The String Cheese Incident has announced a ‘New Years Cheese’ stream for their final “Friday Night Cheese” broadcast of the year for New Year’s Eve. Airing on Thursday, December 31 starting at 8pm ET, the Colorado jamgrass band will stream a special 20-year anniversary airing of their Evolution Concert Film which filmed around the 2000-2001 Portland NYE Incidents, featuring performances and behind-the-scenes interviews.
Following Evolution, at approximately 10pm ET, String Cheese Incident will air their three set New Years Eve performance from December 31, 2016 at at 1STBANK in Broomfield, Colorado. Home to six of the last seven New Year’s runs, 1STBANK has been SCI’s hometown venue for the better part of the 2010’s.
The band said in a statement:
We love seeing friends and family gather with us in CO to ring in the New Year, and even though we can’t be there with you in person this year, we are REALLY looking forward to saying goodbye to 2020 and welcoming 2021, when we can hopefully get back to playing live Incidents again!
The broadcast has been timed perfectly so that the Midnight Balloon Drop will line up with 12am MT. Master of Ceremonies Jason Hann will be the host for the evening and promises surprises in store. Get the stream here.
Longtime WFUV radio station program director and curator, Rita Houston, has solemnly passed away. A renowned DJ for multiple generations of listeners, Houston also excelled in her role as a musical curator, specializing in electric feel. WFUV announced Houston’s death early Tuesday morning and had reported her taking time off in order to deal with health issues. In reality, Houston had been battling cancer for the past six years.
photo by Steve Malinski
Having begun her career at the Fordham University radio station in 1994, Houston’s hard-work, commitment and genuine love of music saw her trajectory go from mid-day DJ to running the Friday night programming. Her show, “The Whole Wide World,” would allow her to scour the world for more programming, as such was her appetite for all things music.
In 2019, when Rita Houston celebrated 25 years at WFUV, Mayor Bill de Blasio congratulated her for the “indelible mark” she has made on New York as an epicenter of creative expression,
Bringing joy to listeners throughout the five boroughs, providing a platform for new talent that deserves to be heard, and enriching the cultural vitality of our city.
The north star of WFUV’s sound and its public service, guiding the station’s musical direction for decades.”
“She was a New York original, a trailblazing woman of exceptional talent who shaped a unique style behind the microphone — informed and informal, intimate, warm, genuine. But also, one of tremendous joy,” said Singleton.
While declaring upcoming remembrances and celebrations of Houston’s life in the weeks to come, Singleton summarized Houston’s transcendent work by comparing her to other great musical acts who have recently passed. Stating, “right now, Rita, we see you on that stage with Sharon Jones, Bowie, Prince, and especially your beloved John Prine, emceeing the most heavenly edition of Holiday Cheer for FUV.”
Houston is survived by her wife, Laura Fedele, a sister and two brothers. She was 59 years old.
Named for Chilean street dogs, the music of Quiltro is a tribute to the street dogs living in the Andes village of Farellones. Hearing howls during nights spent in those high Chilean mountains is birthplace of Quiltro’s music.
The trio collaborated with Eric Segalstad at Sabi Sound in Colchester, VT to record their debut, which has the feel of a soundtrack for a dystopian sci-fi film that has yet to be made.
The emotional journey found through the album will set you at ease, wake you up, drive you into a groove and leave you looking to replay the debut immediately after. Peaks and valleys are found throughout the nine-track album, fitting perfectly into the ups and downs of the real world.
Quiltro brings together a range of sounds, influences, and emotions through band members Mark Taylor (guitar, keyboard), Mike McKinley (bass) and JD Hoffmann (drums), creating a psychedelic wall of sound that brings to mind Neal Casal’s Circles Around the Sun. Quiltro is quite simply excellent modern psych rock.
The tracks flow into one another, with an overall ambient, lo-fi feel – with a touch of Reznor & Ross sprinkled in. “Knight Riding” channels Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine,” while “Apollo” has a haunting presence in the vein of Lespecial.
