Jenn Lindsey's CD Release Party, Sat. Oct. 12th
"My God, how long have we been asleep"?
If Danny Kelly was president, do you think we'd be going to war, fer
chrissakes? His songs woke me up on sat. nite and provoked me to start giving a
damn about what's going on with our country. He articulates our nation's history
in a way that would've enraged my high school history teacher. I'll be the first to
admit that I shut my eyes with things that frustrate me, especially in the political
arena. Danny Kelly is definitely the leader of the pack in terms of smart, political songwriters who inspire people to create change.
"my country's flag is red black and blue red as the indians blood we rowed in on...."
(from Danny's song Red, Black, and Blue)
Casey Holford has a lovely, dynamic voice. One of my favorite songs that he played at this show was a song called "The Lovers". It's about hearing lovers fucking next door, and all the feelings that brings up for the person who hears them (annoyance, wistfulness, getting a kick out of it). I think this was the first time I was really able to take in Casey's songs, and I was impressed. He writes clever lyrics, and possesses a surprising vulnerability. I like it when songwriters are not afraid to emotionally connect to their material. I look forward to hearing more!
Regina Spektor sang a song about her brother that I thought about all day after the show. Bear Spektor. Is his name Bear? I heard one listen of "samson" on her new cd and proceeded to listen to it again. And then again. In the words of Casey Holford after Regina played, "OH. MY. GOD." She reminded me of a jazzy Bjork ---with her playful, gorgeous voice. My favorite song at the moment is "ReadingTime with Pickle", about a trip to the grocery store and making eye contact with a jar of pickles. This elicits magical discoveries about life and love but I'm not giving away the ending.
Dear Super Swanky Hep Cats Called Duende,
I would love to write something on you from this nite but I feel it would be an injustice for me to describe your set from this nite when I was hopping up and down the stairs doing drum stuff, getting water, trying to get a glimpse of you through the throngs of people. I feel jipped that I missed so many songs. I will write something in the future on you! I do know one thing. Your harmonies are beautiful. love from your slacker friend,
nan
Jenn Lindsey is a fierce heroine. Her song, "I'm not going home yet" describes perfectly my first six months in New York City. I remember trying to get a job and going to acting school and trying to get the band together and crying on the subway and feeling like I was never going to accomplish what I wanted to cause I had so far to go and in the meantime I was really hungry and wanted someone to take me out for a nice dinner. I was listening to Gotta Lotta on my headphones going to practice drums yesterday, and I realized what it is I like about Jenn's songs. Many of them seem to have a tone of hopefulness despite difficult circumstances. "I'm not going home yet" delivers a mantra of endurance & love for yourself and your art, despite all the lonliness, poverty and sadness that can make doing your art a challenge. Her show at Sidewalk was one of her best yet, packed to the gills with people craning their necks to get a peek at she and her entourage (including Casey Holford, Knot Pinebox, Robin Aigner, bassist Sheila Sobolewski, Crystal of The Baby Skins, and a hip hop beatbox player called John Mackenflow Wright). The addition of other musicians and voices were a nice variation on her songs, though Jenn can rock it as a solo act too. I saw her do an event called "Pussy Power" where the audience was just transfixed, leaning on her every word. Congrats to you Jenn, on a great CD and release party!
Schwervon!
Well it's vain of me to write a review of our show this nite, but what I can tell you is that matt & I were loose and punky. We played our new song, which is entitled "new one".We had some stage banter, matt gave me some dirty looks, I hit the drums really hard, and we topped off the nite with "Surfin' Bird" by The Trash Men.
My favorite lyric to that song is
"ooom pa pa meow meow SURFFFINNNNNNN BIIIIIIIRRRRDDDD!!!"
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OTHER WORDS
The Baby Skins
The Baby Skins make me want to climb trees, paint, have teatime, and tell dirty jokes. Watching them is like being invited into the secret language of best friends, a language that is both sweet and irreverent. I love the Baby Milks song and Unrequited Love when Crystal drums on her xylaphone right before the chorus. I've also heard them do beautiful renditions of a Cockroach song and a Babs song. They remind me a little bit of a more indie-sounding Roches or The Softies (K Records). They've recently added Steven Mertens on drums and James Broughel on bass, and I really like the disparity between their laid-back harmonies over the rockingness of a full band sound. They have an ep which you should buy, called Optional Rally Funpack (available on the OJ Distribution Page http://www.olivejuicemusic.com)
Bush Tetras @ North Six, Ladyfest East 2002
I've started doing tribal drum beats with Matt, and I blame it on The Bush Tetras. Bush Tetras were part of the New York No Wave/ Post Punk era in the early 80's. And yes, they are still around. Their guitarist, Pat Place, is brilliant. Her riffage is bluesy and rocking and fits right in the groove of Cynthia Sley's vocals. One thing that struck me about Cynthia was that she understands the power of stillness. There isn't a lot of frenetic, external
energy from her. Her words seem to be coming from deep within her. She is half snake charmer & half witch poet channeling the spirit of modern dance pioneer, Martha Graham. This band is well worth checking out--in particular, their cd "Things that go Boom in the Night".
