Mixtape II: NYC MIX.....

As promised, i've put together a mixtape from my trip to New York. Across the blogosphere, you'll find many such compilations (great example here). My NYC MIX is a bona fide 2-sider that will fit on one disc for your easy burning pleasure.

Side A consists of the best from a playlist i've had running for a while. Easy but essential selections that mention the city directly span from Harlem to Chelsea and capture that classic New York inspiration.

Conor Oberst's tune (also posted here) leads off with a driving ferocity too perfect to leave out. The beautiful Joe Purdy song that follows hits upon many familiar notions, and a bluesy groove from The Black Keys adds gritty texture. Three songs pay tribute to certain New York women, of whom there are plenty. Just try not to groove to Chelsea Dagger. Most songs are fairly recent examples save for a rare Whiskeytown track and one from Simon & Garfunkel. i first heard The Only Living Boy In New York on the Garden State Soundtrack - one that i've been meaning to do a complete feature on.

Finishing off Side A is a 9 min+ jam version of Ryan's ever evolving New York, New York. i listened to several live versions in preparation for this post and found that the song has expertly changed form throughout its relatively short tenure. The Gold-type version, simple and effective, still gets played live on occasion, but in 2005 The Cardinals displayed the jam version in The Loft Sessions. The edition on NYC MIX is from The Tennessee Theatre in May of '05 and is nothing short of epic. Make sure to listen to minutes 4-7 intently. The song deserves more attention in an Evolution post.

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The mix changes direction at the turn. Side B is filled with tunes that i heard while in the city - some on in-store radios, some from pub jukeboxes, and a few from my own iPod.

It's fitting that Spoon should lead the charge as Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga had just been released on my last trip to the city, and promotional posters were plastered on every inch of free ad space. The song i heard in Mr. Dennehys's, I Turn My Camera On, is from the band's 2005 release, but is equally apropos since most of what i did while in New York was turn my camera on. Check out some photos.

One of a couple new songs heard, Sea Wolf's You're A Wolf was the first to be added to this half of the mix. As soon as our arrival flight touched down, the song came across the plane's speakers. Thanks to the magic of Google, jotting down a few specific lines turned up the song and The Hype Machine provided the file. Sea Wolf will be getting some much deserved research in the coming weeks.

Me & Jiggs and Such Great Heights both played through the Starbucks in-store player and were quickly added to the playlist. Cat Empire provides some horn-blowing levity with Hello. Indie-rock dominates the second side with some great songs from Maximo Park, The Killers, and The Kooks. The title track from The Raconteurs' latest album pretty-well sums up my excursion as well as some resulting sentiments from another successful trip to New York.

Enjoy.

Side A:
1. NYC - Gone, Gone ~ Conor Oberst
2. The City ~ Joe Purdy
3. Brooklyn Bound - The Black Keys
4. NYCG ~ Cross Canadian Ragweed
5. Chelsea Dagger ~ The Fratellis
6. New York Angel ~ Whiskeytown
7. Broadway ~ Old 97's
8. Back Home To Harlem ~ The Rosewood Thieves
9. O City! ~ Jayber Crow
10. The Only Living Boy In New York ~ Simon & Garfunkel
11. New York, New York (Jam Version) ~ Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

Side B:
1. I Turn My Camera On ~ Spoon
2. You're A Wolf ~ Sea Wolf
3. Me & Jiggs ~ Josh Ritter
4. Such Great Heights ~ The Postal Service
5. Hello ~ Cat Empire
6. Apply Some Pressure ~ Maximo Park
7. All These Things That I've Done ~ The Killers
8. Always Where I Need To Be ~ The Kooks
9. Consoler of the Lonely ~ The Raconteurs

Download NYC MIX (zip)

Super Photo Post: NYC

A near complete recovery from The City has been made. One piece of luggage seems to still elude the fine folks at both Delta and Continental. Never switch airlines/airports after you check baggage. Our luggage was purportedly cargoed by Delta, but strangely the claim must be filed with the airline that transported you. And i've recently found out that the claim/reimbursement process is much like microbiology.

But prior to Monday evening, NYC did me well. Great weather - a little chilly 35-45, but it was very refreshing. We don't necessarily have bundle-up weather here, and therefore winter attire is a welcome change. i've done the touristy thing before, so i spent most of my trip in and around the West Village where my sister lives. Greenwich Village is an oasis of civility in an otherwise commercial and dizzying metropolis. As it was in the 60's when Dave Van Ronk was the unofficial Mayor of MacDougal Street and Dylan was playing for change in a hat, The Village is brimming with eclectic culture and more importantly, record stores.

As expected, many pictures were taken. Sunshine through Saturday supplied good skies, and the rain that came Sunday made for good night shots. After sorting through hundreds of photos, a few keepers were found:

Stay tuned for my second mixtape - NYC MIX - coming tomorrow... time permitting.
Meanwhile check out Mixtape I: Surviving Ike.

Stuck Inside of Queens with the Travelin' Blues Again...

We've all heard about holiday travel nightmares around Thanksgiving, and i'm currently in the midst of one. It started as innocent as increased traffic on Queens Boulevard on the way to my 7:20 pm flight out of JFK, but just 2 minutes ago, i witnessed LaGuardia Airport Security performing a bum sweep in the sitting area i am holed up in for the night.

