NYS Music 20​13

Tag: Abakus

  • The Big Up 2013 – August 8th-10th at a new home in Claverack, NY

    There was an immense amount of disappointment voiced when Shireworks Productions announced the one year hiatus of The Big Up festival in 2012. The mass letdown only fueled the excitement when they announced that they would be back Summer 2013. This year, however, the festival will be held in Claverack, NY which is just a quick 45 minutes from Albany.

    The time has come to start planning your summer festival schedule and it seems like The Big Up is at the top of many festie-goers list this year. The dates are Thursday August 8th – Saturday August 10th

    “Wow! Tickets are flying out the door!”, they posted just hours after tickets went on sale. The first string of artists released for the lineup include  Holy Fuck, Escort, the world premiere of Abakus live band, a DJ set from Chris Keating of Yeasayer, Jojo Mayer & Nerve, the host band Higher Organix, Kung Fu, Dopapod, Brothers Past, Normal Instruments and Party Supplies.  Their second announcement included Beats Antique,  GAUDI, The Egg , Kung Fu,  DrFameus, The Indobox , Consider The Source, Timbre Coup , lespecial, SOUNDUO, Greenhouse Lounge, Cosmic Dust Bunnies, Business Casual Disco,  Former Champions, Jeff Bujak, Blacklight Rukus,  Ian Stewart, The Edd, FiKus, King Holiday, Horizon Wireless, Speakerbot, Richard James & The Name Changers, Formula 5, Color Channel, ConnetICON, Interlopers, Galaxy Dynamite, Laser Sex, Hot Jambalaya, Mister F, Rizzo’s Dilemma, Stokeswood, The Blue Goddess, Aqueous, Spundose, Arpetrio, DJ Adam Amrod, Narkatta, ShwizZ , Sojourner, and SOLARiS..
    Phase three of the lineup announcement  unveiled a huge add on to the list of artists including AN-TEN-NAE, Orchard Lounge

    Kung Fu Prince Tribute set ft. The Motet’s Jans Ingber, Space Jesus Live, IMANGELES, Elephant Wrecking Ball, Jahman Brahman, Dynamo and Badnutbeats, Izahead, I Yahn I Arkestra, Operation Dankstar, Lost Optical, Beat Machine, Baam Bada, People’s Blues of Richmond and Jammin Toast
    Judging by the huge response from social media, if you are planning on getting tickets; buy them soon.

    Also follow The Big Up for more updates on Twitter and Facebook.

  • Cinnamon Chasers, Digital Dharma and more energized Red Square in Albany on March 1st

    Red Square began filling up the moment the doors opened, with people from all over the Northeast eager to see the legend that is Russ Davies (Cinnamon Chasers). The night began with a bang as DJ duo PartyHorn took the front stage at Red Square spinning some classic disco remixes. The vocal samples were perfectly entwined with the light and whimsical beats these guys pumped out. Halfway through their set they busted out a fun rendition of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” and the crowd couldn’t get enough. Partyhorn played in between every band to keep the energy high throughout the night.

    Organik Time Machine took the stage back with a funky blend of jamtronic beats with the accompaniment of a female singer. It is very rare to see a female singer heading a band, especially for more that just a few vocal samples. It was definitely refreshing to see something different done so well. Each song created its own energy and permeated throughout the Red Square. The light show these guys brought with them was absolutely phenomenal and only further bettered their already amazing set. From the front of the bar I heard the opening chords to the Sound Tribe Sector 9 song, “Ramone and Emiglio.” I can honestly say this is the first time in my life I have ever seen a band cover a STS9 song and I was pleasantly surprised to see them do it so well. Then it was Digital Dharma’s time to shine. I was greatly impressed by how far these guys have come since the last time I had seen them live. The amount of energy and passion these boys pour into their music is evident the moment they take stage. Steve Mink tore up the heavy bass lines while Jess Radosti threw out some guitar riffs that were reminiscent to that of Jon Barber from The Disco Biscuits. Elliot Kershner used the synth as a vehicle to carry each song and jam to further and further depths. It was seriously flooring to see how far these boys have come since they first took stage two years ago.

    At this point in the night Red Square was packed wall to wall and the excitement was eminent as Cinnamon Chasers got ready to take stage. Cinnamon Chasers is a side project of Abakus’ Russ Davies (son of legendary Dave Davies of The Kinks) infusing electronic and disco to make a master mix for a serious dance party. Cinnamon Chasers played well into the early hours of the morning with the high energy crowd doing their best to keep up. Some of the samples and remixes included Bill Withers’ “A Lovely Day” and The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah.” He also pulled out many song from his album Dreams and Machines, including “Flash gun,” “Hyper waves” and “Have I Said Something” . The entire set was filled with an outrageous amount of energy from both Davies and the crowd. For the encore he played “Night Walker” and “Diametric.” I left Red Square almost delusional from the exhaustion of dancing for five hours straight but needless to say, completely content. Truly an amazing show by all artists involved.