CMJ » Laura Pulgarin

The Deli: Ava Luna, Murals, Foxygen @ Pianos – October 19

Laura Pulgarin — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:43:54 +0000

Fogygen – Photo by Al Rossin

The Deli brought some interesting and diverse sounds from around the country and Canada to Pianos for its CMJ showcase.

Ava Luna‘s six members filled up the small stage, and they revealed an approach to rock that has its roots in soul. Their set began with a very heavy, gritty track, which slowed down to reveal the bluesy vocals of Carlos Hernandez and the two background vocalists Felicia Douglass and Becca Kauffman. The band’s set included various new songs plus a couple of tracks from its latest album, Ice Level, including “No F” and “Down Right.” Ava Luna closed its set with the title track from the album, where Kauffman became the lead vocalist and surprised the audience with her powerful vocals.

Following Ava Luna was Murals, whose sound was a lot softer than Ava Luna’s and whose main vocalist was not only charming and delicate, but also jived well with the tone of the instruments. From the hip-circling in the audience, it was clear that Murals’ sound was something quite groovy and psychedelic.

The latest Deli cover stars, Foxygen, were the next to perform, and by the way in which the small room at Pianos filled up, it is safe to say their performance was awaited by many. Usually a duo, Foxygen had a full band for its performance and took the stage after having already performed earlier in the day. However, Foxygen seemed to not suffer any effects from the earlier performances as the band opened up its set with the track “Make It Known” and proceeded to jam out song after song of psych-pop.

Photos by Al Rossin

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Panel Report: Seasoned Experience In A New Music Industry

Laura Pulgarin — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:03:52 +0000

Photo by Adam Mautner

Moderator: Robert Singerman

Panelists: Richard Gottehrer – The Orchard
Michael Goldstone – Mom + Pop

The Big Question: How do you create changes in the new music industry?

The Big Answer: Be at a place where technology triggers changes. Always think in advance. Technology is challenging but should always be embraced. For artists it is important to interact with their audience personally though the latest technology.

The Bottom Line: It is a transitional time in the music industry. It is all transparent now. Things can happen instantaneously when releasing music. The Internet is not country specific and technology allows people to embrace and discover. To survive as a record company you need to think about the whole package, not just selling music. However, it does always come down to the talent. It is all talent and hustle.

Best One Liner: “If I get drunk enough from Vitamin Water I will sing it later” – Richard Gottehrer on a song he wrote for Jerry Lewis.

Best Piece Of Advice: Participate for today but live for tomorrow.

Darkest Prediction: You can’t fight technology. It can become a problem to monetize.

Stats:
# of times Psy’s “Gangnam Style” came up when talking about YouTube: 5
# of times Deezer was mentioned: 4
# of times Metric and some guy named Jimmy were mentioned: 4
# of people who took their shoes off: 1
# of panelists wearing awesome nail polish: 1

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Taiwan Music: 831, Chemical Monkeys, Da Mouth @ CMJ Union

Laura Pulgarin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:38:56 +0000

Da Mouth – Photo by Clayton Carr

With the popularity of “Gangnam Style,” K-Pop has been gaining a lot of attention with listeners who do not exactly understand what is being said in the songs. Taiwan Music in its showcase had a clear plan in mind: to show those attending CMJ that C-Pop is also worth the attention. With the line for the showcase wrapping around the block for a venue that could only fit about 200 people, those of Taiwan Music may be on to the next big thing.

The opening band for the night was 831, who is said to be the “Asian Simple Plan” but whose music is more like Blink-182, with people in the crowd also comparing it to Maroon 5. In its set, 831 mixed hints of different genres into songs and even threw in two ballads. Most in the crowd spoke Chinese, so 831 and the rest of the performers spoke to the crowd in Chinese and engaged the fans with lots of singing, clapping and jumping.

Chemical Monkeys followed with a punk-rock, almost metal sound that favored heavy drumming and cutting guitar riffs. Chemical Monkeys also incorporated hints of sounds that varied from electronic to rap making their sound reminiscent of old-school Gorillaz mixed with Nirvana, one of their claimed musical heroes.

