Greenpoint's The New Williamsburg, And Beirut's Its New Spokesman
Everybody's always looking for "the new" whatever, and nobody's better at those speculative shenanigans than New York hipsters and trend-reporting journalists. So, just in time for Bowery Presents' move into the 'hood, the "Williamsburg Is Over" cries are louder than ever. "The new Williamsburg"? Well that'd be Greenpoint. Or at least the press would have it that way. And between the other night's well internetted "secret show" and interviews in music mags, Beirut's quickly become the face of the hep 'Point. First, the Paste piece:
Someday in the distant future, cultural archaeologists will isolate a huge square block in Brooklyn's formerly industrial neighborhood of Greenpoint and decide here was the incubator of indie cool. "TV on the Radio used to practice down there," Zach Condon says, gesturing north as we cross the street toward the Pencil Factory, a refurbished pub opposite his band's rehearsal studio -- a raw, empty space in a 1931 Art Deco warehouse where Eberhard Faber once manufactured those canary-yellow No. 2 pencils that have been a part of every American childhood. More recently, bands like Blonde Redhead and Condon's own Beirut have replaced the Italian and Polish immigrant laborers of youre, knocking together bits and pieces of songs over long, sweaty days like this one. "I used to see Kyp every day," he adds, mentioning TVOTR's lead singer, owner of an unmistakable Afro. "But I don't think he ever recognized me. He never said 'Hi.'"
You might not recognize him, either. Condon -- reed-thin and barely old enough to buy his own beer -- could be any of the thousands of kids flocking about the 'hood on a lazy summer Sunday afternoon, the kind of afternoon the Kinks used to sing about. There's a free concert (Blonde Redhead, naturally) at nearby McCarren Park Pool, and every budding hipster within reach of the L Train is pouring in. Though he may have been last year's most-talked-about performer in the amorphous and fickle online universe of MP3 blogs, Condon could easily evaporate into the crowd. ... "It's been hard coming back to New York," says the composer.Hard, but there he is, at the epicenter of the burgeoning hipster hang. Like we said, it's not just the interviews -- it's the off the radar shows, like the one all of you emailed us about at Greenpoint's Coco 66 Wednesday night. A pic of the coolness in action...
That shot comes via Obscene NYC, who also has vid of The Flying Club Cup's "Nantes," "The Penalty," and other Beirutian charmers from the evening. And according to Gawker's "Beirut Plays Secret Show For Greenpoint Music Snobs" post, this secret show allegedly was a sort of wrap party for their just-filmed Axe Body Spray commercial(?). That's when you know you're in Greenpoint. Bam Chica Wah Wah ... or Ka-Ching?
Anyway, away from the pointless "who's the next Axe Body Spray spokesman" chatter, and back to the speculation at hand: Is Greepoint the next Williamsburg? Is it even a decent place to get Polish candy anymore? Some music for whilst you ponder Brooklyn hipster migration...
Beirut - "A Sunday Smile" (MP3)
Residents, tourists, aspiring musicians with plans to move ... your move.
Posted at 2:03 PM
Tags: Beirut
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wasn't greenpoint the "next williamsburg" like 5 years ago??
also, this article is horribly edited.. "days of youre"... referring to Kyp Malone as the lead singer of TVOTR..."Kinks used to sign about"
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I thought Montreal was the new Williamsburg.
I can tell you what's NOT the new anything: St. Louis, although it is a damn sight better than Pittsburgh.
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gotta let paste off the hook on the kinks thing, nick, that was our transcription error, not theirs. apologies abound.
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Jeez, it seems like yesterday that Jack Kerouac and Lucien Carr proclaimed Greenwich Village the new Williamsburg. All those subterraneans at Minetta's. Tight.
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stay out of my neighborhood with all that 'newness' talk. my rent has been creepin' up as it is. and, i do believe tunde is the "lead singer" of tvotr..kyp does his thing on guitar (and occasionally howls). kyp's playing oct. 25th @ death by audio. just sayin.
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stay outta greenpoint! Half the reason it's cool is 'cause you're not there
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This blog reminds me of Williamsburg...
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uggh let the hipster creeps have greenpoint.
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toxic brooklyn. If y'all don't know by now the creek is the biggest toxic spill in the history of america. Greenpoint is surrounded by death and cancer. You have all abandoned factories with so many chemicals seeping into the air and skin.
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BedStuy's the new Greenpoint, but with more murder.
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seriously, greenpoint has been the new billyburg for a few years now. but the truth is, brooklyn has jumped the shark. I'm waiting for the hipsters to run out of "trashy chic" neighborhoods to inhabit in brooklyn and move to staten island.
Isn't the ferry "dive-y" enough? Isn't TimeOutNY eventually going to say it has grit and guido appeal that NYC transplants will find endearing?
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Greenpoint got nuthin on the Gowanus Canal
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"Half the reason it's cool is 'cause you're not there."
That's awesome, because that's the same way I feel about the rest of the country in relation to New York hipsters. Sweet.
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new york sux. chicago is the new new york, the east is the new west. America is the new britain. hipster is the new colonist.
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Red hook is the new Williamsburg. It is harder to get to and everything is shutting down. You cant get more ironic cool that a place that is dying while everyone is saying it is growing!
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I thought St. Henri was the new Williamsburg. Shout out to all Montrealers!
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whatever, yall dont have shit on buffalo.
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anyone that seriously references "is the new" or the term hipster is a hipster as well. yeah , wow it's so awful being around hipsters, that's why I Live near them and grew up in suburban (insert random city here).
partaking in a stereogum comment thread debate =hipster
yeah I'm one, and fine with it
get over yourselves
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blah blah blah...
HOLY SHIT MEG WHITE SEX TAPE
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/15757878.html
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Thanks for making the requisite hipster-hating post, appearing at least once in every 'gum thread. Contributing to a discussion by mocking it... really profound and original. A robot could serve your function.
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there will be an H&M or something where that salvation army is on Bedford before too long..and what, with Vera Cruz shutting down, and The Read having to close their doors and move due to rent increase after 8 years in the same spot on Bedford, things are pointing to the bubble bursting completely. And honestly, Bushwick is the new Williamsburg anyhow, Greenpoint rent has already increased so dramatically that anyone wanting to focus on art and music can barely afford to live there now.
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Hipsters, ruining Brooklyn and the rest of NYC one transplant at a time.
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www.diehipster.com
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what, you'd rather brookyn neighborhoods look like they did 20 years ago when you couldn't walk down a street without getting a fucking knife in your side? better this way than west oakland.
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"asshole is the new vagina." - zach condon
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Hello Folks,
I want to move to Greenpoint with my family. I am in the process of rezoning the waterfront to construct a small golf course. By the way, you are all wrong. Greenpoint is the new suburbs.
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