[WATCH] Holy Ghost! - "Do This (Official Video)"

photo credit: Harry McNally

In just a few short days the rest of you will be able to hear the dazzling dance delights that is Work from legendary NYC duo Holy Ghost!. As a celebration of the art of making music as memorable as this forthcoming album, the guys have shared the music video for their single, “Do This”, which features clips from the entire creation of the album, from recording in the studio, to pressing the actual vinyl, before finally making it to a record store.

Gonna be honest, I could watch people press vinyl all damn day. Seeing how much care goes into making a record from start to finish is just such a beautiful thing to be able to witness all the way down to the sweet ladies putting the LPs in their jackets. I always wonder if they ever listen to the records that they’re stuffing, don’t you?

As nice as it’s been to obsess over a Soundcloud link for this record in the past month-ish, I honestly can’t wait to drop the needle on this record with my Beyerdynamics. There’s a lot of heart to this record and I’m really anxious to find more reasons to love this record moreso than I already do.

Another cool reason to love this record that hadn’t really sunk in with me until today: the guys are basically trying to singlehandedly resurrect the NYC’s original dance label, West End Records. This is the first LP to come out on the record in more than THREE DECADES y’all. While he was still alive, West End Records founder Mel Cheren was essentially responsible for laying the foundations of what would define early disco, which would then be really influential on pop, hip-hop, house, and techno. Cheren also was responsible for helping to set up NYC's Gay Mens Health Crisis letting GMHC operate rent-free in his Chelsea building, at the dawn of the AIDS crisis as well as establishing charities like 24 Hours for Life and LIFEbeat.

I think it’s so cool that the guys are like painfully aware of the irony in two white heterosexual dance-obsessed guys reviving the label but are still so passionate about using their platform with this album to elevate both the history of the genre and start a dialogue around dance music culture. The origins of dance music weren’t even close to being as white as they are today. It’s important that people pay respect to the genre they love by honoring its origins.

CAN FRIDAY GET HERE ALREADY I WANNA GUSH WITH EVERYONE ABOUT HOW GOOD THIS RECORD IS ALREADY 😩😩😩😩😩

[SONG OF THE DAY] Holy Ghost! - "Do This"

photo credit: Harry McNally

On Friday NYC duo Holy Ghost! dropped another taste from their forthcoming LP, Work, which is out June 21st via the legendary West End Records. Their new track, “Do This”, is as candid and incredibly thoughtful as it is the kind of glimmering low-key vibe that one would want to put on to savor the last few hours of the weekend.

In making this album NY natives Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser decided that for this record in particular that they were going to focus their efforts on the same creative process that resulted in their 2011 debut self-titled album. An album free of any sort of expectations and really returning to crafting a vibe for the sake of vibing out vs. chasing trends that we see in dance music today, especially as it’s related to likes, stream counts, etc. “Do It” is their way of making their intentions for the album as blatantly obvious as possible.

How blatantly obvious? Here are the lyrics to the first verse:

You must think I’m stupid / For chasing a sound / For running it down / For holding my ground.

You must think I’m ruthless / Impeccably mean / But I know what i want / It means something to me.

And I don't usually do this / But that data has shown, I should probably go home

Yep. That. Obvious.

"There's a data epidemic in the music industry. Everyone is obsessed with likes, stream counts, ‘the algorithm’ etc...,” frontman Alex Frankel explained while speaking on the track, “For a band like us, who like to take our time in the studio  and perform with a live band and make actual records from scratch, it starts to really bum you out when people around you are more focused on Instagram stats and ‘reactions’ than the music.”

Def not wrong there, my dude. While we know how much I love #thedata and The Algorithm™, my ass knows better than to believe that’s the only thing that’s gonna fix the mountain of still unsolved problems the music industry had prior to the Napster era, MySpace music, etc.

Either way, I sort of always had this inkling that Holy Ghost! were ✨my people✨, but this jam absolutely confirmed that. Definitely intend to go on record to discuss this at greater length as we get closer to the album’s release.

