Ari Up & the Slits

today in NYC
* Questlove @ Cielo
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Teddy Thompson @ City Winery
* Daniel Kitson @ St Ann's Warehouse
* Etta Place, Blow, Marra Barr @ Zebulon
* Phillip Greenlief, Jon Raskin @ The Stone
* Connie Crothers, Kevin Norton @ The Stone
* Hannibal Buress & friends @ Knitting Factory
* Moodrings, EULA, Im Turning Into @ Death By Audio
* Stephane Wrembel Presents The Django Experiment @ Barbes
* Right On Dynamite, Le Boum, Hiawatha, Delta Hotel @ Coco 66
* Mister Heavenly, Sun Airway, Little Shalimar @ Bowery Ballroom
* Weasel Walter, Marc Edwards, Goblin War, Fossils @ Silent Barn
* The Toasters, Royal City Riot, The Rudie Crew @ Knitting Factory
* Blitz the Ambassador & the Embassy Ensemble featuring Baloji @ SOB's
* Doris Cellar of Freelance Whales, Mammal of Paradise, Baby Alpaca @ Glasslands
* Tyvek, Fergus & Geronimo, Xray Eyeballs, The Gaming Commission @ Mercury Lounge
* The Beatles Complete on Ukelele w/ Nat & Alex Wolff, Julian Velard, Deni Bonet and Terry Radigan & more @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Neneh Cherry, members of The Slits, members of The Slackers, Brave New Girl, The Band Droidz, Bruce Smith from PiL (Ari Up Birthday Party) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Just as a reminder, tonight at MHOW:

WHAT: In honor of the memory of the legendary Ari Up a/k/a Ariane Forster, lead singer of the pioneering girl punk band the Slits, True Warriors and more, Dunia Best and Aram Sinnreich (Brave New Girl, Agent 99), NYU Punk Professor Vivien Goldman, Joly MacFie of Punkcast.com and friends are throwing a PUNKY REGGAE PARTY on January 16, 2011 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

WHO: Participating artists, led by Musical Director Ira Heaps, include original and current members of the Slits, including Tessa Pollitt, Hollie Cook, Neneh Cherry and AnnA Ozawa; Bruce Smith of PiL and the Slits; members of Brave New Girl; Band Droidz; legendary Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas; Afrobeat superstar Wunmi Olaiya; Felice Rosser (Faith); Dee Pop (Bush Tetras, Radio I-Ching); Lizzi Bougatsis (Gang Gang Dance); Afro-Punk avatar Tamar-Kali, King Django; Honeychild Coleman; Barbara Gogan (The Passions); Sherleen Nubro; Lisa Samuels and many luminaries from the punk and reggae worlds backed by Ira Heaps and the True Warriors performing classic Slits hits, dancehall and previously unheard originals by Ari Up. Lyrical Readings and Remembrances by Michael Patrick McDonald, Greg Tate, Sara Marcus (Girls To The Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution) and Angela Jaeger (ex-Pigbag).
Plus never before seen video footage and MORE SURPRISE GUESTS.

WHEN:Sunday January 16, 2011
Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM

Proceeds will benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

If you can't make it to Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight, the show is being live 'TwitCast' UPDATE: Twitcast cancelled. The afterparty, complete with live music, is taking place practically across the street at Cameo Gallery with Subatomic Sound System starting at 12.30am.

And the Golden Globes are tonight.

What else?

Since we last spoke, official word came back regarding Ari Up's untimely passing: it was cancer. In her memory and the memory of the tunes she left behind, Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg is hosting a show on January 16th called "Ari Up Punky Reggae Birthday Party" featuring appearances from members of The Slits, The Slackers, PiL, as well as Neneh Cherry and many others. Tickets are on sale.

Being that Ari Up was John Lydon's step-daughter, it's not surprising that her passing had an effect on him:

John Lydon has delayed sessions to record new material with Public Image Ltd following the death of his step-daughter, The Slits singer Ari Up.

"We were going to go into the studio but in light of my step-daughter's death, I really can't be doing that at the moment," Lydon said [around November 22nd].

"I don't want to leave my wife alone for any length of time right now. So the music side has had to be held." -[BBC]

PiL becamse active again recently, and toured through NYC in May.

Another recent tribute to Ari Up happened in the form of Kathleen Hanna and The Raincoats covering a Slits song at MoMA. Video of that, with info on upcoming Kathleen Hanna-related events, can be found HERE.

Members of The Slackers are involved in the Ari Up show at MHoW, and the band has a show of their own in NYC next week. Tickets are still available for The Slackers at Brooklyn Bowl on December 18th. The show is one of two December dates for the NYC ska band. The second is New Years Eve in San Francisco, and the first date on a larger tour for the band who will be pretty busy through June. Openers for the Brooklyn show are Frighteners, the Forthights, and DJ 100dBs with special guest appearances by Greg Lee (Hepcat) & Jesse Wagner (Aggrolites).

All Slackers dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "an Ari-Up birthday party show, Slackers tour dates & more"

John and Nora have asked us to let everyone know that Nora's daughter Arianna (aka Ari-Up) died today (Wednesday, October 20th) after a serious illness. She will be sadly missed.

Everyone at JohnLydon.com and PiLofficial.Com would like to pass on their heartfelt condolences to John , Nora and family.

Rest in Peace.
[JohnLydon.com]

This is completely shocking and devestating news. RIP ARI.

John Lydon and his wife Nora were introduced by Nora's daughter Ari-Up, who was just 48 years old this year.

The Slits released their first new record in 25 years, exactly one year ago TODAY.

a selection of videos below...

Continue reading "Ari-Up RIP (John Lydon reports Slits member dead)"

Quietus: What do you think it was about the recording environment that turned Cut into such a great record?

Ari Up: The Slits developed the Slits sound. To this day, no one sounds like us, no one. People trying to categorise the music has fucked us up over the years: "Oh, we can't label you, what are you?" It's... Slits! A totally new sound. We had no heroes. We had no one to look up to. It talks about Patti Smith in the book, but I didn't relate to anyone - I didn't use Patti Smith as my big hero.

Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt: It was just instinctive female music. We weren't trying to play like men. We were just being ourselves.

The Slits' first record in 25 years, Trapped Animal, came out October 20th on Narnack Records. The band's current lineup includes original members Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt with new members that include Hollie Cook, daughter of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook. The book Ari refers to above is Typical Girls: The Story Of The Slits by Zoe Street Howe, a biography of the band that came out in August.

They're playing a short run of US shows in December. That includes a December 14th gig at Highline Ballroom. Tickets are on sale.

One night before that, fellow legendary Narnack Records artist Lee 'Scratch' Perry is scheduled to play Highline Ballroom (12/13). Tickets for that are still on sale too.

Slits album info, tour dates and a bunch of videos, below...

Continue reading "The Slits - new album & biography out now, December shows (dates) - NYC gig @ Highline Ballroom 1 day after Lee Perry"

Dirty Projectors @ Central Park Summerstage in June (more by Natasha Ryan)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Built To Spill, New Numbers @ Maxwell's
* Wardell Quezergue Tribute @ Lincoln Center
* Cooper-Moore: Digital Primitives @ Zebulon
* Roy Nathanson, Sean Sondergger Quartet @ Sycamore
* The Donkeys, Joemca & The Poets, Birdlips @ Union Hall
* Necrophagist, Suffocation, Origin, more @ Irving Plaza
* Holler Wild Rose, Spanish Prisoners, Wild Yaks @ The Cameo
* David Cross, Eugene Mirman & other comedians @ The Bell House
* Tragedy, School of Rock All-Stars @ Beach at Governors Island
* STATS, Many Arms, Talibam!, Hulk Smash, Paris Suit Yourself @ Death By Audio
* The Clientele, Richard Buckner, Ladybug Transistor @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Co., Crystal Antlers @ Williamsburg Waterfront
* Rock The Bells 2009 w/ Nas & Damien Marley, The Roots, Common, Big Boi, more @ Jones Beach Theater
* Alpha Blondy & The Solar System , Lee "Scratch" Perry & Dubblestandart, and Subatomic Sound System @ Central Park Summerstage
* The Anti-Nowhere League, Duane Peters Gunfight, Cobra Skulls, Ashers, Jakked Rabbits, The Nihilistics @ Europa

Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Co. and Crystal Antlers play the second
Williamsburg Waterfront Pool Party. Pics from the first are here.

After that, you can catch a bill straight from XX Merge, with The Clientele, Richard Buckner and Ladybug Transistor playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg

The Donkeys, who are on tour with Magnolia Electic Co., play Union Hall with Joemca & The Poets and Birdlips.

Built To Spill make a post-Siren, post-P4k
appearance at Maxwell's with the New Numbers.

