Future Sounds

Last night I saw an amazing show at R Bar in Manhattan.  I was invited to attend the show by my new friends, in the band, Of Clocks and Clouds.  There were three bands playing: Of Clocks and Clouds, Ginger & the Ghost, and Eva and Her Virgins.  Very different, yet they all gelled together very nicely.  R Bar had Burlesque and face painting going on in the background as well as a very colorful and eclectic crowd.  I felt very at home here, as I saw a girl with a pink Mohawk, various tattoos and piercings, as well as people who donned costumes like it was Halloween.  I appreciate and prefer the strange and eccentric atmospheres and this venue felt very much so in that element.  I'm sick of going to bars and venues seeing hipsters, scenesters, hip-hop wannabees, and other posers.  It was nice to be somewhere original where I was around people who looked artistic and colorful.  Such a relief!

So let's get down the discussing the music.

(-:   Note: All photos and clips below this text are taken by me.  If you use them, at least give me credit.  :-) 

Of Clocks and Clouds:

 It is no surprise that they put on a great show.  Actually, I have to confess that I liked them even more than the first time I saw them.  I knew all the songs, and was watching them for them rather than listening to everything I listen for when I'm watching a band for the first time.  I actually could sit back and just listen rather than having a zillion thoughts pour through my brain.  Their set had even more energy and electricity than the first time too.

I think it had to do with many things.  First, the venue fit their personality and style much more than when they were at Spike Hill.  The other bands playing also worked well with their style and energy.  One doesn't often think about venue and how it can damper or heighten a band's synergy, but it does matter.  This is one reason I refuse to EVER go to an amphitheater concert again.  Not unless I have front row seats to a back to back show by Aerosmith, Kiss, and Queen.

Second, Ross, the band's original drummer was playing with Joe and they felt more at home in their skin.  Even though the last show had Joe's brother drumming, it does make a difference when a band has replacement players.  It's a reason why I hesitate seeing bands like Smashing Pumpkins or Van Halen.  They don't have the original line-ups and that makes me weary of them as a band.

A final reason for Of Clocks and Clouds stellar performance was the energy of the crowd.  The crowd at R Bar loved them.  L-O-V-E-D!!  They had shouts and cries of adulation from the audience who truly was enjoying their music.  I have a feeling that they gained a lot of new fans after their set, as they played flawlessly.  As I said, they had a lot of fresh, electric energy.  They were 'on' for sure.  Even I was mesmerized as if I were seeing them for the first time.  The music tapped into raw emotion, and actually, I didn't want their set to end.  Much like the audience, as they all chanted 'encore' and 'one more' after their final song.

Of Clocks and Clouds do not have a CD as of yet.  They are about to start filming for their first music video.  It is impressive, as they are pretty new on the scene.  I talked to Joe after the show and he told me how this band started as a 'bedroom' project.  He met Ross at his former band's show and they talked about forming a band together, enter Of Clocks and Clouds.  I was intrigued to hear that, at one time, they had more than two people.  They went through a couple of bassists even.  Though, being a bassist, I know what trouble they can cause (heh heh).  Bassists are the real divas of the band!  Believe me!

 I'm glad it's just Joe and Ross though.  They don't need any additional members.  Just as Polyphonic Spree works with 20 plus members, Of Clocks and Clouds works with just two.  Ross's drum playing melts perfectly with Joe's guitar solos and control over synth/sound effects.  Adding any other members would spoil the recipe.  It would just become too much/little, too sweet/salty, too acidic/soapy.  The drum and guitar solos feed off of each other and fit in, like a jigsaw, with the synth/electro backings.  For now, you can get Of Clocks and Clouds music off of Soundcloud and Bandcamp.  Honestly, though, I hope they put out a CD (preferably live).  They'd be fine with a studio version, as they are good but live, they are great!

I still think Of Clocks and Clouds echoes this raw 90's rock sound.  It's like industrial/hard rock/grunge with some twinge of indie/electro-synth.  You can't stop moving to each song and it's hard not to love them.  Songs like 'Travelling at Light Speed in Hyper Reality' is quickly becoming my favorite.  The opening is a promise of a high energy futuristic blast off right into outer space.  You can hear the reference to bands like Kraftwerk.  And I love that machine robotic sound in the song that a lot of music I like is producing nowadays.  Then there are songs like 'Need you Now' which echo to something darker, like Stabbing Westward (remember them?)  I've said they're a fusion of/reference to Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Stabbing Westward, (lower key) NIN, Gravity Kills (an STL band) and Kraftwerk with a little bit of reference to newer bands like Apparat and Tanlines.

I know I like to make references to other bands but truly, Of Clocks and Clouds are original. They are themselves.  You should check them out for yourself because they aren't going anywhere.  I LOVE that they bring this 90's rock sound and fuse it with the hip and now.  It's as if Joe and Ross, like Bill and Ted, had an excellent adventure travelling through time and we're all back in 1996 watching a band blow our minds while they fuse sounds of the future with sounds of the now.

                               
                        
                             

                            
                             
                                
      
                             


Ginger & The Ghost:

Holy shit, I have a new band crush.  To say they blew my mind is a total understatement.  I'm so glad they came to us from Australia (Melbourne).  They are going to be a hit!  I know it!  I have had their set running through my head all day long.  I wish I would have bought a CD because I am smitten.  Lord oh lord am I smitten!

First of all, they have the fucking theatrics of David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.  They make rock back into a spectacle, as it damn well should be.  Missy, the lead singer was dressed in a blue sparkly leotard and had on a coat vest with shredded, white pieces of fabric.  She donned a crown on her head and had on various pieces of striking jewelry.  The guitarist had on a similar styled jacket, that was torn pieces of cloth and leather.  Underneath, a simple shirt and pair of pants.  They each also had face paint/make-up that made them resemble faeries from Shakespeare's own forest.  I truly felt like I was watching a band with Titania and Puck as its sole members.  Their energy was magnetic and unlike most of what I've experienced in live music before.

