New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Below is an ethereal new soundscape to help ease you into the morning from Edison‘s Michael James Murray called "Hidden Valley." It features Alison Rigby on the violin, and can be found on his EP The Heart Weeps For What It’s Lost II, which will be available on cassette in November via Marmara Records, who has released works from artists such as Mike Bruno + The Black Magic Family Band, Brendan Codey, and Daniel Bachman.
This Tuesday is the release date for "Two Guns," the second album from Nashville duo Smoking Flowers. They mark the occassion by joining Tim Easton, Andy T – Nick Nixon Band and the Magnolia Sons this Wednesday, August 21st for Music City Roots. Read the full album review here, then take a drive out to the Loveless Cafe Barn to experience a great night of music and get "Two Guns" in your hot little hands. – Terra James-Jura
This Nashville band has been a topic of conversation on several music blogs lately. With their recent CD release show at Exit/In this past Saturday, the local band brought much hype from the streets of Elliston and surrounding Nashville areas. The young rockers caused quite the sensational ruckus at the local venue. Even with musicians such as Bruno Mars and Fitz and the Tantrums to compete with on Saturday night, DP (Diarrhea Planet) was able to fill up the venue. The show was everything to be expected and then some of the unexpected. The group of six showed hints of old school legends Van Halen, The Ramones, Jack Black, KISS, and the Strokes while shaking it up and causing a riot. Their much-anticipated album entitled I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is due out August 20th via Infinity Cat. Although purchasing their album will expose you to their raw and wild talent, nothing can compare with that of seeing this thrilling gang shred their guitars in a live setting. – Maria Hartfield
Congratulations to the San Francisco based dream pop rock band, Mammoth Life for winning The Deli Magazine San Francisco’s Artist of the Month Poll! The fans have spoken and this unique and hard working band has come out on top. Mammoth Life creates a very cool mix of electro beach pop with smooth and dreamy folk aesthetics that makes their music ethereal and a pleasure to listen to. We’d like to once again extend our best wishes and congratulations, and we hope Mammoth Life continues to enjoy a great musical journey!
In the subject line of the email I received from Kendra Calhoun of Names Divine last were these six word: "art damaged drone pop warped blues". These words were attempting to describe the sounds I could expect when I began to listen to their new LP Thankful. The collection of words demonstrate how difficult it is to pin down the wonderful noise Kendra and her six band mates create.
Thankful has an official release date of August 29th and on that date you can catch Names Divine at Empty Bottle with Depth & Current, The Kremlin, and Esso Afrojam Funkbeat.
DC’s post-punk eletro duo Pleasure Curses have recently released a cleverly creative video from Parisian director Guillaume Thuillier for their synth-wave track "PNKLKR." PC lays down a chill-pop score while life moves in reverse around the actress. Check it out…
See Pleasure Curses live Aug 24 at Comet Ping Pong and Sept 5 at DC9.
Steve Shiffman’s voice has a natural appeal that really ties the band’s sound together. It is confident without being arrogant, and it sounds introspective without swimming in the murky waters of self-pity. The man – together with the musicians in Steve Shiffman & the Land of No – has released a new video for their song “Clown’s Lament” (see it here), a mellow, hopeful tune from their new album "Mon Dieu," which features a surprising number of songs, and a style somewhat reminiscent of the creative garage-psych of The Flaming Lips from the "Telephatic Surgery" years. Though it does not resemble the aesthetic of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979”, the single (streaming below) has the same subtle, addictive coolness to it. See the band live at The Gutter in Greenpoint on September 12. – Jack McGovern
DC’s Megaphone Barons will be playing an album release party, at DC9, on Saturday August 24th. Megaphone Barons are releasing their second EP, "here.us.now." Fan contributions allowed them to team up with their favorite record producers/engineers: Justin Long (U.S. Royalty, Shark Week, Dance for the Dying), Mat Leffler-Shulman (Future Islands) and mastered by Alex Saltz at APS Mastering (David Bowie, Vampire Weekend, R.E.M.). They will be signing a limited number of freshly pressed CDs, and their modern chill-wavey vibe will be joined on the bill by the folk sounds of Letitia Vansant & the Bonafides, and psychadelic folk-rocker Andrew Grossman. –Natan Press
If you’re not familiar with Will Stratton, it’s about time you made his acquaintance. The singer-songwriter/composer has been leaving his mark on Brooklyn with fellow musicians like Sufjan Stevens since his debut (‘What the Night Said’) released back in 2007. Juggling between Nick Drake-like folk and highly organized orchestral compositions, records like ‘Post-Empire’ are filled with worlds of forgotten places just waiting to be explored.
Last year, Stratton was diagnosed with stage III testicular cancer, and through all these challenges, he’s kept up with his beautiful music, and unique portraits of American life on his Tumblr. Come support him at a benefit being hosted in his honor next Friday evening at 8pm (Aug 23) at Spin New York. There’ll be sets from Beat Radio, Kid in the Attic, Trevor Wilson, and yes… Will Stratton himself. It promises to be a fantastic show for a great cause. See you there. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
Get up and dance to the new music video for the track "Chasing Rainbows" from King Britt‘s project Fhloston Paradigm, which is "a manifestation of afro futuristic ideals, based in a futuristic landscape." The jam can be found on the self-titled release available via Hyperdub. The video was co-directed by Keagan Anfuso and Zaiche. Fhloston Paradigm is currently scheduled to make its live performance debut on October 26 at the Mountain Oasis Festival in Ashville, NC alongside acts like Nine Inch Nails and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Here’s the debut LP from Little Big League entitled These Are Good People, which is now availble for streaming. It was produced by Auctioneer‘s Craig Hendrix and the band, and hard copies are available via Tiny Engines. Enjoy!
Last Thursday, Night Market and ART/GAGE joined forces to create one massive party on South Street. Though the food event had its usual really long lines for the more buzzed-about food trucks, there were still plenty of fine local acts (Strand of Oaks, Norwegian Arms, Night Panther & Circadian Rhythms), people watching and Sixpoint beers to keep us all entertained. You can check out a bunch of our sweet photos from the evening HERE.
