By Bill Pearis

Siren singer. Champion skronky guitar solo-er. Drone princess. Dressed in an iridescent dark green smock-frock, Welsh singer Cate Le Bon looked a like Crannogmen royalty at Mercury Lounge last night (2/9), where she held court over a rapt, smiling audience. Those who didn't come as fans left as converts. There is nobody quite like her and, for me, this is the current show to beat for 2012.

Previous visits from Le Bon have been mostly solo, which fit the general faery folk vibe of her first album. Le Bon's new LP, Cyrk, is definitely a "band" album, however, and the group she brought with her were more than capable of recreating its pastoral psych-rock. The night opened with the icy and discordant "Julia" but things warmed up from there as band members switched places as Cate went from guitar to keyboard and back again for singles "Puts Me to Work and "Fold the Cloth." Only her New Zealander drummer, who was flash-free but rock-steady, stayed in one place the whole night.

He also got the evening's biggest laugh. Cate invited the audience to go on tour with her, at least to tonight's show at Maxwell's where we'd get "the same band, and the same songs." Then the drummer piped in, "...but New Jersey" and immediately hit a rimshot to much groans and laughter. The evening finished as Cyrk does with the two-part "Ploughing Out," which starts off gentle and haunting but grows into a chugging, noisy rocker. In a tribute to Wales legends Super Furry Animals (Gruff Rhys was one of her early champions), the songs comes to a clamorous end with Cate and the bassist crossing their instruments like swords.

Cate plays Maxwell's tonight (2/10) before continuing on tour, again with openers Pigeons, and I highly recommend you go to this show (and then stick around for the comedy). If you haven't heard Cyrk yet, it's one of 2012's best so far. You can download "Puts Me to Work" at the top of this post, watch the video for "Fold the Cloth" below, or stream the whole album on Spotify. But really, go see her live. Click through for a couple more grainy cameraphone pictures from Mercury Lounge, and all 2012 tour dates...

Continue reading "Cate Le Bon played Mercury Lounge, plays Maxwell's tonight"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Cate Le Bon - Puts Me to Work (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ed Vallance - Crystaline (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Old Monk - Warm Moustache (MP3)

Veronica Falls

Veronica Falls are back for what is, by far, their biggest NYC show to date: they play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday. The band's debut was my #2 Album of 2011:

"Found Love in a Graveyard" made my Favorite Tracks of 2009 list and have been waiting a full-length ever since. The band does not disappoint. There's not a dud in Veronica Falls' 36 minute running time. New songs are equals to early singles which appear here in newly recorded versions that might actually improve on the originals. This is haunted pop, a brisk October breeze that calls for a nice cardigan.

Veronica Falls just released a new track, "My Heart Beats," to coincide with their North American tour and you can stream it at the bottom of this post. The song is sunnier than what they normally do but still fits within their sound. Sounds like a single to me. The band are touring with Slumberland labelmates Brilliant Colors (in from San Francisco) and local noisemakers Grooms are also on the bill.  Tickets are still available. Veronica Falls look timid in their press photos, but they whip up a storm live. Go see 'em.

Bleached at BV CMJ 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

After the MHoW show, Bleached will also be part of the Veronica Falls/Brilliant Colors tour. (Dates at the bottom of this post.) The band are currently on the road with The Black Belles, a tour that rolls into town onSaturday (2/11) at Knitting Factory that also has Bleeding Rainbow (formerly Reading Rainbow) and Habibi on the bill. I caught Bleached at the BrooklynVegan day party during CMJ last year and thought they were a lot of fun in a Runaways kind of way. Good snarly attitude and big hooks. Maybe you caught them last week opening for Smith Westerns at Webster Hall?

Habibi

It's worth showing up early for Habibi, whose debut single (streamable below) is a cool, understated take on '60s girl group sounds. You can stream it below.

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Cate Le Bon

As excited as I am to see Veronica Falls on Thursday (2/9) , I might be slightly more pumped to catch Cate Le Bon's early set at Mercury Lounge that same night. (She also plays Maxwell's on Friday [2/10] as part of her tour) I've been pretty enamoured with the Welsh singer's new album, Cyrk, that came out a few weeks ago. The spare, detached vibe is a little like the Velvet Underground or Electrelane or Stereolab, but there's a hint of pastoral psychedelia in there too. (Shades of Welsh indie royalty Gorky's Zygotic Mynci). The record is loaded with wonderful little touches that reveal themselves with repeated listens. It's a fantastic album.

