Whatever....

John Mayer at the MJ Tribute

2009-07-10T18:04:00.002-04:00

I didn't get to watch all the Michael Jackson tribute that aired this past Tuesday. But what I did see was Michael's daughter Paris speak which was very moving and very sweet. And I also saw John Mayer perform "Human Nature" off of MJ's album "Thriller". I'm not a John Mayer fan but I thought he did a really great job of making an r&b/pop mellow song into a really cool jazzy/blues song. For all of you who didn't see here is the clip posted below. Enjoy!

Breakfast at Sulimays

2009-07-09T22:22:00.011-04:00

I first heard about Ann, Bill and Joe from a story that NPR did on them and was fascinated. If you didn't get a chance to hear the NPR story on Ann, Bill and Joe they basically are geriatric music critics from Fishtown a working class neighborhood in Philly, they vblog their reviews of the latest in music from a Fishtown dinner called Sulimays.

The vblogs of their reviews have become quite the hit on Youtube. Of course "Breakfast at Sulimays" is actually the brainchild of a young en' by the name of Marc Brodzik of Woodshop Productions to be exact. Brodzik much like Ann, Bill and Joe is a regular at Sulimays and that's where Brodzik films each episode. He doesn't tell Ann, Bill and Joe what they will be listening too, he plays the music and basically films their reactions. And their reactions are honest and very interesting!

I watched a few of the episodes and I was really impressed with their honesty and willingness to keep an open mind when it comes "young people's music"! Plus I have a bit of a crush on Joe, he's cute, smart and well thought out, he knows music, he's up on the history of dance and he likes Dr. Dog..what's not to love! And speaking of dance check out Ann's sweet dance moves! I posted a few of the episodes below and I really hope that you will be as impressed with the critiques and charmed as I was by Ann, Bill and Joe!

www.woodshopfilms.com

Here is the link to the NPR story.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106284658

The Whatever blog party on August 8th

2009-07-07T21:15:00.004-04:00

The line up for the first annual Whatever blog party has been finalized! The bands playing on August 8th at the Cameo Gallery are; Japanese punkers Small Mountain Path, Brooklyn garage rockers Right on Dynamite, the very beautiful The Art of Shooting who are straight outta Brooklyn and LES trippy rockers Electric Tickle Machine. Each one of these bands represents what makes this current NYC music scene such a unique, cool and vibrant one! And I think you ought come to the Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg on 8/8 to see each one of these awesome bands and say hi to me!

Myself and Whatever blog photographer Nick Savage are working on some really cool flyers for the night with all the little details as we speak. In the meantime check out the myspace links and clips from Small Mountain Path, Right on Dynamite, The Art of Shooting and Electric Tickle Machine.

www.myspace.com/smallmountainpath

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T08:40:00.006-04:00

If I haven't told you all so already, the Whatever blog night party has been moved to Saturday night August 8th at the Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Confirmed thus far are Brooklyn's own The Art of Shooting and Japanese punk band Small Mountain Path...more line up details and surprises to follow! So keep on reading!!

Today is the Fourth of July in America. Basically on this day 233 years ago we won our independence from the Brits. To me the most all American rock band there is and ever was, is the Beach Boys and two of the most all American rock songs there are, are "Surfing USA" and "California Girls" by The Beach Boys. Enjoy clips of both songs below! And if you are celebrating the fourth today enjoy the day and be safe! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Bands to check out

2009-07-02T17:07:00.003-04:00

This New York hardcore band has the best band name ever...Gay For Johnny Depp! The band is made up of Sid Jagger, Marty Leopard, Chelsea Piers and JJ Samanen. Gay For Johnny Depp's lyrics are what they are known for much of the lyrics have a dark sick sense of humor to them and many of the lyrics are homoerotic love letters to Johnny Depp. It's hardcore done right! Check out their video for the song "Shh, Put The Shiv to My Throat".

The next band to check out is a band called the Art of Shooting. The Art of Shooting sorta sounds like a cross between The Pretenders, The Throwing Muses and Lene Lovich. The Art of Shooting has this really cool folky, dreamy sound mixed in with some 80's new wave and basic punk.

www.myspace.com/theartofshooting

The last band to check out I saw last weekend, These United States. As mentioned These United States have an old school country/folk sound mixed in with a quirky phsycedelic hint. The boys from These United States will be in the NYC area on July 24th when they play with Deer Tick at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan.

RIP Sky Saxon

2009-07-01T21:13:00.002-04:00

Last week the world lost two icons on the same day, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett and the world of garage rock lost one of their icons on the same day Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed...Sky Saxon. Sky Saxon was the front man for legendary 60's LA garage band The Seeds, The Seeds' biggest hit was a song called "Pushin' Too Hard". In the 70's Saxon became a member of a religious cult called The Source Family, The Source Family was lead by YaHoWa. In 1998 Saxon put out an album of psychedlic tribal music made by the cult's band YaHoWa 13 during the 1970's. In recent years Sky Saxon appeared in the video for The Smashing Pumpkins' song "Superchrist". At the time of his death Saxon was working on new music with The Smashing Pumpkins' front man Billy Corgan.

