After teasing us with lineup addictions day by day over the past few days, the full lineup of Austin City Limits 2012 is finally here. Check it out below....

Continue reading "Austin City Limits Festival -- 2012 lineup "

photos by Jessica Amaya

DOWNLOAD: Lemonade - "Softkiss" (MP3)

Caveman at Brooklyn Museum 5/17/12

The second of Brooklyn Museum's Audiophile concert series happened last Thursday (May 17) with performances by Caveman and NewVillager. Check out pictures and a video of Caveman from that show at the bottom of this post.

The next installment of the series, which is curated by Weird Vibes/NY Noise's Shirley Braha, is Small Black and Lemonade on June 21 and tickets are still available for that. Speaking of, Lemonade just dropped a new track from their upcoming LP, Diver. Download that track, "Softkiss," at the top of this post or stream it below.

Caveman have a light touring schedule, at least what's announced. They'll play Arden, DE on June 1 and then they'll play the official Brooklyn Vegan Northside showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 15 with Frankie Rose and more TBA.

NewVillager's next show is on June 1 at Bushwick open Studios. A list of all upcoming Caveman and NewVillager dates, more pics from the Brooklyn Museum show, and more below...

Continue reading "Caveman and NewVillager played Brooklyn Museum (pics, video); Lemonade (who plays there next) dropped a new MP3"

Caveman at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned several times, the Northside Festival goes down in Brooklyn from June 14 - 17. We're excited to announce that the Official BrooklynVegan Showcase will take place on June 15 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Caveman, Frankie Rose, and two more artists TBA. Tickets go on sale Friday (5/18) at noon or you can try to get in with your Northside badge.

Caveman recently returned from a spring tour which culminated in their appearance at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry at BAM. They'll play the previously mentioned 'Audiophile' show at Brooklyn Museum TONIGHT (5/17) with NewVIllager.

A list of all Caveman and Frankie Rose dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Caveman and Frankie Rose playing BV Northside Showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg "

photos by David Andrako

Beirut

The inaugural, Dessner-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival concluded on Saturday night (May 5) with performances from Beirut, Atlas Sound, My Brightest Diamond, Caveman and more.

There were whispers there'd be an unannounced set from The National, but the secret guest Phi Slamma Jamma was actually Arcade Fire's Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury, and Richard Reed Parry who performed a bunch of covers (Ramones, R.E.M., Devo, Beatles and the Stones, among others) to cap out the Fest.

Night Two pictures HERE. Night one HERE. Lots of pictures from all of Saturday night's performers (including Sufjan), plus video of Atlas Sound (who also kept busy in others ways while in town), Caveman, Beirut and Phi Slamma Jamma performing a song each, below...

Continue reading "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry night 3 pics (Beirut, Sufjan, Arcade Fire, Atlas Sound, My Brightest Diamond, Cavemen & more)"

"Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Presents and Starr Hill presents, in a partnership with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, are proud to announce the lineup for the fifth annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. The world's only gourmet music festival will once again take place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park August 10 - 12, 2012. Tickets will go on sale Thursday April 19 at 12 noon PDT via www.sfoutsidelands.com. A significant portion of every ticket sold will directly benefit San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department."

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2012 lineup (Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Jack White, Foo Fighters, Beck, Skrillex...)"

Domino announced the signing of Minneapolis band Night Moves in March. They'll release an LP called Colored Emotions in the summer of 2012, but first put out a 7" single for "Headlights" b/w "Horses." Listen to "Headlights" below and check out Night Moves at Pianos in NYC TONIGHT (Saturday, 4/7), or on the road with Caveman (who have a show coming up at the Brooklyn Museum) at one of the dates listed below...

Continue reading "Domino-signed Night Moves playing NYC (tonight) before touring w/ Caveman (dates & song stream)"

Caveman at BV-SXSW DJ-Space Ducks show more by Ryan Barkan)

The Brooklyn Museum is hosting the Audiophile Concert Series with one show happening each month in April, May, and June. The series was curated by Shirley Braha of Weird Vibes/NY Noise and is made up of exclusively Brooklyn bands/artists. The first show is Oneohtrix Point Never and Body Language on April 19, then NewVillager and Caveman on May 17, and lastly, Tanlines Lemonade and Small Black on June 21. Tickets for all three shows are on sale now. UPDATE: It says Tanlines on the ticket site, but they're not playing, Lemonade is instead.

