It's been over four years since Brooklyn-based rockers They Might Be Giants produced an "adult" album, which isn't as dirty as it sounds—the indelibly inventive songwriting team of John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been busy carving out an increasingly successful niche for themselves with the 12-and-under set, with a growing catalog of popular rock albums for kids. But tomorrow they finally drop another joint for mature audiences with their new album "Join Us." It's their 15th record, next Friday, July 29th, and they'll be returning to the NYC stage with a highly-anticipated free show for the grownups on the Williamsburg Waterfront (funnyman Eugene Mirman opens). We recently spoke with Flansburgh at-length about Twitter, rejected album titles, the American death trip, and so much more.
They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh: The Catskills Is The New Williamsburg
David Byrne Loses Annual Turkey Mold Contest, Again!
Earlier this week artist Danielle Spencer held her annual pre-Thanksgiving Turkey-shaped Jell-O Mold Competition. The festive gathering draws an elite group of artsy creative types and indie glitterati like David Byrne and They Might Be Giants rocker John Flansburgh. Each guest uses his or her own ingredients to create a bird with Yankee Harvest’s "Qwiggle Turkey Game Hen Gelatin Mold." And after feasting on the faux-turkeys, a winner is declared. Every year, we hope for an invitation, and every year we're coldly snubbed. But this time a friend of Gothamist (who didn't invite us either, WHATEVER) was in attendance, and reports that both Byrne and Flansburgh were shockingly bested by the Dark Horse candidate Gobble Pop.
John Linnell, They Might Be Giants
When They Might Be Giants released their twelfth album, The Else, over the summer, The Village Voice called it “as tuneful and rockin' as all the rest, from the withering ‘I'm Impressed’ to the female-empowerment anthem ‘Take Out the Trash.’” Keeping it fresh is no small feat for a band with such an impressive body of work, accumulated over the course of the past 25-plus years. But a listen to The Else or, even better, a couple hours spent at one of their live shows is proof enough that the Johns remain as creatively resilient as ever. They spent most of the fall 2007 on the road and have since been putting the finishing touches on their next project for Disney, “Here Come the 123s.” Oriented for children, the CD/DVD package will feature a mix of animation and music like their previous “Here Come the ABCs”. On Saturday February 2nd they play a grown-up rock show at The Beacon Theater, with horns. [Tickets.]
John Flansburgh, They Might Be Giants
Over the past quarter-century They Might Be Giants have become such a consistent presence in the indie rock solar system that it’s quite possible to take them for granted. Because they were there at the ignition of "alternative" rock and never took their feet off the gas, one assumes they'll keep rocking all the way to the end, with "Don't Let's Start" providing the dance music for cockroaches' post-apocalyptic revelries. But despite their expansive musical output – in addition to their numerous “adult” rock albums, the notoriously productive duo keeps busy making brilliant kids’ albums, composing tunes for everything from Dunkin’ Donuts to Disney’s Meet the Robinsons, posting dozens of podcasts on their website and touring the world with their super-tight band – they somehow manage to keep flying just slightly below the mainstream radar.
Video of the Day: Robots and Humans Making Music
Videographer Kelly Loudenberg went downtown to see how man and technology were making music together.
League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR) presents its first concert series consisting entirely of works commissioned for LEMUR's musical robots. Titled "Robosonic Eclectic: Live Music by Robots and Humans," the program will be performed during a three-night run, from Thursday May 31 through Saturday June 2, 2007, each night with a start time of 8 pm. The series will take place at the Mainstage Theatre at the 3-Legged Dog Art and Technology Center.more ›
826 Art Show
Tonight 826NYC is back with another benefit, this one is their Art Show, with all money raised from the auction going to the charity. You know about 826NYC, right? The nonprofit is dedicated to supporting kids from 6–18 with their creative writing skills, while helping teachers inspire their students to write. Just think of all the future bloggers in that place.
Williamsburg Hipsters Vs. Park Slope Yuppies
Forget arguing over whether uptown or downtown Manhattan is better - the new fighting is about what's better, Williamsburg or Park Slope. There's a hilarious Observer article about the psychological divide between residents of hipper, edgier enclaves like Williamsburg and Greenpoint and those of Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, and Boerum Hill. Yes, hipsters may lives in South (Gentrified) Brooklyn and yuppies may have condos in North (Gentrified) Brooklyn, but that doesn't matter - it's all about the state of mind - and a state of dress and other stuff. You're vintage-clothes wearing, kickball-playing, getting-drunk-all-the-time, crunchier liberal arts shools-graduates if you live in Williamsburg, you're a stroller-pushing, contemporary-literary-fiction-reading, $200-jean-wearing, Ivy League graduate if you live in Park Slope. It all makes so much sense now! Maybe if the G train ran better, maybe there wouldn't be such hostility. But we can't wait for the remake of the Warriors, where it'll be a gang running from the cooler-than-thou types in one nabe into the young-settled-couples in another.
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