Tags archives: zoe marquedant
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This Saturday Grammy award-winning Latina musician Carla Morrison played a free show at the Prospect Park Bandshell. She followed Hurray for the Riff Raff and Buscabulla as part of the Bud Light Music series, which was presented in association with the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC). The Conference puts on an annual showcase, this year’s iteration meant to showcase both emerging and established artists. Morrison’s presence definitely represented the latter.
Apart from winning the hearts of a vast and dedicated fanbase, the pop artist has also won two Latin Grammys. In 2012, she took home both the award for Best Alternative Song for "Déjenme Llorar" and the Best Alternative Music Album award for Déjenme Llorar. She was also nominated for the Song of the Year award for "Déjenme Llorar". The record has since gone on to be certified Gold in Morrison's native Mexico. This bout of success began the previous year with Morrison’s nomination for the "Best Alternative Music Album" for Mientras Tu Dormías at the 2011 Latin Grammys and has continued to the present.
Originally from Tecate in the Mexican state of Baja California, Morrison began expressing an interest in music early. She moved to Arizona in her late teens to study music at Mesa Community College. Soon thereafter, she dropped out to pursue a more self-taught and personal musical education. She studied with David Barrios[...]
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Yesterday, blink-182 released their new album California. A much anticipated record, it’s their first since ousting founding guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge. Early last year, the group announced the lineup change and welcomed Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio as a third member. At a Blink show shortly thereafter, bassist Mark Hoppus introduced Skiba, then filling in on guitar, as our “new step dad that is going to be living with us from now on”. After years of ill-will amongst the band, it seemed the Hoppus-DeLonge divorce had finally gone through. Since joining, Skiba has racked up a good amount of performance time with the band and earned himself something of a warm welcome from the fanbase. He proved he could sing all the old songs and sound enough like DeLonge to keep with the sound, but add just enough of his own personality as to not come across as a carbon copy. The real test would be their record. It would definitively answer the question blink-182 fans had been posing since DeLonge left, “Who the fuck is Matt Skiba?”
The album opens with "Cynical". In the anxiety-ridden open verse, Hoppus introspectively sings over clean guitar. Before listeners have time to wonder whether this slower pace is the new Blink, Skiba and drummer Travis Barker breakthrough. What comes next sound definitely like the band. There are all the elements you’d expect from Barker’s fills to the back-and-forth of Hoppus and Skiba trading off vocalist duties. What started as a questionable way to [...]
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Everyone gathered on Tuesday night to see not only the documentary Danny Brown: Live at the Majestic, but also to see the famed rapper Danny Brown himself. Best known for his 2011 album XXX, the Detroit native has been quiet in recent years. Apart from voicing the Fresh Off The Boat theme song and writing a Seussian children's book, Brown hasn’t released any new work or played many shows of late. This fact made his appearance at House of Vans all the more exciting. Those who had sustained themselves with the recorded versions of "Grown Up," "Dip," "Smokin & Drinkin," and "25 Bucks” and longed to hear them live would finally get the chance.
That crowd, the one that had been patiently waiting for years now anxiously passed the last hour of that interval outside the venue. Some groaned about having come straight from work while others repeatedly called the missing members of their parties, telling them to “hurry up.” Amongst them was a mix of safety pins, asymmetrical haircuts, Supreme brand clothing and the odd fannypack. They were a young, hip, image-conscious crowd, but despite all that originality and individuality, there was one thing that brought them together and that was Danny Brown. He was why they dragged out to Greenpoint, why they rallied their friends, why they skipped dinner just to get a good spot in line. “I had a multigrain kombucha in my fridge… I should've grabbed that,” one girl bemoaned. She the[...]
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The House of Vans sounds more like a lesser family in HBO’s Game of Thrones than a concert venue. At least in Brooklyn. Here, the famed shoe manufacturer is better known for its clothing than its concert space. Vans shoes, snapbacks, backpacks and hoodies can easily be found in just about any corner of the borough, but mention the House of Vans to a passerby and you’re likely to be met with confusion. Other venues like Irving Plaza, Terminal 5, and MSG have risen to the level of the common vernacular, amongst concertgoers and non-concertgoers alike; odds are even your landlord has heard of those. While the House of Vans doesn’t toil away at the level of obscurity of say Cake Shop or Palisades, the name doesn’t carry the weight it normally does. Out on the wider concert circuit, Vans rules supreme as sponsors of the famed Warped Tour. Here, it is just lesser known and that is a mistake.*
Hidden in the far reaches of Greenpoint, tucked up against the water, the venue boosts both an indoor and outdoor stage area, a bar, and enough ramps to qualify it as a skatepark. It’s an incredibly versatile space. Problem is that in order to have that much space in this city you have to be somewhere where there is still space to be had. You need to be able to gather hundreds of people on any given night and be loud until all hours of the morning. You need to be able to pull amps and all manner of equipment through the doors. Most importantly, you need to be able to afford the rent.
Ove[...]
