Posts Tagged ‘New York City’

  
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

One Day in Your Life: September 16, 1987

by J.A. Bartlett

dayinyourlife

September 16, 1987, is a Wednesday. A front-page story in the New York Times details the growing plagiarism scandal surrounding Delaware Senator Joseph Biden, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Commitee. Biden’s committee is holding confirmation hearings for Supreme Court appointee Robert Bork. Schools across the country celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution. Pope John Paul II continues a visit to the United States; today, he’s in Los Angeles, where he celebrates mass at Dodger Stadium and stresses the need for religious communities to draw together “in a common concern for man’s earthly welfare, especially world peace.” President Reagan speaks on the steps of the Capitol at “A Celebration of Citizenship,” as school children across the country celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution. The mayors of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Hsin Tien, Taiwan, sign a sister-city proclamation. National Football League players and owners are eyeball-to-eyeball in a labor dispute; in six days, the players will go on strike, resulting in the cancellation of one week’s games and the playing of three others with replacement players. Bob Boone of the California Angels appears in his 1,919th game at catcher, which is a major league record. (more…)

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Friday, June 19th, 2009

How Bad Can It Be? Atoosa Grey and the P.R. Pityfuck

by Jack Feerick

I think I mentioned last week some of the interesting messages I get via the Popdose mailing list. A lot of what comes through is from public relations flacks; artist reps and label folks get in touch with Popdose EiC Jeff Giles, and Jeff sends the best of ‘em along to the rest of us on the staff. Here’s one that came through a few weeks ago

From: [name withheld]
Date: Thu, May 7, 2009 at 11:09 PM
Subject: Please, please, please listen to this singer! It’s good Karma!
To: jefito@ popdose.com

Hey Jeff,

I have a favor to ask you. Please, please, please give [redacted]’s music a listen. I am begging you. Yes, that’s right… I am begging you.

She is really an amazing and unique singer/songwriter and we need to get her some press. I am hoping you can just take a few minutes and listen to some songs off her new CD “[title redacted]”. It’s good karma and I know you’ll love her as much as we do!!

Now, at first blush that’s kind of cute—a whimsical, unconventional way to promote an artist-client. But you know what else is cute? Monkeys, especially when they think they’re people. You know what, though? Monkeys are kind of whiffy. You don’t notice the smell at first, because they’re so gosh-darn charming, but then it starts to creep into your consciousness, your olfactory landscape and it just won’t quit, and eventually it blots everything else out of your awareness, and you can’t even laugh at the animal’s antics anymore because all you can think is how now amount of dry-cleaning is going to get that ripe ape-scent out of Mr. Jocko’s little vest and cap, and the only thing for those clothes will be to burn them.

The e-mail above has a slight odor to it, too—the mingled smell of condescension and desperation. The moral bullying is bad enough (listening to Artist A will make you a better person! Don’t you want to be a better person?), but there’s a passive-aggressive undertone that quickly becomes off-putting.

(more…)

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Monday, March 30th, 2009

Live Music: Morrissey @ Webster Hall; the Grates and Micachu & the Shapes @ Pianos, 3/25/09

by Taylor Long

MorrisseyNew York City living, with its ever-expanding list of options, presents a reoccurring problem: What to do when you need or want to be in two places at once? Given the opportunity to see both legendary crooner Morrissey at Webster Hall for free and up-and-coming hype bands the Grates and Micachu & the Shapes for free, what does one do? Well, if you have experience covering festivals like CMJ, and enough money for cab fare, you do both.

Starting out at Webster Hall, the end of the set by openers the Courteeners was unsurprisingly Smiths-ish. At any other time and place, that might be perfectly fine, but as an opener for Morrissey? Who wants processed cheese when you can have cheddar?

Morrissey warmed the crowd up, once again, with a series of old video clips before his set. When the curtain dropped and the pompadoured singer took the stage, he asked, “I just have one soul searching question to ask you: Where the hell am I?” before jumping into Brooklyn bar dance hit, “This Charming Man.”

