Everyone knows I am the most sentimental dude on the planet, so it's no big surprise that I'm feeling this song. The drums are really solid though and I like the little click-clack in place of the high hat. The video is sort of everything that everyone makes fun of about hip-hop scenes that are not in gigantic cities, and he even says "Westlake" at one point.
Whatever, I'm feeling it.
Exciting news for all 43 of you: I have upgraded to a PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT on Flickr and uploaded a bunch of new photos. (Captions TK but have a look if you want.)
I regularly—like two or three times a week for the past several years—have nightmares that I am seeing through the eyes of Philippe Petit, walking a tightrope between the tops of the World Trade Center buildings. I'm not an extreme sports guy, unlike my brother, and I'm not particularly afraid of heights. My dime-store self-analysis says it's (a) anxiety stemming from experiencing 9/11, and (b) anxiety over being emotionally pulled between the East and West coasts. In any case, I saw this video tonight on the New York Times' website and it was kind of a revelation for me, in that the guy tightropes over an extremely high height, but he's wearing a FUCKING PARACHUTE. I'm hoping I can incorporate this into my nightmare from now on. Might sleep a little better, I don't know.
I had been looking for this record forever and finally found it last weekend—Piero Umiliani's brilliant soundtrack to the '60s sexploitation film Sweden: Heaven and Hell. The best known track is "Mah-Na-Mah-Na," which I knew as a kid from The Muppet Show and as something we sang at the top of our lungs around the campfire. Who knew it originally appeared in a film billing itself as an exposĂ© of The most revolutionary, most permissive life-state in the world:See:
The Love Cruise! A training trip for turned on teens!
See:
The Bachelorette Party! A bride-to-be's last fling!
See:
Moonlighting Nudes! Meter-maids by day—models at night!
See:
The Swap Shop! A trade-in deal for married couples only!
Hear:
Awhile back I found issues 2 and 3 of Countdown, a magazine published in the sixties in paperback-book form, at a used book store in Brooklyn Heights. Last week when I was walking through Chelsea I was lucky enough to find issue 1 in a pile of books on the street. It's not nearly as refined as Avant Garde or The Evergreen Review, but I love the bold, almost photocopied look of the design, and the form itself (Wooooo is the only magazine I know of that is currently publishing in the classic paperback book size). With contributors like R.Crumb, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Marc Chagall, Eldridge Cleaver, and Jerry Rubin, Countdown had a lot going for it, but I'm not sure if it lasted more than three issues, and I haven't been able to find any other information.
With all the (well-deserved) attention on Band of Horses, Cave Singers, Grand Archives and others in recent years/months, and with new albums on the way from Fleet Foxes and Sera Cahoone, I figured it was a good time to bring out some records by another folk/rock/country player from Seattle, Danny O'Keefe. Signed to Cotillion (Atlantic) in the early '70s, O'Keefe worked with greats such as soul mega-producer Arif Mardin, Ahmet Ertegun, Jimmy Haskell, and Eddie Hinton, among many others. Mardin's influence is clearly present in the string arrangements, and there's a subtle funkiness to the drums and bass lines that makes O'Keefe's country/folk style unique. His songs have been recorded by artists as far-ranging as Donny Hathaway, Dwight Yoakam, Ute Lemper, Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, and Waylon Jennings.
I grew up listening to his second album O'Keefe (excuse the pops and scratches), and fairly recently stumbled across his self-titled debut, which includes the first version of what would become his biggest hit, "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues." The song I can't get enough of, though, is The Drover:I left him there in Pioneer SquareO'Keefe has never been one to shy away from fairly glum material, but it's always beautifully expressed both musically and lyrically, and often with a sense of humor, as in my other favorite, I'm Sober Now (inspired by a Clarence "Pinetop" Smith song).
in an empty bottle of Muskatel
He said here's my song and where I've gone
I tell ya boy I've gone to hell
...
I hope you understand
Sometimes you never can
go back home again boy
Danny O'Keefe's self-titled record and O'Keefe are both available at Amazon, along with many of his other releases.
First stop was our favorite brunch spot in the city, the Great Jones Café.
After brunch we went to Other Music so I could use up a credit. I love it that most records now come with a code so you can download the MP3s for free—it makes CDs a totally outdated technology. Here's what I got (clockwise from top left: Grand Archives, Gutter Twins, Throw Me the Statue, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks).
Next up we went to the Michel Gondry "Be Kind Rewind" exhibition at Deitch Projects.
There are a bunch of different sets and people can make their own little movies in the gallery.
We also went to the Visionaire Gallery for the Sound exhibition that I've been talking about.
Then I got some more records. I kind of went nuts this weekend because I haven't bought records for awhile. I'll post some MP3s later.
By then it was late afternoon and we decided to go to D.B.A. for a beer, and then to the Cherry Tavern for some more. Tracey took good care of us and they have Straight Outta Compton on the juke so we were quite content.
Next we grabbed a slice at the old East Village standby, Two Boots. It's by no means the city's best pizza (John's wins that battle), but it's unique and delicious nonetheless.
We ended up at Arrow (formerly known as The Rook), where my brother Sky bartends once or twice a week. That's his friend and fellow firefighter Ed on the right.
On Sunday we took a long walk to Newtown Creek, the border between Brooklyn and Queens. It's about five miles from our house in Fort Greene but there's tons of cool things to see on the way. 
Kent Avenue, which runs along the East River, is like one big gallery—there's an ever-changing display of a paste-ups, graffiti, and little installations all over the place. This venus fly-trap is painted wood that has been epoxied to the side of a building. More pics from the neighborhood on my Flickr page.
When we got up to Greenpoint we stopped for lunch at this Polish restaurant. Lomzynianka means "girl from Lomza." It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food is excellent and it's like eating a meal in someone's home. 
The Polish are super-amped for Easter. There are great displays in the gift stores and bakeries on Manhattan Avenue.
Our final destination was the Newtown Creek sewage treatment facility—kind of smelly, yes, but architecturally really impressive and worth the trip.
The plant has been there since mid-century, but was remodeled by the Polshek Partnership, which also designed the Rose Center at the AMNH.
After that, we took the G train home, watched The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (beautiful score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, amazing cinematography, a very solid movie all around—though sometimes it seemed like Brad Pitt was channeling Eric Bana in Chopper, and Bana himself would have been better). Then we watched the final episode of The Wire, and it was great.
There's a flood watch in NYC tonight. Flood warning. Whatever. It's going to pour. Perfect weather for staying in, watching Washington Week, and listening to records.
Last night we went to the Hamburger Eyes opening at Powerhouse. I don't love parties in stores, because you always feel like you're supposed to be browsing or buying something. But the Powerhouse space is really nice and I am not one to turn down free beer (what. just saying). I like how the sound in there bounces off the walls a little—there's something about the DJ being high up above everyone and the slight echo that makes the music sound kind of epic. The photos are really good too. You can see more of them here, and they'll be up at the Powerhouse Arena through April 6th.
Other Music, in my opinion NYC's best place to find new records, included a good review of Visionaire 53 SOUND in its weekly update. If you don't get their e-mails, sign up—they're knowledgeable, well-written, and a quick way to stay up on new releases that you might otherwise miss. Various ArtistsClick here for my previous post on the SOUND exhibition currently at Visionaire Gallery.
Visionaire 53 SOUND
(Visionaire)
Since 1991, Visionaire has provided a forum for famous and up-and-coming artists, fashion designers, photographers, and other interesting and well known personas to contribute their own personal take on a specific theme, each edition's beautiful and unique packaging a work of art in and of itself. For their 53rd issue, the concept is sound, and Visionaire takes the form of a sleek acrylic dome that houses five 12" vinyl picture discs, each side designed by artists like Wim Delvoye, Robert Longo, Raymond Pettibon, Peter Saville, Cindy Sherman, and Mario Sorrenti. Even more impressive is the range of people, numbering over a hundred (a large percentage being of interest to the Other Music customer -- although hearing Antony's voice following a Fergie track did make my day), who contribute sound pieces. Obviously too many to mention in these pages, but here's a partial listing: David Byrne, Cat Power, Adrock, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Michael Stipe with Miguel Bose, Yoko Ono, Spank Rock, Dani Siciliano, Vashti Bunyan, Lalo Schifrin, Christian Marclay, Fiery Furnaces, Trevor Jackson, Dntel, Fantastic Plastic Machine, UNKLE, Pet Shop Boys, Fischerspooner, U2, Jose Gonzalez, Dave Eggers, Sunn O))), Gang Gang Dance, DJ Spooky, Christian Fennesz, Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore & Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, Laurie Anderson, Bebel Gilberto, Danger Mouse, Mike Skinner, Miss Kittin, Malcom McLaren, Liars, Dan the Automator, E.A.R., Monolake, the Go! Team, the Knife, Andrew W.K. and Panda Bear, plus fashion icons like Helmut Lang, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen and more.
