Falling In Love Again

I’ve wanted to write about Imelda May for a few months. This past weekend while looking for some live music, I discovered that she was opening for Chuck Berry. Unfortunately, tickets were about $100. Not the amount that I, and my friends visiting from out of town, wanted to spend. Luckily she was in NYC for a few days. I checked out a show on Tuesday at Piano’s, a small club on the Lower East Side. A perfect excuse to write about her. Plus a chance to see her live and find out if she was as good as she sounds on her album. Would I fall in love with the music again?

SWIK Icon Series: The voice of glamour and danger

In a wonderful end to what was otherwise a not-so-fabulous summer, this past weekend I had the opportunity to navigate some curvy Maine roads in a peach-colored 1960 MGA convertible. The car belongs to my uncle, who is attempting to restore it to a semblance of its former glory. After a brief lesson on the quirks of a car nearly five decades old, I was permitted to take it for a spin. With my scarf blowing in the wind, but no working radio, the song blaring inside my head was “Kiss Them For Me” by Siouxsie and The Banshees. Why? Or you may even ask, who?

In The Background and In High Heels

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind. In a highly unusual case of social activity, I found myself out every night long past my regular bedtime. From tapas with my cousin to a work-related roof deck party as well as a Wine Library TV event, the weekend couldn’t come soon enough. Yet, I knew the weekend wouldn’t be any slower and that live music would be part of it. My friend Suzy T. was in town. We work together at a large, conservative, multi-national organization, but we both started our careers in the music industry. With a fellow music-lover in town, a live show was on the agenda. While there’s plenty of live music on any given weekend in NYC, it’s easy to make a bad choice and hear something awful. Fortunately for us, we got it exactly right and found what was probably the best show in town. We headed to the Bell House on Saturday for the second night of the Brooklyn Soul Festival.

The Church of Birch

A few months ago I heard an interview with Diane Birch on NPR. I was intrigued. It wasn’t until her song “Fire Escape” showed up on a sampler from my music-pusher (see Summer Tours) that I sought out her full album. Once I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop. Her gospel-infused retro soul music had me hooked. When I saw that she was playing at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, I had to check out her live show and see if she was the real deal. Last Tuesday I attended what can only be called the Church of Birch.

Call Us Invincible

Thursday night I ventured out to the very edge of Brooklyn to see the Call Me Invincible tour with Pat Benatar and Blondie. I returned home with a few thoughts. First, it’s true what a man once told me, “rock ‘n roll is not an aesthetic or even a sound, but a spirit. And you can't kill a spirit.” Second, while the crowd is critical to the experience of live music, it’s possible to enjoy a show in spite of a lame audience. Finally, despite the focus on youth in today’s media, older women are cool. We will inevitably bring more to the table than our teen and twenty-something sisters. It’s not that we don’t love our younger sisters. We remember what it was like being young but, honestly, it’s WAY better now. Plus, generally we’re just better at whatever it is that we do because of all those years of experience. Thanks Patricia and Debbie for reminding me.

Watts and SWIK Drummers

The passing of writer/director John Hughes last week brought back a rush of ’80’s memories. He wrote some classic comedies including National Lampoon’s Vacation and Mr. Mom. Yet for many of us, it was movies like Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off that captured our high school experiences with stories and music that came to, dare I say, almost define a generation. My favorite of his films was not a huge hit. Some Kind of Wonderful starred Mary Stuart Masterson as quirky drummer chick, Watts. I’ve seen this movie so many times, I’ve lost count. John Hughes movies reminded me of Watts, which started me thinking about female drummers.

Santigold

As I’ve written previously (see Ring A Ting Ting) music can be heard in many places. I’ve admitted to finding music on some pretty cheesy TV shows, so here’s another one. I discovered Santigold (formerly Santogold) on this season’s So You Think You Can Dance. I love to dance and am thrilled there’s a TV show that highlights all genres of dance from hip-hop to ballet, as well as ballroom. Go ahead and laugh, but not only is it an outlet to see amazing dance routines, it’s a great place to discover new music. There have been two routines to Santigold’s music this season, so I finally had to check out her album.