Turn Five » Music

Interpol in NYC

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:00:15 +0000

With all the attitude that someone can muster, walking in New York City can feel like chasing an elusive dream, one that constantly runs away. Those that find it here are usually so distracted or so jaded that they convince themselves they must have the wrong dream, and start chasing something else. It’s sort of a built-in side effect of the city, and it’s something that keeps people working, creating, and discovering new ways to make interesting things happen in the world.

Coming to New York to visit can be a different thing altogether. If there’s no intention to stay, then there’s nothing elusive to chase, it’s all right here on display. You can find anything in New York, and it all begins from the comfort of New York’s four star hotels where luxury and hospitality meet with practical amenities. It all adds up to a very exciting time, and there’s always something new to explore here. Those that follow the local music scene as it unfolds no doubt understand that punk started in three cities, London, Melbourne, and here. The local group Interpol has helped it move forward another notch.

They hit it big with Our Love to Admire in 2007, but have been playing together since 1997. This is very dark and broody stuff, but it’s also extremely catchy. The sound is extremely distinctive, as it lingers and echoes, there is also a menacing humor than underlies everything. They’ve had radio hits, and they’ve been developing a strong core of fans since their origins, and the next year looks promising for the next album. They’re already talking about returning to their earlier sound, marking an era where invention meets remixing, and the promise sounds splendid. This is where punk left off, and this is where it picks up, where we can all go roaming in the night.

Interpol in NYC is a post from: Turn Five

Durty Nellie’s Chicago

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:22:44 +0000

Chicago is one-of-a-kind, offering a gorgeous sense that you’re in a big city, but still somewhere in the mid-west. The mid-western sensibility isn’t only from the extremely cold winters that could make a polar bear edgy, but from the atmosphere and ambiance. There’s a sense of history here, of ties that bind, and walking down any street in nearly any neighborhood reveals layers and layers of human memory in the concrete and the dirt. Those who come from Chicago are rather fiercely loyal to the place, and everyone has some fond memories. Those who haven’t ever visited are usually very impressed, and some are so impressed that they decide to stay.

Coming to Chicago for business, or pleasure, is always a positive thing. You can find excellent hotels by clicking here, and there are a number of other pleasant distractions that may convince you it would be a nice place to live. Or at least to visit again. For evening to late-night fun, there are a myriad of possibilities. The town seems to really live for the night, and although the days are buzzing, the nights are simply hopping. If your tastes run toward pubs and hot tunes, then you just might become a fan of Durty Nellie’s.

In Palatine, this suburban bar is a place that starts to look like heaven to those who love pubs in general. They have an excellent and rather extensive offering of stouts, pilsners, and ales, and there is also an excellent food menu. This is a great place to go to grab a pint and a bite before seeing a show. It’s also a great place to see shows. They have a great line-up of music here, having hosted bands like Big Head Todd and the Violent Femmes, and also highlight other kinds of music, too, like country. This is also a good place to go after the show is over, and it might sometimes make sense to just decide not to leave.

Durty Nellie’s Chicago is a post from: Turn Five

Manu Chao in NYC

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:14:36 +0000

For those who harbor any hope of seeing Manu Chao perform in New York City this year, now is the time to start working the bandwagon. There’s a good deal of public talk on this, and another voice is always welcome. Especially because it would work beautifully with the populist leanings of this amazing musical artist. New York seems like the perfect place for him, too. In the midst of all the fine Manhattan business hotels, there are many different voices working in different mediums, and from any kind of perspective, the city is a barrage of multiple rhythms that don’t stop.

It suits his music perfectly, and it only makes sense that he performs again here as he makes his way around the world. With things as they are, we need his voice here now more than ever. The madness in the music has always been the perfect dada response to a world gone wrong. On the sunniest days, it can make you feel the juiciest rhythms of the soul, combining influences from French and Italian sources, with a spirit that is wholly Latin. And on rainy days, it can strike a wonderfully absurd chord in the back of the heart, to remind you that laughter is something that no one can ever take away from you, even if it has to be a cackling, insane giggle.

