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Dying and dancing on MTV
Sep. 30th, 2005 08:14 amIt's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!
( You what? )
Today you were invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:
Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend - Another Journey
Last week, I went to see Kimya Dawson playing in Reading. Despite the mild horror induced in some colleagues beforehand by playing Moldy Peaches tracks through speakers in the office, I had a great time. (Backplot: Kimya Dawson was half of the Moldy Peaches, Adam Green was the other half.)
So why, you might ask, am I telling you about this as a prelude to Boogying to Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend ?
Well. The link here is "antifolk", a term alledgedly coined in NY by a guy called Lach. The New York folk club didn't like Lach and his music, so he took his bat home and organised the NY Antifolk Festival to coincide with the NY Folk Festival. Like the "folk" banner, antifolk covers a multitude of sins and pretty much any style of music will fit in so long as it's lo-fi.
If you want an antifolk introduction, then I strongly recommend Antifolk Vol.1. Twenty tracks, 18 1/4 of which are good. Some are great. The CD has tracks like this Joie/DBG, it has gentle acoustic numbers, it has songs that are frankly... weird. It also contains two of the best song-names ever: You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Do Experiments On Your Own Heart and Smokescreen A Capella Techno Blues (both of which are also very fine songs). This CD could be the intro to a whole new world of musical experiences. Some of which might be out of tune.
The Kimya Dawson gig had all the hallmarks of your classic antifolk gig: small downmarket venue, cheap door price, bands selling CD-Rs of their own songs with black-and-white home-photocopied sleevenotes. The main support band, of whom I'd never heard but rather enjoyed, invited people to sit down. So I listened to Strand of Oaks and Kimya Dawson sitting cross-legged on a wooden floor, surrounded by a surprisingly diverse crowd. The people and performers seem friendly, inclusive and occasionally barking. I'm sure it's true of many small scenes, but if you become an antifolk fan you can have a great night out, see a few bands, buy a CD to take home, have a couple of beers, and still get change from fifteen quid. Plus a free game of Spin The Bottle if you care to hang around after.
(Incidentally, while Pintwatch was initially downcast by the cans of Red Stripe offered by the volunteer-staffed bar in the Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading, it was delighted to discover o`n further investigation an entire cabinet full of top-notch bottled beers. So I sat on the floor with my bottle of Fuller's Honey Dew and all was well with the world.)
( You what? )
Today you were invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:
Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend - Another Journey
Last week, I went to see Kimya Dawson playing in Reading. Despite the mild horror induced in some colleagues beforehand by playing Moldy Peaches tracks through speakers in the office, I had a great time. (Backplot: Kimya Dawson was half of the Moldy Peaches, Adam Green was the other half.)
So why, you might ask, am I telling you about this as a prelude to Boogying to Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend ?
Well. The link here is "antifolk", a term alledgedly coined in NY by a guy called Lach. The New York folk club didn't like Lach and his music, so he took his bat home and organised the NY Antifolk Festival to coincide with the NY Folk Festival. Like the "folk" banner, antifolk covers a multitude of sins and pretty much any style of music will fit in so long as it's lo-fi.
If you want an antifolk introduction, then I strongly recommend Antifolk Vol.1. Twenty tracks, 18 1/4 of which are good. Some are great. The CD has tracks like this Joie/DBG, it has gentle acoustic numbers, it has songs that are frankly... weird. It also contains two of the best song-names ever: You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Do Experiments On Your Own Heart and Smokescreen A Capella Techno Blues (both of which are also very fine songs). This CD could be the intro to a whole new world of musical experiences. Some of which might be out of tune.
The Kimya Dawson gig had all the hallmarks of your classic antifolk gig: small downmarket venue, cheap door price, bands selling CD-Rs of their own songs with black-and-white home-photocopied sleevenotes. The main support band, of whom I'd never heard but rather enjoyed, invited people to sit down. So I listened to Strand of Oaks and Kimya Dawson sitting cross-legged on a wooden floor, surrounded by a surprisingly diverse crowd. The people and performers seem friendly, inclusive and occasionally barking. I'm sure it's true of many small scenes, but if you become an antifolk fan you can have a great night out, see a few bands, buy a CD to take home, have a couple of beers, and still get change from fifteen quid. Plus a free game of Spin The Bottle if you care to hang around after.
(Incidentally, while Pintwatch was initially downcast by the cans of Red Stripe offered by the volunteer-staffed bar in the Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading, it was delighted to discover o`n further investigation an entire cabinet full of top-notch bottled beers. So I sat on the floor with my bottle of Fuller's Honey Dew and all was well with the world.)