Oneohtrix Point Never and Caveman are both playing the Dessner brother-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival on May 5. Tickets for that day are still on sale.

Meanwhile Oneohtrx opens for Black Dice in Brooklyn this weekend, at a show that just went on sale. He's also on the bill of a show happening at Public Assembly in August.

Some videos from the bands below...

Continue reading "Caveman, Lemonade, Oneohtrix & others playing 'Audiophile' shows @ Brooklyn Museum"

photos by Tim Griffin

Daniel Johnston @ The Belmont on 3/13

"A packed house of fans and well-wishers turned out to the Belmont Lounge Tuesday night for an official South by Southwest showcase to celebrate the release of Daniel Johnston's new graphic novel, "Space Ducks: An Infinite Comic Book of Musical Greatness." The event, which was hosted by Brooklyn Vegan, included performances by Built to Spill, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, R. Stevie Moore, Kimya Dawson and Johnston himself. Alex Maas of Black Angels, Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Irish folk singer Foy Vance all each performed Johnston covers before the renowned songwriter took the stage.

Nearly all who performed had some accolades to offer Johnston, the legendarily troubled outsider artist-turned-indie rock darling whose notoriety was cemented by Kurt Cobain when the Nirvana frontman famously wore a T-shirt of the cover to Johnston's album, Hi, How Are You?. [Hollywood Reporter]

It was all in celebration of "Space Ducks" which is out now as a Boom Comics graphic novel, and as a FREE iPad app you can download now, new Daniel Johnston music and tributes included (the soundtrack will get a physical release in a few weeks). Props to the team at Wieden + Kennedy for helping Daniel create something so cool with his art, and to Search Party, Primary Wave, Strike Team, Eternal Yip Eye Music, all the artists who played, and everyone else that helped us make the Tuesday night show and comic happen.

Almost everyone on the bill covered a Daniel Johnston song, and many came back to join Daniel on "True Love Will Find You in the End." Jeffrey Lewis, with help from Kimya (collectively they are the Bundles), debuted new song "Space Ducks" which Jeffrey wrote for the app at our request. New DJ-inspired songs are unlocked after you work your way through the Space Ducks galaxy. There are also songs in the app, co-curated by Search Party, by Deer Tick, Eleanor Friedberger, Lavender Diamond, and others.

Built to Spill closed down the outdoor show beautifully; it was just too bad that Austin has a 2am curfew...

Co-headliners Built to Spill couldn't begin their set until 1:15, and frontman Doug Martsch vowed to "play until they make us stop," which was going to be 2:00 regardless. It's a common rock show cliché, but true to their word, they kept going until the Belmont's people had to get on the sound system to tell them to stop, prompting a chorus of boos. But the elder indie statesmen were still able to cap it off by driving through an extended version of "Conventional Wisdom," effectively ensuring everyone would still be going home happy." [IDSNews]

Continue reading "Daniel Johnston released 'Space Ducks', celebrated with Built to Spill & friends @ SXSW (pics)"

click HERE for a bigger version of the above flyer.

Hinted at and posted in some form on SXSW's website recently, but now offically announced... BrooklynVegan had the honor of helping put together what will be a very special show happening this Tuesday, March 13, 2012 in Austin as part of SXSW at the Belmont in honor of muiti-talented artist Daniel Johnston's very first comic book "Space Ducks", or more specifically to help celebrate the release of the FREE iPad app version that is coming first, new Daniel Johnston songs and tributes to him included. Read more about the forthcoming app and partially-Kickstarter funded graphic novel, which you can PRE-ORDER NOW, at the end of this post.

The party, big flyer HERE, is open to all SXSW badgeholders. Get there early for drink specials courtesy of Original Moonshine, Tecate and Republic Tequilia, and to experience the entire night of special sets. There will be Daniel Johnston covers and tributes throughout, with co-headlining performances by Daniel Johnston and Built to Spill. It will go like this:

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 @ the Belmont, Austin, TX
8:00 Dinosaur Feathers
8:40 special guest (a band we're not allowed to announce)
9:25 R. Stevie Moore
9:55 Jeffrey Lewis
10:25 Kimya Dawson
11:10 Will Sheff of Okkervil River
11:35 Foy Vance
11:40 Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit
11:45 Alex Maas of the Black Angels
11:55 Daniel Johnston & Motopony
01:05 Built to Spill

This show is happening one night before the BrooklynVegan official SXSW showcase at Bar 96 which is two nights before the BrooklynVegan/Power of the Riff official SXSW showcase at Scoot Inn.

