NEWSOUND_VOL XVI_2014

Vol. XVI 2014

FEATURING

LANA DEL REY YOUNG THE GIANT KIESZA

ALBUM REVIEWS

GAVIN DEGRAW BLACK KEYS PHISH

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? NEIL YOUNG

WWW.NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM RAY LAMONTAGNE • GRANDVIEW • BLACK KEYS • GAVIN DEGRAW • THE ECHO FRIENDLY • MILKY CHANCE

Pursue Your Passion ...

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LETTER FROM Elise Yablon Editor Dear Readers, Music is the lifeblood of culture.

We thrive on it. We take the words and melodies, and imbue them with our own personal meanings.

We here at NewSound Magazine know how important music is in your life. That is why NewSound hand-picks a mix of today’s best up-and-coming and established artists from around the world for you to check out.

From Linkin Park, Phish, and Neil Young, to Young the Giant, Bad Rabbits, and Kiesza, we hope that you find an artist that speaks to you within the pages of NewSound Magazine.

Who knows... you may even find your next favorite artist.

Elise Yablon

M STA

“New Sound artists that ha name in the m which already in love with, co

M THE EDITOR

MISSIO N A TEMEN T

Magazine spotlights both young, talented ave the potential to become the next big music industry, and the truly brilliant bands y have. We’re finding the voice you’ll fall the song you’ll play over and over, the oncert you won’t want to miss.”

PUBLISHER/CEO: PAUL CORACE EDITOR: ELISE YABLON EXECUTIVE EDITOR: JOE D’AMBROSI GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: WIN-KYE CHEONG LOUIS H. QUACH SENIOR VIDEO EDITOR: TOM FRISINA VIDEO EDITOR: PATRICK GRAZIOSI MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: KAITLYN HARRISON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: COLLEEN CRACCHIOLA ANDREW DAVIS TREVOR GITTELMAN KAITLYN HARRISON LISA HOLAHAN OLIVIA JANNUZZI JACQUI SAHAGIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS: MORGAN HARRISON KEVIN SPERANDEO COVER ARTWORK: WIN-KYE CHEONG CONTACT: 631-757-3187

contents Album Reviews

Check It Out

6 Gavin DeGraw 8 Phish 10 The Black Keys

48 50 52 54

Features 14 18 22 26 28 32 34 38 42

Ray LaMontagne Lettuce Young The Giant Clear Conscience Passenger Bad Rabbits Linkin Park Kiesza Grandview

All Things New The Echo Friendly Aluna George Lana Del Rey

MUSIC INSTRUMENTS 58 Steinway Pianos

E.D.M 60 Milky Chance

Where are they now?

64 Neil Young

Gavin Degraw

BY COLLEEN CRACCHIOL A

S

ome may recall, or identify most with singer/songwriter Gavin Degraw by his hit ‘I Don’t Want To Be’ off his debut album, Chariot; made popular by the WB’s iconic drama One Tree Hill. In the decade since then, Degraw has built a moderately sized, but passionately devoted following. Some of his other hits in addition to the chart-topper, ‘I Don’t Want To Be,’ include, but are not limited to: ‘Chariot,’ ‘Soldier,’ and ‘Not Over You.’ The New York native has been playing the piano since he was 8, and has continuously been writing music since he was small.

Yet, inarguably, over the years it has been the songs that feature a heavy emphasis on his ardently crafted piano tunes that earned him the most rewarding responses. His release of Chariot + Chariot Stripped in 2004 solidifies the fact that it is his original piano pieces that distinguish him from the rest. His songs lacking a strong influence from other instruments like the guitar, bass, and drums, allow for his distinctively raw and soothing voice to take the spotlight.

It is these acoustic based tracks where he sounds most at home.

His fifth and most recent album, Make A Move, came out in Fall of 2013. Though his signature voice still prevails, it has to be said that this most recent album has the overriding qualities of a loveable mutt.

In other words, many musical influences are clearly present here. The album’s single, ‘Best I Ever Had,’ bears a heady resemblance to Train’s ‘Drive By’ (to be specific). Though catchy, in the poppy way that radio singles aim to be, I would not have chosen it to be the album’s leading general. Take the album’s namesake, ‘Make A Move’ for example, the song seems to make a move towards Maroon Five’s traditional sound, rather than Degraw’s.

Of course, as is the case with most mutts, there are some notable qualities that are unique to Gavin Degraw’s special breed. I believe

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loyal fans would agree that the tracks, ‘Who’s Gonna Save Us’ and ‘Heartbreak’ remain true to his soul, while still dabbling in different genres. The bluesy rock ballad, ‘Who’s Gonna Save Us’ brings us fresh and enticing lyrics, deliciously sung by Degraw. Musically, it is somewhat reminiscent of his 2011 album, Sweeter’s hit, ‘Soldier.’

Except in this case he’s searching for the savior instead of promising to be one. Regardless, every album needs a ‘Soldier’ to rely on and ‘Who’s Gonna Save Us’ could certainly constitute for this album.

While the track ‘Heartbreak’ on the other hand, incorporates a fast semi-poppy tempo with a little edgy rock peeking through. The chorus of this song makes a social commentary not unlike some of his other work: “Heartbreak isn’t what it used to be/ Now it’s a bedtime story, not a tragedy/ I got a silver lining on a cloud like that/ You let it rain so it won’t come back.” Definitely some refreshing, thought-provoking lyrics that give you pause.

Overall, Make A Move leaves some fans slightly frazzled with growing misgivings. Although still enjoyable, with some noteworthy new tracks, we are not completely satiated.

A few years back US Weekly issued an article titled, “25 things you don’t know about Gavin Degraw”, Amidst these 24 fun-facts about Degraw, number 23 stands out in stark contrast: “23. I used to play the piano so hard my fingertips would bleed”.

Believe it or not Gavin, we have been hearing that emotion in your music for the past decade, it’s what makes you fantastic. So now don’t misunderstand, we don’t actually enjoy the idea of you being in any physical pain, but we must ask what condition are your fingertips in after playing music from this album?

NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

ALBUM REVIEW

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PHISH

BY E L I S E YA B LO N

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ALBUM REVIEW

FUEGO F

uego, the 12th studio album from renowned jam band Phish, was released on June 24, their second since reuniting in 2009. A diverse yet cohesive album, Fuego succeeds in its attempt to create something sonically interesting by bringing together many different ideas and influences.

From its start, it is apparent that the album is orchestrated in a way that all of the influences and melodies are woven cohesively together. Title track “Fuego” is a perfect introduction to the album, covering a lot of musical ground within the span of 9 minutes.

The song combines all the elements of the album, from piano rock to guitar jams, and more, that will later feature prominently in the other songs.

As the album gets going, there is the slinky jazz infusion of latest single, “The Line.”

The song transitions pretty quickly from smooth and jazzy to more upbeat as the drum kicks in.

At this point, the power goes up another notch while interestingly putting emphasis on piano instead of guitar. “Devotion to a Dream” has a very Elton John type of piano driven rock vibe to it. When the guitar does come in, it acts as another voice, switching off with the vocal and playing well against the piano. In “Halfway to the Moon,” the piano is practically used as a guitar, almost in the same vocal way that the guitar was used in “Devotion to a Dream.”

The album then takes another turn, getting rid of the piano altogether, bringing back the guitar, and focusing on the storytelling. “Winterqueen” starts out with a delicate, slow, steady guitar jam, propelled by the lyrical story. At the song’s apex, the “music in his head” swells, becoming more regal as the trumpets get added in, only for the music to abruptly come down from its high with the Winterqueen’s sigh.

Circling back to a more upbeat tempo, “Sing Monica” picks up the pace once again. This time though, the lyrical content doesn’t match just how up tempo the song is. “Sing Monica” is possibly the peppiest song on the album, yet the lyrics are more for a break-up song.

“555” brings the album back to a more jam rock sound, but adds elements of blues, gospel, and jazz into the mix. With the addition of a gospel choir and the reintroduction of “Winterqueen’s” brass section, the song sets a nice groove.

