by Jane Lambert

12 @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC

Gambit is the brainchild of Lyle Kamesaki, a name that you will soon remember in a matter of one single listen to his flawless album, Take Off and Landing. Already selling out high profile venues

such as the Mercury Lounge and Webster Hall (with Hot Chellae Rae) this year and last, Gambit is literally ready to take off. Graduating from Harvard in 2004 the wiz kid started work at a capitalist real estate firm. Though six-figures and a beach house on Long Island had him living comfortably to say the least, life was not exciting enough for the young Gambit as he took to music; what he says is his “true calling.” Eager to learn how to make himself a great musician, Gambit succeed, and succeeded fast. Learning how to write, play and record, Kameaski will fool even the seasoned of music industry veterans as what you are about to experience is a sound and quality of a musician wise beyond his years. Take Off and Landing took a long three years to complete as Gambit wrote and recorded during his free time after work and into the early hours of the morning. A documentary of a true artist’s struggle with not only life, but perhaps his feelings as well, comes to life in this gorgeous ten song album.

Opening the album is the infectious track “This Town,” which is already a great taste of what is to come. Gambits gorgeous and catchy voice, heavy but bright guitars and unforgettable drum beats takes you on a ride. “Maybe,” is right behind with dreamy pop vocals and charming hand claps. “Wake up and run like hell,” seems to be a bit autobiographical for Gambit, as his honesty begins to shine through the record. Male harmonies accompany his sultry vocals, which blend with fuzzy synths, creating a wall of sound like no other.

A church organ brings in “All the Time in the World,” a charming love story of a boy to New York and to a what may appear to be the love of his life. One of the most beautiful elements of this album is the stories that Gambit tells. Every piece is a new chapter in the record which truly comes from his heart. The listener can automatically tell that he has poured every bit of himself into every song, without doubt.

Strong female vocals chime in for “Lovers in the Basement,” which is a nice surprise that adds an added energy to the album. While the track seems to blend a burst of pop, things turn a full 180-degrees with the gorgeous and string-filled “I’m Sorry,” that takes the listener on a tearful journey.

“Change in the Feel,” lifts the record up again, with it’s dark overtones, slight and bright piano, and Gambit’s echoing vocals. “Things Aren’t So Bad,” is a catchy tune that will have your ass up in dancing in no time. Perfect for a house party, or the Bowery Ballroom. “Ask Yourself,” proves to be your ideal Friday night music. The trance beat and harmonious vocals blend to create your new favorite song for sure. “My, My, My,” is a bit reminiscent of electro pop act VHS or Beta, Gambit’s dreamy synths and harmonic overtones, are surrounded by his lustful voice. With a slight hint of female vocals from behind, the listener will be in awe of what is offered. Closing out the album is “Alibi,” a haunting piece that can sum up this incredible record. Truthful, beautiful and game changing.

For lucky fans in New York, you can see Gambit take the stage at the Bowery Ballroom on May 17^th opening for the legendary VHS or Beta. Take Off and Landing is a stunning record that will leave you craving more of what Gambit has to offer. Mark my word, by the end of 2012, Gambit will be a name that everyone will know. Here’s to honest, heartfelt music and an album well done. Get ready to take flight with Gambit.

01.02.12

by Jane Lambert

Modern Mystery’s Year End List 2011 (Albums & Songs)

Yes, we’re a little late on this, but here is our Year End List(s) in all of their glory.

TOP ALBUMS of 2011

1. Real Estate – Days
Literally the most beautiful album we heard all year. Everything about Days is near perfect. Haunting guitars and echoing vocals provide a stunning LP that will hold the test of time. Real Estate put out the essential record of 2011 and will hold a place forever in indie music history. Congratulations to these guys for pouring their heart and soul into a record, and letting the listener hear every beat, every emotion, and every ounce of perfection.

2. Beirut – The Rip Tide
A close runner up, Beirut proves that they have staying power on their highly anticipated second album. They certainly lived up to the hype and brought the indie rock game to a whole new level.

3. The Drums – Portamento
Catchy, and a little deeper, The Drums plunge into the ocean, not to go surfing this time but to get a little heavier. The outcome? Amazing.

4. Sloan – The Double Cross
Always a MM favorite, the best foursome since The Beatles provide another album of blissful harmonies and catchy riffs. Sloan manages to do it again.

