On Thursday night, Arvest Bank Theater at The Midland hosted the storied Angels and Airwaves for their first run through Kansas City in ten years. The crowd was absolutely enamored, and we caught some brilliant shots. Check them out below!
Keep up with Angels and Airwaves here.
Tennis Club’s Wilson Hernandez embarks on his solo project with the release of new EP Last Sunday today. Released on birthdiy (spirit goth), Last Sunday boasts 5 quick, new tracks that almost glow their way out of the speakers. With a nostalgic sound, the Joplin-based musician has encapsulated his work in reverb for days, making the entire collection a relaxing, beautiful soundscape to play at your holiday parties. Try it on for size below, and then let us know what you think over on our Facebook page!
On December 5th, the legendary Lucy Dacus played Webster Hall in New York City. She dazzled the crowd with her talents, and dazzled our camera lens with her grace. Check out some highlights below!
Keep up with Lucy Dacus here.
This week, Draag released the new music video for their first single, ambient track “Ghost Leak”. The song itself, as explained by the band, is about “the feeling of being completely invisible and inconsequential.” They take the meaning a step further with the video, keeping it as literal as possible.
Comprised of many still video clips of a single woman in different areas, amongst a variety of landscapes. Highway overpasses, in the middle of trees, in a souvenir shop, in front of a church. The list goes on and on. Each new shot is unexpected and beautiful, many establishing symmetry and the rule of thirds. And in each of them, the woman looks unseen.
Point taken.
Directed and shot by Adrian Acosta and Jessica Huang | Type by Angelo Rosales | Edited by Elijah R. (lunoluna) | Camera assist by Elijah R. (lunoluna)
The band has a February residency set up at The Echo, so check them out soon. Keep up with DRAAG here.
I’m a nostalgic person by nature. This time of year brings out all the memory triggers – smells, sights, yearly movies, conversations with family. Thinking back on the gifts I’ve gotten through the years, the most memorable often include music.
As a kid, my cousins and I drew names for gifts. Our family didn’t get together very often since we lived in different parts of the state, so Christmas at my grandmother’s house was a big deal. Christmas when I was eight was huge – the gift from my cousin was The Partridge Family Christmas album! Three of my cousins were slightly older than me, so they talked about songs and bands that were not on my elementary school radar. The Partridge Family, however, was on my TV every Friday night and now I had their album! The songs were Christmas standards, sung by David Cassidy, Shirley Jones and studio musicians. Very pedestrian by grown up standards, but that album meant the world to me. It even had a card attached to the front of the cover that was “signed” by the entire Partridge Family. What did I know about mass produced autographs? I nearly wore that record out playing it well beyond the holidays.
As a teenager, I would often get albums as gifts – Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Don Henley’s Building The Perfect Beast, all the albums by Hall & Oates. Music is so easy to gift and so appreciated. I still have an extensive album collection, even though I have most of the music downloaded, because they bring all the great memories to the fore. Reading liner notes was the best because you would know an entire song and be able to sing along immediately. As I got older, albums gave way to cassettes, then CDs.
Then came concert tickets!
I cannot hear Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” without thinking of the first time I heard him sing it – November, 1984. It was also the first time I had seen Bruce live in concert and that song closed the show. Even though everyone in the crowd should have been spent after the four hour show, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” just re-energized the full house. There was very defined time line – those events before that show, and those events that occurred after that show. Although I had been to live shows before that, all that came after would be compared to Bruce Springsteen live. It’s a high bar, but one that most artists meet in their own way.
Another special show was taking our family friend to see Barry Manilow. Her name was Mary Louise Weaver and she could not have been a bigger Barry fan. She was speechless, teary-eyed, smiling and singing – mostly simultaneously. She knew all of his music and had the best time. I was so happy to witness her happiness.
I am now a grown up with grown children, but I still experience the same excitement when I hear a song from any time in my life. Fortunately, all three of my kids have grown up loving music, so my husband and I did something right. We have a great time listening to different genres and attending different shows. I love to sing at the top of my lungs driving in the car, around the house, or at any concert I am attending. Music is a great unifier and sharing music is a gift that we can all give each other.
Now, it’s time to fire up the turntable for that Partridge Family album.
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What’s your favorite musical memory? Share with us so we can feel that nostalgia too, over on our Facebook page!
