I think my favorite part about living in Pittsburgh and keeping up with the music scene here is making annual year end lists of my favorite local music (if you’re curious, here are my 2009 and 2010 lists). I used to take the Steel City’s music scene for granted (especially during college) and assumed every other moderately sized metropolitan area in the region had a similar, or possibly larger, independent music community. But, after three years of really listening to (and subsequently analyzing) tons of music that was in some way, shape, or form born and bred in Pittsburgh, I’m pretty damn confident our music scene can stack up with any other city’s in America.

Just from looking at and listening to the music featured on the list below, it’s evident there is no singular Pittsburgh “sound.” Whether its the indie rock being played at the Brillobox and Mr. Small’s, the underground punk of The Shop, 222 Ormsby, and Mr. Roboto, the shredding metal at the 31st Street Pub and the Smiling Moose, the hip-hop of the Shadow Lounge and Z Lounge, or the electronic music mecca of the VIA Festival, I think we can all agree Pittsburgh’s music scene is currently flourishing. With that in mind, The Top Steel City Tracks of 2011 is my attempt to capture all the disparate sounds of Pittsburgh into one, condensed, twenty song list, with no ranking hierarchy or further explanation.

Also, if you think I missed something (and I most certainly did) please feel free to blow up the comment section with links to music, upcoming shows, or videos. Check the list after the jump.

1,2,3 – “Work”

The 58′s – “Outta My Mind”

B-Free Da Misfit – “Kewn”

Big Hurry – “Gets Me Low”

Big Snow Big Thaw – “Brackish Water”

Boaz – “Do It For Ya”

Boca Chica – “Afternoon Tea”

The Cynics – “I Need More”

Dazzletine – “Skin Period”

Donora – “Boom Boom”

Ennui – “Coconino”

Good Sport – “Pushover”

Legs Like Tree Trunks – “Pushover”

Mac Miller – “Donald Trump”

Majeure – “Solar Flare”

New Shouts – “Hung On You”

Shade – “Waves”

Sistered – “God Save the Child Brides”

White Wives – “Spinning Wheels”

Wise Blood – “Nosferatu”

This past fall, 22-year-old Bristol native and UK dubstep alchemist Joker found himself traveling through most of Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia. For a guy who got his start at 16 owning the dance floors of post-industrial Britain and watched what was essentially a fervently regional musical genre become internationally recognized and culturally pervasive over the past four years (check the orgasmic, distorted breakdown in Britney Spears’ “Hold It Against Me” for dubstep’s current reach), a world tour can be as perplexing as it is fascinating.

“Touring is really amazing sometimes and really head scratchng other times,” says Joker. “Depending where I am, I can play somewhere and be really hyped up and can’t wait to get home to make new music… and then I can be somewhere and they really just don’t understand me. I get lost.”

Known as the “king of bass music,” Joker is currently readying his long-germinating debut album The Vision for an early November release. The LP is bristling with potential to become a major keystone in dubstep and grime’s ongoing relationship with the pop charts, moving further away from his stridently under-ground 2007 breakthrough, the KapsizeEP, which “feels like 10,000 years ago,” according to Joker.

By combining heady, jarring solo compositions — “Tron” and “My Trance Girl” — with slickly constructed, but substantive R&B and hip-hop collaborations — “The Vision (Let Me Breathe”) featuring Jessie Ware and “Slaughterhouse” featuring Silas – The Vision is basically a master class for producers looking to effectively harness the elusive power of dubstep’s intricate break beats and blown-out bass lines.

“I’m always working on some futuristic, next level, space goonage, sexy ghetto music,” explains Joker, “The Vision is just me evolving into something new… and I’m still evolving.”

Joker’s Wild – Paper Magazine – 11/15/11

Koshute, the fiery singer, songwriter and leader of the larger-than-life local rock outfit Dazzletine, is talking his way through his band’s sonic ambitions at a local bar unusually crowded on a Wednesday night. When it comes to ’70s glam rock, the 23-year-old Mount Lebanon native can’t help but use wild hand gestures, waving his fingers above the empty beer bottles spread across the table like detonated land mines.

“There’s something there when you listen to T. Rex’s ‘The Slider’ or you see [footage of] Queen, or [footage of] Gary Glitter,” he goes on. “They’re there to make a spectacle of things. It’s done in a way that’s supposed to be fun, and everyone is invited.”

