EP REVIEW: “Sleeper Remixes”

CarmenVillain_bySimonSkreddernesHonestly, I’m still at a loss as to why this 12″–an assembly of three remixed tracks off 2013’s full-length Sleeper–exists. Carmen Hillestad, alias Carmen Villain, who ended a successful modeling career three years ago to focus on playing and writing music, released Sleeper this past March, bringing with it a delicately crafted blend of ethereal psych-rock and lo-fi nineties grit. The vocals on that album–the best and most conspicuous aspect of Villain’s performance–seemed to by turns float over and grab at the melodies, always with a palpable undertone of something ominous in the background. The first single off that album, “Lifeissin,” struck that balance exquisitely, creating out of Villain’s voice a persona that was empathetic as well as occasionally becoming a bit obscured and even scary. Unadorned bored-but-beautiful vocals, which, at some points, channelled Nico of The Velvet Underground & Nico, made creepy lyrics (“Stories be told, this is a life, open the curtains/Do you believe I’m going to hell?”) creepier.

But the least satisfying aspects of Sleeper–the album’s floating directionlessness  that couldn’t, for all its distortion-licked guitar lines and catchy, cyclical vocal hooks, carry momentum through all twelve tracks–can only be magnified through remix. The original album needed more grabbing and less floating. On the most recent EP, Villain abandons all semblance of storytelling in the vocals in favor of creating an entirely atmospheric sound. Her voice has no life of its own on this recording, and merely operates in service to the instrumentals.

Which would be fine, if the original versions of the songs didn’t depend so heavily on the persona Villain created to fit them when she released her first album. The mysterious, mysteriously dark character that we first encountered moving through Sleeper  does not really make an appearance on this newly envisioned collection of tracks. However, since the songs were initially created with a heavier vocal presence, the listening experience feels lacking, as if there’s a giant hole in the sound.

“Most of my songs are about escaping something–escaping this weird vacuum, an unsatisfying world,” Villain has said. Indeed, the three extended tracks on this album– “Dreamo (Peaking Lights Remix),” “Obedience (Bjørn Torske Remix)” and  “How Much (A JD Optimo Mix)”–all have a hunted feel to them. This is mostly due to the percussion line, which carries strong weight on every track, leading the surrounding collection of instrumentals in gentle, almost playful, journeys up and down their registers. The color of the melody is always shifting slightly, never sitting still for longer than a few seconds. The attention paid to keeping the instrumentals alive and vibrant on this album adds nice dimension to each track, although (for me, at least) this is no substitution for the strong vocal presence we saw on the full-length release. That being lacking, the mystery on its way towards being developed in Sleeper now feels flattened, overly obscure and boring.

Imagine going to a play, and discovering that in this play there will be no actors and no story line, only an elaborate stage set and really, really good lighting. That’s kind of the experience of listening to Carmen Villain’s remixes. Somewhere in the reinterpretation, these songs have lost a lot of their pull since appearing as originals on Sleeper.

You can go here to purchase the Sleeper Remixes EP via Amazon, or here for the original Sleeper CD via Saki Store. Also, be sure to check out “Dreamo (Peaking Lights Remix)” via Soundcloud below!

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ARTIST PROFILE: AB + 14KT

Saturn Return

ALBUM REVIEW: Saturn Return, by Rebecca Kunin

Saturn Return– A Saturn return occurs when Saturn arrives at the exact position where it was located at one’s birth. It takes Saturn approximately 29.5 years to orbit the sun. Astrologers believe that a new life phase is signaled by every return. A Saturn return marks a life transition.

Progressive soul singer Aaron “Ab” Abernathy and producer 14KT were, once upon a time, both going through transitional periods in their lives. They leaned on each other for support, and after five years of therapeutic collaboration Ab &14KT released Saturn Return: an 11-part saga detailing Ab’s relationship with a girl named Lalah. While the story centers around a romance, Saturn Return poses general questions about life, love, loss and grief.

Saturn Return is a collage of genres, textures and emotions. From electronic experimentation to jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, even gospel, this album encompasses a wide spectrum of musical influences. While the styles of each song vary, they flow perfectly into one another, musically and thematically. When it comes to the compositions, it does not seem like Ab and 14KT have left any stone unturned. Saturn Return consists of seamless transitions (especially between Track 6 and 7 and Tracks 8 and 9), while Instruments such as the harp, violin, standup bass and piano color every track of the album. Ab’s voice, however, is the best instrument on the album. From falsettos to intricate runs, Ab continuously demonstrates his refined vocal techniques. Subsequently, 14KT takes Ab’s vocals and creates choirs, harmonies and a number of sound effects throughout each track of Saturn Return.

I recommend first listening to the album all the way through, from beginning to end with the lyrics in front of you. Focus on the music and nothing else, as it’s not the type that reaches out and grabs you. You may have to work for it, but trust me, it is well worth the investment.

The album’s 11 tracks tell the story of an entire relationship, from before it begins, to after it is over.  As you can imagine, this album spans a plethora of emotions and a wide range of musical styles. “Today Love” is the first chapter in the story. The spacey, experimental soul song first introduces us to the narrator, Ab, and then the object of his romantic interest, Lalah.  In the song, he pines after a mystery girl who doesn’t yet know his identity. “Don’t you act like you don’t know/I’ve been around.”  The harmonization and falsettos introduce us to the Ab’s vocal span, while the echo effect, and the interpolation of the bass, violins, guitar and organ introduce us to 14KT’s production.

 “Lover’s Galaxy”, the protagonist’s courtship phase, is a funky, upbeat track that mixes various rhythms and melodies to create a blend of hip hop and jazz.  In “Can I Be Your Lover”, the two begin to date. This smooth, romantic track ends with Lalah’s response to Ab’s voicemail in “Lover’s Galaxy”, “Hey Ab this is Lalah. I just saw your message and it kinda made me smile.”  “Heavenly” is another smoother, soul song, colored with harmonic vocals, snappy rhythms and soothing falsettos. With lyrics such as, “What more can I do baby/Tell me what more can I say/Fairytales and magic spells cannot compare to the pleasure that you bring,” “Heavenly” takes the prize for most romantic track on the album.

The tone of the album completely changes after “Sweat Pants & My Cardigan,” featuring Shelley Barnes.  The somber opening piano chords set the tone for what is easily the opus’ saddest song, organized as a conversation between Barnes and Ab, who take turns narrating the verses. The two are teetering on the verge demise, with lyrics like “Getting bored, and you snore/Just ignore what I’m feeling inside.” “Sweat Pants & My Cardigan” is almost gospel, consisting of call and return styles and rich harmonization. The track ends with the woman leaving a voicemail for Ab pronouncing the relationship’s terminal end:  “I’m just not sure if this whole thing is going to work.”

In “Forget Who I Am”  the music, underpinned by funk/hip hop beats, along with upright bass and Jazz piano, dissipates halfway through to reveal a fight between the couple. The drama continues to escalates in “God (Food & Water),” with loud electric rock guitar and Ab’s melodic screams, standing in stark juxtaposition to the  gospel choir.

Finally, the album’s title track brings home the overarching motif, and marks the beginning of a new chapter for both the artists. “Lost myself in my pattern/Unaware of things that mattered/I stumbled, fell and staggered ‘till I found myself in Saturn.” While  “Message to my Unknown Love” hints that the narrator is beginning to move on,”Tomorrow Love” ends on a hopeful note, with Ab and 14KT looking toward the future.

The pair gave us a small glimpse into their lives with Saturn Return. They let us in on a more personal level, however, when Audiofemme had respective chats with them both. Continue reading to see what happened when our writers, Rebecca and Madison, pried their brains open. Before you do though, take a break and listen to “Forgotton”, off Saturn Return here via Soundcloud.

Here’s what Ab had to say about life, love and his work as an artist:

AF: My favorite aspect of this album is the range of emotions that you display in each song. Each song seamlessly blends into the next to tell a story. When you set out to write Saturn Return did you know that it was going to be an entire album? Did you intend for it to follow the trajectory that it did?

 AB: When I wrote this album I had no specific direction for it. The writing for each song was based on what I was going through at that specific point in time. The lyrics to each record on Saturn Return is therapeutic in a sense.

AF: What was the writing process for the album as a whole? How did you decide to transition from one song to the next?  

 AB: There wasn’t a set writing process for the album at all. Me and KT had finished nine records for this album in 2010 and I disappeared in 2011. In the later part of 2011, I spoke to him about the Saturn Return process after realizing that’s what both of us were experiencing after my friend Evelyn Bandoh, who was a co-worker of mines at the time revealed what Saturn Return was to me. Once I realized what it was and how it was perfect for the album, all that was left to do was put the album in order and tie the story together. That’s when KT came to my studio in DC, MLK day weekend of 2012 and we worked on the last two records which were “Forgotten” and “Sweatpants & My Cardigan.” Everything came together perfectly.

AF: I first listened to this album in order from beginning to end. How would you recommend listening to the album?

AB:  In order from beginning to end.

AF: Will you be performing this album in it’s entirety?

AB: I’m not sure yet. Me and KT have to get together and find the most effective way to roll this album out in it’s live version.

 AF: You began working on this album 5 years ago. Are the lyrics as personal to you now as they were 5 years ago? When did you finish writing the lyrics?  

AB: They’re very personal because it signifies where I was at in different periods of my Saturn Return. I have lived every single one of these records but not in the order of this album. I finished all the lyrics January of 2013 when I decided to add lyrics to the title track.

AF:  I understand that Saturn Return is an astrological term that describes when Saturn returns to the position that it occupied at one’s birth. A Saturn Return occurs approximately every 30 years. Each Saturn Return marks a new beginning and a transition into a new life stage. Why did you decide to name the album “Saturn Return”? Is it meant to signify a transition in life and/or music? If so, what is the transition?     

AB: I took it to KT and we decided to name the album Saturn Return because both of us were transitioning into adulthood and the pressures that come with it in the midst of creating this album. Also, we were aware that our friends were going through the same struggles but couldn’t put a name on what they were feeling. I believe the title brings light to something my peers were unaware of. I kept telling KT I want people to think of this album like a book. One would recommend a book to someone going through something…I hope someone will recommend this album just like a book to someone going through Saturn Return…or even a break-up cause that’s what Saturn Return is…a difficult break up with your past to transition to the next level.  

AF: In my opinion the track “Saturn Return” signals a change in the tone of the album. Does this track represent the beginning of the transition that you went through writing this album? 

