Crazytown

I GOT A NEW TOY!

What I will (and will not) be using my shiny new bass for this week.
By Eric Day (Bassist, Composer, Etc.)

Despite the fact that I've been playing bass guitar for about 18 years now, I've never actually owned a brand spakin' new bass of my own...until yesterday!  I've had plenty of cool instruments over the years, but I've always bought used stuff.  Woohoo, I'm still giddy from the purchase of this beauty: a cobalt blue Fender Deluxe Jaguar Bass!

I played just about every Fender bass for sale in NYC over the last two months and finally found and fell in love with this one.  I even had a chance to test it out last night at a rehearsal for this awesome band I've been playing with lately, Sky Pony.  It sounded sick!  Check this pic from our show at the Knitting Factory last month to get a sense of the pagaentry.

"L'ARTISTE" REMPORTE LE PRIX DU MEILLEUR FILM!!!

How a little French movie with no speaking relates to YOU.
By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Etc.) 

My wife and I saw The Artist yesterday at the (adoreable) Paris Theatre in anticipation of it cleaning house at the Oscars.  While I found it a bit exhausting, I was generally swept-up in the experience and definitely think it deserved the accolades it got last night.  And not just because that (Best Actor-winning) French dude looks like Hank Azaria in Dodgeball.

I particularly loved the (Oscar-winning) music, and it got me thinking...how cool would it be to see this movie screened with a live orchestra!?  Well it turns out I'm not the first person to think of that, so hopefully the tour will come through NYC!  One google led to another, and I eventually came upon this awesome piece over at Smithsonian Magazine about the fight the American Federation of Musicians (of which I am a proud member) put up at the very turn in cinematic history depicted by this year's Best Picture, when live orchestras at movie theaters were made obsolete virtually overnight.

After the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, all bets were off for live musicians who played in movie theaters. Thanks to synchronized sound, the use of live musicians was unnecessary — and perhaps a larger sin, old-fashioned. In 1930 the American Federation of Musicians formed a new organization called the Music Defense League and launched a scathing ad campaign to fight the advance of this terrible menace known as recorded sound.

HELPLESSNESS BLUES

By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Etc.)

I've got a crazy busy summer ahead, so this will be my last Crazytown post for a while as I try to free up some head-space to focus on some new and exciting projects!  (For some of my recent exploits, check this interview I did for NYCBass last week!) It's been real, Town of Crazy, thanks to my buddy RSO for including me!  

As a farewell, I thought I'd share a simply gorgeous song, "Helplessness Blues," by one of my favorite bands out there right now, Fleet Foxes, from their excellent new album of the same name.  Do yourself a favor and take 5:04 out of your day to put on some great headphones and listen to this straight through.  It starts out with this very direct and elegant intro that draws you right in, quickly progresses to a rhythmic Simon and Garfunkel-ian guitar groove, and then about halfway through just explodes into a broad and pastoral almost-Copland-esque ride-out with rich warm harmonies to match the season.  

Enjoy, and have a fun and productive summer!

 

 

"JESUS DIED FOR SOMEBODY'S SINS, BUT NOT MINE"

Spending some time with Patti Smith, the proto-punk poet/artiste-extraordinaire.
By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Etc.)

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Patti Smith's excellent autobiography, "Just Kids," and I'm finding it pretty freaking inspiring.  Although the gritty NYC of the late '60s and 70's in which she came-of-age barely resembles modern New York, I think a lot of us can relate to her restless artistic soul, and the way she leaned on her peers and collaborators for support and inspiration as she found her singular voice.  Do yourselves a favor and spend some time with her mind blowing debut album, "Horses," and read this book this summer.  Then look around and think about all the amazing writers, musicians, photographers, and actors you know, and let yourself be inspired.  It's got me thinking: in some ways, isn't Crazytown our own 21st century digital Chelsea Hotel?  

Check this condensed live version of her 9+ minute masterpiece "Land" from her aforementioned breakthrough record.  0:35-1:30 is pretty much rock and roll bliss in my book.

 

 
photo by Robert Mapplethorpe

BROADWAY'S NOT JUST FOR GAYS ANYMORE!

By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Etc.)

In case you missed it, here's the killer opening number from the Tony's on Sunday!

 

Music and Lyrics by Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum!

Also, at the end of the broadcast, check out NPH doing his best Lin-Manuel Miranda impression:

 

Get it, Doogie!

 
Bonus: cool Playbill video of Lin-Manuel writing the rap backstage!

SAUSAGE FEST!

Trying to digest Weinergate.
By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Etc.)

