Two and 1/2 Pounds of Bacon - music, politics, etc in brooklyn

Treepeople

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:57:00 -0400

What?

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 08:43:00 -0400

I don't think I would ever have guessed that those were, respectively, Peter Murphy's front and Trent Reznor's back. But indeed, that's what you're seeing here. The collab doesn't quite work, but the most depressing thing about this video is when the camera swings over to reveal the throngs of voracious fans.

Philly-Style : Steady B

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:48:00 -0400

B., we hardly knew ye.

Steady B.
Going Steady (12" remix)
Ego Trippin' (album version)
1989 Jive Records, NYC & Pop Art Records, Philadelphia

Read the sad story of Warren McGlone at Wikipedia.

More Music Momentarily

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 09:46:00 -0400

Hilarious and infuriating:

Just infuriating:

World, where is thy dash o' justice?

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:33:00 -0400

The Brilliant Corners from Bristol made clever, bouncy, jangly pop music that didn't make them as famous as the Housemartins. If there were a dash of justice in this world, things might've been diffo.
Sigh.

The Brilliant Corners
What's in a Word
1986 McQueen Records, Bristol

Side 1
Laugh I Could Have Cried
Brian Rix
I Never Said That
Delirious

Side 2
A Very Easy Death
Sweet Brendan
Egotistical Me
Boy and the Cloud

I'll leave it to the authorities to tell you all about them:
TweeNet
Wikipedia
Trouser Press
Themselves on MySpace

Blake Schwarzenbach teaches at Hunter

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:31:00 -0400

I read that somewhere and thought it was really very awesome.

But let's get to the point, shall we? Journey back with me. It's 1990. Jawbreaker are fresh out the box, coasting on the strength of their first LP, Unfun, and the sensi-tough ache of that song "Want," which always went next to Rites of Spring's "For Want Of" on my mixes. I was a wanter. Big time.

New Red Archives sees fit to release a comp on clear vinyl that presents the punk state of the union, featuring Samiam, Ultraman, Crucial Youth, Hogan's Heroes, Kraut, Bedlam Hour, and more. And Jawbreaker steals the show. (channeling my inner Kasem) Here's Blake Schwarzenbach, Adam Pfahler, and Chris Bauermeister -- Jawbreaker-- with "Rich."

Jawbreaker
Rich
Hardcore Breakout USA (vol. 1)
1990 New Red Archives, San Francisco (NRA18)

Here's AllMusic's take on the JB's.

Would-be civil servants, unite!

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:07:00 -0400

Hopes for the next administration:
1. There is still a government.
2. Responsible, intelligent people with big dreams want to work in it and on its behalf.
No small thing to ask for, considering what's gone down in the last six and a half years.

Eggs
The Government Administrator
b/w Sugar Babe
1993 Hemiola Records, Leeds, UK (Hemiola #3)

John Rickman
Evan Shurak
Rob Christiansen
Andrew Beaujon

What a fist-pumper this is. No wonder John Peel dug it so deeply. In spite of all the joy provided by Christiansen's trombonery on the B-side, it's when he "plays guitar now brother" on this A-side that he kicks it like the go-to utility player, just matter-of-factly upping the ante per Mr. Beaujon's request. And it just keeps stepping on up for the remainder of the song, making it a jam to end all indie rock jams.

For more on Eggs, here's what AMG has to say.

Philly Style #2147a

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 10:27:00 -0400

The Electric Love Muffin
Playdoh Meathook
1987 Buy Our Records, Vauxhall NJ. BOR 12-012.

Side 1
Backstreet Ride
I Should Have
Look For Me
Norwegian Wood
This Time I'm Gone

Side 2
Blackness That Could be Blue
The Muffin March
One Year Removed
Tomorrow's Regrets
Magna Opus

recorded at Spectrum Studios, October 1985.
engineered by "Baba O' Schlepski"
mastered by chris gehringer at frankford/wayne nyc

The Muffin brought it, man. They bra..tit. Thrashy stoner punk, rave-ups, power pop. You couldn't find music more perfect for a Lazy Philly Summer (TM). If you think you could, play it for me and I will tell you you're sorely mistaken. And don't even make me post another track from Rassafranna.

