Like of the Week: Leather Jackets! Leather Jackets! Leather Jackets!

The Leather Jacket in all it's glory!

Well, kids, Labor Day is upon us. That means that Summer is packing it’s bags and heading into hibernation soon, gently leading us into those fair-weather Fall months. It’s time to start thinking about that Autumnal wardrobe and if there is one Fall fashion must have to have in your closet this year it’s the super sexy, super sleek leather jacket.

This is a style that’s coming back in a huge way this season and truthfully no one can deny the instant appeal. Put on a leather jacket and you are instantly bad ass (hellooo, the Fonz anyone?).

Plus, there are so many well-made and tailored options out there now that weren’t available before. Not to mention the styles and cuts and are endless; bombers, blazer cuts, trenches, crinkled leather, brushed leather -there are literally no limits when it comes to this classic jacket.

Also, if real leather isn’t your bag, then there are a plethora of amazing synthetic and or vegan leathers choices out there that are just as worthy of your wear and won’t compromise the overall look. We’re now reaching a fashion arena where faux is just as fashionable as the real deal, and let’s be honest here, it’s a lot easier on the old wallet.

I myself actually recently purchased this synthetic leather jacket at Uniqlo and every time I wear it out, people always seem to think it’s 100% authentic when in reality it was a fraction of the price. You can also find great options at shops like H&M.

So check out some styles, shop around, find your leathery look, but make sure you get in on this Fall fashion trend for 2010. Trust me, all the cool kids are going to be wearing them.

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The Padded Panty

Dislike of the Week: Padded Panties for Insecure Ass People in the World

Ass Men beware. There is a new trend running rampant on the streets. The terrifying, the ludicrous, the

bizarre, Padded Panty is on websites and in stores near you!

Now, I know there are times when women look in the mirror and wish that they had the rump of say, J. Lo or anyone in the Kardashian clan but seriously, people, glorified Spanx with built in butt enhancers?! Is this what we’ve come to? Chicken cutlets meant for our ass?!

I actually happened to come across a pair of these atrocious undies in a store recently and it took every ounce of my being not to guffaw at this ridiculous product and ask the sales women if anyone had actually ever purchased it. I even spoke to one of my guy friends about this trend and what he told me was pretty honest and overall very understandable.

Just like women who use the padded bras and chicken cutlets to enhance their bust and give the illusion of Playboy Bunny curves, these padded panties, or “buttock enhancing garments” are merely image tools that are, to be quite frank, just straight up false advertising.

They’re a blatant lie to the public and opposite sex in general. Think about it for a second, who wouldn’t be disappointed heading toward the boudoir with a buxom Kim Kardashian only to find out they’re more of a rail-thin Kate Moss type in the end. (When it’s put like that, it’s sort of difficult to argue with.)

At the end of the day these granny panties are really just fat-assed girdles. So women (or men) who are craving a little junk in your trunk – shake what your Mama gave you and be proud of it. Own it. Don’t buy it. Especially not for $39.99 in a nylon lycra blend.

Menomena
Mines
Barsuk

A lot of work—where work is read “head-scratching, analogy-straining, clever adjective-juxtaposing and neologism-coining on the part of the indie press”—has gone into describing both Menomena’s complicated, diverse, and mostly very pretty music, and their rather unconventional approach to songwriting. The Portland trio, made up of singer/multi-instrumentalists Danny Seim, Justin Harris, and Brent Knopf, has acquired some notoriety for assembling its compositions around improvised chunks sampled with software invented as a school project by Knopf.  These loops form the skeletons for songs that the band fleshes out into pieces that can be performed live by the trio, adding layers of richness and complexity that three-pieces often struggle to achieve either on stage or in the studio. It certainly works. There’s no question that it sounds cool, or that they’ve got a lot going on. But there’s a lot of debate about what the heck to call it.

Perhaps the common denominator in all attempts to ascribe a genre to the band’s wild sounds is “pop,” often combined with “rock” or “post-rock,” a descriptor that the band itself seems to find amusing.

But pop is a really easy way out. There’s much more to Menomena’s fourth record, Mines, than the simple syllable “pop” would suggest. Menomena is fond of breakdowns and build-ups—many songs begin with a full minute or two of vocals over just a gently tinkling piano, droning bells, or on the crisp and brutal “Dirty Cartoons,” an acoustic guitar, before the full band lopes in. They also enjoy playful arrangements, featuring unorthodox instruments and their approximations, such as what sounds like a chorus of sweetly interwoven African thumb pianos during the opening minute of “Tithe”. Both the group’s composition and home-recording chops are shown off to great effect by tons of studio tweaking with pans, layered vocals, great swooping changes in dynamics, and surround-sound effects that sometimes recall a 21st century approach to the production techniques of the late 1960s. But it’s a lot more than just pop.

There are indeed sweet harmonies (the band is very well served by the fact that all its members seem to be able to sing), delicate piano lines, and sometimes-gentle hooks that would fit well on an indie-pop album anywhere from Chapel Hill to Glasgow. But there are also subtle undercurrents of reggae and dub, particularly on Tithe’s keening choruses, in which an echoing choir wails “nothing sounds appealing” over a booming bassline, or the funky nautical nightmare of “BOTE,” which recalls both a postmodern “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and “Exodus” in equal measure.

