poseur.

Posted on Thursday, August 13, 2009  

One day, in sophomore or year of high school, I was with a couple of friends and ran into the uber-goth of my school. “Poseur,” she muttered under her breath before taunting me to quickly name every single Siouxsie album chronologically. I said, uhhhh, no. “Fucking poseur,” and she cackled. You see, just simply dressing the part is not enough - you must master the lifestyle, conform to the the “rules,” and only listen to approved bands. I was more into industrial in high school, but was known to listen to whatever the hell I wanted - I was still openly a Madonna and (gasp) U2 fan, and I wasn’t going to stop liking a band or artist just because they weren’t deemed “cool” enough. You see, I didn’t give a shit about the lifestyle - I didn’t want to wear the uniform; I wanted to wear whatever I wanted and listen to the music that I liked. Who cares if I was going to be made fun of the goth chick that many of my friends thought was a total bitch. They reminded me, wasn’t she the one who had teased hair, sporting her Benetton before winter break? Her once sunny disposition turned black along with everything else, and I found it to be hypocritical immediately.

In high school, music is a very powerful force. As much as we may say that we don’t want to conform, we all do to an extent. Each subculture has some sort of uniform, some code of honor, that you follow in order to belong. For some reason, I was a bit stubborn - I wanted to hang out with the cool kids, but there was no way I was going to give up my other friends in the process. Sure, I wore black most days, but there were times when I wanted to wear something different. When it came to music, I may have been partial to new wave and industrial, but I sure loved the Pixies and Replacements. As far as I was concerned, I was no poseur - I was authentic and true to the only one that mattered, myself.

summer concerts. ny area style.

Posted on Friday, July 17, 2009  

It was the Summer of 2002 when I first attended the Siren Festival. It was the second year of the annual indie rock/hipsterfest and I remember it well. Coney Island, in general holds great meaning to me, and seeing a free show alongside the Cyclone is an amazing experience. It was there that I first heard Shannon Wright, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and Les Savy Fav. Over the years, after some really solid lineups, it seems to have lost it’s edge for attracting top notch headliners mixed with underground next-big-things.

Speaking of which, the McCarren Pool Parties were another concert series for the uber-hip while it lasted (2006-2008). Seeing PGMG, Les Savy Fav, and The Breeders there was quite an experience and quite possibly one of the most unique venues ever. Last year’s Breeders show was awesome - seeing the sisters Deal banter onstage is quite a treat, and Kelley said in the middle of the show something to the effect of being excited for the new pool, to which the audience snickered. It was a fun moment. This year’s lineup, with a venue change (now at East River State Park), shows a more obscure offering - with the highlight being last week’s Mission of Burma show (which I missed).

Then come the big shows that you pay for, and I must say the best, if not scariest, outdoor show I went to was last summer’s REM show at the Jones Beach Theater. During Modest Mouse’s set, the sky ripped open, a bolt of lightning hit one of the towers, and the theater was evacuated. REM finally took the stage after the storm subsided and opened with an impromptu rendition of CCN’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” before bursting into “So. Central Rain.” Amazing stuff. The Jones Beach Theater is an amazing place to see a concert - I’ve seen Depeche Mode and Morrissey there prior, and there’s some kind of magic that happens when you see a band at a venue that is right on the water.

If I had to pick a local summer show that I could go to this year, I would have to pick the All Points West festival. The Beastie Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ra Ra Riot, The Ting Tings, My Bloody Valentine….I could go on. Ah, if only I had the money to pay for the 3 day pass. Plus, even though it’s in NJ, it’s at Liberty State Park overlooking the skyline. I could only imagine how amazing that experience would be. There’s always next year…

xo

bon

my music tumblog

Blip Transmission #5

The Ramones/Beat On The Brat

It always satisfies me to mention that the grandaddys of American punk hail from the fine borough of Queens. This is one of my favorites of theirs and every time the Mets are against the Phillies I chant this! Unfortunately I will not be discussing the Mets this season.

The Ramones - Beat on the brat (Live 1975) (via arturomonsalve)

July 12, 2009  

Blip Transmission #4

Datarock - Computer Camp Love

A genius song. Datarock really has this knack for really smart pop culture references and their authenticity is welcome when there are so many hipster douchebags out there now. This song brings us right back to Computer Camp in 1984, complete with Commodore 64s and all that geekery. The other thing that makes this song so irreverent is the fact that the song also plays as a spoof on “Summer Lovin’” straight from “Grease.”