This whole Anthony Weiner scandal just slays me.  Yeah, I feel bad for his family, and sure, it sucks that he (unconvincingly) covered it up for a few days, but come on, the guy's name is Weiner!  This is pure comedy!  In case you've been living under a rock for the last week, here's the original pic that surfaced in all its awkwardness.  At first, he wasn't able to say "with certitude" that it was NOT a picture of his...representative.

 
It's as if Laura Bush were tweeting pictures of trimming her hedges!  It's as if Daniel Radcliffe were in a Broadway play where he had to show off his Hairy Potter!  It's as if Rick Santorum...OK, I won't go there, this is a family-friendly blog.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, google his last name at your own risk.

Gotta give the guy props for this kinda heart-breaking confessional, though.

 
In honor of the besmirched Congressman from New York, I would like to offer-up my personal favorite wieners, or as my boy Tony Bourdain likes to call them, Meat In Tube-Form:

GRAND RAPIDS, BABY!

By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Proud Michigander)

As an amazing response to this fucking ridiculous Newsweek article about "America's Dying Cities," resourceful communty organizer wunderkind Rob Bliss directed an epic city-wide LipDub video event for Grand Rapids, MI, which was crowned as #10 on the list.  Hailing from the other side of the Mitten State, I and my fellow Detroit-area friends are no strangers to having our city shat-upon by national media (Detroit came in at #7).  But this poorly written, under-elaborated, Top Ten-style list feels especially like a cheap shot to the ball bearings. 

 
This video is a great example of that Midwestern pluck that I didn't truly appreciate until I moved to the supposed-to-be-classier East Coast.  It is well-worth the 9+ minutes, is full of delightful suprises, and is guaranteed to warm your heart.  I recommend drinking a Founders Centennial IPA while watching.  Get it, G-Rap!

 

MY SINGLE IS DROPPING!

By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Hitmaker)

OK folks, here it is!  I talked a big game last month about making a good-faith effort at creating a (mostly) unironic pop song, and I am excited to share the result!  I enlisted one of my best friends from high school, Lynnette Li, and she was kind enough to lend her silky-smooth vocal talents to this catchy little tune, Supes Excited.

 
Will this blow up Becky Black-style and bring us fame and fortune that would no doubt come in handy in our (perpetually) emerging-artist lives?  Hopefully!  If you like it, please "like" it, buy it for a mere $.99 over at iTunes or other similar places (hopefully it's up by now!), and pass it on to any tweens you know, b/c I think they might kinda dig it.  And if you're a songwriter, give it a shot!  It was actually really fun to write and produce a sincere pop effort, and it was a hell-of-a-lot more fun than playing the lottery!  Which is saying a lot, b/c I think playing the lottery is pretty fun!

I am co-posting this on my other blog, ZILWAUKEE, where I combine all-over-the-map weekly-ish music projects with quirky video clips; the official Supes Excited video below is done in the ZILWAUKEE-style.  Enjoy! 

 

I'M ON A BOAT!

By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Man of Leisure)

For a week starting this Saturday, I will be basking in the glorious tropical sunshine of the Caribbean, drinking spiced rum, and, I don't know, looking for that lost shaker of salt, or something?  That's right, my wife Lori and I are visiting our friend Tara Siesener, who is starring in HAIRSPRAY on Royal Carib's "Oasis of the Seas!"  Bahamas?  St. Thomas?  St. Maarten?  Yes pls.  This is my first cruise ever, so I'll report back in two weeks as to any episodes of sunburn, heat stroke, seasickness, hurricane, or mutiny.  Any suggestions on fabulous things to check out in these locales? 

Meanwhile, some cruising music!

 

 

  
Teaser!

Assuming I can finish it up in time to schedule it, next week I'll be posting my follow-up to my pop songwriting challenge from a few weeks back.  Fire up!  Any help in making it a viral hit before I return from the high seas would be greatly appreciated, thx! 

CRAZYTOWN COLLABO-WEEK!

By Eric Day (Composer, Bassist, Collaborateur)

The dreamy Brett Ryback posted this yesterday, but as a reminder, come check out his night of songs at the Duplex tonight at 7pm!  I'm playing bass!

 
Monday Funday was also a big night for out-and-about Crazytowners!  I played bass for Rated RSO: College Edition at Joe's Pub, and had the pleasure of shooting the proverbial shit with a certain Unrelenting Money, a certain Brightmonster, and a certain tortoiseshelled Geoffrey Kidwell.  Whiskey was consumed.  Don't worry, RSO, we didn't buy any drinks for your Pace students!

 
(photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia)
As much as I love the internet, it's always nice to have some real human interaction occasionally!  Let's do it again, Townies!