The album also offers shout-outs to garage rock, particularly on “TAOS,” my favorite tune on the record, which sounds like nothing so much as a deconstructed MC5, with fuzzed-out bass trading licks with howling guitar, bolstered by a sweetly honking saxophone in the song’s last third, all backing up the deliciously ironic Detroit-flavored belting of a vocalist proclaiming himself “not the most cocksure guy.” And multiple keyboards can be as creepy (as on the very pretty “Killemall,” which features a lovely phased chorus and angry organ line) as they are pretty (as on the softly-tinkling closer “INTIL,” or the stronger “Sleeping Beauty,” where nursery-rhyme phrasing and violent drumming that comes in midway through call to mind a more emotionally stable Neutral Milk Hotel).

These influences and more are melted together in an engaging record that manages to be dramatic without sounding pretentious. Mines may defy easy categorization, but if only for its complexity, it demands multiple listens. This record is all-but-sure to wind up on top-ten lists come December, so if you get it early, you won’t have to wait until the end of the year to figure out what to call it.

Released On July 27, 2010

Track Listing

1. Queen Black Acid
2. TAOS
3. Killemall
4. Dirty Cartoons
5. Tithe
6. BOTE
7. Lunchmeat
8. Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such a Big Bot
9. Five Little Rooms
10. Sleeping Beauty
11. “INTIL”

Les Savy Fav
Root for Ruin
French Kiss

Thankfully, Root For Ruin, Les Savy Fav’s new energy packed record, made it onto iTunes just in time for it to blast through open car windows as folks speed down the highway towards their favorites summer getaways.  In my case, the Catskills, but not before I stopped by Gimmie Coffee in Williamsburg where one of the cute coffee boys heard it blaring out of my headphones as they hung around my neck.

“New Les Savy Fav,” I said, turning it up so we could both dance a little.  He was into it, and so was I.

Les Savy Fav’s Root For Ruin is a grand beckoning, as embodied by the opening track “Apetites” whose thrashing bridge shouts: “Show us your teeth and show us your tits, and show us the scars from the shit that you did…” Or in the noisy Pixies-esque “Lips n Stuff” singing “Pretent with innocent, we’re just friends with benefits, we don’t even say we kiss, we just touch our lips…”   The vocals on Root For Ruin are mixed with perfect clarity, bringing their innocently crude lyrics to the forefront, over loud electric guitars and heavy drums, with the occasional, and indie-rock essential, synthesizer.

The stand out track, “Sleepless in Silverlake,” offers an irresistible sway and bob of ambient melodic guitar, backed by a synthesizer, which begs to be blasted in a convertible Thunderbird while cruising down Wilshire Blvd. with your sunglasses on at 3:00AM.  In the meantime, “High and Unhinged” will no doubt make it on to every loser freak high schooler’s Fall playlist, or mix CD, this season.  As its chorus professes, “Out on the fringe, we get high and unhinged, and the outcasts are in, pressing skin onto skin”, it is destined to become the theme song for the kids who chain-smoke in the back of the parking lot, and have their eyes permanently rolled.

Root For Ruin embraces a raw high quality of production that is rare, which only a veteran but forward-thinking band such as Les Savy Fav can accomplish.   It offers a satisfying and illustrious trajectory from 2007’s Let’s Stay Friends, as they polish their sound for the masses while holding on to their hard-art-core roots.

Release Date August 3, 2010

Track Listing

1. Appetites
2. Dirty Knails
3. Sleepless in Silverlake
4. Let’s Get Out of Here
5. Lips n’ Stuff
6. Poltergeist
7. High and Unhinged
8. Excess Engergies
9. Dear Crutches
10. Calm Down
11. Clear Spirits

Like of the Week: Klik Klik’s Futuristic Accessories Show Magnets Can Be More Than Just Child’s Play

Klik Klik's Magentic Jewelry

Now how bad ass is this! Imagine if you could design and then recreate your own jewelry in a matter of minutes. Then, when you get sick of it, you can just take it apart and invent something completely brand new! Well, the future has arrived because that is exactly what you can do with new magnetic jewelry kit and collection, titled, Klik Klik, inspired by Brooklyn-based designers, Al Kelly and and Kellar Williams.

The kits come fully equipped with 300 magnets in a variety of shapes to fully let your creative mind take flight. With 28 metal wands, 56 polished cubes and 300 nickel-plated spherical magnets, there’s no limit to what you can create. From delicate chokers to ornate bracelets, necklaces and armbands – everything you need to configure your own show-stopping accessories can be found in this one dynamic kit and the best part is, it’s only $65!

Not only is this a fantastic gift for anyone with an artistic eye and passion for fashion, but the Klik Klik website even has an online gallery where you can see how numerous designs are constructed with step-by-step video instructions on how to recreate these looks on your own.

I can’t say enough awesome things about this cutting edge and innovative collection. If this is the future of fashion, then consider me on board!

Dislike of the Week: The New Face of Sleepwear – Blanket meets Burqa?!

