Baker Falls Dispatch

All the news, if you can believe it

Since the dawn of homo sapiens, we have been gathering to help each other, learn from each other, and inspire each other. From watching shamans and magicians at ancient stone amphitheaters to rocking out at Forest Hills Stadium for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (see above)… there’s nothing like gathering in groups around a performance stage.

We’ll be throwing our hat into the ring with the opening of Baker Falls on the weekend of July 14th 2023.

All we can say about the opening lineup for now is that it will include very special guests on Friday night July 14th, and on Saturday night July 15, we’ll be hosting the return of an East Village pioneer who is credited with inventing an entire sub-genre of music: and it ain’t folk!

In the meantime…here are three shows we can talk about:

Pre-opening book release party for This Must Be the Place: Music, Community and Vanished Spaces in New York City Thursday, July 13, 2023

This will celebrate a wonderful document by our old pal Jesse Rifkin—a master researcher of NYC music culture. The evening will be elevated by special guest DJ Dany Johnson, who returns to 101 Avenue A where she helped develop the East Village scene.

First rule of a post-punk act: never be photographed in color

And we’re not sure if we should say this—but screw it—it’s our place and we have impulse control issues: We are incredibly excited to have booked Modern English for Saturday, September 9!

A little context for the show:
On After the Snow (1982), Modern English’s sound evolved from the dark, moody and challenging post-punk found on its debut, Mesh & Lace (1981). After the Snow was produced by the acclaimed Hugh Jones, whose production credits include albums by Echo and the Bunnymen, Simple Minds, The Damned and many more. The LP was released on the legendary 4AD Records (one of our fav labels).

In 2017, Modern English released Take Me To The Trees, an album that reconnected the band with their youth in the fervent and fecund world of late 1970s/early 1980s post-punk Britain. This was a return to the sound and vision of their very early work that James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem has described as “a sneaky secret that everyone writes off, because they just think it’s going to be a ‘I Melt With You’ but it sounds way scarier than any Joy Division record.”

The band’s highly-anticipated upcoming 2023 album was produced by Mario McNulty, who is best known for his work with David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Laurie Anderson… and it was performed and recorded together in live sessions. The album aims to capture the energy of the band’s live show while harkening back to the sounds, raw energy, and post-punk passion of the band’s Mesh & Lace days.

Nirvana Unplugged 30th Anniversary Show
Sat. Nov. 18th, 2023

The whole album will be performed in the same order as it was on MTV that fateful night, with a cello player, special guests, fuzzed out “acoustic guitars,” soft drumming on mic’d kit, sitting in office chairs, lots of white lilies…gonna be epic.

Above is a drawing by founder Nick Bodor, a middle-aged man with no actual artistic ability…which is why it’s our pleasure to announce that we are teaming up with the legendary East Village bar-designer/operator Deb Parker from No-Tel Motel, Beauty Bar, Barmacy, Babyland, etc. She has the most exquisite taste as well as being literally the only person we know we can collaborate with on the Fever Dream lounge opening in the Baker Falls basement.

Wait til you see what we come up with for our decrepit manor house study room, with inspiration from…

Last issue, we told you about the inspiration we are taking from Burnt Offerings,
but Grey Gardens will also be in the mix

WOW! That’s it for Dispatch #5. It’s major stuff, and it’s all coming together.

Spread the word on your socials, or keep it our little secret, up to you…you are an adult.

If you’re in the media, reach out to Nick directly for the inside scoop before it all goes nuts.

Thank you for your support in the past, present, and future, and let’s do something special for the world.

Original crazy DJ/Sound set-up created by Craig Overbay, the audio engineer extraordinaire who went on to work with Nirvana, Weezer and tons of other folksafter starting at Pyramid in the 1980s

PS: You simply must go to this if you are in NYC over the next few weeks:

Brian Butterick {Hattie Hathaway} and all they loved

Brian/Hattie really did foster the East Village art scene and are a driving inspiration for our gathering/community philosophy.

We will see you at the opening.