In November and December, LCD Soundsystem will return to Brooklyn Steel for a month-long residency. “We’re not aware that we’re getting older and somehow think that 20 shows is a good idea,” said bandleader James Murphy in a social media announcement.
Murphy wearing a Halloween mask with the face of his friend/collaborator/former bandmate Steve Nebesney.
The band’s concert dates at the venue are as follows: Nov. 18-22, 26, 27, 29, 30, and Dec. 2-4, 6, 7, 9-11, 13, 14, 16, and 17. For Nov. 27, 29, and 30, only American Express card members can purchase tickets.
Amex card members will also get early access to tickets from 10 a.m. Wednesday through 10 p.m. Thursday before the general sale starts the following morning at 10 a.m. Customers can also request “fan presale access” for the opportunity to purchase seats between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday.
The announcement also came with the single release of “New Body Rhumba,” the group’s first song in five years. The track was made for the Noah Baumbach movie “White Noise” which debuted on Netflix in August.
This fall, Secret Machines heads out their first US tour in 12 years, starting on September 24th in Asheville, NC and wrapping up with two nights at Brooklyn Steel over October 27-28. They’ll be joined by Metric for all 24 shows of the tour.
In 2007, co-founding guitarist Benjamin Curtis (who passed away from a rare form of lymphoma in 2013) left his brother Brandon and Secret Machines’ stellar drummer Josh Garza behind to focus on his new project School of Seven Bells. The saving grace of Benjamin’s departure from Secret Machines despite two buzz-worthy albums and years of electrifying live shows together, however, was guitarist Phil Karnats. A fellow Dallas native who played alongside Brandon and Benjamin in the psych-pop band Tripping Daisy, he wasted no time falling into place alongside Josh’s lead-footed rhythms and Brandon’s sinewy, rip-roaring hooks.
Secret Machines’ original label (the Frank Sinatra-founded Reprise Records) never quite got the group. Warner Brothers’ way of supporting the trio’s powerful sound in the four years between their breakout debut (2004’s Now Here is Nowhere) and the Secret Machines sessions wasn’t to try and wrap their heads around it. They’d rather boost the band’s studio budget until it burst and hope a hit would emerge from the ether.
That is until they heard Secret Machines’ third album. Reprise was so perplexed by the bold LP they immediately hit the brakes and refused to promote it. “One particular guy epitomized the vibe,” explains Brandon. “He was obviously unhappy with the record, but the way he communicated his feelings was so convoluted. He asked us to make changes, and as I expressed our willingness to discuss any ideas he may have, he just kept saying ‘no.’ I’m not sure what he was even saying ‘no’ to!”
“At that point,” adds Josh, “the writing was on the wall. They felt like they’d given us a chance and were really upfront. So we asked them to give us the album and they were like, ‘Sure, take the album; no harm, no foul.’”
Reprise’s eagerness to cut their ties from Secret Machines led to a rushed, ill-fated deal with World’s Fair Label Group. While it had already worked with such reputable artists and imprints as Rough Trade, Jarvis Cocker, and Daptone, the part-time PR company shuttered its own label right in the middle of a Canadian tour that was supposed to support the band’s self-titled record. A record it hadn’t bothered to officially release, mind you.
People didn’t even know the album was out. Things got really bad from there and started leaving a bad taste in our mouth. Our problem was never with the music, though; it was with the business itself.
Josh Garza
The good news about Secret Machines’ DOA status is that it’s finally being released as it was originally intended. Much like a long overdue director’s cut, it now features a dynamic sequence that makes far more sense in the long run than the original and boasts the added benefit of hindsight and a renewed sense of purpose within the group’s widescreen back catalog.
Rather than spark the record’s proceedings with the candy-laced chords and immediate hooks of “Atomic Heels,” the power trio now knocks our jowls back like a Maxwell ad with the jarring opening of “The Fire is Waiting.” It’s as if they’re daring us to step one foot closer, only to reward our patience with a subtle recorder pattern from glam-rock demigod Tony Visconti and a windswept, 11-minute sequence Phil rightfully describes as “like being swallowed up by an indomitable, mountainous wave, bated breath and an inevitable end.”
