Prior to the trip I had done a fair bit of research about Berlin. I knew that I would only have a couple of days to explore it's charms and I didn't want to waste it bumbling around the lame parts of town and tourist attractions (as I had done in Paris 5 years ago...I didn't find the cool neighborhood until my last night). So, I had taken a survey of people who had been to Berlin before, people who's opinion I respected and who I thought could give me the inside scoop.
Most of my responders had pointed out Kruizberg as a cool part of town. Kruizberg was fairly easy to identify on our tourist map as it occupied most of the south east corner of the city proper. Anand and I both being avid walkers and we had come prepared for the snow and cold, so we decided to simply walk from Check Point Charlie down to the hood. We walked....and we walked...and we walked...and yet we seemed to be constantly walking under highways and around industrial complexes...there were no cool bars and restaurants...there weren't even any bars and restaurants and my fears that maybe Berlin was not as cool as I was lead to believe became even more solid.
Finally, we broke down and asked a man in a coffee shop (one of the first things we came upon) if there were any bars and restaurants we could hit up in the area. He pointed us to take a left and head down two blocks...and with that we found Kruizberg center. Apparently we had managed to walk about half way around the circumference of the neighborhood without ever actually entering it. But a brief walk around showed us more or less what we were looking for. It had elements of the East Village and Williamsburg here in NYC, but with it's own East German touches. There were a surprising number of ethnic (non-German) restaurants to be viewed, including, somewhat unexpectedly 3-4 Mexican places...but we can always get that at home. We ended up getting kabobs and giant beers at a Turkish place, finally getting some "lunch" at 4 in the afternoon.
It must be said that you can buy a beer anywhere in Germany. You can buy a beer at Dunkin Donuts. It honestly would not surprise me if beer was available at your local dentist office. You probably can get a beer at church...and a giant stein at that.
Once we finished our lamb and giant beers the sun had set, and we were ready to see what the neighborhood had to offer.
Another version of Arpeggi (Weird Fishes) from the pre-In Rainbows tour.
Showing posts with label Radiohead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Radiohead. Show all posts
Monday, March 2, 2009
Arpeggi - Radiohead - Live in London 6 19 2006 - 2006
We landed in Berlin at 830 AM (that's 130 AM NYC Time) and I was groggy as fuck. To make matters more interesting, not only was snow falling on the city, but there were already 4-5 inches on the ground. We took a shuttle bus back to our Hotel in The Alexanderplatz. Fortunately they let us check in when we arrived, so that we could go take a brief nap and shower before heading off on our adventures.
The Alexanderplatz seems to be a big shopping district on the old East Berlin side of town, and while there were certainly some decent stores and restaurants over there, my initial reaction to the city was that perhaps the rumors that I'd heard of it being a great town with an active underground art and music scene were a bit overstated...but I would soon learn that, not unlike NYC, it's all about the neighborhood that you are in.
Our first stop was the remainder of the Berlin wall. There is a small museum there called Check Point Charlie, to commemorate the milatary station where well supervised traffic was allowed to move between the sides of The Iron Curtain, but most people had told me that it was a waste of time and judging by the brief glimpse I saw through the door, I agree. There is a small section of the actual wall about 1 block long that we did view...it's covered in graffiti and fliers, but it still gives a sense of what used to be.
Incidentally, my favorite flier on the wall was the poster for the Romone's Museum.
Next Stop, Kruizberg.
This is an early live version of the song that would eventually become Wierd Fishes/Arpeggi. Most of the elements are already in place and it's still a great song.
The Alexanderplatz seems to be a big shopping district on the old East Berlin side of town, and while there were certainly some decent stores and restaurants over there, my initial reaction to the city was that perhaps the rumors that I'd heard of it being a great town with an active underground art and music scene were a bit overstated...but I would soon learn that, not unlike NYC, it's all about the neighborhood that you are in.
Our first stop was the remainder of the Berlin wall. There is a small museum there called Check Point Charlie, to commemorate the milatary station where well supervised traffic was allowed to move between the sides of The Iron Curtain, but most people had told me that it was a waste of time and judging by the brief glimpse I saw through the door, I agree. There is a small section of the actual wall about 1 block long that we did view...it's covered in graffiti and fliers, but it still gives a sense of what used to be.
Incidentally, my favorite flier on the wall was the poster for the Romone's Museum.
Next Stop, Kruizberg.
This is an early live version of the song that would eventually become Wierd Fishes/Arpeggi. Most of the elements are already in place and it's still a great song.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Anyone Can Play Guitar - Radiohead - Pablo Honey - 1993
Taking a half day from work today for my buddy Anand's birthday. In less than an hour I will be eating ribs, getting my drink on, and then heading out to watch Arsenal (hopefully) whip Tottenham today.
Pablo Honey continues to hold an odd place in the Radiohead Canon. It's not that it's a bad album, in fact there are probably more good songs than bad or indifferent, it's just that it can't escape what it is. Riding the wave of Nirvana (though the band will deny it) they were really the first band on the Alternative Nation bandwagon. Creep, with it's atonal touches and alienated lyrics, seemed like a perfect follow up to Smell's Like Teen Spirit (Incidentally, I saw Teen Spirit Deodarant in the deli downstairs this AM...didn't even know they still made it and can't believe they stuck with that name). The album shamelessly bleeds their Pixies influence, and it is unapologeticaly catchy (a quality that would seem like a sin to the band for a good while). But still you can't dismiss it.
First of all, it proves that a band can escape the chains of being a one hit wonder. Tons and tons of bands got consigned to the dollar bin after breaking a Nirvana clone hit, but a very select few, with Radiohead at the forefront, went on to do genuinely good work...and that has to give people hope.
Beyond that, too many of the songs, trapped in the amber of the early 90's as they are, are just enjoyable. They may not have the timeless quality of a Street Spirit or Karma Police...they are undeniably part of the Alterna-revolution, but they still have the bits of talent the band would put to better use down the road. This song is no exception. You can certainly hear Thom's smirk in full effect in the way he says "Jim Morrison" or through the general sense of derision that permeates the song. You can hear Johnny already experimenting with sound and frustrated by the limits of the guitar. And you can hear the band as a whole showing off their love of a good soundscape in the opening bits.
Sure, it's not the "Art" they would later produce, but it's still worth a listen.
Pablo Honey continues to hold an odd place in the Radiohead Canon. It's not that it's a bad album, in fact there are probably more good songs than bad or indifferent, it's just that it can't escape what it is. Riding the wave of Nirvana (though the band will deny it) they were really the first band on the Alternative Nation bandwagon. Creep, with it's atonal touches and alienated lyrics, seemed like a perfect follow up to Smell's Like Teen Spirit (Incidentally, I saw Teen Spirit Deodarant in the deli downstairs this AM...didn't even know they still made it and can't believe they stuck with that name). The album shamelessly bleeds their Pixies influence, and it is unapologeticaly catchy (a quality that would seem like a sin to the band for a good while). But still you can't dismiss it.
First of all, it proves that a band can escape the chains of being a one hit wonder. Tons and tons of bands got consigned to the dollar bin after breaking a Nirvana clone hit, but a very select few, with Radiohead at the forefront, went on to do genuinely good work...and that has to give people hope.
Beyond that, too many of the songs, trapped in the amber of the early 90's as they are, are just enjoyable. They may not have the timeless quality of a Street Spirit or Karma Police...they are undeniably part of the Alterna-revolution, but they still have the bits of talent the band would put to better use down the road. This song is no exception. You can certainly hear Thom's smirk in full effect in the way he says "Jim Morrison" or through the general sense of derision that permeates the song. You can hear Johnny already experimenting with sound and frustrated by the limits of the guitar. And you can hear the band as a whole showing off their love of a good soundscape in the opening bits.
Sure, it's not the "Art" they would later produce, but it's still worth a listen.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
And The Cradle Will Rock - Van Halen - Women and Children First - 1980
Ok, so I mentioned the wait in line for the ID in order to drink...but I didn't even get to the biggest indignity of the day. The beer pens.
So, after you waited your 45 minutes for a beer...you had to stay in an enclosed area about 25 feet by 15 feet in the grass. You could not take your beer out to the show. You were also limited to 5 beers and they stopped serving at 830. To enforce this they had a ridiculous system...a purple x was drawn on your left hand in permanent marker. Then you were given a plastic wrist band with 5 plastic pull tabs. Each time you bought a drink a tab was pulled from the bracelet.
