NYC-based electropop producer, Mickey Valen recently collab’d with Lucian on a remix of Seinabo Sey’s “Pistol’s At Dawn”, premiering today. Irresistibly catchy beats over soulful vocals, with a drop around 1:15 that will melt your mind. This may be one of the hottest tracks of the year so far.
Enjoy!
Looking to get lost in a world of sound? Carmen Villain, aka Norwegian singer/songwriter and former model Carmen Hillestad, has released a new 7” single of dreamy pop music, Quietly/Let Go.
“Quietly” is an eerily ethereal soundscape of guitars and brooding background noise. While the music builds around her voice, Villain’s vocals remain tethered down, dark and dreamy. “Let Go” is a quieter track that feels as if you’ve gotten lost in a forest; it starts with chattering bird-like noises and swirls of synths and reverb. Villain’s muffled voice is only present for the last minute of the song, before the track fades quietly out.
Quietly/Let Go is available to download digitally on January 20th. For those of you who prefer a copy you can show off on your bookcase, you’ll have to wait until February 10th when the physical copy is released through Smalltown Supersound.
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Any band will tell you that spending so much time together practicing, touring and in the studio can lead to arguing. Something tells me that the Little Rock, Arkansas band Knox Hamilton doesn’t have this problem often, though- and if they do, they can just play their single, “Work It Out,” a positive pop song that can’t help but convince anyone they can work out just about anything.
Knox Hamilton formed in 2010, getting their name randomly from a yearbook they found at a thrift store. They only have one song available to the public, but that hasn’t stopped them from touring the country, both headlining shows and opening for groups like the South African rock band Civil Twilight. On Wednesday, January 14th, they played Brooklyn’s Rough Trade with Civil Twilight and Zeke Duhon, a day before they headlined an early show at the Mercury Lounge.
“Work It Out” starts with an atmospheric intro before settling into a catchy pop melody. The live version featured frontman Boots Copeland playing the song’s opening riff on a xylophone. Though they’re normally a four-piece band with Drew Buffington and Bradley Pierce on guitar, at Rough Trade Copeland played with his brother Cobo, the band’s drummer, and guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Thomas. Their set was quick, and though they didn’t talk much, they gave off a charming, down-to-earth vibe. “We’ll be giving out sweaty hugs later if you want to meet us,” Boots told the audience before they left the stage. And on my way out the door, I noticed they were waiting patiently at the merch table to keep their promise.
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Faith Healer is Edmontonian Jessica Jalbert. Her follow-up album to 2011’s self-released solo debut, Brother Loyola, is titled Cosmic Troubles and comes out March 31st on Mint Records. Cosmic Troubles is the artistic result of Jessica’s pairing with producer Renny Wilson.
With lovely forlorn lyrics over a psych-pop melody catchy enough to invoke a dance that starts with a head bob and ripples down your body even while riding a notoriously slow subway during your morning commute on a gloomy winter day, “Again” will have you marking your calendar and counting down days until Faith Healer full album is released.
Apparently the duo bathed themselves in the spinning of psychedelic rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s while creating Cosmic Troubles, an ingredient adding a gloriously happy retro-rock vibe to an already satisfying combo-platter of moods.
Enjoy “Again” below.
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Seagulls are a five-piece Philadelphia based band that describe their sound as “harmonic folk pop with glitches & surf influences.” Their debut LP, Great Pine, is being released February 3rd (my birthday, best present ever!) on Yellow K records. With angelic harmonies, and cool guitar-riff-filled mellow jams, the release of Great Pine is bound to be an AF favorite. I had the chance to ask band members Derek Salazar (drummer and producer) and Matt Whittle (writer, guitarist and singer) about their influences, favorite venues, and getting smacked in the face with food. Enjoy.
AudioFemme: So you recorded Great Pine in a cabin in West Virginia. How was that process? How did you decide on recording it in a secluded setting like that?
Derek Salazar: Basically, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a some time in life to sort of hit the reset button. Remaining very conscious of wanting an ideal spot to record Great Pine, I ended up finding this beautiful spot in on the top of a little mountain in West Virginia. Everything sonically, creatively…it turned out it was exactly where we needed to be. Matt would come down for periods of time so we could develop and track the outlines of each song. In between, the rest of Seagulls and our friends who played on the album would come stay. It was our own little world.
Matt Whittle: It’s kind of a funny situation, because yes, we’re holed up in a cabin off in the woods, but we’re not luddites. The cabin was full of all sorts of modern recording equipment, video games and things.
AF: Were there any albums or other artists that specifically inspired the sound on this record?
DS: I was super, super into the entire Beatles discography when we were recording this album. Matt and I share a love for The Beach Boys and Grizzly Bear. Paul McCartney’s RAM was on constant rotation as well.
MW: I’m a huge fan of Grandaddy. Their affinity for mixing organic and synthesized textures was a major influence on our recordings.
AF: I love the order you chose for the tracks on Great Pine. The instrumental opening goes pretty perfectly into “Swimmin.’” My favorite tune from it so far is “Old Habits,” what’s yours?
DS: “Old Habits” is actually a cover of a song written by a friend of ours, Jeff Pianki. His live show will stop you dead in your tracks. As for my favorite, it seems to switch from day to day. After spending so much time with the mixes, a lot of the time it’s from finding little surprises or things I forgot about. Today, I’d say “Love, Give.”
MW: Ocean Cyclone has a very dear place in my heart. It definitely encompasses all of the things I’m drawn to sonically in a short, succinct way.
AF: Do you have a favorite and least favorite venue to play in or see bands?
DS: Bourbon & Branch in Philly has been a consistent highlight to play and Johnny Brenda’s is an all-time favorite of mine to see bands. The 9:30 Club in DC and Mann Center in Philly have hosted the best sounding concerts I’ve ever been to.
MW: The Sanctuary at the First Unitarian Church in Philly and Union Transfer are my two favorite venues to see my favorite acts. I’d love to play either of them.
AF: Any plans for a tour or shows outside of Philly in the near future?
MW: Tour would be a blast. We’ll have to see how that shakes out in the future. We’re playing NYC and Frederick, MD in the upcoming weeks.
