Grouper at Terminal 5 in 2009 (more by Natasha Ryan)

Mini festival Neon Marshmallow is making its way to NYC, after two successful outings in Chicago. The festival will call Public Assembly home over three days (10/14 - 10/16), featuring live performances, DJ sets, and visuals from many artists who embrace experimentalism. Among the bands performing at the fest are names like Tim Hecker, Rhys Chatham (who celebrates 40 years of The Kitchen in September), Grouper, Phill Niblock, and many others that range in genre from Alan Licht to The Men (who are currently touring and will play Saint Vitus on 9/17) to Xeno & Oaklander to La Big Vic. The festival is currently selling weekend passes, though no word on individual days or who will perform on each day. Full lineup is below.

In other news, Grouper, who recently played LPR and Glasslands, has a new digital 7" available. Stream the title track from Grouper's latest Water People 7" below alongside the full Neon Marshmallow lineup.

Continue reading "Neon Marshmallow fest coming to Brooklyn (3 days @ Public Assembly w/ Tim Hecker, Grouper, many more)"

"In the land of free-form radio (aka WFMU), he's known for Kenny G's Hour of Pain. On the Internet he's the mastermind behind the treasured online behemoth, UbuWeb. Join us for a very special evening in which Kenneth Goldsmith curates personal favorites from his website and visually spins them into spontaneous freeform gold. Local bands Growing (Vice Records) and Blues Control (Siltbreeze) will add a touch of controlled chaos to the already unpredictable mix. After the show there will be a mandatory DJ de-brief in the gallery."

Kind of in competition with that is another WFMU-related event happening tonight over at Solar One...

Join DJ Trent as he freaks out to his two favorite movies:

1) David Byrne's TRUE STORIES, starring John Goodman and Byrne, with music by Talking Heads, exploring the changing world of central Texas in 1986
and
2) Daft Punk's INTERSTELLA 5555: THE 5TORY OF THE 5ECRET 5TAR 5YSTEM, an insane anime adventure into the year 5555 set to Daft Punk's "Discovery," possibly the best album ever made.

Since both movies are set to music (but avoid the awful cliches associated with, you know, musicals) it will also be a dance party with $2 Brooklyn Beer all night long. If you can't make it in person, join the fun from home with live audio/video broadcasts at 91.1fm and wfmu.org.

Continue reading "WFMU hosting Growing & Blues Control, and David Byrne/Daft Punk movies (TONIGHT)"

by Andrew Frisciano

The on-again, off-again rain on Sunday didn't cancel the 17th annual WBAR-B-Q, but it did move the show inside to Barnard's LeFrak Gym, a bit different aesthetically from the lush spring greenery outside but serviceable enough. It helped that the lineup had a focus on experimental noise and noise-inspired acts - every act I saw had the reverb and distortion keyed up, so the added resonance of the hall wasn't really an issue.

The show kicked off with Prince Rama, U.S. Girls and Think About Life, all of whom went on before I got there a little after 2pm. By then the free food was gone too, but the cotton candy machine and sno-cones were stocked all day.

On the center stage, Baltimore's Lower Dens (with guitarist Jana Hunter) played floating, moody distorted rock; drone violinist and loopmaster Burning Star Core/C Spencer Yeh serenaded (with huge bass drops) along the back wall; and Blues Control performed effects-heavy keyboard-and-tape jams.

The room looked fairly empty for most of the day (being a huge gym), but by the time Cold Cave went on people were on their feet and dancing. New member Jennifer Clavin (ex-Mika Miko) played keys and stepped in for vocals, and the band was off after a short-ish, no-encore set. Twin Stumps and their crazily enthused frontman set up on the floor across the gym and kept the show going with dissonant, pointed punk. Liturgy closed the show, but I took off before they played.

It was the second free show of the weekend for Cold Cave, who played the HEALTH-headlined NYU Solar One show the day before (which I heard also had plenty of room for people to move around). They play (Le) Poisson Rouge on Thursday with Cult Of Youth, Beaut, Max (reading), Mike Goodstein (WFMU) and DJ Mike Simonetti (Italians Do It Better). Tickets are still on sale.

