Notes from a Hawaii girl in Brooklyn, Big Island to Long Island. Updates Sundays and Wednesdays. Weekly book reviews over at Big Island Rachel's Books.
My co-host did the math. He determined that after doing our radio show from June of 2012 to April of 2014, where we've hosted 60+ live local bands and played music from at least another 60, I have gone out exactly once.
It's just so comfy here...
In my defense, I went out A LOT when I first moved to New York and was working on the street team with the Village Voice. And like a little kid overdosing on Pixie Stix and Raven's Revenge one fateful sleepover, for a long time afterward, the thought of having to put pants on and go rub shoulders with sticky yahoos in a noisy bar made me feel a bit pukish.
Also, I've been around a lot of loud things in my life and I get a faint ringing in my ears sometimes.
But I lost THAT job back in 2010, so it really is time to get back on the sticky, noisy yahoo horse and be part of the scene again. Last Saturday, I went out to Rockwood Music Hall to Hurrah! A Bolt of Light!'s CD release show.
Hurrah! were our guests on the Rodent Hour back in Fall 2013, and at the risk of making all our other guests cry, they're my favorite. They have this big, magnificent sound with really catchy, poppy hooks and an underlying darkness to the lyrics that's just a joy to listen to.
And happily for me, they had a special guest percussionist playing with them that night, Seth. Seth is in one of my other favorite bands from our show, the Nightmare River Band. He is possibly the only person on the planet who can make the tamborine badass.
Seth on the left. You might tell from the lack of captions above that I don't remember any of the other guys' names.
What else can I say? The band was great, it was a good crowd, and the venue was super close to a subway station on my line. I went alone, didn't drink, and was home by 11:30.
I'm easing my way back in. Don't rush me.
Hurrah! A Bolt of Light! is selling their self-title album on their bandcamp site. You can listen to the whole thing for free first if you're not sure about spending $7 on a band that will blow your panties off with awesome.
Tuesday was our final radio show of the Fall 2013 season. It was also our 50th live band on the show, so like most special occasions and anniversaries, everything went wrong.
One of our sound techs didn't show up. The broadcast cut out completely for the band's first song. There were roaches scurrying around. Some student wandered in and tried to put up anti-fracking posters while the band was playing. The broadcast cut out again during the first half of the interview. The cake wasn't tasty. The cat bit the drummer.
Really, all we needed for the evening to be complete was for the slow cooker to break and leave us with no chili.
But you know what? The band was great. I guess that's showbiz, kid!
Here's to 50 great bands on the Rodent Hour, and to another 50 more.
Weird to see one, right? They don't even make Polaroid film anymore, what with the advent of high resolution cameras on our pocket phones. Photography students have all the good shit.
Last night was the last show of the summer season on the Rodent Hour. Our guests were Von Shakes, who are really too good to be on our little dog-and-pony show (they're playing on the Fox morning show next week), but they came anyway and we had a great time.
We didn't plan the photo this way--I was just put in front because I'm
the shortest and ended up absorbing the light from the flash like a
sheet of white paper. What I like best about this picture is that it looks like Mistress Rachel is showing off her stable of man-slaves for your pain and pleasure.
It reminds me of one of my high school graduation pictures. There was nothing overtly sexual about that picture either, I was just dressed all in white and smiling big at the camera, but Mom and I took one look at it and agreed I looked like a stripper. Sometimes, through no thought or intention, pictures of me are just kind of--dirty.
Tuesday nights are for Rachel pretending to be cool.
You are listening to the Rodent Hour on Pratt Radio!
I know my life may look like a glamorous whirlwind of wild hedonism and vice, but it's all a clever ruse, because the truth is I'm the kind of person who uses words like "ruse" and gets her microphone cut off when she goes on too long about X-Men. (In my defense if you listen to the broadcast on the Rodent Hour's soundcloud account, you'll hear the guitarist raising the topic. I just ran with it.)
