photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

"Not even kidding. lou reed watched @dasracist perform tonight & flipped the fuck out. at carnegie hall. how was your night?" - El-P

"The night wrapped up with Lenny Kaye leading the Patti Smith band through a brief tribute to the garage-rock compilation Nuggets, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and Lou Reed, who performed three songs. Reed conducted the string quartet and the drummer to improvise with him at moments, which felt awkward in the beginning; the ending, however--as the string quartet jammed in tandem with Smith's guitarists and Reed himself--was pretty impressive. At the very end Laurie Anderson and the whole evening's cast returned to the stage for a curtain call, during which the room sang "Happy Birthday" to Philip Glass." [Village Voice]

Continue reading "2012 Tibet House benefit pics (Philip Glass, Das Racist, James Blake, Antony, Lou Reed, Stephin Merritt, Rahzel & more)"

Antony @ Radio City (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Antony played a show at Radio City Music Hall last night. And this was just announced:

Tibet House US is thrilled to announce that Antony and Stephin Merritt have joined the bill for the 22nd Annual Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 7:30pm. This year's esteemed line-up, curated by Philip Glass, the concert's artistic director, includes Lou Reed, James Blake, Dechen Shak-Dagsay, Laurie Anderson, and Rahzel, in addition to Antony and Stephin. Tickets are on sale now and available through the Carnegie Hall Box Office. Special packages that include concert tickets and a fundraising reception following the show with the event's Honorary Chairpersons Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard and the evening's performing artists are available through Tibet House US.

James Blake is also DJing Le Poisson Rouge while he's in town.

The Magnetic Fields are going on tour in March and April.

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

A thick cloak of darkness draped the stage of Radio City when Antony Hegarty began to sing. My eyes trained on his white floor-length robe, the only thing that shone through the fog and shadows.

With its piano melodies and strings arrangements, the Antony and the Johnsons discography is far from sonically lacking. But after hearing the opening measures of "Rapture," the aptly named first song of the evening, it quickly became clear that Hegarty's music was destined to be bigger. And tonight it got that chance, thanks to the addition of a talented sixty-member orchestra. Under the guidance of conductor Rob Moose, Hegarty's music unfurled and exploded into a host of symphonic crescendos. And soon, the darkness on stage subsided as one-by-one, the screens that blanketed the stage began to lift to reveal a dream-like installation of hanging 3D geometric shapes. A restrained laser show only added to the mystique, at times blanketing Antony in a twinkling world of colorful light.

It was that rare kind of performance that breaks your heart only to have the pieces lovingly reassembled, down to the tiniest, most tender bloody shard. Hegarty's lyrics may reveal inner turmoil, but filtered through his sprawling multi-octave voice and unflinching poise, the painful material becomes mesmerizing, life-affirming, and wildly triumphant.

Combining songs from all four Antony and the Johnsons albums and at least one EP, the set revealed the evolution of the band's music, as well as Heggarty's emotions. He even threw in a surprisingly moving rendition of Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" (slowed down and fleshed out to make it nearly unrecognizable). Hegarty powered through the majority of the set, playing some fourteen songs without speaking. But following the dramatic unveiling of the orchestra during "Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground," Hegarty broke his spell of silence to introduce and sincerely thank everyone who helped make the MoMA-commissioned one-night event possible, including Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman) on piano and Nico Muhly who - along with Maxim Moston and Rob Moose- arranged much of the music. "Well that's quite the bulk of the show," said Hegarty. "I'm so fucking glad. It was so ambitious, this production! It was really insane."

After the applause and laughter died down, Hegarty and his 60+ band mates signed off with two additional songs before the golden velvet curtain slowly made its descent, prompting the audience to collectively exhale before erupting into an elated standing ovation that resonated beautifully throughout the cavernous hall.

More pictures and the setlist from the 1/26 show, below...

Continue reading "Antony and the Johnsons & orchestra played Radio City Music Hall (pics, review, setlist) "

As previously discussed, Antony & the Johnsons (and 60-piece orchestra) will play a rare and special show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on January 26th. Tickets to the MoMA-commissioned event are still on sale and we're giving a pair away. Details below...

Continue reading "win tix to Antony & the Johnsons @ Radio City Music Hall"

Musician and visual artist Antony will exhibit over 60 of his works of art at the Hammer Museum opening January 22 and running through May 13 in Los Angeles. This exhibition will be part of the Hammer Projects series and held in the museum's Vault Gallery.

Over the past twenty years, Antony has developed an esoteric and diverse body of work that includes not only his critically-acclaimed music and elaborate performances but also his lesser-known work in collage, drawing, and sculpture. Antony's work emerges from a set of rituals such as washing and burning paper or engaging in repetitive mark-making as well as cutting, tearing and sewing found images. Hammer Projects: Antony is his first one-person museum exhibition in the US and will feature collages and drawings made between 2004 to 2011, some of which were recently published in Swanlights, a book accompanying the 2010 Antony and the Johnsons album. The exhibit is organized by guest curator James Elaine.

Antony's visual art has also been shown at Palais Des Beaux Arts in Belgium, Isis Gallery in London, Accademia Albertina in Turin and the Triennale in Milan. In 2009 he curated a group show entitled Six Eyes at Agnès B. Galerie Du Jour in Paris, which included work by Peter Hujar, Kiki Smith, and William Basinski. The New York Times has said of his work, "A case could be made that Mr. Hegarty himself is following some uncharted lines as an artist and performer..."

When William Basinski opened his nightclub Arcadia in 1992, Williamsburg had more than a decade of history as an outerborough artists' colony. Arcadia and a handful of other entities such as The Lizard's Tail, Lalalandia, Test-Site gallery, Nerve Circle Studios, Mustard and Galapagos transformed the artists' colony into a full blown urban subculture. No neighborhood in Brooklyn compares to Williamsburg for the shrillness of her declaration of artistic autonomy in the closing years of the last century. This neighborhood is the heart of the Brooklyn Renaissance. And at the heart of Williamsburg, in the pivotal years, was Arcadia. Join us on November 2nd, as we pay tribute to William Basinski and create the distinctive environment and spirited performances of Arcadia at 110 Livingston Street, our future home.
- Issue Project Room

Antony also just anounced a much bigger show happening this January.

Antony w/ an orchestra in 2010 (more by Richard Termine)

This is awesome:

The Museum of Modern Art has commissioned artist/musician Antony to conceive, produce, and perform a large-scale concert and performance event, Swanlights, with Antony and the Johnsons, on Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall. Featuring a 60-piece orchestra, the performance piece is conceived as a new commission especially developed for the January 26 performance, and an evolution of the highly acclaimed The Crying Light, which was presented at the Manchester Opera House for the 2009 Manchester International Festival. Envisioned as a meditation on light, nature, and femininity, Swanlights includes songs from all four of Antony and the Johnsons' albums (self-titled, I am a Bird Now, The Crying Light, and Swanlights), set to symphonic arrangements by Nico Muhly, Rob Moose, and Maxim Moston. It is produced in collaboration with light artist Chris Levine, lighting designer Paul Normandale, and set designer Carl Robertshaw. Antony and the Johnsons: Swanlights is organized by Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator at Large of The Museum of Modern Art and Director of MoMA PS1, with the assistance of Eliza Ryan, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1.

This month also sees a work-in-progress screening of TURNING, a film by Charles Atlas and Antony on November 11th at Copenhagen's Documentary Film Festival CPH:DOX.

Nomi & Antony

Nomi and Antony are old friends, collaborators and both ex-contributors to Hercules & Love Affair. No surprise then to see and hear Antony in the new Jessica 6 (Nomi's current project) video for "Prisoner of Love". Check that out below.

Jessica 6 kick off a tour with like-minded disco fans Holy Ghost! at Bowery Ballroom on 10/29. That tour ends 11/26 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Check ticketmaster for tickets. All tour dates are also below...

Continue reading "watch Jessica 6 & Antony in the new 'Prisoner of Love' video, catch Jessica 6 on tour w/ Holy Ghost!"

photos by Greg Cristman

Yoko Ono's Secret Piece (1953)
throughout Central Park from 5AM - 8AM on June 21, 2011.
Celebrate the summer solstice with Yoko Ono's meditative Secret Piece, at sunrise in Central Park.

