Around the time of the reunification of Germany, law enforcement was uncertain and vacant warehouses were aplenty. This was the setting that truly influenced and inspired Sascha Ring, otherwise known as Berlin's electronic musician Apparat. He exemplifies a potent form of merging cultures, as East and West came together and the overflow of cultural attributes blended. It was a time of raw new-found exploration and in the air was an irresistible sense of curiosity.

Apparat is a prime example of how environmental influences truly seep into the artistic culture of a scene. With industrial inspiration and an intense vibe, the heavier influences are noticeable on his tracks. Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) is an often overlooked and beautiful genre. With Apparat's minimal distortions, a galactic flow, and lyrics that reach great poetic depths, he has developed a sound that appeals to the deep thinker; it's soothing meanwhile intellectually satisfying.

"Back in the days, those DJs played all types of music at these parties but for me, it always, it had to be something raw, and uhm, yeah, equally fucked up," said Ring during an interview for Bloc Festival. A wonderfully produced interview, he expands on how the darkness of industrial Germany enticed him into this type of sound.


His story is exhilrating and thought provoking. Since the laws at the time were relatively vague, Apparat became deeply enveloped into the scene. It's a story of an aspiring musician during a time when records were difficult to find. He built himself by seeking the crevices of his world for anything to satisfy his dedication to music.
Apparat has put out six albums, one a project album under the name Moderat co-produced with Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary of Modeselektor. If you're a Breaking Bad freak, you'll recognize his song "Goodbye" as Gus enters the hospital right before the jaw-dropping finale scene of the fourth season, pun intended. His most recent album release, The Devil's Walk, is beautifully symphonic and exploitative - it is organized chaos that seems to have every intention to release your inner demons.

"I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to sound but I also think that it is always really important to have some chaotic elements in the music," said Ring.  

∆ The delta: a symbolic representation of change. Not only the shortcut to achieve the symbol on a Mac, alt-J embodies the definition. Alt-J represents change.

I fell in love with them hard and fast. It started out as a simply obsessing over "Fitspleasure," which then turned into constantly listening to their album, An Awesome Wave, on Spotify. Soon I found myself sitting in my cousins quaint apartment living room, white walls lined with a solid collection of vinyl, watching a live performance of the group projected on her wall and was unable to avert my eyes. I was reveling in the fact that I've needed something new, a shift in the musical current of my life, and at the most unexpected moment I gained a newfound intrigue.

"It was music I was looking for, I just didn't know I was. I just loved it," said band's drummer, Thom Green, when introduced to the group and soon after quickly joined. Green and I have a consensus about the alternative and psychedelic sounds of alt-J.



Now based out of a terrace house in Cambridge, the four members (Gwil Sainsbury - guitarist/bassist, Joe Newman - guitarist/vocals, Gus Unger-Hamilton - keyboards, Thom Green - drums) originally met at University of Leeds in 2007. The group came to fruition after inspiration from hallucinogens and dorm room recordings through GarageBand. After playing locally for two years, they eventually released a four track demo '∆' in October 2011. Their 2012 album, An Awesome Wave, won a Barclaycard Mercury Prize, an annual prize awarded to the best album released from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Alt-J truly is the newest oncoming wave in the world of music. The vocals are eccentric and the instrumentals are inconceivably gorgeous and even more so after seeing them visually. You can only assume my excitement when I discovered they recently released that they'll be coming to Toronto this spring.


Below is the mind-blowing, full concert alt-J performed under Seattle radio station, KEXP.   


Also check out this recently released dark Betatraxx remix of "Fitzpleasure."




And if you want to tessellate, check this video and seek the subliminal.

The banjo is one of the many instruments that I hold dear to my heart. Versatile in the inspiration it evokes, it either has me dancing wildly like in "Big Country" by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones or teary-eyed in Sufjan Stevens' "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti."

