High Five! from Lawrence & Leigh

Straight from Brooklyn, this week's High Five! is brought to you by Lawrence & Leigh:

1. Enter the Void

Enter the Void is an AWESOME movie! Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about it, because you'll just have to experience it for yourself. The film is visually stunning, very intense, long, and it says something about our time on earth. Tokyo, psychedelics, and the Tibetan Book of the End are major inspirations for this movie, to give you a hint.

2 Ken Nordine's Colors

This is a 1967 jazzy, spoken word album about colors. Each poem is about a minute or two long and it intricately describes one of Nordine's 34 favorite colors, from orange to ecru. Ken Nordine is the master of spoken word—and a hit at any party.

3. Adult Onesie

Who wouldn't want to wear a cozy, fleece/flannel body suit that has rubber dots on the bottom of the feet around this time of year?! The onesie is waaaay more functional than the Snuggie and it is so warm and comfy, it gives a whole new meaning to the words "leisure suit." Toddlers know what's up!

4. San Francisco Burrito

New York might be the "world's capital," but that city doesn't know shit about burritos. We flew back to our native land of California just for the mexican food (oh yeah...and to be with family for the holiday...). Since we arrived, we've literally eaten burritos every other day, in order to reach our maximum burrito potential. Listen, a person's got to do what a person's got to do! What is the best way to eat a deliciously made S.F. burrito, you ask? Curled up in a onesie.

5. Huruki Murakami

What happens when you take an ordinary, thirty-something-year-old Japanese man and place him in extraordinary, fantastical circumstances? The clear fascination of the wildly imaginative author, Huruki Murakami. Murakami uses a basic template in various ways, in various novels, blending the line of reality and fantasy, human and otherworldly, and singular consciousness and universal interconnectedness to such an extent that readers often lose sight of what is real. Our recommendations include: Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (a quick and consuming read) and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (a beautiful novel that will have you savoring all 607 pages).

To celebrate the end of the nine to five, a Green Light Go staff member or artist will leave you with their short list of favorite things, better known as the High Five!

This week's High Five! is brought to you by: Lawrence & Leigh

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Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover Interviews Golden Bloom for Rabid in the Kennel

Revered writer Jack Rabid's hailed magazine, The Big Takeover, just turned 30 (and also relaunched a new website design). That is a milestone these days with the online competition. "Music with Heart," is the magazine's subtitle, and it's one of the reasons Rabid's magazine continues to flourish. Rabid recently interviewed Shawn Fogel of Golden Bloom for Rabid in the Kennel's special show highlighting new and undiscovered bands called Best of the New Breed. The in-studio performance and interview with Golden Bloom can be heard as part of the series on on BreakThru Radio on September 15th.

Rabid In The Kennel is a live performance and interview program, hosted by Jack Rabid and presented on the second Wednesday of every month on BreakThru Radio (BRT). Performances by well-known and emerging artists are recorded live, with no overdubs, at The Kennel Recording Studio in Brooklyn, New York. Click Here to Read More..

Favorite Friday with Naked Hearts: Kings and Queen(s) of Convenience

Brooklyn, fuzz duo Naked Hearts filled us in on a list of albums they have been jazzed about lately. From brand new CDs from Susu to old classics on vinyl like Carole King, they have been listening to grand group of albums. Naked Hearts continue their summer tour joined by two other bands consisting of male/female duos: She Keeps Bees and This Frontier Needs Heroes. That's three women and three men in just three bands. Wicked. Six people in three bands......we have mad mathematical skills here. We sure love our boy/girl bands at GLG.

Naked Hearts' Favorite Albums of the Week



Neil Young, On the Beach
Kings Of Convenience, Declaration of Dependence
Richard and Mimi Farina, Reflections in a Crystal Wind
SUSU, R and R and R
Patti Smith, Horses
The Soft Pack, The Soft Pack
Snoop Dogg, Malice in Wonderland
Carole King, Tapestry
Arto Lindsay, Salt
St.Vincent, Actor

Naked Hearts Tour Dates
Sunday, July 18, Eye Level Art, Charleston, SC
Monday, July 19, Sentient Bean, Savannah, GA
Thursday, July 22, Government Street Grocery, Ocean Springs, MS
Friday, July 23, Magic City Wholesale, Birmingham, AL
Saturday, July 24, JJ's Bohemia, Chattanooga, TN
Sunday, July 25, The Basement - Nashville, Nashville, TN
Tuesday, July 27, Broadway's - 113 Broadway Street Asheville, NC

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Each Friday, hence the name Favorite Friday - one GLG band/artist will send us a list and comments about their "favorites" of the week. It could be a list of albums they are listening to in the van, books they are reading, guilty pleasure TV, and so on. We hope these various "favorites" will give you unique glimpse into the lives of our bands.
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Fan-Tan Hit Detroit and Finish Up in New York

When one of GLG's bands hits Detroit, we are only reminded even more how much we love our jobs. Fan-Tan played to a delicious group of dancing (and some of us, ahem, swaying) crowd at the Majestic Cafe Sunday night. The Brooklyn quartet took the intimate stage after Detroit's own Oblisk and put their sneaky pop groove into our heads and hips.

Detroit's gig was the band's second to last show for their Age of Discovery tour. They will take the long drive home to New York and after taking a breathe, Fan-Tan will play a "welcome back" home-to-New York-gig, show on Tuesday, May 25 at the Mercury Lounge with The Tryptucs, The Hotcakes, and The Flying Chang. The band has said they will play an extra long set, starting off the grooves around 10 p.m.