We will meet at Columbus Circle starting at 5AM. Bring any musical instrument or just your voice, and we will send you to a secluded part of the park to play the note of your choice to the accompaniment of birds.

At 8AM we will all return to Columbus Circle for hot green tea.

UPDATE: Apparently Yoko didn't even go to her own event. ZINGARA says "I woke up really early this morning thinking that different musicians where going to get together and play a Yoko Ono tone. instead i got there and everybody was on their own wandering around the park like a homeless person. There was someone there but as soon you sign your name they send you away." Lori Zimmer adds, "woke @ 330 to go to central pk... was handed a map with little explanation. very disappointed, not much explanation, no yoko, green tea from starbucks out of styrofoam cups after 3 hours...."

The other pictures in this post are from that Japan benefit that Yoko Ono threw at Le Poisson Rouge in March. You already saw the Cibo Matto pics from the same event. Here are the rest with Yoko, Sean Lennon, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Antony, Lou Reed and more included. They continue below...

Continue reading "spend Tuesday morning with Yoko Ono in Central Park (check out some Japan Benefit pics in this post)"

Rufus Wainwright @ Prospect Park (more by David Andrako)

Despite the addition of Rufus Wainwright to the bill, and stellar past shows, tickets are amazingly still on sale for Doveman's show at LPR tonight (5/26). The Goastt, aka Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl, were recently added to the show too. There's always surprise guests (like Justin Bond) and an all-star backing band too.

Rufus was also just added to another show too, one that also still has tickets on sale, and one that now boasts an extremely impressive lineup of gay icons. Rufus Wainwright, Justin Bond AND Liza Minelli (!) were all added as special guests to the Sandra Bernhard show happening June 8 at Town Hall. The date will be the world premiere of Sandra's new show "I LOVE BEING ME, DON'T YOU?" The poster confirming this info is below.

Speaking of Rufus (and Justin) at Town Hall, he and Martha just played the venue two nights in a row in honor of their mother with Justin Bond, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty, Emmylou Harris, Teddy Thompson, Jimmy Fallon, and others. Rolling Stone was there the first night:

Although the three-hour concert was billed as "A Celebration of Kate McGarrigle," the prevailing mood was naturally somber. McGarrigle wrote and sang heartrendingly personal songs throughout most of her life; hearing them now that she's gone was emotional, to say the least. Performers and audience members alike could be seen tearing up during highlights like "I Eat Dinner (When The Hunger's Gone)" (a sweet duet between Harris and Thompson), "Go Leave" (a deeply felt rendition by Hegarty), "(Talk to Me Of) Mendocino" (sung by both Wainwright siblings with Jones), "Tell My Sister" (a wonderfully torchy performance by Martha Wainwright) and most of all "Proserpina" - the last song Kate McGarrigle wrote before her death, a sad, lovely, honest tune that brought nearly everyone back on stage to close the night's first set.

Continue reading "Rufus Wainwright (and Liza Minelli!) will join Sandra Bernhard @ Town Hall (where he recently played 2 nights for Kate)"

DOWNLOAD: Jessica 6 - Prisoner of Love (w/ Antony) (MP3)

Download "Prisoner of Love" from the forthcoming Jessica 6 album above (Antony and Nomi Ruiz together again). "See The Light" will be released by Peacefrog on 6/6.

Jessica 6, who oddly played an in-store in a Sephora earlier today (5/6), play Tammany Hall along with DJ JD Samson (Le Tigre) and Body Language tonight (as mentioned earlier in What's Going on Friday). Flyer and other dates below...

Continue reading "Antony on a new Jessica 6 track (MP3), Tammany Hall tonight "

It has been announced that Antony will join Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, Cibo Matto, and Patti Smith for the benefit at LPR Tuesday. In other news, Antony has this coming:

Antony and the Johnsons will release their four track EP "Swanlights" on 10" April 16th through Record Store Day followed by releases through Secretly Canadian and Rough Trade on April 26th. The EP includes a remix of the title track by Oneohtrix Point Never and two exclusive B-sides. The CD version will include the Swanlights music video directed and produced by Sara Hegarty.

1 - Swanlights
2 - Find The Rhythm Of Your Love
3 - Kissing Noone
4 - Swanlights OPN edit

Continue reading "Antony added to Yoko benefit, releasing EP, in MEN song"

On May 12 and 13, Rufus and Martha, along with their aunt Anna McGarrigle will host A Celebration of the Music of Kate McGarrigle, a pair of tribute shows to be held for their late mother at New York City's Town Hall. These shows will feature performances by Rufus and Martha, as well Anna McGarrigle, Jimmy Fallon, Emmylou Harris, Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Krystle Warren, Teddy Thompson, Justin Bond, Jenni Muldaur, Sloan Wainwright and more. Tickets for both shows are onsale now at Ticketmaster.com.

All profits from these events will go to the Sarcoma Foundation of America. Rufus and Martha were recently named as the 2011 spokespersons for the Sarcoma Foundation of America. Kate McGarrigle passed away from Sarcoma in January 2010.

Teddy Thompson has many other shows and a tour coming up.

Justin Bond played Doveman's last Salon, and Martha Wainwright plays the next one.

photos by Richard Termine

DOWNLOAD: Antony - Thank You For Your Love (MP3)

"This is how it must feel to be an ovum," the singer Antony Hegarty said with a tone of gentle amusement as latecomers flooded down the aisles of Alice Tully Hall during the concert he presented there on Saturday night. It was the second time this singer, who goes by his first name, stopped to let stragglers find their seats. Earlier he had abruptly cut off a song just started -- "Ghost," from his rapturously lovely new album, "Swanlights" -- then tried to smooth over an awkward silence by whistling Satie's "Gymnopédie" No. 1...

...Here, performing as part of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival, Antony stood shrouded in shadow and sheathed in a flowing black gown. In place of his Johnsons, the Orchestra of St. Luke's accompanied him in songs largely drawn from "Swanlights" and its predecessor, "The Crying Light." Rob Moose, elsewhere a musically polyamorous violinist, conducted; at the piano was Thomas Bartlett, a sensitive chamber-pop singer otherwise known as Doveman. [NY Times]

I think there were at least two big issues that caused people to be late. One of them was the show's kind-of-unfortunate 7:30pm start time (7:30 sharp on a Saturday night with no opener). The other was that the 1/2/3 trains were all screwed up, and I personally spent the first 30 minutes of the show sitting underground in a train that wasn't going anywhere. At least there were people dressed up for Halloween adorning all the stations and cars. That made the situation feel slightly less tense. That said, by the time I got there, every seat in the house was full, so late or not, everyone eventually got there, and what I saw was unsuprisingly beautiful and worth finally making it there for.

Nico Muhly was responsible for many of the arrangements of the night, and behind Antony and the orchestra was the film "Mr. O's Book of the Dead", a 1973 film by Chiaki Nagano featuring the Butoh master Kazuo Ohno and his troupe. Kazuo is the one on the cover of Antony and the Johnsons' 2009 CD The Crying Light. And as the NY Times sums up nicely, it was "Projected overhead throughout the performance -- even during the awkward breaks -- it was both a potent visualization of gender ambiguity, vulnerability and pain, and a garish distraction from music's transfixing intensity and beauty."

It was Antony's only North American show this year. Hopefully he'll tour some more in support of his new album "Swanlights" which was released on October 12th via Secretly Canadian. Download "Thank You For Your Love" from that LP above, and watch Antony's performance of the same song from the October 8th episode of Letterman in the video, under the rest of the pictures from Lincoln Center, below...

Continue reading "Antony played w/ an orchestra & Doveman & a movie @ Lincoln Center (pics) "

DOWNLOAD: Antony - Thank You For Your Love (MP3)

Antony and the Johnsons will play their only North American live show of 2010 at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on Saturday, October 30. They will be performing with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, which will be conducted by Rob Moose. Chiaki Nagano's film "Mr. O's Book of the Dead" starring Kazuo Ohno will be featured during the performance. The performance kicks off Lincoln Center's White Light Fest. Tickets can be purchased here.

Abrams Image will simultaneously release a special edition of "Swanlights" which will include the CD inside a 144-page hard cover book containing Antony's paintings, collages, photography and writing. The album only version of "Swanlights" on Secretly Canadian will also include the song "Flétta", a duet with Björk. The album and book are a continuation of Antony's work exploring his connection to the natural world.

