Kendrick Lamar at SXSW (more by Tim Griffin)

Tickets for the individual shows of Downtown Music Festival (5/10-11), which were just announced are on sale now, in addition to passes.

A whole bunch of other tickets just went on sale too.

Day-by-day schedule for Downtown Music Festival below...

Continue reading "individual Downtown Music Fest shows on sale now"

TEEN @ Glasslands. Sept. 2013 (more by Courtney Dudley)

The Downtown Music Festival happens in two weeks (May 10 - 11) at NYC venues on or below Houston St. A few artists have been added to the fest's line-up: Nguzunguzu, Antwon, TEEN, Branchez, Mess Kid, Jade <3 & Blind Benny, Anais Mitchell, Crush Distance and Nire & Nani. Tickets (single day and two-day passes, and VIP passes) are still available.

The festival has also announced the daily line-ups, so we now know things like that Black Hippy and Fat Tony will be playing at Capitale on Friday night (5/10); Earl Sweatshirt, Ryan Hemsworth and Antwon will be at Element on Friday; and Ratking, Black Dave, Vashtie, Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire and Jade <3 & Blind Benny will be at Tammany Hall on Saturday night (5/11), to name a few. Check out the full schedule below.

Continue reading "Downtown Music Festival adds more artists (Antwon, TEEN + more), announces daily schedule"

Autre Ne Veut at BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Downtown Records are taking their Downtown Music Festivals to different North American cities this year, including NYC from May 10 to 11 across various LES venues, including Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, Angel Orensanz Center, Pianos, Cake Shop, Tammany Hall, Element, Capitale, Rockwood Music Hall and more.

In addition to the previously announced lineup of Black HIppy (aka Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock), Purity Ring, Earl Sweatshirt, DIIV, Sky Ferreira, Trash Talk, Palma Violets, Teengirl Fantasy, and others; more acts have just been added. Those new acts include Andrewy Wyatt (of Miike Snow), Autre Ne Veut, Guards, Ryan Hemsworth, Port St. Willow, Kilo Kish, Ratking, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Vashtie, Fat Tony, d'Eon and Kingdom (playing with Kelela, who sang a song on the Teengirl Fantasy album last year and sings a song on the new Kingdom EP this year, which you can listen to below).

2-Day passes for the festival have sold out, but single day tickets for May 10 and May 11 are still available. The day-by-day lineups have also been announced, and you can check those out below.

Continue reading "updated Downtown Music Festival lineup & tix info (Autre Ne Veut, Ryan Hemsworth, eXquire, Kilo Kish & more added)"

Palma Violets at BV SXSW 2013 day party (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Downtown Records are taking their Downtown Music Festivals to different North American cities this year with a lineup that includes Black Hippy (aka Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul, and Jay Rock all playing together), Purity Ring, Earl Sweatshirt, Sky Ferreira, DIIV, Palma Violets, Trash Talk, Beach Fossils, Teengirl Fantasy, Inc., Ducktails, Royal Teeth, and Black Dave, plus more TBA.

The first festival takes place in NYC from May 10 to 11 across multiple venues, including Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Rockwood Music Hall, Angel Orensanz, Pianos, Cake Shop, Tammany Hall, and Element. The full lineup and schedule for the NYC shows has not been announced yet, but we do know that it includes the previously announced Palma Violets show at Bowery Ballroom (which is now sold out, but tickets are still available for PV's MHOW show a day earlier). We also hear that they're trying to put up an outdoor stage and shut down Ludlow St to car traffic (which Pianos and Cake Shop are both on) for the festival, but no exact word on how that will work out.

2-Day Passes for the NYC festival are on sale now and tickets for individual nights go on sale Friday, April 12 at 11 AM.

After NYC, the festival will also pass through Philly, Toronto, Boston, LA, Denver, and Las Vegas, but the dates for those cities has not been announced yet.

photos by Sarah Frankie Linder

Beach Fossils/The Spits/Parenthetical Girls

The second of our four SXSW day parties at connected Austin venues The Main and The Jr. happened Thursday (3/15). In addition to Cloud Nothings' joyously raucous set, The Main was fairly wild all day. We got reunited Detroit protopunk legends Death, fellow Micheganites The Spits, Pacific Northwest fuzz-freaks Milk Music, highly-excitable Canadians METZ, plus Rough Francis and Single Mothers.

Meanwhile on The Jr. stage, things were a little more indie, with a double shot headlinging sets from two Captured Tracks bands, Widowspeak and Beach Fossils. Not to mention: Dutch artist Jacco Gardner made amazingly precise recreations of late-'60s baroque pysche pop; Scotland's PAWS did raw-throated, seriously catchy yell-alongs; Parenthetical Girls kept Austin strange during their mesmerizing set; Toronto's Moon King gave a dose of shoegaze; plus Japanese singer-songwriter Shugo Tokumaru and the folky sounds of J. Thoven. What a day!

