photos by Amanda Hatfield

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger

South Street Seaport kicked off their season of free River to River shows on Friday night (6/26) with a headlining set by Sean Lennon's band The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger.Blood Orange aka Dev Hynes of Lightspeed Champion opened the show. Pictures from the show are in this post.

The next Seaport show was Sunday afternoon when My Teenage Stride played a set at the Fulton Market as part of the Sound Bites Sunday series of shows that continues on July 3rd with The Hairs. The next free Friday show is this Friday, July 1st with Lower Dens and Dirty Beaches. The full list of Seaport shows (not counting the Beekman Beer Garden ones), and more pictures and videos from Friday, below...

Continue reading "The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (Sean Lennon & Charlotte Kemp Muhl) played the Seaport w/ Blood Orange (pics, video)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Archers of Loaf - What Did You Expect? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Art Brut - "Lost Weekend" (MP3)

Archers of Loaf @ Sasquach 2011 (more by Josh Darr)

This weekend marks the return of '90s indie legends Archers of Loaf who play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday (6/25, sold out) and Webster Hall on Sunday (6.26, you can still get tickets). Opening both shows are Mr. Dream which is as perfect an opener as you could imagine.

I didn't care for their later records (or Eric Bachman's Crooked Fingers) but Archers of Loaf's 1993 debut, Icky Mettle, is an indie rock classic that stands tall alongside No Pocky for Kitty, Slanted & Enchanted, There's Nothing Wrong with Love and Sebadoh III. 1995's Vee Vee is pretty awesome too, and both records are getting the expanded reissue treatment from Merge Records in August. You can download "What Did You Expect?" (a 1994 7"-only release) at the top of this post.

Speaking of Mr. Dream, despite the Voice saying that the lineup was final, they added Mr. Dream today to the upcoming 4Knots Fest at South Street Seaport, and DJs and an indoor lounge too...

The Village Voice is excited to announce the addition of the 4Knots Indoor Lounge during the 4Knots Music Festival on Saturday, July 16, 2011. The lounge, located at 210 Front Street, will be open from 2PM till Midnight with free admission, 21+ only. DJ Sets will take place all day from: Yeasayer, Dan Deacon, Finger on the Pulse, PUNCHES, Brahms, and others TBD. Drink specials from Sailor Jerry and Bud Light will be available along with a PopChips photo booth, and much more.

The inaugural 4Knots Music Festival with also include live music on South Street Seaport Pier 17 from 1-8pm. The Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, Davila 666, Oberhofer, Eleanor Friedberger and Mr. Dream and are all scheduled to perform on the outdoor stage at the free, all day, all ages music festival.

While we're in the '90s milleiu, Mazes are here opening for White Denim on Saturday night (6/25) at Bowery Ballroom. I'll just quote myself here:

When you think Manchester, England you may think Stone Roses and The Smiths, but in the case of Mazes, it's more Sebadoh and Soul Asylum. Not unlike Yuck, this trio owe lots to '90s indie rock as can be heard on their debut album A Thousand Heys which came out in April.

And if you can't make it this weekend, Mazes return for a headlining show at Glasslands on Tuesday, July 5 where they'll play with Beige, Country Mice, and The Hairs.

Art Brut

What else? Art Brut are on tour and played Maxwell's last night and will be at Music Hall of Williamsburg Thursday (6/23). The band's new album, Brilliant! Tragic!, finds Eddie Argos taking it down a notch and almost singing. Almost. It's really more of a whispery type thing -- not unlike Jarvis Cocker -- and for the most part I think it works pretty well. I especially like the single, "Lost Weekend," which you can download at the top of this post. More than anything, I think the music is the best Art Brut have come up with since their debut. And the band remain a lot of fun to see live. Argos is the real deal.

Sic Alps

Sic Alps roll through town on Friday, playing Death By Audio with Spectre Folk and Weekends. As previously reported, founding member Matt Hartman -- who was half the band originally -- has left the group which is kind of weird Mike Donovan is carrying on with the name with Eric Baur and some kid named Ty Segall (who had briefly joined the band a couple years ago). Shouldn't they be called Sic Andes or something now?

Granted, Mike Donovan did most of the singing (and maybe wrote most of the songs) and I'm gonna bet this new version of the band is pretty awesome. Sic Alps most recent album, Napa Asylum, is another smoldering, thick stew of swamp garage. A lot of bands use the low-fi thing as a crutch, but Sic Alps have always used sludge like it's a member of the band. A new 7", perhaps the first fruits of this new line-up, is out in August.

