On a stormy Thursday night, August 22nd, New Yorkers gathered at The Top of The Standard on W 13th Street for a late-night serenade by the rhythmic and experimental musician, Velvet Negroni.
Velvet Negroni is the creative alter-ego and stage name of Minneapolis’ Jeremy Nutzman. Despite his debut album dropping on August 30th under Velvet Negroni, Nutzman already sports an impressive amount of name drops. In the last year, his music was sampled by bright stars Kanye West and Kid Cudi on “Feel The Love (feat. Pusha T).” He has also joined musical mentor Bon Iver on tour and is preparing to support Tame Impala on their North American tour.
Walking into The Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District is like walking into a combination of 70’s psychedelic and futuristic luxury. Taking the elevator all the way up to the 18th floor, I walked into the bar that has a panoramic view of the Big Apple, with downtown and the Freedom Tower straight ahead, and the Empire State Building to the left. A little bit of old and a little bit of new. Of course, the best view was from, funny enough, the privacy of the unisex cubicle bathroom.
Velvet Negroni was warming up with his band of merry men, as the crowd mingled and took selfies in front of the floor to ceiling windows. He played a short but sweet set that consisted of his most popular songs, upbeat “WINE GREEN,” jazzy “CONFETTI,” and ambient “Shardonaye.” His most notable performance was that of “KURT KOBAIN,” released August 12 in preparation for his album release, NEON BROWN, via 4AD, a crooning track about lost love complete with R&B rhythms and pop effects. Listeners will endeavor to keep up with his double-time rhyming style and interesting interludes.
This avant-garde musician offers us something that cannot be pigeonholed into a single genre. Experimental in his sound, melodies, and rhythms, and cheeky with his lyrical poetry, Velvet Negroni is sure to please crowds as he goes on tour with Tame Impala later this year at Madison Square Garden.
