Brooklyn-based synth auteurs Nation of Language entered 2020 as one of the most heralded new acts of recent memory, having only released a handful of singles but already earning high praise from the likes of NME, FADER, Stereogum, Pitchfork, etc.. Now in 2021, they continue to turn heads having released one of the most critically acclaimed debut albums of last year ‘ Introduction, Presence’ ) and recent breakout single ‘A Different Kind of Life’. The band’s ability to blend the upbeat with a healthy dose of sardonic melancholy made it a staple on year-end ‘Best of 2020’ lists, led PASTE magazine to dub the album ‘The most exciting synth-pop debut in years’, and landed the band major radio play from The BBC, KCRW, KEXP, SiriusXM and countless others. Inspired by the early new-wave and punk movements, the band quickly earned a reputation for delivering frenzied nights of unconventional bliss to rapt audiences and established themselves as bright young stars emerging from a crowded NYC landscape.
Geese is a band that begins and ends in Brooklyn, as a project between friends to build a home studio out of a basement. Their songs are born from the same ambition: to make music by any means necessary. They began recording together with sneakers as mic stands and blankets draped over the amps, all within the afternoon following a school day, up until they ran the risk of noise complaints. As of their recent signing with Partisan Records, they are thinking about moving on from sneaker-laden mics and blanketed amps, but their musical ethos has not changed a bit. Curiously alien, yet strangely familiar, the band’s new material is a product of five teenagers whose love of music touches every part of their lives: their restless anxiety about their futures, and their pent-up frustration with their present-a perspective all too familiar in today’s uncertain world.
Sisters Priya “Contra” and Bhagya “Eboshi” Ramesh, aka Cartel Madras, roll through town at Bar le Ritz PDB on March 7. Born in Chennai but based in Calgary, this duo is pushing a hard-as-nails rap sound they have branded “Goonda rap”, centering their experience as queer, immigrants and women of colour.
After the passing of Charles Cooper in 2009, and the creation of his own parallel project Sons of Magdalene, American multi-instrumentalist Joshua Eustis is now carrying the Telefon Tel Aviv torch as a solo act. The tour for the album Dreams Are Not Enough marks the return of the former Nine Inch Nails/Puscifer member’s project with this first recording since Immolate Yourself (2009). Released in September 2019 on Ghostly International, this highly anticipated new material doesn’t disappoint in any way. This electronic opus with high-calibre electronics and sumptuous experimental sounds might be worth the decade of waiting. Intensity and emotion will undoubtedly be part of this performance, which underlines the reunion between an artist of great creative sensitivity, and an audience that hardly expected it to happen anymore, especially in such an intimate setting!