Still haven’t decided on that perfect music selection for the quiet moments amidst the madness of the holidays? That’s OK.London-based singer/songwriter Ollie Trevers has swooped in with a win for you, boasting five incredibly beautiful tracks on his new EP Cordelia. Each song is dripping with emotion, Trevers’ vocals acting as the main instrument. Sincerely, if you haven’t experienced this man’s vocal talent, it’s absolutely time.
Take first track “Dispassionate Love”, for example. There are points in that song that sound like he is weeping. And then he’s singing at the top of his lungs like a ballad. Not to mention the mellifluous sounds he makes between lyrical stanzas, and the gorgeous note changes while drawing out words. “Can’t Make It Up” follows suit, beginning slower and progressing to a cacophony of sound at points during the track. What I love about this one is that it builds to a head, and then slows down again several times. It leaves you slightly unsatisfied throughout in that regard, though disappointing it is not. It edges more on the side of intriguing.
“Stage of Fools” might be one of the most gorgeous songs we have ever encountered, and the album gets no more upbeat in topic from there. The entire EP details loss in love, emotional wreckage, and the relatable thoughts brought on by heartbreak. “I Need Someone” magnifies this, definitely written in a poetic — albeit low — moment. “Lost Alone” rounds everything out with an audio atmosphere that feels very Queen-inspired, a love rock anthem to its core.
What do you think? Let us know on Facebook!
Track Listings – Cordelia EP
1 – Dispassionate Love
2 – Can’t Make It Up
3 – Stage Of Fools
4 – I Need Someone
5 – Lost Alone
See Ollie Trevers live
23rd January – Nambucca, London
31st January – The Finsbury, London
Keep up with Ollie Trevers here.
On December 13th, Boston Manor headlined an energetic show at Davey’s Uptown Rambler’s Club in Kansas City, MO. Photographer Ashleigh Lee caught some highlights exclusively for us!
Keep up with Boston Manor here.
It’s the holidays, so we’re all thinking about family and togetherness. (For the most part… and we understand the aversion as well, perhaps, sometimes.) And sometimes — if we’re being honest — the holidays make it way more difficult for people to keep their shit together, for lack of better terminology. When you’ve experienced heartbreak, loss, tough times… this time of year can be heavy.
Nadia Vaeh is feeling lonely in new track “Holidazed & Confused”. The cheery soundscape is magical and deceptive, as Nadia sings of the emotional torture of missing someone important during the holidays like a pop queen.
Keep up with Nadia Vaeh here.
It’s been out for a hot second, but Stimmerman — the songwriting project of storied bassist and producer Eva Lawitts — recently released their debut 12-track full-length, Goofballs. High energy — even scattered, at times — this collection of tracks feels experimental, cutting edge. While Stimmerman plays with sonic boundaries and far-reaching, impactful vocal abilities, we get a look into the mind of no less than a genius.
Stimmerman has been quoted saying:
The album is more or less about loss and survivor’s guilt- it’s a meditation on a friend’s fatal drug overdose at a young age through that lens.
Side A of the album focuses on looking back at the environment in which our friendship started- pressures imposed on children to be successful, growing up too fast in all the wrong ways, and the often-debauched nature of our great and terrible adolescence here in Brooklyn. Side B, which is home to the song ‘Painted Smile,’ centers me more as an unreliable narrator, and features songs about grief and culpability in a close friend’s death some of which are, I believe, misguided.
With that very specific and captivating take, we dive in to what proves to be one of the most insightful and impactful albums of 2019.
Its story is unique and emotional, and with that Stimmerman brings her own brand of vocal rawness to each track. “Child’s Play” has a soundscape led by crashing cymbals, while “Elaine” builds to that point, beginning almost hesitantly in its pace. Even with the heartbreaking subject matter, Stimmerman only truly slows it down for eighth track “Long Formal Letter”, keeping us on our toes, just guessing where the musical progression will take us next. Single “Painted Smile” has perhaps one of the more chipper sounding ambiances to it, however its bittersweet truth ends the album with an almost cliffhanger feel to it.
It seems we shouldn’t be taking all words at face value. For those of you who haven’t gotten the reference yet, Goofballs isn’t to be seen as a group of silly friends this go around. And that’s OK. Not everything can be carefree. And to take such an intense life experience and be so vulnerable with it? It’s rare to be this seen as an artist, and we’re on board with Stimmerman’s delivery 100%.
Keep up with Stimmerman here.
