Five from Five is our recurring feature wherein TVD’s Mike Newman—he of Beyond Beyond is Beyond Records—shares with you all of the New York-centric things that he’s digging these days, from upcoming shows, to killer albums, to much more.
1. TONIGHT! Get thee to Rough Trade NYC for the magnificent Jacco Gardner! This Dutch pop-psych maestro and his band are amazing live…and will certainly will be playing great tunes from the brand-new Hypnophobia album.
I was just telling you about the Follakzoid show I went to a couple of weeks ago in this 5 from 5 post, and now I’ve got a copy of their latest album, III, to give away to one of you lucky TVDers…thanks to Sacred Bones Records!
“Föllakzoid began seven years ago as a trance experience between childhood friends. Their style comes deeply rooted in something much more substantial, meaningful and culturally significant, with grooves that are heavily informed by the heritage of the ancient music of South America’s Andes Mountains.
After breaking into our realm with II the group toured more than ever, playing across the world and taking in festivals such as Primavera, ATP, Lollapalooza, and SXSW. This time spent playing and experimenting solidified a deep-set musical bond that would ultimately act as the foundations for III.
Yo, hello. I’m starting this new Five From Five feature so I can share with you all of the New York-centric things that I’m digging these days, from upcoming shows to killer albums and much much more.
OK, not really “much much more,” because how much more do you need in life between live shows and pre-recorded jams? Not much, I would argue. And the great thing about it is we can tune out all that other bullshit people are talking about and listening to…and just concentrate on MY TASTE! (Disclaimer: other people listen to and talk about wonderful things.)
Anyway, I’ll knock it off and share with you the first Five from Five.
1. Dig this killer mind-fuck jammer, “Dutch Master,” from Brooklyn’s own Friend Roulette. Their new album I See You. Your Eyes Are Red comes out on June 2. Grab of it!
2. Annique Monet is brilliant. She’s from Florida, lives in Brooklyn, and made every sound on this album. Phantom Letters just came out last week on cassette/digi on Beyond Beyond is Beyond Records. Sit back and enjoy the “Relapse” song/vid and stream the rest of the album here.
PHOTOS: MATTHEW TAPLINGER | I’m a dad now. I don’t have time to go to all kinds of music festivals every year. And actually I never was that big a festival-goer anyway, even before my daughter came along two years ago. But I’ve been to “the Bonnaroo” back when it wasn’t quite so corporate, and I went to All Tomorrow’s Parties the two years that they were held in upstate New York at the magical Kutshers Country Club in Monticello. Man, those two fests are about as good as it gets.
Well, I don’t fuck around much with many other festivals now…besides Austin Psych Fest. Or “LEVITATION,” to which it was simplified this year. I’ve “Levitated” there for the past four years in a row. What I think attracts me so much to this fest is how it strikes quite a perfect vibe balance between circa 2007 Bonnaroo and 2009-2010 All Tomorrow’s Parties at Kutshers.
My first Austin Psych Fest was in 2012, the last year that it was held indoors, this time at Emo’s East and the adjoining Beauty Ballroom. It was certainly memorable enough that I’ve returned every year since, and ever since Austin Psych Fest or LEVITATION has been held at the Carson Creek Ranch, a sprawling, idyllic landscape on the Colorado River.
Yo friends, we’ve got some killer brand-new vinyl to giveaway to one lucky winner. Today’s platter is a psychedelic slow-burner from Tucson’s psych-drone shamans, The Myrrors. It comes out on March 24th and the band plays this year’s Austin Psych Fest presents Levitation festival in May. I’ll let Ryan Muldoon of Revolt of the Apes fill you in on the band and this record…
“There’s more than a hint of mystery surrounding The Myrrors, the impossible-to-define sonic-shaman hailing from the Tucson, Arizona. The mystery, however, feels far from manufactured—it would appear to exist naturally within the band’s collective DNA, a double-helix of third-eye vision that informs their every note. Certainly, there’s something mysterious about the band’s first album, Burning Circles in the Sky, given that it was recorded “sometime in 2008” (as stated by The Myrrors themselves), but only saw release late in 2013.
