All Photos: Dylan Johnston
Gerard Marcus
Last Tuesday, May 17, Finnish dream-pop wonder Jaakko Eino Kalevi put on a killer performance at Brooklyn's Baby's All Right. Accompanied by Melbourne's Sui Zhen, it was a night of magic, wonder, and plenty of eccentricity. Check out some pics from the show below.
All Photos: Gerard Marcus
Gerard Marcus
It's been a while since we've done a Field Report, and I honestly couldn't think of a better way to get back in the swing of things than with the incredible EP release show for local Ridgewood darlings Freind at Baby's All Right last Thursday. The night was filled with great music, great vibes, and great performances from Freind, Shakai Mondai, Railings, and Operator. We have notes. We have Pics.
"I hate being late for shows." It was a phrase that seemed to be the mantra for the start of my night as I sat in an Uber with my girlfriend and roommate, desperate to make it to Baby's in time to catch Operator. Ever since the release of Puzzlephonics I, the group's first EP, I've been waiting for a chance to see them live—luckily, we made it to the venue just in time for the last two songs of their set. It wasn't the most ideal, but hey, better than nothing.
Operator are an interesting group. What drew me to them, and why I was so eager to see them live, is their ability to combine driving rhythms with lush, interesting synths, sparse guitar, and understated vocals in a way that's cool without seeming remotely pretentious.
In a live setting those elements come across as effortlessly as they do on recordings. For an act that's only been releasing music for a relativity short amount of time, their onstage chemistry is infectious. Start paying attention now—it's going to be exciting watching these guys progress.
Nicely tucked between each set, we got a couple of truly engaging performances from The Jennifer Vanilla Dancers. The performance group led by artist, musician, and all-around excellent person Becca Kaufman hypnotized the audience with their fluid moves while whispering sweet nothings into our ears. It was definitely an experience, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of it.
This was the first I've heard of Railings, and man, did they make a great first impression. Tight, refreshing, and surprisingly soulful, they had me hooked from the first downbeat. Their blend of driving rhythms and lush (a theme for this show) synths paired well with Operator, but instead of supporting understated vocals the sound fused around Alex Ian Smith's powerful, soulful delivery. The performance was reminiscent of the lighter side of an Ava Luna show, which is saying something.
This was also my first time hearing Shakai Mondai, and wouldn't you know it, not long after entering Baby's I found myself being introduced to her by a friend from college who informed us that we actually went to school together. Queue some platitude about small worlds and whatnot.
Shakai Mondai was actually the last person to perform and her set made for an interesting dynamic after a night full of 4-5 piece bands. At first I even think you could feel it in the crowd. Having a drastic switch to such an intimate performance seemed to be jarring to some at first, but that quickly went away. Mondai was quickly took over the stage making it her space and emanated an aura that seemed to demand attention.
I think it only took me one solid listen through Freind's new EP Lemon to fall in love with it. Quickly after that, I marked their release show on my calendar and began the countdown to what I knew would be an amazing night of music.
Freind, like many of our favorite bands, have a sound that seems to borrow from so many different influences that coming up with a solid genre definition seems counterproductive at best. What they excel at is creating a sound that's very organized, but always seems as if it's on the verge of collapse. That, in addition to their steady shift in genre references, makes for a performance that comes across as ever-changing while still being cohesive.
They're great live, and are clearly a band that's well practiced—or at least one that communicates extremely well among themselves and with their audience. Freind are solid, very impressive performers, especially given that this is their first release. I honestly can't wait to hear more.
All Photos: Dylan Johnston
For more pics, check out our Instagram
Gerard Marcus
This was a strange bill, and I thought so from the moment I saw it. Besides the fact that they're both from Canada, I couldn't really imagine the similarities between Foxes in Fiction and Nicole Dollanganger. The former was an obvious pair with Emily Reo, seeing as they're collaborators, but for some reason throwing Dollanganger into the mix seemed like a mismatch.
The idea was intriguing, though, and as I listened back and forth between the discographies of each artist, I started to see where the connection might be coming from. Though the reasoning was still a bit opaque, my curiosity won out in the end and I made my way to Baby's All Right to experience the wonderfully bizarre lineup. Pics and notes below.
The first two acts were, as we've come to expect, aggressively chilled-out. It isn't surprising if you've meandered through Emily Reo's music—her nicely minimal, slightly folky style of dream pop is like a soundtrack to aimless, late-night reflection. And when you come off a nine-hour day of manual labor like I just had, you quickly realize that's exactly what you want.
Ever since its release last September, Foxes In Fiction's Ontario Gothic has consistently been one of my favorite albums. Sadly, every time I've tried to see Warren Hildebrand live, something has come up and prevented me. Since I couldn't catch his concerts, I just dove even deeper into his recordings, getting perhaps a little too familiar with every little nuance and texture.
