Category: Uncategorized

As I go through the weathered doors of CBGB’s I already feel saddened knowing that this club will no longer exist at the end of September. There have been so many incredible music venues and landmarks destroyed or closed in the past few years, which solidifies the fact that this city is shunning it’s cultural center in lieu for expensive condos and the rich. New York is no longer New York.

Unfortunately I missed Tiny Masters of Today which were a bunch of kids no older than 12. I heard that they were actually quite good. Quite cool for them to play on such a historic stage.

Although I haven’t been that impressed with Slowlands’ new album, their live act is consideringly better. Started in Long Island but now in Brooklyn these guys play swirly indie rock. Nothing that innovative here but they sound pretty good. However as soon as they took the stage I was apprehensive as I hate any band that has more than 4 members in it, and Slowlands further proved my theory for this distaste. Their sound wasn’t that rich enough to warrant the added members especially when you have a guy “playing” a labtop AND a guy that tinkers around with other smaller instruments that you can’t hear anyway. Their first few songs were actually quite rocking but halfway through the set it got to be quite boring and well, s l o w. I would have trimmed the set to 30 minutes of just the good songs and work on the rest. Unfortunately the most rocking song composed of repeating the same lyric “One more fire” over and over and over and over again.

The Diggs took the stage and with the power of three, they created a huge wall of sound right from the start. I’ve seen this band many times so no need to convince you how great they are, but this night was the loudest and most relaxed they’ve played. They played 2 songs I presume are new and ended with “Trouble Everyday”. Notorious for their short sets, they played only a half hour and although warranted an encore they did not keep playing.
Pictures from the show.

Links:
http://www.slowlands.com/
http://www.thediggs.com/

Let me start off by saying that this was one of the most eclectic and craziest shows I’ve ever been to. Cx Kidtronik was joined onstage with Deuce Gangsta and they were just a great mess onstage. I got there to witness the band dancing and grinding with some voluptuous girl. The kept running back and forth onstage rapping to cheesy Casio drum beats and hilarious samples. They then got 2 random young girls armed with 1 drumstick each to play a lone symbol at the same time throughout their entire set.
They were completely uncontrollable and Kidtronic, wearing a shirt “Eat Shit & Die”, tripped over one of the monitors and fell into the crowd. The music was downright terrible but I loved their energy on stage and good to see a band have such an aggressive and absurd attitude towards electronic music.

New York’s Professor Murder has been getting a bit a buzz around these parts and although I’m not that crazy about their recordings, their live set will make you start dancing. This 4-piece layers addictive beats with synth lines and catchy lyrics to create a danceable groove. The members take turns playing the makeshift mini drum kit at the front of the stage. They bring elements of reggae, funk, hip-hop music to form a dance party. And I loved the use of the whistle as an instrument.

Ok, Girl Talk is Gregg Gillis from Pittsburgh and his 3rd release “Night Ripper” is one of the most amazing mash up compilations I have ever heard. More cohesive than his past recordings, this record is one that you put on during a party to get it going. It’s a continuous mix of samples and music snippets from all genres of music from many decades. Gregg meticulously fused all these disparate elements to create one of the most compelling 30 minutes you will ever hear. So needless to say, I was intrigued on what his live show would entail. He took the stage to announce to all “the poseurs in the crowd” that we were all dumb to spend 10 bux to watch a guy press play on his labtop. And he did exactly that. He initially invited 5 people to take the stage and dance as there would not be any live act to specifically watch. Soon enough more and more people took the stage until there was no room left. Mercury Lounge turned into 1 huge dance party. People were sweaty, clothes came off, gyrations, arms flailing, yelling, screaming, pure energy. He concluded by stating that he’s never sold a concert ticket in his life and I’m glad that New York gave him a sold out show. He blew the roof of the Mercury Lounge. The best party record. The best party. A great night.

a complete list of the the samples used on the album, in chronological order.
Fucking brilliant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Ripper

Pictures from the show.

Links:
http://www.cxkidtronik.com/home.html
http://www.burncopy.com/pmurder/
http://www.girl-talk.net/

There are so many good and bad things about the whole McCarren Pool concert series. The fact that Clear Channel is hosting the events and charging over $36 + $10 in fees is robbery. Reports coming out that a lot of the money (of course) is not going to the community to help rebuild the pool. However, the events have brought awareness to the dilapidated structure and there are several free shows on Sundays (but not even remotely close to the attraction of the paid shows).

I was amazed as soon as I entered the pool. It was much bigger than I imagined and it had a great vibe. Brooklyn beer and food provided by Sparky’s and Warsaw. Spacious, plenty of places to chill out or sit down, and everyplace has a great sight line (although that didn’t stop me from going to the front)

Awesome Color opened up on Saturday and chose this day over Friday as I had already seen Blood on the Wall. The band seemed awkward on such a large stage and being outside. They played some strange hard rock which doesn’t surprise me as they are on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label. The lead singer had a lot of power in his voice and was very animated on stage as he yelled and grabbed at the sky with hands.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were on next and it was awkward to see them in the daylight. Karen O came out wearing sunglasses and in an elaborate dress that shimmered in the setting sun. I was glad to see Imaad Wasif play with the trio again. They were predictably good and as always put on an entertaining show, however it can not even close to when I saw them at Maxwell’s. The crowd was very lame with no energy and even a fight broke out steps away from me.

