NYC

Experimental NYC: The Human Carpet, Borts Minorts and Little Band of Sailors

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We welcome new blog contributor Valerie Kuehne, a Brooklyn based cellist and composer, who will write for The Deli about experimental/performence music. Valerie curates the live experimental series "The Super Coda" out of Cafe Orwell in Bushwick.

When I first moved to this city I took a Craigslist job working as an ‘assistant’ for The Human Carpet.  This meant attending happy hour at a handful of dive bars and lesbian clubs, helping roll The Human Carpet into his carpet, standing on top of "it" for the next 2 hours, encouraging everybody within 10 ft. to do the same.  The compensation was 20 bucks plus drinks. So it seems this is the fate of performance art.

But then there’s Borts Minorts.  Borts plays a ski.  Borts dresses in a head-to-toe spandex suit that walks a distinguished line between condom and intergalactic time capsule. You kinda want to reach out and pet Borts. You want to take Borts home to meet your family. You are also vaguely afraid that Borts might eat a kitten.  Clearly Borts carries the torch once ignited by Laurie Anderson and Klaus Nomi, god rest his soul. However Borts is living dissonance, and while you might see him accompanied by dancers, they are less exuberant and more scary, scantily clad or dressed in burkas depending on whatever zeitgeist he’s feeling by the hour.  His songs rarely span more than a minute and there is darkness.  His eyes burn with a nostalgia hungering for the grit and freaks of old New York, leering behind the scenes of Taxi Driver and scarcely escaping that fated commute in The Taking of Pelham 123.. 

The resurrection of Borts Minorts (it’s true, he started a family and briefly left the circuit) took place at Cafe Orwell, during a Super Coda show 6 months ago.  Borts was summoned by Little Band of Sailors (in the picture), the brainchild of Rachel Mason, a Yale graduate whose degree was underwritten by gay porn and whose press kit is staggering.  Ms. Mason’s Band of Sailors includes a revolving cast of personalities and a dizzying sequence of costume changes that pay homage to as many star-struck figures and iconoclasts as will fit into a 40 minute set.  (Lately Ms. Mason has been spotted dressed like Borts). In the spirit of all tortured heroines her sound pulls P.J. Harvey out of quicksand by the hair while recounting a rich tradition of witchcraft.  She is soothsayer, harlequin, medicine woman, demolishing any accountability to history through terrified hysteria and incongruous outbursts. Before the resurrection, I helped her roll Borts up like a mummy. I have no idea who inherited the Human Carpet gig.

Both Borts Minorts and Rachel Mason will be featured at this years Experi-MENTAL festival at Goodbye Blue Monday, August 5-7th.

NYC

Aeroplane Pageant launch video + release new album at Mercury on 08.12

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Aeroplane Pageant make music that’s not easy to pigeonhole into genres – which is a good thing, even though this makes the reviewer’s life a little harder. There is definitely a hefty amount of electronic and effected instruments here, in an overall "prog" aural enviroment, but not of the cheesy kind. The suffix "prog" in this case can be described as a playful, "ear-friendly" (or "pop" if you wish) experimentation. That’s probably why a lot of music writers seem to hear in Aeroplane Pageant’s music something reminiscent of The Beatles… Which is really a misleading comparison in my opinion, because these guys are way more out there in terms of song structure and overall complexity of the arrangements. This is pop with a non-pop structure, so basically a rather unique musical paradox, and the song in this newly released video "Help Me Shoot This Apple Off My Head" is a perfect example of this.
Aeroplane Pageant will be celebrating the release of their new album "Float Above The Yard" at Mercury Lounge on Auguts 12.


 

NYC

Lemolo Announce Fall Tour with Head and the Heart

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And now, a word from Lemolo:

We are SO thrilled to announce that we have booked our first tour for this fall! We can’t express enough how honored we feel to be supporting our good friends, The Head and The Heart, on their first headlining tour. We are also excited to share the stage with the wonderful Thao with The Get Down Stay Down. Stay tuned for more dates to come, but this is what we can share with you so far!

10.13.11 – TBA
10.14.11 – TBA
10.15.11 – TBA
10.18.11 – WOW Music Hall / Eugene, OR / $15 / All Ages
10.19.11 – Crystal Ballroom / Portland, OR / $20 / All Ages
10.20.11 – The Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver BC, CA / $21.50 / 19+
10.22.11 – TBA

We also are excited to tell you that we have begun the recording process on our very first full-length album. We are on day two in the studio and can’t wait to share our tunes with you! We’ll be hard at work during the next few months, so be sure to check back in often for updates and further announcements!
We sure hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as we are, and we are looking forward to seeing you at Doe Bay Fest in August and Bumbershoot in September!

Cheers,
Kendra & Meagan

 

NYC

Phil & The Osophers premiere video, release 7″ + announce double album

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Walking a musical line between quirky, lo-fi and psychedelic, Phil and the Osophers have been entertaining the NYC indie scene fans for quite some time. The brainchild of Philip Radiotes and currently a trio, the band has just released a 7" single of two new songs – "Figures Of Speech" and "Ink On The Page" via Brooklyn label Factual Fabrications. These two "sonic appetizers" are going to be followed by a true "feast" consisting in a double album due to drop later this year. The band is also premiering this video of "Ink on The Page", a song that reveals a more mature sound, leaning towards a sparse psychedelic-pop with elegant Morriconian influences. We like what we hear.

NYC

A Million Years’ play Mercury 2 nights in a row on July 21-22

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Being asked to headline 2 nights in a row at The Mercury Lounge is definitely an excellent sign for an emerging band, since the staff who books the most prestigious of NYC small venues is known to be extremely picky. Brooklyn natives A Million Years – a band we’ve been following, featuring and also booking for quite some time – landed this double gig after selling out the venue in June. The quartet plays a punchy, at once catchy and incendiary brand of indie rock with epic tinges, reminiscent of a a darker and more aggressive version of Spoon. A Million Years brought their high energy live shows around the U.S. in several occasions, also opening for 30 Seconds to Mars, Phoenix, and the Drums, before being personally asked to join Jesse Malin on his U.K. tour last December. If good indie rock is your thing, you may want to be at Mercury Lounge on July 21 or 22.

NYC

C’est la Mort to Appear on Smiths Tribute Compilation

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Seattle Shoegazers C’est la Mort have announced that they’ve been selected to contribute to a Smiths tribute album that is set to appear this October.  C’est la Mort have an ethereal, warbling sound that sails over a driving undercurrent of tight bass and drums.  C’est la Mort are reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine, with less muddy vocals, but more closely related to the likes of Comsat Angels, Slowdive and the Chameleons.  Their last album, Empty Words Fill Lonely Spaces, which sold out in hard copy form, is available for download at their bandcamp site for the skimpy price of $8.

NYC

Capitol Hill Block Party Next Weekend!

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And by the by, if you have not seen Les Savy Fav before, I feel that there is a tremendous void living within you that, though you may not know what it is, exists as a tiny voice or ache screaming for the wild antics of Tim Harrington thrusting himself into and onto the crowd, stripping down to his skivvies, and climbing buildings and trees whilst accurately howling every word in every song.  I saw them at the "Green Fest" in Chicago a month ago, and during a madcap run through the crowd, he hugged a friend of mine who was wearing a RISD shirt (Harrington’s alma mater) and handed said friend a broken half of sunglasses.  It made my friend’s night (Hey, Jon Fernandez!).  Plenty of local acts abound, see them all and use sunscreen.

NYC

Weekly Feature: Rubblebucket – Live at Brooklyn Bowl on August 19

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Having cut their teeth in various bands, both together and apart, Kal and long-time creative partner Alex Toth form the nucleus of Rubblebucket. The duo have been collaborating for eight years now. Having first met at the University of Vermont, they began touring and recording together in bands of all shapes and sizes. A super-group, of sorts, Alex decided to create Rubblebucket by approaching musicians he considered to be the best he had worked with. "Alex is really good at making things happen and when he had the idea for Rubblebucket he started pulling together the best musicians he knew," says Kal. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s interview with the band here.

NYC

Eternia Rocks Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest on 07.16

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T-dot transplant and microphone monster Eternia is set to rock the 7th annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival this Saturday July 16th. Eternia has been hustling her signature hot spit for over seven years with a menacing determination. Her most recent album “At Last” released on Fat Beats Records is critically acclaimed on the underground scene, and you’ll find her name in the top five of most people’s favorite female MCs list. Her and formidable style is best experienced live, and since she’ll be sharing the stage with the likes of Q-tip, Artifacts, and Camp Lo, this Saturday’s show will be an amazing experience. -=bMC

NYC

Weekly Feature: Only Son

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Only Son’s second and latest record is “Searchlight.” The band is just the latest chapter in Dishel’s rich artistic history that includes notoriety as a teenage underground graffiti celebrity, time spent as a guitarist for the Moldy Peaches, and success fronting a previous solo project, Stipplicon. Most recently, he’s ventured into standup comedy. These activities further emphasize the point that it’s impossible (and undesirable) to try and pin this songwriter down simply by listening to the music (at least not before you search MySpace for his hip-hop project, Jack Beats Bruno). Only Son’s music holds up beautifully on its own and the ever-growing collection of DIY music videos on the band’s website expands the picture with a healthy dose of humor, but the band is just one aspect of this highly creative artist. – Read Ben Krieger interview with Jack Dishel here.

NYC

I’m Turning Into debut album release show at Monster Island on July 15th

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Joyful Brooklyn lo-fi-ers I’m Turning Into are releasing their debut full length, ‘Parcels of Marbles’, on Friday, July 15. It can be downloaded for free on their Bandcamp profile between July 12-17th. The band is taking this opportunity to also re-release a remastered version of their 2009 EP "Theep". Release show for ‘Parcels of Marbles’ is this Friday, 7/15, at Monster Island Basement with Dinosaur Feathers, Shark?, Sweet Tooth. 11pm door, 12 show, $5 – sweet, fun bill!  – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building.