video: Wavves at Santos Party House

"The Thing In The Back Of My Brain"

Last Thursday, our boy Ray Concepcion and I headed down to Lafayette St to catch Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, Ganglians and Wavves at Mr. Andrew WK's pad. It was an interesting evening. Lots of kids, speakers, liquor, and, surprisingly, no fights! Ray, who was all over the place that night, covering nook and cranny of Santos, before heading back uptown, captured Wavves blistering set in a short three part mini-movie. Check it below, or head to Ray's Vimeo page to watch that shiz in HD. As you'll notice, it was basically "The Zach Hill Show." No surprise there.

video: Ganglians "Unknown Song"

"Take A Walk In The Park"

Another choice c. axel capture from Ganglians set at the Market Hotel. Not sure what this one is called, think it might be new, either way, it features more killer axe work. Ganglians have a new 7" out on Capture Tracks, a thousand copies, but I heard that its already sold out, most likely to distributors only. Pick that up, "Blood on the Sand" is killer.

video: Ganglians "Never Mind"

"Call Me, Call Me, Call Me"

Hours before the now infamously retarded Wavves vs. Black Lips brawl, vibes were real strong. Beach Fossils opened the night at Market with another stellar set, one that included a first time played song they'd just practiced that afternoon. (Again, no vocal tremolo. Maybe it's gone forever?) Then Ganglians arrived. Prior to their set I talked furry trolls, DMT and "The Void" with lead Ganglian Ryan Grubbs. Soon after that the band launched into a set wrought with the fruits of cave living. As many have noted, the band did not dabble in Monster Head Room territory (much to the dismay of some), however, what they lacked in ethereal jangle, they made up for with tweak ragers, bombastic chants and a epic guitar onslaught. As you can see above, Ganglians have one of the best guitar players around, a dude not afraid to shred. Nice to see in "indie rock."

bobkast #29: A Sunflower Earth

"Some People Chew Gum for Fun"
(hand drawn cover art by cuti ballve)
The humidity is fading like a bad tattoo. The days don't seem to drag all that long. And all of the sudden I keep finding myself reaching for a cardigan. That's right kids, summer is slowly sinking into fall. Fortunately for all you sun seekers, summer ain't going away overnight. Instead, its a prolonged transition, with nights hitting wooly lows and days scorching Umbro highs. It's a bit bi-polar, but in the end it makes sense. One season gives way to another and so on, and so forth. This mix is meant for those days that run the gamut; chilly morning breezes sweep through apartments until giving way to swampy lunch breaks that melt your PB&J making the whole wheat a bit too soggy for premium enjoyment. By nightfall things have calmed down. The wind picks up a little and all of the sudden your reaching for the wool blanket, the one your grandma knit you when you were born. It's a good feeling, ya know, seasons, change, evolving, etc. Of course, if ya don't like it, you can always move to San Diego. They say it's lovely there, but I don't buy it.

I should also note that this is the first Bobkast that will be available in a very limited quantity on cassette tape. Yep, cassette tape, that obsolete medium that the kids can't seem to get enough of. The tape, of which only one will be produced for each Bobkast, comes with handmade art and will be produced and packaged with loving hands at home. To acquire said tape, pictured here, email me your favorite wild flower at mcgregor{AT}me{DOT}com. Contest will be open for one week starting....now.

Bobkast #29: A Sunflower Earth
1. Takeshi Terauchi & the Bunnys- Tsukuba-San
2. Paralyze Humanity Sequence- Hammock
3. Pill Wonder- What We Know
4. Henry Pedro- Midnight Sun
5. Sunnybrook- Big Waving Hands (demo)
6. jj- Are You Still in Vallda?
7. Pure Ecstasy- You're In It Now
8. Alex Bleeker & the Freaks- Prisoner
9. Mountain Man- Animal Tracks
10. The Fresh & Onlys- Arm's Advice
11. Jana Wenderen- Drifts
12. Atlas Sound- Walk the Thin Line (Fleetwood Mac Cover) [over "Drifts"]
13. Taken By Trees- Watch the Waves (Memory Cassette remix)
14. Nancy Sinatra- Sundown Sundown
15. The Olivia Tremor Control- "Various bits " (McG's OTC sound collage)
16. Grateful Dead- New Potato Caboose
17. Julian Lynch- Waiting Music
18. Desolation Wilderness- Boardwalk Theme
19. Galaxie 500- Here She Comes Now
20. Woods- Rain On Radio
21. Liam the Younger- Beneath the Weeping Willow Tree
22. Ganglians- To June
23. White Antelope- Silver Dagger (traditional)
24. Marissa Nadler- Cortez the Killer (Neil Young cover)
25. Kurt Vile- Nicotine Blues (Live on WFMU)

Download Bobkast #29: A Sunflower Earth (direct download)

Bobkast #28: Daydreaming of Topless Sunbathers

"Smoke My Reefer In The Bathroom"
I've lived in a lot of places and all of them have had watering holes. In Connecticut, it was the sound. North Carolina, the creek. New Jersey, the lake. Upstate NY, the rope swing river. Louisiana, the gulf. Wyoming, the Snake River. Yet, despite being an island, NYC just doesn't have any swimming hole worthy waterways.

