RAIN MACHINE, IRAN, NEON INDIAN,FRENCH HORN REBELLION, CUBIC ZIRCONIA: LIVE AT GRASSLANDS

Posted in Downloads, Independent Music, Live Review, MUSIC, REVIEW

Thanks to our friends at Pop Gun Booking, I had a chance to escape my defeatist infused valentines day and check out Neon Indian,French Horn Rebellion and Cubic Zirconia at Grasslands Gallery in Brooklyn on Sunday night. While Valentines Day is always somewhat of a trap, the good folks at Grasslands and Pop Gun put together anything but a manufactured rip-off. Where else could $8.00 deliver a romantic view of the Manhattan skyline and a full nights lineup of amazing music. The Valentines dance party kicked off with an unexpected bearded v-day treat for me, TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, performing double duty with his bands Rain Machine and Iran, side by side friends Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, and Candles of Paradise. An exceedingly solid block of incredibly talented musicians for such an intimate space. While, I caught Malone perform before with TV on the Radio at Prospect Park, the bandshell’s sound system was no match for hearing Malone’s calm tenor literally in the shadow of his massive afro, about two feet in front of me. A serious treat (both his voice and man mane). The noisy indie rock band Iran and the even more experimental Rain Machine are an interesting foray for him, which I both find infinitely more interesting than TVOTR . Iran’s no-fi sound is a more lyric based project with a nod toward retro-indie bands like Pavement. At its core, this is really just cleverly disguised pop/folk-rock under a blanket of fuzzed out guitars and sonic atmosphere. Rain Machine leans more towards psychedelia and even suggests an affection for shoegaze. A more textured sound with lots of percussion, bells, sparingly strummed fuzzed out crunchy electric guitars, more cow bell and static raining down on Malones introspective lyrics. Check out more of IRAN HERE or RAIN MACHINE HERE. Which one is better? Its hard to decide. The party continued late into the night with overlapping DJ sets from Cubic Zirconia, Neon Indian and French Horn Rebellion, spinning a grab bag of Ace of Base, C& C Music Factory (whom even in this economy still seem to be flourishing) disco boogie and 80’s synth. While Cubic Zirconia’s set stood out because of Tiombe Lockhart taking her voice to the mic, the nights highlight for me, was definitely Neon Indian’s set. Some really sick infectious dance remixes from these guys that had the crowd sweating. Big ups to all the bands involved and Pop Gun for throwing a great party that brought the funk to save me from my funk and another v-day plagued by listless apathy. While you are here check out some Neon Indian remixes below: