Pitstop: Cosmo Sheldrake

photo by Matthieu Amaré

Despite the fact that I have been known to plan incredibly rigorous and often concrete CMJ schedules, this year I found an refreshing urge for flexibility due in part to my accidental discovery of British multi-instrumentalist/producer Cosmo Sheldrake. While my CMJ plans started the day before with a kickoff party, a chance visit to trusted mainstay Pianos during Day 1 ultimately resulted in a quick, reevaluation of most if not my entire schedule.

Cosmo Sheldrake is a man of many unique talents and winsome characteristics. While his name was enough to get me into the door sight unseen, songs unheard, it was his ability to completely blow away expectation that not only made me stay but make alterations to my schedule to lengthen the experience. It wasn't an easy sell at first, I'll admit. Sheldrake is a knowledgeable, curious man and seeks to share that with the audience but his explanation of his first song "Sort of a mashup of Mongolian folk music and English folk song" had me at the ready, poised to attack with ice cold judgement but the judgement never came. What did follow was an absolutely unfathomable blend of Mongolian-inspired vocals, old style English song, and beats. Sheldrake had somehow managed to create a sort of future-folk steeped with sincerity. The son of a biologist and surprise-surprise a music teacher specializing in Mongolian overtone singing, Sheldrake's as much a product of his upbringing as he is his own interests and eccentricities. During his sets each song was introduced either by its inspiration or by the sounds Sheldrake had used to create it - ranging from everything from cut up vocal samples from friend/collaborator Anndreyah Vargas ("Rich"), the sounds of rocks being split in Wales, to the sound of the sun as captured by NASA or an African pygmy song ("The Fly").





No one song sounded the same and yet there was no denying a core character - that of Sheldrake himself as he imagines everything from life as an indestructible moss-dwelling insect ("Tardigrade Song") to an ode to nonsense creatures like the Jabberwocky ("The Moss"), even a setting of William Blake's The Fly. The most surprising thing is while drawing from this wide array of inspiration and ultimately falling under the label of producer is the organic nature of Sheldrake's song. A sampler may be at hand but Sheldrake is not one for synths and instead fashions much of his sort of naturalistic folk-infused electronic music with field recordings. Also intrigued and instantly sealing the deal for me is Cosmo Sheldrake is an accomplished improviser - studying with Bobby McFerrin at the Omega Institute. And delightfully enough, he often weaves a couple improvisations into his sets.





It was during his improvs that the true depths of Sheldrake's musicianship could be gleaned. Beatboxing, singing, keys, impressively deployed samples and/or beats, it could all be a bit overwhelming if it wasn't for Cosmo Sheldrake's deft hand.

Releasing his debut EP Pelicans We earlier this year with a full length effort forthcoming probably sometime in the next year, who knows what sounds and influences Cosmo Sheldrake will work with on the record. The one thing I know is they will certainly be interesting.

Listen/Watch: Lucius - "Born Again Teen"

Since Lucius re-emerged from a creative hibernation of sorts around the time of the release of their self-titled EP (give or take the couple months they had been winning crowds over with their less folk-inspired sound), they've managed to channel the spirit of old school rock & roll and girl pop glam in a way that was less about being derivative and more about honoring their influences and own musical tastes than mere imitation. It was a sound that galvanized some of the group's catchiest tracks atop of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig's powerhouse laser-precise vocals even as Lucius grew into their current five person setup. While the road to their break out full length Wildewoman seemed like a sort of endurance test, Lucius have, along with trading their digs from Brooklyn to LA, taken years work of hard work refining their sound to heart with the development of their new record Good Grief.