And so, instead, we head to the roof. Kiddie pools can be purchased at the Polish grocery store near the park. Coolers are hauled up ladders, extension cords thrown like grappling hooks from fire escapes in order to power up the boom box. Unfortunately, we don't have a hose, so we have to fill the kiddie pool with Dixie Cups. Hopefully it won't take more than three hours. Our beach chairs set up, lemonade in hand and feet soaking in the lukewarm kiddie pool water, we doze off into a sea of daydreams...

... The crisp sparkle of the Mediterranean glistening like fresh glaze on a sour cream doughnut. North Africans kicking the football in the sand. A few french girls playing kadima. Thousands of beautiful topless women soaking up the sun. Its just enough to make you forget that you are on a roof in North Greenpoint across the street from a stone importer-exporter and down the block from the glowing blue phosphoressence of the Newtown Creek Water Treatment Facility.

It's not much, but it's all we got.

Bobkast #28: Daydreaming of Topless Sunbathers
1. Marconi Notaro- Oh, Greedy Life
2. Atlas Sound- Walkabout (featuring Noah Lennox)
3. Javelin- Tell Me What It Will Be? (Take Two)
4. WAVVES- Mickey Mouse (demo)
5. Erawan Band- Khan Muangkhan
6. St. Augustin & his Rovers Dance Band- Onwu Ana Dike
7. Os Brazoes- Gotham City
8. Surfs- Ti Ser S Mi Baby
9. Cass McCombs- Dreams Come True Girl (featuring Karen Black)
10. Magic Kids- Hey Boy
11. Fool's Gold- Surprise Hotel
12. Derrick Laro & Trinity- Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
13. DJ Kaod- Love The Night Away (TieDye remix)
14. Major Lazer- Can't Stop Me Now (featuring Mr. Vegas & Jovi Rockwell)
15. Madlib- The Sky (Beyond Sight)
16. Alex Bleeker & the Freaks- Summer Song->Epilogue (Live)
17. Box Elders- Death of Me
18. Beach Fossils- Lazy Day
19. Real Estate- Green River->Suburban Beverage
20. Fresh & Onlys- Peacock & Wing
21. Ganglians- Cryin' Smoke

Download Bobkast #28: Daydreaming of Topless Sunbathers(PC: Right Click + Save As; Mac; option + click)

bobkast #27: Polaroids at the Beach

"Leave The City Behind"
(photo by margaret zyro)
Ok, here's the plan: We're all going to quit our day jobs and shack up at my grandparent's beach house for the summer. (They're old and forgot they have a beach house.) Then we'll get sweet jobs like, Ice Cream Man, Italian Ice Guy, Fish Delivery Dude and Badge Checker Chick. We'll live off grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes. And margaritas. We'll have unlimited ice cream, and freeze pops. You can buy like 500 freezepops at the gas station for like $5. It's sick. We'll just wear Umbro's every day. No shoes. And it won't even matter when you jump into the ocean with your clothes on at 4 in the morning and your cell phone dies, cause, well, it just won't matter. And well ride bikes. It's gonna be so rad.

Boobkast #27: Polaroid's at the Beach


Quiet Village- Victoria's Secret
Real Estate- Beach Comber
Beach Fossils- Vacation
Holiday Shores- Phones Don't Feud
Ganglians- Lost Word
Strawberry Fair- Give Up
Ducktails- Let's Rock The Beach
Juana Molina- No Llama
The Tough Alliance- Hung Up On A Dream (Zombies cover)
The Ruby Suns- Ole Rinka
High Places- From Stardust to Sentence
The Mayfair Set- Desert Fun
Jacuzzi Boys- Island Ave
The Meanest Boys- I Don't
Ms. Tyree "Sugar" Jones- If You Feel It
Rodriquez- Sugar Man
Reefer- Blue Moon
Sore Eros- Whisper Me
tUne-YaRdS- FIYA
Wilson Simonal- Escola em Luto
Sandbar- Fresh Life
Stag Hare- Allah

Download Bobkast #27: Polaroids at the Beach (PC: Right Click + Save As; Mac; option + click)

mp3: Ganglians "The Void"

"Moon Shadow Running Through Your Head"

An eye catcher in the Woodsist store window, Ganglians self titled 12" plays like a product of its album art. Here's my fictional account of the happenings:

Recorded in the dankest, darkest outcove of a Southwestern desert abode, a secret splinter group of renegade shaman's induldge in some ayahuasca, grab a few broken instruments (remnants from former settlers, long since gone after the great cliff massacre of 2009) and take a stab at pop music. The ayahuasca rolls like a venomous twister, swaying thoughts between horrifying and magical, and generating enough electricity to bring cave-paintings to life. "The Void" is the aftermath; hazy and beat-up, introspective and drained, its psycho-active balladry encompasses a thousand trips, here and fro, and a longing for the next.

(removed)