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.
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...
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
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.
The Brooklyn-based fusion of 60's garage rock bands and post-punk minimalism that is I Am The Heat will premiere their new music video for their song "Ghost Bear" this Thursday night at 10 p.m. at Monkeytown (58 N 3rd. St).
Led by director Stephen Spencer, "Ghost Bear" was filmed around Williamsburg and Bushwick with the band, their girlfriends, friends and extended social acquaintances all lending a hand and having fun. It's got a healthy mix of snuggling females, pillow fights, fuzzy bears and a chase scene all thrown together with a Matt and Kim-esque level of intensity and color.
Here's the trailer video (it's live now):
I AM THE HEAT: Ghost Bear from kevin fey on Vimeo.
For more on the band, I e-sat down with Jameson and Kevin Fey to talk about shooting the video, their favorite local haunts and their favorite bands. That interview, my friends, is after the jump.
After their Thursday premiere at Monkeytown, I Am The Heat will play July 11th at Clash Bar (NJ), July 12th at Union Pool, and July 31st at Lit.
The Opposite of Hallelujah indeed. From Lekman's blog, via
I picked home one last souvenir from South America, it's called the H1N1 virus. Wrongfully known as the Swineflue.I was crossing the Atlantic when things started getting really bad, the fever was hallucinogenic and shaking me like a leaf and I grabbed the sleeve of the Air France steward. "I'm not feeling well, I should see a doctor" I said and the reply came as a brilliant mix of death anxiety and french rudeness: "Uh, yes... Terminal D... go there maybe... when we land". After that the stewards and stewardesses took long detours. A ring of empty seats formed around me. Peoples eyes were kind but determined, they read "Poor you, I really wish you all the best but if you come near me or my kid I will have to stab you with this plastic fork". I got up and went to the bathroom where I fainted.
Now I'm in quarantine for ten days. I can see the summer through my window and it's just perfect. Summer is always best through a window.
It's (almost) official: Al Franken is Minnesota's newest senator, says the state's Supreme Court. Sure, it's possible that Norm Coleman may appeal and keep his now 238-day-old fight going. And, yeah, the Dems having 60 votes in the senate probably won't be quite the magic cure-all some hope it will be. Still, for any of you (fine, us) hoping to reduce monthly health care bills by, I dunno, 100 percent at some point in the future, this is some damn fine news.
Here's to you, Al. You're good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, voters like you.
image via
From our mailbag. If you have pix or video, send them along.
Was arrested by police at L train today - ffor a 15lb pug that I took out of his tote bag for throwing up and overheating. Held for very long time - photos and video and about 12 cops involved. Pug okay,. but me, very sad,. They gave me 3 tickets - recesssion that bad?[...]UPDATE: via Gothamist:I took the day off of work, because my wrists are so swollen from the handcuffs that I've had trouble typing. Basically, I had my pug in a tote bag, but he overheated and threw up in the bag on the L Train btw 1st ave and Bedford. I took him out and had him in my arms - he's a foster pug with a few health issues for curlytailpugrescue.org.
As I was walking up the stairs a transit cop grabbed my arms and pushed me up against a wall - I couldn't produce ID (left my wallet at home) he handcuffed me. From there it went downhill fast and people were calling the police and taking photos and video.
They took my pug and he told me he was taking him to the pound where he would be "put down." I was taken to the J stop headquarters. I wasn't allowed to call a lawyer and I was put in a cell.
I was given 3 tickets: failure to produce ID, disorderly conduct, and failure to have dog in a containter. I have a court date in July and August.
My pug was returned. They had him behind their desks and were playing with him. [..]
I think that because so many people were yelling at the cop - it made him more angry, but he was yelling at me - "If you're going to act like a woman I'm going to treat you like a woman."
-name withheld by request
According to [Name Withheld], the arresting officer's name is Witriol (badge number 942838). After seeing a photo, she identified him to us as Joel Witriol, who in 2006 became New York's first Hasidic cop. [Name Withheld], 32, says Witriol would not accept her explanation that she was carrying the pug because it was sick, and she believes that the disturbed crowd that gathered to witness the arrest only made him angrier. She tells us, "He punched me in the back (there are bruises), he handcuffed me, and in the scuffle grabbed my breasts and pinched them."Pictures of the arrest after the jump.Melissa Randazzo, a speech language pathologist who lives in Williamsburg, witnessed the arrest and tells us, "something about it seemed very wrong. The cop's tone seemed really inappropriate and he kept saying things like, 'Are you going to act like a woman?' She tried to walk away, and then he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall outside the turnstile." Randazzo ran up to the street level to call 911 to, as she says, "call the cops" on Witriol, and soon some 20 officers had descended into the Bedford station. They then ordered the witnesses to disperse.
Continue reading "Arrested for having a pug on the L Train" »
...will be performing on the Williamsburg Waterfront on July 26. If you're already missing the McCarren Park shows, fear not. The pool parties return to a new location next month. Fuill schedule at www.freewilliamsburg.com/h2oshows.
