Blog: nyctaper

[Live at Glasslands in April 2011. Photo courtesy of EardrumNYC ] Warming us up for Howlin' Rain's set of modern classic rock two Wednesdays ago at Brooklyn Bowl was another band led by a musician of varied talents that draws its inspiration from an earlier time. D. Charles Speer & the Helix frontman Dave Shuford is also a player in No Neck Blues Band , the avant-garde New York-based improvisational collective that traffics in free jazz, experimental folk and noise rock, but the Speer clan travels the seemingly more familiar [...]

[Photos by acidjack] Backwords, of Brooklyn, are one of those bands that manages to sound classic and completely new at the same time. Some of their tunes fall solidly in the gentler folk camp; at other times they can get psychedelic and jammy. This opening set at Glasslands showed off both sides, with their approachable, melodic material, mostly from their current record By the Neck , predominating. The band maintained an upbeat, easygoing vibe for the crowd of friends and fans that showed up early to catch their set. I was partial to "Last [...]

Shellshag was the second band to play at the Don Giovanni showcase at Music Hall last week, but based upon the crowd response and participation, the band could have played much higher in the bill. Shellshag is not a new band - Shell and Shag have played together for over a decade. A guitar/drums duo that sounds like a full band playing legit garage rock, these veterans of the San Francisco DIY scene since the 1990s are a blueprint of how two people with talent and passion can make compelling underground music and make it [...]

[ photo by acidjack ] In November, Screaming Females played one of the best shows we saw in all of 2011. Their furious guitar assault never let up, and that night at 285 Kent we became true believers in this band. On Saturday at Music Hall , Screaming Females were back in NYC and delivered another phenomenal performance. As the headliner on an excellent five-band bill that encompassed the annual Don Giovanni Records showcase, Screaming Females anchored a terrific night of music. The set opened with the new single from [...]

[Photos by Geoffrey Dicker for According 2 G . See his review of the show here ] This same night that the inimitable Björk took the stage at the New York Hall of Science , it happened to be "music's biggest night of the year" - the annual Grammy Awards. In a giant auditorium in Los Angeles, the four major U.S. music corporations ("record label" seems too artistic a term) slathered awards on artists who - even in the case of the best performances - dutifully trod the well-worn ground of Motown, 60s rock, [...]

[Photos by acidjack] Ethan Miller, the founder and frontman of Howlin' Rain , knows his history. Were it still the 1970s, the Humboldt County native and his band could have held their own with any of that era's West Coast greats. These days, some of the era's dinosaurs may still roam, but among current acts, Howlin' Rain have the mantle almost to themselves. The band wear their influences proudly; as Miller put it to Rolling Stone , "Everyone dabbles in the history books to get their licks... We use the same roads and highways. But the [...]

[Photos by acidjack] Brooklyn's EULA have been on a tear lately, just having wrapped up a slew of local shows that brought them to many of my favorite venues (and some newer ones like Big Snow and NXL LVL). It was hard to pick the perfect time and place to see them with so many good options, but Cameo Gallery seems to have a been a great choice. The stage wasn't overlit, the sound was spot-on, and the band, well, they were on fire. EULA's sound updates the classic three-chord postpunk of the [...]

[Photo by Ken Grand-Pierre. See his Flickr stream here ] Food Will Win the War may have been opening for the Lemonheads on this night, but they put a headliner-level of intensity into their set of acoustic folk-rock, and were rewarded with a mostly full house to do it. They are one of those big, "musical" bands that puts thought as well as energy into their performances, using their fairly large (six) number of players and diverse instrumentation to produce finely-honed, thoughtful arrangements. Yes, as rock music goes, they are about [...]

[photo courtesy of Dominick Mastrangelo ] Captured Tracks is on quite an impressive run. The label began as a small Brooklyn boutique a couple of years ago - "CT-013 is the Dum Dum Girls EP Yours Alone . Even at slightly more than 100 actual releases, Captured Tracks has managed to nurture some of the brightest bands around these days, including Widowspeak, Wild Nothing, Hoop Dreams and Beach Fossils. Another superb Captured Tracks discovery was on display at 285 Kent last week. Blouse is a quartet from Portland whose [...]

[ photo by nyctaper ] In the two years since we last checked in with Larkin Grimm , much has happened in her life. When we recorded her at Knitting Factory in December of 2009 , Larkin had a set of excellent new songs and a new album was expected soon. But Larkin received a wonderful gift in the interim - a baby boy. She also parted ways with Young God Records in a split that does not seem to be completely amicable. But in a fashion consistent with her incredible life story , Larkin [...]

