Tropical Vortex

It reaches 6:00PM and your day of whatever you do has come to a close.  It’s the middle of the week… Wednesday.  Hump-day.  The-worst-day.  Call it whatever you want-it won’t make the weekend come any faster.  You wish you could whip up one of those insanely wonderful and crazy nights-like the one a few weekends ago.  But nights that perfect-where good vibes are flowing and the music doesn’t let you keep your feet on the floor-aren’t so easy to come by.  Especially when there’s a polar vortex happening.

I am here to offer you THE perfect solution to all of your winter blues.  This Wednesday, February 26th at 8PM, a very sexy tropical vortex will be happening at Radio Bushwick (L Train to Jefferson).  There will be an OPEN BAR from 8-9, so don’t be late! 

The evening will start off with the multi-talented Ludwig Persik offering up revolutionary psychedelia that will transport you to a much warmer place.  Once you’ve arrived on the white sandy beaches, TECLA will be there ready for you with her wildly catchy bass lines that combine hip-hop, reggae, punk-rock, electronic, and funk.  Once you’re all warmed-up and feeling like you could probably be a professional background dancer, 10 piece asto-soul band King Holiday will join the exotic scene.  This will be the climax of the evening, most likely dropping jaws and leaving the audience more than satisfied.  This part of the tropical vortex (King Holiday’s performance) will also be filmed for their new music video, so look fetch and fresh or whatever.  You will be bummed when KH plays their last song, because “the party is just getting started!” Well that’s what DJ Cabo Blanco is for.  He’ll keep where you want to be for the rest of the night. 

So, instead of watching reruns on Netflix or reordering from Seamless what you already ordered last Wednesday, join the Facebook event HERE and come to Radio Bushwick for an evening that will leave your mind, body and spirit energized, happy, and exhausted, all at the same time.

Kyla la Grange - Cut Your Teeth

There's an overwhelming amount of emotion with this musician.  Not only her lyrics, but something about her voice just pulls me toward her.  Mesmerizing melodies might just about sum it up for me.  A philosophy graduate from Cambridge University, Kyla la Grange got her start by singing at open-mic nights.  Indie label Chess Club thankfully realized she was worthy of a more proper stage and helped her release her first single, "Been Better" in 2011.  Some may find her music quite dark, much like the bars she used to perform in.  I suppose I agree.  Maybe we can also call it modern day blues.

Similar Artists: Bat For Lashes, Cat Power, Daughter

Fun Fact: Kyla is part South-African and part Zimbabwean.

Hey Marseilles - "Heart Beats"

You may know this indie rock band from their feel-good tune, "Rio". But have you heard this guy yet? The 0:44 mark is where you might feel a little something. Oh but wait. That feeling doesn't stop here. Keep watching...

In The Valley Below - "Peaches"

The video has finally arrived! Makes the song sound even better. Check it.

MØ - "Glass"

For those of us that go nuts for the likes of Lana, Banks, Lykke Li, Santigold, and (recently) Lorde, LISTEN UP. It seems that there is a rise in sexy, electronic soul female musicians. Karen Marie Ørsted, or better known by her alias: MØ, has joined this Femme Fatale Indie Pop party. (Fun fact: "MØ" is old Norse for "virgin")  She's been working with No Wav to release her much anticipated four-track debut EP entitled "Bikini Daze", and it is FIRE.  This isn't the first time we've heard of the dame.  She's been dropping singles here and there since the beginning of 2012.  It started with "Maiden" about a year ago.  Then "Pilgrim" hit with a bit more attention.  By the time "Glass" came along, she was a star in the electro-pop underworld.  Since then, she's done work with Diplo (featured on this EP) and about to be drop a track with Avicii.


The Copenhagen native has just the right weird, quirky personality to attract all those "Grimes" fans out there. Case in point: her Facebook about page claims that her "interests" are "you, youth..".  This interview shows just how in-it-to-win-it this Scandinavian pedigree is.  The passion here is heart-warming.

We just missed her U.S. tour (she was at Webster Hall here in NYC on September 24th) but that doesn't mean we can't still ooze over her sultry dance hits.

The Dancers - "For Something In Your Eyes"

Some happy warm-weathered tribal pop for you...

Back to School Special ft. Clementine and the Galaxy

TurnStyle continues to bring us the best new underground acts for their third show of the Back to School Special series.  The kickoff party was pretty dope.  If you missed it, catch up with my review here.  

Friday night (9/20/13) was one of those perfect nights to go out.  You know, absolutely clear, just the right temperature, etc.  It seemed like everyone was totally feeling a break after the long week and the streets of the Lower East Side were packed.  So the crowds didn't surprise me when I walked into Pianos. 

I made it just in time for the start of Indie electronic duo KNTRLR.  The pair performed an eclectic range of tunes for us. The majority of the tracks held true to their Indie alternative rock, which is always pretty rad to see live, especially with the musical talent of these guys.  However, they added an electronic element to the performance as well.  Mixing beats along with a live band makes things all the more interesting to the ear.  In the background played a sort of promo video that seemed to made especially for this occasion, which was cool. 

The headliner for the evening was next: Clementine and the Galaxy.  Another eclectic duo making savory sweet tunes.  This pair's focus is on electro-pop and they sure do it well.  Before even seeing them live, they had me replaying their entire debut EP, "Clementine and the Galaxy" over and over again.

The pair file themselves under what they call "art pop", a genre totally new to me.  Apparently the likes of Kate Bush and Bjork are classified under the same genre (no it's not just the title of Lady Gaga's new album...).  Art Pop is defined as "a genre that blends the melodies of Pop music with unconventional or experimental elements."  

Julie Hardy (Clementine) and Mike MacAllister (the Galaxy) are the two masterminds behind this contagious Pop music.  The two met while doing a commercial project in which Hardy was hired to sing and MacAllister was the recording engineer.  These two are the kind of collaboration that take music very seriously.  They both have unique talents to offer in the music world and their endless accomplishments listed in their bio show it.  Impressive as they may be, they are both extremely down to earth, and humble, as can be seen in their TurnStyle interview that was conducted just before the show.

Electro-pop (or Art Pop) can sometimes be a hard genre to pull off live (in my opinion).  When every sound isn't organically created, (i.e. the use of synthesizers, loopers, and samplers) it can be hard to keep the audience focused.  But with compelling dance music and honest talent like Hardy and MacAllister, you've got one hell of an entertaining show.  Clementine dressed the part, in a futuristic get-up and black mask.  They played all the songs on their EP, which was fun to hear live after just hearing the recorded versions.  But the best part was when they broke out some of their new songs.  One of my favorites was "Lazer Gunz"- definitely going to be a winner in my book.  Their energy was so great for the entire show, at one point asking, "Are you guys gonna dance?!" and we certainly did.  How can you not?  

So far, TurnStyle's insider genius proves to be accurate.  So stop missing out on all these fabulous up-and-comers in the industry!   The next show in TurnStyle's Back to School Special series is happening THIS Saturday, October 5th at Tammany Hall.  Buy tickets here!  This means there's no excuse to not tweet about the wonderful Miss Melissa Czarnik first.  

You know the drill: keep checking back for more concert reviews from the Series and in the mean time, check out my Blog, Twitter and Facebook pages to hear some more cool new music.

xoxo Frizzy Blonde