photos by Leia Jospe

Nullsleep

This year's Blip Festival was thrown at Eyebeam on New York City's West Side by a collective of chip musicians called 8bitpeoples, with help from NYC nonprofit The Tank.

Many of those who play chiptunes--music made through the sound chips of old video game hardware--have long resented the tight correlation between their music scene and video gamers. If that seems implausible at first, think of it this way: They're using the hardware as an instrument to create original electronic music that they hope everyone can enjoy, but the video gamey sound often leads to the misinterpretation that they're making "video game music", or that gamers are the only ones who can participate.

It seemed as if the surliness has relaxed. It's similar to the same kind of diversification that's been taking place in the gaming scene--the softening of divisions between types of players as the audience broadens--and this year's event welcomed gamers, musicians, hardware junkies interested in making new art with circuits, and music fans from the chip-savvy to the casual culturists. [Kotaku]

Continue reading "Blip Fest 2011 in pics"

Anamanaguchi @ SXSW (more by Tim Griffin)

Matthew Hawkins: Chip music seems to have really gone far in the past few years, especially the ones with you and the rest of the gang being active... What do you think of the current state of chiptunes? Are there any challenges and milestones ahead?

Anamanaguchi's Peter Berkman: I think this year of Blip is going to be incredible. Basically the community is acknowledging at large that it is OK to party. Everyone is continuing to carve out their own unique niches of the chiptune community, what I think is important is bringing those elements out into their own respective worlds outside of chiptune. That's why we play shows with bands that have the same feel as us but don't have any 8-bit stuff going on whatsoever.

Hawkins: Who are you looking forward to the most at this year's Blip?

Berkman: Henry Homesweet, 4mat, Talk To Animals, cTrix, Knife City, Noisewaves, 10k, It's pretty much just gonna be insane.

Peelander-Z at The Studio in January (more by Leia Jospe)

Welcome home Peelander-Z! The NYC band is finally home after an extended tour with Anamanaguchi that kicked off at SXSW and ended on April 30th. And though the tour is over, the band is ALREADY back out on the road, playing Newark, Delaware tonight and a hometown show back at The Studio at Webster Hall Saturday (5/7) with Hard Nips and Friends. Tickets for that one are still available (and, update: we're giving away a pair on Facebook).

Anamanaguchi has a new NYC show on their calendar too, which they say "is gonna be AWESOME. we're gonna have: JAMS // VISUALS // STROBES // UNICORNBROS DOING SECURITY // FURBIES // RAINBOWS // W33D420 // OK." Bowery Presents may have to give some of their staff a night off to make way for those UNICORNBROS, because Anamanaguchi are talking about a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 7/22. Tickets are on sale.

You don't need to wait that link to see Anamanaguchi though. The band will play day one of this year's Blip Festival, the annual three day festival in celebration of "low-bit video games and home computers". This year's fest takes place at Manhattan's Eyebeam (540 West 21st Street) from May 19-21. Tickets are on sale with 3-day and 1-day options available. The full lineup is listed below. It includes Tristan Perich, Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, Starscream and many more.

Anamanaguchi, Starscream and Peelander-Z played a show together at the Studio at Webster Hall back in January. Check out the pics.

Hard Nips, who play with Peelander on Saturday, are also scheduled to support Quintron & Miss Pussycat with Super Nice Bros and X-ray Eyeballs on May 28th at 285 Kent. Friends, who also play with Peelander Saturday, play 285 Kent soon too, with Dan Deacon.

All tour dates, the Blip lineup and some videos below.

Continue reading "Blip Festival coming, Anamanguchi announce shows, Peelander-Z play one this weekend (dates)"

photos by Samantha Marble & Tim Griffin

Surfer Blood (by Tim Griffin)

SXSW started out for us this year on two stages with fifteen bands at Emo's for a free six hour BrooklynVegan day party presented by Feed the Beat.

