Many thanks to the reader who took our request seriously and attended the Slavic Soul Party in Brooklyn Tuesday night. It's important these days for everyone to show some international community spirit, especially when beer and brass instruments are involved. JM of Park Slope reviews the festive scene after the jump.
· Just when you thought you'd seen it all, a Yoruban priest becomes a renowned producer and drops house beats worth braving the rain for. Osunlade does exactly that tonight at S.O.B.'s and you don't even need a batik shirt to get in. [flavorpill]
· Arizonian imports Calexico bring their eclectic, jazz-infused, not-really-definable rock to the Bowery Ballroom. [BB]
· Get your hipster Hanukkah on with the Jersey Jews, as Yo La Tengo kicks off their annual 8-night residency at Maxwell's in Hoboken. [Maxwell's]
We missed designer Roberto Cavalli's preview gala for the Metropolitan Museum's "WILD: Fashion Untamed" thingie (our matching shredded velveteen Cavalli dresses were at the cleaners), and we're really kicking ourselves. How often is it that these things include a surprise performance from Destiny's Child? More importantly, how often do you get to see the confusion on the R&B singers' faces when no one cares that they're there? A reader reports:
The rumors have been back and forth on the fate of lead Stroke Julian Casablancas and fiancé Juliet Joslin, but we're beginning to think that perhaps Greasy McGee really is ready to take the marital plunge with his lady. After all, the two have registered with Target's sophisticated — yet modest — Club Wedd wedding registry! Oh, stop crying, the heartbreak will pass with time. Why not show Julian and Juliet how much you care with a waffle-maker or Sonicare toothbrush? FYI: Gawker Media employees are pooling resources in order to buy the lovebirds the entire SpongeBob Squarepants bathroom set; hopefully we'll have saved enough pennies in time for the October 19 wedding date.
[UPDATE: We know it's a joke, people. Lighten up.]
Julian Casablancas And Juliet Joslin's Club Wedd Registry [Target]
The level of greasy hotness reached catastrophic proportions last night, as Mercury Prize winners Franz Ferdinand played to a sold-out crowd at Roseland and then DJ'd at an after-party at Lower East Side haunt Rothko. We might've been around for some of this cowboy boots-with-miniskirts debacle, but two readers do our wrap-ups for us:
Could the greasy-haired union of actress Drew Barrymore and Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti be on the rocks? Or are they simply having a lover's quarrel? And if so — is the fight over hygiene and/or nourishment issues?
In a completely not-ironic move, Paris Hilton has recorded an aptly-titled single, "Screwed," for her debut album, "Paris Is Burning." [Ed: Burning! Ha! Touché!] We only learned recently that there was such a thing as a Haylie Duff, but it turns out that Haylie not-ironically recorded a song of the exact same title. Now that the Paris version has been "unintentionally" leaked, the power blondes are fetching their lawyers and fighting over who screws what.
We shed a few tears when we heard New York's pride and joy, The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, drunkenly announced his engagement to the band's assistant manager, Juliet Joslin. How could he leave us like that? It totally hurt us, like, bad. We even took down the JC poster hanging over the bed and burned all of our Strokes t-shirts! A music spy informs us, however, that perhaps our great unwashed proto-hipster is back on the market:
While the Village Voice continues to scrape itself down to a staff of, like, four people — you know, which isn't really a bad thing, it's just kind of sad — others are wondering why Voice nightlife columnist Tricia Romano is still getting paid:
Nick Catucci at the Village Voice points us to some rather insane ramblings by Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. According to the essay — which is apparently an application to return to college — after years of unhappiness as a striving egotistical rock god, Mr. Weezer has found spiritual enlightenment through Vipassana meditation. What, Kabbalah and Scientology wasn't good enough for him?
I wrote this for readmission to school... [Rivers]
Remember that time you were stoked about your new Strokes DVD (most probably because you were like 16 months behind the hype)? But when it finally came, inside the jewel case was a really cheesy gay porn movie called Group Therapy?
Did anyone else receive the gay film 'Group Therapy' inside their 'In Transit' sleeve? [Strokes Message Board]
Presented without commentary — because really, what could we possibly say?
Unlikely sex symbol Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs apparently went near-nekkid at the big Central Park show this weekend — and yet none of us have seen pictures? What gives? A disturbed reader writes:
We're going to give out our annual award for most "down" Jew to Ol' Dirty Bastard's manager, Jared Weisfeld. (Well, we think he's a Jew. What do we care?) From today's Rush & Molloy item trashing Page Six for their claims that Mr. Bastard flew from London to NYC with his P.O.:
We've given out a lot of awards to horrible press releases. For all you marketers, we'd like to show you how to do it: witness below today's press release from the band Haunted Pussy. We don't know who the hell they are — are they a joke? A Pepsi product? For real? We don't care. Solely on the basis of their mass email marketing, we have a new favorite band.
We're suddenly jealous: Courtney Love has a legal guardian. Get this — you can declare yourself incompetent and make someone else do everything for you! Show up at your court hearings, take care of your kids, do the dishes — hell, I bet I could even get someone to do my blow for me! This whole guardian idea is bitching!
Courtney Love has a legal guardian and is in an 'institution': lawyer [AFP]
Gary Benchley, the 22-year-old wannabe Williamsburg rockstar who's been documenting his climb to alleged stardom on The Morning News, finally completes his band lineup. He got the homo keyboard player, the hot chick drummer, and now he's nabbed the perfect black bassist:
Gary Benchley, budding rock star and accidental hipster, files a new report for The Morning News on the development of his band. After great struggle, he's finally he's scored a hot chick drummer. Now all he needs is the black bassist and he'll be ready for the Knitting Factory.
Getting the Band Together, Part II [TMN]