Ooooookay, where to begin, wheeeeeere to begin…

I have to admit I sort of love this commercial only because whoever created this is clearly going on the assumption that people are stupid enough to pay $14.99 for a flap of fabric that hangs over their faces like a burqa in an attempt to get some shut eye.

Then there is the name of this fearless product: The Snazzy Napper. I have yet to meet anyone who could put these two words in the same sentence let alone the same product, so kudos to their branding team, I guess.

The Snazzy Napper

Next, I’d like to discuss the infomercial that introduced all of humanity to this monstrosity that’s claims it’s got your solution to sleep no matter where you might be; the bus, the park, or maybe the waiting room of your dentist’s office while waiting for the pesky teeth cleaning.

Yes siree, we have a real winner when it comes to human intelligence. I think my favorite part in this infomercial might be how this one woman decides to just bust out this fabric, face-cover-up while sitting in what appears to be a waiting room with other normal and civilized-looking people sitting right next to her. What’s even more hilarious is that they just go on about their business and completely ignore the fact that there is a crazy person taking a nap with a sheet over their head. Now THAT’S some acting!

I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that there is a cartoon sheep mid-leap wearing sunglasses emblazoned on the front of this sorry excuse for a blanket or the fact there is a larger size (for $24.99) that resembles a Snuggie for when you REALLY want to make people around you uncomfortable.

Either way, when it comes to the Snazzy Napper, kids, just say NO!

Cabaret Voltaire

1. APB “Shoot You Down” – The approach of Fall always puts me in a mood for the classic alternative rock that I tend to stow away during the Summer months, though these beloved genres are always close at hand. In recent years, there has been an unprecedented return to the experimental sounds of the post-punk era (1978 to 1985-ish), as everyone from Bloc Party to The Killers to Interpol falls all over themselves to proclaim a youth steeped in the likes of Gang Of Four, Pigbag, Scritti Politti and Joy Division. Some might call it just another case of everything old becoming new again, but as this is an era of music that I love, I’ve given it a good listen and for the most part, I like what I’m hearing. This week, I explore old and newer favorites from or inspired by the post-punk era, beginning with cult favorite Scottish punk/funk band APB’s extremely groovy “Shoot You Down”. If you can ever manage to get your hands on it, their sole studio album (1985’s Cure For The Blues) is a raucous, joyous listen, filled with bass grooves, tight high-hat rhythms and punchy lyrics.

2. Radio 4 “Enemies Like This” – The signature guitar riff makes a comeback at the beginning of this urgent opening track from NYC-based Radio 4’s 2006 album of the same name, and it creates a tension that drives this track home for me every time. Tension and urgency are hallmarks of post-punk era rock, as if bands felt that they had only a short time to express an important topic in a meaningful way, and they wanted to rock out while doing it – a formidable and oft-copied template forged by Gang of Four’s legendary 1979 debut album, Entertainment!. In fact, Radio 4 have often compared themselves to Gang Of Four and cites them as a major influence, along with Mission Of Burma and The Clash, although I can only hear The Clash’s influence in Radio 4’s militant political rhetoric. Modern music media has described Radio 4’s sound as “danceable punk”, which makes me wonder if these people are familiar with original post-punk and punk/funk music or if they think they’re creating a new genre. It’s a little bit like missing the forest for the trees.

3. Cut City “The Dull Miles” – I’m not sure what it is about nouveau post-punk bands that lead them to begin almost every song with a prolonged attack on a single note via guitar, but I’ll forgive Cut City on this one because once they get on with it, the track is stellar. This Swedish group’s 2007 debut LP Exit Decades has the feel of 1980’s post-punk and the atmosphere of 1990’s shoegaze, but it’s no retro rip-off; Cut City manages to take old ideas and make them sound fresh and new. “The Dull Miles” is like a variation on the musical theme introduced by Joy Division’s “Disorder”, and J.D. fans will hear its echo in the opening chords and the beginning of each verse. I can fully appreciate it when a band clearly learns from those who came before them, while taking care to admire them as opposed to trying to become them.

4. Joe Jackson “Sunday Papers” – Most people probably wouldn’t automatically consider Joe Jackson to be post-punk, and strictly speaking, he doesn’t fit into the various stereotypical post-punk molds that our ears are used to; however, both his debut album Look Sharp! and its follow up I’m The Man were released in 1979 amidst the spectacular flameout of punk and the emergence of the funkier, cleaner and more intelligent sound that became the cornerstone of the early post-punk era. Jackson had the lyrical sarcasm of punk, the outwardly critical nature of the post-punk set, and a reggae/funk influence that drives “Sunday Papers” among others, though he chose to focus his sarcasm and critical wit on human relations as opposed to political relations. Much of Jackson’s later work falls squarely in the new wave camp (think “Steppin’ Out”) and for the most part is not nearly as enjoyable as Look Sharp! or I’m The Man, particularly the latter album’s title track, which features that trademark urgent tempo and running bassline found in so much of the music of the post-punk era. The lyrics to “Sunday Papers” in particular are Jackson at his best, slyly skewering the media for broadcasting everyone’s business to the masses.

