Check out both the original and the remix below.
Showing posts with label brothers past. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brothers past. Show all posts
Weekly Remix: Brothers Past remixed by Alpha Data
Check out both the original and the remix below.
Best of 2011 Staff Picks: James
Favorite Album of 2011
M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming: A cut above the rest, the double album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming by M83 tops my list, and plenty of others’ lists too. I haven’t really stopped listening to it since it came out in October, and although that short time frame does not assume the expectation of staying power, a few listens through and it’s all over. This work of art explores the boundaries of modern popular music. Anthony Gonzalez, the soft-spoken French mastermind along with his band M83 have encapsulated modern styles of music and blended them into a concoction served into two entirely full albums that could each stand alone if separated. To me, this music is the dreamscape that best describes what the past year has felt like in our world; sometimes epic and sometimes quiet, but always truthful. Self-expression and vulnerability were major themes of this year that I feel Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming has summarized brilliantly through music and lyric both.
Honorable Mention
Rustie - Glass Swords: Party album of the year for all the cool kids. Rustie is a producer from Glasgow, Scotland who entered onto my radar the later half of this year. Glass Swords is absolutely fantastic for a fan of new electronica and dance music. Rustie takes the synthesized sounds of yesterday’s electronic music like new-wave and forces them over newer style dance beats such as dubstep and house. Every song on this album screams highly intelligent production; meaning alien in nature. I’m whisked away into a future filled with endless crystal hallways, voluptuous fountains of nectar, and technicolor neon cityscapes that are only visible with the third eye.
Favorite Song of 2011
“I’m On One” by DJ Khaled featuring Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne: The phrase “living under a rock” would become dubious if you went anywhere publicly in 2011 without hearing this song in some context. This song, was in my opinion, the best song of this year. It is my favorite song of this year because of the now famous lyrics of the chorus sung by Drake:
“All I care about is money and the city that I’m from. I’m a sip until I feel it, I’m a smoke until it’s done. I don’t really give a fuck and my excuse is that I’m young, and I’m only only getting older, Somebody should’ve told you I’m on one.”
It’s not just me. Those lyrics mean something to all of us. And aside from that brilliant brainwash, it’s all of the songs’ remixes. It’s all of the times you heard it with your crew, or up in the club. It was the anthem of 2011, Until “Niggas in Paris” blew up. That shit cray.
Honorable Mention
“Take it Back” by Toddla T (Dillon Francis Remix): My favorite song to dance to this year was definitely this song. People can hate on Moombahton all they want, and I would respectfully listen and disagree with their arguments. But if your toes remain glued to the ground while listening to this song you will not get any sympathy from me on the dancefloor. Dillon Francis’ remix of Toddla T’s piano riff break house song captured my heart many times at parties this year. It was a favorite of many DJs freshly savvy in the ways of Moombahton, the invasive species of music in 2011.
Favorite Concert of 2011
Brother’s Past at Soundlab (04/09/2011): I traveled quite a bit to other places to see music this year, and alas my favorite concert of this year was not in Buffalo, but as this is buffaBLOG, so my choice for favorite concert in Buffalo this year was Brother’s Past at Soundlab this past April. I had seen BP upwards of 10 times prior to this show, so going in with low-expectations is always an advantage. But when one of your favorite bands plays an absolutely jaw-dropping concert in your favorite city in one of your favorite venues, it can be difficult to just brush-off. I remember texting a friend in NYC to tell her that they were covering National Anthem by Radiohead (a common cover they play) and looking up from my phone, I felt a pride come over me that Buffalo was on the map for this once-little band I got into many years ago.
Tonight: Brothers Past
Brothers Past - One Rabbit Race by Madison House
Review: Brothers Past
When Brothers Past played The Tralf last September, Buffalo was what some might call cheated by the 2 a.m. slot. Fans were not able to get the full effect of the Brothers Past experience. Saturday night, Buffalo received exactly what it was looking for. With people slowly filing in to the dark gallows of Soundlab, opening act Jeff Bujak took the stage to get warm up the crowd. Bujaks rhythmic piano licks instantly got people moving and ready for whatever came to them that evening. With Buj done and a short break, Brothers Past was ready to take the helm. Tom, Rick, Clay and Tom, ascended from the hobbits layer which is the dressing room of Soundlab and manned their instruments. After some quick tuning, the band rolled right in to crowd favorite "Who's gonna love me now" and jammed out every last bit of the song. Next up was "State Police" off their album This Feelings Called Goodbye. A song exploring the absurd things people put each other through and the paranoia that comes with it. After only a few minutes in to the song, a bass line emerged that was instantly recognized by everyone in the packed venue. Radiohead's "National Anthem" rose out of the jam and BP put their own spin on this already dark song, sandwiched it around "Charity Starts at Home" only to come back full steam with the aforementioned "National Anthem" and finished out the set.
