DOWNLOAD: A-Trak - Fool's Gold Radio - December 2011 Mix (MP3)

A-Trak at DCTV in October (more by Bryan Bruchman)

A-Trak, who heads out on the Holy Ship! cruise in January, has a few North American dates scheduled for when he returns, including one in NYC at Webster Hall on January 13. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

A-Trak recently put out a single with Zinc called "Stingray," which you can download from iTunes. The single includes a remix of the track by Benga as the b-side and you can stream both of those tracks below.

Benga (and Skream) also has a NYC show coming up which goes on sale at noon today (12/22). Skream & Benga put out a free EP via Scion earlier this month. Download at the link

A-Trak also just did a mix for Fool's Gold which includes Fatboy Slim, Kid Sister, BS1, and others. You can download it above and stream it below. The tracklist is below too.

All dates and streams below...

Continue reading "A-Trak shows, a December mix, Benga (dates & MP3s)"

A-Trak, Lord Finesse and Roc Raida (R.I.P)

They say that the good die young, and that was definitely the case for the legendary Roc Raida, who passed from this mortal plane two years ago. In memoriam, A-Trak will link up with DJ Premier, DJ Stretch Armstrong, and the rest of Roc Raida's crew, X-Ecutioners, for an event to remember the turntablist and pioneer. Tickets are still available for the 10/25 event at Brooklyn Bowl.

A-Trak just played NYC on Saturday night as part of a SPIN CMJ event with the Rapture & Crystal Castles. Pictures HERE.

In related news, Duck Sauce (featuring A-Trak with Armand Van Helden) recently released the new single "Big Bad Wolf" to iTunes. Check out the video below.

Continue reading "Roc Raida tribute/benefit w/ A-Trak, Premier & more this week"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

The Rapture

The Rapture, Crystal Castles & A-Trak played a show at DCTV firehouse in Chinatown on Saturday night (10/22). Here are some pictures from the dance party (hopefully you danced with that lineup!). They continue below...

Continue reading "The Rapture, Crystal Castles & A-Trak played a SPIN/Ray-Ban CMJ party @ DCTV (pics)"

photos by Tim Griffin

As you may have heard, SPIN is throwing a Ray Ban-sponsored party in NYC Saturday night with the giant lineup that is the Rapture, Crystal Castles and A-Trak. They're giving away tickets through various methods. One of those is right here on BrooklynVegan. For instructions on how you can enter to win a pair (if you're 21+), see below.

The Rapture were just on a tour that brought them to La Zona Rosa in Austin on 10/12. Here are some pictures from that show too. More of them with the contest details, below...

Continue reading "The Rapture played La Zona Rosa (pics), playing SPIN party Saturday w/ Crystal Castles & A-Trak (win tix!)"

photos by Ryan Muir, words by Andrew Frisicano

Rick Ross / DFA1979

One Hanson Place, the cavernous ground-floor space of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, served as the venue for a free-if-you-could-get-in Vice-sponsored concert on Thursday. As expected, the Weeknd didn't appear (he canceled the week before). Instead, the main attractions were Rick Ross, Death From Above 1979, a half dozen other bands, free beer and liquor and the Art Deco interior itself. A second stage in the basement--located inside a room-sized vault, with giant metallic doors at its entrance--featured acts like Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Anamanaguchi, Hanni El Khatib, Total Slacker and the Men. A-Trak was supposed to play, but cancelled after the sudden passing of his friend DJ Mehdi.

Tanlines kicked off the upstairs with songs that were aided by the high-vaulted ceilings and the reverb-heavy acoustics. Death from Above 1979 didn't fare as well; their songs already sound blown out and distorted on record, and the live show sacrifices any remaining fidelity for raw power. That said, both Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler--one in white, one in black--put on spirited performances, thrashing around, with Sebastien at one point crawling along the bank teller windows into the crowd.

Rick Ross took the stage around 1am, after a brief intro set from Maybach Music Group rapper Stalley. The boss's set of about 35 minutes sped through songs that included "John," "9 Piece," "Hustin", "BMF", "MC Hammer," DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" and "I'm On One," Waka's "O Let's Do It," and "Tupac Back" and "Ima Boss" (both Meek Mill's songs I think technically), at least for a chorus or two. Directly in front of the stage, where Ross' verses and exhortations were crystal clear, you could really get a sense of his imposing presence (DJ seemed genuinely afraid after starting one song too soon) and his ability to queue up any tune and make it totally his.