AB: The title track is definitely signals a change in the tone of the album. This was the very last track that I wrote to on the album on the second to last day of mixing the album at The IS Studio (KT’s studio). It doesn’t represent the beginning of the transition that I went through writing the album but it does represent the understanding of what I went through during the five years of living while creating the album and how trials and tribulations can help you find yourself and prepare you for what is coming in the future.

 AF: You utilize many genres on Saturn Return, from electronic and funk to soul, jazz and R&B. Why was the style so varied throughout the album? How did you decide to pair the lyrics of each song with the music that it is accompanied with? 

AB: I like singing in different styles. I think it’s important that I don’t limit myself when it comes to expressing my artistic character. The music that KT and I created told a story before I added lyrics to it. It was important that I sat with the music and let the message come to me. It’s what I do with most of the records I work on.

AF: Saturn Return is markedly different from the work that you have done previously. Is this the beginning of a new direction in your music?   

AB: I don’t think my music is headed in a new direction. I’m a soul artist and plan on continuing to stay in the arena.

 AF: “Sweatpants and Cardigan” has a very intricate narrative. Explain how Shelly Barnes and your parts interplay.

AB: This record is open ended…here you have Shelley (representing Lalah) and me internally speaking on how we feel about each other. Like most unhealthy relationships we know how we feel but we haven’t told the person we’re in the relationship with. Both characters are hurt for different reasons and Lalah makes the first move to exit.

 AF: Which song on the album best represents the collaboration between both your and 14KT’s musical styles and why?

AB: That’s tough. I would say the entire album. We crafted a sound together. The whole album has a vibe from top to bottom that is our sound. Even on the three records he produced on his own and the two I produced on my own…we both added elements that gave it the Ab & 14KT signature mix of sound that was appropriate for the record we were working on.

 AF: How did your collaboration with 14KT affect the music and production of this album? What did the collaboration process entail?

 AB: I believe our collaboration was deeper than the music and the production. The process entailed more of two friends talking about real life and encouraging each other while working on music during the process. So many things happened within our personal lives within those five years. We would have serious conversations and then next thing you know we were in the studio and KT was creating drum patterns and I was on the keys creating melodies and going through different patches. Then he’d get on the keys and do something, Then I get back on the keys and do more and we kept building the music while we were also building up each others lives through support.

 AF: You have said that you and 14KT worked on this album together because you were both going through similar experiences. Was the album a collective blend of the both experiences? 

AB: Yes. Certain songs speak to our personal situations in different ways.

 AF: Can we expect more AB and 14KT collaborations in the future?  

AB: Only time will tell…

***
Audiofemme’s Madison Bloom then got the opportunity to chat with 14KT over the phone, from his studio in Ypsilanti Michigan. I think the two may possibly have become best friends during the process. Here’s what went down:

 

Ypsilanti Native Kendall Tucker, aka 14KT, has taken a hiatus from Athletic Mic League and released his first full-length collaboration with his long-time contemporary, vocalist/songwriter AB.  Saturn Return, a 48 minute soul opus, is a textural, funk-ified R&B testament to the existential dread turning 30 and reassessing your entire life.  I never knew a quarter-life crisis could sound so damn sexy, but lo and behold, it does in this case.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Kendall over the phone about the record, Detroit, and the standards we hold ourselves to.

14KT: Hello?

AF: Hi Kendall sorry, about that [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”][messes with recording software].

14KT: No it’s alright

AF: I’m atrocious with technology. How are you doing?

14Kt: I’m doing pretty good, pretty good. How ‘bout yourself?

AF: I’m doing really well. I just had a chance to listen to your album with Ab and
it sounds amazing.

14Kt: Aw thank you, thank you very much.

AF: So, my first question is a little corny, but I kinda had to wonder: why not 18KT?  Or 24 for that matter?

14KT:  (Laughs) I mean 14’s my favorite number. 

 AF: Why’s that?

14KT: Well 14 was like my basketball number, so it kinda stuck with me when I was younger.

 AF:  Ok, right on.  I was just wondering cuz, you know, it was 14, and I thought, eh, it could be 24….

14KT:  Yeah, people have asked me that before, y’know, like “you could go up to 24!”

 AF:  I thought maybe it was because the more Karats you have, the softer the gold is, so 14 is a lot harder than 24.

14KT: True.

AF: So, your record is pretty textural, it sounds like there’s been a lot of work put into it, not just with the songwriting but the production especially. 

14KT: Yeah, well Saturn Return wasn’t really Saturn Return when we started making it, but we started recording songs about five years ago.  It’s been years of like, working on it little by little. 

 AF: I know production has always been important, but I feel like it’s becoming more and more prominent, and with things like Ableton and other types of software, it’s becoming so much more approachable for really anyone with a computer to make music.

14KT: Yeah, definitely.  Technology has made music easier to make, so pretty much everybody’s doing it, like there used to be a time when singers stayed singers, and rappers stayed rappers, and producers stayed producers but now everybody to produce and make your own stuff.  That’s the world now.

 AF: That’s a great thing about the record: we are in this age of computers, but that doesn’t infect the sound of that album.  There’s still a lot of instrumentation there and it seems that it was composed by people who knew music before they just started messing around on computers.

14KT: Yeah I mean we’re fans of records, and just music in general, what we used to make this album was more organic.  Computers were used but a lot of the stuff that was played, we just played.  We’d just jump on the keyboard and play some melodies. 

 AF: So, I was doing some research on ya and I had never heard of the town that you’re from…is it Ypsilanti?  How do you pronounce that?

14KT: (Laughs) It’s pronounced as “Iiipsilanti, Michigan.”  The “Y” always throws everybody off.

 AF: Iiipsilanti, ok.  I was looking on The Wikipedia because I was trying to figure out what this place was, and one thing that was written that I wanted to get your opinion on was that: “Ypsilanti is the Brooklyn to Ann Arbor’s Manhattan.”

Is that bullshit, or is that true?

14KT: (Laughs) I didn’t know Ann Arbor had a Manhattan.

 AF: Ok, I thought maybe you’d call some bullshit on that.

14KT: Yeah, I can’t say that.  Ypsi and Ann Arbor are right next to each other but their kinda the same, but not the same.  They’re both college towns, but Ann Arbor’s a little more expensive, and Ypsi is like “Little Detroit.” It’s like a smaller version of Detroit, it kinda has a Detroit feel to it a little bit, but it’s like a mixture of Ann Arbor and Detroit a little bit.

 AF: Do you identify yourself with the scene in Detroit?

14KT: I have to because I’ve been going up there a lot, but I’ll always rep Ypsilanti, where I grew up… I never lived in Detroit but, half of my family lives out there, so yeah I’m part of Detroit hip-hop, I’m part of Michigan hip-hop.

 AF: I read a description of the album, and it was kind of describing the concept behind the album…that you and Ab had gone through some difficult periods in your life together and that inspired the record. Comments?

14KT: Yeah, within the last five years for me and Ab, a lot of personal things were happening in our lives, and we were friends so we would just talk about things, and these things had nothing to do with music, so we would just talk about things we were going through, which was our Saturn Return.

I was getting challenged on each category of love, of my career, of my family, and just personal goals and moving forward, and I was telling Ab this, we were sitting in a car, and I told him some of the things, you know, how it affected me with my relationships with friends, and he was like: “man you’re going through your Saturn Return,” and I was like, “what’s that?”

 He started to explain it to me, and all the while we’re sitting in the car while he’s talking and explaining this, we’re listening to the music we’d created, and it’s playing in the background, and when he said that phrase, and he was going through the same stuff that I was going through at the same time, we just felt like it was important for us to put that [record] out.

AF: So, the concept of Saturn Return, is it almost a period of purging and shittiness before you really hit your stride? Almost like a phoenix rising from the ashes type of situation?

14KT: Yeah, I mean, some people can call it somewhat of a midlife crisis, but most of the time you feel like that’s when you’re grown. You know, when you turn 21 you’re grown, but really I think Saturn Return is like the year you turn 21. That’s when you’re grown, that’s when you start realizing things, that everything you do can affect not only you, but anybody. You are going through a phase where you get real down, you get real negative about things… If things aren’t working out, and a lot of things start happening–people might pass away, you might fall out with friends. Around that age people get married, people have different focuses in their life and where they want to go and it might not have anything to do with you, so you might fall out with family, you might fall out with friends, you might fall out with dating…you might not even understand dating anymore because maybe it was fun when you were a little younger but you got older and maybe it got a little more serious, or harder for you to find someone. All these things become more complex.

AF: Right, and in the [record] description I think it mentioned becoming aware of your own mortality.

14KT: Yup. The key to it, and I still feel like I’m still in my Saturn Return, but I feel like I’m coming out to a certain degree, and the key to the coming out is understanding that everybody goes through it, and recognizing it while you’re in it, because if you don’t, you freak out. But if you understand that that’s kind of what happens and what you go through, then you can understand that this is something you gotta go through and it’s gonna make you better and you’re going to learn a lot.

AF: It’s funny because what you’re talking about is something very similar to what Freud spoke about, and it was something he prescribed to the end of people’s lives, you know, that state of: “have I led a meaningful life?” and you seem to have come to that place several years before which I think is very amazing and a great thing to be self-aware of.

14KT: Yeah, I think the earlier you’re aware of it, the more you’ll conduct your life a little bit differently. But like I said, most of the time when you’re young you’re not doing that, you’re still learning things and trying things and you get to this point where you’re like: “what have I accomplished?” then you start freaking out because you feel like you don’t have any time left for whatever reason, or you got too old, or whatever excuses you want to come up with which are not true, but it’s just what people go through, it’s just normal, very normal.

AF: So, what age did you go through your Saturn Return?

14KT: They say it starts when you turn 29 but I think mine was when I turned 30, because 30 is when you start to evaluate, like: “where am I at? What am I doing? How do I feel?” But when you actually get there you’re like: “alright, where am I at?” And you start really realizing all of these things, and I think from 30 a lot of things started happening which forced me to start thinking on a different level, and I wasn’t ready for it because it was all happening all at one time. So I’d say 30 is the age that it started.

AF: Well that’s a wonderful story, and it certainly created a series of eventsthat allowed for a great record to come out of it, so that’s a wonderful accomplishment on your part. I don’t want to keep you too long but I do have one more question for you, it’s kind of a silly question since we just got off a very serious topic: I was feeling very thematic with my questions today and I was thinking about Detroit and its history as an automotive haven, and I wanted to ask: if your music was playing out of a car stereo, what kind of car it would be…one that embodies physically, the way your music sounds. Guys love car talk, right?

14KT: Most of the record is kind of melodic, so it’d have to be a car that is kind of wide inside, that’s kind of intimate, or sexy in the inside…I would probably have to go with…a Lincoln.

