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July 1, 2006
TV on the Radio @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Celebrate Brooklyn), NYC | pics
DOWNLOAD: Staring at the Sun (MP3)
!!! (the exclamation points, not the band) - TV on the Radio brought it to another level during their free performance at the Prospect Park Banshell in Brooklyn Friday night (June 30, 2006). To my friends who left after Voxtrot: you're idiots, but on the other hand you made room for the the many others needed a spot to sit or stand. In fact, even though a lot of people left when it started to rain during Matt Pond's set, the outdoor venue was still PACKED for headliners TV on the Radio.
"'We're not super-intellectuals,' he protests, deep in analysis of his band's anti-methodology. "It's not like TV on the Radio is doing something that's so avant-garde or new or cutting-edge or anything. It's just that so many people are not doing that.'" [Village Voice]
The surprise of the evening: Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra as TV on the Radio band members. There must have been at least twenty people on stage, five TVOTR band members and three backup singers included. Make that twenty-one if you're counting the guest appearance by Kyp Malone's baby girl. Big crowd, big band, and big sound aside, the real star of the show had to be, the James Brown of Brooklyn, TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe. HE KILLED IT. I've seen this band a few times, and never do I remember the talent I saw belting out of him at this show. Amen.
-----
"Information has finally begun to surface regarding the upcoming album from Brooklyn quintet TV On The Radio. Return To Cookie Mountain, the group's sophomore LP, will be released in the U.K. on July 3 via 4AD.
An unauthorized version of the album has been circulating on the internet since February, but it remains to be seen if this early leak will be anything like the finished product.
Rumours are also floating around the web that Cookie Mountain will hit North American stores on August 1. But Interscope, the band's new stateside label, has thus far been mum about a release date. One thing that has been confirmed, however, is that David Bowie makes a guest appearance on the album's third track, 'Province.'" [Chart Attack]
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Voxtrot opened the show
Previously
Kyp Malone @ SXSW | Tv on the Radio played some shows
Tunde of TV on the Radio played Tonic
Posted in MP3 | music | pictures at 6:50 PM | Comments (42) | TrackBack
Pearl Jam + The Strokes + Queens of the Stone Age = Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Mercy Me | The MP3
"Well this is an interesting mash up - The Strokes with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) helping out on drums and Eddie Vedder helping on vocals. What song do they play together you ask? According to Scotsman.com it's going to be "Mercy, Mercy Me" - which should be pretty badass. The track will be released mid-July but I have a feeling those damn dirty bloggers will get their hands on it before then. So keep an eye out and an ear open." [Brooklyn Ski Club]
'I Am Fuel, I am Friends' also has Eddie Vedder playing Jukebox with the Strokes at the Rolling Stone shindig.
Posted in MP3 | music at 6:05 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Regina Spektor live on the BBC | The MP3s
Regina Spektor: BBC Radio 3 Mixing It Session, 29 June 2006
Previously
"Chelsea Hotel" covers & Regina Spektor on the Strokes | MP3s
Posted in MP3 | music at 5:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Voxtrot @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Celebrate Brooklyn), NYC | pics
DOWNLOAD: "Raised By Wolves" / "You Can Hide Your Love Forever" (Comet Gain cover) (live on Woxy) (MP3)
Voxtrot opened the big-free-annual-indie-rock show in Brooklyn's Prospect Park Friday night (June 30, 2006). Matt Pond Pa and TV on the Radio were also on the bill. Last year's concert equivalent featured The Sadies, Stars & The New Pornographers. This year The New Pornographers' Carl Newman returned, but only to watch the show.
Voxtrot frontman Ramesh's mom was also at the show; he told us. She flew in all the way from Austin for the event, and the crowd cheered for her. It was Voxtrot's largest NYC show yet (by a lot). Though not nearly as packed as it was for TV on the Radio later in the night, the band was most likely playing to thousands.
Highlights of the 35-minute, 7-song set included watching Ramesh's mom sing along to The Start of Something, and hearing a new song called Steven - it was awesome. Add Steven to the two new songs I heard Ramesh play the night before at Syrup Room, and throw in one super-secret-exciting record producer, and I'm pretty sure we have a great Playlouder debut album to look forward to some time in the near future.
Catch Voxtrot on a NYC roof right before the fireworks on July 4th.
Previously
Finger on the Pulse, DJ Ramesh & The Ice Cream Man @ Syrup Room, Brooklyn, NY | pics
DJs Aziz Ansari, Ramesh & friends | Voxtrot Afterparty pics
Posted in music | pictures at 4:15 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
Sufjan has nothing on 'trees lounge' | 50 States MP3s
Robert at trees lounge says he's "23/50ths of my way through the 50-states project." He was hoping to have MP3s representing all fifty states ready for download by July 4th, but he fell a little behind. I think we can forgive him because he still managed to finish 23 states in time, and that gives us, oh, somewhere around....700+ mp3s.
