Brooklyn based (via Portland, OR) rootsy pop band Merrily and the Poison Orchard have a string of shows booked in NYC in the next few weeks, and will be playing for the first time at The Mercury Lounge this Sunday April 21. Led by Merrily Ruth Rosso confident and warm voice, the band supports the frontlady’s catchy melodies and gentle piano lines with arrangements steeped in American traditional music. Check out our favorite song "Tightrope Walker" streaming below. Merrily and co. are currently in the studio working on a follow up to 2011 debut album "Time and Hell."
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The Flying Eyes Drop Two New Bsides + Local Tour Dates
Baltimore’s premiere psych rock band, The Flying Eyes have released two B-sides from their upcoming album, Lowlands, which is due out later this year. The new B- sides, Raise Hell and Break You Down are foreshadows of what is to come in regards to the The Flying Eyes full-length effort.
These tracks are intricately produced, and convey a more mature aesthetic that persistently and respectably reaches towards professional standards. Both songs are less about love and loss as their work has reflected in their past albums, and brings forth a darker, more complex side of the band by strongly and unabashedly conveying their long time quip and distaste for God and religion in the lyrics of Raise Hell, and a more in depth expression of pain and isolation in Break You Down. The Flying Eyes’ instrumatation has also gone through a steady and noticable evolution without straying far from the band’s foundational sound.
You can catch The Flying Eyes live, as they are playing a string of shows in the Baltimore area this Spring. –je
Local Dates:
April 27, 2013 – Guido’s Speakeasy – Fredrick, MD
May 10, 2013 – Golden West Café – Baltimore, MD
June 22, 2013 – Wind Up Space – Baltimore, MD
Links To The Flying Eye’s Latest B Sides:
The Flying Eyes – Raise Hell
The Flying Eyes – Break You Down
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Future Screens plays Glasslands on 04.29
Brooklyn’s synthpop driven Future Screens are set to make an appearance at Glasslands on April 29th with Cru The Dynamic. Latching on to the so called glo-fi sound, the band executes it well with beaming upbeat instrumentals building up to catchy choruses, driven by frontman Rob Arbelo’s trancey vocals. The quartet (consisting of Arbelo, Sky Riggs, Sean Brennan and Don Lavis on drums) claims that their unique inspiration comes from “daytime television and discontinued snack brands of the Dan Quayle era.” Listen to their latest single “One Summer”below. – Michael Haskoor
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Electronic tracks by emerging NYC artists – check it out!
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Black Light Dinner Party lands residency at Pianos + debuts videogame
Sure, your favorite band has a couple good tracks, but do they have their own video game? NYC electro-pop band Black Light Dinner Party, not only they’ve created a fun jam perfect for your next late night bout of drinking (i.e. their new track ‘We Are Golden’ – streaming below), but they’ve also invented a fish-killing video game to match.
Play it yourself at their site, and see them next when they play at their continued residency at Pianos on Wednesday, April 24th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
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Baltimore Rapper eMeX Releases Single “The Message”
Baltimore-based Rapper eMeX and Philadelphia-based producer Paris Artelli recently released a new single called “The Message”. Drawing from inspirations such as A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamaer, eMeX’s flow darts in and out of Artelli’s beat in a masterful fashion that could be compared to many of the other greats of hip-hop. eMeX turned to hip-hop after an automobile accident ruined his professional sports aspirations and, if “The Message” is any indicator, he isn’t turning back any time soon. –Karl Dobias
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The Brooklyn Folk Festival starts tonight (04.19-21)
The Brooklyn Folk Festival is not your typical jam fest. It’s packed full of legends, locals, and newcomers at one of the most storied venues in New York. On April 19-21, experience the klezmer jams of Andy Statman, flapper Jazz with Jessy Carolina & The Hot Mess, and sign up for a banjo workshop led by New Lost CIty Ramblers’ icon John Cohen. All taking place at The Bell House in Gowanus, presented by the Jalopy Theatre, the fabulous venue, archive and folk music school out in Red Hook – schedule here.
While you’re there, say hi to Eli Smith, one of the co-creators of the fest, professional rabble-rouser, and expert banjo player. See you there! – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
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NYC band on the rise: Lurve plays FUZZ on 04.25
Promising Brooklyn dream rockers Lurve will play a show on April 25th at FUZZ (59 Canal St.) with Team Spirit and Cool Serbia. The band has three tracks available for streaming on their Soundcloud page: “Looks So Young” (streaming) quickly establishes a penchant for guitar driven rock, with a hooky chord change that fans of Dinosaur would surely love. “Wires” kicks it all up one notch higher with a faster tempo, while multiple guitar layers buzz like bees under smooth, reverbed vocals. The tracks closing jam-out takes its cue from Sonic Youth’s tandem of Thurston and Lee, while incorporating their own twists along the way. Closing track “Simple Syrup” on the other hand employs the quick turnaround chord changes that made iconic 90’s band The Pixies such a hit with what was once called the "alternative nation." Another extended guitar solo deftly incorporates the best of both The Pixies Joey Santiago’s and Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis’ styles into their own, for an exciting final result. –Dave Cromwell
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The Hollows release live album “Neverending Show” at Bklyn Bowl on 04.23
The Hollows are that rare thing: a strictly democratic group throwing ideas this way and that from all six of its frontmen, yet somehow making it all work. Throw any instrument at the roots-rockers and they’ll figure out some way to include it in the potpourri. And all this is poured out in their new live LP ‘Neverending Show’.
