Posts Tagged ‘New York’

PALE LIGHTS – ” You And I “

Posted: February 27, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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There’s more than a little Orange Juice in this jangly song from Brooklyn’s Pale Lights (which features members of Comet Gain, Crystal Stilts, The Ladybug Transistor and others). It’s a new 7″ that’s part of Slumberland Records’ 30th Anniversary singles series. Pale Lights formed 2011, in Brooklyn. Lead singer and songwriter Sutton was a founding member of Comet Gain, and has played with a number of groups over the years, mostly drumming for the likes of Velocette, The Soft City, The Projects, Kicker, and Cinema Red and Blue. Adler played bass for Crystal Stilts, and Cinema Red and Blue, Nienaber has been a member of Great Lakes, and Goldstein drummed for Kevin Alvir’s Knight School. Across two albums and a clutch of in-demand singles the band has established themselves as exemplary exponents of a classic style of pop that aligns with them groups like Felt, The Go-Betweens, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, and just about all of the best bands from the Flying Nun and Creation catalogs.

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In other words, just the sort of band that we love here at Slumberland. “You And I” is Pale Lights‘ contribution to our SLR30 Singles Series and it’s a lovely way to spend three minutes and twelve seconds. Sporting an indelible melody and some very fine guitar strum ‘n’ jangle, it is the sort of tune that 7″ singles were invented. By the time Gary Olson’s trumpet comes in at the mid-way point you know that you’re in the presence of greatness. On the flip “Say You’ll Be The One” is a winner as well, slowing things down for a stately bit of late-night rumination. One of the finest indie-pop singles this month and a very worthy addition to the SLR catalog.
releases April 24th, 2020

Pale Lights are from New York. They are:

Philip Sutton: rhythm guitar and vocals
Suzanne Nienaber: vocals and keyboards
Andy Adler: lead guitar
Maria Pace: bass
Lisa Goldstein: drums

UV TV – ” Happy “

Posted: February 16, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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For Ian Bernacett and Rose Vastola, the masterminds behind UV-TV, 2018 was spent writing and recording the 9-track LP while simultaneously uprooting from Gainesville and migrating north to New York City, where the album was finally mixed and mastered.

HAPPY unabashedly explores the tropes of letting go of the past with a amicable catharsis that proves they can evolve their sound without losing their edge. Despite the name, the overall tone of the record comes across as a moodier interpretation of their almost jovial punk attitude—with the title track exemplifying that HAPPY is a much more personal and thoughtful album from the band. Right out of the gate, the production is cleaner and more buttoned up, perhaps signifying that this record is more serious in nature.

While Ryan Hopewell’s charged drumming kicks off the first track, “Hide”, giving us the UV-TV energy we’re familiar with from previous records, stylistic nuances quickly prove that the band has been drawing on some deeper influences, including The Pastels, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Slowdive among others.

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As the arc of the album brings us to a more vulnerable place like on the track, World, it becomes obvious there’s a new kind of sincerity in their choices compared to the last two releases. By the final track, Falling Down, the entirety of the album has conceptualized the personal and musical growth of UVTV since we last heard them in 2017.

Gainesville-formed, Now Queens-based band UV-TV play classic indie-pop with a punk motor. Their 2019 LP, “Happy”, features Rose Vastola’s sweet and snarled lead vocals—offering tuneful pop pleasure in contrast with their pummeling rhythm section. There are hints of ’90s shoegaze, ’80s dream pop and modern punk, but none of these labels fully characterize their driving euphoria or moody punk-pop appeal.

The Band:

Rose Vastola – Bass, Vocals
Ian Bernacett – Guitar, Vocals
Ryan Hopewell – Drums

UV-TV “HIDE” Official Music Video from the LP “HAPPY” released on Deranged Records July 2019.

PATIO – ” Essentials “

Posted: February 16, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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After a few years of small tours and an EP, Patio have finally put out their great debut album, “Essentials”. The vocals are deadpan and detached as electric guitar shards contribute to their off-kilter post-punk vibe. Essentials is filled with violent visions as a form of release and repair. Alice Suh weaves intricate drumbeat webs over the vocals of Lindsey Paige-McCloy and Loren DiBlasi. Whether airy and aloof or heavy with a lingering drawl, their voices are both eerie and mesmerizing. All at once, Patio are a poignant, dark, grotesque, and really affecting listen.

Post-punk trio Patio happily do more with less. Their 2019 debut album, Essentials, is marked by cutting riffs and chunky bass lines, and while both can easily hold their own, their vocals are particularly mystifying. They take turns on vocal duties—often joining in for harmonies, speaking with detachment or singing gently.

Each mode helps them illustrate complicated relationship dynamics and insecurities, and they often do so with dry humor. In short, Patio make 21st century punk for stylish, antsy twenty somethings desperately clinging to their last ounce of hope.

Patio’s debut album Essentials out April 5th on Fire Talk.

KYLE FORESTER – ” Marigold “

Posted: February 6, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Woods / Purple Mountains / Crystal Stilts keyboardists Kyle Forester makes lovely, bucolic pop as a solo artists and will release new solo album “Hearts in Gardens” later this month. Here’s the second track off the record, the sun-dappled, lazy soft and slow track “Marigold.”