For those reading this in NYC, don't forget Parenthetical Girls play Glasslands on March 25 (tickets) and Bowery Electric on March 26 (tickets); and Jacco Gardner plays Mercury Lounge on March 23 with his Trouble in Mind labelmates Mmoss (tickets)

In addition to the music, 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, free vegan queso and chips from Food For Lovers, and free vegan breakfast tacos from Pink Avocado. 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, Mirrored Media, ASCAP, and Redigi.

Our free Friday day party at The Main and The Jr. just got underway. The Main stage will be crowded for 20-something headliners The Polyphonic Spree, and that side will also have sets from Akron/Family, The Thermals, Shout Out Louds, Diamond Rings, TOY, and Half Moon Run.

The Jr. stage today is curated by out loud brethren at Invisible Oranges, with Today is the Day, Pallbearer, Royal Thunder, Inter Arma Batillus, and Babtists.

Then tonight is the official BrooklynVegan showcase at Maggie Mae's Rooftop with 3421, Brooke Candy, Giraffage, Man Without Country, Mykki Blanco, Pictureplane, The Underachievers, XXYYXX, and Zebra Katz. If you're in Austin, come on down!

More pics from Thursday's day party are below.

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SXSW Thursday day party in pics (METZ, Beach Fossils, Widowspeak, Parenthetical Girls, Spits + more)"

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 announced the Saturday lineup, and then the Friday lineup, and now HERE IS THURSDAY...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan free SXSW 2013 Thursday day party lineup (Cloud Nothings, Death, Parenthetical Girls, Widowspeak, METZ, Beach Fossils, Milk Music, Spits, Single Mothers & more)"

by Bill Pearis

Brooklyn trio LODRO describe their sound as "neo-noir punk" and there's a definite grimey, bluesy sleaze running across the three songs they've posted on their Soundcloud. All three members -- Lesley Hann (formerly of Friends), Jeremy Cox, Jigmae Baer -- are also in Royal Baths. You can stream those tracks below.

LODRO's show count is still in the single digits, only having played their first show last month but they are gigging around a lot and there are two shows lined up soon. They're on the bill for Beach Fossils' sold-out show this Sunday (3/3) at 285 Kent with Chris Cohen and Divorce Money; they've recently been added to His Clancyness' show at Glasslands on March 10 (tickets) that also features Tweens and Basement Batman; and Shea Stadium on March 23 with Black Marble, Beliefs, and Night Visions.

Continue reading "Royals Baths mems. form LODRO (song streams & live dates)"

photos by Jonathan Bernstein

Beach Fossils @ Bowery Ballroom, 2/23/2013

"Clash the Truth" came out only four days prior to the show, yet the lyrics were ingrained in the crowd's minds. In acknowledgment of the leak, Payseur jokingly remarked that he too heard the album before it came out.

The show continued in the same vein, equal parts mosh pit and pleasant crowd work. When the encore came, the band played its most low-key song to date, "Sleep Apnea," during which drummer Tommy Lucas surprised the audience by stepping away from the drums and pulling out an alto saxophone for a solo. It was an incredible ten minutes that pulled the audience into a dreamlike trance that sobered them after 45 minutes of pulsating indie rock.

The band quickly fell back into its energetic swing, finishing the concert with "Daydream." Payseur instructed the crowd to freak out, and the audience zealously obliged, ending a thoroughly entertaining night. - [NYU News]

If you missed the Bowery show, Beach Fossils next NYC show is at 285 Kent on Sunday (3/3) with Chris Cohen, Divorce Money and LODRO. It's being billed as the Brooklyn record release show and tickets are still available. More photos from Bowery are below.

Continue reading "Beach Fossils played Bowery Ballroom with Mr. Dream and The Sleepies (pics); Brooklyn record release show is this weekend"

As mentioned, Beach Fossils' second album is out next week on Captured Tracks but you can stream the whole thing right now, below (via Hype Machine).

You also may know that Beach Fossils play Bowery Ballroom on February 23 to which Mr Dream and Sleepies have been added to that bill and is now sold out. If you missed out on tickets, fear not. The band just announced a show at 285 Kent on March 3 . No openers announced yet but tickets to that show are on sale now.

Album stream below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils streaming new LP, sold out Bowery Ballroom, add NYC show at 285 Kent (updated dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Imperial Topaz at The Stone - 2/3/13 (photo by Jen MacDonald)

Brooklyn ambient pop duo Imperial Topaz made their live debut in NYC at The Stone over the weekend (2/3). If you went, how was that? If you missed it, or want to see them again, you can catch them in Brooklyn at 285 Kent on March 8 with Small Black, ex-Beach Fossils project Heavenly Beat, and Beach Fossils DJs. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Imperial Topaz has had a steady release of singles and an EP, and since we last spoke, they dropped another track, "Nightface," another shimmering art pop cut that works just well as their previous ones. You can stream that song below or download it (name your price) at bandcamp.

Speaking of Beach Fossils, as mentioned, they play their record release show for Clash the Truth in NYC on February 23 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets).

Song stream below...