The amount of people upstairs was comfortable and not-overpacked; the downstairs, then, could be described as sadly under-attended. Unknown Mortal Orchestra had the benefit of playing before the main-stage acts started and sounded great. Hanni El Khatib, who played as a two-piece, shuffled out grungy, Americana-influenced rock, but to an audience of only about 50. One of the most pleasant surprise for me was Anamanaguchi, who I haven't seen in a few years. The quartet has molded themselves into an impressive instrumental outfit--with their NES as a less-dominant member--as they navigated their songs' post-rock-inspired swoops and climaxes with skill.

The Men closed the night with a post-2am set for the stragglers that hadn't yet succumbed to the hazards of the open bar. On my way downstairs I passed a handful of people doubled over, getting carried out by the EMTs. Downstairs wasn't much safer: at one point, a mic stand went flying into the crowd landing squarely on someone's head (hope you're alright dude).

More pictures from most of the night below...

Continue reading "pics from the Vice party in a bank (Death From Above 1979, Rick Ross, Anamanaguchi, Tanlines & more)"

DFA1979 fans @ Lollapalooza 2011 (more by Grant MacAllister)

The Weeknd was playing and then not playing and now it's this:

Following years of hard work, arm wrestling over domain names, and a little bit of high-tech stuff that we can't even begin to understand, we're proud to announce that VICE.COM is here. We've combined VBS.TV and Viceland.com to create super content one-stop-shop for all the videos and words you've come to expect from VICE.

Being that we're VICE, we decided to throw a party to celebrate our new URL with our best friends, like you and Rick Ross. RSVP is now open, details and flier below. Space will be limited.

Full Frontal VICE | The Official Launch of VICE.COM | Presented by boinc

Thursday, September 15th | 9:00PM - 3:00AM
Skylight One Hanson | One Hanson Place, Brooklyn

Performances by:
Rick Ross | A Trak | Death From Above 1979

And More Bands
Tanlines
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
The Men
Hanni El Khatib
Anamanaguchi
Total Slacker

And DJs
Nick Zinner
Black Lips
The New York Night Train
Lemonade
True Panther
Greenie

Complimentary Svedka and Grolsch | Invitation is non-transferable. 21+ and Photo ID required

Toronto R&B singer The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) is set to make his US live debut in NYC on September 15 at Skylight One Hanson. The performance is part of Vice's Upfront Extravaganza party in honor of the launch of their new URL Vice.com. The party also includes live and DJ sets by A-Trak, Tanlines, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Nick Zinner (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and Black Lips. Stay tuned for more details. All we could confirm so far is that this is happening. We can only assume that some sort of RSVP will pop up at some point.

The Weeknd has released two mixtapes this year, House of Balloons and Thursday, and expects to release a third, Echoes of Silence, this fall. Some tracks off both of those mixtapes are below...

Continue reading "The Weeknd making US live debut at Vice.com event in NYC (next week!)"

Fool's Gold Day Off is returning to the City Winery Backyard on September 5 (aka Labor Day) with Juicy J, Danny Brown, AraabMUZIK, Just Blaze, Brothers Macklovitch (A-Trak & Dave1), Cubic Zirconia, and more. The all ages event runs from 2-8 PM and admission is free.

Juicy J aka 1/2 of Three 6 Mafia also has other dates coming up, all of which are listed below.

As previously mentioned, AraabMUZIK also tours with and opens for SBTRKT at Bowery Ballroom (10/31). SBTRKT's show the next night (11/1) at MHOW in Brooklyn didn't have an opener, but now it does and it's Cubic Zirconia. Tickets for both of those shows are still on sale.

Danny Brown tours with Das Racist in September.

A show flier and a video from last year's Day Off and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Fool's Gold Day Off coming (free outdoor NYC show w/ Juicy J & more), Cubic Zirconia also opening for SBTRKT"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A-Trak @ Fool's Gold Records the store

'This past weekend Fool's Gold record company opened the doors to their brand new retail store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We attended the opening day reception which we got to check out the store's merchandise and actually meet with the Fools Gold artists. In the store people got a chance to meet the founder of the label DJ A-Trak and Fools Gold's newest signee rapper Danny Brown from Detroit. The Fool's Gold Store carries music, clothing and all sorts of Fools Gold memorabilia. There is even a large backyard space which will be used for future events there, make sure you visit the store on 536 Metropolitan Ave. [Jungle Gym]

In somewhat related news, Fool's Gold associates The Rub are celebrating their 9th anniversary on the other side of Brooklyn, at Southpaw tonight (7/2). The party flyer, a video where The Rub guys interview the Fool's Gold guys, a letter from the Rub's Cosmo Baker, and more of the Fool's Gold store pics, below...