After a brief intermission, the boys were back for their second set. BP dove head first in to the set with a raucous "Red Rover" which began a three song segue. Personal favorites "Getaway Somehow" and "Can You Keep a Secret?" completed the triad of tunes. Some witty banter occurred on stage, as Tom Hamilton asked the crowd to serenade bassist Clay Parnell in singing Happy Birthday. The banter escalated a bit when Hamilton explained to the crowd that Clay wrote the next song while backpacking in Africa. Parnell, corrected Tom by informing him that it was Argentina. Hamilton, instantly fired back proclaiming "either way, he[Parnell] got aids." With the joking aside, they were ready to play again. "Tired Sigh" rang from Hamiltons vocals and set the pace for the end of the set. BP wove in and out of harmonic melodies that led in to a fast paced jam, which fused perfectly in to "A Wonderful Day". Every member of the band beat on their instruments to bring the second set in to a blissful ending. The band removed themselves from the stage, only to return instantly for an encore. With not much time to squeeze in one more song, "Too Late to Call" was chosen and seemed almost too fitting for the end of an amazing evening.
~cs
Interview with Tom McKee of Brothers Past
buffaBLOG: Brothers Past started in Philly eventually working with the amazing guys in The Disco Biscuits. What was it like having them as support for a new band starting up?
Tom McKee: The Philadelphia music scene has really exploded in the last 10 years, and I think bands like the Disco Biscuits, Brothers Past and Lotus have been at the forefront of that. It's a very cool thing to be a part of. The guys in the Biscuits have been especially supportive over the years and helped us a lot when we were trying to break out of Philly. Marc Brownstein really took me under his wing when I was in my early 20s and really helped me understand the music business. We used to talk about agents and management and venues and it helped to have someone like that to bounce ideas off of. I remember telling him that I had been trying to get the band booked at Wetlands in NYC and wasn't having any luck and he called Wetlands and said "You should give these guys a chance. They're hungry and they work hard and they deserve to play Wetlands." And Jake from Wetlands called me the next day and we booked a show in the basement and packed it and they started letting us play upstairs and that really helped us build a following in NYC. Little things like that really helped Brothers Past get out name out there and build an audience. Young bands need people like that to open a door for them once in a while. I'm running a School of Rock these days and I have a bunch of really talented kids who have graduated from the program and they're making their own music and I am trying to open doors for them where I can. But the one thing I'll say is that once the door is opened, you still have to do your thing. You have to play a great show, or make a great record, or keep people's attention somehow. For the most part, Brothers Past was always able to do that.
bB: We caught BP at Camp Bisco IX last year, it may have been my favorite set seeing Brothers Past(other then your noon set at Bonnaroo 2006), even though the weather caused the set to be truncated. Will we be seeing a lot of Brothers Past on the festival circuit and possibly returning to finish last years camp bisco set?
TM: Last year's set at Camp Bisco kind of sucked for us. We were hanging out the whole weekend and everyone kept telling us how much they were looking forward to our set. We had the best set time at the festival, on the main stage between Ween and the Biscuits. We were ready to kill. Then the rain came. We actually played for about 20 minutes, with two stoppages in the middle of the set, which is a fucking disaster when you do what we do. Our sets are all about momentum and to have it stopped twice really fucks with your adrenalin. I can't say for sure if we will be at Camp this year. We obviously would like to return, but so far nothing has materialized. If it doesn't happen this year, it will happen soon enough. I'm pretty sure Brothers Past has appeared at more Camp Biscos than any other band in the world, besides the Disco Biscuits. We will be back there soon enough.
bB: Recently Brothers Past celebrated their 10th anniversary. Do you feel the difference in the musical spectrum from 10 years ago rather than now? What aspect of your music do you guys feel has evolved the most?
