Brooklyn, I'm Trying

The 5 Shows Not To Miss This November

Liz Norment — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 20:34:54 +0000

We live in a city where you can see amazing live music nearly every night. Our meals are often accompanied by world-class jazz musicians who humbly just want our pasta to twirl a little more rhythmically, our conversation to continue harmoniously, and our hearts to carry on beating in perfect time. We can stumble into the back room of an unassuming little bar in Park Slope on a Sunday to see a French ex-pat and Spanish guitar aficionado with more stories that transport you somewhere in between both countries for the duration of the show. We so often go to see one show and end up becoming devoted fans of the opener who was given little to no mention and we only actually learned about because somehow, thankfully, there were no train delays that night.

This is fucking New York.

Go see live music. It’s the gift that we get as a bonus to paying so much in rent and suffering through MTA delays and dodging rats in our heels while running through the LES on Saturday nights.

Here are the top 5 you shouldn’t miss this month, and one you basically already have.

Gregory Alan Isakov + Leif Vollebekk

Nov. 12th at Irving Plaza

Like a cozy sweater that somehow hugs away all your heartbreaks, these two modern folk singers will slip you into a beautiful trance from which you likely won’t recover easily. Don’t believe me? Listen to Into The Ether and Big Black Car and then buy your tickets to see them together at Irving Plaza.

Echo & The Bunnymen

November 21st at The Town Hall

Admittedly, I was too young and then too wrapped up in bullshit pop music growing up to experience any of the wonders of New Wave bands. Thankfully the movement hasn’t died and some of the best bands are touring again. Go see this one, one of the best sounds to come out of that rebellious period in England and a legendary rock band you may not have a chance to see again. See them at The Town Hall November 21st.

Jim James

November 13th at The Town Hall

One of the most influential musicians of our generation, to see Jim James doing what he does best on stage – challenging our familiarity with sounds and the acoustic traditions of rock music in an unpretentious and wholly listenable presentation is something you must experience. See him at The Town Hall November 13th.

St. Vincent

November 20th at Brooklyn Academy of Music

There is almost nothing more powerful than seeing this pure rock talent and stunning soul perform live. Raw emotion pours out from her fingertips upon piano, from her wrist across guitar strings, from her soul over the microphone. And into your ears and heart forever. Don’t miss her at BAM.

Dirty Projectors

November 18th and 19th at Elsewhere

The avant-garde Indie rock mavens who always keep me audibly on my toes and physically on my feet, moving and grooving, most days just from my Spotify. To see them live is a cacophonous explosion of life and joy and creative prowess. And in the relatively intimate and acoustically perfect venue of Elsewhere? Trust me, you don’t want to miss this show.

And the one you should wait on StubHub and Craigslist for…

Greta Van Fleet

November 27th, 29th, and 30th at Terminal 5

Greta Von Fleek’s second appearance in the city has them SELLING OUT THREE NIGHTS at Terminal 5. Sounds absurd, right? Not until you listen to them. Check them out then keep your fingers crossed and your thumb on that refresh button.

In My Ears | The Freshest Playlist

Liz Norment — Thu, 03 May 2018 17:14:42 +0000

Oh hey BK. Spring has finally graced us with its presence and that means ditching our responsibilities, throwing caution into the breeze, baring our knees and doing whatever the fuck we want.

Pop the rosé. Go outside. Fall in love. Be bad. Feel good about it.

The only thing that could make this feeling better is the perfect playlist to accompany all of your adventures.

Good thing made it for you, right here. Listen now and turn it up, loud.

Profile of a Hustler | Alex Stickels

Liz Norment — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:24:30 +0000

I met Alex Stickels at a shitty nightclub underneath some overdone hotel near Union Square. I was new to the city and was out to find everything the city had to offer me, to suck the life out of whatever was available on a Thursday night, to be deliberately unconcerned about my preset alarm clock, and namely, to leave my Tinder date, who I could tell almost immediately was a bad idea. I was introduced to Alex, a friend of said date, and I was drawn to his energy immediately. We both exchanged a look that said, “Nice to meet you. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.” The night devolved into one of those reckless New York adventures that you see as a montage in so many films, running around like kids in a playground of concrete and skyscrapers, singing Jay-Z karaoke at a dingy bar in the Lower East Side, defacing some seasonal sidewalk debris, and playing charades across the subway platform sometime around 5am, to which the last gesture was simply a wave, delivered and received. “See you sometime, I guess.” He was on tour and leaving the city the next day. I got on the train back to Brooklyn thinking, “What the fuck was that?”

Seven years later I find myself sitting with him at a bar near the Bedford stop in Williamsburg. Over oysters and some overly fancy cocktails, we discussed his latest project and the amazing journey that’s brought him here, to Brooklyn. His work as a professional drummer has taken him all over the world, and his solo performance skills have evolved quite a bit from that karaoke bar in the LES. He’s just released the first single off his solo album, aptly named I Need The Pressure, and that same energy that initially connected us is palpable through every song, every note, and across the table as I began our interview. Alex is one of the most driven, talented, and incredibly energetic souls that I’ve ever known. Tune into his energy and appreciate his hustle below, then get on his wavelength through I Need The Pressure available on Spotify. Now hear, here. Turn it up loud, and keep reading below.

Brooklyn, I’m Trying: Why do you think you’ve always been drawn to playing the drums?

Alex Stickels: As a kid who grew up in Rochester, New York, where you’re snowed in 9 months out of the year, you have to find a way to entertain yourself, you have to find a way to not go stir crazy. Mine became playing drums. My mom wouldn’t let me have gaming systems growing up…

BiT: Mine either! And look how well we turned.

AS: Haha yeah, they knew what they were doing, apparently! I was always finding constructive things to do with my time. I displayed at an early age an interest in drumming and my dad, who grew up loving drumming but never got to do it because of his parents decided to buy me a set. So I’m this 8-year-old kid, snowed in and trying to find ways to be productive, and playing music was the greatest creative escape. You can just lose yourself for hours in that thing, and you can invite friends over to lose themselves with you. it’s this wonderful experience where you’re exploring and creating at the same time you’re honing a skill. You could see all sorts of things and you could go places that didn’t exist in real life and you could bend reality to be what you wanted it to be versus what it was, which was sitting in a bedroom snowed in in a town where nothing happens. And I’ve always been drawn to that, and the more that I was drawn to it, the more other people were drawn to it and came into it with me, and it’s just positive reinforcement. I wanted to do that thing that we all connect to!

BiT: So you’ve been playing professionally for nearly 8 years now. In your career so far, was there ever a moment where you said, “Holy shit, I’m actually doing this; I’ve made it,” so to speak?

AS: I think it’s really important to recognize those moments, however fleeting they are. I’m in no way satisfied by what I’ve accomplished but you have to somehow appreciate the moment and also try and keep this perspective and excitement, of holy shit, and never be jaded or think that this lifestyle is normal. So yeah, there have been moments… Recycled Percussion played the Latin Grammys.

BiT: Damn.

AS: Yeah, we played with Carlos Vives and Marc Anthony. They were doing a duet together, so it was us, and this 18-piece latin band with like 4 percussionists, and horn players, and then a whole dance troop with 12-13 dancers, onstage at the MGM arena in Vegas. So it’s 18,000 people, and it’s an awards show and it’s being streamed live on Univision to 9 million people, or however many who are watching. The entire thing started behind this LED screen that lifts up. So you’re standing behind the LED screen, you can’t see anything, but you know the moment’s coming. Then they’re coming from the commercial break, someone is counting down, and you hear them saying 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and then whoever introduces us, and you hear the introduction and then the LED screen starts coming up and you start playing music. To have a screen come up and to have 18,000 people watching you is unreal. You’re just in the moment, you’re overplaying everything and your body is outputting so much energy because it’s so extreme.

BiT: Because it’s taking in so much energy too!

AS: Yeah it’s incredible. It’s such an addiction.

BiT: So in between these insane moments performing, there’s a lot of work. Tell me a little more about your creative process, and how you work through creative ruts.

