNO
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
If Borat were gay, and made a lot of the same people uncomfortable.
WILL IT SUCK?
Pretty much the same team here as Borat, and the trailer has that same so-wrong-but-so-funny feel. Early footage screened at SXSW apparently went over well, though I somehow missed it.
Early buzz is solid.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Probably won't have the same impact as Borat, which was a surprise, but still well-positioned. $96mil.
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I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Guy falls for Hayden Panettiere (cos, well, that's what you do). Night of his life ensues.
WILL IT SUCK?
I give director Chris Columbus some credit ever since he delivered two knockout Harry Potters. And the writer penned some decent Simpsons fare. Plus, it's based on the writer's own novel, an exceedingly rare occurrence in teen comedies.
By the way, how weird is it that Alan Ruck is now playing the dad in a teen comedy?
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Will get a snippet of the Panettiere fan base before Harry Potter swoops them up next week. $33mil.
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HUMPDAY
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Ben and Andrew Make a Porno
WILL IT SUCK?
This is one of dem dere mumblecore films, in spite of the high concept. Buzz is mad good. Considered one of the more accessible of its ilk.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Good buzz going back to Sundance, so should open well. Faces (500) Days of Summer next week, tho. $1mil.
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BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Japanese Blade
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good. From the director of Kiss of the Dragon and the writer of Jet Li's Fearless. So probably good action and better-than-average script, but the trailer and fx still look cheesy.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Indie horror/action rarely hits until DVD. $1mil.
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SOUL POWER
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
You've probably heard of the Rumble in the Jungle; but what about the three day concert that preceded it?
WILL IT SUCK?
Early reviews are mixed, with some rhapsodic about documentation of the historic concert with James Brown, Celia Cruz, B.B. King, The Spinners, Bill Withers and more, while others cry missed opportunity over ground they feel was better covered in When We Were Kings.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
You can't argue with the cast. $2mil.
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July 17
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HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Voldemort Begins
WILL IT SUCK?
Probably not. You've got David Yates back, and while he's not my fave HP director, the return of Steve Kloves to screenplay duty should more than make up for that. Other than that, you've got Jim Broadbent added to an already magnificent cast and one of the most consistent franchises in movie history.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Nicely distanced from anything that could provide a challenge (namely, Transformers). $295mil.
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(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
A year and a half in the life of the cutest indie couple ever (Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Zooey Deschanel).
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good. Kind of makes you forget the screenwriters co-wrote Pink Panther 2. Plus, love me some Joe Gordon-Levitt.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Buzz has been building since Sundance, and upbeat (or at least sold as relatively upbeat) indie comedies are pretty box-office-flammable. $18mil.
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July 24
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G-FORCE
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
It's kind of like Quantum of Solace if James Bond were a bunch of computer-generated guinea pigs.
WILL IT SUCK?
When Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (Pirates trilogy) get together with Cormac and Marianne Wibberly (Sequelae to Bad Boys and Charlie's Angels), your get National Treasure: Book of Secrets which, frankly, was kind of fun. Still not interested. (I have to wonder, though, will this be the closest I ever get to my dream of Bill Nighy playing a Bond villain?)
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
On the heels of Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Bolt, Hotel for Dogs fell flat on its face, so it's hard to say that cute furries are a lock. Further problematized by Aliens in the Attic coming out the following week. Still, I'm going to bet high. $102mil.
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THE UGLY TRUTH
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
How to Get a Guy in Ten Days
WILL IT SUCK?
Do 21, Monster-in-Law and Win a Date With Tad Hamilton cancel out Legally Blonde, cos that's what we're dealing with directorially here? The writing team behind Blonde, not to mention 10 Things I Hate About You and Ella Enchanted are also up in here, so there's hope.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Romcom well running a little dry at this point in the season, so there's a window. $77mil.
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ORPHAN
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Oh, here's your problem right here. Someone set this adopted kid to "evil."
WILL IT SUCK?
You know, I like Peter Sarsgaard as much as the next guy, but damn.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
No competition, but the Creepy Kid subgenre kind of has a ceiling. $33mil.
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THE ANSWER MAN
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
As Good As Jeff Daniels Gets
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is pretty good. Nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Shot in Philly - just around the corner from my old place for one scene. That last part probably doesn't matter.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Likely expansion of (500) Days of Summer should provide some healthy competition. $3mil.
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IN THE LOOP
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Imagine if The Office took place at 10 Downing St.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is outstanding. Based on the acclaimed British comedy series The Thick of It. Funny-ass trailer and clip.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
The lack of a name cast (minus James Gandolfini in a supporting role) will hurt. $1mil.
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SHRINK
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Kevin Spacey plays a shrink to the stars who has plenty of issues of his own.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good. Director has done some good TV (Chuck, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights). Kevin Spacey is Kevin Spacey.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Definitely has the biggest star in the pack, but does anyone know about it? $2mil.
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July 31
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FUNNY PEOPLE
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Dying comedian (Adam Sandler) takes newbie (Seth Rogen) under his wing.
WILL IT SUCK?
As a writer/director, Judd Apatow is 2 for 2 (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up). Interesting to see how he works in the cinematography of Janusz "I usually work for Spielberg" Kaminski and the comedy stylings of Sarah Silverman.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
The Sandler fan base stays away more when they detect a serious vibe in his work. Still, you're combining Apatow and (at least part of) Sandler's demos. $111mil.
