CMJ Preview: Part 3, Saturday

SATURDAY
Deli Showcase number two at Public Assembly! I am definitely checking this out, to see Semi-Precious Weapons, The Orion Experience and The Gay Blades. As many of you know, I wrote the cover story for the latest edition of The Deli, featuring SPW, and totally fell in love with these raunchy, crude dudes and their masculine yet glam punk rock. They're original and crazy, and totally let loose in their high heels and leather vests with insane sexual energy and intense punk tunes. They go on early, at 8 pm, because later in the night they're playing the Perez Hilton showcase. Ooooooh! It's by invite only and I don't think I'm invited. Anyway, The Orion Experience is a pop/rock indie band with bubbly refrains and a ska flair, and The Gay Blades, as mentioned in the last entry, are sassy and loud. Doors are at 7 pm, it's $10, and the last band, Boyskout, goes on at 1:45 in the morn. Info here.

The aforementioned Vivian Girls are playing at Bowery, with Crystal Antlers and A Place to Bury Strangers. This is gonna be an awesome show, blending VG's punky sound with the Antler's aggressive electro rock and finishing with A Place to Bury Strangers' totally psychedelic, dark tunes. All three bands are playing shows during the week, but the combo of these three is killer.

If you're looking for some daytime fun, Union Pool is hosting an early show with Cordero, a group I've recently fallen in love with. Ani Cordero fronts this salsa-rooted, indie rock latin band, singing Spanish lyrics in her sultry, sexy voice while playing guitar and wearing some beautiful and crazy dress. They have an awesome, full percussion section and just came out with a new album called "De Donde Eres." Show is $10 and starts at 12 pm, with Cordero starting at 4:20.

The one and only, well-loved Akudama boys will be playing their chilled-out but still upbeat, instrumental driven rock at the Bowery Poetry Club. Show starts at 8:15 with Julius C and costs $8 in advance, or $10 day of. If you haven't seen these boys, go! Not only are they totally adorable but they also make great music. Admire them here, but beware that their catchy tune, "Dishes," will be pleasantly stuck in your head all day.

Almost as cool as the George Clinton show is Blue Note's Saturday night performance with Otis Grove. Otis Grove?!? When I think of CMJ, I think of shitty indie rock with some awesome gems and now, hip hop and maybe a little metal. Never do I think, oh, maybe I'll see Otis Grove! Sometimes I wish I weren't an after school teacher and actually made money. The show's expensive, but Blue Note is historic and Otis Grove is, well, Otis Grove. He goes on at 12:30 a.m. and will probably play that ridiculous song called "Pimp Juice." Check out Blue Note's full schedule here.

To continue in this vein of funky music, Lee "Scratch" Perry is headlining Santos Party House! I'm dying to see this man play... maybe I'll head over after The Deli show since he doesn't go on until 1:30 a.m. For those of you who don't know his glory, Scratch is 72 years old from Jamaica, one of the originators of dub reggae. His music has modernized slightly as the times have changed yet still maintains the authentic, real vibe it always had. He's completely chilled out and still a dynamic performer in his older years. Now he lives in Switzerland but plays in the States a few times a year. Doors and pricing on Santos site here.

Though not a part of CMJ, this bizarre percussion group called Electric Junkyard Gamelan will be playing for free at Zebulon in Williamsburg. Using the word "unique" doesn't do these guys justice at all. They've created an entire percussive orchestra out of plant pots, saw blades, rubber bands, household utensils, lard churners and other unrecognizables. They have every child's dream, a drumset made out of pots and pans and buckets, and have also managed to create their own electronic instrument. Comprising young through middle aged men and women, Electric Junkyard Gamelan loosely bases their songs on the traditional Balinese style of Gamelan but also adds in original material, including hip hop and rock-n-roll. I saw them play at the Salvador Dali exhibit at the MOMA and their surreal appearance and sound fit in perfectly. They are truly incredible, like nothing out there. I honestly feel like words can't describe them well enough, like the only thing that would honor their originality would be the creation of an entirely new word. So... they are babalooney.