More pictures from Barnard and a video of HEALTH at Solar One are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave (and a lot of bands) played free shows @ Solar One (for NYU) & in Barnard's LeFrak Gym (WBAR-B-Q rain location)"

Xeno and Oaklander @ WBAR-B-Q 2009 (more by Zach Dilgard)

The 17th annual WBAR-B-Q (the outdoor show put on by Barnard College's resident radio station) will be happening this year on Sunday, April 25th. The free show lineup includes Think About Life (as previously reported), Cold Cave, Blues Control, Liturgy, Burning Star Core, Prince Rama Of Ayodhya Jana Hunter
Twin Stumps and U.S. Girls. The full list is below.

While in town, Montreal's Think About Life will also be playing Mercury Lounge on April 27th. Tickets are still on sale. Even sooner you can catch Think About Life on tour and at SXSW where they'll be playing a BrooklynVegan party (again).

As previously mentioned, Cold Cave will be playing at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Thursday, April 29th. Tickets to that are on sale.

Liturgy play a show this Saturday (3/6) at Glasslands with Naam.

More info on the fest and set order is below...

Continue reading "17th Annual WBAR-B-Q lineup (w/ Cold Cave, Blues Control, Liturgy, Burning Star Core, more)"

Warm Up @ PS1 on July 4th - the last one is today (more by Zach Dilgard)

tonight in NYC
* Warp20 Films @ New Museum
* Rockabilly Fest @ Coney Island
* Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio @ Jazz Standard
* Warm Up w/ Rong Music & Glenn Branca @ PS1
* Benjy Ferree, The Black Hollies @ Mercury Lounge
* Talib Kweli & DJ Premier, Jimi James, more @ Sputnik
* Pit Er Pat, Javelins, Crazy Dreams Band @ The Bell House
* Chairlift, Here We Go Magic, John Maus @ Bowery Ballroom
* Wild Yaks, The Fakers, Justice of the Unicorn @ Bruar Falls
* Phosphorescent, Tune Yards, Mike Bones @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Tribute to Rashied Ali w/ Collective Language, more @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Warp20 w/ Jimmy Edgar, Hudson Mohawke, Clark, more DJs @ WFC Winter Garden
* Cinema Red & Blue, Ladybug Transistor, German Measles @ Cake Shop
* A Tribute to Connie Converse w/ Gina Leishman, Marissa Nadler, Scott Matthew, more @ Joe's Pub
* These Are Powers, Grooms, Ecstatic Sunshine, Smith Westerns @ Under the Tracks
* Kevin Seconds, Jack Terricloth & Sandra Malak Bridge & Tunnel, Gimme Drugs, Calderon @ Maxwell's
* Electric Zoo w/ Armin van Buuren, deadmau5, Tiga, Busy P, Steve Aoki, The Whip, and many, many more @ Randall's Island
* Warp20 closing party w/ Jamie Lidell, Born Ruffians, Hundred In The Hands, more @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Dances With White Girls, Team Facelift, Them Jeans, Lauren Flax, Phenomenal Handclap Band (DJ) @ Santos Party House
* Block Party w/ Golden Triangle, K-Holes, Knyfe Hyts 81, Cult of Youth, Georgiana Starlington, more @ Monster Island

Today is the final PS1 Warm Up of the summer. Music comes from Rong Music, Glenn Branca and more.

If you're looking for something less upbeat, the tribute to Connie Converse looks like it may be an amazing show at Joe's Pub tonight. David Garland of WNYC is involved, and Marrisa Nadler & Scott Matthew both have amazing voices.

Warp20 brings Jimmy Edgar, Hudson Mohawke, Clark and special guest DJs to WFC Winter Garden for a free show. Then later there's the Warp20 closing party at (Le) Poisson Rouge with Jamie Lidell, Born Ruffians, Hundred in the Hands and more. Jamie Lidell's video for "Multiply" below...