Speaking of June 21st, ICYMI NY fam the album release show at Bowery Ballroom has sold out and the fellas have just added a second show on the following night, so now you have no excuse to not come out and dance your ass off with me.

Upcoming Holy Ghost! Live Shows:

05-09: Guadalajara, México - Corona Capital at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

06-21: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (Album Release Show / SOLD OUT)

06-22: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (Just Added!)

06-29: Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall

10-31: San Francisco, CA - The Independent

11-1: San Francisco, CA - The Independent

11-2: Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom

11-3: Los Angeles, CA - Teragram Ballroom

[SONG OF THE DAY] Holy Ghost! - "Escape From Los Angeles"

photo credit: Harry McNally

Holy Ghost! are finally done being a tease and have announced that they will be releasing their third album Work on June 21st on the iconic West End Records. Fun fact: Work will be the first full-length LP to drop on the iconic label in more than 30 years. Kind of a big deal. Get it, fellas!

On the heels of the announcement the duo have shared a new track, “Escape From Los Angeles”. As is the standard with Holy Ghost! songs it’s one of those smooth as hell floor filling nu-disco numbers that you could dance all night to, literally. Even with it clocking in at a good seven minutes and change it’s basically the perfect tempo so you could effortlessly dance into the wee hours of the morning if someone decided to get weird and do like a 20 minute extended edit of the track, which tbh I’d fuck with.

To make things even more wonderful, the band has announced a handful of dates, including an album release show at my all time favorite venue, Bowery Ballroom. Bet your buns imma be there wearing a hole in the dance floor.

Upcoming Holy Ghost! Live Shows:

04-26 San Francisco, CA - The Independent

04-27 Los Angeles, CA - Globe Theatre

05-03 Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall

05-09 Guadalajara, México - Corona Capital at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

06-21 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (Album Release Show)

[SONG OF THE DAY] Holy Ghost! - "Anxious"

HOLY GHOST! IS BACK!

The dynamic disco duo have returned and managed to coax West End Records out of a 30 YEAR RETIREMENT/HIATUS to release their upcoming 4-track 12” EP, Anxious. That’s right, this is infamous disco label’s first original release in OVER 30 YEARS 😱.

The EP will feature the original and a Tom Moulton remix on Side A, and Side B will have the 1977 classic ‘Spirit Of Sunshine’ by Chuck Davis Orchestra as well as a Holy Ghost! remix of that one. Anxious is out 10/26 on West End Records, which you can pre-order here. BONUS WE LOVE: a portion of proceeds with benefit the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and LifeBeat.

Holy Ghost! have also announced that in addition to a couple of upcoming shows at Good Room and Philadelphia Museum of Art this month that the band will be performing at Elsewhere on January 24th 2019. I am excited to be making advanced plans to dance my ass off (and also to be over with 2018…).

#NewMusicFriday Guide - 04/29/2016

You Wont - Revolutionaries

My two new favorite goofballs put out an album today! You Won't isn't officially #SKOAfam yet, but don't worry, it will happen soon enough. Maybe at one of their two shows in NYC next week? Talk about being #blessed! Anyway, this record could not have come out at a better time. The winter is finally leaving us, it's getting warm out, and you'll find yourself reaching for this record when the sun is sittin' pretty on your face. It's got the right amount of twang that will make you shake your groove thang just like this: 

Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid

I have been thoroughly looking forward to this album since the second I heard "Rings" a few months back. The payoff for patiently waiting was certainly worth it, especially with last week's album stream, which was the most excellent of previews/"spoilers". ICYMI, it's a shot by shot recreation of The Shining and you absolutely have to see it for yourself if you haven't already because it's amazing. 

I will be counting down the minutes till I get to hear this live at Irving Plaza on June 13th, that's for sure. Nice work, Aesop! 

Brian Eno - The Ship

Our electro-lord has released more music today. Do I really need to tell you about this? You should know about this already. I am just making sure because our, um, Views are a little obstructed right now on the internet...if you know what I mean. 

