Screaming Females @ Maxwell's

Show review from Relix.com...

The Screaming Females
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ
April 5

The Screaming Females – who hail from New Brunswick, NJ – are made up of vocalist and guitarist Marissa Paternoster, bassist Michael Abbate (aka King Mike), and drummer Jarrett Dougherty. After years of playing in New Brunswick’s famous underground basement venues, the band has become shining example of the town’s DIY music scene, pulling themselves up from their own bootstraps, booking and promoting their own shows, and creating a growing, loyal fan base.

Though the trio hasn’t quite hit the decade mark together as a band (they still have 4 years to go), they have been successful at forging their own unique sound. After drawing comparisons to DIY indie legends Dinosaur Jr. it’s easy to peg the band as indie-punk, but they are much more than that. Their music is constantly teetering between pop with melodic anthem hooks, good old alt-rock, and – more often than not – some serious metal-tinged guitar shredding from the pint-sized Paternoster.

The scene at the dark, intimate back room at Maxwell’s brought back memories of basement parties of my past: crushed solo cups, bodies crowded together, and the distinctive smell of sweat and bad beer. While standing in the audience I couldn’t help but wonder if that evening’s show was similar to the band’s basement sets of yesteryear. There was definitely a “hometown” crowd feeling throughout the show and many of the concert-goers certainly looked like they could be underage. The show also doubled as the band’s record release party for their 5th full-length album Ugly, which only added to the special feeling of the night.

The Females have built up a reputation for their high energy, raucous live performances and this show was no exception. Just seconds after the opening groove of “Starve the Beat” were played I knew that I was standing in an unsavory spot. I found myself right in the middle of a sea of sweaty bodies eager to throw themselves into one another. After re-positioning (and re-orienting) myself I was able to focus on what was going onstage: three musicians pouring all of themselves into their music.

Even though the Females entire set, including the encore, clocked in at just under an hour they were able to fit in plenty of new songs from Ugly as well as some fan favorites from earlier albums. On “Bell” from 2009’sPower Move, Paternoster showcased her lightning fast handiwork on guitar as well as her signature wailing howls. King Mike and Dougherty were prominent figures in the new song “Red Hand” with its Middle Eastern influenced bass lines and unrelenting beats. In an extended version of “Lights Out” Paternoster proved that she was not afraid of the indulgent guitar shredding solo, which only fueled the crowd’s energy even more.

After a fellow concert attendee approached me about “elbowing our way to the front” (I ended up declining), the Females rounded out the night with their pop-punk breakout single “I Don’t Mind It” from 2010’s Castle Talk. The song was met with great approval from the audience as everyone started to sing-along before the band left the stage.

Ducktails/Twerps Review

Another day, another review....

Here's a Ducktails and Twerps concert review I did for Relix.com:

Ducktails / The Twerps

285 Kent

Brooklyn, NY

March 29

As I waited for the doors to open at 285 Kent, the empty warehouse turned DIY music venue literally next door to Brooklyn performance staple Glasslands Gallery, I struck up a conversation with some fellow concert-goers. Many of them had come to see the headliner Ducktails perform, but I did run into a few fans of the Melbourne, Australia indie-pop band The Twerps.

The band, which is a typical 4-piece setup (2 guitars, bass, and drums), took the stage just 20 minutes before midnight to warm up the crowd. Vocalist Martin Frawley shared guitar duty with Jules McFarlane and seemed to be the most excited out of the band to be playing for the group of 20-somethings that had gathered at the space. After a respectable 40 minute set, including a new song that Jules had written, The Twerps ended the night with their chilled out break-up anthem “Who Are You” that nearly had the audience singing along.

“We’re excited to play because we don’t get to play that often,” said Ducktails’ mastermind/guitarist Matthew Mondanile to the crowded audience at 285 Kent. Due to the success of Real Estate’s critic-approved sophomore album Days – on which Mondanile plays guitar – his lo-fi side-project Ducktails has been put on the back-burner, but the Ducks showed no signs of aging as they took the stage and proceeded to shower the room with their own brand of psych-tinged pop melodies.

Although Mondanile records solo as Ducktails, the set-up that night consisted of his full-on band of five members with two guitars, bass, keys/synth, and drums. Anticipation for the group was at its peak when Ducktails started playing at 12:31am. The set, which relied heavily upon Ducktails’ 2010 release Arcade Dynamics, did not disappoint. The band laid down the music’s signature vibe of repeated synth melodies and ambient noise that created a blank palette for Mondanile’s experimental guitar picking. Halfway into the set Ducktails introduced a new work-in-progress song. The as-of-yet untitled work started out with a groovy bass line before the lo-fi, fuzzed-out guitars and reverb-laden vocals fluttered on top. The show ended with the crowd favorite “Landrunner”, a minimal jam from the 2009 album Landscapes, which left the audience floating down a hazy river.

Oldies but Goodies

Once Upon A Time....

Here are some choice blog posts I did for the Free Music Archive a few years back (2009, that was so long ago!)

6.29.2009

Pandora Records: Variations on a Theme

via flickr

 

Pandora Records is one of the more recent new additions to the Free Music Archive. The label, which is now defunct, had an extensive library of classical music -- posted here under an EFF License -- that I have been rummaging through with the hopes of bringing the cream of the crop to everyone here at the FMA. So now I present to you the first of many more works recorded for the Pandora label.

