When, Diddy announced via Twitter yesterday that he was a "series regular" on Downton Abbey and PBS denied it, we wondered if it might be for a Funny or Die video? Turned out that's indeed what it was. Sean Combs let us know that despite producers announcing they'd just cast their first black character on the popular PBS/BBC melodrama, he had in fact already been on the show as Lord Wolcott, "the new owner of Down Town Abbey," despite being ignored by the rest of the cast. See how it all plays out in Downton Diddy, below...

Continue reading "watch Sean Combs on 'Downton Diddy'"

Kanye West @ Roseland Ballroom - 5/15/2013 (virgilabloh)

Kanye West @ Roseland Ballroom - 5/15/2013 (lacreated)

As mentioned, Kanye West played a private show for Adult Swim Wednesday night at Roseland Ballroom in NYC, ahead of his SNL appearance. New songs were played, in a Daft Punk-less tent pyramid thing. Watch a few videos below...

Continue reading "VIDEO: Kanye West played new songs @ Roseland Ballroom in NYC (in a pyramid)"

The last of the "all-home-recordings albums" by the Mountain Goats and the only one about which that claim is true, All Hail West Texas was originally released as a free-standing compact disc on the late, lamented Emperor Jones. That was about a decade ago. The songs were originally transferred from the cassettes onto which they were recorded to 1/4" reels at Tiny Telephone by Alex Newport, who also played in Fudge Tunnel. John got really excited when he realized his tapes were being EQ'd by the guy from Fudge Tunnel.

Remastered from those reels, along with 7 unearthed songs from the two surviving contemporaneous cassettes, All Hail West Texas stands as the peak of the Mountain Goats' home recording era, a time people like to refer to as "when John Darnielle had his four-track," except John did not actually use a four-track. He used the condenser mic of a Panasonic boombox and there was no overdubbing. All songs recorded on the day they were written, usually within minutes of the actual composition. Highlights include "Jenny," "Fall of the Star High School Running Back," and "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton," a song which has compelled audiences around the globe to yell "Hail Satan," and to mean it.

As mentioned, The Mountain Goats will soon be on the road in duo form (with Peter Hughes joining John Darnielle), including an NYC-area stop at Maxwell's on June 5 which is, unsurprisingly, sold out. All Mountain Goats dates are listed below.

The Baptist Generals

The tour is with Texas vets The Baptist Generals whose new album (and first in 10 years), Jackleg Devotional to the Heart, is out next week (5/21) via Sub Pop. You can stream the entire album below. They have their own headlining NYC show on June 6 at Mercury Lounge and tickets are still available for that one.

All Mountain Goats and Baptist Generals tour dates are listed, along with the Baptist Generals LP stream, below.

Continue reading "Mountain Goats reissuing ' All Hail West Texas' on Merge; stream tourmates Baptist Generals' new LP ++ dates"

UPDATE: Check out some videos from the Roseland show

Kanye West's style advisor Virgil Abloh just Intagrammed the above picture with this message: "So it begins. Pop-up show NYC. Somewhere at 10:30 pm. Tonight."

He may or may not be referring to the private "Upfront" show Kanye is playing for Adult Swim at Roseland. If it is the same show, then it is unclear why he used the term "Pop-Up". We'll find out soon!\

UPDATE: Looks like the "pop-up" and Roseland show are the same show, and new songs were played (maybe from the record coming out on June 18).

Kanye also plays SNL on Saturday and Governors Ball this summer.

The producers of extremely popular Masterpiece Theatre soap opera Downton Abbey told fans they were adding their first black character for the show's fourth season. If Diddy's tweet is to be believed, he'll be playing that role, a jazz musician Jack Ross. Apart from the promised "sneak preview," you're still going to have to wait a while, as Season Four won't premiere until season which will premiere January 5, 2014 when it will be back for eight episodes.

UPDATE: PBS denies Diddy's involvement in Downton Abbey! NY Mag says, "Diddy, meanwhile, is still retweeting various congratulation posts, as if this is really a thing. Maybe he just read The Secret?"

Diddy even posted a "sneak peak" picture to Instagram, ha. Maybe a Funny or Die video is on the way?

