Page 117 – Audiofemme

TRACK OF THE WEEK: Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar “Never Catch Me”

A reanimated corpse that sinuously dances its way through a Los Angeles community after nightfall. A photo of billowing fabric that swirls through the air like a fluid twist of paint in water. The images that are often associated with producer Steve Ellison’s (a. k. a. Flying Lotus) work, such as the short film Until the Quiet Comes and the cover art for his 2012 album of the same name, are almost always surreal and jarring, not unlike his Ellison’s music itself.

The latest digital release from You’re Dead!, an album that Flying Lotus called a meditation on mortality, is no different. “Never Catch Me” is a record that plays with the tension between the jarring and the surreal by underscoring guest star Kendrick Lamar’s rapid fire delivery with faltering jazz piano notes, a chorus of gauzy voices and the steady strumming of a bass guitar. And although Lamar is extemporizing about life after death, the record leaves you feeling you very much alive, like you walked in on a spontaneous jam session at the moment when the MC and the musicians have worked their way into something great. All of this plays out as listeners stare at the static image of a man’s head with a gaping, glowing hole where his face should be. He holds his hands up while the neon-bright outline of a lotus flower surrounds him like a halo.

The first two minutes of “Never Catch Me” are punctuated by Kendrick’s voice, followed by a memorable guitar riff. The song crests and breaks into a bare bones beat that, bereft of Kendrick’s rasp, is supplemented with ephemeral voices that hover over the production. The result is a record that is as spontaneous as it is mellow and as head-bopping as it is meditative.

TRACK PREMIERE: Sariah “Aware, Alive, Awake”

It’s been ten years since heartsick, fed-up girls across the world began belting the lyrics to Kelly Clarkson’s iconic post-break-up anthem “Since U Been Gone,” and in the ensuing decade, pop music and female empowerment have become a rather hot topic. From Nicki Minaj to Katy Perry to Rihanna to Beyoncé to Taylor Swift to Miley Cyrus, media outlets have loved to play the are-they-or-aren’t-they game with pop starlets and feminism. Most times, when the diva-of-the-moment comes up against the point-blank “Are you a feminist?” question, she fumbles – either with a misinformed take on politics or semantics, or with caveats like “I am, BUT…” that incite a whole host of think-pieces. But what that approach often misses is an analysis of what these ladies’ audiences (presumably youngish girls) are consuming, and how they might take these messages to heart. Because in the end, it’s not up to pop starlets to have a position on politics, per se – really, they’re just making music. We can, however, look to that music and evaluate what it communicates about feminism or empowerment, and today, there’s another one to add to the canon: the newest single from Sariah, “Aware, Alive, Awake,” which AudioFemme is happy to premiere.

The Massachusetts-born pop singer has been dropping club bangers since “Deep N Luv” began racing up the Billboard charts last year. She followed that with “All About Sex;” both showcase a young woman self-assured in her sexuality and in control of even the most casual encounters, embracing her sexual freedom. Sariah’s “unashamed to be untamed” motto and powerful confidence is refreshing – she meets the male gaze head on, demanding her own satisfaction first and foremost. Now living in NYC, she’s dubbed herself the “Queen of Hearts” and says “I want to be the fire of nightlife, and I want my music to be its anthem.”

While “Aware, Alive, Awake” is every bit as empowered (and catchy!) as her previous tunes, it’s miles more introspective. Tackling the complicated feelings that come after the body rush of both random hook-ups and long-term trainwreck relationships, Sariah sings “I am bruised and broken, breathless / Nothing that was spoken saves this,” but her voice doesn’t crack once. Instead, she bursts into the track’s triumphant chorus: “I am gonna go my way without you / I won’t stay around you / It’s my turn now and I’m starting my escape / Aware, alive, awake.” Though her previous songs were all about being the party girl, “Aware, Alive, Awake” is a powerful reminder that self-care is essential to maintaining desire and healthy sexuality, that without being able to identify and explicitly state one’s needs to a potential partner we risk losing ourselves. Not content to wander dazed through an unhealthy relationship, she doesn’t stop at the assertion that she’s had enough. She goes on to make a point of telling her partner that she’s leaving and that she can and will do better, buoyed by the three essential A-words in the song’s title.

Though lyrically the song goes deeper than Sariah’s previous output, it’s not somber by any means. The uplifting message is made that much more celebratory by an infectious guitar riff and chorus of crescendoing “Oh oh ohs” that explode behind Sariah’s assertions. It channels Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” vibes in the best ways, and it’s easy to picture clubs full of girls shouting out the words in front of a DJ booth in support of that friend who just got dumped and is now drying her eyes and waking up, too. “This past year has been the most inspirational year of growth and realization,” says Sariah. “‘Aware, Alive, Awake’ speaks to this journey, through the ups and downs, and I see this as my right of passage into the Queen I have become.”

ALBUM REVIEW: Duologue “Never Get Lost”

The many worlds traversed in Duologue’s newest album, Never Get Lost, must be revisited time and time again in order for each crevice of its ethereal soundscape to fully reveal itself to the listener. The emotional experience of this London five-some’s latest work, however, is best summed up by the cover art – a soul continually falling through mist towards a dark forest bathed in unexplainable light. Like a dream remembered in vivid detail, Never Get Lost runs through the mind with a fervid passion for the story it has to tell.

The story is, according to its own creators, that of people isolated in a digital age, and the metamorphosis that their existence and relationships must undergo to adapt to this harsh new reality. Despite this inner dialogue on melancholy and seclusion, the album is no foray into despair. From the onset, Duologue insert their intention to make a statement about this oddly plastic reality we live in. They start with “Memex” (or memory index), a hypothetical technology proposed in the forties to store information and supplement the mind. From those first resounding notes of Never Get Lost, the listener is drawn deep into the swirling undertow of a pensive pulse, the gateway to Duologue’s mysterious land stalked by the beasts of both darkness and light.

Among the most achingly plaintive tracks is lead single “Forests,” a venture into the most mystical corners of the imagination, sparkling with plucked strings and enduringly wistful vocals from frontman Tim Digby-Bell. Each layer of the composition pierces the next with strangeness and mystery; meanwhile, its lyrics mirror the urgency of the beat that anchors the track: “Say the things you need to say / Let me down the easy way.”

“Drag And Drop” is sure to leave an imprint, albeit in an altogether different way, yet complimentary to the album’s scope and the band’s remarkable versatility nonetheless. Imbued with sexy electric rhythms and an intensely addictive refrain that coos and cracks, lamenting in sardonic simplicity “You’re stuck inside my heart,” the track makes good use of Digby-Bell’s richly elastic falsetto. It’s representative of the ways in which the group has grown – for this, their second studio album, they’ve carved away at their eclectic sound to craft a masterful style that melds booming electronic beats with eerily captivating melodies that drift from plaintive vocals.

Never Get Lost is an ironic title for this 45-minute journey steeped in myth and introspection. Above all else, you become exactly that – lost – deep in the folds of cascading melodies and electronic beats. But when you eventually come up for air, breaking the surface to bob a moment before the blue-grey sky, you long to submerge again into that deeply haunting space, finding yourself looking through wider eyes with a pulse calmed by the rocking motion of the waters below. When the pause finally ends and you are ready to move forward, you step off of that visceral cloud and firmly onto the ground, your insides expanded and your consciousness greater than before.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Chastity Belt “Black Sail”

“Black Sail” is not the typical fare for the ballsy, brazen females of Walla Walla, Washington’s indie rock group Chastity Belt. Nevertheless, their irreverent 2013 debut No Regerts from Help Yourself Records kicks off with the sonorous, uptempo track, highlighting Julia Shapiro’s powerful, pining tone before diving into the cohort’s staple off-kilter gems like “Nip Slip” and “Pussy Weed Beer”, which showcase their more widely known talent for wry, foulmouthed humor.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the smuttiness – bring it on. Some days you just need a good ole sing-along to “Chips and dip, nip slip!” but “Black Sail” happens to be just as delightful a surprise. A driving beat and inviting chord progression carry on through to the end, and catchy riffs scattered throughout blend seamlessly with the round, entrancing vocals. Now, the track can be savored via its new video accompaniment, although, I recommend you don’t savor your dinner at the same time.

Director Maegan Houang paired the uneasy ache of “Black Sail” perfectly with a tale of weather-beaten Oregon Trail pioneers turned gruesome, Zombie-laden slaughter fest. The surprisingly low-budget, non-union shoot in Morongo Valley, CA yielded a finished product of stunning panoramas, poignant performances, and remarkably believable gory effects. Its final moments – when the last survivor must resign herself to an unbearable fate – will never leave your memory.

INTERVIEW: WIFE

James Kelly, former frontman of Irish black metal trio, Alter Of Plagues, hasn’t been sitting idly since the group’s disbandment in 2013. In fact, he’s been holed up in London working on a debut solo album, which he released earlier this summer under the moniker WIFE. What’s In Between is lush, multidimensional and stylistically cohesive, despite that it’s Kelly’s debut foray into various genres the album encompasses. Each song tells its own story sonically and narratively, moving from light to dark, from bass-heavy to melodically ethereal and vocal-driven. We wanted to hear the stories behind these beautiful tracks, so we sat down for a chat with Kelly about what compelled his departure from Metal, and what the future holds for him.

AF: Hi! Thanks so much for talking to us. We’re huge fans of your work, and we’re super excited about the new album. Can you tell us a little bit about what prompted your transition from Alter Of Plagues to WIFE?

James: Hello! Yes, definitely. I think one of the main reasons has to do with the fact that I moved from a very rural area where I could make loud noises as late into the night as I wanted, to London, where all of a sudden you have to be a bit more considerate of your volume because you’re living on top of other people. And that’s when I started making music with headphones on a computer. As far as writing stuff that was more electronic or pop leaning I think it’s always been stuff that I’ve really loved and had a passion for, but, the band kind of accidentally wound up taking up a lot more of my time then I had ever planned for. Not that I ever regretted it, but after a couple of years I decided it was time to take stock and see where I was, regarding what kind of music I was putting out. I decided it was just time to consciously change things up, and not get stuck doing one thing. And that’s how it initially came about. I mean in terms of how the two feed into each other, I’ve always found that the music I like is often tonally similar, so I’m never too worried about what genre something is or whether something’s… a happy song or sad song. Rather things always kind of have a certain tone and sound that’s consistent throughout. And I think I took over some of the tones and textures of the stuff that I would have used with Alter of Plagues while I was writing What’s In Between.

AF: Yeah, you can definitely hear some of the influences from Alter of Plagues in your new work, but it’s different in some obvious, and indelible ways. Can you tell me a little bit about your musical background growing up in Ireland, and what kind of music you listened to as a kid, as well as what you sort of gravitated toward as you started playing yourself?

James: Yeah I mean when you grow up… I grew up in the countryside in Ireland, when you grow up there, you either join a sports team or you don’t. And I didn’t. So that means you’ve got to find alternative ways of entertaining yourself, so I just got in to music from a pretty young age. When I was pretty young I remember I had older cousins who were into the grunge thing, so I was used to hearing them play Nirvana tapes and stuff like that, which really excited me. And I used to get copies of their Pearl Jam tapes, etc. I had another friend whose older brothers were really caught up in the rave thing, and I remember hearing The Prodigy’s, Music for the Generation, and really loving it. It kind of demonstrates how polar my tastes were as a kid. At one end there was The Prodigy and at the other end there was Metallica and Nirvana. I think I just kept developing that throughout my life. Growing up I would always save up for the summer, with whatever summer job I had, and then I’d buy a beat up guitar or a beat up drum kit and I’d learn how to play them on my own. And because there was no one around to start a band with, I just got in to the habit of being the entire band myself. I’d record the drums and play them off a tape player and play along with my voice and my guitar…Then I guess when I got a bit older (when I was allowed to go to the city) is when I met other guys who liked Marilyn Manson, and being 15 and smoking cigarettes.

AF: Haha, you caught the rebellion bug, yeah?

James: Exactly, and we started doing groups together and that’s when I got more into actually being in bands. So that’s where it all kind of started out. But like I said, it really stems from not being in to sports as a child. That’s what got me into doing music.

AF: Nice. I can definitely relate to the whole not doing sports thing. Anyway, in your bio it says that Alter of Plagues disbanded because it had perhaps reached it’s creative apex. Do you feel like, in pursuing this solo project you’re a bit less limited creatively? I mean, do you feel generally like there’s truth in the notion that once you’ve reached your creative limit with something, you should let it go? And do you feel like this is something that young musicians struggle with these days? Sorry to bombard!

James: Haha, no worries. yeah, so what happened with the band was really more a case of it getting to the point where I was trying to put material into it that was so alien to what Alter of Plague was that I realized it can’t be this group anymore, it has to be something new. And I’ve really come full circle… I used to be into throwing everything out and seeing what sticks in terms of different sounds and styles, but at this point I believe that clarity, and focus in the sense of what you want to achieve in a particular act is quite important (because otherwise you can spend a lot of time making a lot of work that’s quite polar and opposite and doesn’t have any sort of cohesiveness). So, what this allows me to do is a lot of things I couldn’t have done with Alter of Plagues. Just for one example, the song “Fruit Tree”, off the record, is the first time I’ve ever written a really extroverted, happy song.

AF: It’s an awesome song, too.

James: Thanks, Yea that’s the first time I have ever done that. And it was amazing to do that, but it was something Alter of Plagues did not have the capacity for, because it just was not that type of act.

AF: Right, emotionally it wasn’t that kind of music.

James: Yea, exactly. I mean, I think there is definitely a pressure on people because of the nature of music now and the speed at which it comes out, and the fact that when it does come out it’s just buried under new stuff within minutes. I think it’s more important to just focus on setting the mark really high with a small body of work than it is to consistently churn out stuff and have it be mediocre.

