Latest Posts

Fucked Up – Glass Boys

June 10, 2014

In their new release, Glass Boys, Canadian hardcore punk outfit Fucked Up demonstrates their knack for tasteful anthemic punk rock, albeit in a more modest way than usual. This time around, the band looked to more self-reflective and moody elements to join their usual philosophically charged aggression. One thing listeners need to know before listening to Glass Boys is that, conceptually speaking, it is not anything close to David Comes to Life, their complex, punk rock opera that explores a love story through multiple perspectives and meta-narratives. In comparison, this record is the proverbial sidekick or henchman murmuring, “Yeah, what he said!,” echoing the previous record’s ideas of frustration with apprehension against society’s ills. However, this album should be praised through its particular use of song structure and instrumentation, which give it a brooding yet deeply energetic style. Whereas most hardcore punk music thrives off of bursts of high energy[...]

Glass Animals – Zaba

June 10, 2014

It was just this past April that the promising Oxford-based quartet Glass Animals cemented themselves a tight little niche in the psychedelic indie-pop market with their beaming EP Gooey. Now they’ve returned with their debut album, Zaba, to prove that beyond the Radiohead reminiscent grooves or the minimalist pop production, they are in fact an inimitable, contemporary pop creation. It’s only fitting that they hit the mark right out of the gate even with a ton of pressure riding on this up-and-coming group’s premiere effort. Glass Animals’ sonically forecasting Gooey EP brought about one of the quartet’s most unrestrained singles in “Gooey,” again found on Zaba. Oozing basslines all on top of Dave Bayley’s smooth, sleek falsettos make it one of their most authentic feeling cuts to date. The track isn’t without its fair share of sexual innuendos as unorthodox uses of pet names get that across, especially when referencing Winnie the[...]

Radarada – First Edition

June 9, 2014

A little over a year ago, I ran into Radarada‘s bassist, Colin Brydalski, and guitarist, Fran Coyne, at a bar.  They told me they were forming a band.  I laughed and responded, “Of course you are.”  Something about Radarada seemed meant to be, like this group of people were always going to make music together.  With the addition of  Ana Vafai (vocals), Tommy Too  (emcee/vocals), wZa (emcee/sampling), and Bryan Segarra (drums), the band took on a dynamic and extremely versatile vibe. Their music appeals to a wide variety of listeners. You’re gonna want to compare them to the Roots, Tribe Called Quest, or the Brand New Heavies with a little Sam Cooke/Miles Davis feel in the details, but I’d caution you against categorizing their sound. The more I listen to their debut EP, First Edition, the more I’m convinced that Radarada’s something different, perhaps influenced but never confined by their inspirations. Radarada’s[...]

50 Cent – Animal Ambition

June 6, 2014

Animal Ambition works when 50 Cent understands that he’s worth 140 millions dollars. Sometimes 50 gets caught up with his life back when he was fresh off of being shot 9 times, straight off of the streets, and all the other details that made him one of the best crossover gangsta rappers of all time. Now though, 50 hasn’t been on the streets for a long time. In the same way that Jay-Z still gets grief for his coke selling subject matter 20 years after the fact, 50’s strengths and weaknesses are on this album are dependent on whether he’s living in the past or the present. In “Hold On,” we see 50 attempt one of his sing-songy catchy hooks that took him to the top of the music industry 11 years ago. It’s not going to be the last time he does it on this album, and it’s probably[...]

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[...]

Pizza Pizza Drops His 25th Slice

June 4, 2014

Continuing his stretch of high quality free releases, Buffalo trap artist, Pizza Pizza, has dropped his latest in “Slice 25.” Its uplifting, summer-y synths make this track a great instrumental for the season. In fact, Yung Zza himself has declared the song to be the best that he’s ever made. He’s created a swirl of trap and EDM that still manages to be soothing and low-key. Considering his latest song is also perhaps his best, it’s become apparent that Pizza Pizza is only growing and getting better as an artist. Check out “Slice 25” below.

Smart House Releases Revamped “Let’s Skip”

June 4, 2014

Since releasing one of the blog’s favorite songs of 2013 in “Car Ride,” Alek Ogadzhanov’s Smart House project has been keeping busy. In between the reshuffling of band members and a future collaboration of some sort with Tom Burtless of Humble Braggers, Ogadzhanov has also taken to revamping some of his older material. One of those revisited songs, which just so happened to slip under our radar, was “Let’s Skip,” released nearly a month ago. Originally a nervy chip-tunes number recorded under the Brat’ya moniker, “Let’s Skip” has been remarkably remade into a lush cut of electro-pop that would make Johnny Jewel jealous. Fans of Cherub, Chromatics, and darker Hot Chip  should listen below. You might want to check it out now so you aren’t surprised when this makes our top 20 count down at the end of the year.

SBTRKT – Transitions

June 4, 2014

SBTRKT had the right idea when he split his latest LP, Transitions, into three phases. Each two track pairing plays off the thematic tones of the one before. The latest of the three came out today and it signals a darker, ominous twist from this formerly upbeat and dance-heavy producer (think of “Wildfire ft. Little Dragon” and “Hold On ft. Jessie Ware”). The final phase is a follow-up to the first two song sets, especially “Kyoto,” a track that bounces on fuzzy downbeats and a muted, smooth minor melody swirling in and out. “Highs and Lows” comes in with wild scoops of synthesizer and punchy downbeats. A tropical trill spins in and out of transition. Starry, punchy, fluid twinkling noises weave their way through the sparse noise. Second on the release is “Stifle,” a track that turns down the volume on intensity. An asymmetrical percussion features a drum downbeat, clap,[...]