So this is my side project, co-hosting a live music show on college radio. Which would be a LOT cooler if I didn't, in fact, graduate from college half a decade ago, and also if I actually went out to clubs and concerts to see the bands who play for us every week.
After Slim Wray played their set and my co-host Matt thwarted me and guitarist Hauser from talking about X-Men, we all gathered in the green room for the team photo. As you can see, I'm doing all right so far. At least I'm not trying to wear that sea foam green guitar with the avocado trim. I know my limits.
Here's what happened right after that picture was taken.
I offered to take the picture of the band and our sound techs with L's professional camera, which weights about seven pounds and is the size of a puppy. He put the strap around my neck and gently tried to guide my stubby fingers to the big "take picture" button. The enormous camera slips out of my creepy little child hands and falls.
My first thought was, Shit, my student's camera is going to shatter into a million expensive pieces on the floor! My second thought was, No, it'll be fine, the strap is around my neck.
I didn't have a third thought because at that point, the strap went taut and the camera swung right into my vagina.
I crumpled to my knees. Yelling "Fuck I bruised my pussy!" seemed inappropriate, so instead I squeaked, "If I was a guy, I'd be throwing up right now."
Had there been even one other woman in that room, I would have had a cold bottle of water on my vag and an arm to help me to the couch before you could say "why is that camera so fucking big?!"
But alas, there were only men. So immediately someone yelled, "Take her picture now!"
As you can see by the lack of a picture of Rachel crouching on the floor with her hands on her crotch, I ran away before that could happen.
There are many fun ways you can bruise your lady-bits at a rock show. I wouldn't recommend this one.
You are reading Big Island Rachel on bigislandrachel.blogspot.com. I'm Rachel and I'm from the Big Island of Hawaii. I live in Brooklyn now. Most of the people who read this blog are my family members and they already know all this.
I have a book review blog over at bigislandrachelsbooks.blogspot.com that I update on Saturdays. I have a college radio show called the Rodent Hour. We broadcast at 8PM Tuesday nights and you can listen to us online anywhere in the world. Local New York bands play a live set, we interview them, we each some chili, and everyone goes home happy and has trouble getting up for work the next morning.
Recurring characters on my blog are my boyfriend, the BF; his brother Big Scientist, BS; my friend R; Mum, Sister and Daddio; and co-workers designated titles like A, M, Tall Boss, and Big Boss. Recurring themes are feminism, comic books, and life in Brooklyn, New York.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
One of the larger issues I've been tossing off--wait, let me start over, that sounds dirty.
One of the larger issues I've been mulling over is whether the Rodent Hour should be "the Rodent Hour" or "The Rodent Hour." When I tweet and tumbl and make the press releases, I mean. Should it be the Rodent Hour like the United States, or should it be The Rodent Hour like The Lord of the Rings? Is the name of my radio show a title, like the title of a book, or a title like King, President, and Dungeon Master?
I presented the dilemma to my co-host and he said, "Capitalize the 'T'." And that was that. We didn't even have a discussion about it. I just don't understand. How does it not keep him up at night, worrying about capitalization? Do you have any idea how long it takes me to write my book reviews when all the words on the book jacket are capitalized and I have to guess what the title should look like in my blog's luxurious Garamond font?! THESE ARE IMPORTANT THINGS!
No, he worries about crap like the music and if the bands are comfortable when they're in the studio. He wants to get good lighting and new microphones, keep things clean in the studio and make chili for our guests. I suspect he doesn't care about indefinite articles. This may become a problem later down the road. Shared values are important for any artistic venture.
I kid, of course, although considering how much I ended up being able to write on the indefinite article in The Rodent Hour, maybe I should get help. Anyway, last night, I began my second year of co-hosting an online college radio show. (The radio show is online, not the college.) Our opening guest was You Bred Raptors? The question mark is compulsory.
