Well, Chippy B and I (and later, Paul) had a great Williamsburg Sunday yesterday despite tons of rain. We actually timed the day out perfectly and avoided being poured on. Once we saw the scary clouds rolling in right about the time they were ready to open the gates to McCarren Pool, we bolted a couple blocks over to the Brooklyn Record Riot at Warsaw. There we were able to get some great lunch for only $5…badass Polish grub (pierogies, kielbasa)…and also get our first couple beers in us…badass Polish beers (Zywiec, I forget how to pronounce it though). We watched the first 10 minutes of the European Championship football game (Spain v Germany) and browsed some records, although it was a bit of a tight squeeze to really do some good bin-diggin’.
I noticed that the weather had broken and that it was nice and sunny again, so we booked it back over to McCarren Pool, where the first opener was just getting started. They were J Roddy Walston and The Business and they totally rocked it, good-ol’ Southern boy classic rock style. Check ‘em out. After J Roddy and The Biz’s set, we hacky-sacked a bit…until it started drizzling again and more scary clouds rolled in. That’s when Chip and I booked it back over to Warsaw for more beer and more shelter.
After clearing up again, we ventured back out for a slice and then headed straight back to the Pool, where The Hold Steady were a few songs in. It was clear right away that The Hold Steady is its best as a live band. They were rockin’ it, guitars turned up, vocals loud and clear, and lots of fun being had on stage. I really liked seeing this band, and I’m now quite interested in checking out their sophomore album, Stay Positive, when it comes out in a couple weeks. Their fans were going nuts too, with arms constantly in the air and kids singing along to every word…and there are a lot of words in The Hold Steady’s songs. Check out awesome pics from the Pool on Brooklyn Vegan (picture courtesy of Kyle Dean Reinford)…
Is music headed towards a beautifully vegetative state where boundaries are ready to be broken down, now that the big record companies have less impact on what we are supposed to be listening to? It kinda feels that way to me lately. It’s either my blindness to the ‘actual’ state of music or there really does seem to be a blurring of the categorical genres that the record companies created in order to properly feed us whatever rubbish they chose to place in said categories. The fact that a band as genre-defying as Gnarls Barkley being in the super-mainstream seems to point to a blurring of what’s cool and what isn’t.
This article on one of the better new bands, MGMT, was refreshing to see. Here are a couple quotes from the boys in the band:
“We have pretty good taste,” says founding member Andrew Van Wyngarden. “We’re fans of the Grateful Dead and psychedelic music. We have crazy jams in our rehearsal space and we’re trying to eventually bring that out more on stage.”
“I think that pretty much everybody in MGMT secretly loves jambands — well, not so secretly. We always have,” Richardson admits. “Around 2000 or something, everybody really wanted to be ‘indie’ and now it’s just swinging back, I guess. I don’t know if that’s true, but I hope it is. I just want to break down those barriers. Segregation has existed too long between the jambands and the artsy-fartsy bands, and it doesn’t need to be there.”
Now isn’t that kinda nice to see that these young guys who are hotter than hell in the ‘Indie’ scene would rather just everyone got along. Animal Collective is another Indie darling group which has admitted to all being Dead-heads as young men. Well, it just so turns out that these are the type of groups that I end up liking, and I don’t think it’s because I also like the Grateful Dead…because these guys are making music that is nothing like the Dead. But they are making good and interesting music that fits just outside of any genre or scene. Shit, check out Of Montreal playing “Shakedown Street” at Langerado. So I think what I like is the fact that these bands are playing music because they love making music and care less, if at all, about making scenes.
I’d like to think that music is heading into a new post-ironic Renaissance, where if you say you like Journey, you don’t have to asterisk the statement with a “I only like them ‘cuz they’re gay” type of qualification. I’m sure that I did that at some point, but I’ve come to a place where I refuse to qualify my taste. Goddammit, ‘I like Kiss’, period. ‘I love Yes, actually’. Or any other number of examples (Phish probably having several examples on their own). Sure, I dig plenty of music that is considered hip and/or smart or what have you, but there’s also plenty of music that is considered hip and/or smart that I just don’t connect with. It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you. I think emotional levels transcend anything external or cerebral.
Unfortunately, some of the people that consider themselves the most liberal sort, can create the harshest boundaries for what is good and bad in art. I realize that this is probably because they are people who are artists or very wrapped up in art in some way, so you can’t help talk about what you love. Shit, it’s unnatural how much I talk about music. But the over-analysis of music seems to keep the boundaries in place, because when we talk about music we can’t help but compare and rank things. And once we come to a super-well-though-out ideal of what is ‘good music’, we defend it by propping up the qualities that we approve of and ripping apart the things that work against the ideal that we’ve constructed.
And since the record companies are dying out, there is the opportunity for us to let the boundaries break down, as we don’t have these companies to package things to what they think our tastes are. I think it’s up to us bloggers and networks of friends to keep things all loosey-goosey and nurture diversity in musical taste.
Remember hearing all the stories from the 60’s and early-70’s about how concerts would be so random and cool? The bill would consist of something like Cream, Melanie, and the Chambers Brothers. Maybe we’re seeing that again with these festivals, like Bonnaroo and Coachella, that keep growing year after year. These festivals bring together fans of Widespread Panic, Metallica, Prince, MGMT, Cat Power, Robert Plant, Kanye West, and so on and so on. As the music industry as we know it, dies…live music thrives. Here’s a cool Times article about just that.