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ALIENS IN THE ATTIC
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Teenagers vs. Aliens
WILL IT SUCK?
It's from the director of Like Mike and The Honeymooners. What could go wrong? Granted one of the Curse of the Wererabbit writers is up in here, but the trailer sucks balls. On paper, "remote control kung-fu grandma" seems interesting. In practice it looks like a Kung Fu Hustle rip.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
G-Force the week before and G.I. Joe the week after are an issue. But that grandma could put butts in seats. $56mil.
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ADAM
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
An Asperger's Syndrome love story.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is pretty good. Won the Alfred P. Sloane award at Sundance, which goes to a film that focuses on science or scientists.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Rough waters. $1mil.
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THE COVE
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Doc exposing some fucked up shit going on with dolphins in Japan.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is sick good. Best doc awards at Sundance, Hot Docs, Seattle and more. And even horror maven Scott Weinberg found it especially disturbing.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Strong buzz should help. Still, docs have fallen on hard times lately. $2mil.
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JANKY PROMOTERS
(delayed from March)
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Two promoters (Ice Cube, Mike Epps), who happen to be janky, try to book a superstar rapper who's out of their league. Janky shenanigans ensue.
WILL IT SUCK?
From the director of Friday After Next. Ice Cube, who wrote the original Friday, wrote this, but he also wrote Friday After Next. Just can't get away from that flick.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Given that as of early March through late June, the film's Web site had nothing more posted than the definition of the word "janky," I'm thinking more Longshots than First Sunday. $6mil.
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LORNA'S SILENCE
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Twisted tale involving marriage for citizenship and murder.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good. From the Dardennes Bros. (L'Enfant). Won the screenplay award at Cannes.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Name five people you know who know who the Dardennes are. $750,000.
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NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Doc on Aussie grindhouse flicks of the 70's and 80's.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is fantastic, if you're into that sort of thing. Listening to Quentin Tarantino enthuse about this stuff would be entertaining enough, but apparently there's more. There's an unbelievably NSFW trailer on the movie's official site that will let you know pretty quickly if it's for you.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Given that Grindhouse itself didn't do that well, I don't have high hopes here. $500,000.
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THIRST
WHAT'S THE PITCH?
Vampire priest.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is good, if a little tempered, though it did tie for the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes. This is from Chan Wook Park, who made me his bitch with Oldboy, so I'm predisposed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Based on an Emile Zola novel. Didn't see that coming.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Even Oldboy follow-up Lady Vengeance, which was released when there was a lot more heat on Park, didn't do very well. $500,000.
Next Month: Yes, "Inglorious" is an actual word. "Basterds" not so much.
image via
We've got the full schedule at www.freewilliamsburg.com/h2oshows
River Street
This took a few listens (and views) to grow on me, but now it will be making its way onto a rooftop party playlist sometime soon. Download the song (for free!) here.
According to their Myspace, they will be here August 15th, but it doesn't look like they have a place to play figured out. Someone help them out?
Check out the official Visioneers trailer here.
Jenny Sanford (right) and SC GOP chair Karen Floyd
This is hands down the most idiotic thing you will read all year. I swear to God I thought this was the Onion. UPDATE: we're gullible today, thank god this is a parody and it is still pretty damn funny.
“Of course I’m not saying that Mark is gay,” [Jenny] Sanford said, “but he may as well be. The moral decay in this country has claimed another victim and this time it was my family. Our marriage was perfect until these laws started passing around the country. Clearly the slow dissolution of the sanctity of marriage in America seeped into Mark’s psyche until he no longer felt compelled to abide by our vows.”Social conservatives were quick to show their support for the first lady’s statement.
“It’s finally happened,” said Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio personality. “America, I’ve been warning you for years that gay marriage would destroy the American family and look… there they are, a husband, wife, and four children -- destroyed. When is this going to stop America? When will the liberals be satisfied? When all the marriages break up? This wasn’t Mark Sanford’s fault, this was Ted Kennedy’s fault. Sanford didn’t cheapen the value of marriage, he was victimized by the cheapening of marriage.”
This just in. Good is reporting that the German government has banned the Fixie!!!
In Berlin, fixed-gear bicycles are now illegal. The news comes from The Local, and English-language German news site:In a country where cyclists are expected to have a working bell on their bikes, it was probably only a matter of time before fixies fell afoul of the law in Germany. … Since there’s no freewheel on a fixie, the pedals continue to rotate as long as the bike is moving forward. This means the rider either has to slow the bike by fighting the momentum or brake by locking up the back wheel to skid to a stop.
Seeing what they considered a growing danger to traffic safety, Berlin police announced this spring they would begin cracking down on fixie riders. Since only April, they’ve confiscated 18 bicycles.
Clearly, fixies are more difficult to ride (and stop) than any conventional street bikes. I’ve heard many an accomplished cyclist explain how he or she tried a fixie once and that was enough. And plenty of city-dwellers bemoan aggressive biking (which is sometimes associated with fixie-riders). But are the bikes really so dangerous that they shouldn’t be street legal? Is this a setback for bike culture in general?
Who wants to organize a protest?
Glenn Beck and Michael Scheuer say only another terrorist attack will save America: "The only chance we have as a country right now is" for bin Laden to "detonate a major weapon." Classy.
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