StereoactiveNYC

Review: The Naked Hearts – Mass Hysteria

With a title that implies musical dissonance, the Naked Hearts‘ new album, Mass Hysteria, is really anything but. Amy Cooper (guitar) and Noah Wheeler (bass, drums) take turns singing lead and, along with occasional boy/girl interplay, they each own their respective songs with a healthy mix of downheartedness and adoration. Wheeler’s special sense of urgency and Cooper’s seductive melodies make it easy to fall headfirst in love with each three-or-so minute song, making Mass Hysteria a pretty near perfect experiment in pop music.

With the opening track, “Like I Do” — “No one/ No one/ No one likes you like me — the duo flirt with a Blake Babies-inspired sound. Cooper continues to lead the listener on with her pretty Suzanne Vega-esque pitch in “Call Me”: “First Light On Your Hair So Pretty/Walls White Fall Behind You Into The Ground”. Other stand out tracks like “Grow” and the title track, “Mass Hysteria,” may have simple names and uniquely catchy chords but they all manage to strike at the heart strings in a way not every tightly-crafted pop song is capable of accomplishing.

Even though it seems to be an exercise in the unrequited, this new record by the Naked Hearts – of what we consider love songs — left us with a full heart and a happy glint in our eyes.

Here are a couple of tracks from the album:

mp3: “Like I Do” by The Naked Hearts

mp3: “Call Me” by The Naked Hearts

Editor’s note: review by contributor, Lora Grillo. Thanks, Lora!

Tags: mass hysteria, the naked hearts

Recent News + Notables

(image via getglucky: via typicalgirls)

We post and reblog news and notable items on a fairly regular basis on our Tumblr. Here’s a sample of what’s been featured there recently:

NY-Centric:

• Gimme Tinnitus asked Magnetic Island some questionds
• The Deli Magazine’s Best Of NYC Fest will be May 13-15
• Shark? is getting ready to record their first full-length album and could use your help, via Kickstarter
• Buzz Rant & Rave reviewed Miniboone’s performance at Fort Useless

Useful/Interesting:

• Apple To Shut Down Lala On May 31, iTunes.com Launch Impending?
• 120 MINUTES Archive: Episodes from MTV (1986-1995)
• Spin’s 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years
• MySpace Gets Serious About Events

Beyond NY:

• 2 tracks from Wolf Parade’s upcoming Expo ’86 album available for streaming
• Download: New Interpol – “Lights”
• Black Francis Streams Complete Solo Catalog Online
• Download Band Of Horses’ “Factory” mp3 from forthcoming album
• New Blonde Redhead – “Not Getting There”
• Stream the new LCD Soundsystem record, This Is Happening
• Roger Waters Reveals 31-Date “The Wall” Tour

Mix Tapes:

• Dog and Pony Show: A Summer Mix
• Sonic Youth / JAMS RUN FREE (1998-2009) by Fluxtumblr
• The Old Bell Mix

Videos:

Diehard – “Cool Kids” music video
[on tumblr]

Nirvana – The Man Who Sold The World
MTV Unplugged, November 1993
[on tumblr]

Shocking Blue – “Love Buzz”
[on tumblr]

Nirvana – “Negative Creep” Live
June 23, 1989 @ Rhino Records
[on tumblr]

New MIA track — “Born Free” — via Pitchfork
[on tumblr]

Pavement – “Summer Babe”
Live in Pomono, 4/15/2010
[on tumblr]

Pavement – “Here”
Live in Pomona, 4/15/2010
[on tumblr]

MARIE STELLA | MySpace Music Videos
CPAB + Taken at Port City Music Hall
[on tumblr]

Tags: 120 minutes, apple, band of horses, best of nyc fest, black francis, blonde redhead, buzz rant &rave, diehard, dog and pony show, fort useless, gimme tinnitus, interpol, itunes, kickstarter, lala, lcd soundsystem, magnetic island, marie stella, MIA, miniboone, mtv, mtv unplugged, myspace, nirvana, pavement, pink floyd, rhino records, roger waters, shark?, shocking blue, sonic youth, spin, the deli magazine, the old bell, wolf parade

Review: Diehard – Oh So Premier

There seems to be a trend of late that we at StereoactiveNYC certainly won’t complain about: local NYC/Brooklyn bands channeling earnest 90s music styles to match the Doc Martens and grandmother-inspired floral prints seen on the streets of Williamsburg. After a positive review from Pitchfork for their track, “Future Tense,” local band Diehard couldn’t be blamed if they were to perhaps act like they have it all sorted, but this power pop four-piece offers no hint of pretension on their Oh So Premier EP, out since January.*

After the minimal-to-layered buildup of the opening track, the record kicks into higher gear with “Was I Wrong?,” a playful Velocity Girl-like singsong of regret that can’t help but bring on a smile. “Future Tense,” a haunting I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One-evoking track manages to honor that quintessential record while also offering a new breath of youthful beats and lyrical beauty. We can easily imagine it as a worthy track to follow “Damage,”  yet it holds its own in the sincere indie rock department.

“Cool Kids”, the final track on the EP, is a beach friendly take on harmony and happenstance. “We’re all down/We’re around” makes us want to meet them at the benches in front of Bouton Hall for an afternoon of youthful time wasting.

Oh So Premier may do its fair share of conjuring up the past, but it also marks an enjoyable present and promising future for Diehard.

