11 June 2007

Constant Entertainment Overload (an update/short essay)

Okay, okay, I f'd up stupidly this weekend by neglecting to mention that last night (yeah, sunday night) there was gonna be a kickass show for anyone in the general NYC vicinity. Maybe it had to do with the fact that my band was playing and conflicts of interests could have arisen. But fuck it, my band is good, and I will state that right here.
Now, when you're in a band, you get used to the fact that only about 15% of the time are all the bands on the lineup awesome and agree that everyone else was awesome as well. Last night at Fat Baby was one of those nights. So here, check out these bands:

Archaeopteryx - This off-kilter bass/drums "metal" combo is heading out on a two month tour right now. Most likely that means they'll be in whatever town you live in/live near. Go see them.
From Cocaine to Rogaine - Just met this metal/core instrumental trio last night. Young band putting together some impressive tunes. I haven't listened to the demo they gave me yet, but I will today, so I'll update soon.
Stay Fucked - I've posted about these fellas before, and they've never failed to impress. Unfortunately they'll be taking a brief hiatus as bassist, Tony, is one half of Archaoesohdjfshotx and will be gone on tour.
Warmth - My band. I won't write about us. It's already lame enough that I've mentioned it.

Suffice to say that there is a really amazing undercurrent of strange, difficult-to-classify heavy music going on in Williamsburg right now. Jazz- and math-influenced not-quite-metal with a serious diy/punk attitude. Bands that seem doomed to repeat the lack of notoriety that too many of our influences have endured. While the neighborhood becomes more well known for its influx of condos and i-bankers and shitty derivative pop-music bullshit, there is really some incredible music happening. In a city where there is a constant entertainment overload, it's easy to avoid going to shows where a bunch of "no-name" bands are playing. I'm as guilty as the rest of 'em, particularly since there's so much of the same "trendy" stuff happening. It really sucks to go to a show to see some friends play and just be bombarded by three other shitty bands who just seem to have latched on to some shallow conception of what music is about. Hell yeah that's a pompous statement. Part of the reason that I keep this blog going is that it's a lot of work to keep up on innovative music when there's so much horrible background noise hiding the good stuff. I'm not content to just let some hacks get famous because somebody-knows-somebody and they dress "right." This just might be the last thing in my life that I'm still a hopeless romantic about. New York can jade a person right quick, but I'm also finding that this city can still be fuel for some romantic musicians.

Ah, that felt good, corny and necessary.

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