RIP Sky Saxon, your unique contributions to the world of rock and roll will never be forgotten!

www.skysaxon.com

These United States at Prospect Park

2009-06-28T13:47:00.003-04:00

I'm desperately trying to locate the cord that attaches to my computer from my phone to post the pics of Dr. Dog's set from last night's concert.

I did manage to get a few pics of These United States before my camera battery died.

Dr. Dog, Phosphorescent and These United States at Prospect Park

2009-06-27T23:23:00.006-04:00

One huge thing that I have to remember when I cover these shows is to ALWAYS CHARGE THE BATTERY FOR MY CAMERA THE NIGHT BEFORE!!

Anyhow tonight one of the best bands around Dr. Dog played Prospect Park as part of the 2009 Celebrate Brooklyn concert series. The two bands that played prior to Dr. Dog's set were These United States who have members from Washington DC and Lexington Kentucky and Phosphorescent is from right here in Brooklyn. Despite ten minutes of rain the weather cleared up and it became a perfect night to hear such awesome music!

These United States was the first band up. And the sound of These United States is good old fashion country mixed in with a really cool and quirky physcadelic sound. Their lyrics are poetic and each song tells a story and they name check Samuel Clemons (aka Mark Twain) in a song! These United States played a really amazing and rocking set.

www.myspace.com/theseunited

Phosphorescent was the next band up. Phosphorescent has a really dreamy and haunting alt country/folk sound and is lead by a young man named Matthew Houck. Their sound reminded me a little bit of Iron and Wine. Phosphorescent has a new album out called "To Willie" which is an album of Willie Nelson covers. The band's set tonight mostly consisted of songs from that album and some original songs. I was very impressed with Phosphorescent this evening and both myself and the friend that I attended the show with tonight both said we wanted to download "To Willie".

www.myspace.com/phosphorescent

And then Dr. Dog came on!! The band is made up of Scott McMicken, Toby Leaman, Zach Miller, Juston Stens and Frank McElroy. Dr. Dog played several songs off of their first album "We All Belong" and their latest album "Fate", the band played with a horn section and a string section on certain songs this evening. At one point during the band's set they brought out their dog who very sweetly chilled out at the edge of the stage till the end of Dr. Dog's set! Dr. Dog brought forth a fun, tight and energetic set this evening and this evening's show was just proof that Dr. Dog is one of the greatest bands if not the greatest band out there right now! I highly recommend downloading "Fate" and "We All Belong" and checking Dr. Dog out when they play your town.

www.drdogmusic.com

Since my camera died I took pictures of the show tonight with my cell phone camera, I'm trying to locate the cord that attaches from my phone to my computer. Once I find that I will upload pics of tonight's incredible show!!

RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

2009-06-25T21:02:00.004-04:00

For those of you who aren't living under a rock you know by now that both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed away today. Farrah Fawcett died after a long bout with cancer, she was 62 and it's still unclear how Michael Jackson died he was 50.

If you were to ask me to name my favorite all time top ten albums, Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" would be 8 or 9 on my list. To me their is no better pop album then "Thriller", it really steps into lots of different genres of music (i.e rock, world and r&b) and it does it so well! "Off the Wall" the album before "Thriller" is another really great well produced pop/r&b album. And prior to that, Michael Jackson's work in the Jackson 5 produced some of the best all time pop and r&b singles..."I Want You Back", "ABC", "Ben", "I'll Be There" etc the list goes on! He kinda lost his touch with me musically in the late 80's early 90's with "Bad" and "Dangerous".

Then it really kinda of became strange when all aspects of his personal life were made public in the 90's and early 2000's. There was the whole child molestation issue, then he married Lisa Marie Presley, then he was having so much plastic surgery he was starting to look like a cross between a space alien and Joan Crawford, he was then supposedly putting voodoo curses on David Geffen, then he divorced Lisa Marie and married his nurse with whom he had two kids, then when you saw him out with his kids the family was dressed in strange masks, then he divorced the nurse and had another baby with a surrogate mother and was dangling that baby over a hotel balcony, he was the best man at Liza's wedding to that freak that had all the plastic surgery to look like him and then there was the child molestation issue yet again. It was just sad what he had become. And a big part of the reason why he became this sad and bizarre figure who was trying to relive his childhood, was due to severe childhood abuse on the part of his father Joe Jackson.

The Michael Jackson I choose to remember is the Thriller era Michael, it was just so good! In tribute here is the video for the song "Beat It" from "Thriller", FYI Eddie Van Halen plays the guitar on this track.

And here is the clip of Michael Jackson performing "Billie Jean" which is also off of "Thriller" at the "Motown 25th Anniversary Celebration". If I remember the Motown 25th anniversary show was the first time he ever moonwalked in public!

