by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Ume - "The Conductor" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ume - "Sunshower" (MP3)

We are pleased to anounce our newest addition to the BrooklynVegan Day Party at Fontana's on 10/23, Ume of Austin, Texas! Ume incoporate bits of Sonic Youth noise, blissful/breathy harmony, and big riffs all on one short but sweet EP, Sunshower. Check out two tracks from that EP above and a video for "The Conductor" below. Besides that EP, Ume have already have built up a considerable amount of buzz due to their raucous SXSW show:

Ume simply killed it and set the bar for the rest of the night - hell, the rest of the festival - appropriately high. Singer-guitarist Lauren Larson looked like a wee slip of a girl, but was a ferocious frontwoman. She wasn't all aggro and in your face - she was actually quite sweet and friendly between songs - but during the songs, her mission was to melt your face with her guitarwork. Equal parts stoner-heavy, grunge-sloppy and pop-melodic, watching her play while whipping around the stage like a dervish was awe-inspiring. And the fact that this was done in the context of excellent and compact songs. Absolutely superb stuff that sent me down 6th St abuzz - [chromewaves]

Our show is not the only one scheduled for Ume in the coming week. Their schedule also includes a Vice Party with Cymbals Eat Guitars on 10/22, show in Bushwick on 10/23, and Ace of Clubs with Steel Phantoms, The Wrecking, Red Collar, and Clothes Make The Man on 10/21.

Full tour dates, our new flyer, and a pair of Ume videos are below...

Continue reading "Ume is coming for CMJ - MP3's, video, tour dates, a BV party"

"An errant malfunctioning power strip sparked a massive blaze Friday morning in the East Austin home of local band Bankrupt and the Borrowers. Founding member Jon Pettis died in the fire." [Austinist]

Bankrupt and the Borrowers had/have 12 upcoming shows scheduled according to their MySpace, all in Austin, and including Fun Fun Fun Fest. Video below...

Continue reading "Jon Pettis (Bankrupt and the Borrowers), RIP "

The Jesus Lizard plays at 11:45pm at ATP tonight (9/11). They play Irving Plaza in NYC on November 16th with recently added openers Skeleton Key and Noveller. They play Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin on Saturday November 7th... at 8:35pm which means you need to decide between them, Ratatat, The Pharcyde and Destroyer. On Sunday, November 8th, people need to choose between Danzig and Of Montreal. Full FFFFest schedule below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest set times ++ Jesus Lizard NYC openers announced (and the ATP NY show is TONIGHT) "

August 25th, 2009 (Austin, TX) - Transmission Entertainment is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2009 Fun Fun Fun Fest, taking place on November 7th and 8th at Waterloo Park in Austin. Fun Fun Fun Fest made its first appearance on a cold Friday evening in 2006, offering a unique approach to festival booking, filling stages with talent bubbling from the underground: what sounded great, and what was making an impact, regardless of what mainstream media said was cool. What started out as a show for a few touring acts and local favorites has become a movement -- a festival that fans and bands alike realize needs to be experienced year after year.

Now in its fourth year, Fun Fun Fun Fest has made a significant impact on the country's winter calendar, successfully combining the vast worlds of indie, punk, rap, electronica and comedy while showcasing some of the city's most unique local businesses.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009 lineup (Jesus Lizard, Of Montreal, Gorilla Biscuits, LSF, 7 Seconds, D.R.I. & DANZIG!! & more)"

sadness...

Matador Records co-owner Gerard Cosloy was the owner and resident of a nearly 100-year-old home on Lindell Avenue [in Austin] that burned to the ground early this morning.

Cosloy and another person escaped a fire this morning at the home near the intersection of South Congress Avenue and West Live Oak Street, said Austin fire Captain Andy Reardon.

Fire officials received the call about 3 a.m., Reardon said, and crews arrived to find the entire house on fire. Police had to alert the people inside the home that it was on fire, Reardon said. The 3,888-square-foot home, which is estimated to be a total loss, was evacuated safely.

The two-story house was built in 1911, and is located in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood.

Officials said the fire did about $500,000 worth of damage. The cause is still under investigation, officials said.

Cosloy sounded shaken but calm this morning. "There are a lot of people who have a lot less than I do who deal with a lot worse, but this is pretty bad," he said.