You can download single "Puts Me to Work" at the top of this post and stream Cyrk at Spotify. Cate has played New York a few times, usually solo, but for this tour she's got her band with her which should be pretty special. Both shows are with local band Pigeons.

Ed Vallance - 'Volcano'

What else is going on? London born, Brooklyn-based singer Ed Vallance released his second album, Volcano, this week and plays a record release show tonight (2/8) at Pianos. The record is dramatic turn from the indie folk of his debut. I bet he still writes his songs on acoustic guitar, but the approach to the arrangements and production are definitely have definitely taken a pop approach this time. While this sort of stuff isn't in vogue so much these days (it's got a distinct early '00s post-Radiohead vibe) it's quite lovely nonetheless. You can download the single "Crystaline" at the top of this post and stream the album at Spotify.

In addition to tonight's show at Pianos, an early show with Pursesnatchersopening, Ed's doing a month-long residency at the Ace Hotel, playing every Sunday in February.

Jeremy Jay

And finally, K Records artist Jeremy Jay is in town this week, playing Glasslands tonight (2/8) and Cake Shop tomorrow (2/9). Jeremy's most recent album is Dream Diary, which came out about a year ago. Like most of his work, it's minimal folk rock with a strong '80s influence. He's an engaging live performer, and tonight's Glasslands show is a stacked bill with Boston psych-folk band Quilt, quality locals Slowdance and Backwords. The Cake Shop show is with Sapphire Mansions and a couple TBDs. (Cake Shop's website isn't especially updated these days.) Jeremy lives in London these days, so go see him while he's here -- all tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

That's the big stuff this week. Some more day by day picks, of things not already covered, are below.

Old Monk

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

The second week of Old Monk's Cake Shop residency is tonight. These guys are good! Tonight's with Haybaby, elctro-rockers Year of the Tiger and Code Name Viper.

continued below...

Continue reading "Veronica Falls, Bleached, Habibi, Cate Le Bon, Ed Vallance, Jeremy Jay, Ida & more in This Week in Indie"

Cate Le Bon at the Rock Shop last month (more by Bryan Bruchman)

Cate Le Bon is releasing her second LP, CYRK, on January 17 via The Control Group. The album will be the followup to her 2009 debut, Me Oh My. It includes the track, "Fold The Cloth," which you can watch the video for below, along with the album artwork and tracklist. She also recently recorded a Daytrotter session, where she played some material off of the new album.

Cate Le Bon is touring in support of the album this February. Her tour will hit the NYC area on February 9 at Mercury Lounge and February 10 at Maxwell's. Tickets are on sale now for the Mercury show and the Maxwell's show.

All dates, video, artwork and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Cate Le Bon -- new album & 2012 Tour Dates"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

Cate Le Bon @ The Rock Shop

"I'm not one for overly dressing up. My 'on-stage look' is my everyday look. It's most important for me just to feel comfortable and feel like myself when playing. I've brought quite a few jumpsuits with me and my trusty fringed T-shirt dress. I am a fan of buying second hand and vintage clothing--it's more fun than buying clothes off the peg and it's nice knowing there's little chance you'll ever bump into anyone else with the same item. I [also] like to pretend I'm French and dress like I imagine a French woman to dress--although a French woman would probably never dress like a Welsh woman imagines her to."
- Cate Le Bon to Elle

Welsh woman Cate le Bon played a post-St. Vincent tour show at Brooklyn's The Rock Shop last night with H. Hawkline. Here are some pictures. They continue below...

Continue reading "Cate Le Bon & H. Hawkline @ the Rock Shop (pics)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

Twinkling blue lights covered the backdrop of the stage like stars when I arrived at Webster Hall last night (11/3), but as if to mirror the sparse simplicity of opener Cate Le Bon's brief solo set, everything faded to black when the Welch singer-songwriter appeared carrying a single electric guitar. Themes of heartbreak shaped Le Bon's songs, injecting a note of sadness into her deep, rolling voice. Though much of her older material is in Welch, Le Bon sung in her native tongue just once last night - to cover the Gruff Rhys song "Pwdin Wy 2."

Though Le Bon later lent backing vox to St. Vincent, the contrast between the performances of the two female artists was stark. The lights and effects were minimal for Cate Le Bon, but for the main act, columns of rainbow-colored light shone through the thick, machine-generated fog. A master performer, Annie Clark easily matched the intensity of the light show with her explosive guitar solos and urgent lyrics, often introducing slight deviations not found in the recorded versions of her songs to keep things interesting. Though covered in shadows for the majority of the evening, her backing band of 3-4 was solid.

Clark drew heavily from her most recent album, the excellent Strange Mercy, omitting just one song ("Hysterical Strength"), but she also peppered her set list with a handful of older songs, like "Marrow" and the buoyant "Actor Out of Work."

Apart from her sheer talent - Clark's voice was flawless, what made her performance so compelling was her ability to channel both her sweet and kick-ass sides. One minute, she was charming the audience with stories of chatting up eccentric bar tenders and sneaking into cemeteries to chase deer, and the next she was crowd surfing while playing the guitar. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the appropriateness of the title of her chosen cover, The Pop Group song, "She Is Beyond Good and Evil." At one point, a debate broke out in the audience:

"Shred it Annie!" someone yelled.

"She doesn't shred!"

"Yes she does!" a third person quickly countered.

"What is this, a live Twitter feed?" Clark joked.

I do believe this debate was resolved several times over.

Clark wrapped her show with a two-song encore of older songs, ending on "Your Lips Are Red," the only song from her debut album that made the cut. Annie also stage dove during the song, continuing to play on the crowd, but then back on stage in time to sing "your skin's so fair it's not fair."

Despite the annoying strobes that started to take over as the night progressed, St. Vincent's show will undoubtedly make it into my top ten list this year.

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St Vincent's tour comes to an end in Boston tonight, but you can catch Cate Le Bon again Monday at the Rock Shop.

More pictures and the setlist from Webster Hall, below...

Continue reading "St. Vincent & Cate Le Bon played Webster Hall (pics/setlist/review)"

photos by Tim Griffin

DOWNLOAD: Cate Le Bon - Puts Me to Work (MP3)

St. Vincent @ ACL Live

St. Vincent is currently touring across America with Cate Le Bon in support of Strange Mercy which was released by 4AD back in September. That tour actually comes to an end on Friday in Boston, but not before a sold out show at Webster Hall in NYC tonight (11/3). Don't have a ticket? MTV will be streaming the show live. Want to just see Cate, and in a much more intimate setting? She's back for a show at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on Monday. You can download Cate's new single at the top of this post.

Annie and Cate played the Moody Theater at ACL Live on 10/24. Tim was there and his pretty pictures continue below...

Continue reading "St. Vincent & Cate Le Bon are here --- NYC show live stream, Austin pics, a Rock Shop show & an MP3"

words & photos by Ben Lozovsky

Oh No Ono might have a solution to the fuel crisis. After a manic SXSW run that saw them play six shows in four days, the Danish band continued to churn out gigs, making their last two pit-stops in America before heading back to Europe. The first was Wednesday (3/24) at Mercury Lounge; showing little signs of road wear, the five piece brought back their big hair and bigger musical ambitions to one of the same venues they played in January.

With a seemingly endless supply of renewable energy, Oh No Ono kept their Egg rolling, playing a set packed with numbers from their 2009 album. If there was perhaps any consequence of exhaustion, it could have been Oh No Ono delving into longer stretches of ambient territory as wide rumbling preludes smoothly introduced circuitous numbers like "Swim" and "Eleanor Speaks." It could also be more of an elaboration on the moments of quiet discomfort that pop up throughout their last recorded effort. On Eggs, those spots of downtime and atmosphere hardly prepare you for the largeness of oncoming numbers. Live, Oh No Ono used those build-ups more effectively, adding anticipation and counter balances to their riotous assemblage of electronic fuzz and extraterrestrial power pop.

Oh No Ono's singular variety of space funk surely is not without influences; at times on the album, they channel predecessors ELO, Of Montreal, and Air. But as a red-cheeked bunch of Danish lads only could - by replacing cocaine-induced sunshine (of the former) and sexualized serotonin (of the two latter) with a full on barrage of plutonic happiness.

They still might be drugged or sexed up on the side, but musically Oh No Ono represent a youthful abstention from all those frontiers of full-on adulthood. Sometimes it worked to their disadvantage, when things got off-kilter and out of sync at times Wednesday night.

But for the most part, in concert, they used their unrelenting rambunctiousness to move away from the more borrowed elements of their sound. Even during a jaw-dropping cover of Radiohead's "Weird Fishes (Arpeggi)," which has now been planted firmly in their repertoire, they took momentary ownership of the slinky number with a post-rock meets punk-fireworks interpretation. In drilling the depths of well-known rock iconoclasts, they've found a new source of fossil fuel all their own.

Their show last night was with Little Dragon and VV Brown at Music Hall of Williamsburg. More pictures from Mercury Lounge where Cate Le Bon was the opener (and their setlist), below...

Continue reading "Oh No Ono & Cate Le Bon @ Mercury Lounge - pics & setlist"