by Andrew Sacher

Screaming Females in studio (more by Kristie Shanley)

Screaming Females will release their new album, Ugly, on April 3 via Don Giovanni. They recorded it with Steve Albini, whose been having a great year so far with this album and the new Cloud Nothings album. Even moreso than on that album, Albini gives Ugly the same kind of treatment he gave Surfer Rosa, Rid of Me, and In Utero, with huge snares and spacious noisy guitars. As good of an album that SF's 2010 LP Castle Talk was, Ugly is the first time the power of their live shows is effectively captured on record. You can check out a taste of the album with the first single, "It All Means Nothing," which premiered on Rolling Stone today. That single is streaming below along with a video of the band performing a stripped down version of it for an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

As mentioned, Screaming Females play a Don Giovanni showcase at MHOW on Saturday (2/11) with Laura Stevenson and the Cans, For Science, Shellshag, and Black Wine. Tickets are still on sale and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter the contest are below.

That show is one day before Screaming Females kick off a record store tour which includes a show at Manhattan's Generation Records on Sunday (2/12). The "It All Means Nothing" 7" will be available at the MHOW show and at their record store shows.

In related news, and as previously mentioned, a different Don Giovanni showcase is going down TONIGHT (2/9) at Death by Audio with Mikey Erg (of The Ergs!), House Boat, Nuclear Santa Clause, Secret Police< and Plastic Cross (mems. of The Measure). The flier for this show is below.

In other related news, Marissa Paternoster's other project Noun will release a S/T 7" on February 14 via Don Giovanni, and the label will press her debut album, Holy Hell, on vinyl the same day. Both of those releases will be available at the showcase at MHOW.

Video, song stream, flier, and contest details below...

Continue reading "Don Giovanni weekend: DbA showcase Fri., Screaming Females Sat. (WIN TIX!), Sun. (free) & now (listen to a new song)"

Daniel Tosh of Comedy Central's Tosh.0 has announced a comedy tour. That tour hits NYC for two shows at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on April 13 (early & late). Tickets for those shows go on sale at 10am. We also have a pair of tickets you can win! Details below.

LA Comedian Rob Delaney, who is part of the just-announced Sasquatch Festival lineup, will headline Bowery Ballroom on May 11th. Tickets, on AmEx presale now, go on general sale at noon. More dates are listed below.

As previously mentioned in a post that lists othre upcoming comedy shows, Demetri Martin added a 3rd upcoming NYC show. Tickets for that new date are still on sale and we have a pair you can win. Details below!

All contest details and Tosh dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Daniel Tosh touring & playing Radio City (WIN TIX); Rob Delaney playing shows too; and Demetri Martin (WIN TIX) "

Feist at BAM in 2011 (more by Ryan Barkan)

As mentioned, Feist has an upcoming NYC show at Radio City on May 5. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale now and go on sale to the general public on Saturday (2/4) at 10 AM. We're also giving away a pair of tickets to the show. Details on how to enter the contest are below.

It's since been announced that the show is part of an entire North American tour, which also includes Stubb's and Coachella. All dates are listed below.

Feist also has a new video for "The Bad In Each Other," off 2011's Metals. The video was directed by Martin de Thurah, who has also recently directed videos for James Blake. Watch it below.

Continue reading "Feist announced more dates & a new video; WIN TIX to the NYC show (which is on sale now)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten @ The Greene Space (MP3)

Sharon Van Etten @ the Greene Space

As you know, Sharon Van Etten played a show at WNYC's Greene Space in Tribeca back on 1/17 (with Audra McDonald & Norm Lewis), one day before she played her entire new album in full at Mercury Lounge. Not only do we have some pictures of that show, you can listen to and download the whole thing too. MP3 above. More pictures and the embedded audio player below.

We recently posted a reminder that the 2012 Ecstatic Music Festival is beginning in NYC on 2/4, but what we didn't mention was that a festival preview event was going down at the Greene Space on 2/1:

Hosted by WQXR's Terrance McKnight, Q2 Music's preview concert features music and conversation with Ecstatic Music Festival composer-performers Jason Treuting, Angélica Negrón, and Jherek Bischoff as well as a conversation with composer and festival founder and curator, Judd Greenstein.

Jherek Bischoff's actual Ecstatic Fest show happens on 2/4 with the Wordless Music Orchestra and special guests David Byrne, Craig Wedren, Greg Saunier, Mirah, Zac Pennington, Carla Bozulich, Charlie Looker & Sam Mickens.

