Graig Markel is a multi-instrumentalist, an incisive lyricist, a musician that constructs startlingly raw, yet
studious soul and rock masterpieces.
The new E.P. “Let Your Light Shine Through” buzzes with a raw garage-rock energy, driven along the
backbone of rigid, angular soul.
We're proud to premier the new video for the song, "Let Your Light Shine Through," here on our blog!
I love this video! It's visually creative, and the aesthetic really reflects the energy and musicianship of the song itself. The world needs more videos and music like this - fun, engaging, and packed with energy! Do yourself a favor and check out Graig Markel and the 88th Street Band, now!
I've always been "that kid" who rushed out to get any album that was labeled as "experimental." Ummagumma? It goes without saying. Adult Themes For Voice? I was the first one to buy it. An album where the percussion is just the sound of a stapler, digitally altered? Sign me up!
When Reditus popped up on my radar with an announcement of their Persona EP, I couldn't get to my headphones fast enough.
Reditus is a three-piece (John Keith, Michael Patterson, Noisy Lingus) group based out of Chicago who manage to breathe life into the experimental genre by blending electronics, distorted vocals, keyboards, guitar, and beats that are impossible to get out of your head, even after the first round of listening.
It has been a long time since I've heard a tight trio make such larger-than-life sounds with a beat that makes it impossible to just sit still and casually listen. Full of energy and inspired by their post-punk roots, Reditus is posed to be the next big thing since The Real Thing.
If you want to know more about Reditus and get the latest news on songs and shows, you can follow them on Reverb Nation, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.
Those familiar with the stylings of Mr. P Chill know him as a West Coast legend going back to 1992. One of the hardest working people in the industry, Chill comes from the Golden Age of Hip-Hop, working as a producer, Emcee, and touring tons of live shows. Now, almost 25 years later, Mr. P Chill is set to unleash his latest album, Still Standing, on August 28th.
Still Standing, marks Mr. P Chill's 11th solo album since 2002, and it's loaded with guest appearances from legends such as Lumis, Mr. Hooper, Peercee P, 2Mex, Spyder-D, while letting some of the new underground emcees play in his clubhouse.
I was lucky enough to get a chance to preview this album, and it is overflowing with positivity and power.
From the album's eponymous track, which is an autobiographical and existential reflection of how far Chill has come throughout his career - and he lets people know he isn't stopping anytime soon, to "You Got Me," which is Chill's ultimate fan appreciation track. "Spiritual Journey" (one of my favorites) has that atmospheric orchestration and jazz that evokes that hot summertime city feel.
On Still Standing, Chill shows that he's not only a great lyricist, but also knows how to set the mood for each track with judicious use of backing vocals, jazz, and funk.
Still Standing is a landmark release for Mr. P Chill. This shows off everything he's learned over the past two decades - on the stage, on the wild tours, and walking away from his 9 to 5 job (which he was doing ON TOP OF recording and performing 50-60 show tour schedules) and dedicating himself completely to the music industry and outdoing himself with every new album.
Mr. P Chill shows that through positivity, strength, and never forgetting your roots and the listeners who brought him where he is now, that - even almost 25 years later - he's still gaining momentum.
This summer, on August 28, 2015 Mr. P Chill's Still Standing comes out, and Sacramento Hip-Hop will be busting out all over.
Xocial Complex is an American hip hop duo from Austin, Texas, formed in 2015. The duo is composed of New York rapper Azazel and Houston rapper Awkward Sean. These two emcees have been rapidly making a name for themselves with a wide range of flows, concepts, styles and sounds. August 20th 2015 sets the date for debut release mixtape, No more excuses. Azazel and Awkward Sean met threw mutual friends and came together to create Xocial Complex. Azazel, the producer of the group and a USMC Veteran studied Music Business, Performance and Technology in Austin,TX, the live music capital of the world. The No More Excuses Mixtape was initially a commercial music project for school. After getting recognition from numerous record labels and music groups the duo decided to self release the mixtape to launch their campaign.
Veronika has released her latest visuals to the most anticipated record "CAMERA". The concept behind this masterpiece is its focus on current problems females face nationwide and globally everyday.
Veronika's music career began in 2012 through her strictly motivated decision to build up herself as a musician and as an artist. She came back to Ukraine and began her work as a musician in association with DJ and sound producer First Craft (Dmitriy Stefaniv) genius music writer who was spotted first ay the age of 14 by Sony label in Holland, and director Yevgeniy Timokhin who worked at that time with boys band KAZAKY featured artists in Madonna’s “Girl Gone Wild”; she met Timokhin through mutual friends during a casting for a TV reality show in Kiev in May 2012.