There is something tribal, raw, spark igniting, and well feverish about their sound.  Missy's vocals are like a mix of Kate Bush, Gwen Stefani, and Cyndi Lauper.  Missy has the same 'witchy ways' of Florence Welch from Florence + the Machine; witchy meaning entrancing and mysterious.  Missy, though, has a nice vibrato and uses stylistic/reverb effects on her vocals that make them even more unique.  Their total sound is like M83, Of Montreal, MGMT.  Do you know the video for 'Electric Feel' by MGMT?  It's like a band emerged out of that exact sound.  They fuse this danceable indie pop, electro-synth sound so very well.  It's not all inorganic sounds.  Oh no!  They are very organic.  At points, they switch off to different instruments.  Like a Rainstick for instance.  Missy strums on, what looks to be, an electric zither giving you that distinct old-thyme sound.  In fact, parts of their songs sounded just like the slower songs on Smashing Pumpkin's album ,Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.   It has to be the zither!   They had chimes and the drummer had a mean bass drum that both he and Missy would bang on for effect.

Truly, this duo looked like extras from Mad Max or a children's story like Where the Wild Things Are. Something fantastical and sublime, right out of your most pleasant dreams.  The music, too, was part of that dream world.  They're leading us all into the desert as the world ends.  But you don't care.  You want to detach from reality with them.   In fact, listening to them made me feel young and took me out of my own body.  I felt silly for not being dressed up like them.  I wanted to hop into the forest and have them lead us all into faerie land.  PS: I do believe in faeries!  I've seen them with my own eyes!

You really can't take your eyes off, Missy, the singer.  She dances and sways with the music.  She is totally in the moment and feels every beat, every note.  Their music, their act is magic.  And, like I said, it sweeps you away to a magical Narnia, Neverland place where we're all young and beautiful.  It's hyptotic, eerie, and sexy all at once.  Missy has this Blondie (Debbie Harry) and Pat Benetar vibe.  I love that both singer and guitarist are barefoot.  Very earthy and mystical.  It calls to mind Burning Man, which Missy said she attended.  In fact, their song, 'Red Balloon' arose from that experience of hers.  Every song is danceable and catchy.  And this is a band that you HAVE to see live.  It is a full body experience.  You can't just listen to them on the radio or Itunes.  You have to see them live!

And, I hope they do a show just with Of Clocks and Clouds because the two work very well together.  Of Clocks and Clouds perfectly fed right into Ginger & The Ghost.  It was like I was in charge of the mixing (I do make very pleasantly harmonized mix CDs or so I've been told).  Really, though what works about both of these bands is that their music tells a story.  It involved your entire being and soul to hear their music.  It's beyond music.  It is art!  True art!

                              

                              


                              

                             

                            
                                            
                                                  Video for 'Where Wolf'
                              

                                     video for 'One Type of Dark'
                             

Eva and Her Virgins:
 So though this band doesn't fit my personal style of music.  In fact, I doubt I would have found them if they had not been playing with the other two bands.  However, I did enjoy their show and they definitely have a lot of raw talent.  They definitely represent the dark side of crazy.  I was surprised to hear that they're from Colombia (the country).  I wouldn't have known, if someone else would not have mentioned this fact.  They represent the dark goth hardcore circus/biker side of American culture well!

Eva and Her Virgins is four individuals: a lead female vocalist, a bassist, a guitarist and back-up vocalist, and a drummer.  I certainly liked their original look.  It was dark and industrial.  Like they were playing for a biker bar of goths and punks.  The drummer was shirtless and had on sunglasses.  The bassist had a black wife beater and black pants.  The guitarist and synth/back-up vocalist had a black hoodie and black jeans.  The lead vocalist had on a black tutu, what looked like a corset and gold/black glitter that looked like mud all over her shoulders and arms.  This band was not about good looks or polished sounds.  Which is fine with me.  I prefer that punk/underground rock sound.  Music is not all about perfection and plastic looks.  Not at all!

So I liked the originality of this band, for sure.  Actually, what I thought was their first song was only a warm-up.  I liked the raw power, the aggression and anger of their sound, however.  There whole set was very very punk.  The lead singer reminded me of Wendy O. Williams of Plasmatics fame.  She had the same gritty, unpredictable energy going on.  At points, the lead vocalist would straddle the metal pole that was on the stage, meant for burlesque shows.  She would make all these interesting facial expressions, grimacing and showing disgust.  She'd pound her head, hit herself, and make gun motions at her head.  You cannot copy this originality.  In fact, the singer's facial expressions reminded me of one Ana Matronic from Scissor Sisters in the expressiveness and outlandish caricature of each look and taunt.

The lead singer looked like she had just rolled in mud and had not slept in days.  However, out of character, she would smile and wink at the audience so I knew it was part of the act.  The singer purposefully played with the sweet, coy and gruff, crude perception of a female.  I liked that very much!  Lead singers who are also females don't have to be fucking Taylor Swift!  Every time she screamed, it was like a tea kettle going off.  She would tug at her microphone, wrap herself in electric cords, and crawl around all over the stage.  At one point, she even jumped up onto the bar and stage dived into the audience.  She sprayed the audience with water from her water bottle and at times looked drunk and disoriented.  It looked like she just woke up from a coma and was getting reoriented with her surroundings.

I liked how the lead singer's being makes reference to Shirley Manson (of Garbage), Joan Jett, and Wendy O. Williams.  Truly, a female Sid Vicious.  As a punk ballerina, she truly made the band.  The other members were good but she was definitely the key to their act.  Not to say, however, that 'the Virgins' were without talent.  They are really into their music and the back-up vocalist/guitarist also had interesting facial expressions and you were drawn to him as much as the lead vocalist. But 'Eva' is certainly the center and glue of this band.

                         

                                  

                                 
                        
              
                        
                                                 video for 'Hammer'
                        
                                   'Disrespect'
                       
I want to take a minute to thank all three bands for their wonderful performance.  Performance art it was.  I was not bored.  Not at all!  And I thought all three acts worked really well together.  Truly raw and full of neon current.

I also want to reference other bands I feel are worth mentioning below.  I've talked about them in previous blog posts.

Other bands/artists to watch and/or check-out:
  (A cheat sheet from my other new music posts)

• Bosco Delrey

• Tanlines

• Wild International

• Doran Danoff

• Foxygen

• Cuddle Magic

• Birdy 

• Bottin

• Cameron Stenger

• A House of Waters

• Michael Kiwanuka

• Alabama Shakes

• Cults

• The Milk

• Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics

• White Lies

• New Look

• Animal Kingdom

• M83

• Filthy Dukes

• Passion Pit

Check out all the bands mentioned.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

  Rockin' out in the free world,

~R~

This WAS my youth!

(me in my HS band playing bass; yea that's me with the bleach blonde spiked hair.  What a punk!)