"Born Again Teen" is all wide-eyed exuberance - recalling the vibrant sounds and colors of the 1950s without exactly placing itself purely in that era. "It's a feeling like a born again teen/got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen", the ladies croon before there's a blast of shout vocals that jump-start the track's lilting verse/boisterous chorus combo. Laessig and Wolfe's vocals lead the dance - circling casually before taking the lead and rising to climactic highs. "Can somebody help me, please?/I don't think it's just me, I'm dying" embodies the melodrama of lovesickness and yet the band who all enter in harmonies aren't coquettish about it. It's real, it's sincere. There's nothing cute about this feeling and appropriately after reaching such a dramatic climax, the only response is a swing back to their introduction as if it (and it does) explain it all.



Good Grief isn't out until next March but "Born Again Teen" shows that Lucius aren't pulling any punches with their pop domination. "Born Again Teen" is Lucius at their catchiest but also their most self-aware, balancing teenage drama with the knowledge that they're mature enough to know better. It's going to be a long wait until March but "Born Again Teen" posits that it just might be worth the wait.

Lucius' upcoming album Good Grief is out March 11th. Preorder in available now and features a bunch of cool options like the making of documentary Days in One Place, and limited edition translucent 12" vinyl.

Peter Broderick - Colours of the Night (2015)

Considering 2012 brought the release of not only one but two albums from multi-instrumentalist/composer Peter Broderick in http://www.itstartshear.com and These Walls Of Mine, the prospect of a couple years passing before the release of another solo album from the man would not have been regarded as much of a surprise to me if I didn't know from experience that Broderick is an unstoppable work house. Although Broderick has certainly not been keeping quiet all this time, from his collaboration with his sister Heather Woods Broderick for Broderick & Broderick or most recent team up with Greg Haines for Greg Gives Peter Space, it was only upon reading the press materials for his latest album Colours of the Night that I learned that Broderick was sidelined for a bit of time that found him relocating from Berlin back to his native Pacific Northwest. True to everything I've come to expect from Peter Broderick however, it didn't take him too long to get back on his feet - starting a studio called The Sparkle in his new Oregon digs that found him producing his sister's latest solo album Glider as well as finding his way onto new albums from Sharon Van Etten and Alela Diane, embarking on new creative projects like La Nuit with Félicia Atkinson.

Colours of the Night follows Peter Broderick's growing characteristic ability to metamorphose between albums. Though on his latest album Broderick had a little bit of help in the form of a residency in Lucerne, Switzerland that found Broderick collaborating with a live backing band and producer Timo Keller. While it may not be such a noteworthy shift for another artist, for Broderick who's largely responsible for providing the majority of sounds and instruments on his albums, it's a pretty thrilling change of pace that simultaneously highlights and loosens the reigns of Broderick's creative voice. Broderick arrived with song ideas and even several completed songs he'd been working with for years and allowed Timo and his gaggle of locally sourced musicians to alter them in an organic way that speaks to Broderick's ever present spirit of collaboration.

It's perhaps to a bit strange to think that "Red Earh" was one of the only songs written while Broderick was in Lucerne or that Broderick had come in with some songs that were actually uite old like "Colours of the Night" which Broderick has been making changes to since late adolescence considering how the subject matter for a lot of the songs seem to fit so wonderfully together in that particular time and place. Peter Broderick has a knack for songs that manage to find universal appeal while being almost covertly personal. Take "Get On With Your Life" which goes from the intimately specific to less claustrophobically broad as it develops. While on his past solo albums Broderick was able to invoke these feelings of intimacy by drawing specifically from his life - most notably through the use of his father's song or his sister's vocals, on Colours of the Night has a creative homecoming of sorts, ironically far away from either home Broderick has known throughout the years and with so many strange hands in the pot. The album manages to run the full spectrum of emotions and as you go from one side of the album to the other, there's a sense of actually identifying with Peter Broderick's emotionally as he let's the listener into his headspace perhaps more than he has in recent efforts. The results are beautiful and occasionally sad but ultimately, especially in the case of "Our Best" and "More and More", the last lyrical effort on the 10 track album, emphatically hopeful.