5. The Strokes – Angles
It may have taken 5 years for this little gem, but it was certainly worth the wait. We hope the next album is a little more cohesive, a little more “Strokesy,” but hell, it’s still one of the best records our ears came across this year, not to mention the most anticipated.

6. Neon Indian – Era Extraña
An incredible sophomore effort, that had us dancing around the apartment, the office, the car, etc. Alan Palomo knows what makes our hearts tick, and it’s his infectious brand of chillwave.

7. Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire
The second anticipated musical act out of retirement this year, Adams put out a tear jerking album of all acoustic material, this time without his infamous Cardinals. Gorgeous as always, that man cannot write a bad song.

8. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
What may be the last album under the name Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst and company pull out all the stops on this intriguing and somewhat eerie album. Oberst is better than ever, just when you thought that was impossible.

9. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic
Stephen Malkmus albums always equals a win. Pretend to be surprised. The Beck produced record caught our ears this year. Nice one Malkmus, as always.

10. Sam Roberts Band – Collider
Another great album from SRB, the band is on a hot streak of great releases. Always a little under the radar, this cult favorite is winning over hearts and ears quickly. Jump on in.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Atlas Sound – Parallax
Toro Y Moi – Underneath the Pine
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Destroyer – Kaputt
Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
Cults – Cults
Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
Panda Bear – Tom Boy
James Blake – James Blake

Top Songs of 2011

1 The Strokes – “Undercover of Darkness”
2 Neon Indian – “Hexx Girlfriend”
3 Real Estate – “Green Aisles”
4 Bright Eyes – “Shell Games”
5 Chairlift – “Amanaemonesia”
6 Sloan – “The Answer Was You”
7 The Drums – “Money”
8 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – “Senator”
9 Beirut – “Santa Fe”
10 Washed Out – Amor Fati
11 Joy Formidable – Whirring
12 Girls – “Honey Bunny”
13 Unknown Mortal Orchestra -“Ffunny Ffriends”
14 Real Estate – “It’s Real”
15 Cass McCombs – “Country Line”

12.07.11

by viktorsha

Catching Ghosts with Juviley.

Imagine a pitch black screen.Seconds later, a electronic music voyage kicks in.Glimpses of avatar ghosts start popping up in the window. According to Juviley,there are no rules. A transplant from Israel, he is the brainchild behind a conglomeration of his album Our Choices Rhyme camouflaged inside of a video game. Juviley’s voltage of futuristic beats, and bending synths combine as a project that takes the listener in a progressive labyrinth of winning the game, in order to win a free download of the album. Bravo!

Check out Juviley’s video “My Blood” below

Catch ghosts here!

play

-Viktorsha Uliyanova

10.03.11

by Jane Lambert

LA RESISTANCE Play Second NYC Residency Show This Week! Release Covers EP

Covers usually never do a song justice, but LA RESISTANCE is out to prove you wrong. The band has just released a brilliant EP collection of covers titled The Candidate, that will surely make the way onto your Year End lists. The covers that appear on the album are sultry and seductive. From the opener “Lips Like Sugar,” from Echo and The Bunnymen to “Disorder,” by Joy Division, every track somehow outdoes the other. A great accomplishment to say the least.

For New York fans, the band are in them midst of a two week residency at the infamous ARLENE’S GROCERY on SEPTEMBER 28TH and OCTOBER 5TH.

**DOWNLOAD “THE CANDIDATE” FOR FREE**
http://www.laresistancemusic.com

Frontman Greg Summerlin offered some words on the album, which come from a very personal place.

“I wanted to pick a time period and a group of bands that had some sort coherency to them and also were major influences of mine. So, I decided to pick a group of bands from the UK that were really influential in the 80’s that I have become obsessed with at some time or other in my musical history. In my opinion, these are the five greatest bands in the UK from this era,” says Summerlin.

“Lips Like Sugar” – Echo and the Bunnymen

“I went to go see them in Atlanta a couple of months ago and left the show wondering how these guys are not considered one the greatest bands ever. Their body of work to me stands up with any of the great bands in rock history.”

“What We All Want” – Gang of Four

“To me, Gang of Four is one of the most original bands that came out of the 80’s post punk era. The guitar work on this song is incredible and Andy Gill had a great sound and really unusual guitar riffs.”

“Cries and Whispers” – New Order

New Order is probably the band out of this group that has had the most influence on the way I tried to make the La Resistance record, (Philosophy) sound.”

“Head On” – Jesus and the Mary Chain

“The way they just pushed the limits on the amount of reverb and guitar feedback they used influenced all kinds of shoegaze and other bands that came after them. But, they also wrote great pop songs and to me this is one of their best.”

“Disorder” – Joy Division

“This is one of my favorite songs of theirs because the bass riff is great, but the whole song is fantastic and Ian Curtis’ vocals and lyrics are haunting and really give us a great idea of what was going on his head at the time.”

TOUR DATES

OCTOBER 5TH10PM- ARLENE’S GROCERY- NYC

08.15.11

by Sedera Ranaivoarinosy

Tom Vek – Leisure Seizure

So yes, Tom Vek has been MIA for five years, bla bla bla… We can skip the story of his long, mysterious absence from the airwaves to get to what’s important: he’s back and still kicking butt.

His newest album, Leisure Seizure, which is already available digitally but will only get a physical release on September 13th, kept the essence of what made his first album special but polished it, making his sound more coherent. We’re far from the lo-fi vibe of We Have Sound, but that doesn’t mean Vek’s taken away what was gritty and interesting about his music; the better quality of the production actually makes all the subtleties of his arrangements shine through more distinctly.

We Have Sound played a lot with dissonance and Leisure Seizure is no different. From the electronic loops he integrates in his songs to flat tone of voice when he sings, he manages to find the right balance to make all his seemingly cacophonous elements fit together in a pleasing manner. “World of Doubt,” with its pounding drum, clashing guitar riffs and almost spoken lyrics is a perfect example of that skill.

“We Do Nothing” is like a condensed mix of all the good things from his first LP. There’s a little bit of “C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)” in it, some “Nothing But Green Lights” mixed in as well, which is a nice indicator that Vek’s taken all the years since We Have Sound listening back to the songs to synthesize the best things from his first album and build on them.

What he’s gotten really good at is creating a really hypnotizing ambient mood in his songs, no matter how slow or upbeat they are. You hear it as much in the single “A Chore” or the electronic “Close Mic’ed,” which both succeed in how repetition is used to move the song forward rather than become boring and redundant; it’s quite a feat.

All in all, Leisure Seizure is bigger and bolder than We Have Sound was. It’s more mature but it’s also more danceable. Tom Vek is definitely forgiven for having made everyone wait so long for this sophomore release.

06.14.11

by Goose

Sam Roberts Band – “Collider”

Brace yourself, this is the start of a new brand of music; this is groundbreaking. That was sarcasm. Collider sounds just like original Sam Roberts material, so Sam Roberts fans rest at ease. With the growing recognition of Sam Roberts work, it is a smart idea that Sam Roberts Band did not stem too far from normality. Fortunately, to avoid being banal, there are new worldly sounds on this album that will give a new texture to the music you have come accustomed to.

“The Last Crusade” is a funky bass-driven groove with fun intentions. Unintentionally or intentionally inspired by afro-beat, “The Last Crusade” is an ethnic rumpus that skillfully avoids being corny. Imagine this: you are bobbing your head to a firm beat when all of a sudden the Star Wars Cantina Band comes in with blistering horns. I kid you not, the horns mimic the jam band from Tatooine. Oddly enough, it fits. The song is a funky, fun, and cool little hymn. “The Last Crusade” has the Sam Roberts feel but the newly added funk gives it a little flare.

Sam Roberts knows how to make rock songs. Each song has something distinctive that makes you crave for a relisten. The soothing progression of “No Arrows”, the vocal harmonies on “Longitude”, and the dancey chorus of “Sang Froid” all make the album frequently worth an entire run-through. Not one song is bad which makes it an easy choice for a great unabridged listen. Even the single, “I Feel You”, which sometimes is a band’s weakest tune, has an explosive chorus and true passion. The tone is beyond powerful.

Collider is not going to blow you away with something you have never heard before. It is the same old style but that is good. Why change the style of an artist that is just now rightfully getting recognized? This album will leave a smile on your face, even if it is only for a short period. It is not a rehash, it is simply a Sam Roberts redux or now the newly formed Sam Roberts Band.