AF: Nice! Well, it was lovely talking to you Kendall, I’ll look forward to the tour dates, I hope you guys hit up New York.

14KT: Yeah, New York is actually on our list, we’re working on it. Thank you very much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

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LIVE REVIEW: Daniel James, Empress Of & SOHN

Empress Of

It’s winter in Brooklyn, make no mistake.  The lovely, mild autumn we knew only weeks ago has been replaced by bitter, brutal winds hellbent on penetrating every last layer of coats and sweaters to sink into our frozen bones.  But every season has a soundtrack; we can’t listen to beachy pop all year round.  And because humans have unwisely adapted to function through winters without hibernating, there are still plenty of shows to go to.

For those of us that brave the chill, there are rewards to be had.  You see, every once in a while, a song comes into my life at the exact moment that I need to hear it.  Everything clicks thematically, from the visions and sentiments the lyrics evoke, to musical arrangements that marry emotional and atmospheric elements completely outside the music itself.  The three bands that played Glasslands last night embodied the dark, lonesome winter I’m slowly settling into, warming it just a little.

The first of those acts was London-based singer-songwriter Daniel James, originally from Northern Ireland.  James manages to execute a huge sound as a soloist, one that similar bands enlist six or seven members to pull off.  The tracks he’s released via Soundcloud borrow from folk, gospel, and dabble in electronica.  Live though, James is left to his own devices – soaring vocals, acoustic guitar, and percussion by way of stomping on a drum pedal.  What the stripped down live set-up loses in orchestral production, it gains in soul.  In the course of providing his own backing beats, James grows so breathless he can barely sing, but his voice never falters.

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Daniel James
Daniel James mid-stomp

James has an endearing stage personality that goes beyond his accent; he is funny and gracious and warm, and the audience was extremely receptive.  There’s a weight to his songs that you might not expect based on his easy laugh and genuine smile.  For every yearning love song (and there are plenty), there’s an impassioned political call to arms or a narrative drawing parallels to the struggle of slavery.  Sonically, James owes a lot to acts like Timber Timbre or Fleet Foxes, but if his set was any indication, he’s more than able to pay down that debt, even without a full band.

James was followed by Empress Of, the moniker of Lorely Rodriguez.  Her synthy, sparkling EP Systems and a handful of CMJ appearances have generated a lot of buzz for the Brooklyn-based artist.  While Systems presents Rodriguez as a precious, otherworldly performer – the cover portrait makes her look like a Greek bust, her vocals are layered with angelic reverb  – she’s much less fragile in person.  Her quirkiness comes through in the compositional choices she makes.  Her awkward stage banter places her solidly on planet Earth.  And her voice possesses a power that’s shocking when untouched by production, approaching the complexity and strength of Bjork’s wildest shrieks.

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Empress Of
Empress Of

She mostly sticks to tweaking those vocals electronically, looping and distorting them at appropriate moments.  Accompanied by a live drummer as well as a synth player, she was otherwise free to move with her own beats, swirling her arms above her head.  Technical difficulties from her road-weary mic frustrated her slightly, but she carried on.  “This is my last show of the year,” Rodriguez explained, a note of regret in her voice.  “But that’s ’cause  I’m gonna make a record.”  She was met with excited shouts and applause from the audience, which at this point was pretty packed in.  That new album holds a lot of promise; the strongest songs she played were totally new, introduced in the last half of the set.  Gradually, people in the crowd began shedding layers, forgetting the frigid temperatures outside.

London-via-Vienna producer SOHN kept the audience moving, but brought back decidedly heavier moods.  Having built a reputation on a sporadic stream of solid singles released on Soundcloud, SOHN is absolutely poised to release one of the best records of next year.  He’s a master of the build-up, knowing just how much to hold back, and just how dramatic a crescendo of synths can be when tethered by skittering percussion or chopped vocals.  It’s the vocals, really, that are the kicker, existing in the same realm as Justin Timberlake, How To Dress Well, The Weeknd or Rhye (who SOHN has remixed).  SOHN’s falsetto is heartbreaking enough on its own, but when it’s expressing the kinds of distress and disorientation highlighted in most recent single “Bloodflows” for instance, by repeating the forlorn line “My love my love my love don’t love me” it’s almost too much to handle.  In the next moments that line is hacked to pieces and collaged over an insistent back beat, providing relief from shared anguish.

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SOHN at Glasslands
SOHN finishing out the night

When SOHN’s set ended, the room was pulsating, but the cold was waiting outside.  SOHN, Empress Of, and Daniel James had all done their part to drive out the bleakness of the oncoming winter, and had succeeded in unique ways.  James brought heartfelt songcraft, and Empress Of’s burbling beats and virtuoso vocals, followed by SOHN’s thick synth layers were enough to thaw the frostiest showgoers.  At the same time, each act’s set was threaded through with dark underpinnings that reflect the hollowness of colder weather, either through afflicted lyrics or electronic arrangements that crystalize around a solemn motif.  Even if sunny summer jams don’t feel appropriate in November, there’s no shortage of songs that sound just right beneath our heavy blankets.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

LIVE REVIEW: Shannon & the Clams

Shannon and the Clams at 285 Kent

“It’s so awesome that you guys know the words!” gushed Shannon Shaw.  “I used to sing at open mic nights and now you guys are singing my songs.”  Her voice broke a little, just for a moment.  But by the time she launched into her next number, it was back to its full bellow, and the crowd went crazy.

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Shannon and the Clams at 285 Kent
Shannon & The Clams at 285 Kent

Shaw is the Shannon, of course, in Shannon & the Clams, who played Saturday at 285 Kent.  It was the second of the Oakland-based trio’s NYC area shows over the weekend, having played Friday at Mercury Lounge as well.  The band is the perfect example of what can happen when musicians are earnest in their kitsch instead of embracing it for irony’s sake.  The Clams live in their gimmicks so fully that it informs their performances and ignites their fans.

On Sunday, the band appeared onstage smeared in glitter.  Guitarist Cody Blanchard (who also provides vocals) had pomaded his hair into a curlycue that flopped in the center of his forehead; later Shaw would tease him for sweating so much that the curl came out.  Both Shaw and Blanchard wore matching red-and-white-striped button ups.  Blanchard completed his look with a coordinating bow-tie, Shaw with a jumper and her signature bleached-blonde bob.  And the music followed form; drummer Ian Amberson, seemingly  dosed on about 7,000 5-hour energy shots, kept time to the band’s rolicking collection of surf-rock anthems, lovelorn garage numbers, and doo-wop throwbacks.

All of that was fun, for sure.  But the transcendent moment came when one member of the audience hopped up on stage and dove off into the droves.  It gave Shaw an idea.  Before she introduced the next song she said, “If there’s anyone in the audience who’s never done a stage dive and wants to but is maybe a little afraid… can we make a safe space for them to do that?”  And the sweaty mass obliged.  The Clams launched into “I Don’t Wanna Be In A Cult No More” from 2011’s Sleep Talk, a fast-paced punk rock ditty, and the kids lined up.  And they weren’t all shirtless boys (although there were a few of those too); there were more girl divers than I can ever remember seeing at a show.  If a diver hesitated, arms from the audience would reach out and up, anticipating and encouraging the impending leap.  No one was dropped or kicked in the head.  Each person passed along in the sea of bodies looked ecstatic, aglow.  “That was awesome,” Shaw stated when the song was over.  It sounded like she was starting to get choked up again, but in the next moment she was belting out another rocking, rolling verse.  And the adoring crowds kept surfing.

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TOP PICKS: Record Store Day’s Black Friday Releases

Record-Store-Day-Black-FridayHere’s another reason to love the holidays: Record Store Day’s Black Friday event—an opportunity to snag special vinyl and CD releases, re-acquaint yourself with your local record stores, and get a head start on the season’s general merrymaking. This Nov. 29 will be RSD’s third annual Black Friday celebration, which aims to subvert the prototypical, corporate-run Black Friday model by providing us with “pieces of art in the form of limited special editions” and “an excuse to celebrate both the pieces themselves and the special indie record stores who carry them.” Basically, it’s a chance for an ethically justifiable vinyl shopping binge, and a perfect way to stock up on some truly unique gifts for your friends and family (and yourself). Here are our top picks for this year’s Back to Black Friday bash, and our recommendations for where to find them:

Mystical Weapons — Crothesque

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A rare recording of an improvisational collaboration between Sean Lennon, Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, originally captured for WNYC show “Spinning on Air” and featuring original illustration by Sean Lennon himself.

 

Nas — Halftime

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Nas’ debut single, “Halftime,” was released in 1992 under his original moniker, Nasty Nas. This reproduction of the original 12” LP includes the song’s LP version, instrumental version, and a remix version.

 

Chocolate Milk — Action Speaks Louder Than Words

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Released in 1975, Chocolate Milk’s debut funk/soul album was later sampled by some legendary hip-hop artists like Eric B. & Rakim, the Geto Boys, and Stetsasonic, among others. Now the classic album is returning fully remastered and in limited edition colored vinyl (chocolate colored, of course)—a definite gem.

 

Dawes — Stripped Down At Grimey’s

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A 6-track live recording of Dawes’ intimate performance at Nashville’s Grimey’s in March 2013. Includes four tracks from the band’s third full-length album, Stories Don’t End, released earlier this year, and the LP comes in a pretty orange color!

 

Anti-Records Fall 2013 Compilation — Hot Wacks

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Designed after classic “loss leader” LPs of the ‘70s, this compilation offers an intro to a few of Anti-Records’ new artists as well as demo versions and unreleased tracks by some of the label’s well-established acts (Dr. Dog, Man Man, Mavis Staples). This is a fun purchase at a very low price ($5.99!).

 

Elvis Costello & The Roots — Wise Up: Thought — Remixes and Reworks

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Produced by Elvis Costello and ?uestlove alongside Steven Mandel, this collection of remixes is sure to take Costello and The Roots’ collaborative, genre-blending album, Wise Up Ghost from earlier this year, even further than it already went.

 

Sondre Lerche — Rejection #5

Sondre

This 12” single is the first of the Public Hi-Fi Sessions, a series of limited edition releases from Spoon’s Jim Eno’s new Public Hi-Fi Records. Eno plays drums on the single as well as B-side “Screen Door.” Once the series takes off, this debut is sure to become highly sought-after.

