by Bill Pearis

As we've mentioned a few times, Total Control are visiting from Australia, playing two shows in NYC this week: tonight (5/22) at Mercury Lounge with Pop. 1280, Night Sins, and Sleepies (tickets); and 285 Kent on Thursday (5/23) with Raspberry Bulbs, Crazy Spirit, and Survival (tickets). If you haven't checked the band's music out yet -- motorik synth workouts, jittery post-punk and punk stormers -- you can stream both their fantastic 2011 album Henge Beat and their singles compilation below. Go to one (or both) of these shows!

Meanwhile, you may remember that Total Control's Mikey Young, David West and James Vinciguerra formed new electronic side project Lace Curtain. They dropped their debut EP back in March via DFA which I described as an EP that "would make a good soundtrack to a dystopian sci-fi film or, in the case of "Good Intentions," someone's nightmare breakup or withdrawal. (In a good way, of course.)" A couple tracks from that EP are streamable below.

Lace Curtain have already announced their second EP, Falling/Running, which will be out June 11 on Mexican Summer. A little more straightforward than the DFA EP, the four new tracks would make for good late night driving music, or maybe just playing the old Atari game Night Driver. You can stream "Falling (II)" below.

Though one might postulate that with the sold-out DFA Records Anniversary Party happening on Saturday (5/25) at Grand Prospect Hall, Lace Curtain might be one of the "special guests" but as Total Control are playing DC that night, no dice. Meanwhile, Total Control have added West Coast shows happening after Chaos in Tejas. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Lace Curtain releasing new EP on Mexican Summer (stream a track); Total Control are here, expand tour (updated dates)"

photos by Keith Marlowe, Harriet Roberts

Night Birds @ Grand Victory last month

Night Birds are readying the release of Born to Die in Suburbia, the band's new LP due on July 9 via Grave Mistake. The record, which was recorded at Seaside Lounge this past winter, features guest appearances from Eric Davidson (New Bomb Turks, The Livids) and Miranda Taylor (Hunchback, Black Wine). Check out the album art and the tracklisting below.

The band has a bunch of tour dates to go with the release announcement, including dates toward Chaos in Tejas, Death By Audio on July 12 with Omegas and Chris Gethard, PLUS a weekend with Zero Boys that includes the previously discussed show at Europa on 8/29 (tickets). Full tour schedule is below.

Night Birds played with Tenement on April 11 at Grand Victory, and you can check out some belated pictures from the show below.

Continue reading "Night Birds announce new LP details, tour dates ++ belated pics from Grand Victory in April"

Total Control @ FFF Fest 2011 (more by Fred Pessaro)

Chain & the Gang @ Secret Project Robot 2011 (more by Harriet Roberts)

today in NYC
* Anciients, Family @ Saint Vitus
* Sua, Advaeta @ Cameo Gallery
* Will McEvoy's Mutsam @ Barbes
* Joshua Radin @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Amaan & Ayaan Ali Khan @ Joe's Pub
* The Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* The Westerlies Play Horvitz @ The Stone
* Lydia Ainsworth, Solar Year @ Cake Shop
* Brother Tiger, pacificUV @ The Rock Shop
* Big Terrific Comedy Show @ Cameo Gallery
* So So Glos, Pedico @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Stalley, Riff Raff, Smoke DZA, DJ Getlive @ Coco 66
* Korn, Device, Love and Death @ The Wellmont Theatre
* Rotten Sound, Hellshock, Kromosom, Nomad @ Acheron
* yMusic, Amanda Holley, Dan Mills @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Of Montreal, The Wild Moccasins @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Royal Bangs, We Are The Wilderness, Blue & Red @ Glasslands
* Grand Resort, BOYTOY, Orca Orca, HOUNDSds @ Shea Stadium
* Eat Skull, PC Worship, Vaz, Call Of The Wild, LODRO @ 285 Kent
* Total Control, Pop. 1280. Night Sins, Sleepies @ Mercury Lounge
* Lindsey Luff, Mariko, Natural Stranger, DJ Nick Louis @ Spike Hill
* Big Ups, Low Fat Getting High, Radical Dads, Miniboone @ Big Snow
* The Johns, Turner Cody, Prewar Yardsale, Little Cobweb @ Muchmore's
* Phone Home, Slander, The Can't Tells, Relations, Josh Lewin @ Pianos
* Wayne Horvitz and the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble @ The Stone
* Andre Nickatina, Roach Gigz, Mumbls, DJ Thanksgiving Brown @ Santos Party House
* Morrissey Birthday Celebrations w/ The Sons & Heirs, DJ Matt Heart Spade @ The Bell House
* The Stepkids, King Holliday, Every Flavor Weather Machine, Massively Epic, AK 47 @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Mick Barr, Deblase, Kwartowitz Trio, Pet Bottle Ningen, Detrop, Brown Wing Overdrive @ Silent Barn
* Dizzy Wright, Nitty Scott, Tijon, Rayshawn Bedell, Andy Pop, Baghdad Flow @ Marlin Room at Webster Hall
* NOTHING CHANGES w/ Craow, Outmode, Haves & Thirds @ Home Sweet Home
* Chain and the Gang, Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa, Calvin Johnson, Erin Earthling @ Ran Tea House
* Mannie Fresh, Boi-1da, Young Chop. J.U.S.T.I.C.E League, Bangladesh, DJ Mustard, Drumma Boy @ Knitting Factory
* Stones Fest w/ Norah Jones, Patrick Carney (of The Black Keys), Jason Isbell, Butch Walker & Black Widows, Delta Spirit, Cory Chisel, Johnny T, Adam Green @ Bowery Ballroom

