If I Dropped By... with Rachel Griffin + Ticket & EP Giveaway

Singer/songwriter Rachel Griffin is having a video release show for her new video, “Over The Moon For You”.  The track is from her recently released EP, Over The Moon For You.  The show will take place at Cake Shop on November 17 at 8PM.  To celebrate, not only did we pose our “If I Dropped By...” questions to her, we also have some goodies to give away.  

Enter to win 2 tickets + 1 copy of the Over The Moon For You EP.  Email your name to, contest@quirkynychick.com by Friday, November 15 for your chance.  Please put “Rachel Griffin” in the subject line.

Continue reading to see what I found out during my hypothetical visit to her home.

Quirky NY Chick (QNYC): ... and brought a friend who didn't know your music, what song of yours would you play for them and why?

Rachel Griffin (RG): I'd play the title track of the EP "Over The Moon for You."  I really like playing the piano part (it's super fun and happy) and its also just an excited, joyful tune in general, about finding an incredible love that at one time I really didn't think existed. It's also about how everyone deserves that kind of love and care and that you don't need to fear it. So I'd want to leave the friend with that feeling rather then depressing them with a song and being like, "Looooove suuuccckkkssss .. You'll always be alllooooneeeee" (which I am also very good at doing.. lol extremes... I'm a true artist!) Also, I'm super excited about, "Over The Moon For You" right now because the music video is coming out and it's my first music video ever and I'm been wanting to make music videos forEVER! Since I was a kid I've pretended to be in a music video in my mirror and lip sank. Thank God no one has videos of that. ;) 

Rosie Lowe - “Right Thing”

Rosie Lowe recently released the video for her track, “Right Thing”. The song is from her upcoming EP Right Thing which is scheduled for release on December 3 via 37 Adventures / [PIAS] America.  The clip was directed by Kieren Gallear.  Check it out below.

If two great producers come together for one artist, it's worth checking out. When those two happen to be Kwes and The Invisible's Dave Okumu, you sit up and listen. The debut EP by Devon-born Londoner Rosie Lowe is what brought them all together, and between them they have created something exceptional.

 

Last seen on Lil Silva's addictive summer anthem "No Doubt", Rosie's rich, smooth guest vocals have already caught the media's eye but now she's ready to showcase her own material with her debut EP 'Right Thing'. Due for release on 2 December 2013 via 37 Adventures, 'Right Thing' is a collection of snapshots from the last year of Rosie's life bound together with strong pop sensibilities, an ebbing undercurrent of jazz and expert production.

 

Raised on a rich musical diet, Rosie was already playing the violin and piano by the age of five. By 13 she was juggling six instruments, but it was singing that she always wanted to pursue. Inspired by diverse and original voices ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Bjork, Rosie has developed her own unique vocal style using loops, harmonies, pitch shifting and distortion, all of which feature in her live show. Backed by a striking all-girl band on stage, the blend of mesmerising vocals, electronics and a lithe rhythm section makes for a potent brew.

 

A sultry, piano-led lament filled with loss and regret, the sparse, atmospheric production of the EP's title track 'Right Thing' lends itself perfectly to Rosie's inviting tones, as does the meandering soul and tripping percussion of '10K Balloons'. The inspiration of powerful musicians like Lykke Li, Erykah Badu and Grace Jones shines through on the twists and turns of seductive after hours number 'Games'. 'Me & Your Ghost' however, written in a 10 minute jamming session with a friend, wraps the vulnerability of being abandoned by someone you love in layers of glacial, static-fuelled dub and the warm embrace of that voice.

 

As soon as he was played Rosie's music, Dave Okumu felt he had to be involved; "I immediately recognised a true creative spirit, fully immersed in a beautiful and compelling process. It wasn't until we met that the value of collaboration really started to become clear to me but as our friendship grew, so did our vision of collaboration." Okumu had also wanted to work with Kwes for some time, having always been a fan of his work; "I had this instinctive feeling that Kwes would be a wonderful person to bring into the equation. We'd never worked together in this capacity before and it felt like this could be a really interesting context in which to explore a new creative relationship."

Track List

• Right Thing
• 10K Balloons
• Games
• Me & Your Ghost

Clementine and The Galaxy - “Lazer Gunz”

Clementine and The Galaxy released a new single and video for their song “Lazer Gunz” last week.  The video for the track was directed by Marvin Joseph.  Check out/download (yes, they’re being super nice and hooking folks up) the song below and enjoy the goodness.

Hospitality To Release New Album in January

Hospitality is scheduled to release their sophomore album Trouble, via Merge Records, on January 28.  Check out the track “I Miss Your Bones” from the upcoming album below.

The first thing you might notice about Hospitality’s sophomore album Trouble is what you don’t hear. The process of completing Trouble was, for the band, one of learning to accept silence, to let that empty space exist no matter what it might awaken or evoke. You could catch glimpses of these dark and unexplored places in the margins of Hospitality’s 2012 self-titled debut, but they are at the very heart of Trouble. If you listen closely, you can hear a band pushing against their own boundaries and limitations until they find the very air around them subtly but perceptibly changed. 