Cosloy worked out of his home." [Austin Statesman]

We already know the lineup for Austin's 4th annual Fun Fun Fun Fest on November 7th and 8th will include 7 Seconds, The Jesus Lizard, Red Sparrowes, and Atlas Sound and Broadcast.

FFF's own "Lineup Leaks" page expands upon that list with Why? (whose tour is coming to NYC), GZA, Melt Banana, King Khan & BBQ Show and comedian Todd Barry.

BV would like to further leak that our most-favorite weekend in Austin will also feature sets by Alaska in Winter, Les Savy Fav, comedians Jake Flores, Joe Staats & JT Habersaat, VEGA, Lucero, Metallagher, The Night Marchers (they played Mess With Texas last year at the same venue), and Shonen Knife (part of their large upcoming tour).

Speaking of the Hot Snakes, Obits are scheculed to play the South Street Seaport in NYC tonight (7/31).

The official FFFFest "leak" page includes stage assignments, which are below. We have 2008's FFF Fest in pictures (day one & day two), and you can check out recap videos from 2006 and 2007, also below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest - initial 2009 lineup (includes Les Savy Fav)"

"Grupo Fantasma (in U.S.A.) is an 11 piece latin funk orchestra from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2000 from the merger of two Austin acts, The Blue Noise Band and The Blimp, the band emerged with a sold out show at the former Empanada Parlour on 6th Street in Austin. The band is best known for their exuberant live shows and their recent association with Prince and his 3121 Club in Las Vegas. The band has backed Prince on numerous occasions, including his performance on the ALMA Awards in 2007, and often perform at his afterparty jam sessions." [Wikipedia]

Continue reading "Grupo Fantasma - 2009 tour dates (Williamsburg Waterfront)"

"The genre that was once called "college rock" is currently drifting in a distinctly post-graduate direction. But for those who find 2009's US indie vanguard (the Grizzly Animal Projectors, the Dirty Bear Collective, those guys) a little too ethereal for their tastes, this down and dirty Austin, Texas power trio offer a marvellously rocking reality check." [Guardian]

To go along with that record, White Denim will be touring the UK/Europe from June 23rd until at least July 11th, and that will give them enough time to get back here for their only scheduled US show that I know about at the moment, which will be free in Brooklyn on July 19th at the Williamsburg Waterfront on a bill with Magnolia Electric Co. and Dirty Projectors. This NYC show is one of eight Jelly NYC Pool Parties that will happen this summer, all of which are currently still, sort of unannounced.

New White Denim video and all dates below...

Continue reading "White Denim releasing 'Fits' (in the UK), playing Williamsburg Waterfront w/ Magnolia EC/Dirty Projectors + other dates "

!!! is playing ACL 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

"The 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival will showcase a diverse blend of acts both fresh and familiar at the eighth edition of the event in Zilker Park October 2-4. Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and Beastie Boys are performing for the first time at the Festival, with Kings of Leon, Ben Harper and Relentless7, and Thievery Corporation returning to Zilker Park once again. John Legend, The Dead Weather, and The Levon Helm Band will also make their ACL Festival debut, while Austin's own Ghostland Observatory will no doubt deliver another memorable set for festival goers.

With over 130 artists on this year's bill, the list of acts awes at each note with the likes of Sonic Youth, Mos Def, Toadies, Flogging Molly, The B-52s, Lily Allen, Citizen Cope, Arctic Monkeys, The Decemberists, Coheed and Cambria, Andrew Bird, Girl Talk, and many more.

In the tradition of the TV show from which it was born, the Festival has always aimed to offer musical discovery for the fans. The 2009 lineup is rich with pop, country, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, indie rock, hip-hop, and gospel, to name a few, spanning cultures and countries from New Orleans to Venezuela to France."

Continue reading "ACL (Austin City Limits) - 2009 festival lineup announcement"

by Andrew Frisicano

Outdoor music fest fun...Woodstock '94

Tickets for the Austin City Limits festival - happening this year on October 2nd-4th in Austin's Zilker Park - go on sale today (Tuesday, April 7th) at 11am EST. That sale happens in advance of the fest's official lineup announcement, scheduled for April 28th.

Calgary festival Sled Island hasn't announced its lineup either. But Sled Island does have a pre-fest fundraiser planned for Saturday April 11th (tickets on sale). Headlining that show at Calgary's Royal Canadian Legion will be 2008 fest performer Fucked Up (video below). Sled Island itself takes place June 25th-28th. Curating this year's festivities will be Colin Newman from Wire (who also played Sled Island '08).

