[SONG OF THE DAY] Brix - "Call Me Naïve, But I Guess I Thought If The World Was Ending, You Would Call"

lovingly lifted from Brix’s Instagram

So I had a completely different SOTD picked for today but in addition to the vibe not feeling right, I happened to tumble into something much more powerful.

Enter: Brooklyn-based quarantining COVID-surviving chanteuse, Brix (born Sophie Dupin).

I should have known the second I saw the title that it was going to deliver a swift kick right in the feels, but my curiosity needed to know what a song titled, “Call Me Naïve, But I Guess I Thought If The World Was Ending, You Would Call”.

Y’all.

Speaking on the track, Brix shared, “I wanted to share my story so that if even just one person felt a little less alone, then it was worth it.“

🥺

In addition to this song being so deeply vulnerable and beautifully executed by Brix, the accompanying video for the song equally packs its own wallop. Recorded throughout the course of her quarantine (and subsequent successful battle with COVID-19), she took to her balcony on the daily to record herself performing in quarantine, leaving little notes for days that stood out throughout the process. In addition to this being a diary of sorts for herself, this is such a time capsule for what the experience of quarantining in New York has been like, all the way to the very end of the video (no spoilers here from me).

[Record Store Day 2015] Fun Things To Talk About With Strangers While You're In Line Waiting to buy Records

Davie Grohl says buying records on Record Store Day is serious business. I guess it is these days, huh? 

I'm not sure what Record Store Day is like anywhere other than in NYC, but here it's nuts. My fondest RSD memory was back in 2011 when I rolled up to Sound Fix (RIP) at 8am and stood in line with Alex and Sami from CoS for 2 hours until the store opened. It was a brutal 2 hours because the night prior Sprout and I had gone out with Fitts from The Kickdrums and had more Jameson than people who needed to get up early (or be alive for that matter) should every drink. Even still, despite the worst hangovers of our lifetimes (it is now the one we have compared every other hangover to ever since) it's hard not to think fondly of the moments where we were gushing about the releases we were hoping to get, the Sound Fix folks bringing coffee and pastries for all of us waiting in line, and the overall sense of community that is felt on this and every Record Store Day since.

Record Store Day is a my favorite day to celebrate my favorite thing with my closest friends. Unfortunately, not everyone has a built in posse to roll up to those long RSD lines. You may heading out to RSD solo. Even if you're not, this is a rare opportunity that comes once a year to meet a chunk of people all at once that have presumably the same interests as you, so instead of burying your face in your phone, take advantage of the situation and strike up a conversation!

First impressions are important and we want everyone to know how you're some kind of awesome, so here are some fun things Sprout and I will hopefully be discussing with strangers outside of Rough Trade tomorrow:

• Phonograph records were originally pressed onto shellac! However during World War II the United States declared that shellac was a strategic material for the war and due to scarcity records started being pressed into vinyl, which is what is still used today. (Yale)
• Some folks in the universe claim that the best way to clean your records is by using wood glue and a credit card:

Warning: this guy does not feel the same about this method:  

• Trying to put a price tag on music is complicated as hell, honestly. The history of it is pretty fascinating though. (Pitchfork)
• The first thing ever recorded was Ben Franklin singing/shouting Mary Had A Little Lamb and it was recorded onto a tin cylinder. (LiveScience)

PS this is what it sounded like:

If that tickled your fancy, this guy shows how Edison did the recording on the cylinders that they recorded to at the time:

• The most expensive record player as far as I've been able to hunt down is a whopping $300,000. It's called the Goldmund Reference II and it's a high-precision turntable with level calibration to less than 1/100th of a millimeter and its stylus, pivot and counterweight perfectly aligned for optimal dynamic balance. There's also three teflon tubes that prevent vibration of the wires as they carry signal from the turntable, amongst various other ultra fancy features. There are currently only 25 of them in the world because they only make 5 of them a year, so this is as limited edition as one can get. (Most Expensive, Music Stack, DJOYBEAT)

• Are you for rocktism or are you more of a poptimist? Or are you just chill like us?  

• So, this is awkward, but is Record Store Day even good for the small independent stores that participate? (The Guardian)

• I mean, you could probably debate/diss on Tidal for at least 2 hours. There's so much to discuss! Like how exclusivity like that can be detrimental to charting positions on Billboard, pretty much every artist other than the #TIDAL16 are like, "uh lol this is so dumb", but maybe doing things like featuring indie artists is a saving grace? (Probably not considering their CEO just stepped down and there are already layoffs.)  Also WHAT ABOUT US FANS HUH #TIDAL16!?!? p.s. That "declaration" that Madonna mounted the table to sign is soo zzzzzz. 

