photos by Jim Brueckner

Emmylou Harris

Day two (7/31) of Newport Folk Festival featured performances by The Cave Singers, Wanda Jackson, Justin Townes Earle, Middle Brother, Elvis Costello, M. Ward, Emmylou Harris and others. If you missed the fest, you can listen to archives of the sets at NPR.

Like they've done in the past, Emmylou Harris and Elvis Costello performed together on one of Elvis's songs. She performed guest vocals with him and The Imposters on "Scarlet Tide."

Mountain Man also played day two of the fest. Pictures of their set are HERE. Pictures from the first day are HERE. The rest from day two, below...

Continue reading "Newport Folk Fest 2011 - belated Day 2 pics & audio (Emmylou Harris, Middle Brother, M Ward, Elvis Costello & more)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Fleet Foxes, touring in support of their new Sub Pop album Helplessness Blues, played their first of two shows at United Palace Theater in NYC last night (5/18) with the Cave Singers. Pictures from the show, including one of the setlist, are in this post.

They do it again tonight, then appear on Fallon Friday, and finish the tour in Upper Darby, PA on Saturday. Fleet Foxes' other upcoming dates, mostly scheduled in July, now also include Austin City Limits in September. All of them are listed below.

You'll notice on the Wednesday night setlist it says "solo break." That's when Robin Pecknold came out and played "Oliver James" to lead off the encore. Robin, who toured solo with Joanna Newson not too long ago, released a free 3-song solo EP even more recently. That EP, which contains a duet with Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear and a Chris Thompson cover, can be downloaded and streamed, under the rest of the pictures, below...

Continue reading "Fleet Foxes & the Cave Singers played United Palace (night 1 pics & setlist, more dates & Robin's free EP too)"

DOWNLOAD: The Cave Singers - Swim Club (MP3)

Jagjaguwar reports:

"Two great Jag bands on one bill! Lovers of folk music and piano-based, experimental pop, pull out your crisp, new 2011 calendars and get ready to mark this down. Seasoned live favorites The Cave Singers will headline a spring tour in support of their upcoming album, No Witch, with their label-mate Lia Ices and her band's first US tour. Both will appear at SXSW this March at the Jagjaguwar showcase and more (details are forthcoming)."

All of those tour dates are below and they include March 31st at Music Hall of Williamsburg (though according to the tour dates Lia isn't opening that show, but we'll see). Meanwhile you can catch Lia this week in Detroit, Chicago and Indiana, and at her CD release show at Joe's Pub in NY on February 1st.

The Cave Singers' album "No Witch" will be released on 2/22 (cover art above). You can downlod "Swim Club" from that LP above. All dates below...

Continue reading "Lia Ices touring w/ the Cave Singers, playing Joe's Pub (dates & a new Cave Singers MP3 from 'No Witch')"

Move over wolves, crystals, girls and bears. Caves are cool now. Following in the footsteps of cave granddaddies Cave-In (who recently reunited to cash in on the cave phenomenon) and Nick Cave, there seems to be a sudden influx of cave bands hitting the scene. Maybe it all really started back in 2007 when Pretty Girls Make Graves broke up and Derek Fudesco formed The Cave Singers (Pretty Girls Make Caves) who were almost immediately signed to Matador which two years later also became the home of Cold Cave. According to Wikipedia, Cold Cave have been a band since 2005, but the dark synthpop group with hardcore roots didn't actually release anything until 2008. Their Matador debut, which really made them a household indie rock name, came in 2009.

Earlier this year, the popular LA all-girl punk band Mika Miko broke up leaving prominent member JennifEr ClAVin without a musical home, but not for long. She quickly joined cave band Cold Cave, thus adding even more credibility to the cave scene. On April 29, 2010 (last night), Cold Cave played a headlining show at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. How was it? They reportedly played for 35 minutes and it was their third NYC show in less than a week. The first was at Solar One, a free NYU Earth Day concert with HEALTH. The next was up at Barnard in a gym due to rain that forced it inside.

Continuing along with the partial inspiration or this post: Cave and Caves. This one was especially confusing me lately, in part due to the emails I get on behalf of both bands. I had to take a second and confirm in my mind that these were two different groups.

CAVE (I think it's all capital letters) is a psychedelic Chicago rock band with an impressive resume and a bunch of releases dating back to 2006. You may have caught them on their November tour. If not, don't fear, the band have a loaded show schedule this summer that includes the Pitchfork Festival, the Sled Island Festival in Canada, dates with Quintron and Miss Pussycat, and two NYC shows: August 14th at the Studio at Webster Hall and August 15th at Issue Project Room. A new 12" CAVE EP entitled Pure Moods will be released by Drag City in May (though the download seems to be available now). All tour dates below.

Caves (plural) started in San Francisco, but like the Morning Benders, now live in Brooklyn. Like Cave, they also fall into the psychedelic category. And though they are looking for a drummer, they actually have five local shows coming up including a record release party at Cameo tonight (4/30). Said the Gramophone has an MP3. You can listen to more at their SonicBids page. All dates below.

Caveman

Also tonight, 4/30, in the NYC-area: Caveman are opening for Here We Go Magic at Maxwell's. The four-part harmonizing Brooklyn band (who has opened for Here We Go Magic before) is the new project from Matty Pickles of The Subjects. Other members are Subjects guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti, Jeff Berrall of Elefant, Stefan Marolachakis from The End of the World, and Sam Hopkin. Maybe you caught Caveman at Cameo (or Caveo as some call it) on April 19th. Shannon did:

"I returned to the mystical back room just in time to hear Caveman self-deprecate and be casual and charming, then nonchalantly break into a pretty tight, polished set that would stop you in your tracks on Bedford Avenue if you heard it coming out of a record shop. I mean, check out the song "Decide," on Caveman's Myspace here. They have such a lovely, echoed lo-fi sound. I believe the band is somewhat newly formed. I gather this from something they mentioned in their stage banter and because I have their set list from that night in my purse, and more than one song began with "New Jam # ...," which I find incredibly endearing."

