Talk Music Talk With Boice

A new Grooms album ever two years is the perfect clockwork for indie rock devotees. As the lead vocalist and guitarist, Travis Johnson heads up the Brooklyn-based band whose debut came out in 2009 when they were a part of the now-defunct Death by Audio DIY scene in Williamsburg. Grooms newly-released fifth album, Exit Index (Western Vinyl), continues to refine their pairing of sturdy vocal melodies and textured music production. [This episode features "Magistrate Seeks Romance" from Exit Index in its entirety.] Visit Grooms online:                                        https://groomsgrooms.com Order Exit Index:                                         https://grooms.bandcamp.com   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:                 https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk SUBSCRIBE ON GOOGLE PLAY: http://bit.ly/TMTgoogleplay Please take a moment to leave a rating and/or review in the st

We need more fearless artists like Sarah Elizabeth Charles inhabiting the world. On Free of Form, the vocalist and composer's third incredible album in a row, she continues to question the expectations of jazz, soul and her own singular talent. It's an exhilarating expansion of her creativity. Sarah co-produced the album with trumpeter Christian Atunde Adjuah Scott who also plays on four songs. Free of Form is the inaugural release on Christian's Stretch Music imprint. Sarah previously appeared on episodes 021 and 036 of Talk Music Talk. [This episode includes Free of Form's title track and "March to Revolution Pt. 2" in their entirety. Both songs feature Christian Scott.] Visit Sarah Elizabeth Charles online: http://www.sarahelizabethcharles.com                          https://sarah-elizabeth-charles.bandcamp.com Listen to the previous TMT interviews with Sarah Elizabeth Charles: TMT 021:                                                   https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-music-talk-with-boice/id94

Eric Morse’s second children’s book, What is Hip-Hop? (produced by journalist Nelson George) is a vibrant picture book on the rich culture and celebrates not only rap music but also breakdancing and graffiti art, from the Bronx block parties to the present day. Imagine that a picture book with a target audience of 4-7 year olds could be an opportunity for parents to discuss issues like race and feminism through the lens of hip-hop. With 3-D clay illustrations by Anny Yi, Eric’s follow-up to 2015’s What is Punk? is never heavy-handed or preachy. What is Hip-Hop? and What is Punk? are both available from Akashic Books. Visit Eric Morse online: http://www.akashicbooks.com/author/eric-morse   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:                 https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk SUBSCRIBE ON GOOGLE PLAY: http://bit.ly/TMTgoogleplay Please take a moment to leave a rating and/or review i

Maestra Amy Andersson has toured throughout fourteen countries with an expertise that flourishes in a variety of settings. This versatility has allowed her to conduct operatic, symphonic, Broadway music and video operatic repertoire. As of this year, Maestra Andersson has founded her own ensemble, Orchestra Moderne NYC. Its premiere program, The Journey to America: From Repression to Freedom (Part 1), celebrates the legacy of immigration to America. The ensemble’s inaugural performance will additionally be its Carnegie Hall debut on October 7th, 2017 at 8pm. The program features world premieres and works by Peter Boyer, Lolita Ritmanis, Steve Lebetkin and Aaron Copland with guest artist Momo Wong on violin. Visit Maestra Amy Andersson online: http://orchestramoderne-nyc.com   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:                 https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk SUBSCRIBE ON GOOGL

The 150th episode of Talk Music Talk: Grace Upon Grace (Floordoor Records/Already Dead Tapes) marks the return of Public Speaking, the solo project of Jason Anthony Harris. The new album is Jason’s response to our current political climate and the “vulnerability to demagoguery in…fractured, desperate times” without slipping into didacticism. The Brooklyn-based musician’s earthy baritone washes over his piano and startling processed sounds and provides about as much comfort as a fly in the salve. [This episode features “Backbone” and “Trespass (ft. Sophie Chernin of Madam West)” from Grace Upon Grace in their entirety.] Visit Public Speaking online: https://www.instagram.com/public__speaking Purchase Grace Upon Grace: https://publicspeaking.bandcamp.com Listen to the previous TMT interview with Jason Anthony Harris and Ruben Sindo Acosta of Floordoor Records (Episode 095): https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-music-talk-with-boice/id942357796? mt=2&i=1000374260777     SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:        