Honorable mentions: The Delta Spirit at Red Bull Space. Bell playing a DJ set at Pianos, followed by DJ Pumpkin Patch (also every kid's dream, to grow up and called yourself DJ Pumpkin Patch). Nightmare of You, an upbeat, delicious pop band from BK, playing at The Greenpoint Legion Hall. Violens at Love. And The XYZ Affair at the beloved Cake Shop.

ENJOY AND ROCK OUT!!!!!

CMJ Preview: Part 2, Thursday and Friday

THURSDAY
I think for the sake of my health and my bank account, I may just chill out Thursday night rather then go to another show. Or maybe I'll keep it local and free. But in case I change my mind...

Freakin' George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars are playing!! It's an expensive show ($37.50) but it's at B.B. King's and it's freakin' George Clinton. I mean, just look at him:
Now that is hot.

Also on Thursday, a huge show at The Delancey with fifteen bands, including Villa Vina and Kiss Kiss, starting at 7 pm. I'm not sure how that will actually work out and I feel sorry for the sound engineer, but it would be cool to see samples of that many bands. Sets are only thirty minutes but the show lasts until 1:45 a.m. and The Delancey is cool anyway. I actually remember posting during last year's CMJ about how cool the upstairs garden area is. And get this -- it's free! For the full lineup, go here: http://www.thedelancey.com/.

I'm more likely to hit up Glasslands, this cool space in Williamsburg. Beyondo is headlining with their funky, pop/ska music, and though the lead singer's voice is questionable, their trumpet player is groovy. It's Not You It's Me and So Percussion are also playing. Beyondo (that's the singer's real last name!): http://www.myspace.com/beyondoband. Glasslands is at 289 Kent Ave, a very pretty venue reserved for underground music only. I can't find a legit website, only yelp, but if you find one lemme know.

Jay Reatard is playing one of his eight hundred shows this night as well! For those of you who don't know him, he likes blood and gore and makes awesome punk music, blending melodic, catchy vocal lines with hellish screams and upbeat, boppy yet still edgy guitar riffs. Punk is not my favorite genre though I do like some of it, and when it comes to Mr. Reatard, I love. And, he's from Tennessee! His state borders mine. Anyway, this show is in Hoboken for those who like New Jersey. Check him out, chilling in a bathful of records: http://www.myspace.com/jayreatard. Other upcoming shows: 24th at Bowery, 25th at Glasslands and 26th at Santos Party House.

Teedo, a local pop rock group, is also playing at Rehab with eleven other bands, starting at noon and lasting way into the morning. Here's a little review I wrote of them not too long ago:

Teedo's 70s-influenced psychedelic rock stirs up a strong desire to go do drugs and play in the sun. Similar to The Stones and The Kinks but with a modern electronic twist, Teedo is able to smoothly blend various vibes into a solid rock song. Their creative use of instruments while maintaining a strong, traditional foundation creates an energy that bursts out even from their Myspace tunes. Teedo’s lead singer also experiments with his vocals, adding in quick falsettos and controlled cracks. Taking it a step further on a heavier tune, he busts out a deep voice with a morbid quality reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne, while the rest of the band jams out their metal. But these guys aren’t just about being rock-n-rollers. Songs like “You are my Girl” have a fresh pop beat that gets feet tappin’ uncontrollably, and multiple other tunes have a laidback, chillin’ out feel to them. Teedo’s music has a sense of being real but not sloppy, like a polished garage band. And their lead singer’s screams might even rival Frank Black’s. Check 'em out at http://www.myspace.com/teedo.

Honorable mentions: Juliana Hatfield at Housing Works, The Dears at Hiro Ballroom, and Crystal Castles at Webster Hall.

FRIDAY
As mentioned, Jay Reatard is playing again at Bowery. The event I'm most excited about, however, is the Sub Pop showcase at Pianos. I'm sure we all know and love Sub Pop, the discoverers of Nirvana, The Postal Service, and loads of others in between. One of their more recent successes, Oxford Collapse, will play their absolutely delightful indie pop/rock, full of raw yet pretty harmonies and driving rhythms, at 11. Death Vessel is playing earlier, The Ruby Suns afterward, and multiple others, in the upstairs and downstairs, for only $12. See the ad here and enjoy the Oxfords here.