The biggest surprise of the night besides the huge crowd was hip-hop group Da Mouth. Its music was a complete departure from the rock of the previous two bands, with the opening song being C-Pop mixed with Moombahton and rap. Da Mouth is often compared to the Black Eyed Peas, a comparison that only fits in the fact that its music is entrancing and catchy. However, with no auto-tune or tune copying, Da Mouth seems to be as unique as the skeleton inspired costumes it wore.

Photos by Clayton Carr

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CMJ 2012 Artist Q&A: Boldy James

Laura Pulgarin — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:21:07 +0000

Boldy James has been writing verses and voicing them for a long time. But he did not emerge onto the rap scene until last year when his Trapper’s Alley: Pros And Cons mixtape dropped online and was met with praise for its dark, frank realness. His latest, Consignment: Favor For A Favor, The Redi-Rock Mixtape, released at the end of February, features the same Boldy aesthetic as Trapper’s Alley but with a continuation toward finding new beats and further sharing his experiences about the streets of Detroit.

I caught up with Boldy via phone, and we talked about his latest project—an Alchemist-produced Decon Records album—what parenthood means to him and his music, and why he doesn’t glamorize street life.

You’ve been rapping since you were a kid, and you did a lot of shows back then. Are shows still a big part of your artistry?
Yeah they are, but I haven’t been doing many shows lately. Just focusing on this project I have coming up with Alchemist. It is pretty much about street life in Detroit and keeping with my people. It is also about my travels and my life as a Detroitan.

You rap a lot about the dangers, rather than any glamour, of the lifestyle you’ve led in the streets. What do you want to accomplish with this?
I am just trying to scare the young straight about the trials and tribulations that come as part of the lifestyle. As long as, with your music, you aren’t trying to add to the problem, I think it’s best to let them hear the truth from someone who has experienced it and knows the hardships, not from someone who just tries to share fake experiences through the airwaves and through noise.

In your music you expose a lot of yourself and the world around you. Are you ever afraid that you are sharing too much of who you are?
Not really, because I really like being modest. I am not really trying to share all of it, just half the truth. I can’t talk about everything I do because it could get me in trouble, so I keep many parts of my life to myself. I keep parts of myself secret.

How has your style and your music evolved from Trapper’s Alley to Consignment?
I guess I can’t really say how much I have changed, as I haven’t analyzed it, but I try to stay busy. The streets tell me what to do—I am just the messenger. My sound is reflected by the streets and what I see and hear.

You are the father of six kids. How do they impact your music?
They are my everything: my motivation, my drive. I don’t know what I would do without them. They tell you they love you and are sincere about it, and they aren’t faking it, and they make you feel good. If you don’t have kids, you don’t understand. Everything I do I do for them, and they are my biggest inspiration. You can actually hear one of them right now in the background, my smallest one.

You’ve said in the past that you make music for yourself. Do you feel like you’re still adhering to that idea, or are there more outside influences to consider as you gain a bigger following?
I will always make music for myself, and if people don’t like it, I don’t care. A lot of people can’t understand what I go through on a day-to-day level, so I just focus on what I do. I just stay working—that’s the key, to never stop working.

Boldy James plays the Mass Appeal showcase at the Gramercy Theater on Friday, October 19, and the AllHipHop showcase at Drom on Saturday, October 20.

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Ane Brun @ Bowery Ballroom: May 7, 2012

Laura Pulgarin — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:52:23 +0000

There were only two performers officially on Monday night’s Bowery Ballroom docket: Scandinavian vocalist Ane Brun and British singer-songwriter Gemma Ray. But at the time of performance another name was added, that of Brun’s band member Elin Ruth Sigvardsson. Her sweet voice was reminiscent of Régine Chassagne, and the music was simple with just an acoustic guitar accompanying her. In her performance, there was a folk sensibility, but toward the end it moved away from that, feeling a bit unnatural and exaggerated as her voice bounced everywhere in a matter of minutes.

Gemma Ray came next, joined by drummer Andrew Zammit, who simultaneously played drums and maracas during Ray’s cover of Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick.” There was a toughness in her playing and singing, which was emphasized when she took out a knife, rested it on her guitar and, halfway through “They All Wanted A Slice,” started playing her guitar with said knife. It was unsettling yet very cool.

After a very long set-change lull, Ane Brun came on with a band that included two pianos, a cello, a drum and a guitar. She started with “These Days,” the opening cut from this year’s It All Starts With One LP. There was playfulness in her performance, something that became visible when the band played “One,” a song with a syncopated, tango-like rhythm that made everyone including Brun shimmy and dance. Brun focused on songs from her most recent release, which won her a Spellemann award (the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammys) for best female artist, including “Do You Remember.” But she also threw in “Sleeping By The Fyris River,” a track from her 2003 debut album, Spending Time With Morgan. There have been comparisons between Brun and Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine, and this night showed why: Both singers use strong but angelic voices to carry themselves with effortless elegance and to surround themselves in a surreal aura.

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Royal Headache – Royal Headache

Laura Pulgarin — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:43:13 +0000

Royal Headache’s self-titled debut album does not live up to its name: Neither painful-sounding nor pain-inducing, the album is in fact a very pleasurable, punk-inspired listen. This is no-nonsense, fast-flying garage rock, played by four guys whose single-word nicknames are just as straightforward as their sound: Shortty, Joe, Shogun and Law.

The Aussie quartet opens with a bang on “Never Again,” where frontman Shogun sings, “We make a fine pair, you and me/Don’t you agree?” There’s a lot of relationship talk on this album, amid the hard-hitting drums and fast and loose guitar work. Shogun’s role in it all varies: One minute he’s the counselor (asking “Are you really in love?” on “Really In Love”), and the next he’s the yearning one in need of a friend’s real talk (“Down The Lane” finds him gawking at his neighbor and wondering, “Is it love?”).

The album is best summarized in the track “Girls,” as the song brings together tough drumming, potent guitar and bass playing and Shogun’s dirty, tender vocals as he sings about trying to find Miss Right. “Does she wait for me?” he cries out. It’s impassioned and maybe a bit melodramatic, but that just makes it seem youthful. And when that sentiment is met with reckless guitars, all coming at you in under three-minute bursts, it’s like listening to these mid-20- and early-30-something guys uncork a bottle from their teenage years and letting it rip.

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Q&A: Mynabirds’ Laura Burhenn

Laura Pulgarin — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:49:44 +0000

Photo by DP Muller

Inspired by Richard Avedon’s 1963 photo of “The Generals Of The Daughters Of The American Revolution,” Laura Burhenn of the Mynabirds decided to present a new image of a revolutionary woman and write a protest record. Generals, out June 5 via Saddle Creek, is the Mynabirds’ sophomore album, a follow-up to their 2010 debut, What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood. We recently talked to the former Georgie James singer, who told us about reuniting with Richard Swift, where she got her live show stomp boxes and why it’s time to recognize a new type of revolutionary.

How did you find Richard Avedon’s photo?
Well, I was in Washington, DC, and there was an exhibit at the Corcoran museum called Portraits Of Power, and it was all Richard Avedon portraits. So there are all these iconic artists, musicians and politicians, actors and people of note from the 20th century, and I had read something in which he talks about the photo, and he says, “This is an image of men who are generals in the Civil War in the faces of these women.” As I was standing there looking at it, I thought, “Huh, my idea of what a powerful woman looks like is very different from that.” So I am thinking about American women who are revolutionaries and are not necessarily wearing a satin gown. They probably have a child in one hand and a briefcase on another. Their hands are dirty because their lives are busy, so it is many different things. That is where it started from. It was this idea of imagining what modern-day revolutionaries look like.

