forthebeat Presents MOTEL MOTEL Album Release Party
Tuesday, August 24th
@ Union Pool @ 8:00 PM
484 Union Ave (near the Lorimer L stop), Brooklyn
$8 at the door
MOTEL MOTEL
BRONZE
CHAIRLIFT (DJ Set)
VIOLENS (DJ Set)
RSVP to forthebeat@gmail.com
This is what this party will sound like:
Motel Motel – Helena, MT
Bronze – Horses
Telepathe – So Fine (Chairlift Remix)
Tonight is the night — forthebeat Presents: Sunglasses EP release party at Pianos at 9:30 PM with Psychobuildings, Magic Man and Aux Arc. Are you coming? YES!
We’re giving away a FREE limited-edition hand-sewn EP, courtesy of Lefse Records. If you’re the winner AND you happen to live in NYC, we’ll throw you a comp for tonight’s show as well. Please post the following: “Sunglasses EP Release Party tonight: http://forthebeat.com/blog/events/” SL and I will search for your posts on Facebook and Twitter and randomly select a winner by 3 PM today.
To prepare for later, read an interview with Sunglasses below, listen to these songs and pick out something sexy to wear to our party…
Your highly-anticipated EP drops on June 15, what’s been the most exciting part of this process?
The most exciting part for us is having a tangible versions of our songs. The experience of rubbing our fingers across our music and smelling the wax. The greatest feeling will be handing the first copies we get to our moms.
What color best describes your band’s aura/vibe?
GOLD
What’s up with the dog in your album artwork? What’s his name?
Her name is Chloe, she is Sams dog and by the far the greatest dog in the world. Chloe is our mentor and our guardian. Sunglasses would have never taken place if it wasnt for her unforgiving wisdom. Big Ups to Miss Dooges.
What’s your favorite Sunglasses song / which do you love performing live and why?
The song we are most excited about at the moment is our newest song, “Common Sense” which has been extremely fun to play live. The song will be featured on our upcoming full length.
When or how did you first fall in love with music? (Your dad taught you banjo, you heard Dirty Diana in a bathroom, etc.)
Both of our dads are really into music and truthfully are the ones to blame. We were highly exposed to music through them and on the way to soccer games. Sam’s dad was obcessed with R.E.M., the English Beat, Joe Jackson & the Psychedelic Furs. Brady’s dad was really into Frank Zappa, The Who, Yes, Enigma and Seal.
How influential has your time at SCAD been in your musical endeavors?
Huge! Thats where we met, and really found what we came there for. Savannah was a creative atmosphere to grow and meet fellow people with the same goals. We utilized the facalities as much as we could. Shooting sketch comedy and music videos on their green screen studios as well as recording and mixing music in their studios. Also having the opportunity to work on films of all kinds. Our majors in college were Film (Samuel) and Sound (Brady). Our goal is to continue excelling in those creative areas (currently working on a feature length script) as well as incorporating those artistic principles in our music.
New York or Savannah?
We enjoy both really. They both have different aspects that we enjoy equally. Savannah gave us the opportunity to start from the ground up and learn. There was absolutely no music scene before we were there, we had to create it and it was a great learning process. Once we got going and we needed to go the next level, New York was a great vehicle for us to progress as musicians and to get away from small town claustrophobia.
Who do you see in the industry as really doing something different and exciting?
Flying Lotus is currently the only new artist we have been listening to. Also we are looking forward to the new Big Boi and OutKast albums and still have our fingers crossed for a Kate Bush collaboration.
What one song must everyone download RIGHT NOW?
Chaka Khan – “I Feel For You”
What is the most shameful song on your iPod?
Chaka Khan – “I Feel For You”
If you could cover / put a Sunglasses spin on any song right now, what would it be and describe what it would sound like?
XTC – “Its nearly Africa”. We would amp up its jungle rhythms, and vocal harmonies. We would also heighten the sense of atmosphere and hopefully take it some where new as well hold on to what we love about the band and the song. In our minds XTC are horribly underrated and it is our goal to bring public awareness to them. They are massively amazing. Their approach to music is very similar to ours and we hold them high to the sky. If you are care about yourself and the world at large you will purchase English Settlement and/or Drums & Wires!
forthebeat Presents SUNGLASSES EP Release Party
TOMORROW — Friday, June 11th
@ Pianos @ 9:30 PM
158 Ludlow (at Stanton), NYC
$8 in advance / $10 at the door — Buy tix HERE
THE LINE-UP…
MAGIC MAN @ 10 PM
PSYCHOBUILDINGS @ 10:45 PM
SUNGLASSES @ 11:30 PM
AUX ARC @ 12:30 AM
And special guests…
Start listening below and see you there!
xx
K+S
The third band we are profiling this week is Psychobuildings, who are also playing our show on Friday — the Sunglasses EP release party. They just released “Portrait / No Man’s Land” on May 31st on Transparent Records. There are limited copies, 300 to be exact, of the 7” .
The synthy, dreamy pop is pretty chill, and I think VICE said it best when they described the lead singer’s sound: “when Peter sings his words he sounds like a child confused by a dream he just woke up from.”
Psychobuildings – Birds of Prey
It’s hard to explain this band live, so see for yourselves here. If this is any indication of how they’ll perform on Friday, we can’t wait:
Meet Aux Arc (pronounced Ozark). They will be playing forthebeat’s Sunglasses EP release party this Friday at Pianos, and they are f***ing rad. I caught their show at Cake Shop last night, and they killed it. They remind me of beachy feel, good jams I want to run around in my underwear to…I mean bathing suit, whatever. There’s a beach, there’s a bonfire involved, some free love, etc.
