Author: News on Shuffle

Shayfer James’ Red Room

New York local artist Shayfer James has released a 6-song album, “Red Room Vol 2,” which can be yours exclusively if you donate to his indiegogo campaign today. The album is filled with the hauntingly beautiful and piano driven music you would expect if you’ve heard James’ other works, including his last album, “Counterfeit Arcade,” which was released in 2011.

In his campaign, which is to fund his new album “Haunted Things,” he states that “Red Room Vol 2” was recorded in 8 hours, but that certainly doesn’t mean a lack of quality. Each song will leave some impression on you. If you’ve never heard of Shayfer James before, 1) I’m sorry; 2) you can hear samples of his work on his bandcamp page. After you’ve been wowed by the past, I hope you consider donating towards the future. I don’t have advanced knowledge, but I’m confident Haunted Things will live up to it’s name and haunt you in the best way possible.

Pandemics Take Philly

As I mentioned in my most recent post, I plan on adding a lot more content to this site. I also mentioned a certain band I’m associated with called “The Pandemics,” and that I would be writing about a recent trip to Philly they took. The show itself was nothing special, but it was still a worthwhile trip. For one thing it was their first show since November, so it was good practice for a bigger show they have coming up later this month with Mephiskapheles and Inspector 7. For another, it was the first time the band had gotten together for 2 or 3 weeks, since holidays got in the way of their rehearsing schedule. So, even though they were competing against the Eagles game and didn’t have many people in attendance, it was still a great trip out for everyone. That’s an important lesson for touring bands to learn. When you first get out on the road, you don’t always make money on tour. In fact, your first couple times out you should expect to lose (or at best break even). But it’s still great for you to get your name out there and also get some bonding time with your bandmates. If you play your cards right, eventually the money will follow.

Thanks for waiting patiently while we dust ourselves off from a rough year. Here’s some picks from the road to hold you over until next time:

 

 

PS – If you’re interested in the Meph/Inspector 7 show I mentioned, it’s Jan 24th at Revolution Bar & Music Hall in Amytville, NY. Message me on the Facebook page and I’ll tell you how to get reduced price tickets from the band. Support your local ska scene!

 

The Blog Is Dead, Long Live The Blog

Last year was pretty dead for this blog (looking back my last post was in March, which is way too long to let something sit here and take up space, in my opinion). If anyone is still out there patiently waiting for new content here, I’m sorry to keep you waiting for so long. There were a lot of distractions to keep me occupied in my personal life. Two major factors were my move from Brooklyn to Long Island, and my only having the time to see the one band that has recently taken over a large part of my life. My writing wasn’t the only area that suffered because of it. I also majorly stopped with my photography pursuits. Fear not though, for my new year’s resolutions for 2014 are as follows:

1) Get this blog back on its feet and start posting content regularly again.
2) Dust off my camera and start taking pictures of anything and everything that crosses my path.

As I mentioned before, there was one band in particular that took over a large part of my life in the past year. That band is a LI ska band called “The Pandemics“. The guy I’ve been seeing for about a year and a half now is their bari sax player. This past year was very good to them, and they got a lot of great opportunities to play with some amazing acts. While I was pleased for them, their schedule combined with my work schedule left me with less ambition to run around taking pictures and writing about everything. I pretty much got in a routine of go to work, go home, occasionally see boyfriend’s band play. It was fine for a time, but it left me looking back on the year and wanting to push myself more in the future. I’m going to do my best to put myself out there and introduce you all to some great new things. Having said that, I’m also probably going to talk about The Pandemics a lot, simply because I have easy access to them and they are a large part of my life. Luckily for you, they’re not just some dumb band that I am close to. They actually are pretty good, and I think you will enjoy what I have to share with you. I promise to mix stuff up though and not just turn this into a lovefest for some guy and his stupid band.

Thank you for being patient with me as I work towards making this space more active again. I already have a couple of posts planned, first of which is going to be about the trip I took to Philly this past weekend. That should be out later this week, pending the status of the annoying plague-thing that has made residence in my chest. Until next time, happy new year and stay warm, kids!

The art of asking…

Last time I came out of hibernation was because Amanda Palmer inspired me to do so… Well, she’s done it again with a brilliant TED Talk that she recently gave in California. There are so many things I could say about this, but I think for now I’m just going to share the video and let this process for a bit before I even attempt to put into words all of the thoughts and feelings that surfaced while watching this video. I hope it touches you in a smilar way…

Ps – if you want some irony know that I couldn’t get the embed code direct from TED’s website. Instead I had to search for the video on YouTube. Way to make it difficult to share things, WordPress…

Life Happens

Coming out of hibernation to talk about life lessons and how sometimes they come from unexpected places.

