NYC

Synthgaze trio Light FM playing The Satellite 6.25 with Young Light, The Past Haunts

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Josiah Mazzaschi’s band Light FM has gone through a lot of lineup changes since its inception in 1999. Nicole Fiorentino (Veruca Salt) played with him once. So did Jimmy Lucido (Nightmare Air). In spite of this, the artistic vision has been constant, and Mazzaschi’s current outfit is a pretty formidable power trio: drummer/synth virtuoso Alexa Brinkschulte (ex-Swimming in Trees) and bassist Nicki Nevlin, who also played with Fiorentino and was featured in Wristcutters: A Love Story.

That’s not to say that the past incarnations were less-than-stellar: Light FM’s performances have brought them on shows with the likes of The Jesus and Mary Chain, The National, Ra Ra Riots, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Hell, even Billy Corgan threw down under moniker Backwards Clock Society during a benefit concert for Light FM’s past member Laura Ann Masura.

Historically, Light FM have always had a penchant for saturating their compositions with synths and all-around dance-y vibes, diverging from the guitar-heavy work of their Los Angeles peers and balancing ’80s textures with Mazzaschi’s airy vocals. But the newest EP "Pointless" (released 3.13.15) might be their best work to date. Dark titles like "S.S. Euthanize" and "God Fearing Man" and "Your Loss" bathes listeners with neon frequencies and sardonic lyrics, a fitting combination for the disenchanted, digital urbanites.

Listen to the EP’s title track below and catch Light FM as they perform a free show at The Satellite this Thursday, with Young Light (feat. members of Amusement Parks on Fire) and The Past Haunts. – Ryan Mo

NYC

Aex Winston releases new ‘The Day I Died’ EP + plays Mercury on 07/07

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NYC songstress Alex Winston has the rare ability to turn our day around through… pop – ah, the healing power of music! Fresh evidence suggests that her new single ‘The Day I Died’ (streaming) has this therapeutical power – we just tried it ourselves, it worked. The song is the titletrack of her brand new three song EP, which is an appetizer for an upcoming full album scheduled for a November 10 release. If you are hungry for more, don’t miss her upcoming live show at Mercury Lounge on July 7th, with (also excellen Brooklyn pop/rockers Mainland.

NYC

NYC drummer Skoota Warner releases sophomore hip hop record ‘Vignettes’

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Legendary NYC drummer Skoota Warner has played with everyone from Santana to Biz Markee, and “Vignettes” is his second solo album. It features DJ Logic, Hot Tuna, and, in the new single “Still In Love,” the famous freestyle juggernaut C-Rayz Walz. The drumbeat is dusty and raw, the kind any MC would love to slay, and C-Rayz crafts an intimate narrative crammed with brilliant lines like, “Why would I listen to lies. . .when you are the truth that I envision?” The album speaks to Warner’s eclectic tastes and styles. This video will speak to your heart. – BrokeMC

Philadelphia

New Air is Human EP Available for Streaming & Purchase

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Just in time, the duo of Jeff Lucci and Josh Aptner, a.k.a. Air is Human, has released its new EP Solstice 1. It doesn’t take long to hear how the pairing traverses an elaborate, forward-thrusting psychedelic sonic landscape with an attention to theme and transition that’ll take a strong hold. Catch them this Saturday at Bourbon & Branch as part of a lineup that also includes Sexoffice, Navigator and Author.

NYC

Gracie and Rachel open for Porcelain Raft + work on debut release

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A mountainous piece of shrill piano presses, thick string plucks, and violins that skitter only to soar… “Go” by Gracie and Rachel is simply beautiful. Apparently a song off a forthcoming album of the same name by the Berkeley-raised, Brooklyn-based duo, “Go” awes in its ability to make technical mastery into something moving and potentially transcendent. “It’s okay, it’s okay/To let your heart race, heart race,” goes a silky-voiced lyric, wondrous assurance sliding through. Gracie and Rachel will open for Porcelain Raft this Thursday (6.25) at TT The Bear’s Place Inc. in Cambridge, Massachussetts and will perform at Rockwood Music Hall on Monday, 6.29. In the meantime, listen to “Go,” and watch its ponderous black-and-white music video, below.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

NYC

NYC electro duo on the rise: The Golden Pony releases “Die Inside Your Dance” feat. Savoir Adore

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The Golden Pony – an electronic duo that just entered our "Emerging NYC Bands with Buzz" top 15 – broke onto the NYC scene in 2013 with a string of dancy remixes of old and new artists (the most successful being the one of Simon and Garfunkel’s "The Sound of Silence"). They have since gathered over 5,000,000 plays on Soundcloud and had two #1 hits on Hype Machine. The curly male duo also writes original songs, otherwise they wouldn’t be featured in this blog: the latest is a chilled EDM tune entitled "Die Inside Your Dance," featuring Savoir Adore at the vocals, check it out streaming below.

Philadelphia

New Video: Tiny Desk Concerts – Hop Along

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Hop Along strips things down a bit for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, which you can watch below. The intimate setting provided a stage for Frances Quinlan’s personal lyrics and achy yet powerful vocals to stand in the forefront. Their set consisted of "Horseshoe Crabs" and "Well-dressed" from the band’s latest LP Painted Shut, as well as "Sister Cities," which was first recorded for the group’s Shaking Through episode.

Chicago

North by North @ Dog Dayz of Summer

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North by North recently released a new single "Pistoletta" b/w "Dark Star". Both songs are gritty, blues influenced, garage rock tracks that feature fuzzed and powerful vocals.

You can catch North by North on June 27th at Dog Dayz of Summer at the Goose Island Barrel Warehouse along with Archie Powell and the Exports, Bare Mutants and others.

Nashville

Sad Baxter, “The Big One”

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Get out your pastel gel pens because Sad Baxter is definitely going to be doodled all over your notebook by the end of homeroom. This female-fronted Lite Brite grunge trio is popping up all over the Nashville music scene. With their incredibly catchy lyrics about crushes named Eugene and unrequited young love backed by clean guitar and a strong and steady rhythm section, Sad Baxter will be spinning in your Walkman for the next million bus rides home.

Stream their EP and break out your Doc Martens and flannel for their upcoming shows around the Southeast. -Caroline Bowman

 

NYC

Boulevardia hosts touring bands and showcases local talent

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In only its second year, Boulevardia has experienced exponential growth as a music, food, and beer festival, curated by Boulevard Brewing Company and located in the historic West Bottoms district. Though its first year boasted a musical lineup of touring acts like The BoDeans and Catfish & the Bottlemen, this year exceeded expectations with J. Roddy Walston & the Business, Mayer Hawthorne, Atlas Genius, and more.
 
The festival also highlighted a bevy of local musicians on two stages, curated by Ink and 90.9 The Bridge. Among several others, the Greenville Acoustic Stage featured a Delta blues/gospel-inspired set from Kris and Havilah Bruders, one-man folk troubadour Nicholas St. James, and newly formed trio Lovelorn. Meanwhile, the Chipotle Homegrown Stage presented a diverse swath of artists, many of whom—such as The Architects, Hembree, and Making Movies—performed to a large, eager crowd singing along to their music.
 
Local groups also dotted the Boulevard Main Stage throughout the weekend. Outsides kicked off Boulevardia on Friday with a danceworthy set that warmed up the audience for In the Valley Below, MS MR, and The Mowglis. On Saturday, Captiva, Chris Meck & the Guilty Birds, and The Clementines endured strong sets in the sweltering heat before the evening’s headlining acts, which welcomed Boulevardia’s first sold-out day of 20,000 patrons. On Sunday, Sara Morgan and Hearts of Darkness warmed up a Father’s Day crowd for The Grisly Hand—who brought in a horn section to augment an already fully formed country sound—and Big Head Todd & the Monsters.
 
—Michelle Bacon
 
Here are some photos of the festival from Jaime Russell of Anthem Photography. To see more of Jaime’s shots from Boulevardia, visit her Flickr page.
 
