This is how you board a Ferry in Mumbai
Riding a train
Mutton Street
The Market
Chor Bazaar 1
Chor Bazaar 2
Another year and another new album I've worked on sees the light of day. Sabbapath, To The Seventh Sunset is available now as a free download on J-Dub Records website. 18 songs are strung together to sound like a psychedelic Shabbos service, complete with droning harmonies, flutes, harmoniums, strum sticks and autoharps. The music is other-worldly, sung almost entirely in Hebrew, in a psych-folk amalgamation of musical heritage centered around the trippy musings of an unknown Rabbi, who declares we are all guided by an "unseen dimension" in our lives.
The creator of the album is my good friend Rob Markoff, whom I have musically collaborated with for the past 15 years. He came up with the concept from an old dusty album he discovered at a vintage record store entitled, "Sing Out It's Shabbos," made by a Jewish youth group in Englishtown, New Jersey. The discovery made him nostalgic of his own '70's synagogue experience, but he was disappointed in the music itself. It did, however, inspire Rob to make his own album.
With the help of myself and our mutual friend Kevin, he recorded the whole thing on his cassette 8-track, a vintage machine itself, to get a low-fi throwback sound from another era. He layered on much of the instrumentation with help from myself and (mostly) Kevin on the vocal tracks. He then handed the masters to me, on which I overdubbed percussion, harmonium, pianos and miscellaneous electric guitars through my own 8-track cassette recorder. Once complete, I mixed the whole album at my home-studio and Rob and I assembled the track order.....ready for mastering.
That was 2 years ago. The rest of the process; mastering, finding a label, etc, dragged on for what seemed an eternity. We thought the album would never come out. But come out it did, and you can download it for free and see what you think. If you're Jewish, you'll recognize the songs, but not the style they've been interpreted with. If you're not, like me, you'll just think they sound like they're from another world....a culture far, far away.
You can download the album HERE.
Like most of us, I spent the first couple years out of college doing a combination of figuring shit out, exploring what my mind was capable of, experimenting and just plain slacking. They were great times, looking back, but I definitely wasn't making much money.
One day I was having a conversation with the drummer in my band and he mentioned being on public welfare. I was surprised because I thought welfare could only work if you were poor and supporting a family. But apparently single people can qualify for it too. My friend was a self-proclaimed socialist and said it was one of the few social programs in this country that young, struggling people can take part in. Well, I took a look at my own situation....I was always scrounging for the cheapest food, selling cd's and books sometimes to get by, shoplifting toiletries and doing the occasional dumpster diving. Yeah, I pretty much qualified for food stamps.
It was easy to get. Just an interview with a government employee to prove you fall under the minimum earnings category. Within a week I was waiting on line at the welfare center, picking up my food stamps. That was all I needed it for. Free food. I didn't know anybody besides myself, except my drummer, who took part in the program. I couldn't understand why because pretty much all of my friends qualified. Maybe there was some shame involved? I don't know, I certainly didn't have a problem with it. It was a good way to get by in the lean years of my youth. Indulging in self exploration; giving myself some time to stretch out and be creative without the pressure of a full time job.
By the way, identity thieves, don't get excited by the personal information on the card. I jumbled all the numbers around in photoshop.
This weekend I biked the circumference of Manhattan. It was a beautiful, warm day and I was up for an adventure after a long winter (Spring is finally here this weekend!). Didn't do much prep work: just a little research on a bike route with Google maps, filled my air with tires, packed some water and a camera and was on my way. The whole thing took me 3 1/2 hours. Could've been faster if it wasn't for all the confusing detours (more on that later).
First thing I must say about biking the circumference of Manhattan is I DO NOT recommend it to anyone. The east side sucks. There's only a few sporadic bike paths along the river that are nice. Most of my eastern end of the trip was a series of dead ends, road blocks, congested avenues and crosswalks. I felt like my life was in danger sometimes; riding in the bus lane with gravel below my treads, swerving cars and breathing exhaust. Stick to the west side. A perfect ride would be from Inwood Park to the Battery, along the Hudson bike path. Beautiful views and virtually uninterrupted (not totally though, in the construction area around the World Trade Center you have to get off your bike and walk for a ways, losing your view of the river). I also DO NOT recommend eating a Tazmanian sandwich at the Franklin Corner right before your trip. I regretted it around 96th st on the west side. Below is a pictorial log of my ride.
Welcome to Manhattan! Let's do this!!!
The start of my long journey. Under the Williamsburg Bridge.
The view of my neighborhood from across the river.
Along the East River I go.
Doing a lot of renovation work at the United Nations building. Entire floors at a time. My grandfather on my father's side held posts here. He helped to found the World Health Organization.
My grandfather at the UN in the 1950's.
A sculpture outside of the UN. This is an artist's depiction of George Bush conquering Saddam Hussein.
I love this building built into the rock along FDR Drive.
One of the many road blocks I encountered on the east side of Manhattan.
"Up to Lexington, 1-2-5. Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive." Name that song.
I had to walk my bike up all these stairs only to bike back down the hill on the other side. Such is the madness of biking the upper east side. What's more is the stairs reeked of piss.
The High Bridge is the oldest surviving bridge in New York City. It was built for the Croton Aqueduct in 1848. The metal arch in the middle was added in the 1920's.
Water tower of the Croton aqueduct.
Cute little boat house in the Harlem River.
Look at this nice bike path! I wish there were more like these along the Harlem River.
The entrance to Fort Tryon Park, where the Cloisters are located. Go here if you haven't done so already.
I took a brief rest here and enjoyed the views. It felt good to finally reach the Hudson. Then I realized how much further I had yet to go.
My view from the look out point of the New Jersey Palisades.
The retaining wall that collapsed a few years ago. Do you remember when that happened??? Amazing no one was killed. You can see the replacement wall nestled into the old one.
George Washington Bridge from below. It was so beautiful here. Coasting down the wooded path from the heights above to the river below. I could touch the great coast of the Hudson.
George Washington Bridge is for lovers. That's a painting of the Jersey Palisades beyond. The real New Jersey crumbled into the sea years ago. Total government cover-up.
The 79th St boat basin.
The pier where the Titanic was scheduled to port. You can still read the text, "Cunard, White Star." White Star was the company the Titanic operated under.
The new World Trade Center tower going up.
Had to dismount my bike and walk through this madness, away from the river. All these people are walking from their jobs to the path terminal.
St. Paul's Chapel, built in 1766. George Washington used to worship here. Beautiful little structure in a field, yet surrounded by the towers of industry.
End of a long ride, having a drink with my friend Jarred. Mission accomplished!
Sorry for leaving out pictures of the Battery, South Street Seaport and Pier 17. I really had to go to the bathroom by then and was just in a hurry to get the ride over with!