Listening to Colours of the Night I couldn't help but recall Arthur Russell and his knack for genre-hopping. Peter Broderick has always been adept at shifting gears and pursuing unexpected-though-aurally-rewarding paths but on Colours of the Night, Broderick achieves a heightened level of declassification. The album manages to invoke a cohesive clarity despite it's varying stylistic choices and genre influences from the afro-pop shuffle of the Peter Gabriel-esque title track to the sparse vocal free fall of "If I Sinned" to the folkier turns of "The Recollection" and "Our Best". Colours of the Night manages to both recall elements of Broderick's creative past while also forgoing them for something totally other. It's a collection of songs that manages to embody both Broderick's earnest lyricism and his experimentalism without sacrificing the beauty of the arrangement.





Peter Broderick's Colours of the Night is out now on Bella Union.

Listen: Dream Country - "Radio"

One of the cooler things I've experienced from attending Teen Daze's past few Brooklyn tour stops aside from the shows themselves has been the realization that his backing band consists of talented musicians often with their own musical projects brewing elsewhere. From Kyle Reigle's Cemeteries/Camp Counselors to David Wirsig's self-titled solo project, the most unexpected discovery however occurred in the form of Jordan Kurtz, who held down synth duties, recently unveiling his indie pop project Dream Country.

My surprise of course isn't because I expected the project to be anything less than good but rather that Kurtz made absolutely no reference to it at all during our albeit brief time together. In fact the only reason I happened upon it was due to an unintended recommendation from Kurtz's fellow backing bandmate Simon. With a debut self-titled album set for early January, the project has clearly been a long time coming and yet slight feelings of musical betrayal aside, I'm just happy to be clued into Dream Country's debut at just the right time. "Radio", the first single from the upcoming record, is all breezy, easy listening vibes with just the right amount of pep keeping things moving. With everything on it from violin, trumpet, harmonica, banjo and a piano-synth hand off in addition to the standard guitar, drums, and bass, the most surprising thing about the track is just how it manages to keep all these instruments contained within. "Radio" is an enjoyably smooth jam that's simple in both its energy and feel in a way that betrays its various moving parts. "Radio" introduces Dream Country as a bunch of careful musicians able to team up in a way that's beautifully understated and effortlessly ear-catching.



Dream Country's debut self-titled record is out January 5th.

Pitstop: Sun Club

I'm not exactly sure why I kept putting off listening to Baltimore quintet Sun Club. Maybe it's the fact that I kept getting them mixed up with Sun Drug (formerly Vanaprasta) or just the fact that I seem to have a particular knack for ignoring bands I'd probably very much like even when an increasing number of my friends and colleagues are raving about them. Who's to say, really. I only know that it took being asked to listen to them point blank that I set out to do just that and discovered that Sun Club are just the type of band I've been looking for.

The first song I've ever heard from them and arguably still my favorite after giving their recently released debut record The Dongo Durango a spin, "Dress Like Mothers" is a more than adequate introduction to the band. Sun Club's songs don't stop at being summery pop rock. No, they practically radiate with an intensity and energy that rivals the sun itself. While there may not be anything all that revolutionary about Sun Club's setup, the band's boundless fervor is sure to win you over almost immediately. I wasn't more than halfway through "Dress Like Mothers" before I had mentally committed myself to following this band wherever they wanted to lead me.



Not just in "Dress Like Mothers" but in all their songs - they charge in, ripping and roaring with a sort of barely contained chaos that's as impressive as it is endlessly endearing. The drums hit hard, the vocals are expressive and insistent even as they swing into harsh metal-reminiscent shouts (unsurprising considering Sun Club's member's metal roots), and the band is so incredibly locked in, it inspires joy and awe. Sun Club are a strong band but better yet, they're the kind of band where their enjoyment is clearly evident in the way they pour every ounce of their manic energy into their playing. The most surprising thing about Sun Club's vivacious brand of joyful rock pop with the occasionally punky vocals is just how quickly everything moves. There's no doubt each and every member of the band is enjoying their contribution to the song and yet it still moves at a relatively breakneck pace. That's not to say that the songs feel rushed or incomplete but some of their song's most memorable, infectious moments don't get to stick around all that long. And yet, even though their melodies may be fleeting that doesn't take a way a damn thing from Sun Club's jubilant performance-driven songcraft.