And there’s something mysterious about the constant hum of activity that has defined the band in the months since Burning Circles was released—a hum that includes adding two more releases to their fast-growing catalog, along with an invitation to appear at “Levitation,” the 2015 incarnation of Austin Psych Fest.
Austin Psych Fest has a new name for its annual flagship musical gathering in Austin this year: Levitation. And let me tell you, I’ve been to the last three phenomenal outings, and this one in May is looking like their biggest doozy yet, especially with the recent announcement of the 50-year reunion of pysch forefathers, the 13th Floor Elevators.
APF has always done a fantastic job at curating a mind-blowing mix of psychedelic newcomers, tried-and-trues, and classic psych acts, and this year is no different—maybe other than the fact that APF has decided to drop the “psych” tag and simply call the fest Levitation, perhaps a way to shake the shackles of feeling confined to present everyone’s definition of “psychedelic.”
Over the last few years, as psychedelic music has become more popular via the successes of such acts as Tame Impala, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, and The Black Angels, many music fans who have much more rigid ideas of what’s classified as “psychedelic” have been at odds with trying to pinpoint “true” psychedelic acts and write-off others who fall outside of their definition.
But APF has always remained aloof to those types and go out of their way to present the best and most diverse festival experience for the open-minded music fan. I think no matter where you stand, whether you’re more of a shoegazer, a pop-psycher, garage-rocker, or a far-out experimental music fan, you are gonna get what you need at APF’s Levitation. And you’ll certainly get turned on to something new.
We’ve got a super-cool vinyl giveaway for you today from a fantastic new Brooklyn band called Invisible Familiars. The band may be new but the man behind the band is anything but new to the music world. Talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jared Samuel has made his living playing music and supporting a variety of NYC artists—from Sharon Jones to Martha Wainwright, and most recently, Cibo Matto, and The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger.
Samuel retreated to the seclusion of a houseboat docked in Jamaica Bay to write the music and words that would become Disturbing Wildlife. “It was the first time I’d ever spent more than one day completely by myself,” said Samuel, “wondering just exactly what is real and then, ultimately, feeling fine.”
Invisible Familiars premiered this debut album, Disturbing Wildlife, via BrookynVegan prior to its release on Tuesday, January 27 and you can stream it all here. And you can order a copy via Other Music Recording here.
Ty Segall and record label Famous Class have just released a double 7-inch vinyl single, which just so happens to double as a pair of 3D glasses! With the new “Mr. Face” EP, pressed on translucent red and blue-colored vinyl, you just look through the records to activate the supercharged 3D artwork.
The first pressing is already sold out but you can order a copy from the second pressing right here. And you can stream the four tunes on Famous Class’ Bandcamp site and find that the music is the usual killerness we’ve all come to expect from Ty.
I’m not one to jump on the bandwagon over the Record Store Day Black Friday cash grab hullabaloo, but Legacy Recordings has some cool stuff in store that caught my eye for the busiest shopping day in these here United States of America.
And it would be much better to be packed into a local record store looking for these kind of things rather than camped out at Wal-Mart so that you can trample all kinds of women and children in order to get some unnatural deal on the new Play Station 33, or perhaps a set of decorative oven mitts.
Check out this pretty sweet list of stuff. If you’re buying for me, I should like the Bob Dylan, Cheap Trick, and Miles Davis stuff. Oh, and that Sly 7″ too. Thanks:
Hey, we’ve got a twofer going today! A double-shot, if you will. And the two records come to you from Anton Newcombe, of Brian Jonestown Massacre’s label, A Recordings. They are the most recent releases from the excellent label and are sure to please any heady, psych-leaning listeners out there.
First up is Brooklyn’s own Weird Owl with their “Healing” EP, which I have personally been digging a lot for the past couple of weeks. And when writing about Weird Owl, as opposed to speaking about them, it’s nice to not have to explain or over-annunciate the band name to differentiate between them and Weird Al.
