Diary of a Band: Odessa Stair

Philadelphia is known for three things: cheese steaks, giving birth to the United States, and having a population full of assholes. This town goes through a lot of misery and tragedy every day. The music that comes out of here must be out of this world. It must be something that’s greasy, bloody and horrifying, but with a perverse pride that keeps you from moving to Bucks County, right?

Well, almost. Philly’s best rappers understand their home and have made some amazing psychodramas that could make you shit your pants, but our rockers stick to neutered genre exercises that betray the city’s true nature.

A lot of the motivation for Odessa Stair comes from when I started looking for musicians on Craigslist. Almost every person that contacted me was currently playing in a band that sounded like Weezer going through menopause, and Weezer already did that with Pinkerton, an album I stopped liking when I lost my virginity. How does a city so large and so crazy have such a pathetically small amount of good rock? We had to do something about this.

Every local musician should take tips from our sports fans. This is where we threw snowballs at Santa, batteries at our own mascot, chant “You took steroids!” at Manny Ramirez, and got so wild when the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup that the Flyers themselves had to fight their own fans. We should have the most disgusting, amazing bands ever!

Granted, it’s not all bad: I like Man Man, Pissed Jeans are good shit, and I thought Clockcleaner was the best Philly band ever. But for every Dead Milkmen there are tons of bands like Sunny Day in Glasgow, The Teeth, and Dr. Dog. I’d rather listen to my nephews’ Backyardigans CD than this cute, non-threatening crap. Odessa Stair has many goals, but the primary one is to knock Philadelphians out of their stupor and give them some real music to throw back at the assholes in New York, Chicago and L.A. That’s what we live for, isn’t it?

I’m not saying Odessa Stair is the ideal Philly band. The ideal Philly band sounds like Frankie Avalon played through a phaser at 78 RPM and the lead singer is some fat fuck from South Philly yelling songs about how he hates Jersey girls because they always give him crabs. But at the very least, let’s give this city something to be excited about.

PS: I would absolutely love to be proven wrong. If you know of any Philly band that would kick my ass, leave a comment.

Diary of a Band: The John Salamone Band

Dear Diary,

This week is going to be one part diary, one part bit of wisdom. This past week was my birthday so a couple of my friends, two guys who were in my old band, took me to see Built to Spill at The Troc. Let me just say it was awesome! It was the first time I’d ever seen them. I was supposed to go in ’04 but that is a story for another day. They played a great mix of songs! And the sound was mixed better than I have ever heard it at The Troc. I haven’t seen many bands live with three guitar players. Amazingly, I was able to hear each one clearly. This brings me to the topic of conversation for this week: Volume, volume, VOLUME. I have left too many shows saying, “You know, they would have been good if the (insert any band member here) wasn’t so loud.” It doesn’t matter if you have written the greatest song in the world, if you are too loud it can be awful. When one person is blowing everything off the stage it’s painful to listen to. If you want a pleasing show, aurally at least, start your volume at a moderate level. The sound guy will make sure the audience hears you. That’s what he’s paid for. Plus everyone’s head will thank you, you’ll get more repeat business, and most importantly I won’t leave saying, “You know, they would have been good if the (insert band member here) wasn’t so loud.”

beard

Be A Real Man, Man and Vote

B Sides To Die For: Bringing The Mix Tape Back

Digital music downloads, i-Tunes, mp3 files, 20 years ago such language would have fallen on deaf ears. Welcome to the new music industry, where audiophiles can click ’n’ download data in mere minutes, drag that data into neat little virtual folders, and transfer it all to a portable listening device with a 10,000 song capacity. With a boundless catalogue of music at our fingertips, technology has given listeners free reign to discover new genres, artists and discographies throughout the ages. But does the immediacy and convenience of digital downloads affect the actual absorption of the music?

Hearing and listening, the difference between the two is palpable. In your lifetime, you will hear an endless barrage of Billboard hits, one-hit wonders and catchy endorsement songs for The Gap. But count the times you’ve stopped, adjusted your oversized headphones and listened. That thump-thump-thumping in the center of your chest when you discover that song, that album, that band that is the soundtrack to your life. The words and music suddenly have meaning, have a message. You are all but positive that message is meant solely for you. Almost immediately you want to share this wonderful feeling. And if you are true to your hipster roots, there is only one thing to do: document your findings. Compile all of the personal mementos of music you’ve found and pass it on to another. In short, make a mix tape.

