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[Night Out] Miami Horror @ Bowery Ballroom (1/22/2016)

FIRST BOWERY BALLROOM SHOW OF 2016!!!! 

Thanks to weather dot com Sprout and I knew that the stupid blizzard was going to start taking a dump on the city during the show, so sadly first Bowery show was bffl-less. :( 

BUT! THE! PARTY! DID! NOT! STOP! Australia's Miami Horror could not have been a better band to catch last night before hibernating and riding out this shitstorm of a blizzard.

If it were possible to harness all of the energy inside of Bowery Ballroom last night I am fairly certain that we'd be dealing with flash flooding because all of the snow in New York would melt instantly. That's not even bringing the audience into the equation, who were equal parts dancing their asses off and trying to keep an eye on singer/guitarist Josh Moriarty, who couldn't hold still to save his life. He and fellow vocalist/keyboardist Aaron Shanahan made sure that all who were going to be enduring slushy snow covered streets left the show in such a happy hypnotic state that they'd barely be able to notice the unfortunate inclement weather. If Moriarty was climbing up on the upper balcony, then Shanahan was squatted down in the middle of the crowd literally commanding everyone to get down. 

As I sit here typing away I think of the girls in front of me that asked before the band came on if it'd started snowing yet because they wanted to go out after the show. I should've had my camera ready to record their reaction when I recommended going home to records, wine, and fuzzy socks. It was the most beautifully disgusted pair of faces I've ever seen. I don't blame them though. It was hard not want to keep the dance party going. 

Also, completely off topic: of COURSE Miami Horror are Australian. This explains my obsession with their latest album, All Possible Futures. Have you heard this 1 hour and 2 minute collection of non-stop party vibes? BEST GET ON IT! 

CATCH THESE GUYS ON TOUR ASAP. SERIOUSLY. DON'T BE STUPID. GO. GO. GO. Coachella is your last chance if you live in the US. 

You're welcome in advance. 

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[Night Out] Sean McVerry @ CHCM Boutique (1/20/2016)

WINTER BREAK IS OVER. IT'S TIME TO GET BACK TO ROCKIN'! 

LET'S TALK ABOUT MY FIRST BABY BAND OF THE YEAR! 

I had the pleasure of attending an intimate preview of the debut EP from Sean McVerry, a one-man band of sorts hailing from Connecticut on Wednesday night. Squeezing into NoHo boutique CHCM, we did the stereotypically hip NYC thing - sipping our PBRs and chatting while the EP played in the background. When it came time for McVerry to perform cuts from Hourglass Switchboard I, the first of his three-part EP series, things got very real. 

I had spun the record a few times prior to arriving to the show. Based on my initial impression of the record, I assumed that by looking at his setup when I arrived that we wouldn't get the full experience. 

Boy was I wrong. We actually got more than that. As he was nearing the end of his set, there was a loud crackling noise and then the music stopped. The poor kid had gotten lost in the moment and stomped on the HDMI cable keeping everything together to the point that it was beyond repair. That's when the magic happened. Unfazed, McVerry stepped from behind his setup and climbed on a display that people were sitting on and proceeded to perform the last song acapella, stomping away throughout to keep time. As impressive as his instrumental abilities are, his voice dominated the room, shutting up every last attendee (which up until this point he was unable to do because New Yorkers are the worst at this as you know from our Son Little outing). 

If you need additional proof of his vocal talents, please see this Play Too Much performance of his single, "Kerosene". 

Yeah. See? Told you. 

Have to say, very anxious to hear the other 2 EPs that he's got up his sleeves. Something tells me I might have opinions about which songs belonged on which EPs, but regardless I suppose you could say Sean McVerry has made an amazing first impression on me in a MCVERRY BIG WAY. 

(#sorrynotsorry couldn't resist!) 

While he's not officially #SKOAfam yet (we've still gotta do an interview when he comes back to Mercury Lounge in March!), this rock mom is DYING for you to hear how talented this guy is. 

Have a listen to Hourglass Switchboard I in the player below. 

You can also catch him on tour if you don't live by me! 

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Golden Days: Remembering Loved Ones Through Music Even After They're Gone

Growing up I had a friend named Clint. He was the drummer for a hardcore band in Central Florida (which is where I grew up). He was my first "musician friend" and one of my favorite people to share music with on the planet. We weren't the kind of best friends that hung out incessantly, but when we spent time together at shows or playing music for each other it was like it had been mere minutes not months since we last saw each other. As #teens living in a state notorious for its plethora of retirees, we were huge fans of all things Fueled By Ramen because it felt like there was a glimmer of hope that Florida wouldn't suck forever. People used to tease him a lot that he looked a lot like Patrick Stump, singer of Fall Out Boy, which as a huge fan of Take This To Your Grave at the time he wore as a badge of honor. 

Clint and I stayed in touch after I headed to Nashville for college, reuniting during holiday breaks to share the records we had discovered while we were apart. Just before I headed home for Christmas in 2005, he excitedly called me to play, "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage", from Panic! At The Disco's debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Just like him, I was hooked within seconds. I made sure to grab the record before I headed south so that when we hung out we could sing along to the record together driving around - a thing we always did. 

Even after I moved to New York in 2006. Our ritual stayed the same. Any time I was in town we hung out and played music for each other. In 2007, homegrown label Fueled By Ramen became an imprint label of Warner Music Group and yours truly was called in as a temp executive assistant to help them set up their New York offices. That Christmas I came home with the latest FBR releases to give him, including the deluxe box set version of AFYCSO. We continued to keep in touch despite going back to Florida less and less, checking in when a band we both loved released new material to share our critiques of it. Most of the time it was us gushing to each other about our favorite songs on the records. 

Clint and I, circa October 2007

In the fall of 2009, Clint very abruptly passed away. It was a very sudden thing that literally no one could have seen coming. He was my first close friend to die, so it hit me incredibly hard. I was so upset that I had to leave work early and could barely walk to the subway to go home. I wasn't able to attend his funeral, so I mourned in the most fitting way - by listening to the music we shared with each other: hand crafted mixes I made him and vice versa, records that I knew were his favorite, anything I could get my hands on. 

Despite it being almost 7 years since Clint's been gone, my habitual desire to talk to him about records from artists we both loved hasn't gone away. About a month after his passing, Paramore released their third studio album, Brand New Eyes. That first time I felt the kneejerk reaction to text/call him but couldn't was hard, but it has gotten easier to acknowledge as a beautiful learned behavior that I hope I have somewhat successfully both demonstrated and inspired in others. Memorizing and publicly lauding an album is a wonderful thing, but the level of intimacy that comes from very intentionally sharing music with someone is something that no algorithm can reproduce (not yet anyway). 

This past New Music Friday, PATD released their 5th studio album, Death Of A Bachelor. Of all the FBR artists that have released albums since he passed, I'm always the most anxious to hear their albums immediately. I think it was because of that eager phone call in 2005. Either way, the trail of singles leading to DOAB's release had me anxious to feast my ears on it. It's been fun to watch this band evolve over the years. Singer Brendon Urie's voice continues to blow my mind just as much as it did with that first taste in '05, if not more. I'd like to think that Clint would share this sentiment. 

Like I have with all of their previous records, I've carefully poured over every word and note, taking a mental inventory of sorts of what I think Clint would appreciate. I'm fairly certain that this would have been his favorite of the ones that have been released since his passing. It's been an equally difficult and exciting few days binge listening to the record, especially with all of the recent deaths that the music community is still recovering from. Even still, I hear songs like, "Victorious" and can practically see him air drumming in his red pickup truck with carefully chosen band stickers. I think of how we'd laugh at the absurdity of our attempts to falsetto as well as Urie during, "Emperor's New Clothes", "Death Of A Bachelor", or "Hallelujah". 

At the time of publishing this, I'm still unable to get through the entire record without crying a little bit because I know he would have appreciated this record as much as I do. This usually happens during, "Golden Days", which appropriately enough features a line that Urie's voice soothingly reassures that, "time can never break your heart but it can take the pain away", which to an extent it has been the case of missing one of my favorite music comrades. That said, knowing that even after someone is gone that it's possible to still feel connected to them through music both old and new is something that will always be priceless to me. 

Death Of A Bachelor is in stores worldwide. Panic! At The Disco is heading out on tour with Weezer this summer. You can head here for dates. 

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[Listen] Morly - "The Choir"

After falling hard for Minneapolis producer/songwriter Morly last year with her EP, In Defense of My Muse, the songstress is back to tug at my heart strings some more. This time around, after the majority of the EP showcasing her production abilities, this new song, "The Choir", prominently features her soothing vocal stylings. Her minimalist approach to layering textures conjures these icy anthems that somehow manage to make you feel like you're wrapped up in a warm blanket but with a shiver up your spine. 

Grab a blanket and brace yourself for goosebumps folks: 

If you haven't heard In Defense Of My Muse, yet you should probably get on that as well: 

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[Listen] Mayer Hawthorne - "Cosmic Love"

Oh check it out, you guys. It looks like Mayer Hawthorne wrote me a love song. The new single, "Cosmic Love", features everything I love: rocketships, galaxies, and space-sexual innuendo. As you may recall, last year Hawthorne put the majority of his efforts into his side project with producer Jake One, Tuxedo. Per hints in the info on Soundcloud and his mailing list, however, it looks like this spring we'll be getting a followup to his 2013 LP, Where Does This Door Go. 

Enjoy, "Cosmic Love" below:

Upcoming Tour Dates

Mayer Hawthorne Revue
1/18 - Los Angeles, CA - SOLD OUT
1/19 - Los Angeles, CA - SOLD OUT

Mayer Hawthorne
2/19 - New York, NY w/Hall & Oates - Tickets
2/19 - Brooklyn, NY (DJ SET) - Tickets

Tuxedo
1/22 - San Diego, CA - Tickets
1/28 - Austin, TX (DJ SET) - RSVP

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#skoaradio 11/14/2015 liner notes

"Kibbe, aren't you posting these liner notes kind of late?"

I'm late to getting this up. Sorry. Clearly from the amount of posts I've done so far today I'm trying tog get caught up. It's a nice problem to have with 3 fire shows in a week being the root of not being able to get #content out on time.

Anyway, this is going to be the last time I put together a separate playlist for the show. That's right, from now on you'll have to scramble to pull the songs from a playlist that I'm going to be changing on the regular. This is mutually beneficial because it will force me to get these out sooner rather than later so you can snatch up the goodies I share with you.

Hope you're having a great weekend fam!

<3

kibbe!

Read these things and get smarter okay?

Feel free to grab this playlist, obvi.

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[Night Out] Kate Boy @ Baby's All Right (11/14/2015)

One Friday night 2 years ago during CMJ I took a chance on a band with an interesting press photo and would forget how exhausted I was the day after because what I had experienced had completely blown me away. Last Saturday at Baby's All Right I was fortunate enough to relive an updated version of that night with Stockholm synth-[now] duo Kate Boy. I'm not sure what it is with NYC promoters and Kate Boy that they have the band go on at ungodly hours. I'm guessing it's to make damn sure that everyone present is there get their #posiparty on? Anyway, this 2nd time around had an additional hurdle that we all had to get past which can only be described as the guy who was next to me ever so eloquently put it: it was hot as BALLS in Baby's that night. I'm talking, like, the first 2 minutes of me snapping pictures I couldn't figure out why everything was coming out looking like garbage until I realized that the lens had fogged up from the rapid change in temperature. It was hottttt.

The equation of sold out show + apparent possibly malfunctioning air conditioner normally = showgoers to rage quit a performance early. Not this crowd.

