looking for something specific? search our archives:

Baby Bands, SONG OF THE DAY kibbe Baby Bands, SONG OF THE DAY kibbe

[SONG OF THE DAY] Mansionair - "Shadows"

photo credit: Jess Gleeson

Am I an influencer, y’all?

I’m not entirely sold that I am, but I’m also not sold that I’m NOT.

I swear to Sheezus that I’m not tryna get a big head from this, but damn if this isn’t a cray coincidence.

Late-ish last year I recounted that 3 years prior while scoping the band out at Pianos that I had fallen for an unreleased “piano song that broke my heart” and asked Sydney-synth rockers Mansionair what happened to the only song from their set that had me so shook that I needed to make a note of the name of it.

Fast-forward to this past week when the song finally surfaced along with the announcement that their long anticipated debut full-length, ironically enough titled Shadowboxer, will be dropping on March 1st courtesy of Liberation Records. According to the band, apparently the album is about, “acknowledging that we are often our own opponent, and learning to accept our inner shadows – the ones we try so hard to ignore. It’s a record about deciding to lift our gaze from the darkness and acknowledge the light that shapes us.” They went on, “It bookends our first years of discovering who we are and what we wanted Mansionair to be, as we pushed through insecurities, uncertainties and moments of relief. It’s as much a diary of our first three years working together as friends as it is about making every mistake possible together.”

The band will be hitting the road prior to the release of Shadowboxer, hitting a few Laneway Festival dates in February before doing their first ever US headline run in March, which includes their performance at Coachella. Although I continue to harp on how Australian bands are worth importing into the US, they’re only one of a few on the festival’s bill.

Given the patience and amount of work the trio has put in over the course of the past three years, I can see 2019 being their year for sure. Here’s hoping. 💖

SHADOWBOXER TRACKLIST:

  1. EST.

  2. Alibi

  3. Easier

  4. Technicolour

  5. Heartbeat

  6. Astronaut (Something About Your Love)

  7. Violet City

  8. We Could Leave

  9. Shadows

  10. Waiting Room

  11. Falling

  12. Sierra

  13. Harlem

  14. Best Behaviour

  15. I Won’t Take No For An Answer

  16. Heirloom

Read More
Night Out kibbe Night Out kibbe

[Night Out] Mansionair @ Pianos & Jesse Ruben @ Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 (10/02/2015)

When last we met I had decided that Australian band Manisonair was worth seeing twice in a week. This was of course before Hurricane Joaquin was threatening to get all Sandy all over NYC, which brought a nice chunk of rain to the city that never sleeps. For those that don't live in NYC and have the luxury of automobiles to drive around in when it's raining, most NYers rage quit on any plans they make whenever they are faced with a potential downpour. I was literally moments away from this point in my evening plan making until my favorite local troubadour, Jesse Ruben, tagged me in a tweet that he'd be doing a set later in the evening at Rockwood Music Hall stage 1. After verifying that I had enough time to get down to the Lower East Side but also show hop, I grabbed my biggest umbrella and trudged out in the mini-monsoon for what I affectionately referred to all evening as "CMJ practice".

Just like their set at Baby's All Right, Mansionair killed it yet again. They proved in that performance that it didn't matter the size of the stage or audience, they were always going to give it their all. The audience responded accordingly to their energy. In fact, it sounded like I wasn't the only one at Piano's that was a repeat customer for the band. I heard several references to Summerstage and Baby's All Right. That spoke volumes of their stay power, imo. They finally got around to the song that I had waited all evening for, "Shadows", which prompted the one and only note that I took for the entire evening, which reads (and this is a direct quote):  "SHADOWS IS THE PIANO SONG THAT BROKE YOUR HEART". There is currently no recording of this song yet so you are going to have to take my word for it for now. 

When I got to Rockwood stage 1 I was pleasantly surprised at how full the room was considering Jesse was filling in last minute. As soon as he started playing though, it was pretty apparent that most of the people there were just happy to be in a warm/dry room and drinking alcohol. It didn't take too long for Jesse to win the majority of the room over. He's good for that. He even managed to get the room completely quiet for the entiretyof one of his softer tunes. Gotta give the guy props. There's never a doubt in your mind that music is his one true passion once you've sat through one of sets.

I've thought a lot about what it would take for him to see more national/mainstream-esque success. I've yet to put my finger on what the answer is. I know a few songs are seeing air time on some MTV shows and his charity project based on his song, "We Can" continues to gain traction in schools nationwide, so maybe good things are just around the corner for my favorite sandwich-loving singer-songwriter.

Listen to Mansionair's latest EP, Pick Me Up.

And obvi check out the homey Jesse Ruben. My favorite songs of his are on his EP, Thoughts
I've Never Had Pt.1, which you can check out below.

Read More
Night Out kibbe Night Out kibbe

[Night Out] LA Priest & Mansionair @ Baby's All Right (09/30/2015)

It's always exciting to hear that bands that you were thought were gone forever aren't, even if means that a member or two continues to trudge on. That's why when I discovered that Sam Dust, former frontman of one of my favorite bands in 2008, Late of the Pier, was now making music under the moniker LA Priest, you bet your sweet ass I jumped at the opportunity to be in the presence of greatness once again. And great it was. I felt like I was at the best pajama dance party of all time.

Thinking back to the LotP show at Irving Plaza, I remember the energy being a bit on the intense side (which fit with their debut album, Fantasy Black Channel). My evening at Baby's All Right, on the other hand, was playful and inclusive, with Dust sampling the crowd to loop during a song before going out to dance amongst the audience at the end of his set. As much as a part of me is still bummed that LotP isn't still a band, it seems that Dust is much better suited in this easygoing setting.

The surprise of the night was Mansionair, who I admittedly hadn't really planned on getting to the venue in time to see. Riding the high of opening for CHVRCHES at Central Park Summer Stage earlier in the week, the three-piece delivered a powerful set featuring tracks off of their recently released EP, Pick Me Up. While I immediately took to them, there was one song in particular that singer Jack Froggatt nearly broke my heart with his performance to the point that when they announced from stage they'd be playing Piano's later in the week (more on that later) I made sure to clear my schedule that evening.

Listen to LA Priest's debut album, Inji below.

And when you're done with that, have a listen to Mansionair's EP, Pick Me Up, too!

Read More
SKOA Radio kibbe SKOA Radio kibbe

#skoaradio 10/03/2015 liner notes

If you don't like music you can't sit with us.

It's chill af in NYC today. Literally. Like I'm having a hard time getting out of bed because I like my feet not being popsicles. I am writing this whilst I am still in bed. That said, the chill means that all the glorious fall albums are under way and CMJ is quickly approaching. I've also been on a steady streak of shows lately, which I will get up ASAP for you to see and be jealous of me. I'm also working to backdate all the show notes I kept saying I was upping and then rage quit because as you can see below these posts are intense as hell, you guys. OH WELL IT'S WORTH IT BECAUSE I LOVE DOING THIS!

Enjoy this weeks jams and be sure to grab the Spotify playlist below if you want to keep this mix around. As always, I'd love to hear from you so feel free to drop me a tweet and let me know what you thought of this week's show.

<3

kibbe!

Topics discussed!

Vinyl Is Making More Money Than Ad-Supported Streaming

While US Apple Music Trials Are Ending, China Is Ushering In New Users

Read More