5. Scritti Politti “The Word Girl” – For bands like Scritti Politti, politics and music were inextricably linked in the original post-punk era, and the bands’ influences in those areas were usually worn plainly on their sleeves in the form of names or lyrics. Leftist, often Marxist stances were common; in particular, these were typical character traits of bands that sprang from the musically fertile Leeds, England art school scene. But while Scritti Politti began in that vein (their name is an homage to an Italian Marxist theorist and their early work is filled with scholarly references to famously radical thinkers and philosophers), by the time they released “The Word Girl” from Cupid And Psyche 85 (1985) they were much more mainstream and new-wave-oriented than the very typical post-punk amalgam of punk, funk, dub and avant garde jazz presented on their debut album Songs To Remember (1982). Yet, this has been my favorite Scritti track since my cousin included it on a mix tape for me in 1989.

6. Bloc Party “Like Eating Glass” – I was not a fan of Bloc Party when they suddenly and completely took over the airwaves and concert halls of America in 2005. I vividly remember going to one of DJ Michael T.’s Motherfucker parties at NYC’s (now defunct) Roxy nightclub in late 2005 and being disgusted to find that Bloc Party was not only performing, but also being taped by MTV, who forced everyone to sign an image use waiver at the door. The reason for my disgust? Here was a band resurrecting the sound of Gang Of Four, dormant for two decades, but doing so by acting as a mirror image instead of paying tribute. Even their name was a reflection of the Marxist leanings of early post-punk era bands. Bloc Party sounded fresh and new to the ears of inexperienced music fans looking for the next cool sound, but only because many did not realize that this sound had already made its mark. In retrospect, while I’m still not a fan, even I have to admit that Bloc Party did help to re-open the door for innovative rock music in the post-rock wasteland of the late 2000’s, and ultimately I can’t hate on anyone who is inspired by post-punk. Besides, this song does kick some ass (even if it does have the aforementioned prototypical long-assed single-note intro).

7. Hole “Credit In The Straight World” – Anyone wondering where Hole’s sound came from need look no further than punk and post-punk, right down to covering obscure tracks by obscure post-punk bands like Young Marble Giants’ “Credit In The Straight World” (from their 1980 debut LP Colossal Youth). Hole’s cover more than just does justice to the original, and it’s a tense and urgent crescendo at the midpoint of the heavily punk and post-punk-inspired Live Through This (1994). Hole’s post-punk influences can be heard loud and clear on intense rockers like “Violet” and “Jennifer’s Body”, where the style of bass player Melissa Auf Der Maur changes up to a punk/funk groove and there is a sense of immediacy in the guitar work. I actually backed into my love of classic punk and post-punk thanks to albums like Live Through This, late to a party that has since taken up permanent residence in my soul.

8. Au Pairs “Love Song” – The post-punk topic du jour for the Au Pairs was gender roles and relations, which they alternately mocked and highlighted on their 1981 debut record Playing With A Different Sex. Like many albums of this era, it can get a little monotonous when taken as a whole but it contains standout tracks like “Love Song”, which pokes fun at the concept of love and marriage as a negotiated business deal and has that signature punk/funk groove. The Au Pairs are one of those groups that you hear at one point in your life, love them, and then forget about them completely, only to rediscover them years later when you’re working on a post-punk playlist for the Whiskey Dregs. Well…you get the picture.

9. Cabaret Voltaire “Just Fascination” – One of the more avant garde and artistic bands to come out of England in the post-punk era, Cabaret Voltaire is typically claimed by the industrial music set but in many ways they defy classification. As with many British post-punk era bands, Cabaret Voltaire was inspired by an artistic movement from the early 20th century (Dadaism, in their case) and much of their earliest work was more like performance art than music. Cabaret Voltaire was obsessed with sound creation and processing, inventing new sounds and pushing the boundaries of whatever technology was available at the time. This track from their 1983 LP The Crackdown was a more commercial sound for C.V., though in relation to the commercial music of today it actually sounds very industrial, progressive and unique. This sort of groundbreaking innovation was the beauty of the post-punk era.

10. Ministry “All Day” – This early B-side to Ministry’s iconic anti-establishment anthem “Every Day Is Halloween” hints at the darker, more industrial side of Ministry that was to come following their 1983 full-length debut With Sympathy – a terrific album that Al Jourgensen would sell his soul to wipe off the planet forever. With Sympathy is Al’s dark little secret, the evidence of his brief post-punk, pre-hardcore industrial foray into synth-pop territory. I find most post-1989 Ministry to be difficult to endure, and it makes me long for a return to the early Ministry years. You can hear the use of machinery noise samples on “All Day”, something that was common to many of the pioneering industrial and electronic bands in the post-punk era, such as Cabaret Voltaire, Nitzer Ebb, Kraftwerk and Throbbing Gristle. The melodic and danceable elements that make this track so much fun to listen to are completely obliterated on later Ministry work, but fortunately the early Wax Trax singles have been compiled into an anthology and are still available (much to Al’s chagrin).

