While penciling still lifes in high school art class back in 1997, New Orleans natives Collin Ruffino and David Gross began a friendship that was sparked by a mutual love of music. Twelve years later, the duo calls Brooklyn home as they continue their musical journey with Home Video – an electro/indie rock creation that features a minimalist instrumental approach to music. The band’s debut full length album, No Certain Night or Morning, was released on Defend Music in 2006. The release showcased gloomy symphonic undertones and moody lyrics, which laid the foundation for Home Video’s budding signature sound. It Will Be OK, the twosome’s latest offering, features a new angle in sound and approach for Ruffino and Gross as they ditch their dark, minimalist direction in favor of a lighter sound full of instrumental complexity. Home Video recently spoke to The Deli about being human, winding down with The Wire, and jammin’ on the moon. – Read Cecilia Martinez interview with the band here.
Titus Andronicus sophomore album out in March – release party on 02.06
Punk folksters from NJ Titus Andronicus‘ 2nd album, entitled "The Monitor", will be released on Beggars’ XL Recordings on March 9. The album is going to bear a Civil War theme and features guest players from members of The Hold Steady, Wye Oak, Vivian Girls and Ponytail. Mark your calendar for their CD release party at The Bowery Ballroom on March 6, which promises to be explosive – in a Civil War kinda way!
NYC CD of the Month: Inlets – Inter Arbiter
Sebastian Krueger’s Inlets will please the hoards of music fans who have grown to love the floral and somewhat progressive folk championed by Grizzly Bear and Beach House. Less grandiose than the first and sunnier than the latter, Inlets’ songs are instantly gratifying and more soothing. Their tamed vocals resonate in a very intimate way, like it often happens with one man/woman band projects, and the melodies are not as convoluted as you may expect. Krueger finds trendy help in the backing vocals department, where Dirty Projectors’ Angel Deradoorian leads a team of beautiful voiced ladies whose subtle vocal counterpoint contributes in the texture and melodic departments. Acoustic guitars, clarinets, pianos, strings, percussion, the unmissable ukulele but also synths and other keyboard sounds contribute to the band’s tastefully layered orchestrations. The album Inter Arbiter is due out in April – we predict that this record will be one of the soundtracks of hipster love this summer. – PDG
BAM’s Sounds like Brooklyn – Small Black at Bklyn Bowl
Sounds Like Brooklyn is BAM’s three day celebration of the sounds of indie rock’s favorite borough, taking place in several venues throughout that land. Today (Saturday 02.06) is the closing day of the festival, we recommend you check out Small Black at beautiful Brooklyn Bowl on Whyte and 11th in Williamsburg. Full schedule here.
Peeps who like to scream: The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!
The exclamation point at the end of "The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!" is there for a reason: the band (recently signed by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop) produces songs fueled with excitement, and choruses that sound like dance-inducing war cries. The song Snowday in particular screams "fun, fun, FUN!" with its fast-fluttering keyboard parts and youthful acclamations of playing in white wintry powder. This song (along with nine others) is part of the band’s upcoming LP bearing the concise and poignant title: “I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU AND I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU! HAVE AN AWESOME DAY! HAVE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!!” – which could have also simply been called "WE ALL LOVE TO SCREAM!!! AND TO USE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!. Expect the members of the band to refer to the finer things in life, like cute girls. In the meantime, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! will tour and fly its way around the US starting at the end of February. – Abigail Devora
Hurricane Bells release video + tour… India???
Hurricane Bells is a new project from Steve Schiltz, singer and guitarist of Longwave for nearly ten years. After touring the better part of last year around Longwave’s fourth album Secrets Are Sinister, Schiltz set up shop to create a new project with little else than his MacBook and an Mbox. He wrote, played, recorded and mixed every note himself, arranging what would become Tonight Is The Ghost. Some songs were fully crafted within the past 18 months, while others are newly architected from pieces written throughout his years as a songwriter. Vagrant Records released Tonight Is The Ghost digitally on November 10, 2009. Today the band premiered this new video for their song "Monsters". Currently Hurricane Bells is across the globe finishing a two-week tour in India.
