Musikleigh Lived #8 – Don Pedro’s, River City Extension, and Hazelnut Gelato

I’m gonna be honest, it’s been kind of a rough week, but there were some awesome parts!

For instance:

The Oats played at Don Pedro’s Friday night and rocked the place (naturally). I had to scrape together a mailing list signup due to shitty circumstances, but we made it work, and got 7 new fans!

Smiley faces are infinitely better than giant Xs

Checked out the Highline for the first time! Why haven’t I been there before?? It’s beautiful. And has delicious gelato (pistachio fucking ROCKS)

Beautiful

Went to a show at Bowery Ballroom (by myself, because I’m cool like that – also I’m writing a review for it) and discovered this AWESOME rhythm-based, bass heavy band, Brick + Mortar.

And of course saw River City Extension, who were fantastic, unsurprisingly. There were, however, several drunk uber fans that made the experience significantly more sweaty and mosh pit-y (at a folk show? Really??)

I really should be writing that review, but the events of this week have left me emotionally drained, so I think I’ll devote today to listening to Muse, Mumford & Sons, and just not a giving a damn.

Who’s with me?

Band of The Week #7 – My plug in baby crucifies my enemies

BAND OF THE WEEK:

Muse – Plug In Baby

Genre: Rock, Alternative, Symphonic Rock

Listen if you like: Radiohead, Queen, Epic Music

 
 
 
 
 

Band of The Week #4 – Art Decade Review

BAND OF THE WEEK:

Art Decade – Western Sunrise

Genre: Symphonic Rock, Progressive Rock

Listen if you like: The Mars Volta, Muse, Radiohead

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Based in Boston, Art Decade is a titillating combination of Classical, Pop and Punk Rock, known as “Symphonic Rock.” Ben Talmi was raised on classical music and received in-depth classical training while attending Berklee College of Music – and it shows.

Their debut LP, Western Sunrise, starts off with no pretenses – a playfully descending strings line ushers in the beginning of “A Lie” – to let you know this is more than your average rock album. The classical introduction is quickly followed by a high (and highly distorted) vocal line and a rockin’ drum groove to prove it’s inspired by more than Mozart.

The intricacies and layers of each song don’t overshadow the clear rock influences; the epic feel of the album brings to mind the likes of Muse and Radiohead, while the vocals and screaming guitar take us to the Alternative Punk realm of Brand New and Forgive Durden. The thought put into each aspect of the album reflects the band’s understanding of music, and their mastery of both theory and popular music. The title track exemplifies this, with strings woven throughout, supporting and elevating the entire song.

Lyrically, the band sticks to simple ideas, mainly of love, meaning, and hope. The album starts off with a cynical thought, “As usual nothing’s perfect/as usual you’re not there” and stays consistently in a dark place, with such emotional lyrics as “Looking down on myself, it’s clear/I’m not supposed to be here,” until the two final songs, “Daydream” and “Kids and Kings,” end on a more uplifting note.

Despite the technicality of Western Sunrise, it’s not over-thought. Each song manages to meld the multitude of genres together and avoid coming off as pretentious or inaccessible. With the ability to get you singing and nodding along, and the scope to inspire any music scholar,Western Sunrise crosses borders and challenges the status quo of popular music.