When I was a wee lad, or more specifically an angst ridden teen, who was hellbent on mostly wearing black and things from Goodwill while also rebelling against authority, I listened to very specific kinds of music.  Meaning, I only listened to 'alternative', punk, heavy metal and sprinklings of classic rock.  No rap, pop, country, reggae, soul, doo-wop, bee-pop, or disco.  Absolutely no fucking disco!  I only listened to music that 'rocked' in my opinion.  So, screaming and thrashing were a must!  My grandfather used to say my music sounded like 'diarrhea'.  He may have been right but I didn't give a shit what anyone said.  And even though I loved my grandfather, he didn't have a clue about music.  Only my music was worthy of being deemed 'music' and anything like Dave Matthew's, Phish, or Blues Traveler was not (that's what all the kids in my high school listened to).  To be fair, I now like all three bands and have their albums in my collections.  I've even seen Blue Traveler and Trey Anastasio (though not ALL of Phish) live.

But when I was sixteen, I did not want to listen to anything that lacked yelling, nasty guitar, and of course, rebellious angst.  So, I will go ahead and describe my top five bands when I was sixteen.  Most of these bands I still listen to, though a lot less now than before.  There are bands not in the top five that I also listened to which I will mention, but briefly.  It is these main five bands that defined my adolescence and made me feel less of a freak, less of an outsider when I was alone in my room plotting my next 'anarchy' in the USA.

I did a cover of the Sex Pistol's 'Anarchy in the UK' for my senior year battle of the bands (seen in the photo above).  The drama teacher at my HS, who was doing sound tech, actually let us go over, and kept telling us to cut because our time ran out, but he didn't pull the plug until after that song.  I think he got what teenage angst was about, and thanks to him I could punk out and say a royal f-u to rules and people who keep stopwatches.  Bloody stopwatches!

I listened to a lot of loud music, like I mentioned.  Naming a few: Metallica, Black Sabbath, Guns n' Roses, Kiss, Aerosmith (pre-'Nine Lives'), Sex Pistols, Subhumans, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, Hole, No Doubt, Silverchair, Foo Fighters, Everclear,

But five bands stick out as the dominant soundtrack to my black paint splattered teenage years:
 Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails (NIN), Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, and Bush.  Those are the fearsome five who were my friends when all I wanted was some understanding, that and some Lithium or Zoloft.    (I'm not making fun of depression, by the way, since I have it clinically and have battled it my whole life, so understand that).

5) BUSH- This is the very first concert I went to on my own.  The actual first concerts I went to were The Moody Blues and shamefully New Kids on the Block.  But, the former counts as the first, so that's what I consider the first even though I fell asleep in the rain.  Before the Bush concert, I still remember hiding my black nail polish covered hands from my parents and wearing my wallet chain to fit in.  It was a cold early May night but I was excited to hear Veruca Salt and Bush rock out and salute teenage angst everywhere.  I remember falling in love with Bush's sound the minute they released Sixteen Stone, in 1994, during the fall of my seventh grade year.  I still recall going to assembly and during a conversation about music, asking if anyone had heard Bush.  No one knew who I was talking about.

But, as soon as I heard 'Everything Zen', 'Little Things', 'Machinehead', and 'Comedown' I was hooked.  It actually was 'Comedown' that caused me to buy the entire album (before I-tunes and Napster).  When you either had to make a tape from the radio or shell out $15-$16 to buy an actual CD.  The days of going to Sam Goody at the mall or Best Buy were in full swing.  Oh, and by the way, I could only listen to CD's in my room, where I had a stereo/tape deck/CD player that my French cousin left to me after her year sojourn with our family.  Thank goodness for that stereo!  It saved my life!

I played Sixteen Stone on repeat falling in love with 'Testosterone' and 'Alien'.  I was glad to find out that my wife, not only loved Bush as well, but loved the song 'Alien'.  She even put the song on a mix she made for me (the most endearing thing ever).  I loved 'Alien', as it defined what I felt like day in, day out.  So the fact that my wife connected to the same song made me realize I made the right choice (well one of the many things).  Let's just say I consider it 'our song'.

I loved Bush so much that I had a poster of the original members: Gavin Rossdale (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Nigel Pulsford (back-up vocals and lead guitar), Dave Parsons (bassist), and Robin Goodridge (drummer).  I wanted to be these guys.  So I had them on my wall to remind me who I wanted to be when I grew up, a rock star.  A cocky, British, arrogant, rock star.  Well, these guys didn't look cocky so much as really cool and slick.  In persona, they were less Oasis and more The Monkees.  They looked at me from their poster and said, 'Rafi, you can be us if you just practice your bass and rock out'.  My motto: 'If it's too loud, you're too old'.

I wasn't as smitten with Razorblade Suitcase (1996) and by The Science of Things (1999), I had moved on to other bands.  But, I will never forget that Bush was my FIRST concert.  It was also the first time I hit on a girl at a concert and got a phone number (despite her living in Illinois a couple hours from St. Louis) and the first time I put a band's sticker on my Fender bass guitar case.

                                  
                   

4) NINE INCH NAILS- On March 8, 1994 (when I was in sixth grade) an earth shattering album entitled The Downward Spiral was released.  I was still too young but by seventh grade, my virgin ears and eyes were open to the horrors of the world.  I was ready for the gory, dark, Gothic world of NIN.  As soon as I listened to this album, my world was turned upside down and I would never be the same.  The Downward Spiral has so many amazing songs.  To name a few: 'Piggy', 'Closer', 'March of the Pigs', 'Eraser', 'Hurt', 'I Do Not Want This'.  I was mesmerized by this album.  It became my anthem all throughout high school.

I was in a world that did not understand me and I did not want to become a part of.  I was surrounded by people, I felt were 'pigs', who played a game that I refused to participate in.  I dressed in all black and refused to play sports.  I loathed the outdoors!  I hated the sunlight, a vampire of sorts.  I identified with Trent Reznor and his world of ugliness and pain.  The world was bleak and non-perfect in my view and the music of NIN could not have described my sentiments any better.  I would sit in my room, my shrine, and light candles and incense.  I had my own religious experiences listening to NIN trying, not to channel demons, but to purge them out of my soul.  I would use NIN's music to cleanse me of any anger, pain, and sadness.  With their music, I didn't feel alone in my alienation against society and my peers.  I wanted to fit in but I couldn't because I was too weird, too real for anybody's taste.  It was NIN's music that made me feel empowered and emboldened to journey forward.  With their music, I didn't feel so hopeless.