 

Our picks of participating record stores:

Rough Trade NYC

64 North 9th St., Brooklyn NY

Cake Shop

152 Ludlow St. , New York NY

Rebel Rebel

319 Bleecker St., New York NY

Academy Records Annex

83 Oak St., Brooklyn NY

Earwax Records

167 North 9th St., Brooklyn NY

 

TRACK OF THE WEEK 11/25: “Gillie Amma, I Love You”

four-tetIn the spirit of giving thanks and giving back, we’re featuring Four Tet’s mesmerizing “Gillie Amma, I Love You” as this week’s track of the week. The song comes from upcoming double album BOATS, part of the ambitious Everything Is New project benefitting Dalit (“untouchable”) children in southeast India.

The track samples the dulcet voices of the Light of Love Children’s Choir, comprised of only some of the 600 children who reside at the Light of Love Home and School in Andhra Pradesh, India. Four Tet unwaveringly focuses on the children’s voices, some softly speaking, others singing or humming, all of them expertly and delicately layered so as to create an atmospheric, almost elegiac quality. Very little is added instrumentally—a velvety synth quietly thrums along, building up only slightly near the end as the voices become echoes. The song closes with a few raspy, indistinguishable noises and whispers, like ghosts. It’s an overall amazingly subtle but powerful effect—melancholy, meditative, and time-stoppingly gorgeous.

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“Gillie Amma, I Love You” is the fourteenth track on the 29-track-long BOATS, featuring new original music from No Age, Deerhoof, Dan Deacon, YACHT, Son Lux, Bear In Heaven, El Guincho, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, and a whole slew of other artists. The double-disc compilation will be the second of two albums released Jan. 20 (the first being Scottish band Marram’s album Sun Choir featuring collaborations with Owen Pallett, doseone, and Jarvis Cocker) via Scottish-based arts collective Transgressive North, which is working in partnership with charity organization Scottish Love In Action to raise funds for the Light of Love Children’s Home. Proceeds from the two releases, as part of the six-year long effort behind the Everything Is New Project, will go directly to providing food, clothing, education, and medical care to the Dalit children cared for at Light of Love. Every track included on BOATS features samples of the Light of Love Children’s Choir.

The project describes itself as an “attempt to counter any inherited preconceptions the children might have about their own value and legitimacy by giving them the opportunity to ‘star’ in music and film works specifically designed to celebrate and empower their identities and means of expression.” You can learn more about the Everything Is New Project, and the organizations behind it, at these websites:

www.everythingisnewproject.com

www.transgressivenorth.com

www.sla-india.org

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MIXTAPE REVIEW: “NO.SLEEP Mix.01”

ODESZA_byMarybethCoghill2

Coming on the heels of September’s My Friends Never Die EP and its subsequent remixes, Seattle duo ODESZA (Harrison Mills aka Catacombkid and Clayton Knight aka BeachesBeaches) have curated NO.SLEEP Mix.01, the first in what is to be a series of mix tapes. The group has a penchant for sun-drenched harmony and music that feels less like melodic-based music than it does a three-dimensional immersive environment, a surround-sound experience of lush bass hums and trilling melodies that shimmer like wind chimes over a beat. Those familiar with ODESZA’s work won’t be surprised to hear that NO SLEEP, released November 20th, delivers an array of songs featuring warm vocal harmonies and re-assuringly upbeat bass lines.

Tracks wind together and morph into each other. The group maintains a more or less even tempo throughout this album–danceable,  but not frantic, with ample space given for each beat to expand to its full reverberation–and strike a balance between catchiness and intimacy. KAASI & TÂCHES’S onomatopoetic “Heartbeats” features broken vocals and a pulse of beat that you can feel almost physically (and would feel literally physically, if you were hearing the track performed live). Catchy, often R&B-based vocal hooks mark the movement from track to track, punctuating a low-key bottom line groove common to nearly every song. Voices are commonly left undoctored, their organic warmth accentuated by a surreal, heavily re-mixed backdrop. This is especially effective on Laura Mvula’s “She (Eagles For Hands Remix),” a quietly powerful number with heavy soul influences.

The tracks “Not Giving In” by Rudimental and “Two Dots” by Lusine, two songs so complementary that, after having heard the mix tape, it would be difficult to talk about them separately, stood out on this album. Two experiments in simplicity–individual expressions, but integral to one another. A single act of setting a melody in motion and watching it cause a chain reaction, making harmonies with itself and generating a momentum that carries one song into another.

The juxtaposition between raw and artificial–the evocation of a single motif, coming from two different angles and several different artists, comprised the theme of this mixtape. Aided by the collection’s pondering aesthetics, NO.SLEEP explores the tensions within the songs to their fullest extent.

Listen to ODESZA’S “My Friends Never Die (Little People Remix),” their contribution to the NO.SLEEP mix, via Soundcloud:

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TRACK REVIEW: “Smash”

LandisThe person named “Most Likely To Be A DJ” in the high school yearbook is most likely to be a DJ, right? Those superlatives do come true!! At least in the case of Landis, who was his high school’s resident DJ. The difference now is that he has bragging rights after getting support from the world famous Tiësto. A southern Florida native, Landis grew up admiring the EDM scene and wanting insinuate himself into it any way he could. He interned at the music studio of Brass Knuckles and came in contact with the likes of David Solano, DJ Crespo, and Robbie Rivera. He subsequently honed his craft and began to create remixes of songs from popular artists such as Adele, Swedish House Mafia, and Alesso. This garnered a considerable amount of attention and soon he was opening for Hardwell and performing the main stage at Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando.

Landis recently collaborated with Corporate Slackrs on the climbing electronic hit, “Smash”, now out on Juicy Music. It starts off with a steady escalating beat and at 1:44, we are told by an interjecting voice to “lose yourself”. And we do. The track promptly smashes (song title alert!) into a million pieces and comes back together with a bass heavy synth that keeps you going after the beat drops. The woozy feelings of the in-between-sounds in a house track emerge way through. The “Mortal Kombat”-esque rhythm continues and comes down with about 30 seconds to spare. Just in time for you to regain consciousness and get back to reality. The trailing ending could make for a seriously mind-blowing loop of the song.

Landis’ collaboration with Corporate Slackrs is a match made in house heaven. Their styles flow so effortlessly and create a playground of rough bass and hard hitting electro beats. A star on the rise, Landis is sure to make some serious dents in the EDM world.

Check out Landis & Corporate Slackrs on their electronic hit “Smash”:

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MIXTAPE REVIEW: “0 to 60: Love Sounds”

0-60-love-sounds-extralarge_1383760769999Sabi is a singer/songwriter from Los Angeles California and was originally part of a Hip Hop girl group known as The Bangz. Soon, however, she’ll be known for something else. She recently released her mixtape, 0 to 60: Love Sounds, and is subsequently letting the world know who she is as a solo artist, stating “I want listeners to walk away from hearing this EP and have a real conversation about love, ‘real’ meaning being honest about their fears and scars so that they can begin to heal. That has been my process this past year, and while I feel like my personal growth has been off the charts, there’s still a ways to go. I just wanna share my experience.”

I love the fact that this 0-60 is focused on love in all of its permutations and combinations. While many artists strive to create music that centers around their feelings of romantic love towards another, she opts instead, to explore the theme of loving yourself and the life you lead in all of its importance. This motif is carried home again and again thanks namely, to her angelic voice–her gentle croonings communicating an honest outlook on love throughout the EP.

The second track, “Cali Love” is a great way to kick off the compilation. It’s so upbeat and fun, truly embodying the California ethos and packing a punch thanks to the songstress’ positive energy. By the end of it one indeed does feel the Cali love. The title track, “Love Sounds” brings out her sensual side. I envisioned her lying atop a Grand Piano in a sequin evening gown, perhaps, singing this song to a room filled with people lost in the haze of cigarette smoke. “Better than this”, the fourth track on the mix, has more of an old timey feel to it, soulful and reminiscent of Eryka Badu in “The way you Love me.” Further, it showcases her scatting skills, giving the listener another reason to believe in her talent.

Especially enjoyable throughout, are the snippets of  her radio interview on Power 106, which give the EP a more authentic feel. For example, when Sabi discussed feeling very strongly about the idea that you must become one whole person, who is content and full of love for yourself, and then unite with another whole person who is full of love for themselves in order to have a successful relationship, one is clued into the sentiments behind her music writing.  “24k” is very unique in theory, but in practice it wasn’t quite as innovative as perhaps she was hoping for. The song starts out quite intriguing, and then plateaus; and unfortunately, I didn’t feel that the lyrics were quite as unique as the concept. Despite her originality as an artist, clear in her musicality, technical proficiency as well as her songwriting, one of my favorite tracks on the mix is her cover of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, which takes the song’s original folksy underpinnings and gives it an R&B sheen.

All in all, this album is the prescription for a broken heart, helping to heal old wounds. I appreciate the fact that even though the entire mix is about love, it is still remarkably dynamic. As opposed to the standard albums filled with love songs that are either so mushy that it makes you want to puke, or so depressing that it makes you want to slit your wrists, Sabi is able to capture so many different kinds of love, and the various emotions equated with them.

If you need some babymaking music in your life, Listen to Sabi’s title track, “Love Sounds”, here:

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PLAYLIST: Remembering John F. Kennedy 50 Years Later

JFK

50 years ago today, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was an event that shook the entire nation and his progressive politics are something we still need to incorporate in our society today. Every person I have come in contact with from the baby boom era remembers where they were were when they found out he was assassinated and how they felt like they lost a family member that day. In remembrance, here are some songs from the 60’s to present time that commemorate his lasting memory for a more peaceful world. 

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1. “The Sound Of Silence” – Simon and Garfunkel (1964)
While not entirely obvious, Simon and Garfunkel wrote this song in response to JFK’s assassination. The lyrics are quite ambiguous and can be applied to different situations. But a line such as, “When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light”, is alluding to the gun shot. Also, “And in the naked light I saw / Ten thousand people, maybe more / People talking without speaking” is about the thousands of people that went to his funeral and showed support, at a loss for words.

2. “The Day John Kennedy Died” – Lou Reed (1982)

A kind of eerie song listening to it now with the death of Lou Reed, but not entirely so. It’s a soft yet striking ballad in tribute to JFK’s longing for a more harmonious United States. A key lyric pertaining to that exact thought, “I dreamed I replaced ignorance, stupidity and hate / I dreamed the perfect union and a perfect law, undenied”.

3. “He Was A Friend Of Mine” – The Byrds (1965)
This short and sweet song embodies the feeling that so many felt when Kennedy was shot, as though they were losing a close friend or beloved family member. The voice of their generation was suddenly gone, and no one knew how to deal with the void in their lives and in their country. “He never knew my name / He never knew my name / Though I never met him /I knew him just the same / Oh, he was a friend of mine.”