“Waiting All Night” continues this groove, albeit slowed down and sans brass. The song is a bit ethereal compared to “555’s” firmness. Added to that is a very stretched out, Phil Collins-like vocal melody, which together make the song feel like a drugged out fever dream.

If “Waiting All Night” is a dream, then “Wombat” is where the dream gets weird.

“Wombat” is probably the oddest track on the album. It doesn’t quite fit in sonically with any of the other songs with the exception of a little part of “Fuego.” Fairly nonsensical, it has a bit of a Red Hot Chili Peppers sing-talk vibe, but with a gospel chorus and 70’s horns.

“Wingsuit” slows things down, a sort of cool down from the volume the album has worked its way up to. The song begins in a slightly euphoric state, and then gradually builds into a triumphant walk (or fly) into the sun.

With Fuego, Phish does a very good job of melding a slew of influences together very seamlessly. Each song plays with different musical elements, many times contrasting itself with the next song. It’s amazing how well it all works together.

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Y

the black keys

BY OLIVIA JANNUZZI

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ou might live under a rock if you have not heard of The Black Keys yet.

This bluesy duo from Akron, Ohio have eight albums under their belt, along with seven Grammys. Not to mention, their 2012 Madison Square Garden show sold out in just fifteen minutes. Their first breakout album, Brothers came out in 2010 with the popular single, “Tighten Up.” The Black Keys are Dan Auerbach (guitar/vocals), and Patrick Carney (drums), two childhood friends who formed the band after dropping out of college.

Turn Blue is The Black Keys’ latest studio album. Though not as big of a hit as their previous album, El Camino, it still managed to reach number one in the United States and Australia (which is their first album to top the charts in either country). It was co-produced and co-written by Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton, who has worked with the duo several times, including on their albums El Camino, Brothers, and Attack & Release. Turn Blue was announced on March 21st, 2014, via famous boxer Mike Tyson’s twitter account, and through comedians Tim & Eric who directed promos for the album. Their first single and biggest hit off the album, “Fever” was released on March 24th, and the single “Turn Blue” was released on April 14th. The album itself was released May 13th.

“Fever” perfectly demonstrates how The Black Keys traded their garage-band style for a more synth filled, bouncy sound heard throughout Turn Blue. “Fever” is a foot-tapping song with a creepy feel to it that fans either shrug and like, or completely hate because it’s a much different sound than what The Black Keys have produced in the past. This time around, the sound is catchier, sexier, and more polished. Lyrically, it’s alright. The words reflect the heartbreak of Auerbach’s messy divorce that he was going through while making the album, NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

ALBUM REVIEW

but it lacks that punch of emotion that should be there. Still, the words are plenty melancholy and put up against music that is far from gloomy, but it completely works.

You can tell the pair wanted to try something new, so they tried out new styles and instrumental arrangements-that may have not worked in their favor as much as they had hoped. They lost that garage-sound grit and gained a more poppsychedelic vibe. What hasn’t changed is Auerbach’s soulful voice and Carney’s groovy drumming, and hopefully that will never change for The Black Keys.

The album begins with a seven minute long opener, “Weight of Love”, complete with three guitar solos, each more powerful than the next. It definitely shows that The Black Keys can still sing the blues. “In Our Prime” and “Bullet in the Brain” both have a killer sound with standout guitar that is great to jam and move around to. “Gotta Get Away” is the last song on the album and it was a great idea putting that song last. Out of all the songs on the album, this one is the most fun and upbeat of them all, which makes it a surprising ending. It allows the album to end on a fun note, which makes sense since you can tell the pair had a fun time making Turn Blue.

Overall, Turn Blue is not the best or most memorable album of The Black Keys, but it is still good music! It’s a good summer jam album with that underlying bluesy feel The Black Keys are known for. You can hear influences of Pink Floyd, Curtis Mayfield, The White Stripes, and Arctic Monkeys throughout the album.

Fans either love this album or hate it (when compared to their old stuff), so give it a listen and decide for yourself!

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UPCOMING ALBUMS The Gaslight Anthem GET HURT August 19th

Kimbra THE GOLDEN ECHO August 19th

J.Mascis TIED TO A STAR August 26th

Robyn Hitchcock THE MAN UPSTAIRS August 26th

Ryan Adams RYAN ADAMS September 8th

The Vines WICKED NATURE September 2nd

Rubblebucket SURVIVAL SOUNDS August 26th

Banks GODDESS September 9th

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Basement Jazz JUNTO August 26Th

Tennis RITUAL IN REPEAT September 9th NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

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Ray LaMontagne

BY E L I S E YA B LO N

F

olk singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne has had a very successful decade-spanning music career. From almost the beginning, his music has been approved by critics and fans alike. It has also won numerous awards and been featured in many TV commercials and movies.

His latest release, Supernova, has been getting a lot of buzz for its new direction and perhaps for LaMontagne’s transformation as well.

Over LaMontagne’s ten year music career, he has put out five critically acclaimed studio albums.

After shopping an early EP around to labels, he released his first full-length, Trouble, in 2004 via RCA Records in the United States. The album was a hit, selling half a million copies worldwide. In 2006, LaMontagne released his second album, Till the Sun Turns Black, which led to an appearance on The Tonight Show. His next album, 2008’s Gossip

in the Grain, debuted at number 3 on the Billboard charts and got him an even more impressive appearance on Saturday Night Live. In 2010, he won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album along with his backing band, The Pariah Dogs, for his fourth album, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise.

LaMontagne’s music blends soulful grooves with folk guitar. His raspy vocals and minimal production help give the music its character and depth. Many of his early songs, like “Lesson Learned” and “Roses and Cigarettes,” tend to be closer to the acoustic folk of Neil Young. Later songs, like “God Willin”’ and the Creek Don’t Rise’s “Beg Steal or Borrow” and “Repo Man,” have more soulful tendencies that take early Bob Dylan and mix in a bit of Ray Charles.

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“If they’re not interesting to me, I don’t write them.

And then if I like them, I want to share them.”

- American Songwriter

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With his latest studio album, Supernova, released on April 29, 2014, LaMontagne trades in the rough edges and raw feel of his previous releases for a more highly produced and smoother sound. Produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Supernova sees LaMontagne heading in a new direction, adding in psych-rock elements and a fresh, upbeat perspective. Lead single “Supernova” is probably one of LaMontagne’s most upbeat and least acoustic songs to date, coming off more like a Ryan Adams or Bruce Springsteen song than anything else.

Not that this change in sound was intentional.

“It wasn’t really a conscious thing,” said LaMontagne in an interview with American Songwriter Magazine in March. “It just has to be interesting for me. That’s all it is. I really don’t know anything about music or music theory or anything like that. When I hear a melody I pick up the guitar and I plunk around on it until I find the right chord or the major and minor, or whatever the hell it is. I was hearing stuff that was really speaking to me.”

Whatever it is, it is working for him. Supernova debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Album and Top Folk Albums charts, peaked at number 3 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart, and debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. Success doesn’t seem to be a big deal to him though. “I don’t write songs to please anybody,” he told American Songwriter. “If they’re not interesting to me, I don’t write them. And then if I like them, I want to share them. That’s all you can do.”

Throughout his career, LaMontagne has never seemed quite comfortable with being in the spotlight. For a long time he preferred to perform in near darkness. Interviews with him are few and far between, keeping his life a mystery to everyone.

“I can’t pretend it’s ever felt natural,” LaMontagne told The Independent in May. “I don’t like to be noticed, or even looked at.” Natural or not, it doesn’t seem like the attention will go away any time soon. As long as LaMontagne continues to make excellent music, people will listen. With the new, electrified direction Supernova has taken him in; Ray LaMontagne has opened himself up to new audiences who may in turn fall in love with his original acoustic folk as well.

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BY LISA HOL AHAN

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NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

L

ooking for some feel good music? Try having a jam session to Lettuce, a funk band who specializes in raging the night away.

The Boston, Massachusetts natives started out in 1992, when they met at Berklee College of Music and attended the music program as young teens.