In the world of Trent Reznor, everything was dark and sexual.  Sex was grotesque and obscene, people were barbaric animals and obscenely greedy.  The world was unforgiving and relentlessly cold.  This is what I also felt.  A reality that was a mirror for reality.  No gimmicks, no shiny plastic, little to no hope for humanity.  As a teenager, I related to feeling burdened by society's expectations of me and at the same time felt lost in adult's projections onto me for what they wanted me to become.  This world that Nine Inch Nails painted closely related to Tim Burton's world of the macabre, which I also related to very much so.  With films like Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the hero is the sad loner isolated from society.  That hero was me.  

Of course my favorite NIN song is Perfect Drug (1997) for the David Lynch film Lost Highway (that still haunts me to this day).  It has the perfect balance of light and dark, hard and soft.  The lyrics poetic: "Turn off the sun, pull the stars from the sky.  The more I give to you, the more I die...you make me hard when I'm all soft inside.  I see the truth when I'm all stupid eyed.  You go straight to my heart.  Without you, everything just falls apart."  Plus, Trent Reznor looks like a vampire as do every other extra in the video.  The whole video is a sickly green/black and you just get sucked in.  As a teen, I wanted to live in the world of this video and that of NIN.  A world that looked torn from the pages of Poe and painted by Edward Gorey.  As a forlorn teenager, this world was sublime!

                                           Video for Perfect Drug
                          


                                Downward Spiral: 'March of the Pigs' and 'Closer'
                          

3) GARBAGE- Okay if there's one rock vixen who I fantasized about and dreamed about, it was definitely Shirley Manson.  She was strange, powerful, and well, hot.  I'll never forget reading an interview about her where she said that she liked in when guys peed in her bellybutton.  She wore her sexuality like a effervescent shiny skin.  One couldn't help but fall in love with her.  And the music of Garbage?  At age fourteen, I listened to their debut album on repeat without ever growing tired of it.  In August of 1995, when I was entering into eighth grade, Garbage's debut album was released and I never let my grip go from that album.  I was obsessed and smitten with Garbage, namely Shirley Manson and her haunting, sinister, yet erotic vocals.  Their dark, sexual, and powerful lyrics painted a world of possibilities.  It matched my dark, reflective mood on most days.

I do not really have a favorite song off of this album.  I literally enjoyed, and still enjoy every single song.  Though, off hand I'd have to say I enjoyed: 'Only Happy When It Rains', 'Vow', 'Dog New Tricks', 'Fix Me Now', and 'Milk'.  Now listening to the lyrics and melodies again, really for the first time since being a teenager, I feel like much of the background music sounds like x-rated horror movie music in its being seductive and enticing yet dark and haunting (not that I know what that sounds like).  However, the music of Shirley Manson (vocals guitar), Butch Vig (drums, loops/sound effects), Duke Erikson (guitar/keyboard) and Steve Marker (guitar, samples/loops) was much more than corny porn music.  It was poetry, it was art.  There was nothing like it at the time.  Their debut album still ranks as one of my favorites of all time because I don't hate any of the songs on it.  I love them all, still to this day!

I saw them in concert for their Beautiful Garbage (2001) album tour when I was in college, in 2001.  I felt like writing a sign that said 'I have been in love with Shirley Manson since I was 14 and now I'm 20.'  I don't know what stopped me.  I still think that Shirley Manson is one of the most beautiful women of rock n' roll history.  She's a Scottish spitfire who I hope I someday have the pleasure to meet.    Hubba, hubba, I'll never stop crushing on her (my wife even knows)!  And though I like their newer stuff less, I still enjoy songs like 'Bleed Like Me', 'Happy Home', 'Androgyny', and 'Shut your Mouth'.  I will always have a place for Garbage in my rock n' roll heart!

                                            snippets from the debut album
                         
                                      
                                                Garbage b(g)-sides

                         

                             video for 'Bleed Like Me' from Bleed Like Me (2005)
                          

2) THE SMASHING PUMPKINS- Around the same time I fell in love with Garbage, I also fell in love with The Smashing Pumpkins.  Their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) also came out in the fall of my eighth grade year.  Middle school is hell!  Certainly mine was filled with being bullied, ridiculed, and taunted.  Music was my natural escape.  Hearing the angst and pent up rage behind Billy Corgan's crooning lyrics was like a wake up call.  So other people feel like me too?  Adults can have these same emotions?  Not everyone walks around like a wound up robot on Zoloft?  There was something real and raw behind Smashing Pumpkins.  With Bill Corgan (vocals, lead guitar, keyboard), James Iha (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), D'arcy Wretzky (bass, backing vocals), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums, backing vocals) who could go wrong?

I, unfortunately, never saw them in concert.  I almost did.  They had a tour with Garbage in 1996 that was canceled after Jimmy Chamberlin and the keyboardist for their tour, Jonathan Melvoin, overdosed on drugs; it killed Melvoin.  I still remember the moment, though, at discovering that Garbage and The Smashing Pumpkins, my two favorite bands at fourteen, were touring together and I'd get to go as an early birthday gift.  But their album, Mellon Collie, was my soundtrack through life up until the end of high school through college.  The waves and ebbs of the light and dark sides of the album got me through many things in life.  I consider it, to this day, a life preserver.

Of course, being a double album, there is no 'real' favorite song.  I do have some highlights, however, like: 'Tonight, Tonight', ', 'Zero', 'Fuck You (An Ode to No One)', 'Love', 'Porcelina of the Vast Oceans', 'Bodies', 'In the Arms of Sleep', 'Thru the Eyes of Ruby', 'We Only Come Out at Night', 'By Starlight', and 'Farewell and Goodnight'.  Of course I also love the wider known hits like 'Bullets with Butterfly Wings' and '1979'.  What I love about this album is that it tells a story, a fiction.  You could write a whole musical/rock opera to this album, as it is poetic and lyrical.

I also like Smashing Pumpkin's earlier work like Gish (1991), Siamese Dream (1993), and Pisces Iscariot (1994).  Any occasion, sad or happy called for a Pumpkins song.  Like I said, their music got me through the rocky road of teenage-hood.  Their version of 'Landslide' is still my anthem, as I performed it my senior year of high school.  No matter how much I age and wrinkle, I still look back to my time with the Smashing Pumpkins as a highlight of my musical relationships.

