photos by PSquared Photography

Akron/Family at Bowery Ballroom - 4/24/13

Akron/Family are about to drop their new album, Sub Verses this week (4/30) (stream it) and they've been supporting that on a tour that just landed the freak folk crew in NYC for a show this past Wednesday (4/24) at Bowery Ballroom. Support at the show came from Eric Copeland of Black Dice, and Sun Araw collaborator M Geddes Gengras, who also joined Akron/Family during their set. The House List writes:

M. Geddes Gengras rounded out the quartet, and either through causation or correlation, seemed to define their sound. Manning a circuitry station that looked like a futuristic switchboard, he brought heavy rhythmic pounding, deep-bass keyboards and plenty of digital ephemera to the normal A/F genre inbreeding. This seemed to elicit a decidedly dark edge to the usual bouncy sound: High-thread-count sheets of guitar nestled under a duvet of constant drumming to make a bed fit for a dark sonic nightmare. The band spent much of the set exploring the space between noise and music, making no effort to make them accessible or to explicitly sell anyone on their upcoming release. No matter, the crowd was very much into it.

Continue reading "Akron/Family played Bowery Ballroom w/ M Geddes Gengras & Eric Copeland (pics/setlist); new LP out this week (stream it)"

photos by Sarah Frankie Linder

Polyphonic Spree/Thermals/Diamond Rings

The Main was packed for our Friday SXSWS day party (3/15). That includes the the actual stage, as all 23 members of The Polyphonic Spree on hand to headline. The Spree's joyous set ended with their cover of Nirvana's "Lithium" that had the whole place singing. Diamond Rings -- who now count Miracle Fortress/Think About Life's Graham Van Pelt as a touring memeber -- tore the place up too with one of the most fun sets on our stage this week. So did The Thermals, for that matter. The Main also saw sets from UK neo-postpunk act TOY, Swedish pop vets Shout Out Louds, Akron/Family, and Montreal's Half Moon Run. The Jr. stage was curated by our loud brethren at Invisible Oranges (and Heavy Dicks) and will have pics of that carnage soon. Meanwhile, dig into more of Friday's action from The Main below.

In addition to the music, Onkyo was there, sampling their new headphones which hit stores next month. mophie maker of invaluable iPhone chargers, were giving away discount cards good at their pop-up shop which was set up right across the street on Red River.We were also serving complimentary Jameson, and Zico coconut water, free vegan queso and chips from Food For Lovers, and free vegan breakfast tacos from Pink Avocado. We also had BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 50 people in the door, thanks to American Apparel. Also thanks to our other sponsors, M for Montreal, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Creative Recreation, Signazon, ASCAP, MailChimp and Redigi.

Today (3/16) is the final free BV SXSW day party at The Main and The Jr. The fun starts at noon CDT and The Main stage is co-presented by our friends at Pianos and features Unknown Mortal Orchestra, A Place to Bury Strangers, Austra, Foxygen, Palma Violets, Autre Ne Veut and Empress of. The Jr stage has King Tuff, Dodrums, MS MR, The Orwells, Peace (UK), Feathers, White Lung, and TEEN. That is a pretty amazing line-up if we do say so ourselves.

And tonight is the offical BrooklynVegan/Invisible Oranges SXSW showcase with KEN Mode (who replace Pinkish Black), Homewrecker, Full of Hell, Mutilation Rights, John Baizley, and Pallbearer. If you're in Austin, come on down!

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SXSW Friday day party in pics (Polyphonic Spree, Thermals, Diamond Rings, Akron/Family + more)"

As you know, BrooklynVegan is returning to Austin for SXSW this year and throwing four days of day parties at The Main & The Jr aka 603 Red River Street at the corner of 6th aka the old Emo's location. Those happen Wed (3/13), Thurs, Fri and Saturday (3/16). All shows are 100% FREE with RSVP.