On to Farrah Fawcett. For all of you who don't know Farrah Fawcett sky rocketed to fame in the 70's on a show called "Charlie's Angels". "Charlie's Angels" was a show about three beautiful women who are private investigators. Farrah played Jill who was the beautiful blond one, Jaclyn Smith played, Kelly who was the beautiful brunette one and Kate Jackson played Sabrina who was the smart one. During this time Farrah Fawcett set a trend with by wearing her blond hair feathered in the front (admit it you rocked the Farrah feathered 'do back in the day!) and she also posed for one of the best selling posters of all time the one were she is wearing the infamous red one piece and flashing that Farrah Fawcett smile. After "Charlie's Angels" she did a series of TV movies including "The Burning Bed" and "Small Sacrifices" for which she received praise from the critics. She appeared in "Dr. T and the Women" in 2000 and made an infamous appearance on David Letterman in 1997.

Farrah Fawcett's first film was a film called "Myra Breckenridge", which was based on a Gore Vidal novel about a male to female transexual. Besides Farrah Fawcett, Raquel Welch, Mae West, John Houston, Rex Reed and a very young Tom Selleck all started in "Myra Breckenridge". In honor of Farrah below is a clip from "Myra Breckridge" of Mae West signing, a very young Farrah appears in the clip as well...it's really trippy!

RIP Farrah and Michael!! I honestly feel like a big part of my childhood died today!

Questions on the sly with Justin Rice from Bishop Allen

2009-06-21T11:19:00.005-04:00

As mentioned last weekend was the first annual Northside Festival in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I was lucky enough to catch Bishop Allen's Northside set last Saturday night at Studio B. And I was even luckier enough to catch up with Bishop Allen's front man Justin Rice after the band's set to ask him some quick questions and here is what he had to say.

AG: Bishop Allen is a Brooklyn based band, how did it feel to play the first ever Brooklyn based Northside Music Festival?

JR: It was great! It's really close to home, I actually walked here from my house! And there is something amazing about there being a festival that takes place in my neighborhood, because obviously this part of Brooklyn is full of great bands and music.

AG: Bishop Allen has a really unique sound, one moment it's rockus punk..the next moment it's beautiful ballads that almost sound like lullabies and then it's 60's Brit Pop. How in your own words would you describe Bishop Allen's sound?

JR: Well that's a hard question to answer. But I think that we always try to write songs that we like and the kinds of songs that we like tend to be catchy and have some kind of hook into them and tend not to be stupid. So we are always trying to write songs that do something that is interesting to us or clever to us. The way that we sound has something to do with us trying to interest ourselves. Basically we're a pop band that steps between all sorts of different sounds.

AG: What are the biggest influences on Bishop Allen?

JR: There are tons! A lot of it is 60's rock such as The Kinks, The Beatles and The Velvet Underground. And bands from the 70's like Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, Talking Heads and things like that. We used to be radio station DJ's on college radio, at Harvard and during that time we really got into obscure 60's rock records and cool early 70's records and so that is another influence.

AG: Now is the Northside Festival the first festival Bishop Allen has played?

JR: No we've played some festivals before in Europe. We've played festivals in Spain and we played Sasquach which was a couple of weeks ago in Washington State.

AG: Are you guys anxious to see any of the other bands playing the Northside festival this weekend?

JR: There is so much going on and it's so all over the place. I can't even remember who is played and who hasn't. But there are a lot of bands that I'm very excited about who are playing Northside, Sunset Rubdown and the Dodos being two of them. And there are a lot of new bands to me, from New York that I'm interested in checking out who are playing this weekend.

AG: What is next for Bishop Allen?

JR: We go to Europe in July to play festivals. And in the mean time we're trying to write a bunch of new songs.

www.bishopallen.com
www.myspace.com/bishopallen

Blog Party and The Highline

2009-06-16T23:07:00.006-04:00

I'm really happy to announce, that the first ever Whatever blog party will be held at the Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg Brooklyn on Saturday July 18th. Stay tuned for the line up details!

Last evening I went to the Highline Park gala with a bunch of very dear friends. For all of you not in the know, the Highline train tracks are located on Manhattan's lower west side and they were used by New York Central Railroad from the early 1930's to 1980. After 1980 the tracks were abandoned and in the mid 80's they were about to be demolished by developers, that is until a group called The Friends of The Highline stepped up. The Friends of the Highline managed to save the train tracks and turn them into a really beautiful park. The park opened to the public on June 8th and last night was the big gala fundraiser that I had the honor of attending. One of my very favorite actors and my ultimate guy Ed Norton was honored last night for his efforts in saving the Highline and helping turn it into a park. Unfortunately I didn't get to meet Mr. Norton! But I did get some pictures of the park, since last night was a cloudy night the pictures didn't come out very clearly. I highly recommend all of you check out the Highline Park, it's free and it's beautiful in the day and at night!

www.thehighline.org

Northside Day 2/3

2009-06-14T14:54:00.010-04:00

Due to exhaustion from Thursday night, I took a break from Friday's Northside Festival festivities and started up again on Saturday.