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In part 1 of this series, we looked at a video that showcased an artist as a role model, another that shed light on the creative process of an up-and-coming band, and a third that brought international superstars back to their old digs to be humbled by their beginnings. For this installment, we’re going to revisit the political music video with TARICA's “But, Anyway” as well as examine the success of the web series with a look at NPR’s Tiny Desk.
Tarica's “But, Anyway”
Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" has been sampled, remixed, covered and served up in countless fashions. Over the years everyone from Aaliyah to Britney Spears to Fall Out Boy to R.E.M have tried their hand at the 1987 classic, always placing the songs unmistakable “duh duh duh duduh, duh duh duduh” at the forefront of their efforts. Most recently, D.C. rapper Tarica June included the interlude in her song “But, Anyway.” In the song rather than recounting the patrons of a local cafe as Vega did decades before, June discusses the gentrification of her home town. With personal, frank and adept lines like, “But anyway, this is third generation for me / My parents and my grandparents all from DC / So I feel like I notice things other folks can't see / And like I represent things other folks can't be”, June makes her point without so much as raising her voice. Her approach, unlike many others, is one of hope and positivity with the song's chorus opening with, “But anyway I can go on forever about all of the bul[...]
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In a recent interview with Nylon, indie artist Mitski spoke on the potential musicians have to be representatives and role models to listeners, especially the younger ones in the internet age, saying: “...it’s so valuable that kids confused about their identity can go out and be like, ‘I’m going to Google search this’ or ‘I want to look for other people like me.’ If they look hard enough they can find those communities online..." Anyone googling Mitski at the moment will quickly be directed towards her most recent single, “Your Best American Girl” and it’s accompanying video.
Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl”
In the video, directed by Zia Anger, Mitski is contrasted with the stereotypical indie girl, who enters stage left in a flower crown and press-on tattoos to steal the video's love interest away. It's a timely comparison given that this year's Coachella, a festival known for it's outlandish and occasionally culturally insensitive outfits, is only just behind us. The video also comes at a time at which musicians are using their videos to communicate messages about identity, self-respect, and self-acceptance. Think: Beyonce and the anthem that is "Formation." Even though the temptress wins "the All-American boy" as Mitski calls him in this video, her spirits aren't so easily dampened. After some reflection, Mitski returns renewed and with a smirk shreds her guitar, as if to say 'Sure, I lost the guy, but I also sold out the Bowery Ballroom in June and wrote an ama[...]
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It’s seventy days until The Vans Warped Tour! The annual outdoor tour has been making its lap of the continental US every summer since 1995. Although it started as an alt rock sponsored by every skateboarder’s favorite brand of shoe, Warped has expanded into an all-inclusive fun-for-all. Attendees can now see rappers, rockers, pop punkers and every genre in between at their local show. From The Aquabats and Antiflag to Goldfinger and Green Day, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, The Misfits and Pepper, Saves the Day, Say Anything, The Starting Line, Tonight Alive and countless others have cut their teeth during the hot days of Warped. In a way, the tour is a great equalizer. Sure, there are different stages with bigger speakers that allow for larger crowds, but out amidst the muddy fields and catering tents bands as big as Blink 182 share space and probably sunscreen with up-and-coming acts. Everyone is there for the same purpose: music.
Here are some bands from this year’s line-up that you should be sure to catch when Warped comes through this July:
3OH!3
Genre: Rap?
Hometown: Boulder, CO
For Fans of: LMFAO, Travie McCoy/Gym Class Heroes, early Ke$ha, white guy rap, Coloradians
Listen to: "BASMF" off of Night Sports
Against the Current
Genre: Pop Rock
Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY
For Fans of: Set It Off, Tonight Alive, We Are The In Crowd
Listen to: "Running With The Wild Things" off of In Our Bones
Bullet For My Valentine
Genre: Heavy Metal
Hometown: Bridge[...]
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Just before the release of their new record, Syracuse's synth popper’s Ra Ra Riot played a stripped down show at Brooklyn’s Rough Trade. Vocalist Wes Miles, guitarist Milo Bonacci, bassist Mathieu Santos, violinist Rebecca Zeller, and drummer Kenny Bernard joined the audience on the floor of the venue, standing maybe a foot from the front row. The band formed a haphazard circle of mic stands and instruments. In that formation they looked more like a handful of buskers than a band. It was an excellent setting for the soft vocals and synth-soaked songs of the new Ra Ra Riot.
The show was part of a Rough Trade sort of bundle sale. Copies of the band’s album, Need Your Light, that were sold at the record store/venue came with two wristbands. The wristbands allowed wearers to not only get into the in-house show, but also to have their copies signed by the band afterwards. The gig was otherwise closed to the public and a great way to see the band in such a small setting before they come back to New York to play Webster Hall in March. This kind of show has become something of a staple on the Rough Trade schedule. Artists like Odesza, Kendrick Lamar as well as Yelawolf have all done similar in-store performances paired with signings to help promote new releases. Next month, Santigold will hold one of her own for her new album 99 Cents.