We announced Saturday and Thursday, and now HERE IS FRIDAY...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan free SXSW 2013 Friday day party lineup (Polyphonic Spree, Thermals, Akron/Family, Shout Out Louds, Diamond Rings, TOY, Half Moon Run & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Akron/Family at LPR in 2010 (more by Anna Scialli)

As mentioned, Akron/Family are releasing their new album, Sub Verses, on April 30 via Dead Oceans. If you've been following the band, you know they're always pretty unpredictable, and that's true of Sub Verses as well, which is generally more on the band's melodic side than its predecessor, Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT. You've already heard the album's first single, "No-Room," and since we last spoke, they've let loose another cut, "Until The Morning." Both are solid tracks and you can stream them below.

As mentioned, the band are supporting the new record with a tour, which hits NYC on April 24 at Bowery Ballroom with M Geddes Gengras (tickets), and also comes to Austin for SXSW, where the band will play a BrooklynVegan day party on Friday, March 15 at 603 Red River St. (the old Emo's location). That party is 100% FREE with RSVP, and the rest of the lineup is coming soon.

Updated dates are listed, along with those song streams, below...

Continue reading "Akron/Family have a new song, playing BrooklynVegan SXSW day party (updated dates, streams)"

Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

Akron/Family's new album is called Sub Verses and is out April 30 on Dead Oceans. Says the band's Seth Olinsky:

The album started with visions of large monumental sounds inspired by Heizer and Turrell; American works on a grand scale, monuments, dirty hands and an epic American masculinity. Dust, Stone, Sky, Earth.
These broad, bold strokes would come to pass but not quite as expected.
A Sci Fi aesthetic narrative emerged. Tackling distant pasts and future humanism, the pain and idiocy of our contemporary culture. How to deal with it open heartedly? The boredom, the sadness and speed. The plots within plots of Dune mirrored in many layers of sound. Creating 3D sonic atmospheres that our songs and singers inhabit.
Our story, a story, all stories. Told in verses, in underground language, in sub frequencies. Not audible, only felt, intuited, imagined in some deepest psychic space that you are yet to know. A strange story. Of the future, of yourself. Of everyone. We are all we are, only this and yet we move forward. Along some line to somewhere. And who knows?

Akron/Family will also be on tour to support the album which includes an NYC visit at Bowery Ballroom on 24. Tickets go on sale on Friday (1/25) at noon.

A list of all tour dates, song stream, album art and track list are below.

Continue reading "Akron/Family announce new album and tour (dates, stream)"

Akron/Family at LPR in 2010 (more by Anna Scialli)

Freaky folkies Akron/Family released Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT in 2011, and they've announced that they're planning on releasing a followup in 2013. To help fund the new record, the band meanwhile released a limited edition (1,000 pressings) live double CD which comprises a recording from their show at the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta from January 2012 and some experimental pieces recorded in El Paso later in the year. You can purchase that CD at the Akron/Family webstore for $20. Each copy was handmade and hand-stamped by the band.

We also spoke to Akron/Family member Miles Seaton about his top albums of 2012. Miles recently moved from NYC to LA, had to get a car, and ended up getting one with a cassette player. So rather than listing his top 10 albums that were released in 2012, he listed the top 10 cassettes he acquired this year to play in his car stereo. His full list with some commentary is below.

Continue reading "Akron/Family released a live album ahead of new studio LP; Miles Seaton tells us his top cassettes played in his new car"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Stagnant Pools - "Dead Sailor" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stagnant Pools - "Consistency" (MP3)

Bloomington, IN duo Stagnant Pools (aka brothers Bryan and Doug Enas) are set to release Temporary Room, their first album for Polyvinyl on August 7. Here's what I wrote about the album on bvChicago:

[It's] super muddy and soaked in reverb and distortion, but somewhere in this band's late '80s/early '90s record collection of noisy post-punk and shoegaze, must lie a scratched up, overplayed copy of Is This It that can't help but leave its mark on these songs.

The band have a run of dates coming up this month and next including two in NYC. They'll open for Exitmusic at Mercury Lounge on June 28 and for Akron/Family at Brooklyn Bowl on June 29. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show are still available and the Brooklyn Bowl show is free with RSVP.

All list of all dates and that album stream below...

