Campfires and Smores with Jose Gonzalez and UCB Theater
Jose Gonzalez
The Yard, 9.28.08
New York Magazine "Campfire on the Canal"
Sunday was a day plagued by rain, and the disappointment of the Mets season coming to an end. Luckily, the rained cleared in time for New York Magazine's latest indie music party - "Campfire on the Canal." Following the success of such events as indie rock karaoke with Of Montreal and indie trivia night with Les Savy Fav, Campfire on the Canal was just as wonderful as it sounds. Located at The Yard in Gowanus, we were treated to free alcohol (both beer and vodka mix drinks were available) and smores on a stick. Under the shade of trees and a more natural environment than us city dwellers are used to, we were able to warm up by a campfire and listen to members of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater tell us some of their most hilarious summer stories of their embarrassing past. Tales of lost virginity, Dungeons and Dragons, gays and sports, and uncontrollable puking made us all laugh away the pain of a baseball post season without either New York club.
After the storytelling was over, the main attraction, Jose Gonzalez took the stage, equipped with an acoustic guitar and some beautiful songs. It was a serene experience, perfectly planned and executed by the people from New York Magazine.
It was all of the good things about camping (smores, nature, sitting around telling stories) without the bad stuff (finding the right leaves for toilet paper, bug bites, sneaky raccoons). Much of the evening reminded me of the days of Cub Scouts (I quit very early into Boy Scouts).
Hopefully, they continue to host these wonderfully originally and entertaining events. Next one the schedule appears to be another night of indie rock karaoke!
Melodic Fuzz
Thee Oh Sees
Death By Audio, 9.28.08
Last night, I found myself sweating bullets and listening to fuzzed-out garage rock at Death By Audio. On the floor was San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees, the new project of former Coachwhips mastermind John Dwyer. The room was packed, and I was so close to the band that I was lucky to survive the performance without having my face struck with a tambourine or guitar neck. The intimacy, and DIY nature perfectly complimented the perfectly raw nature of the grimy music Thee Oh Sees generated in the unbearably hot space. Buried underneath a furious level of fuzz/reverb, John Dwyer and company played a melodic blend of psychedelic, garage-style surf rock that had the room simultaneously shaking their hips and tapping their toes.
For more about Thee Oh Sees, check out Greg Burgett's recent feature on the band.
MP3: "Ghost In The Trees"
Live Picks 9/28/08 - 10/4/08
Mt Eerie @ Lutheran Church of the Messiah | 9/19/08
Mt Eerie @ Lutheran Church of the Messiah
Seated on the stage inside a warm church basement in Greenpoint, Phil Elvrum asked his crowd to sit, saying that it wouldn't work with us standing. A seated crowd was far less likely to conduct distracting conversation than one on its feet. Phil's music is of the quiet lo-fi variety. The young audience abided to his request surprisingly quick, and soon everyone was on the floor, trying to find a comfortable way to sit in tight spaces. Throughout the performance, our legs fell asleep and we continued to shift our bodies, attempting to find a more comfortable position. It was a subtle distraction, but a sacrifice we were willing to make for an incredibly intimate performance.
Polaroids: Chuck Palahniuk, Sam Rockwell, Clark Gregg
These are are the product of a very brief shoot I had with the author (Chuck), star (Sam), and director (Clark) of the new movie Choke for NY Press:
Sat. October 4th - Benefit Concert for Jiamini Scholarship Fund
I recently organized a charity concert to benefit the Jiamini Scholarship Fund, which provides educational resources for Tanzanian children. Their mission is to provide the most promising yet vulnerable students with the support they need to complete their primary and secondary schooling.
My good friends Motel Motel, The GoStation, Tropic of Nelson and Intermissions (ex Bling Kong) are all scheduled to perform. [It will be Intermissions first ever show!]
Saturday October 4th
@ Union Hall
702 Union Street @ 5th Ave
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Doors 7:30 pm / Show 8pm
$10 - tickets available now on Ticketweb
MP3: Coffee by Motel Motel
MP3: Harlem by Motel Motel
Mp3: Not Enough by The Go Station
Sigur Ros’ Glorious Return To New York
Sigur Ros
United Palace Theater
9/17/08
When Sigur Ros played the Manhattan Ballroom back in June, it was quite possibly the most ethereal concert experience I've ever had. Every moment of their performance was true bliss, and most of the others who were there felt the same way. Concerts of this emotional magnitude come very very rarely. This particular concert transformed me from a mid-level fan to worshiper of the band.
Last night, the epic Icelandic post-rockers returned to New York to play the magnificent United Palace Theater. Stripped down to a quartet for the first time in years, it was a more intimate version of the band than what we saw in June—no Amiina and no horns. Opening with the now classic "Sven G Englar," there was a noticeable difference in the scale of their sound without the extra band members. The performance never quite reached that degree of ecstasy that was felt at Manhattan Ballroom on June. The setlist may not have been as strong, lights not as glorious, and the sound not as crisp, but it was still about as good a concert as you could ever see.
