[Night Out] Wrabel @ Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 2) 9/10/2014

Personal update: I'm trying to get back into the groove of going to at least two shows a week. I'm also I really exhausted from all the emails we get about bands I've never heard of and will most likely will never hear of because they're just "okay". To combat this, I've mostly been ignoring the majority of the emails that I get and just digging around the internet to find things on my own. Back in the day, I used to wander around record stores looking at album artwork and taking chances on art that I felt the most connected to and either give them a listen if they were at the listening bar or just straight up buy the album and take a chance. I found a lot of great music this way (VHS or Beta, Josh Rouse, Junior Jack, etc.). 

I started doing this again fairly recently on Rdio and Spotify for every New Music Tuesday. I just scroll around and look for things that are interesting and give them a try. It's less sexy than the thrill of buying an album and being like, "God I hope this is good," but whatever. This is how I stumbled across Wrabel (pronounnced RAY-bell, at first I thought it was rabble, lol) about a month ago. Purely judging a book by its cover, his EP, Sideways, felt familiar. I think it's because he looks like an American version of Mr. Hudson to me. Familiarity has continued to be an ongoing theme for me with Wrabel. His voice, subject matter, etc. all sounds and feels very familiar. Kind of like I've always known him. Obviously since you are reading this post he clearly was able to tick all the boxes I require to decide to keep tabs on him. 

After adding him to my extensive Twitter list to keep an eye on him, I noticed he was playing a show at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2. We should get one thing clear: I love Bowery Ballroom more than anything in this world, but there's something about Rockwood Music Hall (both original and stage 2) that holds a special place in my heart. A chance to experience any artist at Rockwood is a thing you should always do, so I decided to venture solo to see how an intimate performance from this newcomer would pan out. 

First things first, this guy's voice is nothing short of solid. Dude has a very strong set of pipes that probably need little to no pitch correction in the studio or anything like that, so much respect in that sense. I soaked in every last second of him pounding away on the piano and serenading a disappointly semi-empty room sipping some white wine, a true "This Is Why I Love Rockwood" kind of moment. It must have been a weird juxtaposition for him though considering he casually mentioned at one point between songs that the night prior he performed "10 Feet Tall" alongside Afrojack at Fashion Rocks over at the Barclays Center, but he never made it feel that way in terms of his performance. Between songs he was very friendly and laid back. At one point he even joked, "My mom keeps telling me to write happy songs and I was like, 'I wrote one!'" It's refreshing for me to know that although he was fairly recently signed to Island that it hasn't gone to his head. It's a shame that that's an exception and not the standard. 

Wrabel performing at Fashion Rocks at Barclays Center, September 8, 2014. Source: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images North America 

As I headed home last night, I put on Sideways to refresh myself on the recorded version of what I had just heard. I started feeling the parallel with him and Mr. Hudson again like the day that I first stumbled across him. Remember before his Kayne moment with Straight No Chaser when he was Mr. Hudson and The Library and had a sound of his own that he could really dig into (a la A Tale Of Two Cities)? I worry that the direction in terms of sound that they're nudging him into is going to get him lost into the Flavor of the Week pile. It's both a blessing and a curse that his voice has moments of Chris Martin, Sam Smith, and Landon Pigg, with hints of Mat Kearney peppered throughout. It's my hope for him that Island didn't just go, "Oh crap, we need a Sam Smith! Ooo! This guy seems nice. *SIGNS*" I don't mind the synthy bits in "Sideways". I get that bassy EDM + pretty vocals on top = Ca$h Money Hoe$ right now. I guess my hope is that as he assumingly starts working on his debut full length that he doesn't allow himself to get overwhelmed by people trying to tell him to be trendy for the sake of moving units this moment. Or that if he does that he knows exactly what he's doing and plans to be in the spotlight for 4 seconds and then when he has a pile of money he just runs off and does whatever the heck he wants. 

Fact of the matter is, Wrabel is a voice your ears need to hear and I think if he plays his cards right that he will be staying around with us for awhile. 

Wrabel is on the internet in various places like Facebook, Twitter, and Soundcloud. Follow/like/add as you will. His debut EPSideways is available for purchase on iTunes if you're into that as well. 

