Latest Posts

Tonight: araabMUZIK

August 29, 2014

Hailing from Providence, R.I., Abraham Orellana goes by araabMUZIK, and he is master of the MPC. A revolutionary talent, by tapping the pads of the piece of equipment and making loops, he paints an electronic and hip-hop inspired masterpiece of sound with his fingers. The vibes of his productions are sultry, sexy, and ghetto, interspersed with the signature female vocal letting you know, “You are now listening to araabMUZIK.” He has toured with Sleigh Bells, Baauer and Zeds Dead in addition to a multitude of collaborative work with highly influential artists such as Cam’ron, Styles P, Swizz Beatz, A$AP Rocky and Danny Brown. He pulls samples from a diverse range of artists from Oceanlab, Kaskade, The Who, Jay Z, The Supremes, Lana Del Rey, and so much more. By basically, in essence, performing a remix live, araabMUZIK has mastered one of the most creative ways to perform electronic music, entitling[...]

Applennium Releases “Old Maples”

August 29, 2014

So we may have let one slip under our radar. Earlier this year, local mood rockers Applennium stealthily dropped a new track on their Soundcloud page—a grooving song sounding like something off of Bombay Bicycle Club’s latest. The danceable track, titled “Old Maples,” is a bit of a stylistic departure for the band, leaving behind the dreamy folk twang of earlier material to capitalize on a peppy house-beat with a fat, juicy bassline. A rhythmically-played palm-muted riff and distant jangle-chords add a pleasing airy element to the track while the band’s chillingly good male/female harmonies round out the haunting number. Never a dull moment from this band—earlier this year they played a mind-blowingly good set for the Harvest Sum showcase of Herdfest, and wound up contributing a song to the label’s 2014 summer compilation, available here. Better six months late than never, enjoy Applennium’s “Old Maples” below. (You know, if[...]

Today: Buffalo DIY Fest II

August 9, 2014

The Buffalo DIY Fest returns to Buffalo River Fest Park today, making this year two for the do-it-yourself oriented music and arts festival. The festivities start at 4pm, and feature a wide array of things to look forward to, including live music, art vendors, and food trucks. buffaBLOG got to pick the brain of festival organizer Cam Rogers, who answered a few questions we had about the event and the DIY community. buffaBLOG: So what exactly is DIY fest? Cam Rogers: To me, the DIY Fest is a gathering of people to celebrate the DIY spirit and culture in Buffalo. It involves people that make things, whether that is art, crafts, metals, paints, music, or noise, and celebrates creation. bB: What inspired you to organize the festival? CR: I guess what inspired me to organize the festival was the desire to bring people together. It’s tough to bring all the[...]

Contribute to Desire Will Set You Free

August 5, 2014

Berlin. The LGBTQ community. Punk rock spirit. These are some of the common threads of the upcoming film from Yony Leyser (William S. Burroughs: A Man Within), Desire Will Set You Free, slated for release in Spring 2015. Straight from the press release, Desire “explores artistic and marginalized life in Berlin with an often critical and sometimes humorous (but always reverent) eye. The story follows the encounter between an American writer of Israeli/Palestinian descent and a Russian aspiring artist working as a hustler. Actively exploring gender identity, sexuality, andthe differences between expatriate and refugee life, the main characters travel through Berlin’s layered history and unique subcultural landscape. On their adventures they discover influences and remnants of the Weimar Republic, WWII, the Bowie years, and punk”. Jillian Mertz, a staple of the Buffalo music & arts scene, and recent German transplant, has been heavily involved in the promotion of this film, as[...]

Tonight: RADARADA

July 29, 2014

Combining jazzy live instrumentation with dexterous, melodic lyricism, Buffalo hip hop outfit RADARADA have quickly caught on as one of the most intriguing new groups to emerge locally as of late. Their excellent debut, First Edition, received album of the week honors here at buffaBLOG and was a soulful, welcome addition to the already eclectic local hip hop scene that boasts a healthy mix of veteran talent and hungry newcomers.  Tonight, the band brings their impressive live chops to McGarret’s on Elmwood for a show following the Bidwell Concert Series beginning at 9pm. Admission is $3 at the door. 21+.

Buffalo Vaggie Fest

July 28, 2014

I’m sure you have seen the flyer. I’ve seen it everywhere, from Black Dots Record Boutique to the Elmwood Market, from Spot Coffee to Amy’s Place. The flyer depicts any man’s worst fear, especially if they’ve seen the campy B-­horror film Teeth. Needless to say, it’s definitely eye-catching. The flyer that I am speaking of is for the Buffalo Vaggie Fest, which will be celebrating its fifth year next weekend. The event is the brainchild of Britt Wagner, and even though it is a “lady band” fest, Wagner has a hard time identifying herself as a feminist. Well, maybe she is a feminist by its technical definition, but she prefers the term “equalist.” “I don’t like to say that I am a feminist, but I’m an equalist. Equal shit for everyone,” she says as she takes a sip from her bottle of Magic Hat. “I’ve been places where people have been[...]

Tonight: Louis Prima Jr. and the Witnesses

July 12, 2014

To carry a legacy on decade after decade is quite a feat. Louis Prima was a pivital musician during the New Orleans jazz era. He became notable for classic Italian tunes to his starring vocal role as King Louie in the Disney film The Jungle Book. With Vegas experiences and collaborations with Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, Prima became known for his “Wildest!” signature. If you think you don’t know Prima, think again, especially if you’ve wandered Hertel Avenue for Buffalo’s Italian Festival. And if that doesn’t strike your memory, take a listen to his famous song from The Jungle Book. His son, Louis Prima Jr., is continuing the legacy but rather than recreating the past and following a set path led by his father, he is amping it up with a modern vibe. The band’s album Blow scored a #25 rank on CMJ‘s Jazz charts. Along with his eight-piece band,[...]

Today and Tonight: Red, White & Igloo – Queen City Cartel Boombox 003

July 4, 2014

America. Political stances aside, the Fourth of July is the one day a year where mostly everyone will bust out their patriotic attire, fire up the grills and shoot off those fireworks they scored from Pennsylvania (or trek downtown to watch regulated ones). For a while, my family and I had the same tradition each year. We would camp at Southwick Beach, which was just outside of Syracuse. I have the fondest memories as a child of chasing fireflies, spending time with my grandparents, the smell of the campfire and the exciting but almost terrifying feeling of holding a sparkler and running wild. My “Uncle Kenny” (we weren’t blood related) would gather the family, head to the beach and we would walk a decently far way down, where the campsites ended and there was hardly anyone in sight. My entire family and I, under the starlight ,with the sound of the[...]

MitchArizona Debuts with a Trippy 7-Song EP

July 2, 2014

Buffalo producer MitchArizona combines ambient beats and chopped, pitched, swirling vocals to create an impressive first EP on Sincerely, Arizona. His creativity in his song composition and structure creates a unique trip-hop experience that you can just vibe to. Some of the songs feature nonsensical vocals and others feature reflective lyrics that Arizona stretches and manipulates to the listener’s desires. It’s a cloudy, thoughtful, and ambitious effort into a burgeoning genre, and I’m excited to see where this talented producer will go from here. Check out “ARZ$ $tillne​$​$” below.

Tonight: Well Rounded People’s Party Skate Jam [no. 1]

June 27, 2014

Damn, this is just about the best damn thing I’ve ever had the pleasure to do a write up for. Tonight, Skateland will be alive with beats, funk, and skating when PUSH Buffalo, The WASH Project and West Side Bazaar put on a skate party for the people, like the kind we used to have at Skateland back in the day. All of these magnificent organizations are doing tremendous work for the West Side, our city, and some of it’s newest residents (note: the West Side Bazaar has also been doing tremendous work for my love world gastronomy), and tonight’s party is an excellent excuse to support them and social justice while skating and getting down. DJ Sike and Baby Joe will be kicking out the jams, food vendors will be from the aforementioned West Side Bazaar, tickets are only $5, and the party’s from 6 to 11.

