Holy fuck, Reader, what a couple of weeks that was.
We sincerely apologize for our prolonged radio silence. We initially only planned to take the week off after the illustrious College Media Journal Music Marathon two weeks ago, then, it turns out, a gigantic super-storn hell-beant on sinking New York City hit town and blogging about music + vegan food + artsy stuff swiftly struck us seriously ludicrous. We think the storm was totally somehow created by that same Super PAC that’s been airing all those anti-Obama ads that have suddenly hit the airwaves in the metropolitan area, but we don’t have any proof…YET!
We made it through the storm with just a few scrapes + minor bruises, namely a busted window in the design studio that was pushed in off of its frame and left precariously hanging over my work area, but clearly we got off easy when compared to residents of Red Hook, Staten Island, the Rockaways, and—sadly—many other neighborhoods and towns in the area.
We had also planned, post-CMJ, to have a week dedicated to the bands we had not featured in our previous pre-CMJ post (which you can still check out and listen through below, by the by); bands we either saw and unexpectedly loved or missed but heard were superb. We’ll still be doing that—though a week displaced—but we also thought it fitting to start things off with an appropriately gentle transition from the serious, sombre tones of flooding + tragedy + and all the stricken souls on the east coast…to articles about bands we like. Therefore, our first post-CMJ post is on Brooklyn band Buke + Gase, who we interviewed WAAAAAAY back in the spring of 2010 (check that out here).
The band just announced that they will be selling their appropriately named song “Hard Times” (along with its b-side “Blue Monday”) to benefit Red Hook Initiative, who has been working for the past week to organize relief efforts in the heavily hit neighborhood. As Arone + Aron of Buke + Gase put it:
“We used to call Red Hook, Brooklyn home, a neighborhood that’s been greatly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. To help support the recovery process, we are donating a song from our upcoming album. All proceeds from the purchase of this song over the next week will go directly to www.rhicenter.org. We wish the best to all who have been affected by the storm, and sending gratitude to those who are helping in any way they can.”
So start off the week right with some great music for a really great cause, Reader. “Hard Times” will be a track on Buke + Gase’s sophomore LP, General Dome, out January on Brassland.
“Hard Times” b/w “Blue Monday” to benefit Sandy relief in Red Hook by Buke and Gase
And for anyone who wants to lend a hand in the area, we highly recommend getting in touch with RHI—Katie + I volunteered with them last week and helped a kindly Red Hook family clear out and clean up their ravaged ground floor. There’s a lot of work to do down there still and RHI’s doing a superb job organizing efforts + gathering donations. Their Twitter feed is actually a great place to get real time updates on needs. Outside of Red Hook, the Gowanus Studio Space—166 7th Street, Brooklyn—is accepting donations to bring out to the Rockaways. You can take a look at their list of needs here, which they’ve been updating as they receive donations and new requests. Finally, our New York City Councilmemeber, Brad Lander, has accumulated a pretty comprehensive list of how to help all over NYC and you can also sign up to help out and find out about other New York needs at nycservice.org.
We’ll be back tomorrow with another new band we .
Band photo by Grant Cornett.
