In case you haven’t heard of Steve Duncan, he’s a “guerilla” historian and photographer who has made a name for himself exploring parts of New York City that you probably didn’t even know existed. In the latest installment of his Undercity documentary series with filmmaker Andrew Wonder, Duncan hops over a barbed wire fence, pries open a manhole, and climbs down to the ancient sewage extension tunnels below Bushwick.

Well, the tunnels aren’t quite “ancient,” but they date back to the bygone days before brunch at Northeast Kingdom and whiskey shots at Tandem, before Brooklyn was even a part of New York City. In the 1880s when the sewer extension was built below Knickerbocker St., the area was known for its breweries. The tunnels carried wastewater from the breweries to the East River, Duncan explains in the clip, ankle deep in (clean) sewage water.

The whole outing is illegal, but Duncan provides a special view into our historic city. More on Gothamist.

Nous

The Brooklyn-based “psych folk” threesome, SoftSpot is playing tonight at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge, a newer venue in Bushwick.

Softspot was off touring most of September, after the release of Nous, a Cassette release limited to 100 copies, which dropped September 3.

Since they’ve been back they’ve played Glasslands, DBA, and a few other clubs, filling the usual spots with their ethereal, evocative  melodies.

Sarah Kinlaw’s  haunting, airy vocals seem to float over the music as it steadily builds, driving forward with help from her longtime collaborator and multi-instrumentalist, Bryan Keller. Along with Andrew Spaulding (aka Ca$h Bundles) the trio the produces a dreamy, yet passionate and high-energy sound that truly captivates.

SoftSpot will be joined tonight by Rifle Recoil, Pigeons, and Gray Pages. Follow the links to their bandcamp sites, and don’t miss tonight’s show. Check here for more info.

If you can’t make it tonight, Sarah and Bryan will perform at the 3rd annual LENNON concert to benefit Arts Education International tomorrow at Knitting Factory. The Full band plays again Sunday at Shea Stadium with Phonetag, Small Reactions, and Caged Animals, and again Dec. 29th at Glasslands when Popgun Booking presents SoftSpot, Julian Lynch, and Amy Klein (of Titus Andronicus) and the Blue Star Band

Slack Tide by SoftSpot

Going to art openings is a lot of fun, and a great way to get to know and hang out with the local and visiting artists that are part of what makes north Brooklyn the kind of place we like to call home.

I support independent, original art, and I wish I had the money to patron so many of the artists I know and love. Unfortunately, I can usually only afford to buy the occasional piece, which makes me happy, but I’d love to be able to do more.

Do you like going to art shows? Have you always wanted to purchase more original, even local, pieces of art?

Tonight come check out Everything Must Go!!! at Brooklyn Fire Proof. Everything is supposed to get started around 8-9pm.

This is a great opportunity to see some great art, and purchase some amazing pieces. Get this: Reyka Vodka will host an open bar from 9-10pm!

Brandon Fonville: east of desirable (one)

Art and Photography by:

Matt Dobbs, Brad Westcott,  Brandon Fonville, Ivan Cazzola, Maria Koulioufas, Chris Bradt, Rosemary Gonzales, Nikos, Bill Wendt, & Sarah Braun

Installation by:

Owen Jones, Federico Frum, & Carson Deyoung

Live Screen printing by Youth Waste and music by Dj Jimmy the kid.

Curated by Matt Dobbs.

Image c/o Bushwick BK

Listen up readers to the east! Our kindred bloggers over at Bushwick BK just posted the results of their “Bushwick Supermarket Sweep 2011“.  The Bushwick BK team went on an investigation to compare the grocery price points of about 29 different supermarkets in Bushwick.  In each store they bought the same 5 items–Milk, Bread, Eggs, Bananas, and a can of beans and below are the average prices by neighborhood of that basket:

Average food basket prices by neighborhood

E Williamsburg (above Flushing): $10.08

N Bushwick (Flushing to Myrtle) $9.15

S Bushwick (below Myrtle) $8.60

Ridgewood $8.37

Junior’s Food Outlet off of the Halsey stop came out on top of the lowest total at $6.79 and, surprise, surprise, Brooklyn’s Natural was the most expensive clocking in at a whopping $16.25.

Take a look at this detailed map for price summaries of each visited store and Happy Grossing (grocerying?).

image c/o antenna mag

This week, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick will be off the friggin’ hook when Northside Festival 2011, Williamsburg Walks and Crest Fest 2011 simultaneously inundate our fair towns with music, art, film, food and ideas.