Posted in MP3 | music at 1:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The Futureheads are playing Motherf*cker - July 3
The secret band at the July 3rd Motherf*ucker party is....The Futureheads. Now you have another chance to see them if you missed them play Webster Hall last night.
Previously
French Kicks & Futureheads | 2006 Tour Dates
The Futureheads @ SPIN offices, NYC | Pics
Posted in To Do | music at 12:02 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
June 30, 2006
The NY Times does McCarren Pool, outdoor concerts
Mr. Kinken of Live Nation said that he was expecting similar kinds of serendipity with the McCarren pool. Because of its large size and uncomplicated layout, he said, staging concerts there should be relatively easy. There are convenient spots to put the stage — on the side of the pool, raised just a foot above the ground — as well as a backstage area, concessions and portable toilets. The speaker cabinets will be angled down toward the crowd, to minimize echo off the walls.
The bands, he said, would do the rest. "It will be their manifest destiny to fill up the space," he said. "They'll make that room feel like it's intimate. They'll make it their own, fill it up with sound." [NY Times] (thx all)
Posted in NYC | music at 5:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Citysol show this Sunday | Aa, Parts & Labor, Japanther..
The Billyburg Film Festival wasn't the only rained out event last weekend. The big CitySol concert featuring Aa (Big A Little a) + Dame Darcy + Japanther + Parts & Labor + The Wowz + special guests will happen this Sunday, July 2, 2006 (noon-sundown). Good music AND a good cause (AND FREE BEER) @ Stuyvesant Cove Park (East 23rd Street & the East River)
interactive exhibits showcasing solar + wind power technologies, hybrid taxis, congestion pricing, etc. + a green lifestyle marketplace offering apparel, electronics, household goods PLUS a green power drive--if you bring a recent electricity bill, you can sign up for green power with ConEdison Solutions and drink FREE Brooklyn Brewery Beer all day!!!
Posted in To Do | music at 4:57 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Sleater Kinney's last show is in Portland
As reported on Pitchfork yesterday, Sleater Kinney's last show is now August 11, 2006 in their hometown of Portland, Oregon.
Posted in music at 4:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
David Johansen played with Dr. John
David Johansen – without either Poindexter persona or Doll drag – got a pair of tunes that would have fit perfectly in either: “Personality” (“When Salome danced/and had the boys entranced/no doubt it must have been easy to see/that she knew how to use her/personality”) and a rather over-funked “Must’ve Been a Beautiful Baby” (the second line became “You musta been a hip little kid”). [Heartonastick]
Previously
Get Belle & Sebastian tix by applying for an Amex
pic of Dr. John as Night Tripper @ Bonnaroo 2006 | free NYC show too
New New York Dolls | MP3s, WMA
Posted in music at 4:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tokyo Police Club are doing well in Canada
CANADIAN COLLEGE RADIO TOP 50 CHART [source]
1. TOKYO POLICE CLUB A Lesson In Crime (Paper Bag/Universal)
2. VANCOUGER Losin' It! (Scratch)
3. PONY UP Make Love To The Judges With Your Eyes (Dim Mak)
4. LOVELY FEATHERS Hind Hind Legs (Equator/EMI)
5. SONIC YOUTH Rather Ripped (Geffen/Universal)
6. ISLANDS Return To The Sea (Equator/EMI)
7. BE YOUR OWN PET Be Your Own Pet (Ecstatic Peace)
8. MISSION OF BURMA The Obliterati (Matador/Beggars)
9. LADYHAWK Ladyhawk (Jagjaguwar)
10. CAMERA OBSCURA Let's Get Out Of This Country (Merge)
Look for them in the crowd at TV on the Radio tonight.
Previously
The Ballet, Ramesh from Voxtrot, Tokyo Police Club & Land of Talk @ Syrup Room, Brooklyn, NY | pics
Posted in music | music history at 4:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Billyburg Film Festival rescheduled for tonight
The Billyburg Film Festival at McCarren Pool was rained out last week. It's been rescheduled for tonight.
Posted in To Do | movies | music at 3:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Lightning Bolt & Bunnybrains playing Todd P show Saturday
-----> TOMORROW 7/1 @ THE LOON: LIGHTNING BOLT AND BUNNYBRAINS LOFT PARTY!!!!!!!!!
-----> AND @ 91 MESEROLE: TELEPATHE/GROWING/EFFI BRIEST
On an off night on their tour with the freakin' Boredoms, the Bolt is back in town for the first time since last summer. Come dance and get sweaty. This show is basically the afterparty for the daytime Growing/Telepathe show, so you can get your brain fondled by those bands and then be completely violated by The Bolt and the Bunnybrains dudes [TODD P]
Posted in To Do | music at 2:38 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Finger on the Pulse, DJ Ramesh & The Ice Cream Man @ Syrup Room, Brooklyn, NY | pics
DOWNLOAD: DJ Never Forget's Team Summer - Ration Mix (MP3)
DJ NEVER FORGET OF FINGER ON THE PULSE
DJ TERRY DIABOLIK OF FINGER ON THE PULSE
THE ICE CREAM MAN
Quick Brown Fox says "whichever DJ it was that played 'Strychnine' totally made my night".