Datarock - Computer Camp Love (via NettwerkMusic)

July 10, 2009  

Blip Transmission:

U2 - Two Hearts Beat As One

This song for me is all about the art of the crush. The sweaty palms, gathering the courage to say something, that lump in your throat - we’ve all been there. For some reason, I always envision this song played at a High School dance - in my head, I totally have my own video playing. I replay all the silly, embarrassing moments of prior crushes. Unfortunately, the actual video for this is pretty bizarre and quite lame, but let’s chalk that up to the fact this was the early 80s when videos were allowed to be absolutely ridiculous and abstract.

U2 - Two Hearts Beat As One (via HyLeRo)

July 8, 2009  

Friendships can be a love/hate relationship and sometimes they are more agonizing and ecstatic than romantic relationships. Having a best girl friend is like having a sister - you feel as if you are blood related although you aren’t. Lives become intertwined even though they start to fragment and separate.

In Me Without You, Marina and Holly are best friends that seem inseparable. They do everything together, but as Holly matures, Marina seems to remain stuck in adolescence over the 15 year span throughout the film.

This movie also struck a chord with me, and no movie to my recollection other than Ghost World illustrated how friendships break apart.

This is something that I had to do earlier this year with a friend that I have known for such a long time continued to bully me and I finally had enough. While longevity is a great thing to have, quality and respect are another.

Me Without You trailer (via moth)

July 6, 2009  

Blip Transmission:

Nick Drake - ‘Cello Song

This song is absolute perfection to me. Definitely one to go on my personal soundtrack. Nick Drake was such an enormous talent who left this world far too soon.

Nick Drake - ‘Cello Song (via geithuus)

★  

When I lived in Williamsburg, the word “gentrification” was a dirty word. Sure, we were the middle class that moved into a neighborhood once in decline, but once the luxury condos started going up and the yuppies with their Prada bags shuffled in, the term had new meaning. It became the epitome of greed and narcissism. Many of these luxury condos sit vacant, as no one can afford them now. Now, living in the suburban sprawl of Shirley, NY - an area that has a bad rep, some of us recent pioneers to the area are welcoming the term with open arms. When a couple of years ago, I would get pissed about Starbucks moving into the ‘Burg, I am thoroughly excited about the prospect of chains moving into the area. While some people who grew up on the Island are skeptical, since change out here happens a lot slower and methodical, I am pretty psyched that the efforts to incorporate a Village are pushing forward. People are committed, and that in itself is exciting. They are also sick of the stigma - and when people get angry and cannot take it anymore, they take action. Something to certainly be happy about. Another thing that I didn’t do as a lifelong NYC resident was pay attention to the local elections aside from the Mayor. Now, I realize that acting locally is crucial to the revitalization plan. Recession Gentrification (via TheNorik)

When I lived in Williamsburg, the word “gentrification” was a dirty word. Sure, we were the middle class that moved into a neighborhood once in decline, but once the luxury condos started going up and the yuppies with their Prada bags shuffled in, the term had new meaning. It became the epitome of greed and narcissism. Many of these luxury condos sit vacant, as no one can afford them now.

Now, living in the suburban sprawl of Shirley, NY - an area that has a bad rep, some of us recent pioneers to the area are welcoming the term with open arms. When a couple of years ago, I would get pissed about Starbucks moving into the ‘Burg, I am thoroughly excited about the prospect of chains moving into the area. While some people who grew up on the Island are skeptical, since change out here happens a lot slower and methodical, I am pretty psyched that the efforts to incorporate a Village are pushing forward. People are committed, and that in itself is exciting. They are also sick of the stigma - and when people get angry and cannot take it anymore, they take action. Something to certainly be happy about.

Another thing that I didn’t do as a lifelong NYC resident was pay attention to the local elections aside from the Mayor. Now, I realize that acting locally is crucial to the revitalization plan.

Recession Gentrification (via TheNorik)

★  

Blip Transmission:

I am going through my Blips from the beginning and will be posting vids from my stream here.

My very first Blip back in January was the first track from the new Metric album. The track, “Help I’m Alive” makes me cry sometimes and their new album, Fantasies is one of the best and most concise albums to come out in a while. The song is an anthem to live life to the fullest and not holding any regrets. Seeing them live a couple of weeks ago at Terminal 5 was definitely one of THE most energetic and emotionally charged shows that I have ever been to.

METRIC “Help I’m Alive” - a Deco Dawson short film (via metricmusic)

July 5, 2009  

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