4. “Sleeping In” – The Postal Service (2003)
Written ten years ago, The Postal Service takes a more modern assessment and gets right to the point in the opening lyrics: “Last week I had the strangest dream / Where everything was exactly how it seemed / Where there was never any mystery of who shot John F. Kennedy”.  It captures the displacement felt in today’s skeptical, conspiracy obsessed climate and a yearning for less complication.

5. “Sympathy For The Devil” – The Rolling Stones (1968)
A kind of cautionary tale urging listeners to be aware that there’s evil in everyone. Mick Jagger’s theories suppose that all of these tragedies are the result of a human being, not just the “Devil”, from the crucifixion of Jesus to the murder of JFK. “I shouted out / Who killed the Kennedys? / When after all / It was you and me”. The “devil” exists, and when we think he doesn’t, he makes himself known.

6. “The Brain Of J” – Pearl Jam (1998)
The title is pretty self explanatory. A howling track with metal tinged riffs, it gives an aggressive, interrogating point of view on Eddie Vedder’s thoughts on the ordeal 35 years prior. It’s mostly about the random and disturbing disappearance of JFK’s brain. Vedder has my thoughts exactly…who steals a brain, honestly? “Who’s got the brain of JFK? / What’s it mean to us now?”

7. “Civil War” – Guns N’ Roses (1990)
Probably one of my favorite songs of all time, an epic 7-minute protest song of sorts, referencing various assassinations. “And in my first memories / They shot Kennedy / And I went numb when I learned to see” – hardly a sight to forget, according to Axl Rose. Most of the people Rose is referencing to were committed to spreading the idea of peace and justice, but he also profiles those who can’t handle it and go berserk.

8. “Public Enemy #1” – Eminem (2006)
One of the most recent allusions, Eminem is telling the trials and tribulations of being in the public eye. Once you’re famous, you inevitably become a target, not only to backlash and nasty articles written about you, but also more dire attacks. The idea of celebrity in any profession is terrifying.  People know your every move and think they know you to the point of wanting to be you. “Like the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in broad day / By a crazed lunatic with a gun / Who just happened to work on the same block in a library book depository / Where the President would go for a little Friday stroll / Shots fired from the grassy knoll”

Post any additional songs you’d like to add to this list in the comments!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: “Meat Is Murder”

the_smiths_meat_is_murder_1993_retail_cd-frontIt’s rather astounding when you actually realize that The Smiths were only together for five years considering that in their incredibly short lifespan, they managed to acquire an obsessive, cult-like fan base through their jangly guitar-ridden, pessimistic 80’s pop alt-rock. The band crafted one full length record after another, four years in a row: The Smiths, Meat is Murder, The Queen is Dead, and Strangeways, Here We Come–an ambitious goal most artists today would likely hav difficulty achieving. But then again, this is coming from a band who penned lyrics such as “I want to leave, you will not miss me/I want to go down in musical history.” Upon release, their 1984 self-titled debut was glorified by the likes of both the Rolling Stone and the reputable John Peel–the BBC disc jockey known for his extensive catalog of live studio recordings (such as this one), better known as “The Peel Sessions”.

The sound of 1985’s Meat is Murder (the follow-up to The Smiths) leans in the same direction as their debut release–dark, sad, and poppy–but it’s easy to see that the band strived for more musical experimentation, and went in slightly more political direction (the cover and title/title-track referencing Morrissey’s militant devotion to vegetarianism). Throughout Meat is Murder, Morrissey’s sardonic, lyrical melodrama charms listeners over the band’s backdrop of hypnotic, 60’s rock inspired riffs and lush layers of acoustic guitar, chunky bass lines, and the constant snaps of strident drums. The opener, “The Headmaster Ritual”, kicks off with short sweeps of Johnny Marr’s signature, jangly guitar chords synchronized to the fervent pounds of Mike Joyce’s drums. A velvety bass line follows shortly after. Morrissey’s whines and wallops suddenly interrupt the musical interplay—”Belligerent ghouls run Manchester schools/spineless swine/cemented minds….I want to go home, I don’t want to stay.” A sprawling presentation of sound is similarly brought forth in songs like “Nowhere Fast,” “Barbarism Begins At Home,” and “I Want The One I Can’t Have”, where Morrissey brazenly croons I want the one I can’t have…and it’s driving me mad/ It’s written all over my face,” as Marr continues to captivate with his use of disjointed chords and fluttering notes. The melodrama found in slower songs like “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”, “Meat is Murder”, and “Well I Wonder” is balanced out with peppier songs such as “Rusholme Ruffians” and “What She Said”, all while still holding evidence of sardonic taunts–“What she said was sad/ But then all the rejection she’s had/ To pretend to be happy/could only be idiocy”.

For most Smiths fans, however, the musical highpoint of Meat is Murder is “How Soon is Now?” The song opens with a salient 7 seconds of eerie tremolo that secured The Smiths their spot in alt-rock history. “How Soon is Now?” is often regarded as one of the prime examples of Marr’s experimental guitar work, where he creates a muddled but melodic atmosphere, all while armed with a plethora of guitar effects—the recurring wails, dreary chimes of guitar harmonics, and the haunting tremolo that continuously reverberates throughout all 6 minutes of the song—as Morrissey dramatically moans ‘How can you say/I go about things the wrong way/I am human and I need to be loved/Just like everybody else does’. Though only 10 songs and 46 minutes long, Meat is Murder presents listeners with an extensive range of lush instrumentation and satiric, lyrical wit.

 

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EP REVIEW: “Wet”

Wet (1)
Feel all those feelings / But don’t make that call

I am a notoriously messy person. I moved into my apartment in March of this year and there’s yet to be a day when the floor isn’t covered—littered—with clothes. But I adore the messiness, it works in it’s own orchestrated layering, all the props of my life laid out in positions that no one else will ever see them in. This is the best scene I can offer to relate how listening to Wet’s initial EP feels. Not to be all “love is hard, love is a messy room” but love is certainly not the no-strings-attached luxury hotel suite that most pop songs paint it to be and this band manages to capture that. Although the EP was put out by Neon Gold Records about a month ago, I caught two of their live performances this past month and I couldn’t let this mesmerizing mini-album fade into the ether without gushing over the  Brooklyn band’s first release.

There’s recognizable elements, but they’re rearranged and chopped up in a way that has inspired a number of mashup phrase descriptors from the group’s proponents. There’s the skittering drums of an electronic act like Purity Ring, but realized with a human touch courtesy of drummer Joe Valle. There’s the same dreamy, otherworldly vocals, provided by frontwoman Kelly Zutrau, who, despite her pearly voice channels a distinct grunge-glam aura aesthetically that’s almost as pleasing as the music. Zutrau’s vocals are often layered in the that special electronic-breathy way—that feels like Imogen Heap officially invented, but have been used much better by others since her—and the harmonies that Wet constructs feel equal parts lacquered and child-like. This might be the ultimate appeal of the band, they’re a fully-realized musical act of 2013 that have yet to become snapped up into the endless cyclings and machinations that this year seems to have brought on to the fullest degree. All of their touchstones feel current but they themselves feel new, not like something rehashed or constructed to please. There’s an honesty to their music—a lot of which stems from the wide-eyed, poignant lyrics—that is missing in nearly every other act I’ve listened to this year.

The sticky, molasses draw of Wet’s debut EP is that these songs are about love as it actually occurs in real time. The characters in these tracks see past (unlike the myopia of most pop) and present pictures of relationships that are full of both frustration and fascination–that feel limitlessly flawed and also endlessly present. Take “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl” for instance. It’s a truthful take on gut-wrenching loss and eye-sparkling adoration, even while the title and most of the lyrics suggest a clean break, there’s still lines like “I just want to see your face at home” that directly conflict with “I just want to see you up and out / out of the door.” By presenting these two dichotomous lines the song sums up the doublemindedness that break-ups breed with uncanny precision. “No Lie” walks through the dreariness of watching the object of your affection lose interest in you. It’s the flipside to “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” examining the wound of being left with only an immense sense of loss and empty promises. But this song doubles in power by assuming the role of the rejected and actually delving into not just the loss, but the feeling of being left, of having love and not being able to keep it. Converging that kind of intensity with the slow-drift R&B that Wet has perfected makes for a song that is able to mimic its lyrical content in the actual song. Which is the point of the entire genre of R&B, at all, ever, right?

Without a doubt though, “You’re The Best” is the best song on the four track EP. It’s the most upbeat and at least masquerades as a happy love song and it has the best vocal effects on huge swaths of harmonies. It was initially styled as “U Da Best” which felt more like Wet’s personality (look at their website to see a lady made of keyboard strokes scroll/dance behind their Soundcloud player to see more) but I can understand wanting to use proper grammar and spelling (I guess). The reason this song is the actual, actual best though is once again the fact that it’s based in reality. Even though it’s a super sweet song about being super in love and thinking that your emotions and the power of love can combat the rest of the bad stuff, it still acknowledges the rest of the bad stuff. Like being in someone’s arms and loving them but not being 100% sure if they’re the end all be all of all relationships you’ve ever been in and sometimes feeling lonely still even though there’s a great, reliable and handsome person who loves you. Or the part about “when we’re sleeping / our friends they creep in / and all the rest” that skillfully sums up just how much friendships and relationships with people outside your couple-y love bubble can sometimes just fuck up the dynamics of your love situation. It’s a head-over-heels love song that also discusses specific problems and hiccups that occur even amidst all the heart-eye-emoji feelings, and eventually decides “baby you’re the best / we’ll figure out the rest.” Or wait, does it? I love hearing it that way but then sometimes the line “I think we better quit while we’re ahead” feels so ominous and makes me rethink my whole interpretation of the track. That’s because it’s good and good things are the best at being slippery, undefinable and amorphous.

I’ll end this review by talking about the first song on the EP which is simply called “Dreams.” Ostensibly, this song is about dreams, but it’s more about how much more possible your dreams seem when someone else believes in them as much as you. It’s a song dedicated to wanting to hear about someone else’s dreams and trying to help make them come true. Even with subject matter this heart-warming, the wavering, rainbow guitar lines on this song—provided by the trio’s third member Martin Sulkow—distract me from the actual lyrics almost every time. It feels the most psychedelic and noodly of any of their recorded songs, but then again, at their live show at Mercury Lounge they played a new song that seemed to be inching into more of a drone-space that had me really excited. If this band is pop, it’s pop in the sense that the songs feel universally appealing and they’re easy to listen to, but the musical complexity of them makes me recoil at the simplistic genre terminology of “pop.” This is what 2013 sounds like, this is what being in love and struggling through loss and selfishness and rejection sounds like. It’s what feeling lonely and happy and jealous sounds like. It’s the human experience filtered through a mesh of synthesizers and beats and incredible lyrics. And, if we’re lucky, this is what 2014 will sound like too.