YACHT
See Mystery Lights
DFA Records

DFA Records, the label of LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture and several others, has developed a reputation over the last couple of years for releasing music that manages to be challenging, sonically inventive, off-kilter and funky as hell. And with the release of the Portland, Oregon-based YACHT’s See Mystery Lights, DFA attempts to expand their reputation with potentially the strangest release and most mysterious release yet. YACHT, originally the solo side project of creative force Jona Bechtolt, has gone through a number of weird incarnations and somewhat random name changes – at one point YACHT was an acronym for Young Americans Challenging High Technology and although they seem to have dropped the acronym, I’ve also seen album artwork that has depicted them as Y∆CHT. And from what I can tell, the new moniker and the album title are largely inspired by the mysterious lighting phenomena seen in the Western Texas desert.  For a brief moment, all of this seems ridiculous, bizarre and utterly brilliant – that is until the similarities between YACHT, DEVO, the Talking Heads and even the Tom Tom Club become glaringly apparent and obvious. If they were only to drop some of the shtick, their music which at times manages to be wildly inventive would really shine.

Starting with the Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian percussion in the first few bars of “Ring the Bell,” there’s this sense that YACHT may very well be aping off of Vampire Weekend until the song slowly morphs into a swirling fog of electronic beeps, blips and boops. “The Afterlife” is a sugary, art pop song that’s strongly reminiscent of a bare bones version of Elastica’s “Connection” complete with what sounds like handclaps holding up part of the rhythm. “It’s Boring/You Can Live Anywhere You Want,” starts off with some angular post-punk guitar, a simple pounding drum backbeat and simple lyrics delivered in a child-like and gleeful sing-song manner that builds up a rushing and overwhelming momentum – and then suddenly changes towards an insistent keyboard plink. The lyrics are simple throughout but the gleefulness of the song is fucking infectious. (Seriously, as I write this, I’m playing the song in my head and I have a gigantic smile and I’m bouncing around in my chair. Ridiculous, yes but true.) “Summer Song” has a classic DFA Records sound – off kilter electronic funk with copious amounts of cowbell and handclaps reminiscent of both the Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers” on their Echoes album and of the new LCD Soundsystem album. I kept wondering if James Murphy somehow secretly produced it. Some of the sampled and pirated beats take freely from what sounds like Chinese Kung Fu movies, random ephemera and assorted crap – and because of repeated listens reveal subtle new sounds you may not have noticed before.

As much fun as the album is, I was plagued by the fact that for the most part while I was listening to See Mystery Lights, I could easily tell who many of their influences are. “I’m in Love With a Ripper” sounds a helluva lot like a flashier, po-mo Tom Tom Club, “The Afterlife” sounds much like Fear of Music or Speaking in Tongues-era Talking Heads. Musically, there are some fantastic ideas that brim beneath the surface, even if the whole thing isn’t always the most original thing I’ve ever heard but this album is definitely a summer album.

Release Date April 28, 2009
Re-Released on July 28, 2010

Track Listing

1. Ring the Bell
2. The Afterlife
3. I’m in Love With a Ripper
4. It’s Boring/You Can Live Anywhere You Want
5. Psychic City (Voodoo City)
6. Summer Song
7. We Have All We Ever Wanted
8. Don’t Fight the Darkness
9. I’m in Love With a Ripper (Party Mix)
10. Psychic City (Version)

When you hear band Pet Ghost Project’s newest album, Winter Variations, you will understand the buzz on Brooklyn’s newest musical treasure.  The band, originally a west coast creation, has a sound so rich in layers upon layers of sound that you can’t help but be quite taken with it. Justin Stivers (original member and creator of PGP) creates these musical compositions with an intense amount of thought. What a concept right?  An artist who creates his art with the utmost determination, consideration, and imagination.  Whiskey Dregs had the opportunity to hear more about the band with the melodic architect himself…

Ellen Donbeck: What’s the history behind Pet Ghost Project? Was the band originally a solo project?

Justin Stivers: Well, it started as a recording project right after high school.  I began experimenting with sounds, song structure, musical ideas, and things of that nature. I was always in other bands, so Pet Ghost was really something on the side at first. Over time, it slowly morphed into something I wanted to invest more and more time into, running with different ideas and concepts seemed endless.

EB: When did the other members become involved?

JS: Justin Gonzales and Jacob More joined the fray about 3 albums in, over 2 years ago.  Chris Patin moved from Austin, Texas earlier this year and has been with us for about 6 months or so.  Things have changed quite a bit over the last couple of years and definitely for the best.  In the studio and on stage, these guys are tops.  They push the songs in so many different directions, and our live show is a totally different beast. I got really lucky meeting these fellows…but that’s why I moved to Brooklyn, to meet folk like this.

EB: Your sound, undoubtedly developed with each move — from Seattle to Portland to now Brooklyn, does your music feel experimental in its composition or do you feel like Pet Ghost Project calls home to a particular sound?

JS: Yeah, Pet Ghost Project certainly changes things up on the listener an awful lot. But that’s something I really want in my “ideal band”, not to feel tied to anything. As I’ve moved to different cities, I’ve absorbed new influences and new sounds. I’m in a constant state of change (as we all are), and I guess the music reflects that side of me.  Again, it’s just really nice to not be pinned down to a particular sound or style.  It gives us more to work with and a lot more places to go musically. Sometimes not having a particular direction in mind is a good thing; it opens up many possibilities.

As a producer and recording engineer, I’m finding my sound a lot more, getting the science and math of the whole thing down pretty good. That’s always the struggle, capturing the sounds how you want them, though we’re also getting better on that front too.  I wear many different masks in this band, as you can tell; I guess we all do.

