NYS Music 20​17

Category: Uncategorized

  • Photo Gallery: Escort at the Brooklyn Bowl

    Escort played their second night of a two night run on Saturday, January 28 at the Brooklyn Bowl, with Horizon Wireless opening. DJ Harrison Waxenberg created the electronic textures while drummer Daniel Lyons kept the beat driving, getting the crowd nice and warmed and setting the tone for the night.

    The sold out crowd was crammed on the floor by the time the headliners took the stage, and they kept up with them, matching the energy Escort was putting out. They started out the night with a string of originals before treating everyone to section of disco covers.  They finished off the night with their hits and the crowd kept on dancing to a closing set by DJ Speakerbot.

    Following Brooklyn Bowl, Escort finishes the run in Philly and Washington D.C. this week.

  • Hearing Aide: Andy Suzuki and The Method ‘The Glass Hour’

    Andy Suzuki & The Method (Kozza Babumba) are on the verge of releasing something incredible. It’s called The Glass Hour and it’s going to get them the recognition they deserve. Their past work, unfortunately, blended in among other folk-rock/pop bands, but they have taken a new direction that will definitely make waves in the New York music scene and it’s only a matter of time before they reach national recognition. They’re slowly finding their niche, now focused around future-pop with heavy R&B and soul touches, garnished with rock undertones. There are a wide variety of tones and attitudes and one could imagine these songs fitting seamlessly in between today’s popular music radio stations.

    The Brooklyn based bunch have known each other for some time and have been producing music for about 10 years now. They first met in college and knew that they would fit together perfectly musically. Their unique backgrounds made them gravitate towards each other with Suzuki, being half Jewish and half Japanese, practicing music in both languages, and Kozza, being the son of Grammy-winning percussionist Babatunde Olatunji. They teamed up, created three albums and on February 3rd they will release their fourth one which  is arguably their best work.

    Their prior album, Born Out of Mischief,  is very heavy on the folk/country side and it slipped under the radar. It was creative, well thought out and well produced. It showed that they knew what they were doing and could work their way around a studio and recording process. It was great work but it just wasn’t special and wasn’t worthy of great recognition. Going above and beyond, trying new techniques and combining sounds that have not been fused together before is what gets the name out there. Mischief didn’t do the trick, but The Glass Hour sure will.

    The album starts off with “Run Away” and the attitude and tone is such an incredible change compared to Mischief. It’s a giant leap towards today’s pop music direction. The Method, who will be referred to as Babumba, has a keen ear for an addictive beat. That, paired to Suzuki’s sultry voice, is the perfect recipe for a not too distant future-pop sound that feels familiar but has enough flare to keep things interesting and unique. This track is a softer entry into the album but things get even more interesting as it goes along.

    “I Can’t Live” is one of the singles they released and it’s one of which they seem to be particularly proud. They say it’s one of the tracks that sounds like a cross between Jack Garratt and Michael Jackson. That’s a bold statement, but it’s arguably true. The song is more impressive because of its properly balanced mix of pop and rock. Both clean and distorted guitar sounds ring throughout the entire song which gives the heavy pop beats and licks a nice flare.

    Andy Suzuki“Shelter” is definitely a notable track because of it’s heavy R&B and gospel  influences which makes for a very emotional song. It seems that it’s about trying to convince a girl that he will take care of and “shelter” her, which is very R&B-like lyrical content. One of the best phrases of the song is when it climaxes and they bring in a beautiful gospel/church-like chorus line and it can send chills up and down the spine of listeners.

    “Fire” is more typical pop, filled with tribal drum beats and plenty of vocalization. It brings to mind a movie montage of a group of friends on their way across country via a VW Microbus. It’s well made, but lacks direction. It’s very predictable and can be uneventful to those who don’t enjoy this type of sound.

    Once listeners hit “I Need You More” they’ll see that he group is still in experimental phase as they toy around with a very 90’s pop sound. The tone stems from the beat mainly with it’s peppy and upbeat grooves and recognizable synthetic snare hits. They again combine this sound with a gospel chorus line that adds a nice flavor to an old sound. And it works pretty well, but more than likely for a small demographic. But society is full of surprises and may eat this stuff up.

    “Come Forward” is very well done and has one of the most aggressive attitudes on the record. It carries a primarily minor tonality all the way through and it makes for a very unique track. Once again, Babumba creates a very cerebral and intriguing series of beats. It’s very busy and complicated but listeners can still feel the beat and that’s not something that’s easily accomplished.