For Koshute and Dazzletine, that idea of spectacle is an obvious starting point for digesting the debut EP Heart, Mind, Bodies, a seven-track piece of incendiary glam-rock glory released this fall. Dazzletine spun out of Koshute’s vibrant solo work to become a project much bigger, louder and substantial than he initially imagined. A seven-year Pittsburgh scene veteran, Koshute has been playing in different projects around the city since his early high school days. He put together, released and toured behind two solo albums: the dynamic prog-folk of The Meager and the Mighty, in 2007, and the searing Kiss Line, in 2009.

Both albums were marked by the immediacy of Koshute’s intricate, caterwauling guitar work; larger-than-life, Robert Plant-style vocals; flashes of conceptual grandeur; and professional polish. When Koshute wrote and recorded music, it always managed to sound like anything but a bedroom rock project. He began working on a follow-up to Kiss Line in early 2010 with the help of good friend, bassist and de facto music engineer Darren Diederich. Then, Koshute slowly recognized his desire to move back toward a full-band unit, something he hadn’t done since high school.

“I realized where I was going artistically, the ideas I had, and where I was personally that I no longer wanted that solo-artist thing linked to my personal life and my name,” says Koshute. “I needed to not only have a band, like a gang behind me, but also I needed to have a mask.”

The recording process for what would become Dazzletine’s debut release took place in Diederich’s room over the course of the next year. It steadily evolved into a massive experiment for the two friends as they attempted to establish a new sound — big enough to be suitable for a live, full-band spectacle, but also significantly removed from Koshute’s solo work.

After scrapping what was the equivalent of an album’s worth of material, they came up with the glittering, stomping glam-rock gem “Skin Period.” It ended up providing the blueprint for how the new project should sound, and became the closing track and lead single for the Heart, Mind, Bodies EP.

“After ‘Skin Period,’ our strategy was set; we had the map for the album,” Diederich says. “It’s got these fiery guitar solos, this marching-band sound, multiple over-tracked drums … when we got that sound right [on subsequent songs], we called it ‘dialing in the army.’”

“We knew ‘Skin Period’ would be that spearhead single for the album,” says Koshute. “Darren and I wanted to make a record that sounded like Los Angeles, that sounded like a million bucks, and then we could say, ‘Oh yeah, we did this ourselves in Darren’s bedroom.”

The tracks that followed and ended up on the final product managed to crank up Koshute’s penchant for epic songwriting, guitar pyrotechnics and vocal heroics to unprecedented levels. The one-two punch of “Plumage” and “Thus My Panther” play like early Slade singles on steroids. The anthemic (and percussion-less) “Holy Mothers” piles layers of syrupy guitars on top of Koshute as he howls in the track’s climactic finish: “What’s the word for punishment / in your tongue / Say it for me loud and clear / because it sounds / so heavenly.”

These are songs poised to easily translate into the monstrous live show that Koshute has always envisioned for his music, but they play just as loud coming through a pair of cheap headphones or speakers.

“[We want a sound] that has this intensity, bombast on the brink of terror,” Koshute says with his eyes wide, moving his right hand slowly upward at a 45-degree angle. “Jubilation on the verge of fear … we wanted to do that ourselves. I wanted to outdo myself in every way possible on this record.”

With the release of Heart, Mind, Bodies, Dazzletine makes no qualms about courting coveted boutique indie labels like True Panther Sounds and Underwater Peoples, as well as the major labels (what Koshute called “the top echelon”), for the group’s planned debut full-length. To fulfill Dazzletine’s complete vision, the band needs to move out of the bedroom.

“We squeezed every last drop of sound out of our current recording set-up,” admits Koshute. “To do what we want for the next album, we need to be backed by a label.”

Dan Koshute Creates Glam Rock Band Dazzletine – PGH City Paper – 11-9-11

From the first, echoing twangs of a thrumming Ozark harp and the proceeding narcotic-infused guitar riff on “Midnight Moon” — track one from Psychic Ills’ hypnotic, aptly titled third album Hazed Dream — things are slightly out of focus. Lead singer Tres Warren’s mumbled vocals saunter in from the fog and quietly observe in a bewildered tone “Walking down the road, I didn’t know who I’d see/Saw your face right beside me.”

