Nico Muhly writes music that combines the warm emotional highs and lows of gorgeous strings and flutes with electronic sounds inspired by video games. His music ranges from deep feeling and dramaticism to the humorous and whimsical. He’s worked with Philip Glass and Bjork amongst others. My friend Kilsy and I went to see him play live with his violinists and flutists at the Whitney the other night. We were really struck by how creative the guy is and how much fun he has with writing music. Outside we could see the snow falling down from the really large window of the Whitney as we munched on some great snacks from the cafe. You can check out Nico here on myspace and his music is now on itunes.

Neil Voss rocks the crowd

Last night my friend Neil played the Blip festival, where artists use low-bit videogame consoles and home computers to make visuals and music. Melodic and dark at times, Neil’s music was completely danceable and fun. Even more amazing is the fact that he wrote all his songs in only one week. I really respect people who can write music because it’s the one form of creativity I just could never in a million years attempt. I really don’t understand how one would begin to even start to write a song. Also, this guy is a completely brilliant web designer and flash programmer and he created some of the on-screen visuals for this event as well. Talk about multi-talented!

It’s very inspiring to me because I love working in all kinds of different mediums. Earlier yesterday my friend Phaedra and went to see the Picasso influence on American art exhibit at the Whitney and I was so struck by how many different mediums Picasso worked in during his career. He tried everything and he was a genius at it all. I’ve always felt a little annoyed at myself that I couldn’t stick to one thing, but now I kind of feel like I need to embrace that experimental side of myself.

Check out the great music from the Blip event here.

Also check out more flickr photos from Blip fest including me bopping in the crowd (in pink) next to DJ Vikki Slicks (with dark glasses and white hoodie).

Joan Jett really knows how to work a crowd, and she did just that last night at Irving Plaza with her band the Blackhearts. Singing a bunch of songs from her latest album Sinner, as well as her hits, she really got everyone dancing and singing along, as well as clapping and raising their hands to the music. The great thing about a Joan Jett song is if you don’t know it, by the second verse you can totally sing along. They are deceptively simple but she says a lot in between the lines. Her classics such as “I love Rock and Roll”, “Crimson and Clover” and “Bad Reputation” were a joy to witness. She just puts out such a positive vibe and is in such great shape and looks gorgeous. Women in the crowd were yelling, “I love you!” and “I want to marry you!” And of course Joan and her band bring a lot of rock n’ roll swagger and posturing along with jumping 3 feet above the stage.

After the show, thanks very much to Q’s dad Bas, we got backstage passes. I was completely awestruck, but strangely not nervous at all meeting her. I told her that she has such a great energy and spirit and that really came through tonight. She was very humble and said it was easy with a great crowd like us.

Joan Jett is just amazing. The fact that she struggled so hard in the beginning to get signed, finally starting her own Blackheart Records label, is just a testament to her commitment to expressing herself creatively. It really gives me hope for my own creative endeavors. I feel a renewed sense of optimism and inspiration from meeting such a passionate woman who has always lived her life with total authenticity.

Went with a friend to see Belle and Sebastian at Battery Park on the fourth. It was a free concert (you had to get the tickets at starbucks). Seemed like all of brooklyn was in attendance. The crowd was really mellow. The band sounded great and the lead singer Stuart Murdoch granted us all our independence. Then someone in the crowd shouted, “Take our leader!” and Stuart got us all riled up to go out there and try to make some political changes. Belle and Sebastian’s albums can be very hit or miss, but they definitely brought out a lot of the classics from their green album, and the vibe was very laid back and pleasant. We went to their after party at Trinity pub where one of the band members Chris was playing dj, and his musical selection was quite eclectic and on the mellow side.

Had a really fun time (or as the irish say, good craic) last night at Mickey John’s in Queens. My friend Joey had a surprise party for her mom who had just arrived from Ireland to visit. Joey hired an accordian player who sang and played some old irish tunes. There were a bunch of us, and all of a sudden one of the guys says, maybe I’ll play my Uilleann pipes! It was so cool, and definitely not something you see everyday. I guess they are sort of similar to bagpipes except that you pump air into them instead of blowing. The sound is rich and haunting.

We all danced irish jigs and “jived” (swing danced). It was a blast. Then his brother sang some irish tunes a capella about the hardships of moving away from Ireland to live in a new country and they almost made me cry!

In the cab back home DD and I talked about how unique and wonderful the night had been. DD said that the songs were so much more poignant when sang by an Irishman who had emigrated over to America.

Went to see the Charlatans tuesday night, a great British band who has had many many albums out since I last listened to them in the 1990s. I need to catch up! Leader singer Tim Burgess is still really hot with his indie-swagger. The band sounded great and played such old school hits as “The only one I know” and “Can’t get out of Bed”. Some of their new stuff sounded good as well, and had a reggae influence. I had not been to Webster Hall in about ten years, the last show I saw there was Quicksand, and memories of that show flooded back. It was really fun, and my friend Eddie and I did some shots so we were feeling pretty good. We really got right up there near the front of the stage where Eddie got some good pics.

Went to Best Buy today and since my old ipod broke 4 times, I was under their “no lemon” policy and got a brand new ipod! This one is black, with 60GB instead of 40, and has video capability! I’m so excited!

Update: Downloaded the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Maps video. I love it.

My friend Keith is a super-sharp computer whiz and very creative. He made this Subtle Tunes remote control for iTunes. It’s great for when you’re working on something on your computer but want to be able to control iTunes quickly and easily, and see what’s currently playing. It’s part of Yahoo’s widget engine (which they bought from a company called Konfabulator).

If you’re not familiar with Yahoo’s widget engine, it allows little programs to run on your desktop. Anyone can build a program for it, and there are thousands to download in all different types of categories such as weather, news, and games all in the widget gallery.

MTV used to be so much fun. I would sit for hours watching videos, from the 80s new wave stuff all the way to college when I’d watch 120 minutes. Well, now it’s hard to see videos on MTV anymore what with all the reality shows. Yes, I know, there are new MTV channels out there that do show videos but it’s just not the same. Enter Videos at antville, where people post links to videos they’ve found online. You can search your favorite bands or just browse to see what’s out there. There are a lot of very artistic and just cool videos and this is pretty much the only place you can see some of them nowadays.

Antville

Last night we went to see Rob Dickinson, formerly of Catherine Wheel, at Southpaw in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Brilliant show. He of course played a bunch of songs from his latest album Fresh Wine for the Horses, including my favorites My Name Is Love and Oceans. He also played a lot of old Catherine Wheel favorites as well, like Black Metallic and Eat my Dust You Insensitive F**k.

The night started out at Long Tan for some dinner, and then I took my friend Q and her dad Bas over to O’Connors, this great old bar that I used to hang out in when I lived in Park Slope. O’Connors hasn’t changed, still has cheap beer and a great jukebox with lots of oldies, and the place was a real hit with Bas. He’s been working in the music business for many years, and he actually was the one to sign Catherine Wheel in the states after hearing Black Metallic for the first time. So he and Rob go way back. Bas also knows Pat Benatar, the guys in ZZTop, and Donna Summer to name a few. When I told him I was from New Jersey and that I liked Bon Jovi he said oh, Jonny’s a great guy!

We went to the show, danced, drank some guinness, and had a real laugh. Later on Rob came out and after a bunch of fans met him and took pics with him, Q, Bas and I got to say hello. So what does one say to Rob Dickinson? I just told him your music has meant a lot to me over the years, and he smiled broadly and gave me a hug. The 3 of us chatted for a while and some Frat boys from Virginia tried to pick us up, but I flashed my wedding ring and that was that.