Author: Jennifer

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Video: New London Fire, For My Own

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For My Own is the first release from New London Fire‘s upcoming record Echoes in the Dark. Stylistically it picks up where The Dirt The Blood The Faith left off – Americana leavened with an indie rock sensibility – though tonally it’s a little darker. The first two times I listened to it I thought it was a mournful meditation on a lost relationship, the third time through I was like . . . hold on, is this a murder two-step?

Not a lot happens in the video, and I mean that literally, it’s a little under three and a half minutes of home-movie style footage of what appears to be the back of a dude sitting on a wooded hill and staring at a lake. I spent a little bit of time wondering which lake – Central Park? one in Jersey? Upstate? – before deciding that ultimately it doesn’t matter. The anonymous lake is a metaphor, for the time the lovelorn spend with their attention turned inwards. Or else it’s where the narrator dumped the body.

Well, whatever the lake means, or doesn’t, I definitely want to hear the rest of the record, and the story.

New London Fire - For My Own Official Video

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2014: A Year In Pictures

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A year of rock n’ roll, in pictures, including two shows from late December 2013, which I shot after I posted last years’ Year in Pictures.

Tonight I’m headed out to dance the New Year in with Erasure (!); have fun and be safe, y’all, and I’ll see you on the other side.



The Districts, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 30, 2013


The Felice Brothers, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 30, 2013


Team Spirit, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2013

Andrew W.K., Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2013


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, NGHBRS, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, States and Kingdoms, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, Frank Iero, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, The Gay Blades, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Fred Mascharino, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, States and Kingdoms, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Geoff Rickley, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Frank Iero, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, I Hate Our Freedom, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, The Gay Blades, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014


Deep Pockets, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014


Patrick Kindlon with Loss Leader, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014



Ovlov, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014



Pity Sex, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014



Patrick Kindlon with Self Defense Family, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014


X Ambassadors, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014


The Colourist, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014




Panic! at the Disco, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014


Rob DiPietro, Subculture, New York, NY Feb. 7, 2014


The Grahams, Subculture, New York, NY, Feb. 7. 2014


Z Berg, The Deep End Club, New York, NY, Feb. 9, 2014


The Grahams, Chez Andre, Feb. 17, 2014


Phone Home, Shea Stadium BK, Feb. 20, 2014


Weird Womb, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 20, 2014


The Dirty Nil, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 20, 2014


Samantha Crain, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Feb. 27, 2014

Murder By Death, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Feb. 27, 2014



Sleepwave, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


tonightalive., Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


Taking Back Sunday, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


The Used, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014


Andrew W.K., Subculture, New York, NY, April 25, 2014


Kate Myers, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014


Sean Van Vleet, empires, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014


Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014


Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


LaToya Kennedy with Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


Leroy Justice, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


Bottom Dollars, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014


AF THE NAYSAYER, Trash Bar, Brooklyn, NY, May 26, 2014


Durazzo, Trash Bar, Brooklyn NY, May 26, 2014


Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, August 5, 2014


Alice Cooper, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, August 29, 2014


Mötley Crüe, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, August 29, 2014


Slomile Swift, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 11, 2014


SKYES, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 11, 2014


AF THE NAYSAYER and friends, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, Sept. 11, 2014


Rosie Flores, Hill Country BBQ, New York, NY, Sept. 13, 2014


The Dirty Nil, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 20, 2014


Cory Branan, The Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Oct. 1, 2014


Mumblr, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 4, 2014


The Eeries, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Oct. 20, 2014


Gerard Way, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Oct. 20, 2014


The Eeries, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Oct. 23, 2014


Gerard Way, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Oct. 23, 2014


NGHBRS, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014


Cold Fronts, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014


Sean Van Vleet, empires, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014


Tom Conrad, empires, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014

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Video: Jameson, Breathe Your Last

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This is the video for Breathe Your Last, by Jameson (Jameson Burt), from his new EP Carnivore.

It considers, visually, the battle between artist – writer, in this case – and demons, and artist and self, and contains some weird Fight Club-style bloody violence and Blair Witch-style shaky footage of one man’s mind coming apart at the seams. There is one extended scene with words melting off a blackboard that is seriously the stuff of nightmares for anyone who keeps little piles of scribbled chunks of story and notes-to-self laying around. On the plus side: our hero does climb out of the nightmare pit at the end and presumably lives to fight (and scribble) another day.

Jameson Burt - Breathe Your Last - Official Music Video - TV Edit

Some thoughts about Carnivore as a whole: I’ve been listening to it on loop for the last couple of days, and it is the kind of record that 1) will stand up to that kind of test – I have yet to get bored with it and 2) blooms under that kind of scrutiny. Breathe Your Last has a distinctly Americana sound, but the rest of the songs don’t really; they shimmy all over the indie rock spectrum, borrowing from a variety of genres including art rock (for lack of a better term), world music, and whatever we’re calling what Don Henley was doing in the early ’80s.

