DOWNLOAD: Summer Camp - "All I Wonderful Christmas Is You" (MP3)

UK duo Summer Camp released their catchy debut LP, Welcome to Condale this past October via Moshi Moshi (you can buy it on eMusic), and followed the release with a European tour. Now, they're set to head out on a short North American tour in support of the album, which kicks off in NYC, where they made their American debut this past March. While they're here, they'll play Mercury Lounge on February 6 and Glasslands on February 7. Tickets for the Mercury show and the Glasslands show are on sale now. No openers have been announced for these shows yet, but stay tuned. All dates are listed below.

Summer Camp recently gave the Christmas gift of their track, "All I Wonderful Christmas Is You," which, if the name doesn't give it away, is a medley/fusion of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" and Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The combination works out really well too. Download it above and stream below.

In related news, Fanfarlo, which Jeremy Warmsley, who is one half of Summer Camp, is a sometimes member of, just announced a Webster Hall show happening on March 6. Tickets are still available.

All Summer Camp dates and stream below...

Continue reading "Summer Camp announced dates, released a Christmas tune"

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire at Glasslands earlier this month (more by Erik Erikson)

Merry Christmas from Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, who dropped the mixtape Merry ex-Mas & Suck My Dick over the weekend. It features production from El-P, BoweryBeats, Necro, a member of A$AP, and others, and guest appearances by Danny Brown, Maffew Ragazino, Dallas Tha Kid, and others. You can stream the whole mixtape and purchase it for $5 at bandcamp.

eXquire is playing in NYC TONIGHT (12/27) at Highline Ballroom, opening for Action Bronson. DyMe-A-DuZiN and The Doppelgangaz are also on the bill. Tickets are still available.

Check out some videos of eXquire's set at the BV show at Glasslands, which took place earlier this month below...

Continue reading "Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire dropped a Christmas album (plays Highline Ballroom tonight)"

by Andrew Sacher

Like they've been doing in the past, Parenthetical Girls released a free Christmas EP titled Parenthetical Girls Save Christmas. You can download it at their bandcamp now for any price you name. It's a great 3-song EP that otherwise sounds like any of the recent Parenthetical Girls releases except for the sleigh bells that fill every track.

In early 2012, they're going on tour with Los Campesinos!, who Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls recently recorded a song with. That song, "Dreams Don't Become You," can be streamed below. The tour includes a Chicago show in January but no NYC dates have been announced. Members of the group however will be in NYC in early February for a different type of show.

All dates and song stream below...

Continue reading "Parenthetical Girls released a new free Christmas EP, going on tour w/ Los Campesinos (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Woods - "Christmas Time is Here" (VInce Guaraldi Cover) (MP3)

Woods at Woodsist Fest in July (more by Natasha Ryan)

Woods are heading out on a December tour that begins today (12/7) and culminates in a hometown show at Glasslands on December 19 with Alex Bleeker & The Freaks, Steve Gunn, and Tide Eyed (DJ). Tickets are on sale now.

Woods are also welcoming the month of December with a cover of a song Dawes also just performed for the AV Club. It's Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here." You can grab that cover above, and stream it below along with all dates...

Continue reading "Woods on tour, covered 'Christmas Time is Here' (MP3, dates)"

Dan Deacon & fans @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

Dan Deacon, now signed to Domino (!) for a record due in 2012 (more details TBA), has still got it. Earlier this month, as you can see in the pictures here, I witnessed him play to a giant crowd of rabid fans at Fun Fun Fun Fest. As usual he played from the ground instead of the stage, and luckily with the help of a security guard to shield his equipment from the wild, swaying mass. More pictures are below.

Later that same day, Dan performed again, but on a stage (the Yellow Stage to be exact) as part of the Wham City Comedy Tour that has now arrived in NYC for a show at 285 Kent tonight...

