Brokelyn

Vivian Girls, via MySpace

Have you heard about the new showcase at Brooklyn Bowl obsessing over all things local? It kicked off last month with a free Phenomenal Handclap Band show, along with other offerings from local farmers and artists.

The venue just announced its next event for March 28, and it will feature a free show by the Vivian Girls, those lo-fi, noise popsters who shot from being another obscure Brooklyn band to a Pitchfork-lauded sensation doing shows with TV on the Radio in just a few months.

The band German Measles, another Brooklyn catch, will also be performing. More details about the event, like what other local fare will be featured, will be released next week. For now, you can check out the event page, and the Vivian Girls MySpace.

John Munnelly sings the blues.

“I was laid off last week, don’t know what I will do, I’m gonna go online with the unemployment blues…” Sound familiar? If so, at least be comforted by the fact that you’re in the good company of fellow Brooklynite and singer/songwriter John Munnelly. Bensonhurst-by-way-of-Ireland musician Munnelly recently won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation’s Jay Gorney Award for his recession-era lament “The Unemployment Blues.” Written in a contemporary “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” vein, the song touches on all your standard laid-off woes: sending out 346 bajillion resumes to no avail, college degree with nothing to show for it, and of course, food stamps. Read the rest of this entry »