June 2, 2013
| Steve
It’s been a hot weekend here in NYC. And it was a crazy week, too. Let’s cool down and catch a breath with a new Weekly Roundup.
Not our busiest week with posts, but I did share my thoughts on an indelible scene from The Silence of the Lambs soundtracked by Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses,” plus put together some videos and songs from NYC artists that I’ve been digging.
Loren Benjamin is a singer-songwriter just announcing himself to the world with a self-titled debut EP and first tour. “Live and Die” is a track with a laid back charm, but it also has some lyrics that touch on deeper questions of existence. A fascinating mix. I like the interplay of the chord progression on the acoustic with the electric slide guitar, too. Look for him June 20th at Spike Hill.
What Model Citizens just put out a brand new single “Coming For Me” and it comes with a very cool video. The song has a dark, paranoia-tinged energy, skewing punk and electronic elements into something a bit unsettling but also rousing and even a little fun. The video builds upon the paranoia aspect and does a good job of making industrial Brooklyn areas look almost Orwellian. There are a lot of neat effects used, I particularly like the men with no faces but color lights. Kudos to lead singer Alex Musto for playing so many characters. You can get the track here.
Another video I’m digging this week comes from Ferns for their track “Impulsive.” It is considerably more lo-fi than what you watched above, but the bare bones approach has its charm and highlights the individual elements of the track quite well: the excellent rhythm of the drums, that insanely catchy bass line, the guitar echoes, and the vocal performance of Kelly Jackson. I like how the song essentially repeats itself the entire time but gains more and more strength as it progresses. The band plays this Friday at The Trash Bar.
It’s always fun to share new music from The Dig because they are so similarly named to us. I’m mostly kidding about that; it’s actually fun because their music is quite good. On Tuesday, a new EP called Tired Hearts will come out. The latest single is “Over You Again.” The textures of the guitar remind me at times of the Walkmen and the falsetto is particularly effective – for a second I thought the band added a female singer. Either way, it’s a really good track and I look forward to hearing more. You can pre-order the EP on bandcamp here.
The new song/video from Cherokee Red is “Mythomania.” I like how it feels folk but also feels lo-fi indie, too. It’s a good vibe. The video deepens that with some great scenes of the Pennsylvania wilderness and a somewhat mysterious relationship. You can’t quite tell what is going on between the two women but they clearly bring a sense of lived in history. This comes from the self-title debut album, which is available now.
We are going to close with the great folk Americana band out of Portland, Balto. They have an EP called Monuments you should definitely check out. It was released last fall and is a very solid six tracks of excellent playing. They are going to be appearing in NYC later on in June and because I know I’ll be out of town around the time of their show, I want to be sure to let you all know now: you can check them out 6/19 at Cameo Gallery. Here’s the lead track of the EP, “Smokestacks.”