In case you haven’t heard the news, Amanda Palmer recently canceled her upcoming year of touring to play the role of supportive friend for one of her nearest and dearest who is battling cancer right now.

Personally, I applaud her for this. She’s had a lot of momentum going in her favor with the kickstarter and new album, and taking the year off could potentially do a bit of damage (not to mention disappoint a lot of fans who eagerly awaited their next chance to see her), but the choice had to be an easy one. Someone she loves is hurting. Of course she wants to be there for him, as he was there for her so many times in the past. Easy. Right?

And that brings us to the lesson for today: Life happens.

Whether you want it to or not, things are going to happen to put a wrench in all of our plans. Jobs will fall through, loved ones will get sick, but whatever it is you just have to push through until you make it to the other side. It’s always easier when you have a great support system. I should know…

I’ve been looking back a lot on the past year, as you typically do when another one approaches its end, and I’ve realized all of the things that distracted me from keeping this and my photography website flourishing like I originally hoped. To put it short, life happened, and all of my energy got put towards staying afloat in a sea of problems. I’ve lost jobs and gained new ones, and had the same with relationships. I celebrated a year living in Brooklyn, and then was somewhat forced to move. I’m sitting in a room surrounded by bags and boxes now, all of which will be given a new home tomorrow.

But back to my point… Through everything I have found that as life happens, you quickly find out what has become my number one rule in life – People are more important.

I’ve told my friends this many times, because it is something worth repeating.

People are more important.

So yeah, Amanda canceled her tour to support someone she loves. Duh.

And yes, I would drop everything in a heartbeat for the people who matter most to me. I would hope that they would be willing to do the same. Because at the end of the day, as much as you love your job, it’s still just a job. It’s the people in your life that make it worth living. And when life keeps happening, as it tends to do, those are the people who will be there to help you get by.

Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun

Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun…

Sounds like a cool name for a book or movie, right? Well they’re actually a band from New Jersey, and they have a new single that I would like to share with you.

From the press release: The band have been hard at work on a combination of new and recrafted material, for their second album “Brasil,” their most polished to date. Each musician brings his own inspiration and life experiences to the new album, which collaboratively gives wake to a new sound. The band hopes their music will awake feelings of rediscovery and joy in their audience—and, in turn, give way to personal narratives like in the single “The Hunter”, a song about holding on to your happy moments while struggling with adversity, yet at the same time, finding hope in it.

So there you have it… If you like what you hear and want to catch them live, you have a great opportunity coming up that will also contribute to a good cause. They’re playing Public Assembly in Brooklyn on November 18th as part of Whatever Blog’s benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims.

LaLa DANCE

I mentioned back in May about a new Kids of 88 album to look forward to and gave you a video to hold you over until review time. We’re not quite there yet (Oct 5th is the scheduled release date), but here’s another sample to keep you going till then. The song is “LaLa” and will have you up and dancing in your cubicle or living room in no time.

You can find more information about the band and their happenings at the usual places, including their website and Facebook.

Woofstock – “1Day of Peace, Dogs and Music.”

Our friend over at Star Beat does a lot of work at Hell’s Kitchen in Newark. There is an event coming up this Saturday that I fully support you going to. I’m probably going to throw more events at you in the future, because what are friends for?

On Saturday, June 23rd Hell’s Kitchen Lounge hosts its 2nd annual
Woofstock event to directly benefit the Newark NJ Animal Shelter. It also
marks Hell’s Kitchen Lounge’s 5 year anniversary. Woofstock is an all day
block party (on Bruen St. btw Lafayette and Green St.) that features 15
Bands, 4 Djs, Food, Vendors and a chance to meet your next canine
companion. The free, outdoor portion will kick things off at 1pm till 9pm
when they close down the street. The inside portion begins at 8pm inside
Hell’s Kitchen Lounge where 5 bands will perform for a $5 cover. The
block party is family and pet friendly with hopes to attract animal lovers
from all areas.

