Buraka Som Sistema @ Coachella 2009 (aaron_humphreys)

Buraka Som Sistema is here. The show tonight (5/2) is at Bowery Ballroom. Check out a video from Coachella below...

Continue reading "Buraka Som Sistema is here"

photos by Carl Johnson

A band needs to bring it, and -- in fits -- Throbbing Gristle did just that. The start of the show found [Genesis] P-Orridge, dressed as a Palm Springs mom possessed by a satanic shaman, lustily swinging a microphone between her legs. "Hamburger Lady" fairly devastated the crowd with its haunted lyrics, such as "she's burned from the waist up," calling to mind alienation from one's body, bizarre stock that Throbbing Gristle trades in well.

The middle of the set was too bogged down with instrumentals, as precision-crafted as they were by original members Chris Carter and Peter Christopherson, the latter of whom was robed in a way that could only bring to mind the Grand Puba of "101 Dalmatians." But at the end, they picked up the juice once again. The last couple of songs reveled in tribal trance, a video-game stomp that felt like the perfect laser of doom, penetrating teenage and old art-scenester hearts alike. It was similar to the "wall of sound" interlude in My Bloody Valentine's "You Made Me Realise" but with more grace and control. [LA Times]

That show came after the band's first ever NYC shows which took place: Thursday, April 16th at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple and Friday, April 17th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Since they they toured back to the east coast, hitting Chicago along the way, and are back for their third and last NYC show (for this tour or maybe ever) tonight, Tuesday, April 28th at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Tickets are still/back on sale.

While in LA last week, the band recorded an interview for Boing Boing and Richard Metzger. That video is still to come. In the meantime, check out TG member Chris Carter's trip-documenting photographs on Flickr. And a few more pictures from Coachella, below...

Continue reading "Throbbing Gristle played Coachella -- final NYC show tonight"

photos by Carl Johnson

The Orb @ Coachella 2009

"Four men/[The Orb] took the stage and though I couldn't tell you who was what, I could tell exactly who was Alex Paterson (essentially the one man Orb). I have very few albums of The Orb, and nothing very new, but I was happy to have their music wash over me as I stood there. Years have passed [since 1991's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld] but their effect still hasn't changed. It was a nice change to have something soothe your ears rather than assault." [Hoofhearted]

The Orb have more shows scheduled throughout the summer, and the group hits North America again in June and July. That trip includes two nights in NYC with Orchard Lounge. The dates are Friday, July 10th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Saturday, July 11th at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for both Friday and Saturday go on sale at Wednesday, April 25th at noon.

The Orb were last supposed to play NYC in 2006, but the show was cancelled like on the day of the show.

All tour dates, videos, and more pictures, below...

Continue reading "The Orb played Coachella (pics, videos), touring North America (2009 Dates w/ 2 NYC shows) "

photos by Darren Kim

It's impossible to see everything at Coachella. Here's more of what one photographer saw (on Sunday, April 19, 2009)...

Continue reading "Coachella 2009 - Day 3 in Pictures "

photos by Darren Kim

It's impossible to see everything at Coachella. Here's more of what one photographer saw...

Continue reading "Coachella 2009 - Day 2 in Pictures "

Tinariwen @ Coachella 2009 (happyjed1)

This is the 2009 show that's likely to build into a Coachella legend. Tinariwen's sunset set at the Gobi tent. Standing on the stage, the sextet, dressed in traditional Tuareg robes and headwear and veils, the band, part of a nomadic community of Saharan North Africa, draws influences from the music of the region: Malian guitar pop and a little bit of tangled tunings of its fellow Africaners to further south and west, combined with western electric guitars and this ringing, pure tone that's closest American kindred is maybe Lou Reed's hollow, somewhat distorted electric vibe. Mingle this sound with an acoustic strum, hand claps, bass, percussion and something that we mere mortals can only understand as "groove," and you've got something magical.

The band has been performing in one incarnation or another for seventeen years now -- one for every bullet wound that one member (according to the Internets, so take that for what it's worth) is said to have received after leading several raids. The story goes that he was armed only with a guitar on his back and a Kalashnikov in his hands. He was once reportedly doused with gasoline.

Pretty gangsta, yes? [LA Weekly]

Paul Weller & Johnny Marr @ Coachella 2009 (ivankay)

"I could go on endlessly about the excellent yet heartbreaking Paul Weller set no one watched. I just might blather more about it once I get home and have time to properly assess and convey why it was such a meaningful (albeit needlessly stopped) performance, both for artist and audience. (It also might make my annual Kill List, a rundown, in ranked order, of the weekend's greatest performance. Look for that sometime Tuesday.)

After roughly a half-hour of top-notch rock 'n' soul, culminating in some extra-fine space-jamming on "Porcelain Gods," Weller was informed that he had a measly 15 minutes left. "Just not long enough in the desert," he sniffed in between expletives....

...to cap his Sunday show, the now silver-haired Weller, looking Armani casual cool in a black outfit, was left to kick against the pricks in a chugging rendition of his minor MTV hit with help from ... well, how nice, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who strummed a bit and shared in on the bop-bop-bop-bop harmonies." [OCRegister]

23rd Apr 2009

Its with immense sadness that we can confirm that John Weller passed away yesterday.

John who managed Pauls career from the start of the Jam onwards will be missed by everyone. He was a larger than life character who was respected across the music industry and a much loved husband, dad, grandad and friend.

Our thoughts and love go out to the Wellers at this sad and difficult time. Ann, Nicky and Paul also really appreciate all the lovely cards, emails and messages from everyone.

Johnny Marr's old bandmate Morrissey also played Coachella.

This is much more NSFW than the Matt & Kim video...

Continue reading "Naked wizard guy tased by cops at Coachella (VIDEO)"

photos by Darren Kim

"Living Thing," [Peter Bjorn and John's] newest album, doesn't simplify things, as it's even more beat-driven and production-skewed than earlier work. However, the boom-bap-driven "Nothing to Worry About" is a fine single, and it got a chirping assist from pop tart countrywoman Robyn. It's no wonder they've backed up Kanye West: the band can steer a minimalist drum loop in many winning directions.

But as worthy an effort as the "Living Thing" cuts were, the difference between them and the more straightforward indie-pop was palpable. "Up Against the Wall" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" brimmed with effervescent distortion and steely good hooks that stood on their own with fine and creative drumming from John Eriksson. Comely wraith Lykke Li had a loose but endearing turn in the "Young Folks" duet, but the set mostly underscored how a band at the height of its creative powers can still be untangling the best ways to use them. [LA Times]

No stranger to NYC, Sweden's Lykke Li will be back in town again on June 1st to play a show at Highline Ballroom. But not just any show...

B.B. King Blues Club, The Highline Ballroom and Josh Wood Productions proudly announce the first annual Summerwood music series, beginning June 1st at The Highline Ballroom. Summerwood's GLBT and GLBT-friendly artists represent a selection of nuanced, diverse and talented performers that eschew the standard tropes of the mainstream. Summerwood's genre-blind line-up includes a mix of legendary musicians, up-and-coming names and emerging stars.

The complete list of Summerwood shows is listed below, but it also includes the previousy-announced Amanda Palmer (who also played Coachella) show happening at Highline on June 5th (the Lisps are opening) (tickets are on sale).

All dates, more pictures & the Summerwood schedule, below...

Continue reading "Lykke Li played Coachella solo (pics) & w/ PB&J, playing Summerwood Pride Fest in NYC (full schedule), other dates "

by Martin Longley

Throbbing Gristle @ Le Poisson Rouge on Friday (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Negative reports from Throbbing Gristle's sold out Brooklyn Masonic Temple gig the night before were creating an expectation of cynical non-communication and lazy noisemongering, but the long-lost English quartet's Friday appearance at (le) Poisson Rouge was surprisingly direct, targeted with precision and offered no messing about whatsoever. Formed in 1975, their last Stateside performance was back in 1981, after which they disbanded until 2004. This current cluster of gigs mark their first ever appearances in NYC. Even though the Throbs take to the stage an hour later than promised (well, according to the club's website, but not their own), once ensconced, the foursome set about pummelling the crowded (but not overcrowded) space with an onslaught of completely uncompromising industrial ramming.

Throbbing Gristle @ Le Poisson Rouge on Friday (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

The blonde-tressed Genesis P. Orridge is the punk Marianne Faithfull, mainly concentrating on his/her deadpan intonations, but occasionally making an overloaded racket on the violin. Peter Christopherson and Chris Carter hunch over the computers, their table littered with manual devices, allowing plenty of hands-on sample triggering. Cosey Fanni Tutti is mainly playing slide guitar, adding acidic decorations to the brutal electro-hammering, and briefly turning to her cornet. The set is roughly divided between songs and instrumental grooves, opening with "Very Friendly" (the first song that they ever wrote together, thirty-four years ago, Orridge marvels), soon followed by "Hamburger Lady". It's the bangin' instrumental work-outs that attain the highest peaks of frenzy, though, filtered and fed back through the techno and breakbeat experience, hung around hard bassy granite, and trimmed with violent distortion, gradually increasing the volume curve up to massive. The club's sound balance is excellent, delivering all the loving details of Gristle's grit. There's more jocularity onstage than expected: amidst the sinister threat and diseased vibrations. Orridge and Tutti are frequently caught having a giggle, before weighing into the next evil riff. Instead of being mysterious legends who disappoint, Throbbing Gristle are now performing with a vital, energised edge, repeatedly switching the emphasis from narrative song to twitchily danceable pulse-repetitions.

Kode9 @ Museum of Natural History (more by Zach Dilgard)

Half an hour later, Kode9 is representing the newer generation of British electronica at the American Museum Of Natural History's One Step Beyond night. The setting is immediately underneath the museum's impressive cosmic planetarium sphere, the crowd promenading down its surrounding spiral pathway to the dancefloor below.These Friday night sessions perch between mainstream partying and left-side dance beats, so Kode9's DJ-ing is not as extreme as expected, not offering up the hardcore dubstep sounds that were doubtless in evidence the previous night at his Love show. Perhaps surprisingly, it's LA's Flying Lotus who wins out in the extremity stakes, proceeding to deliver a shorter set of wrenched beats and side-shunting time signatures, grabbing the dancefloor's peak momentum just as the witching hour passes.

---

Another TG review & more pics HERE. More Kode9 pics HERE.

Video from Throbbing Gristle's set at Coachella on Sunday, below...

Continue reading "Throbbing Gristle vs. Kode9 - Friday night in NYC"

by Andrew Frisicano

Drive by Truckers @ Coachella 2009 (by vonlohmann)

Drive-By Truckers played twice at Coachella on Saturday, April 18th. First, the band played their own afternoon set, then they sat in as the backing band for Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the MGs).

The Truckers are a perfect festival act, with a three-guitar posse that looks great across a field and sounds even better with a flat pint of beer and the beginnings of a sunburn (both things I have in my possession now). Now that they've had some time away from the whole Skynyrd mythologizing business, DBT is one of few bands that can rightly claim to be pushing Southern rock forward as a distinct beast from country music. [LA Times]

Jones is in the midst of a TV residency. He's performing with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, from April 20th to April 22nd, before going out on his own tour (including some dates with DBT behind him). That tour stops at NYC's Joe's Pub (without Truckers) on Wednesday, June 10th. Tickets are on sale.

DBT's Patterson Hood (pictured above) also has a short tour scheduled in support of his own new album, Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs), out Tuesday, June 23rd on Ruth St. Records (details below). Will Johnson (of Centro-Matic), who contributes to Patterson's album, opens those tour dates.

The night of the album's release, June 23rd, Hood and backing band The Screwtopians will play a Brooklyn show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The next night, Wednesday, June 24th, the band plays Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for June 23rd and tickets for June 24th both go on AmEx presale Wednesday, April 22nd at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

Even sooner, Hood plays at the Pete Seeger 90th Birthday celebration at MSG on Sunday, May 3rd.

Info on the new Patterson Hood album, and all Hood and Jones tour dates below...

Continue reading "Drive-By Truckers & Booker T. played Coachella - new albums & 2009 tour dates (BTJ & Patterson solo)"

photos by Darren Kim

"Coachella exists in two time zones: the event itself and its digital afterlife. The second zone, on cameras and blogs and Twitter and video-sharing sites, comes a heartbeat after the first, like a rockabilly slap-back echo. In its 10th year now, Coachella has been the music festival for the most technologically advanced teenagers-to-young-professionals, sniffing around the alternative mainstream. Even when the music doesn't present an argument they haven't heard before, they're controlling their own media representation of it; the act of listening is almost immediately contextualized into their own lives." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Coachella 2009 - Day 1 in Pictures "

Torche @ Scion Rock Fest (more by Steven Brown)

today in NYC
* The Haunted @ BB King's
* Blank Dogs, LAMPS @ Cake Shop
* The Meatmen, Chapstick @ Europa
* Toumani Diabate @ Le Poisson Rouge
* The Rosebuds (Kidrockers) @ 92YTribeca
* Eugene Chadbourne @ Issue Project Room
* The Riverboat Gamblers, Fake Problems @ Maxwell's
* Dredg, Torche, From Monument to Masses @ Highline Ballroom
* Merce Cunningham event w/ Sonic Youth & John Paul Jones @ BAM
* World/Inferno Friendship Society, Demander, Secret History @ MHOW
* Napalm Death, Trap Them, Toxic Holocaust, Coliseum @ Starland Ballroom (NJ)
* Survival, Sisters, JEFF The Brotherhood, Grooms (Muggabears) @ Death By Audio

Today is the 3rd day of Coachella.

