Albany’s Senior Living has released the music video for “Heathers,” the closing track off their 35mm EP that was released over the summer.
The video was shot and directed by Nadia Boye from SUNY Oneonta, and centers on water and the fluidity of nature, with a focus on the moods and emotions inspired by the ground beneath our feet and the world that we live in and are a part of each day.
Senior Living are planning shows for January around the Northeast and Southeast. More details to come.
The calendar may have turned to November but the Halloween spirit was strong in Buffalo with Turkuaz dressing up in celebration of our neighbors’ to the north national pastime, ice hockey! Sammi Garett and Shira Elias even dropped their gloves and staged a hockey fight that had to be broken up by referee Chris Brouwers to the delight of the packed crowd at the Town Ballroom.
Setlist: Nightswimming, Doktor Jazz, Make You Famous, Heat Drop, If I Ever Fall Asleep, E.Y.E., Mister Man, Digitonium, Big Business > Murder Face, Take ‘Em Down, Every1’s A Winner > Superstatic, Better Get Ready > Lookin’ Tough, Feelin’ Good, Gogo Mr. Dodo, The Shape I’m In
Encore: Monkey Fingers
The Flatbush Zombies drew a huge costumed crowd that packed Brooklyn Steel on Halloween night. Erick Arc Elliott opened as a DJ, playing noise-music of a sort that jumped from soothing jazz to banging trap. This kicked off the chain of shenanigans that would precede the show.
Meechy Darko emerged, in a bright yellow leather patched suit and heavy clown face paint, as the Joker to kick off the costume contest – the grand prize being $1000. They brought up ten selected members of the audience and let the rest of the crowd decide on who the winner was. The list of costumes at Flatbush Zombies included but was not limited to a Spiderman, Frozone, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They went down the line with hovering hand over heads and listened for the cheers. Then it was down to the final three: Frozone, Sally, and a masked killer. The crowd overwhelmingly hailed Frozone as king of the costume contest, who then proceeded to deliver a heartfelt acceptance speech before being abruptly kicked off stage by a raging Meechy.
After a set change, another Joker entered the stage waving and boasting his wrestling championship belt. Zombie Juice was following, promising to relinquish him of it. A fierce fight ensued with all sorts of jump kicks and WWE slams. When the dust finally cleared, Zombie Juice stood victorious.
Simple ingredients, assembled one at a time, in careful order add up to more than the sum of their parts. In the kitchen: eggs, flour, water, sugar and heat become cake. Musicians are no different as guitar, drums, and bass join together to become a collective far greater than the sum of their parts. In musical costume, the creative behemoth known as Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, dressed as chefs for their performance of “Stop Making Cake,” sliced a mashup of originals, garnished with Cake and Talking Heads covers for night two on their Halloween run through Boston, New York, and Connecticut.
“Macho Man” Andy Frasco & the UN, dressed as their favorite 80s wrestlers, got the crowd going early with a high energy opening set of fun covers and originals, along with a heavy dose of Andy and his shtick. He’s hard not to love, funny as hell, backed by great musicians with a singular desire to party and have a good time. He delivered. Some set highlights included covers of “Baker Street,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Bulls on Parade,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Killing in the Name,” and original “Change of Pace.” Music is just a a part of Andy’s show, as he came down from the stage several times to either smoke a joint with some folks up front, crowd surf, or, best yet, a crowd-surfing pillow fight on an air mattress with Ernie Chang, the UN’s saxophonist.
