NYS Music 202​1

Category: New York Singles

  • Watch White Cliffs Claymation Music Video for “Just Like You”

    On February 3rd, Brooklyn-based electronic rock artist White Cliffs (Rafe Cohan) released an endearing claymation music video accompanying his newest single, “Just Like You.” Garnering a lot of attention from fans to art enjoyers alike, the video is impressively mesmerizing and perfectly captures the feeling of imposter syndrome. The single kicks off the beginning of his upcoming EP, Stockholm, to be released February 19th.

    White Cliffs

    The music video is directed, produced and edited by Rafe Cohan himself and features two clay creatures, identical except for color, that are constantly molding themselves into vibrant animations and dancing around each other. Previously having expressed his struggle with accepting his true self, Cohan created a perfect visual aid to his music and the message he wants to send.

    I wrote the song about our playful and hypocritical struggle with accepting our true selves. And that struggle is just a part of pursuing a career as a musician… You’re constantly drawing this attention to your project, and in the process, you end up learning quite a bit about yourself, both good and bad. Usually, you experience some denial or imposter syndrome, but after time passes, you are left with acceptance.

    Rafe Cohen, on the meaning behind “Just Like You”

    With this track, the artist set out to challenge conformity and use unconventional means, such as a Roland organ/strings synthesizer that allowed him to experiment at the base level, the underlying chords. This idea alongside an unorthodox topic and video meshes together beautifully to create a sense of ease and nostalgia.

  • Saint Free Gives off that Valentine Fever with New Single

    Saint Free, also known as Bradley Freedman, picked up his first guitar at age 12. He always had a love for music, especially after watching his uncle and cousins play guitar. After getting the courage to perform in a school talent show, he knew that he found his way. This Rochester-based musician is known for his magnetic blend of pop, rock, punk, and reggae. His new single “Bond With Bondage” displays his free-spirit and energy. 

    saint free

    Saint Free released his new song today, Feb. 14. As the first single off of his upcoming second album, “Bond With Bondage” explores various moods. The artist shifts between gritty vocals and a soft falsetto. With catchy pop hooks and playful lyrics, Saint Free builds a lively tempo that’s sure to make this Valentine’s Day groovier. 

    Bond with Bondage takes you on a journey from broken heart to whips and chains in the dungeon. Its exploratory, the message mirrored by the tempo and chord changes. It never lacks for inspiration or excitement, a song that keeps you interested as much by the musical content as by lines like, ‘I’m like a modern-day Shakespeare’s demented little cousin.’ It’s a wild ride from start to finish.

    Bradley Freedman
    saint free

    “Bond With Bondage” will appear on the new Saint Free album, set to release later this summer. Made with producer Sam Polizzi, the album is an open forum on how to love music and play with an open heart. Saint Free applies his creative vocal range and rhythmic guitars into each of his songs, similarly to the work of The Mowgli’s and Sublime. While waiting antically for new work by Saint Free, make sure to check out his first EP.

  • Indie-Pop Artist Gerald Slevin Begins Solo Journey with ‘Kiss To the Future’

    NYC indie-pop artist,  instrumentalist and visual artist, Gerald Slevin, releases his new single “Kiss to The Future” from his upcoming album Quantum Jitters.

    Gerald Slevin
    Picture of Gerald Slevin from Infraredmag

    “Kiss to The Future” is Slevin’s first single, with a message of unity and optimism during these uncertain times. His inspiration came from his 4-year-old daughter during a hike when he saw her look to the sky and blow a kiss. She told Slevin that she was blowing a kiss to the future and that touched him. That accidental yet wholesome moment resulted in the song’s creation in 15 minutes.

    The song is the first step towards Slevin’s solo career after fronting Brooklyn’s artpop group, The Color Bars. They gained attention from their psychedelic performances filled with layered vocal arrangements and instrument swapping. Slevin aims to do different and new things with every creation resulting in the band exploring vocals, art and instruments. While most of the group’s recordings were done by him, any time he was around other musicians it pushed him to explore new sounds and learn new instruments and skills. His innovative and unique productions will not change in his solo endeavors.

