Photos: Small Black at the Independent
Small Black (photo: Vanessa Solis) Brooklyn electronica and chillwave band Small Black brought their sound to the Independent last week in support of their latest album, Cheap Dreams. They were also joined by Philadelphia electronic band Korine. Our photographer Vanessa Solis was there to capture both bands from the night as shows make their return to the Bay Area. Check them out below.
Giveaway: Small Black at the Independent this Saturday
A little over a week after the release of their third album Best Blues, Brooklyn-based synth-pop group Small Black, head to San Francisco to shake up The Independent on Saturday, October 24. Since the introduction of the band’s acclaimed self-titled EP, Small Black has released three full-length albums on indie rock label Jagjaguwar. The foursome has since embarked on a tour in support of their latest LP beginning in early October. The line-up consists of front-man Josh Kolenik (keys, vocals), Ryan Heyner (guitar, keys, vocals), Juan Pieczanski (bass, guitar) and Jeff Curtin (drums). Each member has been together since before the formation [...]
Small Black announce new album, tour; playing in SF in October
All right, so chillwave never really caught on. Five years after it reached peak-ascendancy, the brief blip on the public consciousness is mostly viewed as another micro-genre that fits snugly along with other forgotten movements like dance-punk and whatever it was that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played. But while chillwave didn’t exactly have cultural longevity, it would be unfair to malign all of its practitioners, particularly since some of the bands have grown to evolve from the lo-fi production and drowsy tempos that defined the genre. https://soundcloud.com/jagjaguwar/small-black-boys-life Take, for example, Brooklyn quartet Small Black (who, incidentally, wrote the best chillwave song [...]
Review & Photos: Small Black, Snowmine at the Rickshaw
Photos by Paige K. Parsons When Brooklyn’s Small Black released their debut EP in 2009, it was the golden age of chillwave - a genre phrase that I can no longer utter without cringing at myself. But at the time it was fresh and completely appropriate. The Small Black EP was everything a good chillwave record should be: guitar-based synth pop that’s low-fi almost to a fault. The Washed Out collaboration that came out the following year was just as stellar. So when I walked into Small Black’s headlining, sold-out show at Rickshaw Stop on Tuesday night, I had high [...]
Small Black to release new EP, play Rickshaw Stop next week
Small Black is adept at swiveling delicate, electronic streams of tonal ethereality. However, since 2013's EP Limits of Desire, the quartet spent a significant amount of time building their aesthetic toward a more approachable live sound. Thus, the Real People EP was born. The new EP, dropping April 1 via Jagjaguwar, was recorded in part featuring Brooklyn's own Frankie Rose and garnered inspiration from a mix of places, including a felony-imbibing teen from Washington, a song by The Blue Nile, and a curious sample of a resort singer from an album found at a thrift store in Spokane. In addition, the band is [...]
Review & Photos: Small Black, Heavenly Beat, Sliver Hands @ Rickshaw Stop, 6/11/13
Tuesday night's show at Rickshaw Stop featured Brooklyn dream pop tour buddies Small Black and Heavenly Beat with an opening set from San Francisco/Los Angeles based duo Silver Hands. All three bands were impressed by the turnout and happy to be playing in San Francisco. It was a relatively early show, with Silver Hands starting their set at 8:45pm. Singer Elizabeth Wright was in rare form, emphasizing the fact that her birthday was at midnight. As one of the most amusingly (or terrifyingly, depending on your perspective) confrontational performers this side of Dan Deacon, Wright engaged the crowd with rousing [...]
Live This Month: March 2010 (Podcast #203)
[podcast]http://media.libsyn.com/media/thebaybridged/March_2010_LTM.mp3[/podcast] Every month, we dedicate the first week's podcast to highlighting some of the great local and out-of-town bands performing soon in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've got eleven great bands playing some excellent shows around the Bay in March, so head out and see some live music! Subscribe to The Bay Bridged's podcast to get each week's new episode downloaded free to your iTunes! About the bands: In April, Small Black ("Despicable Dogs") will re-release their self-titled EP on Jagjaguwar. The band co-headlines the Rickshaw Stop with Washed Out on March 28th. Pictureplane and Young Prisms also perform. [...]