Realized the other day I somehow missed the ferry (get it??) on soundtracking my Ikea adventures with the appropriate Pavement song.
Self indulgent linkbackage showboating
Lesson here: Always assume there is a Pavement song to go with whatever you are writing. This is good, seeing as my upcoming topics of concern include AT&T and the unseen power of the picket fence.
I wish I could remember how or why this song landed in my iTunes (according to iTunes chronology, it arrived somewhere between the Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition and immediately preceding T.I.’s Live Your Life [ayyy ay]). But it has floated to the surface of the pile in recent weeks and affixed itself as the constant-repeat soundtrack to the season, that being fall, more specifically special urban fall, with all its hyperkenetic-super-frenetic energy rushing in like these sudden brutal winds leftover from tropical storm Ida.
Also, great use of alarmist Phil Donahue footage here:
Tullycraft – “The Punks are Writing Love Songs”
Download it here.
Posted in Friday Happy, mp3, music
Tagged fall in new york, Friday Happy, phil donahue, the punks are writing love songs, tullycraft
from Gchat today:
Jeff: did you listen to the Jesus track?
I don’t mean to be annoying about this, but you really must absorb The
Unveiling
me: downloading now
me: will have to listen to when not in a coffee shop with skeptical eyes watching me
Jeff: oh sure, Mister Hipster Big Shot I Don’t Want People To Know I’m Listening to Rapping Clowns Talk About Our Lord
____
will update later whether this track was worth public excoriation. It comes with this ringing endoresement:
Jeff: the catch is that this new recorded promises a return to the pre-Jesus approach of cutting people with large axes
UPDATE 8/24: HOLY CRAP IT’S ACTUALLY KIND OF AWESOME. It’s epic and building, kinda like an “All My Friends” for the twisted, religious, clown-makeuped set. This song is also probably the second ICP song I’ve ever sat through. Jeff says he is starting to suspect that ICP has just been fucking with us all this time. You mean a band that has both the lyrics: “may the Juggalos find god!” and “Murder go round, murder go round
How ya gonna fuck wit a wicked clown?” may be less than serious?
Here’s Jeff’s 2007 column What is a Jugaloo? where he admits his fear of clowns clouds his decision-making process.
A divergence today from this blog’s usual focus (ha!) to bring you an important announcement: Disco Vietnam is coming to Brooklyn!
When: 10 p.m. Thursday 7/30
Where: Hank’s Saloon, corner of 3rd Ave and Atlantic. It’s the divest bar that ever dived, and we (well, some of us) love it. It has flames painted on the side and it can get rowdy. Hank’s has cheap PBRs and a Walgreens nearby if you need Febreeze yourself once you leave.
Who: The Brothers Schwartz (pictured below) make up the nucleus of the band. Barry you may recognize as a frequent contributor/critic on this site, and he’s also an excellent songwriter. Kenny is a New School grad and is (rightly) feared by drum sets the world over.
The recent addition of Nicki Nevermann is their secret weapon, because, as
DV's keyboardist threatens you with musical violence
you probably well know by now, the magic ingredient to success in any indie band is the Chick Keyboardist. She is a damn fine keyboard player, and a member of the Long Island Philharmonic. And she owns a pink gun, apparently.
They play unapologetically catchy indie pop, with powerful melodies that shake like Ted Leo and pre-apocalyptic riffs that soar like Muse.
This is their first-ever Brooklyn show after trolling far too long in the lonely salt mines of the Long Island music scene. Let’s show them a good time, so you can say you knew them when.
Click the link at the bottom for their hit (at least it sounds like a hit) song, “The NP,” which is named after Natalie Portman, but not about her at all. The last time I saw the band play in Huntington, Natalie Portman’s parents walked by the bar with their dog. This is a good omen for things to come.
They are currently finishing recording their first full-length album, Totally Awesome Decisions, with a street date sometime in the next few months.
Their first EP, Get At Me Corruption, was inspired by one of my away messages (hey, remember away messages?), and the new album name is my initials (TAD). I am still debating the Freudian ramifications of this.
But for realz, I don’t blow this blog space hyping up just any of my friends’ bands, so I wouldn’t waste your time here if I didn’t actually think they were a talented bunch with something worth checking out. Plus, Natalie loves them:
Listen: Disco Vietnam – The NP
Posted in brooklyn, mp3, music, soapbox friends
Tagged barry schwartz, disco vietnam, hank's saloon, live music, natalie Portman
Summertime in New York landed hard and flat on its feet this weekend, boiling out the late lingering doldrums of winter and flooding flea markets, outdoor bars and rooftops across the city with that sudden signature change of mood that comes in with an enlivening heat, reminding you of all the horizon-less options available to anyone with two feet and a sense of adventure in the city, the feeling of photosynthesis burning through closed eyelids pointed directly up and into the light. Already feels like a good one in the works.
Getting a feeling I’ll be listenting to a lot of Little Joy this summer. It’s front-stoop night time humidity independent rock. Try it for yourself, why don’t you.
Posted in mp3, music, New York City
I suppose this song is eerily appropriate, given that last post and all. Thanks to sister Donnelly for the tip.
One for the Team – A Better Job (mp3)
One for the Team
More on the band here.
Inverted Soapbox 