Jul 16 : My Night Out July 7

Last week had a spur-of-the-moment onsite job on July 7, Thursday. I looked around for some possible music to catch on my way home and came across a listing that had potential, in Jersey City at Pet Shop JC. I was specially interested in one band, checked with them about the time of their show and found that, yes, it definitely would fit in with my train schedule returning home.

First band up before them was "Janitor". No idea who they were or are. I usually try to check out music from all the bands scheduled to play at a particular show, but found a dead end on this one. They turned out to be actually quite good. I would have recommended that you go see them.

At this point I normally would have listened to samples of their music and would be posting one of their most representative pieces right here. BUT this band doesn't seem to have Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or even Facebook we're-too-new-to-have-albums-but-here's-what-we're-all-about. Evidently new customers are not a priority for them.

After Janitor finished playing, I was hyped up to hear the band that I had mainly come to see. BUT I was told that they had been rescheduled to be last (((grrrrrrr. hate it when this happens))) ... They would now be on after the time of my train home, so seeing them would now be impossible. There was a third band in the lineup, the one listed as the headliner, but, after listening to samples of their music beforehand, I wasn't really into them, so I decided to just cut my losses, cut the evening short, and just go home.

Consolation prize for the evening was, on the way home, they didn't collect tickets on one of the trains.

Jul 06 : "maybe you don't want nobody else" - Sam Seeger (New York)

New Video / Freshly Released

This is Sam Seeger's newest video, released just this past Saturday. I like that it bears all his characteristic instrumental and vocal stylings. But I'm not sure what it all means. As in some of his other newer work, maybe he wants us to take him 100% literally, or maybe he's being slightly facetious. Hmmmm.

Here is the click to Sam Seeger's Facebook page, where you can see and hear a lot more of his work: Sam Seeger on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

((pic is from artist's Facebook page.))

Jun 22 : "185668232 iRL @nha_minh presents on @trans.pecos stage" - 185668232 (Bushwick)

An exciting multi-media event! It happened in May, but I'm late in catching up on my writeups now. Bushwick noise artist, 185668232, and some exciting collaborators did a mid-day show at Trans-Pecos in Ridgewood. It was just the right setting for just the right event. I like Trans-Pecos; it's a great place.

In 185668232's shows, we usually see some first-hand song, track, or video being recorded or created as a part of the overall show. On this day we weren't disappointed; Iam (aka 185668232) even went above and beyond; he included the audience in the creation of the track! He stepped off stage and into the audience, walked up to one of the listeners, and asked them to say their name into his mic. The recorder on stage picked it up and repeated it. Iam then went to another person, asked them their name, they said it, and the recorder on stage repeated that along with the name of the first person. .... And so on, until he had a long list of names that the recorder repeated together. He then went back up on stage and played and replayed the list, finally molding it into a rhythm that became the foundation for a song. In the meantime, collaborator Alan Worm aka Karl Hohn, 'Omnikrll' picked up his guitar and started some melodic lines that at first were a little detached but soon became seamlessly integrated into the rhythm with the names. And, to make the experience complete, the third collaborator in the event, Permian Strata was projecting videos as a background on the stage. In my opinion this was one of 185668232's best adventures. A nice extended set.

And to make it even more complete were the food and refreshments from the event's sponsor, Nha Minh Restaurant. (I wish I could replicate how they do their curry tofu banh mi's, delicious works of art in themselves!) All this and in the beautiful sun-drenched space at Trans-Pecos, with its huge windows and high ceiling, made for a very mellow and chill afternoon. I had a good time and I'm ready to go back.

Here is the click where you can check out 185668232 and what's happening next: 185668232 on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

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185668232 is not only a performance art outfit but it is also a non-profit working on numerous vital issues including housing justice. Here is the link to the main website 185668232 main website (CLICK HERE).

(((Top pic I took at the show. Lower pic was screenshot from one of the artist's videos.)))

May 12 : "The Bastards Of Pizzofalcone"

A bunch of reject police officers from various precincts are dumped in together to finish out a few months at a city precinct that is being closed after its former members are on their way to jail for corruption! They supposedly will only close some loose ends and finish up some routine cases before the precinct is closed a few months from now.

Such is the background and basis for the Italian tv series, "The Bastards of Pizzofalcone", now available for streaming. It's based on the mystery novels by Maurizio de Giovanni.

One of the things I like about this series is that the characters and story lines are not cookie-cutter or formulaic like those in too many American mystery series. Sure, there's the traditional whodunit aspect, but there's more depth as it's interspersed with a close look at the comedy and tragedy of the characters' lives. The characters are multi-dimensional, and that applies to both the bad ones as well as the good ones. A good part of this character-driven series centers around the personal lives of the detectives. Indeed when the criminal is caught and brought to justice, that's not the end of the episode. We go on for another fifteen minutes as we follow each of the detectives back to their respective home environments where they face some of their own comedies and tragedies.

As you might guess, the plots mushroom from those routine cases into stories unexpectedly complex and intriguing. With a deeper sense of humanity than we see in many American series, this series is worth checking out. I'm hooked! (I'm well into the first season so far). And I should also mention the excellent cinematography along with the spellbinding architecture. And the good incidental music adds just the right textures.

The show is available for streaming on MHZ Choice. While it's a subscription service for a low $7.99 per month, you can get a 7-day free trial, and you can always sign up and cancel if this turns out to be the only show you want to look at. Here is the click to the main page for the series, where you can find a link to a short trailer which introduces all the characters: "The Bastards of Pizzofalcone" main page (CLICK HERE). Pic above is a screenshot I took from the trailer.

However, if you're adventurous and want to see more, you'll find many shows from many countries on MHZ, all listed by their country of origin. Here is their listing or breakdown "by country": Select a show "by country" listing (CLICK HERE).

As you can probably tell, I really like this series and highly recommend it, and I'm also a big fan of MHZ in general and recommend them as well.

Apr 13 : "Fake Flowers" - Daisychain (Chicago)

On a recent trip to Ortlieb's I saw Chicago band "Daisychain". I hadn't heard them before; it was my first time seeing them. They are, as their Bandcamp page describes, "a 4-piece, female-fronted blues/psych rock band based out of Chicago".

I was impressed by the guitar work at the show. And, after listening to their online samples, the best example of what I liked is in their song "Fake Flowers", which is the fifth track on their 2020 album "Daisychain EP". While I got the impression of the band members' playing as individual parts during the show, I feel it all comes together as a unified whole in the recorded versions. I'm in love with the instrumentals in this:

Daisychain doesn't appear to have any plans to come back East in the near future, but here is the click to their Facebook page where you can keep up-to-date with what they're doing. Daisychain on Facebook (CLICK HERE). (Pic above is from the band's Facebook page).