AF: Yea, absolutely. Your new album definitely achieves that; it’s the first thing you notice, especially with the fact that it melds together so many different genres, you don’t know if you are listening to pop music or electronic. But I just want to talk about what you are exploring thematically through the album, this idea of duality between light and dark. And obviously nominally it reflects that and all of the songs explore this idea. Was this planned or did it emerge when you were writing the songs?

James: Like you’ve said, to me What’s In Between is open to interpretation… because in many ways when I create work, the creation of the work is me figuring it out myself; sometimes I don’t even know what it means to me until it’s finished. I think the title relates to what is it that exists between two people emotionally and physically, as well as in a bigger sense, what is between the general nonsense and bullshit we stomach from the powers that be, whether they’re politicians; whether it’s Beyonce one day being an angelic figure, and the next day being this half naked woman who is destroying feminism in one fell swoop. It’s just a mix of all these kinds of things. In a lot of ways, if WIFE started because I moved to London, I also think that some of these kinds of sentiments emerged from living in a city like London. It’s a place that’s kind of rife with falseness and people presenting themselves as something they think you want to see, rather than who they are. So I think the title kind of relates to that.

AF: I think along those lines my favorite song on the album is “Tongue”. And you talk about this masquerade that people engage in order to disguise who they really are or appear as something that they are not. I was wondering if you feel like you yourself are… I mean I feel like we are all prone to slip in to that sometimes, and if you’ve struggled with it yourself as an artist, especially with the music industry being so rife with false pretenses and people wanting you to fit in to a certain box creatively. I was just wondering if or how you’ve struggled with that idea yourself? I mean I think that’s why the song resonated with me particularly.

James: I think a lot of it overall is my reaction to it. While creating the album, I slowly became a part of whatever scene it is that my contemporaries and me are part of, just by being signed to the label, triangle, and things. I’ve started just to notice all the people who walk around wearing Givenchy, yet they live in this beat up old apartment trying to present themselves as something they’re not, and almost afraid of presenting themselves as something that they are not. I think what I wanted to do overall was just to be brutally honest lyrically and be brutally honest in presenting myself. Also, I think people have this weird problem with men presenting themselves as vulnerable, or as open, or as emotional in any way. It’s like, Burial is like crybaby music and Drake gets ridiculed for being in any way sentimental. I think that’s a really negative thing and it’s very unhealthy. It’s really harmful towards men who are trying to express something that is very sincere. I think in a lot of ways the sentiment behind the record was my reaction, that I’m going to be 100% honest and I’m going to pour my heart on paper and I’m not going to be apologetic for it, and I’m not going to let myself be open to anyone trying to critique it, because it is like an affirmation for me to do that. It’s empowering.

AF: That’s amazing. It really shows in your work. I feel like when someone can get to that level of self-awareness, and to a point where they’re unmoored from the social conventions that might tell you to deny the energy to make something. It’s getting beyond this that you make the best art, and it really does show through the album.

James:Oh Absolutely. And another thing I did, we were just talking about the light and dark duality there. Another thing I deliberately did, was a very conscious decision to have some tracks that are almost jarring when paired against each other. Like the fourth track “Salvage” is this really aggressive heavy track that almost sounds like it doesn’t belong there, but that’s again my reaction to people like, if you listen to any Katy Perry record or Beyonce record or Brittany record, that record is like a connection of 14 songs that seem to be just checking boxes.

AF: Yea, exactly.

James:It’s like they’re covering their stylistic basis because that’s kind of what pop music is supposed to be, and in getting away from that, in a way, is something that I found very liberating.

AF: Yea totally. I mean I think in that it’s jarring it works thematically with what you’re trying to achieve throughout.

James: No exactly. I mean I’m asking people who listen to it, at the time just asking them a question, it’s like what are they hearing between all of those sounds? What is between all of those polar songs that are on the record?

AF: Yea it is really beautiful. What do you think is your most intimate song on the album?

James: I would say probably the closer. I can’t remember what it’s called again (laughs). I haven’t listened to it since I mastered it. I became so intimately acquainted to it I literally could not hear it for a while. Oh, “Further not better”, is the last track. I Think it’s pretty much because lyrically again going from a band where I screamed the words, to one where I’m quite audibly singing them, I mean there’s a sentiment in that kind of song that I think people… again, it’s just kind of a narrative thing. No one needs to take it too literally and worry that I am going to disappear based on the lyrics of the song, but at the end of the track for me I think its got a lot of heart in it, you know?

AF: Yeah… to the point where you almost couldn’t listen to it you said.

James: Yeah, like the whole record, we had a hard time listening to it for a while, because it’s just such a long, difficult process, by the end of it I needed a serious breather from it.

AF: I can imagine!

James: Because the reality of making a record is, for me, that every track begins as this really explosive thing where there’s this idea that comes out of me, and the first few days of creating it are really exciting and rewarding, and then you get to the point where you have to spend another eight weeks or eight months finishing something that you got the basis of down in like two or three days.

AF: Right, tinkering.

James: Yea it’s just the nature of it unfortunately. No different than making a film or something, where you have to go through the tedious details.

AF: Of course. Do you feel like you’re ready perform them live at all yet?

James: Yea I’m just kind of starting now, and because I had an EP out before this, and the EP was much more of a bedroom production, whereas this is definitely more vocal based I had to really kind of change things up, and right now I do it on my own. It was just kind of hard to figure out what was the best way of performing it, and what I’ve come to conclude is that I just want to keep it as raw as possible and really focus on just giving an intimate vocal performance more so than trying to perform every melody and you know keyboard, lighting and things like that. So I just started doing a few shows, and they’ve been really good so far. And it’s been cool to see people getting in to them, and I’m trying to get this balance between intimacy and rawness while also building it towards something that’s engaging light music.

AF: Right and kind of akin to what it sounds like on the album. No it’s always interesting to know with musicians how their relationship to the music changes when they perform it live. A lot of people have a completely different orientation toward these songs when they’re live versus when they’ve been working on them for a year or two years in a studio. It’s like a totally different kind of emotional relationship with the music.

James: Yea. Well what I like about these songs too as opposed to some of my older stuff is that the way the structures are built and the nature of them, I could literally perform them with just me, my voice, and a piano, or I can make it in to really big live band type thing. It can kind of go both ways, and that’s good because I want to be adaptable to different environments and things like that.

AF: Yea that’s cool. What was it like working with Haxan Cloak on the album?

James: Yea, definitely. I mean, Bobby is like a personal friend first and foremost. He kind of came on board later in the process, but I was just starting to get a little… starting to struggle to see the work through the trees. And I was getting so intimately involved with the work myself, it just helped to have someone who really… who already really was a strong producer. But as well as that we were on quite the same wavelength about things that we like tonally and in terms of production. So it just totally made sense to have him come on board. We worked together quite a lot in studios and things like that, and he was really good for anything, from making a kick drum sound bigger to helping me choose vocal tapes and pushing me harder to perform better. it was a great experience because like I said it got to the point where after working on the material on my own for so long it was great to have a fresh perspective on it, you know?

AF: Absolutely, no it’s always cool to be able to hear the influence of certain producers in the work. It’s kind of… people look that over a lot I think when they’re listening to something, but you can kind of hear his electronic mastermind in a lot of the songs.

James: Yea definitely.

AF: So what was the conceit behind the video?

James: Again, I think just trying to communicate some of the intimacy and vulnerability, and kind of strength and anger and those dualities that I try to communicate in the album. Because what you’re looking at in that video is an athletic human body that’s visually strong to look at, but it’s kind of contoured into all these vulnerable, weak positions and it’s being manipulated in the video where its lost control of itself.

AF: Mhm, yea.

James: I think that’s kind of the premise of it, and you know working with things like the masked figure, where you’re kind of representing lies and things like that. For that I worked with the artist we had before, his name is Ben Ashton. He is a UK artist who’s just won the national portrait prize, and his wife Fiona Garden, who is an amazing photographer and director. She worked with me on it too.

AF: Cool, yea it’s very aesthetically engaging and deep.

James: Yea again there’s a lot of symbology in it and there’s a lot of… in general I don’t like to be too explicit about some of the symbolisms in my work because I like people to… I like to keep it open to interpretation. I mean a lot of what’s going on in that video relates quite literally to what’s going on in the lyrics and the themes that go with the album, like lying for example.

AF: Yea, I mean there’s some direct symbolic correlation, but I think because it’s so visually rich it works, its not too… it doesn’t hit you over the head or anything.

So what’s your plan for the next year or so? Are you going to tour?

James:Yea so right now I’m building up touring and stuff. It’s looking like theres some trips to the US being scheduled. Some stuff in Europe is getting set up. And just yesterday I found out I’m going to be in Tokyo later in the year. I got invited to participate in the Red Bull Music Academy.

AF: Oh great, that’s awesome!

James: Yea, so I’m really excited about that. It’s going to be amazing. I’m going to get to work with some incredible people, and learn so much, and yeah we’re going to do some shows when I’m out there and stuff so yea that’s really exciting.

AF: that’s a really, really cool institution. They just did their whole festival in New York and I got to see some amazing stuff…

James:Yea I mean… when I read the email from them I was just really kind of shocked…

AF: Haha Really? That doesn’t shock me at all that they would pick you.

James: An enormous amount of people apply, ya know? Your odds are just… you might as well be buying a lottery ticket your odds are so slim, and somehow I convinced someone that I’ve got the skills to give it a go.

AF: Well you definitely do. So do you think you’ll remain… I mean you probably have no idea but do you think you will remain as a solo project in the next coming years after this album?

James: I want to collaborate with people… because I’m kind of wearing two hats, I’m a singer but I’m also a producer, so I love collaborating with people and just throwing all of my skills to that, and I’d love to have someone produce a vocal track for me to sing on and me not to have much of a hand in the production, vice versa I’d be interested in working with other singers. And in terms of the live show, as soon as I have it really, really strong on my own… because I think it’s important not to try to reinforce it with extra players when it’s me who needs to nail it first. And when I have it really strong on my own, that’s when I’m going to think about making it more of a live sound.

AF: Yea it’s always a process.

Well we’re super excited for whatever is to come from you, and I really hope that we get to see you soon in New York. I want to hear these songs live, I bet they’re beautiful. But I won’t waste any more of your time, in the mean time. Thank you so much for talking to us, and if you have any parting words of wisdom for, you know, up and coming electronic artists or singers please tell us!

James: Yea sure, I always believe to just focus on what you’re doing and try to shut out what everyone expects of you. Figure out what it is that you want to do and do it, for no one but yourself.

AF: Words that we all need to hear. (Laughs) Thank you so much for talking to us.

(Laughs) Yea, thanks for talking to me.

Hopefully we will see you in New York soon.

Thank you!

WIFE recently announced the launch of a World Wide tour starting next week. Catch him on one of his may dates below:

WIFE Tour Dates:

09-13-14 Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall

09-16-14 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

09-17-14 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg

09-19-14 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer

09-23-14 Los Angeles, CA – Los Globos

09-24-14 San Francisco, CA – Brick & Mortar Music Hall

09-26-14 Seattle, WA – Decibel Festival

10-03-14 Bologna, IT – Robot Festival

10-04-14 Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique

10-10-14 Dublin, IE – The Workmans Club

11-06-14 Tokyo, JP – Galaxy Gingakei

11-11-14 Tokyo, JP – Hall Shinseiki

11-19-14 Glasgow, UK – Nice N Sleazy

11-20-14 London, UK – Waiting Room

11-28-14 Moscow, RU – Dewars Powerhouse

11-29-14 St. Petersburg, RU – Da:Da

12-12-14 Kortrijk, BE – De Kreun

LIVE REVIEW: First City Music Festival, Monterey CA

The weekend of August 23 and 24th was a big weekend for music in California. LA’s FYF fest garnered most of the attention with its headliners The Strokes and Phoenix, along with other acts like HAIM and Built to Spill. In the eleventh year since its conception, the festival has grown to be one of the go-to fests of the summer and is obviously the most talked about. But Goldenvoice has another fest cooking up interest on the same weekend. First City Festival is the Northern California counterpart to FYF, featuring Beck and The National as its headliners in only its second year running. While First City doesn’t quite have the recognition of FYF just yet, it very much has some momentum after this year’s events.

First City Festival is held in the city of Monterey, for which it earns its namesake. Monterey, CA is unofficially the state’s first capital, boasting a lot of California’s “firsts,” such as the establishment of California’s first library, public school and printing press. From a musical standpoint, Monterey is somewhat of a musical mecca, having hosted the iconic Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, the first most widely attended rock festival of its kind and, arguably, the festival that ushered in the beginning of “the summer of love.” With 55,000 people in attendance, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin gave some of the most iconic performances of all time on the stage at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Considering that it is being hosted at the very same fairgrounds as its memorable predecessor, First City Festival has a lot to prove.

First City planners face the task of defining First City’s sound, and many festivals, such as Coachella, are being criticized for lacking luster in the overall defining sound and feel of the festival. FYF very much has its feel for L.A. bands and markets itself on that very characteristic. So how did First City fare in that department? Most of the artists featured at First City were of the acoustic and indie rock vein, each with a unique sound. There were no hip hop or rap acts, and EDM was noticeably, and thankfully, absent. This eliminated a lot of that teenage partier crowd, therefore a lot of rowdiness. Between the vast marketplace of artisan goods, and the artists booked at First city, there definitely was a Monterey vibe floating around. It’s hard to describe what that means; as a California native I have vacationed in Monterey countless times and can tell you it’s not your average beach town. Its appeal comes, obviously, from its history (think John Steinbeck and Cannery Row) but also its eclecticism. It’s an artist town, with its fair share of hippies and hipsters. So yes, there was some patchouli lingering, but more importantly the vibe was definitely that of music connoisseurship. It wasn’t a party festival remotely; it was a festival for people that really enjoy experiencing live music and who appreciate true artistry.