AS: I think that the greatest and coolest thing that I don’t get to talk about a lot is that my dad is a puzzle writer. So I grew up watching my Dad sit at this desk for hours a day, coming up with critical thinking puzzles and ways to stump people and he would totally create mindbending things and spatial-visual things where you have to solve the puzzle, and perspective is not what you think it is. He would come up with puzzles, and at the same time I’m getting into music and drums and being creative, I’m watching him and I’m not even thinking of it as a process, that’s just what he did. Without me knowing, he had publishers and agents and contracts and he was constantly under deadlines. He was like, we can put the football game on but we gotta put it on mute because I gotta write these puzzles. I didn’t even think about it as a process as a kid until I started writing my own songs and I realized I was doing the same thing. I would just be silent at a desk for hours and work it out. and sometimes working it out is staring at a wall for an hour and banging your head against that wall, and sometimes it’s leaving and going for a walk. I love my neighborhood in LA, which is basically in Studio City, which I guess for the purpose of this interview doesn’t really mean anything…

BiT: …and for Brooklyn, I’m Trying readers we don’t care about LA. Hahaha.

AS: Yeah, yeah. But it’s great to just walk through a neighborhood that you don’t know and just let things come to you. Whatever you’ve been spending the morning working on something or actively trying to break through a wall… sometimes 85-year-old men have it figured out. Just go for an afternoon walk after lunch, you don’t even have to be actively thinking about what you’re working on or what you need to do, just that half hour or hour walk around the block has been the best thing so many times.

BiT: Yeah absolutely, sometimes just that movement is incredibly helpful. If you can recognize what isn’t working, just getting up and walking around, or moving even from this seat to that one can help your brain change directions and help all these ideas that you haven’t been perceiving rush in.

AS: Exactly. I also have all my legos from a kid. Being the son of a puzzle creator, I still have the board and I bring it out and just start building. That type of mindless creation is helpful. I’m still putting things together and connecting dots, which is great for creativity. Putting your concentration on something else that’s not getting on Facebook or Instagram and getting other ideas in your head.

BiT: Agreed. Because that’s inevitably taking your thoughts away.

AS: Exactly. so it’s finding those things and what works for you as a person. I just happen to be a lego kid.

BiT: Nothing wrong with that.

BiT: So after spending so much time playing in bands and performing on stage, how did you gain the confidence to create something on your own?

AS: I started this whole thing almost 2 years ago now. I had been collecting ideas for my entire life in the form of these short compositions and little lyric ideas, thinking one day I’ll get in a band and I’ll be able to contribute these ideas to the band, and somebody more talented than me and more skilled with me will know what to do with these raw ideas. And at a certain point I thought, this is fucking stupid, I haven’t found the band, and the more auditions I go on drumming for other people, the more I’m realizing that the thing I want to create or be creative with just doesn’t exist.

It’s not like there’s a band out there doing what I want to do and I feel like I’ve missed my shot, I just keep thinking, well this isn’t here. I was on tour at the time on cruise ships. We had the greatest gig in the world; we’d be on a cruise for weeks at a time and we would play one show a week. so for the other 6.5 days, we’re in Alaska andI’mm going hiking and playing with bears and running around and that allowed for a lot of freedom and creative space to fail, and so I started going through all these ideas I’d been collecting. In the beginning, it was a game. Take an idea you’ve had, maybe it was a simple five-second idea, or a ten-second idea, and call that an A section. If that’s the A section, you have to come up with a B section. And after that idea, if you still think it’s shit, put it in a folder labeled “things I don’t like” or “things I hate” You don’t get to delete anything.

BiT: So the thought is allowing an idea to at least progress before you give up on it.

AS: Yes, exactly. You can’t give up on it immediately. And then, if you do like the idea and there’s potential there, continue fleshing it out. Two years late, I’m not done fleshing out those initial ideas I’ve been collecting all my life. Say you had 150 ideas. You hated, I don’t know, 100 of them. So there’s 50 left. Out of those, you’re ok with 30 of them. Then there’s the 20 you think are great, or have the potential to be great if you work on them hard enough. I’ve released 3 of those 20. So now there are 17 more from the initial stack, 17 more that I’m bursting at the seams to do things with. And then in the meantime of two years, I’ve also written new shit and had new things added to the pile of things that I haven’t even had the time to get to in the first place. And so the game is ongoing.