TM: Every thing is different. When we were starting out, electronic music was no where near as prevalent. We stood out just because what we were doing was unique. Now electronic bands are the rule rather than the exception. Everyone on stage has a laptop. Festival lineups are completely different -- there used to be a bunch of jambands booked and then your token electronic act. Now Bassnectar and Pretty Lights get top billing at just about every festival this summer. We've really gone back to the basics of songwriting in an attempt to make ourselves stand out from the other bands, because that's something that I think we do particularly well. Tom Hamilton is the best producer in this scene. He has a vision for the song from day one. I bring him sketches of songs and together we develop them into something that we both think is unique and fresh and new. We've gone back and reworked a bunch of our older material to release for the Everything Must Go series and we've got a bunch of new tracks in various states of completion that no one has even heard yet. Our live shows are still full of long improvised segments, but we're trying to build a catalog of songs that we're proud of. If we can do that, I think we will always be our own thing, rather than just another electronic jamband.
bB: We ask everyone that comes through here in Buffalo this question, but now that Brothers Past has been here a couple times. Is there anything in Buffalo you wish to check out or possibly eat?
TM: The last time we were in Buffalo was for a late night set and to be honest, we didn't really get a chance to experience the city. We did have some really shitty wings that were a total letdown but I think we just ordered them from the wrong place. I would love to spend a day taking in the sights but it never seems to work out that way for us. Clay was there recently for a Biodiesel show and he claimed he had some of the best pizza he's ever had. I kind of have a thing for pizza so I'll probably give that a whirl this weekend. And I would love to go to Niagara Falls with Rich Steele (our soundguy.) I'd push him over the rail and yell "Yankees suuuuuuuuck!" while he plummeted 10,000 feet. I know it sounds morbid, but I think it would be an appropriate way for the big guy to go.
bB: We are all excited for the upcoming new release. What makes this album different than This Feelings Called Goodbye?
TM: For starters, the songwriting process is very different. Most of that record was written in 2003 and 2004 and at that time, Tommy wrote his songs and I wrote my songs. These days, we write together. We've got literally about 15-20 tracks in various stages of completion. Some of them are finished, some need lyrics, some are in the very beginning stages. But we have pretty high standards for what the next Brothers Past record needs to be and we're taking our time with it. The Everything Must Go releases are kind of a bone that we're throwing to fans who are waiting for the next record. If you think about it, that in itself is another separate record. So we're basically working on two records at once. One of them we're releasing one track at a time over the course of a year, the other we'll be released as a proper album. Another difference is that Tommy is basically engineering and producing the record himself. He really is in a league of his own when it comes to that sort of stuff. We will bring it to someone for the mixing and mastering. But everything else he is handling. It sounds great. People ask when it's coming out. The answer is when it's done. We're in no rush. We're putting out plenty of music for our fans in the meantime, and when the record is done we will release it and hopefully people think it will be worth the wait.
bB: Finally, I know the Everything must go downloads have been a huge hit. What goes in to the selection of the shows that are chosen to go up for download?
TM: To be honest, we don't choose the shows. We leave that decision up to our archivist Tom Bozzo and our soundman Rich Steele. They choose the releases based on a number of factors. Obviously we want it to be a show where the band played well. We look for shows from different tours and different years that have some kind of significance within the band's history. We try to pick shows that have a few songs that haven't been on previous releases -- things like that. I'll give the show they suggest a listen to make sure it lives up to our standards but basically these guys are experts in Brothers Past. They've seen enough shows and spent enough time with us to know what the band is and they choose accordingly. The band members are much more involved in the selection of which song to release next and the recording process. We've got a couple of great releases planned for the next few months. All of these tracks and shows can be streamed for free at www.brotherspast.com and can be downloaded for $5. It's been a cool experiment for us and something we will likely use as a business model going forward.
~cs
Just Announced: Brothers Past
Philly rockers, Brothers Past, have announced via twitter they are coming back to Buffalo! The boys were recently here in September to help support the two night Disco Biscuit stand, leaving fans begging for more. For this show, they are going to take the stage at our favorite underground dance party, Soundlab. The date is set for April 9th, stay tuned for more details.
Brothers Past - One Rabbit Race by Madison House
Uncovered Cover: Brothers Past Cover Depeche Mode
Hey, it's Wednesday and that means it time for the uncovered cover of the week. This weeks cover is from the boys in Brothers Past. This cover is their live rendition of the Depeche Mode's song "Enjoy The Silence".
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