I really liked Ghost Culture's self-titled album from last year so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a couple of new tracks out today. These just further confirm that I need to own the self-titled on vinyl. I thought micropennies were enough love for this record, but his craftsmanship on both releases shines through enough that this is worth the shelf space for me. 

Calvin Harris - "This Is What You Came For" 

The jury is still out for me as to whether or not this is going to be *The Song Of The Summer*. This is subtly very awesome. It's really quite lovely. Rihanna's vocal is great. There is a reason why Calvin has a messload of sales plaques on his walls and it shows in the production value for this track. People will certainly listen to this a lot this summer.

All that said, it just... ehhhhhhh. I don't think lightning is going to strike twice for him + Rihanna. I will probably listen to this to get ready to go out, but not trip over myself to make sure I dance to it. 

Zedd (feat. Kesha) - "True Colors"

Okay we need to have a discussion about this. I have seen too many people say that they're disappointed by this track considering this is Kesha's big return post- Dr. Luke drama. 

Seriously? Shame on you. That just further shows how real the struggle is going to continue to be for Kesha because she was launched into stardom courtesy of some party anthems. You really think she was going to step out with a banger the second she was able to legally open her mouth?

Sit. Down. 

Please take a moment to reflect on what she is saying and be grateful that she was able to create her way through a lot of pain. Also, let us be thankful that Zedd knew better than to try to make this about him by going big on the production. Sure, her return is more understated than was anticipated, but she even says so herself: "I've escaped my captor and I have no master." 

Kesha, I'm glad you're back, bb. 

Man Power - Planet Cock EP

You should know by now that in addition to trying to not be completely crushed under the weight of what goes through my inbox that I also just like skimming AllMusic to see what might look interesting. The pairing of an artist called Man Power with an EP called Planet Cock... I am clearly a grown up who did not laugh to myself at all...heh. That's a lie, obviously. 

Clearly I had to give this a spin just for the sake of my sanity and it's actually pretty great. I've since had a look around at his catalog and intend to check out more of it in the weeks to come. I will probably start with his 2014 EP, Flacid Trax.... 

Sorry, it's Friday. I can't be an adult today to save my life. lmao 

Magic Sword - The Legend EP

Holy shit I forgot this was even happening and now it's happened and I'm just a wreck. Apparently there was a little bit of darkness in me because The Seeker and The Keeper aka Magic Sword just SLAYED ME with this EP. Wow. Wow. Wow. I really have zero chill about this right now, jfc. This is the first of a series of EPs that also will have a correlating comic to continue to tell the Magic Sword saga. You can find the first one for their debut album, Volume I over on their website. 

Holy good #Sheezus in heaven the guitar solos on "The Curse" quite literally have me unable to do anything other than shout, "GOOD LORD!" at the moment. WOW.

These guys were still one of the most fun interviews I ever did for #SKOARadio (not to mention the most hysterical meetup arrangements for an interview). I should probably not leave that committed to audio indefinitely. 

Matt Lange - Patchwork

#SKOAfam Matt Lange has followed up last year's Emphemera LP with another gorgeous heady string of dark dancey tunes. It would appear the mau5trap has continued to be good for Lange from the sounds of this EP. This is *ABSOLUTELY* a record you listen to first with your good headphones because the homey has very meticulously pieced this all together, so this is me looking out for your your first play through to be the best it can be. 

(This is terribly awkward that I'm realizing that I just featured two artists back to back with interviews that I aired on #SKOARADIO but never transcribed and shared through. I guess I know what I'm doing over the weekend....)

Holy Ghost! - Crime Cuts

Holy! Ghost!! is! back! I almost forgot this EP was coming out today but Twitter fam is always lookin' out for my ears, which I guess means they're looking out for yours, too. Anyway, YAY Brooklyn bands! This EP is solid. I really wish that Panorama weren't their only upcoming show in NYC at present. That is kind of like saying you can only have hot dogs inside Yankees Stadium in the summer or something imo. I'm sure more dates will be announced soon. Fingers crossed anyway. 

Panty Raid - After Glow

lol I know why this record is called After Glow. It's because the album is pure sex and by the end of it you will be feeling the afterglow of what it did to you. I guess you could say the overall theme that Panty Raid is going for is being executed well. 

New #Content Alert: The 'di-SKOA-ver weekly' Playlist

"Play it! Don't you wanna hear what's next?!"

I've noticed that a lot of my friends who use Spotify have developed a new habit. Every Monday morning without fail I watch in my friend feed as they all pour over their Discover Weekly playlists throughout the course of the day. This is all well and good. I'm actually happy to see that my friends in and out of the music business are anxious to find new music to bring them joy. 

In terms of what happens post-playlist, though. I'm never really sure. I only really hear about when the magical Spotify-powered algorithm "fails" someone during any given week. I never hear the celebratory "THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE BAND!! THANKS ALGORITHM!!" or "GOING TO SEE MY NEW FAVORITE BAND TONIGHT THANKS TO A PLAYLIST!" 

How does one communicate with a playlist/algorithm exactly? 

This is where yours truly comes in to play. 

Starting today, I'm launching what I will playfully be referring to as the di-SKOA-ver weekly playlist. (You know me and my love of puns! I couldn't help myself.)

This is how I intend to run such a playlist: 

• Just like Spotify, once a week the dedicated playlist below will be updated with a fresh crop of songs. 
• Just like Spotify's playlist, some will be old, some will be new. 
• I will mostly be sourcing the music on my own, but will occasionally be taking recommendations from Sprout, Shey, and Fam Like You! 
• Unlike the Spotify playlist, should you find yourself in love with a song/band, upon adding that music to your own collection YOU'LL HAVE A HUMAN TO TALK TO ABOUT IT.
• Another important thing! All the artists in said playlist I will learn things about before updating the playlist for the week so when we talk it'll actually be a stimulating conversation! 
• More importantly, if I notice that a ton of people are interested in the same artist, I'll make it a priority on the site to do more coverage for them in the form of tour updates, interviews, etc. 

Obviously you are encouraged to follow this playlist from your Spotify account, but I'll also make sure the playlist is sitting pretty on the homepage for your convenience. 

BTW we can be friends on Spotify too if you're into that. I love stalking my friend feed for new music and getting inboxed things to try! 

ALRIGHT LESS TALK MORE ROCK ENJOY THESE JAMS, FAM! 

[Album Stream] Stream New Albums from Delorean and Holy Ghost!

Both Holy Ghost! and Delorean are releasing new albums next week (September 10th to be exact), and both bands thought of week of streaming would whet our appetites. Put aside some time to check 'em out. They're different, yes, but sure as hell worth it.

Holy Ghost!'s sophomore album Dynamics is a strong reminder that the DFA Records name still has strength, despite the disbanding of LCD Soundsystem. Delve into their lush synthpop soundscapes over at Pitchfork Advance.

Delorean, on the other hand, offers a different kind of synth-laden goodness, divulging in airy, summery sounds and ethereal harmonies. It's a strong offering from this Spanish outfit. Stream it here.

[Listen] Holy Ghost! Share New Single "Okay"

Holy Ghost! have shared the opening track from their upcoming sophomore album Dynamics. The album isn't out till September 10th but for now we can bask in the glitchy synthpop number "Okay," a song "about being in a situation – in this case a relationship – that feels like a B-Movie." It glides along with distorted basslines and an array of drum machine effects, building layers of synthesizers that echo a retro '80s style. This is some quality synthpop, people.

Dynamics Tracklist:
01. Okay
02. Dumb Disco Ideas
03. Changing of the Guard
04. Dance a Little Closer
05. It Must Be the Weather
06. 1 for Edgar
07. I Wanna Be Your Hand
08. Bridge and Tunnel
09. Don’t Look Down
10. In the Red
11. Cheap Shots