Listen to “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl”, here via Bandcamp:

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket
From humble Kentucky beginnings to performing on Saturday Night Live, cartooned appearances on American Dad, and alongside Bob Dylan on a nationwide-tour, My Morning Jacket has made it somewhere, to say the least. Their penchant for blues and folk-tinged rock captured my ears from the first time I heard them. I was sitting in Spanish class in 9th grade, out of sight of my teacher, of course. The album I was surreptitiously listening to It Still Moves, which has been out 10 years this September. Talk about feeling old. I broke the CD a long time ago, but the digital copy will always exist; Indeed, it has stood the test of time.

When I say that this is probably my favorite album of all time, it’s probably my favorite album of all time. I mean, one look at the album cover and you have a hard time saying “no” to listening to it. The songs still carry weight as if hearing them for the first time all over again. From the tropical flavored opener “Magheeta” to the magnificently somnolent (in the best way) closer “One In The Same”, to the ubiquitous track seven snoozer, there’s no “bad song”. Oh, and the fact that their usual recording spot is in a grain silo is pretty badass, to boot. Lead singer and guitar player Jim James’ arresting lyrics always fit the bill. The band would not be what it is without his reverbed crooning, adding celestial atmosphere to their songs. “Golden” captures the feelings this album elicits perfectly: barreling down a long road, going who knows where, with someone you love by your side.

Halfway through the album, their hazy, listening on a Sunday afternoon vibe, begins to crescendo into their showpiece, “One Big Holiday”. The furious tapping on the high hat at the beginning communicates to the listener exactly what’s about to go down. The music, replete with blaring guitar solos off the Richter, speaks for itself, as lyrics are minimal. Following this, the album immediately dives into the comedown track, “I Will Sing You Songs”. A song regarding a relationship nearing its’ inevitable end set to a beautiful dream-like arrangement. One of my favorite parts on the album is in the middle of “Run Thru”. Slow to rise, it takes a complete 180 with a synth heavy interlude complete with Iron Maiden style riffs. Imagine watching bread bake in the oven then a guitar rips out of the bread and blows your mind. A weird occurrence, but that’s exactly what it would be like.

The ethereal beauty of their double tracked vocals, especially on the end of “Steam Engine”, is so melodic and makes an imprint on your mind whether you like it or not. It becomes their trademark by the end of the album, and you want to hear more. It Still Moves is a sleeper, groundbreaking album: something you wouldn’t expect to move music forward. Without My Morning Jacket, I doubt the whole folk and blues-rock movement would’ve taken a turn for the better. Festivals such as Austin City Limits and Bonaroo are breeding grounds for bands of this sort, but My Morning Jacket gave them a confident voice by doing what they did.

Watch “One Big Holiday” performed at Bonaroo. They may have now traded in their T-shirts for suits, but when you get down to it, this is what My Morning Jacket is all about.

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ALBUM REVIEW: “Face The Sun”

Entrance-Band-1024x994The three members of The Entrance Band—frontman Guy Blakeslee, Paz Lenchantin on bass and drummer Derek James–have expressed displeasure with the stoner rock classification often used to describe their music, and indeed, the November 2013 LP Face The Sun is too tricky to fall into one just one category: channeling elements of psychedelic trance, trippy garage rock, the grungier end of metal and a touch of rockabilly, the new record melds various eras and evocations in service to the ideas it expresses. Themes run expansive on Face The Sun; lyrics like “Blood, sweat, sugar and spice, light and dark, fire and ice/shedding tears of sacrifice at the gates of paradise” set up the collection as an exploration of extremes and a journey from one end of the spectrum to another.

Face The Sun isn’t a straight shot from darkness to light, though, nor is it a story of transformation exactly. The music’s intensity focuses more closely on playing with the tensions between those extremes, with noodling vocal lines that shift from major to minor mode or float heroically over distorted, spellbinding instrumentals. If there’s a redemption story here, it’s an incomplete and messy one.

The reaper does come calling on this album, without a doubt. “Spider,” the best and most diabolically infectious track on Face The Sun, contains all the sunburnt misery and grim determination of Alice In Chains’ early nineties track, “Rooster.”  Frontloaded in “Medicine,” “Spider” and “The Crave” (tracks two, three and four), the rhyme-driven narrative focus creates an angst that’s catchy and extremely compelling. In “The Cave”, the line “When I’m in my grave, no more good times will I crave” quotes verbatim Elizabeth Cotten’s early twentieth-century standard “Freight Train.” The recollection, itself embroiled in hard times and an escape from darkness, tinges Entrance with weighty folk, recalling Blakeslee’s past lives as a hard rock and blues musician.

The end of the LP, like its beginnings with “Fine Flow”, conjures spacey, surreal ambiance. But whereas the first track opens urgently, the final song, “Night Cat,” evokes a sleepy moodiness. The band forgoes straight trajectory in favor of a non-linear album-long line that weaves between extremes of light and darkness, and the downside to this complexity comes when, at the end, “Night Cat” shows little progression beyond “Fine Flow,” and a marked decline in momentum. Both tracks trend psychedelic and repetitive, and both could stand to be much shorter. The meat of the album lies in the middle, where each track features a traversal of big themes and big evolution unto itself. The first and last track of the album feel redundant by comparison, bookending an already complete project with a beginning and ending.

Listen to “Fire Eyes,” off Face The Sun Here, via Soundcloud:

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LOUD AND TASTELESS: Sleigh Bells

Every Thursday, AF profiles a style icon from the music world. This week our icon is Alexis Krauss, whose band Sleigh Bells is currently on tour in support of their latest record, Bitter Rivals.  They land in NYC Friday and Saturday for two back-to-back shows at Terminal 5.

 

afalexisstyle

 

A symphony of shredding guitars and synths opened up Sleigh Bell’s first album back in 2010. Behind those high-energy guitars and keyboards rocking is Alexis Krauss, the female half of the pop duo. In person, Krauss looks like she perfectly embodies her music, sporting distressed denim jackets, muscle shirts and high-waisted acid wash cutoffs as her go-to uniform. With her bold, black straight-cut bangs and signature black Ray-Bans, she carries the same cool, old-school punk/grunge demeanor displayed in Sleigh Bell’s music. From the moment the camera panned to her driving and wearing her usual acid-wash denim jacket that showed off her arm tattoos, complimented with layers of spiky bracelets, spiked driving gloves and sunglasses, she established that cool-but-a-little-bad-girl demeanor that she soon displayed by pushing bandmate Derek Miller — presumably dead in the passenger seat — right out of the car when he slouches over onto her. We’re enchanted by the girl herself, as well as her style. We’ve compiled a Pinterest board of some of Krauss’ signature looks and options from retailers Forever 21, Urban Outfitters and ASOS so you can emulate Krauss’ laid-back cool style.

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TRACK REVIEW: “Sparrow Mountain”

The People 2It is dark; Pitch black. Nothing can be seen or heard. Suddenly a chorus of clapping bursts out into the airwaves. It intensifies in loudness and slowly becomes more directed in its purpose. And then the guitar comes in. “Sparrow Mountain” by The People, has a very interesting way of captivating its listener from the start. I personally was mesmerized by the initial percussive clapping alone; it is akin to witnessing sparks ignite, but rather than putting out the ensuing fire, one sits entranced, choosing instead to watch the flames grow. It is an optimally creative and effective way to begin a song, as it beckons its audience in to hear more.

The band itself is as eclectic and compelling as the tunes they make, the distinct southern undertones in which lend to them richness and dimension that feels transportive, as if I am watching them live somewhere tucked in the folds of New Orleans. Performing barefooted, and always with smiles spread wide, they seem incredibly down to earth, with humility oozing from their pores. This all makes perfect sense, as they are clearly focused on using their music to bring people together from all creative and sociocultural stripes. During The People’s live shows their unique brand of folk-rock underpinned by jazz roots comes to life.  Among one another and with the audience, they are very friendly and interactive, inspiring dancing, sing-a-longs and the like. Watching videos of the above described milieu makes listening to this new single an even more enjoyable experience.

On this track, the sweet and simple nature of Vocalist Samantha Rise-Roberson’s voice comes out with gusto, and stuns throughout. When her male counterpart comes in however, it leaves one hoping for a two part harmony only to be mildly disappointed, as they end up singing in octaves for most the song (although when the two do indeed diverge, the resulting harmony is exhilarating). Regardless, the music video clearly communicates the fact that while performing they all have a total blast with one another. The song itself– passionate without being aggressive is a very honest portrayal of someone’s feelings regarding an old flame. With lines like: “I’d like to believe in what they call second chances // but I wouldn’t dare to give me one,” it shoots straight to the point like an arrow, which I appreciate as well as respect. Musically, all members are talented, their voices  soft and subtle, yet powerful in equal stride. A few separate times in the song I even found myself getting lost in the guitar melodies.

The People are amazing story tellers who draw their listeners in, leaving them with no choice but to hang onto their every word. While they are a relatively new band founded in 2012, there is no doubt in my mind that they will have an easy time generating an enormous fan base. Watch the new video for the beautiful “Sparrow Mountain” here, and let it take you away. At the end, you’ll feel good, and want more.

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ALBUM REVIEW: “Shine Your Light”

GapDream_AlbumArtGabe Fulvimar emerged on the scene last year under musical moniker Gap Dream with his eponymous debut, a psych-y, garage-y record that immediately hooked critics and listeners alike. Now he’s returning with his sophomore release, Shine Your Light, produced by Bobby Harlow in conjunction with Fulvimar himself. The ten-track album, available via Fullerton, California’s Burger Records, sees Gap Dream taking a turn with his sound—he’s developed his fuzzy pop-rock into a synth-heavy dance extravaganza.

The album opener and title track, “Shine Your Light,” is immediately futuristic. The sonically shimmery and twinkling backdrop is a stark contrast from Fulvimar’s drowsy vocals; the whole album, in fact, is a give and take between groovy and lackadaisical. “Chill Spot,” for example, the second track on the album, has a particularly swanky beat and bass line, but Fulvimar’s West Coast-y drawl and stoner lyrics (“I’m trying to find a chill spot just to organize my mind”) keep it down to earth.