Outsides
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hembree
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Architects
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Making Movies
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Philadelphia

Record Review: Cemetery Highrise Slum – Creepoid

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Local psych-grunge rockers Creepoid’s latest LP Cemetery Highrise Slum is immaculate. The follow-up to 2014’s self-titled album, which just dropped today, marks yet another monumental moment for the four-piece: their first release with Geoff Rickly’s Collect Records.
 
Opening with the somber “American Smile,” Cemetery Highrise Slum’s start is instantaneously lush. Equal parts dissonance and melody, “American Smile” is comprised of just as much emotional juxtaposition as its namesake might suggest. Crisp chords paired with buzzing riffs bleed effortlessly into Sean Miller’s affecting diction as the track’s lyricism emanates a sense of decayed longing that is difficult not to discern. Reminiscent of Sunny Day Real Estate’s grittiest portions of How It Feels to Be Something On, “American Smile” is delectably heavy and persistently transcendent up until the very end.
 
“Devil In The Subtext” wastes no time, captivating listeners with a percussive pulse and jarring backbeat. The swirling psychedelics of the album’s second track are nearly tangible, showcasing Creepoid’s meticulous orchestration and sparing use of reverb. The song exhibits itself as a well-deserving successor to grunge anthems like Sonic Youth’s “Sugar Kane.” The enjoyably emotive downer, “Fingernails,” unfolds as hauntingly moody, while “Seams” swells to life with deliberate phrasings and lingering harmonies.
 
The noisy start to “Dried Out” revives the best of ‘90s alt without feeling cliché. The lyricism of the song is wrought with harsh realism and pragmatism with confessional lines like “We’ve been living a lie” and urgent pleas like “Show me the real you,” crooned out with a similar desperation as Cobain’s “Heart-Shaped Box.” “Shaking” is dreamy, like a gloomy lullaby or bittersweet ballad. It is affirming, vulnerable, and earnest, an unapologetic declaration in its own rite, and “Calamine” is charmingly melancholic – synonymous to earlier tracks from Creepoid’s previous LP, like “Baptism.”
 
The trippy tempo of “Tell the Man” brings to mind similarly mesmerizing cuts like The Pixies’ “Gouge Away,” while presenting itself as a plausible narrative extension of The Velvet Underground’s iconic “I’m Waiting For the Man.” With “Worthless and Pure,” the band proves itself to be subtle yet raw, preparing listeners for Cemetery Highrise Slum’s conclusion that is marked by the suitably abrasive “Eating Dirt” and the otherworldly “Here,” which temporally paint a bleak yet memorable soundscape. 
 
Cemetery Highrise Slum is indicative of its creator’s genius. It, like all that came before, is a declaration of why all eyes and ears need to remain on Creepoid. – Dianca London Potts

NYC

Los Angeles post-punk transplants Sextile release single “Can’t Take It”, SD and LA shows

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Guitarist/vocalist Brady Keehn and drummer Melissa Scaduto moved out from New York to Los Angeles in search of higher temperatures and lower rent. They found a bit of both, and then some. Keehn and bassist Kenny Elkin had done a Part Time Punks stint earlier last year as The Choke, which played out well, as Ohio transplant guitarist Eddie Wuebben moved down from SF. Four bodies were drawn together by the cosmos, and as the stars aligned, Sextile was born in 2015.

German post-punk influences and an affinity for the occult led to some heavy studio work trapping musique concrète atmospheres with the magnetism of motorik-inspired rhythms. In their first single "Can’t Take It", Scaduto’s ritualistic drumming evokes the scrape of surf guitar — it froths and hisses as synth notes dance like flames to Keehn’s mesmeric chanting, which quickly rises and explodes. Bodies break down. Emotions are purged and spirits are cleansed. It’s a sweet release that will rip the soul out of you, again and again and again.

Sextile will be playing this week at The Hideout in San Diego (6.24), and Friday at the Non Plus Ultra (6.26) in support of Australian shoegaze/dreampop band Au.Ra, and will ride along the West coast with them in the coming weeks. Listen to Sextile’s newest single "Can’t Take It" below, and look for their debut album A Thousand Hands on August 21st through Los Angeles-based label Felte Records. – Ryan Mo