Basically, this sets off all of my alarm bells at once. First of all, there's the simple practical matter of having to sit in a confined pen to drink my beer, when I'm at an outdoor festival. Second of all, there is the moral principle of the thing. This is clearly designed to try to curb underage drinking...and nothing infuriates me more than things done for "the protection of the children". The world exists for adults...children should be toughened up for the world not protected from it, and adults should not be made to curtail their lives for the sake of the children. Beyond that, we are kidding ourselves if we think silly activities like this are actually going to curb underage drinking...and we are sucking all the fun out of childhood too. What the hell else are you supposed to do when you are 16 at an outdoor concert in August, you are going to sneak beer...that's what you do! And finally, kids these days don't even drink that much...they just steal the prescription drugs out of your medicine cabinets and snort them. The attitude that kids were pure and innocent and only corrupted by our society is one of the reasons I had to get the fuck out of the midwest...and to have it occur here in NYC (ok, Jersey, but barely) really infuriates me.
I'll give you a for instance of the kind thing that sets me off. I'm sitting in the beer pen drinking a couple beers and I bum one of Anand's cigarettes. Sitting next to us is a woman in her mid-late twenties reading a book. She immediately starts covering her nose and exaggerating a cough. Seriously! First of all, honey, go do your fucking homework somewhere besides the beer pen. Second of all, it's THE BEER PEN...it's bad enough I have to be locked in here drinking, you could at least not take up space READING. And third of all, when you are in the only place in the park where you can legally do anything even slightly unsavory...maybe you can cut me some slack on having a cigarette. Ugggghhhhh.
You know who'd really hate the beer pen policy? David Lee Roth, that's who. The Cradle Will Rock indeed, Diamond Dave. Rock on!
So, after you waited your 45 minutes for a beer...you had to stay in an enclosed area about 25 feet by 15 feet in the grass. You could not take your beer out to the show. You were also limited to 5 beers and they stopped serving at 830. To enforce this they had a ridiculous system...a purple x was drawn on your left hand in permanent marker. Then you were given a plastic wrist band with 5 plastic pull tabs. Each time you bought a drink a tab was pulled from the bracelet.
Basically, this sets off all of my alarm bells at once. First of all, there's the simple practical matter of having to sit in a confined pen to drink my beer, when I'm at an outdoor festival. Second of all, there is the moral principle of the thing. This is clearly designed to try to curb underage drinking...and nothing infuriates me more than things done for "the protection of the children". The world exists for adults...children should be toughened up for the world not protected from it, and adults should not be made to curtail their lives for the sake of the children. Beyond that, we are kidding ourselves if we think silly activities like this are actually going to curb underage drinking...and we are sucking all the fun out of childhood too. What the hell else are you supposed to do when you are 16 at an outdoor concert in August, you are going to sneak beer...that's what you do! And finally, kids these days don't even drink that much...they just steal the prescription drugs out of your medicine cabinets and snort them. The attitude that kids were pure and innocent and only corrupted by our society is one of the reasons I had to get the fuck out of the midwest...and to have it occur here in NYC (ok, Jersey, but barely) really infuriates me.
I'll give you a for instance of the kind thing that sets me off. I'm sitting in the beer pen drinking a couple beers and I bum one of Anand's cigarettes. Sitting next to us is a woman in her mid-late twenties reading a book. She immediately starts covering her nose and exaggerating a cough. Seriously! First of all, honey, go do your fucking homework somewhere besides the beer pen. Second of all, it's THE BEER PEN...it's bad enough I have to be locked in here drinking, you could at least not take up space READING. And third of all, when you are in the only place in the park where you can legally do anything even slightly unsavory...maybe you can cut me some slack on having a cigarette. Ugggghhhhh.
You know who'd really hate the beer pen policy? David Lee Roth, that's who. The Cradle Will Rock indeed, Diamond Dave. Rock on!
Monday, August 11, 2008
And Someone With Strengths - Wheat - Hope and Adams - 1999
So I went to the Saturday show of All Points West at Liberty State Park this past weekend to see my boys Radiohead play. This is the first of many posts, I'll probably spend ranting/raving about this show...but let's start with my biggest statement...which I'd like to state, has nothing to do with the performance of the bands....Jesus Christ did that fucking suck!
Okay, so my buddy Anand and I met up in the early afternoon to do a little pre-gaming and then head out towards Jersey. We had bought our $25 ferry tickets in advance, so we assumed the wait wouldn't be that bad...but when half the city of NYC wants to get out to a little park in Jersey...you are going to wait for a ferry. So first line I waited in, 1 hour.