A lot has happened since Crystal Stilts’ Kyle Forester dropped his first solo album in 2016—much of which has to do with his busy touring schedules as a member of Woods’ live jam band, as well as the Purple Mountains live collective that never got a chance to spread its wings. With this newfound passion for collaboration, though, Forester has recorded a follow-up to his self-titled debut, which seems him working with his own dream team of a hired band, including production from Woods’ Jarvis Taveniere and harp contributions from Mary Lattimore.

Forester is sharing the second single from his forthcoming Hearts in Gardens, which is a hushed experimental number that sounds less like the dense heartland rock of The War on Drugs than the first. “Marigold” instead smears a number of surprising instrumentals together to form a hazy, psychedelic pastiche of sounds to accompany his acoustic guitar.

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Kyle Forester: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Hampus Öhman-Frölund: Drums, Paul Jenkins: Bass, Sam Kulik: Trombone
Michael O’Neill: Guitar, Mary Lattimore: Harp on “On the Way Down”

releases February 21, 2020

All Songs by Kyle Forester.

MARGARET GLASPY – ” Born Yesterday ” EP

Posted: January 30, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Margaret Glaspy surprised fans with three new songs on a brand new EP called “Born Yesterday”. She describes it as a bookend to her debut album Emotions And Math — the stunning, 2016 full-length that launched her career, a world tour and landed on many top 10 lists for the year, including The Fat Angel Sings.

Margaret Glaspy spoke about these new songs, how they end one chapter of her life but also lead to the next adventure. “I was on the road so much — in a bus, in the van, on the train, in the cab — over these last two years, I had these few songs that I’d written. It didn’t feel like it was really the next record. It just felt pretty intuitive to release them as what I had accomplished since [Emotions And Math], which I’m very proud of. But it is hard to write on the road.”

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Her EP Born Yesterdayis available to hear now from ATO Records.

SON OF CLOUD – ” How to Love You Today “

Posted: January 30, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Born in the flatlands of Texas and raised in the jungles of South America, Jonathan Seale was dubbed “Son of Cloud” as a child by the Yukpa indigenous tribe of Venezuela. His self-titled LP, ten years in the making, explores questions related to his own family tribes – both the ones inherited and the ones created by choice.

On his debut album, Jonathan Seale, who performs under the name Son of Cloud, writes an extended ode to love. As Allen Ginsberg or Walt Whitman before him, Seale comments on the state of the world through his personal lens – but at the end of the day, the eponymous album is a romantic album. The album’s opening track “How to Love You Today” sets the scene for a record that explores both beauty and difficulty.

Son of Cloud’s self-titled debut album (released April 12th, 2019 via Mason Jar Music).

The THRILL IS GONE – A Tribute To B.B KING The Capital Theatre New York February 16th-17th 2020

Posted: January 30, 2020 in MUSIC
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The Thrill Is Gone: A Tribute To B.B. King will feature two unique nights of music (daily lineup varies) with performances by Anthony Hamilton, Bob Margolin, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, David Hidalgo, Derek Trucks, Ivan Neville, Jamey Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, John Scofield, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Little Steven, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Shemekia Copeland, Southside Johnny, Steve Cropper, Susan Tedeschi, Tony TC Coleman, Warren Haynes, and William Bell. More very specials guests to be announced in the coming weeks. Grammy® Award-winning producer and legendary drummer, Steve Jordan, will serve as musical director.

A portion of proceeds from The Thrill Is Gone: A Tribute To B.B. King will benefit the Seva Foundation, a global nonprofit eye care organization that transforms lives and strengthens communities by restoring sight and preventing blindness. The SEVA Foundation was co-founded by Wavy Gravy, a close friend of B.B. King, for over 40 years and whose moniker was given to him by King at the Texas International Pop Festival in 1969.

OKAY KAYA – ” Psych Ward “

Posted: January 28, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Psych Ward is an irresistible slice of slacker-indie that is notable for it’s resigned, literal lyrics, and was inspired by Kaya Wilkins’ own experience in a mental health institution. Kaya’s Jagjaguwar debut, “Watch This Liquid Pour Itself”, due on 24th January 2020, is filled with images of pools of sweat, oceans, and other forms of wetness. On her first single, Kaya has been playing music since she was a tween, learning songs on her acoustic guitar and listening to Cody Chesnutt. And, being from originally from Norway, she also played in a black metal project. Although she remains at the center of her artistic process,

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Psych Ward’ from ‘Watch This Liquid Pour Itself’ by Okay Kaya, available January 24th, 2020 on Jagjaguwar Records. Released January 24th, 2020.

FRANKIE ROSE – ” Cage Tropical “

Posted: January 16, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Frankie Rose 'Cage Tropical' LP

After spending years as a major presence in Brooklyn’s thriving music scene, Frankie Rose relocated to her familial home of Los Angeles for 18 months with the intention of establishing yet another moment in her storied indie rock métier. Gradually, she found herself short on sleep, funds and optimism. “I moved to LA, drama ensued and I ended up on a catering truck. I was like, how can this be my life after being a touring musician and living off of music. I had really lost my way and I thought I was totally done.”

