by Andrew Sacher

One of the newer bands on the festival circuit this summer is Vancouver's Bear Mountain, who we said we're excited to see at this year's Governors Ball, which goes down in NYC on Randall's Island from June 7-9. Bear Mountain play on the 7th and after that they'll stick around NYC for a show on June 10 at Glasslands with Black Light Dinner Party. Tickets to the Glasslands show are on sale now.

Bear Mountain return to the NYC-area for Camp Bisco in July. On their tour this spring/summer, they'll also be playing Sasquatch, Sled Island, Capitol Hill Block Party, Lollapalooza, ACL, and are going on a string of dates with Bloc Party. All dates are listed below.

When we first wrote about Bear Mountain, we said:

Last year, they released their debut album, XO, which combined club-ready dance tracks, arena sized atmospherics, and an indie pop sensibility in the songwriting. It's a pretty great mix and sounds like it will be totally fun live.

Continue reading "Bear Mountain touring, playing NYC after Governors Ball"

Brisbane, Australia's Emma Louise will be playing a bunch of shows during CMJ (less than two weeks away) but if you want to catch her earlier than that, she's making her NYC debut at Rockwood Music Hall tonight (10/5) with an early 7:30 set (it's also free).

With her electronic-tinged folk-pop single "Boy" (pretty catchy we admit), Emma Louise has been making waves and you can watch the video for that below. Her 2011 Full Hearts and Empty Rooms EP was reissued by Frenchkiss Records this year and the label will release her new album in early 2013 which "Boy" will be on.

As mentioned above, she'll be here for CMJ and is playing the Frenchkiss Records Showcase at Pianos on October 17 with Devin, Black Light Dinner Party, Chains of Love, Sleepies (tickets); the Paradigm Showcase at Mercury Lounge on October 19 with Savages and more (sold out, but you can try your CMJ badge if you have one); and the Aussie Day BBQ at The Delancey on October 20, with a couple other parties with dates TBA.

Dates and videos below...

Continue reading "Emma Louise released new single, "Boy," making NYC debut tonight and will be here for CMJ (dates, video) "

photos by Eric Townsend; words by Bill Pearis

Black Light Dinner Party / Murals, Pianos 7/27/2012

For those looking to see a bunch of newly-hyped bands from around the country in one place, Friday night (7/27) at Pianos was a good place to be, hosting Brooklyn's Black Light Dinner Party, Chicago's A Lull and Louisville, KY's Murals, and LA's Nightmare Air.

I was there early for Murals, a young six-piece whose ambitions are maybe just slightly out of their grasp at this point. While the core songwriting is folk pop not dissimilar to The Shins or '80s New Zealand, the songs suffered sometimes from overly busy arrangements or sudden stops. That said, when it comes together (and it did more than a few times), Murals are capable of bliss-out moments that are mellow but never dull. They are a new band with lots of potential, they just need time to figure it out.

I left after Murals to go see The Soft Pack at Union Pool, but our photographer stuck around for BV Chicago favorites A Lull, and Black Light Dinner Party who apparently turned Pianos into a full-on dance party and gave away copies of their vinyl EP to the pumped-up crowd. Photos of all three bands are below. He also stopped by The Living Room a few doors up Ludlow to catch Los Angeles' Family of the Year (who were in town after supporting Milo Greene at Mercury Lounge [7/26] a day earlier) and photos from that show are below as well.

Continue reading "Black Light Dinner Party, A Lull, and Murals played Pianos (pics); Family of the Year played The Living Room (pics)"

photos by James Richards IV; words by Zach Pollack

A Lull at Pitchfork Fest 7/15/2012

Chicago experimental rockers A Lull kicked off the final day (7/15) of the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival with a 1PM set on the Blue Stage. They began their set with the warm-weather anthem "Summer Dress" off of their just-released Meat Mountain EP, to which they were handing out free digital download codes to the crowd. The EP is stuffed to the brim with polyrhythmic passages, thanks in part to the band's dual-drummer configuration. Meat Mountain also showcases the solid vocal stylings of frontman Nigel Dennis, who is appropriately swathed in reverb and effects when called for and perfectly raw when he most needs to be. You can stream Meat Mountain in its entirety at the bottom of this post and/or head to their website to purchase a 12" vinyl copy. Some pictures from their opening set at the Pitchfork Festival are also below.

A Lull are currently on the road supporting fellow Chicagoans Maps & Atlases, and will soon break off for a brief U.S. tour of their own. The quintet will make their way to NYC next week for a July 27 performance at Pianos. Black Light Dinner Party, Nightmare Air, and Murals are also on the bill, and advance tickets are on sale.

All A Lull dates, pictures from their Pitchfork Fest set, and a stream of Meat Mountain are below.

Continue reading "A Lull played Pitchfork (pics), on tour, playing Pianos (dates)"

Louisville's Murals released their debut album, On A Passing Cloud, earlier this month. It's a nice dose of Shins-y folk pop with some lighthearted psychedelia mixed in. You can stream the whole album below. That's the cover art above.

Murals are going on a tour in support of the album which comes to NYC for four shows: July 26 at Cameo with Indian Rebound, Treppenverter and The Split; July 27 at Pianos with A Lull, Black Light Dinner Party, and Nightmare Air (tickets); July 28 at Delinquency BLVD (1031 Grand St.); and July 29 at Mercury Lounge to open the Quilt/Young Magic show with Secret Mountains (tickets).

A list of all dates and the album stream are below.

Continue reading "Murals released 'On A Passing Cloud,' touring, playing 4 NYC shows (dates & album stream)"