photos by Chris Doss

DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - Put the Days Away (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - Oh, Naoko (MP3)

Bear in Heaven @ MHOW

"Sure, we're all sick of bands with the word "bear" in their names (to the point, that I'm actually sick of jokes about how many bands there are with "bear" in their name).

Bear in Heaven double up on annoying indie band trends by being from Brooklyn as well, but while it would be easy to dismiss them as a poorly named hipster band, they're actually a solid vaguely Krautrock sounding indie act worth seeing." [Tuscon Weekly]

Bear in Heaven concluded their tour Friday night in their home borough at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Fellow buzzbands Sun Airway and Twin Shadow opened the sold out show.

NYC Taper taped Bear in Heaven. Download it there. Setlist reposted below.

Btw, Bear in Heaven don't have any other North American dates scheduled at the moment, but they will be DJing that previously mentioned Liturgy show at Glasslands on December 9th. Delicate Steve is also on the bill.

Twin Shadow has this coming up:

Twin Shadow's video for "Castles In The Snow", with some more pictures from Music Hall of Williamsburg (Chris's camera broke at the show, so no pics of Twin Shadow and just a few of the other bands), below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven & Sun Airway played MHOW w/ Twin Shadow (who is playing Kidrockers) -- pics, setlist, live recording"

photos by Tim Griffin

Night fell down on Austin Town and it figured it'd be a busy night. And with The xx and Temper Trap setting the table for LCD Soundsystem, Gogol Bordello, Monsters of Folk, Deadmau5, Matt & Kim, MIA and Muse, Saturday did indeed set it self up to be remembered as ACL 2010's strongest.

Except for the part where MIA screwed things up during her set...

...M.I.A.'s set saw plenty of anticipation on the west end of the fairgrounds, but little payoff: The first song saw didn't even see Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam on stage, and, though she came out for the second, that first song worked as a fitting metaphor for her entire mumbled performance.

Here's the thing about performing in festivals, especially on a main stage: Very few people actually see the performers; they rely on the accompanying video screens to share the visual side of the performance. But rather than the performer (or any of her five packing dancers or DJ) , M.I.A.'s screen showed illustrations. M.I.A., meanwhile, spent minimal time in her set's early going on stage, instead opting to interact o the grass in front of her closest fans. An admirable offering, perhaps, but it left the rest of her crowd in the dark, straining their necks to see her dancers or maybe just the neon "Maya" sign that served as her backdrop.

Her vocals weren't helping matters, either. They were already mixed too low, and Maya, for the most part, mumbled her way through the proceedings. Audiences thinned out--only to be pulled back in once the video screens finally--mercifully--showed the performer stalking the stage, and performing her biggest hit, "Paper Planes." [Dallas Observer]

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 2 in pics (Monsters of Folk, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Broken Bells, deadmau5, Muse & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - "Put the Days Away" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bear in Heaven - Ultimate Satisfaction (The Field Remix) (MP3)

Bear In Heaven at Seaport in July (more by Chris La Putt)

Bear in Heaven are in remix heaven. The band employed some killer folks to contibute to a remix LP of the tunes of their 2009 LP Beast Rest Forth Mouth. Justin Broadrick, The Field, High Places, Twin Shadow and others all lend their talents to the project which is currently being packaged for sale with the original release digitally. Get yourself a copy. Field remix above. Full tracklist below.

Meanwhile, Bear in Heaven are prepping to hit the road with Sun Airway, meeting up with one of the culprits from the remix LP, Twin Shadow, for four dates that will include Music Hall of Williamsburg on 11/19. Tickets are still on sale.

Twin Shadow open for Holy Fuck at Le Poisson Rouge this Saturday night.

Three of Bear in Heaven's dates are with Cloudland Canyon, who played Union Pool last night, and who play a free in-store at Permanent Records in Brooklyn today (9/17).

