RSVP HERE: Long Neck streams via Black Friday Blowout + MORE!

Photo Credit: Ali Nugent

Long Neck is the solo endeavor of New Jerseyan Lily Mastrodimos; the name comes from Mastrodimo’s love of dinosaurs, and the band’s records serve as methodical archives of her evolution as a person and musician.

Their sophomore LP World’s Strongest Dog, which was self-released in April 2020, catalogs Mastrodimos’ triumphs, hardships and growth during her late 20s. On it, Mastrodimos is joined by John Ambrosio of drums and percussion, Kevin Kim on guitar and Alex Mercuri on bass and was recorded and mixed by Tom Beaujour.

The record’s opening track “Campfire” is an anthem to building something new, and since August Mastrodimos has been doing just that by booking weekly virtual showcases called “Around the Campfire.” Today, there’s a special Black Friday edition with about 20 artists including Oceanator, Shady Bug, The Cosmonaut Cassettes, Garden and more. We chatted with Lily Mastrodimos about her love of bats, the New Jersey music scene and how science informs her songwriting.

AF: What realizations did you come to while meditating on your late 20s during the process of writing and recording World’s Strongest Dog?

LM: I had a professor who once who told me that I get caught up in the struggle and not the process. I think, as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand what he meant. I used to be so debilitated by stress and anxiety and depression, but in the past few years I’ve been able to seek help and learn how to manage that struggle. You’ve got to manage the struggle however you can, hold yourself accountable, and be open to the things you learn on the way. 

AF: How has the New Jersey music scene changed over the years? 

LM: Jersey is such a small state, and I think the music scene actually benefits from that. Everyone knows each other and is so down to help each other out. Some really wonderful booking collectives have popped up (hi Beehive!), DIY venues and community centers have been established in towns that may not get a lot of musical foot traffic otherwise. Jersey has such a rich musical history, and it’s beautiful to see it continue and grow in the way that it has. 

AF: Are you still working in a scientific field and has the pandemic changed anything about the work you’re doing? 

LM: I still want to work in the scientific field. The pandemic has put my grad school plans on hold, and I miss being out in the field. I’ve been trying to spend as much time outside as I can. I go birdwatching on my off days, and I installed a bat house on my roof this summer.

AF: What is your favorite thing about bats? 

LM: Oh God, everything! Here’s a relevant fact for the day: Did you know vampire bats will socially distance when a member of a colony is sick? Let’s learn from bats! 

AF: Does your work in science ever cross over into your music? 

LM: Oh absolutely. It’s easier for me to dissect my own feelings when I can relate them to ecological processes or animal behavior.

AF: We’ve listed many of your Around The Campfire Twitch streams on here over the past few months. What inspired you to start curating your own Twitch showcases?

LM: Thank you! I started Around The Campfire because I missed booking shows, and I missed going to shows, and I missed that community. I thought I would only do it for August, but the list of bands I wanted to book was just too long and I enjoyed the shows too much. I decided to keep doing it for the foreseeable future. In October we moved all of our streams to our very own website because we learned Twitch is owned by Amazon. The switch has been so perfect, though. I can archive all of our shows and the streams run so much more smoothly. It’s been amazing.

AF: What have been some of your favorite moments from your Twitch streams?

LM: Oh my goodness, it’s so hard to choose! The Diners set is up there, Tyler’s performance was just so fun and wonderful. Anjimile and Billy Dean Thomas put on such incredible shows, and getting to see them play together was wild. I’ve loved all of these sets so much and I’m thrilled that these artists get to share their art with us every week.

AF: What plans do you have for the end of 2020 and beyond? 

LM: Long Neck will be releasing a music video soon, but that’s all I’ll say about that! Around The Campfire will continue for the foreseeable future – the December lineup will be announced soon and it’s a wild one. Once it’s safe for “irl” shows again, I’d like to turn Around The Campfire into a live, monthly show. All in all, we’re scheming!

