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Top 20 Buffalo Tracks: 20-11

December 15, 2015

It’s that time of year again, where we re-think and dissect every local song that we’ve come across organically or via submission. This is our fourth year counting down our top songs and this year, like every other year, has been difficult to whittle down. Like we always remind people, this list is subjective and not the end-all be all. I am sure there are amazing local songs that aren’t on our radar,  but from what we have heard, we as a group have determined blog’s favorite songs of 2015. Yesterday we posted our five songs that ALMOST made the cut.  Here is the top half of our annual top 20 countdown, 20-11. 20. Lesionread – “Addicted” Lesionread (Shawn Lewis) has had a big year. Between the release of the experimental artist’s excellent Greatest Hits! Volume 1, touring it across the country, and slew of local shows (one of which opening for[...]

Neon Indian at the Tralf (10/23/15)

October 25, 2015

In a year of live music treats, Friday night has to stand out thanks to the much anticipated return of Denton, Texas electronic funk outfit Neon Indian to Buffalo after a five and a half year absence, along with truly excellent opening support from Explorer Tapes and Lesionread. Any hard feelings (there really weren’t any) would be completely forgotten, wiped away by an electro-funk heavy set that took the crowd to Night School and turned the Tralf into an 80’s dance party. Explorer Tapes got everything going right with a gorgeous and aching set of Brian Wilson meets Lindsey Buckingham influenced 80’s yacht rock. The duo of Max Townsley and Drew Erickson, also from Denton, impressed the seated Tralf audience with plaintive and sweetly expressive harmonies, Buckinghamesque guitars and dreamy sythns, making the place feel like a nightclub on a cruise ship, which was perfectly simpatico with the headliner who’d composed[...]

Watch Lesionread Perform Final “Art All Day” Set

October 24, 2015

Last night at the Tralf, Lesionread (aka Shawn/Sean Lewis/Louis) staged a triumphant return to BFLO opening for Neon Indian. The beat heavy and trippy set gradually drew in the crowd of LR neophytes, offering a tactile, almost punk experience all in the service of spreading the love and selling art.  By set’s end, the whole floor was jumping with joyful abandon, a fitting conclusion to Lewis’ “Art All Day” era. Check it out the set below, and for a full review of the show, click here.

Tonight: Neon Indian

October 23, 2015

After about four years of silence caused partially by a stolen laptop, Neon Indian’s Vega Intl. Night School is one of this year’s surprises. Vega Intl. sounds like something you might hear in a restaurant in Blade Runner. A solid record oscillating between atmospheric synth tunes akin to music from Italians Do It Better and the aggressive tight groove of album highlight “Slumlord.”    Tonight, Neon Indian returns to Buffalo for the first time since a great show at Soundlab a few years ago. Playing at the Tralf, the group will be joined by Explorer Tapes and local electro-spectacle performer, Lesionread. Doors open at 7pm tonight and tickets can still be purchased for $19.

Sound Devices: Why Lesionread Loves Their Homemade Travel-Sized Studio

September 30, 2015

Editor’s note: Each week Cory Perla of The Public asks a local musician to tell us why they love their favorite piece of gear. Lesionread is a electronic music producer from Buffalo. He just finished a cross country tour. “I love my case because it’s an ‘all-in-one’ portable recording studio. It’s got a lid and wheels attached, and it’s just the right size to fit in my car. My favorite thing to do is while touring, meeting other musicians in each city and hooking ’em into my box so we can record tunes on the fly.” — Lesionread

Tonight: Lichens

September 5, 2015

Artist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe has a body of work that ranges from acting, film composition, playing in experimental psychedelic rock band Om, as well as a solo modular synth project under the name Lichens. These vocal/electronic explorations bring to mind musicians like Julianna Barwick and Holly Herndon, with intricately layered and droning sounds. Back in 2005, Lowe released his first full length, The Psychic Nature of Being on Kranky Records, and has since put out six LPs under the Linchens project. Tonight, the Brooklyn based musician will perform at Buffalo’s Silo City to help celebrate the life and works of Hollis Frampton, the pioneering avant-garde multimedia artist who finished his career teaching at University at Buffalo. Also performing tonight will be local experimental pop/electronic artist Lesionread, putting on a collaborative noise set with Space Cubs. Music starts at 8pm and the event is free to the public

