If you have not heard of rapper, former chef and Viceland hostAction Bronson’s low culture cult following, you may soon be aware of his larger-than-life presence. Born in Queens and reportedly living in North Brooklyn, he has become an icon somewhat for his brazen rap stylings, but is probably more acclaimed for his self-proclaimed lyrical adoration of the pre-packaged foods most of us grew up with—chicken tenders, Starburst, Steak-umms; and his more complex and grown-up gourmet tastes—steak that’s aged for over 20 days, lamb that’s been roasted over 7 hours, stuffing filled with truffles and pears. As a chubby, foul-mouthed yet lovable character, he appeals to many: the shameless (those who would happily chow down on dirty water hotdogs), the detail-oriented (people who would source the best ingredients to create a very simple meal) and the fun-food-havers (regular people at a backyard BBQ where the smoker’s been going for hours, where homemade food and booze is abundant and anything goes). Continue reading →
Thee Oh Sees! Photo: Thomas Girard, via Warsaw on Instagram
It’s always a treat when Thee Oh Sees go on tour and play a few shows in Brooklyn. I always make it a point to go at least once because it’s nothing short of awesome. Thee Oh Sees psyched out the crowd at the Warsaw (261 Driggs Avenue) with dynamic jams with loud-meets-fast-riffs. Continue reading →
Angus Andrew comes to Greenpoint to perform his first solo album as Liars. (photo credit: liarsliarsliars.com)
Angus Andrew dropped a new Liars album last month on Mute Records, and is performing at Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave) on September 21. YVETTE and Idgy Dean will open. You can get tickets here, and check out the album here.
The new album, titled TFCF (Theme From Crying Fountain), is the first album since the departure of founding member Aaron Hemphill. The live show will have band members from Bamabara, and will include songs previously recorded but not released by Liars.
We caught up with Andrew during his break between the European and US tours to discuss the making of TFCF – which included a couple years of self-imposed isolation in the Australian bush. We also can’t wait to catch his show in Greenpoint and see first hand what he’s been up to down under.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Greenpointers: You’ve been based in the States for a long time, but wrote this album in Australia. What brought you back there in the first place?
Angus Andrew: There was a lot pulling me back there. I’d wanted to move back there for a long time actually, but it’s very tricky when you are a touring band to be based out there, but eventually… I made the leave… and thankfully got a good amount of time with my dad before he passed away and so it was really a good thing for me to do… I live in a pretty isolated spot which you can only get to by boat.Continue reading →
Sofar Sounds concert at the Brooklyn Home of Music in Greenpoint on July 8, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Sofar Sounds NYC)
When I think of music concerts, I think of long lines, sticky floors, overpriced alcohol, and the buzzing sound that permeates my ears long after the music ends. Sofar Sounds is an organization that presents only the elemental parts of a concert without all that extra noise—at a Sofar Sounds concert, it is simply the artist and the audience.
Last Wednesday, Sofar Sounds presented an evening of music at WMA Studios (66 Green Street) in Greenpoint. The venue was kept secret until the day before, and the invited patrons who applied for tickets filed into the space from the rain outside. Attendees sat on colorful tapestries strewn across the floor, and I sat down on a throw pillow I brought from home. Sofar Sounds events are BYOB, and attendees popped bottles of wine, sipped cans of beer, and clinked copper mule mugs throughout the concert.Continue reading →
Greenpoint Hill’s newest show features works from all-female artists ranging from hand-painted digital prints to ceramics to paintings. “The works share an emphasis on materiality. Just as Elizabeth Murray’s painting, an oil painting on a rectangle, was pushed to 3-d objecthood by rotating the canvas about 45 degrees, the work in this exhibition does not simply exist as 2-dimensional image. In Maria Caladra’s work, this shift occurs more subtly, through the mark-making. The work in Parting and Together asks for a more intimate viewing experience.”Continue reading →
Giordanne in her Greenpoint studio. Photo: Ian Hartsoe
Giordanne Salley spends a few weeks each summer out of the city. She retreats to the rocky coastlines and glacier-carved forests of our Northeastern-most state. There, she quickly assumes the circadian rhythms of nature, in part, encouraged by a lack of cell phone reception. Swimming, kayaking, and hiking, Salley studies the sun and changing colors of the day. Upon returning to New York she begins painting these summer experiences. Nude figures running freely among raw pebbly beaches, silky waters, and deciduous brush; Giordanne has managed to transport the spirit of the spruce islands to her Greenpoint studio.
Greenpointers: When were you first exposed to art as a child?