Thanks to the genius that created Spotify, and friends for convincing me to explore it, I recently discovered an amazing collection. After my insomniatic cure tune ("Dramamine" by Modest Mouse) came to an end, I was pleasantly surprised by the following song, a cover by Iron Horse. The album art: a house painted in two halves of periwinkle and green, a large pink bird and above the title read The Bluegrass Tribute to Modest Mouse - Something You've Never Heard Before. The title spoke for my thoughts.

Searching for any other covers this Pickin' On Series had to offer, I was shocked to find a lengthy collection of my favorite artists/songs that were "picked on." Led Zeppelin, The Shins, "Jessie's Girl" and other 80s singles that I consider my guilty pleasures, Neil Young, ZZ Top, Blue Oyster Cult, Pink Floyd, The Doors. My jaw dropped, and I continued to search. A cover of Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks," Bob Marley, a whole album dedicated to Bob Dylan cleverly but obviously titled Tangled Up In Bluegrass: A Tribute to Dylan. The Dave Matthews Band tribute is fantastic. Don't judge me, I still love them due to my incessant nostalgia. And in all honesty the band is amazing so if it's just Dave's vocals that irk you, you can still appreciate the instrumentals. For all of you Boss fans, there's Pickin' on Springsteen: A Tribute. There's the White Stripes, Phish, The Who, and even Pickin' on Wilco.

Hey and if you have really shitty taste in music, don't fret. They even have albums dedicated to Melissa Etheridge, Nickelback, and Creed.

Buffalo's DJ duo SwaggleRock has been upping their production game over the past few months, especially Steve Brown, otherwise known as DJ eSBie.  At a slightly slower tempo and with the incorporation of some new sounds, his bootleg of Grimes' "Vanessa" is an impressive rendering of the track released by the Canadian indie artist on the Darkbloom EP.  Tinkling bells paired with her angelic vocals brings a chilled out variation to the quick heartbeat of the original.




@_ESBIE_
DJ eSBie on Facebook
SwaggleRock on Facebook

There is a new artist management company in town. On Friday, Blue Stream Productions is set to officially launch. The company will allow local up-and-coming bands to sign on for management, merchandising, social media, and public relations services. Run by local merchandising/management guru Josh Holtzman, the company's initial lineup of artists features three giants from Buffalo's prog-jam scene: Aqueous, Peanut Brittle Satellite, and Slip Madigan.

Holtzman said the company's roster will eventually expand to include artists of all types of genres, but the focus for now is on progressive, psychedelic rock bands - and the Buffalo/Upstate area has plenty to boast.

"We want to have a wide collection of music that we, as managers, stand behind," Holtzman said. "I never want to represent a band I don't fully believe in or have a love for."

Before Blue Stream, Holtzman managed Aqueous and produced merchandise at local outlet Park Avenue Imprints for a wide variety of bands. Also on the Blue Stream team are Ryan Bress, Carolyn Lesniak, and Amy Badger.

With Charles Bradley returning to the Town Ballroom in a month I had to give some love to Daptone Records down in Bushwick, Brooklyn NY for being around ten years. Beginning with Dap-Dippin' With... Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings in 2002, Daptone Records has been a keeper of the flame, and an essential American indie label for lovers of classic soul and American music. This is their story in 10 magical minutes. 








Indeed, Daptone truly is the house that soul built... and the best part is that they are still building it because Daptone is a living, breathing entity putting out records today. Listening to old Otis Redding or James Brown or Motown is wonderful, but going down to the record store to pick up new but already timeless Sharon Jones or Charles Bradley... and seeing them live... that's a whole nother thing. Example:  Charles Bradley's (featuring Menahan Street Band) "The Golden Rule" off of last year's exceptional Ain't No Time For Dreaming (one of my favorite albums of last year). That's a classic sound and Charles Bradley's is a classic voice, and yes those lyrics could have been written in the 60's, but listening to the lyrics you can definitely tell he's singing about 21st century America and 21st century America's soul.




Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band "Golden Rule" by defend music

That's what soul music is about: saving souls and elevating souls, and right nobody's doing it better than Daptone Records. 