When I checked into the band/press area on Saturday, I ran into my neighbor Nik (center left) and his band Emanuel and The Fear. Emanuel and The Fear played the afternoon L Magazine: Eight NYC Bands You Should Hear showcase. Emanuel and The Fear play this Weds 6/17 at The Bellhouse in Gowanus.

www.myspace.com/emanuelandthefear

A picture of my sweet new Kangaroo kicks complete with side pocket.

Onto the shows...Bishop Allen played a very rocking yet beautiful set Saturday night at Studio B. I could kick myself cause half way through Bishop Allen's amazing set my camera battery went dead, I forgot to charge the battery the night before! Here are the pics that I did get before the battery went dead!! After the show I was able to catch Bishop Allen front man Justin and ask him five quick questions. I'll have those up real soon!

From Studio B, I walked over to the Cameo Gallery and caught April Smith and The Great Picture Show's set. April Smith, is like a combo of Amiee Mann, Patsy Cline, and Bette Midler. She and her backing band play dreamy alt torch folky blues. April Smith and The Great Picture Show were really fantastic. Had my camera been working I would have taken some pictures! But instead their myspace is linked below so you can hear the music and find out were they'll be playing next.

www.myspace.com/aprilsmithmusic

When I checked into the press/band area on Saturday, besides running into Nik and his band I met a band called Knight School. Knight School consists of Lisa, Kevin and Chris (below) this pic was snapped in the band/press area. Knight School played Public Assembly Saturday night and I caught their awesome set. Knight School's sound is a low-fi sound that simplistic awesome noise that is reminiscent of early Sonic Youth and the Velvet Underground.

www.myspace.com/knightschoolmusic

After seeing Knight School's set I called it a night and headed home.

Today is the last day of Northside and due to a nagging on coming cold and a big night tomorrow (I'm going to the opening of the Highline Park in Manhattan) I'm actually going to stay in. But if you all are looking to hear some good live music and be part of a festival with a really cool vibe on a Sunday night, I highly recommend making your way to Williamsburg Brooklyn! I really enjoyed my experience covering Northside and I look forward to next year!!

www.northsidefestival.com

Northside Festival Day One

2009-06-12T19:39:00.012-04:00

Last night 6/11 was the kick off for the very major Northside Festival in Brooklyn.

The bands and the press check in at the same place a warehouse next to The Music Hall of Willamsburg. Heineken is one of the sponsors of the event and so they dressed the press/band check in area up as a lounge. As we checked in we got free Heineken beer and a pretty sweet gift bag which included iPod ear buds and some really awesome Kangaroo sneakers. The press/band check in area is equipped with wifi so all us bloggers can sneak back there drink a Heineken and give you all the updates at Northside.

From the check in area I went over to Studio B for the opening night party. It was really very nice. I enjoyed more free Heineken and munched on some very yummy organic bbq. As you can see from these pictures Studio B was decorated with lots of indoor trees!

The two Northside shows that I really wanted to see last night were The Hold Steady and Marnie Stern. The Hold Steady were playing at The Music Hall of Williamsburg. And I heard in the check in area, if I wanted to get in I should make it over there fairly early cause that was the show that everyone wanted to see. I was enjoying my organic bbq a little too much at Studio B and didn't realize what time it was. When I finally realized the time I rushed over from Studio B to The Music Hall of Williamsburg and got there too late. The Music Hall of Williamsburg peeps stop letting the press in five minutes before I arrived! So this is the closet I got to seeing The Hold Steady!

I tried to make it over to Shea Stadium (no not that Shea Stadium, it's a new venue in Bushwick)to try and see Marnie Stern, but found out she had to cancel her Northside gig. Bummed I made it back to the press/band area and chatted, schmoozed and networked with some really nice people. I chatted, schmoozed and networked with two writers from the Onion AV club, a writer from Time Out New York and I chatted, schmoozed and networked with these guys, Jim (in the center) and Walter (on the far right) are the drummer and guitar player for a band called The Art of Shooting. The Art of Shooting, play Northside this evening 6/12 as part of the Jezebelmusic.com showcase at the Cameo Gallery on North 6th. The guy on the far left is their friend Jay who is a writer.

www.myspace.com/theartofshooting

On my way to the train, I stopped into Public Assembly and for the Modular show and saw a DJ set and a little bit of Free Energy's set.

More coverage tomorrow till then.....

