Jan

13

LPR Presents at Brooklyn Night Bazaar: Denitia and Sene, Lord RAJA & Gemma LPR Presents at Brooklyn Night Bazaar: Denitia and Sene, Lord RAJA & Gemma

Fri January 13th, 2017

9:00PM

Brooklyn Bazaar

Minimum Age: 18+

Doors Open: 8:00PM

Show Time: 9:00PM

Event Ticket: $10

Day of Show: $12

event description event description

This is a general admission event at Brooklyn Night Bazaar: 150 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

the artists the artists

Denitia and Sene

Denitia and Sene official site | Denitia and Sene on Facebook | Denitia and Sene on Twitter | Denitia and Sene on Instagram | Denitia and Sene on Soundcloud

At a time when the idea of “alternative R&B” has become the genre-defying norm, when hip hop and EDM and house music and indie-rock have all started to sound mysteriously the same, the chilled-out, futuristic soul vibes of Brooklyn electro pop duo denitia and sene. make a perfect kind of sense. The group formed in 2011 after the two crossed paths at a Brooklyn art and music collective simply known as “The Clubhouse.” At the time, Sene (who cut his teeth in NYC and LA as a rapper) was looking for a vocalist to sing over some of his beats. Denitia, who had come to NYC less than a year earlier to make a name for herself as a singer/songwriter, was happy to oblige. As it turned out, the pairing of powerhouse vocalist Denitia and production whiz and beat-maker Sene turned out to be something of an effortless no-brainer.

Lord RAJA

Lord Raja on Facebook | Lord Raja on Twitter | Lord Raja on Soundcloud | Lord Raja on Bandcamp

The first song Chester Raj Anand, better known as Lord RAJA, ever produced was for his brother. When he was six years old, RAJAs brother taught him how to use ACID and Fruity Loops, and RAJA would compose beats for his older sibling to rap over. We listened to hip-hop growing up, RAJA explains. Hes 5 years older than me, and he definitely introduced me to a lot of music. But when he left for college, I started establishing my own sound.

Working from his love of really raw, scary Aphex Twin as well as his background in piano, keyboard and jazz percussion, RAJA composed songs in his basement on a custom computer, eventually releasing Intonations: Music for Primordial Recollection under the name InfinitiRock on Asthmatic Kitty in 2011. He took on the name RAJA while studying at SUNY Purchase, and released a series of songs leading up to Halloween. I wanted to make songs that sound like visuals, he says. Help take people somewhere bigger than their standard headspace.

In 2014 he released A Constant Moth, his first release for Ghostly, which combined his roots in classic hip-hop with vintage IDM, ambient, footwork, and experimental sound design, supplementing the tracks with world instruments, custom-made pedals and circuits and snippets from his parents collection of old Indian records. The album established his as a singular voice, someone capable of synthesizing whole genres of music and reassembling them into something at once familiar and strange.

That identity is defined even further on 2015s PARA, which RAJA describes as my most successful attempt at making a consistent work. Every song on PARA makes use of RAJAs Lexicon PCM 90 and an Eventide H3000 that he modified himself to get the effects he heard in his head. He also captured an arsenal of sounds—modular synths, mellotron,

Elektron synths—at Austins famous Switched On, using RME Babyface. The result is a record that is carefully crafted and meticulously assembled, but is still immediate and accessible. Inclusion was the theme, he explains. I wanted to make a point not to alienate anyone. Look at Princes discography—the stuff hes doing is still, to this day, immensely innovative, but you wouldnt feel so challenged by it that you think, I can only listen to this at a certain time.

All of that is apparent in the songs—Zerulean, with its skittering drum track, nods RAJAs work in hip-hop, blending warped synths with a heaving rhythm. Butterfly on a Jet summons both the anxiety and tranquility of its title, synths bobbing and darting over rattling drums. And Koi Fish, which RAJA says was inspired by Jersey Club, wobbles and leaps, a dance song engineered for early mornings. Though all of it is immediately thrilling, each song has dozens of different things occurring just beneath the surface. Stars features a sample of a man screaming in Hindi that RAJA recorded at a play in India with his iPhone. Ride Out, which RAJA describes as Bone Thugs-inspired, employs a vocoder app to stretch and warp his voice. And H3000 came by its otherworldly sound after RAJA took a song he recorded on his iPad and slowed it down using reel-to-reel tape. The entire album perfectly captures RAJAs aesthetic: carefully crafted, deeply detailed songs employing a host of different sounds and effects, resulting in music thats big and welcoming.

I want to make music that wont lose people, RAJA says. I dont want a whole crowd of chin-scratchers. I want to include everyone, and say, This is my voice. As he has proven with each successive release, RAJAs is a voice well worth listening to.

Gemma

Gemma on Facebook | Gemma on Twitter | Gemma on Bandcamp | Gemma on Soundcloud | Gemma on Tumblr

Gemma is one of those happy accidents. A musical project that came together spontaneously, and almost entirely by chance. There’s no heartfelt meeting story to tell. Like many musicians, Felicia Douglass (Ava Luna) and producer Erik Gundel would cross paths because they happened to be on the same Market Hotel bill five or six years ago. Over time they’d run into each other, express their mutual appreciation, exchange a few words and move on. Last year the simple greetings turned to conversation about how they were both interested in creating electronic beats and working on their own material. Gundel eventually reached out to Douglass to see if she’d sing on one of his tracks and they were both so pleased with the results that they continued to push forward. “I don’t think we even talked about making a full album until we realized that we had a lot of songs in the works,” says Douglass. Gundel recalls that “It was very fun and easy as far as collaborations go, it didn’t really make sense to stop.”

Their chemistry was immediate. Time and time again the process proved to be liberating for both musicians. “We never butted heads about parts of the songs; I always liked what Felicia contributed, hopefully she enjoyed what I was doing. We were on the same page when something wasn’t working…the album developed in a really natural way.” This unified style and vision gave birth to Gemma’s unique brand of post-R&B and silky electro-pop. The duo’s debut album, As Ever, due out October 2nd via Inflated Records, is a sign that they were destined to be a team. Gundel’s production, influenced by a wide variety of intricate electronic music, including Max Tundra, Herbert, and ‘90s-era Timbaland, provides the perfect accompaniment to Douglass’ smooth, effortless vocal delivery.

Douglass, whose main contributions to Ava Luna’s past two albums (“PRPL,” “Coat of Shellac”) were clear standouts, has also lent her talents to artists such as Toro Y Moi, Sinkane, and Mr. Twin Sister. On As Ever, her soulful voice is the unquestionable focal point. Soft melodies and stacked, pillowy vocals soar over her counterpart’s experimental concoctions. The album’s lyrics are often sentimental, about memories or moments in time, fleeting exuberance or misery. Perhaps coincidentally, a lot of the music is built upon samples of obscure or forgotten music, small snippets of sound that Gundel found evocative or, like the lyrics, fleetingly exuberant. The result is an album that feels like it was the creation of one mind, proving that the process of collaboration does not always have to entail compromise, and ensuring that the future is bright for Gemma.

“The songs on ‘As Ever,’ Gemma’s first record, are quiet, alert and beautiful: dance music, party music, but of a seriously adult kind.” – The New York Times

“…a silky, poppy new project with plenty of open space, mid-’80s R&B hooks and gently skittering beats.” – The New York Times

“It’s a delicate, careful combination that finds Douglass’ heartfelt voice melding to Gundel’s bleary, DJ Koze-like melody perfectly. It makes for a sound that feels exploratory and airtight all at once.” – FACT

“Presented alongside a shimmering but minimalist electronic backdrop, Douglass’ voice sounds fully actualized on ‘As Ever.’ The song makes erratic jumps across the emotional spectrum with each lilt of Douglass’ voice; it’s sensual, anxious, hopeful, but above all, it’s earnest.” – Stereogum, “The 5 Best Songs Of The Week”

“Douglass’s vocals creamily waft over and around Gundel’s technicolour loops.” – The Line Of Best Fit, “Song of The Day”

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