casiokidsalbum

Megaphonic Thrift, Casiokids, Choir of Young Believers & other Scandinavian bands playing SXSW, NYC, other dates

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Megaphonic Thrift – Acid Blues (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Good The Bad – 004 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pirate Love – A Kiss Hello (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Choir of Young Believers – Action/Reaction (MP3)

Casiokids
GWAR

By now you hopefully you know that Norway’s awesome Casiokids are playing our Brooklyn Vegan Pre-SXSW party, alongside Let’s Wrestle, The Wave Pictures, Banjo or Freakout and WhoMadeWho. There’s now also free PBR for an hour or two (exact details on that soon). And I’ll be DJing in between sets. It’s all very exciting, isn’t it? There are still some tickets available — only $8.

In that previous post about Casiokids, we mentioned a compilation of the band’s 2009 singles called Topp stemning på lokal bar that was, as of that writing, only coming out in Norway. The band have since announced that they’ve signed to Polyvinyl in the U.S. who will release the album, complete with bonus disc of remixes just like in Norway.

The Knitting Factory show is actually one of three that Casiokids will be playing in NYC before they head to Austin for SXSW. They will also play Pianos this Saturday (3/13) along with Banjo or Freakout, Denmark’s synth-rock quintet Spleen United and our Italian friends A Classic Education. Casiokids also play Littlefield on Sunday (3/14) afternoon for an all-Scandinavian party that again features Spleen United, plus Denmark’s only surf/flamenco band, The Good The Bad, and The Megaphonic Thrift.

Megaphonic Thrift

The Megaphonic Thrift are made up of members of Casiokids and The Low Frequency in Stereo and are definitely of the ’90s indie rock variety (in this case think GBV or Dinosaur Jr.) that seems to be coming back into style lately. You can download their single “Acid Blues” at the top of this post. Their debut, Decay Destroy, just came out in Norway and is available here through your favorite digital store. I haven’t seen them play yet, but BV caught them at by:Larm and said they were pretty good. Pictures from their February 18th show at Oslo club Sub Scene are below.

In addition to the Littlefield show, Megaphonic Thrift are playing Sunday night (3/14) at Bowery Electric and then on Monday night at Santos Party House for a Oya Fest / Oh My Rockness party with fellow Norwegians Pirate Love (High energy, Hives-ish garage) and Hanne Hukkelberg (orchestrated pop), plus The Depreciation Guild. Mind you this is the same night as our Knitting Factory show, so Megaphonic Thrift will play Santos then certain members will race across the Williamsburg Bridge to join their Casiokids bandmates in time for that set. It’s all going to work out fine.

Pirate Love will be back after SXSW for a couple shows with UK garage act Thee Vicars. Catch them at Cameo Gallery on March 26 and Lit Lounge on March 27.

Spleen United @ CMJ 2009
Spleen United

The aforementioned Spleen United are also playing this Wednesday (3/10) at Union Hall with fellow Danes Choir of Young Believers. I caught Spleen United at CMJ back in October and they reminded me of the kind of band that 20 years ago would’ve been on Wax! Trax! or Play it Again Sam records — the poppier side of goth/industrial. They’ve had #1 albums in Denmark I’ve since learned. With multiple percussionists, they put on a pretty good live show too.

Choir of Young Believers were also here at CMJ. Their debut, This is for the White in Your Eyes, is elegiac folk that gets the band compared to Fleet Foxes quite a bit but CoYB are a bit more instrumentally varied and grandiose than Robin Pecknold and co.  It really is a lovely record. The Union Hall show also features The Loom (who played that BV loft show during CMJ 2009) and Spain’s The Right Ons. Choir of Young Believers also play Pianos on Thursday (3/11) with Brooklyn’s ARMS who are worth checking out in their own right.

