Summer, and the living is easy...

The next couple weeks have some amazing (FREE) concerts in store for us here in NYC. Here are some of my top picks:

Friday, July 30th - The Swell Season @ Prospect Park
Sunday, August 1st - tUnE-yArDs & St. Vincent @ Central Park Summerstage
Thursday, August 5th - Metric @ Prospect Park
Friday, August 6th - Yacht @ Southstreet Seaport
Saturday, August 7th - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings @ Prospect Park
Sunday, August 8th - The xx @ Central Park Summerstage
Thursday, August 12th - White Rabbits @ East River Park
Sunday, August 15th - Dr. Dog @ Governor's Island
Thursday, August 19th - The B52's @ Coney Island

Please feel free to list other ones I may have missed.

Free Locksley Show

Locksley is playing a free show tonight at Brooklyn Bowl with doors at 6:30 and the show at 8. Get there early and you'll make happy hour (can someone say $5 margaritas?!).

Clusterfunk comes to the Knitting Factory

Clusterfunk is an event that's been going down every so often at a little spot in Williamsburg called Cameo. It's always headlined by Turkuaz (on whom we've previously reported) and features other local purveyors of the various flavors of funk. This Friday it graduates to the Knitting Factory, where the headliner will actually be Deitch, Hall, Lockhart & Loftin, a group comprising some of the area's notable funk and jazz musicians, including supernatural drummer Adam Deitch. [Late-breaking development: Deitch, Hall, Lockhart & Loftin have apparently canceled. Turkuaz will now headline, and hip-hop group Nyle X Naysayers has been added to the lineup.]

Turkuaz will still be there in a supporting role, along with Mamarazzi (pictured above). More information and advance tickets are available here.

For now, here's Mamarazzi's slow-jam single from earlier this year, along with a mangled remix by Kool A.D. of Das Racist.

Mamarazzi - Gangster [mp3] (Bandcamp)
Mamarazzi - Gangster (Kool A.D. Remix) [mp3]

The Knitting Factory seems to be doing pretty well since its move to Brooklyn last year. The new location has an independent bar and hosts some fun and interesting events, such as "The Muppet Vault," which took place this past Sunday, presented by The MuppetCast and ToughPigs, two Muppet enthusiast websites. Among other things, they screened some of the recent videos from The Muppets Studio's YouTube channel, the latest of which is "Pöpcørn," which I'd go so far as to say is the Swedish Chef's most successful musical effort since he duetted with Big Bird on "The Christmas Song."

Alex Winston

After releasing a free EP of home made covers, Alex Winston is hitting the scene with original tunes. On August 2nd, "Choice Notes" will be available on a limited edition 7" vinyl complete with AA side "Medicine." Winston says that 90% of her music is recorded on garageband and usually between the hours of 1 and 5 am, but I think you'll be surprised at how polished and fantastic the track below sounds - it's part sing-along Karen O and the Kids, part hazy Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes.

Choice Notes [mp3]
Pre-order now at the HeavyRoc Store

New mp3 from Drunken Barn Dance

Cool off from the scorching summer heat with a new song by Drunken Barn Dance, "A Winter's Tale." This is my favorite DBD song, and it's totally impossible not to sway back and forth as you lift your mug of beer over your head and shout along merrily. It's the first single off their upcoming sophomore album, Grey Buried, coming out September 21st. Listen and enjoy.

A Winter's Tale [mp3]

Hooray For Earth

In the era of electro-synth, we can chalk Hooray For Earth as another band that makes the list. The NYC transplants mold together ambient distortions and steady rhythms in their EP Momo. Their hooks are airy and simple, yet will have you swaying. With their Brit-like pop harmonies, Hooray For Earth strays from being another generic indie band. You can catch them tonight on their summer tour with Admiral Radley.

7/23 - Brooklyn, NY - Coco66 ('Sup Magazine Issue release party)
8/12 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
8/13 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
8/14 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
8/15 - Toronto, ONT - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
8/16 - Montreal, QC - Le Belmont
8/17 - Cambridge, MA - TT The Bears
8/20 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
8/21 - Washington, DC - DC9
8/23 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live 

Surrounded By Your Friends - [mp3]

Eccentric Dance

Here's a sample of quality, occasionally wacky dance tracks from the last few months, with a particular focus on some Bay Area and New York City producers that cull sounds from hip hop and Eastern Europe, among other sources and influences.

Mochipet (Daly City, CA-based, born in Taiwan) produces glitchy, crunky, overloaded hip hop and performs while wearing a purple dinosaur costume. His remix of "Pumping Quarterz" by Splatinum (Seattle) is available on that group's free EP. You can find plenty of his other intensely ridiculous and wonderful tracks on Soundcloud.

Splatinum - Pumping Quarterz (Mochipet Remix) [mp3] (Bandcamp)

Opiuo (Melbourne-based, originally from New Zealand) just released the full-length Slurp and Giggle, which includes "Patchouli Dump Truck."

Opiuo - Patchouli Dump Truck [mp3] (Addictech)

Knowa Knowone (San Francisco) has released this remix of "Hoo Haa" by Mightyfools (Netherlands) on a free single, along with a mediocre remix of Rihanna's "Rude Boy."

Mightyfools - Hoo Haa (4 Centers + Knowa Knowone Remix) [mp3] (Bandcamp)

Hobotech (Brooklyn) is a collective that applies the aesthetic of the American vagabond to electronic dance music, and does so with surprising success. The group is spearheaded by Jon Margulies, who has now formed the Hobo Kings with Haj of Sub Swara (also from Brooklyn) to remix that group's "Belgrade Riddim."

Sub Swara - Belgrade Riddim (Hobo Kings O Belgrade Where Art Thou Remix) [mp3] (Hobotech)

Cumba Mela (Brooklyn/Queens) is a DJ trio that plays around with a lot of global beats and sounds. They currently have a Monday-night residency at Bembe in Williamsburg, if you're in the area and interested in dancing your Monday night away. Willie Dixon's "Back Door Man" is already a pretty groovy track, and Cumba Mela's Thornato hones in on that and expands upon it with some electronics and Latin percussion, making it into a superfun party tune.

Willie Dixon - Back Door Man (Thornato Remix) [mp3] (Soundcloud)

Ra Ra Riot releases first single off upcoming album!

Go sign up for Ra Ra Riot's mailing list to get their new single, "Boy," off their upcoming album The Orchard, due out August 24th! I have to say, I don't love it the way I love most of the songs off their first album, but I still have high hopes for this next album and can't wait to hear the whole thing.

Dreamend

Dreamend is the pop-experimental-indie project of Ryan Grayeface, the guitarist/bassist of Black Moth Super Rainbow and owner of Graveface Records. Dreamend often comes across as deceptively upbeat, but album titles like "So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite" should clue you in to the music's more sinister undertones. For example, the track below is a banjo driven sing-a-long folk romper that's actually part of the album's narrative about a serial killer. Despite the unseemly subject matter, it's actually quite a decent listen and the album hits stores August 10th.

Magnesium Light [mp3]

New April Smith mp3

Here's a new mp3 from the lovely April Smith and the Great Picture Show. For those of you NYC readers, she is playing Thursday night at the Bell House. So get your tickets now!

Movie Loves a Screen [mp3] - ( Amazon / iTunes )

Cinjun Tate @ Union Hall

Last Wednesday night, I got to see one of my favorite artists of all time perform for the first time in many many years. Cinjun Tate, formerly of the band Remy Zero (one of my favorite bands of all time that broke up in 2003 and the last time I saw them perform was in 2002) played a show at Union Hall, and I have to say I got a bit emotional - Remy Zero is one of the only bands whose music has actually made me cry, and I was heart broken when they broke up. The only problem that I had with the set was that it was so short - just 20 minutes. I think he played about 5 songs - 4 of his new songs and 1 Remy Zero song ("Fair" - which nearly made me cry because it's such a gorgeous, sad song and because I was so happy to be hearing it live again). It was such a pleasure to again hear his unique, emotive voice that has that rare ability to convey so much feeling through the tone and timber that it almost doesn't matter what the lyrics are. And the intimate space of Union Hall was quite a lovely setting for the show.

