Book fans take note of the Brooklyn Book Fest schedule, with "bookend" events starting today (9/15) and running through Sunday (9/18). One of the many events is a musical evening at Goodbye Blue Monday tonight....

Bovary? A tango for Anna Karenina? Every title, author and genre is fodder for songs written and performed by local musicians including Corn Mo, Phoebe Kreutz, Franz Nicolay, Sweet Soubrette, Dan and Rachel and Natti Vogel, inspired by Keith Richards' autobiography. Hosted by Susan Hwang.

Another takes place at Issue Project Room. The actual festival is on Sunday.

by Andrew Frisicano

Bushwick Book Club, the series that challenges songwriters to tackle a new literary subject each month at Goodbye Blue Monday, will be hosting a double-bill of sorts on Tuesday, April 6th (tonight). The usual themed event will be happening and will focus on songs about Dolly Parton's memoir My Life And Other Unfinished Business. Performers include Major Matt Mason, Franz Nicolay (via Skype), Maria Sonevytsky, Susan Hwang, Sarah Pappalardo, I Feel Awesome, DanyJulieyDany, Angela Carlucci, Matthew Varvil and Joe Crow Ryan.

The second part of the evening is that the show is also a release party for The Bushwick Book Club, Volume 1: 2009, a 58-song MP3 CD of songs from the first year of the Book Club by Franz Nicolay, Corn Mo, Jeffrey Lewis, Phoebe Kreutz and more. A fuller list with a bigger version of the artwork by Jeffrey Lewis, below.

Six of the 58 (including Franz's Watchmen-themed song) are streaming on the Book Club's Myspace.

The reading assignments for 2010 and a list of more artists that appear on the CD, below...

Continue reading "Bushwick Book Club releasing a CD, hosting more shows "

by Andrew Frisicano

Ex-Hold Steady troubadour Franz Nicolay is currently on the West Coast prepping for a short tour that kicks off from there next week, but that won't (hopefully) stop him from joining in via Skype on this month's Bushwick Book Club at Goodbye Blue Monday on Tuesday, April 6th (tonight).

His other upcoming dates include NYC-area shows on April 23rd show at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, May 11th show at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park with Bomb The Music Industry, and a May 14th performance at the release party for Kate Rockland's debut novel Falling Is Like This, at Word Bookstore in Greenpoint, along with music writer Rob Sheffield.

He's also set to play a May 21st edition of the weekly Small Beast series gone big at the Angel Orensanz Foundation. Ticket info for that is forthcoming, and the lineup should include Botanica, Barbez, Bee & Flower, Little Annie, Spottiswoode, Blasco and others.

This May and June Franz heads to Europe as a touring member of Florida punk rockers Against Me, who have a new album, White Crosses, out June 8th on Sire Records. Franz says, "Gonna be a touring Against Me for the summer. I have already prepared my beard and promise to give at least the recommended 35 percent." For whatever reason, the band isn't using Franz in the US though. They kick off a North American tour without him in April and play Asbury Park's Stone Pony on April 29th. Tickets are on sale (Sweden's Moneybrother is also on that bill and part of the tour). Against Me!'s new video for the song "Rapid Decompression" off the new record is below with all dates. The LP will be their second on Sire and their first since the departure of drummer Warren Oakes (replaced by Hot Water Music's George Rebelo).

Meanwhile, Franz's Hold Steady compatriots have been putting up tracks from their new album, Heaven Is Whenever, set to come out May 4th. The record's piano and keyboard parts (which are right up front on some of the new tracks) are played by guitarist Tad Kubler. Three of those new ones are streaming on their Myspace.

As for Franz, he's also released a book & other assorted projects, and soon, a new CD.

[After my tour], I'm starting work on my new full-length with producer Jim Keller, who's worked with everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Willie Nelson to Mastodon. Unlike "Major General," it's all new songs, nothing from the vaults - and in case you're curious what that means, I've posted demos for two of the songs, "Felix & Adelita" and "This Is Not A Pipe," at myspace.com/franznicolay. Hope you like.