Choir of Young Believers
Choir of Young Believers

That’s more than enough for one post. Below are videos, flyers and tour dates for some of the bands mentioned here…

Casiokids – En vill hest

Casiokids – 2010 Tour Dates
Mar 13 Piano’s New York (US)
Mar 14 Littlefield New York (US)
Mar 15 Brooklyn Vegan party @ Knitting Factory New York (US)
Mar 17 SXSW / Shout Out Music @ Creekside Lounge Austin (US)
Mar 17 SXSW / Thunderbird Coffe, Plush Bar Austin (US)
Mar 18 SXSW / Moshi Moshi Party @ TBA Austin (US)
Mar 18 SXSW / Filter Party, Showdown @ Cedar Street Austin (US)
Mar 19 SXSW / Lose control party @ tba Austin (US)
Mar 20 SXSW / Polyvinyl showcase @ Galaxy rooms Austin (US)
Apr 16 Novafest @ Blå Oslo
May 2 Camden Crawl London (UK)
Jul 2 Roskilde festival Roskilde (DK)
Jul 17 Kjørrefjordfestivalen Farsund
Aug 10 Øyafestivalen (10-14.august) Oslo
Sep 3 Rått og råde Stavanger


The Megaphonic Thrift – Acid Blues

pictures from the 2010 by:Larm Festival….

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Megaphonic Thrift

Oya

The Megaphonic Thrift – 2010 Tour Dates
Mar 11 ILMC at The Tabernacle, JAJAJA-night London
Mar 14 Scandinavian SXSW send-off party at Littlefield New York, New York
Mar 14 West Rocks pre-SXSW-party at Bowery Electric New York, New York
Mar 15 Øya/Oh My Rockness-show at Santos Party House New York, New York
Mar 17 Lose Control Party at Vice Austin, Texas
Mar 17 SXSW: WOXY live radio session Austin, Texas
Mar 17 SXSW: Official show at Habana Calle 6 Austin, Texas
Mar 18 SXSW: Filter Magazine BBQ-party at Cedar Street Courtyard Austin, Texas
Mar 18 SXSW: TBA Austin, Texas
Mar 26 Release concert, BLÅ with Izakaya Heartbeat Oslo
Mar 27 Release concert at Kvarteret – Teglverket Bergen
Apr 17 TEIP at Klubben, Samfundet Trondheim
Apr 29 Café Moody Haugesund
Apr 30 Martinique Stavanger
May 1 BergenFest at Garage Bergen
Jul 17 Kjørrefjordfestivalen Farsund
Aug 10 Øyafestivalen Oslo

Spleen United – suburbia

Pirate Love – Laughing Gas

Pirate Love – 2010 Tour Dates
Mar 15 Øya Night @ Santo’s Party House New York City, New York
Mar 17 MusicGorilla.com Showcase Series – Treasure Island Austin, Texas
Mar 18 SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 19 SXSW – The Spiderhouse Cafe Austin, Texas
Mar 19 SXSW – Musebox showcase @ Rusty Spurs Austin, Texas
Mar 20 Fringe Factory – w/ Thee Vicars Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 22 Cavern Tavern – w/ Thee Vicars Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Mar 23 The Quarry House Tavern w/ Thee Vicars Silver Spring, Maryland
Mar 24 Get Hip Recordings Party – w/ Thee Vicars Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 25 O’Briens Pub w / Thee Vicars Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 26 Cameo Gallery w/ Thee Vicars + The Vandelles Brooklyn, New York
Mar 27 LIT Lounge – w/ Thee Vicars + The Vandelles New York City, New York

Choir of Young Believers – “Wintertime Love”

Choir of Young Believers – 2010 Tour Dates
Mar 10 Union Hall, Brooklyn with spleen United new york, New York
Mar 11 Pianos with Arms new york, New York
Mar 13 Bootleg Theater LA, California
Mar 14 tba LA, California
Mar 17 Terrorbird Day Party @ Red 7 (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 17 Pure Volume House @ Pure Volume House (SXSW) austin, Texas
Mar 17 KCRW Showcase @ Galaxy Room Patio (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 18 Roky Erickson Ice Cream Social @ Threadgills (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 18 KEXP session @ The Gibson Showroom (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 19 Danish DayParty @ 6th street (SXSW) Austin, Texas
Mar 19 House of Songs party @ Lamberts (SXSW) Austin, Texas