Since the fateful day that the band upped the first song that they ever wrote together, "Northern Lights," and the internet fell in love with their uniquely vibrant and energetic sound, fans have been hankering for more music, which the band attempted to churn out as quickly as they were able to. With their debut full-length, One, only being out in the universe for a week when we all congregated at Baby's, you could tell that the high of hearing songs like, "Human Engine" or "Lion For Real" for the first time hadn't worn off. If anything, it had people practically vibrating with excitement to see them (myself included). I should also add that as I hinted at earlier, recently the band went from a trio to a duo, so the anticipation to see what the change in lineup would be like added another layer of suspense for the evening.

I'm actually starting to think that the heat source was actually Kate Boy. If you thought they were fire when they were a three-piece, they are a force to be reckoned with as a two-piece. Kate and Marcus clearly took on the extra duties that came when the group went from 3 to 2 head on. The energy they threw into their set was addictive. It was almost as if the warmer the room got the harder everyone would dance. Everyone did the best they could to lose as many layers in an effort to not dance until they quite literally dropped. That said, the second the room realized that the band was over everyone poured out onto the street to cool off. If you looked hard enough you could even see steam rising off a handful of people.

If you have not listened to One yet I worry about your ability to make good decisions. You can also be cool like me and grab it on vinyl.

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[Night Out] BOOTS @ Rough Trade (11/13/2015)

Since the day that Rocko slid "I Run Roulette" in front of me a back in February I had been practically drooling all over myself to experience BOOTS in the flesh. I was basically been counting down the days until the album release party at Rough Trade last Friday. The week that Aquaria dropped it was like going down the side of a mountain on a bike, especially when I got an advance of the album and got to taste what would be washing over me Friday night.

Then, for about a minute that day before we made it to Rough Trade, I briefly considered not going. It was about an hour before I got out of work when Twitter lit up with what was happening in Paris, specifically what transpired at The Bataclan. The hesitation mostly stemmed from trying to decide if it was disrespectful to rock out while there were people suffering on the other side of the ocean. It's hard to know how to proceed in situations like these without feeling like you've either moved on too quickly or conversely letting it take up so much of your head space that the people who did the awful things essentially accomplished what they set out to do. With that in mind, I focused my attention on dedicating my night of dancing to the ones who should have had the freedom to do the same in Paris.

And danced we did.

BOOTS brainchild Jordan Asher and I were clearly on the same page. Prior to performing, he had us collectively send love out to Paris with our fists raised in unison before instructing us to raise our middle fingers to the people in the world that thought they could take our community away from us.

Also, just so we're clear, all my preemptive drooling was not done in vain. Seconds after paying our respects, Asher and his accompanying band launched into a powerful set that immediately annihilated any potential jitters about being at a show in a major city that night and reinforced in all of us the power that we realize in ourselves and each other when we go to shows. The ability to exchange glances with a complete stranger and nod knowing that both of your minds are collectively being blown by what is happening a few feet in front of you. The chance to make friends with fellow showgoers before/after a set because you can infer that you've surrounded yourself with fairly like-minded individuals. These are things that I took for granted until that night when I had to stare fear in the face and quote White Stripes lyrics at it ("there's no home for you here") because it is when people gather together in the name of a single cause that change happens.

I sincerely hope none of you have hesitated for a second about stepping foot inside a venue since last Friday. If my schedule were more open right now I'd be defiantly going to 2 shows a night right now. Music is one of the most powerful forces on the planet because it has the power to bring people from a multitude of backgrounds together and get along, even if it's just for an hour.

On a lighter note, Sprout and I have bragging rights because we were able to snag these at the show:

Yep. I got 2/100 and Sprout got 22/100. It must be said that once you listen to this record on vinyl it will be incredibly hard for you to listen to stream/downloads of it the same way again. Wow. For those of you who weren't able to make it to either release shows (he also did one in LA) you will be able to pick up a vinyl copy on December 4th when the full vinyl run will be available. For now, familiarize yourself with the wonders of Aquaria:

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