skateboarding/music blog

DJ Wool who is also part of the Glass, just started a blog a couple of weeks ago called Sk8Trax...it's about skateboarding and music (lots of different kinds). Looks good!

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Hollis Browne, dates, David Byrne talk

First of all...I apologize in advance if this entry sucks...I have been fighting off the 2nd worst hangover of my life all day long.

Last night I rushed my ass off (thanks lack of 7-train!) and made it to Midway just in time to meet my friend Kristin and see Hollis Browne. They played an excellent set. Too short though... it was just about an hour. The schedule was tight b/c there was something ridiculous like 8 bands playing that night. Anyway...the show was excellent. I've been to see the band...I think 3 times before, and I swear, every time I see them they sound better. They have been one of the most consistently performing bands I've seen. I'm not 100% sure of the order or exactly what they played, but I know they definitely played Without Your Love and Completed Fool. They also played a new song (off of their soon to be released EP) called Thank You Momma, which is just a great bluesy stomper. I honestly cannot say enough about this band. If you missed their show last night, you should definitely check them out at Midway on the 14th.


A couple of other new dates to note:

Surkin is dj-ing somewhere tba in NYC on April 13th.

Brooklyner My Cousin Roy...who I have just recently started listening to...has a kind of electro-disco sound, is dj-ing at APT on the 9th, and also on the 16th at the People Don't Dance No More (Édition Discodrome) party at Element.


Friday night I went to that David Byrne/Elizabeth Diller "Resonating Frequencies" lecture at the AIA...it was interesting. The gist of it was, does the venue define the music? or does the music define the venue? David argued the former. Elizabeth's side, though interesting didn't really argue the point...it was basically a presentation of her firm's job of re-designing Alice Tully Hall specifically for chamber music...which was really interesting...especially if you are into architecture, but after a while I was getting the "look at our firm, we had to do all this research and look how fabulous it is going to be". The guy moderating started to get to me after a while...he interrupted a bit, and made corny jokes which I could have done without. David's argument had some good points...I learned a lot about different venues and their designs and what type of music is performed in them. My favorite thing I learned was that the Bowery Ballroom used to be a shoe store. I had a few questions about his argument...and I really wanted to ask this question about his performance at Union Chapel, but I wussed out...largely because...well, I am quiet in certain instances (this obviously one of them), and there was a disgruntled guy sitting next to me sighing heavily after every question (some of which were deserved) and calling the people asking them assholes. So yeah...I opted out. The discussion ran a bit too long, and by the time it was over I couldn't wait to get out of there...but overall it was interesting.

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3 things

1. The Glass are not playing the Annex tonight...I got that date a while ago so things must have changed since then.

2. David Byrne is part of a discussion at the AIA (American Institute of Architecture) NY this evening. It's called "Resonating Frequencies", and he will discuss the relationship between architecture and music with Elizabeth Diller (an architect). More info here.

3. David Bruno's "Week in Dance" post over at Brooklynvegan pointed me to a great live set by Boys Noize that I am currently enjoying in the workplace before the top 40's boss man gets in.

Have a good weekend!

Check out Hollis Browne at Midway tomorrow night! Bluesy classic rocking rock!

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Fixed!

So I already knew about Simian Mobile Disco and Datarock playing Studio B on March 10th and 31st respectively, but I did not know about the Klaxons & Surkin on April 13th!

Yea-yuhh!!

This is going to be dope!

Also...reminder that the Glass are playing at the Annex on Friday, and they also have just posted 2 mixes available for download on their myspace.

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New stuff from Tim Fite, Damon McMahon...random Avalanches fun

Today Tim Fite's new album came out, available for free download on his website. It's called Over the Counter Culture, and it's rather politically charged. It's also more of a straight up hip hop album than his previous stuff. The Chicago Tribune posted a nice review/summary of it.

I've probably just listened to the album once through, a couple tracks maybe 2 times today, but so far I've really enjoyed it both for what it's saying, and the beats. There are still a few quirky little samples which are awesome (Eric from the Jackie Gleason and Richard Pryor film, "The Toy"), reminds me of the Avalanches' "Since I Left You" a little bit at times. So...definitely worth checking out, and it's free for crying out loud! What have you got to lose?!

