The Secret Life Of Sofia @ The Delancey - 26 February 2008

The Secret Life Of Sofia (above) performed at The Delancey this past Tuesday night. They played a set consisting mostly (entirely?) of songs from their upcoming soon-to-be-released album Seven Summits which they've just finished mastering. The show found the band joined at times by some guest musicians: Leah Paul on flute (pictured above, from the band The Bridesmaids) and Nadim Issa on keys (from the band Mancino*, who also played a set after Secret Life - watch live video of a new song from this performance over on EARF).

As usual, The Secret Life Of Sofia delivered a very strong performance that showed off their full range of abilities from middle-of-the-woods haunting delicacy to full-bore pop rock. This is a band that's equally well matched for an intimate set at a venue like the Living Room as well as a support slot at a place like Bowery Ballroom for a band like Grizzly Bear. Not that I'm telling the powers that book what to do; but yeah, I guess I am. In fact, if I were playing matchmaker, I'd say that a label like Dead Oceans might want to consider looking their way in regards to putting out this Seven Summits album of theirs. One thing's for sure, The Secret Life Of Sofia is one of Brooklyn's top unsigned gems. More pictures, as well as live video of a few songs, after the jump.





Watch:
"Weathering" by The Secret Life Of Sofia live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT
"Seven Summits" by The Secret Life Of Sofia live (from this show featuring Nadim Issa) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures EF from this show (and others): The Secret Life Of Sofia | Mancino

*full disclaimer - Mancino is the band of EAR FARM Mike - head over to EARF to watch a brand new Mancino song called "Crossing Guards".

StereoactiveNYC/Hot Rocks Official CMJ Showcase - 20 October 2007 @ The Delancey

On Saturday night Stereoactive NYC and Hot Rocks took over The Delancey for their Official CMJ Music Marathon Showcase. It was an amazing night full of NINE awesome bands. I played the part of guest DJ during the first four hours of the evening, spinning some of my favorite songs from 1956-1964 and doing my best to keep people dancing - not exactly an easy task without some of my go-to songs from the '80s and '90s.

Sadly, I had to leave early and missed seeing Up the Empire, El Jezel, and The Vandelles - all of which are bands I enjoy very much. Still, the six bands I did get to see truly rocked that basement stage. Highlights from the evening for me were, without a doubt, The Secret Life of Sofia and A Place to Bury Strangers. Both of these two sets ended up being two of my favorites from all of CMJ.

You can find a few links, pictures, MP3s, and two LIVE videos I took of A Place to Bury Strangers below.

Chop Shop (above) kicked things off with a bang. They brought with them a nice sized crowd of fans and perfectly set the tone for the rest of the night with their charisma and energy.

Listen:
"Crickets"

Visit Chop Shop on MySpace.

The Secret Life of Sofia (above) delivered their best performance to date. At least, for the shows I've seen them play - this was it. The band is truly finding themselves within their new songs and I literally got chills at one point. Sounds silly? It's the truth. I love this band. When their new album comes out, watch out world.

Listen:
"Hospital Inside Me"

See more pictures of The Secret Life of Sofia (from this show and others) HERE.

Visit The Secret Life of Sofia on MySpace.

Gold Streets (above) hit the stage with their trademark groovy bass and split male/female vocals and got many people shaking and moving along with their Cocteau Twins meets Veruca Salt vibe. God how I love a Rickenbacker bass.

Listen:
"Funny Cry Happy”

Visit Gold Streets on MySpace.

Mancino (above) was playing a second show in a week without a drummer. That is, until Jeremiah from Man in Gray stepped in and kicked out beats for about four songs. Lots of fun, and even more people dancing and shaking and moving.

See Mancino live:
31 October - EAR FARM's Super Spooky Halloween Show @ Europa w/ Goes Cube, Hopewell and the Giraffes

Listen:
"Five Blades"

See more pictures of Mancino (from this show and many others) HERE.

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Man in Gray (above) burst onto the stage with even more energy than usual. No really, and that's saying a lot. Not knocking on their set earlier in the week, but on Saturday night they killed it. Apologies for some of these bad pics, but I was stuck in the DJ booth most of the night.

Listen:
"Stranded"

See more pictures of Man In Gray (from another show) HERE.

Visit Man In Gray on MySpace.

A Place to Bury Strangers (above) simply dominated. There was a palpable sense of anticipation in the room before they went on. People were excited to see this band, and for good reason: they're one of New York's top live bands. Though this wasn't the loudest I've ever heard them, it was one of my most favorite sets of all of CMJ. I'd see them again and again and again and again, if only my ears would let me.