The fairgrounds were quaint but beautiful, with three stages and, oddly, a carnival. At first I thought that this was an attempt on Goldenvoice’s behalf to ride the coattails of Coachella’s popularity (Coachella’s most prominent image is its ferris wheel). But then I realized it was more about practicality – the Monterey County Fair is right after First City (how convenient!). The atmosphere of First City was vastly different from my experiences at Coachella, and this has a lot to do with the lineup. I was open to seeing just about anyone. First on my list was Speedy Ortiz, a Massachusetts four-piece that sounds like it time warped directly from the underground indie music scene circa 1995. Their gritty guitar licks range from clear and concise picking, to fuzzed-out strumming. Paired with Sadie Dupuis’ sing-talky vocals, you’ve got a band with a refined, unrefined sound. Very grungy at times, the band experiments with moments of mellow, hypnotic, verses relying heavily on subtle background guitar feedback and lulling bass lines.

Survival Guide was next on my list. This was one of the few artists that I had listened to quite a bit beforehand, so I knew I was sure to enjoy. To my surprise, it’s actually a one-woman band. The lady behind the music, Emily Whitehurst, manned, or should I say woman-ed, a complex musical setup of a laptop, keyboards, looping machines, and strangely, a telephone. Her sound features a lot of instrumentation that I would never have guessed was created as a solo endeavor. That the music came mostly from machines rather than a full band didn’t detract from the performance in the slightest. Though she was confined to a small spot on the stage, she commanded the attention from the growing crowds of the day as she breezed through an upbeat set of electronic indie pop tunes.

By the time Miniature Tigers hit Cypress stage, the day was picking up and so were the crowds. Though their earlier releases had more acoustic guitar, the set was heavier on the dreamy synth pop of the material from their latest release, Cruel Runnings. The band’s energy was incredible and they garnered a rather large crowd, no doubt lured by their 80’s new wave appeal with a modern dance edge.

One of my favorite parts about First City is the minimal amount of overlap between bands early in the day. It makes for an easy way to discover all of the smaller artists that the event was featuring. By the time Miniature Tigers ended, we were able to head to the Manzanita stage to catch most of Doe Eye’s set. Doe Eye is a San Francisco based artist featuring sultry singer Maryam Qudus. This moody orchestral rock garnered a lot of attention considering CocoRosie was playing the main stage at the same time. The songs never really achieve a high energetic tempo, but tracks like “I Hate You” carry enough lyrical weight to make for an interesting performance underpinned with irony at times, due to Qudus’ saccharine-sweet singing.

Following up Doe Eye on the same stage was one of my favorite acts of the entire weekend, The Lonely Wild. They consider themselves “spaghetti western influenced americana,” and it must be said that there are elements of that description that are absolutely true of this LA group. Their sound explodes the idea of classical folk into climatic and often times cinematic sounds, which makes sense considering Andrew Carroll, the band’s brainchild, studied film before forming The Lonely Wild. “Everything You Need” was the song that hooked me immediately; it embodies the band’s overall sound, with dual male-female vocals, a constant foot pounding rhythm and a horn section that conjures up that desolate old west image. Not only were they a personal favorite of mine for the entire weekend, they’re the type of band that I feel exemplifies First City’s sound best.

After checking out the end of Tokyo Police Club’s set (never a disappointment there), I stuck around at the main Redwood Stage for Best Coast. Like a more well-kempt and much more jovial Courtney Love, Bethany Cosentino proved to be a strong female front with an air of nonchalance and bad-assery. Though Best Coast’s lo-fi sound from the “Boyfriend” era doesn’t do a thing for me, in a live setting I found myself enjoying all of it, and the newer material was great. It was the perfect afternoon set to kickstart the evening hours of the festival.

I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see Phantogram yet again, although it was at the expense of seeing Unknown Mortal Orchestra (the festival struggle is real). But, Phantogram never disappoints and I can’t urge people enough to see them live! Between Sarah Barthel’s general air of natural coolness and Josh “Motherfucking” Carter’s reverb-laden guitar licks, they blew the crowd away with their “fuckin’ beats” (Barthel’s words). With a performance only to be followed up by Beck, day one at First City was fulfilled.

Sunday was a bit more of a wild card for me, with little else besides Naked and The Famous really on my radar. The festival opened with a band called Midi Matilda and was such a good move on the part of the curators; their electro pop sound was not too sugary sweet and their instrumentation was impressive. Singer Skyler Kilborn is a solid front man, with his Misa Kitara style guitar (with a MIDI screen that echoes their name). But drummer Logan Grime is the powerhouse behind this duo. He reminded me of Dave Grohl on drums: precise, intense, and hard to take your eyes off of. “Day Dreams,” from their album Red Light District, was the powerful sing-along of the set, and concluded their performance on a strong note.

The Family Crest was another band to make my top shows of the weekend. With a core of seven band members – a cellist, a violinist, a tenor trombone player, a flutist, and a solid drummer – creating epic orchestral pop, I still find it hard to believe they all fit on the smallest stage at the fairgrounds. Frontman Liam McCormick has the vocal chops to carry them far in the industry, rivaling the ranges of Matthew Bellamy. They began their set with a song called “Beneath the Brine,” a ballsy opener that left jaws dropped and set the tone for the rest of the performance. Their musical grandeur is a sight to see, and their sound is really unlike anything that’s going on right now in music.

Next up was Future Islands, a band I’d regrettably turned down the opportunity to see at Coachella. Admittedly, that oversight was due to the fact that I’ve always been slightly confused by their sound. Their synth-heavy pop paired with Samuel Herring’s, erm, unclassifiable vocals were off-putting for me initially. But the beauty of live music, however, is that a performance can really change one’s perspective on a given band. What were unusual, inconsistent vocals on record, became booming and immense right before my eyes. He is a powerhouse of a vocalist, ranging from a deep rumbling voice, to flat out death metal growls. What I thought was the most strange music and vocal pairing became oh-so-right in every single possible way. He’s also an incredible and unexpected dancer. I never would have pegged this guy for theatrical but man, he was all over the place, kicking his feet into the air, Tarzan pounding his chest, and, gettin’ low. They made my top performance of the weekend hands-down to my complete surprise, mostly because I went from being uncertain about their sound to being smitten by it. Future Islands is a must see in any situation, ya hear?

Though Beck and The National obviously had the biggest sets, Naked and The Famous utilized theirs the best with what I think was the most exuberant stage production of the weekend. At the very same time slot as Phantogram the night before, Naked and The Famous ushered in the night with smoke machines and epilepsy-inducing light shows. Their unique electronic sound is only enhanced in the live performance of their songs, adding a profundity to tracks like “Rolling Waves” and “I Kill Giants.” In their last performance of the year, The New Zealand group put on an endearing show. Singer Alisa Xayalist was humbled by the dozens of birthday roses unexpectedly thrown on stage early in the set, and was almost brought to tears when the crowd later sang “Happy Birthday.”

The festival was quickly coming to a close, but there was one more act I really wanted to squeeze in before The National’s finale. Cults surprisingly drew in the largest crowd I had yet to see at the Cypress Stage, and deservedly so. Clad in a baby doll dress Madeline Follin was just adorable in her stage presence, but the band has just enough edge to make them an enjoyable listen.

So how did First City fest fare in the scope of California music festivals? Overall, I’d say it’s unique; it not only hearkens back to vaudeville days with its carnival appeal and old time-y ethos, but its purpose is to bring new music to the forefront. Sure, using Beck and The National was a way to draw in the crowds, but for the most part, there was never an empty pit at any performance, and the crowd was pretty solid throughout, which can only mean that people really were there to see all of the acts, not just the big ones. Critics complain that there wasn’t much to take in beyond the headliners and sub headliners, but I found myself enjoying every single act that I saw, even ones that I wouldn’t normally gravitate toward and ones that I hadn’t even listened to prior to First City. In its second year, I think First City has accomplished something special; it has established a niche of artists and festival-goers that will more than likely frequent the fest for years to come, a true feat given the proliferation of music festivals in general. It certainly has the momentum after this year to carry on and can hopefully serve as an alternative festival to the grit and grime of LA’s FYF.

FIRST GLANCE: Video Premier, Moxxi “From Here To Oblivion”

“From Here To Oblivion”, lead track off of the forthcoming EP due out 11/25 from MOXXI, is the perfect high energy pop jam to assist in our transition from those languid, lackadaisical final days of summer, straight into full gear for fall, ready to obliterate anything that stands in the way of forward momentum. Full of driving disco beats from start to finish and edgy minor synth melodies lines, the track harkens back to our very favorite 1990s electropop – palpable inducement to nostalgia over first heartbreaks, best friend drama and middle school basement dance parties. MOXXI’s voice -at times dark and sensual, and at others playful and impish- is undoubtedly what carries the track from one motif to the next, from dance-y to low tempo orchestral with tinges of introversion, and back again, and conveys perfectly the song’s underpinning concept: that of leaving someone who hurt you in the dustbins of history, of “burning the castle down” so to speak, and never looking back. Cheers, indeed, to oblivion.

The video, premiering today on Audiofemme, is a twisted adaptation of the beheading of Marie Antoinette, though one wouldn’t necessarily surmise this upon watching it for the first time. It begins with the songstress outdoors at night, covered in what could be described as primordial goo, with a masked, torch-bearing executioner standing behind her. Ominous in its conceit, we watch as layers of dirt and debris are lifted away, as she is consumed by ash, confetti and glitter. At the end a heavy curtain of smog hides her frame, only for her to emerge intact, not destroyed. We find out that our protagonist rose from the metaphorical ashes. That the assailant perhaps became the victim in the end.

Watch the video here, via Youtube, and decide for yourself.

ALBUM REVIEW: Helado Negro “Double Youth”

After a slew of collaborations (Bear In Heaven, Devendra Banhart, Julianna Barwick, and others), Roberto Carlos Lange retreated inward to make Double Youth, his fourth full-length release as Helado Negro. Recorded largely in Lange’s home studio in Brooklyn, the album is constructed with simple tools: easy, percussive beats and lullaby-like vocals that swing between Spanish and English. The whole thing falls somewhere between abstract and danceable.

Double Youth‘s guiding theme–and its cover art–comes from an old poster from Lange’s childhood, which he had forgotten about until he pulled it out of the back of his closet one day, in the early stages of recording the album. The image of the two boys posing together, looking both twin-like and not, resonated with Lange. Twosomes crop up everywhere in the making and music of this album: the poster reminded Lange of the warmth of a familiar memory, but also of how far away from that memory he had come; his vocals overlap Spanish with English; the beats recall block party bass lines booming from car speakers, but they easily turn tranquil, with a delicate motif of watery arpeggios that cycles forlornly through this collection. Its components laid bare, Double Youth feels like a conversation, and a kind of imperfect twinship, between voice and computer.

The album’s front half floats by like a pink cloud: the bouncy single “I Krill You” and subsequent track “It’s Our Game” are the two catchiest songs on the collection, and Lange’s lullaby voice is like melted chocolate drizzled over the beat. But over the course of Double Youth, the music develops a huge amount of texture. By the time we get to “That Shit Makes Me Sad,” the cyclical and moody closer, melodies have grown into landscapes, and the early tracks’ sweetness subsides into a strangeness that’s still vaguely benevolent.

On September 2nd, Double Youth will waft gently down to earth, courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records. If you simply cannot wait that long to be soothed by smooth vocals and delighted by playful beats, you can stream the whole enchilada over at Pitchfork, in anticipation of the album’s release. Check out “I Krill You” to get a taste:
<a href="http://heladonegro.bandcamp.com/album/double-youth">Double Youth by Helado Negro</a>

INTERVIEW + LIVE REVIEW: Nick Hakim @ Baby’s All Right

“Make sure you get really close to him…he speaks very quietly.”

The man who’d usurped my interview time with Nick Hakim was now giving me journalistic advice. What gall! It was nothing some fried chicken and bourbon couldn’t mend, not to mention the company of my sexy best friend…she’s a real olive branch that one.

I got to Baby’s All Right at 6:25 sharp, after taking a cab four blocks because I got lost on the way, a common incompetence I’m not proud of. I sheepishly asked the bartenders where Nick was and they directed me to the Green Room where aforementioned man was still interviewing him. I stood there like a large, idiot deer in leather shorts and lipstick, hoping my creepy presence would initiate a wrap up. No such luck. But a lovely employee ushered me to the bar where I shed my pre-probe jitters into a tumbler of Whiskey. Must have been fate.

I popped my head around the Green room curtain twice, trying to maintain an acceptable blend of politeness and passive aggression.

“Just five more minutes!” The other interviewer pleaded.

Another whiskey you say? If I must. Nick eventually came out at 6:55.

“Sorry about that. You ready?”

“Well, yes, but, don’t you have soundcheck at 7?”

“Oh shit, yeah.”

After soundcheck it would have to be.

When I sat down with Nick, he seemed a bit shy, and a lot sweet. Misled by the articles I’d read up on him, I imagined he’d moved to Brooklyn from his native D.C. only weeks before.

NH: Oh, nah, I’ve been here since September.

AF: Oh, other interviews make it sound like you’re fresh off the Mega Bus. Most people’s first years in New York are rough…how has yours been?

NH: It was a mix…there’s been cool things, but I was just trying to figure out how to pay rent.

AF: What’s your favorite part about the city so far?