The man is as interesting as his music, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his multi-layered, chaotic, and sometimes surprisingly simple works. He was born in Paris in 1961, and both of his parents are from Spain. His formative years were spent in France, and when punk came to town with the Clash, Manu Chao started to find his calling. He would eventually play as the front man for Mano Negro, where you can hear a lot of the multiple languages and cultural influences present in his recent work. His solo career has been a very exciting one to watch, earning him the respect of other artists, the music industry, as well as the multiple alternative communities he crosses into and out of with a radical deftness. It’s a remarkable feat for anyone. He should play New York.

Manu Chao in NYC is a post from: Turn Five

Gin Blossoms NYC

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:31:16 +0000

The Gin Blossoms are coming back to New York again, and this is really good news for their long-time fans. For the new fans, too, this is a good thing. I’ve been following them for years, but I know there are those who are just getting to know them from their last cd. New York is a special place to hear anyone perform, and if the band has a little bit of history here, every show is like a homecoming. This might not make it to too many eyes before the January show at Outpost in the Burbs, but if you missed it, too bad. They’ll come back, though, they always do.

My girlfriend and I (yes, she’s still my girlfriend, and yes, it’s serious, we just haven’t tied the knot yet, and after 18 years don’t see any good reason to) first heard them in Tempe, at Long Wong’s. It’s weird to think how we can get accommodation in Manhattan and make it one of those long and lovely East Coast weekends. We used to crash on our friend’s floor, a little house off of Mill avenue in the 1980s. This was a time when you could hear local bands like the Rundles, who seemed to only play whenever they felt like it. That was the kind of work ethic we all loved back then, because it meant that we were really living in generation x (before anyone even gave us a name like that).

In those days, we’d drive up from Tucson to visit friends. We’d hang out at 6 East, the Beast, which I heard has been closed for awhile now. Then we’d struggle out of our little pocket of comfort there, saying goodbye to all of the black leather pool players and head down to Wongs. There were some nights when the Gin Blossoms weren’t there at all, but instead, they’d been magically replaced by a band called the Del Montes. This was an exact replica, only a lot drunker. There was also a guy named Elvis, a homeless man they would take care of. I’d love to see him in NYC, because it might fool me into thinking those days aren’t gone. But with this new tour, some things remain.

Gin Blossoms NYC is a post from: Turn Five

The Beat Poets of New York City

Sentosa’s Song of the Sea is Watered Down

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:39:46 +0000

Our final stop of our trip, and indeed for the day was to the resort of Sentosa Island. To reach the island, we had to take a cable car located at the top of Mt. Faber, across the bay, then go through a building, go across the bay again and then down to the island. The view from the cable car was stunning, plus the cable cars bounced around that it almost felt like a ride in an amusement park.

Once at Sentosa, we headed directly to one of the best Sentosa, Singapore hotels where we had reservations and checked in, but before we got there, we were greeted by this massive Merlion statue, apparently it’s the emblem of Singapore. It was huge, towering over us like a snake mountain, we were in awe with all the neon lighting and LEDs brilliantly shining forth. Truly skating on the line of tackiness and wonderment. We wondered if the rest of Sentosa was bordering on that same knife’s edge. After we checked into our hotel, we headed out to the main Boulevard where there were fountains and sculptures, and these too were all lit with an astounding array of incandescent sparkles of luminosity. Frankly, I found it marvelous and great fun.

When we reached the end of the Boulevard, we found several pubs, which we took full liberty to stretch out on the beach with some ice cold lagers. If was our reward for a hard day at playing tourist. We chatted and relaxed before we checked out this audio-visual spectacular show called ‘The Song of the Sea.’ At least that’s what we were told. But, really, the show was, well, lame. The actors mimed the soap-opera story and the songs were pretty hard to listen to, but the lasers projecting into the water was great! This laser projection led into a 3D hologramatic effect, which was totally thrilling and entertaining, very nicely constructed. We pretty much figured the ‘Song of the Sea’ must be for children.

This was our final event in all of Singapore. The next day we headed back over to Singapore and to the airport, tired, but happy.

Sentosa’s Song of the Sea is Watered Down is a post from: Turn Five