Continue reading "Fool's Gold store opened in Brooklyn (pics), The Rub turning 9 (party at Southpaw tonight)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A-Trak @ Terminal 5 on April 30th

HARD Events, Cloud 9 Adventures, and Bowery Presents have announced the first Holy Ship! cruise (which is the new name for "HARD Cruise"). The cruise leaves Ft. Lauderdale on January 6 aboard the MSC Poesia with stops in Port Lucaya, Bahamas and a private island, returning to Ft. Lauderdale on January 9. The lineup includes Fatboy Slim, Diplo, Rusko, A-Trak, Steve Aoki, Skrillex, Destructo and others. Tickets go on sale June 15 via the Holy Ship! website. The full lineup is listed below.

A Pre-Cruise kickoff party will take place at Revolution Live in Florida on January 5. More details and lineup to be announced.

On January 8, 2012 the cruise stops at a private island where Fatboy Slim, Diplo, Buraka Som Sistema, and Dillon Francis play the first ever Holy Ship! Beach Boutique party.

--

Fatboy Slim also plays the new Dance.Here.Now Festival which is taking place on the Beach at Governor's Island from July 1st-4th, 2011 (Paul Van Dyk, Benny Benassi, and Victor Calderone are also headliners at the Pacha-presented event). Early Bird tickets are on sale at their website.

A-Trak played a headlining show at Terminal 5 back on April 30th with Clipse and the Gaslamp Killer. More picutres from the show with the full Holy Ship! lineup and flyer, below...

Continue reading "Holy Ship! (not Hard Cruise) lineup ++ Fatboy Slim also playing 'Dance.Here.Now' on Governors Island ++++ live A-Trak pics"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Matthewdavid - Like You Mean It (MP3)

Gaslamp Killer at LPR (more by Chris Doss)

Gaslamp Killer will bring his throbbing electronic beats to Brooklyn, as he has added another NYC date at Knitting Factory on May 28th with Matthewdavid. Tickets are on sale.

For those of you counting at home, that makes TWO NYC dates for Gaslamp Killer, who'll also open the festivites at Terminal 5 on 4/30, alongside the turntable wizardry of A-Trak, the cocaine-storytelling of Clipse and Kid Sister as part of the Magic 8-Ball tour. Tickets are still available for that 4/30 show, but you can also try to win a pair of tickets. Details on the BrooklynVegan contest are at the bottom of this post.

Knitting Factory show opener Matthewdavid has been quickly climbing upwards in the electronic world after releasing the International EP on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label this past March. Matthewdavid (real name Matthew McQueen) tells Pitchfork that he and FlyLo, who are both part of the LA beat scene, met back in 2006 at a FlyLo gig at Low End Theory and have influenced each other's sound since. Like FlyLo and other Brainfeeder musicians, Matthewdavid creates instrumental hip hop beats with an experimental spin. He douses glitchy beats with a layer of ambience, while occasionally throwing in dubstep-y bass. He recently followed up his EP with the Outmind LP released April 19 via Brainfeeder (despite having his own label Leaving Records). The album features contributions from Flying Lotus, Niki Randa, and Dogbite. Download the track "Like You Mean It" off Outmind above.

All tour dates, the contest details and some videos are below....

Continue reading "Matthewdavid released 'Outmind' (MP3), playing Brooklyn w/ Gaslamp Killer who is on tour w/ A-Trak (win T5 tix)"

by BBG

Vado performing with Dipset at Best Buy (more by Brook Bobbins)

Cam'ron protege Vado will headline Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 1st as part of a night of "rising stars of hip hop and R&B" that will also include appearances from Bridget Kelly, Cyhi the Prince, and Leeia Music. Tickets are on sale.

Vado, who recently signed with Interscope, is preparing to release a collaborative LP with Cam'ron entitled Gunz & Butta due on April 19th. Check out the new video for "Girls Cry" below, with a snippet of "Hey Muma" (shot at Don Hill's) directly following.

Cyhi the Prince, who is signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint, recently made an appearance at SXSW along with the rest of the G.O.O.D. crew (John Legend, Common, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Big Sean, and Mr. Hudson). Cyhi the Prince recently dropped a verse on an A-Trak song, "Ray Ban Vision (Remix)", which is streamable below. Reminder, both A-Trak & Pusha T (of Clipse) play Terminal 5 on 4/30. Tickets are still available.