All Franz & Small Beast tour dates, and Hold Steady & Against Me album info are below..

Continue reading "Hold Steady streaming new songs, Franz Nicolay keeping busy, playing in Against Me! (but not for their upcoming US tour) "

Little Boots @ Bowery Ballroom in September (more by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* Shout Out Louds @ Pianos
* Soulive & Vernon Reid @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Living Days, Follower @ Glasslands
* Flogging Molly @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* Bobby Previte @ Rose Live Music
* Corinne Bailey Rae @ Apple Store Soho
* K-OS, Jon Oliver @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Gil Scott-Heron & Friends @ Blue Note
* Jay-Z, Young Jeezy @ Madison Square Garden
* Afuche, Elks, Hyimn, Wizardry @ Death By Audio
* Rogue Wave, Avi Buffalo @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Bushwick Book Club plays 'Dark Knight Returns' @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Little Boots, Class Actress, Body Language, JDH & Dave P @ Highline Ballroom
* Cage the Elephant, As Tall As Lions, Morning Teleportation @ Bowery Ballroom
* Sky White Tiger, The Beasts of Eden, Wu Li, Holistic @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* The Music of the Who w/ Sondre Lerche, Robyn Hitchcock, Living Colour, Bob Mould, more @ Carnegie Hall

Tonight's So So Glos show at Littlefield has been cancelled.

Tonight's K-OS w/ Jon Oliver at Le Poisson Rouge has been cancelled.

JBM has been added as opener for tonight and tomorrow's Rogue Wave shows.

Thom Yorke is going on tour in April. Tickets for some of the shows go on WASTE presale some time today. UPDATE: went on sale and sold out.

Bushwick Book Club this month features songs about Dark Knight Returns (the comic). Performers include Breez Evahflowin, Core Rhythm, Timothy Dark, Susanna Pryce, Anna Leuchtenberger, Susan Hwang and We Stole the Show - flyer below.

Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 tour visits MSG tonight. He plays Izod Center this weekend and Nassau Coliseum next, and you can catch him at both Bonnaroo and Coachella this year.

Soullive kick off "Bowlive", a 2 week residency at Brooklyn Bowl tonight. Flyer below.

Shara Worden is curating 2 nights at 92YTribeca Friday and Saturday. A video of her (My Brightest Diamond) performing "Golden Star" live, below...

The Twilight Sad is going on tour with Mono. Their video for "The Room" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

We Were Promised Jetpacks @ Southpaw Friday (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Digital Primitives @ Zebulon
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Tanya Morgan, Black Sheep @ SOB's
* Tune-Yards, Dragons of Zynth @ Union Hall
* An Evening Without Monty Python @ Town Hall
* Akiko Yano, Will Lee, Chris Parker @ Joe's Pub
* Lights, Stars of Track & Field @ Mercury Lounge
* Wovenhand, White Hills, Silver Summit @ The Bell House
* Sufjan Stevens, Cryptacize @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* The Honorary Title, Good Old War, Cory Branan @ Maxwell's
* Lou Barlow & The Missingmen, John de Vries @ Mercury Lounge
* Ex-Humans, Human Eye, Liquor Store, VLC, Terrible Twos @ Don Pedro
* Bushwick Book Club: A Confederacy of Dunces @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* The Toxic Avenger, Mixhell, Franki Chan, Alex English @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Darlings, Snakes Say Hiss, Boogie Boarder, Tony Castles @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Twilight Sad, BrakesBrakesBrakes, We Were Promised Jetpacks @ Bowery
* Steve Martin & The Steep Mountain Rangers, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys @ Carnegie Hall

Lou Barlow & The Missingmen and John de Vries (of Agitpop) play Mercury Lounge, kicking off what looks to be a solid week at the venue. There's Kurt Vile & The Violators tomorrow and Thee Oh Sees on Thursday (both with Still Life Still and others), then Pierced Arrows on Friday and Drummer (the Black Keys side-project) on Saturday. For all of those bands, minus Kurt Vile and Lou Barlow, it isn't their only NYC show. And Barlow will be back in November with Dino Jr.