On the big stage Anamanaguchi kicked things off right at noon with a high energy, 8-bit pop rock set to a dedicated crowd who showed up early to catch them. Fresh off the Bruise Cruise, the garage rockin' Turbo Fruits kept the party going. By 1:30, with a buzz already kicking in thanks to the free Sailor Jerry and Sparks we were serving, a Place To Bury Strangers brought it with their intense, high volume noise, and then Darwin Deez followed, replacing armed-cross spectators with pockets of dancers and coordinated dance routines on stage. By the time Chiddy Bang (who arrived a bit late and therefore also had to play a shorter set) took the stage, the large room was filled in and people were ready to sing along to the rappers whose setup includes a mic and drumset, and backing tracks courtesy of bands like MGMT and Passion Pit (members of whom were in the audience). The Vaccines, all the way from the UK, kept the momentum going with their brit rock, though they also played a short set reportedly due to worries over the singer's voice.

By the time Mister Heavenly took the stage, you were lucky to find a place to stand, due in part to the many wanting to check out Michael Cera's bass skills. Many were also multitasking, aka watching music and eating the massive amounts of free burritos that Taco Bell delivered through the back door and were handing out all over the place. As Andrew pointed out, "Mr. Heavenly perfored an appropriately lovely set, its two frontmen trading verses in their own styles." The two frontmen are of course Nick Diamonds from Islands and Honus Honus from Man Man. The group is rounded out by Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer.

And finally, as Bill pointed out, Surfer Blood "gave us an enjoyable hits-packed [headlining] set from their first album." That of course was going down on the bigger outside stage while Kylesa was completely destroying on the inside stage - I actually watched more of Kylesa than Surfer Blood, but BBG can tell you more about that...

Deafheaven (by Sam Marble)

Despite traffic issues that made The Roller open the inside stage on the late side, the Austin band's bulldozing doom thunder opened the BV festivities at SXSW with a roar. The Roller is one of my favorite heavy bands in Austin, so it was great to see this powerful foursome in action on a BV stage (until I can convince 'em to come up north!).

When the Deafheaven guys arrived, their tees were a dead giveaway. Sporting merch from Hate Forest, Hellfish (records), and Slowdive, it was obvious to see the band's influences, but their live show was definitely born of hardcore. Wide-eyed cocalist George Clarke was in the audience's face, or thrashing maniacally as the band tore through tracks like "Violet" from their forthcoming Roads To Judah and "Libertine Dissolves" from their demo.

The Secret followed Deafheaven, and their blistering blast-y down-tuned hardcore reminded me of breathren Trap Them, Rotten Sound, or Converge in the live setting. Furious blackened hardcore that was technical and powerful.

KEN Mode was next, delivering the hardcore-infused noise rock jams that shine on their new LP Venerable. KEN Mode would leave shortly after their set to headline Scoot Inn as part of a Thrasher show with Dark Castle, The Body and others.

Blackened electric swamp-blues from Dax Riggs kept energy levels on high before Trash Talk brought the crowd to a circle pitting/crowd-surfing frenzy. The band was short their usual bassist though, as Spencer was in the hospital after being stabbed by some "nazi motherfuckers" at a hardcore show in their native California. Despite the replacement, Trash Talk was undeterred and as incendiary as ever.

Kylesa closed the day out with faves like set-opener "Hollow Severer", "Tired Climb", "Running Red", and "Scapegoat", before calling it a day before a sold-out crowd. Excellent set from these Savannah greats, who seem to get better (and bigger) with each show.

All in all it was an amazing first day at SXSW that continued two hours later with six more hours of bands at Swan Dive.

Thanks to Feed the Beat, Orange (who provided the thunder behind Kylesa), Line 6 (the mics), Korg (keyboard), Vox (amps), Blackstar (and amps), Sensible Portions, Honest Tea, Raw Revolution, Sailor Jerry, SPARKS, everyone at Emo's, The Syndicate, Andy, Erik, Katie, Zach, Nevonah, The Roller, Anamanaguchi & Surfer Blood for being so amenable, as well as all of the bands for being incredible! Mostly, we'd like to thank anyone/everyone who made it out on a Wednesday afternoon... your support is appreciated.