[Listen] Breton - "S Four"

Photo Credit: Kieran PharaohEarlier today, Breton unveiled a new song from their upcoming album, War Room Stories, due out on February 3rd. Of all of the tracks we've heard so far from the new album, "S Four" most appropriately showcases the growth that the band has seen since 2012's Other People's Problems. The band has clearly thought out which edges were the right ones to smooth out and which ones to keep jagged and sharp. Where "Got Well Soon" reminded us of the band that we've grown acquainted to was still capable of, "Envy"  and "S Four" (below) are demonstrative that you don't always have to sacrifice complexity for palatability, or vice versa. It's no small feat the way the band can weave their usual layered beats and instrumentation alongside the likes of orchestral movements and sounds as basic as knives scraping against the pavement (which finally explains that teaser clip from last year). It's executed in such a seemingly effortless fashion that it takes several careful listens to stop taking all of these details for granted. It took me until the third listen to hear the knives sample, for example. 

If you've got a hankering for more newer Breton songs, you can also grab their Force of Habit EP  that they released for their US tour (that unfortunately was rescheduled for later this year). 

Make sure you pre-order War Room Stories now, because that's what nice people do.

Breton On Tour

06/02/14 - West Rock, Cognac, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretoncognac
07/02/14 - Charada, Madrid, Spain
08/02/14 - Be Cool Club, Barcelona, Spain
09/02/14 - Le Bikini, Ramonville St Agne, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretontoulouse
10/02/14 - Rockstore, Montpellier, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretonmontpellier 
11/02/14 - Ninkasi Kao, Lyon, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretonlyon
13/02/14 - Lanificio 159, Rome, Italy 
14/02/14 - Covo Club, Bologna, Italy 
15/02/14 - Magnolia, Milan, Italy 
17/02/14 - Komplex Klub, Zurich, Switzerland - http://tinyurl.com/bretonzurich
18/02/14 - Les Docks, Lausanne, Switzerland - http://tinyurl.com/bretonlausanne
19/02/14 - La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretonstrasbourg
20/02/14 - MTC, Cologne, Germany - http://tinyurl.com/bretoncologne
21/02/14 - FIREWORKS! FESTIVAL 2014, Roubaix, France 
22/02/14 - La Nouvelle Vague, Saint-Malo, France
23/02/14 - Botanique, Brussels, Belguim - http://tinyurl.com/bretonbrussels
24/02/14 - Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg, Germany - http://tinyurl.com/bretonhamburg
25/02/14 - BETA, Copenhagen, Denmark - http://tinyurl.com/bretoncopenhagen
26/02/14 - Privat Club, Berlin, Germany - http://tinyurl.com/bretonberlin
28/02/14 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands - http://tinyurl.com/bretonamsterdam

03/03/14 - The Louisiana, Bristol, UK - http://tinyurl.com/bretonbristol
04/03/14 - Soup Kitchen, Manchester, UK - http://tinyurl.com/bretonmanc
05/03/14 - Village Underground, London, UK - http://tinyurl.com/bretonlondon
06/03/14 - La Cigale, Paris, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretonparis
07/03/14 - Le 106, Rouen, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretonrouen
08/03/14 - L'Echonova, Saint-Avé, France - http://tinyurl.com/bretonvannes
20/03/14 - Treefort Music Fest 2014, Boise, ID, US

[Night Out] Big Black Delta @ Mercury Lounge 6/19/2013

image credit: @markb

Despite being well aware of this upcoming tour, somehow Big Black Delta's show at Mecury Lounge on Wednesday night completely caught me off guard in the best possible way. I wasn't ready to leave work and go directly to a show, I wasn't ready for the further-fleshed out lineup that lead singer Jonathan Bates was rocking, and I certainly wasn't ready for my heart to be won over by a couple of overly-enthusiastic BBD fans. The last time I had the pleasure of experiencing that which is Big Black Delta, they were a three-piece consisting of two drummers, which left Bates with singing, programming, and lighting duties. This time around there were a few addiitons to accompany the more complex sound featured on their recent self-titled "official" debut release, namely some guitars and a badass bassist. 

