White Cliffs, a psych-electronic band based out of Brooklyn and masterminded by multi-instrumentalist Rafe Cohan, released a new music video for their song “Kick the Can” off their recently released debut EP Stockholm.
The White Cliffs music video debuted on VENTS Magazine website on March 23rd. The songs central focus is on growing old but a addressed in a playful manner which highlights Cohan’s musical and directorial talents.
Cohan edited and directed the video, recording all over Rockaway Beach, Queens and Highland Park in New York City. It was shot on a vintage Super 8 film and developed by Mono No Aware in Downtown Brooklyn. Makeup artist Kate Browse help Cohan to achieve an old man look to go hand and hand with the song’s themes of ageing and the old school directorial methods.
I shot this little video to give a visual element to the meaning of ‘Kick the Can.’ The song is about an old man who is realizing the beauty of mortality and aging. We will all be old one day, so I just wanted to poke fun at what I might be doing when I’m 80 or so.
Rafe Cohan, Musician
White Cliffs formed in Cohan’s home town of Brooklyn in 2017 after years of experimentation and attempting to find a sound that really spoke to Cohan. The result of this is the duality seen throughout much of White Cliffs work, the balance between the purist and the unconventional creator. Cohan’s first big break was securing a cross-country tour with Big Wild, among other acts like Elderbrook, STS9, in addition to a set at the Panorama Festival in New York City and debuting a four-person band at CRSSD Festival in San Diego.
Stockholm EP featuring “Kick the Can ” is available on all streaming platforms.
Fans of legendary hip hop duo, Black Star, received a major boost when Talib Kweli shared promising news regarding the duo’s long-awaited album. Announced in 2018 by Yasiin Bey during a Madlib DJ set, the much-anticipated project has gone from its infancy stages, to being recorded, mixed and possibly completed in the matter of a couple of years.
Yet, in that same time frame, Kweli — who holds more of a social media presence — has shared periodic updates on the album’s progress. In fact, just this past summer, Kweli announced that he had “washed his hands” of the whole thing, in social media posts in which he shared frustrations on the project’s delay.
Fortunes seem to have turned around as Kweli’s latest Instagram post suggests the duo are in the latter stages of the album’s completion and eventual release. In a picture with group-mate Yasiin Bey, the caption reads “#sampleclearance #blackstarforever.”
While fans have been made to wait, the album’s existence has been confirmed as comedian Dave Chapelle, a personal friend of the duo shared his thoughts on the project, claiming that “it’s fire.”
While Kweli and Bey have solidified themselves as legends in the hip hop realm and beyond, they have only released one album as a duo, 1998’s Most Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star.” With the speculation of an impending release, fans of the duo are surely tantalized by the thought of a new Black Star project.
On Thursday, March 25, up and coming band Public Nature will perform a livestream event to support Arlene’s Grocery. Due to the unfortunate circumstances that COVID-19 has left indie music venues in, without the support of live music crowds, Arlene’s Grocery is in need of funds to remain open.
Arlene’s Grocery, located on the Lower East Side, has seen many young and well known acts get their start, including Arcade Fire, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey and Jim Carrey. You may also recognize Arlene’s Grocery from the #SaveOurStages movement, where now Senate Majority Leader, Senator Chuck Schumer, was seen on the street showing his support for the venue.
Tickets are just $10 with an option to donate to help save this historic venue. You can purchase tickets to the event here.
NYS Music’s Rob Tellerman recently spoke with the band’s frontman, Oscar Canas, and found out his roots growing up in Colombia and what got him interested in coming to America to pursue music. He was kind enough to perform some songs exclusively for NYS Music.
Rob Tellerman: Where did you grow up?
Oscar Canas: I grew up in Medellín, I’d say it’s Colombia’s prettiest city. It’s a very cosmopolitan place where “everything is happening”. It’s very similar to New York City in many ways, it’s 5 million people but feels very small, maybe it’s the layout. The weather is the best, it’s called the city of the eternal spring, 75° all year long. No humidity, just perfect. When it’s cold is 70°, when it’s hot is 85°. It was very violent when I was a kid, Pablo Escobar was gone and there was a war of power going on. Many kids were killing each other fighting for a corner. I saw dead bodies my whole childhood, many of them where my friend’s “big” brothers. The city is a valley so it’s surrounded by mountains that reflect the sound of thunders in a beautiful way, I miss that sound. A thunder reverberating across the city for several seconds and you know what neighborhoods is hitting and then it bounces again and you know it is south or west or is leaving the valley. And when it rains the clouds are purple, an apocalyptic beautiful purple color.
