NYS Music 202​0

Category: Reviews

  • Hearing Aide: Ryan Sutherland rocks and rolls on experimental blues album “Sutherland”

    Ryan Sutherland names his new album simply, Sutherland. It’s a perfect title, as that is just what you get: a man, a guitar and a simple drum kit.  Sutherland uses tempo changes to unbalance the listener, while throwing in bluesy and forlorn lyrics that tie the songs right back together. This can be seen on the first track “Gideon’s Bible.” It’s a great opening track and sets the mood for what this self titles record is. Bluesy garage rock and a simple take that brings you and the artist together.

    ryan sutherland

    The second track, “Sludge,” has that same heavy blues like a young Elvis Presley took over lead vocals for the White Stripes, singing “Can’t Put My Finger On The Pain/It’s there to remind me of the rain/No lullaby, no fleeting glimpse/No blood on your fingertips…”

    “(Dead) Don’t Die” also contains many tempo changes and seems like a stream of consciousness song.  Almost like how Bob Dylan recorded Another Side of Bob Dylan. It works as a slick, quick witted track with the changes and catchy repetitive lines as well.

    A lovely instrumental, “It Ain’t Too Far,” has an introduction that fades into beautiful slide work, reminiscent of the Allman Brothers; one could even imagine Greg and Duane sitting out back writing the beginning parts of a hit. It provides a nice interlude, placed perfectly on the record.

    “Keep Burning Down,” comes in hot with great harmonica work, growing slowly distant as the song takes on a driving blues. It’s almost like listening to early Black Keys records and the train rumbling through a gritty city. Another Dylan-esque interlude as the tempos rise, fade and then rise again and Sutherland weaves emotional lyrics in.

    “Black Cats On The Moon” has a little bit more of a folksy feel as it slowly rocks, almost a lullaby to bring the record to a close.  In all this seems like a very intimate, yet also experimental album.  If you close your eyes and listen it could take you from a smoky bar in West Texas, to an Upstate New York BBQ on the lake, to a back room underground poker game.  Sutherland sets a mood, he sticks to it and tears down the standard timing of a blues song, while inserting a presence that you can feel in the room with you as you listen. This reviewer can’t wait to see what he puts out next.

    Key Tracks: Keep Burning Down, It Ain’t Too Far, Sludge

  • Hearing Aide: Carter, Shipp, Parker, and Cleaver ‘Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1’

    After playing together for years, long-time jazz musicians Daniel Carter (tenor sax, trumpet, flute), Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums) have collaborated to release their first album as a group, Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1.

    Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1

    Carter and Parker have been working together since the 70s early into their music careers. Shipp began playing with the duo in the 80s, and Cleaver joined the mix more recently. This is the first recording which features the trio along with Cleaver. The four work together extremely well and manage to create an album which is easy-listening while still incredibly interesting. The three songs are a feast for the listener who is taken through a journey with each minute.

    The album kicks off with “Majestic Travel Agency,” which effectively sets up the tone of the whole album quickly with piano that seems incongruent from the other instruments; this incongruence, surprisingly, brings the whole piece together. Things may seem slightly out of place, but in a clearly purposeful and harmonious way that makes the music all the more interesting. “Scintillate” is the shortest and brightest of the three, but still has an edge to it. The album’s ‘harmonious incongruence’ is shown most clearly in the final song, “Ear-regularities,” which is significantly darker than the two before it.

    Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 is available on Bandcamp. The album’s second volume will be released at a later date.

  • Hearing Aide: Guitars A Go Go Debut LP ‘Travel Advisory’

    Guitars A Go Go, the improvisational duo of two acclaimed Hudson Valley-based guitarists, Rick Warren and Sal Cataldi (Spaghetti Eastern Music), have released their debut album, Travel Advisory. The duo have been performing at leading concert venues and art galleries since early 2019 and, on occasion, in a quartet abetted by bassist/composer Mark Steven Brooks and percussionist Pete Tenerowicz.

    NYC and Saugerties-based guitarist Sal Cataldi may be best known these days for his style-jumping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music. Time Out New York describes Cataldi’s music as “largely instrumental, Eastern-influenced jams are infused with some delicate guitar work and hauntingly moody atmosphere.”

    Guitars A Go Go

    Originally from Kingston, Hudson-based guitarist Rick Warren has been deeply involved in the improvisational and experimental music scene. He was encouraged by renowned vibraphonist Karl Berger at his Creative Music Studio in Woodstock. It was Berger’s visit to a Rick’s high school music theory class that led him to become a regular participant in twice-yearly workshops held at CMS, an international hot bed of improvisational music performance and education founded in 1971 by Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman. Rick is best known for using his guitar and a variety of electronic sound sources, each one a new and different on-the-spot creation. 

    Their debut album is a quartet of live-in-studio duets recorded just as the COVID-19 quarantine took hold. Travel Advisory features contemplative, peaceful songs as well as songs with textured noise and dissonance. These songs communicate the wide array of emotions we are feeling in response to the global pandemic. Five more songs were later produced in remote collaboration, with Cataldi adding guitars, synths, and effects at his studio in West Saugerties to solo pieces performed by Warren at his studio in Hudson.

    Travel Advisory opens up with “A Jig for Europa,” comprised of blues performed by Warren on heavily processed acoustic 12-string, electronic blurbs, and backwards guitars by Cataldi. Throughout the album are songs such as “The Volcano Lovers,” 13 minutes of serene music with back-and-forth relay of melodic improvisations by each guitarist and “DeKooning Was a Crooner” the final and longest live-in-studio improvisation. The song consists of jazz chordal voicings from Cataldi lead into the inside-out improvisations from Warren. 

    Key tracks: A Jig for Europa, The Volcano Lovers, DeKooning Was a Crooner

  • Video Premiere: Todd Alsup “Manhattan”

    Todd Alsup premieres his new music video “Manhattan” is an ode to his beloved city as it braves the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dedicated to the essential workers and everyday heroes of New York City, the video features its diverse population coming together as a community while remaining six feet apart. Essential workers such as firemen and first responders are given special focus, as well as the artists and musicians who continue to brighten up the city in dark and confusing times.

    Raised in Detroit, Alsup first became enamored with New York City on a high school trip. He fell further in love while attending New York University, where he earned a bachelor of music degree studying voice, theory, and songwriting. The singer, songwriter, and keyboardist says:

    “‘Manhattan’ is a love song I wrote for the city I’ve called home for over 20 years. New York was, of course, hit very hard at the onset of COVID-19 and is now a center of protest in the fight against systemic racism and police brutality.  I’ve seen my city rise up in the face of daunting challenges many times before and I’ve chosen to create a video that celebrates the spirit of strength and perseverance of New Yorkers.”

    Todd Alsup

    Todd Alsup criticizes many aspects of the city throughout the track, such as its noise, cold temperature, and “lunatics everywhere,” but ultimately couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.  “One million reasons to leave and a million more to stay / Oh Manhattan, I wouldn’t have you any other way,” he concedes. In addition to “Manhattan,” Alsup has also released a lyric video for his cover of The Spinners’ 1973 hit “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” adding a retro hip hop flair to the Motown classic.

  • Hearing Aide: Blacktop Mojo “Static”

    Artists strive to develop, grow, evolve. Blacktop Mojo’s latest release, Static, is certainly a product of that ethic.  A 4 song EP that it is a get in your car, roll down the windows, crank it up, and drive recording. With their first three albums laying the groundwork, Static represents a defining moment in this East Texas based band’s career.

    Blacktop Mojo

    Issued as an EP, it equates more to a perfect album side. The bond between the songs begs for it to be played in its entirety. No singling out a song or two, you need to play them all. On first listen, I was so hooked that I played the EP through a second and third time before taking a breath. Simply put, this is a rocker. Raw, hard and an unfiltered.

    Statoc = Blacktop Mojo

    Twist the antenna around

    Is there something wrong

    There’s nothing but white noise now

    The signal’s gone

    “Signals Gone” – Blacktop Mojo

    Blacktop Mojo has set a high watermark for future projects. If you are new to the band, what a place to start. For those those who have been in the know, Static will live at the top of the collection.

  • Hearing Aide: The Mountain Carol ‘How The West Was Won’

    We’ve all been in need of some new live music and thankfully The Mountain Carol has come to our rescue. Their latest offering, How The West Was Won, is a live album containing incredible versions of their previously released work. Around since 2017, they have established themselves in the past with their undeniably unique sound, a combination of psychedelic and atmospheric electro-pop with a low-fi sound that permeates throughout this live release. Oh, and just a dash of alien abductions.

    How The West Was Won

    This album was recorded live at Light Club Lamp Shop in Burlington and the band really uses the space to their advantage. The reverberation from Matt Hall’s percussion through the room adds an incredible depth to the overall sound as it blends with the ebb and flow of Charles Bruce’s incredible vocal talent. Charles’ cosmic keyboarding also balances perfectly with Austin Petrashune’s bouncy, spacey but laser-focused guitar playing. From the giddy opening track, “Under Neith” to “Essex Ferry,” the mountainous closer, this entire album is a sonic adventure.

    On their Facebook page, The Mountain Carol boldly claims to be “quite possibly the most important band to emerge from the North Country New York music scene.” Having listened to How The West Was Won multiple times, one cannot dispute their claim. Throw this on when you’re socially distancing at your next campfire, driving home from a day hike in the Adirondacks or enjoying the evening on your porch. It is available to stream on BandCamp, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music and YouTube.

    Key Tracks: All Is Lost, Dino, Faith in Progress

  • Smithsonian Folkways release LP ‘Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton’

    Smithsonian Folkways has released an album of recordings from legendary bluegrass musician Doc Watson and fiddle player Gaither Carlton. The recordings on Watson and Carlton come from two concerts in New York City in October 1962; one concert at the NYU School of Education and the other at Blind Lemon’s (a folk club in the West Village that was gone the next week).

    Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton

    In the early 1960s, Watson was playing rockabilly tunes on his electric guitar near his home in tiny Deep Gap, NC when he was discovered by folklorist Ralph Rinzler. Watson became known for his heartfelt, powerful singing and the distinctive sound of his acoustic guitar.  

    Ralph Rinzler set up the concerts as Watson’s debut in New York, but it was a young Peter Siegel, who recorded both concerts in New York. Siegel still lives in New York, and founded the Nonesuch Explorer Series. He went on to produce music with Watson, and other talented artists such as Paul Siebel, Tom Paxton, Roy Buchanan. Peter Siegel shared his thoughts on how Doc Watson influenced future guitarists: 

    Today there are all these great flatpicking guitarists we know about. Clarence White, Tony Rice, all kinds of people. Billy Strings too now. At that time, nobody had ever heard a folk guitar player play like that! In folk music, the guitar was an accompanying instrument, which was usually strummed in a specific way. So when Doc showed up, it blew my mind. It blew everyone’s mind!

    Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton

    The music that is played on these recordings is not the virtuosic guitar style Watson is known for. Throughout the album are songs like “Double File” and “He’s Coming to Us Dead” that are comprised of the fiddle, guitar, and banjo to demonstrate the roots of Scottish and Irish music.

    Key Tracks: Double File, He’s Coming to Us Dead

  • Hearing Aide: Iris Lune ‘Lovelosslove’

    Ella Joy Mier, under the moniker Iris Lune, delivers her debut album ‘Lovelosslovee,’ a poetic and sonic masterpiece that examines the seamless relationship between love and loss.

    The Brooklyn native is a songwriter who came inter her own, via the folk music of her heritage, Israel. Bringing a contemporary take on the sounds she is familiar with, Mier showcases her ability to tie rich, sonic passages along with beautiful poetry and wordplay. She exhibits a palpable mystique focus but diverse mood board throughout.

    After loosing her mother from a six year battle with cancer, Mier has been desperately trying to piece her life back together, trying to survive in a world without her mother’s physical presence. These songs take the audience through that emotional journey.

    The project starts with a well thought-out drum intro, followed by a rumbling, synthesized bass line. Intertwined vocal melodies, textured guitar and well organized percussion hits are a constant throughout the albums track list. With a central theme of love and loss, the tracks on this album mend together creating an emotive and captive tapestry of sound. With a clear knowledge of radio friendly pop structures as well as dreampop-like instrumentation, Mier falls inter her own on this album, creating a space that she is clearly confident in.

    The production lets her vocals shine and remain the focal point from song to song. The album being co-written and produced by Asher Kutz, is full of highs and lows along with dynamic songwriting. Lovelosslove fulfils Miers’ want to let us in briefly to the journey of the endless relationship between love and loss.