But even while “Midnight Moon” appropriates the Vaseline-on-the-lens dream state inferred by the album’s title, the track turns out to be as sparse and straightforward as anything Psychic Ills have recorded. Stripping away the caterwauling drones and acid-rock improvisations that made the group’s first two records, 2006′s Dins and 2009′s Mirror Eye, beautiful, enigmatic and maddening in equal measure, Hazed Dream reveals itself to be a surprisingly focused and affecting psychedelic rock record.

“[With our first two records] it was a different way we were working with things, jamming things out, playing those songs live and seeing where they went. It was kind of an exploration,” says bassist Elizabeth Hart. “Making this album was almost completely opposite to our previous approach. We wanted to move toward actual songwriting and composing,”

During a two year period following Mirror Eye that was marked by smaller releases, signing to like-minded Sacred Bones Records, repeated tours and line-up transitions (drummer Brian Tambarello moved to California while Hart and Warren remain in NYC), Psychic Ills adjusted accordingly to the new order.

To record Hazed Dream, the group had to piece together song components from other sides of the country before being forced into a time-crunch studio session with established producer Mitch Rankin (Gang Gang Dance, Black Dice). Just by looking at the average track length alone (nothing longer than five minutes with the shortest track being two minutes), it’s obvious Psychic Ills scaled back and boiled their sound down to its bare essentials. But, regardless of their new songwriting method and recording approach, the album shows a welcome, concise dimension to the band without sacrificing the loose, hallucinogenic atmosphere that inhabited their most loved work.

“Sometimes, our previous music took a little more patience to listen to. And that’s definitely fun to write and play, but maybe at certain times you don’t always want to listen to it,” said Hart. “I don’t know if it was where we were at in our lives or a byproduct of the recording system, but [the new album] is a little clearer, straightforward.”

The album’s pace is still on par with a long evening of extra-sensory experiences assisted by, say, massive drug in-take, but there’s never a disturbing moment during the trip. Tracks like the heady “Mind Daze” and meandering “Incense Head” play like an condensed, less intense version of Quicksilver Messenger Service’s seminal live record Happy Trails, while the languid “Mexican Wedding” is arguably the group’s prettiest song to date, complete with a bluesy harmonica breakdown as the track’s centerpiece. If anything, Hazed Dream doesn’t have drastic peaks or valleys, but moves gradually along its own astral plane without much effort.

“[The sound of Hazed Dream] is just what we were interested in moving into,” says Hart. “I enjoy different kinds of music that puts me in different moods but, I think we were just drawn to writing record where there are songs to sing along to, songs to put you in a good mood.”

Dream State – Paper Magazine Online – 10/24/11

 
Lana Del Rey’s recent performance of her much-discussed, quietly devastating single “Video Games” on BBC2′s Later…with Jools Holland showed off the 24-year-old songstress’ stirring vocal talents (the breathy caesura and ensuing pitch change during “I know you like the bad girls, honey // Is that true?” was alone worth the price of admission) as well as her fragile, smoldering stage presence.

And for Del Rey’s detractors, of which they are legion, her appearance on Later… also seemed to temporarily cool the fires of debate.The blogosphere moaned loudly during the late summer over Del Rey’s semi-construction by interested record label gurus (she admits that managers came up with the name Lana Del Rey), which came complete with an almost too-perfect collection of influences and styles including Elvis Presley, Britney Spears and Nancy Sinatra. For Del Rey, whose real name is Lizzy Grant, the development of her aesthetic was much more simple.

“When I first got to New York City, I was 18, and playing acoustic sets. Stylistically, I think my music has kind of stayed the same since then,” says Del Rey. “My songs have always had a darker undertone just because…it came naturally.”

Del Rey grew up in Lake Placid, NY, a national forest haven near the US-Canada border. The town was a dying resort destination known for its fading tourist industry and withered nostalgia. And while it wasn’t necessarily the best place for a hopeful singer songwriter to be inspired, Del Rey says her earliest musical tendencies were always imbued with the dark side of the American dream her hometown represented. She also says that her songs’ tone and feel have varied little since she began, slick, retro-sounding moniker or not.

“A lot of people think my music is well crafted, but I’ve been doing it for eight years without any attention,” she says. “If it’s well crafted now, then I’m not sure what it was back then.”

Del Rey eventually recorded the Kill Kill EP as Lizzy Grant in 2009, and hooked up with super producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, The Strokes) to put together a full-length album in 2010. The finished product ended up being shelved for unknown reasons.