I was mainly there to see Sonic Youth and when they started off their set with “Teenage Riot”, I knew it was going to be a great show. I love seeing this band live and they have been such a huge influence on my taste in music and life in general. And with their new album “Rather Ripped”, this band is not planning on slowing down. I felt their last 2 albums were incredible but the new one brings them back to their guitar driven power. They weer relaxed on stage and commanded the crowd with ease as they are music veterans by now. It was great to see Kim Gordon twirl around and Thurston Moore continue with the feedback compositions. The set was incredible and this girl in front of me was going completely ballistic. She was so young and it must have been her first time seeing them live, and it reminded me on how I must have acted the first time I saw them. This band is a legend. The only downside was the sound was so fucking low and many of us kept yelling to make it louder. Also ending the show with only 1 encore and exactly at 10 PM sucked.

Sonic Youth set list:
Teenage Riot, Reena, Incinerate, What a Waste, Eric’s Trip, Do You Believe in Rapture?, 100%, Turquoise Boy, Rats, Jams Run Free, Pink Steam, Or E: Shaking Hell

Links:
http://www.yeahyeahyeahs.com/
http://www.sonicyouth.com/

Boy I sure love these free NY shows! This time Josh Ritter took the South Street Seaport stage as the sun set into East River. It is such a treat to see this extremely talented singer/song writer. His new album The Animal Years is quite a gem and has been gathering praises everywhere. His songs are expertly crafted around his poetic lyrics about life, love, war, and all the places in his life. He played only a few of his hits as he has so many but easily captured even more fans that weren’t familiar with his music. At one point he got the entire crowd to sing along to one of his songs which was quite cool as we were outside at the seaport and open to the public. Josh is always happy to be onstage but he was especially happy tonight, playing outdoors, the weather was perfect, and with a perfect back drop. It’s one of those days that make you just love New York. Thanks.

Pictures from the show.

Links:
http://www.joshritter.com/

Before setting off on their tour, The Long Winters treated NY to a secret and FREE show at the intimate Mercury Lounge. This band is so much fun live and their new album is really good. They played only new songs with the exception of 2 including “Cinnamon”. The new songs is an extension of their Ultimatum EP released late last year. John Roderick continues his story telling lyrics over simple and catchy melodies. The crowd was full of fans and happy to hear the new material, including “Pushover” which is a highly addicting song. Go see them live at Bowery at the end o September.

Pictures from the show.

Links:
http://www.thelongwinters.com/

My ears were still ringing from the Silversun Pickups show on Friday night and yet I was eager to keep it humming when they played again at Union Hall, a new bar across the street from my apartment. The downstairs stage area is very small holding less than 90 people and I was apprehensive from the quality of the sound that was to come.

Considering I never got a chance to see On!Air!Library! before they broke up, I grabbed at the chance to catch 2 of its members now in Daylight For The Birds who started off the night. Their shoe-gazer music is really beautiful on disk and myspace describes the sound as “the last thing you wanna hear before drifting off to sleep. . . .and the first thing upon waking,” which is a very fitting description. I’ve been addicted to the new songs but unfortunately they couldn’t recreate the sound on stage. Playing engaging sleepy music is really difficult live, and felt the band was overall out of tune.

I got a chance to talk to Silversun Pickups before they came on stage and thanked them for a super set at Mercury Lounge. I had a really great chat with the lead singer Brian Aubert about their hometown and, of course, about music. He was really nice and although the band was exhausted from a grueling tour schedule they somehow stayed awake. They took the tiny stage and started with “Creation Lake” which they played as an encore at the Merc. By the time they got through “Melatonin,” the mood was established for the night. The band just exploded and the sound system held up surprisingly well, even as I was in the front row. The band and music has this shy demeanor with catchy melodies but then crash out of it with intense noisy power. Although their album comes close to catching their energy, seeing them live makes you realize the dynamic nature of their sound.

At one point Brian commented on how the band only really existed because of the welcome they got from the NY crowd at CMJ. I’m glad they came back and now armed with an incredible album and more experience. The band really shines when the the bassist Nikki compliments the male-female vocals in several of their songs. She is just so adorable onstage and her bass melodies somehow ground the band as the surge of guitar squalls out. They played an older song “comeback kid” for the encore to make it an incredible show and left my ears ringing for more.

Make your ears happy as well. Buy the album and see them live. I haven’t stopped playing it in days.

Pictures from the show.

Links:
Daylight for the birds
www.silversunpickups.com/