Bringing the record into full relief are crisp remastered recordings by Slowdive drummer Simon Scott, and tracks that have taken on a new life in 2022 — from the torn space-time continuum of “The Walls are Starting to Crack” to the simmering intro and gleaming, rigid groove of “Have I Run Out.”
Tickets are on sale on now and can be purchased here.
NYC‘s Baby Got Back Talk, one of AfroPunk’s “Top 8 Punkest Bands on the Planet,” have just announced their new debut EP Existential Shred. The EP will be dropping later this Summer 2022 on Wiretap Records. They have been named one of Alternative Press’s ’17 black alternative bands leading the next generation.
Photo: Kate Hoos
Formed back in 2017, Baby Got Back Talk initially consisted of vocalist/bassist G’Ra Asim, synth op/vocalist Rhiana Hernandez, and lead guitarist/vocalist Jake Lazaroff. After years of sharing bills with local compatriots like Choked Up, Universe Ignore Her, and Gibbons (acts that were all anchored by the propulsive stick work of drummer Wes Ruiz) Baby Got Back Talk welcomed Ruiz into the fold. Now, they are an inseparable pair named one of The Utah Daily Chronicle’s top 5 Black Alternative Bands You Need to Know in 2021.
“We’re what punk looks like in the 2020s: driven by a DIY ethic, conversant with social issues–especially as they pertain to gender and race, enabled by inter-web, bankrolled by day jobs, powered by a rad likeminded community, resonant with the most venerable iterations of rock ‘n’ roll but firmly committed to injecting some new flavor into the mold.”
“On their upcoming EP Existential Shred New York pop punk band Baby Got Back Talk delve into the very nature of human existence. They tackle death, life changes, and the state of the world with excellent literary lyrics, plenty of synths, and a healthy dose of hope.”
– Punk News
Baby Got Back Talk is a D-I-why?-because-we-gotta punk party from New York City. The band teamed with producer John Naclerio (Just Surrender, The Audition) at Nada Recording Studios for their latest EP, ‘Existential Shred’ due out later this Summer 2022 on Wiretap Records.
“A catchy pop punk hook-fest that throws the middle finger to anyone claiming that being marginalized is “in” these days. “Model Minority” could become an anthem of importance for queer folks and POC in the punk scene today.”
– Tuned Up
The band has released a pair of EPs in 2017’s Take This The Wrong Way and 2018’s Up In Open Arms. Their full-length debut, 2020’s Genre Reveal Party, was mixed by Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Senses Fail, Yellowcard).
MetaMoon Musical Festival is for Saturday, November 26 at Barclays Center, bringing in various musicians where AAPI and Asian artistic culture is front and center during the festival. A host of Brooklyn-based Asian American and Pacific Islander-founded brands including Lunar, Popadelics, Kitsby, Regroup, Frontman and Moshi will be featured, along with more bands to be announced.
Advertisement: MetaMoon Musical Festival in Brooklyn, NY on Nov. 26
Along with previously announced artists to be included in the line-up, three artists are to join the music crew: former K-Pop group, f(x), member Amber Liu, Chinese urban & soul singer Tia Ray, and Hong Kong-based pop-punk musician Tyson Yoshi. Artists to join the line-up are boy band EXO’s Lay Zhang, 9m88, Karencici, OZI, Sury Su and festival host, MC Jin.
Brand partnerships, with this year being from Gold House, will bring food establishments that are participating with the MetaMoon Food Crawl to the music festival. The brand collaboration is to be helping support AAPI-owned businesses. Restaurants to be promoted include Nom Wah Nolita, 886, Ho Foods, Yumplings.
EXO band’s Lay Zhang’s official music video for song, “莲 LIT”
Reggae Under The Bridge, part of the Coney Island Reggae Soundsystem Series, will take place on Sunday, September 25 from 12-7 p.m. at K Bridge Park (under the Kosciuszko Bridge) at 470 Scott Avenue in Brooklyn.
