Author: jonathanschenke

on

by

NYC rockers Native Sun are back with “Squash”, their second single on the newly launched TODO Music. Magnet Magazine premiered the song & video – writing that the track “neatly encapsulates the New York City quartet’s arty, melodic take on classic punk and garage rock” – with Flood, Dork, and It’s Psychedelic Baby picking up the release as well. The band recorded the basic tracks with Jeremy Snyder (Pure Adult) at Studio G; I worked with the band on production, vocals & overdubs, and mixing at Studio Windows; and Joe LaPorta mastered the song at Sterling Sound. This track came an incredibly long way from where it started, and I love where it ended up! “Squash” is out now on TODO Music.

on

by

Altars – the sophomore record by NYC singer-songwriter Adam Lytle – is out now. The press has been lavish in its praise – “extremely well-written tales of darkness” (Americana UK), “[a] unique and mystical world” (Purculture), “8.5/10” (Maximum Volume) – and Adam sat for an in-depth interview with Chorus.fm. We recorded the basic tracking live with his band (Cameron Kapoor- electric guitar, William Logan- drums, Kevin Copeland- bass) at Figure 8 last spring, with Adam laying down his vocals and acoustic guitar at his studio, before reconvening at Studio Windows to layer additional electric guitar & keys by Oli Deakin (Lowpines), synth & piano by me, percussion by Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Jessica Pratt) and harmony vocals by Kristina Moore (Kolezanka, Foyer Red). I mixed & mastered the album at Studio Windows. It’s always a pleasure to work with Adam (this was our fourth time working together), and the amount of openness and trust that he gave his band and me made this one extra special.  Altars is out now on limited edition vinyl and all streaming services – definitely check it out!

on

by

NYC’s Native Sun are back with the banger “I Need Nothing”. Flood Magazine premiered the track, calling it “grooving psych-rock”, and God Is In The TV says “the single pulsates with a confident swagger”. I produced this track with the band, which came about when I asked them if they had any “groovers”… we recorded the rhythm section and stone-cold vocals over a beat by Jeremy Snyder (Pure Adult), with layers of wild guitars & synth slathered on top. Joe LaPorta mastered the track at Sterling Sound, and it’s one of the first releases on the brand new TODO Records. Check out the video below, and snag the track on Bandcamp.

on

by

“The Parallel” is the first track from my debut solo album Passages. It’s fitting that this is the first single as “The Parallel” was the first song that I started for the record, and the last one to be finished.  Over the course of working on it, I fell in love with how resampling and processing sounds could bridge the divide between acoustic and synthetic instruments, and I was inspired to continue down that path.  The process of making these songs is a balance of composition and pure chance, which requires equal parts experimentation and patience, with the end result being as much of a collage as anything else.  I had been working on this track for a while when I was introduced to Reid Jenkins, whose expressive violin parts helped me to see the way through to completion.

Rebecca Shenfeld made a stunning video for the song, saying “This video emerged from a strange cold winter, sifted through the sieves of the New York transit system— weaving back and forth from home to work and back again. Traveling between pigeons and trains over and over again fed the visuals of this piece. It’s a meditation on looking, seeing, and feeling while moving between boroughs, over water, through tunnels, above ground, underground—occasionally getting off the train to go to a club.”

Passages is out on June 27 via No Gold – preorder the limited-edition vinyl and downloads on Bandcamp.

on

by

gut ccheck – the sophomore album by singer/movement artist Kinlaw – is out now on Bayonet Records. I’m such a fan of Sarah’s voice & work, it was a pleasure to help produce this record alongside a dream team of collaborators: Carlos Hernandez & Tony Selzer (co-writing/production), my studio partner Jake Aron (vocal production), the one & only David Wrench (mixing) and Shawn Hatfield (mastering). Sarah and I spent the time at Studio Windows to dig deep into these songs & arrangements, shifting and re-working some parts, layering synths & samples on others, and working out a series of interludes of the album and live performance. It’s truly fantastic – highly recommended! Listen to the record and pre-order the book (!!!) on Bandcamp, and check out the Interview Magazine feature Kinlaw did with Jae Mathews (Boy Harsher).

