Music – Page 6 – Audiofemme

TRACK PREMIERE: Stroamata “A Fantasy”

It’s 2015. If you’re reading this you survived and have made it to strut around the sun another year. You can swipe right and order up sex quicker than an egg roll from the Chinese place next door. It’s (at least in Brooklyn) culturally cool to have a partially shaved head but a bushy vagina, and mainstream media is finally attacking celebrities who say they aren’t a feminist.

What I’m trying to say is that we’re in the goddamn future, even though AC/DC is indeed headlining Coachella.

Now that the cultural context is set, let me go ahead and premiere the self-proclaimed “future rock” band, Brooklyn-based Stroamata‘s single “A Fantasy.” There may be an ironic tone to that title, as the sounds of the in-your-face song pulled me out of my day dreams into radical acceptance of now, for which I thank them. It’s good to get out of your head every now and again.

“Oh no no, I’ve had it all wrong. Life’s not short, it goes on and on…” the track warns.

With DJ Shadow-inspired industrial beats pressed through an alt-rock machine, the female-fronted group thrashes and tears to the front of the climacteric angst of the current musical moment kids crave still reeling from the shit show that was 2014.

Enjoy “A Fantasy” below.

TRACK PREMIERE: Kaitlin Riegel “When I Fall Asleep”

Unfortunately for the impatient; Kaitlin Riegel’s sophomore EP, System, isn’t set for release until February 10th. Luckily, we have a sneak peak of a new track from the New Zealand artist. “When I Fall Asleep” is the softer, stripped-down B-side of her catchy, R&B single “System.” It’s produced by James Yuill of Moshi Moshi, who has worked with Hot Chip, Florence & the Machine, and Kate Nash. You can preorder System here, and listen to “When I Fall Asleep” below.

Riegel was born in Portland, then started her music career as a pre-teen hanging around Massachusetts coffee shops. She later relocated to New Zealand where she currently works from. This internationally-minded artist has also recorded in Berlin (with Simon Berkelman of Philadelphia Grand Jury) and more recently in London, and credits her exposure to diverse environments and culture with shaping her unique style and sound. She has a strong foundation in classical and jazz genres, which she augments with contemporary R&B.

TRACK OF THE WEEK: Dream Brother “Uppr Dwnr”

Sunday evening post-New Year’s is statistically the most popular time to join an online dating site, and therefor likely one of the loneliest and horniest nights, but also creating that awkward time of the winter year between Christmas and Valentine’s Day the most promising time to get laid. (Side note: Statistically, I believe Monday morning post-New Year’s is the most difficult day to force yourself out of bed in the morning.) Returning to the perhaps two most inspiring human emotions, love and sadness, I warmly present Dream Brother‘s (a new project from Ian Anderson) new single “Uppr Dwnr,” as the name suggests, a speedball of sorts. The whimsical pop track debates the uncertain future of a romance with careless wonder.

“I could walk away, you could walk away…” ponders Anderson before evolving to culminate in an offer of, “I could want to stay, you could want to stay. No one would have to know.”

Pour this song in your ears this morning and lighten up on life a little. As they say, no one makes it out alive anyways. You can download “Uppr Dwnr” here.

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TRACK OF THE WEEK: Brian Robert “Black Heart”

Love and heartbreak, sex and death, highs and comedowns. The duality of life’s most intense aspects of being human inspire the best art. Infiltrating our hearts and resonating with our own experiences, it’s what we dig about music. Melody or lyrical expression, people love to relate, to have your own emotions captured and expressed in art form by another soul to know you’re not alone. There’s the light messages of life’s little joys and complaints pumped out by the pop power houses, and then there’s the real shit. “Black Heart,” off Brian Robert’s EP Feels Like I’m Gonna Die is the real shit. The lead singer/songwriter of the Charleston band Company, friends and favorites of their neighbors Band of Horses, Robert spread his wings to fly solo in the sadness of the death of his childhood best friend and Company costar Kelly Grant. So, when he titles his first EP post-tragedy Feels Like I’m Gonna Die you get the impression he isn’t mincing words or using the concept of death for shock value. These songs are coming from his deep black lake of a heart, picturesque on the surface but churning with life and all of its cruelties below. “Black Heart,” with its (my favorite expression) beautifully morbid melodies doesn’t have soul searching lyrics, it has soul revealing lyrics.

Stream (or download!) “Black Heart” via Bandcamp below.

<a href="http://brianrobert.bandcamp.com/album/feels-like-im-gonna-die">Feels Like I’m Gonna Die by Brian Robert</a>

LIVE REVIEW: Parlour Tricks @ Mercury Lounge

Lily Claire, frontwoman and primary songwriter for the New York-based Parlour Tricks, gets wild-eyed when she performs. Standing squarely in the middle of the stage at the Mercury Lounge last Saturday, wearing a white tunic with a black collar (her backup singers wore matching outfits, but with the colors reversed), Claire gripped the microphone and gave the audience this look, poised yet deer-in-headlights-ish, as if she were a circa-1920s high-end jewelry thief, stealing just for the thrill of it, and to escape the tedium of her wealthy but loveless marriage, and we were the police squadron waiting outside her secret trapdoor exit to catch her with her bag of loot. Drama flatters rock and roll.

The six-piece bases operations out of New York City, though technically Claire is the only native. True to its name, Parlour Tricks consists of an array of hometowns, and many different musical scenes–its members hail from Philadelphia, Nashville and Paris, to name just a few. If you listen to the singles the group has released over the past couple of years, the show-magic quality of the name links best to the Parlour Tricks’ sense of theater, the heavy beats and brawny soprano vocal harmonies. A performance from Tricks falls into the category of stage magic that happens at close range in front of a small audience; no pyrotechnics necessary. On Claire’s left and right, backup singers Morgane Moulherat and Darah Golub didn’t need acrobatics to coax the high drama out of their voices. Just standing there, swaying in tandem, like they were being pulled by the same tide. They looked haunting as a pair of Greek Sirens.

All told, Tricks’ output has been surprisingly small, just a few singles over the last couple of years. Why surprisingly? Maybe because “Belle Gunness” got featured in that BMW commercial, or maybe–relatedly–because every track they’ve released has the “this is it” quality of a breakout hit. Standing in the audience, amidst an enthusiastic-ish crowd (sidebar, paraphrased from my notebook: Why, in the presence of all the group’s musical prowess and slight of hand, all its heavy hooks and belty harmonies, was a Saturday night crowd at the Mercury Lounge only enthusiastic-ish?), I felt that with each song a heavy weight dropped, the way a young band performs the first song that comes straight from the guts. But the songs didn’t talk to each other. Every last one was a power single. Every last one was a breakdown, an epiphany, a turning point. I couldn’t imagine them all crowded onto an album together.

About three quarters of the way through the band’s set, Claire said “This is a song about a crazy woman,” turned her back to the audience, and shook out her shampoo-commercial-shiny hair. “Me,” she added off the mic, laughing in the direction of her bass player. The band launched into “Bukowski,” which turned out to be my favorite performance of the night, because though it began and ended in the spotlight, the song’s theatrics meandered into shadowier–and more vulnerable–corners between the hooks. Maybe it was the combination of a crunchily chaotic guitar line with Moulherat and Golub’s high-pealing (even for them!) vocal lines. Certainly it helped when Claire eased her pose at the microphone. Once she began to amble around the stage and joke with her fellow players, the aesthetic got pleasantly rumpled. They looked more like a band, and less like a portrait.

Check out the music video for Tricks’ irrepressible latest, “Lovesongs,” below. You can go here to buy a download!

BEST OF 2014: Best Tracks from NYC Bands

There were a lot of great songs released in 2014, and many came from bands who are from New York City (or, like many of us here, just currently call it home). Here are some of the year’s best tracks from the city that never sleeps.

Ava Luna: “Plain Speech” from Electric Balloon (Western Vinyl, March)

Ava Luna is an eclectic quintet based in Brooklyn. Practically three tracks in one, this hipster love song involving fixies is an example of how the band can switch seamlessly from funky, offbeat rhythms to heartfelt, soulful anthems. Expect a new album from them soon.

Celestial Shore: “Gloria” from Enter Ghost (Hometapes, November)

This Brooklyn-based band released their second, more polished album in November. On Enter Ghost’s second track, they transition easily from complicated drum beats and snarling guitars to soft melodies. “Gloria” builds up and pulls back constantly, never quite resting on any one type of sound.

Hospitality: “I Miss Your Bones” from Trouble (Merge Records, January)

The trio’s second album toes the lines of psychedelic/garage rock and guitar pop with songs about the subtleties of relationships and everyday insecurities. “I Miss Your Bones” is one of the album’s most energetic tracks, with shifting rhythms, perfectly synced guitars, and spot-on lyrics sung with Amber Papini’s charismatic lilt.

LVL UP: “DBTS” from Hoodwink’d (Double Double Whammy/Exploding in Sound, September)

LVL UP’s hometown is Purchase in Upstate New York, but they’ve recently joined the roster of emerging Brooklyn bands. They’re masters at crafting quick songs, sung with a tired drawl and lively metaphors reminiscent of David Berman. Hoodwink’d is a short, bittersweet showcase of mid-twenties angst.

Mitski: “Townie” from Bury Me At Makeout Creek (Double Double Whammy, November)

How do you describe Mitski? You could say she’s like Brooklyn’s edgier version of Angel Olsen, with more grit and fuzzier guitars. That’s not all, though. With lyrics like “I want a love that falls as fast as a body from the balcony” and “I’m holding my breath like a baseball bat,” you can’t help wanting to know exactly what’s going on in her head.

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Parquet Courts: “Ducking and Dodging” from Sunbathing Animal (What’s Your Rupture?/Mom & Pop, June)

These punks originally from Texas play an intense form of something falling between blues, punk and rock. They recently turned Webster Hall into a mess of mosh pits and attempted stage-diving, which reached its best point (or worst, if you were the incredibly unamused bouncer) with “Ducking and Dodging.” The lyrics are more spit than sung, punctuated by sharp guitar chords and a constant, pounding bass.

Parkay Quarts: “Pretty Machines” from Content Nausea (November 2014, What’s Your Rupture?)

Andrew Savage and Austin Brown made this list twice, with another recently released album under a slightly different name. “Pretty Machines” has a catchy, bright guitar hook, Savage’s deadpan vocals, and a surprisingly uplifting horn section. Every verse in the song is a quotable gem, with lyrics such as “ Whiskey sips upon me as my secrets escaped/ In the skyline of hell there are no fire escapes.”

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Sharon Van Etten: “Taking Chances” from Are We There (May, Jagjaguwar)

Known for being kind of a downer, Are We There is probably not an album you want to listen to when you’re in a good mood. “Taking Chances” was the album’s first single and one of its best tracks. Van Etten’s sleepy voice, gloomy guitar and electric piano make this a good song for days when you’re not quite ready to force a smile.

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Her Habits

When discussing artists, a phenomenon frequently comes up among those who work in the industry. You may adore someone, yet not be so into their music, or discover your favorite artist is kind of an ass. Her Habits (singer/songwriter Joanie Wolkoff) passes both the human and art test with flying “tropi-pop” colors (a term meaning tropical pop she used to describe her earlier work, before finding her rock and electro sides in part with Her Habits collaborator/producer Sanford Livingston).

Originally from Toronto, Joanie grew up in a musical household “Mom played folk guitar and dug (Canadian legend) Gordon Lightfoot and dad sings and writes his own blues songs to this day,” says Joanie. She lived with her father and stepmother (her mother passed when she was nine) as an only child. “I explored a lot of imaginative avenues because I spent a lot of time alone when I was a little kid,” she says. After attending a conservative all-girls school, Joanie fell into an artistic community of “elective kin” during her time spent at an alternative high school, a sharp (and assumed appreciated) change from her early education. “I sort of found myself at age 14 or 15 surrounded by a much broader spectrum of demographics,” says Joanie. “I left home early and found myself in a really creative community of folks who were a few years older than me, and who really wanted to empower me and help me find my footing. They helped remind me that I had jurisdiction over my life even though I was 17 and super young and super intimidated. I think I still had these ideas around what I as meant to do or entitled to do instead of just following all my passions.”

After a successful enough modeling career to support herself and save up for college, Joanie moved to Paris to study. What was meant to be a brief stint turned into four years. Eventually, Joanie found herself in New York in 2006. As noted in the interview, we’re skipping over the internship in rural China, the chandelier making, and other glimmering gems of experience that fall out of Joanie’s lips with a humbling nod. “I do carry an expired state issued barbering license,” she adds.

While music had always been a part of her experience, the energy of New York sailed Joanie through the progression that emerged to become Her Habits. “I think there’s a professional blood lust in America that gives its art a really powerful reach,” she says.

Her Habits is a recent initiative after four years of Joanie and Sanford working together. The two met a while back working on a pitch for Hershey’s chocolate. They didn’t get the gig, but it lead to a creative partnership of filtering Joanie’s songwriting through Sanford’s production skills, who along with honing in on that unique style (like being able to tell who made the vegetables at a potluck, she describes) also pushes her musical boundaries. “Make no mistake, Her Habits is a collaboration,” Joanie says. “We had to join forces to create the particular energy and texture and production value that you get when you listen.” When asked of her creative process, she says “It’s kind of insular, like I’ll try to construct really interesting really stimulating melodies.” Stimulating melodies indeed. From someone who has dabbled in everything from stoner rock to commercial pop and lived a life encompassing the grit of a farmer and the glamour of a world model, Her Habits is a clean and sparkly well-though out collection of driving beats and sugary melodies. The grit and the glamour is all there in the music, I like to imagine twirling under the lights of a disco ball spinning from a log cabin as I listen, but check the forthcoming EP out for yourself. It also comes with an illustrated booklet created by Joanie after asking around what habits people found to be unique to women.

Her Habits debut Northerner EP will be out Jan 27th. I

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK: The Bulls “Come Unwound”

Happy day after Thanksgiving. Let’s fade away from sweaters and forced family relations and return to head-in-the-blogosphere normalcy with a viewing of Los Angeles duo The Bulls “Come Unwound.” Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll is a cliché for a reason, the trio go together like turkey, stuffing, with a dollop of gravy. Stick with weed and red wine for this one, as far as this video is concerned sex and rock ‘n’ roll are a delicacy to be savored rather than substance to be abused. Yet speaking of abuse, the bondage-themed video uses shibari (the ancient Japanese form of rope bondage) to illustrate the ethereal sounds of Anna’s voice paired with Marc’s strumming. An anonymous woman dressed in a ghostly white body suit and dominatrix black heels sways to the lovely music as beautifully intrinsic knots tie across her body with bold red rope. Laced through the bondage scenery is Anna, singer and multi-instrumentalist and Marc the guitarist in leather jackets in an empty warehouse that just as easily could have been used for a Kink.com shoot. Like that time I wrote about group sex while wearing a gingham sundress and my hair up in a bun, the video uses (my favorite) artistic technique of meshing the traditionally beautiful with the perversely taboo. In The Bull’s case, it’s a blonde playing the violin with arms tied in scarlet bondage ropes. The soft shoegaze yings as BDSM imagery yangs. Take a break from Black Friday online shopping and watch the video below (then talk dirty in French).

ARTIST PROFILE + INTERVIEW: Brittsommar – One North Country to Another

“I write these answers now in a dark cabin on the Swedish country side.”

This I can imagine: Sawyer Gebauer, lamp-lit at a maple table pondering the four-year history of his musical project Brittsommar. What is difficult to picture is that he is communicating via computer, and not quill, parchment and pigeon. These dated emblems do not come to mind because Gebauer’s music is dressed in derivative costume, but rather due to the fairytale-like circumstances of Brittsommar’s formation.

“Ha, that’s what most people say-some fairytale scenario.”

Simply put, Brittsommar plays folk music. But theirs is not the saccharine-sunshine variety of Mumford and Sons and Edward Sharpe so prevalent a few years back. Something much darker and more austere is at play here, summoning the sorrow of Nick Cave and the narrative structuring of Lee Hazlewood. It’s a slice of sound that’s long been absent from American indie music, which is perhaps why Gebauer became an expat before finding collaborators with a similar mission to his own.

