By Maria Gotay
Newtown Radio, our favorite neighborhood disc jockeys, relaunched their site and image with flying colors! I sat down with Colin, one of the founders of the station, who told me to expect a lot to come, including a whole lot of new Newtown Sessions. Newtown Sessions is a series of video features of emerging indie bands and musicians created in-building. Newtown Sessions are recorded downstairs in the Swan 7 recording studios, then moving upstairs to broadcast the session, all in the complex, on the East end of Meserole, which has been called “Brooklyn’s Most Musical Block” by The L Magazine.
One of the most recent sessions features Lower Dens, one of my personal favorite from-Baltimore-relocated-to-Brooklyn bands out there. Lower Dens is the brain project of Jana Hunter, the folk-based songwriter, whose voice is remarkably husky and archaic at the same time. Her work in the band brings a whole new life to her songwriting- the music is sometimes droney, with an oceanic reverb that makes your spine tingle, gaining a weird-fi heaviness that is absolutely beautiful. Their first LP, Twin Hand Movement, remains one of my favorite albums to listen to, and there’s much build-up for their new album, Nootropics, which comes out May 1st.
Needless to say, everyone involved must have been really excited to do a session with Lower Dens. They performed “Deer Knives” – a haunting song/b-side that doesn’t show up on their discography. A wonderful session, a wonderful radio station- watch the video below.
Newtown Radio is having an incredible site launch party, this Saturday at Shea Stadium. ALL THE DETAILS HERE, featuring two seperate open bars (thanks Sailor Jerry and Brooklyn Brewery! wink wink!) and performances from the ever-amazing Widowspeak, Family band, and Black Marble plus a just-announced, super special headliner- Dirty Beaches! Damn, that is going to be a tight night of performances.