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The Lone Bellow – Debut Album

by Pamela Gordon

The Lone Bellow
The Lone Bellow

Listening to my “OLD FAITHFUL” radio station 90.7 WFUV one autumn afternoon, a voice came through the speakers of my car. I said to myself, “Is this some sort of compilation featuring Steven Tyler?” I listened hard and still couldn’t figure out and reached for my Shazam app for assistance. THE LONE BELLOW – YOU DON”T LOVE ME LIKE YOU USED TO.

 

 

 

After a little research, it turns out that Steven Tyler has nothing to do with THE LONE BELLOW. The group is actually from Brooklyn, NY who formed after the lead singer Zach Williams, wife suffered temporary paralysis. He learned to play the guitar and discovered that his vocal range was extraordinary and began to pursue his career. THE LONE BELLOW now consists of Brian Elmquist on Guitar and Vocals, and Kanene Donehey Pipkin on mandolin and vocals.
The harmonies created by the group are clean and cut. Replicating the sound of a fine trained choir while beckoning the American Folk Rock genre. To have such a clean sound with this genre really makes THE LONE BELLOW stand out with the best.
In their opening track “Green Eyes And A Heart Of Gold”, they set the mood with a train like enthusiasm of getting up and going. He keeps his lyrics simple but not boring. Where some groups simply repeat their chorus, verse or bridge (middle 8), Zach Williams recreates it. During the first half of this track, he has a sub chorus / verse that starts of as “We’re Broke in NYC…”. It is sung simply with the standard melody of the song, and then in the last half of the track he breaks it out again but almost as a bridge, where you can’t even distinguish that the two sections are one in the same aside from the lyrics being identical.

Probably my favorite, and I think their first single is “Bleeding Out”. Harnessing the power of the three to create a beautiful trio of harmony, in a Vienese Waltz, while having a more rock edge with a folk sound. The literal beating of the drums lets you feel the emotional beating that Williams experienced while his wife was suffering. I imagine him walking down the streets with the weight of the world on his shoulders expressing
All the buildings, they lean and they smile down on us
And they shout from their roof tops, words we can’t trust
Like you’re dead, you are tired
You’re ruined, you’re dust
Oh you will amount to nothing, like tanks full of rust
But we scream back at them
From below on the street
All in unison we sing, at times, been redeemed
We are all of the beauty, that has not been seen
We are full of the color, that’s never been dreamed
Well, nothing we need ever dies, yeah

The group is full of passion, harmony and simplicity. THE LONE BELLOW is on the radar to be one of those break out groups and with a little bit more promotion, touring and street cred, this group has the potential to share the spot light with groups like Mumford and Sons and The Punch Brothers. Tomorrow night the debut their first show at Carnegie Hall. So if you’re in the area, I’d grab tickets and get the full LONE BELLOW EXPERIENCE.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC, uncategorized Tagged With: 90.7, Brian Elmquist, folk, Kanene Pipkin, lone bellow, rock, The Lone Bellow, WFUV, You Don’t Love Me Like You Used To, Zach Williams

Album Review: No Age – An Object

by Rio Toro

 

No-Age-An-Object

No Age: An Object

Similar Artists: Deerhunter, Times New Viking, Wavves

Genre: Lo-Fi Rock, Punk, Noise Pop

Label: Sub Pop

 

Despite being a No Age fan ever since their ’07 to ’08 heyday, after listening to An Object on and off for about a day and a half, I really had no intention of formulating my thoughts into a review. Overall, I felt my opinion correlated with quite a few other reviews I had read, and besides restating those same facts and points, I didn’t think I had anything worthwhile to contribute to it. It’s an album that’s hard to love — with its shoddy production, murky atmosphere and absence of the hard boiled drumming the band is known for — but the more I thought of it, No Object was just as hard to hate, and despite Dean Spunt and Randy Randall’s attempts to “destroy” the record’s appeal with a whacked out presentation, it manages to survive as an enjoyable and catchy punk record all the same.

First, I’ll go over the not-so-great aspects of the record. “Muddy” is the first adjective that comes to mind when listening; both in terms of the quality of the instrumentation and Dean’s achingly sour vocals. Sure, lo-fi music is nothing new — and the limits of Dean’s voice were always apparent — but their last album Everything In Between saw the duo experimenting with a broader sound palette; in comparison, this has much more in common with their Weirdo Rippers compilation. It’s not just the edges that are rough though, as the whole of the compositions seems to have been built from roughness. By these regards, one would assume No Age are going back to their roots and perhaps following their friends Deerhunter down a path in which they aim to revitalize underground rock from the late 70’s to early 80’s. However, the production is a bit too curious for its own good, and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of a big picture. There are parts to these songs that just aren’t there, and there are other parts that will cause you to scratch your head as to why they are there at all (are those birds chirping on Defector Ed?).

