SELECTIONS FROM THE 2010 MUSIC ROSTER
Phosphorescent
listen/learn – Named Rolling Stone Magazine‘s band of the week in July, the ramshackle Brooklyn-based alt-country band (Pitchfork) Phosphorescent are bringing their seventies singer-songwriter rock backed by barroom piano, lap steel and distorted guitars — a foggy wall of Nashville twang (Rolling Stone) — to the O+ fest. The talents of Phosphorescent the band can not be overstated … Houck’s songs bubble and brood on your turntable, yearning for boisterous accompaniment. (KEXP)
Tracy Bonham
listen/learn – The temptation with the singer and musician Tracy Bonham is always to reduce her work to a snappy explanation. In 1996, her smash hit “Mother, Mother” was girl-power rock in the Morissette mode, her sophomore release Down Here was a change-of-pace bid for critical acclaim, and her last full-length, 2005’s Blink the Brightest, established her as a slow-working artist who keeps getting better. (Pop Matters). Now with her latest, Masts of Manhatta, Bonham has definitely hit her groove. (Rolling Stone). A rewarding album, easily the most personal of Ms. Bonham’s career. (New York Times)
Mike + Ruthy
listen/learn – Daughter to Hudson Valley fiddling legend Jay Ungar and folk-singer Lyn Hardy, Ruthy’s was a past steeped in the folk tradition. Mike had his musical roots planted in the ska-punk and rock scene blasting from the college radio station in his NH hometown. The two fell in love and went on to form the folk-rock behemoth The Mammals, which toured the world many times over. Now, the pair will bring to O+ their “gorgeous acoustic music which exceeds a genre such as folk or singer/songwriter. Two perfectly connected musicians who belong to the absolute top” (Moor Magazine). “Mike and Ruthy’s musicianship bears the mark of veteran brilliance” (Chronogram).
Nina Violet
listen/learn – Traveling from her island home of Martha’s Vineyard for O+, Nina Violet & her band“combine the classic folk rock of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez with the modern indie/chamber pop of Belle and Sebastian and The High Llamas—introspective yet upbeat at the same time” (MyBigMouth Blog). Nina’s stirringly beautiful and controlled voice is a true force, all the more potent when combined with her sister Marciana—“singing sibling harmonies that tug at the heartstrings” (Brooklyn Vegan). A talent on the rise.
Hopewell
listen/learn – “Breathtaking, soulful psychedelic rock with a dark turbulence at its heart: the two elements tugging at each other until a music that is both disquietingly beautiful and emotionally powerful is all that remains.” (NME) Former Mercury Rev bassist / Hopewell lead singer “Jason Russo’s voice echoes and soars above the tribal stomp of the drums and wailing guitars” (Other Music). Rock for the discerning.
Eszter Balint
listen/learn – You may recognize this Hungarian-born singer/songwriter/violinist from Jim Jarmusch’s seminal indie hit Stranger Than Paradise or Steve Buscemi’s Trees Lounge. At 15, she made her recording debut as violinist on a track produced by Basquiat, featuring rapper Rammellzee. She’s also appeared on recordings by Michael Gira’s Angels of Light, Marc Ribot’s Los Cubanos Postizos, and John Lurie’s Marvin Pontiac’s Greatest Hits, to name a few. Jon Pareles wrote of her first release, Miss Balint has her own film noir sensibility as a songwriter. She puts arty twists into back-alley Americana… but the cleverness is not the point. She slips inside her characters to project their restlessness and longing. Don’t miss her performance Sunday afternoon at O+ Festival.
Duke McVinnie
listen/learn – Specializing in a “duality of roots and technology,” guitarist Duke McVinnie (whom you might recognize from the soundtrack of Kill Bill Vol. 2) sports “low-end tremolo, craggy vocals, and dark atmospheres… simply haunting” (Guitar One magazine). Joined by cellist Jane Scarpantoni & band at the O+ fest Friday evening.
Common Prayer
listen/learn – This “endearlingly wayward & ragged” band from Kingston/Brooklyn made “one of the year’s best under-the-radar releases” (The BBC). “Charmingly unhinged… rural psychedelic folk… with the odd sample, electronic rhythm or backwards loop adding texture to the whole. (Roll). The plaintive beauty of one song hardly prepares you for the wildly inventive percussion of the next and … decades of listening to music scarcely primes you for the fluid blend of heartfelt sincerity and offbeat experimentalism found within these numbers (Line of Best Fit).
Amazing Baby
listen/learn – In the vein of MGMT and Yeasayer, acclaimed Brooklyn indie rockers Amazing Baby specialise in dreamy, self-consciously anthemic yet effortlessly cool reverb-tastic rock (The Independent, UK). They channel glam, metal, punk, power pop, and experimental noise …. Roan coaxes with an almost deliriously euphoric art-rock swagger, while O’Connor infuses every track with hedonistic energy. Amazing Baby are desperate to dazzle—and they often do. (Spin) It will be amazing.
Monogold
listen/learn – “This 3-piece rocks around town with a falsetto voice and nicely patterned rhythms which had them on the road this spring with The Stationary Set.” (Deli magazine). Hailing from Brooklyn, Monogold’s “layered vocals exhume a whispering folk that collides with a deep-woods psychedelia” (Music Under Fire). Indie’s latest & best.
Matthew Carefully
listen/learn – Matthew Carefully (née Matthew Loiacono) of Albany fuses modern technology (looping, octave pedals, thick distortion and heavy reverb) with traditional instrumentation (mandolin, banjo, acoustic & electric guitars, drums, et. al.) to make beautifully-crafted songs embellished with eloquent words and haunting melodies. We can’t wait to be carried away by Mr. Carefully
in person this October.
