Pavo Pavo is an experimental pop band from Brooklyn, NY. Their debut full­length record, Young Narrator in the Breakers, will be released on Bella Union in November 2016. The band started writing together while studying music at Yale, and since then its members have worked closely with indie and classical heavyweights such as Here We Go Magic, John Zorn, Dave Longstreth, Porches, Olga Bell, Lucius, Roomful of Teeth, and San Fermin. Hailed as “weightless pop music that sounds like it was beamed down from a glimmering utopian future” (Stereogum), Pavo Pavo is a mind meld of five musicians with a shared vision for creating new, expressive worlds of sound while using meticulous ears to evoke the feeling of bygone eras.

Beneath the colors, expressive harmonic changes, and focused melodies of Pavo Pavo’s music are unapologetic moments of risk and heartbreak. The New York Times wrote of their first public performance: “we were experiencing something special, that these young musicians definitely have the magic.”

Pavo Pavo is Eliza Bagg on synthesizers and voice, Oliver Hill on guitars, synthesizers, and voice, Nolan Green on guitars and voice, Austin Vaughn on drums, and Ian Romer on bass. The group borrows its name from the southern constellation, Pavo, Latin for peacock – an elegant and spectacular link of cosmic dust.

Pavo Pavo’s music moves with symphonic elegance. Guitar stabs, washed out harmonies, and rumbling synthesizers come and go like guests at a party. The music on Young Narrator in the Breakers describes the magic and panic of adult life; a breaker is that wave whose potential energy is being transformed into turbulent kinetic energy. Co-produced by Danny Molad (Lucius) and Sam Cohen (Yellowbirds, Apollo Sunshine), it is a romantic record in the tradition of Elephant 6 and a cohesive record in the tradition of Grizzly Bear.

Uni Ika Ai [pronounced: oo­nee ee­kuh eye] is a new Brooklyn based dream­pop / art­pop band comprised of music veterans Maia Friedman (Bobby, Toebow), Peter Lalish (Lucius, Elizabeth & The Catapult), Tom Deis (Via Audio), and Dan Drohan. Born in 2014 out of a desire for improvisation and experimentation, Uni Ika Ai are set to release their debut full length album in early October. While on tour with Lucius in 2014, Lalish would record improvised snippets made during sound checks and send them to Friedman, who would in turn record improvised snippets while at home in Brooklyn and send to Lalish. The two musicians, once in the same room, would mold the abstract material into fully formed songs. Keeping A Golden Bullseye In The Corner of My Mind, releasing in early October, finds beauty in perfect doses of peace and chaos and far exceeds the sum of its parts.”

Mike Savino is not your grandaddy’s banjo player, and Tall Tall Trees is definitely not your average indie­folk outfit from NYC. A pioneer in the the world of experimental and psychedelic banjo music, Mike Savino has released two records and one EP on his own label Good Neighbor Records, Tall Tall Trees (2009), moment (2012), and The Seasonal EP (2014). Since 2012 Tall Tall Trees has been touring relentlessly, mystifying audiences with his “continually refreshing and innovative approach to the banjo” (Paste Magazine). Often performing solo, Savino’s modern take on the one­man band involves running his homemade instrument, dubbed the Banjotron 5000 through a slab of effects and loopers, bowing, drumming, and strumming out multi-textured arrangements to support his lyrically driven songs.

In addition to Tall Tall Trees, Savino has been touring the world collaborating with indie­pop violinist, and of Montreal alum, Kishi Bashi and has appeared at Austin City Limits, Newport Folk Festival, and on Late Night with David Letterman. Savino is currently prepping the release of his third full length Tall Tall Trees record which is slated for early 2017.

“Bearded man sings songs, violates banjo” ­ CMJ