While many of the lyrics on the record could come off as trite, flower child commandments (“Allow your heart to chase the dark away” from “Shine Your Light,” or “Please shine your love/Like the rays of the sun/Through the clouds above” from “Shine Your Love”), there are a few very notable exceptions. “Immediate Life Sentence,” for example, is a scathing commentary about a really shitty girlfriend. It concludes with Fulvimar’s assertion that “I don’t need to get laid that bad/I’ll just stay home and get high.” I mean, damn, that’s cold, but also extremely relatable.  On “Love Is Not Allowed” Fulvimar seems to reconcile the two points of view, seeming wistful about his inability to access intimacy in a world where there’s just no place for it, urging us to save it for another time.  The beats almost approach those of dreamy teen pop anthems from the fifties, wrapped up tight in swirling layers of synths.

Other highlights include “Snow Your Mind,” and the second to last track, “You’re From The Shadow.” The former is sultry but contemplative, a bit reminiscent of Blood Orange’s aesthetic. The latter, on the other hand, has a significantly heavier, more commanding sound than the rest of the album that might be a little leftover inspiration from Fulvimar’s days as a member of the Black Keys.

But perhaps the most telling track regarding Fulvimar’s evolution as a performer is the album’s lead single, “Fantastic Sam”.  Sonically, it’s an obvious choice to re-introduce Gap Dream to the world, with catchy hand-clap percussion, an insistent guitar riff, and wriggling synths.  But the lyrics are almost meta: “Do you know how to think, how to feel? / When you open your eyes, do I seem real?”  When sung by a man whose image borders on retro caricature, it begs the listener to examine what it means to embrace Gap Dream’s aesthetic, daring everyone to prove that they get it or admit that they don’t.

As a whole, Shine Your Light is the musical equivalent of getting abducted by pothead aliens who end up sharing their intergalactic weed with you (or the video game equivalent of such an adventure) . There are obvious psych-rock influences (most strikingly in “Shine Your Love,” a regal sounding number that brings The Kinks or The Beatles to mind), and Fulvimar clearly has some potent guitar hooks up his sleeve that inevitably get your head bobbing.  It’s a bit unfortunate that we don’t hear as much of them as we did on on Gap Dream’s debut.  Fulvimar’s effortlessly catchy melodies are still in effect, but there are too many moments where they become obscured over the course of Shine Your Light’s ten tracks.  Even if Fulvimar strays far from his familiar strengths as he explores new ones, his effort to change directions is a noble one.

For more of Gabe’s personal musings, check out his interview with audiofemme here

The album comes out 11/26 on Burger. If you can’t wait until then, listen to “Love Is Not Allowed”, here via Soundcloud:

PLAYLIST: Transgender Remembrance Day

Transgender Day of Remembrance

While perceptions of LGBT musicians have evolved dramatically over the past few decades, the subject matter has been the stuff of some truly iconic songs (such as “Walk On The Wild Side,” a notable exclusion from this list due to its sheerly self-explanatory status). November 20th  marks annual Transgender Remembrance Day, dedicated to raising awareness and memorializing those killed due to anti-transgender discrimination across the world. In honor of the occasion, AudioFemme has collected a list of songs that deal with the topic, or were created by artists identifying as transgender.

1. The Cliks – Dark Passenger: Canadian rock band The Cliks, who take their name from an amalgamation of the words “clit” and “dick,” were the first band with an openly transgendered lead singer to be signed to a major label. Energetic, hard-hitting soul rock dominate The Cliks’ sound. “Dark Passenger was released in May of this year, on the band’s album Black Tie Elevator.

2. JD Samson & MEN – Who Am I To Feel So Free:This track is fun, plain and simple. Former Le Tigre member JD Samson has extensively commented on her sexual minority status as a lesbian, but this single is—as you’d expect from the name—liberated and giddy.

3. Antony and the Johnsons – You Are My Sister: Antony Hegarty’s voice holds a reverberating, haunting appeal, backed here by soft strings and quietly building harmonies. “When I heard him,” Lou Reed has said of Hegarty, “I knew I was in the presence of an angel.” Hegarty, who never anatomically transitioned from male to female, embraces ambiguity and dissonance in his songwriting as well–refusing to shy away from contradictions, he lends his music and organic, somewhat mysterious slant, always leaving just a few spaces in his songs blank.

4. David Bowie – Rebel Rebel: Bowie’s 1974 classic, apparently the most covered track on Diamond Dogs, is noisy, rife with slapstick distortion, and filthy with the glam mode that he popularized in the early seventies. The song, due to its massive popularity, was revitalized and re-released in 1999 . After “Rebel Rebel” was written, Bowie moved almost instantly away from the glam movement that had been his brain child—the following single was “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide.”

5. Geo Wyeth – I Am Chasing An Alien Light: Wyeth, a transgendered, NYC-based artist, makes wistful, exciting folk music that’s minimalist in style and radiates breathless optimism. Many of his tracks, including the one below, bear an alien theme, representative of his experience not only as a transgendered person, but as a musician whose songs don’t bear any direct relation to most of the other music going on around him.

6. Styx – I’m O.K.: “I’m O.K.” was released on the band’s 1978 Pieces Of Eight album. Beginning with a chorus of “heys” and a round of bouncing synthesizers, this track is one of the standout feel-good tracks on this list: Styx’s theatricality lends itself to a rousing, epic-sounding anthem.

7. Our Lady J – Hurt: Breathy, delicate synthesizers, close harmonies, both electronically engineered and non, and a sleek production finish dominate Our Lady J’s rendition of this song, originally performed by Nine Inch Nails (or Johnny Cash, depending on how you look at it). Our Lady J, a singer and pianist known for live performers and a masterful singing style, offers an entirely new take on the growling, stripped down original.

8. Against Me! – True Trans Soul Rebel: In 1997, Laura Jane Grace, then known as Thomas James Gabel, founded punk rock outfit Against Me! as a solo project, and quickly grew the band to a quartet. Fourteen years after Against Me! Was created, Grace publicly addressed her gender dysphoria and assumed a female name, continuing to perform with the band. In January of next year, Against Me! will release the first album to come out since Grace publicly announced herself to be transgendered. This summer, “True Trans Soul Rebel” was released as a single off the forthcoming album, displaying a more introspective, acoustic tendency that any we’ve seen in any Against Me! release thus far.

9. The Kinks – Lola: Released in 1970, The Kinks’ iconic single “Lola” is perhaps the best known song about a transgender experience in the world. Detailing a meeting between a young boy and the more experienced Lola, who is either a transvestite or is transgendered. Hard-rocking, story-telling and intensely singable, the song has spawned a bounty of live versions, a German version, a Greek version, a Dutch version, a Spanish version, and a Weird Al parody called “Yoda,” among many, many others.

10. Garbage – Queer: Garbage has performed an array of songs dealing with queer-oriented subject matter, and this is one of the best. Snarling harmonies combine with lead singer Shirley Manson’s angelic vocals and disenchanted lyrics.

11. Bitch and Animal – Boy Girl Wonder: Steeped in the queercore scene, Bitch and Animal apply an insightful, often improvisatory, take to the genre. “Boy Girl Wonder” favors the story-telling aspect of the song, accompanied by an extremely minimalistic acoustic guitar for the first two minutes and twenty seconds of the song, before sharp, embittered electric guitar cuts into the track.“The boy girl wonder from Queens,” Bitch screams over reverberating chords, proving she can escalate to a howl—or drop down to a purr—on a dime.

12. Wayne County and the Electric Chair – Fuck Off: Wayne County, now known as Jayne County, holds the title of rock’s first transsexual singer. County moved to London as the punk scene there was burgeoning, in 1977, and formed a group, releasing “Fuck Off” shortly thereafter. Jayne County never received critical acclaim, despite several releases, a tour, and even a book entitled Man Enough To Be A Woman. “Fuck Off” is a song whose time, perhaps, has come.

13. The Velvet Underground – Candy Says: With lyrics like “Candy says ‘I’ve come to hate my body/and all that it requires in this world,’” The Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says” represents one of rock’s most tender and intricate portraits of a transgendered woman. This soft, sorrowful song portrays Candy so vividly because she was, in fact, a real person (that would be Candy Darling, who starred in multiple Warhol films and died of lymphoma while still very young). Candy appears in other Velvet Underground songs as well, notably “Walk On The Wild Side,” but appears here in a fuller, much more poignant capacity.

 

Why not celebrate Transgender Remembrance Day with a donation to a worthy cause? The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, or SRLP, works to protect freedom in gender identification by providing legal services to fight against harassment. Go here to donate.  And post your additions to our playlist in the comments!

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ALBUM REVIEW: “Don’t Tell the Driver”

With a symphony of indigenous sounding instruments and several tracks that surpass the eight-minute mark, Mick Turner’s Don’t Tell the Driver certainly isn’t for everyone. His experimental concept album is largely instrumental, unsurprisingly, as he’s served as the guitarist for Dirty Three as well as accompanied several other artists throughout his career; and even when he brings on singer Caroline Kennedy-McCracken and opera singer Oliver Mann, they serve as an accompaniment to the music, rather than the other way around. Rather than reflecting negatively on the tracks, it indeed fleshes out the density of the music, which was likely Turner’s goal. And he seems to have achieved what he set out to accomplish: a sonically interesting album that transgresses the bounds of contemporary experimental indie-folk.

Don’t tell the driver doesn’t really have any hard-hitting power, per say,  though it could serve as exceptional background music when a calming environment is preferred. The slow pace makes listening to most tracks difficult, and they are drawn out a bit too much to stay focused, and thus give serious attention to them. Slow guitar plucks and metronome-like drum beats create a sense of inertia within the songs. They are often redeemed though, largely in Kennedy-McCracken’s soothing voice rippling through several tracks, most notably “Sometimes,” “Over Waves” (where she’s joined by Mann), “Don’t Tell the Driver,” and “We’re Not Going Home.”

Turner’s choice in instruments is an interesting one: horns accompaniment throughout (especially in closing track, “The Last Song”), as well accordion, woodwinds galore and what is likely the presence of a didgeridoo. These add some color to the music, distinguishing it from a more prototypical instrumentals album. Regardless of the myriad instrument used, they blend seamlessly: Not one seems out of place when taken in with the whole. Turner is clearly a seasoned musician who understands the technical aspects of musical arrangement  (of the classical ilk) and sonic accessibility.

An interesting accompaniment to the album is Turner’s art. He has painted the cover art for Dirty Three’s albums as well as his own, and his technique pairs well with his music. The Melbourne-based artists combines landscapes and bright colors to create a unique collection of paintings. Women (presented naked), animals and vehicles serve as frequent subjects for his works, which appears as a whole, as small brushstrokes smudged together to create a large scene, harkening back to impressionism. The people and animals are somewhat disfigured, perhaps to tell the audience something about his point of view. One of the more popular pictures, titled “Yellow woman and roo” is a close-up of a kangaroo who seems to be hugging the woman. Kangaroos are also featured prominently in many of his paintings, likely a nod to his motherland. The painting Turner chose for this album’s cover features a person walking through the woods, presumably to a beach, perceptible in glimpses, beyond the trees–leisurely, and calming, like the music itself.

