NYS Music 20​18

Category: Beyond NYS

  • Hearing Aide: News From Planet Kniffen ‘Dreamland’

    Darryl Kniffen’s brainchild News From Planet Kniffen released their debut album Dreamland on April 27, and the Vermont-based sextet has shown that they have the chops to produce some truly innovative fusion jazz/funk music. An eclectic musician from Clifton Park, New York, Kniffen has performed with a number of bands and musicians, and dominated the stage solo. He is responsible for all the arrangements found in NFPK’s triumphant debut album.

    The 9-track album begins with the promising “Blackness,” a worthy introduction track with soaring horn and trumpet lines, setting the tone for the high-energy voyage the listener is about to embark on. “Peace Journey” features a memorable piano line and some layered drumming, as well as some ultra-smooth sax and trumpet, culminating in a peaceful and ambient tune. The third track is the only cover on the album, a fresh take on AC/DC’s “Back In Black,” which manages to be both inventive and new, while remaining faithful to the hard rock classic.

    The aptly-named “Midnight Drive” builds the groove up slowly, and lets each member of the group take turns showcasing their ability and cultivating an entrancing atmosphere. See them perform it live here. After the sultry mellow groove of “Midnight Drive,” the band lets loose with the titular track, “Dreamland.” This is arguably the most danceable number on the album, with a salsa influence shining through their already-recognizable style. This intoxicating Latin-inspired track is sure to animate a crowd.

    “Song of Everest” follows on “Dreamland’s” heels with a heavy-metal inspired riff and some aggressive piano, adding more depth to the eclectic palette of the album. “Everest” brings some dark, raw energy that adds interesting variety and features a riveting peak and breakdown. “Beautiful Mystery” is essentially the tonal opposite of the previous song, with NFPK returning to their original, undeniably jazzy sound. “Inspiration” builds on a wave of pleasant horns and a steady build to a euphoric crescendo before the epic coup-de-grace that is “Tick Tock.” “Tick Tock” evokes the feeling of an old spy movie, with its jaunty piano-line and frantic pace, instilling a dramatic sense of urgency.

    News From Planet Kniffen shows tons of promise with their first foray into the world of jazz-fusion, with a debut album that blends mesmerizing soundscapes with genre-bending arrangements and musical prowess. These guys are not to be missed. Purchase the album here.

    Key Tracks: Back in Black, Midnight Drive, Dreamland

  • The Flock Hits Brooklyn For 3 Sold-Out Pigeons Shows

    Few bands put the “f.u.” in fun and funk like Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, and May 3-5 at Brooklyn Bowl demonstrated why. Pigeons is one of the hottest up-and-coming acts in the jam scene, and their ravenous fans and followers are known as “The Flock.” This weekend, the Flock flew into Brooklyn and filled out the Bowl 3 nights in a row.

    pigeons brooklyn

    Not many bands are capable of packing it out for one night, especially when considering that they were up against Jazz Fest, which annually brings many New Yorkers down to NOLA. But PPPP sold out the Bowl 3 nights in a row, a feat commemorated with special gold, silver, and bronze coins being sold at the merch table all weekend. Their meteoric rise through the scene has been a joy to watch, and it is clear why: musically, they provide what their crowd is there for—funky, fun bass lines, high energy drumming, and soaring peaks. Performance-wise, they are top-notch, with a lighting design that matches the enthusiasm of the band onstage. Not to mention, it doesn’t seem as if any band could possibly have as much fun as they do!

    This weekend showcased all of those reasons that Pigeons are experiencing this meteoric ascent, from their choreographed playing and superb lighting design to their high energy stage presence to the dancey funky fun they bring. Beginning Thursday night, it was apparent that the crowd was ready to get down. And the Pigeons didn’t disappoint! They opened the first night with “Whoopie,” with rhythm guitarist “Scrambled” Greg Ormont, lead guitarist Jeremy Schon, and bassist Ben Carrey engaged in a choreographed head-nod dance move. And the fun continued straight from there until the encore on Saturday night.

