The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Know Thy Neighbor - And Vote For Him

Don't know what it is in these Caledonian waters. But I just got an email from Rench of Gangstagrass, a duo that adds to our neighborhood's reputation as the home of genre-splicing crossover music.

With just a day left, you can add your jingoistic vote to Deli Magazine's Artist of the Month calculation. For simplicity's sake, I say go to the Gangstagrass website and listen to a tune before voting. Would you sign a contract without reading it? I thought not. But don't dally. The poll ends tomorrow night.

DISCLAIMER: The Q wouldn't bother recommending anything if there weren't a solid reason to check it out. I ain't no shill and I don't boost for the sake of boosting. These Gangstagrass guys are serious contenders for most ridiculous combination of musical forms - and when it works, it works. Rench's slinky country slide guitar playing clinch's the deal. Not the Rolling Stones, maybe. But a pretty decent showing for "the keepin' it real" side of the park. Rench is at Bedford and Lenox, and yes, that qualifies him as neighbor. Throw rocks at his window and tell him the Q sent ya.

2 comments:

Rudy on Winthrop said...

Damn, Q, nice find.

What can I do to get the heavies in the apartment building across the street to put this on at least occasionally, as a break from their staccato airhornz-n-reggaetonnage apocalypse remix?

theQatParkside said...

I grew up listening to grown white men screeching out of tune at the top of their lungs (punk rock, not torture) so I really shouldn't knock any other culture's musical hallmarks. Still, that airhorn sample is really astounding for its ubiquity and insufferability. Imagine if Minor Threat had added airhorns? Hey, wait a minute...

Perhaps you could persuade your neighbor to mash up his reggaeton with something less jarring - baroque chamber music, perhaps - creating yet another ambitious North Flatbush hybrid.