Ponderosa Stomp brings its Wardell Quezergue Tribute to the Lincoln Center

Rock The Bells 2009 comes to Jones Beach Theater with headliners that include Nas & Damien Marley, The Roots, Common, Big Boi and a "special guest."

Tragedy, an all-metal Bee Gees tribute band, play the Beach at Governors Island with the School of Rock All-Stars.

Death By Audio hosts an avant-rock lineup of STATS, Many Arms, Talibam!, Hulk Smash and Paris Suit Yourself.

Pitchfork Fest is streaming from Chicago.

Lee "Scratch" Perry & Dubblestandart play a free show at Central Park Summerstage with Alpha Blondy & The Solar System and Subatomic Sound System. Yesterday Lee showed up and played a secret set at BKYLY YARD with Ari Up of the Slits. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Bowery Poetry Club, Sep 7 2008

As part of the 2008 Howl Festival in NYC's East Village, a panel discussion on the topic 'Unrest in the 70s - US vs UK' at Bowery Poetry Club, directly opposite the old CBGB premises, brought together a number of punk veterans from both sides of the pond.

Panelists:
Richard Lloyd (Television)
Ari Up (Slits)
Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras)
Judy Nylon (Snatch)
Walter Lure (Heartbreakers)
Arturo Vega (Ramones)
Steve Garvey (Buzzcocks)
Moderator: Mary Harron

Punkcast taped the entertaining (especially Ari Up) panel - all 60 minutes of it, and uploaded it to YouTube. Check it out below....

Continue reading "Howl Festival Punk Panel 2008 (60 minute Punkcast video)"

The Cockettes

Though free shows are becoming scarcer and scarcer in NYC as September approaches, September 6th now offers three all-day possibilities. This one is part of the annual LES Howl! Festival, takes place in Tompkins Square Park, and looks sort of like this:

Tompkins Square Park, Sept 6, 2008
1.00 p.m. Middle Collegiate Choir
1.30 p.m. Blonde Boy Wilson with On Davis
1.40 p.m. "Bang the Drum for the Brothers,"J. Fitzgerald creates a dazzling spectacle of rhythm and rhyme.
2.05 p.m. TIMBILA
2.25 p.m Baby Soda
2.45 p.m. Tin Pan
3.05 p.m Reverend Billy
3.25 p.m. Trachtenburg Family
4.05 p.m. Becky Wreck
4.20 p.m. Ari Up's Slits
5 p.m. THE COCKETTES and the Thrill Peddlers
6 p.m. The House of HOWL PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF BON VIVANT'S BALLHOUSE TRIBUTE

That's just the schedule of one stage on one of the three days though. The rest of the Tompkins Square Park part of the schedule can be found on Howl's very confusing website.

The other free shows on Septmeber 6th are the East Village Radio Fest at South Street Seaport and the Monser Island Block Party in Brooklyn.

The entire Howl! Festival runs from September 5-11 and involves approximately 30 different venues including the Living Room, Element, Bowery Poetry Club, Niagara, Rehab, St Marks Church and Vaishnava Academy For the Performing Arts.

The Cockettes...

a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 1960s in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The troupe performed outrageous parodies of show tunes (or original tunes in the same vein) and gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure.

In 1971, over differences in philosophy, the group split into two separate groups, the Cockettes and The Angels of Light. The Cockettes continued to work as paid performers while the Angels of Light chose to do free theatre without admission charge.

The Cockettes were the subject of a 2002 documentary, The Cockettes... [Wikipedia]

... (...how many original members there still are I'm not sure...) are also playing a few shows at The Theaters at 45 Bleeker Street (in addition the one in the park listed above).

From Women's Wear Daily......

Cool chick Chloë Sevigny has loads of equally hip friends to call on when she decides to throw a party. But even she was surprised by the turnout at the bash she hosted at Webster Hall Monday night -- along with MAC Cosmetics, Self-Service Magazine and boutique Opening Ceremony -- to celebrate her debut collection for the store and featuring a special performance by British punk rock band The Slits. By the time she arrived around 10:30 p.m., there was a line snaking around the block, three deep with grungesters, alternative chicks and general misfits.

"Oh my God, did you see how many people are out there?" exclaimed Sevigny to Slits lead singer Ari-Up as they made their way backstage. "It's, like, thousands!"

Continue reading "Chloe Sevigny, Ari-Up, Slits, Andy Samberg, Joanna Newsom"