And then there were the bands. More Finger on the Pulse DJ events listed below...
Jul 1 2006 9:00P A Backyard BBQ Atlanta, GA
Jul 5 2006 8:00P Galapagos Art Show Brooklyn, NY
Jul 9 2006 8:00P w/ Les Savy Fav, Beans, Holy Fuck Brooklyn , NY
Jul 14 2006 11:00P Royal Oak ~ Free Sparks 10:30 - 11:30 Brooklyn , NY
Jul 19 2006 10:00P Cansei De Ser Sexy After Part @ Calling All kids, NYC
Jul 28 2006 11:00P The Lucky Cat ~ Free Sparks 1 am Brooklyn , NY
Aug 11 2006 11:00P Royal Oak ~ 1 year anniversary party w/ Super Meego! Brooklyn , NY
Previously
The Ballet, Ramesh from Voxtrot, Tokyo Police Club & Land of Talk @ Syrup Room, Brooklyn, NY | pics
Posted in MP3 | music | pictures at 2:30 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Rad looking rollerskaters needed for Rapture video
SOMEONE FORWARDED ME THIS EMAIL
This is really random but my friends are shooting a music video for The Rapture next week. They need rad looking people (like really cool people only) who can roller skate and are available next Thursday.If you or anyone you know want to be in the shoot email Lindsey below. You might want to include a picture too. Awesome.
rapturecasting@gmail.com
RELATED:
* The Rapture Reveal New Album
* The Rapture played Crash Mansion two weeks ago
Previously
The Rapture & Favourite Sons playing Crash Mansion
Posted in music at 1:52 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Gnarls Barkley | 2006 Tour Dates, Summerstage
Gnarls Barkley are playing Central Park Summerstage on August 17, 2006. They announced a lot of other dates too. Some are on presale. All dates below....
Tue-Jul-18-06 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
Wed-Jul-19-06 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
Thu-Jul-20-06 Costa Mesa, CA Pacific Amphitheater
Sun-Jul-23-06 Los Angeles, CA Avalon
Mon-Jul-24-06 Los Angeles, CA Avalon
Fri-Jul-28-06 Naeba, JAP Fuji Rock Festival
Wed-Aug-02-06 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Thu-Aug-03-06 Chicago, IL House of Blues (private show only way to get tickets is to listen to q101)
Sat-Aug-05-06 Chicago, IL Grant Park -- Lollapalooza
Mon-Aug-07-06 Detroit, MI State Theater
Fri-Aug-11-06 Boston, MA Avalon
Sat-Aug-12-06 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
Thu-Aug-17-06 New York, NY Central Park Summerstage
Fri-Sep-15-06 Austin, TX Zilker Park -- Austin City Limits
Sun-Sep-17-06 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Park Amphitheater
Previously
Twilight Singers cover "Crazy" | MP3
Gnarls Barkley | West Coast Tour Dates
Gnarls Barkley "Crazy" covers by Nelly Furtado & Ray Lamontagne, more Cee-Lo & Dangerdoom | MP3s
Gnarls Barkley played Webster Hall
Posted in music | tour dates at 1:18 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
The Ballet, Ramesh from Voxtrot, Tokyo Police Club & Land of Talk @ Syrup Room, Brooklyn, NY | pics
THE BALLET
RAMESH FROM VOXTROT
TOKYO POLICE CLUB
LAND OF TALK
Thanks to everyone who attended, played, DJd, did sound, provided the venue, worked the bar, guarded the door, etc... It was a great night. Thanks to Bao Nguyen for being the official show photographer. The rest of his pics are up on Flickr.
One of the biggest highlights of the evening for me was watching Tokyo Police Club deliver their strongest performance I've seen yet (3rd time I've seen them). They seemed to be more in their element, and the crowd was really into it.....except Ryspace who was pissed he missed part of Ramesh's set. He has a recap and audio from the evening.
Sweatermusic said TPC were just what they were "looking for to forget the sweaty garage and rock".
" it was just really good, really solid, serious (and seriously good at grit and minors) sort of rock, solid the way its hard-but-fun to pick a single off a really excellent album, solid the way it platonically Should Be, you know, right." [if.so]
WesX3 said, "The Ballet was good. There were no stage lights in this venue so that was a bit odd but fitting to their hushed but zippy music." Bed for the scraping agrees that "it was really dark in there".