Within the first couple of songs I happened to notice that someone near me clearly had not utilized all of the BO-supressing products that our fine society has to offer. In general, I find that to be pretty rude to subject other people to unpleasant smells, and this was no exception to that rule, at least at the beginning. Upon further examination, I discovered that the gentleman next to me, who slightly resembeled Zach Galifianakis, was the culprit of the foul odor I couldn't seem to escape up in the front. As I attempted to shoot him and his boyfriend a nasty glance, I realized that my fellow show-goer was in a current state of pure joy, dancing around and singing along as much as he possibly could with his boyfriend dancing at about 50% of his intensity. I've hit many a super jaded patch with regards to music, but the sight of this guy just letting loose for the remainder of the set took me back to a time where I wasn't being bombared with a ton of emails full of bands of the millisecond. Little by little his stench was the furthest thing from my mind. It clearly was refreshing for that level of excitement at a NYC for Bates because he couldn't help but point out how awesome the couple were while sporting a huge grin on his face. I feel like moments like that shouldn't have to be the exception in NYC. It would be nice if we all could ignore even the smelliest of distractions and just be able to let ourselves go, one set at a time.  

I can't detail this experience without noting how worthy Big Black Delta was of the excited spazzing from the attendees I featured above. The band's performance was spot on. Even with the music being of an electronic nature, Bates and his band were really able to keep the sound from feeling overly digital and cold. My only complaint was that it was the early show that evening so they had to keep it short. 

If you missed out on Big Black Delta on Wednesday, the band is playing at Glasslands tomorrow night (Saturday) with Joywave and Klaus. For more information on the show, head over to Glassland's website. 

[Night Out] Biffy Clyro @ The Roundhouse, iTunes Festival (22/09/12)

I was introduced to Biffy Clyro at one of my first ever musical outings at the age of 16. The outing in question was to Leeds Festival 2005 and me and 2 close friends were those eager kids that wanted to see everything from as close as possible. We had ran to the barrier on the Sunday morning in hope of staying there for the 9+ hours until Foo Fighters arrived to close the festival (which we did!). Little did I know though that 2 bands into the day a Jesus like figure dressed all in white would step out onto the stage and change my musical taste for the foreseeable future. That bearded man was Simon Neil and the band Biffy Clyro. I remember it vividly as my friends older brother actually said something along the lines of "these guys are shit, we'll see you back at the tents tonight, they play every year." How wrong he was. 

In 2005 the band had already released 3 albums in as many years, it was their fourth, Puzzle, that rocketed them into the consciousness of the masses. Fast forward to 2012, ten years after releasing their debut Blackened Sky and they've had an album peak at number 3 (Puzzle) and number 2 with Only Revolutions. With this said they've just announced a new double album set for release in 2013 and with that exciting news came that they were added to the iTunes festival at The Roundhouse, London. I was lucky enough to be there.

The chants of "Mon the Biff" echoed up to the historical wooden ceiling 50 feet above as the lights dimmed and the 3 topless gents took to the stage. They opened with their latest track, an album tease in the shape of "Stingin' Belle" and immediately rolled onto "The Captain", at which the crowd cried back "wooooo" with the opening riff. This was my first time at the legendary London venue but I must say the sound was immense and the circular shape meant you were never too far from the action. For a band that have sold out arenas, this was a true treat if you'd managed to get a ticket! The band seemed tighter than ever, 17 years together would probably have that effect as they played a mixed bag of both old and new. "27" from their debut, Blackened Sky, and was played just 3 tracks in and juxtaposed against the first (truly) unheard track of the evening (depending on if you'd seen them at a few festivals last year or in Leeds the previous evening) with "Modern Magic Formula" which was an energetic pulsating track that felt oh so fresh after the more sombre tones of "27".

The crowd was a pretty tame one by all accounts, but you can't expect it to be completely full of die-hard fans given the ticket allocation system yet in the pit they bounced as one at every opportunity to songs old and new. "Bubbles" proved very popular and during the track actual smoke filled bubbles rose from the front of stage popping in a puff of smoke as they reached he ceiling making for quite the spectacle. The crowd was loudest for "Many of Horror", the track enlisted by Simon Cowell last year for the X Factor winner which led to their own version re-entering the charts. Veteran fans and new fans alike sang, shouted and screamed the lyrics back at them.

