SHOWLIST
July 10 - July 16, 2006
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July 13, 2006
Yo
La Tengo, Samara Lubelski - Prospect Park Bandshell FREE OK, so I dropped the ball in recommending Doug E. Fresh and Brucie B in Brower Park during a downpour. So today, before I tell you about a show at another Brooklyn park, I'd like to preface my recommendation with the fact that I’ve checked the weather and, despite scattered showers in the earlier part of the day, tonight we should be in the clear. But who can trust a weatherman anyways… The rock forecast today is stuff that you take for granted because you, as an overstimulated New Yorker, have had regular access to it for a long time. Exhibit A is Yo La Tengo, recording and touring constantly for twenty years, everyone either likes the Velveteen pop first couple of records, or, more frequently, the more drawn out ethereal work of the early-1990s, or, even more likely, the occasional feel-good summer nuggets that’ve emerged the last decade or so. Guilty as charged, before last summer I hadn’t seen the band since around 1995 and I gotta say that I was super-impressed, not only by their oft-praised songwriting, but by the way they played together – particularly Ira’s freakouts and mastery of his unusual collection of effects. While I’ve been a fan of the band for some time and still have vinyl copies of No Wave Hotdogs and President sitting around my storage space somewhere, I’ve missed out on what must amount to dozens of opportunities to see them just out of plain taking them for granted. Sorry guys, it won’t happen again for at least a few more months. I haven’t been aware of the music of Yo La's opener, Samara Lubelski, long enough to take her for granted. She’s one of the rare producers and engineers who can actually put a song together and play, and possesses killer sensibility. I once described her “light psychedelic folk’s mellow” as “a lush and intricately embroidered pillow stuffed with layers of sonic feathers.” While I included this to make fun of how pretentious and just plain stinky my writing can get, it isn’t that inaccurate a description. Exhibit B in stuff you take for granted because you just assume it’ll always be there is Oneida. In the decade that they’ve been at it, they seem to put out a record or two every year – which is why this release party for their latest, Happy New Year, doesn’t seem all that special. They're also always playing on the road and at home. But c’mon we should celebrate ‘em even more because they’re so prolific. And so diverse to boot - they always say, if you don’t like the weather in Oneida, just wait a few minutes. Ok, perhaps they don't, but doesn't it feel that way? I will admit that I wasn’t all that impressed when I first encountered them many years ago. I thought they were musically talented but self-indulgent and aesthetically objectionable - I’ve been eating those words for some time. Did you hear The Wedding last year? Jeez... Note to self, go to show and check out Happy New Year… Anyway, I guess I’m saying, maybe we should act like smaller places and root for the hometown heroes. And, if you’re serious about it, I think there’s time for you to make it to both events before you cast them aside once again for another new thing.
MEDIA:
ALSO TONIGHT:
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