Titus Andronicus Did Not Have Fun At The VICE Party

Saturday night I checked out the VICE 15-year anniversary / Halloween party at some giant warehouse on N.10th. I got there early and didn't have to deal with any of the door drama that ruined the night for a few people. The space itself was impressive, the booze was free, the bands were pretty awesome and the DJs were playing 90's tunes. Apparently though all types of fucked up shit was going on, which isn't surprising at all. I didn't experience any of this but I left kinda early.

Patrick from Titus Andronicus wrote about his experience and I commend him for still playing his set after all this bullshit. Read all about it here:

Link:
Patrick Got Assaulted By Hired Goons

***By the way 75% of the people at the party were wearing costumes that had more to do with 1984 then 1994. Is it that people just didn't give a shit about the theme or has pop culture bled together so much with our generation that we no longer recognize the difference between 84 and 94? I'm just saying, in 1994 we fucking hated all things 80's so it's weird that people are mixing the two...or maybe I'm just an old bastard.

Tonight: Halloween Parties (Mostly Brooklyn)

Here's some shit to do tonight. We've got loft parties, warehouse parties, bars, open bars, bowling, live bands, dead bands, deth rally...you get the point. Good fucking luck getting into the VICE party.

Tonight: Joy Division, Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, & Gang Of Four (Sorta)

There's a killer show at Silent Barn tonight. In the spirit of Halloween and pretending to be someone you're not there's a cover show tonight. This pretty much has to be fun.

Grocery Thief as Joy Division
Le Rug as Dead Kennedys
Graffiti Monster as Minor Threat
Rainbow Party as Gang Of Four
@ Silent Barn
$??
All Ages

Gunfight! on Spin + Free Show Tomorrow

Another BSC favorite, Gunfight!, just got some love from Spin. The band shot a short video interview about their song "All You Need". You can check out the video and download the song through the link below.

Link:
Gunfight! on Spin

If you still haven't seen them yet you should check them out tomorrow at K&M. Plus I played a small role in putting that show together. It's fucking free (RSVP here) and our homeboys pow wow! are playing too. Yes, two bands and two exclamation points. So it must be good.

Hank & Cupcakes On Fearless Music + 3 Shows This Weekend

Our pals, Hank & Cupcakes, performed live recently on Fearless Music. The taping was at Crash Mansion. Apparently they won some online vote and will be rebroadcast, which is very cool. This is a killer band and they deserve the attention. Plus, they've played three Brooklyn Ski Club shows so they're practically part of the gang at this point.

There are also two H&C three shows this weekend, including Mercury Lounge. I highly recommend checking them out.

Link:
H&C MySpace w/show dates

Tonight: Bottle Up & Go @ Brooklyn Bowl (FREE); The World Series

Our buds in Bottle Up & Go are playing a free show at Brooklyn Bowl tonight. In the world of sports we've got Game 1 of the World Series. Normally I don't give a shit about baseball (at least not since McGwire/Sosa/Bonds ruined it) but I'm from Philly and I live in NYC so Phillies vs. Yankees is a pretty big deal. Despite not being interested in baseball in years I will always hate the fucking Yankees (unless I go back in time when Babe Ruth & Gehrig were on the team) so go Phils!

Saturday Day Shows, CMJ 09.

The day shows today are sick. There's just too much to do. I'm skipping the Fader Fort, where I basically lived last year during CMJ, for the superior lineups of these 3 shows.

12:30-2:30: Brooklyn Vegan Day show at Pianos, free Bloody Marys if you get there when the doors open. BEAST, Moondoggies, and Surf City are supposed to play during that time frame.
2:30-5:15: Deli day show with free gourmet food. During this time frame they have Gunfight!, We Are Country Mice, Freelance Whales, Emanuel And The Fear, Drink Up Buttercup, Elizabeth & The Catapult, Local Natives. WOW!!! That's one hell of a lineup. By the way Freelance Whales are the best band I've seen during CMJ.
5:30-whenever: Impose day party at Don Pedros. Not sure who will still be playing this late but there's a shit ton of awesome bands playing this day party and it's on the way home. Overall this might be the best day show of CMJ 09, if you dig Brooklyn bands. You'll also get to see JEFF The Brotherhood, who destroyed at Piano's.

Free Show: Here We Go Magic, Titus Andronicus, WOODS, Beach Fossils @ Webster Hall

I had a bunch of offers to do a Brooklyn Ski Club showcase for CMJ this year. But because I hate hectic madness I decided to not do anything for BSC (although there will be more shows soon). Then this show happened, which I'm involved in but nothing to do with Ski Club. Although, it's not actually a CMJ show.

I often use the word "awesome" to describe things but that just isn't good enough for this one so I'm going to use a word I hate but is (finally for once) appropriate, "epic." I mean it's a FREE show brought to you by Spinner, Going, and MyOpenBar with some of the buzziest bands out right now.

Tuesday, Oct. 20th

Here We Go Magic, Titus Andronicus, WOODS, & Beach Fossils
DJ Luiza Sa (CSS)
@ Webster Hall
8PM
18+
FREE w/Going iPhone App
(Rumor has it there's another way in free)

Interview - The Raveonettes

Danish rock duo The Raveonettes just played two New York shows in support of their new album In And Out Of Control. One at Webster and one in Brooklyn at the Music Hall of Wiliamsburg. They also played Maxwell's in New Jersey. We weren't in attendance, but we did get a chance to ask a few question of Sune Rose Wagner, the founder and spokesman of sorts for the two piece about a multitude of things concerning the new album, the band's sound and their creative growth over the years since we've known them.