A HUGE show is happening at the unassuming Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Fort Greene, Brooklyn -- Land of Talk and Broken Social Scene will be rockin' some pants off! It's sold out, for obvious reasons. Craigslist tickets here.

For those of you who don't know the smokin' trio that is The Vivian Girls, definitely explore. These ladies totally rock it. Their guitar-heavy, punk-shoegaze mixed with layered, vintage vocals is like The Clash meets My Bloody Valentine after they all had really successful sex changes. The V. Girls are great, sexy, and talented, truly standing out in a mostly male-dominated scene. They should all date Jay Reatard! Their show is at Cake Shop with tons of other bands, including Woods, a cool Brooklyn-based group. Go! Cake Shop and the VGs.

If you're more into shoegaze than punk mixed with shoegaze, go see Soundpool at Rehab. They're a chilled-out, trippy group fronted by Kim Fields and her angelic, etheral vocals. It's a measly $8 and the music starts at noon. They don't go on until midnight, so don't get too drunk too early 'cause their live show is phenomenal, complete with an original movie that matches the same "I'm high on mushrooms" feel their music creates. Check 'em out: http://soundpoolmusic.com/.

Lastly, the sassiest rock duo in existence, The Gay Blades, will be playing for free at Spike Hill, on Bedford at North 7th. This place is like my second home, with it's delicious mashed potatoes, funky/frightening paintings, fickle Christmas lights and cozy vibe. The Gay Blades are loud and good. Please go support Spike!! And The Gay Blades, too.

Honorable mentions: The Knitting Factory's showcase from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. including People Under the Stairs, a totally awesome hip hop group, and AIDS Wolf, who I swear are popular only because of their name...their music physically hurt me.

We've got Saturday left! Try to pace yourselves because Saturday is insane.

Rock rock rock. Hip hop hop. Even metal!

CMJ Preview: Part 1, Tuesday and Wednesday

CMJ begins tomorrow and I am psyched. Not sure how much of my wish list I can actually fulfill, but here are my desires and recommendations:

TUESDAY:
The Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Showcase at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Doors at 6 pm, show at 7 pm, $15
Lineup is Emmy the Great, The Sammies, SECRET GUEST (woo, secrets!), Ponytail, Passion Pit, Singing DJ Jens Lekman, and The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band.
I'm going for Jens. His trippy and loungey, experiental yet soothing music combined with his pretty, poetic lyrics is weirdly real and wonderful. My favorite lyric by him which he manages to sing with such sincere and beautiful emotion is, "You pick up your asthma inhaler and put it against your lips, oh those lips I loved and I was dreaming of, they're still red and soft, I'm so sorry I couldn't love you enough." More details at: http://www.myspace.com/jenslekmanmusic and http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/10/official_2008_b.html.

Also, Rahim is playing at Death By Audio on the southside of Williamsburg. They're a chilled-out rock group with an awesome vocalist from the New York area, already written up in Spin and Pitchfork. Death By Audio is also pretty cool, as it's mostly a store with a space for shows and promotes a BYOB policy. Rahim: http://www.myspace.com/rahim. DBA: http://www.myspace.com/deathbyaudioshows.

And don't forget The Deli Showcase, held at Hiro Ballroom with Sub Rosa and Chairlift (more on them below). Check out http://www.thedelimagazine.com/cmj-takeover.htm for all the details.


WEDNESDAY:
La Strada, an incredible group complete with a string section and a great lead singer who also plays accordion (and when I say play, I mean somehow rocks out), will honestly leave you speechless and applauding ferociously after just one tune. These guys mix rock with folk, using traditional, "old-world instrumentation" to create unique, modern music. They're playing at the Bell House, a building in Brooklyn used in the 1920s as a printing factory that was recently transformed into a venue. The show is $8, beginning at 7:30 with Princeton. Frances will play next, followed by The Loom and closed out with La Strada at 11 p.m. La Strada: http://www.myspace.com/lastradanyc. The Bell House: http://www.thebellhouseny.com/.