Your “The New Revolutionists” photo project sort of runs with that idea of what modern-day revolutionaries look like. Was that inspired by the photo?
It was. When I started thinking about album art, I just wanted to shoot a portrait that was like what I thought my portrait would be if Richard Avedon would come and shoot me as this general of the Daughters Of The American Revolution. I asked a couple of my friends who I think are kind of revolutionary in their own right. In my mind I was thinking of someone who does something that requires courage in their daily life and is about moving themselves, their community and America forward.

So we did the album art, and I had a couple of my friends come and take portraits. One of them was Amy Klein, and she used to play in Titus Andronicus, and she is a great musician and thinker and writer and has a blog and is often writing about interesting subjects. So we did these portraits, and I was like, “Maybe I’ll use them in album art, and it will be me on the cover, and I’ll have portraits of other women inside, and it will be like we are thinking of these new generals of the Daughters Of The American Revolution.” Once we did that, I thought that it would be amazing to expand this into a whole portrait project, and that is how it started.

Why did you decide to make this album a political protest record? What are you protesting?
Before I wrote the last record, What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood, I started writing these songs that were pretty political in nature and pretty much about being angry at the state of America. It has been something I have been meditating on a lot, this idea of the promise of America and where we could be based on the ideals in which America was founded and where we find ourselves. So I just think it is a very delicate time in our history and time for people to stand up and demand better. It is insane to see what is happening, and it starts being a protest about what is going on and being really pissed off and saying, “Look what is happening all around us. We cannot sleep. We have to be awake to what is happening.”

At the same time, I don’t want to come off as a self-righteous bitch. So the album for me had to go somewhere. I had to take all that anger into somewhere positive, and I said that the album is a concept record, and the concept is this idea of starting in this place of awareness and anger and moving to something positive, leaning towards, “What can you do?” I read this book by Naomi Wolf called Give Me Liberty, and she was talking about being involved in this political process and actually how difficult that can be for an ordinary citizen to do because it takes a lot of money. So, towards the end of the album in the song “Buffalo Flower,” I sing, “I’m gonna do what I can/Right where I stand.” Which is like all it is, is me helping my neighbors and standing on my own two feet. It has to start somewhere.

This was your second time working with Richard Swift. How was it different from the first?
It was even better than before, which is funny because we had so much fun making the first record. Since then Richard and I have become really good friends, and he came on tour with the Mynabirds last spring and played guitar, and he even sang in the band with us when we opened for Bright Eyes. So on one hand I was really nervous to go after it because I was like, “Oh the last time was so fun,” but once I got out there it was like making a record with your best friend. When I got there I said to him, “I want to do something different. I want it to feel connected to the last record, but I want to experiment, and I want to take time to do daring things.” And he of course was all for that, so it was a great experience.

Do you expect the shows for this album to be a lot different than those for the last album?
They are definitely different. It’s more theatrical. There is this artist from Boston who made me a fox headdress, which is really amazing, so I wear it for part of the show. We have some samplers and drum machines and stomp boxes, which I borrowed the idea of from Tilly And The Wall. I am good friends with them here in Omaha, and I called them up and said, “You guys, I really want to do stomp boxes. What do you think?” And they were so funny. They were like, “Oh, we actually weren’t the first people with that idea. Take them.” So we actually borrowed their stomp boxes for this tour.

How are you envisioning the music videos for the songs from Generals?
We already shot two of them. One of them I think is going to be finished up next week. I cannot wait. I have seen some of the footage. We shot it in black and white, and the concept behind it is that there is this secret society of women, and we go out, and we are out to get these bad businessmen. I am posing as the leader of this band, and we corner them in this city restaurant, which we shot at Johnny’s Cafe here in Omaha, which is an amazing cafe that is from the ’20s and was renovated in the ’50s. There is taxidermy everywhere, like this buffalo with these weird laser orange eyes. It is so bizarre and amazing. It’s going to be really great. I can’t wait for you to see it.

