John Adams Mini-Series
(HBO)





The second president of the United States and “voice” of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, is a figure that often falls in the shadows of America’s better known forefathers. This perception might be as true now as it was then and it’s in part why the 7-episode HBO miniseries that follows John Adams life from his early days as a colonial lawyer in Boston through his presidency and his life after office is as interesting as it is moving.

John Adams is a truly spectacular piece of work from top to bottom and succeeds to push the genre of the mini-series itself with its production value and attention to detail. The success of the series is beyond any one element but the acting, writing, and cinematography are all extremely effective. The special effects also play a major role and go beyond that of many feature films even though you might not notice them without the “making of” feature included on the DVD.

The story itself is very well constructed following Adams, a man with as much virtue as ego and pride, through history from the Boston Massacre in 1770 through his death in 1826. Indeed the only major criticism of the series is by taking on such a large span of time, gaps occasionally develop in the timeline. Paul Giamatti, who first came to national attention in the film Sideways, is perfectly cast in the role of Adams and portrays his character without bias with his misgivings married to his philosophical brilliance. The true character of Adams is seen in context with his relationship with his wife Abigail (played marvelously by Laura Linney) and their interactions with their children- notably John Quincy Adams who later becomes president himself. The supporting cast is equally as impressive, especially Stephen Dillane’s performance playing Thomas Jefferson, Tom Wilkinson’s portrayal of the off-beat Ben Franklin, and David Morse’s uncanny depiction of George Washington.

The filmmakers manage to take the audience in to witness the fragile birth of our country in a way no other work has yet to accomplish. The series, produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book written by David McCullough and features an excellent documentary on the author. The historical accuracy of the series makes it a true learning experience adjusting some of the misconceptions that are common about the period, but beyond that, the series is a moving work of art. One need not be interested in American history to enjoy the characters and drama of the story. I’m sure this series will have a long life in American history classes but this amazing story of love, ambition, ego, and ultimately loss is one anyone can enjoy.

Tim Needles

Dive 75
101 West 75th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam Aves.)
Phone: (212) 362-7518









Happy Hour: 5-7 everyday- all domestic drafts are $3 and all domestic bottles are $2.50
Hours:
Monday through Thursday, 5 PM-4AM
Friday, 3 PM-4 AM
Sat & Sun, 12 PM-4 AM

In a neighborhood ripe with raccoon lodge-esque sports bars filled with bald marrieds hiding from their wives, the Upper West Side gem, Dive 75, is a welcome respite.

This is a no frills scene with a large selection of foreign and domestic draft beers as well as a full bar. While they do have TV’s for checking the score of the big game, what makes this place special is the relaxed atmosphere, the jukebox and the board games. After Sunday brunch or a rough day at the office, you can sit at a cozy table for a game of scrabble or trivial pursuit lit only by the 150-gallon fish tank. This is a dive bar where you can actually sit down, engage in conversation but not ruin your white jeans. A good date place for a low maintenance girl: what is a better first date than winning a game of connect four while listening to a juke box filled with Johnny Cash, Barry White and Radiohead?

For one couple it was the perfect first date- I saw them get engaged when the man spelled out “will you marry me” on a scrabble board. This place holds special meaning to people on the UWS. In the city that never sleeps, this unique, local joint reminds you that sometimes it’s OK to simply drink 6 Brooklyn lagers in the middle of the afternoon while enjoying a friendly game of boggle.

dear greer

Mercury Rev

Friday December 5

Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Bands: Red Hot + Rio 2: The Next Generation of Samba Soul
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: BAM
Food: Junior’s
Drink: O’Connor’s
Miscellaneous: Thomas Beisl