Fulton Stall Market in 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

And finally, a little shameless plugging. Sunday afternoon, June 26th, is the first of my four Sound Bites Series shows which take place at the Fullton Stall Market down at South Street Seaport. You can get your vegetables and jingle jangle indiepop all in one place. This Sunday the latter is provided by scene stalwarts My Teenage Stride. The fun (which includes me DJing before the band) starts at 2PM, and it's all free. Do come down and say hi.

This is the full Sunday show lineup:

JUNE 26: MY TEENAGE STRIDE
JULY 3: THE HAIRS
JULY 10: pow wow!
JULY 17: HOSPITALITY

Some additional daily picks follow:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22

Iceage play a free show at Other Music today.

THURSDAY, JUNE 23

Black Dice's Eric Copeland, McDonalds and Regal Degal play Secret Project Robot. It's a record release party for both Copeland and McDonalds, so do check out the merch table. The Copeland record, Waco Taco Combo, is only a 500 copy pressing.

Dinosaur Jr. are at Terminal 5 performing their classic 1988 album Bug (that's the one with "Freak Scene") in its entirety. And probably some other songs as well. Many people will be going just to see Fucked Up, not to mention Off!.

Beach Fossils and Javelin play Santos Party House. It's a free show if you RSVP.

continued below....

Continue reading "Archers of Loaf, Mr. Dream, Art Brut, Mazes, Sic Alps, Iceage, Sundays @ The Seaport & more in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Pictureplane - "Post Physical" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pictureplane - "Real is a Feeling" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: S.C.U.M. - Summon the Sound (Grimes remix) (MP3)

Pictureplane on Halloween in NYC (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Speaking of Teengirl Fantasy, they're set to head out on tour with Pictureplane in late July. The tour kicks off in Boston on July 20 and hits NYC on July 22 at a TBD location and July 23 at Coco66. Gatekeeper, who also play 285 Kent with Teengirl Fantasy this Saturday night (June 18), open the tour. Tickets for the Coco66 show are on sale now.

Pictureplane will release Thee Physical on July 19 via Lovepump United. The album was produced and recorded by Egedy and mixed/co-produced by Jupiter Keyes of HEALTH. Grab the tracks "Post Physical" and "Real Is a Feeling" above. Those tracks are two of the more mildly-named tracks on the new album. Check out song titles like "Techno Fetish" and "Trancegender" on the full tracklist below.

Both Pictureplane and Teengirl Fantasy also play PS1 Warm Up events this summer in Long Island City, but on different days. As just mentioned, Teengirl Fantasy play on August 27. Pictureplane plays one week prior on August 20 with Juan Maclean (DFA), Blood Orange (Dev from Lightspeed Champion), Solange (Knowles), Grimes, and Ford & Lopatin (formerly Games).

The Juan Maclean (Juan and Nancy)

Juan Maclean has a few other DJ sets coming up this summer as well. Tonight (6/17), as mentioned, he'll transform Williamsburg's Metro Community Laundromat into the Dirty Disco Laundrette with fellow DFA DJ Justin Miller. The flier for the show is below. Tickets are still available (which is not surprising if you look at the price). Juan Maclean also DJs at Cielo Club on June 28 with Eli Escobar and Runaway. Tickets are available.

Blood Orange and Grimes open the Washed Out show at Bowery Ballroom on July 11. Blood Orange also open the previously announced The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger (Sean Lennon) free show on June 24 at South Street Seaport.

S.C.U.M.

In other Grimes news, she remixed the single "Summon The Sound" by British psychedelic punks S.C.U.M.. "Summon The Sound" is off their upcoming debut Amber Hands which comes out late summer/early fall on Mute Records. The band is named for the 1968 feminist tract S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto by Valerie Solanas. S.C.U.M. just finished up a tour with The Kills in the UK. Listen to the original and the Grimes remix (which you can also download above), below.

Grimes also has other upcoming shows with fellow Canadians Gobble Gobble and Pat Jordache. All tour dates, Pictureplane album info, and other stuff below...

Continue reading "Pictureplane LP info & dates w/ Teengirl Fantasy ++++ Grimes, Blood Orange, Juan Maclean & S.C.U.M. too"

crowd @ Warm Up 2010 (more by Zach Dilgard)

The full schedule for MoMa's 20l1 'Warm Up' season at PS1 has since been announced. The dance parties happen at the Long Island City location every Saturday from July 2 through September 3 from 2 PM to 9 PM. Admission is $15 and includes access to all exhibitions and 'Warm Up.' Check out the full lineup below.

