If you didn’t get LCD tickets to tonight (or any night), do not fret! Greenpointers’ very ownAndy P. Smith is hosting a free outdoor dance party at 95 Dobbin St. in Greenpoint tonight from 6pm – 9pm.
Don’t let scalpers, bots, or high ticket prices keep you from Dancing Yrself Clean! Let’s Get Innocous with a sidewalk dance party! It may be Us v Them but tonight All My Friends and some Drunk Girls are coming over because Daft Punk Is Playing At My House… You Wanted A Hit? Thought Yr City’s A Sucker because you couldn’t get tickets? Well, this is the American Dream! Yeah! I may be Loosing My Edge but Somone’s Calling Me to Give It Up. It’s Time To Get Away to 95 Dobbin Street for a Free Outdoor Sidewalk Dance Party!*
*I will only be playing LCD Soundsystem, if you didn’t get the hint. Hopefully no one will Call The Police!
Also: Free Watermelon!
See you there! Dance party kicks off at 6pm and goes until 9pm at 95 Dobbin St.
A crowd starting to form as the venue opened its doors on opening night (4/6)
“Unfortunately we’re not having press at these dates,” is what I was officially told when I inquired about covering the LCD Soundsystem shows at new local venue Brooklyn Steel (319 Frost Street). Additional requests to the venue and their PR firm were returned with radio silence. If Brooklyn Steel wanted to hype up their grand opening, what better way to do it than having a local band in comeback mode break in the stage with surprise performances? Might as well add a press blackout to the mix to pump up the mystique.
When the five shows were announced just a couple weeks ago, my heart fluttered. The new venue, by far the biggest in the neighborhood, is just a few blocks from my house. Plus, LCD Soundsystem is sacred to me, with James Murphy being an inspiration for me to start DJing at the ripe old age of 35. Last year, I traveled across the globe to see them play (after losing my wallet just 36 hours before, breaking out in hives due to a newly acquired shellfish allergy and leaving my laptop at the Ibiza airport), and I often reminisce about the first time I saw the band live in 2005, gracing the legendary Fillmore’s stage in San Francisco. I’ve seen the band perform live several times, and James Murphy DJ sets about the same amount. So you could call me a superfan. Continue reading →
Vinyl might be making a comeback, but Greenpoint audio mastering legend Paul Gold never left it behind. At Salt Mastering (61 Greenpoint Ave.) in the Pencil Factory, he’s spent the last 10 1/2 years mastering for such acts as Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, and LCD Soundsystem.
I recently set aside some time to garner stories from Paul about his history in the business, and maybe get a few technique pointers along the way. Arriving at his place of business, I pried open his door on the fourth floor, and he shouted from the other room to come in.
Paul is a bit of a mad scientist. His hair bounces around as he moves about in his studio, and his large frame glasses are actually of his era, and not worn ironically. We sit in a relatively small unit, the front half filled with tools and scraps of audio gear, while the main mastering room is surrounded by large gear that looks like something out of those black-and-white Twilight Zone episodes on time travel from the 1950’s.
The bar at The Four Horsemen, via their Instagram.
Admittedly, when I first had dinner at The Four Horsemen in Williamsburg several months ago, I went there because I’d heard about a certain lead singer of a well-known New York band being part owner. I also might have a borderline unhealthy obsession with said band and their recent resurrection, which is why I’m devoting this first paragraph to it. But even though that guy and his legendary music originally attracted me to The Four Horsemen, that’s not why I keep coming back.
The space is small and den-like, and the natural wood ceiling planks make you feel like you’re in the hull of a modest yet stylish houseboat, sailing on magical waters from Stockholm to Tokyo. And that worldly yet right-at-home feel is intentional—the owners were inspired by their own international travels, drawing from “attention to detail and unparalleled service via Japan, casual excellence via Paris, happy evangelism for wine and understanding of coziness via Copenhagen and the come-for-one-glass-and-stay-til-closing of London.” The vibe is on point.Continue reading →
Your music’s swell and we know how much you enjoy a good cup o’ joe (yes, we did watch a feature-length documentary all about how f-ing cool you are and we liked it despite ourselves). But, listen James (can we call you Jimmy?), did you check the price tag on your own specialty coffee blend? It might not seem like a lot to you, seeing as how you sell out Madison Square Garden in like .5 seconds, but $26 is ABSURDLY overpriced for a bag of of coffee. Anyone who spends that much on coffee doesn’t understand how commerce works and frankly, should retreat to their penthouse with a french press. Continue reading →