Tim also has a show coming up at Union Hall on the 28th so you can get the full Tim experience! Maybe now that the weather seems to have lightened up from it's previous arctic blast setting I will not wuss out and actually go to the show.


Touching back on the Avalanches...I pulled my usual Tuesday night move which consists of possibly going to bed at a normal time, which is destroyed somehow by Youtube. Last night I found the video for the Avalanches "Frontier Psychiatrist" which, even if you don't like the Avalanches (what's wrong with you!?!?! j/k) you will love:




The other cool thing I discovered during my evening run on the internets was:

Damon McMahon has a new track up on his myspace (link under the bands list on the right) called "By the Bridal" which I really haven't gotten a proper chance to listen to, so I have no comment as of yet. He's also playing at Hanger Bar on the 27th!


Also, I know this will be a relief to everyone who reads this, yes all two of you. Yesterday I came to terms with the fact that I probably will not drag myself down to the Mercury Lounge anytime soon, so I bought tickets to pretty much every show I really want to see through April on ticketweb. The fact that the first Fujiya & Miyagi show at Mercury sold out really lit the fire under my ass to do it too. So now I am so relieved from my paranoia that all of the shows will sell out and I will be mad at myself for days and days!!

Also, I celebrated President's Day by riding on a really fucked up E-train into Manhattan for an hour...but it was made better by hours of crate digging, during which I struck gold!:



It's the Chemical Brother's Electronic Battle Weapon 8/9!!! I have been scouring ebay for it, and have found them...in the UK, which between shipping and the shitty exchange rate, makes them quite pricey :( I had cut myself off at spending $25 for one...which is really more than I wanted to spend...and then I found it at Kim's for $12! Yea-yuhh!!! And I always thought people sounded a bit crazy when they went on about things sounding better on vinyl...but that shit was banging...new levels of banging!

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3 things

Another option for tonight (in addition to the Tim Fite show at Union Hall), is the bi-monthly Moonwalk party at Happy Ending:



I went to it last month on the 10th and had a great time. Very laidback, good music, people getting down. Just people having a good time, not a whole "scene" going on, which was nice.


Ok, the second thing I am posting about is a bit out there, but...
I downloaded Datarock's "Sex Me Up" yesterday without ever hearing it before. It came up this morning when my ipod was on shuffle...and I thought it was David Byrne. As I listened closer I realized it's not him, but it kind of vaguely sounds like a younger-ish David Byrne voice. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.


Dirty Down has Drop the Lime's remix of Simian's "Never Be Alone", aptly titled "the no friends refix". It's dope! (which is currently my new word I am over-using).

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Tim Fite and Priestbird info

Tim Fite's new album, "Over the Counter Culture" comes out next Tuesday (the 20th). It will be available on his website as a free download, which is pretty awesome. If you can't wait, there are a couple of the new tracks up on his myspace that you can download.


The band formerly known as Tarantula, and then Tarantula A.D. after some legal issues over their name, are now known as Priestbird. Apparently "...there was a viscous break-up that none will speak of again", but the 3 original members are now Priestbird. For those of you not familiar with them...they are kind of metal-ish and as my brother would say "rock your face off", but they have an interesting little classical edge to their music. Lots of strings going on. It's good for your ears. They are playing some New York shows soon if you want to check them out:

Feb 22 - Cakeshop

March 1 - Union Pool

March 5 - Cakeshop

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Some things...

Lots of reviews are coming the next time I have a minute: David Byrne shows last weekend, Inouk last Thursday, James Zabiela last Friday...some album reviews too maybe.

Also, I added a list of all the shows that are coming up over on the right...mainly because I post about shows so far ahead of time, and forget to add them to my calender...and then I get paranoid that I'm going to miss something. There are a ton of dates in there that I haven't posted before, namely the 2 Tim Fite shows this week.

The end.

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Sondre Lerche Tour!

I just was over at Sondre Lerche's website (despite still not getting around to picking up "Phantom Punch"), and there is a whole list of tour dates.

Notably for me (and everyone else in the NY area) - April 7th at Webster Hall.

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massive update!

My roommate's ex-boyfriend has been temporarily been staying at our place for the past couple of weeks while he looks for an apartment. It has been pretty much non-stop debauchery ever since, hence the lack of updates. However, now I will dispense loads of information I have been semi-involuntarily hoarding.

