The Five Best Valentine’s Day-Themed Songs

February 13, 2012 By Ray Padgett Leave a Comment

Despite our hard-boiled exteriors, we here at Shore Fire are unabashed romantics all. So with Valentine’s Day coming, I thought I’d round up some of my favorite songs to celebrate the occasion. These aren’t just love songs; that would be way too generic (and impossible). These songs so directly about February 14th, they include “Valentine” or “Valentine’s Day” right there in the title.

Outkast – Happy Valentine’s Day

While Big Boi was celebrating ghettomusick on Speakerboxxx, André 3000 delivered the sexy funk jams on The Love Below. This one even helps remind absent-minded boyfriends not forget the date: “Every day the 14th!”

Kina Grannis – Valentine

A poppy, cutesy love song made extra adorable by the flipbook animation.

Bruce Springsteen – Valentine’s Day

Much like his “Independence Day” a few years earlier, Springsteen’s “Valentine’s Day” doesn’t actually have much to do with the holiday that inspired the name. Not directly at least.

The Cocktail Slippers – St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

This one too has a Springsteen connection: it was produced by Steve Van Zandt. He nails his beloved Nuggets aesthetic on this barn-burner, with a slighted-girl-bites-back plot that could come from a Tarantino movie.

Tom Waits – Blue Valentines

There’s a huge sub-genre around this time of year: depressing Valentine’s Day songs. No one does maudlin better than Tom Waits, so what better to accompany a lonely Valentine’s Day than a healthy dose of self-pity?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bruce Springsteen, Kina Grannis, Outkast, Steven Van Zandt, The Cocktail Slippers, tom waits, Valentine's Day, Valentine's playlist

Best New Artist?

February 10, 2012 By David McTiernan Leave a Comment

With the GRAMMYs coming up this weekend, all of us here at Shore Fire have eyes on Bon Iver up for Best New Artist – but that nomination is actually coming five years after Bon Iver’s first album. Sure, this isn’t totally uncommon — the category is really more about reaching a mainstream consciousness. Accordingly, there have been quite a few well-known names in years past to grab the nomination a few years, up to almost a decade after their first release.

Here’s a few highlights along with videos from long before the noms (hopefully, Bon Iver fares better than most of the below – all four lost the award).

Cream – first release: 1966, nominated for Best New Artist: 1969 (lost to Jose Feliciano)

Andrea Boccelli – first release: 1992, nominated for Best New Artist: 1999 (lost to Lauryn Hill)

David Gray – first release: 1993, nominated for Best New Artist: 2002 (lost to Alicia Keys)

Fountains of Wayne – first release: 1996; nominated for Best New Artist: 2004 (lost to Evanescence)

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Andrea Boccelli, Best New Artists, bon iver, Cream, David Gray, Fountains of Wayne, Grammy Awards, Release Date

Week of Beauty

February 7, 2012 By nmaldonado Leave a Comment

We kicked off 2012 with a pretty intense month of January, Shore Fire’s most successful January on record, actually! So what better way to relax while still being productive than bringing the beauty salon to us? The kind ladies of our Brooklyn Heights neighbors, Plaza Nails, brought their equipment to give the office manicures. Here are a few shots of the manicures in action:

VP Mark Satlof enjoying a basic buff. No polish!

Lauretta Charlton taking advatange of a new color in the office before heading off to a wedding

The best part about the nail day was the spontaneous decision to include pedicures as well! When faced with the obstacle of adding a place for warm water into each office for a pedicure, Carrie Tolles offered an interesting yet creative solution by bringing out her crock-pot, conveniently located in her office. See for yourself below:

Carrie Tolles and her handy crock-pot (Nice book, Carrie!)

To sweeten the deal even more, we finished off the week with a couple of days of massages by the incredibly talented (and very friendly!) Karen Clifton Mahoney of Karma Massage. Karen hauled her chair over to Suite 1600 and turned everyone’s muscles to putty. Caleb Shively said it best when he described Karen’s work as making him “feel like a kid again.” We all left the room relaxed and revitalized, just what we needed. Speaking of Caleb, he followed instructions perfectly by bringing comfortable clothing. Check out these photos of the days of relaxation with Karen and be on the lookout for Caleb’s sweet pants:

Now THIS looks relaxing!!! Anthony D'Amato getting a head massage

Madelyn Frascella enjoying a little work on her back and shoulders

Caleb Shively's Venice Beach weightlifter pants

Thank you, Marilyn, for giving us a great week of relaxation! This was such an awesome way to kick off the new year! Bring on February!

