Posts Tagged ‘New York’

FOXYGEN – ” Hang “

Posted: January 11, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Foxygen is the Big Bang of two combusting minds. It’s the splayed Galaxy of polar geniuses Sam France and Jonathan Rado. It’s a handshake with a knife behind your back. A cosmic, Californian death-game of highway chicken. A sleepless night in a five star hotel. Truth or dare. Foxygen is the risk of pushing your best friend off the ledge just to see if they can fly. You listen to this album properly. You take in each moment. Each new melody that threads forward from the fingertips of one of this generation’s finest piano men in Jonathan Rado. And you fall in line behind Sam France’s sprawling and reckless lyric. Witness his mastery. Feel them struggle against the walls of their own creations. Follow them there. To the perimeter. To the exit sign. And let your eyes fog up with thoughts like ‘For at least this moment I understand how cold blooded and beautiful I am.’ Notice that the two young guys aren’t there anymore. They’re outside looking for another joint to haunt. They’re already out of sight.

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And now you’re on a train. Facing the wrong way so the trees are passing in front of you. And you’re looking forward but everything is getting further away. These nowhere towns somehow sound good. Like the city is heavy, but out here we float a little bit. America is too big of a boat to sink. Don’t sink baby. Hang.

Released January 20th, 2017

HALF WAIF – ” Severed Logic “

Posted: January 7, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Nandi Rose Plunket teased the name of her second long-player as Half Waif back in June. “[The title] is the talisman we hold to heal ourselves and ward the night away,” she explained. Lavender – which follows the EP form/a on Cascine – was recorded over five months after moving to upstate New York: “I am exactly where I’m meant to be… it feels like an album I couldn’t have written before I was this age, and I wouldn’t have made the move up here before I was this age, so it’s a natural harmony of timing and need.”

She describes it as “elegy to time, the pilgrimages we take, and the ultimate slow plod towards aging. It takes place at dusk; its spirit animal is the heron, which I occasionally spied at the pond behind our summer house as the album gained shape. It’s an examination of the way we fracture over time, inside ourselves and inside our relationships – the fissures that creep along the structures we build, the tendency towards disintegration.”

Sinkane – ” Life & Livin’ It “

Posted: January 1, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Sinkane music — every note of it — comes straight out of a generosity of spirit. Never has that spirit been on more vivid display than on the uplifting new album Life & Livin’ It. This is feel-good music for trying times, celebrating what makes life good without ignoring what makes it hard. The stylistic ground covered in this album ranges from Afro-beat to Shoegaze to Jazz to Synth-pop, yet it flows smoothly throughout to create a wonderfully cohesive whole.

By the time they finished touring for their acclaimed Mean Love album in late 2015, Ahmed Gallab and the band had spread the gospel of Sinkane to the world, playing 166 shows in 20 countries. During the same period, he had also led The Atomic Bomb Band — the highly celebrated 15-piece outfit that played the music of elusive Nigerian electro-funk maestro William Onyeabor. The band included David Byrne, Damon Albarn, members of Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture, Jamie Lidell and legendary jazz musicians Pharoah Sanders and Charles Lloyd, and they played all over the planet, including making their TV debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. “Those 14 months really changed my life,” Ahmed says. “Not only did I learn how to put on a bigger show, but all that touring brought Sinkane closer as a band.”

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How a record with these poppy, infectious hooks doesn’t make it into the charts is among the clearest evidence that the music industry is totally run by marketers and not music-lovers. Begun as the solo work of Ahmed Gallab (Born in London to Sudanese parents, who moved to the US when Ahmed was 5), Life & Livin’ It is perhaps the development of Sinkane into a more democratic band.

HALF WAIF – ” Probable Depths “

Posted: December 29, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Nandi Rose Plunkett finds beauty in empty space. Battling with the inner-workings of identity and what it means to be alive, Half Waif is an escape into the void. Whilst her lyricism is distinctively enchanting, it’s her gorgeous, thoughtful melodies and layered instrumentation that feels like time is standing still.

Plunkett has spoken of wanting to “tear out [her] guts” and give titular form to the feelings which flow through us when in and out of relationships, and on the EP she does this time and again with an honesty that is often lacking in what’s ostensibly a synth pop record.