NH: I just like being around my friends, I have a lot of friends down here. Obviously New York is like, the Mecca of everything…we all come here for a reason.

AF: You studied at Berkley College of Music in Boston. There is a lot of dissent on this among musicians, but do you think that a formal music education has helped or hindered your songwriting?

NH: It’s interesting because there are a lot of things I’ve learned studying music that I feel like helped my musicality or my production but I also think it’s important that you take it [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”][formal music education] with a grain of salt.

AF: What were you mostly listening to when you were writing the EP? Did you find stuff influenced your songwriting?

NH: Yes and no…I don’t think I really thought about it like that. I kind of don’t remember, it was so long ago. I wrote these songs like three years ago so I’m kind of over the whole process of when it went on, but I was listening to a lot of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions and Marvin Gaye, and Harry Nilsson.

AF: Yeah I’ve read in a lot of interviews that you’re a big Harry Nilsson fan…did you ever watch The Point growing up?!

NH: Not growing up but I heard the album before I saw the movie…I have it on DVD now. It’s a really amazing cartoon; it’s really fun.

AF: I hear that you’re heading to Europe in September, have you ever been there before?

NH: Yeah I’ve been to Amsterdam. Last year I played a festival out there.

AF: But you’re going to London and Germany as well.

NH: Yeah, London and Germany and the Netherlands and France.

AF: You excited?! You have some buddies out there?

NH: Yeah, I have friends in London and Paris.

AF: Where are you most excited to go?

NH: Ah man, um, Paris. I’ve never been and it’s such a romanticized city and I just feel like I really want to see what the whole place is about.

AF: What’s your favorite song on the EP?

NH: I don’t know. I don’t think I have a favorite one anymore.

AF: I think “Cold” is getting the most press.

NH: Yeah, there’s a lot of different ways I’d like to play that song.

AF: I think “Pour Another” is my favorite.

NH: Yeah?

AF: Yeah, it’s like, the weirdest one to me…it’s a little stranger, I like that.

NH: Yeah it’s a little more airy.

AF: I read that your whole family is musical!

NH: Yeah, both of my brothers, my folks are. It was just a hobby for my folks, like it wasn’t a profession; they were both in bands though. My little brother plays in a band in Philly and I grew up listening to my older brother play drums in a bunch of punk bands.

AF: Yeah, DC has a pretty solid Punk scene. Did you ever find yourself in any particular music scene as a kid?

NH: Yeah I went to a lot of GO-GO shows and then I went to a few hardcore shows…the whole hardcore scene in DC is pretty small and I definitely had a lot of affiliation with a lot of those guys.

AF: So having spent so much time in DC and Boston and New York, do you feel pretty at home on the East Coast, or do you feel like you’re still finding your home?

NH: I’ve never been to the West Coast so I don’t really have that experience. I’m definitely an East Coast kid.

AF: I get that; I’m an East Coast transplant.

NH: Where are you from?!

AF: I’m from the West Coast! But I got the fuck outta there!

NH: (Laughs) I want to check it out.

AF: No, you definitely should, it’s great.

So, are you nervous to play tonight?

NH: No.

AF: (Laughs) You don’t get nervous?!

NH: Well, I get nervous in a different way I think. It’s weird because I used to have the biggest stage fright, but I’ve gotten used to playing and I still get a little nervous and I still get little chills and whatever…little oogly wooglies. But I’ve learned how to channel it in a different way.

AF: Do you see the audience or do they just go into one big blur?

NH: They go into one big blur but it depends. Sometimes I perform without my glasses on or without contacts, so I can’t see anything. It helps me kind of get lost in my own little head. Which is fun. I mean it’s like a blackout kind of for a second. I mean, I remember parts of it but…

I would never expect that as Nick played with precision and fervor, that all he saw before him was a blur. In the interview he seemed bashful and endearingly humble, but on stage he became a professional–more man than boy as his beard would also suggest. Nick’s stage presence is engaging and grateful. Within the first ten minutes he’d introduced his entire band: a crew of guys each as adorable as they were talented.

The crowd Nick drew said a lot about his appeal as a musician. As the kick-off show to his month-long residency at Baby’s All Right, the floor was packed, but there was no defining trait that connected one person to another. Though Hakim’s sound is certainly traceable to particular genres–jazz, soul, R&B, to name a few–his true triumph as a composer is his universality. It must be difficult to dislike his music…I can’t imagine someone honestly shunning it. This was apparent by the hoards of people dancing at the show. Some had on collared shirts, some leather pants, others sported massive afros. The only thing we had in common was a love of this music, this damn-fine, sexy, sad, gorgeous sound.

Nick’s EP is produced so tightly, I was curious if a live performance could top it. It did. Between the seamless, well-oiled performance of his band and the love he threw the audience (at one point he called us all his “babies.”), it was a pleasure to witness the launch of Hakim’s career.

During his last song-a mash–up I hesitate but must refer to as a “jam-session”– Nick’s reserved nature burned away as he fell to the floor with his guitar, writhing away and shrieking more like a Birthday Party-era Nick Cave than a subdued man of soul. Perhaps there is some residue from the DC Hardcore scene in Nick after all. Whatever the case, I’m excited to hear what’s next from this kid. He certainly has something going for him.

Check out Nick’s EP1 below, and hold your breath for EP2

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LIVE REVIEW: Museum of Love @ The Wick

Even as it evolved from dance-punk singles played in hip clubs to the extravagant, sold-out MSG finale show with a multitude of guest performances, LCD Soundsystem was always James Murphy’s thing. Though Murphy enlisted a host of musicians to fill out his production and tour lineup, he remained its front-and-center icon, down to the project’s last 48 hours of existence in front of Shut Up And Play The Hits filmmakers. Co-founding DFA Records, the label that would become synonymous not only with LCD’s output but with the disco-infused punk movement the band inspired, only solidified Murphy’s prominence as the purveyor of those sounds. Longtime collaborator Nancy Whang found outlets as a DJ and producer in her own right, particularly in working with DFA cohort The Juan MacLean. In one way or another, the musicians who became fixtures on LCD releases either remained affiliated with other DFA-related projects or produced solo endeavors for the label, whose curatorial scope felt just as focused on sonic similarities as it was in fostering those familial connections.

Now, it seems, it’s Pat Mahoney’s turn to make a name for himself beyond the title of LCD Soundsystem drummer. His newest project, Museum of Love, has been releasing teaser singles since dropping “Monotronic” in October, and officially announced a nine-track self-titled EP slated for release this month. With Dennis “Jee Day” McNany (who’s also worked with The Juan MacLean) writing most of the songs and Mahoney penning the lyrics, sultry jams like “Down South” and the sunny, expansive pop of “In Infancy” promise that Museum of Love’s debut will be packed with expertly-constructed explorations in a variety of moods.

At DFA Records’ Summer Soiree last Saturday at The Wick in Brooklyn, the whole gang was in attendance; recent signee Sinkane opened with a DJ set as the sold-out crowd rolled in, followed by Whang, who spun records that melded almost seamlessly with the first blushes of Museum of Love’s live NYC debut. Mahoney and Whang hugged before he took his place in front of the mic, front and center this time instead of behind a drum kit. McNany sat beside him, walled in by various synths, and a guitarist and drummer rounded out the set-up as well, which was a pleasant surprise; one never knows how much of a band you’ll get when production duos go live. On two tracks, the addition of a couple brass players warmed things up as well – Museum of Love are not fucking around.

Mahoney, for his part, sounds a little like David Byrne, and that’s certainly not a bad thing. He’s a humble frontman, and seemed grateful for the opportunity to perform for such an enthusiastic crowd with musicians he respects and admires. They played what has to amount to the entirety of the record, and the songs are at once introspective and dance-worthy, unfolding beautifully and organically, as though they weren’t so much written and perfected over several months, but instead sprang into existence fully formed and ready for the exact moment in time you’re hearing them. Fans of LCD Soundsystem (and DFA in general) will of course embrace what Museum of Love has to offer, but there’s also a real possibility that MoL’s appeal could reach well beyond DFA’s immediate circle of devotees.

Though DFA has courted many acts outside its circle, there’s still the feeling that its roster exists inside a bit of a bubble, which can be seen as either shopworn nepotism or comforting familiarity. It’s not that Museum of Love bucks this trend per say, but what Mahoney and McNany do offer are a refreshing set of tracks that are fun and easily approachable. They aren’t taking DFA’s catalogue in a new direction, but they could bring a lot of new fans back into the fold.

LIVE REVIEW: Flagship @ The Chapel

There is perhaps no more appropriate place to watch Flagship perform than in San Francisco’s ‘The Chapel.’ The band (composed of five former church-goers hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina) makes music that’s been described in turns as ‘rapturous,’ ‘ethereal’ and like ‘a religious awakening.’ To hear them live in an historic chapel with soaring 40-foot ceilings seems particularly fitting.

Over the course of their set, Flagship lives up to their reputation, with lead singer Drake Margolnick filling those high ceilings with his powerful, and powerfully expansive, voice. Happily, the rest of the band is able to both match and showcase Margolnick’s capacity: with Grant Harding on keyboard, Matthew Padgett on lead guitar, Michael Finster on drums, and Christopher Comfort on bass, the men form a tightly honed and intuitive whole. Their songs have a tendency toward the orchestral, and there’s a distinct pleasure in the technical cohesion behind each churning crescendo. From the yearning ‘Break the Sky’ to the slow-burn of ‘Gold and Silver,’ the band’s set demonstrates the sense of epic grandeur that’s garnered them comparisons with Radiohead and U2 (and I suspect it will only be a matter of time before we hear a Flagship song on a movie soundtrack).

Yet the comparison I find a bit more interesting is one that’s been made to The National—no doubt due to Margolnicks resonant and emotionally-communicative vocals. As lead singer Matt Berninger has noted, The National experienced large-scale success when they began openly sharing their vulnerabilities: expressing anxieties, doubts and fears, free from obfuscation. As much as Flagship nails the soaring acoustics that lend their songs a redemptive quality, there’s a deeper gravitational pull to the band that I believe they are only scratching the surface of. As they continue to grow (perhaps trading some of their more overtly symbolic lyrics for rawer revelations, perhaps leveraging their already nuanced sense of cadence and control to greater effect) I have no doubt they’ll receive the critical and commercial success they’re after.

In short, go see Flagship—for what they are now, and for what they have the power to become. They’ll play the Chapel again this Thursday, sharing the stage with the rowdy Black Cobra Vipers and the endearing and engaging French Cassettes (whose lead singer’s loveable stage moves just might try to steal the show). Go see Flagship because their debut album (recorded with the help of acclaimed producer Ben Allen) is strong and satisfying, but also because they’re on their way to something great.

Listen to “Gold And Silver”, here via Soundcloud

ALBUM REVIEW: Weyes Blood “The Innocents”

Just now, I googled “1960s witchy psychedelic folk,” grasping, I guess, for a manageable term that encapsulates both Nico’s glamourous theatrics and Brigitte Fontaine’s quirky darkness. I’m sitting at a table in the pool-house out back of a big and beautiful summer home on the coast of Maine, where I’ve been hired as a kind of temporary live-in servant. I shit you not. I’ve got a view of the Atlantic from nearly point blank range, and the moon is new, and all things witchy seem more than possible tonight.

Natural beauty this acute makes any little thing that sticks out of the landscape seem intentionally sinister, like the pale pink dismembered crab torso I saw ripped open and splayed out on a rock while I was on the beach this evening waiting for the moon to rise. The music of Weyes Blood, whose earth name is Natalie Mering, is sort of like that–so beautiful that its oddness makes that beauty spooky, and so strange that its classical loveliness gleams even brighter.

Mering has been under the radar for a couple of years, but that doesn’t mean she’s stayed quiet. After a stint with experimental psych folk outfit Jackie-O Motherfucker, she sang backup vocals for Ariel Pink, and has since performed prodigiously as a solo artist – touring, appearing at festivals, and playing shows of her own with friends like Quilt and The Entrance Band‘s Guy Blakeslee.

In 2011, Mering released The Outside Room, her debut under the Weyes Blood name, on Not Not Fun. Already then, her basic toolkit (haunting vocals, ancient-sounding folk music) was essentially intact, although The Innocents reveals some significant updates. Less funereal but more complicated, Weyes Blood substitutes her first album’s foundation of abject misery for one of classical–even courtly–dignity. Harmonizing against herself, Mering’s vocals take on an entirely new, much richer quality on The Innocents, almost like putting on 3D glasses. But that isn’t to say that melancholy has no place on the album: when Weyes Blood tells you, in the middle of the strange, sad, choral “Some Winters” that “I’m as broken as woman can be,” you believe her. That’s the kind of voice she’s got, low and regal and primed for heartbreak. The finery of that song has a cracked-china feel to it, stemming from its psychedelic tendencies. Static and interference marr dreamy piano arpeggios. The angelic chorus of ahhs hovering around Mering’s tortured alto like a halo slowly melts into a mechanized humming that sounds like the low buzz of an airplane engine. When the song has sentimental moments, something cold and sterile always follows.

If, like me, you’re listening to Weyes Blood someplace wild and desolate, The Innocents intensifies things. It is sparse and spooky. It makes it easy to suspend your disbelief and get swept along with Mering’s moonlit, forlorn reality.

The Innocents won’t be out in the U.S. until Oct 21st, but you can pre-order your physical or digital copy by heading on over to Mexican Summer. In the meantime, check out “Hang On,” the album’s power-driven first single. “I will hang on when the rains come and wash away all I’ve come from,” Mering sings, holding the melody steady as the rest of the song careens through chord progressions and time signatures. The song is sturdy at its core, her voice a pillar of strength in the center of an embellished, rhythmically complex track. She plays Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn on Friday, August 22nd.

