ON REPEAT: Generacion Suicida, Shannon Shaw, Fat Tony, Maylee Todd, Sweeping Promises

Best of the Best Show 24-Hour Marathon!

This past Tuesday into Wednesday, I got to help book some of my favorite acts on The Best Show’s 24-hour marathon! You can listen to them all on the podcast, watch them all on Patreon, and read about it on Pitchfork. (Photos by Just Off The Six).

I wanted to highlight some of them this week and push you, the reader, to check out the whole show which featured so many great guests, like Bill Hader, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Silverman, Marc Maron, King Tuff, Tim Heidecker, Sarah Squirm, and a special appearance from John Gentle, who fell in love with Burbank on his first trip outside of the greater New Jersey area. More on him later.

Here’s a link to a playlist where I keep all of this stuff.

Generacion Suicida “Violencia”

This is your new favorite band, if you weren’t already a fan. I have been, since they opened for my pals, Screaming Females. I cannot say enough good things about this group. They kick ass, and I don’t use that phrase lightly.

Chaki "Two Bretts”

This clip is not online yet, sadly, so you’ll need to settle for this reaction video I made. But the Funk Wizard himself, Chaki, wrote a song about the two Bretts that work on The Best Show, myself and producer, Forever Dog co-founder and Leatherface enthusiast Brett Boham. I don’t think anybody’s ever written a song about me that didn’t involve “sittin’ in a tree” so I was deeply honored.

Maylee Todd “Show Me”

It’s hard to describe Maylee Todd’s music for a number of reasons. First off, it’s ever-changing. Compare this song from ten years ago with this “improvised collaboration” and you can kinda get the range we’re looking at here. The crazy thing is that both things are good! There is consistency, and that consistency is quality and inventiveness.

On The Best Show marathon, Maylee had a live feed of her BRAINWAVES while performing. I loved it and also don’t have the words to describe it. My introduction to Maylee was a show that featured Maloo (featured above), a fin-eared digital avatar controlled live onstage. But unlike other acts that incorporate so much supplemental…stuff, the music is still great, and all of that is just icing on top.

Shannon Shaw “Cryin My Eyes Out”

I’m a big fan of Shannon & The Clams and—all due respect to Clams— Shannon’s voice is the main reason. This was on full display with a great performance, and this song has been stuck in my head all week.

Sweeping Promises “Good Living is Coming For You”

Here’s a SCOOP, Sweeping Promises will play on this Tuesday’s Best Show! I’ve talked about them a lot on here, and I’m headed to see them play live tonight.

One gripe: video is too scary!!!

THE GOLD STANDARD

Fat Tony “BKNY”

Fat Tony had a killer set on the marathon, and gave the same exact energy that he gives onstage. I believe Fat Tony made a lot of new fans this week, and for good reason. He goes all in, and has impeccable taste.

This songs gets the Gold Standard designation because it takes me back ten years (the song is celebrating it’s anniversary soon), when Brooklyn was starting to feel like home. I had regularly visited the borough, mainly to see shows at spots like Silent Barn, Market Hotel, Shea Stadium, Coney Island and yes, the Williamsburg pool parties (often alongside a BrooklynVegan celebrity).

2013 was the year my comedy hobby started to become something more. I started doing shows every week, and attending every show I could, from improv to stand-up to storytelling to bad. I started the ill-titled The Macaulay Culkin Show, a show I would go on to do at Shea Stadium for the rest of the decade alongside Sally Burtnick (and once with Macaulay Culkin). It was the beginning of a very exciting time, where my diet consisted of lots of free beers and cheap ramen. I moved into a spot in Bushwick, and was finally able to genuinely like the place I called home.

I found this song, written by another recent Brooklyn transplant (Fat Tony is from Texas) and it captured the excitement that I had.

He performed this song, later, in my backyard in Los Angeles and like a few other performers (like Maylee Todd) that we had there, it immediately took me back to a very specific feeling. I hoped he’d play this on the show, and he delivered! Thanks, Fat Tony.