                                 video for 'Tonight, Tonight'
                        

                                           'We Only Come Out at Night'
                        

                              My favorite album Pisces Iscariot (1994)
                       

1) NIRVANA- Anyone who knew me in high school should NOT be surprised to see Nirvana listed as #1.  I lived, breathed, and ate Nirvana.  I celebrated Curt Kobain's birthday and memorialized his death day by putting posters up all over, like one would for a live person.  I was one of 'those' who felt that Kurt Cobain's suicide was really a murder and stopped listening to Hole after my friends convinced me that Courtney Love was evil.  I still think she's evil.  Actually, I one time told my friend Becca that I'd punch her in the face if I ever saw her in real life.   Well, one time we were at Teeny's (Moby's cafe in NYC) and lo and behold, who was standing outside in a Ramone's t-shirt, fishnets, big dark sunglasses, and a leather jacket with a cigarette dangling from her lips?  Courtney fucking Love!  Did I go outside and punch her?  NO!  I was frozen in place.  My friend still mocks me to this day that I didn't live up to my word and sock her in the jaw.  Hey, I didn't want a lawsuit!  And we all know that Courtney Love knows the inside of a courtroom like the back of her hand.

Back to Nirvana.  I love every single album of theirs.  From Bleach (1989), Nevermind (1991), Incesticide (1992), In Utero (1993) to MTV Unplugged (1993), and From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (1996).  I even have the String Quartet's tribute album to Nirvana.  I still cannot listen to a Nirvana song without having a flood of memories (good or bad but mostly the former) come back.  My band in high school played mostly Nirvana covers.  I, of course, played bass, wanting to be just like Krist Novoselic (bassist for Nirvana).  I had posters of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl (drummer) all over my room and locker.  I had bass books of Nirvana songs and listened to their songs endlessly to determine the TAB.  I built my rock n' roll performing future off of Nirvana.  I tried to copy all the bass riffs from their songs and pretend to rock out in my room to any of their albums (often to a pretend live audience).

My favorite album, still to this day, is Incesticide.  I liked the others, but there's something raw and unconventional about the lesser known album that pulled together b-sides.  My personal favorites: 'Dive', 'Sliver', 'Been a Son', 'Son of a Gun', 'Hairspray Queen', 'Aero Zepplin', and 'Aneurysm'.

I would say that my second favorite album is In Utero.  With songs like 'Rape Me', 'Serve the Servants', 'Scentless Apprentice', 'Heart-Shaped Box', 'Pennyroyal Tea', 'Very Ape', and of course 'All Apologies' you cannot go wrong.

Actually there is not a Nirvana album I don't like.  I like them all. There are some songs I like more than others, however.  I favor songs like 'Something in the Way' over 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.  The songs that were 'catchy' never became my absolute favorites.  Kurt Cobain's poetry, however, will always be tattooed on my soul.  It imprinted itself during my teenage years and it has permanently left a mark.  I identified with Kurt Cobain and Nirvana in being rebellious, a rogue, misunderstood, outsiders, and drifters looking in on society, having the last laugh.  They had the notoriety and still made fun of the audience and society that revered them, much like Oscar Wilde and other similar artists. As an aspiring artist, to me, this was the best kind.  An artist who made it and then took a dump all over the faces of glittering stardom and marveling fan hysteria.  To be an artist who didn't care and made art for the sake of its beauty and noise.

                                            Full Incesticide album
                           

                                                    Full In Utero album
                             


                                           Nirvana's video for 'Heart-Shaped Box'
                                

                                                  Nirvana's video for 'In Bloom'

                                 

So, these are the artists from my teenage years who I revered like gods.  When I envisioned myself being on stage, being a rock star, these are the idols whom I aspired to be molded after.  Of course, I never became a rock start but hopefully one day I can at least rub elbows with them and be engulfed within the world of music, the only true world for the likes of me.

Lyrically yours,

~R~

Brooklyn Beats

Spike Hill- Williamsburg (Brooklyn) 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

BAND BILL-

Maya Killitron

The Lounge Act

Of Clocks and Clouds

Dussel

Revolving One 

Tattoo Money
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Maya Killitron- (#1)

 This young lady is definitely going places.  She opened up the night with a bang, zap, pow, an explosion of R&B/Hip-Hop, electronic/dance-pop infused goodness.  Her voice is like buttah, seriously.  In today's world, it is hard or next to impossible to be a one woman show, but she does it with flying colors.  Dressed in black spandex, black leggings with pointy pockets, a gold necklace, and gold sparkly flats, she does not fool anyone with a girly girl likeness.   She is tough as nails as she spit lyrics like, "Your bullshit I hate it, finally I can face it."  DJ Denver had her backup electro beats.  But the start of the show was definitely Maya.

She hails from Toronto, a feisty, fiery Canadian.  I like that she mixes in different styles and often incorporates spoken word into songs.  She also knows how to work a crowd, serenade and talk to (not at) them.  You feel like you're having a nice, casual, intimate conversation with a dear, old friend.  After one of her songs, she told the audience that, "It's hard to get Brooklyn to dance" but even harder to get 'people in Toronto to dance' because Canadians are 'assholes'.  That's right, Brooklyn, we might be too cool for school with our aloof hipsterdom, but apparently Toronto is worse.   I also like her telling the audience, "Who here has date/fucked a musician?"  and responds "STOP-they're all assholes."  A comedian to boot.  

I like that she says 'sohrey' with that Canadian twang.  It adds to her charm.  I like Maya's free style vocals.  Her uninhibited nature causes her to dance and writhe on stage as if she's at home in front of the mirror.  My one complaint is that Maya's voice was often hard to hear.  And you want to hear her voice.  I wonder what she'd sound like backed by a live band, much like the late Amy Winehouse.  I would say Maya's voice is a mixture of Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis, and a tinge of Beyonce (without the diva).  Her vocals are SOLID!  She is the real deal!  And thank goodness I didn't dig her up watching American Idol.  She's too good for that trite, banal shit!  Even when she does a 'sad ballad', the song has a beat and is quite rhythmic.  She is definitely one to keep an eye out for.  She worked with a slue of artists and DJ's namely in Brooklyn, Chicago, and Toronto.  She plays multiple musical instruments including violin, saxophone, and piano to name a few.  She was asked, at only 17, to attend the Banff International Jazz workshop and got to play with Esperanza Spalding.  Impressive if I say so.  