The Silent League
listen/learn – Expect elysian orchestral climaxes, whimsical interludes from the brass section and boisterous group harmonies around maestro Justin Russo’s lonesome vocals. Beautiful stuff. (Time Out New York) Their most recent album, But You’ve Always Been The Caretaker, is an album of near perfect neo-psychedelic wonder (Mojo)—their crowning achievement (Washington Post). This is hairs on the back of your neck stuff.(The Line of Best Fit). Popmatters warns, the Silent League have turned into the great band they always threatened to be. Come see them at O+ with a string ensemble assembled especially for the fest, featuring the best of the best special string-playing guests!
Gail Ann Dorsey + Sara Lee
listen/learn – O+ supergroup!! Gail Ann Dorsey is a top session bassist and vocalist with an eclectic, impressive career spanning two decades. She has performed and recorded with the likes of Gang of Four, Tears For Fears, The Indigo Girls, and most notably, her near decade as touring bassist/vocalist for the legendary David Bowie… Sunday 10/10, she’ll join forces with fellow acclaimed bassist Sara Lee (Gang of Four, B-52′s, Ani DiFranco) & drummer Zack Alford (Bruce Springstein, David Bowie). Don’t miss it!
Liam Singer
listen/learn – Liam Singer clearly is familiar with a range of contemporary classical artists, particularly John Cage and Philip Glass (Allmusic.com) and yet his music also manages to hearken back to the late great Elliott Smith. (Delusions of Adequacy) With its operatic style, with a song narrative following a baroque melody … it’s also intimate, direct, carrying the air of stripped-down singer/songwriter music. (Erasing Clouds) Always brave and never banal, Liam Singer is an artist to keep an ear on. (Coke Machine Glow).
Alexander Turnquist
listen/learn – A multi- instrumental musician who makes his home in Hudson, NY, A. Turnquist creates shifting layers of intricate finger-picked guitar with piano, violin and cello shadings for a sound that is mesmerizing and hypnotic (Direct Current). O+ is honored that some part of the festival’s Saturday afternoon will be dedicated to absorbing his musical moments, which the audience will find to be as surprisingly dynamic as they are perfectly beautiful (Pitchfork).
Paul Dillon
listen/learn – Dublin-born guitarist & singer/songwriter Paul Dillon started kicking around our neighborhood during his brief career touring with local legends Mercury Rev. Throughout his illustrious career (so far), the young and wild Dillon has recorded & toured with with Lotus Crown, Mercury Rev, Longwave, Emily Haines, Silver Rockets and most recently, Sparklehorse. He can often be found DJing worthwhile parties in New York City’s two best boroughs. Musically imagine Elliot Smith singing with The Velvet Underground. Hello, Andy. (BP Fallon).
Dead Unicorn
- listen/learn Zac Shaw (drums, vocals) and Paul Heath (bass, vocals) urge you to live as if the end times are near. Together they form the NY apocalyptic rock duo Dead Unicorn. With their complex excess of noise and melody, lyrics from the darkest comedy in the universe (our lives) and video projections that shock and awe, those who witness Dead Unicorn are not likely to forget their music or their message: Whatever you do on the last day of your life is probably what you should be doing more of in your normal, boring, everyday life.
Lovercraft
listen/learn – The brainchild of Benjie Deford, this hybrid band consists of multiple self made samples and live looping as well as organic elements such as live guitar and singing to squeeze out as much interactive energy from his compositions as possible. Along with his computers and multiple gadgets he will also be playing his friend and fellow musician Chris Turko (from Chrome Turbine) on the Drum set. Though he is around locally, this year will be the start of extensive performances in and around the area, and though especially known in the Tivoli area, he is expected to be present in many more venues on this side of the river in the months to come.
Sarah Perrotta
listen/learn – Combining elements of classical, folk and rock, Sarah Perrotta and her band create a sound that is new, refreshing and entirely their own (Bearsville Theater). Sarah Perrotta is one of those people whose voice you hear once and remember forever. (Sorted magazine). The haunting melodies, the extremely well-crafted songs and Sarah’s magnificent voice make for a more than exquisite musical experience.
(Riff Raff magazine, Brussels)
Acorn
listen/learn – Hailing from Woodstock, this reggae / dub / roots outfit will move you. Check them out Sunday evening at 323 Wall St. for our O+ finale show.
Kait Berreckman
listen/learn – While Kait’s voice and musicianship are genuine, her songs are the real centerpiece. “Simple little jewels that cut through with flashes of sharp insight into human nature…” said Lyrical Venus Radio. The 23-year-old recent transplant to Austin, TX is independently releasing her first full-length album, Conservation, at the end of the year and is damn proud of it. “I don’t know what you’ll think, but I love the crap out of it,” she says with a laugh. Her soul-infused, pop-coated, alt-country style is comfortingly familiar and fresh.
Andrew Westphal
listen/learn – Jazz pianist, studio musician, DJ and music producer, Andrew Westphal wears a variety of musical hats. He has recently won Judges’ Pick awards at Indaba Music for his remixes and is known for his solo piano interpretations of popular songs. Hear him at Stockade Tavern Saturday night at 9:30 and at Le Canard for a special O+ Sunday Brunch.
The Woes
listen/learn – “Dust-belt folk music” boasting “genuine, visceral attitude. [Ossei Essed's (at left)] voice delivers the deep sound of Tom Waits with the spiritual, gothic Americana sound of David Eugene Edwards.” You will dance.
POOK
- listen/learn – POOK, aka the Percussion Orchestra of Kingston, guarantees the most festive event we can muster. This local coalition of drummers will bring the beats to echo throughout Uptown & ring in the first ever O+.