BiT: Tell us a bit more about the sound you’re creating on this album.

AS: Sure, obviously I grew up playing drums so I’m a drummer first, but I’m coming from a very rock-band background; I’ve always played in rock bands with real instruments where everything comes from actually playing the notes. Playing drums you have to physically make contact in order for a note to happen, whereas with EDM or synthesizers, you hit one button and 50 sounds happen. So everything I’m making is very rock-alternative based. I’ve been exploring different sounds and colors with keyboards and synthesizers, but it’s all rock.

BiT: I understand you recorded it in Brooklyn. Any reason in particular? (This is your chance to talk about how Brooklyn is a Mecca for creatives and their prowesses)

AS: Haha, this is probably the most important question of the interview, right?

BiT: Yeah, I mean no leading question or anything here, just tell us honestly what you think.

AS: Growing up I always wanted to live in New York, and there was a very real moment in my life where I had to decide between New York and LA, and ultimately LA won out. Still, I have always seen New York, as has the rest of the world, as an entirely creative place, and Brooklyn leading the trend on that. I recorded the first batch of songs in LA and thought, ok you’ve done that, you’ve had that feeling, you need to go somewhere else and see what that brings out of you. And Brooklyn was the logical next step, having always wanted to live here and been drawn to it. I happen to have a buddy I went to school who works in the music industry, and I just happened to reach out to him and say, Hey, I’m coming to New York and I want to record an album, where should I do it? Turns out he has his own studio, which was a crazy coincidence; I just thought he was working as an engineer. So he said, yeah let’s just do the thing together. The studio is in the Hassidic part of Brooklyn, so it was incredible to walk around and see so many different cultures and types of people. You don’t think you’re in America, and that in itself gets you thinking about so many things on your way to the studio so you get there charged creatively and your brain’s working. I know it was just important to come to this sort of place where I have the friends and you know the community supports artists and supports the creative movement and is there for you in that sort of way.

BiT: What are you most excited about from this upcoming project?

AS: The amount of possibilities and the range that exists within longevity. When i was 22 and trying to put it all together, I constantly felt like, oh my god, if it doesn’t come together tomorrow, it’s never going to happen.

BiT: How old are you now?

AS: I’m 28, 29 in May. May 10th. Taurus… but now, you start to appreciate just how long life is, and the amount of things you can do with that time. So many people get locked into 25, staring at the rest of their lives. it was really important to me to realize that just because it hasn’t happened to me yet or I’m not where I want to be yet in no way means that I’ve missed it. I don’t have to be Bruno Mars, So many people are aiming for that, and if you’re trying to be that big, it’s such a game that is out of your control. But if you just put your head down and are genuine about what you’re creating, there are so many middle-ground things that you can end up doing that is a life and is a career and is a way to provide all the things you want to do. There is a way to create the things you want to create and still make a life for yourself.

BiT: What has been the most rewarding part of this whole process?

AS: Honestly, it’s been amazing that as I keep doing this in life, I keep finding people who support me and believe in me. I met you, and here you’re doing your own thing, you’re trying to make your own thing work, and so am I. And to be part of a community where not only can I come to a place and and say, hey I’m making a record, but I get to connect with people who have been so willing to help. I have people in that way continually saying, I believe in you and you’re doing the right thing, and whatever I can offer you, whether that’s a bed or an interview or just a hug to tell you to keep going, that’s amazing. That’s the whole point of doing what we do and constantly outputting energy into the world, hoping that anybody responds to it and that it moves someone.

BiT: Often the best way to do anything is to do it in support of someone else.

AS: Yeah exactly. We exist right now in a place that people want to come to. They want to come to Brooklyn, they want to base themselves here or know people who are based here and be part of that energy and that spirit. We are constantly looking for the wavelength that best supports us, and Brooklyn is certainly a place where people have always come to do that. And so to meet you and to be here, on that wavelength is awesome.

