Tag: serpentwithfeet

RSVP HERE: Pom Pom Squad Livestream via LongNeckLass Twitch + MORE

When Mia Berrin was only 15, she saw a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Pom Pom Squad” and the name stuck with her as she began to write songs during her senior year of high school in Orlando, Florida. Now a staple of the Brooklyn scene, Berrin’s band Pom Pom Squad is filled out by Mari Alé Figeman on bass, 

Shelby Keller on drums

, and Alex Mercuri on lead guitar. Contrary to the classic image of a cheerleading squad, Berrin’s squad is a vehicle for emotionally charged grunge anthems that release inner demons and rush toward radical self-acceptance, as seen on their two EPs Hate It Here and Ow. They also explore the softer side of alternative in their 2020 Valentine’s Day single “Red with Love” and recently released cover of “Crimson + Clover.”

You can catch Berrin performing a stripped down set on LongNeckLass’ Twitch tonight at 7pm EST alongside 2nd Grade, Baseball Dad and Lisa Prank. They also have the best Bandcamp limited-edition merch items including a summer squad uniform and a long sleeve “Internet Tour” shirt (which we all seem to be on these days). We chatted with Berrin about the making of Pom Pom Squad’s recent music videos, the creative community’s role in BLM and her dream writing location.

AF: I love both music videos you’ve released in 2020- “Red with Love” and “Crimson + Clover.” How did they differ in terms of recording and filming? What do these tracks mean to you?

MB: Thank you! Red With Love was pre-quarantine – it was recorded as a full band and the music video was filmed at the (now defunct), The Dance with a big group of fans and friends. It’s weird that filming in a crowd seems like such a novelty now! “Crimson + Clover” was basically the opposite. I recorded it alone and filmed the video with my partner using only stuff we already had in the apartment. Both songs are about ~love~ but are stylistically really different. I think Crimson is a little bit of a sneak preview of where my brain has been lately.

AF: Now that it’s uncertain when we’ll be able to play shows in NYC again, has your relationship with the city changed and how do you imagine the creative community in Brooklyn evolving?

MB: My relationship with the city has changed in that I barely leave my house and have very little desire to. To be honest, I didn’t have much of a desire before, but my anxiety has gotten a lot worse. Brooklyn is so overwhelming to begin with that I didn’t really feel like I had the opportunity to finish thoughts! Having a lot of time on my hands has made it a lot easier to write though. I feel like maybe the creative community will evolve in that there isn’t much room for comparison anymore – playing the show circuit here makes you really aware of what everyone else is doing and what’s “trendy”. It feels good to be isolated in that I can hear my own instincts more clearly.

AF: Has the COVID lockdown and current social justice movement changed and/or fueled your creative process in any way?

MB: Absolutely. I think it’s really hard not to be angry and hurt right now, so I’ve been writing from that place recently. It also makes me feel a need to escape through my music, so I’ve been rebuilding my world sonically and giving myself a place to rest that’s separate from everything else. I think on the other side of the coin, this moment in time also makes it really, really hard to write, or get out of bed.

AF: What are your thoughts on the creative community’s role in the BLM movement and how do you think we can use our platforms in the most effective way?

MB: From my own experience, I’ve been using my platform to try to spread information and as a starting point for research. I think especially in this moment, it’s important to step back and try to learn about what’s happening in front of you. Art and artists can be huge catalysts for change and can encourage people to shift their perspectives.

AF: I saw in a previous interview that you write best when you’re as far away from NYC as possible. What would your dream writing/recording space be outside of the city?

MB: Basically the Jayne Mansfield Mansion, but with a meadow or a view of the mountains outside. Somewhere extremely kitschy and unnecessarily lavish.

AF: What can we expect from your livestream tonight?

MB: A pretty stripped down version of some of the songs from our last EP, Ow, and maybe some new stuff I’ve been working on ;-)

AF: What are your plans for the rest of 2020 + beyond?

MB: Staying safe and working on a big project I am very, very excited about!!

