Widowspeak live at the Summer Stage
Jul 20, 2011 at 6:23 PM 
Apparently, there are free movies going on at McCarren Park - something about free beer and free music. Tonight, beginning at sundown, is Widownspeak opening for Steve Buscemi's Ghost World. While rumor has it the lead singer has had riveting bouts ofstage fright, Widowspeak is still a swimmingly good local band to check out. Think of a more mellow mooded Raveonettes... or a better xx.
On August 9th, Captured Tracks is slated to release their debut full length album. The ten-song, self-titled LP will feature Widowspeak’s delightful brand of nostalgic, lo-fi garage/surf rock. Though Widowspeak has only been together for a year, their frequent local gigs and their beautiful EP vinyl releases have already garnered them a deserved bundle of positive attention.
Check Out Photos From the Latest Readin' N Rhythm!
Jul 15, 2011 at 6:43 PM 
Readin' N Rhythm rocked Union Hall on Sunday, July 10th with an out-there lineup featuring electro/pop one-man band KNTRLR, columnist and black belt Susan "George" Schorn of McSweeney's and local soul/garage band Gonul and What Army. The Brooklyn Papers Reading Society put together a one-night-only performance to introduce George's reading, setting BK police blotters and clips from "The Wild Party" and "The Outsiders" to experimental saxophone and drums. Despite how weird it sounds, it actually worked live.
Check out the pics HERE and learn more about the series on the blog. Stay tuned - the September lineup is gonna kill!
Picture by Maggie Walsh.
Best of Winter/Spring Live! Countdown Concluded
Jul 11, 2011 at 9:09 PM 
photo by Legend Glen E. FriedmanAs the Summer begins, we are counting down what we thought were the top shows of the year thus far so that you may indulge in the right pleasures during the upcoming Summer months. Enjoy with as much unabashed, free-wheeling decadence as possible for best results. Three cheers for summer and live music!
(Realize that our current tastes in music are not for the posers or for those who wet themselves over tight corners or loud noises or adrenaline. While we do enjoy the finest of the singer/songwriter genre, we do give the benefit of the doubt to shows that make us move, shout and indulge in possibly unsafe practices. As Jim Farber recently wrote in the Daily News: "Over the last few years, just about every band that's earned the hipster's stamp of approval has been sensitive, smart, literate, skilled and fired by about as much testosterone as a neutered poodle." While we love the crooners and melodians and the intellectuals, we understand that live music should be interactive and let loose the tensions of evil urges. We are, after all, in a recession and times are tight. Let the anguish fly).
Check here for #1 Show of the Year
(according to us)
Readin' N Rhythm, TONIGHT, Sunday July 10th @ Union Hall! NO COVER!
Jul 10, 2011 at 1:38 PM 
Readin' N Rhythm returns to Union Hall TONIGHT, Sunday, July 10th with a laugh-and-dance-your-ass-off kinda lineup. The night kicks off with local electro/pop/rock one-man band KNTRLR at 7 pm, followed by a reading and demonstration with columnist and black belt Susan "George" Schorn of McSweeney's at 8. Check out her hilarious and insightful column, Bitchslap, for some inspirational words on her "instances of everyday combat, from the dojo to the shoe section of Macy's." The event closes out with the grand debut of Band-in-Residence Gonul and What Army rockin' some sweet soul tunes at 9. Expect a little Etta James, Dusty Springfield, a couple of originals and even a Beatles tune, complete with dance moves, saxophones and sequins. Get excited!
Doors at 6, show at 7, NO COVER! Show your love on our Facebook invite. Union Hall is located at 702 Union Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Click here for a map.
The mission behind Readin' N Rhythm is to further support and connect the communities of local musicians and authors, to break down stereotypes I think keep these artists from collaborating, to demonstrate how we can inspire one another and to generally celebrate the connection between music and literature. It turns out writers also enjoy sex, drugs and rock-and-roll and musicians actually can sit still long enough to enjoy a reading. We're essentially all doing the same thing, trying to express ourselves creatively, reach out and connect to other people from this strange space inside of us. Even though we're doing this in separate languages, the motivations and experiences end up being quite similar. And at the very least, they're both fun.
See ya there!
~Becky Fine-Firesheets
Valerie Kuehne on Super Coda; Dream Zoo
Jun 27, 2011 at 12:07 PM 
The music of Valerie Kuenhe, with her band Dream Zoo, struck me as something pretty radical – music you wouldn’t throw on before a party or a football game. It is music that’s seemingly sporadic and wild and comical, walking a strange line of free jazz and classical. Dream Zoo is not your typical punk rock, Brooklyn four piece. So I decided to meet up with her, naturally, to test the waters; to find the wheres and whys and whats of her music. With callous fingers and a spunky character, Kuenhe described her rich passion for her music to the Knocks squad over coffee.
