CozyLab is, collectively, Babak Azarian (Bobby) and various up and coming artists.
current featured vocalists:
Anni T: Maladjusted Me, Vertigo
Melissa Ball: To Be Free, Glowy
Jane: Realization
collaborating producers:
Gabe Niles (Vertigo)
Influences
dreams, nature, love, life.
some acts we enjoy- portishead, broadcast, bjork, stereolab, jeff buckley, radiohead, pharcyde, joanna newsom, nick drake, flaming lips, the verve, air, brian eno, prefuse 73, sigur ros, pizzicato 5, spiritualized, elbow, francoise hardy, can, silver apples, xtc, digable planets, os mutantes, caetano veloso, de la soul, the zombies, the cardigans, the supremes, brian wilson, syd barret, margo guryan, vashti bunyan, and of course the beatles.
Sounds Like
Hopefully each song achieves a different feel/mood. We prefer to let you interpret what that is.
Some press.
Paste magazine in conjunction w/ Coca Cola- Insects & Angels (written and produced by Babak Azarian)
CMJ magazine (on Mon Chi Chi, a short-lived project written and produced by Babak Azarian w/ CozyLab vocalist Melissa Ball)
"This Virginia-based seven-piece band may be named afer some of the cuddliest creatures to come out of the '80s, but before you go expecting kids' stuff, pay a little more attention to the album title (Survival of the Hippest). Bandleader and main songwriter Bobby Azarian embraces both irony and cool in just the right measures to get away with writing a lyric like "She has 20/20, but she's so cute in glasses", and calling one of the songs "Sylvia's Savvy Yet Still Unhappy."......If as the crew says, "Only the hippest will survive," Mon Chi Chi could well be on a path toward inheriting the Earth". -Doug Levy, CMJ A&R Alert
Grammy Award winning producer Chad Hugo of the Neptunes/N.E.RD on To Be Free- "dreamy...like floating in liquid clouds"
Palo Alto News: "Insects and Angels (now CozyLab), a duo made up of Bobby Azarian and Melissa Ball, design music that is gently hypnotic. Their imaginative keyboards establish a beauteous aural landscape across which Ball's breathy vocals sensuously wind their way. The intricate compositions and arrangements are complex, yet immediately accessible. A profound sense of yearning flows through "To Be Free." "Glowy Glowy" illuminates the duo's subtly soulful side."
www.AuralStates.com: "It seems projects largely consigned to bedrooms or behind closed doors are producing some of the most engaging stuff I’ve been hearing as of late. Take Virginia/DC-based CozyLab, the main outlet for Bobby Azarian and a rotating collective of (mostly) female vocalists and other collaborators, CozyLab creates lush, engrossing soundscapes, their churning build and the impeccably dulcet, oft heavy-lidded female vocals openly wear their admiration for the more pastoral and hypnotizing works of Bjork. It’s nearly impossible to tell that hardcore and metal were parts of Azarian’s musical lineage (only belied by the occassionally more aggro beat here or there); his dance-pop roots are squarely in the spotlight. CozyLab ply numerous electronic bits into traditional song structures to resemble some kind of meticulously-constructed aural mosaic, easily digested as a whole picture with just your right brain on, yet laden with so many independently evolving textures and layers that things become infinitely more rewarding once your left brain kicks in and you start teasing things apart.
“Vertigo” whips you with its spiraling industrial/dancehall beat and bass line, providing a propulsive undertow anchoring the wispy, slightly off-key vocals and a dizzying array of sounds from both synths and traditional instruments. A melange that is gloriously dark and addictive. ”Glowy Glowy” is delicious electronic funk, showing MGMT how it’s truly done. ”To Be Free” opens with you swimming in the spacious and dreamy, underwater depths of electronic loops, only to be caught in the enchanting wake of more motivating synth lines and loftier vocals that take you on a journey that melts the world away. ”Maldjusted Me” features some great lyrical turns, and complements it with a major key resolution to the persistent and gloomy minor key groove from its opening. ”Him” makes an impassioned manifesto for soulful electronica, the down-tempo pulsating and extraterrestrial music backing some startlingly lucid, R&B-inspired vocal work. This is all just a taste of things to come as Azarian and cohorts solidify their approach, polish off two new tracks and attempt to navigate a live performance arrangement, all future ventures that I will be watching closely. Hopefully you agree."
Coming in March: Lonely ft Kid A on the Balance compilation w/ acts such as LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, etc. Look for it!
Please contact us for any additional information. We love hearing fresh new sounds as well so don't be shy about reaching out to us. Now here's some headphones music for you, and you, and you...
CONGRATULATIONS ! You've made the AF MAGAZINE TOP TEN LIST: JULY / AUGUST 2009! We love what you are doing! The new issue is out NOW! See: www.theartistsforum.org for details.
And, be sure to join us at www.twitter.com/afnyc and on www.facebook.com/afnyc1 All the best, THE ARTISTS FORUM
There are so many things to say about your music I don't know where to start ... so I'll say just one thing, it's an amazing music to listen to and I like it. Thanks a lot for the request ! Wishing you the best for the future ! Regards from France Nanours*
CONGRATULATIONS ! You've made the AF MAGAZINE TOP TEN LIST: JUNE 2009! We love what you are doing! The new issue is out NOW! See: www.theartistsforum.org for details.
And, be sure to join us at www.twitter.com/afnyc and on Facebook: http://bit.ly/WoVBs All the best, THE ARTISTS FORUM
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