• There's lots of legislation in the works at the moment to try to make the music industry a better place! They're considering amending the consent decrees for performance rights organizations ASCAP and BMI, some folks are hoping to overhaul the copyright law, there's a bill up for review right now that's trying to make sure mixers, producers, and engineers make money off via royalties, and there's a radio royalty bill up for debate that would make terrestrial radio finally pay for public performances (aka radio play) for music (this currently isn't the case, btw). 

• Uh, who among you are going to buy these limited edition releases and then NOT EVER LISTEN TO IT LIKE A CRAZY PERSON? A surprising 15%, apparently. (What HiFi?)

If you haven't made your list and checked it twice you need to do so because being unprepared can result in heartbreak so check out the Official List of Record Store Day Special Releases. There are lots of things going on tomorrow in celebration of the happiest day of the year so maybe see what your local store is doing. There's a TON of stuff going on in NYC that you should check out if you're in the area. 

Don't forget to be VERY POLITE to the people working at your record store tomorrow because there is no doubt that they will be stressed out of their minds by the swarms of people coming out. Obviously be nice to your fellow shoppers, too. Some of us are short and can't reach the overhead shelves so offer to help out if you see someone struggling (Sprout was my savior last year with this). Who knows, maybe all these sweet tips will land you a record store bae (sorry, I had to).

And if you're going out for Record Store Day so you can buy a bunch of the ultra limited runs so you can put them up on eBay, please comment below so I can find you and slap you. 

 

[SKOA Presents] Bands & Brews: Interpol / Good Beer

Bands & Brews pairs our favorite bands to their "hoppy" soul mates and dishes out the coordinates of our favorite beer joints right here in NYC.

The first stop for Bands & Brews was the cozy beer shop, Good Beer, located in the East Village. Good Beer provided the ideal space to kick off Bands & Brews besetting us on all sides with shelves of interesting labeled bottles and decorated cans. The busy atmosphere and sea of friendly faces was the perfect backdrop for discussing two things we love: music and beer. I sat down with beer slinger Matt Cincotta anxious to find the quintessential bottle of suds worthy of a band I'll always be over the moon about, Interpol. Their new album El Pintor releases on September 9th here in the United States. El Pintor's teaser track "All the Rage Back Home" effortlessly transports us back to the blanket of seduction that was the band's 2002 debut, Turn on the Brights Lights. Enticing lyrics and the come-hither chords of these two albums envelop us in Interpol's infectious warmth and take us down that libidinous labyrinth.

Whether I was swooning over songs of old like "PDA", "Hands Away", and "Leif Erikson" or excited over new songs like "Breaker 1" (my favorite from El Pintor) and "Same Town, New Story", it was evident that words like "dark,warm, and heavy" would soon invade our taste buds with the brew we chose. After much discussion and many burps later, Matt and I chose to cool off from this masterful debate of musical darkness and abandon with a "Dark, Rich, and Sexy" brew called Porter (Founders Brewing). It's a smooth dark ale at 6.5% alcohol and for you beer nerds 45 IBUs (just enough bitter for the lusty soul). Cheers to Interpol for always making sexy happen. And yes, Stella (Artois) we still love you...

El Pintor is out September 9th. Pre-order it here. Enjoy, "All The Rage Back Home" below.

Click here for tour dates.

[Night Out] Big Black Delta @ Mercury Lounge 6/19/2013

image credit: @markb

Despite being well aware of this upcoming tour, somehow Big Black Delta's show at Mecury Lounge on Wednesday night completely caught me off guard in the best possible way. I wasn't ready to leave work and go directly to a show, I wasn't ready for the further-fleshed out lineup that lead singer Jonathan Bates was rocking, and I certainly wasn't ready for my heart to be won over by a couple of overly-enthusiastic BBD fans. The last time I had the pleasure of experiencing that which is Big Black Delta, they were a three-piece consisting of two drummers, which left Bates with singing, programming, and lighting duties. This time around there were a few addiitons to accompany the more complex sound featured on their recent self-titled "official" debut release, namely some guitars and a badass bassist. 