We have the second best train in the world and one of the two only profitable ones. It’s a highline, we don’t have a subway, the ride is clean, punctual and picturesque. Not that graffiti is bad, but there is not a single graffiti on it inside or out. Leaving the city through the mountains is best, there are cables spread out so you get these steep and very high advantage points that are super fun if you’re not afraid of heights. Quite an immense view. My childhood was half good and half bad. It was fun, I had a good education, tons of bicycle rides, friends, exposure to science, but it was violent inside and outside the house. My dad was a crazy dude. He’s cool now and mom and dad love eachother but it was bad back then. What saved me was the huge amount of love they gave me, as my grandparents and aunts and uncles did too. I was a very loved child that witnessed a lot of violence. Is that a good balance that can create and nourish an artistic drive. Maybe.
RT: What first got you interested in music?
OC: Now that I look back on it, my interest in music happened unconsciously first. My family used to gather all at somebody’s home for christmas and such and music was the centerpiece of the fun. By the end of the night after eating and dancing, everybody would sit and my dad and uncle would swap vinyls endlessly. My first memory of music is maybe at 3 years old. I remembered I liked the music and that I missed it, but I never elaborated on it until I was a teenager.
These vinyls were mostly 60, 70 and 80’s italian, french, spanish music. All in spanish. The artists would sing in spanish their originals. These songs were so melodic and catchy and epic. The singers voices were always unique and the quality of the recording inmence and I can say in many occasions better than those of my favorite big bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and others like that. So, so, so catchy. They had the beatlesque simplicity of the verse-chorus-verse kind of music and the orquestras were always gigantic. These Italians, French and Spaniards were onto something. I wish I could show these songs to everybody but being in spanish people lose their interest from the get go. ha!. That built and hard-wired my interest in music I think, I was never conscious of music, until one night.
We had recently gotten MTv in our cable. MTv Latino which they produced out of Mexico. Great stuff. The VJ was Ruth Infarinato, I’ll never forget her pick hair. She was presenting top 20 translated songs, you know, with the dual subtitles, and I was flipping channels and not much interested because some songs I already knew and then the number 1! Smells Like Teen Spirit. I remember the converse shoe at the beginning of the video and the guitar and then it exploded and I was in awe. My brain struggled with such different sounds, it was confusing, I felt I didn’t know what those sounds were. And it’s odd because I’m 15 or 16 there and I’m supposed to have heard lots of different music, guitar music. Nirvana is not super alien, I guess it was the power that was confusing and he hadn’t even started to sing.
So I’m losing it during the first bars of the song and the foggy dark kind of scenes of the video were helping too. Then he sings and I jump out of the blankets, I’m sitting like when you are a kid and you hear your dad coming home late with a gift and you’re about to jump to hug him and get your present. Then the chorus explodes and I just lose it. I got dizzy and had that feeling in my stomach like when you hit a low pressure on an airplane. it was physical. Free fall feeling. It was very intense and that song is not my favorite Nirvanas’ song but it changed me right there. The beautiful soft and raspy voice and then the yelling. The sound is all entangled and distorted and is big and is new. I never had such a reaction to something new. I was obsessed. My mom is a Nirvana’s catalogue expert.
RT: How did you learn to write/sing/play?
OC: I learned to play the guitar to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York album. I played every song everyday for months and months. And I tried to sing but it was hideous. I’m not tone deaf but I cannot hear the notes I’m singing so I would think I’m singing pretty good and I was trying to sing Nirvana’s songs and that’s harsh on your vocals if you don’t know what you are doing. I was destroying my vocals. I feel sorry for my family and my neighbours. My mom used to say I sang like a choking cat, haha! They were very supportive. A few days later after knowing about Nirvana my dad bought me my first guitar. A cheapo nylon acoustic guitar that was hard on the fingers. And I didn’t want a teacher or many lessons. I liked science so all I wanted to know was the mechanics of the guitar and the physics of the waves and how notes and chords worked and stuff like that.Then, I figured out how the notes were distributed over the neck and how scales worked and chords and I was set – played like crap for 10 years. But it was good because I played like me. And even though I adored Nirvana, Muse, Radiohead, Placebo, and such I didn’t want to play like them. I always played like myself, crappy and all. Same with singing. I wasn’t trying to imitate. I did try to yell with a raspy voice like Kurt but that only gave sore throats. So I was singing and playing like crap for years without any technique and I was writing from the get go as well, but I didn’t know I was writing. I have a folder with the first guitar riffs but I never considered them as my riffs. It was odd. Only now I can say I am a songwriter but still feels weird. I wasn’t doing it to write songs but I was. I wouldn’t say I ever learned how to write or sing or play. A leat not jut yet.
