FRICTION NYC

Radio Perfecto: CLOSED

Radio Perfecto, also commonly known on this blog as “the place next to RueB” is closed!

Opened in 98, serving the EV’s best darn roasted chicken and frites and some tasty G&T’s, Radio was an East Village staple where you could still get 3 plays on the jukebox for a dollar and chill out in the huge backyard!

It is always sad for Avenue B to lose one of its little bistros – all I can hope for is that RueB is not next and maybe they will open a massage parlor there now.

After much prying of the RueB bartender last night, I was not able to extort why it closed – just that the Manager called the girls last night and said they need a new job and will stay open until Halloween – they were closed last night…..must be some of the EV funny business going on – hopefully on update to come….

want a Second Life? sorta….

OK, so I know our president is complete moron, the Mets should have won Game 7, and we all want to be reincarnated as a women’s bicycle seat, but I just came across this website/game called Second Life that begs the question of “does my life really suck that bad?”

Imagine a game where you start your life all over, buy land, get jobs, meet new people, build buildings, go clubbing, pay your Maintenance Fee, walk the dog, cash your paycheck…..all with the ability to turn off the world by turning off the monitor.

I will be the first to admit I was a video game dork growing up and still look at the newest Final Fantasies on the shelf at Best Buy. I loved SimCity and watching all the little cars drive around the city I built and getting pissed when the crime was too high. I even remember the little handheld toys girls had growing up with the virtual baby you had to feed by pushing a button when it screamed at you.

I of all people love to escape this crazy world with bad movies, reading 1984 every year, squashing ants because I can, and occasionally dressing up as a little school girl and getting spanked……..

Really, why would I want to play a game where I can “party at nightclubs, attend fashion shows and art openings or just play games”. Is it really that hard to put a pair of shoes on and walk out your door and do the same thing?! OK, so I can live with the agoraphobics of the world who want to sit in front of a computer till their butt osmosises into the chair, but I get even more creeped out when the (real) companies jump on this and are now advertising throughout the (fake) world of Second Life (of note: 20th Century Fox held a movie premier, Starwood Hotels is building a virtual hotel there, MLB and ESPN have home run derbies , BBC had an online concert with Gnarls Barkley/Bloc Party/Franz Ferdinand, and Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society owns an island there to host events and conferences on the diplomacy of the whole Second Life premise, irony?!)

On the other hand, I guess there is finally a world where Ray can skate and not break his foot, Justin can be Thomas the door guy at Misshapes, Nghia can buy a titty bar, Christian can date the strippers, Pablo can continue to hold my hand, Theo can marry the Olsen Twins, Paul can hook up with Mary Lou Retton, Patrick can join the paparazzi, , Dave can quit operating on nipples, and Leroy can join the Silversun Pickups.

This thing really creeps me out….so much so I think I will have to join it just so I can open a casino or build a Pappasito’s and eat queso and fajitas every night since the TexMex sucks so bad in NYC –

CMJ 2006 Madness

Seems like everyone and their brother is having a CMJ show/party this year (including us). A bit of an overkill if you ask me, but I guess it does give us that extra chance to catch some of our favorite acts. Unlike SXSW, I’m trying not to go overboard next week and went through the lineup and picked one show or band a night that I really want to see. For the most part it worked out, I’ll miss one or two bands, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be back in a couple months.

Below I listed my tenative CMJ schedule. Most of the shows list only one band, but I’m definitely going to get my money’s worth and stick around for the full showcase since I’m not familiar with all of the acts.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 | Pianos
Monsters Are Waiting
Also on the bill: Irving, Birdmonster, Run Run Run
Yes. It’s another band from Los Angeles. What can I say? I missed Monsters Are Waiting back in July when they played back to back nights at Pianos to celebrate the release of their debut LP, Fascination. The Echo Park quartet’s infectious and playful sound fronted by the sexy vocals Annalee Fery has garnered them comparisons to Elastica, The Cardigans, and Metric.

Monsters Are Waiting  ”Nobody”

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 | Cake Shop
Beach House
Also on the bill: First Nation, Over the Atlantic, The Peppermints, WZT Hearts, Lexie Mountain
Baltimore’s Beach House consists of childhood friends Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand. I mentioned before that Le Volume Courbe’s I Killed My Best Friend was the ideal soundtrack for autumn, and it is, but why not have two? You would expect a band called Beach House to make uplifting summery songs, but their delicate, hazy self-titled slow burner perfectly fits the atmosphere of fall. Legrand’s croon is intoxicatingly mesmerizing drawing her comparisons to Hope Sandoval and Nico. I’m not sure how all of this will translate live, it could be beautiful or boring. We’ll see next week.

