Fan Service
orangepeelmystic at The JungleOrangepeelmystic airs it out at The Jungle on Friday, 10 November 2023.
Velvet Dreaming, Targus Targus, and Axel & Lolo sandwich the fourstack bill.
Digital Awareness in the house.
The Boston Music Awards arrive in December. A propos of two artists on this bill at The Jungle being nominated for New Artist of the Year.
The voting is open to regular chumps like you and me. But if you want to vote, you better get to it. The polls close shortly.
Hump Day News covered a lot of the nominated artists. Go figure! That’s what happens when you write up a dozen shows each month. Sit at the side of the river long enough and everyone and everything will eventually float on by.
Though our publication is not part of the secret cabal that handles nominations, and we don’t make endorsements, we still like to shout out nominated artists that we’ve covered. And maybe make a few adds?
Check out our Boston Music Awards preview coverage before voting ends.
Axel & Lolo
Axel & LoloThe Boston Music Award nominee for New Artist Axel & Lolo was a late add after Andro Queen dropped out.
They brought a sunshine and rainbows flavor that stood out against some of the darker electro vibes of the original bill. Like if The Carpenters got air dropped into a late night DJ session in Ibiza.
But the six-piece writes a sweet pop song with jazzy undertones that sounds great anytime, anywhere. Shout out to the singing duo leading the way (presumably, the titular Axel & Lolo?), who are bringing back the lost art of the vocal duet.
You can bet they’d deliver a killer version of “Islands In The Stream.”
Targus Targus
Targus TargusThere aren’t enough conga-led bands. The local Wave Race-core proggers take a page from the Ricky Ricardo playbook. It was the second six-piece of the night, only two bands in. Two keyboardists, bass, drums, a pair of congas, and a mysterious gentleman at stage left handling what might have been an Aerophone, an electric woodwind, or Robocop’s femur. Extra points for banging a tambourine with a monkey wrench. Extra points for a baller minimalist Bandcamp discography aesthetic and album naming conventions.
orangepeelmystic
orangepeelmysticThe keys/drums duo orangepeelmystic offered an experimental journey through rhythm-forward synthwave terrain. Cosmic vibrations from two musicians, though the commercial-grade fan and the fronter’s hair blowing in the resultant breeze deserve honorable mentions.
The conga player from Targus Targus shouted out orangepeelmystic as ‘facemelters.’ and if you listened to the brain-bludgeoning dancehall waver “High One,” you can believe it. On the other hand, the volume in The Jungle on Friday was conservatively leveled. Neither too high, nor too low. Which is what you want. But true facemelting can’t really occur unless the PA is turned up irresponsibly high.
It’s probably for the best. Overjuiced amps are a form of violence. And tinnitus is real.
Velvet Dreaming
Velvet DreamingSpeaking of the Boston Music Awards, speaking of New Artist of the Year, Velvet Dreaming is on the same list. Same list, different sound.
The solo act turned the lights down low for a set that wouldn’t be out of place in the backroom of a Berlin Lokal in the bohemian district at four in the morning. Shades of Sean Nicholas Savage meets the early club kid Madonna. Rumor has it they love to scrobble.
Shout out to the between sets DJ Robbie Dean Rhodes holding it down. A little Madonna, Talking Heads, Daft Punk, and deeper digs.
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“We’re just honored to be nominated” is bullshit said at Big Night Live.