Q&A: Weird Vibes Mastermind Shirley Braha On MTV, Recycling Centers, And What Went Down With NYC-TV

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​A nation (or, at least, a city) of music dorks called a day of mourning when the long-running indie-oriented video show New York Noise was unceremoniously cancelled by New York City's NYC-TV last year. But you can't keep a good fan down for long. Noise creator/curator/editor/producer Shirley Braha has returned with Weird Vibes, a similarly indie-skewing music show that mixed expert taste with whimsical between video interludes. The first two episodes of Weird Vibes are streaming on MTVHive currently, and the third—featuring Holy Ghost!, their dads, and Nancy from LCD Soundsystem#&0151;will premiere October 25. Tonight Vibes teams up with Popgun Booking for an official CMJ showcase at Cameo Gallery. Sound Of The City recently met with Braha, 28, at her new fancy MTV workplace to talk about her grandparents, creative differences and starting over.

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Those Of You Who Missed New York Noise Can Enjoy Weird Vibes, Now Streaming At MTV

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That chyron makes being a buzzband sound a lot more fun than it is.
​Last year the local-music show New York Noise was unceremoniously given the heave-ho by NYC TV, but creator (and NYC indie-scene lifer) Shirley Braha has returned with a new half-hour video show on MTV Hive, the indie-leaning, surprisingly content-rich offshoot of MTV.com that's also serving as the online home of the revived 120 Minutes. Behold Weird Vibes, an every-so-often program with Trapper Keeper-meets-Mac Classic aesthetics that will somehow fit six videos in its half-hour running time. The debut episode's roster includes clips by Shabazz Palaces and Vivian Girls, as well as an investigation into how being a buzzband isn't as, well, buzzy as it might seem, with testimony from the likes of Tanlines, Frankie Rose, and others. It's especially grueling when your music gets called, ugh, chillwave. Watch below!

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Flavorpill Fix Goes to NY life, Becomes a Surprising Successor to Our Dearly Departed "New York Noise"

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Once upon a time, there was an excellent hour-long music-video show on Bloomberg's city-television network called New York Noise. Dating back to 2002, the hour-long intern-spun idea predated YouTube, the music-vlog trend of filming bands playing in random locations, and nearly all MP3 blogs. And it was far better than anything similar that showed up on the Internet.

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New York Noise Update from NYC Media: 'If You Liked Our Music-Video Show So Much, Why Don't You Make It Yourself?'

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Been publicly tracking the dispiriting, and unexplained, departure of NYC-TV's terrific local music show New York Noise for over a month now, along with monitoring the "Bring Back New York Noise" citizen petition and the Facebook group that's 747 members strong (including yours truly) and full of comments like: "NY Noise was a little piece of joy in a city turning to poo!
[B]ring it back please!" And finally, there's a development: the Bloomberg TV forces are considering bringing it back!

But wait.

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Announcing the "Bring Back New York Noise" Petition and More Official Ambiguity on the Show's Mysterious Disappearance

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Seems we weren't the only ones wondering about the mysterious disappearance of New York Noise--even Ted Leo wants to know. The excellent local-music-video show on the Bloomberg-conceived, city-funded network NYC-TV--ahem, NYC life--that's been around for eight whopping seasons, and predates everything from Pitchfork TV to Black Cab Sessions, suddenly evaporated at the end of last month. Reruns inexplicably moved from Wednesdays at 11pm and midnight on Sundays to the zombie-zone of Tuesday at 5 am, the official online archives vanished, and the station declared the show "on hiatus." Not canceled, thankfully, just not in production. And even though there's been a massive personnel overhaul at the station, in the wake of a NYC-TV scandal last summer, New York Noise creator Shirley Braha is still working at NYC Media. Which brings us back to the original question: what happened to New York Noise?

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Is New York Noise a Victim of NYC-TV's Post-Scandal Rebranding?

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Pains of Being Pure at Heart on New York Noise

Still stand by this declaration: "New York Noise >>>>>> any music blog ever." A cultural staple of Bloomberg's city-television network NYC-TV, the music-video show we've spent years glued to predates YouTube, the music-vlog trend of filming bands playing in novel locations, and nearly all MP3 blogs. (New York Noise first aired in 2003; Fluxblog began at the end of 2002.) And it's far better than anything like it on the Internet.

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New York Noise Producer Shirley "Beans" Braha Is Still Going to Parties, Documenting Them, Joking about How Animal Collective's Manager Is Endowed With a Baby Leg

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Party-A-Day
Shirley, left, at a Crown Heights party: "OMGDZZZ its PEGGY FROM THE PAINS. also mark monnone (from the lucksmiths doy!) havent seen this bro in ages."

Shirley Braha is the producer of NY-TV's reliably stellar local-music-video show New York Noise. But since last fall, she's also been preoccupied with updating her blog Party-A-Day, which you'd be forgiven for mistaking as a big-box store chain that trafficks in noiseblowers and paper doilies. Not so, Party-A-Day is tongue-and-cheek project born of autumnal boredom that has Braha documenting all the convivial (and some not so) gatherings she's attended since this past September, including the Beggars/Matador holiday soiree to the Fever Ray post-show shindig, and Todd P's Punkin' Carvin' Party. But NYC's "Best local music groupie" has also reliably ventured outside her own wheelhouse, like say, to a dog-costume celebration, a "big gay house party," and a Canal Street rooftop fete with directions on where to do coke:

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