Andy’s quote of the night, “I may not be as good at music as everybody else, you know, I’m not the best, but I like to have a good time.” It’s just this type of self-awareness that makes his shtick authentic and his show worth seeing. Bravo, sir.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong in matching chef jackets and hats took the stage shortly after 10:30; the adoring crowd received their “kitchen staff” eagerly: “Scrambled Byrne” Greg Ormont, “Frank Sinatra” Jeremy Schon, “Chef Gator” Alex Pretropolis, and “Baker Ben” Carrey. “Too Long” got the kitchen party going before the band added a few extra ingredients, The West End Blend(er) Horns, for “Burning Up My Time” > “Love You Madly” (Cake) > “Burning Up My Time.” Accompanied by Jeremy Schon’s dizzying solos and Greg Ormont’s chicken scratch guitar, the rhythm section of Ben Carrey on bass and Alex Petropolis on drums drove the crowd into a frenzy all night. Just to highlight that point, the first set drum solo featured Chef Gator playing not only his drum kit, but an assortment of mixing bowls – with a mix of spatulas, whisks, and wooden spoons. “Julia” sandwiched the first Talking Heads cover of the night with “Flowers” to close the 75-minute set.
After a moderate 20-minute break, PPPP returned with “Henrietta” to whip the crowd up some more. The next ingredient was a cover of “Burning Down the House,” which was a highlight cooked to perfection. Just like its first set counterpart, Ben was still way up in the mix, dropping consistent bone-rattling bass-bombs mixed with frenetic beats that kept the crowd moving. The West End Blend horns continued to be in and out, adding beautiful layers of trumpet and trombone solos to the Cake, served up by Pigeon, especially during the “Horizon” > “Sheep Go to Heaven” > “Horizons” combo that ended the set. “Ocean Flows” in the encore slot gave the crowd one more chance to boogie down after several moments of raucous applause.
It’s always a pleasure to share increasingly bigger rooms with this band, as they continue to grow and please their adoring Flock. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has a unique creative edge that keeps their fans coming back time after time. Enjoy.
Setlist via Phantasy Tour:
Set 1: Too Long, Burning Up My Time*> Love You Madly (Cake)*> Burning Up My Time> Sunny Day> The Distance (Cake)*> Sunny Day, The Liquid*> The Great Curve (Talking Heads)*> Upfunk> Drums> Upfunk, Julia> Flowers (Talking Heads)*> Julia.
Set 2: Henrietta, Naive Melody (Talking Heads)*> Porcupine> Burning Down the House (Talking Heads)*> Porcupine*, Lightning*, Crosseyed and Painless >Horizon*> Sheep Go to Heaven (Cake)*> Horizon.
Encore: Ocean Flows.
*w/ West End Blend Horns
San Fermin, an art-pop project from Brooklyn, have shared an acoustic cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit single “Run Away with Me.” Reinterpreted by bandleader Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin’s cover finds vocalists Claire Wellin and Karlie Bruce harmonizing for a warmly emotive take on the Emotion classic.
Regarding the acoustic rendition, Ellis Ludwig-Leone says, “Carly Rae’s version is a perfect party song, with that synth lead and four on the floor bass drum, so we went the other way with it. The lyrics are actually pretty intimate and lend themselves well to a quieter version. It was fun for us, as a band with eight members, to do something truly stripped down.”
“Run Away with Me” follows the October release of the group’s newest album The Cormorant I. Currently in the midst of their North American tour, San Fermin will continue with headlining dates across the U.S. and Canada before concluding with a hometown finale at New York’s Brooklyn Steel on December 6. Get ticketing information and details here.
San Fermin is the project of Brooklyn-based composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ellis Ludwig-Leone, who pairs lushly avant-garde arrangements with pop-minded melodies that are brought to life by his bandmates. Formed in 2012 – shortly after Ludwig-Leone completed a job assisting composer Nico Muhly – San Fermin made their debut with a self-titled 2013 release hailed by NPR as “one of the year’s most ambitious, evocative, and moving records.” With the 2015 release of Jackrabbit and 2017’s Belong, San Fermin garnered extensive critical acclaim, selling out shows worldwide and appearing at major festivals and opening for the likes St. Vincent, The National, Arctic Monkeys, alt-J and more. Having recently signing to Sony Music Masterworks, San Fermin usher in a new chapter with the release of The Cormorant I, the first of an eventual two-part project encompassing the scope of their new trajectory.
Ithaca, NY based progressive soul band, Noon Fifteen is set to release its epic prog-pop suite, At the Festival, Halloween weekend. Packing a punch in its 22 minute run-time, the album is a brilliantly-efficient storyteller.
The members here are key to its delivery, starting with Mandy Goldman on vocals, whose dynamic range and myriad styles power this piece. Rounding out Noon Fifteen are: Samuel B. Lupowitz (keyboards & vocals), Joe Massa (guitars), Harry Nichols (bass, percussion, & vocals), and Phil Shay (drums & vocals). Joining the band on this outing is Chris Ploss, not only on percussion and vocals, but he also recorded and mixed the album at Sunwood Recording in Trumansburg, NY.
At the Festival explores the mood of Hero, the protagonist of the piece, as he contemplates the state of his life – past and present. Wondering where the time has gone and trying to truly feel his emotions, Hero conversely numbs himself with liquor and pills. It is this internal struggle that underlies the entire mini-rock opera.
The alternate musical styles of At the Festival drive the narrative through the album. The band shines here moving effortlessly between pop soul sounds, prog rock riffs and sonically soaring movements. The free, yet vocally stunning “Wandering” showcases the beautiful harmonies this group can deliver, and simultaneously offers a small respite to Hero. As the story works to conclusion, it is apparent that Hero’s struggle is not over as he is battered by mourning and lost love in “Rock Bottom” and he defiantly disavows everyone in “My Ghost.”
Well-crafted and performed, At the Festival is a testament to Noon Fifteen’s willingness to explore and grow musically. This is an effort to be cheered.
Key Tracks: Time for Me, Rock Bottom, My Ghost
Join Noon Fifteen for their album release party at The Range in Ithaca on Saturday, November 2.
Billed as a ‘Fonghoulish Freakout at The Hollow,’ The Breakfast reunited for a rare show in their 20th anniversary year to celebrate Halloween with a variety of 80’s songs in tow. If you ever wanted to hear The Breakfast play “Don’t You Forget About Me” from The Breakfast Club, then you were in for a treat. “Let’s Dance,” “White Wedding” and Toto’s “Africa” were standouts among fan favorites, including originals “Hard Luck Harry” and “Honey Butter,” as well as jams on “Thriller” and “Axel F.”
An encore of “Synergy” had Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” lyrics modified slightly as Tim Palmiere sang ‘You Can Call Me Albany,‘ to the delight of the crowd.
Opening the night was Albany’s Wurliday, with frontman Justin Henricks dressed as John Lennon c. 1974, and aptly played “Come Together” as part of the band’s musical costume.
The Breakfast is in Colorado this weekend for two shows at Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple, then play in late November in New Hampshire and Connecticut.
Wurliday setlist: Mill House, Action Love, Come Together, Getting There, Clyde*, Kissin’ My Love, Float On, Give it Up, Who R U?, You’re on my mind, Take me There.
*with Adrian Tramontano on drums
The Breakfast setlist: The Power of Love > Drunk Monk Bar, Honey Butter > White Wedding, Phaddy Boom Baddy, Don’t You Forget About Me > Shotgun Butterfly, Hard Luck Harry > Take On Me > Hard Luck Harry, Beef Barley > Head Over Heels, Let’s Dance > Rufus > Frankly, Africa > The Chase, Buquebus.
Encore: Synergy > You Can Call me Al(bany) > Synergy
Check out photos from Zatchmo Lives Media below.
After releasing singles “L.B.E.,” “Losing,” and “Insecure” earlier this year, Brooklyn based R&B singer Amare Symoné released her latest single “Ellipsis” on October 24. Utilizing her inseparable ties of Jazz and R&B, Symoné creates a modern fusion of the unique two genres. A dissonant sample loops throughout the track, as Amare’s vocals float throughout in her ever-confident delivery.
This sex-positive track finds Symoné sorting through her head wondering why they both just can’t read the signs. Wrapped up in her own thoughts, this song looks to fill in the blanks, or in other words the ‘Ellipsis’ of her own feelings.
Symoné, a California born and Brooklyn bred singer-songwriter, poet, activist, and womanist, graduated from Professional Performing Arts High School in NYC. A student at Columbia College working towards a Bachelor’s degree in music business, Amare is inspired and influenced by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Destiny’s Child, Etta James and Eryn Allen Kane.
One day prior to what would have been the 51st birthday Neal Casal, nine of the late artist‘s solo discography that were previously unavailable on digital music platforms have been released. These recordings, which can now be streamed and downloaded in their entirely, make complete Casal’s entire solo discography.
Recordings by Casal released today include Rain, Wind & Speed (1996), The Sun Rises Here (1997), Field Recordings (1997), Basement Dreams (1998), Black River Sides (w/ Kenny Roby, 1999), Anytime Tomorrow (2000), Ran On Pure Lightning (w/ Shannon McNally, 2002), No Wish To Reminisce (2006), and All Directions (2007). Listen on various platforms here.
Additionally, a rarely seen video for the song “Reason” from Casal’s 1998 album, The Sun Rises Here, has been made available, including a poignant ending segment with Neal and his father discussing his rock ‘n’ roll dreams.
Neal Casal—a guitarist, singer and songwriter—passed away on August 26. He was celebrated most recently for his work with Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Circles Around the Sun. Prior to his involvement in those projects, however, he recorded and toured prolifically as a solo artist. Though never reaching the wider success he found in the later stages of his career, he left behind a critically acclaimed body of work under his own name, including nine solo albums, two duo albums and a handful of compilations and retrospectives that intertwined elements of vintage rock, country and soul.
Plans are currently in the works for a series of physical reissues of Casal’s solo work in 2020, while the finishing touches are being added to his final recording sessions with Circles Around The Sun a week before his passing.
Neal Casal would have turned 51 on Saturday, November 2.
This past weekend, October 25-27, saw the annual Voodoo Music and Arts Experience took place in the city of New Orleans. The festival, in its tenth edition, boasted a genre spanning lineup that included Guns Nâ Roses, Beck, Post Malone, Brandi Carlile, The National, Interpol, Big Gigantic, and Young the Giant. The three-day weekend married the close of the 2019 festival season and featured some creepy crawly Halloween festivities.
In what seemed to be a Voodoo tradition the first day was plagued by a great deal of rain, leaving the grounds of the beautiful City Park under water and a swampy mess. The dismal weather did not deter the voodoo faithful from kicking off the weekend festivities costumes and all. Sets from up and coming artist Hobo Johnson & The Love Makers, and the amazing Bishop Briggs paved the way for a rainy serenade from Brandi Carlile, and an absolute heater from Guns Nâ Roses. The world-famous rockers treated a wet and rowdy crowd to a three-hour career spanning set culminating with a perfectly timed November Rain as the light mist turned back into a steady rain shower.
As day two arrived so did the sunshine as if summer was peaking in one more time before the winter months took over, allowing festival attendees to dawn their best costumes. This was a full music day that included sets from Young the Giant, The National, and Bassnectar with the ever-talented Beck closing out day 2 with his unique dance party sound. He paid homage to hometown favorites The Meters with a soulful version of Cissy Strut showing just how much love so many musicians have for the city of New Orleans.
The final day of the festival featured an array of new bands and artists that certainly should be on any music fan’s radar. Temples, a psych rock band from England, proved that British rock is still alive and thriving, blending multiple different styles to create a unique hard rock sound. Minnesota native Hippo Campus brought their billowy melodies and concisely written songs for an amazing afternoon performance on the main stage. The array of great music culminated with a powerful performance from Post Malone. The 24 year old rap star closed this amazing weekend with such stage presence and cockiness. Closing the festival with his hit song “Congratulations” exclaiming to the NOLA faithful âLive your life, live your dream, live your truth, be what you want to be, donât ever let anyone fuckinâ stop you.â A perfect motto for the attitude that the gritty city of New Orleans exudes everyday.