Viewing the paintings elicits warmth, and paired with the experience of listening to Don’t Tell the Driver one finds themselves submerged in Turner’s world. The album is almost jazzy in a way, especially when horns take over several of the tracks, including the aptly titled “Gone Dreaming.” A fuzzy feeling of dreaming on a warm beach in some southern part of the world floats over the entire record, enveloping the listener.

Title track “Don’t Tell the Driver” is one of several longer songs, nearing nine minutes. Kennedy-McCracken makes appearances throughout, her vocals demarcated by instrumental breaks. “Don’t tell the driver/ we’re going home” contrasts with later track, “We’re Not Going Home,” where Kennedy-McCracken then exclaims, “Don’t tell the driver/ we’re not going home.” “We’re Not Going Home” sounds like it picks up where “Don’t Tell the Driver” leaves off, except for the singer has had a change of heart and decided to continue the drive a bit longer into the day.

Don’t Tell the Driver is a lazy, sunny, Sunday afternoon drive. When looking for something more exciting, it would be best to search elsewhere, but for those who wish to go on that sunny drive with Turner, Don’t Tell the Driver is a fantastic journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Listen to “Don’t Tell The Driver”, here via Soundcloud:

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PHOTOS: Thee Oh Sees @ L.A.’s Eagle Rock

John Dwyer

San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees are widely acclaimed as one of the best regularly touring live acts, and if you’ve ever been to an Oh Sees show, it’s easy to understand why.  The band’s catalogue is full of rowdy surf punk gems, guaranteeing a lively set list for each and every show.  The members of Thee Oh Sees go on to execute them perfectly, as though they’ve played them a million times – but each performance feels like the first in terms of its energy and urgency.  John Dwyer is an indefatigable front man, spitting and sweating and shouting and yelping and sounding like pretty much no one else; Brigid Dawson’s keys and backup vocals are the perfect foil, the duo possessing a synergy unseen since Frank Black and Kim Deal shared a stage.  But it’s hard to take your eyes off Mike Shoun, whose pummeled, abused drum kit often creeps toward the edge of a stage.  He plays as though he’s octopus in the body of a musician.  Petey Dammit nails it down with unrelenting bass and hilarious stage banter.  And you never really know who else might show up; Thee Oh Sees have toured with lots of additional musicians and featured countless stage set-ups.

In support of this year’s excellent Floating Coffin LP, Thee Oh Sees embarked on cross-country tour.  Their last stop was an all-ages show at Eagle Rock Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, and AudioFemme’s West Coast photographer Michelle Halac got some amazing shots.  See for yourself below!

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TRACK REVIEW: “Mesmerise”

Temples_byEdMiles2

The self-described “psychedelic group” Temples, from Kettering, England has made quite a name for themselves within the last couple of years. After the immediate success of  their self-recorded debut single “Shelter Song” (one of the two songs featured on the now collectible Colours To Life/Shelter Song 7”), the band has gone on to release a second, well-received digital EP and scored a gig alongside the Rolling Stones in London’s Hyde Park just this past summer.

 “Mesmerise” emulates SoCal psych rock of the 60s made popular by the The Beach Boys, The Byrds (one of Temple’s biggest influences) and so many others. Their redux of this style–complete with fuzzy guitars, lyrical surrealism and a driving bassline–could easily pass off as a b-side from any of the aforementioned bands. The production is remarkable considering the song was pieced together in the “box-room” of Bagshaw’s Kettering abode.

Temple will be playing a run of US shows for the rest of November, including two NYC dates next week (Nov. 25th at The Bowery Ballroom and Nov. 26th at Union Pool in Brooklyn). “Mesmerise” will be featured on their debut full-length Sun Structures (recorded and produced by singer/guitarist James Bagshaw), and is scheduled to be released February 11th through Fat Possum Records. Until then,  be sure to check out “Mesmerise” right here, via Soundcloud:

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ALBUM REVIEW: “Caveat Emptor”

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An album that has a high level of alteration put into it—synth-laden vocals, electronic effects, trumpets and strings—often results in chaos. Shimmering, vocals-obscuring production can blunt the point of the music’s ability to emotionally grab. That’s not the case on Caveat Emptor, Brooklyn-based Empty Chairs’ November 5th release. Although the new album emphasizes a kind of floating and dream-like ambiguity of intent, this somehow does not detract from the powerful connection forged with the listener, and I’m still trying to figure out exactly why that is.

The vocals, from the very beginning of the first track, demonstrate a yearning, loving vitality. The earnestness of singer/guitarist Peter Spear’s voice harnesses the often-obscured lyrics, cool, delicate detachment of the synth lines, and soft-landing drum beat into a sound that’s focused and emotive. This isn’t to say the vocals overcome an otherwise cacophonous record, though, because despite the fact that Empty Chairs incorporate a large instrumental scope into their sound, all the various lines within the music seem to work from different angles towards a common goal: deliberate chaos.

Each song begins with a set of rhythmic samples, gradually stirring in different elements as the melody repeats. But, since the album takes place on a wispy, dream-like plane, the dynamic range necessary to accommodate this kind of repetition is not present. There is no underlying driving power to kick up the intensity of the music’s progression as it cycles along, leaving the tracks to just sort of hang for minutes, suspended in time. Within a greater dynamic spectrum, this could be mesmerizing.

The last of Caveat Emptor‘s ten tracks, “The Night Sky Becomes An Ocean,” hints at this expansion of sound: the string section builds the song to a wondrous, cinematic head, and a corresponding warmth of vocals comes across earnest without seeming too navel-gazey. Including more tracks like this one, and slimming some filler in the repetitive sections of the songs, would have added depth to an already emotive collection.

 

Check out “Caveat Emptor” here via Soundlcoud:

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK 11/18: “Drop the Game”

Flume and Chet Faker first teamed up for Flume’s track “Left Alone,” featured on his self-titled debut from 2012. The pair are now returning with a collaborative EP, “Lockjaw,” written over the course of four short days this past year. Their new video for “Drop the Game,” the first track off of the upcoming EP, was filmed in Brooklyn and features renowned Brooklyn street dancer Storyboard P.

Flume_ChetFaker_byLisaFrieling

Directed by fellow Australian artist Lorin Askill, the video begins with Storyboard P warming up to the song, stationed on a slick, wet street outside some warehouses. The nearby streetlights are softened by the hazy night, but cars occasionally drive by and brightly illuminate Storyboard’s shape. His shadow, often cast on the concrete in front of him or on the metal warehouse doors behind him, is his only dancing partner.

Storyboard P’s effortlessly fluid movements are perfectly matched to the song’s seductive, downtempo beat and Chet Faker’s soulful crooning. “I’ve been feeling old, I’ve been feeling cold,” he says, as Storyboard skillfully manipulates and inverts his body. The dimly lit industrial backdrop is ideal—it’s urban, bleak, and lonely and provides a stark contrast to the video’s only human figure.

As the song ends, he slowly shuts his body down, lowering himself to the ground and crawling along the pavement with his hood on and a snarl on his face. And with that, the video comes to a close.

It’s a subtly captivating visual that feels sexy as well as dismal, corresponding perfectly with the song. “Drop the Game” will be one of three tracks featured on the “Lockjaw” EP, which is due out Nov. 26 via Future Classic. Check out the video below:

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LIVE REVIEW: Quilt, 11/15

IMG_0620It’s tough to feel at home at an unfamiliar venue, seeing relatively unfamiliar bands, so I was pretty pleasantly surprised by my first experience at Baby’s All Right for Quilt’s Nov 15 show. The new Williamsburg spot was the ideal setting for the dynamic show—a swanky place, but without any sense of pretense. Quilt had two highly disparate openers (Mexican Summer labelmates Happy Jawbone Family Band and newcomers LODRO) but none of the three performances that night felt out of place, and neither did I.

Happy Jawbone Family Band kicked off the show at 9 p.m. sharp on a stage swathed in bright blue lighting that made the space feel something like an aquarium. They drew in a sizable crowd for an opening band, emanating an energy akin to a bunch of weirdos gathering amongst their own. They commented that “Quilt makes us look like a bunch of slobs every night,” which turned out to be a very true statement but in the best possible way. The jangling “Everybody Knows About Daddy,” for example, from their recent eponymous release, sounds a little like Spoon’s “The Underdog” went on a mushroom trip and got all loosey goosey, a quality that was accentuated in the song’s live form. The very sunny “D-R-E-A-M-I-N,” on the other hand, infused the show with a Wavves-y, West Coast feel. Their whole set was enjoyably laid back.

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Happy Jawbone Family Band
Happy Jawbone Family Band

Following Happy Jawbone was brand new Brooklyn outfit LODRO, a self-described “neo noir punk” trio from Brooklyn. They have a very dense sound—bass-heavy and sinister—that occupied the entire room. The second number in their set, “Big Sleep For Alice,” had the most kick, but their music lurks as much as it stomps. The band’s main allure came from bassist/vocalist Lesley Hann, formerly of Friends, who, I feel, should seriously consider dressing up as Cruella de Vil for Halloween next year. She completely embodied the gritty and cooly ominous sounds of her band. The guitarist, meanwhile, slumped his way through the entire set, laying heavy on the distortion.

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LODRO

By the time Quilt came on, the room was rather packed. They started out a bit rocky with some technical difficulties, their vocals drowned by the crisp, surfy sound of their guitars, but they quickly squared it out and dove into their set. “Cowboys in the Void,” from Quilt’s 2011 eponymous debut, was my personal favorite of the night. The psych-y, overlapping vocals at the start of the song made for a perfect display of Quilt’s ability to harmonize as well as any church choir, and the track’s midway shift from drowsy to peppy showcased the band’s range—they can shred just as much as they can soothe.

But, for the most part, they soothe, their dulcet harmonies taking center stage over the languid instrumentation, particularly in tracks like “Penobska Oakwalk” and the new “Arctic Shark.” The band swayed gently and happily with their instruments, and the audience followed. I got the sense that the entire show was a scenic drive and everyone was just enjoying the views. Live, Quilt’s music seemed to sound a lot more breezy and less contemplative, but it might have been the effects of having such an engaged and exuberant crowd. At the end of the night, everyone left with a pleasantly dazed look on their faces, a pretty good sign of a successful show.

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