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Bands On The Late-Night Boob Tube: Week Of May 7

Laura Pulgarin — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:30:23 +0000

Late-night shows tend to be on past our bed times, but we can’t help being glued to our television sets for the “music” section of talk shows. These performances usually lean toward the civilized, but sometimes you will get a gem of weirdness, like the Odd Future on Jimmy Fallon type of weird. Check out our list of who to watch this week on the boob tube.

Mon., May 7 – Spiritualized on The Late Show With David Letterman

Upon the recent release of Sweet Heart Sweet Light, Jason Spaceman and Spiritualized are returning to the Late Show. In 2008, the British band played the late-night show in support of its album Songs In A&E and performed “You Lie You Cheat.” We expect to hear “Hey Jane,” the first single off of Sweet Heart Sweet Light—and unlike the video for the song, it will be safe to watch around the kids.

Tues., May 8 – Ed Sheeran on Conan

The acoustic folk singer will be performing on Conan in support of his latest album, +-. We would love to hear him perform his single “Drunk,” while simultaneously taking shots, but alas it probably won’t happen. Last month on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Sheeran performed a very heartfelt rendition of his single “A-Team,” which you can watch below.

Wed., May 9 – Florence And The Machine on The Late Show With David Letterman

Way back in 2010, Florence and the Machine performed multiple songs on David Letterman from their album Lungs. The songs performed included megahit “Dog Days Are Over,” “Howl,” “Kiss With A Fist” and “Cosmic Love.” We don’t know how many songs Florence Welch and band will be playing this time, but they’ll most likely be tracks from the band’s recent Ceremonials.

Thurs., May 10 – Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros on The Late Show With David Letterman

In 2009, Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros made their network television debut on David Letterman, and with the band’s upcoming sophomore release, Here, it was only fitting that the group return to the late-night stage. In the 2009 performance there was a lot of jumping, and we are expecting to see the same happen on this Thursday’s performance.

Fri., May 11 – M. Ward on The Late Show With David Letterman

The guitarist and the “Him” of cutesy duo She And Him will be performing solo in support of his seventh studio album, A Wasteland Companion. Back in 2008 the folk singer performed on the show and did a version of “Chinese Translation.” Check it out below.

More late-night performances (and one daytime gig):
May 7 – B.O.B on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Snow Patrol on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Norah Jones on The View
May 10 – Carrie Underwood on Jimmy Kimmel Live

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Magic Wands To Play Four NYC Shows

Laura Pulgarin — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:04:00 +0000

Two weeks after releasing their debut full-length, Aloha Moon, via Bright Antenna/ILG, Magic Wands have announced four NYC-area shows. The duo composed of Chris and Dexy Valentine will be bringing their “lovewave” sound to four different NYC venues, including the Studio At Webster Hall, for Last.FM’s Live In NYC series, performing alongside Vacationer and Body Language.

Check out the show dates and stream the band’s full LP below.

Tour Dates For Magic Wands:
05/12 – New York, NY – Tribeca Grand
05/15 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
05/16 – Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory
05/18 – New York, NY – The Studio At Webster Hall (Last.FM Live In NYC)

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Win Tickets To Hangout Music Fest

Laura Pulgarin — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:30:54 +0000

Hangout Music Fest features the best of both worlds: great music and the white sandy beaches of Gulf Shores, AL. The third installment of the festival, which is taking place May 18, 19 and 20, is sold out off general admission tickets, but lucky for you, we’ve got a pair of three-day passes to give away. Enter your email below for your chance to win. We’ll announce a winner by Monday, May 7.

This year’s Hangout Fest lineup includes Jack White, Wilco, the Flaming Lips, Dr. Dog, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cage The Elephant, Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes, Skrillex, Dave Matthews Band and many, many more. The festival’s massive Kickoff Party, presented by Dos Equis, takes place onsite on May 17 and will feature Big Gigantic, Zoogma, the Revivalists, Perpetual Groove, Delta Rae and others. Purchase your Kickoff Party tickets here.