For the most part, the up front vocals on songs like “Running From A Go-Go” and “Defector Ed” don’t work to the group’s advantage, and although Dean’s lyricism is basically unchanged in terms of subject matter and execution, the lack of a proper foundation on many of these songs cause it to stick out like a sore thumb; unfortunately not in the quasi-political way the duo had probably hoped for. This is especially the case when played on quality sound systems and headphones. The same can be said of the flat textures and detuned guitars that act as the foundations of these songs. I probably enjoyed listening to An Object the most when I played it on my ancient computer speakers, as they complemented the hissing static and drawn out fuzz.

While Randy Randall’s guitar patterns can still be interesting, due to the decayed production it’s harder to tell this than ever before. Even on more straightforward punk jams like “Lock Box”, everything seems weirdly distanced, like the music is being barricaded behind a wall. While I have immensely enjoyed this group’s ambient excursions in the past — such as the lovely  “Keechie” from Nouns — here, instead of enticing us with melodic guitars they prefer to disorient us with a thick hazy wash that absorbs any kind of discernible pattern. It’s tempting to say that No Age have gone in a direction that embraces No Wave acts like Teenage Jesus & The Jerks and early Sonic Youth, but from a songwriting perspective these tracks are rather straightforward and traditional; creating an experience that is more confusing than abstract.

Still, An Object is never boring, and even though it’s the first No Age release in three years (at a mere 30 minutes no less), it’s nothing to get disappointed about. Even when I came upon a section that I felt didn’t come together all that well, It’s hard to say they did something wrong. The band are expressing themselves in creative and emotionally honest ways, and that is essentially what punk music is all about. It’s not a punk album that’s going to rock your socks off though, and besides the blazing opener “No Ground” there’s nothing close to a sing-along anthem. However, it does happen to be catchy more often than not (I can appropriately nod my head back and forth for 3/4 of the running time), and the best songs — “I Won’t Be Your Generator” and “C’mon Stimmung” — are among the most memorable No Age have churned out.

As I’ve said before, it’s not what one would call colorful, but the duo manage to change sounds just enough from track to track to keep us interested. For instance, “Running From A Go-Go” is a somewhat dreary ballad with weird electronic squiggling that ends with meshing keyboards and a warm, uplifting baseline. It’s perhaps the one moment on the album where the band’s true ambitions of creating music that is as off-kilter as it is beautiful rings true. More surprises come with “A Ceiling Dreams Of A Floor”, which is lead by a comparatively clean acoustic guitar strum, and “An Impression” which somehow manages to incorporate a string section without sounding kitschy.

If you don’t care for stylized production and have a penchant for music that sounds damaged, then maybe, just maybe, you can see past this album’s shortcomings and appreciate it as the artistic statement it is. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been so fully engaged with ultra-polished electronic releases through this year, but to me, An Object sounds uniquely refreshing. But whether you like how it sounds or not, this is some kind of a leap forward for the band, and it should be taken seriously. Whether they choose to return to this style on previous releases or abandon it in favor of something more holistic, An Object can rightfully stand on its own.

 

Track Listing:

1.) No Ground

2.) I Won’t Be Your Generator*

3.) C’mon Stimmung*

4.) Defector Ed

5.) An Impression

6.) Lock Box

7.) Running from a Go-Go*

8.) My Hands, Birch, And Steel

9.) Circling With Dizzy

10.) A Ceiling Dreams Of A Floor

11.) Commerce, Comment, Commence*

 

Album Highlight – *

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC, OPINION, REVIEWS Tagged With: Album Review, an object, Dean Spunt, music, no age, punk, Randy Randall, rock, sub pop

Album Review: The Mavericks – In Time

by Pamela Gordon

The first time I heard The Mavericks I was sitting in my car listening to my favorite radio station WFUV, and couldn’t believe my ears.  It was a hybrid of sounds, that was joyously complex, melting both the old and the

Courtesy of www.cleveland,com
Courtesy of www.cleveland,com

new, and the “North” and the “South”.

 

After a seven-year stretch of no music, The Mavericks have ironically come back with the album “In Time”.   It truly was only time that changed since their last album, maintaining their original and unique sound that can only be descried as The Mavericks.  Raul Malo’s vocals exudes sex and desire, track after track with his Elvis and Ray Orbison like sound.  With the accompaniment of a Ska strumming guitar, Latin brass section and great harmonies, the Mavericks surely are not to be reckoned with.

 

As you may know, I cover country music here on Manhattan Digest.  When you listen to this album you may say to yourself, just as I did, “That can’t just be country, can it?”  The truth is, it’s not, The Mavericks are so versatile, they can’t be labeled under just one genre.  Their span of style covers Country, Ska, Rock and Banda. Banda you ask me, Banda is a type of music that is brass based, mostly Mexican, and has had a large presence in Mexican Pop.

