Rochester

Faux Leather Jacket’s Trevor Courneen Launches Audible Handshake Podcast

May 26, 2015

Late last month, Trevor Courneen, member of Rochester’s alt-country outfit, Faux Leather Jacket, launched a new podcast series titled Audible Handshake. The first two episodes featured interviews/chats with fellow Rochester musicians Katie Preston of Pleistocene and Howlo‘s Ben Morey. “I wanted to start the podcast because for the past few years that I’ve lived in Rochester, I’ve met a lot of cool people,” begins Courneen. “People in the music scene, the art scene, the food scene, etc., I consider many of them friends at this point, but the truth is, I know very little about them beyond what they do. Katie and Ben are exceptions to this obviously because I’ve been good friends with them for a few years (which is why they were the first two, I knew I’d be comfortable and it would get me used to the process).” The podcast is more than just friendly talk with musical friends, but[...]

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Installment feat. Amateur Radio Club

May 22, 2015

Keeping with its recently steady pace, Rochester’s live session series, Genesee Live, released its latest installment yesterday, this time starring Amateur Radio Club, the solo project from former SPORTS keyboardist, Ian Egling. Featuring track’s from Egling’s debut LP, and our recent Album of the Week, The Laughing Vulcan and Her Dog, the bouncy session was filmed at Rochester’s WITR Radio studio. Watch the full session below and catch up on all of Genesee Live’s past installments here.

Pink Elephant Releases Video for “Employment”

May 18, 2015

We’ve been listening to Pink Elephant for the past couple of years, even naming their 2014 self titled full-length our album of the week last summer as well as their song “Architect” our eighth  favorite Rochester track of 2014. Suffice to say, we are fans over at buffaBLOG of their grizzled, cacophonous sound. This morning the heavy-hitting quartet released the video for the track “Employment,” with the help of Matt Tharp over at Ghost Films. The video alters between shots of Rochester’s growing and dying areas, jumping back to shots of the band’s practice space. Fans of Pile, Les Savy Fav, or Trail of Dead would enjoy Pink Elephant. Check out their video for “Employment” below.

KOPPS Premiere Music Video for Single “Dumb”

May 6, 2015

Yesterday morning, Joywave BFFs, KOPPS, saw the music video for the electropop quartet’s new single, “Dumb,” premiere via All Things Go. The song has passed one million listens on Spotify so a video was most certainly in order. The Cultco Music presented clip, which was directed by Joywave guitarist Joseph Morinelli, finds a female runner becoming quite nauseous after listening to what I would assume is pretty unfavorable music. Even KOPPS’ own record doesn’t seem to help settle her stomach. KOPPS will be back in Buffalo later this month, opening for Priory at Waiting Room on May 18th, and perhaps maybe they’ll find themselves back at some point this summer. In the mean time, watch the clip for “Dumb” below.

Genesee Live Releases Latest Installment feat. the Absolutes

May 4, 2015

A couple weeks ago, Genesee Live, Rochester’s premiere live session video series, debuted its latest installment featuring the retro-rock trio, the Absolutes. We first caught the Absolutes at our Bug Jar invasion showcase back in November, and most recently played Buffalo at Nietzsche’s alongside of the Soft Love a couple months ago. The bluesy threesome recall British Invasion acts like the Rolling Stones, Cream, and the Beatles, and feature members of Talking Under Water and Mikeala Davis’ band Watch the full clip below, and if you want to catch up on Genesee Live’s 20+ plus sessions, you can view all of them here.

Gay Angel Releases Second Installment of floral

April 28, 2015

As promised back in February, the next installment of floral, the ambitious, 100-track project from Rochester’s chamber folk musician, Gay Angel, has arrived. After about a year of listening to Jake Bellissimo’s Gay Angel recordings, there are always a few things to expect on each release: an overwhelming track list (although once you look at some of the track lengths it becomes much less), an endless list of featured musicians, and some vulnerable, heart on your sleeve lyrics. For floral, pt. 2, Bellissimo didn’t stray to far from what made pt.1 so great, but the new installment does see the musician head in a couple new directions. “growing leaves” finds Gay Angel dipping his toes into folk-punk, while “letter to brazil” may be the closest Bellissimo comes to releasing a doo-wop song. “whose fault is it” even sounds Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman doing some vocal warm ups before a show. With the sudden[...]

CRUSHES Release New Single “i miss you”

April 20, 2015

This past week, Rochester birthed duo, CRUSHES, released their first single in over a year, titled “i miss you.” Comprised of long-time Rochester DJ, David Lee Rad, and Buffalo/Rochester floater, DJ Lulu, “i miss you” is an impressive indietronic collaboration by the pair, reminiscent of Chromatics, Ladyhawke or even Cut Copy. Let’s hope this is not just a stand alone track, but a single from a forthcoming EP, or maybe even a full. One can dream. Check out “i miss you” below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/200662838″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

The Wayouts Record Exclusive Record Store Day 7″ for WAYO FM

April 16, 2015

With all this talk of Record Store Day in Buffalo, there is a pretty cool RSD related project coming out of Rochester for Saturday’s big day. Featuring members of SPORTS, No Glitter, Howlo, Faux Leather Jacket, and Pleistocene, the Wayouts recorded a two track pressing titled Way Out​/​Roses and Rainbows in Ben Morey’s Submarine Records studio. The “supergroup” of sorts fleshed out a new version of the track “Way Out,” originally featured on an episode of the Flinstones back in the 60’s, in addition to a cover of “Roses and Rainbows” by Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night. Pleistocene’s Katie Preston tackles lead vocals on the latter track. Those screaming teenagers you hear in “Roses and Rainbows” are original shrieks recorded from overwhelmed Beatles’ fans outside of one of the Fab Four’s shows. The 7″ is currently available for purchase on the band’s bandcamp page, in addition to a limited number of  physical copies[...]