Through their mutual love of music and influences like Funkadelic and James Brown, they decided to pool their musical talents together and Lettuce was formed. The eight-piece group consists of Nigel Hall (Vocals), Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff (Guitar), Erick “E.D.” Coomes (Bass), Eric Krasno (Guitar), Neal Evans (Keyboards, Piano and Organ), Ryan Zoidis (Saxophone), Sam Kininger (Saxophone), Adam Deitch (Drums) and partial member Rashawn Ross (Trumpet). The group is known for their lively performances and how they “lay it down”, according to their facebook page.

Of course, one of the biggest questions that come to mind when first hearing about the group is …why is the band named after a vegetable? Well named after a vegetable they are not, amusing pun however, is more like it. Let us play for you. Let us?

No seriously, Lettuce. In 1994, the band attempted to play at various venues including Boston jazz clubs.

They would walk in and ask club owners if they would “let us play” and that statement eventually gave birth to the name Lettuce. They spent years traveling across the country until Lettuce finally began to develop a fan base. The band gained exposure mainly through

word of mouth.

After watching Lettuce perform live, people began wanting more and the group became popular by demand. Some of the hottest spots in the U.S. like New York, Chicago and San Francisco became a second home for the band, they had the most dedicated fans in those areas. Tokyo was also a primary destination for the band to tour and they even released a Live in Tokyo album via KUFALA recordings in 2001. The live album was recorded at the Blue Note, which is a high-end jazz venue and the most expensive in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan. After their Live in Tokyo album, the band felt it was time to get into a studio and record their first official debut via Velour recordings/Royal Family Records.

A year later, Lettuce released their 2002 studio debut titled, Outta Here and the album consisted of eleven tracks. The album as a whole received mixed reviews from music critics, but received praise on the tracks “Nyack”, “Outta Here” and “Superfred”.

Those tracks stood on their own and gave a glimpse of the kind of potential Lettuce had in the studio.

Through this album the band established their soulful sound and was then ready to enhance it. They wanted to make an impact on funk driven music, just like their inspirations once did. Lettuce got back in the studio after gaining more experience, then several years later they released their sophomore effort via Velour/Royal Family Records titled, Rage!, in 2009.

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Rage! turned out to be well worth the wait because it received many positive reviews among Lettuce fans and music critics. The fourteen track album also included covers of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move on Up” and Charles Wright’s “Express Yourself”, which were both magnificently recorded and widely admired. The album contained an electric boogie vibe and listening to it is like going through each member’s personal record collection of great 70’s hits. Lettuce was able to capture everything that was lacking in their last album, while still having fun and paying tribute to the music that inspires them. The band is constantly looking to reach out to a wider audience and encourage listeners, especially young listeners, who aim to search out party music that is similar to Lettuce’s funky tunes.

In 2011, Royal Family Records announced that the label would be hosting a tour called the Royal Family Ball. Lettuce took part in the tour along with their brother band Soulive, and both bands were even accompanied

by Dave Matthews Band during select dates. On tour, the group took advantage of performing for both longtime and newfound fans by playing new songs off of their upcoming album that was still in production.

On June 5th of 2012, Lettuce released their third studio

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album, titled Fly, via Velour Recordings/Royal Family Records. The album Fly contained thirteen tracks and held hyper-charged, yet psychedelic soul anthems.

Lettuce was celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band and Fly became the perfect album for that milestone. In an interview about the album Fly, drummer and chief songwriter, Adam Deitch said in the band’s bio, “we’re more together and set to crush than ever before.”

The album Fly surpassed all expectations for the band, proving that things really do get better with time.

“People tend to look at funk as a one-trick pony”, says Deitch, but this record broke the mold, ranging in styles that can be traced from the early 60’s through the early 80’s. They incorporated plenty of what music lovers are tuned into today, like elements of hip-hop along with heavy bass, kick and snare drums. Lettuce is currently on tour and coming to a venue near you! Don’t miss the opportunity of exploring musical horizons and drifting off to the sweet melodies of funk. “Lettuce is like a Learjet that wasn’t getting clearance from the tower,” says Erick “Jesus” Coomes in the band’s bio. “But we’re done just rolling around on the runway. They’re not asking for permission, so put your tray tables in their full, upright and locked position. This plane’s itching for lift off.”

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YO U N G T H

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HE GIANT

BY OLIVIA JANNUZZI

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Y

oung the Giant is no stranger to success. Ever since the release of their first album, Young the Giant in 2010, the band has been steadily climbing their way to the top, and it seems like they are just getting started.

The indie-alternative band hails from Irvine, California and originally started out as The Jakes, in 2004. Over time, members left and were rearranged, then eventually in 2009, Young The Giant was formed and signed onto Roadrunner Records. The band is made up of Sameer Gadhia (vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar), Payam Doostzadeh (bass guitar), and Francois Comtois (drums). In October 2010, the band released their first album and the results were amazing. Three singles off the album, “My Body,”“Cough Syrup,” and “Apartment,” became so popular to listeners that they all reached the top five on the U.S Alternative Songs Chart. Young The Giant couldn’t have asked for better feedback from their first released album.

Amazon.com claimed it to be the third best rock album of 2010. After that, its radio release, “My Body” earned its slot at number five on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart. And the love doesn’t stop there.

That August, in 2011, they played main stage at Lollapalooza and performed at the MTV Video Music Awards. Their performance at the VMA’s of “My Body” pushed the band onto the Billboard 200 Albums chart and then #65 on Billboard Hot 100. And those are just some of their accomplishments.

So what makes Young the Giant so successful? For starters they are great instrumentally. Their sound is similar to most alternative music, but at the same time different than anything heard from the scene before. They took alternative rock and added their own Southern California feel to it. Their hit single, “My Body” definitely deserved the attention it gained. It’s a fun, bouncy song that almost seems impossible not to yell along with.

The key component that really delivers the punch in their music is actually lead vocalist, Sameer Gadhia. He has a wide vocal range and his voice carries beautifully with Young the Giant’s sound. His voice sounds different from all that’s out there, and it is the kind that keeps you captivated, while still complimenting the songs’ melodies perfectly. On the blog True To You, Morrissey revealed that Young the Giant is one of his new favorite bands. He tells the fansite, “I will be kneeling with gratitude on a hardwood floor for many years to come. It is the whole thing…it is the perfect tone…and Sameer’s voice is unbreakable.”

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In late 2013, Young the Giant released two singles, “It’s About Time” and “Crystallized” off their new album, Mind Over Matter before actually releasing it. Both singles received good feedback and reviews, but not as great as “My Body”.

“It’s About Time” is gritty and has a more pop-synth sound that carries throughout the new album, which was released in January 2014, by Fueled By Ramen, and produced by Justin Meldal-Johnson. For fans of Cage The Elephant, Foster The People, and Neon Trees, be sure to check out Young The Giants and get ready to rock out!

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C

lear Conscience is a reggae band based in the San Francisco Bay Area that has been touring and releasing albums – all nine of which have cracked the reggae charts – for over decade. All that work is something to keep in mind when considering the band, which has a tendency not to take itself very seriously and to indulge in some less than flattering reggae stereotypes.

BY JACQUI SAHAGIAN

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Firstly, there’s the white-boys-playing-reggae thing, which hasn’t really amounted to much good in pop culture memory. Remember that 1992 song “Informer” by the Canadian nerd who called himself Snow? If you don’t, try not to, or it’ll haunt your every waking hour until you can find some equally earworm-friendly, but hopefully less awful candidate to replace it. Thus the instinct upon entering a bar and seeing white people playing reggae music is to head for the hills, or point and heckle until they mercifully realize their shameful behavior, and just plain stop. But if “Informer” hasn’t scarred you quite that badly, staying at this hypothetical bar to give Clear Conscience a chance would be worth your time if laid-back island grooves from capable musicians is what you’re looking for.

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Clear Conscience’s music is also heavily influenced by rock, hiphop, and what the band calls “acoustic diddlings.”

Singer, guitarist, and frontman, Jeff Conscience writes chill songs about islands, the girls on them, weed, and karma. Blaine Dillinger also plays guitar, Julian Nielsen is on bass, Matt Katzin plays drums, and Robert Ledesma assists with backing vocals and plays a percussion instrument called the gourd. Ledesma actually began his journey with Clear Conscience as the band’s recording engineer in 2003, working to record the group’s albums through 2010, when he officially joined the lineup and began touring with the band.