    “Overtime” will definitely be a crowd pleaser. It was another one of the singles they released so it’s obvious they’re very confident about it. The chorus is so well done and it’s hard to explain why, but Suzuki hits a perfect series of notes over a super smooth, laid back and spacey beat. Again, a bluesy and distorted guitar solo makes a for a fantastic and addicting climax.

    If listeners weren’t perplexed by the album’s diversity by this point, then they will be by the time they hear “Digging My Way Out.” It almost sounds like a modern chain gang song. It’s march with a “four on the floor” beat with a jingling tambourine on the upbeat to give it an authentic chain gang song feel. Once again, their guitarist absolutely crushes the solos and adds a fantastic emotional flavor to the song that separates it from other genres and bands alike.

    The album is highly experimental, but it seems that there is one central theme among all the songs and that’s the intricacies of the music and how they propel the songs forward. Suzuki’s voice is immaculate, there’s no argument, but a lot of the focus is directed towards how addictive the song is musically. Hopefully, they will stay with their influences of R&B and rock because these flavors obviously work with so many different genres.

    Key Tracks:  Overtime, Shelter, I Can’t Live, Digging My Way Out

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_CH_FhCKb4

  • A Grown-Up Formula 5 Heads Out on Tour

    When Formula 5 set its sights on 2016, the band was about to head out on its first full tour, had a brand new keyboardist at the helm and was planning a trek into the studio.

    With all of that in the rear view, the road tested band from Albany has even bigger plans for 2017, with a 25-date tour starting February 1 coming on the heels of a successful Kickstarter campaign for a new album, titled All Points North.

    Making stops in Albany (Feb. 4, The Hollow Bar and Kitchen), Brooklyn (Feb. 7, Brooklym Bowl), Hudson Falls (Feb. 18, Hudson Music Hall), Rochester (Feb. 23, Heads Brewing), Buffalo (Feb. 24, Nietzsche’s, Buffalo) and Lake Placid (Feb. 25, Smoke Signals), the four-piece rock group is saturating its local market in hopes of gaining more solid footing in areas they hit last year.

    “Our goal is really to solidify our fan base with this tour,” Matt Richards, keyboardist, said last week while sitting inside Overit Studios in Albany, adding some more work to the new album. “We wanna make sure we’re known not just to our friends, but to everyone in the scene. We’re also trying to get more people involved, active.”

    The last part of Richards’ quote was referring to the band’s desire to put together a street team, spreading word-of-mouth info about the band, and also using social media platforms to help promote Formula 5. “The best bands have such dedicated fan bases,” Richards added. “The common goal is to spread the music and get the community out there and seeing shows.”

    On Feb. 4, Formula 5 rolls into a hometown venue — The Hollow Bar and Kitchen — that Richards said is one of the band’s favorites. They play there a handful of times a year, and it serves as a reunion venue of sorts for the band’s family and friends. Ampevene is opening the show.

    Richards said that while the band has a hectic schedule and cannot always personally greet those who come to see them play, they get to communicate in other ways.

    “So many friends come out,” he said. “We end up knowing everyone in the crowd, but I don’t get to go around and see them all. Can’t really talk too much when we’re getting ready, but we still have dialogue with them — head nods, smiles and stuff like that. We communicate without talking.”

    Richards added that the show on Feb. 18 is special because it’s guitarist Joe Davis’ birthday. The Hudson Music Hall in Hudson Falls has a capacity of around 100, and Richards said the band’s goal is to sell out the venue without an opening act. He said it would be the first time they’ve accomplished that feat.

    Six shows of the tour are co-headlining dates with Mister F, a progressive jam group from the area. Formula 5 is also heading back to many of the same venues the band played in Colorado last year. Richards said the goal is to build on the “traction” they gained in the state last year.

    Being the new guy in the band doesn’t show in the enthusiasm Richards — whose wide-range of influences include Steely Dan, Phish, Umphrey’s McGee, YES, former Albany jam group Ominous Seapods, Queen, Pink Floyd Dave Brubeck, Stevie Wonder, Vince Guaraldi and McCoy Tyner — has for the band, the writing process and his outspokenness. In recording All Points North, for which Richards wrote four songs and contributed to another, the band put in 55 hours in over the first week. They basically had to live at the studio. Richards and Davis live a short drive from the studio, while bassist James Woods and drummer Greg Marek are a bit farther out.

    Because of that, Richards and Davis have been in the studio tirelessly in recent days putting the finishing touch on the tracks. While Richards said none of the songs are yet a finished product, they’re getting to that point.

    “Each track gets to a certain spot, then we bring all the other tracks there, too,” he said. “Right now I’d say we’re at 98 percent on each one, so there’s not a ton left to do.”