Camp Bisco, a three-night fest headlined by The Disco Biscuits, is happening on July 16th-18th in Mariaville, NY. The artists playing include Nas, Chromeo, The Orb, Dr. Dog and more (full lineup below). Tickets are on sale now.

Monolith Festival is happening again this year in September at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorodo. No acts or dates have been announced yet - but last year's lineup was pretty stellar with TV on the Radio, Justice, Band of Horses, and more playing.

Merge Records is running its own 20th-anniversary festival, XX Merge, on July 22nd-26th in North Carolina. The lineup has been partially announced - with acts like Superchunk, Spoon, Conor Oberst, and M. Ward confirmed. Five-day passes go on sale Wednesday, April 8th at 10am.

Glastonbury sold out its last batch of tickets this week. The UK festival, happening June 26th-28th, has confirmed acts that include Lily Allen, Fleet Foxes, Neil Young, Blur, Bruce Springsteen, Emiliana Torrini, Doves, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings, and Echo And The Bunnymen.

Other previously reported summer fests include:

Coachella in Indio, CA, on April 17th-19th. Tickets on sale.

Sasquatch in Quincy, WA on May 23rd-25th. Tickets on sale.

Northside Festival in Brooklyn (June 11th-14th). Badges are on sale.

Bonnaroo is happening too, from June 11th-14th in Manchester, TN.

Pitchfork Festival is taking place July 17th-19th in Chicago's Union Park. The fest recently added The Flaming Lips to its already announced lineup. Tickets are on sale now.

The Flaming Lips will also be co-curating and headlining one night of ATP NY, September 11th-13th in NY's Catskills. Tickets for that are still on sale.

All Points West July 31-Aug 2nd in Jersey City. Tickets on sale

Lollapalooza on August 7th-9th in Chicago, IL. Tickets (and VIP passes) are on sale now. There have been some rumored bands, but the official lineup comes out April 21st.

Bumbershoot in Seattle on September 5th-7th. Three-day passes are on sale now.

There are more confirmed festivals, but I think that's enough for this post. In the unconfirmed department, Woodstock '09 is currently shoping for a venue.

Camp Bisco's lineup, video of Fucked Up at last year's Sled Island Fest and Green Day at Woodstock '94 below...

Continue reading "ACL tix, Sled Island's 2009 curator, Camp Bisco lineup, Monolith, Glastonbury & other music festival news"

words & photos by Black Bubblegum

Ancestors @ Room 710 in Austin - March 19, 2009

My SXSW adventure began Wednesday morning at the airport. Talk about starting things off on the wrong foot! A woman fell into a diabetic coma (she was ok later that morning) on my 6:30AM flight. That led to an unplanned stop in NOLA which was followed by a layover in a fogged up Houston Airport... to say I was a little late to our own day show at Emo's was an understatement. Unfortunately, Trash Talk were wheeling their amps out the door when I got there (which meant I also missed Garotas Suecas and Psychedelic Horseshit), but I managed to catch Trash Talk vocalist Lee cruising around, with a microphone grill imprinted on his forehead. His pain, our pleasure...

Continue reading "Black Bubblegum's SXSW-metal recap - part 1 "

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

"What could have been a Texan spectacular for the last night of South By Southwest was a near-debacle instead. It was a double bill at the Auditorium Shores riverside amphitheater with Erykah Badu and the Cannabinoids, her digitally oriented producers from Dallas, and Explosions in the Sky, Austin's majestic instrumental rock band.

Thousands of people showed up for the free concert. The Cannabinoids started without Ms. Badu, dispensing drumbeats, chords, samples and brief phrases from small digital keyboards. They announced that all the beats were live -- good -- and that what they were playing was unrehearsed. Not so good. And they went on and on, for about a half hour, cycling through variations on two downtempo chords and asking if the crowd was ready for Ms. Badu. The answer was increasingly obvious by the time the Cannabinoids tapered off and someone announced that Ms. Badu had had "travel incidents."