Bassist McKinley, a native of Albany, sets the tone on “Dark Matter” with a driving bass intro, then shifts into a melodic groove on “In Reverse” with Mark Taylor’s ambient guitar shining. The two final tracks, “Antilla” and “Field of Cities,” build up slowly from their valleys to peaks. You don’t realize you were climbing until you summit. The journey that Quiltro’s debut takes you on is one that Circles Around the Sun fans will find easily accessible and keep you coming back another round.
Let’s face it, the year 2020 has been a spectacular gigantic bust. Pandemic, protests, self-imposed isolation and political strife have become the new normal and we are all a bit tired of the daily drama we are forced to endure. For many of us music has become an essential anchor, providing us stability, especially during troubled times. If you are looking for a musical safe harbor to temporarily escape the madness, look to the very talented Connecticut EDM duo P(x3) and their self-released third album, Stargazer.
Stargazer is a live performance by the self-described “Apocalyptic Organ Duo” that was recorded at Middletown Connecticut’s own La Boca. The show took place in late February of this year right before the Corona Virus pandemic hit the U.S. hard and changed everyone’s lives, especially those who perform live music.
P(x3) was formed in 2019 by percussionist Rob Madore and keyboard/saxophonist Isaac Young, who both do double-duty in the band No Mind. Both musicians have continued to create a name for themselves in regional and national music scenes, famous for their improvisational performances. The production value of the nine tracks on the LP is exceptional. It is a testament to the technical skill of Cody Urban, who recorded and mastered the record for the band.
Stargazer starts off with the note and mind bending “Spachemmen,” which was additionally released as a single for the band. Synth melody intertwines with prominent percussion that has a culminating effect, transporting the listener on a cosmic celestial journey. It is hard to believe that Young and Madore are the only members in P(x3) when you hear layers of different sounds.
There is a lot going on musically on this track and you can hear new elements emerge every time you listen. The third track on Stargazer entitled “Alchemy” was also released as a single and is a pleasant highlight of the record. Young’s early 80’s synth beat complemented by Madore’s classic synth drum machine kicks off the tune. About one minute in, the boys go modern EDM by interspersing contemporary synth and percussion making for a truly interesting experience.
Seventies funk meets 21st Century jam band techno with “Rocked,” the final single released on P(x3)’s Stargazer. Young’s use of Moog and Hammond organ shines on this track. The soulful groove of these instruments are augmented by Madore’s danceable beats and the use of modern synth effects provided by Young.
Social distancing that is required because of COVID-19 has limited our ability to see live music in clubs and theaters. Stargazer by P(x3) is a great reminder of what we all have been missing since this tragedy has hit. It is a captured moment in time that reminds us of life before the Coronavirus. Things have changed a lot since then and P(x3) has adjusted to our new world, using technology to keep their performances coming. They have live streams on Facebook and are scheduled to do another on December 11 at 8 p.m., with the help of their partners Jamcast.
Music will always find a way to stay in our lives no matter what obstacles befall us. It is an essential part of the human condition. Hopefully, with the end of the pandemic clearly in sight, we will be back jamming out together this coming summer. Just like we did back in the good old days of 2019.
A myriad of talented musicians gives DJ MIME a stout debut album, 20/20. It is a punch of pop that this world needs right now, during trying times.
MIME is a New York City music producer and songwriter. This is his first full album. With 14 tracks, the album includes collaborations with up and coming vocalists like, Zhiko, Jantine, India Parkman, Lily Denning, HAYL and more.
DJ MIME releases his first full album 20/20.
Each tune has its own unique sound. A melody of genres and styles represents the whole concept of celebrating diversity within electronic dance music.
I feel like when multiple creative minds come together magic can really be made, sometimes the person you’re working with could have an idea that you would have never even thought of, those WOW moments are super special in the music making process.
DJ MIME
MIME named the album after his “vision” of creativity he used throughout the year. The songs provide a combination of underground house music for dancing and headphone-ready tunes. The album showcases a rapidly maturing artist, that continues to break the boundaries of what everyone thinks electronic music should be.
MIME released his debut track “Electronic Zoo” just last year. Now, along with 20/20, has 11 more tracks under his belt. These have all gone through his self-made label, AlterEgo, that he created with his team.
20/20 is out now and streaming on all platforms. If you’re looking for an album to listen to with a variety of moods, this is a perfect staple to add to your list.
Layafette Apple Festival, just south of Syracuse, will enter 2021 as a regular stop for touring bands as we ride out the COVID-19 pandemic, and assuredly should continue to be a destination for live music moving forward. Over October 29-31, The Disco Biscuits performed to large crowds in Lafayette who were hungry for the often imitated, never duplicated release that live music provides, and in doing so put an exclamation point on the Northeast Drive-In season.
Having performed in Syracuse on Halloween in 2015 at Crouse Hinds Hall, and again last year in November at SI Hall at the State Fairgrounds, The Disco Biscuits are regulars across New York State. They’ve hosted their Camp Bisco Music Festival numerous times between Van Etten, Hunter and Mariaville over 2005-2013, and make regular stops at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, among other venues.
photo by Dave Decrescente
Even with the rain that pounded the grounds on Thursday night, the staff assisted fans if they got stuck and took necessary measures to ensure a smooth entry and egress from the grounds. The crowd did their part two by following the lead of the staff, abiding by basic social distancing norms and remaining confined to their assigned spots for the evening.
But being ‘confined’ to your car area has its perks. The physical space around your vehicle is greater than you might find perched up in the crowd at a music festival, and with limited interference from others. While at a festival, you have the spatial boundaries to dance and enjoy the performance, but others are close by so your volume and limbic movements are limited by comparison, or at least contrained to social norms and appropriate levels of touching.
During COVID-19 times, touching is limited just to your personal bubble, and within your space at an event such as the Disco Biscuits, or Dirty Heads a week earlier, you have an immense amount of freedom to dance with unbridled abandon and exuberance, having only a thin tape of elastic and the proximity to your car and spot-mates keeping you confined. Even at temperatures hovering around freezing, there were major benefits to the layout of these Drive-In shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77sA9org5T4
Thursday night’s performance was marred by an intense amount of rain, which led to the stream on CouchTour.TV to be lost – although they quickly replaced the stream with footage from Drive-In shows earlier in October. The night started out wet, and led to a shortened first set. The crashing of rain and its deafening sound brought out a fitting “Magellan” with a “Widow in the Rain” bustout mixed in between.
Disco Biscuits, Lafayette, NY – Thursday, October 29, 2020
Set 1: 7-11-> Lunar Pursuit-> Minions-> Miracles Set 2: World is Spinning, Magellan-> Gangster-> Helicopters (inverted)-> Widow in the Rain-> Magellan Encore: Frog Legs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUsDCZ9GmPY
On Friday night, the band waited until 7:45pm to take the stage, allowing for all to have sufficient time to enter the muddy grounds and safely arrive in their spot. The first set lasted roughly an hour, and featured one of the new songs performed last fall in Syracuse, “Freebis Slinky.” Entering into set two, “Highwire” kicked things into high gear, while a late set “Pimp Blue Rikki” gave was to rising star of the Biscuits’ catalog, “Clocks.”
Disco Biscuits, Lafayette, NY – Friday, October 30, 2020
Set 1: Portal to an Empty Head, Freebis Slinky-> Rock Candy-> Grass is Green (inverted)-> Rock Candy Set 2: Highwire-> Astronaut-> Crickets-> Mindless Dribble-> Pimp Blue Rikki, Clocks Encore: Station
photo by Dave Decrescente
One thing that is amplified in the Drive-In setting is behavior that would otherwise be incidental at a normal show. Case in point, leaving a show before the encore. Normally, you would just excuse yourself, walk out of the venue without issue, and there’s a little more space for everyone else to enjoy the encore. This happens, rarely with cause for event, and is a forgettable exchange at best.