Sun Club's debut full length record The Dongo Durango is out now on ATO Records.

Pitstop: Mal Devisa

photo by Daniel Dorsa

Well, this is embarrassing. After months of hearing Tyler from Portals emphatically sing her praises, it took actually witnessing Northampton artist Mal Devisa's absolutely awe-inspiring live set at Portals and Stadiums & Shrines' joint CMJ showcase to become a firm believer and obsessed listener. It's probably for the best that I put off listening to her music before the CMJ set as Mal Devisa's live energy isn't quite captured on record the way it should be experienced.

Fusing guitar, loop pedal, and her positively soulful vocals with just the right hint of folk influence, the ingredients of Deja Carr's music seem simpler on paper than they are in actual practice. It's a simple formula that's imbued with an overwhelming emotional resonance in Carr's talented hands. I should know. I say with absolutely no hyperbole that Mal Devisa's set at its climax moved me to tears. You can tick many a genre box to try and describe what you're witnessing but when Carr's set includes everything from spoken word to nimble lyrical improvisations, there's really no use trying to pigeonhole such a distinctively original artist.



While one showgoer compared Deja Carr to Nina Simone, I found an easier (and maybe much less daunting) parallel between the responsive nature of Carr's performance and that of Fiona Apple. Particularly Apple's vocal stylings on "The Idler's Wheel...". Carr maneuvers her vocals in a way that strives to be the most viscerally effective rather than the most pleasantly beautiful. She weaves stricken groans and dissonance into her live set to accompany lyrics of heartbreak and both the black and female identity so that there's no mistaking her for a seraphic beauty but of a living, breathing human being splaying out her emotions for you to engage with.



It's rare that you accompany an artist like Mal Devisa - whose music is such an organic extension of who they are but also so readily accessible and universal without dumbing itself down for an instant. A live set that the artist's recorded input fails to live up to rather than the other way around. If you have the opportunity to catch her playing near you, I'd sure as hell take it. If not, there's a batch of her tunes on Bandcamp and a new album in the works that should tide you over until you get the opportunity.

Listen: Rubblebucket - "Donna"

Brooklyn psychedelic dance band Rubblebucket are certainly the type of band that's benefited greatly from workshopping their songs. In fact, it's pretty much exclusively how their first songs came to be. Since their inception in 2007, the band have managed to create an enviable mixture of everything from run of the mill indie rock, jazz, and infectious pop into a trademark sound that subverts all expectations of genre.

With the release of their latest album Survival Sounds earlier this year, it certainly was a surprise when  the five-piece dropped what might arguably be their best song to date - standalone single (or now) "Donna" in support of their upcoming Fall tour. But here we are and "Donna" is a positively resplendent slice of indie pop goodness. Rubblebucket's brass-centric grooves are operating at their utmost catchiest and Kalmia Traver's vocals, bold and bright as ever, achieves peak effectiveness. Summer may be over but Rubblebucket give it a proper send-off with the exuberant "Donna". While the track slips in and out of dream logic lyricism - the chorus is almost unfairly strong, an instantly memorable kiss-off that manages to excite each time it reoccurs.

It's the kind of track that has you instantly itching for repeat during the fade and the fact that it wasn't even properly part of an album is just a testament to how utterly steeped in creativity the band is. It's not their most experimental track but it doesn't have to be. In staying on course with standard songwriting conventions, Rubblebucket manage to create a track that's sure to be an instantaneous favorite to anyone lucky enough to catch this particular ear worm.