by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dent May - Best Friend (MP3)

Dent May

Dent May's new album, Do Things, is out June 12 via Paw Tracks, and those expecting more of his magnificent ukulele may be in for a surprise. Having traded his signature instrument for synthesizers, drum machines and electric guitar, Do Things sounds like May has spent the time between albums listening to that Orange Juice box set and his baritone croon works well with his new, funkier sound. You can download the very OJ-ish single "Best Friend" at the top of this post and watch the video for it below.

Dent plays 285 Kent tonight (5/18), the last date of a short East Coast tour, and shares the bill with Family Portrait, The Babies, William Tyler and Ducktails on DJ duties. He then takes a month off before launching an extensive North American tour with Quintron and Miss Pussycat that will not hit the East Coast unfortunately. All Dent May tour dates are listed below.

While we're on Kent Ave, right next door at Glasslands tonight (5/18) is Big Troubles who have taken most of 2012 off. They play with The Hairs and Punks on Mars. Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Punks on Mars are signed to Zoo Music, the label run by Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls and Brandon of Crocodiles. They just released their new 7" EP, Hey Tiffany, and it's got a compressed early-'80s new wave feel to it. Fans of Cleaner from Venus, Chris Stamey-era dB's or even Ariel Pink might want to take a listen -- you can stream the whole thing at the bottom of this post.

That stream, along with the Dent May video, and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Dent May releasing new LP (MP3) playing 285 Kent tonight; Punks on Mars have a new EP, playing Glasslands tonight"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Intelligence -They Found Me in the Back of the Galaxy (MP3)

Smartass post punks The Intelligence are back with a new album, Everybody's Got it Easy But Me, that's out via In the Red on June 19 . Like on 2010's Males, main brain Lars Finberg is eschewing the scuzzy reverb-mired roots of the band in favor of clean mid-fi production. Some of that nervy angst, so integral to 2009's Fake Surfers, is back, however, with room for a few barn-burners, a couple introspective numbers and a cover of Del Shannon's "Little Town Flirt" where Finberg duet's with Shannon of Shannon and the Clams. It's a teriffic record.

You can download the LP's ripper of a first single, "They Found Me in the Back of the Galaxy," at the top of this post. (Snippets of the whole album can be heard here.) Cover art and album tracklist are below.

Finberg, who has also played in Thee Oh Sees and Wounded Lion in the last year, recently relocated Seattle to Los Angeles, and apparently has LA and Seattle versions of the band. (No tour dates yet.) The added sunshine of his new home doesn't seem to have affected his outlook on the world just yet, though the album -- the band's seventh -- opens with a song called "I Like L.A." We'll see if Finberg ever finds love.

"They Found Me in the Back of the Galaxy" will also be on one side of a split 7" that The Intelligence is sharing with Kelley Stoltz. Speaking of, Stoltz has a new 7" single out via French label Les Discs Steak that you can stream below.

Continue reading "The Intelligence releasing 'Everybody's Got it Easy But Me' (MP3) and a split 7" with Kelley Stoltz "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Grass Widow - Goldilocks Zone (MP3)

San Francisco trio Grass Widow will release their new album, Internal Logic, on May 24 via the band's newly-started HLR label. (HLR: Grass Widow's Hannah, Lillian and Raven.) For those who have found previous Grass Widow releases a bit on the obtuse side, the new album (like last year's great "Milo Minute" 7") finds the band in pop mode, or as close as they're going to get. Which means catchy hooks and airy harmonies delivered at an angle. It's a terrific album and you can download its opening track, "Goldilocks Zone," at the top of this post.

New album means new tour, and Grass Widow hit the road at the end of this month, and will be in NYC for the Northside Festival, playing the Panache Booking showcase at Knitting Factory on June 16 with Turbo Fruits, The Black Belles, Gary War, Gap Dream, and Snack Machine. Tickets are on sale now.

All Grass Widow tour dates are listed below, along with a cute little trailer for Internal Logic.

Continue reading "Grass Widow releasing 'Internal Logic' and going on tour, including Northside Festival (MP3, dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Oblivion (Grimes cover) (M4A)

Total Slacker are about to head out on the road with Night Manager. Before they do, they'll play with Heaven's Gate and Turnip King at Cheap Storage in Brooklyn on June 2. Tonight (5/15), Total Slacker will DJ between sets at the Japanther/Night Manager/Wild Yaks/Eula show at the Studio at Webster Hall.