Author/producer/ and music pioneer, Thurston Moore has penned, “In the future, when social scientists study the mix tape phenomenon, they will conclude – in fancy language – that the mix tape was a form of ‘speech’ particular to the late twentieth century, soon to be replaced by the play list.” However, a play list cannot convey the same message as a mix tape. From developing a theme and a track list, to the execution of every minute-by-minute recording, the mix tape is a medium like no other. The tangibility of the mix tape speaks volumes. Now, your average naysayer may naysay, “But, Jackie, cassettes have fallen into the black hole of technological obsolescence. Why not just burn yourself a nice compact disc?” Not a terrible idea, but, in my opinion, a mix CD simply cannot capture the same emotion of the audiocassette. Mix tapes, in their very nature are stories looped around a central theme; chapters that, from track to track, take the listener on a journey down the beaten path of the tape’s creator. The design of the cassette is to listen-start to finish-without skipping any pages of the proverbial story. And like any story, it has a beginning, a middle and an end, with just enough of that nostalgic analog hiss in between.

A mix tape has become, in short, the story heard ‘round the hipster campfire. It’s shared by many and appreciated for what it is: an exchange of ideas, a meeting of the minds, and of course, the chance to impress your friends with your vast musical knowledge. And as the fictional indie icon, Rob Gordon of High Fidelity argues, “The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. First of all, you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.”

So let’s discuss the makings of a good mix. Presuming you have the essential equipment, i.e.: A stereo system with CD and tape deck function and blank cassettes, the next step is the decision of what to include on the tape. The message of mix tapes changes with regards to circumstance and recipient. However, one thing should remain a constant: an overarching theme that ties it all together. I’ve given many mix tapes over the years, ranging in themes from “I Love You But This is One Fucking Complicated Mess” and “Music as Medicine: Please, Stop Snorting Crack,” to an academically acclaimed mix tape documenting the sounds of “Essentials in Women’s Studies.” In all of these mix tapes, the common denominator is a theme, a concrete idea that keeps your emotions in check and your choices of song at optimum potential.

As for your song choices, the instrumentation and the lyrics are the two key components. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different genres or styles, so long as flow and continuity aren’t compromised. The transition from track-to-track should seem almost effortless. It basically boils down to revealing a message blended in each track, one that you believe could be inferred by the intended listener, literal or metaphorical, subtle references or blatant admissions. You could also consider point-of-view, or perspective when choosing tracks. Using lyrics as a first-person narrative can get tiresome. Try choosing a few songs that involve your theme in a roundabout way, ones that don’t necessarily imply you as the speaker of the lyrics, but a passerby merely observing the situation from a distance. It’s a difficult thing to explain, but an astute listener just knows how to use lyrical wordplay to his or her advantage. Leaving the listeners with enough variations of material to strike intrigue but not so much as to bombard them with your eclecticism, will have them transfixed to the tape deck.

___

When given the opportunity to publish my penchant for mix tapes on Hipsters Eat for Free, I thought, what better an occasion such as this, to share a timely mix for all those embracing the stronghold of digitally downloaded music? Since I can’t conceivably dub mix tapes for all of you listeners out there, I offer you the opportunity to do so yourself. With this in mind, I have made a cross-technological track list of sorts. By all means, download these songs, listen and enjoy, but consider the possibilities of surrender to the aesthetic and the allure of the mix tape…especially when the mix is an epic sci-fi/horror battle between robots and zombies. Side A, Robots. Side B, Zombies (as in, b-movies… Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Just remember, a mix tape is, in short, an audibly formatted chronicle of life’s little ups and downs. It’s the soundtrack to your life. It’s the mundane and the insane. It’s a drama. It’s a horror. It’s a romantic fucking comedy. And it’s yours to share, to absorb, to interpret. So with that said, I present to you, Robots vs. Zombies: a Hipster Halloween Mix.

