Nayeli Portillo

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TRACK OF THE WEEK 12/2"Home Is Where"

Montreal trio, Diamond Bones crafts an infectious brand of dream pop infused with ethereal synths, and electro-shoegaze. Although the band has only been together for a little over a year now, Diamond Bones has landed a number of pretty impressive gigs--a spot on this year's POP Montreal Festival...

Nayeli Portillo

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY"Meat Is Murder"

It’s rather astounding when you actually realize that The Smiths were only together for five years considering that in their incredibly short lifespan, they managed to acquire an obsessive, cult-like fan base through their jangly guitar-ridden, pessimistic 80’s pop alt-rock. The band crafted one...

Nayeli Portillo

TRACK REVIEW"Mesmerise"

The self-described “psychedelic group” Temples, from Kettering, England has made quite a name for themselves within the last couple of years. After the immediate success of their self-recorded debut single “Shelter Song” (one of the two songs featured on the now collectible Colours To Life/Shelter...

Nayeli Portillo

TRACK REVIEW"Forgiven/Forgotten"

There has been much attention and discussion circulating around the name Angel Olsen, from her critically acclaimed album Half Way Home released just last year, to her now infamous, “blood-curddling” performance with Kentucky native singer-songwriter Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) back in...

Nayeli Portillo

TRACK REVIEWHappy Lives "This Song Is Called I'm Dead"

Within recent years, Brooklyn has been known to spawn some pretty over the top and deranged experimental acts, which invariably transcend the most esoteric of the borough's neighborhoods and their myriad galleries and dive bars. Happy Lives is no exception. To file them under “experimental”...

Nayeli Portillo

TRACK OF THE WEEK11/11/13 "Beneath The Black And Purple"

“Beneath The Black and Purple” by Morgan Delt inspires a three-minute long feeling of paranoiac elation. Within the first few seconds, listeners are transported into an eerie, acid-drenched atmosphere reminiscent of something you’d encounter on a Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators record....

Nayeli Portillo

FLASHBACK FRIDAYLou Reed's "Transformer"

I was 17 the first time I saw Transformer in a record store. The cover, exhibiting an androgynous figure holding onto a neon-rimmed guitar, boasting heavily blackened eyelids stopped me as I absentmindedly skimmed my way through the ‘R’s of the CD section in Rush-Mor Records. I had listened to a...

Nayeli Portillo

LIVE REVIEWKurt Vile and The Violators @ Terminal 5

Philadelphia native Kurt Vile (and his touring band, The Violators) drew in a large crowd for his Friday night show at Terminal 5. Vile plans to begin touring extensively across the US and Europe for the remainder of the year in support of his most recent album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze, released...

Nayeli Portillo

FLASHBACK FRIDAYRiot Grrrl in Brazil-Dominatrix

20 years ago, bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile were at the forefront of a newly emerging movement that would eventually be deemed as “riot grrrl”, a movement within the punk rock subculture fueled by feminist politics and the do-it-yourself ideology. In the relatively short timespan of roughly...

Nayeli Portillo

EP REVIEWParquet Courts: Tally All The Things That You Broke

It’s been a little over a year since Brooklyn’s very own Parquet Courts gave us their debut LP Light Up Gold, a release that has garnered a considerable amount of attention and approval from DIY enthusiasts and mainstream music publications alike. Since then, the band has built up quite an...

Nayeli Portillo