Buffalo

ASLaaVeNaMeDot Releases “Sacrifices”

July 15, 2015

Buffalo rapper ASLaaVeNaMeDot, or A Slave Named Dot, is a grinder, and he’s trying to get his smooth flow and reflective bars some recognition. His latest track “Sacrifices” discusses that chase. The thoughtful construction of “Sacrifices” makes more that just a struggle-rap song. The hook “I guess I gotta die to get my shit played” can be interpreted as a double entendre referencing the hard work that goes into “making it,” along with the unfortunate phenomenon we see in music (and hip hop in particular) of romanticizing fallen artists. Recurring gunshot ad-libs create a sense of hype that pairs perfectly with the mellowness of the song’s primary horn sample. This is a pretty cool song, effortless where it could be forced, dynamic when it could get stale.  Peep the song below, and check out ASLaaVeNaMeDot’s Lets Play mixtape, released earlier this year.

Passion in Constellation Releases Summer Anthem in “Tropical Love”

July 13, 2015

Alright, I am going to make a bold prediction. Passion in Constellation will be in the top ten for our annual end of the year top twenty countdown for songs coming out of Buffalo in 2015. For buffaBLOG top twenty historians, Passion in Constellation made a blip on our countdown last year at number sixteen with his collaboration with relatively undiscovered singer Cara Doyle. The pair reunited to strike gold once again, releasing the dance track “Tropical Love” this past weekend and it’s been on a 24-hour loop at the blog headquarters. Passion in Constellation is the production moniker for Buffalo-based electro-pop producer Chris Alan. Throughout the past two years under the Passion in Constellation name, Alan has progressively improved (but he started out awesome with the single “Sunlight,” so there was a bit of a lead start), proving the producer has a real ear for what translates. With Passion in[...]

Pappy Stardust Drops All Around Sound‘s First Single

July 10, 2015

Buffalo psychedelic rocker Pappy Stardust (aka Steve Leszyk) has dropped a new single, titled “Ebb Rider (The Wave),” in advance of his upcoming full length release All Around Sound,  due September 5th. It’s a mind shredding face melter that should not be listened to while operating heavy machinery. Consider yourselves warned.

The Color Waves Drops Debut Singles

July 9, 2015

The Color Waves is cross Atlantic collaboration between fellows Scots Gary Hoggan (formerly of Butcher Boy) and Alison Eales. Hoggan moved to Buffalo a few years back, while Eales still calls Scotland home. Yesterday, the dreamy, jangle-pop pair released two tracks from its upcoming 7′ Chirology. Both songs, in particular the co-lead “Rose,” are darkly beautiful, and fans of Low, Belle & Sebastian, The Sleepy Jackson, and The Radio Dept should give the songs a spin. Keep an eye out soon for physical release of Chirology through Cloudberry Records (pre-orders are currently on sale here), and in the mean time, listen to the intimacy exploring title track below.

Tape Drive (Anthony Del Plato) Posts Debut Song

July 8, 2015

Anthony Del Plato is a man of many talents. Between his solo work, his collaboration with Brad Kujawski, and even an incredible cover of Stepfriends‘ “Strangers, Friends, and Pictures,” Del Plato has been a consistent fixture on our year end best-of lists. Today we share with you a new project of his: Tape Drive, born out Del Plato’s hopefully temporary inability to mic things up and get loud. Tape Drive is an instrumental electronic project. His first song, simply titled “Untitled Tape,” is two and a half minutes of ambient drums, bells, and soft piano. The track is chilltronica music for fans of The Album Leaf, Telefon Tel Aviv, or The Appleseed Cast. Check it out below.

Sonny Baker Premieres First Single from Upcoming Full Band EP

July 7, 2015

Today we have a release from Steak and Cake that is certainly worth noting. Sonny Baker, member of a bazillion other bands (Lazlo Hollyfeld, Wooden Waves, A Hotel Nourshing, etc.), has released the first single from his new project that’s bound to rock your face off. The song is called “You’re a Disaster/I’m a Disaster,” and will be featured on his upcoming, full band EP, Flesh It Out. It’s very reminiscent of old Japandroids: loud, simple, lo-fi, and just plain fun. The single opens up loud and throws dynamics out of the window. Immediately, we have the framework for the song  — a droning rhythm guitar with a short repetitive riff floating on top of it. The first verse comes in hot with slightly distorted vocals. There are a couple of different time changes in the song giving it a tiny bit of a math-y feel, but overall this is[...]

Zinnicimo Films Releases “A Rackmastas Dream”

July 7, 2015

Buffalo turned Las Vegas animator and filmmaker Robert Zinni of Zinnicimo Films recently released his latest project, a “visual remix” of Sax Appeal, the 2014 EP from the on-going grab bag duo of Rackmastas (Brandon Schilia and Jordan Jones of RED HEAT). ‘”A Rackmastas Dream” follows two inter-dimensional brothers, Harvie & Onezie, as they take a trip across time and space,” explains Zinni. “It took me about eight months to complete. Every movement, texture, and animation, I did myself. I took images or videos and manipulated them to create a world.” With the meticulously crafted, 8-bit inspired stop motion clip in the bag, Zinni will next team up RED HEAT as the politically minded punk trio is set to provide the score for his upcoming film Murphy 2. In the mean time, watch “A Rackamastas Dream” below.

Teenage Satan Drops Video for Cheerful Medley

July 2, 2015

Speaking of new local music videos, experimental folk act, Teenage Satan, has just released an accompanying clip for its latest EP, Cheerful Medley. The bedroom project of Kimmy’s Dan Bauer added to its steadily growing catalog near the back end of June with the 2-track release, and just yesterday, paired the songs with a John Heim produced video featuring cuts from old home videos and films. The frequent pensive and worried looks match well with Teenage Satan’s off-kilter pop sounds. You can stream the two tracks at Teenage Satan’s bandcamp page here. Watch the video for Cheerful Medley below.

Aircraft Releases Music Video for New Single “Dig A Little Deeper”

July 1, 2015

Aircraft has been paying its dues for quite some time now, especially after 2013’s debut LP Sonic Boom made some waves in the Buffalo scene and cemented the four-piece as both great songwriters and nuanced psych-poppers. Two years later, the group is about to release its follow up, an EP titled 7 Gems from the Sparkling Void. Yesterday saw the premiere of the EP’s first single, “Dig A Little Deeper,” via Pure Volume, and today, the track’s music video has debuted. The aptly-titled seven-song release is a perfect representation of Aircraft’s ethereal, occasionally surf-tinged space rock and is bound to propel the band to heights unknown. Local dynamo label Admirable Traits will be releasing 7 Gems from the Sparkling Void on August 28th, while the band’s release show is tentatively scheduled for August 29th with Rochester favs Pleistocene and new rock-saviors, Sixties Future. Watch the video for “Dig A Little Deeper” below. Video by Jeff Mace and[...]

MileHighMuzik Drops Visuals for “Smile”

July 1, 2015

The MileHighMuzik crew is always releasing something. The rap workaholics closed out last year with “Juugcember,” a stretch of 31 song releases for each day in December. In the half year since, they’ve been giving Juugcember tracks like “Red Carrera” video treatment. Their latest visuals accompany “Smile,” a track loaded with some great verses from the crew, a killer chipmunk sample in the beat, and a smooth neo-soul effort from Teddy Bear Casanova. As always, new MileHigh is on the way. Group leader M-A is already working on tracks for the group’s upcoming project Juugly. Check out the vid below and stay tuned for more from the hip hop group.

Victory For Poland Re-emerges with “Summer Solace”

June 30, 2015

Its been a minute since we heard from former high school all-stars Victory For Poland. A couple summers back, V4P, along with fellow underage acts like Brimstone Blondes and the Cascos, seemed like the next wave of great Buffalo bands. Then college happened. Since then, front man Tylor Colby put out a solo album on LIPS Records and future V4p material seemed less and less of a possibility. That is until late last month. The band announced a self-titled LP was in the works and teased that a single would soon be released. That single, “Summer Solace,” was just dropped last night. First of all, the song is bouncy as hell, and as for Colby, he seems to have developed a snarl similar to that of Joseph D’Agostino (Cymbals Eat Guitars). Plus, those horns give it just a touch of a ska vibe. Give “Summer Solace” a listen below and keep[...]

The Get Money Squad Drops Follow Up Single “Pillow Talk”

June 30, 2015

One of our favorite releases from last summer came from the Get Money Squad. Featuring Quinton Brock and Jon Bap of Network, the act’s short, self-coined “urban surf” EP was the perfect blend of off beat Mac DeMarco meets Shuggie Otis/Bill Withers lo-fi vibes. The group went on to open for Girl Talk at Canalside, but since then have been pretty quiet. With the release of Money Squad’s latest single “Pillow Talk,” though, Brock and crew are back to once again to help soundtrack our latest rust-belt summer. The rather sensual “Pillow Talk,” a track the band describes as a “song for summer lovers,” appears to be the first single off of the Get Money Squad’s forthcoming EP, titled Ruff Buff, and while the group has maintained its lo-fi sounds, Brock now appears to be vocally channeling the Beach Boys and even the soulful side My Morning Jacket (those falsettos[...]

Space Cubs Shares New Song via Unspeakable Records Comp

June 29, 2015

Former Buffalo ex-pat Space Cubs made her recent return to Buffalo count with the release of her solid debut LP, The Fire and Things Forgotten, early this spring. And just last week, the electro musician dropped her latest tune, the haunting “Pearls,” which is included on the new compilation from her Unspeakable Records label, Unspeakable Records Vol. Two. The comp features contributions from fellow UR artists like BATHHOUSE, Christal Sarah, and Astronautica, and can be listened in full here. Make sure to catch Space Cubs live as she joins Humble Braggers at Hardware next month on Thursday, the 16th, and in the mean time, listen to “Pearls” below ,

Chill Ali Drops Video for “Misguided”

June 26, 2015

Buffalo rapper Chill Ali is an artist whose sound is a perfect representation of his name. His songs are expected to feature smooth flows and an overall calm and relaxing vibe. On “Misguided,” Ali’s effortless presence on the mic makes the song a nice head-bobber, but the heavier lyrics take this track to the next level. “Misguided” is Ali’s description for the youth that are forced to grow up without good parental figures, or parents at all. Their lives without guidance can lead to mischievous or even criminal behavior that could’ve all been avoided had they had someone in their life to point them in the right direction. When they’re left to fend for themselves, morality unfortunately can be thrown out the window. It’s a great message, and one that should always be remembered when you hear about young people acting up in the news. Ali is a good enough rapper[...]

Tomoreaux Releases “Bennington” Single

June 23, 2015

Tomoreaux first caught our interest last year while performing under the name of Yesterday vs. Tomorrow. The pair has just released its latest in the Mark Rothko E.P., a collection of anthemic Muse meets Taking Back Sunday tunes. Since then, the band has grown to a quartet while renaming itself to Tomoreaux. Late last week, the four piece dropped the first single from its yet to be titled album. “Bennington” sticks with the group’s penchant for the grandiose, but now has honed in on an emotive, Explosions in the Sky-esque post rock sound. The band is set to open for Spoon and July Talk at Canalside this Thursday, so if you like what you hear, head down to the water early. In the mean time, check out “Bennington” below.