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Five Questions with BAMBARA

Editor’s Note: Local musician John Toohill (JOHNS and Alpha Hopper) will occasionally sit down with touring bands and ask them five questions. For his first installment, he spoke with Blaze Bateh of Brooklyn’s BAMBARA, set to play Buffalo tomorrow at Broadway Joe’s. John Toohill: Hey, I’m getting this local blog to do a post about the show. They asked me to ask you five questions, like a mini interview. Then they will post it as promo. You into that? Blaze Bateh: Oh cool. Yeah we are definitely down. How was your trip out west? JT: Hey, I’m asking the questions around here mister. BB: Whoops. I’m such a dingus JT: Question 1 – So I just got back from Salt Lake City last week. There is a restaurant on South Main Street there called BAMBARA. Why did you name your band after that place? Are you guys all Mormon? BB:[...]

Column 7: Indie Teen for the Inbetweeners

“Soundtrack by Various Artists” is a phrase I’ve always secretly sought out. It’s probably because I’m not naturally gifted in the art of discovering the latest and greatest musicians. The mere thought of making a cohesive, nicely flowing playlist makes me overwhelmed and anxious. “Soundtrack by Various Artists” has taken the guesswork out of sampling music, and I’ve always appreciated it. This kind of soundtrack was helpful when I was in high school, trying pretty hard to make “liking music” a part of my identity. I did like music, but I liked the idea of being known for liking music even more. This didn’t come naturally to me. This was a problem. Enter “Various Artists.” I loved going to the movies, so a soundtrack of this type was great exposure to different bands and sounds. I would see a movie and then look up the soundtrack. Often, a simple read-through[...]

Column 6: Motion Picture Movie Music

Depending on the average age of buffaBLOG’s readership, it’s probably safe to say that most of us grew up with a few decades of film history behind us. Within those decades are a handful of movies whose music is just as iconic as the film itself. Take The Godfather trilogy, Chariots of Fire, or Jurassic Park, for example. You can probably think of (or whistle) the beginning notes to each of the above movies’ melodies. A movie’s music usually becomes famous because the movie itself does well. A movie does well for many reasons, but mostly because it resonates with the audience. In these cases, the music enhances this feeling and completes the experience in the viewer’s mind (and maybe sometimes, the soul). When I think about the movies that, in my opinion, have music that takes them to the next level, a common theme seems to arise: they’re all[...]

Joshua Smith of Black Dots

You have most likely walked by it a thousand times. You’ve probably totally ignored it, like it was invisible, like a vagrant. If it was a two headed mythological serpent of the future, it would have offered you it’s forbidden fruit. It sits drunkenly on the corner of Grant Street and Lafayette Avenue, like Dylan Thomas over a typewriter, directly across from Sweetness 7 Cafe. I am of course talking of Black Dots record shop. If you have ever wandered into the basement record store, you are familiar with it’s owner Joshua Smith. Smith can usually be found sitting behind the counter with the glow of his laptop dancing across his scruffy face.  Always sporting jeans and an obscure punk T-shirt, Smith will give a gentle nod as you enter the store, and calmly go back to his computer. He has a quiet demeanor, but if you can engage him,[...]

Essex St. Pub

Jukebox Heroes is a new feature, highlighting the best Jukeboxes Western New York has to offer. The focus here is pre-digital, pre-touch screen. In other words, jukeboxes that play vinyl or compact discs. It is the 21st century. The world, as we know it, is changing. Culture is progressing. People are  branching out. Music is evolving. We can choose to embrace this change, or fight it. One truth remains evident regardless. It will change, whether we like it or not. (Cue lyrics to “Fly like an Eagle”… Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future.) I have always been an advocate for change. I think it’s healthy and it’s how we advance as people; physically, spiritually and emotionally. Unfortunately, we sometimes discard our past as we grow and adapt. And that’s a shame because it’s our past that makes us who we are. We learn from the past. Our identity[...]

