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So I'm in the used record store on 81st and Broadway looking at records. I like this store because everything is relatively cheap, especially the post 60's stuff, and there always a lot of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed records for completist fallback. So I'm in the store and I'm looking through records and another record buyer starts complaining that a budget copy of Abby Road costs 15 dollars. So I'm thinking to myself well were surrounded by a Starbucks, a Barnes and Noble, a Best Buy, and a McDonalds.... I mean I would pay more taxes to keep this store open or at least pay $15.00 for a copy of a budget Abby Road, I'm also thinking if you haven't listened to Abby Road 14 thousand times already you probably have very little interest in music let alone used records and if you were you would gladly pay $15 if you never listened to it before, because it's going to blow your mind, your gonna listen to it 14 thousand times, and your going to memorize every line, a bargain at $15. So then the used record complainer complains that he could get that in philadelphia for $10, and I'm thinking I'm getting tired of listening to this guy complain so thank god Jon walks into the store. Read more »

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R-1
Schwervon! had an upstate gig last night in Cold Spring, NY. Cold Spring is a beautiful little NYC town about an hour outside of the city. The main street kind of felt like a movie set.

On the way there we ran into an R-1 train at the 2nd Ave. F stop. You can learn about it from the link but basically it's the first car ever built for the NYC Independent subway system. They're these really fun refurbished cars from the 1930's. I was kind of amazed at how similar they are to the ones we have today. The most distinctive difference, outside of the ads, were these huge (head chopping) ceiling fans throughout the cars. No AC back then. Summer must have been rough. The dark bolted metal exterior kind of reminded me of old WW2 ships or tanks. I managed to snap a couple of pics before we had to grab our much less charming uptown F train across the platform. The pic to the left a touristy shot I got of the Crysler building while walking over to catch Metro North at Grand Central. Read more »

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One of my record collecting goals is to get every volume of the SYR series. I could listen to this stuff for hours and this is a long song (I could imagine the White Columns audience, some entranced, some looking around like when is this going to end). I wish I could write about this kind of music but I don't even know where to start, well maybe,...Glass, Cage...aaa...La Monte Young...and the guy who writes songs for guitar orchestras...Glenn Branca?...see what I mean. I was in Barnes and Noble in the 80's the other day and I was waiting in line at the register and an impulse buy book was a paperback guide to classical music. I seriously cannot listen to classical music, I totally don't get it, last time I was in a taxi I had to ask the driver to turn the classical music he was listening to off, it was driving me crazy. So I'm reading the classical music guide and it turns out classical music guides are just like rock record guides. They list and critique the recordings, the songwriters, the musicians, the production, and add some contextual stuff to tie it together. Read more »

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A Poetic Week
I had 2 late nights working at Bowery Poetry Club this weekend. I saw a lot of nice poetry and was lucky enough to witness the debut of Faceboyz Folliez a new variety type show featuring some of my favorite local Art Stars. This is a great chance to check out classic Lower East Side trash comedy and burlesque performance art before the whole neighborhood turns into a Whole Foods.

The MMM solo show at Sidewalk with, Jesse Lee, Barry Bliss, Toby Goodshank (and band) and Brain and The Aardvarks was sort of a reunion show for Barry, Toby, Brian and I. It was about 2 years ago that we did a mini East Coast tour together entitled "The 3 Headed Beast." The lovely and talented Fran Agnone (Ladies of Old Hat) backed me up on percussion. I'm finding her influence on my solo works a real breath of fresh air. Hopefully, we will continue to work together. Here is the original poem from last night's show. I think my new sound gig at the BPC is already starting influence my work (in a good way). Read more »