New York Ain't Sleepwalking, I Am

Full Tank at Cooco 66 by Tobias Klutke

There's live shows worth blogging out there, sure! It's just that my computer gets so hot after all the typing, I need to get away from it, from time to time, say to Fire Island to inspect the ticks situation and play Kadima. Or to the catskills to swim in forbidden lakes and inspect suspicious alien activities in hundred year old cellars. And then, my trusty help and videographer Schmiani just went and got married and all, and now she ain't blogging now more.

Still, we managed to see some great shows. First off, the taking off of Falcon at Rehab, after their much reviewed EP hit the stores. As you can see in the sidebar, we recommend you both the live as well as the packaged version. The photo is by Geoff Northrop, you give him shit for playing around with those nasty Adobe fonts.

Then, we caught the revitalized Overlord at the Cake Shop and were given the excellent new single "My Mechanical Heart". George tells me that they will release a new track at every show till the new CD is complete - a nice idea of concept rock in a digitally confusing age. Third, Sword was the word, again at Rehab, which is the coolest place in Manhattan these days anyway, if you still have to go to (or live on) the money infested island. The new quartet with the amazing bass/drums duo of Kristin Mueller and Jessica Hallman harmonized beautifully with the eccentric fantasies of Anton Sword and Kristofer Widholm and give the sword a new bite. Now, tell these stories, Antony!

Last not least we saw the also reinvigorated riot grrrls from Full Tank at hip hip Coco 66 and were positively surprised with new additions Joe Jameson and Ness Newcastle on drums respectively bass, who trim the ladies' bubbliness into a tight punky unit. Now we strongly suggest Simone changes her last name to Smirnov and Halona to Heineken. Gail Grappa, meanwhile should have a drink with Ennio Moriccone.

But now I'm off to Glasslands, another show I forgot to mention on the liver calendar, the Walking Hellos, just to find out what Heather has been up to and talk to hear about my plan for an new NGO that fights for animals' rights to their names. So go, Falcon, the Overlord may grant you a Full Tank, so you escape a ton of Swords.

Falcon at Rehab by Geoff Northtrop

Fuckintosh vs Yanni

Here is a hilarious review from The Phoenix of Fa's show in Boston. He insists he doesn't "toss back his hair" (it's the headphones, silly.) And he's genuinely upset about the Yanni comparison! We like the "Higbrow Sound Collage" and the plaintchant dirges. We looked for a picture of Yanni staring down the acropolis in his white suit, but then leave it up to you to compare the synthi sinfonist with the mashmaster Fa:


Reporter Matt Parish has his take on the events and writes:
"Some guests shuffled back through a closet door to the small special-exhibition gallery for a look at Luisa Rabbia’s new video piece, a wall-sized montage of Mrs. Gardner’s photos from China spliced with rippling water and animated plant roots growing from beige landscapes like a Windows 95 screensaver. The small klatch sipped and listened to critic Mario Diacono parse the playfully trippy work with parlor-game nonchalance.
DJ Fa Ventilato stood in the courtyard garden mixing plainchant dirges with harps and ritualistic drum loops, tossing back his long hair, the Ronnie James Dio of highbrow sound collage. A young graphic designer and her social-worker friend gazed past him to the fountain. “We should do shrooms in here and run away from the fish that would fly out of that thing,” she said. Another guest wondered aloud how soon everything would turn into Eyes Wide Shut. Ventilato ended his set and raised his bottle up like Yanni staring down the Acropolis, which was in the general direction of the coat check. No secret-society masks appeared, but the night still managed to tweak reality into a few exotic kinks."