Smart House’s Brian Gorman tells me that electronic music excites him because it’s limitless.
“There’s nowhere you can’t go,” says Gorman. “I feel like it gets a bad reputation now because it seems like everyone’s doing the same thing. But the actual potential of it is infinite.”
Form Over Function by Mark Thomas Duggan
Everyone’s favorite drinking game is getting an unofficial makeover in the drinking capital of the world. Though it seems not-so-legal as far as copywrite infringement laws go, someone out there—a company called 716 Renaissance Designs led by Steven Leonard—has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund an unofficial expansion pack for Cards Against Humanity called Blurbs Against Buffalo.
[FUN] Bob Dylan’s in the air again and he is sharing breath with Frank Sinatra. Having just released an album of standards, he’s chosen his media outlets carefully giving an exclusive interview to AARP. As MusiCares Person of the Year, he spoke and joked at length regarding his influences during a candid speech in February. He is touring, of course; and recently he played a concert for a solitary fan as part of a Swedish film project exploring lone experience.
[DANCE PARTY] The spirit of Allentown’s dearly-departed nightclub will be resurrected for one night only featuring the DJs and people that made the big red house on Main one of the most fun and welcoming spots in town. DJ E will be spinning dance records and ex-Roxy’s bartenders Julia Greenwood and Amie Zinzola will be taking care of the libations.
[COMEDY] For those of you who think Downton Abbey is just a glorified soap opera, Luke Kempner agrees. From London’s West End theater scene, Kempner is an actor fluent in various forms of singing and dancing, but it’s his impersonating prowess that give his triple threat status a sharper edge.
[POP] Jack Wagner shared much of his early music with his fictional self, Frisco Jones of 1980s-era General Hospital. From his power ballad, “All I Need” to the tuneful, “The Right Key”, Wagner transmitted his hits—he wrote most, if not all of his music—via Jones. After five albums and a brief hiatus he resurfaced in 2014 with On The Porch, featuring introspective, catchy pop cuts, that are 100% Jack.
[FUNK] Dumpstaphunk builds it right into their name: Yes, they’re funky, but there’s a more unique flair, too. The band hails from New Orleans and takes the Crescent City’s musical heritage, mixes in some soulful blues, and throws it into a rhythmic blend of funky force. The melody tradeoff between cousins, Ivan and Ian Neville lead the group in the same way their father’s lead the Neville Brothers through the 1970’s and 1980’s. It’s clearly just in the genes.