Blues traditionalist, country revivalist, Jon LaDeau is taking Brooklyn to the genres usually reserved for Austin, Chicago and New Orleans. This is a truly down home American style, presented with grit… irony-free. His latest record sticks to these styles with glee as LaDeau’s guitar work shreds like a latter-day Stevie Ray Vaughn. At times, his voice recalls the George Harrison from ‘All Things Must Pass,’ a rocker who still understands the roots of his sound. Tracks like ‘Lucille’ and ‘Grapple’ especially carry with them the railroad grooves of delta blues under jackhammer guitar licks. See him when he plays his ongoing residency at Way Station in Prospect Heights on November 30th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Back for its third year, Tinderbox Music Festival — entirely composed of female musicians and female-fronted bands — showcased this past Sunday a diverse amount of genres with acts from all over the country playing on 3 separate stages. The event started at 1pm with folkier bands taking the stage in the morning, including a stand out performance by NYC  Jamie Bendell (pictured and streaming), whose beautifully raw and innocent voice blended perfectly with catchy acoustic guitar riffs and a grittier sound from the back-up electric guitarist. Other standouts of the day included: Hello Phones, the powerful and punky ohian group Jasper the Colossal, the endearing and talented Mal Blum backed by drummer and guitarist, and one of the last bands of the day, the wonderfully energetic Charlene Kaye and the Brilliant Eyes. The headliner, Coco Rosie, ended the night with an emotional and experimental set that had the audience entranced. For more information on the festival or the musicians involved, go here. – Chelsea Eriksen – Photo credit: Maxime Lemoine

Photo Source: Tokyoidaho

Tokyoidaho are gearing up for a weekend gig at The Comet Tavern on Saturday the 17th. Soft Hills and Kingdom of the Holy Sun are on the lineup too, with Boat headlining.

This trio’s (plus live member Projectorhead bringing the visual oomph) last release was the September full-length Tokyoidaho. Take vocals a little reminiscent of Trent Reznor, throw them in a capsule with haunting guitarwork, rolling drums, and pulsing synths, and one may begin to grip the band’s sonic protocol. But only barely.

Opener "Other Places, Other Places" navigates some seriously celestial terrain with its stargazing shoegaze. Warped sounds ebb and flow like a form of echo location as the beat stays steady with ghost-hits to spare.

"Oberheim Sunshine," contrary to its title, presents a darker vista than some of the tracks. The synth-work features more prominently. The singing is earnest and dramatic, revealing uncertainty about the days and nights to come. The song is neither sugar-sweet light or disturbingly morose, occupying a middleground content with curious exploration.

Their experimentation with shoegaze/pop/alternative rock spins routine categorizations through the blender. What plops out on the other end is not found in nature, certaintly. But neither does the music hail exclusively from the deep regions of space. Tokyoidaho’s ability to bridge melody and weird aural delights deserves notice.

Check them out live on the 17th of November at The Comet. Tickets cost $8 apiece and the doors are at 8:30pm. Listen to "Oberheim Sunshine" and visit their bandcamp to stream their self-titled record and pick up a physical copy.

– Cameron LaFlam

The emergent Brooklyn sound in the aftermath era of lo-fi electro from successful acts such as Small Black and Violens seems to be bigger, bolder, more anthemic choruses. "Modern Tongues," the debut EP by Ghost Beach, goes one further, blurring the lines between disparate genres like yacht rock, electro-funk and (amazingly) boy band rubbish. The appropriately-titled EP starts out with “Miracle,” whose chiming guitar licks recall the Smiths, until singer Josh Laviolette unleashes a riotous chorus worthy of Rivers Cuomo’s most throat-shedding vocals. “Tear Us Apart,” the lead single from Modern Tongues, shimmers like Simple Minds at their medieval peak, layered over an industrial backbeat that feels defiantly current, despite its retro proclivities. “Been There Before” (streaming) is the EP’s best moment, a song of such joy and pathos that it’s destined to send live crowds through the roof. Clocking in at just under 22 minutes (five songs), I found myself running to start the whole EP over, as my living room crowd was having far too much fun to switch to something new just yet. To join the party see the band live at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 08. – Brian Chidester

Traveling peripatetically in his records almost as often as he moves to new locations, Sam Friend stumbles his way from genre to genre in the hope of achieving what might be called a quasi-emotional honky-tonk bliss. Like confessional rockers before him (think: Matthew Sweet or John McCauley), Sam Friend winds his songs up like a frustrated yo-yo, exploding into his tunes when his pent-up energy gets to be too wild.

A lot of his music has the feel of country-western saloon jams that have recently become acquainted with basement rock. Songs like ‘Bedlam’ and ‘High Hives’ from Sam’s new EP sampler ‘Spirit Mirrir’ push and shove against beer-soaked arrangements (including a handsomely dressed version of ‘On A Plain’) and surprising collaborators. Truly a trip worth taking.

For this artist who discovers some new trail to go down with each record, ‘Mirrir’ might be his biggest departure yet. Check it out on his bandcamp and see him when he plays next with his band The Freckles. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets) – This artist submitted music for review here