You may recognize Peat, Zach and Bryan from the Union Square subway station, their most common venue. I should have asked them more details about it last night, because not just anyone can play music in subway stations. You have to audition and be vetted by the MTA, and get some kind of special permit. To answer the question you're probably asking, yes, they get hassled by bums a lot, but no, the bums don't steal their money. They try, but as it turns out, bums are really bad at stealing. Not to make light of our homeless problem, but the mentally ill and substance-addled aren't the most functioning and efficacious folks in the world, and Zach is more than capable of protecting the guitar case of cash and CDs. Apparently there's some tourist's YouTube video of him wrestling some stolen goods back from a bum, but I've had a hard enough day without dealing with whatever the Internet is going to kick back with those search terms.
I told you not to search for it.
As always, if you missed the show when it was on, we put it up on our soundcloud account. Hmm, maybe that should be SoundCloud...
Today is a very special day for me, so there will be no regular blog post. Instead, enjoy a slide show of the band Grace McLean and Them Apples, who were our guests on my radio show last night. The Rodent Hour is on Tuesday nights from 8 to 10PM EST. Locally sourced music from Pratt Radio online.
The Rodent Hour's social media empire marches across the land like a ravenous gelatinous blob, absorbing all coolness and lesser independent online college radio stations in the nuBrooklyn area! You cannot resist our blob! We ooze over all and absorb nutrients through our plasma sac. So sexy.
Last night was Election Night. Fortunately, my radio show is on Tuesdays and it gave me something a lot more pleasant to think about. Politics hurt my stomach. It's too much like listening to your parents fight: people holding your fate in their hands that don't even have enough on the ball to hold a civilized conversation, let alone guide a civilization.
There, I was topical. Now, the music!
ROCK-pical. And next week's guest is Rock Pickle. Weird.
Homesick Hounddogs are a Brooklyn-based Americana/bluegrass band. Two thirds of them came into the studio last night and played a great set for the Rodent Hour. They're actually the second vaguely folk-ish alterna-rock band that's been on the show this season, the first being The Tres Amigos, who were so good they made me want to be a better person. I'll give them another plug. Here's a slideshow of their appearance set to their song "Fiddleheads."
I had to put this up because we haven't made the video for Homesick Hounddogs yet. As soon as that one is up, I'll post it here. I also wanted to mention The Tres Amigos in this post about Homesick Hounddogs because I see them both as part of a movement taking place in music right now. I think it may have started with "O Brother, Where Art Thou," which came out in 2000 and seemed to revive interest in folksy Americana, especially among my generation.
I see it as part of the same fashion and cultural movement that's appropriated the aesthetic of the pre-war years. For brevity's sake I'll use the term "hipster," though I hate to pull out that word unless I'm referencing Allen Ginsberg's "Howl." Hipsters dress in outdated clothing, adopt the hairstyles of their grandparents, and fetishize the objects and technologies of a bygone era, like typewriters, fixed gear bikes, and Mason jar drinking glasses in order to project an image of authenticity (which is kind of an oxymoron, but I think they know that). The appropriation of this folksy aesthetic among the young and educated urbanite could be behind the resurgence of bluegrass/folk/roots inspired music.
And I am loving it!
That's right, you sit on the floor and jam with your mandolins and your harmonicas, you angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night.
This fall season, we've had three bands who fall into this old Americana sub-category of music: The Tres Amigos, lushTongue (they do Indigenous-inspired a capella, not vaguely folkish alterna-rock, which is why I didn't mention them earlier), and Homesick Hounddogs. Not coincidentally, they're all my new favorite bands. I would actually go out to see any of them play live, and if you read this blog, you know I literally have to get paid to go out and see live music in this town. I've set up my life quite nicely so that the live music comes directly to me. But The Tres Amigos are playing a gig at Columbia University on November 30th, so the BF should be prepared to get his ass dragged to a social event, because I want in on that sweet, toe-tappin' all-American action.
It's easy to be down on hipsters because they're mostly young, which means they're somewhat powerless (no one claiming the hipster label got elected last night) and therefore a safe target to mock. And I won't lie, they are so eminently mockable.
Wonder Woman sneers at your mainstream fashion sense.
