Now that the warm weather has finally thawed New York’s frozen core and melted away everyone’s collective doldrums, it’s time for the city’s countless music festivals to start popping up, and one of them – perhaps one of the city’s most unique – is about to hit this Thursday night. The Brain-Cave Festival, now in its third year and taking place at Europa in Greenpoint from April 11 – 14, bills itself as something of a music and multimedia extravaganza, and will feature a ton of NYC acts like Hooray for Earth, Peelander-Z, Lemonade, The Suzan, Monogold, Eula, Zongo Junction, Forgetters (mems. of Jawbreaker/Jets to Brazil/Against Me!) GunFight!, Quiet Loudly and more, plus live art, video projections, DJs and other surprises (not to mention an open bar each night!). For festival founder Luis Velasquez (CaraBella Presents) and co-producer Gabo Rodriguez (Supercrush Studio), Brain-Cave is a chance to showcase a wide variety of musical acts alongside art – a combination of ear and eye-candy guaranteed to mess with your senses and rattle your own brain cave. The festival has grown exponentially since its humble beginnings at Shea Stadium in 2011 and its stint at the Bell House last year, and now boasts four nights of music and art. For only $12 a night (or $40 for the whole festival – advance pricing), you’ll get four days of Brain-Cave, including a day show at the Greenpointers.com Spring Market on Saturday. Get more info on the fest here.
Fireworks Over London Hit Their Stride
Memphis-originated rock band Fireworks Over London debuted a collection of new songs and a new line-up at the Rutledge on April 7.
Since relocating to Nashville in 2009, Fireworks Over London has continued to evolve, and as someone who has been aware of this band since their days in Memphis, I can say that this most recent presentation is the most solid yet.
Sounding focused and mature, the band played a set consisting of all debuts. Singer Daniel Kenney opened their set by informing the crowd that this was the group’s first time to publicly perform any of these songs, and humorously added, “This is only a test.”
Newly-added auxiliary player Kyle Kelly added depth to the performance with background vocals, guitar accents, and floor-tom booming. An injection of tasteful technology in the way of an iPad acting as another auxiliary player without distracting from (or doing the job of) the live musicians. Most notably, the songs, as a collection, were the best I’ve heard from the band. Complementing their signature jangly guitar riffs and powerful drums and bass, I noticed a more focused song structure giving the tunes a feeling that these guys have hit their stride.
You can keep up with Fireworks Over London at their newly renovated website, fireworksoverlondon.com. –Jonathan Parrish
Les Professionnels Opening for Ryat at Silk City April 10
Tonight Silk City and Deathwaltz will be providing some heady electro dance vibes. Local DJ/production crew Les Professionnels will be gettin’ things started. The trio is currently working on a new full-length album, and they have a collaboration with rising Philly emcee Gliss also in the works entitled High on the Weekday that will hopefully see the light of day sooner than later. Les Professionnels will be opening for former Philly resident Ryat, who now calls LA home and most recently released her album TOTEM this past summer via Flying Lotus’ record label Brainfeeder. Also sandwiched between both of their sets are Beam&Deem, who are part of the (mostly) Philly-based Altered Ego Collective. Silk City, 435 Spring Garden St., 9pm, $7, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Dead Leaf Echo releases debut LP “Thought and Language” + plays Public Assembly on 04.18
With the spring flowers of April comes Dead Leaf Echo‘s long awaited full length album release "Thought and Language." An ambitious literary work of dreamy and lyrical beauty and meticulously crafted sonics, the record was impeccably mixed by legendary 4 AD master John Fryer, who worked with Love & Rockets’ Daniel Ash, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode among others. The band has been keeping a relentless touring schedule in support of this album over the last few months and they will bring their live show back to Brooklyn for the first time in over 6 months on April 18th at Public Assembly. Stream single "Kingmaker" in SoundCloud and Video format below. – Dave Cromwell
This track was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC artists here.