More about the ELM at Everything2 and Trouser Press.

And they have a MySpace page.
And here they are covering Norwegian Wood live at CB's in March 1987.

2.5+7 #2

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:27:00 -0400

Fat Tulips
~~On The Seventh Day~~
1991 Sunday Records, Rolling Meadows IL. Sunday 001

Mark D. (guitars)
Sheggi (vocals)
Paul (bass)
Matt (drums)
Virginia (backing vocals)

All songs written by Mark D.

For more on the Fatties, check out their wikipedia entry.

2. 5 lbs. + 7 in. #1

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 15:12:00 -0400

Love Child
~~Know It's Alright~~
1990 Trash Flow Records, Hoboken NJ. TF02

Love Child are:
Rebecca Odes
Alan Licht
Will Baum

Mixed and Mastered by Scott Hull.
Read more about them at Trouser Press.

I need 3 packs of Marlboros? You need?

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:30:00 -0400

An unusual barter request found on craigslist NYC.

NYC: snowden + delicious sandwich social + make out party

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 09:18:00 -0400

Some upcoming happenings in the city:

Jade Tree Record's buzz kings Snowden played the Sine-E on Thursday and hit South Paw in Park Slope, Brooklyn tonight. Their heavily reverbed, drone-heavy sound is indebted to Interpol for sure, but (thank god) without the Ian Curtis fixation. This tune got stuck in my head bad:

Snowden - Anti-Anti (from itstoolong.com)

Attention sandwich-makers and sandwich-lovers: the Delicious Sandwich Social happens this afternoon at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Bring a sandwich, keep 1/2 and submit the other. The sumbitted sandwiches get redistributed randomly so everyone gets a different 1/2 sandwich (and the name of the person that made it - thus "social.") Something new for sure.

Central Park Makeout

Date: Thursday, August 31st
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Sheeps Meadow (enter at Central Park West and 66th)
Cost: Free
Summary: "Come hang out and make-out at Central Park's Sheeps Meadow. The makeout party is free, and for no particular cause, other than to promote shameless kissing in public. (This is a kissing-only event, so all you exhibitionists contain yourselves, please!). In conjunction with Central Park Makeout, The All State Café 250 w72nd St, just west of B-way) has agreed to do some cheap and fun drink pre and post makeout party. "

eko vino: beef & iron wine

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 00:04:00 -0400

A perplexing medicinal, usually found in the "Hispanic" or "Ethnic" section of the drugstore. I have picked up this bottle several times but never mustered up the courage to buy a bottle. It does actually contain 7% alcohol, which, of course, has led me to fantasize of wild, beef wine fueled orgies (So drunk! So strong!!!)

Strangely, The Daily Slope also ran a brief story last year featuring the Eko Vino and other Hispanic-marketed medicines, remedies and cosmetics. I find it hard to believe that these products are only available in Park Slope, Brooklyn (where I also live.) Anyhow...

The product is a relative of a whole range of crazy old remedies that contained sherry or port, iron (and/or other minerals) and beef broth or sometimes, cow's blood. Hearty.

Iron & Wine / Calexico - History of Lovers

fast & jittery: orange juice + the wedding present

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:04:00 -0400

The UK has a grand tradition of fast, chaotic and vulnerable pop that reaches back to the post-punk era. Pehaps one could even trace the thread back to Skiffle and Mersey Beat, but that's probably more of a stretch.

From Glasgow, Scotland, Orange Juice pioneered the nerdy and romantic art-punk jangle that has has become a permanent part of the indie landscape. You might even call them pre-twee. An impressive collection of their first recordings (1980-1981) was released by Domino last year as The Glasgow School, and contains the track below. Orange Juice never really made any cash, but frontman Edywn Collins eventually had a big (and unlikely) hit with "A Girl Like You" in 1994.

