21-year-old Brianna Zani has gone missing, her sister tweeted us, and asked we "please get the word out if you can." She is 5' 5", had short blond hair (now shaved?), blue eyes, and was last seen wearing a green shirt with blue jeans when she escaped from Woodhull Hospital at 760 Broadway in Brooklyn, NY yesterday. On a site created to help find her, her sister writes, "She WILL BE disoriented. If you find her, keep her THERE and call 911. If you cannot restrain her, please do your best." Help a girl out and keep your eyes peeled.

If you have access to a printer, here's a "missing" flyer you could throw up on a streetpole for the family.

Posted by Brian Ries at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Too busy to say, "Hey Mom & Dad, I miss you..."? No problem! For $5, this fellow will send you a post card from Brooklyn, NY saying anything you want. Act now before it's too late!

Posted by Brian Ries at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fatty 'Cue unofficially opened last night at its new location at 91 South Sixth Street. Gothamist went and sniffed the pork belly and reports it has three floors with enough room for 50 diners & "400 pounds of meat at a time." However, don't go making plans yet. The official opening date is March 23rd.

Eater reports as well: "As with any early opening, the place was overstaffed—it seemed like 19 people said thank you and goodbye on the way out—and just about every server was on his game (extra points to the guy in the "Bloggers Suck" t-shirt). The atmosphere in the three story joint is festive, casual."

Posted by Brian Ries at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Crushing news from the Memphis Commercial Appeal: Alex Chilton, the legendary singer, songwriter, and performer who created music with the Box Tops, Big Star, and as a solo artist, died today. Chilton was in New Orleans and was scheduled to play in Austin this weekend with the reunited Big Star as part of SXSW. According to the paper, he complained of feeling ill and was taken by paramedic to the hospital. Cause of death has not been confirmed, but the Commercial Appeal reports that it is believed to be a heart attack. Chilton was 59.

Posted by freewilliamsburg at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It smells like hope at one bodega on S. 2nd and Havemeyer.

To shamelessly quote myself: "There they are, sandwiched as usual between “Egyptian Musk” and “White Diamond.” Obama Incense sticks, FTW."

Somebody please go grab a few and tell me what it smells like to be President!

Posted by Brian Ries at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

God builds condos downtown!

Via Chrysanthe, who spotted this note in Austin. I like to think it applies to us back here in the 'Burg as well. Tip your bartenders, folks.

Posted by Brian Ries at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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Hot Chip - I Feel Better

Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos

Posted by Nicole Wasilewicz at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

For anyone left in New York, last night the Norwegian Oya Music Festival and Oh My Rockness hosted a SXSW send off for Norwegian bands Pirate Love, Hanne Hukkelberg, and The Megaphonic Thrift along with New York natives headliners The Depreciation Guild.

The show was a mix of different genres with Megaphonic Thrift starting off with an impressively high energy hard, noise rock set. With Santos as probably the most suiting venue for their loud music, Megaphonic showcased both their aggressive sound and musicianship. When asked how they mustered that energy after just arriving in New York from Norway, Megaphonic explains to Free Williamsburg, "Our music really gives us energy on stage, and it's not like we need to huddle up and scream things at each other before a show, somehow we just end up in that energy every time."

Juxtaposed against Megaphonic Thrift, there was a major downshift for solo singer songwriter Hanne Hukkelberg with a collection of sensitive and ambient folk songs.

Pirate Love came on stage in what might have been the most alienating pair of denim cut off shorts since Tobias's from Arrested Development. Definitely putting on a performance, Pirate Love piqued audience curiosity and drew in the crowd with their noise rock.

Experimental, emo-rock The Depreciation Guild closed the evening with a tight set. The Depreciation Guild was recently on tour with Indie sweethearts The Pains of Being Pure at Heart-- drummer Kurt Feldman's second band. The Depreciation Guild's impressively cohesive set and strong musicianship was a great ending to the show.

More pictures after the jump!