AF: Where did the name Seagulls come from? Do you just really really love seagulls? The beach? Animals that steal food off your beach towel?
MW: Indeed, I really do just enjoy seagulls. People love to shit talk animals that aren’t cute and fluffy, for some reason, like they know any better. If you were a crow or vulture or something, you’d be pretty gross, too.
AF: What is your dream show line up? (With you guys playing, of course).
MW: Opening for Kanye West and Grizzly Bear in a theater of some kind. Or Gorillaz so I could finally understand how that whole thing works.
AF: If your band was a food, what would it be and why?
MW: I’d say we’re that old ice cream baseball glove with the gumball on it. Simple and sweet.
AF: Speaking of edible things, who thought of the concept for your “You and Me” music video? How was it to be wailed in the head with eggs, flour, and other questionable objects? Thanks for doing that for our enjoyment, though, we really appreciate it.
MW: It was my idea. I thought it would match the tone of the song, for whatever reason. It was a blast to film. I caught an egg right in the mouth and immediately felt my lip swelling up. It was a very cold Pennsylvanian October night… the shower afterward was definitely well-earned.
Watch the video for “You and Me” below.
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Canadian shape-shifter Max Turnbull, the man behind the moniker Slim Twig, could never resign to making just a music video.
Given his pedigreed rearing in all camps of the art world-musical, celluloid, and illustrative-it’s no surprise that his most recent one is more of a scored short film than a formulaic MTV standard. In fact, the opening credits prove this as they read: “Repulsion Revisited-A video set to the music of Slim Twig’s ‘Hover on a Sliver’ from the album A Hound at the Hem.”
The text tells us a lot actually, namely that Turnbull is one lucky fella surrounded by a trio of talented women known as 3 Blondes and a Camera. As it turns out, these aren’t just any ol’ blondes. Shooter/editor Meg Remy of U.S. Girls is Slim’s wife, director/producer Jennifer Hazel is his mom, and the star of the screen is none other than sister Lulu Hazel Turnbull, who has performed in a handful of U.S. Girls videos as well. All and all it seems like a pretty loving collaboration.
The short itself is less warm and fuzzy than the relationship between its makers would suggest. At first glance we see a projected eyeball squirming on the silk of a nightgown. It glares relentlessly and swooshes to the crescendo of robotic bleating. This opening scene connotes more of the climactic build one finds in horror films, which makes all the more sense when we finally catch sight of Lulu, who is all Hitchock heroine in a frosty coif and peach negligee.
Lulu sketches furiously atop a wall projection, smearing charcoal with the agitation of a stain-scrubbing housewife. These moments of creation are the only in which she seems impassioned and present; she traverses the rest of her life with a far off gaze and tepid neuroticism. It’s the kind of mental diversity one might need while listening to Slim Twig, whose sound ranges from schizophrenic noise to masterly crafted pop.
Enjoy the sweet and sinister video for “Hover on a Sliver” below:
A Hound at the Hem is out now on DFA Records. Be sure to snatch one of the limited pressings on pink vinyl while they last!
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SLIM TWIG TOUR DATES: Thu. Jan. 15 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ US GIRLS Fri. Jan. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog (east location) w/ US GIRLS Sat. Jan. 17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Palisades w/ US GIRLS, Bottoms Sun. Jan. 18 – New York, NY @ Cake Shop w/ US GIRLS Mon. Jan. 19 – Boston, MA @ Middle East Upstairs w/ US GIRLS Wed. Jan. 21 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz w/ US GIRLS Fri. Jan. 23 – Toronto, ON @ Silver Dolla |
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In the days of self-inflicted constant surveillance we all bring out cameras to shows, but it’s rarer for artists to return the favor, capturing their intimate moments of tour to give us when they’ve already poured all their essence into a performance. When music documentaries are done, at worst they’re overly promotional and obviously fake, at best they’re tender, inspiring, and revealing.
From Philadelphia by way of LA, Girlpool consists of Cleo Tucker (Guitar) and Harmony Tividad (Bass). They’ve become known for their stripped down minimalist sound and honest, bare lyrics. On their first east coast tour their friend director Cory McConnell mixes show footage (including performances at the dead but not forgotten Brooklyn venues Death by Audio and Glasslands) and strikingly insightful interviews. The result is the 25 minute documentary Things Are Ok.
In the film, Cleo and Harmony dicuss growing up feeling different, the strangeness that comes with spotlight and public perception, and most fascinatingly, their relationship.
“It’s been about a year since we’ve started, and think what’s changed the most is Harmony and I’s relationship, and how honest and close and comfortable we’ve become with one another,” reflects Cleo.
“Cleo and I’s friendship is really honest, and intimate, and straightforward and turbulent, but only because we’re so honest,” continues Harmony.
In fact, the undeying theme throughout the interviews with the duo is honesty. Sounds like their music.
Their self-titled EP is out now on Wichita Recordings. Watch the documentary below. After you’ve been let in their tour life via film; check out the tour dates below to catch them live.
TOUR DATES
1/28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Silent Barn
2/3 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA ^
2/16 – London, UK @ Lexington
2/18 – Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen
2/19 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
2/21 – Paris, FR @ Pop Up Du Label
2/23 – Berlin, DE @ Berghain Kantine ^
2/24 – Hamburg, DE @ Exile Molotow ^
4/24 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister *
4/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar *
4/26 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah *
4/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy *
4/29 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *
5/1 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir *
5/2 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret *
5/3 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile *
5/6 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club *
5/7 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
5/8 – Chicago, IL @ The Beat Kitchen *
5/9 – Detroit, MI @ UFO *
5/10 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison *
5/11 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB *
5/12 – Burlington, VT @ The Monkey House *
5/13 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
5/14 – East Greenwich, RI @ Greenwich Odeum *
^ = w/ Alex G
= w/ Waxahatchee
The collective of musical oddities and mystery known to Earthlings as GLOVES have announced an album release for 3/3/15 entitled Get It Together. GLOVES self-classifies their sound as “Anti-Garage,” elaborating with the description: “the use of Rock & Roll instrumentation to produce music that is not based on popular American/British Classic Rock sensibilities.”