    What does feel different, though, is the promotion side of it. It’s very liberating to be able to put music out under my own name, as simply an artist in the world, without the complications of describing the music as coming from a ‘band’ or a ‘project’. Having done that for so long, it feels very empowering to be more straightforward about it all

    Slevin is an NYC native, however he recently moved to Ithaca, NY which inspired him while creating his album. In Ithaca, he is surrounded by nature with gorges and waterfalls all around and tall pine trees on his street. “Great horned owls live in them and sometimes I stalk them in the middle of the night. It sounds weird, but these kinds of experiences almost always cause melodies to start playing in my head. I sing them into my phone so I don’t forget them, and eventually that turns into a song,” said Slevin. There was a major shift from living in the social, chaotic city to living Upstate filled with tranquility and focus.

    “Kiss to the Future” releases everywhere on Feb. 12 and is accompanied by a colorful music video. As a visual artist, Slevin creates his own cover art. The visuals match the message about looking forward to the future. This single is Slevin’s debut as a solo artist and he is starting with a message about being actively optimistic. This is the beginning of his solo journey and a taste of what is to come from his album Quantum Jitters.

  • Serge Bulat Releases His Newest Single ‘Digital Guillermo’

    Maldovan-Ukrainian musician, Serge Bulat, releases his new single “Digital Guillermo”, his first song after his most recent album Wurmenai.

    Serge Bulat
    Serge Bulat Cover Art for Digital Guillermo

    Bulat came to the U.S in 2009 to start his music career. He currently resides in New York and Virginia. His creativity expands further than just music, he experiments with many mediums consisting of video games, sound design, theater productions and more. Wurmenai is actually the soundtrack for his video game Wurroom and serves as the video game in album form. The game gives music a new and interactive experience. The album was his first full-length album after four years since releasing his album Third World Walker.

    The work from Wurmenai was his most diverse, featuring artists across the globe who contributed their own sound. More of his notable projects include Queuelbum that gained him the Best Electronic Album of the Year from the Independent Music Awards. Also, he is the creative behind the multimedia Inkblot, the psychological test that appeals not only to seeing but also to hearing.

    His artistic expression has only increased throughout the years and he has more in store this year. “Digital Guillermo” is Bulat’s newest release and it further explores his musical ability using several instruments throughout the song. The song is on the soundtrack for the psychological horror video game Isolomus.

  • Finnish Singer Petra Jasmiina Releases New Single, “YCHM”

    New York City-based Finnish singer, Petra Jasmiina, releases new love song, “YCHM”, just in time for Valentines Day. The new single follows her debut EP Cyget which released in 2019.

    Jasmiina

    Born in Helsinki, Finland; Jasmiina moved to New York City at the age of 25 after years of travelling to pursue a music career. Jasmiina comments on her risky move to New York City saying:

    Now that I think of it, it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I had no job, no apartment and knew no-one in the city.

    Petra Jasmiina, Musician

    Jasmiina has always had a deep love for music, consistently writing songs since the age of nine. After making her way around the local New York City scene and gaining recognition, including a stint at the Writer’s Room Songwriter Series, Jasmiina released her acclaimed debut EP, Cygnet.

    Jasmiina’s is well known for her fresh, unique indie pop sound and witty lyricism. Much of Jasmiina’s music follow in the steps her indie pop idols such as Ellie Goulding, Taylor Swift, and Halsey. Through the success of her debut EP, Jasmiina has since blossomed into a bright new artist in the New York indie scene, and has opened doors to legendary music venues such as Pete’s Candy Store and Pianos.

    Floating over synth heavy production with ease, Jasmiina delivers her beautiful upper register combined with uniquely catchy vocal melodies. The track is a collaboration with Vietnamese-American electropop producer Wind Meets West and tells the story of rising above a bad break-up and learning to love being on your own. The fun, sassy energy of the track warrants it own dance party. The song embodies a message of self love as well as a celebration of being single.

    YCHM is now available for pre-order here.

  • Nitty Gritty Dirt Band And All-Star Cast Cover “The Times They Are A-Changin” To Raise Money for Feeding America

    In the fifty-seven years since Bob Dylan released his career-altering folksong, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” the times he sang of did seem to change.

    But now, in another period of national unrest, a President refusing to concede defeat or peacefully transfer power, and a renewed fire for justice in the long-fought battle for civil rights, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has a new version of Dylan’s classic sounds more poignant and insistent than ever before.

    Amidst the compounding, pleading verses of Scottish ballad by way of Greenwich Village, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with distinguished musical guests—Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, The War And Treaty, and Steve Earle—each step to the microphone to contribute a verse, with Isbell also adding slide guitar.

    They carry the same tone and energy in their voices as the song’s writer did almost six decades ago; an unfortunate but earnest reaction to the all too evident parallels between now and then.