EB: In your Bio you call Brooklyn the ‘promise land’, how was living in Brooklyn influenced your sound?

Brooklyn has been pretty kind to me. Lots of opportunity here, something I was not really accustomed to.  Over the last couple of years, to be surrounded by the sheer amount of stimuli swirling around, it’s hard not to be inspired. Pretty awesome.

EB: The album is hard yet sentimental and very beautiful, you shift from such a diverse group of sounds over and over within a track, where does that inspiration come from?

JS: Hard to say exactly where.  We are influenced by so many things, whether it’s all the madness shakin’ down in our lives, or just the bands and music we love. Combination of the two, I suppose.
EB: Your vocals are really good and used sparingly, do you feel too many vocals takes away from the music which is already so full and rich in its composition?

Thanks.  This particular album was done in one session. We had to execute around 40 minutes of music as best we could, and having the least amount of vocals made sense to us. This started as a “live in the studio” session for BreakThru Radio and accidentally turned into an album.  I took the tracks home, messed with them, and it morphed into what you hear before you.

EB: What’s your favorite track on the new album?

JS: I’m pretty happy with how “drunk and smiling at heaven” turned out. We took a 2 minute song I recorded way back and turned it into a 7 minute extravaganza.

EB: What has been your experience playing the album live?

JS: The tracks on winter variations are pretty much entirely live.  The songs grew from the rehearsal room to the stage, and they happened to find a home on this album.  It’s been fun seeing these songs progress and morph into something completely different, and I’m glad we captured some of that energy on these recordings.  Believe it or not, this is more or less how we sound live.

EB: What’s next for the band?

JS: We have a lot on our plate, including our big record release show at Cameo Gallery Sept. 10th, with our good friends Quiet Loudly, MiniBoone, and Gunfight!  We’re really looking forward to that. Shortly thereafter will be our little east coast tour (dates to be announced on our site very soon) occurring mid-September. We also have another tour plotted for mid-October.  It looks like we will be pretty busy this fall. And we’d have it no other way.

Sophie’s choice

That’s how I felt selecting these pictures — should I go with movement, action, and mayhem? Or should I go with cookie cutter pictures of a band, whose sound deserves more than concert portraiture. There’s the right way of doing things and then there’s our (The Whiskey Dregs) way of doing things. I guess maybe it wasn’t Sophie’s choice after all. When you’re getting smashed between the stage, girls fighting to kiss each other, and legs kicking the body of your camera, you realize real quick that photographing a show like this one isn’t going to be about about photography at all, it’s going to be about freezing the moment so everyone can experience some semblance of quite possibly one of the best shows this year.

Fuck cookie cutter concert portraiture.

Deee-lite

1. Deee-lite “Deee-lite Theme” – Anyone who has ever been to one of my Grooveskool parties will recognize this jam from early ‘90s Lower East Side club scene darlings Deee-Lite’s 1990 debut album, World Clique; since the very first night, it’s been my opening track, my own personal Grooveskool theme song. The song perfectly sets the tone for a funky evening, reflecting elements of hip-hop, funk, soul and retro dance genres, just like Grooveskool itself. I remember picking up World Clique when I was thirteen years old, when everyone and their mother was getting their groove on to “Groove Is In The Heart”, and I distinctly remember lying sprawled out my bed with the cassette’s liner notes in hand and realizing that I had never had so much fun listening to an album before. Deee-lite has always been the life of the party, and their sound is a product of the downtown New York City house music scene that spawned them, their own quirky, “global village” flavor, courtesy of Ukranian-born Super DJ Dmitri and Japan’s DJ Towa Tei. Add the fabulous downtown diva Lady Miss Kier and you’ve got a party in your eardrums – which is why I selected this track as Grooveskool’s anthem.

2. James Brown “Don’t Be A Drop-Out” – The Godfather of Soul always found time to drop some wisdom on his listeners, in and amongst all of the getting down, feeling like a sex machine, and having a funky good time. In fact, most people are only familiar with a handful of JB’s most well-known singles, which while excellent, pale in comparison with the brilliance of some of his older work. “Don’t Be A Drop-Out” was recorded as a single in 1966, as JB went deeper into funk styles and further away from the soul sounds that he began with, and during a period of time when JB was an outspoken social activist and frequently tackled topics affecting the black community in his music. Having dropped out of school himself in the seventh-grade, this particular topic was one that JB could speak on with some personal authority. The message is wrapped up inside of a tight funk groove, with harmonized backing vocals reminiscent of The Four Tops and The Temptations. This is one of my all-time favorite JB tracks, and it shows yet again how James Brown not only helped to shape the sound of the eras he lived through, but his music subsequently became the sound of those eras. To have done so is more than artistry – it is genius.