“Video Games,” however, proved to be a turning point, despite being written during a time when Del Rey prioritized her life and pushed songwriting and performing to the back burner. She was still preparing material for her debut album, but was focused more intensely on the people in her life and thinking less about the artistic success she had been grasping at the past few years.

“‘Video Games’ is a song I love every part of. I wrote it when I let go of ambitions and just wrote about my life,” said Del Rey. “I know there is sort of feminist thing surround that song, like, ‘This is a step back for women…all she does is dress up and watch her boyfriend play video games.’ But the truth is, I wrote that song when I was putting my life and the people in it first, and I was singing about the things that made me happy.”

With a dozen more sold out tour dates booked through the end of the year in Europe and the US, and the impending reveal of her debut album in early 2012, Del Rey appears ready to move beyond the white noise of music blog chatter that’s surrounded her every move since this past summer. And If anything is evidenced by the “Video Games”/”Blue Jeans” single, currently out now, there are considerable depths to be explored in Del Rey’s bold, sultry voice and elegiac songwriting.

“I think when you start singing young, and you don’t get attention for a long time, you sort of let go of the outcome, and stop wondering what other people are thinking about you,” continued Del Rey. “Once everyone does start thinking about you, and they all kind of decide something, you realize ‘Well, that’s not really what I expected, but what am I going to do now?’ I know I’m just going to keep singing.”

Siren Call – Paper Magazine – 10/21/11

The result was the cultural equivalent of a flash bang.

For three days last fall, the folks behind VIA managed to transform a patchwork of venues focused in Lawrenceville into a world-class exhibition of cutting-edge electronica, alternative hip-hop, avant-garde indie rock and digital media art installations, complemented by workshops held at Carnegie Mellon discussing all of the above.

This wasn’t an event held in the middle of a field to optimize attendance or ticket sales. The festival was a model of innovation in both its planning and execution, lovingly integrated in the city proper, making VIA a Pittsburgh product through and through.

“VIA started with the festival,” said organizer Lauren Goshinski, who works as the marketing manager for CMU’s Museum of Art. “We’re trying to redefine the festival, how it’s put together, who does it, how it’s done, the feel of it. … We didn’t pre-meditate [the 2010 event model]. We knew what felt right, and what we were going for … looking at it closer, there was/is really nothing like it in the region, or the country.”

The event not only brought in internationally esteemed musicians and digital media artists like Matthew Dear and the Kokoromi Collective, but also gave the spotlight to some of the best and brightest in Pittsburgh’s fertile music and arts scene. Local underground electronic and hip-hop acts like Gangwish, Ekofield, Majeure and Shindiggaz performed on the festival’s various stages while Pittsburgh-based digital visualization artists like Tom McConnell and Jen Inman (present at this year’s VIA festival working together as Pure Hype) and Jesse England provided spaced out backdrops of hallucinogenic light and sound.

“At first, I was a spectator, in awe and shock that this kind of event was happening in Pittsburgh,” said Andres Ortiz Ferrari, otherwise known as Discuss and one half of the electronic duo Ekofield. “As a performer, I was amazed to be able to hear my music through such a booming sound system. The people of VIA definitely gave me a sense of worth and reassured me that the music I was working on was quality.”

“We want [VIA] to establish Pittsburgh as a nexus for arts music and technology to intersect, and the festival is the biggest way possible to do that,” said Ms. Goshinski. “It’s bringing local things to the surface, and it’s attracting international artists and international attention so everyone can mix together and have a week’s worth of insanity.”

The unveiling and subsequent success of the festival last October (with 2,000-plus in ticket sales, it was tipped as one of the 10 best festivals of last fall by indie electronica bible Resident Advisor) provided the foundation for VIA to evolve into a permanent cultural force in Pittsburgh. Over the course of the next year, VIA Presents offered a monthly art exhibition/concert series at venues across the city, booked and curated with the same forward-thinking fervor that informed the programming of the original festival.

According to Ms. Goshinski, VIA Presents was a way to keep the “VIA” brand relevant and create some traction with the public that may have missed out on the festival the first time around. “For better or worse, I think the values of things in Pittsburgh are gauged by a commitment over a period of time, rather than by discrete instances of strong programming,” said local visualization/video artist Matt Wellings, who will be collaborating with Wolf Eyes for a live set at VIA 2011. “I think VIA was incredibly strong coming out of the gate and the monthly concert series has done quite a bit to ensure its reputation. But I think it’s taken the press and public a little time to catch up with how unique VIA really is.”