Continue reading "Stagnant Pools releasing LP (stream it), going on tour (dates)"

Swans at Music Hall of Williamsburg (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Swans are back with a new double album, The Seer, due via Young God Records on August 28. The new effort features appearances from Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), former bandmate Jarboe, Bruce Lamont, Ben Frost, members of Akron/Family ( who served with him in Angels of Light) and members of Low. Gira comments:

The Seer took 30 years to make. It's the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I've ever made, been involved in or imagined. But it's unfinished, like the songs themselves. It's one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade.

The songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in rehearsals, live and in the studio, and now they await further cannibalism and force-feeding as we prepare to perform some of them live, at which point they'll mutate further, endlessly, or perhaps be discarded for a while.

Despite what you might have heard or presumed, my quest is to spread light and joy through the world. My friends in Swans are all stellar men. Without them I'm a kitten, an infant. Our goal is the same: ecstasy!

Continue reading "Swans releasing 'The Seer,' touring in Sept. (no NYC date)"

by BBG

Eric Wood of The Bastard Noise at DBA (more by BBG)

With all of the back and forth recently between Bastard Noise and Akron/Family, regarding the MiTB Skull art being used by Akron/Family on a shirt, it might be easy to forget why it was an issue in the first place; The Bastard Noise is an important and pioneering band. Now currently in a new incarnation with Aimee Artz on vocals/noise, Eric Wood's evolving vision has included elements of hardcore, powerviolence, jazz, noise, and experimentalism, but never at the expense of interesting songwriting.

We sat down with Eric Wood to ask him a few questions about his his response to Akron/Family and the cricism he received, his current projects and the future of the band. The results of our conversation is below.

Continue reading "An interview with Eric Wood (Bastard Noise)"

DOWNLOAD: Dustin Wong - "Here We Come 2012" (MP3)

Dustin Wong

As mentioned, Akron/Family are currently on a tour with Bad Weather California that brings both bands to NYC on Saturday (1/21) at 285 Kent. Since the Brooklyn show was announced, Dustin Wong (ex-Ponytail) was added to the bill and advanced tickets went on sale. Bad Weather California (more about them below) also play Mercury Lounge with Woodsman while they're in town (1/22).

Dustin Wong is releasing his second LP, Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads on February 21 via Thrill Jockey. The album art and tracklist is below. He recently posted a song to his soundcloud titled, "Here We Come 2012." It's unclear if this has any ties to the new album but you can stream it below and download it above.

Dustin has also been added as an opener to Hospitality's record release show at Glasslands (2/3). That bill also includes Glass Ghost. Tickets are still available.

Speaking of Akron/Family, member Dana Janssen who creates solo material as Dana Buoy, has been added as an opener to some dates on Youth Lagoon's headlining tour. Dana will open the Bowery Ballroom show on March 27. There is still no opener announced for the MHOW show (3/28). Both NYC shows are sold out (but you can still get tickets to Youth Lagoon's upcoming show with Death Cab). All Dana Buoy dates below.

Akron/Family's tourmates Bad Weather California will be the first band (other than Akron/Family) to release a record on Akron/Family's Family Tree Records, when their album Sunkissed comes out on the label on February 21. The album was produced by Akron/Family member Seth Olinsky. Stream the album track, "You're My Friend," HERE and check out a Brass Tree Sessions video and an album promo video below. The artwork and tracklist are also below. After the Akron/Family tour, BWC have a bunch of dates of their own, including SXSW. Those are all listed below.

All dates, stream album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Akron/Family, Dustin Wong, Dana Buoy, Bad Weather California"

Akron/Family at LPR (more by Anna Scialli)

Akron/Family are currently touring Europe through the end of November, taking the month of December to recharge the batteries before heading back out for a string of US dates in January. Kicking off with a date in DC on January 6th, A/F will hit the road with Bad Weather California to play shows along the East Coast and the Midwest. The shows include a final date in Brooklyn at 285 Kent on 1/21 with more bands TBA. Todd P says "ADVANCE TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE, DETAILS SOON."