The latest release from Soft Glas, the solo project of João Gonzalez, is a centered meditation on receiving the comfort of loved ones and looking back to appreciate the joy in present moments. Premiering João’s lead vocals, Orange Earth is the second full-length album from the Brooklyn-based producer/multi-instrumentalist and is released in conjunction with his short film, The Undiminished Sky. Created with filmmaker Aaron Vazquez, The Undiminished Sky is a sumptuous visual representation of Orange Earth’s themes. Soft Glas was previously interviewed on Episode 090. [This episode features Orange Earth’s title track in its entirety.] Visit Soft Glas online: https://www.instagram.com/softglas https://mobile.twitter.com/softglas Purchase Orange Earth: https://softglas.bandcamp.com Listen to the previous TMT interview with Soft Glas (Episode 090): https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-music-talk-with-boice/id942357796? mt=2&i=1000372334823   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:                 https://soundcloud.com/

You have to admire someone whose journalism career owes a debt to Duran Duran. In 1987, for a college assignment, Lori Majewski started a Duranzine about her all-time favorite group. The publication once held a circulation of 5000 international Duranies. Her love of writing was sparked. Career highlights since those early days include co-founding Teen People plus various editor stints at US Weekly and Entertainment Weekly. In 2014, Lori co-authored (with Jonathan Bernstein) an oral history on ‘80s music, Mad World. The book features 36 new wave songs and the stories behind them with all-new interviews from some of the era’s greatest artists including the Smiths, Depeche Mode and of course, Duran Duran. Nick Rhodes, the group’s keyboardist, even penned the foreword. Currently, Lori hosts Feedback (with Nik Carter), a morning news show on SiriusXM’s talk music Volume (Ch. 106) station. Visit Lori Majewski online: https://mobile.twitter.com/lorimajewski https://mobile.twitter.com/MadWorldBook This episode is spo

A. Savage's solo debut, Thawing Dawn, is the 20th release on his own label, Dull Tools. After five full-lengths (and two EP’s) with Parquet Courts, the Brooklyn-based band Savage founded in 2010, Thawing Dawn is the glorious result of a “songwriting bootcamp” as he puts it. Savage still sings and plays guitar in the band, they're returning to the studio this year, but his abundant productivity yielded a collection of songs that didn't quite fit the group. Thawing Dawn is an album in every since of the word; a complete statement that deserves to be heard in whole to truly experience its great rewards. The album claims just about every genre yet still remains the province of Savage. It's the best consecutive 44 minutes of the year. Savage is also a visual artist; he designed Parquet Courts’ Human Performance album cover which received a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package. [This episode features Thawing Dawn’s title track in its entirety.] Visit A. Savage online:                                   ht

Brazilian vibraphonist Victor Vieira-Branco wants to dirty up the percussion instrument. Perhaps an inspired connection from the São Paulo composer's love of punk music and its spirit. Earlier this year his group, Trio Repelente, released Ao Vivo Pra Ninguém, an intense study of jazz, post-rock and the kitchen sink all coalescing in shambolic harmony. Victor is also a member of the ensemble, Baoba Stereo Club. [This episode features "Shifty" and "Azul" from Ao Vivo Pra Ninguém in their entirety.] Visit Victor Vieira-Branco online: https://triorepelente.bandcamp.com    https://baoba.bandcamp.com SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:                 https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk SUBSCRIBE ON GOOGLE PLAY: http://bit.ly/TMTgoogleplay Please take a moment to leave a rating and/or review in the store. It helps increase the ranking of the podcast and exposes TMT to a new audience. T

The cover of multi-instrumentalist and tape-manipulator L'Rain's debut album simultaneously represents the memory of her mother and the music partly inspired by her. Taja Cheek's solo project is a phonetic respelling of her mother's name. The album image bears an eponymous cursive tattoo on the Brooklyn songwriter's forearm. Taja's genre is noise enveloped with melody, or sometimes the other way around, but always warmed by her vocals. [This episode features "A Toes (Shelf Inside Your Head) from L'Rain in its entirety.] Visit L'Rain online:                                                                             http://www.lrain.info   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk SUBSCRIBE ON GOOGLE PLAY: http://bit.ly/TMTgoogleplay Please take a moment to leave a rating and/or review in the store. It helps increase the ranking of the podcast and exp

