manic mess

what are *you* doing this weekend?

"The Warriors Halloween 2005
SATURDAY, October 29th
10PM - 4AM (throw in an extra hour in there for daylight savings)
Free Sparks 10-11
Supreme Trading
213 North 8th Street. Brooklyn
$10 w/ RSVP to warriorshalloween@yahoo.com
$15 at door
DJs:
JDH & Dave P (FIXED / Making Time)
Tim Sweeney (Beats in Space / DFA Records)
DJ Language (Negroclash / BBE)
James Fucking Friedman (Refuse!)
Ilirjana (The Pop Manifesto)
Speculator & Chupacabras
Phil-Two (Fagtronix)
Come dressed in your own gang, with your own unique style, enter the gang registry and have your crew photographed! All the gang shots will be displayed against the main wall - and the best gang wins a CASE OF SPARKS!!"

best craigslist post i've seen in awhile...

. . .from a guy offering two tickets for the depeche mode bowery ballroom show this friday. apparently he "hates depeche mode" but "loves boobs".

seriously. you couldn't make this stuff up.

i know he's only 24, but...

brandon flowers really needs to grow up.

last night i went to one of the bodegas on my block and they'd removed all of the products (coffee, advil, etc.) from behind the counter and replaced them with an enormous display of tacky bongs. for the MOVIE, of course.

and then, for the past two mornings, either cast or crew from the film has been hanging out and creating a ruckus on the roof outside my bedroom window starting at 9am. since i of course don't wake up until well after that, i find this to be a criminal injustice. not to mention that there was at least one 'who's your daddy' reference in today's soiree, which no one should be subjected to before they've had their morning coffee.

am thinking of booby trapping the roof. or blasting the black-eyed peas hump song out my window on repeat so that their mornings are at least as annoying as mine. oh yeah, and the movie's called 'across the universe', so please everyone let's make a note not to see it when it comes out. not that you need much incentive not to see a beatles-themed musical starring a cast of nobodys, but, well, you know.

[update: it's now 4pm, and they're still going strong. even four flights up with my windows closed, i have been bombarded with repeated screams of "5-6-7-8!" and a warped choral rendition of 'come together' so many times that i've almost forgotten how the original sounds. also heard crew members bitching outside my window about being "about ready to quit this f-ing project". do it, fellas!]

my mailbox.

kemado band cheeseburger is embarking on a mini-tour around the new york area. they are playing the delancey next saturday, 11/5.

the upcoming english beat show at the canal room has been postponed due to illness. the rescheduled date is january 13th. they've also added a second show due to high demand, and tickets for that show are going on sale tomorrow at 10am, at ticketmaster.

what else. . .it looks like that's about it, but i do have one parting thought to leave you with. this month's spin has a giant picture of andre 3000 that got me thinking. can't you see andre. . .

totally going the way of. . .

. . .toady-faced agent fin tutuola star of the best show on television law & order svu (aka ice-t)? no? boyfriend john agrees with you. but come on- they even went out and got matching moles!

in related news, have you ever seen a picture of ice-t's totally alarming wife?

a very wintery wednesday.

brrrr. last night, after prepartying chez nous, boyfriend john and i headed over to northsix to catch the wolf parade show. it was pretty awesome. i was supposed to meet up with jinners, but we failed to find each other in all the madness and mayhem. sad face. northsix was about as packed as i've ever seen it, but it was only mildly overwhelming because it was a pretty mellow crowd. has anyone else noticed how nice the security people are at northsix? one of them noticed that i was rummaging through my bag and came over and shone his flashlight inside to help. and they didn't confiscate my water bottle at the door either! mon dieu!

anyway, the boys from wolf parade put on an amazing show. the only thing that distracted me was that the two singers, dan boeckner and spencer krug, have such distinct voices (one sounds like win butler, the other bruce springsteen) that i found it jarring when they switched back and forth. could have been my mood though. anyway, jay goodtimesroll posted an indepth review already, and since i'm lazy and hungover i'm just going to link to his post and call it a day. but seriously, the show was fantastic. totally engrossing. don't miss them next time around.

unfortunately, all of my pictures came out looking like arse, except this one:

and now it's time for more joyous nights. i was supposed to go see jon brion tonight at the canal room or meet up with an old friend, but these old bones are already ready for bed and it's only 5pm. and here i am stuck at work. so i gave back my guest list spots. sniffle.