Robots (A)

1) Robotnicka: “Bidip-Dip Dip Bidip” from Spectre en Vue

2) Daft Punk: “Robot Rock” from Human After All

3) theStart: “Death Via Satellite” from the Death Via Satellite EP

4) Radiohead: “Paranoid Android” from OK Computer

5) Goldfrapp: “Strict Machine” from Black Cherry

6) Flight of the Conchords: “Robots” from Flight of the Conchords

7) Marnie Stern: “Transformer” from This is It and I Am It And You Are It So is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That

8.) Ladytron: “Destroy Everything You Touch” from Witching Hour

9) Gorillaz: “Every Planet We Reach is Dead” from Demon Days

10) Ellen McLain & Jonathon Coulton: “Still Alive” from the end credits of Portal

11) The Flaming Lips: “All We Have Is Now” from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot

Zombies (B)

1) The Raveonettes: “Dead Sound” from Lust Lust Lust

2) The Zombies: “Time of the Season” from Odessey and Oracle

3) Blue Oyster Cult: “Don’t Fear the Reaper” from Agents of Fortune

4) Pixies: “I Bleed” from Doolittle

5) Belle & Sebastian: “Is it Wicked not to Care? From The Boy with the Arab Strap

6) Saudi Arabia: “Brains” from $200,000

7) Bjork: “Army of Me” from Post

8.) Kaki King: “Pull Me Out Alive” from Dreaming of Revenge

9) Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan: “You are my Sunshine” from The Dylan and Cash Sessions

10) She & Him: “This is Not a Test” from Volume One

11) Sean Lennon: “Dead Meat” from Friendly Fire

By Jackie Jardine

Save Those Pennies.

You know what I hate? Besides big venues, Uggs, meat and Live Nation?  I’ll tell you what.  I hate assholes who try to sell you tickets for a show that originally cost them $12 for $30 each!  Are you crazy? No, seriously they must be missing chunks of brain matter.  I have, on many occasions, paced outside The Church like a caged lion awaiting my prey, people with extra tickets.  I have always succeeded in scoring two or sometimes three tickets at original price or even cheaper.  But there are always those greedy poachers who want more.

When Passion Pit came to The Church I knew I would get into that show one way or another.  So sister and I did our thing. We begged and pleaded for tickets.  One guy wanted to sell us two tickets for $40!  The tickets were originally ten.  Even if they had paid the dreaded service charge, it wouldn’t be anywhere near twenty bucks.  Another couple was willing to part with their beloved, extra tickets for fifteen bucks each.  Much more reasonable yes, but still not acceptable. I was not satisfied.  Just as I began to lose hope, my angel came along. Finally, some nice and economically friendly hipsters sold us two tickets for less than original price!  I wanted to give a big SUCK IT to all the money mongers and shove my cheap ticket in their faces.

I am not sure where all this hostility came from, maybe from the fact that I make less than poverty level?  Regardless, I was thrilled that I got to see Passion Pit and that the price was right.  So, a big thanks to the reasonable people out there and a big SUCK IT to the greedy ones.

Write for Us and Get Free Tickets! OH SNAP!

Have you always dreamed of being cool? Well, now is your chance.  Hipsters Eat For Free wants YOU to write for them.  You write the review and we provide the tickets!  Portugal. The Man and Drug Rug at Johnny Brenda’s TONIGHT! It is a sold out show so you know it’s cool.  Two tickets for you and your hipster friend. Wear your tight-ass jeans!

Give us a show review 200-300 words and we will post it on our site (if it’s not shit).  And once the post it up you will see your cool status fly off the charts!  All sorts of benefits come with being a writer for HEFF.  Like, great tables at fancy restaurants such as Govindas, or Lorenzo’s, discounts on all HEFF merchandise, and a huge thumbs up from Nataly and Andrea.

Please contact Nataly via e-mail: Nataly@hipsterseatforfree.com

See The Saudis In Their PJ’s

FIRST PHILLY POP PUNK PAJAMA PARTY: What Else You Should Be Doing This Week.

It’s a Pajama Party!! Lots of great bands plus one of our very, very, very, favorites Saudi Arabia is playing at the Troc this Saturday night.

Doors open at 10:30. Tickets are only $6! Come dressed in PJ’s.

LIne up:

• TJ Kong and The Atomic Bomb
• Conversations with the Enemies
• Saudi Arabia
• Daniel Pujol and Some Beaus
• Denny and the Jets

See you there!