The Cannabinoids left the stage while the audience wondered what was going on, then returned, soon to be joined by Ms. Badu, in a gray T-shirt and a white top hat. Their vamp turned into "The Healer/Hip-Hop," and Ms. Badu sang it with her tangy, playful coo, followed by an older song, "Danger." Afterward she teased, "Let's go into hyperspace and blow up the sky," which did sound promising. But it meant she was ending her set to make way for Explosions in the Sky." [NY Times]

Erykah Badu and the Cannabinoids also performed once or twice with Kanye West while in Austin. The rest of Jacob's Saturday pics, below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2009 - Day 4 in photos by Jacob"

photos by Leia Jospe

These Arms Are Snakes / Thao / Daniel Johnston & Hymns

Thirteen bands were scheduled to play the BrooklynVegan / Agency Group day party in Austin on Thursday, March 19, 2009. Twelve ended up playing - one of them twice. I think the story is that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who had a zillion other shows also scheduled during the SXSW week, got confused about what their set time was. For that reason (and traffic), they showed up too late to go on in their slot. Instead, The Wheel, who was our last-minute addition as opener on the inside stage, immediately went outside and played a second set on the larger outdoor stage in the late band's place. We got at least one "boo" when the "scheduling mixup" was announced, but what could we do? (sorry!) It was awesome of the Wheel to fill on a moment's notice. Hopefully the people outside enjoyed him after they got over the awkwardness. I didn't watch his second set, but he sounded amazing inside.

Due to overlap on the two stages, it was hard to see everyone that played the party. The most painful two decisions were Cursive or the Wrens, and These Arms or Snakes or Daniel Johnston. I think we originally had it worked out a little better in terms of that, but the main stage started to run late. I went back and forth and caught pieces of as much as I could (and all of Daniel).

Thanks to everyone who came!

Leia managed to catch 8 of the 12 bands (she missed The Wheel, Avett Brothers, New Villager and Au Revoir Simone). Her pictures are below...

Continue reading "BV day party @ Radio Room in Austin - pics by Leia "

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

"For the entirety of SXSW I was really only holding my breath for one band, namely Explosions In The Sky (EITS). Now I'm sure there were other great bands at SXSW this year - there were after all 1400 bands or so playing - but of all the bands I knew, they were at the top of my list to see.

EITS played at the river shores at night, where the band was framed against the brightly lit skyline of the lonstar's capitol - the setting, truly, couldn't have been more grand. When the guys took the stage you could tell that they were totally overwhelmed by how many people had come out to see them in their own hometown of Austin. The crowd must have easily numbered in the thousands, and it seemed pretty obvious that this was going to be one of the biggest and most memorable shows of their career.

The show itself was beautifully performed, but one thing just about killed it for me: the sound!...

....Finally, though, one thing made it all right again: fireworks. During their soaring last song, fireworks explode all over the night-time sky. Obvious, perhaps... but undeniably perfect and beautiful. So, a great ending, right?

Almost. Unfortunately, the crowd goes nuts and yells for encores like crazy, but the fireworks just keep going and going and going with no EITS to be seen. The firework spectacle is now beginning to turn somewhat comically meandering. A guy behind me tells his friend "just like the music... a lot of false finales." The crowd, however, doesn't budge and you can still hear shouts for more songs ten minutes after they played their final chord.

Finally, the guitarist walks back on stage, you hear the familiar hum of a cable being moved around inside the socket of a guitar, and everyone cheers, for we interpret this as the sound of him plugging his guitar back in to play us one final song.

It was the sound of him unplugging it... " [The Enright House]

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky - SXSW pics, updated tour dates "

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Flower Travellin' Band @ Smokin' Music, Austin, TX - March 19, 2009

"There was a certain amount of tension before Flower Travellin' Band's set at Smokin' Music. Would people show up for this 30+ year old Japanese psychedelic rock band? Would they be playing to like 30 people, many of whom were there for the free smokes from American Spirit? Would the band be any good? The band's heyday was in the 1970s, when they produced some of the most visionary psych rock around. But that was then and this is 2009 and these guys must be in their 60s at this point. Could they pull it off and would anyone care?

