Kyp Malone
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More Ringing Endorsement
For Ringing Endorsement, The A.V. Club asks local characters of note for their recommendation of an event, restaurant, or whatever else strikes their fancy. This week, Kyp Malone—a chief member of TV On The Radio as well as the bands Iran and Rain Machine, maker of a new self-titled album on the Anti- label—swoons over a favorite coffee shop.
Let’s talk about the Greenpoint Coffee House (195 Franklin St, 718-349-6635). I’ve found myself living around the corner or down the street from it in various locations for the past five years. Besides brunch time on the weekends, it's a relatively calm place—dark wood and black leather interior, it feels kind of like a British pub. They have good coffee. The service used to be excruciatingly slow, which went against the pace of New York. It could be amusing or frustrating, depending on the mood you were in. They’ve definitely sped things up in the past couple of years. I’ve gotten turned on to lots of good records by drinking coffee there, because the kids that work there have impeccable musical taste. I heard Vetiver’s To Find Me Gone first there, before I heard it anywhere else. I first heard Michael Hurley’s music there. I get to hear indie-rock records from the '90s that I wouldn’t put on in my house because I don’t want to be nostalgic. But it’s really gratifying when I get to hear them there. I’m thinking about Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Guided By Voices' Alien Lanes. Some of my favorite people in the neighborhood have worked there. It’s a friendly group of people. It feels like in Williamsburg sometimes the pace of hipness can get dizzying and sickening, but it’s a place that I can go and feel comfortable.