Apparently you're not allowed to sleep in airports? Luckily i was busy beginning this post when the fuzz came through. Everyone asleep in this area was rudely awoken, and one woman that didn't look to be homeless was escorted out. i need a red bull.

If you noticed, i mentioned two different airports. Let's just say my travel plans have gone slightly askew. That 7:20 flight of of JFK was first delayed until 8:50. No big deal - dinner and a couple beers at an airport bar. Then it was pushed back to 10:00. Then 10:15. Finally at 10:30 we board the plane. Just as i get settled in my seat, the steward... flight attendant.... whatever - air travel accommodation representative informed us that our flight back to Houston had been canceled and we were to return to the gate for further instructions. Upon returning inside it quickly became obvious that those on the flight with me were not too pleased. We later found out that the 7:20 flight from the previous day had also been delayed numerous times before finally being canceled. Those on the flight were put up in a crappy hotel for the night, given $7 bucks for dinner, and told to return to the airport for the same 7:20 pm flight the following day (today), only to repeat the entire process. You can imagine their fury.

The 15 minutes following the cancellation were a little tense to say the least. The Delta representatives back in the gate cluelessly asked a line of 50+ angered travelers (half of which were well versed in the cancellation/hotel voucher process by now) what we were doing and if we had all missed our flight. This instigated a rash of exchanges between the two sides. Warnings of calls to attorneys, some personal threats, and many understandably worrying what missing another day of work could spell for them. That was my first encounter with airport security for the night. Needless to say, most folks on the flight (including myself) will never fly Delta again.

Instead of trust the promise of a 6:00 am flight being added the next morning to get everyone back to Houston, my party has decided to cut ties with Delta and the shithole that is JFK. We booked a Continental flight out of LaGuardia scheduled for 5:45 am. After another cab ride stifled by traffic, we arrive at the new airport to find that the Continental check-in desk has closed for the night and the automated kiosks don't function until 3:00 am. These days, you obviously can't enter the terminal (where comfortable and numerous seats reside) without a boarding pass. So here we are. Sitting with the bums.... well not anymore, i guess. Now if i can only suffer these next 3 hours in an iron seat and hope the gestapo don't come back, i may make it home in the morning.

Thanks for humoring my attempt at killing time/venting a bit.
Here's some jams:

Bob Dylan - Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (alt. take)
buy No Direction Home Soundtrack (2005)

Robert Johnson – Traveling Riverside Blues
buy The Complete Recordings (1990)

Leadbelly – Where Did You Sleep Last Night
buy Best of Leadbelly (2000)

Adam Hood – Million Miles Away
buy 6th Street (2004)

Kasey Chambers – Better Be Home Soon
from Don’t Talk Back [Single] (1999)

Pictures in the City...

Conor Oberst ~ NYC - Gone, Gone
buy Conor Oberst (2008)
One of twelve reasons you should buy his album.

Shippin' up to The Big Apple in the morning to visit my sister for Thanksgiving. i'll be there through the weekend, and may or may not get a post up. i have a NYC Mixtape planned - it has some songs that simply reference the city, but maybe i'll pick up a few others that capture the mood while i'm there.

New York is an amazing place anytime, but the holiday season brings out a different, festive feeling noticeable in every corner of the city. My first trip to New York was during Christmas, so maybe that's why it's memorable to me. i feel like i'm in another country when i'm there. Methods of travel, interaction with people, and simply living life are all completely different in a city of its magnitude. i've grown up around Houston, a very large city in its own right, but NY is a different type of big. Space is not only limited, it's maxed out. Apartments are tiny, bathrooms are cramped, even refrigerators are smaller. But somehow these shrunken elements come together to create a place larger than its own legend. A place rich in culture and diversity. A place teeming with activity 24/7. A place at once historic and completely modern.

Everywhere you look in NY, especially for someone from Texas, is something you've never seen before. That's why it's one of the coolest places on the planet to take pictures. i took this one on a trip there in '06 and up until a month ago, some form of it was used as the header picture for This Mornin'... Vinyl Mania was a record store just 4 doors down from my sister's apartment. She told me earlier this year that it went out of business and the sign was gone. i was really hoping to take a newer photo of the storefront with a better camera, but that may never happen now. NYC offers so many amazing things to snap photos of, i'll find something else to fill the void. Upon my last trip, i was armed with only my cell phone camera and although the picture quality was low, you could get some really interesting shots, especially in the dark. It was that trip, and many of those photo opportunities, that got me turned on to photography. Greasy streets and grungy gutters can sparkle with beauty when the streetlights hit them just right. Passing headlights can reveal the elegance behind layers of fliers and graffiti on a chained storefront. The borough skylines are speckled with facades you swear you've seen on TV before.

Here's a few of those pictures from last trip:



















We don't have much planned except eating turkey, so i'm sure i'll have some free time to roam the city and people watch. Nowhere else would that sound so interesting.
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On a related note, check out Neal Casal's photography page, especially the NY pictures. They show how something so simple can become ART if the conditions and treatment are right.