I spoke to Cinjun after the show for a bit. Apparently, he is a recent transplant to Brooklyn from LA (he also said he is loving it here!) and so I hope to see a lot more of him around the city. He also said that Remy Zero will be doing some performing together in honor of their former drummer of Remy Zero, Gregory Slay, who died this past New Year's day, after a long battle with cystic fibrosis. That was incredibly bittersweet news for me as I am elated to hear that Remy Zero will be playing together again, but it is a very sad reason for them to do so.

After Cinjun Tate were the High Highs. I'm going to be kind of brutally honest here. They were better than I expected them to be based on the music on their myspace, and I think they have a lot of potential, but I think they still have a long way to go. Their music is good - a few of the songs are even great. But their lead vocalist was inconsistent (he was very good on a few songs and horrible on some others) and their backup vocalist is terrible. If they can tune up their vocals and amp up their stage presence a bit, I think we could see great things from this band. Normally I don't post reviews when I don't love a band, but I really do think they have a great deal of potential, so I thought they were worth posting about.

Photos by Ryan Ong (more here).

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., a project started in Detroit by Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott, just digitally released their EP Horse Power and have a physical release set for July 27th. Below you'll find one of the four tracks featured on the EP, the breezy beach wave charmer "Vocal Chords," perfect for a sunny warm weekend.

Vocal Chords [mp3] (iTunes)

Soft Reeds

When the rock band the Golden Republic broke up in 2006, some of its members went on to form the Republic Tigers, while others, like Ben Grimes, tried to figure out what to do next. The break up was not easy for Grimes, who told the Pitch, "After the Golden Republic broke up, I was burned. At the time, I was like, 'I'm done!'" Desperate for a fresh start, the next year Grimes and his wife moved from Kansas City to Nashville, where the musical inspiration around him provided that old itch for songwriting. Realizing that music was indeed his life's passion, he moved back to Kansas City and started his new project: Soft Reeds. The debut album Soft Reeds Are Bastards launched two days ago and contains rock/pop melodies, rousing guitar and clever instrumentation. The track below features a kicking upbeat rock tune summered with reverb and spliced with rhythmic "heh!"s to keep you energized.

This Affair [mp3]
support the artist, purchase the album here

Introducing K'naan

The World Cup is over and as someone said to me at a BBQ during the finals, "now America can stop pretending that we like soccer." If you were distracted by the soulful anthem before the games, then you were listening to "Wavin Flag" by K'naan (feat. Will.i.am).

Who is K'naan? He's a Somalian-Canadian rapper that sings with his conscious. Like Bob Marley, his lyrical poetry expresses struggle and redemption. Except K'naan brings a contemporary beat and sounds better than most current artists in his genre. This is the kind of rap I want listen to.  Enjoy the music of the summer!

Take A Minute [mp3]

Buy his album Troubadour on Amazon/iTunes

Sxip Shirey - Sonic New York

Sxip Shirey's new full-length album Sonic New York is coming out next week on July 24th, and the album is exactly what it sounds like - an epic auditory tribute to this big, magical, noisy, dirty, historical, lively, lovely, artsy, infested, creepy, beautiful city that is New York. Sxip's inventive music very successfully evokes the eclectic sights, sounds, feelings, experiences, energy and even smells that come with the city. His songs range in style from the flowy, classical "Grammercy Park" to songs like "Bergen and Grand" that is more like a soundscape than an actual song, to the sultry, Latin-influenced "You Can Ring My Bell," to the eery "Ghosts of the Gowanus Canal," to the soulful, rockin' "Dreamland," to the folky "Brooklyn Bridge Song," to the hip hop-influenced raspy, down 'n' dirty harmonica-through-a-bull-horn sound of a "I Live in New York City." All in all, I'm quite pleased with Sxip's album. He never fails to come up with innovative new music and having lived in NYC for 6 years, this album is yet another reminder of the many great artists who live here and all the amazing things I have at my fingertips just by being in this city.

Even though you can already purchase the album in various places, the official release party for the album is July 24th at City Winery. Should be a great time, as Sxip and the group of artists he rolls with are nothing if not incredibly fun entertainers.