The Antony show at Lincoln Center "is part of the Great Performers Chamber Orchestra series"

Antony's newest video, for "Thank You For Your Love" (MP3 above), can be watched below...

Continue reading "Antony & the Johnsons annnounce Lincoln Center show w/ orchestra & film (on sale now), album & book out soon"

Autolux @ Outside Lands 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

today in NYC
* Foreigner @ Wellmont Theater
* Bill Frisell @ Village Vanguard
* Andy Statman @ Barbes
* Biz Markie (DJ Set) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Luke Roberts, Mike Bones @ Zebulon
* Brandon Flowers @ Highline Ballroom
* Violent Soho & Dead Stars @ the Charleston
* Rhett Miller & Zee Avi @ City Winery
* Blue Oyster Cult @ Aviator Brooklyn
* The Backstreet Boys @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* Steel Train, Max Is King, Wyldlife @ Bowery Electric
* Charles Burst, Sam Izdat, Corpse of Discovery @ Union Pool
* Autolux, This Will Destroy You, Oberhofer @ Bowery Ballroom
* Bill Goffrier, Doug Gillard, the Norfolk Downs @ The Rock Shop
* Tennis, Magic Bullets, Family Portrait, Cool Runnings @ Glasslands
* Kid Koala, Baby Jewelry @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise (The Temptress)
* Midnight Magic, Synfinite, Fresh Daily, Dujeous, DJ I Truth @ Littlefield
* BAD REPUTATION:Pierre de Gaillande sings Georges Brassens @ Barbes
* The Secret History, My Teenage Stride, Kristeen Young @ Knitting Factory
* Lichens, Matteah Baim, Golden Slumbers (Fall Sneak Peek) @ JF & Son Storefront
* Ninjasonik, Team Facelift, Star City, Johnny Nelson, Jasmine Solano @ Mercury Lounge
* Tre Orsi, Martha's Vineyard Ferries, Arc in Round, Zachary Cale Band @ Death By Audio
* DJ AM Lives: Celebrate the life and music of Adam Goldstein w/ very special live DJ performances by DJ PREMIER, DJ STRETCH ARMSTRONG, MARK RONSON, SUPER DJ CLARK KENT, ELI ESCOBAR, ROCTAKON, JUS SKE, JESSE MARCO and DJ RIZ

Violent Soho play the Charleston tonight, and Bruar Falls on Saturday.

It was one year ago on Saturday (8/28) that DJ AM passed away suddenly, but he isn't forgotten. In fact, some incredibly hard-hitting DJs will be out in full force at Santos TONIGHT (8/26) in support of the DJ AM Memorial Fund, dedicated to fighting addiction. Among those scheduled to be on hand are DJ Premier, Stretch Armstrong, Mark Ronson, Clark Kent, Eli Escobar, Roctakon, and many others. $12 gets you in for this worthy cause/night of dancefloor burners. - BBG

Its one of two high profile hip-hop related DJ showings for tonight as The Diabolical Biz Markie can be found on the 1's and 2's at Brooklyn Bowl along with host Fab 5 Freddy and Schott Free.

Antony and The Johnsons's new video for "Thank You For Your Love", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

DOWNLOAD: Antony - Thank You For Your Love (MP3)

Antony and the Johnsons will release their five track EP 'Thank You For Your Love' on August 30th via Rough Trade. The title track is the lead single from the forthcoming album 'Swanlights', released on October 11th also by Rough Trade. The single is available to download for free from here now

Continue reading "new Antony EP & album & MP3 "

CocoRosie @ Terminal 5 in June (more by Zachary Alex Stern)

For me Cocorosie's new album Grey Oceans is perhaps the most important new music coming out of the US this year. It is no surprise that as the sea turns black in the gulf with no end in sight in the midst of the biggest ecological disaster in US history, CocoRosie are the only ones to hit the zeitgeist with an album filled with psychic omniscience, entitled "Grey Oceans." And yet it seems to be the album the indie US press doesn't want to talk about. Bianca and Sierra Casady paints pictures of lost children across a broken land, feral, elemental spirits who roam the dreamscapes of our world, naming perpetrators, painting their memories, recovering and reclaiming power. They are unafraid to manifest their vision that the application of magical creativity could be a balm for aching souls in a struggling world. They take risks that no other artists in the scene dare to, and the (predominantly white hetero male) music press punishes them for it. In the artistic community, CocoRosie are treasured. Their costumes and visual aesthetics are a vital part of their expression, revealing further illustration of their ideas and their inspirations and creating a striking format for the shamanistic shapeshifting that occurs in their live performances (in some ways they are the feminist branch of a voyage that Animal Collective in their boyish and heralded way have undertaken in parallel) and yet as women Cocorosie are dismissed because their visual presentation frustrates many male writers' abilities to sexualize them. Who are you assigning to think on your behalf? [Antony Hegarty via Stereogum on CocoRosie]

Around the same time in 2009, the sisters played Highline Ballroom, and earlier this year they brought their new album, Grey Oceans, to Terminal 5. The new Brooklyn show is part of Cocorosie's upcoming North American fall tour. Before then, they're in China in August - and after, they're in Europe.

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Cocorosie, defended by Antony, announce more tour dates"

DOWNLOAD: Olof Arnalds - Innundir Skinni (MP3)

Olof Arnalds @ SXSW 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Talented Icelandic songwriter Olof Arnalds has an amazing new record, Innundir skinni (translation: Under the Skin), coming out September 14th on One Little Indian. The album's title track, an acoustic-guitar-and-voice ballad produced (as the whole album is) by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros, is posted above. That song will also appear on a forthcoming 7" single featuring Arthur Russell's "Close My Eyes" on the b-side. An intimate performance of that cover is below.

Olof in NYC for a show at Rockwood Music Hall tonight (July 19th) where she'll be accompanied by Skuli Sverrisson (Laurie Anderson's musical director) on electric bass. Tickets are still on sale. After that she travels to the West Coast for shows with Jonathan Richman.

Bjork make a guest appearance on an Innundir skinni song. She'll also pop up on the new Antony and the Johnsons album, Swanlights, due in October. There she sings on a duet called "Flétta" (the Icelandic word for both braid and lichen). Bjork recently put out a collaboration with Dirty Projectors, and will be holding a press conference today (7/19) to protest a new deal that would give Magma Energy of Canada a 65 year lease (renewable for 65 more) on Iceland's geothermal power. She said to the Financial Times about the it:

"Most people feel this is something the nation should keep....Especially after the bank crash, after witnessing all the criminal gambling with precious things... This deal smells like the leftovers from the corruption that brought us the bank crash."

Continue reading "new Olof Arnalds MP3 (and show tonight), Bjork to appear on Antony's new album (and at a press conference today)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Laurie w/ the dogs in Australia (more by Roberta W.B.)

Some in the audience howled with glee, others stood on trembling legs and a few drooled in delight as famed performance artist Laurie Anderson debuted her original "Music for Dogs" composition outside the Sydney Opera House on Saturday [June 5th].

Hundreds of dogs and their owners bounced around as Anderson entertained them with 20 minutes of thumping beats, whale calls, whistles and a few high-pitched electronic sounds imperceptible to human ears.

"Let's hear it from the medium dogs!" Anderson called out from the stage, as a few dogs yipped in return. "You can do better than that -- come on mediums! Whoo! WHOOOOOO!"

The concert was originally billed as a performance for dogs' ears only, and was going to be largely limited to electronic noises played at a frequency too high for human ears. But Anderson changed things up when she decided she wanted people to have some fun, too.

"We didn't want to do something that humans couldn't hear," she said. "We brought the octaves down into our hearing range so we could all have the experience." [AP]

Laurie Anderson will be performing her new work Delusion this fall at BAM as part of the Next Wave Festival. That show will go on tour as well.

Before then, Laurie's new record, Homeland, comes out June 22nd on Nonesuch. It's streaming in full at NPR (up till the release date) - check it out. She'll play songs from that album on a very short tour this July. Stops include on-air sets at World Cafe Live and Late Show with David Letterman, and a Tuesday, July 13th show at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets are on sale.

The album has some alright guests (including Laurie's male alter-ego Fenway Bergamot)...