But at a Drive-In show, the counterpart to leaving early is a bit more engaging with your neighbors than just ducking out to beat the crowd. Provided there is no medical emergency, the act of starting your car, turning on headlights and beginning to drive out while others nearby are still enjoying the show is rude and, when weather is mixed in, can be dangerous and obnoxious. If not a venue policy, the general norm of not leaving until the show is fully over should be considered for all Drive-In shows, for safety and general courtesy of all who paid top dollar for these limited live music experiences.
photo by Dave Decrescente
Halloween found the band walking out wearing sweatshirts that bore V, O, T and E, making it clear what their message was this Halloween – let’s get down, then on Tuesday, let’s get down to business and vote.
“Rockafella” launched the first set into the night, giving way to an unfinished “Little Betty Boop,” which led into a large “Morph Dusseldorf” sandwich, layered with a tease of the James Bond theme (in honor of Sean Connery, who died earlier that day), “Feeling Twisted” and a thorough “Abraxas.” After an incredibly lengthy set break, the band returned with “Save the Robots,” taking a patient stroll through the composition’s open space, leading to an extensive, tension building pause where the band got spooky, before finally dropping back into the jam, spawning an eruption throughout the audience.
photo by Dave Decrescente
A monstrous “Orch Theme” arose with the ominous synth out of the year-old “Running Into the Night,” which did the heavy lifting in following the top notch “Robots” and kept the set flowing from jam to jam. An inverted “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” surfaced before diving down into a nasty “The Great Abyss” before returning to “Running Into the Night.”
For an encore, Gary Numan’s “Cars” was the most fitting song of the weekend, if not the whole run of Drive-In shows. The first cover of the song in over 10 years, “Cars” let the band stretch their legs in the New Wave classic, before shifting into the semi-rare “Naeba” and back into “Cars,” a perfect encore choice after a high energy second set, keeping up the dance vibe all throughout. With post-show music of Poolside’s “Harvest Moon,” the crowd carefully made their way out of the grounds and off into the night.
Disco Biscuits, Lafayette, NY – Saturday, October 31, 2020
Set 1: Rockafella, Little Betty Boop (unfinished)-> Morph Dusseldorf-> Feeling Twisted-> Abraxas (unfinished)-> Morph Dusseldorf Set 2: Save the Robots, Running into the Night-> Orch Theme-> Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (inverted)-> The Great Abyss-> Running into the Night Encore: Cars-> Naeba (inverted)-> Cars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uz8BpvENlg
Hopefully this isn’t the last Disco Biscuits show of the year, but it likely won’t be the last at Lafayette Apple Festival. We look forward to 2021 mixing Drive-In shows with the return of live music to the venues across New York and the rest of the country.
Rochester-based synth pop outfit Soviet Dolls have emerged from the cocoon of their retrofitted studio. Their third EP, Keep Sweet, swathes the listener in an ethereal neon sheen of electronica. It’s lighter fare than their previous releases, but then we could all use a little levity these days.
New vocalist Emily Brown made her debut with Soviet Dolls earlier this year on their cover of Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer.” She’s a natural fit for the band’s original work as well. Her subtly nuanced vocals temper the robust instrumental textures. She keeps the vessel on an even keel as the music careens between the distinct twinkle of keyboard runs and segments awash in fuzzy reverb. The digital sound is augmented by analogue processes and instruments, marrying the nostalgia for 80’s culture with the sophistication of modern techniques. All funds raised by album go directly to help Rochester Hope for Pets, an organization created to assist pets in the greater Rochester area whose owners are facing financial difficulty. Donate $5 or more via Play It Forward to get the Keep Sweet download code via email. Follow Soviet Dolls on Facebook for more information and updates.
Signal Earth released a new project titled Scenes and Soundtracks on September 15. Salvatore Prizio presents a concept in his new record: traveling periods of time, taking musical snapshots from moments at various locations across the globe. Prizio aims to decentralize and redefine old pop culture models, giving those ideas a different perspective.
The New York songwriter and music industry veteran, under the moniker Signal Earth, is inspired by numerous genres. He seeks to create a world view of an electronic artform past, present and future. Prizio respectfully explores the numerous galaxies of world music through the genres of dance, instrumental and electronic.
