Photo by Scott Irvine, c. 2011

Jamie Saft: Jewish Heavy Metal Mountain Man

With a monstrous, flowing, godlike beard, multi-instrumental guru Jamie Saft resembles a Hasidic mountain man who should be jamming on meaty blues licks with his beloved ZZ Top instead of the downtown avant-gardist and John Zorn ensemble vet he is reputed to be. The catch is, dude actually makes his home upstate, living a lone wolf existence on top of a mountain upstate in the middle of fuckin' nowhere.

See also: Next Up on the Bad Brains Canonization Brigade: Shepard Fairey

More »

When a group of best friends lock themselves in a house with a bunch of beer, some firewood and their respective instruments, it's a situation that could result in charred guitars, wounded friendships and questionable morning after stories. Thankfully, Toronto's Born Ruffians did so with the intent to write a record--Birthmarks, their third full-length effort and the follow-up to 2010's Say It--and spent some weeks last spring and fall writing and recording some demos in between the sandwiches and sleepovers.

See also: Live: Peter Bjorn and John Do the Little Things

More »

Songs for Imaginative People, Darwin Deez's sophomore release, is one that signifies a rock-ridden shift of sorts for the eccentric indie-pop performer. The songs of his self-titled debut previously inspired moments of euphoria that were seemingly conjured up for a makeshift dance floor, especially "Constellations," and "Radar Detector," the latter serving as an ideal backing track for those early hours of the morning when your buzz has peaked.

When the album dropped on Lucky Number back in February, it became clear Deez was looking to try something new on for size, be it distorted guitars, a genre shake-up or both. As he readies for a spring tour behind it, Deez reflects on the process that went into Imaginative People and the songs he's getting to know all over again onstage.

See also: The Best Shows at SXSW This Year

Darwin Deez performs tonight at Bowery Ballroom.

More »

Last night, Lisa Loeb stepped out of a cab in front of Highline Ballroom with an orange guitar case slung across her shoulder, her hair pulled into a low ponytail, and her eyes hidden behind her iconic black-framed glasses. She is petite with a somewhat soft voice, and speaks thoughtfully and intelligently, like the smart, quiet girl in your college literature seminar. In 1994, Loeb was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract. Almost 20 years later, she is still plugging away and making music, and in January she released a new record, No Fairy Tale. We walked to Chelsea Market before her show at Highline, and caught up over coffee about what it means to be '90s female pop icon, eyewear, children's music, and having to play "Stay (I Missed You)" over and over, and over.

See also: Guess What Year These Lisa Loeb Photos Were Taken

More »

Force Field PR

Trevor Powers doesn't really get it.

The musician -- who performs under the moniker Youth Lagoon -- caught the ink of critics back when his debut record, The Year in Hibernation, was released in late 2011. The album is a sprawling, introspective sonic and lyrical examination of crippling anxiety. Pitchfork gave it their esteemed Best New Music. Allmusic noted its "vulnerability and empathy." And the AV Club called his songcraft "intimate-yet-epic." Blogs and tweeters celebrated the immediacy of the music, and how emotional it was, and how all of that probably had to do with the fact that it was recorded in his bedroom after a break-up. Except now we're back to what Trevor Powers doesn't get -- because, well, Hibernation actually wasn't recorded in a bedroom.

More »

Daedelus

As the boundaries that separate genres continue to dissolve, hip-hop and dance have formed an alliance that's bringing electronic producers to the forefront of popular music. For artists like Daedelus and Salva, who've been working with multiple genres for their entire careers, this evolution has been extremely exciting. Daedelus has been a key member of the L.A. beat scene for more than a decade, working with labels like Brainfeeder and Ninja Tune to explore new sounds. Salva, though he's been working for years, blew up in 2012 when he collaborated with labelmate R.L. Grime to create an acclaimed remix of Kanye's "Mercy." Off the strength of that track, Salva was able to ascend to new heights, securing a spot on BBC Radio 1's show, In New DJ's we trust. Both artists are currently involved in the Magical Properties Tour, which hits Le Poisson Rouge tonight, Saturday, March 2, so we talked to each of them about the evolution of electronic music and their own careers.

See also: Why EDM Is Thriving While Other Genres Are Sinking

More »

Courtesy of Jessica Earnshaw

Alexz Johnson really loves Brooklyn. It shows on her face with the way she lights up whenever her neck of the woods is mentioned. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter/actress relocated to the borough with one goal for herself as an artist: total scene immersion. It's a pretty good goal when you have to rebuild your career from scratch.

Alexz Johnson performs tonight, 2/28, at Highline Ballroom with Charlene Kaye, Jay Stolar, and Misty Boyce.

More »

via Flickr

Since contributing to Carrie Underwood's 2007 "Last Name," 2012 BMI Country Songwriter of the Year Luke Laird has netted almost a dozen chart-toppers, penning hits for everyone from Eric Church to Little Big Town and Miranda Lambert. This year, on top of work with Tim McGraw and Little Big Town, he'll have a handful of tunes on Kacey Musgraves's Nashville debut, Same Trailer Different Park. We talked to Laird about his songwriting process, his love of hip-hop, and what it's like to work with Kacey.

See also: With "Merry Go 'Round," Kacey Musgraves Starts Writing the Future of Country

More »

Javelin

Tom Van Buskirk, the thoughtful Los Angeles-based half of polyglot pan-tropical duo Javelin, has some mixed feelings about social media. "When I follow someone on Twitter and all I get is a barrage of RT's or straight-up PR shit, it kind of offends me, and they never know. It's just funny that we put all this stock in a little interaction." It's partially the subject of the song "Friending"--which is, yes, a Facebook reference--off Javelin's forthcoming record, Hi Beams, coming out in March on David Byrne's Luaka Bop imprint. The other idea for the song came from Van Buskirk's teenage brother and graffiti enthusiast in New Zealand, who once boasted he was friends with a famous tagger in New York. "It took me a minute to realize that he meant Facebook friends," he tells me over the phone. "It's a strange world we live in."

See also: Last Night We Were Literally on a Boat With Keepaway, Javelin, and a Newly Five-Year-Old Music Slut

More »

Brian Cherchiglia (center) and The Bottom Dollars

This Saturday night, emerging Brooklyn rock darlings the Bottom Dollars play a late night show at Mercury Lounge with brothers-in-rock the Nuclears. Known for the party-marathon atmosphere of their performances, the Bottom Dollars have amassed a following dedicated enough to effectively crowd-source funding for a van and put together an upcoming nationwide tour, all without a manager. We spoke to guitarist and lead vocalist Brian Cherchiglia, surrounded by his bandmates, to find out how they're pulling off being entirely DIY in NYC.

See Also:
-Fan Landers: How Can My Band Go From DIY To The Next Level?
-The Top Ten DIY Venues In New York City
-Fan Landers: "I've DIY'ed Myself Into Oblivion. How Do I Climb Out Of It?"

More »