Latest Posts

American Stories – Horse Beard

May 26, 2014

American Stories is an interesting band. Their new album Horse Beard is a mashup of genres, namely psychedelic, folk, punk, americana, and emo. The opening track, and perhaps Horse Beard‘s strongest, is “Programmed.” The song is reminiscent of something Beck would have written in the late 90s, or even blissful indie rock like Built to Spill. At times, it dips into something 60s influenced, but it maintains  the sort of loose slacker vibe you would expect from a musician like Beck, or the fuzzy warmth from a jangly BTS jam. “All The Same” takes these already strong sensibilities and wraps them in a shroud of the kind of emo you’d come to expect from Sunny Day Real Estate. I’m only two songs in but if you’re guessing you might find a pattern here, you’re right. American Stories are genre hoppers, and typically, it would make an album sound like it lacks direction. That[...]

Deniro Farrar – Rebirth

May 23, 2014

2014 looks to be a pretty big year for Charlotte rapper Deniro Farrar. Last year saw the release of two mixtapes (Patriarch and Patriarch II), which helped him to a selection to the illustrious XXL Freshman Cover for 2014. Signed with Vice Records and Warner Bros, Farrar released his major label debut this week, a six track EP titled Rebirth. Farrar keeps a low, calmly rough flow throughout the project, but each song has a distinctly different flavor to it. Lunice of the electronic hip hop duo TNGHT provides an eerie landscape for Farrar on the second track “Burning Bills.” Smattering vocal samples (similar to the ones he and other TNGHT member Hudson Mohawke helped contribute to Kanye’s Yeezus)are worked in with  graveyard synths. It’s the perfect compliment to the lo-fi, gritty raspiness of Farrar’s voice as he raps about the almighty dollar.  The hook has some pretty cool, demonic imagery to it, leading[...]

I Can See Mountains Has Gone Beachy

May 21, 2014

I thought I had viewed the last moments of I Can See Mountains last year. It was a bittersweet show full of catchy riffs, half sung/half spoken vocals, and even a display of acrobatics when Matt Cox jumped onto the rafters of the Waiting Room and swung himself around (much to the chagrin of club security). Much to our delight, ICSM isn’t quite out for the count. Cousins Matt Cox and Kevin Hoffman decided to continue on with the band and have just released a new EP called Gone Beachy. Recorded at Quiet Country Audio, the three song EP is full of the catchy wordplay and upbeat emo that made ICSM a fan favorite in the first place. “My Acquatic” sounds like a Hoffman/Cox fronted Cloud Nothings, bolstered by that huge beginning riff. Soon enough, “She’s My Bobby Orr Pt. II” brings us back to the ICSM we’re used to. “Bald”[...]

Lesionread Releases The Groovy “Open”

May 21, 2014

Buffalo artist/savant/ L’enfant terrible Lesionread has been busily toiling away working on new concepts and music, and has let slip this tasty new morsel to whet our appetites. “Open” is atmospheric and groovy with some extremely tasty synth lines, and being a Lesionread product, it’s got some off that kilter wildness.  You can check out “Open” live with whatever else Lesionread has in mind for us June 2nd when Minneapolis electronica outfit Polica comes to the Tralf Music Hall (doors at 7, Lesionread at 8).

Sea Planes Premiere “Young At Heart” Single

May 20, 2014

Rochester’s Sea Planes have maintained radio silence for close to a year since releasing their debut single, “Lip Gloss.” The song made a huge impression on the buffaBLOG office, ranking as the fourth best song from our sister city in our 2013 countdown. So with this, we were delighted yesterday afternoon when Sea Planes warned us all via social media that a new song, “Young at Heart,” would debut “tomorrow,” or in other words, today. While “Lip Gloss” sounds like it could have been on Top of the Pops, “Young At Heart” aims to be much bigger. Shouting harmonies, anthemic riffs, 80s synths, and one giant chorus has Sea Planes sounding like former Buffalo act All Blondes Go To Heaven if they started covering The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Listen to “Young At Heart” below.

Upset – “Linus”

May 20, 2014

Los Angeles has always been a mecca for music, like fellow NYC and Chicago metropolises. While ups and downs are unavoidable, as of late, LA has been able to find its footing, with new acts like Fidlar and Cherry Glazer, among others, to come of the City of Angels. The newest member to this club is the all girl pop punk outfit, Upset. Upset is a supergroup of sorts, consisting of former drummer of Best Coast and Vivian Girls, Ali Koehler (guitar/ vocals), Jennifer Prince (guitar) formerly of La Sera, and Patty Schemel (drums) of Hole fame. Upset released their debut album, She’s Gone, in October of 2013, on Don Giovanni Records. They are about to hit the road with White Lung, and have released a brand new track “Linus” to commemorate the tour. “Linus” is a throwback to an early 90’s alternative pop punk. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/147149401″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″[...]

Low Prospects Release Discovery Zone EP

May 20, 2014

Low Prospects, a noise-partnership formed by Kevin Cain (the Vault/Silo Sessions) and Bobby Griffiths of VWLS and Every Time I Die music video fame, recently released a three song EP titled Discovery Zone via Bad Drone Media. Discovery Zone, much like the childhood mecca, is full of twists and turns, ups and downs. The challenging project recalls some Feel Good Lost/Bee Hives era Broken Social Scene with some of the playfulness of minimal Animal Collective (see EP opener “Broke Rraga”). If you like what you hear, you can catch Low Prospects this Friday at the Wash Project as part of WSADA 11. Listen to “Pretty Chill Throughout,” which really is, below.

