storminheaven

Noel Gallagher Performs gig in Lounge Room

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:29:13 GMT

As part of Jo Whiley's "Live Lounge Tour" on UK's Radio 1 where competition winners were given the opportunity of having their favourite stars perform in their lounge rooms, Noel Gallagher has stepped up to the plate...or doormat as the case may be.

Performing tracks in support of the new Oasis compilation Stop The Clocks, Noel's set included Half The World Away and The Importance of Being Idle. Gallagher also chatted to the winner, Ben from Stockport, signed posters and Ben's guitar.

See it all right here!

Tags: British Bands, British Music, Noel Gallagher, Oasis

Bergdorf Goodman: Better than paying rent

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:32:40 GMT

On a Black Friday when the weather in NYC is clear and inviting, what is there to do other than join the throngs of consumers rather than attempting to beat them.

Avid shoppers via for elbow room while rummaging through tables of discounted sweaters and marked down blenders and other items earmarked for future landfill projects. It's a beautiful sight.

The thing you come to realize though when you walk into stores like Bergdorf Goodman and their ilk is that for decades while you were under the impression that you'd been wearing clothes, in fact you haven't. I don't know what it is that you and I have been wearing all this time but they most certainly aren't clothes because they bare no resemblance to what's on the racks here.

Beautiful thick cashmere sweaters, soft leather coats, fine wool trousers...all surrounded by shop assistants greeting you with a, "hello sir, please let me know if I can be of assistance".

At one point, clutching a beaten up vintage leather jacket I'd pulled from its hanger, I did a double take. I thought to myself, "So rather than going to the Hells Kitchen markets, the time-challenged and financially superior come to Bergdorf's to buy their vintage leather jackets?! It’s madness but I suppose if you have the means…" I began trying to visualize who this person was who shops at a store like this and walks away with a jacket that has (gasp!) been sported by another?! It intrigued me especially as the clean-cut group that happened to be next to me were surrounding the patriarchal figure who was slipping into a dull looking, new leather coat with few redeeming qualities other than possibly its quality construction.

Having a weakness for vintage leather jackets, I tried on the coat and zipped it up. Perfect. The only hitch was that it was $495 instead of the $100 you would expect to pay at the markets. The jacket that hung next to it was $1100 and seeing as there was no chance of either coming home with me, I tried that one on too. Next, I tried on the new equivalent of the leather coat I had on which I distinctly remember paying ten pounds for in an East Finchley thrift store. This one was $2600.

Upstairs in the Men's shoe section I couldn't resist trying on a pair of soft black leather slip-ons with a weighty silver buckle on the side. My clobber didn't make much of an impression with the older sales person (jeans, white t-shirt, black leather jacket) but he was professional enough. I've long been a subscriber to the notion that food/ rent concerns run a close second to having the pair of fuck-off shoes to get about in. Call me the Carr-He Bradshaw of NYC but with the right shoes, you can blag your way into anything and at the same time be ready for everything. With a slap on the back and a 10% discount for being display stock I was on way, shoes in tow.

The 1st of the month is looming, rent is due and your landlord is making his overseas holiday plans.

You know what to do hot-stepper...

Tags: Bergdorf Goodman, Black Friday, Hells Kitchen Markets, Shopping

Ghetto Blaster VS Cell Phone - Round 1

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 22:39:09 GMT

Back in 1980, portable music became a reality in a big way...and I mean BIG!

Oversized, portable radio/ cassette players were marketed from Canal Street to K-Mart and at least initially had a cult following among young black men who wanted a little more bang for their buck. The Ghetto Blaster was born and it was here to stay! Ok, well not here to stay really because in a matter of months development of a portable, hand-held cassette player (with headphones!) would begin. Yes, the Walkman was to the 80's what the i-Pod is to the naughties but that's another blog right there.

Back to '80. What could be better that walking the streets of your neighbourhood playing your tunes and perhaps even bustin' out with a few moves on a corner while you waited for the lights to change. It was about community. It was about finding freedom. It was about bringing together like-minded music people who liked their sound....BIG! Sure, we know now that the audio quality wasn't the greatest but the experiences one could have and the people one could meet along the way seemed almost endless.

In Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do The Right Thing" Radio Raheem commanded respect when he cruised his neighborhood, not only because he was a menacing figure but because his Jam Box was always on and it was always booming with quality sounds.

Fast forward...

In 2006 one can't help but notice the influx of phones into the cell market that feature a loudspeaker. With many phones now having some form of mp3 compatibility, the number of "Radio Raheems" seems too have multiplied exponentially. It would seem by walking the streets and riding the subways of this city that more and more young men are feeling the need to...erm, crank up their phones and share the love with their increasingly perturbed onlookers. An embarrassing site, these new sound devices' small size is matched only by their aggressively poor sound quality, especially when pushed to full bars on the volume selector.

Why is it that Ghetto Blasters (*in capable hands) could have had such an impact whereas these pathetic little units are only capable of raising eyebrows (and aggression levels in crowded subways) rather than bystanders' spirits?

Tags: 1980, Boom Box, Do The Right Thing, Ghetto Blaster, iPod, Jam Box, New Music, Spike Lee, subway

MisShapes: Cool Kids of Death

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:51:37 GMT

Saturday night/ party night.

