photos by Chris La Putt; words by Bill Pearis

Speedmarket Avenue

Like years past, NYC Popfest 2012 kicked off with a show at Cake Shop. Finland's Burning Hearts, who played Popfest in 2009 as well, headlined the night with a set of shimmering guitars and warm synthesizers. Also from that general part of the world were Sweden's Speedmarket Avenue who debuted a bunch of strident, emotive new material (and a new line-up) at Cake Shop.

The rest of the Thursday's opening gala was all local: Dear Marje came out of hibernation for a set of charmingly shambolic tunes; Heaven's Gate treaded the line between shoegazy pop and bluesier material; and openers The Marshmallows recalled the '90s heyday of indiepop.

More Popfest coverage is on its way. Check out more pictures and some videos from Thursday's show below...

Continue reading "NYC Popfest Night 1: Burning Hearts, Speedmarket Avenue, Dear Marje, Heaven's Gate, The Marshmallows (pics, video)"

by Bill Pearis

Ski Lodge are putting the finishing touches on their debut LP which will be out later this summer. In the meantime, the band have just released a video for "A Game," the jangly opening track from Ski Lodge's enjoyably tuneful EP from last year. In it, a girl makes breakfast while main Lodge resident Andrew Marr strums his guitar unaware on the couch. Some people like fruit in their cereal. Apparently others like blood. Watch it below.

In other news, Ski Lodge play The Rock Shop on Thursday (5/24), opening for The Spinto Band who are playing the final week of their residency at the club. The Extraordinaires are also on the bill and tickets are still available. And look for a new single from Ski Lodge, "Just to Be Like You," which will drop in a couple weeks.

Video below...

Continue reading "Ski Lodge made a video (premiere), playing The Rock Shop"

Tim Fite released his tenth solo album, Ain't Ain't Ain't, back in March, the last of his "Ain't" trilogy. (Gone Ain't Gone and Fair Ain't Fair being the others.) He just released the video for the album's new single, "Bully," and in it he plays a bike salesman/thief who peddles his wares all over Williamburg. Let the buyer beware, but in this case it may be the seller who should watch out. You can watch the video below.

Tim's got a couple NJ shows coming up, both of which are with O Death: Asbury Lanes on May 25 and May 26 at Maxwell's (tickets) that the Amboys play as well. O Death (minus Tim) also play Glasslands on June 9 with Pop. 1280 and the Colin L. Orchestra (tickets).

Continue reading "Tim Fite made a new video for "Bully" (premiere)"

Coachella 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Dude falling from wooden Coachella art and more Youtube fun from this year's festival, below...

Continue reading "VIDEOS: 'Guy Falls From Wooden Structure @ Coachella 2012'"

by BBG

Still from OFF!'s "Wiped Out" video

OFF! are back with their first official LP due on May 8th via Vice Records. The self-titled LP is the source of the recently released "King King Brigade" and a track called "Wiped Out" which now has a video which makes its debut here. Watch it below. Preorder a copy of the album on vinyl or CD.

As previously discussed, OFF! are touring in May and July (with Refused), and are scheduled to play two NYC shows in those months, including May 29 at Bowery Ballroom with Cerebral Ballzy and The Coathangers (tickets) and July 18th at Williamsburg Park with Refused (tickets).

They've since added even more shows in Europe. All dates, the new video and a stream of "King Kong Brigade", below...

Continue reading "OFF! add tour dates, are "Wiped Out" (video premiere)"

Lil B has dropped another nugget of ridiculosity with "Ima Eat Her A$$". On YouTube he writes:

THIS IS A BASED FREESTYLE FOR THE WOMEN,
THIS IS VERY RARE THAT LIL B HAS SHOWN HIS FACE FOR THE PEOPLE TO SEE HIM,
PROTECT LIL B AND IF YOU LOVE LIL B TELL THE WORLD- Lil B

The supremely eloquent MC will also speak at an NYU event on April 11th, tickets are $5 with NYU ID and $10 to the public. Make sure to get there to witness the "AMAZING HISTORICAL VERY POSITIVE FIRST LECTURE, PROGRESSION, 4 LIFE".

Videos below....

Continue reading "Lil B speaking at NYU, drops more videos with NSFW titles"

Somebody call Madonna, I think this girl may have found Molly....

Continue reading "NSFW video: drunk girl sexes up tree @ Ultra Music Festival"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo; words by Bill Pearis

Daughter @ Glasslands

UK trio Daughter had their first U.S. shows this past weekend playing Mercury Lounge on Friday (3/9) and Glasslands on Saturday (3/10). I made it to the latter which happened prior to the BV-presented Django Django show.

In essence, Daughter is a showcase for the talents of singer/songwriter Elena Tonra who spoke with nervous laughter and a wry sense of humor which offset the sometimes dour natures of her lyrics. "This song is about death," was how she intro'd "Landfill," the lead track off Daughter's His Young Heart which just came out on bigshot indie label Glassnote (Mumford & Sons, Phoenix). Tonra's breathy delivery fits well with her delicate fingerpicking skills and minor chord melodies, but it was her band that elevated it above the overcrowded folk millieu. Guitarist Igor Haefeli had a bank of pedals at his feet, favoring spooky atmospherics over traditional lead parts, and even used a bow at one point to great effect. Drummer Remi Aguilella kept it simple, though on a couple songs played bass at the same time. "Love," which closes the His Young Heart EP, was especially impressive with an extended outro which you could imagine getting a killer trance/house remix. Somebody do that please.

Daughter's in Austin now for SXSW fun, including our Hotel Vegan day party on Friday (1PM) that also sports Widowspeak, Django Django, Nardwuar's band The Evaporators, TRUST, The Black Angels, Youth Lagoon and lots more. If you're in Austin, do try and catch them even if its not at our thing.

Back to the Glasslands show, I missed Icelandic opener Lay Low, though I had seen them at M for Montreal in 2010. Dominick did, however, and got some nice pictures which you can see below, along with more photos of Daughter. There's also video of Daughter's entire Mercury Lounge show (shot by iwaseasymeat) down there as well. Check it out....

Continue reading "Daughter played Glasslands with Lay Low (pics) & Mercury Lounge (video), playing BV-SXSW"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo, video by Jessica Amaya; words by Bill Pearis

Django Django were a genuine hit at their first-ever U.S performance Saturday night at Glasslands. It reminded me of seeing Hot Chip at Bowery Ballroom in 2006, and not just because they're somewhat nerdy guys making dance music. Their album is only out digitally in the U.S. and while I knew *I* really liked them, but didn't realize so many others did too. Glasslands was packed to the wazoo and people were dancing like mad -- and not just to singles "Waveforms" and "Default." "We just finished our first European tour and nobody danced this much!" admitted singer/guitarist Vincent Neff who, along with the rest of the group, seemed genuinely taken aback by their reception. It was one of those nights where the band and audience fed off each other's energy, making for a very, very enjoyable evening.

A little more of a rock band live than on record, Django Django nonetheless brought the invention of their debut to the stage with lots of percussion, including maracas, coconut shells and the biggest tambourine I've ever seen. Opening with "Hail Bop," the band played almost their entire LP, save for "Zumm" and the ethereal "Hand of Man." Best moments for me were Duane Eddy-ish "Life's a Beach" and "WOR," show-closer "Waveforms," stomping new single "Storm" (which photographers Jessica Amaya and Dominick Mastrangelo shot great video of, below) and, surprisingly, the instrumental "Cairo" which is a bit of a novelty on record but became a wonder of intstrument switching and additional percussion live.

If you missed it, Django Django play again tonight at Santos, a show BrooklynVegan is presenting with Neon Gold and Popgun that also features Charli XCX and Clock Opera. We're giving away tickets too and there's still time to win. Django Django will then head to Austin for SXSW, so if you're going you should definitely make an effort to see them.

Subbing for a Visa-issue-beleagured Kwes was D. Gookin, whose music reminds me of a LEN for the Laptop Whatever generation. He needs to try a little harder with the live show (or move into the producer/writer mode for others) but his reggae-tinged songs are pop hook delivery devices and I ended up liking it. Kwes, meanwhile, has sorted out his problems at the border and rescheduled his Glasslands show for next Monday (3/19).

Pictures and video of Django Django, and photos of D.Gookin are after the jump...

Continue reading "Django Django and D.Gookin played Glasslands (pics, video)"

Don't ever accuse Lemuria of going half-assed. One month after the band released the new video for "Wise People" (their first video), Lemuria is back with a second for "Pleaser" which is premiering in this post. Both songs come from Lemuria's latest LP Pebble, which hit last year via Bridge 9 and features J.Robbins at the board.

Check out both videos, and a comment from the "Pleaser" video's director Thom Glunt below.

Continue reading "Lemuria made videos for 'Wise People' & 'Pleaser' (premiere)"