Buffalo is all of a sudden a hot spot for shows. The latest tour to add our city on its routing will be breakthrough rapper Danny Brown. A native of Detroit, Brown describes himself as a "hipster by heart but I can tell you how the streets feel." The rapper, unique in his own, has grown to major festival tours and signed to high-profile label Fool's Gold Records, which released his well received Old early last fall. Brown will be making his return to Buffalo with an appearance at the Waiting Room on Wednesday, April 16th. Tickets from "The "Old Danny Brown" tour go on sale tomorrow at noon for $20 in advance/$25 day of.

The fall is a big times for new releases. This summer seemed like very little happened after Yeezus in terms of big exciting releases, even sleeper albums seemed kind of scant for a few weeks there. Coming off of that, the sudden onslaught of new music can be overwhelming. No worries, because your friendly bloggers here at buffaBlog are providing you with some quick recommendations to help organize your month of music listening and purchases. By bloggers, I mean me, so a friendly blogger at buffaBlog is here to help. October has a little bit of everything, culminating in the much hyped release from Arcade Fire. But until then, there are exciting new releases from Danny Brown, Glasser, Cass McCombs, The Dismemberment Plan, and many more.

October 1

Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven: Oneohtrix Point Never will release another collection of his rather hard to pin down work tomorrow, his first album on the legendarily innovative Warp Records. Mixing the ambient and the upsetting, Daniel Lopatin's ongoing electronic project is sure to be one of October's most interesting and engaging releases.
October 8

Danny Brown – Old: You can already stream this record but it officially comes out on October 8. Danny Brown finally makes his long awaited follow up to XXX. Earlier released tracks off this record suggest this record will be ridiculous, adding to an exciting year for hip hop  (Drake, Kanye West, A$AP Ferg, Earl Sweatshirt etc. etc.). Brown seems to be pushing himself further, taking his music in dizzyingly and delightfully weird directions.



Glasser - Interiors:  Following up her well received debut, Cameron Mesirow aka Glasser, returns with  Interiors. Another record you can stream before it's official debut, Glasser writes spacey/spookey electronic songs that straddle the border between catchy and haunting, which leaves you with the same end result I suppose.

Summer Camp – Summer Camp: Summer Camp’s new record appears to be a nice burst of synth pop in a year filled with such bursts. “Fresh” is definitely a sleeper jam for 2013 with a clean rhythm and a almost disco feel. Definitely an easy dancer should you need something for your upcoming costume party. The album will be a great mix of new wave and disco and a definite crowd pleaser. Hard to tell if this will get a lot of attention when it comes out, but  it should.



October 15

Cass McCombs – Big Wheel and Others: It’s been a while since McCombs released Humor Risk, 2011’s nearly flawless collection of folk rock. Early singles have been exceptional so expect this record to be more of the same, which will go nicely with the changing leaves and oncoming chill.

The Dismemberment Plan – Uncanny Valley: This is more personal for me than anything else coming out in October. I first discovered the Dismemberment Plan in high school and they shaped my music taste in a number of ways. Their work has stood the test of time in such a way that I grew into instead of grown out of their music. After an immensely successful reunion tour, the group recorded their first new album in over 12 years. I am certainly apprehensive to see if their return matches up to their past accomplishment but I also have to keep reminding myself that I could never repeat the connection I made to their music at 16. So, we will see if they hit me in a different but equally impactful way as I approach 30. Early indicators point to this being a possible yes.



Heavenly Beat – Prominence: Heavenly Beat, formerly of Beach Fossils, follows up their 2012 debut, underrated in its own right, with another collection of hazed over wistful pop songs. The first single was a solid note of growth for John Peña, and I am confident the album will contain more of the same. 

October 22 

Ducktails – Wish Hotel EP: Matthew Mondanile’s side project has proven to be one favorite records of 2013 (it is true, just ask Mac) so it is exciting to see him releasing another album, albeit an EP in the same year. A decidedly lower key affair than The Flower Lane,  Mondanile returns to recording alone. However, the first single, “Honey Tiger Eyees,” was as blissed out and grandiose as anything Ducktails has done previously.



Omar Souleyman – Wenu Wenu: A star in the Middle East, Souleyman has slowly been gaining recognition in the West for his ecstatic and poppy take on traditional music. For his wider US debut, Souleyman enlisted the production of Four Tet, whose own musical style seems a perfect match. The first single, “Wenu Wenu,” a joyous and epic party stomper, should give you a good idea of what to expect from the album. Certainly something I am anxious to hear.