RT: What was the first instrument you learned to play?
OC: The guitar, I started playing on a horrible cheap spanish guitar with nylon strings. But I loved it. She was named Orange, but it wasn’t orange. Guitars would tell me their names. She had a good burial. I smashed it to a set of concrete stairs next to my house like every guitar should die. It was broken all over, it was requesting a proper rock and roll goodbye. But I haven’t “learned” to play. I started playing very late in life at 16. And during the first two years I would play 4 to 10 hours a day almost everyday. But then I went to college and basically would forget the guitar two years at a time. When I started my first real band I barely was able to play my own guitar parts. I had to practice lots again and learned quickly but still it was rough. Lately I’m more precise and I feel in total control and can do what I exactly want but, I mean, for myself, my style, I am a world expert, but for the regular definition of what a guitar player is, I suck big time, but that’s ok.
RT: Is your family musical?
OC: All my family is very into listening to music. All of us, uncles, grandparents, brothers. Everybody would either gather to listen to music or have those moments alone in their bedrooms to listen to music. My dad collected vinyls, cassettes and cds. He introduced me to classical music and 60, 70, and 80’s italian, french and spanish pop when I was very little. And my mom is still crazy about her teenage years idols, I still love those songs and listen to them. But nobody played any instrument, it was all about listening to music. I mean, really listening. Music was rarely a backgroung thing. The adults would sit, play the records, and analyze the vocals and the instruments one by one and they would argue about quality, artistry, authenticity and whatnot. It was so fun for me as a kid to be there listening to the arguments. They were so passionate about it.
RT: When did you decide to come to America and pursue music?
OC: I had hundreds of riffs and a few melodies I accumulated over the years. One day I started to put them together as whole songs. I liked a few and I thought “I gotta go to New York”, that was 2014. 3 years later my girlfriend told me she needed to spend some time in the US and we decided to live here. It was easy to decide, the market is here. It’s not as easy as I gullibly thought it would be but definitely this is the place to be.
RT: Who are some of your influences?
OC: Nirvana, The Beatles, Muse, Radiohead, The White Stripes, The Hives, Interpol, Placebo, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Black Keys, Rodriguez, Queen, ABBA, Coldplay (when they were good), Natalia Lafourcade, Zoe, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Gotye.
RT: What is the story behind your band name?
OC: There is no story, but I really like it and I’m proud of it. It’s just such a cool sounding couple of words, I just like the sound of it. I’m glad if people Google it and they find nature landscapes and such, but really is just the sound of the two words. Public Nature. I could say it means nature is for everybody and stuff like that, but nah, it’s just a band name. I looked for a name for years and that happened.
RT: How would you describe the music you create?
OC: I’d say it is raw, honest, melodic and effortless in that it is not trying to be anything, it just flows. The most important thing for me is that the music is sincere. Our music it’s not designed to sell but it’s designed to be as good as we can make it. It’s not trying to please a market but I think it is marketable. I’m lucky to like guitar, bass, drums, verse-chorus-verse rock music because that is easy to the ear and that is exactly what we’re doing.
RT: Are you signed to a label or totally independent?
OC: Last december we signed to a label in Amsterdam. To be honest I feel lonely, I mean business wise lonely, I could do with some help, I wish I had a record deal and somebody would do my advertising and such. I’m very bad at socializing. I only have a few real true friends so I can say I’m good at true friendships and fraternal relationships but I’m bad at business relationships. It’s all about who you know and more so in this business. I have to step up my game there. So in that way I’m very independent, big euphemism for being bad at public relations and not being able to reach people with our music.
RT: Who are/were the other members of your band? How did you meet them?
OC: Rex Fenton from Canada on drums and Curzio Aloisi on bass from Italy. We met thought the all mighty Craigslist
RT: Can you describe your creative process?
OC: 50% of the time if I want to write a song I’d be fiddling around with the guitar for hours to find a riff or part I like and then I’ll spend more hours trying to find a melody for it that I like. Then I’d accommodate the syllables into real words and that’d be it. A couple of days most of the time. The hard part is to find myself truly inspired because I always want to write songs, I write 2 or 3 songs everyday but they’re shit. The good ones happen once in a while. The other 50% is about being in the zone. I go deep in concentration and sometimes the first thing I play on the guitar with the first melody I babble becomes the song. With this method a song has come to be whole done in 3 minutes, then the lyrics take a bit more, anything in between 3 minutes to 6 months. I love writing songs, it is the process where I am 100% myself. It just flows, it’s very thought to be in that state, it requires a huge amount of peace and calmness and sincerity and no fear whatsoever. It’s awesome. I have to reach nirvana in order to write a song.
