Preview

Wildhoney Band, Baltimore

Tonight: Wildhoney

June 2, 2015

Baltimore-based Wildhoney has been pegged as the latest ‘shoegaze’ band, which is a box they quite dislike. While they do incorporate elements of gazing into their tunes, Wildhoney’s melodic trajectories are quite clear, whereas groups like My Bloody Valentine & Slowdive integrate deeper walls of sound and repetitive, other-wordly chords. Wildhoney strays away from drowned out sensations, and creates an upbeat, pop-tinged array. Think 60’s chick bands vibin’ with 80’s bands like The Cure or The Sundays. The elements of shoegaze, therefore, are a stylistic approach to the indie-pop music they classify themselves as. This year, the group put out their first full length LP, called Sleep Through It. The album includes early song releases, personal favorites such as “Seventeen Forever” and “Get Out Of My Dreams.” Lauren Shusterich’s lush chords sing catchy lyrics that we can all relate to on a personal level, touching on the nostalgic and depressive[...]

Tonight: Shonen Knife

June 1, 2015

Legendary Osaka, Japan garage rockers, Shonen Knife, return to the Queen City to kick off their North American tour at a special benefit show tonight at Waiting Room for beloved community enterprise Music Is Art. Local punkers and post-punkers Healer, Lost Elysium, and Orations will open the show with Tokyo’s DJ Sashimi spinning records throughout the evening. With the Music Is Art Festival only a few months away on September 12th, this is a mightily good cause to get behind, in addition to a terrific bill featuring a band with a long history playing our city. Tickets are $15 at the doors and show will kick off at 7pm.

Tonight: Matt “MV” Valentine

June 1, 2015

Today is Monday. If you’re one of those people who just can’t seem to say goodbye to that sweet, sweet weekend (acute weekend separation anxiety syndrome, or AWSAS), then take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay. Tonight, underground-ish experimental psyche superstar Matt “MV” Valentine makes a return to the Queen City in support of his sprawling new double LP Midden Mound, an album that will probably make you forget what day of the week it is, anyway. Valentine, one half of folk duo MV & EE, is known for his mind-bending neo-psychedelia; his new album conjures up a good Dark Side of the Moon feel, albeit seared with his signature style of experimentation that will melt your weekday blues away. Opening talent for Valentine’s stop at Mohawk place includes indie folk singer/songwriter Chase Huglin (Fort Wayne, IN), Scott Valkwitch / Bill Nehill duo (of Mohawk Place royalty), Steve Baczkowski /[...]

Tonight: The Early November

May 30, 2015

These damn bands from 2004-06 keep going on such great tours… Tonight you can catch a few forerunners of 2000s emo at Waiting Room. The Early November will be here slinging its older, Drive Thru-brand of passionate pop-punk (“Ever So Sweet” and “I Want to Hear You Sad” immediately come to mind), as well as some newer, polished pop-rock tunes. Joining them this evening are the ever-ethereal Lydia (“This is Twice Now” comes to mind) and Restorations’ Gaslight Anthem-y jams. The show is $17 bucks and doors are at 7pm. All ages too, in case any underage readers are scoping out the blog.

Tonight: Take One Car

May 30, 2015

Sugar City is set to welcome Connecticut post-hardcore outfit, Take One Car, to the venue’s newly built stage early this evening. The band’s latest album, Everyone You Know is Here Right Now, was released early this spring through Broken World Media, and should appeal to fans of mewithoutYou or even The Slums if you want a local spin. Rounding out tonight’s bill are Steel City screamo act, Skull Kid, local emo group, Alleys, (set to take off on a new tour right around the corner), and the fresh Buffalo pop/punk trio, THICK WINTER BLUD. The all ages, substance free show will kick off around 7pm with a cover of $6 at the door.