Yes. And yes." [Austin 360]

Continue reading "SXSW 2009 - Day 2 in photos by Jacob"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Those Darlins & Deer Tick @ the BV SXSW showcase - Mar 18, 2009

"In a world of emo-boys and reluctant band leaders, Those Darlins, country-punk pals from Murfreesboro, Tenn., had a comically leering sexuality and the kind of abandon that seems scarce these days. Their punk hootenanny sensibility reminds us that you don't have to act serious to be taken seriously. South by Southwest, with its quick set ups and tear downs, is always technically challenged, but when these girls blew an amp, they vamped with the kind of jokes and entreaties that can't be rendered here..... After they borrowed an amp from their friends and tour mates in Deer Tick, they borrowed the whole band as well, with the boys serving as accessories as the girls sang a kind of homage to a bird..."
[NY Times]

Continue reading "SXSW 2009 - Day 1 in photos by Jacob"

Passion Pit & The Wrens @ the BV party @ Radio Room - yesterday (3/19/2009)

Three down, one to go - by that I mean BrooklynVegan parties at SXSW this year. The pictures above come from yesterday's epic day party at Radio Room. Today, Friday March 20th, stop by Habana Calle for a six-hour, free taste of Norway and Sweden, and/or consider checking out the Dickies Battle of the Bands that Black Bubblegum is judging. If a Battle of the Bands is not your thing I understand, but now consider that they've announced that GZA, in addition to co-judging, will be also performing at the show WITH the Black Lips.

Deer Tick @ BV official showcase @ Club De Ville - yesterday

The Bronx (crowd) @ BV day party @ Emo's - yesterday

the mayor of Austin & Titus Andronicus, Austin, TX - yesterday

Future Islands @ the 1896 in February (more by Lori Baily)

tonight in NYC
* Maceo Parker @ SOBs
* Fleetwood Mac @ MSG
* Allman Brothers @ Beacon
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Butch Walker & The Films @ Maxwell's
* Pronto, Puss 'N Boots @ Mercury Lounge
* CuCu Diamantes (of Yerba Buena) @ Bowery Ballroom
* Double Dagger, Future Islands, Teeth Mountain @ Market Hotel
* Matt Everett, Ingrid Olava, Magdyn Osh, Annie and Her Guns @ Cake Shop

Things will be a little slow today due to SXSW. Sorry! We're trying to keep up.

Speaking of which, if you are in SXSW, come by our Thursday and Friday parties.

Everything went great yesterday - day party at Emo's followed by night party at Club De Ville (more about that later).

Great Lake Swimmers' video for Your Rocky Spine below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

the new Radio Room (as it looked on an iPhone Tuesday night)

starting now...

Continue reading "all 2009 BrooklynVegan SXSW events/shows "

DOWNLOAD: The Tiny - Burn (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Doubt/Hope (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The New Wine - Revolving Cylinder (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dag for Dag - I Am the Assassin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ungdomskulen - Idunno (MP3)

DAY PARTY
Friday, March 20, 2009
12pm-6pm
Habana Calle Patio
709 6th st. on Waller Creek in Austin, TX

12:00 - Adam Heldring [SWE]
12:20 - Sofia Talvik [SWE]
01:00 - Wildbirds and Peacedrums [SWE]
01:35 - Teresa Andersson [SWE]
02:15 - The New Wine [NOR]
02:40 - The Tiny [SWE]
03:15 - Dag For Dag [SWE]
04:00 - Ungdomskulen [NOR]
04:45 - Casiokids [NOR]
05:30 - Loney, Dear [SWE]

Presented by The Rebel Group, International Rescue Artists, Brooklyn Vegan and Export Music Sweden

"Sweden Goes SXSW" is a 100% free show (no badges, no money). The bands are all Swedish, and Norwegian (I had to do something with Casiokids!) (not to mention The New Wine and Ungdomskulen). Check out the full lineup above. Spend six hours with us at Habana Calle on Friday and get a taste of the Nordic Region.

In NYC, but not going to Austin? Still haven't seen Casiokids? Want to experience 1/5 of the above lineup? Tonight, March 16th, at the Bell House in Brooklyn is your last chance (for now).

BrooklynVegan does SXSW
Wed day - party @ Emo's
Wed night - official showcase @ Club De Ville
Thu morn - panel @ the Convention Center
Thu day - party @ Radio Room
Thu night - relax (and/or Jane's Addiction)
Fri day - Dickies battle of the bands
Fri day - Sweden Goes SXSW (see above)
Fri night - collapse (and/or Metallica)

Live Casiokids videos below...