But I think there's real value in attempting to preserve and perpetuate our own cultural history. Using a typewriter or knowing how to can your own vegetables serves as a tactical bridge to the past, to say nothing of the heritage explored and experienced when musicians mine America's past for inspiration. Is it fashionable? Of the moment? Yes, but it's also of the past, and therefore timeless.
And for my money, it makes for a way better evening than a political rally.
Chelsea is looking at the election results as of 9PM last night. Don't be sad, Chels, Obama wins in the end!
Are you a fan of my radio show? The Rodent Hour is on Tuesdays from 8 to 10PM EST, on Pratt Institute's online radio station, radio.pratt.edu. The links to our various social media sites are below. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Tumblr, and listen to past guests on YouTube and Soundcloud. All free, all awesome, and all for one and one for all! (Wait, I think I got off topic...)
I co-host a radio show. I'm not sure if I mentioned that before.
Oh, no, I totally mentioned it--but only once, and then never again. You wouldn't know from reading my blog (thanks everyone!) that I've been doing a weekly Internet radio show called The Rodent Hour for almost eight months now. Not to brag, but it's pretty sweet. Big Island Rachel, radio personality. I have to stay up so late for it! Sometimes I don't get to bed until after 11--on a school night, no less.
There's a pretty wide variety of music. We've had noise rock, hiphop, Afropunk, and just plain rock and/or roll.
Most of the bands are based in the tristate area (I never knew what that
term meant when I lived in Hawaii; the BF have to draw me a map of New
Jersey, New York, and Connecticut on a bar napkin and circle the
tristate area for me), but over the summer we had some bands come
through on tours from other places. The bands are kind enough to come into the studio and play a set live for us, and then my co-host feeds us all tacos from Tepango's Taqueria in Brooklyn. And oh, the laughter! The witty banter! The pithy comments! The pith runs so high on the Rodent Hour.
So high, friends.
You can listen to it, too! It's on the Internet, which means that anyone with an Internet connection and some speakers can tune in every Tuesday from 8 to 10PM Eastern Time to hear my meatspace voice and a lot of great music. For example, do you like the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? Do you like things that give you the opportunity to use words like "roots," "folk," or "Appalachia"? Do you use Mason jars as drinking glasses even though your family's never been on welfare and has proper cocktail glasses in the credenza? And you have a credenza? You'll love The Tres Amigos.
This is a slideshow of their Sept. 25th appearance on the Rodent Hour, set to their song "Fiddleheads." I defy you to listen to this song and not smile. That's a washboard and an accordion you're hearing. Feel the wholesome Americana rollicking from of those fine harmonious tenor voices! Listening to their set made me want to be a better person. They're that good. Plus they wear matching shirts! How adorable is that?
If you miss the show live, we usually post the whole two hours on a Soundcloud account and leave it up for a week or so, along with some studio-quality tracks of that week's guest. Our free account only allows us to have one show at a time up there, but you can download the songs and show as a podcast for free and have it on your computer to listen to it anytime you want. Last week's show isn't up right this second. What you CAN hear, though, is our show from the night we had Slam Donahue on, and yowzah, were we all on fire that night!
But wait--there's more!
We have a YouTube channel, a Tumblr, a Twitter account for livestreaming during the show so you can know what songs are playing, the Soundcloud account, a Facebook page, and even a Stickam account that theoretically gives you live video of the band as they play, though we've never been able to get the sound to work on it and sometimes the video cuts out. The whole thing is pretty DIY, but that's hip right now, don't question me, I drink from a Mason jar with a handle on it, I live in Brooklyn!
Here's all the links. I'll be better about posting after each show and end each Rodent Hour post with the links.
Last night, the Rodent Hour hosted a singer named Sonia from the group Doe Paoro. I probably had about three different pronunciations of that name over the course of the evening, and none of them were correct. I shouldn't have looked at the word "Paoro" before I had the sound stuck firmly in my brain. Kept trying to roll that R.