For fans of world music and the sounds of Brazil, then Red Hot + Rio 2 is for you. Featuring the next generation of samba-soul influenced artists, performers include CéU, Curumin, Bebel Gilberto, José González, Otto, João Parahyba (from Trio Mocoto) with a backing band of Kassin +2, Moreno, Domenico, Money Mark, Janja Gomes, Jorge Continentino, Carlos Darci, Zé Luis. Known more for its cheesecake than anything else on its menu, Junior’s also offers fantastic diner and deli style eats from steak burgers to deli sandwiches. If you can make it through dinner, the cheesecake will be worth the wait! One of Brooklyn’s most interesting dive bars, O’Connor’s offers cheap drinks in a place where Park Slope hipsters meet old-time drinkers, making for one of the oddest pairings that works. An excellent place to get schnitzel and goulash and other Austrian delights, Thomas Beisl is right across the street from BAM.

Friday December 5

Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Bands: The Squirrel Nut Zippers
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Southpaw
Food: Los Pollitos II
Drink: Pacific Standard
Miscellaneous: Gorilla Coffee

Remember Squirrel Nut Zippers hit song from 1996 called “Hell”? Well the band, who recently got back together after taking some years off, are on the road again blending 1940s era swing, blues, jazz, and klezmer. This show should be fun! Joining them is The Old Ceremony. While Mexican restaurants may be everywhere, not all are created equal. One that stands out, in that hood, is Los Pollitos II. Having gone several times, what makes me come back for more are the Chilaquiles for brunch and the gorditas for dinner. The guacamole is damn good too. Did you say you like beer? I like beer! Hooray for puppies! At Pacific Standard, the front bar has 16 beers on tap and the back room looks like a high school library. I think this is my new favorite bar. Don’t forget to ask about the frequent drinker card program! I’m totally serious. If you like your coffee black, Gorilla Coffee specializes in deep roasted flavors and provides it through fair-trade.

Saturday December 6

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Nada Surf + Delta Spirit + Gramercy Arms Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Food: Three of Cups
Drink: Whiskey Ward
Miscellaneous: Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Nada Surf, though not a huge band, have steadily gathered a following for years full of fans who love their alternative, folky and melodic pop songs. California band Delta Spirit also fall into that folk category crafting beautiful songs that would fit snug somewhere in the 1960s music scene. Gramercy Arms, a collective of NYC musicians has so many top notch collaborators, including members of Nada Surf, that you may see a familiar face or two in the band you know and love. What I like about Three of Cups the most is that the food is classic Italian fare like Pizza made in a wood-fired oven, risotto, pasta, while also offering more exciting dishes like lamb stew in a barolo wine reduction, served with potato gnocchi. The atmosphere is relaxing, bordering on romantic. With a name like Whiskey Ward, it’s expected that they deliver the goods, which lucky for this bar, they do. Whether it’s Scotch, Bourbon, Whiskey, or Single Malts, they got em’ along with a pool table and a damn good jukebox. Who doesn’t like cupcakes? Sugar Sweet Sunshine has one of the best in the city. With 10 different kinds, it’s hard to beat.

Saturday December 6

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: Yeasayer + Suckers Get Tickets Here
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Food: SEA
Drink: Zablozki’s
Accessory: Academy Records

You couldn’t really deny the eclectic originality of Yeasayers album All Hour Cymbals last year as they effortlessly blended pop, rock, world music and anything else they could find into gorgeous songs that sounded happy though had darker underlying meaning. And that’s exactly why you should be seeing them live. A great restaurant on the same block is SEA. Asian inspired from the décor to the food, this huge and gorgeous space serves up a mostly Thai menu from massaman curries to house specialties like Red SEA Duck (Half duck in red vinaigrette-tomato gravy sauce served with stir-fried mixed veggies). SEA is inexpensive and visually impressive for Brooklyn. With an increasing amount of new bars on the block, Zablozki’s is a standout that’s cozy, mostly mahogany, and has great drinks specials. A great stop off if you’re early is Academy Records. One of the biggest vinyl shops in NYC, if you are a vinyl fan, you will be blown away.