Clear Conscience has toured with Rebelution, Damian Marley, Ziggy Marley, 311, Pepper, J-Boog, Stick Figure, The Green, The Expendables, and SOJA among others in their 14-year career. Their song “Cali Weed” was recently used in the straight-to-streaming comedy Rapture-Palooza starring Anna Kendrick and Craig Robinson, but that’s the closet to mainstream recognition Clear Conscience has received so far.

The band is pretty intent on describing the music they make as “sexy”. As well as making a lot of sex puns about themselves on their website and including bikini-clad beach girls on their album covers, but the members of Clear Conscience themselves come across as hilariously awkward in live performances and music videos. They’re

the band you want to make out to, not with.

The band is preparing to release a new record on July 29th, titled “Native Jane.” This record was produced and engineered by the Tribal Seeds’ E.N. Young, who is a hugely active and influential part of the So Cal reggae scene both through the Tribal Seeds and his Imperial Sound Recording Studio, located right on the U.S.Mexico border. Young has recorded artists including High Tide, HIRIE, K Bong, Beyond I Sight, Gonzo, Inna Vision, and Without Papers, in addition to his own group and Clear Conscience. Young has worked with Clear Conscience in the past, appearing on the song “Eye Candy” with Eddie Blunt and “Real Soon.”

The long-time creative partnership with Young, as well as their laid-back reggae aesthetics will inform Clear Conscience’s upcoming record. The band has released a 16-second clip of the song “Lilah” from the new album, which sounds very similar to previous work from the band. It seems unlikely that Native Jane will be different enough for Clear Conscience to break into the mainstream, but that doesn’t seem to be a big goal for the group anyway. Clear Conscience has found success within their niche, participating in the collaborative California reggae scene and making albums for a much longer time period than many groups that are much more conventionally successful. Unlike the one-hit wonder Snow, Clear Conscience has made their interpretation of reggae work for the long haul.

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P HOTOGRA PH Y BY J A RR AD SEN G

Passenger

BY E L I S E YA B LO N

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ritish folk singer/songwriter Michael Rosenberg has been very successful in the last couple of years. Better known by his stage name Passenger, it has been almost impossible to get away from his massive hit “Let Her Go,” which has been taking over radio airwaves all over the world. In 2003, Passenger was started as a five piece band by Rosenberg and Andrew Phillips (as a band, their name was formatted as “/Passenger.”) Rosenberg later kept the name for his solo work after they disbanded in 2009. As a solo artist, Passenger has released five studio albums in the last five years. However, it wasn’t until his 2012 album, All the Little Lights, that people started recognizing his penchant for honest songwriting and catchy melodies. All the Little Lights became gold and platinum certified around the world, aided by its platinum selling single, “Let Her Go.” Passenger released his latest album, Whispers, on June 10, 2014. Still riding the high from the global success of “Let Her Go,” Whispers fared well on the charts, peaking at number 5 in the UK and number 26 in the United States. Passenger released a video for Whispers’ first US single, “Scare Away the Dark,” in June as well. The video features Rosenberg being pulled through an office while the office was being overrun with nature. Taking the words of the song to heart, the office and its workers succumb to the beauty of nature, getting rid of their computers and taking in the fresh air.

With his raspy, James Blunt vocals, quick witted and direct lyricism, and of course beautifully simple memorable melodies, it is not hard to see why Passenger is finally being recognized for his music. He has a way of candidly getting his point across through song and storytelling that not many musicians can pull off. For example, on Whispers’ single “Scare Away

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the Dark,” Rosenberg laments (in one of the least corny uses of popular terminology in a song), “It’s the meaning of life and it’s streamed live on YouTube/But I bet Gangnam Style will still get more views/We’re scared of drowning, flying and shooters/But we’re all slowly dying in front of computers.”

The words and phrasing are an abrasively put message to put down technology and live for the day. He does the same thing with “27,” bluntly laying out a quarter-life crisis by numerically counting all the time and money he has wasted.

In May, Rosenberg told Radio.com in regards to the writing of “Let Her Go,” “I think that’s the key with a lot of good songs: it’s what everybody’s thinking and feeling. As a songwriter you’re constantly trying to put it into a simple but clever way of penning a song. Millions of songs have approached that subject, so many great love songs or break up songs, but all you’re trying to do is say what everybody is feeling.”

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All the attention is new to Rosenberg. Much of his early solo career was happily spent busking on street corners and playing pubs. That is also where he met buddy Ed Sheeran, who has been a big supporter of Rosenberg’s music ever since. Passenger has opened for Sheeran on tour on several occasions, including part of a year-long world tour. A version of Passenger’s single, “World on Fire,” featuring Sheeran can be found on the Passenger YouTube page.

Passenger is currently touring around the world in support of Whispers. Tour dates can be found on the Passenger website. Passenger may be riding the high off the success of “Let Her Go,” but Rosenberg’s talent runs deeper than that.

Whispers gets even more to the point, really showing off his songwriting prowess. Rosenberg says what is on everyone’s mind, and sets it to a brilliant folk soundtrack.

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BAD RABBITS

BY OLIVIA JANNUZZI

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t’s almost impossible to sit still while listening to Boston band Bad Rabbits. The sound they create is so incredibly rare, landing somewhere between funk and rock, making it such groovy music that is sure to get at least your feet tapping.

The Massachusetts band is made up of five members: Fredua “Dua” Boakye (vocals), Sheel Davé (drums), Salim Akram (guitar), Santiago Araujo (guitar), and Graham Masser (bass). Boakye, Davé, and Santiago are all first generation descendants of West African, Indian, and Argentinean culture, and their uniqueness and diversity definitely shines through their music. The guys first met as students at Northeastern University in 2002. All five members were originally part of a band called The Eclectic Collective in 2003. Then the band disbanded and soon Bad Rabbits was formed in 2007, creating a sound more lively and upbeat than The Eclectic Collective, but still retaining the same heavy soulfulness.

Before releasing any albums, Bad Rabbits started off as a backing band for rapper Slick Rick. Then in 2008, the band self-released their first EP, The Bad EP, which introduced Bad Rabbits’ groovy and fun music that is very different than today’s mainstream dance music.

The Bad EP was quickly followed by their next EP, Stick Up Kids, produced by Jayson Michael Dezuzio in 2009, which attracted a lot of attention and well-deserved appreciation for Bad Rabbits.

nominated for five Boston Music Awards, and the group won in 2010 for best pop/R&B group. Also in 2010, Bad Rabbits won the Phoenix Music Poll for most downloaded band. Not to mention, Bad Rabbits have shared the stage with a number of popular artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Taking Back Sunday, Travie McCoy, Common, and Passion Pit. Though these bands are all different from each other, they are all influences that can be heard in many of Bad Rabbits’ songs.

The first single off the Stick Up Kids EP is “She’s Bad”, and if you like Michael Jackson, you’ll not only love this track, but Bad Rabbits as a whole. The track is a perfect introduction for the band as it is funky, sexy, and perfect to groove to, which really applies to all their songs. Their music is perfect for the dance floor, getting a party started, or just simply lifting your mood and making you smile. It’s hard to pick a specific genre for them, as they do not fall into just one category. Listen to just one song and you can hear rock, funk, dance, and R&B. The band themselves describes their sound as “futuristic R&B and post rock”. Their music conveys generations of influences, from The Jackson Five to De La Soul, all the way to Taking Back Sunday and Glassjaw. Fans of The Roots, Cee-lo Green, Earth, Wind and Fire, and the Commodores should fall in love with

The band certainly worked hard for their success, and this is not only clear in their music, but in their accomplishments.

They have been

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Bad Rabbits easily.

In May 2013, Bad Rabbits released their first full album, American Love produced by Teddy Riley. The album is only 33 minutes long, which is pretty short, but it contains many of Bad Rabbits’ best songs, like “Can’t Fool Me” and “Fall In Love”, which, listening to right now, I cannot help but dance and sing along with.