Philadelphia's Sun Airway's debut album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, is due via Dead Oceans on October 26th. Dig on "Put The Days Away" available for download above (grab a 2nd track in a previous post). The band employs tons of visuals in their live show, which come off as videos when watched on their own.

Some of those videos, all dates, and more below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven got remixed, touring w/ Cloudland Canyon, Twin Shadow & Sun Airway (dates) "

Bear In Heaven is playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 19th. Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Deerhunter, Real Estate, Casino Versus Japan show at Webster Hall (you can also catch Deerhunter and Real Estate for free much sooner).

Tickets are on sale for the Thermals / Cymbals Eat Guitars show happening at Irving Plaza.

Paul Weller is playing Nokia Theatre on November 7th. Tickets are on sale.

Samiam, The Casting Out, I Hate Our Freedom, and Vs. Antelope are playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 13th. Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Wavves show at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Aziz Ansari is headlining the Beacon Theatre as part of the New York Comedy Festival on November 6th. Tickets are currently on presale. General sale starts Monday at 10am.

Other New York Comedy Festival tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster too., though the Louis CK show is on sale directly at Carnegie Hall.

Fitz & The Tantrums are playing The Mercury Lounge on September 25th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Primus show at The Wellmont Theater

Sharon Van Etten and Kyp Malone are playing The Mercury Lounge on October 9th. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for The Sword show at Webster Hall

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Phantogram show at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Black Mountain and Black Angels show at The Bowery Ballroom

Ra Ra Riot tourmates, Givers, are playing The Mercury Lounge on November 6th. Tickets are on sale at noon. It's Givers' only New York City show at the moment. They're not opening any of the four New York Ra Ra Riot dates.

Tunng is playing The Mercury Lounge on November 11th. Tickets are on sale at 9:30 PM.

Idlewild is playing The Bowery Ballroom on November 22nd and November 23rd. 2 Day Passes are also available for purchase. Tickets all on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale Monday, August 9 for the Joanna Newsom show at Carnegie Hall

photos by Chris La Putt

"Bear in Heaven for free at the seaport. Amazing." - Alyssa Lewis

Bear Heaven @ the Seaport

After missing their chance to play South Street Seaport last week, but with plans to be back in NYC to play Cake Shop and Monster Island this week anyway, YellowFever made a surprise appearance as the openers of the South Street Seaport show this week (last night, Friday, July 9th). Two days earlier, the Austin band released this statement...

"After enjoying the fine facilities at the Harris County Jail, bologna sandwiches, cute orange outfits, new friends, and *very* public restrooms, we are pleased to announce that we will be continuing our tour tonight in New York! We intended to kick off our tour by flying to NY to play the Seaport show, and returning to Texas to drive our hippy camp-wagon through the glorious South over the 4th of July weekend, but were rudely interrupted by the TSA who decided to cart me off to jail for forgetting a kitchen knife in my backpack and accidentally carrying it through airport security. Anyway, after our brief meeting with The Man in court Tuesday morning we drove straight to New York." - Jennifer Moore, YellowFever

YellowFever were followed by Zola Jesus who was followed by the biggest hit of the night, Brooklyn's own Bear in Heaven. More pictures from the free Seaport Music Series show (part of the River to River series), below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven, Zola Jesus and suprise guest YellowFever played South Street Seaport (pics)"

Mountain Man @ Mercury Lounge (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Mountain Man have a new live video of their song "River" recorded on the streets of New York (and judging by their clothes, on the same day as their Mercury Lounge show with the Middle East in May). The trio's tour dates now include a July run with Bear in Heaven and Twin Sister and August shows with their new labelmate Deer Tick. They've also added an August 13th NYC show at Old American Can Factory for Rooftop Films. Tickets are on sale.

Mountain Man has NYC show before then too - they'll open for Junip on June 9th and play the Living Room on June 10th, after which they'll tour the UK.

Speaking of Twin Sister, they'll be touring North America with gauzy pop duo Memoryhouse this August. Those date include a previously-mentioned August 11th show at Mercury Lounge and an August 12th gig at Monster Island. More on Memoryhouse (and a bunch of MP3s) here.