Vado recently performed with Cam'ron's group Dipset at their reunion show in NYC. Look for a new Dipset EP on July 4th entitled Independence Day. Dipset member Jim Jones's new LP Capo is out now. Check out the new and twitter-heavy Jim Jones video for "Everybody Jones" along with a few others below.

Continue reading "Vado's a 'rising star', playing MHOW, releasing LP w/ Cam'ron"

Chromeo at Webster Hall with A-Trak earlier this year (more by Brook Bobbins)

The American Museum of Natural History's One Step Beyond series continues on Friday, April 22nd with DJ sets from Chromeo, Telephoned, and Activaire. Tickets are on sale, and though $25 potentially seems like a hefty price tag, the surroundings (the museum) do make it an extra special place to party. One Step Beyond happens again on May 20 and June 24 with lineups TBA. In February Scissor Sisters were in charge of the music.

Meanwhile, the very fashionable Dave 1 of Chromeo's little brother A-Trak will be in NYC soon too as part of the Magic 8-Ball tour that hits Terminal 5 eight days after the Chromeo appearance (4/30). Tickets are still available for the show that also features Kid Sister, the Gaslamp Killer, and the recently added Clipse (it said "special guests" when the tour was announced).

Both A-Trak and Chromeo are at Coachella this weekend. Updated tour dates for both of them and some recent videos below..

Continue reading "One Step Beyond series continues w/ Chromeo DJing +++ Clipse playing NYC date of A-Trak's Magic 8-Ball tour & stuff "

photos by Brook Bobbins

Art Brut @ Webster Hall - March 4, 2011

Hello. We're Art Brut.

We've completed the recording of our new album 'Brilliant! Tragic!' and working alongside PledgeMusic, we'd like give you a little more than usual and help us go to places Art Brut have never been.

PledgeMusic allows you to pledge towards Art Brut's dream of touring places that have yet to enjoy the live Art Brut experience. You can get a signed CD or Vinyl before 'Brilliant! Tragic!' reaches the stores. But we're also offering weirder and more wonderful options to a limited number of Art Brut aficionados. What about Art Brut karaoke with Eddie or the whole band playing in your front room...

An exclusive new song "Unprofessional Wrestling" (it won't be on the new album) is also available for free download NOW for the price of an email address. The list of songs that will be on the new album is below, along with the Brilliant! Tragic! cover art (the LP is out May 24 via Cooking Vinyl/The End Records).

Art Brut is plotting a return to North America in June. The band will play NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 23rd Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale Wed at noon, and regular sale on Friday. All dates are listed below.

Art Brut were here earlier this year to play the Downtown Records celebration at Webster Hall with The Suzan, A-Trak (whose next NYC show is at Terminal 5), White Denim, & Lissy Trullie. Pictures from that show, album info and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Art Brut releasing new stuff, touring North America, played Webster Hall w/ White Demim, A-Trak & more (pics & dates)"

A-Trak at Terminal 5 (more by Brook Bobbins)

After a pair of appearances at Coachella (as himself and as part of Duck Sauce) A-Trak will hit the road for a string of US dates with Kid Sister and The Gaslamp Killer dubbed the "Magic 8-Ball Tour". That "Magic 8-Ball" rolls into NYC on April 30th at Terminal 5. Tickets aren't listed yet. All dates are below.

Meanwhile catch A-Trak with Art Brut, White Denim, Lissy Trullie, and The Suzan at Webster Hall on March 4th, aka night one of the two night Downtown Records party that continues at Terminal 5 on March 5th with Miike Snow, Major Lazer, Santigold, DJ Mehdi and others. Webster tickets are still on sale, though Terminal 5 is sold out.

If you don't have a ticket for the Terminal 5 show, you can still catch DJ Mehdi at his own headlining date at Music Hall of Williamsburg on March 4th with JDH & Dave P (Fixed). Tickets are still available.

Speaking of dance parties at Music Hall, Holy Ghost!, who opens for Cut Copy at two of their three upcoming Terminal 5 dates, will headline Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 29th. Tickets are still on sale.

Midnight Magic, who just played Music Hall with Escort, opens the 4/6 Cut Copy show which is the only Terminal 5 show with tickets left.

All current tour dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "A-Trak tour dates, DJ Mehdi, Midnight Magic & Holy Ghost! too"

photos by Brook Bobbins

In the Stretch & Bobbito world, mainstream was a four-letter word.

...For the eight years it ran, from 1 to 5 in the early hours of Friday morning, "The Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show" gave early exposure to artists like Jay-Z, Nas and the Wu-Tang Clan, who eventually went on to mainstream stardom. But for every one who made it, there were several who remained in the underground, happily or otherwise.

Of the many guests on Thursday night [at Le Poisson Rouge, Feb 10th]-- including Raekwon and Masta Killa of the Wu-Tang Clan -- the underground stalwarts were the fiercest, and often the most visibly moved. There was the fantastically gravelly Rock, of Heltah Skeltah, who performed a bit of "Laflaur Leflah Eshkoshka," and Artifacts, who were the night's first guests, and whose "Wrong Side of da Tracks" was still sturdy, more than 15 years after it was released.

After solo sets, Masta Ace and Buckshot collaborated for an impromptu reunion of two-thirds of the Crooklyn Dodgers, the one-off group assembled for the soundtrack of the 1994 Spike Lee film, "Crooklyn." Nice & Smooth closed the night, and almost stole it, with vintage hits, a tribute to Guru of Gang Starr, who died last year, and boundless energy.-[NYTimes]

Continue reading "Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito reunited w/ many special guests in the house (pics from Le Poisson Rouge)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A-Trak & Dave 1 @ Webster Hall Friday

In a new Valentine's Day feature posted over at Hearty Magazine, "eligible bachelor" A-Trak says he is "rambunctious" in the sack and hopes not to spend Valentine's Day on an airplane (ok, it's a pretty boring interview actually). On Friday night, after checking out his brother's show at Terminal 5 with The Suzan (who are signed to A-Trak's label Fool's Gold), A-Trak helped his brother DJ at the Chromeo afterparty at Webster Hall (where A-Trak is officially playing with The Suzan on March 4th).

Mr. Oizo played the party too, but Brook wasn't there for his set. More pictures and a couple of video from the Chromeo/A-Trak part (there's a shot of Alex English in there too), below....

Continue reading "A-Trak helped Chromeo DJ their party @ Webster Hall (pics)"

Alt-bros Dave 1 and A-Trak (more by Brook Bobbins)

Miike Snow/Major Lazer/Santigold/etc. at Terminal 5 on March 5th (on sale now) isn't the only birthday party Downtown Records is throwing for itself. They're also hosting A-Trak, Art Brut, White Denim, Lissy Trullie, and The Suzan at Webster Hall on March 4th. Tickets for that first part of the two-day celebration go on sale Saturday (1/29).

A-Trak is also on board for this year's sold-out Cochella Fest, playing not only as A-Trak, but also two days later as part of Duck Sauce (his project with Armand Van Helden).

The Suzan is hitting the road with Chromeo (also are playing Coachella this year) and MNDR for US dates next week. The tour hits a sold-out Terminal 5 on Feb 4th (the afterparty is at Webster Hall). The Fool's Gold-signed Suzan recently dropped a pair of releases in Japan, a live iTunes only LP and a CD+DVD combo of Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat.

No more Art Brut dates to report at the moment. All A-Trak and Suzan tour dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "A-Trak playing Coachella & another Downtown Records Party (w/ the Suzan, Lissy Trullie, White Denim & ART BRUT)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

Fool's Gold held a holiday party at the new Tammany Hall (ex-The Annex) on the LES on Friday night (12/17). DJ sets came from Mannie Fresh, Just Blaze, The Brothers Macklovitch (A-Trak & Dave1), Sammy Bananas, and special guest Drake. More pictures from the event, below...

Continue reading "Fool's Gold had a holiday party @ the new Tammany Hall -- pics (A-Trak, Dave 1, Drake, Just Blaze & more)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A-Trak looking spiffy

"A Trak has proven himself to be one of the most talented DJs around, period. I had a chance to watch his set from the "backstage" area at Terminal 5 last night and was thoroughly blown away. Flying Lotus put on an incredibly energetic performance that set the stage for A Trak, who rocked his turntables in a tuxedo atop a 2 story platform covered in lights and LCD screens. Visually, it was a spectacle in its own right. Needless to say the crowd lost it for dance floor anthems like 'Anyway', 'Barbara Streisand', 'Shake It Down' and his 'Indestructible' remix. Amidst the furious scratching and beat juggling he is famous for, you could hear hints of hip-hop rhythm working their way into the electro until ultimately you found yourself dancing to straight up rap music." [Electronica Oasis]

A set of pictures and some videos from the Thanksgiving event continue below...

Continue reading "A-Trak, Tiga, Flying Lotus, Miike Snow, Yelawolf & Destructo performed @ Hard Fest Turkey Soup @ Terminal 5 (pics)"

by BBG

Snapcase

It's 1PM in Texas and I just tied a bandana around my face before its time to get down to business. I'm not some outlaw out to rob a bank and hop on a speeding stagecoach; With the dry dirt and the hordes of kids in full-on circle-pit/floorpunch mode, a bandana or a surgical mask is a key tool in dealing with the clouds of dust that form around the chaos.

Chaos it was, off-stage that is, as the crowd popped for the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, Snapcase, Dwarves, Municipal Waste, Gwar, Mastodon and others on Fun Fun Fun Fest's Black Stage (where I spent a good bit of my time). Though I wandered to the Orange Stage to catch amazing performances from Cap'n Jazz, The Hold Steady & Descendents (among many others) and the Blue Stage to catch scorching shows from Big Freedia, Pharoahe Monch, Dam-Funk, and A-Trak, but it was the Black Stage where I caught pretty much every single band in action.

And that's a lot! One of the great things about the Black and Orange stages is that they are actually TWO stages each. A band will finish their set, and then on a stage right next to it, another band will line check and play. Times between bands varied (due to set time length and on occasion, technical difficulties), but there were moments when it was as low as 5 minutes between sets. More music and less downtime.

I started out my Saturday (11/6) with Black Congress, whose powerful post-hardcore impressed the early crowd. Hatred Surge followed, and even with a new singer in tow, the brutality has stayed a constant. Power Trip was next, and they do crossover-thrash that is less DRI/ Municipal Waste, and more serious/furious. Bands this good shouldn't play this early.

I'm very picky about sung vocals and punk rock, so it's sort of no surprise that I didn't care for either Bad Religion (who had no guitar in the mix for the first three songs), The Briggs or The Vandals, but I did enjoy what I saw of Strike Anywhere's live set (even though I am not into their recorded output). Dreadlocked singer Thomas Barnett is as energetic a frontman as I would see on the Black Stage all weekend, and really added tremendous power to the band's melodic hardcore.

Muncipal Waste (more here)

Strike Anywhere is from Richmond, and the band got a "Richmond represent" shout out from the great Municipal Waste that day. The band thrashed their way through one of my favorite sets of the afternoon, complete with thrown trash cans, a wall of death, stage diving, and an "execution" courtesy of fellow Richmond band Gwar. Gwar was fun in a kitschy way and delivered a great set later in the day, but the crowd energy and the precision of MW's live show was the most memorable.

Also on the Black stage were Valient Thorr and The Casualties who both delivered energetic sets, with the latter giving a crusty spin on the Ramones classic "Blitzkrieg Bop". The mohawk-ed kids went ape, and a wall of death, which was later faux-mocked by Municipal Waste when they initiated their own wall of death, was called upon by vocalist Jorge Herrera.

On the Orange stage, I managed to catch Woven Bones, The Appleseed Cast, and Jeff The Brotherhood. Jeff The Brotherhood is a staple of the small stage in NYC, so it was a bit odd to hear that guitar tone blaring out of 50 feet of PA speakers. Odd, but no less fun/impressive.

Along with Municipal Waste, Big Freedia was another one of my favorite sets of the day. Her nonsense odes to ass, ass, and ass-clapping were a pure sugar-rush and left 90% of the crowd in hilarious amazement and the other 10% with a big old "WTF" look. The Freedia set was tamer than her usual appearances, but no matter, it was still much fun and much booty-shakin. Dam-Funk would also get the crowd moving on that same stage hours later.

Seeing Big Freedia meant missing a good portion of Cap'n Jazz, who announced on stage that Fun Fun Fun would be their last show. Unbelieveably kinetic and powerful, Cap'n Jazz reminds me that emo is short for "emotional" and not just a psuedonym for pop-crossover. Mesmerizing and awesome.

Peelander-Z

Sunday (11/7) was a late start for me, so I got to the venue to see the tail end of Junius (who played 2nd, after Eagle Claw on the Black Stage). They're a band I'm very familiar with for their latter-Isis crunch-and-clean vocals steelo. It was surprisingly the next band that really got me going: Peelander-Z. With a large crowd looking on, Peelander-Z delivered an incredible mix of energy, stage presence, audience participation, fun and simple song-craft, and plain old good times. They played from the crowd. They stage dove. They led the audience in a giant game of limbo. They had a footrace. Totally fun.