……

Keep following Alex’s journey here and get on his wavelength with I Need The Pressure available now on Spotify.

Photo by Ryan Vezina @thoughtsdeveloped

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Photo by Ryan Vezina @thoughtsdeveloped

The Best Albums of 2017 | What I’m Listening To

Liz Norment — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 22:57:59 +0000

The albums that moved me this year, that occupied my record player and my headspace and more often than not, my conversations with anyone and everyone. Read and then listen and be moved.

St. Vincent, Los Ageless

Dancing delicately and painfully between seduction and frenzy, this album is a slap in the face. It’s an evocative power play that is smooth and aggressive and has awaited no permission. Annie Clarke, working closely with producer Jack Antonoff, was encouraged (or so I heard… somewhere) to focus more on the lyrical structure of this album rather than playing on every single song, something that I would imagine she initially fought against, but then got off on taking complete control of. Her voice feels stronger, her lyrics more biting, the meaning of each song more acidically palpable. The irony of Pills, a song about drug addiction sung as a nursery rhyme, and the relentless heartbreak of Hang On Me, a song that is almost deceiving as an album opener as it feels personal and necessary for the artist. New York is the best raw ballad of actual life and love in this town since LCD sung it their way. (ok, and I’m going to throw it in here… Ryan Adams too.) She herself was cast at times in a different (spot)light this year, as the object of affection (or destruction?) of Kristen Stewart and Cara Delevingne, and appearing in cheesy photographs on Taylor Swift’s Instagram, and perhaps lost a bit of control of her own mystery that way. However, Annie continues to flawlessly negate any norms or expectations. In the title track, the line “I can’t turn off what turns me on,” is an indirect response or explanation of slap-in-the-face that once again proves that her sound and her soul and her every move still turn us on, and we won’t turn it off.

LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

I discovered LCD Soundsystem about a month before their last show at Madison Square Garden. I remember nearly salivating as I consumed song after song, album after album, again and again and again and thinking, what the fuck. How did I miss this? And how are they about to stop playing, forever? Well, the music gods had other plans and this band has made a comeback. Their first album in 7 years, this one has just the perfect amount of nostalgia, taking very palpable inspiration from songs like Home, All My Friends, and You Wanted a Hit, they maintain that distinctive, unpredictable, alive and twitching rhythms that sound funky and fresh, danceable, and fucking addictive. I saw them at Brooklyn Steel two weeks ago and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was the best show I’ve ever seen. They hold nothing back. They give the crowd exactly what they want while keeping you on your toes. James Murphy has a unique grasp on musical composition that the crowd becomes puppets, reacting and living and breathing only through every next note. Their sound transcends genres; it’s a heartbeat. It’s a next step. It’s something to move you. Be thankful that they came out of retirement, and not in a Michael Jordan way but in a way that said, “We have so much more to give you.” More hypnotism. More audible layering. More that keeps us hanging on. More that we can believe in. More of what at least feels like the American Dream.

Mondo Cozmo, Plastic Soul

I can’t say enough about Mondo Cozmo (and actually, I already have). He has the introspective grit of Bob Dylan with a melodic approachableness, and choruses that have your heart beating and bleeding right along with him. I discovered him through the song Hold On To Me, which, when I first heard it, gave me one of those unique visceral reactions that every moment, beat, every note of the song felt so good I was afraid to keep listening, worried the rest would let me down. And it didn’t, not for one second. It developed into a stunning and permanently moving sound that hasn’t let me go.

That initial discovery led to a fascination Josh Ostrander’s story of changing his life with no means or promise or permission and chasing after his dream without looking back, and he has become an inspiration in my own creative soul searching. I’ve found myself so thankful to discover his sound and energy, and I’ve been holding on to him as this debut album has developed, after seeing him in that acoustically magical back room at Baby’s All Right when he had all of 5 songs (one of which was a cover) in his repertoire.

Other stunning singles on this album include the energetic and addictive Automatic, the captivating modern-nostalgic feel that carries you through Plastic Soul, and the tangible, relatable soul-searching that inspired Shine. Read his story. Listen to his songs. Get lost in this album. See him play as soon as you can, although trust me, he’s not going away anytime soon.

