Small Black [Gothamist House Sessions]

Camouflage

Light Curse

New live clips of Small Black filmed at an abandoned 5 Beekman building filmed by Foglight Films on Gothamist House website

Record Review: Small Black [New Chain, Jagjaguwar Records]

by Rebecca Gayle

After the release of its compelling, subdued EP from the comfort of an uncle’s attic where the EP was recorded, the emerging Brooklyn-based duo, Small Black, continues to put itself on the music map with its first full-length album, New Chain, which was released under the Jagjaguwar label in October.

New Chain finds the original pair putting forth a much more polished package of the band’s mix of chill-wave / lo-fi indie rock. The clean-cut, mostly fuzz-free New Chain provides a rather stark departure from Small Black EP’s more DIY sound. Initially, listeners may be disappointed to bid farewell to the fuzzed-out aural blurriness of some of the EP’s best songs, especially since the sonic texture carved out a unique niche for Small Black as an emerging act. Furthermore, the supremely stellar quality of Small Black EP’s songs in terms of their lyricism, emotion, catchiness, and listen-ability makes it difficult for any early Small Black fan to accept that the band may be leaving its attic / bedroom roots and entering the studio to make some more polished material. (I, too, struggled to bid the EP adieu in lieu of listening to the band’s new work, simply because the EP’s content made a deep impression upon me as a listener and because I feared the uncertainty of the future, given that the past had been so good.) Although it may take some getting used to – and some effort to force oneself to avoid favoring the EP out of comfort and habit – even early Small Black followers need not fret, however, as New Chain marks a strong step forward in the exciting development of this emerging band.

Small Black [Photojournalist (Star Slinger Remix, Jagjaguar]

I posted Small Black’s new single “Photojournalist” from their upcoming debut LP a couple days ago and midweek got an email from Darren of Star Slinger to learn he had already made a phenomenal remix of it. Darren definitely made the kicks and percussion stand out amongst the heavy haze that consumes this stellar track.

Photojournalist (Star Slinger Remix)

mp3 [via]

Find the rest of Star Slinger's work here

Small Black [Photojournalist, Jagjaguar]

A couple days ago it was announced that Small Black would be releasing their debut full length album called New Chain over on Jagjaguar. The song released on Pitchfork features more of Small Black's signature chillwave sound but "Photojournalist" has a more constructed and arranged feel to it. New Chain will be released October 26th

Photojournalist

Washed Out / Small Black / Pictureplane / Young Prisms [Rickshaw Stop, San Francsico 03.28.2010]

Sunday consisted of a hugely anticipated trip to Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco to see some of my favorite new artists of the last year. The show was announced for Washed Out and Small Black with Pictureplane originally but then Young Prisms was soon added on as a bonus. The venue is a pretty nice place to catch a show and is easily located off of Van Ness.

Young Prisms started the gig debuting several new songs and playing a couple old ones. After an exhausting touring schedule over the last month, SXSW, and an afternoon show, the energy level seemed a bit low, possibly due to fatigue, but they still played a very enjoyable set. They also had a few copies of their new 7'' split with Small Black for sale and the vinyl sounds great.

http://www.myspace.com/youngprisms

Pictureplane came on next, a producer/electronica artist from Denver Colorado. The set was essentially a dance set; he combined an iPod, mixers and sample machines to great effect.

http://www.myspace.com/pictureplane

Small Black is from Brooklyn New York and hit the stage next after a bit of a delay. Their sound is electro rock and they are an amazing new band. Their debut 7'' is already sold out but you can still grab a copy of their self-titled EP here

http://www.myspace.com/smallblacksounds

Lastly was the person everyone wanted to see, Washed Out. He initially started out his set by himself playing some new songs and one track from High Life cassette release.

http://www.myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods

But what was even more impressive was when Small Black joined Washed Out and blew the roof off the place. The performance was incredible and so energetic. Both artists performed well on their own, but getting on stage together they were absolutely superb. They played mostly songs from Washed Out's Life of Leisure release and it was amazing listening to these tracks live. If you can catch a show with these two bands together I recommend catching it because it is for sure something to see.

Young Prisms / Small Black [Big Love Split 7'']

At the Washed Out/Small Black/Pictureplane/Young Prisms show at Rickshaw Stop on Sunday, Young Prisms had a few copies of their new split with Small Black for sale. The vinyl is pressed and distributed by Big Love over in Japan. As always, these pressings are in limited quantities and sell out very quick. The tracks submitted by both bands are live recordings and sound great.

The vinyl can be purchased here as well as the rest of the catalog for Big Love.