Translation: This shit’s like nothing you’ve ever heard.
Dressed uniformly in black turtlenecks and gold chains like a well-tailored early hip-hop crew, the quartet is composed of Salem Abukhalil, Ben Fisseler, Colton R. May and Ajit D’Brass. Allowing their protests of anti-classic rock; prominent funk stylizations are present such as a head thrashing electric bass and some pretty mean drums.
GLOVES was formed in 2013 in Austin, Texas. Their mantra-infused album title Get It Together fits like a, well, glove. The album whip brains out of fidgety angst into higher conscious cream with a repetitive vocals and in-your-face beats with the power of a voodoo ceremony. That is, if voodoo doctors looked and sounded like James Brown & The Famous Flames were taught to vogue by Madonna with Run–D.M.C. as a stylist.
Watch official video for their single “Hot Checks” here:
Ratworld, Menace Beach’s latest release since their 2014 EP, Lowtalker, is now available to stream on Hype Machine. Listen to it here.
A favorite of music blogs, Menance Beach was formed in 2012 by frontman Ryan Needham and singer/guitarist Liza Violet of Leeds, England. The duo shares a name with the 90’s Nintendo game featuring a skateboarding protagonist, and shares their project with a diverse lineup of musicians. They’ve played with artists such as Nestor Matthews of Sky Larkin, Matt Spalding of You Animals, and Robert Lee of Pulled Apart by Horses. Ratworld was produced by Matthew Johnson of Hookworms.
Ratworld is “a journey through a psyche tinged wonderland” that ping-pongs back and forth between the band’s influences, from Pavement to Deerhunter, My Bloody Valentine, Ty Segall and more. Their sound is a blend of upbeat indie and psychedelic pop driven by fuzzy guitars and Needham’s drawn out vocals, which have a hint of his accent. The twelve tracks transition into and compliment each other well, from the shiny, shimmering “Elastic” to the softer, floaty “Blue Eye” and the laid back single “Tennis Court.”
Key tracks are “Drop Outs,” which starts out with a darker tone before plunging back into Menace Beach’s upbeat feel. “Lowtalkin’” is a high-energy song with a surf rock vibe, featuring a piercing, mosquito-like whine of a guitar solo.
Ratworld is set for release through Memphis Industries on 1/27 in the United States, and 1/19 everywhere else.
London-based Dan Carney is driving the firetruck of every little boy’s childhood fantasy by growing up to become a musician known as Astronauts.
“In My Direction,” the latest single from his debut album Hollow Ponds is spooky folk-pop with cascading vocal harmonies from Carney complemented by a little help from his friend and fellow sorcerer Michael Cranny.
After what I imagine to be top-secret meetings, the video was conceived and created by Armenia-based production company Manana Films. After an opening that sets your skin on fire with the creepy, crawly, yet beautifully intelligent and composed movement of a colony of ants, it stars Armenian actor Andranik Lavchyan roaming around the capital city of Yerevan. The first shot of Lavchyan on the run is startling; he wears a determined and crazed facial expression that elicits both concern for his well-being along with your own.
Unlike the ants that move gracefully in mass with a preordained mission, which he tramples over unawarely while jogging on pavement, Lavchyan’s movements are jerky and and emanate solitude. He is the awkward human soul that haunts the Astronauts’ creative vision.
Shake up your office Friday afternoon and follow Astronauts to the carnival. Enjoy the video below.
It’s 2015. If you’re reading this you survived and have made it to strut around the sun another year. You can swipe right and order up sex quicker than an egg roll from the Chinese place next door. It’s (at least in Brooklyn) culturally cool to have a partially shaved head but a bushy vagina, and mainstream media is finally attacking celebrities who say they aren’t a feminist.
What I’m trying to say is that we’re in the goddamn future, even though AC/DC is indeed headlining Coachella.
Now that the cultural context is set, let me go ahead and premiere the self-proclaimed “future rock” band, Brooklyn-based Stroamata‘s single “A Fantasy.” There may be an ironic tone to that title, as the sounds of the in-your-face song pulled me out of my day dreams into radical acceptance of now, for which I thank them. It’s good to get out of your head every now and again.
“Oh no no, I’ve had it all wrong. Life’s not short, it goes on and on…” the track warns.
With DJ Shadow-inspired industrial beats pressed through an alt-rock machine, the female-fronted group thrashes and tears to the front of the climacteric angst of the current musical moment kids crave still reeling from the shit show that was 2014.
Enjoy “A Fantasy” below.
Strange Dave has found us. (Sorry David, I had to!) A man of my own heart, the rocker has the confusing wizard sex appeal of Willy Wonka, except his wisdom doesn’t come across at all as sinister but rather sweet. Most creative pervy weirdos do have a secret heart of gold, a glittering calm aurora settling from the delightful shit storm of crazy that’s scattered all over them. On his self-titled EP he poses nearly naked, in a top hat and fur coat while holding a fish over his crotch. (What are you trying to say with that fish, huh?) The more you learn about the man the more it all makes sense. David Strange was a session musician and former guitarist for Courtney Love, all the while diving and digging into his own music on the side. Then one fine day Charlotte Kemp Muhl (The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger) took a listen and asked to become his producer. In addition to production, Charlotte contributes vocals and plays the drums on the fruits of their labor, the upcoming self-titled EP, David Strange, which was created in Yoko Ono’s home studio.
On the opening track “Mean World” he takes a feminist stance with lyrics to warn women of the dangers of being female in modern society over a steady, sublimely sleepy melody driven by Charlotte’s drums. “It’s a mean world, they’ll make you get down on your knees, girl.” Special shout to to David for addressing men’s tendency to assume desired friendship means desire to fuck; it doesn’t, and is an especially annoying facet of being female we gotta deal with. They twist the knob up to psych-rock on the hypnotic raunchy, in-your-face track “Aztec Corn.” The entire EP feels like it should be played amongst friends, around a bonfire in the desert while your goofiest buddy eats enough peyote to spit poetry like Jim Morrison.