Then you get to Jersey and you gotta walk a pretty good distance to get to the concert area...where security thoroughly pats you down. And when I say "security" I mean whatever Jersey crackheads they could find willing to pat you down and yell at you if they find anything...of course there were very authoritative looking state troopers around to enforce the decisions of the power mad crackheads. Second line I waited in 1.5 hours.
THEN you had to wait in line to get your ID bracelet to buy booze. Time spent waiting in this line 45 minutes.
Time spent waiting in lines for port-a-potties 1 hour.
Then of course, the line to get back ON the ferries to go home at the end of the night 1 hour, 15 minutes.
So time spent waiting in lines on Saturday: 5.5 hours. Time spent seeing my favorite band...about 2 hours. Something of a trade off I must say.
Wheat are kind of an Irish Wilco, depending on what way that sways your opinion, judge this song accordingly.
Okay, so my buddy Anand and I met up in the early afternoon to do a little pre-gaming and then head out towards Jersey. We had bought our $25 ferry tickets in advance, so we assumed the wait wouldn't be that bad...but when half the city of NYC wants to get out to a little park in Jersey...you are going to wait for a ferry. So first line I waited in, 1 hour.
Then you get to Jersey and you gotta walk a pretty good distance to get to the concert area...where security thoroughly pats you down. And when I say "security" I mean whatever Jersey crackheads they could find willing to pat you down and yell at you if they find anything...of course there were very authoritative looking state troopers around to enforce the decisions of the power mad crackheads. Second line I waited in 1.5 hours.
THEN you had to wait in line to get your ID bracelet to buy booze. Time spent waiting in this line 45 minutes.
Time spent waiting in lines for port-a-potties 1 hour.
Then of course, the line to get back ON the ferries to go home at the end of the night 1 hour, 15 minutes.
So time spent waiting in lines on Saturday: 5.5 hours. Time spent seeing my favorite band...about 2 hours. Something of a trade off I must say.
Wheat are kind of an Irish Wilco, depending on what way that sways your opinion, judge this song accordingly.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
All I Need - Radiohead - Radiohead at the BBC - 2008
One of the joys of being a Radiohead fanatic (at least for me) lies in listening to the way they recreate their dense studio atmospherics in a live setting. If you download this or whatever, be sure to notice the cool rumbling distortion underlying most of the song.
All I Need - Radiohead - In Rainbows - 2007
My office is right outside of the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, so I just got to witness one of the protest to the Sean Bell verdict. A throng of protestors stood and blocked the entrance preventing commuters from getting to Jersey...if I wanted to be especially snarky, I would ask "exactly how is this a bad thing?" But more to the point...we are a nation founded on violent protest. The American Revolution was essientially a 6 year protest against unjust laws (and those were mostly just TAX laws) but we've become increasingly intolerant of protests in our modern country. Anti-war demonstrations are written off as "dumb hippies" and these kind of protests are written off as a "racial issue". The response to this protest today, was a lot of honked horns, and a bunch of people being shoved into police vans. My co-workers response "Damn, it would suck to have to go into the tunnel today". If actual change through beauracracy is rendered impossible and protest is rendered a pointless act of futility, what recourse do the wronged have?
Anyway, I'm sure Thom Yorke would agree. Odd that they re-used the intro from "Where I End and You Begin" again...but otherwise this is another lovely song on the surprisingly tender In Rainbows.
Anyway, I'm sure Thom Yorke would agree. Odd that they re-used the intro from "Where I End and You Begin" again...but otherwise this is another lovely song on the surprisingly tender In Rainbows.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Airbag - Radiohead - Live at the BBC, April 1st 2008 - 2008
I can't remember who said this, but I remember reading an interview with someone who stated that in order to be truly great, every band needs a member who kinda sucks...or else they end up sounding like Rush. This is the Ringo Starr theory, if you will. In Radiohead, this member is Ed O'Brien. And for this reason, and many others, Ed is my favorite member of the band.
