Blog - Page 19 of 25 - Sachyn Mital

Best Music of 2015 List (Pazz & Jop +)

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2015 was a great year for new music in all genres. Near the end of 2014, one of what would turn out to be my favorite albums of 2015 leaked onto the internet — The Decemberists What a Terrible World… But January, on the same date, saw the release of another great album, the comeback record No Cities to Love from Sleater-Kinney. But I don’t keep track of release dates really, I keep track of upcoming shows and events. So I can’t say for sure when I discovered other albums save for Grimes’ Art Angels which released near the end of the year. Both Grimes and Decemberists received slightly higher points when I was doing my Pazz & Jop tabulations for Village Voice given how much play both those albums received.

I did try to pick albums that were from a wide variety of genres which is perhaps why this site statistical site Furia considered me a “Centrist” for 2015. But I would have thought I was less centric — however I did select many of the titles that made the Top 10, I haven’t perused the site too much, the amount of data is crazy to review in the few minutes I am taking to get this post up. pazzjop_furia2015

Anyways, check out my best/favorite albums and songs of 2015 after the jump. Click the album cover to visit Amazon and purchase the disc, watch the videos for the singles and be my friend on Spotify. Hopefully 2016 is half as good as 2015 for music.

RIP David Bowie.

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January 12, 2016

concert / music

Savages “Adore” Video and Baby’s All Right 2015 Photos

The band Savages are set to release their new album Adore Life on January 22nd. They recently dropped the video for the second single from that album, “Adore”, online and you can stream that below. But first, I must catch up on unpublished photos. Last year the band had a residency in NYC with nine shows across a few venues. I caught them at Baby’s All Right on January 19th and hadn’t posted any of the photos till now for whatever reason. Enjoy some more pics below the jump and plan to see them when they return to the States (dates at the bottom).

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January 8, 2016

music

2015 Music Recap w/ Favorite Photos

In 2015, John Brandon of San Fermin, Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble, Colm Querney, Kellindo Parker (who plays with Janelle Monáe) and Al Kooper (who plays with Bob Dylan) were among some of the musicians I photographed who sent me personal messages to let me know they appreciate my work. It’s a great feeling to have the artists themselves find your work. And though I didn’t hear from her, even Mariah Carey probably saw my work on the Village Voice.

One up and coming band, Secret Weapons, found my photos and reached out, inviting me to come check out their show. After seeing them a few times and getting to know Danny and Gerry, it was great to hear they signed to a label before the year was out. Congrats fellas.

In the same period, I’ve gotten my work published (even if it was just once) in more places, including in and on Noisey, Pancakes & Whiskey, Fangoria, ReverbNation, Rockin’ On, Open Ears, the Sundance Institute and who knows where else.

It helps that I’ve been seeing a lot of music. Although I don’t have an auditor, I try to keep track of what I’ve seen in a year. Returning to the Newport Folk Festival and seeing a ton of great music in Fort Adams State Park was one of the highlights. I look forward to going again in 2016.

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December 31, 2015

concert

Stromae w/ Janelle Monáe + Jidenna at MSG

Janelle Monáe opening for Stromae at Madison Square Garden on October 1st 2015. — Stromae sign at Madison Square Garden on October 1st 2015.

Stromae is not a well known name in the United States. The lanky Belgian artist born Paul van Haver is however a strong enough performer to sell out Madison Square Garden as he did earlier this month. I took a few photos for the VIllage Voice that you can see at the link here but it is their review I want to share first. Sarah Grant wrote, “Stromae’s 2013 breakthrough album, Racine Carrée (English: “square root”), announces his passion for roots music and his polyglot background as a Belgian with Rwandan blood. The “square” part relates to his gawky yet lovable persona”. And I could see why he was lovable as his set was quirky, he sat at a table and drank wine at a couple points and he was a wild dancer throwing himself laterally across the stage. Many of his songs I was really into, as they sounded more powerful than they do on an album, but a few of them seemed to fall flat to me. One of the highlights was, “Stromae’s song to “turn up” to is contemplative and intense. “Papaoutai,” his monster hit, is a trompe-oreilles: a nonsense word that becomes a meaningful phrase. In this case, it means “Papa, where are you?” (ibid).

I really was excited to see Janelle Monáe open the show (I had missed her at least two other times in NYC this year) along with her Wondaland records friend Jidenna, the “Classic Man”, who I spotted enjoying Stromae’s set on the floor (but his friend with a cane wouldn’t allow me to get a photo unfortunately). Monáe is a real treat to photograph with her stark costumes and her vibrant antics, plus her music is great too. Shout out to her guitarist Kellindo Parker for being awesome and for sharing a photo of mine earlier. Someone found it and turned it into a sketch. Click through the jump to check out many more of my photos from the show or click this link to purchase Stromae’s work from Amazon!

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October 29, 2015

Caitlin Ferradas fashion event on September 16th 2015. NYFW S/S 2016.

fashion

The Set NYFW S/S 2016 Show

The Set and Freedom Ladder presented a NYFW Floor & Showcase Exhibition S/S 2016 with: Meaghan Paige, Amy Dietz, Caitlin Farradas, Emma Berg, Carlen Manasse New York, Chinaza Moses, Lyne Cosmetics, artist Parker McComb, Ari J Collection, Cecile’s Bath & Body, Charmaine King, Jacqueline Kline with tables and Inspired NY, Demi Jing Yang, RedGhagra and Autumnlin Kietponglert sending models down the runway their latest in fashion (for Spring/Summer 2016) at the Holy Apostles Ballroom. The event raised money to help end child trafficking via a graphic novel called the Abolitionista!

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I basically never do any New York Fashion Week events but this one stood out to me because it had an Indian-inspired designer (RedGhagra) and it was also geared to help out a social cause. It can be a lot of work, for the models and the photographers, given the limited time there is to present an outfit and to photograph it well as the model moves down the runway. Plus the sheer number of events and parties would make shooting the many events during NYFW seem as crazy as CMJ Music Marathon is for music and concert photographers. To be honest, I’m not even sure this was an official NYFW showcase but it was held during NYFW and it was in Chelsea which is the new home of the NYFW events (it was moved from Lincoln Center recently due to zoning issues if I understand). Check out fashion photos from the collections after the jump.

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October 19, 2015

people

People of Afropunk 2015

Though this year’s Afropunk Fest felt more corporate, with some females promoting a car company dressed like they were Game of Thrones‘ Khaleesi and many other more obvious corporate sponsors, the organizers have never had any say in how attendees come dressed. And that is one of the best reasons to attend Afropunk Fest — to check out the people’s fashion. Afropunk fashion is original, individual, forward-thinking and colorfully expressed. While I wasn’t spending as much time on portraits as I should have, I did try to capture a lot of the variety. You can check out my photos of the fashionable people (and one fashionable pup) attending the 2015 Afropunk Fest after the jump.

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September 7, 2015