Daily Loaf

The Loafies — our annual celebration in honor of the Best of the Bay issue — are your chance to meet the winners and mingle with the tastemakers of Tampa Bay at our homecoming/house party/awards show (no word on whether Kanye’s gonna ruin my award presentation). Come out for food, fashion, drink, dancing and more, with live music by Best of the Bay winners Nervous Turkey (pictured) and Shunda K, 500 Wolves and more. Rumor has it that The Senator will be making a guest appearance, though how he could possibly top last year’s show is anybody’s guess.

Mogul Street Reserve pictured at right; all photos by Phil Bardi.

Despite being bone-weary and mentally exhausted, I slagged my tired ass down to Ybor City and made it to Summer Jam 5 just before sunset to enjoy the mini-fest’s variety of musical offerings, a huge roster of quality local acts as well as the few necessary nationals (The Honorary Title, Cory Branan, Carter Hulsey) to round things out.

We cruised into Crowbar just in time to see Blind Man’s Colour (pictured after the jump), a new experimental outfit made up of some young and green but super skilled musicians who are so hot that Kanye West gave the little known St. Petersburg outfit some love with a “Some Dope Shit for My Apartment” post on his blog this past January, and Grizzly Bear’s Edward Droste followed suit with a tweet about the band around the same time. BMC was also featured recently on NPR’s All Things Considered for a “Music from the Sublime to the Old Time” artist spotlight a few weeks ago, so it appears like they’re on the upswing. Read the rest of this entry »

Tastemakers and THX Management team up for the fifth annual summertime mini-fest, Summer Jam 5. Originally organized as a way of merging musical genres, uniting their respective audiences, and introducing original local music to the Bay area masses, the event touches upon Americana, hip-hop, experimental electronica, punk rock and more. This year’s national headliners are neo-folk artist Cory Branan, who delivers his intelligent, droll and occasionally melancholy lyrics in a raspy drawl; and The Honorary Title, a Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit fronted by singer-songwriter Jarrod Gorbel (pictured at left). On this tour, Gorbel sheds the majority of his band (save keyboardist Dustin Dobernig) to perform a series of acoustic shows and preview new material from his forthcoming solo debut.

Summer Jam 5, Sat., Aug. 29, 5 p.m.-late: The Honorary Title, Cory Branan, Damion Suomi, Mogul Street Reserve, Shunda K, Larcen, Slim Hustle, Blind Man’s Colour, Da Golminerz/Rook and The Sheaks at Crowbar ($10 advance/$12 dos), and Guiltmaker, Carter Hulsey, Alexander & The Grapes, GreyMarket, Deficit, How Dare You, The Tape Delay, Stereotype & the Treble Makers at New World Brewery ($6 advance/$8 dos), both in Ybor City; tickets to both venues are $13 advance/$15 day of show.

There’s been this new sound swirling around; it sounds like hip hop but with an electro beat … I’m no music critic and my vocabulary to breakdown the proper terminology is laughable. All I know is this sound is propped up by new female “alternative” artists, and they all have a killer style.

In our first Fusionistas podcast (embedded below, check it) my guest is Shunda K, creator of the group Yo! Majesty. We have a candid conversation about where she’s been and where shes going, and how she was a forerunner of this new sound. Shunda has been collaborating with many artists on different tracks and we’ll link you some so you can hear for yourself. (check ‘em down below)

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In the first Fusionistas podcast, Aleka Phoenix welcomes into the studio hip hop artist Shunda K, creator of the group Yo! Majesty, for a candid conversation about where she’s been and where she’s going, and how she was a forerunner of a new sound.