Stepkids Suit Up and Cover Daft Punk, Prep Second Album

Last week The Stepkids not only shared a pair of sly covers; they unveiled a different, less technicolored time warp than fans of their unhinged-soul debut might remember them for.

Chalk the suits up to time spent on the road with Stones Throw label-mate Mayer Hawthorne, perhaps, but the West Coast cool of the late ’40s that Miles helped birth is just a shot of the broader jazz chops the three-piece often mentions in interviews. It also came up when HASH Magazine first sat down with The Stepkids more than two years ago: Still readying their self-titled first album, the trio was already enthusiastic about material they’d started for the follow-up, which was announced earlier this month. Troubador is loosely slated for release this fall, again on Stones Throw, and as some early indications suggest, it’s suffused with decadent nods to Funkadelic and mid-’70s Steely Dan.

Photos from Saturday’s Event with Kelli Scarr, MaG, A Va Va and Rafiq Bhatia

MaG at Room 17. Photo by Joshua Sarner.

Last weekend we gathered a small group of friends and artists for the first of what we hope will be many live video sessions at Room 17, a warehouse recording studio in Brooklyn. We’ll be developing footage in the coming weeks, but for now check out some of the stills recently posted by HASH photographer Joshua Sarner.

Artists pictured included Bronx M.C. MaG, A Va Va—a Brooklyn three-piece  releasing their delightfully raw, off-the-cuff debut later this month—and the subjects of our last two cover stories: Kelli Scarr and Rafiq Bhatia (whom you can catch tonight, opening for Colin Stetson at Le Poisson Rouge.)

Rafiq Bhatia performs tonight at LPR. Photo by Joshua Sarner.

 

Record Store Day at Flatbush Farm, in Brooklyn

We’ll forgive you for not feeling festive after this sad, draining week. Even now, as Friday draws to a close amid an unending chain of aerial footage over Boston neighborhoods, the week seems almost unwilling to release us from its tragic grip.

Tomorrow however it will be Record Store Day and, while the time may not seem at all ripe for celebration, we hope the musical holiday and its many participating events and locations can offer you a place to find good company and spend time with those who matter.

And for those in Brooklyn, we hope to see you at Flatbush Farm, where a pop-up store in the Bar(n) will be housing vinyl and CDs from a slew of New York-based labels, as well as some print copies of our Fall-Winter issue. Kings County Swing, the pre-war jazz and blues strings trio, are set to perform, with supporting DJ sets from Eli “Paperboy” Reed and Bill Flynn. More information about the event, which kicks off at noon, is available here.

Rafiq Bhatia Playing Rockwood Music Hall Tonight

Rafiq Bhatia in Williamsburg. credit Gavin Thomas

Rafiq Bhatia adds another date to the string of buzzed-about performances begun earlier this year at Winter Jazzfest. Tonight, the protean composer-guitarist and his reliably adroit combo share a double bill at Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 2) with the exciting, expansive Brooklyn jazz trio Dawn of Midi.

Bhatia is on the cover of the latest issue of HASH Magazine, which is available in a limited print edition at these locations. He’ll open for Colin Stetson next month, at Le Poisson Rouge. The video below was taken from a recent show at Glasslands, and recently premiered by Potholes In My Blog.

The Milk Carton Kids Release “The Ash & Clay”

Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale. The Milk Carton Kids in New York

“The Ash & Clay,” the first album by The Milk Carton Kids on Anti- Records, is out today.

Our Q/A with Joey Ryan in HASH Magazine Issue 6 came some months ago, before some of the duo’s newest songs were unveiled in the film Promised Land—and well before

Album Review: Norvaiza’s Cathartic EP “Cremation Ground”

In our latest issue Carly Lewis reviews Cremation Ground, the mandolin-shaped EP by Norvaiza that finally has Montreal-based busybody Todd Macdonald at the helm of his own production…

Rafiq Bhatia Featured in HASH Magazine, at Glasslands Tonight

This spread is only available in the coming print edition of HASH Magazine Issue 6.

Rafiq Bhatia and his band will play Glasslands tonight, in Brooklyn. This will be the New York guitarist’s first performance since last month’s Winter Jazzfest, where his quartet was joined by rapper High Priest to reprise a cut from Strata. Our profile explores the formative years that went into that EP and the young composer-bandleader’s first album: both of which are available on Rest Assured, the label Bhatia runs with producer friend Alexander Overington.

Buke and Gase Featured in HASH Magazine, at Bowery Ballroom Tonight

Buke & Gase storm Bowery Ballroom tonight to celebrate the release of their new album, General Dome. Our own Brandon Specktor caught up with the hands-on pair to talk about their cryptically covered new LP, the sonic Venn diagram they defy, and of course the hybrid instruments they build themselves—and can’t stop redesigning.

HASH Magazine Profiles Jai Nitai Lotus

For his first solo LP, Something You Feel, Montreal rapper-producer Jai Nitai Lotus cleaves to rawness with off-the-cuff MPC cuts, freestyle raps, and total trust in his collaborators….

HASH Magazine Profiles Tame Impala

Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala. (Photo: Alec McClure)

For “We Need To Talk About Kevin,” contributing writer Nick Amies dives into the Tame Impala time warp. With Australia’s most indie-critic adored band on the rise, mastermind Kevin Parker opens up about how the trip is changing the world he now tours, for better and for worse.