In its lyrics and its musical construction, Trouble is an album that wonders about the mysteries that lurk just beyond our field of vision. Slyly and sympathetically, Papini ponders a Saturday afternoon fishing trip as a wrenching interplay of life and death, the perfect blue sky at an air show as a setting for a soured romance. Papini elaborates: “Most of the songs are about everyday environments that arouse anxiety or unease. The ocean isn’t meant for people; we aren’t supposed to be there, and some of the animals that live there are much bigger and faster than we are in the water. I think a lot of the songs deal with this ‘out of place’ kind of theme, feelings of unease and the questions of what is under you or what surrounds you.” 

The album unfolds like a walk on the beach or a journey to a place you didn’t know you were going. Perhaps a darker sound overall, but Trouble begins with the trademark Hospitality pop then unfurls to reward the listener with the more expansive stripped-down instrumentation of side B. And here, again, is that distinctively present silence, creating a space where an undulating synthesizer feels as alive and mysterious as a single voice in a room.

Track List

• Nightingale
• Going Out
• I Miss Your Bones
• Inauguration
• Rockets and Jets
• Sullivan
• It's Not Serious
• Last Words
• Sunship
• Call Me After

Upcoming: Sea Level Live at Tammany Hall on 11/14

This is happening…

Sea Level Live featuring

Trackademicks & 1-O.A.K. 

Puro Instinct 

Obey City & KR

Thursday, November 14

Tammany Hall

152 Orchard Street

New York, NY

8PM

Tickets: $10

Born out of the Sea Level parties founded by friends Kim Robinson and Obey City to celebrate their shared love of 70s/80s R&b styled music, Sea Level Live will bring those sounds to the live stage. 

This first event will feature Trackademicks & 1-O.A.K. as well as a DJ set from Puro Instinct (and residents Obey City and KR) to set the mood for what's to come. 

Avec Sans - “Shiver”

Check out “Shiver” from London based duo Avec Sans.  They’re offering the track as a free download for a limited time.  Official release date is scheduled for December 2 via Little World.

Abbe May Pays Homage To Robert Palmer

Abbe May recently released a video for her song, “Perth Girls”.  The Paul Komadina directed video pays homage to Robert Palmer’s classic 80’s video, “Simply Irresistible”.  Where Palmers oft offbeat dancing models perfected the art of vapid cheesiness and unintentional humor, May’s look simply bored.  Bored looking models aside, the homage made a chick, who spent a lot of the 80s ensconced in front of the television watching music videos, smile.  “Perth Girls” is from May’s album Kiss My Apocalypse.  Check out the clip below.

Debbie Neigher To Release New Album + Upcoming NYC Show

Singer/Songwriter Debbie Neigher will be taking the stage at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1 on November 23.  Neigher is scheduled to release her sophomore album, Unravel on November 12.

Debbie Neigher

Saturday, November 23

Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1

196 Allen Street

New York, NY

Doors: 7PM

Free

21+

The album was produced by the legendary John Vanderslice (Spoon, The Mountain Goats) at his Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco and arranged by the Magik*Magik Orchestra.  Debbie came to John with the nine songs that would comprise the album and together they assembled a “Dream Team” of collaborators to flesh out the songs and their arrangements. The “Dream Team” is an all-star list of San Francisco talent that includes Minna Choi as the arranger/conductor for the Magik*Magik orchestra (Death Cab for Cutie), engineer Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, The Dodos, Rogue Wave), Jason Slota on drums (Thao with the Get Down Stay Down), and Jesse Cafiero on bass and lap steel guitar (Thao, Sean Hayes). Justine Leichtling plays violin and multi-instrumentalist Sylvain Carton provides a rich tapestry of other sounds. Unravel is a natural evolution in the lush, ethereal, piano driven songwriting of Debbie.  

Mount Moriah - “Miracle Temple Holiness”

Mount Moriah released a video for their song “Miracle Temple Holiness” earlier this month.  The clip was directed by Casey Cook. The track can be found on Mount Moriah’s album Miracle Temple which was released back in February.  I love everything about this song...the soulful vocals, the subtle twangy tinge of blues...dare to say, this may be my favorite song of the year.  Check out the video below and enjoy the goodness.

Upcoming: Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds at Irving Plaza on 11/22

Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds will be taking the stage at Irving Plaza on November 22.  They’ve been on the road supporting their latest EP, Fight which was released in October.

Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds

Friday, November 22

Irving Plaza

17 Irving Place

New York, NY

Doors: 7PM

Tickets: $18

16+

TOUR DATES

October

26 – Los Angeles, CA – Bottleg Bar

27 – San Diego, CA – The Griffin

30 – Denver, CO – Cervantes’ Other Side

31 – Lincoln, NE – The Zoo Bar

November

1 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club

2 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon

3 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern

6 - Columbus, OH - The Basement

7 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom

8 - Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater

9 – Plains, PA – River Street Jazz Cafe

15 - Washington, DC - The Hamilton

22 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza

23 – Westminster, MD – Carroll Arts Center

December

5 – Albany, NY – The Hollow

6 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair

7 – So. Burlington, VT – Higher Ground – Showroom Lounge

13 - Fairfield, CT - StageOne

14 - Fairfield, CT – StageOne

January

30 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater

February

1 – Wilmington, DE – Live at the Baby Grand @ The Grand