LIVE REVIEW: Robyn and Royksopp @ Pier 97

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Robyn and Röyksopp have been long-time collaborators, with the Swedish singer guesting on the 2009 Röyksopp album, Junior, and the Norwegian duo helping out on Robyn’s 2010 release, Body Talk Part 1. Their mini-album Do It Again, a five song collection released this spring, marked their biggest collaboration yet, and they’ve embarked on a tour to mark the occasion.

At last night’s sold-out Pier 97 show, each act played a solo set before joining together for the Robyn and Röyksopp finale. Röyksopp were up first. Accompanied by a live group including a saxophonist and bass player, they started out their solo set with “Happy Up Here,” a bouncy, funky track from Junior that served well to get the crowd moving. Warm-up act, Swedish singer Zhala, returned to the stage to sing Karin Dreijer Andersson’s lines on “What Else Is There” and “This Must Be It,” her strong vocals throatier than Andersson’s, bringing depth to the two songs. Their brief set ran through “Remind Me” — which saw Svein Berge, wearing a neon yellow flak jacket, having a lot of fun jumping from his platform and running to each side of the stage — and ended with “Poor Leno” building into a crescendo anticipating Robyn’s appearance.

After opening with the near-decade-old “Be Mine!,” Robyn’s set turned to unfamiliar territory. “We’re doing some new songs…” she said, dressed in boxing shorts. “Stick with us.” The new stuff sounds good — Maluca Mala joining Robyn onstage for “Love Is Free” was a particular a highlight — and the crowd was very receptive, though it was clear the majority of them had come expressly to see her performance and she could have gotten away with pretty much anything. The audience’s reward was Robyn’s electric presence, dancing and watching her on-stage energy as she bounced, pumped her arms, spun, grinded and crawled across the stage.

It wasn’t all new stuff. “Indestructible” got a big cheer, so did “Stars 4 Ever,” but the biggest response was inevitably reserved for mega-hits “Call Your Girlfriend” and “Dancing On My Own,” the latter’s chorus surrendered to the crowd to deliver while she stood still caressing herself in that fake making out way we’ve come to expect from the song’s live performances. Robyn’s set ended with the sublime “With Every Heartbeat,” which builds and builds without ever really reaching a resolution. It was a perfect choice to leave the audience clamoring for the finale duet.

Truth be told, I saw quite a number of people leave after Robyn’s segment, presumably having gotten what they came for. The two acts’ joint mini-album hasn’t been as strongly received as their solo work, but anyone who walked away without hearing it live, backed by a huge laser show, sparkly silver costumes, robot helmets and confetti shooting out of cannons, missed out. The set began with “SayIt,” which saw Röyksopp wearing metallic hoods and Robyn lying on a table, bouncing up and down with an ab ball stuffed into the back of her bomber jacket. It seemed to reference the birthing some alien/robot form, but I’m not entirely confident in that interpretation. Though brief, the set was not just a run through of the Do It Again EP. “The Girl and the Robot,” one of my favorite pop songs ever, appeared early, and the night closed with a rare treat, “None of Dem.”

As a teaser for new albums from both Röyksopp and Robyn, Do It Again and the ensuing tour have been particularly effective. As kindred artists, their collaborations have clearly inspired both to take it to the next level and provide fans with something more than just clever marketing — together, they offer a whimsical, exciting holdover certain to satisfy until the proper rollout for their new releases.

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LIVE REVIEW: Tokyo Police Club, Portugal. The Man, Grouplove @Avila Beach Resort, San Luis Obispo, CA

There was really no better venue to host the third stop of the 13th annual Honda Civic Tour than at the Avila Beach Resort- which is not actually in San Luis Obispo, as Tokyo Police Club so duly noted, but close enough to settle any confusions about its actual location. Nonetheless, this by-the-beach locale provided the perfect atmosphere for what was destined to be a pumped up show. With a stage production planted right in the middle of a ritzy golf resort, the whole setup felt like a counterculture takeover, and as we stood in line to get into the grounds, angry golfers threatened to run over fans that wouldn’t get out of the way of the golf cart path that was closed off, much to their dismay. The Avila Beach Resort is a beautiful place for a concert. Unfortunately the view of the renowned Avila Beach was obscured by the stage, but the venue is tucked away in a lush, green mountain enclave replete with an ocean breeze. Tokyo Police Club was the first to take the stage as direct support for co-headliners Portugal. The Man and Grouplove. The Ontario quartet set the tone for the night with their keyboard laden, indie rock enthusiasm. David Monks is a solid vocalist whose voice does not err in the slightest in a live setting, even as the last bit of evening sun blazed in his face. Keyboardist Graham Wright’s fancy footwork also kept me entertained for most of the set, as he alternated between keyboards and backup guitar. Their set was dominated by tracks from their latest album, Forcefield, which came out earlier this year, but ended on a solid TPC standby with “Your English is Good” from their 2008 album Elephant Shell. The crowd grew denser as Portugal. The Man prepared to play. The last time I saw PTM my ears rang for a solid two days (an early sign of hearing loss but an indication of a kick ass rock show). Luckily, this outdoor concert didn’t blow out my eardrums, though that’s not to say they didn’t deliver in the volume department. The best thing about a PTM show is that they weave multiple songs together without any breaks, often times throwing in an old classic. They started out this set with the intro from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in The Wall”, that turned into their own energetic song “Purple, Yellow, Red and Blue.” The second best part of a PTM performance are the many, many jam interludes in the middle of a song. It’s almost impossible to tell where one ends and when another begins because the amount of riffing and musical banter that goes on between guitarist/vocalist John Gourley and bassist Zach Carothers is ongoing. The Alaskan group clad in black Pittsburgh caps rocked through the set, abusing their instruments in a myriad of ways; Zach smacks the back of the bass head as if to eek out a stronger sound from the instrument. I was taken aback when I heard the beginnings of their song “Waves” from their latest album Evil Friends. It was noticeably absent from the setlist when I saw them last year, and I have to say very much to my disappointment. When they started playing this oh-so-appropriate track (considering the beach setting), I, as we concert goers say, “lost my shit.” This is a band that really knows how to keep a crowd intrigued, not only with their energy but in their ability to weave pop culture into their set. Between their comic rendition of the Always Sunny in Philadelphia classic “Dayman” and Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger” they are able to reach various demographics within the crowd, that, as became apparent later in the show, were there for Grouplove. Even though half the crowd wasn’t singing along, at least from my view, they certainly were rocking out and absorbing the band’s electrifying performance. By the time PTM had finished their set, the quota for crowd surfers had been exceeded and the air was rife with stinky smoke. I’ve seen Grouplove before–a little over two years ago at a very small venue in San Luis Obispo. It was that moment right before they hit their stride as a musical powerhouse; they had just come off their first Coachella showcase and made a pit stop in our little city which they in turn blew the metaphorical roof off of. Back then, Hannah Hooper’s hair was a natural brown and she wore a knee length, thrift store floral dress. And Christian…well… if anything his hair was maybe less blue then. Now, after releasing a second full length album called Spreading Rumours, the band struts with ever more confidence, if that is even possible for the five piece who, even then were a little ball of fire. Now Hannah runs all over the stage in a black winged body suit and bleach blond hair and the other band members are just as entertaining. They have more command of the audience than I even remembered. They entered the stage playing “I’m With You,” with a chillingly long intro. From that point on, the energy on the stage and in the crowd stayed high. There were many moments in the show that made evident how much fun this band has together. During “Bitin’ the Bullet,” the crowd was enticed to throw their hats on stage at which point Hannah tried each and every one on before throwing it back into the crowd without discretion as to whom it belonged. Eventually, when it came to her interlude on the song, she donned a child’s propeller hat. By the end , Christian was crowd surfing and high fiving all of us in the pit. It’s this kind of crowd interaction that I wait hours for. “Slow” was yet another riveting performance as the song turned into an all out drum circle by the end. Drummer Ryan Rabin had LED drumsticks that alit with every smash. It felt like a disco-rave tribal dance, which is not an ordinary concert experience by any means. Every song was a massive sing-along to the point where Christian and Hannah’s vocals were washed out. Tracks from their first album Never Trust a Happy Song were the ones that hit home the hardest as not one person was silent. Their grand finale of their arguably biggest hit “Colours” wa profound and intense beyond measure. A not so happy song to begin with, it was performed in front of a gray screen for nearly its entirety until the very ending when a Technicolor explosion went off as the band and audience screamed its last liens. There was no encore but there didn’t really need to be as people stood there for about five minutes just processing everything that had happened. San Luis Obispo was just the third stop on the Honda Civic tour this year, so there is still plenty more opportunity to catch this co-headlined tour. The production that Honda puts on is nothing short of what you would expect from these three bands that plain and simply, know how to rock. Here are the remaining dates: Aug 21 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO Aug 22 Harrah’s Council Bluffs, IA Aug 24 Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee, WI Aug 27 Simon Estes Amphitheatre Des Moines, IA Aug 29 Crossroads Kansas City, MO Aug 30 South Side Ballroom Dallas, TX Sep 02 Masquerade Music Park Atlanta, GA Sep 03 Uptown Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC Sep 05 Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, OH Sep 10 LC Pavilion Columbus, OH Sep 12 Merriweather Post Pavilion Washington, DC Sep 14 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Boston, MA Sep 16 Rumsey Playfield, Central Park New York, NY

ARTIST PROFILE: 20 Eyes

As I sat still staring at my blank computer screen I mused on the best way to describe the three men who make up the San Pedro based band 20 Eyes. The harder I thought the more obvious it became that I would not be able to fully capture their unabashed charisma and incredible energy. With an engaging live show and versatile mixture of songs, 20 Eyes doesn’t fit into any one genre, and they certainly are not trying to conform to anything. Their music has elements of pop punk, early 1980s rock and even hints of electronic. Try to picture music that is the best parts of Good Charlotte with nods to The Beastie Boys and the Psychedelic Furs. Take that and throw in some San Pedro flair and you get 20 Eyes. Wolf Bradley (lead vocals and guitar), Andrew Macatrao (drums) and Chris Gomez (vocals and bass) are part of a new generation of rock music.

The unexpected layering of sounds in their songs makes sense due to the trio’s varying musical backgrounds. Wolf was raised in the world of ballet, and didn’t get into music until sixth grade when he branched out from some of his dad’s favorites. Andrew started learning how to play the drums when he was twelve, and around the same time he rocked out at his first concert. Then, to throw another genre into the mix, Chris was raised almost purely on hip-hop. It wasn’t until Andrew began to make him mixed tapes in middle school that he discovered the vast nature of the musical world we live in. Now they are fans of all forms of music (especially rap) and it can be heard in the unique mixture of sounds contained in their material.

The three of them are more like brothers than friends now, and have been playing together for years. Andrew and Chris met in middle school and have stayed close friends since then. The two met Wolf at his parents’ ballet studio in San Pedro, but they didn’t click immediately. In fact Wolf and Andrew almost hated each other at first. Luckily for us their rivalry didn’t last long. Once they discovered their mutual passion for music they threw their preconceived notions of each other to the side and started a band. As Wolf said they went “from loathing to loving.” Chris didn’t join them for a few years because he was helping raise his little brother. Even when he wasn’t playing in the band he was always around; finally Andrew and Wolf asked him to be a permanent member and the trio was complete. It’s been four years since then (almost seven for Andrew and Wolf.) These years of experience and friendship comes through strongly in their performance. They are incredibly in tune with each others’ moods and energy on stage and it translates well to the audience. The first time I saw them there wasn’t a still body in the room, everyone (including 20 Eyes) was dancing as hard as they could.

They are easily likable with loud laughs, insane hair and enveloping energy. They believe that “if you don’t care about what you’re doing then no one else is,” and they truly love making music. The three of them have different ways that they show their devotion for the craft. As the songwriter, Wolf tries to make sure that his songs are personal to his life but easily relatable, and gets excited when a song turns out better than expected. It’s a group effort and they’re all still learning about their sound, which is one of Andrews’ favorite parts of being in the band. On stage all three of them are in constant motion. They are dancers, rockers and goof balls. Their music is melodious, meaningful and dynamic. You can’t stop moving at their shows, which are brilliantly entertaining. They are 20 Eyes.

20 Eyes has just released a new single, “Friends Like You,” which reflects their newer sound. They will be playing at Jerry’s Pizza in Bakersfield on the 25^th (one of Chris’s favorite venues) and at Club Moscow in Hollywood on September 17^th. So make sure to give them a listen and catch a show.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Israel Nash “Rain Plans”

The long-locked, regally bearded songwriter Israel Nash Gripka marries spacey psychedelic guitar work to wind-chilled vocals that pay a nod to Neil Young; Gripka’s songs amble, they meditate, they conduct experiments in theme and variation. His third and latest studio album, Rain Plans (out August 19th!) finds Gripka signed to independent British label Loose Music–an apt enough match, given Loose Music’s strong stable of Americana standards like Townes Van Zandt, Neko Case, and Steve Earle. And Gripka has some history in common with your average modern cowboy: originally of Missouri, he moved to New York City to release his first two albums, then split for Dripping Springs, Texas, where he soaked up what he refers to as the area’s “desert folklore” as inspiration for this forlorn, majestic new release.

I’m always interested to see what comes from a matchup of psychedelia and Americana. Despite the genres’ shared theme of wanderlust, the former tends to focus on that wandering’s texture and color, whereas the latter deals in oral history and storytelling. Long stretches of Rain Plans feel like deliberate efforts to let the songwriting move on a long leash, to see where the mind will go when it’s left to its own devices, in the absence of the civilization or plot. The musical patterns are cyclical, the melody unhurried, even listless. In one of the album’s most interior portions, in the back half of the title track, all vocals melt away, leaving a swirling and seemingly endless cycle of mesmerizing guitars. The only thing that remains fixed is the pace: held firm, as if by a metronome, at a slow stroll.

