Friday 04.19.2013 | 4:23 PM EDT

The Go-Kartel Live @ Shrine, Harlem NY

Posted by contributing editor Dick Starkey
b/w Photos by Rachel Carey, Snapseed processing by The Chairman
Color Photos courtesy of ShrineNYC 

In 2010, Brooklyn’s Hank’s Saloon hosted a shambling, lively set of songs by The Go-Kartel (Kevin Brady – guitar, vocals, “the dangler” accordion; Rob Grover – stoic yet jaunty bass, Bill Wyman-style; and Mauricio Carey – drums, boom, pah, pow!). The band rehearsed these songs for only seven years before unleashing them to an adoring and eclectic audience of both Manhattanites and Brooklynites. That’s mass appeal.

Last night, three years later, The Go-Kartel took the stage at Harlem’s Shrine World Music Venue, where Wednesday night is Rock Night. And Rock they did. The boisterous crowd was stunned to silence by the poppy opener “280-Z.” You could hear a pin drop. This was true, awestruck appreciation. But once the blistering “Carrie, I Don’t Mind” growled and cracked across the stage the crowd broke from their reverie into an applause wall of sound.

You like The Cure? Billy Bragg? Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello? Of course you do. Everybody does. And thusly, The Go-Kartel is liked by all. Composed of two dads and a rabble rouser, the trio brings Manhattan urbanity and Brooklyn credibility to a brand of pop that manages to be both fresh and nostalgic. And their taste in covers is simply superb. The band brings a wisp of the country to Elvis Costello’s rueful “Kid About It.” And on Burt Bacharach’s “Little Red Book,” they replicate the sound and spirit of a song that would ten years later serve as the template for The Cure’s “Killing an Arab.”

Towards the end of the set, fearless leader Brady tries to leave the audience wanting by cutting the set list down by one. But the road-wisened rhythm section bulldozed the idea in favor of one last bit of pure pop pleasure, the rousing and complex “Cannonball,” a song that took the band a mere 12 months to master. And with that last song, the audience was still left wanting. But I have a feeling we won’t have to wait three more years to get a chance to watch The Go-Kartel rock us out again…

The band has asked to thank sound man Lauren, along with the entire management staff of Shrine for their kind attention and all-pro back line.

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Thursday 04.11.2013 | 1:23 PM EDT

Been Looking So Long At These
Pictures of You

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most images © Albert Cheung Photography www.albertcheungphoto.com

Dear friends and loved ones:

Our wedding pictures are done, and by asking you to take a look, we’re not appealing to our sense of vanity, but rather yours. Albert got some great coverage – all of you are represented and you look fabulous! So take a minute to re-live the day by looking out for the ones that made this event so special: yourselves.

much love

mau + rach

Tuesday 04.02.2013 | 7:23 AM EDT

Mau + Rach: Bye Bye Brooklyn, Aloha Hawaii, Part 2 – Makena/Hana

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So we’ve switched gears from lazy lounge lizards to active island go-getters. We’ve migrated south from Lahaina to Makena, where we’ve kicked into high gear with our Sweet Blue Ride, a convertible Mustang that’s taken us far and wide across the island. Rachel’s swam with the sea turtles, we’ve sailed the deep blue seas, watched whales fly high above the water line, and twisted and turned along the Road to Hana, from it’s mundane beginning to it’s dramatic end. It’s been quite a ride. Take a look…

BTW, along the Road to Hana, we stopped at Waianapanapa, (say that one time fast) to witness a lava blowhole. Don’t snicker. It’s badass:

Wednesday 03.27.2013 | 9:23 PM EDT

Mau + Rach: Bye Bye Brooklyn, Aloha Hawaii – Part 1: Lahaina

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“Down By the Shack, By the Sea” | Don Ho | Greatest Hits | 1975

After what must be described, in our humble opinion, as the perfect wedding, Rach and I high-tailed it out of the cold, grey environs of Brooklyn for the breezy, sunny delights of Maui, Hawaii. We left at 5:30AM the morning after the ceremony and arrived 21 hours later, tired and wired, but walking on air.

Our first stop was Lahaina, where we spent four days with a single agenda – lie by the ocean while friendly resort staff keep the snacks and alcohol comin’.

Last night we visited a bar owned by one of my heros, Mick Fleetwood. Locals assert that he often spends time at his beloved Fleetwood’s, a place peppered with photos of the venerable Fleetwood Mac drummer, alongside other famous, charismatic friends. One of his original (gold-plated) drum kits is on display as well, though it is said he occasionally sits behind them to the delight of his fans. I hoped I could angle myself into a photo with the incredibly tall, marvelously whiskered drummer of my eye, but alas, he was not present, what with Fleetwood Mac on tour and all.

Our most ambitious outing was a simple catamaran cruise at sunset, where we watched whales playfully splash around us as we sipped drinks and snapped pics. Truly amazing, these behemoth, benevolent creatures.

Tomorrow we head for Makena. Here we will begin the active part of the trip, where kayaking, snorkeling, sea turtles, helicopter rides, a convertible Mustang and the legendary Road to Hana await us. Stay tuned…

Thursday 03.14.2013 | 2:23 PM EDT

#1 Record

Yesterday, Knight reiterated a question posed by friend on Facebook, asking people: “What single record should every serious music fan own?”

It’s a tricky query – the answer could depend on your interpretation of the question. But as I see it, we’re not talking about a “desert island” kind of choice, one that is informed by one’s personal tastes and experiences. Rather I look at it as a choice that reflects the impact and influence the record in question has had on (rock) music as a whole. If this is how we approach the challenging task of selecting that one record, it seems the choice is rather easy:

The Beatles White Album.

“Helter Skelter” | The Beatles | The White Album | 1968

Breaking down the rationale, first we could likely all agree that The Beatles are by far the most influential band in rock history. Fans of the band are, well, fanatical. Countless artists cite them as an influence. And though The Fab Four’s contributions to songwriting, topical material, production, and style are legendary, we can’t overlook the influence they had on future musicians that, regardless of their stylistic inclinations, looked at those four boys performing and said simply: “I want to do that.”

Now I must admit, my gut reaction choice was Sgt. Pepper’s. It broke new ground on so many levels. No other record before it sounded like it, thanks to George Martin’s production wizardry. It heralded a new era of sound that reached far beyond the psychedelic arena, as artists began to mine the wealth of textures and spaces created by this mother-of-all-rock-records. It also introduced an entirely new approach to topical songwriting, as evidenced by the ripped from the headlines approach of “Day In the Life” or “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.” So much more could be said about the seminal quality of this record, but as it pertains to the topic at hand, this is a subject to be explored in later posts.

The White Album. Why this record in particular? My choice stems from the stylistic eclecticism of the song selections. This record was made at time when the band was beginning to show signs of cracking. Tensions were high. The fierce competition and one-upmanship between Lennon and McCartney that previously fueled a collaborative songwriting partnership began to implode. No longer was this competition a spark towards collaborative creativity. It instead gave way to a splintering between songwriters and created an atmosphere of individual rather than collaborative output.

For this reason, the White Album is a schizophrenic record, so stylistically varied as to present what seems at first listen to be a disjointed collection of songs written in a vacuum. It’s almost as if the four members had made solo records and at the last minute decided to release them as one behemoth collection of individual creativity. But with repeated listenings, one can reconcile and appreciate it’s stylistic variety by virtue of its remarkable scope. We’ve got arguably the first heavy metal song (“Helter Skelter”) playing alongside the western balladry of “Rocky Raccoon”; the plaintive psychedelia of “Dear Prudence” going head to head with the weird and edgy “Happiness is a Warm Gun”; and terribly sad songs of loss such as “Julia” next to the joyful reverie of “Birthday” and “Back in the U.S.S.R.”  The variety of structure, style and arrangement is dizzying. It’s a challenging record, one that requires the listener to put aside expectations of continuity and learn to regard it as a musical menagerie never topped before or since.

So how does this sit with you, dear reader? What would you choose? Let the debate continue…

Monday 02.04.2013 | 10:23 AM EDT

Vinyl Addiction by the Numbers:
Or, How to Kill a Chilly Saturday Afternoon

Music geeks are obsessive catalogers. Their enjoyment of music is not limited to the recording itself, but to the metadata associated with one’s collection. The digital age makes that data readily accessible (if the geek is obsessive enough to tag his tracks with complete, accurate information). Digital music libraries like iTunes allow one to quickly glimpse a variety of data sets that heighten musical enjoyment. How many albums do I own? How many artists represent that number? What year did a particular album come out? Numbers give the music geek both a road map to his/her collection and a sense of the historical perspective the collection represents.

I am a music geek. I revel in the huge collection of music I’ve amassed over the past 30 years. And, with the help of iTunes, I routinely sort, filter and catalogue my collection by almost any criteria I could want. I can quickly refine my choices to find just the right record to listen to for any given mood or occasion. But on Feb 7, 2011 something happened that put a virtual stop to my digital musical consumption. I caught the vinyl bug.

I purchased a Pro-ject Debut III Turntable and, with the fervor of a fanatic, began acquiring used, new and re-issued vinyl by the scores. Week after week, empty LP cartons stacked up outside my door while upstairs in my office the number of precious pieces of finely-grooved plastic grew at an alarming rate. I was hooked.

But my obsession eventually ran beyond just the consumption of vinyl. I jonesed for the metadata, you see. How many records had I acquired in the past 2 years? Where was my road map? I began toying with the idea of arranging my collection by decade (genre being a category that is too often blurry and subjective). This would give me at least one precious piece of information that could help me in selecting what to listen to when I was in the mood for, say, romantic pop with a penchant for keyboards. To the 80′s bin, Robin! And I began to wonder: Hmmm… how well is each decade represented by my collection?

I mentioned this whimsical musing to Rachel on several occasions. Each time, my extremely good-tempered wife-to-be answered with a cringing retort: I am not spending hours helping you shuffle pieces of vinyl around your office. And besides, I’ll never be able to find anything! So I gave up the dream. For the moment. Until one morning, as we lay in bed on a cold Brooklyn Saturday morning, I mentioned my irrepressible desire once again. This time, she formulated an interesting alternative: Why don’t you instead create an index of all your records, listed by decade? Brilliant! Create my own set of metadata the old fashioned way. By hand. Sort of. Will you help me, I pleaded? I was excited by the idea for reasons beyond anything a rational middle-aged man should ponder. But, with an air of peculiar excitement of her own, Rachel agreed to help. You see, she’s a geek too. A spreadsheet geek.

We hopped out of the warm bed, made some strong coffee and blew off the household chores of laundry and grocery shopping. Instead, Rachel took her position behind the Mac, nimble fingers at the ready, as I knelt beside one of the eight bins of vinyl scattered and stacked around the office. One by one, I pulled each record from it’s alphabetical position and dictated artist, album title and year to my lovely and patient geek at arms. It seemed a formidable task. But we flew through it. In less than 4 hours, we’d created a spreadsheet of all 456 records in my collection. Ah, that number. So satisfying. So frightening in it’s size-to-time ratio. But once the data was properly sorted, the real value of it (to me at least) shone through. I knew exactly how many records I had from each decade since 1920.

I had speculated on the spread as we endeavored in this somewhat ridiculous task. At the end of the day, my speculations proved correct. I am a child of the 80′s. My collection confirmed this. I had by far more records from that decade than any other, followed closely by the 1970′s. The 90′s (the decade dominated by the CD format) were the most anemically represented –  many titles were simply not pressed on vinyl during that time. And while the 2010′s represented only 7% of my collection, we are merely two years in to the decade. At the current average rate of growth of 15 records per year, I will theoretically have collected 150 by decade’s end!

Many will exclaim: What a colossal waste of time! And they may be right. But for reasons incomprehensible to the non-geek, it was a great way to kill a cold winter day. Rachel confirms it. This is a truly satisfying collection of data.

View the discography spreadsheet here.

Some have asked, what are the top ten artists in this vinyl collection? We are here to serve:

1. The Rolling Stones: 21
2. The Beatles: 18 
3. Bob Dylan: 13
4. Rush: 9
5. Elvis Costello: 8
6. Lou Reed: 8
7. U2: 8
8. Belle & Sebastian: 7
9. The National: 7
10. The Smiths: 7

For more interesting (?) statistics on digital music play count, visit my LastFM chart page.

Saturday 09.22.2012 | 8:23 PM EDT

Gin and Gaudi: Barcelona, Spain 2012

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All photos © maunet.com. Shot with the Nikon D300S and the iPhone 4s + SnapSeed

Hola chicos, today we’re gonna show and tell a bit about the amazing city of Barcelona, home to the great kooky architect Gaudi, mouth-watering Iberian ham, charmingly lisped accents and the strangely mixed gin and tonic. Rach and I spent six days traipsing around this beautiful city, taking in an abundance of architecture, shopping, eating and drinking. We slept little and walked much, making our way through most of the city’s barrios, each more charming than the next.

With jet-lag buzzing in my ears as I write  this, it’s hard to sum up our stay in a few short words, so I’ll spare you all the clever prose and let the pictures speak for themselves. Yes, it’s a hefty slideshow, but well worth your gander, if I do say so myself. Enjoy!

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