First of all, at 6 foot 4, Ed towers over the rest of the band. Seeing him and Thom standing next to each other is rather like a scene from Lord of the Rings. Also, Ed is almost always stoned. There are a few songs in which he does not have a part to play...you can generally see him off to the side of the stage smoking up during these songs. Ed is the only one who seems to really enjoy being a rock star, and the most willing to take the piss out of Thom. But beyond this, Ed's limited technical skills have actually forced him to become one of the more interesting players in the band. Basically, he plays effects pedals. Only on the older songs (or the throw backs like Go TO Sleep) do you see him playing a traditional second guitar player's role...most of the time he just makes weird noises.
Airbag is a great example of "What Does Ed Do Exactly" (my favorite game to play at a Radiohead show)...he is the guitar line that comes in at about the 10 second mark...neither that monster riff of Johnny's, nor Thom's crunching rhythm part, but the tinkling little, The Edge inspired bit that comes in underneath it all. Additionally, you get Ed's capable background vocals on the "Woah-oh-oh" part at the end...well, on live versions, Thom usually over dubs him in the studio...
Yes. I do realize I'm a giant nerd.
First of all, at 6 foot 4, Ed towers over the rest of the band. Seeing him and Thom standing next to each other is rather like a scene from Lord of the Rings. Also, Ed is almost always stoned. There are a few songs in which he does not have a part to play...you can generally see him off to the side of the stage smoking up during these songs. Ed is the only one who seems to really enjoy being a rock star, and the most willing to take the piss out of Thom. But beyond this, Ed's limited technical skills have actually forced him to become one of the more interesting players in the band. Basically, he plays effects pedals. Only on the older songs (or the throw backs like Go TO Sleep) do you see him playing a traditional second guitar player's role...most of the time he just makes weird noises.
Airbag is a great example of "What Does Ed Do Exactly" (my favorite game to play at a Radiohead show)...he is the guitar line that comes in at about the 10 second mark...neither that monster riff of Johnny's, nor Thom's crunching rhythm part, but the tinkling little, The Edge inspired bit that comes in underneath it all. Additionally, you get Ed's capable background vocals on the "Woah-oh-oh" part at the end...well, on live versions, Thom usually over dubs him in the studio...
Yes. I do realize I'm a giant nerd.
Airbag - Radiohead - OK Computer - 1997
Well...shit...what the fuck do I say about Airbag. When I started this project, I assumed I would have plenty of things to say about each and every Radiohead song...but now that I'm faced with it...I'm like an ape before the monolith.
Alright, if you haven't picked up on this yet, I'm part of the legion of Radiohead obsessives. And this is my favorite album of theirs, and in my not even slightly humble opinion the best album of the 90's. And like any great album it needs to come roaring out of the gates, and Johnny's steam roller of a guitar riff just about does that on it's own.
Also, incidentally, I have had 4 serious car accidents in my youth (I drove way to fast when i was a kid)...the last one saw me flip my dad's car into a telephone poll...when the wreck was done I could reach my hand into the back seat and touch the telephone poll right behind my head. Having come away with nothing but a broken rib and some cuts from broken glass, I was a lucky guy...and I knew exactly what Thom meant..."My god, I cheated death...I am ready to take on the world!!!" Crazy stuff...
Alright, if you haven't picked up on this yet, I'm part of the legion of Radiohead obsessives. And this is my favorite album of theirs, and in my not even slightly humble opinion the best album of the 90's. And like any great album it needs to come roaring out of the gates, and Johnny's steam roller of a guitar riff just about does that on it's own.
Also, incidentally, I have had 4 serious car accidents in my youth (I drove way to fast when i was a kid)...the last one saw me flip my dad's car into a telephone poll...when the wreck was done I could reach my hand into the back seat and touch the telephone poll right behind my head. Having come away with nothing but a broken rib and some cuts from broken glass, I was a lucky guy...and I knew exactly what Thom meant..."My god, I cheated death...I am ready to take on the world!!!" Crazy stuff...
Airbag - Doveman - Stereogum Presents OKY: A Tribute to OK Computer - 2007
I downloaded this album out of curiosity, but without much hope for the possibility of a bunch of Stereogum-y artists ability to recreate my favorite album (yes, I'm that cliche). Happily, more than a few of the songs actually work...this one however, not so much.
They've slowed it way down and made it delicate. The guitar has been replaced by a tinkling piano line, the vocals are whispered, the drums, brushed...it's not bad per se...just boring.
They've slowed it way down and made it delicate. The guitar has been replaced by a tinkling piano line, the vocals are whispered, the drums, brushed...it's not bad per se...just boring.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