BSCKenya: "Boys Who Rape" is a song one might expect to be dark and sinister, and while lyrically, it tackles a subject matter that is just that, musically, it's ensconced inside light, dreamy pop. This has sort of been a running theme for Raveonettes for a few records now. Would you say this sort of sweet, yet in-your-face confrontation of things like rape and suicide is your most effective writing technique?

Sune: Well, we always liked contrast and the music needs to be a combined entity of various moods and sounds. A light melody goes really well with darker lyrics I think otherwise it all becomes too nauseating.

BSCKenya: Some would say In and Out of Control sits comfortably in between the uber production of Pretty In Black and the raw, DIY production of Lust Lust Lust. Would you give any validity to that sentiment, or ignore it completely?

Sune: I think the new album is a strange mix of lo-fi sounds being blown up in a hi-fi soundscape. We threw so many crazy sounds together and it ended up sounding big and beautiful.

BSCKenya: What are your own feelings on the album as far as where the final results sit musically after Lust Lust Lust?

Sune: I think it's a brilliant pop album you don't get to hear these days. It's daring, confrontational and challenging, not many pop albums have those elements. It's a very different album from what we've done previously, that's for sure.

BSCKenya: Are any of the songs on In and Out of Control revised runoff from previous writing sessions for past albums that didn't make the cut?

Sune: "Heart Of Stone" is from an album I did which was never released. It was originally meant to be on a solo album but I ended up doing a solo album in Danish so this song fit perfectly for this album.

BSCKenya: Since 2002, after five releases on a few different labels, what have you learned that informs the music you make at this moment?

Sune: I follow whatever my heart tells me. I don't follow trends or anything. I'm old fashioned when it comes to writing songs. Whatever works for me and makes my heart beat faster from pure excitement must be the righg thing. I'm into good songwriting like Dylan and Springsteen. A good song is the number one thing then you can cloak in whatever sound you find appealing at the time of recording.

BSCKenya: Every artists wishes to evolve their artistry as time progresses. Do you consider artistic evolution something that should happen naturally, or would you say it is more a purposeful pursuit?

Sune: It happens naturally but we also try to not repeat ourselves too much. This album was written, recorded and mixed in 6 weeks, we never tried that before.

BSCKenya: If you were forced to pick one song on this album that embodies the most growth the Raveonettes demonstrate, which would that be?

Sune: "Last Dance" for sure. It's a big production, extremely catchy melody, very different instrumentation from what we've done before and overall just a smash hit.

BSCKenya: Is there anyone around now that you can get behind musically? Who are you listening to?

Sune: I try to follow what's going on. I've listened to bands like Girls, The XX, The Big Pink, the new Horrors album and Bat For Lashes.

BSCKenya: You're about to embark on the exhilarating madness that is going on tour again. Any anticipation or apprehension about what awaits you in the wake of this new release?

Sune: For the first time ever I feel incredibly confident that we will blow people away with our show cause we've rehearsed many, many cool songs and found new ways of playing some of the old songs as well. We're totally on top of our game and we're ready to go through all of our albums. A few unexpected surprises as well...

BSCKenya: Which song from the current album would you get the most joy out of performing for your fans?

Sune: All of them, they're all so new, just a few months old really but Sharin is playing drums on "Heart Of Stone" so I'm totally looking forward to that.

Download tracks from the new album, In And Out Of Control: http://share.theraveonettes.com/

Tonight: Here We Go Magic @ Union Pool; Das Racist & Boy Crisis; No Age & Woods; Dodos; Black Angels

• Here We Go Magic are playing a show at Union Pool tonight. Trust me when I say that you will never see this band in a venue this small again. Also on the bill are A Rose Parade and I.U.D. which I think are bands with TVOTR and !!! dudes or something like that. I can't remember, sorry. Starts at 8PM.
• Das Racist and Boy Crisis are playing Piano's. This will be good drunken fun. $10.
  
• No Age & WOODS are playing at LPR. The cover is $15 so I don't blame you if you skip it.
• The Dodos are playing Bowery Ballroom. I was supposed to see them last night but got dropped from the list. Heard it was a great show. $17.
  
• Raveonettes & Black Angels at Webster Hall. I love Black Angels and we just interviewed Raveonettes (coming soon). I was at Webster Hall when they were setting up and well, nothing really. Not sure why that info is at all important. $22.
  

Join The Brooklyn Ski Club Mailing List

In an effort to better get the word out about upcoming Brooklyn Ski Club shows and parties I decided to create an email list. I will only send info about shows and parties. No blog updates or other junk and never any ads. Sign up and you'll be the first to hear about BSC shows.

Join the list, just email:
list [at] brooklynskiclub [dot] com

Download Every Mojo Nixon Album For Free

It's not often that an artist with as many albums as Mojo Nixon decides to give them all away for free. Mojo Nixon is def not for everyone but might as well give it a shot.

Link:
Amazon - Mojo Nixon Discography