Lots more pictures and videos from the whole day, below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan/Feed the Beat Emo's Day Party in pics & video (Surfer Blood, Kylesa, Mister Heavenly, Trash Talk & more)"

BrooklynVegan Week in Austin begins once again at Emo's where we'll kick off a six hour day party presented by Feed the Beat at noon on Wednesday, March 16th. The 100% free, two-stage lineup looks like this:

Outside / Main Stage @ Emo's
12:00 PM Anamanaguchi
12:45 PM Turbo Fruits
1:30 PM A Place To Bury Strangers
2:15 PM Darwin Deez
3:00 PM Chiddy Bang
3:45 PM The Vaccines
4:30 PM Mister Heavenly
5:15 PM Surfer Blood

Inside / Metal Stage @ Emo's Jr
12:20 PM The Roller
1:10 PM Deafheaven
1:55 PM The Secret
2:40 PM KEN Mode
3:30 PM Dax Riggs
4:20 PM Trash Talk
5:10 PM Kylesa

I'm also happy to point out again (like at our Friday party), though everyone will sound great already, they are going to sound even better thanks to our official microphone sponsor Line 6, not to mention due to the help of the Korg keyboards, and Vox & Blackstar amps that we'll have on hand - all generous and much-appreciated BrooklynVegan show sponsors.

Also Note:

• we'll also have FREE snacks courtesy of Sensible Portions.
• we'll keep you hydrated with FREE Honest Tea.
• you can keep your energy levels high with FREE Raw Revolution bars.
• FREE Sailor Jerry cocktails while supplies last.
• and there will be even more FREE FOOD and DRINKS (TBA)!

Feed the Beat artists (past and present) include Dr. Dog, White Rabbits, Wavves, Best Coast, Andrew W.K., Cults, Passion Pit, Phosphorescent, Suckers, Tokyo Police Club, The Sword, Anamanaguchi, Girl Talk, Delta Spirit, A Place to Bury Strangers, Lucero, Turbo Fruits, Municipal Waste, Chiddy Bang, The Bouncing Souls, The Gaslight Anthem, Those Darlins and many more.

Thanks also to Zach Jaeger of Tonally Dude for creating the flyer you see below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan & Feed the Beat present a Wed. Day Party (Emo's 2-stage lineup announcement)"

Guitar Wolf at Santos (more by Keith Marlowe)

Guitar Wolf will return to the US for announced dates in NYC and Chicago in May. No word on if these dates will lead to a full-blown tour, but luckily for NYC we know we can look forward to seeing the Japanese garage punks on May 13th at Knitting Factory with Cheap Time. Tickets are on sale.

The last time Guitar Wolf played NYC was with the cartoonish and superfun Peelander-Z. Peelander currently has no NYC dates (they recently played The Studio at Webster Hall), but will hit the road for a string of dates with Anamanaguchi directly following, and including SXSW, and then they're going on Warped Tour.

All dates, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Guitar Wolf announce dates, Cheap Time & Peelander-Z too"

photos by Leia Jospe

Super Mash bros

Silent Barn will host a day of "music, comic books, video games and non institutional learning" SATURDAY (2/5) starting at 2PM. It's a multi-media event called OKEVERYTHING. The first part of the day is FREE and will kick off with discussion on video games and gaming design before shifting to comic book production. Right around 7PM is when the music will kick off, and when revellers will have to pay the $10 entrance fee to catch an 8-bit heavy lineup headlined by Anamanaguchi with The J. Arthur Keenes Band, Nullsleep, Starscream, and George & Jonathan.

Anamanaguchi recently supported Super Mash Brothers at Irving Plaza on January 22nd. Pictures from that show, and full details on the OKEVERYTHING show are below.

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi opened for Super Mash Brothers @ Irving Plaza (pics), playing video game & comic book party Saturday"

photos by Leia Jospe

"Unlike the heroes of "Tron: Legacy,'' the members of Anamanaguchi haven't gotten trapped inside a video game. But they did get to compose the score for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game,'' which is almost as appropriate. That's because Anamanaguchi plays "chiptune'' music - jumpy, bleepy rock that incorporates the rudimentary tones of such early eight-bit video-game systems as Game Boy and NES.