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Tagged With: Business Perk, crock pot, Karma Massage, Manicur, Pedicure, Plaza Nails, Relaxation, shore fire, weight lifter pants

Ooooh saaaay caaaan youuu seeeee…

February 6, 2012 By Josh Leave a Comment

I’m sure that the majority of the television-watching American public made sure to take in the Super Bowl yesterday and the highly publicized half-time show with Madonna, Nicki Minaj & M.I.A. And while the half-time performance was chock-full of set changes, choreography and guest stars, I thought that the incomparable yet still somehow under appreciated Kelly Clarkson really stole the show with her above-average performance of the National Anthem.

It seems to be a trend nowadays for stars to butcher/lipsynch/vocally complicate the National Anthem, so I found it extremely refreshing to see Ms. Clarkson sing it not only correctly, but also with genuine emotion and talent. Leave it to Kelly and her American Idol-winning pipes to score a touchdown (yeah..that was corny, I know). Check it out below and let us know what is one of your favorite renditions of the National Anthem.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: kelly clarkson, National Anthem, super bowl

Dr. John Brings Bonnaroo To Brooklyn

February 2, 2012 By Kyle Leave a Comment

If you haven’t already heard, the legendary Dr. John is set to perform a staggering nine nights at Brooklyn Academy of Music this spring. I first discovered the doctor in high school, as ‘The Last Waltz’ became the soundtrack to many late nights out – particularly “Such a Night,” in which the doctor coolly croons over The Band’s tight groove:

In college, I had the privilege of witnessing Dr. John perform in person during his special late-night Bonnaroo set. And not only in person, but in character, as his psychedelic voodoo alter-ego The Night Tripper. (Fun fact: Dr. John can be thanked for the Bonnaroo name, as his 1974 album ‘Desitively Bonnaroo’ popularized the word, meaning “a really good time” in Ninth Ward slang.) Here’s what he looked like on that impossible-to-forget night:

Now, as Dr. John prepares the release of his new album with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, ‘Locked Down,’ I’ll have the opportunity to see him three weekends in a row – one a Louis Armstrong tribute, one dedicated to ‘Locked Down,’ and one a tribute to everything New Orleans – right in my backyard. I couldn’t be more thrilled.

(More info on the BAM run here: http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=3972)

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: BAM, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dr. John

The Facebook Timeline just sparks FB memory lane

January 31, 2012 By nmaldonado Leave a Comment

In the final days of our current Facebook layout, I find myself feeling mixed emotions about the next wave of changes. Part of me is reassured that the new layout will soon become second nature  and navigation will be no issue at all. For some reason, it’s this thought of reassurance that also bothers me. I’m still quite young but I’m not a fan of realizing how my parents must have felt my entire life,  the anxiety of trying to keep up with new technology. For example, I remember the look on my mother’s face as I tried to explain Google for the first time when I was in high school. I don’t remember exactly how I put it, but it was something along the lines of “Mom, Google is everything in the universe, like, literally everything, at your finger tips…on this 17 inch screen. Get it?” Her mind was blown, but once she got the hang of it, I got called at all hours to see what she just “Googled.” Voila, second nature. For the most part, I think the last few Facebook updates have been easy to slide into and comprehend. The most monumental change until now that I can remember was the addition of the news feed. Remember that? I’m willing to bet 90% of everyone’s first news feed was about how scary and stalkerish it was. Now how else do you navigate Facebook? Going to hundreds of friends’ pages everyday? I think not.

Which brings me to the pinnacle of my trip down Facebook memory lane – Thefacebook. It was the original. It was exclusive. University students only. No teeny-boppers posting their camera phone self-portraits in the mirror (that was still for Myspace). No apps. No parents to comment or “Like” EVERYTHING you do. No Like option at all. It was just your face on the top left corner, a minimal “About” section to the right, a comment area at the bottom and few options for finding friends and messages to the left (please see bro-page below). It was boring but it’s kind of cool to think about how different it was.

What Thefacebook once was...

Though the information available on the average FB page has increased, the basic layout has stayed consistent, until now. Yes, we’ve come a long way since those days of Thefacebook.  The exciting part is with the new timeline, I can use the new Facebook for my trip down memory lane. Year by year, even month by month, I can easily navigate all the way back to my very first wall comment. I haven’t switched to Timeline just yet, call me old fashioned. Just like I listened to cd’s until 2011 (when I was forced to purchase my first iPod and go digital), I’m going to hold on to my last breaths of old school Facebook while I can. Then I will embrace the new.

Amidst all these Facebook updates, how do I cope with the change? I listen to this:

…and of course, this version too. It doesn’t get much better than Maya Rudolph’s air drums:

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Tagged With: facebook, Facebook Over the years, Facebook Timeline, thefacebook, Time Line

Flamenco/Classical Music for Folks Ignorant About Either Genre

January 30, 2012 By Ray Padgett Leave a Comment

I know as much about flamenco guitar as I do about cello music: next to nothing. So a combination of the two falls far outside my knowledge base. The musical pairing of Pedro Soler (guitar) and Gasper Claus (cello) instantly transfixed me though, perhaps because both artists take distinctly unorthodox approaches to their instruments. The album Barlande finds a father (Pedro) and son (Gasper) performing mostly improvised instrumental music and is produced by – and this is why I caught onto it in the first place – Bryce Dessner of the National. This live performance video from last summer captures the fragile beauty in every note. Someone with more of a flamenco (or classical) background could probably better explain makes this so spell-binding, but in lieu of that, though, I think this unusually-poetic YouTube comment puts it pretty well:

It started in the tips of my fingers. Then slowly, from the wrist up, the hairs on my arms rose.
From there it worked its way up to my shoulders, where it eventually met at my neck.
Once it hit my neck an indescribable shiver went down my spine.
It was slow. It was as if my ears where telling my body, “If only you could hear this.”
It was like trying to telling a deaf man what music sounds like and he understood.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bryce Dessner, cello, Flamenco, Gasper Claus, music, Pedro Soler, the national

RIP Etta James

January 20, 2012 By Lauretta Leave a Comment

My freshman year in college I went to see Etta James perform live at the Masonic Temple in San Francisco. She was rolled out in a wheelchair. I remember acknowledging that I was about to witness a legend perform and being in awe of the fact that she was still doing what she loved in spite of her waning health. That was over a decade ago. She was a fighter. She had endurance. She was passionate about her work. When you listen to her sing, you can hear all of that. When you listen to her music you want to say, “Sing, Etta. Sing.” You want to hear her fight and struggle against all odds.

Really, a voice like Etta’s can never stop singing and we will never stop listening to it. It’s the stuff of legend and genius.

RIP ETTA JAMES.


Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Etta James

Where to Eat

January 17, 2012 By Chris Taillie Leave a Comment

I’m a sucker for good year end list (aren’t we all?). I’ve thoroughly waded through many of the music lists and now I’ve got my sights set on…FOOD!

My new years resolution is not to lose weight or eat healthier but to visit as many restaurants as I can on Adam Platt’s Top 101 list and Sam Sifton’s Top 10 new joints of 2011 list. Here’s a slideshow.

The Times’ $25 and Under crew also made their own Top 10 list.

Started the year with the Franks’ Prime Meats, which was amazing and heavily meat-focused. Our spread included roasted marrow bones, lamb stew, sauerkraut with pork belly, beef tongue and sausages (!)…gut-busting, cold weather eatin’ at its finest.

NY Mag's Adam Platt listed his top 101 NYC restaurants to visit

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: adam platt, food, foodie, Frank's Prime Meats, new york times, NY restaurants, Sam Sifton, top restaurants

Best Songs Sung By That Other Band Member

January 11, 2012 By Madelyn Leave a Comment

The L Magazine recently had an article about the greatest songs NOT sung by a band’s lead singer, which included one of my favorites, “Guns of Brixton” by The Clash, sung by bassist (and my one true love) Paul Simonon. You can check out The L’s list here, but it got me thinking about what other songs could be added….

I invariably love any New Pornographers song sung by Dan Bejar, and though the band doesn’t have one strict lead singer, his songs are fewer and farther between. I think my fave is ‘Electric Version’ track “Ballad of a Comeback Kid”:

Quite the opposite, I tend to skip any Arcade Fire song sung by Regine Chassagne, with the exception of total jam “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” on ‘The Suburbs’:

What other songs should be added to the list?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Arcade Fire, Dan Bejar, Electric Version, L magazine, New Pornographers, The Clash
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