Phantom Operator

You Damn Right

new apartment

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new gear

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NEW JOB

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new music project

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surviving ny

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feeling like this man

There’s something in the Mist

Corrine Vionnet - From a project entitled Photo Opportunities. Using multiple transparencies of hundreds of photos to create a hazy representation of popular monuments and tourist spots around the world, giving the finished product a dreamy, watercolor like quality. Artist of the day props goes to her.

Artist’s website can be found here: http://www.corinnevionnet.com

B+(2X)>X^2

The XX - VCR (Betafluxx Remix) by Betafluxx

Remix of The XX I did a few months back. Listen, download, comment, lather, rinse, repeat.

Throwing Stones in Glass Houses

There are few things better than going to a local show to see one band and then becoming a fan of the entire bill by the night’s end. This happened last night. So here’s how it all went down. I get a text from a friend (we’ll call her Sara…because that’s her real name) saying that I should venture to Glasslands for a show. Seeing as how she’s never steered me wrong I do so on my own (curses to the day jobs, upcoming deadlines, and deathly illnesses that kept my crew at bay for the evening). This was my first time at Glasslands - a place so unassuming that from the outside it’s easy to walk past without ever realizing that it’s there (yes, I walked past it without realizing it was there) I end up chatting up the bartender (Hector) for awhile about the ins and outs of NYC vs. Boston venues and how the low ceilings of the Middle East Downstairs pose a serious health risk to any bands that like to jump in the air during their sets. Then the bands start. 

New Moods open the night up (http://newmoods.bandcamp.com/). Very strong opener that brought a good deal of energy with them. Fortunately the crowd showed up early so by the time the music started the room was really alive.

Acrylics was next ( http://www.myspace.com/acrylicsnyc) and I had to set aside my own sense of favoritism for any band that uses Roland synths and fender amps (as my own Juno-60 and Twin reverb sit in storage awaiting my return). They are a two piece with primarily female vocalist  and a mixer producing overdubs. The sound has a dreamy side but with plenty of intensity and that nice guitar bite. I’d really like to know what delay pedal the guitarist was using - it reminisced of a DL-4 and created some very nice soundscapes with the feedback cranked up. My personal fav was a relatively short and percussively sparse song called Counting Sheep that included the both of them on vox - a dynamic that sounds awesome with their respective ranges. 

And then Brahms took it home (http://www.myspace.com/brahmsisaband). I didn’t realize at first (and thanks to my boy Michael for pointing it out) but I had seen Calle Parks before, opening for a then budding Boston act known as Passion Pit (props). Brahms just dropped a 7” and this was the kickoff for their tour starting tomorrow with Asobi-Seksu. Great set with full onslaught of guitar and live bass dueling with mixers, keyboards, and Calle’s own mockup of the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, complete with cymbals and toms. High energy set that gave way in the latter half to some deliciously dark and guttural, pulsing synth lines.

Unfortunately I didn’t catch much of Tanlines and the post show dancing, as I was beckoned by thoughts of an epic sandwich from the deli on N. 6th (where I had an in depth conversation with the guys there about the pros and cons of the iPad and 4g networks). 

Overall it was a pretty stellar time for what would otherwise be a rainy night chilling in Bed-Stuy. Glad I made the trek to Williamsburg, and it makes me even happier that I’ll be living there in a couple of weeks and can just walk home afterwards instead of waiting for a seemingly nonexistent G train at 1 AM.