Listen:
"To Fix The Gash In Your Head"

Watch:
"To Fix The Gash In Your Head" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT
"I Know I'll See You" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of A Place to Bury Strangers (from this show) HERE.

Visit A Place to Bury Strangers on MySpace.

Mancino @ the Indaba Loft - 18 October 2007

On Thursday night Mancino played one of the many Indaba Loft shows happening during CMJ. They were without their drummer (Jonathan Mason) for the second time in their history, and like before they reworked some of their old songs to fit this two person lineup.

For someone who is as in love with this band as I am, these new arrangements bring about excitement and wonder and joy. Let's face it, even the slightest little change in song structure is something I'd notice with Mancino songs. Therefore, I loved this performance - but sorely missed having Jonathan present on drums. However, none of this is really what this show was about.

It seems that Mike (the very same Mike you've been reading here on EAR FARM) and Nadim have been hard at work in the studio, bringing THREE new songs to the delighted audience at this show. All three of the songs blended together and were played as a suite. They showed a different side of Mancino, a textural and slow-change side of the band not normally seen much in the songs they've written to this point. I, for one, very much enjoyed all of the new songs and am looking forward to seeing what comes of them once their percussionist returns from exile in LA LA land. You can watch a video of them performing one of the new songs below, or hear them live for yourself tonight at the Delancey.

See Mancino live:
20 October - Hot Rocks/StereoactiveNYC Official CMJ Showcase @ The Delancey
31 October - EAR FARM's Super Spooky Halloween Show @ Europa w/ Goes Cube, Hopewell and the Giraffes

Listen:
"Five Blades"

Watch:
"Untitled new song #3" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of Mancino (from this show and many others) HERE.

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Neon Lights presents @ Union Hall - 6 July 2007

The Neon Lights crew put together a fun couple of shows this past weekend at Union Hall. I didn't make it to the Saturday night show but Friday night was all like this - HOLLER. That's right ya'll. It was all HOLLA HOLLA get lots of great bands and tons of fun for your TEN DOLLA. Check out some pictures if you don't believe the hype. And you can also read more about the cookies/Mancino portion of the show over on 423smith HERE.

El Jezel
Visit El Jezel on MySpace, see more pictures of El Jezel from this show HERE.

Mancino
Visit Mancino on MySpace, see more pictures of Mancino, from this show and others, HERE.

Thrushes
Visit Thrushes on MySpace, see more pictures of Thrushes from this show HERE.

De Novo Dahl
Visit De Novo Dahl on MySpace, see more pictures of De Novo Dahl from this show HERE.

Mancino (and many other fine bands) featured on MTV's Band in a Bubble

If you've watched MTV at all since 1993 then it should come as no surprise that the best part of the second episode of MTV's new show Band in a Bubble were the music tracks hidden in the background.

HERE is a list of the music that appeared in the second episode (FOUR songs by Mancino):

Mancino, "Circus Scabs"
Mancino, "Hetchie Hutchie Footchie"
Mancino, "L'Amour (Or Less)"
Mancino, "People We Meet"
Infidels, "7 and 7"
Lansdowne, "Amidst the Gray"
Lansdowne, "Can't See"
The Appreciation Post, "I'm No Sure Thing"
Discover America, "Shifty Eyes"
Discover America, "The Day You Were Born"
Mike Errico, "Something New"
Native Tongue "Sacred"
The Bosch, "1776"
The Bosch, "Counting"
The Safes, "Everyone In the World"
The Scarlet, "Maria:"
The Subjects, "Hounds Of War"
The Subjects, "Seems To Me"
Up the Empire, "Volcano"

The Muggabears, The Secret Life of Sofia, Mancino, Nous Non Plus @ Pianos - 12 May 2007

The Muggabears

The Muggabears (above) played a very solid set, once again proving that "Dead Kid Kicks" is one of the better songs released so far this year, and is a song best experienced in a live setting.

Listen:
"Dead Kid Kicks"

Visit The Muggabears on MySpace, see more pictures (from this show and others) of The Muggabears HERE.

The Secret Life of Sofia

The Secret Life of Sofia (above) returned from their long winter's nap to amaze the crowd with four new songs so finely crafted that I can't help but to already start thinking of comparing their yet to be released album to Yellow House. In more simple terms: wow.

Listen:
"Hospital Inside Me"

Visit The Secret Life of Sofia on MySpace, see more pictures (from this show) of The Secret Life of Sofia HERE.