The breaks between notes are as meaningful as each utterance of instrument, acting as an pleading inhalation. Layers are added as she unravels each tale, throwing spectacular colour and warmth towards a hopeful conclusion. ‘Probable Depths’ thrusts neon surges into a brutal landscape, shattering nerves in its wake.

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Vocals, Keyboards, Songs / Nandi Rose Plunkett
Drums, Electronic Percussion / Zack Levine
Electric Bass  / Adan Carlo

FITS – ” All Belief is Paradise “

Posted: December 18, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“Full of sharp turns, heavy lyrics, and bursts of righteous anger. A fierce will to survive animates these lean, scrappy songs.” – Pitchfork
“A hunk of sweet power pop that’s instantly delightful, but melts quickly.” – Bandcamp
“Everything about All Belief is Paradise is gripping.” – Post-TrashAfter years of playing bass in multiple bands across the Brooklyn music scene, Nicholas Cummins is releasing All Belief is Paradise, the debut full-length for their first songwriting effort, Fits. Songs that began as vocal and bass loops recorded to voice memo as a way for Cummins to express their own desires and songwriting designs, have evolved into effusive power-pop songs with the help of close pals drummer Brian Orante, Joe Galarraga (Big Ups) on guitar and Emma Witmer (gobbinjr) on bass.

All Belief is Paradise, named after a line in a Lisa Robertson’s The Weather, honors the spirit of the early material while unveiling Fits’ evolution into a fully formed band. These songs are quick, loud, and rarely content with sticking to any one style, often holding for meditative intervals before launching into full-throttle caffeinated pop. The therapeutic drive behind the songs and the genuine fun of the group’s dynamic make Paradise a rewarding listen and Fits a band that can more than hold its own. Throughout the album Fits shows they’re capable of being thoughtful and bratty, accessible and weird, and tackling it all with confidence, humor, and great hooks. Many of Cummins’ lyrics are intentionally difficult to follow, but each song conveys its own individual feeling. There’re puffy power-pop cuts like “Hot Topic,” “All The Time” and “Superdead;” moody, bassy ventures like “Drop Thistle,” “The Ground,” and “How Did You;” and urgent punk rippers like “Running Out” and “Mango;” each delivering their sentiments sonically rather than with lyrical specificity.

released November 17th, 2017

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Fits is:
Nicholas Cummins – guitar and vocals
Emma Witmer – bass
Joe Galarraga – guitar
Brian Orante – drums

 

 

TICA DOUGLAS – ” Our Lady Star Of The Sea, Help And Protect Us “

Posted: December 18, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Tica Douglas is an artist that is able to pull the beauty from our desperations, weaving them into narratives that feel reassuring and real. Douglas gives us something to hold on to; acknowledging the ambiguity of the world with thoughtful prose and an unhurried, delicate structure that allows their ruminations to sink into our own perceptions of the world. Our Lady Star of the Sea, Help and Protect Us is a collection of lyrically-driven, sincere songs of comfort.

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all songs written by Tica Douglas 
vox/guitar/harmonium/farfisa/piano: tica douglas
synth bass: ryan dieringer
drums: alex tkill 
percussion (and drums on ‘familiar): lee falco 
guitar: kyle morgan

MACSEAL – ” Yeah, No, I Know ” EP

Posted: December 18, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The phrase “yeah, no, I know” crams two opposite thoughts together out of indecision, surrender, or both. As the title of Macseal’s second EP, it’s clear that the New York five-piece may volley between two close corners of the indie-rock universe with syrupy pop-punk and serpentine emo , At least that way it’s neither a sugar rush nor a comedown, but an eager introduction to a set of songs thrumming excitedly in the interim.

As the first release recorded with an outside party Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball – “Yeah, No, I Know” is given more creative space to breathe outside the DIY chamber. (In fact, the set’s slowest cut, “These Things Happen,” found Cole Szilagyi’s yelp recorded,

Macseal are 1 of the bands that I think are doing the best. Their EP, Yeah, No, I Know, is still bringing something exciting and interesting to the table. Their back and forth vocals, twinkly guitars, and emotional screams keep me coming back again .