So it’s clear that the album is a journey, but one that moves in circles, and it may test many listeners’ patience not to see the point of all this meandering. With all due respect to the virtues of wandering without being lost, these songs are so relaxed that they sometimes don’t appear to grow from start to finish. There isn’t necessarily going to be development from one end of a song to another; in the worst case scenario, the music instead restates the same idea over and over again, in different ways. Rain Plans isn’t necessarily an album that’s going to tell you a story that has a clear-cut beginning, middle, and end.

But if you have time to sit with it a while, the album proves that, for Gripka, spaciousness rarely equals stagnancy. Consider the shimmeringly gorgeous “Iron of the Mountain,” which establishes a single, circular melody–one moment in time, one color–and then extends it for almost four and a half minutes. Rain Plans richly evokes the vivid aesthetic of folklore: it’s a snapshot, rather than a story, of the landscape. Think of it as a collection of moments, which bear loose connection but don’t need each other in order to function.

The only exception to that logic is the closer, “Rexanimarum,” which is Rain Plans’ most unabashedly rootsy track, with lyrics like “pour me out just like sour wine,” and even echoes of old country songs, “got the money if you got the time.” With a lovely and light touch of backup vocals, this song may be the album’s sunniest, and is certainly its most singalong-friendly.

Check out the full album stream over at the A.V. Club, and go here to order your physical copy of Rain Plans! Listen to “Rain Plans,” with all its swirly melodies and smooth vocal harmonies, below via SoundCloud:

INTERVIEW: Avey Tare

Dave Portner is a busy guy. Under the pseudonym Avey Tare, he’s acted as “de facto frontman” of Animal Collective, arguably one of the most influential groups in all of indie rock, for over a decade now. The band’s prolific output represents just a fraction of his complete discography – he’s released collaborative projects with Eric Copeland, David Grubbs, and Vashti Bunyan, as well as his former wife Kría Brekkan. In 2010, he released his first solo album on Paw Tracks, the dark and deeply affected Down There, largely focusing on his feelings about death and illness with a murky sound to match. It’s reflective of a dark period of his life, but with the debut of his latest project, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, it seems like he’s come out on top.

Releasing Enter The Slasher House in April, with former Ponytail drummer Jeremy Hyman and ex-Dirty Projector Angel Deradoorian on keys, the record’s vibe swings to the poppier end of Avey Tare’s songwriting spectrum. Much like the campy B-movies the moniker recalls, Slasher Flicks is an endeavor concerned mostly with fantasy and escape rather than introspection. That’s reflective, in some ways, of Portner’s own migration from the East coast to Los Angeles, where he now lives with girlfriend Deradoorian. But more than anything, Slasher Flicks is about the simple fun of playing music as a three-piece, and though its more straightforward than much of Portner’s catalogue, the eleven tracks on Slasher House each bear his familiar stamp.

Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks are soon to embark on a West Coast mini-tour that kicks off with a stop at FYF Fest. Animal Collective have also announced fall DJ residencies in New York, Philly, and D.C. Portner chatted with AudioFemme about the particular influences that play into this latest project, how he tackles songwriting and producing, and what’s next for Animal Collective.

AudioFemme: Hi Dave! Thanks for chatting with us. You’re in L.A. right now, and you’re kind of on a short break from touring with Slasher Flicks – you were out for about a month after the record was released, did some shows around Pitchfork Fest, and then you’re going back out around the end of the month, including FYF. Do you like doing festivals?

AT: Festivals have never been my favorite thing. I definitely like the opportunity to do ‘em, but I feel like more than not they’re usually pretty stressful. So it’s kinda hard to go into ‘em thinking it’s gonna be a like great time or something, you know.

AF: I’ve often wondered what it’s like for bands, because as a person who goes to a lot of more intimate shows, I find festivals to be sort of the least desirable way to see a band.

AT: In terms of being in the crowd and stuff, yeah, it’s definitely not for me. In terms of playing you’re just dealing with all these people that are stressed out for good reason to begin with – just trying to move things along – and I feel like it’s just not the most personal musical experience.

AF: How has the rest of touring been, your headlining shows?

AT: Oh, they’ve been great. The tour was really fun. I just like the more intimate feeling, it’s really a lot easier to connect, especially if the crowd is feeling the music. In that sense it was good, it was just good to play with Jeremy and Angel every night. We had a good time playing and it was cool to just be able to drive in a van around the country. It’s been a while since I’ve actually gotten to do that, and see things.

AF: Do you mean like, on the road? Did you go to roadside attractions?

AT: Well a little. I mean I guess just first and foremost being able to see the landscape. I guess I’m used to bus travel lately and you don’t really get a lot of that, especially because you travel at night, mostly, on a bus. You don’t really see the landscape change, and I think that’s definitely one cool thing about the US and driving around, is there’s so much variety to see.

AF: So the album’s been out since April. Are you pleased with how it’s been received? How does it feel to be playing it live now?

AT: I think so. I’m not the type of person that’s too tapped into how the record’s doing. For me, especially, for this project, it’s supposed to be just a little bit more fun and laid back, just trying to just take some time away from working so intensely at music. I mean, I want it to do well, obviously, and I think it is, which is good. But yeah, the songs are tight, and it’s been good being able to play all of them live. When we were writing the record we played some shows before we recorded and there were some of them we kind of wrote after so it’s nice to just be able to play the whole record.

AF: Yeah, I actually went to one of those early shows, the one last summer at Glasslands.

AT: Yeah? That was a crazy one!

AF: It was great – exciting to see the songs develop and take shape. A lot of people have compared the songs to some of the more poppy, anthemic Animal Collective tracks. Did that come from sort of shifting the Animal Collective live sets to more of a “hit list” rather than amorphous jamming that comprised earlier tours? Did that shift influence the way you went into writing for Slasher Flicks?

AT: No, not really. I mean, I guess I write a lot of songs. So there’s definitely songs I’ve been writing over the course of the last year and a half or so that aren’t included on a Slasher Flicks record per se, but I think there is a specific style of song I started putting together for this record because I kind of knew I wanted to do it with a three-piece band. I’m always thinking like, well how can I produce this record, or how can this record be produced, to do something a little bit different than anything I’ve done before.

Down There, the last solo record I did was [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”][this] very sort of inner, heady thing that I kinda just kept inside of me for a long time and I finally got out with electronics and was mostly just me in a bedroom. But I think I just wanted the Slasher Flicks songs to just be something that would be fun to play live, and easy to play live for a band. So I think that’s where it comes from too. I was also messing around with referencing a lot of stuff that I listen to actually which doesn’t happen a lot with Animal Collective. I mean, it does, but since things are dissected a lot more by each member of Animal Collective it turns out way different, usually, than I would envision it the way I first wrote the song.

AF: What kind of things were you listening to that influenced Slasher Flicks most heavily?

AT: It goes back to my love of old garage music, the heart of like psychedelic music, like 13th Floor Elevators, or Silver Apples or Love, or anything like that… late sixties, early seventies Kraut stuff. Also stuff like Steely Dan which I’ve grown to like a lot over the last four years. And even like jazz stuff, which I think doesn’t really come through so much on the record, but I think definitely in how jazz is presented on record.

AF: And maybe that collaborative style of improvisation?

AT: Yeah, yeah, and just sort of like the more freeform aspects, letting that seep in where it can.

AF: In terms of playing with Angel and Jeremy, how does their presence influence the material that you write, if it does at all?

AT: Well I think they just have their very own very specific styles which I’d been familiar with before asking them to play. Even if I’m writing most of the stuff, when I play music with people I like it to be as much of a collaboration as it possibly can be, because I think that’s what makes it the most fun and interesting for everybody involved. I’ve never really been in a band where just somebody is like always like “You do exactly this, and you do exactly this, it has to be this way, and just play the same thing the same way like every night.” I think just allowing the way they play and their styles and their ideas to come into it, also gave the record its own sound too. Jeremy has a really wild kinda crazy drum style which is unlike other stuff I’ve done before. And Angel is just a really good singer and keyboard player and the ability to have all that happen in a live setting was really key to being able to record the record like I wanted to do.

AF: You went to Culver City to record it, I read, and recorded in a Medieval-themed recording studio?

AT: Haha, yeah. I guess you could say it was Medieval themed. It just had that look to it. It’s called The Lair and this guy Larry built it. Larry from the Lair – he’s an awesome guy, this kooky, old studio head that has worked in all these different studios over the years in L.A. and finally decided to build his own. It’s strange because it’s only a word-of-mouth kinda thing, he doesn’t really advertise or anything for it. In this day and age, in the studio world, that’s kind of a tough road to go down. Because, you know, a lot of people are doing the home studio thing and the industry just isn’t making as much money. But he just built this whole thing himself, did all the woodworking, wood and iron doors and chandeliers. It’s not a huge place – in terms of studios it’s actually pretty small – but it’s real nice, and it sounded really good. He kind of modeled it after Phil Spector’s old studio in a way and so it has this tiled bathroom that is really good for these natural reverbs, which I like a lot. I don’t like a lot of artificial reverb when I record so it was cool to be able to use the bathroom in different ways to get cool room sounds.

AF: In terms of production, what were some of the choices you made specific to this project? When you listen to the record front to back it feels different from what I’ve heard on other releases of yours.

AT: Oh yeah? How would you say? If I may ask.

AF: It’s tough to say, not being a musician or a producer or having the technical background to discuss that. But I guess, to use a sort of writerly description of what I hear as a listener, you mention the reverb from the bathroom, and you can hear where that’s happening, but in other places the mix sort of flattens out, and then comes back in where all the different elements stand out sharply against one another, almost like there’s a ghost, like another member of the band kind of coming and going and distorting things slightly.

AT: That’s cool, that’s cool. I would say all that stuff definitely happens. I think for me the production is like a tool and like a member of the band in a way and I love being in the studio and making a record… I think listening to music should be fun, first and foremost. It’s emotional. People get a lot out of it in their own way and everybody hears everything different, but for me, growing up listening to music, what I got out of it was the fact that anybody could go into the studio and do all this crazy kind of stuff. Like you’re saying, things get all crazy and distorted here, but then it’s totally normal there, in another place. I think it’s just a fun thing to do.

It also definitely happens with Animal Collective too. I think probably even more so – things are just more deranged and distorted more with Animal Collective, whereas with Slasher Flicks it’s kinda probably the most straightforward drum sounds I feel like I’ve ever worked with. In general in today’s musical landscape, I think there’s just so much music out there that is reverb heavy and distant and I think there was a time in the seventies and sixties where everything was a lot like crisper and punchier and close-up. These days, for me musically, I’m interested in doing records that are a little bit more like that, but also really spacious and allow you to hear the room.

My friend and I were listening to the first ZZ Top record. And he was just kinda like “This just seems like music that sounds really good because it happened then and there at that time with these guys playing like they played.” And it doesn’t seem like a lot of music is like that any more, where it’s just a matter of three people coming together and playing a song in a certain way and that’s what you hear, basically. So I think more lately, I’m definitely interested in trying to do that. And I think maybe some of that ghostly sort of studio stuff that you’re hearing is also just us, kind of doing that and making sounds and songs shift as we play live.

AF: How do the connotations associated with slasher flicks – gory B-movies, having a graininess to it, being low-budget, for instance – how do you feel those sort of thematic elements make their way into the record?

AT: To me there’s always a visual side to music when I’m making it, [but] it doesn’t necessarily fit into the way the music sounds specifically unless you can tap into my head maybe. For me, the notion of the basic slasher flick brings to mind youth and teens and a party atmosphere and all this stuff that you kind of encounter in slasher movies. Like the “scream queen” and that sort of thing. That side of it is also in garage and psychedelic music. I’ve always kinda drawn a similarity between horror movies and psychedelic music, and I think it just has to do with these drastic shifts in mood and things getting really wild and then things getting calm – it happens in both of these art forms. That contrast, to me, in music is really important – having moments of super light stuff and having moments of dark stuff. It makes it all work.

I think there’s something about the cheap [special effects]. Now we look back on it like it’s cheesy and rudimentary or something, but the time, in the seventies and eighties, it was new. Now it’s an art form to me. It’s something that’s not going to be recreated unless people are doing “retro” stuff, and it just seems like people wouldn’t even want to recreate that kind of thing, especially in horror if they want to be effective. Just that kind of cheap thrill – like fake blood – there’s something about it that just fits into the music, too.

AF: I think it’s very interesting to draw a parallel between those visuals and the music, because a lot of these movies, too have incredible soundtracks. You have Goblin doing Suspiria, you have these weird synthy interludes that are so off the wall and creepy noise effects and theatrical sounds and the like.

AT: It’s definitely those kind of movies that got me more into music when I was in high school, like the soundtrack to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I mean, it works effectively with the movie but I’d never really experienced anything that was just sort of noise like that, you know? It got me into sound music, people banging on pots and pans and industrial tools being used in music. It made me go out and discover bands like Faust and stuff like that.

AF: When you have a new idea for a song or sound, does it automatically get filed as “Oh, this is good for Animal Collective” or “This is a Slasher Flicks thing” or “This is really something else?”

AT: Yeah, usually. Especially with Animal Collective, at least the last few records, we sort of start talking about ideas before actually going into it so it gives me an idea at least, of the types of songs I’d probably write.

AF: Almost like a little bookmark or something.