WQXR has also announced that they'll be streaming and archiving select Ecstatic shows as part of their Q2 Music series.

Greene Space pics & audio and contest details below...

Continue reading "Sharon Van Etten played the Greene Space (pics & audio); Ecstatic Music Fest hosting a show there (WIN TIX!)"

Pulp @ Way Out West 2011 (more)

Tickets for Pulp's show at Radio City Music Hall go on "Internet Presale" today, 1/26, at 10am (PASSWORD: HEPULP). General sale begins Friday at 10am. We also have a pair you can win! Details below.

Continue reading "another Pulp presale & a chance to WIN TIX"

Richard Buckner released his most recent album, Our Blood, last year on Merge and toured in support of it with labelmate David Kilgour. That tour was supposed to hit The Bell House in August but was cancelled due to the hurricane which cancelled every other show that day too.

Richard Buckner is once again planning a NYC show, which is set to happen on January 19 at Symphony Space for the "Rebels + Reds" series which pairs an artist with a wine chosen for the evening by wine connoisseur Keith Beavers. We're giving away a pair of tickets to this show (details on how to enter below) and are also offering the opportunity to purchase tickets at a reduced rate by entering the word "VEGAN" when purchasing tickets (you enter the code towards the end of checkout).

The Symphony Space show is one of few shows he has scheduled at the moment. All dates and contest details below...

Continue reading "Richard Buckner playing shows -- one at Symphony Space (win tix OR buy them at a reduced rate)"

As previously discussed, Antony & the Johnsons (and 60-piece orchestra) will play a rare and special show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on January 26th. Tickets to the MoMA-commissioned event are still on sale and we're giving a pair away. Details below...

Continue reading "win tix to Antony & the Johnsons @ Radio City Music Hall"

Gogol Bordello - Dec 2009 (more by Paul Birman)

Once again, we're approaching the new year, and as always, there are tons of ways to celebrate in NYC with a number of different New Year's Eve shows.

Gogol Bordello are returning to NYC to play Terminal 5 on December 30 and 31. Tickets for both shows are still on sale and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to win are below.

Deer Tick will play Brooklyn Bowl on New Year's Eve. Tickets are still available and also available is a combo package that allows you entry to see the Deer Tick show and the Lucero show which happens at the same venue one night earlier (12/30).

Los Lobos, who, along with Deer Tick, have members in the new supergroup Diamond Rugs, also play NYE in NYC at City Winery. They're playing two shows at the venue and tickets for the early show and the late show are still available.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists will be in the NYC-area for NYE to play The Bell House on 12/30 (tickets) with Obits and Maxwell's on 12/31 (tickets). Comedian Kurt Braunohler opens both shows.

O'Death plays Spike Hill on New Year's Eve with The Woes. Tickets are still on sale.

A few similar electronic shows will happen on NYE, including AraabMuzik, Balam Acab, Light Asylum, Laurel Halo, and Run DMT at 285 Kent, a Laurel Halo DJ set at Zebulon and Nosaj Thing, El Topo (aka Nicolas Jaar associate Dave Harrington), and others at Glasslands. Tickets for the 285 Kent show and the Glasslands show are still on sale.

Another similar option would be the Cheryl dance party at Public Assembly (12/31) with a live set by Midnight Magic. Tickets are on sale now. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club is also throwing a sold out party in Public Assembly's back room.

There will also be DJ parties at Cameo Gallery (tickets) and Santos Party House (tickets).

Mister Saturday Night hosts a party at House of Yes.

Laidback Luke, who will set sail on the Holy Ship! cruise in the beginning of 2012, will be throwing a party at Pacha in Manhattan (warning: avoid at all costs). Another HARD-approved artist, Nero, will be at Webster Hall for an after-hours party, starting at 3:30 AM. Tickets for the party are on sale now (and is also probably somewhere you don't want to be).

Two Daptone Records affiliates will be in NYC on NYE. Charlies Bradley and The Budos Band play Music Hall of Williamsburg and Lee Fields & the Expressions with Sugar Pie Desanto will play The Bell House. Tickets for the Charles Bradley show and the Lee Fields show are still available.

For a different type of soul show, Fitz & the Tantrums are playing Gramercy Theater on NYE, but that show is now sold out.

The Stone is throwing their annual end of the year improv party with John Zorn, Thurston Moore, and others.

The Damnwells play two shows at Rockwood Music Hall.

Sandra Bernhard finishes a run of shows at Joe's Pub on New Year's Eve.

Barbes hosts Spanglish Fly.

Like he's done in the past, Chuck Berry will be playing two shows at BB King's on New Year's Eve. Tickets for the early show and the late show are on sale now.

For two shows that you definitely won't find BBG at, Phish play four MSG shows (12/28-12/31) and Matt & Kim play Hammerstein Ballroom on New Year's Eve with Super Mash Brothers and Body Language. Tickets for the Phish shows and the Matt & Kim show are still available.

In addition to Phish, another jam band option is Gov't Mule's two night run at Beacon Theater from December 30-31. Tickets for both shows are on sale now. Infected Mushroom is at Best Buy Theater.

The Fleshtones, Todd Youth All-Stars, The Waldos (featuring Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders' band), The Threads, Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls, and The Dead Tricks will play Bowery Electric on 12/31 with a "surprise rockabilly legend." Tickets are on sale now. The flier for this show is above.

Patti Smith will do her usual run at Bowery Ballroom (12/29-31) but all three shows are now sold out.

In other NYC proto-punk news, New York Dolls will NOT be playing Irving Plaza on 12/30, the show has since been cancelled.

What else?

Details on how to win Gogol Bordello tickets below...

Continue reading "New Year's Eve concerts & parties in NYC --- Gogol Bordello (win tix!), AraabMuzik, Phish, Chuck Berry, Patti Smith, more"

by Klaus Kinski

To call me an Anglophile would be politest way to appraise my absolute obsession and preference for all things British. My sad, dork-ass life revolves around Downton Abbey, Top Gear, Wheeler Dealers, The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Monty Python, Benny Hill, Pink Floyd, Peep Show, Mr. Bean, Matt Berry, The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box, british grindcore, Battersea Power Station, That Mitchell and Webb Look, annoyingly speaking with a cockney accent for hours at a time much to the annoyance of my fiance and, of course, the holy trinity of Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. And here's you; "Why don't you just move there if you love it so much, dork?" Well, get me a flat with a lift and me and my knickers will be there before you can say "Blinkered".

Anyway, back to the holy trinity of Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington... well, more specifically, Gervais/Merchant. The name Stephen Merchant has always been synonymous with the name Ricky Gervais as the pair has collaborated on several Bafta, Emmy, and Golden Globe winning projects like The Office (UK), The Office (US), as well as things like the show Extras, podcasts, radio shows, the animated series The Ricky Gervais Show (which gets its audio material from their audio comedy show of the same name), and more recently An Idiot Abroad. Gervais has always been the more prominent mouth-piece and face of these collaborations, leaving Merchant somewhat just hovering in the background of it all.

Merchant recently dragged his ample bones out from the shadows cast by Ricky Gervais' larger than life persona to embark on his first, large-scale, solo comedy tour. He spent the majority of September, October, and November 2011 bringing his show "Hello Ladies" to packed houses all over the UK. The US is being blessed with a mere 6 shows, four of which are in California, and two of which happen to be at Town Hall in NYC on Tuesday December 20th and Wednesday December 21st. Unfortunately the December 20th show is SOLD OUT, but there are a handful of tickets left for the December 21st show via Ticketmaster. Oh yeah, your old pal Klaus also has 5 PAIRS OF TICKETS TO GIVEAWAY for DECEMBER 21st. Whoa! Instructions on how to win are below. Good luck! You will NOT want to miss this!

Instructions on how to win, and a couple videos below....

Continue reading "Stephen Merchant playing 6 US shows, 2 in NYC (win a pair of tix or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5!)"

Craig Finn on stage with The Hold Steady (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As discussed, Craig Finn does the solo thing at a pair of area dates: Maxwell's on 3/1 and Mercury Lounge on 2/29. Tickets for the Mercury show just seemingly sold out instantly, but the Maxwell's show is still on sale (hurry).

Craig Finn's other past time, a little band called The Hold Steady, play the Brooklyn Bazaar on Saturday (12/17) with Titus Andronicus, the night after our Fucked Up extravaganza which is tonight. Tickets are still available. Buy one OR you can roll the dice and try and win a pair! Details on how are below.

Continue reading "Craig Finn on sale; The Hold Steady is Saturday (win tix)"