[Photos by acidjack] In a north Brooklyn scene that has both thriving indie rock and metal scenes, Grandfather are one of the few bands that bridges that divide. The band plays intelligent, aggressive hard rock (not quite metal) that capitalizes on the outstanding guitar work of Michael Kirsch and the focused, balls-out vocals of Josh Hoffman, already a consummate rock frontman even in his rookie years. The closest reference point sound-wise for the band is probably the mighty Tool , but these guys clearly listened to plenty of Nirvana and other Seattle bands in their [...]

[photo courtesy of Maryanne Ventrice ] On nyctaper, we take pride in recognizing the talent and potential of bands long before they hit it big. We have had a nice little track record and the results are archived in five years worth of posts on this site. But we're also perfectly willing to admit when we miss one entirely. Two and a half years ago, I recorded Hospitality at Littlefield but did not post it on nyctaper, because, well, I did not see the band's potential. This week Hospitality [...]

[Photo by acidjack] It's one thing to be unaware of an amazing live act for far too long; it's another for them to be from your own backyard and to be totally clueless about them until they're opening for an established band at Bowery Ballroom . But such is the truth of my discovery of Brooklyn's Superhuman Happiness , and I'm happy to say I'm glad I made my way to them eventually, even if I arrived late to the party. Like the band they were opening for , Superhuman Happiness utilize a [...]

[Photos by acidjack] I suppose one could fairly accuse this site of not featuring enough heavy music. There are several reasons for that, not least being that a lot of "metal" bands aren't into being recorded. But here's to hoping that changes, especially since Brooklyn has had a vibrant metal scene going for quite awhile now, as chronicled by BrooklynVegan among few "indie" sites that acknowledge metal even exists. Naam are one of the first bands that made me realize such a gap existed in our coverage, when I saw them open for Om [...]

[Photos by acidjack] Rubblebucket is a Brooklyn-by-way-of-Vermont band that is building a fan base the old-fashioned way: outstanding live shows and the positive word of mouth that results. With a touring schedule that has blanketed the eastern seaboard and made them regulars in their home region, the band has come by every new fan and every new gig as honestly as possible. That's why, although you may have never heard of them, they sold out the Bowery Ballroom handily on a Saturday night. They may have gotten their start on the college music circuit, [...]

[Photos courtesy of Matthew Eisman. See more of his excellent work HERE .] I've always been a rock music guy. And if it can rupture eardrums and upset my equilibrium just by listening to it, I'm usually in my happy place. That's why I was surprised to find Low Roar's debut album with its haunting melodies so intriguing. Having already drawn comparisons to the mellower offerings of Radiohead, Jeff Buckley and Sigur Rós in reviews, I also heard flashes of Brian Eno in that first listen. The band's backstory is no less interesting. Formerly of [...]

[Photos by Jill at fortheloveofbrooklyn ] While Wasilla, Alaska will forever be inextricably linked with its most famous resident, a certain former vice presidential candidate, music fans may know it as the unlikely birthplace of Portugal. The Man [punctuation theirs]. Now based in Portland, the young band is an unabashed classic rock throwback, with semi-psychedelic, jammable songs that take their cues from the sounds of rock's late 60s - mid 70s period. I fully admit to them being one of those bands that flew completely under my radar, until I noticed one day that they were headlining [...]

Maryanne Ventrice is one of my favorite people in all of the NYC music scene. Its safe to say that when you see Maryanne shooting a concert, it makes you feel like you've chosed the right show to attend. Besides her obvious talents behind the lens, Maryanne is also skilled at recognizing the art in the work of other photographers. To that end, she is curating a photography show that features the work of some of the finest of NYC's concert photographers - all of whom also happen to be female. We [...]

[iphone photo by PP] Its hard to fully describe the complete manic communal energy at Saturday night's Akron/Family show at 285 Kent . On the night after the band received the great gift of being able to perform with the Sun Ra Arkestra (in Philly) , it seemed as if A/F wanted to reach that kind of high on their own - and to a great extent, they succeeded. The crowd was quite animated from the very outset of the show, a superb opening set from Bad Weather California . By the [...]

[Photos by acidjack] DONATE TO JONATHAN TOUBIN'S RECOVERY [ HERE ] The beloved New York DJ Jonathan Toubin, proprietor of the New York Night Train & Soul Clap parties, was recently the victim of a bizarre and horrifying accident while he was sleeping in a hotel room in Portland, OR last month. The odds were against that he would be alive beyond that night, but Jonathan has beaten those odds. He is convalescing in a Portland hospital at this moment. He will likely need years of expensive treatments [...]