Tonight: Buffalo Afrobeat Orchestra

May 30, 2015

A special convocation of musicians featuring members of One World Tribe, Rockaz, and 12/8 Path, plus DJ Milk will be assembling at Nietzsche’s tonight as the Buffalo Afrobeat Orchestra to celebrate Afrobeat music and that genre’s totemic hero, Fela Kuti. The Nigerian bandleader, philosopher, and political rabble rouser has become legendary not only for contribution to world music, but for off stage activities that bordered on revolutionary, and his inspiration will no doubt propel Buffalo’s Afrobeat community to new heights of excellence tonight. DJ Milk will also be spinning choice cuts into the night, so if you’re looking to get down to Fela, Femi Kuti, Africa 70, Manu Dibango, and Antibalas, Nietzsche’s is the place to be. Tickets are $10 and the show starts at 10 PM.

Tonight: Harmonica Lewinski

May 29, 2015

Tonight, Allentown will be the place to be as Nietzsche’s will be hosting the monumental first showcase of buffaBLOG’s own Yace Booking Company, featuring a stacked line up of WNY talent and buffaBLOG favorites. Headlining the showcase will be Rochester based retro-surf / garage rock act Harmonica Lewinski, but that’s just part of the fun. Opening the evening will be Syracuse based psychedelic indie-electronica act, Phantom Chemistry, along with two local hard hitters: lake poppers Bryan Johnson & Family and closing with the infamous funk punk outfit, Mallwalkers. The show is set to take off at 10pm, and the cover is only $5

Dr. Ooo Drops “City Man” Clip

May 29, 2015

Each release from EKL’s Dr. Ooo is an immediate must-watch/listen. One of the city’s finest emcees, Ooo is a favorite of the blog and last appeared when he dropped the visuals for “Fuq Dr. Ooo.” Today Ooo comes back with a creative vid accompanying his track “City Man.” The D. Thomas Magee-directed affair doesn’t actually star Ooo, but rather a female substitute because “the rapper has been changed to protect his identity.” The video features some visually fantastic cultural fashion, as well as some really cool animated effects that remind me of Iamsu!’s video for “Only That Real.” The song itself features a nice sing-songy chorus, and as with any Ooo track, the bars are top-notch and prevalent. Dr. Ooo is also set to perform at the Deep Thinka Records Herd Fest Showcase on Friday, June 19th at Duke’s. Watch that vid below. Dr. Ooo ‘City Man’ from d. thomas magee[...]

Tonight: Parlor Trix #3

May 29, 2015

Buzzing Purchase, NY pop act, Adult Mom, will be one of the highlights of tonight’s latest installment of Steak & Cake’s Parlor Trix series at the label’s home base venue of Curly’s (note: this is not the Lackawanna restaurant). The group’s latest single,”Survival,” has been getting some serious burn over at Pitchfork. I would have compared the act to Rilo Kiley if the P4K crew didn’t meet me to it first. Rounding out tonight’s bill will be Alex Berkley, whose most recent release, Shuffled, premiered as part of Sugar City’s annual Fun-a-Day art installment this past March, Helen, the haunting folk project of Bourbon and Coffee’s Andrew Biggie, and the extremely unknown act/musician Thelma. Seriously, I found nothing on them. $5 is all it will cost to figure out who Thelma is, in addition to catch an on-the-rise touring act in Adult Mom, and two of the city’s finest songwriters[...]

Tonight: Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas

May 27, 2015

After the absolute blast that was last Friday’s sold out !!! show, Babeville’s basement venue, the Ninth Ward, looks to keep things rolling tonight as it welcomes the buzzing act, Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas. The Detroit born Hernandez, a sultry, rock and roll version of Amy Winehouse, will be in town to support the group’s debut album, Secret Evil. Tickets are still available to grab at the door for $10. The Albrights will open the show beginning at 8pm.

