NEW YORK MUSIC
Approaching it's tenth year, Camp Bisco is an intimate electronic music festival catering to roughly 10,000 attendees each year. As the annual numbers steadily grow, the rolling hills - streamlined with tress, grass and dirt - of Indian Lookout Country Club, in Mariaville, New York, seems the perfect fit to house the sea of tents, RV's, and dirty, smiling festival goers. This year, the 3-day, 3-night event will take place on July 7 - 9.
The weekend long event is curated by Philadelphia natives, the Disco Biscuits. Their blended genre of electronic and jam music coined, "Super Jamband", by Biscuits guitarist Jon Gutwillig, attracts a rather specific flavor of persons effectively referred to as 'Wooks'. Wook isn't exactly a friendly term. In fact, no one would out right call themselves a Wook as it tends to exemplify a dirty, grimy hippy - not the muddy kind of dirty, more the scummy sort (or a combination of both) - but that's a part of the vibe and what sets Camp Bisco apart from other festivals. There's a darkness inside of the light that is gut-wrenchingly beautiful.
You've heard it before and you'll no doubt here it again: New York City is the epicenter for culture, art, film and particularly, music. However, in the last few years, the New York these people are raving about is no longer Greenwich Village or the Lower East Side; It's Brooklyn. And not just any ol' area of Brooklyn.
Williamsburg and Greenpoint have created a chasm of collectives, movements and underground venues within the confines of this great city that reach far beyond the boundaries of these five boroughs. Places like Glasslands Gallery, IndieScreen Theater, The House of Yes and 3rd Ward (both on the cusp of E. Williamsburg/Bushwick), Shea Stadium (no, not the baseball field), and so much have spawned a new generation, a new outlet and platform in which to speak to and hear from open-minded, progressive thinkers, musicians, poets, writers, directors, and artists of all likenesses.
Isn't it such a drag when you finally see a band live and all you get is them standing around, playing their disc verbatim? You could have just as well sat at home, popped in their album and stared at a picture. At least then you wouldn't have to wait in line for the bathroom...
The Mercury Lounge, NYC, saw no such performance when The Bright Light Social Hour took to the stage. The eruption of energy that surged from the stage was suited more for a tripped out jam band concert than a rock show. Almost every track was strewn with solos and anticipatory build-ups, turning the atmosphere in to a vibrant dance party and sweat-fest. Bassist, Jack O'Brien, held down the funkiness every step of the way with popping grooves reminiscent of the Rapture mixed with a bit of John Paul Jones.
What is important to take note of in todays ever-expanding indie/underground music scene is how every group and individual drinks from the same pool. The influences that are accessible to everyone play a crucial role in a bands 'sound', yet each act is so completely unique in their own right. Sure, most everyone has listened to Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. or Pavement and been turned on by them (at least in this realm of music), but it's the personal experience - that alone time in your room secretly listening to each new Prince album, or bopping to P-Funk when parents were downstairs - that gives one group of people at one moment in time the edge they need to bridge the gap between their minds and the audiences. This is why we are all so willing to check out new music; we have a genre we prefer, but there are limitless, literally infinite means in which to create an individual sound that nothing is ever truly the same. Therefore, there is always an opportunity for us to be shocked and awed.
Until recently, New York's Hot 97 DJ, Mister Cee (Calvin Labrun), was known and recognized by his resume list of credentials. Aside from setting the air waves ablaze as a favored Hip Hop DJ, Cee is a seasoned music producer; he DJ'd for 80's rapper Big Daddy Kane and executive produced Notorious B.I.G's debut album, "Ready To Die". While DJ Cee is no stranger to being the topic of bloggers' headlines, he surly was not prepared to be on the tip of their tongues disdain.
Last week, rumors swirled of DJ Cee's involvement with Lawrence Campbell, concerning an ongoing case of public lewdness and indecent exposure. Rumors were put to rest on Tuesday, after an official police report of the incident was leaked to the tabloids (see slide show below for image). The report alleged that Campbell was performing oral sex on Mister Cee inside of a car, and that the pair had every intention of being seen by the passing public.
Kick off 2011 at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. The stellar lineup includes DJ Juan MacLean, Holy Ghost!, Nancy Whang from LCD Soundsystem and DJ Jee Day. Doors open at 9:00 p.m. Don't miss out on the first party of the new year. For more info and to purchase tickets, click here.
Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the middle of August and the time where I seriously start to slump because I know that these upcoming weeks are the last licks of summer. Back-to-school will be here in less than ten days! Gone will be my lazy, nap-filled days, and instead replaced with classes, homework and jobs. But luckily for me, music has that ability to just completely take you out of present time and throw you around a bit, make you forget what’s been going on. So let's indulge, shall we? Just let the music lull you out of whatever slump you may be in, and get you back on track.
Apparently I was in the wrong place this morning, because Enrique Iglesias was kissing some random fan onstage at the Today show in NYC.
Enrique, whose new album 'Euphoria' was recently released, stopped by the show to perform for fans in Rockefeller Plaza.
The most exciting moment for the crowd (and depressing moment for me) came during the ballad 'Hero,' when ahem -- my boyfriend -- brought some random chick who wasn't me on stage to serenade and kiss.
Melissa -- the Bronx, N.Y. fan that the Latin pop star locked lips with -- bragged, 'It was nice ... I mean, it was hot. I'm thinking dirty thoughts."
Yeah, she better run.
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