    As for the feel of the album, Richards said the foursome have suffered and matured a lot in the last year, contributing to the more “grown up” sound.

    “It’s a makeup of less feeling good, more feeling uncertainty, loss, a darker feeling,” he said. “We have had loss in the band, van difficulties on the road, personal relationship issues. There’s still that Formula 5 that’s pure feel good, but there’s also a departure from that.”

    “We tried to stay away from jams in the studio. There are some great individual solos, but we focused more on the songs here.”

    While no official release date has been set, Richards said fans won’t have to wait too long to hear the finished product.

    If you’re interested in assisting Formula 5’s street team, head on over to the band’s Facebook page and get in touch.

  • Hearing Aide: Left Hand Shake ‘8-Track Mind’

    Left Hand Shake 8-Track MindOne day, I was given the task of reviewing this album, a debut, no less, from a band I had no idea what to expect from. All I got was a set of audio files from the album 8-Track Mind, and a brief description of Left Hand Shake’s members, David Decker and Blaze Sepowski, and the previous projects they’ve been involved with, featuring names like Bang Zoom!, Picture This, and Bottle of the Dog. Initially, I thought this would just be something I could sit through and move on.

    Even the album cover itself led me to think anything could be inside. It’s of a suit with an old speaker where the head should be with an 8-track of the album loaded inside. Upon further research, I saw it was named album of the year by WVCR, the radio station for Siena College. Okay, I thought. College-age people like this. I finally got around to listening to the album, which started off with the various synth noises of “F.S.B.” until 45 seconds in when the slow drumbeat and guitars finally kicked in. And from there, I was hooked.

    The album comes across as a breath of fresh air because it delves into a particular genre I don’t think gets enough credit: dream pop. There are definitely artists nowadays influenced by this particular underground scene, M83 comes to mind, but it’s rare to see an act fully embrace the mindset. The mid-tempos that put listeners in a state of bliss. The sweeping, soaring guitar lines. The echo-y vocals less concerned with singing clear lyrics and more with being another texture of the song.

    In terms of extent of what Left Hand Shake is willing to do, it’s on the second song, “Being There (Django).” Along with the ethereal 80’s dream pop guitar work happening, there are also hints of violin and a mandolin underneath. Of it’s eight and a half minute runtime, the last five are purely instrumental. And it’s not only more guitar work that gets to shine, there are harmonica, saxophone, and trumpet solos dispersed in that time. And oddly enough, though it sometimes feels it goes on for too long, it all works in making the dreamy atmosphere stick.

    There are also songs that tone down the dream atmosphere considerably. “Right Hand Shake” reminds me of “She Bangs the Drums,” by the Stone Roses, with the similar guitar tones and echo-y vocal work. “Fly” is pretty much a condensed version of the longer songs, but notably more down to earth.

    In terms of shortcomings, I’d say Decker and Sepowski get a bit too experimental with their instrumentation. The songs that are 7 to 8 minutes long have a good chunk made up of solos that serve only to continue the state of euphoria. “People Like,” starts off sounding like a dated 90’s industrial act before it really gets going. “Fabreeze” has a muted trumpet solo while “Path Less Taken” essentially ends with a violin solo taking up the last third. The lyrics, when you can make them out, at times come across like they’re trying too hard. Lines like “Life is a garden, I’m sowing all the seeds, when something starts to grow, it comes out as weeds” (“Fly”). And “People like you, people like me, we can change the world” (“People Like”) Then again, lyrics were never the emphasis of this genre.

    So, if you’re a fan of the works of The Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and Lush, give Left Hand Shake and 8-Track Mind a chance. We should look forward to whatever efforts these guys have planned in the future, if they continue this direction or move on to something else.

    Key Tracks: Being There (Django), Because/Second Hand Shake, Fly, Iced & Alone

    Listen to Left Hand Shake 8-Track Mind below.

  • The Benevento / Russo Duo Reunite in Brooklyn

    The Benevento/Russo Duo played their first show together as a duo in 6 years on December 27 in Brooklyn. The last minute show was announced on Marco’s Benevento’s Instagram about four hours before the 8 o’clock start.

    They rewarded those who attended with an intimate show at Three’s Brewing in Brooklyn, with a capacity of around 100. The set was a nice mix of their catalog, with tracks that spanned the course of their career. The band sounded great, like they hadn’t lost a step, despite playing in side projects here and there that have obviously helped them keep their chemistry alive.

    The show was both a return to their roots, playing in a small club in New York City where they got their start, and also a warm-up for their only other scheduled date on Jam Cruise in January. But you can be sure this isn’t the last we’ll see from The Duo in 2017.