The artists exhibited at the VIA Presents events ranged from festival alumni like Big Freedia and Dam Funk, up and coming artists making their first stop in Pittsburgh like Omar-S, Teengirl Fantasy and Pictureplane, and local music scene fixtures and digital media artists like Jason Cuban, DJ Cutups, Casey Hallas and Rina Las Vegas.

“VIA has become a brand of good taste,” said Jen Inman of video artist duo Pure Hype. “The monthly shows were a great way to keep everyone excited. People trust that events associated with [VIA] will be good, regardless of whether they know the acts or not.”

VIA Presents events were showcased at spaces such as established venues Brillobox and The Shadow Lounge, but also shed some light on unique spots off the beaten path of the city’s music and arts scene, exposing hidden gem spaces like the Lawrenceville Moose Lodge, Turkish restaurant Istanbul, makeshift party space Helter Shelter, and underground concert venue The Shop in Bloomfield.

“There is an unlimited amount of spaces to explore in Pittsburgh. I feel like probably every month since we’ve started I’ve heard about a new space,” said Matt McDermott, a former show promoter and member of VIA’s planning team. “[For VIA events] I think we bring something different to the table. For us, it’s important to set some sort of historical precedent, to not only have a great party but to have a context for it. At the same time, we’re basically doing the type of events we would want to go to.”

The 2011 version of the VIA Music and New Media Festival will be expanding, altering and enhancing the 2010 model, with a larger footprint in Pittsburgh and a bigger lineup. The festival is now spread over five days, running through Saturday, with a wrap party on Oct. 16, four different neighborhoods (Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Oakland and the South Side) and featuring 40-plus musicians and artists.

The 2011 lineup not only consists of heavy hitters like down-tempo savant Four Tet (who will be unveiling the U.S. premiere of Partitura, his collaboration with visual artists Abstract Birds), math-rockers Battles and Mexican hip-hop alchemist Toy Selectah, but local and underground stars as well.

Pittsburgh post-rockers Centipede Eest and esteemed electro duo Zombi (with visuals from Vade) will be sharing the stage alongside Stones Throw svengali Peanut Butter Wolf and militant techno legend Underground Resistance, who will be performing it’s classic 1998 LP “Interstellar Fugitives.”

And while the first two nights of programming are on traditional stages at the Brillobox in Lawrenceville and the Rex Theatre on the South Side, the focal point of this year’s festival will take place Friday and Saturday at what is being described as a “pop-up village” on the Broad Street block behind Penn Avenue in the heart of East Liberty.

Ms. Goshinski and her fellow organizers found the location after scouting handfuls of new spots for the 2011 festival. Once they discovered the Broad Street Mall, they immediately realized its untapped potential.

“On the ground, it gave us exactly the feeling we want other people to have, stumbling upon a special experience in their own town and thinking, ‘Holy [expletive], what is this magical place?’ ” said Ms. Goshinski. “Back in the day, the location was a bustling area. The street is meant for walking/exploring/entertainment.”

In addition to the outdoor main performance stage featuring some of the more experimental first-time acts like Araab Muzik, Light Asylum and Ford & Lopatin, the “village” will have buildings with a pop-up “film lounge” from The Warhol Museum and Carnegie Museum of Art, the 2011 Pittsburgh Small Press Festival, and artist spaces featuring installation pieces and workshops.

The “village” model not only brings a dynamic new element into the festival’s programming and planning, but also provides an example for small-scale community development next to the established outlets that have settled in East Liberty like Home Depot and Target.

“[At this year's event] the plan is to move people from neighborhood to neighborhood with the final focus on an emerging site,” said Ms. Goshinski. “With East Liberty in a state of flux, we see this street’s potential for being a place for independent and creative businesses to thrive right next to the big boxes.”

