Latest Posts

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[...]

Still Diggin’: Discover, Explore, Dance On It

April 18, 2014

Since my last Record Store Day post, my collection has taken on a life of its own. I have sought out vinyl from my wishlist, in addition to some records that have seemed to just come into my life. Initially, digging for records was a solo mission of mine; occasionally my little brother and I would go on an excursion to Sound Garden in Syracuse, my hometown. But just recently I experienced that camaraderie that can grow from a visit to the record store. A couple friends invited me to go to Record Theatre. Surprisingly, this was my first time there. I am shocked (and others as well) that it was my first, mostly because it’s located smack dab in my old neighborhood, when I went to Canisius College. I went seeking the newest Tycho album, but, to my dismay it was on backorder. So we wandered. Another group joined[...]