Learn more about Space Ducks, and others who had a hand in this all, below...

Continue reading "BV Presents Daniel Johnston's 'Space Ducks' SXSW Launch Party w/ Daniel, Built to Spill & many more performing"

The Hold Steady @ the Intrepid in 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

today in NYC
* Sasha Dobson @ Barbes
* Leo Kottke @ City Winery
* The Big Terrific @ Cameo Gallery
* Jim Jones @ Gramercy Theater
* Michael Ian Black (book tour) @ Word
* Pert Near Sandstone @ The Rock Shop
* The Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* Sophia Knapp, Open Ocean @ Sway Lounge
* Hiro Kone, Corridors, No Receptor @ Zebulon
* Black Milk, J. Pinder, A.Dd @ Knitting Factory
* The Jigglers, The Hot Stiffs, XNY @ Cake Shop
* The Stationary Set, Dead Sands @ Cameo Gallery
* Jessie Baylin, The Watson Twins @ Bowery Ballroom
* Soulive, John Scofield (Bowlive III) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Twi The Humble Feather, Lorna Dune @ The Manhattan Inn
* Abadabad, High Highs, White Birds, Night Manager @ Pianos
* Japanther, Ninjasonik, Fake Hooker, Jogyo BEEF @ El Dorado
* Born Loose, Runny, Violent Bullshit, Agitator @ The Grand Victory
* Stepdad, Team Spirit, Psychobuildings, Secret Music @ Glasslands
* Spirit Family Reunion, The Whisperians, Sun Ladders @ Union Hall
* Royal Baths, Sloppy Heads, Dead, Beat, Harpoon Forever @ Maxwell's
* Killer Bob, Landlady, Diamond Terrifier, The Dreebs @ Death By Audio
* The Shake, The Young Things, Apollo Run, Dan Abraham @ Bowery Electric
* Descender, Centuries, Western Syndrome, Desensitized, Headache @ Saint Vitus
* Craig Finn of The Hold Stead), Marcellus Hall @ Mercury Lounge (early and late)
* Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus, Alex Drewchin, Clapperclaw @ Shea Stadium
* Pygmy Shrews (their last show ever), Bleary La Sexy, Call of the Wild, White Suns @ 285 Kent Ave

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Caveman, who are on the lineup of the just-announced Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Fest, just released a new live video for "of "Vampirer/Old Friend". Watch below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Remember that Dessner brother-curated festival, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," which is happening at BAM from May 3-5? And remember how when we posted the National-curated ATP lineup we suggested (for obvious reasons) that it might hint at the BAM lineup? Well, the lineup is out now, and there are definitely some similarities to that, and also not surprisingly, to the ongoing Ecstatic Music Festival which is great at highlighting the growing mix between indie rock and indie classical that the Dessners are huge fans of and participants in.

The three day Brooklyn Academy of Music festival includes The Antlers, My Brightest Diamond (w/ yMusic), Sharon Van Etten, and Buke and Gase who are all playing ATP, in addition to The Walkmen, St. VIncent, Beirut, Atlas Sound, Tyondai Braxton (formerly of Battles), Oneohtrix Point Never, Caveman, Sinkane, Twin Shadow, Jherek Bischoff, Pat Mahoney and Nancy Whang (DFA DJ set), Ava Luna, and others which are all listed below. As mentioned, the fest also includes the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the NOW Ensemble.

3-Day Festival Passes go on sale Monday (3/5) to friends of BAM and Tuesday (3/6) to the general public. More details and schedule at the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry website.

Full lineup below...

Continue reading "National-curated BAM Festival lineup announced (Walkmen, St. Vincent, Beirut, Sharon, Antlers, Zs & many more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Au Palais

Caveman, who recently signed to Fat Possum (who are now selling their album), conclude their North American tour in NYC on Friday (1/20) at Bowery Ballroom. That show is now sold out, but if you've got tickets you should get there early to check out London-via-Toronto duo Au Palais. The Bowery Ballroom show is their last North American show before returning home to London. Heaven is also on the bill.

