I always find it pretty interesting when musicians who usually work behind the scenes step out into the limelight. Stuart Watson, who’s helped craft the enchanting melodies of New York’s Larkin Grimm, Xiu’s Xiu’s Sam Mickens, and The Dirty Projectors’ Nat Baldwin (among others) finally releases his own work with the Brooklyn based Shatter Your Leaves label under the moniker No Sky God.
The band’s tunes are in stark contrast to most of what has been coming out of BK lately, concerned more with “songwriting and emotional directness than studio wizardry or genre-mashing strangeness,” Watson says. We can get on board with that.
The above track, “The Butcher,” is actually a cover of Grimm’s track of the same name, but Watson’s vocals brings an almost adolescent urgency to the track’s metaphysical angst, laid bare over James Marceda’s dreamy guitar. Listen to it, and know you’re not alone.
NSG’s EP was released yesterday at noskygod.com. Pick it up digitally or on 12” vinyl.
What originally began as a duo in 2009 has grown in to a five piece band with the additions of a bass, drums and banjo/mandolin players. As I’m sure you can imagine their music comes from a folk background but is heavily infused with indie rock stylings.
Around this time last year they released their debut EP “The Storm & The Eye” which you can listen to and download on their bandcamp page. Very recently they released a single called “Obey Your Guns”. Above is the video and you can grab it for free on their bandcamp page as well.
This past Tuesday a bunch of us Vagabonds went to see one of our favorite bands of all times, The Black Keys.I think between the three of us that were there we have seen upwards of twenty shows.It’s an addiction, but it’s better than all the other shit we could be addicted to.
The boys opened with some of their older material which was amazing especially if you’ve been a fan for as long as we have. Kicking it off with “”Thickfreakness”, “The Breaks” and, “Busted” (one of the first songs they ever wrote)They moved on to play a bunch of songs from Brothersand invited a bass and keyboard player on stage to help recreate that rich full sound heard on the album.
They ended the night with a three song encore “I Got Mine” being the last of the three which you can watch in the video below.
Of all my favorite musical events that happen around New York in the summer Siren Festival always tops my list. This will be the 4th year in a row that I’ve attended and every year I seem to roll with a bigger, drunker and rowdier crew.
The two best things about Siren Festival besides the always awesome line up is that it’s on Coney Island and its FREE! I had never wanted to trek out that way until I learned about this festival but it’s the perfect opportunity to take in the freak show that is Coney Island and catch some fantastic music at the same time. Two birds with one stone kind of deal.
It’s a fantastically weird merging of worlds. Boardwalk craziness, hipsters galore and of course the looming projects and local Coney Islanders that create a universe unlike any other I’ve ever seen. I want to say culture shock, but that’s not quite the right word. You truly need to witness in order to properly understand.
Today, The Village Voice just released set times which means I’m gonna have to rally the troops a little earlier then usual if I want to catch one of my favorites Scremaing Females. Getting to see Marissa dominate the guitar live is all the convincing you should need to get your ass to Coney Island, but if it’s not here are a few other great ones. DOM, a great band from Worcester, MA who opened for our friends Keepaway recently at their album release party. Surfer Blood who have been dominating the indie scene with their Beach boysesque punkrockerish summer loving album, Astro Coast. Then there is The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and of course the ultimate Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim. I could go on and on about how great all the acts are gonna be, but you should really check them out yourself.
You can find me to the right of the Stillwell Stage in the large sand filled lot with umbrellas and chairs downing cold beer between my favorites sets. Hope to see you there!
In honor of Earth and all things funny I’ve decided to bring you another fantastic video from my dear friend Ben Sheehan. If you didn’t catch his parody of “I’ll Be Missing You” the “You” being Conan O’Brein that we posted a few weeks back, take a minute to brighten your day with that little gem. It’s been getting some serious press a la Billboard and LA Times.
Enjoy and save some electricity, recycle some cans or whatever people are supposed to do on Earth day.
-laughter + music from my ears. to yours. with love jp
Things I did not know before discovering this band, what a phantogram is and what a fantastic sound this group generates. For those of you who are as uneducated as me a phantogram also commonly know as a Phantaglyphs (by the way neither of these words can be found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary only in Wiki which is obviously wayyyy more reliable) are free-standing anaglyphs, levitated images, and book anaglyphs, which a form of optical illusion. Phantograms use perspectival anamorphosis to produce a 2D image that is distorted in a particular way so as to appear, to a viewer at a particular vantage point, three dimensional. Consider yourself educated. The lead singer studied visual arts, so I bet she thought up their name.
While the band Phantogram, is an American electronic rock duo from Saratoga Springs, New York consisting of guitarist Josh Carter and keyboardist Sarah Barthel. Their album, Eyelid Movies is becoming a fast favorite of mine. Eyelid Movies, also their first LP, was released in February 2009. I guess I’m not on top of my game at all. If you enjoy danceable electro pop with strong artsy overtones and lyrics that paint pictures these guys are for you. Favorite tracks include “When I’m Small”, featured above and “Mouth Full of Diamonds” which can be heard at the link below.
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing jj live at the Knitting Factory. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Honestly, I think myself and the many others who attended the show were there purely out of curiosity. Although I was no no way blown away, I was surprised to find that her voice sounded amazing live and happy to see that he walked out on stage ripping a phattie, as advertised in their newest music video.
I’m also willing to bet that these two are brother and sister unless everyone from Sweden has long curly blond hair and light color skin, oh wait they do so maybe I’m way off base, but still that’s the vibe I got. Their set wasn’t that long mostly due to the fact that they don’t have tons of material. I gave them a quick hello after the show and they seemed happy to be playing in NYC and graciously surprised by all the support they were receiving. Above is a live clip from the show and there are some more pics to come.
