NYS Music 202​1

Tag: el modernist

  • This Week’s EQXposure Features Caity Gallagher, Joseph Beaty And More

    Each Sunday evening from 7-9pm you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up and coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from Caity Gallagher, Joseph Beaty and many more!

    Caity Gallagher

    WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.


    Caity Gallagher

    With its calming piano and breezy vocals, singer-songwriter Caity Gallagher’s single “Give It All” would fit right in at the Lilith Fair. Equal parts Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan, the song is about hesitance in starting a new relationship: “What’s holding me down? What happened to the lightness I thought I’d found?” Gallagher and her band, collectively known as Caity and the Gallaghers, are playing at The Linda on Thursday, August 12.

    Joseph Beaty

    Joseph Beaty’s latest album Rust, You Can Leave Me Now is available for pre-order. The Adirondack musician and producer creates a gloomy atmosphere on its singles, the industrial “Thick of Things” and the grungy “Still Forming,” which he acknowledges in the Bandcamp notes:

    [This album] is the embodiment of 2020. Things in my life (in all our lives) were put in perspective and it was time to remove the negative bits. This record was my catharsis, my therapy. It is gritty, unsafe, and dark. No sense in sugar-coating it. You will hear many lyrics talk about knocking the rust out. This therapy experiment helped me arrive as a new, more focused person for 2021.

    El Modernist

    Albany band El Modernist gives us a geometry lesson on new wave song “Lines.” Its talk-singing style hearkens back to the early 1980s, when Blondie and Talking Heads flirted with spoken word and early rap.

  • El Modernist Release Electric New Single “Lines”

    El Modernist is a fresh take on indie rock that has an entrancing energy and stage presence. Hailing from Albany with a focus on modernizing catchy garage-rock by incorporating unique, groovy sounds, their latest single “Lines” is an upbeat, feel-good rock song that the band is incredibly excited to be releasing.

    el modernist lines

    “A modern take on New Wave, “Lines” by El Modernist encapsulates raw, angular rock riffs with upbeat percussive grooves. The simple yet universal lyrics about the fabricated life around us are captured within delightfully frenetic verses, and a laid back yet hard hitting hook. “Lines” lends itself to having an instantaneously classic sound, updated for today’s listeners.”

    el modernist lines

    El Modernist has gained tremendous support from the Albany community as they venture through the music industry. Every show they put on is a party, and fans of all ages come from all over New York to hear them rip up the stage. This past year, they have worked on more music than ever before. They are slowly transitioning out of their rap-rock party days and pulling inspiration from more classical alternative rock acts such as Talking Heads, The Clash, and Blondie. They cannot wait to continue pursuing their rock careers and are looking forward to booking shows all over the country.

  • It’s a Beautiful Day in Mister Rajer’s Neighborhood

    On May 18, Mister Rajers’ Neighborhood dropped the new trippy summer anti-anthem “Cinco Uno Eight“ a psychedelic song about the Capital Region of Upstate New York.

    “Cinco Uno Eight” is originally written, composed, and produced by L Niño. An idea to combine various local artists he had previously worked with in order to properly honor the 518 led to the development of this song. Whether it be the appearances of Mike Guagliardo and Showerpanther adding a distinctive synth sound, to including soothing ambient noises from artists from the local area.

    Perhaps the highlight of the track however are the two local MC’s, Justin Sedefian aka Sav and Word Class aka Major Capers. “Each individual layered on an instrumental or vocal to create a truly odd, strange, ode to our beautiful homeland.”

    Cameos were also made by Will Fredette of the Albany band El Modernist. The final edition of Kevin Lovely, who has known L Niño since they both attended Guilderland High School, took over mixing duties, while sound engineer legend David Tyo refined the track as the mastering engineer.

    L Niño wrote the initial song and produced it and left “gaps” for people to spit verses on, and then had friends each add “layers” which which was chopped up and collaged by L Niño.

    “L Niño” is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer based out of Troy, NY. He remained in the underground scene until achieving some local traction in the Albany area for his work with Major Niño which was recently in the running for an Eddie Award.

    L Niño played violin all throughout highschool. But really didn’t start getting into production, until returning to Troy around 2015. He has taught himself guitar, bass, drums, and production. “My favorite thing to do is produce though, so this was a really neat opportunity to “produce” other musicians and have them spit on a track that was designed to be uh….spitted on?”

    He has released music under numerous monikers and projects such as L Niño, Mister Rajers’ Neighborhood, Major Niño, and Jacques in the Bag. Featured in the Times Union and Floated Magazine with features on 102.7 WEQX-FM and local radio stations such as WCAA-LP 107.3 FM, L Niño has also played at well-known local Capital Region venues such as The Fuze Box, The Low Beat, and Troy Kitchen. In the wake of Covid, as venues start to open back up, L Niño hopes to bring more compositions from different projects and artists to the stage.

    In L Niño’s other video, “Trumpistani Breakfast,” he compares peoples obsessions with McDonalds to others obsession and fascination with Trump in this wacky video.

    “I guess the tongue-in-cheek metaphor would be like…imagine if there was an individual or a whole group of individuals who for some reason thought that McDonald’s makes the BEST burger ever! Which works since Trump LOVES McDonalds. (Not saying that there’s anything wrong with a McDonalds burger, there’s a time and place where it sure hits the spot, but to believe that it’s THE BEST EVER is uh….is something) So the video was just trying to convey being disturbingly obsessed with McDonalds…..or other things.”

    L Niño

    You can stream the new single here and find out more by visiting the label’s website.

    L Niño will be returning to gigging this summer and will begin doing small shows around the Capital Region as things start opening back up.