Odessa Stair: Beware of Flying Music Equipment

I finally got to see the famed Odessa Stair play live last night at the North Star Bar. I was pretty psyched to see them play considering that I have recently learned that Patrick Niederriter knows a hell of a lot about good music, I have heard Dan Higgins is a pretty tight musician all around, and I know Steve Maurer is a freaking crazy man. I was sure that I was going to get a great show.

I assure you that any set that ends with the guitarist ripping his guitar strap mid-jam, playing so hard that picks go flying and sending a microphone toppling to the ground as he flings himself around the stage in a passionate rock-out is worth seeing. Besides the excitement of the show, the actual sound was pretty cool as well. It was noise-punk, it was loud and rude and funny of course. What did surprise me was there was a lot of melody and precision in there as well, but the guys kept it well hidden.

You will definitely be seeing Odessa Stair around in the future. I look forward to following them as they grow, progress and refine as a band, plus its fun to watch them break shit.

Dead Man’s Bones Gives Me A Boner

I recently missed the Dead Man’s Bones show at the First Unitarian Church.  It was with great despair that I could not attend the show.  Due to the fact that it sold out faster than Tickle Me Elmo at Christmas time, and there were only about fifty tickets to begin with, I was forced to stay home and catch up on Desperate House Wives.  I blame all the teen-aged girls with their Uggs and ever-fading crushes.  Yes, Ryan Gosling happens to be half of the wonderful Dead Man’s Bones but this project proves to be way more than another pathetic attempt at celebrity re-stardom.  Unlike Heidi Montag, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tyra Banks, or even 30 Seconds to Mars, Dead Man’s Bones self titled album has substance and talent.

Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields have created a surprisingly unique album.  Dead Man’s Bones has a strong ghostly presence consistently throughout.  With influences like zombies, ghosts and death, Gosling and Shields along with the Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir emit waves of eerily, spooky lyrics and sounds.

The addition of the Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir was a perfect fit for the sound Gosling and Shields were going for.  Their delicate, yet unpolished voices enhance the creepiness of each song.  In “My Body’s A Zombie For You”, a seemingly Elvis influenced ballad, the kids add a more contemporary feel to Gosling’s old soul voice.  However, there is one downside to having these kids on board.  I imagine it’s difficult to play bar venues at night with the youngsters.  It is worth seeing them play an early bird special and at a kid friendly venue because apparently they put on a terrific show.  I wouldn’t know, thanks a lot teeny-boppers!

With track titles like, “Dead Hearts,” ” Lose Your Soul”  and “Werewolf Heart” you know exactly what you’re going to get from this album: great eerie music, spooky vocals and somewhat disturbing lyrics.  Any band that can take a song like “Flowers Grow Our of My Grave” and make it into a love song have my respect!  Dead Man’s Bones is perfect for Halloween but is also an album that can be enjoyed the rest of the year.  I like to play this album in my car, while cleaning and especially when cursing those teenage girls who bought all the tickets to the Dead Man’s Bones show in Philly last weekend.  A little voodoo never hurt anyone.

DEAD MAN’S BONES - “NAME IN STONE” from biz3 publicity on Vimeo.

What You Should Be Doing This Week (10/19)

Tonight (Monday): Our favorite funny man Steve (Diary of a Band) and his band Odessa Stair take the Stage at North Star Bar 7 p.m. on the dot! They are Playing with Jupiter One and Me and My Arrow. Be there. They are so talented, and we have to make sure they make enough money so that Steve can continue to write for us for free!

Wednesday Night: We are going to see Banned Books at Silk City. These guys have a great sound. Check out Nataly’s review of their album, Mission Creep. If you can’t make it Wednesday night they will be at The Danger Danger Gallery on Sunday. There is no excuse not to go see them. You’ve got two days to pick from.

Thursday Night: Holy shit balls! I am so excited for Portugal. The Man with Drug Rug and Hockey. It’s a R5 show at Johnny Brendas. It is sold out! You snooze you loose!

Friday Night: Nataly will be attending the Man Man show in D.C at the 9:30 Club. I will be at home weeping into my pillow. WTF Man Man?! Come to Philly!

*****Breaking News, This Just In: Hockey is no longer playing Philadelphia this Thursday. I don’t know why, but I will ask them when I interview them this weekend. Kinda wish I hadn’t bought the tickets but Portugal. The Man will still be a good show. That’s the bad news, the good news…..I’m going to Man Man!!!! Yay me! That might not be great news for you, unless you’re going too.

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