RethinkPopMusic CMJ Promo Video

RethinkPopMusic hosted a CMJ showcase at The Bowery Electric on Thursday, October 20th 2011.

Artists performing that evening were:

The Yes Way
Black Taxi
Courtesy Tier
The Aviation Orange
Viva Mayday
Beast Make Bomb
Man on Earth
The Ruby Spirit

The Chaotic Good featured in Mammut “Peak Project” trailer

Mammut uses The Chaotic Good track “WYLA” for their “Peak Project” celebrating their 150 year anniversary… if this doesn’t motivate you to climb the nearest mountain nothing will.

Great Elk… from Alaska to CMJ

We’re not too sure how we came across Great Elk, but after hearing some tunes and realizing they have been around for quite some time we felt a bit silly we hadn’t heard them earlier.

Great Elk refers to themselves as “Indie Folk” but could easily be described as “Revival Bluegrass” (just made that one up), as elements certainly channel the blues but lack the associated twang. Rather, Paul Basile’s vocal delivery is reminiscent of Northwest acts (Basile often splits his time between Alaska and NYC) such as Death Cab for Cutie and The Decemberists. However, as he painfully scratches through the “waited for today” refrain at the end of “Vibrations,” as uplifting pseudo-falsetto harmonies weave in and out between sparse guitar strums, one can’t help but think of Kurt Cobain covering Leadbelly’s epic “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.”

While vocals are Great Elk’s tour de force, the music itself is dominated by an acoustic/electric guitar combo between Basile and long time collaborator Patrick Hay. Nevertheless, what may be mistaken for simplicity upon an initial listen, is actually complex guitar work throughout their self-titled EP. On “Down in the Willow Garden” as Basille describes the murder of a young girl reminiscent of the movie River’s Edge, a distorted guitar reverb hovers throughout creating an expansive sound that peaks before becoming the slightest bit overwhelming. Additionally, on “Vibrations” the guitar work is so intricate that we are almost convinced it’s a lap slide… but too embarrassed to ask. And judging from the video of “Further North” below it’s just unfiltered talent.

Great Elk will be releasing their debut full-length Autogeography in early 2012 and we are honestly waiting with baited breath. Also, they are currently nominated for The Deli Magazine’s Artist of the Month and would greatly appreciate your vote. We suspect they will be playing the majority of tracks from the forthcoming release at our CMJ showcase at 10:00pm on Wednesday, October 19th at Spike Hill.

Emily Greene Shows No Remorse

Emily Greene comes to us via recommendation from heartstring tuggers Lucius… so we had a listen and bashfully fell in love.

According to Greene her music is “If Erykah Badu and Woody Allen had a baby, the product would be Emily Greene. Growing up in the barrio of Miami, FL, neurotically Jewish Greene inherited, as if through osmosis, a deep, soulful timbre in her voice, and the show-stopping ability to booty dance.”

“Is This What You Had In Mind” is the track that has us smitten at the moment. Greene’s vocal delivery is not what one has come to expect from the piano backed singer-songwriter. She doesn’t try to stretch a studio contrived vocal range above self indulgent instrumentation. Personally, the soulful aspect of her self description is not necessarily most prevalent sonically, but rather through her lyrics. She opens up with some borderline provocative insight into her personal life but delivers them so delicately that the pain being described takes on a beautiful “we’ve all been there” omniscience.

Solo:

Full Band:

Most of Greene’s songwriting follows a similar format of musical restraint and deep lyrical insight. On “Oceans and Waves” she departs from the classic piano and embraces a subtle organ tone. With the additional guitar layering a shoegaze vibe the likes of Sneaker Pimps’ “6 Underground” is fuzed with the remorseful longing of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone with the Wind” to create quite the genre bender.

Overall, the ethereal sound of Greene’s music combined with the richness of her lyrics makes for a musical experience that sets her far apart from her counterparts. And we are beyond excited to have her play our CMJ showcase at 8:30pm on Wednesday, October 19th at Spike Hill.

Little Racer Runs Abroad

Little Racer is no stranger to RethinkPopMusic as they are quickly becoming a staff favorite and have played a couple of our showcases this year. While they are still armed with a 3 track EP, sharply titled “Songs” (released July 2010) they have recently garnered some interest in the UK and rumor has it that an official release is forthcoming.

Little Racer’s sound is one that is poised, polished and “pop”… not as a genre of music but the ability to appeal to a very broad audience. Influences of the Beach Boys, Velvet Underground and Talking Heads are most prevalent on the tracks, with an easy classification of surf/island/yacht certainly to win over the hearts and minds of the mainstream audience. For example check out “Split for the Coast” below:

Little Racer performs “Split for the Coast” at The Rock Shop, Brooklyn from BlearyEyedBrooklyn.com on Vimeo.

Nevertheless, their is also a dirty roadside lounge element to their sound as the snare cracks and the assumed muffled vocal harmonies come out crystal clear. Delicate guitar is intermittently interrupted with fuzzy bass and as the music seemingly begins to digress into the indie noise realm a perfectly placed chorus or harmony brings the track back to center. “The Town” grabs our attention as it traverses the most musical territory with deep horns, doubled vocals and curious breakdowns that cross multiple musical genres.

Little Racer is a rare talent not often praised amongst the ever changing Brooklyn trends and we won’t be surprised when they take it across the Atlantic to be truly appreciated… nor will they be the first.

You can see Little Racer perform at our CMJ showcase at 7:45pm on Wednesday, October 19th at Spike Hill.