photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Patricia Scull

Dan Black @ Bowery Ballroom

Dan Black headlined Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night (9/10), one night before he played a pair of Fashion's Night Out events. Dan returns to play a dancey BMI & SPIN CMJ showcase at Highline Ballroom on on October 19th, eleven days after he is scheduled to play Austin City Limits 2010. Also playing that CMJ show are The Golden Filter, Neon Hitch, Boy Crisis, Body Language, and The Chain Gang of 1974. Tickets are on sale for those who don't have and/or want to chance getting in with a CMJ badge.

Pictures and a review of the Bowery Ballroom show, continue below...

Continue reading "Dan Black played Bowery Ballroom (pics), playing CMJ (tix) "

photos by Brook Bobbins & Alexander Stein

"saw Die Antwoord & MIA @ HARD NYC last night. FRESH! Gummo + Vanilla Ice + Mortal Combat = Die antwoord." - Katy Perry

people copping a feel @ Die Antwoord @ MHOW Sunday night (by Brook Bobbins)

After making their US debut at at Coachella and their NYC debut at at the Creators Project event in June, South African internet-rap group Die Antwoord dug in with a pair of weekend NYC shows on July 24th and 25th. On Saturday, they were part of the M.I.A.-headlined HARD NYC Fest on Governors Island (where they 'stole the show' ), and on Sunday, the group headlined their own show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Love them them or hate them, there's no denying they cause people to react. To quote Lori Baily who was also at the sold out show at MHOW Sunday night, it was "one of the most rapturous receptions for any band I've ever seen live. Amazing". Saturday's show at Governors Island was just as off the hook, and vulgar, and fun. Regardless of what you think, the signed-to-Interscope, YouTube sucesss story are here to stay, for now at least.

The Answer (aka Antwoord's name translated) have more shows coming up this year (including Virgin Mobile FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, on Saturday, September 25th.

More pictures from both NYC shows, and a few videos, continue below...

Continue reading "Die Antwoord played MHOW & Governors Island (pics, video) "

DOWNLOAD: Annie - My Love Is Better (Sunkh Knight remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Annie - I Don't Like Your Band (MP3)

Annie's second album, Don't Stop, was supposed to come out last year, and for the Norwegian singer's net-savvy audience, it basically did. The version of the record that is being commercially released now is a bit different from what leaked in 2008-- a few tracks have been cut, a few more have been added-- but since it is being released with a bonus disc that includes every notable excluded track save for her cover of Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts", the final product is less glass-half-empty and more cup-runneth-over. [Pitchfork]

The bonus disk is an EP called "All Night" - tracklisting below. Two tracks off the new album (one being a remix) above. A video for a different "new" song below.

Annie won't be performing live to promote the release, but she is in town as a DJ. You can catch her at Tribeca Grand tonight (11/21) where Boy Crisis is also playing. The flyer for that show and all dates below...

Continue reading "Annie - new albums out (MP3, video), DJing in NYC tonight"

photos by Ryan Muir

At what can only be described as one of the worst live shows I've ever seen, Das Racist took the stage of Public Assembly Sunday night (8/30) (around 11:30pm) (four hours after the Grizzly Bear show had ended right down the street) and proceeded to play 3 or 4 or was it 5 songs with an extended Wesleyan-related lineup (Ryan says they called the whole band "Spanish Broads").

The jokey trio, Das Racist, already permanently feature a member of Boy Crisis on drums. They also have a college in common with many bands that now call Brooklyn home. Santigold, MGMT, Amazing Baby, Bear Hands, Francis & the Lights, Extra Life, Mobius Band, Boy Crisis and Chairlift are all from, or have members who went to Wesleyan University in CT. Apache Beat might not be directly related to Wesleyan (I can't say for sure), but like Suckers, I'll just throw them into that MGMT-friends, Wesleyan-related group.

Despot somehow fits into all this too. We know he is tight with Islands who Das Racist recently opened for. And he's friends with Amazing Baby too. MGMT are also one of his top friends. And by the way he was getting all close with Das Racist on stage at Public Assembly, I guess they are good friends too.

Imagine 20 kids being introduced to instruments for the first time. They're brought into a classroom, at a 'touch museum' or in pre-school, and they're all handed various noise-making devices. One gets a triangle, another a tambourine. Some get to beat drums, while others rub a stick back and forth on a grooved piece of wood. They all start making noise at the same time. Now just replace the triangles and grooved wood things with drum machines and microphones. Throw in very loud, amplified volume, and you've sort of got Sunday night's show.

Despot did not rap at all. The Taco Bell song, or a version of it, was one of the 'songs' played. The person in the ET mask is a dude from Chairlift. Cerebral Ballzy opened the free show, but I missed them because I was next door at Music Hall of Williamsburg trying to figure out who Edward Sharpe was (more on that later). More pictures from the Public Assembly show below...

Continue reading "Das Racist w/ members of Boy Crisis, Chairlift & Apache Beat & Despot @ Public Assembly in Brooklyn - pics "