Edwang Shines On Collaborative Effort With Duce

June 11, 2014

Buffalo born producer Edwang has honed his craft remixing and mashing up other rap songs, but he’s stepped in a new direction with this collaborative effort with rapper Duce. The Duce Bootlegs is a project full of poppy hip hop goodness that reasserts Edwang’s staying power. He’s crafted complex beats that still allow the freedom of an emcee to flow over. The bouncy keyboard on “True Hollywood Story” sets the tone for the rest of an album that never takes itself too seriously.  The beat in “Pirate Booty” is based around a upbeat west-coast guitar riff, and the rapping is basically Duce rattling off pirate references in each line. His best rapping probably comes in “Old Joe,” where Duce narrates the unfortunate experience of catching an STD. Edwang continuously impresses on the beats, and flashes his experiences in productions by including some pop culture bites for skits between songs. Aziz Ansari’s[...]

crontab -u john Releases GIRLS EP

June 4, 2014

Not really sure who crontab -u john is, other than that it’s a producer who just relocated to Buffalo from the small island-nation of Canada, but I am super high on his recently released Girls EP. Perhaps knowing that I’m wildly desensitized to boring regular indie rock and can only get off on weird shit and hard-as-fuck gangster rap anymore, a fellow buffaBLOGGER sent me a link to the Bandcamp page. A tinny and claustrophobic cluster of angsty tracks, Girls sounds like what would happen if David Byrne and The Birthday Party got tricked into boarding a time machine in 1981, but it turned out it wasn’t actually a time machine, it was actually just the hard drive from a shitty mid-00s laptop, oh, and the Butthole Surfers and Fucked Up were in there too, but instead of instruments they were playing circuits. So, in the end, it sort of[...]

Tonight: Rootscollider

May 30, 2014

Imagine the deep beat of a fast-paced drum folded into the harmonious sound of a celestial synth. The music lifts you into the air, like you’re a sylph, guiding your hands and feet in motion. Subtle waves of bass creep around you and your accompaniment as you wander further and further into the fresh, funky sound. That’s a little bit what it’s like to listen to RootsCollider, the Rochester-based band coming to DBGB’s tonight. The four-piece collaborates their vibes into a chaotic and chill frenzy that’s perfect for letting the day go and getting down. This will be their last stop in Buffalo before they head into the Summer festival months–if you’re looking to dance, hover on down for the show, starting at 10:00 p.m. Whorehey and Lopro open the night with DJ sets, and Big Basha takes the stairs down with his final set closing the night.  $5 will[...]

Pizza Pizza Dishes Out a New Slice

May 14, 2014

Slice 19 is the latest track from versatile Buffalo electronic artist Pizza Pizza. In the past we’ve heard a fusion of trap, electronic, and moombahton from Yung Zza. Here, he takes the route of a trap banger. It’s got the air-horn synths, the hard-hitting snares, and the repeatedly cocked gun, essential to a great trap track. Slice 19 is a testament to the consistent quality that Pizza Pizza should be recognized for. This is his 19th song in the last two months alone, and we can only expect more coming. Listen to it here:

Tonight: Ani DiFranco

May 2, 2014

Ani DiFranco has built up quite the history in my heart, and I’m sure many others. One of my first CDs was a mix made by my cousin. Although I have this underlying feeling that listening to Ani’s music at the youthful age of 11 years old may have prematurely added to both my romantic vulnerability and jadedness, she played a significant part in the development of my poetic state of mind, my endless search for meaning and truth and the drive to become who I want to be. Perhaps many people can agree with that statement, or maybe they have reasons otherwise. Regardless, Ani DiFranco lovers from the Queen City share her Buffalonian heritage. Seeing a concert of hers in Buffalo, particularly Babeville – a 19th century Gothic-revival church she saved, rehabed, and turned into a venue hall – is a special moment, in and of itself. The “little[...]