This year’s edition features the return of Downbeat The Ruler, selector Tony Screw, one of the most beloved and celebrated selectors in global soundclash culture. Downbeat earned his name as the legacy selector for Coxson Dodd’s iconic Sir Coxson’s Downbeat Soundsystem in the 1970s. As a result of this relationship, Downbeat boasts the largest collection of Studio One exclusives of any selector worldwide.
Other featured selectors at the event will be Lee Major from Earth Ruler, Digital English, and other guests from the Brooklyn and greater NYC community.
Founded in 2010 by DJ Carter Van Pelt, Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk has earned an international grassroots following as a showcase for reggae vinyl and soundsystem culture. The series is an anticipated part of summer culture in New York City, with Reggae Under The Bridge as one of the spinoff events in the series, which also inaugurated the opening of K Bridge Park in June 2021.
The series has featured more than 80 selectors from New York and beyond, including King Jammy, Jack Scorpio, Downbeat The Ruler, Tipper Tone, Jah Life, LP International, Sir Tommy’s, Earth Ruler, Digital English, and Federation Sound. Emcees and singers have included Luciano, Willi Williams, Al Campbell, Ranking Joe, Sister Carol, Mikey Jarrett, Screechy Dan, and Johnny Osbourne, among others. Brooklyn’s Chanter, The Timeless Sound has provided the soundsystem for the event since 2012. The events, which are free to the public, are supported by donations from individuals and in part by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council.
Check out Downbeat with Carter Van Pelt in a Dennis Brown tribute at Coney Island in 2019.
After a hiatus in-between singles, Brooklyn bred rapper Jellz is back with his latest effort, “Infinity.” In his return from his musical sabbatical, he introduces a new version of himself. His prior releases like “Bullsh*t” and “Ghost” saw Jellz try his hand at his own wave of drill music. Bringing an extravagant feel to the violent-laden sub-genre. With a renewed focus and plan, Jellz returns to show fans that he has more in his bag.
Shot while on vacation in Los Santos, Colombia, the music video for “Ghost (Freestyle)” saw Jellz bring much more flair than the drill scene is accustomed to.
I still have drill music in the bag, but I’m more than just a drill artist. I have a lot of different flows, and feel like I’m just an artist honestly. So I wanted to give the fans a little something different this time around. In the future you’ll be hearing a lot of drill type beats mixed with my own melodies.
His New Single
The auto-tune laced “Infinity” brings the feel-good ambience of life’s never ending chase for success. In an enticing opening chorus, Jellz raps, “I done made some friends made some enemies, I can’t f**k with ni***s that move finicky, I just wanna ball with my day ones, know we got the sauce keep it A1.”
Jellz spends much of his time away from the States
The song’s theme of never-ending success keep in theme with what he wants to bring to the rap game. Since his initial release, he has amassed over 400 thousand streams and another 400 thousand in YouTube views, while remaining self-funded. Contrary to other rappers, rap isn’t the means to success, it’s one of the many avenues in running it up til infinity.
It’s been a while since I wrote it, but I think it’s just a culmination of life and what I want from it. One of my biggest values are friends and family, and I plan on living a great life with them in the future, and we all plan on achieving the goals we set for ourselves. In the song I talk about what the song has already brought and taught me. I’m also manifesting a lot of my future self in it.
In like manner, Jellz has operated his short rap-career as an extension of the life he has created for himself. The music video for “Ghost” was shot while on vacation in Los Santos, Colombia. In it, Jellz presents himself with a Jefe-like persona, surrounded by local women in bathing suits and ski masks. In the “Bachata” visuals, he channels his inner Escobar while in the South American republic, segueing between a game of soccer and a night out with a dame.
What’s the next Step?
Although brimming with career know-how beyond his years, Jellz’ obstacle remains his consistency. Despite success on visuals and streams from his singles, months usually go by in-between Jellz releases. Something he knows can be the difference in career trajectory.
