stereoactivenyc

El Jezel Release New Video + Digital EP; CD Release Party On Friday

(still from “Champagne And Cold Coffee” video)

El Jezel has a new album out this week, which they’ll be celebrating with a show at Crash Mansion on Friday. In anticipation of this, they’ve just released a new music video and a free digital EP on their newly relaunched website.

The music video is for “Champagne And Cold Coffee,” a track from the full-length that also anchors the digital EP, and features the ever-charming Jessica and George — along with bandmate Dan — as protagonists in a story centered loosely around the lyrics. Directors Paul Rondeau and Chris Brunelle have provided some rather skillful production values to match an impressive song. You can view it here.

“Crossing 21st Street” and “Side Effects” — two El Jezel songs we know from recent shows — join “Champagne And Cold Coffee” along with a cover of The Breeders’ “Do You Love Me Now” on the four-song EP. Listen and download it here.

And make sure to be at Crash Mansion on Friday night to celebrate the release of El Jezel’s second full-length album, The Warm Frequency. The band is on at 11pm. Here are details:

Friday, May 30th

El Jezel
@ Crash Mansion / 11pm
199 Bowery Street (corner of Spring Street)
New York, NY
FREE admission before 11pm if you RSVP to rsvp@newyorkunderbelly.com
Regular admission - $5 before 11pm / $10 after 11pm
Open bar from 9pm-10pm

Tags: crash mansion, digital ep, El Jezel, music video, the warm crequency

Photos: Zero Spanish at Hot Rocks

Playing a little bit of catch-up. Here are some photos of Zero Spanish playing at the April Hot Rocks Party at The Delancey, with more available on Flickr:

We also posted about Zero Spanish when they played at Pianos in January.

Tags: Hot Rocks Party, photos, the delancey, Zero Spanish

Tonight: Renminbi CD Release Show

We helped to organize a pre-release party for Renminbi back in March when their album, The Phoenix, was first being made available on a very limited basis. It ended up being an excellent show and the album has been in pretty heavy rotation for us the last few months since we first received it. The band plays a nice mix of post-punk and post-rock featuring intricately rhythmic drumming, swirling/pulsing keys and synth, and some damn fine guitar work. One thing that really strikes us is the way the vocals interplay with everything. Much of the album is instrumental and one pitfall we’ve noticed with other largely instrumental albums that feature vocals on only a few tracks is that the vocals can really stand out in a rather distracting way. Renminbi manages to avoid this with seeming ease. The vocals are never exactly upfront when they are present, but, rather, nested well into the instrumentation going on all around them without blending in too much or fading into the background.

We highly recommend checking Renminbi out tonight at Pianos. Everyone who attends will get a free copy of the album. And if you’ve already managed to snag a copy, bring it and they’ll give you a T-shirt to match.

And, as if that weren’t enough, The Naked Hearts and Forest Fire are also playing. Here are the details:

Renminbi + The Naked Hearts + Forest Fire
@ Pianos (RENMINBI CD RELEASE PARTY) / 8pm
158 Ludlow Street
New York, NY
8pm - Renminbi
9pm - Forest Fire
10pm - The Naked Hearts
11pm - Something In Spanish

And here are some photos from that aforementioned pre-release show, with more available on Flickr:

Tags: cd release, forest fire, photos, pianos, Renminbi, the naked hearts