Within the first couple of songs I happened to notice that someone near me clearly had not utilized all of the BO-supressing products that our fine society has to offer. In general, I find that to be pretty rude to subject other people to unpleasant smells, and this was no exception to that rule, at least at the beginning. Upon further examination, I discovered that the gentleman next to me, who slightly resembeled Zach Galifianakis, was the culprit of the foul odor I couldn't seem to escape up in the front. As I attempted to shoot him and his boyfriend a nasty glance, I realized that my fellow show-goer was in a current state of pure joy, dancing around and singing along as much as he possibly could with his boyfriend dancing at about 50% of his intensity. I've hit many a super jaded patch with regards to music, but the sight of this guy just letting loose for the remainder of the set took me back to a time where I wasn't being bombared with a ton of emails full of bands of the millisecond. Little by little his stench was the furthest thing from my mind. It clearly was refreshing for that level of excitement at a NYC for Bates because he couldn't help but point out how awesome the couple were while sporting a huge grin on his face. I feel like moments like that shouldn't have to be the exception in NYC. It would be nice if we all could ignore even the smelliest of distractions and just be able to let ourselves go, one set at a time.  

I can't detail this experience without noting how worthy Big Black Delta was of the excited spazzing from the attendees I featured above. The band's performance was spot on. Even with the music being of an electronic nature, Bates and his band were really able to keep the sound from feeling overly digital and cold. My only complaint was that it was the early show that evening so they had to keep it short. 

If you missed out on Big Black Delta on Wednesday, the band is playing at Glasslands tomorrow night (Saturday) with Joywave and Klaus. For more information on the show, head over to Glassland's website. 

[Album Stream] Controller - 'Controller' EP

Controller is a stupid-good band out of Brooklyn, NYC. They just put out their very first EP and they're rocking a sweet show at The Studio at Webster Hall this weekend.

Full disclosure, you guys. Our friend Josh Shabtai is in this band. We've been friends for somewhere in the vicinity of 3 years now. For the last 8 months or so, he's been saying things like "Yo man! You should come to our show next week!" and "Yeah, we're working really hard recording some new stuff right now.". My only reaction was ever "Hah, cool man!". In all honesty, I didn't expect them to be any good. Not because Josh isn't a cool cat (he is), but because everyone has a band these days and I just didn't have any good gauge for his musical prowess. I dismissed him as just another bud with a band. Boy, was I wrong.

When the EP came out a few weeks ago, I almost peed myself. Controller possesses a truly unique sound. If you take The Gaslight Anthem, dip them in some pop-rock, and add a melodic vocal twang akin to U2, you kinda sorta get Controller's sound. This doesn't really do them justice, though. Their lyrics are easy to pick up and it's not hard to forget you're listening to the same 3 tracks on repeat. If you like honest rock 'n roll, you owe it to yourself to listen to the 3 track EP. It's free to stream and listen to, but if you like it, you should through a couple of bucks their way, as you should with any band you like. You can also find them on Facebook if you should be so inclined. Really looking forward to the show and hearing more from these fellas. Check 'em out and let us know what you think in the comments.

[Night Out] Civil Twilight @ Yuna Yang Afterparty (9/7/2012)

credit: @sproutdrOther than a Fashion's Night Out or two I've never really been one to actively participate during New York Fashion Week. It may be my desire to mostly wear rock band t-shirt, hoodies and flip flops that I do not particularly think that I am one of "their people". Imagine my surprise when we received an invite to come out to Yuna Yang's afterparty in celebration of her latest collection that was shown earlier on Friday evening. I was admittedly a little confused about the invite at first until I realized that South African rock band Civil Twilight was perfoming. I was really hoping it was because I had successfully started the trend of wearing flip flops in 50 degree weather, but no. *Sigh* Sprout is more of a fashionista than I am and I have enjoyed the handful of songs from the band so we headed above 14th Street for the first time in months to see what kind of trouble we could get into.

Having not gone to Yang's fashion show earlier in the evening, I missed out on #1- hearing Civil Twilight's music featured in her show and #2- having my memory refreshed of what Yuna Yang looked like so I didn't make a fool of myself. Within 5 minutes of Yang being in the building, two excited fans of hers approached me and asked if I would take a photo of them with this other woman (who ended up being Yang) on their iPhone with a crappy screen protector on it. Being a Florida native and used to tourists making this request, I happily obliged. After directing them to stand in better lighting, I snapped a photo. I turned the phone towards the fashionistas to confirm that they were happy with the photo when one of the girls makes a face and says, "Um, could you actually take one and make it more....vertical?" You could tell by the looks on their faces that I was rocking a confused expression until all of my synapses finally fired and it occurred to me that in the fashion world they want photos of their full outfits. This rarely happens when you're out with music people because we don't want to show off how bloated we are from all of the excessive drinking. Either way I felt pretty silly for not knowing any better, but I guess it was better that I got the NYFW N00b-ness out of the way nice and early. I got over it pretty quickly by making fun of the fact that they only had the two Justice full-lengths to hold everyone over till showtime.