But it was still a great show. Sonia played music from her new CD, "Slow to Love," which you can listen to in its entirety at that link and also purchase on iTunes. She ended by singing a Tibetan opera piece for us, a capella. Most of the tech stuff went off without a hitch. And the Rodent Hour's new theme song is the theme song for the anime Cowboy Bebop. I'm pretty proud of that one. I pulled the song up on my computer, and my co-host Matt agreed that it would make a great opener, so now the nerdiest possible music outside of the Star Trek theme song will play before every show.
Staying true to my roots.
Next week, our guest is Jason Cady, a lovely person and an opera composer who was also my very first roommate when I moved to New York City. The BF remembers the story like this: "You got out of the car that took you to Bedstuy from the airport and we rang the doorbell to the apartment, and I was thinking, Please be normal, Please be normal, Please be normal. And it was Jason!" You can listen to some of his music at that link.
Update: Almost forgot, Rodent Hour shows are archived on the our SoundCloud account , so if you missed our guest interviews live, you can listen and download them for one week after the show.
Also, the second hour of our show is Tunes from the Crypt, music we find on the shelves of the Pratt Radio station. Each week's play list is also available for download on the SoundCloud account (soundcloud.com/rodenthour). We update the site every week every Wednesday, the day after the latest show.
For my first post of the New Year (and Happy Year of the Dragon to you all!), I'm pleased to announce my debut on college radio. I'm going to be co-hosting the Rodent Hour on Tuesdays from 8 to 10PM New York time, which means it's just in time for all the Hawaii people to get off work, crack open a brew, and listen to some tunes on Pratt Radio.
It's all online. Here's the link to the Pratt Radio website where you can listen to us live.
And here's the link to the Rodent Hour's Facebook page, so you can post comments either celebrating or disparaging our taste in music and guests. Tonight's interviewees are Drunk Bastard and Skate from the hockey punk rock or puck rock band, Two Man Advantage.
Here's now I came to be on college radio five years after I graduated from college. My coworker, Matt, did the Rodent Hour on Pratt Radio last spring. Pratt Radio has bookshelves full of promo CDs, literally hundreds of them going back 10 or 25 years, that no one has ever listened to. Matt would grab a handful of them every week and bring them into the office so we could listen to them and riff on how bad they were, ala Mystery Science Theater 3000, because most of them were AWFUL. He'd say how he wanted to have another radio show and call it Tunes from the Crypt, where we'd just play music from the shelves and talk about it, and I'd laugh and say how much fun it would be to co-host that show with him.
Now, Matt will do this thing to me, and I think it's quite cruel, where he'll start off a sentence with, "Remember when you said..." It always makes a little bud of panic bloom in my tummy, because the truth is, no. No, I don't remember what I said. Ever. If it's not a quote from the Simpsons, a feminist screed, or the history of Batman's Robins, I don't save it in my brainspace after its left my mouth. So Matt came into the office about two weeks ago with the Spring 2012 Pratt Radio Schedule, and I'm on the list to co-host Tunes from the Crypt every Tuesday. He says I agreed to it, and my mind was just a big "File Not Found," but I pretended like I knew what he was talking about and nodded vigorously to save face. Then I got to thinking to myself, "Self, you're gonna be on the radio!" Self thought that was pretty cool, and I agreed, so now here we all are, on Tuesdays from 8 to 10, co-hosting the Rodent Hour!
Tunes from the Crypt, while originally a separate show from the Rodent Hour, is just going to be the name we give to the music we find on the shelves. Simpler that way.
We're on the lookout for musicians to come on the show, play their music, and talk story with us. So far, we've scheduled Two Man Advantage for tonight, and later we've got opera composer Jason Cady (2/21/12) and hiphop artist E-Dot (2/28/12). To be a guest, you have a have 1) decent music, 2) an upcoming show/CD release to promote, and 3) a website/Facebook page. If you want to be a guest, contact the Rodent Hour Facebook page.
Our listenership runs well into the teens, so you know it's a good bet!