RT: What was your first single?
OC: A song called Nothing Special (The Science Song) it’s under our previous band name “Tender Beats”. I like the song, and we recorded it in one take live. Then I added the vocals. But it’s cool to have those one-takers. We recorded it at a friends cabin in the woods in Hudson. It was Rex’s first couple of months with us in early 2019. It’s about enjoying life and buried in every line there are the deepest science notions ever. Very nerdy if I explain it. Very.
RT: How did you get hooked up with Richie Ramone?
OC: Vicky Hamilton was our manager for 3 years, I didn’t ask her how she and Richie knew each other but she heard Richie was looking for an opening act and Vicky called me asking if I’d like to do that and of course I said of course. She said he was very honest with his opinion of the music and that he would need to truly like the songs. She sent some demos we had and out of a pool of bands he picked us, he liked two of the songs he heard. He called me after Vicky gave me the good news and we talked about music a bit, it was awesome. The tour was the most beautiful musical experience I ever had. He is like a monc, like one that has lived milenia. Every sentence he spoke was a life lesson. A wise person and with a swag. So cool and witty, caring and strict in the best of ways.
The first night we played awesome and he came to us and said we were awesome and to keep it up and that I sang like an angel and asked me about a couple of the songs and admired them. He wrote several of the Ramones songs including “Somebody Put Something In My Drink” and recently a crazy couple invited my wife and I to their apartment and tried to roofie us and I told him that song was our theme song for those days. It was a good night. Then we suck for 4 night is a row and he wasn’t happy, he told me to stop whining about the sound and whatnot and to perform for the kids, that it was all about the kids, and that I had two jobs, to entertain those kids who paid a ticket and to warm up the place for him to follow. After that we did ok and we had a couple of great nights but I wish we’ve done better for him. We still talk and I send him songs looking for his approval. He always replies, great dude.
RT: Who would you most like to collaborate with?
OC: There are so many names. I think mostly with Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, he’s my favorite bass player. I love that gnarly heavy drunk sound of his and would love to see what lines he comes up with for one of our songs but he would need to write a killer line like those of Curzio’s, tough opponent. Or Tom Yorke, singer of Radiohead but what the hell am I going to do? He sings like life sounds like and his melodies are amongst the best ever written. I’d love to go into a guitar duel with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and write and sing a song with Brian Molko of Placebo or write a song for The Hives.
RT: What are your favorite venues?
OC: Buffalo’s Mohawk Place, Arlene’s Grocery in NYC, Slash Run in DC, Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester, Kung Fu Necktie in Philly, Sunnyvale in Brooklyn but is closed, Mercury Lounge, Pianos and Gold Sounds. Great venues them all, I’d play one each night if it was up to me.
RT: What is your favorite song to perform?
OC: “Find my Baby” I think. Is melodic and catchy and I think is the best lyrics I wrote so far. But it’s hard for me to sign. I’m out of tune most of the time, the verses are particularly hard but it’s so fun, it’s a fun song and even though it’s about love it has a deep meaning and it’s pure poetry those lyrics.
RT: What do you like most about being a musician?
OC: Everything. I love writing songs. I love loud guitars, loud bass, loud thundering drums. I love touring, I love the sound of the door of the touring van when it closes, I love loading into the venues, and taking apart the gear and loading out. I love driving at night looking for the hotels and talking to the guys about the gig we just played. I love the smell of beer, piss and cleaner of the venues. I love the crappy wawa food along the east coast. I love watching the pavement pass by through the window and the changes in temperature and cities and all.
I love the band mates. I love recording and placing mics. I love singing and I love my voice when I’m in tune. I love the tension amongst the band. I love the soundcheck, I love to gig. I love to write lyrics and come up with riffs. I love my bands and the passion they invested into their music. I love the people involved in music. I love being tight and rehearsing and I love yelling my lungs out. I love the amps and the effect pedals. I love well made guitars and specifically a brand but I won’t say because they’d have to pay me. I love the science of sound. I love CD’s and vinyls and cassettes and DAWs. I love how my wife supports me and my family too. What I like the most is gigging.
RT: Do you ever get performance anxiety?