RSVP HERE for Pom Pom Squad 8/14 via LongNeckLass Twitch 7pm EST w/ 2nd Grade, Baseball Dad and Lisa Prank.

More great live streams this week…

8/14 Best Coast (Crazy For You 10 Year Anniversary Party) via Seated. 9pm EST, $10, RSVP HERE

8/14 ..And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead via their website. 9pm EST, $9, RSVP HERE

8/14 The War on Drugs, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear, Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio, Waxahatchee and more via Vote Ready. 7pm EST, FREE, RSVP HERE 

8/14- 8/16 Allen Stone, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie, Los Lobos, Gangstagrass, Shakey Graves, and more via Philadelphia Folk Festival 12pm EST, $75 +, RSVP HERE 

8/16 What Now: An Antiracist Teach-In with Ibram X. Kendi and Isabel Wilkerson 8pm EST, $50, RSVP HERE

8/17 2020 Ain’t Canceled: August Intersectionality Series via Zoom. 8pm EST, RSVP HERE

8/18 Serpentwithfeet via YouTube / KEXP at Home. 3pm EST, RSVP HERE

8/19 Thursday, Cursive, And So I Watch You From Afar via Youtube. 6pm EST, RSVP HERE

AF 2018 IN REVIEW: Our Favorite Albums and Singles of the Year

Here we are again! As the new year approaches, it’s time to look back and take stock of the albums and singles that defined this moment in music history. 2018 was an eclectic year, to say the least, and there are a lot of new names on the list: Tirzah, Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Noname, King Princess, and Kali Uchis all had phenomenal debuts this year, not to mention the inimitable Cardi B, who made good on the promise of last year’s smash hit “Bodak Yellow” with Invasion of Privacy in April. There were established artists who still managed to surprise us, whether in the form of unearthed Prince demos, The Arctic Monkeys’ loungey sci-fi concept album, Tim Hecker introducing us to ancient Japanese court music, Dev Hynes making his most personal Blood Orange record yet, or Lil Wayne finally dropping Tha Carter V. And then there are those artists who fall somewhere in between, their ascendant careers a thrill to watch as 2018 saw them finally hit their stride. US Girls. Yves Tumor. serpentwithfeet. And perhaps most spectacularly, Mitski and Janelle Monáe.

As each of our writers (and editors, too) created their own mini-lists, those were two names that kept cropping up, and there’s no doubt you’ve seen them on just about every year-end list on the interwebs. If there’s any chance you haven’t heard Be The Cowboy or Dirty Computer, by all means, fire up that Spotify Premium post haste. But the recommendations here are as diverse as our writers themselves, so we hope you’ll take time to explore some of the lesser-known, hardly hyped artists we’ve highlighted, too – and keep your eyes peeled for more year-end coverage as we cruise in to 2019.

EDITOR LISTS

  • Marianne White (Executive Director)

    Top 10 Albums:
    1) boygenuis – boygenius
    2) Soccer Mommy – Clean
    3) Nenah Cherry – Broken Politics
    4) Mitski – Be the Cowboy
    5) serpentwithfeet – soil
    6) CupcakKE – Ephorize
    7) Blood Orange – Negro Swan
    8) Autechre – NTS Sessions 1-4
    9) Snail Mail – Lush
    10) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    Top 5 Singles:
    1) Let’s Eat Grandma – “Hot Pink”
    2) Jon Hopkins – “Emerald Rush”
    3) The Internet – “Look What You Started”
    4) Cardi B, Bad Bunny, J Balvin – “I Like It”
    5) boygenius – “Bite The Hand”

  • Lindsey Rhoades (Editor-in-Chief)

