by Bill Pearis

Spectrals at SXSW (more)

Scotland's Spectrals -- aka 21-year old Louis Jones -- just wrapped up a tour with Cults and are in town for two shows this week: Friday (5/4) at Glasslands with Twerps and Saturday's (5/5) sold-out show at Mercury Lounge with Slumberland labelmates Frankie Rose and the newly-respelled DIIV.

Spectrals' debut album, Bad Penny, came out earlier this year and got a 7.5 from Pitchfork:

Indie rock readings of Phil Spector pop are almost passé at this point, but Jones makes it work due in no small part to his English wit, articulation, and gray mood. "Get a Grip" opens with a small, fun riff, prefacing a crooned rhyme: "I need to get a grip, I always seem to let my smile slip." His delivery is slow and monotone, as he stretches each fifth syllable or so, but it's a toe-tapper, underpinned by cool bits of bongo and guitar. The bongo drum returns later on "You Don't Have to Tell Me", and whether or not the 50s jazz-club feel comes with a wink, its faux-sophistication still comes over as charming. "Luck Is There to Be Pushed" has a similar effect, but this time with the runs of jazz piano that fleck its dramatically soft guitar strums and subtle, gliding synths.

In addition to streaming the album, you can watch the video for Spectrals single "Get a Grip" at the bottom of this post.

Friday's show at Glasslands is with Australia's Twerps, who have been visiting America since SXSW and have added this one last show. If you haven't heard their 2011 self-titled album (one of my favorites of last year) you can stream a few tracks at the bottom of this post. They're good live too. Also also playing are Family Portrait. This is an early show as Glasslands hosts Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (sold out) later Friday night.

Continue reading "Spectrals are here from Scotland, playing NYC this weekend with Twerps, Frankie Rose and DIIV"

by Bill Pearis

Field Mouse

It's late April, time for The L Magazine's annual "8 Bands You Need to Hear" list. Like always, there's a few you've probably heard, a few you've heard of, and a few who may be new to you entirely. Here's the list, with the artists' next next NYC area show (where applicable)

Field Mouse (May 3 at the Rock Shop)

Ski Lodge (May 24 at The Rock Shop)

Daytona (April 27 at Death by Audio)

Evi (5/3 at Brooklyn Bowl opening for James Chance)

Black Marble (May 3, opening for Light Asylum)

Starlight Girls (May 26 at Cameo Gallery)

Plates of Cake (No upcoming shows)

Ravens & Chimes (June 1 at WNYC Green Space)

If you'd like to hear these 8 bands "right now" there are Bandcamp streams for all of them at the bottom of this post. This year's Honorable Mentions list includes ">The Immaculates, Old Monk, Hunters and Trailblazer.

Also, The L Magazine's Northside Festival (June 14 - 21) announced its initial 2012 line-up last week. In addition to GZA, Ceremony and Neil Hamburger (whose Northside shows we mentioned already), bands confirmed for the music portion of the Fest (June 14 - 17) include Of Montreal, Tinariwen, ?uestlove, Dam-Funk, Kool Keith, Chain & the Gang, Magrudergrind and more. Badges are on-sale now.

Click through for streams from all "8 Bands You Need to Hear"

Continue reading "L Mag picked 8 more 'Bands You Need to Hear Right Now', announced some Northside bands"

by Bill Pearis

Widowspeak at BV-SXSW (more by Tim Griffin)

Dirty Beaches and Widowspeak have added another show to their already busy schedules. Both bands will play Shea Stadium this Saturday (4/21), co-headlining a party for the newly-relaunched NewtownRadio.com. Also playing are Black Marble and Family Portrait. Advance tickets ($12) are being sold for this one. Also there's open bar by Brooklyn Brewery (8PM - 9:30PM) & Sailor Jerry (11PM - 2AM) .

Dirty Beaches will begin their tour with Xiu Xiu in a couple weeks which hits Bowery Ballroom on May 5. (All Xiu Xiu/Dirty Beaches dates are below.) The two will also share a Record Store Day 7", with Xiu Xiu covering Erasure's "Always" on one side and Dirty Beaches taking on Francois Hardy's "Tu Ne Dis Rien" on the flip. You can stream both sides of that RSD release at the bottom of this post.

Widowspeak, meanwhile, will play also play the WBAR-B-Que at Barnard College on April 28 with Bush Tetras, Dam Funk and more. After that the band plays Knitting Factory on June 9, the start of their tour with 2:54 that also hits Mercury Lounge. Widowspeak also did a recent Newtown Radio Session, performing "Half Awake" that you can watch below.

These live sessions are a big part of the relaunched Newtown Radio site and you can watch performances from Light Asylum, DIVE, Chelsea Wolfe, The Immaculates and more.

Click through for tour dates, streams and videos...

Continue reading "Newtown Radio relaunches website; Dirty Beaches & Widowspeak playing launch party & other dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Metz - Negative Space (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Teenager - Cops (But Not) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Daughter - Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Marble - Pretender (MP3)

Django Django

There is so much going on between now and Tuesday (2/13), I'm breaking This Week in Indie into two parts. Today you get Thursday, Friday and some of Saturday, then tomorrow will be Pt 2 with more Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. For those of you who aren't going to Austin next week (and I know most people aren't even if it seems otherwise sometimes reading the internet) you get a chance to sample some of the international action with bands from all over the world in town before (and after) the fest. I should warn you there are a lot of bands who spell their names with all-caps in the post. I am not shouting at you.

First thing, we're giving away a pair of tickets to Django Django's sold-out U.S. debut at Glasslands Saturday night which BrooklynVegan is presenting with Popgun Booking. For your chance to win, just send an email with your name and the subject DJANGO DJANGO to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and we'll pick a winner at random tomorrow. Remember, it's a late show (doors at 11:30PM) and you must be 21+.

I'm pretty psyched for this show. Their debut album is out now digitally (and on Spotify) in the U.S. and is one of my favorites of 2012: danceable, melodic, trippy and organic, owing more than a little to fellow Scots The Beta Band. (Go figure: main Django Dave Maclean's older brother John was in the Betas and The Aliens.) Says The Guardian:

Those worried that British guitar music has lost its ability to refresh old forms should pay heed to Django Django, whose debut album posits an updated psychedelia that beguiles and delights. Their foundations are a rickety, minimal take on the music of the immediate pre-psychedelic era - Hail Bop employs heavily tremeloed surf guitar; Default takes Bo Diddley's shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits beat and bolts on a jerky R&B guitar line - over which are laid skittering electronics and bleached, vibratoless harmonies, as if Django Django's four members were supplicants worshipping the desert sunrise. Yet it's also an exercise in clever restraint: drummer and band mastermind David Maclean often eschews everything bar his kick drum, floor tom, cymbals and tambourines, creating an amniotic throb.

Also playing the Glasslands show will be D. Gookin, a last-minute sub for Kwes who had some visa issues. (I'll be DJing between bands.) If you can't make it Saturday night, Django Django play again on Monday at Santos (we're also presenting this show too with Neon Gold and Popgun) with the very au courant Charli XCX and Clock Opera (who play a now-sold out show at Knitting Factory too). Or go to both! More Charli XCX tomorrow.

Daughter

Playing Glasslands earlier in the night on Saturday (a separate show) is another UK act, Daughter, who also play an early show the night before (3/9) at Mercury Lounge and our Friday day party at Hotel Vegas at SXSW. Originally a solo project for UK singer-songwriter Elena Tonra, Daughter is now a proper band with electric guitarist (and Tonra's boyfriend) Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella. The band just signed to Glassnote who released Daughter's new EP, His Young Heart, which is streamable at the bottom of this post. (You can also download the EP's closing track at the top of this post.) Fans of Sharon Van Etten, Mountain Man and other spooky folk acts should not miss them.

METZ at M for Montreal 2010

Backing up a bit to tonight (3/8) and shifting gears entirely, Toronto trio METZ make their NYC debut at Cake Shop. These guys make blazing, spazzy noise rock, reminiscent of Brainiac, the roster of Amphetamine Reptile, or McLusky. They're pretty excellent in their din, with enough form and hooks to grab hold of too. The band only have a few singles under their belt (all of which you can stream/download for free at their Bandcamp) but their debut album is in the can waiting for some lucky label to release it.

METZ are down visiting our city with their neighbors Teenanger whose debut album, Frights, is a 9-song, 20-minute kick in the head that may remind some of The Hives or The Intelligence. There's a lot of snarl and sneer, and the production is great -- clear but not slick. The whole of Frights is streaming over at Canadian website Exclaim!. You can also download a track above and watch a couple videos (both are pretty cool) at the bottom of this post.

Tonight's Cake Shop show, METZ and Teenanger are the first two bands on the bill so you might get out of there by 11 if you've got somewhere else to go. Tomorrow night (3/9), they both play Death By Audio with Pop. 1280 making for a very appealing, angsty bill.

TRUST

More Canadians in town, this time on the electronic tip: TRUST and Doldrums who play a late show tonight (3/8) at Mercury Lounge and an early show at Glasslands tomorrow (3/9). After that it's off to Austin (where TRUST is also on the bill of our Friday day party at Hotel Vegas), and then some West Coast dates, a few of which are with Blood Orange. All dates, including many SXSW-week appearances, are at the bottom of this post.

TRUST, a duo consisting of is Austra drummer Maya Postepski and vocalist Robert Alfons, make vaguely gothy/sleazy synth pop that you could imagine being danced to in warehouses in 1987. The sleaze is apparent with song titles like "Candy Walls," "Gloryhole" and "This Willing Flesh." Musically, I dig TRUST but Alfons sounds more than a little like Bill Hader's Vincent Price impression which makes the whole thing borderline novelty. Their debut, TRST, is out now on Arts & Crafts and you can stream it on Spotify. I bet it sounds great in a club, though, and will say the vocals are less egregious live, and will say I thought TRUST was good last year when I saw them open for Austra.

Doldrums

Doldrums is Toronto resident Alrick Woodhead who guests on Grimes' Visions and will soon be touring with Bear in Heaven. I've seen him perform a few times, like at M for Montreal where I wrote:

(Doldrums) was wonderfully ADD, twiddling knobs, hammering sample triggers and pacing around the stage. Too many ideas crammed into one 20-minute set? Maybe, but it was exciting seeing talent that is only just now beginning to show its potential.

I thought he was even better when I caught him at Glasslands back in December. You're going to be hearing a lot more about this one in 2012.

The Glasslands show on Friday is also with Black Marble, a new musical venture from a couple of the Team Robspierre dudes that definitely falls in the minimal wave pigeonhole. Their Weight Against the Door EP came out last month on Hardly Art last month

TEETH

Later that night at Glasslands its a separate show, with UK electro rockers TEETH. TEETH's debut album, Whatever, came out last year on Moshi Moshi and garnered favorable reviews and comparisons to Crystal Castles and Ponytail. It's loud. It's squelchy. It sounds like being off your face which is probably the optimal way to listen to them. You can stream Whatever on Spotify. The show (doors 11:30) also has Extreme Animals, Nike7Up, and a DJ set from True Womanhood so be ready to go all night.

Okay that's the big stuff for TWII Pt. 1. Tomorrow we'll talk Charli XCX, 2:54, Razika, New Build and more. Below are few more day-by-day show picks for things not covered above.

--
Computer Magic

THURSDAY, MARCH 8

It's a fun night of dancey electronic music when those Kitsune folks (they of the many Maison compilations) bring Gigamesh, Plastic Plates, Computer Magic, Perseus, and JDH to Santos.

Street Gnar, BITCHES, Radical Dads, and Newport Reds are at Shea Stadium

continued below...

Continue reading "Django Django, Daughter, METZ, Teenanger, TRUST, Doldrums, TEETH, Datarock & more in This Week in Indie"

Black Marble

Brooklyn's Black Marble have a show with a pretty solid local bill TONIGHT (2/27) at the Delancey with Plastic Flowers, Young Boys, and Frank (Just Frank) (DJ). They play at 10 PM and admission is $6.