This killer EP comes as a double 10-inch—one is dayglo yellow and the other is dayglo pink! Here’s what Anton Newcombe himself has to say:
Dear New York vinyl dudes, you should make sure not to miss the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair this Saturday at Smorgasburg and East River Park in Brooklyn.
There will be old records, there will be new records, there will also be other stuff…and also things! Not to mention you’ll be surrounded by all the best food and drink in town, set up in convenient little booths! Record Fair vendors this time around include great labels like Domino, No Quarter, Northern Spy, Mexican Summer, and Beyond Beyond is Beyond; great record shops like Kim’s, Other Music, and Record Grouch; and also great individual vinyl slingers like Ian Johnson and Endless Boogie and Baron Corvo.
The vinyl festivities start at 11:00AM and spin until 6:00PM, so get thee to the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair at Smorgasburg on Saturday and score some new jams! Stop by and say hi at the Beyond Beyond is Beyond booth!
Hey, I found a cool new band! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard The Young Sinclairs up till now because really they’re not that new…and they’re really good. They definitely have plenty of recordings under their belts. The most recent of which, the “You Know Where to Find Me” EP on 7-inch can be yours free—thanks to our friends at Planting Seeds Records!
“The Young Sinclairs have been bringing their brand of jangly 60’s inspired psych/folk/rock (RIYL: The Byrds, The Essex Green, Rain Parade, The Zombies, etc.) to the world since 2005 as part of the Magic Twig Community.
The band features: John Thompson, Daniel Cundiff (Eternal Summers), Kyle Harris (The Diamond Center), Joe Lunsford, and Samuel Lunsford (ex 63 Crayons). In their more than five year history they have self-released several full length LPs, EPs, and cassettes, including a vinyl-only LP via legendary indiepop label Kindercore Records.
As a Committee To Keep Music Evil affiliate, The Young Sinclairs have successfully toured with The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Australian group The Lovetones. They have also played in support of 60’s stoner legends Blue Cheer and Sweden’s Dungen, among many others.”
Well, Johnny Cash’s longtime friend and right-hand man, visionary Nashville artist Chance Martin is delighted to announce the first-ever reissue of his 1981 private-press masterpiece In Search, out this week on Paradise of Bachelors. And we’ve got a vinyl copy just for you!
“Ringleader, maestro, and indomitable troubadour of Nashville’s most private, elusive and exclusive far-out scene – the Dead End – Chance (aka Alamo Jones, the Voice in Black, aka the Stoned Ranger) could have stepped from the pages of a Charles Portis novel or Coen Bros. script.
Under the direction of Chance as a guru, his band spent five years in secrecy recording this fierce, inimitable collection of mythmaking countrydelic tunes in a “bonus room” above his parents’ garage in Nashville. Despite its intensely personal origins, long gestation, substantial financial costs, and deadly serious deliberation, In Search shows minimal signs of outside influences or traceable authorship.
The fantastic Los Angeles duo, JJUUJJUU, are made up of Moon Block Party‘s Phil Pirrone and Incan Abraham‘s Andrew Clinco and they just released their first collection of Krautrock-inspired psychedelic jams as an EP entitled FRST on Beyond Beyond is Beyond Records in April, and made their first appearance at this year’s Austin Psych Fest later the same month. And I’m happy to say that we have a copy of the limited edition EP on white vinyl for one lucky TVD winner! Have a listen…
The honorable Permanent Records Chicago calls FRST “…a mouthwatering ‘amuse bouche’ for this tasty morsel of heavy psych! Rolling drums and droning guitars ebb and sway, conjuring a peyote-fueled rollercoaster ride thru the blistering Mojave.
There’s definitely a mood and vibe ruminating thru these grooves, with echoes of fellow voyagers like Spacemen 3, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and even some of the headier moments from the earlier Black Angels oeuvre. These guys are definitely ones to watch—we certainly will be.”
Hey New Yorkers! This Saturday come on out to Smorgasburg at East River State Park on the water in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for not only the best in food and drink…but also in tasty vinyl platters! And the weather looks like it’s gonna be a perfect day.
Here’s the Facebook event page for more details, and the full listing for DJs and vendors follows:
