I was listening to Laura on WNYU-FM two Friday\u2019s ago and she played a really intriguing tune. Laura does this with regularity. She plays a lot of really cool stuff.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ve learned is a versatile artist best known for her work as the musician Grouper.<\/p>\n
The Original Faces is an incredible collection of songs. I can\u2019t really make out much of what Harris is singing but the tunes are really beautiful. There\u2019s an emphasis on catchy bass guitar lines and sweet-sounding vocals but the recording deliberately deemphasizes clarity on Harris\u2019 microphone – or perhaps it\u2019s the mix. I don\u2019t know. You can hear the drums and bass clearly but not the vocals. There\u2019s a second female voice on many of the tunes. I\u2019ve read some reviews indicating the second voice is not identified by full name in the liner notes\/credits.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a really big sounding record. It\u2019s only 32 minutes long but it\u2019s 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\u2019t. It\u2019s brand new. The song titles reference pretty basic neutral-sounding topics with the exception of \u201cDying All The Time,\u201d which opens with a peppy drum line and a jammy guitar sound with organ blended in. Harris drones some words I can\u2019t understand until she blurts the song title in a way you can make out.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s not a clunker on the entire record. My favorite is \u201cCity Breathing\u201d which is really uplifting and hum-able. At the end, horns kick in. Maybe a couple of alto saxophones?<\/p>\n
The song Laura played on successive Friday afternoons was \u201cViolet\u201d which is a total rocker. I\u2019d love to see the band live although it\u2019s unclear if Harris intends to take this lineup on the road.<\/p>\n
-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\u2019s zero modesty and no feel or look of worker-class accessibility to what\u2019s being built over large swaths in the heart of LIC. It\u2019s gaudy and actually kind of scary in its scale. It doesn\u2019t fit in the Queens I love. I don\u2019t know. They\u2019re gonna be magnets for rich people who want a view of the city. Who\u2019s overseeing the transformation of LIC? Maybe we should listen to Helen\u2019s \u201cCity Breathing\u201d and take a step back. It\u2019s too late I guess. Will these people who occupy these units flood the 7 train? Probably not. They\u2019ll probably take Uber.<\/p>\n
-Speaking of the 7 train, I\u2019ve been using the new 7 line station at 34th<\/span><\/sup> Street and 11th<\/span><\/sup> 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\u2019ll ever take. My nieces are coming for their maiden NYC visit in January and I\u2019m definitely gonna try to impress them with this crazy escalator. My only beef is that there\u2019s no escalator connecting the lower mezz to the platform but it\u2019s only a single flight of stairs. No longer is 42nd<\/span><\/sup> 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\u2019s not a whole lot of life there yet – and the concern again is that all the stuff that\u2019s being built there appears to be for the wealthy, But for now, it\u2019s 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 34th<\/span><\/sup> 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\u2019s cool about this new station is that it seems like a lot of people don\u2019t really know about it yet. It\u2019s always empty getting on and off there, so you feel like you have a little secret subway angle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was listening to Laura on WNYU-FM two Friday\u2019s 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. … Continue reading