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Macseal is: 
Ryan Bartlett
Justin Canavaciol
Greg Feltman
Francesca Impastato
Cole Szilagyi

Recorded at The Metal Shop in Philadelphia, PA

FULL BODY – ” Whats Good “

Posted: December 17, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Whatever the frightening, smoldering, horned beast bursting out of its home on this record’s front cover is supposed to be, it looks like an animalistic manifestation of Full Body’s sound. With bristly riffs and pointy rhythms, the Rochester, NY quartet rip up the floorboards of indie rock on these eight songs. It’s a welcomed fracas, though, as these old buildings need to be torn down and reassembled in order to appeal to new renters. Not that Full Body are finished renovating an entire genre after their debut record, a construction job like that takes time and outside assistance. But it’s a project that Full Body and their Upstate New York colleagues in Total Yuppies, Jouska and Bruiser & Bicycle seems to be making headway on together, and within the next few years it might have some serious curb appeal. That’s what’s good.

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released September 22nd, 2017
The Band:
Jack Chaffer: drums
Zach “Joe Smoke” Hallenbeck: vocals, bass
Jacob Kotler: guitar
Dylan Vaisey: vocals, guitar

Released on Sad Cactus Records 

NERVOUS DATER – ” Don’t Be A Stranger ” Best Albums Of 2017

Posted: December 15, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Don’t Be A Stranger is more than just a title, it’s Nervous Dater’s musical ideology. The Brooklyn quartet have a refreshing disregard for social norms on their debut full-length, offering excruciatingly awkward, uncomfortable and embarrassing personal details with the finesse of a reckless, drunken double-text. However, rather than cringe-worthy, their lyrics (which all four members contribute to) come across as unusually genuine. Nervous Dater songs create a unique musician-listener dynamic; one that feels like you’re hearing out a close friend, or even having your own suppressed emotions validated by the fearlessly forward frontwoman, Rachel Lightner. Her and her bandmates slam through some of the most exhilarating pop-punk, hooky indie rock, and engaging emo of the year on this record, all while puking their innermost anxieties all over the kitchen floor. By the end, though, they still have more guts than any one of their peers.

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One of my favorite albums of the year, loved it from the first time I listened. I tried to find my favorite track on this album, but kept changing it after listening through the album because I truly enjoyed every one.

Nervous Dater is
Rachel Lightner, Kevin Cunningham, Andrew Goetz, & Yon Heenan
Additional Vocals – Megan Gouda & Kelly McGovern
Trumpet & Flugelhorn – Brad Lightner

BLUSH – ” Blush ” EP

Posted: December 15, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Blush, which is released on 8th December, this S/T debut from the new project of ex-Darlings vocalist Maura Lynch doesn’t feel like it has any interest in meeting the standards of year-end critical praise.

Recording as Blush, Maura Lynch turns her bedroom demos into a 20-minute set of cozy guitar pop songs that maintain a sense of casual intimacy even, when given the studio treatment. Lynch, formerly of Darlings and Beverly, is joined here by members Jon Campolo (Pill), Andy Chugg (producer of Pop. 1280), and Nick Campolo who amplify her small songs while maintaining their simplicity through intelligent musical choices.

Lynch’s tracks are straightforward and concise, never relying on gauzy metaphors to complicate her declarations of love.

The record’s eight, mostly two-minute-ish songs only amount to 20 minutes worth of material, which includes a cover of a Mariah Carey song (“Fantasy”) and an instrumental that would be pegged as an interlude in most other circumstances (“Fire Island”). This isn’t to insinuate that Blush feels tossed together or underwritten—quite the opposite, actually. Despite its short runtime, the last four tracks transition gorgeously into each other, and the warm, silky mixing on here is evidence of a great deal of post-production thought. Blush is just what its name implies; a palpable yet briefly subtle flare of emotion.

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released December 8th, 2017
The Band are:
Maura M. Lynch: Vox, Guitar, Keys
Jonathan Campolo: Drums, Keys, Vox
Nicholas Campolo: Guitar, Keys, Vox
Andrew Chugg: Bass, Drums

Produced by Andrew Chugg

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