I want to be more consistent this time around, with the releases and with the content. So, I was just taking time off to build my arsenal so I can be more consistent this time around. Because I know consistency is the final piece to the puzzle to get me where I want to be.
Expect a few more singles from Jellz until a project is released
Although family oriented, Jellz spends much of his time away from the states, citing New York City’s cold weather as the reason for his long respite’s. “I can record from anywhere in the world, but I still have my engineer from back home mix it for me,” he divulges. As cold temperatures near, expect Jellz to be somewhere warm, where he can create better. As for the next drop? Expect a slew of singles until he feels the time is right. Much like on “Infinity,” Jellz’ success cannot be rushed.
I don’t really do empty lyrics, a lot of the time my words do have a lot to of with my situation, or what I want my future to bring
The Big Eyed Blues Festival returns to Brooklyn for its 12-anniversary celebration, featuring three days of blues with established and upcoming artists on Sept. 22, 24, and 25.
The Blues Festival was created by Blues singer Beareather Reddy, who resides in Brooklyn to showcase talented Blues singers and provide a venue where these artists can be seen and heard. She noticed there was a lack of Blues venues in the city, and she wanted to create a solution to the problem.
Her passion to help keep Blues music striving, inspired her to found the not-for-profit organization, the Brooklyn Blues Society. “In some way, I feel it is my purpose to open the gateway to some and to bring others back to the realization, that Blues music is an integral part of their rich heritage,” she said.
Big Blue Eyed Blues Festival Schedule
Sept. 22, 7-9 P.M.- “The Acoustics” The Jalopy Theatre, 315 Columbia Street Brooklyn
The night features Junior Mack “Exploring The Blues And The Truth”, Mimi Block, and Keith “The Captain” Gamble will play “Blues in the Key of Violin”. Michael Hill’s Acoustic Blue Duo ends the night with electric blues. The event will be live streamed and is in partnership with the Jalopy Theatre.
Michael Hill is the MC for the event, which features talented singer/songwriter and guitarist from Paterson, NJ, Clarence Spady. Also performing are Beareather & The Brown Liquor Sounds as well as the musical and historically focused group the Antoinette Montague Experience. Brooklyn’s own The Alexis P. Suter Band will end the night with her earth-shattering vocals and electrifying rhythm. The schedule for the evening is as follows:
7:00 P.M. – 7:05 P.M. – Master of Ceremonies – Michael Hill 7:05 P.M. – 7:40 P.M.– Clarence Spady 7:45 P.M. – 8:20 P.M. – Beareather & The Brown Liquor Sounds 8:20 P.M. – 8:35 P.M. – Break 8:35 P.M. – 8:45 P.M. – Citation Presentation & Board Members Introductions 8:45 P.M. – 9:20 P.M. – The Antoinette Montague Experience & Band 9:20 P.M. – 10:00 P.M. – The Alexis P. Band
Sept. 25, 12-3 P.M.- “A Day in the Park” The Prospect Park Boat House Brooklyn.
The free final event is The Tilden Senior Center Drama Club presenting their version of “The Classic Blueswomen,” written by Beareather Reddy and directed by Evria Ince Waldron, in partnership with NIA Theatrical Production and The Prospect Park Alliance.
Tickets for the events on Sept. 22 and 24 are available here.
French DJ and music producer Madeon released his second LP Good Faith back in 2019 but has been touring strong behind the record ever since. Madeon puts on a few different types of shows ranging from DJ sets, to the standard club concerts but he will also perform select shows dubbed Good Faith Forever. These shows boast a unique production, with the most recent one happening at the revamped Brooklyn Mirage last Sunday, September 11.
Madeon’s choice of venue is one of the key factors for the unique Good Faith Forever shows. The venue must have large-scale production capabilities to allow Madeon to take on a larger-than-life presence and completely engulf the audience into the show. For New York City, there is no better choice than Brooklyn Mirage. The venue has a massive LED screen that is curved and wraps around the front end of the crowd, making you feel immersed in the visuals no matter where you are in the venue. The venue has all the bells and whistles already built in, giving Madeon the joy of incorporating lasers into Good Faith Forever for the first time.