    Top 10 Albums:
    1) Low – Double Negative
    2) US Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
    3) Madeline Kenney – Perfect Shapes 
    4) Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands of Love
    5) DJ Koze – Knock Knock
    6) Caroline Rose – Loner
    7) Tim Hecker – Konoyo
    8) Virginia Wing – Ecstatic Arrow
    9) Frigs – Basic Behaviour
    10) bedbug – i’ll count to heaven in years without seasons
    Top 10 Singles:
    1) Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”
    2) Loma – “Black Willow”
    3) The Breeders – “All Nerve”
    4) SOPHIE – “Is It Cold In The Water?”
    5) Jonathan Wilson – “Loving You”
    6) Empath – “The Eye”
    7) Sibile Attar – “Paloma”
    8) Jono Ma & Dreems – “Can’t Stop My Dreaming (Of You)”
    9) Shopping – “Discover”
    10) Ed Schrader’s Music Beat – “Dunce”

  • Mandy Brownholtz (Social Media)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Miserable – Lover Boy/Dog Days
    2) Snail Mail – Lush
    3) Mitski – Be The Cowboy
    4) Teyana Taylor – K.T.S.E.
    5) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Nothing – “Blue Line Baby”
    2) Hinds – “The Club”
    3) Mitski – “Nobody”

  • Lauren Zambri (Events)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Amen Dunes – Freedom
    2) US Girls – In A Poem Unlimited
    3) Beach House – 7
    4) Iceage – Beyondless
    5) Tirzah – Devotion
    Top 5 Singles:
    1) Jenny Hval – “Spells”
    2) US Girls – “Velvet 4 Sale”
    3) Yves Tumor – “Licking An Orchid”
    4) Amen Dunes – “Believe”
    5) Low – “Always Trying to Work it Out”

STAFF LISTS

  • Ashley Prillaman (Premieres, AudioMama)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Alice Ivy – I’m Dreaming
    2) Sudan Archives – Sink
    3) Marlon Williams – Make Way For Love
    4) Earth Girl Helen Brown – Venus
    5) Rüfüs Du Sol – Solace
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Rhye – “Taste”
    2) Alice Ivy – “Chasing Stars”
    3) Sudan Archives – “Nont For Sale”

  • Tarra Thiessen (Check the Spreadsheet)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) DRINKS – Hippo Lite
    2) Shannon & the Clams – Onion
    3) Lost Boy ? – Paranoid Fiction
    4) Prince – Piano & a Microphone 1983 
    5) Sloppy Jane – Willow
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Public Practice – “Fate/Glory”
    2) The Nude Party – “Chevrolet Van”
    3) Big Bliss – “Surface”

  • Natalie Kirch (Pet Politics)

    Top 10 Releases Out of the Brooklyn DIY Scene (in Chronological Order):
    1) THICK — Would You Rather? (Self-Released)
    2) BODEGA — Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
    3) Baked — II (Exploding In Sound)
    4) Pecas — After Dark (Broken Circles)
    5) Big Bliss – At Middle Distance (Exit Stencil Recordings)
    6) Kevin Hairs — Freak In The Streets (GP Stripes)
    7) PILL – Soft Hell (Mexican Summer)
    8) Stove – ‘s Favorite Friend (Exploding In Sound)
    9) Lost Boy ? – Paranoid Fiction (Little Dickman Records/ Rich Moms)
    10) Janet LaBelle – I Only See You (Loantaka Records)

  • Sara Barron (Playing Detroit)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Kali Uchis – Isolation
    2) Blood Orange – Negro Swan
    3) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    4) Mitski – Be the Cowboy
    5) Noname – Room 25
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Ama Lou – “Tried Up”
    2) Britney Stoney – “OD”
    3) Janelle Monáe – “PYNK”

  • Luci Turner (Playing Atlanta)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) The Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    2) The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
    3) Charles Bradley – Black Velvet
    4) Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You
    5) Jack White – Boarding House Reach
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) The Raconteurs – “Now That You’re Gone”
    2) Mac Miller – “2009”
    3) Dead Naked Hippies – “Rare”

  • Victoria Moorwood (Playing Cincy)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    2) Lil Wayne – Tha Carter V
    3) J. Cole – KOD
    4) Preme – Light of Day
    5) Jazz Cartier – Fleurever
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Lil Wayne feat. Reginae Carter – “Famous”
    2) Cardi B – “Thru Your Phone”
    3) J. Cole – “Brackets”