Danny Malone Released New Album “Balloons”
What does it sound like when you record a 10 track album in 10 days in a haunted Denmark castle? In three words, dark and beautiful. Danny Malone’s album, "Balloons," will dig up some raw emotions that are embedded so deeply they might have been hidden in your toenails. Each song was recorded in a different room and much of the drum sounds are Malone stomping or shutting the piano lid, a curious tactic to stir up all that emotional grit that has settled in all of us. The first single Spiderlegs gives a slight reference to Danny’s hometown of Austin that perhaps only locals will catch. I’m not going to name names but Malone sure will in the song. The finale track "Wait on me" will have you pushing the loop function and journeying through the whole record again. "Balloons" is available now at www.dannymalone.com.
The bizarre musical world of Blanche Blanche Blanche
Like a jack-in-the-box about to fall off the rails, Blanche Blanche Blanche keeps you guessing what’s coming next, the entire way through. Utilizing their penchant for 4-track and melodic approximation to produce an out of this world, grim inducing experience, this new-to-Brooklyn duo is crafting Ween influcenced lo-fi madness for a new generation. Listen to new LP ‘Wooden Ball’ and just try to make sense this robo-rock assault if you can. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
New Track: “Tumor” – On the Water
Check out a standout track from On the Water‘s latest album False Starts called "Tumor"! The band has been on an extensive national tour in support of the record, and they’ll be celebrating its release this Friday, April 12 at The Beaumont Warehouse. Enjoy!
Disappears “Kone”
Disappears have a new ep, Kone, coming out this month, April 16th, and have more material planned for later this year.
You can catch Disappears at Lincoln Hall on April 18th.
The Dimes Release a New EP at Doug Fir 4.12
The Dimes, a band whose music has an americana soul, pop hooks and hipster sensibilities is releasing a new EP this Friday night at the consistently enjoyable Doug Fir Lounge. The Dimes are making a slight departure from the light, crisp tracks like "Catch Me Jumping" that were so easy to find on the 2007 album that garnished them critical and popular success. The new EP seems to favor a fuller, fleshed out anthemic sound that still keeps company with the clean folk vibe that first launched the band into the spotlight. Joining The Dimes on the bill are two of Portland’s folk-inspired gems. The Lower 48, who take the pop/folk relationship to new and lovely long-term commitment heights and Alameda, a 5 piece ensemble that layer sleepy vocals and modern riffs with the classical instrumentation that only a cellist can provide. If you are looking for an eclectic collection of folk inspired music, this show will do nicely. Doors open at 8:00pm, tickets are $9 in advance or $10 at the door. – Joy Pearson
Album Review: Dorian Wood, ‘Rattle Rattle’
Crowd-funded through IndieGoGo, “Rattle Rattle” is the latest album by Dorian Wood; An impressive scope for an independent artist clearly creating art for art’s sake on their own terms. Overflowing with impassioned creativity, this is not an album for the faint of heart, or the single hoarders. An avant-garde piece that is more chill-inducing with each listen. Your ears are awakened by the very first notes and are held captive til the very last. Varied in style from western to choral to Baroque to the pure strange, it moves unstoppably like liquid through concrete cracks. The despotic operatic style of “A Gospel of Elephants/Hpssos” slinks maniacally into “The Lady”, which sounds like the voices of the dead crying out from the River Styx as Charon passes by ferrying the newest batch of souls to the underworld. The story-telling continues as a parlour style piano plays underneath the male/female duet (featuring the airy and mysterious vocal stylings of Angela Correa) that moves from sweet to bitterly sour as the thread of undergirded menace continues, this time supported by an ever-building mournful string arrangement. Acting like the soundtrack to a drawing room opera yet to be written, “The Useless Servant” showcases the shimmery tone of Nina Savary’s voice that seems perfectly suited for a re-telling of the original Grimm fairy tales. It is at this point in the record that the darkness fully shrouds. All sweet and tender moments are left behind and traded for pure absurdity and paranoia. Playing out like an even more twisted and disturbed version of The Decemberists’ Hazards of Love, “Rattle Rattle” is an undoubted masterpiece. There is a deep, richly textured story being told amidst the tensely developed instrumentation and sound palette. As the album closes with “O,” the 9 minute epilogue, you are left knowing that the beauty wrapped in tortured frustration unravelling into madness has only begun for this brave artist and his cohorts. This is a poignant and telling work of art that pulls from our uniquely American musical past to parallel our uncertain present. While his poetry may leave you politically unsettled, Wood is exercising his freedom to boldly share his perspective that is at times both nightmarish and delicate, elegant and disturbed, and well worth many undivided listens. Stream the entire album from bandcamp below. – Jacqueline Caruso
The Deli Nashville and Apple Road Present… Milktooth, The Gills, and Vinyl Thief
We’re excited to announce that, on April 26th, we will be bringing our latest party to the Stone Fox in west Nashville! Partnering with Apple Road (the media family behind our beloved East Nashville Underground), we are bringing to the stage Milktooth, The Gills, and Vinyl Thief!