3. Kanye West “Addiction” – The thing that draws me to Kanye’s earliest recordings is the uniqueness of the beats and the background music, especially since by the time he recorded his own albums he had already given so much of his behind-the-scenes talent to so many for so long. He’s lost a lot of that creativity with each successive album he releases (and I’m damn sick of hearing his vocoder-purified singing), but if you go back to his sophomore release Late Registration (2005), you’ll find some of the better hip-hop to have been recorded in the 2000’s. The best track by far is “Addiction”, a sexy, jazzy yet urgent piece about indulgence in vice with an excellent vocal sample from Etta James’ version of “My Funny Valentine”, and which assumes that every listener has some sort of addiction in their lives, be it money, women or drugs; “What’s your addiction / Is it money, is it girls, is it weed / I been afflicted / By not one, not two, but all three…”. The track ends with Kanye attempting to convince his girlfriend to engage in a threesome, in one of the sexiest endings to a hip-hop song in quite awhile. If you don’t have a personal vice, this song will make you want to go out and get one.

4. Soho “Hot Music” – This is hands down one of the hottest tracks to emerge from the deep house scene in the ‘90s. Blue Note samples, a hard drum break that all but insists that you get up and dance, and some funky sax to round it all out. There’s some confusion out on the web over whether or not this is the same Soho that had a hit in the early ‘90s with the groovy, Smiths-sampling “Hippychick”, but just based on the huge difference in sound I’m pretty sure it’s not. Deep house is best consumed out on a dance floor, since the rhythmic beats and infrequent variation from a central musical theme for four to six minutes can quickly become repetitive; unless, of course, you’re using that four to six minutes to find a deep groove within your soul as the DJ spins and the crowd morphs around you and becomes one with the music. Regardless, this track never gets old for me whether I’m dancing or chilling. The scene lives on at Sin Sin in New York City’s East Village, a weekly Wednesday night events that parties like it’s 1993.

5. PM Dawn “In The Presence Of Mirrors” – Another artist whose body of work is much greater than the singles most people know them by, PM Dawn’s 1991 lengthily-named debut album Of The Heart, Of The Soul, and Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience has been a favorite of mine since the tenth grade. Yes, this is the album with “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” on it, with it’s well-executed samples of Spandau Ballet’s “True” used to such excellent effect, the PM Dawn song that always makes you think of lost loves, missed opportunities, and long-forgotten memories. However, it is also the album with “Paper Doll”, “Even After I Die” and this playlist track on it, which never fails to bring people up to the booth to ask me who it is when I play it. Perhaps one of the better aspects of music’s cyclical nature and the tendency of newer bands to echo older ones is that I can easily get peoples’ groove going with something they’ve never heard before, even if it’s almost twenty years old. [Author’s note: Apologies to anyone who feels as old as I did upon realizing that “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” came out nineteen years ago. I mean, how can that possibly be?!]

6. Prince “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night” – No matter what he calls himself or how bizarre he gets, Prince rocks in about seven different ways. Few artists have a body of work that is so self-sustaining and archetypal that the artist literally becomes his own genre, but such can be said about Prince. I’ll bet that if you polled a group of friends with diverse musical tastes among them, every one of them will have at least one favorite Prince jam, and probably more than one. I know metalheads that rock out to “Darling Nikki”, classical music fans who get a groove on to “Raspberry Beret”, classic rock fans who’ll hold up their lighters for “Purple Rain”, and new wave fans that bust out their skinny ties for “Take Me With U”. Personally, I have three favorite Prince songs; “Little Red Corvette” from 1999 (1982), “The Question Of U” from the Prince-penned soundtrack to the 1990 film Graffiti Bridge, and this playlist pick from 1991’s less-than-stellar Diamonds And Pearls, when Prince dumped longtime backing band The Revolution for the inferior New Power Generation. I should also to give an honorable mention to the Prince song most likely to get me out on the dance floor, the extremely funky and equally controversial “Sexy MF” from 1992’s Love Symbol LP.

7. Gnarls Barkley “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” – Whenever I hear this beautiful and heartfelt track from Gnarls Barkley’s second album (2008’s The Odd Couple), I always wish that Marvin Gaye were still alive so that he might have sung it. No offense to the soulful pipes of G.B. and former Goodie Mob vocalist Cee-Lo Green, but the soul of this song has gravity and an arrangement style that harkens back to “Inner City Blues”, “You’re All I Need To Get By”, or “That’s The Way Love Is”. Overall, I much prefer G.B.’s 2006 debut, St. Elsewhere (even if it did unleash one of the most inescapable earworms of all time) for its mix of musical styles, its quirkiness, and the excitement that comes along with hearing a new Danger Mouse project for the first time. I didn’t dislike The Odd Couple, per se, but when you condition the public to expect the new and the different with every album like Danger Mouse has, your own act can sometimes be hard to follow.

8. Tammi Terrell “All I Do Is Think About You” – Back in the heyday of the Motown sound, people really knew how to tell a story; they knew how to convey heartache, yearning, and sorrow on wax in a way that is rarely found today. One of my favorite examples is this single by Tammi Terrell, a woman best known for her many duets with Marvin Gaye, like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing”. Terrell became a star thanks to her work with Gaye, but a malignant brain tumor ended her brief career and brought about her death at the age of twenty-four; the effect of which sent a distraught Marvin Gaye into a four-year period of isolation including a complete hiatus from recording and performing. When I learned about that after having learned the lyrics to this song, I wondered if perhaps Tammi might have loved Marvin but never told him. This beautiful track is now a rarity, only to be found on classic rare R&B and soul compilations like Lost and Found: Real R&B and Soul (2010), curated by Keb Darge and Paul Weller.