It wasn't too long after that awkward moment that the room filled up nicely and the band took to the stage. For it just being a semi-impromptu set inside a gallery, the sound was amazing. I should have walked over to the sound guy and shook his hand. Civil Twilight was great. I think I actually like them better as a live band. They had killer energy and it was totally infectious, even with the fashion elite in the crowd. They were really feeling it, too. No doubt it was a spillover of the love fest that happened during the fashion show. Speaking of love fest, I loved watching Yuna Yang during the set. She was doing her very best to retain her coolness all the while cheerfully dancing around amongst other party goers. Considering their music inspired her so much that she based the collection she showed on their music, I'd say she was free to do whatever the heck she felt like. I had to fight the urge to go dance up next to her, since she already had such a wonderful impression of me as previously mentioned.

I also want to point out that of how ever many hundred people who were squeezed into the gallery for the event, as far as I could tell I was the ONLY person who had ear plugs in during the set. Do fashion people really not know that there's no point in looking really good if you can't hear people tell you how good you look? It was good and loud in there, too, so it's not like people weren't going to be speaking extra loudly over their temporary tinnitus in addition to the usual buzz of a crowded room. If you don't wear ear plugs to shows, you totally should be. It makes a HUGE difference.

Make sure you check out Civil Twilight's latest video for "Fire Escape" below:

They should have a proper music video for their newest single, "River" pretty soon. For now you can check out the lyric video for it:

For more of Sprout's photos from that night, you can peep the slideshow below or head over to her photo stream on Flickr to check them out

[Contest] [NYC-Only] Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Big Black Delta Tomorrow Night (8/9) @ Pianos!

Big Black Delta is rolling through NYC tomorrow night in support of his remix EP for "IFUCKINGLOVEYOU" which is the first single on his newly formed/cleverly-titled label Masters of Bates. Additionally, this month the band will be releasing a digital-only tour EP on August 21st featuring three other tracks, "Betamax", "LeonardMcGeonardvsDrunkenCalculator" and "Put The Gun On The Floor" along with the current single.

If you are having one of "those" weeks, are in dire need of a show as badly as I do AND happen to live in the NYC area then shoot us an email before noon EDT tomorrow (8/9) for a chance to win a pair of tickets to catch BBD live at SKOA's favorite watering hole, Pianos. Obvs show is 21+ only, but you know we have to say it just in case. A winner will be selected at noon and notified shortly thereafter that they've won. To save time, please make sure you include your full name in the email so we can get you on the list ASAP.

If you haven't picked up the ifuckingloveyou remix EP yet, here's a sampling of what you're missing out on:

Although the show starts at 7pm, the SKOA NYC crew will be down their early sipping happy hour margaritas and feasting on some happy hour nachos. Did we mention they have a killer happy hour? Either way, if you see us, you should come say hi before/after the show.

If you don't live in NYC, make sure you catch him on tour supporting M83, Cursive and Jane's Addiction.

BIG BLACK DELTA LIVE DATES (headline dates in bold)
 
AUGUST
8th                         Central Park Summerstage, New York NY ^
9th                         Pianos, New York NY
10th                       DC9, Washington DC
11th                       Brooklyn Bowl, New York, NY
17th                       Pianos, New York NY
18th                       MGM Grand Theatre / Foxwoods, Mashantucket CT #
20th                       Artpark, Lewiston NY #
22nd                      Stage AE, Pittsburgh PA #
23rd                       Old National Centre - Murat Theatre, Indianapolis, IN #
24th                       Empty Bottle, Chicago IL  
25th                       Orpheum Theatre, Omaha NE #
26th                       Pikes Peak Centre, Colorado Springs CO #
27th                       Larimer Lounge, Denver CO
28th                       The Great SaltAir, Salt Lake City UT #
29th                       Idaho Botanical Garden, Boise ID #
31st                        Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver BC #
 
SEPTEMBER
4th                         Keller Auditorium, Portland OR
5th                         Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, Reno NV
6th                         Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA
7th                         Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles CA  
 
%With Cursive
^With M83
#With Jane's Addiction

[Watch] Zach Williams & The Bellow - "The One You Should Have Let Go"

So I've been meaning to catch Zach Williams for awhile now and it appears that he has grown himself a full grown band called The Bellow. Here's him and The Bellow playing "The One You Should Have Let Go" live at Rockwood Music Hall 2. 

This just makes me realize how much I don't hang out at Rockwood anymore. I need to change that. VERY SOON.