October 29 

Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time: Sky Ferreira was recently in the news for  being caught with massive quantities of heroin(along with the lead singer of DIIV, oh the scandal!!). Ok, maybe it was not massive, but it was a bit of heroin, certainly more than average…I think. Anyway, Ferreira is set to finally release her debut full length after a year of smaller releases. The first single  featured Ferraira doing what she does best and that is performing infinitely catchy low-key pop.
Arcade Fire – Reflekor: Hey, did you hear Arcade Fire are releasing a new album? Do you have the internet? Ok, then I don’t have to do much for this one. James Murphy produced their 4th record which promises to be more heavily influenced by Haitian music and features a more groove centric sound. “Reflecktor,” the first single, might be one of my favorite songs of theirs to date.

Album to Avoid

Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals: It’s been a longtime since I had second hand embarrassment from someone else'smusic but that is how I feel when I hear new music from Sleigh Bells. I really liked them in the beginning but their music has worn thin about as quickly as their first show in Buffalo a few years ago (they played for 20 minutes if you were curious). Every time I hear something from this album, I wince involuntarily. At this point, Sleigh Bells has pretty much exhausted their schtick and I am certain I heard one of their riffs on a Kid Rock song back in high school.

With their 3rd studio album, Bitter Rivals (10/8), set to drop next month, the raucous pop duo, Sleigh Bells, have announced a fall tour (via Consequence of Sound) that will include a return stop in Buffalo at the Town Ballroom on November 14th. Joining them will be Detriot buzz rapper Danny Brown and Montreal electro-pop artist Doldrums. The pair just released the video for the album's first single and title track, which you can view below. Tickets go on sale this Friday (9/6) at noon for $22 in advance, $24 day of.

Eminem ft. Liz Rodrigues - "Survival"

Eminem is back with a new anthem to listen to while kicking open your ex-wife's front door. This is not the best song you'll hear all year, but believe me when I say that you will hear it. This has sporting event playoff banger written all over it. Even when Em is dropping irrelevant "ain't never gonna' stop me" radio hits, the man still has flow. Give it a listen but skip the hook.




The next time you think about putting off writing the next great American novel or finally learning how to play the guitar, recall that Earl Sweatshirt is only 19 years old.

And Kendrick Lamar is watching you.

Straight Dope will return next week. Let’s hope Kanye West does something stupid before then.

Danny Brown, currently readying Old, a followup to 2011's breakthrough XXX, released the single, "Kush Coma," earlier this week. "Kush Coma" features Brown rapidly delivering lines about extraordinary weed consumption over apocalyptic glittering synth beats. It is, honestly, not his best work, but a song that will probably be an obvious crowd pleaser at live performances. In the end, the song seems a little too generic, especially given how unique much XXX was. Hopefully the rest of the album features that same initial burst of creativity.

This week is all about surprises. In addition to new music from Menomena, Blood Diamonds, and Marie Minerva, there are unexpected but exciting collaborations between rappers and producers/electronic artists. These specific songs are great pairings and highlight each's unique talents and style well. Meanwhile, established act, Menomena, who I originally thought had broken up some time ago, returns as a duo with an incredibly powerful new song. Blood Diamonds and Marie Minerva continue a year of consistently great electronic music filled with newcomers. Please take some time and close out your week with a new Listener's Digest.

Menomena - "Heavy Is As Heavy Does:" When reports of the band not getting along surfaced a few years ago, I had, sadly, assumed that Menomena was over. However, now a duo, they are back with powerful new single. "Heavy Is As Heavy Does" begins simply, with vocals and piano, and then builds into a powerful dirge by the end with overpowering feedback laden guitars and drums. The crescendo is classic Menomena and only enhances the emotion evident in the song's beginning. Menomena seems to have lost none of their power in the shift in lineup and the time  between releases.



Danny Brown & AraabMuzik - "Molly Ringwald:" One of two excellent collaborations between a rapper and popular producer this week. This track features the hyped up and over the top qualities of both parties. Brown raps fiercely over AraabMuzik's tightly wound beats, which seem on the brink of exploding at every point. They do not and the track has a overall tense feeling to it. A great coming together of two very talented individuals.