AT: Yeah. And then, other things, sometimes it’s like I’ll know a song has more of an electronic sound so I’ll have to use it for something that’s a little bit more electronic, or this song I’m writing could be really good sample-based. It usually works that way and then they’re all kind of like grouped together after a while.

AF: Do you feel like you have ideas for the next records you want to do? Either for Slasher Flicks, or Animal Collective or something else altogether?

AT: I’m kind of in a middle world right now, I’ve got a lot ideas floating around with Animal Collective and on my own too, but everything’s just sort of coming together. This year was mostly meant to be more like a year off, just because I did so much touring last year. As much as I love just working on stuff I think it’s also trying to like not focus too intensely on it right now. But probably by the end of the year the ideas will become a little bit clearer.

I feel like people that I play music with just are doing a lot of different things. With Animal Collective, at least, we plan to take this year off. Brian had a baby, actually, and Noah is working on a solo record. We take this time to have those individual moments and there comes a time when it just feels natural to get back together and start working and I know we’re talking about that time but it’s hard to say exactly when and exactly what it will be.

Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks West Coast Tour Dates:
08/23 Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
08/24 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
08/25 Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Atrium
08/27 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
08/28 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
08/29 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret

Animal Collective DJ Set Tour Dates:
08/02 Miami, FL – Grand Central $
09/10 Philadelphia, PA – The Dolphin ^
09/12 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl ^
10/02 Philadelphia, PA – The Dolphin %
10/03 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl %
10/05 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall %
11/12 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall %
11/13 Philadelphia, PA – The Dolphin %
11/14 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl %

$ DJ set featuring Animal Collective members Deakin and Avey Tare
^ DJ set featuring Animal Collective members Geologist and Deakin
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LIVE REVIEW: HAIM @ The Wiltern, L.A.

After appearing at almost every music festival that summer had to offer this year, HAIM returned to Los Angeles for two nights of homecoming shows that were destined to be nothing short of a kick ass homage to the city that made them who they are. Lots of L.A. love was being thrown around for their second night at the Wiltern. Their openers, a valley girl punk band called Bleached, got the 818 area code sistas to rally for most of their show (that’s not to say the gentlemen and non 818ers in the crowd, which made up a considerable amount of the audience that night, were not feelin’ the love).

Bleached was the perfect opener for what was going to be a rockin’ girl fest. Sisters Jessica and Jennifer Clavin exude that classic punk girl attitude, a seemingly effortless style of performing that feels like a peek inside a garage jam session. Later in the show, Este Haim would admit that that’s exactly the vibe they were going for – the old jam sessions they used to have at their house parties when their parents were out of town. Bleached could certainly be that band straight out of the epic house party from your teenage years. With little stage production and a pretty packed house, they were not phased by opening for an act as wildly popular as HAIM; they treated the crowd like the old chums that brought the keg to the party. The performer-audience relationship deepened when their stage hand started throwing out Capri Suns to the crowd. Within their hour long set, they played a good chunk of their latest LP, 2013’s Ride Your Heart, along with some older stuff from a few of their earlier EPs. Even up in the very last row of The Wiltern on the top balcony, it felt like a kickback California punk show, with lots of sweat included.

By the time HAIM took the stage, the air in the theatre had congealed into a sticky humid mess. I wasn’t even in the pit and I was fading fast until that echoing thud of “Falling” rung through the night. From that point on the energy never ebbed as the crowd erupted immediately into a dance party. The best thing about a live HAIM show is that something comes through in the flesh that is absent on the recorded album. Aside from that attitude that can only be exuded by Este’s infamous bass face, the sisters’ instrumentation is exuberant in a live setting. The bass is more jarring, the vocal harmonies are more impressive and Danielle flashes her chops as a guitarist in a way that makes you wonder why the hell there aren’t more guitar solos on the album.

As they have been doing for months, they covered “Oh Well” by Fleetwood Mac three songs into the set, further proving that there’s something very classic and also eclectic about their style. Their rendition of the song shows that that their roots are founded deeply in classic rock. The best performance of the night was easily “My Song 5,”which was right in the middle of the set. Este admitted to the crowd that playing it is her favorite part of the night because the song gets people to “shake their asses,” and the audience happily fulfilled her predictions, lifting their voices in the best sing along of the night as every single person in the place chanted “Honey, I’m not your honey pie.” And I certainly wasn’t alone in my air guitarring and head banging for this song.

Afterward, the girls kicked it down a notch with a new rendition of “Running if You Call My Name.” This version features Danielle solely on guitar for the first two verses and doesn’t pick up until the bridge. It was yet another moment in the show that Danielle stole the performance by virtue of how talented a guitarist she is. They finished off the set with “Forever” and a confetti explosion to boot, which in my experience makes any concert ten times more magical.

When they returned for an encore, Danielle jumped on the drums for a cover of Beyonce’s “XO.” Every single girl in the crowd went nuts for the Queen Bey cover its insanity rivaled only with the pandemonium that ensued with follow-up “The Wire.” I knew it would be the crowd favorite but people started dancing on the stairs and in the aisle- a girl in front of us literally took up the span of five seats for her overly excited dance move which involved sidling back and forth and throwing her arms out as wide as she could. I was disappointed to see that a lot of people bailed after “The Wire” – if you’re a true HAIM fan you are not going to miss the “Let Me Go” finale. It’s just not right. The girls complete every show with this rendition of the song, culminating with all three sisters wailing on drums in a primal evocation. There’s a strong sense of finality that comes with this ending and it’s blasphemous to willingly miss it.

Whether you are in the front row of the pit or at the highest point on the balcony, when you are at a HAIM show you become a part of the greater HAIM experience and will witness one of the best rock shows you’ve ever seen. It’s amazing that after months of nonstop touring, they can pull off two solid shows so effortlessly. Their stint on the road is coming to an end very soon, so I’m more than pleased that I caught one of these astounding homecoming shows. If you’re in Seattle or Portland you’ve got another chance to catch these incredible sisters before they play FYF Fest in Los Angeles; in October they head to Mexico City for Festival Corona Capital.

TRACK OF THE WEEK: Adia Victoria “Stuck In The South”

“Stuck In The South,” the debut single from the little-advertised shadow figure Adia Victoria (along with her band: Mason Hickman, Tiffany Minton and Ruby Rogers), is a curious matrix, at once single-mindedly powerful and also complex, made up of conflicting impulses.

Adia Victoria’s is not a voice that sidles in politely. Rather, it slams open the door with one callused fist, stalks into the joint, elbows you off your barstool, and orders a whiskey neat. The 28-year old South Carolina native has clearly practiced making herself heard, both in the crowded Nashville bar and honky-tonk circuit where she made her bones as a performer, and also as a means of escape from the American Gothic nightmare she describes in “Stuck In The South.”

“Yeah, I been thinkin’ about makin’ tracks,” Victoria sneers in the first verse of the song, “but the only road I know, it’s going to lead me back.” She sings with an animalistic glare, conjuring not only a clear picture of her stagnant, claustrophobic, sinister environment but also of herself as a character within it. Every twang on her guitar cuts like barbed wire, and it’s this anger, haunting and predatory, that makes the single so goddamned good. But in “Stuck In The South,” Victoria’s prowess as a storyteller is impressive too, and the track evokes the drawl and swagger of Southern rock and roll as colorfully as it does the “Southern hell” she’s trying to get away from. She seems to turn her fear of becoming a product of the South on its head, becoming unstuck not by running from her demons but by dominating them. The song immerses a listener in a three-dimensional environment, cinematically evocative and all the richer for its details and complexities.

Produced by Roger Moutenot (known for his work with Yo La Tengo), “Stuck In The South” is Victoria’s first foray into relative Internet mainstream. Her minimalist approach to releasing music–even now, after her single’s release resulted in a resounding critical chorus demanding more–makes a powerful song even punchier. Dig into “Stuck In The South” below, via Soundcloud.

LIVE REVIEW: Dan Deacon @ The Glass House, Pomona, CA

photo 3 (3) — Dan Deacon – Photo by Callie Ryan

About an hour from Los Angeles is Pomona, well known for car dealerships and a strip of perfectly creepy looking antique shops with pastel pink and green exteriors, but there was something very magical in the air the night Dan Deacon stopped by for a one-off show in the middle of his stint supporting Arcade Fire’s massive arena tour. He had specifically taken the night off for a visit to The Glass House, a much celebrated all-ages venue located on a street that seems like something out of a ghost town, with the only exception being the pumped up high school cool cats congregating outside, resting on telephone poles, and performing tricks on their skateboards. However unassuming, by the night’s end my friends and I had decided the show was one of the best we had experienced in a very long time, or possibly in forever.

The show itself seemed to have around seventy people there, which in the large space of the venue created a dynamic for a comfortable, positive, and ridiculously friendly vibe. It seemed as though both the audience and Deacon were happy to be playing in a more intimate setting where, as he put it, “there were no chairs or bleachers.” After all, Deacon is known to put on shows that include interactive icebreaker type games involving his audience.

Opening up for Deacon were local indie rockers Jetpacks and Laserguns. Their stage set up included homemade, giant triangular neon signs and monitors with vertical lines which reacted to different sonic elements in the songs. The band played a plethora of new age electronic equipment, in addition to good ol’ guitar, drums, and bass. Though their sound is decidedly modern, their affinity for eighties sounds cropped up with a buoyant energy through the set – high frequency swirling noises, bass lines that fit perfectly in the groove of the drums, and squealing , buzzing synths that took on the tone of the laser beams referenced in the band’s moniker. Too often, a heavy reliance on these elements can make a band’s output seem distanced or sterile, but Jetpacks and Laserguns’ infectious enthusiasm and handmade crafting of visual elements make it clear that so much human love and energy have been put into this specific creative project.

photo 1 (3) — Jetpacks and Laserguns – Photo by Callie Ryan

Minutes after Jetpacks and Laserguns exited the stage, Dan Deacon began setting up his table of neon-tape-covered equipment in the middle of the floor – yes, the middle of the floor, not the stage! It was clear from the beginning of Deacon’s set that he is not only a musician, but also something of a comedian, a sort of goofily unhinged summer camp counselor bursting with ideas for wacky, feel-good social experiments in which everyone is encouraged to participate. He began the show with a rant about the future, aliens, and dualism, and after a mind-blowing first song, he ordered the audience to gather on either side of the room, wait until the drum and bass drop, and then race back to the middle in order to high- five as many people as possible. Quirky activities like these have long been built into Deacon’s sets as a means of disrupting typically passive audiences, and its nearly impossible not to smile and play along.

photo 2 (4) — Dan Deacon – Photo by Callie Ryan

My vantage point directly in front of Dan Deacon provided optimal grooving-out space (I put in a good hour of intense dancing, or rather primal jumping movements) and also allowed me to see how intricate Deacon’s actions are when layering his complex digital soundscapes. He covers all of his gear in striped neon pink, green, yellow, and blue tape, creating a space where even electronic music geeks such as myself would not be distracted by the kind of equipment he was using. Every time he turned a knob, or pressed a new button on his “table of mysteries,” sounds would blast out of the speakers that had so much texture and were so tangible, it felt as though I could touch them and put them in my pocket to take home.

photo 4 (3) — Dan Deacon – Photo by Callie Ryan

Most of the set relied on on songs from America, released in 2012 on Domino Records. However, Deacon performed so much noise improvisation throughout his set, that each song he played felt stimulating, new, and incredibly special. For instance, during his last song, in order to create a specific distorted and crunchy noise, he scraped the top of his microphone on the giant speakers behind him; it is creative flourishes such as these that make Deacon’s music so unique, moving, and memorable. Part of what his work hinges on is his incredible abilities as a curator of interesting sounds. But Deacon doesn’t rest on those laurels – instead, he spends the entirety of his shows creating a community, no small task in just a few short hours. But by the end of the night all seventy of the newly sweaty and blissed out audience members felt a little more familiar with one another as a result of Deacon’s ability to do so. It’s no wonder that Arcade Fire have enlisted him to help inspire party-like atmospheres in clubs ten times the size of The Glass House, and he’s certainly risen to that challenge. You can check out his website for upcoming dates.

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LIVE REVIEW: Landlady @ Death By Audio

Landlady are more like the upstairs tenant making an excessive racket than the curmudgeonly old woman banging on the ceiling with a broom handle from downstairs that their name suggests. That being said, it would hardly be out of character for the Brooklyn-based band to incorporate the broom-banging technique into their already experimental percussion – in fact, it’s the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to songwriting that has garnered the band so much buzz of late. On the heels of releasing their much-praised sophomore record Upright Behavior and a grandiose appearance at Rough Trade last month that saw an additional 25 musicians added to an already effusive five-member lineup, Landlady kicked off the biggest tour they’ve yet undertaken last night at Death By Audio in Williamsburg.

The place wasn’t packed but it was profusely sweaty, prompting nearly half the band to remove their shirts after only a few numbers. Lead-singer Adam Schatz was a bit more coy, promising to undo a shirt button for each tune played after beginning the set with “Under The Yard.” The song’s opening sing-along provided an almost religious call-to-arms; like the dimming of the house lights to signal the end of intermission, the harmonies were a clue that something major was about to happen. And that’s how Landlady approaches music-making: every moment of it is a life-altering event. They don’t shy away from anything, whether it’s a key-change or stylistic shift or unflinching lyrics. They just go with it.

Schatz appeared a bit jittery at first, his between-song banter more than a little self-conscious. But if the shout outs and introductions were a bit awkward, his vocal delivery was hardly that. “This is a song about what you’d do if your sex robot was malfunctioning,” Schatz sputtered, and the band launched into “Girl,” arguably one of Landlady’s most accessible jams. It’s as fidgety and anthemic as the rest of Upright Behavior, but manages to bottle up its mood swings and distill its movements in a more concise way than the record’s most sprawling efforts.

