Austra at Music Hall of Williamsburg in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Austra are releasing their sophomore album, Olympia, on June 18 via Domino/Paper Bag, and will be touring in support of it over the next few months. That tour hits NYC for a show on June 20 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Mozart's Sister (sold out) and a BrooklynVegan-presented show on September 22 at Webster Hall (tickets).

The Webster Hall show and many of their other August/September shows are with fellow Canadians DIANA, who just signed to Jagjaguwar in the US and Paper Bag in Canada. Their debut LP, Perpetual Surrender will come out on August 20 and you can watch the video for its single, "Born Again," below.

Regarding Austra's upcoming album, in a recent interview with Stereogum, singer Katie Stelmanis talked about the differences recording this one with her band, as opposed to entirely solo like Austra's debut:

Yeah, it's something that I was kind of craving. I feel like when you hear a solo record from someone you can kind of always tell that it's a solo record. Like, if literally one person did everything on the record it's like you're following their train of thought. Everything is predictable and fits into this certain box. It's one person's idea, and I was very aware of that, and I wanted to create something that's a little more dynamic. And so doing that I wanted to bring in more ideas and bring in other people and it made it more interesting for me because I was able to bounce ideas off of other people and just co-writing with people was pretty new and fun.

Stream both of those remixes, along with the list of all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Austra remixed by Ital and Kevin Saunderson (listen); tour w/ DIANA starts soon"

Austra at Hammerstein Ballroom in January (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

As mentioned, Austra are releasing a new album, Olympia, on June 18 via Domino/Paper Bag. The band just made a video for the album's excellent single, "Home," and have also announced a new string of tour dates. The new dates see Austra coming back to NYC for a show on September 22 at Webster Hall with DIANA. That show happens about three months after their previously discussed NYC show on June 20 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Mozart's Sister. Tickets for the MHOW show are still available, and tickets for the Webster Hall show go on sale Friday, May 10 at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/8) at noon.

Updated dates are listed, along with the new video, below...

Continue reading "Austra announce more dates (Webster Hall included)"

As mentioned, Austra's new album, Olympia, is out June 18 on Domino/Paper Bag. Eschewing programmed beats, the record was made with her very talented live band. You may have already heard first single "Home" but Austra has just released the video for the track. Directed by Noel Paul & Stefan Moore, the cip was mostly shot in one long take. Watch it below.

Austra, who played one of our 2013 SXSW day parties, will play a record release show in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 20 with Mozart's Sister opening. Tickets are still available.

UPDATE: They also announced more dates including another NYC show, happening on September 22 at Webster Hall with DIANA.

Continue reading "watch the video for Austra's "Home""

by Bill Pearis and Andrew Sacher

Ex Cops DJing at Other Music, RSD 2012 (more)

We're about a week out from Record Store Day 2013. When it began in 2008, RSD was a celebration of brick-and-mortar stores in the face of digital downloads, offering up exclusive releases to get people out to stores. It's blown up considerably since then, with hundreds of RSD-only releases. (Many of which fall into the hands of folks who turn it around on Ebay that same day, but what can you do?) While it is a mob scene these days, there is no doubt it helps what record stores there are left -- though not enough, as Record Store Day will be the last day for Williamsburg's Sound Fix. Participating stores around the country are listed here.

There are always some pretty cool exclusives too, items that may have never seen the light of day without RSD. With that in mind we've gone through the list of North American RSD exclusives to highlight a few things to keep an eye out. This isn't comprehensive, just stuff we wanna get. What records are you trying to get this year?

We've written about the Sacred Bones comp, the Astralwerks comp, Old 97s, Frightened Rabbit, Austra, Sonny & the Sunsets, and Titus Andronicus Check out our new list below...

Continue reading "a guide to Record Store Day 2013"

Austra @ BVSXSW 2013 (more by Kevin Figueroa)

Austra's new album, Olympia, isn't out for another two months (6/18) but folks who are in NYC can get a very early legal listen tonight (4/10) at an official listening party at Chinatown club Le Baron. The event is free and after the album is played in full there will be DJ sets by Austra's Katie Stelmanis and Maya Postepski. Flyer for tonight's event is below along with the few upcoming tour dates Austra has scheduled. Those dates include Music Hall of Williamsburg which is now being opened by Mozart's Sister who comes to NYC herself later this month.