  • Desdemona Dallas

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Noname – Room 25
    2) Flatbush Zombies – Vacation In Hell
    3) Mountain Man – Magic Ship
    4) Lucy Dacus – Historian
    5) Nao – Saturn
    Top 3 Singles:
    1)  Janelle Monáe – “Make Me Feel”
    2) Twin Shadow – “Saturdays”
    3) Sudan Archives – “Nont For Sale”

  • Erin Rose O’Brien

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Mitski — Be The Cowboy
    2) Antarctigo Vespucci — Love in the Time of E-mail
    3) Car Seat Headrest — Twin Fantasy
    4) Soccer Mommy — Clean
    5) Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Bad Moves — “Cool Generator”
    2) The Beths — “Future Me Hates Me”
    3) Miya Folick — “Stop Talking”

  • Ysabella Monton

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Mitski – Be The Cowboy
    2) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
    3) Brockhampton – Iridescence
    4) Soccer Mommy – Clean
    5) Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) King Princess – “1950”
    2) Childish Gambino – “This is America”
    3) Pusha T – “If You Know You Know”

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Childish Gambino “This is America” & More

It is the job of the artist to question society, to be able to shine a light on cultural truths and shake the status quo. On Saturday Night Live this past weekend, Atlanta’s Donald Glover, known on stage as Childish Gambino, set the internet on fire with a video that did just that.

“This is America” is a hauntingly honest view of our current American reality. The video is a series of long shots following Glover through a large warehouse. The music fluctuates between light-hearted South African melodies and a heavier Southern trap sound. Glover visually cuts this music with scenes of him shooting someone each time the music changes.

The lyrics call out materialistic hip-hop culture at its intersections with ministrel performance: “We just wanna party/Party just for you/We just want the money/Money just for you.” The frames of the video engage in that disparity further, juxtaposing the celebration of black culture with the struggles of black life in America, be it systemic racism, gun violence, or mass incarceration.

Tackling gun, police-related, and community violence in America, Glover’s video depicts intertwined issues stemming from racism and how it impacts communities of color. Glover is dishearteningly honest in his portrayal of this message. Using a variety of visual representations, the video encapsulates current day happenings such as the Black Lives Matter movement, Nazi riots in Charlottesville, and the church shooting in Charleston.

“This is America” highlights the truly nightmarish aspects of our country in a way that might seem mocking, if it weren’t such a potent call to action, a wake up melody for anyone still living in the delusion and privilege of safety.

Kelsey Lu wrote her latest release while squatting in a leather factory in New Jersey. Deeply depressed at the time Lu’s writing process pulled her out of this emotionally dark space. The video for her song “Shades of Blue” seamlessly moves through the process of depression, and how one finds themselves on the other side of despair into the beauty of a life that might still be coated in sadness.

Aurora, herself says it best: “Queendom is about celebrating all the differences in us: the quiet ones and the introverts, where they can sing and be seen. It’s about the shy people and the lonely people and I hope it can be a place where we can come and be lonely together and then not be lonely anymore. Queendom is a place for all of us.” With Lorde-esque production and vocal qualities, the single brings life to a world Aurora pulls straight from the inner workings of her inspired imagination.

Serpentwithfeet creates a collage of the weird in his latest video for “Cherubim.” Lost in the ruins of a porn house with a dancing lover, the video for “Cherubim” feels like the visual representation of being trapped inside the mind of a psychotic break, the psychosis slowly intensifying through the video. “Cherubim” comes from serpentwithfeet’s upcoming debut soil, set to be released on June 8.

After nearly four decades of producing music, U2 stepped out of the spotlight for the most recent video releases from their 2017 album Songs of Experience. Well-known fashion and street photographer David Mushegain takes on the task of visually representing the single  “Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way.” After documenting the youth of U2’s native Dublin, Ireland for the past seven years, Mushegain is back to his familiar stomping grounds. Sharing small clips of these cool kids, Mushegain represents the “love yourself” message of the U2 single through the carefree and expressive attitudes of the Dublin youth.