Au Palais (aka brother and sister David and Elise Commathe) released their debut EP, Tender Mercy on December 5 via The Sounds of Sweet Nothing. The EP has gained pretty accurate comparisons to the dark synth pop of Austra and Zola Jesus but Elise Commathe sings with a much more subdued voice than the howls of Katie Stelmanis and Nika Danilova. Meanwhile, David plays a similar role in the group to that of Jamie xx in the The xx, with a focus on beatmaking that comes across most strongly on the EP's closing instrumental track, "H.o.l.l.a.n.d." Stream the entire EP below and purchase it at The Sounds of Sweet Nothing bandcamp.

Au Palais plan to follow this EP with a full length album that they recently spoke to FADER about:

DAVID: Yeah, we're working on it right now. It's a little brighter. We took a lot of inspiration from like early '90s house music--full-on operatic vocals.
ELISE: Just blame it on my love to dance. I was like, David, we need to write a dance song.
DAVID: There's also like plenty of dark shit in there, too, so don't worry that's still around.
ELISE: Don't worry the moody depressive songs will be back.

Continue reading "Au Palais opening sold out, Fat Possum-signed Caveman show (stream their EP)"

Caveman @ Mercury Lounge (more by Jessica Amaya)

Caveman, whose album CoCo Beware is out now physically, have a special free show tonight (11/22):

CAVEMAN IN-STORE IN-STORE PERFORMANCE
Caveman, one of our favorite new Brooklyn bands, dropped their excellent debut album this week, and this Tuesday they will be visiting the shop to grace us with one of their powerful, percussive live sets, and signing copies of CoCo Beware. Please join us for what is sure to be a stellar in-store performance!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 9PM
OTHER MUSIC: 15 E. 4th St, NYC
FREE ADMISSION | LIMITED CAPACITY

Continue reading "Caveman playing Other Music today, other shows later"

Caveman at Beekman Beer Garden in Sept (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn's Caveman just played a bunch of CMJ shows and followed that with Brooklyn Bowl show with Hospitality earlier this month. If you missed out on all of that, you'll have a chance to catch the band again when they headline Bowery Ballroom on January 20. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (11/11) at noon. This show is their only one scheduled at the moment.

Caveman's debut LP CoCo Beware came out digitally on 9/13 and they will release it on CD and vinyl on November 15 via ORG Music and their own Magic Man! label. The digital version is available now on iTunes. You can grab one of the album's tracks HERE and watch the video for "Great Life" below.

In related news, Caveman frontman Matt Iwanusa recently talked to L magazine about his favorite places to hang out in Brooklyn, like drinking at The Bell House, people watching in Prospect Park, and attending shows at BAM.

Video below...

Continue reading "Caveman headlining Bowery Ballroom"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Hospitality @ Bowery Ballroom

"Since it was the Merge Showcase, the show itself featured a short set from Hospitality, a new signee to the label that showed a great deal of promise. Their music was meat-and-potatoes indie, with a little Stereolab and a little Built to Spill, but it was a perfect, if perfunctory, set-up for Wild Flag." [tripped media]

Hospitality also play a show on 11/11 at Glasslands with ARMS, Franz Nicolay, The Building. That one is $10. ARMS have no other upcoming shows.

The next "Local x Local" at Brooklyn Bowl is in December with Delicate Steve and Milagres.

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom below...

Continue reading "more Hospitality pics & upcoming shows (one with Caveman tonight, one with ARMS later)"

photos by Diana Wong

Weekend @ Stratosphere Sound

Like last year, a bunch of bands were invited to Stratosphere Sound studios during CMJ to record a couple of songs with recording engineer Geoff Sanoff. The songs are going to be released via Insound for free soon (look out for one to premiere on BV as well). Bands included Caveman (who played like 10 CMJ shows and the BV Hold Steady show a month before CMJ), WATERS, Weekend (who played the BV official showcase and in a Puma store), Gauntlet Hair (who played a BV day party too), Widowspeak (ditto), 1,2,3 (that's the name of a band), and Tall Ships. Here are some pictures from the day (Friday, 10/21). They continue below...