Steak & Cake Records

June 20, 2015

The Herd Fest-ivities continue on this glorious Saturday! Make sure you’re ready to rally by noon today, so you can head over to Record Theatre on Main Street for the Steak & Cake Records showcase. Steak & Cake Records is a DIY indie-rock label founded by Brandon Schlia (Mink, RED HEAT) that offers professional recording, production, mixing and distribution services for local artists. In other words, it is both a staple and accurate representation of Buffalo’s self-sufficient nature and synergistic music community — separate projects coming together to form something much greater than the sum of the individual parts. Dozens of wonderfully crafted records have been birthed through Schlia’s studio since its conception in 2011. If you haven’t explored S & C’s catalog on their bandcamp page, I highly suggest doing so now. This year’s showcase features seven Buffalo (and Philadelphia) based artists that support and are very much apart[...]

Tonight: YAWN

June 8, 2015

Sugar City has been tearing it up lately with excellent and affordable all-ages bills featuring some of the coolest indie/punk/whatever acts rolling through Buffalo, many times stacked with quality local talent. Tonight the newly revamped Niagara St. venue will follow that trend when Chicago’s indie-psyche sensation YAWN brings its freshness to the Queen City. The act’s latest LP Love Chills (via Old Flame Records) is blissful and weird, channeling catchy summer vibes through a pair of kaleidoscope binoculars. Recommended for fans of MGMT, Panda Bear, and Menomena. Though YAWN won’t be the only act peddling pandemonium from Sugar City’s freshly-built stage tonight, as the Buffalo-bred experi-tronic whiz kid Lesionread will be shaking things up with his own electro craziness to whip the crowd into shape. If you’ve never been to a Lesionread show you should probably remedy that tonight. Also on tonight’s bill are YAWN tourmates Blind Moon and Pleasure Hammer,[...]

Lesionread Unveils Massive Summer Tour

June 2, 2015

The ever restless pop artist Lesionread has unveiled a summer tour itinerary that is frankly ridiculous. The nearly 50 city, 10,000 mile cross-country tour (see route map here) begins next Monday, June 8th, and will feature fellow local (and formally local) musician friends – Space Cubs, Logan Locking, and Kristachuwan – joining Shawn Lewis on various legs of the summer tour. The just announced tour will include a couple Buffalo dates to start out, beginning Monday night supporting Yawn at Sugar City and an afternoon set at Record Theatre on June 20th as part of the Steak & Cake Herd Fest lineup. In addition, while not a Lesionread show, Lewis’ lotto band, ELVIRA, will makes its live debut at the Queen City Music Lottery #2 Showcase this Saturday, also at Sugar City. PUSH by Lesionread + Jon Bap

Just Announced: Anklepants

April 28, 2015

The nearly year long Wonk Sesh series, presented by pop musician Lesionread, has always been known for its left-of-the-dial acts, but the for the series upcoming show, we clearly have a front runner for the strangest set yet. On June 28th at Sugar City, and presented by Squeaky Wheel, Wonk Sesh is proud to present Anklepants. Until I heard from Wonk Sesh curator, Shawn Lewis/Lesionread, I had no idea who/what Anklepants was, so let me let Reecard Farché ( the man behind Anklepants) explain it for himself: “Anklepants…is a one man mechanical faced sound creature from the depths of the the Australian übergründé. Anklepants is a perfect specimen. His eyes nose face and mouth are perfect. Anklepants is a live electronic music machine.” Ok, maybe that didn’t explain enough. Farché  was the set designer for Prometheus (that mask does look a little bit like the Space Jockey helmet), and when performing, uses a Wii-like controller attached to[...]

