… and life is good. Here’s everything we’ve ever done:
For this week’s recommendation I’m excited to talk about one my favorite vocalists, Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine. The band has a brand new single out called “Hunger.” It has an uplifting instrumentation and Florence’s heavenly vocals. The song has a climbing energy and strength that is not new for this band. If you’re looking for a song with a sense of self and power I highly recommend this one.
Today, Matt welcomes Kara Eliza, a singer/songwriter hailing from New York, NY. Known for making a splash on YouTube with her cover videos of “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake, Kara chats with Matt about her upcoming 2018 release and the process of writing for it. She talks about her early days singing and playing instruments, which artists have had the biggest effect on her style and songwriting, and why she chose to do covers for YouTube. And so, from the process of shooting her cover videos to some details on her live album at The Bitter End in NYC, here’s presenting Matt Storm and Kara Eliza.
This week’s recommendation is the first single off Jack White’s new album “Boarding House Reach” and that song is Connected By Love. I’ve always been a huge fan of Jack’s work whether it was in the White Stripes, The Raconteurs (one of his many many other bands) or just solo. His last solo record “Lazaretto” was my favorite album that year in 2014. His mix of classic rock, synth, blues, and gospel has always resonated with me. I’m always interested in where he takes his work and how it continues to evolve.
Today, Matt welcomes Heart Crimson, Anja Keister, and Lefty Lucy for a special episode that focuses on the much anticipated Nerdlesque Festival — the original festival dedicated to nerd and pop culture-related burlesque. Created in 2014, this festival showcases the best in nerdlesque from across the globe, all brought together for one jam-packed weekend in New York City full of shows, classes, parties, panels, and more! Meeting our panel, Lefty Lucy is a burlesque producer/performer based out of New Orleans and is the executive producer of The Nerdlesque Festival; Heart Crimson is a NY-based burlesque performer/producer, alternative model, stage manager, and Associate Producer for The Nerdlesque Festival; and Anja Keister a burlesque producer/performer based out of NY, is also the Sponsorship Manager & Chief Graphic Designer for the Nerdlesque Festival. Your host for this episode, Matt, a.k.a. Stormageddon, is the Official Festival DJ. The event will take place April 27th through 29th at Coney Island USA in Brooklyn. Tickets on sale now!
In this event spotlight, Matt is joined by Anja and Heart Crimson in the studio, with Lefty Lucy Skyping from New Orleans. Together, they chat about the origins of the festival, how each of them (and Matt) got involved, and they discuss the review process for selecting the hosts, featured performers, and headliners. They also chat about Lefty’s practice of offering feedback sessions for those who don’t make it into the festival. And so, from the importance of building supportive communities, to some verbal highlights, here’s presenting Matt Storm and the curators of The Nerdlesque Festival: Heart Crimson, Anja Keister, and Lefty Lucy.
For this week’s recommendation I’ve picked something that broke through the noise last week. That song is the brand new single “Crossing A Line” by Mike Shinoda from is forthcoming solo record. The song is a stripped down and heart felt tune about moving on and moving forward. I love Mike as a rapper but I’ve also always loved his singing and this song is all singing. I love the brief drum beat bridge towards the end as well. If you grew up loving Linkin Park like I did you should definitely check this out. If you didn’t it’s also worth checking out because I believe there is enough differences that you’d dig it too.
This week we’re traveling back to 2012 for my album recommendation. It’s for one of my favorite pop albums and my favorite album by MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS. That album is “Electra Heart.” If you like synth and sting filled pop/dance music then this is the album for you. Marina has such a stunning voice and there is this chip on her shoulder this whole record which gives each song so much power and impact. It is a frequent go to for me. The song Homewrecker is definitely one of my favorites, and the one I’ll be putting on my playlist, thou on this record I can listen straight through. Every track is great on this one.
Today, Matt welcomes Faux Pas le Fae & Aurora North, together known as The Brides of Burlesque. Hailing from NYC, the duo’s productions, dance routines, and burlesque performances have taken the cabaret tradition to a new place; queer/trans-inspired burlesque, cirque, and world class modern dance are brought together in provocative art! With the duo, Matt chats about their new monthly variety show at BIZARRE Bushwick (DJ’d by Matt himself). They also chat about how they got their start in performance and burlesque, their background in theater and dance, how they create new performances, and what goes into producing a variety show vs. a burlesque show. And so from their production company (Kinetic Cabaret Productions) to how the duo met, fell in love, and got married, here’s presenting Matt Storm and the Brides of Burlesque.
This week I’m recommending one of my favorite songs by Death From Above 1979. The song is “Cheap Talk” off their 2014 release “The Physical World”. What I love about this band is they are everything I want out of a modern rock band with only two main instruments. Bass and drums. If you count vocals as an instrument then 3. They occasionally use synth as well but drum, bass and vocal are definitely the focus. Don’t let that fool you thou, they are so incredibly dynamic with those instruments. Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger are easily two of the most talented musicians I’ve ever heard. If you you’re looking for something to rock out to this is your band.
Beck returns (or did he really ever leave) with his newest album Colors, although the guys had to stop themselves from putting a ‘u’ in there. Unlike previous releases, Beck goes for dance with new pop producer Greg Kurstin, which may have wound up being a strange tribute to the 80’s. But Beck never really cares for labels, does he? …Should he?
his week I’m recommending a band that is relatively new to me and I’ve obsessively been listening to their brand new EP “Unidentified.” That band is The Scars Heal In Time. I had the pleasure of recently chatting with the band’s front woman and guitarist, Kayla Smith, for an upcoming episode of Autographs. It was a great conversation that I’m excited to share it with you all. The chat just made me want to listen to the band even more. The band has the previously mentioned EP and a full length record titled “Double Exposure.” The song I’m choosing for my playlist and as your starting point is their most recent single and video “Grip” which is on the EP. If you like bad ass modern hard rock then you’ll definitely love this band. Check it out!
