Bangin'

I can't stand how every time I come out of the Union Sq. subway station after work there are these dudes there with their upside-down buckets and pots bangin' away. I'm like, "bitch, it's not 1999 anymore. 'Stomp' was new and different - but not ever good - over a decade ago." Maybe it's a tourist thing, or maybe it's a matter of taste, but they still draw crazy crowds of people who, by standing around these douchebags, make it impossible for me to get out of the damn place. And really, like after a day in the office working behind a computer screen, I need to hear this crap? Bang bang bang. Gives me a damn migraine. And it's not even good! I'd take some dude on a darbuka any day. Maybe a drum circle with real f'in drums! Even that crazy guy who come onto the subway and mounts an entire keyboard on a stand in the center of the train is at least talented. And that other guy in the leather jacket that I sometimes see with an electric guitar, a small amp, and a slurred voice actually has some style to him. The mariachi band guys are decent too. And yet with these drumming guys, there's nothing cool or hip about the fact that they found their instruments in the dumpster. They sound like that's where they came from. A paint can was good for holding paint, but it's not all that good as a percussion instrument. And would a little inventiveness hurt? I mean if I'm going to come to terms with the fact that their gimmick is that they play "music" with trash, can't we at least pick some trash that makes OK music? What about like making a string instrument out of a cardboard box and old cables? Then maybe I'd impressed. Earplugs next time. For sure.

And while I'm on the subject of noise, the other day while I was enjoying a nice day outside, on the bench of a local coffeeshop, this guy drives by in his f'in Audi, windows rolled down, pumping some junk rap music with a crazy subwoofer that's, of course, making my iced coffee shake like some apporaching t-rex. Fine, so this guy is trying to compensate for something, he wants some attention, I get it. I've seen it before and I'm over it. But like, it's not enough that he's just going to drive by being dick, instead, he decides to park his car on the corner of the street along which I'm sitting and, get this, he gets out of the car and walks away. We're talking his car is just sitting there, windows still rolled down, keys still in the ignition, blasting this music while he just takes off. I think, OK, he stepped out and he's going to jump back in, but schmuck is gone for a good 10 minutes, forcing the rest of us to listen to his awful, awful track selection. What's wrong with people?