http://punkcast.com/ Video of NYC underground music scene + other community events en-US joly@dti.net (Joly MacFie) Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST punkcast.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa-nc-nd/3.0/ http://punkcast.com/1887/ Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1887 Numerous recording artists such as the Allman Brothers and the Youngbloods have filed suits challenging how their labels compute digital royalties under pre-digital era record deals. These suits typically allege that downloads sold by iTunes and other third parties are sales under third-party licenses, for which most record deals provide an artist royalty of 50% of the label's 'net royalty receipts.' But many labels have treated these as 'sales through normal retail channels,' for which the royalty is usually just a relatively low percentage of wholesale or retail price. Who's winning this fight? On September 3, 2010, the 9th Circuit (in F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records) held that third-party downloads are sales under third-party 'licenses,' and that Aftermath Records therefore should have paid Eminem's production company at the higher level of 50% of the label's 'net royalty receipts.' Is the 9th Circuit decision right? Will other circuits follow it? What implications does it have for publishing royalties for e-books? A distinguished panel of experts debated these and other questions. http://punkcast.com/1775/ Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:00:00 EST ISOC-NY#1775 %escaped blurb% http://punkcast.com/1772/ Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:00:00 EST ISOC-NY#1772 At the second of the Internet Society NY Chapter's meetings with Hunter Newby, CEO of Allied Fiber, he presented an overview of the company's plan to encircle the entire USA with a dark fiber ring with carrier neutral access at any point. Allied Fiber's simple yet forward-thinking "real estate" approach to infrastructure provides de facto the structural separation which has, in other countries, been a boon to ISP competition, giving users access to cheap bandwidth and making network neutrality a moot point. Runs just about an hour. The subsequent Q&A may be made available at a later date. http://punkcast.com/1760/ Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1760 This was the first show ever by Man Forever - a fresh project from Kid Millions, Oneida's drummer. According to legend he became inspired after seeing the Fireworks Ensemble perform a chamber version of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music and determined to record a solo album of multi-tracked "just intonated" drums. Said album has just been released, and now live shows ensue. Obviously Kid can't multitack live - so he has recruited Brian Chase (YYYs), Shahin Motia (Ex Models, Oneida), Allison Busch (Awesome Color, Red Dawn II), & Richard Hoffman (Sightings) to tour. Just in case that isn't enough (!) that line-up will be augmented by local musicians. In this case Alison wasn't to be seen, but Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs) and one other fellow I didn't recognize filled things out. The album is comprised of two pieces, and so was this set, linked by a squealing bass solo from Richard Hoffman. The clip here is a 5 minute extract from the beginning of part two. http://punkcast.com/1752/ Mon, 24 May 2010 04:00:00 EST ISOC-NY#1752 The purpose of the Advancing Community Broadband: A Summer Discussion Series is to generate a conversation now that a number of concerned parties in New York have gone through the experience of developing broadband stimulus proposals in the first round and in the case of DOITT and DOE have been successfully funded. The idea is that once a month, a group of stakeholders will come together to discuss their thinking around the broadband stimulus, the National Broadband Plan and where they think broadband in America is headed. This was the first 3 meetings, an informal get together for interested parties to exchange views and get aquainted. http://punkcast.com/1751/ Mon, 24 May 2010 02:00:00 EST ISOC-NY#1751 With WordPress 3.0 now in its final beta stage there is increasing interest in the programming community as to the innovations involved - thus this edition of the WordPressNYC monthly meetup was well attended. Steve Bruner explained several new aspects of customization via the functions.php file including post types, and also demo'd some new menu tricks, after which Boone Gorges ran the MultiSite capability through its paces, both all the while fielding many queries from the crowd. http://punkcast.com/1744/ Thu, 13 May 2010 14:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1744 Last October the NYC Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT) issued a request for proposals for services to obtain, manage, administer, maintain and market the geographic Top Domain name .nyc.. At ICANN's recent 37th meeting in Nairobi, consensus was reached on the "overarching" issue of intellectual property protection. This leaves only the issue of the final (4th) draft of the Applicants Guidebook, expected before the 38th meeting in Brussels in June 2010, before the much delayed new generic top level domain (gTLD) delegation process can finally grind into action. (One caveat - a policy forbidding cross-ownership of registries and registrars is still not totally set in stone.) The Internet Society - New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) has for some years been following the .nyc and ICANN process on behalf of the NYC community and, on May 8 2010, hosted a seminar "dot nyc - How are we doing?" at NYU. NYC Council Member Gale Brewer delivered keynote remarks, then vendor Eric Brunner-Williams of CORE Internet Council of Registrars revealed details of their proposal to the City, and Antony Van Couvering of Minds + Machines and Public Advocate Beill DeBlasio's earlier comments to the City Council were shown in video. There was a discussion "What's it for?" about possible applications - civic, community, commercial, and "outside the box" - for a local top level domain. Speakers included Tom Lowenhaupdt of Connecting .nyc and Richard Knipel of Wikimedia NYC. http://punkcast.com/1737/ Tue, 11 May 2010 22:00:00 EST ISOC-NY#1737 This was the first time I'd ever managed to make it to one of the popular events of the WordPress NYC Meetup group, although I did attend WordCamp NYC late last year. It was held in the plush offices of Sun/Oracle in midtown, which curiously seemed windowless, but I guess that was just as far as I reached. Today's speaker was Daisy Olsen. Her main topic was theme frameworks, better known as parent/child themes. These are wonderful devices which allow one to make custom sites that don't break when the original framework is updated. It's not rocket science but needs careful understanding of some of the basics of WordPress mechanics. Daisy walked us through this and then turned her attention to the upcoming WordPress 3.0 release. WordPress people are very excited about this as it will see the folding of the fangled multi-user version (currently known as WPMU) into the regular version. This allows all sorts of interesting developments - for example sub-blogs/sites that share users and taxonomies that can even be http://punkcast.com/1725/ Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:00:00 EST ISOC-NY#1725 On Thurs. Mar 25 ISOC-NY hosted Prof. Jinyang Li in a talk about the use of distributed systems, and particularly the use of the Kaleidoscope Firefox plug-in, in circumventing censorship. This is part of her ongoing research into "exploiting the real world social relationships among users to improve the security and reliability of open distributed systems." In the video taLk she explains how traditional workarounds like proxies and P2P can easily be discovered and defeated by censors, but how Kaleidoscope - which passes encrypted data through trusted relays - defies such efforts. http://punkcast.com/1719/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1719 A joint effort by the both the Art Law and the IP Law Societies at Cardozo School of Law, this panel set out to consider the implications/possibilities of the Google Books Settlement model as applied to the music industry. Moderated by Prof. Felix Wu, the panel was, on the one hand, Jim Griffin - an ex-Geffen Records executive who is actively engaged in setting up a central clearing house for music royalties - and on the other, Frank Pasquale - a Seton Hall law professor who is an expert in anti-trust and competition policy. Griffin, extending his argument into a future where not just media but substances and objects will also be freely copyable, advocates strongly that the only practical solution for fair remuneration of authors / designers will be carefully implemented levies that are distributed by sophisticated actuarial licensing systems, based on sampling and algorithms, operated by private entities. Pasquale expressed antitrust concerns at allowing any single organization such control over wealth distribution. Griffin notes that Congress has on more than one occasion given antitrust exemptions so that industries may collectively represent themselves for licensing or marketing. Wu wonders how and who will pay. Pasquale notes, notwithstanding health care reform efforts, social trends are moving away from bundling to a la carte media consumption. He is uncertain that such actuarial systems will most effectively foster artistic endeavor. Griffin's response is that only a general solution will allow the freedom of media access that society wants and deserves. There follows a lively Q&A kicked off by this reporter. http://punkcast.com/1689/ Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1689 In Feb. 2007 members of the NYC Council Committee on Technology in Government Committee introduced Resolution 712, calling on the federal government to pass net neutrality legislation, an unlikely prospect at the time. Now, with fresh faces in Washington, the FCC has taken up the cause, establishing the six principles of net neutrality. A new bill H.R. 3458 aka the 'Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009' was introduced in Congress, and is currently before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. For their part, Republicans have come up with two opposing bills. The NYC Resolution has, in recognition of this, been appropriately amended as Res. No. 712-A, and a public hearing was held on November 20 2009 at City Hall. The FCC has made a request for public comment on this matter and the Committee on Technology in Government will draw from the hearing's testimonies to draft a letter that includes citywide input. http://punkcast.com/1717/ Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1717 Tommy James & The Shondells were one of the biggest bands of the 1960's, starting with his breakout hit "Hanky Panky" in 1966 which led to a deal with Roulette Records, Roulette, as is revealed in the book, was an active arm of the Genovese crime family. 'Me, The Mob, and The Music' tells the tale of Tommy and the band's sometimes uneasy but extremely successful relationship with the label. Amongst the blessings was a degree of creative control that would not have been possible at many other, more staid, organizations. This allowed Tommy, unlike many of his contemporaries, to make the jump from pop singles to psychedelic album-oriented rock in the later stages of the decade. In this book launch event Tommy, along with his co-author Martin Fitzpatrick, spent almost an hour answering questions and dropping anecdotes - mentioning in the process that plans are underway to make both a movie and a Broadway play of the story. http://punkcast.com/1710/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1710 Prof. Moglen suggests that rather than be exploited by the social-networking juggernauts people could create their own by running personal social media servers that interface with their friends through p2p networks, thus defying the data miners. Noting that smartphones are increasingly running on free / open source software he challenges the tech community to develop the 'freedom boxes' that will make it happen. http://punkcast.com/1714/ Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1714 Rebecca Smeyne has, over the last few years, become the pre-eminent photographer of the NYC underground live music scene. Her pictures, regularly featured in the Village Voice's print and online versions, have given valuable exposure to many acts. Bands portrayed in this exhibit, a small installation at the Other Music record store, include features the bands These Are Powers, Dark Meat, Pre, Blowfly, DMBQ, Screaming Females, Miss Pussycat, White Mice, Spank Rock, Dan Deacon, Juiceboxxx, the Mae Shi and the Death Set. This is a brief look at the opening, delayed a week by snowstorms. http://punkcast.com/1704/ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1704 On Jan 20, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) , the National Writers Union (NWU), and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the Internet Society's New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) jointly sponsored a workshop to discuss the implications for writers of the proposed Google Books Settlement (GBS), which is the result of a class action brought by the Authors Guild. There is some urgency, as writers only have until Jan 28 2010 to opt out or object. The above organizations all oppose the settlement. http://punkcast.com/1685/ Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1685 As he mentions at one point in this video, I have known Tony Fletcher since he was the 14yr old fanzine author/publisher of Jamming!, a popular UK fanzine. Like me, he moved to NYC in the 80s, and became influential in the local scene as a co-promoter and DJ at the - again popular - long running Communion night at the Limelight. He also kept with his writing, and in the 90s cranked out a number of insightful music books including biographies of Keith Moon, and R.E.M. as well as a guide to the Clash's recordings. He was also, like me, an early adopter of the Internet - a natural progression for DIY publisher - and his iJamming.net was one of the first music-related NYC blogs.. He has now graduated to a rustic idyll upstate and come up with a major opus on the City's musical history "All Hopped Up and Ready to Go': Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77" Thick and dense with exhaustively researched detail and entertaining anecdote -much of it never before documented - the book takes the reader from the flappers through to the birth of punk and hip-hop, In this, his first NYC reading from the book he was joined by Arlene Smith, lead vocalist and composer with the groundbreaking 50s girl-harmony group The Chantels. Arlene gives insight into just how a bunch of uptown catholic schoolgirls became an international style-setting sensation. http://punkcast.com/1679/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1679 This was the second panel discussion complementing the 'Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present' exhibit of rock music photography at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. In this one curator Gail Buckland was joined by veteran photographer Bob Gruen, famous for his iconic pictures of John Lennon, the Sex Pistols, and The Clash, and a younger up-and-comer Jason Borucki. Gail first talked about her criteria and the effort involved in putting together the massive exhibit - the first of its kind at a major museum - and the accompanying book. Then Bob gave us an engaging illustrated tour through his storied career. Jason gave us insight on how it is for an aspiring pro snapper in this day and age. Lastly there was some lively Q&A. The whole piece runs just under an hour. http://punkcast.com/1678/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1678 I was given a heads up on this weeks in advance by Anna from These Are Powers who recently toured in China - Maybe Mars, a musician-run label associated with Beijing underground rock club D22, were setting up a US tour with three of their best acts. I duly put the opening NYC date in my calendar - at a new venue to me The powerHouse Arena in DUMBO (for you non-New Yorkers that's a newly upscale area underneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges on the Brooklyn side). The Arena turned out to be a huge multilevel bookstore-cum-artspace and the show, as well as the first date on the tour, to be a launch party for an exhibit of photographs of the Chinese music scene from a new book - 'Sound Kapital: Beijing's Music Underground' by Matthew Niederhauser. Arriving late I found the place packed, but I was just able to set up in time to get Xiao He's last tune. This piece was a lengthy improv involving electronic looping, acoustic guitar, and Mongolian style throat-singing - all to bewitching effect. Next up were the catchily named Carsick Cars, a young and winsome trio who played just three songs, opening with the liberating 'You Can Listen You Can Talk' and closing with - reportedly a Chinese underground anthem - Zhong Nan Hai - a silly song about a popular cigarette brand that just happens to be named after the seat of Chinese Government. The point being, as I understand it, that being punk is being beyond politics. Lastly came P.K.14, apparently elder statesmen of the movement. Sporting a tight Swedish drummer, and singing in pure mandarin, one could discern a wide mix of influences from pop to punk, to post-punk, to freak-out rock. I've picked two tunes from them - the more melodic 'Eden' and the wild closer 'Some Surprises Happen Too Soon'. http://punkcast.com/1676/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1676 The Internet Society - New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) was happy and interested to co-sponsor, with the Intellectual Property Law Society, a lunchtime lecture at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law on Monday Nov 2 2009. Eben Moglen, Chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center, spoke on the topic - "Patent Law at a Crossroads: Bilski and Beyond". Much of the rise of software patents is based on the 1998 Federal Circuit State Street decision upholding a 1993 patent on a financial method. An "invention" was deemed patentable if it involved some practical application and "it produces a useful, concrete and tangible result." In In re Bilski and Warsaw - mentioned in the title of the talk - United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit , in a Nov 2008 decision, upheld an earlier court that rejected the appellant's demand that it's method of trading weather risk be awarded a patent, folllowing rejection by the USPTO in 2006. The USPTO opined that the method was an abstract idea "and solves a purely mathematical problem without any limitation to a practical application, therefore, the invention is not directed to the technological arts." In the appeal both ACLU and Red Hat filed amicus briefs arguing that decision was important because it could be applied to algorithms, which are at the heart of many software patents. In the light of this the court specifically stated that its decision DID NOT apply to software patents, but just to some business methods. However, the useful-concrete-tangible test was jettisoned. According to the Bilski opinion, the "'useful, concrete and tangible result inquiry' is inadequate," and the portions of the State Street decision relying on this inquiry are no longer of any effect under US patent law. The case has been taken up by the Supreme Court, and oral arguments will be heard on Nov 9 2009. If the decision stands, the rug has been pulled out from under many existing patents, and since the "technological" limitation posited in Bilski is a somewhat nebulous concept, many more are on dubious ground. Eben Moglen expects that, whatever the outcome, major patent reform will soon be on the Congressional agenda. http://punkcast.com/1671/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1671 ISOC-NY was pleased to co-sponsor, with the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. NY Chapter, a luncheon program on Oct 22 2009. The speaker was David Post, author of In Search of Jeffersons Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace. The Internet has become the dominant distribution channel for music, film, images, and text, but it is far beyond any technology the founders of this country even dreamed of -- and we never seemed prepared for the next development. What does the Internet's history -- and history in general -- tell us about where the Internet may be headed and what that will mean for copyright? Prof. Post takes a fresh look at the Internet, including why Thomas Jefferson had a moose shipped to him in Paris while he was serving as US minister to France -- and why we should care. . http://punkcast.com/1666/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1666 The Intellectual Property Law Society at Cardozo School of Law kicked off its annual program by inviting former faculty member William F. Patry, now Senior Copyright Counsel at Google, to give a lunchtime talk based on his new book - 'Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars' (Oxford University Press). Patry is one of the most prolific writers around on the copyright topic having authored the 7-volume "Patry on Copyright" - a definitive work. In the new book he argues that copyright is a utilitarian government program - not a property or moral right. As a government program, copyright must be regulated and held accountable to ensure it is effectively serving its public purpose. The talk was descriptive rather than prescriptive but served to delineate anomalous areas deserving of fixes. Patry also professed a fondness for the simpler schemas of the 1909 act. http://punkcast.com/1670/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1670 Right in the heart of the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon, sandwiched inbetween "So You Still Want A Major Label Record Deal? Here's The Truth" and "Timeless Miles: 1959 - A Pivotal Year In Music" there was a 'CMJ Special Event' - a talk by Andrew W.K. Andrew had no real message for the large auditorium packed with attendees, not all of whom had any clue who he was, beyond go for it and enjoy yourself. He set the tone by getting into a serious fight with a chair that the production crew had thoughtfully provided. He was kinder however when it came to fielding the audience's questions.which were all dealt with with polite aplomb. The session finished when he moved to the piano to ask a musical riddle on behalf of sponsor Cakewalk, and then performed 'Party Hard' with a couple of lookalikes from the crowd. Below is the whole thing, uncut. http://punkcast.com/1672/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1672 While many people go nuts during the annual CMJ Music Marathon in NYC - when 1000 or so bands play over three or four days - in recent years I have found myself becoming super-relaxed. There is no real need to cover the shows as there will be no shortage of cameras - in fact this is the one time when everyone else does what I, and just a few others, do the rest of the year. But always, somewhere in the morass, one can perceive a show that, while an absolute jewel - with a killer line-up , will nevertheless escape the attention of the credentialed masses. This was that show for 2009 - a friday afternoon party put together by Yoko Sawai. Yoko runs a specialty label Heartfast that puts out limited edition combination picture-single/dvd releases. Included in her roster are Fake Male Voice, which is Tunde Adebimpe from TV On The Radio, The Liars, Of Montreal, and Apples In Stereo. Representing the label at her CMJ show were Fake Male Voice, in their second ever appearance, and Jamie Huggins of Of Montreal who debuted his new band James Husband. James's Elephant 6 colleagues The Ladybug Transistor were somehow convinced to also appear. Drawing on her Japanese connections Yoko scored a coup by getting Tokyo's Mi-Gu. led by drummer Yuko Araki, in their second ever US performance. Yuko, along with bandmate Hirotaka 'Shimmy' Shimizu, is in the newly reformed Plastic Ono Band, so they brought down fellow members Sean Lennon and Yuka Honda to guest. Opening up the show was Yoko's own new band Hard Nips - an all-girl outfit that has already been causing a stir in Brooklyn, especially with their recent appearance at the Williamsburg Fashion Weekend. They got the whole thing started with a great deal of energy. I've picked the songs 'Children Of Satan' and the harmony-laden 'Blackhole Rainbow' as clips. James Husband played a number of tunes off their new record 'A parallax I' - I've picked the trippy 'Elephant Alibi'. The release includes a CD of cover versions and there was indeed one in the set - Buffalo Springfield's 'Out of My Mind'. The Ladybug Transistor took the opportunity to try out a couple of new tunes, such as 'Into The Strait'. 'I'm Not Mad Enough' is from their most recent album 'Can't Wait Another Day' . A welcome feature of their set was the spirited Xylophone playing of Gabe Saucedo. Then came the much anticipated Mi-Gu. Yuko anchors with super-solid drumming while Shimmy shimmers on guitar. The tunes are playful and reflective until Sean and Yuka join. A cover of Funkadelic's 'Maggot Brain' sees Sean unleash as awesome a guitar solo as one might ever experience before he switches to bass and Shimmy lets loose on echoey slide guitar. Wow! And we still got one more tune - 'From Brain'. If this segment of the group is anything to judge by the Plastic Ono Band must be astonishing! Finally it came to Fake Male Voice to close the show - TVOTR drummer Gerard Smith programmed beats and played minimal keyboard themes as Tunde, in his usual fashion, improvised and electronically twisted his vocals. Unlike other occasions I actually managed to get titles out of Tunde - the two clips are 'Another Drummige' and 'Jupiter's Tongue'. Five amazing bands and it still wasn't 7pm as the happy crowd staggered out on the street. And yes, mine was just about the only camera there. http://punkcast.com/1659/ Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1659 In recent months whilst shooting RUCMA jazz and innovative music events I have not been the only one capturing the images of the performers - another regular attendee has been Alan M. Bolle, an artist who sketches/paints the musicians on the fly. When Alan recently opened an exhibit - 'Drawing From Live Events' at the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music in Brooklyn - he invited me to come down with the camera. Not only was I able to get a closer look at his paintings but also actually capture the artist himself in action as he portrayed musician Roy Campbell. http://punkcast.com/1664/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1664 This post OneWebDay event was held on a Saturday in a library in Forest Hills, Queens - remarkably easy to reach via the F express train - and on a pleasantly mild day. Speaker Ali Emami turned out to be more of a facebook enthusiast than twitter, but was emphatic about how 1) mass personal communication drove the election protests, 2) the ability to perceive global awareness/support sustained the protesters, and that 3) new methods of networking that are not at the mercy of government monitoring/disruption are needed. He was fascinated when the possibility of white space mesh networking was mentioned. In one amusing anecdote he told of a call from his mother in Tehran insisting he set up a proxy for her on his laptop. http://punkcast.com/80/ Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#80 A recent move of my studio turned up this tape. I've numbered it #80 as it was a spare number but in truth it should be something like Punkcast#6.5. It was September 1998, I had just purchased the trusty trv900 which I still use to shoot shows and was eager to take it out for a test run. Across the hall from my studio were the offices of the TaxiTalk newspaper - a hotbed of militancy as the cabbies were just then staging citywide protests for better working conditions. Mayor Giuliani had branded them terrorists after they had threatened to gum up the streets with striking taxis. When the TaxiTalk guys, who had a cable tv show, asked me if I would like to go take a shot at some related street theater I jumped at the chance. Every year since 1971 The Theater For The New City, based in the East Village, has staged a summer Street Theater Tour which takes a production and performs it in parks and other public places throughout the five boroughs. In 1998 it was 'Taxi! Taxi! or The Equality Of Life'. The title referred to a Giuliani campaign to clean up the city using the 'broken windows' theory that if you busted all the petty crime the larger affairs would follow. He had, while ignoring the needs of many struggling social programs, also built himself a highly expensive - and as it later turned out highly vulnerable - control bunker downtown from which to manage the city during terrorist attacks such as those threatened by the cabbies. Meanwhile, down in DC, the Clinton administration was totally bogged down in the Lewinsky scandal, at the mercy of revelations from her confidante Linda Tripp. The only light for beleaguered city dwellers was the unprecedented success of the New York Yankees who were winning World Series like there was no tomorrow, All this, and more, was portrayed in this riotous production, in which a gruff rock and roll angel comes back to earth to help out a distressed family. http://punkcast.com/1644/ Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1644 Nothing to do with the Nickolodeon cartoon band of the same name, my first encounter with The Beets was a couple of years back when they hopped on the tail end of Todd P's Acoustic BBQ. I seem to remember there was a girl involved. They gamely bashed out a couple skifflish tunes with happily yelled lyrics, but the whole thing was so impromptu that one wondered if they really were a band. Come a couple of years later and they, having been feted by L Magazine as one of '<a href=http://www.thelmagazine.com/newyork/the-beets/Content?oid=1151502>8 NYC bands you need to hear</a>', are about to set off on a nationwide tour with The Vivian Girls. On this show in particular, they had a prime spot opening for teen heartthrobs The Virgins. I was pleased to see that it was all as ramshackle as ever. The two songs I've picked are the goth-baiting 'Devil' and the angst lament 'Why Should I Live If I Can't Fit'. http://punkcast.com/1640/ Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1640 I offered to shoot Care Bears On Fire a year or so back but was rebuffed as they were just introducing a new bass player. So I bided my time. In 2009 they, with an even newer bass player, went out on a major tour, prestigious West Coast venues like the Viper Room, festivals like Bamboozle and Lollapalooza, and back. When a 'secret' show at Cake Shop was announced - I was there, along with a horde of happy kids. The girls, needless to say, rocked out. I've picked two songs from the middle of the set 'Boy Song #1' and 'Only Know By Name'. http://punkcast.com/1639/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1639 The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) have made a request for proposals to develop the historic Admiral's Row site. A 40,000 sq.ft. supermarket, plus further industrial space, is envisaged. The federal government, who are yet to hand over the site to the city, have specified that at least two of the historic buildings must be preserved. While the local community is certainly needs a market, the plan calls for a 'regional' destination with the consequent parking etc. Preservationists maintain that there is plenty of room for the supermarket and renovations of the entire row of 8 buildings, currently dilapidated after years of neglect, and that cost would not be significant in an overall deveopment. On Aug 11 2009 a pre-submission meeting held at the Navy Yard gave both developers and preservationists their first chance to get a close look at the site. The first clip is that meeting. In the second, the camera accompanies Scott Witter of Brooklyn's Other Museum of Brooklyn (B.O.M.B.) as he tours the site. http://punkcast.com/1615/ Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1615 This was a public hearing of New York City Council Committee on Technology in Government to discuss open data standards for city agencies, a new bill #991-2009 having been introduced to establish same in an effort to increase government transparency and access to public data. Beyond the 'good government' benefits of the legislation, the bill is intended to unlock City data to enable web developers and entrepreneurs to interact with City government in new and unforeseen ways. However, on the morning of the hearing Mayor Bloomberg pre-empted the bill by announcing that the City would make available 80 data sets and run a competition 'Big Apps' for the best application. While welcoming the Mayor's initiative, it was apparent that the Committee Chair Gale Brewer, and just about every witness, considered it ultimately insufficient. http://punkcast.com/1604/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1604 There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when, in 2006, Le Tigre announced they were going on hiatus. As Kathleen retreated to domestic life and teaching, Johanna to running a hair salon, it was left to JD Samson to carry the flag. Which she did, first going out on the road with Peaches, and then via numerous DJ appearances. JD eventually recruited Johanna to join her as a DJ, and they went on more gigs and some remix work under the name MEN. Eventually MEN, assisted by Emily Roysdon, developed their own material. JD also had another side project - a band called Hirsute, with Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Michael O'Brien. So with Johanna busy having a baby it made sense to combine the two and tour with the band playing the MEN songs. After cutting a trail back and forth across Europe in early 2009 the long-awaited USA tour kicked off with this NYC show - and it was a corker! Held in the New Museum's shiny white theater, it was part of that establishment's new triennial exhibit 'The Generational' dedicated to young artists - this first edition being called 'Younger Than Jesus'. 50 artists have been selected from a shortlist of 500 to represent today's youth - included in their ranks not only MEN's own Emily Roysdon, but also Brendan Fowler aka BARR. The New Museum has also a program of somewhat wilder than usual events - 'Get Weird' - running the third Thursday of each month. When the two concepts collided we got this show - MEN & BARR. Sold right out, naturally. Brendan, as is his habit, spent almost twice as much time talking as actually doing his songs, themselves meta to the extreme. He played with the crowd's sensibilities by measuring the mirthfulness of such conflicting concepts as Wolf Eyes and personal studios. I've included his first - '2nd Single' - and last - 'All For Updated' - songs. There was a large white screen set up in front of MEN's equipment, and a couple of tall ladders at the sides. Paint trays appeared and paint was poured in to them. There was then a lengthy delay as New Museum people became concerned about the possibilties of major sloppage over their pristine facility. Much plastic sheeting was procured and wrapped round everything in proximity. The show commenced with a prolog in which seeminly random members of the crowd read, call and response style, from a script that, we would discover, contained many of the themes of the songs to come. Then, as a heavy beat throbbed, the painters, using brushes on long poles, painted a house on the screen, including a big whiskered cat lounging on a balcony. With a final flourish, they used knives, again on poles, to cut out the door and windows, through which we could see the band as they kicked into the first number.. The Le Tigre fans were not disappointed as MEN's music is not only rousingly upbeat electro-rock, but, if anything, more feminist, more gender-liberating, than could be imagined. They could only wow as JD's girlfriend - the visibly pregnant Sia - joined in on the anthemic 'Credit Card Babies' with its twin motifs - Fuck Your Best - Fuck Your Friends - urging procreation! Personally I loved the subtle reggae rhythm of 'Lifes Half Price' featuring MC Emily Roysdon. I was also impressed all the way thru by the cool proficiency of the two guitarists - Ginger's funky arpeggios contrasting with Michael's power chords - which can be seen/heard particularly on the third song I've picked - 'Be Like This'. http://punkcast.com/1591/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1591 For the 14th Session at Santa's Spencer Sweeney brought in a duo of duos.First, we had Light Asylum featuring Shannon Funchess. Shannon is mostly known as a sometime member of Telepathe, and can be heard all over that band's recent 'Dance Mother' release. She has also toured the world singing with !!!. She's currently working on a record of her own with Gerard from TVOTR, but on this night she was accompanied by Bruno Coviello on keys. As well as vocalizing Shannon, tattoed the syndrums. The overall effect was dark and mezmerizing as the atmospheric clip 'Shallow Tears' attests.\n\nSecondly we had duelling drummers Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs) and Tim Dewit (Gang Gang Dance). They gave us three solid improv pieces, of which the latter two are below. http://punkcast.com/1595/ Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1595 Ann Arbor group Destroy All Monsters are probably best known for their punk rock edition that came about in 1977 and included both Ron Asheton of the Stooges and Michael Davis of the MC5. Fronted by charismatic artist Niagara, they represented the Motor City - as much as Dead Boys did Cleveland, The Ramones NYC, or The Avengers San Francisco - in the front lines of hard rockin' punk. However, the origins of the band in 1973 were as an 'anti-rock' collective that were anything but. playing their first gig at a comic book convention - where they were asked to leave after ten minutes - using prepared guitars, a drum machine, tape loops, and various other instruments to create a collage of "dystopian pychotronic" noise. The media maelstrom thus commenced didn't restrict itself to music but, over the years that followed, engaged all forms of hippie and trash subculture, much published in a eponymous periodical. After the punk band expired around 1985 the group returned to it's experimental culture-mashing roots and continues to this day. In 1995 Thurston Moore put out a 3-CD comp and, with the recent rise of noise-culture, these other phases of the band's existence have come to be recognized as seminal and pioneering. The new 'Hungry for Death' exhibit, at the Printed Matter bookstore in NYC, is about those same early and late phases, and culls material widely from the collective's archive, not only of their own work, but of the ephemera that inspired them. The video is of John Sinclair speaking, and C.Spencer Yeh playing, at the exhibit's opening. http://punkcast.com/1589/ Tue, 26 May 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1589 RE:NEW RE:PLAY is a residency series, curated by Travis Chamberlain, at the New Museum in NYC. In May 2009 the resident artist Nick Hallett is presenting a four-part series VOICE & LIGHT SYSTEMS "connecting the human voice to multimedia ritual". The third - Whispering Exercises - was a special concert version of a multimedia opera that he is developing with the video artist Shana Moulton to be presented at The Kitchen in NYC in 2010. The first clip is the whole piece. The second is a short excerpt - Pop Song - which features Katie Eastburn (of Young People) on lead vocal. http://punkcast.com/1586/ Sun, 24 May 2009 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1586 The Internet Society's New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) welcomed David Bollier to speak at NYU on May 18 2009. David talked about the themes of his new book, Viral Spiral: How the Commoners Built a Digital Republic of Their Own (New Press). The book is the first comprehensive history of the free culture movement and sharing economy that is empowering ordinary people, disrupting markets and changing politics and culture. Bollier will talk about the rise of free and open source software, Creative Commons licenses, the new forms of non-market creativity (Wikipedia, blogs, remix music, videos) as well as fascinating innovations in open science, open education and open business models. http://punkcast.com/1552/ Tue, 19 May 2009 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1522 Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it. The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright -- to promote progress, for the benefit of the public -- then we must make changes in the other direction. http://punkcast.com/1574/ Tue, 5 May 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1574 On Julia Haltigan's earlier appearances on PUNKCAST - <a href="http://punkcast.com/529/">#529</a> and <a href="http://punkcast.com/1136">#1136</a> - I have noted her dearth of recorded output. That shortage has now been eased with the release of two full length CDs "When the Glow Starts to Go..." (2007), and the new "Julia Haltigan & The Hooligans". This show was the release party for the latter, held in the restricted but merry confines of the National Underground on NYC's Lower East Side. The set included a couple of covers, a good mix of tunes from both albums, and also a couple of new songs, such as the first one below, the ballad "But Love Me". "Lost On A Salty Sea" is from the new record, while "I Don't Want To Fall In Love", which served as an encore, is a popular favourite from the first record. http://punkcast.com/1566/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1566 Greetings To One and All, Good Vibes Promotions presents Reuben Celebration Exellency of Dignity, Exellency of Power Roots Steppers DubDance Feat. Legendary Studio One Orthodox Singer Judah Eskender Tafari Roots and Dubwise Selections BY Veteran Selector & Producer Digital English & Black Redemption Sounds Of Praises http://punkcast.com/1562/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1562 After a lengthy time off the road making their 3rd album "It's Blitz" our old pals launched their 2009 campaign with a last-minute warm-up show for friends and family at Santos Party House on Easter Sunday/Passover. Along with hot new songs like the new single 'Zero' the band's set included a cover of The Cramps' 'Human Fly' - an obvious tribute to the recently departed Lux Interior. The clip I give you here - 'Poor Song' - was the last word before the band set off to conquer the planet.. I also include the last song ' Revelations' from openers, and Zinner protogés, Freshkills. http://punkcast.com/1217/ Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1217 I'm not going to go into the long and involved history of Certain General (see their <a href="http://www.myspace.com/certaingeneral">MySpace</a>) . Suffice it to say that they were a key aspect in the zeitgeist of NYC in the early 80s, yet, like the proverbial prophet, are held in higher esteem in Europe than in their hometown. The house band at Danceteria, an original line up reformed earlier this decade for a couple of shows including the 20 year re-union for the denizens of that illustrious club. This led to some major retrospective releases and some new material and ultimately, in 2007, a new UK album 'Invisible New York'. A band was got together to play a couple of shows - NYC & Philly - to mark its release. For the occasion they recruited a new drummer and keyboard player to join the nucleus of guitarist Phil Gammage and vocalist Parker Dulany, who picked up the bass. The NYC show took place in what must be the oldest venue in NYC - the upstairs of a strip club in a building that dates back to 1804 and was once owned by Alexander Hamilton. The key elements of the CG sound are the almost spaghetti-ish drama of Gammage's lead lines, Dulany's apocalyptic croon, set on a bed of pulsing punk-funk. Here the drums were a bit more rockish, particularly during the early part of the set when the soundman had the kick turned up to 11, with the keys offering a lush cushion. I've picked 3 tunes: 'Nowhere' is a popular favourite from the early days, while both 'Young for the Sun' and 'Susie's Waiting' date from their 'Cabin Fever' release on French label Barclay in 1988. http://punkcast.com/1490/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1490 The Secret Orchestra is a new project from bassist and composer Clif Jackson appeared as part of the RUCMA Performance Series in the cozy confines of the 5C Cultural Cafe in the far East Village. The group also included Yuko Fujiyama on piano and David Gould on percussion. The program included improvisation and several Jackson compositions the highlight of which was the spooky 'Creeper' but Ms. Fujiyama contributed her own peculiar piece 'Kurikaesu' (translate: Repetition) based on the words of a Japanese poet whose name escaped me. http://punkcast.com/1495/ Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1495 Growing, originally from Olympia WA, but for some years based in Brooklyn, are living up to their name. Not only is their music evolving, from ambient soundscape to purposeful rhythms, but also since signing to The Social Registry in 2007. 2008 saw an outflow of recordings, including a new album 'All The Way'. Lastly, well evident at this show to crown the year, is the most noticeable growth-spurt - the addition of a new member in the person of Sadie Laska, who we have seen before playing with Gang Gang's Lizzi Bougatsos in I.U.D (on PUNKCAST#1145). A good crowd showed up to see the band headline at Santos and were rewarded with a healthy chunk of new material. I've picked a couple of the more upbeat pieces 'Innit' and 'Party Nintendo'. http://punkcast.com/1486/ Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1486 This was the second of two NYC shows the weekend after Thamksgiving. The Marnie Stern/Gang Gang Dance tour of Fall 2008 had confused, confounded, and amazed concertgoers from coast-to-coast in the latter days of the year. Primed by two of the strongest indie-albums of the year - Marnie's intense and radical sophomore effort 'This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That' - and Gang Gang's 4th, and palatable, 'Saint Dymphna' many new fans and others ventured out to get the full-on alternative experience. Here in NYC, of course, we are a bit more used to this sort of thing, but nevertheless when Marnie goes all out, like as one reviewer has likened to "Eddie Van Halen playing lead for Animal Collective" jaws were still dropping, particularly now that - rather than AC - she has the power duo of of Mark Shippy of the recently defunct US Maple and ex-Parts & Labor-er Jim Sykes backing her up. Here are two songs - the metallesque 'Crippled Jazzer' and the deerhoofian 'Grapefruit'. Gang Gang, as mentioned, are taking less evasive action than in the past, and put on a playful show that had the crowd bouncing along merrily, particularly on the new hit 'House Jam' but also on more moody pieces such as the engaging 'Crystals.'. Exotic opener - just for this night - was the reformed 90's Danish/German hybrid 18th Dye, famous for their Albini produced opus 'Tribute To A Bus', here are 'Air' and, a new song, 'Amorines'. http://punkcast.com/1479/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1479 A friend of mine who travels widely recently reported to me that recently, upon arriving in exotic destinations, the most frequent question asked by the locals, upon hearing he is from NYC, is does he know Santos' Party House? In just a few months this venue has already become a landmark, and it's no surprise because it, like it's famous 80s precedents like Danceteria, is a location where uniquely the cultures of dance, rock, and art all interesect in the name of hedonism. For instance, what other top dance club on the planet would host the inspired weirdness of No Neck Blues Band on a prime night, and with a crowd happily jiving along? NYC is blessed! Getting us in the mood were Electroputas as they climaxed their own set with a lengthy piece of free improv. http://punkcast.com/1487/ Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1487 Guitarist Brad Farberman rounded up the unusual suspects for a RUCMA Monday night performance at the Yippie Cafe. Notable was the rare presence of clarinettist David Rothenburg - known for his extra-ordinary duets with animals - and also an appearance, albeit brief, of saxophonist Darius Jones. The line up: David Rothenberg - clarinets; Darius Jones - alto saxophone; Dave Sewelson - bari sax; Brad Farberman - guitar; Andrew Drury - drums http://punkcast.com/1455/ Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1455 Amongst NYC's leading punk luminaries is Jack Rabid - founder, editor, and major contributor to the Big Takeover fanzine. What is not so well known is that Jack is also an accomplished musician, drumming in the 80's with a punk band 'Even Worse', then in the early 90's with shogaze outfit Springhouse, and then later on with the Last Burning Embers. The most successful of these, by a fair margin, was Springhouse. Formed in 1988 they released 2 albums and toured widely over the next 5 years or so. Just like their BritPop-founding touring mates they probably would have gone on to major stardom if they'd stuck at it through thick and thin. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, they all had better things to do - Jack his journalism, singer/guitarist Mitch Friedland his vocation as a New York City Paramedic, and particularly bassist/producer Larry Heinemann as Musical Director to the Blue Man Group, amongst others. In 1998 they started work on a 3rd album and, after just 10 years, including a brief reformation to open for the Chamelons in 2002, 'From Now To OK' was finally released in 2008. A brief east coast tour was arranged to celebrate, going out with the Interpol/ Swervedriver offshoot duo Magnetic Morning. Despite the NYC date being scheduled during the midst of CMJ 2008 I made it my business to be there - well I did arrive four songs or so into the set. Larry it turned out had to be in Europe with the BMG, so his place was taken by Jack's Burning Ember bandmate Dave Bourakas. The first song here 'Moving Van' is possibly the instant hit from the new album, while the second semi auto-biographical 'Alley Park' is from 1993's 'Postcards from the Attic'. Finally 'Eskimo', on which we hear Jack's raspy vocals, is one of their earliest songs - the title track from a 1990 EP. http://punkcast.com/1477/ Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1477 The sixth lecture in Evan Korth's NYU Computers and Society course featured Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University. His topic, the subject of his recent book, was "Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy.<br/><br/>"The content industry has convinced industry in general that extremism in copyright regulation is good for business and economic growth. In this talk, Professor Lessig describes the creative and profitable future that culture and industry could realize, if only we gave up IP extremism. http://punkcast.com/1451/ Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1451 On October 17 2008 Council Member Gale A. Brewer (D-Manhattan), Chair of the NYC Council's Technology in Government Committee, held a hearing regarding the City's interest for a unique .nyc Top Level Domain (TLD). As we maybe familiar (from his earlier presentation) Tom Lowenhaupt has for some years been spearheading a local community-based effort - 'Connecting .nyc' - to acquire the .nyc TLD on behalf of the city. At the ICANN meeting in Paris in July the road was cleared for a new round of applications starting early in 2009. Other cities such as Paris and Berlin are also actively pursuing TLDs. There was still some uncertainty as to cost, and also to procedure, particularly if there were more than one applicant. While in general new TLDs were to go to the highest bidder, ICANN let it be known that, in the case of municipal applications, preference would be given to applicants approved by the local authorities. Thus Council Member Brewer sponsored Resolution 1495-2008 that urged ICANN to approve such an application, and this hearing was held where the applicants, and the public, could comment. Tom gave his presentation, with comments from Hannah Kopelman his resident advisor, and Michael Palage, his ICANN advisor. Council Member Bill DeBlasio sharply questioned the need for any external body to run the domain - rather then the City itself. Dr. Frans Verhagen made brief comments on the sustainability benefits of a TLD. Then came Paul Garrin of name.space. Paul is something of a namespace renegade, attempting in the late 90's to set up a rival to the established domain name system with many TLDs. He sued ICANN's predecessor Network Solutions for access to the root. His proposals for just under 500 new TLDs were also, despite expert arguments, since generally accepted, deemed technically impractical. Nethertheless He won his case on appeal but NetSol were granted immunity as government contractors. Control of the domain system was soon transferred to ICANN. In ICANN's first round of TLD expansion in 2000 he applied for many domains including .nyc, paying a $50K application fee. The application was not successful but, as far as can be ascertained, is still pending. He considers name.space's right to operate a .nyc TLD is well established. His plans are to operate the TLD for the city's benefit and is a supporter of Tom Lowenhaupt's ideas on community management. The next panel brought up representatives of Names@Work. Antony Van Gouvering talked of the company's professional experience starting/managing/selling country code TLDs. The company applied for a .nyc tld in 2000 but withdrew for lack of funding. Antony listed current cities interested in TLDs as London, Paris, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, Hamburg, Munich, Toronto, Tokyo, Barcelona, and Portland. He noted the failures of several previously established TLDs which he ascribed mostly to a lack of marketing. He suggests that rather than a community run TLD that a 'community partner' be the recipient of a portion of the profits from a commercial enterprise, with some second-level domains reserved for community use. He was quite prepared to work with Tom on community aspects. Davidson Goldin stressed the company's ability to address prectical aspects of domain management and all of the city council's concerns. Lastly Jack Eichenbaum of GISMO spoke about geographic integration http://punkcast.com/1431/ Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1431 OneWebDay - a global annual event that celebrates,and draws attention to threats to, the internet - is held every September 22. In 2008 this was a Monday - a breezy pleasant day as we gathered in NYC's Washington Sq.Park, The many illustrious speakers had to compete with occasional rumbles from nearby workers reconstructing the fountain. The OneWebDay theme this year was 'Democracy and Participation'. http://punkcast.com/1176/ Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1176 The Assault, a spunky girl band from Brooklyn , took their own advice in 2006 and quit ther jobs and went on tour - from sea to shining sea - and back again.. They had many adventures on their travels, including, in Memphis Tennessee, encountering manic post-skronk rockers Antique Curtains. So when that outfit themselves went out on the road it was ordained that favors would be returned - as it happens on the auspicious date of 7/7/07 - at NYC's Cake Shop. a rousing rounding out to the evening was hot new crew Love or Perish which included powerful drummer Molly Neuman (ex-Bratmobile) and the remarkable Fon-Lin on bass - both no longer with the band so a rare sight!! Clips here are Antique Curtains: 'Fix Me Jesus I'm Dieing' and 'Surviving The Nuge'; The Assault: 'The OC' and 'Quit Your Job (& Go On Tour); and Love Or Perish: 'Walls' and 'What Do You Want'. http://punkcast.com/1471/ Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1471 The last time we saw Jimmy G. and Murphy's Law on Punkcast was way back in '99 on lucky <a href="http://punkcast.com/13">#13</a>, They are still going strong, on the umpteenth line-up. With mainstay venues, such as CBGB, Coney Island High, and The Continental, now history the band has found a sympatico new Manhattan home in the hedonistic confines of Santos' Party House. This was the venue's inititiation with the annual Halloween show renamed Humpday since it was two days early, and a worknight - not to say that Jimmy didn't halt the show midway to call in sick for the next morning. The clips are the ever popular 'Quest for Herb' - retitled 'Quest for Fun' for the occasion, and the epic 'Ska Song / Skinhead Girl' - during which your cameraman endured a liberal dosing of Jagermeister. http://punkcast.com/1204/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1204 This is the gig that will not die! I tried to bury the video, since I screwed up on recording room audio, and the camera I was using decided to go on the fritz with audio dropouts. What's more I forgot to bring a camera light to a show which was much performed in darkness.. But guitarist OJ steadily campaigned for it to be given life. He eventually produced his own room audio, but that was still an unholy distorted racket. Wheh he came round to review the footage 6 months or so after the show the hard drive it was on suddenly crapped out in the middle of the session... Nevertheless, through data recovery wizardry, and a lot of audio manipulation, I managed to pull out a dvd for the band. Only then to be subjected to repeated request to YouTube some of the results, requests which I no longer can deny. As you will see the show - a party for Useless Magazine just a year ago at the ultra-cool Chelsea gallery Gavin Brown Passerby - commenced with an arcane ritual of zombie awakening using an eel, before descending into the absolute glamourous chaos for which this band is notorious. http://punkcast.com/1394/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1394 Diamond Consultants was hired by the New York City Economic Development Corporation to determine the breadth of the digital divide in New York City and develop programs and initiatives to provide greater digital inclusion for all residents. Chris O'Brien, a Partner in Diamond's Public Sector practice, detailed Diamond's findings - and its recommendations for the City's next steps - to the NYC Broadband Advisory Committee at City Hall on July 30 2008. Afterwards members of the Committee and the public made comments. The whole piece runs 1hr 32mins. http://punkcast.com/1382/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1382 A few weeks back a show by a reformed Teenage Jesus & The Jerks launched with a bang Thurston Moore and Byron Coley's new book 'No Wave:Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980'. But this was a far more genteel affair at the McNally Robinson bookstore in Soho where Thurston was joined by David Browne, who himself has a new book out - a biography of Sonic Youth - 'Goodbye 20th Century', for a talk/signing session. Thurston genially fielded questions from David and the crowd on his experiences upon moving to NYC in the late 70s, his (at first reluctant) adoption of the No Wave scene, and the foundation of Sonic Youth. The whole piece runs 1hr 12mins. http://punkcast.com/1373/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1373 Back in PUNKCAST#1190 last August, we saw Aaron Friedman talking about his ambitious plans for 2008's Make Music NY, a local version of an international festival that takes music to the streets. The reality surely met his expectations with over 800 bands playing around the city on the longest day of the year. Of particular interest to us, naturally, was the scheme to turn Governors Island, a recently mostly de-commissioned military base in New York Harbor, into 'Punk Island' with 13 stages and over 100 punk bands. It was promised that bands would also be playing on the ferries to the island. This, in fact, indeed was a little over-ambitious and the reality was 8 stages and maybe 60-odd bands - still an impressive achievement. It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too humid. As I, after having had my bag searched for contraband, tooled over on the ferry around 2pm I noticed that, along with the punks, there were a good quantity of very normal looking visitors. Some were clutching flyers for 'Army Heritage Weekend' which apparently, in a classic example of double-booking, was also taking place. Arriving on the island I asked one of the many blue-shirted stewards "Where the punk at?". All over was the reply. So I wandered off to the left. Coming over a slight rise I heard an amplified invocation "Jah Rastafari!" so I headed in its direction to find Buddha Heroes, from Beacon NY, just setting up as their audience lolled under a convenient tree. While technical problems were sorted out the band jammed on an easy reggae beat that gave me high hopes. However as soon as they went into proper action their songs were of that modern harmony/emo style that I find hard to relate to, so I wandered off in search of more authentic material. After a fairly lengthy stroll along the waterfront I rounded a corner just in time to find exactly what I was looking for - full-on classic style NYHC in the form of Olde York. Great energy and warm-hearted lyrics kept me shooting for seven songs. Moving on, after a few more minutes, I discovered Jersey punk folkie Nathan Carpenter delivering forth from a bungalow porch. As he went into his second song a clock bell chimed in time causing a loud laugh from his audience. Satisfied with that as a clip, I moved on. By this time I was becoming highly amused by the incongruities of the scene - the crisp ordered environment, the gaggles of scruffy noisemaking punks, and the ubiquitous stewards and lounging cops. By this time I had reached the back end of the publically accessible area and took a right on the road that divides the island in two. Here I found, nestling in the shade under the wing of a large building, the NYC Punk crew in full effect. As I reached Status Quo No Show (SQNS) were just finishing. As part of their act the singer had shaved his head while performing. As I waited for the next band to set up I chatted with Punk Rock Val who explained to me there was a main stage on the other side of the building. She told me it was running late as, as one might expect, there had been a conflict with the Military event. Some officer had appeared and ordered all the punks off the stage and the a military brass band had played for VERY LONG TIME while the punk bands kicked their heels. I shot 3 songs of the next band up - Straphangers - before heading off to see for myself. Before I could get the cam going - partly because the soundguy gave me grief over plugging in without the band's ok - the band on stage finished their set. Had to laugh when I found they were called Copyright Chaos. They sounded good and had a large and healthy pit going. I was sorry to have missed them. Informed that the next three bands would be The Choke, Kilslug, and Reagan Youth I decided to stick with it. Supposedly many of the other stages would be packing up already with a ferry-imposed curfew just hours away. Many of the punks rested after their exertions while The Choke, who are more garage-rock, played, however one could sense that the sight of bombshell singer Cameron definitely brightened the day for the stewards and members of NY's Finest stuck there on duty. Despite the total ban on booze on the island 80's Boston sludge-rockers Kilslug seemed well-fueled (later drummer Big Daddy would tell me that they'd killed bottles of corn liquor and JD prior). Singer Larry Lifeless was in good spirits, even greeting the cops at one point, and restricted his aggro to merely bashing a Santa Claus model on occasion. They were joined by Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt on guitar. Finally, as time was running out, we got to headliner Reagan Youth. To some, any version of RY without late singer Dave Insurgent is sacrilege, but the crowd didn't care as they piled on each other to old favorites like "I Hate Hate" and sieg-heiled merrily to "Reagan Youth" before the plug was pulled. Reflecting later, it seemed that the city's mode of castrating the threat of massed punks on the street by 1) enforcing a booze etc checkpoint via the ferry and isolation from bodegas, and moreover 2) dividing them up into tiny groups, had been highly effective, but it seems just about everyone was happy with the event and it will be repeated next year, http://punkcast.com/1379/ Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1379 It's been 5 years since we last saw Viva L'American Death Ray Music in PUNKCAST#284. Since then they have become quite popular in Europe, and released several albums. They've also taken to wearing red boiler suits and funny hats and, occasionally, playing dub music. Here we see them, having just returned from another Euro-jaunt, appropriately booked into Cake Shop on America's birthday, and a day after a US company announced it is ready to build a microwave ray gun able to beam sounds directly into people's heads by frying their brains in a controlled manner. Even more appropriately I have picked a song by the band called "That Don't Make Me Feel Good". Before that we have the Jacob Milleresque 'Inspektor vs Yello Dub'. http://punkcast.com/1376/ Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1376 The second of the 2008, and 6th annual, series of East River Music Project open air concerts took place under threat of serious thunderstorms. The line-up was all skronk but each band had a different edge. First up Blood City were punk skronk, second up Emperor X was anti-folk skronk, third up Obits were power-garage skronk, and finally Titus Andronicus, whose set was indeed cut short as the skies opebned up, were freak-dork-rock skronk. Another well put together show from ERMP, who never fail to find ways to elevate the city's musical consciousness. http://punkcast.com/owd.html Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:00:00 EST http://punkcast.com/owd.html A couple of years ago my friend Vivien Goldman - The Punk Professor - asked to me to talk to her class at NYU about fanzines. Back in the late 70s I ran Better Badges, making millions of punk badges, and, after acquiring printing equipment, printed and published fanzines on a walk-in basis. Now, Vivien had given her students a thorough cultural grounding - extending punk's roots back through rock'n'roll to blues, jazz, constructivism and dada. I was able, I hope, to bring an additional perspective as to the technological developments that enabled such an upswell just at this time, well before most of the students were born. First I showed them a Beatles 'fan' magazine from the 60s noting how it was printed using letterpress and individual etched blocks for each photograph, then a late 60s pop magazine printed using photo offset litho to produce glorious color pin-ups. In these days 'image' was a major concern of popular artists - the outlets were few and far between and controlled by corporate interests with publicity machines. The same thing went for radio and distribution. The gulf between publishers and consumers was practically infinite. Replication of anything was beyond the means of the average person. But then things started to change. Philips had introduced the Compact Cassette in 1964, but it was only in the early 70s, with the introduction of dolby and better tapes that it began to be used for music. Manufacturers, mostly Asian, began cranking out double-cassette decks that could be used for duplication. At the same time Xerox, previously prohibitively expensive and of poor quality, became more widely available and decent looking. This was matched by new cheaper offset presses such as the 'Multilith 1250' and 'Instant Printing' processes that dramatically reduced the cost of making plates. Thus by 1976, for the first time, the enabling means of viral culture were available. Using just such technology I started making and selling promotional badges in London. At very the first show I tried it at, a new band from NYC called The Ramones played - I made badges of them and sold lots! Punk rock was on! An essential component of the punk ethos was rejection of the seperation between producer and consumer - anyone could do it, and often did. Means of participation included fashion, painting a band's name on your clothing, or wearing a badge. I coined the phrase "Image As Virus" as a slogan. Impromptu publications aka fanzines such as Sniffing Glue sprang up to map the scene. At this point in the narrative I gave Viv's students some examples to look at, including one example that was printed off an evidently disintegrating paper offset-plate. Viv had made a big issue of how the 'blackmail' typography was a symbolic reaction against authority but - in my version - it was just a practical necessity as the only alternative - dry transfer lettering - cost way too much. The only way to reduce the size of a graphic required a photo mechanical transfer (PMT) camera - a large item that used expensive film that was my first capital purchase at Better Badges. I had a constant stream of punk graphic artists needing pics adjusted.. Fortunately, before the end of the decade even better photocopiers arrived that allowed reduced size copies. I could tell that, for students raised with WYSIWYG desktop publishing as a given, the whole concept was almost unfathomable. As for the music, we were lucky in the UK to have a champion of punk on the BBC - John Peel. He'd invite the bands, few of whom had records, to visit his studios and record sessions for broadcast on his program. This is where all those accumulated twin-cassette players suddenly came into play. Kids exchanging a Peel session of a new punk band could actually outnumber sales of many pop records of the day! Fanzines sprung up like weeds everywhere, reviewing shows and tapes. For the first time pop music was a truly bottom-up culture with the outside leading the center, as the labels tried to keep up. Those first punk bands, on the strength of all this, were able to sign big deals - the notes passed at the back of class had thus eventually become the curricula. To many fans, this violated the original principles, so, as the second generation of 'post-punk' bands developed, something known as the DIY ethic was established - a sustainable way of going about your business on your own terms. This was around the same time I got onto printing fanzines. The zines I printed, and others,acted as the promotional arm of new labels like Factory, Mute, and Rough Trade, laying the ground for the growth of indie rock. While it just about paid for itself over time, it was still a capital intensive business, with a publishing run of 1000-5000 copies of each issue. A big deal by 1980 was the advent of personal computers and modems. It seemed to me at the time they opened up a whole world of possibility for open information exchange and user-promotion. Meanwhile as the mainstream media adopted the graphic immediacy of fanzines, and adopted bands as fast as they could, the surrounding alternative media culture became less important. Holding onto the online idea in 1982 I sold Better Badges and moved to California, home to the most bustling BBS scene in the world. My staff, to whom I'd sold the business in the UK couldn't keep it up and it soon folded. As major labels grabbed the leading post-punk acts, and put their promotional push behind watered-down 'new-wave' there wasn't much of a scene left that merited the kids' support. South California oddly enough was a hold-out with a crazy hard-core scene which I had a lot of fun promoting for Goldenvoice. However, even there, I was disappointed to find that there was practically no crossover between online geeks and the music. Moving to NYC I actually started blogging the local scene by email in 1987 or so, but since email in those days cost money I soon ran up a big bill and had to quit. I'd have to wait another 7 years, and the release of Netcruiser for the World Wide Web to become a practical reality for the average user. At first there were practically no band homepages but for some reason the Raleigh News and Observer ran one for the Beastie Boys. In those days there were virtually no search engines just something called the NCSA What's New that listed new websites. In April 1995 I started blogging and put up a page for the Bad Brains. I also joined the Internet Society of which I'm still an active member. I've been overjoyed, in the years since, to see my original hopes for a free and open medium of egalitarian cultural exchange exceeded beyond my wildest dreams. What has all this to do with OneWebDay you might ask? The first point is that that first radical explosion of punk rock culture presaged the P2P and web2.0 user-participation that we now take for granted. The second is that, just like punk rock, which was initially considered indigestible by the mainstream, and yet became ghetto-ized, or co-opted and bastardized into the totally ineffectual new-wave, the internet which was in its original incarnation considered an uncontrollable fount of ideas is also threatened by the forces of corporate consolidation. OneWebDay is an event / cause - now in its 3rd year - an earthday for the Internet - is the one universal banner behind which we can all gather to prevent that from happening. Sep 22 2008. I'll be there. And so should you. Punk rock! http://punkcast.com/1362/ Sun, 08 Jun 2008 05:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1362 This forum. presented by OneWebDay, ISOC-NY, and the Information Law Institute @ NYU during Internet Week NY, is part of the build up to a politically-minded OneWebDay on September 22, 2008. It brought together a variety of renowned scholars, thinkers, and activists to provide their perspectives on political engagement on the Net. The forum happened to occur on the day after Barack Obama clinched the presidential nomination. http://punkcast.com/1347/ Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1347 When I got the invite to this show, an acoustic AIDS benefit in Soho, I immediately paid attention when I saw the name of Jeb Loy Nichols. I'd heard his name mentioned in dub circles because of his work with Adrian Sherwood, and it turns out he is a bona-fide member of the original Slits family. As I checked the other acts I decided that KaiserCartel - a duo from Brooklyn with a budding reputation and an imminent record were also punkcast-worthy. The gig was in the Housing Works Bookstore - a place that I have to recommend not just because the profit goes to the worthy cause of housing messed-up people, but also because it has a really good selection of books at great prices. I walked out with several bargains after the shoot. KaiserCartel, on first, matched their buzz. Directly engaging - cute folky boy-girl on the surface - one discerns an engrained moodiness. I don't like to make references in my descriptions but when watching them I recall thinking it was somewhere between Mazzy Star and Judy Collins. The two songs I've picked are opener 'Oh No', from the forthcoming album 'March Forth', and 'Okay', from a recent EP. I knew Jeb Loy lives in Wales, but was further surprised to discover that he is an American from Missouri. He sang in a gentle country style - on some songs joined by a pick up band that included Garry West, head of his current label, Nashville's Compass Records, on bass. Listening I could hear what would have attracted Sherwood to his sound. He has a silky voice not unsimilar to Bim Sherman, plus the soul-phrasing so much loved by great reggae singers. In the first clip 'Days Are Mighty' - the title song of his new album - he even drops in a little Marley. The other one I've picked is a cover of The Miracles' 'Tracks Of My Tears' which Jeb turns into a country lament. On a day that it so happened NYC was soaked by torrential rain, Jeb definitely brought to the city the sense of rustic timelessness that is the theme of his record. http://punkcast.com/1361/ Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1361 This is not The Carrots founder V-Jon's first appearance on Punkcast - she is also the vocalist on the raucous 'Missile' by Finally Punk on PUNKCAST#1001 from July 2006. Even at that time the foundation of her current project had been laid, a softer sweeter animal that evokes and echoes 60s girl groups. V-J would eventually leave Finally Punk in November 2007, but The Carrots still exhibit a degree of that outfit's devil-may-care exuberance, intriguingly meshed with harmony. The crowd at this show adored them, and insisted on multiple encores. The song here 'Beverly' is the top track on their latest EP. http://punkcast.com/1352/ Fri, 30 May 2008 05:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1352 The concept that there should be a 'dot nyc' was originally launched some years ago by a Community Board in Jackson Heights. Tom Lowenhaupt, a member of that board, gave the idea a good run around the city's civic hallways without much result. However, recently, with Berlin and Paris also pursuing their own city top level domain plans, and ICANN slowly but surely opening the gates to more 'generic' TLD's, it now looks to be a practical possibility. Tom has led the formation of a non-profit 'Connecting .nyc' to actually acquire the rights and operate the domain. The three cities plan a co-ordinated effort at the forthcoming June ICANN meet in Paris to get the ball truly rolling. Before his departure Tom gave ISOC-NY a full background presentation and took questions on the nitty gritty details. He envisualizes a community-managed registry that is a departure from anything seen hitherto. http://punkcast.com/1328/ Fri, 23 May 2008 05:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1328 At Tessa Pollitt's back garden, Bakerloo Line & The Underworld Sep 18 2007 - Ari-Up performing with her backing band, 'The True Warriors', at The Underworld in Camden was the first of two gigs in London last September. I caught the first one on tape, and as Ari kept on saying to the tech crew "Bright lights, bright lights - we want to be seen" I came away with some strong shots, apart from when Ari walks up stage and gets shaded into the background. (Ari does it one time, whilst singing Fade Away, providing a good ending for the film.) Whenever Ari visits London I always get a call, whether I film or watch the gig, we always touch base. One time in 2004 I filmed Ari, Tessa and Ari's son, Wilton, on their way to meet with a producer. It was a meeting which couldn't be filmed, but I wish I had got it. Watching Ari fight her corner is always a clear act, and one that leaves you a bit inspired. Luckily the interview and underground footage was a true find; I can't imagine planning the shot with the school children on the train. It's the perfect representation of what I like most about Ari - her direct interaction with people on the street, the speed at which she reacts to something, and the inherent morality, of being yourself with everybody, stays through to the end; especially when Ari summarises it all with a line from one of The Slit's songs - "Bloody hell, it never changes. Grown-ups, the world of grown-ups, it's corrupt." (Ari and Tessa share a laugh.) --- Poppie Sköld 2008 http://punkcast.com/1338/ Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1338 Indian jewelry are a dronepunk band from Houston TX. They've been around in various line-ups and names for some time before settling into the current touring power quartet. I'll leave the describing to Max Goldberg's flavorpill preview: "The band's blasted beats face off against squalling synths as guitar rumbles clang beneath heavy toms. The droning vocals, meanwhile, ride a dark wave, smoothing the band's cacophony into a narcoleptic ghost dance." Suffice it to say they had me flashing back to the old Hawkwind days and scratching for every last glimmer of light to shoot by. The song here is called 'Swans'. http://punkcast.com/1337/ Thu, 08 May 2008 15:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1337 Genevieve Ballon is the lead vocalist/musician with Long Island band Past Mistress. Here we see her in a rare solo performance at Brooklyn's Goodbye Blue Monday. Mostly she played synth or guitar, but for one song - 3:14 - she sat down at the GBM honky tonk, and that is the one we have here. http://punkcast.com/1324/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1324 What will come of the next decade on the Internet? We often take for granted the state of the net today, but there's no guarantee that it will remain this way. Will the digital future be dystopian, or is there a brighter outlook ahead than some may believe? Our panelists - thinkers and net visionaries, with backgrounds ranging from art, law, technology, politics, media, culture, and entrepreneurship - provided their perspectives on the future of the net, and engaged with members of the audience to further the exploration of what lies ahead. http://punkcast.com/1317/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1317 Jonathan Zittrain is something of an Internet prodigy. A co-founder of the Berkman Center at Harvard, he is now the Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute in England, these being the two premier institutions in the field. Jonathan has written a book 'The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It' and this event was in the nature of a launch party three days before its official release date. Zittrain explains that the Internet and much of what is built on top of it is "generative" - it welcomes change from anyone, anywhere. The benefits of generativity are innovative output (new things that improve people's lives), and participatory input (the opportunity to connect with other people, work with them, and express oneself). But security issues online, like viruses, spyware, and invasions of privacy, will see this generative infrastructure replaced by fashionable "tethered appliances," including iPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos. These devices are not generative-they can't be modified easily by users, even as they are continuously regulated and controlled by their makers. Zittrain offers an accessible discussion of the looming problems of an "appliancized" future and provides a set of visionary solutions to help stop it. http://punkcast.com/1258/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1258 The Daves - Dave Sewelson on Bari Sax, Dave Hofstra on tuba, Stephen Moses on drums/trombone - are described in the RUCMA press release for this show as 'the progenitors and perpetuators of post-contemporary music with a focus on the lower sonorities'. Here we see them, performing as part of the Vision/RUCMA Series at the Living Theatre, as they are joined by 'fourth wheel' Caito Marcondes, a visiting Brazilian percussionist. http://punkcast.com/1255/ Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1255 In PUNKCAST#1190 we saw a public meeting, subsequent to the closing of Tonic, where the NYC avant-jazz community committed themselves to working to create themselves a new home and, in fact, a whole organization to pursue the interests of grassroots creativity in the city. That organization has now taken shape as 'Rise Up Creative Music and Arts' aka RUCMA. Just about its first activity has to been to gather musicians from the post-Tonic diaspora for a series of concerts in the Living Theatre's space on the Lower East Side. For the inaugural event Lisle Ellis, a veteran improvising bassist, originally from Canada, brought in his new trio. So new, in fact, they hadn't even played together before. Ned Rothenberg, on alto sax, is a well-known musician who I was pleased to discover is, like many of the younger Brooklyn artrockers, an Oberlin alumnus. Gustavo Aguilar, on percussion, is a recent transplant from Texas. They played several 'Inventions' - purely improvised pieces, one cover, and the two clips I give you here which are from the heart of the set. The first 'Untitled' being an Ellis composition, and the latter 'Gravity' is from Aquilar. http://punkcast.com/1251/ Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1251 To inaugurate the 2009 New York Guitar Festival a free concert was held in the spacious glass atrium of the World Financial Center, right next to 'Ground Zero'. The theme of the night was to have different artist interpret, in order, each of the songs of the infamous Bob Dylan 'Royal Albert Hall' bootleg - in fact recorded in Manchester - from 1966. Inaugurating this inaugural were our pals Oakley Hall, now stripped down to a lean mean quartet, performing the very first song 'She Belongs To Me'. I was still trying to resolve red tape as they went on, but just managed to fumble the camera out and start shooting as they went into the second verse... http://punkcast.com/1240/ Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1240 We last saw TK Webb, Brooklyn's Missouri bluesman, 30 months ago in the rustic environs of PUNKCAST#738. Since then he's gotten a haircut, put out an acclaimed solo album 'Phantom Parade' on The Social Registry, and, more to the point, acquired a band - the Visions. Here we see them trying out their licks on the Manhattan party crowd on a Saturday night at the Cake Shop. The tunes I've picked are 'Chess Hustler' and 'Angeles' - both likely to appear on their forthcoming album for Fat Possum Records. http://punkcast.com/1224/ Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1224 This, the release party for Sightings new album 'Through the Panama', was the probably the NYC art-noise event of the year. Aficianadoes are still chuckling over Sightings spectacular appearance at Oneida's 10th Anniversary bash at PS1 on the Labor Day weekend which caused much consternation amongst the unsuspecting groovers, but on this day everyone was well-prepared, particularly after a couple of choice openers. First up was Vizusa who, as we have mentioned before, are former members of Excepter. In mostly improvised pieces Caitlin's electronically warped wails are grounded by Calder's distorted wah-wah guitar. While the first clip 'Paleman' is somewhat reflective, on the second - 'Teenage Man', where they are joined by Pete Nolan of Magik Markers on drums, there's no holding back. Next up was Metalux, a two woman ensemble that, having been going since 1997, are comparative scene veterans. They utilized a complex amount of electronics - some evidently DIY, and some decidedly vintage - plus guitars to create rich aural textures. The first clip is 'Helena Nebrask' and the second, longer, clip is their closer 'Spor Fabrica'. Then we were on to the main event. Sightings are difficult to characterise. Ostensibly sparse deconstructionists they are also a driving rock band. Art-noise on rocket fuel. One thing is for sure, they are absolutely engaging, unless you are a PS1 groover of course, or the overweight drunk at this show who at one point passed out and fell over onto the stage, soaking guitarist Mark's pedals in the process. The songs here are '66' which, as far as I can tell, is unrecorded, and their encore, a tune from the new record, 'Perforated'. Finally, as a special treat, we had Andrew W.K., who produced the record, do a short set of keyboard improvisations. Each was quite different in tone and style. He'd explore a theme, pulling it this way and that, before finally rocking it out. The first clip is the first piece he played, utilizing a traditional piano sound. The second is the clavinetesque 'Botched Bach' which he finished with, at least before being dragged back for an encore. http://punkcast.com/1222/ Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1222 