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Zak Ward

Birthday parties for people are overrated. Birthday parties for music blogs guarantee a jam packed night with kick-ass bands. If you haven’t already caught wind, buffaBLOG is celebrating its 5th year this Saturday at Nietzsche’s. Kicking off the merriment is Zak Ward, who will be joined by former Son of the Sun band mate Jeremy Franklin, as well as Sonny Baker (Wooden Waves, Lazlo Hollyfeld, A Hotel Nourishing). Ward delivers his tender acoustic indie-folk songs with a sufficient dose of grit. His voice has comparable tone quality to Thom Yorke when it comes to soaring vocal lines, apparent in songs like “That’s What You Get,” and sounds like a healthy mixture of David Bazan and Gregory Alan Isakov during quieter moments. The addition of ethereal sounding synth parts and swelling, twangy instrumentals makes for a very even-tempered, enjoyable listen. This year’s bill will not disappoint, so come early and pack[...]

Tonight: Lesionread

Lesionread, the brainchild of local performance art prodigy, Shawn Lewis, is as much of a physical experience as it is a musical statement. His newfangled approach to electropop marries sensory stimulation with authentically catchy production (pepper in a little haphazardness for good measure). Lewis cites influences from the likes of Death Grips, Bjork, St. Vincent, J Dilla, and a slew of other artists that are fairly distinct from one another. Surprisingly, I feel as though I can differentiate the hodgepodge of influences in his music, though the blend may seem chaotic at times. Somewhere in that Frankenstein-esque mix, you get a pretty confident sense that he has a knack for organizing that chaos. The show is a “re-release” of his latest album, Lesionread’s Great Hits! Vol. 1, as the original date for the album release was postponed due to sub-zero weather conditions back in February. Equally dynamic openers, Ay Fast,[...]

Tonight: The Public Presents The Tins

The Public, in cooperation with The Good Neighborhood and Music Is Art, is bringing another stacked showcase to Nietzsche’s tonight. The Tins will be headlining the show with their signature melodic synth-driven indie pop sound. The event, in addition to supporting the Music Is Art foundation, is also functioning as a send-off for the band as they gear up to play SXSW in Austin, TX in the coming week. If you haven’t already heard, the guys are in the process of making a new album and documentary style film to pair with it. Unfortunately, cash rules everything. With such a large undertaking, they’ve created a Kickstarter campaign to help alleviate some of the expense burden. If you want to hear and see some cool stuff from them in the near future, head on over to the Kickstarter page, which you can find here, and donate what you can. Opening the[...]

Tonight: Made Violent

Though the trio’s local appearances have been somewhat sparse, Made Violent is finally bringing their signature refined slack-rock sound to the Studio at Waiting Room tonight. The group’s recent self-titled EP release has been nothing short of well received, and is yet more tangible proof that these guys have carved themselves a comfortable spot in the upper echelon of bands on the rise. In addition to successfully managing to bust out of the Buffalo scene, they’ve already broken the U.S. seal in terms of touring, all while garnering attention from major music publications like NME. They have the essence of early Cage the Elephant paired with all the best Brit-pop big wigs like the Kooks and Arctic Monkeys. You can tell MV’s music is built for a live setting and a large crowd. The EP is chock full of raw, punchy grunge tunes that leave me amped for the prospects[...]

Radarada

Tonight: Radarada

My first ever encounter with Radarada was at their debut EP release show last June at Iron Works. I happened to be helping out with the show that night, and witnessed their soundcheck when the venue was still emptied out. I remember being impressed and maybe a little transfixed with how meticulous they were with their setup, levels, the whole shebang. I watched the show from the balcony (you know, that little overhang in Iron Works that everyone peers up at and wonders how the hell to get up there) and from a bird’s eye perspective, I almost felt it a special privilege getting to see all these separate pockets of eager fans sway and chant about sippin’ Nyquil in the daytime in unison. Radarada goes down smooth. Real smooth. With a solid foundation of polished jazz instrumentals, they unite the smoky vocal stylings of Ana Vafai and hip-hop finesse[...]

Knife the Symphony

Tonight: Knife the Symphony

Hang tight Buffalo; we’re slowly but surely rounding this hellish corner of freezing temps and heading toward springtime and sanity. If you’re feeling a little cabin feverish lately, consider expending some energy (or pent-up aggression) with some heavy jams. Catch Cincinnati-born band, Knife the Symphony, at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods tonight. These guys deliver discordant post-hardcore reminiscent of 90’s bands like Unwound and Jawbox, through a rhythmically driven punk filter. It’s dense and intense in all the right ways. Opening the show are locals Softlines, Alien Three, and Blobs. Doors are at 7pm, music starts at 8pm, admission is $5. You can check out the Facebook event here.