City Belt

DAY JOB: MICHAEL J. PFEIFER

I happened upon Michael J. Pfeifer, who fronts the Michael Pfeifer Trio on overcast afternoon as I walked down Palisade Ave. This guy just handed me a flyer -- I figured it was a real estate agency, or perhaps discount suits. But instead, Michael said: "Check me out on MySpace...this is my band." Well, I did, and it's pretty cool stuff, and a definite break from the indie-liciousness usually featured here. Pfeifer's pedal steel wafts and fades around through the trio's "country-jazz" tunes.

DAY JOB: ERMIS ATZEMOGLOU

add to del.icio.us     |    e-mail the author

Jersey City's Ermis Atzemoglou is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to visual arts -- the School of Visual Arts grad and native of Greece creates everything from surreal paintings to gritty comics. His work has been displayed around Jersey City at LITM and White Star Bar. 

DAY JOB: DOUBLE-BREASTED

add to del.icio.us     |    e-mail the author

2006 was a big year for the harp in indie music circles -- Ms. Newsom and the fanfare surrounding her have brought new attention to the classic stringed instrument. However, unlike Ms. Newsom, New Jersey's double-breasted eschew traditional classical arrangements (and obscure linguistic storytelling) in favor of a more rockist approach, albeit with non-traditional instrumentation. Kristy Chmura's harp combines with Ardith Collins' cello to weave beautiful melodies, all with Josh Bicknell's drumming pushing the songs forward. double-breasted seamlessly go from moments of quiet, stark beauty to passionately urgent pleas, all tied together by brilliant musicianship and songwriting abilities.

DAY JOB: BOY/GIRL

Photo by Tracey Luszcz

add to del.icio.us     |    e-mail the author 

Is it just me, or have the past five years or so miraculously spawned a plethora of new rock duos on the land of indie? I can understand the allure of sticking with only two people, in terms of the always-exciting band politics and the like, but I often find two-pieces lacking in a fullness of sound. Of course, sometimes this works to a band's advantage, if it fits the music well. Such is the case with boy/girl, made up of Brooklyn's Eric Stiner (boy) and Jersey City's Lisa Cusack (girl). The word "spazz" or "spazzy" seems to get thrown around a lot when talking about them, but I don't really get full-on "spazzocity" or "spazzmasms" from them -- instead I feel dysfunction, but in a good way. So there you have it: dysfunction rock.

DAY JOB: CHRISTOPHER SILK

printer friendly    |    add to del.icio.us     |    e-mail the author

Christopher Silk is a 29-year-old visual artist from Jersey city who works in a variety of mediums, including painting, mixed media, video art and sculpture. He currently has a two shows hanging downtown: at the White Star Bar (230 Brunswick St.) and at Leo Cooke Wine Cellar (140 Bay St.).

DAY JOB: JOHN RANGO OF ECHOFISSION

printer friendly    |    add to del.icio.us     |    e-mail the author

For almost six years now, Echofission has been an exemplary Jersey workhorse band -- playing out a ton, recording, and gradually growing what has become a substantial fan base. 30-year-old John Rango plays guitar and provides some vocal duties in the Bergen County-based band, who's newest EP, Amplify The Sun, ranges from upbeat harmonic modern rock songs to funkier interludes.

DAY JOB: ED MCGRATH OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPES

printer friendly    |    add to del.icio.us     |    e-mail the author

Ed McGrath has been around the New Brunswick music scene for a while, first with The Purpose, which begat Trashtalk in the Kingdom, which has now begat the sonically dense and complex American Landscapes. Their songs seem to sprawl out and wind around courtesy of mathematical algorhithms filled with jazzy dissonance. (Snappy!)

DAY JOB: JOHN PIATKOWSKI OF FUN MACHINE

John Piatkowski is better known as Johnny Tronny in the band Fun Machine, where the 22-year-old plays keyboards, sings, and is apparently the designated driver and booker of shows as well. These guys from central Jersey play a mathy progadelia (making up new genre words is fun!) that brings to mind moments from a Soft Machine or early Genesis record.

DAY JOB: KEVIN SPYKER

Kevin Spyker has been a big part of the Jersey City music scene for the past few years. Chances are, if you've done the Studio Tour or a JC Fridays, you've heard him play -- or at least seen his name. The 29-year-old guitarist plays a sort of ambient acoustic style that's very dreamy. But at the same time, his guitar propels the songs towards their eventual ends: this isn't K-hole ambience. Spyker will be on hand tonight at Victory Hall for the latest installment of Art House Productions, and he's also got a regular Thursday night thing going (but not this Thursday) at Bar Majestic.

DAY JOB: JASON WATSON

A detail from one of Watson's pieces

Jason Watson is an accomplished visual artist whose extensive resume includes residencies at the Newark Museum, the Lower East Side Printshop, Cooper Union, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. The 34-year-old Lambertville resident works mostly in the realm of drawing and printmaking, but also ocassionally does larger installations.