So it goes a little something like this: four friends and 5? 6? 7 rad bands? I can’t keep track, but here’s a little bit of insight into how it works:
Aux Arc is Marshall Trotter and Elgin Braden. The band has existed in various formations since 2007. Marshall Trotter is also a member of Hula Hoop with Sunglasses‘ Samuel Cooper and Food Coloring with a bunch of other fun dudes. Then there’s Elgin “Teen Wolfe” Braden, who is also a member of Fish Humans in The Pool, Baby Jazz and Food Coloring. Marshall and Elgin met while attending SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) in Savannah, GA and are “deeply involved in working with good friends Sunglasses.” Sunglasses‘ Samuel Cooper plays drums and guitar in this band as well.
Some other fun facts about Marshall and Elgin: Marshall’s a talented artist who did the bad ass album artwork for Sunglasses EP – which is below for your viewing pleasure. Elgin is currently working on a graphic novel with an interactive music companion that corresponds with the book. (what the?! awesome…) Aux Arc is also in pre-production for a music video collaboration with 8000 bam bam (Samuel Cooper).
These guys are involved in so many things at once, we wonder if all 900 of their bands will blow up at once? Our guess: YUP.
Listen to “Jumps” but you should also go find “Put It On Pancakes”:
** This week is dedicated to posting about our party this Friday at Pianos in New York City. It’s Sunglasses EP release party, also featuring the bands Psychobuildings, Magic Man and Aux Arc. First up, for your listening pleasure, is Magic Man. And HERE is more info about our show.
Magic Man is Boston-based duo Alex Caplow and Sam Lee, whose debut album Real Life Color is out on Arcade Sound LTD. You can download it for FREE right HERE. And you should; you really should. This album is a shiny, sparkly gem that you will play over and over again, and you still won’t get enough. Each time I listen, I find another song I love, but I’ve posted my three favorites (as of today) below – “Polygons,” “Nest” and “Like Sailors.”
Caplow and Lee have been playing music together since middle school, but started working on the music that became Magic Man this past summer while traveling through France. The two spent time in a variety of locales–an organic farm, a chateau, a beach cottage, a circus festival, etc. And you can hear the various influences of new discoveries and experiences throughout the record.
Recently, Magic Man has shared the stage with acts including Dan Deacon, Maps and Atlases, Matt and Kim, and MGMT. They’ll be playing Pianos this Friday at 9:30 PM, so come and catch them live in NYC.
OH NO ONO are hard to categorize or even explain. I’ll be listening to them and think they remind me a lot of Empire of the Sun, but then I’ll play a different track and something completely different comes to mind. Seeing them live at Union Hall in January, I thought all four of them reminded me of David Bowie in Labyrinth / a 70’s dance party cast to the rising sun…
When you listen to Oh No Ono for the first time, you try to imagine how they might interact on stage and how they might sound live, but seeing them in-person affirmed all of my positive thoughts on this strangely wonderful act. Hailing from Denmark, they are eccentric both musically and aesthetically.
It was a true honor having Malthe Fischer join Hooray for Earth on stage last week at the spring forthebeat show. The night opened with Coma Cinema (visiting from South Carolina), Sunglasses (visiting from Atlanta and just signed to Lefse Records (Neon Indian, Keepaway, etc.), then Hooray For Earth joined by Fischer and members of Zambri, followed by The Royal Chains. The night was amazing. All of the bands rocked and forthebeat wishes we could re-play the evening over and over again. Special thanks to our DJs as well.
Spring’s been good to us, so now we’d like to be good to you:
Photo Credit: ROB LOUD
forthebeat presents…
HOORAY FOR EARTH
COMA CINEMA
SUNGLASSES
THE ROYAL CHAINS
APRIL 1ST (NO JOKE)
@ HOME SWEET HOME @ 8PM
131 Chrystie Street (between Delancey & Broome)
Lower East Side, NYC
$10 at the door with an open Svedka bar from 8-9 pm to get you there ON TIME.
♥♥♥download this mix featuring each band on the show♥♥♥
This is what it sounds like:
Sunglasses – Whiplash
Coma Cinema – Daffodils
Hooray For Earth – Surrounded By Your Friends
The Royal Chains – Lucy Takes The Dare
RSVP to forthebeat@gmail.com
Another one of the bands that performed at the forthebeat CMJ showcase is up on ABC News Amplified this week. We teamed up with Dan Harris and his team to bring you We Have Band, Phantogram, Sleigh Bells, X-Wife and Electric Tickle Machine at Public Assembly during the NYC music marathon back in October. Check out the video interview with Phantogram below, featuring footage from our show.
Phantogram is Saratoga Springs duo Sarah Barthel (vocals, keyboard) and Josh Carter (vocals, guitar). Their self-titled EP was released last Spring, the band signed with Barsuk Records just prior to CMJ and their first full-length Eyelid Movies was released to critical acclaim this month.
forthebeat covered Phantogram’s September ’09 show at Glasslands for ABC News here. Read, listen and watch!
Phantogram – Mouthful of Diamonds
Our friends over at ABC News Amplified are featuring the second of five bands that played our CMJ showcase back in October. Sleigh Bells is the kick ass Brooklyn-based duo Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, who met when Miller was waiting tables. The two struck up a convo while Krauss was dining with her mom, mom nominated daughter to join Miller’s next music venture, and the rest is history.
You’ll want to watch here because Sleigh Bells are so, so good. But you’ll also want to watch for the amazing juxtaposition of Derek Miller’s former “hardcore band” Poison the Well and Alexis Krauss’ former “girl band” Ruby Blue. Also, general video fun with our favorite TV anchor Dan Harris and Krauss’ signature pink spandex. (I’ve always had a soft spot for pink spandex.)
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