Here are a couple of tracks from the EP:

mp3: “Future Tense” by Diehard

mp3: “Back to the Future IV” by Diehard

Or you can preview it via Bandcamp:

Editor’s note: review by contributor, Lora Grillo. Thanks, Lora!

* Editor’s note: apologies for the belated review!

Review: Bel Air – Into The Sea

If you are looking for a new soundtrack to heartbreak, look no further than the just released (on 7″ vinyl) 2 song EP, Into The Sea, by Brooklyn-based band Bel Air. The twangy pop instrumentation underneath the melodic, easy vocals of Allison Langerak on “You Can’t Do Much” reminds us of the cruel paralysis of a broken heart and the hope that they still might come around: “Baby, Rescue Me/ You Know Where I Am”.  The song is accompanied by a Mazzy Star sort of arpeggiated guitar, but is driven by Langerak’s powerful sentiment. Hers is a bold, ready voice — more like Neko Case than Sandavol’s shy coquettish whisper.

Jeff Mensch’s title track, “Into the Sea,” sounds like an homage to early 90s REM, circa Life’s Rich Pageant and Out of Time, that narrates a story of wanting. The song sweeps you in and along for a languoring ride in folky woefulness, but with rays of hope that grab you in the belting of the chorus and throughout the harmonies. “I never thought this night could mean so much,” “Fall on Me/ Into the Sea” calls to mind that perfect night that maybe only happens once a lifetime.

Into The Sea, a successful and extremely listenable EP with an unashamed alternative college radio sound, reminds us of making out with our first love back in school. It was in a tree-house, there were braces, and we wore long sleeves to cover our hands. And now we can listen to Bel Air whenever we want to think of things that are true and beautiful like that magical night.

The band has graciously allowed us to offer both tracks here as mp3s:

mp3: “Into The Sea” by Bel Air

mp3: “You Can’t Do Much” by Bel Air

The band is playing tonight at Mercury Lounge in NYC; they’re on at 8pm.

Editor’s note: this is our first post by new contributor, Lora Grillo. Thanks, Lora!

Tags: bel air, into the sea

Scrambler Seequill Release New Album / Show Tonight + mp3s

Whereas many bands seem to be concerned with taking something pretty-sounding and making it dissonant, Scrambler Seequill has an interesting way of taking dissonance and making it sound pretty. They’re adept at mixing different textures and sounds — big drums, electronic bits and blips, thoughtfully-played spaghetti western guitars, dreamy reverb vocals, string orchestration — as if assembling a collage made up of sounds they’ve torn apart and recomposed to their distinct liking along with whatever interesting outside fragments they’ve discovered in the process. There’s a certain sense of curiosity built in to much of the music, like they were constantly just trying things out as they went, that makes it all seem somewhat lighthearted even as there’s a sense of interesting murkiness that seems to come from the knowledge that maybe the chance they’re taking might not work out. But they try things out anyway and are better for it.

Scrambler Seequill is playing tonight at Littlefield to celebrate the release of the album. And here are a couple of preview tracks for you to sample:

mp3: “Rest For Now” by Scrambler Seequill

mp3: “One Design” by Scrambler Seequill

You can also get a couple of more free downloads and preview the entire album via bandcamp.

Tags: littlefield, scrambler seequill, secret passageways

Dinosaur Feathers LP Presale + mp3/more

2009 has been a year in which many new(er) bands have really come into their own in NYC/Brooklyn. Bands like pow wow!, Shark?, Pet Ghost Project, and Dinosaur Feathers have played scores of shows (often together), put out multiple singles and EPs and even managed to improve upon strong starts to become more and more interesting. It would be hard to hold it against any of them if they wanted to take a bit of a break after such a busy year, but it looks as if all that was just preparation for even an even more impressive 2010.

Case in point: Dinosaur Feathers, whom we’ve had the good fortune of working with already (with another show already in the works — details soon), who released a free digital EP just a couple of months ago, and are now set to release their first full-length album. Fantasy Memorial will be out March 2nd, but is available for pre-order at Insound. We were lucky enough to get a preview copy of the album and have been enjoying it immensely, so suggest you go ahead and order it. Here’s a preview track from the album:

mp3: “Vendela Vida” by Dinosaur Feathers

And we also recommend checking them out at Cameo on Thursday as they finish up a residency there, playing with Pterodactyl, Grandchildren, and Julianna Barwick.

Tags: cameo, dinosaur feathers, fantasy memorial

The Antlers Sign To French Kiss Records // Will Re-Release Hospice

A message from The Antlers:

We, The Antlers, are thrilled to make some official announcements:

1) We’ve signed to the wonderful Frenchkiss Records, who will be re-releasing Hospice digitally June 16th and physically August 18th.  The record’s been remastered, and there shall be vinyl.

2)  After a bunch of exciting NYC shows, we’ll be hitting the road for a few weeks with Au Revoir Simone and Cotton Jones!

via MySpace.com Blogs – THE ANTLERS MySpace Blog .

Tags: french kiss records, hospice, the antlers

New Split 7″ From Alina Simone + The Black Swana

A message from Ms. Simone:

Hi Folks,

you can listen to my new song “Snowfall & Starlight” on

www.mbvmusic.com/the-black-swans-alina-simone-split-7/9391

The song is featured on a 7″ Vinyl Split Single, released May 19th on Sunken Treasure!

A limited edition of 50 red vinyls is now available for pre-oder here:

http://sunkentreasure.org/store1/

via MySpace.com Blogs – Alina Simone MySpace Blog .

Tags: alina simone