“Call me by my Christian name…cocaine,” he begs in the red-waxed rock star seal of approval tune, “Cocaine.” Electric guitars wail through the slowed down, stripped away ballad of affection and sadness to the powder that launched a million brilliant conversations then wilted into just as many fetal positions. The EP waves farewell on the final track “Lion Tattoo” with slowed down strums, an au revoir from a sailboat flickering with lights as it heads out to sea. “And the strangeness is weird, like a girl with a sneer, whose tongue kisses me like a tiger…” In the single “Vitamin Pills” he relays “Don’t try to change me.” We won’t, if you keep doing you. Enjoy the video for “Vitamin Pills” below. Directed by Charlotte Kemp Muhl (multi-talented lady!) it uses carnival-esque macabre imagery (animal heads and pogo sticks) drenched in pink to convey the gypsy pop buzz of the song. Quite fitting for a musician who believes “reality is inherently psychedelic.” The EP comes out January 20.
Unfortunately for the impatient; Kaitlin Riegel’s sophomore EP, System, isn’t set for release until February 10th. Luckily, we have a sneak peak of a new track from the New Zealand artist. “When I Fall Asleep” is the softer, stripped-down B-side of her catchy, R&B single “System.” It’s produced by James Yuill of Moshi Moshi, who has worked with Hot Chip, Florence & the Machine, and Kate Nash. You can preorder System here, and listen to “When I Fall Asleep” below.
Riegel was born in Portland, then started her music career as a pre-teen hanging around Massachusetts coffee shops. She later relocated to New Zealand where she currently works from. This internationally-minded artist has also recorded in Berlin (with Simon Berkelman of Philadelphia Grand Jury) and more recently in London, and credits her exposure to diverse environments and culture with shaping her unique style and sound. She has a strong foundation in classical and jazz genres, which she augments with contemporary R&B.
Sunday evening post-New Year’s is statistically the most popular time to join an online dating site, and therefor likely one of the loneliest and horniest nights, but also creating that awkward time of the winter year between Christmas and Valentine’s Day the most promising time to get laid. (Side note: Statistically, I believe Monday morning post-New Year’s is the most difficult day to force yourself out of bed in the morning.) Returning to the perhaps two most inspiring human emotions, love and sadness, I warmly present Dream Brother‘s (a new project from Ian Anderson) new single “Uppr Dwnr,” as the name suggests, a speedball of sorts. The whimsical pop track debates the uncertain future of a romance with careless wonder.
“I could walk away, you could walk away…” ponders Anderson before evolving to culminate in an offer of, “I could want to stay, you could want to stay. No one would have to know.”
Pour this song in your ears this morning and lighten up on life a little. As they say, no one makes it out alive anyways. You can download “Uppr Dwnr” here.
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Love and heartbreak, sex and death, highs and comedowns. The duality of life’s most intense aspects of being human inspire the best art. Infiltrating our hearts and resonating with our own experiences, it’s what we dig about music. Melody or lyrical expression, people love to relate, to have your own emotions captured and expressed in art form by another soul to know you’re not alone. There’s the light messages of life’s little joys and complaints pumped out by the pop power houses, and then there’s the real shit. “Black Heart,” off Brian Robert’s EP Feels Like I’m Gonna Die is the real shit. The lead singer/songwriter of the Charleston band Company, friends and favorites of their neighbors Band of Horses, Robert spread his wings to fly solo in the sadness of the death of his childhood best friend and Company costar Kelly Grant. So, when he titles his first EP post-tragedy Feels Like I’m Gonna Die you get the impression he isn’t mincing words or using the concept of death for shock value. These songs are coming from his deep black lake of a heart, picturesque on the surface but churning with life and all of its cruelties below. “Black Heart,” with its (my favorite expression) beautifully morbid melodies doesn’t have soul searching lyrics, it has soul revealing lyrics.
Stream (or download!) “Black Heart” via Bandcamp below.
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I stumbled upon FRTNK [/fusion_builder_column][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”][pronounced “FourteenK”] in the Voodoo Lounge at the House of Blues on Sunset. Their eclectic style (not to mention bare feet) caught my eye, and I was intrigued when the eight men took their places on stage. They were absolutely mesmerizing once the beats began flowing. Floating harmonies, beautifully on pitch with their vocals and instruments; I was hooked. It wasn’t a common venue space for them to play in with a small stage in the corner next to a blues bar, and the show itself was performed almost exclusively acoustic. In fact it was a happy coincidence that we ran into each other at all, and they encouraged me to attend their next concert at Seven Points in Downtown Los Angeles, a venue more typical for them so that I could truly understand their energy and sound.
I took their advice and there I stood, surrounded by fashionistas and men with beards wearing ironic t-shirts. I found myself speechless at the complex music resounding from the makeshift stage. Truly with a little more space FRTNK rocked the house. With so many exuberant members in FRTNK it is impossible not to be caught up in their positive energetic performances.
At the front stood the original members – Benni Aragbaye, B.J. and Bryan Ramos. They met in “The Gates,” which is their nickname for the cookie cutter gated community they grew up in. Boredom motivated them towards artistic expression and creating the grooving harmonies that is truly FRTNK. These three began developing their sound as early as 2009 and make up the core vocalists of FRNTK. The tenor-alto harmonization is stunning, and the in sync raps layered on top ties their sound together.
The rest of the band didn’t join until later in their career and the addition of the five musicians elevate FRTNK’s sound with style. Sir Izik was the first band member added as he joined three years ago. He plays bass, adding a consistent and creative backbeat, and with his relaxed island vibe it’s hard not to move with the beat. The other band members joined just one year ago, although they are so in step with each other it seems as if the entire group has been playing with each other for years. Along with Bryan there’s Raven Michael on guitar, both adding melodic tune (reminding me of beach rock) to each song. Not only are there two guitar players there are two keyboardists, Josh O’Connell and Caleb Ivey. These two create a sound just as synchronized as the vocals, they are also responsible for both the electronic and blues elements added into FRTNK’s sound. Finally there’s Josh “Quick” Ivey (yes, he’s Caleb’s brother) on the drums. Quick brings the concluding tone to the music, an ever changing jazz style drum beat. Normally I would attempt to name their genre but according to them it’s “undetectable” so I’ll leave it at that. Plus, with all these elements added together they are on the way to becoming one of the most unique and amazing group of sounds I’ve heard from an up and coming band.
