Props to Nghia for pulling an all-nighter over weekend to get the “new” site up and running, while retaining the old posts from Crackers United. We decided over the summer that we basically wanted to streamline everything to give the FRICTION shows their own webpage instead of just using MySpace. In addition, the site was originally set up as a way to share various information between 10 or so friends, sort of like a centralized place where we could all share thoughts, ideas, etc. The site was never intended to be a music blog although that’s what it eventually grew into over the past three years.

As you can see, things aren’t quite finished yet. There’s still some work that needs to be done, including the new logo and cleaning up the main page and adding flyers and stuff. It’s going to take us a little time, so please bear with our rather dull appearance. The most important thing is that the site is up and functioning just as Crackers United did and all of our posts back to March 2005 are still there. The URL “crackersunited.com” will still bring you to this page and it would be greatly appreciated if fellow bloggers (and sites) could update their URL to “frictionnyc.com/blog” and blogroll to read “FRICTION NYC.”

To “christen” the new name (and make sure the downloads work) we’re posting none other than some My Bloody Valentine. Snag “No Place To Go” from the hard to find Geek! EP below featuring Dave Conway on lead vocals. And please let us know if there are any issues with the site!

[MP3]: My Bloody Valentine  ”No Place To Go”
Geek! EP, Fever; 1985

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Above pic via thecobrasnake

Here’s a track to get you hype for the weekend. Smooth enough to put on in the afternoon as you watch the second hand tick ever so slowly, but it also has enough disco kick that you can carry it over into your early and/or late night partying. Be sure to check out DFAers Holy Ghost! at one of their upcoming shows in New York, Boston, Miami, or Toronto.

[MP3]: Holy Ghost!  ”Hold On”
Single, DFA; 2007

For some Friday laughs, head over to two.one.five magazine for their “All Time Worst Celebrity Drunks” feature. Seriously, it’s hilarious and will waste a good chunk of your day, the Orson Welles thing had me rolling.

Full size video here

I absolutely love the filthy song ‘Homecoming’, its makes me smile everytime. My favorite line is when the guy says ‘I f*cked my American c*nt’, then the faux-voiced valley girl says ‘I loved my English romance’. He sounds like some smart-@ss pervy French kid. Ha! (It reminds me of when Justin says the word “c*nt”, as in “Are any of you c*nts [Crackers] gonna post anything on the blog today?” Then without fail some Cracker responds with “I don’t have any time” then they continue to forward links all day from things they find while surfing the web.)

The Teenagers – Homecoming
The Teenagers – Sleeping Bag YO VERSION

‘Trash’ has been getting me hype all summer. I like their Sounds Like description on myspace: “Inspired by ‘Dancing And Not Giving A Fuck’, this has the feel of being in a bed sit on ecstasy, smiling through the waves of damp and being glad to be alive”. Jeremy Chick (Subba-Cultcha)
The Whip – Trash
The Whip (myspace) – Frustration (sounds like a New Order rip-off)

These Texas boys are about to release another EP on November 7th called Your Biggest Fan on Playlouder.
Voxtrot – Trouble

The Stills – Monsoon (new song with fellow Montreal-ers Land of Talk)

Nice Bjork-esque electronic tunes from this freakishly beautiful NYC singer/songwriter?
Olga Bell – Moonriver cover
Olga Bell – Expanding File
Olga Bell – Echinacea (d just sent me this link. thanks.)

The film adaptation for Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 looks like tha mf-in’ bomb. I would go see it based on the fact that the trailer is so awesome. [Trailer]

The classic album covers movie has been spread all over cyberspace, but I still think its GENIUS!!!.

Go watch the brilliant Jeff Buckley BBC documentary. [Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4]

My new favorite blog, though its not updated enough. If you’re reading this Elyse, you should dump that stick in the mud and come party with me. (The Oh So Quiet Show hipped me to this)

Almost forgot about this one. My hero Banksy, the greatest mad mastermind genius muthaf*cka had his Barely Legal exhibit last month in L.A. Lines were super sick. I wish I was there, a real live pink elephant (a bit cruel), that’s all I have to say. [flickr]

I just realized this post is pretty laced with testosterone (except for Voxtrot, they’re gay but thats Ok). Grrrrr. Get HYPE!!!

So leave the iPod at home, make sure to listen to the In Studio sessions with each of the bands on KEXP, get your tickets ahead of time, and come support live music and join us for an incredible Tuesday night at The Delancey.