Blood Diamonds - "Ritual:" This is partially my own self imposed attempt at penance for forgetting to post the amazing single from Blood Diamonds and Grimes, "Phone Sex," a few weeks ago. If you have a few moments, please also check that single out. This is the B-side and no less worth your time. A bright mid tempo dance track featuring a chopped and alternating slowed down female vocal sample, "Ritual" is extremely infectious. The single comes out next week, featuring artwork, resembling the packaging to some sort of recently rediscovered Sega Genesis game, by Elite Gymnastics.

Toro Y Moi and Tyler the Creator - "Hey You:" The Odd Future camp had a rather productive week with new music from DomoGenesis, MellowHype, and Tyler the Creator as well as the announcement of a full tour (making a stop in Buffalo). A surprising and exciting collaboration that was accidently leaked before being finished, this track combines the strengths of both artists into something that seems like a natural fit. A smooth nocturnal track, Toro Y Moi's production is evident throughout. Tyler's own voice, more even than normal, sounds natural and well placed.

Marie Minerva - "The Sound:" A spacey dance track from the Not Not Fun artist, with an effectively used sample of a talk on transcendental meditation that sets the tone for the rest of the song. This hazy and entrancing song will be on her new album, to be released September 4.

BuffaBLOG's pilgrimage to Pitchfork Music Festival is out of respect for the voice that Pitchfork Media provides for independent music all over the world. It's no secret that their media facilitates the exploration of music while also providing opinionated reporting that allows the readers to decide what they like and dislike. Because Pitchfork reaches so many unique individuals across the world, they and their readers help to expose the freshest Artists.

When it comes to Hip-Hop this is most certainly the case. While not ignoring the Commercial Hip-Hop industry, Pitchfork's coverage tends to lean towards the Rappers of the underground. Focusing on up-and-coming individuals with unique talents.

A$AP Rocky: photo by Brock Fetch

This year's Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park in Chicago July 13-15 will feature many of those same buzz-worthy artists. Most notable is A$AP ROCKY who came into the light last year as a young buck with a high-talent ceiling. His interesting music on the mixtape LiveLoveA$AP excited many and caused him to get so much attention via the internet. Likely because five of the tracks on that mixtape was produced by another critically acclaimed Pitchfork Music Festival artist CLAMS CASINO. He gained notoriety for his brilliant genre-bending productions for both A$AP Rocky and also The Based God, Lil B. Many will tell you that both he and ARAABMUZIK are two of the best Hip-Hop style producers outside of the mainstream right now. Along with producing, AraabMuzik is an incredible performer. Using multiple samplers as live instruments he precisely plays unlike any other.

Young Southern gentleman BIG K.R.I.T will also get to display his talents. His sliding country style is definitely influenced by his predecessors Outkast and UGK. He is one of the unknown true talents in the Rap world, producing tracks for artists like, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Smoke DZA, Ludacris, and Chris Brown.

Kendrick Lamar: photo by Jeff Forney

Additionally getting the nod from Pitchfork are South-Central Los Angeles rappers KENDRICK LAMAR and SCHOOLBOY Q from the 'Black Hippy' Hip-Hop group. Lamar's Independent release of Section.80 last year turned many heads and was revered as new Alternative Hip-Hop. It's a smooth laid back style, very California, but more importantly lyrically relevant. Unlike the Commercial Rappers of the world these two artists, and for that matter all of the Hip-Hop Artists at the Pitchfork Music Festival, are spitting lyrics that tell a story about humanity today. Not Diamonds, nor Yachts. And who couldn't that be more true about than DANNY BROWN? His "Radio Song" is a original slam at Rappers who are complacent making songs for profit only rather than creating meaningful music. He will be front-and-center on Saturday night to show off his zany personality.

Danny Brown: photo by Ysa Perez

One commonality of the Hip-Hop artists at this year's Pitchfork Music festival is that they all are going agains the grain of what Rap music has become. So although people can tend to scoff at the terms used to describe these branches off like "Alternative Hip-Hop" "Trillwave" or "R-Neg-B" it may very well be these sub-genres that save Hip-Hop from itself. Pitchfork Music Festival has curated the best of these acts to showcase the potential of where Rap music can go in the future.

The Pitchfork Music Festival is July 13-15 at Union Park in Chicago, IL. For the entire schedule and lineup check out their festival website HERE.

Lyrically inspired by his Detroit roots, rapper Danny Brown refuses to be anything but himself.  After touring with G-Unit in 2010, he felt unaccepted for his hipster-esque style and the thug appearance made him less then thrilled.  By breaking free of the audience image trap that many musicians fall into and expanding his style to a deviation from the "norm", he was soon recognized for his unique qualities and picked up by Fool's Gold Records.

His voice is distinct and possibly only for an acquired taste but there is no doubt that his diversity is noteworthy.  His rhymes can range from explicitly drug induced and sex crazed, to stories from his hauntingly meaningful journey struggling thought his youth in Detroit, Michigan.  His musical influences include progressive rock and UK grime with inspiration from Joker, a prominent grime and dubstep producer.    

If there's one thing Danny Brown is, it's honest.  During Pitchfork's +1 exclusive interview(Brown will also be playing Pitchfork's festival in July), he pulled out a canister of MDMA and in an interview with MTV he admits that he developed a drug habit as he became more involved in the music industry.  Not at all ashamed of entering his 30s, his recently released album XXX is an ode to his birthday and not feeding into the industrial desire for artists to be youthfully prime.   

So tonight when you're getting ready to head to Childish Gambino, if you were lucky enough to get tickets before it sold out, don't fall into the "eh, we can skip the opener" mind trap.

Doors open 7 pm at Town Ballroom (681 Main Street).

@XDannyXBrownX
Danny Brown on Facebook
@DonaldGlover

Favorite Album of 2011

Fucked Up - David Comes to Life: I listened to The Chemistry of Common Life as much as most people did, but I never wanted to praise it as much as a Polaris-Prize album deserved. I kind of missed the boat on it to be honest, I wasn't exactly ready for it. To me that record had a lot of indulgences that I wasn't really down with even if I did have some amazing songs on it. While the instrumental sections were beautiful they felt out of place on what was otherwise a sweaty hardcore record. I later found out how wrong this line of thinking thanks to revisiting it, and it's all thanks to 2011's David Comes To Life. The instrumental tracks do not make a return (save for the intro), and in place Fucked Up has inserted a narrative. That's right everyone, DCTL is a concept album. It's about a lightbulb factory worker who finds the love of his life and loses her to a horrible accident. The sense of ambition on this record is palpable, towering at an insane 78 minutes of aural assault. Over the course of this massive release our narrator goes through all the stages of grief in an interesting and relate-able way.

The sound of this record falls somewhere short of the ambition the band previously displayed on releases like Hidden World and Chemistry, and I'm thankful for that because the narrative of this record is daunting enough. The sound of this album is closer to Hidden World  but lacks the epic jam-band aspects of that release. The instrumentation here is a lot more traditional than Chemistry, you won't find any flutes or horns. Structurally, Fucked Up has never been as straight forward and there's honest to goodness pop choruses littering the album. The guitars, while loud, are nowhere near as thick or physical as they've been in the past. The only place where the band hasn't made concessions towards making a typical indie-rock record is in Damian Abraham's vocals, which are as "hardcore" as they've ever been. It all results in an album rich with songs that I absolutely adore and an album I'll be revisiting for years to come simply to pick up on details in the narrative that I hadn't previously noticed. As well as rocking out, which is equally as important.

This album was clearly labored over in a way that no band of Fucked Up's ilk has ever attempted, in addition to this album's 18 tracks there are another 7 that were left on the cutting room floor. To make this album stand out even more the band recorded a fictional compilation of 10 different bands in David's fictional hometown of Byrdsdale Spa, UK. On that compilation Fucked Up attempted to sound like 10 different bands, and largely succeeded. Though most of this material is hit or miss and by no means essential: If you consider the entire thing one project it spans an amazing 35 tracks and over 2 hours. It's that sense of tireless ambition that makes David Comes to Life my favorite album of the year.


Honorable Mention

La Dispute - Wildlife: I sincerely apologize for this, but I'm picking another story driven hardcore album. This one is from Michigan's La Dispute. The thing that really drew me to this band is their elements of spoken word, it's incredibly interesting and gives them the ability to make their stories as dark and as detailed as they want them to be. The stories contained within paint a picture of the darkest aspects of human existence. The highlight comes on "King Park" which sets the scene of a drive-by shooting that hit an innocent target. You hear our narrator construct the scene of the crime and the victim's funeral. After the set up the narrator overhears the killer's arrest and hears him lament - "CAN I STILL GET  INTO HEAVEN IF I KILL MYSELF"? At this point my jaw drops and I'm shaken by the devastating turn the song has taken, it is in that moment that I fell in love with this band. It's emotional hardcore without any of the bullshit that's typically attached to it. It's a record about growth, illness,  and feeling trapped. I know a lot of people can't stomach emotional hardcore but in this case it's actually because of the subject matter. It's an album that will make you think and probably make you cry a little bit too --- it'll make you feel terrible in all of the best ways imaginable.

