Alpenglow, Air Waves, Toebow

Alpenglow is a band intensely influenced by its surroundings. They made their 2014 EP, Chapel, while living in a ramshackle house in a Vermont mountain town, population 588, once home to Robert Frost. The album, which has a reverent and spacious sound, was worked on by Jesse Lauter (The Low Anthem, Elvis Perkins, Langhorne Slim) and was recorded in a stone chapel down the road.

The release of Chapel led Alpenglow to tours opening for Lucius, Timber Timbre, and their spiritual guru, Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Through new experiences on the road and late night chats with tourmates, rural life started to feel limiting and city lights looked more welcoming. One night on tour the band met Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy, who jokingly advised the band, ???Don???t move to Brooklyn.??? A few months later, in the middle of the winter???s worst snowstorm, the band packed up their hunting and fishing gear and headed for the big city. ???When we lived in the woods, there was a snow-melt stream behind the house that we used to jump in every morning. Deciding to move to the city was kind of like that. We needed a jolt.???

In Vermont, Alpenglow practiced in an old stone mill from the 1800s with vaulted ceilings, wooden beams, and massive windows overlooking a waterfall. That setting allowed them to create music that was equally spacious???music that centered on slowness, beauty, and meandering melodies. In the city, things were different. ???We practiced in a 10??? X 10??? windowless room in a building filled with other bands. It just so happened that all our neighbors were metal bands. After a month of trying to practice our old material in there with distorted guitars wailing on all sides, we had no choice but to leave the soft stuff behind.???

Trying to navigate the chaos and pressure of city life gave Alpenglow???s music an urgency and intensity that wasn???t there before. Practicing next to metal bands made Alpenglow play louder. Their focus shifted to beats, grooves, tones, and colors. They started using synthesizers and bought a drum machine. The result was a new sound inspired by exposure to the people, shows, styles, and art of the city.

When it came time to record their debut full-length album, Alpenglow turned to musician and producer Sam Cohen (Yellowbirds, Apollo Sunshine) to help them stretch their sound into the psychedelic world. The band cites Cohen???s abilities to tweak tones and strip down beats as his biggest strengths: ???He has a way of placing listeners??? feet on the ground with deep classic grooves while their heads float into space through swirling synth tones.??? In addition, Cohen???s DIY spirit and engagement in all aspects of his own artistic production serve as encouragement for Alpenglow, who create all their own artwork and videos.

Part way through the recording process, Cohen???s first daughter, Jupiter, was born. Inspired by the cosmic theme and wanting to pay tribute to both Cohen and new life, Alpenglow titled the album Callisto, the name of one of Jupiter???s moons. Inspired by the bands new record, conceptual artist Yoshi Ashi asked Alpenglow to be the first band on his new record label, Chizu Records. Fans of Yoshi???s work and his idea to create a ???record label for the digital age???, the band jumped at the chance to bring their album to the label. Callisto was released on Chizu Records February 26th, 2016.


While attending Purchase College Nicole Schneit aka Air Waves met Dan Deacon, a friend and former collaborator who once described her comforting songs as something akin to ???a favorite blanket wrapped around you.??? Though she played in several bands in college (including the noise jam band Ferrari with Deacon) she eventually shifted her focus to writing and recording intimate pop songs under the name Air Waves, a moniker inspired by the title of a Guided by Voices song.

In 2010 Schneit released Dungeon Dots, an album which Aquarius Records called ??????pretty much perfect pop music.??? After extensive touring in support of that album, she took some time off from writing. ???It was crucial for my creative process to take a step back from making music. Part of being a performer is having confidence to just be vulnerable. I needed to regain that confidence to make an album again after Dungeon Dots,??? says Schneit. The vulnerability she speaks of is part of what makes her music as Air Waves so compelling. Even her fictional narratives employ an almost preternatural honesty that feels emotionally naked, exposed, and ultimately relatable.

She initially recorded her new album Parting Glances as cheaply as possible, but unsatisfied with the results Schneit enlisted long-time friend Jarvis Taveniere of the band Woods to help rerecord the entire album (selling her tour van in the process, to help cover the studio time). Working with Taveniere in the studio, she took a great deal of care to ensure that each song felt exactly right. As she explains, ???Every song feels complete and structured without losing the warmness that I strive for. I wanted them to sound tight and full without sounding overproduced. Jarvis was the guy that helped make that happen.??? In addition to Taveniere, Schneit enlisted other friends from Brooklyn's music community to contribute to the record, including JB Townsend of Crystal Stilts, Becca Kauffman and Felicia Douglas from Ava Luna, and Brian Betancourt from Hospitality. Additionally, Jana Hunter contributes vocals to album standouts ???Horse Race??? and ???Thunder???.

The album's title comes from the 1986 film Parting Glances in which Steve Buscemi portrays a gay man navigating the difficulties of being in a relationship in Reagan-era New York. ???I've never seen a film with Steve Buscemi in it that I didn't love,??? says Schneit. More than just identifying with the story, she's interested in the in the lasting effect of the parting glances we share with strangers in our everyday encounters. She explains ???You see all sorts of physical and emotional traits on the train. From people puking, making out, screaming, crying, laughing, dancing, grooming, etc. We encounter each other in the thick of our complex lives by simply looking at each other all the time. These glances are mundane and fleeting but also powerfully intimate.??? The lingering impact of those brief moments seeps into the details and imagery she delivers through her lyrics on Parting Glances. With energizing hooks and a disarming lack of pretense, the songs on Parting Glances burn with ebullient energy and an emotionally engaging core from beginning to end.


TOEBOW is Nate Ulsh, Jo-Anne Hyun, Maia Friedman and Martin Zimmermann (the latter two formerly of BOBBY). Comprised of dueling guitars, glittering synths, 4-part harmonies and acoustic/electric percussion, their music channels a variety of musical influences. TOEBOW weaves in between cultures and decades, drawing from R. Stevie Moore and Frank Zappa as much as it does from West African guitars, Balinese Gamelan and Surf Rock. They will be releasing a debut album in 2016.