Live Review: The Picture + Tab the Band, Deadbeat Darling and Black Taxi
On January 28, 2010, Black Taxi and Deadbeat Darling (in the picture) sold out the Bowery Ballroom for their second time in eight months, collaborating with TAB the Band, who celebrated their release of “Zoo Noises,” and The Picture, who performed for their final time. Half brothers, all rock ‘n roll, TAB the Band treated the audience to a dozen playful, gritty tunes, including their latest single “She Said No (I Love You).” A photo montage of The Picture, illuminating the venue, set the stage for their delicate, angst-ridden, nostalgic sound. Overwrought with anticipation, the crowd welcomed Black Taxi with non-stop dancing to favorites from “Things of That Nature” and new songs that showcased the band’s consistently masterful songwriting. Frontman Ezra Huleatt’s glockenspiel, decorated with parasol and faux plants, met its demise during a zealous on-stage smashing. Dapper and dynamic, Deadbeat Darling dove into “Weight of Wandering” and unreleased tracks, closing the evening with swirling lights and a “picture perfect” performance. -Meijin Bruttomesso
Pardon our appearence
Deli Readers,
We are having a few problems with our server which are precluding the correct functioning of our charts and open blog system. We are working on it, and everything should be back to normal soon. Apologies for any inconvenience.
The Deli Staff.
Weekly Feature 188b: Mon Khmer – Live at Glasslands 02.19
After winning our Artist of the Month Poll in October, Mon Khmer landed a residency at the LES indie-rock hotspot Piano and therefore headed into the studio to record their debut LP, set to drop in a few weeks. Led by the enigmatically-named Hammarsing, the band’s ambient-leaning sound is grounded in steady rhythms and solid song structuring influenced by the more electronically-oriented descendants of Bowie. The Deli caught up with Hammarsing to discuss the band’s creative’s process, where to catch the best live music in the city, and future of Mon Khmer’s rule. – Read Toney Palumbo’s interview with the band here.
Weekly Feature 188a: Madison Square Gardeners
The Madison Square Gardeners, a rock ‘n roll band with members from Canada, Ohio, and New York, released their EP this December, and are planning to release four EPs a few months apart—each with its own hand drawn cover art, t-shirt package and video content. With a tinge of country soul, they describe their songwriting as both a collective and individual process. As one MSGer may enter rehearsal with a song individually composed, it will be revised and arranged by the entire band as a group effort. “Usually the person who writes the song trusts the other members of the band to come up with parts, blah blah blah… – Read Gina Alioto’s interview with the band here.
NYC Artists on the rise: Tanlines
The revolution brought by affordable computers powerful enough to allow home recording is generating a slew of indie electronic one or two man bands/remixers. Half of this slew is apparently based in the land comprised between the beaches of Montaulk and South Jersey – with a higher concentration in Brooklyn of course. Tanline is a two man project that rises from the pack for their tastefully textured tribal use of electronics and for their clinical melodies. The duo is scheduled to release a new EP called "Settings" in March and play Brooklyn Bowl with Acrylics on February 5.
Jim Campolongo CD release party at Living Room on 02.15
Orange, linguists like to point out, is the most famous word in the English language that has no rhyme. It stands alone, in a class by itself, boldly declaring its independence and spirit of defiance. It’s entirely appropriate, then, that guitarist Jim Campilongo‘s ninth album bears that lone word–Orange–as its title. Considering his obvious Italian descent, Jim could have called this album "Fegato" – Italian for liver – which is the corresponding un-rhymeable word in the mediterranean language. "Orange" definitely sounds better, no doubt about that… but interestingly enough Italians say that you need to have a big "fegato" (liver) to do something bold, and being an original musician that plays instrumental music is definitely something bold – at least in our eyes. Don’t miss the show at The Living Room on February 15 (photo by Arthi Krishnaswami).
P.S. I have no idea why the italian word for liver is used this way, but apparently this digestive organ has been a symbol of courage and physical strenght since the ancient Greeks.