Detroit's Human Eye spend their second night in a row in NYC.

A trio of UK acts The Twilight Sad, BrakesBrakesBrakes and We Were Promised Jetpacks play Bowery Ballroom. Their Southpaw show happened on Friday.

Steve Martin & The Steep Mountain Rangers bring bluegrass (and openers Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys) to Carnegie Hall. They play NJ's Wellmont Theatre next week.

Bushwick Book Club tackles John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces at Goodbye Blue Monday tonight. Acts include Herb Scher, Susan Hwang, Isaac Gillespie, Josh Deeter, Preston Spurlock, Laura Brenneman, Maria Sonevytsky, Matthew Varvil and Ben Berlin. A flyer is below.

Sufjan Stevens and Cryptacize move to Music Hall of Williamsburg for NYC show three of four.

An Evening Without Monty Python, an Eric Idle-directed show, is at Town Hall through October 10th. Monty Python reunites October 15th at NYC's Ziegfeld Theater.

The Roots are at Highline Ballroom.

Tune-Yards (Merrill Garbus of the recently broken-up Sister Suvi) plays Union Hall with Dragons of Zynth. She's going on tour with Dirty Projectors in November (incuding that band's 4 NYC shows at Bowery Presents venues).

Mission of Burma's new video for "1, 2, 3, Partyy!" is posted below. It's the first song their new Matador LP, The Sound The Speed The Light, out today.

Damian Abraham, of the Polaris Prize-winning band Fucked Up, goes record shopping. Video below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Screaming Females @ The Yard last Saturday (more by Sarahana)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* David Bazan on the LES
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Pet Shop Boys @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* The Killers & Wolfmother @ Jones Beach Theater
* Stardeath & White Dwarfs, Dinowalrus @ Maxwell's
* Bushwick Book Club: Short Stories @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Graffiti Monsters, GDFX, Starscream, Covox @ Shea Stadium
* State Champion, Giving Up, Cabinet of Natural Curiosities @ Union Hall
* Screaming Females, Shellshag, You Without Teeth, Black Wine @ Mercury Lounge

Pet Shop Boys play the first of two nights at Hammerstein Ballroom.

Screaming Females killed it at the Yard on Saturday. They headline tonight at Mercury Lounge with Shellshag, You Without Teeth and Black Wine. They've got more dates coming up too.

Bushwick Book Club at Goodbye Blue Monday gets self-referential this month, with a night of songs based on short stories written by past Bushwick Book Club performers. The lineup includes Corn Mo, Franz Nicolay, Brer Brian, Susan Hwang, Ben Krieger, Lenny Molotov, Laura Brenneman, Deenah Vollmer, Phoebe Kreutz, Maria Sonevytsky and Buffy Rosanne. The flyer is below.

The Roots continue their weekly residency at Highline Ballroom.

MTV is streaming Jay-Z's new Blueprint 3. Jay-Z is playing a benefit show on September 11th at MSG. He recently held a press release about the planned show, which is embedded below along with a creepy video of Beyonce & Solange, who came with Jay-Z, to the Pool Party on Sunday (maybe you've heard?)..

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up. Nothing is going right lately.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Nels Cline @ Central Park Summerstage on Saturday (more by Paul Bachmann)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Steely Dan @ Beacon Theatre
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Frankie Negron @ Red Hook Park
* Craig Wedren w/ ACME @ Joe's Pub
* Kath Bloom, Little Wings @ Zebulon
* Los Campesinos!, Girls @ Webster Hall
* Depeche Mode, Peter Bjorn & John @ MSG
* Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ City Winery
* Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ Hudson Square
* Incubus, The Duke Spirit @ Radio City Music Hall
* Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe @ Beach at Governors Island
* Dark Habits DJs with Mia Clark, Sara Jaffe @ Bruar Falls
* White Hills, Modey Lemon, Fiasco, Prisms @ Death By Audio
* Portugal the Man, Pistola, The Sway Machinery @ Union Pool
* Sister Mantos, Mirror Mirror, Light Asylum, Rachel Mason Band @ Glasslands
* Gary Panter & Devin Flynn, R. Stevie Moore, Ear Pwr, Toro y Moi @ Cake Shop
* The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Dig, Hollerado @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Stories in High Fidelty w/ Dean Wareham, Dan Kennedy, Rob Harvilla @ Union Hall
* Bushwick Book Club w/ Corn Mo, Susan Hwang, M. Lamar @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Duke & the King, Tyburn Saints, Morning Pages, Maya Solovey @ Mercury Lounge
* Jenny Scheinman w/ Nels Cline, Jim Black, Matt Penman @ Le Poisson Rouge

