New Socks: house show (video)

I went on tour with Black Mold Lightning, New Socks, and The Awesomelies last winter.
The first stop was (Adam Clayton) Pow-wow, right here in Harlem.
you might recognize a few faces/places.
Cheers to house shows!

Back in Session

I’ve been super excited about the first uptown show that I booked this season. There are a lot of Harlem scene veterans playing this one. Vision Through Sound (from East and Central Harlem) was the first band I contacted, and they were more than stoked considering the last house show they played at Lerfe (RIP) had the most incredible energy. Although, I’ve been spinning their latest record These Things Happen through my shitty boombox the track Rinse and Repeat always gets me rocking out. It must be the progression of jangly alt-country guitar noodling which leads in to a short psychedelic freak-out that keeps my head from staying on my shoulders. The bongos at the bridge also add a sweet danceability to the number. If you haven’t heard these cats play before, you should get to know their very versatile sound. I recommend playing the game: How many genres influence this VTS track? Which isn’t to say these cats are incoherent. No, they’ve totally got their sound in the pocket, and they are way comfortable with taking it to new territory (one would expect no different from a band that’s been around for more than five years). For example the lo-fi tinged guitar intro on Let The Right One Out is totally spittin’ game at that East Coast/West Coast surf-revival the Brooklyn cats have been going gaga over. Add some washed out harmonies to back up the longing in Andrew’s vocal delivery and it’s a hit. Probably the best candidate for a single if you were to ask me. The slow-ballad to punk venture that occurs in I’ve Forged A Woman in My Mind is second runner up.

Also, huge shout out to Politics As Usual for coming all the way from New Jersey to bless the collective with their post-punk, post-brooklyn sensibilities. I save this term for those few bands in the NYC area that dare to rock out without pretension or gimmicks. I’m pretty stoked about being able to pick up their newest album Trouble. I’ve been waiting for a full length since I started playing/booking shows with these guys nearly a year ago. If yr a fan of The Replacements check the track Trouble Abroad for a dose of sonic nostalgia. Once I get my hands on this dime a full review is in order.

If you’ve ever been to a CC show before, you know it’s never a one-trick pony. For those who prefer dirtybeat droppin’ macbooks Event and Eunice will be sure to make you freakout. Don’t even try to deny the fact that you sometimes catch yrself walking down 125th droning I’m from Cincinnati, but Harlem is my home/Harlem is my home. I’ve seen you chanting it at Lerfe, OK? GOOD SONG. The last I heard from Eunice she was ready to release some new tracks that will put some sex in yr hips. Great, maybe I’ll be able to keep my shirt on this time. Her last collaboration with Josh dropped some dope dub-step decibels, dangerously down mahd00d (I could do this all day). Regardless, Josh’s afro-beat band Birch & The Tiger will be grooving. See them burning down Lerfe here. Can I get an album you lot?

If you’re coming through, bring some clothes you’d like to get rid of since we’re going to be hosting a clothing swap. If you aren’t familiar with the program, it’s pretty simple: There’s a pile. Leave what you don’t want in it. Take what you like out of it. The rest gets donated. This semester we will be working with The Black Student Union at CCNY and the New York chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement to distribute clothes to those in need living in the Harlem community. Woop, woop. You can also drop off any gently used clothing and shoes at the Morales Shakur Community Center which is located in North Academic Center room 3/201 at CCNY.

So yeah, come out and help support Convent Collective by donating what you can. We’d like to keep things shakin’ but we can’t do it without you.
There might be some Henna and Live Painting going down as well. If you want to bring something fun let us know: conventcollective@gmail.com

New Amsterdam Musical Association
107 W 130th Street between Adam Clayton Powell and Lenox
$3-7 Donation
all ages as always

Coast Van Garde? Kind of a secret.

Spotted: 125th and Adam Clayton Powell

The square in front of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. state building has been boarded off for a couple months now. Since the gray walls have gone up, many have used the barricade as a message board for political messages. The building may belong to the state but it’s walls have been everybody’s protest novel.

Previous Pictures

work space

We’ve been using our home as work space, and we think you should too. If you are interested in joining/hosting a workshop drop a line at conventcollective@gmail.com.
A handful of us are working on stencils. We’re open to other artists/projects as well.

home/work space

Redefine Maculinity

Tell Dem Slavery Done

Spotted: 128th and Frederick Douglass

identity

empowerment

gentrification

awareness

The scaffolding around the new condom. going up on 128th and Frederick Douglass provides an intimate space for public messages to be articulated. It also doubles as good cover for those who are not as quick on the take.

Spotted: 146th and Amsterdam

146th and Amsterdam

Lerfe Space: South Sudanese Community Center Fundraiser

The Lost Boys and Girls are survivors of a mass exodus of children who fled southern Sudan for the relative safety of Ethiopia in 1987 during a particularly violent phase of the Sudanese civil war. While the actual numbers are unclear, it is thought that as many as 20,000 children became refugees at that time, almost all of them orphaned by the fighting. The first of an eventual 3,500 began arriving in this country in the winter of 1999/2000. Initially there were 150 South Sudanese resettling in Boston. Now there are over 300 who reside in Massachusetts…and they need our help!