Black Marble, who you might recognize in the above picture from their last project Team Robespierre, also just made a video for "Backwards" off their Weight Against the Door EP which is out now digitally via Hardly Art. You can check that video out below.

If you miss Black Marble tonight, they've got some other upcoming NYC shows including one at Glasslands on 3/9 with TRUST and DZ Deathrays. They also open Light Asylum's record release party at Le Poisson Rouge on 5/3 with oOoOO. Tickets for the Glasslands show and the LPR show are still on sale.

Black Marble aren't playing SXSW, but their label Hardly Art is hosting 2 nights of SXSW showcases at Hotel Vegas this year. Black Marble aren't on either of those, but La Sera, Xray Eyeballs, K-Holes, Jacuzzi Boys, Seapony and others are.

Plastic Flowers and Frank (Just Frank) will be sharing a bill at the Delancey tonight for the second time in less than two weeks. They both opened for Eleven Pond at Glasslands on 2/16. How was that? Plastic Flowers say it was magical.

All Black Marble dates and the video below...

Continue reading "new Black Marble video & a show tonight (updated dates)"

Light Asylum at MHOW in 2010 (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

Brooklyn duo Light Asylum (Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello) made a pretty good impression last year with their In Tension EP, and they're following that with a self titled debut LP, due out on May 1 via Mexican Summer. They just released the gothy first single, "Shallow Tears," with the mostly instrumental "Genesis" on the b-side. You can stream both of those below, along with the album artwork and tracklist.

Light Asylum are going on a short US tour in support of the album which kicks off with an album release party in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge on May 3. TIckets are on sale now. The show is with oOoOO (who also has a new release on the way) and Black Marble, a new project from members of Team Robespierre who has a new release on Hardly Art and are opening for TRUST at Glasslands on 3/9.

All dates, streams, album artwork and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Light Asylum announce LP & tour dates, NYC show w/ oOoOO & Black Marble (dates & new song stream)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Black Marble - "Pretender" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Marble - "Pretender" Pictureplane's Open the Door Remix (MP3)

Speaking of Hardly Art and Pictureplane (who just played 285 Kent), Pictureplane recenty contributed to a remix of Brooklyn synthwave band Black Marble's "Pretender" from Black Marble's forthcoming vinyl release of their debut EP Weight Against The Door via Hardly Art (out on digital now). The remix, originally posted at Mishka, is downloadable above alongside the original, and streaming below beside the video for "Pretender". Cover art is pictured above.

Black Marble will celebrate the release at Glasslands on March 9th supporting TRUST with DZ Deathrays. Tickets are still available for Glasslands.

That's BM's only upcoming date, but it's one of two for TRUST in NYC which are part of a short SXSW-centered tour that now also includes a Chicago show. Updated TRUST tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "check out Black Marble (MP3, video, a Pictureplane remix, a Hardly Art EP & an upcoming show with TRUST)"

DOWNLOAD: Royal Headache - Down the Lane (MP3)

Sydney's Royal Headache are visting the US for a September tour around Gonerfest 2011. They kick things off at Brooklyn's Death By Audio on 9/8 with France's Cheveu, Black Marble & Family Curse, and then continue to Manhattan's Ding Dong Lounge on 9/10 with Home Blitz before continuing on (dates below).

These dudes have been one of the best things about Sydney's resurgent DIY punk scene for a while, on the strength of a self-produced 7" and some pretty amazing live shows, and their album, produced by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Straight Arrows' Owen Penglis, delivers on their early promise pretty comprehensively. There's a '60s pop hue to punk jams like Down The Lane, but they don't come across as revivalists - you can put that down to a combination of a thick romantic streak and a totally prosaic lyrical style which is so terrifically unpretentious that it makes you wonder why so few other songwriters have been able to write like this. [Rose Quartz]

Grab a song above. Dates below...

Continue reading "check out Royal Headache (touring US around Gonerfest) ---- dates & songs"