Continue reading "Weekend, WATERS, Gauntlet Hair, Widowspeak, Caveman & other bands recorded sessions @ Stratosphere Sound (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Chelsea Wolfe - "I Let Love In" (Nick Cave Cover) (MP3)

Chelsea Wolfe at Saint Vitus in August (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Stereogum and PopGun are co-presenting a CMJ showcase with Titus Andronicus, Delicate Steve, Chelsea Wolfe, Cuckoo Chaos, Mr. Dream, and Hollerado at Glasslands on October 18. Tickets are $15 with RSVP.

PopGun are also co-presenting the True Panther showcase at Glasslands, the Weird Vibes showcase at Cameo on October 20 with Weekend (who also play the BV CMJ showcase @ MHOW), Headless Horseman, Pat Jordache and others, and the Yours Truly showcase at Glasslands on October 21 with Active Child (who also play the BV CMJ showcase @ MHOW), Born Gold, The Stepkids, Memoryhouse, Caveman, Inc., and Ava Luna. PopGun also do their own showcase at Cameo on October 22 with Teen Daze, Art Vs. Science, and others. RSVP is open for all of the showcases.

Speaking of Chelsea Wolfe, she's got other CMJ shows scheduled including Europa on October 19, the Life or Death CMJ showcase at Cake Shop on October 20, a Pendu/Impose showcase at 285 Kent on October 22, and more TBA. She also recently recorded a cover of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' "I Let Love In." You can download that cover at the top of this post. Chelsea and her band also recently performed for an I-N Session. Check out a video of that performance below. In December, she'll go on a North American tour with The Black Heart Procession, though that tour unfortunately does not include any East Coast dates.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "CMJ shows @ Glasslands & elsewhere (Titus Andronicus, Chelsea Wolfe, Weekend, Active Child & more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Big Troubles - "Misery" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Diehard - A VerySerious Man (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Diehard - Diehard (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cave - Adam Roberts (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dive - Sometime (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Heaven's Gate - Salome (MP3)

Welcome to the first day of Autumn! The air is crisp, it's a pleasure to be outside...which is where you'll be on your way to the many good show options this week. Where to start...

I guess I should mention R.E.M.'s decision to "call it a day." It's the right thing to do... but I sorta wish it'd happened 13 years ago. The post-Bill Berry records had their good songs, but it was never really R.E.M. to me. But their first decade, few bands were as important and influential. Hopefully they continue to make music on their own (Peter Buck's got like four other bands anyway), and cross our fingers that doesn't mean a Micheal Stipe solo album of "standards."

This leads nicely into this week's first real item:  Big Troubles' record release party tomorrow night (9/22) at Glasslands. Mitch Easter, who produced R.E.M.'s first two albums, was behind the boards for their new album, Romatic Comedy, which is out next week on Slumberland.

Those familiar with Big Troubles' sludgy, shoegazy debut album, Worry, might wonder if it's the same band this time. Working with Let's Active's Mitch Easter (who twiddled knobs on R.E.M.'s first two albums [and Pavement's Brighten the Corners), the band have cleaned up into a sparkling pop band. It's a dramatic transformation, not unlike the one Easter helped make happen with '90s shoegaze band Moose on their debut album, ...XYZ. With crazy catchy song after crazy catchy song, Romantic Comedy is a terrific album. You can download "Misery" at the top of this post.

The rest of the country will get to see them soon, as they're heading out on tour with their Slumberland labelmates The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (who headlined Bowery Ballroom this week) and then later with Real Estate who they play Bowery Ballroom with in November. All 2011 Big Troubles tour dates are at the bottom of this post, along with the video for their single "Sad Girls."

In addition to Big Troubles, their record release party also has  The Ice Choir and Cuffs playing as well, plus Ford & Lopatin on DJ duty.

Cuffs is the new band from former Pants Yell! frontman Andrew Churchman (one of Big Troubles is also in the band). They are at the same time more pure pop than PY! were and also more rockin'. They're good live.

Ice Choir

The Ice Choir is the new project from Kurt Feldman who plays drums for Pains of Being Pure at Heart and used to front The Depreciation Guild. It's funky synthpop that sounds an awful lot like...Scritti Politti?! It's true. Listen to the songs on Bandcamp and compare with this. I'm very curious to see what The Ice Choir will be like live. Will Kurt wear a while suit with giant shoulder pads? I hope so.

Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts are back, playing two nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg (Friday 9/23 and Saturday 9/24) with BOBBY opening both shows. The band's third album, Smother, has been a real grower for me and find myself going back to it a lot.  It's definitely a subtler album than Two Dancers  that shows the influence of Talk Talk and The Blue Nile in particular. It's a grower, as they say, and a worthy successor to 2009's best album. Check out "Loop the Loop" at the top of this post and there's a new video for "Bed of Nails" below.

Live, Wild Beasts are truly something to behold,  transcending their records every time (at least every time I've seen them). Sky Larkin's Katie Harkin is back again playing keyboards with the band on this go-round which is an added bonus for some of us. I haven't seen them tour this album yet, so I'm really looking forward to this weekend's shows. All Wild Beasts tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

-------

So Girls' new album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost debuted at #37 on the Billboard which is pretty impressive -- and also means they'll be playing much bigger places next time they roll through town. Their Bowery Ballroom shows this weekend are sold out, natch, but you can try and squeeze into Other Music tonight (9/21) for their free in-store.

Diehard

What else? '90s-rocking locals Diehard are set to release their debut album, The Times We Didn't Have Fun, next week and it's a ripper, full of big riffs, bigger choruses, oohs and ahhs, and hooks o' plenty. You can download two tracks from the album at the top of this post. You can listen to the whole shebang at their Bandcamp page.

The band are throwing a record release party this Friday (9/23) at Bruar Falls with likeminded pals Radical Dads, Shark? and Thunderclap also playing.

Cave @ Issue Project Room in 2010 (more by Greg Cristman)

Cave are here this weekend, playing Saturday, September 24 at soon-to-be-closed Live With Animals (with Amen Dunes, K-Holes & PC Worship), and then Sunday, September 25 at Cake Shop. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

As I wrote earlier this week, the band's new album  Neverendless finds finds them locking onto a groove and staying with it in the Neu!/Spacemen 3 tradition. You can download the "Adam Roberts" (the album's spaciest cut) at the top of this post and watch the video for the album's chugging, motoroik single, "WUJ," below.

Dive @ Shea Stadium

And finally, two bands I wrote about last week -- Dive and Heaven's Gate  (MP3s for both above) -- play again together tomorrow night (9/22) at 285 Kent, with Dustin Wong and Prussia. At the time, I hadn't seen either play live but remedied that last Friday at Shea Stadium. Both bands were very good, but different than I was expecting.

Heaven's Gate are much less shoegazy than their old band Sweetbulbs, with more of a blues-punk vibe (think Cramps or maybe JSBE or early YYYs). But their best songs still have some of that melodic swirl to them.

As for Dive, their recordings are very Beach Fossils-y (frontman Cole Smith is in the band). But live, Dive are a motorik dynamo, very Krautrock at times. There's a lot of flying hair, the band are whirling dervishes on stage. I was impressed. Dive are also playing Pianos earlier Thursday night (9PM) if you want to catch them there.

Here are some more picks, by day, not mentioned above:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Cymbals Eat Guitars play Music Hall of Williamsburg. Their new album, Lenses Alien, is more '90s style indie rock guitar heroics, maybe a little more pop than their first. Hooray for Earth and Beige open.

Though if you're a '90s indie rock fan, you might instead be seeing Olivia Tremor Control and The Music Tapes at Le Poisson Rouge. OTC's Dusk at Cubist Castle remains a '90s classic. if you can't make it, NPR will be streaming it online.

Or if the '80s is more your thing, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are at Irving Plaza.

There's also the Hipster Puppies Cassette Release Party at Public Assembly. Music critic and frequent Twitter fighter Chris Weingarten is putting out a mix tape companion to his book which is based on his tumblr. Zs, Dinowalrus, Mountains and Burning Star Core all play sets. More info here.

continued below...

Continue reading "Big Troubles, Ice Choir, Wild Beasts, Girls, Diehard, Dive, Heaven's Gate & more in This Week in Indie"

most photos by Amanda Hatfield

The Hold Steady/Caveman @ Beekman Beer Garden

As promised, everyone who showed up with a ticket (and then some) got in no problem to our free Hold Steady/Caveman show at Beekman Beer Garden in NYC, one of five total events that happened around the country as part of Evenbrite's Concert Confidential series on Saturday night (9/17). Each of the free shows had a charity attached, and ours was VH1 Save the Music Foundation (which we raised $4295 for!).