Continue reading "Imperial Topaz made their live debut, playing with Small Black and Heavenly Beat (stream a new track)"

Beach Fossils' new line-up

You may remember that Bowery Ballroom announced a Beach Fossils show on February 23 and then soon after pulled it from their website. After the band's New Year's Eve show with Blonde Redhead passed, the show reappeared on Bowery's schedule. No openers have been announced yet, but tickets are on sale. It's the first of a short run of dates for the band, which features an all-new line-up (Zachary Cole Smith of DIIV and John Pena of Heavenly Beat are no longer in the group), and all of which are listed below.

That show will serve as a record release party for Beach Fossils' second album, Clash the Truth, which will be out February 19. You can pre-order the album now, which is available in limited edition red vinyl with a hand-silkscreened sleeve. You can stream "Generation Synthetic," the second track to be released from the album, below.

Continue reading "Beach Fossils going on tour (dates)"

Love it or loathe it, New Year's Eve is coming. Here are some of this year's NYC concert options, of which there are many.

One of the biggest shows of the night is Coldplay and Jay-Z at Barclays Center. If you've seen pictures of Coldplay's tour this year, you know they have this bluetooth controlled, light-up wristbands that (no matter how you feel about their music) makes for a spectacular interactive experience. And certainly Jay-Z will throw a good party at his own house.

Jay-Z's pal Kanye West is doing a three-night run in Atlantic City right before NYE (12/28-30) at Revel. Tickets for those shows are still available.

Another hip hop option includes Nas at Radio City Music Hall that also features Elle Varner. Tickets are still available.

Azealia Banks is playing a black tie party on top of The Standard Hotel (aka Boom Boom Room). More info is at the facebook event. You can RSVP for tickets ($250 minimum) by emailing unifiedpromo@unifiedpromo.com.

Also in the biggest NYE show race there is also Phish's sold-out night at MSG, part of a four night run at the venue.

If jam bands are your thing, you might also want to catch The Disco Biscuits, who kick off their four-night run at Best Buy Theater tonight (12/26) and then play NYE at The Theatre at MSG (tickets).

Another jammy option is Gov't Mule's two-night run at Beacon Theatre (12/30-31). Tickets for both nights are on sale.

If you're more into dancing, RJD2 will be DJing at Gramercy Theater with Com Truise and Chrome Sparks; and Moby and many others will be DJing at an as-yet undisclosed location (tickets).

Pretty Lights is also doing two sold nights at Roseland Ballroom (12/30-31). Another dance option that you might want to avoid is Afrojack is playing two nights on Pier 94 (12/30-31), but it's worth mentioning that if you get there early on night 1, you can catch opening sets by Diplo and Rusko. Night 2 (aka NYE) is sold out but night 1 is still on sale.

Brooklyn dance party The Bunker is throwing an event at the 70 N 6 St loft (above Public Assembly) with John Roberts, Mike Parker, Bryan Kasenic, and Mike Servito. Tickets for that party are on sale now.

Downstairs at the actual Public Assembly, Gaze 4 Daze is throwing two queer parties. Room 1 has DJ sets by Rizzla, Sebastian, and D'Hana, along with Emcee Ryann Supamakenzi and host Cherlyn. In room 2, they've got MIchael Magnan, Amber Valentine, Telfar, Mursi Layne, host Helen Harris, and live performances by House of Ladosha, Cakes Da Killa, and Abdu Ali. $10 at the door gets you into both parties.

Brooklyn warehouse party group Rubulad is presenting "Party-Go-Round" in three separate secret Bushwick locations near the Jefferson L stop. There will be live music by Friend Roulette, Not Waving but Drowning, Viva, and more; dance parties with music by DJ Shakey, Ol' Stark, DJ Mojo, $mall ¢hange and more; a puppet show, a midnight champagne toast, and more. Admission is $20, the events start at 9 PM, and there will be a party bus to navigate between the three locations.

Matthew Dear and Superpitcher are at Le Bain (tix); Ian Pooley, Pat Mahoney and more at Cameo; Onra, Nick Catchdubs, and Samo Sound Boy are at Williamsburg's Villian (tickets).

Holy Ghost! and Midnight Magic are at Brooklyn Bowl (sold out) and after that, Holy Ghost!'s DFA labelmate Juan Maclean will DJ an afterparty at the same venue (tickets).

Chris Keating of Yeasayer is DJing a BangOn!NYC-presented party at a secret warehouse location in Williamsburg near the Montrose L stop with Felix Cartal, Chordashian, Alex English, Sean Glass, and many others. There will also be live music by Carousel, Suntalk, and more TBA, art installations, an inflatable obstacle course, food trucks, and more. Tickets (more info at that link) are on sale and RSVP is open. Location will be revealed with the purchase of tickets or an RSVP.

If you'd rather dance to classic soul and R&B, there's New York Night Train Annual Dusk Till Dawn New Year's Ball at Home Sweet Home featuring a live performance from Kid Congo and the K-Holes, plus Jonathan Toubin and a crew of DJs.

For the indie rock inclined, you could go see Titus Andronicus at Glasslands which is a pretty small venue for them these days. While So So Glos were originally on the bill for this, they have since dropped off. Dapwell, formerly of Das Racist, is your MC for the evening and tickets are still available.