Last night, I headed down to the bastion of avant garde theater and music St. Marks Church. There, I witnessed a collaboration between Kria Brekkan and fellow Icelandic performance/video artist Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir. Unfortunately, I only was only able to catch it halfway through the performance, so I was not able to completely comprehend the costumes, spoken word and video component. I think the title "Experimental Existence" is a pretty good clue as to what they are trying to achieve; in any case, the mood was very ethereal (as you would expect in such a setting).
From Experimental Existence, Image c/o the Artists
As far as the music accompaniment goes, this was one of Brekkan's better performances--very light and languishing the way I like her. She just so happens to be playing another show at the newest music spot at the Sycamore in Brooklyn on Wednesday. It's a very intimate spot, so it should be a good show. More details here.
Sorry to be such a downer but here's another obit, although one a little closer to home:
via Gothamist
Graffiti legend Iz the Wiz (real name Michael Martin) died at age 50 on June 17th, and has finally received an obituary from the Paper of Record. The artist tagged subway cars in the 1970s and 80s with his signature in "fat capital letters spray-painted on a door, below a window, across an entire car or even along the full length of a train." Throughout his career as a graffiti artist, he got his tag on every line in the subway system more times than any other, which means if you didn't ride in a car with his name, you probably saw one in a movie. He even did a two-car homage to John Lennon after he was killed in 1980, and was one of the first to work on the Phun Phactory building (now 5 Pointz).
After the jump is a video of Iz bombing his last train:
Continue reading "Legendary Graffiti Writer Iz The Wiz Diez" »
I've got a new piece over at The Morning News. I'd sworn off writing about hipsters, but got sucked back in by all the rage they still evoke. Here's a taste.
You get the sense that if Jimi Hendrix were to show up in Echo Park today, he’d be publicly mocked in a style section piece on blipsters for wearing a feathered fedora. Duchamp would have given up as soon as he appeared on dadaist-or-douchebag.com. And Warhol would be demonized as a hipster gentrifier for setting up his factory in a Brooklyn warehouse. Critics continue to complain that we live in an era where all art is derivative and devoid of substance. But if Hendrix, Duchamp, or Warhol were alive today, we’d be doing our damnedest to derail their self-expression, dismissing them as fucking hipsters.You can read it all here. Image via.
Williamsburg Bridge
Billy Mays found dead at age 50 in his home at 7:45 AM. Apparently he died in his sleep, no break-in, and no foul play is suspected. The day before his death he'd been on a plane that blew out its tires and said he got hit in the head with a few things, but there were no serious injuries reported and it's not clear if his death was at all related.
Well, I'll always know what I was doing when I found out Billy Mays died: Reading about how Michael Jackson died.
via eonline
From NY Times
Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking. So is his utterly uncharacteristic inarticulateness. The Justice Department brief defending DOMA has spoken louder for this president than any of his own words on the subject. Chrisler noted that he has given major speeches on race, on abortion and to the Muslim world. “People are waiting for that passionate speech from him on equal rights,” she said, “and the time is now.”Action would be even better. It’s a press cliché that “gay supporters” are disappointed with Obama, but we should all be. Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened there 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.
[Featuring members of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot]
We want him back! What's the best way to mourn the death of the king of pop? How about a dance vigil on the Brooklyn bound L train? Word has been circulating of just that via email and on twitter.
Details: 10 pm, last car on the Brooklyn bound L leaving Union Square. The organizers suggest wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt and one glove yet somehow forgets to encourage gold boots. And when you're done mourning there should still be time to catch Girls and Kurt Vile at Monster Island Basement. Original MJ vigil email below:
Dance vigil for Michael Jackson - we're taking it underground on the L Train.
Where: Last Car of the Brooklyn-bound L train @ Union Square Station
When: 10pm
Attire: Black Jeans, white t-shirt and 1 glove
We will loop back at Myrtle -Wyckoff station if you miss the train.
***Please no conspicuous alcohol so we don't get shut down.
This is hilarious. But I shouldn't have listened to the solo on Corey Hart's "Never Surrender" on an empty stomach.
Oh, its real. The VW Bugs, as they're now named, have a Twitter account and a MySpace page to boot. Idolator confirms that it's already staffed with preppies from Princeton.
An event listing on the MS page shows a party on August 15th at 10pm.
In this morning's AM New York (seen above), Fahima Haque relives what must have been a dream last night about one of "the best of the free music fests" at McCarren Park Pool, the derelict pool turned "unpretentious and charming spot" that this summer will feature acts the likes of Dan Deacon, Grizzly Bear, and Girl Talk!
In this alterna-universe, the free shows start July 12 and run through August 30th, and we imagine the slip-n-slide will be there too! And you guys! Ohh, you guys will all be there! Everybody gets VIP in this dream, and I bet all the hip young indie actors will come out for MGMT again, and dance without regrets in the shaded corner left of stage! We'll dance with them!