SATURDAY JUNE 5th – Come HELP SUPPORT the South Sudanese Community Center and Art Gallery!!! The South Sudanese Community Center , located in Arlington, Massachusetts, functions primarily as a spacious gathering place for the South Sudanese community in the greater Boston area. It is also a space where workshops, tutoring sessions, and meetings are held, and it is where the Sudanese Education Fund calls home. The Sudanese Education Fund sponsors South Sudanese immigrants through education grants to offset tuition costs for higher education. The center also functions as an art gallery, housing a display of paintings from Kakuma refugee camp. THE CENTER WAS SPONSORED BY A SINGLE DONOR FOR A PERIOD OF 3 YEARS, WHICH WILL BE COMING TO AN END IN MARCH 2010. We need to do our part to keep this vital component of the South Sudanese Community in Boston functioning.

Come join us for a night of discussion, music, performances, dancing, food, and drinks!

POTLUCK and PRESENTATION from 6pm-9m:

Powerpoint presentation chronicling the Civil War in Sudan, which will include four guest speakers who are survivors of the conflict.  In addition, there will be performances of traditional South Sudanese song and dance. A Q&A session will follow. Please come prepared to get involved with raising awareness of the conflict and taking actions to provide aid.

Traditional Sudanese food will be served.

AFTER PARTY 9pm-5am:

LIVE DJ spinning hip-hop, reggae, afrobeat, soul, and electro along with PERFORMANCES by:

Ras Sherman
Event
Accent
The Better Times
…and more to be announced!

If you have questions or want to help organize, promote, perform, or just make a comment contact:

Jacob Cohen (jacobgcohen@gmail.com)

or

the Sudanese Education Fund (www.SudaneseEducationFund.org)

Saturday, June 5th 9PM @ LERFE

379 W 125th Street Apt 3 New York, NY 10031

A/B/C/D/1 to 125th Street

Interview with Dan Freeman

Dan Freeman’s exhibition The Underground Railroad is currently on display at La Pregunta Art Cafe. I had the chance to interview Dan about his work, graffiti culture, and independent media. The following are excerpts from the interview. The interview in it’s entirety will be available in print in my upcoming zine Doppelganger, so be on the look out!

For now you can check out The Underground Railroad for free over a cup of tea at LP.

Win: Why did you want to leave the mistakes in your art uncorrected?
Dan: The art pieces started off as pieces of paper that would go up on a wall in an auditorium. It wasn’t anything special. I used pastels because it gives the work a crayon-y feel. Markers can be too sharp sometimes, a little to clean, and that in turn leads to intimidation.  I didn’t want to intimidate students. A lot of artists strive to create something complex or perfect and it evokes a response in the viewer that’s like “Wow, that’s hot. I’d never be able to do that.” I wanted to create something that seemed attainable to my students. In its quality, you can look at the work and see I put time in to it, but in the same sense a kid could look at it and say, “I can do that Mr. D. I can do that better than you”. If you look real close you might see pencil lines, little smudges that should have been erased or other little imperfections that most artists would not allow to remain there. I wanted my students to be able to say “I can do that”.  That was the main thing I was trying to transmit through this art: You can do this. If you feel like you can do it, try, it doesn’t matter. It’s OK to fuck up. It’s OK to get some bumps and bruises. Nowadays, perfection is pushed on students so much they are afraid to mess up or make mistakes. The best way to learn is to earn a few scars. That’s one thing I try to do with my art. To say: Don’t worry about being perfect. If the love is there, if the passion is there, it will definitely show and resonate.

Win: How do you see students entering the graffiti art narrative in a positive way?

Dan: They gotta be angry. Anyone that does art, true graffiti art: putting their name on something considered private property has got to be angry. You’ve got to be angry about something in your environment to put your name on something you know you are not supposed to touch. Tagging a building is a way of saying fuck your building, i’m angry and i’m here. For graffiti to have meaning it has to have that energy. That anger has to come through the artwork, it must be essential. Love comes with it, that’s what sustains the initial anger.

Harmattan

Harmattan

(from) the Northwest Coast of Africa
a desert wind carrying sand
or the sedimentary deposits
where Harlem meets Manhattan

-blighted, they say, but none the less
concave scaffolding could never completely veil
the ebb of damp brown eyes cutting
from bug-eyed hipsters to suits in stilts

lessons grumble from benches in low resonant tones:
you gotta respect the rules
you gotta respect where you live
and in case you have not yet realized:

the sea receded long before the sands invasion.
in fact, one buried the other
by crushing mountains in the wake of it’s gaze.

press your ears against the shell of a brownstone
and you may hear its haunting:
i’m not here.
i’m not what i used to be,

and in time, the derelict licks
of a summer wind will claim you too.

-Winston Scarlett

Nocturnal

Nocturnal – a Poem by Jordan Topf

Nocturnal.
Weird dinners and abnormal
Conversations a plenty, they drank me dry
White wine and talks of the summertime
The distant smiles but you sit by my side
You’re so far from my mind and I need it to be that way
The nightingale sprung from the branch space
And gave to me wise songs in which to play
Do not reside for her unless you want her
Grinding my molars, heartbeats,
And all into one cascading tragedy
Of lost cause one-sided coke table fixers
You try so hard to write your life into beauty
It will not be the way you planned
The distant smiles by my side
So far from my mind do I need it to stay?
The nightingale sprung from the branch space
And gave to me wise words to sing
Dark black stones exposed collarbones
Love dare I say in the night
Vanishing over time gently into the abyss of
Your crazed state of mind
Do I ever want this to happen again?
Not in a lifetime.