After satisfying our culturally malnourished existences with a trip to up-and-coming photographer, Howard Jones' photographic exhibition, we headed down to Tribeca for MisShapes, the much lauded Indie night.

Admittedly, it was good to check out this club and its patrons, who I might add do have their shit going on in many respects. They've got the style and the attitude which I adore. Individuals taking some pride in their appearance and putting in an effort for a good Saturday night out.

I was warned that it was a young crowd and yes, there were some NYU art students there but who wants to go to a club - or any event for that matter - where everyone is between the ages of 26 and 29, works in design and lives in the West Village? I reckon the diversity, at least on Saturday night is what makes the night interesting. I like to see the rail-thin boys with their manicured 80's doos and the showing-out lasses mega-gossiping at the bar about what "she said to him after he did that to her".

The drinks: Y'know, plastic cups....Is that really necessary? If you're going to employ a system of stripping the bartenders of their God-given right to wave a glass over a sink and call it "washed" at least make the plastic cup larger than a thimble.

The Music: I get it ok! Yes, it was clever about 8 years ago to play "bad" songs because in an ironic way they were cool. Some of these songs actually were cool and became cornerstones of some play-lists, ie: real crowd pleasers like Superstition, or Kylie or Bee Gees. Fine, slip one of these every now and then - no issue there.

There are also some great, great songs out there that you can't help stomping your foot to and singing into a wooden-spoon mic in your kitchen (Missy Elliott). Here's the thing: MisShapes is a night with a certain broad "theme" and when you go dancing to the music they play at Aer Lounge half a mile away, it doesn't matter how many charity shop hats you can slap on your nu-wave cut, you're still a nugget.

*Note: IT IS ACCEPTABLE TO WALK OFF THE DANCE-FLOOR IF THE DJ IS PLAYING DRIVEL. Just because Elroy and Steph are still dancing doesn't mean the song is any good. Give it a go - others may follow.

If I'm dancing to The Jam, chances are I don't want to hear Chingy. If I'm dancing to The Rapture, chances are I don't want it followed up with Faith Evans or Whitney or Diddy or 50.

Get very far away from me with your redundant try-hard urban hits. There are a plethora of clubs playing that genre back-the-front, as there are clubs playing all the horrible, regrettable 80's pop smashes but what we lack in this city is a good club playing British, American, Canadian, Scandinavian Indie gems.

Why couldn't it be you MisShapes?

Tags: Clubs, Cool Kids Of Death, Don Hills, Indie Music, Kylie, MisShapes, Nuggets

NorthSix

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:30:03 GMT

Wandering out of the Bedford Ave L train station you just know you're not in Manhattan anymore, right? Funky mothers in all the get-up striding past, hair carefully adjusted, cigarette poised, ready for some gesturing. Good stuff I say.

The band being targeted tonight is UK act The Kooks. What? You no heard? Get on it man. Ok, the UK are going a bit nucking futs and committed to giving them a cover story before they could hold a cup in one hand but no jokes, these young lads have some songs worth checking out.

Interesting note: The singer's dad was in a band and in 1962 they supported a band called The fucking Rolling Stones. Fast forward 40 years and guess who recently supported the Stones in Nothern England? I knew I liked you for a reason...

NorthSix is the venue...located on erm.....North 6th. A short walk towards the river and in you go. Here's what I like to see. Plenty of people out for a good night, good bar staff, everyone knows the songs and it's crowded yet we find somewhere to sit and have a drink prior to the headline act starting. The main room is a great size for this level of band. Even when it's crowded you can get a reasonable gander at what jeans the singer is sporting and whether the lead guitarist is using a capo. Great show.

Some advance warning: We Are Scientists are playing NorthSix on Dec 9th. Australian indie upstarts The Grates (yes, the ones like Yeah Yeah Yeahs) are supports. Don't ask questions, just get yourself into the gig.

Tags: Australian bands are sooo hot right now, British Rock, NorthSix, Rock Venue, The Kooks, We Are Scientists, Williamsburg

Crossing Traffic

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:26:33 GMT

You know what? Those little mobile units out there clogging up our sidewalks and streets, shuffling past one another all rugged up for the winter months, they're pedestrians or in latin are refered to as pedestrianostos derived from the phrase "pedistal persons".

I realize that these "pedestrians" can cause havoc to those car drivers in a rush hoping to catch the next red light 25 yards down the road. It's inconvenient to have to slow down for them. It's frustrating when you're driving your taxi, the meter is running and you've made such great time heading downtown on 7th ave. You go to make that right turn doing 30 and then...."people" get in the way. You have to slow down, momentum lost, distracted from the conversation going on in your earpiece and wait.

"People" don't even acknowledge that you've disrupted your journey's fluidity to allow them to pass. You honk. Sometimes you berate them.

I was crossing the street last night, admittedly a busy intersection but with the walking man ablaze and in my favour. Taxis slammed to a hault while I stepped across the wide street to a chorus of fierce horns espcaping from their steel captures.

Taxi drivers, you are my brothers but if you touch me ever so slightly with your cars, I'm going to stomp on your hoods.

Tags: Taxi slapper, Traffic