Music, Music and more Music
School of Seven Bells is shoe gaze music full of tension. It’s psychedelic and dreamy with hypnotic singing on top. They sold out 2 late shows back to back and it’s a perfect soundtrack for a late hot summer day.
old-y but goody black cab session.
http://www.sviib.com/
Stars put on a spectacular show by putting on 2 sets. The first showcased their new album The Five Ghosts in its entirety. It was my first time hearing any of the new material and it had lots of sombre numbers sprinkled with a few danceable tunes. I felt the first set of songs on the album were a bit more dynamic and stronger than the muddy second half. After a brief intermission the band came out again and played a set entirely based on votes from fans. They played all the hits including “A Thread Cut with a Carving Knife,” which only the NY crowd asked for. Considering it was a song about a “hot and sultry” afternoon in June ending messy was quite fitting for the evening. The night was a successful experiment with rose petals thrown into the crowd throughout the entire evening.
http://www.youarestars.com/home/
Nahaniel Rateliff put on another solid performance. He played some new tunes that I really enjoyed. Tonight was a treat to see him in such an intimate space like Union Hall. His story song-writing is definitely worth listening to live.
With classic ebony & ivory pop tunes, Jukebox the Ghost plays the likes of Ben Folds but in their own unique way. Couldn’t stop imagining a modern day Billy Joel up there. And you really can’t hate Billy unless he’s drunk driving his car into your house.
Free Energy is good ol’ vintage rock n’ roll and they kick started it with their very addictive self-titled single. That song has quickly become my summer anthem, and each song on the new album is just as catchy. These guys stirred quite a buzz at SXSW as the crowds always mentioned one of their many rocking shows. I’m not surprised by this attention considering the whole set was jammed with guitar riffs and infectious lyrical hooks. This is a great summer album to rock out to.
http://www.jukeboxtheghost.com/
http://www.myspace.com/freeenergymusic
Made the mistake to go early to catch openers Lost Boy. They took forever to get ready on stage to play one of the most unbearable sets I’ve witnessed this year.
After a few beverages at another bar I came back to catch the record release party of Twin Sister. Based in Long Island, this 80’s pop synth band makes beautiful and rich compositions that have whispery vocals provided by Andrea Estrella. Their lo-fi dreamy pop music is the perfect soundtrack for those hazy summer days. They remind me a lot of the Cocteau Twins and one of my favorite bands Lush without the fuzzy guitars. Unfortunately the venue created an unpleasant setting as it was overcrowded with no air conditioning or air flow as well as a few power outages. The band wasn’t phased with the interruptions and the music melted into the heat and made for 1 great night. The album has become the most played album on my itunes and they have one of the most simple-digital-fan-friendly-forward thinking website around. Keep bringing that light from a dead star.
Lucky to catch the last night of the Archipelago Series featuring music from local label New Amsterdam Records. Tonight Corey Dargel performed from his new double album full of Stephin Merritt inspired indie music but with even more quirkyness. He played first with pianist Kathleen Supove and then with the help of International Contemporary Ensemble. I really enjoyed his narrative lyrics that always had a peculiar strange poetry around them. With an album entitled “Removable Parts” about various journeys about amputations, it surely was an entertaining evening. At times I felt the set become sluggish but picked up when he played my favorite track “Twelve-Year-Old Scotch”. I was extremely excited to catch Craig Wedren of Shutter to Think play in the second half of the show but after 2 martinis in overly hot venue I couldn’t take it anymore inside. ugh