RSVP HERE for Long Neck with Oceanator, Remember Sports, Sailor Boyfriend, Ben Eisenberger, Cinema Hearts, Maya ‘Moon’ Osborne, Shady Bug, The Cosmonaut Cassettes, Evan Diem, Garden Centre, Yvonne Chazal, Erica Freas, Suzie True, sodada, Soot Sprite, Adam Carpenter, Fresh, Me Rex, and Finish Flag on 11/27 at 7pm ET.

More great livestreams this week…

11/27 Girl Skin via The New Colossus Festival YouTube. 9pm ET, RSVP HERE

11/28 Making music Writing Lyrics with Paige of Irrevery via The Coop Workshop Square. 2pm ET RSVP HERE

11/28 Hinds via Moment House. 9pm ET, $12. RSVP HERE 

11/28 Dinosaur Jr. via Live & Alone from Look Park. 8pm ET, $15. RSVP HERE 

12/1 Weeping Icon via BABY.tv. 8pm ET, $5 RSVP HERE 

12/1 Sylvan Esso via NoonChorus. 9pm ET, $15 RSVP HERE

12/1 Alice in Chains Tribute Concert with Metallica, Billy Corgan, Ann Wilson, Krist Novoselic & more via Twitch. 6pm ET RSVP HERE

AF 2018 IN REVIEW: Our Favorite Albums and Singles of the Year

Here we are again! As the new year approaches, it’s time to look back and take stock of the albums and singles that defined this moment in music history. 2018 was an eclectic year, to say the least, and there are a lot of new names on the list: Tirzah, Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Noname, King Princess, and Kali Uchis all had phenomenal debuts this year, not to mention the inimitable Cardi B, who made good on the promise of last year’s smash hit “Bodak Yellow” with Invasion of Privacy in April. There were established artists who still managed to surprise us, whether in the form of unearthed Prince demos, The Arctic Monkeys’ loungey sci-fi concept album, Tim Hecker introducing us to ancient Japanese court music, Dev Hynes making his most personal Blood Orange record yet, or Lil Wayne finally dropping Tha Carter V. And then there are those artists who fall somewhere in between, their ascendant careers a thrill to watch as 2018 saw them finally hit their stride. US Girls. Yves Tumor. serpentwithfeet. And perhaps most spectacularly, Mitski and Janelle Monáe.

As each of our writers (and editors, too) created their own mini-lists, those were two names that kept cropping up, and there’s no doubt you’ve seen them on just about every year-end list on the interwebs. If there’s any chance you haven’t heard Be The Cowboy or Dirty Computer, by all means, fire up that Spotify Premium post haste. But the recommendations here are as diverse as our writers themselves, so we hope you’ll take time to explore some of the lesser-known, hardly hyped artists we’ve highlighted, too – and keep your eyes peeled for more year-end coverage as we cruise in to 2019.

EDITOR LISTS

  • Marianne White (Executive Director)

    Top 10 Albums:
    1) boygenuis – boygenius
    2) Soccer Mommy – Clean
    3) Nenah Cherry – Broken Politics
    4) Mitski – Be the Cowboy
    5) serpentwithfeet – soil
    6) CupcakKE – Ephorize
    7) Blood Orange – Negro Swan
    8) Autechre – NTS Sessions 1-4
    9) Snail Mail – Lush
    10) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    Top 5 Singles:
    1) Let’s Eat Grandma – “Hot Pink”
    2) Jon Hopkins – “Emerald Rush”
    3) The Internet – “Look What You Started”
    4) Cardi B, Bad Bunny, J Balvin – “I Like It”
    5) boygenius – “Bite The Hand”

  • Lindsey Rhoades (Editor-in-Chief)

    Top 10 Albums:
    1) Low – Double Negative
    2) US Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
    3) Madeline Kenney – Perfect Shapes 
    4) Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands of Love
    5) DJ Koze – Knock Knock
    6) Caroline Rose – Loner
    7) Tim Hecker – Konoyo
    8) Virginia Wing – Ecstatic Arrow
    9) Frigs – Basic Behaviour
    10) bedbug – i’ll count to heaven in years without seasons
    Top 10 Singles:
    1) Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”
    2) Loma – “Black Willow”
    3) The Breeders – “All Nerve”
    4) SOPHIE – “Is It Cold In The Water?”
    5) Jonathan Wilson – “Loving You”
    6) Empath – “The Eye”
    7) Sibile Attar – “Paloma”
    8) Jono Ma & Dreems – “Can’t Stop My Dreaming (Of You)”
    9) Shopping – “Discover”
    10) Ed Schrader’s Music Beat – “Dunce”

  • Mandy Brownholtz (Social Media)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Miserable – Lover Boy/Dog Days
    2) Snail Mail – Lush
    3) Mitski – Be The Cowboy
    4) Teyana Taylor – K.T.S.E.
    5) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Nothing – “Blue Line Baby”
    2) Hinds – “The Club”
    3) Mitski – “Nobody”

  • Lauren Zambri (Events)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Amen Dunes – Freedom
    2) US Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
    3) Beach House – 7
    4) Iceage – Beyondless
    5) Tirzah – Devotion
    Top 5 Singles:
    1) Jenny Hval – “Spells”
    2) US Girls – “Velvet 4 Sale”
    3) Yves Tumor – “Licking An Orchid”
    4) Amen Dunes – “Believe”
    5) Low – “Always Trying to Work it Out”

STAFF LISTS

  • Ashley Prillaman (Premieres, AudioMama)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Alice Ivy – I’m Dreaming
    2) Sudan Archives – Sink
    3) Marlon Williams – Make Way For Love
    4) Earth Girl Helen Brown – Venus
    5) Rüfüs Du Sol – Solace
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Rhye – “Taste”
    2) Alice Ivy – “Chasing Stars”
    3) Sudan Archives – “Nont For Sale”

  • Tarra Thiessen (Check the Spreadsheet)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) DRINKS – Hippo Lite
    2) Shannon & the Clams – Onion
    3) Lost Boy ? – Paranoid Fiction
    4) Prince – Piano & a Microphone 1983 
    5) Sloppy Jane – Willow
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Public Practice – “Fate/Glory”
    2) The Nude Party – “Chevrolet Van”
    3) Big Bliss – “Surface”

  • Natalie Kirch (Pet Politics)

    Top 10 Releases Out of the Brooklyn DIY Scene (in Chronological Order):
    1) THICK — Would You Rather? (Self-Released)
    2) BODEGA — Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
    3) Baked — II (Exploding In Sound)
    4) Pecas — After Dark (Broken Circles)
    5) Big Bliss – At Middle Distance (Exit Stencil Recordings)
    6) Kevin Hairs — Freak In The Streets (GP Stripes)
    7) PILL – Soft Hell (Mexican Summer)
    8) Stove – ‘s Favorite Friend (Exploding In Sound)
    9) Lost Boy ? – Paranoid Fiction (Little Dickman Records/ Rich Moms)
    10) Janet LaBelle – I Only See You (Loantaka Records)

  • Sara Barron (Playing Detroit)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Kali Uchis – Isolation
    2) Blood Orange – Negro Swan
    3) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    4) Mitski – Be the Cowboy
    5) Noname – Room 25
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Ama Lou – “Tried Up”
    2) Britney Stoney – “OD”
    3) Janelle Monáe – “PYNK”

  • Luci Turner (Playing Atlanta)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) The Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    2) The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
    3) Charles Bradley – Black Velvet
    4) Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You
    5) Jack White – Boarding House Reach
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) The Raconteurs – “Now That You’re Gone”
    2) Mac Miller – “2009”
    3) Dead Naked Hippies – “Rare”

