Kaia Willow

Young Magic w/SoftSpot, Co La
Cameo Gallery
Friday, April 6

Better than: '60s nostalgia.

Over the past three years, artists such as Caribou, Phantogram, and Tame Impala have merged their already-existing musical sensibilities with psychedlia, creating music that attempts to bring its audience into a transcendent place. The trio Young Magic, which come together from different corners of the world and now resides in Brooklyn, operates with a similar M.O., exploring both the past and the future with its heady, potent mix of music and visuals.

Friday night at Cameo Gallery, the band shook the audience, delivering an enormous wall of sound anchored by textures both organic and electronic. Singer/songwriter Isaac Emmanuel sequenced beats and tracks in addition to his prophetic lead vocal performance. Opposite Isaac on stage right, Michael Italia manned a station of live percussion including floor toms, high-pitched roto-toms, and electronic drum pads. Melati Malay radiated with the Zen composure of Yoko Ono, bearing an echo-laden guitar and allowing the mic to capture her soaring, expressive chants. Each member operates their own station of instruments and technology and contributes their voice to the chorus. There is no clear leader of the band, giving what's happening on stage more of a musical-commune feel than one gets while watching most contemporary bands.

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Nguzunguzu.

​Nguzunguzu w/Salva, Rizzla, DJ Weird Magic
285 Kent
Friday, March 23

Better than: Any workout that doesn't happen on the dance floor.

At 2 a.m. early Saturday Salva took control of 285 Kent, commanding the audience with a mix that incorporated freestyle, house, Miami bass, southern rap, and west coast funk—among other things. "I've gotten into a lot of stuff over the years like IDM and old proper electro, and Miami bass", Paul Salva—who operates under his last name—told me before the show. A Midwest native, Salva has set up on shop in San Fransisco and launched his own Frite Nite label; he recently moved to Los Angeles.

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​Four Tet
(le) Poisson Rouge
Saturday, March 10

Better than: Sleeping through the Daylight Savings Time switch.

Over the course of 13 years and five albums, Kieran Hebden—a.k.a. Four Tet—has established himself as a leading figure in experimental and electronic music. With a balance of organic and programmed elements in his arsenal, as well as a slew of hip-hop and jazz influences, he bucks stereotypes and paints electronic music as a humanistic genre.

A production by Four Tet might contain re-pitched vocals, mallet percussion, harps, analog synthesizers, and syncopated slip-n-slide patterns programmed from vintage drum kit samples. An arrangement like this sounds like it could be overstuffed, but Hebden's production style instead tends toward the skeletal and simplistic.

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​Julia Holter
(le) poisson rouge
Tuesday, March 6

Better than: A night at the symphony.

In the 1980s, New York icon Laurie Anderson charted the territory between contemporary classical and pop with records made for the art world but in possession of a mainstream sensibility, and performances made for the rock club that also contained concert-hall theatrics. The new album from rising avant-pop musician Julia Holter, Ekstasis (RVNG Intl.), carries on in this tradition, and last night she made her New York live debut at (le) poisson rouge—the ideal venue for her aesthetic.

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​"Korallreven" is the Swedish word for "coral reef," and that imageappropriately sums up the Swedish dream-pop duo's beautiful, yet threatening sound, which is both beautiful and threatening. Korallreven's music is filled with these kinds of dualities: cold and sunny; vast and intimate; light and heavy. Immersing oneself in the band's debut, An Album By Korallreven, (Hybris / Acéphale) is a soothing and cerebral experience, but bandmember Marcus Joons says the group's live show airs more on the side of rhythmic and energetic.

"Our sound is a bit different live from our records," says Joons. "It's more focused on beats, trying to take you to a trance-like feeling." Korallreven's first NYC show—happening on Sunday at Bowery Ballroom—will be a return to what Joons calls his second home; he lived in New York while completing An Album By Korallreven. "I was walking around the city, listening, listening, listening during the fall of 2010," he said. "I like the spontaneity of New York. Things are just happening."

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​Henry Laufer, aka Shlohmo, is an electronic musician now living in New York after coming up in Los Angeles's beat scene, popularized by artists like Flying Lotus and Baths. Shlohmo's downtempo beatmaking can hit hard or be delivered with an eloquent soulful spin. I got a chance to talk to Henry before his show tonight at Cameo Gallery.

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​Nicolas Jaar: From Scratch
P.S. 1
Sunday, February 5

Better than: A just-press-play-and-hide-behind-the-laptop DJ.

The 21-year old American-Chilean electronic producer Nicolas Jaar has ambition. In the past two years, he's released seven EPs and the full-length Space Is Only Noise; he runs his own label and tours with a rotating cast of collaborators, who bring elements of live performance to his robust yet minimal compositions. This weekend, Jaar wrapped up a weekend of shows, among them a sold-out night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, with a five-hour set at P.S. 1 titled From Scratch. Jaar's music is an intersection between left-field electronic and contemporary classical music, and he leaves plenty of space between the beats for his music to breathe. The quality of the sounds used by Jaar are equally important to the sounds he constructs as harmony and rhythm, with melody taking a back seat as a compositional element.

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by Erin Rioux

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High Places
Tammany Hall
Saturday, August 13

Better than: Listening to The Weeknd's record for the fourth time on repeat.

The Los Angeles-via-Brooklyn duo High Places launched into their set on Saturday night with "Year Off," the first single off their forthcoming LP Original Colors (Thrill Jockey). The two craft kaleidoscopic beats—Mary Pearson handles lead vocals and synth duties, while Rob Barber is on drum pad and guitar—and "Year Off" is a cool, glassy exploration of the dark undertones once buried in the band's colorful sound palette. Barber's winding disco beat is supported by an arpeggiated-synth bassline with soft bell sounds rising over the top. Pearson's delicate voice is beautiful when it's audible, but it's mostly dominated by the pounding kick drum and the snare drum decaying in echo. She stepped away from the mic, dancing gently in her what looked like a shirt-cape as Barber navigated the song in and out of a jungle break.

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