Electric Zoo is happening on Randall's Island today (with Armin van Buuren, deadmau5, Tiga, Busy P, Steve Aoki, The Whip, others) and tomorrow (Special Disco Version, Andy Butler, more).

The Benjy Ferree/Black Hollies tour comes to Mercury Lounge.

Phosphorescent, Tune Yards and Mike Bones play Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tune Yards is back in October for a show at Union Hall.

Monster Island hosts a free block party/show with a massive lineup that includes Golden Triangle, K-Holes, Knyfe Hyts 81, Cult of Youth, Georgiana Starlington, and Le Rug with Fiasco.

Jelly NYC is throwing a party Under The Tracks with music from These Are Powers, Grooms, Ecstatic Sunshine, The Smith Westerns and Knight School.

Kevin Seconds (of 7 Seconds) wraps up his tour with a show at Maxwell's. Jack Terricloth and Sandra Malak from World Inferno Friendship Society, Bridge & Tunnel, Gimme Drugs and Calderon are also on the bill. A video of Kevin performing "Boy Leader", below...

The Coney Island Rockabilly Fest runs through Monday.

Cinema Red and Blue (a Comet Gain side project), Ladybug Transistor and German Measles (who all share a member) are playing Cake Shop with opener Jacques Detergent.

Can The Beatles: Rock Band Save the Music Business?

Blues Control's video for "Rest on Water" is posted below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday? (Labor Day Weekend)"

DOWNLOAD: Pissed Jeans - Dream Smotherer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pissed Jeans - False Jesii Part 2 (MP3)

Pissed Jeans @ Market Hotel 4/17/09 (photo by Richard Petrucci)

Pissed Jeans played Brooklyn's Market Hotel twice earlier this year - once with Fucked Up on Inauguration Night (January) and again (as you can see above) in April. There's a video of the April gig below.

The group's new record, King of Jeans, is out today (8/18) on Sub Pop who write...

If 2005's Shallow was Pissed Jeans coping with moving out of their parents' homes, and 2007's Hope for Men their initial reaction to the mechanical lifestyle of a wage-earner, King of Jeans is their formal and uneasy acceptance of adulthood, by way of one hell of a rock record. Working with renowned producer Alex Newport (who holds a Fudge Tunnel pedigree and has worked with such luminaries as At the Drive-In, The Locust and Sepultura), Pissed Jeans have pushed further into the raw, minimal core of heavy rock music with King of Jeans. Masters of the mundane, beasts of the banal, high priests of the humdrum: these four, white, male high school graduates hardly look further than their own appendages for artistic inspiration, content to execute their own brand of brash and heavy punk music in the Joe Carducci-approved standard rock formation of guitar, bass, drums and vocals. From simple minds and simple fabrics comes this King of Jeans. And there can be only one.

Pissed Jeans will be back in NYC on October 7th with Kurt Vile & The Violators and Coconuts. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

That's one of many shows on Vile's packed fall schedule, which is in full below. He'll also be bringing the Violators along for an appearance on WFMU's Brian Turner Show (91.1 FM or online) today (August 18th) at 3pm.

Over the weekend Kurt played shows at both Cake Shop and Silent Barn with Blues Control. Videos from the Silent Barn show, along with all tour dates, album info and videos are below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile played Silent Barn (video), playing WFMU (today) & Mercury w/ Pissed Jeans (new album out now - MP3, stream)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Kurt Vile - Overnite Religion (MP3)

Troll 2

Kurt Vile will be playing a Rooftop Films event on July 31st. There he'll ditch his backing band the Violators for a performance before a screening of the documentary on the film Troll 2, "the legendary worst movie ever made, according to IMDB ratings."

That flick is such an event, Rooftop Films decided to stretch it over two nights. On July 30th they will show the actual film, accompanied by a performance from The Drums (one of many upcoming shows from that band, who also played last night at the Bell House). Other bands with Rooftop Films shows scheduled include Stars Like Fleas and Teengirl Fantasy. Full schedule below.

