Daddy Long Legs is a man. A tall man. A tall, well-dressed, imposing man who blows the harmonica as if breathing life and soul into Delta bluesmen long dead. Daddy Long Legs is also a band. A blues rock band from Brooklyn, fronted by this tall man of the same name. But this Daddy has more legs -- those belonging to guitarist Murat Akturk and drummer Josh Styles. Styles upon styles upon styles is what they have -- a trio of characters forging rock n' roll spectacle for the eyes and ears, hearkening back to when troubadours drank moonshine and took their role as entertainers more seriously. You can feel this music.m It's visceral - not polished clean. The trio is the modern day incarnation of a bad-ass record collection of rare pressings and vintage out-of-print curios. See for yourself -- watch the world premiere of this short documentary film by Deli contributor Ryan Henriquez, or catch them Sunday in Williamsburg at the Kings County Cookout before they hit the road for a west coast tour with Apache. Kings County Cookout @ Lady Jay’s. 633 Grand St. Sun. Aug 14 @ 4pm.
We've always been big fans of Luke Temple, and it's good to see that, together with the Here We Go Magic crew, the man is keeping at it with increasingly beautiful records and videos. The band's new album "A Different Ship" (stream it here) will be out on May 8, and betrays at least a partial return to Luke Temple's more intimate and melodic sound from his solo repertoire - in this regard, lend a ear to "Hard to Be Close," "Alone but Moving" and "Over the Ocean". This is welcome news for fans like us who always thought that in most HWGM material Luke's noteworthy songwriting skills seemed a little sacrificed on the altar of textural experimentation. This doesn't mean that the band's signature hypnotic, impressionistic sound is lost - it's just that these two elements work together better than they did in past records, and this is what makes this album one of the NYC highlights of the year so far. Indeed, this collection also features songs more in line with the band's past releases ("Make Up your Mind", "I Believe in Action"), which follow on the steps of brainy-pop icons like Brian Eno and The Feelies, but there's definitely a balance here, also betrayed by the almost perfect alternation of melodic songs and less traditional ones.The just released video of "How Do I Know," telling the story of a rejected dancing robot that ends up revitalizing an older man's appreciation for life, seems to reflect on this brain/heart, mechanic/organic dichotomies and somehow bring them to unity. - PDG