9. Phoenix “Victim Of The Crime” – This Phoenix track is the sound of getting funky, French-style. In the mid-2000’s there was a mini-wave of European rock bands with funk and groove influences, such as Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse and Phoenix, and the effect is occasionally like you’re listening to a bunch of white boys playing funky music (which, well, you are). But, in the case of stellar tracks like FF’s “No You Girls”, MM’s “Float On” and this playlist pick from Phoenix, the funk shines through and it becomes less about aping a sound and more about enjoying that sound. Phoenix’s 2004 debut, Alphabetical, is filled with groovy rock gems like “Everything Is Everything”, “Run Run Run” and “(You Can’t Blame It On) Anybody”, and I still find it to be a more enjoyable listen than their 2009 follow up, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (despite a nifty little nod to Adam Ant the opening track). Perhaps Phoenix was at the forefront of an emerging sound in 2004, but the rest of the indie rock world has caught up since then – which makes Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix sound a little bit like an also-ran.

10. Stereo MCs “Shameless” – Could this be the same Stereo MCs that brought us “Elevate My Mind”, “Connected” and “Step It Up”? That was my question when I first listened to the mature yet funky Deep Down & Dirty LP (2001), which despite not having a true radio-friendly song on it is still easily accessible and danceable in a non cheesy-pop way. Then, not long after I heard that album I came across Stereo MCs’ contribution to the legendary DJ-Kicks album series, where world class DJs mix a full-length set of tracks by artists who have influenced them. Any surprise I felt at Stereo MCs being included amongst DJ-Kicks alums like Tiga, Oakenfold, Nightmares On Wax, Booka Shade and Hot Chip completely, irreversibly disappeared when I listened to their DJ-Kicks set, which is one of the best and most eclectic DJ sets I have ever heard. Every track sent me racing for the computer to learn about the artists, and there’s almost nothing more fun for a DJ than to dig into incredible music that they have never heard before. “Shameless” is the final track on Deep Down & Dirty, and given its mellow tempo I have frequently used it to close Grooveskool. It’s only fitting to close this week’s playlist with it, and I hope that I’ve skooled you to a few new grooves this week.

Like of the Week: Super Simple (DIY) Shredded Tee

Shredded tee

Feel like an end of the summer DIY project that will result in turning something banal and everyday into something fun, edgy and slightly gothic? Then look no further. Not only will you be able to spruce up a plain, old boring t-shirt in less than a few hours but people won’t believe that you were able to construct this look all on your own. Trust me. I’ve made a couple of these bad boys and every time I’ve worn it out it’s been an instant hit. Not to mention they’re practically foolproof!

Now, if you’re not entirely familiar with this unisex trend then let me give you the rundown. Shredded tees have been all the rage this summer, from celebs to musicians, this rough-and-tumble look has found its niche in fashion in a very unexpected and stylish way. The “destroyed look” has become chic and trendy again, harkening back to the grunge era in a fresh new way, and now you can make this look your very own, minus the $143 price tag!

There are tons of video tutorials showcasing the proper or best way to create this anything-goes masterpiece but I found just going in for the kill with no qualms or fear of “ruining” the shirt is best. Let’s face it, with a look this jagged, you’re not going for flawless here.

Give it a try- you’ll be surprised at how simple it is to make your very own.
Plus, it’s fun, unexpected and surprisingly sexy. Not to mention the fact that it’s a t-shirt with built in air conditioning?! Consider your prayers answered.

Dislike of the Week: The Poncho (I’ll wait until you stop screaming)

Booty Buddy Blanket

As I was perusing the Internet for some Fall-worthy duds I came across this monstrosity of a frock on the Urban Outfitters site, a store that I am very fond of (just goes to show that no one’s perfect). Oh the dreaded poncho. You can try to take it out, dress up it up and work it like there’s no tomorrow but there’s still something so dreadfully passé about it. The description for the “Booty Buddy Blanket” (yes, yes, that’s really what it’s called!) had this to say (with my own little additives, of course):

“It’s a blanket AND an oversized, cozy poncho sure to keep you warm no matter what you’re doing [Uhhh, like carting drugs over the Mexican border]. Snuggle up in the Booty Buddy, with a super soft fleece lining and allover Southwestern-style print [aka, a pattern that looks like a Disney character might have vomited all over it]. Topped with an oversized hood, it’s like the most comfortable hug ever.”[Has the person who wrote this ever had a hug, cuz I’m pretty sure this poncho can’t provide the warmth of another human being. Preeeeetty sure.]

Still, I thought perhaps maybe I was being a little too critical, until I asked some of my friends their opinions on it as well…this was what they had to say…

“ It looks like a glorified $68 Snuggie.”

“ I swear there is a Native American somewhere looking for his tent.”

“ It looks like a reject from the ‘Ugly Betty’ poncho collection.”

“ Whoever made that needs to be punched in the face.”

Well, there you have it. I would have posted more but I have to keep soooome decorum. The peanut gallery has spoken and the world is just not ready for the poncho to be released back into the wild. Lock it back up, boys, and turn off the lights. This trend needs to go into hiding for a long, long time.