Maya, if you're reading this,  you go get 'em, girl.  You are a spitfire and you will go far.  In today's music industry, to be female and talented (and good looking) is a blessing and curse.  But for you, I feel it will bring blessing upon blessing as you seem too street wise to fall for the pitfalls of stardom and fame.  I hope I see you as a Grammy nominee soon!

                                          Video for 'Red Dress'

                   

                         cover of 'Rolling in the Deep' (by Adele)
                 

Lounge Act- (#2)

This band was also pretty good.  With two guitars (Simon Guzman and Jordan Wuest), a bass (Roger Walsh), and a drummer (Nick Ciccantelli) they eased right from tuning and setting up into their set.  They have this 60's rock vibe, but more of the darker side of that era.  They were like a new age Doors mixed with The Animals.  That's the vibe I got.  The lead singer (Guzman) was no Jim Morrison (that's a good thing) but he had this dark, hypnotic quality to his vocals and lyrics.  They were certainly no One Direction!  Thank goodness for that.  I could see them opening for a band like Foxygen (who also have a vintage 60's vibe).  Foxygen and Animal Collective!  They all exist on the same plane of reference.  However, Lounge Act has a tinge of the British 60's too.  A very gritty 60's freestyle mix of hard and edgy with sensitive.  I call it 'hard emotional' with a 'rough glass sensitive' add mixture.  

I also like that they went from simple and basic riffs to more complex solos and chords.  At one point, one of their guitar riffs sounded a lot like Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'.  I like that they build on chords and notes, making them get more complex.  I got visuals of walking down a 'dark desert highway'.  No, literally, a New Mexico desert night, open and vulnerable to the elements naked, cold, and alone with coyotes howling in the distance.  The guitar solos were lit on fire, they were nasty solos.  Some of the solos were trippy and reminded me of the underground  psychedelic bands like The Electric Prunes or Tomorrow.  And, the lyricism and melody glowed a very sinister green flame.  I also imagine this music in a Calvin Klein or Levi's commercial in the sense that it has that other worldly, dark, rebel quality that those types of commercials have.  This is the music that James Dean would cruise the highways to on his motorcycle.  Easily the soundtrack to Easy Rider.  

My only criticisms are that I wish the band had a standard 'look'.  I liked that the drummer had on a dark tie and a white shirt.  Maybe having the whole band attired in that look would be too referential to the sixties, but I feel like it might have been cool.  I also wish that some of the songs had more structured endings.  A few of the songs just ended abruptly, which is probably their style but it went against the build that they achieved during each song.  I liked that no band member was too important.  Every single member was featured at some point with a solo.  And they're ALL talented musically.  No one is being carried by anyone's coattails, which is refreshing to see.  You can easily get lost in the instrumentals.  I also like that though referencing the sixties, they also reference the 70's and 80's as well.  Some metal riffs get fused into the otherwise psychedelic sound.  Their song 'For What It's Worth' was their golden ticket.  I see this becoming a big hit.  The drum solo at the start is amazing.  I hope they get a break in a commercial (like Target who sometimes uses edgy music).  I don't think this will be the last you'll hear about them.  Not by a long shot.  Too much talent to let go to waste.

'For What It's Worth' The Studio at Webster Hall (6/12)

                           

From Spike Hill (3/9) 

                           

Of Clocks and Clouds- (#3)

This is the band that I mainly came to see.  They tweeted me and I listened to some of their stuff.  Because they were having a free show, and I liked their music, I decided to check them out.  I was NOT disappointed.  This is also a band to watch.  What's impressive is that it's just two dudes, the drummer and a guitarist who also does synthesizer/sound effects.  Joe Salgo plays guitar, does synth and vocals as well as writing all the lyrics.  The drummer is Ross Procaccio, but when I saw them Salgo's brother was filling in.  He did an amazing job filling in by the way.  If Salgo wouldn't have mentioned it being his brother, I wouldn't have thought anything was amiss.  Of Clocks and Clouds have a Kraftwerk influence, which I definitely can hear and appreciate.  Kraftwerk is an underrated band and being that I'm obsessed with machine/robotic sounds fused with music especially from the late 70's/early 80's I found myself really enjoying the Of Clocks and Clouds set.

The electronic beat seemed to be pre-programmed in, which is good since the guitarist was the one doing all the sound manipulation.  What a multi-tasker!   I mean he writes all the songs, sings them, and manipulates the effects.  WOW!  I used to sing and play bass in a band (in high school) and that's hard enough.  I can never understand how people multi-task their musical talents, not playing multiple instruments, but doing them all at the same time.  Respect!  I like the poetic lyrics and there is a nice balance of vocals, drums, and guitar.  Nothing overpowers or gets underscored.  Everything balances quite well.  There is nothing lacking or overwhelming which is too often the case, often the fault of sound technicians or the board operator.  Of Clocks and Clouds reminds me of an American Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, or White Lies.  The latter being newer.  However, they have this great 80's New Wave or underground alternative (Ultravox, B-Movie) sound but they make it fresh.  There is also a tinge of Stabbing Westward, something more gothic and dark.  I feel that industrial/goth/electronic element and it's not out of place.

Of Clocks and Clouds is very unpompous and not showy at all.  You feel like you can hang with them after the show and chat over some brews.  I also like that the music could be on a crime show like Bones or CSI.  It's dark and deep enough to make a show like Law and Order: SVU even more sinister.  The music is mainstream enough to be big but it's not cliche or ironic enough to be Mumford and Sons (who are annoying the shit out of me these days) and not vapidly mainstream like Blink 182 (who suck live).  I feel that there could be more interplay with the electronics and synth.  I really enjoyed the sound manipulation and lyric echos orchestrated by Salgo.  The vocal effects were amazing and like nothing I've heard.  Innovative like The United States of America (not POTUSA).  I loved the song 'Love Will be My End'.  That's definitely hit worthy and stands out as both intense and hypnotic.  Of Clocks and Clouds is much like Flaming Lips in that their lyrics seem simplistic but at a closer listen, you can tell they're very soulful and deep.  Great music for a foggy, rainy misty day.  Yes, a blend of Radiohead and Flaming Lips.  I hope I see them again, live, soon!  Bravo!