Meanwhile, if you're out looking for exclusives on Record Store Day (4/20), keep an eye out for a 12" titled "Mayan Drums," which is a collaboration between Austra and German electro singer Gina X.

Postepski, who just launched her own solo project, Princess Century, remixed Heidi Mortenson's track "Dele Af Kroppen" and you can stream that below.

Continue reading "Austra DJing at free NYC listening party for new LP tonight, releasing collaboration w/ Gina X for #RSD13 ++ more news"

SXSW photos by Kevin Figueroa and Sarah Frankie Linder

Princess Century

Maya Postepski, who you may know as the drummer of Austra and/or one half of the duo TRUST, now has her own solo project, Princess Century, and she'll release her debut LP for that project, Lossless, on April 29 via Kennington Recordings. Her first single for the album, "Twin House," is a similar type of darkwave to Austra and TRUST, but while those projects both have pretty theatrical singers, Maya's soft voice is hidden in the mix on this track. Check out the video for the track, along with the Lossless album art and tracklist, below.

Austra at BV-SXSW 2013

Meanwhile, Austra have a new album on the way too, and they were just in Austin for SXSW to preview material from it, which they did at one of our BrooklynVegan day parties. We already posted pictures of that party in full, and two more sets of Austra pictures are in this post. More below...

Continue reading "Maya Postepski (Austra/TRUST) releasing debut solo LP as Princess Century (video) ++ more Austra pics from BV SXSW"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher

Austra / APTBS / the crowd

We wrapped up our stay at The Main and The Jr (aka old Emo's) with our fourth and final BrooklynVegan SXSW day party on Saturday (3/16). Unfortunately, Foxygen had to drop off at the last minute because the singer lost his voice. They would have played the outdoor stage (Pianos Stage), where we still saw sets from the arty synthpop of Empress Of, the loudest set of all of our day parties from A Place to Bury Strangers, and a super fun set from catchy UK rockers Palma Violets. Then came the sexy R&B of Autre Ne Veut, followed by a set by Austra, who were previewing expansive material from their upcoming sophomore album, Olympia. Then finally, the outdoor stage was wrapped up with a set from psychedelic pop New Zealanders Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Inside, the show kicked off with the catchy indie pop of TEEN, followed by rockin' UK band Peace, and then three consecutive synthpop groups, Feathers, MS MR, and Doldrums. Then the show took a louder turn with an adrenaline-pumping set from White Lung, bouncy young garage punks The Orwells, and finally King Tuff.

In addition to the music, we had an interactive photo and video booth set up by Oxygen tattoo show, "Best Ink". The second season (hosted by Pete Wentz who made a surprise appearance in their booth) premieres April 3rd. Onkyo was there, sampling their new headphones which hit stores next month. mophie maker of invaluable iPhone chargers, were giving away discount cards good at their pop-up shop which was set up right across the street on Red River. We were also serving complimentary Jameson, and Zico coconut water, and free vegan queso and chips from Food For Lovers. We also had BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 50 people in the door, thanks to American Apparel. Also thanks to our other sponsors, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Creative Recreation, Signazon, Zazoo, and Redigi.

More pictures from Saturday's party below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SXSW Saturday day party in pics (UMO, King Tuff, Austra, Orwells, APTBS, Palma Violets & more)"

This is Day 4 of four BrooklynVegan SXSW Day Parties this year...

As you know, BrooklynVegan is returning to Austin for SXSW this year and throwing four days of day parties at The Main & The Jr aka 603 Red River Street at the corner of 6th aka the old Emo's location. Those happen Wed (3/13), Thurs, Fri and Saturday (3/16). All shows are 100% FREE with RSVP

We've announced Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is on the way. HERE IS SATURDAY..

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan free SXSW 2013 Saturday day party lineup (UMO, Austra, King Tuff, Autre Ne Veut, Foxygen, APTBS, White Lung, Palma Violets, Doldrums & more)"

Austra has announced their sophomore album, Olympia, which will be released on June 18 via Domino. Unlike 2011's Feel it Break, which was made primarily by Katie Stelmanis alone, Olympia was a band effort with all instruments played live in the studio with no programming or loops used. Drummer Maya Postepski (also of TRUST), had a big hand in shaping the sound of the new album. "There is a major percussive element running through every song," says Stelmanis. "This is the album where we discovered rhythm." You can check out "Home" from Olympia below.

Austra, who was here recently opening for The xx, will be premiering Olympia material at SXSW next week, including a visit to our Saturday (3/16) day party at the old Emo's space. Austra have also announced a few American live dates around the release of the album, including one in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 20. Tickets for that show go on sale today (3/7) at noon. All Austra tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Austra announces new LP (stream a track), playing BV day party and more SXSW shows ++ NYC and other dates"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Hervé - "Gold" (feat. Maria Minerva) (MP3)

Maria Minerva

Lo-fi pop artist Maria Minerva teamed up with LA dance four-piece Pharaohs for the track, "Miraculous Feet," off Pharaohs' debut full length, Replicant Moods, which is due out on April 20 via 100% Silk. Maria takes lead vocals which gives the track an overall feel more similar to her music than Pharaohs', but Pharaohs' Chic-style bassline and post-punk drums make the song beefier and dancier than most of Maria's work. You can stream that track below.

As mentioned, Maria Minerva and Pharaohs are teaming up for a NYC show this Saturday (3/2) at 285 Kent with Octo Octa and Magic Touch (8 PM doors, $10 admission), but Pharaohs will be landing in NYC even sooner to play Cameo on Thursday (2/28) with Jonas Reinhardt, SHAMS, and a DJ set from Suzanne Kraft. Advance tickets for the Cameo show are on sale now. Both Maria Minerva and Pharaohs will also be in Austin this March for SXSW.

Maria Minerva also has a new release of her own on the way; the Bless EP, which will be out on April 2 via Not Not Fun. The EP's first single, "Black Magick," continues in the vein of her Will Happiness Find Me? album, and you can watch the video for that track below. Maria will play a release show for that EP in NYC on April 18 at Cameo Gallery with Butterclock (more on her in a minute). Tickets for that show are on sale now.

In addition to her own EP and collaborating with Pharaohs, Maria also contributed vocals to "Gold," the new single off UK producer Hervé (aka Joshua Harvey)'s new album, The Art of Disappearing, which comes out on March 4 via Cheap Thrills. Maria's airy vocals and Hervé's downtempo rhythms work great together and you can hear the collaboration by downloading the track above or watching its video, below. That album also features a killer collaboration with Austra (who are playing BrooklynVegan SXSW shows) on the track "Save Me," which you can stream below as well. Other collaborators on the album are Niki & the Dove and Seasfire.

Butterclock

As mentioned above, support at Maria Minerva's EP release from comes from oOoOO collaborator Butterclock (aka Laura Clock), who released her debut EP, First Prom, earlier this month. A limited CD pressing of the EP is available at the Fantasy Music webstore. Butterclock also has some European shows coming up, which are listed below, and more US dates will be announced soon. The video for "Don't" off her EP is below.

oOoOO also has some dates of his own coming up, including one in NYC which happens on May 23 at Glasslands. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

All dates are listed, along with all mentioned song streams and videos, below...

Continue reading "Maria Minerva readies new EP, adds NYC show w/ Butterclock +++ related news on Pharaohs, oOoOO & Hervé"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

The xx and Austra @ Hammerstein Ballroom, 1/24/2013

The xx played Hammerstein Ballroom last night (1/24). The show was a make-up date for their show at the Bronx's Paradise Theatre that was supposed to happen back in October but got canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Did you go last night? Austra, who is due for a new album sometime, opened the show and she's still got  Sari and Romy Lightman as indispensable backing singers.

Both bands play Hammerstein again tonight (1/25) and it's sold out. If you're looking for something to do after the show, Austra DJs late night at Glasslands with Heathered Pearls also on the decks. Tickets are still available.

More pictures from The xx and Austra at Hammerstein below...

Continue reading "The xx and Austra played Hammerstein Ballroom (pics), do it again tonight"

Heathered Pearls is the moniker of Polish ambient musician Jakub Alexander who now lives in Brooklyn. He recently released his debut LP, Loyal, out now via Ghostly International. Lush and transportive, you can stream the entire LP below.

New York has a couple chances to see Heathered Pearls live. Tonight (1/18) he plays the "Connections" party at Ran Tea House with with Rioux, Prism House, and Certain Creatures. It promises to be an "exploration in electronic psychedelia" and is $5 before midnight, $7 after. More info here. Then he's also on the bill (DJing) for Austra's upcoming DJ night at Glasslands on January 25 . Tickets are still available.

Flyer for "Connections" party and album stream are below...

Continue reading "Heathered Pearls released 'Loyal' (stream it), playing shows"

(via)

Tickets for Governors Ball 2013 (June 7-9) go on a limited holiday presale today at 11 AM.

Tickets for the Yes show at Beacon Theater, where they'll be playing The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One in full, go on sale today at 11 AM.

Tickets for the newly added Tegan & Sara (who don't play with The Killers tonight) show at Beacon Theatre go on sale today at 11 AM.

Tickets for the Don Giovanni showcases with Screaming Females, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Stormshadow, Lemuria, Jeffrey Lewis, Waxahatchee, Hilly Eye, and more go on sale today at noon (2-day pass option included).

Tickets for the newly-added Desaparecidos show at Webster Hall with Joyce Manor and States & Kingdoms go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Stars shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Bob Mould shows at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Frightened Rabbit show at Terminal 5 go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Ultraista and Prefuse 73 show at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for The Maccabees shows at Bowery Ballroom and MHOW go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Man Man and Murder by Death show at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for The Ruby Suns show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon. Tickets for their Knitting Factory show are on sale now.

TIckets for the Mount Moriah and Blessed Feathers show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Annuals, Slam Donahue, Ludwig Persik, and Tab the Band show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Alpine show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon. Tickets for their Glasslands show are on sale now.

Tickets for the Mykki Blanco show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Ex Cops show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon. TIckets for their Glasslands show are on sale now and tickets for tonight's Webster Hall show where they open for Paul Banks are still available.

People Get Ready are playing Mercury Lounge on February 8 with Color War. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Trey Anastasio shows at Capitol Theatre and Wellmont Theatre go on sale today at noon.

Austra is DJing Glasslands on January 25. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

A bunch of shows at Town Hall just went on sale.

Geoff Rickly of Thursday recently released his first solo material, and is playing an acoustic show at The Sutdio at Webster Hall on February 2 with Vinnie Caruana and others. Tickets for that show go on sale Tuesday (12/18) at 10 AM.

Lower Dens @ Chicago's the Riv, 10/1/2012 (more by Grant McAllister)

Baltimore's Lower Dens went into new, motorik directions on their second album, Nootropics so it makes sense that tracks from the record might work well in the remix world. Hence, the Nootropics Remixed EP which takes three cuts off the album and puts them into the hands of Trentemøller, Cex, and Steve Moore. You can stream Trentemøller's excellent recrafting of Nootropics standout cut "Brains" below. You can buy it directly from Ribbon Music, and if you buy any Lower Dens title, you'll get Nootropics Remixed for free.

Meanwhile, Lower Dens shared with us their picks for Best of 2012. All four current members contributed lists and none of them were straight LP lists, mixing media with inclusions for live shows, books, food, film and ephemera. Check them out below, along with that "Brains" remix.

Continue reading "Lower Dens released 'Nootropics Remixed' EP, list their favorite things of 2012"

In addition to everything else we posted, today, here's some more, and some reminders too...

Hope to see you at Pianos tonight, unless of course you're celebrating Yom Kippur which started at sundown (or under 21).

It's also National Voter Registration Day, as miss Annie Clark has so kindly reminded us above. Did you register to vote yet? We also would like to know, however, what's the deal with the Tiny Tim photo in the background?

That photo is actually part of a series orchestrated by HeadCount where over 200 celebrities, including Jeff Tweedy, were photographed with "Register to Vote" clipboards. You can see them all here.

Speaking of St. Vincent, it's David Byrne / St. Vincent Week here in NYC. Their first of three area shows together happens tonight at the Beacon Theater, as Kelly Pratt pointed out in the latest edition of his tour diary.

Neil Young has started a Twitter account and will be taking your questions via it in October. Right now, though, @NeilYoung seems to handled by a marketing intern.

Prince took a 40 minute encore break last night in Chicago.

Paper Bag Records just released the free David Bowie tribute album, Paper Bag Records vs. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, with covers by Austra & CFCF, PS I Love You, The Luyas, Yamantaka/Sonic Titan and more. Download it for free HERE.

Speaking of Yamantaka/Sonic Titan, they performed at the Polaris Prize Gala in Toronto last night, but ended up losing to Feist.

Converge is back with "Shame In the Way" a new song from their forthcoming LP All We Love We Leave Behind. Stream that new track, coupled with an interview with vocalist Jacob Bannon in the latest Show Now Mercy at Pitchfork. Look for the LP on 10/9 via Epitaph.

Sweden's Terrible Feelings have released a new video for "Next Round's On You" from their Shadows LP. Check that out below.

Field Report visited the A.V. Club's HQ in Chicago and took on the Sufjan Stevens mainstay "Chicago" for their Undercover series. Check out the clip below.

You can also check out Thee Oh Sees' side of the new Famous Class' "LAMC" 7" series which they were selling last night at their very sweaty Death by Audio show. It's streaming below.

Main Mountain Goat John Darnielle talks (vegetarian) food - including pizza, popcorn and, yes, hummus over at FoodRepublic. He and the band will be in NYC next month.

More stuff below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Register to Vote Day; Neil Young on Twitter; Free Bowie Tribute LP; new Converge, Cat Power's band & more"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Austra at Music Hall of Williamsburg - 9/19/12

Austra brought their tour to NYC last night (9/19) for a sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Doldrums and Zambri. Doldrums main dude Airick Woodhead's brother Daniel of Moon King (who played three NYC shows in the past week) joined his brother on stage during Doldrums' set as he's done before. After the show, Austra and Doldrums kept the party going at Glasslands where both DJed.

Doldrums will be back in NYC for CMJ.

More pictures from last night's show are below.

Continue reading "Austra, Doldrums & Zambri played Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics)"

via @edroste

Tickets for the James Blake show at MHOW go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the Divine Fits and Cold Cave show at Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the recently added Swans shows at Bowery Ballroom and MHOW with Devendra Banhart go on AmEx presale today at noon. Tickets for their less recently announced Bowery Ballroom show with A Hawk and a Hacksaw, which happens about two weeks before the new ones, are still available.

Tickets for the Saint Etienne show at Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Meat Loaf is playing Beacon Theatre on November 1. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale and Internet presale (password: "MAD") now and go on sale to the general public on Friday (9/7) at 10 AM.

David Wax Museum will be in NYC this month to play Housing Works on September 18. Tickets for that show are on sale now. They'll return to play Mercury Lounge on November 30. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today at noon and go on sale to the general public on Friday (9/7) at noon.

The Death Set and Ninjasonik are playing a free Barback Games-presented show with games, giveaways, and surprises at Webster Hall on September 24. Admission is free with RSVP.

Martha Wainwright is playing Littlefield on October 10 and Le Poisson Rouge on October 11. Tickets for the Littlefield show and tickets for the LPR show go on sale Friday (9/7) at noon.

The schedule for Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest was posted and single day tickets are now on sale.

Ray Lamontagne is playing Wellmont Theatre on November 19 and Carnegie Hall on November 26. Wellmont tickets go on sale Friday, September 14 at noon and Carnegie Hall tickets go on sale Friday, September 14 at 11 AM.

Tickets for the Ash 20th anniversary show at Bowery Ballroom go on AmEx presale today at noon. Tickets for their Knitting Factory show go on sale Saturday (9/8) at 10 AM.

Tickets for the Deftones show at Terminal 5 go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the newly added Michael Kiwanuka show at MHOW, which Foy Vance and Marcus Foster are opening, go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the Craft Spells, Ice Choir, and Ski Lodge show at Glasslands are on sale now.

Tickets for the Bleeding Rainbow, Royal Baths, SISU, and Punks on Mars show at Glasslands are on sale now.

Avicii, who has two upcoming Radio City shows, has been tapped by Madonna to open her Yankee Stadium shows, which happen this Thursday (9/6) and Saturday (9/8). Tickets for those shows are still available.

Esperanza Spalding is playing The Apollo on October 26 and 27. Tickets for the 10/26 show are on sale now and tickets for the 10/27 show are on AmEx presale now with a Ticketmaster/A List presale starting Monday (9/10) at 10 AM and a general on-sale starting Thursday, September 13 at 10 AM.

Austra are DJing Glasslands (9/19) the night of their MHOW show. Admission to that show is free with RSVP.

Doldrums at NXNE last week (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, Austra scheduled a few North American shows later this year including a NYC show on September 19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that show are still available. All dates are listed below.

Since we last spoke, fellow Canadians Doldrums and Brooklyn's Zambri (who joined Bear In Heaven on stage last month at a MHOW show which Doldrums opened) were added as openers to Austra's MHOW show. The connections don't stop there though. Main Doldrums guy, Airick Woodhead, and his brother Daniel who sometimes drums live for Doldrums and has his own project called Moon King, were both members of the band Spiral Beach, whose lineup also included current Austra bassist Dorian Wolf.

Speaking of bands that include Austra members, TRUST (featuring Austra drummer Maya Postepski) have upcoming dates with Light Asylum, including two in NYC: Warm Up at PS1 on 7/7 with Nguzunguzu, Arca, and Todd Terry (tickets), and MHOW on 7/8 (tickets). All dates are listed below.

Doldrums is also a Grimes collaborator, has toured with her multiple times, and it looks like they're probably also good friends. Daniel Woodhead, in addition to sometimes drumming for Doldrums, drummed for Grimes too sometimes on her recent tour. Grimes has a lot of NYC shows coming up, including four sold out shows and a free one at River Rocks on Pier 84 on August 9 with Wild Nothing and DIIV.

Doldrums will also be in NYC next month for 4Knots Music Festival.

Daniel Woodhead's Moon King project does not have any upcoming NYC appearances at the moment, but he was here a good amount of times last year, including when he played with Dope Body and Hume last summer. Hume just played the official BV Northside showcase. Hume and Dope Body's friends Roomrunner just played Cake Shop and have other NYC shows coming up including one this Friday (6/22) at the Bell House with Diamond Rugs and Richard Buckner, and a free show with Dan Deacon and John Maus at Pier 84 on July 12.

All lists of dates below...

Continue reading "Doldrums & Zambri opening for Austra & other stuff"

We just posted about Austra who's coming back to North America (including 9/19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg) after a tour of Europe. She's also one of many artists playing the 2012 Osheaga Festival in Montreal which happens August 3 - 5. Tickets are still available for the three-day event.

In addition to Austra, Osheaga plays host to The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg, Justice, Metric (who play Radio City Music Hall soon), Sigur Ros (who play Prospect Park and are streaming their new LP), Florence & The Machine (who plays Jones Beach this summer), The Weeknd, Passion Pit (who play Governor's Ball soon), The Jesus & Mary Chain, MGMT, Santigold (who just played Irving), Zola Jesus (who just played the Guggenheim) and many many more.

Full Osheaga lineup is below.

Continue reading "Justice, Metric, The Black Keys, Sigur Ros and more playing Montreal's Osheaga Festival in August "

Austra at Empty Bottle (more by Chris Hershman)

Currently on tour in Europe, Austra just announced some select North American dates, including September 19th at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for the Brooklyn show go on AMEX presale at noon on May 16th and regular sale on Friday. All dates are listed below.

In between the European and North American shows, Katie Stelmanis will take a break while her bandmates tour with TRUST (who are playing shows with Light Asylum, including a 7/8 date at Music Hall of Williamsburg).

Continue reading "Austra planning North American tour, playing MHOW"

Trust, who are releasing their debut LP on Arts & Crafts this February, are starting to reveal some dates in support of it. In late December, the band tweeted, "showz in nyc/austin/westcoast in march. deets to follow." Those shows haven't been completely revealed yet but we now know that the NYC shows are happening on March 8 at Mercury Lounge and March 9 at Glasslands. Tickets are on sale now for the Glasslands show and tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday (1/20) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (1/18) at noon. The Austin shows will be SXSW, and we assume California after that.

All currently known dates and some videos of tracks from the upcoming LP below...

Continue reading "Trust announce 2 NYC shows, planned March tour"

Austra at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by Tim Griffin)

Toronto's Austra, whose past videos defintely got people talking in 2011, have released a new one to kick off 2012. The song is "Spellwork" from their BV-favorite LP Feel it Break, and the footage was shot (believe it or not) in NJ. Check that out, along with their older NSFW video for "Beat and the Pulse, and other stuff, below.

Continue reading "new Austra video: 'Spellwork' (shot in Egberts Lake Park, NJ)"

by Bill Pearis

Feathers at Mohawk, October 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Feathers are making the trip from Austin with former Voxtrot singer Ramesh to play Mercury Lounge on March 5. The band have been making waves in Texas over the last few months and this will be their first NYC show, and their only scheduled show at the moment outside of SXSW.

Feathers is the new project from Anastasia Dimou who you may know from NYC band Cruel Black Dove (who are now broken up). Galexy from Ringo Deathstarr is also in the band. Band member Destiny Montague was in Shock Cinema and Midnight Masses too.

At this point, Feathers only have a couple tracks to check out -- you can stream them at the bottom of this post -- but "Land of the Innocent" is a good one, all pulsing synths and siren-song harmonies. Comparisons will be made to Austra and Zola Jesus, but Feathers are a little more dancefloor oriented, with some glammy stompers in their repertoire as well. The other track is a remix of the song "Dream Song" (which has no released regular version yet). The remix was done by Maya Postepski of Austra and Trust (who just signed to Arts & Crafts).

While waiting to hear more -- or see them live -- check out photos from our man in Austin, Tim Griffin, from their first-ever show back in October when they opened for Washed Out, and from a show they played not long after that at Beauty Bar, AND from last week's 'Free Week' show as well.

Songs below...

Continue reading "Check out Feathers -- making NYC debut @ Mercury Lounge -- song stream, a remix & live pics too"

I hate writing year-end lists, as might be obvious to many long-time BrooklynVegan readers. That said, I also like them. They help organize things, which is related to my problem though. I'm too unorganized and hectic to ever get around to making one! But this year a few of us (BrooklynVegan contributors) got together and decided to come up with a collective list of albums that we loved that we think most represented 2011 in BrooklynVegan land. Our indie rock-centric list purposely does not include metal (that's HERE) or hip hop (we should make a separate list). With that in mind, our top 26 albums of 2011, in alphabetical order, are listed (with some commentary and a list of honorable mentions too) below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan's Favorite Albums of 2011"

By Bill Pearis

One could argue (and we did, in our story on the band in the January-February issue!) that Fucked Up's rock opera David Comes to Life was uniquely resonant upon its June release because of the emotional synchronicity between an album that spilled forth with such an appropriately chaotic narrative and a year in which tumultuous disarray became the norm. But good lord, David Comes to Life could've been sung in backwards Tagalog and it still would've made perfect sense in 2011. That's the power of a gang of punks playing with Olympian levels of passion and purpose. [SPIN]

As you hopefully know, Fucked Up will be performing this Friday (12/16) at the BV-curated night of this weekend's Brooklyn Night Bazaar, a full evening of music that also includes Dom, Big Troubles, Caged Animals, Radical Dads, as well as Frankie Rose spinning tunes. Tickets are only $10 and still available.

There's a lot more Fucked Up news actually. Tonight (11/12) the band will be guests on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Holiday Special, which also features Christoper Walken, Norah Jones and a lot of extremely non-vegan cooking (though the Vegan Black Metal Chef is also a guest). Maybe Fucked Up will play in Bourdain's fridge, like Das Racist did on last year's Holiday Special.

Next Tuesday (12/20) in the band's hometown of Toronto, Fucked Up will perform David Comes to Life in its entirety, with proceeds going to charity. (PS I Love You, The Sadies and Quest for Fire also perform.)

Fucked Up are also releasing a split Christmas single with Sloan, with proceeds benefiting the COUNTERfit Harm Reduction Program and the Barriere Lake Legal Defense Fund. Fucked Up's side is their take on "Jingle Bells," while Sloan tackle "The 12 Days of Christmas" (which is streamable below). Only 500 are being printed -- maybe they'll be some at the merch table this Friday?

The band have also announced the release of 2012's annual Chinese New Year single, "Year of the Tiger," which is out February 21. The 15-minute track features guest vocals from Austra, Duchess Says' Annie-Claude and Jim Jarmusch, which Matador claims is "MAYBE THE BEST THING FUCKED UP HAVE EVER RECORDED" but being their record label they're prone to such proclamations. But maybe it is.

Click through for a just-released video of "Turn the Season" plus video of the band performing "The Other Shoe" on Canada's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight show, as well as the entire rundown of SPIN mag's Top 50 Albums of 2011...

Continue reading "Fucked Up named Album of 2011 by SPIN, on 'No Reservations' tonight, playing Brooklyn Friday, releasing Christmas single w/ Sloan & 'Year of the Tiger' single"