Searching for a good scene to listen to some local music, I headed to Tonic on the lower east side to check out the band Louis. Headed by Louis Schefano, his trio is filled out by two lovely ladies, Laura Baran and Casey Cook, on the bass and drums respectively. Their songs were sweet and melodic, tales of emotions from the decision-making moments in the song, “Run or Fight”, to the longing of seeing a loved one in, “After All.” At times, the drummer and the bassist took a rest while Louis played solo. The crowd was into it, calling out their favorites while being entertained by a film projected behind the band. If you enjoy solid songwriting, I suggest checking out Louis in the future. I caught the openers, The Great Lakes and found that the band, seven of them, outnumber the actual lakes, (the lakes definitely win in the mass department). They boasted a piano, a cello, and a saxophone, to accompany the two guitars and bass section. The saxophonist brought me back to my partying days in the late eighties and the band reminded me of Luna, with a country twist. After experiencing bands easy on the ears and eyes, I took my musically fulfilled body back to Brooklyn where it belongs.
Tags:
louis, the great lakes, tonic
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 8/1/2005
(
Permanent Link
)
 Send to Friend
|
Yesterday I found myself sitting in an amphitheatre on the east river enjoying the free musical tunes of two bands, Oneida and the Extra Action Marching Band. Oneida, a Brooklyn three piece impressed me with their tight tunes. The drummer stood out in my mind, sharing singing duties with the keyboardist and setting the fast paced beat for the whole band. Oneida is definitely worth checking out again. The Extra Action is a visiting group from Oakland and they’re just like the high school band you remember, except the complete opposite. Covered in tattoos and sporting flag girls/boys/boys dress liked girls, they gyrated and blew their way through the amphitheatre. They played a quick set plugging the shows the next two nights. After a brief interlude that included a great spaghetti dish with hot red peppers and garlic, I visited the Apocalypse Lounge to see a Dan Deacon continue the theme of gyrations. In a small basement, Deacon wowed the crowed with his electronic beats and pop songs about Ohio and cool beans. In between he spun yarns about various dinner engagements with Christopher Columbus and his feelings on curly fries and what he’d eaten that day. The day started with free music in the great outdoors and ended with free music in the basement of the Apocalypse. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Tags:
apocalypse lounge, dan deacon, east river, extra action marching band, oneida
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 7/31/2005
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
I started the night at the Mercury Lounge to listen to the greasy offerings of Cheeseburger. I have seen them before and they were gracious enough to bring a trampoline last time, but unfortunately with the laws of gravity not applying at this show, the trampoline would have been dangerous. The trio proved to be entertaining, with instructions being yelled out to relax, get drunk and storm the stage. With songs imploring us to get high with the band and living on easy street, the band was a good example of simple straightforward rock, although I feel their drippings would be better received at a party with more people dancing. Ok I admit it the lack of trampoline was getting to me, so I took my night to the streets. I had gone no more than two blocks when I ran into my friend Brian playing the Velvet Underground and Daniel Johnston on his boom box, giving a little life to the streets of Ludlow. The block was a living runway show with participants strutting their stuff to the soundtrack of the night. After a couple of free beers, I was on my way to my sweet sanctuary of a Brooklyn bed. An interesting method I learned last night is to wait at the bar until some girls learn that they need to put at least twenty on their credit cards and watch them flounder for a second before kindly offering to drink a beer so that they can reach their limit. Remember to say, “your welcome,” after they kindly thank you.
Tags:
cheeseburger, mercury lounge
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 7/29/2005
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
"Payola" is a contraction of the words "pay" and "Victrola" (LP record player). The word was invented in 1960, during Alan Freed’s indictment for accepting $2,500, to describe the paying of cash or gifts in exchange for airplay. Alan Freed had to pay a minor fine and later after a faltering career drunk himself to death. After the case payola was made into a misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to 10,000 in fines and one year in prison. The purpose of the law is to prevent record companies from controlling which songs are at the top of the radio charts, misleading the American public, translating into big money in album sales. Today Sony BMG was fined ten million dollars for payola, showing how rampant this practice is in the business. For Sony, which spends over three hundred million on marketing, this fine is little more than pocket change and will not dissuade them and other major labels to continue paying off radio deejays, producers and companies to play their songs. So next time you hear music on the radio or see a video on MTV, wonder how much cash, drugs, vacations and other gifts were handed over to put that song a the top of the charts. You can bet Alan Freed is probably wishing he had held out for larger payola.
Tags:
payola
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 7/26/2005
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
..broke out last night at Webster Hall, and the Kaiser Chiefs predicted it. Last night was filled with the sounds of England. The Kaiser Chiefs, a five-piece rock n' roll band brought the house to life with their stage presence. At points the lead singer jumped the barrier between stage and fanatics and handed the microphone over to thousands of his backup singers. At one point he even dedicated a song to a punkish girl he dubbed, "Jane,” climbing in the crowd, much to her disbelief, and pulling her up on stage to dance with him while he continued his serenade. The Cribs, from Leeds, opened with a strong performance singing their three-piece popish punk with the guitarist dancing around stage in his torn up boots, and the drummer standing on his own kit at times. The Redwalls were the first openers and they might sound like 60's British rock but they hail from Chicago and wowed the crowd with their harmonies. One of the more lively shows I've been to recently from start to finish.
Tags:
kaiser chiefs, the cribs, the redwalls, webster hall
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 7/22/2005
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
|