It takes a confident artist to title their album Shitty Hits. Singer/songwriter Katie Von Schleicher couldn't care less if you're in on the joke or not because, quite simply, her second release contains eleven reasons to the contrary. Think '70s Laurel Canyon on a cloudy day. For this Brooklyn-based artist, it's classic heart-on-your-sleeve songwriting that's justifying raves from the likes of NPR and Interview magazine. [This episode features "The Image" and "Midsummer" from Shitty Hits in their entirety.] Visit Katie Von Schleicher online:                                                                     https://www.k-v-s.net   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/TalkMusicTalk SUBSCRIBE ON GOOGLE PLAY: http://bit.ly/TMTgoogleplay Please take a moment to leave a rating and/or review in the store. It helps increase the ranking of the podcast and exposes TMT

Whether on record or in a live setting, composer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Finnegan Shanahan's The Two Halves is hauntingly ambitious. The album, based on a Hudson River Railroad map (circa 1852), was released last year and has been performed with Contemporaneous, an ensemble Finnegan helped establish when he attended Bard College. New York's Rite of Summer music festival will feature the latest performance of The Two Halves during its 2017 season on Governors Island. This episode also includes an interview with Rite of Summer's co-artistic directors, Pam Goldberg and Blair McMillen. ["The Azimuth" from The Two Halves is included in its entirety.] Visit Finnegan Shanahan online:                https://finneganshanahan.bandcamp.com Visit Rite of Summer online:                                              https://www.riteofsummer.com   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bit.ly/TMTappANDROID SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES

The best creatives often design from a place of not seeing themselves represented in certain spaces. In the case of Mars Dixon, seven years ago he formed the band Aye Nako because he wanted to see a stage populated with people of color, queer people or even trans people like himself performing punk music that shouts from the margins. The Brooklyn-based group recently put out their third release, Silver Haze. It's a vital collection of spiky, melodic songs where Mars splits guitar and vocal duties with fellow songwriter Jade Payne. Sheena McGrath (drums) and Joe McCann (bass) complete the quartet. [This episode features "Spare Me" and "Sissy" from Silver Haze in their entirety."] Visit Aye Nako online:                                                 https://ayenako.bandcamp.com                                                     https://twitter.com/aye_nako                                             https://www.instagram.com/aye_nako/?hl=en Back Catalog Suggestion:                                             

It seems highly unlikely to stumble into excellence. There is a pathway to it regardless of an elusive success or ambitious destinations. The procedures to excellence are what yield artists like rapper Akinyemi. The Queens native is consistently honing his craft through a practice of reading, studying great hip-hop records and even sharpening his singing voice with vocal coaching. The 21-year-old is simultaneously wrapping up his final year of college as a computer science major while he pursues his musical ambitions to produce a body of work that he hopes affects an audience on an emotional level. His forthcoming EP, Summers, will be out later in 2017. [This episode features the single "Maple" in its entirety.] Visit Akinyemi online:                                                                           https://soundcloud.com/akinyeminyc                                   https://www.instagram.com/akinyeminyc   Back Catalog Suggestion: TMT 26: Mel D. Cole:                         https://itunes.apple.com/

While everyone is familiar with the term "indie", we just might need more performers like Jazzy Ash to make "kindie" a household word. Independent artists who make music for kids. Over the course of four albums, Ash has been building a thriving audience with originals and covers that appeal to both parents and their offspring. Swing Set is the latest release for the Southern California-native and her band the Leaping Lizards. The new album features Ash singing a selection of songs from the African-American folk canon that are at least 94-years-old in a New Orleans-jazz style. Many of these songs were handed down by children, generation after generation, with a particularly female heritage. [This episode features "Hambone" and "All the Pretty Little Horses" from Swing Set in their entirety.] Visit Jazzy Ash online:                                                         http://www.jazzyash.com Related Back Catalog Suggestion:                                                 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/t