    Key Tracks: Midas, Haven, Summer Blue

  • Premiere: Nick Deutsch releases music video for “Talk 2 Me”

    In his latest music video “Talk 2 Me,” Nick Deutsch retorts the poetics of up all night running through rainy New York City backend streets to nowhere and isolated vocals searching for a voice on the back of a bar napkin, into tender melodies. “Talk 2 Me” ruptures the singer-songwriter essences of spacial time and place, to recapture the breath behind the vocals in a wholly original inspiration. The best expressions of the human experience don’t tell us what to feel, they provide a compass through ourselves.

    “Talk 2 Me” texts the pressing distances between 2AM love lost and the possibility of tomorrow that pulls us inwardly without asking where or when we’ve arrived at the place we embody. Thematically Nick Deutsch constructs a soundtrack for a new depth of vulnerability but also finds playfulness in the unmasking of pretenses. A note on the mantle of infinite possibility, if only you “Talk 2 Me.” Maybe a reminder that all the broken pieces can recoup a liberated spirit of being; The perfect song to cinematic imagery for a pause in reclamation of that breath we all need before the feelings fall out. 

    Nick Deutsch is a New York based piano playing, indie pop Singer/Songwriter originally from Wilmette Illinois. Jazz arranging and harmony brought Nick to New York University where he met and became friends with Tina Shafer, CEO of the New York Songwriter’s Circle. He has shared the stage with established singer-songwriters Ian Axle, (Great Big World) Billy Porter (Kinky Boots) Rob Mathes (Sting), as well as recorded with American Idol’s finalist Marissa Pontecorvo.

    While this may be new music from Nick, he is no stranger to the international music scene for his songs off his EP’s Crazy Ride and Heartsaver have led to nominations for Best Pop Male Vocal (2013 IMEA Awards), and The Great American Song (2013 POP Category). Additionally, his music has been featured on Nickelodeon’s “Jagger Eaton’s Mega Life” and TV Land’s “Younger.”

    In the meantime of Nick’s upcoming music releases, visit his website to subscribe to his email newsletters and request a song for his weekly live performances.

  • Hearing Aide: Hayfitz Releases Debut LP ‘Capsules’

    NYC-based indie folk artist Hayfitz releases debut album Capsules, which debunks the value of time and nurtures brief yet defining experiences into lush songs.

    Hayfitz

    The foundation of Capsules was recorded over eighteen days in a Seattle home surrounded by idyllic views of the Puget Sound and the region’s mountains and evergreens. The setting brought Hayfitz the emotional space to deliver the record with resolve, bringing intentional details to each song and distilling the franticness of a Brooklyn lifestyle.

    Capsules took on its current shape in a secluded winter cabin in Parker, Pennsylvania where friend turned collaborator, Patrick Gregg, hosted Hayfitz for two separate week-long periods. Each inspired by contemporaries like Andy Shauf and Chad Vangaalen, Gregg and Hayfitz collaborated to bring a range of woodwinds to the recording process, with Gregg playing everything from bass clarinet to saxophone. Gregg’s added aptitude in both modular and analog synthesis formed the underlying soundscapes that created a cohesive record, running Hayfitz’s demo midi sequences through various vintage synthesizers.

    The album opens up with the song “Pinpoint,” an illustration of Hayfitz’s complicated and perplexing emotions towards a girl. Throughout the album are songs like “Daylight,” that display Hayfitz’s fear and susceptibility and “Hold On,” which demonstrate Hayfitz’s perseverance to have strength and hope in his darkest moments. The song “Kitchen,” relates to today’s current situation, making it the perfect quarantine reflection: 

    “Kitchen” is about being left alone with someone you’ve just met and quickly becoming enamored with them. We hardly ever have control over the circumstances of these first moments we share with a stranger and it’s utterly terrifying to think about what’s going through their head. It’s oddly coincidental that my song about being unexpectedly trapped in a kitchen is coming out during a time where we now all find ourselves in isolation, without having planned for it. We’re finding expedited and deeper connections with those who we’re sharing our small spaces with and being forced to adapt immediately to this new way of life.

    People have experienced feelings of fear and uncertainty due COVID-19, but Hayfitz’s album communicates that all we have to do is just “Hold On.” 

    Key tracks: Pinpoint, Daylight, Hold On

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