The set rounded off with a couple of fan favourites but another new one a little earlier had caught my attention. It got me and Kitty so excited we looked at each other at precisely the same time and said "this sounds reminiscent of Blackened Sky/Vertigo of Bliss." Honestly it was at pretty much exactly the same time, you couldn't make this up. Titled "Sound Like Balloons" it was a jangly number from start to finish that had a soaring chorus suited for sing-alongs matched by thunderous sounds of bass and drums intertwined perfectly yet chopped to pieces by the vocal. It reminded me of "There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake" in its delivery erly on. It brought a tingle to my spine and it's only served to build my excitement more for next year's Opposites.

What I liked about the show was the growth. They've had a touring guitarist for several years now but this was the first time I'd seen them introduce an extra pianist for a few songs and the result was a continuation of their ever growing sound. They've had a large power behind them for years, even prior to the additional guitarist for newer songs, but add to that the piano and the songs take on a gargantuan form. A form and sound that is destined for arena domination. A force that we will no-doubt see sell out numerous venues next year. The night draw to a close after 21 songs of pure bliss ranging from their early beginnings and into their future next year. The crowd walked away happy and I was that 16 year old kid again on the barrier, left open mouthed and hyper active at what I'd just witnessed. A musical awakening that would shape my tastes for the coming years. Mon the Bif.

[Night Out] Divine Fits @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (9/9/2012)

credit: @sproutdr I don't think there could have been a better way to finish off the week than with a big ol' dose of Divine Fits. As the self-proclaimed last ones standing, Sprout and I happily squeezed into Music Hall of Williamsburg for one more night of rock'n'roll bliss before we had to go back to reality on Monday. I've listened to A Thing Called Divine Fits for a good while now, so I was eager to experience the songs live for myself. I was definitely not disappointed. For their debut NYC show, they more than delivered. It didn't take too long for the crowd to get into it, but once they were the energy continued to swell throughout the set. I have to say, for not being huge on Wolf Parade or New Bomb Turks, I liked how well they all meshed together. It seemed almost as though they had been a band for years with how comfortable they were playing off of each other.

A true test that you're having a good time is being able to look past even the most unfortunate situations and still enjoy yourself. This was proven to be the case when someone unapologetically dumped nearly a full pint of Brooklyn Lager down my back. It took about a half of a song to shake off the fact that my first time seeing Brit Daniel in the flesh (I know, shameful) was going to be tainted by a sticky back until I got home. Luckily, as soon as "Like Ice Cream" kicked in I was able to reshift my focus and go back to grooving.

If you haven't grabbed A Thing Called Divine Fits yet, you're gonna want to take care of that right away. In case you weren't able to catch Divine Fits this time around, they'll be back in October on their tour with Cold Cave. Head over to their website for more information.

Have a look at more photos and the setlist from Sunday night below:

Divine Fits at Music Hall of Williamsburg - 9/9/12 Setlist:
Flaggin a Ride 
Baby Get Worse 
The Salton Sea 
What Gets You Alone 
Would That Not Be Nice 
Civilian Stripes 
My Love Is Real 
Doom Town (Wipers)
Like Ice Cream 
Neopolitans 
You Got Lucky (Tom Petty cover)
For Your Heart

--------
Shivers (Nick Cave)

[Night Out] Civil Twilight @ Yuna Yang Afterparty (9/7/2012)

credit: @sproutdrOther than a Fashion's Night Out or two I've never really been one to actively participate during New York Fashion Week. It may be my desire to mostly wear rock band t-shirt, hoodies and flip flops that I do not particularly think that I am one of "their people". Imagine my surprise when we received an invite to come out to Yuna Yang's afterparty in celebration of her latest collection that was shown earlier on Friday evening. I was admittedly a little confused about the invite at first until I realized that South African rock band Civil Twilight was perfoming. I was really hoping it was because I had successfully started the trend of wearing flip flops in 50 degree weather, but no. *Sigh* Sprout is more of a fashionista than I am and I have enjoyed the handful of songs from the band so we headed above 14th Street for the first time in months to see what kind of trouble we could get into.

