New York City Metblogs » nyc_tim

Spring Listening

nyc_tim — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:00:58 +0000

No doubt about it, winter is a depressing time. Sure, it’s cute in December when there’s still the promise of presents, but by February you feel like every falling snowflake is a nail your coffin. And by you I, of course, mean me. But let’s forget about that now, because it’s spring! The grey icey lumps lining the sidewalk have melted, the sixteen trees in all of Manhattan are blooming, and the Ratatat mixtape has found it’s way onto the, uh, internets.

Happy music doesn’t cheer me up in the winter, it just reminds me that I’m miserable. But in the spring, some hot beats compliment the shining sun like me kissing my boss’s ass. This spring my anthem will definitely, probably, be Silverchair’s (yes, they still exist, they have a new album coming out, and Daniel Johns has grown up to be a stone fox) Straight Lines. But I’m definitely open to suggestions…

Friends, what music are you listening to, or looking forward to listening to, this spring? What music should I listen to? What should I do with my life?

Musicmakers Meetup

nyc_tim — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 01:59:57 +0000

Last night, Etsy Labs, in conjunction with MAKE and Create Digital Music, played host to the first Musicmaker Meetup. The gathering welcomed all those interested in music, electronics, circuit bending, open source technology, and just tinkering in general. Artists were invited to participate and bring their own projects, or simply enjoy the fruits of others’ labor. I chose the latter path, as my forays into Nanoloop aren’t quite ready for prime time.

A cigar box guitar connected to a Ritz box amp was slouched against one wall, while a man near the stage tended to an clothes iron and board, ready to connect to his laptop. The space was alive with the joy of curiosity, as artists toured their creations with an enraptured audience. Throwing one’s hands in a pit of slime (dubbed the Slime-A-Tron), and hearing the music it produces is a truly rare experience.

In a world where a subculture or a niche market can constitute a great number of people, exciting things start to happen. No matter who you are and what you like, there’s a group of people out their who like the things you do. It’s both comforting and exciting to meet those people, to be able to express yourself and be met with a nod of understanding. When you can do that, and play with a Frankensteinian Speak & Spell, well, you’re really living the good life.

Check out more pics! Also, at the Create Digital Music photopool.

VMC II

nyc_tim — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:40:36 +0000

So, last night’s Vending Machine Challenge… here’s the deal: two teams of three people race to eat every item in a vending machine (they must buy each item). The first challenge was the Onion vs. AM New York, the second - MoMA vs. Pocket Change. The event was organized by the ultra exclusive LVHRD, and sponsored by Dewars and Brooklyn Lager. Details of the location were unavailable until the day of the challenge when they delivered by text-message, with instructions to bring a big of unpopped popcorn in order to gain admittance. Sounds bombtastic, no? NO!

To be fair, I left before the main event, so bored and annoyed was I. It could have taken a turn for the awesome, but I doubt it. Also, I should mention how incredibly sweet the organizers were. There was a mix-up with my tickets (which happened to be totally my fault), but the long and short of it was that they let me in with very little proof that I’d actually paid. It’s a rare occurrence for people to be so kind. Finally, the booze was free (or came with the cost a $22 ticket, but I drank my money’s worth). Okay so, all in all, it wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t awesome, and it should have been.

The problem with the VMC was one of hubris. The event wanted to be amazing, but it was brought down by the waxwings of a small venue with an inadequate sound system, underwhelming participants and the stench of burned popcorn. I shouldn’t be surprised that the Onion’s intern staff is comprised of petulant, smug kids whose apathy glares stretched the lines of believability. Still, I was disappointed. The AM New York team delivered (indeed, one even vomited though I couldn’t see over the sea of Nikon DSLRs), but it just wasn’t enough. Listening to Z-List blogosphere celebrity/drag king Murray Hill - the events’ host - boast about a future post on Gawker wasn’t just unamusing, it was pathetic. The first challenge seemed to mimic the well-known ‘Tortoise v. Hare’ challenge, but without the unexpected climax of that age-old race. AMNY were there to compete, but the Onion kids seemed to be casually snacking and getting wasted on Dewars. Of course, given that the stage was three inches off the ground and I was in the back, I could have been missing all kind of action below everyone’s neckline.

Unsurprisingly (the theme for the evening), the AMNY team won, and I left before I got in the way of another hipster photographer eager to get a shot in the L.

Excubo

nyc_tim — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:18:18 +0000

As a frequent passenger on Chinatown’s various life-threatening methods of transportation up north, I find my biggest concern is not death, but lack of sleep. Four to eight hours with little more than an iPod to keep me company is prime snoozing real estate. However, even my penchant for going comatose in any moving vehicle is put to the test by these rumbling tanks of doom.

Enter Excubo: “A jacket for sleeping on public transportation.” It, apparently, works on the theory that one sleeps better when the body is kept stiff. I buy it, and either way, it’d be worth it for the extra large collar/black out shade. I suspect it might be a gambit to try this thing out on the subway, but I’ll definitely Triple Dog Dare someone if I get a hold of one.

Super Art

nyc_tim — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 01:58:08 +0000

An epic battle rages on Spring St. between Crosby and Broadway. The mighty Thor raises his hammer as the cosmic speedster Silver Surfer comes hurtling towards him.

The artwork of Manhattan native Ron Wiggins captures the super hero in a way that seems to have been forgotten in this age of super hero flicks and 3D animation. With influences like legendary artist John Buscema, Wiggins takes pride in the fact that he keeps it old school, and who can blame him? It’s not tough to find good artists hanging their stuff up on building facades around SoHo, but to find a guy who can do justice to the goddess-like curves of She Hulk is nearly impossible.

His favorite characters are (natch) Thor and the Silver Surfer as well as Wolverine, but for those who enjoy the cinematic side of science fiction, fear not, Wiggins is no one trick pony. Check out his rendering of the Boba Fett standing proudly before the frozen-in-carbonite Han Solo. He sells his works sell from $50 to $100, and for a portrait of Juggernaut that would make John Romita Sr. proud, it’s surely worth it. Tomorrow promises to be at least as nice as today, so roam around SoHo until you find Batman and Superman.

UPDATE: Now with pictures!