here are some jams for those of you who retain your youthful ability to go out every night.
"THE AD LIB AT SWAY
w/ Residents The Vet (AD LIB NY) + Parag (FIGO/NYC) plus special guest DJs each week
tonight:
THE ROGER SISTERS AFTER-PARTY Featuring DJ sets by Too Pure bands THE ROGER SISTERS-YOUNG PEOPLE & SCOUT NIBLETT as well as a special set by DJ Goldfinger himself!
FREE AGUILA BEER FROM 12 to 1
$2 shots o' jack all night
10PM FREE
Sway - 305 Spring St. (btw Greenwich + Hudson St.)"

"A new bar/music venue is opening in the lower east side tomorrow. The space is 3 levels with 2500 sq ft. of seating and a state of the art sound system. The music venue is located in the basement. The third level hangs from the steel beams and is carpeted.
Tomorrow(26th) is the Grand opening with a 2 hour open vodka bar from 9-11 and two surprise DJ's.
Downstairs on stage:
Aloke & The Flesh
Friday 28th:
The walk up - ep release party w/live performance
Sat. 29th:
Pagota & The Magic Markers
We are located on 112 Rivington across the street from the hotel on rivington.
No Name Bar
112 Rivington St. (btwn ludlow and essex)"

Cheeky B*stard at Guest House Wednesday October 26
BPM Magazine Issue Party w/ DJs Geo and Greg K of MisSHAPES
For the second installment of the all-new Cheeky B*stard party at our new home (the brand new, and very lovely, Guest House) we'll be hosting the Launch Party for BPM Magazine's new issue. To mark the occasion, Geo and Greg K (of MisSHAPES) will be joining Melody Nelson on the decks - serving up a mix of dance-rock, new wave and classics to keep you dancing in the your new sumptuous
surroundings.
$4 Budweiser all night
Vodka Open Bar from 10pm to 11pm
Late Night Drinks Specials 2am to 3am (2-for-1 Vodka Drinks & $5 GBH
shots)
Door By Thomas (Motherf**ker / MisShapes) and Eddie Q (GBH)
Guest House: 542 W27th St between 10th & 11th aves."

THURSDAY OCT 27 2005
THE BEAST
djs spin CLASSSIC METAL, NWOBHM, THRASH & GLAM + rare & classic videos on the big screen
FREE PBR Beer 10-12
+
Afterparty for PRIESTESS priestessband.com
SUBTONIC
107 Norfolk St. (at Delancey)
10pm no cover"

i'm sure you're tired of hearing about rivington street. . .

but ex-roommate jesse pointed out an article in timeout this week about the hippiefication of rivington street, and i thought you might it interesting.

i'm feeling more than a little bratty about the story, because i had my own story all edited and ready to go for this week's new york magazine, but it got cut at last minute once we saw that it had already ran in timeout. grrrrrr.

anyway, since my editors have no use for it now, i thought i'd share my little article with you all. critiques welcome.

*

Why does Rivington and Clinton suddenly resemble Haight and Ashbury? Residents of the boho barrio with its conscientiously maintained grit—many of whom still cling to the idea that they live in an “authentic” quadrant of the LES—got something of a shock recently when a crew of painters gave one whole block of Rivington an Austin Powers–style makeover, complete with fluorescent swirls, loopy daisies, and giant peace signs. The block is serving as the set for a big-budget sixties-era musical with an all-Beatles soundtrack called Across the Universe; Julie Taymor is directing and Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen) starring, and the production is scheduled to last a couple of weeks. Bono’s even got a cameo. Still, one trendy type walking out of her apartment last weekend summed up the feeling of many of the neighborhood’s residents: "Is it just me or is this (shit) getting brighter and uglier every time we walk out of the building?" Another spiky-haired local scoffed at a technicolor "Psychedelicatessen" sign that had just been installed over a grungy bodega: "That one over there's the last straw. It's so cheesy." Production designer Mark Friedberg (Pollock) defends his vision: “This is a story about kids coming from all over the country to join this culture of exuberance,” he says. “We wanted it to feel like the streets were alive and people were expressing their excitement through painting.” But did that ever really happen in New York? According to long-time East Village resident (and “proto-Yippie”) Dana Beal, “The area then looked a lot like it does today. A lot of what was changing was not the facades of the buildings. It was a lot more noticeable in the style of the people on the street. Yeah there was a scene on St. Mark’s Place where everything was concentrated, but it was happening in old polish restaurants and sweet shops.” He does recall the Psychedelicatessen: “It was a head shop that was opened by this classy kind of weed and acid dealer who came from wealth. It had this black sculpture with waterfalls coming out of it that probably ruined the floor.”
As for the store-owners back on Rivington Street, admits Friedberg, “It wasn’t easy getting 50 New Yorkers to agree to this.” So they were paid, although the producers aren’t disclosing exactly how much. Restaurants even have temporary new signs—and names. Belly is now “Chopstick Garden.” Juanita’s is “Uncle Sid’s Cantina.” The squat turned gallery ABC No Rio (whose director, Steven Englander, notes that he and many of the property owners on the block are perfectly fine with the change) is, appropriately enough, now called “Cafe Huh?”