OC: I saw a movie with Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara called Side Effects and I learned about beta-blockers. Before my first gig in Medellín I was lucky I had a friend who was a doctor and I asked her for beta-blockers which would calm me because I knew I was going to be a nervous wreck. And I was. My first gig was horrible, I was so nervous I felt sick in my chest. The beta-blockers helped me to be just ok during the first gigs but they would make me feel trapped in cellophane or something, my girlfriend would tell me I was distant and weird and gone while under their effect, and I think the audience felt it too, I see the videos and it’s like a zombie is doing the concert. I went down on the dose and it was better but I was too nervous to have fun. When in the U.S. I didn’t have them so I had to suck it up.
My first gig was at the Mercury Lounge but it wasn’t that bad. During my first year I’d feel bad but not horrible. I still get anxious and need some time to get loose while performing but it’s way better. Before the pandemic we had a good rhythm going on, the more gigs I was playing one after the other the best I felt. I’ll get rid of that, it’s useless to feel anxious before a gig. I want to have fun with the band and the audience.
RT: Do you have any other upcoming projects you are working on?
OC: Only as Public Nature, yes. Many songs to come. I wrote around 30 new songs during the pandemic and am still writing more. 8 of them we got to record and the rest, because I’ll be without a band soon, I’ll have to either find bandmates or hire recording musicians to record them. Let’s see what happens first.
RT: What is one message you would like to give your fans?
OC: I’d like to tell them that we love you very much and please be patient for more music to come!
Brooklyn based musician, Dräger, released his new single “Light Years” on March 11 and announced his debut album Goths à la Discothèque comes out May 7.
Dräger Credit: Andrew Segreti
Spencer Draeger founded Dräger as the essence of his modern dystopian era. “Light Years” is an upbeat song with a message about choosing the road less traveled and following the unknown. According to Under the Radar this is the perfect example of his “synthedelic pop” sound. Synthedelic pop is a mixture of modern pop, ‘80s new wave and the underground dance scene. The single explores the excitement of chasing thrills on the journey to the future.
Goths à la Discothèque delves into the many universal themes of modern times including technology, love and society, and makes it his own. His album was inspired by 2020 and the effect it had on the world as it switched to a digital reality and caused people to forge new ideas. He portrays the present-day issues and fuses it with a party sound.
The album consists of 11 songs which were all produced, written, recorded and mixed by Dräger in his home studio. “Light Years” is now available for streaming and the lyric video is on Youtube. The album Goths à la Discothèque drops in May under Trash Casual.
Brooklyn duo Fake Dad return with their new EP Old Baby, and its final single “Listen.” The band is previewing the album on March 19th via Baby’s TV, a livestream series presented by Williamsburg venue Baby’s All Right.
Fake Dad, comprised of Andrea de Verona and Josh Ford, formed in early 2018. Their sound is defined by their signature butter-smooth R&B vocals combined with buzzing hip-hop and electro-pop textures that form a dizzying cocktail that always finds its groove. The band has three singles in preparation for their debut, “Summerhill”, “Breakfast in New York”, and their newest single “Listen”.
Brooklyn-based electro-duo Fake Dad bring that same energy to their new single, “Breakfast in New York,” a bite of R&B-tinged bliss guaranteed to make your mouth water for a bacon, egg, and cheese from your bodega or deli of choice (for those of us outside The Big Apple, maybe an Egg McMuffin at the very least).
The All Scene Eye
Other song on the EP include “Pretty/Ugly” which sees the duo imagining themselves among the ranks of famous pop stars. The song “Knit Sweater” offers an innate comfortability, seeing the band reaching for something safe and whole. The newest single, “Listen”, is grounded in silky meditations offering a serene mood. The unique soundscape offered by this EP see the band meld these inflection points together for something both invigorating and comforting. The EP is an exciting a bold move for the promising duo.
Tickets for the March 19th preview livestream are available here.
St. Patrick’s Day is normally for pints of Guinness, Irish music, parades, and indeed in New York City that was the case in 1990, as always before the plague temporarily swept all that away. The Pogues had played a Friday night gig at the Beacon, and were playing Saturday Night Live on this night, the parade happened in Manhattan, the pubs were no doubt full, but in Brooklyn there was nary a tin whistle in sight, only the loud and the heavy. This was a killer triple-bill on St. Patrick’s Day that had naught to do with being Irish: Quebec heavies Voivod, Seattle bruisers Soundgarden and just-achieving-stardom west coasters Faith No More, at L’Amour in Brooklyn – doubtless one of the great gigs ever.
This was the final night of this tour – Voivod and Soundgarden had been on tour together for months, with FNM the opening band on early shows, and then again at the end of the tour. So there was a celebratory air, each of the bands getting on stage during the other bands’ sets, jamming.
Voivod headlined. Soundgarden was in the middle slot. This seemed unthinkable just a year or two later, when FNM and Soundgarden both blew up, but in 1989-90, Voivod was the bigger band, beloved left-field underground metal kings.
Voivod jamming with Soundgarden and Faith No More – Chris Cornell with two beers in hands. Photo by Greg Fasolino
So Faith No More, on ‘The Real Thing’ tour, opened the night – they were certainly the least-known of the bands, but shortly before this gig, MTV started playing the “Epic” video on heavy rotation, and FNM were the trendy new band of the moment. ‘The Real Thing’ started selling bucketloads. Consequently, L’Amour, a Voivod stronghold that would have been full even without the other two bands, was utterly sold out, jam-packed before FNM hit the stage.
The crowd went apeshit. When they played, they were excellent, opening with “From Out of Nowhere,” playing a roaringly-received set of mostly ‘The Real Thing’ songs (plus old chestnut “We Care a Lot”) and closing with Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Various guys from Soundgarden and Voivod jammed along.
photo by Greg Fasolino
Soundgarden played second, promoting their heavy, killer Louder Than Love record. I’d seen them not long before this, but they were definitely my favorite band in 89-90, so I had to see them (and Voivod) again. They played “Flower,” the pummeling “Gun,” “Loud Love,” “Hands All Over” and a bunch of other sludge-metal classics.
Snake from Voivod – photo by Greg Fasolino
During “Big Dumb Sex” Voivod guys sexually harassed Chris Cornell with an inflatable sex doll, and at one point Chris Cornell crawled out over the crowd hanging from the low ceiling and dropped right in to the packed, swirling pit. Mighty. They finished with Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom,”,and the creeping, all-consuming doom-metal of “Beyond The Wheel” closed the show.
Photo by Greg Fasolino
Voivod headlined, touring behind that godlike Nothingface record, played almost that whole record, plus a few choice oldies and a cover of ZAPPA’s “What’s The Ugliest Part of Your Body?,” during which song drunken Soundgardeners and Faith No Mores jammed or just undulated around them like 60s bellydancers, with Mike Patton running around with a sex toy strapped to his head. Which was odd. Great night, amazing bands, and this one was up there with the best triple-bills ever.
Setlists
Faith No More: From Out Of Nowhere, Introduce Yourself, The Real Thing, Underwater Love, Zombie Eaters, We Care A Lot, Sweet Dreams, Surprise! You’re Dead!, Epic, Woodpecker From Mars, War Pigs
Soundgarden: Flower, Hands All Over Me-American Woman, Gun, Loud Love, Get On The Snakel Big Dumb Sex, Full On Kevin’s Mom, I Awake, Big Bottom, Beyond the Wheel
Voivod: The Unknown Knows, Nothingface, Tribal Convictions, X-Ray Mirror, Tornado, Pre-Ignition, Missing Sequences, Brain Scan, Into My Hypercube, Astronomy Domine, Inner Combustion, What’s The Ugliest Part of Your Body?
On March 5th, South African-born, Brooklyn-based artist Sulene released her new EP, he•don•ic, on Trash Casual.
The five songs on the EP dive deep into her struggles with alcohol addiction, depression, and hedonic pleasures, and finding a way out of these destructive cycles.
Sulene’s dark lyricism is juxtaposed by dancey, sexy beats strewn with synth and guitar that she describes as a “gothic disco party.”
This vulnerable-meets-underground club aesthetic is found on songs like “identity crisis” and “photo booth”, both questioning bad habits she’s encountered in her life.
Written at the start of the pandemic, “diner coffee” brings a more slowed down, sullen moment to the record as Sulene states “I promise to be useful” – a nod towards needing to create while blocking out depression.
For Sulene, writing he•don•ic was a painful and difficult process, but also one that allowed her to experiment with music in a new way.
Exploring a darker side of her character and production, Sulene wrote, recorded, and produced the entire EP out of her apartment in Brooklyn, NY. She also delved into filming and editing her own music videos and artwork, giving a full 360-degree view of her newest art.
Speaking on the release, Sulene stated:
he•don•ic explores my relationship with hedonism and addiction. Lyrically it speaks an uncomfortable truth and sonically it makes me wanna be in the club; a contradiction I find intriguing.
This is definitely a fair overview or the EP. Each song is introspective in its own way, with Sulene analyzing her habits and tendencies, as well as her mental state. Sulene is heavily critical of her relationships with others, and her indulgences and dependencies.
At the same time, the pounding, synth-heavy beats remind the listener of going out at night and partying with friends at clubs. It is a truly interesting contradiction, especially now in a time when clubs have been completely empty for almost a year.
With the release of the he•don•ic EP, Sulene has broken new ground as an artist, bringing an experimental and refreshing take on pop music. You can stream he•don•ic here now and purchase the EP on vinyl here.
On March 1st, Brooklyn based singer-songwriter and poet Lowhency Pierre unveiled a new single and visual for his latest single “Losing.”
The genre-bending crooner delivers a strong and passionate vocal performance that details not measuring up to gain the attention and affection of a partner.
The somber cut is his most vulnerable and emotional track to date – with its thrumming heartbeat and bassline that grow more pronounced with time, over theatrical strings and overlapping vocals.
In “Losing,” Lowhency Pierre turns grappling with self identity and worth into moments of clarity, security and liberation.
Lowhency shares, “Lyrically, I’m saying that it’s really hurtful, and exhausting trying to exceed your expectations to win your love; and, recognizing my value and self worth enough to set myself free from that negative and toxic space.”
Inspired by the art form of dance and natural human body movements, Lowhency says, “After discovering choreo-cinema films by Maya Deren (Study In Choreography for Camera), and Robyn Brentano and Andrew Horn (Cloud Dance), I really wanted to challenge and explore new areas of my body to express myself beyond writing and singing for the visual.”
Pierre teamed up with longtime collaborator, choreographer and director, Barby Beauvais, to share his vision, and began training for two months on steps and movements that conveyed the concept of the song.
Barby created the choreography piece-by-piece to showcase reflection, frustration, vulnerability and peacefulness.
The new release is a taste of what’s to come on Lowhency’s forthcoming (yet-to-be-titled) project. Pierre’s last single “Crew Love” received and generated support from Grandma Sophia’s Cookies, Music and Other Drugs, Bands Do Brooklyn and more!
Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” TLC’s “Creep” and Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” The Eagles’ “Lyin’ Eyes,” Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and, of course, Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”
Infidelity is torture on the soul of the victim. But it is also a potent catalyst for great artistic output, especially for musicians. It’s the brand of misfortune that inspired classic songs like the above. It also birthed a bevy of legendary albums, from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours to Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks to Beyonce’s Lemonade – works which pushed these artists to creative apexes they may never match.
Singer/songwriter Lisa St. Lou with debut album, Ain’t No Good Man, is another powerful product of a ‘done me wrong.’ It’s a blues-powered blast of 13 soulful originals, tunes that travel the road from betrayal and broken heart to redemption and, seemingly, a new love. They are expertly performed by Lisa St. Lou and an all-star crew including New Orleans greats Irma Thomas, Cyril, Ivan and Ian Neville, axe man Walter “Wolfman” Washington and many more.
Brooklynite St. Lou’s style is anchored in the gospel she absorbed as a child at a Baptist church in her native south St. Louis. Her childhood love of singing led her to serious musical study. Lisa earned a Masters in Opera (!) before heading to New York City and rapid success with a role in the Broadway production of The Producers. But an entertainer’s lifestyle didn’t jibe with her new husband’s vision of their future, so she quit showbiz and had two kids. Her partner’s repeated infidelities over the following decade led her to the most important decision of her life – leaving him in an effort to reclaim her voice, metaphorically and now literally.
St. Lou has had the good fortune of partnering with Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter Tor Hyams (Joan Osborne, Lou Rawls) for her debut. And while she sites Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Nina Simone as inspirations, I hear another soulful St. Louis white girl wailer evident in her style – Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie fame.
St. Lou and Hyams have co-written 12 top-flight tunes. They are all in a bluesy vein but with an original bend, not a very easy thing to do with such a well tread genre. Recorded at Parlor Studios in New Orleans, the tunes all naturally have a swampy, steamy, Big Easy groove. There’s also plenty of Memphis in the horns and Stax-like guitar licks and Chicago-flavored gospel in the ever-present Hammond organ swirl and churchy background vocals.