Dreamland [mp3] - ( Amazon /  iTunes )

New Marina and the Diamonds music video

It's a music video-filled Monday here at GFP, as I was going through a backlog of emails after being out of town for 10 days and I stumbled across this video from Marina and the Diamonds and I am totally love it - all the bright colors and fast cuts. It's perfect for the song (which I have to say I really relate to at the moment) and is a lot of fun to watch.

New Rodrigo y Gabriela Music Video

Rodrigo Y Gabriela are out with a music video for "Hanuman" off of their album 11:11, which was released last fall. This is a band where you can listen to them in your room and see them live and you will get two very different experiences, but both will have your blood flowing. The video is visually not what I expected, but kinda sexy in a minimalist way. Flamenco rock needs to become more popular in the states. For now, you can follow Rodrigo Y Gabriela on their US tour.

AUGUST
13 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Amphitheater
14 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield
16 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's
18 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
20 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
21 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre
24 - Vienna, VA - Filene Center at Wolf Trap
26 - Boston, MA - Opera House
28 - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival
30 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Concert Pavilion
31 - Knoxville, TN - UT Knoxville

SEPTEMBER
02 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
03 - Austin, TX - Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre

Buy 11:11 here

An Eclectic Selection for Your Weekend

This is apparently old news, but I had never heard of Delorean until I started noticing them on NYC event listings earlier this summer, and I still hadn't heard their music until I saw them Wednesday night, at a chilled out free show in the courtyard of a housing development. I had always been curious about how well these rock bands that emulate dance music on their records (i.e. Cut Copy, Primal Scream and the Madchester scene) actually sound live. I'm happy to know that they can sound very, very good. Delorean plays a sold-out show tomorrow night at Bowery Ballroom.

Delorean - Simple Graces [mp3] - (iTunes)

Bangladeafy! is a local bass-and-drums duo that I caught at a Fourth of July party in Brooklyn. They play a technical, high-speed, punk- and metal-derived rock music that requires drinking a lot of Gatorade and toweling off after each song. After some genre research, I'm most comfortable calling it "crossover thrash." It's best played loud.

Bangladeafy! - Burn the Witches [mp3]

Lastly, I watched The Slammin' Salmon the other night, which was somewhat funny but a general disappointment. But I did enjoy the song that played over the closing credits. It turned out to be "Mamasita" by Latin Soul Syndicate, a San Francisco group that seems to largely support itself with soundtrack appearances. (They've also been heard in The Sopranos and The Devil Wears Prada.) A fun track for your dog days of summer.

Latin Soul Syndicate - Mamasita (Adventures Mix) [mp3] - (Amazon)

Jenn Grinels and Rhea Maklaris

A few weeks ago, I went to a small, private rooftop show featuring Jenn Grinels and a few other female singer-songwriters. Now, I have to admit I was a little skeptical because it takes a lot for singer-songwriters to impress me (there are just so many of them, and many of them may be talented, but they all start to sound the same to me after a while). However, I was pleasantly impressed.  A sassy redhead, Jenn has a naturally gorgeous voice that is completely captivating. My favorite songs of hers had a heavy jazz influence, though she had some lovely ballads and even a few numbers that were fairly rock 'n' roll, as well. Unfortunately my very favorite song of hers (also jazz influenced) is one that is still unfinished and so is not on her album. But she said she is going to finish the song this summer, so I hope she does because I would love to have a recorded copy. But really that was the only downside of the night.

Slingshot [mp3] - ( Amazon / iTunes )

The other artist I saw that night was Rhea (full name: Rhea Maklaris), who is based here in NYC. She also has a great voice, very powerful and organic. She had a little bit more of a rockin' country blues sound, which I highly enjoyed. She also seems like one of the nicest people ever. She and Jenn did some songs together, and they made a great pair. All in all it was a really good night.

Make Me Stay [mp3]

Long Weekend Catch Up

Hope everyone had a fantastic, safe and long weekend - I know we did. To make up for our holiday absence, here's the catch up:

Solid Ground [mp3] (iTunes) - Chicago's Maps & Atlases release their debut album Perch Patchwork today after a string of promising EPs. Spearheaded by lead singer Dave Davison's fantastic vocals that sound like a young Randy Newman, the band produces an organic mix of upbeat pop, catchy hooks and electric backing that brines with substance.