As discussed, Four Tet and Matthewdavid play 'Warm Up' on July 9. STBRKT (who recently collaborated with Little Dragon) along with FaltyDL and others are also on that bill.

Other days feature Delicate Steve, Odd Future DJ Syd tha Kyd, Black Dice, Juan Maclean, Blood Orange, Solange, Grimes, Tanlines, Sun Araw and many other DJs, producers and and bands. Das Racist, Simian Mobile Disco, Ford & Lopatin, Gang Gang Dance and a few other groups are performing DJ sets.

More info and the full schedule below...

Continue reading "PS1's 2011 'Warm Up' lineup announced"

Yuck @ Webster Hall in April (more by Toby Tenembaum)

today in NYC
* Evillive
* Triptet @ The Stone
* Glamdamnit @ Party Xpo
* Bomba Estereo @ SOB's
* Sanda Weigl @ Barbes
* Crosstalk @ The Stone
* Anette Askvik @ Sycamore
* Landlady, Big Tree @ Union Hall
* Banda Sinaloense de los Muertos @ Barbes
* Julia Nunes, Allison Weiss @ The Rock Shop
* Dax Riggs, Christina Black @ The Rock Shop
* The New Deal, OTT, Sub Swara @ Terminal 5
* Young Widows, My Disco, Xaddax @ Union Pool
* Nat Baldwin, Spenking, Glass Ghost @ Zebulon
* David Linton, Bruce Tovsky @ Issue Project Room
* Meta and the Cornerstones, Inword @ 92YTribeca
* Class Actress, Javelin (DJ set) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Alaskas, Amir Coyle, Happy New Year @ Silent Barn
* Yuck, Caveman, Family Portrait @ Bowery Ballroom
* Flock of Dimes, White Life, Other Colors @ Glasslands
* Novembers Doom, Woods of Ypres, Gwynbleidd @ Europa
* Sweet Diesel, The Live Ones, Kings Destroy @ The Gutter
* Gary Lucas' Gods & Monsters, Vivisectors @ Knitting Factory
* Peelander-Z, Hard Nips, Friends @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* The Baxx Sisis, Game, Baby Shakes (Japan Benefit) @ Don Pedro
* Slutever, Cousin Brian, Teen Witch, Mannequin Pussy @ Coco 66
* The Measure, Bad Banana, Death First, Big Eyes @ Death By Audio
* Luke Rathborne, Trumpeter Swan, Ruby Coast, Strange Shapes @ Pianos
* The Beets, Surf City, Conversion Party, Holy Shit, Fanuelle @ Cake Shop
* Phone Tag, Doldrums, Amazing Ghost, The Toothaches @ Brooklyn Fire Proof East
* The Wiyos, Roosevelt Dime, The Roulette Sisters, Apocalypse Five and Dime @ Bowery Electric
* The Suzan, Hilly Eye, Care Bears On Fire, Uzuhi, ps xo, The Homewreckers (Japan All Night! A Punk Rock Benefit for Japan Relief) @ Knitting Factory

Today is Free Comic Book Day.

Dev Hynes's project Blood Orange has a new video for "Dinner." Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

DOWNLOAD: Headless Horseman - "1CHRD" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Headless Horseman - "Snow Day" (MP3)

This Friday (2/4) and, every other Friday in February at Pianos, is reserved for Headless Horseman, the Brooklyn duo who recently dropped their five-song digital LP on Bandcamp. Stream it in full below, and download a pair of tracks from a forthcoming "digital seven-inch" due via Greedhead (above).

Fareed & Conner of HH will focus their energies on new material at Pianos, and have roped in a crew of notables during the four week stint. The residency kicks off on 2/4 with sets by Family Portrait, Beige, Mega Fortress, and Philip Seymour Hoffman while Nate of Cults DJs the affair (tickets).

The 2nd week (2/11) features Tony Castles, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson & Brahms on DJ duty (tickets), while a mystery headliner plays with DADS (featuring Hima Suri of Das Racist + Quinn Walker of Suckers) and Blood Orange and a DJ set from Das Racist on 2/18 (tickets). The residency closes on 2/25 with Popo & Android Lust and more TBA (no advanced tickets for that yet). The full lineups and flyer are below.

Meanwhile, Yellow Ostrich kicks off their February residency at Pianos tonight (2/3), and the ARMS residency is already underway.