I’ve chosen to start out with a piece written for two pianos. I’ve always had an affinity for piano…always wishing my parents had molded me into one of those child prodigy piano virtuosos, who play repetoire like Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev at age 8, but instead I chose to play viola and the rest is history. Anyway, what could be better than one piano but two? Pandora has a wide selection of works for two pianos by the duo pianists Neal and Nancy O’Doan. I did a quick google/wikipedia search on these two but was unable to find any dirt on them. So here is what I know from listening to their recordings: The pair are very sensitive to each other; balancing their individual sounds off of one another. One pianist will take off on a scale run while the other plays a lyrical melody all while making a seamless transitions in the music; It’s almost as if it’s one player (Liszt anyone?). Don’t believe me? Take a listen for yourself.

The first work from the duo I’ve chosen to bring to the FMA is Lutoslawski’s Variations On a Theme by Paganini. The piece is just under five minutes, but explores the theme in depth in a variety of different lights. It’s definitely worth a listen, so get to it!

Check back on the FMA in the coming weeks for more from Neal and Nancy O’Doan and the Pandora archives. Happy Listening!

7.12.2009 

Arbiter Channels Blues Roots

Reverend Gary Davis aka Blind Gary Davis

 

Some recent additions to the FMA I’ve been working on are coming from a small non-profit arts organization that goes by the name Arbiter of Cultural Traditions. This organization was created in 2002 by Allen Evans as a way to preserve the late record company Arbiter. In Evans own words, the record company specialized in “saving performances by musicians both living and from the past whose work embodies classical music at it’s height”. The website of the organization offers sample tracks from many of their featured CDs…all of which will be uploaded to the FMA for your listening pleasure!

Now to the music…

This past week I uploaded a track from World Arbiter, a sub-label of Arbiter Records, that really caught my attention.  Fast Blues in A is a toe-tapping, bluesy-folk improvisation on guitar performed by Reverend Gary Davis. This tune features Davis’ famous and influential finger-picking guitar style, which I found to be an addictive listen. The song hails from The Sun of Our Life: Solos, Songs, A Sermon, an album recorded between 1955 and 1957 that features many more of Rev. Gary Davis’ lively performances. The FMA only has this one little tidbit from the album for download, but fear not, the entirety of the album can be purchased online through Qualiton Imports!

Prince Rama @ Glasslands

Hey Guys,

Here's a show review I did for Relix Magazine's website. Check it out below:

Prince Rama
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY
February 23

Glasslands Gallery provided a perfect vessel for Prince Rama’s performance last Thursday night. Smoke machines, glowing velodoras, the faint smell of burning incense and glitter – lots and lots of glitter – provided a memorable backdrop for the entire night. Was I attending a concert in a dreamy-haze or sitting in on an initiation ceremony?

Brooklyn-based Prince Rama consists of sisters Taraka and Nimai Larson. The group came into fruition at a Florida Hare Krishna farm in 2007. After their stay at farm they traveled, with then band-mate Michael Collins, to Boston to solidify their one-of-a-kind eastern-psych-avant sound at art school. After extensive touring throughout the U.S. and recording a handful of exploratory albums the band landed a gig at SXSW in 2010, where they attracted the attention of Animal Collective’s Avey Tare. Prince Rama was signed to the band’s label Paw Tracks the same year. Their most recent album Trust Now, which features the two sisters on their own, is their second release on the label.

Although Taraka explained to the crowd that they were a bit tired and jet-lagged after just getting back from a tour in Australia, their performance proved otherwise. “We’re going to start with an exercise,” Taraka said in a child-like voice. The two entered the crowd with a shaker and tambourine in hand, chanting incantations to the concert-goers before stepping back onto the stage. Using material from their Summer 2011 release 15 Minute Exorcise, the band began a set that flirted with performance art and a full on group yoga-cardio exercise. With gold and blue leotards, legwarmers, and an encouraging voice telling you that “you look great”, the first half of Prince Rama’s set looked and sounded like it was plucked straight from the 1980s VHS workout circuit heyday. “Down! Center! Up! Center! Down!”, recited Taraka happily to the crowd. A few eager participants joined the two sisters in their exorcising workout while the rest of us watched mesmerized.

The second half of the set began in a more traditional way. After a quick wardrobe change, the Larson sisters assumed their positions, Taraka by the mike and synthesizer and Nimai behind the drums, and played three songs from Trust Now. Taraka’s bollywood-tinged vocals hovered above heavy synths and Nimai’s thundering ritualistic drums on their first song “Rest in Peace”. Halfway through the second song “Incarnation” the sisters both raised their hands to the sky chanting, before bring the music back with lumbering beats. They rounded out the set with “Golden Silence” a slower paced gamelan-evoking jam that Prince Rama also used to close out Trust.

The visual element of Prince Rama’s performance is just as important as the music. The band employs the use of video projections, displaying scenes of flowing water and rolling clouds. Taraka’s petite body grooves to the sounds as her fingers move across the keys and Nimai plays sans drum seat. She doesn’t just merely stand there either. Behind the drum set she rocks her body back and forth to the music while her sticks methodically hit the drums and she kicks up her back leg. It almost looks like a choreographed dance.

And just when you thought the show was over, Taraka and Nimai came back out to reprise their exorcise. With the same amount of energy as the beginning of the set, Prince Rama kicked, posed, and stretched their way through the end of the show.