Fluxus Saturday: Fucks Us- Matt, Anyway

To be clear, Fluxus Saturday was two things:

#1. Rad City

and

#2. A long time ago


Well, I haven't posted anything for a while but who likes apologies? I've been busy with other stuff, but now I'm back and ready to roxx 'n roll! Speaking of roxx, Fluxus Saturday! The matinee show started around five, which was too early for some people, but the devout came out as they properly do to see the incandescant Jesse Cooper Levy play the arcade (?) at the Stood. Jesse sang his songs, some with the accompaniment of a small chord organ, and some simply a cappela. He read some poetry as well- it was very relaxed and fun- *intimate*.


After Jesse some more people showed up and packed the newly refurbished Sellar for Cameron Wisch Upon A Star's inauguratory set. Cameron recently redecorated and/or "fixed up" the Cellar at the Stood, and boy, is it tight. Physically, it's tiny, but it's also awesome, so it's okay. The walls are adorned with blue splatter, and the rafters (mere feet above yr head) are ramshackled with blacklights and a greenlight. Cameron capitalized on the room layout in key areas, and overall, it was a STRATEGIC and DYNAMIC performance! By harnessing the power of the black light through fluorescent paint and stardust, Cameron grew lumiscent, and came to know the meaning of AWESOME POWER! And he shared that knowledge with us- through math rock!! Also note: Cameron was recently part of the insane Gamehenge '09 collaboration, which is a reimagining of Phish through the eyes of over 100 musicians. Needless to say: check it out!


After we had all been enlightened, Cameron ushered us all over to the Whitson's Grand Cathedral where a pyschadelic performance was soon to be undertaken by the Pete McAwesome, with the help of a few of his dearest friends. There were three drummers; two were playing conventional drum kits and a third was banging soup cans and stuff. It was a really big production with some upperclassman whizkid running projections and about 10 people on the stage. The songs were really great and unlike anything I had heard from Pete before. Pete's music is really diverse; I've seen him singing sorrowful, alcohol-soaked acoustic ballads, and I've seen him as the frontman of huge musical enterprises, such as the one on Saturday. It was really impressive to see that many people coordinated together for the sake of one really epic jam. But all jams end, no matter how epic, and so too did Pee's set :(



But onwards and bloodwards to Landlords! I've seen them a bunch lately, but not always with the whole band intact. That wasn't the case for Fluxus and the vibes were as weird as ever. They too played in the Sellar, though they chose to forgo the blacklights, opting instead for a single green bulb. A trumpet made a short cameo, and it was totally overblown and distorted and sickk.


I saw Landlords this past Thursday on SUNY PURCHASE!!'s television channel PTV 69. They played WhaleHammer, a really gnarly/laffs talkshow on at 11 PM e'ry Thursday (sans singer). It was awesome though. Whalehammer is awesome.

*Sigh* Back 2 Fluxus :/


Well, Ghost Mall played in the Sellar too, and they were a cool electro-rocky band that got everyone singing along, even tho it was their first show ever! Great job guyzz <3> I only saw two-thirds of their three song set, but it was pleasant enuff.


There were also tons of awesome art installations as well. There was some artwork by Luke Anderson, a SUNY Purchase college student recently featured in the Submission. I especially enjoyed his stuff, which is really rich in iconic American imagery and stuff.

Now here: Tonz of videos pertaining to the evening.

Cameron Wisch


Elemeno Pete (FROM FLUXUS)


Landlords (FROM FLUXUS)


WhaleHammer

Christianity::Skinnerbox from Benjamin Korman on Vimeo.

Ghost Mall (FROM FLUXUS)

Open Mic Wednesdays At The STOOD

First of all, everybody be sure to come to SOUTHSIDE tonight around 7 for Part II of the Culture Shock Battle of the Bands and bring lots of animals and virgins to sacrifice to Jeff Levine so that Weird Korea at least makes it to the finals tomorrow night.  Here's tonight's lineup:

The Boomerangs
Bums and Drass
The City Strikes Back
Elemeno Pete
For Every Judas

Hey Hi Hello! (that might not really be the band but holy shit look at that guy)

In Tents
Major Potential
Olken
Silence the Feedback
Trails
Typhoon the Goon
Weird Korea
Wyldlife

Pretty awesome.

Myspace search really sucks. You're going to check out all of those links before tonight right? I did.