on

by

“Black Masses” is the newest single from NYC songwriter Adam Lytle, from his sophomore solo album Altars. Northern Transmissions listed it as “Song Of The Day” and Post-Punk shared its gonzo 16mm video by Douglas K Horton alongside an interview with Adam. While this is the second record under Adam’s name, it’s the fourth record he & I have worked on together (dating back to Wild Leaves and Quicksilver Daydream), and it was a delight to dig as deep as we did here. The album (and this song in particular) shows both the songwriting chops that Adam has developed, as well as his openness to collaborative experimentation across the record. We recorded this song live with his band at Figure 8 (Cameron Kapoor- electric guitar, William Logan- drums, Kevin Copeland- bass), with additional synth & piano by me and harmony vocals by Kristina Moore before I mixed & mastered the album at Studio Windows. I had a blast playing on and shaping this album with Adam, and it’s some of his best work yet. Altars is out May 2.

on

by

NYC singer/performance artist Kinlaw is back with the new single “Hard Cut”. The song was written & produced with Carlos Hernandez, with vocal production by my studio partner Jake Aron (who produced & mixed Kinlaw’s excellent debut The Tipping Scale). I worked with Sarah at Studio Windows to shape the arrangements of this song at the rest of the record, adding synths, samples & fx under the guise of “additional production”. The album was mixed by David Wrench (Caribou, the XX, Blur), and mastered by Shawn Hatfield. Sarah is an incredible singer & performer, and I’ve loved her solo work as Kinlaw as well as her previous projects, so I leapt at the chance to work with her to fully realize this record. “Hard Cut” is the perfect introduction to the new LP – it’s as adventurous and exciting as the album. “Hard Cut” is out now, and the album gut ccheck is out March 21 via Bayonet Records.

on

by

Stuck In My Head – the new live-in-studio album by the Fiery Furnaces – is out now! These songs were recorded live in a single day at Figure 8 Recording by Katie Von Schleicher and Nate Mendelsohn with the touring band in 2021: Eleanor on vocals, Matthew on various synths and sequencers, Noah Hecht and Cameron Wisch both on drums, Brian Betancourt on bass guitar, and Emily Lee on keyboards. I worked with Eleanor and Matt to edit, mix, and master these songs earlier this year. If you’ve never seen the Fiery Furnaces live (it’s been a while), the group radically shifts and rearranges the songs into sometimes unrecognizable shapes, often in the form of extended medleys. I loved this band in their initial run and saw them numerous times over the years, so it was a delight to work with them on this record! Stuck In My Head is available now exclusively on Bandcamp.

on

by

Wish On The Bone – the second full-length album by Why Bonnie – is out now. Pitchfork recently reviewed the LP (7.4), Paste gave it their “Pick” (8.2), and Under The Radar wrote that the album “finds the group consolidating their powers and plowing confidently forward”. I produced the record with Blair Howerton, recorded it at Figure 8 and Studio Windows, and mixed & mastered it at Studio Windows. I loved working with the group on their debut (90 In November), and we were able to use those sessions as a jump off point for this record – from an extended pre-production, to excellent live takes at Figure 8, through experimental production and arrangement ideas (I played synth & fx on a handful of songs), to the final mixing & mastering. It’s a beautiful record, and I’m happy it’s out in the world! Wish On The Bone is out now of Fire Talk Records.

on

by

Strange Burden – the debut LP from Austin, Tx’s Font – is out now. The album just got a glowing review from Pitchfork (“meticulous and crackling—a concise, gripping record that sparks and sizzles like a kinked spike of lightning”) and a Paste “Pick” review, and the group was recently a Band To Watch on Stereogum. The album was self-produced, with Dan Duszynski (Loma), Ernesto Grey, the band, and myself handling mixes on various songs (I mixed the track “It”); Carl Saff mastered the LP. It’s a wild record – definitely recommended! Strange Burden is out now on Acrophase Records.