Mostly music news + reviews, but we also cover film, tv, and anything else that catches our fancy
I mentioned back in May about a new Kids of 88 album to look forward to and gave you a video to hold you over until review time. We’re not quite there yet (Oct 5th is the scheduled release date), but here’s another sample to keep you going till then. The song is “LaLa” and will have you up and dancing in your cubicle or living room in no time.
You can find more information about the band and their happenings at the usual places, including their website and Facebook.
Our friend over at Star Beat does a lot of work at Hell’s Kitchen in Newark. There is an event coming up this Saturday that I fully support you going to. I’m probably going to throw more events at you in the future, because what are friends for?
On Saturday, June 23rd Hell’s Kitchen Lounge hosts its 2nd annual
Woofstock event to directly benefit the Newark NJ Animal Shelter. It also
marks Hell’s Kitchen Lounge’s 5 year anniversary. Woofstock is an all day
block party (on Bruen St. btw Lafayette and Green St.) that features 15
Bands, 4 Djs, Food, Vendors and a chance to meet your next canine
companion. The free, outdoor portion will kick things off at 1pm till 9pm
when they close down the street. The inside portion begins at 8pm inside
Hell’s Kitchen Lounge where 5 bands will perform for a $5 cover. The
block party is family and pet friendly with hopes to attract animal lovers
from all areas.
A group of volunteers better known as “Friends of Newark NJ Animal
Shelter” regularly donate their time and effort to show these poor,
unwanted dogs a little love by taking them out for walks, donating food
and most importantly finding them homes. Hell’s Kitchen Lounge in
partnership with the “Friends of Newark NJ Animal Shelter” adopted 8
dogs and raised over $1500 at last years event with hopes to double that
this year. Visitors can come and meet up to 15 dogs between the hours
of 1-4pm where Volunteer handlers will let you interact with our furry
friends. Guests can also make food, toy and monetary donations to
directly support the shelter. Anyone looking to volunteer to be a handler
can send an email to woofup12@gmail.com for information.
Woostock lineup includes 15 Bands and 4 Djs that are donating their
talent for the cause, as well as sponsors who help make this event
happen.
Outdoor stage:
Lethal Affection
Science
Cezium
Artwork
DSU
Views into Vastness
The Vapor Apes
Driving Lights
Weekend Love Affair
DJ Doktor Lorenz
DJ Roxy
Professor Esperanca & Grupo
Liberdade Capoeira
Indoor Stage:
Deivito
Gazelle
Those Mockingbirds
Starbolt 9
At a Distance
DJ Mavric
Menace
Sponsors:
Bud Light
Yelp
Sit Stay Learn
BK Tees
Natural Training Center
Pyaara Hair Accessories
For more information on the event, visit www.HellsKitchenLounge.com
I did of review of Kids of 88 awhile back when I heard their first album. Also got lucky enough to see them during CMJ one year (the same year I saw Jukebox the Ghost something like 3 times in the same week. That year was awesome!)
Anyway, the Kids are back, with an album expected out summer 2012. I’ll definitely have a review once it gets closer, but for now enjoy this little sample to hold you over.
It has come to my attention that I have never mentioned the band The Shivering Brigade on here, so let me fix that.
This is the little band that could. Full discretion, I’m friends with 3/5th of them. Normally that would make me hesitant to do a review on here, but I feel confident enough that they’re actually good at what they do to let them occupy space on the site and ask for a little favor…
See there’s this Battle of the Bands going on now. They’re holding their own but could certainly use all the help they can get. So I’m sharing a video with you to judge for yourself and asking that if you like what you hear then please give them your support. Go vote, then tell all your friends to do the same. You can vote once per day, so keep going back and reminding people about it. Bands succeed largely through the power of their friends and fans, and through internet promotion. They’re good people doing something they love because they can and want to, not because they think they’ll become famous – which is exactly why I think they deserve to be.
Wednesday night could have been described as “bass and electronics” night at Santos Party House, as that was the focus (with the exception of one band). No complaints here, because it gave me and the rest of the audience a chance to dance the night away. The first two bands were also just as much about visual presentation as they were about the music, the difference being that Mother Feather seemed to use flashy costumes to get the viewer’s attention, where as Dolchnakov Brigade seemed to have an image they were trying to project. I’m more familiar with Dolchnakov, however, so that might influence how I viewed them. Regardless of the purpose, both bands did an excellent job of catching my attention and leaving me in wonderment of what I just witnessed. This is neither good or bad, just different (which I guess in itself is a good thing in a sense).
