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Off the heels of New York Magazine’s Brooklyn bands…UNLEASHED by Hugo Lindgren (the article really worth the read…). While, its uncertain this is a reemergence of what we saw in the CBGB decade remains to be unseen. Still, it’s progress. ONWARD fellow bands. ONWARD.
Yes, I do dig on the following, some more than others, as my patience wanes with too much. It’s the lyrics. LCD inspired me to write this blog with New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down. It pushed me to think about the new, New York. Dig on (in no particular order): MGMT, LCD Soundsystem and Les Savy Fav (photo above). I struggle with many others listed in the article only because I just can’t listen. I have a threshold people.
MGMT’s song ”Time to Pretend” about the model wives, drugs and freedom vs boredom is biting and funny…
” There’s really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we’ll get a divorce
We’ll find some more models, everything must run its course.”
WANTED! An educated music man or woman to write me something; doesn’t have to be a disseratation, I’m interested in thoughts of critics who know the genre and of course, BKLYN.
While I’ve hit many shows of bands, which have come and gone, and those I never really knew, it’s refreshing to see this venue still alive. And, although Williamsburg and Brooklyn, in general, seems to be sprouting the indie scene bands these days, it’s still nice to know there is a bit of grit off the Bowery (and Delancey Streets) at yes, the one and onlyBowery Ballroom. Long before the trendy Box and slutty burlesque carvinales started opening, this was the place to be. The Hells Angels at the door weren’t always nice and thought my ID was fake even though I was 23 at the time and the ID was quite real (many thanks to the state of Missouri). Still, they kicked me out but I felt somewhat, well, cool. (imaeg: Photo by Lauren Klain Carton)
I went to shows where pretentious ”rock and roll” bands tried not to go on stage because only 10 people were in the crowd and they relied too heavily on their back up DJ who pressed buttons on his mixer. They liked to hang behind the curtains or upstairs where the bands gather and drink Jamieson and the girls sip pricey champage even though they haven’t had a meal for 2 months. They were always lame but it made for a good story.
My first show at the Bowery was Luna with its chill, hush beats courtesy of vocals from Dean Wareham and the cool blonde headed chick. (2001). One centers around the crowded, downstairs art-deco style bar before descending upstairs to hear the tunes under nice lighting and a hard floor. Rock n’ roll.
Thinking about an old neighborhood, you turn to old fixtures. People, who like you, walked the streets. Inspired. Saddened. Excited.
In this case, I think of Tarka Cordell (see: Tarka Music). He had moved on to New Orleans when NYC was changing. Yet, I recall his smile whether he was walking into Gatsby’s to watch a football game or to Loreley for fish and chips or smoking a butt outside of (the old) Rice on Mott Street, offering to be a goalie for the Bowery Boys…he’s a missed New York fixture which turns one of my favorite nostalgic (and certainly lyrical) songs of all is his “Lovely New York“ It’s simply not the same without him.
the shuttering of Tower Records was sad; remember the lines around the block circa midnight when a new album was coming out? Sorry, you’re gonna have to wait until Target opens to pick up your favorite band. Virgin Megastore was always fun to hit (both Union Square and Times Sqaure are long gone)….the relics of the music past.
lights out @ the tower records...no mas.
I walk a thin wire writing about this because i know many DJ’s and many show up, throw down their tracks and are genuinely talented individuals. They spin their hearts out, playing what they love and playing what the crowd loves more. Many gigs are on the side as these dj’s have day jobs and keep routine livelihoods.
It’s the other not-quite-a-DJ assortment…think of those with driver’s permit, who really shouldn’t be driving. It’s this mentailty which deeply irks.
I can count them on a finger…from those of the “celebrity sister” to the hipster dipster twins who take turns on the table., the ronson girl…that is just usually, the music is of the over-cooked, heard this a million times before and a bit over pop-culture-ized. they get big money for lame gigs while the crowd attempts to get close to their booth. Hmph.
Primarily the DJ thing falls under the annoying category; aren’t we all our own DJ’s? Someone should check my brother’s I Pod; his mix was the hit of my wedding. Anyone on Pandora? Again, this is not the high, esoteric level of talent…about the mixing of sasha and digweed (yes, today, i’m stuck in that genre of the limelight) but about the extreme old school-ness of DJj’ing as an art form over an oversaturated market of poseurs.