Northside Festival in Brooklyn

2009-06-05T15:39:00.003-04:00

For all of you native New Yorkers who are stuck in the city next weekend or for all of you who will be in NYC next weekend, you should come and check out the Northside Festival. The Northside Festival mixes music and art all over Brooklyn in particular Williamsburg. The fun starts Thursday June 11th and goes till Sunday June 14th. The bands and artists playing the Northside Festival include The Hold Steady, Bishop Allen, The Screaming Females (one of my faves), The Dodos, John Vanderslice and Sister Suvi among others. And for all of you who can't make it or won't be in NYC for the Northside Festival, yours truly and the whatever blog photographer Nick will be there covering every little detail of the Northside Festival for you!

www.northsidefestival.com/schedule/

Pole Superstar and Siren Fest '09

2009-06-04T21:58:00.007-04:00

Summer concert festival season is upon us! And the Whatever blog is off to a fine start by covering Siren Fest '09 at Coney Island in Brooklyn on July 18th. The bands playing Siren this year include Grand Duchy, The Ravonettes (one of my faves) and Micachu and the Shapes among others. Myself and the Whatever blog photographer Nick Savage will be bringing you all full coverage of the day's events! So stay tuned!!

Moving along..my very dear friend Diane Passage is holding an event on October 1st of this year at the Highline Ballroom in NYC called Pole Superstar. Pole Superstar is NYC's ultimate pole dancing competition, women from across the nation will compete but only one can be named Pole Superstar! If you live in NYC and are going to be in NYC on October 1st, you MUST come to the Pole Superstar event it's gonna be awesome! Check out the red hot promo video for Pole Superstar!

www.polesuperstar.com

Brilliant just brilliant!

2009-06-01T13:05:00.002-04:00

Thank God for Sasha Barron Cohen! Now only if he had pulled this stunt with the entire cast of "The Hills" and Lady Gaga it would have been absolute total brilliance! All though Lady Gaga more then likely would have tried to one up SBC by doing something nasty to SBC's ass and saying it was all in the name of her "art" and reminding us about how edgy she is!

The look on Eminem's face is priceless.

MTV Shows

The Screaming Females get their due..finally!

2009-05-28T16:25:00.009-04:00

About two almost going on three years ago I saw this little punk band from New Brunswick New Jersey called The Screaming Females, play a show a friend was promoting at the former Rehab in the East Village. I was completely blown away by the band and was really impressed with the Screaming Females front woman Marissa, she sounds like Johnny Rotten and Kathleen Hannah's long lost love child and looks like Karen O's scruffier little sister. I took to my blog to tell you all how awesome this band is and how you all must check them out when they play a city near you.

Well I'm so glad that the Throwing Muses, Jack White and New York Magazine have taken notice of The Screaming Females' awesomeness! Back in March The Screaming Females opened for the Throwing Muses on their East Coast tour (I told you all about that!), now comes word that the Screaming Females will open for The Dead Weather, (for all you kids not in the know The Dead Weather is Jack White's latest band that includes Alison from the Kills and Dean from Queens of the Stone Age) on their national tour. And if that isn't enough... New York Magazine did a profile on the band in the latest issue which I've posted below:

Meat Town USA is a sort of punk-rock speakeasy—a hush-hush concert venue that sits in a dingy basement just outside of Rutgers University’s New Brunswick, New Jersey, campus. The design could best be described as flammable minimalism, with disowned floral-pattern mattresses propped against the wall, a few clouds of frayed insulation drooping from the ceiling, and Christmas-tree lights coiled around an exposed pipe. In order to keep the police away, the proprietors of Meat Town don’t publish its address, but on a recent Saturday night the downstairs was congested with students and townies trying to get a look at a tiny woman in a red mandarin dress thrashing away at her guitar. Her name is Marissa Paternoster, and in the blusterless world of modern indie rock, she’s something of an anomaly: an honest-to-God shredder.

Paternoster, 22, is the front woman of Screaming Females, a cauterizing power trio that’s currently the biggest punk band in all of New Brunswick. That may sound like a dubious plaudit, like declaring the finest slam poet in all of Hackensack, but thanks to a lack of all-ages concert venues, New Brunswick has a DIY ancestry that stretches back to the early nineties, when groups like Bouncing Souls and Lifetime played in basements close to campus. The college-town turnover means most bands survive only for a few years before moving on or breaking up; as a result, the city’s musical history is fitful and obscure. “New Brunswick’s like a Galápagos,” says Joe Steinhardt of Don Giovanni Records, Females’ current label. “I’ve always wanted a band from here to get huge, then stick around.”

Screaming Females formed in 2005, when art-school student Paternoster met drummer Jarrett Dougherty, 25, and bassist Mike Abbate, 19, both New Jersey natives. The group’s just-released third album, Power Move, alternates between grubby pop anthems (“Bell”) and psych-punk dirges (“Skull”), without ever quite replicating the band’s brisk, kinetic live show, perfected after years of basement gigs. While Paternoster is microscopic in appearance—maybe five feet tall, counting her Brian Jones–style bowl-cut hairdo—she creates a sound that’s absolutely colossal, with a deep, braying vibrato and a tendency for fret-traveling guitar squiggles.