For singer-songwriter Nick Pope, musical inspiration is often found in memories. Revisiting those moments, those events with perhaps a little more clarity that is only accessible through distance. His perfect new album, Howl and Flood, is a study in sustaining a mood and arrives on  the heels of last year's compilation of EP's, the genre-hopping Souvenirs and Astronauts. Howl & Flood's consistency in sound is no less exciting in its execution, it merely highlights Nick's restless expansiveness. [This episode features "Matter" and "The Hours" respectively from Howl and Flood and Souvenirs and Astronauts in their entirety.] Visit Nick Pope's label, Odd Gift Records:                        http://www.oddgiftrecords.com Purchase Nick Pope's albums:                                     https://nickpope.bandcamp.com   Related Back Catalog Suggestion:                                           https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice/talk-music-talk-with-boice-beau-borek-podcast-interview-1   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD:

There's this thing that singer-songwriter Beau Borek does whenever he reaches for his falsetto. His voice catches for a moment and it breaks your heart each and every time. Which is apropos since his debut release, Different Generations, is about familial loss and relationships and how the experiences can shape you. Although the lyrics are highly personal, Beau has discovered a way to translate an intimacy that affects us all. Listening to Different Generations feels more like a redemptive contribution than voyeuristically bearing witness. [This episode features "Lloyd, pt. 1" and "Goals" from Different Generations in their entirety.] Visit Beau Borek online:                                                                  https://beauborek.com                                               https://beauborek.bandcamp.com Related Back Catalog Suggestion:                                                                      TMT 120: Maddison Murphy                                                                

You know you've entered Gabriel Delicious Country when you hear his irreverent lyrics that scream to be rewinded and eight songs with more hooks than a tackle box. The LA-based singer/multi-instrumentalist's new album, I'm Wigging Out But I Feel Patient, is nearly 25 minutes of punk-wave gilded with Gabriel's talk-singing. It makes one wish that he'll quit his "day job" as a sound engineer ASAP, so we won't have to wait for the follow-up. [This episode features "Glossing" and "Stranger Danger" from I'm Wigging Out But I Feel Patient in their entirety.] Visit Gabriel Delicious online:                             https://gabrieldelicious.bandcamp.com                              https://www.instagram.com/gabriel_delicious/   Related Back Catalog Suggestion: TMT 037: Nate Wood https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-music-talk-with-boice/id942357796? mt=2&i=1000348087205   SUBSCRIBE ON SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/thisisboice TMT APP FOR iPHONE: http://bit.ly/TMTappiOS TMT APP FOR ANDROID: http://bi

New York-based composer Amir ElSaffar has triumphantly found that sweet spot of innovation not reduction when uniting two musical genres. Not Two, his latest release as a bandleader, features his Rivers of Sound orchestra fusing elements of Middle Eastern music with jazz and vocals. The santur and trumpet player's 17-piece ensemble not only reflects the heritage of his Iraqi father but also finds its inspiration in Amir's spirituality. As with most double-albums, Not Two's ninety minutes are overflowing with possibilities that reward with each passing listen. [This episode features "Shards of Memory/B Half Flat Fantasy" from Not Two in its entirety.] Visit Amir ElSaffar online:                                                          http://www.amirelsaffar.com   Related Back Catalog Suggestions: TMT 134: Josiah Woodson:                                                              https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-music-talk-with-boice/id942357796? mt=2&i=1000386767296 TMT135: Mary Halvorson:         

Regarding that old adage about asking a busy person if you need something done: well, in the case of bandleader/composer Mary Halvorson it may get completed but you could be waiting a long time. Since 2005 the Brooklyn-based jazz guitarist has released nearly two dozen albums in various permutations including in a duo, trio, quartet and on last year's octet release, Away With You. The avant-garde jazz of Away With You appeared on numerous "best of 2016" lists including number one on Nate Chinen's New York Times picks/round-up. With little sign of slowing down, Mary continues to tour all over the world and is working on her first album to feature vocals. [This episode features Away with You's title track.] Visit Mary Halvorson online:                                                    http://maryhalvorson.com Related Back Catalog Suggestions: TMT 134: Josiah Woodson                                                              https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-music-talk-with-boice/id942357796? mt=2&