While most 19-year-old musicians might take a crack at ‘making it’ in New York or Los Angeles, Wisconsin-born Gebauer instead fled to Sweden in 2010, no master plan informing the decision.

“It was just the usual thoughts and confusion that comes with that age after high school. What is this life of mine? This world that we are born, live, and die in. Who am I, who are you? All those typical questions of a world unseen…the beauty of the unknown.”

It’s the kind of cryptic response one would expect after hearing Brittsommar, their swelling melodrama of strings and minor chords suggesting too many nights spent with Evan Williams and Aesop’s Fables. In both song and conversation Gebauer takes on an air of the wizened raconteur-a true storyteller who has somehow never written down a song in his life.

“I just feel as soon as I write it down it disappears. It’s down and out. It’s on the page and that’s where it will stay, between the binding. Perhaps when I start to get older and the drink eventually gets to me I´ll have to start documenting. We´ll see.”

But true to his Midwestern roots Gebauer occasionally retreats from the role of bard, admitting the more down-to-earth and banal reasons for leaving home:

“I wasn´t interested in university or staying at the pizza joint I worked in. I wasn’t interested in staying in the relationship I was in- or any as a matter of fact. There was no option besides getting out of Madison.

At the time, I was quite into Swedish musicians- Tallest Man on Earth, The Knife, Jens Leckman, Jose Gonzales. So I thought, ‘Well, I might as well go there and see what I can do.’ There was something there in the back of my head and the bottom of my gut that pulled me in that direction. One North Country to another.”

Gebauer turned to WWOOFing and found a host farm on which he could work in return for food and board. He picked the first farm listed but changed his mind last minute, settling on another called Rosenhill. It was this flighty impulse that laid the foundation for the four years to follow.

“I didn´t know anything about the country- the language, the culture etc. Maybe if I knew then what I know now, my situation would be different.

When I got on the bus to go to Chicago O´Hare from Madison it still didn’t hit me that I was doing some “radical” thing that most people wouldn’t do.

When I arrived at the farm I fell in love with the farmer’s daughter. It was her 18th birthday and I knew it was just her and I from then on out. This was to be Brittsommar´s violin player, Evelin.”

Sawyer and Evelin traveled together between Stockholm and Berlin, accumulating band mates each with compelling backgrounds of their own. Guitarist Johan Björk is a Swedish judge. Drummer Gilad Reichenthal is a former Israeli rock star. Evelin Sillén is currently studying art, and cellist Chris Smith hails from Australia where he used to build satellites for the German space agency.

What Gebauer and Sillén found in these musicians was a desire in step with their own: to form an ever-shifting lineup of contributors that would allow Brittsommar to be in constant motion, forming more of an artist collective than a traditional band.

“When Evelin and I moved to Berlin we met Chris and Gili there, by chance really. We were looking for a new band and they showed up. You just know you are gonna be friends and band mates before you even play together for the first time. There is this energy. We were all going through huge stages in our lives- just giving everything up again and moving to this dark hole that is Berlin. So we kinda clicked on an existential level.”

It’s the stuff of fate and fiction, seasoned with the kind of characters you’d find in a Jeunet film. The story doesn’t outshine the music, but it does beg to be told, and when I first heard Brittsommar’s “Tell Me” playing on a laptop in Minnesota, I knew it had to be heard.

While the group has garnered applause from European outlets, they’re virtually unknown in the States, which, as I relay to Sawyer, is a damn shame. I ask if this makes him feel out of touch with American audiences.

“Well that actually has to do with the PR. The last album was promoted to a primarily European demographic. I think the States are more jaded than in Europe. America is so fast and it has seen and created much of what’s going on over here so the mentality is kinda like, ‘yeah so what?’ In Europe it’s somewhat of an exotic thing- this guy abandoning his home in America to move out to the countryside of Sweden. Being back in NY it’s like, ” So you come from Wisconsin…mmhm.” Haha, I don’t know if that’s true really…”

The album Sawyer refers to is 2013’s The Machine Stops. Defying the sophomore slump principle and any sentiments of “yeah, so what?” Machine reveals miles of artistic growth when compared with their 2011 debut, Day of Living Velvet. While the first record is a far cry from bad or boring, it seems a bit thin in production and intensity after listening to Machine, which is a rolling maelstrom of mournful folk.

