Latest Posts

Kendrick Lamar – “The Blacker the Berry”

February 13, 2015 Nick Muldoon

It’s not that often a song comes along and actually makes my jaw drop. Every once in awhile, I come across a great song, but it’s rare one is so powerful to shake me to my core. And that’s why I feel so compelled to talk about the new Kendrick Lamar single, “The Blacker The Berry”, because it is that kind of song. A discordant guitar plays over what sounds like repetitious chanting as the track begins, immediately creating an intense hellish atmosphere reminiscent of the production of Kanye’s recent Yeezus album, all before dropping a beat that wouldn’t be out of place on an old Wu-Tang record. Then Kendrick’s voice arrives, full of righteous anger and vitriol. Over the course of three verses Kendrick takes up the role of a young black man who has watched violence rip apart his culture, violence that ceaselessly plagues the black and poor[...]

Tonight: Tiny Desk Concert Contest Concert

February 12, 2015 Nick Muldoon

For years, the NPR Tiny Desk series has been home to many artists from T-Pain and Macklemore to Adele and Foster the People. Some of the biggest artists in music today have played in the small cramped studio that NPR calls home. And thanks to NPR’s extensive reach, the search for new fresh talent has made it’s way to Buffalo. Tonight at Mohawk Place, there will be a showcase for Buffalo’s entries in the contest which includes some of Buffalo’s best bands, both young and old, like Parade Chic, the Observers, Applennium and Tiny Rhymes. Will NPR offer a Buffalo band this amazing opportunity to extend its reach? We’ll have to wait to find out. But either way, tonight’s showcase should be an incredible show of Queen City talent. The show at Mohawk Place starts at 8pm and tickets are $5 at the door.

Column 25: Chris Rock asks “What’s your Top Five ?”

February 11, 2015 Nick Muldoon

With the last few months being the Oscar-obsessed prestige movie season, it’s easy for a lot of films to get lost in the shuffle. And sadly. perhaps no film seemed to get more overlooked than Chris Rock’s Top Five. While other filmmakers were releasing their maudlin war dramas and period-era biopics, Chris Rock quietly released the best comedy of 2014. More than that though, Top Five is a film that passionately embraces music, in a way unseen since John Cusack looked a camera dead-on and channeled the words of Nick Hornby in High Fidelity. The film takes it’s name from a point of discussion that reappears throughout the film, “Who are your top five rappers of all-time?” There’s a sharpness and candor to the dialogue in these scenes that’s rare when music is discussed in film. As characters take shots at each others’ picks and passionately defend their own, I[...]

Tonight: 12th Annual Cure vs Smiths Dance Party

February 7, 2015 Nick Muldoon

Tonight is the latest in an ongoing battle, a war stretching back to 80’s Britannia before finding a contemporary home in Buffalo. This is The Cure vs The Smiths Dance Party. Originally stemming out of the indie/new wave-centric Transmission Dance parties, the Cure/Smiths’ night, which began at Mohawk Place over a decade ago, has become an annual Buffalo tradition. With the temporary closing of Mohawk and the event’s growing popularity, the clash has found many different homes in recent years, the latest at Buffalo Iron Works. Tonight, as he has for years, DJs Bill Page and Jason Draper will spin nothing, but the biggest hits to the most obscure deep cuts from the two iconic 80s bands. And while to some an entire night of wall to wall Smiths and Cure may sound like a cause for “Panic,” I can assure you, it’s “Just Like Heaven.” The undercard begins at 9:30pm[...]

Dr. Dog at Town Ballroom (1/21/15)

January 23, 2015 Nick Muldoon

Wednesday night, Dr. Dog returned to Buffalo for their latest in a long list of memorable area performances. For a band that almost seemed to make Mohawk Place a temporary home on their stops through town, there’s been something inspiring in the sight of the crowds growing with each successive show at Town Ballroom. And with the Philly-based band touring in support of their new live album, Live at the Flamingo Hotel, it gave the band the perfect chance to put on a “greatest hits” show of sorts. With an arsenal of eight albums worth of gems behind them, the band came prepped with a set designed to please fans of every era of the band. Dr. Dog has always walked a fine line between indie rock and the Beatles inspiration they wear on their sleeves, and that was a line they felt safe crossing back and forth throughout the[...]

Column 24: The Oscars, Best Original Song, and Dreams of What Could’ve Been

January 21, 2015 Nick Muldoon

And so Oscar season officially begins. With the announcement of last Thursday’s nominations, the annual awards campaign has kicked off. While there were notable surprises and snubs in every category, let’s get to the one that matters to readers of this blog though, Best Original Song. Lost Stars – Adam Levine (Begin Again) Grateful – Rita Ora (Beyond the Lights) Glory – Common & John Legend (Selma) I’m Not Gonna Miss You – Glen Campbell (Glen Campbell : I’ll Be Me) Everything is AWESOME!!! – Tegan & Sara and The Lonely Island (The LEGO Movie) That is the field for this year’s Best Original Song winner, which to me, could not be more depressing. In a year that was so uncommonly great for music in movie, to look at that crop as the “best” of the year seems so falsely representative of what the year was. There’s been a lot of[...]

Column 23: Jonny Greenwood and the Not So Groovy Tunes of Inherent Vice

January 15, 2015 Nick Muldoon

Over the past few years, it seems filmmakers are increasingly turning to pop artists to score their films, leading to successful partnerships like that of David Fincher & Trent Reznor. Another fruitful collaboration that deserves mention is that of Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. The two first teamed for Anderson’s 2007 film, There Will Be Blood, and created not only a masterwork of a film, but also one of the most original and powerful scores of the last decade. On Inherent Vice, Greenwood returns again for his third collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson. The film recalls an era of the past, the early 70s’, when the free-loving groovy hippie subculture was reaching it’s end in the shadow of the violent Manson family murders. The period also defined by the Nixon years when public officials came to be seen as paragons of corruption. This lead to a new time[...]

Column 22: The Cotton-Candy Cultural Critique of Spring Breakers

January 8, 2015 Nick Muldoon

(Warning: This article contains some spoilers) As I look through my Facebook feed, there’s two articles that seem to repeatedly pop up in my feed over the past month, the Vice article “This Sad Generation Doesn’t Know When the Party Stops” and articles about Iggy Azalea’s appropriation of black culture. And while one wouldn’t think the two could be related, the two keep bringing me back to perhaps the most divisive film in recent memory, Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. To say that Harmony Korine’s film speaks the language of music is an understatement. Korine’s film not only understands the music it features, but also the culture that surround it. Music is intrinsic to the film’s very existence; and while there are moments of pop or rock music, there are two genres that provide the focal point for the film’s sonic soundscape: EDM and Trap Rap. In recent years, EDM music[...]

Column 21: A Look Back at the Music Related Films of 2014

January 2, 2015 Nick Muldoon

While 2014 had it’s fair share of amazing films and music, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t exactly a classic year for either. Which is odd, because while both may have been lacking, the convergence between the two this year has been extraordinary. Whether it was great original songs, stellar soundtracks, or in the stories themselves, music has been everywhere this year. Most interesting this year has been the slew of films actually about music. While every year seems to bring along biopics or docs, this year has produced a host of films actually about music and it’s effects on interpersonal relationships. Films like We Are the Best and God Help the Girl acted as a celebration of the bonds created through music. These films explored the nature of relationships created on the foundation of a shared appreciation of music and how strong said foundation can be. Sometimes[...]

Tonight: The Tins

December 18, 2014 Nick Muldoon

With the advent of 107.7’s Kerfuffle event becoming the start of a Buffalo tradition, so too is the local after-party that surrounds the event. These after-parties have been marked by bands much in-tune with indie/alt-pop sound of the Kerfuffle events themselves and often by artists who easily could be slated for the event itself. This season that after-party takes place at Buffalo Iron Works with local act, The Tins, headlining. The band has increasingly making a name for themselves with their brand of indie rock, gaining attention from major UK trendsetter, NME, and popular indie blog, PopMatters. The band have a tight-layered pop sound reminiscent of bands like The Shins and Peter, Bjorn, and John. The local act’s arrives on the strength of their highly-impressive new Young Blame EP, a hint of things to come from a Buffalo-based band well and truly on the rise. Doors at Iron Works open[...]

Column 20: Hunger Games – Inspiration for Rebellion and our Youth

December 18, 2014 Nick Muldoon

While it might be tempting to ignore or write-off the soundtracks for recent mega-blockbuster young adult franchises, the last five years has made this increasingly hard to do. In an effort to both create a sonic landscape for their films and create brand identity, studios have been turning to the world of indie rock. It’s hardly a new idea, going back to the 90s it’s easy to forget that films like Romeo & Juliet and Great Expectations featured original music by bands like Radiohead and Pulp. It almost is a bit heartening listening to these soundtracks and imaging the pre-teens hearing many of these great artists for the first time to find an alternative to what the radio has fed them. That said, Lionsgate deserves special credit for handing the reigns of their entire soundtrack for their biggest franchise over to Lorde. The 18-year old artist is right in the[...]

Column 19: Frank Sidebottom and the Craft of Avant-Garde Pop

December 11, 2014 Nick Muldoon

While he’s not the household name he is in the UK, those who have spent any significant time with British indie rock are sure to have at least have heard of Frank Sidebottom. The comedian and singer/songwriter Chris Sievey spent the vast majority of his 30 year career donned with a giant paper-mache head assuming the identity of Frank Sidebottom, a cheery optimistic singer from Manchester. The artist’s unusual and offbeat original covers of pop music standards with his band, the Oh Blimey Big Band, won him television fame in the early 90s and a home in the emerging Madchester scene. Sievey rarely did interviews out-of-character and was notoriously secretive, which makes the new film, Frank, so incredible compelling. The film, co-written by former band member Jon Ronson, loosely follows his experiences playing in the Oh Blimey Big Band and gives a certain insight into the mindset and creative process[...]

Tonight: Francie Moon

December 9, 2014 Nick Muldoon

Tonight, the up-and-coming lo-fi blues rock singer, Francie Moon, makes her way to Buffalo to play Mohawk Place. The young singer/songwriter has yet to release a full-length album but has produced 4 spellbinding EPs that you can find on her bandcamp. With the aesthetic of all the best early lo-fi rockers like Guided by Voices and Slint, and the songwriting of a young P.J. Harvey, this music has absolutely blown me away. Francie Moon is an artist almost destined to greater things and tonight she stops by our neck of the woods to play all the beautiful tunes that have killed me for the past week. She’ll be joined by talented Pennsylvanian artist Shane Palko, whose powerful indie-singer-songwriter sound has been making waves of late in the blogger community. The bill also features local staples Alpha Hopper, Space is Haunted, and Mr. Boneless Doors open at 8pm with a cover of[...]

Stars at the Tralf Music Hall (11/23/14)

November 24, 2014 Nick Muldoon

After half of Buffalo spent the past week left stranded by a relentless snowstorm, it’s safe to say that we all probably needed a pick-me-up. With a host of shows already laid to waste by blizzard conditions, Sunday night’s Stars show definitely risked becoming the latest casualty of #snowvember. Thankfully though, the stars (pun half-intended) aligned and the city’s excellent clean-up crews were able to clear streets in time to make last night’s show a reality. Suffice it to say, Stars’ show helped provide the pick-me-up this city desperately needed. The Canadian indie-pop band made its way to Buffalo in support of latest record, No One is Lost, an album that finds the band leaning harder on a synth-pop sound and playing to its dancier sensibilities. This might seem like a minor shift, but it was one that was soundly felt throughout the show, as the band’s performance was less the theatrical pop musical[...]