I have a lot of recent experience seeing OFF!, High on Fire, Kylesa, Floor, Mastodon, and The Bronx, who all played the Black Stage that day. All gave predictably excellent shows though Kylesa in particular seemed a bit more energetic that usual (lots of Laura pogoing). It might have been the fact that FFF marked the end of their US tour with Torche and High on Fire, but they were particularly good on that sweltering Sunday afternoon. Floor was great as usual, though I enjoyed them more at Red 7 later that night... possibly because their music felt like a bookend to a great weekend. Both High on Fire and Mastodon's setlist delved into all of their recorded efforts which, as a long time fan, was comforting.

I'm not particularly scared of anyone, but Human Furnace of Ringworm gives me the shakes. His gravelly voice propels the rest of the Clevo-hardcore band forward and blew my mind that afternoon. They were one of my highlights of the day, and if I had only seen them and Snapcase on Sunday, I would have been content.

If my dad listened to modern music anymore, he would go apeshit for The Hold Steady. The band cranked out a crunchy Springsteen-esque set and sounded better than I have ever heard them before. Though they were killing on the Orange stage, I made the hard decision to bounce to catch the rest of Suicidal Tendencies' set.

Nothing against Mike Muir, but he isn't in the same shape that John Joseph of the Cro-Mags is (Muir and the rest of the known universe). No matter, it doesn't stop him from zigging and zagging back and forth on stage as the rest of Suicidal Tendencies runs through hits like "You Can't Bring Me Down" and "I Saw Your Mommy". High energy stuff; I can't imagine running in circles while trying to recite the words to "Institutionalized". Catch Suicidal and Cro-Mags together at Terminal 5 on November 14th.

If I was to pick two of my favorite sets from Sunday, the winners easily go to Snapcase and Descendents. Snapcase was brutal, technical, confrontational, and totally fun; the crowd gave back every ounce of energy that the band put in. From the opening notes of their third song, "Zombie Transmission" from Progress Through Unlearning, I knew that this was going to be a highlight. We need more shows from Snapcase.

Descendents, who we also need more shows from, are one of the few bands that pass my "no clean vocals in punk rock" test. Their songs are funny without being goofy, melodic without being overtly pop, and driving/hard when they want to be. Classics like "Suburban Home", "Bikeage" and a good portion of Somery, "Everything Sucks" and many of the highlights from that LP, and tons of others all made their way onto the setlist that night. And yes, the band made sure to fit in "All" and "Weinerschnitzel". Too fun, and though I left Mastodon early to catch them, I have no regrets.

As far as pictures go, we already split the fest up into ten other posts, my pictures from Saturday included. This post is number 11 and it includes all my pictures from Sunday (and it is our final set of Fun Fun Fun pics from this year) which continue, below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest in review w/ more Day 3 pics (part 4) - Snapcase, Floor Suicidal Tendencies, Kylesa, Ringworm & more"

photos by Tim Griffin

Deakin

"This solo project from Animal Collective's Deakin (or Deacon, or Josh Dibb) was just as psychedelic, but in more of a dub vein, with spacey, ambient guitar over echoing reverberating distorted drum-pad beats. A pair of smoking-hot yoga-body hipster girls were dancing throughout--no idea how they found a beat to lock into, as loose as the rhythm was, but none of the guys nearby were complaining." [Dallas Observer]

If indie rock/pop/chillwave was all you were looking for, or even just dancing and hip hop, you had more than your share of best new music to keep you occupied from noon to 10pm on the Orange and Blue stages. Sunday alone featured Deerhunter, Toro Y Moi, Washed Out, Deakin, Magic Kids, Best Coast (Wavves played the day before) and Cults, not to mention Yelle, Polvo, P.O.S. and A-Trak. Those are most of the artists pictured in this post which continues below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest - Day 3 pics (part 2) - Deakin, Best Coast, A-Trak, Yelle, Polvo, Deerhunter, Washed Out, Toro y Moi, more"

photos by Brook Bobbins

"Last night at BK Bowl. Stuff of legends. Kanye x DipSet x GZA x Donnis x CyHi x The Suzan x Treasure Fingers x Kindgom. FOOOOOL'S GOOOOOLD!" - Chromeo

"It was a rumor the whole night-- first a whisper, then a text, then a Tweet, then a blog post. It seemed too improbable to be true. Kanye West performing at Williamsburg's 600-capacity Brooklyn Bowl?! No way. But then, around 2 a.m., the man showed up on Pitchfork's #Offline Festival stage with his Horus chain and pyramid ring to celebrate the third anniversary of his friend and collaborator A-Trak's Fool's Gold imprint. He would go onto perform an all-killer five-song set of nothing but 2010 Internet smashes: "So Appalled", "Monster", "Devil in a New Dress", "Power", and "Runaway".