Signal Earth carries the mantra: people have more in common than in difference. From the beginning, Scenes and Soundtracks offers a lot more variety than expected. It gives endless ear-catching sounds. The album also speaks to decentralizing old pop culture paradigms by reimagining them. Heroes come from all parts of the globe in this instrumental narrative.
The tracks are melodic, pacing and provide a coherent sound. Signal Earth wonderfully blends synth, yet offers plenty of variety within the record. With the amount of influence this record has, this a recommended project for synth listeners.
Key Tracks: Voyage 1924, Desire 1889, Training Montage 1976
Set + Voi, an Asian Electro-Pop Supergroup, debuts their first single “TMRW” on October 2, 2020. Set + Voi hopes that the song will help people to view Asian Americans in a different light than they are portrayed by in the media.
The supergroup is made up of Tony Nguyen of Wind Meets West, Mason Wong of VYZTA, and Ashley Chong of saenabi. The three piece band hails from Brooklyn and has worked completely remotely from each other, creating this song without having ever met each other in person. The supergroup formed during COVID- 19 through the Asian Creative Network, a community to connect and empower Asian creatives. Nguyen initiated the group’s formation by inviting Chong and Wong for a writing session.
The song “TMRW” became their first single after writing sections together where it was formed. Nguyen uses their producing and songwriting skills, Chong uses their lyrics and songwriting, led by poetry and personal narrative, and Wong’s expertise in EDM production make for music that combines emotional honesty and high-toned theatrical flair. Their different musical upbringings create a compelling mix that makes their music unique.
Nguyen spoke on the creation of “TMRW” saying, “I wrote this song about how immigrant parents sometimes can’t conceive a life outside ‘stability=happiness’, that a 9-5 is the only way to find your place in life. This song is for everyone on a nonstandard path in life, those who want to break out and live a different way than they were taught growing up.”
The name Set + Voi, means “set whale,” voi being Vietnamese for ‘whale.’ This name came into being after an inside joke between the band members referring to the whale-like sound that reverberates through their first single ‘TMRW.’
For more information on Set + Voi, visit their Instagram here and stay tuned for more from this supergroup.
Brooklyn’s electronic music duo Bottler released “Soft Winds,” their first single off their newest EP Grow, set to release on October 9. The collaboration with Samurai Velvet captures the mesmerizing beauty of the tropics’ ambiance with lyrics about reclaiming power in relationships.
Photo by Rick Perez
After working on different projects for years, lifelong friends Pat Butler and Phil Shore founded Bottler in 2017. Their strong emotional bond has allowed them to make musical discoveries together and explore their creative chemistry. The two break the boundaries of conventional music and represent true creative freedom. They don’t limit themselves to a single genre or form, and experiment with indie, dance, and electropop with acoustic, digital, and analog instrumentation. Their unique style is inspired by the vibrant Brooklyn music scene. Bottler’s artistic inspiration combines the past, present, and future of music.
This blending of style is truly present in “Soft Winds,” which captures the feeling and sounds of nature’s beauty. Bottler says that “the song materialized in a day” on a trip to the tropics. “The goal was to capture the feeling of being in awe at the beauty of nature around us.” “Soft Winds” transports you to a place of tranquility with its blend of the electronic and the natural.
The track shows all the wonder of Bottler’s personality blended together with vocals from Samurai Velvet’s Saige Smith. As good friends with Bottler, Samurai Velvet “were moved and eager to collaborate” after hearing the track. Smith’s voice and lyrics stand out in the track, as she sings about reclaiming personal power after infidelity. The message of inner strength matches perfectly with the everyday quality of Bottler’s instrumentals. Surrounded by nothing but nature’s beauty, Smith sings, “I have the power to make myself free.”
Grow follows Bottler’s previous EP, Clementine, and describes Bottler’s personal and creative growth. Bottler recorded the EP in their home studio with their analog synths, guitars, pianos, samples, and drum machines. The homemade quality contributes to the individual message of the album for Butler and Shore. Grow is Bottler’s debut with French electronic label InFiné, who quickly discovered them after the release of Clementine.
“Soft Winds” is available to stream now. Stay tuned for Grow‘s release on October 9.