Right next door at 285 Kent, Florida's (awesomely) mopey Merchandise will visit,  plus Blanche Blanche Blanche, Tonstartssbandht and "speciial guests" (note the two ii's is "speciial") will surely be a wild night. Dive in, tickets ($20) are on sale now.

After that, DJ Rashad, DJ Manny, Sasha Go Hard, and others will play an afterparty at 285 Kent (tickets).

Psychic Ills and Herb Craft are playing Saint Vitus. Tickets for that show are on sale.

Also happening in Williamsburg, They Might be Giants play a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (one of three shows there that week; Reverend Vince Anderson and His Love Choir will be at Union Pool (free); and at Knitting Factory it's a night of cabaret hosted by the great Murray Hill (tix).

More indie rock: Blonde Redhead and Beach Fossils are at Irving Plaza. Tickets are still available and you can also win a pair from us.

Swimming Cities and Gowanus Ballroom (55 9th St) are presenting The First Party Ever: Primal Reset for the Year Zero with dance parties by Barney Iller, DJ Shakey, and DJ Tinseltown; live music at midnight by Stumblebum Brass Band; an open bar from 11:30-12:30; visuals; "Serret's patented coal fire hot tub time machine"; "Live birth of the antichrist, according to Doctor Adventure"; and more. $15 tickets are on sale now (or $20 at the door, cash only) and all proceeds go to recovery at Serret Metal Works and the "BOATEL" art hotel project in Far Rockaway that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy.

Meanwhile across the Hudson, The Hold Steady will ring in 2013 with Lucero at The Wellmont Theatre in NJ. Tickets are still available.

Before that, Lucero will do a two-night run at Brooklyn Bowl (12/28-29) with Nude Beach supporting on night 1 and Hollis Brown on night 2. Tickets for night 1, night 2, or both are still available.

Amanda Palmer will be at Terminal 5, playing Prince's Purple Rain in its entirety which will surely be a spectacle. She'll play a set of originals too. Tickets are still available.

If you'd like to party like it's 1929, Spirit Family Reunion are bringing the old time religion to Pianos. Tickets are still available, includes a champagne toast.

More rootsy options include The Punch Brothers and Michael Daves at Bowery Ballroom (sold out); and The Felice Brothers, Yellowbirds, and Mail the Horse at Mercury Lounge (sold out).

The Felice Brothers also play Maxwell's (12/30) a day earlier (sold out), and on New Year's Eve, the Hoboken venue will host "Maxwell's Rockin' & Rollin' Ass Kickin' New Year's Eve Dance Party feat. The Two Giants: Todd-O-Phonic Todd & Mono-O-Phonic Matt Porter." They get their name from being big San Francisco Giants fans, and they'll be spinning "some of the greatest soul, r'n'b, garage, rock'n'rol etc" all night. Admission is totally free, no cover.

My Morning Jacket is doing a sold out pre-New Year's Eve three-night run (12/27-29) at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester.

After that, Capitol Theatre will host Steve Miller Band on 12/30 (tickets) and funky METERS with Dumpstaphunk on NYE (tickets).

For some old school punk, Manitoba (the project of Dictators frontman Dick Manitoba) and Sylvain Sylvain (of New York Dolls) will play Bowery Electric with The A-Bones and Daddy Long Legs. Tickets for that show are on sale.

To keep the party going the next day, head to SOB's for Questlove's holiday party.

Whatever you end up doing, be safe!.

What did we miss?

Heading to Austin? We have a list of shows happening there too. Update: And Chicago too.

Continue reading "A guide to New Year's Eve shows and parties in NYC"

Blonde Redhead at FFF Fest 2011 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Blonde Redhead have been quiet for most of 2012 (perhaps spent writing songs for their next album) but will play NYC on New Year's Eve at Irving Plaza with openers Beach Fossils (whose new album features vocals from BR's Kazu Makino). Tickets are still available but if you'd like to go for free, we're giving away a pair of tickets. Details on how to enter are below.

For a glimpse at what Blonde Redhead did do this year, the band gave us a Top 10 of 2012 list that includes, travel, food, parties, memories, live shows... and albums too (Dirty Projectors made their favorite). Check out their list below.

Continue reading "Blonde Redhead tell us their Top 10 of 2012; win tickets to their New Year's Eve show at Irving Plaza"

Tickets for the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Sharon Van Etten shows at Beacon Theatre are on presale (password: "CAVE"). General on-sale starts Thursday (12/6) at 10 AM.

Beach Fossils play a record release show for their new album, Clash the Truth at Bowery Ballroom on February 23. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale now with a general on-sale starting Friday (12/7) at noon. (UPDATE: That show has been removed from Bowery Ballroom's website. Stay tuned.)

Tickets are also still available for Beach Fossils' New Year's Eve show with Blonde Redhead.

Tickets for the Chelsea Wolfe and King Dude acoustic show at Music Hall of Williamsburg are on sale now.

Balkan Beat Box are playing Webster Hall on March 17 with Delhi 2 Dublin. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Yo Gabba Gabba Live!, who did a seven-show run at the Theater at MSG over the weekend, are doing two shows at Wellmont Theatre on February 10. Tickets for both shows are on sale now.