Landlady does extravagant very well, to be sure. There were very few moments during last night’s show that didn’t feel epic, and through the continuously shifting sonic motifs, “epic” was really the only constant. There were lush harmonies, bouts of blues rock, funkified bass solos, hushed and folksy moments, dissonant breaks, even hints of post-punk here and there. If the band’s aim is to keep listeners on their toes with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it genre mish-mashing then they’re doing an excellent job, and there’s no idea they’re unable to tackle with gusto and talent. For some, that’s Landlady’s biggest asset.

For a listener with specific proclivities, though, the rapid-fire change-ups might not dovetail seamlessly. The someone who loves the watery reverb dripping through the pulsating, urgent percussion that propels “The Globe” might feel lost in that track’s meandering choruses – though “chorus” sometimes feels like too basic a term when talking about this band – wherein everything but Schatz’s eccentric vocals drop off, and further confused by the caterwauling build to the bridge. There’s something for everyone, yes, but at what point does it become an indecipherable melange that’s could be seen as pandering, banking on the fact that someone, somewhere, is going to like at least one part of any given song? Landlady are certainly more earnest and interested in their art for that to be the case, but either way it can be almost to exhausting to keep up with. If you’re not actively listening, you’ll lose the thread very quickly.

And it seems that active listening and audience participation truly are Landlady’s ultimate goals. Like someone nagging her tenants for rent, Schatz implored the scattered audience to move toward the stage, get close to one another, sweatiness be damned. He ramble-shouted about being thankful for the existence of Death By Audio, ruminating on the fine details that come together to run a DIY space in Brooklyn, thanking everyone from the in-house booking to the muralists who painted the walls. He asked the audience to interpret the room as a collective energy, and led everyone in a chant of “ALWAYS” as the band finished out the set with “Above My Ground” (at which point his now-unbuttoned shirt came flying off as promised). If felt more than a little schmaltzy, but Landlady isn’t a band to shy away from sentimentality. Like similarly sincere and self-aware band-of-the-moment Ought, Landlady ask their fans to exist with them in the very moment, eschewing the passive norm. Landlady give particularly powerhouse performances, and because their wide range of styles will appeal to pretty much everyone at least some of the time, their upcoming tour is not only their first, but likely their last before they start headlining huge venues and hitting the festival circuit.

Take a listen to “Above My Ground,” check out tour dates below and catch them while you can.

08/09/14 – Champaign, IL @ High Dive
08/10/14 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
08/11/14 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
08/13/14 – Billings, MT @ The Railyard
08/14/14 – Spokane, WA @ The Barlett
08/15/14 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
08/16/14 – Portland, OR @ MusicfestNW – Tom McCall Waterfront Park
08/18/14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
08/20/14 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
08/21/14 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brewing Co.
08/22/14 – Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door
08/23/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Satellite
08/24/14 – Flagstaff, AZ @ The Green Room
08/26/14 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
08/27/14 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s Upstairs
08/28/14 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
08/29/14 – New Orleans, LA @ Hi Ho Lounge
09/02/14 – Nashville, TN @ The Stone Fox
09/03/14 – Atlanta, GA @ 529
09/04/14 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Fest
09/05/14 – Richmond, VA @ Fall Line Fest
09/07/14 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
09/24/14 – Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness
09/25/14 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
09/26/14 – Cincinnati, OH @ MidPoint Music Fest
10/15/14 – Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
10/16/14 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
10/17/14 – Norman, OK @ The Opolis
10/19/14 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
10/20/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
10/21/14 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
10/25/14 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
10/27/14 – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
10/28/14 – St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House

LIVE REVIEW: Pitchfork Music Festival 2014

072014_0342_1000 — All photos by Ellie White Photography

Pitchfork Fest 2014 came and went in a flash. Literally. Peruse our photo editorial from the weekend, courtesy of our photo editor, Ellie White, who snagged highlights from all of our favorite shows over the three day extravaganza situated in Chicago’s beautiful Union Park. Our personal faves from the spectacularly-curated lineup this year included sets from the ever-brooding black-metal gents of Deafheaven; glam goddesses in black, the Dum Dum Girls; headliners Beck (whose set topped the best of the fest list for me, hands down without question), Neutral Milk Hotel and Kendrick Lamar (though Danny Brown–who won best hair of all time with his forest green ombre–and Earl Sweatshirt battled it out for best rap performance in our opinion); a stunning, once in a generation set from shoegaze pioneers Slowdive (Rachel Goswell’s dress looked like sexy, glimmering armor); a wildly exuberant performance from Tune-yards –whose addition of African Dance inspired backup choreography had everyone in a frenzy; Boundary-pushing electronic music from The Haxan Cloak and Factory Floor (um, can we please hear it for that badass drummer??); Intelligent ambient down-tempo from heartthrob Jon Hopkins and a performance from the Range that could put anyone else’s obsession with and knowledge of rap jams to shame. Oh and I think everyone is officially in love with FKA Twigs and Neneh Cherry.

Honorable mentions include Majical Cloudz, whose keyboard broke after the second song. As a result, lead singer Devon Walsh performed an array of songs sung acapella (at one point standing up on a chair to belt out Magic, leaving the entire audience in tears), stand up comedy and audience-participation fueled beat boxing. At the end of the set, keyboardist Matthew Otto, so adobrably contrite and just adorable in general, had us all count down from 10, and then proceeded to smash the defunct synth to smithereens for all the world to see. A lifelong dream of his come true, he proclaimed.

All in all it was an amazing, sunny weekend full of cantankerous, gorgeous, feisty, live performances from some of the very best and brightest talent that exists in music today. We can’t wait to see what the fine folks over at Pitchfork have in store for next year. In the meantime, read on and enjoy.

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Pharmacy “Spells”

Keeping the Old Flame/Burger Records ethos of bratty, summer-loving bliss alive, The Pharmacy times the release of their brand new album to perfectly coincide with the wind down of the dog days of summer. Aptly titled Spells, it’s a hypnotic, psych-tinged journey through an untamed, kaleidoscopic wilderness. Filled with campfire-ready jams constructed from sludgy strumming and hazy vocals, the entire album oozes a relaxed, chilled out sensibility perfect for any summer afternoon soaked in bud (light).

From start to finish, it’s a sun-drenched sabbatical that screams zero responsibilities and even fewer reservations. Exclusively filled by short, sweet tunes, Spells is ideal easy-listening for any reverb-loving appetite. It’s the kind of music that the descriptor “garage-y” was coined for. Disheveled, disorganized and brief enough to keep ahold of the even the shortest of attention spans, it’s a fun exercise in 70s fuzz rock nostalgia, though one that admittedly suffers a bit through extensive aesthetic adherence.

Take the album’s first single, “Masten Lake Lagoon,” which starts off with cooing harmonics that 180 into rollicky, hair-tousling riffs within the span of seconds. Turning into something akin to your friend’s noodly, improvised set, it’s intentionally disjointed and somewhat frazzled in its direction.

But the surprises end there. It’s obvious that The Pharmacy shy away from any notion of overarching concept, as there is no driving narrative force behind their collection of anthems loosely united by themes of fleeting summer romance and drugged out dalliances. Yet at the same time, they don’t even have that excuse to defend themselves against accusations that all their songs are very short and adhere to a similar sound. It’s a carefully curated style and they’re good at keeping it consistent, which depending on how you look at it, could be a good or bad thing.

Because while short, sweet and rascally are all great buzzword ingredients for stoned summer bliss, there’s something about the album that leaves you wanting more. Yes, there is stylistic variety in the form of tunes like the swingy “Cool and Calm,” the sweet “Anna Bella” or the wallowy “Strange,” but it’s more like you gave the drummer another Valium rather than any notion of real musical innovation. Because while it’s a fun, amicable and a grab-bag of other positive, peace n’ love-related sentiments, by the closing track you’re just itching for something that isn’t another 3 minute long fuzz-infused, drawl-heavy sleeper.

But then again, the young, dumb and drugged thing is a conscious aesthetic choice. And while it’s a shtick that doesn’t work for everyone, this hint of scuzzy stoner love is fitting for days where you’re bored at mom’s and the AC is broken. It’s the kind of sound that there’s a definitive time and place for, as it’s the kind of music that convinces DIY-lovers and high school guitarists that the jam ethos is still alive and that any dude with a drum machine and tambourine can partially record a tape in the back of his dad’s Winnebago.

Distinctly West Coast and imbued with a blatant devil-may-care attitude, it’s a record infused with a pure, naive sort of idea of fun. And while the picky ones may yearn for a bit more variety, The Pharmacy should still be content with the fact that they produced an album that will loop in the background of many PBR-fueled parties this summer.

ALBUM REVIEW: Bear In Heaven “Time Is Over One Day Old”

Time is Over One Day Old, the long awaited fourth studio album from Brooklyn based Bear In Heaven is, sure enough, about the concept of time. Seasons, memory, space, dreaming, and reflection… they all seem present and accounted for. The time theme has a nostalgic slant to it- there is something wistful and aching in the tones and a kind of internal or external reflection pronounced in the lyrics. Undoubtedly, Bear In Heaven retain their complicated, brilliant layering musically that can be found in their previous albums. A lot of the songs have a new wave sensibility- a thumping beat mixed with skilled fast paced instrumentation and ambient synthizer effects that could easily be danced or swayed to. There is an artful building of sounds in each and every song: dissonant and pure, conflict and resolution.

The first track, “Autumn”, kicks off with a few eerie dissonant notes that are quickly interrupted by a driving beat, leading it then into a fun synth-infused summer jam. The use of sounds as building blocks, particularly with the implementation of odd effects throughout, showcase skilled compositional ability–nearly orchestral-esque– in the way they successfully mold the track together. “Time Between”, boasts airy synth juxtaposed with fun, meticulous bass lines paired with soaring vocals, and gives the song an ambient, relaxed vibe. In “Dissolve The Walls”, vocals are used to assist with the layering in of sounds, lending the song the quality of an eerie choir chanting over the synth tracks that moor the composition as a whole, while the pulsating, grainy, gain-y beat evolves.

A haunting reticence and reflection hovers over some of the rhythmic synth-rock beats that pervade various tracks throughout the album, particularly In “If I Were to Lie”, in which vocalist Jon Philpot chants “If I were to lie in telling you how I’m dealing… better off alone, better when you need me.” Similarly, in “The Sun and the Moon and The Stars”, the song tells a narrative about traveling through space, a journey that leaves the protagonist disappointed in what he finds as he croons repetitively over the expansive ambient tone, “Is this it, or is this it?”. “Memory Heart” has a drum line that thumps in tandem with the bass like a heart beat with a deliciously dissonant guitar line and crawling synth melodies, which all resolve in the audibly spacious chorus, to start back up again. Quite frankly, this track rules.

Time is Over One Day Old still undoubtedly retains the complex musicality and dissonant underpinnings of their previous albums, yet shows a discernible evolution in both arenas, that allow it to pack a punch that their prior work hasn’t.

The album comes out August 5th on Dead Ocean.

In the meantime, listed to “Autumn” here via Soundcloud.

Their North American tour dates include the following:

Mon. Aug. 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade (in-store)

Wed. Aug. 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

Thu. Aug. 21 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair

Fri. Aug. 22 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel

Sat. Aug. 23 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle (Back Room)

Sun. Aug. 24 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West

Tue. Aug. 26 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon

Wed. Aug. 27 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock)

Thu. Aug. 28 – Austin, TX @ The Parish

Tue. Sept. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex

Wed. Sept. 3 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent

Fri. Sept. 5 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios

Sat. Sept. 6 – Spokane, WA @ Bartfest

Sun. Sept. 7 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey

Wed. Sept. 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry

Thu. Sept. 11 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

Fri. Sept. 12 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar

Sat. Sept. 13 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern

Sun. Sept. 14 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa

Tue. Sept. 16 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Wed. Sept. 17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

TRACK OF THE WEEK: Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar “Never Catch Me”

TRACK PREMIERE: Sariah “Aware, Alive, Awake”

ALBUM REVIEW: Duologue “Never Get Lost”

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Chastity Belt “Black Sail”

INTERVIEW: WIFE

LIVE REVIEW: First City Music Festival, Monterey CA

FIRST GLANCE: Video Premier, Moxxi “From Here To Oblivion”

ALBUM REVIEW: Helado Negro “Double Youth”

INTERVIEW + LIVE REVIEW: Nick Hakim @ Baby’s All Right

LIVE REVIEW: Museum of Love @ The Wick

LIVE REVIEW: Flagship @ The Chapel

ALBUM REVIEW: Weyes Blood “The Innocents”

LIVE REVIEW: Robyn and Royksopp @ Pier 97

LIVE REVIEW: Tokyo Police Club, Portugal. The Man, Grouplove @Avila Beach Resort, San Luis Obispo, CA

ARTIST PROFILE: 20 Eyes

ALBUM REVIEW: Israel Nash “Rain Plans”

INTERVIEW: Avey Tare

LIVE REVIEW: HAIM @ The Wiltern, L.A.

TRACK OF THE WEEK: Adia Victoria “Stuck In The South”

LIVE REVIEW: Dan Deacon @ The Glass House, Pomona, CA

LIVE REVIEW: Landlady @ Death By Audio

LIVE REVIEW: Pitchfork Music Festival 2014

ALBUM REVIEW: The Pharmacy “Spells”

ALBUM REVIEW: Bear In Heaven “Time Is Over One Day Old”

Ticket Giveaways

Each week Audiofemme gives away a set of tickets to our featured shows in NYC! Scroll down to enter for the following shindigs.

See you there! xoxo