Happy Birthday Daptone Records, thanks for the memories, and for playing Buffalo a lot lately.


Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings How Long Do I Have To Wait (instrumental) Funk 45 by J..M

Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires play The Town Ballroom February 25. Tickets are $17 in advance, $20 day of the show, 7 PM doors. Shit, it's a Saturday night. What the hell else you gonna be doing? Go and get some church a day early.

It was announced this weekend that the Universal Music Group's parent group, a French conglomerate named Vivendi, has made an offer to buy EMI music from Citigroup, and EMI Music Publishing has been sold to Sony. Citigroup bought EMI in 2007 after it's parent company, Terra Firma Capital, nearly went belly up. EMI' current catalog includes Kanye West, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Lady Antebellum, Gorillaz, Coldplay, and the Arcade Fire, to name a few, and along with the purchase come the rights to the catalogs of Pink Floyd, Queen, David Bowie, and the Beatles (only to name a few). The deal ends up adding around $4.2 billion to the Citi-purse, with Sony paying a $.3 billion higher pricetag for EMI's award winning music publishing company, which includes the rights to Motown, and the Jackson 5's music; reuniting it with the rest of the King of Pop's catalog. The deal still has to be validated by European and American regulation committees, however, the Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA). a group that includes indie -labels such as Matador and Epitaph, has petitioned that would be drawing nearer to musical monopolies. Experts are saying that the Sony deal will go through, but since Universal/Vivendi already controls nearly 30% of the market, the mecha-label may have to sell some things off to make it work.
Pink Floyd - Money by joshuamic

While most people will probably remember October 5, 2011 as the day Apple genius, Steve Jobs, passed away, another icon left our midst with very little fanfare. Bert Jansch, the legendary folk artist who influenced everyone from Paul Simon and Neil Young to Devendra Barnhart and Johnny Marr (of the Smiths), passed away after a long battle with cancer. Jansch is considered one of the lead figures in the 60's folk revival scene and led the cult-worshipped Pentangle to national and international success. He was perhaps most known however as a solo artist and toured and recorded until the day he died. Jansch may not be the most familiar name in U.S. circles but in England he is hailed as a legend and a pioneer. In 2001 he won the lifetime acheivement award from BBC Radio 2 and recieved the highly presitigous Mojo Merit Award. Jansch had an interesting way of playing guitar and writing music too. He used unusual playing styles and chords to create music that us fans can only describe as brilliant. It's an unfortunate day for lovers of folk and his presence will always be felt in the music and those he influenced. He will be missed.


Bert Jansch - Dragonfly by John Bidwell

If there is one thing you can count on these days, it's a lame Super Bowl Halftime Show.  Just yesterday, word got out that the Material Girl herself Madonna will be playing this year's big game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb 5th in Indianapolis.  Last year's telecast of Super Bowl XLV, which saw the Green Bay Packers take down the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the most watched television program in history so getting a big name to play halftime is of course a top priority.  Now I don't know about you, but I have no interest in seeing a up close, HD version of the above picture on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Now this is nothing against Madge, who I am not a fan of per say, but I don't like a lot of musicians so what do I know.  In her time, she was as controversial and innovative as any artist out there, but that was back in the 80s and 90s.  This is 2011 for God's sake.  Can't be have an artist who is relevant now?  The last few half time performers have consisted of safe geriatrics (Rolling Stones, The Who) to predictable live staples (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) to unwatchable (last year's Black Eyed Peas horror show).  It is time to inject new life into the half time show, which was once one of the highlights of of the broadcast.  Now, it's the time I get up to take a much needed breather before getting my 7th plate of food.

