Hoboken Arts & Music Festival 9/29/13

Taking a break from a long piece I'm writing about the period when music got out of control with the emotions from 1988 to 2005 to talk about this show I attended yesterday featuring two of my favorite bands of all time:  The Feelies and Speed the Plough.

I wasn't looking forward to spending a whole day at a crowded Hoboken street fair, so Andrea and I got there around 2:45, about 30 minutes before Speed the Plough was set to begin.  We got up to the main stage and it was clear this was going to be as great a three hours as we could hope.  Every member of the Feelies other than Stanley Demeski was onstage setting up as well and two of the other people waiting with anticipation were Ira Kaplan and his son, right next to us for the next few hours (and beyond).

They started off, not long after 3:15, with I believe "Perfect North" off the new record, which unfortunately has not arrived yet (hopefully on account of the postal service, still within normal range).  The rest of their performance was great, save for the one minor hinderance of a bad arm injury affecting Toni Baumgartner which prevented any of the usual woodwinds.  The upside of this was it gave a chance for her son Michael to show off that he is one of the best lead guitarists around.  With drummer John Demeski he brought a great youthful energy to the band that keeps them totally fresh.  The surprise guests were Bill Million, Brenda Sauter, and Glenn Mercer, which was real nice, but a little bit of a tease for someone always hoping for some kind of surprise Trypes reunion.  On that note, the band's setlist was not my ideal, but when all their songs are so good, that's not much to complain about, and surely that had something to do with the injury.  It did have the advantage of being longer than the last time I saw them, but the previous set's inclusion of "Madeleine" and "Veszprem" gave it the edge.

The Feelies, on the other hand have had a very consistent setlist every time I see them, and yesterday's performance may have been the best performance I have seen.  As usual, that begins with "On The Roof," and saved the few Crazy Rhythms tracks for the end.  In between that, though were some of their highlights.  The best of which was probably "Slipping (Into Something)" which concluded with some excellent guitar noise, especially from Bill Million who was clearly channeling Hendrix.  One recurring theme throughout their set was tense buildups such as on "Away" and of course "Raised Eyebrows" which with the greatest visibility of the five members made it the most mesmerizing performance of the song I have seen so far.  Like every time I have seen the band, after that the initial set concluded with "Crazy Rhythms" which also sounded better than ever, ending with more subtle guitar noise and some really tight mesmerizing bass.

The encore was equally predictable and enjoyable.  It began with "Rock & Roll," which was the last thing I heard, sung by Mercer on my final visit to Maxwell's.  Then we got some more Crazy Rhythms with "Fa Cé-La" and "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey)."  The latter song was also helped by the sunny environment and big stage with Dave Weckerman's performance on the front, wailing on the pipe and tine drum.  I saw John Baumgartner catch some shots (or possibly video) of him from a very intimate and action-packed angle and I am hoping to see some of those as soon as I can.

Afterwards we were so lucky to be in the front of the crowd and made our way to the PATH, probably not returning to Hoboken until Tommy is back for a holiday or two, and once again we were side by side with Ira Kaplan and son.  As the four of us made our way to the station confirming just how over Hoboken has become, if the members of Yo La Tengo presumably don't even live there.  We made our way down to the 33rd Ave train and waited.  The Kaplans then moved away from us, taking a seat on a bench.  That ended again when the train arrived and they walked right up to the same door as us and stood, and later sat near Adrea and me.  I was convinced they would end up following us even longer as we decided to eat in Williamsburg, and you know, they might live around there, but it ended at 14th street as we left.  It was an oddly long encounter with one musical idol while seeing even more of them.  It was hard not to say something and nerd out again, but he definitely deserved a day off.

An Open Letter to Bar/None Records

I have been a fan of many of the artists on your roster for many years.  While I am too young to have really been there for the heights of the Hoboken scene I have loved bands like The Feelies, Yo La Tengo, The Individuals and many more for a very large portion of my life.  I am a New Jersey native and take a lot of pride in what this label has done for the state's musical identity.  Despite this I feel very slighted by the company.

Speed the Plough has been my favorite band since I first heard them and I have been excited for the release of The Plough And The Stars since I first heard about it.  It was their performance that got me to make yet another long trek from Astoria to Hoboken in Maxwell's final days to see the Bar/None event.  It was definitely worth it and I was already counting the days until I could pre-oder the band's new release from the source itself.  Word has been spreading about this great band and this excellent release and the fact that I still cannot listen to it or hold it in my hands has been bothering me more and more for the last week.

See, I did pre-oder this record almost immediately and dropped nearly thirty dollars, which is a lot for me at the moment.  It was worth it, I was certain.  However, about a week later, I noticed that I had given the wrong address on me order - number 6500.  In the middle of the night with only two weeks until album was to be released I sent an e-mail about this mistake, certain that the problem would be fixed and this anticipated album would still reach my home.  Five days later with still no response I sent another e-mail about this error.  No response.

These days social media seems to be an even better mode of communication with business so I used twitter to mention my complaint and still I was ignored.  Well, maybe they got the message anyway I hoped.  I still don't know because I have not received any information about the order.  I have never ordered anything online and not gotten confirmation when it was sent, so I have no idea if it even has been sent to the wrong address.  All I know is I lost almost $30 that I could really use right now.

Why did I even bother pre-ordering this, I wonder?  Maybe because Bar/None has been plagued by horrible distribution its entire life and I would rather not search every record store in New York and probably pay more money.  Maybe because I wanted to support this release even before it came out.  Maybe I just wanted to know I have it.