On Homeland, Anderson is joined by a diversity of collaborators, from the Tuvan throat singers and igil players of Chirgilchin to New York experimental jazz and rock players including Rob Burger (keyboards), Omar Hakim (drums), Kieran Hebden of Four Tet (keyboards), Shahzad Ismaily (percussion) Eyvind Kang (viola), Peter Scherer (keyboards), Skuli Sverrisson (bass), Ben Witman (percussion and drums) and John Zorn (saxophone). Antony Hegarty contributes additional vocals.

Videos from the "Music for Dogs" performance and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "new Laurie Anderson album stream + July tour dates "

photos by Bao Nguyen

"Sorry I did fall asleep cause I was resting from such an amazing show! I'm wide awake now!" - Bao

"The line in front of Roseland Ballroom stretched around the corner of 52nd Street and up Broadway but moved along quickly. The band's ticketless method to limit scalping seemed to work without too many headaches. Flying Lotus was on the wheels when I walked in spinning chilled-out techno but it's tough to build a groove when the sound system is popping and cracking like a blown speaker, what a shame. Sound improved toward the end of his set and he closed with 'Idioteque'.

Atoms for Peace took the stage as a 6-piece with Thom Yorke at piano and a guest horn player center stage (he would depart after 2 songs). They opened with 'The Eraser' and two things became immediately clear: 1) the sound was now perfect and 2) Flea would add some SoCal funk/punk to the set. With blue hair and a white tee (the rest of the band was in black), he was immediately wiggling/dancing across the stage laying it on thick. The set was comprised mostly of songs from The Eraser but included some Radiohead and some new songs as well." [Blackraptor]

Continue reading "Thom Yorke, Flea & band were Atoms for Peace @ Roseland Ballroom (pics from the show & afterparty) "

Gavin & Courtney @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Rufus, Scarlett & Gavin @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Gavin & U2 @ Carnegie Hall (aphrodite-in-nyc)

Sunday, October 4th was the "Hal Willner Presents: An Evening with Gavin Friday & Friends" show at Carnegie Hall. The whole night was a benefit for (RED), a charity directed toward AIDS in Africa.

The night's advertised guests included Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Bono, Adam Clayton, Andrea Corr, The Edge, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney Love, Lydia Lunch, Patrick McCabe, Maria McKee, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, Larry Mullen, Jr., JG Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright and Chloe Webb. A few others who appeared were Lady Gaga, Fred Armisen as Prince, and Lou Reed, The night had a strong collaborative atmosphere to say the least...

Rufus Wainwright, Scarlett Johansson and Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen joined Friday for the come-hither cartoon "Mr. Pussy," from Friday's 1995 album, Shag Tobacco. (Armisen came out dressed to the purple nines -- as Prince.) Friday and falsetto-soul singer Antony duetted on a pair of ballads, including a Memphis-brass-soaked reading of "He Got What He Wanted" from Friday's 1989 solo debut, Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves. Friday and Virgin Prunes devotee Courtney Love were just on the right side of out-of-control in a pounding version of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me." Queen of the post-punk furies Lydia Lunch played the same half of the night as Lady Gaga (who came out in next to nothing -- she made Love look demure). And a metal-machine-noise assault by Laurie Anderson (violin), John Zorn (saxophone) and Lou Reed (guitar distortion) eventually resolved into the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" with Friday, Bono and a cheerfully pickled Shane McGowan of the Pogues trading verses.

Bono was not just passing through between stadiums. He, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. were on and off stage half a dozen times; U2's Friday covers included "I Want to Live" (done with techno drive and Joshua Tree-like space) and the crusted-glam bomb "King of Trash." Bono also took a solo spot, turning on his Irish Sinatra for the Shag Tobacco elegy "The Last Song I'll Ever Sing." The Edge's brother, guitarist Richard Evans, joined Friday and singer Guggi in a mostly-intact Virgin Prunes reunion (the group broke up in 1987). Their overlapping vocal harangue in "Sweethome Under White Clouds," with JG Thirwell of Foetus guesting as a third voice, sounded like the Beastie Boys at the End of Days. [Rolling Stone]

Continue reading "Gavin Friday & friends (U2, Courtney Love, Lady Gaga, Antony, Lou Reed, Rufus Waniwright, and many, many more) played Carnegie Hall (videos & stuff) "