Free outdoor music tonight includes Frankie Negron at Red Hook Park and Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit at Hudson Square. Jason and band also play inside City Winery for another show tonight.

The Rural Alberta Advantage play a free show with The Dig and Hollerado at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The Duke & The King play Mercury Lounge tonight...

"The Duke and the King is an alliance of Simone Felice of the Felice Brothers and his longtime friend (and sometime George Clinton collaborator) Robert "Chicken" Burke, along with a highly talented cast of others. They have pulled off a quite remarkable feat on Nothing Gold Can Stay - each song somehow sounding like a classic, each live performance suggesting we are in the presence of a rare, fiery brilliance." [The Guardian]

songs:illinois says, "The new record from The Duke & The King may not be a full fledged concept album but it might as well be. The album is so full of songs about lies, recriminations, bad choices, lost loves, regrets and the joys and horrors of a misspent youth that you get the picture pretty quickly." Videos below..

Los Campesinos! and Girls kick off their tour with a show at Webster Hall. Last night they played Union Pool.

The Roots continue their residency at Highline Ballroom, and they just announced a show with Common at Terminal 5.

Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe play the first AEG show at the Beach at Governors Island.

Depeche Mode and Peter, Bjorn & John play a second night at Madison Square Garden. PB & J are also playing a secret show somewhere.

Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren plays at Joe's Pub with classical group ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble). Shudder to Think comes to town September 2nd.

Jenny Scheinman performs in her last gig for a while with Mischief & Mayhem (Nels Cline, Jim Black and Matt Penman) at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

The monthly Bushwick Book Club series tackles the Bible at Goodbye Blue Monday. Songwriters include Corn Mo, Susan Hwang, M. Lamar, Sweet Soubrette and Emilyn Brodsky. Flyer below.

Dean Wareham follows up his Dean & Britta Celebrate Brooklyn show on Saturday with a reading at Union Hall. The event, Stories in High Fidelty, will also feature music writer Dan Kennedy and Village Voice music editor Rob Harvilla.

Mia Clark (Electrelane) and Sara Jaffe (ex-Erase Errata) read from the new book The Art of Touring at Bluestockings, then DJ at Bruar Falls tonight.

The Cribs, whose lineup now includes Johnny Marr, put out a new video for "Cheat On Me," posted below. Marr previously gigged with Modest Mouse, who just released their Heath Ledger-directed video for "King Rat," also below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Hollis J. Mason (1916 - October 31, 1985) is a character in the comic book limited series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics. He is called Nite Owl and is a modified version of the various Blue Beetle characters created for Fox Feature Syndicate and later sold to Charlton Comics. [Watchmen Wiki]

According to Geekanard, last night's Bushwick Book Club (the Watchmen themed one) at Goodbye Blue Monday, "saw a full hour and a half of music, and while as with any open-mic night there will be varying degrees of quality, it was definitely a good time. There was also at least one truly great song that got right to the heart and soul of one of Watchmen's most endearing characters."

That great song was performed by Franz Nicolay (of Hold Steady fame). Check out the video below...