Continue reading "Sweden (and Norway) does SXSW! (and NYC) --- another BrooklynVegan party in Austin this year (details)"

by Black Bubblegum

Amebix, in a rare moment of calm? (more by Justina Villanueva)

Chaos in Tejas 2009 is on and poppin', having laid out May 21st-24th in Austin for a crust/punk/hardcore field day(s)... dig on the sick FINALIZED lineup that includes punk favorites like Amebix, Cock Sparrer, and Cro-Mags, as well as Eyehategod, The Thermals, Harvey Milk, Annihilation Time, Outlaw Order, Crude, Severed Head of State, Warcry, Ponytail, Trash Talk... the killer list goes on:

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas is coming to Austin (no, not SXSW) ++++++++++ Mind Eraser & Sex Vid coming to NYC"

photos by Faith-Ann Young

DOWNLOAD: Black Lips - "O Katrina!" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Monotonix - "Ride" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lucero - "What Else Would You Have Me Be" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Abe Vigoda - "Don't Lie" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cut Off Your Hands - "Turn Cold" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thao With The Get Down Stay Down - "Bag Of Hammers" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Japanther - "Um Like Yer Smile Is Totally Ruling Me Right Now" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Red Cortez - "World At Rest" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: HOWL - "Oma" (MP3)

A set of pictures from Tuesday's Black Lips show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and the lineup for next Saturday's free, 3rd annual Mess With Texas party in Austin, below....

Continue reading "Black Lips played MHOW (pics), playing Mess With Texas in Austin (as are a lot of other bands - full free lineup)"

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Long Time (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Those Darlins - Wild One (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Loch Lomond - Blue Lead Fences (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phosphorescent - Reasons to Quit (Willie Nelson) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bell - Echinacea (live on Fair Game) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers - Coward Cracked the Dawn (Radio Edit) (MP3)

If you'll be in Austin for SXSW this year, especially if you have a badge, please stop by Club De Ville on Wednesday night, March 18th, 2009 for the official BrooklynVegan showcase (aka a show aka a concert with six bands that is officially a part of the overall South by Southwest festival). If you don't have a SXSW badge, this show will cost you a modest fee at the door. This is who we've got on the bill...

Starting things off. She hails all the way from Brooklyn... it's Bell who will have just finished a tour with Asobi Seksu. (8 PM)

Following Bell is Brooklyn's very own Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers. Some say Shilpa has gotten a lot of attention around here lately. That is true. (9 PM)

After Shilpa, it's Portland, Oregon's Loch Lomond (with special guests). You may have caught Loch Lomond while they toured the country with The Decemberists. The Decemberists just so happen to be playing across the street at Stubb's, a few hours later, on the same SXSW night. (10 PM)

Not to stereotype, but girl power continues with the fourth act of the night. This also marks the beginning of the "alt-country" portion of the evening. It's Those Darlins. Maybe you saw them on their current tour with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.
(11 PM)

Next up... I've mentioned it a few times now: Phosphorescent will perform their/his new Willie Nelson tribute album, "To Willie", from start to finish . By the time this show happens, Phos will have done the same thing in Brooklyn, LA, and San Francisco. After SXSW, they may never do it again. (12 AM) Don't miss it...

...AND then, don't leave yet, because last but not least, Deer Tick (reunited with Those Darlins for the millionth time) are going to finish the night off. This closing performance feels especially special because this is the second year in a row that Deer Tick are playing the same showcase at the same venue, except last year their set time was much earlier. (1 AM)

---

NOTE: This is one of MANY SXSW events we planned, produced, or BrooklynVegan are just somehow involved in this year. I'll announce all of them ASAP, including the free day parties, and one more of them now...

Bill Pearis, currently best known for his weekly column "Week in Indie", will be representing BrooklynVegan.com on a SXSW panel about music blogs on Thursday, March 19th at 11am at the Austin Convention Center. The event is for SXSW badge holders only.

MP3's above. Videos below...

Continue reading "official BrooklynVegan 2009 SXSW stuff - showcase & panel"

As people have pointed out, A Place To Bury Strangers, Ra Ra Riot, Marnie Stern, and Apache Beat are sharing a bill at NYU's Kimmel Center (60 Washinton Square South) on March 5th...

CHILL 2009: Advance NYU Tickets on Sale Now! $10 NYU/$16 Public Doors: 7:30pm ++++++ 100% of Proceeds go to Charity+++++++ The Chill Concert is our annual fundraisiner concert to benefit the Chill Foundation, a charity organized by Burton; one of the snowboarding industry's largest players. The Chill Foundation seeks out at-risk, inner-city youths, and periodically gets them out of the city and to the mountain over the course of the winter.

