Latest Posts

Tyler, The Creator at Town Ballroom (6/14/15)

June 15, 2015

Sunday night, Tyler, The Creator, the controversial former/current ringleader of the rap group Odd Future, made his return to Buffalo at an interesting point in his career. The young cult rap superstar had just in recent weeks continually announced then denied the end of Odd Future, and was fresh off the release of his new album which continued to move further away from his debut effort Goblin. So needless to say, it was interesting to see how this show was gonna pan out and how the hardcore Odd Future fans that made up the audience would response to it. While the show opened with some of Tyler’s earliest work from Goblin, including perhaps Tyler’s strongest (and most demented track), “Tron Cat,” the show was mostly dominated by songs from his new record, Cherry Bomb. I’ll admit to not being the biggest fan of the new album, as I feel like[...]

Tonight: Matt & Kim

June 4, 2015

It’s that time of year again. As the weather gets warmer and the days grow longer, the Thursday at Canalside series has returned, and kicking off the year is none other than Matt & Kim. While the Brooklyn act might not find its names on any year-end lists, few would argue with the pair’s incredible live shows. Bringing to the stage a catalog of shimmering catchy pop gems and raucuous energy, the duo has become a staple of summer music festivals and concert series. Even those who aren’t fans of the band’s catalog will be able to enjoy Matt & Kim’s series of enthusiastic covers and general sense of fun that few live acts these days can match. The band has played Buffalo more than a few times with the crowd growing on each successive visit, so expect to get down there early tonight (gates open at 5pm). And if that’s[...]

Just Announced: The Psychedelic Furs

May 18, 2015

This August will see the joint-pairing of two icons of 80’s post-punk as The Psychedelic Furs and The Church kick off a North American, co-headling tour at Town Ballroom on Saturday, August 8th. The tour has been a long effort and dream of The Church’s lead singer Steve Kilney ever since the two band’s hayday, and will finally become a reality this summer. The groups will trade the stage and hits from “Under the Milkyway” to “Heaven,” “The Unguarded Moment” to “Pretty in Pink.” It should serve as both a wonderful night for retro-nostalgia and a night to witness two prime bands of a key chapter in post-punk history. Tickets for the show at Town Ballroom engagement go on sale for $29 in advance starting tomorrow.

Tonight: What the Beck

May 15, 2015

After exploring nearly every seminal act of the 90’s, finally tonight at Nietzsche’s, 10 talented artists will form a tribute supergroup to take on one of the most diverse artists in modern pop music, Beck. From the stream-of-consciousness slacker rock of Mellow Gold to the funky grooves of Midnight Vultures and the melancholy introspective ballads of Sea Change, Buffalo’s megatribute band What the Beck will have quite the feat ahead of them. The show should be nothing if not tremendous fun, dancing in mass to songs like “Sexx Laws” and “Girl.” If that’s not enough 90’s goodness for you, the band will be partnering with Big Bottle Rocket, who will be opening proceedings with an hour long tribute to grunge gods Nirvana. If you grew up in the 90’s or just appreciate one of pop music’s most creative artists, then you know “Where It’s At,” Neitzche’s tonight. Cover is $10, music[...]

Column 31: It Follows, Unfriended, and Fresh Take on Horror Music

May 13, 2015

While the summer movie season has just begun with the box office wrecking ball of The Avengers, I thought it was worth taking one last look back at the spring. Spring is often the dump season, where studios get rid of whatever excess cargo they deemed not prestigious enough for awards season or not bankable enough for the upcoming summer. This spring, however, featured some surprise success in what is one of film’s most frequently uninspired genres, horror. Over the last couple months, movie goers were treated to the release of two brilliant micro-budget horror films, which not only found clever ways to rethink the supernatural slasher genre, but to also rethink the music of the genre. Let’s start with It Follows, a film built in the vein of 80’s John Carpenter horror films along with the nostalgic beauty and quiet melancholy of The Virgin Suicides. The film’s central conceit –[...]

Tonight: Soul Patch

May 8, 2015

It takes a lot for a 90’s cover band to be news; they’re basically a dime a dozen in Buffalo. But when local hardcore legend Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die comes crashing back into town to play a few tunes, ears perk up. Tonight, Keith and his 90’s cover band, Soul Patch, will take the stage at Duke’s (site of SP’s first show) for an evening of pure nostalgia. The group comes with a catalog of everything from Nirvana to The Cardigans. The band even gleefully stands on neutral ground, playing jams from Britpop rivals Blur AND Oasis. If you want to spend an evening side by side with friends in a mass singalong and catch what might be one of the year’s most fun shows, then this is one not to miss. And hey, if none of that appeals to you, then we got two words for[...]

Blur – The Magic Whip

April 30, 2015

It’s 2015, and there’s a new Blur album. That phrase itself seems kind of strange, like “Bad Pizza” or “Best Michael Bay film”, but at last, it has finally happened. And there’s no way a release of this magnitude could not feel like an event. Blur was globally one of the biggest bands of the 90s, with a string of #1 hits in almost every country (except the US). It even took an actual act of God for this album to even exist, the product of a series of cancelled shows in 2013, that left the band stranded the in Hong Kong for a week. Over that week, the four members of Blur would reconnect and produce the sessions that led to The Magic Whip. There also is an inherent oddness to The Magic Whip itself, While others have struggled to frame it in among Damon Albarn’s past work or[...]

Column 30: Rick Masi’s On the Level: A Love Letter to Buffalo and the Sounds of the City

April 24, 2015

Tomorrow at the Amherst Theatre, will be the grand cinematic debut of one of Buffalo’s most exciting new voices, Rick Masi. His first feature-length film, On the Level, is a thrilling neo-noir about a teenage boy investigating the death of his brother and those he meets on the quest for answers. Masi’s  independently-funded feature debut was conceived as a love letter to the city he calls home and is chalk full of local talent. The film also rather excitingly features a whole soundtrack produced by some of Buffalo’s most talented up-and-coming artists. Earlier this week, I sat down with the film maker and some of the film’s featured artists to talk about the project. buffaBLOG: So tell me about On the Level? Rick Masi: Well, its a neo-noir drama about a teenager named CJ and his journey to find his brother’s killer. As he starts pealing away the layers, he realizes[...]

Modest Mouse at Asbury Hall (4/17/15)

April 19, 2015

If I’m being honest, there’s no way for me to approach this review without a little bit of bias. There’s a lot of bands that hold a special place in my heart, but Modest Mouse was my gateway into the world of indie rock. I still remember hearing “Polar Opposites” on a Music Choice channel when I was 12 years old and spent the next 3 months playing almost nothing, but The Moon & Antarctica and Lonesome Crowded West on repeat. While I haven’t been as hot on some of their latest work, to say that finally seeing Modest Mouse on Friday was a sentimental moment is an understatement. The sold out show at Asbury Hall was undoubtedly the hottest ticket in Buffalo this year, initially selling out in all of five minutes and scalper tickets were going for almost $150 online. After 20 years into their storied career, Modest Mouse[...]

Still Diggin’: Record Store Relationships

April 13, 2015

With Record Store Day quickly approaching, I’m reminded how much the record industry has changed. What was one a booming industry has needed the adrenaline shot of Record Store Day to keep many of the institutions we hold dear afloat. And the act of buying records, which was once a rite of passage, has turned into a niche hobby. But for me, record stores played a massive role in my childhood. More than simply a place to pick up that new Wolf Parade 7′ or an Of Montreal shirt, these were places where I could meet people who actually liked the same things I did, these places were special. And no record store was more special to me than Toronto’s Sonic Boom. Before changing owners, locations, and even being immortalized in film over the past five years, Sonic Boom was something magical in its original Bloor street location. My first[...]

Column 29: The Influence and Legacy of The Breakfast Club

April 3, 2015

As the 1970s came to a close, pop music found itself at a crossroads, Power rock bands like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin had ruled the back end of the decade, inspiring a generation of cartoon-ish imitators that would produce the Hair Metal of the 80s. But meanwhile, the start of a new movement was bubbling under the end of the late 70s, a generation was growing up on the angst and melancholy romanticism of bands like Joy Division and The Cure. This new sound would set the template for what would become the New Wave music of the 80s. This new musical movement would come to envelop and define the youth culture of the era. It should perhaps then be no surprise that young audiences were rejecting the simplistic archetypes and false emotion of the bubblegum high school movies of the time. This was until John Hughes. Drawing upon inspiration[...]

Tonight: Divers

April 2, 2015

With temperatures reaching the mid-60s, today offers Buffalo’s first real taste of spring this year. And I couldn’t think of a more perfect bill to celebrate the dawn of the new season than that at Curly’s (note: not the Lackawanna restaurant) tonight. The bill is headlined by Portland-natives, Divers. The band has made a huge impact in its home city, know for raucous live shows and is fresh off the release of the impressive new album, Hello Hello. Divers has an Americana punk sound that reflects artists like the Gaslight Anthem, Ted Leo, and Okkervil River, perfect anthemic rock for such a summery day. Divers will also be joined by a trio of local acts. First off, the melodic retro-punkers, Unwelcome Guests, who are playing their last show before embarking on a West Coast tour. Also make sure to get there early for the lo-fi slacker rock sounds of Difficult Night,[...]

Column 28: Die Antwoord Teaches a Robot How to “Enter the Ninja” in Chappie

March 18, 2015

For anyone who’s seen Neill Blomkamp’s previous films, it’s no secret that he has a strong affection for his home country of South Africa. While other directors after achieving blockbuster success with a film like District 9 might see it as their ticket out of such an impoverished nation, Blomkamp has displayed a commitment to showing the world his home rarely seen on film. In his latest, Chappie, Blomkamp once again continues his embrace of South Africa, this time with the risky casting of unique South African rap duo, Die Antwoord, in lead roles. I say with some degree of surprise, the risk kind of pays off, the duo that makes up Die Antwoord both deliver fairly solid performances. Lead rapper Ninja gives a complex performance as a gangster who’s often as funny as he is brutishly violent and intimidating. While female vocalist Yolandi delivers a charmingly unique twist on[...]

Column 27: 50 Shades of Problems and a Grey is One

March 4, 2015

Over the past month, 50 Shades of Grey has been a near inescapable pop culture phenomenon. The film broke all kinds of box office records, its cast has been everywhere in the media, and has been the subject of all kinds of controversy. The film also banked a lot of its marketing on the strength of its soundtrack. Each 50 Shades of Grey trailer teased that the film would feature a reworked version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” and it seemed as if a single from the soundtrack was released every week leading up to the film’s release. So for a movie that promoted its soundtrack that heavily, does it live up to the hype? The answer to that question is a bit complicated. The soundtrack itself features a host of really beautiful songs from some of best upcoming names in contemporary pop music. British R&B singer, Laura Welsh, provides one[...]

Column 26: Kingsman: The Secret Service and the Changing British Identity

February 26, 2015

If you’ve seen early trailers for Kingsman: The Secret Service, you’ve no doubt seen what appears to be the most stereotypical British movie ever made. The film riffs on British cinema’s history of the gentlemen spy with Colin Firth, an actor who’s made a career out of playing characters of class and high society. The trailers project the idea of a film that will play note for note into the American image of British culture. Which is why the film’s soundtrack is a part of the larger surprise that Kingsman turns out to be. Contrary to the film advertised, the movie’s embrace of British culture is wholly contemporary. Our protagonist, Eggsy, comes not as the product of some prestigious university, but the council estates of Millwall, a character who spends his days rooting for his local football club and getting pissed up at the pub. While this doesn’t sound radically different,[...]