Beach House  ”Apple Orchard” (via Rewritable Content)

Thursday, November 2, 2006 | Lit
Scanners
Also on the bill: Whitey, Sean Na Na, Oh No! Oh My!, Born Ruffians, Autodrone
I’m going to hit up the Dim Mak showcase to catch Nghia’s faves Scanners. Their dark new wave-tinged Violence Is Golden has been getting regular play over here at CU. The London four-piece is playing a bunch of shows throughout the city next week, so catch them if you get a chance.

Scanners  ”Lowlife”

Friday, November 3, 2006 | Sin-e
Dirty on Purpose, Uncut, Pela, The Diableros, The Diggs, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Shackeltons
Where else would I be on Friday night? I couldn’t be more psyched about this lineup and to have FRICTION be a part of CMJ. Having these seven great bands on one bill will keep me put at Sin-e all night long.

Saturday, November 4, 2006 | Annex
White Whale
Also on the bill: Silversun Pickups, The Big Sleep, Tokyo Police Club, Elvis Perkins, Annuals, Takka Takka
I’ve been a big fan of White Whale’s WWI LP and finally going to catch them at BrooklynVegan’s day show. A bit of an indie supergroup, White Whale consists of Matt Suggs (Butterglory), Rob Pope (The Get Up Kids), and Zach Holland, John Anderson, Dustin Kinsey (Thee Higher Burning Fire). WWI is a concept album that tells a story about a sea captain who is continuously kicked off his ship and home only to find his way back to the sea.

White Whale  ”The Admiral”

Saturday, November 4, 2006 | Sin-e
Ra Ra Riot
Also on the bill: Birdmonster, Division Day, The Head Set
Syracuse’s Ra Ra Riot has been making quite a splash here in New York in recent months. They’re looking to do the same during CMJ, playing a total of six shows througout the week including this one put together by Rachael Underrated.

Ra Ra Riot  ”Can You Tell” (via Product Shop NYC)

Saturday, November 4, 2006 | Studio B
Justice + Digitalism
Justice and Digitalism. Need I say more?

Justice  ”NY Excuse” Remix (Soulwax)
Digitalism  ”Never Let Me Down Again” Remix (Depeche Mode)

Custome Ideas

In case anyone needed any help with their costume this weekend:

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Marie Antoinette – review

Well, good soundtracks don’t always mean good movies….apparently….

Saw the flick this weekend and was not impressed. good job of directing and some great scene shots, but the adaptation was very lacking of substance outside the beauty of Versailles and the opulence of the time.

The songs seemed very forced into the plot – almost like she created scenes just to put poppy new songs over them. Who really wants 5 minutes of movie or her taking the carriage back to the palace after an all night of partying?

It is very disappointing as any type of historical biography of her and really dwells too much on her extravagance and lack of compassion for the people in her early years.

Perhaps there will be a sequel where they actually talk about how humanitarian she actually was in her later years and how her death was actually more of a result of her standing up for her royalist ideals and not for her excessiveness (as the movie suggests).

Apparently the Italians are still not too fond of the French….rent this one –

120 Days + The Big Sleep + My Best Fiend | Fontana’s 10.23.06

Last night’s show at Fontana’s was the perfect start to the week. I was a little groggy when getting there, but wide awake and full of energy after the show thanks to the three excellent sets played by My Best Fiend, The Big Sleep, and 120 Days.

My Best Fiend warmed up the crowd with their neo-psych space rock reminiscent of Spiritualized/Spacemen 3. It was my first time seeing the band live and hearing most of their work, but I can definitely see myself listening to them a lot more after last night’s show.

The Big Sleep flat out fucking rocked. This mostly instrumental psych-rock trio continues to impress audiences throughout the city. They have such a dynamic sound and manage to keep their songs interesting without the use of vocals. Big powerful drums, smooth grooving basslines, and delayed yet huge guitars make this band one of my live favorites.

I had pretty high expectations for 120 Days going into last night’s show and the band pretty much lived up to them, putting on an incredibly tight set. Frontman Ã…dne Meisfjord was quite impressive, dexterously managing two sets of keyboards, vocals, and guitar throughout the set. I was hoping for an encore, but the quartet ended their seemingly short set with the epic “Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone).”

Overall, it was a great night of music. More pics after the jump.

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Pumpkins That Rock

A week from tomorrow is the Village Halloween Parade and most of the parties will be taking place this weekend. If you’re like me, you won’t start making your costume until the day-of, despite thinking about it for the past month.

Another festive part of the holiday is carving pumpkins. I came across this nice site with stencils of rock artists. I wasn’t too thrilled with the choices (although I’m intrigued with the idea of carving a Bono pumpkin and dropping it out my window), so I made my own of Bowie.

You can download and print the stencil here.

Tips on using the stencil and carving are here.