NEWS ROUNDUP: Gender Equalizers, Night Mayors & More

NEWS ROUNDUP: Gender Equalizers, Night Mayors, & More

By Jasmine Williams

An App for Gender Equality: 

On Thursday, in honor of International Women’s Day, Spotify and Smirnoff partnered together to launch the Smirnoff Equalizer, a tool that reveals the gender breakdown of the artists you are listening to. The streaming platform created that app after collecting data that revealed that 100% of their most streamed tracks in 2017 were performed by men. The equalizer analyzes each listener’s history to produce percentages of male to female artists. It then provides a slider tool so that listeners can discover artists of different genders, including non-binary. You may be surprised by your streaming habits! It turns out that the feminist writer of this news breakdown has been listening to 88% of tracks by male performers versus 13% females. The shame!

Try the Smirnoff Equalizer here.

NYC’s 1st Night Mayor:

It’s a new era for New York City nightlife! Last year the archaic Cabarat Law was repealed and the city has named its first ever Night Mayor. Despite the vampiric title, Ariel Palitz will spend a lot of daylight hours smoothing over the relationships between rigid community councils and venues who often have trouble applying for liquor licenses and getting permits. Palitz is a seasoned promoter and was owner of the club Sutra for ten years. In theory, she will be making it easier for DIY event spaces to operate throughout the five boroughs. Fingers crossed!

Other Highlights:

Anderson .Paak’s new single, “Til It’s Over,” gets the Spike Jonze treatment for an Apple Music video starring FKA Twigs as a working stiff who escapes reality through dance.

On Wednesday, In response to recent criticism of his live shows, Vince Staples launched a GoFundMe page so that he can leave the music biz, he states, “You can decide to donate to the cause of $2 million, which will allow me to shut the fuck up forever and you will never hear from me again…If not, you can choose to let me do what I want to do, when I want to do it…” The next day it emerged that the crowd fundraiser was actually a stunt in promotion for new track, “Get the Fuck Off My Dick.”

Shamir, Pussy Riot, Jeremih, Sade and Warpaint’s Theresa Wayman also released new music this week. Beach House debuted another track off of their upcoming album, 7 and unveiled the tracklist and plans for an extensive tour. Mitski, Dirty Projectors, Twin Shadow, Lily Allen, and serpentwithfeet (who just put out a new video) will also be hitting the road in the near future. serpent’s NYC stop will be a part of Redbull Music Festival’s 2018 lineup which also includes Robyn and Fever Ray among others.

Nick Cave announced an unconventional tour this week, he’ll be inviting audience members for open Q&A sessions at spots along the East Coast. He stops at Murrmrr Theatre in Brooklyn on May 5th.

On the film front, Yo La Tengo and King Krule have released special performance footage, the former played a set at National Sawdust and the latter gave a concert “on the moon.”

Q-Tip was recently named advisor-at-large and artistic director of the new Hip-Hop Culture Council at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Billy McFarland, the promotor behind doomed island disaster, Fyre Music Festival, pled guilty to two counts of fraud this week.

 

PLAYING DETROIT: River Spirit Prep Dreamy EP2 for Release

Detroit-based electro indie-pop outfit River Spirit are set to release their second EP, aptly titled EP2, on January 5th. The group – comprised of Vanessa Reynolds (vocals and guitar), Dan Steadman (guitar, percussion, and vocals) and Paul Wilcox (drums) – worked with local engineer and musician Scott Murphy to record a dreamy and uplifting collection of songs. Overarching themes of pleasure, possibility, and perseverance set to ethereal beats and soothing vocals make EP2 the perfect elixir for ridding yourself of 2017’s bullshit and starting off the new year right. I met up with two-thirds of the band to talk about making the EP, finding beauty in darkness, and what the future has in store for the whimsical trio.

