(photo via The National's Instagram)

As mentioned, The National are playing small NYC shows today, including Mercury Lounge at 10 PM (tickets go on sale at noon), Public Assembly at 5 PM (free if they select you for a ticket), and now they've announced a very-last-minute one happening at Sycamore in Ditmas Park at 12:30 PM. The venue is (or was) booked by Jessica Dessner, sister of The National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner.

The show was announced via the instagram which is pictured above and included the caption, "Care to join us for lunch? Doors at noon, show 1230 see you soon?". It was announced so last minute, as to obviously keep anyone but their neighbors and people who knew about the show away from the super small show in in their hood of Ditmas Park.

If you can't get into any of today's small shows, there's still the huge Barclays Center show on June 5 with Youth Lagoon. Tickets for that show are still available and we're also giving away a pair.

UPDATE: Here's a pic from the Sycamore show (via The National's Instagram):

The National's new album, Trouble Will Find Me, is out today. Video for its single, "Sea of Love," below...

Continue reading "The National playing Sycamore in Ditmas Park at 12:30 PM"

by Fred Pessaro

Lets face it, I've always been more of an East Coast guy when it came to hip hop. In the classic 2Pac vs BIG (happy birthday Mr. Wallace!) discussion, I fall BIG every time. Wu-Tang was always more important to me than No Limit, the south or Cali crews like Freestyle Fellowship and Heiroglyphics. Yet there is always an exception to every rule, and that exception is Souls of Mischief's classic, 93 til Infinity:

93 'til Infinity is the debut album by Souls of Mischief[, and was] ...propelled into success by its title track and lead single, which reached #72 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also featured singles "That's When Ya Lost" and "Never No More" which reached the Hot Rap Singles, but never charted on The Billboard Hot 100. According to Allmusic author Steve Huey, "Although the title cut is an underappreciated classic, 93 'til Infinity makes its greatest impression through its stunning consistency, not individual highlights." Huey also goes on to remark that 93 'til Infinity is "one of the most slept-on records of the '90s". -[Wiki]

Full tour dates are listed, along with classic videos, below.

Continue reading "Souls of Mischief celebrating 20 years of '93 Til Infinity' on tour"

by Andrew Sacher

Philly neo-soul singer Bilal returned this year with his highly accessible and slightly psychedelic new album, A Love Surreal, which came out this past February. He celebrated it in NYC with a "nearly packed" release show at Highline Ballroom that month, and earlier this May he kicked off the album's world tour. That tour brings him back to NYC for a show at SOB's on June 9. Tickets for the SOB's show are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

Last week (5/14), Bilal performed with The Roots (who he's collaborated with before) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, playing a cover of Steely Dan's "Black Cow." You can check out that video, the music video for A Love Surreal single "Back to Love," the tour trailer, and tour flyer, below...

Continue reading "Bilal released 'A Love Surreal', on tour (dates & videos)"

The National in Ithaca (more by PSquared Photography)

The National's new album, Trouble Will Find Me, is out today (Pitchfork gave it Best New Music) and the band took a night from their just-started tour to play The Late Show with David Letterman last night. Video of that is below.

The band are still in town and will celebrate the new record tonight (5/21) with a very intimate show at Mercury Lounge. Tickets to that go on sale at noon. Good luck.

UPDATE: They're playing small NYC clubs all day, apparently, including Public Assembly at 5 PM. To go to that, email troublewillfindmentnl@gmail.com and confirmation emails will be sent by 3 PM. There may be more and you can follow their Twitter to find out.

UPDATE 2: Purchase the record IN STORE at Other Music today before 4pm and you'll be entered to win a pair of tickets (to Mercury Lounge we assume). Winner will be notified between 4 and 5pm.

If you can't get tickets for tonight, there are still tickets available for The National's slightly larger scale show at Barclays Center on June 5.

Letterman video below...

Continue reading "The National played 'Letterman,' playing free show at Public Assembly this afternoon, Mercury Lounge TONIGHT (tickets on sale at noon)"

by Andrew Sacher

Brooklyn-based band Slow Warm Death is the current project of John Galm, who previously fronted the beloved math-emo band Snowing (and before that Street Smart Cyclist), but for this project he's taking the lo-fi/garage rock route, and he does the sound just as well and genuine as his previous style. They've shared local bills with bands like Literature and LODRO, and if you're into that kind of scene, Slow Warm Death will be right up your alley.

This past March, Slow Warm Death released their self-titled album on limited edition cassette (which is now sold out) and digitally. For a guy whose previous bands included lots of noodley guitar playing, on this record, the guitars are thick and rhythm oriented. It's got a punked up style that brings to mind bands like The Stooges or even that recent Ceremony album, but it's not without its hooks either. You can stream the album in full below or download it (name your price) at bandcamp.