Other than the awesome, far-out sound Bad Rabbits produces, what also makes this band stand out from the rest is front man and lead vocalist Fredua Boakye’s phenomenal voice. He sings with such a powerful amount of soul and rock and he hits pitches high and low, nailing them perfectly each time. His voice could be compared to John Legend, Sly Stone, and Frank Ocean. It’s the kind of voice that doesn’t come around often in music, that’s smooth and suave, sure to make listeners feel weak in the knees. To really hear how powerful his voice is, check out “We Can Roll”, the first song off American Love. Prepare to be impressed.

If you haven’t already, I strongly advise you to check out Bad Rabbits. I promise you’ll hear a new approach in music that is far from common, and not heard as much as it should be. It’s a band that keeps you movin’ and groovin’ with this infectious energy that will catch throughout the room. Bad Rabbits is definitely worth a listen, just make sure you have your dancing shoes on when you do.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY C HRIS BENTON

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H

aving sold 60 million albums worldwide, you’ve probably already heard of Linkin Park. But how much do you really know about them? Formed in 1996 in Agoura Hills, California, this American rock band proves that hard work and never giving up on your dream really does pay off in the end, and for Linkin Park it paid off quite a bit.

Linkin Park was started by rapper/co-vocalist/keyboardist/rhythm

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guitarist/lead songwriter Mike Shinoda, drummer Rob Bourdon, and lead guitarist Brad Delson, who were all high school friends. Originally, they were called Xero. They recruited Joe Hahn and two other members after high school when they decided to take their music career more seriously. Eventually the two other members left the band because they failed to snag a record deal. Luckily, they eventually found Chester Bennington, who became their lead vocalist due to his very unique sounding voice and style. The band also changed their name to Linkin NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

LINKIN PARK

BY OLIVIA JANNUZZI

Park, a nod to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park.

their debut album, Hybrid Theory.

Even with Bennington’s presence in the band, they still failed to launch a record deal. They faced rejection after rejection from major labels, including Warner Brother Records three times. Bennington called in a favor with Jeff Blue, a music producer who introduced Bennington to the band, and Blue helped the band sign a deal with Warner Brother Records in 1999. At the time, Jeff Blue was the vice president of the huge record label. The following year, they released

Linkin Park is an extremely adaptable and diverse band, able to play different genres and styles and still be really good. Their first two albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora, demonstrated their original style of nu-metal and rap metal. Hybrid Theory was an instant success.

Linkin Park was rocket launched into fame. The album was eventually certified diamond by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) in 2005, and went multi-platinum in other countries. “One

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Step Closer” and “In the End” were probably the biggest hits off the album, and you can still catch these songs on the radio even today. Meteora topped the Billboard 200 Album Chart in 2003.

Off that album you may recognize the hits, “Numb,” and “Breaking the Habit,” both songs aggressive, rowdy, and energetic, but so fun to listen to.

They changed musical style in their third album, Minutes to Midnight, which came out in 2007, four long years after Meteora. The band deviated from their nu-metal/nu-rap sound and experimented with more classic fundamentals from rock and hiphop. “What I’ve Done” was the biggest hit off the album, featuring ferocious vocals from Bennington, and a striped down, raw rock sound from the band. Then their styles changed once again in their next album, A Thousand Suns, which was released in 2010. In this album they played around with a more electric beat and sound, much different than their original nu-metal sound, but still received great feedback.

Linkin Park started to come back to their heavier rock in their next albums, Living Things and The Hunting Party. Living Things, a very personal album, sold over 220,000 albums in the first week and reached number one on the US Albums Charts in 2012. The

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Hunting Party goes back to the elements Linkin Park used in Hybrid Theory, and was released in 2013.

Through their journey as a band they have done many charitable events, (like the “Music for Relief: Concert for the Philippines” in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan), and have won two Grammy’s for Best Rock Performance for “Crawling” in 2002 and Best Rap/Sung Collection for “Numb/Encore,” which featured Jay-Z, in 2010.

Also, the band has done countless collaborations with other artists, like “We Made It” featuring Busta Rhymes, and “A Light That Never Comes” with Steve Aoki. Also, members of the group have gone off and done side projects, and even those had plenty of success, like Shinoda in Fort Minor, and Bennington in Dead by Sunrise.

You really do get it all with Linkin Park, and there is still so much to be said about them. This band is extremely talented and clearly they are not afraid of trying new styles, instruments, and genres.

They’re personal songwriting, melodic beats and transitions, and their mixing of genres (like rap and rock), work well together and really does make for a great band and an even better sound. Linkin Park stands as a great example to all musicians to not fear rejection, to keep trying, and to not be scared to step out of your musical comfort zone.

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NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

BY LIS A HO LA HA N

W

e have all heard of the term “triple threat” before, which is already impressive. However, the multitalented artist Kiesza should have her own definition of the work she has done, with her various skills and accomplishments.

Born Kiesa Rae Ellestad, the singer-songwriter, dancer, and multi-instrumentalist is better known as Kiesza (pronounced Kye-za), her stage name.

Outside of her love for music, other occupations of the 25 year old artist include acting, modeling, fashion designing, athletics, and directing her own music videos. Kiesza was born and raised in Calgary, Canada, and later obtained a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. After her time at school, she traveled to New York City in hopes of developing her career in music. Four years later and Kiesza has become a chart topping success with her hit single “Hideaway.” Self-describing her music as ‘SteamPop,’ “Hideaway” has not only become the song of the summer, but it has begun to take over radio airwaves across the globe.

Music is not something that Kiesza just fell into.

In fact, she worked extremely hard to get to where she is in her career today. Kiesza has had an incredible journey, and her many accomplishments all started when she was young. At 16 years old, she joined the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS) program and at 17 she decided to join the Royal Canadian Navy with her brother. In a 2010 interview with the Calgary Herald Kiesza

explained, “I’m very adventurous and I was that kid who just wanted to try everything. One day, my brother, who didn’t know what he wanted to do, signed up for the navy. My mom encouraged him and I was just like, ‘I want to sign up for the navy, too!’” While Kiesza was in the Navy she began promoting herself and gave away over 4,000 copies of her music to the Canadian troops who were serving in Afghanistan.

Kiesza has always been a creative individual and she began creating music and performing at a young age. When she was little she was in the Young Canadians program where she performed in theatre, and took jazz and tap dancing. At age 18, Kiesza wrote her first song on her mother’s old guitar. “I knew that my mom had a guitar in storage in the house,” Kiesza stated to the Calgary Sun in 2009. “My parents got divorced when I was 18 and I had a lot of emotions going on and I went searching for it. When I found it and started playing it, I wrote a song that first day.” Full of excitement, Kiesza went to a neighbor’s house and played it for them but it was fate that really sparked her career. Her neighbors were in the middle of a dinner party and one of the guests was CKUA radio host Tom Coxworth. Coxworth was so impressed by the young musician’s capabilities that within the same year of writing the song, he began to play it on the radio and Kiesza was on her way to making a name for herself in the music industry. The Folk Routes host even selected her to perform for a live audience and to broadcast live

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on his radio show, giving the singer more experience and exposure.

Afterwards, she continued to pursue music by attending the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, whom offered her a scholarship. Berklee is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world and it is famously known for its wide range of honored alumni such as Gavin DeGraw, Melissa Etheridge, Matt Rubano (formerly of Taking Back Sunday), Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, and John Mayer—to name a few. When Kiesza attended school, she began to learn new techniques and learn more about different styles of music. “I started out with a very classic singer-songwriter sound.

But as I started to get more into the music scene I started hanging out with other musicians and got into more rhythmic feels and groove, orchestration and things like that. I love variety,” Kiesza explained to the Kiesza explained to the Calgary Sun. After she graduated from college, Kiesza wanted to advance with the tools she had learned from school and what better way to start than New York? The young musician headed to New York City and decided to switch her sound from a classic folk singer to uptempo dance music. After four years of hustling hard in New York, Kiesza was signed by Lokal Legend, which is her current record label.