We're not the only ones into Fan-Tan's slick sound. After listening to EP Age of Discovery, website Oh My Rockness found themselves fans of synth-pop and they didn't even know it.

"We guess we're into totally epic synth pop lately, because Fan-Tan's big and sprawling melodies are hitting us kind of right. Listening to this, we really wish we were in a massive rainstorm and there was a camera shooting down on us from a crane, because then we could outstretch our hands and lift them high to heavens while shouting a roar that's equal parts joy and pain. That's what Fan-Tan makes us want to do."

Flavorpill also highlighted Fan-Tan's upcoming show on their site. It's a late night, coming home to write about a band we all just saw. But that's what makes this job so fan-tan-tastic. Sorry, that's funny to me. Maybe it's because I'm sleep deprived and swayed too much tonight.

photos by shannon mccarthy


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Brooklyn's New Scene

In an engaging and inventive manner, this past April, Samantha Tilipman started a blog about Brooklyn's contemporary music scene. She wanted to dig deeper into the artists, their music and why Brooklyn is such a hub for creativity. She does so interviewing musicians and publicists (like our own Janelle Rogers of Green Light Go) to get to the heart of what continues to make Brooklyn a boiling pot for great music, almost a decade after the initial hype of the "hipster Brooklyn rock" was constantly being toted around.Tilipman states exactly what she intends to do with her blog Brooklyn Beats City Sounds.

"I write with a purpose."

Together we will travel the road to stardom through the eyes of a bubbling music group. We will see what it takes to make–what are the drives, desires, and dreams necessary to become known. Does making it in the New York music industry require talent or connections, a passion for fame or a passion for the art? Who’s involved in the success and who takes credit for it? These are just a few questions I hope to answer."

So far in her travels Tilipman has come across Brooklyn-based Green Light Go artists Naked Hearts and Fan-Tan, who both have new albums out this week. Tilipman interviewed both bands for the blog as well got some insight straight GLG head honcho Janelle Rogers.

Tilipman interviewed Naked Hearts' lead singer Amy Cooper about how the duo got their start and how they landed a high profile piece in Interview Magazine last year, and the band's future as an independent band.

"I hope that we’re able to still continue to make records. The main hope that I have is to be able to tour Europe; we would love to do that. We would just like to live being able to tour four to five times a year, and to plan our lives around tours. We’d record when we’re not touring. I think it’s totally possible. You just really have to keep doing what you want to be doing. There are a lot of ups and downs, and if you really love something, you just continue doing it and things will happen the way they’ll happen. I have faith that you’ll end up doing what you want to do for sure," Cooper told Tilipman.

Like many bands have done in the past decade, Fan-Tan, originally from North Carolina, moved to Brooklyn, in hopes of more support and they seemed to have found in according to their interview on Brooklyn Beats City Sounds. Among other things, Tilipman interviewed singer/guitarist Ryan Lee Dunlap about their transition from North Carolina to Brooklyn.

"It was pretty easy for us. We just moved and started playing shows. We emailed everyone as soon as we got here; it was a lot of calls and stuff. Our first show at the Cake Shop, and it was good. We had a good draw because we knew a lot of people in NYC at the time, so that sort of helped. And once you play one show at a venue you can book another show there later. We just kept doing that and then we went to bigger and bigger venues and started getting established as being able to play wherever we wanted to around the city."

The features on Fan-Tan and Naked Hearts were the direct result of a music industry insider who has seen bands come and go from the Brooklyn "scene," and as Green Light Go's publicist and owner, Janelle Rogers told Tilipman she didn't go out seeking "new: bands from Brooklyn.

"They actually chose me. A lot of my business is through word of mouth. It starts with one community and builds from there. Naked Hearts was the first Brooklyn band that I started working with and I met them from another Portland band that was called Star Fucker at the time [now called Pyramid]. And then the others were just word of mouth from other musicians."

Janelle also gave some great insight into why band's benefit from having a publicist. "From start to finish, we’re public relations because from the beginning we’re trying to help them find their identity. We don’t dictate that, we let them and we work with who they are and find their story within that. It’s targeting the people that we think would like their music. For Naked Hearts, they have their niche; an indie rock fan base that will eat them up and love them. For Fan Tan, because they’re synth-pop, the people that go out dancing on Saturday nights and listen to great retro-Brit-pop, that’s like their lifestyle. We’re playing into those things–how people would already consume the music and find the right writers for them."

Keep an eye on Brooklyn Beats City Sounds as Tilipman is adding new interviews and insights every week.
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Golden Bloom and Wussy Play Spike Hill on April 17th

Talk about all killer, no filler. Golden Bloom will join The Fervor, The Main Drag, The Tryptics and headliners Wussy for an incredible show on Saturday, April 17 at Spike Hill in Brooklyn. Golden Bloom’s non-conformist pop allows leader Shawn Fogel to share the stage with a varying mix of eclectic bands.

Golden Bloom front man, Shawn Fogel, just came off a two-day stint at SXSW as part of the Beatles on Ukulele party. The full live line-up of Golden Bloom will bring their matchless power-pop to the stage, which they will share with Cincinnati, Ohio band Wussy. Wussy, which features former Ass Ponys front man Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, has received gobs of great press from Rolling Stone, Spin, Village Voice and Uncut. Wussy’s noise-pop rallies up with Golden Bloom on Saturday, April 17th for this rousing evening of music.

Saturday, April 17th,
Spike Hill, 184 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$7 at the door
7pm - The Fervor
8pm - Golden Bloom
9pm - The Main Drag
10pm - The Tryptics
11pm - Wussy Click Here to Read More..