NYS Music 202​0

Tag: New Album

  • Rising Producer DJ MIME Releases Diverse Debut Album ’20/20′

    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
    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.

    https://youtu.be/UUnDRMc14Hs
    DJ MIME and Zhiko – SRY

  • Buffalo Musician Drea D’Nur Uses Her Voice to Spread Awareness About Police Brutality

    While the issue of police brutality prevails in the U.S., artists are speaking out through their music to raise awareness. For Drea D’Nur, her whole life revolves around it.

    I am not an entertainer. I am a master healer through music and sound. To be a vessel of healing sound is a great honor and responsibility. Moment by Moment, I seek and work to become a better vessel. Every show is an offering of my entire self. In a world, where many are living numb, my intention is that you would feel, heal, and be inspired at each Live Experience.

    Drea D’Nur
    Drea D'Nur
    Drea D’Nur

    Buffalo based activist and musician, Drea D’Nur, teamed up with American Muslim figure Rami Nashashibi to release her newest single, “Mama Please,” a tribute to Cariol’s Law.

    Cariol’s Law passed in early October on behalf of Cariol Horne. Horne gained national attention in 2008 when she was fired from the Buffalo Police Department because she stopped a fellow officer from choking out a black man, Neil Mack. Since then, she has continued to protest for the Black Lives Matter Movement and is still working towards getting her full pension. The law now requires officers in Buffalo to intervene if a coworker looks like they are using excessive force.

    Cariol’s Law is a  proposal  for legislation to have a mandatory stature on police bystander intervention, provide  protection   from retaliation, require external investigation with mandated reprimanding for abuse or misconduct, create a required reportable registry.

    According to the Cariol’s Law website

    Along with being a riveting performer, D’Nur is an activist who founded Feed Buffalo, the first Organic, Safe, and Halal Food Access Resource Center in western New York, but it doesn’t stop there. She’s also a volunteer for Project Mona’s House that provides resources and housing for human trafficking survivors.

    D’Nur’s purpose for “Mama Please,” is to push for Cariol’s Law to be passed nationwide. Her new single is one of the tunes from her upcoming album, ‘This LOVE Thing,’ expected to drop on Oct. 23. Meanwhile, watch and listen to this beautiful work activism to support the destruction of police brutality.

  • TEST and Roy Campbell: A throwback to a fantastic night at Brooklyn’s Hinton House

    Indie Jazz label 577 records has just released the new TEST and Roy Campbell Jr. album, recorded live at the Hinton House. The live recording of the performance took place in April, 1999.

    According to Jazz Times, Roy Campbell Jr. was considered a favored player among the free jazz aficionados. He was praised for his adventurous approach and mixing of genres including world music, hip-hop, and reggae. Unfortunately, Roy Campbell Jr had passed away on January 9th, 2014, at 61 years old.

    Campbell was joined by bassist Matt Heyner, drummer Tom Bruno, and saxophonist Daniel Carter, with Sabir Mateen also playing saxophone alongside the group. According the album notes, this performance was a benefit gig to repair the No Neck Blues Band’s van. John Fahey, Lee Ranaldo, and No Neck Blues Band joined the stacked lineup at their loft, The Hinton House, and raised the ‘bread’ to fix the van. Spirits were lit with a listening and enthusiastic audience. The cathartic energy rising.

    The performance and energy were frantic and steadily increasing as the show went on. Listeners tuned in to the live performance clearly enjoyed the free-jazz and the atmosphere Roy Campbell Jr. and company provided.


    TEST occupied the public space of New York City. TEST’s typical audience was a passerby on a subway platform, a curious security guard on a smoke break in midtown, or the most ‘in the know’ subset of gig-goers. TEST, distinctly honed their working band approach, by actively gigging multiple times a week across the NYC subway map.

    When TEST performed at a venue, listeners would witness the bullseye acumen of a working band. This ethos of the band choosing to ‘play anywhere/all the time’ separated TEST from other groups.

    One of the hardest working musicians in the scene, Campbell lived at the north end of the Bronx, but nightly could be found downtown, uptown, or somewhere in the middle playing weekly at venues such as Lenox Lounge, The Pink Pony, Brecht Forum, Tonic, Knitting Factory and CBGB’s Gallery.

    The free-jazz album has left listeners feeling nostalgic for the time. The Test and Roy Campbell album has given jazz aficionados the opportunity to live in that moment of free-jazz history. The album is now on Bandcamp.


  • Trey Anastasio releases surprise album “Lonely Trip” featuring songs written during lockdown

    Phish frontman Trey Anastasio today releases his new album, Lonely Trip, comprised of songs written and recorded during lockdown at his home in New York City.

    Initially, Lonely Trip songs were released through Anastasio’s Instagram over the past five months, and have been remixed by longtime studio collaborate Bryce Goggin. The album releases on Anastasio’s own label, Rubber Jungle Records.

    Anastasio shared this on the making of Lonely Trip:

    Lonely Trip was conceived and recorded in isolation at my home studio (aka Rubber Jungle) during the peak of New York City’s COVID-19 crisis, March — July, 2020. When the lockdown began, I had by chance just completed a weekend songwriting session with my friends and longtime collaborators Tom Marshall and Scott Herman. That session took place March 13th and 14th just as the crisis was beginning in New York, so the themes of fear and isolation were already finding their way into those first songs. By the time I arrived home, the situation in NYC had gotten much worse.

    Knowing I wasn’t going to be leaving my apartment for a while, I started working. It felt therapeutic to write. I wanted to connect with our community in some way. The unplanned nature of the recording meant I didn’t have a lot of gear during this process. I had an electric and an acoustic guitar, a small amp, two microphones, some percussion, and two keyboards, including an old Kurzweil with very realistic drum sounds on it. Everything was recorded through a Spire 8-track. Lonely Trip is truly a raw, low-fi recording.

    The process of writing songs became a reflective and healing experience. Being able to share these songs instantly with our community via Instagram felt equally profound. It harkened back to my youth, before there was a Phish, when I would write songs and home-record them specifically with the intention of sharing them with my circle of friends via cassette four-track recordings.

    As the weeks went by, I worked on improving my recording techniques. I called recording engineers including Ben Collette and Vance Powell to get tips on microphone placement, and I purchased a bass guitar online. I also started tapping into a Dropbox folder with about 30 four-minute drum sequences that I had recorded with Jon Fishman over the last year.

    For the previous few Phish albums (including Kasvot Växt and Sigma Oasis), I had been experimenting with writing songs, starting with drum beats that I had sung into my phone. Fish and I would go into the studio and record the beats exactly as I had sung them, with Fish launching off in his unique way after a minute or two. I used these beats as building blocks to many of the songs on Lonely Trip, and it explains how I could do a whole album in Rubber Jungle with such good sounding drums. Thank you Fish!

    The album was ultimately mixed by my friend Bryce Goggin, and as always, Bryce’s mixes sound incredible. Thank you Bryce!

    Lonely Trip was my message in a bottle during this time, and I wish I knew how to properly thank all of you in our community for listening and responding. It meant so much to me. Thank you. Wishing all of you much love and safety during this turbulent time.

    This album is dedicated to the heroism of our healthcare and essential workers.

    — Trey

    From Anastasio’s experience to your ears. Doing what few performers have done during this great pause, Anastasio releases an album that conveys the emotions of doubt, fear, joy, loneliness, love and many more in a seamless album. As songs appeared on Instagram, Phish fans jumped at the opportunity to revel in the unique and fresh tracks that were inspired by the same lockdown conditions they were experiencing. The result of Lonely Trip is a journey through the past five months and will serve as an uplifting musical bookmark on this era.

  • Taylor Swift Announces Surprise New Album “Folklore”

    Taylor Swift announced her new album, Folklore, to be released at midnight on July 24. This comes as a surprise to virtually everyone: no one, including her fanbase (the Swifties) who are known for their outlandish conspiracy theories, expected the move, and nothing leaked ahead of time. Folklore is arriving less than a year after Taylor Swift’s last album Lover, breaking her schedule of releasing an album every two to three years.

    Although her last three efforts have been fully pop, Folklore appears to be taking a more acoustic direction. Whereas Lover’s color scheme was pastel pink and blue with fantastical Wonka-esque music videos, all of Folklore’s visuals are black-and-white. The album’s only featured artist is Bon Iver on the song “Exile,” and Aaron Dessner of The National co-wrote 11 out of 16 songs.

    Taylor Swift previously explored a stripped-back folk sound on “Safe and Sound,” her single with The Civil Wars for the first Hunger Games soundtrack in 2012, as well as on her album Red released later that year. Fans have begged for a Stevie Nicks or Joni Mitchell-inspired album for years, and they may have finally gotten their wish. While not a New York native, Taylor Swift moved to the city before the release of 1989 in 2014. That album’s opening song was “Welcome To New York,” and she revisited the city on Lover’s “Cornelia Street” and “Daylight.”

    While Folklore hasn’t had an accompanying lead single announcement, Taylor Swift is releasing a music video for the song “Cardigan” alongside the album. There are eight collectible CD and vinyl covers in total, reminiscent of the four different diaries she released alongside Lover last year.

    Taylor Swifts’s last six albums, including Red and 1989, all debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. This time around, she’s facing competition from longtime rival Kanye West, who’s also releasing an album this week called Donda: With Child. Folklore has already sold 250,000 copies in China, and time will tell if she continues her #1 streak in the U.S.

    For more information visit Taylor Swift’s website.

  • “Talk – Action = Zero”: a New Album to Combat Injustice

    On Friday, June 5, Bank Robber Music and Rough Trade Publishing released Talk – Action = Zero, a collaborative album which hopes to create awareness and fight against the injustices that the Black community face as a result of police brutality.

    Talk Action Zero


    The album was created after the recent murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Their stories mirror those of countless other African Americans. This collaboration album is a reaction to these injustices and will hopefully make more Americans aware of the wrongful treatment of BIPOC all over the country. The album has been the group project of Jay Watts, Bartees Strange, Rogue Wave, Crashing Hotels, Nick Andre, Lateef The Truthspeaker, Superchunk, Damon & Naomi, as well Lonemoon, a trans woman of color.

    Several New York-based artists have also made contributions to the album; Phantogram (Saratoga Springs) and New York City artists Jesse Malin, Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, Worriers, as well as Sulene, lead guitarist of Fun., all make contributions to the album.

    All of the proceeds of the album will go towards Black Visions Collective, an organization founded in 2017 which aims to bring about justice for all Black people and work to create “a world in which ALL Black Lives Matter”. The organization is based in Minnesota, where George Floyd was wrongfully murdered by police on May 25. The officers are currently being brought to justice, but the fight for equality is far from over.

    Talk – Action = Zero is now available on Bandcamp and donate to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s families if possible.

  • 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.

  • PEAK releases a unique psych-funk fusion sound with “Hot Clips Volume 1”

    Based out of Brooklyn, indie-funk artist PEAK is eroding the border between techno and funk with their new album Hot Clips Volume 1.  The collection is PEAK’s latest release that explores a wide array of emotion, and doubles as something techno-funk and indie enthusiasts look to for a unique fusion of both worlds.  Imagine as if you’re riding in a ship through a space galaxy, and you entered into a psychedelic time travel where influences of authentic 60’s bands and modern funk-rock combine seamlessly; PEAK would be the pilot of this ship and the realm is Hot Clips Volume 1.

    The album takes off with “What It Is About Her,” a track that’s experimental right off the bat with a techno beat growing into a full acoustic drum sound.  The vocals join the steady instrumental flow, and provide as a comforting blanket through exploring emotion about a girl.  Throughout the track, the band proves their unique dynamic changes with the blend of rock and bright electro-synth solos.  PEAK is able to take you on a comfortable roller coaster, with the peak (no pun intended) being the psychedelic journey track “Baromtric Pressure,” followed by the funky feel-good track “Win Some, Lose Some” that brings you back down to earth.  Once you start the adventure of listening to Hot Clips Volume 1, it’s hard to snap out of the attractive trance brought on by the upbeat dance beats and wild keyboard solos.

    Hot Clips Volume 1 is the launch of a live series from PEAK featuring Jeremy Hilliard on guitar on vocals (Turbine), Kito Bovenschulte on Drums (Particle), Josh T. Carter on Bass (Hayley Jane and the Primates) and Johnny Young on keys and vocals (Mick Taylor, Artimus Pyle). PEAK released their debut studio album Electric Bouquet (produced by Dave Brandwein of Turkuaz) in 2018, and have since since been steadily touring to perform at prominent venues, and releasing music for everyone to enjoy.  

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_DhBH9p4yz/

    Written over a period of time from Fall 2019 to Winter 2020 during tour, this collection of songs were some of the band’s favorite jams until they were solidified with the help of keyboardist and mixing engineer Johnny Young.  With all of these great influences brought to one table, the band was able to bring these jams to life and capture their emotion while maintaining a fun techo vibe.

    Key Tracks: What It Is About Her, Baromtric Pressure, Wild Ride, Can’t Love Somebody