Continue reading "Franz Nicolay was Hollis Wadsworth Mason Junior @ Bushwick Book Club last night (video) "

The Roots @ Highline Ballroom (photo by Nathan Miller)

tonight in NYC
* Phish @ Jones Beach Theater
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Mandy Moore @ Highline Ballroom
* Neil Innes of the Rutles @ BB King's
* Isis, Pelican, Tombs @ Irving Plaza
* Sessions at Santa's w/ Skint, Light Asylum (DJ) @ Santos
* Emilie Simon, Holiday Shores @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Love Is All, Real Estate, The King Left @ Maxwell's
* Rock Plaza Central, Suckers, John Reichmann @ The Bell House
* Art Brut, Murder Mystery, Les Sans Culottes @ Mercury Lounge
* Bushwick Book Club: Watchmen w/ Franz Nicolay, etc @ Goodbye Blue Monday
* Afrobeat Fest w/ BLK JKS, Geko Jones, Uproot Andy, Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew, Blue Nefertiti's Paris@Night, Yacouba Diabate, Mamodou Konate, Afrobeat Radio DJs @ Knitting Factory

Mandy Moore is playing a free early show at the Highline Ballroom tonight for those who buy her new album, Amanda Leigh, from Best Buy. Entry is first come first served. Reviews of the album aren't all horrible so far.

Tonight is the first show of former Tonic owner Melissa Caruso Scott's curating run at The Stone.

Pearl Jam was Conan's first Tonight Show musical guest. They played "Got Some" off their forthcoming record Backspacer -- video below. (Tonight is Green Day). Jimmy Fallon has Steve Martin and Paul Simon.

The Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay will be at tonight's edition of the Bushwick Book Club at Goodbye Blue Monday. This month book is Watchmen, which means Franz and the rest of the night's performers will be playing songs they've written about the comic specifically for the occassion. Check out a poster for the gig, below.

The Grates played SXSW all the way back in March, but they just posted some video diaries from their trip now. Watch below...

Cheetah Chrome and The Blackhearts played Europa in May. A video from that show below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Rumor has it that LES spot Rockwood Music Hall (196 Allen Street, NY, NY) will be expanding its current, limited-capacity venue. Have you heard that?

The intimate venue, is known for being a great place to see a live show and for hosting surprise/secret performances by well-known artists like Ryan Adams and Norah Jones (under the guise of side-bands like The Sloppy Joannes and Puss n Boots). In fact, Puss n Boots ("P n B") is scheduled to perform at Rockwood on Saturday, May 9th. They played Mercury Lounge earlier this year.

The next night, Sunday, May 10th, the venue's Second Sundays series will host its "closing concert" from 6-8pm with special guests. The series organizer Danielle writes that the event is transitioning "from a monthly event to special event format. For now, let's just say...it's less, 'all good things come to an end' and more, 'good things come to those who wait.'" Performers for the event include Jonathan Spottiswoode, Elizabeth Ziman, Paul Brill, Jamie Leonhart, Casey Shea, Sasha Dobson (who is 1/3 of Puss n Boots) and Becky and Nathan Bliss of Barnaby Bright.

At Rockwood later the same night will be singer/accordianist/keyboardist Corn Mo (who opened for Dead Milkmen at the Warsaw in April), and a mysterious "Bushranger." (any clue?)

Casey Shea, in addition to playing Sunday the 10th, is also playing Rockwood tonight (5/6). He goes on long after Jeremiah Lockwood of The Sway Machinery, and right before a mysterious "Archibald Hext" (Ari Hest?). Check Rockwood's site for their latest full schedule.

Last night (May 5th), Corn Mo played the Bushwick Book Club (not at Rockwood), a first Tuesdays event in Brooklyn where songwriters compose and perform original tunes inspired a selected book. This month's subject was Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Other performers included event organizer Susan Hwang, Natti Vogel, Josh Deeter, Lady Blanche, Anna Leuchtenberger, Duck and Swallow, Joe Crow Ryan, Sara Lautman, Andrea Larose, Dan Costello, and Rachel Devlin. Franz Nicolay of the Hold Steady performed at the series' March edition, which focused on the novella Flatland. He's on the schedule again for June 2nd, when the collective inspiration will come from Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Flyers, videos & Corn Mo clips, below...

Continue reading "Rockwood Music Hall expanding? - upcoming shows include Corn Mo, Puss n Boots, 'Archibald Hext' & 'Bushranger'"