  • Victoria Moorwood (Playing Cincy)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    2) Lil Wayne – Tha Carter V
    3) J. Cole – KOD
    4) Preme – Light of Day
    5) Jazz Cartier – Fleurever
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Lil Wayne feat. Reginae Carter – “Famous”
    2) Cardi B – “Thru Your Phone”
    3) J. Cole – “Brackets”

  • Desdemona Dallas

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Noname – Room 25
    2) Flatbush Zombies – Vacation In Hell
    3) Mountain Man – Magic Ship
    4) Lucy Dacus – Historian
    5) Nao – Saturn
    Top 3 Singles:
    1)  Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”
    2) Twin Shadow – “Saturdays”
    3) Sudan Archives – “Nont For Sale”

  • Erin Rose O’Brien

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Mitski — Be The Cowboy
    2) Antarctigo Vespucci — Love in the Time of E-mail
    3) Car Seat Headrest — Twin Fantasy
    4) Soccer Mommy — Clean
    5) Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Bad Moves — “Cool Generator”
    2) The Beths — “Future Me Hates Me”
    3) Miya Folick — “Stop Talking”

  • Ysabella Monton

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Mitski – Be The Cowboy
    2) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
    3) Brockhampton – Iridescence
    4) Soccer Mommy – Clean
    5) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) King Princess – “1950”
    2) Childish Gambino – “This is America”
    3) Pusha T – “If You Know You Know”

NEWS ROUNDUP: Grace Slick, Fighting Misogyny In Music & More

  • Grace Slick Trolls Chick-fil-a

    We all know Chick-fil-a is notoriously anti-LGBTQ. You’d think this would make it hard for them to find a musician willing to allow their song in a television ad, but Grace Slick saw their offer as an opportunity. She’s donating all of the money she makes from the ad to Lambda Legal, an organization that fights for the rights of LGBTQ people. “Admittedly it’s not the millions that WinShape [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][of Chick-fil-a] has given to organizations that define marriage as heterosexual,” the she wrote in a Forbes op-ed. “But instead of them replacing my song with someone else’s and losing this opportunity to strike back at anti-LGBTQ forces, I decided to spend the cash in direct opposition to ‘Check’-fil-A’s causes.” Now that you know where the revenue is going, watch the ad below and read the op-ed here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27SLP8JLNE8

  • New Campaign Fights Misogyny In Music

    The mission of Bands Take A Stand is “to create safe spaces and use our collective voices as a vehicle for positive change within our music community.” Specifically, the campaign has teamed up with bands who donate their streaming revenue for a certain amount of time to A Voice For The Innocent, an organization that helps survivors of abuse. Read more here and here.

  • Fake (Music) News From Richard Spencer

    Yesterday, reporter Olivia Nuzzi tweeted that while attending the CPAC, Richard Spencer declared Depeche Mode the “official band of the alt-right” after he was asked if he liked rock music. The band took to social media to denounce the statement, and Spencer clarified that he was joking. Someone later shared a Facebook note in which Spencer ranked 30 years of Depeche Mode albums, which proves why he’s not a music journalist: it’s incredibly boring.

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NEWS ROUNDUP: Hinds, Making a Murderer, and David Bowie

davidbowiemain

With the new year we’re going to be bringing you a weekly news round up. Here are our highlights. Dig in.

  • HINDS Takes Over NYC Hinds, the Madrid-based, garage rock band, released Leave Me Alone today, and made a few noteworthy appearances in NYC to celebrate: An in-store session at Manhattan’s Other Music on Tuesday, and a wild, karaoke-style party at Bushwick’s Palisades last night. If you were lucky enough to get in, we’re jealous.