Through sleepless nights of listening to broadcaster Art Bell’s paranormal-themed archives, Frankie’s thoughts had turned to “who am I, I’m not cut out for this business, it’s not for me.” She continues, “I was literally in my room in L.A., not knowing how I was going to get out. But out of it all, I just decided to keep making music, because it is what I love and what I do – regardless of the outcome.”

Towards the end of her time spent in Los Angeles, Frankie reached out to Jorge Elbrecht (Tamaryn, Gang Gang Dance, Violens) and began sketching what became the basic outline of what felt like a new album. Then, rather fortuitously, Frankie ended up back in Brooklyn with the realization that “in the end, I’m on my own. I have to do these things on my own.”

The months that ensued meant basically working with no budget and finding ways to record in-between days. This time enabled Frankie to experiment musically with a variety of people that ultimately changed the way she worked. “I got a lot of input from people like Dave Harrington (Darkside), who was helpful reconstructing the songs, adding dynamics and changing up the rhythms.”

The result of this existential odyssey is “Cage Tropical,” Frankie’s 4th album. It is awash with vintage synths, painterly effects pedals, upside down atmosphere and reverberating vocals. It evokes a new wave paranormality of sorts that drifts beyond the songs themselves. “My references aren’t just music,” says Frankie, “I love old sci-fi. They Live is one of my favorite movies ever, same with Suspiria. 80’s sci-fi movies with a John Carpenter soundtrack, with silly synths – that makes it into my file, to the point that I’ll write lyrics incorporating that kind of stuff. It’s in there.”

Beginning with the shimmery, cinematic and percussive sparkling of the album’s opening track “Love in Rockets,” the song’s refrain of “a wheel, a wheel of wasting my life: a wheel, a wheel of wasting my time” immediately alludes to those darker circumstances that led to the creative origins of “Cage Tropical.”“It’s all essentially based on what happened to me in Los Angeles and then a return to Brooklyn,” says Frankie. “Misery turned into something good. The whole record to me is a redemption record and it is the most positive one I’ve made”

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“I feel like I am finally free from worrying about an outcome. I don’t care. I already lost everything. I already had the worst-case scenario. When that happens, you do become free. In the end, it’s about me rescuing myself via having this record.”

Originally released August 11th, 2017

EMILY YACINA – ” Remember The Silver “

Posted: January 14, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Emily Yacina’s new song “Gleaming” is an upward rush of momentum. “Meet me here/ I’ll show you/ The same light/ I’m feeling,” she sings, her delivery breathless, words spilling out in an incantatory pulse. The track was originally supposed to be entirely instrumental, and it wasn’t until late in the process of making her new album, Remember The Silver, that Yacina stumbled on a melody that fit. The result feels like getting sucked up into space, a hermetic environment where only you and your object of affection exist.

“It’s inspired by throwing yourself into a situation and letting your heart determine your feelings,” Yacina explains. “Letting go and just enjoying someone — for a night or an experience.” In only 90 seconds, she captures that feeling of love without consequence, that glowing moment of rapture where next-steps don’t matter.

“Gleaming” is the lead single to Remember The Silver, the latest in a series of stellar releases from Yacina, whose voice you might recognize as the foil to many a (Sandy) Alex G song. She grew up in the same Philadelphia suburb as Alex Giannascoli, and it was during high school that she first started putting music online. Since then, she’s carved out a niche for gauzy and emotionally earnest songs. Her string of Bandcamp releases, including 2015’s Soft Stuffand 2017’sHeart Sky, are a treasure trove of wrenching melodies and delightfully off-kilter meditations on time and absence. Heart Sky is particularly great, made up of songs that Yacina wrote while isolated in Alaska for a couple of months during a summer. Her songs often operate at that kind of remove, like she’s trying so intimately to document a feeling that she ends up questioning whether that feeling even really exists at all.

Her new album is her most fully-realized project yet, recorded with Eric Littmann — who has also produced similarly introspective albums by Yohuna and Julie Byrne — and put together over the course of the last couple years as Yacina finished school, getting a degree in Environmental Studies, and settling down in New York City as an adult. Remember The Silver captures those first few tentative steps into adulthood, when suddenly who you are is defined entirely by what you make of it.

The video for new single “Gleaming” was directed by Caroline Pigou. “Getting to work with one of my dearest friends, Caroline Pigou, on this video makes it so special to me,” Yacina said. “I was so comfortable shooting because it was her and I, and I feel like that intimacy / confidence comes through like magic.

The album’s title is taken from a book about UFO abductions. The songs themselves play out sort of like a series of abductions in the form of relationships which take over your entire being. They explore what happens when all of a sudden a relationship is over, and you’re left figuring out how to fit into the world once again on your own. That search for definition drives the album, which sounds ecstatically sad in that exploration of the unknown.

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Released December 6th, 2019

Written & Recorded 2017 – 2019 in New York City
Written by Emily Yacina

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