Well I don't have it.  All I have is a lot of anger towards Hoboken's most famous record label.  Maybe Hoboken is even worse than we all think.  At that show back in July I saw the artists that made this label great lose the last monument in that city, and now I feel like Bar/None has succumbed to the same monster that has consumed Maxwell's and everything else in that mile square.

Luckily for them I will still buy this record.  I will have spent over $60 I am sure on this set because Speed the Plough is that great, and I am still excited to own their music on vinyl.  However, there is no love in my heart left for their label.

-Christopher McEneaney

Edit:  Finally got acknowledged over Twitter, a few minutes ago, if you can believe that, so there is some hope.  Seems raising a ruckus pays off.

Fall 2013

For years I have been wanting and not even really trying to compile perfect seasonal mixes and I have probably succeeded here and there.  As I looked for a CD to burn this onto (I actually went to the trouble of organizing this one), I may have even found one unlabeled. presumably from 2007.

Well, I did a half-assed try this summer, but I suppose it's fitting that it would finally happen for Fall - obviously the best season and the first one I have gotten to experience in 5 years, unless you count when I moved to Alameda where it is always fall.  It was also technically fall for about half of that time.  It's good, but nothing can really be definitive, that's what always stopped me before.  But hey, that's why you get to do one every year and repeat yourself all you want.

Some of it may be personal and have no essence of the season to anyone else.  So be it.  Also, it's heavy on Jersey.

So, unless you already have all these tracks, I suggest you download this set, with this charming album art featuring a photo of me in Fall 2007.

1.  "(From the) Morning Glories" - The Trypes
2.  "Silver" - Echo & The Bunnymen
3.  "M79" - Vampire Weekend
4.  "Big Day" - Yung Wu
5.  "Night Will Come" - Will Stratton
6.  "Autumn Sweater" - Yo La Tengo
7.  "Jar of Cardinals" - Guided By Voices
8.  "Time To Get Ready" - The Bats
9.  "Big Bus" - Speed the Plough
10.  "Love Athena" - The Olivia Tremor Control
11.  "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" - Wire
12.  "Childhood" - The Chameleons
13.  "Smokey Day" - The Zombies
14.  "Microcastle" - Deerhunter
15.  "Municiplaity" - Real Estate
16.  "In the Atmosphere" - Speed the Plough
17.  "A Good Flying Bird" - Guided by Voices
18.  "Wind In The Rigging" - Young Marble Giants

DOWNLOAD:  My fall mix (2013)

Twin Sister: Brooklyn Bowl 9/12/2013

I had been wanting to see Twin Sister ever since I heard Colour Your Life, and probably before that, but one thing or another kept it from happening all these years.  I was surprised the opportunity finally arrived via a tweet about a free show at Brooklyn Bowl.  I immediately got my tickets and then found that finding someone to go with me would not be as easy as I had assumed.

Luckily, Jeff's schedule had cleared up in time and not only would I be accompanied to the show, but I would get a ride in a car on a probably rainy evening.  There was even a chance we would make it in time for free bowling.  The event, which was primarily for a screening of Brooklyn Nine Nine, included free bowling and free drinks for the first 50 attendees.  The drink seemed unrealistic and by the time we made it to the venue around 6 there were long lines and the bowling offer had expired.  With little interest in what I assumed to be a film, we went off and did something else.  Then it started to rain like crazy and we had to walk back to the Bowl soaked.

We got into the place around 8:15 and were greeted with free socks and a drink ticket without even having to present my print-out.  Brooklyn Nine Nine, which is actually a TV show premiering on FOX soon - was just ending.  People seemed to be enjoying it, but it obviously wasn't set in outer space so I could care less.  What was really nice was the drink ticket.  I was able to obtain a full pint of Brooklyn BLAST!  (which had an 8.4% alcohol content).  Very nice for a broke fan such as myself.  It was also very easy to get a place near the stage and there was a shocking amount of room to move around.  The band took the stage on time, making this already one of the best shows of my life.

I was really looking forward to hearing some new music from the band who has not put out an album in two years.   I had a feeling that it would be monumental.  In reality the music was very good, but not exactly life-changing.  They have taken their Tetris funk further into a sensual prog territory in a style that is as precise as their playing.  All of the music was more than decent but the focus seems to limit them a bit too much, as is often the case with new, young bands who have "found their sound."  I am sure the next record will be one of the better ones of this or next year, but will lack the spontaneity and unpredictability of Colour Your Life.  This thought may have been proven true as out of their whole set "Lady Daydream" remained the highlight, with "All Around And Away We Go" probably the second best.

One thing I really took out of their performance, which is both refreshing and a little disappointing, is that that their youth is so untarnished.  The average member of Twin Sister, in fact, is not much younger than me (I’m 26).  However, they clearly have been able to retain a lot of their innocence, at least on the surface.  Apart from frontwoman Andrea Estella's visual style, the focus is entirely on the music.  While pleasant to the ears, it leaves the eyes wanting a bit more.

Youth of America 2013

On my article about friends' projects I really wanted to include something from Miles Marsico, but I didn't have anything.  Now here is something!  For months he had been working on things here and there at Super River's home studio and here, as New Technology is a video for a synthesizer cover of "Youth of America."  What more could you want?



Oh, and here's a download if you want to keep it around, I know I will for my next party mix!