The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
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Laygirl Fashion by Emily Popek Family jeans and memory clothes There are only a handful of things in my closet today that I had back in high school, and you’ll rarely see me wear them. (Although I’m thinking the fashion pen- dulum might have swung far enough back that I can break out the purple knee-high Converse high-tops that look like wrestling boots.) But I just can’t part with things like my old blue hoodie, the one studded with beer bottle caps and adorned with sewn-on punk patches. That hoodie was me _ it was part of my identity. My mother hated it, I got written up for wearing it in school (the beer bottle caps are what did it), it’s stained and falling apart _ but I can’t get rid of it. It’s summer nights riding in my friend’s convertible, singing stupid songs at the top of our lungs. It’s going to shows, to the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” to the all-ages gay nightclub, to the beach _ or just to Denny’s because there was nothing else to do. It’s stupid teenage angst and inside jokes. Then there are the memento mori _ clothes that belonged to my family members who have died. I have V-neck sweaters that belonged to both my grandfathers _ although one was tall and the other slight, I can fit into both with ease. I have a brown polo shirt that belonged to my father’s father _ the perfect piece of clothing to remember him by, since it seems like he was always wearing a brown polo shirt. I have my grandmother’s old slips and camisoles _ not vintage, but still beautiful. I have my aunt’s gray cash- mere cardigan, imported from Scotland, which she wore all the time. And I have a knit top and skirt that my father’s mother sewed for my aunt (based on the style, I’m thinking it was some time in the 1970s). My grandmother was an amaz- ing seamstress and sewed for the entire family. It seemed like she always had a project going. She made her own clothes, mostly pantsuits _ I don’t know if I ever saw her wear a store-bought outfit. She sewed “back-to-school” dresses for my sister and me every fall _ plaid, with white collars and cuffs. In the spring, we got Easter dresses _ candy-colored, with ribbon sashes. I remember going with my grandmother to pick out the fabric for my dress _ pale green, with a pattern of tiny chicks hatching out of their eggs. I can’t really wear all of these things. The cardigan is a bit too small; the polo shirt is fraying at the col- lar; the elastic on the slip is starting to fail. But I’m not getting rid of them, either. I will just have to find a place in my closet to store these memories, which are too precious to hand off to even the most worthy charity. Emily F. Popek wore her dad’s hand-me-down jeans for most of junior high and high school. She is also assistant editor at The Daily Star. I remember going with my grandmother to pick out the fabric for my dress _ pale green, with a pattern of tiny chicks hatching out of their eggs. More treasures from SXSW Whew, what a week. I did my homework going into the recently completed SXSW Festival in Austin, Tx. I listened to a number of bands that played during the week _ and I never left my home in Oneonta. The South by Southwest Festival could be experienced not only at the show, but with all the free songs available from participating artists to guide the eager. For example, thanks to NPR, I enjoyed several concerts that are still available online _ espe- cially Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes, which closed the show. James Blake I also got to see James Blake. The soulfulness he expressed with his synthesizer and mini- mal instrumentation in a style known as dubstep sent me to his recently released self-titled album. The song “Limit to Your Love” is so sparsely beautiful it took my breath away. Then listen to “The Wilhelm Scream” _ he masterfully layers the song. Starting with a simple melody and a steady beat, he brings in the bass, then the synthesizers, adding reverb until it feels like listening to a hymn. It’s amazing stuff from an English musician who is building a strong following. Dom Drawn by a download, I discovered Dom, a more conven- tional sounding band from Massachusetts. The group plays some great synth pop in the style of MGMT on the group’s first album, “Sun Bronzed Greek Gods.” Reading some interviews with the band makes it clear that little else except the music is to be taken too seriously _ but the music is some solid stuff. The album starts off with a one-two punch; “Jesus” and “Liv- ing in America” are full of hooks that caught me. This album, with its homemade sound, trippy vocals and full of grooves, could be a great soundtrack to the summer that is reportedly approaching. Toro y Moi Toro y Moi is the stage name of Columbia, S.C., native Chaz Bundwick, who also performed at the festival. He is a pur- veyor of chillwave, a musical style that makes use of sythesiz- ers, pop stylings and a light airy homemade lo-fi sound full of dance beats. He had a new album out in February called “Underneath the Pine.” A great track to check out is “Still Sound.” It’s a song about loneliness, but it’s so catchy with its open- ing bass line that sounds like it came right out of the ’80s without any of that decade’s cheesiness. Listen to what he does in “New Beat,” a song about moving on that gets in a groove from the opening notes and doesn’t let go. With 2,000 bands at the show that ran earlier this month, there’s a lot more good stuff to be found by anyone who likes looking for new sounds. If readers have any suggestions, Mark Boshnack can be reached at mboshnack@thedailystar. com. March 31, 2011 O-Town Scene 5 New Music Notes by Mark Boshnack