weather or not.

tonight i'm going to see wolf parade at northsix. i hear they were awesome last night at bowery ballroom, and i'm stoked for the show. tap me if you see me!

i also just heard that the canal room has added a third jon brion show for this wednesday night, in addition to the two sold-out ones he's playing tonight. tickets are on sale now.

and...two reasons to actually go out and buy magazines—or at least to flip through them at the newsstand and *pretend* you're going to buy them:

1. a fashion spread featuring the misshapes kids in this month's paper magazine (i can't find this anywhere online- am i a moron?)

and 2. a pretty double-page photo of franz ferdinand coming off the stage at the end of their MSG show last week, in the culture section of this week's issue of new york magazine (the one with the depressing cover story about how you'll never be able to retire). funny long quote from alex kapranos about a super-fan who he sees in the crowd at every show. interview by me (hooray!).

pitchfork strikes again.

what does pitchfork have against kemado records?

sure, they gave the dungen reissue a high grade, but it's probably because they had no other choice, given the fact that the whole world would have smelled the proverbial something fishy had they done otherwise.

morons. i respectfully refer you to the following reviews (pop matters, the modern age, maxim, yeti don't dance, and oh about a million other places) for a viewpoint more similar to my own.

happy weekend!

i'm outta here. perhaps later tonight i will find the time to post all my fun pictures from last week. if not, at least there will be some invites here to keep this space warm.

"Every Wednesday @ The Ad Lib
w/ Residents The Vet (AD LIB NY) + parag (FIGO/NYC)
TONIGHT special guest djs
PHIL SLAG (THE AD LIB LONDON/MODULAR RECORDS UK)
THE NOTORIOUS SHOUT DJS
JAMIE WABHA (ISLAND PARTY)
plus
GUEST DJ SET(IVE BEEN SWORN TO NOT TELL ANYONE HES GONNA BE THERE)
FREE AGUILA BEER FROM 10-11
$2 shots o' jack all night
@ SWAY 305 SPRING STREET 10PM FREE
for monthly update email
nat@theadlib.com"

cheers!

sooooo busy.

like a busy, busy little bee. so here's the capsule summary of my week:

on friday night i headed out to vatan to eat yummy indian food in celebration of jo divestar's birthday. we ate far too much. we sang and the waitress brought out a candle in a bowl of mango ice cream. aw.

after that we all went over to black and white, which was packed and joyous and lots of fun (pictures to come). we stayed til closing. hosted a little afterhours gathering at my house with jo, jinners, frowning phil, and ex-roommate jesse, after which i went to sleep for days and days.

fast-forward to monday. pipe bursts in the basement of my apartment building. two days of frigid water that drips drips drips out of the showerhead even when it's turned on full blast. and now i am working my bones off to get all of my verrrry important work done before heading out to napa to meet up with the family for a reunion of sorts. oh yeah, and there's also a little matter of a twelve mix cds that must get sent out this week or else i face excommunication at the hands of drunk john. thus, i stress.

anyway, a few little nibbles...

everyone's favorite swedish band dungen is appearing on conan tonight.

the queensboro bridge caught on fire this morning.

and an update as to the ongoing battle over the soul of rivington street: my favorite deli is now an old-time movie theater, and the bodega on the far corner has a ginormous cheesy new sign above it that reads "Psychedelicatessen".

good grief.