After three shows in a row on Tuesday night, Chairlift is playing yet again for CMJ, at the Fader Party held at Pianos. They're headlining a show with five other bands, including Bumblebeez and The King Left. Doors are at 6 pm and only costs $5. Check out their gothic rock, including the single played on the newest Ipod commerical, at: http://www.myspace.com/chairlift. Pianos full schedule is on their main page at: http://www.pianosnyc.com/.

I'm not sure how much hip hop was booked at last year's CMJ, but this year hosts a significant amount and I'm thrilled. First off, hip hop is great music, created in our very own New York City. Secondly, I strongly promote the idea of crossing genres. It seems like collaboration between artists of different genres can only lead to good outcomes, like the mixing of different cultures and races along with musical styles. So with this in mind, I want to check out Dead Prez and Immortal Technique at Studio B, a cool venue that unfortunately receives a bad rep due to its scenester crowd. The upstairs bar is like a little oasis in the middle of industrial Greenpoint, and the stage area is intimate without being claustorphobic. Dead Prez, a funky, very political duo goes on at 1:15, but I imagine that in true Studio B style, the show will last 'til dawn. Doors are at 6 with the show starting at 7 'cause there are that many DJs and Emcees ready to party down. Studio B's calendar: http://www.clubstudiob.com/calendar.html#topanchor. Dead Prez: http://www.deadprez.com/.

Akudama is also playing one of many shows this week, at The National Underground with five other groups. More about them to come in Part 3, but if you're antsy, their website is here: http://www.endlessrecordings.com/Akudama.php.

As Mr. Ludwig van Beethoven said, "Music is a higher revelation than philosophy. Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual self." So go be all spiritual and sensual this week, and rock your butt off.

More to come...

Great Depression Round 2?

I urge all of you to listen to the latest This American Life entitled "Another Frightening Show About the Economy." You can download it for free from ITunes under the podcast section and you will be enlightened.

I imagine a lot of people are like I was before I heard this show. When it comes to our current economic crisis, I had a very remedial understanding of what was going on. I knew that big mortgage companies and banks took out loans and now can't pay them back. This meant on a very basic level that the average person was having higher interest rates and more trouble with getting a loan. The government proposed a bailout plan that would put $700 billion dollars into the market, but the potential of this seemed to only pad the crash rather than rescue the market.

Now I understand on a much deeper level what is going on. Ira Glass interviewed all these different people and had them describe the situation in layman's terms, using examples that related this situation to the life of an individual. I.e., certain loans are like credit cards, certain companies (mutual funds) are like savings accounts. For all the details, listen up. It is amazingly interesting and scary.

Anyway, the thing that struck me the most is this whole Credit Default Swap business. I had never heard of this stuff before, but in the most basic, metaphorical explanation based on what I just learned, here goes:

So say Dave and I buy fire insurance for our apartment. A couple of my friends also buy fire insurance on my apartment. They don't live here but they are paying a fee to purchase insurance on my house and will get a payout if my house catches on fire. They do this because their house is brand new but my house is old and more susceptible to fire. More and more people buy fire insurance on my house, from a local company who is reaping in the benefits of all these fees and policies, thinking that the house is actually very stable and nothing will happen to it. Well one day, an electrical fire starts and burns everything down. There are no regulations on these transactions so Dave and I can claim we lost x amount of money. Because all of these negotiations are private, we don't know much about the company or anyone else, and vice versa. So, we claim x amount of money, and so do the other 100 people who bought fire insurance on my apartment.

Let's back up. The insurance company had 1 billion dollars when they opened up. They sold all these policies and earned more money, but they don't actually have enough to pay out all the claims on my apartment fire. But they were smart! In order to make these deals safer, they did the same thing but in reverse. They bought insurance from another company on many houses they knew were likely to catch on fire. When those houses catch, my insurance company will get the money. So then if my apartment catches on fire, they have the money from the other fires and can just pay out all the policies they sold. Except my apartment caught on fire first.

This translates to bonds. Say McDonalds buys a share of Freddie Mac via bonds through the stock market. McDonalds goes to an agency that sells insurance for bonds (let's call this agency Basil Inc), meaning if Freddie Mac goes bankrupt and can't pay out their stocks, Basil Inc. will pay McDonalds all the money they invested in Freddie Mac, minus a share and some additional fees. Well, then Basil Inc. sells the same insurance policy on the stocks that McDonalds owns to fifty different companies. They are making a lot of money and Freddie Mac is a safe, reliable business so the risk of them going under is very slim.