"The music was great with Land of Talk being my favorite of the night." [Wes wrote another nice recap]
Like Bushwick is Beautiful, I'm still recovering.
Posted in music | pictures at 12:47 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
June 29, 2006
Bloc Party playing the Stone Pony in Asbury Park
Instead of Irving Plaza, Bloc Party are playing a 2nd NYC-area show on July 27, 2006 @ The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Instead of being fan club-only, the presale is just for the fan club and it's happening now.
Posted in music at 5:19 PM | Comments (39) | TrackBack
"Chelsea Hotel" covers & Regina Spektor on the Strokes | MP3s
DOWNLOAD (MP3s)
Keren Ann - "Chelsea Hotel" [more here]
Regina Spektor - "Chelsea Hotel"
The Strokes & Regina Spektor - "Post Modern Girls"
("Chelsea Hotel is a Leonard Cohen song)
"On her new release (one of my favorite albums of the year), Begin to Hope, singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor sings in her native Russian for the first time." [NPR]
"The Strokes, pals who famously gave Spektor her first big break by bringing her on tour as an opener, were among her inspirations. 'The thing that blew my mind first hearing the Strokes was that they were the closest I had heard rock come to classical,' she says. 'Their music is extraordinarily orderly and composed. It's almost like Mozart.' When 'Better,' Hope's first single, needed some oomph, Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi stepped in and lent the song its precise, driving kick." [Village Voice]
"A new film about Leonard Cohen does a remarkable thing: it gets him to talk. And what a pleasure it is. Here's Cohen, for example, on his long-standing reputation as a ladies' man - it was, he says, 'a joke. It caused me to laugh bitterly the 10,000 nights I spent alone.'" [Telegraph]
Posted in MP3 | music at 1:47 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
Voxtrot taking Beirut's place on the roof
The new headliner is Voxtrot.
Posted in music at 1:34 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Thursday night in NYC | Syrup Room, etc...
THURSDAY JUNE 29, 2006 (TONIGHT)
BrooklynVegan & Todd P present:
Land of Talk, Tokyo Police Club and The Ballet with DJ's Ramesh from Voxtrot & Finger on the Pulse (+ SURPRISES)
@ The Syrup Room in Brooklyn, NY (ALL AGES, $8 at the door)
Bushwick is Beautiful says: "The venue is pretty easy to find. Get off on the Morgan Stop on the L train (morgan street exit) and walk two blocks up Ingraham. It's about half way down the street on the right side."
SET TIMES: 8-DJs, 9-Ballet, 10-Tokyo Police Club, 11-Land of Talk, 12-DJs till ??
NOTE: Land of Talk added a keyboard to their show & 1 of the DJs requested a guitar
ALTERNATIVELY: Ear Farm presents other Thursday night options
Posted in To Do | music at 3:50 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
An Interview with Zach Condon & Jason of Beirut
DOWNLOAD: Postcards From Italy (MP3)
Help me welcome interviewer Mike to BrooklynVegan. Mike set up this interview with Beirut's Zach Condon and Jason (guitar & keyboards) with the help of Ben from BadaBing Records (who we'd like to give special thanks).
BEIRUT @ NORTHSIX (more)
Mike "caught up with them (Beirut) the day after they played two shows at the Lily Pad in Cambridge (June 24, 2006). The venue was small and the line snaked around the block. They ended up playing two shows: one at 11:30 and another at 12:45." Mike, Zach and Jason "tried to grab some beers but lack of proper I.D.'s prevented that" so they "ended up grabbing a six pack and did the interview on a friends porch"...
BrooklynVegan Mike: How did you hook up with BaDaBing?
Zach: Jeremy lives in Albuquerque, which a lot of people don't know. The funny thing about us is that we both lived in Albuquerque and are from Albuquerque, and that's what our bios say about us…but neither of us played in Albuquerque, ever. The one show we did do, a friend of Jeremy's convinced him "Come on Jeremy, play a show in your hometown," so he did. They were looking around for people with similar musical aspirations and that's how they found me. Somebody heard that I was doing gypsy-related stuff as well and that's how we hooked up. I was doing karaoke to Gulag Orkestar stuff, basically. He heard it and liked it and eventually gave the CD to Ben [Goldberg, BaDaBing Records] and he agreed to do drums on it.
BrooklynVegan Mike: So how long has the album material been done, like the songs and whatnot?
Zach: About this time last year. About a month from a year, yeah.
BrooklynVegan Mike: How do you feel about people making Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons? Does that bother you?
Zach: It doesn't bother me. They're a great band. I don't really see what the big complaint is about comparisons. Unless, of course, you get compared to a band you hate [laughs].
BrooklynVegan Mike: Do you think that perhaps people are looking too much into the music, to draw those parallels?