Moving forward from the 2011 festival, the plans and ambitions of the people behind VIA will only get bigger, with aspirations to eventually turn the event into a true citywide experience, “integrated with venues and organizations, large and small, mainstream and totally undercover … creating a unique festival experience from scratch inside city limits,” according to Ms. Goshinki. “We aren’t here to keep adding to the pot. We’re here to keep things moving forward.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11279/1179917-388-0.stm#ixzz1aVIOjlxV

The early September release and subsequent acclaim for Balam Acab’s richly impressionistic debut album WANDER/ WONDER was not only an achievement for the talented 20-something Pennsylvanian, it was the latest in a string of successes for Tri-Angle Records, a year-old music label that has quickly established itself at the vanguard of the most forward thinking, substantive electronic music being produced today.

With a talent roster that includes How to Dress Well, Holy Other, oOoOO, Clams Casino and Balam Acab, it’s obvious the New York City-based company is broadcasting on its own spectral frequency.

“I think we are all interested in presenting something that isn’t easily analyzed or defined,” says 25-year old, UK-born label founder Robin Carolan, who runs the operation by himself from a small office with a determined, minimalist DIY approach.  ”I’d rather people make their own judgments. When you’re truly confident in what you’re releasing, you can let the music speak for itself.”

Carolan made his name in the independent music world through his work with the UK-based mp3 blog 20 Jazz Funk Greats. During the summer of 2010 he casually began asking around for advice on running a record label. Within a week of inquiries, he was offered a pressing and distribution deal.

“Before I started Tri-Angle I never had any experience of running a label or even working at one, so seeing things progress forced me to learn shit quickly,” says Carolan. “It was sink or swim, basically.”

But in that first whirlwind week, Carolan managed to stumble upon the minimal two-song MySpace page of a 19-year-old electronic musician in Mechanicsburg, PA. After listening to the atmospheric, dubstep track “See Birds,” Carolan knew Alec Koone, otherwise known as Balam Acab, would be the first artist for his nascent label.

“The fact that I couldn’t really get a handle on what I was listening to excited me massively,” says Carolan. “The music seemed to inhabit its own, very private world and ‘See Birds’ seemed like parallel universe pop classic to me. I knew I had to work with him.”

The “See Birds” single was released in August of 2010 and was followed by four releases over the next nine months by four artists that came to establish the Tri-Angle Records sound: the witch-house disco of oOoOO’s EP, the dubstep-infused R+B of How to Dress Well’s Love Remains, the harrowing club bangers of Holy Other’s With U EP, and the avant-garde instrumental hip-hop of Clams Casino’s Rainforest EP.

And now, WONDER/WANDER brings the label full-circle in its first year of existence for Carolan (who admits he cryied the first time he listened to the album), capping a remarkable run of released music. But while year one may have focused mostly on EP releases and distinguishing Tri-Angle Records from an endless sea of like-minded independent labels, Carolan promises coming months for the upstart label will see the production of more full-length albums, all done via the minimalist, abstract approach at the heart of Tri-Angle.

“I often think about horror movies when I think about my aesthetic approach to the label,”  says Carolan. “The horror movies that have the most impact, the ones that haunt you longest, are the ones that never totally reveal the identity of the evil at the heart of the story.”

A Different Angle  - Paper Magazine – 9-21-11 

“We were listening to these Beatles demos before practice, and the demo of ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ had this amazing organ part,” says lead singer and songwriter Cory Allen. “We thought ‘Dolly Bird’ needed another dimension and I said, ‘I would love to have that organ the Beatles played on that demo.’”

After trying out a few keyboard riffs to no avail, bassist and all-around production whiz-kid Derek White mentioned he had been eyeing a discarded organ in a neighbor’s trash heap. Soon the guys piled into White’s car and hauled a neglected, 1950s air organ back to their practice space. With a couple pumps to the bellows, a few clouds of dust and some focused faith in mid-century craftsmanship, the organ was replicating the exact sound Allen wanted, filling in the gaps of “Dolly Bird” like precision spackle.

For a band that lives and breathes music from the ’60s — from the British Invasion to Motown to ? and the Mysterians — the lost-and-found organ episode illustrates well New Shouts’ approach to music. It’s not about nailing the perfect Beatles or Kinks impression; it’s the fact that a song doesn’t sound right until it feels right.

“Our sound is old, but it’s not necessarily dead-on,” says Chamberlain, the band’s keyboardist. “We wanted to bring the wholeness of the ’60s together, all of those vibes and all of those looks; [we wanted] to stir it up and see what comes out.”

And for the songwriter in Allen, nothing about the music that influences him is academic. While working with White to get the production on Sing New Shouts just right, the discussion was more intuitive than technical.