An American band with a fake-Japanese name, Anamanaguchi doesn't rely entirely on braying electronics. The group adds guitar, drums and bass to its instrumentals, yielding music that suggests a more trebly version of Trans Am, the D.C. trio that melds electro- and arena-rock." [Washington Post]

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi scored the Scott Pilgrim game, played the Studio @ Webster Hall w/ Peelander-Z & Starscream (pics)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Anamanaguchi have tonight off, but will play Atlanta tomorrow (1/11) as part of a two-week tour that has them scooting up and down the East Coast. The tour kicked off at Knitting Factory on 1/6 (where these pics come from) and hits The Studio at Webster Hall on Friday (1/14) when the band will team up with Peelander-Z and Starscream. Tickets are still available or you can try your luck at winning one of two pairs in our still-running ticket contest.

Anamanaguchi was supported by Lionshare & The So So Glos at Knitting Factory. More pictures from that show and the rest of their current tour sked is below.

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi, So So Glos, Lionshare @ Knitting Factory -pics"

Peelander-Z w/ Starscream at Santos in November (more by Andrew St. Clair)

The wild boys of Japanese-Comic-Punk of Peelander-Z will team up with FourLoko-guzzling boys of Anamanaguchi to play The Studio at Webster Hall on January 14th with Starscream. Tickets are still available or you can try your luck at winning one of two pairs! Details on how to win are below.

The show at The Studio at Webster Hall is the second-to-last date on an Anamanaguchi tour that kicks off TONIGHT at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn (1/6) with Lionshare & The So So Glos. Tickets for that show are still available too.

All tour dates, as well as the latest Peelander-Z video for the song "Taco Taco Tacos" (I can't make this stuff up), below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi kicking off tour tonight in Brooklyn (dates), playing Manhattan w/ Peelander-Z (win tix)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Four Loko is a caffeinated malt beverage which myself and many of my friends enjoy. Recent legislation has threatened the sale of Four Loko in New York State. We ask Dennis Rosen, chairman of the NYS Liquor Authority, to rethink his stance under the belief that Four Loko is essential to New York City's well being and part of a balanced drink menu.

It is my personal belief that New Yorker and American Forefather, Alexander Hamilt...on, would have enjoyed Four Loko and made it his drink of choice during the grueling Battle of Yorktown - as it is a drink which can keep you awake and warm - perfect for when Hamilton and General George Washington led the remaining 2000 soldiers of the Continental Army across the Hudson to Brooklyn in pure silence under the dark New York City moon - a maneuver which saved the army, won back New York and ultimately America from the taxing hand of the British.

Please join us on the steps of Union Square at 7pm on November 17th for this candle light vigil - share your voice, bring a sign, light a candle and lets UNITE AS ONE to stand for FREEDOM and something greater than the individual .. AS ONE WE CAN BE FOUR. -[Four Loko Supporters]

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi held a Four Loko rally in Union Square, things got very NSFW (pics & video) "

photos by Leia Jospe

Dubbed, "Dump.fm - IRHell", this party was a "SUPER SPOOKY TRANS-NATIONAL HALLOWEEN PARTY" that took place on Saturday night, October 30th, at 319 Scholes in Brooklyn while another party took place at U.F.O.ria in Mexico City, and they were "connected through dump.fm." The posted lineups were:

Brooklyn Performances by -- Anamanaguchi - Brenmar - Nullsleep - Physical Therapy - Jon Lynn (Unsolved Mysteries) - Laurel Halo - BLISSED OUT - Magick Mountain - DJ Brother Ladypantz - MIRRORGATE - Flash Porno - ELEVATORMAN Mexico City Performances by -- GATEKEEPER - DoubleDigits - Ñaka Ñaka †‡† - DAMAGE

Continue reading "Nullsleep & Anamanaguchi played a Halloween party (pics) "

DOWNLOAD: Anamanaguchi - "Mess" (MP3)

photos by Leia Jospe

Anamanaguchi at Death By Audio on 9/23

Anamanaguchi has been trickling out singles right and left via their website, and now the NYC band has a new offering, "Mess", available for download above. To go along with their 8-bit steelo, the band has also released a digital animated "cover". Check that out. And if you can, "be a bro" and donate to the cause at their site.