Twin Sister, who played a Rooftop Film in May also play Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 26th as part of the BrooklynVegan Northside Festival showcase.

All dates and the above-mentioned video are below...

Continue reading "new Mountain Man video & tour dates w/ Bear in Heaven & Twin Sister who are touring w/ Memoryhouse (dates)"

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

photos by Vincent Cornelli

Bear in Heven opened for Metric at Terminal 5 in NYC on Sunday night (5/16) - Emily Haines' third NYC appearance this month. If you missed it, Metric are back from a free show in Prospect Park this summer. More pictures from the T5 show with Metric's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Metric & Bear in Heaven @ Terminal 5 in NYC - pics, setlist"

Pop Montreal 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

POP Montreal, sort of like the CMJ of Montreal, but less industry-like, returns for the 9th time from September 29th to October 3rd. Check out the sneak peak of their intial lineup below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal 2010 dates & initial lineup - includes SWANS"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Zola Jesus - Night (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zola Jesus - Clay Bodies (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zola Jesus - Smireye (MP3)

Zola Jesus @ Bowery Ballroom in April (more by Lori Baily)

Zola Jesus, singer Nika Roza Danilova who's been likened to Diamanda Galas, Siouxsie and Karin Andersson (check out for yourself above), has a few notable shows coming up this June and July. First, she's on the bill for NXNE in Toronto June 14th-20th.

After that, she comes to NYC for a show on June 19th at Glasslands.

Then later im the summer, Zola Jesus plays with Bear in Heaven at their free South Street Seaport show on July 9th. Bear in Heaven also play Terminal 5 with Metric on May 16th, and have a ton of tour dates (including some with Twin Sister), which are posted below.

Further, you can catch Zola Jesus supporting Wolf Parade at Terminal 5 on July 13th (and on a couple of their dates on the West Coast). Tickets are still on sale. That's around the same time Wolf Parade's new record, Expo 86, comes out on Sub Pop. The cover is below.

All tour dates for Zola Jesus and Bear in Heaven below...

Continue reading "upcoming Zola Jesus shows include Glasslands, South Street Seaport, Wolf Parade (new album cover) & more (dates) "

South Street Seaport (more by Chris La Putt)

South Street Seaport, NYC (part of the River to River Festival)
July 02 - TBA
July 09 - Bear in Heaven & TBA Zola Jesus
July 16 - Thee Oh Sees & Golden Triangle
July 23 - Free Energy & Best Coast & Loose Limbs
July 30 - Avi Buffalo & TBA Chad VanGaalen
Aug 06 - YACHT & TBA

Also, "The annual Children's Day at the Seaport culminates with the spectacular Target Fireworks, featuring a special performance by The Apples in Stereo accompanied by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. During the day, families can enjoy performances by Gordon from Sesame Street, Angelina Ballerina, and more, while meeting their favorite storybook characters like Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, and Madeline. (June 26) "

And, there will be a July 4th show with the Old 97's.

Modest Mouse @ Terminal 5 in March 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Modest Mouse will join Faith No More and Nas & Damian Marley (tickets) as one of the acts set to play at Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn this summer. Their Friday, July 23rd show will be ticketed/non-free (like the others mentioned). Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (which is when the just-added Faith no More show goes on sale too).

Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is a week after they play the Pitchfork Festival which recently updated its lineup. New acts playing the Chicago fest include Big Boi, Major Lazer, Neon Indian, Beach House, Free Energy, Local Natives, Robyn & more. Check that out in full below. Single day tickets are still on sale.

UPDATE: Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is one day after they play one in NJ.

Modest Mouse will be reissuing their third album, The Moon & Antarctica, on vinyl for its 10th anniversary, on Record Store Day - this Saturday, April 17th. "The album features restored original artwork and replicates the infinite lock groove found in the original vinyl pressings of 2000. The new vinyl reissue includes a download card for the album." All dates the the P4K Fest lineup, below...

