photos by Ryan Muir

More pictures from Friday's show in Brooklyn, below...

Continue reading "Apes & Androids, the Phenomenal Handclap Band & Bonnie Baxter @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC - pics"

photos by Ryan Muir

The Phenomenal Handclap Band play after Bonnie Baxter and before Apes & Androids at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn tonight (1/30). It should be a lively and colorful show.

Adidas threw some random invite-only birthday party for themselves in Brooklyn back in November. Phenomenal Handclap Band were the 'house' band. More (we-never-published-them-before) pictures from that event below...

Continue reading "Phenomenal Handclap Band - live photos, Music Hall tonight"

Apes & Androids are playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 30th. Tickets are on sale (@ noon).

Cold War Kids are playing Terminal 5 on April 3rd. Tickets are on sale (@ noon).

White Rabbits are playing two shows at Mercury Lounge in February. Tickets are on sale (@ noon).

Mystery Jets are playing Bowery Ballroom on February 24th. Tickets go on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for both Blitzen Trapper / Plants & Animals shows happening in NYC.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Throwing Muses show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Presets show at Webster Hall.

Tickets go on sale at noon for a February 13th Deer Tick show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are also still on sale for the Deer Tick show happening on New Years Eve.

Tickets are on sale for the Meshuggah show at Irving Plaza.

Some Morrissey dates have started going on sale, but not Bowery Ballroom or Webster Hall.

Beirut tickets also went on sale today (@ noon).

For 10 days the rooftop, located on 10th Avenue and 36th street, will be a perfect end of summer hang-out. High above the Hudson River, the MINI Rooftop NYC will feature a daytime wellness area and an open creative space. The daily events include a "Morning Sanctuary" (Yoga and Pilates in the open), "Studio Sessions" for talks and a nightly "Lounge and Celebration" Party. The not to be missed opening and closing parties are in collaboration with Dazed and Confused and V magazines. The location is built by Matthias Hollwich and Marc Kushner aka HWKN, an architecture firm focusing on the creation of innovative and responsible manmade environments. Apart from the Rooftop itself, The MINI Space website will be the other spot to see what's going on up there. Videos and report backs will be regularly uploaded. It will also be the way to sign up for special events and parties. If you want to be a part of this event, make sure you sign up to stay on top of what's going down. Or up!

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Sic Alps - Bathman (MP3)

Sic Alps (BullyRook)

Another busy weekend, eh? The Village Voice Siren Festival, now in it's eighth year, is just one of those things you go to, despite massive crowds and the tendency for it to always fall on the hottest, most humid day of the Summer. (Saturday's high is predicted as 90°.) It's a good excuse to visit one of the last seedy places left in New York before it gets its makeover and, for me, a chance to ride the Cyclone and visit my favorite pizzeria in the five boroughs, Totonno's.

Despite falling on the same weekend as the Pitchfork fest in Chicago (and competition from River to River, Summerstage and JellyNYC's Pool Parties), the Siren organizers have put together a good lineup. Hard to really complain about a free show, especially one with Stephen Malkmus, Broken Social Scene, Islands and The Dodos. Also Film School who I don't think get enough credit as good as they are. I'm also curious to see new Matador signees Jaguar Love who I bet will be entertaining even though I find the singer's voice a bit hard to take.

This year's Siren Fest also features an Official Afterparty at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Apes and Androids, A Place to Bury Strangers and Marnie Stern which could upstage the Coney Island show, depending on how all-out A&A go. (And they tend to go all-out.) However, it's not your only good option in Williamsburg on Saturday night (July 19).

At Glasslands on Saturday, there's a pretty killer bill featuring The Crystal Stilts, San Francisco's Girls. I caught the Crystal Stilts at the Charleston last week, and they just get better (and further from the JAMC comparisons) every time. Definitely one of my favorite NYC bands of the moment and their full-length debut is due out later this year on Slumberland. Meanwhile, Girls are fairly new to me but the songs on RCRDLBL are really good fuzzy pop (I'm trying really hard not to use "shoegaze" so much anymore) and even better is the single "Morning Light" to which there's a good video found further down this post. This is the first time in NYC, and they'll be playing four shows total here, including the Stereogum/MyOpenBar show tonight (July 17) at Market Hotel with Quinn Walker and Imaad Waasif.

Also visiting this weekend from San Francisco (and also a two-piece) are Sic Alps whose fourth album, U.S. EZ, was just released this week. If you're unfamiliar with them, it's sort of '60s psychedelic rock/pop/folk with some '90s indie rock int there too. As much as I like the new album (check out "Bathman" at the top of this post), the best place to start is with A Long Way Around to a Shortcut, which collects a handful of singles and EPs the band have released over the last couple years. Sic Alps play Death by Audio on Saturday (7/19, with Cause Co-Motion and others) and Union Pool on Sunday (7/20). As DBA and Glasslands are literally right around the corner from each other, it might be possible to hit the key bands at both shows if set times allow.

continued below.....

Continue reading "Sic Alps, Siren, Jarvis, Girls, Cheeseburger and more in This Week in Indie"

APTBS @ South Street Seaport (more by Jason Bergman)

They're calling the show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night July 19th after Siren "the official after party". Apes & Androids, A Place to Bury Strangers and "guests" are on the bill. Maybe one of the Siren bands will be the guest. I don't know. I'm just guessing. $15 tickets go on sale July 4th at noon. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "A Place to Bury Strangers - 2008 Tour Dates (Siren afterparty w/ Apes & Androids)"

Apes & Androids monster @ Bowery Ballroom - May 30, 2008 (central village)

today in NYC
* Water Taxi Beach
* Gowanus Green Fest
* Santos' Party House
* King Britt @ Sunday Best
* The Radiators @ Southpaw
* Langhorne Slim @ Sound Fix Records
* Black Lips & Raconteurs @ Terminal 5
* Previously on Lost @ Knitting Factory
* Sondre Lerche @ Joe's Pub (early & late)
* Mafrika Music Festival in Marcus Garvy Park
* Transistor Transistor & Tournament @ Cake Shop
* Jeremy Enigk & Damien Jurado @ Bowery Ballroom
* True Colors (Cyndi Lauper & B-52's) @ Jones Beach
* What Made Milwaukee Famous and Hymns @ Union Hall

Tickets are back on sale for The Raconteurs tonight.

What else?

Kaiju @ Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY - Nov 9, 2007 (comicstriptease)

* Brazilian Girls are DJing during your lunch hour @ South Street Seaport today.

* RSVP to see Apes & Androids for free at Hiro Ballroom on February 28th.

* Kaiju Big Battel returns to NYC this Saturday....

After conquering the Warsaw in Brooklyn, Kaiju Big Battel will invade Webster Hall on Saturday, February 9th for New York Blackout. This night of live monster wrestling will showcase Kaiju favorites, Steam Powered Tentacle Boulder, Call-Me-Kevin, Uchu Chu the Space Bug, and Dr. Cube plus 45 blocks of crushable cityscape primed for destruction. The upcoming Big Battel, dubbed "New York Blackout" will also feature the debut of the Kaiju Commissioner's latest, potentially greatest, live Big Battel concept to date: the Black Box.