Around 3 years ago I shot a peculiar NYC band called I Love You. Earlier this year I reviewed the footage and, on googling, discovered there was another band of the same name from Kansas City. They had an interesting sound so, when they visited NYC in November I checked them out. Missing them at Cake Shop, I had to go out to Goodbye Blue Monday in Bushwick, a quirky venue full of bric-a-brac. Formerly a trio, ILY are now a drum-guitar duo. Seeing them live it was clear what had intrigued me in the first place, and that is the atmospheric combination of quasi-steppers rhythms with noise-rock cut and slash. I've picked two good examples 'March of the Dead' and 'Myth of Gold". I spoke to the guitarist afterwards, asking if he was familiar with UK steppa mainstays such as Shaka and Iration. To my surprise the reply was.. not at all. http://punkcast.com/1237/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1237 Although new to me, and possibly, you, Echostream are by no means a new band. Years of development have given them a unique and matured sound that is world class. The band's roots lie in London where keyboardist Tony and singer Ryoko met while studying at the Royal Academy of Music ten years ago. They moved to Japan, where Ryoko scored a major record deal on the strength of her unusual voice (and, very likely, her good looks). Over time Echostream coalesced and developed their style. However the honchos at the label just didn't get it. Rather than compromise the band eventually resorted to a move to NYC and released their debut album 'Identity' on local indie Force Of Change Records in 2005. Since then the music has developed into a hardier, heavier, animal. Meanwhile they've been gigging steadily and gained a firm following amongst J-Rock aficianados. This year a tour of Europe raised their profile significantly. It's to be seen whether they can break out to the wider public in the USA. One thing is for sure, if they do, they will get huge, quickly. There's a definite chemistry in the band. Here we see them in a middle spot on a J-Rock show at Studio B with the crowd going nuts. I've picked the steaming opener - a new song - 'Rip You Down', and, from the album, a sensitive cover of Radiohead's 'Creep', a song that well shows off Ryoko's talent. http://punkcast.com/1234/ Sat, 8 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1234 The word 'seminal' is so overdone that it has practically been banned from Wikipedia,but if any band could be so described it is The Clean from Dunedin, New Zealand. Formed in 1978, they single-handedly kick-started their local scene before packing it in in 1983. That early 80's work, which combined a pop sensibility with a modern experimental approach, spread worldwide and set a template for 90's indie-rock. A brief late 80's reformation was kiboshed when drummer Hamish Kilgour moved to NYC. But occasional forays are still made made every few years. The recent release of a compilation on Merge records has led to wider recognition and they could easily play large rooms, nevertheless, on their first USA visit in 4 years, they chose to play a three night series at NYC's Cake Shop."An oasis in an ocean of shit" as guitarist David Kilgour put it. I shot all three shows, of which this was the last. The bad news is that on this night my recording of the vocals didn't work out so good. The good news is that the band did play the instrumental 'Fish' and so that is one of the songs here. It really shows off David's guitar talents which, while sounding thoroughly contemporary, echo early 60's twangers like Hank Marvin. The Clean are also known for little organ ditties, and so that is what I've picked for the other song, as Hamish sings what could be a DIY anthem - 'Whatever I Do Is Right' - while David plonks out the totally catchy melody on on a borrowed keyboard. Robert Scott is a powerhouse on bass. I missed show openers The Mad Scene, which is Hamish's own band, but he returned, just before The Clean went on, with a motley crew for an informal tribute to Syd Barrett - 'Effervescing Elephant'. Rounding out the show were Times New Viking, a joyfully ramshackle lo-fi band from Columbus, Ohio, recently picked up by Matador Records. I was just in time to get their last two songs, 'Dance Walhalla', and the half-Half Japanese cover 'Thing With A Hook'. http://punkcast.com/1095/ Thu, 15 Nov 2007 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1095 Glasgow trio Frightened Rabbit's debut album 'Sing The Greys' was a paradox. Ostensibly DIY - it gained wide distribution via Universal Records in the UK. NYC indie label Self-Starter was so impressed with the band that they literally went and fetched them over for a short East Coast tour in January 2007. This show, in a Brooklyn basement was the opening date, put on by Todd P. Before we got to them Elizabeth Sharp, aka Ill Ease, warmed up the crowd in her inimitable manner. Sharp sings and plays all the instruments in her band, including guitar, bass, and drums - at the same time! This miracle is achieved using digital looping devices. The song I've picked from her is 'The Two Party System' - a political diatribe. Then we were on to FR. Their sound is a kind of semi-frantic indie-pop, enhanced by hookiesque melodic alto basslines. Their harmonics evoke, to this listener at least, a sense of bagpipe skein, while the vocals echo Blonde On Blonde era Dylan. All in all an engaging combination. Despite the band being dazed and jetlagged, playing on borrowed gear, with minimal monitors, I think the song below 'Square 9' is a fair indicator of their potential. Later in the year the band returned to the USA twice, wowing at SXSW, and then touring for 5 weeks in the fall. 'Sing The Greys' has now been remastered and re-issued on Brighton indie Fat Cat Records . http://punkcast.com/1213/ Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1213 Los Angeles psyche-drone outfit The Warlocks sre a Punkcast favorite. They appeared on the site way back in May 2001 in #48 opening for Nikki Sudden. We caught up with them again a year later or so later in #165 when they were at their dope-crazed zenith. Since then they have signed with a major, toured internationally, gone through rehab, broken up/reformed, and sat in LA, all effectively beyond our horizons. Eventually, in 2007, they have heaved back in to view. A newly released indie album 'Heavy Deavy Skull Lover' led to them blitzing this year's CMJ and I caught up with them at a late-night spot at Glasslands in Williamsburg. The line up was a six-piece - as always featurung twin drummers, and spectacular guitars. A welcome new feature was an attractive female on bass. The new record is a deal darker than some of their more recent output. I've picked one of it's songs 'So Paranoid' as the first clip. The other 'Come Save Us' was the first single off their 2005 Mute album 'Surgery'. http://punkcast.com/540/ Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#540 After some years of semi-obscurity the artrock/electroclash boom, a new record 'American Dream' in 2002, and finally a rush of re-issues of their original classic albums, had made Suicide in 2004 once more one of the hippest tickets possible in NYC, 34 years after they formed. Their appearance here at Alex English's Social!sm night on Labor Day friday night was absolutely jammed. Adding zest to this show was the fact that it occurred on the final day of the Republican convention that had re-anointed George Bush. The whole city had been in a state of disgust and turmoil for days. Two qualities that contribute greatly to the essence of Suicide, so Alan Vega was in feisty form as he delivered songs like 'White Man' (2nd clip) - a sharp indictment of manifest destiny. After soundly cursing out the current regime as always Vega yet revealed hope to be alive in 'Dream Baby Dream' which culminated with a dramatic kung fu keyboard display from Martin Rev. (3rd clip). The supporting bill was made of bands supposedly inspired by the band and I arrived in time to catch Free Blood, a trio which included John Pugh and Dan Gorman from !!!. Duetting falsetto vocals seemed to owe as much to Prince as Suicide. The minimal bass and rhythm box backing also brought ESG to mind. Driving dance music whichever way you look at it. They announced that this was the rhythm box's swansong, apparently booted for superior technology. The song I've picked is 'Audacity'. http://punkcast.com/1193/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1193 San Francisco all-girl electro soul-punk group Von Iva first visited NYC a couple of years back, playing storming shows at Death Disco and Cake Shop during CMJ. I shot them both but never never did get around to posting them up. So many bands so little time.. This year - now stripped down to a power trio - they were due to yet again tear it up at CMJ. At the last minute - to the disappointment of many - they cancelled at the last minute, making some vague excuse to do with 'movies' and 'Los Angeles'. The good news is, I did catch them earlier in the year when, on a quick summer tour to promo their new album 'Our Own Island', they passed through the city. The venue again was the Cake Shop, on the totally appropiate night of the monthly QBR Lives! party - QBR standing for Queers, Beers, and Rears. Thus the place was filled with gender-benders absolutely ready to rave. Von Iva did not disappoint, banging out one disco-punk killer after another, all fronted by the bluesy voice of the magnificent Jillian. As they played the cover of Donna Summer's 'Hot Stuff' a skinny rocker got on stage to grope our Jill and things began to get a little out of hand.. She turned the tables on him doncha worry, and he was soon beating a retreat before she removed his underwear.. (first clip). The show climaxed with an extended version of 'No Man' a stomping anthem of female empowerment from the new record(second clip). With Beth & co. off to bigger things there are few better party bands in the nation right now. http://punkcast.com/1199/ Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1199 This was the final show of the East River Music project's 2007 season, curated by popular music website Paper Thin Wslls. I got down there early to catch These Are Powers who were slated first only to kick my heels for an hour as one band had cancelled. These Are Powers define their music as ghost-punk. A trio fronted by Pat Noecker (ex-Liars) and Anna Barie (ex-Knife Skills) this was their first show with a new drummer Bill Salas (aka Brenmar) from Chicago. Bill augmented his percussion with an electronic box of tricks that certainly enhanced the overall eeriness. Free noise improvisation coalesces into compelling throbbing excursions. I've picked two pieces from early in the set 'Peel Some Off' and 'You Come With Nothing'. I was all set to scoot off to the Monster Island street party after These Are Powers set but was persuaded by the Paper Thin Walls fellow to hang on for Clockcleaner, which he described as "skronky street punk from Philadelphia, right up your alley.." While this is not a bad description of this band, another trio, they had character beyond that. Singer/guitarist John Sharkey is apparently known for his confrontational antics, but on this sunny afternoon was relatively mellow. Bassist Karen Horner was virtuosic on a 6-string bass despite what appeared to be a broken finger. Drummer Richie Charles was almost jazzy at times. I've picked their last two songs 'Daddy's Home' and the GG Allin cover 'Die When You Die'. http://punkcast.com/1206/ Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1206 A Todd P affair on a Monday night, this was just the second show of Magik Markers tour in support of 'Boss' - their new Ecstatic Peace! release. The band have shed their bassplayer, and are down to the duo of Elisa Ambrogio and Pete Nolan, augmented live by a girl called Julie on keyboards. The music successfully combines a raga-like serenity with emotional noise freakout. Elisa, looking as alluringly frumpy as ever, broke a string on the spectacular first song 'Pat Garrett' (3rd clip below) but continued without batting an eyelid. In the improvised 'Free Jam' (last clip) she speculated about the meaning and interconnectedness of life. 'Boss', a truly great record, will likely appear on many best of lists at the end of the year and thus there was a keen crowd who lapped it all up.I have to give it to Todd, the underbill was a masterpiece worthy of Fitz. Opening act Under Satan's Sun are a fascinating outfit. Somehow rooted in the No-Neck Blues band they are a metal band fronted by Silvie and Chloe Jensen on vocals. Like the characters in the classic book the name is taken from the sisters are like night and day - one a raven-haired death metal rasper, the other a golden-haired and voiced princess. A friend I showed the video called it The Corrs meet Motorhead. It's a powerful combination whatever way you look at it. They've been going a year but this was only their fourth show. Apparently they have had difficulty finding a niche in the NYC scene. I'm sure that they will succeed in creating their own. The song I've picked is 'Stand Up And Fight'. Filling out the middle spot was caUSE coMOTION!, a well-known and loved Brooklyn power-pop trio. Their music, a rush of dorky exuberance, a mix of cracked adolescent angst with Hank Marvin twang, had some younger members of the crowd pogoing like crazy. The song I've picked is 'who's gonna care?'. http://punkcast.com/10years.html Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:04:00 EST http://punkcast.com/10years.html It's 1O years and 1200 shoots since punkcast started in September 1997. There will be a screening/party tonight @ Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn. Click the link for more info and a brief history. http://punkcast.com/1190/ Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1190 The day after the popular Lower East Side experimental music club Tonic closed down in April 2007, a group of jazz musicians and other artists - calling themselves 'Take It To The Bridge' - commandeered it for a farewell protest/party which was promptly busted by the NYPD, with several arrests including musicians Marc Ribot and Rebecca Moore. A few days later, a demonstartion was held on the steps of City Hall where they demanded the City take steps, specifically providing a reasonably sized paying venue, to support the avant music scene, noting the irony that the City subsidizes European classical musicians to come and play in NYC, while the city's own avant and jazz musicians themselves often have to go to Europe to get paying gigs. Four months later, the movement having progressed to a general feeling of frustration over the difficulties musicians and artists are facing, gentrification etc, and also in a desire to reach out into the community for support, it was decided to gather the various threads into Rise Up Creative Music and Arts - Rise Up for short - a pressure group to tie together and advocate the goals of several non-profits and other activists in the field, both to politicians and the public. The first step was an inaugural public meeting which is what you see here. The first two clips are the introductory remarks from founders master bassplayer William Parker and dancer/choreographer Patricia Nicholson. The third is an update from Marc Ribot (and Barbara Burch) on how the venue campaign has been progressing. Pianist Connie Crothers addresses the problems of artist housing with a particular emphasis on the peculiar needs of musicians. Aaron Friedman is the founder of MAke Music NY, which, on June 21st each year, organizes a huge quantity of open air free concerts on the streets of the city. The next clip is an ascerbic interjection by William Parker on the nature of politicians, leading to the closing contrarian comments from Margaret Davis who cautions those assembled from being corrupted by pecuniary priorities. Go to the site to find links to the whole meeting invideo and audio. http://punkcast.com/1189/ Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1189 I have been following NYC electro/improv gtoup Excepter for some years, but this is the first time I've got around to posting any. Excepter was founded by J F Ryan, previously of the No Neck Blues band, around 5 years ago. The early band included Caitlin Cook and Calder Martin before they left to form Vizusa. Since then the band settled to a fairly stable 4-piece so I was surprised at this show to see the addition of two more players, both female. With openers Ghost Exit absent (a car containing their gear had been impounded) on this night Excepter were able to stretch out and played for almost an hour and a half. The music is based on cross-patterned sequencers, overlayed with echoed weirdness and distorted vocals, all to shamanic effect. J F Ryan provides a visual focus. He has a peculiar motion - a kind of stuttering pad. He also has a tendency to grab any nature of convenient objects or ideas and turn them to his purpose. An exercise the new girls enthusiastically joined in on. In the second clip 'Fry' you can see them playing with (frying?) the auras of Rocky's patrons making their way to the men's room, situated to the rear of the stage. In the 3rd clip, the multifaceted 'The Frogs / Faces Shine / Stars' one of the girls takes to playing the hi-hat with the soles of her boots. The first clip ''Burgers' is far more rocky (no pun intended) than Excepter's usual output, featuring acoustic drums and a meaty synth riff from DJ Count Porkchopolis. http://punkcast.com/1188/ Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1188 Domenic Priore's book 'Riot On Sunset Strip; Rock'N'Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood' concerns the brief period in the mid 60's when Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood, became the nexus of surf music, folk-rock, pop art, soul, jazz, activism, psychedelics and hedonism that marked the birth of modern rock culture. It was rapidly busted out of existence by the City Fathers. The riot itself occurred on Nov 12 1966 when cops shut down the Pandora's Box club that was a central component. Later a movie, a psyche-trash classic, was made based on the events of that evening. In the first clip below, after he had read a passage about how the arrival of Hockney and activities of Warhol fueled a burgeoning art scene, Domenic is asked how the teens of the day related to that. He suggests it was the artist's activist events that sealed the relationship. In the second clip he traces the path, via that same activist environment, from bubblegum to Woodstock. He concludes by scorning the revisionist 'Summer Of Love' hype. Both of his proposed guests, Gary Panter and Artie Kornfeld, were no shows. However, serendipitously, an audience member had encountered Mark Loomis, a founding member of the Chocolate Watch Band - who actually appeared in the original movie - outside on the street and invited him in. Mark was prevailed upon to talk, and gave insight into the frustrations, much due to restrictive performance laws, that caused the thriving early NYC 60s folk-rock scene to start California Dreamin'. He also pointed out that a not small reason the teens liked the radical art scene was that it was one place that, given California 21+ drinking laws, they could socialize and booze freely (3rd clip). http://punkcast.com/1186/ Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1186 I detailed the relationship with Luscious Jackson, and Gabby Glaser in particular, back in PUNKCAST#1133. I remember running into Gabby backstage at the Strummer shows in 2002 and asking her what she was up to. "Carpentry." was the totality of her reply. She seemed in no rush to get back onstage. And indeed it has taken 5 years. Enough time though for her to put together an ace band - the (modestly named) Great Ones - that are pure NYC. This, a relaxed affair on a Monday night, was just their second show - after an earlier, more-hyped, debut at Union Hall. The first song here 'Spirit Of Long Island' was her opener. Typical of her music, it features wah-wah rhythm and the conversational vocals that were a trademark of LJ, all whipped up to the next level by the band. Before we got to them, however, we had an exotic treat - ninetynine, from Melbourne Australia. Currently a trio ninetynine is the vehicle of scot Laura Macfarlane - the original drummer of Sleater Kinney. ninetynine was her solo project just around the same time, and eventually coalesced into a band which has toured extensively internationally in the years since, becoming a staple on the underground indie circuit. What particularly sets them apart from the usual indie fare are the ethnic influences in the music, and the use of melodic percussion from casiotones to vibraphones, all of which support Laura's broguish laments. Here you can see two songs - 'Avalanche' and 'Steel' both utilizing xylophones, one a fair size, and one a toy. Also note Cameron Potts' use of his hands to play the drumset to get the rhythm going in 'Avalanche'. Excellent stuff. http://punkcast.com/1167/ Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1167 What wasn't mentioned on this, the second NYC date of critically acclaimed Austin band Peel's first tour of the East Coast, was that Josh Parmenter - founder and major songwriter of the band - was nowhere to be seen. One wouldn't have known, however, from the show which rocked. The music is restless, amorphous. It's a kind of gentle country twee - the first clip 'Oskaloosa' - to airy rock - the second clip 'Bells' - with garage overtones that want to break out into full-on Texas psyche, which they do on the last clip - a cover of the The 13th Floor Elevators 'You're Gonna Miss Me'. http://punkcast.com/1185/ Thu, 9 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1185 Cheap Perfume are an all-girl rock band that was formed by two CBGB waitresses back in 1977. As well as playing CBGB they soon gained a residency at Max's and opened for everybody from the Dead Boys to Johnny Thunders. Despite patronage from the likes of movers Peter Crowley, Jane Friedman, and Ian Copeland, they remained a downtown NYC live phenom and didn't, to my knowledge, even put out a record before calling it a day in 1982. Like more than one other band of the period the impending demise of CBGB in 2006 was enough to pull them back together to once more grace the hallowed shithole's stage before it disappeared forever. A few more shows followed, but all of these were sans singer Lynn Odell who now lives in L.A. - the rest of the band filling in on vocals. Finally, at this show at The Baggott Inn, Lynn returned to the fold and the full line-up once again was able to rock out. And rock out they did, despite the jokes about menopause, grannys etc, in no uncertain manner. Guitarist Bunny particularly crunched with a big Les Paul sound. One could see in Lynn's sly leer why she would have made a good foil for our Stiv. Drummer Brenda was rock solid, and kept up a stream of facetious ad-libs between songs that had the crowd howling. Nancy and Suzie filled in the sound on rhythm and bass and harmonies with grace. Here you have the last two songs of the set - 'Ordinary Girls', 'Forever Damaged', and the encore - for which the band were joined by Jana Peri on backing vocals - 'Boys'. http://punkcast.com/865/ Sat, 4 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#865 This one is for the guy who came up to me last week at the Slits McCarren show and requested Acid Mothers Temple - you know who you are. NYC was one of the final stops on the lengthy first tour of the Cosmic Inferno line-up in 2005, with the band joined on drums by Steve Lohman - a veteran, by a circuitous route, of local hard core nutters Sheer Terror. Kawabata Makoto gave the audience a choice - the band could either play free jazz "like Sonny Sharrock" or "just freak out crazy music".. Naturally the vote was overwhelming for the latter, and that was what we got, with a vengeance. What I give you here is the final piece, 20 minutes long - the "IAO Chant" - which borrows the popular Gong 'Om' riff, and morphs into the over the top guitar-destroying 'Speed Guru'. Playing before AMT were their tourmates for this leg NYC band The Occasion, since dubbed 'country-prog' in the UK. They were a much calmer proposition, but did get into wider aural experimentations at times, as in the first clip which is the middle section of their 'Equine' triptych. An unusual feature of The Occasion is Sara Shaw who manipulates loops of strange noises through an industrial strength tape player. I've also included the uptempo final song of their set 'The Deserters'. http://punkcast.com/1169/ Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1169 The opening day of the East River Music Project's 2007 concert series occurred on the Saturday of the first really hot weekend of the NYC summer, the same day as the annual Gay Pride Parade. The show was curated by Secret Project Robot and a line-up that would have done the old Mighty Robot proud had been procured, including, remarkably, the first time the full 4-piece Ex Models had played together in 3 years, and Hundred Eyes - the new band from the Tall Boys girls. First up was singer/songwriter Mike Bones, who has a record due out later in the year on Social Registry. He entertained in a self-effacing folky minstrel fashion, given edge by the fact he was strumming a majorly distorted SG. I've picked 'No Pussy Blues' - a Grinderman cover - which he was too embarrassed to announce the title of, or deliver the punchline, but sang with conviction, and his closer 'Everybody's Always Coming Down On Me'. Hundred Eyes are a thoroughly existential experience, raw and ethereal. Vanessa and Aviva are joined by Nick Ray from Vive L'American Death Ray Music, dressed today like the Grand Mufti, and Joe from Pterodactyl. Tunes range from loosely structured songs to total improvisation with Nick mashing his vocals through multiple audio effects. I've picked a piece of pure improv from early in the set and then the cathartic closer, the politically dubiously titled 'White Supremacy' - in which you can see Vanessa play sax and bass at the same time. S-S-S-Spectres, in contrast, are tightly arranged. One's heard of concept albums, but they actually came up here with the concept show - their whole set was presented as a pagan ritual, with incantations to the moon and the sun, the latter feeling particularly appropiate given the weather, and the the East River Park bandshell's history as the birthplace of 'Shakespear In The Park. Their set was even enhanced by the appearance of a pair of puckish dancers - apparently brought down by SPR to function as cupcake distributing donation magnets - who leapt and twisted spectacularly in front of the stage. Here you've got the final two songs of the set 'Victorian Gentleman With A Nervous Disposition' and 'Witches vs Wolves'. As mentioned this was a historic reunion of Ex Models. After shedding guitarist Shah and drummer Jake, the core of Zach and Shahin had moved the band in a more austere direction, if still devo-ishly quirky, that they termed 'Fundustrial'. Eventually they got so involved in the hard rhythms they added one, then two, then, ultimately, three drummers, and the shows became intensely primal. For relief, perhaps, and rejoined by Shah, they recently formed a side project - Knife Hyts - that is much more guitar oriented, verging into heavy rock. I suspect that it was this that gave them a hankering to take another shot at some of the classic Ex Models material. Whichever way it's wonderful to see Jake back in the line-up, precise and explosive as he is. I've picked three: 'You Got What I Need' - the short sharp opening shot; 'Chrome Hearts' - an absolute monster; and '32 Weeks' which, as Shahin explains, has evolved from its beginnings as a Mekons cover to something totally different and back. http://punkcast.com/1184/ Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1184 Opening for Sonic Youth's 'Daydream Nation' show in the derelict McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn - this was just the second time, as far as I know, the current version of The Slits have ever been anything other than a headliner. Tessa told me it was the biggest crowd the band had played to since they opened for the Clash, back in the day. Hurried for time, they had to cut their set in half. Ari was so rushed she even omitted her customary big-ups to Brooklyn, her home from home. It was evident that many present were not too familiar with the band. Ari did her usual job of educating about the nexus of punk and reggae, and threw in a couple of uptempo dancehall jams. The song that really won the crowd over, taken from the band's new EP 'Revenge of the Killer Slits', was the singalong anthem 'Kill Them With Love' and that is the clip here. They were just able to fit in 'Typical Girls' at the end as the union stagehands moved to pull the power. http://punkcast.com/1183/ Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1183 Bat For Lashes' star is rising fast over in the UK. A week prior to this show their album 'Fur and Gold' was included in the short list for the prestigious Mercury Prize. They are only just now turning their sights on the U.S. and, apart from a quickie one night stand at Joe's Pub in May, this was their first american show, the opener for a brief tour. They seemed very relaxed in the friendly environs of Maxwell's, and gratified to discover they already had staunch fans. While Natasha Khan is very much the personality of the group, the other three girls complement her perfectly. They all switch instruments seamlessly and exude the same sense of rococo fashion, but the main feature is Natasha's voice, clear as a bell and pitch perfect. After kicking off with a cover of Nico's 'Le Petit Chevalier' they played every song but one from the album. Many were gently ruminative, but I've picked two of the more lively outings. 