Giordanne Salley:I am originally from Southwest Ohio. My parents took us to the Dayton Art Institute on the weekends which had an interesting collection of art for a city of its size. We would picnic in the gardens and spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the various exhibits. I remember once looking at a Josef Albers’ red square painting and wondering why it was in a museum. I find it ironic now because I’ve taken color theory classes and really appreciate his work. Being homeschooled until the sixth grade, my parents always encouraged me to take on any form of self-expression I wanted. I was constantly being supplied with paper and drawing tools. I could organize my time differently than kids in school, and was able to spend a lot of time exploring nature. This remains very important to me and my paintings. Continue reading →
Dan Croll played to an energetic and dynamic crowd at Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave) on Thursday night to promote the release of his second album, Emerging Adulthood. The night opened with The Dig, a New York indie rock band whose sound is a melodic synth-pop that hits hard in all the right places. With two lead singers, the band kept the crowd engaged and intrigued, swapping instruments and sounds from one song to the next. Tired of Love, the name of their tour and also a track on their new album, pulls at your heart in an undeniably relatable way. It’s haunting and captivating and a song that you won’t tire of soon. Their hit I Already Forgot Everything You Said is catchy and memorable, telling the story of a turbulent love between two people that feels familiar yet fresh.
I caught a glimpse of Dan while The Dig was on stage, casually fitting in with the Brooklyn scene wearing his signature black-rimmed glasses. He seemed to be surveying the crowd, the sound, and the feeling in the room as he bobbed his head to the music. And by the time he took the stage, the room—seemingly and suddenly filled with pockets of devout followers and curious listeners alike—gave him an eager reception. Dan Croll’s sound is dynamic, upbeat, energetic, and endearing, with intros that cue you to pay attention and lyrics that keep you there. His new album combines a nostalgic, British rock vibe with the electronic indie pop that hits hard and lasts long and filled the room at Brooklyn Bazaar on Thursday. And, his sound is ambitious, polished to near perfection and bringing strong movement into each song, with words that dance upon light harmonies. His song Bad Boy combines his signature guitar hooks and electronic beats, and had everyone moving and singing along. His popular song From Nowhere showcased his range of talent and also the acoustics of the space, with heavy percussion and melodic dimensions that had the crowd dancing and singing along. Dan Croll is an artist to keep on your radar and in your ears, for a while.
If you missed Thursday’s show, listen to Bloodshot Tokyo by The Dig on Spotify and Dan Croll’s new album Emerging Adulthood. Brooklyn Bazaar has a stacked roster of artists to discover this fall; check out their schedule here and head to this wonderful gem of a venue right in the heart of Greenpoint.
Little Metal Print (51 South 1st St) is accepting applications for their first exhibition. The deadline to submit material is September 30, 2017. Winners will be notified by October 7th if their proposal has been accepted. The exhibition will be held October 21 – December 5, 2017 in the gallery space of LMP’s Williamsburg store, and accepted artists will receive $500 worth of dye sublimation printing from Little Metal Print for their show.
The dudes of Greenpoint Tattoo Co. — John Reardon, Dan Bowhers, Matt Bivetto — Photo by Mitch Boyer
John Reardon opened Greenpoint Tattoo Company on Meserole Street in 2011. With almost two decades of experience working in the US and around the world, Reardon has a lot of stories to go along with it. This is why on a sweltering Saturday morning before they open for the day, I sit down in the very New York shop—pressed tin ceilings, wooden floors, tattoo art-lined walls and a bookshelf full of design inspiration from Gray’s Anatomy to Japanese symbolism—to chat with Reardon, fellow Greenpoint Tattoo Co. artist Matt Bivetto and GPT client, writer and director Dan Bowhers, about their new observational workplace comedy web series, Ink Inc., which is premiering in mid-November.
Greenpointers: When did Greenpoint Tattoo Company open and where were you before GPT?
John Reardon: I opened it in 2011. I had had a private studio on North 7th Street and before that I worked at Saved[426 Union Ave]. I’d also opened a shop with my ex-wife in Copenhagen and I’d worked at other places around New York City.
GP: How did you get into tattooing originally?
JR: In 1996, it was still illegal in Massachusetts. I was going to Pratt and I thought it would be a good idea if I tattooed so that I didn’t have to go to Providence or New Hampshire.Continue reading →
It’s hard not to recognize her, in the theatrical sense — like the Joans we’ve seen, this one’s armor-clad, cross-bearing, and all-powerful. But is this Joan? Well, of course not; it’s merely a depiction.
But is the performer (a marvelously focused Bre Northrup) playing Joan, or a character who believes they are Joan? This is one of the central questions in Arthur Kopit’s Chamber Music, now playing through September 16 in the basement of St. John’s Lutheran Church (155 Milton Street).
Director Emily Moler makes dynamic use of her staging Kopit’s absurdist play, setting it in the round and utilizing the subterranean locale’s low-budget though ample space. In fact a church basement may be the unlikely, appropriate setting for Chamber Music: the play actually takes place in a mental institution, so a church (with its rigid mores) lends itself winningly to this story’s strict asylum. The “Joan of Arc” and other lady icons, from Osa Johnson to Pearl White, inhabit this jail, and their meeting of the minds feels echoed in the opening of Top Girls, Caryl Churchill’s feminist anthem.Continue reading →