But more importantly, WEDNESDAY NIGHTS and the STOOD have transformed from quiet acoustic nights to well... quiet acoustic nights with INTERMITTENT BANDS! Thats right, now you and your fledgling band can come play at Whitson's under the tender care of Pete McAwesome and a new array of Stood gear, including a house drum set and amps and plenty of new mics.  Weird Korea has played the past two weeks in a row and if everyone would just forget how we sounded the first week we'd be totally comfortable making this a weekly thing and you should too.  The musixc starts around 9 on Wednesdays in Whitson's, so pick two songs and get there early to sign up if you're interested in playing.

See everybody tonight, come support SUNY PURCHASE!!! bands.

Weird Korea Tour Dates Posted!

In the name of shameless self promotion, check out Weird Korea at Whitson's on April 23rd. We'll also be playing a slot at the Culture Shock Battle of the Bands on April 9th, 10th, and 11th, so come sell your body to Jeff Levin in the name of our music.

Space Ghost Cowboys at Whitson's Grand Ballroom

It's been a very long time since Space Ghost Cowboys last played a show, but it'll be even longer until they play their next one. About three weeks ago, lead singer and guitarist Aaron Maine played his last SUNY PURCHASE!!! show this semester before hightailin' it on down to somewhere mysterious in the deep Southwest. Nick and I have been putting off this post for weeks because we both feel a need to do justice to this great band; to memorialize them as they so rightly deserve. SGC is a three-piece for the most part, with Ian Reilly on bass guitar, Jack Edward on drums, and, of course, the aforementioned Aaron Maines doing it all whoop whoop oh ya oh ya all right boo ya.

But, yes. As a freshman coming to SUNY Purchase this year I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the Stood and the Co-Op and all these things. I saw Aaron at a couple of open mics and thought it was cool that everyone knew the words to everything and everyone sang along. It wasn't until halfway through last semester until I finally saw him with his band. Though Aaron can do it all whoop whoop etc. I will always prefer his material with the band as opposed to his solo stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic and well-written and everything (it's the sort of stuff Nick creams himself over) but it's not anywhere near as dynamic as SGC's material. While the band is very tight, they do have enuff rock 'n roll sensibility to let it all hang out sometimes, and really indulge themselves, and the audience, in those sort of moments that have incredible emotional weight to them.

One show stands out particularly in my mind. I'm not sure exactly when, but it was probably in December, and I saw them close a bill in Whitson's Memorial Hall at the Stood. It was stuffy in Whitsons and I remember seeing Aaron cooling down by pouring vodka on his head and then taking a big swig from the plastic handle. He tossed it to drummer, they turned on a strobe light and it got INSANE. The show ended in a swamp of feedback, with the drum set trashed, the lead singer stumbling around the floor, eventually collapsing in a metal trash can that had previously been used for percussion, and the bassist obediently plugging along, giving the only sort of context he could to the debaucherous situation. It was utterly fantastic.

But at SGC's last show, the ambience was equally chaotic, if not a little more unified. A lot of people turned out for the show, and most everyone sang along to all the words, or at least pretended to try. By the time they played "Wolf" to close, the crowd was in a tizzy and I had soiled myself and cried my eyes out, but not neccesarily in that order.
It's not the same without 'em. I'll tell ya.

Space Ghost Cowboys:
Toothy


More solo-y stufff:
Scoundrel


School Project

We actually have some nice photos from this one, check them out HERE.

 Shark's Roar, Cameron Wisch, and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt also played that night.  We'll be covering the rest of the show soon but you can check out more photos from that night HERE.

Pattern Is Movement @ The Stood

Monster Machismo from Oneonta, NY opened up the show with some of the most technical music I've seen in a while. Every member of the group was constantly moving and performing multiple rhythms at once. Their singer/guitarist mixed complicated tapping rhythms and chord patterns with off-beat vocals and crowd sing-alongs like his head and his arms were from two different, constantly counting bodies. They played songs that were not only technical and impressive, but catchy and fun and fast paced. I heard that these guys were only in high school, which makes me hate them a little.

Following Monster Machismo was SUNY PURCHASE!!! favorite, Zona Mexicana. I'm not sure if I need to go into great detail about Zona, I think they might play more shows on campus than any other purchase band. However, I think that this was my favorite performance of theirs to date. Check these guys out this Friday night at the Stood for THE GREATEST SHOW EVER, where they'll be playing At The Drive-In songs with various other cover groups including Saves The Day, Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Enya, and The Band. Check the event page for more info. While you're there ask these guys for a new CD of their real music.

Next up were Capillary Action, an ever changing, ever evolving progressive group that I saw once in my home town. I feel like this band is more of a living outlet for singer/guitar player Jonathan Pfeffer's compositions because he's been the only constant member since I last saw them. I think I preferred their first performance, before they developed this sort of jazz/samba/lounge/rim clicks on the snare drum sort of style. Their current line-up features a nylon string guitar, a trombone player with a ponytail, a girl playing accordion, a boomy stand-up bass and lots of auxiliary percussion. However, now that I'm listening to the songs on their myspace, many of them are much heavier and electronic. Maybe these guys change so much that you can't classify them, I say check them out for yourself.

I was about to head home and go to sleep when Pattern Is Movement set up and began to play. By the time I heard their first song I had decided to stay. I think this band has a really new, unique sound, which is something you hear less and less of. A two piece, Andrew Thiboldeaux plays an assortment of keyboards including a rhodes electric piano and sings in a full voice, almost broadway sort of style while Chris Ward literally beats the shit out of the drums, delivering some of the most well-rounded, full, complete and thundering drum sounds I've ever heard, it was great. We all stood in a very welcoming, friendly atmosphere while the band developed a sort of tonal atmosphere that really filled the room with each song, complete with drum blasts that you just couldn't get away from. Check out their myspace for lots of great stuff, including a documentation of the bands love for top 40 covers, and get this, not only a Daytrotter Session but also TWO BLOGOTHEQUE Take Away Show videos, which is really really awesome. All in all, a really great show.

I didn't take any photos so watch these videos!!

Monster Machismo:

Zona Mexicana:

Pattern Is Movement:

MOKAAD!! and Vaginas

Last Thursday night began like any other: I rolled out of bed, wiped the semen from my eyes, and pulled on my boots. I headed out onto the blustery SUNY PURCHASE!! bluffs and stumbled my way across campus to that last refuge of harmony and debauchery, so affectionately called The Stood. Once there, I was overwhelmed by faux-feminine snacks of all sorts: clitoral cupcakes, fellopian finger-food, and gingerbread villas of violet vulvas are only a couple examples of the multitude of rude dude nutritious food that they had available 4 consumption. This was, after all, a benefit show for the Vagina Monologues, which you have definitely heard of before.

Now, because of my "condition" (have you ever seen Memento?) I have a hard time remembering all the insignificant/specific details of the night. It is also hard to remember because I'm writing this about six days after it happened- but when has that ever stopped me? :/

Anywayz, the first band I can remember seeing/liking was The Boomerangs, a country-pop group who I've been folllowing ever since I saw them at the Co-Op last semester. They have a pretty classic sound for the most part, but for the least part, they also have a pretty rad lead guitar player who adds a bit of a more modern sound to the mix. He plays a pretty lacerating guitar lead, and sometimes he stomps on that good ole' delay pedal, and then u kno it's gunna get EPIC!!1!

Some girl sang to an iPod. It was like... completely unmemorable. Next!

Aha! Finally, at last, I can gush about mothafucking Mokaad and the Flex Points!! They are a very good band, and really, really impressively sized. I didn't count but hey, it looked like there were 30 people onstage for the show. Well, it was actually about 10 or so- three horn players, one guy on keyboard that I smoked pot with at the beginning of school and then never saw again, one guy with a guitar and a goddam wah pedal, two backup singers (boner!), an awesome bass player, a drummer, and of course MOKAAD!! himself. They played pretty funky stuff, I mean, their second song was a Stevie Wonder cover, and they actually did justice to it. Because I'm an asshole, I was ready to hate them. A line in the first song was "When I wake up in the morning/I roll up some gangja," and, needless to say, that line elicited a deafening roar of stoned approval from all the pot-smoking loozers that love that kind of shit. I was not convinced. I will ruin the suspense now and admit that, yes, I did come around. Mokaad really does run a pretty great band, and it's really fun music to dance to. They just groove on one thing for like hours. And they bring all the hot girls out!

Check out all the photos HERE! God, it's like you were there too.

Folk Off Friday

This is the most overdue blog post to date that I have failed to write. This show took place almost two weeks ago. Sorry, five people! Well, it was a pretty folked up night for me, I had to cover two shows at two different venues, and two of my friends I met at my SUNY PURCHASE!! orientation were playing. Coincidence? Yes. At the Stood, Emma Tringali was the main act, and she did not disapoint. Also, a SUNY PURCHASE!! alum, this show at Whitsons marked her first return to the alma mater she loved so much while she was here. Nope, she just couldn't wait to come back! Her set was a little long, and the vocals were a bit screechy at times, but, boy, she's got a gorgeous voice and a beautiful band to back her up. Olken opened up for her, and sadly I only caught the beginning of their set because I had to run to the Co-Op to catch my boyfriend's set. I, however, have seen them before, and I enjoy their more rugged take on folk music. Their uniqueness comes from having a really bad-ass accordian player, and having Kjartan Loberg Code on electric cello. Contrary to popular belief however, it is not "Kjartan's band," and I don't know if Kevin, the lead singer and guitarist, gets upset by that conception, but I would.

Anyway, at the Co-Op there was a stacked line-up. Keith Richards played and he really tore it up. Just choking, it was only Richard Keith and it was boring. After that was The Tale, a nice piano and guitar two-piece, and then last and least of all- Nick Corbo. It was a very pleasant set, Nick eschewing the "standard rock conventions" said "No thanks, sound man. I'll play this WITHOUT your help." And he did. He huddled the lot of us near the stage and without a mic or ANYTHING, he played the whole of his set with just his acoustic guitar and his acoustic voice. Highlights of the set included a cover of Daniel Johnston's classic, "True Love Will Find You In The End," and the Nick Corbo classic, "Painted Halls."

Emma Tringali (video by Callum Plews)


Note: Anyone curious as to what the freshman dorms at SUNY PURCHASE!! look like, just watch this video. These lucky cocksuckers have a suite!

Here is the Daniel Johnston song, for no reason other than that it is great, and this video is great.

For more photos from this event, check out the MY SON COOL FLICKR.

Whitsons Sludgefest '09

On the second Saturday of the new semester I once again found myself at the Stood, and then inside the holy chapel that is Whitson's Memorial Hall. I arrived at around 8:40, and because of the size of the bill, I missed the first 4 or 5 (!) bands. When I finally did get there however, Twin Stumps was the first band I saw. Although the lead singer was an absolute shitshow, the show, actually, was not a shitshow; and when it was, it was so in the BEST kind of way. The type of super-sludgy and slow tar music they played was conducive to a lead singer whose mic was unplugged for half of the set, and whom spent most of the time rolling on the dank Stood floor. There was a great atmosphere of carnal violence and brutish chaos, despite the fact that the lead singer's attempts to jar the crowd were lost in the dead space between the audience and the band. It is worth mentioning that all the bands I saw drew around 20 people at the most.

P.S. Their guitarist was bald.

Between bands, and just outside the Memorial Hall, were the hot ladiezz from For The Birds, a group that can be described in four words: "DIY feminist cultural activism." They were selling all sorts of zines and other artwork related paraphernalia. They were very nice, and I bought their merch by the bucketful, which was easy because everything was two dollars. There were also other DIY outfits, including the collective-based, No Guts No Glory prints, featured above.

The next band I caught was Rejouissance, a Brooklyn band with more of a melodic sense than Twin Stumps. A three-piece, they sported an acoustic guitar instead of a bass, which was interesting, and worked well. This extra guitar played treble-y high melodies, while the lead singer played a very coilly electric guitar. It sounded like he was playing with a quarter or something. Their songs were more structured than the last bands', but at times I missed the dynamics and volume of Twin Stumps and another sludge band, whose name I didn't catch. Also, and Nick made special mention of this to me, they all played sitting down. PUNK=DEADDD.

In conclusion, I only caught about two of the bands Saturday, and out of a total of 10, that's pretty pathetic. But hey, I'm only getting started, and by setting the bar so low on this, our first real entry, it'll be a piece of cake to exceed the expectations of our admiring peers and tireless rivals.

Also expect a little kick to the head tomorrow when I debut a brand new feature here on My Son Cool. No one reads this right now, but the suspense is absolutely deepthroating, don't you think Nick?

For more photos from last Saturday's show, check out the My Son Cool Flickr.