The Holograms [mp3] (iTunes) - Fol Chen is sharing a second mp3 from their The New December, which is part two to the John Shade, Your Fortune's Made that was released last year. Jam-packed with crashes, bangs and ragtag puckish melodrama, this album is sure to leave you fizzy and oddly electrified.

Arrow [mp3] (iTunes) - Kathryn Calder, of New Pornographers fame, has emerged with her own debut solo album, Are You My Mother?, which physically releases August 10th. This is the second released mp3, a gentle lullaby backed by soft piano pulses and filled with bittersweet lyrics.

Why Won't You Stay? [mp3] - Around The World And Back has released a six-track sophomore album called Songs To Sleep To and this track sounds straight out of Coldplay's Parachutes. The echo-y sliding guitar upon the slight twang of beaten acoustic guitar strums to the lush reverberant tenor vocals is wonderfully familiar in that sense, but take solace in the fact that these boys also have a harder rock present in previous work that keeps them at bay from too many Coldplay comparisons.

Pattern is Movement interview and NYC ticket giveaway!

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Chris Ward (pictured left), the drummer of Pattern Is Movement. The talented Philadelphia duo is currently taking a much-needed break from three years of nearly constant touring and they are spending their summer in their home town recording their next album, hopefully coming out early next year. This time, they're doing it a little bit differently - instead of lead singer Andrew Thiboldeaux (pictured below) writing the music and then them shaping the songs together, Andrew is already recording most of his parts first and then Chris will be putting down the drums afterward so that he has more than just a shell of the music to inspire his drumming. "During our live show, my drumming is in direct response to his playing, so we felt like we should keep that energy for the record. So instead of mapping out my drums exactly, let's just take some of the emotion that is created by his parts and let's see what I do with it."

Pattern Is Movement has evolved a great deal over the years. They started out as a 5-piece and now there are only two of them. Their sound has also evolved from angular "math rock" to more melodic, emotional rock (that still contains fairly complex rhythms). "When we started the band, we were in our early 20s... and I think we were all into music that was challenging, so we liked the whole notion of 'math rock'... I think, as a young musician, there's just a desire to kind of show off what you can do. But then I think we started wondering if it could deliver an emotional drive. So now we're more worried about delivering that emotional drive, rather than showing off... I don't want to put up any more walls, I want people to see what we're saying. I think that's what make a good song, or a good album, is when you don't put up a lot of walls to protect yourself, you just kind of give them your emotion, give them your heart."

The first time I discovered Pattern Is Movement was when they were on tour with St. Vincent (that's what these photos are from), which I thought was a pretty genius combination. Apparently Pattern Is Movement also toured with her a while back as her original back up band (they played as Pattern and then they backed her up). "Andrew and Annie have such a musical connection. They both seem to want to show beauty but they're ok with the darker side of beauty. And I think that's what breaks [Annie] away from the major label stuff... There's a darkness to Annie's music. There's an underbelly. And that's the same thing with Andrew. He's all about kind of lush, gorgeous melodies, but he's also about kind of the tension that surround those beautiful melodies... And I think that's what they're both geniuses at: exploiting the tension inherent in all senses of beauty. My drumming in some ways is in direct relation to that. My patterns naturally create some tension rhythmically against the beauty."

CONTEST!!!

For those of you in the NYC area, there's still a chance to see them this summer, even though they're taking time off. They will be performing two concert cruises (with optional open bar) on Friday, July 16th (I'm hoping they'll cover "I'm on a Boat" but I didn't think to ask Chris if they would). And we're GIVING AWAY A PAIR OF TICKETS to the 7pm show. To enter, please email us with the sibject line "I'm on a boat!" in the subject line and your full name in the body by 11:59pm on Tuesday, July 6th. The winner will be announced on Wednesday. After they're done recording, Chris is hoping they can tour Europe, and they've also had offers in Asia and Israel, so definitely hit up their few remaining US shows if you can because they may not be around for a while.

Jenny Ono [mp3] - ( Amazon / iTunes )