The Black Keys constituents Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney’s previous offering–Brothers–was their first commercial success, despite the fact that it had some noticeable weaknesses. Namely, it featured a large number of ballads and underwhelming up-tempo tracks, which were a huge contrast to the contents of the album’s most endeared, hard-hitting predecessors, “Thickfreakness” and “Rubber Factory.” Now, the Black Keys are back to fill a gaping void in the Alternative Rock scene. They have approached the project with much needed innovation and a revamped sound, in order to create something more than a sequel to their prior commercial success. This venture is marked by a fearless attempt to capture listeners by muscling full speed through perilous terrain, and it reaches its mark without once losing momentum–or a sense of humor.
It may be a Secret to some, but happiness is a state of mind. Those that look on the brighter side of things know this innately. Head high, eyes covered by vintage Ray-Bans, Atlanta based-emcee Young Lyxx is Happy to Be Here, and the triumphant sounds on his latest album is a testament to that fact.
By now Nemo Achida should be your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. Since late ’09 the Kentucky based emcee and producer has dropped consistent project after another. His latest opus, Nemotional continues where he left off with the Goodbye Brooklyn EP–somewhere between Kentucky and a brownstone. “Abstract, I’m a little bit past that, I ain’t different, I’m next level homie grasp that,” he raps on “Wasting Time.” From this track through the last, Nemo has your undivided attention.
There’s that “aha” moment after some time of listening to tracks, watching videos, going to shows, reading interviews, following an artist on Twitter, Facebook and whatever social network that suits your fancy where you start to “get” them. I caught glimpses of this feeling while watching the Los Angeles based emcee Def Sound breeze through his charismatic verse on the standout track “Quicksand” from J*DaVeY’s recent mixtape “Evil Christian Cop: The Great Mistapes.” Rapping lines like “paintbrush lust…yeah we paint pictures,” paired with allusions to Salvador Dali and Picasso turn the dance floor at The Masquerade in Atlanta to Art History 101. And I can’t be mad a bit.
After up and coming artist Micah Freeman served fans with a tasty appetizer which consisted of a three track preview of his upcoming debut album The Timepiece. The main dish is almost done and ready to be served soon enough. There is a saying that goes “Good things come to those who wait” and after the wait Micah does not disappoint with the album.
Williamsburg is quite a contradiction. Despite the small town Main Street aesthetic of the Brooklyn neighborhood, it has become a catchall hipster haven for art school dropouts, transient scabs, and self-absorbed bohemian types in above average tax brackets ravenously gentrifying the area. Yet with the social discrepancies whirling around him, Chaz Bundick seems pretty indifferent. It’s possible that his high-energy performance to a throng of sweaty revelers at New York’s nightlife stalwart Webster Hall the previous night has left him a bit lethargic. Or maybe he’s simply got music on his mind. “I’m seeing lots of influence from trance and house,” he says as a car whizzes by blaring the latest from Rihanna’s canon of hits. At 25-years old, he’s developed a keen sense of musical trends. He’s well aware that the times they are a-changin’. “People are getting more used to it on the radio, it’s becoming more normal to hear four-on-the-floor beats. Even hip-hop artists are using those beats. That’s helping people open up to electronic music.”
This is for those days when cigarettes and coffee aren’t enough. No matter how good Otis Redding coos it to you. The two founding members of NewVillager are multi-media artists from San Francisco and New York. It’s no wonder, given those spatial influences that the duo are rewriting pop music. This is new mythology. And I’m all in.
If I get another email about SXSW I’m going to scream. Even louder than I’m currently screaming because I won’t be there. A.K.A. Frowny Face. As painter Tatyana Fazlalizadeh tweeted, “#sxsw feels like all the fun kids leaving school for a field trip and you gotta stay back cus you didn’t get your permission slip signed.” If you’re one of those ‘fun kids’ with permission slips currently frolicking indie music heaven here are six artists and shows you must check out.
What blows me when I listen to anything by J*DaVeY is that they aren’t huge yet.
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