Continue reading "[PICS] The Depreciation Guild at Santos Party House" »

Posted by Janice Chou at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ok, so it's not really psychedelic, just kind of weird. But, we get it Devendra, you like to be "different" all while looking extra cool-- even though the new album is a corporate packaged version of all your previous work. It's ok, we'd still probably sleep with you even if you like to space travel in a suppository. Via Pitchfork:

In the adorably tripped-out new video for Devendra Banhart's lilting "Baby", Devendra and his bros (including MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden and the Strokes' Fabrizio Moretti) travel in a cigarette-shaped spaceship through what looks like a planet's butthole, whereupon they party with animated aliens, a baby, and GZA, the latter of whom is dressed like an interstellar pharaoh. And yet the weirdest thing about the clip may be the ill-advised mustache/soul-patch combo that Banhart is currently rocking.

Posted by Nicole Wasilewicz at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

The music is by Human, co-written by Rosi Golan and Alex Wong. How was it made?

Sam O'Hare:

It is shot on a Nikon D3 (and one shot on a D80), as a series of stills. I used my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 lenses for all of these shots. Most were shot at 4fps in DX crop mode, which is the fastest the D3 could continuously write out to the memory card. The boats had slower frame rates, and the night shots used exposures up to two seconds each. The camera actually has an automatic cut off after 130 shots, so for longer shots I counted each click and quickly released and re-pressed the shutter release after 130 to keep shooting.

How many stills you ask? 35,000 stills! Kottke correctly notes it it feels like something you can "hold in your hands or put in your pocket."

Posted by Brian Ries at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Radegast is expanding into an adjacent building around the corner on Berry Street and a company operating under the name "Biergarten Williamsburg" and owned by Chef Michael Psilakis (of Manhattan's Kefi), "did get approval from the board on March 9 for the spot just off N. 11th Street."

Posted by Brian Ries at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Brunch in Williamsburg is a battlefield. New restaurants and cafes pop up every week, and by weeks end have lines down the block. Armed with a MacBook, an open mind, and an appetite, here are the stories of one brave girl who braved the tight lines, tight pants, and French Toast to offer her unbiased opinion on those restaurants. Welcome to the Brooklyn Brunch Chronicles.

Le Barricou (Grand Street off the Lorimer stop)
The first thing you’ll notice when sitting down for brunch at le Barricou is the basket of croissants swiftly placed in front of you (one butter and one chocolate, if you are with a group of four you only get three croissants-I’m not sure of the logic here). In an economy where the free basket of bread is slowly becoming extinct, they are a welcome addition to brunch. The coffee is strong, and if you haven’t had enough to drink the night before, the Home-made bloody mary is large, and satisfying. The omelets are tasty, as are the three different types of eggs benedict offered.

But without question the best dish is the unparalleled pancake. Covered in fresh fruit, it borders the line between “cake” and “pancake”. You must try it for yourself. It’s more than enough to share.

Now, if you’re one of those people who likes to order lunch items for brunch (not that there’s anything wrong with those people), burgers, chicken sandwiches, and merguez sandwiches are also on the menu.

Cute décor, friendly waiters, and great food, le Barricou comes highly recommended!

Brunch is served Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

— Fiona Goldstein

[image via Flickr]

Posted by freewilliamsburg at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Between this cover and Yeasayer's new video, I think I'm in love with yet another Brooklyn-based band.

via Prefix

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Williamsburg, Virginia, just applied to become the "first permanent Google settlement in America," as part of the search giant's new foray into providing communities with super high-speed broadband internet service (over 1 gigabit per second!).

That, Google, would be the wrong Williamsburg!

Here, in Brooklyn, you have a vibrant community of creative types, assholes, and tech enthusiasts suffering under the maniacally slow service that Time Warner Cable "provides." It's terrible! I know I'm an asshole for writing this, based on all the problems a community like ours has, but I get really pissed when I can't play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live while my girlfriend is streaming Netflix and uploading photos. It's ridiculous.

