Sep 26 : "Ambient Guitar to Tape" - Sam Seeger (New York)

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released (August 2018)

SUPERB DESIGN

NEWS ::: ::: ::: Sam Seeger has just published an ambient guitar video. Wow, this is a change from his normal hard-hitting rock. We normally see Sam with his band and hear him taking some swipes at the surveillance state. In addition to being a change in genre this video is also a change in that it's entirely instrumental. If I had been blindfolded, I never would have guessed that the artist in this piece was Sam; this is a true sign of his versatility.

I asked him about all this :::

Bob: What made you decide to do an ambient video?

Sam: My father needed some ambient music for a free APP he developed called GoView 360 Yoga.

Bob: Is this a singular exploration, or are you looking towards changing or expanding your genre? Bringing the other band members along with you on this exploration in the future?

Sam: I don’t think they’d be willing to come along on such a journey. But I am finishing up a new song with Rosie and Max that emerged out of an ambient loop. Planning on releasing that next month with a music video.

Bob: The latter part of the video includes a “tape” of the first portion? I see at about 2:26 you reach out to adjust the equipment but the music is still playing. Slide guitar? Is because of your hand contraption or is there a real thing called a slide guitar? Not familiar with this term.

Sam: I basically made a long ass loop and kept adding layers throughout the video, as my guitar ran through three amps—each with different effects trailing out. And it’s a regular old guitar—the “hand contraption” in question is the slide.

Bob: That’s all your artwork in the background?

Sam: A couple of the paintings are by me, the rest are by my mother Holly Whitstock Seeger, my aunt Mindy Seeger, as well as Max and Rosie. Each wall in my studio is completely covered with artwork by family and friends.

Bob: Are you aware that everything in that room appears to be angular? Only curved lines appear to be the curved stems of the stemmed-eyed monster in the pic to the left.

Sam: Haha—gets a little less angular on some of the other walls. Maybe they’ll be featured in the next in-studio video.

Sam: Thanks Bob!!

Bob: And thank you, Sam!

One of the things I find intriguing about Sam's videos is that they seem to be set in very interesting rooms. In looking at the room in this video, at first glance I see all the straight angles of the equipment, all crisp and clean, and then after a second look I see the more complex wall hangings and artwork. I had a similar reaction when I saw the room in his "Drumbeat of the Apocalypse" video, first noticing the square-windowed doors, and then, with a closer look, seeing the carpet's intricate patterns. When you watch Sam's videos, you not only get good music, but superb set design as well!

I've heard Sam and his band perform twice, once at Goldsounds in Bushwick and then more recently at Pianos in Manhattan, and I'm looking forward to hearing them again. While Sam doesn't have any shows planned in the next few weeks, here is the click to his web page where you can follow what he's doing ::: Sam Seeger's Web Page (CLICK HERE).

Family is very important to Sam, and it's truly unique that he always tries to bring along their participation in his efforts in one way or another. Here is the click to Aunt Mindy's art work. Mindy Seeger's art work. And his Mom also has a website. In addition to paintings, her artwork is commercial including graphic design and website design: Holly Whitstock Seeger's page. And brother Max has The Mayor Of Bad News, which is his own band. Sam and Rosie hope to join Max in some of his upcoming work to be released soon.

Sep 23 : "Canary" - Duane Swierczynski (Philly)

Philly Book!

I'm eager to find those long commutes ... ... partly because I'm a member of a book club! Just finished reading "Canary", by Philly author Duane Swierczynski.

"Canary" is a fast-paced crime novel with an interesting ensemble of characters but telling its story focussing on two people: "Sarie Holland", a 19-year-old college student, who, while driving a new boyfriend to allegedly pick up a laptop he left at a friends house, is apprehended by "Ben Wildey", a police officer who is trying to make a name for himself on the Philly police force, and who has been watching that very house because it is really the house of a drug kingpin.

While I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys crime novels, I would give it a special recommendation to anyone who lives in Philly. BECAUSE THIS STORY TAKES PLACE IN PHILLY! It takes place in Philly at many familiar places and areas we Philadelphians see each day. It's got Khyber, the El, Roosevelt Blvd., movie theaters under I-95, Melrose Diner,, as well as the crooked Dr. near Drexel. ... ... ... and many more. And it's got detailed real descriptions all the way down to the color of the formica tables in the diners! Yikes!

Here's the blurb from the book's cover. It's dangerous enough when an ordinary college girl turns confidential informant. Even more dangerous when she's smarter than the killer, kingpins, and cops who control her.

Honors student Sarie Holland is busted by the local police while doing a favor for her boyfriend. Unwilling to betray him but desperate to avoid destroying her future, Sarie has no choice but to become a "CI"--a confidential informant.

Philly narcotics cop Ben Wildey is hungry for a career-making bust. The detective thinks he's found the key in Sarie: her boyfriend scores from a mid-level dealer with alleged ties to the major drug gangs.

Sarie turns out to be the perfect CI: a quick study with a shockingly keen understanding of the criminal mind. But Wildey, desperate for results, pushes too hard and inadvertently sends the nineteen-year-old into a death trap, leaving Sarie hunted by crooked cops and killers alike with nothing to save her--except what she's learned during her harrowing weeks as an informant.

Which is bad news for the police and the underworld. Because when it comes to payback, CI #1373 turns out to be a very quick study

This story has an interesting ensemble of characters who tell the story from different perspectives, but a main focus is the relationship between Sarie and Ben.

If you would like to get a copy of "Canary", here is the click to the FLP site where you can find available copies or "place a hold". Get "Canary" at FLP (CLICK HERE).

Sep 16 : Trash Boy - Fuck New York [official video] (Philly)

New Video / Freshly Produced & Released This Week!

Philly Music!