Then I didn't touch it for a while. In fact, the first time I've listened to any of the songs off Ontario Gothic since that initial over-saturation was at this concert, which made for a crazy experience because it was all done as a solo set.
At first, I was worried that the music wouldn't be as powerful as it is on the album. That ended up being true, to a certain extent, but what we got instead was a much more fragile and intimate rendition that was absolutely beautiful. The stripping of instrumental layers left the audience with an introspective performance that showcased the vulnerability of Hildebrand's vocal delivery and the simplicity of his guitar work.
Nicole Dollanganger has fascinated me for a while now with her mix of soft, intimate lyrics and dark musical textures. It's one of those weird combinations that's surprisingly engrossing. Her music is even more fascinating in the group's live performance, with the small and introspective Nicole Dollanganger surrounded by a bassist who seems to be channeling a troll and a man who plays both guitar and percussion while he stares, unblinking, into the audience's soul with mascara-covered eyes. It's a striking vignette, but one that helps give context to the world in which this music was forged. I loved it.
All Photos: Brandon Bakus
For more great pics, check out our Instagram
Gerard Marcus
Last Tuesday, the always amazing Brandon Bakus headed to Baby's All Right, camera in hand, to capture a fantastic night of music: In Transit Records were holding their 12" compilation release show featuring Tall Juan, Triathalon, Acid Dad, and The Britanys. Check out pics and notes from the night below.
Tall Juan is a great example of how attitude and stage presence can define a performance. Even though he was up there all by his lonesome, his energy made him seem as if he were an entire band crammed into one person.
His skill as a performer was dwarfed only by the music itself, which enveloped the audience in a fun (and somewhat aggressive) Ty Segall-esque vibe.
Next up was an amazing set from Savannah, GA's Triathalon, whose fun and easy performance was a crowd favorite from the start. Like so many of our favorite bands, when it comes down to it, they just seem like normal people. It was like a group of guys just walked out of the crowd and decided to start playing. Plus, they had matching shirts, which is always cool.
Acid Dad were completely insane, and their name seemed apt after the first few songs. Imagine a middle-aged man doing acid for the first time, wandering around the NYC psych and garage-rock scene. Then imagine his experience being made into a movie. Then imagine the soundtrack to that movie. There you go: Acid Dad.
Last, but never anywhere close to least, the always-excellent Britnays wrapped the evening up with the seamless, grungy, classic indie-rock sound they do so well. After blazing through a killer set, they rounded out the night with a single, solid power chord. What else would you expect?
All Photos: Dylan Johnston
For more pics, check out our Instagram
DRINKS' latest release Hermits on Holiday has easily become one of my favorite releases this year. This amazingly tripped-out alt-rock gem sounds close to what I want all my dreams to sound like. When I heard they were coming to grace the stage at local favorite Baby's All Right, I didn't hesitate getting tickets so I could see Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon in all their ingeniously weird glory. Great show. We have pictures.
Starting off the night, we had the amazing Matt Popieluch's ongoing project Big Search. It was an all-around great performance that set a nice, relaxed atmosphere for the rest of the concert—plus, he played some new material that I, at least, hadn't heard before. Not that I'm an expert on his very extensive catalog (seriously, the guy's been in way too many bands to list).
The set was comprised mainly of solo work with 12-string guitar, but every now and again he would sweeten the sonic deal with some wonderfully twangy telecaster and simple, tight drums. It was a nice blend of sonic landscapes, made even richer at the very end with the addition of Tim Presley on bass. I believe he has a new album coming out soon, though the date is TBA.
I knew nothing about Droor going into this show, but they nailed it. Their musicianship, their guitar work, their generally laid-back vibe... it all had me intrigued. When I got home I started the search, but all I could find was the three-track EP posted above. Who are these guys!? I'm not kidding. If you know, please tell me.
It's almost too good to be true. If someone came up to me a year ago and said Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley of White Fence were starting a band together, I might have slapped them with excitement. Luckily for all my friends and loved ones, I discovered DRINKS while alone at the ThrdCoast office.
Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon manage to be every flavor of cool at once, and it was great standing in Baby's watching them work their magic. With the help of two members of the mysterious Droor, they wowed the audience with their wonderfully weird psych rock.
One of the truly great things about the show was the crowd. It's sometimes easy to get distracted in Baby's, especially if you're further away from the stage, because of the sound bleed from the front bar DJ. But it was clear from my vantage point, flat up against the wall near the stage entrance, that everyone from the front of the stage to the bar were under DRINKS' spell. They're playing a couple more shows in the area for this year's CMJ, so if you're in New York I'd highly recommend checking them out.