Saturday December 6

Location: Meat Packing District, NYC
Event: Details Block Party
Show time: 12 - 6 PM
Venue: Multiple venues throughout the Meat Packing District
Food: Spice Market
Drink: Plunge
Miscellaneous: Little Pie Company (located at 407 W14th St.)

It’s that holiday time of year to buy presents for loved ones and friends and instead of getting them some gift certificate from Target, why not get them something from one of the Meat Packing District’s amazing shop’s during the Details Block Party which will feature sample sales and great deals of up to 30% off on big names like Hugo Boss, Massimo Bizzocchi, Equinox, Los Dados, Spice Market, Ed Hardy, Theory, Puma, Helmut Lang, Bijou, Tracy Reese and more. There will also be free food and liquor tastings as well as. For dinner, if you can get a table, check out Spice Market. Chef and owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten converted this HUGE space into one of the sexiest Asian restaurants in NYC. Serving up exquisite dishes like the onion and chili crusted short ribs with egg noodles and pea shoots ($22), Spice Market impresses. If you choose not to stay at APT for drinks, close by is Plunge. Located at the top of the Hotel Gansevoort, this rooftop lounge offers stunning views of the city. If dessert is your thing, stop over at Little Pie Company, where pies are baked on premises. Whether you’re in the mood for sour cream apple, southern pecan, or Mississippi mud pie, you can’t go wrong here.

Sunday December 7

Location: Union Square, NYC
Bands: Mercury Rev + Dean & Britta Get Tickets Here
Show time: 6:30 to 9:30 PM
Venue: Highline Ballroom
Food: Maritime's Matsuri
Drink: Hiro
Accessory: Cha An Japanese Tea House

Start off the evening at Matsuri*, with Chef Tadashi Ono’s highly acclaimed Japanese food (*make a reservations). At Matsuri the fish is so fresh it’s flown in from Japan daily. I highly recommend the sushi with one of over 200 kinds of sake they stock. After dinner, head to the Japanese-themed bar Hiro for a dimly lit cocktail to lubricate your mind for the music to come. If you’ve never heard Mercury Rev before you’re totally missing out on some great music. What the Flaming Lips are doing now, the Rev have been doing for years, creating songs filled with cinematic swoops and using eclectic sounds to do it. With the release of two albums this year in Snowflake Midnight and Strange Attractor, this band proves that they’ve grown and that they can still keep it interesting. Former Luna members, Dean & Britta, who have been creating beautiful folky and sexy songs together will be joining the Rev. After a show like this you might want to head down to Cha An Japanese Tea House to sip some Matcha tea and calm yourself down.

Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him
by Humberto Fontova
(Sentinel Trade)







Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him, by Humberto Fontova wastes no time doing exactly what it sets out to do. In debunking the myth and idolatry surrounding Che Guevara, Fontova provides legitimate historical insight into the life of a man who saw to the execution of hundreds of political prisoners during the Cuban revolution and early years of the Castro regime, yet is hailed as a figure for the common people's struggle against oppression.

Fontova prefaces his book with the story of his family's escape from Communist Cuba in the early 1960's. He blames the biases of the liberal United States media for the image of the man we know as Che, but in working against that bias, he replaces it with his own. He is vehemently prejudiced against anything the Cuban government has ever done and staunchly in favor of any position the United States government holds. While he pokes many holes in the research of Che's most highly-regarded biographer, John Lee Anderson, his own anti-Cuba, pro-America biases make his position subject to a different, yet equally present, bias and prejudice that diminishes his credibility.