Perfume Genius, No Shape

It feels like a relief and a victory to hear how Mike Hadreas continues to grow his sound and share his soul, as if, hopefully, we have determinedly opened doors to acceptance despite the bigotry and ignorance that has tainted our reality this past year. And the best thing? He’s never intended this album to be any sort of fuck you or even to glorify our progress, but simply to commemorate and elevate the love he shares with partner (and collaborator) Alan Wyffels. It hits you, the beauty and intensity. It gives you something to believe in, and quite simply, to listen to. To get lost in. To dance along with.

The first song of the album is what hooked me. Otherside is an elegant harmonic dance that carries you, almost against your will, before smashing into a stunningly audible celebration where you’ll gladly lose your way. It’s inflated yet elegant and sets the tone perfectly for an album that speaks to a transgressive, and progressive, beauty.

The fierce, melodic “Just Like Love” commands, When it happens again, baby hold on and stare them down. A message, a challenge, a confidence seems to shape and yet be defined by no boundaries, no walls, no limitations; an album you can agree is pure beauty, without shape.

Bleachers, Gone Now

Let’s be honest, it’s rare that we listen to an album in its entirety, in order. We cherry-pick our songs, we put them on playlists. We isolate and recreate an artist’s intended experience, and inevitably, it creates a jaded experience from the songs we decide to love and a watered-down experience of the ones that don’t initially stick. We’re audibly fucking ourselves, guys.

Artists that recognize this and determinedly build an album as a cohesive and intentionally inseparable collection gives us reason to actively and thoroughly listen. It’s no surprise that the best example of this, and one of my top albums of the year, is from infamous producer and artist Jack Antonoff and his selected moniker “Bleachers”. Listening to the album Gone Now, each song pulls a little bit of another song into it and the effect creates an audible montage of familiarity, like a feeling you’re constantly trying to chase. It’s youthful and magnetic while still being one of the most mature compositions in his personal repertoire.

Note that this isn’t an album to be scrutinized for lyrical content, rather to recognize that the words contribute to the overall effect. It’s fresh, it’s bold, and Antonoff continues to somehow ignore everything that is currently going on in music to produce an album that is raw and audibly engaging and really fucking addictive. Don’t Take the Money is the song that first drew me in, perhaps because it felt refreshing amid the perceptively sexy and sleek songs commanding the audio landscape today. Always a sucker and purveyor for bold and bombastic sound, Antanoff stands out with Foreign Girls and I Miss Those Days, anthems that will play again and again in your head and will feel just as good every time you listen. It’s as if he’s taken pieces of the undeniably successful albums he’s produced this year (St. Vincent, Lorde, and Taylor Swift) and both inflated them and toned them down and mixed them into this unabashedly ambitious project and the result is pure magic.

Sampha, Process

The song that introduced me to Sampha was No One Knows Me, a song that is powerful in its simplicity and understanding of the beauty of melody and power in strong lyrics. Having come from a certainly notable background singing background with Drake, Frank Ocean, Solange, and Kanye, his debut album is meditative and self-explorative, with a hard-hitting dose of grief and confusion.

I’ve been lost in the modern exploration of R&B and soulful electronic music from Jack Garrett and James Blake and this takes notes from both while bringing the sound back to hip-hop. Deeply personal and intentionally memorable, the album’s standouts, which are all magnificently complex, heartbreaking, and audibly stunning are the aforementioned No One Knows Me, Timmy’s Prayer and Blood On Me. Focus on they lyrics, the feeling, and his soulful voice each while letting the entire album unfold, again and again.

What are your favorite albums of 2017? Tell me. I’m listening.

<3L.

The Fall Playlist

Liz Norment — Sat, 18 Nov 2017 17:32:53 +0000

i’ve made you a playlist. i have! i’ve made you a playlist. why? because it didn’t feel like enough to have you reading my words, seeing my photos. i want to also infiltrate your ears with a meticulously-curated list of tunes to put a little skip in your step and beat in your heart and rhythm in those hips.

your fall playlist is funky and fresh, with a deep soul. active child and børns play alongside sampha and leif vollebekk, balanced with an expected appearance by james murphy and a slightly disproportional representation of st. vincent that absolutely no one will complain about. fall into it here.