====| FRIDAY 11/18 @ RIC/RAMBO @ 285 KENT AVE |====
|| JM RAMBO presents
|| WHAM CITY COMEDY TOUR
|| Adam Endres
|| A Funny Clown
|| Alan Resnick
|| April Camlin
|| Ben O'Brien
|| Connor Kizer
|| Dan Deacon
|| Ellie Beziat
|| Erin Gleeson
|| Mason Ross
|| Peter O'Connell
|| Robby Rackleff
| RIC/RAMBO @ 285 KENT AVE |
285 Kent Ave @ South 1st | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8pm | $8 | all ages

Last but not least, Dan is one of a few artists who have contributed tracks to a free holiday album that Carpark is releasing on 12/6. The full tracklist and more details on that are also below...

Continue reading "Dan Deacon on Domino, on a new Christmas album, on tour (dates & more pics from Fun Fun Fun Fest)"

DOWNLOAD: Summer Camp - Christmas Wrapping (The Waitresses Cover) (MP3)

Summer Camp's version of "Christmas Wrapping" can also be found on the Moshi Moshi Christmas compilation, A Christmas Gift For You. Non holiday tracks by the UK indie pop duo can be heard in the videos below...

Continue reading "Summer Camp are doing 'Christmas Wrapping' (MP3 & videos)"

DOWNLOAD: Tape Deck Mountain - Blue Christmas (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tape Deck Mountain - Christmastime Is Here Again (MP3)

Watch the video for The Futureheads' new Christmas single, "Christmas was Better in the 80's," below...

Continue reading "the Futureheads say Christmas was Better in the 80's"

DOWNLOAD: The Superions - Fruitcake (YACHT remix) (MP3)

Destination...Christmas, the new Christmas album by The Superions (featuring Fred Schneider of the B-52's) is available for just $5.00 at Amazon. The original version of "Fruitcake" can be heard in the official video below....

Continue reading "YACHT & Fred Schneider made a 'Fruitcake' (MP3 & video) "

Merry Christmas Everybody! 2010 has been a whirlwind of touring and thanks to everyone who came out to the shows! The Hounds & I spent many many hours in vans, gas stations and motels across the globe and we just want you to know how much we appreciate seeing your faces! We've started working on some new music and will hopefully have some new songs to share in the new year.

THANK YOU! MERCI y GRACIAS!

Love,
Dawn

DOWNLOAD: Banjo or Freakout - 105 (MP3)

Just wanted to let you know that we will be giving away a Banjo Or Freakout Christmas album today on bandcamp. First 1,000 copies will be free then after that people can decide what they want to pay for it.

My favourite is frosty the snowman :)
We will also be doing an extremely limited run of physical copies which will be available when you buy the current single '105' from Rough Trade Records. The CD will also include last years Christmas album.

DOWNLOAD: Dream Diary - Christmas All Over (MP3)

Dream Diary will release their debut LP, You Are The Beat Out, on February 15th via Kanine Records. The above free holiday cover will not be on that album, but Dream Diary will be at Kanine Records' Wear Your Favorite '90s-style Christmas Sweater Holiday Party at Shea Stadium tonight (12/3). Flyer reposted below...

Continue reading "Dream Diary covered Petty's 'Christmas All Over' (MP3) "

DOWNLOAD: Boy Least Likely To - Christmas Isn't Christmas (MP3)

christmas makes me so happy. but it makes me so sad sometimes too. i think that's why i find it so magical. making a christmas album might seem like an odd thing to do, but for us it seems like the most perfect thing. some of my favourite songs are christmas songs. we've always been drawn to them and we've always written them, with the thought that someday we would have enough christmas songs to fill a whole album. and at last we have, so here it is. the boy least likely to christmas special. the christmas album we've always dreamed of making.
merry christmas and a happy new year
with love from
the boy least likely to

Continue reading "The Boy Least Likely To released a Christmas album (MP3)"

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Christmas All Summer Long (MP3)

What better than a Deer Tick Christmas tune? How about two Deer Tick Christmas tunes? Grab "Christmas All Summer Long" from Deer Tick's new two track holiday EP "Holy Shit, It's Christmas!...", which is out digitally now, and get the whole EP for free with any Deer Tick purchase at PartisanRecords.com. There is no physical release at the moment, but they say anything's possible in the future.

The full set of dates of that previously-mentioned solo tour (City Winery included), which will actually be "Deer Tick's frontman, John McCauley, along with guitarist / vocalist Ian O'Neil [performing] songs from [The Black Dirt Sessions] in smaller rooms, as well as older Deer Tick songs, cover tunes and songs from McCauley's other project, Middle Brother (formerly MG&V)."Formerly MG&V? I missed that news until now.

Dates below...

Continue reading "a Deer Tick Christmas EP (MP3), updated John & Ian solo dates"

DOWNLOAD: Scott Miller - Joyful, Joyful (MP3)

"Joyful, Joyful" (downloadable above) is "Dueling banjos" meets "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" (Ludwig van Beethoven, from Choral " Ode To Joy " Symphony No. 9 Opus 125), and it's one of seven tracks that appear on Scott Miller's new "Christmas Gift" EP. John Prine and Neil Young covers are on there too. Full tracklist and a stream of another song, below...

Continue reading "dueling banjos, John Prine on Scott Miller Christmas EP (MP3) "

Dan Hicks digs Christmas tunes. But it took him over 30 years in the music business to get around to doing his own album of holiday music. The singer/songwriter/guitarist and leader of the Hot Licks, a swinging band with a cult following in the rock world going back to the '70s, has just released Crazy for Christmas on Surfdog Records and is on his way around the country on a tour he calls "Holidaze in Hicksville". The group will perform at a mix of theaters, clubs and coffeehouses, including the Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., the City Winery in New York City and McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Calif.

Talking via phone from his home in Marin County, California, Hicks says that he's always done Christmas tunes during that time of year with his band, the Hot Licks. "I've been doing Christmas songs with the Hot Licks for a couple of decades. We did about eight or ten tunes, but we didn't do them all at once. We've been doing shows we call Holidaze in Hicksville. We have a canvas backdrop with a cartoon scene of Christmas."
[Jazz Times]

Continue reading "Dan Hicks released a Christmas album, touring (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: The Puppini Sisters - Last Christmas (MP3)

Full tracklist & album @ Amazon.

Darlene Love will perform her Christmas classic, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," at the lighting of the South Street Seaport Christmas tree at 6:00pm today (11/26). Santa will be there too, as well the "Elves of Heaven" featuring Corinne Caouette, and the Pace University Department of Performing Arts who will read/perform excerpts from A Christmas Carol.

UPDATE: Pictures of the Christmas tree lighting HERE.

And two nights after Ronnie Spector plays her Christmas show at BB King's in Times Square, Darlene Love will play a Christmas show at the same venue. Tickets are on sale for the December 19th show which is one day before Darlene appears again on Letterman. On December 22nd, she does a holiday show in Englewood, NJ.

All dates, a flyer showing all Christmas events at South Street Seaport, and a video of Darlene's 2009 Letterman performance, below...

Continue reading "Darlene Love playing Christmas shows (dates), singing at South Street Seaport tree lighting (today)"

photos by Chris La Putt

DOWNLOAD: The Mynabirds - "All I Want is Truth (For Christmas)" (MP3)

The Mynabirds @ Fontana's during CMJ

"All I Want is Truth (For Christmas)" is a reminder this Black Friday that it's not all about the gifts. Download The Mynabirds' reworked take on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" above. Buy it on white vinyl with a b-side cover of The Zombies' "This Will Be Our Year", in the Saddle Creek store.

Speaking of Saddle Creek, The Mynabirds played the label's CMJ showcase at the Delancey back on October 21st, but they also played the Pirate Pirate day party at Fontana's while they/she were/was in town. You saw pictures of Devotchka from that show. Shots of the Mynabirds along with Field Days (not to be confused with Field Day) and Generationals who also played, continue, along with Mynabirds' latest non-Holiday video, below...

