The New York based singer-songwriter and accompanist is ironically the least recognizable name in a cadre of New York musicians slowly approaching marquee status and it was great to finally catch his solo act. With so many opportunities Bartlett is able to do what he wants with little regret or anything that resembles a shell. Here’s how he keeps busy.
Brooklyn’s O’Death return with its third LP Outside after a year-long hiatus and a clean bill of health.
At an official ceremony featuring Marty Markowitz at Brooklyn Borough Hall recently, the folks behind Williamsburg’s annual Northside Festival announced bohemian favorite Beirut will headline the June festival. A week prior saw Brooklyn’s Panache Booking Agency organizing an early Spring Break with the first annual hipster Bruise Cruise to the Bahamas. Consider this the nation’s annual hang over recovery week as folks try to determine just exactly what they saw (and actually remember) at Austin’s South by Southwest Music showcase last week. Need more options?
And now, a follow up. BrooklynTheBorough.com noted a Lou and Laurie sighting in December when local duo Buke & Gass played a homecoming show at Mercury Lounge. We had no idea the evening would end with the couple asking the band out for slices of pizza – or a full blown collaboration.
The Buke & Gass duo, featuring Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez, highlights precisely what’s frustrating about small scene independent sound these days from New York to Portland – they always leave us wanting more.
The past decade for New York-based independent labels has either been rough going or a coming out party that no one saw coming. It is not easy to trace how every tiny label arrived at this point, right down to the micro-trends littering Brooklyn’s past decade in music, but there are two labels in particular that might offer the perfect snapshot of Brooklyn 2001 and Brooklyn 2010.
Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers ended a late afternoon set at Knitting Factory during CMJ with Shilpa Ray stepping away from her harmonium and pogoing wildly, stabbing the air like a child throwing a tantrum. The whole orchestral molotov should fit perfectly at Southpaw on November 11 when the band shares a bill with locals Outernational and Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye at a benefit show for FortnightJournal.com, sponsored by BrooklyntheBorough.com.