Having not gone to Yang's fashion show earlier in the evening, I missed out on #1- hearing Civil Twilight's music featured in her show and #2- having my memory refreshed of what Yuna Yang looked like so I didn't make a fool of myself. Within 5 minutes of Yang being in the building, two excited fans of hers approached me and asked if I would take a photo of them with this other woman (who ended up being Yang) on their iPhone with a crappy screen protector on it. Being a Florida native and used to tourists making this request, I happily obliged. After directing them to stand in better lighting, I snapped a photo. I turned the phone towards the fashionistas to confirm that they were happy with the photo when one of the girls makes a face and says, "Um, could you actually take one and make it more....vertical?" You could tell by the looks on their faces that I was rocking a confused expression until all of my synapses finally fired and it occurred to me that in the fashion world they want photos of their full outfits. This rarely happens when you're out with music people because we don't want to show off how bloated we are from all of the excessive drinking. Either way I felt pretty silly for not knowing any better, but I guess it was better that I got the NYFW N00b-ness out of the way nice and early. I got over it pretty quickly by making fun of the fact that they only had the two Justice full-lengths to hold everyone over till showtime.

It wasn't too long after that awkward moment that the room filled up nicely and the band took to the stage. For it just being a semi-impromptu set inside a gallery, the sound was amazing. I should have walked over to the sound guy and shook his hand. Civil Twilight was great. I think I actually like them better as a live band. They had killer energy and it was totally infectious, even with the fashion elite in the crowd. They were really feeling it, too. No doubt it was a spillover of the love fest that happened during the fashion show. Speaking of love fest, I loved watching Yuna Yang during the set. She was doing her very best to retain her coolness all the while cheerfully dancing around amongst other party goers. Considering their music inspired her so much that she based the collection she showed on their music, I'd say she was free to do whatever the heck she felt like. I had to fight the urge to go dance up next to her, since she already had such a wonderful impression of me as previously mentioned.

I also want to point out that of how ever many hundred people who were squeezed into the gallery for the event, as far as I could tell I was the ONLY person who had ear plugs in during the set. Do fashion people really not know that there's no point in looking really good if you can't hear people tell you how good you look? It was good and loud in there, too, so it's not like people weren't going to be speaking extra loudly over their temporary tinnitus in addition to the usual buzz of a crowded room. If you don't wear ear plugs to shows, you totally should be. It makes a HUGE difference.

Make sure you check out Civil Twilight's latest video for "Fire Escape" below:

They should have a proper music video for their newest single, "River" pretty soon. For now you can check out the lyric video for it:

For more of Sprout's photos from that night, you can peep the slideshow below or head over to her photo stream on Flickr to check them out

[Night Out] Alt-J @ Mercury Lounge (8/6/2012): How Not To Be 'That Guy' At A Show

credit: @SproutdrAfter pilling into the back room at Mercury Lounge and making a move towards the stage with Sprout, we nestled in amongst a happy group of fans and eagerly awaited to dance our faces off to some Alt-J jams, which for the most part they did. It's always a really great experience when not only does the band deliver a solid performance, but the fans are actively participating in the show instead of bobbing with their arms folded looking disinterested. A lovely blonde girl to my right at one point stopped and looked at me to say, "Have you ever heard these guys before!? I love them so much!" It's that kind of fan energy that I thrive off of when I'm in a crowd.

Wanna know what will stop a good evening almost completely dead in its tracks for me? "That Guy". You know, that guy. The guy who selfishly ignores the people around him for his the sake of how he thinks his experience should be, no matter how rude or obnoxious he is all night? I have to admit, had initially debated whether or not to even bring up this guy because by the end of the night I was so aggravated with the guy that I was ready to make sure he could never have children again, but after a day to cool off about the whole ordeal I decided that there probably aren't enough reminders circulating these days about how not to treat people at shows.

So there we were, the dedicated happy fans on the left side of the stage when suddenly the guy in the very front just off to the left of center stage starts convulsing (or what he would call "dancing") to the point where he's starting to knock into people. It was clear everyone thought: "Okay dude, you're having fun, just take it easy." But of course he doesn't. His next round of convulsing after stoping to take a breather and grind up on his girlfriend and lick/make out with her a little was to make sure he flailed his arms around enough that he was knocking people in the head and face a bunch. At this point people around me are all looking at each other like, "What the crap?", some are chuckling, and others started trying to get pictures of this musical exorcism of sorts in action.