Continue reading "Modest Mouse playing Williamsburg Waterfront, the Pitchfork Festival (updated full lineup) & other tour dates"

The Pitchfork Music Festival celebrates its 5th anniversary this year at Union Park in Chicago. It runs from Friday July 16th - Sunday July 18th. Three-day passes are now sold out, but you can still get single-day passes on Ticketweb.

The Updated Lineup is below:

Continue reading "Pitchfork Festival updates lineup (Broken Social Scene, Jon Spencer, Panda Bear, Girls, El-P & more) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Happy Birthday - Girls FM (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Bloodsugars - Light at the End of the Tunnel (Mp3)

Bear Hands

It's another jam-packed week of shows. In addition to Taken By Trees, El Perro Del Mar and The Soundtrack of our Lives, here's some of the ones I'm excited about.

tonight (2/16): New Cantora Records signees Bear Hands play The Studio at Webster Hall. You can download the band's percussion-heavy new single "What a Drag" for free from their website if you're willing to give them your email address. You can also watch the video at the bottom of this post.

Also tonight (2/16), Beast kick off what is now a run of three NYC shows. As we pointed out earlier today, "Beast are at the Living Room tonight. They play the Cameo tomorrow night late...and they've added an early set at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, where the show is with Fight Like Apes, Honor By August, Stationary Set and Tryptics."

The Bloodsugars

This week is last of Savoir Adore's February Thursdays residency at Cake Shop and we've got a pair of tickets up for grabs. Just email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and we'll pick a winner at random. In addition to Savoir Adore (have I mentioned their album made my Best of 2009 list?),  it's another good group of openers. The Bloodsugars make '80s-inspired widescreen pop that at times sounds uncannily like Prefab Sprout -- and good Prefab Sprout, not "hot dog jumping frog Albequerque" Prefab Sprout. Which is to say these folks know their way around big pop hooks, and are kind of a perfect match with Savoir Adore. You can download "Light at the End of the Tunnel" from last year's underrated I Can't Go On, I'll Go On at the top of this post.

Also on the bill: Pittsburgh's chilled-out Ennui and Brooklyn's synth-heavy Red Wire Black Wire with between-sets DJing from Nora of blog I Rock I Roll.

Also on Thursday (2/18), Dan Black is in town at Mercury Lounge. There's a new version of Dan's single "Symphonies" that features Kid Cudi, and you can watch the new video for it at the bottom of this post.

Bear in Heaven @ Mercury Lounge in January (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

A few more shows. Bear in Heaven, who were just great at Mercury Lounge a couple weeks back, play Glasslands on Friday night (2/19) with Secret Machines. What I like about them live is that you can tell they all really enjoying being in Bear in Heaven and playing these songs. They're just a lot of fun to watch, and they're pretty tight too with a drummer beats the shit out of his instrument.

Secret Machines are headlining, a band I haven't seen play in some time but have always liked. They've got a trippy, string-heavy new single, "Like I Can," that you can listen to on their website. Also playing what sounds like a full evening are electro rock quintet Mon Khmer, Noveller and Papa.

Saturday (2/20) marks the end of The Beets/Beach Fossils/Christmas Island tour where they'll play Music Hall of Williamsburg along with German Measels and headliners Crystal Stilts who I still haven't managed to catch since Frankie Rose left the drummer's chair.

Dum Dum Girls

Speaking of Frankie, she'll be pulling double duty Sunday night at Mercury Lounge where her own bandThe Outs will open for Dum Dum Girls (she's their drummer). DDG's debut album for Sub Pop is about six weeks away but you can download the album's first single, "Jail La La," at the top of this post. (It's out on 7" today with a nice cover of the Stones' "Play With Fire" on the flip.) I'm usually not one for re-recording songs that have already been released, but I actually think this recording is spruces things up just enough without unraveling their reverby gauze. After heading to London for a few shows, Dum Dum Girls will be back for SXSW and then will go on tour with Girls in April. All dates are at the bottom of this post.

Frankie & the Outs are really coming along as a band too, and thought they were fantastic at Monster Island this past weekend. The vocal harmonies in particular are the band's strong point, with a bit of soul in there too actually, kind of like some late-'60s girl rockers. I'd love to hear them cover The Kelly Affair/Carry Nation's "Sweet Talking Candy Man" from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. But maybe that's just me.

Also playing are Dum Dum Girls' Sub Pop labelmates Happy Birthday, whose super-catchy song "Girls FM" is downloadable at the top of this post. It's power pop, but kind of gritty/garagy and makes me anxious to hear more.

That's it for this week. Flyers, videos and tour dates after the jump...

Continue reading "Bear Hands, Dum Dum Girls, Happy Birthday, Bloodsugars, Bear in Heaven, Beast & more in This Week in Indie"

words by BBG, photos by Paul Birman

Unsane are KILLING it dead. -[MetalSucks]

Made Out Of Babies rrrarrrr!!! Julie rockin' amazing Blade Runner makeup - [terryhope]

Unsane

Unsane played their first show in two years to a packed packed packed Union Pool with Made Out of Babies, United Nations and Dark Vibe on 2/12 (a BV/Osiris production). Besides a few bumps and bruises, blown eardrums, a chunk of eyebrow missing (sorry Julie Christmas), and the fact that some folks couldn't get in, the show was a huge success.

If you have never seen Unsane, these NYC noise rock legends are an absolute MUST SEE. Chris's jangly guitars cut through the mix like a razor blade while Vinny's big drums and Dave's distorted bass punch up the low end. To me, this band should be mentioned in the same breath as pioneers like The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, Helmet, and others... their live show is just pummeling! Essential.

Made Out of Babies were destructive as usual - with their instruments and to themselves. Part way through one of the bands' songs, Julie Christmas cut her eyebrow (presambly in her flailing around) and was GUSHING blood (the squeamish shouldn't look at the pics below). The band are currently working on new material and opened with one massive new jam devised in the past week.

My main beef with United Nations is that although I enjoy the individual projects of it's members in varying degrees (Converge, Thursday, HopeCon, Acid Tiger), I wish United Nations were a full-time endeavor. Incredible live show! UN is a must see, just wish it happened more often!

Bear in Heaven side project Dark Vibe opened the show. More pictures, setlists and videos below...

Continue reading "Unsane, Made Out of Babies, United Nations & Dark Vibe @ Union Pool - pics, setlist & videos "

Freelance Whales @ Bell House Haiti benefit, Jan 27 (more by Jonny Leather)

Freelance Whales have added another NYC show to their upcoming schedule. The newly announced show is the farthest away - they'll play Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, April 13th. Tickets are on sale.

Before then they open for Mumford & Sons and Shout Out Louds (separately), and go on tour with Cymbals Eat Guitars and Bear In Heaven. That trip goes around North America and includes SXSW. Those two bands, minus Freelance Whales, finish the tour at Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 9th. tickets are still on sale.

Before then you can catch Bear in Heaven at Glasslands on February 19th, when they play with Secret Machines, Mon Khmer (who also play a show at Union Pool with Midnight Masses), Noveller (who plays Coco66 on V-Day; all shows are below) and PAPA. Ticket info is here.

Video from Freelance Whales' recent NYC show and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Noveller touring (dates), Valentine's Day show w/ Secret Machines, Bear in Heaven ++ Freelance Whales add NY show"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Oh No Ono @ Mercury Lounge

To quote Bill Pearis, "Bear in Heaven were pretty great...insane drummer. Impressed. On No Ono were good. They did a radical cover of Radiohead's 'Weird Fishes' - the singer's vocals will be a dealbreaker for some." His review is from last night's show at Mercury Lounge that ArpLine (formerly The Kiss Off) also played (1/27).

Oh No Ono, in town from Denmark, continue on to Union Hall tonight (1/28) with The Depreciation Guild and Hooray for Earth.

Bear in Heaven were joined on stage by Zambri. More pictures from Mercury Lounge below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven, Oh No Ono & ArpLine @ Mercury Lounge in NYC - pics "

DOWNLOAD: Freelance Whales - Generator First Floor (live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Freelance Whales - Generator Second Floor (live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Freelance Whales - Ghosting (live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Freelance Whales - Starring (live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Freelance Whales - Kilojoules (live) (MP3)

Freelance Whales @ Webster Hall on December 18th (by Fresh Bread)

Freelance Whales spent some time on the road with Fanfarlo at the end of 2009. That culminated in a December 18th show at Webster Hall (pictured above).

More recently, Freelance Whales played Mercury Lounge on January 20th with Animal Tropical and Still Life Still (as part of their residency at the venue).

Freelance Whales will again be opening up for some great bands at bigger venues. On Thursday, February 18th they open for UK's Mumford & Sons at Bowery Ballroom (that show is sold out). Then on March 1st they open for Shout Out Louds at MHOW on March 1st (also sold out).

Shout Out Louds (whose new album Work comes out February 23rd) have added to that date with a North American tour this May. They play May 5th at Webster Hall. Tickets are on sale. All tour dates and the video for the new album's first single are below.

Freelance Whales have been added to the Cymbals Eat Guitars/Bear in Heaven tour happening this March and April, though Freelance Whales do NOT appear to be playing the show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, April 9th (tickets are on sale).

Freelance Whales were also added to the Bell House's Haiti benefit on Wednesday, January 27th. Tickets are still on sale.

The re-release (or "official" release) of Freelance Whales' Weathervanes on Frenchkiss/Mom + Pop Records comes March 16th. The band was recently a guest on online radio show Snacky Tunes (which is hosted by Finger on the Pulse). Their live session is posted above.

All tour and more are below...

Continue reading "Freelance Whales played Snacky Tunes (MP3s), playing w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear in Heaven, Shout Out Louds -dates"

Animal Collective @ ATP NY (more by Ryan Muir)

So how the hell did Merriweather Post Pavilion-- an album closer in spirit to the sub-aquatic psychedelia of 2005's Feels and Panda Bear's 2007 solo Person Pitch than its predecessor-- wind up in the Billboard Top 20 and outsell both the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand's most recent albums in North America? That mystery is ultimately the most wonderful thing about the album. Unlike so many indie-rock crossover artists before them, Animal Collective did not breach the mainstream by cleaning up their act, or adopting classic-rock conventions, or scoring a strategic soundtrack or iPod-commercial placement. And, above all, they did little to formalize their defining mercurial quality. [Pitchfork]

Pitchfork also listed their Top 100 Tracks of 2009, and the Top Albums of the Decade.

Animal Collective is DJing the Museum of Natural History in January.

DOWNLOAD: Bear in Heaven - Wholehearted Mess (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bear In Heaven - Lovesick Teenagers (MP3)

Bear in Heaven @ Webster Hall on Friday (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Bear in Heaven opened for Mew at Webster Hall on Friday (12/4). In March, they'll head out on a five-week tour with Cymbals Eat Guitars. The NYC show will be at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, April 9th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday, December 9th at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

Before then, Bear in Heaven are playing Mercury Lounge on January 27th with On No Ono. Tickets are on sale.

CEG, who played a ton of CMJ shows this year, are currently in Europe.