    The band played 6 sets without repeats and many fun covers, including “Hava Nagila” (a fun Pigeons staple), “Hyrule Castle” (the theme song from classic Nintendo video game “Zelda”), “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” (from The Lion King), the Star Wars “Cantina Song” and “Imperial March,” the Beatles’ “Get Back,” The Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll,” “Tequila,” Michael Jackson’s “Pretty Young Thing,” and The Who’s “Pinball Wizard.” And they of course broke out some of their most popular hits, like “F U,” “Fun In Funk,” “Julia,” “Poseidon,” “Horizon,” and “Melting Lights.” Each set was fun, funky, spacey, raging, and different. The energy inside Brooklyn Bowl was off the charts, and the crowd was dancing and having as much fun as the band!

    Before the encore on Thursday night, Greg announced to the enthusiastic crowd: “This is our home now, yall!” During Friday’s performance towards the beginning of the first set, he maintained “We love the Brooklyn Bowl! One of our favorite places to play…and the food is do dank!” Saturday night, just before launching into the encore, Greg proclaimed: “This is our happy place! We wish we could stay here forever!” Clearly, the Bowl and the New York crowd made an impact on the boys from Baltimore; and PPPP certainly made an impact on the flock who made it out Brooklyn this weekend, as no one wanted to go home at the end of the weekend. Pigeons can be seen next at Domefest, their curated festival in Bedford, PA, from 5/17-5/19, as well as at Summer Camp Music Festival (Chillicothe, IL 5/25-5/27), Great South Bay Music Festival (Patchogue, NY 6/14), Peach Music Festival (Scranton, PA 7/19), LOCKN’ (Arrington, VA 8/25), and many other great events throughout the summer.

  • Premiere: Watch “VHS” from synth-pop group Founding Fathers

    Cincinnati synth-pop outfit, Founding Fathers, today debut their new video for “VHS,” a track from their latest album, Mating Rites. The retro feel of the video will immediately bring you back to the early days of MTV, when music videos were nascent and MTV actually played videos.

    With a blend of synth-rock, funk, dance, and new wave, “VHS” is both an infectious composition and accompanying video. The band chose “VHS” for their video because of its upbeat and catchy nature, and gives a strong representation of their current sound, per Eric Johnson, guitarist of Founding Fathers.

    The refrain “Pop me in like a VHS cassette, I wanna relive this moment again” has a Devo-esque quality to it and coupled with rustic blue screens for their effects, you’re getting a rough feel of what music videos had in store in the mid-80s. For 2018, this is a throwback video that hits all the right notes: a catchy tune, a poppy synth beat and four guys in purple who clearly loved making this video.

    Founding Fathers vocalist and bassist, Mahoney (Matt Chmielewski) came up with the initial concept to capture the spirit of 80’s public access music videos.  “It became a really appealing idea because we were able to do something visually entertaining, yet have an element of self-awareness and weirdness. It exacerbates the motif of over-using low budget video effects in public access videos,” said Johnson.

    “VHS’ was produced by Mark Borison (The Mark) and Holland Rains of Local Favorite Productions. Catch Founding Fathers this month in Buffalo on Saturday, May 20 at Mohawk Place and in Manhattan on Wednesday May 23 at Bowery Electric. Listen to recent release Mating Rites below.

  • Field Day at Summer Camp Music Festival Returns for 8th Annual Games

    Summer Camp is almost upon us and that means it’s time to sign up for Field Day! Every year as Summer Camp becomes a must-attend for festivarians, the Field Day games keep getting bigger and better, and now enters its 8th year!

    On Saturday afternoon of Summer Camp, right in the middle of all the music, favorites like dodgeball, capture the flag and tug-o-war are played between the Purple, Blue (current champions) Yellow, and (total cheaters) Red teams. Having competed over the years, Field Day is a great way to add in extra fun to your weekend while making new friends and having a ton of laughs. Check out photos from the last 7 years of Field Day.

    Event times on Saturday, May 26th have been announced, so plan for an afternoon on the field between the Vibe Tent and Starshine Stage – perfect for all to enjoy music all afternoon while battling it out for glory. Sign up and bring your friends along for Field Day – score a free bandana and enjoy a free pizza and a keg from Lagunitas on Sunday for the winning team. Register for Field Day here – registration is free!

    field day summer camp games

  • Hearing Aide: Erez Zobary ‘Love, and Lots of Sleep’

    The end of college can foster a variety of emotions, most commonly fear of the unknown and wonder in where the next path begins. For recent grads like Erez Zobary, her path of music is not only defined, but ensured in the raw talent behind her senior year creation of Love, and Lots of Sleep. This five track phenomena has a emphasis on r&b and soul electronica influences, reminiscent of NAO and Keri Hilson. She released the EP within weeks of graduating college, and with some diverse instrumentation, creative producers, and a lush and powerful voice, this is a strong first step into the music scene for Erez, and we’re certain she’ll have many strong releases to follow.