Without the full band, it was more noticeable just how powerful Goggi's bass playing is to the sound of the band, especially on masterpieces "Vid Spilum Endalaust" and "Hoppipolla." Singer/guitarist Jonsi got the crowd to stand and clap along to the freak-folkish "Gobbledigook," which ended the regular portion of their set. When the band returned to the stage for their encore—the crowd still standing and cheering—in his sweet Icelandic accent Jonsi told the crowd they could sit down again. At that moment a young woman screamed "I Love You," which pretty much spoke for how we all felt at the moment.
Sigur Ros has reached that level of being something really really special—an extremely unique band that everyone should give a chance. Amazingly they've done all this without English lyrics or even pronounceable song titles.
Cover of NY PRESS
I photographed and designed the cover of this week's NY Press for a over story about Chuck Palahniuk and the new movie Choke. Read Simon Abrams article for NY Press here.
"Palahniuk lost interest in the clergy when he found out that priests had to keep their parishioners’ sins secret. Where’s the fun in hearing great stories if you can’t tell them to anyone?"
Human Highway Debuts in NYC
Borrowing their name from a Neil Young movie, Human Highway is the new side project for Islands' frontman Nick Thorburn and former Island member Jim Guthrie. Their album Moody Motorcycle was released in mid-August. Though not as deep or unique as Thorburn's Unicorns and Islands work, Moody Motorcycle is a perfect end-of-summer record, which the band as described as being Everly Brothers'-influenced.
The band debuted in the live form last night at the small LES club, Cake Shop. The 3 back-up musicians came out first, picking up their instruments and setting the groove for "The Sound" before Guthrie and Thorburn joined them. Interestingly, the band essentially played the album straight through, throwing in Jim Guthrie's "Now, More Than Ever" midway. There were points where it showed that the band was new to playing the material live, and Thorburn often became distracted by the buzzing of his amp. They even had the chord progressions for set-closer "Duties of a Lighthouse Keeper" on a paper at their feet. Introducing the song "Pretty Hair," Thorburn told the audience that it was about Brooklyn, more specifically Toxic Brooklyn (a subject NY Press is quite familiar with), and talked a little bit about how crazy it is for the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area to be the most toxic place in America. Then Thorburn shed some dark words with something like "I spend a lot of time there too, so we'll all die together," before starting up the best song of the night.
If you missed them last night, you'll get a second chance when Human Highway plays Joe's Pub tonight.
Live Picks 9/14/08 - 9/20/08
Those Crazy Kooks
The Kooks, Stellastarr* and Illinois
Central Park, 9/10/08
In front of me stood young British rock stars The Kooks, and behind me was a pack of young screaming girls, held back by a weak metal barrier and little else. The photo pit at Central Park's Rumsey Playfield felt like no man's land on Wednesday. Rarely do I ever see a band with such a young enthusiastic crowd, enveloped with that aching desire to touch a member of the band. It never made much sense why fans want to do whatever it takes to get a piece of a sweaty rock star, but I guess it has to do with making a surreal dreamlike experience feel a little bit more real.
The Kooks are essentially a new British boy band. Their crowd is very young, and the girls go wild for them, especially singer Luke Pritchard. Basically, they're cute young British boys playing insanely catchy pop music. I am in no way comparing The Kooks to American boy bands like NKOTB and N'Sync. These kids are far more talented. The Brits always produce better boy bands, starting with the first one ever, The Beatles. Of course, unlike the American boy bands, bands like The Kooks weren't assembled as some crazy product to sell to unassuming teenage girls.
Despite being one of the biggest bands in England, with two of the top selling British records of the 21st century, they've still got a little ways to go before taking over America. Their set at Central Park was a good start. The best of their perfectly-crafted pop songs got heads bopping, and the closer Pritchard got to the crowd, the louder the screams became.
Their records have never had me entirely convinced, but live renditions of tunes like the Jam-influenced "Always Where I Need To Be" and acoustic "Jackie Big Tits" were incredibly infectious, and have been stuck in my head ever since.
Opening were Buck's County, PA-natives Illinois and Brooklyn's Stellastarr*. I've seen both bands many many times, and have always been impressed, but felt like neither was at top form on Wednesday. Illinois best moments came early with "Oh Asia" and "Screen Door," while the latter part of their set consisted of somewhat head-scratching new material. The band is obviously experimenting with their sound, which is great, but what they do best is that barn-storming banjo-filled rock.
After two records, Stellastarr* seemed to have disappeared for a while, and it's great to see them back. Their set opened with a brand new song, on which Shawn Christensen's vocals approach was noticeably different than in the past. The new songs played were a bit hit and miss, but past favorites like "In The Walls" and "My Coco" sounded great, as usual. Hopefully, we'll see a new album from the band in the near future.
