At Union Hall, AA Bondy asked that we call him Gus from that moment on. The two A’s in Bondy’s name stand for Auguste Arthur, however, and I ask: why the hell have we been diverted from using that fantastically royal birth name? He may have appeared to be more of a Gus that night, dressed in the most generic combination of shirt over t-shirt with jeans and boots (and a cap pre-show); he may have even sung like a Gus in that extra raspy voice of his, wailing on the harmonica every now and then, but his personaly sure as hell has the heroic poeticism of an Auguste Arthur. Opening band Two Dark Birds tried their best to hold the attention of the room, but going by the chatter that poured of that tiny space, they were unsuccessful. Bondy, on the other hand, with the might of his acoustic guitar and an array of harmonica options, claimed the spotlight. I would’ve liked to stay for Delta Spirit, but an incident before Bondy’s last song dictated I and my posse, shaking with fury, storm out into the pleasant arena of home sweet home as soon as Bondy’s set was done. (ps. I’ll add photos later today)
Snark is not a new pastime hobby; I’m not even sure if it’s necessarily on the rise, though the comment section of most blogs may make you think otherwise. For one thing, how can the witty (in my book the brightest) not have always turned to full-time mockery as a channel for expression only too fulfilling (especially if the others really are halfwits), second only to comedy, or maybe not even that. But my point is that when witty people do it, snark is highly entertaining and totally hip. I, however, have neither the wit nor the heart to attack people whose only fault is to love themselves (happy and confident people are often the subjects of cutting snide, aren’t they?). But! I am dying to talk about a real douchebag who grabbed me by the arm and yelled at me to stand up at tonight’s otherwise fun AA Bondy show at Union Hall. I hope you read on, and then tomorrow I’ll tell you all about how great AA was.
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Download “If I” | Here’s some Piers Faccini music as promised. And an excerpt from an interview with Santa Barbara Independent, dated December 2006:
Does your worldly upbringing give you better insight into songwriting? The music that I do is influenced by a lot of different kinds of music from around the world. It’s a very kind of eclectic music, which I’ve been listening to ever since I was 18 really. I don’t know if I could say definitely [that it makes me a better songwriter], but the fact that I wasn’t in one country, that I moved around speaking more than one language, that made me an outsider constantly. I know how England works, I speak the language, but I don’t feel English. I go to France, I don’t feel French. I go to Italy, and I don’t feel Italian. That gave me more a sense of whit and scope for when I write songs. I don’t feel limited to any particular format.
I was recently accused by a family member of getting sucked into whatever was showing on television. This family member is mistaken. When he caught me watching the The Real Housewives of New York City reunion (or whatever it is they call the post-season chit chat), and when he saw me running into the living room to see who got kicked out of Top Chef, he wasn’t witnessing me getting sucked into whatever was showing, these were things I had specifically handpicked to watch. His conclusion comes from the assumption that all reality TV is crap (he asks, “who’s reality?”), but I have learnt since my exposure to the last season of Project Runway that Bravo TV was showing reality television of a different calibre altogether, though I was very late indeed.
On Tuesday, the 24th of June, Actor Elijah Wood and model Riley Keough hosted a benefit for Art for Elysium at the Milk Gallery in Chelsea, where silk prints of rock photography by the legendary Mick Rock went on sale starting at $14,000 a piece. We’re not pop culture literates here, but we do know enough to inform that Riley, who’s looking very pretty here, comes to this world by way of Elvis, Mick Rock looks a bit like Lou Reed, and that Danny Masterson fellow is Steven Hyde from That 70’s Show! View full post to see all photos from the event and to find out who I caught talking about light sabers at length.
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Download “1 2 3 Apple Tree” | Herman Dune just wants to tell you pretty little stories, so it’s no surprise that singer David-Ivar Herman Dune often races himself, half-speaking, half-singing in an adorable accent; making the substitution of “said” or “thought” with the word “like” (as in, “I’m like, the sooner the better”) and other colloquial uses an absolute treat. The charm probably comes from a feeling that even though David refers to himself in the third person while quoting someone else talking to him in a song, the perspective of the storyteller/observer seems to be the reverse of Alice in Wonderland. He has broadened his view of the big beautiful world found in small marvels of stories to such an extent that he himself shrinks, and we don’t mind at all.
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Once the gentle rain subsided on Sunday evening, the sun brought a warm glow to Central Park’s Summer Stage. It remained there until sunset, making it possible for a continuously growing throng of Yael Naim fans to stream in without having to battle nature in addition to long lines. Paris-born Israeli songstress Yael was a yellow fruit bursting with gems of tunes birthed at her tiny apartment, some sung in French, others in Hebrew and English. She played with a band of four, including drummer David Donatien who was credited as her musical partner; a bassist, and a fellow on accordion who at one point impressively raced his fingers on the piano; Yael switched between a guitar, a ukulele and the piano.
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Download “Oceanic” by Imaad Wasif | After listening to Jeff Buckley’s Grace and Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk hundreds of times, you realize the dead does not grow old; it will let you indulge in its immortality that comes from having died, but it will not give you continuation, it will not give you a whiff of the present, and it will not get into deeper crevices with you. So the throne I would’ve sat Buckely on, had he continued to live, I’ve assigned to Imaad Wasif. He with his Two Part Beast promises to fill the void. I hope he lives up to my expectations when he is in town:
July 17 Brooklyn, NY Shangri-La
July 18 New York NY Cake Shop
ps. Jeff lives on another throne, but that one’s reserved for the dead.
These are the corresponding “spirit animals” of the members of The Grates— singer Patience is a seal, drummer Alana is a tadpole, and guitarist John is a grizzly bear, as I have just learnt from the special biography essay posted on the band’s website. I love the song “Burn Bridges” that is now out in video form. The album ‘Teeth Lost Hearts Won’ is coming out on August 2 in Australia. Until then, Fast Louder has Ben Lee interview the band, the band has a blog, and the blog has production photos and more.
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Download “Do You Love Me?”| The band hit a large deer in Montana and broke their van, definitely missing their Seattle show tonight, and possibly missing others. So they’ve asked if you can help with some of the fixing costs involved. Listen to the song and decide if you need them like they need you, and donate if you do.
hooves on the turf is a mostly-music blog based out of brooklyn. i can be reached at hoovesontheturf [at] gmail [dot] com - please send me your lovely music as an attached mp3 or an mp3 link. if i like what you send, i'll be sure to ask for more.
Evan Hammer: and now i’m excited too! thanks for the new band.
Jens: Where can I order t-shirts from the Tallest Man On Earth online? Is it possible at all?
nat lyon: three cheers for secret garden! it’s been too long.
jamie: Yo! You should definitely check out this awesome video MPLS.TV just shot of Dark Dark Dark this week for City...
sarahana: they were taken with the new iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app