UPDATE: Yep, that's exactly what it is.

photos by Sarah Frankie Linder

Patti Smith @ Stubb's, Austin, 4/30/13

Patti Smith will play Bowery Ballroom on June 5. Tickets to the Bowery show go on sale Friday (5/17). The show is part of the celebration of the Federico Garcia Lorca Birthday Celebration which has been going on since early April and continues through July with events thoughout the city:

Lorca in New York: A Celebration is the largest-ever festival in North America celebrating the work of acclaimed Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. With more than two dozen events throughout Manhattan, it focuses on the brief but prolific period (1929-1930), during which Lorca came to New York and wrote one of his most significant works, Poet in New York. Presented by Fundación Federico García Lorca with support from Acción Cultural Española, it is anchored in the premiere of Back Tomorrow: Federico García Lorca / Poet in New York at The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (April 5-July 20) - an exhibition bringing together for the first time manuscripts, drawings, letters, and photos Lorca generated while in the city.

She'll also perform on September 20 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for a tribute to Hildegard of Bingen, the "twelfth-century German writer, composer, philosopher, visual artist, mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath." Tickets to that show are still available. All Patti Smith tour dates are below.

Patti Smith played Stubb's in Austin at the end of April (4/30) and there are photos from that show in this post.

More pictures and dates below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith playing Federico Garcia Lorca tribute at Bowery Ballroom & other dates, played Stubb's in Austin (pics, dates)"

As discussed, Erykah Badu and Yasiin Bey have joined forces for a fascinating show called "YOU'RE CAUSING QUITE A DISTURBANCE":

A collaboration with four-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and 2012-2013 Brooklyn Phil Artist-in-Residence ERYKAH BADU and 2011-2012 Brooklyn Phil Artist-in-Residence YASIIN BEY (Mos Def) Featuring new arrangements from Badu's 2008 album New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War by Brooklyn composer TED HEARNE (plus original music by Hearne) as well as the legendary arrangements of Yasiin Bey's songs by composer DEREK BERMEL (plus original music by Bermel)

In related news, Brothers Hypnotic, a film about the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble will screen for free on Friday (5/17) as part of the Rooftop Films series, and will feature a live appearance from the group who have worked with both Badu and Bey.

Badu is also playing Governors Ball, and Yasiin Bey will also play a FREE show on June 24th at Central Park Summerstage.

Eric Avery with Garbage @ Webster Hall in 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Eric Avery posted the following message today:

its with very mixed emotions i tell you all that im pulling out of NIN. i know. its been a tough call and i don't know if its the right one. but i really want to focus on my musical life here in la, on film work in particular. as the tour dates kept growing... i just got overwhelmed. i just got home from a year of heavy travel with garbage, the idea of leaving town for another year and a half, and with all the intensity that nails demands... fortunately my friend Trent understands all this and appreciated my pulling the plug now instead of deep into 2013 and 14. go get em gentlemen.

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Youth Code, which features a member of Carry On, will play their first show away from their native West Coast tonight (5/15) at Nothing Changes party at Home Sweet Home. There the band, who crosses caustic processed vocals a la Ministry with synth-driven industrial malevolence, will join DJ sets from Becka Diamond and Ryan Martin for a night of gothic-industrial greatness. $7 gets you in. Look for a new Youth Code LP this summer via DAIS Records, but until then you can stream their demo below. Worth a listen.

The Nothing Changes party rages on every week, with the rest of May occupied with sets by Craow, Outmode, Halves & Thirds on 5/22 and Tempers on 5/29. Head below for a stream of that Youth Code demo.

Continue reading "Youth Code readies new LP, playing Nothing Changes party in NYC tonight"

Sam Amidon (and Olof Arnalds) @ BV-SXSW 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Last we spoke the soft spoken Sam Amidon had only a couple of dates announced including his big NYC record release show happening at Le Poisson Rouge on Thursday (5/16). Get your tickets now and read the previous post for more info on that and the LP (which you can listen to on RDIO).

Meanwhile Sam has expanded his list of announced tour dates to include May dates in Europe, June dates around the United States, July dates in Japan, and August dates back in Europe where his name is on a few festival lineups this year. Check out the full list below...

Continue reading "Sam Amidon releases LP, announces tour (dates)"