Central Village

Levy Gets It

I've never really paid too much attention to the band Levy, but this video of theirs is really excellent. They manage to pull off a relatively classy (and creatively edited) sex tape, which looks to be filmed entirely in a room at The Hotel on Rivington. I care more about these two in 3 minutes than I did about the 9 Songs couple after an hour. The song's not bad either. I don't know if it's an official video or if some friend/fan just whipped it up, but it's pretty great. Not Safe For Work at all, tho I guess they try...

Check it out here. (shit...link's down now. Working on this. If anyone has the video, e-mail it to me please. Okay, the site's back up, but just in case it goes out again, here's a Megaupload link:
Levy - On The Dance Floor (Megaupload - video)

and a Rapidshare link:
Levy - On The Dance Floor (Rapidshare - video)

UPDATE: I was sent the final version of the video from someone who worked on it. It's a bit cleaner cut and has a few added scenes. Download it here:

Levy - On The Dance Floor (Final Version) (Megaupload - video)

Levy - On The Dance Floor (Final Version) (Rapidshare - video)

This song has kinda grown on me too:
Levy - Rotten Love (mp3)

They're playing at the Loose Record Party at Fat Baby on Friday. It's free, and the open bar should kick off right after their set.

Does anyone watch sitcoms anymore?

I'm good at inexplicably getting hooked on random TV shows. Sometimes I stick with it, sometimes I get bored quickly, but I happened to catch How I Met Your Mother a while back, and now watch it every week. The only real sitcom I can stand (aside from Arrested Development, but that hardly counts.) Everyone I know thinks I'm batshit insane for liking it as much as I do, but I honestly think it's great. I like the concept, the characters and the actors who play them (A collection of "that guys" from the last 20 years..."Doogie", "Band-Camp Girl" and "The Boyfriend from Freaks and Geeks" are three of the 5 main characters, Bob Saget does the voiceover and "Winnie Cooper" was in this weeks episode...not bad.)

Maybe I'm a sucker for New York stories...But this show just works. I swear. The last episode played out like a Pinter play. See, the whole series is based on this guy in the future telling his kids about his single life leading up to how he met their mother. This week, he was telling a story of how he blacked out one night, and woke up the next morning with a strange woman and a pineapple in his room. Pieces of the night all got filled in by various friends the next morning who cover different patches of the night. I thought it was actually brilliant. I mean, it's still a network sitcom, but it is so much better than everything else out there. Anyone else with me on this?

Who are the Mystery Jets?

They are the opening band for the NME Shockwaves tour with Maximo Park, Arctic Monkeys and We Are Scientists. I've heard the name, maybe a song on the radio here or there, but I couldn't hum one of their songs if I had a gun pointed at my head. This opening spot, however, has traditionally been a big breakout act. The Kaiser Chiefs were it last year and Franz Ferdinand the year before. Are these guys gonna blow up big time in the next year? I dunno. Can't hurt to get familiar with them now. You can download a couple songs at Pure Volume.

A Magical Night?

I think Heart on a Stick is one of the most well written and enjoyable music blogs I read every day, but I could not disagree more with his take on the Magic Numbers. Granted, we went on two separate nights in two different rooms, but last night was the most fun I've had seeing a band in quite a while. I'll explain on Gothamist shortly. (Update: It's up.) Some pics after the jump...

Feely Good

I've been trying out a new morning routine this week, which so far involves getting up an hour earlier, making Eggo waffles and microwaved bacon, drinking pineapple juice, and watching ESPN. During Sportscenter today, I saw a bit on Jay Feely apologizing for blowing the game Sunday night. He said something to the effect of "I'm man enough to admit that I screwed up...something our country could use a little bit more of these days." Burn! Where are those WMD's, Mr. President?

So while I really wish he would have made one of those kicks, and I think it's pretty tough to blame George Bush directly for the Giants loss, it's always nice to hear subtle jabs at the President of the United States slipped into my morning sports coverage.

Thanksgiving was so last month

My family started an interesting little tradition last year. See, my uncle's family lives in Colorado, and me, my parents and my Grandfather all live here in the city. Nobody wanted to travel cross country during the actual thanksgiving weekend and deal with the crowds or the inflated flight fares, so we agreed to get together instead for a weekend in late October instead to eat turkey, play football and jab about politics. Not very traditional, but makes a whole lot more sense, really.

So, for the actual thanksgiving night, I go out to dinner with just my parents. Last year we went to Jean Georges, which was lovely, but not really our style. Too uptown and stuffy, not to mention the food didn't come close to living up to the name. It was very good, but you expect a different level from a place like that, and it didn't quite deliver. This year, we stayed in the hood, hitting up Cru on 9th street and 5th ave. It was excellent. The most enjoyable restaurant experience I've had in in quite some time. (Prolly since whenever the last time I was at Gramercy Tavern.) The space is really cozy. It's dark, but not distractingly so. Very personal and quiet. It had the feel of a parlor room in a Greenwich Village brownstone.

The food was as good as anything I've ever eaten. I know the place is famous for having something like a 65,000 bottle wine selection (The list brought to the table in two leather bound bible-like tomes, one for Red and one for White) but I'm afraid don't really know enough about that stuff to offer an opinion on what we had. I had a chestnut and squash soup with bacon and quail eggs to start, then a capon breast  for dinner. It was perfect. I'm looking forward to finding an excuse to go back again sometime soon.

Wide Awake

A friend of mine had an extra for Bright Eyes on Saturday night in Jersey (yipes). Wasn't planning on going to either of these shows, but it was a great lineup and when I realized the theater was literally across the street from the Journal Square PATH station, it was too easy for me to get there to pass up. It took a bit longer than expected, but it wasn't much harder than taking the subway up to the Beacon Theatre or Town Hall. It's a beautiful space. Mile high ceilings and excellent acoustics. I'd love to go back if there was ever another worthy act playing. Seems like the best area option for a non-Clear Channel theatre that size. Is there anybody else out there that is still trying to stand up to those guys anymore?

A few notes...

• The Magic Numbers were really good. Better than I thought they'd be live. For a first opener, the crowd seemed really into them. Feel lucky if you're going tonight.
• Feist was ok. Not the best I've seen her. I still think she's amazing solo, but the band makes her songs sound really bland. She did about half and half for this set.
• Connor came out to sing Mushaboom with her towards the end of her set. It sounded a million times better with them trading lyrics back and forth than when he covers it on his own.
• The Bright Eyes set was really nice. It was a great venue for him to play. The band was excellent.
• I was very happy to be sitting in a theater seat for a show like this.
• The crowd was actually really well behaved. For such a large show, (and in New Jersey, no less) The kids let him play without interruption. Perhaps the fact that it was a dry venue helped...
• I've got some shitty pics up after the jump.

One last thing...

I Heart Music lists the 33 best bands from Canada, polling 21 Canadian bloggers. Is Canada better than America? We, at the very least, have 7 more bands than they do.

The Diggs have a bunch of new songs on their Myspace Page. 'Everyone's Starting...' is a favorite of mine from seeing them live. Their first full length album comes out December 9th. The album release party will be at Sin-e that night.

I totally forgot to mention the Bravo Silva album release party over the weekend. Unheard of amounts of fun. The bands were all excellent and the space is amazing. I was totally taken back at how many people came out to the middle-of-nowhere, Brooklyn for this. See pictures here, here, here and here.

Ok. Now I'm good. Be back Monday. For reals.

Play it Fucking Loud

I've got two songs by two excellent bands, each with two members each in them. First is Giant Drag (pictured above), who I got to catch at Pianos on Sunday. They were fun. My review is up on Gothamist. Here's a song.

Giant Drag - My Dick Sux (.m4a file)

The other is Two Gallants, who have a new album out coming out next February. These guys are amazing. Here's the first single off it, which I think comes out on vinyl 7" today.

Two Gallants - Las Cruces Jail

I'm taking the rest of the week off from the Internet. There's nothing going on anyway. It's Thanksgiving. Gonna use the long weekend to watch sports, read a book and just relax. I'll be back Monday.

Events

Someone told me last night that they never go out to bars anymore...they only go to events. Be it a show, a specific party, or whatever, they couldn't remember the last time they just went out and hung out at a bar with no purpose. Never really gave it much thought, honestly. Thought it was interesting...

Anyway, here are some events for the weekend:
Tonight, Finger on the Pulse make their Manhattan debut. Probably the least pretentious and genuinely enjoyable dance night in New York City. (usually held at the Graham Lounge in Brooklyn every other Friday.) They'll be at Fat Baby from 10:00 on. Come by.

Tomorrow is the Bravo Silva Album release party at the brand new Syrup Room in Brooklyn. I'm a big Langhorne Slim and BS fan. I'm looking forward to it. The details on the venue, transportation, other bands, comedy acts, free drinks, etc. are all up on the Syrup Room website.
P.S. The L is running this weekend.

I also threw up a banner to the right for the Mercy Corps Benefit, put on by the people at Bowery Presents, on Dec. 1st. It's a very good show for a very good cause. Secret Machines, TV on the Radio and Annie are all performing. Click here (or on the banner) to buy tix. Just got word the show has been canceled. Too bad.