    Each of the five tracks on this EP offer us a variety of colorful tempos thanks to producer Brian Han (stage name Brahny), with brilliant melodic lines overarching in each song. Most notably, the combination of rhythmic pulsing and melody on the chorus of “Tides” creates a well mixed, layered motion of sound. Contrasting from “Tides” in intensity is the ballad “November,” which features a delicate, tropical backdrop to support yet another catchy and clever melodic line in its chorus.

    Gaining a huge following in her college’s city of Kingston, Ontario, her music still has many miles to travel to reach the ears of her bigger audience. Hopefully her time out of college will make way for more music, allowing her to expand the capabilities of her already well-developed vocal timbre. As she takes more risks as an artist in a post-grad world, we hope to see her grow in popularity, while developing a diverse discography to take her places all over the nation.

    Key Tracks: Tides, November

  • Watch “Shadow of Your Love,” an unreleased Guns N’ Roses song from Appetite for Destruction

    Guns N’ Roses announced this week that Appetite for Destruction: Locked N’ Loaded will be released on June 29 at the whopping price of only $999. But it might be worth the price given that it includes 25 unreleased demos that were recorded during a Sound City session in 1986, as well as two tracks that were cut during sessions with Appetite producer Mike Clink. You’ll also get the original 1987 album remastered from the original stereo analog tapes, plus 12 remastered tracks taken from of-era EPs and b-sides. One of the unreleased tracks, “Shadow of Your Love” was shared on YouTube this week. Watch below.

    The unreleased audio on this box sex features two songs Guns N’ Roses cut with Clink, “Shadow of Your Love,” which was recorded during a trial session that led Clink to the production job, plus an acoustic version of “Move to the City,” which came out of the GN’R Lies sessions. Plus you’ll hear two early versions of “November Rain,” two unfinished songs – “The Plague” and “New Work Tune,” plus covers of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” Aerosmith’s “Mama Kin” and acoustic and electric versions of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

    But wait…. there’s more! Altogether there are four CDs, seven LPs, seven 7-inch singles, a hardcover book, five “custom hand-made metal-cast band skull face rings” and the same number of “hand-made metal-cast band skull face lapel pins” and “metal skull face and signature-stamped guitar picks,” to name just a few of the included items. And all those tiny skulls and records will cost you only $999. Pre-order is now open.

  • Hearing Aide: The Magic Beans ‘Casino Cabaret’

    Denver-based jam outfit The Magic Beans recently released their second full length LP Casino Cabaret this past March—also the second studio effort featuring Chris Duffy on bass—focusing in on a new sound the band calls Neo-Jam (a merging of the Neosoul and Jam genres), while also staying true to their Space-Funk roots. The group is comprised of Scott Hachey (guitars/vocals), Chris Duffy (bass/vocals), Casey Russell (keys/vocals), and Cody Wales (drums). The album provides studio versions of songs that have been in the band’s live rotation for some time now, and allowed them to expand the sound of the songs with the help of saxophonist Clark Smith, trumpeter Matthew Wilkolak, and percussionist Will Trask.

    casino cabaretThe whole of Casino Cabaret is very groove-driven, with Chris Duffy and Cody Wales working together in a powerful rhythm section. Duffy’s tasteful bass playing is showcased all across this record, especially on tracks such as the title track itself, “Casino Cabaret.” The song has a very spy thriller-y sound to it, and heavily features Scott Hachey and Casey Russell’s ability to work as a duo when laying down the melody.

    “Mr. Scientist” is another choice selection from the album, featuring more of that classic “space-funk” sound fans are familiar with. Some of Russell’s intriguing synth tones are shown off in an impressive solo about halfway through the song, as well as the main melody throughout the track. This song also features Duffy’s extremely impressive slap-bass skills, and some of Hachey’s super tasteful lead playing.