La Dispute - "King Park" by venusDELTA

Favorite Song of 2011:

"River" by Arctic Death (self-titled): Sometimes it's the simplest things that make you fall in love with a song, and that is truly the case with "River". I'm absolutely mesmerized by John Crook's vocal performance throughout the entire song, but the moment that really speaks to me is in the chorus. After John repeats "you won't" a few times he sings the line "I didn't mean what I said" in an absolutely gorgeous and squaky falsetto. In my opinion the thing that Arctic Death does best is beat the LoudQuietLoud structure popularized by the Pixies 20 years ago over the head and make it their bitch, but they do it in a garage rock asthetic. Instead of screaming as someone like Charles Thompson would the band goes for the gut with the most beautiful moments this side of a Walkmen record. I wait for the day that Arctic Death begins to expand beyond out local scene because I believe it WILL happen. There's too many amazing aspects of their music that go beyond what a local band should be able to produce. Please Buffalo, go out and support them because bands like Arctic Death are the entire reason this blog exists.



Honorable Mentions

"30" by Danny Brown (XXX): The first thing I need to mention about Danny Brown is how hilarious his music is, but he also can be quite dark. This particular song has a slow beat with sinister sounding synthesized horn and guitar. Danny's music always has an element of humor and this song is no different, with Danny spitting "Came a long way from extension cords in the window, borrowing neighbors power just to plug up the Nintendo". On "30" he uses so much energy that you practically have to beg for the song to end. I've tried many times to determine an exact amount on the number of flows Danny Brown uses in this song and have determined that I can't count that high.

Danny Brown- 30 by xskywlkr

"Takyon" by Death Grips (Ex Military): Death Grips is a werdo hip-hop group out of California that I did an artist spotlight for on this very blog a few weeks ago. The beat here is what really makes the track stand out for me. It's got a bass patern that is repeated several times that could totally rip your home, car, or sub-woofer apart. The sampled bits of Zach Hill's drumming are absolutely fantastic and MC Ride makes you terrified of every upcoming second. Besides, how can you not love a song with the opening line "Triple Six, Five, Forked Tongue"? My overall enjoyment of this song can be summed up with the following: Oh, shit I'm feelin' it. TAAAAKYONNN.

Death Grips - Exmilitary - 5 - Takyon (Death Yon) by deathgrips

Favorite Live Show of 2011

Fucked Up at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto (June 16th, 2011, NXNE Festival): I struggle to even have words to describe this show. Not only is this the best show of the year for me, it's far and away the best show I've ever been to. Seeing one of my favorite bands in their hometown city with a crowd of thousands under a hot and clear summer sky was wonderful. It was a sweaty and beautiful mess in ways that the Town Ballroom stop on the tour could not, and didn't live up to. As I slammed my body against that of Damian Abraham while he was performing I couldn't help but think that seeing Fucked Up is a religious experience, and I'm a believer. I don't even need to go into further detail of why this show was so amazing because almost the entire show is on YouTube in high quality. Enjoy --- I know I did. (did I mention it was my birthday?)



Lightning Bolt at Soundlab (April 1st, 2011) : If I had to pick my favorite noise band it would probably be Lightning Bolt because of their musicianship. Brian Chippendale is known for his chops, but I'd argue that nothing he does is all that technical from a musical standpoint. He just plays faster and more chaotic than anyone with the possible exception of Zach Hill. It's his lack of structure that really drives the band forward. Brian Gibson on the other hand is the real thing that makes seeing Lightning Bolt a real treat. The things he can do with a bass defy logic, using the right effects he can create virturally any sound he likes but it's usually the guttural tones that get the most attention. Speaking of Gibson, he's crafted his entire life building his collection of amplifiers and it nearly hit the ceiling. The band determined the venue was too small to play on the floor, but it still felt like an intimate show. I'm sure you can guess what all of this noise sounds like, but in case you can't...


(not from soundlab, nobody was recording)

Have a great new years and let's hope 2012 is as great as 2011 was.