Zach: To an extent, yeah. But the thing is we share so much aesthetically with them, you know? I'm not embarrassed to say that, especially with the guilt by association with Jeremy and all. I'm not afraid to admit that there is some aesthetic of theirs that I really love. Sure, it can be tiring. I don't want to be pigeonholed.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Do you have any thoughts/feelings/opinions on the whole blog/pitchfork culture that has created this excitement?
Zach: My general answer to that is I never took the internet seriously until about a month ago when I realized what it could do for me [laughs]. What do you think Jason?
Jason: That sounds right. I still don't really understand it.
Zach: I don't think any of us in the band…like Ben would call us up and be like "Yeah, another blog wrote about your album and I'm like…..
BrooklynVegan Mike: And….? [laughs]
Zach: Right [laughs]. I thought it was like Myspace blogs or something.
BrooklynVegan Mike: I first read about you on Gorilla Vs. Bear. I know a lot of people did. When I talked to Ben, he told me that he bent over backwards to get mainstream press to pay any attention to the album and no one would.
Zach: No one would. This is how it works now. The Internet introduces new things and discovers them and everyone else follows suit. The major publications kind of give the last word on it, instead of vice versa.
BrooklynVegan Mike: At the end of the day it still seems like Pitchfork is the tastemaker. Sometimes blogs will push a band but if for some reason Pitchfork doesn't like it, it all dies.
Zach: Totally. But they didn't hurt it, and they didn't fuel it, which is fine by me. I don't want to be playing sold out Bowery shows within a month of the release. We have to do a few of the shows like last night to get our feet on the ground.
BrooklynVegan Mike:So you don't have a problem building a name for yourself slowly?
Jason: It has not been that slow [laughs].
Zach: It hasn't been a slow building tour across the U.S. Our first show was at the Knitting Factory and that was a disaster. A total disaster. Worse then this one. Our second show was the Mercury Lounge and that one was flawless. It sounded amazing.
Jason: We have cut out three really good shows so far.
Zach: Yeah. The Northsix show was amazing. You could hear a pin drop. It was like an orchestra was on stage. It was totally sold out. If they could all be like that. It is weird with all of the lineup changes.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Has the lineup been finalized?
Zach: To some extent. The core has been.
BrooklynVegan Mike: You made a joke last night about the wind section being m.i.a.. Were there really people missing last night?
Zach: Yeah The guy that plays baritone sax, clarinet, glockenspiel, mandolin, and ukulele. These are the kind of people I need in my band because those are the instruments I play and I'm not an octopus. I can't do it all.
BrooklynVegan Mike: What was funny was at the second show last night you guys were kind of off the set list so whenever you picked a song there would be a flurry of movement behind you and people shouting "is there mandolin in this song? Is there glockenspiel?" [laughs].
Zach: This guy [pointing to Jason] signed on…and he's a friend of my brothers and he's like "I play guitar," and I'm like "I don't think that will work, but come on, join the band. We'll see what works."
Jason: He lets me play guitar on two songs now, I think [laughs]. And now I play grand piano.
Zach: He never touched a piano until yesterday.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Really?
Jason: I've played keyboards, but until last night I had never played on an actual piano.
Zach: He was bothered by the weighed keys. "I…can't…do it." [laughs]. We were gonna set the keyboard on top of the grand piano and just make it look like he was playing a piano.
Jason: But we couldn't balance it on the keys.
BrooklynVegan Mike: About the band, the enormity of it, did it really just come together, like a ramshackle approach?
Zach: Yeah. That was kind of the idea. I kind of wanted a ramshackle orchestra. This is gonna sound like a romantic story, but when I was in Paris I saw this band of kids that all bought pawn shop instruments like busted up tubas and trumpets and stuff, and they would all wander around Paris, playing. They weren't great musicians or anything, but it sounded awesome and was a lot of fun. I kind of wanted to mimic that idea. That's why I'm working with…basically we are all amateurs. No way in hell could I ever revert back to a guitar-bass-drum kind of band. I can't write for that. I don't really even like the sound that much.
BrooklynVegan Mike: You debuted one new song last night. Do you have another album already planned?
Zach: I'm taking a month off of shows right now and record an e.p. for possibly for a British single and possibly a single here in the U.S. I write a lot of stuff and when I do an album I usually cut out about 90% of it.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Will any future album sound or have the same aesthetic as Gulag Orkestar?
Zach: I don't think so. I mean, it will still be multi-instrumental, but I don't think it will be in the style of Gulag. That was the phase of my life I was in at the time. I'm really not there right now. I write a lot so it is whatever it is at that time.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Now I have read about these other albums, like a doo-wop album and an electronica album. Will we ever be able to hear those?
Zach: It's funny because those are the same two albums that people bring up. I did those when I was like, 14. Just me in my bedroom kind of stuff.
BrooklynVegan Mike: We kind of came in conflict with it today, but with your age do you have trouble with clubs, grabbing a beer or people taking you seriously?
Zach: Not in Brooklyn.
Jason: Also, his age never changes. He's still 19.
Zach: I'm 20 now but everyone thinks I'm still 19. We've decided we're gonna start celebrating my birthday's backwards from now. Next year I will be 19, the year after, 18. In New York, I don't get any crap at all. Here I feel like a 20 year old.
BrooklynVegan Mike: From a marketing standpoint, you can understand why they want to keep pushing 19. That's still a teenager.
Zach: Why not? That seems crazy, but not to me.
BrooklynVegan Mike: You mentioned how you kind of came up with the idea for the sound, travelling around in Europe and such. I have also read that all of that is B.S. and that you are a guy who never left his bedroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico until just recently.
Zach: I didn't realize I had so much mystique, on a P.R. level.
BrooklynVegan Mike: One of the more fascinating things about Internet hype is because there is no "true source," it is very easy to create and mix up stories.
Zach: Yeah, have you seen my name go through the transformation from Zach Condron to Zach Condlin…?
Jason: To Zach Condom….
Zach: Even the Village Voice totally jumbled it up.
Are you looking for the honest story? Yeah, I travelled. What I think it is they mix up is that they want this big, fantastical story of this big voyage through Europe, of soul searching and finding this music, and having a purpose in life. But it wasn't like that. It was me being a 17, 18 year old kid, and just being a hooligan in Europe, drinking and hanging out with kids on the riverside and not doing anything responsible or that interesting for that matter. I did discover the sound when I was over there, so it's a half truth but I don't feel like pushing the romantic aspect of it.
BrooklynVegan Mike: Have you had any vocal training? How did the voice come about?
Zach: Almost by accident. I think I was trying to sing along to a lot Magnetic Fields when I was 15. I had this keyboard and I wrote this song and I wanted my friend to sing on it but he was kind of an emo singer, and I realized it was a dumb idea. Literally, I tried and it worked. It has developed since then. It just came naturally. I haven't had a day of vocal training in my life, although I am thinking about it before I go on tour. It gets exhausted drinking and smoking.
One of the earliest memories with music is I had a Fischer Price Karaoke machine. I was like four or five. And I had this Beach Boys tape that I played to death, from front to back. Eventually, my brother Ryan smashed it because he was sick of hearing it [laughs].
editor's note: Mike and I discussed the questions a bit before the interview. I told him about how, at the Knitting Factory show, Zach said that his Internet celebrity status still wasn't good enough to convince his mom he's doing something right. I think that's where the next question came from.
BrooklynVegan Mike: At the Northsix show, you made a comment about how your mother hasn't accepted/approved of your career choice. Has she come around at all?
Zach: Oh…I don't know. Yeah. Did I even mention that? Of course, my parents never took it seriously, you know? That's the funny thing now because my dad follows me closer than I do. He's calling me up saying, "I heard that you closed your eyes too much. I read it on the internet." I'm like "what the fuck, dad. Four months ago you would have never even, you know, mention the fact that your son makes music in his bedroom." So, that's ironic.
The funnier story is my mom. About a month after the release, when the Pitchfork review came out and some other stuff, and it was starting to look like we were going to be a big deal, and this UK bidding war thing started…and my mom goes "that's so great. I heard about your album." And then she said, "do you sing on it?" I was like, "Wow, you really didn't know?"
-----
thx Mike, Zach, Jason, and Ben!
RELATED: Zach guest blogged Said the Gramophone
Previously
Beirut not playing roof, but is playing Moscow
Beirut playing Mercury Lounge | tix on sale
Beirut @ Northsix, Brooklyn, NYC | pics
Beirut @ Sound Fix Records, Brooklyn, NYC | pics by Kelly
Posted in interviews | music at 3:23 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Phoenix | Summer 2006 Tour Dates
Phoenix are coming back to the United States this summer, and not only are they NOT "upgrading" from Bowery Ballroom to Webster Hall, they're also playing Maxwell's (good Phoenix). All dates below...
PHOENIX 2006 TOUR DATES
Mon. Jul 24: Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Cafe
Wed. Jul 26: Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
Thu. Jul 27: Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Club
Fri. Jul 28: Chicago, IL @ Double Door*
Sat. Jul 29: Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection
Mon. Jul 31: Cincinnati, OH @ Southgate House
Tue. Aug 1: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Wed. Aug 2: Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre*
Thu. Aug 3: Columbus, OH @ Little Brothers
Sat. Aug 5: Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero*
Sun. Aug 6: Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
Mon. Aug 7: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Wed. Aug 8: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club*
* denotes 21+
All other shows are 18+
West Coast tour dates for September will be announced soon.
Opening act is French Kicks from Brooklyn.
Previously
Arts & Crafts releasing Phoenix in Canada
Sofia Coppola & post-ironic Phoenix | Velvet Underground
Posted in music | tour dates at 3:22 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Thom Yorke talks to the LA Times
Asked whether Radiohead would consider distributing its next album independently, Yorke unhesitatingly said yes. "We have two or three options, and that's one," he said. "Once we finish whatever we think is good enough to put out, then we'll start thinking about it. We haven't discussed it a great deal. I would love for us to drop a chemical weapon within the music industry. But I don't see it as our responsibility, either." [LA TIMES]
Posted in music at 3:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sirius Playlist - Week 5
My Tuesday night Sirius radio shows have been all over the place so far. I maybe played one song twice in five weeks, and there have only been a handful of artists who I've played more than once. I think that'll be less-and-less true as weeks go on - partly for my sanity because picking 30-something songs each week, not to mention getting them to Sirius so they can make sure they have them in their system, is a lot of work. What I mean is - they'll probably be more repeats as the weeks go on. That said, here's my June 27, 2006 playlist.
----
I wanted to open with The Ballet because they're what I've been listening to most lately (the four songs I have anyway), and I'm excited to have them playing my show Thursday night @ Syrup Room.
1) The Ballet - I hate the War
Their anti-war song inspired me to play three more.
2) Neil Young - Living With War
3) The Clash - The Call Up
4) Billy Bragg - The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions
I already played Neil Young, so then I played a Neil Young cover by one of my favorite Brooklyn bands of all time, Type O Negative....
5) Type O Negative - Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young cover)
6) Black Sabbath - Paranoid
7) Wolfmother - Tales from the Forest of Gnomes
Rockin'
8) Tapes 'n Tapes - Omaha
9) Deadboy & The Elephantmen - Stop, I'm Already Dead
10) Two Gallants - Steady Rollin'
11) Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
12) The Weakerthans - One Great City
13) Ryan Adams - Sweet Black Magic
14) Elliot Smith - Waltz #2
15) Mazzy Star - Bells Ring
Mazzy Star's So Tonight that I Might See is one of my favorite albums of all time, so I played a track off that and then played four more of my favorite artists from the same time period...
16) Portishead - Wandering Star
17) Massive Attack - Live With Me (alternate version)
18) Bjork - Venus as a Boy
19) Tricky - Pumpkin
I snuck a second track by the Ballet into the next set of songs...
20) Prince Darling Nikki
21) Stars - Sleep Tonight
22) The Ballet - In My Head
23) Voxtrot - Soft and Warm
Then played more of my 'old' favorites....
24) Digable Planets - Nickel Bag
25) De La Soul - This is a Recording
26) Tribe Called Quest - Show Business
27) The Pharcyde - Soul Flower (remix)
28) Deee-Lite - What is Love
29) Tokyo Police Club - Be Good
30) Land of Talk - Seafoam
31) Cat Power - Werewolf
I played Tokyo Police Club and Land of Talk back-to-back just like they're playing this Thursday at Syrup Room, and then Cat Power who has a similar voice to Lizzy from Land of Talk came right after Land of Talk, and then I ended with Regina Spektor...
32) Regina Spektor - Remember That Time
No new show on July 4th. They'll be a repeat.
Previously
Sirius Playlist - Week 4 (Gay Pride edition)
Posted in MP3 | music | radio at 3:06 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Silversun Pickups not playing the Pool, but others are
Stay tuned for Silversun Pickups to possibly add a new Brooklyn date somewhere else. Keep an eye on ThePoolParties.com for the latest in free McCarren Park Pool concert information.
Previously
Metric playing McCarren Park Pool | Updated Schedule
Silversun Pickups | Summer 2006 Tour Dates
Posted in music | tour dates at 12:57 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Beirut not playing roof, but is playing Moscow
I don't know why yet, but Beirut is no longer playing the 4th of July rooftop party. An equally buzzy headliner will be announced any second. I don't have refund info yet either. On July 29, Beirut are playing Moscow - yes - THE Moscow.
Posted in music | tour dates at 12:52 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Get Belle & Sebastian tix by applying for an Amex
Heartonastick snapped this picture at the free Dr. John show Wednesday night in NYC. Looks like Starbucks didn't get all the tickets.
Posted in music at 12:28 AM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
June 28, 2006
Sunn 0))) | NY Times, Pitchfork, David Byrne, Avalon, & Carnegie Hall
"Newsworthy? Not really...but it has to be mentioned that the past year's seen metal's cache rise in the mainstream press. There're plenty of examples of the crossover (ahem), though perhaps none as startling and weirdly cool as a recent New York Times Magazine feature on Sunn 0))), Boris, and Southern Lord, the label operated by Sunn 0)))'s Greg Anderson." [Pitchfork]
photo copyright - www.declanoneill.com
"Saw Sunn0))), the minimal metal band, last night. Last Sunday there was a huge article about them in the NY Times which I suspect might dash my hopes for them joining the lineup for one of the nights at Carnegie Hall I’m curating next Feb. But who knows? I expected a sell out last night as a result of that article, but I guess the Times demographic and the audience for extremely loud minimal metal has a small overlap. I can see the Venn diagram in my mind." [David Byrne]
Posted in music at 9:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Jeff Mangum posting a hoax
"Updating a story first posted here (Billboard) yesterday (June 27), Neutral Milk Hotel principal Jeff Mangum has disavowed a Web posting attributed to him, which falsely referenced the progress on the reclusive artist's first new album since 1998's iconic 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.'
