UPCOMING!

Come see Mancrush!!!! Next Weeek!!!!!

Brooke Shields, Kinish

Today I saw Brooke Shields by Broome and Broadway. I also saw the guy who sells me kinishes.

Guess who I was more excited about?

Yum, mustardy.

Does This Mean I Hate the Hamptons?

Excellent graffitti on Lafeyette and Grand I believe. (Could be slightly off.)

My last Two Months in Rock!

It's been a little while... I know I should have called... It's not you it's me... There was no one else, I swear... Okay, maybe there was... I'm back now and I've got lots of Rock shows to tell you about... I know you'll never forgive my absence but please try to forgive it.

9/15/07 - Webster Hall
White Williams 61% - This band could certainly put on a decent show and there might be some good songs buried in their set but to a third full room and to my uninitiated ears it all came off as too polite, too unadventurous indie-rock with a lap-top on stage for show.

Dan Deacon 84% - Dan Deacon is one of the most captivating performers touring today. He has a singular vision and does nothing to adjust it for the size of room he's playing or the type of crowd he's playing to. Lucky for me I'm pretty feisty and managed to make it to the stage so that I could see some of Dan. Curiously though the visual aspects of the show have become less important as his popularity has grown it has become much more about the energy Deacon feeds into the crowd, that energy was on full display.

Girl Talk 94% - Girl Talk at Mercury Lounge last year is one of the best live experiences of my life. After the crowd reshuffle forced by people's being on stage for Dan Deacon I was pushed into the center of the now packed Webster Hall. I feared without full contact with Greg Gillis the show would be ruined. I was very wrong. The crowd was a pit of sweat and movement and Girl Talk has constructed a twisted wonderful world of samples including old staples and new surprises. The energy coming from the crowd on stage was huge and the entire Girl Talk set up nearly collapsed as the crowd almost pushed Greg and his lap-top off the stage. The very frustrated security guards had to help hold it up.


9/19/07 Music Hall of Williamsburg
Black Lips 95% - Of late garage rock is owning my heart. Whether the fresh gems of King Khan and the Shrines What Is?! or the well worn tracks of The Modern Lovers' self titled album this is where my head and heart are this year and no one captures that better at this moment than Georgia's Black Lips. It was a beer spilling rowdy time and I had no shame about jumping around and shouting along to every word in this amazing set (which included to bring it back around included a King Khan cover).

PS: This was my first show at "The Music Hall of Williamsburg" which might be the best (and most pretentiously named) venues in the city.

9/22/07 Bowery Ballroom
Les Savy Fav 89% - These guys have come a long way in the years between their singles comp Inches and their latest album Let's Stay Friends. With a new guitar player and a less tough edged more melodic sound this show is probably the best sounding show I've ever seen from the post-punking Brooklynites. Of course LSF shows don't get graded on music alone. Tim was in fine form running up the stairs and dangling from the balcony, dressing like a detective and rubbing his sweat forehead against mine. So why the low grade? The new music lacks a bit of the aggressive punch of the band's classics of which they played precious little. Seems strange to see a LSF show without "Tragic Monsters" or "No Sleeves". Maybe this is old fan griping, if so I'm sorry.

10/2/07 Webster Hall
Pissed Jeans 90% - Selling noise skronk-punk to a huge crowd is a bit like playing darts blind folded, it's probably not going to work but you could just make it. Pissed Jeans much to my delight seemed to sell all the Man Man fans smart enough to show up early. Their dirdges and caotic performance style wowed the audience and they managed to not over stay their welcome even with trips into the deep dark abyss like the nearly 7 minute "Don't Need Smoke To Make Myself Disappear" in their set. You like the rawk and haven't yet seen these Sub Poppers? Fix this as soon as possible.

Celebration 62% - My indifference to your band grows daily.

Man Man 91% - New material went over amazingly, old material is the same old ruckus that we fell in love with a few moons ago. Still one of the finest acts touring and now they're refining and fine tuning their circus of a stage show. This band is poised to get much bigger this year, mark my words.

10/6/07 Randall's Island

Les Savy Fav 79% - I never thought I could give Les Savy Fav a lower grade than an 80%, but having all of the same qualms with this shortened set as I did with their previously mentioned Bowery set and watching most of Tim's shenanigans on the screens on either side of the stage was strange and jarring and I think the band might agree. I will say Tim had one of his best opening lines ever to what may be one of the largest crowds these guys have ever entertained: "We're Les Savy Fav and this our first show."