Freddie Mac is giving out loans to people with money that doesn't actually belong to Freddie Mac but rather to other companies they have taken out their own loans from. Those companies have taken out loans from other companies, so in a given day, Freddie Mac owes Company A and Company A owes Company B and Company B owes Company C and Company C owes Freddie Mac whatever amount of money. When one of them goes bankrupt, the whole circle falls through. Well, Freddie Mac made some pretty dumb choices and gave out a lot of loans that people couldn't pay back. So now Freddie Mac owes Company A money that Freddie Mac doesn't have. In theory, Freddie Mac would get the money from Company C. But Company C doesn't have the money because they're getting it from Freddie Mac, essentially. Dave calls this circle jerking.

So anyway, the above paragraph happens. Freddie Mac goes bankrupt and shit goes crazy. The circle jerk is no longer working. Now, all the people who bought insurance on the bond of Freddie Mac that McDonalds owns are going to Basil Inc. and saying, this stock fell and I have an insurance policy through you that states you owe me money. Basil Inc. doesn't have the money because the insurance policies they have bought on other people's stocks haven't paid out yet. People are pissed. And fucked.

So the government steps in. This whole insurance buying and selling process has been completely unregulated, because of Republicans along with Democrats. Congress voted not to regulate this but now, the government has to do something. So the government has two choices: 1, the government gives Freddie Mac some money and in addition, takes over some of the loans they've defaulted on, or 2, the government gives Freddie Mac some money and in return owns part of the company. Companies want option 1, obviously, and tax payers want option 2, obviously. The Paulsen Plan, the original bailout proposal, followed option 1. But just this weekend, the Bush administration shockingly switched via some weird clause in the bill and are now employing option 2. Crazy.

Then they realize in order to make a difference, $700 billion isn't enough. Because of how fucked everything and everyone is in this business, no one is selling, buying, trading or giving out loans. Everything is frozen. For people like us, this means interest rates on loans and credit cards are higher and it's harder to get a loan, but it hasn't trickled down to us in a dramatic way yet. For small businesses, this means if they want to open a new factory, they have to actually have a good chunk of the money in order to get a loan for the rest, rather than just taking out a loan for all of it. It also means credit checks will be run more vigourously. This is a good thing in a lot of ways and bad in some ways because there were be more and more people who can't live in our society because they don't make enough money and they can't use a credit card anymore. The government wants to avoid this but knows that the current system isn't working and has to change. They are beginning to nationalize some of the banks, but to much resistance from people who view this as too much government control. Looking from their perspective, if the people in the government are just as corrupt, greedy and power-hungry then them having control of the banks is terrible. Socialism then dictatorship! These people want to run their own businesses. But, they did a pretty goddamn terrible job at it and the government is overriding some of their wishes.

So now the government is buying stocks in banks and taking a "nonvoter role" in them, according to New York Times. This is a compromise between the tax payers, who don't want their money spent on saving these billionaires who made poor business decisions but want the government to intervene somehow, and the billionaires who know the business and the market and worry that the government will fuck up worse.

My opinion? The government should buy some stocks in the banks and take partial ownership but realize that huge reformations and regulations must be discussed and enforced in order to build the market back up in a whole different way, particularly when speaking about Credit Default Swaps. This means there will be a crash that will effect us all, but that's inevitable. I'm pro the government regulating banks and trading and health care, but only when doing it in conjunction with the private business owners. First off, those people are important and powerful and have a more knowledgeable opinion on the market because they run it, versus a government expert who doesn't actually work in it. Secondly, everyone has to work together to solve the short-term problems and build up a reformed system, or else anything in the future will always be unstable and subject to a coup. Lastly, I don't want the government or the private corporations to be all powerful. Balance! There should be serious discussions about this, including officials from other countries, as the circle jerk is international.

But hey, I'm just a nonviolent hippie.