Over the course of the next two weeks, we’ll help you to become acquainted with the bands who will be ruling the stage throughout the night. First up, we have Vinyl Thief, the electro-rock four-piece who are recently home from a successful run at SXSW. Though the band has been around for a few years, they have been making a lot of noise over the past few months, from their fantastic set at East Nashville Underground, to their performance at Road To Bonnaroo, to their stop at OurVinyl, where they performed the three songs from their Rebel Hill EP, including "Faces," which you can watch below.
Details about the show are available here, and we can’t wait to see you!
Album Review: Wakin On A Pretty Daze – Kurt Vile
With his new record Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Matador), Kurt Vile continues his spellbinding nature. The follow-up to 2011’s Smoke Ring for My Halo, once again, finds legendary producer John Agnello assuming the reins, guiding Philly’s “constant hitmaker” on his latest journey.
The album begins with the epic nine-plus-minutes song, “Wakin on a Pretty Day,” in which Vile confesses his intentions – “Waking the dawn of day, I gotta think about what I want to say…it’s hard to explain my hurt in this daze.” Laced between an eerily comfortable marriage of familiar mercurial electric and steadily strumming acoustic guitars, Vile’s alluring, hazy comforts draw you in as the song raises you out of your slumber. As he lifts the sleep from your eyes, the prolific songwriter announces his intentions in the following track “KV Crimes” – amid a raunchy guitar riff and a steady percussive backdrop – “that’s fine I think I’m ready to claim what’s rightfully mine” – injecting short bursts of guitar as if to flex his muscle.
“Was All Talk” has an aquatic-running musical vibe with its “The Boys of Summer”-esque intro, establishing a customarily complex, yet comfortably moving feel, while coasting along as Vile confidently professes, “In the sea of storm, making music is easy. Watch me.” Spiraling guitars and snappy drums set the stage for “Girl Called Alex” as the mood darkens and intensifies. “I want to live all the time in my fantasy infinity; there, I’ll never be abandoned; there, I’ll have a handle against everything.”
“Never Run Away” is one of the songs that grabs you instantaneously in its addictive simplicity – an effortlessly clean acoustic strumming pattern matched with an equal to the task drumbeat and Vile’s drawn-out spoken/sung vocals that have long been compared to the legendary Lou Reed. It’s a casual groove that seems to tighten up with every additional listen. While “Pure Pain” continues an ongoing trend of establishing a musical identity riff/percussion/vocal, it has a surprising shift as if the guitar decides to uproot. As you hear Vile’s changes purposely dragging along the neck, a marching beat comes to the forefront, leading way to a short elegant solo before he backtracks into its previously assumed position, and then as if battling itself, shape shifts yet again.
“Shame Chamber” is yet another simple sounding song that is anything but that. A quick riff that is joined on the journey by an arrangement that becomes increasingly complex, adding layers as if Vile strolls through another story that despite its multiple facets and heavy lyrical content retains a lightness. In “Air Bud,” he ventures through a spacey, fuzz intro that lands on his steady, easy-going roots, and then the musical interludes are stretched out, forming a terrain that is vast but focused. He elaborates on the final song, which easily floats along on its acoustic-founded riff layered with elevating key work, “I might be adrift, but I’m still alert, concentrating my hurt into a goldtone.”
Vile is continuously refining his art while also diving into new exploratory depths. He is an artist that has proven to mature with every new endeavor, and Wakin On A Pretty Daze shines from the start, etching its way into your mind with each comforting note. – Michael Colavita