Vampire Weekend and Contra

Last year we ran an article about Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City. I basically just went song-by-song and tried to explain some of the more potentially obscure references and how I thought the songs fit into the larger thematic arc of the album. You can still read that piece, here, on the old buffaBLOG (from the “before times” in the “long, long ago.”) That article was pretty well received and some people said that it was nice to have some extra context in which to enjoy the songs, even if most of it was just pure speculation and interpretation on my part. So, in anticipation of Vampire Weekend’s upcoming show at the Outer Harbor on Monday, I’ve made some comments below on the rest of the band’s catalog, which includes all of the songs from their self-titled debut album and follow-up, Contra. Pick and choose from your favorite songs below[...]

June 5th

Caribou – “Can’t Do Without You” “Can’t Do Without You,” the lead track from Caribou’s forthcoming album, Our Love, is a subdued and tender cut that takes off and soars as the drums kick in and the warm synths resonate deeper, building behind a wall of sound, until the rush subsides for a blissful outro. Look for Caribou’s sixth studio album out October 7th via Merge Records. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152480774″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Moon Boots – “Whatever You Need” New York based producer Moon Boots’ tracks have always had nostalgic vibe, using disco grooves and 90’s r&b vocals to create soulful, bouncing slices of sleek house. His latest track for label French Express, “Whatever You Need,” follows a familiar formula, building around a yearning vocal sample and vibrant keys, the filtered breakdowns and graceful builds make for a perfect summer party vibe and breathes life into a genre often knocked for it’s[...]

Column 5: The Best Things in Life Are…Not Bert Cooper’s Goodbye?

I tossed around several ideas for this week’s column, and though it felt predictable, I kept circling back to writing about Mad Men. Maybe it was the fact that this Sunday marked the last new episode for A. Whole. Year. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been re-watching the entire series and curating a list of the show’s greatest music moments…for a later post. Yes, later. So if you immediately thought “best of” list when you saw Mad Men in this week’s title, I am sorry to disappoint. But don’t fret. I am writing about Mad Men because when you write a series about the use of music in filmed media and the Mad Men gods include a Bert Cooper song-and-dance number at the end of an episode that airs three days before your next column is due, it only seems right. Note: if you haven’t watched this week’s episode[...]

Column 4: Considering Pete and Pete

If you happened to catch last week’s Screened Plays, you’ll know that we discussed the importance of television theme songs and, in particular, how they should be viewed in the context of the audience they reach and the generation in which they existed. Theme songs are great windows to the soul of a television audience, but the thing is that most are pretty limited by their genre. That is to say, most television theme songs say a lot about an audience’s values and tastes, or the subject of the TV show itself… and that’s it. But there are some television show theme songs that transcend their show’s scope and somehow manage to be appropriate for whatever music style is current at the time. Enter: The Adventures of Pete and Pete. Often pointed to as 90s-Nickelodeon gold (and as the reigning 90s-nostalgia magnet), The Adventures of Pete and Pete captured the[...]

Conor Oberst’s Upside Down Mountain

There’s a mountain in southern France called the Pic de Bugarach. It’s a bit of a geological anomaly because rock samples taken from its peak have actually proven to be older than samples taken from lower elevations, earning it the nickname “Upside Down Mountain.” Geologists have come up with a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, involving “thrust faults” and “horizontal compression,” which I can only vaguely pretend to understand. If you Google Pic de Bugarach, however, you’ll find that others have come up with far more scientifically dubious (but more interesting!) explanations involving aliens, spaceships, and the apocalypse. It shouldn’t be terribly surprising then that Conor Oberst has titled his new album after the nickname for a mountain worshiped by esoteric New Agers. Ever since Bright Eyes released Cassadaga in 2007, Oberst has shown significant interest in spirituality. The lead tracks on the last two Bright Eyes Albums featured cryptic[...]