A/F recently made their previously tour-only limited release Live Sound Fields available for general sale. Each disc is "hand painted, hand numbered and unique" and taken from Live shows 2009/2010". Stream one song from the disc below, alongside all tour dates...

Continue reading "Akron/Family going on tour w/ Bad Weather California (dates)"

Glasslands photos by Shanda Boyett, Apohadion by Bryan Bruchman, words by BBG

Delicate Steve on Governors Island (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Congrats to Delicate Steve, whose new LP Wondervisions is out now via Luaka Bop. Check out the video below for the title track featuring Dirty Projector Nat Baldwin (who plays Knit on 2/10 - tickets). Its a breezy funky track smothered in vintage keys ala.... you guessed it, Stevie Wonder.

And though Akron Family will take them out on an extensive run of dates including 2/17 at Knitting Factory (tickets) and 3/5 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets), Delicate Steve will celebrate the new LP with a record release show at Public Assembly on Saturday (2/5). As discussed, he'll be joined by Dustin Wong (Ponytail, Ecstatic Sunshine), Grandchildren, & Strange Shapes. Tickets are still available. You can also catch DS at the Meat Locker in Montclair, NJ TONIGHT (2/4) and at BAR Nightclub in New Haven, CT on 2/9.

A few days after Public Assembly, Wong will cross paths with the Woods/Ducktails tour that hits Monster Island Basement TONIGHT (2/4) with Metal Mountains. The tour recently hit Portland, Maine, and you can check out pictures from the Apohadion Theater show below. Ducktails will be back on stage later this month when they team up with Glory Girls to open for Lower Dens at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 2/25 (tickets)

Dustin Wong recently supported Nightlands, aka Dave Hartley of The War on Drugs, at his debut show at Glasslands on 1/19 with Tony Castles (who play Death By Audio tonight). Check out some pictures from Glasslands below. Nightlands went on to perform another four dates before the tour came to an end in Pontiac, MI. That included a gig in Chicago:

"Playing just his fourth show, Hartley's Chicago set began with a few songs alone with his acoustic guitar and some drum machine samples. Apparently having already mastered looping effects, Hartley was maintaining a strong vocal presence without any accompaniment, but opening act Houses joined him for the final two thirds of his set anyway. They brought with them a mandolin, louder percussion, and a noisier electric guitar. Live drumming was essential to Suzerain, the highlight of Nightlands' debut full-length, Forget the Mantra. And the additional set of voices enabled even more dynamic harmonies, especially for their chorally exultant closer, 300 Clouds."

All tour dates and some video/song streams are below...

Continue reading "Delicate Steve playing gigs b4 Akron/Family tour, Woods /Ducktails tour underway, Nightlands & more (dates & pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Akron/Family new album snippets (MP3)

Seth of Akron/Family does his best Ron Burgundy (more by Leia Jospe)

Akron/Family will hit the road in the tail-end of February for the first of a two-legged tour with Delicate Steve. The first leg kicks off on 2/17 at Knitting Factory (tickets on sale 12/10 at 10AM) and conclude at Bowery Ballroom on 3/5 (tickets on sale 12/10 at noon). Full tour dates are below.

Meanwhile, you can catch Delicate Steve at Glasslands on December 9th with Luke Temple of Here We Go Magic (solo), Emil & Friends, Bear In Heaven (DJs), but not Liturgy.

The A/F dates coincide with the release of S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT, the band's new LP on Dead Oceans due 2/8. Get ready America, Akron/Family intend to "transcend the internet":

"Finally, after over a month of unanswered emails and text messages, blown deadlines, and pleas to finish and turn in their new album, last week, a large brown cardboard box showed up at the Dead Oceans doorstep.... Opening it revealed a sincere but poorly made diorama of futurist swirling spaces filled with toy astronauts and dinosaurs, four blown out song fragments on a TDK CDR in a ziplock bag, three pictures, a track list written in crayon, and a typewritten note from Akron/Family. A post-it on the bag declared the band refused to send the full album to anyone but the vinyl pressing plant, for fear of leaking and possible lost revenues.

From the note and a short video that arrived days later, we've pieced together that the album was written in a cabin built into the side of Mount Meakan, an active volcano in Akan National Park, on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It was recorded in an abandoned train station in Detroit with the blackest white dude we all know, Chris Koltay (Liars, Women, Deerhunter, Holy Fuck, No Age). Chris, on tour after finishing the record, commented: "this album will transcend the internet." [Dead Oceans]

In related new, guitarist Seth Olinsky has developed an iPhone/iPad app for his company, New Signal Process, that integrates the Apple device with professional recording equipment. The Breakout is on sale now for all you gear hounds.

New album art, tracklisting, a video teaser and all dates are below.

Continue reading "Akron/Family releasing album on Dead Oceans, touring w/ Delicate Steve (weird MP3 & tour dates)"

photos by Anna Scialli

Akron/Family and guests ("Xtended Family") that included William Parker and Hamid Drake played a special collaborative set at (Le) Poisson Rouge on June 30th to close the 11-day Vision Fest XV. Before, William Parker led his own band Southern Satellites.

Akron/Family also played a semi-secret show at Monster Island Basement the next night (July 1st). NYCTaper recorded their set from that, which you can download.

More pictures from LPR are below...

Continue reading "Akron/Family played LPR (pics) & Monster Island (audio) "

Following the show they played at Le Poisson Rouge last night...

Thursday 7/1
Monster Island Basement (128 River St. & Metropolitan)

9pm -- Spreaders (creepy soundtrack/improv duo from upstate)
10pm -- Man Forever (Kid Millions of Oneida + his new, insane drum ensemble)
11pm -- Akron/Family

$10 at the door -- first come/first serve

by Andrew Frisicano

Akron Family @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in March (more by Leia Jospe)

The Vision Festival, New York's premier Avant-Jazz festival, returns to Abrons. Now in its 15th year, the Vision Festival gathers the country's most innovative music, art, dance, and poetry. These seven nights will transform the Abrons into a fully interactive space with art exhibitions, a site-specific venue installation ,and events occurring in multiple places simultaneously throughout the night! VF15 honors Muhal Richard Abrams for a Lifetime of Achievement, the legendary Fred Anderson, Michael Reed's People, Places & Things Quartet, Open Loose with Mark Helias, Günter Baby Sommer & Wadada Leo Smith, David S. Ware Trio, Matthew Shipp, William Parker's Southern Satellites, Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez, Guillermo E. Brown, By Any Means, Joëlle Léandre Stone Quartet, Hamid Drake, Vladimir Tarasov and a bunch of the best drummers in the U.S. paying tribute to Rashied Ali, and so much more!

The closing show for the festival will be Wednesday, June 30th at (Le) Poisson Rouge and will feature a special performance by Akron/Xtended/Family with bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake joining the band. Also on the bill are William Parker's Southern Satellites and [the] slowest runner [in all the world]. Tickets are on sale now.

The Vision Fest full schedule is here. Southern Satellites opened for Akron/Family at Bowery Ballroom in March and members of the band, including trumpeter Lewis Flip Barnes and gutiarist Asim Barnes, joined Akron during their set. A video of that is posted below...

Continue reading "NYC's Vision Fest XV lineup w/ Akron/Xtended/Family, more "

photos by Leia Jospe

Warpaint

"Warpaint, a four-piece band from L.A., primed the stage with their sultry, pajama-clad jams. Call it psychedelic, call it sexy, call it what you will, whatever is going on here, I want more of it. I have no aversion to all girl bands, and Warpaint gives no reasons to complain. The reverb suspends the sound in a murky haze, with pounding drums in the background. Warpaint is both, exactly what I want to hear on an acid trip, and what I would want to hear if I was deep sea diving. Anything reminiscent of the unknown, dark, mysterious, and curious. These girls invite you to follow them into the rabbit hole, and I'm following their lead.Their EP, Exquisite Corpse is out now, and you can catch them all over SXSW in the coming weeks." [Intercontinental Breakfast]

Continue reading "Akron/Family, Warpaint & Please the Trees @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn - pics "

photos by Chris Graham

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

The 2nd Annual Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco this past August benefited from a combination of improved planning and the luck of some of the nicest weather the city had seen all summer. The result was a far more pleasant and exciting experience for festivalgoers at this food, wine and music extravaganza.