Ra Ra Riot’s evening performance preceded both the release of their record and the band’s tour with Sun Club and everyone’s new favorite[...]
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Enter Ziggy Stardust.
Bowie’s beloved persona began with the release of 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Stardust starred as the record’s fictional alien rock star who arrived on Earth just as it received the news that the world would end in five years. In the album’s opening track, which is aptly titled “Five Years”, Stardust laments about the planet’s fate while walking amongst it’s doomed species. He resembled them in shape, but is extreme in all other aspects. He had wild hair, outlandish outfits, and an overall zeal that made him an eccentric, especially compared to the cop, soldier, priest, mother and newscaster that populate the rest of the song.
In a 1974 interview with “Beat Godfather” William S. Burroughs, Bowie described the scene:
...It has been announced that the world will end because of lack of natural resources. [The album was released three years ago.] Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock & roll band and the kids no longer want rock & roll. There's no electricity to play it. Ziggy's adviser tells him to collect news and sing it, 'cause there is no news. So Ziggy does this and there is terrible news. "All the Young Dudes" is a song about this news. It is no hymn to the youth as people thought. It is completely the opposite[...]
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9 years ago
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‘Tis the time of year for the radio stations to play Mariah Carey's cover of “All I Want For Christmas” (the “Extra Festive” version) on repeat. It’s a great song and it sure is festive, but after hearing it twenty or so times over the span of only a few hours it starts to wear down the holiday spirit. It doesn’t help that there are only a few dozen other really popular holiday songs played during December: Brenda Lee's “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree”, Nat King Cole's “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)”, Jose Feliciano's “Feliz Navidad”, Dean Martin's “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow”, Bing Crosby's “White Christmas”, that one song about shoes. Again, all great tunes, but they're hard to hear on repeat for an entire month. Especially when most of us are either coped up with relatives, stuck in holiday traffic or desperately trying to find the last toy lightsaber sold in the state...or trying to justify sneaking off to see Star Wars... again.
Instead of sitting through TSwift's "Last Christmas" one more time, listen to some other covers and holiday/Christmas songs that get less airtime. From groups like The Killers that annually put out their own holiday tune to bands like Weezer that cover classics, here are twelve songs to get you through to the New Year. Enjoy!
1. "Christmas Night Of The Living Dead" by MXPX
2. "Deadbeat Holiday" by Green Day
3. "Last Christmas" by Jimmy Eat World
4. "The Season's Upon Us" by Dropkick Murphys
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9 years ago
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Tommy Siegel is best known as the guitarist of either piano band Jukebox the Ghost or noise rock group Drunken Sufis. The two bands exist on fairly opposite ends of the genre spectrum, with one brimming with gentle introspection and optimism while the other stopping its feet and howling against the government. Siegel has pooled elements of both projects, like the political-savvy of the Sufis and the humor of a younger Jukebox, to fuel his newest act: Narc Twain.
A dystopian punk band, the group was born from of all things a book of poetry. The symbiotic nature of Brooklyn is perhaps to thank for Siegel’s chance encounter with the book. He found Jeremy Schmall & Cult of Comfort by Jeremy Schmall in the recycling bin of his apartment building last year. The 99-page collection is brief, with fifty or so poems channeling anxiety, paranoia, pain, discomfort, understanding, introspection, hunger and hitting on a myriad of other emotions that the reader didn’t necessarily see coming. The poems twist and hairpin turn in a way that would make all MFA students smile and all passer-bys wonder what exactly did they pick up out of the recycling. The commentary on capitalism and cynicism struck a chord with Siegel. He wrote Schmall, whose email was hidden in plain sight in a poem in Cult of Comfort, eventually sending him music. And thus Schmall inspired what would eventually become the six song EP that is Narc Twain.
The band released the debut EP last week, playing a show in c[...]
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9 years ago
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The turkey has been eaten, the in-laws have left, the traffic has settled and the flurry of the Thanksgiving has finally subsided. We were meant, during the holiday, to reflect and give thanks for all that we have in our lives, but those sentiments sometimes get lost in the craze surrounding Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday. We forget the “giving” part of Thanksgiving. To counteract this, “Giving Tuesday” was launched by organizations like 92nd Street Y, the United Nations Foundation, the website Mashable and the brand (RED). The day is meant to remind us to pause our consuming (figuratively. you can keep working on those leftovers if you want) and give back this holiday season. Here are five charitable organizations, both for the music and by the music, that you could give to this Tuesday:
Dear Jack Foundation
The Dear Jack Foundation (DJF) was founded by Andrew McMahon of Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. While on tour with his first band, Something Corporate, McMahon was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). After undergoing treatment, he resolved to ‘initiate change and provide a voice for the generations of young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer.” With the specific aim of helping adolescents and young adults (AYA), DJF aims to support organizations, ‘which recognize the unique challenges the AYA community faces, during and post-treatment.” The programs that have benefited from DJF include the UCLA stem cell transplant progr[...]
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