Look at late night programs these days.  Nearly every night an indie rock artist can be found gracing the stage of Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and David Letterman, while Saturday Night Live just opened their latest season with Radiohead as the musical guest a couple weeks back.  If indie rock is really becoming more maintstream, why not take a chance and show America something different.  The obvious choices, Radiohead and Arcade Fire, are already arena ready.  Can't you just picture "Electioneering" or "Keep the Car Running" being played in front of over 100 million people?  Well, maybe not, but there is a reason these bands are headlining nearly every music festival on the planet these days.  Even relatively newer bands like Cut Copy would certainly help increase the Australian viewers, not to mention introduce American to front man Dan Whitford's great dance moves.  Speaking of dancing, what about the awesomely bizarre dance and costume filled spectacle that currently is Sufjan Stevens as something out of left field.  Just think if the Bears or Lions ever made the game, Stevens would certainly have plenty of Midwest themed music to entertain the masses.

Chances are this will never happen, but a guy can certainly dream.  Looks like a another year of me stepping away from the television at half and trying to decide if eating that third plate of shrimp is really a good idea rather than enjoying the show.  After all, I guess Madonna can't be any worse than 1995's jumbo sized snooze fest of Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, and the all star-medley of the Lion King's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" featuring Tony Bennett, Patty Labelle, and the Miami Sound Machine can it?

Sufjan Stevens - "I Want To Be Well" by Pretty Much Amazing

It can be tough for up-and-coming artists to get radio airtime, especially if their music won’t fit nicely into a popular genre.  Fortunately for aspiring musicians, and for us rabid music lovers, there are programs like World Café that highlight new music from diverse backgrounds.  Produced by WXPN in Philadelphia, and distributed nationally by NPR, World Café can be heard on radio stations across the country, and streaming online.

This month, World Café celebrates 20 years on the air by releasing a compilation called Next 20, jam-packed with tunes from 20 soon-to-be famous songsters and bands. The songs are available for free download at NPR Music’s website (link below). Some tracks not to miss: “Needles and Pins” by Superhuman Happiness, “Gone, Gone, Gone” by Nikki Lane, and “Vessel” by Zola Jesus. If your music bank needs a fresh deposit, this mix is gold.

The songs at NPR Music

Local music compilations seem to be the hip thing to do these days. With Steak and Cake dropping two samplers in the past year, and more recently Vergetone Production's Best in Buffalo 2011 charity album, there are lots of ways to enjoy Buffalo's diverse music scene in one place. Enter, A Means to an End: Volume 4, the newest Buffalo compilation album from Sheetsoften.com. A Means to an End separates itself from the rest of the pack by focusing its content onto one particular music scene. Namely, the grungy slightly older indie rock scene from some of the areas favorite bands who usually frequent places like Mohawk Place or The Funeral Home. Highlights from the 26 song album include favorites from Failure's Union, Hunger Anthem, Roger Bryan & The Orphans, Unwelcome Guest, Nick Gordon, etc. But perhaps the most intriguing track on the album is a new tune from future punks London Vs. New York titled "Awake Now". You can take a listen to the track below or click here to download the entire compilation.

10 London vs New York - Awake Now by buffablog2

The 2012 nominees for induction to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been announced. First-time nominees are the Cure, Eric B. & Rakim, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Guns N' Roses, Heart, Rufus with Chaka Khan, the Small Faces/the Faces, the Spinners, and Freddie King. Repeat nominees are the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Laura Nyro, Donovan, War, and Donna Summer.

Each year, five new artists get in. If I had a vote, I'd go with Eric B. & Rakim, the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, War, and the Cure. But I don't have a vote, so that doesn't matter. Which five would you pick? Has the committee missed anyone?

Those in need of a Radiohead fix should tune into The Colbert Report tonight as the British group are set to sit down with Stephen Colbert for a special one hour episode.  Still supporting their out of nowhere release of The King of Limbs, they are scheduled to a four song performance, including a previously unreleased track, titled "The Daily Mail", which was featured on the band's From the Basement Session back in July on BBC Worldwide.

The Colbert Report with Radiohead airs tonight at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.