Which reminds me... oooooooooooomm to His High Holiness the Dalai Lama. He's currently in the hospital! That poor man has seen so much shit in his life, I wonder if he wants to die or live. But that's beside the point; I don't think his condition is life-threatening. Anyway, om.

If Only I Were Mary Poppins.

Wow I've had an emotional couple of weeks!

My last day with the girls was super sad...in fact, the entire week was sad. I kept feeling like I was abandoning them or betraying them, and like they deserve better, and that they need a stable nanny/adult in their lives and really wanting to be that person but knowing that even if I did stay longer, I wouldn't be the mother they need. And also just loving them and being sad I won't see them everyday. Then I was mad at Linda for the way she treated me during the transition. I have a lot of conflicting feelings in general about her, their family dynamic, and her lack of recognition of responsibility. It just made for a tough week.

Nannying is the weirdest job. It's not like going to the office for a day of work and then coming back home. You are working IN a home. The girls became so much more than a job to me, but it was weird that I had a job because their mother wasn't being a good mom. It's also quite hard to teach children something you don't believe in but have to teach because it's part of the job description. And saying to your boss that you don't agree with her is totally different than in an office or even a school, because you're not discussing typical work issues but rather how she's raising her kids. People get insane about their kids, crazy protective and defensive but refuse to see where they could make changes. It seems so bizarre to me that Linda is a partner at this huge law firm but still has to work so many hours. Can't she delegate some of that, especially if it means she can spend more time with her children?

It's also difficult to set boundaries as a nanny. Because you're in their home, working with their kids, eating family dinners together and putting them to bed, you become a part of their home lives in a way that makes boundaries really shady. In fact, in order to be a good nanny, some typical work boundaries must be crossed. Sometimes people cross them too much and the nanny becomes weirdly involved in the parent's lives and even love lives. But other times, like with Linda, the boundaries are overly enforced, to a ridiculous degree. She always maintained this sense of professionalism with me, like she would never let me forget she was my boss, I her employee, she with more money and the one paying me. She could be very nice and fun and sweet, but she still remained detached and professional, even in the more genuine moments we shared. Perhaps she did this in order to maintain some type of boundary rather than losing boundaries, but I think she did this moreso out of classism. Who knows really; maybe she doesn't even know.

Anyway, my new job is awesome. My sixth graders are actually quite well behaved and responsive and have gotten excited about the activities I've led so far. They got really into writing poetry the other day and read their stuff out loud to each other. They also come up with the craziest stuff regarding the election, so I think we'll be focusing a couple of weeks on all of that. I'm the only white person on my program's staff and the only white person in my classroom, but these kids don't seem to care about race in the way adults do. I thought they'd be more resistent but they just don't care at all. Some of them are little punks who like to push it, but they do that out of being a little punk resisting authority rather than anything regarding race. My class is so diverse, so perhaps the sense of a majority and minority isn't as strong. I have a kid from Burma, one from Malaysia, a handful from China (including one who doesn't speak English much at all), three from Mexico, a couple from Central America, and then quite a few whose parents are from Latin America or Asia. At the school I'm teaching in, the student population is around 45% Hispanic/Latino and 45% Asian, then 3% Black and the rest White or Other. This means the neighborhood is pretty similar, and all the restaurants are either authentic Latin American food or Chinese food. There's this awesome Chinese bakery down the street with red bean pastries for 80 cents that are so delicious and flaky. There's also this Mexican restaurant with tamales and tostadas alongside hamburgers and mashed potatoes. America's an interesting place.

Aside from all the work changes, I've still been trying to write. I have a few articles in the upcoming issue of The Deli, including the cover story (woo!). Also, my short story, "The Roof," advanced to the finals on the website I posted about earlier. That's exciting because whether I win or not, the judges (who are published authors) make all kinds of comments and helpful suggestions. I've also sent out a new story to a few lit mags and am chuggin' away on my book. Perhaps one day this will financially pay off...

In the meantime, because I'm only paid hourly at my new job, I'm looking for ways to pick up some extra cash. If anyone knows of a family that needs a babysitter for a few hours a week, or a cafe/restaurant that needs someone one or two nights, for sure let me know.

שנה טובה (ברכה לראש-השנה)!

That means "Happy New Year."