The venue for the festival is extraordinary, taking up about a third of the massive Golden Gate Park. Once inside, it's hard to believe you're in the middle of a large city. Giant trees and grassy meadows block out any view of outside buildings, and the festival is arranged around the topography so that each group of stages has its own unique look and feel. There were many secluded areas and empty meadows nearby for those in need of respite from the music. Thanks to the efforts of innovative organizers, Outside Lands truly becomes a world unto itself. [Beachside Resident]

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2009 - Day 1 pics (Pearl Jam, The National, Q-Tip, Tom Jones, Akron/Family, Built to Spill, more)"

DOWNLOAD: Warpaint - Billie Holiday (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Warpaint - Elephants (MP3)

Akron/Family @ ATP NY in September (more by Ryan Muir)

Akron/Family are currently in Europe, and they're playing Australia and New Zealand this December, but come March 3rd, the band will be playing a show at Brooklyn's own Music Hall of Williamsburg. Psychedelic folk ladies (and one guy) Warpaint open. Tickets go on sale AmEx presale Wednesday, November 11th at noon. General sale starts Friday, Nov. 13th at noon.

LA's Warpaint were another buzzy band this past CMJ. Their signing was announced soon after...

We at Rough Trade are happy to announce the signing of LA quartet Warpaint.

Warpaint weave intricate guitar lines,hypnotic vocals and driving post punk rhythms into gorgeous, sprawling songs that skirt the line between psychedelia and intimacy.

At the core of the band are founding members Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman and Jenny Lee Lindberg who formed the band in 2007.

"We are all very excited about being involved with such a unique and inspiring group and we welcome them to the label".

A 6 track EP Exquisite Corpse will be available in the USA this October and UK & Europe in November through Manimal Vinyl. Rough Trade will be releasing a full length album next year.

Akron/Family's ATP NY set was their last "area" appearance. They write...

In the midst of this amazing tour we stopped off on the Borscht Belt to participate in the Flaming Lips curated ATP. It was a great weekend with one of the most mind/body/soul altering performances we have ever seen by the Boredoms. We also got to participate in Oneida's 10.5 hour performance on Sunday. We had the coveted early slot at noon.

Continue reading "Warpaint, now on Rough Trade (MP3s), opening for Akron/Family in Brooklyn - 2009 Tour Dates "

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

Steve Albini in Shellac

"We're taking a bath, but I don't care," Barry Hogan told [Sasha Frere-Jones]. We were standing in the makeshift production office for the All Tomorrow's Parties festival, at Kutsher's, a resort in the Catskills.

Kutsher's, where Muhammad Ali trained and a thousand schticks were born, was once the jewel of the Borscht Belt. The main venue at Kutsher's, the Stardust Ballroom, has a capacity of 2,800. But Hogan seemed largely unbothered that only 1,800 tickets to ATP had sold. It is 2009, after all.

Considering the bad coffee situation and the fun that I had the day before, Sufjan was spot on. Clad in tie-dye that the band had purchased at the general store at Kutsher's, the five piece were delicate, light and lilting. Sufjan's bright banjo strums and songs, like the sunny "Sister", resonated so well in the Stardust Ballroom. The Seven Swans album was an excellent choice for a wake-up set on the second day of the three day upstate NY festival (Saturday, September 12, 2009).

After Sufjan, I wandered over to catch a crew of young Aussies named Bridezilla. Though their name is a touch offputting, guitarist/vocalist Holiday Sidewinder has a sexy and breathy coo that recalled PJ Harvey and their her cocktail-dress-ed crew were a surprise and a delight.

Grouper were next, and as a fan of 2008's Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, I was eager to check out Liz Harris's ambient soundscapes. Playing to a projection of an ocean at night, the stage show wasn't much visually but the tides of noise was otherworldly.

Conversely, Black Dice in the same room was a psychedelic mindfuck. Blasts of tribal noise beats nodded heads and shook them in equal measure.

As a fan of Bradford Cox, it was great to see him pull a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning with Atlas Sound. Rolling solo with guitar, harmonica, and some backing tracks, Cox was engaging both in song and with between song banter. I would regrettably end up missing Deerhunter's set a few hours later. Drowned in Sound was there though:

Bradford Cox is a picture of serenity as he swaps his shirt for a more tasteful number and leads Deerhunter into their Saturday night set. He announces that this will be their last performance for some time, causing the band to roll out the hits in quick-fast fashion. They gallop through 'Cryptograms' and 'Nothing Ever Happened', the positively herculean double guitar sound feeling unstoppable and a sense of jubilation ricocheting between the walls as people succumb to these great big shining pop songs. The closing 'Calvary Scars' is a slab of beautiful kraut-pop, with Lockett Pundt's metallic Tim Gane-esque strum leading the way, face-painted kids jerking their bodies back and forth, and Cox looking genuinely sad that this will be the last time these songs will be wrung from his fingers and throat for a while.

Sleepy Sun were line checking when I got back to the second stage, with vocalist Rachael Williams checking her levels in the monitor

"Check. Check. I. Hi. Me. You. All of you. Us. Getting nervous."

If they had nerves, the band channeled them into positive energy. Sleepy Sun's influences fit right in with their hometown, San Francisco, as the band dabble in a psychedelic California sound with some krautrock-y elements. I was most struck by their fantastic drummer Brian Tice as well as vocalist Williams, who ripped out a solo that had the crowd shouting and applauding. Wayne Coyne watched the band from stage left, clearly impressed.

After an elongated line check, El-P came on and with a four-piece band (Chin Chin) and hypeman (Mighty Quinn) to the sound of "Tasmanian Space Coaster". I have a soft spot for El-Producto's Blade Runner beats and post-apocalyptic rhyme styles, and it was great to see a Hip Hop artist who actually puts an emphasis on his live show. As a matter of fact, El-P put a little too much of himself out there, almost falling off the stage after pogo-ing around during "Smithereens". Careful dude... we need a follow-up to I'll Sleep When You're Dead.

I hadn't seen Akron/Family since the then more acoustic-centric band played Tonic many years ago (with Hamid Drake?) and it was refreshing to see their energy were still in place. Against a backdrop of a tie-dyed American flag, the band played a rousing and ripping set. It's good to see that the loss of Ryan Vanderhoof to a Buddhist center hasn't slowed them a bit.

Autolux had the discordant riffs, feedback squalls, and a 90s alt punk sound to hit all of the right influences (Joy Division, Sonic Youth, etc), but unfortunately didn't really distinguish themselves from their influences. Autolux isn't offensive by any means, just not compelling or distinctive, and I find it a touch disappointing that guitarist Greg Edwards was a member of Failure (a band that I dug).

Dead Meadow and their fuzzy freakout psych blues were riffing on Stage Two towards the end of the Autolux set, but by half way in, the crowd had diminished considerably due to Shallac on the main. For shame, as the trio played a ripping set!

continued below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 2 pics & review (Atlas Sound, Deerhunter, El-P, Boss Hog, Shellac, Animal Collective, Dead Meadow...) "

photos by Leia Jospe

"We arrived at Other Music at 6.25pm only to be greeted by a queue of NYC hipsters that extended round the corner of the block. It was doors 7pm and space was minimal in the tiny record store. We were worried that we wouldn't get in. After all, we came all the way from Ireland.

Happily, eveyone who queued were somehow squeezed into the tiny venue and Akron/Family proceeded with an incredible hour and a half long set, almost as good as when I saw them in Glasgow (almost becuase they didn't play Ed Is A Portal this time round)." [modest mango]

Continue reading "Akron/Family played Other Music in NYC - pics "

All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) is happy to announce its return to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York for the 2nd annual ATP New York festival. The event will be held Sept 11-13, 2009. Last year's festival, co-curated by My Bloody Valentine, was a critical and cultural success with rave reviews from media and fans. This year's Fest will be co-curated by The Flaming Lips.