SIMULTANEOUS EMOTIONS

Philly punk rock outfit "Trash Boy" asked me to do a writeup about their new video, "Trash Boy - Fuck New York [official video]". So here it is! I would like to start by giving a shout out to band members, Chris Fortunato, Dan Baggarly and Nolee Morris. Thank you!

First of all gotta say this is a dope video. Great production aspects including the animation and talking faces from huge billboards. Yikes!

This video is also a mass and mess of emotions. First of all there's the anger and resentment that's in the audio, brought forward from the original version of the song as the lead track on the band's new album "The Future Is Trash". It's the anger and resentment as the band's family was driven out of New York by gentrification. We hear the family's history of living in New York generation after generation and then finding themselves no longer able to deal with changes and the increasing costs and city's seemingly inhospitable attitude towards every day working people. As a specific example the song points out that there are resources to build 10,000 dorm rooms for the kids of wealthy parents, but not enough resources to provide a decent life for every day working people. People are told "not to watch" as society siphons off more and more money to the billionaires.

While the original audio version by itself is very stark, the video version brings with it another emotion, an element of love. While the undercurrent of the lyrics is seething with anger, the video, in contrast, shows a lot of smiles and happy faces. Ironically, in spite of its title and obscenely shocking hand gestures, this video is also an homage to New York, showing people laughing, showing them in every day situations on the subways and in the streets. The scenes that the video portrays show the band has a real love for New York.

This story might be happening any place. The band's singing about "New York" is just using New York as an example, perhaps because it is one of the most egregious, but also because it is a place where the band's family has had a personal history. The song as well as the band's total body of work is more of an indictment of the failures of capitalism itself, as compared to a sole condemnation of New York. The band shows its love for people and its anger and resentment when people are mistreated. Throughout the band's body of work, the topic of economic and income inequality pops up frequently.

But what about all that anger and resentment? Where does it go? Look at the facial anger when the singer is being forced to move and he says he'll "fuck up somebody else's neighborhood." Is he destructively passing anger forward to those in the new place (in Philly? oh noooooo), or is he realizing he'll be an interloper to someone else? In a society that doesn't take care of its citizens to begin with, people are forced to displace in this harmful cycle.

So how do we fight gentrification? Here we seem to have a split. The band itself as a unit is a great example of activism as they keep the issues of gentrification and income inequality in front of our eyes and ears by their writing and their performing.

But as individuals, the characters in the songs often start up with a tone of militancy but wind up either willingly or unwillingly succumbing to oppression, and then making a conscious or forced decision to detach themselves from the dominant capitalist landscape, and then living "free". For example, in "Government Skatepark", the band laments the closing of public spaces and the fact that the city is corralling all skaters into government skateparks. The band even flirts with the concept of "overthrow", but, in the end, the main character winds up skating in the skate park anyway. In "40s and Blunts" the singer laments not being able to have a family or a future because, financially, both are way out of reach. [[And, as a side comment of my own at this point, this makes the cheery proclamations of both the government and the Sunday morning pundits about our "healthy" and "recovering" economy a little ridiculous. ... when there are many people who have lost and have given up hope and who can't afford even the basic necessities of life. We need to establish a new set of metrics when we discuss the financial health of our country.]]

The characters in the songs have tried to live by society's rules but have suffered in return and some now choose to break away. Because there is no hope. No reassurance. Capitalism has done a number on us. Nothing can be fixed. After all, "The Future Is Trash".

Is this a challenge or what?

Trash Boy received high acclaim from Philadelphia Weekly earlier this week. Here is a link to the article. Trash Boy's Philadelphia Weekly article (CLICK HERE)

From the band's web page: "you decide to climb to the top of the dirtiest landfill you can find, and throw a dance party on the disposable remnants of the capitalist hellscape. you listen to trash boy on your headphones, and as you thrust your body into an uncontrollable frenzy, your mind races back to every arbitrary oppressive societal expectation that was ever forced on you in your youth. so much study. so many rules. yet all our educations, governments, and billionaires did not save us. finally, outside of technology and the cobwebbed halls of academia, you are free."

Trash Boy has been touring the Northeast over the past couple weeks. Here is the click to their Facebook page so you can keep up with what they're doing: Trash Boy on Facebook (CLICK HERE)

If you would like to read the lyrics, click here: Read the lyrics CLICK HERE.

Personal Note: And while I also moved from New York to Philly, that was years ago. ... But the band's work is important and relevant in today's world as they talk about these current structural economic issues.

Sep 04 : "Why Don't You Call Me?" - The Break Lights (Parsippany)

It was the perfect night. It was the end of a horrific three-day heat wave, and NJ band "The Break Lights" was doing an outdoor evening show in the cool breezes under the towering trees of Morristown Green. This was part of the last Thursday of the month "Meet Me In Morristown" arts events. And, at the end of the heat wave, this was just the right night for it.

I went there after work. The show began about 7pm when it was still daylight. As the evening progressed, the crowd increased. The Break Lights had the whole evening to themselves, and, other than a ten-minute break, played straight through. I caught most of the show; they were still going strong even when I had to cut out a few minutes early to catch my train.

What was unique about this show (other than being "The Big Relief" from the heat wave), was the number of debuts of new songs. While I heard the band play songs that I recognized from their web page, I kept hearing "And here's another new song that we haven't played for anybody ... " I can't remember any other show where there was so much new work being presented.

The Break Lights have music from a number of albums posted on their Bandcamp page. From their newest album, "The Bright Life", released in the Fall of 2017, here is "Why Don't You Call Me?", which is the lead track :::

The Brake Lights doesn't have any other shows lined up right now, but here is the link to their Facebook page where you can keep an eye on them ::: The Brake Lights on Facebook (CLICK HERE).