Orange Juice - Blue Boy
buy it

David Gedge, the singer-songwriter who fronts The Wedding Present is a doomed romantic, as well as being an avid student of the spastic jangle. First emerging in mid 80's, TWP also represent a bit of a missing link between the depressed British alternative rock of that decade (The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, etc) and the rowdier American indie-rock of the 90's. Plus, they were produced often by Steve Albini. All the Albini trademarks are here on this track from 1989's Bizarro: crushing bass, abrasive guitar, buried vocals, huge drums.

The Wedding Present - Crashed

ear protection for babies

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 11:29:00 -0400

The Peltor Junior Ear Muff is just right for concerts, races, shooting and other general noise protection...Another benefit to these muffs is that they don't pose a choking hazard, as earplugs sometimes can when used by very young, unsupervised children.

close: duplomacy + pedro the lion + sebadoh

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:44:00 -0400

Duplomacy have released a beautiful album of sweet, intimate songs, arranged with lots of hard, buzzing edges and sonic detail. A very close, organic record. Give these two a spin:

Duplomacy - Stars
Duplomacy - Coppertone
buy it

Duplomacy's first foray into professional recording was an EP recorded by TW Walsh, one-time partner of David Bazan in Pedro The Lion, another group who always had a great grasp of the intimate, although in usually in a more morose, sin-haunted way. This is the lead-off track from 1999's "The Only Reason I Feel Secure Is That I Am Validated By My Peers ."

Pedro The Lion - Criticism as Inspiration

With the recent re-release of Sebadoh's 1991 masterpiece "III", Lou Barlow has been getting some good ups lately. Lou crafted some of the most beautiful, honest, uplifting and self-loathing music there ever was. And, oh yeah, he's real good with that intimate thing too (wrapup!) This classic is taken from 1992's "Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock." and has been covered by both Superchunk and Death Cab for Cutie.

Sebadoh - Brand New Love

Farewell World Wide Wing Commander

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:29:00 -0400

Robert Brooks, the founder and chairman of Hooters died last month.

Mr. Brooks...was affectionately referred to as Hooters World Wide Wing Commander

Fly on, little wing.

page france + wimp factor 14

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 22:06:00 -0400

A very nice track arrived in my inbox the other day. Baltimore's Page France make some folksy and twee indie-pop. They are on the excellent Suicide Squeeze label, also home to Minus the Bear, Crystal Skulls and Chin Up, Chin Up.

Page France - Junkyard

The song called to mind the similar stylings of long forgotten Wimp Factor 14 from Pittsburgh. I always had a soft spot for those boys. This tune is from a 1991 7" on Harriet Records.

Wimp Factor 14 - Train Song

bivouac - Avant | Après

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 23:56:00 -0400

I had the good fortune of attending the Avant | Après event last weekend. It was staged by bivouac, a NYC based label specializing in avant garde electronica and noise.

The higlight of the show was Nim was from Sweden. His rig was extremely simple: a cassette walkman (with cassette), one signal processing unit and a pair of scissors. He manipulated the transport machinery of the walkman with his hands and the scissors to create a percolating set of beats. He then moved cassette tape over the heads of walkman with his fingers, essentially scratching and dropping samples. Very musical, focused and well thought out.

Download this track from Nim. No title, just this explanation:

I found two interesting pieces of metal in the faculty cellar: a piece of a ladder and an oblong surface.

The setting was also striking: ISSUE Project Room, an arts space located on about a 1/2 an acre of ground overlooking the Gowanus Canal.

See more pictures of the event on Flickr.

Silent Disco

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:26:00 -0400

Something for the folks in NYC - event to be held in Washington Square Park, West Village:

Saturday, August 19th 4:00pm-10:00pm: DJs spin music transmitted directly to wireless headphones, and people dance like crazy to sounds no one else can hear. Bring your own FM headphones, or borrow a pair from presenters The Madagascar Institute. Located on the Big lawn (northwest quadrant). FREE.

Presented by the The Madagascar Institute, also responsible for "Silent Fireworks" and "Dueling Re-Enactments."

The Art of the Shiv

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 18:21:00 -0400

Just found this striking and frightening photography piece, Dangerous Beauty: The Art of the Shiv.

