Latest Posts

Brian Bishop Releases the Intimate Rock Songs for Slow Dancers

January 8, 2015

Last month, Ithaca based singer/songwriter, Brian Bishop, quietly released a startlingly intimate and powerful collection of original folk songs. Rock Songs for Slow Dancers covers a vast expanse of territory and each song seems to takes on a different mental landscape or setting, from the open and pastoral (“Meadow Love”)  to the maze like surroundings of a library, “Library Love Song,”  from the recesses of desire (“Wake Up”) to the detachment of an individual in a soundless glass elevator (“Like A Child”).  Bishop’s penchant for songwriting and his impressive lyricism is heard throughout.  Definitely an album to explore from start to finish, especially highlights “Wake Up” and “Flowers.”

Tonight: Fake Species

October 29, 2014

This evening, the fourth installment of Wonksesh will be happening at the Allen town, multi-purpose venue, Dreamland. Hailing from Cleveland, sultry electronic pop-outfit Fake Species will be the featured act for this episode. The dynamic, four member group pairs samples and electronic/acoustic drums with sleek synth sounds and a rap-vocalist to create edgy and stripped down pop-tronic. Fans of Santifold or Peaches will not want to miss this. Furthermore, as a multimedia series, the group will be accompanied with live, kaleidoscopic visuals from local video stalwart, Chris Svoboda.  Buffalo electronic experimenters UVB76 and Crux will be opening for support. The audio-visual spectacle is happening at Dreamland and it begins at 8pm.  Five bucks will secure your entrance.

Tonight: Artvoice Presents Night Shift

October 24, 2014

Get ready to sweat. Artvoice is hosting another installment of its  Night Shift tonight. And for those who don’t know, Night Shift is (usually) a series of dance escapades in the back room of Hardware, showcasing the most up and coming DJs native to Buffalo/WNY. Summoned this time around is Stuntman, Mario Bee, and Jolly Wailer. And if that hasn’t caught your ear, know that they’ll be channeling the hard rhythms through the most beefy sound system the venue has seen up to date. Crystalline deep end? Check. Premier lineup? Check. Dance yourself clean this evening. The music begins at 11pm, $5 to get in.

Tonight: Audien

October 17, 2014

Get down with Audien this evening. The world-reknown electrohouse DJ will be taking over Lift Nightclub, Buffalo’s latest down-town party destination, and revving up the crowd with action-packed chord progressions, thundering buildups, and intoxicating drops. The young 22 year old producer has been on tour for most of the past two years, stopping in the major meccas of the world. Whether he’s playing in Miami Beach, Las Vegas, or New Delhi, he always brings his contagious energy, sweeping the crowd off their feet with his vibrant showmanship. So no, don’t miss this, and yes, chug down a redbull beforehand. Tickets are $25, Jessie Aaron will be playing for support, and the evening will take off at 10pm.

Tonight: TOKiMONSTA

October 6, 2014

TOKiMONSTA will be returning to Buffalo tonight to shower an ecstatic crowd with eclectic sample constructions that translate into dreamy beat-scapes. A conjurer of  syncopated enchantment, her samples are results of devout vinyl rummaging and by combining these clips with choppy rhythms and melodic synth backdrops. Over the years, the Brainfeeder member has become known for producing spacey down-tempo tracks with a soulful, old school flair. What you hear tonight will be no exception. In fact, she’ll be delivering tracks from her latest album, Desidirium, which was only released two weeks ago and aside from her newfound leanings towards elements of trap music, let’s just her bass game has never been so on point. Silky moog phatty notes and low-end dance stabs color her tracks with depth and a new dimension of danceability. Furthermore, various r&b vocalists are featured, transforming some of her hip-hop instrumentals into full fledged songs.  Calling all[...]

Thom Yorke – Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes

October 3, 2014

Over the years, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has garnered attention as a sort of outspoken purveyor of electronic music. Upon being asked what he would pick if he had to choose between using a guitar or the medium of electronic production for the rest of his life, he infamously responded with the latter. Eight year after his first solo album debut, The Eraser, Yorke has finally released another, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, for all to access and purchase via Bit Torrent (a sort of statement on digital music circulation in itself) late last week. The 8 track album, teeming with choppy and subdued production and foreign yet string-like synthesizer arrangements, ambiguously fuses human expression with the paradigm of technology. It’s Yorke in his most experimental leanings, the score to the anatomy of a loading motherboard. As a digital manifestation, these shadowy, slightly paranormal instrumentals prove to be the ideal backdrop to[...]

Tonight: André Obin

September 24, 2014

Massachusetts based electronic musician, André Obin, will be playing Buffalo Iron Works this evening. Hailing from Cambridge and stopping in Buffalo as part of a tour which includes San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Boston, Obin‘s musical weapon of choice is the synthesizer. And he’s not your ordinary synth-smith. The melodies he creates paired with the sounds he chooses give way to dense, evolving, and lustrous song-scapes. It’s exceedingly catchy synth pop on the distant end of the spectrum: bright chord progressions shrouded in a metallic glaze like some sort of contemporary artifact from the 80s. Obin’s brand of synth pop calls to mind the decade when the genre sounded ostensibly more sinister and the lyrical delivery, more confessionary. Furthermore, his live career has brought him to play alongside synth pop heavy weights like Matthew Dear, Washed Out, and M83. Consider him an up and coming counterpart, tonight at Buffalo Iron Works[...]

Tonight: Pinback

September 16, 2014

Who ever said Tuesday night is usually uneventful happens to be absolutely wrong when it comes to this Tuesday night. To be fair, I should say, they happen to be wrong if your idea of a good time includes treating yourself to a quality show. And they’re extra wrong if you want to witness a performance from seasoned indie veterans. If you haven’t heard, tonight affords an opportunity to fulfill all of the above. Iconic indie-rock group, Pinback will be hitting the stage at Buffalo Iron Works where they’ll be gracing all those in attendance with a live rendition of their 2004 home-recorded album, Summer in Abaddon, in it’s entirety. The album is a collage of breezy and catchy melodies saturated with a shadowy ambiance; a full display of the exquisitely raw resonance that launched the duo into the ranks of lo-fi sensations. Even if you are only a casual listener,[...]

Tonight: Ami Dang and Slag Ralden

September 9, 2014

Over the past couple of years, the Ami Dang has garnered acclaim for her own brand of sitar electronic, her seamless ability to blend exotic melodies with puncturing beats, on her facebook page, she fittingly characterizes the project as “music from everywhere and nowhere.” Slag Ralden, in similar vein, creates brooding and captivating textures and melodies that bare semblance to elements of pop music. Together they have embarked on a Northeast US and Canadian tour in collaboration of each other’s material and tonight presents itself as an opportunity to catch one of their first stops at our very own Sugar City (recently relocated to 1239 Niagara Street). If this hasn’t captured your attention, set to open are Buffalo gems Pam Swartz, Copy Manager, and Little Cake & Jack Topht. Doors open at 7pm. We’ll see ya there.

Passion in Constellation Releases Latest Single, “Smash”

August 19, 2014

Passion in Constellation has recently released a staggeringly catchy single. Packed with monumental transitions, euphoric synth hooks, and moments of serene grace, “Smash” is a full exhibition of the burgeoning dance producer’s strengths. Furthermore it’s his most experimentally playful release up to date. The single opens with a gritty and sultry bass line before the primary hook takes over. Here, synth stabs are accompanied with deft high-hat work, mallet samples, and anonymous female vocal coos. “Rainforest part-ayyy” is what she appears to be announcing and the fun is only beginning. The track craftily conjures an atmosphere of the jungle-book meets the disco, veering in and out of various adaptations of it’s infectious hook and don’t you worry, PIC makes sure to scatter surprises throughout. A sudden shift at 1:48 puts the bass-synth combo on full display via sparse kicks and shuffled high hats. Towards the end, a lush key melody[...]

Charles Bordeaux Releases Latest Track, “Hungry Hands”

August 14, 2014

The rather anonymous and low key Buffalo producer/singer-songwriter Charles Bordeaux has recently released a new track on his bandcamp. Featuring jazzy keys, some basic beatboxing, and lovely backing vocal harmonies, “Hungry Hands” is a smooth down-tempo number which puts Bordeaux’s velvety style of singing on full display. As it evolves, it crosses into new-wave territory, introducing crisp high hats and bouncy square synths. Never superfluous, the track retains a steady sense of warmth and ripeness throughout, making it the artists most mature release up to date. Check it out.

Cleanse光777 – 6怪談

August 4, 2014

A Buffalo producer that goes by the moniker Cleanse光777 has released an EP packed with darkly manipulated vocal samples, delay effects, and droning melodies. Sonically, the tracks are reminiscent of releases put out by Triangle Records, a label noted for a coherent repertoire of artists who channel a distinct sound. Some have dubbed this sound as “witch-house,” a genre which combines elements of old-school hip hop and trap, slowing it down to slug BPM, topping it with exquisitely amplified reverb. Think of a hypothetical scene from a David Lynch movie in which some mysterious and grotesque creature is slowly rising from a swamp. The track titled “blueけち火,” could serve as the soundtrack to this imagery. In fact, most of the release could accompany this ambiguous story-line, following the shot as it shows creature X  continuing on to trudge through the surrounding town, eerie and desolate in itself, peeking into a[...]

Tonight: Hallowed Bells

July 30, 2014

Tonight at the Electric Avenue, Hallowed Bells will be gracing the crowd with lush, twinkling, synthesizer melodies, organ raptures, and steady rhythms. The two-piece Philadelphia outfit creates the kind of otherworldly music that calls to mind the sky, sentient beings from another planet, pastoral epiphanies among other things.  According to their website, much of the music was recorded this January and February, combining “dense chromatic harmonies and intricate arrangements with moments of luminous simplicity and lyrical melodies.” They will be fittingly accompanied with notable Buffalo musicians in the city’s electronic scene:  Sparklebomb, Kristachuwan, and Eppo. The first of whom arranges moon-landing chord progressions with elegiac rhythms along with static-y radio and tape recordings, while Kristachuwan accompanies live sax with thumping, kaleidoscopic dream scapes. Last but not least, Eppo manipulates eastern samples, matching them with pronounced, swinging beats, producing hazy yet melodic tracks with a hip-hop flair. The ethereal electronic affair begins[...]

Murder Mystery Barbeque

June 17, 2014

Head down to 100 Plymouth Avenue this afternoon for a full evening of unbridled jollification. You heard right- the itinerary includes grilling, a murder mystery to partake in, and finally, live performances by Chicago acts, Headless Horse Head and Columbia Fasciata alongside Buffalo’s own Kristachuwan. On their bandcamp, Headless Horse Head describes themselves as a “continued assault of psychedelic ear candy swirling in a vortex of car accident debris, a mega basement of grinding blues using teeth filling to plug your ears, the 5th attempt at ripping your face off”. Meanwhile, Columbia Fasciata creates eerie, pop-tinged, lo-fi tunes that conjure themes of innocence along with the loss of it. Meats, murder, goth-pop, and interstellar electronic (from both ends of the spectrum). The fun starts at 6 and a donation of 3-5 dollars is strongly urged. See ya there.

Tonight: Terror Pigeon!

May 7, 2014

Terror Pigeon! and Michael Parallax are returning to Buffalo to play at Dreamland tonight. The former, originally Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, are signed to David Byrne’s label Luaka Bop and infamously tour all year around, churning out ecstatically charged live shows throughout North America. Sometimes referred to as a band, sometimes referred to as a performance troupe, their high jinx stage routine is difficult to characterize, encompassing plenty of props and whirling bodies with a constantly changing lineup. As far as their music goes, founding member Neil Fridd has revealed “people have called it everything from disco to semi-annoying Latin music.” “Theatrical electro-rock” might suffice as a blanket pseudo-genre however. In similar vein, synth-pop stalwart Parallax takes queues from Dan Deacon in what beatsperminute.com has called “communal hippie raves “. Opening will be local rap and electro-pop purveyors, Jack Topht and Daniel Robinson. Doors open at 7:30pm and $5 will secure your[...]