Some Like It Hot | A Summertime Playlist

Liz Norment — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 17:20:29 +0000

all of the best vibes of summertime, in a playlist. heat up, cool down, shake those hips, sink those ships to the musings of LCD, bleachers, mondo cozmo, francis and the lights, shakey graves.

come on, just press play baby. you know you want to.

The Summertime Playlist

Liz Norment — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 18:55:08 +0000

i made you a playlist. i did! i made you a playlist. because no summertime adventure is complete without some dope beats, pack your bike basket with magic and these tunes in your ears. listen here for your beginning of summer soundtrack featuring (surprise!!) lcd soundsystem, honne, glass animals, and a hefty dose of electric guest. and hey, give me a follow. i’ll keep the dope beats bumpin‘ all summer long.

just add tan lines and mischief.

The End of Winter Playlist | Brooklyn, I’m trying.

Liz Norment — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 21:45:08 +0000

i made you a playlist that embodies the magic that is 65 degree days, long shadows, cold drinks, and that rhythm in our bones. it’s funky and fresh, smooth and spicy. play this loud and let’s revel in it, baby.

Mondo Cozmo | What I’m listening to…

Liz Norment — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 21:37:20 +0000

photo borrowed from the relentlessly talented @hannahea88

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there are songs we hear that stop us in our tracks, immediately. and it feels like from that moment on we are displaced, even slightly. moved. just by hearing that sound, those words, that feeling.

hold on to me by mondo cozmo did just that. i remember hearing his song last year for the first time, and pausing it during the intro, because i was scared that the lyrics wouldn’t stand up to the relentless power of the music. … i remember silently praying that the lyrics would somehow keep pace, at least, with the relentless power and beauty of just the intro i’d heard and absorbed so far.

i kept listening.

and this song, hold on to me, developed into a stunning and permanently moving sound that hasn’t yet me go.

that first time hearing it, which led to the second and the third and then a few more times, i finally emerged to look up this guy – mondo cozmo. and found little to nothing, other than this random post from beloved KCRW.

which only made me realize that he was just getting started. almost a year later, i find myself at baby’s all right in brooklyn this past monday, eyes closed clutching my heart and hearing him perform the 5 songs he’s now released. and while hsi performance was captivating and his music is stunning, what i’ve taken from him more than that is his story.

born joshua ostrander, the artist currently now known as mondo cozmo gave up everything to pursue music with no guarantee or even glimmer of promise that it would work out. he posted a video recently of a voicemail from his former boss , the day he decided to quit his job, with absolutely no money in his bank account. his talent, tenacity, humility, and drive have now brought him to be on the lineup for bonaroo, gov ball, boston calling, and shakey knees, plus selling out concert venues all over the country.

there’s this story i constantly remind myself of, retold in the secret but originating in jim carrey’s wallet. poor, struggling, hungry and scrappy as hell, jim carrey wrote himself a check for $10 million, from his bank own account. then, an aspiring comic, he wrote the check for “acting services rendered” and stuck it in his wallet. and its presence simply helped mold every decision, every intention, every molecule around it so that within 5 years, and with 2 ace venturas over his belt, by 2015 he was billing $20mill/film.

it’s this spirit that is interwoven into mondo cozmo’s song, story, words, and persona. it’s a spirit relentless hope, tenacious energy, and contagious joy.

check out his music here

plus this amazing song not on the EP, written for david bowie.

follow him on instagram for constant inspiration

and keep an eye on his tour dates here.

and from his story, take these things with you:

Leap and the net will appear

Don’t wait for the money, it won’t come. don’t wait for encouragement from other people, haters gon’ hate, doubters gon’ doubt. don’t wait for an opportunity to fall into your lap, because that isn’t what opportunities do. then run right before you,

Rock and roll isn’t dead.

ugh I’m so sick of this mentality. Settle in to your sweet comfortable state of saying there will never be a band as good as [insert band name here] and no one will ever understand! Open your ears and hearts folks and be curious. because without that curiosity there would be no more noise and no more revelry and no more you and no more me.