Tickets for the Indians show at Mercury Lounge are on AmEx presale now.

Tickets for the The Amazing show at Mercury Lounge are on AmEx presale now.

Tickets for the Thao & the Get Down Stay Down show at Bowery Ballroom are on AmEx presale now.

Tickets for the Darwin Deez show at Bowery Ballroom, which Caged Animals are opening, are on AmEx presale now.

Tickets for the Buke and Gase show at Bowery Ballroom are on AmEx presale now.

Tickets for the Takka Takka and Pattern is Movement show at Mercury Lounge are on AmEx presale now.

Tickets for the Shout Out Louds show at Music Hall of Williamsburg are on AmEx presale now.

The Suzan are playing Glasslands on January 28. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, REM, Big Star, etc) is playing Mercury Lounge on February 16. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale now with a general on-sale starting Friday (12/7) at noon.

Lushlife is opening for Steven A. Clark at Mercury Lounge on January 10. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale now with a general on-sale starting Friday (12/7) at noon.

by Bill Pearis

Beach Fossils have been quiet of late, letting members' side projects DIIV and Heavenly Beat grab some of the spotlight, but they will be back in 2013 with their second album, Clash the Truth, which is out February 19 via Captured Tracks. You can stream or download the album's first single, "Careless," below. If this track is any indication, the LP marks a somewhat new direction for the band. Gone is the intertwining guitars in favor of breathless strumming and super-distorted leads. Still poppy, but different.

Helping out on the album is Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino who contributes vocals to the track "In Vertigo." That makes Beach Fossils opening slot at Blonde Redhead's New Year's Eve show at Irving Plaza a little less random. Tickets to that show are still available.

Beach Fossils will also play a record release show at Bowery Ballroom on February 23 and tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today (12/5) with the regular on-sale happening Friday (12/7). (UPDATE: This show has been removed from Bowery Ballroom's website. Stay tuned.)

Meanwhile, Beach Fossils frontman Dustin Payseur contributed to our growing series of artist Top 10s for 2012. Instead of an albums list, Payseur gave us "top ten memories of 2012" which you can read below, where you'll also find the new Beach Fossils track stream, album art and tracklist.

Continue reading "Beach Fossils announce new LP (stream a track), share their "top ten memories of 2012""

Beach Fossils at Mercury Lounge in 2011 (more by Diana Wong)

Beach Fossils have been added as the opener to the previously discussed New Year's Eve show with Blonde Redhead at Irving Plaza. Presale tickets (Live Nation Mobile App, Live Nation, and Music Geeks) start today (11/8) at 10 AM and general on-sale begins Friday (11/9) at 10 AM. VIP tickets include "front of the line access, VIP area in the balcony, poster, and champagne toast."

You can also find Chris Puidokas of Blonde Rdhead at the third annual Rock Lottery at Knitting Factory on December 1 along with members of My Morning Jacket, Against Me!, Yuck, Hospitality, and more.

A list of all Beach Fossils dates and a video below.

Continue reading "Beach Fossils opening Blonde Redhead's New Year's Eve show at Irving Plaza (tickets on sale now)"

by Bill Pearis

photo by Terri Nguyen

Beach Fossils as a band have been mostly quiet this year so far, apart from a few live shows, but it's individual members have been very busy. Zachary Cole Smith has his increasingly popular DIIV (who may be playing right now somewhere in Brooklyn) and bassist and instrument-tosser John Peña, has his new, at this point solo project Heavenly Beat whose debut album, Talent, is out July 24 on Captured Tracks.

Where there's a clear sonic line between Beach Fossils and DIIV, Heavenly Beat goes a completely different path, making the the kind of breezy, jazzy indiepop -- complete with breathy vocals, sampled steel drums and pizzicato strings -- that one associates with Sweden's Labrador Records or, further back, Cherry Red and él in the '80s. It's the perfect soundtrack to your next white-linen-dressed picnic. ("Messiah" is especially good.) Check it out for yourself -- the whole record is streaming below.

John is stil trying to get the Heavenly Beat live experience worked out (maybe you wanna be in the band?) so no shows lined up at present, but hopefully before the year's out.

Continue reading "stream Heavenly Beat's debut album, 'Talent'"

After teasing folks with a few names here and there -- like Run DMC most recently -- Austin's annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) has revealed it's full line-up, including Public Image Ltd, De La Soul, Superchunk, Santigold, Refused, X peforming Los Angeles, and lots, lots more. 3-day passes go on sale at 10AM CST.

Full FFF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest full lineup (De La Soul, Refused, Fucked Up, Public Image Ltd, Santigold, Sharon Van Etten, Rakim, X, Converge, Japandroids & more)"

As you may have heard, Jens Lekman is playing the Northside Festival next week, a big outdoor show that was recently moved to McCarren Park on June 15 with Of Montreal, The Thermals and Beach Fossils. It's his only North American date at this time.

