I was listening to Laura on WNYU-FM two Friday’s ago and she played a really intriguing tune. Laura does this with regularity. She plays a lot of really cool stuff.

But this song a week ago Friday really grabbed me. When it was over, Laura gave the info. I scribbled it down and quickly bought the digital version of the LP containing the tune. The band is Helen and the name of the record is The Original Faces. Released a few weeks ago by Kranky, Helen is led by Liz Harris who I’ve learned is a versatile artist best known for her work as the musician Grouper.

The Original Faces is an incredible collection of songs. I can’t really make out much of what Harris is singing but the tunes are really beautiful. There’s an emphasis on catchy bass guitar lines and sweet-sounding vocals but the recording deliberately deemphasizes clarity on Harris’ microphone – or perhaps it’s the mix. I don’t know. You can hear the drums and bass clearly but not the vocals. There’s a second female voice on many of the tunes. I’ve read some reviews indicating the second voice is not identified by full name in the liner notes/credits.

It’s a really big sounding record. It’s only 32 minutes long but it’s a hefty serving of lo-fi but somehow lush sound without any hint of production gimmickry. It sounds like it could have been made 30 years ago or more. But it wasn’t. It’s brand new. The song titles reference pretty basic neutral-sounding topics with the exception of “Dying All The Time,” which opens with a peppy drum line and a jammy guitar sound with organ blended in. Harris drones some words I can’t understand until she blurts the song title in a way you can make out.

There’s not a clunker on the entire record. My favorite is “City Breathing” which is really uplifting and hum-able. At the end, horns kick in. Maybe a couple of alto saxophones?

The song Laura played on successive Friday afternoons was “Violet” which is a total rocker. I’d love to see the band live although it’s unclear if Harris intends to take this lineup on the road.

-The construction of several luxury high-rise buildings in Long Island City, Queens is becoming an obscene sight as you pass it these days. The straight-up sky fillers are sprouting up all around Queensboro Plaza and appear poised to join an already-completed cluster of glassy, pricey monstrosities along the river further south of the Plaza. If the wind is blowing right, construction dust blows into your face as you stand waiting to make the N to 7 transfer at Queensboro. There’s zero modesty and no feel or look of worker-class accessibility to what’s being built over large swaths in the heart of LIC. It’s gaudy and actually kind of scary in its scale. It doesn’t fit in the Queens I love. I don’t know. They’re gonna be magnets for rich people who want a view of the city. Who’s overseeing the transformation of LIC? Maybe we should listen to Helen’s “City Breathing” and take a step back. It’s too late I guess. Will these people who occupy these units flood the 7 train? Probably not. They’ll probably take Uber.

-Speaking of the 7 train, I’ve been using the new 7 line station at 34^th Street and 11^th Avenue a lot to access bike share on the west side. Rare is the brand new subway station (first addition in 26 years) and this one is spectacular. The entrance is beautiful with a huge tile mosaic art piece greeting you on the way in. The escalator connecting the upper mezz level with the lower mezz just above the platform is the steepest, longest escalator ride you’ll ever take. My nieces are coming for their maiden NYC visit in January and I’m definitely gonna try to impress them with this crazy escalator. My only beef is that there’s no escalator connecting the lower mezz to the platform but it’s only a single flight of stairs. No longer is 42^nd Street/Times Square the end of the line on the 7. Now, you can take it all the way to Javits, just one avenue block from the Hudson River. There’s not a whole lot of life there yet – and the concern again is that all the stuff that’s being built there appears to be for the wealthy, But for now, it’s a great way to get a bike share bike for the easy launch onto the west side bike trail. It also gets you to the doorstep of Megabus which uses 34^th Street across from Javits as its pick-up/drop-off point. No longer do you have to make the long walk from Penn Station to reach the cheap bus to Philly. Although, I wonder if Megabus gets the boot once the big shooters start occupying their bright and shiny in that part of town. The other aspect that’s cool about this new station is that it seems like a lot of people don’t really know about it yet. It’s always empty getting on and off there, so you feel like you have a little secret subway angle.