In the beginning of 2014 she released the video for her new hit single “Hideaway”, which is simply incredible. The video displays Kiesza’s exceptional dancing and choreography, which has been praised by many websites, like Idolator, and magazines, like Rolling Stone, for being so impressive. The most amazing part of the video is the fact that it took a

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single take to make the entire video without any footage being cut or redone. “Hideaway” debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in April and has now finally made its way to American stations, playing what is now the summertime hit.

Kiesza describes her music as “SteamPop” which Arjanwrites.com defined as “a flaming brew of bold, boisterous pop filled with tongue-in-cheek lyrics.” She has written for other famous artists such as Rihanna and Icona Pop. Kiesza was even selected to be the face of a new line of fashion eyewear called “Color Block” by the retailer Fendi. She also announced plans to release her own fashion line under the brand “SteamPop” which can be expected later this year.

It is evident that 2014 has been a breakout year for Kiesza and there are high hopes for the future of her career. Her music provides a combination of futuristic sounds mixed with 80’s and 90’s beats and rhythm. Her unique sound has made perfect timing with the EDM and pop trends of today, while her vocal performance puts her on a pedestal of her own. Kiesza’s four track debut EP is out now and downloadable via iTunes. The songs “Hideaway” and “Giant In My Heart” provide the perfect tunes to dance to while being immersed in their beautiful yet heartbreaking lyricism, while the following two tracks, “So Deep,” and a cover of the Haddaway’s 90s hit “What Is Love?,” provide the same sentiment, but through a more ballad type and raw style of music. Such makes Kiesza’s debut EP the perfect balance of everything a listener could hope for.

The multitalented artist has the skills to become a legendary name like Madonna or Michael Jackson.

Keep your eyes on Kiesza because the 25 year old has a very bright future ahead of her.

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gran dv i ew

BY OLIVIA JANNUZZI

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S

tanding in the parking lot of Soul Sound Records: record store by day, garage band venue by night, I can hear the final band playing the last songs of the night. I was lucky enough to be joined by Lucas Restivo, guitarist of Grandview, whose set had just ended. He’s a little sweaty, his hair greasy, and he was clearly exhausted. It had been a whole month of touring around the country, sleeping in a mini-van named Rhonda, washing in Walmarts, and finally, it was their final tour night until they headed back home to deeply missed beds in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Grandview is an alternative rock band with a refined, authentic sound, created by five college students: Billy Restivo (vocals/guitar), Lucas Restivo (guitar), Tom Rose (drums), Josh Rosenberg (guitar/vocals), and Mike Beland (bass).

Billy and Lucas Restivo are cousins who grew up across the street from each other. “He’s kind of like the fourth brother in my family,” said Lucas, who is slightly older than his cousin and the other members of the band. One day they all started jamming and soon enough Grandview was started.

Grandview has a great way with words, which is just one of their attributes that makes them stand out from other emo/ indie rock bands. “Well I’ve been staring right at the sun, and if I’m blinded then at least you’ll know I tried looking up/And I saw the light, we’ll be alright.” It’s emotional, relatable, and their lyrics are accompanied by just the right climatic element to get your head nodding and your heart swelling. Their songs focus on changes in life, how inevitable it is, and how to accept whatever change that is happening.

“I think that’s a lot of what the theme of the album is,” Lucas said, “growing up and maturing and being able to handle change.”

When asked about the theme of “7,” a song off their latest album, Everything Between Paint and a Wall, Lucas laughs: “That’s like our least favorite song off the album!

We love playing it live because it’s so much fun and it’s so jammy. Billy wrote that entirely and he wrote it loosely about someone he really respected growing up with and losing respect for that person through their actions and it was a lot of frustration. A lot of changes are happening in our lives and that person represents the changes happening. We weren’t really fond of it. It’s kind of scathing I guess, but it’s definitely one we felt didn’t really fit on the album as much.”

Despite their feelings towards “7,” the song and all the others on the album tell an interesting and relatable story with hard-hitting vocals and a strong sound to back it up.

Their songs are created with collective effort from the band, starting with Josh or Billy coming up with the skeleton of the song (a melody or a chore progression), bringing that to practice and jamming it up, and then the lyrics are thought up by Billy and Lucas, with editing done by Billy. Lucas says, “I think we write about what we feel, what’s honest to us, things that are going on in our lives, and the way we perceive things.”

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You can hear a strong influence in their music from big alt rock bands that have come before them, the strongest being Long Island band Brand New. Grandview has taken the best parts of their influences and have created something of their own, music that is engaging, relatable, and bold. When asked how he would describe Grandview’s music, Lucas answered, “personal and honest.” And it definitely fits! “When we first started I think you could more clearly see where our influences were coming from and our writing was a little more immature. Looking back on the album now, there’s areas of improvement we can see and things we want to change. I think writing in general with music is never a satisfying process and you can always see where you can be better as a writer. So I think ‘ever-improving’ would be a good way to describe our music.”

What also makes Grandview distinctive from the rest is their ambition.

With the help of Table Three Media, the band booked venues all across the country and abandoned their lives (and their beds) in Burlington for an entire month to play shows across the country. What was a national tour like for a small garage band from Massachusetts? “Smelly,” Lucas laughs.

The band played shows along the east coast, where they’ve toured before, and then ventured their way to Louisiana, Texas, and Colorado, just to name a few spots. “I think the most exciting part for us is not just the shows, but the different cultures you get yourself into and the different people you meet. I know it’s easy to say I hate people, I hate humanity, but you really see a lot of good in people on tour: a lot of strangers putting you up for a night, some guy donating money to us so we can get gas in our tank. It’s just little stuff like that that really makes it a humbling experience, but also at the same time brings us closer. I mean we are five guys in a mini-van every night so like we got really close. A lot of jokes, stories, days off. And it’s exciting to go home and tell your family and friends all the ridiculousness [of] this past month.”

So where does Grandview’s ambition come from? Why did they go broke and sacrifice their hygiene and comfy beds to sleep in a mini-van for a month? Because of the music, of course! “The best thing about being a band, for me personally,” Lucas says, his face lighting up as he talks, “is getting to play shows. There’s no better feeling than being on stage.

Some sets you play, and there’s a few specifically played on tour that I can remember, and you create a vibe and an atmosphere with your music and you just lock into it and not another thought goes through your head besides the next thing I want to play. And that’s why we do it. That’s what we are chasing.” Watching Grandview play live you can definitely see this. The band is very in sync with each other, and the energy that radiates off of them into the crowd is contagious. Definitely a fun show to check out.

Grandview’s latest album, Everything Between Paint And A Wall is truly an authentic (and emotional) album. It was released December 2013, and is their first full length album with eleven songs, each more poignant and vigorous than the last. Previously, Grandview put out an EP called Absolutely Nothing, and a split EP with the band Free Throw, all worth checking out on their site: www.grandview.bandcamp.com.

Just as the last band finished their set, and people started to head home, I asked my final question for Lucas: what can we expect from Grandview in the future? He laughed. “I have no clue! Honestly, I think we are going to take a bunch of time off from playing shows and we are going to write and write and write, and see what comes out of that and be unrestricted in our writing and the way we want to write. We don’t really know much after this, like what we are gonna do so I think your guess is as good as ours!”

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top 10 songs 1. Owl City featuring Lindsey Sterling “Beautiful Times” 2. Grimes “Go” 3. Bon Iver - “Heavenly Father” 4. Brody Dalle - “Don’t Mess With Me” 5. Brian Marquis - “Drink You Up” 6. The Madden Brothers “We Are Done” 7. Less Than Jake - “Do The Math” 8. Cassadee Pope “I Wish I Could Break Your Heart” 9. Colton Dixon - “More of You” 10. Ok Go - “The Writings on the Wall” 46

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ALL | THINGS | NeW

BY JACQUI SAHAGIAN

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ll Things New is a Christian Americana quartet from Orlando, Florida looking to meld the new folk movement with Christian music as a new, fresh, and popular medium to connect with faithbased audiences who are perhaps more accustomed to soft rock and pop music. Much of the music from the American folk tradition is rooted in Christian themes, but All Things New is using the new folk style to sing about more contemporary Christian ideals.

then. In a continuation of those shows, right now, All Things New are set to play a variety of Christian camps and events through the beginning of August.

