NYS Music 20​19

Category: Uncategorized

  • Japanese Breakfast Takes Over at Brooklyn Steel

    Japanese Breakfast had the crowd dancing, jumping and swaying as they shared the band’s enthusiasm on January 18 at Brooklyn Steel. Michelle Zauner’s solo project has developed a fanbase eager to dive into the group’s experimental blend of shoegaze, indie pop and rock. Joined by drummer and producer Craig Hendrix, Deven Craige on bass and her husband Peter Bradley on guitar, this tour features an expanded live ensemble, complete with NYC-based string section Quartet 121, Aaron Rockers on trumpet and Adam Schatz on sax.

    Zauner has a persona influenced by Bjork and other animated performers. Walking out in a whimsical white dress with coils of fabric attached, her engaging and infectious attitude transformed the stage into her own personal, musical playground. Kicking off with “Machinist” using modulation effects to augment her voice, the set came alive with colorful lights and large visuals as they went into “In Heaven.”

    The band’s energy was dynamic, and Zauner shifted from guitarist to full frontwoman as she sang about lust and indifference to the ethereal, marching groove of “Road Head.” The crowd journeyed from high energy, endorphin-releasing rhythms to the somber admissions of heartache in “Boyish,” a haunting dream-like song, which wouldn’t have been out of place in an episode of Twin Peaks.

    When 2016’s Psychopomp was released, Zauner was dealing with the grief of her mother’s death. She continued to channel her thoughts on love, heartbreak and trauma in 2017’s Soft Sounds from Another Planet. At Brooklyn Steel, she gave us her personal story, alongside projected collages of old family photos and videos during a stripped-down acoustic performance of “Till Death.”

    The night began with a couple of strong openers. Meg Duffy of Hand Habits played an electric solo set blending vocals, effects and guitar prowess into passionate, sometimes melancholic soundscapes and melodies. Things got moving with Cincinnati-based WHY?, as rapper and singer Yoni Wolf led the band through a tight, eclectic mix of alternative rock and hip hop.

    Japanese Breakfast has seen a lot of activity recently including headlining tours, festivals and new releases. The band has also been busy scoring the soundtrack for “Sable,” an upcoming open-world video game, due out later this year. Zauner’s ability to transform her raw emotions into extroverted performances continues to attract and delight new audiences.

  • Hearing Aide: Ryan Sutherland “Sleepwalker”

    Like top shelf whiskey, country music is best served straight up. This is what Ryan Sutherland serves up in Sleepwalker. Pure unadulterated country, without any neotraditional, pop, or indie-rock influences to water it down. If you listen to what passes for country these days, and wonder what happened to musicians like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, give this album a spin.

    I don’t trust any musician who works the bar venues and doesn’t have a decent drinking song. This 8-track long album’s got two. Sleepwalker kick starts with one of them, “Jimmy Tequilla.” Sutherland, with his guitar and slide, sings about the kind of guy everyone knows and shakes their head about. After the second chorus, the conclusion of song is told from Jimmy Tequilla’s perspective: You see, I can’t love nobody / as much as I love to hate me / She is like a deep dark well / A Better reflection of myself/ That’s enough to dull the pain. And in that moment, he becomes relatable as we realize that there’s a little bit of Jimmy in each of us.

    “Bar Weirdos,” the other drinking song, features harmonica interludes as Sutherland turns a phrase about the communal nature of local watering holes. Well, leave your politics and your worries behind / Drink your communion straight from the vine / Here at the bar we’re all the same. Although the song is set at a bar stool, it’s the kind of song that’ll make you want to dust off your old cowboy boots and kick up your heels.

    Sutherland continues to exhibit his ability to spin a yarn and set it to tune in “The Ballad of the Trap Man” and “Twisted Liz.” Interspersed are some songs that aren’t story-based: a contemplative medley called “Maybe Ya Can,” the longing reminiscence “Yuletide Regrets,” and the soul-searching “Two Bedroom Apartment.”

    Sleepwalker was recorded and engineered by Eric Pinales at Nothing to Lose Studios in Irondequoit, NY. The album art featuring a hiker in the mountains was designed by Adam Kujawski. Sutherland wrote and performed the entire album himself.

    Key tracks: Jimmy Tequilla, Bar Weirdos, Maybe Ya Can, Yuletide Regrets

  • Hearing Aide: Gabriel Marin’s ‘Various Situations Vol. 1 ‘

    Three bands, nine tracks, one HUGE sound. While power trio Consider the Source has a pretty firm grasp on their devoted fan-base, musical wizard Gabriel Marin took some time to craft his own solo effort and explore alternative musical realms.

    The double-neck guitar slinger shares even more of his sorcery with a solo project that features three contrasting bands and their distinctive sounds, wrapped into one comprehensive package just in time for the holidays.

    Delivered to the public on Dec. 4, Various Situations Vol. 1 offers interwoven recordings from Social Assassins, End of Echoes and Storm of Existence, each pulling from Marin’s personal influences and flair while displaying them in an experimental way. The album showcases Marin on a fierce instrument rotation, from his custom Vigier doubleneck,  to Persian dutar and kamancha, while remnants of the ethereal and ethnic leaning trio ooze out of the release.

    On tracks one, four and eight, Social Assassins welcome the familiar instrumental, progressive rock sound source fans know and love. It demands full attention as music notes whiz by and lead you into wildly busy, yet crisp playing. Track titles like “Does it Taste Like Magenta in Here” and “Not My Chair, Not My Problem,” even mimic the same curious nature of Consider the Source track titles.

    The least expected sound comes from End of Echoes on tracks two, five, seven and nine, creating a hazy pop dream world. Produced by Daniel Lynas (A$AP Rocky), airy, female vocals and slower electronic takes from vocalist Kira Crissinger found their spot on this eclectic release and offer slower, warmer tunes to connect and sing along with. With lyrics welcomed onto the album, perhaps “So it Goes” is a nod to American Novelist Kurt Vonnegut, widely known for that same mantra.

    Storms of Existence makes an entrance with a heavy Middle Eastern atmosphere on tracks three, six and ten. Persian Sufi music, Dan Kurfirst on percussion and a team of authentic vocalists seal the deal and dive deeper into the ethnic sounds Consider the Source is inspired by and heavily emulates. Marin’s mesmerizing style layers nicely on top like a cherry on a sundae–a perfectly tart, modern spin to contrasting sounds.

    While Marin took the time to massage his creativity and collaborate with the likes of varying artists, familiar territories still rang true throughout. Over the course of nine tracks, listeners are taken on a journey through endearing jazz fusion, new melodic territories and brought back to hard-hitting progressive tunes, reminding us why we fell in love with Marin and Consider the Source in the first place.

    You can check out Various Situations Vol. 1 in its entirety on Bandcamp.