Wouldn't you know it, Jens has a new album coming out, I Know What Love Isn't, his first in five years which will be out September 4 on Secretly Canadian. Here's Jon Coombs' forward to the album that Jens just posted on his website:

Tracey Thorn wrote a song that reached Jens in the early stages of his new album, I Know What Love Isn't. In her song she sang "Oh Jens, oh Jens / your songs seem to look through a different lens / you're still so young, love ends just as easy as it's begun." A touching moment for the Swedish songwriter, having been a fan since his teens. But it came to him in a time when he found himself very confused and in doubt. He was changing and, subsequently, so were his songs. They weren't looking through that lens anymore.

I Know What Love Isn't came out of a break up, something Jens didn't see as worth writing about at first. The songs began more fleeting than the last go around, on his 2007 album Night Falls Over Kortedala. The songs began building from images and memories and soon began to take their own route, one that Lekman wasn't privy to their destination. In "The World Moves On" he paints a picture of a sweltering summer in the city of Melbourne where he lived while writing and recording the album. The hot days that led up to the Black Saturday bushfires, but also more mundane images of feeding possums in a park or getting in trouble with some guy on a scooter. It seems to lead nowhere at first but the aimlessness in itself reaches heartbreaking conclusions later on, summed up by the soaring chorus "and you don't get over a broken heart, you just learn to carry it gracefully". Like Joan Didion once said that she writes entirely to find out what she's thinking, Jens wrote until he caught up with his thoughts. And of course they led him right back to the break up.

Musically, I Know What Love Isn't chooses an economic route. From the vast palette he created for Kortedala, he's only chosen a few sombre colors this time around. There are strings but not a string section, an upright piano and not a grand, a single saxophone and gracenotes from a flute. The songs are lighter, almost aerodynamic, Jens explains - "I wanted the songs to take off almost unnoticeably, where the chorus is separated from the verse only through a small detail like a tambourine or a harmony. Like when you're in an airplane taking off and you look out the window and realize you're already in the air." A dry country piano makes "Become Someone Else's" lift high. Vocals from Melbourne singer Sophie Brous makes the chorus in "Erica America" soar. Strings pick up the title track and send it up to the sky without much effort or force.

In the latter, Lekman once again points the way to distill essential truths from every day life vignettes while singing about a sham marriage. "I thought of the Friday nights when I'd be cruising up and down the street with my best friend in her old crappy Holden, talking about getting married to get me into the country. The idea was so appealing, that we would build this constructed relationship around a purpose rather than some vague feeling that could change at anytime. But in the end, the sham marriage is much too great a story to be kept secret. At least when you make a living from telling stories."

And that's what I Know What Love Isn't... is. A collection of songs that grew to a story that had to be told. A story that is not new, but essentially human. The story of the grey areas of love that you have to excavate and explore, using the method of exclusion, to find out what love is.

Continue reading "Jens Lekman releasing new LP in September (stream a track); playing Northside Fest Next week"

DIIV at Austin's Red 7 in April (more by Tim Griffin)

DIIV are about to hook up with Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Doldrums on their tour which kicks off this week. DIIV won't be at either of UMO's NYC shows (6/7 at Mercury Lounge and 6/8 at Glasslands) but they'll be playing their own NYC show on Friday (6/8) at 285 Kent with Captured Tracks labelmates Mac DeMarco and MINKS, along with Life Size Maps, Crinkles, and Turnip King. Admission is $10 and there will be free pizza. (Nobody yell "food fight!" ok?) The flier for this show is below.

DIIV's debut full length, Oshin is due out June 26 via Captured Tracks. The band just spoke to John Norris for an interview with Interview Magazine about the album:

JOHN NORRIS: Guys, this is a band that only a year ago had just barely begun, right? And at the time you just had a handful of songs?

SMITH: [Our first show was in the] end of July. It's funny, when I was first writing songs for this record, all the song titles would be just like the date, and then a short word describing it. And I could probably look back and see that I recorded some song on the record like today, exactly one year ago. Basically I wrote all the songs, with a few exceptions, in May of last year.

NORRIS: In a very concentrated amount of time?

SMITH: Yeah, yeah, real concentrated. A couple of the songs that don't sound anything like each other, I wrote on the same day, within like 10 minutes of each other.

After the UMO tour, DIIV have a number of other dates scheduled, including a few more in NYC: their record release show in Brooklyn at Glasslands on June 21 with Forma, PC Worship, and VIncent Cacchione (DJ) (tickets), a short run with Best Coast, including the Terminal 5 show (7/17) (tickets), and the free River Rocks show with Grimes and Wild Nothing (8/9).

Meanwhile, Beach Fossils (who also count DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith as a member) have an upcoming NYC show opening for Jens Lekman and of Montreal in McCarren Park on June 15, the same day DIIV plays a NXNE show. Wonder what this means for Beach Fossil's lineup at the McCarren Park show.

A list of all dates and video and show flier below...

Continue reading "DIIV playing 285 Kent before UMO tour (dates & new video)"

Of Montreal at Webster Hall in March 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

The Jens Lekman/Of Montreal/Thermals/Beach Fossils show on June 15, part of the Northside Festival, has been moved from Williamsburg Park to McCarren Park where the Northside shows were last year. Here's the reason from the Northside folks:

Since we'll be starting SummerScreen in early July, we thought it would be best to keep all our shows in your favorite neighborhood park, so we're coming home to the corner of Berry and N. 12th St, smack dab in the middle of Williamsburg, and a short jaunt from the Bedford L Train.

If you've already bought your ticket, no worries! Just bring it to McCarren Park on the date of the show, and we'll usher you in with open arms.

Continue reading "The Jens Lekman/Of Montreal Northside Fest show is moving to McCarren Park"

Frankie Rose @ Township (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

In addition to the Jens Lekman/Of Montreal show at Williamsburg Park, the Northside Festival (June 14 - 17) just announced a slew of confirmed artists who'll be playing this year, including Future of the Left, the U.S. debut of Iceage-spinoff Vår (formerly War), Frankie Rose (playing the BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg with more TBA), Grass Widow, Cleveland's Gap Dream, Wymond Miles of the Fresh & Onlys,  Chain & the Gang, Kool Keith and more.

Other 2012 Northside Festival artists we've already posted about include Olivia Tremor Control, GZA, Neil Hamburger, Eternal Summers, Ceremony and Screaming Females and Royal Headache. Badges are on sale now and the full list of confirmed 2012 Northside artists is below.

Continue reading "more Northside Festival artists announced (Frankie Rose, Grass Widow, Felice Brothers, Buke & Gass, Vår, Gap Dream & more)"

Five shows is now six. Jens Lekman, of Montreal, The Thermals and Beach Fossils performing an all-ages show at the new Williamsburg Park on Friday, June 15. It's what surely will be the headlining event at the 2012 Northside Festival. Entry is free on a first-come, first-served basis for Northside badge-holders, though there is no guarantee of admission if badge capacity is filled. If you don't want to take your chances with getting in with a badge, tickets ($33.50) go on sale Friday, May 11 at noon.

It's been five years since Jens Lekman's last album, Night Falls Over Kortedala. When are we getting something new? Jens' latest online missive:

The topic for the month of May is : Coffee

When people ask me about my production rate the last five years I sometimes say "Well you can't pour manure in an espresso machine and expect a cappucino to come out". By which I mean that some things you just go through, you don't write about them or make art out of them.

But then my friend informed me that the worlds finest and most expensive coffee is made out of the shit from a small civet. So that backfired on me.

But I've grinded these beans for you now and I finished the last mixes last night. I just have some mastering to do and some design to finish. Two-three different bands to rehearse with for the tours. Three videos to make. A million interviews to sit through. A few months to let the distributors and labels set up their plans. A summer of being worried about what you're going to think of the album. And then it will be out.

How do you take it? Milk? Sugar?

The 2012 Northside Festival happens June 14 - 17 at most of the venues in Williamsburg / Greenpoint. Badges are on sale now.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dive - How Long Have You Known? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dive - Bambi Slaughter (Kurt Cobain cover) (MP3)

Oshin cover art

Local upstarts Dive have just announced details of their debut album, Oshin, which is out June 26 on Captured Tracks. You can download the album's first single "How Long Have You Known?" at the top of this post, which was crowned Best New Track by Pitchfork today. Dive are playing Le Poisson Rogue tonight (4/6), opening for legendary NYC post punk act Bush Tetras, and will soon be hitting the road with Frankie Rose. (NYC date is May 5.) All Dive tour dates are below.

In addition to the Best New Track nod, the Pitchfork-Dive love can also be seen with a new "Rising" Q&A with frontman Zachary Cole Smith who also spends time playing guitar in Beach Fossils:

Beach Fossils is a big influence on me just because [Beach Fossils leader] Dustin [Payseur] is one of my best friends, and I really respect him musically. But I have not written or played on any Beach Fossils material that people have heard. It's funny to think about the two projects being linked in that way, because to almost every single person who has listened to Beach Fossils, there's no actual connection.

-
Dive at "Hotel Vegan" (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Click through for Oshin's tracklist, plus all upcoming Dive tour dates and a video for Bush Tetra's classic "Too Many Creeps".....

Continue reading "Dive announce debut LP details (mp3, artwork), playing tonight with Bush Tetras (and other dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mac DeMarco - "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: TOPS - Turn Your Love Around (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (For Real For Sure For You) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD:  Young Prisms - Floating in Blue (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Boy Friend - Egyptian Wrinkle (MP3)

Mac Demarco

It begins. Bands from all over the world -- England! Canada! Sweden! New Zealand! Virginia! -- descend on New York as they beat a path to Austin for this year's SXSW. Which is good for those who aren't going, as well as folks who are but want to see bands play longer than 25 minutes and aren't strung out on a four-day diet of free breakfast tacos, Vitamin Water and Amstel Light. There's lots more going on than what is covered below, but it's what I'm interested in over the next few days.

New Captured Tracks signee Mac DeMarco is in town from Vancouver to play a couple shows. He plays an all-C/T bill tonight (3/2) at Music Hall of Williamsburg with DIVE, Hoop Dreams and headliners Beach Fossils (sold out), and then Glasslands tomorrow (3/3) with  headliners Widowspeak and  Quilt.