                                        'What Should I Believe?'(At House of Yes)

                      
                                                                'It's Over Now'
                                        

                                                     'Need You Now' (at Pianos 1/6/13)

Dussel Has Friends (#4)- 

I have to be honest.  This was my least favorite band of the night.  They are a blend of alternative and hip-hop.  However, I felt like I was at a frat party.  This is just a really good college band playing at someone's fraternity house.  There are six people in the band: two guitarists, a bassist, drummer, a vocalist, and a guy on electronics.  Two guys are back up vocals.  It's an interesting mix in that the band is interracial which you don't see a lot.  It's either all black, all white, all Latino, etc.  I like when there's a blending of races and genres.  The labels get blurred.  That's one thing I, in fact, DID like about Dussel.

However, a lot of the instrumentals were simple rock riffs.  There was some electronics, but not nearly enough.  It was hard to hear the rapping and vocals, as it was drowned out by the instrumentals.  I liked the energy and personality of the vocalist/rapper.  He has a lot of great energy and connected to the audience well.  He made their music into feel good music, and bearable for me.  I also did not like that they took riffs from known rock songs like Weezer's 'Say It Ain't So' and Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.  Let me say this very clearly.  I HATE when any artist takes a well known rock riff and then doesn't do it much justice.  I'm very territorial about my rock and especially Nirvana.  I almost walked out the door when I heard the famous 'duh duh duh neeer neeer' that everyone associates with the anarchy cheerleaders in a pep rally gone awry music video.  I literally almost walked out.

Though I'm glad I didn't because I got to hear that this band does some great funk.  If they mostly did that, just did funk like Sly and the Family Stone infused withe some rap, then it might be more enjoyable.  However, most of the songs were 'cute girl shake your ass' stuff.  I felt it was too similar to Kid Rock or Nickelback (who I find irritating).  I felt the novelty of this band wear off by the fourth song.  It really wasn't until they did some funk, that I was woken up from my boredom.  Oh and they also stepped on a Harry Belafonte tune, 'Jump in the Line' (my fave).  I did not like Dussel's rendition, however.  Sorry, I'm just a Debbie Downer here.  I just didn't like the appeal this band may have had to some.  It is a talented band of musicians, and that's why I say doing more funk would bare their soul and showcase their high  level of talent.  I feel like they're selling themselves short, like someone handed them some music to play and they said, 'okay, the money is good' and threw away whatever they actually had planned.  More originality.  With their funkier stuff, they remind me of Living Colour (of 'Cult of Personality' fame).  I did like 'Summertime' and felt that could be a hit.  It was different than the other songs.  Maybe it's just my aversion to feeling like I'm in a fraternity, but it really was like a college kegger in Williamsburg.  Definitely not my scene!

                            'Summertime' (in Philly 2/11)
              


                       video for 'American Made'
             
            

Tattoo Money (#5)-

This was the headliner of the night.  They were doing a CD and music video release party.  Their video had zombies in it (big points in my book).  I actually liked this band a lot.  Three people: vocalist and guitarist, bassist, and drummer.  I actually enjoyed this band the most.  They have an IT factor.  I could easily see them on Jay Leno or Jimmy Fallon.  They have swagger, a coolness factor.  You want to know these guys.  I liked that they handed out a card with a free download of their new album.  Most artists sell their stuff for $20 per CD at shows (if you're lucky).  These guys are definitely chill.  The drummer had on a dashiki (and he's white).  The vocalist/guitarist had on a stovepipe hat and blazer donning an Andre 3000 (from Outkast) look.  

I liked the opening, 'Diamonds in the Sky'.  A Rhianna cover but the originality of the song made me doubt it to be a cover at all.  I think of Tattoo Money's music as surf meets rockabilly meets doo-wop, kind of a fuse of Lenny Kravitz, Outkast, Yes, and Pink Floyd.  I'll call it 'funk-a-billy trip-hop'.  I loved the song 'Wolf Ticket' which has some nice psychedelic reverb.  I have never heard anything like this in my life.  The lead singer has tons of charisma and the dashiki donning drummer was insane.  His facial expressions were intense, letting you know that he is totally enveloped in his own music.  I also liked the song 'Melt With You' in its genre defying, face melting wonderment.  That was the real shit!  Golden shit!

  I liked that Tattoo Money did a cover of the Lumineers' 'Ho Hey'.  I cannot stand that song.  It is hipster bullshit and is the anthem of Williamsburg.  I heard it in the corner market on Bedford and W 7th, before the show and heard everyone in the entire store singing along.  BLECH!  But Tattoo Money sang it with swag and with sardonic irony.  That's why they're the shit, Tattoo Money, not The Lumineers.  Tattoo Money was the highlight of my evening, despite the other bands/artists having lots of talent.  I was reminded of Cee Lo Green and Dungeon Family injected with Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield.   A little early Chicago circa '25 or 6 to 4'.  Funky, fresh, and dynamic.  I would see Tattoo Money again and actually pay some money to see them live!

                         video for 'DJ Please Don't Play No Dubstep'

                 

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The other band, 'Revolving One' did not show.  Maybe they played after Tattoo Money because I left early.  Not because I was bored but because I'm old and a dad (and my wife hates me getting home too late).  She lets me out to concerts and I don't like getting home past 1 am.  Anyway, that's my two cents on what I saw.  If you catch any of these bands/artists, I hope you enjoy what they have to offer.  And like I said before, they all have unmeasurable talent.  Even though I liked some acts more (or less) than others doesn't speak to their talent level.  It just speaks to my level of taste which is totally subjective.  Music is even more opinion forming than fashion and religion combined.  And I usually like stuff off the beaten path anyway.  So, I hope any of the bands who I write about don't take offense.  You're all very talented, and I'm sure you'll go far in the really nitpicky and grenade filled world that is the music industry.

Musically yours,

~R~

Band Wagon

 So I know my blog is all over the damn place.  But, my first love is MUSIC.  Without it, my life would be pointless.  Well not completely pointless but a lot less existential and meaningful.  Music is my heartbeat and provides me with an endless soundtrack.

So I will share with you a few bands that I've been into lately.  

BAND #1-  M83.

I've known about them for a few years.  Their first song that I discovered was 'Kim and Jessie' off their album, Saturdays=Youth (2008).  M83 is French and was formed in 2001 with Nicholas Fromageau (by far the coolest French last name I've heard) and Anthony Gonzalez.  If ever I have a soundtrack to a movie that I'm in and/or direct, then I hope to hell it's M83.  I hope they write the soundtrack for that movie.  I will commission it to be done if I ever become a hot shot director.  In the dream version of my life, that's what I'd do, direct music videos and work my way up to film.  And be a band promoter on the side, like band PR.  I love directing but that's a topic for another post.  But most of all, I love music.  I fucking love it!  Hey, it brought my wife and I together.  Music is a passion and a muse for my essence of living!  So...