Tucked in the corner of the Detroit Institute of Art’s Kresge Café, Vanessa Reynolds and Dan Steadman are just as calming and genuine as their music suggests. After almost ten years of playing together, the two friends have found the perfect balance of energy, easily finishing each other’s sentences to paint a broader picture. With both Reynolds and Steadman playing guitar, the same uncanny balance is found in their music. “Me and Dan have been playing together for such a long time, I feel like we’ve built a way of playing where we’re each occupying our own space,” explains Reynolds. The duo’s cohesive playing style can easily be heard in the EP’s opener, “Winter Song,” a relatable track that captures the essence of loneliness and stagnation brought on by winter winds.

While “Winter Song” leans closer to the side of introspective melancholia, it’s whirling, wind chime outro offers flickers of hope and serves as a smooth transition to the three sanguine songs remaining, mostly focusing on finding joy in yourself and others. In “Set Alight,” Reynolds sings, “You can open doors with your eyes shut / Don’t you realize you are one of a kind.” She explains that the song is meant as a voice of encouragement to a loved one, reminding them to harness their power and not get bogged down by external forces.

This is a theme that the band intended to portray throughout this body of work. “We’re all in such turmoil trying to process the things that have been happening these past few years,” says Steadman. “Being able to enjoy yourself within that is super important.” Reynolds agrees, adding that finding joy can sometimes even be an act of rebellion in this day and age. “I feel like it can be kind of radical to be able to stop and just have fun, or rehearse your music, or do the things you love and be happy.”

Reynolds’ ability to find the light hasn’t come without her fair share of adversity. “There was a period where I was kind of homeless and squatting in spots… it was another time of making possibilities when it feels like there aren’t any,” explains the artist. “As much as it was hard, I felt a lot of optimism within that and I met a lot of amazing people and had a lot of amazing experiences.”

The infectious optimism that Reynolds brings to River Spirit seems to have drawn a series of serendipitous events for the band. When Reynolds, a tattoo artist of over eight years, crossed paths with and tattooed Josiah Wise of serpentwithfeet, the band snagged an opening spot on Wise’s tour. Then, the band’s engineer offered to let them trade tattoos for studio time for their forthcoming LP – hard evidence that if you put good vibes into the world, you’ll get them right back.

The charmed trio has performed with acts like Aldous Harding, Stef Chura, and S (Jen Champion) and plan to spread their wings with shows outside of Detroit in 2018. Until then, look out for River Spirit’s EP2 on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Apple Music starting January 5th or (if you’re in Detroit) check out the band’s EP release party at Third Wave Music on January 12th.

LIVE REVIEW: Basilica Soundscape 2017

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Blanck Mass at Basilica Soundscape 2017. Photo by Samantha Marble/The Creative Independent

Day 1:

I knew this would happen. My one-person tent is sagging like ruined soufflé. Its support beams are in all the wrong holes, and the whole thing is yet to be staked in the ground. The bus for Basilica Soundscape leaves in one minute. At 5:59 in Meadowgreens Campground in Ghent, New York, I relinquish a losing battle with said tent, leaving it in a frightening half-mast tangle, and board the shuttle flushed with defeat. This row would have to be settled later. In the dark.

For a moment I feared that this tent dilemma would prevent me from enjoying myself at all. What if I kept dismembering and reconstructing the tent in my head all night, and missed all of the music surrounding me? It could happen. These obsessive thoughts ceased however, the moment I entered Basilica Hudson. The 18,000 square feet factory building was built in the 1880s, and has produced everything from railroad car wheels to glue, but these days its main export is art. In 2010, musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone acquired the building, transforming the space into a sanctuary for music, film, and visual art.

Basilica Soundscape offers all of these mediums at their finest. Often described as “the antifestival,” Basilica Soundscape is exactly that – the weekend of music, poetry, and visual art feeling far more intimate than the word “festival” suggests. In fact, Soundscape seems more akin to a house party hosted by wealthy eccentrics, or a wedding held in a medieval hamlet. Within minutes of surveying the grounds, it appeared as though all the romanticism and utopia promised by other festivals was actually here all along, from the rainbow arching across the sky to the flayed chickens sizzling on an open grill.