But, sadly enough, the same people that will likely bust a move to the song when it comes on at their local bar were noticeably less rapturous than the average Morrissey fanboy crowd. Were people there to say they saw Morrissey at a smaller venue than he usually plays, or where they simply there to see him?

Morrissey, however, was up to his normal tricks, casting shirts into the audience, whipping the mic around, brushing back his hair, and interjecting an air of mystery between songs with statements like, “I am a myth.” The set list was full of standard fare – “How Soon Is Now?” “Irish Blood, English Heart” “Billy Budd” – all of which were as aggressive as Morrissey has ever been, with the help of his current backing band. But lest we forget his reputation as the International Man of Misery, there was “Let Me Kiss You,” and “Seasick, Yet Still Docked” to tug at the heartstrings. (See below for a video of “Seasick, Yet Still Docked” from this show.)

Unfortunately, as he began mid-set standard “The Loop,” a cab and Piano’s were beckoning… (more…)

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Friday, March 20th, 2009

Live Music: Charles Spearin’s Happiness Project @ Le Poisson Rouge, 3/15/09

by Taylor Long

Charles Spearin's Happiness ProjectOne of many highlights of Broken Social Scene’s performance at CMJ last fall was the presentation of “Mrs. Morris,” the first song from Charles Spearin’s Happiness Project. Spearin, fascinated by the musical qualities of speech, interviewed his neighbors, friends and family members about happiness, then set those interviews to song. Though Spearin says he never expected the Happiness Project to go beyond his living room, he released an album of material on February 14, put together a band and took the record on the road, stopping at New York City’s swanky Le Poisson Rouge on Sunday night.

Spearin and his eight-piece band began with “Mrs. Morris,” the most straight-forward format of speech to song. As he did at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in October, he played just the recording of her voice, then played it with a saxophone accompaniment.

Charles Spearin, “Mrs. Morris” (download)

With the rest of the pieces, the band experimented. In some cases, one sentence would be repeated in a sort of minimalist style, as with “Vanessa,” an interview with a woman who was born deaf, then at the age of 30 got a cochlear implant. Describing what it was like to hear, Vanessa said, “All of a sudden I found my body moving inside,” and the band repeated the notes of this phrase, then turned it into a sort of chant, singing the words over and over and clapping. For “Marisa” and “Mr. Gowrie,” just a few short snippets were played, then the band drew from those tones to create instrumental jams, not unlike those of Spearin’s main projects, Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think.

Charles Spearin, “Marisa” (download)

Taking a page from the Broken Social Scene concert format of everyone shares the spotlight, two of the Happiness Project band members got a chance to play their own projects. Ohad Benchetrit played “Don’t Let The Blind Go Deaf,” from his solo project Years, which will be released on Arts & Crafts (also the label of Broken Social Scene and the Happiness Project) in May, and Michael Barth, who plays the flugelhorn and trumpet, performed a piece by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi. Each band member was noticeably talented, though, as they were all multi-instrumentalists. (more…)

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Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Test of the Boomerang: Sick of Winter Wonderland

by Ben Wiser

Phish – The Clifford Ball (Rhino)

Sherman, set the Way Back machine for that balmy summer of 1996! Jerry Garcia had been gone a year, and a lot of lonesome folks had hitched their wagons to the sound-carnival that was Phish.

The Vermont foursome rented out an abandoned air strip in upstate New York for a weekend of music, music and more music. They called it ‘The Clifford Ball‘ and it became the blueprint for every summer festival that would follow in its wake.

Rhino has released a seven-disc set of the whole shebang just in time for Phish’s 2009 reunion. If you didn’t score tickets to Hampton, this just might help ease the sting. Trey, Gordo, Paige, and Fishman have never really been much to look at, so the important thing here is the music. In 1996, arguably, Phish were at the height of their powers. There’s a fantastic mix of new (at the time) and old songs here. The band is tight, in the pocket, and totally playful. Every note played that legendary weekend has been captured in a brilliant 5.1 stereo mix. From the soundcheck to the mini acoustic set to the 3 a.m. improv jam the band performed on the back of a light-encrusted flatbed truck.

It’s all wrapped up in a very cool package that includes some Clifford Ball postcards and stamps. Fire up your own kind veggie burritos, put some Magic Hat #9 in the fridge, and camp out in your living room with this great package from Rhino. (more…)

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Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

One Day in Your Life: February 18, 1977

by J.A. Bartlett

dayinyourlife

February 18, 1977, is a Friday. NASA’s new craft, the space shuttle, makes a test flight bolted to a 747. The flight lasts a little over two hours and reaches an altitude of 16,000 feet. In a nod to Star Trek fans, the test vehicle is called the Enterprise.  Today’s Washington Post contains a story by Bob Woodward about CIA payments to King Hussein of Jordan. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance continues a tour of the Middle East and meets with Hussein, as well as the president of Lebanon. Seattle’s first Fat Tuesday carnival week celebration gets rowdy, with reports of public intoxication, public drug use, and one case of public sexual intercourse, which attracts a crowd of 100. An exhibition of paintings by Andy Warhol closes in Washington. Character actor Andy Devine, who frequently appeared in westerns, on TV, and did Disney cartoon voice-overs in a distinctively scratchy, high-pitched voice, dies at age 71. Harley Race successfully defends his NWA heavyweight wrestling title by defeating Wahoo McDaniel in Richmond, Virginia. Two Japanese astronomers discover a new asteroid, to be named 5017 Tenchi. In Uruguay, a dog is killed by a UFO.

Celebrity guests on The $25,000 Pyramid this week are Joanne Worley and John Schuck. Tonight, the spy series Hunter premieres on CBS-TV, but will be canceled after only eight episodes. (A different show with the same title will run for nine seasons on NBC in the 80s.) Also on TV tonight: The Rockford Files.

Elvis plays Columbia, South Carolina, and KISS plays Madison Square Garden in New York City. Santana and Tower of Power open a two-night stand at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Al Stewart and Wendy Waldman perform in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, and the Kinks are at Winterland in San Francisco. The Marshall Tucker Band plays Passaic, New Jersey; in 2007, the show will be released on DVD. In Cincinnati, ELO shares a bill with Steve Hillage and Gentle Giant, and Triumph plays San Antonio. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Greg Kihn Band are together for the third of four nights in Berkeley, California. After nine years in court, Neil Diamond buys the masters of his early recordings on the Bang label. (more…)

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Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

Clapton and Winwood @ Madison Square Garden, NYC: 2/26/08

by Dw. Dunphy

clapwin youngEric Clapton – guitar, vocals
Steve Winwood – Hammond organ, guitar, vocals
Chris Stainton – keyboards
Willie Weeks – bass
Ian Thomas – drums

I’m convinced that any great concert experience requires an interesting precursor — the company around you, the trip to the venue, the small details that elevate something to do on a Tuesday night into a memory. I’m equally convinced that while it might make a great experience, it might not make a great story. More often than not, one person’s good time is another person’s drab tale, even if the center of the trip is the reunion if the nucleus of famed supergroup Blind Faith, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. Then again, with such a draw, one might have to rethink all those presumptions, as there was nothing more dramatic on February 26th than the performances of two legendary players.

Opening with “Had To Cry Today,” Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton took the stage with guitars strapped on and loaded with confidence. The three-night MSG residency may have surprised fans when they heard it was going to happen, but the interplay between the two makes clear just what a natural fit they are. The other surprise is how the players were arranged: I originally expected Winwood to open the show, play some songs, then have Clapton come out for team-ups, then Clapton would hold forth for the rest. That all participants stayed onstage during the full show (excepting one solo turn each) was a treat. (more…)

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