Green Line Cafe

DEATH PANEL

Charles Latham (Death Panel) wields an acid tongue and a poison pen, crafting social criticism and brutal self-analysis into three and a half minute ramshackle pop songs. His songs are often exercises in duality: he finds humor in horror and horror in humor, the profane in beauty and beauty in the profane. In a live performance, his audience often laughs and smiles, but he rarely does. His lo-fi home recordings compliment the harsh honesty of his lyrics; his guitar buzzes and rings, and his snarling voice leaps, cracks and cries.

CHARMAINE’S NAMES

Charmaine’s Names plays melodramatic experimental electronic lounge music, featuring your host, Charmaine.

THE GREAT SWAMP

The Great Swamp appears tonight as a special one-man band both fronted and accompanied by Adam Brody.

SCOTT ALEXANDER

“What kind of music do you play?” is probably the most awkward thing you can ask a musician. Lately, I’ve felt most comfortable calling it “nonrepetitive pop.” What I mean is, most of what I write has a nonrepetitive structure, but I still prefer to make music that is catchy and not difficult to understand.

Being funny on purpose is not really my thing. I find myself inclined to write about things that are difficult to talk about or embarrassing, so funny happens rather frequently, but I am rarely, if ever, joking.

I live in Brooklyn, but grew up in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. I went to college- first to study bassoon at the Peabody Conservatory. It wasn’t for me, so I transferred to the ethnomusicology department at UCLA. Academia wasn’t for me either. But I gained an appreciation for contrast in dynamics, structure, and aesthetics altogether. I came to look at music as a vital dialogue within a society and I arrived at a belief that music is the art of putting sound into context.

So I try to approach “promotion” as part of the music. I’m still figuring this out. But one thing I do is give out free cookies at all of my performances, and at random locations on a green inflatable couch. FreeCookiesNyc has quickly become more popular than my music on Facebook and Twitter. Oh, and I also try to talk to me people as much as I can. So please, contact me.

I’m not famous. I think that would be annoying, but less so than working a day job all my life. I’m still searching for those special thousands of people that will support my career, because a strong cult following would be nice. So I hope that you, your friends, and I will be a good fit for each other.