Music will never die. To me it’s the reflection of the underlying beauty of the imperfection of human life. Thank goodness we’re all so flawed. It makes the music so sweet! What we’re witnessing is the sloughing off of the big business that had become too bloated and corrupted by maximizing profits by tapping into the life-giving roots of peoples’ emotions…the people creating the music and the people appreciating the music. This is the same big business which has tried to bait the two emotionally-involved parties against each other, and in a lot of cases, succeeded. Now the greedy middle-man obstructing your view is being escorted out of the venue for being drunk and disorderly. Love wins out over greed. I hope.
What do you guys think?
What Walt Disney movie did Journey contribute music to?
Rolling Stone just spoke with Mike ‘Cactus’ Gordon (Gordon with a soft ‘G’, that is) and it’s looking like all the Phish reunion rumors are probably correct. Bring it on, boys!
Rolling Stone speaks with Mike Gordon
On having band dinners, optimism, and possibly recording with Steve Lillywhite…
“The band has had a couple of dinners and they’ve just been great,” Gordon tells Rolling Stone. “We’re all just excited about the idea of doing something sometime. I can’t guarantee it, but I’m optimistic.” As for Lillywhite, Gordon says, “We talked to him, actually. [The rumor] stemmed from reality. We love Steve Lillywhite. He would bring out some great things in us. But we don’t have specific plans to work with him. It was an idea and hopefully it’s something that if we rev things up, it could happen some day. We don’t know if we would tour first or make an album first. We have no idea.”
So should they tour first, then record an album…or vicey versey?
No, not the Afro-centric rap group that wanted to sue the show for using a term that was around long before their mediocre jams, but the excellent TV show that was canceled last year after 3 mind-blowing seasons. Get ready for Arrested Development: The Movie in 2009! Talk about high expectations… and what a fun, sexy time for us all!
What song on the Double Fantasy album is about Sean Lennon?
Whoa! Just read about this today, although I’ve had my mind set on going to see the Hold Steady at McCarren Park Pool for free. In New York, when it rains, it pours! Maybe that’s the plan…if it literally rains, then it’s off to the indoor Record Riot.
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At Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave. Greenpoint/Williamsburg
Sunday June 29th, 2008 11am-8pm
$3.00 admission, over 40 dealers.
vinyl-cds-dvds-beer-kielbasa-four djs
The Brooklyn Record Riot will be the first ongoing, regularly scheduled record/cd show in recent Brooklyn history. There have been sporadic, excellent shows in Brooklyn, but nothing of this magnitude. Most events have been one-off events with somewhat limited scope in medium, genre or location. BRR will appeal to all stratas of record/cd consumers and also give local record stores the opportunity to advertise their products/stores at the show. Surely the record store is alive and well in the borough (Academy, Earwax, Permanent Records for starters) but when we (Irisrecs.com) sell at street fairs in Brooklyn, the first question that people often ask is “where is your store?” Well, we are going to provide the residents of Brooklyn with a BIG STORE in the form of BRR, held Sunday June 29th at the Polish National Home of Greenpoint, commonly known to the locals as WARSAW. This beautiful, spacious ballroom from the early 20th century was the original gathering place of Brooklyn’s Polish population. Thousands of Polish immigrants used “261 Driggs Avenue Brooklyn” as their first known address in America. The building has been cited by the Ellis Island Foundation as important and historic. These days WARSAW is home to over forty rock concerts a year (Patti Smith, The Misfits, The New Pornographers, amongst others) plus various Polish events, and is extremely well-known to the New York City music audience. Hours will be festive (unlike most record shows), from 11am to 8pm. There will be a full bar and lots of beer. Also, four different DJs with four totally different musical agendas will spin tunes. And of course Warsaw will be selling Polish food, kielbasa and perogies. What more can you ask for with your psych or soul 45s?
We have selected the best dealers from the tri-state area and beyond for this event. All genres of music will be represented, as well as great 45s, compact discs, DVDs, posters and t-shirts. We are also searching out local collectors who just want to sell parts or all of their collections. There will be over 30,000 records at this show, rare and not-so-rare. Most dealers will have budget sections and most will be looking to “wheel and deal.” BRR is also a good opportunity to chat with dealers about finding exactly what you are looking for, even if it’s not at the show.
Here is a partial list of dealers who will be selling at the Brooklyn Record Riot!!!
Denis from Le Pickup of Montreal
Josh Rock from Montreal
Bobby Soul from NYC
John from 21st Century Music
Billy and Miriam from Norton Records
Chris from Relative Action
Neil Drucker from Record Cellar of Philly
Marjorie from Permanent Records of Greenpoint
Malcolm from Trash American Style
Mike from Slipped Disc
John from Rockit Scientist NYC
Larry from ShoutShimmy Of Jersey City
Reggae Tim from BaltimoreThis list will continue to grow. If you are interesting in selling (or buying) at BRR, please call Steve at 609-468-0885
Who was the female singer for Fairport Convention?
Name the debut album for Robin Williamson and Mike Heron as a twosome in the Incredible String Band.
Drug court graduation for Trey Anastasio. Cheers, Trey!
Chinese Democracy must’ve leaked for a few minutes yesterday and a lot of people had some really good things to say about it.
Did Coldplay steal their latest hit song? You must see this video!
Duffy brought to tears at the MOJO Awards by the King of Sweetness himself, Johnny Rotten, aka John Lydon.
The Disco Biscuits were busted en route to Bonnaroo!
I gotta say…Kid Rock is a cool mutherfucker.
Video of the recording of a hot new Grace Potter and the Nocturnals song. Luckily, it sounds less poppy then the material on their debut album.
Petty and Maiden at MSG. No, separately! I would’ve loved to have seen either. I’m on a huge Petty kick now after seeing Runnin’ Down A Dream.
Promos belong to the owner, not the label.
Name the new space that used to be Williamsburg’s Galapagos, and win a $1000 bar tab.
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…East Village Radio