Demarco, who used to record under the name Makeout Videotapes, has a smoky baritone that is part Chris Isaak and part Tindersticks. His music owes a little to Isaak as well, with an early '60s vibe (Ricky Nelson, Gene Vincent) by way of '80s neon, all on a four-track budget. You can check debut "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans" from his debut, Rock n' Roll Hotel (out 3/20) at the top of this post, which is indicative of what Demarco is all about. You can also watch the video for "Only You" which is kind of NSFW. Dude's a provocateur.

Hoop Dreams

Tonight's MHoW show is the first NYC show we've had from Blacksburg, VA's Hoop Dreams in a long while. They were good when I saw them at Glasslands last year and have the potential to be breakouts for the label if they ever get around to releasing another record (only a single so far). Live, they're more in the Arcade Fire/Editors anthemic style than the single might suggest. It will also be a good opportunity to hear new music from Beach Fossils who are busy at work on their second LP.

And of course, DIVE, who are probably one of the more exciting live bands in Brooklyn right now and are a definite SXSW must-see if you don't live here and have the opportunity to catch them twice a week like we currently do. (They're also touring with Frankie Rose in April.) The show is sold out tonight, but I'd be shocked if there weren't tickets at the door at least when the box office opens.

TOPS

Montreal band TOPS are playing 285 Kent tomorrow night as part of a killer bill that includes Blood Orange, Phone Tag and  Caged Animals. The four-piece is comprised of most (if not all) of MTL's Silly Kissers who played here a few times over the last few years and were a little on the precious side (they sometimes wore mime makeup). TOPS, however, are more in the Ariel Pink/Puro Instict brand of minimal keyboard pop. Their debut, Tender Opposites, came out this week on Artibus Records, which is also home to Grimes (in Canada). You can download "Turn Your Love Around" at the top of this post and stream the whole thing (and watch the further down.

As you may have read, 285 headliners Caged Animals will open the Official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase on March 14 at Bar 69 which also includes Titus Andronicus, Screaming Females, 2:54, The Young and one more TBA. If you haven't heard their tuneful, charming debut Eat Their Own yet, it's still streamable at their BandCamp. And they're terrific live.

So is Blood Orange, despite it just being Dev Hynes, his guitar and a laptop. I saw him last weekend at Glasslands where he spent as much time in the crowd as he did on stage. I do wish he'd get a band, but the one-man Blood Orange is a lot of fun. I haven't seen Phone Tag in a while, but I dig their brand of '80s synthpop.

Korallreven

Sunday night (3/4) at Bowery Ballroom is the NYC debut of Swedish duo Korallreven, one half of which is The Radio Dept.'s Daniel Tjäder. I like their debut album a lot, all lush, synth-driven dream pop but, like a lot of music like this, I wonder how they're going to make it an interesting concert experience. I envision two guys behind laptops and keyboards bobbing their heads and singing, with some projections and hopefully smoke machines.  Maybe they could move the downstairs couches to the main room? Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see. I'm sure it will sound great in any case.  If you haven't heard them yet, you can download "Sa Sa Samoa" in regular and remixed form at the top of this post and watch the video at the bottom of this post. Also playing: Lemonade and Young Magic.

Bachelorette

Also playing Sunday night, at Cameo, is Bachelorette -- aka New Zealander Annabel Alpers who I think lives here now. Buoyed by Alpers delicate, breathy voice, Bachelorette make ethereal synthpop not miles away from The Magnetic Fields, with whom she's going on tour for seven shows. (All dates at the bottom of this post.) I liked it better when she had a band, but the loop pedal incarnation is pretty lovely too. You can check out a couple videos below or stream her most recent album on Spotify.

Young Prisms at the Comet, Seattle (photo by Finest Kiss)

And looking into early next week, San Francisco's Young Prisms and Austin's Boy Friend are at Glasslands on Monday (3/5). Young Prisms new album, In Between, is out March 27 on Kanine and is a real step forward for the band. Their still mining first-wave shoegaze, but the songs are much stronger this time out with a couple that go for jangly Velocity Girl style pop. They will be very loud I guarantee you. Boy Friend will make a nice opener, with their hazy, 4-AD miasma vibe. You can download MP3s from both bands at the top of this post. Also playing, seemingly from another show, are Alex Bleeker & the Freaks and Tanks Amigo.

That's the big stuff for the next four days. But wait, there's more. Day-by-day picks of things not covered above:

The Young Empires at M for Montreal 2011

FRIDAY, MARCH 2

Like Friendly Fires and Foals? Check out Toronto's Young Empires are at Glasslands, with Saint Motel, Fan-Tan, and Transmission NYC (DJ set).

Expect a wild evening at Death by Audio with "original line-up" Tyvek, plus Habibi, Feelings and the Numerators. Stick-in-the-muds, go see something else!

Boston's pop veterans The Figgs play Littlefield. The band's new double album, The Day Gravity Stopped, is out sometime soon.

continued below...

Continue reading "Mac DeMarco, TOPS, Korallreven, Bachelorette, Young Prisms, Boy Friend and more in This Week in Indie"