The inaugural Catalpa NYC Music Festival hits Randall's Island on July 28 and 29, with performances by The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg, TV On The Radio, The Big Pink, A$AP Rocky, Matt and Kim, Zola Jesus and more. Tickets are still available and schedule and set times for both days are below.

In addition to the main stage bands, Catalpa features such added attractions as The High Times Magazine Reggae Stage, The Inflatable Church of Sham Marriages, a silent disco, food from some of New York City's "unique and top quality eateries" and more.

If you'd like to go for free, we are giving away a pair of weekend general admission passes to the fest. Details on how to enter are at the bottom of this post.

Continue reading "Catalpa Music Festival coming soon - check out the schedule (and win a pair of tickets!)"

Field Report at BV SXSW 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Tonight (7/17) is the first show for new Brooklyn venue Williamsburg Park featuring Counting Crows, We Are Augustines, Field Report, and Kasey Anderson & the Honkies. Tickets for tonight's show are still available. Maybe this isn't the most exciting start for the venue, but there are a lot of cool shows coming up, including Refused with Off! on Wednesday (7/18), a big outdoor edition of Eugene Mirman's "Pretty Good Friends" with "special guests" and OK GO on Thursday (7/19), Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Antibalas on August 18 (FREE), Bob Mould playing Sugar's first two albums on September 7 (FREE), David Byrne & St. Vincent on September 29, Animal Collective on October 5 and more. All upcoming Williamsburg Park shows are listed below.

If you're a fan of Field Report (aka former Justin Vernon cohort Chris Porterfield) but would like to see him in a more intimate setting, he's also playing an early show at Mercury Lounge on Saturday (7/21). Tickets are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter are below.

Continue reading "Williamsburg Park opens tonight (check out the full schedule) ++++ win tickets to see Field Report at Mercury Lounge"

by Bill Pearis

JEFF the Brotherhood, who are just wrapped up a tour with Best Coast, have been on a steady climb for the last three years or so, touring their asses off, playing killer show after killer show and cranking out awesome records to boot. And even while the venues get bigger, JEFF always make a point to play smaller shows as well -- they have pretty much fit in a Death by Audio show every time they come through NYC. To boot, Jake and Jamin are also two of the nicest guys you're likely to meet.

I have a feeling JEFF are about to bust wide with their new album Hypnotic Nights, their first for Warner Brothers and maybe their best yet. Co-produced by JEFF and Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, the album is one catchy, crunchy jam after the next. And while I'm pretty sure Jake's guitar still only has three strings, the album sprinkles in keyboards and other instrumentation (did I hear saxaphone in there?) to fill out their sound just a bit. But it's the songs that make this record, crammed with stick-in-your-head hooks and riffs, "ooh oohs," "whoa-ohs" and big sing-a-long choruses that make this such a fun, inventive album. Oh, and it rocks. It's out Tuesday, July 17 and if you pre-order the album through their website you get a free can koozie, button and bumper sticker. It's streaming in full at NPR.

BrooklynVegan is happy to announce we're presenting a record release show at Santos Party House on Wednesday, July 18 with openers Fuck Ton. It's in the smaller Santos basement, not the main room, and is FREE. First-come, first served. Doors are at 8PM and the show's at 8:30PM. Flyer for the 16+ show is below.

We're also giving away five autographed vinyl copies of Hypnotic Nights with multi-use gatefold sleeve and a CD of the album too. Details on how to enter are below.

Continue reading "BV Presents: free JEFF the Brotherhood show @ Santos Wednesday, chances to win a vinyl copy of their new LP"

Gang Gang Dance at Austin's Mohawk in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Gang Gang Dance have a few dates scheduled for this summer including Prospect Park on July 18 opening for Hot Chip. That show has since sold out, but if you weren't able to get tickets, we're giving away a pair. Details on how to enter to win are below. Tickets are still available for Hot Chip's Terminal 5 show (7/20) with Chromatics.

UPDATE: The ticket contest is for Hot Chip's Terminal 5 show with Chromatics, not Prospect Park. Details below.

Other currently scheduled GGD dates include Hudson, NY's Basilica Music Festival with Liturgy, Mick Barr, Prince Rama, and more, and POP Montreal. The NYC band have also announced another hometown show which happens on September 21 at Public Assembly with fellow psych weirdos Sun Araw. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Speaking of Sun Araw, when main man Cameron Stallones isn't off recording records with reggae legends, he's also been working on his own new material. That material will see the light of day sometime this year in the form of The Inner Treaty LP. Stay tuned for more info on that.

Lists of dates and contest details below...

Continue reading "Gang Gang Dance playing NYC w/ Sun Araw (who's releasing an LP); win tix to Hot Chip's T5 show w/ Chromatics"

DIIV at Red 7 (more by Tim Griffin)

In addition to the free River Rocks show with Grimes on August 9, the dates with Best Coast that include Terminal 5 on July 17 (tickets), and the freshly announced 285 Kent show with Cloud Nothings (tickets), DIIV have added yet another NYC show this week.

