1/3 of Peggy Sue @ Terminal 5 in 2010 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Formed in Brighton and now based in London, Peggy Sue was once linked to the U.K.'s "new folk" scene. But Young and fellow singer-guitarist Rosa Slade plugged in their instruments before making "Acrobats," the group's second album. On [Sunday at Montserrat House in DC], the minor-key tunes and close harmonies suggested Appalachia's "high lonesome" sound, while the raucous guitars were more in the spirit of such female-fronted folk-goes-punk groups as Ut and Salem 66. Unlike such precursors, Peggy Sue lacks a bassist. But Young occasionally played bass riffs on her top strings, and Olly Joyce's distinctive thumping gave an appealing swing to such songs as "Song and Dance," which featured waltzlike passages. [Washington Post]

UK trio Peggy Sue released Acrobats on 10/25 via Yep Roc and are now on a North American tour in support. That tour, headlined by AM & Shawn Lee (who just released a remix EP), kicked off last night in DC and hits Knitting Factory in Brooklyn this evening (11/7). Telextile is also on the bill and tickets still available.

All dates and a live video of one of the new Peggy Sue songs, below...

Continue reading "Peggy Sue on tour AM & Shawn Lee, released a new album"

photos by Chris La Putt

"Last night, Webster Hall was packed with audience members camped out on the floor and conversing in French or English, sometimes both. Fitting as Charlotte Gainsbourg is fluent in the two languages.

Opener AM was delicate, cool and vintage, grafting folk and rock with Brazilian lounge sounds. The New Orleans artist has just released his sophomore album, Future Sons and Daughters, and plans to soon be touring with the French electro-pop band, Air. The set closed with the song "Darker Days," lyrically, a sophisticated song frosted with AM's warm and pacifying voice." [NY Press]

Charlotte Gainsbourg concluded her first-ever tour, that included Coachella, at Webster Hall in NYC last night. Charlotte's first-ever live shows just took place in January, and were also right here in NYC. More pictures from Webster Hall below...

Continue reading "Charlotte Gainsbourg & AM @ Webster Hall in NYC - pics "

Charlotte Gainsbourg @ Coachella 2010 (more by Rachel Carr)

tonight in NYC
* Ceu @ Highline Ballroom
* Justin Bond @ Joe's Pub
* WBAR-B-Q @ Barnard College
* Green Day (sort of) @ Bowery Electric
* Aabaraki, Fro, Ladycop @ Union Pool
* Charlotte Gainsbourg & AM @ Webster Hall
* Amon Amarth, Holy Grail @ Irving Plaza
* Dragonette, Class Actress @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Mark Trecka, Callers, Tahiti Boy @ Zebulon
* Real Estate, Apollo Sunshine (Kidrockers) @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Luyas, Buke and Gass, Parlovr, Melati Malay @ Glasslands
* Me You Us Them, Appomattox, Monogold @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Dead Meadow, Imaad Wasif, Endless Boogie (late) @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Red Chord, Premonitions Of War, Tiger Flowers, Descender @ Public Assembly
* Shellshag, Noun (Marissa Paternoster), Full Of Fancy, Black Wine, Pregnant @ Mercury Lounge

Noun is the solo project of Screaming Female Marissa Paternoster.

The WBAR-B-Q brings Cold Cave, Blues Control, Liturgy, Burning Star Core, Jana Hunter, Twin Stumps, U.S. Girls, Think About Life, Prince Rama of Ayodhya and Old Men to Barnard College. NOTE: "Because the weather reports have indicated a 70% chance of showers on Sunday, we have moved the event to our rain location, which is LeFrak Gym (Barnard Campus, in Barnard Hall - just through the gates on 117th and Broadway!) Everything else is the same!"

12pm -PRINCE RAMA of AYODHYA (http://www.myspace.com/princeramaofayodhya)
1pm - U.S. GIRLS (http://www.myspace.com/usgirlsss)
2pm - THINK ABOUT LIFE (http://www.myspace.com/thinkaboutlife)
3pm - LOWER DENS (Jana Hunter) (http://www.myspace.com/lowerdens)
4pm - BURNING STAR CORE (http://www.myspace.com/cspenceryeh)
5pm - BLUES CONTROL (http://www.myspace.com/bluescontrol)
6pm - COLD CAVE (http://www.myspace.com/coldcave)
SIDE STAGE ATTACK:
7pm - TWIN STUMPS (http://www.myspace.com/twinstumps)
8pm - LITURGY (http://www.myspace.com/liturgynybm)

Think About Life also has a show coming up at Mercury Lounge. Cold Cave also has a show coming up at Le Poisson Rouge (and they played yesterday at Solar One).

Doveman's live sountrack to The Conformist and Footloose tonight at (Le) Poisson Rouge is postponed/canceled.

La Strada's new album New Home is still streaming. Check it out.

AM opens for Charlotte Gainsbourg at Webster Hall tonight. Check out his/their video for "Self Preservation" below...

Great show at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night. And it was awesome that so many people showed up to see the The Luyas at 9pm. If you missed them all week, your last chance is tonight at Glasslands along with fellow Montreal band Parlovr.

Montreal band Think About Life's video (featuring their old lineup) for "Sweet Sixteen" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Following the October release of their fifth studio album Love 2, French electronic pop duo AIR (Nicolas Godin and JB Dunckel) return to the U.S. for their first live shows in three years....AIR is preparing for the first of several U.S. trips, the first of which will be a traditional tour showcasing the breadth of their catalog and re-interpretations of new songs from the "Love 2" album. For the first time on these dates, the band will be performing their live show as an intimate three-piece with Godin and Dunckel taking on full instrumental and vocal duties. This follows a successful short tour of China and the Far East in late 2008, where they experimented with a core of three musicians and the current live set took shape.

For the North American dates, AIR will be joined by British drummer/percussionist Alex Thomas (Bat For Lashes, Badly Drawn Boy) and guest opening act will be AM, a revered multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles with a flare for distilling global music influences into his own unique and infectious pop confections.

Air's North American tour kicks off in Miami on March 13th and hits NYC on Friday, March 19th, when the band plays Terminal 5. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon. There's a fanclub pre-sale Thursday at 10am for those on Air's mailing list (which you can sign up for on their site).

All tour dates and videos for Love 2's first two singles are below...

Continue reading "Air announce 2010 tour dates in support of 'Love 2' "