Friends, Austinites, countrymen, lend us your ears: THE BLACK ANGELS and LIVE MUSIC CAPITOL present PSYCH FEST 2 Friday March 13th through Sunday March 15th, in Austin, Texas, spiritual birthplace and global epicenter of psychedelia. What better way to honor the cradle of consciousness than a festival of hallucinogenic sights and sounds celebrating the town's musical heritage and spotlighting the best new vanguards of the most mind-bending music ever played? Your three-day key to the doors of perception is a scant $45 (or one day doses for $15 ) available online on www.livemusiccapitol.com and Austin record stores beginning Friday the 13th, 2.13.09. With a lineup featuring such acclaimed acts as Austin's own THE BLACK ANGELS, joined by A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, DEAD MEADOW, THE WARLOCKS, Sky Sunlight Saxon of legendary garage rock innovators THE SEEDS and a constellation of rising underground stars from Austin and around the world including THE WOODEN SHJIPS, INDIAN JEWELRY, THE STRANGE BOYS, THE GOLDEN ANIMALS and many more, those doors will be rocked off their hinges. This year's Fest also features Austin's psych cult heroes, THE GOLDEN DAWN performing their 1968 album 'Power Plant' from start to finish. Prepare your earthly vessel for lift-off.

Marnie Stern is also playing a March 10th shown in Philly which doubles as the first night of a tour leading to Austin for SXSW where she'll play the Kill Rock Stars party @ Club DeVille on March 18th (in the afternoon) with The Thermals, Thao Nguyen, Horse Feathers, The Shaky Hands, and the pAper chAse. She's also, like Yann Tiersen, on the bill of one of the ATP's in Minehead in May. All of her dates below.

Ra Ra Riot have another NYC show coming up at Webster Hall, as well as tour dates with Death Cab For Cutie, Tokyo Police Club, and Passion Pit. They also appear on the recently announced Sasquatch lineup.

Apache Beat are currently in London where they'll play a bunch of shows with School of Seven Bells before coming back for the NYU gig. They also share a bill at Santos Party House on April 11th with Violens.

All dates below...

Continue reading "A Place To Bury Strangers, Ra Ra Riot, Marnie Stern, Apache Beat - NYU, Psych Fest, other tour dates"

"Killdozer are a three-piece band hailing from Madison, Wisconsin - the dairy state, of all places. Anyone who has ever seen them perform can bear witness to their awesome bombastic aural onslaught. Vocalist/bass player Michael Gerald innocently jerks thunderous pounding rhythms from his instrument, while letting forth a mighty roar perhaps more startling because of his otherwise unassuming stage presence. Flanked by Bill and Dan Hobson, on ear-splitting guitar and bone-jarring drums, Michael conveys vivid impersonations of the Great American Dream gone astray, exaggerating in no small detail the potential for existential adventure in the lifestyles of the everyday man. Not to be confused for some trend-kissing band of posing pseudo-intellectuals, Killdozer offsets their warm visions of reality with songs you may remember from your past, bringing you back to those fond memories of jaded youth." [The New Puritan]

Michael Gerald is a lawyer now, and he graduated NYU School of Law in 2001, at least that's what his LA law firm bio says... and is consistent with the NYU Law hat he was wearing when he first came on stage to a relatively small, but excited festival crowd. Is there a demand for Killdozer in 2008? I'm not sure it matters, or that the band would care, but it was kind of sad that the majority of the fest's crowd chose Trail of Dead who were playing at the same time on another stage. I found that out when I walked over to catch the end of Trail of Dead after Killdozer finished their set. Regardless, Killdozer (to quote myself) killed it.

Among other things (like telling the crowd to drink beer), Michael pointed out that they, Killdozer, a reunited band who (according to Wikipedia) were active from 1983-1996, are "old". Maybe that's what guitarist Bill Hobson was trying to disprove when, towards the end of the set, he climbed to the top of the scaffolding, played some guitar up there, climbed back down and then played some more guitar with his back on the stage - it was all part of the awesomeness that was the climatic ending of the set. As Austin Daze points out, "The trio left stage with amplifiers feeding back, and the crowd (including members of the headlining acts) screaming for more."

After the show I talked to drummer Dan (brother of Bill) Hobson who told me that Killdozer are not finished yet, and that they're even, though slowly, working on new material. Austin Daze also talked to the band. Their video interview, more pictures, and the setlist below...

Continue reading "Killdozer @ Fun Fun Fun Fest, Austin, TX - pics & setlist"