Marc Amigone

Location: Upper West side, NYC
Art: A Photography Exhibit to Benefit Multiple Sclerosis
Show time: 6:30 to 9:30 PM
Venue: Macauley Honors College, CUNY
Food: Josie’s
Drink: Candle Bar
Miscellaneous: Emack & Bolio’s

This FREE opening reception features photography by a Doctor, a Patient, Friends and Family who want to do something about MS Now. This exhibition shows works by Jed Best, D.D.S, Ann Parry, Sallie Jo Perraglia, David Snyder, M.D., MS Specialist, Peter Tejera, and Christine Thelen. Dairy free, organic, and free-range are things that come up often on the menu at Josie’s, offering dishes like the Warm Macadamia-Crusted Natural Chicken Breast Dinner Salad ($17.75), several tofu and seitan specialty dishes and the Freshly Ground Char-Grilled Brandt Natural Beef Cheeseburger ($15.75), so everyone here will walk away happy. Comfortable and dimly lit, the Candle Bar has a pool table in the back and drink specials daily. For some of the best and most interesting ice cream in the city, Emack & Bolio’s offers some eclectic flavors like Deep Purple Cow (Black Raspberry ice cream with white and dark chocolate chips and blueberries). This place thakes their ice cream serious.

The Best Of Bond…James Bond
Various Artists
(Capitol)






With the release of the latest 007 flick, Quantum of Solace comes the new CD, The Best Of Bond…James Bond.

There seems to be as many James Bond songs, themes and opening credits hits as there have been Bond’s. As expected, the CD opens with John Barry Orchestra’s rendition of Monty Norman’s “James Bond Theme” (the one with that real dirty guitar riff played by Vic Flick). “From Russia With Love,” the incomparable Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger,” Tom Jones’ passing-out performance of “Thunderball” (the story is when T.J. hit and held the last note he fainted), Nancy Sinatra’s weak “You Only Live Twice” and Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All The Time In The World” all follow in chronological progression. My all-time favorite Bond song “Diamonds Are Forever” is included, and this tune, more than any other of these 24, really illustrates what could be great about these early Bond tunes. The orchestra is restrained, the horns complimenting a great singer singing a well-crafted adult pop song.

A new Bond is represented by Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die,” heralding in the era of Bond songs performed and written by rock/pop acts. I could be mistaken but the sound here seems like it has been cleaned-up, in this version I really hear the electric guitar better then I ever have before. We get a spate of mediocre late 70’s/80’s offerings; Lulu’s “Man With The Golden Gun,” Sheena Easten’s forlorn “For Your Eyes Only,” and talents like Rita Coolidge, Gladys Knight, and Sheryl Crow having a go. For me, Duran Duran’s “View To A Kill” and Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better” are the strongest from this mid-era Bond stuff. The last three songs fare a bit better with Garbage’s techno/string mix of “The World Is Not Enough,” Madonna’s even techno-ier “Die Another Day,” and Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name” from the most recent Casino Royale.

The Best of Bond…James Bond is a CD chock-full of solid songs written for one of our most enduring cinematic icons.

Ralph Greco, Jr.


Sing It Loud
Come Around
(Epitaph)






With so many punk bands trying to infiltrate the scene and stand out, its hard to find a band that's done it better than Minneapolis band Sing It Loud. Their first album Come Around, gives them the credentials to call themselves a bonafide punk band. Although the band would prefer to be called a pop band on a punk label, they got some help from just the right people to make this dynamic album one worth remembering.

Produced by Motion City Soundtrack guitarist Josh Cain, engineered by Mark Trombino (Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182) and cameos from Cain's bandmate Justin Pierre and All Time Low's Alex Gaskarth, this album is filled with catchy hooks, wicked guitar riffs, and fiery synths that make some of the more popular bands sound like amateurs.

By the time you have played this album through, you will forget you're listening to a rookie punk band and realize this is genuinely enjoyable stuff. They touch on young love and heartache with the emotional "Best Beating Heart" with its strong vocals and harmonies, and lyrics like "pretend this dream will never end / and time will stop again" and bold tracks like "Don't Save Me" and "No One Can Touch Us."

Come Around is a collection of punk anthems in the making. Expect to see fans rocking out to their songs for a long time to come.