While Kanye was naturally the star of the evening, he was not the only surprise. GZA rolled through after Kanye's set to lead a "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" sing-a-long and do "Liquid Swords" and Chromeo (led by singer Dave 1, who is also A-Trak's brother) stopped by deep in the night. Other performers for the anniversary blowout included G.O.O.D. Music up-and-comer CyHi Da Prynce, Japanese rockers the Suzan, MPC freak araabMUZIK, and Atlanta DJ and producer Treasure Fingers." [Pitchfork]

Continue reading "Kanye West, GZA, Chromeo & more @ Fool's Gold's Anniversary @ Brooklyn Bowl (pics & video) "

Matthew Dear @ MHOW in 2008 (more by Bao Nguyen)

As mentioned, Pitchfork will be hosting three days of shows at Brooklyn Bowl during, but-it-looks-like/probably completely unaffiliated with, CMJ this year (Thursday/Friday/Saturday CMJ week). "Brooklyn Bowl is located at 61 Wythe Avenue between N. 11th and N. 12th streets. The festival starts at 2 p.m. each day, with doors opening at 1 p.m. Tickets are $10, both in advance and day of the show." They're calling it the #OFFLINE Festival.

Based on the lineups and start time, it looks like each #OFFLINE day will be about a 12 hour show. No set times yet though, but the full lineups and ticket links are below...

Matthew Dear is one of the biggest names on the list (he plays Saturday), and it will be one of three CMJ week shows for Matthew. His first is Friday night at Webster Hall with Jamaica and Dominique Young Unique. His third is later on Saturday at Public Assembly for the FIXED/Making Time Party with Matthew Dear, Crocodiles, Holy Ghost!, Javelin, Gold Panda, Jamaica, and Kisses.

The FIXED/Making Time party starts after the BrooklynVegan party which is also happening at Public Assembly that same day. Just to be clear:

SATURDAY OCTOBER 23RD
* BrooklynVegan @ Public Assembly 12-6pm (free - more details TBA)
* FIXED/Making Time @ Public Assembly 9pm-late (tickets)
* Pitchfork @ Brooklyn Bowl 2pm-late (tickets)
* BrooklynVegan metal @ Union Pool 7pm-late ($5.00 or CMJ badge at the door)

We (BrooklynVegan) will also be at Public Assembly all day on Friday, October 22nd (details TBA), and at Music Hall of Williamsburg on the Thursday night.

All Matthew Dear tour dates (many of which we previously posted including a November show at MHoW), and the Pitchfork #OFFLINE Fest info, below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork announces #OFFLINE not-CMJ parties, Matthew Dear also playing Making Time & Girls & Boys parties (lineups) "

by BBG

A-Trak at Williamsburg Waterfront (more by Andrew St. Clair)

A full two months before his big brother plays the same venue as a member of Chromeo, A-Trak will headline Terminal 5 on 11/27 with Tiga, Flying Lotus, Yelawolf and special guests as part of "HARD NYC Turkey Soup 2010". Tickets for the Thanksgiving weekend show go on sale Friday 10/15 at noon.

The show is one of four US dates for A-Trak, with the others being the previously discussed HARD Haunted Mansion in LA on 10/31 with Flying Lotus (his only other date) and the Bloody Beetroots (who play Webster Hall this Friday), Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX, and a pre-Halloween show in Chicago on October 30th with Chromeo. All dates below.

Meanwhile, A-Trak's project with Armand Van Helden, Duck Sauce, recently released a new video and single for "Barbara Streisand". The star-studded video features cameos from Kanye West, Pharell Williams, Buckshot (rapper), Smif-n-Wessun, DJ Premier, Chromeo, Diplo, Ezra Koenig, and so many others. Watch that with all A-Trak dates below...

Continue reading "A-Trak, Tiga, Flying Lotus & Yelawolf playing HARD NYC Turkey Soup 2010 & other dates ++ Duck Sauce"