    Another of the standout tracks on the album is “Hanky Panky,” which as Hachey put it during a live show, “…is a song about sex!” There’s no actual explicit lyrics besides the band yelling “Hanky Panky!” during the chorus section of the song. The song has a very fun, upbeat sound, and really showcases keyboardist Casey Russell’s skills on the Hammond Organ, as well as the band’s ability to groove along as a unit of funk soldiers. Casino Cabaret is an impressive studio release from The Magic Beans that features a wide variety of great, soulful music. Catch some of these songs live during their upcoming sets at Domefest in Bedford, PA and pick up the album on their Bandcamp.

    Key Tracks: Mr. Scientist, Inventor, Casino Cabaret, Hanky Panky

  • Premiere: Listen to “Hyperbole” off Swimmer’s upcoming album “Throw It Out”

    Swimmer has premiered “Hyperbole” off their upcoming album Throw it Out, exclusively through NYS Music. The 11 minute track is a sojourn through tempo, winding through 70s rock with a disco beat, while jazz flows through the composition.

    Matt Dolliver (keys, sax) says of the track “Hyperbole is a journey. It’s up and down. It’s left and right. It’s fast and slow. It’s here! Oh, look! It’s over there! It’s a tune we wrote collaboratively and has proven over time to be a highlight in a live setting.” Catch Swimmer this summer at StrangeCreek Music Festival, as well as stops in Buffalo and Syracuse this month.

    Throw it Out will be released on Friday, May 4th on Swimmer’s Bandcamp.

  • moe. Delivers Heater of a Spring Tour Closer in Northampton

    On a warm and sunny Saturday, moe.rons from all across New England gathered in Northampton, MA for moe.’s spring tour closer at the Calvin Theatre. Many .rons traveled down from Burlington, VT, fresh off an impressive 2-night run at Higher Ground from the recently rejuvenated band. If fans were to expect anything after last year’s fiery winter tour closer at the Calvin, they were in for a good time.

    moe northampton

    The first set took off quickly as Rob Derhak broke into the first words of fan favorite “Captain America,” which was met with a huge cheer from the crowd. The song set a very upbeat mood for the beginning of first set, and was a strong song to open with in the band’s return to the Calvin. The band got to jamming swiftly, seemingly very well practiced from the previous 2 nights in Burlington, and very smoothly transitioned into “ATL,” which really showcased Al Schnier and Vinnie Amico’s ability to work as a unit. During “ATL” it was very apparent that the band was having lots of fun and ready to have tons more. After a very energetic ending of “ATL,” the band took a break filled with lots of banter between the whole band, mainly focused on Rob poking fun at guitarist Chuck Garvey’s crowd work skills. The group broke into one of percussionist Jim Loughlin’s originals, “Chromatic Nightmare,” which is an extremely impressive showcase of the musicianship in the band. Chuck took the helm towards the end of the song with a crushing solo before the band did a “no huddle” transition into “Annihilation Blues.” This version of “Annihilation Blues” was pretty standard, and helped bring up the mood after the weird jazziness of “Chromatic Nightmare.” After a rather quick jam section, the band brought the song into “Seat of my Pants,” one of three repeats from last year’s Calvin Theatre show. This “Seat of my Pants” featured the first big peak of the night, led by Al Schnier, who was in full rockstar mode. Any moe.rons who attended last year’s Calvin show will remember Al soloing right on the edge of stage and using a guy’s head as a guitar slide, which Al paid homage to by performing another killer solo on the edge of the stage, sans guitar head-slide. The band brought the jam into one more verse and chorus before ending the segment.

    To close out the set, the band presented the first big highlight of the night, “Montego” > “Kyle’s Song” > “head.” “Montego”’s Latin sound switched the mood up after the very upbeat and reggae-esque “Seat of My Pants,” and featured a very trippy jam led by Loughlin and Schnier. The band transitioned into the slow, but warm, “Kyle’s Song,” kicking it off with Derhak playing the very recognizable intro bass riff. The whole crowd was singing along and participating in the usual clapping, even joined by Schnier for most sections. Lighting Director Preston Hoffman was flexing his lighting muscles during this “Kyle’s Song,” putting on one of the more impressive lighting performances of the show. Chuck Garvey took the helm of this jam, taking a lengthy but impressive solo tensely leading the whole band into one last chorus, before they started energetically building into “head.” The jam into “head.” featured a big Rob solo before starting into the main riff of the song. “head.” was met with a roar from the crowd and got everyone in the room pumped up as the band was steaming ahead like a freight train on stage. The jam featured an Al-Jim call and response section initiated by Rob, and a killer slide solo from Chuck before they ended the song.

    moe northampton

    The group opened the second set with their bluegrass tune “Queen of Everything,” which was an interesting way to start off set 2 after the high energy “head.” first set closer. After an energetic ending, the band “no huddle” segued into one of Garvey’s new songs, “Who You Calling Scared,” which was debuted at the State Theater in Maine this past February. “Who You Calling Scared” featured a very fun blues jam to close out the segment. The group wasted no time as they broke into one of my favorite moe. songs, “Four,” another repeat from last February’s Calvin Theater show. This version of “Four” was really solid, and the second big highlight of the show. “Four” featured a lot of .rons’ favorite moment from Saturday’s show: a great extended solo from Rob that featured some strange but cool synth bass tones. After Rob’s solo, the group brought the song into the third big peak of the night before one more chorus that had the whole theater singing along. “Four” smoothly transitioned into the rocker “Deep This Time,” the last of the repeats from last year’s show. Chuck broke out the slide again, starting a trend in his playing throughout the set. This version of “Deep This Time” was fairly standard and brought to close with no big jam section.

    The band started into another one of the post-hiatus debuts, Loughlin’s soulful “I Can Never Remember.” This is one of my favorites of all the new songs they’ve debuted since their return as it really allows for a chance to let Jim’s voice shine and its slow, somber feel serves as a nice break between all the big peaks moe. sets tend to contain. Chuck took a great solo to end the song, rounding out this extremely solid version of “I Can Never Remember.” “Not Coming Down” started off the last segment of the night, bringing the mood up and featuring Rob Derhak’s slapping capabilities. The song had another big crowd sing along moment before taking a lesson from Wormwood’s track listing and transitioning into “Wormwood,” which brought the set back into the slower mood that “I Can Never Remember” was evoking. “Wormwood” is a great showcase of Chuck’s slide playing, which he was already showing off earlier in the show. After a pretty standard version of “Wormwood”, the band segued into “Puebla” > “St. Augustine,” the last big highlight of the show. “Puebla” set a mysterious mood in the theater, and the band made quick work of getting to the jam. This jam section started off slowly but heavily featured Rob and Vinnie’s impressiveness as a rhythm section, as the duo kept driving the jam faster and faster until they had built up enough tension to transition into “St. Augustine.” Schnier also played very heavily into “Puebla”’s jam section, taking his solo to shred city as the band steamed on behind him. The segue into “St. Augustine” was very energetic and made the crowd go wild. This song quickly picked up the pace from “Puebla” and served as a great second set closer, as the crowd sang along and the band had fun with a bluegrass-y jam towards the end. The band brought “St. Augustine” into one last chorus sing along with the crowd before ending the segment.

    moe northampton

    The group encored with the heavy but energetic Wormwood cut, “Crab Eyes” which was a great way to end this burner of a show. Two years in a row now, moe. has served up absolute heaters in Northampton! Seems like they should keep ending all their tours down at the Calvin Theatre, as one moe.ron put it, “Never miss a Calvin show!”

    Setlist: 

    Set 1: Captain America > ATL, Chromatic Nightmare (nh) > Annihilation Blues > Seat of my Pants, Montego > Kyle’s Song > head.

    Set 2: Queen of Everything (nh) > Who You Calling Scared, Four > Deep This Time, I Can Never Remember, Not Coming Down > Wormwood > Puebla > St. Augustine

    Encore: Crab Eyes

    Purchase & Listen to the show on Nugs.net.

  • Photo Gallery: The Disco Biscuits at The Fillmore Philadelphia

    The Disco Biscuits played night two of a three-night run at The Fillmore in Philadelphia last weekend on April 20.

    The show featured two seamless sets of Biscuits who dusted off both “Commercial Amen” and “Boom Shanker,” both of which hadn’t been played since 2010. The Disco Biscuits next head to Asheville and Colorado at the end of May, along with hosting their annual Camp Bisco in July.

    April 20, 2018 Setlist
    Set 1: Helicopters > Little Betty Boop > Commercial Amen > Helicopters, Save The Robots
    Set 2: Spraypaint > Boom Shanker > Mulberry’s Dream* > Tempest > Tricycle > Spraypaint
    Encore: After Midnight > Spacebirdmatingcall
    *inverted version

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