Mancino

Mancino (above) played one of their best shows yet. The band was loose, yet incredibly tight, and full of their infectious love of music that energizes audiences like nobody's business. Here's a tip: catch them soon while they're still playing these smaller NYC venues.

Listen:
"L'amour (or Less)"

Visit Mancino on MySpace, see more pictures (from this show and others) of Mancino HERE.

Nous Non Plus

Nous Non Plus is a band I've been wanting to see for quite a while. They brought their catchy and fun French indie-pop to life perfectly in person and did not disappoint.

Listen:
"Tant Pis Pour Toi" (edited clip)

Visit Nous Non Plus on MySpace.

Nous Non Plus, Mancino, The Secret Life of Sofia, The Muggabears, Can Joann @ Pianos tomorrow night!

This might as well be an official EAR FARM show, given that each of these bands have appeared on this site before. Heck, the majority of them have done so multiple times and are alums of Ear Farm Presents shows past.

What I'm getting at here is that you should most definitely plan to head to Pianos tomorrow night to see:

12:00 Nous Non Plus
11:00 Mancino
10:00 The Secret Life of Sofia
9:00 The Muggabears
8:00 Can Joann

Mancino is SPIN's Band of the Day

With the announcement that Mancino is SPIN's Band of the Day, one of my very most favorite bands continues to find more fans at each turn, thus drastically raising the chances they'll all get super rich and buy matching orange Escalades. If you ask me it's about time.

Listen:
"Hetchie Hutchie Footchie"
"L'amour (or Less)"

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Read EF's review of Manners Matter HERE.

Chop Shop, The Bosch, and Mancino playing Hot Rocks @ The Delancey - 14 April 2007

Chop Shop

The Bosch

Mancino

The photos above are of Chop Shop, The Bosch, and Mancino playing the Hot Rocks party @ The Delancey last Saturday night.

More pictures of Mancino (from this show and others) HERE.

Mancino on MOKB SIRIUS Blog Radio

One of EAR FARM's most favorite bands in the universe, and earliest endorsements (go read that horrible post to have a laugh at the terribleness of the first few EF posts), is Mancino. Mancino recently finished their first LP (EF review HERE) and also paid a visit to My Old Kentucky Blog to record some sessions for Dodge's satellite radio show on Sirius.

Go HERE to listen to Mancino's MOKB SIRIUS Blog Radio session. Be sure to check out all of the other fine sessions Dodge has hosted.

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

The Muggabears, Mancino @ Mercury Lounge - 27 January 2007

Saturday night at Mercury Lounge featured two up and coming three-piece bands from Brooklyn. Both played sets made up of mostly new music, both are getting more media attention and fans by the day, and both bands had really fantastic shows.

The Muggabears
The Muggabears got started early with folks still arriving as they closed out their set. For everyone who missed them - way to scrrrrrrew it up for yourself. It was one of their best performances and the sound was fantastic. I'm already anxious to see them play songs from Night Choreography again. Listen to one below. Watch a video from the show as well (note: the sound is pretty bad given my location in between the speakers and the stage monitors) and read an Ear Farm review of their soon to be released EP Night Choreography HERE.

Listen:
"Dead Kid Kicks"

Watch:
"Now I've Got A Sword" (QT) | "Now I've Got A Sword" (YouTube)

Visit The Muggabears on MySpace.

The Muggabears Live:
16 February @ Union Hall
17 February @ The Delancey
2 March @ Sin-é

*see more pictures of The Muggabears (from this show and others) HERE

Mancino
Mancino was playing an album release show and there was quite a great turnout for it. Good for all of those people because the band played what I'd say was probably their best show to date (and I've seen a few). They nailed the new songs from Manners Matter, worked in an excellent version of "Babel By The Mouthful", and got four fine ladies in the front row dancing to "Hetchie Hutchie Footchie" at the end of their set. As well, they added a second guitarist (Taylor Watson) on their final three songs which rounded out their sound rather nicely. Once again, the Mercury Lounge sound was fantastic. Watch a video of the band playing a song from their soon to be released LP Manners Matter below (note: the sound is again pretty bad given my location in between the speakers and the stage monitors) and read an Ear Farm review of the album HERE.