Longtime collaborator Robert Schneider, who fronts the Apples In Stereo, reached out to Mangum in an attempt to verify the posting, which was made on a Web site devoted to the Elephant 6 musical collective. Schneider then posted Mangum's reply on the site, which reads, 'I am sorry to inform you that this is not my post. Could you please inform the good people ... that this is not my writing?'" [Billboard]
In Pitchfork's defense, they seemed to get confirmation from a reliable source before posting. Most of all this is just funny, but sad. Next probable hoaxes: Radiohead says they're breaking up (thx Phil) & Pavement says they're getting back together.
Previously
Pitchfork found out that it is Jeff Mangum
Neutral Milk Hotel played NYC 7 or 8 times
Posted in music at 6:58 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
Boredoms @ 2006 Intonation Festival, Chicago | pics
"Festival rosters are always full of safe bets – so here's to the organizers for booking Boredoms, probably the most challenging act on the roster. My guess is that not many in the audience knew what to expect from the band on one of only a handful of live American dates in the last few years.
The group wasted no time, sending a six-drumstick attack from the group's drummers to produce round after round of locked groove. Occasionally, the pounding would open up to make way for one Boredom or another to chase some weird mini-rhythm down the rabbit hole, but always returning to the previous driving rhythm. After the pause that marked the end of the first half of the set, circuit guru Yamataka Eye led the group on a more eerie path.
Every off-pattern fill from the drum corps ushered in a meltdown from Eye, and usually another palpable BPM bump. Pretty fitting then how the band's sometimes krauty moments of beat driving would change so fluidly into more giddy and freewheeling abstractions. As drummer Yoshimi Yokota (she of the Flaming Lips' namesake, yes) took to the keys to close the set, the audience had witnessed Boredoms' three-drum pile up morph into something more conventionally beautiful. A criminally short set time notwithstanding, this was a real treat from a band that continues to surprise old fans while stunning new ones."
BrooklynVegan Intonation coverage continues.
CREDITS FOR THIS POST
* words by Dan McSwain
* photos by Dan McSwain & Brian McSwain & Brad Knutson
Previously
Coverage of the 2006 VICE Intonation Festival begins
Lightning Bolt opening for Boredoms @ Webster Hall
Boredoms playing Webster Hall - July 2
Posted in Intonation | music | pictures at 5:01 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Pitchfork found out that it is Jeff Mangum
"Well, according to Kelly Ruberto from Cloud Recordings, it is not a joke. Jeff Mangum really did write that." [Pitchfork]
Previously
Neutral Milk Hotel played NYC 7 or 8 times
Posted in music at 3:45 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
NYC Musician Seth Pitman jumps to his death
TRASH BAR SCHEDULE, MAY 30, 2006
8:00 - Seth Pitman, 8:30 - Dan Maxwell, 9:00 - The Puge (of Juneteenth), 9:30 - Rob Haney, 10:00 - Owen McCarthy (of The Everyothers), 10:30 - Scotty B. (of The F-Units), 11:00 - Ian McBride, 11:30 - Peter Sam
ARLENE'S GROCERY SCHEDULE, JUNE 17, 2006
7 SETH PITMAN, 8 BONES ROYAL EP RELEASE, 9 THE RUSTLANDERS, 10 GREG SMITH , 11 SHOTGUN ETI...
"Just before hurtling out the eighth-floor window, Seth Pitman, 23, told friends he 'wanted to enter the afterlife' and knew he could 'fly,' police sources and pals said.....Pitman, a chemical engineer who moved to Brooklyn to pursue a career in music, banged on walls, screamed and tried to kiss a man and a woman during the party at 205 W. 54th St. before his death, pals said." [NY Daily News] (via Gothamist)
Posted in NYC | music at 3:26 PM | Comments (73) | TrackBack
2006 free Wingate Field Concert Series schedule
24th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series
Wingate Field, Every Monday night @ 7:30 PM (Brooklyn)
July 10 - Anthony Hamilton & Angie Stone
July 17 - Stephanie Mills & The Whispers
July 24 - "Annual Gospel Night"
July 31 - Roberta Flack & James Ingram
Aug 07 - LL COOL J
Aug 14 - The Mighty Sparrow (king of calypso)
Aug 21 - The Temptations Review
These are right across from Kings County Hospital. More details at BrooklynConcerts.com