They're not cheap, but tickets are still available for the Sunday night benefit show at Carnegie Hall.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Hope Sandoval shows happening at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr. show at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the two Royskopp shows coming up at Webster Hall.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Dirty Projectors shows happening at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Camera Obscura show happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Friendly Fires / xx show happening at Webster Hall. Tickets are also on sale for the xx show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for both Cribs (with Johnny Marr) shows happening at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Charles Bissel / Nada Surf / They Might Be Giants show happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Frank Black / Joseph Arthur show happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Decemberists LOTTERY (not "request") show happening at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on presale (@ noon) for the 50 Cent show happening at the Beach on Governors Island.

R. Kelly is playing the WaMu Theater At Madison Square Garden on October 16th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are on sale for the Basement Jaxx DJ set at Santos Party House.

Tickets are on sale for the 3rd (actually 1st) Ray LaMontagne show happening at Beacon Theatre.

Tickets are on sale for the Neko Case show at the Beacon Theatre.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Clem Snide show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Kurt Vile show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Rural Alberta Advantage show happening at Bowery Ballroom.

Vulture Whale play Maxwell's tonight (8/21).

The Charlatans canceled their whole tour.

Placebo did too.

An encore presentation of Antony & the Johnsons' new video for "Crazy in Love" below...

Continue reading "Hope Sandoval, Cribs, Dirty Projectors, Royskopp, Nada Surf, Black Francis, Dinosaur Jr, Neko Case & other tickets"

The Beets @ Woodsist/CT Fest 7/4 (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Rev. Vince Anderson @ Union Pool
* Monday Night Burlesque @ Public Assembly
* Jemina Pearl @ Mercury Lounge
* Ambulance Ltd., Savoir Adore @ Union Hall
* Les Paul Trio w/ Bucky Pizzarelli @ Iridium
* Brendan Benson, Sean Bones @ Bowery Ballroom
* Benevento/Russo Duo, Jeff Bujak @ Highline Ballroom
* Whiplash w/ David Cross, Ted Alexandro @ UCB Theatre
* Brave Combo, Corn Mo & The .357 Lover @ The Bell House
* Yolanda Adams, Israel Houghton & The New Breed @ Wingate Field
* Bad Blood, Stupid Party, Special Noise, Angels Of America @ Don Pedro
* Precious Metal w/ Liturgy, Lightning Swords of Death, Bastard Sapling, Agrath @ Lit
* Falling Down w/ Ali Wong, Todd Barry, Dave Hill, Hannibal Buress @ Bruar Falls
* Small Beast w/ Paul Wallfisch, Bliss Blood, Curtis Eller, Larry Bang Bang @ Delancey
* The Virgins, The Beets, Dinowalrus, Teengirl Fantasy, Animal Collective (DJ), JDH & Dave P (DJ) @ Santos

Free outdoor music tonight includes a show with Yolanda Adams, Israel Houghton & The New Breed at Wingate Field.

The Virgins, The Beets, Dinowalrus and Teengirl Fantasy play a benefit for Cinema Nolita at Santos with Animal Collective and FIXED's JDH & Dave P DJing.

Ambulance Ltd. and Savoir Adore, who play the Mercury Lounge tomorrow, gig at Union Hall tonight. Those shows and more are part of an early edition of This Week In Indie.

Rev. Vince Anderson continues his weekly residency at Union Pool.

Brendan Benson kicks off his new-album-supporting tour at the Bowery Ballroom with Sean Bones.

The Highline Pianos series opens with sets from Benevento/Russo Duo and Jeff Bujak.

Les Paul Trio honors its recently-passed leader by playing with guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli at the Iridium.

Monthly comedy showcase Falling Down has a show at Bruar Falls with Ali Wong, Todd Barry, Dave Hill, Hannibal Buress and more. UCB's Whiplash hosts David Cross, Aparna Nancherla and Ted Alexandro.

Hercules and Love Affair played two NYC over the weekend. Antony and The Johnsons put out a video for their cover of Beyonce's "Crazy In Love," posted below.

"Fresh Air," the first single off Brother Ali's forthcoming Rhymesayers LP Us, is posted below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"