Quirkily they divide their audience into “robots” (a.k.a. the people that just stand nodding their heads with their feet planted) and “aliens” (those who dance as hard as the performers) and interact with each group throughout the entire show. Working hard everyday on their sound, to them “music is a lifestyle” and that dedication shines through in their tight performance and deep sound. They produce their music in a homemade studio, which is simultaneously cheap and brings a “down to earth” element to their music.
As I stood on the wooden floorboards at Seven Points I was enchanted by FRTNK, a group that believes in the avoidance of perfection, represented by their slogan “live life impure.” To them the name FRTNK doesn’t just reference gold, it tells a story of a group of men bonded as tightly as brothers (some quite literally) who refuse to conform to the norms of society.
As said by B.J., “This is a time when impressive, magnificent things are occurring” and with the lyrical and musical depth presented by FRTNK I believe they are one of those magnificent things. The men of FRTNK are weird, loud, a little crazy and absolutely brilliant. They have a bright future to look forward to as more people are as lucky as I am and stumble upon one of their shows. Bringing a unique perspective and sound to the music industry, I am eager to follow FRTNK’s path and implore you to do the same. And you don’t have to wait long, if you don’t have plans for New Years Eve these wild dudes are hosting an all ages show at 9onVine in Downtown Los Angeles that should definitely make it on to your party-hopping list.
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Lily Claire, frontwoman and primary songwriter for the New York-based Parlour Tricks, gets wild-eyed when she performs. Standing squarely in the middle of the stage at the Mercury Lounge last Saturday, wearing a white tunic with a black collar (her backup singers wore matching outfits, but with the colors reversed), Claire gripped the microphone and gave the audience this look, poised yet deer-in-headlights-ish, as if she were a circa-1920s high-end jewelry thief, stealing just for the thrill of it, and to escape the tedium of her wealthy but loveless marriage, and we were the police squadron waiting outside her secret trapdoor exit to catch her with her bag of loot. Drama flatters rock and roll.
The six-piece bases operations out of New York City, though technically Claire is the only native. True to its name, Parlour Tricks consists of an array of hometowns, and many different musical scenes–its members hail from Philadelphia, Nashville and Paris, to name just a few. If you listen to the singles the group has released over the past couple of years, the show-magic quality of the name links best to the Parlour Tricks’ sense of theater, the heavy beats and brawny soprano vocal harmonies. A performance from Tricks falls into the category of stage magic that happens at close range in front of a small audience; no pyrotechnics necessary. On Claire’s left and right, backup singers Morgane Moulherat and Darah Golub didn’t need acrobatics to coax the high drama out of their voices. Just standing there, swaying in tandem, like they were being pulled by the same tide. They looked haunting as a pair of Greek Sirens.
All told, Tricks’ output has been surprisingly small, just a few singles over the last couple of years. Why surprisingly? Maybe because “Belle Gunness” got featured in that BMW commercial, or maybe–relatedly–because every track they’ve released has the “this is it” quality of a breakout hit. Standing in the audience, amidst an enthusiastic-ish crowd (sidebar, paraphrased from my notebook: Why, in the presence of all the group’s musical prowess and slight of hand, all its heavy hooks and belty harmonies, was a Saturday night crowd at the Mercury Lounge only enthusiastic-ish?), I felt that with each song a heavy weight dropped, the way a young band performs the first song that comes straight from the guts. But the songs didn’t talk to each other. Every last one was a power single. Every last one was a breakdown, an epiphany, a turning point. I couldn’t imagine them all crowded onto an album together.
About three quarters of the way through the band’s set, Claire said “This is a song about a crazy woman,” turned her back to the audience, and shook out her shampoo-commercial-shiny hair. “Me,” she added off the mic, laughing in the direction of her bass player. The band launched into “Bukowski,” which turned out to be my favorite performance of the night, because though it began and ended in the spotlight, the song’s theatrics meandered into shadowier–and more vulnerable–corners between the hooks. Maybe it was the combination of a crunchily chaotic guitar line with Moulherat and Golub’s high-pealing (even for them!) vocal lines. Certainly it helped when Claire eased her pose at the microphone. Once she began to amble around the stage and joke with her fellow players, the aesthetic got pleasantly rumpled. They looked more like a band, and less like a portrait.
Check out the music video for Tricks’ irrepressible latest, “Lovesongs,” below. You can go here to buy a download!
In 2014, strange days have found us. I toyed with the idea of creating a Best of 2014 playlist for sad chicks, but then was all, “Cut the crap Sophie.” If you’ve gone out and gotten laid rather than cried after a break-up, if you don’t have an office job and are poor but happier for it, and if you’ve decided to make friends with the voices inside your head, these songs are for you.
The majority of the artists involved in this list are chicks, but not for the sake of grouping vaginas together, in this, dare I say, male-dominated industry perhaps I’m just being rebellious.
10. Perfect Pussy “Interference Fits”
Perfect Pussy’s “Interference Fits” is so wham, bam, thank you m’am perfect for the anthem to rebellious women everywhere I could embed this track ten times on this page and we’d be good to go. Setting aside the fact that simply with a name the Syracuse noise-punk band forced an array of bloggers still scared of the word “pussy” to get over it, no song captures the tumultuous inner-dialogue of the nearing-30 years than “Interference Fits.” “Since when do we say yes to love?” questions Meredith Graves, in a hard to make out (and empathetically, a hard to figure out) inner female dialogue.
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9. Banks – “Goddess”
The title tune off Jillian Banks’ debut studio album, “Goddess” ebbs and flows with such beautiful scolding you could die to it. “She’s a goddess, you never got this.” The scorned lover thing has been done of course, as Banks seems warily aware of based on the traces of boredom found in her voice. If you close your eyes and allow the lyrics to dissipate the song is rather seductive in nature, like what a praying mantis would put on to make love to before biting her mate’s head off.
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8. Copeland feat. Actress – “Advice to Young Girls”
“Pretend to go to sleep, while your parents argue in the kitchen. Put on some makeup and dress up, you sneak out of the window…” encourages Hype Williams’ Inga Copeland off her new LP Because I’m Worth It. “The city is yours” she promises on this disjointed spiny track. A desolate ravaged urban future is imagined, perhaps one we’re already living in, awaiting the rise of our heroines from the ashes.
7. Bets – “Don’t Give A Fuck”
This delightful tune off of BETS upcoming 2015 debut LP Days, Hours, Nights had the honor of being our very own Track of the Week. Brooklyn’s own, she makes warning about potentially sociopathic tendencies (“Everybody knows, I never fall in love”) seem down right adorable. I said it once and I’ll say it again, not giving a fuck is a crucial part of the path to enlightenment.
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6.FKA twigs – “Two Weeks”
The best word I can think to describe FKA twigs is mesmerizing. If the year 2014 means we’ve made it to the future, she is our poster child. The self-proclaimed ex “Video Girl” evolved into an icon this year, different in a manner that challenges the current pop star quo but rings true to FKA twigs. Her weirdness never seems staged, yet more of like she’s been this way all along and now only letting in an audience. See: This Queen of the Damned-themed video. A virtual high five for the lyrics “Motherfucker get your mouth open know your mine.”
5. Pharmakon – “Bestial Burden”
A little more noise, please! In this tense, minimalist, creepy track Margaret Chardiet entices and bewitches, keeping you looking over your shoulder for a looming attack that never comes. Like a great horror flick, the art of the title track of Bestial Burden lies in the anticipation rather than the reveal.
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4. Azealia Banks – “Heavy Metal And Reflective”
What is rebellion if not controversial? Azealia Banks silently dropped the anticipated Broke With Expensive Taste with slurs, beef, and tears, but in a landscape of processed foods she remains apologetically, perhaps brutally, raw. The forever banger “212” continues to be hard to live up to but “Heavy Metal And Reflective” sure gets me going.
3. Tove Lo – “Habits (Stay High)”
There’s two paths one can go down after a break up, crying in bed watching sappy chick flicks with a pint of ice cream, or getting fucked up and fucked. Well, I suppose one could responsibly process their emotions and exhibit gratitude for their time spent with their respected ex-partner before accepting life has taken them down different roads, but what are we, adults? (Editor’s note: This song was originally released in 2013 as a single off the Swedish darling’s debut 2014 album Truth Serum but the sleeper took a bit to blow up). This song’s the one we can all sing along to, and you know I’d have to include anything with the lyrics “I eat my dinner in my bathtub/Then I go to sex clubs watching freaky people gettin’ it on.”
2. White Lung – “Face Down”
Captivating in the VHS-shot video, Mish Way is a goddess per usual in this perfectly titled track off Vancouver punk White Lung’s debut album with Domino. “All the world’s pretend,” she reminds us, sneering in leopard stockings whilst burning scarecrows on a beach. It’s brash, it’s feminist, it’s frenzied rebellion by nature of simply being.
1. Childbirth – “I Only Fucked You As A Joke”
I’m going to be real with y’all, at first I had Jessie Ware at this spot and then I was all, “Why so serious…!” 2014 was the year of the anti-needy-chick “I don’t want to be your girlfriend” anthem, summed up hilariously with Childbirth’s (Chastity Belt/Tacocat/Pony Time supergroup) “I Only Fucked You As A Joke.” Whatever gender pronoun you identify with and no matter how 2014 sat for you on the rebellion spectrum, I think we can all relate to the line “I can’t make good decisions every day!” Let’s bring in the New Year with that.
SST out.
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I have spent my last few years trying to dissect New York City. And while I was learning that a train schedule isn’t as accurate as it ought to be, I was engulfed in the music culture that the city is notoriously known for. The sheer amount of bands that come out of New York is incredible, so massive that there are hundreds of venues to house and nurture them. And out of all the underground venues and bands that have made up our unique music culture, it holds that familiar city feel. New York is grungy, rebellious, and an intelligent mind of its own.
I wouldn’t trade my home for anywhere else, but like so many quarter-century beings, I’ve had those East to West coast feelings. What is music like in a place where the sun shines more than Rockefeller’s Christmas tree, where shoes are optional, and surfing is more common than sledding? I imagine it’s exactly how The Great Escape feels like. Was their name intentional?
The trio, formed in LA, features incredibly talented artists. The self-produced band is made of Malte Hagemeister playing the guitar, Kristian Nord on drums, and Amie Miriello as their strong female songstress.
Amie has a colossal voice that makes unpolished vocals sound badass. She can go perfectly along with the album’s varied themed tracks. “The Secret Song” is definitely one of the more soothing tracks with a small country feel, her voice honeyed. Then she can take on a 1930’s swing club with “I Want It All.” “We play with fire ‘cuz we can take the heat,” she softly croons. Amie sounds sultry whether with a horn section or raucous for Malte’s wigging and Kristian’s goddamn feels for percussion. She harmoniously belts in “It’s Getting Better” against power-driven guitars and punchy drumming. And my favorite song on the album, “Put It On Ice” effects sound like an early Flea bass solo. The track that really made me feel the excitement of heading to California was “Let’s Go.” The beginning starts off with a calming ambience, the realization that you’re leaving- but then jump-starts into what could be my packing then driving through the countryside montage music.
Now, I’m not trying to start the cheesy ‘pack-your-bags-going-to-Cali’ gig, but their debut self-titled album literally makes me feel like it. Listening gave me the confidence in seeking those sun-showers you hear so much about in the West coast. Their style is ambitious, but genuinely so. Every song is a completely raw look into what rock was like before bands just wanted to sell records, and look too cool while doing it. While they remind me of similar styles to the likes of The Black Keys and Janis Joplin, they’ve created a new style I haven’t seen on the current music grid- combining the classic sounds with contemporary flair.