Vile (with the Violators on hand) just played the first of several upcoming shows with Blues Control (who announced more fall dates, below) at Bruar Falls on July 17th. Blues Control's distorted wall of sound worked well through the club's cozy sound system, but the arsenal of the Violators maybe pushed the backline a little too far. Lyrics and flourishes that came through crystal clear at Broadway Backyard (where he played one of my favorite sets of the day) roared out as energetic albeit indeterminate gestures. Not quite as engaging, considering many of the songs still aren't out in recorded form.

Vile's Matador debut, Childish Prodigy, is still on the way. Check out mellow jam "Overnite Religion" off that, above. The full Rooftop Films schedule, with all Kurt Vile and Blues Control tour dates, and the Troll 2 trailer, below...

Continue reading "upcoming Rooftop Films (Troll 2) & other Kurt Vile tour dates "

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Andrew Frisicano

Kurt Vile & the Violators played without a doubt one of the best sets at the July 4th Woodsist Festival. Having heard only his fragile sounding acoustic material beforehand, the bluesy screeches and wails that came throught the speakers were a welcome surprise. With the Violators behind him, Vile comes armed with a wall of riffing guitars (in addition to his own) that provide all the layers and energy you could hope for in a live show. Pictures from his set are in this post. Vivian Girls played the same day, as did a bunch of other bands (whose pictures are HERE). Pictures from Day One of the fest (which took place in Market Hotel due to rain) HERE.

Kurt's next NYC show, a July 17th Bruar Falls gig, is part of a mini Violators/Blues Control tour that also includes Boston and Western Mass stops.

They'll be back though.

After Blues Control's August 1st CD release show (for Local Flavor, out now) at Cinders Gallery, the acts team up again, this time with Vile solo. They'll play two NYC shows at the Cake Shop and Silen Barn on August 14th and 15th, respectively, and an August 16th show in Vile's hometown of Philly.

In fact, if you feel like getting out of NYC for a night, Vile has a slew of Philly gigs only a bus-ride away. Those are all posted below. At the end of August, he'll be on the West Coast touring into September.

Blues Control's Local Flavor just came out on LP through Siltbreeze and CD through Midheaven/Revolver. (Vile even contributes on a few tracks.)

Kurt Vile's big Matador debut, Childish Prodigy, recorded by "philly-genius engineer" Jeff Zeigler, will be out this fall on the label.

More Woodsist Fest pictures and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile - Woodsist/CT Fest pics & 2009 tour dates (some w/ Blues Control who are playing other shows too) "

The Feelies @ Battery Park (more by Jason Bergman)

Feelies have added a 3rd Maxwell's show to the two that were already planned for the venue on July 3rd and 4th. The additional gig will happen at Maxwell's on Thursday, July 2nd. Tickets to that show are on sale. Tickets to July 4th gig are still available too. July 3rd is sold out.

Feelies are scheduled to play their 1980 album, Crazy Rhythms, in full at ATP NY on September 11th.

Before that, Feelies will open the Whitney's Dan Graham Retrospective music series on June 26th with a special acoustic set.

That Whitney series had a "TBA" listed for the Friday, July 24th show with YellowFever. The "TBA" band will in fact be Woods who fit in perfectly with rest of the bands playing the museum that month... Vivian Girls, Titus Andronicus, etc..

Other upcoming Woods shows include July 15th at the Bowery Ballroom with WAVVES', and the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest happening July 3rd and 4th at 979 Broadway Backyard in Brooklyn. Woods member Jeremy Earl is also head of the Woodsist label (whose roster includes WAVVES).

Woods will also be at the Saturday, June 13th Northside Fest show at The Shank. That Woodsist-friendly bill also includes Kurt Vile (and the Violators), who was on the label and recently signed to Matador, Grooms (ex-Muggabears) (also playing the Whitney), Pygmy Shrews and Blues Control.

Woods' own new full-length, Songs of Shame, was co-released in April by Woodsist and Shrimper Records.

Blues Control's 2007 disc Puff came out on Woodsist; their new LP, Local Flavor, is out July 14th on Siltbreeze. The record includes a guest contribution by Kurt Vile on trumpet and acoustic guitar. And the Northside Shank show isn't the only Vile/Blues Control show coming up. The two bands will share a NYC bill twice in August - at Cake Shop and Silent Barn.

More info on those gigs, plus all Woods and Blues Control tour dates, with album info, below...

Continue reading "Feelies add 3rd NJ show, Woods playing the Whitney & other shows w/ Woodsist bands, Kurt Vile, Blues Control..."

fancy new art & Times New Viking @ Market Hotel (c89)

"So, just to get this out of the way: Market Hotel's new art installations make for some fucking awesome background shots. A bit less 'punk'/'DIY' than before, but way more art school dropout/middle school play about the inside of your stomach." [DARKWAVEVAWKRADARKWAVE]

With those gigs gone, the Bell House has announced that TNV is the "secret guest" at the Agit Reader's one-year anniversary celebration at the Brooklyn venue on Saturday, June 13th. Other acts include Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, the Mad Scene and El Jesus de Magico. Tickets are on sale.

Blues Control, who played with TNV on Sunday the 10th, has a short weekend tour coming up and NYC shows scheduled. Those include a Thursday, May 21st show at Coco 66 with Thrones, Lake and Popped Blimp; a Northside Fest appearance at the Shank with Kurt Vile, Grooms, Woods and Pygmy Shrews; and a set on June 21st at Goodbye Blue Monday's Make Music NY festivities. A new LP/CD from Blues Control is due in July on Siltbreeze.

One of Blues Control's last NYC shows was an opening gig for Animal Collective at NYC's Grand Ballroom in January. (FYI: Animal Collective is back in town now.)

All TNV and Blues Control tour dates, with a video of TNV playing two songs on Record Story Day '09 from their forthcoming Matador album, below...

Continue reading "Times New Viking played Bowery Ballroom & Market Hotel (with fancy new art) -- playing The Bell House (tix on sale) "

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Nick Masi

Dave Portner: There have definitely been other times when we want people to understand we're just normal guys. We're not these weirdoes that a lot of people pin us down as trying to be. It's been, in that way, important for us to talk to our fans and meet people. That takes away from the mystery, I guess. But it's important to have an understanding when you feel like you're stepping over the boundaries that we've set. I think there are still certain things about our records, or the music-making process, that we really don't care for people to know. Like, certain technical things. We're not so into having photos of us taken in a studio, or anybody coming when we're working in the studio, because there's a side of it that's really personal to us and just between us. [a recent Pitchfork interview]

Tickets for the sold out show were in demand, but the general admission room wasn't uncomfortably packed. The crowd was young. It was an early night - I was back on the street before 11PM.

After an opening set by Blues Control, Animal Collective kicked the set off with MPP's opening track "In the Flowers," and from there they played a nice mixture of songs - old and new. The crowd went nuts for "My Girls," "Brother Sport" and the now classic "Fireworks." The setlist didn't include all of MPP (no "Bluish" "Taste," "Also Frightened", or "No More Runnin"). Maybe they'll finish it off on night two. The show could have been louder, but that got better by the end, most noticeably during a a crazy version of the bass-heavy, show-closing, "Slippi". All in all I wasn't disappointed, but they left the door open for tonight to be even better.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Animal Collective @ Grand Ballroom in NYC - pics "

Animal Collective's January 20th show at Grand Ballroom is sold out, and they just added a new one, one day later, at the more intimate Bowery Ballroom. Tickets went on sale tonight. One catch: you need a password to get your (max) 2 tickets.

January 20th is the day AC's new album Merriweather Post Pavilion is released on Domino Records. The cover art, tracklist, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Animal Collective add Bowery Ballroom show, tour dates"