Singer Garett Hornbuckle, drummer Luke Wycuff, bassist Joshua Schou, and guitarist Jeff Stein are all in their twenties, but they claim that rough childhoods and growing up in broken homes helps inform the difficulties they sing about in their music, as well as the healing power of their faith. Music was a key element of spreading that faith for the group, as the band blossomed out of a previous six-piece they had been involved in within church organizations.

For one, Hornbuckle sounds like a pop singer trying his darndest to sing like a folk singer. In the video for the first single, “Washed Over Me,” he squints and gives a nasal lean in to the vowels, but the performance is more affected than authentic. Perhaps a bit more time will allow the group to build the confidence to fully come in to their own version of folk, or perhaps Christian audiences are responding better to a more polished form of the genre to spread their message.

Either way, All Things New has much room to grow, and time is on their side.

The band’s self-titled debut album was released on BEC records last spring, and the foursome has been touring in support of it since

The group compares themselves to Mumford & Sons and they have a similar stomping, acoustic-folk feel – but they haven’t quite nailed the authenticity, something so important in the world of folk music, that some of their peers in the secular new folk movement have.

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BY LISA HOL AHAN

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ove can be complicated to say the least and relationships are something individuals have to constantly work on for them to grow and be successful. One of the most comforting feelings is to know that someone else might be going through the same distress or heartache as you. When listening to The EchoFriendly, we feel that bond, we identify with the duo through their music and it makes us feel less isolated. Whether you have a great romantic relationship, or one that is falling apart, The Echo-Friendly flips both sides of the coin and takes a brutally honest approach through their lyricism.

The Echo-Friendly consists of guitarist and vocalist Jack Rabinbach and vocalist Shannon Esper. One of the most interesting parts of the group is that the two had a rocky romantic history together, making the material of their band one hundred percent authentic.

Rabinbach and Esper have a way of telling stories through their songs, which cover conflicting feelings, and the ups and downs of breakups and makeups, that can be uncomfortable yet compelling at the same time. It is as if they give listeners the tools to escape their own romantic woes, or at least they try to. They are best friends, exlovers, and even childhood friends who put everything out on the table to expose a reality that is very obscure in the music of today.

The history that Rabinbach and Esper share and the rawness of this duo is what creates a formula of true success.

The Echo-Friendly received overall positive reviews on their debut album. A track off of the album, called “Same Mistakes,” was featured on the first season of HBO’s Girls, which really gave the band the exposure that they needed. The song is hands down the best song on the album, with the lyrics “I make the same mistakes, feels like I never learn. Always give way too much, for little in return,” giving just a glimpse of the relatable material this group has to offer.

The chronicles of Jake Rabinbach and Shannon Esper’s lives are filled with tension, doubt, fear and a mix of jumbled emotions.

However, all of these emotions are revolved around the most significant feeling of all, which is love. The bittersweet saga within their debut, Love Panic, has opened doors for the band with its positive feedback, giving them the motivation to keep creating authentic music as opposed to the bubble gum hits heard on the radio today. Be sure to check out the songs, “Same Mistakes,” “Apartment,”“Supplies for Arson,” and “F*** It and Whatever.”

Love Panic is an intriguing and socially reflective album, something that has been long overdue but is truly refreshing. Now that’s something to fall in love with.

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Photo Courtesy of The Echo Friendly

Currently residing in Brooklyn, New York, the duo started releasing music in 2011 and later signed with YEBO Music. The indie power rock group recently made their debut in May of 2014 with an album titled Love Panic. The album consists of ten tracks that are filled with a whirlwind of emotion; each song is based on actual events and they are like reading the pages of someone’s diary. The dual vocals from Shannon and Jack are just as fulfilling as the lyrics on this album. When hearing Love Panic for the first time, listeners become eager as they go through track by track to see how each story unfolds.

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ALUNAGEORGE

BY LISA HOL AHAN

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P h o t o C o u r t e s y o f Re d B u l l S t u d i o

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ooking for some new sounds at your next party? Try letting the music of AlunaGeorge pump through your speakers and watch as your guests begin to fall in love. AlunaGeorge hooks listeners with a mix of their electronica and R&B sound in combination with spunky lyrics yet dainty vocals provided by singer Aluna Francis. The United Kingdom duo consists of two very talented artists; vocalist and songwriter Aluna Francis and instrumentalist and producer George Reid. The dynamic duo met in 2009 as the result of a remix Reid had made of a track called “Sweetheart” for Francis’ former band, My Toys Like Me. Before Reid became a producer he was the guitarist in an indie rock band called Colour but he had always been excited and fascinated by minimal American Hip-Hop music, looking up to artists like The Neptunes and Lil Wayne for inspiration. Aluna Francis sang for the well-liked UK band My Toys Like Me, who were mostly known for jamming while ad-libbing songs to create a more spontaneous performance. When Reid decided to leave Colour, he began to study production and saw himself taking a different route in music. Luckily, when Aluna and George teamed up together to form AlunaGeorge it became proof that trying something new can be very rewarding.

The duo started working in the studio in 2012 and released their first single as a band called “You Know You Like It.” The song was released via digital download in April, which was followed by a vinyl release later that year. However, it was their first commercial single, called “Your Drums, Your Love,” released in September of 2012, that gave the band proper establishment in England. The song climbed its way through the UK Singles Chart and landed at number fifty, a very

impressive feat for the newcomers. AlunaGeorge made a visit to BBC Radio 1 a few months later and announced that their debut album would be titled Body Music and that the band had expectations to release the album sometime during the summer of 2013.

During June of 2013, Francis and Reid teased anticipating fans with the premiere of the song “Diver” from their upcoming album.

They also revealed the cover art and track listing for their debut, which would be released on July 29th 2013. Body Music essentially received positive reviews by fans and critics; it was rated with a 73 Metascore on Metacric and given three and a half stars out of five from Rolling Stone. The debut album contained a whopping nineteen tracks, an unusually large amount for an album, but then again, nothing about AlunaGeorge is usual. The band goes out of their way on each track to create something different from the next, making the whole album genuinely entertaining.

One of the duos most popular collaborations is with EDM group Disclosure on a song called “White Noise.” The song became AlunaGeorges’ first top forty hit, scoring big at the number two spot on the UK Singles Chart. Some tracks definitely worth listening to are “White Noise,” “Best Be Believing,” “Just a Touch,” and “Your Drums, Your Love.” Most recently, the duo released Body Music Remixed, an assortment of brand new remixes of songs from their debut album.

Don’t forget to check out the music of AlunaGeorge and become a part of their journey. With musically talented Reid, flawless production of bass and electronics are inevitable, and in combination with the emotionally soulful yet sweet sounds of Aluna, these two seem to have a bright future ahead of them.

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LANA DEL REY

BY OLIVIA JANNUZZI

L

ana Del Rey, born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, is definitely different than most female artists of this time. Almost as if she popped out of a time machine, her music plays around with 50’s and 60’s Americana style, mixed with a little modern day swagger. She describes herself as a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra,” and I think it totally fits. Her vocals are emotive and melodic, able to hit really high notes as well as the deep, low notes. Her musical style has been described as “Hollywood sadcore.” It’s melancholy, mostly slow, and really, really beautiful.

Miss Del Rey, now 29 years old, has been songwriting since she was 18. Around that age, she attended Fordham University and studied metaphysics. She told London’s Daily Mail that this area of philosophy “bridged the gap between God and science. I was interested in God and how technology could bring us closer to finding out where we came from and why. That was when my musical experience began. I kind of found people for myself.” She started playing in nightclubs around Brooklyn under different stage names and in 2011 she signed on to Interscope, Polydor, and Stranger Records after they noticed her on Youtube.