A group of volunteers better known as “Friends of Newark NJ Animal
Shelter” regularly donate their time and effort to show these poor,
unwanted dogs a little love by taking them out for walks, donating food
and most importantly finding them homes. Hell’s Kitchen Lounge in
partnership with the “Friends of Newark NJ Animal Shelter” adopted 8
dogs and raised over $1500 at last years event with hopes to double that
this year. Visitors can come and meet up to 15 dogs between the hours
of 1-4pm where Volunteer handlers will let you interact with our furry
friends. Guests can also make food, toy and monetary donations to
directly support the shelter. Anyone looking to volunteer to be a handler
can send an email to woofup12@gmail.com for information.

Woostock lineup includes 15 Bands and 4 Djs that are donating their
talent for the cause, as well as sponsors who help make this event
happen.

Outdoor stage:
Lethal Affection
Science
Cezium
Artwork
DSU
Views into Vastness
The Vapor Apes
Driving Lights
Weekend Love Affair
DJ Doktor Lorenz
DJ Roxy
Professor Esperanca & Grupo
Liberdade Capoeira

Indoor Stage:
Deivito
Gazelle
Those Mockingbirds
Starbolt 9
At a Distance
DJ Mavric
Menace

Sponsors:
Bud Light
Yelp
Sit Stay Learn
BK Tees
Natural Training Center
Pyaara Hair Accessories

For more information on the event, visit www.HellsKitchenLounge.com

Jukebox the Ghost – Safe Travels

It’s rare that I hold a memory of the first time I listened to an album (especially one I listen to often), but I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Everything Under the Sun, Jukebox the Ghost’s sophomore album, for the first time. I remember the feeling of excitement that came as I cycled through each new track. That might feel like a lot to live up to with the third album coming out now, but JtG did not disappoint.

To be fair, I already knew I was in for a treat after attending the band’s secret show at Rockwood Music Hall last month, but it’s still a different experience listening to an album in the order intended. A lot of people disregard this, especially with the introduction of the iPod shuffle and the like, but I always judge an album by its entire package. One of the things I have always loved about JtG is that they do not ignore this factor, even having some tracks flow directly into others. The example of that on Safe Travels is “Devils On Our Side/All For Love,” a beautiful and haunting song that will hit your insides in places you didn’t know existed.

While some elements of the band’s sound are similar to the older days, there have been some developments as well. There’s still fun piano pop, but with more electronic sounds added in some songs for a more eclectic sound. Other songs, such as “At Last,” are more like the pure piano driven songs you might remember from the first album Let Live and Let Ghosts. Then there’s their coda, “The Spiritual,” which is unlike anything they’ve done before. I could go on for pages, because the new album is really quite fantastic. I think my favorite, however, is going to be “Adulthood“. When played live, Ben introduces it as a song about how you can survive childhood and adolescence, but “from Adulthood, no one survives”. It’s a song about life that hit me like a ton of bricks when I first heard it because of how much I could relate. (Being 23 with no idea of where life is going to take you will do that). Really that’s what this band does with their music, though. It puts together a lot of really powerful and meaningful words and finds the music to match (when they’re not singing about the end of the world). That is what makes them special and has given them the edge to gain the level of success they have. It’s also why I’m sure this is just another step in a very long musical journey.

“Safe Travels” is available for iTunes pre-order today, and will be officially released June 12, 2012. The sold out album release is at Bowery Ballroom on June 22nd. A complete list of tour dates can be found on their website.

Jacob Jeffries – Tell Me Secrets

“Gavin DeGraw meets Ben Folds”. That’s how someone described Jacob Jeffries to me when trying to see if I would like him musically or not. The funny thing is, I’m not a huge Gavin Degraw fan. I like one or two songs but was never obsessed. I guess it always felt like a guilty pleasure for someone who largely listens to punk and ska. I love me some Ben Folds though (and other piano-driven bands, like Jukebox the Ghost), so I decided it was worth a shot. I’m glad I kept an open mind, because this album is happiness personified. The first song, “Worth The Wait,” is super catchy, which signaled to me I would probably enjoy what followed. Other songs might not be nearly as happy, but they remain upbeat or driven. It’s one of the reasons I love piano-driven music – it adds a whole new dimension to the sound that keeps things interesting. Even slower songs are likely to have some element that keeps you listening, although there are always exceptions depending on personal preference. In the case of Tell Me Secrets, the action does dip a bit at the top of the second half, but it picks up again at the end and still offers an overall enjoyable experience for the listener. I think my only issue was that “Worth The Wait” was possibly too catchy (if there is such a thing), and I really wanted just a whole album of that. Instead we got a wide range of sounds, which is not a bad thing at all. It might not have been what I expected, but it did show the artist’s talents in a variety of ways. Intrigued? Good. iTunes link for ya

My job here is done 😀