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Tonight: Midnight Purple Rain At The North Park

April 29, 2016

Tonight The North Park Theatre joins in the many Prince tributes happening around WNY  (and the world) with a midnight screening of the 1984 classic Purple Rain. Proceeds go to Music Is Art and Prince videos will be shown to get the crowd ready for the movie that made Prince an international star; a glorious rock and roll B-movie with the best soundtrack ever and magnetic performances from our dearly departed Purple One, love interest Apollonia, and  onscreen “foil” Morris Day. Show starts at 11:55. Prince tribute screenings of Purple Rain will also be happening this weekend at the Riviera Theatre Saturday night in North Tonawanda and at the Transit Drive-In in a wonderful double feature this weekend with Bowie’s Labyrinth, a reminder of just how lousy 2016 has been for music fans. Wear purple to all the above and say goodbye to a legend gone too soon.

Tonight: The Besnard Lakes

April 28, 2016

Montreal psych/prog rockers The Besnard Lakes make a long awaited return to Buffalo tonight at the Tralf Music Hall with Detroit’s Turn To Crime. In town for the first time in 6 years, this time in support of their most recent opus, 2016’s  A Coliseum Complex Museum, The Besnard Lakes will be unleashing their Beach Boys by way of David Lynch infused indie take on the ambitious prog rock of the 70’s, all haunting yet gorgeous vocal harmonies, otherworldly, spaced out melodies, and epic jams. Meanwhile, opening the show will be Turn To Crime, the latest project of Awesome Color’s Derek Stanton is an intriguing fusion of classic Detroit rock and modern post punk. Doors open at 7pm and tickets are $14.

A Few Thoughts On Prince (1958-2016) [UPDATED]

April 23, 2016

I’m not even going to try cranking out an obituary for Prince, who died unexpectedly at age 57 Thursday. There’s already a tremendous amount of excellent writing out there marking this terrible and frankly surreal tragedy. So as staff Princephile, I’m just going to stick with a few thoughts on the great man, his music, and how it changed my life: I was a little too young to truly appreciate 1999 and Purple Rain when both took over the pop world in 1982 and 1984 respectively. I liked the singles and videos but I wasn’t tuned in enough to be down with Prince when he broke big time. But five years later I was a full blown teenager and in love with Tim Burton’s Michael Keaton/Jack Nicholson Batman movie, and I had no choice but to get both the Danny Elfman score and Prince’s album of original music for the[...]

Brat’ya – “Call Me”

April 20, 2016

Lovers of old school synths and unrestrained keyboard lines will get a huge kick out Brat’ya’s  new single “Call Me.” Brat’ya, a solo project from Alek Ogadzhanov (of Smart House), goes all out with lush electronic textures,  vintage 80’s drum sounds, and almost baroque flourishes that play perfectly off the naked yearning of his lyrics and vocals. This is the definition of modern synth pop, and it can be yours via Brat’ya’s Bandcamp page. Enjoy. Maybe get some rollerskating in under disco lights with this in your earbuds. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/258609054″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Tonight: Dr. Dog

March 9, 2016

Ten years ago Buffalo’s music scene got a righteous kick up the pants when the Town Ballroom opened in the heart of the Theater District. With an emphasis on contemporary acts and one of the best rooms for live music you can go to, Buffalo finally had a place for indie bands too big for the Mohawk like TV On The Radio, Beach House, St. Vincent, Santigold and M83, and our music scene has never been the same. To celebrate this glorious milestone, the pride of West Grove, Pennsylvania return to the Queen City when psychedelic indie rockers Dr. Dog hit up the Town Ballroom with The Districts. Buffalo definitely seems to be “Dr. Dog Country,” with this show their third in three years at the Town Ballroom and sixth in Western New York since 2009, and that means their true believers will be jumping and ready to worship their[...]

Joe Mason – I Sold My Soul For Five Dollars

March 1, 2016

With so many colleges concentrated along the 90 from Rochester to Fredonia, intense winters, and a long time epicenter for sonic exploration in Dave Fridmann’s Tarbox Road studio in the woods outside Fredtown, Western New York should totally be a hotbed for modern psychedelic music and for fans of music that makes ears feel WEIRD. Those fans just got something else to feast on in the form of a collaboration between Moody Cosmos and Joe Mason, Mason’s sophomore release I Sold My Soul For Five Dollars. Alternately bright and dark, and joyfully freaky all over, this album is seriously aural cotton candy for your brain. Swinging from outsized kaleidoscopic bursts of sound on jams like “Crazy Legs” and “Wide Eyes” (featuring Moody Cosmos) and “Alright” to the spaced out minimalism of chilled cuts like “Come Back” and “Waiting For The Day,” I Sold My Soul For Five Dollars keeps everything sweet[...]

Blue Falcon Release Paranoid Single

February 23, 2016

Rochester power-pop revivalists Blue Falcon just dropped “All Illuminati” and have delivered a sharp, hilarious and infectious take on our current and ongoing infatuation with that mythical secret organization. Whether you’re an old timey conspiracy theorist, a Marvel Comics fan, or puzzled to the point of paranoia by the rapid ascent of Kanye, Lady Gaga, and Justin Beiber, Illuminati-Mania is in full swing and “All Illuminati” takes it apart with driving guitars, groovy dual vocal harmonies, Cars synth lines, and lyrics hitting on the allure and wish fulfillment that underlies every conspiracy theory and this one in particular. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/246880416″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Hawker M. James – Long Playing Lo-Fidelity

February 15, 2016

The bedroom recording is catnip, nay, manna for music bloggers, but Long Playing Lo-Fidelity by Rochester wunderkind multi-instrumentalist Hawker M. James hits so many sweet spots, it’s almost ridiculous. A brilliantly curated four track recording that successfully summons the gorgeous ear candy sounds of The Flaming Lips 1999-2006, I’m From Barcelona, Mercury Rev and Brian Wilson, it’s another tremendous record from our neighbors to the east, and our Album Of The Week. Right off the bat it has to be noted that the mix by Al Carlson at Gary’s Electric is beyond superb. Everything on the album has a scale and sense of space to it, helping HMJ’s home recordings operate in the sonic sandboxes of Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Steve Drozd and Dave Friddman. The sense of density that permeates  Long Playing Lo-Fidelity makes it feel timeless yet immediate and showcases the talent and ambition that’s been part of Longwave and done production work for (blog favorites)[...]

Tonight: The Felice Brothers

February 12, 2016

Tonight the Tralf is all about truly American music when Palenville, New York’s Felice Brothers bring their roots rock Americana to town, aided by local rock revivalists and blog favorites Sixties Future. From humble beginnings in the wilds of the Catskills to the subway stations of New York City, busking at Union Station, Grand Central Station and in Greenwich Village to touring the world, The Felice Brothers will challenge us with their aggressively folky rock and notoriously tetchy stage presence. Sixties Future meanwhile will convene the evening’s entertainments with their always captivating fusion of National post punk, Springsteen infused Americana, and dad rock. Tickets are $20 and doors open at 8pm.

damian – Hazy 85

February 3, 2016

Former Buffalo now Brooklyn-based folk artist damian just released a spirited yet sweetly melancholic album of instrumental 80’s covers boiled down to the barest of bones.  Armed with a Casio keyboard and a roster of 80’s heavyweights from the Holy Trinity of Jackson, Madonna and Prince to Van Halen, Bananarama, The Bangles, Fleetwood Mac, and Billy Idol, damian is simultaneously merciless in his minimalist approach yet keen to get to the melodic and human heart at the center of each song. Unabashedly retro, Hazy 85 conjures memories of ancient home computers, vintage video game consoles,  and FM hit radio while reconfiguring his 80’s favorites into bit and byte soundtracks. It’s almost hilarious how thoroughly effective damian is at conjuring David Lee Roth’s growl or the otherworldly sweetness of Stevie Nicks through his vintage synth. In fact his cover of the 1982 Fleetwood Mac hit “Gypsy” is one of the clear highlights of the[...]

Northern Spies Share Christmas Single

December 22, 2015

Christmas is, among other things, the look of joy on children’s faces, spending time with loved ones, and a primal religious observance. It’s also Christmas shopping after doing a few shots, office party ragers, and going to mass with a rampaging buzz to get through primal religious observances. In short, Christmas can be a holiday of divergent extremes, and Rochester power poppers Northern Spies have embraced this duality with a special holiday single featuring an austere and almost reverential “Christmas Must Be Tonight” backed with the rowdy “Big Legged Christmas (Slight Return).” Northern Spies didn’t mess around. “Christmas Must Be Tonight” is all Dylan and the Band and Sunday school and what Christmas used to be about, with bluesy guitars, soulful organ, and some lovely, searching vocals. “Big Legged Christmas (Slight Return),” however goes for a nasty, vamping blues jam that is all about hollering, and doing your own damn thing on[...]

Parade Chic – One And Only Secret Dream

December 14, 2015

One of the most exciting developments for Buffalo’s music scene has been the emergence of progressive and vibrant art spaces like Sugar City and Dreamland as music venues. These spaces are not only excellent for shows, intimate and immediate; they bring the city’s art and music scenes together in a search for mutual liberation and survival, and foster a more open ethos for both artist and audience that makes bands like Parade Chic, whose debut One And Only Secret dropped on Bandcamp last week, more possible. Our Album of the Week, One And Only Secret Dream finds the previously lo-fi art rockers embracing a richer, almost chamber pop sound that’s preserves the Belle and Sebastian vibe while introducing an early of Montreal influence. Colin Griffin’s vulnerable and searching voice guides the whole effort, with standout cuts like the surging yet delicate “The Birds,” the simultaneously minimalist yet soaring melancholic title track, and[...]

Tonight: Sleater-Kinney

December 10, 2015

Asbury Hall at Babeville plays host to one of the biggest shows of the year when the Sleater-Kinney reunion tour swings through Buffalo tonight with indie folk darling Waxahatchee. Hard charging from Olympia, Washington, Sleater-Kinney – Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss – became  one of the most vital and important bands of the late 90’s and early aughts (2000’s), and with their excellent 2015 release No Cities To Love, they’ve returned in a big way. Katie Crutchfield’s Waxahatchee, from Birmingham, Alabama, will be opening  the show in support of her third LP Ivy Tripp. Tickets are $31 at the door, which opens at 7pm.

A Very Murray Christmas

December 8, 2015

The A Very Murray Christmas special on Netflix is one of the greatest pop culture artifacts ever produced, and potentially the apex of human civilization. Crafted by international icon/spirit animal Bill Murray, Mitch Glazer and director Sofia Coppola for streaming whenever you like, it is an instantly classic one offmedia masterpiece that transcends film, television, and reality itself. Featuring preposterously bravura performances  from a multitude of talents that are soulfully beautiful, yet ironic without a trace of irony, it’s ridiculously heartfelt and brilliant. There, I said it. And the musical numbers supervised by Paul Shaffer are sublime from start to finish: the very first number “Christmastime Blues” featuring Bill with Paul at the piano in his suite at the Carlisle Hotel before Bill’s ill-fated live TV holiday special instantly recalls Nick the Lounge Singer while setting the slightly melancholic mood; a duet in matching Andy Williams sweaters of Bill and[...]

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – It’s A Holiday Soul Party

December 1, 2015

It’s not that holiday music stinks per se, it’s the fact that holiday music is bloody ubiquitous for a solid month; weaponized against us every time we go into a store (notably, except for The People’s Wegman’s on Amherst St). There’s also a lot of terrible holiday music out there, which doesn’t go well with the whole ubiquity thing, a shame considering most music fans have a holiday music stash of their own they annually retreat into. Beach Boys Christmas singles, “Christmas In Hollis,” Mr. Hanky’s Christmas Classics, Flaming Lips’ psychedelic Yuletide jams… we’ve all got something  that makes our ears feel warm and fuzzy in the month of December. Enter It’s A Holiday Soul Party, the latest from Daptone Records stalwarts Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a dynamite multi denominational collection of holiday classics that provides some serious emotional release while showcasing the incredible range and power of Miss Jones, and[...]