Here’s a quick resource guide for navigating your way through all the awesomeness:

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL 2011
Thursday, June 16 to Sunday, June 19
PRICES VARY

Four-Day Badges
If you were lucky enough to score one before they sold out, your Northside badge will grant you access to EVERY show on a first-come, first-served basis.

Badges are available for pickup at Northside Headquarters, located at 240 N. 12th St. in Williamsburg (between Union and Driggs).

Bring a photo ID and drop by during any of the following open hours:
Thursday, June 16 12pm – 10pm
Friday, June 17 12pm – 10pm
Saturday, June 18 12pm-8pm
Sunday June 19 12pm-5pm
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image c/o The Indypendent

Although my experience of the venue was less anarchist and more casual DIY fun, Alternet provides an intimate portrait of the 13 Thames lifestyle.  The “punk house in deep Bushwick, [where] a collective of punks lives a communal lifestyle that shuns government greed, while their music and art blast government corruption” made news last year when police raided the space.

According to the Alternet author:

At 13 Thames, one might meet a Trinidian black metal kid who grew up in Bed-Stuy, a punk rock woman mechanic who worked for six years at a law firm, a dreadlocked community gardener, or an interestingly “off” German man. They come together to accept people that society fails and rejects, and they pride themselves on open-mindedness. And then they party – often with a conscience. They throw film screenings, noise, metal, and punk shows, art galleries, showcasing whatever parcel of the underground they deem cool enough.

This is pretty bohemian though. Read the whole story at Alternet.

Find An Apartment in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, or Bushwick Brooklyn

• aptsandlofts.com
• BrooklynLofts.com
• Brooklyn Sublets and Rentals
• Craig’s List Rentals
• MLX.com
• Naked Apartments
• NY Times.com
• Rapid Realty
• Rent Hop
• Street Easy
• Trulia
• Village Voice Rentals
• Village Voice Sales

In these times of dynamic change, amazing things are happening in the Bushick and beyond. People and businesses are coming together to assist, contribute, and help keep this creative hub alive and pumping as one of the last bastions of awesomeness in NYC. The Morgan has invited Eastern District to bring their artistic vision and experience to its walls and curate exhibitions for the space to continue the great things that have been growing over the years in their new home Eastern District @ the Morgan.

Please join us for a night of Modern ART:
EDM
Eastern District @ The Morgan
FREE show- performance by the Yellow Dogs
and special DJ SETS BY The Black Lips and DJ Ghost Dad
Installation by Jason Grunwald

Doors open at 8pm, Show starts at 10pm

If you need more convincing, here’s what DJ Mike Dextro — who DJ’d the venue’s opening night on Friday — had to say about the space:

It’s got a bit of a rustic look to it and there are satellite speakers in all the non dancefloor areas, but once it’s complete, it will have 3 MAIN music areas and will fit close to the amount of people that BK Bowl fits!!!

So yeah, this place seems pretty RAD but, um, do me a favor and stay out of my ‘hood. #kthxbai

Joseph O'Neal, joan of arc, 27.5" x 64" acrylic, chalk on found wood

They say it might snow again this weekend. I am so over this weather. Come in out of the cold, and don’t miss , Imaginary Arms, an exhibition of paintings, sculpture and photography opening Saturday at ARCH Collective NYC, 390-400 Troutman St. The show features bluetan art collective members Joseph O’Neal and recent addition Joe Strasser, along with Clark Russell, Grover Watts and Jeremy McDaniel. Rumor has it, the the avant-garde pirate Alex Chaplin, might show a secret installation.

Joseph O’Neal claims North Carolina as his lifelong home, but resides in Brooklyn. Critics say his work “creates a transcendental dialogue through a system driven by the archaic. Symbols, phonetics, and imagery come descendent from a past that, in the words of Motherwell, ‘…could only have been conceived of at present.” According to O’Neal,

“The work consists of two variables: the problem and the resolution. Both variables are present in the end result, like the shaking of hands at a peace treaty. The handshake dissolves my relevancy.”

Jeremy McDaniel is a sculptor and installation artist from Atlanta. A military school dropout, he feels his art is imperative to his discipline.

Joe Strasser worked often with bluetan, and recently fell in to the ranks. If an artist is influenced by his surroundings, The now Brooklyn based Strasser has a lot to go on; the suburbs of New Jersey, a van on a Hawaiian beach, a campground in Woodstock, to Miami, Fl. Of his work, he said,

“ It has taken me over 20 years to completely paint what I want. My work is mostly about using found material and placing it in a new context and giving it new life. This creates a certain kind of poetry with the found detritus. I also believe sex and death should always be present in a piece…”

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