The guy I work with is very into listening to KCRW over the internets. I like it better than what we used to listen to (my boss' cd's, WPLJ (hell!) ), and it's also a nice change from my "work friendly" ipod selections. We listen to Morning Becomes Eclectic a lot. Sometimes it's a bit nondescript indie music-ish, but then other times it's pretty awesome. Case in point, 2 things:

1. The other day a song caught my ear and I said that sounds a lot like Simon Lord from Simian...the track was by a band called Bent. I look them up, and guess who had a large hand in making their record? Simon Lord. Still have some further listening to do, but the song caught me, and if any of Simon's old stuff is any indication, it should be good.

2. They've been playing the Chemical Brothers "Electronic Battle Weapon 8/9" pretty often which is awesome. The tracks have also been getting positive feedback in a lot of blogs, which is also music to my ears.

Dates of note:

3/31 - Datarock at Studio B...I've only heard their song "Fa Fa Fa" off of a SMD comp. Granted, it's great, but further evaluation will be necessary before the Studio B trip is made. The video for "Fa Fa Fa" is pretty cool too btw:



Bluesy rockers, Hollis Browne are back at Club Midway on Feb. 24th. I stumbled upon a couple of their songs you can actually download the other day, so check 'em out.

This Friday, the 9th, James Zabiela, creator of this lovely album, more specifically, this lovely disc one is dj-ing at...*insert feeling of dread* Pacha. My friend Eddie actually tipped me off about this one, which never happens. We were both trying to justify not going, but we really couldn't...sure his set could resemble the nondescript disc 2 of that comp, or his first album...or it could bang like disc 1...so we have tentatively vowed to go.

Other things of note:

I went to two nights of David Byrne's perspectives series at Carnegie Hall this weekend. Haven't had a chance to write a full review yet, but I posted a little bit about it in the comments at Brooklynvegan.

I just read that (Leslie) Feist (of Broken Social Scene) has a new album out May 1st in the US and Canada and April 23rd everywhere else, called "the Reminder". I really liked her last album, "Let it Die" and there was a time where I was listening to it a lot. It somehow got phased out of my regular listening, but she really has a beautiful voice...and I have this horrible bias against female vocalists so that's saying something.

John Digweed and MSTRKRFT are playing together on the Diamonds '07 tour, which covers most of the US, ending March 31st here in New York at Pacha.

Yesterday Sondre Lerche's "Phantom Punch" came out, and the winter cold that just kicked in here in NYC deterred me from running out to get it (along with the fact that I have a lot of stuff on my listening plate already). Hopefully I'll pick it up this weekend at some point.

A couple of weeks ago I bought the "Fujiya and Miyagi" cd. I really, really like it. It is excellent in that it bangs in a very relaxed, almost effortless way. It's great for everything...hanging out at home, running errands. I also enjoy the shoe references. Hopefully I will get around to writing a more substantial review soon.

I also purchased the Avalanches' "Since I Left You". My friend Eddie had been recommending it for months, and quite frankly I have no idea why I did not get it sooner. He has been one of my main sources of new music for the past 2 years. He has only given me 1 album I have not liked. Anyway...it's awesome. It is essentially a ton of samples, mixed to perfection. Two days after I bought the album I read on Pitchfork that a new album is in the works. Haven't streamed the new track yet, but I can't wait for the album!

And finally...I bought turntables! I have been wanting to learn to DJ for years. The Eddie mentioned above is going to Costa Rica/California/Montreal/Mars/whoknowswhere indefinitely and he used to DJ, so I got him to hook me up before he left b/c I knew I either wouldn't do it otherwise, or would have gotten totally ripped off buying the stuff b/c I have no idea what I'm doing. Got a sweet deal on Craigslist for some Technics 12's with Ortofon cartridges and a huge case. Plus the trip to Bushwick to get them, fitting them in the car, and the trip back to LIC via Astoria without taking the BQE was an adventure in itself. But now I have a nice set-up (temporarily) in the living room, plus Eddie's headphones, mixer, and a nice stack of his records I have accumulated over the past 2 weeks. Yea-yuhhh!

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