A key element to the show takes place in the last leg, when an elevated platform takes Madeon about 20 feet above the stage right as he performs the unreleased song “Gonna Be Good.” At this height, Madeon is towering over the crowd with an intense visual show taking place on the LED, carefully aligned and framing the musician. The venue again provided amplification; not only were fans dwarfed by the show at this point, but the sheer size of the screen and the visuals on it made the entire production feel truly out of this world.
The setlist featured Madeon’s latest one-off release “Love You Back” which came out earlier this year, and the show closed with fan-favorite “Shelter” (a collaboration with Porter Robinson). Good Faith was released back in 2019, but given the delays performing live due to the pandemic, the support for the LP did not begin until 2021. Combine that with the variety by which Madeon performs and you have a tour cycle that goes on without ever getting stale. Good Faith Forever makes a few more festival stops including III Points in Miami before heading to Mexico and then Jakarta, Indonesia. There are also a handful of DJ sets mixed in between. Head over to Madeon’s website for the full tour dates.
Winding down their 14-date tour of North America, in support of their fourth album Crawler (Partisan Records) released in November 2021, avant-garde punk rockers IDLES from Bristol, England made a stop at the majestic Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, this past Thursday night, September 15. Unable to tour for their previous studio album (2020’s Ultra Mono) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IDLES brought with them plenty of new material to offer its steadily growing legion of fans, present company included.
Joe Talbot of IDLES | Photo by Michael Dinger
Arriving more than an hour before the 7:00 pm doors on a chilly September late afternoon, a signal that autumn would soon be upon us, excited concertgoers were spotted congregating on nearby sidewalks, hastily exiting their Ubers beneath the grand marquee or frequenting the nearby bar that doubles as a tattoo parlor. As patrons filed past the security check point, many had a sheer expression of awe on their face as they witnessed the theater’s ornate, French Baroque style for the first time. The nearly 3,700 seat venue had been restored to its vintage condition and reopened to the public in January 2015, including the ornamental 50,000 square foot ceiling, along with the glazed and gilded walls paneled in American walnut.
Kings Theatre marquee | Photo by Michael DingerKings Theatre ceiling | Photo by Michael Dinger
Approximately 15 minutes before the night’s opening act would take the stage, IDLES fans continued to pack the lobby. Many of which checked out the merch table, grabbed a drink from the array of bars strategically placed on all levels or snapped a cell phone picture of the historic venue’s centerpiece, the console of a “Wonder Morton” pipe organ that was installed in the original Loew’s New York City movie theaters.
Kings Theatre pipe organ | Photo by Michael Dinger
An American hip hop group formed in Tempe, Arizona in 2013, Injury Reserve are rapper Ritchie With a T and producer Parker Corey. However, the current duo was once a trio, until the sudden death of friend and founding member Stepa J. Groggs on June 29, 2020, at only 32 years of age. Having already supported Black Midi on a tour of the West Coast earlier this year, Injury Reserve’s musical genre is best described as experimental, or abstract hip hop – think beat machines with endless cords.
Albeit for blinding flashes of strobe lights, Injury Reserve performed in near darkness, with their figures appearing in silhouette, or barely discernible at all. Notwithstanding, as the steadily increasing crowd took their seats or joined the general admission floor, they cheered and applauded loudly at every opportunity. Ritchie With a T and Corey would perform ten songs over the course of nearly 45-minutes, all taken from their second studio release By the Time I Get to Phoenix, self-released nearly one year ago. The only song not played from the album was the third track titled “SS San Francisco.”