DIIV play at The Hester (835 6th Ave in Manhattan) at 7PM this Thursday (7/12), just a few short hours before heading to 285 Kent to finish out the evening with Cloud Nothings. The Hester show is free and features free food/drink, but an email to RSVP@HESTERSTREETFAIR.com is required. The flyer for the event and all DIIV dates are below.

Speaking of that Best Coast Terminal 5 show, also on the bill are Those Darlins. The Nashville-based band recently released a new 7" that includes a cover of Rockpile's "Pet You And Hold You" which you can stream below. Do you want a copy of that 7" and a pair of tickets to the T5 show? Head below for details on how to win them both in a prize pack, courtesy of the band!

Details on that contest, the new song stream, DIIV flyer and a list of all DIIV dates are below...

Continue reading "DIIV playing free show before 285 Kent; win tix to their T5 show w/ Best Coast & Those Darlins (plus a Those Darlins 7")"

The LCD Soundsystem concert film/documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits makes its one-night national theatrical run on July 18. Screenings on that date are sold out in NYC except for the recently-added 9:30 screening at Clearview Chelsea, and you can grab tickets for a recently added screening happening at Sunshine at 10pm on July 26.

The film's official NYC premiere, however, is Tuesday, July 10 and you can't buy tickets to that, but we've got two pair of tickets to give away to this invite-only event. The premiere happens at 7:30 and winners will receive theater location.

Details on how to enter are below, along with a list of all theaters showing the flick.

Continue reading "win tickets to the NYC premiere of LCD Soundsystem documentary 'Shut Up and Play the Hits'"

DOWNLOAD: Peelander-Z - Get Glasses (MP3)

Japanese action comic punks Peelander-Z are releasing a new single from their Space Vacation album -- the old school rockin' "Get Glasses" -- and you can download it above or stream it at the bottom of this post. "Get Glasses" is also something you can do yourself, as we're giving away three pairs of P-Z sunglasses that have been custom stylized by Peelander-Yellow as modeled by Peelander-Red above, and more.

We're giving away one Grand Prize pack, that includes a signed pair of sunglasses, a CD and LP copy of Space Vacation, a Peelander-Z t-shirt and a one-of-a-kind hand drawn "Get Glasses" image to be created personally by Peelander-Yellow for the winner. There are also two runner-up packages up for grabs that includes the sunglasses and a Space Vacation CD. Details on how to enter are below.

When not designing sunglasses, displaying art in Austin and saving the universe, Peelander-Z will be playing some live shows, though nothing in NYC area at the moment. (They recently performed in Brooklyn at the Great Googamooga.) All tour dates are listed below, along with the "Get Glasses" stream and contest details

Continue reading "win Peelander-Z sunglasses, check out their new single (MP3)"

As previously mentioned, The Big Sleep and KNTRLR have a NYC show taking place at Mercury Lounge on Saturday (6/30). Tickets are still on sale AND we have a pair you can win. Details below.

The show, it also ends up, is a record release party for a 7" split that you'll be able to get at the show FOR FREE if you if bought an advanced ticket (first come, first serve with a limited quantity). That's the record pictured above, and you can listen to it now (all 2 songs), with the contest info below...

Continue reading "The Big Sleep & KNTRLR release split 7" (stream it, get 1 free); Saturday's NYC show is the party (win tix)"

photos by Tim Griffin

El-P @ Mohawk - 6/23/2012

El-P is currently on tour with Killer Mike, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, and Despot supporting both El-P's new album, Cancer 4 Cure, and Killer Mike's (which El-P produced), R.A.P. Music. They're over in California right now, and while there, El-P stopped by Conan to perform with Zola Jesus last night (6/27). They played "Works Every Time" off El-P's new album. You can watch a video of that performance below.

As mentioned, the tour hits NYC on July 13 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter are below.

The tour hit Austin last week for a show at Mohawk on June 23. You can check out more pictures from that show below, along with the Conan video and contest details...

Continue reading "El-P played Conan w/ Zola Jesus, on tour w/ Killer Mike (video, Austin pics & a chance to win tix to the NYC show)"

Dirty Projectors mural at North 7th & Driggs (via Domino)

As mentioned, Dirty Projectors will play a small show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 9, the day before their Prospect Park show (7/10) with Purity Ring and Wye Oak. The MHOW show is sold out, but if you didn't get tickets, you can watch the show live from your computer at the Bowery Presents YouTube page. To help promote the MHOW show, the Bowery YouTube page now has a video of David Longstreth, Amber Coffman, and Haley Dekle playing an acoustic snippet of "Unto Caesar," off the new album. You can watch that video below. Dustin Wong has also been added as an opener to the MHOW show since we last spoke.

Tickets for the Prospect Park show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter are below.

In other news, a mural of Dirty Projectors' new album artwork has been painted in Williamsburg at North 7th & Driggs (pictured above) to help promote the Prospect Park show.

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors streaming their MHOW show, win tickets to Prospect Park"