Jennifer Hein


Noah and the Whale
Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
(Interscope)






No that’s not a botched reference to a bible story (it’s Jonah and the whale). It is a statement of their affection for director Noah Baumbach and his 2005 film, The Squid and the Whale. This is an appropriate affiliation for a band with the sensibilities evinced in Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down. The album does many of the things that Sufjan Stevens does, without the tics that make him alternately unbearably precious and remarkably masterful. The pocket symphony sound is there, employing a wide variety of instruments, but without descending into overtly show-offy tracks that serve little purpose other than to underscore the band’s mastery of composition, ala the instrumentals on Illinoise. The lyrics deal largely with painful emotional circumstances, without relying too heavily on “crying in a van with my friends” or “crying in the bathroom.” What remains is instead a delightful piece of indie pop, carried formidably by the dual vocals of the sweet-voiced Laura Marling, and the deeper, croakier work of Charlie Fink.

Nate Campbell


Pit Er Pat
High Time
(Thrill Jockey)






Pit Er Pat has made a name for itself by defying classification. On their newest album, High Time, the Chicago band utilizes a grab bag of foreign textures and timbres, including the bobo balaphone, electrified kalimba, and the anandolohori, to craft a sound that is simultaneously modern American dance-rocky and unplaceably exotic. The tight, eclectic rhythm section is complimented by rougher-around-the-edges guitar lines that meander between exotic scales and powdered-wig melodies; "Copper Pennies" is a representative culturally-ambiguous song, featuring falsetto vocals, varied instrumentation and shifting soundscapes, while "Evacuation Days" trip-hops over a slinking Arabesque guitar.

The record opens with "ANNO IV:XX," a hypnotic groove layering deep-voiced "one, two"s over alternative percussion. Other highlights include "Creation Tripper," in which a syncopated marimba foundation gives way to an anarchically crescendoing coda, and closing track "Good Morning Song," a dreamy trip with seemingly incongruous rhythms and vocal elements repeating relentlessly until a final one-two cymbal crash abruptly ends the album. A High Time, indeed.

Toney Palumbo


The Panics
Cruel Guards
(Dew Process)






Cruel Guards, released on Dew Process Recordings is the new album from Australia’s own, The Panics. A record that snagged the group four nominations at this year’s ARIA awards, and won Best Adult Contemporary album. Cruel Guards, has easily made it’s way to my top records of 2008. It’s a solid effort that somehow comes across facile, simple and smooth. Among the forty-three minutes and ten tracks, these songs, “Get Us Home,” “Ruins,” “Don’t Fight It,” “Cruel Guards,” and “Live Without” were standout. Compared to the band’s previous work, this album sounds far more upbeat, with pianos and trumpets against the weighty words of Jae Laffer. Each song is a little tale, the lyrics painting vivid scenes against the backdrop of carefully coordinated music.

Dezzy Ramdeen

Original Soundtrack Photo by Tim Shore

Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Bands: Original Soundtrack by Brian Joseph Davis
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Issue Project Room
Food: Chiles & Chocolate Oaxacan Kitchen Drink
Drink: The Gate
Miscellaneous: Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.

Sound artist and writer Brian Joseph Davis brings an unconventional live performance featuring 20 television sets and DVD players. The DVD players have different movies stuck on their menu page featuring endlessly looping film music, which creates a wall of cinematic sound. Speaking of interesting, ever have Oaxacan food? Chiles & Chocolate serves up some fantastic, not exactly Mexican food. Try the smoky flavored Mole Negro, one of the best mole sauces I’ve had in NYC. Before leaving, you must try one of the hot chocolates like the Chiles Y Chocolate. A hint of chipotle without too much heat is a nice kick-start for the night. The Gate is a great Park Slope bar with excellent beers on tap and a outdoor courtyard to chill. If time permits, you must, and I mean MUST go to the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., a non-profit organization that helps kids with their writing, that’s fronted by a store selling super powers.