'Trophy', a meaningful song about renewal, was the band's first single and gave the album it's title. 'Sarah', minimally electro on record, is given what amounts to shanty treatment live. http://punkcast.com/1180/ Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1180 I was able to get two birds (one of them prehistoric even) with one stone at this show. Shock Cinema are new to the Brooklyn scene, the core having been enticed north from Atlanta, and then enveloped with local talent to immediately become one of the coolest new outfits in town. Fronted by the delectable Destiny Montague, and anchored by Rodgers Sister Miyuki Furtado. What gives them their ditinctive sound is the jagged soul-edge guitar work of Autry Rene Fulbright II, driven by with Danny Wood's strong bass playing. A record seems to be out in Germany, and they've been snapped up by Brooklyn indie Kanine Records. I've picked their opener 'Albatross' which doesn't, as far as I can tell, appear on either record (please excuse the howls of feedback while Todd P sets the sound and I get my camera out); and 'Art Of Noir' which just could be their most popular number. Then it was on to Pterodactyl. While not actually dinosaurs, they have been around the Brooklyn scene for a few years. Their intense approach is not unsimilar to other local mainstays like Oneida and Ex Models and, in fact, their LP has been released on Oneida's own Brah Records and Zach Ex Model has been filling in on bass for them while member Kurt has been away at school this last year. School done, he's back and this was a final warm-up/farewell before they set off across the country on a no-holds-barred tour. I've picked the harmonious, and according to the band - awkward - 'Esses' and the epic closer 'Polio'. http://punkcast.com/1165/ Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1165 Blood Red Shoes are an artrock duo from Brighton UK. Steven Ansell plays drums, Laura-Mary Carter plays guitar, and they both sing. Comparisons have been made with The White Stripes and the YYY's, but the similarity is superficial, even if Laura-Mary certainly has got the Zinner buzz tone down pat. Blood Red Shoes music exudes quintessential english droll rather than american drawl of those bands. Here we see them playing their first ever U.S. show as the slightly unsung openers on the second night of the 'In The City' showcase organized by Tony Wilson. Some, including myself, would consider they upstaged the more-hyped outfits that followed. The two songs I've chosen are current single 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea' and the raucous closer 'ADHD'. http://punkcast.com/1145/ Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1145 This was the final concert of three that concluded Swiss photographer George Gatsas' exhibit at the Swiss Institute, a large upper floor space on Broadway in downtown Manhattan. The exhibit, which ran for six weeks, was the sixth in a series that examined the creative process. It featured Georg's photos of bohemian artists such as Breyer Porridge and Jim Thirwell, along with a room dedicated to their work. In a major coup he secured the nyc date of The Young Gods, perhaps the biggest band to ever come out of Switzerland (except, say, for Krokus and, in some circles, LiLiPuT) in what was one of the initial dates of an international tour to support their newly released album 'Super Ready / FragmentÉ' released just a week before on Ipecac Recordings. The Young Gods made their name as electro pioneers in the 80's, one of the first rock acts ever to make it without guitars. Ironically, today they are predominantly acoustic and fronted by three guitars. Their music is hypnotic and lush trance-folk. At time they utilize unconventional instruments from toys to unplugged amplifiers to, what looks to me like, a hibachi. I've picked three songs: 'Charlotte' - a gallic ditty; 'Gardez Les Esprits/Ghost Rider' - an epic mash-up of one of their own best known songs with the Suicide classic, perhaps in a tribute to NYC; and 'She Rains' - an ambiguous meditation that showcases Al Comet's sitar-guitar. Lizzi Bougatsos of Gang Gang Dance was one of the artists featured in Georg's exhibit and so, after The Young Gods - as the final act of the final show of the Final Concert Series - came I.U.D. which is a collaboration between Lizzi and Sadie Laska. Both of them pound drumkits, and Lizzi vocalizes. In the words of the program, "I.U.D. harnesses the sounds of tribal drumming and ethereal hymns and transform them into an atmospheric, sometimes chaotic, sometimes harmonious wall of sound." I had to leave for another show early in their set but here you have the second and third pieces in their set - which I hope I have correctly titled - 'Sun City' and 'Ghetto Spear'. http://punkcast.com/1179/ Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1179 I've noted before that when club bookers, who see hundreds of bands, go nuts over an act it's usually worth paying attention. In this case it's Xiaoting Luo who books The Annex and the band is Generals and Majors, an amalgam of some of the best NYC rockers in recent years fronted by what appears to be a cross between Gene Vincent and Sylvester Stallone. They are certainly all hopped up and ready to go. I've picked three songs from their hell-for-leather set - 'Waiting For The Kill', 'New York City', and the crazy closer 'Drink From My Cup'. http://punkcast.com/1178/ Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1178 The Homosexuals, mainly in the persons of Bruno Wizard and Anton Hayman, were London post-punk pioneers. Formed from the ashes of punk band The Rejects in 1978 they proliferated DIY projects on their own and other labels over the next few years, never hanging around long enough to be pigeonholed, before disappearing into the ether. Bruno Wizard re-appeared in 2004 for a short East Coast tour, including a sold-out show at NYC's Knitting Factory, and a comprehensive retrospective album 'Astral Glamour' was released. Now, in 2007, he's ready for another go round, and has recruited NYC band Imaginary Icons to back him. This show was a sneak preview of what is to come when they tour in October. It's always a bit of a jawdropper to see someone from the executive side take the stage (think Gerard Cosloy with GG.Allin) so I was surprised to see that the II's include Tom Hyland aka Tom Dash on bass. They did an excellent job of supplying a scratchy post-punk-funk foundation for what Bruno - who does have the demeanor of a manic magician, maybe combined with Patrick McGoohan in 'The Prisoner' - deemed a Homosexuals 'greatest hits' set. I've picked two songs, the aforementioned 'Astral Glamour' and the epic 'You're Not Moving (The Way You're Supposed To)'. http://punkcast.com/1171/ Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1171 I started paying attention to the Screaming Females back in April after Jim Testa named them the most exciting new NJ band in 10 years. I had to wait til midsummers day before they eventually showed up at Cake Shop on the third night of an extensive national tour to promote their second album. I too was impressed. The band is a trio. They are a band of contradictions. Generally very tight, they are occasionally almost jazzily loose. They mix raving queercore and indie awkwardness with fluid blues riffing and solos. While the rhythm section appear to be a couple of regular college dudes, fronting on guitar and vocals is a dimunitive minx with an overgrown Herman Hermit haircut. See for yourself.. The three songs here are 'Mothership', 'Theme Song', and 'Sports'. http://punkcast.com/1166/ Tue, 3 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1166 Back in 2005, when I first shot Brakes for PUNKCAST#854 I learnt that the drummer and guitarist - the White brothers - were also in The Electric Soft Parade. While unfamiliar with that band what I noticed was the reverence with which cognoscenti mentioned the name. They were obviously something special, and it gave immense kudos to Brakes that such illustrious musicians should forsake their own project to partake. After waiting over a year and a half to see what the fuss was about, I was finally rewarded when 'The Freewheelin' Tour' rolled into Maxwells in Hoboken. This trek, in which the bands covered 7000+ miles playing 16 dates in 17 days, comprised of Brakes - now known for USA purposes as BrakesBrakesBrakes - headlining, Brooklyn up-and-comers Pela - who's label Worlds Fair organized the outing - 2nd on the bill, and The Electric Soft Parade - who have a new record "No Need To Be Downhearted' out on the LA label Better Looking Records - in the opening spot. One can be sure that by the time they reached Maxwells they were all well locked in. I discovered that ESP have their own moonlighting pop star in the form of drummer Mathew Priest, from the very popular 90's UK band Dodgy. It's hard to express just how good ESP are - fortunately I don't have to as the clips below will amply illustrate. Think the Beatles meet Radiohead with Floydian overtones. I give you 3 songs: the jaunty 'Cold World'; 'Have You Ever Felt Like It's Too Late?' which is from the new album; and the epic 'Everybody Wants'. Pela are four young Brooklyn Joes who put heart and passion into their music, which is mostly upbeat with dense lyrics. The songs here are 'Tenement Teeth', 'Cut Your Names' - which funnily enough employs the same riff that Brakes made their own on their cover of CVB's 'They Shut Us Down' and Pela lend some Eamon-like vocal mannerisms to, and the optimistic 'Your Desert's Not A Desert At All'. Apparently Pela's drummer is originally a Jersey boy and loud local contingent turned out to cheer him along. Brakes Brakes Brakes mix it up a lot in their sets. There are songs that last a matter of seconds. There are political savagings. There are wistful love songs. There are cracking covers. It would be very easy to select the latter, but I liked the songs off the new album. The title track 'Beatific Visions' evokes the ecstasy of fresh love, 'On Your Side' is a country stomper about communication, and finally the crowd pleaser, featuring novel headwear, "Porcupine Or Pineapple" is about the ephemerality of disputes. http://punkcast.com/994/ Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#994 Yula Be'eri is well known as the alluring bass player with World Inferno/Friendship Society (see them in PUNKCAST#252). She also has her own band NaNuchKa, a gypsy-jazz power-trio, who I'd become aware of after they played Death Disco NY in 2005. This, on the 2006 summer solstice, was the coming out do for their self-released CD 'A Carefully Planned Accident'. It was grand party, with not only music, but enough sumptuous middle-eastern food to feed the entire crowd. Before Nanuchka went on everyone tried to squeeze into the basement where Jack Terricloth played with a crazy NJ band called Thackeray's Victims. Then it was on to the main event. Yula is as good a singer as a bass player, which is saying something. Unfortunately somehow my audio recording of the vocals got screwed up, so the only example I can give you here is when Jack T., having noted that Yula would not be joining WI/FS for their forthcoming tour, got up and joined her in a duet of 'Dream A Little' - the band being quiet enough that one can hear them. Otherwise I give you the two instrumentals they played: 'Oh Yeah Says' - on which they were joined by Peter Hess on clarinet; and the closer - 'Arabic' - on which they were joined by Tzafrir Lichtenstein on handdrum. Tzafrir a man of many talents being not just a musician but also responsible for the wonderful food. In the way that things go none of these tunes are in fact on the CD, but I still recommend you pick up a copy if you can. http://punkcast.com/1142/ Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1142 Sometimes everything goes smoothly with the punkcasting, and sometimes not. This would be one of the latter. First, arriving at Studio B in fair time for this - the first major showcase of this extremely hot Brooklyn band - I discovered I'd left my audio recorder behind. This resulted in a frantic cab dash to Manhattan & back to pick it up, but I was up and shooting by the time the band hit their second song.. Then, secondly, after editing the whole thing down and encoding etc, I accidentally wiped it all from my hard drive. Thankfully I had a copy of the DVD I'd made for the band, so I was able to rescue it, albeit at slightly reduced quality. I think you'll agree that nevertheless the results are worth the effort. A&A, like Semi Precious Weapons (featured in PUNKCAST#1142), are part of fresh surge of glorious glam in NYC. While SPW are coming from rock'n'roll, Apes & Androids are a deal more progressive and theatrical. They employed different lighting schemes and props for just about every song at this show, which was a Four Eyed Monsters DVD release party hosted by popular DJ twins Finger On The Pulse. Here I give you the first three songs after I got the camera rolling: 'Hot Kathy', the nearest thing to a hit the band has right now, features a spectacular keyboard solo; 'Nights Of The Week' - for which the lights went down and rainbow glo-sticks were handed out to the entire crowd; and 'Put Your Hands Up' - for which the audience were joined by the band's own team of incredibly good-looking cheerleaders. http://punkcast.com/1151/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1151 The Jammyland All Stars have found a new venue for their occasional jams with reggae veterans - Rockys bar in Williamsburg. A venue that, as I have remarked before, is not noted for formality. At a recent night Sammy Dread made a brief cameo and before he left, made a promise to return for a full session, of which this show was the fulfilment. Ira and the band had made sure to do their homework and fired off rhythm after rhythm of Sammy's classics. Sammy, majestic and immaculately natty, fielded everything they threw at him with panache, a smile on his face, and a Guinness in his hand. He effortlessly showed why his singing is ranked on a par with the greats of reggae. It is his lot to mostly work in the dancehall these days and he was obviously delighted to be back in a rub-a-dub environment. He often wheeled up the songs to says so, as you will see in the clips. We have the second go-round of 'Come Back Darling' the cuss-cuss showstopper from his classic 1982 Channel one album 'Roadblock'- which I have to mention Pitchfork staff included in their 2005 Worst Record Covers of All Time list - and then his original 1978 debut hit 'African Girl'. http://punkcast.com/1161/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1161 Brian Chase is the one musician who, from his regular gig banging for the YYY's to tabla with Oakley Hall, to seriously weird experimental music, has appeared more often on Punkcast than any other. Here we see him again in the experimental mode, slightly more jazzy this time, in a duo with Seth Misterka, who we've also recently seen on Punkcast with Sexy Champions, at Cake Shop. They played three pieces of which this is the second. The rubber gloves and Chinese good luck money that cover the stage were left over from the previous act. http://punkcast.com/1156/ Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1156 We already noted in PUNKCAST#1159 that TV On The Radio maintain contact with the Brooklyn scene, but Kyp Malone, who is originally from Seattle, also has roots in San Francisco where he played in bands at the end of the 90's. He's a definite aficianado of John Dwyer, a major character in that area. John, known for his stints with art-noise duo Pink & Brown and the maniacal Coachwhips, has also nursed another band over the years. OCS, sometimes known as Orinoka Crash Suite, originally a personal outlet, over four albums or so has graduated to full-blown status with its 2006 effort 'The Cool Death of Island Raiders' on Narnack. Kyp sings backup on the record, and, I suspect, is responsible for recruiting bandmate Dave Sitek to produce. When, in 2007, with a new DIY album 'Sucks Blood' out, they showed up in NYC for a few dates Kyp was right there to open up for them. On a Sunday night at the Cake Shop, I arrived just in time for Kyp's set. I got the camera going by the second song. Kyp, while softly spoken, takes no prisoners with his solo shows. His songs are highly metaphoric, emotional, zingers. I've picked 'Desperate Bitch' and the lengthy closer 'You Could Be Love'. The Ohsees, who eschewed the PA system to vocalize through their amps, are kind of hillbilly rager music as Dwyer trades vocals with Brigid Dawson, and guitar rhythms with Petey Dammit. Now, I'm not at all certain that I've titled the songs correctly (Please tell me if not). I've picked the enigmatic 'An Inquiry Perpetrated' and the tuneful 'Block Of Ice'. http://punkcast.com/1164/ Thu, 14 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1164 As a writer for the British music weekly NME in the punk years Chris Salewicz had ample opportunity to get to know The Clash. His down-to-earth sense of humor, broad taste in music, and strong penchant for reggae, rapidly earned him a spot in the band's inner circle. He continued to keep up with them through their ups and downs in the 80's and on. Now he has compiled much of his writings on Joe Strummer into a tome - 'Redemption Song - The Ballad Of Joe Strummer' for which he has been fortunate enough to score a major book deal with Faber & Faber, who duly flew him around the USA for readings. In NYC he eschewed the book stores in favor of Niagara, the East Village rock'n'roll bar that sports on it's exterior the mural that appears in the Redemption Song video itself. Chris read two pieces - the first one about the lesser known latter days of The Clash - the second and longer one about the glory days of the 'On Parole' tour. In his reading he revealed a remarkable talent for mimicry, accurately echoing all the members of the band and several interlopers, bringing howls of laughter from the crowd. His ear for the common and uncommon turn of phrase is what lends the book an immediacy us humble videographers can only aspire to. http://punkcast.com/1162/ Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1162 NYC hippie kid Josh Cheuse started taking pictures of The Clash in 1981 when he was 16 years old. Later he became one of their best buddies, touring with both Joe Strummer and Big Audio Dynamite. He photographed, tour managed, shot video, did art, designed sleeves, made videos - you name it. He also toured with other bands, and shot the early hip-hop scene in NYC. He's settled in recent years with a steady full-time gig as Art Director at Sony BMG. Recently he has found the time to make a book of a lot of those early photos, most never before seen. It's been published, in a limited edition, by clothing company StÜssy, who have also produced t-shirts with some of the pix. They've had Josh hauling off around the globe to do promotional signings, but here we see him doing one in a small downtown NYC bookstore. A lot of the many friends he's made over the years showed up to pay their respects, and grab a copy of this great book. http://punkcast.com/1160/ Sat, 9 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1160 One might think that Andy Bodor, who runs Cake Shop and books 4 bands a night, might become blasé about the music. Occasionally so, perhaps, but he also periodically gets totally knocked out by some of the performers. This happened a year or so ago with Standing Nudes, a blues-rock outfit out of Brooklyn. He'd extol their virtues to anyone who'd listen. Eventually they've got around to putting out a record, and he gave them a 3 week Friday night headlining residency to celebrate, of which this was the final night. Just recently a new group has bowled him over - a trio visiting from Denmark - Kirsten Kjester. Thus they were duly installed in an opening spot on this prestigious night. They put on a show that was hard to follow. Gentle indie pop grew intense and menacing then, via sonic freak out, ended with a party. I've picked two songs: 'River' from just over halfway, and the finale 'Kronprinz Frederik The Boat' where the audience partake as a cymbal stand. Given the job of following this was Lissy Trullie, a friend of the Nudes, with her band The Fibs. A lanky gamine tomboy with a casual ramshackle style that echo'd early 60's pop, and an engaging personality, Lissy pulled it off without a problem. I've picked the plaintive 'Billy' and the finale, a cover of Amy W.'s 'Rehab'. Then came the main feature. Standing Nudes are a five-piece that, to me at least, echoes the sound of the golden age of west-coast blues-rock. Sometimes spacey, ebbing and flowing with emotion, the music is dynamic, and played with precision and virtuosity. The songs are personal. I've picked the opener - See You Cry - when the sound was still settling down, and then 'Ghost Story' which is the title track of the band's new record. http://punkcast.com/1113/ Wed, 6 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1113 Although I've never posted video, Seth Misterka and Jennifer DeVeau, performing as Dynasty Electric Duo, have long been punkcast favorites. They have a healthy following in the far-east, where they've toured. A couple of years back they were recruited to portray the fictional band-next-door Sexy Champions for an MTV2 commercial. Fiction eventually became fact as they expanded to a full 6-piece line up and started playing out under the name. They've now recorded a demo and are ready to take on the world. Over the years there hasn't been a proper contender to take the crown of Blondie as NYC's top girl-fronted pop band, but Sexy Champions definitely have the potential. Perhaps they lack Blondie's alluring air of decadence though, their prime vice being cheap beer. We see them here having fun partying with their friends at a post-Valentines bash in the Newsonic loft in Brooklyn. I've picked two songs 'Don't Stay Away' and 'Girlfriend'. http://punkcast.com/1159/ Sat, 2 Jun 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1159 In the last couple of years TV On The Radio have scaled great heights of achievement and popularity, and toured widely. But they haven't lost their roots in the Brooklyn arts and music world. This was supposed to be a show for Tunde's side project , with Alianna from We Regazzi, Hiki Jiki at the Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg. Alianna was, however, unable to make it. Tunde nevertheless soldiered on alone, giving us a unique acapella performance, which included the TVOTR classic 'Young Liars' (first clip) and finished with a new, to me at least, song called 'Amethd' (2nd clip). http://punkcast.com/1150/ Sat, 26 May 2007 21:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1150 Shooting Shapes And Sizes was serendipitous, as I was able to catch them while on a pop-in to the Cake Shop between two other shows. I was unfamiliar with the band but found them a very pleasant experience. Hailing originally from Victoria on the Canadian left coast, they are now resident in Montreal. One imagines they are very at home there because, like many other of the local bands, they are peculiarly idiosyncratic. Their music, sparse and played with joyful precision, does not progress in straight lines, but rather zigzags haphazardly. Vocals are shared, with unpredictable harmonies. Lyrics are intricate, a little absurd. Melodies are almost Satie-esque at times. In my experience, one wants to hear it again and again while the brain figures it out, and it then sounds as natural as anything. I've put two songs here, with contrasting vocalists - the first is 'Head Movin'' - the second 'Highlife'. Both songs are from their brand new album on Asthmatic Kitty Records. http://punkcast.com/1148/ Sat, 26 May 2007 16:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1148 There's something oddly compelling about the singing of Dan Penta, who heads up Whisper Doll. It's a kind of gravelly mope with gregorian undertones. Arriving in NYC some years ago, performing under the name 'Cockroach Bernstein', he was adopted by the burgeoning anti-folk community, and supported the Moldy Peaches on their first US tour. From this there came an electric band Larval Organs that took his sound to new heights of grunge. After a hiatus he returned a couple of years ago and formed a new outfit which became a virtual supergroup of the current anti-folk scene, including as it did both of the Babyskins, and Amy Hills. At first it was called 'Cockroach' but, reflecting the warmth of the sound one imagines, which involved much harmony, the name was eventually changed to 'Hearth'. While that band is by no means, as far as one can tell, defunct, in 2007 we see yet another manifestation, and possibly the most effective yet - the stripped down hard rock trio that is Whisper Doll. Word got around fast after they did a heavy version of Diane Cluck's 'I'm your here I am' - a song punkcast viewers will be familiar with from #212 - at a couple of shows. I finally caught up with the band playing at the Cake Shop one Tuesday night. They didn't play that one, but plenty of other good stuff. The two songs here are 'Bundle Of Nerves' and the reggaeish 'Old Girlfriend' - a song that Hearth have recorded. http://punkcast.com/1149/ Fri, 25 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1149 A lot has been written recently about the power of myspace. Here is a good example. Quitzow asked to be my friend and, idly checking them out, I liked their style, and offered to shoot them for punkcast. I put them in touch with Jasper Coolidge, who books Pianos, and a show was duly booked. However after that things didn't quite go according to plan. On the appointed day the camera I took to the show decided to blow a fuse. This was a definite shame as they were opening for someone good, there was a great crowd, and they played a blinder. Jasper was suitably impressed, and gave them a return slot a week later so I could take another shot. At that show my camera worked fine but the band, facing a much less sympathetic audience, faltered a little. I sent them a copy, but we both knew they could do better, so nothing got posted. At last, months later, Jasper found space to give them a prime Friday night residency and I showed up for the first night. This time there was little or no crowd, except for the band's friends, and they put on a much more relaxed show, from which I've pulled the two clips here. Quitzow are named after the main figure Erica Quitzow, who composes, sings, and plays guitar and keyboards. She's accompanied by a drummer who runs backing tracks on an iPod and sings back-up. Apparently there was a cello player at one point. The songs are personal, quirky, with a definite 80's flavor. The two I've picked are of the less orchestrated variety. The first - 'Fish Hook' absolutely addresses the relationship of performer to audience, delicate as we've seen. The other 'Crying' is just a perfectly crafted tune. http://punkcast.com/1133/ Tue, 22 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1133 The pinstand goes way back with Luscious Jackson. Guitarist Gabby Glaser actually came to the UK and toiled at Better Badges. (In 1981 or 1982, I can't quite remember.) As the pinstand went online in 1995 LJ were one of the first bands, through their connection with the Baesties' Grand Royal label, to have an online presence. Their performance at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1998 was an early webcast we watched keenly at punkcast HQ. We were sorry to see them call it a day in 2000, Grand Royal itself following in 2001. Now, six years later, we are seeing a flurry of activity. Not only has a "Greatest Hits' album been released, it was announced that the band are working on a new kids album, Gabby has a new band and an album recorded, and singer Jill Cunniff has put out a well received solo abum 'City Beach'. Jill has also been out playing shows and I finally managed to catch up with one at Southpaw in Brooklyn's Park Slope, apparently now her home neighborhood. Jill played early on the bill, and was accompanied by Singh Birdsong - just the two of them on acoustic guitars and vocals. Singh is himself an LJ veteran, having played keyboards in the last year or so of their existence. The early hour allowed fans as young as 10 years old or less to catch the show, and they eagerly lined the front of the stage and listened with rapt attention, especially as the late night crowd drinking and talking at the bar didn't make things too easy to hear. Jill started and finished with songs from the new album - I've selected the airy 'Warm Sound' as the first clip here, and went on an excursion through some LJ favorites in the middle of her set - you get the wonderful rap-alicious 'Naked Eye' as the second clip. http://punkcast.com/1147/ Tue, 15 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1147 Despite being the nexus of the Brooklyn scene that