    “It moved me deeply then and that hasn’t changed,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founding member and lead singer Jeff Hanna notes. “The lyrics are as relevant today as they were when Dylan wrote it. Maybe even more so.” 

    The track features NGDB members Jeff Hanna (lead vocals and acoustic guitar), Jimmie Fadden (drums), Bob Carpenter (accordion), Jim Photoglo (electric bass), Jaime Hanna (electric guitar), and Ross Holmes (fiddle and mandolin)—as well as Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, The Wallflowers) on additional drums, and Nashville songwriting legend Matraca Berg on harmonica and harmony vocals.

    “The Time’s They Are A-Changin’” was produced by Ray Kennedy and collectively recorded up and down the east coast.

    John Leventhal recorded his wife, Rosanne Cash’s vocals in their New York City home studio and Steve Earle contributed his verse via the world famous Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. In Nashville, NGDB and guests joined Kennedy in his Room & Board Studio.

    “The Times They Are A-Changin’” is available for “name your price” purchase on NGDB’s Bandcamp page with proceeds going to Feeding America.

    For more information, please visit Nittygritty.com and Feedingamerica.org.

    The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle, Jason Isbell, The War and Treaty

  • Janani Shankar Releases Deeply Personal And Emotional New Single “I Wanna Know”

    Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Janani Shankar is set to release her new single, “I Wanna Know.”

    In this track, Shankar speaks about deeply emotional issues such as abandonment, and pays tribute to her late grandmother Viji Shankar who she never met, and her late great grandmother Lakshmi Shankar.

    Janani’s “I Wanna Know” touches on personal issues she has faced in her life. Shankar attributes these issues, such as loss and estrangement from close family members, to greed, jealousy, and death.

    “I Wanna Know” is written from the perspective of a little girl longing for her family, asking why they left. By the end, the track speaks to a less empathic, more emotional feeling, driven by the accelerated drumbeat.

    A singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Shankar started learning classical Indian vocals and violin at the age of three. Later on she picked up guitar, bass, and keys.

    She began gigging in New York at the age of sixteen and went on to play in London, Los Angeles, and other cities around the world. Her style combines the nineties with folk, jazz, and indie influences.

    Janani’s songs “Wanderer,” “Forgettable,” and “Get Up” have been played on BBC Radio: The Asian Network. Her most recent single, “The World is on Fire,” has been featured on radio stations and music blogs worldwide.

    The track features Gingger Shankar on the double violin, Patrick Adams on trumpet, Mike Frazier (Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Escarioka) on drums, Nataliya Zaytseva on keys, Trevor Brown on bass, and Michael “Bull” LoBue on electric guitar.

    Janani Shankar released “I Wanna Know” on February 9th, the day her grandmother Viji passed away, in her honor. Visit her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • Vast Aire and COSMIQ deliver some “Good Fuel”

    In anticipation of a new album, Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox, has released a brand-new record in collaboration with producer COSMIQ. With the duo’s collaborative effort set to be released soon, the hip hop veterans are hoping “Good Fuel,” will be just the song to give the album a push. 

    A gritty old-school New York record, “Good Fuel” sees Vast Aire continue a trend that has defined hip hop itself. In “Good Fuel” he descriptively conveys a proper image of the tough inner-city neighborhoods that Black people have inhabited for decades. The record begins with Vast Aire shouting out where he is from (Washington Heights, Harlem, New York City), with these locations also representing the setting for the story-like “Good Fuel.”

    Vast Aire COSMIQ

    “Good Fuel” resembles other inner-city themed rap songs. Humble beginning, “we used to be shoulder to shoulder like ‘someone push me.’ Holes in your sucks, you got no p****.”  To taking an interest in the street life in search of a better life for self and family, “I’m talking sky pagers with the fly beepers, all the drug dealers had the fly sneakers.” To eventual questioning of the political regime whose job it is to help the disenfranchised, “my commander-in-chief is running amuck. These right-winged lobbyists could care less, it’s settle for this evil or settle for less.” 

    “This track is important for our times right now,” says Vast Aire.  “We all are coping with the chaos of COVID-19 and also the shock and trauma of Trump’s political coup. ‘Good Fuel’ reminds the youth and elders to remain righteous, while standing up in the face of oppression.” 

     “This song represents what Hip-Hop has always stood for, being the voice of the streets; from the lost criminal to the struggling and hard-working blue-collar workers. My late parents are those very people– and so am I!”