Today is Morrissey's birthday and the former Smiths singer turns 54. NYC can celebrate tonight at The Bell House who has skilled tribute band The Sons & Heirs playing. Happy Birthday, Moz! Stream a thematically appropriate Smiths song below.

Follow @BrooklynVegan on Twitter.
Follow @bvChicago for just Chicago stuff.
Also follow @bvAustin for just Austin stuff.

Be our friend on Facebook too, and BV Austin's friend on Facebook and BV Chicago's friend on Facebook.

Follow BrooklynVegan on instagram.

Goodie Mob released a new song, "Special Education," which features fellow Dungeon Family member Janelle Monae. Check it out below. Goodie Mob (and Cee-Lo solo) will be playing Barclays Center this month and they have a new album on the way.

Giorgio Moroder recently did his first-ever DJ gig, spinning tunes at Output as part of the month-long NYC Red Bull Music Academy extravaganza. You can stream his set in full below.

Retox, whose ongoing tour recently hit NYC, are streaming their new album, YPLL, a week ahead of its May 28 release date. Listen to it at BV Austin.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

CBGB Festival 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

As mentioned, the CBGB Festival is returning to various NYC venues this year from October 9 to 13. In addition to the music portion, there will also be a film portion of the festival. The hub for the film portion will be at The Landmark Sunshine Theater on E. Houston St.

Badges for the festival are on early-bird sale now through July 1, at which point the regular sale will begin and go through October 8. Walk-up badges at a higher price will also be available during the festival.

Info on the different types and pricing of the badges and a trailer video for CBGB Festival below...

Continue reading "CBGB Music & Film Festival announces 2013 ticket info (earlybird passes on sale now)"

by Fred Pessaro

The UV Race @ DbA, 5/21/2013

Annnnnnd all of a sudden it is disgusting outside. Australia's The UV Race played the soupy-hot Death By Audio last night (May 21) along with local support from Warthog (mem Nude Beach, ex-The Men), fellow Aussies Scott & Charlene's Wedding and local post-punks Household. The show saw the six-piece  punk team perform to a packed house radiating heat/humidity mostly due to dancing and bopping around to the band's insanely catchy tunes. Pictures of the former three (no Household, sorry) are in this post.

The show was part of UV Race's current US tour that has them in Brooklyn tonight screening their film Autonomy & Deliberation (but not performing) at Spectacle Theater. Meanwhile, Australia's Total Control (with whom they share members and are touring with outside NYC) play their first of two NYC shows at Mercury Lounge tonight (5/22) and tickets are still available.

More pictures from Death by Audio are below.

Continue reading "The UV Race played Death by Audio with Warthog, Scott & Charlene's Wedding, and Household (pics)"

Iceland's Ólafur Arnalds (again, not to be confused with Olof Arnalds) was last here in April, playing a trio of NYC shows to celebrate the release of his new album, For Now I Am Winter, which takes a classical composer view of pop. One of those shows was at Le Poisson Rouge with orchestration courtesy the LPR Ensemble. NPR filmed that show and you can watch the whole thing below.

