“Americans are so over Hipsters” declared a new poll out today from top political firm Public Policy Polling. The firm, which normally conducts research for clients such as the Democratic Governor’s Association and a slew of federal and state elected officials, found that only 16% of Americans have a positive opinion of hipsters, 42% of Americans dislike hipsters and a whopping 43% of Americans just aren’t sure what to make of the trend.
Statistically, at least according to an informal survey of bar patrons I conducted last weekend, Williamsburg and Bushwick are home to more musicians than most other parts of the city. Which should mean that all of us are more than familiar with the tired trope of the struggling musician who’s just waiting to be signed: the bands playing to the same group of 20 friends each week, and somehow guilt you into paying that $5 cover almost every time; your drummer who hops from piss-stained mattress to piss-stained couch while he’s waiting for his “big break”; that 300-press of your band’s CD you made that you’re now using as a nightstand. As much as New York is the place we all come to dream big, it’s also the place we watch those dreams, and our bank accounts, slowly shrivel and die.
Enter Williamsburg-based music industry veterans Jesse Cannon and Todd Thomas. Cannon has not only been producing and managing bands for more than a decade, with groups like Animal Collective, The Misfits, The Cure, Leftover Crack, The Menzingers and Man Overboard; he, along with his partner Thomas, has been covering the way the music industry ‘s been rapidly changing on his blog, musformation.com. And just this week, the two of them decided to turn that blog into a comprehensive, 700-page look and DIY guide to the real way the music industry works today: Get More Fans: the DIY Guide to the New Music Business.
Anyways, please, listen to their record (it’s available for FREE through Drug Front Records). If you like it you can even buy the LP and comic to have and put on display (I <3 mine) in your home. Their record release party is tomorrow night at Cameo, which promises to be a damn good time. I better see you there.
Oh and guys? This is the video for their song Ugly Girls. They fucking rule.
The Naked Heroes, W/ Weird Owl and MRC Riddims. Friday November 4 at Cameo Gallery, (93 N 6th Street, bet Wythe and Berry). $8, Doors @8:30 pm.
You know how there was that one time? That your friend dragged you to that random warehouse party you’re pretty sure was somewhere in Bushwick but can’t be positive because your recollection of how you got there or how you left is kind of hazy? But all you know is that when you were there there was a zip line, and maybe some fire eaters, and quite possibly a trailer? As we all know, Brooklyn is full of “underground” spaces like that — everything from night clubs to DIY classes to make-you-own-liquor factories. And as anyone who’s lived here long enough knows, these places are so transient once you’ve been to a place once you maybe have a 50-50 chance of ever finding it again.
Well one woman, long time Williamsburg resident Oriana Leckert, has taken it upon herself to chronicle them, one crazy space at a time. You should really check out her blog, Brooklyn Spaces, which chronicles the many many many creative ways Brooklynites are, well using their space. Full of gorgeous photos and in-depth profiles on the history of each space, her site will let you see what you’ve been missing, or maybe evern finally figure out the name of that place you stumbled into in a drunken late-night stupor.
We sat down with her to see what she’s seen, what she loves, and what her website is all about.
Breuckelen Distilling Co. Photo By Maximus Comissar
Bring your bucks and your biceps over to Roberta’s backyard this weekend for the Second Flex: Ladies Arm Wrestling competition. Eight decked-out lady wrestlers will compete in a round-robin style tournament to see who’s the strongest, and who plays the dirtiest. Outrageous costumes and betting? They’re strongly encouraged. Even better? The event is free, and net proceeds go to support Providence House — a not-for-profit organization founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph that helps transform the lives of homeless, abused, and formerly incarcerated women and their children – one family at a time.
The Five Borough Ladies Arm Wrestling league is a part of a national network of ladies arm wrestling league. We sat down with the last bout’s champion, Jackie O’Nasty, and organizer Kate McNeely to get their take on what makes a champion.
How did you survive Irene? Gorge yourself on canned goods? Swim in a bathtub of Poland Spring? Me? I evacuated, only to lose power in that apartment while my apartment stayed fine.
Ft Tilden, taken by Flickr user Graham Coreil-Allen
Did you hear? The Brooklyn Paper and L Magazine are reporting that Brooklyn’s beaches are full of raw sewage. That’s right, as you can see below, the National Resources Defense Council is reporting that between 4% and 9% of the times water from Coney Island beaches was sampled, the levels of bacteria exceeded the state limits. That means if you swim in Coney Island you have a 4%-9% chance of getting pink eye, dysentery, or not being able to wash that raw-sewage feeling off of your skin for weeks.
Listen all you godless heathens, your gig is up. Reverand Gage Jung, has gone and set up a church for you. A hip church. Where they hand out Hipster Church wristbands on the street, read the bible on their iphones, and mingle while listening to Arcade Fire and MGMT.
This church is in a Sheraton Hotel in Flushing, Queens.
No word yet on how the Revolution Church, that meets in Pete’s Candy Store, will react, or if we can expect a skinny-jeaned holy war to hit the ‘hood any time soon. But rest assured that, when the rapture comes on Saturday morning you’ll have not one, but two places to run to and repent your sins. Plus side? Should you not get raptured, *both* churches conveniently come with built-in bars.
“Americans are so over Hipsters” declared a new poll out today from top political firm Public Policy Polling. The firm, which normally conducts research for clients such as the Democratic Governor’s Association and a slew of federal and state elected officials, found that only 16% of Americans have a positive opinion of hipsters, 42% of Americans dislike hipsters and a whopping 43% of Americans just aren’t sure what to make of the trend.
Listen all you godless heathens, your gig is up.