New Build, the new project featuring Hot Chip members Felix Martin and Al Doyle (who was also in LCD Soundsystem) and engineer Tom Hopkins, announced last month/year that they'll be making their NYC debut at Mercury Lounge on March 13. That show has since sold out and they've since added another show happening one day later at the same venue (3/14). Tickets go on sale Friday (1/20) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (1/18) at noon.

In related news LCD Soundsystem is releasing a documentary called Shut Up and Play the Hits. Watch the trailer if you haven't already.

Updated New Build dates below...

Continue reading "New Build sells out Merc, adds 2nd show"

New Build is a new project from Hot Chip members Felix Martin and Al Doyle, who was also a member of LCD Soundsystem, and they are joined by engineer Tom Hopkins. They put out the limited edition "Misery Loves Company" 12" on November 28, which you can stream below and purchase at bandcamp. The b-side has a track called "Guitar Man," which features Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem on drums and a remix by DFA labelmate Planningtorock of another track called "Finding Reasons," which also features vocals from Planningtorock.

New Build played their first show the day after the 12"'s release (11/29) in London. They are now planning a full length for 2012 and a tour in support of it which will come to NYC on March 13 at Mercury Lounge. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (12/30) at noon. The NYC show is the only one we know of at the moment but a full tour announcement will come soon.

Meanwhile, Al Doyle and Felix Martin's Hot Chip bandmates have been involved in other projects this year. Alexis Taylor has been playing as a member of About Group, which also features members of This Heat and Spiritualized. They released their debut album, Start and Complete on Domino Records this past April.

Joe Goddard released the Gabriel EP in August via DFA. You can stream that below. He's also been working as a member of The 2 Bears with DJ Raf Rundell. Earlier this week, they put out a winter mix which you can download for free in exchange for your email address at their website. Their debut LP, Be Strong, will be out on January 30 via Southern Fried.

Streams below...

Continue reading "members of Hot Chip (and LCD Soundsystem) formed New Build --- 12" out now, NYC show going on sale soon"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Bill Pearis

You could see glo-sticks being passed back among the crowd as LCD Soundsystem began their third straight night at Terminal 5, the hump day of their week-long career wind-down extravaganza. The moment set-opener "Dance Yourself Clean" goes from quiet to loud, someone near the stage flung about a hundred of those glo-sticks into the air, making for the first of many memorable moments of the night.

Despite having done this three-hour tour-de-force the last two nights, James Murphy and crew didn't show any signs of flagging. The eight or so musicians on stage -- not including female backup singers, male chorus and occasional horn sections -- seemed to be having a blast. As did the crowd that pretty much went mental for the entire first hour of the set, which included "Too Much Love" for the first time this week.

High point for me was watching the crowd react to "All My Friends." I was looking down from the third floor balcony and it was amazing to see so many people connect so deeply to it. That will definitely be one of my top concert moments of the year. I stayed against the balcony for the whole show (my first time at T5 if you can believe it) which I think probably made things more tolerable for me.

The bulked up band really made a difference, especially that male choir which includes members of the band Mr. Dream -- "Get Innocuous" and "Sound of Silver" sounded much fuller because of them. It was also nice to have Hot Chip's Al Doyle back, his presence was missed on last year's This Is Happening tour. He kept his shirt on tonight, but played guitar, vibes, timbales and even trumpet at one point.

The mid-section, an attempt to recreate the Nike-commissioned "45:33" was a bit hit or miss. Some parts were fleshed-out into more song-like structure, but without much singing it seemed like a good opportunity for the crowd (and band) to catch its breath.

For the third act, LCD Soundsystem got the crowd moving again with "Us Vs. Them" and kept the crowd bouncing through "North American Scum" and "You Wanted a Hit." With the pingpong bass of "Tribulations" the crowd surfing began, and then it turned into a pit for the thrashy "Movement."