From ‘Canyon Rose’ to the more aggressive ‘Mad As Dogs,’ ‘Neverending Show’ proves these guys know their chops, and are comfortable making it happen in front of any audience. All the more reason to catch them live when they debut the album at Brooklyn Bowl on April 23rd. Stream below the first single "August" (video here) and check out two more tracks from the album on the band’s bandcamp profile. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
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Album review: The Silver Maggies – My Pale Horse
(Photo by Todd Zimmer)
The origin of The Silver Maggies can be traced back to 2009, when musician and Jaykco Guitar Strap peddler Patrick Deveny did what many other makers of music do: he got a bunch of friends together and formed a band. Early returns were good, and the country-rock sounds being made were fine, but after taking part in the Murder Ballad Ball of 2010, Deveny wanted something a little different. He recruited American Catastrophe’s Terrence Moore soon after, and fellow AC member Amy Farrand a couple years later, thereby taking The Silver Maggies to a place much darker and pensive, but still stylish and sophisticated. After some tweaking and fine-tuning, the band released My Pale Horse, its first full-length album, earlier this year.
Having seen Terrence Moore perform as a solo artist numerous times, I’m familiar with a few of the songs he brought to the band. Hearing “Trouble” as a fully-formed work is a revelation, as the starkness of the singer-songwriter is replaced with the muscle and polish of this seven-piece juggernaut. Moore’s voice has a natural sinister quality, which lends itself well to the lyrical content of this opening track (“proceed to the exit quickly / cause I’ve got a match that’ll burn this place down / to the ground”).
By contrast, in the second cut, “To the Quick," Deveny’s well-weathered voice slides over the music, coercing the listener to join him on a desert drive, windows down, the landscape lit by the waning light of dusk. When the chorus hits, I hear a perhaps-unintentional-perhaps-not taste of ‘90s alienation of “Nearly Lost You” by Screaming Trees, giving the track that much more of an isolationist feel.
When the distant horn comes in on “It All Went South," you may get a sense of influence from Arizona legends Calexico—and you would be absolutely correct. The band’s signature trumpet sound comes from the embouchure of Jacob Valenzuela, who lends his services to My Pale Horse in a most distinctive and impressive manner. To further the connection between the two bands, the album was mixed by long-time producer-engineer and Calexico collaborator Craig Schumacher in his Tucson, AZ studio.
Labels such as “gothic country” and "high desert noir" are not so cut-and-dried as “rock” or “blues”; they are far more descriptive and far more challenging to attain, as they hint at music that is very cinematic in scope. This isn’t the sound that you want as low-level background ambiance—these genres should take the listener into a far more visual realm. A daunting task to live up to, and The Silver Maggies—which also include Jonathan Knecht on drums, Felix Dukes on guitar, Steve Tubbert on bass, Samon Rajabnik on Hammond B3 organ, and guest vocalists Claire Adams and Katy Guillen—have risen to the challenge. When I listen to My Pale Horse, I not only feel as if I’m watching a sepia-tinged Western movie; I feel as if it’s getting to the part where the good guys and the bad guys are getting ready to settle things once and for all.
Sounds like trouble—but a kind of trouble I’m happy to bear sonic witness to.
My Pale Horse was released on March 28 by KC music collective Money Wolf Music. The Silver Maggies’ next live appearance will be at Cowtown Mallroom on Sunday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. It’ll be a free, all-ages show in one of KC’s most historic venues.
–-Michael Byars
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Michael Byars may or may not be pickling things at this moment. It’s possible that he’s already had four or five bottles of Mountain Dew by now. There’s a chance that he is at a hookah bar somewhere. You may say he’s a dreamer. But most of all, he spells pretty well and he works for free, so we let him write stuff for us sometimes. |
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Beyond Modern Release New Music Video
DC’s electronic hip-hop Beyond Modern have just put out a new music video for the track "Tonight" from the S/T project you can check in full here. Beyond Modern is just awesome. This track is awesome. I mean, you’ll see…
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4th Annual Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival 4/27
On Saturday 4/27 Kingman Island will be host to the 4th annual bluegrass and folk music festival put together by Events DC featuring 7 local acts and a bunch of other goodies. Such as tons of the city’s best food trucks, bike giveaways from BicycleSPACE(!), beer (get one free with ticket purchase here), and games for the kiddies.
Bands on the bill include: King Street Bluegrass, Hollertown (hear them below), By and By, Split String Soup, Dead Men’s Hollow, Bob Perilla & Big Hillbilly Bluegrass, and Hackensaw Boys (picture above.)
It all starts at 1 PM on 4/27 on Kingman Island (575 Oakland Avenue NE Washington, DC (at the entrance to RFK Stadium)) with a $10 suggested donation that will go towards Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region.
"Biking and metro are encouraged. A free shuttle will run from Stadium/Armory Metro Station. Free parking is available in RFK Lot 6."
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Ski Lodge debuts video for “Just To Be Like You” + tours with Chad Valley
Ski Lodge is one of those bands whose fanbase is almost entirely composed by music bloggers – which I guess is a contrived way to say that, considering the quality of their music, they should have waaaay more fans. The Brooklyn based quartet – who was highlighted as the 6th best NYC emerging band in our 2011 poll after bands like Caveman, Lucius, Friends and Widowspeak – has been obviously working hard to correct this, and has just released a new video for the single "Just To Be Like You" (streaming below), a song that flirts with the jangly guitar sound and lush melodies of the pop masters of the 80s – think The Smiths and The Housemartins. After a sold out Bowery show opening for Born Ruffians on April 16, Ski Lodge will spend a couple of weeks on the road touring with UK indie popster Chad Valley.
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best NYC songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!