Cults and Brahms both have other dates in the near future too. As discussed, Cults, Magic Kids, and Superhumanoids are scheduled to take on Knitting Factory on March 30th(tickets) and March 31 at Mercury Lounge (tickets) as part of a larger Cults campaign to SXSW and on to Coachella. Brahms is scheduled to DJ Asobi Seksu's show at Mercury Lounge (tickets) and play Glasslands on 2/24 with Acrylics and New Moods (tickets).

More details on the HH residency, more Brahms dates, the digital 7-inch and the Headless Horseman album stream is below....

Continue reading "Headless Horseman take residency at Pianos (MP3, dates)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"Loved seeing Glasser at MHWB last night! What a voice." - St. Vincent

Wearing a kimono-sleeved red dress that was set off by her backing musicians' matching green jumpsuits, Glasser executed some geisha­like hand movements and a few twitchy twirls. Yet her stage presence was nearly as cold as her music, which emulates Bjork's without that singer's playfulness. Perhaps the chill explains why the crowd thinned noticeably during the set, even though Glasser was onstage for barely 30 minutes. The performance's sheer sonic reach was impressive, but the spirit and spontaneity to distinguish the songs from their recorded versions were lacking. -[Washington Post]

Blood Orange (who plays again tonight and Friday) and Arp both opened the Brooklyn show. More pictures from it below...

Continue reading "Glasser, Arp & Blood Orange played MHOW (pics) "

photos by Brook Bobbins

Glasser @ FADER Fort

Glasser didn't have the best luck with her batch of last minute CMJ shows. The most last minute one of all, at Coco66, never actually happened, and at FADER Fort the power went out during "Tremel", though she (Cameron) made the best of it and sang it with no beat or band. Video of that, with pictures from that FADER CMJ show, below.

Hopefully tonight's gig (11/16), Glasser's biggest headlining NYC show yet, at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn with ARP and Blood Orange (aka Lightspeed Champion sort of), goes off without a hitch. Tickets are still on sale.

All current Glasser dates, along with more pictures from the FADER Fort, the above-mentioned video and some other videos, below...

Continue reading "live Glasser pics/video, show w/ ARP & Blood Orange tonight"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Hundred in the Hands - Dressed in Dresden (MP3)

The Hundred in the Hands (photo by Timothy Saccenti)

The Hundred in the Hands released their self-titled debut album this week on the Warp label and the band play a record release party for it Friday (9/24) at Coco 66 with Blood Orange (aka Dev "Lightspeed" Hynes) opening and Blondes on the turntables. The band will then head out on the road with Australians The Temper Trap. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post, but they include gigs at both Terminal 5 and Wellmont Theater.

The album is a slinky mix of post-punk influenced dance pop, recommended if you like Phantogram or Friendly Fires. (Or to go back a couple decades, New Order or Curve.) No repeats from their This Desert EP from earlier this year, though it does contain last year's "Dressed in Dresden" single, which you can download at the top of this post. As to those influences, members Jason Friedman and Eleanore Everdell have offered up a mixtape on their Soundcloud page that goes a ways to putting their album into context:

Some of the mixtape songs are subliminal references and some are things we just always love while others still are things maybe people have said they've heard in what we do. Mostly our influences tend to be hidden and they're not references at the time or are things that we were listening to a lot and maybe they're in the blood and found their way into the DNA of the songs. Here are also those tracks we love and really did dig into trying and understand and dissect. But, we don't have a formula or a plan, no "Smiths + Surf =...". So, it gets a little stupid then when we're asked our influences and we end up rattling off a long list not all of which appears in the surface of our music. Still, we know what we like.

Continue reading "new Hundred in the Hands LP out now on Warp, mixtape streaming, NYC show Friday before Temper Trap tour (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Golden Haze (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cosmetics - Sleepwalking (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magic Bullets - Lying Around (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stereo Total - Baby Ouh (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unnatural Helpers - Sunshine/Pretty Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unnatural Helpers - Girl in the Window (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bare Wires - Seeking Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Sundelles - Gold (MP3)

Wild Nothing

It's another Double Issue sized column this week with a lot of exciting stuff this week. We'll start with a contest. Wild Nothing headline an all-Captured Tracks bill at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night (8/28) with Cosmetics, MINKS, and Blank Dogs...and we're giving away a pair of tickets to the show. Just send an email to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with the subject line "Wild Nothing" and we'll pick a winner at random.