Anamanaguchi will play a DJ set at Glasslands on 10/23 at the Unofficial Popgun CMJ show with Baths, Yuck (who are also playing the Official BV CMJ party at MHOW on 10/21 - tickets), Mon Khmer, Dominant Legs, Teen Daze, Porcelain Raft and Jaill. Anamanaguchi recently supported Ra Ra Riot at Music Hall of Williamsburg (on 9/24). One night earlier they played Death By Audio with Tera Melos, Pteradactyl, and Fiasco. Belated pics of Anamanaguchi and Tera Melos from that show, and all of their current dates, below...

Continue reading "new Anamanaguchi MP3, live pics, tour dates "

photos by Amanda Hatfield

While Pavement was waving goodbye across town, Ra Ra Riot played Music Hall of Williamsburg with Anamanaguchi on 9/24. It was RRR's fourth and final show of their residency across two venues (Bowery pics from night one and night two). Now that the four dates are over, the Syracuse band can get to the business of hitting the road, where the band will be for the remainder of the year. They play Toad's Place Tuesday with their tour-mates Chikita Violenta and We Barbarians.

In other news, Ra Ra Riot was on NPR's Soundcheck last week and recently announced a new split 7" with Stornoway. The split, which is limited to 1000 pieces and will appear on 4AD, features 'Fuel Up' by Stornaway as well as Ra Ra Riot's "Boy", both of which appear on the bands respective new LPs. Reminder, Stornaway is scheduled to play Bowery Ballroom on 12/2 with Franz Nicolay (tickets) as part of a larger US tour. Their updated dates below.

Anamanaguchi's MHOW appearance meant two shows in two days, as the band also played Death By Audio with Tera Melos, Pteradactyl, and Fiasco the previous night. Pics from that show are on the way with a new song by Anamanaguchi. Stay tuned.

More pictures from the 9/24 MHOW show, with the Stornoway dates, below...

Continue reading "Ra Ra Riot on tour, played MHOW w/ Anamanaguchi (pics), released a 7" w/ Stornoway (who are touring soon)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Dude brought a vuvuzuela to blow in the audience during Peelander Z show. It was funny the first 5 mins. Then I wanted to break it over ... - -BicoastalBitchn

Peelander-Z and Anamanaguchi played a show at Death By Audio on Saturday, July 3rd with Math The Band and Previously on Lost.

Peelander-Z have a few shows outside of NYC coming up - the closest is at NJ's Asbury Lanes on August 14th.

More pictures from the show (World Cup fever continues) and a video of Anamanaguchi playing their theme to the forthcoming Scott Pilgrim (movie tie-in) video game (not at DBA) are below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z & Anamanaguchi played Death by Audio (pics) "

photos by Leia Jospe

Anamanaguchi (who next play Death By Audio w/ Peelander-Z and Math The Band on July 3rd), Starscream and Fiasco shared a bill Friday night at Silent Barn. More pictures and a couple of videos from that show below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi, Starscream & Fiasco @ Silent Barn (pics,video)"

photos by Leia Jospe

OK Go played their first of two shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (4/29). Anamanaguchi & The Tangents both opened the show. More pictures and the headliner's setlist below...

Continue reading "OK Go, Anamanaguchi & the Tangents @ MHOW (pics, setlist) "

"Like last year, everything will be taking place in Williamsburg and Greenpoint because walking long distances is a drag when there are bands to see and beer to drink, we mean seriously. Us here at The L Magazine will be booking a share of shows on our own, but, for a large chunk of the festival, we've once again handed over curatorial control to some of the most tasteful, talented and dedicated folks in New York's independent music scene -- record labels, bloggers, promoters and more -- allowing them to showcase the bands they think you need to hear. The Williamsburg Gallery Association is again on board to highlight special exhibitions and other events at over 25 art galleries in the neighborhood. And to celebrate Northside's second year, we've invited a few of the city's biggest aficionados of independent film to curate four nights of New York-made movies at Brooklyn's new, as-yet-unopened film house-music club-restaurant-bar, indieScreen."

Music, art and movies will be happening at "30+ venues" and "dozens of galleries" over the course of four days in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Like SXSW & CMJ, you can buy tickets to individual events, or you can get a badge which gets you in to everything that isn't already at badge-capacity. $50 badges are now on sale to those 21 and over. If you buy a badge, "Arrive to venues early - badgeholders are admitted on a first-come, first-served, one-out, one-in basis."

If you buy a badge you can take your chances at getting into one of the four Northside shows happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg (BrooklynVegan showcase included), Fiery Furnaces at Brooklyn Bowl, and WAVVES & Cloud Nothings at Knitting Factory. TONS more shows TBA, but the initial list of bands that will be playing has been announced (I'm especially excited to see The Wave Pictures, Fucked Up, Liars, Parenthetical Girls and Les Savy Fav on there in addition to what we've previously talked about) (and yes Titus Andronicus is on there). Check it out below...

Continue reading "2010 Northside Festival - tickets & intial lineup (includes Liars, Fucked Up, Les Savy Fav, Polvo & many more)"

words & photos by Benjamin Lozovsky w/ additional photos by Leia Jospe

Fang Island lock on with their jaws and don't relent. The Brooklyn band never gave up its hold on an enthusiastic audience at their sold out show at the Brooklyn Knitting Factory Monday night. Fang Island evade outright comparisons with an enticing mix of textured guitar polyphonics, uplifting vocal harmonies and mosh-worthy tumult. For their encore the band played a groovy cover of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby," obviously for the many people over time who have wondered what that song might sound like with triple harmonized lead guitars mimicking the melody.

Idolands and Anamanaguchi opened the show. Anamanaguchi flaunted an equal love of fallen electronics and Blink 182 (already apparent, they highlighted their influence even more by momentarily flirting with the riff from "Dammit"), spitting gleefully acrid 8-bit melodies on top of Marshall stack guitars and matter-of-fact power pop.

More Fang Island dates HERE. More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Fang Island & Anamanaguchi @ Knitting Factory (pics) "

As anyone following along on @bvSXSW knows, after some serious transportation issues, Andrew Frisicano eventually made his way down to Monterrey, Mexico from Austin, TX (counting waiting for the bus to show up, it took him something like 18 hours which was 4 hours shorter than it took Ryan Muir) in time for a bit of the 2nd night and all of the third day (aka today, 3/22). Here is some of his story so far...

The Coathangers @ MtyMX (by TiTa_Elizondo)

"You Will Remember Tonight" was the song that stuck out in Andrew WK's headlining set at MtyMx Festival last night in Monterrey, Mexico. It was the second night of the fest, and the only set I saw because of a lengthy, complicated bus trip that started much earlier in the day.

There were a lot of questions coming down to Mexico: transportation, accommodations and food were mostly left in the hands of the festival, and at MtyMx now (5pm Monterrey time), most of those continue to be issues, sadly distracting from the bands who did make it. For some bands and showgoers the trip took 20+ hours of waiting and riding on buses, but if one thing has been consistent, it has been that no two MtyMx trips have been the same.

Due to spotty bus service from Austin, shaken confidence in the festival and scheduling issues, a number of the bands on the bill have canceled or been unable to make it down. Those bands (editor's note: which Todd P sarcastically addresses in a video below) include Washed Out, Small Black, Tanlines, No Age, Lucky Dragons, Anamanaguchi, Pocahaunted, Beach Fossils, MNDR, Sun Araw, Total Abuse, Talk Normal, The Wave Pictures, Fucked Up, The Sandwitches and Liturgy. On the festival's last day, arranging transportation back to Austin or elsewhere has been an overriding theme.

story continued below with video & more pics...

Continue reading "Andrew Frisicano reports from MtyMx (which he had much trouble getting to, and he's not sure how he's getting back) "

photos by Leia Jospe

Anamanaguchi

Ary Warnaar, guitarist for the New York chiptunes band Anamanaguchi, famously described 8-bit music as "the punk of electronic music."

It was hard to dispute that claim as Datapop 3.0 kicked off the first of its two nights Tuesday at the Highball. The third annual event celebrates 8-bit music -- a distinct brand of electronic music that's composed and performed through the use of old computer consoles from the 8-bit era of video games. Imagine techno performed entirely through samples culled from your dusty, trusty old Nintendo Entertainment System and you'll be in the right ballpark.

8-bit music may not have the rage -- or even the lyrics -- of punk music, but it does share the same sense of youthful innovation and wild, giddy abandon. Also like punk, it's the sort of thing that's likely to be appreciated only by those of or below a certain age -- if you're not young enough to recall just how fiendishly addictive the melodies in, say, "Mega Man 2" were, there's a solid chance 8-bit music might just sound like so many computerized bleeps and bloops to you. [Austin Statesman]

Continue reading "pics from Datapop 3 (a SXSW celebration of 8-bit music)"

Peelander-Z @ South Street Seaport - Aug 2009 (more by Oliver Lopena)

NYC costumed party rockers Peelander-Z will be playing a March 6th show at Death by Audio (along with Math the Band, Uncle Monsterface, The Eskalators and Lima) before heading out on an extensive US tour that'll include shows at SXSW and a tour-closing gig at Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday, May 1st with Math the Band (who join them on tour) and Anamanaguchi. Tickets to that are on sale.

Remember back to last summer when Peelander solicited people (especially people named 'Mike or John') for a video shoot: Well the resulting video for "So Many Mike" is out, and posted below. That, all tour dates and extra videos from Red, Green & Yellow are below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z video & tour dates (DbA, SXSW, B Bowl, more)"

Sam Hillmer (left) playing with Zs @ the Yard (more by Sarahana)

You Are Here (The Maze) is a performance festival in a sculptural maze taking place at Williamsburg's Death By Audio from September 10 - October 2, 2009. Emphasizing the sprawling and interconnected nature of New York's underground, a trip through the maze offers a peak inside NYC's diy art/music scene. A meditation on passage and desire, You Are Here engulfs the space and presents beckoning inhabitants, dead ends, and uplifting epitaphs. Medium and genre vary and overlapping and simultaneous performances are frequent, each performer establishing a different corner or dead end as his or hers.

Skeletons kick off the first night of the festival on September 10th as the Skeletons Big Band, a 12-piece band (expanded from their usual four) that's also playing September 7-9th at Roulette. There they'll be performing "New Works for a Larger Ensemble" which includes "excerpts and new arrangements from their record in progress "PEOPLE," a long form piece based around conversations in Greyhound busses and stations, and beyond..."

The full schedule for the Maze (and the lineup for Skeletons Big Band) is below...

Continue reading "Death By Audio's The Maze - schedule (includes 1 of 4 upcoming Skeletons Big Band shows & much more) "

DOWNLOAD: The Glass - Wanna Be Dancin' (Radio Edit) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Glass - Come Alive (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grum - Sound Reaction (Heart Beats) (original mix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grum - Sound Reaction (Heart Beats) (radio edit) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grum - Sound Reaction (Heart Beats) (the Revolving Eyes remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grum - Sound Reaction (Heart Beats) (the Phantom's Revenge remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hostage - Special Brew (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hostage - Concrete Mix (MP3)

Fake Blood @ Cheeky Bastard - 213 N. 8th St., Williamsburg (more by Nicky Digital)

Last week in dance was another busy one as usual. I wasn't around for the weekend but managed to get out a bit before then. On Thursday I caught an awesome set from Fake Blood in Williamsburg, followed by a great night of dancing downstairs at APT on Friday, where Trus'me dropped everything from disco, house, and techno to soul at Disco3000. The dancing continues this week, starting with Thursday and Friday:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 1)"

8 bands

The did it in 2007, and again in 2008, and this year L Magazine is back with their list of "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear" (plus some runner-ups). Check out the 2009 list, and discuss, below...

Continue reading "L Mag's 2009 list of "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear""