Video of Blake Schwartzenbach’s Thorns of Life in Brooklyn

Posted on 20. Nov, 2008 by Daniel Taylor in Music

Former Jawbreaker/Jets To Brazil frontman and inventor of modern emo Blake Schwartzenbach is back with a new outfit called Thorns of Life, which he says “sounds like a storehouse of fond hatred from the last few years and in the now.” EMOVEMBER IS OFFICIALLY HERE. Anyways, there is some video of the band playing a Brooklyn house show last week floating around on YouTube, one of which is posted above.

Ryan Adams Book Coming in 2009

Posted on 18. Jul, 2008 by Daniel Taylor in Literature, Music

Ryan Adams, IMO the greatest songwriter of ALL FUCKING TIME, is gonna be putting out a book of poetry next year that I probably won’t buy because most poetry sucks, but whatever:
EMO rocker Ryan Adams has more to say than can be conveyed in one of his crooning songs or in one of his lengthy missives to Gawker.com. Page Six hears Adams has signed with indie Brooklyn house Akashic Books to publish his still-untitled collection of prose. “They just signed the contract,” said our source, “and they plan to release [...]

Kevin Powell Running For Congress

Posted on 16. Jul, 2008 by alisse in Blog, Lifestyle, Politics, TV

Kevin Powell is a former cast member from the first season of MTV’s The Real World. Now he’s running for Congress in the 10th district (Brooklyn) of New York. I don’t think being on The Real World is any sort of credential but he does have a BA in Political Science. At least he was on the show before it went completely downhill and turned to crap.

He is up against Ed Towns, a 13-year incumbent, so we probably won’t see him in office anytime soon. Powell thinks “civic engagement should [...]

Mass Appeal Fails to Live Up To Its Name, Calls It Quits

Posted on 21. May, 2008 by Daniel Taylor in Lifestyle, Music

Joining the ranks of other recently folded music mags No Depression and Harp, Mass Appeal has decided to gtfo of the magazine game:
In a refrain that’s becoming all-too-familiar for niche music magazine publishers, Mass Appeal, the 12-year-old Brooklyn-based hip-hop and lifestyle magazine, is calling it quits. The 100,000-circulation title had recently published its 50th issue.

The Big Sleep Live @ Ryan’s

Posted on 16. May, 2008 by Daniel Taylor in Music, Videos

As part of our continuing effort to turn Synthesis weekly Managing Editor Ryan Prado’s tiny apartment into a legendary music venue, we recently invited Brooklyn-based ultra-spocks The Big Sleep to come up and rock some tunes, and they obliged. Check out the band rocking “Pinkies” above, then check out our YouTube channel for an interview with the band, and clips of all the other badass bands that have played at Ryan’s lately, including Armor for Sleep, Portugal. The Man, The Color Fred, and a shit ton more.

The Media’s Recession Hype Machine

Posted on 14. Apr, 2008 by Daniel Taylor in Comedy, Idiocy, Lifestyle

I’ll admit, things in America suck right now, compared to the salad days of the late-nineties. But from the daily headlines regarding the current financial downturn, you’d think Hoovervilles are already springing up outside every major American city. As I’ve pointed out in previous posts, the hyperbole surrounding these events is laughable once you get into the meat of the stories. Like the story a few weeks back about the “ruined lives” of Bear Stearns employees, in which one executive stock options were worth a mere $28 million dollars, and [...]

Lyricist Lounge Joins Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival

Posted on 08. Apr, 2008 by Bill in Blog, Music

Here’s the latest from this years Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival:
Brooklyn Bodega, the producers of the 4th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival and The Lyricist Lounge announced today that the two premier Hip- Hop event producers will be joining forces for this year’s Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. The two companies will be co-presenters of the main date on July 12th at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park as well as a new date – June 28th at Prospect Park.
The Lyricist Lounge will be joining the Festival’s SUPPORT CELEBRATE REPRESENT network of cultural programming partners. This [...]

Artist of Right Now: Pinkytoast

Posted on 25. Jan, 2008 by Ms. Nickels in Art, Lifestyle

Rumaging around www.etsy.com, I found an artist named Pinkytoast. She loves all things sweet, sour, and pouty. Check her out:
 
 
You can find more here. And here’s her MySpace.