All tour dates and video of Bear in Heaven from a pre-CMJ show at Union Pool are below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven & Cymbals Eat Guitars going on tour (dates) "

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Webster Hall seemed a perfect fit for the Danish band Mew on Friday night (12/4). With songs that require so much space to swirl about, the venue was better suited than their show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in the summer. All the wondrous video projections were back though the set list changed around from their last visit. Unfortunately, gone was the opening one-two punch of "New Terrain"/"Introducing Palace Players" (that lead off their new record, No More Stories...) and worked to perfection at MHOW. "Terrain" made an edited, stripped down appearance during a medley midway through the show. "Palace Players" was arguably the highlight of the night, sandwiched into a flurry of sprawling rockers including "Special" and "Am I Wry? No". The wandering intro gave way to the Flaming Lips-like choral arrangement (reproduced via synth live) before dropping into a back and forth between Bo Madsen's jagged guitar riff and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen's pulsing back beat, which held the song up for the briefest of moments, before the bass launched the song forward and it was on from there. Lead singer Jonas Bjerre's falsetto was clear and pitch perfect during the intro to "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" (complete with school children's choir projected on screen behind them) after the instrumental "Reprise" turned intro for the beautiful, mid-tempo "Silas The Magic Car". "Louisa Louisa", "A song we haven't played in a couple of years or something," Madsen told the crowd, finished off the show.

Editor's note: Part of me knew I was in a venue more suited for Mew (as Dominick pointed out) than the smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg - the massiveness of the crowd and strobes even made it seem all the more epic, but as someone who got there just in time for the headliner (aka I was stuck all the way in the back of the packed venue and/or peering over people's heads in the balcony), I was longing for the more intimate and focused experience I had at Music Hall.

Bear in Heaven opened the show. Echo & the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch played a set in the same building on the same night. More pictures from Mew (with the setlist) below...

Continue reading "Mew & Bear in Heaven @ Webster Hall in NYC - pics & setlist"

by Bill Pearis

Denmark's Oh No Ono are set to make their NYC debut early in the new year, playing Mercury Lounge on Jan 27 (with Bear in Heaven) and Union Hall on Jan 28 -- the same week as their second album, Eggs, gets its U.S. release via Friendly Fire Recordings. You'd be forgiven for making Mew comparisons, and not just because they're both Danish. They've both got otherworldly vocals and a sound that leans towards the epic side. But where Mew are fully in the rock world, Oh No Ono are harder to categorize. Eggs is all over the place -- you get honey-glazed pop, angular new wave and, on their current single "Swim," hazy grandiose-ness a la Grizzly Bear. Be sure to check the creepy/funny video for "Swim" too, which is below, along with all dates...

Continue reading "Oh No Ono (from Denmark) - US release, video & tour dates "

photos by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: Bear in Heaven - Wholehearted Mess (MP3)

STEREOGUM: I've been to Barcade [where you bartend]. Used to live a block away from it. Good beer selection, but sometimes the guys playing the games can get a bit too aggro. Have you ever had to intervene with a drunken Dig Dug fan and a battered arcade game?

Bear in Heaven member Joe Stickney: Eh, every now and then someone will, in a 12% alcohol-beer fueled rage, start banging on Ms. Pacman or Outrun or something, but there's always a manager on board to take care of that. In general the crowd's pretty passive. I used to manage there for a few months and one of my first nights there someone threw up all over Tetris. I think that might have been some belated Iron Curtain protest though.

They'll also play a short in-store set at Sound Fix Records on December 3rd (8pm, free).

The pictures in this post were taken back in September when Bear in Heaven opened for the Rapture at Matchless. More of those pictures below...

Continue reading "upcoming Bear in Heaven shows & a set of live pictures"

DOWNLOAD: Bear in Heaven - Wholehearted Mess (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bear In Heaven - Lovesick Teenagers (MP3)

Bear in Heaven @ Rock n ROFL in 2008 (more by Elizabeth Weinberg)

Bear in Heaven's new album Beast Rest Forth Mouth was released by Hometapes on October 13th. Check out two tracks from that for free above. Tonight (10/23) and tomorrow (10/24), the Brooklyn band is playing four CMJ-related shows. Those dates are below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven - new album, MP3s & CMJ dates "

Showpaper #16

Details below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork Todd P Showpaper benefit @ Market Hotel Saturday"