Listen:
"Hetchie Hutchie Footchie"

Watch:
"Buy My Product" (QT) | "Buy My Product" (YouTube)

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Mancino Live:
16 February @ Pianos
1 March @ Mercury Lounge

*see more pictures of Mancino (from this show and others) HERE

Mancino - Manners Matter

In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci produced a sketch for a project that was meant to construct a bridge to span the Golden Horn. The proposed bridge (which would've been the longest in the world at the time) was considered too ambitious and thus was not built. However, five hundred years later Leonardo's design was brought to life by The Leonardo Bridge Project when a smaller bridge based on his design was constructed in Norway. Now his full original vision is set to be realized as there are plans currently underway to build an exact copy of da Vinci's bridge to span the Golden Horn. Ambition at first deflected, now the world has finally caught up.

The poorly related cautionary tale above relays one possible outcome after Mancino releases their debut LP Manners Matter on the 30th of January. Am I saying that this album is the band's overly-ambitious attempt to come up with a plan for a bridge to span the Gowanus Canal? No. Forget about the bridge for a second. The fact is, this is not the kind of music you see regularly bandied about on the hot music sites. There's no "tangible" buzz behind this band and they're without a derivative kill-your-brain-cells Hype Machine hit. Yes, these are the times we live in. An era of unsigned bands becoming megastars on the merit of two songs built upon 4 distinct chords jammed out in 4/4 with a tiny measure of enthusiasm. Fans of music are too busy looking over their shoulder to validate their own "taste", too busy voraciously consuming and disposing MP3s, to know how to create their own unique roster of favorites. Kill your idols, revive those brains cells, there's more to life than keeping up with Pitchfork and music bloggers.

Mancino knows this and Manners Matter is living proof. On this record, three young men from Brooklyn have crafted a singular sound with definitive artistic vision. The opening song, "Circus Scabs", tickles the palate the way a well-set amuse bouche does. It hints at a nouveau Beach Boys aesthetic that shows up again (on the Beach Boys meets Beatles "People We Meet") and again (in the final song, the Guy Viseur meets Beach Boys "Motels") on the album and immediately offers a taste of what the band is up to in terms of production, adventurous songwriting, and lyrical sense. Then, without warning, comes a dance classic. "Hetchie Hutchie Footchie" revives all of everything you would have loved about '60s dance music, if only you'd been around then. There are words for you to latch on to (relate to) and sing along with; and, best of all, it hustles and grooves and gets the feet moving. Likewise, track four, "The Anvil and Me", is another catchy song that might see radio success as a single in another era. From there, "Definition of an Accident" offers clues to the kind of music that has influenced all three members of the band. The track is an amalgam of classical, jazz, and rock experimentation that builds into a whirlwind and then "falls to pieces" handsomely. From this end "Five Blades" rises like an autumnal late-night beach party phoenix. Not a real thing, no, but it could be.

What will surely be side two if Manners Matter is ever pressed to vinyl begins with the best song on the album, "L'amour (or Less)". It's an almost guaranteed love at first listen kind of song. As well, it's at this point that Mancino's debut LP really comes into its own. The sequence of tracks 7-11 offers highlight after highlight with standout moments in each and every song. Throughout the album, and most notably during this second half, there's a sense of what drives obsessive studio wizards like Steely Dan and XTC and the production work done by keyboardist/backup vocalist Nadim Issa is a wonder to behold.

When matched with the right amounts of luck and timing, ambition can drive men towards greatness and an ambitious creative force is one thing Mancino's got in abundance. What remains to be seen is if Manners Matter will in fact take the band across the Gowanus and into the hearts, minds, and ears of people around the world. With such a solidly defined debut album, and the song "Buy My Product" providing the best suggestion of where this band might be heading in the future, an increasing fan base would appear to be a certainty. Buy this product*.

Listen:
"Hetchie Hutchie Footchie"
"L'amour (or Less)"

Watch:
"Hetchie Hutchie Footchie" music video

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Mancino Live:
27 January @ Mercury Lounge
16 February @ Pianos
1 March @ Mercury Lounge

*you techinically can't yet buy the product** but on Tuesday you will be able to at CD Baby and the iTunes store.

**Mancino is playing a Manners Matter album release show tomorrow at Mercury Lounge with The Muggabears and Hymns - buy the album there too!

Mancino - "Hetchie Hutchie Footchie" music video

Mancino is set to release their debut LP Manners Matter on the 30th of January with a record release show at Mercury Lounge on the 27th of this month. You'll be hearing more about both of these things next week, for now enjoy the video. Don't pretend the dance craze is dead - get into Mancino's groove.

Visit Mancino on MySpace.

Mancino @ The Annex - 7 December 2006

Mancino live at The Annex.


Listen to a song from their soon-to-be released debut LP Manners Matter over on Mancino's MySpace page.

More pictures from this show HERE.