At 6:30 everyone funneled into the Main Hall, where openers Bing & Ruth plunged into a dizzying set that I can only describe as sounding like the ocean. Pianist David Moore’s technique was both dense and delicate, evoking a sense of moving through water. The blue light enrobing the musicians and the whale songs sung by cello and clarinet added to the seascape of sound. Even the stage decorations seemed marine in nature; plumes of pink silk hung from the ceiling, dissolving into tendrils of rope and swaying like jellyfish. It was only after Bing & Ruth left the stage that I realized they were hand-dyed parachutes and not aquatic invertebrates.

On the other end of the decibel spectrum, Philadelphia’s Moor Mother (aka Camae Ayewa) annihilated all previous serenity with her serrated poetry and beats. Ayewa stabbed through her set, entangling herself in the parachute ropes and assaulting the crowd with glass-shattering backing tracks and car crash raps. Ayewa’s brand of hyper-politicized poetry utilizes the distortion of punk and the rage of metal to potent effect. Her command of the crowd was immense; when Moor Mother demands that you “hug your motherfucking neighbor!” and “slow dance!” you’d be wise to do so. And we did.

The next best display of aggression was black metal band Thou, who filled Basilica’s smaller North Hall with bowel-shuddering screams and swampy instrumentation. Next, Tunisian artist Emel Mathlouthi had everyone looking upwards, as she performed from the building’s rafters, her colossal voice bellowing from above. For one last dose of drama, Baltimore’s Serpentwithfeet charmed us with his occult gospel. Singer and musician Josiah Wise – the snake in question – is always mesmerizing live, as he summons the spirits of Nina Simone, Josephine Baker, and Aleister Crowley. He is a poised and diverse performer, able to traverse songs about mourning with his operatic pipes, and then whip the audience into fits of laughter with his wry wit.

A far less verbal artist, Indiana’s JLIN closed out Friday night with her hard-driving electronic collages, often splicing horror movie screams with chopper-like drum beats. JLIN’s set was weaponized and dense, but that didn’t stop a pack of men from breaking into arrhythmic dance moves in the audience, convulsing like electrocuted lab rats under the strobe lights. I hoped to harness their energy for later…I still had a tent to set up.

Day 2:

Basilica’s second day was filled with far more fury than its first. Notable early sets from Yellow Eyes and Yvette got our blood pumping right off the bat. The former filled the North Hall with unrelenting drums and ear-piercing screams. Fog hung around the black metal trio, while two wrought iron candelabras added a solemnity to their set, which was dedicated to a late friend of the band.

Brooklyn’s noise duo Yvette played a wealth of new material on the main stage, opening with the older, hard-hitting “Radiation” before treating us to new songs. Rumor has it the pair are currently recording another album, and their Basilica set was a delightful preview. The energy harnessed by lead singer/guitarist Noah Kardos-Fein and drummer Dale Elsinger was strategically focused on Saturday, only improving their intensity as performers. If Yvette were previously men of chaos, they now appear to be mad scientists, fiddling with knobs and emitting blips and whirrs amidst controlled fury.

There was unfortunately some overlap during sets by Priests and Protomartyr, but I was able to catch a bit of both. Priests commanded the large stage expertly, lead singer Katie Alice Greer stalking the stage in a spangled mini dress like The Runaways’ Cherie Currie. On the other side of the building, Protomartyr channeled FEAR and The Fall with a one-two punch of distilled punk rock.

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Priests at Basilica Soundscape 2017. Photo by Samantha Marble/The Creative Independent

We looked to the rafters one last time for readings by Morgan Parker, Darcie Wilder, and Hole drummer Patty Schemel, who read excerpts from her new memoir Hit So Hard. Schemel’s tales of Kurt, Courtney, and rock n’ roll abounded before Blanck Mass’s Benjamin John Power mounted the smoke-cloaked main stage. The technical headliner for 2017’s Basilica Soundscape was Zola Jesus, but for me, it was Blanck Mass, whose diabolical wall of sound is more a physical experience than a purely sonic one. Power ripped through tracks off his latest LP World Eater, churning out frenzied tapestries like “John Doe’s Carnival of Error” and slow grinding dance cuts like “Please.” Power is obscured during most of his sets, dressed in black and barely visible within the fog and flashes of light. In this sense, he becomes more entity than man – more furious gospel than mere entertainment.

