new album – Downtown Magazine

By Alice Teeple

Photos by Alice Teeple

Christine Smith takes a drag from her well-deserved cigarette outside the Bowery Electric. She’s just wrapped a spectacular solo performance for her sophomore album release, Meet Me On The Far Side Of A Star. It’s fitting this album made its debut in the intimate Map Room: its twinkling, celestial backdrop placing Smith in a sort of netherworld somewhere between Weimar Berlin and Major Tom’s shuttle.

“Oh dear! Looks like I’m molting,” she chuckles, as several wisps of black marabou feathers float from her dress to the sidewalk. She stamps out her smoke, signs a CD for a fan, and warmly greets old friends who came to see the songstress on her former stomping grounds.

The Bowery is foggy, with a damp chill in the air: the kind of weather that reluctantly welcomes nostalgia and melancholy. This night, Smith served as the ferrywoman, steering the boat with electric piano keys and a small red Spanish accordion, through an emotive display of loss, longing, and regret. Christine Smith treads the line between days gone by and harsh modernity. She ruefully gazes back at the storms of the past with wry observation, hard-fought wisdom, and persistent optimism. She is a seasoned warrior armed with wit, poetic dreams and a delicious glass of red to calm those tides.

Smith’s seen her fair share of touring and recording over the last twenty years, having played with Crash Test Dummies, Jesse Malin, and Ryan Adams; as well as sharing the stage with Bruce Springsteen, Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, and H.R. of Bad Brains.

With such a punk/rock background, it’s astonishing to hear Smith’s own gentle, conversational voice and classic piano plucked straight out of a 1930s cabaret. It turns out that during her early days living as an ex-pat in London, Smith supported herself playing jazz standards. From there she served as the musical director for Newsrevue (London’s longest-running satire show).

There are strong elements of the Great American Songbook in this album, but Smith proudly wears her other influences on her sleeve – echoes of Petula Clark here, some Patti Smith there, some Simon LeBon flair, sprinkled with a bit of Angelo Badalamenti and 1950s doo-wop. She is a shining result of her eclectic tastes and influences. Her autobiography will be one hell of an incredible read one day.

Meet Me On The Far Side Of A Star began as a collaboration with Texas singer-songwriter Victor Camozzi, who shared Smith’s passion for 1930s-40s American classics. A year and some massive life shifts later, Smith’s “achingly beautiful” masterpiece was finished. Meet Me On The Far Side Of A Star is an artistic triumph. Rolling Stone recently praised her track Happily Never After (featuring Tommy Stinson of the Replacements) as a top ten Country/Americana song of 2019. One hopes that Christine Smith keeps exploring her own voice and draws more from her deep well of experience and compassion.

The album is available for purchase here.

It can also be streamed here:

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I didn’t learn about Lil Dicky through “Yo! MTV Raps,” Hot 97, Power 105 or any of the traditional outlets for emerging hip-hop artists. Instead, I first heard about Lil Dicky on Jensen Karp and Matthew Robinson’s “Get Up On This Podcast,” when Karp mentioned Dicky as one of the few funny rappers that he enjoyed.

The success of Dicky – a.k.a. David Burd – is intriguing for many reasons. First, he is headlining Irving Plaza before his first album (“Professional Rapper”) is released. Second, his career is an accident of sorts, since he apparently only started rapping while working on presentations at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Third, his career began with crowdfunding, rather than the common path of formerly-prominent artists moving over to a crowdfunding model after leaving the label world behind. Fourth, even though his debut album comes out in July, Dicky released 32 songs (15 of which with music videos) over the course of five months, even though he did not make his live debut until February 2014. Fifth, beyond his work as an MC, Dicky also has his foot in the comedy world as a writer, comic and actor. And this is without discussing the millions of YouTube streams, or the music itself.

In turn, Lil Dicky is a sign of the times, that artists no longer succeed entirely as a result of creativity, but that they often need intellect and work ethic to stand out. He kindly spoke to Downtown Magazine, pulling the curtain back a bit and explaining about what’s ahead for the Philadelphia-based artist.

How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t yet heard it?

Lil Dicky: I would say it’s the type of music that isn’t necessarily designed to listen to passively, or you’ll miss what makes it interesting. If you like lyrics, and stories, and jokes, and following along with songs in that capacity, you’ll have a much higher appreciation for it. But to use adjectives, I think it’s irreverent at times, heartfelt and serious at times — but most of all and most importantly, real. All the time, real.

And what do you wish more people knew about you both on and offstage?

L: Maybe that I’m a really nice person? I’m not sure, I just have a lot of pride in myself as Dave Burd, the human being that I am, beyond Lil Dicky the rapper, and I want the world to like that person as well.

On the “Get Up On This” podcast, there was a lot of emphasis on you being the token funny rapper that they liked. Does the “comedy hip-hop” tag ever bother you?

L: It would only bother me if people limited me to just that. I love comedy, and I love hip-hop, so being mentioned as someone that does both doesn’t make me mad at all. But if someone said, “oh, he’s just a comedy rapper,” that would bother me, because: a) I rap my ass off, and b) I have songs that aren’t the slightest bit funny, that are just as good to me as the funny stuff.

What’s the best part of being a “professional rapper?”

L: Just being your own boss. Not having to answer to anyone. I assume my answer would be the same if I founded my own start-up, but the main thing that I enjoy most about my life is that I am in complete control of what I’m doing at all times. It’s an amazing feeling. It’s great to work hard when you’re passionate about something, and it’s very easy to be passionate about YOUR stuff.

Having come from an advertising background, is there a “plan B” or even an ideal “end game” for you? Or are you now doing what you want to be doing for a long time?

L: I don’t really think about plan B’s. I’m a plan A guy until my hand is forced otherwise. But my end game for me is to maximize my potential creatively, and feel like I achieved the most I could possibly achieve, while still maintaining a sense of personal life, falling in love, raising a family, etc. And I think my ideal achievements aren’t confined to rap either, I want half of my career to be non-music related comedy…creating and starring in my own sitcom, perhaps movies down the line, maybe stand-up one day, etc. All while concurrently becoming the best rapper I can become.

For those planning on coming to your gig at Irving Plaza, what’s to be expected from your performance?

L: I plan on taking the crowd through my five-year plan actually. From becoming cool, to becoming famous, to finding my soulmate, to reflecting on my accomplishments. I plan on taking the crowd through my personal five-year plan. I’ll have a Powerpoint presentation running throughout the show, full of charts, images, and the whole nine. There will also be some new, unheard music and choreographed dance sequences, too. I wanted to take a fresh approach with this show, keep everyone guessing.

What’s ahead for you once you’ve finished up your run of summer festivals?

L: I plan on putting my album out this summer, “Professional Rapper,” and look forward to seeing its reception. And as soon as that comes out, I’m going to begin going very hard at my TV show idea, and flesh that out, and hopefully begin bringing that to reality.

Finally, Dicky, any last words for the kids?

L: Be yourselves! There’s no reason to be anything you aren’t. Just be yourself, own you, and everyone will appreciate it and respect it no matter what.

by Darren Paltrowitz