Watermelon

April 23, 2015

It’s been a minute since Lesionread blessed us with another Wonk Sesh clip. The green-screened series, which we co-present with LR’s alter ego, Shawn Lewis, features live performances from normally left-of-the-dial touring and/or local acts. For the latest Wonk Sesh, Lewis filmed Province noise duo, Watermelon, in the absolutely freezing attic of the Hive this past winter. The session was briefly mentioned in a Gothamist article  from earlier this year which made the city go straight bonkers. If you have fallen a bit behind on any of the Wonk Sesh series, make sure to catch up here. In further Lesionread news, the pop artist recently performed a three-song set at Baltimore’s WJHU studio. The performance, which features live takes of “Perfect,” “Open,” and personal favorite, “Neutron Bomb” The clip, which Lewis thankfully wonkified as well, can be viewed below. Lastly, if you want to catch a different type of Lesionread set,[...]

Lesionread – Lesionread’s Greatest Hits! Vol. 1

March 23, 2015

Just a little shy of two years ago, Lesionread exploded onto the scene opening for Wild Nothing at the Tralf with an experience high on avant-garde mischief and mayhem, and Buffalo frankly hasn’t been the same since. The performing moniker of ever ambitious artist Shawn (Sean?) Lewis (Louis?), Lesionread has been an adventure ever since: staging fun yet challenging happenings, constantly refining his sprawling sound, doing his best to live his “art all day” mantra, and in 2015, he’s compiled two year’s worth of work onto a CD/tape cheekily titled Lesionread Greatest Hits Volume 1, and it’s our Album Of The Week. Still, as cheeky a name as Greatest Hits is for a debut album, it’s not entirely undeserved. From the start, it was clear that he wasn’t thinking about his art strictly in terms of songs, instead focusing on the experiences he’s orchestrating, and Lesionread has always been fine[...]

Tonight: Lesionread

March 20, 2015

Lesionread, the brainchild of local performance art prodigy, Shawn Lewis, is as much of a physical experience as it is a musical statement. His newfangled approach to electropop marries sensory stimulation with authentically catchy production (pepper in a little haphazardness for good measure). Lewis cites influences from the likes of Death Grips, Bjork, St. Vincent, J Dilla, and a slew of other artists that are fairly distinct from one another. Surprisingly, I feel as though I can differentiate the hodgepodge of influences in his music, though the blend may seem chaotic at times. Somewhere in that Frankenstein-esque mix, you get a pretty confident sense that he has a knack for organizing that chaos. The show is a “re-release” of his latest album, Lesionread’s Great Hits! Vol. 1, as the original date for the album release was postponed due to sub-zero weather conditions back in February. Equally dynamic openers, Ay Fast,[...]

Lesionread Releases NSFW Nail Polish Commercial

February 9, 2015

Local troublemaker and art polymath Lesionread released a hilariously NSFW nail polish commercial teasing his album release party next month at Dreamland (rescheduled due to arctic weather) with the recently added Brimstone Blondes, Planet Three, and Joe Bap. This clip is assuredly uncool for viewing at your desk, in church, or at the day care center, but if you get off on flaunting societal convention or can lock the stall door, go for it. As far as the much anticipated show at Dreamland, word on the street has it that not only is there a secret installation is in the works, the long running “feud” between Lesionread and Sleepy Hahas’ Pat Butler will finally be settled by a rap battle. The show starts at 8pm and cover is $5. Meanwhile…. Lesionread Merchandise 2015 (NSFW) from Shawn Lewis on Vimeo.

Planet Three – “Pluto”

February 3, 2015

Buffalo debutantes Planet Three dropped a new video last week for the Marilla natives ultra spacey jam “Pluto” that’s got tongues wagging in advance of the trio’s opening set next Saturday (February 14th) at Lesionread’s album release party. The clip, directed by the blog’s favorite polymath,aka Sean Lewis, is a lo-fi romp through time and space, featuring 80’s visual motifs, a cameo from the directors channeling both Spike Jonze and R. Lee Ermey, and lots of orange spacesuits. You can catch Planet Three in support of Lesionread at the latter’s release party for the new tape “Lesionread’s Greatest Hits! Vol.”at Dreamland.