Ben Frost – A U R O R A

June 3, 2014

With his new album, A U R O R A, electronic musician/composer Ben Frost sheds a new light on the genre, merging experimental minimalism with a modern rock sensibility. Finding a middle ground between artificial sound and live instrumentation, the record stands alone as a piece of art while providing a crossover sound sure to attract punk rockers and trance listeners alike. Mixing the best elements of both electronic and rock music is not an easy task, and few artists have managed to do so without delving into the unforgiveable realm of dubstep. Frost chooses to use mostly electronic instruments with anthemic rock song structures, but does so in a way that sounds natural. The result is something is best described as electronic post-rock, with melancholy buildups into climatic chaos. Frost aligns a different noise or instrument to their post-rock equivalent, sounding as if Explosions in The Sky were being[...]

Yesterday vs. Tomorrow Releases “Mark Rothko” Single

June 3, 2014

Yesterday vs. Tomorrow peaked our interest since we caught a glimpse of their discography via an early leak for this year’s Infringement lineup (which by the way, is set to blow the previous years out of the water). The duo’s single, “Mark Rothko,” is a soaring mix between whiney Taking Back Sunday and melodic Muse anthem rock. Currently in the studio working on their upcoming double album titled Aurora Borealis, Yesterday vs. Tomorrow will be keeping busy this summer with a string of June gigs.  Check out the building single “Mark Rothko” below.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Only Run

June 3, 2014

“How can I open up?” asks Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth on “As Always”- the opening track of the band’s latest release. He seems to have answered his own question, as the song- a cosmic cascade of phaser synths and Ounsworth’s signature howl- introduces the soaring, synthetic atmosphere of Only Run– the band’s first LP since 2011’s Hysterical. CYHSY has come a long way since their humble beginnings as a DIY-oriented indie band, but the overly electronic Only Run seems to lack that idiosyncratic energy that made them so buzzworthy in the first place. 2012 marked the departure of guitarist/keyboardist Robbie Guertin and bassist Tyler Sargent, which could offer explanation to such a wild reinvention of their sound. Lineup changes aside, the new album lacks substance, and left my appetite for classic Clap Your Hands hooks completely intact. However, Only Run does not come without its merits. “Impossible[...]

Fat Africa – Monroe

June 2, 2014

Fat Africa’s Monroe is a weekend album for malcontents. Get stoned, bitter and fired Friday afternoon; hopeful in the evening just to be left alone; hopeless, hungover and depressed by Saturday morning, just to laugh at yourself in the afternoon and stare cavalierly into the night as soon as the sun sets, with no place, in particular, to go. At least, that’s how I chose to read it. Noah Masters, the mind behind Fat Africa, would probably tell me I am wrong, and he is probably right. My impulse is to stretch the album over a weekend, but in real life, it took three years to put Monroe together. The first track recorded, the heartbreaker “Inch,” was put to tape in 2011, and the rest were jammed out on a loop pedal from the bottom up over the next few years. In the mean time, Masters moved around quite a[...]

Mario Bee Releases New Jhnson & Jhnson EP

May 30, 2014

Brooklyn-via-Buffalo-via-Rochester DJ/producer Mario Bee has showed his combined influence of both North American and UK club music on his various soundcloud demos and the Tomb EP, released last December on Austrian label Tiefparterre Records. The latest collection from the artist comes via media brand Toats Orig and is a two-tracker aptly titled Jnson & Jhnson.  Lead cut, “BabyPowder,” brings a raucous three minutes of grime, trap, and southern-rap, with a menacing, detuned bassline. Bringing to mind producers like Darq E Freaker and Royal-T, the stripped-down, raw aesthetic combines elements of Jersey club and hip hop, making for an inventive sound still strongly rooted in club music culture. The B-side, “BabyOil,” brings a similar vibe, with a faster tempo and break beats scattered throughout. Listen below and check out the Malt Disney edited video for “BabyPowder.” [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149713354″ 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” /] [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149714232″ 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” /]  

Meyhem Lauren & Buckwild – Silk Pyramids

May 30, 2014

“So Queens that you could feel me, so dope that you could deal me.” That’s what NYC rapper Meyhem Lauren asserts on the opener of his latest album Silk Pyramids with producer Buckwild, and that’s the script that he sticks to for the length of this impressive project. Lauren doesn’t break any ground with his subject matter on this, but he does a great job rapping about rap stuff. Action Bronson, a past collaborator with Lauren, assists him on the album’s intro, and he really kills it. The beat Buckwild crafts is straight up Bronsolino’s alley, a female vocal loop that sounds like it’d fit right in with with Bronson’s “9.24.11” and “9.24.13” series. Action always comes through with the ridiculous braggadocio bars. He provides the album’s first rewindable moment with the line “Cross your motherfuckin ass in basketball wearing sandals.” Murked. One of the album highlights for me, and I[...]

Sparklebomb Releases “Moldavite”

May 30, 2014

Buffalo electronic act Sparklebomb (aka Angie Conte) just dropped a fresh new song on her soundcloud page yesterday, titled “Moldavite.” Backed by soothing synths, the song feels like communication from distant planets that Conte managed to catch on tape. Sometimes chilling, but mostly beautiful, the track reminds me of some of Apparat’s more tender moments, and, for some reason, “Jed the Humanoid” from Grandaddy had Jed written the song rather than Jason Lytle. You can listen (and download) “Moldavite” below.