Bucharest born singer Sanda Weigl will be performing at the 92nd Street Y Tribeca tonight. She’s celebrating the release of Gypsy in a Tree, her new album of Romanian folk music inflected with jazz, rock, and out there sounds.
She joined by a diverse group of collaborators: Stomu and Satoshi Takeishi, Shoko Nagai, Doug Wieselman, and Ben Stapp; a rock band, a gypsy band led by Emil Bizga, and appearances by Anthony Coleman, Ned Rothenberg and Ljova Zurbin.
You can check out a stream of Gypsy in a Tree, as well as show details, below.
Friday, April 22 at the 92Y Tribeca,
200 Hudson Street, NYC.
Doors open at 8 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show.
$15 in advance, $18 at the door.
212-601-1000.
Talk Normal’sSugarland is a debut that recalls noisy experimental rock from the 80s while at the same time adding even more gritty stylization to the mix. Check out the video for “Transmission Lost,” which debuted today on Stereogum.
04/15 – Easthampton, MA @ Ladyfest Easthampton (Flywheel Arts Space) w/ U.S. Girls and others
04/16 – Purchase, NY @ SUNY Purchase Culture Shock Festival w/ The Feelies, Real Estate, R. Stevie Moore, etc.
04/23 – New York, NY @ The Stone (Curated by Thurston Moore)
04/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Death By Audio w/ Grass Widow, Broken Water, Tara Jane Oneil
06/17 – Toronto, ON @ NYNE (Venue TBD)
06/18 – Toronto, ON @ NXNE (Snakes And Ladders Showcase) w/ Aids Wolf, Prince Rama, Doldrums, etc.
It’s true that Radiohead is one of the most covered bands of the current era, but indie quartet Robotanists have taken enthusiasm for their latest album – The King of Limbs – to a new extreme. The band covered the entire LP within 24 hours of its official release. Talk about a quick turnaround!
You can grab it for free via the embedded widget below.
Singer-songwriter KT Tunstall has enlisted the help of fans for “Glamour Puss,” her latest YouTube adventure.
The video compiles clips from fans performing on a variety of instruments (from slide guitar to drums to bottles) to support Tunstall’s sassy rock vocal.
It’s an excellent example of a way forward for the music industry that encourages collaboration and participation rather than one-sided consumption. Rock on KT!
After production help from Dangermouse on their 2008 recording Attack and Release, as well as some time apart in various side projects, the Black Keys return refreshed on the (principally) self-helmed Nonesuch release Brothers.
It’s be easy to oversimplify one’s assessment of the duo’s latest as a “return to their blues roots.” And while it’s undoubtedly true that Brothers reemphasizes the blues and roots music proclivities on display from the Black Keys’ inception, the record also displays a number of intriguing wrinkles that demonstrate the Keys’ versatility. Some of these are exemplified by imaginative touches of instrumentation. There’s the delicious surprise of harpsichord filigrees on “Too Afraid to Love You,” a delicate accompaniment to a muscular, almost outsized reverberant vocal.
In its intro, the hook gets whistled on “Tighten Up,” a song guest-produced by Dangermouse that revels in a languid backbeat and thickly chunked rhythm guitar shuffle. The insouciant whistling gives way to deft lead guitar and a more four-to-the-bar groove. But just as this straightforward rocking settles in, we are treated to a space-age analog synth coda that spaces out the proceedings anew.
Elsewhere, elegant simplicity reigns supreme. On “The Go Getter,” the Keys emphasize their duo dynamic, with a tight roots-rock drum groove undergirding a soulful vocal and tasty guitar breaks. “Black Mud” features a post-psych swamp rock ambience that is grittily determined; yet it remains a heady environment for tangy solos.
While the Keys’ originals display fine, often memorable, songwriting, their taste in covers is exquisite. Brothers only includes one, but it’s a classic: Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna’ Give You Up.” An incandescently lilting vocal is poised against a rhythm section that replicates 60s R&B with pitch perfect accuracy, all the while imparting a sense of the Black Keys’ own musical identity. It’s the way a cover ought to be done – reminding us of the original artist while never letting us forget that this is a new rendition. Likewise, on Brothers the Black Keys are happy to pay tribute to their musical ancestors. But they concurrently demonstrate a freshness and vitality that suggests that they are indeed worthy heirs to the post-blues/roots rock tradition.
Radiohead drummer Philip Selway releases Familial, his debut solo recording, this month on Bella Union. He’s sharing a teaser track on SoundCloud (embed below).
After a decade of songwriting, touring, and refining their sound, Columbus, Ohio rock collective Red Wanting Blue has finally released their official debut LP on the Fanatic imprint. It’s a case of patience and persistence paying off. These Magnificent Miles isn’t alt, or indie, or artie, or experimental. It’s straight ahead, gutsy music-making with hooks aplenty.
It’s the type of music that I want to listen to in the yard on a hot day, cold beverage in tow. It’s the type of music that I want on the jukebox when I’m getting barbecue. And it’s the type of music that I wish mainstream radio stations would put back in the rotation.
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