Though we were planning for a while, the date of the show was only announced 10 days earlier with the headliner revealed just 5 days before the show, "tickets" on sale just 2 days before, and the opener revealed just 1 day before.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this together, Eventbrite, the venue, the bartenders, the weather for staying cool and dry, everyone who came by, DJ Billy Jones from New Moods for playing sweet tunes before both bands, to Caveman for a jammin' set of tunes from their just-released debut album, and to headliner The Hold Steady for a raucous almost-2-hour set that never got boring (as usual). Check out their full setlist and more pictures from the whole show below...

Continue reading "The Hold Steady & Caveman played the free BV/Eventbrite show @ Beekman Beer Garden (pics & setlist)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

Caveman @ Mercury Lounge

Caveman played a sold out record release show at Mercury Lounge in NYC last night (9/15). Picures are in this post.

And we can now announce that Caveman are in fact (as at least one smart detective guessed) opening our free Hold Steady show at Beekman Beer Garden (at the South Street Seaport) on Saturday night (9/17 -- tomorow!). Maybe because we put them on sale at midnight and waited until the last minute to announce, but free tickets are still available for those wanting to come (not many though). Caveman go on at 8pm. Hold Steady at 9pm. Get there by 6pm though because that's when we start letting people in (or get there even earlier and hang out at the beach).

Caveman's new album is out NOW. You can grab some tracks for free HERE. More pictures from the Merc show, where JPF opened, and a Yours Truly video they recorded in Brooklyn for the song "Great Life", below...

Continue reading "Caveman played Mercury Lounge (pics), opening our free Hold Steady show Saturday!"

DOWNLOAD: Caveman - A Country's King Of Dreams (MP3)

NYC band Caveman will release their debut album CoCo Beware digitally on 9/13. Physically you can get a copy two days months later via Magic Man! / ORG Music (11/15). Almost 18 months since the band first caught our attention (which was only a few months into their existence), we're proud to present the premiere of "A Country's King Of Dreams", the first track on the album. Download it above, and get another one of the album's songs at Pitchfork, and another at Fader. That's the cover art above.

Currently on tour with The War On Drugs (maybe you caught them at Cameo), Caveman return to celebrate the record release at Mercury Lounge on September 15 with JPF. Tickets are still on sale. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Caveman releasing 'Coco Beware' (MP3 premiere)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

The War on Drugs @ Cameo Gallery

The War on Drugs played two NYC shows this past weekend that took place at Cameo Gallery on Friday (8/19) and Mercury Lounge on Saturday (8/20). The Cameo show was with the impressive lineup of both Caveman and Porcelain Raft, and the Mercury show was with Porcelain Raft and Arc in Round. We've got pictures and videos from the Brooklyn show (Cameo) in this post.

The War on Drugs released the Slave Ambient LP on Secretly Canadian last week (8/16). You can order the album in a number of different formats at the Secretly Canadian webstore. The video for album track "Baby Missiles" is below and a free download of the track is HERE. The band will tour this fall with Purling Hiss and Carter Tanton. No NYC date has been announced for that tour (yet?). It took a few years for The War on Drugs to work out their kinks, but the band has really come into their own now. If Bill is right, we won't be seeing War on Drugs in venues as small as Cameo for much longer. All dates are listed below.

Caveman is continuing to to tour with The War On Drugs for the next few weeks. After that Caveman will play their own Mercury Lounge show (9/15) with JPF.

More pictures and videos from the Cameo show and all dates below...

Continue reading "The War on Drugs, Caveman & Porcelain Raft played Cameo (pics, video & more dates)"

Tickets go on sale today (6/29) at noon for the BV presented Little Dragon 'Ritual Union' album release show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

We were promised 10 ticketed Williamsburg Waterfront shows this summer, and now we have another one to add to the list. The diverse list of bands coming to the Brooklyn venue now includes, well, Stone Temple Pilots. Tickets for this July 25th show go on sale Thursday (6/30) at noon.

