New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
The Raconteurs have confirmed a home show at the Ryman Sept. 15, which is one reason to look forward to the end of summer. Tickets go on sale Aug. 5 at noon at the Ryman Box Office and Ticketmaster for about $40.
Also, one of Nashville’s favorite twee garage trios dropped one wicked release today. Too bad The Ettes are celebrating in New York and not Nashville. Stay tuned for a review of Wicked Will, maybe an additional piece on The Ettes if you’re lucky.
Having trouble finding your bong? Maybe if you smoked, you’d remember that it’s under your Bob Marley tapestry! Of course requires some heady vibes, and this is exactly what Technicolor Lenses has crafted for you. The beats gently coax your eyelids open wider than you thought possible, and MC ApoSoul laces the tracks with well- delivered earth-conscious raps. Spiced with techno and jam-band elements, the Lenses craft a sound all their own. Soul searchers need look no further, their debut "New Eyes" is the key to a truly visionary rap experience. – BrokeMC
Going and Going. And Going by Icebird
If I was making a post-apocalyptic film I would cast Jason Anthony Harris. I’d put him in a cornfield.
The leading lady suffers from hallucinations. She runs through detritus, over shattered neon. The bottom drops out. The hallucinations recoil. She finds herself at the edge of a vast expanse of field.
As she weaves her way through the ghostly husks, poly-rhythmic blurbs pulse in and out. She follows the sound, the clouds pass over too quickly, Jason Anthony Harris sits amidst rotten cobs, a single soul surgically bound to a fusion of loop station, vocoder, decades of effects pedals welded together, banging his microphone into dry earth and crooning a twilight monologue. Amplified fuzz settles behind him and retorts, blistering, as a chorus of 100 looped voices swallow time. She is mesmerized.
He doesn’t see her. He continues tweaking the corn husks, banging the mic, discovering enhancements to this improvised loop, voice magnificent and morose, lost in a world of single being in performance. She kneels to catch his gaze, to no avail. The music grows frantic, the looped chorus relapses into a single, flat-lined tone. He utters something with his gently immaculate British accent but we can’t make out what he’s saying as the hallucinations have returned, violently raining antique tea cups, pieces of scone, all of it looped and oddly beautiful. Our leading lady is running, running through the cornfield, Harris’s opus tripping her, heavy, dance-worthy beats and a gritty pool of sonic potential, waiting to be tapped. – Valerie Kuehne
Below is the official new video from the dancetastic Nicos Gun for “Soldier” that they recently posted off their EP Bad Skin (but as you might have read from our interview with them HERE, it could appear on many other oddly named CD-Rs). It was directed by Joe Belack. You can expect a new full-length album coming from the four-piece of characters in the near future. (Photo by Julian Mackler) – The Deli Staff
The latest installment of Small Chicago (Season 2, Episode 2) brings us the sounds of Jon Langford and Skull Orchard. Chicago’s Bloodshot Records recently released the latest from Jon Langford and Skull Orchard and you can find that here. It was an interesting combination book and album release and Langford will be be reading and performing at The Book Cellar on August 10th at 7pm. This is a free event.
LA/NYC based alt-folk duo Pink and Noseworthy (who placed 64th in our Best of NYC 2010 poll for emerging artists) takes the traditional collaborative dynamic of male/female singer-songwriters and adds a dash of dream-like alternative-pop. Their music has an air of 70s simplicity thanks to Mark Noseworthy’s perfectly balanced instrumentation, serving Shanee Pink’s honest and moving voice. The songs "She" and "Something Better" (amongst our favorites) create a perfect balance of intimacy, tension and melody reminiscent of early Leonard Cohen. "Light Feather" – another highlight – blends twangy guitars, playful piano parts and soft percussions, slowly building, one pretty melody after another, towards a beautiful looping finale. The band has upcoming shows scheduled both in NYC and LA: Sullivan Hall (NYC) at 10pm on Aug 3rd and Hotel Cafe (LA) on September 8th. Highly recommended. – Christina Morelli
The debut full-length from Young Man (aka Colin Caulfield), Ideas Of Distance, will be released on 9/27 by Frenchkiss Records, but Colin has released a video for the new albums opening track "Enough".
Young Man will be performing at Empty Bottle on August 6th with The Pains of Being Pure of Heart.
When a band draws its name from a science fiction novel, chances are that the music is going to be a little unreal and based on nerdy topics. There is no exception for San Diego’s D/Wolves, which is named after a fictional creature out of Frank Herbert’s "God Emperor of Dune." The band members might wear animal themed shirts and sing about video game obsessions and ghost hunting, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of the science fiction influence being kitschy, the music is interesting and fully-developed. If the band’s latest single, "Tell Me Why" is any indication of the band’s thoughtful songwriting, the upcoming EP is sure to help grow a solid fanbase. With dreamy vocals and a touch of fuzzy instrumentation, the song is quite captivating. Since forming in 2009, the group has already shared the stage with the likes of Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls and Yuck. Be sure to catch D/Wolves perform this Saturday, August 6th in Los Angeles as part of the FMLY Bike Ride event. – Karla Hernández