Watching Paternoster break into a solo is jarring given the tasteful (often snoozy) state of modern indie rock. Despite the popularity of Guitar Hero and the nostalgia for nineties alt-rock virtuosos like Billy Corgan, most blog-anointed acts dispense with guitar histrionics altogether, content with a few noodles here and there. This is partly because of a lack of technical prowess and partly owing to an indie-wide aversion to excessive bravado. “The guitar solo is a dangerous thing to perform or even consider,” says Paternoster, who will demonstrate that theory at upcoming shows in Brooklyn and Hoboken, New Jersey. “It’s such a dated, cheesy thing. It’s hard to do it in a way that doesn’t come off as corny.”

After the Meat Town show finishes, the crowd empties into the street, where they’re greeted with zombie frat boys and spaghetti-strapped vomiters. Considering New York and Philadelphia are about an hour away, you wonder why the members of Screaming Females—none of whom is a Rutgers student—remain in New Brunswick: The rents are high, the police are always cracking down for noise violations, and you have to go out of town to find a decent record store. At one point, the band members take me on a guided tour of the city’s cultural landmarks. It lasts about ten minutes. “It’s like Revenge of the Nerds,” says Dougherty with a sigh, “except there are no nerds, and the frat side runs everything.”

But such obstacles have instilled in Screaming Females a contrarian civic pride. The Internet has essentially decentralized alt-rock, putting the most remote music scenes within easy reach. Yet New Brunswick remains self-contained, even insular. “People have to work extra hard here to make things happen,” says Dougherty. “I read Our Band Could Be Your Life, that book about the eighties underground. The idea that you can do something awesome in your hometown—that’s what drives this. I don’t know why it’s so cool here. But it’s home.”

nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/56727/

screamingfemales.blogspot.com

Califorina Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban

2009-05-26T16:37:00.004-04:00

Veering away from the music for just another post and interjecting my opinion in this post. Today the California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 which basically denies gays the right to marry in the state of California. The court did recognize the unions of same sex couples who married prior to Prop 8 becoming law in California.

To all the people who are against gay marriage I have one question for you..how is your life effected if two people who are very much in love with one another decide to marry and those two people happen to be two men or two women!? The gays that I know are in more happier, healthier and longer lasting relationships then most of the heterosexual people that I know! It just boggles my mind that there are people out that that find it okay for someone like Britney Spears to marry a guy for one day and reality TV shows such as "Married by America" and "The Bachelor" where a man and a woman who barely know each other marry; but yet are appalled by two men or two women who are very much in love with one another and have been together for years wanting to make their love official in the eyes of the law!

Here is an article from Yahoo News on the court's ruling.

SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, but it also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed. Demonstrators outside the court yelled "shame on you!" Gay rights activists immediately promised to resume their fight, saying they would go back to voters as early as next year in a bid to repeal the ban.

The 6-1 decision written by Chief Justice Ron George rejected an argument by gay rights activists that the ban revised the California Constitution's equal protection clause to such a dramatic degree that it first needed the Legislature's approval.

The court said the Californians have a right, through the ballot box, to change their constitution.

"In a sense, petitioners' and the attorney general's complaint is that it is just too easy to amend the California Constitution through the initiative process. But it is not a proper function of this court to curtail that process; we are constitutionally bound to uphold it," the ruling said.

The justices said the 136-page majority ruling does not speak to whether they agree with the voter-approved Proposition 8 or "believe it should be a part of the California Constitution."

They said they were "limited to interpreting and applying the principles and rules embodied in the California Constitution, setting aside our own personal beliefs and values."

The announcement of the decision set off an outcry among a sea of demonstrators who had gathered in front of the San Francisco courthouse awaiting the ruling. Holding signs and many waving rainbow flags, they yelled "shame on you." Many people also held hands in a chain around an intersection in an act of protest.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Iowa, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The court said it is well-established legal principle that an amendment is not retroactive unless it is clear that the voters intended it to apply retroactively, and there was no such clear indication in Proposition 8.

That provided some relief for the 18,000 gay couples who married in the brief time same-sex marriage was legal last year but that wasn't enough to dull the anger over the ruling that banned gay marriage.

To read the rest click on the link below:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gay_marriage

I know he can be a hot head sometimes, but Keith Obermann makes the most sense when it comes to the issue of gay marriage. Check out this editorial he did on his show.

Click on the link below you can find out where to protest this decision in a city near you.

www.dayofdecision.wetpaint.com

Beach Reading plus Kiki and Herb

2009-05-22T09:36:00.005-04:00

Going off the topic of music with this post. The Memorial Day weekend is upon us here in the US and that means the unofficial start of summer here in the good old US of A. And summertime (at least for me) means reading a really good book at the beach.

I have two books that I think should be on your summertime reading list. The first is "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. For all of you who don't know who Anthony Bourdain is, he is a well known chef who is kinda like a cross between Joe Strummer of the Clash and James Bond. Bourdain is a true punk rock chef, he is brutally honest about everything and is just sooo flippin cool. Anyhow "Kitchen Confidential" chronicles Bourdain's many years in the food industry. He talks about the people he worked with and paints them as misfits, he talks about his own drug use and excessive lifestyle and lets the reader in on tricks that restaurateurs use to move food. The book is written in a very witty, matter of fact and honest way. Foodie or not I highly recommend this book!

After you read "Kitchen Confidential" you should check out Anthony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel "No Reservations". Bourdain goes around to very exotic locals and locals in the US on the show and samples the local food, very interesting.

anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com

The second book that I think you should check out is by the late great Kurt Vonnegut and that is his latest "Armageddon in Retrospect". It's a series of essays, letters and speeches dating back to 1945 by Vonnegut on various things such as war, politics and life. Vonnegut died two years ago and his son Mark writes the introduction to the book. This book is an amazing look into Vonnegut's life and the reader sees Vonnegut's eveloution as a writer and that trademark Vonnegut wit was always there even in those first essays and letters!

Those are my two book reccomendations to you. Whatever you do this weekend I hope you have a good and safe one. And here is a little Kiki and Herb doing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for your weekend.

Happy Birthday Pete Townshend and Joey Ramone

2009-05-19T16:57:00.007-04:00

Today is the 64th birthday of the one and only Pete Townshend and today also would have been the 58th birthday of the ultimate NYC punk Joey Ramone. Sending good birthday wishes to Pete over in England and sending good birthday wishes to Joey up in rock and roll heaven!

John Varvatos-Free The Noise

2009-05-18T15:04:00.004-04:00

Rock and Roll fashion designer John Varvatos, Island Records and Spin Earth are joining forces to find the latest, hottest and best indie band with the Free the Noise contest . All finalists chosen perform during fashion week in early September at The John Varvatos store at 315 Bowery (formally the home of the legendary CBGB's) in NYC, the finalists perform in front of a well known audience and a panel that includes Varvatos himself and several rock stars.

The winning band gets a development deal with Island, gets to become the faces in an ad campaign for John Varvatos USA and gets promotion from Spin Magazine.

You have until July 31,2009 to enter. To enter click on the link below.

Good luck!

www.spinearth.tv/freethenoise

At the movies with Amy: "Eddie and The Cruisers"

2009-05-17T14:42:00.004-04:00

Today is a very blah day here in Brooklyn the sun isn't shining and it's rather chilly out, it's the perfect day to sit in and watch movies and bad reality TV. In between watching episodes of "Charm School with Riki Lake" and "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" I caught a film from 1983 called "Eddie and the Cruisers". "Eddie and The Cruisers" is a forgotten rock and roll movie gem!!

The film centers around a very Springsteenesque New Jersey band called Eddie and The Cruisers. Eddie (played by Michael Pare) the band's very Springsteen like front man and the rest of the band meet a keyboard player (played by Tom Berenger) by the name of Frank Ridgeway while playing at a club called Tony Marts in New Jersey. Frank encourages the band to play their own material and then joins the band as the keyboard player. Their first album becomes a hit and the band spend a year recording their follow up album, this is the album that showcases the music that Eddie really wants to do. But Eddie's arrogance gets in the way of his relationship with the band's manager Doc (played by "The Sopranos" Joe Pantoliano) and the rest of the band during the recording of the album. The record finally gets finished and the record company refuses to release because they feel that the music is too strange and controversial. After having a falling out with his manager, band and the head of the record company Eddie storms out of the recording studio with his love interest and the only female member of the Cruisers Joanne. They head to The Palace of Depression a place where Eddie used to come as a child. After he drops Joanne off Eddie crashes his car off a bridge and is presumed dead even though his body is never found. After his "death" the tapes for the second album mysteriously disappear from the studio.

Fast forward 20 years later, the record company has re released the Cruisers first album and it becomes a huge hit. Reporter Maggie Foley (played by a very young Ellen Barkin) decides to do a story on Eddie and The Cruisers. Most of the Cruisers with the exception of the bass player are no longer working in the music industry. Frank at first is very reluctant to speak with Maggie but he does and reconnects with his former bandmates. All the bandmates revel that someone has been calling them playing one of the band's songs and all of them admit that someone has broken into their houses. Frank runs into Joanne and Joanne admits to him that someone driving a '57 Chevy much like the one Eddie used to drive has been pulling into her drive nightly. She also admits to Frank that she was the one who took the tapes and hid them in The Palace of Depression. Frank and Joanne go to get the tapes from The Palace of Depression and when they return to Joanne's house they find the '57 Chevy parked in Joanne's driveway, as it turns out the driver of the car is The Cruisers old manager Doc. Doc admits to breaking into the band members houses and calling them playing old Eddie and The Cruisers songs all in an effort to find out who took the tapes from the second album. Joanne hands the tapes over to Doc and Doc takes the tapes all in hopes to cash in on the rival of Eddie and the Cruisers. Maggie's report, airs and in the last scene we see people watching Maggie's report outside of a tv appliance store one of the people watching is a bearded man who smiles during the whole TV report could it be Eddie??

The film is a great little rock and roll mystery. My only complaint about this film is that the music is way to Springsteenesque as is the make up of the Cruisers! A black dude who plays sax, a chick who sings harmony and plays the tambourine and a front man who introduces the band just like a carnival barker! All that was missing was a rhythm guitarist wearing a scarf on his head!

All in all despite the face the music sounds too much like Springsteen, "Eddie and The Cruisers" is worth watching anytime it comes on TV.

Saturday night fun

2009-05-16T10:45:00.003-04:00

Interview: Bottle Up and Go

2009-05-11T09:22:00.009-04:00

A few days ago I told you all to check out a band called Bottle Up and Go. To remind you, Bottle Up and Go have a very unique sound that makes use of blues, soul, 70's heavy metal and old school 50's rock. The band consists of Keenan Mitchell and Fareed Sajan, Keenan and Fareed were nice enough to respond to my questions via email and here is what they had to say. Enjoy!

AG: How did Bottle Up and Go come to be?

F: BU&G started off as a Ledbelly cover band, as most good bands start off as—covering or imitating people that are better than you. Slowly we started writing our own songs here and there, mostly in the most offensive way we could think up, and slowly people became less offended and somehow we called ourselves a band. The name was a joke,that I hated at first, but Keenan seems to think it ‘describes our method’, whatever that means.

K: BUAG started as a ledbelly cover band with two shitty songs in a basement, and some broken equipment. Now we have bigger louder broken equipment, and we practice in the living room.

AG: Bottle Up and Go's sound is pretty unique. To me it sounds like a cross between The White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Booker T. & The MG's and old school 50's rock and roll i.e. Little Richard. In your own words how would guys describe your own sound?

K: I like you Amy. good calls all. I was just saying in an interview I would rather be compared to Little Richard than someone else.I would describe it as whiskey holler noise blues

AG: What are some of the influences behind that very unique Bottle Up and Go sound?

K: Whiskey and women.

F: Women that drink whisky, and women that don’t drink whiskey.

AG: You guys have an album out called "These Bones"; were thesongs on this album songs that were out there floating around prior torecording this album or were the written for this album?

K: Those were mostly written while we were playing our acoustic horseback tour of restaurants in Central America.

F: Yeah, a lot of those songs were on a previously unreleased little EP,we spray painted the CDs, kind of hand packaged the packages. I thinkthe cover had a picture of a car crashing, and people thought that wasfucked up since our name is ‘Bottle Up & Go’, as if we were encouraging drinking and driving or something.

K: Yeah drinking and driving!

AG: And what is the songwriting process behind Bottle Up and Go's songs?

F: A whole lot of ‘non-thinking’, we try to reach that space where we think we are not thinking, and suddenly arrive at a thought out song,and then we ask ourselves, how did we get here? Usually that means alot of drinking…

K: Yeah drinking! and heartache.

F: Your goddamn achey breaky heart goddamn it.

AG: A Bottle Up and Go show has been described as being very primal and raw...is that the feeling that you guys get when you perform? And is that raw primal feeling the feeling you want to get across to your audience in your live shows and on your recordings?

K: My body is an illustration of the song. I want to yell myself to death.

F: Yes we believe in hard work you see, the less people in our band, the more physical effort we have to put in to produce such a large heavy sound.The primalness is our urge to become monkeys and live in the wild, as most respectable people want. We want the all American dream of working hard waking up early making eggs eating bananas, you know…

AG: You guys are playing the Mercury Lounge here in New York Cityon Tuesday May 12th, can our friends outside of NYC expect Bottle Up and Go in their town soon?

F: Perhaps, we hope to go on tour towards the end of the summer, perhaps in the fall. I believe Keenan is going home to spend some time on a farm, do a little thinking, ponder about how he is different from the animals. But yeah soon, hopefully we will be on tour with someone sweet, like the Black Lips, or the Black Keys, anything with ‘black’in it. Or perhaps Crystal, I guess Crystal Antlers this Tues. is a good start, but yeah more crystal.

K: I am going home to be a farm boy and drink mead and think about how to make songs. in the fall though, get ready. bottle up and go will be throwing up in the bathroom at a bar near you.

AG: What does the future hold for Bottle Up and Go?

K: Imminent death. certain death.

F: Ehh, maybe some more of life.

Bottle Up and Go plays the Mercury Lounge in New York City on Tuesday May 12th at 7pm. The Mercury Lounge is located at 217 East Houston Street between Essex Street and Avenue A in Manhattan. It's ten dollars and 21 and over to get in.

For all of you who can't make it to the show at the Mercury, and are dying to hear Bottle Up and Go's music you can check out their myspace which is linked below:

www.myspace.com/bottleupandgoband

Takka Takka at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn.

2009-05-10T23:19:00.003-04:00

One flipping amazing show provided by Takka Takka this evening at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn. Check out the pictures: