Whiskey in My Whiskey (Eli "Paperboy" Reed/Langhorne Slim/Felice Brothers, McCarren Park Pool, 8/10/08)

Well, I'm going to play it again.  Because someone has to:

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves - Take My Love with You (mp3) (buy)

Disappointed the band (myspace) didn't play this, more so than I could be when Radiohead didn't get to "Let Down."  Because of the odds - Reed and his band has one album and a couple singles, and even in a short set you'd think they'd play their best number - and because this is the song, kids.  Huge and bright, it slips into your stride, it sticks to your sternum, it does just what it says it do, it travels.  I've found myself bursting out singing this thing - yes, in the street, in the crowd, when I'm home all alone, like the man says - more than almost any other number this year.

It was a rainy day, and that's a shame.  Bill mentioned it would otherwise have been the perfect day for unassuming walk-ins, a straightforward and satisfying bill of Soul and Americana.  The wet hit hardest during Reed's set; the crowd was thin but seemed happy, the band was pretty tight.

I still think they'd impress more had they some style.  Suits n' shit.  Guitarist Ryan Spraker was wearing a sleeveless Red Sox T (which inspired some light back-and-forth with the crowd over who's going to lose the division to Tampa Bay) and water wings.  Because it's a pool, dig.  Dressing up might seem like playing hard at retro shtick, and I get that, it's good to make the point that this sound works just as well now.  But when The Sweet Divines came out to join the True Loves on "Satisfier" wearing uniform yellow, they were a giant batch of sunshine up there.

I could complain further - Reed needs to get out from behind his guitar more, something he didn't do at all during this show - but I complain because I love.  This was the third time I've seen these guys this year, I'm sure it's not the last.  There's plenty of good stuff on their record.

But they should never not play "Take My Love with You."  They should always play it.  They should always play it twice.

The only other time I've seen Langhorne Slim (myspace) was as a solo opener (I forget for whom) at Southpaw, where crowds traditionally drown out early acts.  There he seemed an intense, but not particularly memorable, folkie.  But stand him up and give him a backing band and he's quite the showman.  I still don't find much of his material impressive, but he hauls out his upmost, jumping and snarling and stuff.  Has his fans.

"This is a hillbilly song, because that's what we are.  Hillbillies."  The Felice Brothers (myspace) seemed a bit tipsy, did not fall down.  Two of the three siblings have the gaunt moonshiner/meth addict thing going on, the third is Country Bear Jamboree.  There's also a fiddle/washboard player, and a bassist who (apparently) also plays "dice" professionally.

They're more fun when they don't harp heavy on the Dylan, though they ramble across some good lines when they do. 

The drummer said this gig got them in trouble with TPTB at APW (which they played the day previous) because Brooklyn's too close to Jersey.  "Gotta play the pool!"  I think he added a "yo" after that, I'm not sure.

More pics.

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Five most embarrassing songs I've caught myself singing in public lately:

"Intellectualize My Blackness," Skunk Anansie

"Queen of the World," Ida Maria

"You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman," Aretha Franklin

"I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story

"Rock and Roll Nas s/t album," Patti Smith

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If you're in New York and you go to anything other than this show tonight you sort of don't love music.  Sorry, it's true.  Hand in your license.

Don't be afraid that you might not know anything about it!  That never matters.  I don't know much of anything either!  Just go.  It's not exactly a common opportunity.  And it looks to be beautiful outside.  Also:  Free!

Or I guess you could go listen to the same shit you do every other day.

Here, maybe these will help:

Alèmayèhu Eshèté - Tchero Adari Negn (mp3) (buy)

Alèmayèhu Eshèté -  Yeweyn Haregitu (mp3) (buy)

Gétatchèw Mèkurya - Yègènèt Muziqa (mp3) (buy)

That stuff sounds old because it is.  Those tracks are taken from the 20+ volume Ethiopiques series (the best of is a good place to start).  What these guys sound like now - Eshèté was considered the Ethiopian James Brown, Mèkurya an incendiary jazz sax player - and what they sound like collaborating with the Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra's longform jazz and Dutch punk innovators The Ex, well, I guess I'll find out in a few hours.

The concert will also be broadcast live on WFMU; schedule and sounds and actual info here.

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I know it's been established that this is like the most necessary alt-blog ever.  It can be hilarious and/or thought-provoking(!).  Also:  Annoying!  I know I'm not part of its mock-peer group/facebook friendbase/clique/fan squad/donkey hooker/street team/target demo/twittr coven/whatever.  (I'm going for my first walker-fitting next Tuesday!)  But Hipster Runoff tries so hard at being what it is, and - due to either the author's inability to extract himself from character, or a desire to bludgeon the audience into believing the wink-nudge satire is ironically sincere (or vice versa, whatever) - tries so much that it dilutes itself beyond tolerability.

I'd like you a lot more if there were a lot less of you.

Or maybe I'd just prefer not to be confronted by the suspicion that I'm going to spend the next ten years wanting to punch every member of that gen-alt-aught in the face.  Preferably while they're texting someone.

(Do u hate the youngs?  Do u rlly fear obsolessence?  Duzit bother u when i stand on ur lawn?  Are boundaries important 2u?  Is punctuation

This has been the first installment of a series I'm calling "Dropped From My RSS Reader."  Next week:  Me!

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tags: eli paperboy reed  jellynyc  pool parties  langhorne slim  felice brothers  hipster runoff  

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