has transformed the culture of NYC, and elsewhere, over the last few years, and home to countless rock and art shows, Williamsburg had never had it's own official fashion show. Artur Arbit and Secret Project Robot decided to remedy the situation and inaugurated 'The Williamsburg Fashion Weekend' to take place on the first weekend of May 2007. Due to other commitments I missed the first night, on which local boutiques Treehouse and Sodafine joined forces to present multiple designer's work in the form of something called "Cherry Blossom Circus", after which Trisha Mcbride presented her designs by means of a psychedelically lit belly dancing performance. Arriving fashionably late on Saturday I was mortified to find I'd also missed the presentation of Artur Arbit's 'King Gurvy' line, which involved two bands - one of boys - one of girls - performing alternately while clad in his somewhat bizarre designs, playing psyche classics by such as Hawkwind and Amon Duul. As I got over my disappointment by swallowing some of the Sangria thoughtfully provided by Daddy's bar, the entire crowd emigrated into the Live With Animals gallery next door where some designers had created an elaborate set for a performance called 'Maypole'. Dressed in costumes reminiscent of Alice In Wonderland they recreated the traditional May dances from "a time with less complicated dating practices, where girls and boys would dance around the celebrated maypole to see who loved who." By the time this was done I was ready to shoot, and got the camera out for the final show, which paired the designs of Mandate of Heaven, whose clothes are almost exclusively composed from recycled vintage fabrics, with the very fresh sounds of Paige Wood and her group. This was probably the most straightforward of all the presentations, but was still highly informal. Eschewing a catwalk, Secret Project Robot had erected a couple of platforms at the side of the performance space out of flight cases. A series of devastatingly pretty girls clambered up and pirhouetted on one, and then the other, as the crowd applauded wildly. At the conclusion all of the models started dancing and the crowd joined in. The video here is that entire presentation. http://punkcast.com/1136/ Tue, 15 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1136 It's hard to believe that, since we first saw her in PUNKCAST#529, Julia Haltigan has yet to put out a record. But she has 1) had a very popular version of 'Boots Of Spanish Leather' included on Drive-Thru's 2005 'Listen To Bob Dylan' comp, and 2) acquired a hot band - The Hallelujah Peddlars. She's also developed a bluesy lilting almost Kurt Weill-ian style that is remarkably adult, even when she sings, as on the quaintly titled 'Blowin' Up My Baby With Dinah Off The Roof With Her Helmet Gone' about her childhood (first clip). The elegant 'All I Can Think Of Is You' (2nd clip) is simply charming. Hopefully an album is not far off. http://punkcast.com/1135/ Tue, 15 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1135 The last Thursday ever at Tonic, and, at last, it's the release party for Other Passengers long awaited album 'We Are All Other Passengers', a good two years in the making. Tonic had it's official last night, with the much more formal John Zorn, the next day, so for the rock crew this was basically the last hurrah, and OP saw us out in style. Rejoined for the first time in well over a year, since PUNKCAST#863 in fact, by guitarist Travis Davey, and lit wonderfully as always by Berkoy, they finished off their set with a brand new epic 'Had Um Down' which is the clip here. http://punkcast.com/1130/ Tue, 15 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1130 In it's auspicious history the NYC experimental music mainstay Tonic has seen the debuts of many groups that have gone on to world fame. This night, two weeks before the suddenly announced closing of the venue, was probably the last such occasion. Making it's first appearance anywhere was School of Seven Bells, a new band formed by Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines, from whom he'd announced his departure earlier in the month, much to the surprise of many. While a major feature of the new outfit are the twin vocals of Alejandra and Claudia Deheza of On! Air! Library! - live it turned out bass/electronics wizz James Elliott and drummer Joe Stickney were just as impressive. Benjamin is known for his wide echoey guitar sound which was much in evidence. It's hard to describe the overall sound, it's a kind of monster hypnotic rush, while the vocal harmonies have a distinctly medieval tint. I remember thinking, as the sound woofed up through Tonic's famously leaky roof to the newly built garish condo building next door, that it sounded like the soundtrack to some kind of intense wiccan ritual, ominous yet celebratory. Here is the final song of the set, the lengthy 'Sempiternal'. http://punkcast.com/1140/ Tue, 8 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1140 The vanishing voice in this case is James Jackson Toth aka Wooden Wand. While newly releasing an album 'James and The Quiet' on Ecstatic Peace! he has ceased fronting Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice, who will apparently henceforth be only known by the acronym WWVV. He does continue, however, as a sideman in the band. Vocal duties are thus left to the girls, mainly Jessica Toth but also Heidi Diehl, and the odd interjection from G. Lucas Crane, who punkcast viewers might be familiar with as the science officer on spaceship Dufus. He's still in there with his crazy tape twiddling and, on the band's epic finale 'Star Bellied Boy' (4th clip), you will also hear him blow some mean trumpet before a lengthy WW guitar riff takes the thing into the next dimension. Prior to that, the mantric 'I Am The One I Am' (3rd clip) is more down-to-earth with a distinct native american flavor. Rounding out the band are Steve Jarvis and Pete Nolan. The latter also appears in GHQ, their tourmates, who opened. GHQ have been described as appalachian ragas for the drone set. The band includes Pete's fellow Magic Marker Steve Gunn, plus Marcia Bissett of Double Leopard. Marcia's odd metallic tonalities lend a definite otherworldly air to the music. They opened with the bluesy 'Seven Sisters' (1st clip) before moving onto the more trancelike material, such as 'Desert Panther' (2nd clip). http://punkcast.com/1141/ Fri, 4 May 2007 20:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1141 As one of the leading lights on NYC's thriving indie-pop scene The Besties have long been on my list of bands to shoot. However one way or another I've missed them over the years, partly because they have a tendency to play obscure parties in Brooklyn lofts. Finally a rare visit by Michigan's Icicles brought them out of the woodwork after a 5 month hiatus, bearing a brand new 7 inch no less. The Icicles also have a new CD out, which is no doubt what led to their current trek. Onstage they have the collective mien of a bunch of kindergarten teachers. The songs are mostly love ditties. A solid rhythm section sandwiches a layers jangly rhythm guitar and 60s style stringy organ. The icing is three part harmony vocals. The cherry on the top is the sparse picking lead of recent addition Rebecca Rodriguez, who is also an absolute pleasure to watch as she interrupts her slinky move with self-conscious smiles directed at the band. I've picked their hit from last year 'Sugar Sweet' (first clip) which they dedicated to the Cake Shop itself, a venue they reminded us NYCers we are lucky to have. The Besties are a deal less twee, more down to earth. they are noted for their well crafted songs. Their sound, with a recently added drummer, is piano vs organ, with sweetly distorted guitar lines. The two girls in the band trade vocal duties, with a distinct early 60's tint. 'Zombie Song' (2nd clip) is a crowd favorite, given an updated treatment, while 'Man Vs Wild' (3rd clip) is brand new - a girl vacillates on her newly single status. http://punkcast.com/1129/ Thu, 3 May 2007 04:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#1129 Until buying his book 'White Bicycles' last year I only knew of Joe Boyd as one of the proprietors of UFO - the London venue that, back in the 60s, spawned the UK psychedelic underground - and also for his tremendous early 70s Hendrix documentary. Reading the book I discovered that he, a Jersey boy, has had a remarkable career. Particularly in the 60s he was constantly in the front line of the musical developments that radicalized my generation: tour managing Muddy Waters' european visits; running the stage upon which Dylan went Electric; producing the Pink Floyd's first record; forming Cream; running the aforementioned UFO club; establishing the entire UK folk rock genre - these are a few of his achievements. The book itself is pretty self-effacing. Joe implies that, blessed with a good set of ears, he just went along with the flow. A little more levelheaded than the talents of the day, he naturally fell to administration. Much success followed. In many cases only for the fruits to be co-opted by sharper businessmen, often inadvertently aided by Joe himself. The premise of the book, which we here see Joe reading from at the Soho McNally Robinson bookstore in NYC, is that the 60's started in 1956, when the arrival of Dick Clark's sanitized version of rock'n'roll created an underground consciousness which clung to its gritty roots of blues and folk for sustenance; peaked on July 1 1967, with a cathartic performance by the group Tomorrow at UFO; and petered out in 1973, as oil embargoes, inflation, etc starved out the last of it's hedonistic anarchistic lifeblood. The first clip below is the entire reading, in which he revisits those early days of the 50's, reminisces about the Pink Floyd, describes the peaking, and then tells the tale of that famous Newport Folk Festival when Dylan broke all the rules. It's a sizable download but well worth it. I've added a couple of shorter clips for tasters: 'Interstellar inspiration' is a typical anecdote, not included in the book, about how Joe inadvertently supplied the spark for a psychedelic masterpiece. 'Revolution' tells the tale of that 'Tomorrow' show that was, in his opinion, the apex of the period, and how it gave him the book's title. http://punkcast.com/1121/ Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1121 There was much disappointment when Brooklyn was deprived of seeing hometown heroes Radio 4 play the Jan 31 final show at North Six when Con Ed cut the power a day early. When they were eventually rescheduled to play Studio B, and Swedens hot outfit Teddybears added to the bill we were mollified, and the show was an absolute cracker. There are similarities between the two bands, in that both haave come from hard roots - Radio 4 from punk, and Teddybears from metal - to become dancefloor heroes. The Teddybears even crossing over with the recent blockbusting 'Punkrocker' with Iggy Pop. R4 played first. They have molded their set into the equivalent of a beat-matched dj mix, that flows without a break. I've picked a song from the middle 'Shake The Foundation' - political, as ever, from their recent album 'Stealing Of A Nation' (first clip). The Teddybears are basically a trio, two guitars and dj/electronics. They come out dressed in suits and massive teddybear heads, an impressive sight. They are augmented by two drummers, video projectrions, an MC, and a pair of singers, one male who handles the reggae oriented material like 'Cobrastyle', the other a female who covers for their recording collaborators Neneh Cherry and Iggy Pop on songs like 'Yours To Keep' and 'Punkrocker'. The latter, the climactic closer of their set, is my second clip. http://punkcast.com/1132/ Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1132 K8 Hardy: Susanne wanted to come over to New York and play and I wanted to make that happen. I thought it would be amazing to pair her with the Lesbians on Ecstasy from Montreal. Then I wanted to raise the bar because women and queers always play in venues with shit sound and shit resources and settle for less than what should be expected. Todd P helped me out by getting us in the door at Studio B. It all fell in place and I felt that musically Telepathe really broadened the spectrum. Everyone who played has an experimental and promiscous edge with strong sexual politics. Getting JD from Le Tigre to dj basically made the night kick ass. It was a feminist frenzy and that's hard to find in this uber-capitalist city. It's also hard to maintain. http://punkcast.com/1062/ Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1062 When it comes to shows there are few more more flexible in approach than Ari-Up of The Slits - famous for her impromptu presentation which often involves recruiting vocalists and musicians straight out of the crowd, or Brooklyn promoter Todd P, who creates great events in the most off-kilter surroundings seemingly out of thin air. So, when the two of them got on the same page for the Panache Non-CMJ showcase in 2006, it was bound to be an adventure. True to form, although the date appeared in the Slits' intinerary and Todd's listings the venue wasn't announced til a dozen days before the event. Having played a handful of shows in Europe the Slits were on their first US Tour in 25 years. Original members Ari-Up and bassie Tessa Pollitt were augmented by two guitarists - the exhibitionist No and the enigmatic Adele, backup singer Holly (daughter of Paul) Cook, and excellent german drummer Anna. They'd launched CMJ earlier in the week with a sold-out show at the Knitting Factory. The Panache showcase was to be a Todd P extravaganza with 10 bands, from Shellshag to Erase Errata, alternating on two stages at a warehouse on Scholes St in Brooklyn. At 6pm on the day word went out that the venue had to be changed, it would now happen at Starr Street - a nearby community arts center. By the time I got there, fashionably late, the cops had already arrived and shut the place down. Typically unfazed, Todd had got on his cell and arranged to bunk in with the HOSS Records showcase happening five blocks away at the popular and sizable Syrup Room. The entire assembly, bands and crowd - a few stragglers did get lost - made their way by vehicle and foot and then squeezed into an already packed show just in time to be dazed by the headliners, Baltimore experimental music wizzes WZT Hearts (First clip). The WZT's were prevailed upon to leave their gear onstage and, without much further ado The Slits hit. Ironically, Ari, who had complained bitterly about the sound at the Knit, had little problems here, although the soundman had never heard of the band! The crowd was also much younger and going wild. In 'World Of Grown-Ups', a song off Ari's solo album 'Dread More Than Dead', the band alternated between punk and reggae to rev things up (Second clip). Later, to calm things down they played 'Animal Space' - an existential number off the rare 'Return Of The Giant Slits' LP - that showcased Holly's vocal talents (Third clip). Dennis Brown's classic 'Revolution' gave Ari the excuse, to cheers from many of the students present, to call NYU 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman up onto the stage where, after a little adjustment they together let rip on an extended part 2 version (4th clip).. The band's finale was a raucous rave-up of the old Peel Session song 'Vindictive'. Ari wouldn't leave the stage easily, however, repeatedly declaring her adoration for the borough of Brooklyn, her second home.. The crowd recouped while a bunch of rappers 'Living With Animals' took the stage, and then, despite the late hour, it was back into it for Erase Errata. It has to be said that EE were well sleepless. They had flown in from London on the red-eye earlier in the day, dragged themselves through two venues, drunk numerous beers, etc, and were struggling with unfamilar gear. Nevertheless they absolutely shredded, evidence of which can be seen on the song 'Hotel Suicide' (clip 5). No doubt they wished they actually had a hotel to suicide in... Altogether tho, this was one of those great shows that anyone who attended will remember fondly the rest of their life. http://punkcast.com/1134/ Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1134 Brooklyn female musical collective Effi Briest are named after a 19th century German fictional anti-heroine, a victim of circumstance whose spirit nevertheless survives intact. As one might expect, though joyfully played, there is an undercurrent of melancholy in their music. There have been comparisons to early Siousxie, but it's primitive animism is as evocative of late period Slits. Still a comparatively young band they are definitely evolving their own identity. Playing at the opening of 'in the end, the endless line' - a group art show at Secret Project Robot - the buzz was evident and they pulled a big crowd. The original Effi's misfortune was to be forced into an unsuitable marriage, and then adultery. Appropiately, Newly-Weds Song - the band's opening number, a cover of the late native-american jazzer Jim Pepper and written by his dad - is a declaration of desire directed at just such a person in just such a situation (first clip). Despite the occasional howl of feedback from the PA, the last song of the set 'Mirror Rim' (second clip) with it's dubby drum and bass, skinny reggae guitar, backwards acoustic guitar, accordion, syncopating percussion, chanting vocals, seems a fair indication of where the band is headed. http://punkcast.com/1131/ Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1131 Years ago now, the old Mighty Robot was the heart of the Williamsburg art rock scene. Since promoter Fitz's departure to Berlin it has moved location, changed name, and pursued art more than music, hosting a series of exhibits by local artists (including a punkcast one last year). So here, unusually, we were gathered on a Monday night for a musical event. The performers, fresh from SXSW and a stint on the left coast, were a peculiar Japanese girl duo called Kiiiiiii. K and 7 i's in case you were counting. For more info I refer you to the excellent assay by W. David Marx : "Kiiiiiii is not merely two girls making music, but the full-body realization of a nifty concept: two 13-year-old American girls in the suburbs (think DJ and Kimmy from Full House) rocking out in their room to an imaginary audience while playing imaginary instruments. In accordance with this theme, u.t. and Lakin' litter the stage with colorful streamers and stuffed animals and never directly address those watching, nor even speak in Japanese. In a time when punk itself has become a bloated and cliched genre, Kiiiiii have boiled punk down to its most essential parts: just drums and vocals. And a crocodile puppet." As well as the strewn stuff, they had plastered SPR's walls with little felt constructs, mostly of animals, and a large 'THE PARTY'S HERE!' sign. The girls themselves were dressed in brightly colored nighties. While the performance was slapstick, the songs were clever, and sung with interesting harmonies. http://punkcast.com/1102/ Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1102 'I can't pay the rent but I'm fucking gorgeous.' - the opening line of 'garage glam heroes' Semi Precious Weapons eponymous opener, was enthusiastically sung along to by the eagerly massed fans - the Kunty Krew we shall call them - as the band swung into their headlining spot at NYC's Rebel Club. Later it was revealed that some of the crowd, who had driven all the way from Massachusetts, were genuinely homeless, having just been evicted. Singer Justin Tranter welcomed them as kindred souls, until he learnt they still had jobs.. For SPW there is no compromise, they are 100% committed to rock'n'roll, and not just any rock'n'roll, but the hard rocking glam that ruled the early 70's. Playing NYC's Death Disco in late 2005 they succeeded in recruiting Glam eminence grise BP Fallon to the cause, and he in turn has enlisted Tony Visconti, who produced Bowie's classics, to record them. So, while the band at present remain unsigned, there's not a lot of doubt that rent money and more will soon heading in their direction. In the second clip 'Rock'n'Roll Was Never So Beautiful' you'll hear the crowd singing along all the way. Openers Fur Cups For Teeth are absolutely as glamorous, but less impecunious. They all have healthy day jobs, which in some ways is a shame because if they had, a couple of years ago when they released their catchy electro-political debut CD 'Addicted 2 Fur' to much acclaim, and were being compared to Le Tigre, toured and promoted themselves they'd be pretty big already. Particularly since they are always spectacular onstage, wearing different matching themned outfits every show, and utilizing a panoply of household objects as instruments. Instead they stuck to their guns - playing NYC art parties - and, recruiting the Dead Betties' drummer, reverted to their punk rock roots. They did become a fixture at BP Fallon's Death Disco, hence their appearance here. In keeping with the circus atmosphere of playing a major rock showcase, they dressed as leopards and burst onto the stage through a paper hoop. Wild animals are an issue with FCFT and the first song dealt with the plight of the Buffalo, and I've also included the cheerleader rap hit off the CD - 'Mystery Train'. http://punkcast.com/1087/ Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1087 With Oakley Hall moved up to touring, The Woods have replaced them as the Graham Ave drinking man and woman's band of choice. Broke Revue refugees Brad Truax and Bruno Meyrick-Jones are joined by comic artist Leslie Stein and drummer Steve McGuirl. Their songs are poppish ditties, with a threatening grunge-blues undertow, often enhanced live by mystic lighting from the Mighty Robot A-V Squad. Occasionally, as in the clip here, that undertow bursts to the surface and the band blasts off into full-on psyche of almost Midnight O'Connoresque dimension, much to the delight of all. http://punkcast.com/1100/ Thu, 01 Mar 2007 04:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1100 Stolen Transmission is a happening label run by Ultragrrrl Sarah Lewitinn. She's already signed up our favourite UK trashers The Horrors, and I was sorry to miss her hot new signings The Oohlas when they blew through NYC in December 06, especially after I read rave reviews of not only that, but also their performance opening for Sean Lennon in LA. So I was very happy when, at a late juncture, they were slotted in as the first act on a Stolen Transmission show at The Annex in January, a benefit for pet charities Waggytail Rescue and Here Kitty Kitty. I was even further cheered to discover that, lacking a drummer, it would be an acoustic set. The show, despite the early hour on a Monday, was well jammed by the time the band hit. Interspersed with some rather ribald banter, they played just 4 songs of which these are the first two - 'Gone' and 'TV Dinner'. http://punkcast.com/1109/ Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1109 "The Council for the Fortieth Anniversary of The Summer of Love with Gavin Brown's enterprise opens and invites you to an exhibition of the world's most radical living papers from a time when the press took risks and voiced opinions. Celebrating the heyday of alternative magazine publishing in Europe and America, Gavin Brown's enterprise at Passerby opens an exhibition of more than two hundred original copies, as well as reproductions of these seminal and obscure publications, whose influence reverberates through culture, politics, and society. Covering politics, revolutions, evolutions of the planets, freak-outs, love-ins, support of green politics, gay liberation, power to the people, the peace parties, protests, the Panthers, peyote, LSD, pot, fiction, music, poetry, prose, prayers and more. Publications include: Actuel, Avatar, Berkeley Barb, Berkeley Tribe, Black Panther Papers, Digger Papers, Door, East Village Other [EVO], The Fifth Estate, Freep, Grabuge, Hobo-Quebec, International Times [it], Los Angeles Free Press, The Oracle, The Organ, Other Scenes, OZ, Rat, The Realist, Re Nudo, Rolling Stone, The Seed, Ann Arbor Sun. more." Curated by Eva Prinz, Dan Donahue, and Thurston Moore" http://punkcast.com/1099/ Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1099 It's been a long time since we've seen Kimya Dawson in these parts. Her family moved to Seattle a little while back, and then she's been busy infanticipating. Now, thanks to an invitation from The Tiny Masters of Today to join them in playing a big benefit for the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls in NYC, she's back in the neighborhood. This show was a Saturday afternoon warm-up for that, where they headlined over a couple of other up-and-coming teen acts in the lush confines of the Union Hall basement in Park Slope. It was crowded but not uncomfortable, with a healthy bunch of juniors in attendance. The Tiny Masters played a short set. For those not familiar they are a rocking pre-teen sibling duo that, joined by Russell Simins of JSBX on drums, have been tearing up the NYC scene in the last year. They have a big rep in the UK, with two singles released, and have already appeared on the cover of Artrocker mag. Kimya, who had only met them the day before, got up with them for their last number 'Book Song' (first clip). Then she went into her own set, which was mostly old favorites, but she did come up with a new pregnancy-related ditty 'The Smoothie Song' (second clip) before inviting a couple of the younger members of the audience to come up and sing on the Antsy Pants kids lib anthem 'Henry Kelly' (third clip). Finally the Tiny Masters returned to join her for a finale of 'Loose Lips' (last clip). http://punkcast.com/1076/ Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1076 The first time I visited NYC, in 1980, the Bush Tetras were just about the hottest band going in the city. They had a corner on the rhythm and noise style of the day, plus three of them were attractive girls. Emerging out of the Ze Records punk/disco explosion, they were formed by Pat Place, the former guitarist with The Contortions/James White and The Blacks. The single 'Too Many Creeps' was already a hit, the fledgling 99 Records biggest ever, hitting the Billboard dance chart. Unfortunately, Ed Bahlman, who ran 99, refused to licence it, so the band remained a cult favorite in the UK, unlike, say, the later ESG which came out on Factory to much acclaim. The only way US bands could get a rep at home in those days was to crack the UK. The Tetras did get to visit as part of Ruth Polsky's package that played the Rainbow in Feb 81, and this led to a deal with UK indie Fetish. They recorded 'Things That Go Boom In The Night' (first clip) on that visit. The Clash were fans, and the Bush Tetras got to open for them, leading to a move to Stiff Records for a Topper Headon produced EP. But none of these labels really gave the band the push they deserved. Without a decent US deal, and as things turned to metal/hip hop in the late 80's, sadly, they eventually gave up. The flag was kept flying via a popular live cassette on ROIR. In the mid-90's they reformed at the behest of Henry Rollins, another fan, to make an EP - 'Page 18' (second clip) on Tim/Kerr records and compilations were released on ROIR and Thirsty Ear. CMJ commented "...15 years later, this stuff still sounds like the future." And indeed they were right as it wasn't for another 5 years that that post-punk funk w/jagged guitar sound became the vogue in Brooklyn and NYC, and then worldwide. But the buzz was sufficient that the band did score that major label release, the Nona Hendyx produced 'Beauty Lies' on Polygram. However they did then go back on hiatus, thus missing riding that post-punk wave when it did come. Finally, in 2005, with Julia Murphy stepping in on bass, the band revived, playing a SAVE CBGB's show with Ari-Up, and touring Europe, leading to recognition by a whole new generation of fans. I'd been waiting my opportunity to get a shoot of them, and a slot opening for their old pals Pere Ubu at the Knit delivered it. Enjoy! http://punkcast.com/1086/ Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1086 In 1972 I spent a few months in Cambridge (UK). It was an absurd time, and my life there was much like something out of a Lewis Carroll book, and included characters as diverse as Syd Barratt and Aaron Copeland. Appropiately anchoring the local music scene at the time was Henry Cow, an uncompromisingly experimental outfit who went on to be the first band ever released on Virgin Records. By the mid-70's the band had set a standard of intellectual non-conformity that inspired many others, such as This Heat, that laid the foundation for post-punk. So when I heard that Fred Frith, Tim Hodgkinson, and Chris Cutler, who, along with John Greaves, formed the core of the group, were playing NYC - the punkcast cam was there, especially considering this was the first time they had played together in something like 30 years. The occasion that had precipitated this historic encounter was the curation by the Downtown Music Gallery of a month of shows at The Stone, a storefront on Ave C dedicated to avant-garde music under the auspices of John Zorn. In previous days other UK luminaries such as Lol Coxhill, (ex-Slit!) Steve Beresford, and Hugh Hopper had all appeared. But this night was one of the most keenly anticipated. The trio wanted no misunderstandings. "This is not Henry Cow!" declared Frith as the second set commenced, dedicating the session to absent fellow members. Then ensued a 50 minute piece of pure improvisation, an adventure of timbre and tempo. While the basic tools were regular instruments augmented by electronics, a wild array of devices were utilized to play them. Combs and brushes, a cloth, even a toilet chain, were applied to guitars that were tuned and retuned on the fly. A cliplamp's shade augmented a cymbal. A ball rolled around the inside of a hubcap. A whistle blew. Various metal objects were bowed. Etc. It was fascinating and curiously uplifting and the audience - there wasn't a spare square inch in the room - was totally rapt. The clip here is the encore, which Fred initiated with a loop of an inane cackle. http://punkcast.com/631/ Sat, 6 Jan 2007 02:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#631 It wasn't all the way nice and easy at this show, in the basement of Club Seho on NYC's Lower East Side. The room was so narrow that there was hardly room to set up the whole Jammyland All Stars, with keyboards for both Glen Adams and Vic Ruggiero, and fit a crowd in too. The club's disco system was utilized for the PA, meaning vocalists and keyboardists had trouble hearing themselves. Worst of all, for me, light on the band was restricted to one small spot which I managed to point in the general direction of the singer. Nevertheless all this was forgotten the moment Susan Cadogan hit the stage, well, floor, and swung into her opener 'Nice And Easy' - (first clip). When the music hits you feel no pain, as they say. Susan, a librarian from the UWI in Jamaica, is rightly known as the 'Queen of Lovers Rock'. Not just because of her Lee Perry produced hit 'Hurts So Good' - which was Top 5 in the UK in 1974, thereby establishing the style that took over that country in the late 70's - but because of the remarkable quality of her singing. I can only quote her Allmusic bio: "With a delicate voice that shimmers between childlike innocence and smoldering sexuality, Susan Cadogan's vocals were the perfect expression of lovers rock." This informal show, incredibly, was the first time she'd ever performed in Manhattan. That delicate voice did struggle against the circumstances and was almost inaudible during the first go round of 'Hurts So Good' but when, after switching microphones, Susan came back with an accapella part two, it was devastatingly effective - (second clip). Her friend Glen Adams, original keyboard player and composer for the Upsetters, punkcast viewers are familiar with from his first excursion with The Slackers two years before this. He played some of those wicked instrumentals for which he is known, but finished off the night, the band having been brought back for a second encore, with a song - 'Humble In The Jungle' (third clip) - that truly expressed the integrity of both these classic Jamaican musicians. Later in the month they both joined The Slackers for their Christmas show, and the following year toured Europe with them to much acclaim. http://punkcast.com/1079/ Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1079 We first saw microtonal guitarist/composer David First playing with Jean Smith as Book Of Common Gestures in PUNKCAST#965 where he dazzled with feedback pyrotechnics. So, when his band Notekillers played Tonic the punkcast cam was there. The Notekillers, out of Philadelphia, were a grunge-punk-jazz combo that had a brief if illustrious existence in the late 70's. Way ahead of their time, they might have disappeared into obscurity forever except for having gained a fan in Thurston Moore, who credits them as a seminal influence on Sonic Youth. Singlehandedly he inspired the band back to life a couple of years ago, and has released a CD on Ecstatic Peace! that is bringing them fresh acclaim. I've picked,'Papers' on which Shoko Nagai guests on keyboards. Visuals were supplied by Katherine Liberovskaya. http://punkcast.com/867/ Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#867 This show was a post-Katrina benefit for the excellent radio station WWOZ in New Orleans. And like that station it featured a diverse array of new music from the local community. I arrived late, just as Hexa were going into their act. One might think from their name that they are some kind of death metal crew, but nothing could be further from the truth - they are a happy party pop band. Due to them receiving a lot of airplay on WFMU at the time, there were plenty of rowdy revellers whooping it up in appreciation as they played. I've picked their single 'Trysting Girl' as a clip. In contrast, Behold... The Arctopus transcend death metal into a whole genre of their own - tech-jazz-metal. Their music owes as much to modern classical composition as it does to headbanging. Frequently turning on the proverbial dime, they issued a series pummelling angular mini-concertos that left the audience pretty much awestricken. The tune I've picked is 'Transient Exuberance'. http://punkcast.com/863/ Fri, 22 Dec 2006 21:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#863 Punkcast viewers were introduced to visualist Berkoy way back in PUNKCAST#478. She continued to illuminate Dub Trio for several more shows before discovering a new appropiate vehicle for her talents - Other Passengers, with whom she has consistently worked since. Seeing OP with Berkoy light is as much like going to some all-enveloping cathartic movie as attending a rock show, one suspends belief as it just sweeps over one in waves. Gothamist terms it 'Atmospherock'. The band spent the summer of 2005 recording an album, due out early 2007 on UK label Something In Construction, before escaping days before Katrina hit. In October they played a monthlong residency at Pianos of which this was the third show. As they then shed a guitarist this was the last chance to see the classic line-up. I've picked two songs - 'Wait In Line' and 'Credits'. http://punkcast.com/997/ Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#997 Like punk itself, punkcast has deep roots in the hippie heydays of the late 60's, when bands took r and b to new psychedelic limits. As the players grew older in the 70's music morphed in a couple of directions, one - hard metal and pompous prog, the other a softer more intellectual acid jazz. UK band Hatfield And The North are exemplars of the latter. Quirky, and with little compromise to commercialism, it has taken a long time, like 34 years, for the band to reach the USA. But on a midsummer Sunday in 2006, here they were, thanks to Bruce and Manny of the Downtown Music Gallery, playing across the road from CBGB, and the punkcast cam was there. They rewarded the assembled aficionados with two healthy sets of not only their own material but also a good dose of an associated band - Robert Wyatt's Matching Mole. Drummer Pip Pyle introduced a musical elegy for the recently departed Soft Machine saxophonist Elton Dean - ironic as Pip, a real character, is, sad to say, now no longer with us himself. I've picked 3 tunes: the upbeat - 'Finesse Is for Fairies'; the deity reproaching 'God Song' from Matching Mole; and, another hot instrumental from the Matching Mole catalog, 'Lything and Gracing'. http://punkcast.com/1060/ Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1060 Like Gang of Four, Forward, Russia are from Leeds, Yorkshire. They also share that band's slashing guitar sound, reggae-influenced basslines, and swinging disco throb. But that's where the similarities end - the singing is pure angst - the whole thing a crazed frenzy. Here we see them, 1pm on a Friday afternoon, playing at another of those great Brooklyn Vegan showcases during CMJ2006. The first clip is the song 'Seventeen' while the second is 'Fifteen Pt.2'. See drummer Katie fall off her stool at the end. http://punkcast.com/886/ Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#886 Rocky's bar aka The Local aka The Ship's Mast aka whatever in Williamsburg is a low key joint that has zero pretentions. Serious drinking and partying are the order of the day, everyday. So, on this day when label What's Your Rupture welcomed their new Swedish signees to their first ever USA show, and they wanted show them that we could rave it up like anyone, it was the chosen venue. I arrived late, after Cause Co-Motion had already revved up the crowd, to find Love Is All already underway. They are a high-powered outfit in their own right - a girl singer and a saxophone lending them a definite touch of the classic X Ray Spex sound. I had to thrust my way through dozens of spasmodically twisting dancers to get a shot. All the songs sounded like hits which, as we now know, they turned out to be. I've picked the current single 'Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up' as a clip. As a finale to the night, What's Your Rupture rolled out Bill Cosby And His Pudding Pops, a kind of dodgy label supergroup that only seems to appear on special occasions. They are raucous, shambolic, manic, and a hoot. For example, they have a dance song called 'The Totally Bananas'. I've given you two samples of the chaos: 'Gimme A Kiss' and 'Nah Dude'. http://punkcast.com/1081/ Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1081 Marc Camporeale is a mover and shaker in the Manhattan new media world, and a long time behind-the-scenes supporter of punkcast. So, when I heard his band was playing an Irish dive-bar on Times Square the cam was there. The band, Jahoodoo, rocks, occasionally revealing glimpses of psyche. The clip is a new song - 'Deeply Amsterdamned'. http://punkcast.com/1051/ Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1051 Back in the day, a good customer of the pinstand was one David Sutch aka Screamin' Lord Sutch. We made all the campaign badges for the electoral efforts of the Monster Raving Loony Party, on behalf of which he regularly ran for Prime Minister. Now that he's passed on, it was gratifying to hear one of his songs - Jack The Ripper - covered, in glorious style, on Halloween Saturday night at the very groovy MisShapes party at Don Hill's, as the opening number of current brit sensations The Horrors' first ever USA appearance. They made a good job of it, adding slinkiness and a definite peter gunn bassline. The Horrors themselves sound thoroughly authentically goth-1965. Their rep is mainly built on some hysterical NME coverage, and a Chris Cunningham directed video of the second song below 'Sheena Is A Parasite'. Endearing them further to us is the news that Nik Nik YYY is to produce their album. Singer Faris 'Rotter' Bagwan is known for his Fagin-like mannerisms. During the course of the show he made frequent sudden sallys into the crowd, warning all to keep their wits about them. Counsel he might himself have heeded as, famously, at a subsequent NYC show he encountered a fist or two in the process. http://punkcast.com/1065/ Sun, 3 Dec 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1065 During their existence, 1997-1984, the UK anarcho-nihilist group Crass never toured in the USA, much to the chagrin of many. They did, however, have roots in the NYC downtown art scene, and played 4 NYC shows early in their formational period. Quietly, 29 or so years later, another incursion into the 'Land Of The Free' has been taking place in the form of an art exhibit. 'Introspective' by Gee Vaucher, who did the majority of the radical collage art for which the band is famous, has a 2 month run at the Gavin Brown Passerby gallery in West Chelsea. As well as much of that classic Crass imagery, the show also includes some remarkable large portrait paintings, that take the hard-realism of her collage/illustation to new heights of color and texture. The crowning point was on this day when Crass-founder and polemicist Penny Rimbaud arrived to perform. Accompanied by noted Australian jazz sax/flutist Louise Elliott, this combo is the current incarnation of an ongoing post-Crass project called Last Amendment. While Louise blew, Penny read four pieces. All addressed the perfidy of the terror war, and the last - 'Methinks' - was a particularly searing attack on the purveyors, likening Bush and Bin Laden to Cain and Abel. The clip here is the second, which speaks directly to the nation. http://punkcast.com/1075/ Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1075 Teen punk rockers Outl4w have made a fair bit of a name for themselves in the UK over the last couple of years, and since releasing their DIY album 'Get In The Van' last summer, now seem to be hardening up a bit. Seen here is a new song 'Wasted', performed live during a recent tv shoot in japan. http://punkcast.com/1043/ Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1043 Be Your Own Pet, a teen band from Nashville TN, had a meteoric rise to fame back in 2004 when their debut DIY single became a radio hit in the UK. The band subsequently destroyed at CMJ and SXSW in the USA, Glasto and Reading in the UK. They had more record labels than haircuts, thru their own Infinity Cat to XL to Rough Trade, back to XL, and then Ecstatic Peace! in the USA. The album came out early in 2006. The founding drummer having quit to go to college, an even younger replacement was found and the band set out on an extensive road campaign. Here we see them on a friday night in Brooklyn, headlining over the Black Lips, typically tearing it up. The songs I've picked are that original hit, 'Damn Damn Leash' - an, um, relationship song - and 'Thresher's Flail' - the album's cryptic opener. http://punkcast.com/1028/ Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1028 Avengers, from San Francisco, had a brief but stellar career from 1977-1979, playing over 100 shows, including opening for the original Sex Pistols last show. They never, however, made it out of California. Since then the anthemic nature of their songs and the strong personality of singer Penelope Houston have made them enduring punk heroes, particularly to New York's own NY Rel-x, who cover more than one of their tunes (See Punkcast#25) - played regularly at CBGB's. So, when in 2006, a reformed Avengers with Ms Houston and original guitarist Greg Ingraham did finally make the trek across the country to play the hallowed shithole themselves, 27 years later, punks were coming out of the woodwork. They weren't disappointed, Avengers played a blinder - thrashing out 19 songs one after the other, including their hits, and a couple of great covers - the Stones' 'Paint It Black', and Beatles 'Money'. Penelope complained about New York magazine - they'd described her as 'spry', she would have preferred an adjective like 'ferocious'. With reason, as I think you'll see in the clips. I've picked two songs - the show's opener - "We Are The One" and the very popular "White Nigger". http://punkcast.com/1027/ Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1027 The recent closing of CBGB has concentrated minds very much on it's role as the nursery of punk and hardcore. What is less known, particularly outside NYC, is that for about half it's existence it has also housed an art gallery and basement lounge in the building next door. In keeping with Hilly's original intentions these have hosted all kinds of the promised 'other music for uplifting gourmands'. This particular Friday night was a good example. Next door in the main room a school of rock for kids was followed by a rare appearance by seminal SF punkers the Avengers, and downstairs in the gallery a benefit for punk writer George Tabb, lungs damaged by the WTC rescue activities, featured a reformed Reagan Youth. But the punkcast cam focused on the stage in the gallery itself, a show curated by Sami Jaffa, bass player of the NY Dolls, and headlined by his band Madjuana. First up was Lenny Kaye, grand seigneur of rock crit, who, in his role as guitarist in the Patti Smith group, would play on the club's mobbed final night just 5 weeks later. On this night a solo Lenny played a variety of songs from various epochs, including doowop (an alternative Gloria), folk-rock, 80's new wave, and - the subject of his recent tome - 30's crooners, in his opinion, the punk rock of their time, all attitude and amplifiers. He read an excerpt from the book - 'You Call It Madness:The Sensuous Song of the Croon' - about Bing Crosby before playing Bing's signature tune 'Where The Blue Of The Night (Meets The Gold Of The Day)' (first clip below). Then, dedicating the song to the recently passed writer David Walley, who gave him his own first break as music writer, he sang 'The Things You Leave Behind' (second clip below) - particularly poignant as we contemplated CBGB's doom . After Lenny left the stage, there was a flurry of activity, as vases of white roses were placed on every table. On the stage appeared first a bunch of chairs, and then a table draped with a Greek flag, upon which, a hookah, three bottles of Ouzo, and a bunch of glasses were placed. A gravelly voice introduced the band with instructions: 1) No plate breaking tonight 2) Rose petals to be thrown at the stage, and 3) Cash honorariums to be placed on the table. Ouzo was to be consumed with gusto with exclamations of "OPA!" The band, a 5 piece called MAGGES, then let off with a set of rowdy hellenic music which, as the ouzo was consumed, indeed led to many floral projectiles, and much "OPA" yelling, not to mention spontaneous dancing, as you will see in the third clip. As they note, even Sami drinks ouzo. Later their own dazzling belly dancer appeared and the band, taking a page out of Lenny's book, played some of their own 30's standards, including 'Miserlou', famously covered by Dick Dale (last clip). http://punkcast.com/1054/ Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1054 There's no question in my mind that the best CMJ shows this year were the non-CMJ shows run by Brooklyn Vegan and Todd P. Especially this one, giving us not only CSS downstairs, but also my first opportunity since Todd P's 2005 Prospect Park show to shoot Dave Deporis. Catching up with this remarkable but unassuming singer, who only has a couple of out-of-print live cd's to his name, and who appears infrequently, is no easy matter. But thoroughly rewarding when successful, as I think you will agree. I just had time to shoot two songs before going down for CSS: 'Mother Nature's Song' and 'Nostradamus'. The latter should/could be a veritable hit. You'll observe his trademark hesitancy in full effect in the clip. http://punkcast.com/1055/ Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1055 This was an afternoon showcase on the first day of CMJ 2006 curated by the popular Brooklyn Vegan blog site. The place was well jammed as it was CSS's only freely accessible club date during the week, and they played straight after Thunderbirds Are Now! Cansei de Ser Sexy, as you should know by now, are from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the name, Portuguese for I Got Tired of Being Sexy, is a quote from Beyonce Knowles. Feisty electro-pop dance punk. What surprised me, seeing them for the first time, was just how guitar oriented they are, with anything up to four guitars going at once. They rock out. Lovefoxxx is a great frontwoman, too. She never lets up, and dove into the crowd more than once. We have two songs here - 'Alala' which, rereleased the day after this show, is their new Sub Pop single - and the short set's finale, the popular 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above'. http://punkcast.com/1001/ Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1001 The package of Kiosk and Finally Punk that barnstormed across America in Summer 2006, while unnoticed by many, was nevertheless very likely the defining event of the year. Updating the girl-punk tradition of The Slits and Bikini Kill with the sass and slash of such as the YYY's and Gossip this bunch of crazy international DIY teens probably inspired every kid who came to see them to start their own band. Kiosk are a 'no-fi noise' trio from Sydney, Australia, who, lacking a local scene they could relate to, famously created one of their own. They have a style of their own too,as you can see on the clips here. When running full-tilt, as on 'We Don't Want You', they are practically hardcore, while 'Too Many Boyfriends' explores punk-scat. 'Fuck Dudes' their dialectical finale, asserted "Women and queers are where it's at today". Finally Punk are four girls from Austin, Texas. Defying all pigeonholing they rotate musical roles every song of their set. 'Missile', with it's memorable 'WHAT THE FUCK, MISSILE?' motif, opened and closed the set, first with a 'Hyped' version, and last with a 'Screwed' version. Inbetween were a series of cheerfully irreverent rave-ups concerning everything from penguins to peyote to pregnancy to 'Ein Zwei Polizei' - a scarper song inspired by an encounter with the German constabulary. http://punkcast.com/990/ Fri, 06 Oct 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST exhibit I'm doing a joint show with photog Lisa Corson at Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn starting this weekend. You can see some of Lisa's work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisacorson/sets/ I've made a reel to kick it off - a retrospective 2001 - 2004 which I've titled 'SHOOT FIRST - ASK QUESTIONS LATER' here's the line-up: HALF SEAS OVER - ART MAKES ME HORNY YEAH YEAH YEAHS - YEAH NEW YORK STIPPLICON - ROCK AND ROLL DUFUS - FUN WEARING UNDERWEAR JOE STRUMMER - TONY ADAMS ONEIDA - PRIVILEGE YEAH YEAH YEAHS - BLACK TONGUE EX MODELS - PINK NOISE TALLBOYS - STRANGE DAYS OUTHUD - DEAR MR BUSH... GHOST EXITS - FRIDAY NIGHT LIARS - I CAN BE VERY VERY VERY VERY CRUEL JAH DIVISION - HEART AND SOUL DUB SSION - I REALLY FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOU BLOOD ON THE WALL - OH BABY THE SECONDS - BABY TV ON THE RADIO - YOUNG LIARS COACHWHIPS - FITE W/MY HEART LES GEORGES LENINGRAD - LOLLIPOP LADY REVLON9 - SOMEONE LIKE YOU ENON - SEX BEAT EMILY MANZO/FAT BOBBY - PHASES OAKLEY HALL - VOLUME RAMBLER FIRST LADY OF CUNTRY AND THE CUNTS - BE REAL there'll be more.. secret project robot 210 Kent (entrance at Metropolitan and River St) L train to Bedford or J train to Marcy opening 7-10pm, Sat. 10/7 show runs through Sun., 10/29 http://secretprojectrobot.org/ http://punkcast.com/990/ Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#990-4 Awesome Color's rise to most-favored status in NYC since arriving from Ann Arbor has taken place over just a matter of months. Shows with local favorites such as Oakley Hall have helped, but it's the trio's simple raw energy and syncopating throb that have done the real damage. Engaging personalities and good songs haven't harmed the cause either. A Friday night at the Cake Shop, this was the the release party for their debut album on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, and the last small show before they went off across the nation opening for Sonic Youth and, no doubt, wider acclaim. On the song in the clip - 'Hat Energy' - they are joined by Matt Mottel of Talibam! on keyboards. http://punkcast.com/974/ Sun, 17 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#974 In the late 70's Vivien Goldman wrote for the UK weekly music paper 'Sounds'. As punk rock raged around her, she steadily and eruditely featured reggae, both the artists and philosophy. She went to Jamaica and formed a close relationship with Bob Marley, which continued when, after he was shot, he relocated to the UK to record the 'Exodus' album. Now she has gathered up some of her articles from the time, with plenty of further research, to write 'The Book Of Exodus' - the definitive story of how the 'album of the century' came to be. Here we see her doing a reading at the cosy Soho McNally Robinson Bookstore. http://punkcast.com/1034/ Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1034 After a lengthy sojourn on the left coast, HR, erstwhile singer with the Bad Brains, has returned to NYC for a spell. He has been popping up here and there, performing short acoustic sets. Cameraman Sean P. Murphy caught him at one such, opening for Harley's War at CBGB.Here we see HR performing the Brains' classic 'Leaving Babylon' with Harley himself helping out on drums. http://punkcast.com/1023/ Fri, 08 Sep 2006 02:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1023 Flipper are still trying to piss off their audiences, but are now so fondly loved it's nigh impossible. Especially with the general acceptance that they invented grunge, and the fact they are as disorganized musically now as when they started out 27 years ago. This was the opening date of a minimal north eastern that will culminate in them playing one of the final shows at CBGB's. As such there were the usual splutters and false starts, altho Bruce Loose seemed spryer than he did at the SAVE CBGB show a year ago. I've picked the political commentary 'End The Game' with its joyful "Fuck 'Em" chorus as the first song here, and the finale, the ever popular "Sex Bomb" where Bruce left it to the audience, and in particular a sex bomb of a girl, to provide the vocals, as the second. http://punkcast.com/1003/ Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1003 I actually became a fan of Kinnie Starr some years ago, back in the late nineties, when the internet was still young. Her sultry blend of folk, grunge, dub, hip-hop, and jazz styles was definitely endearing, not to mention her good looks and fierce streak of independence. On the rare occasion, however, that she ventured this far east from her native Vancouver, I never seemed to catch up with her. Then I lost track. Making movies and hijacked, I understand, to work with Cirque De Soleil, amongst other things. Recently she has resurfaced, and a new album 'Anything' is just out. She has played two or three NYC dates recently, both solo and as a trio. I caught up with the latter one night at Sin-e just in time to get the finale, the title track of her 2003 album 'Sun Again'. http://punkcast.com/965/ Mon, 21 Aug 2006 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#965 When I arrived at this show, a Sunday afternoon affair at the Union Docs artist co-operative, I had never heard of Mecca Normal. How, I can't imagine. A duo based in Vancouver, they've been going 25 years, and had records out on every major indie, from K Recs, to Matador, to Sub Pop, to Kill Rock Stars. Their determinedly DIY, feminist, and avant garde approach has inspired many of the bands, especially those from the north west, that we love. Hence their spot on this show, opening for Shoplifting. Fortunately, Todd P instructed me to pay attention, and I got the camera out not only for them, but also a preceding set by member Jean Smith in an instrumental collaboration called 'Book Of Common Gestures'. This was a 15 minute electric guitar duet which involved Jean's wallowing electric slide and David First (of Notekillers)' howling staccato feedback. Challenging and engaging. Mecca Normal, following, were a little easier on the palate, if not downright tasty. Jean, adopting a Rollins style stance, rocking on her feet like a tennis player waiting for a serve, switched to vocals, and another David - David Lester - played guitar with great panache, over on-the-spot sampled riffs. The songs, long narrative laments, many taken from their new KRS album The Observer, were mostly inspired By Ms Smith's on-line dating experiences, and fascinated the young and attentive audience. http://punkcast.com/1013/ Fri, 11 Aug 2006 03:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#1013 Aug 6 2006. After a screening of his home movie of the band - 'Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out' as part of the Film Society at Lincoln Center 'RockDocs 2006' series, drummer Stewart Copeland engaged in a Q and A session with writer Mike Rubin, and then with the audience. The resulting dialog was insightful, funny, and quite ribald at times. It runs 41:20. http://punkcast.com/738/ Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#738 The original inspiration for this event came from BJ Rubin, of Puttin' On The Ritz, as a celebration of that combo's completing a year of their classic-wrecking existence. BJ got Todd P and Tianna Kennedy involved, and that tri managed to, as well as performing themselves, to round up a remarkable cross-section of local talent. The site was an idyllic corner of Brooklyn's Prospect Park, the peninsula that juts out into the Prospect Lake, with a view of Duck Island as a backdrop. A nearby log was pressed into duty as an impromptu stage. The weather was pleasantly cool, and a slight wind dropped as the afternoon wore on. Proceedings kicked off with Todd P himself singing what he claims is the only song he knows. Katrina Rudmin of Mahogany sang one quiet sweet song. Dave Deporis sang one about adulthood. Then Ezekiel aka Zeke Healy let off on his national steel with a couple of blues improvs, before duetting with Tianna on cello. He finished with a song by Casio for The Painfully Alone and his trademark, an upbeat 'Sunny Side Of The Street'. Kevin Barker aka Currituck Co., looking very much the high plains drifter, was next, treating us to 4 songs and an instrumental. With his unusual atmospheric vocal style, Mike Wexler enchanted with 4 songs. Improvisational duo This Invitation did two numbers, one another collaboration with Tianna's cello, the other where they were the only ones to break the unamplofied rule, but with the tiniest Fender amp I've ever seen. Trevor Healy, with some precision guitar picking, gave 3 pleasant pastoral tunes. Joel Saladino, former drummie with Parts and Labor, and now with Narchitect, played 3 personal ditties on a red and white paint-daubed guitar. Then Benji Cossa, who sings in a beautiful high tenor, came up with 5 well received songs. Miguel Mendez, eschewing the log for the shade of the trees, certainly made the fashion statement of the day, with the plaid shirt worn over the hoodie, and the matching headband. His 5 'stoner folk' songs were wryly amusing as well as catchy. Then it was time for the main attraction - birthday boys Puttin' On The Ritz- snazzily dressed in matching shirts. BJ, in his blog claims he was sober, but if so he certainly did a good job of appearing semi-blotto, as per usual. After peripatetic versions of 'Girl From Ipanema' and 'Fly Me To The Moon', with Kevin's drumstick tosses being carried on the breeze almost into the lake, the marital counseling number 'If You Want To Be Happy' ended with the two of them wrestling, and teetering on the water's edge. The crowd held its breath, but they stabilized and remained on dry land. Called back for an encore they performed an epic 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off' where, at one point, BJ disappeared in the direction of the bamboo grove with Kevin in pursuit, still drumming. They returned to the log and finished the song up, BJ curled up fetally on the ground while Kevin beat out the rhythm on the guitar case upon which BJ's head rested. The focus then moved back over to the trees, where Hisham Bharoocha, ex-Black Dice, and Andy McLeod, ex-White Magic, performed a bluesy ragalike improvisation. Alice Cohen - something of a legend from her stints The Vels, Shag Motor Pony, and Die Monster Die - quietly did 3 songs. Joe Bradley, from Cheeseburger, with exquisite harmonies from Benji Cossa, did a stone sober take on Jimmy Buffet's 'Margaritaville', before giving Johnny Thunders' 'Chinese Rocks' the same treatment. TK Webb gave us 3 songs of the raw blues for which he is known. Finally Necking, the last - and certainly the loudest - performers of the day - set up their twin drumkits. Their first number, the Carl Douglas classic 'Kung Fu Fighting', led into 'Kissy Slap' an extensive drum battle. Before the next piece one of them, overcome by the call of nature, tried to add to the Prospect Lake - but, and we all know how that goes, with the whole crowd watching, failed. To much mirth. He buckled up and they went into another bashing duet - 'Dog Eggs' - before finishing off the event with a heartfelt version of the Dead Milkmen's anthem 'Life Is Shit'. http://punkcast.com/884/ Wed, 28 Jun 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#884 As Joan Jett embarks on her stint on the Warped tour, this could be an indication of how she regained her enthusiasm for playing live to unruly mobs of scruffy youths. Here we see her joining her Blackheart Records proteges The Vacancies at a secret show at the Cake Shop. With The Dwarves - this was an after-party for a show earlier in the evening at the Knit. As the Cakeshop cleared out from it's own show (Modey Lemon and The Apes) plenty of beefy and sweaty punk rockers joined the eagerly awaiting contingent of L.E.S.bians. The girls were maybe non-plussed when the Dwarves' guitarist performed totally naked except for boots and instrument. Eventually The Vacancies, who are a straight-ahead punk band from Cleveland, hit the stage, well, floor, and went into a passionate song acclaiming their hometown. After another song, Ms Jett joined them. As she bent over to fix her amplifier we were able to admire the tattoo in the small of her back, a fiery pair of crossed axe-shaped female symbols. Then the band swung into 'Save Yourself' - a strong anthem of personal redemption, and things really took off. After one more song, Joan took the lead on 'Bad Reputation' and brought the house down. It seemed that that might be it, but the crowd would not let them leave. It was super-hot with the walls dripping. Instruments were strapped back on, and Joan, who, remarkably, still looks like jailbait, and the band performed a rousing version of The Runaways 'Cherry Bomb' to end the night as the crowd went nuts http://punkcast.com/854/ Wed, 14 Jun 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#854 Brakes are an indie supergroup from Brighton, England. Leader Eamon Hamilton has done time as the keyboardist with British Sea Power, while Tom and Alex White, guitar and drums, are from Electric Soft Parade, and bassie Marc brakesty is from Tenderfoot. They released a single on Rough Trade offshoot Tugboat in 2004 before graduating to the main label to release an album 'Give Blood' in 2005 which put them very much on the map, garnering the ultimate accolade - the Rough Trade Shops #1 album of the year. They define themselves as 'country-punk' but the Brakes music varies. It's hallmarks are brevity, with a couple of songs clocking in at under 15 seconds, and cantankerous vocals that ooze with exasperation. Targets are pretension and ignorance. It all has a fond edge, however, such that the tongue is never completely removed from the cheek. Their first dates across the pond were two nights at Pianos in NYC in Oct 2005, of which this is the second. Bypassing their hit - the throbbing 'All Night Disco Party' - I've picked three songs: the vituperous 'I Can't Stand To Stand Beside You', which appeared on that first single; "Shut Us Down', which is a Camper Van Beethoven cover; and "NY Pie", a jovial saga of Eamon's previous visit to NYC. The pie referring, I believe, to his face. http://punkcast.com/957/ Fri, 26 May 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#957 This was the CD release party for Rose Melberg - long awaited, since the CD - 'Cast Away The Clouds' - took 5 years to materialize. Rose has something akin to 'grande dame' status in indie-pop due to 90's stints with such as Go Sailor, The Softies, and Tiger Trap, based on the west coast. Since when she has relocated to Vancouver, and worked with Neko Case. Her trademark is soft expressive personal songs, simply arranged, with exquisite harmonies. The new record does not disappoint on those fronts. For the performance she just played acoustic guitar, but was accompanied on some songs by Andrea Vaughn of My Favorite on vocals. She is solo, however, on the song I've picked, the charmimgly cheerful 'Each New Day' about a dream lover. It's a beautifully crafted ditty. Interesting to compare the simple intimacy of this with the plush perfection of the piano-backed CD version. Jennifer O'Connor opened. While, like Rose, her songs are personal, they are much more earthy, but no less alluring. Matador Records will in August release her 3rd solo album - 'Over The Mountain, Across The Valley, and Back To The Stars'. This was the first date of a campaign where, in a no doubt ground softening effort, she seems to have got herself booked into every NYC venue going over the next month or two. She was joined by Kendall Meade on some songs, but is solo on the song I've picked - 'Garden Dirt' - which is unrecorded, as of now. http://punkcast.com/964/ Wed, 17 May 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#964 The Metropolitan NY Chapter of the Internet Society continued its popular series of seminars at the Jefferson Market library in Greenwich Village with a session with Eben Moglen, a Columbia U. law professor better known as the general counsel of Richard moglen's Free Software Foundation. Ever ebullient and optimistic, Prof. Moglen argues convincingly that natural law, moral humanism, and basic economics, all together imply the eventual victory of the free (as in freedom) software tortoise over the corporate oligapolistic scheming hare, and is very entertaining as he does it. We have 2 parts here - the basic presentation, and then the QandA. http://punkcast.com/506/ Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#506 I've dug this one up as an extra for Nick Hallett's '23 Reasons to Spare New York' vid expo as he takes it to Europe in Summer 2006, where it will be shown amongst other spots at All Tomorrow Parties (I think), and also in Berlin, where original Twisted One Fitz is now stirring up things.. Nick wanted something that represented the artistry/energy of the Brooklyn scene, and this show immediately sprang to mind. It was a sweltering Saturday in July 2004, the day the Village Voice Siren festival was held at Coney Island. Arriving late from that event I found Mighty Robot jumping. A younger than usual crowd, exhilarated from having just experienced Ex Models final show in it's classic 4 piece line-up, spilled out on to nearby rooftops, catching their breath as Oneida set up. As you will see in the clip, once Oneida got going they all jammed back in the space and moshed merrily. The Mighty Robot Audio Visual Squad (Erik, Etain, Brock, Melody) were on top form this night and the stage was constantly washed in waves of color and texture. Oneida, having toured Europe and the US in support of the Secret Wars album, were cracklingly tight. It doesn't get much better than this. The clip is the single from Secret Wars, 'Caesar's Column'. http://punkcast.com/487/ Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#487 For the last two and a half years or so, Punkcast has enjoyed something akin to artist-in-residence status at NYC's Knitting Factory, with a carte-blanche to record bands. With 3 floors going nightly, there has been plenty of worthy, rare, and creative material to choose from. Here is a good example of a good show by a couple of remarkable bands that might otherwise have disappeared into the historic haze. Sad to say, a new policy at the Knit now sets prohibitive site-fees for all such recording. and thus much of the more obscure current and future performances will indeed suffer that fate. This was bateatsplastic's final show of a run that had earned them a fair buzz over the previous few months. The Village Voice's Chuck Eddy opined their 'City Beat' to be 'the best local single of 2003' and described their sound as 'prog-goth popadelica that could've been born in a castle.' Adding '[City Beat] zooms through several genres, eventually jumping through dub space and into the squawkaholic noize zone.' By the time of this show they had slimmed down to an essential electric duo. The song I give you is the set opener 'Trees' which does a few jumps of it's own. While dormant live since then bateatsplastic does endure, recently finishing an album and can be found via the myspace link below. I was about to leave after bateatsplastic had finished, but the KF's sound man Adam insisted I stay to check out the next act death.pool. Another duo, they played disjointed and erratic math rock that was punctuated by odd yelps and strange gestures. Though ostensibly serious, there was an undercurrent of impish deadpan humor in their awkward but calculated thrashing. The tune here is the ominous sounding 'Declaration Of Pussy Warfare'. I came to understand later why Adam had been so insistent. Drummer Andrya is a valued colleague in the NYC sound person community, frequently (wo)manning the desk at Trash, Tonic, and even onstage at the Bowery Ballroom. death.pool have not, sorry to say, survived, breaking up after a couple more shows. http://punkcast.com/940/ Tue, 11 Apr 2006 18:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#940 'Death Is Hanging Over Me' - Despite the ominous song title, and Nikki's sad demise less than 40 hours later, mortality was far from anybody's mind at this show, an impromptu instore at the Cake Shop, itself named after a Swell Maps tune, and thus much honored by his presence. In fact even Nikki, when performing the tune, after a couple of verses, veered off the original lyrics into solid declarations of life-affirming devotion, as you will see in the clip below. L'amour definitely seemed to be on his mind and he performed a heartfelt version of the love tune 'Falling' from his 1991 R.E.M. collab CD 'The Jewel Thief'. Earlier he previewed an autobiographical song - 'Green Shield Stamps' - a nostalgic wander through his teenage years, which will appear on his forthcoming album 'The Truth Doesn't Matter'. Of course, many wanted to hear Swell Maps classics, and he obliged with several including their very first single 'Read With Seymour'. I've seen Nikki a few times over the last few years, but this was definitely the best, with him playing intimately for an attentive audience that was well familiar with his material. It is poetic irony that I suspect would give him a chuckle that his cause of death was reportedly an enlarged heart. http://punkcast.com/885/ Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#885 The term 'Art Brut' was originally coined in 1948 by Jean Dubuffet to describe outsider art, particularly that made by people in insane asylums. While the band of the same name definitely can, at least for now, claim outsider status, and vocalist Eddie Argos eschews the conventions of singing, they come over as, in fact, super sane, effectively bypassing the pretensions and illusions of conventional pop. Disarmingly honest, Eddie has the air of an affable math teacher explaining with calm insistence say, quadratic equations, to a bunch of distracted shoolkids. See, in the first clip - 'Formed A Band' - him lay down the basic principles, and at end of the second - 'Bad Weekend' - set the class's homework.. http://punkcast.com/736/ Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#736 Seeing The Tough And Lovely, a 'garage/soul' band from Columbus Ohio playing in a NYC basement a few years back, it was love at first sight. I'm a pushover for girls, grit and passion combined with hard 60's beat rock. However my attempts to film them that night, and on their further rare visits to NYC have not been altogether successful, with either light or sound problems. But this one, from Union Pool's backroom last year, has just about has enough of both to make it castable. Even so, as I shot I was having to dodge several wildly dancing Amazons at the front, but I did my best. The first song here is the mournful but defiant 'Hard To Love'. http://punkcast.com/923/ Fri, 17 Mar 2006 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#923 We have not seen that much of Gang Gang Dance, recently, in NYC. Thus, when this late night show was announced, only earlier the same day, tickets were snapped up instantly. The lucky holders were treated to the kind of mesmerizing experience we have come to expect from these mystic experimentalists. It's very difficult to seperate one tune from another, but I think I've got it right to say this was the final number 'Nicoman'. http://punkcast.com/920/ Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#920 Those who follow punkcast will have seen pianist Emily Manzo in more than one one-off collaboration. But here we have a different kettle of fish, an ongoing partnership in which she also sings. The roots of Christy and Emily lie in the Lil' Fighters, a rather odd country band that precursored The Walkmen, in which they both played. The driving echo of Christy's guitar style, which evokes Velvet Underground comparisons, layered with the melodic fluency of Emily's piano work is a compelling combination. As are their voices - the harmonies bring to mind classic 60's folkies, but with an edge. The songs are mostly personal, proud yet wistful, and have an odd way of gripping the consciousness such that one wakes up with them on the brain, days afterwards. 'Birds' was the closer of the set. http://punkcast.com/932/ Tue, 7 Mar 2006 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#932 To promote the release of the USA edition of his book 'Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984' author Simon Reynolds held a panel discussion at Mo Pitkin's on NYC's Lower East Side. Panelists were Connie 'China' Berg (Mars), Steven Daly (Orange Juice), Vivien Goldman, and James Chance (James White and The Blacks). The discussion focused on the zeitgeist of the late 70's NYC scene, it's contribution to the genre, and it's relation to it's UK counterpart. http://punkcast.com/921/ Mon, 6 Mar 2006 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#933 This show happened the day after the night of NYC's single biggest ever snowfall. The city's pristine white blanket, and it's unusual quietness were an appropiate backdrop for the curiously interesting squeaks and flutterings of the Stefan Tcherepnin / Brian Chase Duo. Brian, of course, we know, as the ever artistically unpredictable yyy drummer, here obviously getting in his last bit of fun before the big 'Show Yer Bones' push. Stefan Tcherepnin, a colleague of his since Oberlin, is the fourth generation of an illustrious composing family, and also a painter. In this performance he played an exotic looking homebrew analog synthesizer, dabbling with sonic color and texture. Brian, too, had his drums hooked in to electronics, such that the least pressure on his snare would create fluctations in oscillating drones. They played two pieces, both around 13 minutes - the 'first' one, and then the 'phasey' one. The clip below is the latter few minutes of the first one. http://punkcast.com/921/ Sat, 4 Mar 2006 17:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#921 This show happened the day after the night of NYC's single biggest ever snowfall. The city's pristine white blanket, and it's unusual quietness were an appropiate backdrop for the curiously interesting squeaks and flutterings of the Stefan Tcherepnin / Brian Chase Duo. Brian, of course, we know, as the ever artistically unpredictable yyy drummer, here obviously getting in his last bit of fun before the big 'Show Yer Bones' push. Stefan Tcherepnin, a colleague of his since Oberlin, is the fourth generation of an illustrious composing family, and also a painter. In this performance he played an exotic looking homebrew analog synthesizer, dabbling with sonic color and texture. Brian, too, had his drums hooked in to electronics, such that the least pressure on his snare would create fluctations in oscillating drones. They played two pieces, both around 13 minutes - the 'first' one, and then the 'phasey' one. The clip below is the latter few minutes of the first one. http://punkcast.com/670/ Mon, 27 Feb 2006 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#670 Many hearts were wrecked when, on the way to her annual Valentine's show this year, Syd Straw fell foul of NYC's finest and was hoiked off to jail, leading to the show's cancellation. To cheer our spirits, here is a gem from last year's spectacular bash - Syd and David Cale performing Magnetic Fields' 'Papa Was A Rodeo'. http://punkcast.com/918/ Wed, 8 Feb 2006 22:00:00 EST PUNKCAST#918 This is the first time, I think, that the same song by the same artist has appeared twice on punkcast. But the wait of a year and a half between our first airing of 'Volume Rambler' by Oakley Hall and it's ultimate release on CD, and the addition of Rachel Cox to the band, tipped the balance. Here we see it at the record release party for the 'Second Guessing' CD, which eventually has come out on Amish Records, after the original label Bulb 'resigned' from the record business. In the meantime Oakley Hall have tightened a good deal, got better known, and even toured as far away as Europe. They can still play bars in Brooklyn, but not without, as this Union Pool gig showed, risking some serious overcrowding. Given the auspiciousness of the occasion, special guests were rolled out, notably Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who played tabla on 'Bear My Burden' (clip below), an unreleased track, as is the rollicking 'Lazy Susan', which I've also included. No doubt these tunes will appear on their 3rd album, for which we trust we will not have a similar wait. http://punkcast.com/881/ Mon, 6 Feb 2006 17:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#881 To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Haile Selassie's ascension to the throne of Ethiopia, NYC's Black Redemption Sound Of Praises held a musical session at Joe's Pub. As special guest, Ras Kush invited Humble Tafari of Wildfyah Sound. This is his set. The vid is encoded in Sony h.264/AAC which, I think, is designed for the PSP. It will play in QT7 and VLC, certainly. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has success with it in the video iPod. Being 50 mins long, it's a fairly chunky download - 184MB. http://punkcast.com/905/ Wed, 1 Feb 2006 17:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#905 Last time we saw Richard Stallman was almost 5 years back on PUNKCAST#64. On that occasion we were unable to provide video as an acceptably patent-free video codec simply didn't exist. Fortunately that is no longer true as, just in the last couple of years, Xiph.org Foundation as part of their Ogg project have managed to come up with one. It is known as Theora, and works pretty well. It can be played back in the VLC player, or even in Real or WMP with the appropiate plug-ins installed. Thus, this time I am able to give you video of, thanks to the Internet Archive, not just a clip, but also the entire speech. On this occasion, jointly sponsored by GNUBIES and LXNY, and to a mainly young audience, Richard gave a general, and mostly non-technical, talk about the development of the GNU operating system, the GPL, the justifications of free software, and the mortifications of proprietary software. The speech culminated with a miraculous appearance by free software's holy patron, St. IGNUcius of the Church of EMACS. http://punkcast.com/908/ Sat, 28 Jan 2006 17:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#908 Back in the late 80's/early 90's the pinstand would regularly trek down to Trenton, NJ, on a Sunday, for the shows at City Gardens. One of the hottest local bands down there was a stomping ska crew called Bigger Thomas. What particularly endeared them to us was their very excellent logo, which sold a lot of pins. Running into Marc, the bass player, recently, I found that they are still going strong, and he invited me to come and shoot this show, where they'd be opening for The Englosh Beat. The Beat themselves were another band who have sold enormous quantities of pins in their time. Back in the UK, we made 1000 upon 1000 for Phil Mason. their merch guy. And the pin connections go even deeper on this show, as the promoter, Metropolitan, booked the old NYC Ritz back when the pinstand was resident there. So, all in all, we were very much at home. Despite it being Friday the 13th, this, the first of two thoroughly sold-out nights at the Canal Room, went very well, and a word has to be said for Sean the engineer who gave the bands a particularly warm sound that well complimented the optimism of the music. I will admit the vid could have done with a little less of theflashing lights, but hey.. http://punkcast.com/805/ Tue, 20 Dec 2005 17:30:00 EST PUNKCAST#805 Every year, recently, the NYC East River Music Project has presented a remarkably forward thinking program of new music in this little known piece of greenery between the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges. Water taxis, tugs and barges, luxury yachts cruise past on the river, hipsters lounge in unaccustomed daylight, and locals gaze on bemusedly, as some of the city's most progressive bands, plus some illustrious vistors, grace the aged bandshell. Here, in a clip created for broadcast on the NY Noise tv show, we see Brooklyn favorites Oneida performing the song 'Up With People'. http://punkcast.com/887/ Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:00:00 GMT PUNKCAST#887 Checking out 54 Nude Honeys as this Death Disco show approached, I was impressed to discover they are on the french label Skydog Records. It is not well known enough that, in 76/77, particularly with the Stooges' 'Metallic KO' LP and the Mont-de-Marsan fests, Skydog, helmed by the irascible Marc Zermati, jump-started punk rock and pioneered indie distribution. Marc later moved to Japan. The label survived, and is now undergoing a bit of a global resurgence with acts such as these, japanese punk-girls 54 Nude Honeys. Closely related to The Michelle Gun Elephant, the Honeys have been going for 10 years, releasing records on major labels as well as indies, and are in the top echelons of the 'dirty rock' genre. Dressed in black vinyl/leather sexy gladiator outfits they play no-holds-barred hi-energy rock'n'roll, as you will see in the clip. http://punkcast.com/ Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 GMT PUNKCAST.COMpodcast With the advent of the G5 video iPod, PUNKCAST has joined the ranks of the podcaster nation. The podcast videos are rendered in the new-fangled H.264 codec which, will play back also in iTunes, QT7, and the free VLC player. I will be adding old classics as well as the latest gems. This 'UPDATE' feed here will remain as just text and a link to streaming realvideo. Go to the site and subscribe to the podcast for the hi-def stuff. http://punkcast.com/836/ Mon, 10 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMT PUNKCAST#836 Lately, the fine folks at Artrocker have taken to mailing us a copy of their wonderfully designed and informative magazine, so, when CMJ gave an excuse for some of their faves to visit NYC, we were right there. The Chalets, a 5 piece from Cork, Ireland, are, in fact, not so much art rock as power pop. Two almost identical girls fronted the band, identically dressed in red and white gingham, both on synths, while males to either side filled out the sound, and a drummer behind. gave it punch. Twee with balls. Their final song, which you see here, might have been dedicated to the Test Icicles - who are definitely a little more off the wall. The Testies have that sardonic knowitall arrogance of youth that takes absolutely nothing seriously, including themselves. The performace is a kind of musical action painting with huge gobbing splatters of disco, metal, funk, hard core, hip hop, screamo, into one huge slippery mess. Here we too see the final song of their debut USA performance. http://punkcast.com/840/ Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT PUNKCAST#840 I may put up more from this, the KRS/5RC showcase at the 2005 CMJ Music marathon, in time, but right now this is definitely the hottest thing I saw all week - The Gossip doing their shortly-to-be-relesed hot new single and coming album title song - the defiant 'Standing In The Way Of Control'. Beth Ditto seemed recovered from her recent gall bladder operation, and was in her usual stomping form. Hannah (of Shoplifting) now appears to be a permanent fixture on drums. Nathan was ripping on guitar. JD of LeTigre, who have done the remix on the single, moshed in the pit. http://punkcast.com/806/ Mon, 29 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT PUNKCAST#806 We last encountered sometime punkcast cameragirl Leesaw back in #376 chasing one of Earl Greyhound. She, in time, like us then, has come to appreciate another member of the band, the bassist Kamara, and, after much water has passed under the bridge, has teamed up with her and a sizable klatsch of other girls in a new band project called Pyradical. Leesaw's cooking skills over the last few months, via a guest appearance with Jah Division, have extended from food to sound, and her contribution to Pyradical is a melange of eerie whoops, movie audio samples, roaring sea noises, and other dub effects. Kamara plays the drums. Others play xylophone, bandsaw, percussion, guitar. Leesaw also provided typical buccaneering landscapes, courtesy of a recent trip to the Caribbean, projected behind the band. Altho they haven't played that often, The Delancey was well crowded for this show, and each song was greeted by hearty cries of approval. http://punkcast.com/507/ Sun, 28 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT PUNKCAST#507 Filming shows, one is often keenly aware of the ephemerality of the phenomena one is capturing. Brilliance is no guarantee of longevity or success, If one misses it - it may be gone forever. This show is one I was lucky to catch, before events and changes overtook both acts. The bands themselves represented a peculiar turn in 2004 for the Brooklyn scene, known for psychedelic weird rock, in the direction of american roots music. Oakley Hall, led by former Oneida member Papa Crazee, had been morphing into shape for a couple of years as a country rock big band that still somehow retained the repetitive intensity for which Oneida is notorious. The Ospreys, a new development, included Jen Black and Mark Moore, both members of Fitz's catharsis-inducing Midnight O' Connor. In contrast to that band, in The Ospreys they were doing a sensitive take on hillbilly classics, aided by the very talented Rachel Cox,The meeting, in a good old alehouse that I've never known to do another show, was a unique celebration of the two bands shared passion for the folk-country genre. Within months, The Ospreys suffered a devasting blow when guitarist Mark Moore tragically died. Oakley Hall, on the other hand, while they also did not continue in that form, have gone from strength to strength. Recruiting Ms Cox, they have tightened up and, with plentiful new material, are showing distinct potential, while still relatively unknown, to turn into one of the great american bands of all time. If they don't disappear first..