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2010/06/25 Northside Showcase Band Profile: Dream Diary Story time! I have known the lead singer of my final Northside Band, Dream Diary, since he was 19 years old and I was just starting to go out and about in the Lower East Side music scene. Quiet and shy, endearingly sensitive, and incredibly talented, Jacob and I became fast friends after meeting at Arlene's Grocery - I snuck him into bars like Lit and introduced him to ordering vodka tonics instead of sex on the beaches, and his band at the time (Surefire) played my 23rd birthday party. Over the years we have kept in touch as we have both grown up inside and outside of the scene - him receiving great attention and accolades for his insane skills on the bass and playing in bands all over the Brooklyn area and my blog getting one or two more readers here and there. All of this of course leads up to my finding out that Jacob is now fronting his own dreamy wonderful pop band called (appropriately) Dream Diary and my instantly needing to book them to round out my Northside Showcase. Their artfully layered music (fans of Pains of Being Pure at Heart, take note) embodies everything I have always found so lovely about Jacob that I almost can't imagine him making music that sounded like anything else and even the NY Times calls the band promising with "Smith-like" tendencies - high praise in my book. And now we are the end of our story, and the next chapter will unfold tomorrow night (Saturday), at Matchless... Dream Diary - Bird In My Garden Dream Diary play at 11pm. They will also play your prom. Get more info on Northside fest here. Tweet posted by n. @ 6/25/2010 | | # Northside Showcase Band Profile: Shark? What can be said about Shark? that I haven't already said? ? They're awesome, dude. They are playing FIVE Northside shows. Their garage-rock makes me do crazy dances. CRAY-ZAY. Come see this on Saturday. They are looking for monies to fund their first full length album after releasing two bad-ass EPs. You should get on that train. If you have any other questions, I don't know what to tell you. Find your answers: Shark? play at 10pm at Matchless. Fin. Shark - I'm An Animal Tweet posted by n. @ 6/25/2010 | | # 2010/06/24 Northside Fest kicks off tonight! Excellent line-up at Crush Fest What is more awesome than a festival WITHIN a festival? I don't even know. It's like 110 degrees in the shade today but that had better stop no one from getting their fest on tonight all over Williamsburg/Greenpoint. One of the highlights tonight has to be the sick line-up at Crush Fest - two rooms of music to melt your face off if it hasn't already melted from the crazy ass humidity. The line-up also features several I Rock I Roll two-thumbs-way-up favorites including Dinosaur Feathers who worked Cake Shop into a frenzy last week and are going to BLOW UP SO SEE THEM NOWWWWW. And Fang Island who I raved about as my new summer jam + MillionYoung and Iran who are both excellent. Basically go to this show and go hard. MillionYoung - Feel The Same Fang Island - Life Coach Iran - Buddy Dinosaur Feathers - Family Waves Get more Northside Info - INCLUDING deets for the FREE SHUTTLE BUS that is going to make your show hopping infinitely better (I hope). Tweet posted by n. @ 6/24/2010 | | # 2010/06/23 Northside Showcase Band Profile: AKUDAMA ONE DAY, a guava made love to a banana, and an avocado was born. Upon the avocado's first attempt at rolling, it was squashed. With the cracking of its pit came the most magnificent sound, so fiercely exasperating that it caused the banana to kill the guava, make a boat out of it, and sail to America to start a rock band. That banana was Calvin Hunting Pia. While sailing the seven seas, Calvin the banana found his long-lost adopted brother Cayce, the avocado-reincarnate. In the midst of the Bermuda triangle, they came across a guava they could trust by the name of Blake Charleton. When the three made it to shore, they immediately started a veggie fruit-stand rock band called Acucumba, which sounds strikingly similar to "AKUDAMA", for whom this webpage so humbly exists. Above is the bio that Akudama, the second band playing my Northside showcase, put up on their website. This band bio makes me 1. intrigued 2. crave guacamole like nothing else. But mostly the intriguing part. Ever since my friend Andrew of Tally Hall told me about - or more like raved about - this Brooklyn based band I've become more and more enamored with them and what I love is that they know how to keep it interesting. Everything from the unusual band name that doesn't have a Bear, Wolf, Crystal or a Blood in sight to their eclectic musical stylings which combine influences from classical to motown vibes sold me on booking them - not to mention that they spent almost an entire year releasing a NEW ep every single month on their bandcamp page FOR FREE. How cool is that? Check the tunes below and come check out Akudama at 9pm on Saturday - this is a veggie fruit-stand rock band that is going places. Akudama - Love Akudam - Emit Tweet posted by n. @ 6/23/2010 | | # 2010/06/22 Northside Showcase Band Profile: Beloved Rogue Here is the first of four posts about - you guessed it - my Northside showcase this Saturday. I'm super excited to have been included this year and urge you to get a badge and spend the weekend checking out all of the showcases that have been painstakingly put together. The charming guys of the first band on my Northside Showcase and I go back - wayyyy back - to when they were the equally charming members of another Brooklyn-based favorite of mine known as The Walk-Up. Every now and then though, we all get a little older, a little wiser, a little better looking, and our directions and interests no doubt change (the lead singer of The Bravery used to front a ska band and have blonde dread locks, for a reference point here). For The Walk-Up this shift involved scrapping their excellent gritty rock, turning everything inside out, and coming out on the other side embracing everything warm and fuzzy and gloriously shoegaze under the new moniker of Beloved Rogue. And guess what - their music is still as wonderful as ever - maybe even better- and I want you all to know about it and feel the warm fuzzies. Their debut 3 track EP, Polaurora, can be downloaded for free on their website right now and they play at 8pm on Saturday. Beloved Rogue - Daysleeping Tweet posted by n. @ 6/22/2010 | | # My 2010 Northside Showcase! Tweet posted by n. @ 6/22/2010 | | # 2010/06/14 Miracles of Modern Science (MOMS) Residency - Night 2! Ticket Giveaway + MP3s! WOOT! As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a little bit more than stoked to be presenting night deux of Miracles of Modern Science's June residency at Cake Shop THIS THURSDAY (6/17). Not only are they a fantastic band, but the entire line up for this evening is especially sweet - including other IRIR favorites Dinosaur Feathers (who are on the verge of seriously blowing the eff up... stay tuned post-Northside Fest for that action). ALSO I should mention that I will be finally announcing my N-side showcase this week. What a crazy kick off to summer it has been! Last week I went to a bunch of internet week parties for my forreals job, to see how the geekier half live - which was tons of fun but it will be nice to get back to my musical roots in the next couple of weeks. Also, if you are throwing a Northside showcase that you think I'd love to attend and that I can help promote, feel free to email me. Miracles of Modern Science - 524 Dinosaur Feathers - Vendela Vida Ava Luna - Black Diamond I Tidal Arms - Flooded Meadows Prussia - Supreme Being TO WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO THIS SHOW: Email me at irockiroll@gmail.com with MOMS FTW in the subject line and I"ll pick one of you at random to put on the guest list. YAY Tweet posted by n. @ 6/14/2010 | | #

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