Mario Bee and Mike Gerbino Announce Point of No Concern EP

April 14, 2015

Two former Rochester-based artists, DJ Mario Bee and rapper Mike Gerbino, are set to release their debut collaborative EP, Point of No Concern on April 20th. Featuring an assortment of hip-hop, electronic, and grime beats, the five-track record abrasively touches on subjects like the middle-east, prostitution, global warming, and Facebook. Well known for his work on HBO’s Brave New Voices poetry special, Gerbino is an accomplished spoken work artist in addition to his hip hop endeavors, while Mario Bee began his career DJing and producing in both Rochester and Buffalo before moving to New York City where he now gigs frequently throughout the city and the East Coast. The pair are also having a release party for the EP this Saturday at Leftfield Bar in New York if you find yourself in the area Check out the project’s first single, “Eliot Spizter,” below.

Maybird Releases Music Video For “Two Horizons”

April 6, 2015

In the midst of recording new material, the Rochester bred psych folk act, Maybird, released the music video for “Two Horizons,” a track found on the group’s debut release Down and Under. The band currently splits time between Brooklyn and WNY, and for the clip, director and VICE news contributor, Michael Faller, choose to focus on the citizens of the band’s adoptive new city, recording intimate shots of both the young and old, at work and at play, some touching and some humorous, all while occasionally catching the breathtaking city skyline on film. The video feels like a moving collage of the Humans of New York photo series. Take a minute to watch the video for “Two Horizons” below and keep an eye out in the near future for new music from Maybird.

The Televisionaries Drop Latest Track “AGAVE”

March 23, 2015

Despite this last blast of winter, summer is coming (we think), and with that, we have a seasonable new song from Rochester surf trio, the Televisionaries. Titled, “AGAVE,” the track is set to be included on the band’s forthcoming sophomore album sometime in the near future. Just don’t mistake that intro for “When The Saint Go Marching In.” You can catch the Televisionaries in their live (and free!) glory along with Buffalo’s finest surf acts, Aaron & the Burrs and the Hamiltones, next week on Friday, April 3rd. No matter what the weather looks like outside that evening, thoughts of sunny skies and tiki drinks will be in the air in the Glitterbox basement. Listen to “AGAVE” below. Surf’s up.

Brass Palace Continues “50 Bands 50 Weeks” Compilation, Releases SPEIRS’ “Threshold”

March 18, 2015

Last month, we wrote about the Rochester recording studio, Brass Palace, and its ambitious “50 Bands 50 Weeks” project. At the time of writing, producer and engineer Chris Vandeviver had already released tracks from bands like Druse and Edge of Jupiter. For the latest installment in the ongoing project, Brass Palace premiered a song from SPEIRS, who you may remember us introducing you to earlier this year when the ethereal, female-fronted post-rock act from Rochester released its debut single, “Headwarm.” For the five piece’s contribution to “50 Bands 50 Weeks,” the group recorded its newest offering, “Threshold,” a track full of swelling, guitar-driven ambiance a la Appleseed Cast or Now, Now. Listen to “Threshold” below and follow the progress of Brass Palace’s “50 Bands 50 Weeks” compilation here.

Blue Falcon Drops New Single, “S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)”

March 17, 2015

After an extended lull out of Rochester, our sister city’s music scene had a sudden surge last week with the release of some quality, blog worthy material. One of those bands, Blue Falcon, released its latest single during the tail end of last week. Titled “S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder),” something I would have to assume most WNYers were hit hard with this past, insufferable winter, the song has a laid back Mac DeMarco meets Earlimart slacker feel, a bit of a departure from the band’s blues-rock sounds on its previous EP, First Flight. No word yet on whether the single is going to be included on a future release, so in the mean time, listen to “S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)” below.

Scope & Figure Shares First Single From Forthcoming EP, Exemplary Sports Magic

March 16, 2015

Late last week, Rochester quartet, Scope & Figure, released the first single from its forthcoming EP, Exemplary Sports Magic, set to be released on May 1st via Dadstache Records. Titled “Cincinnati Fire Kites,” the track is pretty different from last spring’s single “Entropy Knows Best,” sounding like clean mathy indie rock (think Minus the Bear meets Two Door Cinema Club with a hint of Early November). The band seemed to take a nod from fellow Roch math rock act, Fowls, distancing its from the robust, folkier sounds of the previous single. Look for the Scope & Figure full EP to drop this spring. In the mean time, listen to “Cincinnati Fire Kites” below.

Genesee Live Premieres Latest Session feat. Northern Spies

March 11, 2015

These past couple weeks have been really busy for us at the blog with our many various projects coming up (Herd Fest, our fifth birthday, plus many others that still are developing in our board room). Due to this, it took us a little bit to share with our loyal readers Rochester’s Genesee Live’s 21st session, with Northern Spies. You may remember Northern Spies from our brief track write-up we did in January. In early March, Northern Spies debuted its full-set recording at WITR Studios (a la the stellar session with Attic Abasement). Some faces may look familiar in Northern Spies, as they’ve been around the scene for a bit having participated in Joywave, the Demos, Cottage Jefferson, and Kopps. The half hour session is a healthy mix of 60’s power-pop, and even branches out to The Unicorns-esque Americana. Check it out below.