The shivs shown here, from the collection of designers Chris Kasabach and Vanessa Sica, were confiscated more than twenty years ago from New Jersey’s Rahway Prison (now East Jersey State Penitentiary), a maximum-security facility that houses more than 1,500 inmates serving sentences of twenty-five years to life.

New Ill Lit album "Tom Cruise"

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 18:00:00 -0400

Ill Lit traffic in a mournful and convincing strain of rootsy indie rock, spiked with noise and electronics. Tom Cruise is their third full length (or fourth if you count the Burakumin - Early Mourning album from 2000, also featuring vocalist and songwriter D. Ahearn.)

After two years in and out of the studio, the completed Tom Cruise shows the Los Angeles group reaching a new level of songwriting and studio sophistication, and even, dare I say, slickness. Gone are the clumsy reaches at drama and rudimentary folk structures that marred some the band's earlier efforts, replaced here by soaring arrangements and genuine pop diversity. Take a listen.

Ill Lit - This is not a good time
buy it

global warming & some strong opinions about horses

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 21:24:00 -0400

Been having some fun (if you can call it that) at StopGlobalWarming.org lately. It allows you sign an ongoing petition (almost half a million onboard now,) calculate your carbon savings (via actions that you can take) and assess your impact via the amount of people that you "invite" to sign the petition. Laurie David (wife of Larry) is the top organizer, having brought on 83,045 people. I also noticed that Andy Stern of Wal-Mart Watch and the SEIU has brought in almost two thousand people. You can also check out who has signed up in your neighborhood through a cool little Google map mashup. Nice.

On a funnier note, horsehater is the most gut-busting thing I have come across in ages. Nasty and vulgar laughs. Avoid if you are sentimental about horses. If not, dive in and don't forget to check out the merchandise section.

Mark Mallman vs Tom Petty

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (fastbacker) — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:19:00 -0400

I recently received some information about Mark Mallman's new recording on Badman, Between the Devil and Middle C. He's described as similar to Elton John and David Bowie with a "theatrical Freddy Mercury-like Delivery". Now I enjoy the glam rock quite a bit more than the next guy and have been deep into the Queen lately ("Spread Your Wings" anyone?) so this got me interested.

However, it seems to me that (at least with the track "Death Wish") Mallman really uses Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" as his blueprint; not so glam at all. You do the A/B.

Mark Mallman - Death Wish
buy it

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - You Got Lucky
buy it

Never Mind The Coifed Man Behind The Curtain

fastbacker@haywoodnyc.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:27:00 -0400

BoingBoing this morning here is pointing to a piece at MSNBC that suggests that much of the terror and attendant inconvenience (as selfish and short-sighted as the word "inconvenience" sounds in this context) related to this past week's revelation of a nascent plot to explode as many as 10 commercial airliners en route from the UK to the U.S. was probably amplified by the Bush Administration. Here's a quote:

"In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports."

The nut of the article is that British agencies felt less urgency to arrest the alleged terrorists/suicide aspirants than their American counterparts and intended to surveil the suspects for an additional week (on top of the year they had already been monitoring some of the participants) before acting. The U.S. apparently pushed for arrests immediately. And we all know who got their way. What's that new Thom Yorke number: "I'm a dog, I'm a lap dog, I'm your lap dog..."

I am particularly annoyed by this occurrence because I have to at least partially agree with sentiments expressed this morning by commentator Nancy Giles of CBS Sunday Morning (and the voice behind some of your favorite pharmaceutical ads), whose overblown oration and facial close-ups so early on a Sunday regularly irritate me. Ms. Giles' comments, which I can't track down on the CBS web site, relate generally to a sinking feeling that the announcement of the arrests last week was in some part intended to divert the attention of everyday Americans away from something else.

On the upside, I love how BoingBoing refers to the suspects as "hair-gel terrorists." If I hadn't seen pictures of the suspects I'd probably picture them as a shiny-haired band of Pat Rileys and Ricky Ricardos. So I don't know, maybe the whole thing is a wash. Incidentally, the lead story at CBS Sunday Morning's web site right now: "The Carefree Lives Of Slackers."