  • Making a Murderer/Making a Mixtape

    If you have a Netflix account- or a maybe nice friend’s password- chances are, you’ve spent the holidays obsessing over the true crime drama Making a Murderer, the story of crooked cops who will stop at nothing to frame a man who is innocent (or is he?!?). Dan Auerbach is right there with you, guys. He enlisted his new band The Arcs to record “Lake Superior,” a song about the story of Steven Avery. It’s a spacey, lo-fi track featuring lyrics that echo the corruption the documentary tackles: “Back on the shore where the poor get whipped/ Where the fat get fat and the rich stay rich.” All proceeds the song earn will go to the Innocent Project, Auerbach says.

  • It’s (Almost) Music Festival Season

    Tickets went on sale for two California festivals, Coachella and BottleRock. Guns N’ Roses are reuniting for Coachella, and other notable headliners include LCD Soundsystem and Sufjan Stevens. But as many sites have pointed out, there is, and always has been a serious lack of female headliners at the famous festival. There’s only ever been two instances where a woman was a headliner, but both of those were Bjork (in 2002 and 2007), so that’s really like one and a half. Also, that poster is practically impossible to read. Back on the east coast, the lineup for the 2016 Governors Ball festival in NYC was just announced as well. 

  • Upcoming Shows

    For readers in NYC who need help planning their social life for next week or so, may we suggest these shows:

    • Rubblebucket at Brooklyn Bowl: Tonight, 8:30 PM
    • NYC’s Hardest Working Bands (featuring Pill, Future Punx, Acid Dad, Gingerlys, Surf Rock is Dead,Dreamcrusher, and Vomitface) at Baby’s All Right: 1/09, 4 PM
    • A Tribute to Lou Reed (featuring Sinkane, Mirah, Invisible Familiars, Your 33 Black Angels, Pencil, Cassandra Jenkins, Jolie Holland, and Sam Owens) at Manhattan Inn: 1/10, 8:30 PM
    • Metz/Bully/Palm at Bowery Ballroom: 1/13, 8 PM
  • Happy Birthday, David Bowie and Elvis!

    “The King of Rock’n’Roll” would have been 80-years old-today. David Bowie also turned 69 today and finally released Backstar. We’re calling today David Bowie Day. Stay tuned for AudioFemme’s take on his much anticipated 26th studio album. 

ALBUM REVIEW: Hinds “Leave Me Alone”

Leave-Me-Alone

Any simplicity in the music of Hinds is made up for in sheer attitude. Except for “The Garden,” most of their music videos feature footage of the members goofily singing along to their songs. The Madrid band’s personality is just as easily translated on Leave Me Alone, a fun, loose, and effortless album of lo-fi garage rock that will make you really, really want Hinds to be your new best friend.

The band started with Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, who share guitar and vocals. Cosials will layer her sugary voice over Perrote’s deeper, tougher tone, then the two will split apart into different ideas or sing the same a beat apart. It’s a style that comes close to the disorganized side of casual, which makes it all the more endearing. After writing songs under the name Deers, Cosials and Perrote added bassist Ade Martin and drummer Amber Grimbergen, but were forced to change their name after another band threatened legal action. They’ve maintained a sense of humor about it, though: on their website, there’s an animated video game where you click your mouse to make a running deer jump over the band (hit a chili pepper, and you turn purple).

hindsgame

Their lyrics touch on the trickiness and frustration of dating with the same wry humor, warning about a girl who hides her flaws with “She always burns her warts… don’t let her waste your smile” and imploring a clueless crush to make a move on “Chili Town” because “I’ve been touching without hands/ Because you’re deaf and blind.” They provide a perfect balance between romance and independence, made clear through “I’ll make it simple, I don’t play no games/ I could be your baby, but I’ll be your man,” and on one of their best songs, “Bamboo:” “How could I show you without looking freaking mad/ That I am not always gonna be around/ And how could I show you without loosing all our time/ That I am not always gonna run behind.”   

Leave Me Alone comes out tomorrow, but is currently streaming on NPR. In anticipation of its release, the band played a karaoke show at Palisades on Wednesday, inviting fans to sing their songs for them. Maybe Hinds just want to be our friend, too?