Radiohead - The Daily Mail (From The Basement) by amomentofclarity

Jimmy Fallon is developing a habit of honoring musical acts with a week long cover series on his talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  After successful tributes to Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones, beginning tonight, the show will honor classic British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd all week long.  While some of the band selected may appear a bit tired (Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam) and random (Dierks Bentley?), the two I am looking forward to the most are tonight's appearnce of the Shins and MGMT, the latter of who are set to play the show on Wednesday.  The Shins are returning with a new album this fall after a long hiatus that saw lead singer James Mercer not only collaborate with Danger Mouse on the space rock outfit Broken Bells, but also kick out restock the band's lineup.  The new line up will be playing their take on the Dark Side of the Moon cut "Breathe" to start the week off.  As for MGMT, well, they just seem right to cover the early, Sid Barrett era Floyd don't they?.  


Late Night with Jimmy Fallon airs on ABC at 12:35am.


Monday: The Shins - "Breathe"
Tuesday:  Foo Fighters w/Roger Waters - "In The Flesh"
Wednesday:  MGMT - "Lucifer Sam"
Thursday:  Dierks Bentley - "Wish You Were Here" 
Friday:  Pearl Jam - "Mother"

The Shins - Sleeping Lessons by rahulrsawant

If you are a college student, were a college student, in high school, in some form of the armed forces, an adult, or honestly just about anyone with a computer, you probably have a Facebook account.  Whether you update it every so often or have some smart phone that is built in to your brain and updates your every waking moment for the rest of the world to see, Facebook has probably influenced you in one way or another.  When social networking really started blowing up, others tried to compete with Facebook, i.e. Myspace, but ultimately could not keep up.  Twitter survives because it is awesome and integrates with Facebook oh so well.  Unfortunately, as much as everyone loves Facebook, every time Mark Zuckerberg and the crew change something about the main page or more importantly the idea behind this post, the side bar.   Everyone and their mother seems to immediately react to the changes with fits of rage, shrills unbearable to the human ear, and woman and children began gathering for evacuation.  Yet, weeks later people adapt to the changes and wait for the next "unacceptable" change to their beloved main page.  Can Facebook possibly add a feature that people will love and cherish with all their hearts?


Well, that may actually finally be the case.  Yesterday at the F8 conference in San Francisco, Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage to deliver his keynote address discussing his child, Facebook.  Aside from the new timeline updates to stalk your friends even more, Zuckerberg addressed the new side bar update ticker that had folks in a stir earlier this week.  The new service will be apart of the new ticker, allowing people to connect with their friends in a whole new way.  In the past one could only watch their friends lives through words, now with the ticker people can listen to the music and watch the movies their friends are viewing at that current moment.  Facebook has partnered up with Spotify and Netflix to allow this type of overwhelming online hanging out to occur.  In the sidebar you will see your beloved friends and then also see what they may be listening to, hover over that buddy and be given the option to join them in an all out listening party!  The same applies to Netflix I assume, but the deets on this feature are rather bleak so far, but stay tuned.  The idea behind this whole project is to reignite the music world that has been ravaged by piraters and the likes of a thousand different music sharing programs.  The powers at be believe that being able to engage in this type of sharing will hopefully make people want to purchase the music rather than go acquire it illegally.   Personally, I am rather excited to see how this will work and hope Facebook folk give it the old college try(sorry.)  The beta for this feature will being rolling out in the next couple days, so here is to you and your friends enjoying music together but not physically being together.


Seeing there isn't a band or song associated with this post, I think I'll just play something awesome.  Happy Friday and now go dance!





Dillon Francis - Beautician by DILLONFRANCIS

The fellas at Steak & Cake Records sure know how to keep themselves busy. Last week the DIY record label staged their own indie rock music festival on Bidwell Parkway. This week the pay-what-you-want mini label has thrown together another sampler of some of their best stuff.  There are more a few gems on the new 13 track album, including a couple tracks from buffaBLOG favorites FYFE & the NYBRKFST and a charming pop number from Leah Loefke of the electronic duo Love Scenes. Take a listen to the Leah Loefke song below and click here to download the album. Like everything else from Steak & Cake, the sampler is pay-what-you-what.

Steak & Cake records - SAMPLER 2 - 09 LEAH LOEFKE nyc by buffablog2