Ghostland Observatory is Aaron Behrens and Thomas Turner, undoubtedly influenced by the likes of Daft Punk, Bowie and LCD, they offer up their own brand of electro-dance soul rock. It’s as if a piece of every musical genre of the past and present were blended together to create a keyboard. A keyboard that could only be used by this one band. We dare you to listen and not dance. [Gothamist]
Ghostland Observatory – streaming audio

If post-punk took one step back towards rock and added a dash of sentimentality, Favourite Sons might be the result…the lyrics and vocal work couple together in one of my favorite performances of the year. [You Ain't No Picasso]
Favourite Sons – Down Beside Your Beauty

The Mugs were tasty. well worth checking out. reminded me of something like a french kicks, but with a little big (just a touch) darker side though you wouldn’t have realized with their ear to ear grins. [Yeti Don't Dance]
The Mugs – Broken Signals

KEXP 90.3 FM [mp3 feed]
For those of you that aren’t familiar with this Seattle-based radio station, it’s the nation’s best independent radio station. Well, at least in our book. Be sure to tune into John in the Morning’s playlist everyday at 9AM (EST) and listen for songs from past and present FRICTION bands and other great independent artists. If you miss John’s show or any other KEXP program, KEXP’s streaming archive allows you to hear anything from the past two weeks in both Windows Media and Real format.

L Magazine
The L Magazine is the only independent magazine left in our fair New York City. And we have our own pair of portable 35mm film projectors. L Magainze covers New York nightlife, politics, theater, shopping, fashion, restaurants, events in New York City, and especially Friction, the best night of the month.

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Rahim has a reputation for weaving complex guitar and bass parts with hard hitting rhythms to create a fully-charged live show. [Aural Minority]
Rahim – 10,000 Horses –

This excitable and ex-spazzable band has so far managed to stay pretty under-the-radar in this god forsaken town, but with a punk-with-synths staccato sound that can be described as Nation of Ulysses meets Les Savy Fav and Thunderbirds are Now!, well, how could Foreign Islands not be destined for greatness… [Oh My Rockness]
Foreign Islands – Fine Dining with the Future -

Strangely intoxicating and hypnotizing, Other Passengers has a raw and genuinely human quality to it that is a direct result of every member of the group’s complete dedication to and passion for what they’re doing. [Delusions of Adequacy]
Other Passengers – Bank –

El Jezel are quite possibly one of the catchiest art-house bands to come out, NYC’s sweet answer to the UK’s sudden burst of post-Tallking-Heads Franz Ferdinands, et. al. [Like a Rolling Stone]
El Jezel – Oleta –

KEXP 90.3 FM [mp3 feed]
For those of you that aren’t familiar with this Seattle-based radio station, it’s the nation’s best independent radio station. Well, at least in our book. Be sure to tune into John in the Morning’s playlist everyday at 9AM (EST) and listen for songs from past and present FRICTION bands and other great independent artists. If you miss John’s show or any other KEXP program, KEXP’s streaming archive allows you to hear anything from the past two weeks in both Windows Media and Real format.

Yee-haw! Ya’ll know what time it is. It’s Friday! GET HYPE!!! How brilliant is this? Spell with Flickr (via Let’s Do This)

Bucka, bucka, bucka!!! Raise your blood pressure and get your Grime on with Run the Road V.2 (listen to the album) Tell your boss to come over and blast this in his ear. Check out “Plan B – Sick 2 Def”.

CONTEST!!!: Send an email to CrackersUnitedcontest@gmail.com with your favorite Run the Road V.2 song. Subject: “I Wanna Get Grimey”. A winner will be chosen at random and receive vinyl and full lengths from Vice Records. Contest ends 2/24.

Interesting: Rock Star DJs in NYC.

If you’ve been along the Tribeca segment of Hudson River Park recently, you must have noticed the demolition of Piers 25 and 26. This is the third segment of seven that is under construction for the improvements to the park, spanning from Battery Park to 59th Street.

My daily commute to work from the West Village involves riding a bike along the Hudson River to Wall Street. This is when I noticed the deconstruction of my beloved skatepark, my second home, or as others call it, Hudson River Skatepark. As soon as I arrived at the office, I called the Park to see what its ill-fated future was. But to my suprise, the Director told me that the skatepark will be temporarily moved to a location near the Javit Center while construction is taking place this summer. And thanks to a $70-million grant from the feds, the design for Segment 3 in Tribeca includes a new concrete skatepark!

Now we’re talking. And if local veteran Andy Kessler has a hand in the design, you know it will be good. All I could find were a few renderings of the piers and a crude plan that shows the park. It doesn’t look any bigger than the old one, but I do see a little bowl there in the corner. No word on the completion date yet, but I’m guessing it won’t be open till next summer (2007).

Anyone know more details on the park design and construction?

The one. The only. Blue Ball Machine.

Thank me later.