Pay attention to NAT BALDWIN.

Nat Baldwin is a talented young songwriter/composer from New York.He plays the Double-Bass(the "stand-up bass" to most..) quite well.Incredible,even.His music is powerful.His voice floats and flutters around the gentle strides of the bow,as his band calmly strums and hums around him.The brass section puffs along to his every move,and gentle,tattering drums accompany him on stage often.This is a joyous noise indeed.A collective noise at times,but he is his own maestro.You may know him as the bass man on recent recordings like Vampire Weekend's "Contra", Department of Eagles "In Ear Park", and Dirty Projectors' last 3 records AND tours.You may also recognize him from last year's split 12" with Extra Life.He's worked with the likes of Jessica Pavone,Phosphorescent,Br'er,and Tiger Saw,too.A busy guy.

Nat Baldwin has been prolific in his studio,touring,and all around output in this decade.He has written at least five full-length albums,two splits,and a handful of comp tracks in the last 7 years as well.His most recent long player,Most Valuable Player(shatter your leaves) is his most personal and focused work,in my opinion.The songs are amazing,catchy pop-soul-jazz tunes that are impossible to forget.I tend to hum them all day after just one listen.A nice document of his talents and obvious love for his instrument,and the music he makes with it.Important stuff.Check him out.

WE ARE EXTRA LIFE AND WE ARE FUCKING EPIC.

EXTRA LIFE performing "run cold/pay up" live @ Silent Barn - Brooklyn,NY





EXTRA LIFE performing "I don't see it that way" @ Lewis and Clark College

WATCH Zs PERFORM SONGS FROM THEIR UPCOMING FULL LENGTH

The new full length,"New Slaves" will be out this spring via-The Social Registry.You should pick up their latest 12", Music Of The Modern White if you haven't already.It's awesome,and it will give you some insight on where they might be headed with this new lineup.My guess is EVERYWHERE.There are some killer remix 12"s out now,too.Do it to it.


New Slaves [part 1]



New Slaves [part 2]



Acres of Skin

----->BIG up to unARTig for the footage!<-----

Zs - "Music Of The Modern White" LP (The Social Registry)

There is so much music being made in so many various forms these days,that I find it hard to actually pay and real attention to a single group or musician for too long.I generally give it a few spins,and not too long after,discs will just end up in a pile somewhere in the backseat of my car or on the floor of my room.Zs are one of the only entities that hold my attention to no end,as of late.I can't say enough good things about these dudes.So I will just stick to telling you what their latest LP sounds like.

Music Of The Modern White is 23 minutes and 7 second hayride into loud,blistering,heavy,and well calculated avant-free-jazz-noise.Whatever you want to call this beast,it's fucking powerful and precise.Taking a step away from the sharp,clean,prog-jazz epics of the amazing Arms album, M.M.W. takes us into a much darker and more violent territory than you might expect from the trio.It's a full-blown treble attack,also adding a touch of gain in the right places..which is pretty much EVERYWHERE.And this seems to work really well here.

If you listen to this all the way through,you will notice there is a general cohesiveness not heard on other Zs recordings,like the songs have a nice way of fading into and out of each other.Not unlike the Hard e.p.,these songs are less polished and catchy than past releases.Yet they still retain all of the complicated chops and precision that we have come to adore these guys for.By the third track,you have already been over so many bumps,twists and turns that you forget exactly where you started from.

Music Of The Modern White is for the most part a blown out,spattering leap into percussive experimentation.But listen close,and you will find that Zs still know how to take it down a notch(or 10)when they want to.Incredible release.