You can listen to more of it at his Soundcloud, but I’m especially fond of Liar:

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Two Songs From: Junkie Thrown

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Junkie Thrown (Sanna Holmstr̦m) is from G̦teborg, Sweden, and she combines crystal-sweet vocals with delicate guitars and the occasional heavy hypnotic beat. I spent most of last night listening to her YouTube uploads on endless loop; that includes her tunes as well as one by a friend РSun Lions Army, by Sea Lion Рand you can replicate that experience if you like, or you can listen to just her stuff, below.

Fairy Christmas Day is . . . not your typical Christmas song. It’s Christmas through a haze – a haze of what, who knows – disappointment and alcohol, maybe – but it’s also somehow soothing.

And then there is Circus of Our Misery, as an example of her non-Christmas fare, which has a delicate melody over a dark, thudding undertow.

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Two Songs From: Nahko and Medicine for The People

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Nahko and Medicine for the People, led by Nahko Bear, are from Portland, Oregon, and are less a band and more an artistic collective that happens to play music. Really, really good music, that you could wedge into any number of genres, including world music, indie rock and inspirational. I came across them the other night when I fell in (yet another) Soundcloud hole, and I am very glad I did.

This is the video for Budding Trees, from Dark as Night, which at this juncture is my favorite song of theirs, and I think it also serves as a good introduction to the band and their wider community, because it literally is the band and the community singing together. Not a show, however; they’ve used a broad assortment of footage, some amateur, some probably not, to show the tune winding through different lives.

Nahko and Medicine for the People - Budding Trees

And this is Nahko Bear all by himself, doing their most recent single Wash It Away as part of a Gondola Session:

Nahko "Wash It Away" // Gondola Sessions

Speaking of Soundcloud: This is their page, and you should go and just listen to the whole thing.

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Split: Joyce Manor, Tame and Toys That Kill, Times We Can’t Let Go

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November has come to a close. Novels have been written; moustaches, of various degrees of amazingness and horribleness, have been grown and shaved; turkey has been eaten; in some locations, the first snow has fallen.

Here at NTSIB, I’ve been doing NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. I’ll do a masterpost later, but: there’s been a lot of music. Go back through the archives and see what you’ve missed.

To finish out, here is the Joyce Manor/Toys that Kill split, set to be turned loose upon the world later this week, via Recess Records. If you like Ramones-style punk, these bands are for you.

Joyce Manor, Tame:

Toys That Kill, Times We Can’t Let Go:

They’re also touring the West Coast together later in December.

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Late Night Listening: Two Songs from Tei Shi

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A home for things that might be fleeting, might be soothing, might be weird, might be soothing and weird. The blogging equivalent of sitting in the garage twiddling radio knobs just to see what might be out there.

Tei Shi (Valerie Teicher), from Brooklyn via Argentina, Colombia, Boston and Vancouver, gives her genre as “mermaid music”, and this strikes me as an accurate assessment. It’s subtle, complex, seductive and a little bit otherworldly.

See Me is one of two new singles; I’m most fond of the trance-y hiss-click beat that periodically expands into something light and airy, as well as the dark wubble-bubble echoes floating beneath her crystalline voice:

Bassically is a little more up-tempo, and has a little more fuzz-grit, and is just delightful:

New Yorkers: She’s playing at Glasslands on Dec. 8; everyone else: check in with her frequently, there will be more music coming, and be sure to explore her back catalog.

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A Good Read A Good Listen and a Good Drink: El Xicano

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

And now, a very special holiday/Friday/holiday Friday treat: a new song from my favorite international man of mystery El Xicano. This one is called I Mostri (Monsters), and it’s a little bit more mellow than La Grande Pauro, but no less lovely. The rest of the EP will surface next year, but in the mean time, put your feet up and relax to this tune:

And now I will turn the floor over to El Xicano himself, who is becoming a little bit less of a mystery today by sharing his favorite book, record and drink:

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A Good Read:
If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. An experimental but accessible novel written by one of the most interesting Italian writer of the 20th century. A mesmerizing (and full of oddities) book about the magic of writing and reading. I read it when I was 16 and it really stunned me.

A Good Listen:
One of my favourite albums of 2014 is Black Moon Spell by King Tuff. I think it’s the indie-garage-psychedelic-pop masterpiece of the year with its alluring vocals, brilliant harmonies, huge r’n’r riffs, bizarre lyrics and unforgettable hooks. The songs are extremely well written and produced. I can’t wait to see him in concert.

A Good Drink:
Sangiovese. Always. It’s absolutely my favourite red wine. A couple of glasses and life becomes easier and simple. Around Gambettola, where I live, there are so many wineries producing such excellent wines that I’m spoilt for choice due to the crazy amount of options.