Ólafur Arnalds is coming back to America this summer for a short tour that will bring him to select cities. That includes another NYC show: Glasslands on July 16 with opener Vio/Miré. Tickets to that show are on sale now. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Olafur Arnalds announces US tour dates ++ stream his LPR show from April"

Body/Head at Drone Activity in Progress (more by Fred Pessaro)

Northside Festival expands further this year with a bunch more artists announced today. Those include names like Bleached, Chance the Rapper, Majical Cloudz, Body/Head, Sannhet, Limp Wrist and many many more. Check out a full list of new Northside Festival additions below.  Passes are still available.

As mentioned, Invisible Oranges will host Torche, KEN Mode, Lo-Pan and Inter Arma at 285 Kent on June 14 (tickets). The show is one of two to feature Inter Arma that weekend, who will also play a FREE Summer Thunder day show at Union Pool on June 15 with the newly added Pyrrhon!

BrooklynVegan is also proud to host a Summer Thunder event of our own with Heavy Blanket (featuring J Mascis) and Love as Laughter. Like the IO show, this June 8. performance will be FREE and feature drink specials all day. Destroy.

New Northside artist additions are listed below.

Continue reading "Northside Festival announces more artists, including Bleached, Majical Cloudz, Body/Head, Chance the Rapper and more"

by Bill Pearis

Danish quartet When the Saints Go Machine have been around since the mid-'00s, making eerie, soulful dance music, distinguished in no small part by Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild's vocals which lie somewhere between Arthur Russell and Antony. The group's third album, Infinity Pool, is out next week (5/28) via !K7. You can watch videos for "Iodine" and first single "Love and Respect" (featuring Killer Mike), as well as stream a couple remixes of the latter, below. The whole album is streaming over at Pitchfork.

When Saints Go Machine are doing the European Summer Festival circuit (including Aarhus, DE's Northside Festival that weirdly happens the same weekend as Brooklyn's Northside festival). Then, the band will jet our way next month for their first-ever U.S. show which happens in NYC at Glasslands on June 24. Tickets for that show are on sale now. It's their only announced North American show.

All WSGM dates are listed, along with those videos and stream, below.

Continue reading "Denmark's When Saints Go Machine releasing 'Infinity Pool,' making US live debut next month in NYC (dates, streams)"

photos by Sarah Gainer

The National at Mercury Lounge - 5/21/13

After The National played tiny shows at Sycamore and Public Assembly yesterday (5/21) to celebrate the release of their great new record, Trouble Will Find Me, they headed to Mercury Lounge for a third intimate show of the day. Hitting the stage around 10 PM, the band played almost the entirety of their new record plus a few older cuts too, but a shorter set than their tour kickoff show in Ithaca. Pictures and the setlist from the Mercury Lounge show are in this post.

The National will play NYC again at a show which is going to be much easier to get into when their tour hits Barclays Center on June 5 with Youth Lagoon. Tickets for that show are still available and we're also giving away a pair.

More pictures and the setlist from Mercury Lounge below...

Continue reading "The National played Mercury Lounge (pics & setlist)"

by Andrew Sacher

Julia Holter at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Art pop musician Julia Holter had one of the best albums of 2012 with Ekstasis, and she's now set to release that album's followup, Loud City Song, on August 20 via her new label home, Domino. Regarding the new album, Domino writes:

The songs that make up Loud City Song have origins that pre-date 2011's debut Tragedy - coaxed out and finessed as demos in Holter's bedroom studio and then finally coalesced into one thrillingly cohesive experience in the latter stages of 2012 by Holter and co-producer Cole Marsden Grief-Neill and an ensemble of Los Angeles musicians. The result is an album of enormous ambition - Holter taking inspiration from Collette's 1944 novella Gigi and using it as a prism through which to explore her relationship with her hometown of Los Angeles and modern life universally, taking cues from the work of Joni Mitchell and the poetry of Frank O'Hara but forging those touch-points into something resolutely unique.

Domino also just reissued her great 2011 LP, Tragedy, this week (5/21) and you can purchase that in 2XLP/CD formats at the Domino Webstore.

As mentioned, Julia is coming to NYC for a show on July 12 at Le Poisson Rouge with Jessica Pratt around the time of her appearance at Pitchfork Music Festival. Julia has since announced a full tour happening this summer, and all dates are listed below. Tickets for the NYC show are still available.

Continue reading "Julia Holter announces new album on Domino (watch the video for the single) +++ updated tour dates"