For a chance to tan, dance and jam, enter our giveaway below.

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Killer Mike Announces Tour

Laura Pulgarin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:42:22 +0000

Grammy Award-winning rapper Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, is set to release his new album, R.A.P. Music, May 15 via Williams Street. And in support of the release, he’ll head out on a North American tour with the album’s producer, El-P, as well as Mr. Muthafuckin’ Exquire and Despot.

“R.A.P.” stands for “Rebellious African People’s Music” and takes influence from gospel, jazz, soul, rock and funk. Four tracks off of the album are now available for streaming on Adult Swim and feature Bun B, T.I., Trouble and Soar.

Take a listen to “Southern Fried” off of R.A.P, and check out Killer Mike’s tour dates below.

Tour Dates For Killer Mike:
06/19 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade *^
06/20 – New Orleans, LA – House Of Blues *^
06/21 – Dallas, TX – Granada *^
06/22 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live *^
06/23 – Austin, TX – Mohawk *^
06/25 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent *^
06/26 – San Diego, CA – Casbah *^
06/28 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex *^
06/29 – San Francisco, CA – Regency *^
06/30 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne *^
07/01 – Seattle, WA – Neumo’s *^
07/02 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Fortune *^
07/05 – Minneapolis, MN – Fineline *^
07/06 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge *^
07/07 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop *^
07/08 – Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig *^
07/11 – Boston, MA – Paradise *^
07/12 – Providence, RI – The Met *^
07/14 – Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero ^
07/15 – Washington, DC – Rock And Roll Hotel *^
* with Mr. Muthafuckin’ Exquire
^ with Despot

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Cold Cave @ Guggenheim: April 27, 2012

Laura Pulgarin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:04:02 +0000

Cold Cave - Photo by Alix Piorun

Music and visual-art often go hand in hand, and this year electronic music and New York museums have built a very close relationship. On Friday night, Cold Cave, the New York City-based synth-pop band, performed at the Guggenheim, as the iconic rotunda held a sold-out second performance of the three-part Divine Ricochet Concert Series. The duo, composed of Dominick Fernow and Wesley Eisold, took to the small stage with their synths and played a short, energetic and powerful set.

Cold Cave’s performance began with both Fernow and Eisold holding very serious expressions as they played a thunderous track, whose sound was a mix of clashing metal and a landing plane. In this introduction, there was something about the atmosphere provided by the metal works of John Chamberlain and the colliding sounds that worked, as both the sculptures and the sounds played off each other. Surprisingly, the acoustics of the Guggenheim were decent for a concert. The museum’s structure aided the reverberations of the music and of Eisold’s voice as they were multiplied, making for a haunting experience.

The tracks played by Cold Cave were divided among its 2009 album, Love Comes Close, and 2011′s Cherish The Light Years. Fan favorite “Love Comes Close” provided the first vocal track, and most of the audience danced along happily with the band. However, throughout the performance, no one danced as much or as hard as Fernow, who pushed buttons and plugged wires into his synthesizer while jumping up and down, banging his head. Cold Cave also played such tracks as “Underworld USA,” “Lawless,” “Youth And Lust,” and closed the set with “Confetti” as fans danced along to a song about looking “so good on the outside.”

Even though the Guggenheim is a very large museum and 800 tickets were sold, the show felt very intimate. Eisold’s vocals were very raw and were not always perfect, but this worked for Cold Cave and the performances’ juxtaposition with the sculptures. Many of the John Chamberlain sculptures displayed in the retrospective focused around the idea of combining metals and materials; this is something also apparent in Cold Cave’s music. Chamberlain was all about experimenting with colors and materials (paper, metal, foam, etc.), and in its music so is Cold Cave. The band brings synth-pop, dark-wave and Eisold’s past with hardcore together to form tracks that feel equally sculptural.