And I know a majority of you out there are with me. I posted a few months back about the slow service affecting Williamsburg and I got a heck of a lot of responses.

I wrote to Time Warner, and was told, "The current issue is something our engineering department is aware of but will take time to resolve. There is nothing our office can do to expedite the situation." It was a problem with the node, they said, meaning there's just too much bandwidth being requested by too many people with computers in such a small area.

(Funny anecdote: my wonderful on-the-phone rep was comfortingly named George Lopez.)

Christy wrote: "the internet here is totally unreliable, it's always going in and out."

Caralyn wrote: "I'm in greenpoint and our time warner has been out for 2 days doing the same thing. Ach! So frustrating! Any news on a fix soon?"

Michael wrote: "My Time Warner service has been terrible for the last couple months since I moved to my new apartment on S.4th. Really, terribly slow for "high speed" and it kind of goes in and out between decent and nearly nonexistent. Lets go straight to Albany with this one and get us some legislation. Or just ask TW to stop ignoring our downloading and streaming video needs."

Allen wrote: "My Time Warner internet is so bad that I have to steal other peoples sometimes to check my email. Last night I had no internet at ALL… Im so pissed. And they say nothing is wrong…"

You get the idea. So I dunno, but maybe it's worth us all nominating our community for Google to at least give it a shot? I'm sure TWC has some dystopian lock-down on all of Brooklyn, but you never know. Click here if "you'd like a Google fiber optic trial in your community." The company is "asking local governments and residents to express their interest in the fiber optic trial, and to provide information about their community by completing our request for information," so hey, why not us?

Pass this link along to your friends and get them to sign up too! Viva la Googles!

Posted by Brian Ries at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

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It's OK to like this. We won't tell.

Posted by Brian Ries at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Cupcake Stop will be dispatching its truck full of custom Victoria Secret Pink minis to Williamsburg, and will be "somewhere near Bedford Ave. and anywhere from N. 5th Street to N. 11th Street," for about two hours today, starting at 2:30pm. Follow 'em on Twitter for sweet updates.

Posted by Brian Ries at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This Friday night, HBO will be turning Meserole Avenue, Jewel and Moultrie Streets into New Orleans' Ninth Ward while filming a movie TV show about Katrina.

Posted by Brian Ries at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

From Lola, a tipster: "I saw a Brooklyn Vegan thing about it. Said it started at 5 so I just went down there. Over. I got a button that says 'I was almost captured by MGMT.' There were a few other disappointed fans. On my way home along South 2nd St. I saw a circle of hipsterized high schoolers flirting with their buttons on. And I thought, twitter, you have failed me. You have failed me hard."

She took these pics, first of their sidewalk chalk writing, "MGMT WAS HERE 4.13.10," and second, the button. That date is the day their album drops. Not to be confused with the day their testicles drop. This "stunt" was lame, MGMT. Muchos lamos.

Update: And here's a report from someone in the van. "I was captured, we drove around listening to congratulations then they gave us tshirts. The album was surfy psychedelic." He continued, "it was literally a white van with a random limo driver, two girls running the whole thing and me +8 other people that showed up."

Posted by Brian Ries at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

img via and via

This all according to speculation on the twitters. At 5pm. In like, 5 minutes.

Update: "Actually the MGMT event is NOT a show. It's just an "event". Stay tuned."

Update 2: Or maybe you'll just get to hang out in a van? WTF..."Have the opportunity to ride in a specially adapted passenger van in and around his or her Contest Location (“MGMTmobile”) and have the opportunity to be a part of a unique MGMT fan experience; and receive a limited-edition “I WAS CAPTURED BY MGMT” tee-shirt."

Posted by Brian Ries at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Faith No More will be playing their first east coast show in ten years on July 5th, as a benefit for the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn. It'll be part of a series of benefits for OSA. Tickets go on sale Friday March 19th at 12:00pm EST on Ticketmaster, and its unclear at what price as of this moment (although other for-profit shows are listed at $42.50).

Brooklyn Vegan notes, "This is the first Williamsburg Waterfront concert announcement of 2010 and the first time a show at the space will cost money. Last year I don't think they could get the details worked out in time."

Keep in mind, this isn't a Pool Party show, but a benefit, much like the ones McCarren Park Pool used to host (ie. Devo).

Posted by Brian Ries at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Meet Brent Young and Ben Turley, two parts to the butchering trio that make up The Meat Hook, a sustainably focused meat shop in Brooklyn, NY.

I spent the day with the two friends (and roommates) to find out all about their obsession with sausages — an art form they are quickly becoming famous for in their local neighborhood. Using pork, beef and lamb from whole animals, they’ve amassed a rotating selection of about 30 unique and traditional sausages that are made fresh every weekday.

From “classy” to “trashy”, it’s a way to express their creativity as butchers; but, more importantly, a way to annoy and shit-talk each other to no end. And that’s the fun of it. Watch and see…

By Liza de Guia

Posted by freewilliamsburg at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Graham Ave and Skillman Ave

Posted by Clarissa Roudabush at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Following last week's window smashings at American Apparel, they sent out a statement to help clear things up. Here's what they had to say...

We've gotten a few inquires about an incident at our Williamsburg store last week, and because online speculation can so often go awry, we thought we'd try set the record straight with the facts we have available. About 20 small windows were broken by a group of people on Thursday around midnight. The piece of metal used to smash them was left behind, a few mannequins were scuffed, and nothing was stolen. The police apprehended and arrested two people later that night, a man and a woman, and we'll likely proceed by attempting to be reimbursed for the destroyed property.

As far as anything goes regarding a black-clad hipster uprising or mobs of angry retail protesters terrorizing Brooklyn, there hasn't been anything to confirm this apart from a few blog comments. Most retailers have a brush with vandalism at some point, which although unfortunate, is just a reality of being in business. As it stands, this appears to be one of those instances.

But! Gothamist has a theory. "Could black-clad hipsters be confused with black-clad communists? Bring those perps into the 'interrogation room,' Dov Charney, because the photos from that recent American Apparel protest show the angry rioters also wearing... all black."

Related: did we never find their blog weaponry? If they said they have blogs, then they must be out there. C'mon people, find the retail terrorists/vandals' blog!

Posted by Brian Ries at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

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Last night Dinosaur Feathers celebrated their album Fantasy Memorial release at Webster Hall Studio with Darlings, Lonnie Walker, and Pearl & The Beard.

Dinosaur Feathers' set consisted of nearly the entire album-- a collection of folk pop made uniquely robust with Latin and African influenced electronic drum beats. Still a young band, Dinosaur Feathers could not look happier to be performing for such a full crowd. Even taking a drunkenly tossed PBR can with gracious humility, the humbling stage banter of Dinosaur Feathers rounded out an endearing set and party to send the boys off to SXSW.

More pictures after the jump!

Continue reading "[PICS] Dinosaur Feathers and Darlings at Webster Hall" »

Posted by Janice Chou at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Even if you don’t know Bushwick-based street artist Swoon , you’ve passed her haunting wheatpaste portraits walking down Bedford, or Wythe, or really anywhere in Brooklyn.

Tonight she’s holding a fundraiser/art auction featuring 100+ works of art, a DJ and food and drink. The whole thing is to raise money for her
DIY collective ‘s latest art/performance piece – they’re traveling to India, where they’ll float handmade boats down the Ganges River to the holy city of Varanasi.

With work from artists like Thomas Beale, ImminentDisaster, Ben Mortimer, Ero, Tod Seeley, Ben Wolfe, Pork, Tony Bones, Jeff Stark, and Swoon herself, the trip out to Walker gallery in Tribeca is definitely worth the trek.


Fri, Mar 5
56 Walker St., New York, NY
7:00 – 1:00 am.
$10 door, open bar
weareswimmingcities.org

Posted by Erica Sackin at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)