Tonight: Aaron Dilloway

May 27, 2015

Michigan-born experimental artist Aaron Dilloway is best known as a former core member of Detroit industrial noise band Wolf Eyes, whose prolific, DIY-style stream of releases has amassed over one hundred recordings since 1996. Band members John Olson, Nate Young, and Dilloway each have been responsible for a handful of side-projects and recording aliases which have acted as a natural sonic extension of their ambitious, murky aesthetic. On his acclaimed 2012 LP Modern Jester, Dilloway presented a comprehensive look at the artist’s avant-garde explorations that helped define the American noise scene. Despite the challenging nature of this abrasive style, the resulting effect of the artist’s chaotic soundscapes comes off as atmospheric and at times manages to achieve a serene quality amidst this highly-textured sound. Tonight, Aaron Dilloway will be performing at Buffalo’s Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Arts Center along with an opening set from Mistake by the Lake Tapes[...]

Tonight: Face to Face

May 26, 2015

Full disclosure: I’m not a Face to Face fanboy. I’m actually only familiar with one album by the Victorville, California foursome. I don’t even think I have an original copy of that album either, just a burned one. And I can’t tell you where or when I heard it for the first time. I can tell you one thing though, I listened to the fuck out of it. The album I’m speaking of is, of course, the band’s self-titled masterpiece. It’s just so good. It really is. A fun, straight up punk rock album start to finish. No shit ballads. No filler interludes. Just moderately fast punk music. It’s one of those albums that you eventually know all the words to and end up singing random songs from it at work. You end up listening to it five times in a row and don’t notice, and don’t even care because[...]

Tonight: Downtown Boys

May 25, 2015

She’s brown, she’s smart, and she’s leading the saviors we didn’t know we’d been waiting for. This Memorial Day, get pummeled by a wave of political dance-punk from the Victoria Ruiz fronted Downtown Boys at Sugar City. The Providence based unit mixes punk and Spanish with jazzy sax parts to make a dance party that is also a learning experience. This is a band that gets back to punk’s political roots, a band that again makes punk a gateway to cultural and social consciousness. Downtown Boys has been around for a few years, but are creating a real buzz recently with the new album Full Communism that dropped this month, and I am excited about them. Downtown Boys is unstoppable. Green Dreams from Rochester and Buffalo’s own Boy Scouts are rounding out the show ($6, 6pm) with a lot of non-male representation, which is always best. Watch this must see[...]

Prawn

Tonight: Prawn

May 25, 2015

I saw a separate Prawn/Del Paxton show last March at The Lair, and it was an experience I can most closely (and I guess weirdly) compare to cracking a fresh egg on the rim of a frying pan. It was my first time seeing Del Paxton live, my first time really getting into Prawn, and I was genuinely excited about everything I was hearing. The show did not disappoint. If you weren’t at that show last year, fear not. Prawn and Del Paxton are headlining Dreamland tonight. Prawn’s post-rock sound is hypnotic, but not without inciting some type of visceral response, which makes for the perfect type of band to see in such an intimate setting. Del Paxton has recently joined the Topshelf family along with Prawn, and it is a well deserved membership. I’m consistently impressed with the trio’s live set and I’ve seen these guys a handful of times[...]

Tonight: !!! (Chk Chk Chk)

May 22, 2015

The beautiful old bricks that bless the Ninth Ward at Babeville with sublime acoustics will be vibrating with all sorts of sexy funky future sounds when !!!, blog favorites KOPPS, and Groove Cereal take it over tonight. Sacramento, California’s dance-punk outfit, !!! (or, Chk Chk Chk, a reference to the 80’s classic The Gods Must Be Crazy), is in town promoting 2013’s Thr!!!er, with a follow up in the wings, while this show will also be KOPPS second show in Buffalo this week, having played Waiting Room Monday night opening for Priory at one of the Alt Buffalo’s $1.07 shows. Even though their set was plagued with sound problems, the unstoppable Rochester darlings overcame the static and utterly owned the audience, and the show. I’ve never been to a show at the Ninth Ward that didn’t sound absolutely wonderful, so tonight ought to be a genuine treat. Plus, dancing. Buffalo trip-hop[...]