Blond Redhead 82% - Am I an asshole for knowing none of these guys albums? Even now three weeks after they impressed me so much in such a huge environment I haven't so much as downloaded a song. Their set was engaging and subtle which was an odd switch up from the rest of this event. They let the music do the talking and it was loud, clear, and mostly pretty beautiful.

LCD Soundsystem 94% - James Murphy is my pick for indie icon of the decade. Something like the Larry David of indie culture Murphy has been able to expand his snooty attitude into a big tent pop act that wowed the crowd many of whom were likely Arcade Fire obsessed depressive types. Inspite of an incredibly able band Murphy makes sure that the crowd's attention is squarely on him. He's charismatic and his songs are not out of place pumping up a crowd of several thousand. Someone get this guy the cover of Time.

Arcade Fire 91% - True or False Arcade Fire are the biggest indie band in history to still be an indie band? I'm not sure but it smells that way. Production values and arena rock moves suite this band well but it's the songs and the clamoring of the nearly dozen people on stage makes them the band Modest Mouse could never be.

10/10/07 Cake Shop
Sorry Jay Reatard and Hunchback, you both sounded fine but this venue sucks.

Stand by for my CMJ related ratings...

The Last Show of the Summer

It has been a truly excellent summer for concerts. I have probably taken more full advantage of the myriad of free shows available to us locals than ever before. It all came to an end this Friday however. On the eve of September The Seaport played host to two of the buzziest bands of the years.

Deerhunter 86% - This show with newly sanded down line up and as a result a newly stoic Bradford Cox was not even close to as engaging or revelatory as their show at Mercury Lounge a few months back. But that is nit picking. The music did the talking here and it was a wash of familiarly disorienting art-pop. Voyeurs might have been disapointed, fans were quietly pleased to say their band was more than a side show.

Battles 54% - If there was ever to be a break through of "math rock" this band is probably it. With good reason their album Mirrored is the finest bit of prog ambition and tight musicianship a fellow can ask for. However, if you know me you'll know complimenting musicianship is as good as complimenting the lighting design of a play. I don't care for flash. I want personality and impact and alas there wasn't a whole lot of that on display during Battles' set Friday.

Dear Rickshaw

Big fan, let's get that out of the way. Very fond of all of the varieties of dumplings I've tried. Today I gave the Szechuan Chicken a whirl, yum. Problem is, I wanted to try them both fried and boiled. This doesn't seem outlandish does it? When I asked to get half and half I was told it couldn't be done.

I am sympathetic to those in the service industry so I didn't make a stink as I understand the counter person has no control. However, I must write you this open letter (hopefully someone in your offices Googles the company regularly). Please make a variety option.

Think about the range of flavor combinations. Open up your heart and expand your menu, with little work what so ever.

Please,
Tim Duffy

Yippy! Jay Reatard Is Coming Back To Town!

Revisionist history: Jay Reatard's Blood Visions is my second favorite album of last year. It's more or less the thing I've listened to most since getting a copy (kudos) in February.

Jay Reatard's performance at Asbury Lanes was the best straight rock performance (ie: not Daft Punk's electronic extravaganza and not CSS's rowdy dance set) I've seen all summer. Sadly it was to about 9 people. Also sadly, or perhaps appropriatly, judging from his YouTube videos it was a pretty tame set. This all leads to me being very eager to catch one of his several upcoming local gigs! (Plenty of dates are below the performance clip.)

Oct 10 2007 8:00P Cake Shop New York, NY (with a band called Hunchback)

Oct 11 2007 8:00P Death By Audio Brooklyn, NY (likely a Todd P show.)

Oct 18 2007 8:00P CMJ New York, NY (Probably not getting in without a pass.)

Oct 20 2007 8:00P Maxwell’s Hoboken, NJ (With The Dirtbombs.)

A Round Up of Two Very Different Live Music Experiences

I had a couple of good times in Brooklyn over the last few days. Thursday was one of my most anticipated shows of the year and for that matter so was Sunday. Of course there was a more profound difference in these shows than genre, venue, and production value. A $50 difference to be exact.

Sebastian/Kavinsky DJ Set (Keyspan Park) 82% - This was a great set mixing in honest to god excellent dance music with suprising crowd pleasing rockier fair like Rage Against the Machine and Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up".

The Rapture (Keyspan Park) 74% - The Rapture sounded super but sitting in the stands of a baseball stadium did not suit the dance punk elder statesmen.

Daft Punk (Keyspan Park) 96% - After thinking the whole summer that I had gotten field tickets I was dismayed to discover I'd be spending my Daft Punk experience in the stands. This however doesn't change the fact that this is one of the best experiences in stadium entertainment I've ever seen. An excellent set and the most impressive lighting design ever (and I saw Pink Floyd at an incredibly young age) makes this one of the best Stadium tours of the decade.

Birds of Avalon (McCarren Park Pool) 67% - This band might be very good but could not break through my usual McCarren opener indifference, sorry fellows.

The Thermals (McCarren Park Pool) 87% - Solid songs and a muscular performance from a three piece who could very easily come off as boring popish punk. They don't through shear force of will. Kudos on the Built to Spill cover.

Ted Leo/Pharmacists (McCarren Park Pool) 91% - Ted Leo may just be the most stubbornly solid live performer of his generation. This show, to a seemingly packed McCarren Pool, was amongst the better I've seen from the Pharmacists. The mid song Daft Punk wink was very satisfying, also the new songs which come off as retreads on album sit very comfortably with the classics. On a sad note it is the last performance from Rx Bassist Dave Lerner, the only Leo bass player I've ever known.

Mourning Commute

It felt like I got a bit more rest than usual on my train ride to the office this morning. It seems that the N train (currently running localy) may have been the only train running. By running I of course mean crawling along at a snail's pace.

I can't complain of course as it seems that New York is in turmoil and I'm sitting comfortably in my office.

The mayor has actually taken to discouraging people from using using the subways!

Sweaty Friday Night, 8/3/07 Studio B

Friday night was a landmark evening. It was the sweatiest concert I've ever been to. This is no small feat. In 2004 I found myself jumping up and down and screaming along with ever uterance of Frank Black for the duration of a Pixies reunion show leaving me shivering in a dinner post concert. Last summer Girl Talk came to town and after dancing for hours you could turn the small of my back into a discusting slip and slide. This year alone there was the Silent Barn ventilation free mosh/dance pit for Dan Deacon, there was also the crammed and surprisingly active Deerhunter performance at Mercury Lounge(where most of the heat seemed to spill from the band's amps).

But Studio B and Friday's lineup of Dirty on Purpose, Shout Out Out, and CSS, win the day handily.

Dirty on Purpose - 78% These guys are a solid indie rock machine sitting on the noisier side of the noise pop divide. Surprisingly not harassed in a dance club setting.

Shout Out Out - 75% I'm not gonna lie I thought the Shout Out Louds were playing, I don't know how both of these bands exist in the same world. Great rythim section, excellent energy, not sure if they played a good song though.

CSS - 97% One of the best live shows on the planet, the best performance of the summer so far, it was intense and excellent.

MySpace A Place For Advocacy

MySpace advocacy is on fire today. My friend's list is full of people with causes today, check them out:

First Lenny posted a bulletin asking his MySpace buddys to sign a petition in protest of new rules restricting photography and film making on the streets of NYC. Sign the petition!

Then Eric decided it was important that we all knew how much money we were wasting(not to mention the damage we're doing to the environment by drinking bottled water. Read up on this very important issue.

On top of all that Dwight is running in a marathon on Sunday to help support providing clean water and sanitation education to people in the developing world. Donate!

I'd like (since everyone is feeling so active) to announce my intention to lobby Robitussin to creat a Mesquite BBQ flavor of their classic cough syrup.
Please join my letter writing campaign:
Product Quality
Wyeth Consumer Healthcare
P.O. Box 26609
Richmond, VA 23261-6609

All Tomorrow's Parties Please Come To New York

We here in New York are spoiled aren't we? Every band worth there salt blows through on their tours, often twice (often half a dozen times). Through out the summer there is a world of free music to explore at least three days a week. What more could New York want from the concert presenting world?

How about a big festival. A few years ago it seemed this would happen with the arrival of Field Day. Well several bumps in the road and a soggy day at Giant Stadium later and it was clear we would not soon have Field Day. Soon after it seemed that Lollapalooza might make a stand here with headlining slots by Morrisey and the Pixies, can't beat that in New York. Ooops, cancelled because the rest of the country was uninterested in the tour. As a result the fest lives in Chicago a city with about 3 major festivals a summer.

The one that sadens me most though happened around the same time as the above mentioned. There was at some point to be a Stephen Malkmus curated All Tomorrow's Parties in New York. I remember reading the news and being so excited at the prosepct of Swell Maps reunions or CCR cover bands that Malkmus would surely guarantee. I don't really recall why this couldn't happen and to be honest I'm not interested. New York deserves and should demand our own All Tomorrow's Parties. After all what city has done more to define the asthetic of ATP than New York? Why shouldn't we have one?!

I propose that we all write to ATP on their MySpace and demand a New York Festival!

Possible Curators:
Stephen Malkmus
Yo La Tengo
David Cross
Les Savy Fav
Stella
John Cale
Tom Waits
Rza
Legs McNeil
Yamataka Eye
Tom Scharpling

McCarren Pool!

Apparently there is still a chance that McCarren Pool will not become a pool again. And now even more in the corner of it staying a venue is the fact that it just became a landmark. This means it's got to go through a special comission before any renovations are done.

Thanks to the Gothamist for keeping us up to date on all things McCarren.

I have mixed feelings about all this. Sure, McCarren is one of the funnest places to see a show but shouldn't the pool serve the greater community and not just a bunch of hipsters?

Suicide! Live! Friday!

After the weekend of music I've induldged in (Siren Festival, Oxford Collapse at McCarren, Jay Reatard and Ponys at Asbury Lanes) it seems summer in NYC couldn't possibly offer much more. Things of course are not as they seem and this weekend marks what is expected to be the biggest McCarren Pool Party of the year with TV on the Radio. Of course that has already been widely discussed. Less widely discussed is the Friday's Seaport show featuring a performance by the Deathset and the once way ahead of their time and shockingly still performing Suicide.

I am quite fond of Suicide's self titled debut and am intregued (though not entirely confident) to see how they've aged. Below is some vintage performance footage.

"...Don't Breath Deeply."

Congestion Pricing, one of the best and biggest reform ideas to hit a state legislature in years seems to have died today. Over the past month I've asked at least 6 cabbies what they think of the policy, not one had a negative thing to say about it. Michael Bloomberg is responsible for the titular quote which should be written on the tombstones of the political careers of those who blocked this policy.

Might I Suggest: White Hills

Hey you!

Like your rock gauzey and stoned? Of course you do!

White Hills may reside in the concrete jungles of New York but they sound like they were born somewhere far from civilization. It sounds like the music the Manson family might have eventually made if they were influenced by Sonic Youth and didn't take up murder.

Their self released album Glitter Glamour Atrocity, is pretty much the best psych-rock of the year and in some ways is the best no-wave as well. The seamless sound that White Hills have melded together is built on a foundation of tape hiss and slow tempos, not to mention far away drowned out guitar tones and eliments of sound collage.

The album might apeal to fans of Deerhunter if they're willing to give up the jangle and the driving bass lines. It might appeal to fans of ambient music if they're willing to tollerate some classic rock tropes. But mostly we know that music does nto split down lines of these fans or those fans. This is music for people who like fringey music.

If you're reading this blog that must be you.

It's retailing for under ten bucks at Kim's. Someone give these cats a record deal. Listen to Sound clips and order the CD at their MySpace page.

Neutral Milk Hotel Reunion!!!!!

In Minneapolis!!!! Why don't bands reunite in NYC?!!!


Well at this point I'm just psyched about the bootlegs of a live NMH Sunn 0))) colab...

Too much to ask? More info.

If this is an April Fool's Joke I intend to lynch the editors of Tiny Mix Tapes.

WFMU 91.1, In An Office Without iTunes You're a Dream

I haven't listened to the radio with the regularity I have this past two weeks Since the 2004 launch of Air America. I haven't listened to music radio this much since the mid 90's. I'm smitten with WFMU. I've been finding myself listening all day in the office. I also found myself on Friday night enthralled in Yo La Tengo's annual live cover fest. I even found myself listening last night when the televisions in my home were occupied. In fact I was quite ammused by The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling.

Bored? Why not stream some?

$4= 2 Cheese Dogs and a Kinish

Everyone should have a local Papaya Dog. Everybody.