"That Guy"

All this time, mind you, our dear friend Sprout is to the right of him trying to dodge his arms and snap some great photos of the night, thus earning her +1 to the fullest of her abilities. During round three of the girlfriend grinding/flailing combo I saw his arm smack Sprout's camera which rammed into her face and gave her a nice whack to the nose. It was then that I had enough and the rock mama deep down inside of me stepped in. In between songs I grabbed this guy and gave him a good shaking. After he spun around I leaned over and said over the chatter of the crowd, "Could you please do me a favor? My friend over here *points to Sprout* is trying to get photos of the band because this is like... our job and stuff? Maybe look out for her please?" To which the guy seemed to happily agree to, but proceeded to go about his flailing/grinding business as if nothing ever happened. For a moment I thought we might be able to get rid of him, because all of a sudden in the middle of the set he squeezes through the sold out crowd to go get a drink for himself. (Un)fortunately enough, other people are a lot nicer than I am and let him back up to join his girlfriend once more. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty great show, but if it had been devoid of "that guy" I would probably remember it even more fondly than I already do.

If you are "that guy" at shows and do things that remotely resemble this, I just have one thing to say to you:

You, my fellow human being, are a douche. Like, the douchiest of douches.

Seriously though, the internet. This is your friendly reminder of the moment to remember to be cool to each other when you're at shows. We're all trying to have a good time and being thoughtful of everyone else having a good time will probably save you from getting pushed or having a drink spill on you or something of that nature.

If you haven't pre-ordered Alt-J's debut album, An Awesome Wave, make sure you do that ASAP. It drops on September 18th via Canvasback Music (it's out now in the UK, btw). You can also befriend the band on Twitter and Facebook.

[Night Out] Theophilus London Slipper Launch Party @ The Black Tag 8/1/2012

credit: @sproutdrI remember two SXSWs ago when I was filling in for The Audio Perv last minute on the red black carpet at the 2011 MTV Woodies that I briefly got some facetime with Theophilus London and we were talking about the shoe he had designed for Cole Haan. I hadn't really been keeping up with him much past the mixtapes and his full-length, Timez Are Weird These Days, when those dropped. When I heard that he had continued to dabble in clothing and specifically shoe design, I jumped at the chance to feast my eyes on his latest pair of slippers with his signature LVRS branding on them courtesy of a partnership with Del Toro. Sprout and I love us some white wine and shoes, so this event was a total win-win for us.  Theophilus London's Blue Suede Buck Shoes by Cole HaanUpon arrival at the packed boutique, I noticed that there were more than just the Cole Haans and Del Toros on display. I soon found out as I was directed to the makeshift bar that he had designed everything in the room, which included sequin shirts, baseball caps, and a few different T-shirt designs. I should also mention that this particular slipper launch was timed with the release of his latest mixtape, Rose Island Vol. 1, which you can go grab over on his website.

After a few awkward moments of people looking down at their phones and grabbing drinks, the room was filled with chatter and people started to make their way around the room looking at all of the different pieces on display. I'll admit, I had a hard time keeping my hands off the sequin shirts and the slippers. I even made a pathetic attempt to model with the shoes but couldn't quite get my blue steel pose down well enough. I gained a little more respect for models after seeing how silly I looked when I peeked over Sprout's shoulder at the LCD display on her camera.

My best "blue steel" with the LVRS slippersIf I had slightly larger feet (US mens size 8-13 to be exact) and weren't on such a stritct blogger budget (sticker price is $360 for these loverlies), I would be all over these shoes. There's just enough to the design that both ladies and gents can pull off. Great work, Mr. London. I hope you're really proud of yourself.

If you've got the spare change and my shoe modeling really sold you on these, you can grab these limited edtion (but not hand numbered, bummer) shoes over on Del Toros website.

Oh! MTVStyle was also there pointing their cameras all over the place and managed to get London to open up about about the LVRS brand and the shoes he's designed. You can check that out below:

Get More: MTV Shows

You can also check out more of Sprout's photos from the party here: