by Andrew Sacher

Not to turn into Perez Hilton or anything, but the same day we get the news that Justin Timberlake, another pop star who actually puts out great music, is releasing new material, Beyonce announced on facebook that Destiny's Child have recorded their first original song in eight years and Pharrell produced it. The song will appear on Love Songs, the upcoming Destiny's Child compilation which is due out on January 29 via Sony Legacy and can be pre-ordered now. The tracklist is below.

In related news, Beyonce, who is about to perform at the Super Bowl on February 3, but not until after she sings the National Anthem at President Obama's inauguration ceremony on January 21, said in an interview with GQ that she'll have her new album out "as early as April" and will go on a world tour in support of it. The album may or may not include her rumored sequel to her collaboration with Lady Gaga, "Telephone." (And that song may or may not also feature Azealia Banks.)

The album will follow 2011's 4, much of which saw Beyonce stripping back her sound and pulling more from '70s soul than contemporary R&B, but it also contained "Countdown," which is up there as one of Beyonce's greatest pop singles, and just one of the greatest pop singles of recent years in general.

The video for "Countdown" and the video for Destiny's Child's "Survivor" below...

Continue reading "Destiny's Child reuniting for a new single; Beyonce will release her new album "as early as April""

On Monday (11/5), the day before Election day, Barack Obama will wrap up his campaign with a couple rallies, for which he'll be joined by Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen in Columbus, OH. Both artists will perform and Jay will introduce Obama before his speech. Bruce will also perform at Obama's final rally in Des Moines, Iowa (via Washington Post).

As mentioned, Bruce played the Rochester Blue Cross Arena on Wednesday (10/31) (postponed from Tuesday due to Hurricane Sandy), and while on stage he dedicated "My City of Ruins" to Asbury Park (his hometown) due to the damage it faced during the hurricane. You can check out the setlist from that show (which also included a cover of "Monster Mash," since it was Halloween after all) and videos of Bruce giving a speech about Hurricane Sandy before playing "My City of Ruins" and the "Monster Mash" cover. You can also read about the show at this Notes From The Road post on Bruce's website.

Bruce also performs for the Hurricane Sandy NBC telethon tonight (11/2) at 8 PM.

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen performing at Obama rally w/ Jay-Z, played Rochester on Halloween (setlist, videos, Sandy speech)"

It seemed inevitable that Adele would be tapped to do a Bond theme and here we are with Skyfall. The movie actually looks like it might be good! As for the theme song, Adele and cowriter/producer Paul Epworth are channeling classic John Barry-era Bond and will be drawing comparisons to Shirley Bassey. A lyric video of the song is at the bottom of this post. (you can also buy it on iTunes)

Speaking of buying on iTunes, that's one place you can get the new album by Flying Lotus who just announced a CMJ show which happens about a week after all his other NYC appearances including this weekend's record fair.

The Raveonettes are on tour and playing Webster Hall on Friday, but first you can catch them on Letterman tonight. Meanwhile check out some pictures from their Chicago show.

Still time to get a ticket to our free-with-free-ticket AC Newman show happening Monday in Brooklyn. Meanwhile you can stream the new album in its entirety below.

The Punch Brothers are on tour and have plenty of upcoming shows, like Gramercy Theater on 10/5, and Bowery Ballroom on New Year's Eve, and The Paramount Theater in Long Island on October 7, which we're giving away tickets to on Facebook (you can also buy some).

Speaking of the Punch Brothers, as mentioned, primary Brother Chris Thile is one of this year's MacArthur Fellows. Which means he gets lots of money. Congrats also to winner Claire Chase of the International Contemporary Ensemble (aka ICE)., Maybe you caught her recently at the new Original Music Workshop venue, or during the 2010 Bang on a Can Marathon, or at one of the many other times she has performed in and around Brooklyn where she lives.

The big Animal Collective show at Williamsburg Park is this Friday. Tickets are still available. If you go, make sure and get there early for Micachu & the Shapes, or just go see Micachu headline LPR on Monday with recently added opener Mykki Blanco. Win tickets at the BV Facebook.

Micachu also DJs a Brooklyn Bass-presented After Hours party at Cameo Gallery (10/5) after the Williamsburg Park show with DJ Rezzie, No GLow, Evan MIchael, Judge Wise, and T'Angelo. It starts at midnight and admission is $8 at the door or $5 with RSVP to bass.brooklyn@gmail.com.

Sondre Lerche, who recently played Austin, is on tour and plays the Wolf's Den @ Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT on Friday (10/5).

Robert Pollard & Tobin Sprout's art show opens in Brooklyn on Friday. Check out pictures from the show Guided By Voices recently played at Emo's.

Kraftwerk, Rush and Public Enemy might be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Finally an answer to Rolling Stone's "Women Who Rock!" issue: Seattle's The Stranger presents, "Men Who Rock!," complete with sexy pinup photos. Hot! What, no Lars Finberg?

PD spotted what is estimated to be 7-10 Million Dollars worth of pot growing on a Chicagoland farm with "plants as big as trees."

The first "official" photos of the reunited cast of Arrested Development have surfaced. The improbably fourth season of the show will "air" (stream) on Netflix in 2013. Meanwhile, New York Magazine has details on how you can win a walk-on.

more below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Adele's Bond theme, Micachu, Raveonettes, RDIO, AlunaGeorge, Claire Chase, Divine Fits, the Hobbit + more"

The National at Living History Farms 9/1/2012 (via@antoniorodrigueziv)

Lines stretched for blocks as Iowans lined up to see President Barack Obama at a campaign rally at Living History Farms in Urbandale, his seventh trip to the all-important swing state this year.

Some Iowans are bound to be disappointed because space is limited to the narrow main street at the outdoor museum. The gated venue was nearly full shortly before noon and hundreds were still waiting to get in.

The crowd is being routed through security and then a gantlet of volunteers trying to get them to vote early for Obama.

The president's visit - the second to Iowa this week alone - resembles a summer music festival, with performances by indie band The National and alternative-rock hero Chris Cornell. Both played very subdued sets rather than fiery crowd-rousers. The music competed with the whir of a black helicopter overhead. - [Des Moines Register]

While on the subject of Obama support, Hannibal Buress, Rory Scovel and many more TBA will be performing at a benefit titled "Four More Years: A Benefit Show for the Status Quo" that happens at the Bell House on October 11. Tickets (proceeds of which go to benefit the Obama Campaign via PAC) are $20 and on sale now.

Obama is now in Charlotte, NC for the Democratic National Convention which is rolling on as we speak. The closing night party is being DJ'd by Adam 12 of She Wants Revenge. (Really??) What's in his record bag? Lots of Aretha, The Jackson 5 and even Tupac.

Adam 12 probably won't be playing any records by Frank Turner whose UK folk bent doesn't fit the playlist, but neither does his politics, despite a sound that might lead you to believe he's pals with Billy Bragg. Turner told The Guardian (via DailySwarm):

To start with, most people don't seem to understand what the difference between left and right is. For example, the BNP are a hard left party. I consider myself a libertarian, I consider myself to be pretty right wing and I get shit for saying that out loud. I was thinking about it the other day, I was thinking about how, quite often, I do keep myself to myself on the subject because I can't be fucking bothered to have some guy look all shocked at me because I think socialism's retarded.

Continue reading "The National & Chris Cornell opened for Obama in Iowa; She Wants Revenge dude DJing DNC party & other news"

The National at All Points West 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

The National dudes are having a banner year. First the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, then performing "The Rains of Castamere" on the second season of Game of Thrones and they are curating the UK edition of All Tomorrow's Parties. Now the band have band have announced (via Twitter) that they'll play before for President Barack Obama at a speech in Des Moines, IA on Saturday, September 1.

The band are longtime Obama supporters, having designed an election t-shirt back in 2008 and lending their song "Fake Empire" to his campaign.

The picture of The National above, by the way, is one of many great BrooklynVegan shots that are on display at our "480 Pixels" exhibit at 92YTribeca that is viewable through September 6. The gallery is open from 8 AM - 3 PM this week.

President Obama on Wednesday ended nearly two years of "evolving" on the issue of same-sex marriage by publicly endorsing it in a television interview, taking a definitive stand on one of the most contentious and politically charged social issues of the day.

"At a certain point, I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," Mr. Obama told ABC News in an interview that came after the president faced mounting pressure to clarify his position.

In an election that is all but certain to turn on the slowly recovering economy and its persistently high jobless rate, Mr. Obama's stand nonetheless injects a volatile social issue into the campaign debate and puts him at even sharper odds with his presumptive Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who opposes same-sex marriage and favors an amendment to the United States Constitution to forbid it...

...Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, called the president's statement "a watershed moment in American history" that would aid efforts to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York said, "No American president has ever supported a major expansion of civil rights that has not ultimately been adopted by the American people, and I have no doubt that this will be no exception." [New York Times]

by Andrew Frisicano

Jeffrey Lewis @ Kidrockers - 2/8/09 (Maryanne Ventrice)

New York's Jeffrey Lewis has been busy in the last year. (To see exactly how busy, check out Jeff's "A Year in Love and Music" entry on the NYT's Measure for Measure blog, to which he's been contributing.)

Jeff's four-date tour with Dufus finishes this Saturday, March 14th in Brooklyn at Pete's Candy Store with a CD release show for Dufus's new record, In Monstrous Attitude (samples at link). In May/April, Dufus will head out on a European tour (dates below). The Dufus album features comic art by Jeffrey Lewis, who is releasing his own new album (as full-band Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard) 'Em Are I on April 20th (UK/Europe) and May 19th (US), both on Rough Trade Records.

Jeffrey recently put his drawing talents to use (as he does in his comics and elsewhere) in a new video for the song "To Be Objectified" (which appears on the upcoming album). The video was created with Jack Ferry and $99 Music Videos - a site that challenges musicians to make a video for that sum with a set of bare-bones criteria. Watch it, and the making of it, below.

Jeff will tour Europe March-May with a solo/full-band tour that eventually reaches New York's Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, May 20th (tix on sale now) - a venue featured prominently in Lewis's "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror," video below.

Next Thursday (3/19), Jeff will give a lecture on Watchmen (the topic of his college thesis) at midtown comic spot Jim Hanley's Universe. "It should be stressed that it's for people who have read the book, not for people interested in it looking for some kind of introduction... he'll be revealing too many spoilers!." Jeff gave a similar lecture in Portland, OR, and London earlier this year.

All tour dates, Jeff's "A Quick Biography of Barack Obama," and the above-mentioned videos, below...

Continue reading "JEFFREY LEWIS tour dates, DUFUS, comics, WATCHMEN (lecture), a new video & Rough Trade album"

Tad Kubler, by Chris La Putt (more)

In case you missed it in the Hold Steady post, Tad of the Hold Steady was wearing a "Barack Obama" Bad Brains shirt last night. The shirt is available at BarackBrains.com, though I doubt they'll be flying off the shelves now that Barack already won. Maybe?

words & photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Last night, election night, I made my way to The Bell House in Park Slope/Gowaus for what was sure to be a nervously excited crowd counting down the minutes until the new president was announced. I've only been to The Bell House once, but I can't imagine that the new venue has ever been more packed than it was last night. People came out in masse for the election coverage - so much so that they even turned people away at the door. I think I heard 500 people. Watching an election in a large group of like-minded individuals like that was truly overwhelming - especially when they announced Virginia and a bunch of people jumped on stage and gave everyone a beer shower.

After Obama gave his acceptance speech, things didn't calm down. Host Eugene Mirman said a few words congratulating our first "half-white president," and introduced The Blue Album Group, who rocked out, pretty much note for note, Weezer's Blue Album. Though a lot of people went home, those that were left drunkenly danced and celebrated. After the last note of "Only in Dreams" rang out, I grabbed a quesadilla from the Red Hook soccer field vendors - another big draw of the evening. It was delicious.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "election night in Brooklyn w/ Eugene Mirman & The Blue Album Group @ the Bell House - pics"

Barack Rock! continues to update its pro-Obama website with free music by bands like The Teenage Prayers, Bell, Sam Champion, Ra Ra Riot, Frank Bango, Clipd Beaks, Mobius Band, Tapes n Tapes, Sera Cahoone, Port O'Brien, Salt & Samovar, Bear Hands, Au Revoir Simone, Foreign Islands and many more.

Photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Last night (October 7) 6 musicians and 6 comedians came together to raise money for Democrtaic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The not-so-packed, but sold out event went on over the course of 5 and a half hours, ending with a set by Andrew Bird who thought this was the greatest afterparty he could imagine. The $40 event was highlighted by an appearance by not-so-secret-guests Franz Ferdindand (who play the same venue again tonight)

"Thanks for letting a bunch of Limeys like us play your rally," said Scot and Greenpoint resident Alex Kapranos. "We only hope you'll invite us back for your victory party." It was a fun night in support of who many of us hope will be the next President of the United States. [Sound Bites]

Fiery Furnaces may have played all new songs, I didn't recognize an of them at least. Once again, they've reinvented themselves since last seeing them at MHOW last December. They're now organ-heavy, early '70s funk. I still marvel at Elanor's ability to memorize Fiery Furnaces insanely-verbose lyrics. [Sound Bites]

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Barack Rock (Franz Ferdinand, Les Savy Fav, Fiery Furnaces, Andrew Bird, etc) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC - pics"

Join us for CHANGE ROCKS
at The Hammerstein Ballroom featuring Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen & Friends

Purchase your ticket using the form below [this link].
Tickets must be purchased by October 14th.

Thursday, October 16 @ 8:30 PM

For more information, please contact
ny-finance@barackobama.com or call 212-763-4850

Bruce Springsteen is also playing the Superbowl Halfime show in 2009 and is rumored to be playing the final show at Yankees Stadium which is rumored to be November 9th. Billy Joel played the final show at Shea Stadium which hosted its final baseball game this past weekend - just a short while after the Yankees played their last game in their old home.

Video of a "Drunk, Sleeping Fan Victimized by Beer Cups at Shea Stadium", below...

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel playing a NYC show for Barack Obama +++ a belated RIP for Shea Stadium"

Andrew Bird / Eugene Mirman / The Fiery Furnaces / Kumail Nanjiani / Alina Simone / Heather Lawless / Guster / Lizz Winstead / Martin Bisi / John Roberts / Adira Amram / Special Secret Musical Guests -- (Not appearing in order)
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN!

Tue 10/7, on sale 9/27 12:00 pm, 18+
Doors 6:30 pm / Show 7:30 pm
$40 advance / $40 day of show
@ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

photos by Chris La Putt

Stella Hosted, Nina Persson, Alberta Cross, OK Go & Joan as Policewoman played

Paul Rudd also showed up at the event. More photos & videos below...

Continue reading "Shudder To Think reunited @ Get Up & Vote @ Bowery"

Continue reading "Grateful Dead members to reunite for Barack Obama"

(CRED)

I am watching Hillary Clinton in her victory speech in new Hampshire....they just threw a bunch of college kids behind her, and had her talk about student loans, and had her daughter come out for a long awkward hug...done anyone actually buy it? Surely young people are too media savvy to be fooled by this kind of shit.
do we live in a democracy so we can just keep electing the same families?
Barack is the first candidate in my lifetime to strip some of this bullshit away, and I just hope we don't blow this chance.
man if we miss this opportunity we don't deserve it....how bad does it have to get?

fuck!!!!!!!! [Win Butler of Arcade Fire]

What else?

Craig Wedren @ Pianos, NYC (BV CMJ), NYC - Oct 20, 2007 (Bao)

Craig Wedren helped put together this "Get Up And Vote" show at Bowery Ballroom on February 4th. All his friends from Stella will be there, his former bandmate Nathan Larson, Nathan's wife Nina Persson, Joan as Policewoman, AND: OK GO (of YouTube fame) are headlining. More details below.....

Continue reading "Barack Obama "Get up and Vote" show @ Bowery Ballroom"