Photos by Alix Piorun

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Cheap Time – Wallpaper Music

Laura Pulgarin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:57:47 +0000

They members of Cheap Time may not look like those of the glitter punk and glam rock bands that they claim to be inspired by, but their third LP, Wallpaper Music, with its mix of punk rock and powerpop, is the sonic child of the New York Dolls and the Stooges. The energy levels provided by the quick guitar riffs vary per song, but Cheap Time manages to provide a heavy dose of pure punk dirtiness. Most of this can be attributed to Jeffrey Novak’s voice and guitar playing, which has remained a constant throughout the band’s history, though there have been lineup changes with other members over the years.

The Nashville rockers open the album on a boisterous note with the rampant “More Cigarettes,” where the drumming, guitar and key playing come together to create a party. Things do not slow down until midway through, as tracks like “Hall Of Mirrors” and “Another Time,” in their lyrics about growing, maturing and realizing the truths about life, match the pandemonium of the reckless, bull in a china shop guitar riffs. “Take It If You Want It,” with its more mellowed-down beat, provides a buffer before things get crazy once again with the heavyweight guitar playing in tracks like “Witches In Stock” and the culminating “Underneath The Fruit Flies.”

Lyrically, Wallpaper Music is sometimes watered down behind the instruments, but if you listen closely, you’ll hear a guy singing about people who are still trying to figure out who they want to be. Novak doesn’t seem to have figured out his place quite yet, but he captures that awkward, in-limbo feeling: “So normal, yet so typically strange.”

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Blood Orange Releases New Video For “Champagne Coast”

Laura Pulgarin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:00:18 +0000

When producing Blood Orange’s video for “Champagne Coast,” director Haley Wollens decided to Photoshop seven dancing girls into seven different collaged rooms. According to Wollens in an interview with The New York Times, he said that he was inspired by “Second Life YouTubes and video games, like Duke Nukem.” The result is video that feels nearly as ’90s as A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario”.

In the video, Blood Orange vocalist Devonté Hynes shows up on a computer, a television set and lurking creepily in the background while the girl in the room dances. Check it out above.

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Magic Wands – Aloha Moon

Laura Pulgarin — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:32:25 +0000

Magic Wands’ sound is best described as what the band likes to call “lovewave.” Their mix of new-wave, pop and shoegaze, along with their preference towards the lovey dovey, comes together in the duo’s debut LP Aloha Moon. Composed of Chris and Dexy Valentine, Magic Wands presents an album thats theme centers around being in love and how magical that feeling can be. Aloha Moon, with its varying beats and instrumental intensities, maintains a very West Coast sound. It has this transcendental, beach-ridden quality that recalls those summer nights when you thought love would last forever.

The duo met through the inter-web after Chris heard an early version of Dexy’s song “Teenage Love,” which is one of the tracks included in the album. Aloha Moon, is the follow up to the band’s 2009 EP Magic Love And Dreams, and includes three of the songs from that collection, carrying on with the bands preference towards songs about the matters of the heart. The opener “Black Magic,” talks about finding your perfect puzzle piece in “the person’s eyes/that have the answers in/around the galaxy mars.” Throughout the album, the duo continues to refer back to this alien love, like in the track “Wolves,” where they mention “intergalactic love.” In “Warrior,” the theme changes from space love to a tribal one, as Dexy sings, “Ever get the feeling you’re the only one/I could love in the tribe/You’re a warrior,” her sweet voice providing an interesting juxtaposition to the lyrics, which get more and more sexual as the song goes on. In “Teenage Love” the sexuality associated with love presents itself again, as Dexy sings about what seems like a booty call, “Call me up on the telephone/late at night you’re all alone/this teenage love has got me stuck/come over now so we can fuck.”

Many of the songs on Aloha Moon hint at ’80s soft rock, with their delicate guitar and drumming, while still providing a contemporary dream-like quality. Dexy’s velvety soft voice is reminiscent of the xx’s Romy Madley Croft. As she sings the love filled lyrics she brews up memories of teenage movies like Say Anything, once again making you wish John Cusack was waking you up with a boom box.

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