As usual, the band have some local dates scheduled, including this Saturday (5/25) at Shea Stadium opening the previously discussed Lemuria show, which also has Bridge and Tunnel and Jeff Rosenstock (of Bomb the Music Industry) on the bill. Tickets for that show are still available. After that, they have shows scheduled at The Paper Box on June 3 with Honeydrum and Mannequin Pussy (tickets) and Cake Shop on June 9 with Nona, The Guts and Crow Bait.

UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out, they also play Suburbia on Friday (5/24) (330 Melrose St. in Brooklyn).

Flyer for the Paper Box show, a live video, and the album stream below...

Continue reading "Slow Warm Death -- upcoming dates, live video & LP stream"

Death Grips at MHOW in 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro)

Punk-rap crew Death Grips are touring internationally this spring/summer, and in August, surrounding their appearances at Lollapalooza, Osheaga, and FYF Fest, they'll come to NYC for a show on August 7 at Webster Hall. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Wednesday (5/22) at noon.

In related news, drummer Zach Hill, who isn't currently on tour with them in Europe, is working on a film, which Death Grips will be soundtracking. The group also have a new album planned.

All dates are listed, along with a video, below...

Continue reading "Death Grips going on tour this summer (dates)"

The Blind Boys of Alabama @ Town Hall, 5/17/2013 (via @danatrixieflynn Instagram)

The Blind Boys of Alabama tour hit NYC on Friday (5/17) at Town Hall with Betty LaVette. The group have just announced they've signed with Sony Masterworks who will release their new album this fall. "We are thrilled to be on our new label, and we have a real surprise on the way with this new album. I think it's the coolest thing we've ever done," says 80-something singer Jimmy Carter who is the last original member still touring with The Blind Boys. That surprise, or at least one of them, is that Justin Vernon of Bon Iver will produce the album. Special guests are promised too and we'll just have to wait to find out what's in store.

In the meantime, Blind Boys of Alamaba's tour rolls on. All dates are listed below.

Continue reading "The Blind Boys of Alabama on tour, played Town Hall; Justin Vernon producing their new album"

Kirin J Callinan at BV-CMJ 2012 (more by Nate "Igor" Smith)

Kirin J Callinan, who played 285 Kent and a private show last week, and who will be back next month while on tour with Ariel Pink, has added a FREE last minute Brooklyn show at Public Assembly tonight (5/20) with Diamond Terrifier, Amen Dunes (who played our show at Knitting Factory last week - photos HERE and HERE), Uumans, and more.

The Public Assembly show may be the first time Callinan and Diamond Terrifier aka Sam Hillmer (aka Zs) will be performing as labelmates. DT recently signed to the label co-run by a member of Grizzly Bear, as we briefly mentioned before. The show is the record release party for DT's The Subtle Body Wears A Shadow, due on May 28. Kirin's debut album Embracism is due out July 2nd via Terrible Records in partnership with XL Recordings.

Videos for Diamond Terrifier's "Triple Gem" (which we premiered) and Kirin J Callnin's NSFW "Embracism," as well as the show flyer are below.

Continue reading "Diamond Terrifier celebrating Terrible Records release w/ labelmate Kirin J Callinan, Amen Dunes & more (free show tonight)"

by Andrew Sacher

San Francisco producer oOoOO has put out a few solid EPs on the Tri Angle label over the past couple of years, and now he's finally set to release his debut full length, which is called Without Your Love. The album will come out on June 24 via his own label which is called Nihjgt Feelings, and no, that wasn't a typo. oOoOO has released two singles from the album so far, including the super-dark "Mouchette" and "Stay Here," which features some auto-tuned R&B vocals from ML. Check those out, along with the album art and tracklist, below.

As mentioned, oOoOO will be going on a tour with Groundislava, and though that tour doesn't hit NYC, both artists will play their own shows at Brooklyn venue Glasslands before the tour begins. oOoOO's show is a previously discussed date happening on May 23 with Selebrities and Dark Sister. Tickets for that show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter to win tickets are below.

Groundislava's Glasslands show is a previously discussed date happening exactly a week later on May 30 with Fur and Time Wharp. Tickets for that show are still available too.

In related news, we recently posted pictures and a video from oOoOO collaborator Butterclock on BV Chicago.

All dates are listed, along with those song streams and album info, below...

Continue reading "oOoOO releasing debut LP -- song streams & updated dates (win tix to the Glasslands show!)"

by Andrew Sacher

Roomrunner at WBAR-B-Q 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Baltimore's Roomrunner are releasing their debut LP, Ideal Cities, next week (5/28) via Fan Death, but you can now listen to it ahead of its release date at SPIN. When last writing about the album, I said:

The album has the clearest production of anything the band has put out to date, but it's far from overly polished. Guitar riffs pile on top of each other in a Siamese Dream/In Utero sort of way, putting Roomrunner in a league of other current bands like California X and Milk Music that actually make the term "grunge" sound appealing again.

Updated dates are listed, along with a video of them playing "Bait Car" at Death by Audio, below...

Continue reading "Roomrunner streaming debut LP, reschedule release show"