Continue reading "The Mynabirds played CMJ w/ Generationals & Field Days (pics), released a Christmas single (MP3) "

DOWNLOAD Paul Simon - Getting Ready For Christmas (MP3)

Getting ready for Christmas Day. And let me tell you, namely, the undertaker, he's getting ready for your body. Not only that, the jailer he's getting ready for you. Christmas day. Hmm? And not only the jailer, but the lawyer, the police force. Now getting ready for Christmas day, and I want you to bear it in mind - Reverend Gates

Download the MP3 for free above. Buy it at iTunes.

I'm a sucker for holiday music, but "Getting Ready For Christmas Day" is not technically a Christmas song. Named after and sampling the last recorded sermon by pre-war American Christian preacher and gospel singer Reverend J.M. Gates, its lyrics and title reference the holiday, but not in the happy way traditional holiday music does. The song covers topics like a relative spending the holiday in Iraq, and not having very much money (probably not an actual issue for Simon, but that's besides the point).

That's part of the sampled part of the lyrics quoted above (right below the old Rev. Gates ad which references another one of Gates' Christmas sermons, "Will the Coffin Be Your Santa Claus"). You can read all the Paul Simon lyrics, complete Reverend J.M. Gates samples included, below. The single's cover art is down there too...

Continue reading "a new not-Christmas song by Paul Simon (from his forthcoming album "So Beautiful Or So What") (MP3)"

Wavves @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Guster, Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Darker My Love, Natalie Hemby, Crystal Antlers, Bishop Allen, Jenny O, Little Jackie, Ceci Bastida, and "Best Coast, Wavves" have contributed new songs to a Target Christmas album which is currently streaming at Target's site (a download of the songs is "coming soon"). Maybe the two bands will perform the song live when they collaborate on stage during their 2011 tour together. Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino told SPIN:

"We're both in summery California bands and I think by doing the tour in winter, we're bringing summer to places where it's fucking freezing," she says. "We've been talking about what we want the vibe to be -- we want it to be a beach-themed sort of thing, but we're still brainstorming."

Cosentino and Williams haven't planned all details of their sets yet -- Wavves are currently touring in Europe -- but she says fans can definitely expect some on-stage collaborations between the acts. "I'm sure we'll end up doing some songs together," she says. "We were joking that the whole show should be a Wavves-Best Coast jam, but everyone would probably just want a refund if we did that."

Williams also promises there will be a special, limited-edition piece of merch for sale. "I can't say what it is but it's definitely cool," he says. "I think we're also gonna breed cats before the shows and sell them at the merch table."

No Joy, who you maybe caught during CMJ, opens almost every show on the tour.

Other upcoming shows for Best Coast include two dates with Weezer, and EIGHT shows in FOUR DAYS at the SAME LAS VEGAS HOTEL (the new Cosmopolitan). Not sure what that is all about, but all dates are listed below...

Continue reading "updated Wavves & Best Coast tour dates w/ 2 NYC shows, a Target Christmas song & stuff"

DOWNLOAD: Team B - The Last Christmas (MP3)

Team B has been very generous lately. First came a free Christmas song (MP3 above). Then a 9-song EP called "The Lost Son" (cover art above). Download the EP at their website. Catch them live with Wild Yaks at Union Pool tonight (1/16). More info below...

Continue reading "a free Team B EP, Christmas song & a NYC show (tonight) "

DOWNLOAD: Lee "Scratch" Perry - Santa Claus (MP3)

Lee "Scratch" Perry @ Central Park Summerstage in July (more by Tim Griffin)

Tickets are still on sale for Lee "Scratch" Perry's Highline Ballroom show on Sunday, December 13th (with Popo and Pace Won & Mr. Green). Lee's Narnack label-mates and fellow legends The Slits play the venue one night after (with The Sundelles and Sisters). I have a pair of tickets for each to give away; details are below.

The Lee Perry show is the kick-off for a one week US tour, the full dates of which are below with a very special video tour announcement from The Upsetter. "Santa Claus," a somewhat seasonal but not really very festive track from his 2008 Andrew WK-produced record Repentence (an album that Ari Up of The Slits makes a guest appearance on), is above.

Tour dates, video and contest info below...

Continue reading "Lee 'Scratch' Perry touring in December (dates) - win tix to the NYC show, download a free Christmas song"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Zoos of Berlin - Electrical Way (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Computer Perfection - Able Archer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Christmas Party with Computer Perfection & Friends (Zip)

Zoos of Berlin @ Market Hotel in September

Detroit's Zoos of Berlin are coming back to NYC for two shows this month: they'll play December 18 at Matchless and December 19 at Cake Shop. They were great when they played Market Hotel back in September. Here's what I wrote on Soundbites:

Zoos of Berlin are from Detroit and are fronted by Trevor Naud who also spent time (maybe still does) in the notoriously unprolific but occasionally awesome Pas/Cal. Unlike that band's sunshine pop, Zoos of Berlin are more buttoned up and immaculate, like a high society tea... but one that desperately wants to be disco-fest. Naud and turtleneck-wearing bassist Daniel Clark keep it regal, but drummer Colin Dupuis and, especially, keyboardist Will Yates are there to party. The result is like a weird mix of Cardinal and Steely Dan, a combination that is perfected on "Electrical Way" which has Yates laying down a super-funky Clavinet part over most of the song, with a breakdown which is straight out of "Peg." And it just sounds awesome, such good musicianship overcoming the deficiencies of Market Hotel's PA, where they played a few weeks ago.

Computer Perfection

While we're on the subject of Pas/Cal offshoots, I would be remiss to not mention Computer Perfection, the fairly new band that features most of Pas/Cal (minus main man Casimir) and who released their debut album last month which fans of their old band will probably like too. I caught them at CMJ and thought they were quite good, despite playing in a room smaller than my bedroom. I will admit being swayed by their spot-on cover of The Flowerpot Men's "Beat City" from the Ferris Bueller's Day Off soundtrack, which was enough to help them lug stuff to their van after the show and buy a copy of their CD. They're not touring right now, but keep an eye out.

Computer Perfection released a Christmas record last year that came out so late it almost missed the holiday, but you can still download it -- for free -- from their website. It's like fruitcake, it's just as good a year later. It also features contributions from Chicago's 1900s, Computer Perfection member LTD, and more. It;s worth the disc space of downloading alone for Aunt Beru & The Juicers' "Santa Brings It" which melds "Here Comes Santa Clause" onto Beyonce's "Single Ladies" which is sure to be a hit at any holiday office party. Grab the Zip file above. Cover art below.

Video from Zoos of Berlin's show at Market Hotel in September, plus upcoming tour dates , after the jump.

Continue reading "a free Christmas album by Computer Perfection & friends, Zoos of Berlin dates, MP3s, videos, Pas/Cal & more"

Bob Dylan @ United Palace Theatre - 11/17/09 (Frank Beacham)

Even Bob Dylan can't be Bob Dylan all the time.

The 68-year-old Boy From the North Country born Robert Allen Zimmerman has been trying to break his own myth since the mid-'60s, when he alienated fans of his early folk albums by plugging in and rocking out. Since then, his muse has come and gone, but his contrarian streak has been a constant.

For the past 20 years, the road has been constant too. Dylan tours endlessly, turning up at a half-full arena or a minor league ballpark near you again and again, as if to prove he's no sage, just an itinerant song-and-dance-man. Though late-period albums like "Time Out of Mind" and "Love and Theft" have evinced a creative renewal, he's often been erratic, even indifferent onstage. Still, there's something noble in his doggedness, singing on even though thousands of shows have curdled his voice into a viscous, gut-shot croak. On a good night, he can still remind you why people worshiped him in the first place. [Washington Post]

The setlist from night one, and a better version (than what I posted before) of Bob's new hysterical video for "Must be Santa" (off Bob's new Christmas album), below...

Continue reading "Bob Dylan played United Palace Theater in NYC (night 1 setlist), released "Must Be Santa" video"