For the tour, Total Slacker have recorded a cover of Grimes' single "Oblivion" which we have for you, hot off the mixing desk (they finished it this afternoon) and free for you to download at the top of this post. Keeping the signature bass line intact, the band's version slowly builds to a post-punk crescendo that wouldn't have sounded out of place in fog machine filled dancefloor in 1981.

Additionally, Total Slacker have given us "Brain Slime," the a-side to the band's new single which is being released on Japanese label Sixteen Tambourines. The cover art for the single is below. The Brooklynites also have a UK split 7" with Friends due out this summer.

Total Slacker tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Total Slacker covered Grimes, going on tour w/ Night Manager"

DOWNLOAD: Joe Jackson - I'm Beginning to See the Light (MP3)

Jazzy new wave icon and legendary piano man Joe Jackson releases his new album The Duke on June 24 via Razor & Tie. As the album title suggests, it's a tribute to Duke Ellington. You can download "I'm Beginning to See the Light" from it at the top of this post.

Jackson will be touring in support of the record, including two dates at Town Hall on September 21 and 22. Tickets for those shows go on sale TODAY, 5/11, at 11AM.

He also stops in Red Bank, NJ. All Joe Jackson tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Joe Jackson releasing 'The Duke,' touring (MP3, dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Wymond Miles - "Pale Moon" (MP3)

this is VÅR...
we mentioned that Crystal Stilts played 285 Kent with Woods over the weekend, it was their only announced non-festival date. I guess technically that's still true, but not really, because they're now set to play the Sacred Bones party at the Northside Festival on Glasslands on June 17. The lineup also includes Amen Dunes, Iceage side-project War who are now called VÅR, Wymond Miles (of Fresh & Onlys), and Warthog. Tickets are on sale now.

It's probably a good idea that War changed their name, and according to the band, VÅR (which translates to "spring") is not just a change in name, but also a change in direction. They've released their first new video as VÅR (pictured above), for the track, "In Your Arms," which you can watch below. Their debut LP is set to come out next year on Sacred Bones. The Northside party will be the US live debut for VÅR.

Amen Dunes in Chicago in February (more by Grant MacAllister)

Speaking of Amen Dunes, he just released the Ethio Covers 7", which consists of three covers of Ethiopian songs. One of those, "Ethio Song," can be streamed below.

For Wymond Miles, the Northside show is part of a June tour he'll be going on, most of which is with labelmates Psychic Ills (who plays Death by Audio on 5/25 with Ex Cops and PC Worship). That tour will be in support of Under the Pale Moon, his debut full length and followup to the Earth Has Doors EP, which came out earlier this year. Under the Pale Moon will be released on June 12 via Sacred Bones. Download the track, "Pale Moon," above or stream it below.

Lastly, Warthog (formerly Chain Wallet) is a new Brooklyn "supergroup" which includes Chris Hansell (who left The Men in 2011 to be replaced by Ben Greenberg aka Hubble) and members of Nomos, Nude Beach, Creem, and Dawn of Humans. They played their first show at 538 Johnson on April 8 with Hoax, Veins, and Raw Nerve. Check out footage of most of that show below.

All dates, videos, and streams below...

Continue reading "War changed name to VÅR, making U.S. debut @ Sacred Bones showcase (w/ Crystal Stilts, Wymond Miles & Amen Dunes)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Zambri - ICBYS (Ice Choir Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ice Choir - Teletrips (MP3)

Fixtures on the Brooklyn scene for a while now, sisterly duo Zambri released their debut, House of Baasa, about a month ago o Kanine records. Dark and sweaty, it's a bit like a Jungle Themed Siouxsie Sioux with a number of standout tracks -- "Carry," "ICBYS," and "Hundred Hearts" which you can watch the video for below. You can stream the whole album below as well.

Zambri have a few other dates coming up -- including the Kanine Records Northside showcase at Knitting Factory on June 14 with Eternal Summers, Bleeding Rainbow, Beach Day and some TBDs -- which are all listed below.

Zambri, with their seriously awesome drummer and complicated microphones, play tonight (5/10) at Public Assembly as part of a pretty good bill. Also playing are Computer Magic (aka Brooklynite Danielle Johnson) who makes appealing retro-y synthpop. Her debut EP, Orion, is out now and you can stream it below.

Openers Test House just released their debut EP, Bitemarks, a couple weeks ago. The duo make glitchy dance music and you can stream the EP below. They have a pedigree too: Peter Schuette used to be in Silk Flowers and Psychobuildings, and James Elliot spent time in Bear in Heaven and School of Seven Bells.

DJing between sets is Pains of Being Pure at Heart drummer Kurt Feldman who also fronts '80s romo-loving Ice Choir. Feldman remixed Zambri's "ICBYS" which is downloadable above, and they just dropped the first taste of Ice Choir's debut album, Afar, which is out in July on Underwater Peoples. You can download that above too.

Streams and Zambri tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Zambri released 'House of Baasa,' playing tonight with Computer Magic, Test House & DJ Ice Choir (who have a new MP3) "

DOWNLOAD: Heavenly Beat - "Messiah" (MP3)

Xeno and Oaklander at BV-CMJ 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn synth goths Xeno and Oaklander have an upcoming local show this week at Public Assembly on Friday (5/11) with Frank (Just Frank), and DJ sets by Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J, CREEP and Todd Pendu. (There's also an open Asahi beer bar at 9:30.) Tickets are still available.

Next month, the band will head to Austin for Chaos in Tejas, and upon returning home, they'll play another NYC show at The Studio at Webster Hall on June 11 with fellow goths Plastic Flowers and Religious to Damn and fellow electronic artist Autre Ne Veut. Tickets are on sale now. The flier for this show is below.

In related news, Martial Canterel (aka Sean McBride aka 1/2 of Xeno and Oaklander) is opening for Iceage at LPR on 7/22 with Dirty Beaches and RØSENKØPF. Tickets are still available

RØSENKØPF also plays Glasslands with King Dude soon, in celebration of a new record. That record has a song called "Light The Way" which has a video which you can watch below.

In addition to DJing the Friday Public Assembly show, David J is also DJing tonight (5/10) at Elmurst club Arena Queens. Besides his gigs in Bauhaus and Love & Rockets (and Porno for Pyros and The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy), David J has a long solo career as well, having released his eighth album, Not Long for This World, last year on Starry Records. You can stream some of it here.

In more related news, Plastic Flowers have a NYC show coming up at Glasslands on July 10 with Captured Tracks bands Cosmetics and Beach Fossils side project Heavenly Beat (who has a new song out, download above), and Psychobuildings. Tickets are on sale now.

Speaking of both Cosmetics and Dirty Beaches, Exclaim points out that Montreal's Grand Trine have broken up and member Shubhayan Roy has joined Dirty Beaches while Tobias Rochman has joined Cosmetics.

All dates, stream, and flier below...

Continue reading "more Xeno & Oaklander dates; Autre Ne Veut; David J the DJ; new Heavenly Beat MP3 & a RØSENKØPF video too"

DOWNLOAD: Niki & the Dove - The Fox (MP3)

Swedish duo Niki & the Dove will release their debut album, Instinct, on Sub Pop on August 7. That's the airbrush-overload cover art above. (You can get it via iTunes on June 12.) Before that they'll be in Brooklyn for the Northside Festival, playing the Popgun party at Glasslands on June 14 with openers Selebrities. A limited number of Northside badges will be admitted, but advance tickets are on sale now.

In September, like The Vaselines, Niki & the Dove will be in for the Bumbershoot Festival (Sub Pop is currating a stage). The Vaselines also have an upcoming NYC show.

Niki & the Dove were last here in March right before SXSW and you can see photos from their Knitting Factory show here. Music videos for "Tomorrow" and "The Fox" are below.

Continue reading "Niki & the Dove releasing 'Instinct,' playing Northside Fest"

DOWNLOAD: The Vaselines - Sex with an Ex (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Vaselines - I Hate the '80s (MP3)

The Vaselines return to America this summer for a few shows, including an August 30 stop at The Bell House in Brooklyn (on sale Friday at noon). They'll also play San Francisco and Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival.

After breaking up in 1989, the influential Glaswegian indie band reformed in 2008 and released Sex with an Ex on Sub Pop in 2010. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. Tour dates, all three of them, are below, along with the video for "Sex with an Ex."

Continue reading "The Vaselines playing the Bell House, Bumbershoot"