  • Peter Matthew Bauer Drops “Mountains on Mountains,” Hints to Future 2021 Releases

    Peter Matthew Bauer, solo alternative/indie recording artist and founder of New York art-rock band, the Walkmen, shared his newest track “Mountains On Mountains” with Brooklyn Vegan to hype up and premiere. Also known for his solo tracks “Liberation! (Mexican Summer)” and “Mount Qaf (Divine Love),” Bauer founded his own record label/artist management company, Fortune Tellers, representing names such as Starcrawler, Liily, Matt Costa, Lushlife, Caveman, and Caroline Kingsbury.

    This is the first track of my own that I’ve recorded and decided to release in a long time. I’m not entirely sure how to explain it: it’s a pretty dark song about certain types of people and memories fading away. But it also has this feeling of no expectations, so it leaves me with a sense of optimism and presence in the end. Nick Stumpf and I started recording it for a fundraiser for Fairfight around the elections. Later we decided to take this barebones live recording and make it into something more proper and special.

    Peter Matthew Bauer on “Mountains on Mountains”

    The track draws inspiration from his unconventional upbringing in a yoga cult. Also, it captures elements of Sufi mysticism and ideologies of western phenomenologist and Islamic scholar Henry Corbin, while simultaneously crediting nostalgia of the late 90s and early 00’s music age in New York City. This song is the first of many singles anticipated from Bauer. Originally it was written and organized to perform at festivals benefitting Fairfight, an organization that works to promote voting rights and equality in Georgia.

    Peter Matthew Bauer

    Stripped-back but also cinematic, perhaps referencing the mid-’00s NYC scene and where it stands now.

    Brooklyn Vegan on “Mountains On Mountains”

  • Pop Rock Band Powerlines Announce Debut Album with Lead Single “Sober”

    New Brunswick, NJ based, expressive pop rock band, Powerlines, announced their debut album with the release of their lead single “Sober,” on January 28. Powerlines is composed of Deanna DiLandro as lead vocalist, Tyler Anderson as guitarist, and Nick Winship on bass.

    Powerlines
    Photo Credit: Zoe Nystrom

    The lead single “Sober” delves into the entanglement of multiple fixations and the emotional struggle behind breaking away from them. With the work of deep bass and fuzzy guitar sounds, the track gives a sense of grooviness. In addition, DiLandro’s powerful vocals make an energetic theme in a rather serious subject.

    “Sober” was the first track to be shared off of the band’s upcoming LP, all of this is temporary. Look out for Powerlines new album to be released in due time, on April 9. In today’s climate of constant chaos, it can be difficult to sit back and be appreciative of the small things, especially in terms of life experiences that seem to occur in a blink of an eye. In an optimistic way, all of this is temporary highlights the difficulty, pain, love and acceptance of confronting ephemerality.

    A Deep Dive Into Powerlines Album

    Following “Sober,” the second track, “Outside My Mind,” builds an upbeat anthem. Both of these tracks utilize funk baselines, driving drums, and textual guitars. All of which create a high energy introductions to concepts of growth and never-ending change.

    The album’s emotional center, “Temporary,” is a tribute to DiLandro’s late mother. In contrast to lively opening tracks, Powerlines builds this sentimental piece with the use of a luscious guitar and a string ballad. This serves as a reminder to listeners that although loss and grief are inevitable, the knowledge that everything eventually transforms into something new can hopefully provide some comfort.

    Powerlines
    Artwork Credit: Jacqueline Brockel

    As all of this is temporary moves forward through its various auditory snapshots, a consistent yet electric tone is constructed. This can be heard on the track “Water,” which contains flute and trumpet solos over a blues-rock guitar. Then, the pace begins to slow down again as the build of “Frames” deliberate the past and decay over time. Progressing with a mellow pace, “Being Is Strange” strips everything down to just an acoustic guitar. As the album is coming to a close, “Morris Street” brings the bands roots back with bouncing rock. Powerlines apply ongoing shifts from track to track to exemplify the wariness of the unknown.

    Bringing up the tail end of the album is the liberating climax “Jet Planes” which gives off sounds of 90s alt-rock. This track serves as DiLandro’s acceptance of “opening up to the unknown.” Finally, a piano reprise of “Sober” closes all of this is temporary as it acts as a reiteration of the obstacles dealt with throughout each track. As Powerlines share this collection of stories, listeners can take away feelings of triumph, shared love, and a new embracement to the inevitable changes of life.

    Listen to the lead single “Sober” on various major platforms here.

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