They are new (their first show ever was at Bowery Ballroom with White Rabbits in January), and I agree on the checking out their MySpace recommendation too. There you will find two beautiful songs (demos). "December 28th" is especially Grizzly Bear/Fleet Foxes-esque. If you miss them tonight, they also have a NYC show scheduled on May 19th (at Sway?).

Finally, last but not least, I'll wrap things up with Cave Bears. They, like Cleveland's Clan of the Cave Bear, have successfully combined both caves and bears, but the mind-expanding experimental, and sometimes silly, Massachusetts band has a sound all their own (at least compared to anyone else in this post). No wonder they recently shared a bill (the same night Cavebear played Cameo) at Death By Audio with guitarist and Thurston Moore collaborator Bill Nace, the Thurston Moore approved Fat Worm Of Error, and Darren Mabee's band We are the Seahorses. Video of their wacky live show with everything else, below...

Continue reading "Caves are the new Bears (except for Cave Bear) "

DOWNLOAD: Elvis Perkins - Slow Doomsday (MP3)

Tickets are on sale for the shows Elvis Perkins is playing at Bowery Ballroom (with Bowerbirds) and Music Hall of Williamsburg in December, and updated dates were just announced along with news of a new EP...

"We call this thing The Doomsday EP for obvious reasons, and its middle name to which it also answers is The EP of the Id. Being drawn to the many faces of the American strain it seems we have more or less subconsciously produced a collection speaking to/and or from several of them at once. It's a document of impulses sleeping egos and their superiors let pass to tape. I myself didn't know what these songs sounded like in the hands of EPID until they were processed and played back. You have a song that arrived like the rest of us by boat, a selection from the Sacred Harp, a rock 'n roll heralding the eternal advent of rock 'n roll, an ode to the soul of the undead and, finally (and firstly), two takes on a single song called Doomsday, one which comes from our March release and the other which leans in the direction of its original conception as something of a gospel number. And here they all are, risen from their cribs and graves, under one moonlight while their folks and undertakers look the other way." - Elvis Perkins

The Doomsday EP will be released by XL Recordings on October 20th. A free MP3 from it, is available above.

The new tour dates include a September 2nd solo show at Housing Works Bookestore Cafe in NYC. Members of Ra Ra Riot will be DJing. The show is part of a series of events "to celebrate and promote Yellow Bird Project's new Indie Rock Coloring Book". "All proceeds will benefit Yellow Bird Project and its network of charities, and Housing Works, the nation's largest community-based AIDS services organization." Tickets are on sale.

All dates and the new EP tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Elvis Perkins - new MP3, EP, tix, tour dates (Housing Works)"

DOWNLOAD: The Cave Singers - Beach House (MP3)

Back in April, we reported on the Cave Singers' new album plans. The August 18th Matador release of that record, called Welcome Joy, is approaching. To go along with that, the Seattle band has announced a month of fall tour dates, which kick off September 5th in Vancouver, where they recorded the record.

Amber Webber (of Black Mountain & Lightning Dust) and Ashley Webber (also of Lightning Dust) played on the album session, and their group, Lightning Dust, will open for the Cave Singers on tour, including at the NYC stop which is at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, September 19th. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 3rd at noon (with probably an AmEx presale starting Wednesday).

"Beach House," the first MP3 from Welcome Joy, is posted above. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Cave Singers - new MP3, album, tour dates w/ Lightning Dust "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: The Cave Singers - Seeds of Night (MP3)
DONWLOAD: The Antlers - Bear (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Antlers - Two (MP3)

The Cave Singers

Friends; we have finished our new record and it is currently kiting toward the pressing mill. We hope you are well, and finding life filled with a bit of love.

Album should be coming out on August 18th, yeah, I know, BBQ Time! Let's light it up and cut it up and steal our own cars of the future. Love is love.

Keep on keeping on. Cave Bros.
[Cave Singers' Myspace, March 25, 2009]

The Cave Singers (ex-Pretty Girls Make Graves) have a month-long April tour planned. That includes 2 NYC shows this week. On Wednesday, April 1st (TONIGHT), the band plays Union Hall in Brooklyn with Pepi Ginsberg (Tickets). Then, Thursday, April 2nd the Cave Singers play Mercury Lounge with Pepi Ginsberg (again), Phantogram, and Brooklyn's The Antlers (Tickets).

The Antlers are also playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 7th with Here We Go Magic and Hymns (Tickets)

The Antlers' great new album called Hospice (pictured) is out now. Grab two tracks from that album for free at the top of this post.

Nearly all other dates on The Cave Singers' upcoming US tour are with Golden Boots and Dr. Dog (who'll be at the Clearwater Festival in June).

The Cave Singers' last record was its debut Invitation Songs, which came out on Matador in 2007. A video and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Cave Singers - new album soon, 2009 tour dates, 2 NYC shows - 1 w/ The Antlers (who are also playing MHOW) "

DOWNLOAD: Black Mountain - Drugganaut (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lightning Dust - Listened On (MP3)

Black Mountain's next album comes out in early 2008 on JagJaguwar. Lightning Dust is the side project of Amber & Josh from Black Mountain. Lightning Dust's self-titled album came out on JagJaguwar in June - it was around then that they went on a West Coast tour with The Cave Singers. Next - The Cave Singers are going on tour with Black Mountain. They play Mercury Lounge and Southpaw on October 10th & 11th. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Black Mountain & The Cave Singers - 2007 Tour Dates"