Gebauer’s voice is a resounding barrelhouse that is all the more impressive when you see that it’s coming from a beardless ectomorph. Despite its depth, it bears a solid range; it is not the monotone last resort of someone who can’t actually sing. At once painful and reckless, it is the central presence of Brittsommar’s sound, but never overwhelms the wailing surges of cello and violin or the precisely plucked guitar. Evelin Sillén’s accompanying vocals add a sweet reprieve while Reichenthal doles out trembling snare rolls fit for a funeral procession.

Machine’s opener “Sing Low” is a strong starter, relying heavily on Gebauer’s lulling baritone. The song builds layer-by-layer, first with tinny fingerpicking and eventually culminating in crashing cymbals. “Half-Inch Map” has Gebauer at his most snide and berating: “and you’re just getting by by the skin of your crooked teeth.” The track is wily and slightly sinister, implementing squealing strings that could be found on a Dirty Three record.

“Middle Man” is a favorite, though an even better version can be heard in a live performance filmed outdoors in Freiburg. The video communicates the band members’ dexterity as musicians, as well as Gebauer’s charisma as a performer, yipping occasionally like a coyote with his guitar held at chin level.

Sweeping and melancholy, “The Painter” is another high point of the record, as well as a beautiful cover of “Aint You Wealthy, Aint You Wise” by Will Oldham-aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy. It’s a fitting source of inspiration for Gebauer, whose story would seem to merit a pseudonym of his own. Much like Oldham and Beirut’s Zach Condon, there is a sense that Gebauer is a musician lost in his own time. Is there a 73-year-old man trapped in that a twenty-something’s body? There just might be.

It’s a charlatan’s charm, though nothing is false about Gebauer or his music. The mere discrepancy between his age and aura is what spawns such suspicion: is all this for real? And if so, why the hell haven’t we heard more about it?

Fortunately, there is still time to discover. Gebauer is bringing it all back home to record a solo LP in San Francisco this month, stopping by New York to play a gig on the way.

“The album is gonna be pretty sweet and lowdown compared to the others-somewhat acoustic then a mirage of grungy drums and out of tune violins. Finding the voice again. The past albums were a lot of story telling…

With these upcoming tracks I developed quite a bit compared to when I was in Berlin two years ago. I got reacquainted with the tranquil chaos that is America. This past year I returned to the states and lived in NY. Went to the west coast and drove from San Fran down to Austin where I was to play at SXSW. Then I flew to Madison for the fist time in years. So I went East to West, South to North. I found my ‘roots’ I suppose.

It was amazing. When I returned to Madison, the songs just came. Flowed out in a way that hasn’t happened to me in quite some time. I guess it was the re-realization that you can never go home again…”

You can never go home again, and you certainly can’t live forever. Gebauer seems to be comfortable with seismic change in ways few people are. In the small number of interviews I’ve found he mentions-in his own baroque way-the inevitable death of Brittsommar.

“Yeah, it´s only natural. You don’t wanna drag something out too long. Let it die in its footsteps, one can say. Doesn’t mean the music is over, just a change in direction and meaning. It has been some time and people have gone in and out. It started in a different time and we are all now in different periods with our lives. Brittsommar was then. Now its something even better.”

Gebauer will play a solo show at Troost Bar in Greenpoint on Thursday, November 20^th. Also on the bill is the lovely and talented Scout Paré-Phillips.

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LOUD & TASTELESS: Charli XCX

Every Thursday, AF profiles a style icon from the music world. This week, we’re gushing over Charli XCX’s gothic wardrobe. There’s tons of black and velvet and we can’t get enough.

Charli XCX has the ability to pull off cropped tees, netted shirts and even the 90s-redux plaid skirt. She’s a tough girl with a strong voice, which is why it’s so hard not to notice her style. She piles on black on black and then smears on black eyeliner to complete her look. She’s the smokey temptress who is bound to steal the heart of anyone who crosses her path. Take a goth lesson from this UK pop star as you browse our Pinterest board and listen to her hit, “You (Ha Ha Ha)” below.

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Tag: Music