May 15th

Laszlo Dancehall – “Plimpton” (George FitzGerald Remix) Laszlo Dancehall, the UK production duo made up of Leon Vynehall and A1 Bassline, released their latest EP, LZD III, on George FitzGerald’s ManMakeMusic label earlier this week. FitzGerald’s remix of one of the record’s standout cuts, “Plimpton,” is a characteristically atmospheric production, with deep bass tones and crisp drums that provide  a more dancefloor-oriented interpretation of the more eccentric original track. LZD III is out now on ManMakeMusic and look for FitzGerald’s debut LP later this year on Domino records imprint Double Six. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/148326986″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Movement – “5.57” Australian trio Movement’s debut EP features four tracks of moody, dark r&b, drawing comparisons to artists like James Blake, The Weeknd, and The xx. It’s a sound that has become somewhat oversaturated at this point, yet tracks like “5.57” provide a compelling case for its legitimacy with intricate sound design and decadent layered[...]

Column 3: Theme Songs

What do the following phrases have in common? “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful trip…” “Here’s the story, of a lovely lady…” “Whatever happened to predictability, the milk man, the paper boy, evening TV…” Anyone who has ever turned on a television probably identified these as lyrics to extremely recognizable TV show theme songs. But you probably could’ve known the answer without ever having turned on a television—that’s how ingrained into popular culture these theme songs are. Two of the above theme songs are brought to you by the 1960s (Gilligan’s Island and The Brady Bunch, respectively), the decade that ushered in the scripted sitcom and singlehandedly built the television industry. American families gave up radios in favor of television, and by the late 1950s, weekly sitcoms were being broadcast into homes all over the country. A family in California watched and[...]

May 8th

Jamie xx & Nicolas Jaar – “Girl vs. Work It” (Nico’s Bluewave Edit) London producer Jamie xx premiered this stunning edit on his second installment of his BBC radio 6 residency series last Friday. The track seamlessly blends the producer’s latest single “Girl” with Nicolas Jaar’s Bluewave edit of Missy Elliot’s “Work It,” a seemingly unlikely pairing, resulting in a hypnotic groove and compelling combination of soul and tenacity. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/147869904″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Matrixxman- “Venetian Mask” Charles McCloud Duff, who records under the name Matrixxman is set to release a new EP, Amulet, on June 9 via Ghostly International imprint Spectral Sound. The lead track from the record, “Venetian Mask,” was created using several pieces of vintage Roland gear and captures a nostalgic, bouncing house vibe with a dynamic and atmospheric sound. With releases on Crosstown Rebels and Jimmy Edgar’s Ultramajic label already to his name, the San Francisco-based[...]

Column 2: Let’s Talk About TURN

AMC has an impressive track record of successful television programming. Its standouts, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, quite often are referred to as the best shows in the history of television. Anyone who’s watched them knows this to be true. But for every Jaguar pitch and jaw-dropping desert shootout, there are a handful of mediocre moments happening on one of AMC’s lesser shows. TURN, AMC’s new colonial spy drama, is just slightly better than mediocre despite an obvious attempt to be great.  TURN’s mediocrity is surprising because it has all the makings of a successful show: a story with a good hook, unknown actors, attractive costuming and set design, purposeful music, and the list goes on. It’s as if the programming team at AMC looked at their successes and from them created a checklist of what every other show must have in order to be good. This line of thinking seems[...]

May 2nd

Schoolboy Q – “Man of the Year” (Royal-T Bootleg Dub) Southampton, UK producer Royal-T’s dub of  the Chromatics-sampling Schoolboy Q track “Man of the Year” brings a laid back vibe, with a 2-step inspired beat. Impressively blending elements of soul, hip hop and garage, the infectious vocal hooks of the original are dropped in throughout, bringing a sense of urgency to the otherwise smooth, soulful track. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/145730761″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Tinashe – Vulnerable (Pomo Remix) Montreal’s Pomo is responsible for one of the funkiest remixes of Tinashe to date. His midtempo rework of “Vulnerable” from the LA r&b singer’s Black Water mixtape, with it’s bright, bouncy feel, contrasts the murky undertones of the original.  The sultry vocals sit perfectly atop the groove, making for a sound that feels somewhere between west coast hip hop and boogie. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/146587000″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Jacques Greene – “Feel What”[...]