Another reunited "grunge" band that we don't need to reunite, though not one from the west coast, or even from America, Bush plays Bowery Ballroom on July 28. Tickets go on sale Thursday (6/30) at noon.

Speaking of reunited grunge bands, we have tickets you can win to the Soundgarden shows at Prudential Center (7/8) and Jones Beach (7/9). E-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Soundgarden). Include your first and last name and venue choice in the email. Winners will be randomly selected and contacted. Good luck! FYI, don't worry, your name/email will not be used for anything else.

Speaking of Williamsburg Waterfront, reunited bands and contests, we're giving away tickets to Death From Above 1979 at our Facebook.

We're also giving away tickets to see Bon Sollee tonight at Music Hall of Williamsburg on our Facebook.

Dr. Dog are playing Williamsburg Waterfront this summer now too.

Frank Turner added a November 3 show at Bowery Ballroom after his 9/21 show sold out. Tickets go on sale Thursday (6/30) at noon. Andrew Jackson Jihad and Into It. Over It open the show.

Tickets are still available for the Frightened Rabbit show at MHOW and the waterfront show with DCFC.

AmEx presale starts today (6/29) at noon for The Rapture's show at MHOW.

We recently mentioned that of Montreal were added to Escape 2 NY. They play the Hamptons Fest on August 7. Kevin Barnes aka DJ List Christee DJs at Brooklyn Bowl on August 6. Tickets for his DJing gig are on sale now.

People are asking if the real Moonface (aka Spencer) is still playing Mercury Lounge in July. He is, and tickets are still on sale.

Tickets are still available for the WU LYF show at Mercury Lounge but are sure to be gone soon so act quick.

Tickets are still available for the John Maus and Puro Instinct show at Mercury Lounge tonight (6/29.

Tickets are still available for Memory Tapes and New Moods at Mercury Lounge on Friday (7/1).

Caveman are playing Mercury Lounge on September 15. Tickets go on sale Friday (7/1) at noon with an AmEx presale starting today (6/29) at noon.

Two Gallants play Mercury Lounge on September 13. Tickets are on sale now.

Pepper Rabbit were not added to the Braids show at Mercury Lounge, but they added their own on August 31 with We Barbarians. Tickets are on sale now.

North Highlands and ARMS play Mercury Lounge on July 27. Tickets are on sale now.

Check out what's happening on the Fourth of July (and in Philly).

DOWNLOAD: The War On Drugs - "Baby Missiles" (MP3)

The War On Drugs at Webster Hall in April (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The War On Drugs are releasing Slave Ambient on August 17 via Secretly Canadian. In support of the new album, the band is going on a North American tour with Caveman. The tour hits NYC on August 19 at Cameo Gallery (tickets) and August 20 at Mercury Lounge (tickets), though note that the Mercury show is the only date on the tour where Caveman is not currently listed as an opener (nobody else is either).

Caveman are also supposedly playing the Northside Festival, and play a Rocks Off Cruise on June 25 with Hollis Brown. Tickets are on sale for the boat show.

All tour dates, War on Drugs album artwork and tracklist below...

Continue reading "The War on Drugs announce new LP, tour w/ Caveman (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: ARMS - "Heat and Hot Water" (Passion Pit Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BELL - Dialtone (MP3)

Bowery photos by Amanda Hatfield

Bell is self-releasing a new LP Diamonite next week (5/31). The album is available for stream and pre-order on her website, including immediate download of two tracks (one of which is free to download above, and streaming below). Bell plays an album release party tonight (5/26) at Knitting Factory with ARMS. Bear in Heaven and Chairlift will be providing DJ sets. Tickets are on sale, AND the show will be streaming online.

Bell also opens the Diamond Rings and Porcelain Raft show at Europe on June 19th (Northside Festival). Tickets are still available. You can also try to get in with a Northside badge.

ARMS @ Bowery Ballroom in February

ARMS recently tweeted that they were "calling the next album The Denial Variations." It's reportedly due out this spring. While you wait, download the free EP he released last year, and the Passion Pit remix of "Heat and Hot Water" above (if you don't have them already).

Check out some belated photos from ARMS' show at Bowery Ballroom (2/26) with White Rabbits and Caveman below...

Continue reading "ARMS playing tonight w/ BELL (who has a new album), played Bowery Ballroom w/ Caveman & White Rabbits (belated pics)"