Not to be mistaken for Iggy Azalea’s “The Great Escape Tour,” the LA triad have many outlets to reach out. Maybe we can get them to come to New York. We could probably also see their eyes open, unlike all their press-released photos. More importantly, we could show them what we’re made of.
The album is a half century packed into a 33 minute digital download. You also can stream their complete album below.
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Let’s admit it: 2014 has been a rough year for news. Missing planes, police killings and various states’ decisions to limit women’s access to health care (all together now, deep breaths) are just a few things that happened. So, to brighten things up, I’ve rounded up my favorite style icons from the music world. These ladies go outside the circle of accepted streetwear to find their own unique looks that we all should aspire to.
Zola Jesus/Nika Danilova
Zola Jesus is one of my personal style icons. Her style is dark and minimal, yet still edgy and cool. My favorite of her looks this year was the promotional photo passed around for her album Taiga. In it, she’s wearing a black dress that has what looks like a leather corset and this huge plate that looked like she cut out a circle and stuck her head through. Straight, long dark hair and dark red lipstick. Perfect.
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St. Vincent/Annie Clark
Annie Clark has always had a cool style, but when she died her hair white/lavender/gray to serve as the look for her new album and tour, things got even better. The best way to describe her look is futuristic rocker chic. Even just the album cover of her latest release has her looking regal as she sits on her thrown, wearing a long sleeved, floor length dress. Even when she was featured in Time Out New York wearing a simple crew neck black dress, she still looks dazzlingly otherworldly. If her look is of the future, then I’m on board.
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Grimes/Claire Boucher
No matter her hair color this year, Grimes kept it fresh. From cutting her hair into a super short straight bang to wearing sparkly gold blazers, a Simpson’s themed sweatshirt or a yellow fuzzy sweater, her style is always keeping our attention. She wears what makes her happy and that is that. She’s one of several younger female musicians who aren’t afraid to be adventurous with her outfits. And thank goodness.
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Charli XCX
All I really need to say about Charli and her look is “pussy power.” She’s tough and fearless and sexy, in the best way. She’ll wear bomber jackets and platform heels and whatever the hell she wants. So much black fishnets, leather, choker collars, plaid miniskirts, fringe and two-piece matching outfits. And she has a sour-but-sweet attitude to top it all off. We’re so in love.
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Haim
Lucky for us, when the Haim sisters get dressed, we get three times the style. All of them have different taste altered to their liking, but it’s the same aesthetic: girl rockers who are here to kick some ass. Lots of black leather and denim jackets. You’re likely to find Este sporting either a dress or a skirt/crop combo. Alana has a more edgy look, more likely to pair leather with neon colors. Danielle pulls off the menswear look with button ups and blazers. Each of their looks compliments the others. It’s almost like they have some sort of sisterly telepathic energy that runs through them, keeping their styles together.
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Beyonce
Is there a year that Beyonce doesn’t run the fashion game? This year she kicked it up with her concert outfits with her On The Run Tour with Jay Z. Leotards for days. And Bey is the one to rock them all. The 7/11 music video where she wore variations of underwear and sweatshirts, and even an upside down visor that looked like a crown. Then there was the gold sequin Tom Ford jersey. Really, there’s nothing left to say.
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Rihanna
Do I really need to explain why the 2014 CFDA Style Icon Award winner is on this list? From baring it all at the awards ceremony in an Adam Salman dress to kicking it in a tee and cuttoffs in her ever-changing hair colors, RiRi has a fearless attitude when it comes to how she dresses herself. Vogue praised her style and put her on their March fashion cover and W did the same with the coveted fall fashion September issue. And she was recently named creative director of Puma. She truly shined this year and we should all be paying attention.
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Taylor Swift
I don’t care for Taylor Swift. Not my music, not my thing. But I do have to admit that the girl really upped her style when she ditched her former permanent uniform of sundresses and long curls for a more retro style and long bob. She really came into her own. When she’s not wearing glittery crop tops and high-waisted skirts while performing, you can find her strutting around New York in shirtdresses, button ups, and even… pants. Maybe hanging out with Karlie has rubbed off on her? Whatever it is, it’s working. So props to you, Tay Tay, even if you hold you purse really weirdly.
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1. Jenny Lewis – “Head Underwater”
One of the best tracks off of one of the year’s best albums, “Head Underwater” is a
doozy of a pop song. Lewis sings conspicuously dismal lyrics (“My own mortality, I
contemplated”) over a bubbly, dynamic beat (that she also produced herself), creating
interesting tension within a sublime melody. Who doesn’t love a song you can have a
good cry to while also dancing?
2. Sylvan Esso – “Hey Mami”
It’s tricky to deal with a subject like catcalling, especially through pop music, but Sylvan
Esso pull it off gorgeously. Amelia Meath’s vocals are luxe and silky as she sings
“Sooner or later the dudes at bodegas will hold their lips and own their shit” over Nick
Sanborn’s bass-heavy, booming beat. A very welcomed “hey mami” that I’ll gladly listen
to as I walk down the street.
3. Jessie Ware – “Keep On Lying”
Jessie Ware’s impressive sophomore album contained quite a few pop gems, but “Keep
On Lying” is a standout. The weirdly magnetic song features a dramatic and opulent
choir of voices paired with a rinky-dink keyboard sound that, together, conjure
minimalistic pop magic.
4. Alvvays – “Archie, Marry Me”
Another powerfully catchy and sunny song that boasts quite a forlorn narrative. The
lyrics of this romantic plea are unassumingly genius in the way they roll off singer Molly
Rankin’s listless tongue (“You’ve expressed explicitly your contempt for matrimony”),
but they also hit a nerve that feels incredibly generationally relevant (“You’ve student
loans to pay and will not risk the alimony”). The push and pull between hopeless
romantic and practical realist has never sounded so blissful.
5. Chumped – “Hot 97 Summer Jam”
Chumped ooze nostalgia for ‘90s and early ‘00s punk pop without ever losing their
originality. “Hot 97 Summer Jam” is a fun and quick listen with endearing “ooh”s over
gritty guitars.