In 2012 her album, Born to Die was released. The album caught a lot of attention because of how unique Lana and her music was. Her album went platinum, reaching the number two spot on the U.S Billboard 200, became the fifth bestselling album of 2012, and reached number one in 11 other countries. There were a bunch of hits off Born to Die, including the most popular, “Video Games.” It’s calm, haunting, and plenty melancholy. The lyrics are really out of this world, highly creative and personal: “I tell you all the time / Heaven is a place on Earth with you / tell me all the things you wanna do / I heard that you like the bad girls honey, is that true?” Right

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LANA DEL REY there you can see how Lana has this lyrical swagger that makes her that “gangsta” she describes herself as. She has attitude but her songs have emotion.

Following that is her hit “Blue Jeans,” which is my favorite. It tells the story of a lover who leaves to go make money, and never comes back. She sings the part of a lonely woman, waiting for a love that is never coming back. It’s chilling and stunning.

Then there is “National Anthem,” perhaps

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the liveliest of the three hits. This song immediately transports you to a summer night with fireworks overhead, perhaps sitting with a young love next to you. It’s a fun listen, really catching that classic summer vibe with the same Del Rey sound.

Her newest album, Ultraviolence, was released June 4, 2014. It made it to number one in twelve countries, including the U.S, selling 880.000 copies. She worked with Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, and

Rufus Wainwright, a composer. The album is still classic Del Rey, vintage, slow, and tells amazing stories through the music.

If you haven’t heard Lana Del Rey yet, you definitely should. Much different than your average female pop-star, she stands out with her 50’s/60’s style, her “gangsta” attitude, and her amazingly beautiful lyrics.

Be sure to check out Born to Die along with her new album Ultraviolence.

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steinway pianos

BY ANDREW DAVIS

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NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

S

ince its introduction in 1853, Steinway grand pianos have been the epitome of the piano world. Based out of Astoria, New York, Steinway & Sons make grand pianos that have a sound and feel that many musicians have called remarkable. Through the years, the company’s influential inventions have become the standard among all grand piano designs. To this day, Steinway & Sons have continued to produce quality instruments.

Steinway’s grand piano features the patented “Double Crown” design that creates a beautiful tonal response. Steinway grand piano keybeds are crafted so “slapping” during heavy playing does not occur. Attention to detail has always been a priority at Steinway & Sons, and is present when one takes a glance at their stain resistant European spruce keys, which provide an unmatched feel between player and piano.

Steinway grand piano encasements are built using birch, mahogany, and walnut. These woods provide deep vibrant

tones that make up their rich sounds. Their soundboards and keybeds are made of Sitka spruce. The use of spruce in their pianos creates an unparalleled strength while reducing the overall weight of the piano. Each wood is carefully picked and left to cure for months at a time. Steinway & Sons pianos come in either an ebonized or veneered wood finish for that classic grand piano look.

After all these years, Steinway & Sons are still coming up with new ideas. They introduced their Boston and Essex piano lines in 1992 and 2006, respectively. Both lines offer that same quality Steinway sound at an affordable price.

Steinway & Sons Piano Company continues to produce quality pianos that are found in concert halls all around the world. As a recipient of many awards, Steinway & Sons continue to push the limits of the grand piano design. So whether you are looking to buy an entry level piano or a Steinway Grand piano, you will be getting a world renowned instrument.

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E.D.M.

MILKY CHANCE

BY KAITLYN HARRISON

T

hey always said school would be the beginning of your life, to pay attention and gain those skills before you slip under the system just passing to graduate and we all listened sarcastically.

Ph oto by D a vi dU l rich h och

Clemens Rehbein and Philipp Dausch, the duo famously known as Milky Chance, scoped each other out in their earliest of years of school and immediately clicked.

Together they graduated secondary school at Jacob-Grimm-Schule and played in a band until the drummer quit, leaving the two with just each other. The boys built a

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tiny studio in Clemens’ parents house and got to work on their debut album. Within two weeks, they self-produced their album Sadnecessary, which was released in 2013.

Two songs from this album, “Stolen Dance” and “Down by the River,” hit the charts in Germany and eastern Europe, with “Stolen Dance” becoming a number one hit for them.

Milky Chance’s music is a collection of alternative pop folk rock with electronic and reggae influences, a melting pot of genres that open up a wide range fan base in itself.

There are dozens of remixes with more EDM influences than the original, however their work is an earful of art in itself.

“Flashed Junk Mind,” off Milky Chance’s Sadnecessary, is a personal favorite for it’s upbeat reggae tones.

For the better part of 2014, Milky Chance has been touring Europe to sold out venues. Their goal of promoting their music far exceeded their predictions as the numbers kept growing. They are currently playing a string of festival dates, including Dockville Festival in Hamburg.

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Upcoming Shows • Widowspeak MoMa, August 28

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• Bleachers Webster Hall, September 4

• The Drums Music Hall of Williamsburg, September 16; Bowery Ballroom September 20

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• Sam Smith Hammerstein Ballroom, September 19 • Ease Up Knitting Factory Brooklyn, September 20; Revolution Amityville, September 21 • Twenty One Pilots @ Terminal 5, September 25

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NEWSOUNDMAGAZINE.COM

Neil Young

BY E L I S E YA B LO N

N

eil Young has had a storied and prolific musical career over the last 54 years. Whether it has been with Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, or his solo work, there is no doubt that he has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and music fans.

The two-time Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee has released over 35 solo studio albums, 7 live albums, 3 greatest hits albums, and a number of live “archived” performances, not to mention the albums he has released with his various bands. He is best known for hits such as “For What It’s Worth” (with Buffalo Springfield), “Ohio” (With Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young), “Heart of Gold,” “Cinnamin Girl,” and “Rockin’ in the Free World,” among others.

Young began his musical career in his native Canada in the early to mid 1960’s, first with his high school band The Squires, then as a songwriter for other musicians.

After a short stint in the Mynah Birds, Young moved to Los Angeles and began Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills. After the success of their debut self-titled album and hit single, “For What It’s Worth,” the band released two more albums before calling it quits. Young then went solo for a while with Crazy Horse as his back-up band, releasing two albums, Neil Young, and Everybody Knows this is Nowhere.

Reuniting with Stills, Young joined up with the already successful Crosby, Stills, and

Nash, becoming a full partner for their second album, Deja Vu. While still working with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Young’s solo career took off. His next two records, After the Gold Rush and Harvest, were some of his highest charting of all time. Impressively, he has managed to continue to release a solo album or two, to various levels of chart success, almost every year for the next 44 years.

Young’s latest musical endeavor was released in April 2014, a 12’’ record titled A Letter Home. The album was recorded at Jack White’s (The White Stripes, Dead Weather) Third Man Records, using White’s restored 1940s Voice-o-Graph booth. A cover album, Young recorded songs by Bruce Springsteen (“My Hometown”), Bob Dylan (“Girl from the North Country”), Gordon Lightfoot (“Early Morning Rain,” “If I Could Read Your Mind”), The Everly Brothers (“I Wonder If I Care as Much”), and Willie Nelson (“Crazy,” “On the Road Again”), among others. He even demonstrated the booth on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this year by making a recording of “Crazy” right on the spot. The album charted at number 13 in the United States and 17 in Canada, proving that Young is still relevant to this day.

Under the alias “Bernard Shakey,” Young has directed a number of films. His works include a mix of narrative stories and

concert films. LincVolt is his latest project, the subject of which is to document the rise of electric car technology.

Over the years, Young has become an activist of sorts. He has historically been very outspoken in his political stances, writing many a protest song against Bush Sr. and Bush Jr.’s policies. Young and his wife also started the Bridge School for children with disabilities, and subsequently the Bridge School Benefit Concerts to help raise money for it. A noted environmentalist, he helped start Farm Aid to help protect small farmers. His latest cause has been his “Protect Earth” campaign. Young has vowed to stop selling non-organic products at his live shows and webstore as a way to cut down on his carbon footprint.

Young has also been working on a new music system. According to their website, “PonoMusic is dedicated to restoring that ear-body connection with a new digital music system that optimizes the listening experience end-to-end.” Since CDs and MP3s get changed during compression, Pono is supposed to give you the sound that the artist intended during recording.

The player is set to come out in Fall 2014.

Neil Young continues to be one of the most prolific artists of the 20th Century.

Through his activism, Ponos, and his continuous release of music for the last 54 years, Young has remained culturally relevant and is still an influential force in today’s music industry.

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