The sheer power of a great live mix
In The Trenches #001: July 11, 2025: Lampland, Helenor, & Léna Bartels at ALPHAVILLE
Hi everyone! Abby here.
Sorry for the confusion yesterday and duplicate newsletter! Please read this one, if you would. It’s been edited for links and typos, and I added this cool-ass header I designed. Tommy, Lampland, Dave, and Léna deserve more than my creative fugue state frustrations with Substack’s posting schedule. LOL!
Thanks :) I appreciate it!
Every time I trek out to Brooklyn, I am conflicted.
For one thing, its “pretentious” status and the ever-present reality that the “rich play the poor” there rub me the wrong way. When I first moved to new York, I was grateful to live in a part of Manhattan most people had never even heard of, much less knew anything about. Brooklyn was sort of a joke in my household of Manhattanites. We knew so many people who inhabited that borough, most of whom we deemed “fake” or “surface-level.”
It wasn’t until I found myself lost and alone in the middle of Ridgewood one Tuesday evening that I thought, “Oh, wow. I get it now.” I ended up at the wrong thrift store location by accident. My friend was back in East Williamsburg, while I had taken the J Train all the way out to the borderlands of Brooklyn and Queens. Oops?
As I walked the streets of Ridgewood in a daze, I was reminded of something precious I’d long since repressed. It all reminded me of home. For some unknown reason, Ridgewood looks similar to many downtown areas and Main Streets in the American South, particularly in the early autumn evenings as the sun sets.
For the first time since moving to New York, a new, unknown neighborhood spoke to me. Even now, a full year later, I feel this intense longing to move there.
I’m still resistant to a lot of Brooklyn’s holier than thou attitude but find I relate more and more to those I’ve met who thrive there as artists, writers, and musicians.
I can’t help but want to exist there on a more permanent basis, especially anytime I make the long trek back from Bushwick to the Heights after 11 o’clock at night. I transfer from the L train at 14th Street and ride past every single local stop from 59th Street to 175th Street, that is, if the A train even runs that far past midnight. (Sometimes, it doesn’t.) This trip takes about an hour to an hour-and-a-half, depending on the train schedules.
I wonder often how much more sleep I might get if I could just live in Brooklyn or Queens. Not even because of the noise, mind you, but because I could easily add an additional hour of sleep to my regiment if I didn’t have to book it back to Manhattan every week.
I had the immense pleasure and honor of being invited out to Bushwick back in July by the kind-hearted and uber-talented Tommy Bazarian of the band Lampland for their album release show. Having listened the album quite a few times since its release in May, I was excited to meet Tommy in-person and hear him play live.
As far as independent venues go, ALPHAVILLE was new to me. There was a lot to appreciate about it, though. For one, the sound booth knew what they were doing. This show was mixed to perfection, and that’s honestly saying something for these kinds of venues. It was a great blend throughout all three sets, despite their musical stylings and sounds being as varied as they were.
The backroom itself is well-designed, with plenty of room for both sitting and standing. To the left as you walk in, the glass brick wall is covered in stickers of every shape, size, and creed. While waiting between sets, I tried to read them all to see if there were any I recognized.
Before Lampland graced the stage, Léna Bartels opened the show with an impressive set of vocals reminiscent of 90s acts like Liz Phair and that dog. Musically, the grunge and shoegaze influences ebbed and flowed gracefully together. Songs like “Amber” and “Dog” toe the sweet line between the harsher urgency of Soundgarden and the slower burn of Slowdive.
I highly recommend checking out their new album on Bandcamp.
Helenor followed soon after with their idiosyncratic blend of acoustic guitar, synths, and drum machines. I’ve only followed Helenor casually, but their set that night made me take a more serious listen to their 2024 release, A public place. Highlights include “Tattoo” and “Bad2.” Go see them live, if you can. It’s such a treat! If you’re looking for Brooklyn’s best and brightest indie musicians, Helenor is a great artist to check out :)
Onto the main event—Lampland played an impressive set. Towards the beginning, Tommy told us a funny story about his middle school choral days. His soft spoken-ness, coupled with the dry delivery of his childish inability to unlock his knees on the risers, made for an amusing ice breaker.
I love when artists capture the atmosphere like this. The audience cannot help but feel immediately attached to such a kind and welcoming performer. Watching him interact with fans and friends alike was astonishing. As someone who struggles to communicate the way I’d like to in those environments, I was really impressed by his ease. He even thanked me for trekking all the way out to Bushwick from the Heights, which speaks both to his knowledge of the city and his sincerity.
Get Serene yearns. It’s both shy and bold in its longing for something—anything—to happen. Written whilst Tommy was living in LA after leaving NYC, this album could easily be found in an indie movie about teenagers living in suburbia. Several songs revolve around young lovers sitting in the car. Almost all of them speak of a “soft inside” starry-eyed, blushing boy longing to be someone and somewhere else.
The profound Elliott Smith and lofi Chris Cohen influences are obvious and very much welcome. Present too are Tommy’s ten years of living and learning in the DIY music scene of Brooklyn. Be it the well-placed fingerprints of producer Katie Von Schleicher (Frankie Cosmos) or the bass-playing and backing vocals of fellow artist Margaux, this rich history of DIY music community sings.
The NYC DIY music scene, much like its counterparts in Asheville, NC and Burlington, VT, is inseparable. It’s a supportive fellowship of musicians, bartenders, bouncers, promoters, managers, fans, and producers so interconnected that most of them can be spotted at live shows across the boroughs, regardless of genre or neighborhood.
I’ve seen first hand how deep these sutures go. They are tight-knit in a way that is both admirable and slightly intimidating. I find myself at odds in these spaces, wishing desperately I was more integrated or at least more sociable so as to join in on the fun. What that would take, I’m not sure. So far, the SSRIs and therapy seem to be helping in terms of social anxiety.
Maybe a move to Brooklyn would do the trick?
Thanks for reading!
All the artists and their most recent releases are linked in this newsletter. Please, please go check them out and send all the love and funds their way. They surely deserve it 🖤🫶
Thank you for the firsthand accounts, I’m looking forward to discovering more music thanks to this!
Giving that Léna Bartels a record now. Loving it so far!