You'll also find a MINI Clubman "Vinyl Killer" record player housed inside the Visionaire 53 dome -- a pretty cool portable record player, the battery powered car plays the music as it drives along the groove of the LP -- plus a glossy booklet with artist credits and track info, and two CDs with the audio portion of the set (total running time just over two hours). Limited to 4000, this is a great collectible for that special audiophile in your life who has everything. [Gerald Hammill]
The Stranger's Paul Constant posted a good/hilarious cover of "Hey Joe" on Lineout today, and reminded me of this French-Canadian version I found a few years ago in Montreal. Nanette is the Brooklyn-born Nanette Workman, who would go on to sing back up for the Rolling Stones ("Honky Tonk Women"), John Lennon, and Elton John. Tony is some dude who picked her up in New York and took her to the great white North to be a star.
The director of Style Wars has died at the age of 72. Originally broadcast on PBS in 1983, Silver's documentary (co-produced by Henry Chalfant) brought NYC graffiti and hip-hop culture into the homes of unsuspecting citizens across the country and the world.
I collected stamps for a few years when I was a kid. A philatelic convention at the Seattle Center cured me of that pretty quickly—I realized I was in way over my head and didn't really have the devotion required for finding the coveted upside-down airplane. Still, I've always thought stamps were cool, both as a concept and as a design icon. Above are some of my favorites (click to enlarge). 
Charles & Ray Eames, out this Summer.
Vintage Mahogany Speedboats, out now.
Big day on the political front. I've got WNYC with Brian Lehrer in one ear, and Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, and their gang of slightly lesser blow-hards in the other. (Actually, I think a lot of them are okay—only Buchanan seriously lowers the bar. Would anyone notice or care if someone just locked the McLaughlin Group in their studio?) Where is Gwen Ifill when I need her? Gwen?
Emily and I had some rare time to kill after an early party Saturday afternoon, and went to Chelsea to see Andro Wekua's Blue Mirror at Barbara Gladstone. At the same time beautiful and utterly terrifying, the Georgian-born artist's collage, painting, sculpture, and film conveyed to me a sense of underlying, almost gutteral violence in consumer culture, as seen through the eyes of someone remembering their childhood. It's as if the person, represented by several life-size, incredibly life-like female figures, retreats ever inward as incomprehensible and scary things happen around her, and then inescapably replays them all...forever. It was one of the better shows we've seen in the past several months, and there was a palpable emotional reaction from viewers in the gallery.
Blake Nelson has a good short interview with Gus Van Sant today in the New York Times. Here's an excerpt:I think a person’s darkness or lightness factor is their own point of view. I don’t think Elliott Smith thought of his songs as dark. Kurt Cobain, his songs were pretty dark. Angst-ridden. And booming. And loud. Later, while working on the movie [“Last Days”], I realized that their songs really sounded like falling trees and chain saws. I don’t know if it was an accident or what. They lived in a lumber town. They were using a sound that was relevant to them.Does the gray climate of Portland affect you in any way? I think of Elliott Smith or Raymond Carver; many artists that come out of that area seem to have a built-in gloom factor.
On this day in 1922 a convention of bootleggers convened in Seattle. Prohibition was in full swing and the Northwest's most notorious rumrunners and smugglers sat down for a week-long meeting to discuss the rules and procedures of their trade. More on this here.
Houseboat speakeasies. Someone make this happen now.
My brother Sky is in the FDNY (Engine 3, Ladder 12 in Chelsea). This weekend he'll be in Seattle to participate in the Columbia Center Stair Climb, benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you want to sponsor him with a tax deductible donation, go here. If you think of it while you're filling out the form, please designate that your donation is in honor of Sky Shepard / Firefighter Stairclimb / FDNY. The Columbia Center is the second tallest building west of the Mississippi. It takes 69 flights of stairs, 1,311 steps, and 788 feet of vertical elevation, in full gear, to reach the 73rd floor. I used to work up in that brioche as a file clerk at a law firm (my first job after WWU). The Columbia Center is built to sway 12 feet in either direction when it's windy, and I remember people getting seasick and leaving work early when that would happen. I DJ'd a wedding there a couple years ago when our good buddies Lily and Matthew got married. We marveled at the views from the top floor. It's not a short building but my brother is raw dog and I know he will make it.
Here's a little about the event: The Scott Firefighter Stairclimb supports the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising money through sponsorships, individual and department fundraising, and entry fees. In 2007, the event brought in a record $365,000 for blood-cancer research and patient services. Awards are given to the fastest climbers and to the top fundraisers.
Raw dog. Please donate if you can.
Update: here are some photos from the stairclimb (click to enlarge).
An exhibition of images and tracks from Visionaire 53 SOUND is currently on view at Visionaire Gallery in Soho, NYC (11 Mercer Street at Howard, open Monday–Friday noon–7pm and Saturday noon–6pm). 
Raymond Pettibon (above left), Peter Saville, Robert Longo, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, Mario Sorrenti, Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott (above right), Nick Knight and others contributed visuals for the picture discs.
