New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Self-described "traitors of the human race," Nashville-based act, The Mumzees, definitely packs all the angst of a post-punk band. With vocals that rotate between snarling and apathetically monotone, minimalist guitar leads and a hazy aesthetic, the group manages to create catchy tunes that’ll prove to be slices of heaven for those seeking a decidely late-80’s vibe. Check out the Mumzees at Meal Ticket 12/2 with PONCÉ and James Ross, and stream them below.-Olivia Sisinni
Emcee/producer Tay Hiver, formerly known as Taylor Dunn, has been working on a new EP, titled Red Chapel. It was co-produced by the UK’s Phill Blanks and Hiver himself, and is currently scheduled for release before the year’s end. You can now stream the album’s powerful, drill-influenced lead single, "Ultra Violent," below.
If you want an exercise in controlled chaos, why not look to Baltimore-based Horse Lords? The experimental group lays down frenetic tunes that jam just as much as they threaten to dance themselves off a cliff. Their latest release, Interventions, is a whirlwind of cascading poly-rhythms, textured tones, and devilishly, funky grooves. Horse Lords is currently on a European tour, so hold yourself over until their return by streaming them below.-Olivia Sisinni
Slaughter Beach, Dog, a.k.a. Jake Ewald of Modern Baseball, released his first LP, Welcome, earlier this fall via Lame-O Records. He also has a new two-song EP, Ring Ring Ring, to pull from for his set this evening at Everbody Hits, which will be the kickoff to his mini-tour with Abi Reimold. You can check out Slaughter Beach, Dog’s latest orginal, "104 Degree," and Songs: Ohia cover, "Just Be Simple," off 2003’s Magnolia Electric Co., below.
The holiday season can be a string of joyous occasions sprinkled with gifts and seasonal flavored drinks. Most of the time, it’s quite the opposite, where only terrible times are had when you’re forced to deal with people you have no interest in spending time with. Fall and winter festivities always mark the approaching end of the year and while 99% of us are ready for 2016 to be all sorts of over, let’s spend one of the more fatty holidays of the year with some freaks.
Noisey instrumentals will come at you from all directions during the Freaksgiving Bash this Wednesday, where enjoyably mesmerizing solo acts Consumer and Dolphin Midwives will join experimental duo Gooo and Baronic Wall‘s space pop as they play the space at Turn Turn Turn. It’ll be a fairly unconventional way to kick off a day of gluttonous mouth stuffing, but it’ll be a bomb bash nonetheless.
It’s 21+ and starts at 8pm.
Making a living out of music or art is a tall order, in particular in a pricey place like NYC, but having a multi-faceted talent, like actors do, can certainly come in handy. The Portal – a Rock Odyssey, is an artful mishmash of theatrical performance, concert, and movie, an immersive, live band backed rock opera about the search for love and inner desire for transformation. Many local musicians are involved in this production, including lead actor Billy Lewis Jr. (Fox’s “Glee,” The Who’s Tommy, Spring Awakening, Hedwig & the Angry Inch), who is also a singer songwriter. Here’s a sneak peak (or sneak listen, if you will) into The Portal’s soundtrack: "Space Child", a track influenced by droney Eastern music and originally composed by Guatemalean group Kan’Nal, features entrancing vocals by the lead actor and an atmosphere that builds in intensity over time. Experience The Portal Wednesday through Saturday at The Minetta Lane Theatre. – Ashley Muniz
Integrating musical genres that have little in common is always a fun experiment, and NYC’s male/femal duo Exmazed, with their blend of industrial rock and dream pop, seem to be up to something. Their only single currently available for streaming combines clangy, mechanical and anguishing arrangements with sampled shrieks of distorted guitar feedback and ethereal female vocals. The latter add an enjoyable melodic element to the bleak musical background, but very little solace, conjuring up an atmosphere that’s as sci-fi as it is nightmarish – something that would work perfectly as a soundtrack for a movie like Blade Runner, or – say – NYC post-November 8, 2016. Exmazed will be performing at Alphaville on December 1st, opening for Au Revoir Simone’s Annie Hart. The nightmarish future has arrived, we may as well embrace it and celebrate it! On the bill also another female fronted, local electronic band called Noia, they are worth checking out.
Garage rockers Brenda put a lo-fi psych spin on their jarring tunes. They find a lot of joy in noise and dissonance, but their songs are still catchy in their own burnt out way. Back in April, the band released a couple of songs that introduced us to their frenetic sound. "ICU" is a plucky tune that screeches into a hypno-heavy finale, while “Sally’s Spit” brims with raw, chaotic energy. The band begs to be heard live. Lucky for us, they’re playing a show on December 3rd at the Silver Dollar with Magic Shoppe, B-17, and Dong Vegan.
Krust Toons: "Grab Her by the Krusty" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.
Owen (aka Mike Kinsella) has released a video for the single “Settled Down” which appears on his 2016 release The King of Whys. The video documents the array of activities someone who has “settled down” experiences over the course of the average day.