“It’s hard for me to describe what I want to Derek,” Allen says. “I’ll say something like, ‘I want it to sound heartwarming.’ And he’ll turn the knobs, and look back at me and say, ‘What about this?’ and I’ll be like, ‘That’s it!’ It’s like he’s a painter and I don’t paint.  I actually hate recording, but having Derek is a blessing. He paints the picture beautifully.”

The resulting album is a 19-minute shotgun blast of vintage garage-pop bliss, with a warmer, more analog feel compared to the three slickly produced singles New Shouts have released since last October. Tracks like the tightly wound, rockabilly strut of “Make It Snappy”; the twinkling, blue-eyed soul of “The Reins to Your Heart”; and the snotty mod-pop of “Stop Braggin’” showcase Sing New Shouts as a party-starter first and foremost, without a ballad in sight.

And it’s only fitting, considering that Allen and Chamberlain both cut their teeth at the old Soulcialism dance parties held by DJ Juddy at the White Eagle on the South Side beginning in 2003 — an event that eventually morphed into what is now Shadow Lounge’s monthly Title Town Soul and Funk Dance Party.

“At the time, if you didn’t want to dance to ’80s music or hip hop, you had Soulcialism,” says Allen. “Those dance parties exposed me to all kinds of Northern Soul … and the people that went were just really about the music, like holding their hearts when they were dancing because they were so into it.”

It’s that dance-party element that New Shouts are determined to bring to their live show. The band co-hosts its own Friday Nite Club events (with, in the interest of full disclosure, the help of CP music editor Andy Mulkerin’s band, Neighbours) at the Irish Centre of Pittsburgh; it’s also planning an upcoming show at Brillobox with DJ Gordy from Title Town, during which, according to Allen, there will be no lulls. (“We’ll be setting up while Gordy’s spinning, then the record stops and we start to play. When we stop playing, the needle drops again.”) New Shouts want to create a “scene” atmosphere around their performances, reminiscent of the old club shows by the High Numbers (The Who before they were The Who), or The Yardbirds’ searing performance in Michael Antonioni’s Blow Up.

“For me, I love how connected the music was to the culture at that time … being the bar band embedded in pop culture,” said Chamberlain, “Just people dressed to the hilt and dancing, being a part of this huge scene.”

For Allen, the New Shouts’ performance and sound will always trace back to his unabashed love for that era in pop music.

“[The music of the '50s and '60s] has an innocence to it, it triggers me emotionally,” he says. “I always like to describe music based on how it makes me feel; for me, that era of music [will always appeal to me] because of its passion.”

New Shouts New Songs on Sing New Shouts - PGH City Paper – 9-21-11 

“There is definitely a [gender] barrier in this industry, and I think it’s been like that for some time,” Eggelston says. “[But], I honestly don’t feel any way about it. I guess that’s because I’m so used to doing what I do that I’m just grateful to get the opportunity to work with others that are just as passionate about music as I am.”

Of course, Eggleston’s refusal to dwell on gender bias doesn’t mean her brand of stridently East Coast-inspired hip hop — inspirations like Nas’ storytelling and RZA’s gritty production are well represented — doesn’t come with a heavy social conscience.

Between the album art of her last release (the Billie Holiday-inspired Strange Fruit EP, which depicted a civil-rights-era battleground on the cover, fire hoses and all) and the shotgun blast of No Good Things opener “Out to Get Me” (which features devastating couplets like “crime bosses hold the city hostage / the block resembles a mosh pit”), Eggleston appears determined to keep her gaze fixed at the street level while paying tribute to hip hop’s past.

“I’m in love with the art of wordplay mixed with poetry, or what one calls ‘reality rap,’” says Eggleston, “[but, No Good Things] to me was a reflection of the golden age. It isn’t concept-heavy, but the flow of it also feels fresh and right.”

Eggleston plans on making her presence as Ensilence a larger fixture in Pittsburgh’s hip-hop scene over the coming months, building projects with like-minded collaborators (like BusCrates 16-Bit Ensemble) and performing regularly. As for being an up-and-coming female MC in what is a predominantly male-saturated rap culture?

“I really don’t stress it. I just do me. My focus is to make great music with great artists and continue to build on that foundation for the future.”

Silent No More: Ensilence – PGH City Paper – 9/7/11