 

I spoke with others and asked their opinion on what genre they thought it fit under.  After different answers it finally clicked, The Mavericks.  That’s what they are, mavericks, “One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group.”  The definition itself sounds a bit abrasive, but because of this characteristic they have created a real name for themselves.

 

With tracks like “Back In Your Arms Again,” and “Born To Be Blue,” the desire to to soulfully sing along is turned all the way up on the dial.  The tracks not only want to make you sing but dance as well.  During the demanding yet convincing track “Come Unto Me,” my passion to dance the Rumba throws chills from my neck to my feet.  I had even brought the track to my dance class where others agreed that the song bled sexuality and masculinity.  There is a soft side to The Mavericks as well, during “Forgive Me” Raul Malo masters his vocals, gliding whimsically through lyrics of repent and yearning while accompanied by the tip-toeing of the piano.

 

If I had the convincing power to make you all by one album that I have wrote about thus far, this would be it.  It may have been a long time since The Mavericks have come together to put out an album, but it goes to show good music can not be rushed, and it will come “In Time.”

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC, OPINION, REVIEWS, uncategorized Tagged With: Banda, Country, In Time, Raul Malo, rock, Ska, The Mavericks, WFUV

Summer Dreams: Summer 2013 Fashion Trends

by Ryan Shea

Despite the bitter cold weather we’ve been experiencing in New York, Summer is right around the corner!  And with Summer weather comes a new Summer wardrobe.  I have started stocking up since November… And I thought I’d share the trends I think will be big this season.

My favorite item for Summer 2013 is High Waisted Denim Shorts!

High waist torn shorts
Torn Light Wash High Waist Denim Shorts

I am seriously obsessed with this look.  High waist jeans are flattering on almost every body type.  Every retail store is stocking up on these must have shorts so, no matter your budget, there are a pair just for you.  My most recent purchases have been from online sellers who customize the shorts the way you like; studs, lace, tears, etc…  I love the vintage feel of this style.

You can rock these with a basic white tee or vintage band tee or with a sleek button up.  Just about everything looks good with a pair of high waist shorts.  Flip flops for the beach, a pair of high tops for a rocker feel, or a towering pair of platform wedges.

Vintage Look

 

High Waist Shorts with a Floral Blouse
High Waist Shorts with a Floral Blouse

Speaking of floral…

Floral prints are a trend that never go out of style.  And floral will be everywhere this year.

Personally, I like my florals mixed with something a little structured or hard looking.  Think 90’s grunge but an updated version!  Adding denim to any floral print basically gives you a vintage grunge look.  A denim vest with a strapless floral summer dress or a denim shirt with floral shorts, maybe?

Floral blouse with Grunge feel
Pastel Floral Cut Out dress with Denim Shirt
Floral Outfit Idea

 

 

Now for the my color choices for this Summer (drum roll!) …

Mint and Coral!

My sister Theresa is actually the person to bring these wonderful colors into my wardrobe decisions.  I have always been someone who favored the furthest ends of the light spectrum (Black and White) … Summer was always a big white season for me.  I love the contrast of my tan skin against a gleaming white piece of clothing, but I have severely underestimated the subtle glow of a mint green and coral item.  Because of their neutral tones these colors can be part of almost any outfit or any article of clothing.

Mint Romper
Mint Romper
Mint Shorts with Taupe Top and Chic White Blazer
Mint Shorts with Taupe Top and Chic White Blazer
Coral Top with Mint Accent Purse
Coral Top with Mint Accent Purse

There are so many trends that are going to be popular this Summer and I wish I could list them all but instead I’ll just post some pics of some items I think should be in every girl’s wardrobe this Summer season!

Here are some idea’s I thought looked cute for this Summer;

Off the Shoulder
Off the Shoulder
Vintage Feel Floral High Low Dress
Vintage Feel Floral High Low Dress
Multi Tone Strapless Maxi Dress
Multi Tone Strapless Maxi Dress
High Low  Flag Dress
High Low Flag Dress
American Flag Leggings and Cut off denim Shirt
American Flag Leggings and Cut off denim Shirt
American Flag Shorts
High Waist Studded American Flag Shorts

 

Summer 2013
Summer 2013

 

Feel free to comment about anything you think I should have included and stay tuned for my Swim Wear article!

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, FASHION, LIFESTYLE, NEW YORK, STYLE, U.S., WORLD Tagged With: 2013, american, american flag, clothes, coral, denim, denim shorts, dress, fashion, floral, grunge, high low, high waist, high waist shorts, jean shorts, maxi dress, mint, red white and blue, rock, romper, shorts, studds, summer, summer 2013, summer wardrobe, sun, tank top, tee shirt, trend, trending, tube top, usa, wardrobe, white

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