There's a lot going on in Wild Nothing's world. The band, who hail from Blacksburg, VA, are packing their bags and moving Brooklyn. Not really surprising, except that it took this long. They also have a new EP, Golden Haze, coming out on Captured Tracks sometime in the near future. Apart from the title cut (which you can download above), tracklistings on the CD, 12" and digital versions will vary, which reminds me of the way they used to release multiple versions of UK CD singles in the '90s to get a higher chart position. Fun with formats, or milking the fans? I guess if all the songs are worth hearing it won't matter.

No matter which one you buy, "Golden Haze" is another sparkler from these guys who have been playing a lot of new songs at their shows. And if you haven't picked up their debut Gemini yet, I think it's one of the year's best. And with a permanent line-up (and a new, really solid drummer), Wild Nothing have been a really good live band too.

P.S. Captured Tracks will be giving out free mixtapes at the Bowery Ballroom merch table

Cosmetics

Also on that Bowery bill are Vancouver synthpop duo Cosmetics who are playing a string of NYC shows in this week: tonight (8/25) at the Wierd party at Home Sweet Home, then the Bowery show on Saturday, and finally at Glasslands for Pendu Disco on Tuesday (8/31) with Cult of Youth and Seattle's King Dude. Cosmetics only have two singles out at the moment, though both are pretty good shavings of retro-futuristic minimal disco. (Not too far off from what Glass Candy does.) You can download the A-side of their current single, "Sleepwalking," at the top of this post.

Stereo Total

If you want more minimal beats but with an angular, more arty bent, Stereo Total are playing tonight (8/25) at Le Poisson Rouge. The veteran French-German duo have been supercolliding styles for nearly 20 years. Krautrock, chanson, new wave, punk, garage...Stereo Total make it their own. They were the first band I ever saw at Bowery Ballroom, sometime in 1998, and I still remember a medley they did that featured covers of Salt n' Peppa's "Push it" and Hot Butter's "Popcorn." That's sort of Stereo Total in a nutshell. Their eighth album, Baby Ouh!, is a lot of fun. Check out the album's title track at the top of this post.  The band are just getting started on their North American tour, and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

Magic Bullets

If you're going to see Tennis at Glasslands on Thursday, make sure you get there in time to see San Francisco's Magic Bullets. The band's debut album, just out on Mon Amie Records, recalls the early '80s days of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Haircut 100 and The Style Council, with a little C-86 in there as well. (That's basically the formula to get me to come see your band. Well, one of them.) In addition to drawing from a bunch of influences dear to me, they write some fantastically catchy songs. Download one of them, "Lying Around," at the top of this post.

If you can't make the Glasslands show, Magic Bullets are also doing an in-store at Permanent Records in Greenpoint on Friday (8/27) afternoon and then play Pianos Saturday night with Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion) and Staunton, VA's Cinnamon Band.

Unnatural Helpers

Still more! Seattle's Unnatural Helpers released one of my favorite songs of Summer 2010, the addiction-loving "Sunshine/Pretty Girls," which can be found on the band's Hardly Art debut, Cracked Love and Other Drugs. It can also be found at the top of this post in MP3 form. Download it right now. If there's nothing else quite as glorious on the rest of the album, that makes the rest of it merely very good.  Frontman Dean Whitmore plays drums in The Intelligence (whose forthcoming new album is pretty fab) but where that band is making cerebral garage, Unnatural Helpers punkish driving force is man's other frontal lobe. If you know what I'm saying.

Unnatural Helpers are in the area for four shows. They play Bruar Falls Dead Herring (it moved from Bruar Falls) on Saturday (8/28) with Bare Wires (more on them in just a sec), Shea Stadium on Monday (8/30) with the Babies, Maxwell's on Wednesday, September 1st, and then Cake Shop on Thursday, September 2. The band are then going on tour with Mudhoney, and those dates are at the bottom of this post.

Bare Wires

As mentioned above, the Saturday show at Bruar Falls Dead Herring is with Bare Wires whose new album (their second) just came out on John Dwyer's Castle Face Records, a label that only seems to spring to life when the Ohsees frontman finds a band he likes. (Previous Castle Face releases include debuts from Ty Segall and the Fresh & Onlys.) Though the two previous sentences might lead you to believe Bare Wires to be blown-out low-fi garage. They are in fact a really great power pop band in the tradition of The Nerves or even The Sweet,  and the album, Seeking Love, is decidedly mid-fi. Don't believe me? There's an MP3 of the album's title track up there amongst all the others. These guys know their way around a hook.

In addition to the Bruar Falls show on Sunday (a kind of don't miss in my book if you can tear yourself away from Mad Men and True Blood), Bare Wires also play Friday (8/27) at Monster Island Basement with Xray Eyeballs and Liquor Store.

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And finally, Montreal's incredible Think About Life were supposed to play two shows/cruises on The Boat on Friday (8/27) but the concerts struck a metaphorical iceberg and sunk. (It got canceled.) Luckily, Think About Life abandoned ship and are now playing Santos Party House instead. I've said it a zillion times in the last year, TAL are one of my favorite live bands of the moment and they'll be one of yours too if you go see them. No matter how bad a mood you're in, you'll leave smiling. Don't be dumb...go to this show!

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And a few more recommended shows not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25

Florida's awesome Jacuzzi Boys are playing Knitting Factory tonight for another of those Scion Garage shows, this time with Nobunny headlining. Free with RSVP. I'm not sure what it is about their sound -- the singer's voice, the more garagey Feelies-esque jangle -- but I just love them. Nobunny is fun too, of course, but I kind of wish he'd spring for a new bunny mask. It's getting really, really creepy.

Austin's TV Torso play Death By Audio tonight. Their new EP, Status Quo Vadis, is darkly romantic, atmospheric, and rockin'. It's also a free download via their bandcamp site. I dig it. Also playing: Juston Stens & Get the Real Gang, and Slow Animal.

Tennis play the first of their NYC shows at Cake Shop.

continued below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing, Cosmetics, Stereo Total, Magic Bullets, Unnatural Helpers, Bare Wires, Jacuzzi Boys & more in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Arp - White Light (MP3)

Nite Jewel, photo by Justin Loy

Nite Jewel, Ramona Gonzalez and collaboratot Cole M. Greif-Neill, have a new EP, Am I Real?, out digitally now (and on vinyl August 16th). It's streaming on their site currently.

"In the last two years, somewhere in between the bedroom & the studio proper (the living room?), the 6 songs of 'Am I Real?' were made and the tape hiss barely made it (please see b-side opener 'Falling Far'). Featuring subtly re-vamped & improved selections from last year's hard-to-obtain 'You F O' euro tour cd, the ep also offers the newer fully established ornate melancholy of 'Forget You & I' and the sophisticatedly restrained funk of the closing title track featuring Daniel & Andrew Aged of Teen Inc. Also found on this release are the further benefits of master facilitator & now-official NJ band member Cole MGN." Jason Darrah, Gloriette Records

Nite Jewel's upcoming tour dates include an August 9th show at Mercury Lounge with Violens and Prince Rama. Tickets are on sale. Then they have a double blast of shows on Saturday, August 14th. The first is a gig opening for Neon Indian, Prefuse 73 and Dom at their free Beach at Governors Island show. The second is a headlining show at Glasslands with The Samps, Blood Orange and Arp (who recently played Warm Up at PS1). Tickets are on sale.

Arp, as Pitchfork points out, "will release his latest full-length. The Soft Light [on] September 14 via Smalltown Supersound". An MP3 from that album is above...

"Leading up to the release of The Soft Wave, Alexis Georgopoulos [aka Arp] composed his first score for modern dance in Replica, a duet between Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown dancers, which debuted at New York's New Museum. He played a live score to artist Doug Aitken's film Migration at 303 Gallery (New York), participated in the Boredoms-curated 8.8.08 88-drummer extravaganza in Los Angeles, and remixed Lindstrøm. His music was featured in director Gary Hurstwit's film Objectified. He also made music in Q&A (formerly Expanding Head Band), his new DFA project with partner Quinn Luke, and his band The Alps released two albums III & Le Voyage (Type) to critical acclaim. ARP shared bills with Cluster on the coast of Big Sur, Sonic Boom, White Rainbow, Four Tet, Lucky Dragons, Growing, and Wooden Ships, among others. The track "Potentialities" from In Light was recently featured on James Holden's DJ KICKS. Most recently, he released FRKWYS Volume III, a collaborative album with minimalist composer Anthony Moore, as part of RVNG's new FRKWYS series. The duo recently performed with a string section as part of New York City's Wordless Music Festival."

Continue reading "Nite Jewel released an EP, playing shows, Glasslands w/ Arp (who has an album coming soon) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Oberhofer - Away FRM U (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Golden Triangle - Neon Noose (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Morning Benders - Promises (MP3)

Oberhofer

If you were like me, you spent last night at home puzzling over the LOST premiere (or maybe you went to the Bell House to watch it.) But maybe in an alternate universe I chose instead to go see Oberhofer at Pianos last night. And also in that alternate universe, everyone has health care and I own my own apartment and there is a jukebox in every high school cafeteria. I digress. Luckily for me in this world, Oberhofer are playing again this Friday (2/5) at The Studio @ Webster Hall with Radical Dads.

There's no shortage of bedroom rockers out there hawking their one-man-bands on MySpace, but Oberhofer definitely have something. While there is plenty of every home recording enthusiast's best friends, reverb and distortion, Oberhoffer is not Wavves-style scuzz. The most obvious comparison is probably The Dodos (clattery drums, glockenspiel, whistling), but I even hear a little Real Estate in there too on the track "Away FRM You" which you can download above. You can download a seven-song EP via his MySpace by giving up your email address. While the recordings are just Brad, he's put together an actual band which is what you'll The Studio @ Webster Hall on Friday.

Savoir Adore

Savoir Adore will play Cake Shop the next three Thursdays. Their debut, In the Wooded Forrest, is loaded with great big pop songs and made my Favorite Albums of 2009 list and they are great live too, so if you've yet to check them out live don't wait any longer. The band has hand-picked the bands for their residency shows, and this Thursday (2/4) is especially good, featuring the very good and fun French Horn Rebellion who you might also see opening for Hot Chip this weekend. The two bands help each other out live (FHR's David Perlick-Molinari plays guitar in Savoir Adore; Savoir's singer Paul Hammer plays drums in FHR) so there should be a good party vibe going on.

Also on the bill are DJ/electronic artist Pocketknife and singer-songwriter Cameron Hull. If you'd like to go I've got a pair of tickets to give away. Just send an email with "Savoir Adore" as the subject to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and a winner will be chosen at random.

Hot Chip's show with French Horn Rebellion happens Saturday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. It's sold out, but you can also catch Hot Chip one night earlier at Highline Ballroom with Free Energy. The MySpace Secret Show is free - first come, first served.

Twin Sister

There's a lot going on this week. Also Thursday, at Studio @ Webster Hall is another Twin Sister show put on by blog Chocolate Bobka. (Seriously, McGregor puts on shows like some people put on pants [ie fairly often].) I finally got to see Twin Sister last Friday at Bruar Falls and I was pretty blown away by how good they are live. Last year's Vampires with Dreaming Kids EP (downloadable from their website), as good as it is, doesn't really give an accurate picture of what they now sound like. These days, they're combining '80s-back-to-jazz (Sade, Style Council) with more drony/Krautrock type stuff (Notwist, Stereolab). They were just fantastic live, and I haven't come away from a show that excited about a new band in some time. Totally impressed. Twin Sister have a bunch of shows coming up and I do suggest you check them out soon, as I think 2010 is gonna be big for them.

In addition to Twin Sister, the line-up includes Big Troubles -- who I like and have written about them before), as well as Run DMT, Pigeons, and Alice Cohen.

And a few more quick recommendations:

Miniboone have their record release party at Glasslands on Wednesday night (tonight, 2/3) with a few other worthy bands: Shark?, I'm Turning Into and Pet Ghost Project. $8.

The Soft Pack's debt album is out today, well worth buying, and they play a free all-ages show at Cake Shop on Friday (2/5). Doors are at Midnight. One of my favorite live bands of the last two years. if you miss the small venue show, they'll back back in March April to play Maxwell's, Mercury Lounge and Music Hall of Williamsburg (all just went on sale).

Montreal's We Are Wolves are in town this weekend, and play The Studio @ Webster Hall on Friday (2/5) and Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday (2/6). The Saturday show is also the Hot Chip MHOW afterparty with a DJ set by the band.

Golden Triangle's debut for Hardly Art, titled Double Jointer, is out on March 3 and you can download an MP3 from it, "Neon Noose," at the top of this post. The band will be going on tour around that time as well (tour dates below) but play a one-off show this Saturday at Union Pool with the Cramps-y garage of K-Holes. This should be a fairy debauched good time.

Acrylics play twice this weekend: Friday night (2/4) at Brooklyn Bowl with Tanlines as part of BAM's "Sounds Like Brooklyn" Festival. Then they're on a kind of amazing bill the next night (2/5) at Glasslands that is officially the record release party for Class Actress' debut EP. Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor (who runs Terrible Records that both bands are on) DJs. The show also features Blood Orange (aka Dev of Lightspeed Champion) and The Morning Benders. That's a good show!

An MP3 from The Morning Benders' new album Big Echo (out March 9th on Rough Trade) is above. All of their March and April tour dates in support of the new record are below.

There's a new video for Acrylics' "Molly's Vertigo" after the jump as well, along with tour dates and flyers...

Continue reading "Oberhofer, Twin Sister, Savoir Adore, Golden Triangle, Acrylics, Morning Benders & more in This Week in Indie"

Kaki King @ BAM (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

tonight in NYC
* Hanukkah
* Talibam! @ The Stone
* The Sway Machinery @ a Synagogue
* Roedelius & Celletti @ Saint Peter's Church
* Hanukkah Gone Metal @ Knitting Factory
* The Havens, Annie Crane @ Sycamore
* Your Nature, Blood Orange @ Union Pool
* Mister Saturday Night Loft Party @ Market Hotel
* Unsilent Night @ Washington Square Park
* Tyvek, The Beets, Home Blitz @ Silent Barn
* La Otracina, Early Man, Naam @ The Charleston
* Black Metal Theory Symposium @ Public Assembly
* Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes @ BB King's
* Matisyahu, John Brown's Body, Dynasty @ Webster Hall
* Kaki King, A Rose Parade @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Tombs, Junius, Irepress, Rosetta @ Studio at Webster Hall
* AXIOM plays Steve Reich & John Adams @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Six Gallery, Noxious Foxes, Aficionado, Vesper @ Spike Hill
* A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor @ Town Hall
* Vivian Girls, Yellow Fever, Happy Birthday @ Death By Audio
* Menorah Horah feat. Golem & burlesque by The Schlep Sisters @ Southpaw
* The Rapture (DJ), Populette, James F!*#% Friedman @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Petrol Emotion, The Forgery Series, The Mad Scene @ The Bell House
* A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Frances, The Jaguar Club, Wooden Sky @ Union Hall
* Small Black, Tickley Feather, Aeroplane Pageant, Translations @ Cake Shop
* The Fiery Furnaces, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Human Hearts @ Bowery Ballroom

Happy Haukkah. Check out our new guide to Chanukah events.

There's a craft fair at 3rd Ward, and a naughty holiday party in the same venue later in the night.

Bill's top pick for tonight is That Petrol Emotion.

About the Kaki King show @ MHOW tonight

Kaki King is currently recording the follow-up to 2008's Dreaming of Revenge with producer Malcolm Burn at his Kingston, NY, studio. The new record, tentatively titled Junior, is due out in Spring 2010.

King will be debuting material from the new LP at her show on December 12th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg before heading Down Under for a two-week tour of Australia's major clubs and festivals, including the Falls Festival, Woodford Folk and Southbound Festival.

A Rose Parade will open the Brooklyn show. ARP is a newly formed collaboration between Shannon Funchess (!!!) and Gerard Smith (TV On the Radio).

The Fiery Furnaces play for the 2nd night in a row tonight. Check out their new video for "Even in the Rain", below...

Lightspeed Champion's solo project Blood Orange is at Union Pool tonight. Lightspeed Champion plays Bowery Ballroom in 2010.

Tickets are on general sale for the Eric Clapton / Jeff Beck shows.

Muse tickets are on sale too.

Darlene Love is at BB King's on Sunday.

What else?

Continue reading "Whats going on Saturday?"

Lightspeed Champion @ MHOW in July (more by Bao Nguyen)

Lightspeed Champion's second LP, Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You, is coming out in the US on February 16th (Feb. 1 for UK) on Domino Records. Behind the controls for the album is producer Ben Allen, whose past work includes Gnarls Barkley and his label-mates Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Before the record is out, you can catch Dev Hynes & band at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on Thursday, January 21st. Tickets for the show are on sale now.

He put out a video for the album's first single "Marlene," which will be released on a 10" paired with covers of Serge Gainsbourg's "69 Année Érotique (feat. Valentine Fillol-Cordier)" and '50s singing trio the Fleetwoods' "(He's) The Great Imposter." The video and single info are below.

Despite having recorded Life Is Sweet! in early 2009, Hynes has a had a busy year, both home recording (which he's been sharing online) and performing unique shows, like covering Cat Stevens's soundtrack to Harold & Maude live with the film.

A full detailing of what he's been up to (including working with Solange Knowles (who isn't?), Basement Jaxx and Van Dyke Parks), the new video and new album info are below...

Continue reading "Lightspeed Champion releasing 2nd album + a NYC show, collaborations w/ Solange, Florence, Van Dyke Parks & more"

That's Blood Orange in the picture. Don't tell me you don't recognize the hat. Tonight (9/17) Blood Orange plays Bruar Falls in Brooklyn. Check out the video below...

Continue reading "Blood Orange is Lightspeed Champion (show & video) "