So what was my takeaway from Basilica Soundscape 2017? Go every summer, bring ear plugs, try the chicken, and definitely get to know your tent before next year.

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LIVE REVIEW: Perfume Genius @ Brooklyn Steel

An unexpected warmth greets me at Brooklyn Steel. Defying the industrial structure, a pink tropical backdrop hangs over a stage flanked by palm fronds, which seem to wave at the sold-out crowd. It is a set-up that hints at one of two possible realities: 1) A lush, theatrical performance by headliner Perfume Genius is in store. 2) The atmosphere is merely consistent with their recent press shots.

I am desperately hoping for the former, but having never before seen Mike Hadreas and company in concert, the night’s fate is unknown. Fortunately, the décor suits opening act Serpentwithfeet just fine. The occult-gospel-cum-jazz outfit helmed by Josiah Wise opens with sparse, chilling pieces. I say pieces because “song” seems too limiting a word for the confessional poems and trip hop ballads sprinkled throughout Serpentwithfeet’s set; perhaps “spells” would be more fitting. Wise conveys great range as a vocal performer and pianist, yes, but also in his wit and charisma, which has the early-bird crowd tearfully singing along one moment and laughing the next. I can’t help but wonder if his theatrics will be echoed by Hadreas.

My thirst for drama is quenched the moment Perfume Genius appears, slinking on stage to the violent, Rococo strings of “Choir” from their recent LP No Shape. Hadreas saunters towards us in a white Byron blouse tucked into a pinstripe jumpsuit – the latter looking like it once strutted the runways of Vivienne Westwood.

It is such a powerful entrance, that I’m nearly knocked over when the four piece then open with “Otherside.” In its first minute, No Shape’s commencing track disguises itself as a fragile piano ballad – a lullaby even. But after Hadreas coos, “rocking you to sleep from the otherside,” a cannon of bass, glitter, and wailing angels is shot through our organs, leaving us shuddering and primed for more.

“Otherside” is the one moment of austerity before Hadreas changes shape, shifting into an undulating lord of seduction; part Morrissey, part Annie Lennox, and part Peter Pan. He gyrates and circles his hips, popping one pale shoulder out of his crisp shirt and then slipping it back in again. Hadreas is at his most vampish on cuts like “Go Ahead” and the dark Elvis romp “My Body” off of 2014’s breakout album Too Bright.

Thunderous jungle drums sew the set together, adding a sinister undercurrent to the evening. The performance feels slightly intoxicating; like, say, a fine perfume should. I find myself wrapped in chills throughout, and plumbed with pumping hot blood. Hadreas is the performer we’ve been waiting for. He whets our appetite with opulent musicality and erotic posturing, but nourishes us with complex song structure, poignant lyrics, and gorgeous instrumentation. He is, as they say, a package deal.

Such a package in fact, that little whiffs of his component scents start cropping up as he performs. I’m smelling Kate Bush, Little Richard, Portishead, The Cramps, Madame Butterfly, and the soundtrack to Twin Peaks. But like a fragrance, the sum of its parts reveals something entirely new when mixed properly.

During Perfume Genius’ five-song encore (a formality I typically hate, but was ecstatic for in this situation) Hadreas sat down for a piano rendition of “Mr. Peterson,” from his debut record Learning. Before he began, he motioned long-time boyfriend and bandmate Alan Wyffels to the keyboard, where they played a duet to an ooh-ing audience. And then, the band reassembled for the one moment I’d predicted correctly all evening: the finale was Too Bright’s shining anthem “Queen.” But despite my suspicions, Hadreas did not sashay away at the song’s end. He simply walked, and waved, and thanked us.