Date: January 25, 2015 – Venue: The Cake Shop (NY) – Review by Dante Mann
I attended a performance at The Cake Shop with The Love Experiment, Hildegard, and aStridd. The show was perpetually danceable and the mix of styles proved to be highly cohesive each enhancing the other making for a great overall show.
Boston/New York based alternative funk band The Love Experiment headlined the bill. With three singers, keys, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and some sax on the side they managed to create a unique and modish vibe.
(Due to the venues bad lighting the quality of the videos are lo-fi. Sorry…)
While the music and likewise the musicianship were stellar, having two charismatic front-women both with robust voices demanded my attention. Kim Mayo’s voice was reminiscent of Billie Holiday while maintaining a modern sentiment. Sami Danger Stevens’ performance evoked the energy of slam poetry with hints of Erykah Badu.
Hildegard is collaboration between vocalist Sasha Masakowski and guitarist Cliff Hines, two of the leading voices on the New Orleans progressive music scene. Though the music of this performance was versatile in construction, having been backed by a dense ambient soundscape it remained consistent in mood. The most impressive part of their performance was their ability to fill the room with sound utilizing countermelodies and syncopated rhythms.
aStridd, the opening act is a new band based in Brooklyn fronted by lyricist/vocalist Jill Peacock and guitarist/composer Yasser Tejeda. They gave a dynamic and compelling performance with a deluge of styles from lounge to Latin. Peacock’s vocals were psycadelic yet poignant with an ethereal aura. Tejeda’s compositional skills (my absolute favorite aspect of the night) were quite remarkable and a dominant force in the performance. Tejeda demonstrated his ability to move between genres gleaning the most powerful characteristics from various styles of music to produce a potent yet delicate sound.
Stay connected for the upcoming review of aStridd’s debut EP, “Colliding Galaxies”.
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