The album kicks off with the title track. Here Lisa puts her operatic pipes and gospel grit to good use. She sings high and hard to romantically nihilistic lyrics like:
I’m hip to the game They’re always the same I can smell a rat from a mile away Ain’t no good man Who gon’ be lovin’ me, anytime soon Ain’t no good man, Who can fool me twice, by giving me the moon
“Girl Get On” warns the “other” woman to stay away from her man, set to an up tempo groove with plenty of lyrical double entendre. “Love Me Baby” is a plea that starts with fingers snaps, a four note bass riff and solo voice, before breaking into a shuffling blues with some great call-and-response with the chorus.
On one of the album’s showstoppers, “Nothing Is Never Enough (For A Man),” St. Lou is joined by the immortal Irma Thomas. The NOLA soul queen who throws down her signature stanky vocals on a slow blues with some sweet guitar licks and punchy lines like:
You give your body, you give your soul You give up on every fight Don’t wanna get out of bed in the morning Cause nothing, nothing, nothing is ever right Nothing is ever enough, for a man Nothing is ever enough, for a man Don’t matter how hard you tried or if you’re doing the best that you can Nothing is ever enough, for a man
The Meters’ founder Cyril Neville shares the vocals on “Whatcha Gonna Do.” This is true New Orleans funky with all the trimmings, wah wah guitar (or clavinet), more call-and-response vox and a jerky stop-time beat.
While St. Lou’s go-to style is up tempo, my favorite tunes here are the ballads. “Miracle in Motion” is an achingly slow love song, a gospel-flavored offering with no lyrical axe to grind. There’s some nice rhythmic changes and modulations, luscious horn and keyboard support, which make this seemingly straight forward ballad something more.
My favorite on the album, “Flowers In the Rain,” closes the collection on the kind of hopeful note we wish for all wronged in love. The arrangement is pure gospel, largely just piano and voice at first, like a sketch or a demo. Lisa and her throaty angelic background singers build the song, along with a churchy, bluesy organ that surges and dances around the melody. This is a real could-be classic.
You gave me hope through the storm When it was cold you kept me warm You took away the pain You gave me flowers in the rain I never met a man who could look in my eyes And see all the beauty inside And the sound of your voice It takes all the worry away You opened up my heart You picked me up when I fell apart When my whole world went insane You gave me flowers in the rain
St. Lou’s Ain’t No Good Man is a musical journey through Kubler-Ross’s famous five stages of loss, with plenty of anger at first, ending with acceptance. It boasts some wonderful songs and topflight performances from all involved. It’s good musical medicine – a shot of gospel goodness that can help the brokenhearted exorcise their rightful anger and move on down the road.
It’s also refreshing to see a debut disc come our way from a 40-something with something to say, rather than a pre-fab teen product spit out by the pop machine. In music, as in life, Lisa shows that it’s better late than never.
Lisa’s website provides some cool video clips of the recording of the album and discussions of the development of the songs and the arrangements. Check it out here and find all links to all platforms here.
Key Tracks: Whatcha Gonna Do, Nothing Is Never Enough (For A Man), Flowers In the Rain
International role model AJA (they/them) has broken down barriers in their new single titled “21 Roads,” featuring Katie Jobes. The revered artist and performer has brought non-binary visibility into the music industry, while also building a safe community among their fanbase. AJA is of an ecletic Puerto Rican, Nigerian and Egyptian background. Being an adopted Afro-Latino from Brooklyn has also had a lot of influence over their music and this new single.
Photo Credit: Tanner Abel
“21 Roads” is the first single off of AJA’s upcoming sophomore album CROWN. The song delves into being stuck at a crossroad, re-evaluating and learning to prioritize yourself. Protecting your happiness and being at the forefront of your own destiny is what AJA preaches.
The artist used three tracks on the single: an interlude, the actual song, and recorded drumming. AJA shares that “the beat of the song, the interlude sample of the drums as well as the instruments, singing, and chants that are on the drumming — these are traditional songs for Esú Elegba, who is the gatekeeper, and opener of all roads in the Lukumi Faith; which stems from Nigeria.”
Watch the Lyric Video for “21 Roads” Here
Later this spring, AJA will release CROWN. The album incorporates themes of back spirituality, fame, race, class, gender, and sexuality. CROWN deals with AJA’s hardships and their adjustment to vulnerability. Following their critically acclaimed debut album, Box Office (2019), CROWN has high anticipation.
Photo Credit for CROWN Album Cover: Tanner Abel
AJA constantly uplifts their fans through inspiring perspective, fashion, and activism. They have taken their positive outlook to over 180 live shows and even sold out venues worldwide. The new single is nothing short of AJA’s empowering insight.
“21 Roads” (featuring Katie Jobes) is available on major platforms. Listen to the single below.
