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Air Waves | Ida Maria @ Union Hall

I now regret giving up my tickets for the Ida Maria show at Mercury Lounge. Seems that she gave a killer performance the night before causing her to lose her voice. Coming from Norway she still exhibited pure energy and it’s obvious that she pours her heart out for every song. As the show went on she physically and musically deteriorated onstage but still pushed forward. I felt sorry for her as her voice continued to crack and screech on every song and then breaking strings on her guitar. Despite the poor music set you can still taste the intensity she put out. It was obvious that she was exhausted and her voice was spent but the crowd got her to play “Stella” for the encore. I think we’ll be hearing about her in 2009.

MusicSnobbery was at the Mercury show. Good writeup & pics here.
And you should check out her video for “Oh My God”

http://www.myspace.com/idamaria

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Okkervil River @ Bell House

Not a bad choice for the 1st show of the year and at the new Bell House. For the past couple years I’ve been enjoying their unique thematic folk albums including their new one “The Stand Ins.” They had a new member onstage and took me awhile to figure out that it was Lauren Gurgiolo of the DialTones. She provided some serious eye candy to the very crowded male stage. Although a solo heckler provided a needed distraction in the quiet and slow start of their set, I still found the bands’s sound… boring. I guess it took me a few songs to enter the musical wavelength of the band as the 2nd half proved much better and and energetic. The crowd got more into the music including this crazed fan that never stopped dancing and pumping his fists into the air. Awesomeness. Despite the decent set, that was the highlight of the show.
http://www.okkervilriver.com/

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X-Ecutioners @ Knitting Factory

This was a perfect show to say good-bye to the institutional Tribeca venu. It’s been a very long time since I last saw this turntable quartet but they did not disappoint. Having DJ Precision in the mix still makes them a dominant force in the hip hop DJ world. However, anytime I can see Roc Raida live is a treat. Made me really miss the Wetlands, where they used to play all the time.

I took one last stroll through the tri-level venue and although I’ve had a bad breakup with the club, I had many amazing expereinces there.  I landed a dream job there after graduating  doing design direction and  producing new media events. We were the first club to broadcast live concert streams and worked on countless video shoots and concert promotions. Although the organization was a mess, somehow we always pulled off the impossible. Over time the Knit became less the go-to place for jazz and experimental music so many of us went to Tonic (which has also recently shut its doors). So another music institution succumbs to the “future of New York”, and I’m left wondering what’s left. Leaving the flier ridden hallways I felt proud to have worked in that building and helped unite so many great bands to eager audiences. Good luck in Brooklyn!

Pictures from the show.

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DecaComp is here!

I’m very proud to release the DecaComp. To celebrate the last 10 years of comping the best music of every year, I’ve compiled the last decade into one package, including this year’s 2008 supaComp. I’ve been doing this music curating endeavor for many years and it’s been a labor of love. The many hours scrutinizing what makes it on each year’s compilation always becomes an arduous task, but when it’s complete it’s great to listen to all the great tunes that made the cut. Starting out as an extension of my radio show over 14 years ago, its slowly developed into a yearly exploration of the year’s best and overlooked tunes. The “comps” have always been a celebration of new music and spreading my passion for new and unsigned bands. It’s also a good record of what my personal highlights of the year were and some bands one may have missed. Organizing (and locating) the old comps into the DecaComp was very time consuming but it gave me the chance to relisten to the old comps and go down memory lane. I was lucky to have people return some of the old comps (especially the tape ones) that I had no record of anymore. So I’m very happy to bring it all together and get it into your hands and ears.  And just in time for the holidays for you and your music friends 🙂