PASTEL GHOST – “Skeleton”

May 20, 2014

This morning, we received an e-mail from Oakland-based dream-wave artist, PASTEL GHOST. The fourth song off of the band’s Shadows EP, “Skeleton,” is enchanting, sucking the listener into a shoe-gaze trance backed by “dreamtrap” instrumentations. If you want to start making your cool summer playlist, this should be the first song on it.

Every Time I Die Releases Music Video For “Thirst”

May 19, 2014

Local hardcore heroes, Every Time I Die, have released the new music video for their track Thirst,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming album, From Parts Unknown, set to drop on July 1st. Clocking in at a breezy 1:49, the video follows two locals up to no good,one of them being Bobby Griffiths, a local drone musician behind projects like VWLS and Low Prospects, over at Spiral Scratch, Holly Farms, the First Ward, and other spots around the Buffalo city area while making their way to an ETID show. Maybe next time they could just take mass transit. Check out the video for “Thirst” below.

Sleepy Hahas – Dull Days

May 19, 2014

Dull Days, the new LP from Buffalo’s own Sleepy Hahas, is likely to be one of the most diverse, consistently entertaining albums you’ll hear out of WNY this year. The sound is all over the map, as the band explores different styles and genres on each track, from Mudhoney-esque sludge metal to more gentle, acoustic numbers. It never stops being interesting, and the end result is an endlessly fascinating debut from a wildly creative band. If Sleepy Hahas sound had to be pinned down, they are somewhere in the middle of psych rock and sludge metal, with elements of Mudhoney, Queens Of the Stone Age, and 13th Floor Elevators all emerging at various points in the album. This is especially apparent on “I Hate My Body (And It Hates Me Too),” an engaging psychedelic rant that certainly wouldn’t feel out of place on Rated R. But these are not the only[...]

Mac Miller – Faces

May 16, 2014

Mac Miller has taken an unconventional path as an artist. He gained notoriety as pseudo-frat rapper after a couple mixtapes as a late teen, then released an independent that was number 1 on Billboard. With a style that appealed to the mainstream, and a debut album that was panned and looked at as cheesy, a legitimate future in the rap game is something that didn’t seem to be in the stars for Mac. And yet here we are, Mac’s almost a year removed from a critically acclaimed album and on the cusp of a critically acclaimed mixtape. He has scored collaborations with the likes of UGK legend Bun B, kind of-legend/anomaly Jay Electronica, and consensus top 2 rapper on the planet Kendrick Lamar. He’s befriended Kendrick, has a significant friendship with ScHoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, frequently collaborates with rap messiah Earl Sweatshirt, and is becoming one of the most reliable[...]

Conor Oberst’s Upside Down Mountain

May 16, 2014

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[...]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Days of Abandon

May 15, 2014

When The Pains of Being Pure at Heart debuted in 2009, the band endeared instantly.  A song like “Young Adult Friction” felt wide-eyed and wistful, vividly realized and alive with youth. The tracks on Days of Abandon, the New York City act’s third album, are aged and exhausted in comparison, sleepy little getaways squatting on acres of sound long occupied by Belle & Sebastian. The record’s stronger second half partly compensates for its listless start. “Eurydice” stands out as a legitimate pop single, full of gentle longing and loss. Yet both Nick Cave and Arcade Fire have performed better art rock takes on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, and the track still suffers from the same aesthetic gutlessness that permeates most of the album. “Until the Sun Explodes” fares better as a brief nova-burst of twee energy. Perhaps a cleaner, more naked production approach makes Days of Abandon feel less rapturous and[...]

Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Jackson”

May 14, 2014

Man, who knew these guys were still around? I am sure I am not the only one who left Cymbals Eat Guitars for dead after the band followed up its incredible Why There Are Mountains with the somewhat disappointing 2011 release, Lenses Alien. The band returned in a big way yesterday by sharing “Jackson,” from forthcoming album, LOSE (8/26). The epic album opener, with its layer upon layer building towards that release and big classic rock guitar lines, could easily have led off WTAM too. Its thats good. And that big pay off at the end? Well worth the 6+ min wait.

Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso

May 14, 2014

There are very few new albums in 2014 that have struck me song by song. The War On Drugs’ Lost In The Dream and Porches’ Lost In The Cosmos are two of those. It pleases me to say that I have found a third. Sylvan Esso, comprised of former acapella-folk singer Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, former bass player for Megafaun, merged together as solo artists to create a work of art. Sanborn brings the vision of an electronic music producer to the front, and Meath works her wide range of crafty vocals. The first track, “Hey Mami,” introduces us to the soundscape of walking in a city. Meath slowly builds on the phrase ‘hey mami’ into an arpeggio, as thick drops of bass plop in while the chorus repeats. Meath’s voice is remniscent of the quality of Feist’s–smooth, elegant, and raw. This song is the feeling of being a woman on the street–it’s[...]