Break the rules.

he has a renegade spirit, mondo cozmo. approaching his music making and media in a way that is completely unorthodox. it’s raw, it’s refreshing, and it reminds us that there is no rule book when it comes to creativity. you’re creating something that wasn’t there before. do it your own way.

Be relentlessly grateful.

every challenge, every setback, every doubt, every hesitation is a gift. just as watching your song creep to the top of the charts, hearing fans sing along with the music you created in a sold-out venue, seeing your name on the lineup for bonaroo. be relentlessly and eternally grateful for every single moment.

<3L.

The Best Albums of 2016 | Brooklyn, I’m Trying

Liz Norment — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 21:12:05 +0000

if there’s one thing i love about having this space it’s.. oh, well it’s everything. but one of those things is writing relentlessly passionate, shamelessly descriptive and definitively unauthorized music reviews. music should be consumed actively and insatiably, and should consume you just as ravenously. here are the top five albums that moved me this year, plus a fancy little widget of my top 100 most listened to songs from spotify. read the post and get lost here, then follow me on spotify for seasonal playlists and more than a little bit of hip-twisting salsa music. and you know, maybe send me your favorite songs from 2016. sharing is caring.. and you know, maybe leave me your favorite songs from 2016, just below there in the painfully underused comments box.

Bon Iver 22, A Million

This will be one of the most moving albums of my life, I know it. The way Bon iver blends some of the most poetic lyrics flawlessly with modern, simplistic language dares us all to be artists just exactly where we are. I could get lost in the folds of every complex layer of this beautiful composition forever, maybe. And have been trying multiple times a day since seeing his show at pioneer works a few weeks ago. this is the album of the year in a year that is not worthy of such beauty.

standout track: 715 CRΣΣKS. “finding both your hands, a second sun came past the glass.” good god. this is everything.

James Blake The Colour in Anything

this album makes me want to be a better person. his first album since the positively spellbinding overgrown that i’ve been wearing fucking ragged since 2013, this one is deeper, darker, more audacious. 17 songs leave you desperate and longing before coming up for air and then diving right back in.

standout track: radio silence, i need a forest fire. these leave me swimming and hopeful.

Jack Garatt Phase

jack garatt finally released a full 19-song double album that defines the new sound of music in 2016. his soulful voice, looped electronic beats, raw acoustics and the deep sincerity in his lyrics and live performances is palpable. i think he’s been moved to tears every time i’ve seen him perform on stage, which needless to say is contagious, even while you’re dancing and singing along. he’s been my most played artist two years in a row now, and i’m not pumping the brakes anytime soon.

standout track: weathered. the pick up is all encompassing and moves you so far past where you were before you discovered him.

Phantogram Three

one of the most anticipated releases of the year, for me at least. i can’t get enough of this duo’s push-pull intensity that keeps you waiting and wanting. dangerous harmonies overlaying synth-rock rhythms overlaying strong beats and heartbeats and engulfing you into a deep trance state that you realize isn’t music at all. it’s phantogram.

standout track: answer. the hopeful desperation matches the tone of this year while soothing us slowly and calmly into a mounting and relentless need to move. to organize. to find an answer.

Salt Cathedral Homage EP + No Ordinary Man

ok ok ok. so it’s an EP. and two singles. but put them together and it deserves more than a spot on this oh-so-coveted little list of mine. besides – my space, my rules. there is so. much. sound coming out of this duo from columbia via brooklyn. her angelic voice dances atop his relentless drum beats creates an addictive electro-pop mood that won’t let you go. see them perform feb. 3rd at c’mon everybody (come see me too! i’ll be there) and in the mean time, buy this album and turn it up. loud.

standout track: no ordinary man. from no ordinary band.

experience all of these artists and nearly 100 others via my most played songs of 2016, below. indulge. transcend. believe.

keep listening, brooklyn.

<3L.