Feb 23 : "Ghost Man" - Blue & Gold (Brooklyn)

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released (July 2013)

After Spike Hill, the next venue to visit (which was actually on the border between Williamsburg and Greenpoint) was Brooklyn Night Bazaar. where I heard Brooklyn band "Blue & Gold".

They rocked the house / a great set.

Here's a sample of their music. This is "Ghost Man", which is the second track on the "Blue & Gold" ep that was released this past July.

If you like what you hear, you're in luck, they have another show schedule on March 29, at Mercury Lounge.

To visit Blue and Gold on the internets in the meantime, here is the click ::: Blue & Gold on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE)

Feb 20 : "Everything Is Everything" - Gabriel Garzón-Montano (Bound Brook)

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released (Feb 11)

Went on a Williamsburg whirlwind tour --- two places actually :) --- after work Friday night. Started off the evening at Spike Hill where I heard Bound Brook artist Gabriel Garzón-Montano; I enjoyed his show. This was the first time I heard him play; Gabriel did the vocal and keys. The music was eclectic, leaning heavily towards r&b. He had just released an ep earlier in the week, February 11, to be exact.

From the band's page ::: Born to a Colombian father and a French mother, Gabriel spent his early years mastering the violin, guitar, and drums, before turning to the piano and bass guitar to better complete his compositions. By the time he graduated from Purchase College's Conservatory of Music, the foundations for his debut EP, Bishouné: Alma del Huila, were already laid.

Family and relationships are important to him. This came through not only in comments he made between songs when he was on stage, but also comes through in the lyrics.

Playing right here on my blog page is "Everything is Everything", which is the second track on the newly-released EP, "Bishouné: Alma del Huila"

If you'd like to learn more about Gabriel Garzón-Montano's music and hear the rest of the ep, check out his Bandcamp page Gabriel Garzón-Montano on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE)

Feb 16 : "PersonalityPerPerson" - 185668232 (Philly)

Philly Music!

CREATIVITY BEFORE YOUR EYES

Props. There were props. I went to see my friend, Iam, do a show at the Yell Gallery last weekend, and he had a table full of props.

Iam S. Mick is the mastermind of Philly noise & music outfit, "185668232". 185668232 was headlining a bunch of other artists for the evening.

Iam made use of the props almost right from the beginning. He lowered the microphone down to the table level, and poured a glass of water. The microphone was connected to a recorder, which recorded and then played back the pouring exactly as we heard it. ... Then Iam played with the recorded pouring sound, distorted it, quickened the tempo, then back to the prop table.

Next, moving the microphone up to his face, he drank a few gulps of water from the glass, then played that back.

And then he rang a large bell which had been salvaged from an old church. Then he played that back.

He did this sequence with a number of items.

He worked and played with these sounds and integrated them into one long piece. Unlike previous shows where he played several shorter tracks, this show contained everything in one. I recognized fragments of various tracks embedded in the longer piece, following the playback of the props.

Iam is always on the lookout to push the envelope to incorporate everyday sounds and not-so-everyday sounds into his pieces, sometimes combining them with traditional instrumentation, sometimes not.

Another example of a track that rose from an unexpected source is "PersonalityPerPerson" which is playing right here on my blog page. In the notes connected with the track, Iam says, "What is considered a "mashup" of left over sounds for PRODUCT PLACEMENT (the 36+ track EP) // These sounds were on my machine by the previous owner; he told me to do something with them. I didn't choose these sounds, just arranged them."

There's more creativity to sample if you check out 185668232 on the internets. Here is the click ::: 185668232 on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE)

Feb 05 : "Justice" - Minka (Philly)

Philly Music!

A couple weeks ago I went to Milkboy and saw Philly band "Minka" do a good show. Very energetic and dramatic moves by the band's front man.

Here is a sample of the band's music. It's their song, "Justice" :::

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6/27/20 UPDATE! ::: OOPS! Looks like the band removed this song from their page!

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I'm recommending you check them out. The band is entertaining to watch, great showmanship. You can find out when they have a show coming up by checking their Facebook page ::: Minka on Facebook (CLICK HERE), or get a sample of the front man's gymnastics by checking out the video on their website. Minka Website (CLICK HERE)

Feb 01 : "Guitar Pickn' On You" - The Mystery Lights (New York / Salinas)

Was looking for music to hear Wednesday night after work and I was happy to see that The Mystery Lights, which I had heard once before, was doing a show in Williamsburg, at Baby's All Right.

It had been a year and a half since I had heard them play at Mercury Lounge. I had liked them then and had made a note that I should keep my eye open for more of their shows.

Their show Wednesday night was phenomenal. I enjoyed every minute of it.

The show Wednesday night was much wilder and the audience was more hyped up than at that summer night at Mercury Lounge in 2012. Very high energy all around.

I noticed some changes in the music as well. The structure of the songs on Wednesday night seemed to be a little looser and the form a little more free-flowing than in 2012. Since I've only heard them the two times, I don't know if that's a stylistic shift or just night-to-night random differences.

The Mystery Lights' song that I like the most is "Guitar Pickn' On You", the recording of which, written a couple years ago, is a little tighter. And, yes, they did play it in the middle of the show Wednesday night. Here it is :::

The sound was excellent at Baby's All Right, as good as if not better than at the Mercury show; Wednesday night was all around a good show. My only regret was that the train schedule kept me from hearing the other bands playing afterwards.

Here is the click to The Mystery Lights' Bandcamp page ::: The Mystery Lights on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE)

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Dec 8, 2016 ::: UPDATE UPDATE ::: The band evidently took down that old arrangement. They've come up with lots of new music as well as new arrangements of some of their standards. Check out some more recent music and comments here