Raul Zahir De Leon – Bandwidth

Laney Jones And The Spirits Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Tue, 03 May 2016 16:45:45 +0000

For years, Americana performer Laney Jones toiled away in rural Florida clubs before she made the leap to a larger audience. In recent years she’s appeared at the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Center, even sharing a stage with Alison Krauss on PBS. In 2015 Laney and her band The Spirits crisscrossed the country, playing more than 140 shows.

Earlier this spring, Laney brought The Spirits through the Wilderness Bureau studio in D.C. and shared two songs from her recent self-titled album. Watch the band perform “Allston (Dance Around)” and “Who Could Love.”

Mount Moriah Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 09:00:49 +0000

On the heels of the Americana band’s third album, How to Dance, North Carolina’s Mount Moriah swung through the Wilderness Bureau and delivered a riveting performance of singles “Calvander” and “Precita.”

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Sun Club Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 09:00:35 +0000

Sun Club has described itself as “a group of buddies playing happy music,” and that youthful energy was on full display when the colorful Baltimore quintet stopped by the Wilderness Bureau in March.

Taking a break from their tour with Ra Ra Riot, the band delivered a couple of frenetic pop tunes in our studio.

Above, watch Sun Club play the brand new, unreleased track “Dirty Slurpee” live at the Wilderness Bureau, and don’t miss “Worm City,” off of their debut album, The Dongo Durango, below.

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Bayonne Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 13:51:06 +0000

Austin-based minimalist electronic composer Roger Sellers, aka Bayonne, has drawn comparisons to pop experimentalists Panda Bear, Atlas Sound and Caribou.

He recently visited Bandwidth’s offsite studio, the Wilderness Bureau — and our goth jungle stage — to deliver a spirited performance of “Appeals” and “Sincere,” from his forthcoming debut record, Primitives.

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Mellow Diamond Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 16:53:51 +0000

For years, Janel Leppin has been a fixture on D.C.’s experimental and avant-garde music scenes. As a composer, cellist and vocalist, Leppin’s work pushes the boundaries of convention in each discipline. Her talents have led to numerous collaborations with Kyp Malone, Marissa Nadler and Susan Alcorn — in addition to her varied work with her partner, guitarist and composer Anthony Pirog.

Now Leppin is channeling her talents into a solo project. Accompanied by a few friends, the musician recently stopped by Bandwidth’s offsite studio, the Wilderness Bureau, to play a few songs from the entrancing project, called Mellow Diamond.

Enjoy Mellow Diamond’s super-special performances of “In a Dream” (above) and “Paris to Beirut” (below).

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Photos by Maggie Famiglietti

Sianna Plavin Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 17:56:33 +0000

Warning: The above video contains explicit language.

Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, Sianna Plavin recently stopped by Bandwidth’s Wilderness Bureau studio to share a couple of songs from her new LP, Go On Now, which she recorded while on break from working as a farmer. A former resident of Baltimore, Plavin has played in folk band Backyard Betties and chamber-folk act Soft Cat. Watch her perform two gently stirring songs, “Who Do You Love” and “Go On Now.”

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Photos by Maggie Famiglietti

Young Fathers Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 16:22:39 +0000

During a typical live performance, Edinburgh’s Young Fathers build a layered wall of voice and sound. But with most of their equipment stowed away, the band still managed to blow us away, filling Bandwidth’s Wilderness Bureau studio with only minimal accompaniment and textured harmonies.

Watch as the Scots perform a stripped down version of “Sirens,” a standout from their latest full-length, White Men Are Black Men Too. The group followed that with a gorgeous a cappella version of “Only Child.”

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Photos by Maggie Famiglietti

Jimmy Whispers Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 15:49:46 +0000

The last time I caught up with James Cicero, he was fronting the Carpark Records-endorsed indie-pop band Light Pollution. Several years later, Cicero has reemerged as Jimmy Whispers, with a debut album of beautiful lo-fi pop weirdness.

Jimmy Whispers crash-landed into Bandwidth’s offsite studio, Wilderness Bureau, and made the entire space his playground. Watch Jimmy serenade studio cat Layla on “Vacation,” from Summer in Pain.

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Kevin Morby Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 09:00:40 +0000

Back in October 2014, Kevin Morby released his second solo album, Still Life. Its title seemed steeped in irony, as the record comprises tunes written during 2013, a year he spent on the road with his bands Woods and The Babies and in support of his solo debut record, Harlem River. Morby had also recently transplanted from New York to Los Angeles.

Two weekends ago Morby and his crew came through Bandwidth’s off-site studio, the Wilderness Bureau, and treated us to a short set in front of a trippy installation made by BLK CHVRCH.

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Photos by Maggie Famiglietti

King Tuff Live At The Wilderness Bureau

Raul Zahir De Leon — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 00:36:25 +0000

Back in October, King Tuff — aka Vermont native Kyle Thomas, who also makes racket with J. Mascis in Witch — brought his crew of misfits through Bandwidth’s off-site Wilderness Bureau studio for an early Sunday morning session.

In a super-casual taping, the band gathered on the couch and played some stripped down, fuzzed out garage-pop tunes from his new album on Sub Pop Records, Black Moon Spell. Check out “Madness,” “Biggest Hearts” and “I Love You Ugly” in our three videos from that October Sunday.

Warning: Explicit language.

Subscribe to Bandwidth’s channel on YouTube, and don’t miss our awesome playlist of every Bandwidth session to date.

Top photo by Matt Dunn; all others by Maggie Famiglietti