Surf rock is perhaps one of the most imagery-generating music forms. The country guitar solos that accompany the beach riffs have the ability to inspire simultaneous pictures of driving through a bleak desert in the hot sun and under the hot sun by the water. In the aftermath of a sunny city day, then, a
Day three of Northside Music Festival was the fullest, and best. This is when I finally decided to take advantage of the Jameson Black Barrel lounge, where there was free Jameson whiskey, Brooklyn BBQ, lobster mac n’ cheese, “cold toddies” which were basically whiskey slushies, AND a demonstration from Jameson’s Master Cooper himself, Ger Buckley.
The second day of Northside I started with the early show at Brooklyn Bowl, where I caught Xenia Rubinos and Sinkane. This is where I got my dose of eclectic tropical music with Afro-beat roots. Xenia is a really powerful singer, with a big, beautiful, booming voice. She can sing all over the place, and
Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Jack Johnson, we adore you – we do. You have given the listening community fulfilling tunes for decades and to you we are forever grateful. Today though, we’re taking a step back and spotlighting the new bands, the emerging musical progenies of the 21st century. All those fantastic young bands that are
It’s tough going for singer-songwriters. If you’re not a natural poet or have some truly unique angle, you better have one hell of a voice and a perfect live act. At this point, the guitar-toting James Bay out of Hitchin, UK, is pretty close to having the latter. With his Thursday night performance at the
The Tractor Tavern is typically the home of Seattle’s local and travelling folk and blues groups. The relatively small club has hosted acts such as Langhorne Slim and The Proclaimers. In the past few weeks, in a fit of summery surprise, the Tractor has seen psychedelic pop’s new star Mikal Cronin and Seattle’s dance-pop group
Northside Music Festival has commenced in northern Brooklyn, and it’s bigger and heavier than ever. Last night was the first night of the music portion, and I already feel like I barely made it out alive. But then again, I did choose to see A Place To Bury Strangers and Iceage at Music Hall of
On Tuesday night Check Yo Ponytail 2 hosted a dance party, and even though headliners Anamanaguchi weren’t slated to play until midnight, the room was full by 9:45 pm with fans anticipating a rare performance by Chrome Sparks. Though currently on tour with the 8-bit power punkers, gigs by the (pretty much) instrumental electronic outfit
It was a dark and tropical stormy night…when Portland dream pop mystics Pure Bathing Culture and Brooklyn tropical psych rockers Monogold brought some warm soundscapes to Mercury Lounge. Pure Bathing Culture is the project of Daniel Hindman and Sarah Versprille, who are Vetiver alumni, and interestingly enough, who I do remember seeing all play together
Of Monsters and Men have made significant strides. In a short three years, the Icelandic masterminds released debut album My Head Is An Animal to critical acclaim conquering the charts in the U.S., UK, Canada, Ireland, Iceland and nearly every other European country. This year the team took home European Border Breakers Awards top honor