There was also crowd favorite "Yeah" (it always kind of destroys), the throbbing "Someone Great," and LCD signature tune (and first single) "Losing My Edge" which seemed to take on extra meaning (and some new lyrics) in the hours before their retirement. Al Doyle also threw the keyboard hook from "Da Funk" into it at one point -- probably the closest we'll get to Daft Punk playing in LCD's house this week. (Though who knows what surprises are in store at MSG?) Also a treat: the band also threw in their cover of Harry Nilsson's "Jump into the Fire" in the encore, plopped in-between "All I Want" and "New York I Love You." Another highlight.

I don't know if he was saving his voice for singing, but James Murphy was rather unchatty between songs. Which is okay, the music spoke loud enough.

Shit Robot opened the show, and their set included LCD's Nancy Whang on vocals for "Take Em Up". They also later joined LCD on stage. Special guest Colin Stetson joined LCD on horns. Original LCD guitarist Phil Mossman played on some songs.

Only two more nights left for LCD's existence: tonight at Terminal 5 and then the big blowout Saturday at MSG. More pictures and video, and last night's setlist, after the jump.

Continue reading "LCD Soundsystem played Terminal 5 w/ opener Shit Robot, covered Harry Nilsson (night 3 pics, video, setlist)"

After an opening 8pm set by Liquid Liquid, LCD Soundsystem played for over 3 hours, starting at 9:10pm, at Terminal 5 in NYC last night (3/28). The show, their first of their last, was split into three sets. Each set had a short break in between, though James Murphy didn't play much of a frontman role during the 2nd set so in a way that one seemed like a much longer break for him. In fact, the jammy 2nd set (update: which included 45:33 stuff) started with a guest appearance by Reggie Watts on vocals. Speaking of vocals, Nancy Whang's singing was often showcased throughout the night, in addition to her keyboard/synth skills. Pat Mahoney got a great workout behind the kit (as did multi-instrumentalist Al Doyle at times). The night ended with a one song "NY I Love You" encore. The entire setlist is below.

I got there around 8:45 (missed Liquid Liquid unfortunately) and there was no line to get in. It was packed, but thanks to the set changes I was able to get pretty close when people moved around during the first break. If I hadn't been watching from the right side of the room when the show started, I might not have realized that there was a boys chorus stationed above the stage on the balcony (left side, stage right). James did acknowledge them though, and at least once during the show the shirtless and shredding Al Doyle (who often seemed to play the bandleader role) looked up at them with a very approving "you just nailed that part" grin. Based on LCD's March 10th tweet, we know the chorus haven't been playing with the band for that long (despite the plan to have them from the start).

James narrated the show. He told us about the set breaks ahead of time, apologized for stuff, introduced all band members multiple times. Said stuff like, "we learned a lot of stuff for this show and have more band members around to make sure we can play it all" and "we haven't played that one in 6 years... or was it 5 years," and "this is like a finale and a reunion for us since we're so old." It'll be interesting to see if they change the setlist at all night to night (they played the same set every night last time they played multiple nights at Terminal 5).

The show is long and great, full of hits and rarities, and you'll want to dance, so if you're going to the second show tonight (3/28), or the third tomorrow, or the fourth the day after that, or LCD's final show ever at MSG on Saturday, try to go with some energy.

A few more pictures, including shots of the merch and setlist, below...

Continue reading "LCD Soundsystem played Terminal 5 (night 1 pics & setlist)"

photos by Ryan Muir

"Gigantic electronic music festivals have always been more the province of the International EDM scene. However, with electronic music experiencing a renaissance level resurgence in the United States, the time was right for a US foray into a celebration of the vibe, culture and sonically astounding experience of dance music. The inaugural Electric Zoo Festival, held over this past Labor Day weekend in New York was a party that succeeded in capturing the essence of the intense passion people have for music, by presenting it in it's best light, outdoors, at Randall's Island Park, in such a manner where old school house head met up with hipster, candy ravers next to jacked up Staten Island and Jersey gym freaks and their orange tanned girlfriends. Everybody was represented, everyone was respected, and certainly a precedent was set for the justification of making this a regular addition to the national EDM calendar." [True Genius Requires Insanity]

Showtrotta and three separate BV photographers ventured out to Randall's Island over the weekend. Ryan was there on Sunday. Here are his pictures...

Continue reading "pictures from the Electric Zoo Festival in NYC (day 2) "