Celebrating 5 Years of East Village Radio
Originally scheduled for Saturday, the rains came pouring down and pushed the East Village Radio Festival to Sunday. Luckily, Sunday turned out to be a really beautiful day, and nearly every act from the eclectic lineup was able to perform on Sunday, including headliner Boris (pictured), who brought the rock all the way from Japan. Legendary MC, KRS-One, hosted the event and summed it up best when he described the day as a community event. No two performers were totally alike, giving the patrons of the South Street Seaport a nice variety of talented local and international acts.
Boris
KRS-One
Flying Lotus
Crystal Stilts (on side stage)
Awesome Color
High Places
Vivian Girls
Olof Arnalds
The Sweet Sound of Silence
Liam Finn/The Veils
Bowery Ballroom
9/4/08
It takes a hell of a lot to get an entire room full of people loaded with drinks to shut the fuck up. It's never made much sense that people pay to go to concerts and then proceed to talk through the entire show, including the headliner. Occasionally, they may take a break from conversation to hear the one or two songs they're their for and whistle with approval, but only for a second. Sometimes the band has a hard to even hearing themselves over the insane chattering of the inconsiderate crowds.
Liam Finn was well aware of this when he decided to attempt a the part acappella lullaby as part of his encore. Fin told the crowd that the only possible way they could make this beautiful song work was if it was dead silent in the room. Amazingly, silence came rather quickly. (Of course there was plenty of shsssshing before the silence. When will people learn that shsssshing actually makes noise).
What followed was something totally breathtaking. The young son of Crowded House's Neil Finn had already wowed the Bowery crowd with an amazing rock frenzy, and this was just a really special extra treat.
Having already built a solid reputation in his native New Zealand, it was the first night of Liam's first ever headline tour in America. The 23 year old proved every bit worthy of the honor by blowing us amazing with his mastery of loops and sequencers and overall technical chops. Finn would often build up his songs by playing and looping multiple layers of guitars and drums, all while singing lead vocals. For most of the set, the only help he got on stage came from the mega-talented Eliza-Jane Barnes, who provided multi-layered backup vocals and percussion.
Fellow New Zealanders, The Veils are joining Liam Finn on the road, and were no less spectacular on Thursday night. With a new record on the way, the quartet's short set consisted entirely mainly of new material, though they did work in terrific fan favorites "Colliope" and "Jesus for the Jugular." Finn Andrews once again proved to have one of the best voices in all of rock, delivering his lyrics with a greater emotional urgency than anyone I've ever seen. Set closer "Not Yet" was a perfect end to the set with swirling guitars lying over a galloping rhythm, and Andrew finest vocal performance of the night. The only thing lacking in translation from the studio to the live setting is the keyboards, which are quite prevalent on record.
The Veils will be back in New York on October 11 for a headline performance at new Brooklyn venue, The Bell House. This is your best chance to catch them before everyone realizes just how amazing they are, and they start playing larger venues.
At Last: Sixto Rodriguez’ First Ever New York Performance
Not everyone can rise to fame as quickly or as easily as someone like Vampire Weekend. Many factors play into the success of an artist, and no matter how good they are or how hard they work, a little bit of luck goes a long way.
38 years after its release, Sixto Rodriguez’ debut “Cold Fact” is only finally getting recognition in America as a brilliant musical accomplishment.
Released in 1970, the Detroit-native’s first album never got any attention in his homeland, which led to an early end to his career as a musician. Amazingly, across the world in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, people were discovering the record and falling in love.
Unknown in America, and getting on with his life, Rodriguez was slowly becoming a sensation far from home, and would eventually embark on a few small-scale tours in Australia in 1979 and 1981.
From then on, his life became a mystery drenched in rumors that he wasin a mental institution, jail, or no longer living.
In 1996, journalist Craig Batholemew found Rodriguez alive and well, living in Detroit. Rodriguez had no idea that he had become a cult icon in South Africa. “Cold Fact” had gone multi-platinum there without Rodriguez receiving a cent in royalties. Finally made aware of his fame, Sixto toured South Africa, filling massive 5,000 capacity venues.
Despite his rise to fame elsewhere in the world, Rodriguez is still relatively unknown in America, but Light in the Attic is looking to change that, by releasing his cd to a new audience.
Wednesday night, Sixto Rodriguez performed for the first time ever in New York—only his second proper gig in North America (early in his career he would only play at "hooker bars, inner city dives, and biker bars”).
The respectful crowd at Joe’s Pub knew they were there to see something special. The 66 year old Rodriguez showed his age in his less than nimble walk onto the stage, but not in his playing. Rodriguez and his band performed the songs with the same immense level of magic as on the 1970 record. The mellow, vivid lyrical folk treasures “Crucify Your Mind,” “Sugar Man,” and “Forget It” were particularly moving, especially in the intimate setting.
It’s taken a very, very long time, but Sixto Rodriguez is finally beginning to receive the attention he deserves for writing one of the finest albums of its time. And after the long path taken to get to this point, it’s quite apparent that he is incredibly humble and appreciative for all of it.
DOWNLOAD: Rodriguez - "Sugar Man" (mp3)