Oh, I just LOVE AMNY, those dreamers! Screw reporting, screw even being aware of the multi-year construction project at McCarren Park Pool that's long sent the concert series to the waterfront. If we can't dream alongside America's Greatest Morning Daily, then I don't even want to write a blog anymore.
Michael Jackson has died at 50. Two icons from my childhood pass in one day! You were both crazy, but I'm still going to miss you.
From CNN
Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to multiple reports including the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. CNN has not confirmed his death.Jackson, 50, had been in a coma at the hospital, sources told CNN.
Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles, California, Thursday morning.
Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said.
Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m.
Ruda said Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.
Asked specifics of the patient's condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.
The music icon from Gary, Indiana, is known as the "King of Pop." Jackson had many No. 1 hits and his "Thriller" is the best-selling album of all time. Video Jackson "as big as it gets" »
Jackson is the seventh of nine children in a well-known musical family. He has three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.
At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying.
A large crowd was also gathering outside the hospital, according to video footage.
Outside Jackson's Bel Air home, police arrived on motorcycles. The road in front of the home was closed in an attempt to hold traffic back, but several people were gathered outside the home.
UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan has a nice post that we've included in full after the jump. [via]
British bank Barclays has put in a bid to rename Atlantic Avenue something much more proper than our Yankee rubbish:
If a $4 million deal is approved on Wednesday, the nexus of subway stops at Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Street and Flatbush Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn will add an additional name to its already lengthy title: Barclays.
But hey, what about naming things after great American corporations?
“It’s not like Taco Bell saying it wants Grand Army Plaza or something like that,” said John H. Banks III, a board member since 2004.Would Mr. Banks oppose that idea?
“A year and a half ago? Yeah,” he said. “Tomorrow? No.”
Looking forward to Taco Bell Muy Grande Army Plaza.
via NYTimes
So, wow! Some "popular Williamsburg-based bar/music venue" is looking to fill a residency for a Vampire Weekend cover band made up of vague band member lookalikes! They just need their Ezra, their Rostam and the two Chris's and they'll be off the ground and Oxford Commaiing in no time. The question is, can we identify this bar/music venue? I'm going to throw my guess out there and say Union Pool. Or, I'm sorry, Brooklyn Pool, for those of you who watch Michael Cera on the big screen. Any other guesses?
And yes, we realize this is probably a joke. But oooooooh fingers are crossed that it's real!
Via Mr. Ginsberg, who RT'd Pitchfork and Idolator.
Meet Gooby! [via]
Long hair? Beard? Anyone?
On September 22nd, Jagjaguwar (the folks who bring you Sunset Rubdown, Dinosaur Jr., Black Mountain, and Okkervil River-- just to name a few) are set to release the side project full-length debut of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon with Collections of Colonies of Bees-- they call it Volcano Choir. The LP, Unmap, is an accidental three years in the making, which says something about musicians making music for music's sake. Here's what Vernon had to say (via Pitchfork):
"We started collaborating three years ago and just this year we started to realize we had nine or 10 tracks almost done," he said. "I sing on it, but there aren't a lot of lyrics-- it's definitely more on the experimental side of things."
If both camps previous work says anything about the upcoming Unmap, it'll be sure to make you feel like a leaf floating along in an Autumn wind destiny. Oh Wisconsin, how you always manage to bring us love in the form of indie lullabies...
Tired of giggling about South Carolina governor Mark Sanford's dalliance in Buenos Aires but still hungry for more political slapstick? Well look no further than the Times' latest attempt to ascertain what exactly our esteemed doucheba...er...state senators have been up to of late. In short, since one of the two Democrats who defected to the Republican side of the aisle returned to the fold, the two parties have been tied at 31 members each, both claiming leadership, forcing Governor Paterson to call a mandatory special sessions in order hold votes on gay marriage and, oh, every other issue needed to run New York. The parties "feuding junior high schoolers refusing to acknowledge each other, began holding separate legislative sessions at the same time," complete with dueling gavels. Here are some zingers from what must be the funniest vaudeville act in Albany:
"Democrats gaveled the session to order at 3:02 p.m. After a few short speeches in which they said the governor’s proclamation for a so-called extraordinary session had constitutional and legal problems, they adjourned at 3:07 p.m. 'Our members will be going home,' said Malcolm A. Smith, one of the leaders of the Senate Democratic conference."
"[State Supreme Court] Justice McNamara..continued to implore the sides to resolve their dispute on their own. 'This has to be resolved by you, no matter what I do or don’t do on Friday,” he told the sides in court, adding: 'I guess I’m talking like a human being, but I don’t understand what’s going on. You guys have to resolve this.'"
"Senator Dale M. Volker, 68, a Republican from the Buffalo area who is a former police officer, joked while he was riding up an elevator, 'I might have to start carrying my sidearm again.'"
"'This is turning into the worst reality TV show ever: ‘I’m a Senator, Get Me Out of Here,’ said Thomas R. Suozzi, Nassau County executive and former Democratic candidate for governor. 'Jon and Kate are fighting less than these guys.'”
Photo of turncoat Pedro Espada Jr., now a Republican, care of Village Voice
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