M83 has this dreamy synth/electro pop quality.  Their music is ethereal and like a reverie.  Dreamy and light yet electric and alive.  I cannot get enough of this band.   I haven't had a favorite French band since Air who kind of petered out of the scene, though they last released an album Late Night Tales came out in 2006.  Air did the soundtrack for the 1999 Sofia Coppola film version of the 1993 book 'The Virgin Suicides' (by Jeffrey Eugenides).  Back to M83.  They are boss!  Seriously!  I cannot imagine what it would be like to hear them live in concert.  Probably like being in a cloud drifting over the South Pacific during a kaleidoscopic sunset.  M83 has six albums, the last, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming having been released in 2011. 

What I like even more about M83 is that their music videos tell a story.  I cannot stand it when I envision a music video for a song that's better than what actually gets made.  My mind always dreams up stories for songs that I listen to.  Once, I wrote a play based on music.  The music wrote the script.  That's just how my mind works.  Anyway M83 puts time and thought behind their videos.  What's cooler is that many of their videos continue the story line much like our (my) dreams often do.  One time I had a week's worth of dreams that were in scrambled order all about the end of humanity.  So, yes I relate to M83 and their visuals.  See for yourself:

video for 'Midnight City' (#1)

                                   

Video for 'Reunion' (#2)

                                   

video for 'Wait' (#3)

Video for 'Kim and Jessie'

                                  

They are expert storytellers.  Their music is amazing on its own but with their videos, it is transformed and given a new meaning altogether.  I don't know a lot of music that does that.  One, there are a lot of bands that suck.  But, to have a band that stands on its own two feet with its music and then become transformed and transcribe upon itself a brand new meaning, well that's special.  That, my friends, is art!


BAND #2- Foxygen

If David Bowie and the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack combined to have a baby, well then Foxygen would be it.  They fuse that late 60's, early 70's glam rock sound so well into a new thing.  I love it!  They formed in 2005 with Sam France and Jonathan Rado from the sunny state of California.  They have two albums, their debut Take the Kids Off Broadway (2012) and an upcoming release, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors.  We all know that I fucking love 60's/70's rock.  So this band is going to be a given win for me.  They recreate that 60's avante garde sound so well.  They recently had a sold out show in NYC.  They are on Fuse's list of must see bands of South by Southwest.  I have a feeling that in a year or two (maybe sooner), that Foxygen will blow up.  They'll get gigs on Jimmy Fallon and SNL.  They're not a taste for everyone, though.  It's a niche, for sure.  But I'm part of that niche.  I feel like I'm going back in a time machine with this band.  Get out your paisley polyester, bell bottoms, and make sure to get some glitter platforms.  And it'll be one hell of a fun, fun, trip.

                                            'San Francisco' (from upcoming album)

                      

Foxygen's full debut album 'Take the Kids Off Broadway' (from Bandcamp)

                           

Band #3: Susanne Sundfør

Susanne is Norwegian so that's a first reason why she rocks.  She is only 26 but she is a rising star (for America).  What she does is poppy but has an indie/electronic hint to it.  She is a singer/songwriter and gets props for that.  So, she rose to fame with her 2006 single 'Walls' which apparently topped every Norwegian radio chart.  I found out about her because her song 'White Foxes' appeared on my Songza playlist (it's a kickass Iphone app).  I hate how music from abroad is always hazy and is slow to reach our shores.  What's more is that a band or artist can have huge success in another country/continent and be virtually unheard of here.

Take the band Silverchair for instance.  That Australian mid 90's alternative rock band?  Heard of them?  They are still a favorite of mine.  I love Neon Ballroom (1999) and it's my fave album of theirs. But, the success they had in Australia and Europe did not even do anything for the marginal success they had in America.  I think Americans don't have that good of taste in music.  I mean, c'mon.  American Idol?  The times that I've watched it, Adam Lambert, Crystal Bowersox, and James Durbin, the lot I rooted for, did not win.  The winners, in my opinion were not the 'best' singers.  I just don't think Americans have good taste in music.  Yes, I'm a music snob, and Americans are tone deaf dolts when it comes to anything of musical worth.  I digress.

Back to Susanne.  Some of her songs are electric pop and some are more country twang.  She has versatility.  She seems like one of those artists who you just don't know what to expect next from.  And I don't mean like Jewel who went from cool, soft folksy poet to seductive pop/country sexpot.  Jewel's first album is golden, by the way.  And I have no problem with an artist who reinvents himself/herself.  However, with Susanne you can guarantee that you'll have something special every time.

I haven't been THIS excited about a foreign female artist since Garbage debuted back when I was in middle school around 1995.  Seriously, Susanne Sundfor has some major talent.  She has pipes and I like that she's an outspoken feminist.  She once said, 'I am first and foremost an artist, not first and foremost a woman' in response to a host's introduction of women artist nominees at a 2008 music awards show.  There was discussion about having a totally separate category for women, but as Susanne says, why should she be singled out?  See how being hyper PC can actually turn into borderline bigotry?  I agree, Susanne.  I agree with you completely!  She has five albums, her first being Susanne Sundfør (2007) and the latest being The Silicone Veil (2012) Give her tunes a listen:

                                                      Walls (2007)

                        

The Brothel (2007)

                       


                                               White Foxes (2011)              

                       


                                             Running to the Sea (2012)
                        

                    
So that's it for this cold and wet Wednesday.  Some new musack for ya.  I have to put in though that lately, I've been crazy about this fusion of late 70's early and 80's synth pop/electronic music into the indie scene.  I even listen to some of those bands like Ultravox, B-Movie, and Kraftwerk.  I love the idea of taking robotic, non-human sounds and giving them life.  We live in a robotic world, plugged into our machines, after all.  Are we even human anymore?  Beep beep buzz tsszzz....

I am excited to see what keeps cranking out of the scene.  I have not, sadly, been to any live shows lately.  But, hopefully as the weather improves and money comes my way, I can find my way to some cheap/free shows in and around Brooklyn and NYC.  I'm always on the lookout for new tunes.  So if you have any suggestions, hit me up.  E-mail me.  Let me know so I can give my Ipod a rejuvenated state of being.

Musically yours,

    ~R~