Injury Reserve | Photo by Michael DingerInjury Reserve | Photo by Michael Dinger
After a 30-minute turnover of the stage by IDLES’ crew, the quintet comprised of Joe Talbot (vocals), Mark Bowen (guitar), Lee Kiernan (guitar), Adam Devonshire (bass) and Jon Beavis (drums) unassumingly appeared in the dark shadows a few ticks past 9:00 pm. With its cinematically suspenseful introduction and a perfect number for opening the show, the first of IDLES’s 18-song set was “Colossus,” from 2018’s Joy as an Act of Resistance, which would also find Kiernan tip toeing along the narrow barricade in front of the stage apron. With one foot perched up on his monitor, prior to launching into the evening’s second offering “Car Crash” (Crawler), about Talbot’s real-life experience in a near-fatal accident, he instructed the entire floor audience do split apart, forming a no man’s land down the middle. Then, on his command, each side came crashing back into one another (like a car crash) in a fevered, giant mosh pit like I have never seen before.
Lee Kiernan of IDLES | Photo by Michael DingerIDLES | Photo by Michael Dinger
For the remainder of their 90-minute set, sweaty, beer-covered bodies would often sway in unison as IDLES filled the entirety of Kings Theatre with a raw emotion that emanated from songs across their ever-growing discography, including the rallying cry of “Grounds” (Ultra Mono), the cathartic “Mother” (Brutalism, 2017), “The Beachland Ballroom” (Crawler) about the iconic Cleveland venue, the violent vigor of “Never Fight a Man With a Perm” (Joy as an Act of Resistance) and the grittiness of “Crawl!” (Crawler). Oftentimes, when Talbot was not prowling the stage in concentric circles or jogging in place, he could be seen engaging with his fans directly by looking straight into their eyes, as if he were singing to them only. I was also fortunate enough to catch his gaze on more than one occasion.
Lee Kiernan & Adam Devonshire of IDLES | Photo by Michael DingerMark Bowen of IDLES | Photo by Michael Dinger
There were too many highlights in the IDLES set to count, and all five members were in prime form. But the moment that seemed to electrify the fans the most was not when Kiernan stood atop the crowd’s shoulders hugging a pink cowboy hatted fan, but when Bowen climbed his own way into the crowd, microphone in hand, as he led the frenzied crowd through the bridge section of the anthemic “Danny Nedelko” (Joy as an Act of Resistance).
Despite being a self-described “angry band” from the U.K., IDLES have built a really loving community amongst their fans. People constantly look out for out for each other, and tonight’s show was no exception. The final concert of IDLES’ “Back To Normal Tour,” before trekking to New Zealand and Australia in late-October, will be at the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey on September 18.
Injury Reserve Setlist: Outside > Superman That > Footwork in a Forest Fire > Ground Zero > Smoke Don’t Clear > Top Picks for You > Wild Wild West > Postpostpartum > Knees > Bye Storm
IDLES Setlist: Colossus > Car Crash > Mr. Motivator > Grounds > Mother > Divide and Conquer > The Beachland Ballroom > Never Fight a Man With a Perm > Crawl! > 1049 Gotho > The Wheel > Television > A Hymn > War > Wizz > I’m Scum > Danny Nedelko > Rottweiler
Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sam Rappaport has returned with his third single, “Easy to Love,” a candid, romantic soft rock song.
It’s the lead single off his upcoming debut EP “Get Me Away From Myself,” and follows “Till the Morning Comes” and “Journeyman’s Ballet,” released in February & November of 2021. With this track he also continues to supplement his work with Gooseberry, an indie-rock band for which he sings and plays keyboards.
Promotional art for “Easy to Love.”
It follows a simple pop song structure and includes jazzy instrumentation, with saxophone and watery keys leading the way. The song’s slow tempo and simple rhythm section make for a relaxed tone along with Rappaport’s soft vocals, as he muses about being enveloped in an enamoring feeling of love. “The way you laugh makes me tingle,” he sings on the chorus, nicely supplemented by female background vocals. “The way you touch me makes me cry.”
Produced by Lorenzo Wolff, subtle touches such as the gurgle of a baritone sax distantly in the background give the song an added element of depth, and make the rise in energy during the louder, more outgoing chorus even more satisfying.
“Easy to Love” by Sam Rappaport doesn’t take any serious risks musically, but given the song’s romantic themes, maybe that’s okay. Sometimes love is simple, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