6. St. Vincent – “Psychopath”
Amongst a roster of outstanding and complex tracks, “Psychopath” is notable for its
slightly more pared down sound. It hooks you instantly, with its quick repetition evoking
an OCD tick that you can’t quite shake, but the spaced-out chorus balances that quality
perfectly.
7. TOPS – “Change of Heart”
TOPS’ music sounds like pure summer. “Change of Heart” dazzles with ‘80s influences,
but it’s also got a slight shoegaze-y sheen to it that allows the infectious ditty to stand
apart from the sea of dreamy indie-pop out there.
8. Sabina – “I won’t Let You Break Me”
Brazilian Girls’ chanteuse Sabina debuted her solo efforts this year to little fanfare, but
Toujours was a solid record with the catchy “Won’t Let You Break Me” tucked in near its
end. Pulling from French Yé-Yé and rock a la Velvet Underground, this song is proudly
alluring pop rock with worldly charm.
9. Banks – “Beggin’ For Thread”
Banks’ industrial R&B leans most heavily towards pop with “Beggin for Thread.” It’s
confidently aggressive and also playful in both its lyrics (“So I got itches that scratch /
And sometimes I don’t got a filter”) and its sound, making it a perfect dance number.
10. Mr. Twin Sister – “Out of the Dark”
After a little musical reincarnation, the new Mr. Twin Sister gifted us this funky electro-
pop banger that begs to be played on a dark, sweaty dance floor. Andrea Estelle adopts
a monotone, robotic voice but, thankfully, nothing can shake her seductive qualities.
1. Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence
I’ve been on the Lana Del Rey bandwagon ever since I heard “Dark Paradise” (we’re all just pretending that her second album, Paradise, never happened, right?). Lana delivers all of the slow-burn goodness found in Born to Die and that fans expect from a follow up. She kicks things up a notch with tracks like “Money Power Glory” “Florida Kilos” and “Fucked My Way Up To the Top” but keeps her dreamy California cool reputation with songs like “West Coast,” “Cruel World” and “Shades of Cool.” It’s the perfect combination of what we loved about Lana, but matured and honed to perfection.
2. Tennis – Ritual in Repeat
In 2013, Tennis released an EP called Small Sounds, which was so good that I couldn’t wait until they released the next full album. In September, they finally obliged, and it was worth the wait. In the last few years, the band has taken themselves from a fun, 80’s girl vibe heard in Cape Dory and honed Alaina Moore’s voice to make an even bigger impression, first on Young and Old and now in Ritual in Repeat. They’ve only gotten better over time, and Ritual in Repeat is the most enjoyable album yet. The catchy and upbeat “Never Work for Free” and “Viv Without the N” pair perfectly with the hopeful “Bad Girls” and “Solar on the Rise” to form a complete, solid album.
3. Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
Bombay Bicycle Club has always been a fun rock band, but So Long, See You Tomorrow cemented them as seriously fun (and seriously good) alternative rockers. The standout track is “Home By Now,” which pairs Lucy Rose and lead singer Jack Steadman for a R&B duet, closely followed by “It’s Alright Now,” “Carry Me” “Whenever, Wherever,” and “Luna.” It’s difficult to even pick out a non-catchy track among the listing—a well-rounded, enjoyable collection.
4. Mothxr – Various singles
OK, so this isn’t actually an album. But in interviews, the band has said they don’t plan on releasing an album, but rather release singles whenever they feel like it and I’m obsessed with the four they’ve given us this year so they belong on this list. I fell in love with them during a CMJ 2014 performance and can’t stop talking about them now. Frontman Penn Badgley (yes from Gossip Girl) leads a funky, jazzy, sexy soulful band. During their live shows, Penn grooves along to the music, and it’s hard not to do the same when listening.
5. Lykke Li – I Never Learn
An embarrassing confession: I first heard of Lykke Li from the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack. But thank goodness I did because even though that franchise was a disaster, I was introduced to such a great musician. It had been nearly four years since Lykke gave us Wounded Rhymes, and she didn’t disappoint with a follow up in I Never Learn. The album is definitely an extension of her signature haunting croon, and even feels a bit darker and more melancholy than her previous work. Even though it was released in May, I recently discovered it’s a great album to listen to on dreary winter commutes into the city.
6. Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
Are there more depressing song titles than “Your Love is Killing Me,” “I Love You But I’m Lost” or “Nothing Will Change”? I doubt it. But Sharon Van Etten makes the depression feel so good—probably because most of us can relate in some way to the mournfulness she projects. And her voice itself doesn’t hurt. A full, sometimes breathy voice gets into our heads and refuses to leave. Luckily, we don’t want it to.
7. Banoffee – EP
While not a full-length album, the EP itself has me excited enough for whenever they’ll make their debut. I sadly missed their CMJ performances in October, but I’ll catch them another year because I’m sure Aussie Martha Brown is going to be killing it for a while. The synthetic beats on the tracks combine with R&B melodies and her dreamy vocals to create a fun, funky jam.
8. Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
I first saw Sylvan Esso when they opened for Volcano Choir in 2013. While they performed, I realized that they sounded good, but I was a bit thrown off that a group so focused on synth loops would be paired with Volcano Choir. Given more time to reflect, it makes sense to me now. Their debut album has been topping the charts for best of 2014 lists, and it’s clear to see why. Those synth loops are catchy, as are Amelia Meath’s sweet vocals.
9. St. Vincent – St. Vincent
It’s not surprising the St. Vincent turned out a stellar album this year—Annie Clark has been making them for a while now. I admit to being a little wary of “Birth in Reverse” when it first premiered, but I’ve since come around, and enjoy it just as much as the rest of the album. It’s guitar heavy and sounds like futuristic robots should be performing it. I mean that in the best way.
10. The Antlers – Familiars
The Antlers came back this year bringing their signature moaning vocals and smooth, swelling beats. The Antlers has always been one of my favorite artists to belt out while driving at night, and I’ll probably test that out with this album next time I get the chance. Peter Silberman’s voice is a kind of lonely moaning that is best projected when you’re by yourself.
10/27 Caroline Polachek @ Bowery Ballroom
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