This is a one-two knockout punch of a powerful video, and equally powerful lyrics. The video evokes thoughts of female protests around the world, and everything that is wrong with personal objectification and men "putting in time" with a woman and feeling they are entitled to her body (and the violence that follows). The line "Give me your time and you will be rewarded" is a great indictment against the general perception of women by today's society.
I was lucky enough to interview Veronika, and here are her responses to the questions I posed:
Tersichore: What moved you to music instead of, say, financial statistics?
Veronika: I can't imagine doing something else but music, it's the way I express myself, deliver my message, making a change, living. Some people have lives and some have music. Originally I started to protest through my songs against discrimination and prejudgement against women, against violence toward women which I experienced in my own life, to stand for freedom of expression, religion believes and acceptance. We are all unique and we should not violate someone else's rights for self expression or being different or just being a human.
Tersichore: How long have you been doing this?
Veronika: I formed my solo project in 2012
Tersichore: I'm not going to ask about your influences (because everyone asks that), but who are you listening to when you're not making music?
Veronika: I listen to MJ a lot but when I'm driving or working out its mostly rap/hip hop music Jay Z, Drake, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Dr.Dre, Eminem also I like Will.I.Am. I like women empowerment message in Beyonce's music and I like to listen audio books bios mostly.
Tersichore: Plans for the future?
Veronica: Just take it all by storm!
Tersichore: If you wanted to impress something on your listeners (or the readers of this article) what would it be?
Veronika: My message, my cause for music and a reason why.
In songs- my favorite is definitely talking part intro/ bridge where I express sincere all what lies deep inside my heart, when I talk in my songs it feels like I talk personally to a person who listens it, even if it's a one way conversation it's still very meaningful, private and emotional.
You can check out Veronika on her own site, and listen to her music on SoundCloud. To get the latest updates about her videos, shows, and what she's up to, you can follow Veronika on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
I listen to music of all kinds, but I am an absolute sucker for a storyteller. Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen, the brothers Davies (Ray and Dave) - if the artist can tell me a good story with a guitar, I'll sit for the entire set and still want more, when it's over.
Whether it's a comedy of errors told through a blues song, a character sketch of a woman at the other end of the bar, or a moment of introspection of a person recounting experiences and figuring out where to go next - Bud Summers delivers wisdom, combined with powerful guitar licks.
Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, Bud Summers has those southern blues-rock chops that come through in every song, and one can't help but envisioning him playing at a darkened bar, or a midnight outing with dancing in hot weather and 100% humidity. (In other words, I hope he comes over the river to New Orleans, so I can catch him live). His songs combine blues with rock and smooth jazz, with more than a smattering of folk to make for an all-around great listening experience.
I highly encourage you to check out Bud Summers' music over on SoundCloud and ReverbNation, and pick up a few of his albums. If you want to follow Bud Summers to catch the latest news on his music and where he's playing next, you can catch him on Twitter and Facebook.
There is a lot to me said for the succinct track in electronic music. Way back when, I remember when Underworld started doing these magnum opus pieces (and there's a place for that), and ever since then, it has been very difficult to find tracks that are statements unto themselves that are under the five minute mark.
1700 Monkey Ninjas released their latest single, Ahb Seshun, which is exactly that the doctor ordered. Straight from the upcoming 1700 MN album, Know That Music Is My Life Blood, Ahb Seshun starts off as a fantastic piece of mathematic recursion, followed by a low and rumbling beat - building to a fevered and intricate composition and then, just before you think the fuse is going to go off and you're anticipating an explosion...there is nothing.
Fin.
Silence.
I can read too much into this, like how your synapses become very aware of what potential thought and energy really are, leaving you with no recourse but to transform that into the kinetic - but those words still fall short of what I was experiencing each time I listened to the track. It's very difficult to sit and tease apart the layering of this composition, because by the time it reaches terminus, sitting still is the last thing I want to do. That is a very visceral thing that only a few artists are capable of doing to me.
1700 Monkey Ninjas is Ed Purchla, who thinks outside of the conventions and is willing to break anything we've become all too comfortable with over the years, while also distilling electronic music to its roots.
To get an idea of the concepts Ed Purchla has in his mind, one should study his art, and if you meditate on that for a good, long time, you may be able to extrapolate that to comprehend his music. I enjoy a good rubric, and the tracks present in Know That Music Is My Life Blood, and the earlier release, You Are The Storm, engage listeners and challenge them to actually think about the music and how they respond to it.
To find out more about 1700 Monkey Ninjas and Ed Purchla, you should check out this excellent interview from Weekend Notes.
Having lived in New York, and calling New Orleans my home, I've been immersed in jazz - everything from the traditional jazz on Frenchmen Street on over to the more experimental projects from the likes of John Zorn. That being said, I'm always eager to hear a new take on jazz whenever and however it pops up on my radar.
Enter: GK
GK offers up a revitalization of jazz, infusing (and this is what sold me on it after listening to a few tracks) elements from the contemporary genres that can call jazz their origin. For example, take a listen to "Paint the Town," which has that strong jazz base that I love, while showing off the branches of the tree like Motown, Soul, and Funk:
Or "Love Around," which combines jazz roots with Rock, R&B, and Rap:
With smooth, yet intricate composition, and lyrics that border on listening to a mad scientist playing with words to see what they can do when combined, I've been hooked on GK's music and have been playing the tracks over and over (and you should, too)!
You can find GK on SoundCloud as well as YouTube - and if you want to keep up on the latest news and releases, you can follow GK over on Facebook and Twitter.
*******
I had the opportunity to interview GK, and he put together come very insightful answers:
Tersichore: What moved you to music instead of, say, financial statistics?
GK: I have a very deep connection with Sound, and I think music can help people out of the darkest depths and inspire people to the highest heights. Music is just a compilation of sounds that I feel has the ability to shape our perception of reality, and I hope to showcase a new perception. I really like Jazz and I want to use it in new ways and make it relevant for today, because it's the backbone of modern rock and roll. But I didn't think I would become a singer growing up, I didn't think I was good enough until about 3 years ago when all my years of singing instruction clicked and it became easier to sing.
Tersichore: How long have you been doing this?
GK: I've been singing since as long as I could remember, both my parents love to sing even though one of them can't so I kinda grew up thinking that it was normal to sing out loud. But I was enrolled in music organizations since I was 6 from piano, guitar, sax, to bass, however I'm not a good musician the only instrument I can play is myself. Although its helped me in my music composition, I've been in choir and musical productions since I was 12. But my High School Choir teacher is who I learned from the most and helped me become the singer I am today.
Tersichore: I'm not going to ask about your influences (because everyone asks that), but who are you listening to when you're not making music?
GK: When I'm not making music I listen to quite a variety of artists, my take on music is that if its good its good. And what I mean by that is, there are certain unwritten rules when making music and as long as their not violated then your good. Except Polka.
I really like dub-step, but I will say its hard to find good songs and artist usually their out of the UK, borgore comes to mind. Other than that Florence and the Machine, Kendrick Lamar, Queen, Ludacris, Nat King Cole, Micheal Jackson are the artists on my phone at the moment. But I listen to a lot more hip hop than I do pop music even though you can argue that they're the same now.
Tersichore: Plans for the future?
GK: I'm going to be start doing some shows in southern California once I've released my new song, Dark spot, hopefully by the end of the month. I'm in the process of creating an indie music video for Love Around at the moment, release date TBA. But My lyric videos can be found on my YouTube channel for those who are interested in singing along.
Tersichore: If you wanted to impress something on your listeners (or the readers of this article) what would it be?
GK: My music is an attempt to revitalize a style that has had a profound impact on the music world. Its not because I think its important for music culture, but because that's who I am. I look back to the older ways of making music as inspiration but I still try to blend apart of the culture today cause I live it. I could sing pop songs, or join an indie rock band but I make music to make people think and rock out a bit at the same time, 'cause that's what I like to do. I made these songs all on my own, no one told me what to do one step of the way, this is the unabridged me and I hope they enjoy.
The latest album by Paragon
Theorem, Inkwell, is an overstuffed bag
of tricks that never lets up, and will leave listeners entertained,
amazed, and inspired. From ballads to the majestic licks and vocals
of Alive (For The First Time), the Connecticut bands expertly
composes tracks that showcase crunchy distortion-addled chord
progressions, complex picking and drumming, bass that is used for so
much more than just a rhythm instrument, and vocals with tremendous
range - all of which come together to deliver an album that is
nothing short of brilliant. Paragon Theorem has no problem playing to
the listener's intellect as well as the soul, often times eschewing
the verse/bridge/chorus formula for pure artistic vision – taking
the listener on a journey with each song.
Paragon Theorem are
wrapping up their east coast tour in October, and (as shown in the
video below) they are just as amazing live as they are in the studio:
Every track stands out on its own, from
Fluoride (a simultaneous one two punch to authoritarianism and
conspiracy sheep alike, with judicious sampling of JFK's 1961 speech
about secret societies) to the past-paced and cathartic Absolution.
Paragon Theorem's Inkwell is a must-have for anyone who loves
both smart and emotionally-driven lyrics, backed my raw music
punctuated by technical expertise. With Inkwell, Paragon
Theorem, founded in 2012, have already earned their place among Dream
Theater, Echolyn, and the more experimental Living Colour albums.
Paragon Theorem's Inkwell is
available on iTunes,
CDBaby,
Google,
Amazon,
and other major digital distributors. You can check out Paragon
Theorem on their official
website, and follow them on Facebook
and Twitter
for all of their latest news and to keep up with their touring dates.