Recently added were Crystal Castles, Super Furry Animals, Boris performing Feedbacker, Low Lows and "Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew. Other announced acts include Boredoms continuing their BOADRUM series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane), Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra) and more.

Circulatory System, was added in the last announcement, and have since revealed an entire tour. Dead Meadow play ATP on Saturday and will perform on a boat in NYC that same week. The Feelies have a Brooklyn show scheduled. Super Furry Animals play NYC and NJ in addition to ATP. The list of related shows goes on...

Unfortunately missing from the ATP NY schedule is Nick Cave - not that he was ever supposed to be there, but in addition to being very involved with ATP in general, he was recently confirmed to be only a short car ride away just one day after the festival ends. Full 2009 lineup below...

Continue reading "ATP NY final 2009 lineup -- Bob Mould (now official), Eugene Mirman, Menomena, Hopewell & more (but not Nick Cave) "

Akron/Family @ All Points West Sunday (more by Chris La Putt)

APW Day Three: MOST AWKWARD ATTEMPT AT CROWD PARTICIPATION
"We like fun," Akron/Family's Miles Seaton yelled. "Do you like fun?" Well either the crowd truly felt ambivalent about fun or they didn't think the question worth answering. Met with stony silence, Seaton tried again. And again. His one-man chant never inspired the crowd, perhaps because only the most stoned found anything resembling fun in the band's directionless drum circles. [Spin]

The band has more August and September shows scheduled around North America. Before those kick off, the group will be in town for two NYC events. First, band guitarist Seth Olinsky will be conducting a section of Rhys Chatham's Crimson Grail for 200 Electric Guitars on August 8th at Damrosch Park, as part of the Lincoln Center's Out of Doors Festival. The next day (8/9), Akron/Family will appear at Other Music (15 E 4th St) for a 7pm in-store performance ("Free Admission / Limited Capacity").

On select upcoming dates, the band will be traveling with Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard and Slaraffenland (who will join A/K on stage to form the "Akron/Family big band"). They'll also be at ATP NY. All tour dates and more, with a look at the sheet music for Crimson Grail and APW videos, below...

Continue reading "Akron/Family played APW (video), playing Other Music, conducting 200 guitars & other 2009 tour dates "

photos by Tim Griffin and Chris La Putt

"After a soggy Friday and sunny Saturday, the thunderstorms returned for the third and last day of All Points West, this time resulting in major delays and canceled sets for the festival held at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ. But after the rain cleared and mercifully stayed away, organizers hustled to get the schedule back on track, culminating in a dazzler of a headlining set by British rockers Coldplay.

Sunday's line-up, scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. in the comedy tent and 2 p.m. on the music stages, was pushed back several hours due to severe storms that hit the area midday. Fans who arrived early were turned away at the gates, and it wasn't until just before 4 p.m. that ticket holders were invited to line up at the festival entrance for an even longer wait for admission. Comedians Todd Barry, Christian Finnegan and Janeane Garofalo, originally slated for 45-minute sets at the Queen of the Valley tent, were rushed through with 10 minutes each to make way for the musical acts that followed them. "I might do a tour of entirely rained-out festivals," said Barry, "it's big money for not a lot of work at all."

Some sets were canceled altogether--indie rockers Steel Train and New Jersey punk band the Gaslight Anthem, scheduled to take the main Blue Comet stage in the afternoon, were scrapped to allow later bands to perform at their scheduled times." [Billboard]

MGMT played against Coldplay on Sunday, and Echo and The Bunnymen instead opened for Coldplay on the main stage (with Courtney Love watching in the wings). Akron/Family, Silversun Pickups, Mogwai, Lykke Li, Elbow, the Black Keys, and others also played sets on the shortened, very wet day. More pictures, and the two Coldplay cover videos, and some setlists, below....

Continue reading "All Points West 2009 - Day 3 Pictures (Coldplay, mud, MGMT)"