The main event for the night was Hank & Cupcakes, a two piece with the power of ten. The two members did a splendid job of turning a bass and drum kit into a symphony of beats that called the audience to movement. From the first note to the final echo, Hank & Cupcakes will make you want to get up and dance. Seriously, anyone who wasn’t dancing during their set was probably a robot. The night was a perfect antidote for the mid-week doldrums of life. If you missed the show on Wednesday, then I am sorry for your loss. The next opportunity to see them probably won’t be for awhile. Definitely keep your ears open though, because you are not going to want to miss them again.
When trying to decide what to say after seeing Parry Adams open for Lucy Woodward at the Studio at Webster Hall, it was hard to form complete sentences. Words definitely came to mind, even full phrases, but I couldn’t string them together into sentences that flowed together into anything that would give you an idea of what this show was like and make you immediately plan to attend her next event. Maybe a little mystery is good, though. Maybe it will make you even more intrigued, make you want to go even more.
So where to begin? 
Maybe with the crowd. It was silent and attentive. It only spoke when appropriate. It clearly loved her. True, some of them were likely friends, but others were friends and fans for the other two performers. They still respected her, still gave her the attention she deserved, and some even went to speak to her after the show and share just how much they enjoyed her set.
And how about that set?
I’ve seen Parry both solo and with a band. Both are different experiences. One thing that always stands out is her voice. It’s strong and amazing. She might have been charmingly nervous in between sets, but her singing was always strong and confident. (And if she rambled any on stage, like I said, it came off as charming).
I’ll have to admit, I haven’t listened to the album yet, but I plan to after tonight’s performance. Might even write a review for that too. Who knows? And I will definitely be going to another show, if the opportunity presents itself. I recommend that you plan to as well.
(Parry Adams does ocassional uStream concerts, where you can get the live experience from the comfort of your own home. Her next one is March 22nd.)
I’ve been on an unintentional hiatus for over a month now. I didn’t even realize it had been that long. I have been focusing most of my energy on either personal stuff or my photography website, Pro Fotos On Shuffle. You can find portions of my latest photo project there.
“Does this mean you’ve given up on the blog?” you might be asking now. Or maybe you don’t really care. Why you would be reading this if you didn’t care is beyond me, but to each his own…
Whether you care about this space or not, I would imagine you care about some portion of the internet, or you wouldn’t be here right now. The internet is this indefinable space where ideas spread like wildfire. It’s also something we take for granted as being a safe place for these ideas to form and grow. It is a place for creativity and innovation and freedom. It is also a space that is under attack now, and the saddest thing of all is that a large portion of its inhabitants have not even noticed. That is, at least, until now…
Today various corners of the internet, including reddit, Wikipedia, and Google, gathered together to bring awareness to those who might not have noticed that the freedom they enjoy on the internet is currently being threatened by legislation that could be horribly abused by the wrong people. There was also a physical protest hosted by NY Tech Meetup, which I also attended. My camera was, sadly, dead to the world, but thanks to the powers of technology I was able to capture some of the protest on my iPhone.
SOPA and PIPA may be things the reddit community and other more techie individuals have been familiar with for some time now, but it has not been a largely mainstream issue. My hope is that after today this becomes no longer true, and people start to take notice and do something to protect the freedom that should be guaranteed by all internet dwellers.
The latest video from Florence + the Machine’s new album went live a few days ago. It’s for the song “No Light, No Light”
I already reviewed the whole album here. Short version: I thought it was brilliant.
Some of my faithful followers might know that I pull double-duty as a writer for Nerds in Babeland. I did an interview for them with this band, [Ghost This], which you can find here.
I also covered New York Comic Con for the site, and plan to do so again this year. It’s shaping up to be a great weekend, including a show/after-party for Day 1 of the festivities – brought to you by [Ghost This]. The fun happens at Connolly’s on West 45th St. For detals and to confirm the event, go to Facebook.
I really hope you go have fun times with this band, because they are some of the nicest people the internet has directed me to. Tell them News on Shuffle says “hi!”
Florence + The Machine saw the debut of the video for “Shake It Out” yesterday. I swear, I get more and more excited with each new update from this rhythmically proficient artist. The new song is great, and the video features some wonderful costumes. I’m really looking forward to the album’s debut in November.