Hi, my name is Jessi and I'm an independent musician in the NYC area. I also write articles for Urban Folk magazine, design web pages, create fliers, and do various other music and technology related tasks. Please visit my Indie Music Resources blog for more. Meanwhile, Drawing Pretty Things is my big, giant archive for all things Jessi (in blog form).
I have remixed my song "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and it can be streamed at www.myspace.com/jessirobertson under the title "WMD (Remix)".
My idea was to take a long vocal section at the end of the original song and see if I could make a whole new song out of it. There are very few lyrics:
"I'm not crowning any kings anymore. I'm not taking any prisoners anymore. I wasn't made for anyone else, so I will unmake myself."
So this is what I do when I'm alone in my room for a few days. Hopefully you will enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.
I have two David Shane Smith albums. Both came in origami slipcovers made from old magazine pages. “love songs” is written in red pencil on the first disc. The second reads “wintertower.”
If you asked me to pick one to keep and one to give up, I’d have a hard time choosing. Many musicians follow a slow evolution from one album to the next, but these two are different.
“love songs” has a timeless quality that makes it difficult to pin down. Each song has a striking sense of immediacy, but remains unbranded by a specific period or style. Lilting melodies contrast sharply with haunting narration. Insomniac poems are punctuated with acoustic guitar, bells, and timpani.
Smith does an about-face on “wintertower,” a slippery electronic hybrid of looped beats and manipulated sounds, where the territory between rap and spoken word becomes too tangled to navigate.
This is a risky venture for someone perceived as a singer/songwriter. Smith embraces it and delivers an absorbing work. On “love songs” most of the vocals were fragile and restrained while “wintertower” teems with rumbles, drones, and squalls.
Each disc holds nine songs. I listen to track seven on “wintertower” which shares the album’s name, a stormy collage of electric guitar and manufactured sounds. Then I skip back to “love songs” and listen to track seven, “in your night,” a dark lullaby punctuated with barely audible whispers. You can get your hands on both at www.myspace.com/davidshanesmith.
Sami Akbari’s upcoming debut album “Somebody Else’s Stranger” is a shimmering alt-pop coup. A complex palette of sounds creates the perfect backdrop to showcase her smooth, sultry vocals. These well-crafted, lovingly produced songs successfully bridge several genres, and I predict cross-over potential. The official release party is May 19th at CrashMansion in New York City.
Best Thai Food: Amarin Cafe in Greenpoint, Beet in Park Slope Watch out! At Amarin, medium spicy equates to my eyes are tearing and I need to clear my throat. The food is fresh and spicy and absolutely delicious. The ambiance is a little lacking. Take out is the way to go. Beet is beautiful inside. The food is reasonably priced and tasty. I suggest eating in or pick-up because delivery can take up to an hour.
Best Bars: Bar4 in Park Slope, Matchless in Greenpoint It's a tie between my two favorite Brooklyn neighborhoods. Bar4 is a cozy place to hear live music and features paintings and photography by local artists. Matchless is a sports bar turned music venue with a great selection of beers on tap. The sound in the main music room is crystal clear. Right next to lovely McCarren Park.
Best Sushi: Kiku in Park Slope The edamame is always tender and piping hot. Definitely try the Red Dragon roll. Take out only.
Best Walk: Past the beautiful brownstones between 6th and 11th in Park Slope Now is the perfect time while all the trees are flowering. Evening and gas lights and drifting petals. Exquisite. Of course, Prospect Park and the Botanical Gardens are lovely as well.
A service that provides safe, free rides for women in the Brooklyn area on Saturday nights between midnight and 3am (see map on website for service area).
There is also a program called Safe Walk that will send a bike patrol (two person team) to walk you home within a 15 minute area April - October. Patrols will be all-genders with the only regulation that there be no all-male teams, as this increases the comfort of those who request to be walked.
Jessi Robertson (that's me, aka Jessie Robertson in this video, aka Jessi Lehr) is featured in a new video of her song Bullet (aka Bullets in this video) performing with Tanya Buziak and Tarrah Reynolds at Matchless. Yay! Take a look/listen and thanks to NYC Highlights:
"We apologize in advance! Jeff Schram drops by the Westside Studio to drink, discuss the relaunch of Alloy Radio, drink, play some of our favorite local NYC artists and drink - not necessarily in that order.
While it may be a little bit longer and a little more sloppier than usual we do have a great set of music for you including tracks by Journey, Blake Morgan, Jeff Jacobson, Julia Darling, Wakey!Wakey!, Heather Christian, Jessi Robertson, Mike Errico, The Undisputed Heavyweights, Doll Hospital, Paula Valstein, Gabrielle, Tom Hayes, Professor and Maryann, Casey Shea, Liz Tormes, Attention Driver and Smoosh.
"A voice that commands attention from the first line." -Performing Songwriter Magazine.
Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Jessi Robertson grew up in a tiny upstate New York town of under 1,000 people, but eventually moved to the big city and carved out a place for herself. Her first full band studio album, "Small Town Girls," to be released in February 2011, follows that journey.
Musically, Jessi lives on the divide between gutsy indie rockers such as PJ Harvey and gritty Americana artists like Lucinda Williams. Embracing this duality, her performances can feel as intimate as a conversation, or as deep and dark as an ocean.
RIYL: PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Mazzy Star, Ryan Adams, Fiona Apple