Flaming Lips are playing the Earth Day / Green Apple Fest in Washington DC today.

If you're wondering why Cymbals Eat Guitars didn't open for the Walkmen, and why they aren't playing Public Assembly tonight:

Greetings,

Our dear friend and bandmate Dan Baer has recently been admitted to the hospital with a potentially life threatening condition. As a result we've decided to cancel the shows we have scheduled through Sunday April 19th, in order to be by Dan's side. We will keep you posted as we know more. We appreciate your support and understanding during this time.

Regards,

Cymbals Eat Guitars

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

"M.I.A. gave the main stage at Coachella her best shot. It just didn't work out.

After a strong start, a few hiccups, and a somewhat listless finale, the Grammy-nominated new mom declared at the end of her hour-long set in the desert that "next time I'm back in the tent."

"I want to be in the sweat," she said.

M.I.A. had performed twice in smaller tents at the music festival, in its tenth year and one of the nation's most prestigious.

She noted earlier, "I really don't know how to bring it on the main stage." And her live show staples--climbing on speakers, dancing body-to-body with the crowd--didn't quite fit the new digs. When she tried to bring some of the audience onstage Saturday night, security guards thwarted most fans.

M.I.A. ended up on a platform above the crowd performing "Bird Flu," and asked when it was over: "Can we get some order in the place? My baby's waiting." She gave birth to a son in February, a few days after the Grammys." [Times Standard]

Friday night Paul McCartney played "a two-and-a-half-hour performance of solo hits from the '70s, new songs released by his alter-ego the Fireman, plus 20 Beatles classics". Morrissey and Leonard Cohen played the same day.

Sunday is my favorite day. We'll have lots of pictures soon. In the meantime, below are more stills from the M.I.A. stream...

Continue reading "Coachella continues - M.I.A. played (some pics), day 3 today"

Toumani Diabate @ Stuyvesant High (more)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Culture Shock (SUNY)
* So Percussion @ Roulette
* Bill Callahan @ Other Music
* Toumani Diabate @ le Poisson Rouge
* Bouncing Souls @ Generation Records
* DJ Premier & Talib Kweli @ Fat Beats
* Willie Nelson @ The State Theatre (NJ)
* Free Blood, Sugar and Gold @ the Delancey
* The Roots and The Termals @ Lehigh University (PA)
* The Appleseed Cast @ Mercury Lounge (early or late)
* Vampire Weekend & Talib Kweli @ Columbia University
* Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Dub Trio @ Bowery Ballroom
* Lucero, Titus Andronicus @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Presidents of the United States of America @ Irving Plaza
* Lady Rizo and the Assettes & Reggie Watts @ Highline Ballroom
* Merce Cunningham event w/ Sonic Youth & John Paul Jones @ BAM
* Children, BISON b.c., Violent Bullshit, Circle of Buzzards, Naam @ DbA
* Bear Hands, Real Estate, The Tony Castles, Littl'ans, Das Racis @ The Shank
* The Subjects, Cymbals Eat Guitars, George Lewis Jr., Glass Ghost @ The Red Door

Today is Record Store Day.

Today is the 2nd day of Coachella.

Tomorrow is Earth Day.

Toumani Diabate also plays Le Poisson Rouge tomorrow.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down covered Lovin' Spoonful for a Record Store Day split 7" with the Thermals. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday? (Record Store Day)"

The 2009 Coachella music festival kicks off today in Indio, California. You can check out the set times at their site. I'm personally drooling over Sunday (a bit of which you can see above).

Highlights of today (4/17) include Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Beirut, The Black Keys, Genghis Tron, Girl Talk, Patton & Rahzel, The Hold Steady, The Bug, and A Place to Bury Strangers.

You can watch some of the performances online (Macca & Moz included).

Etienne De Crecy plays Sunday, and in NYC tonight. Throbbing Gristle plays Sunday, and in NYC tonight.

Antony's Sunday performance will be a collaboration with "avant-garde composer and electronics wiz" Matthew Herbert. "The duo will present stark electronic re-imaginings of songs from Antony and the Johnsons' new album 'The Crying Light'" That one unfortunately will not be streaming.

Video of Animal Collective performing "My Girls" at Coachella 2008, below...

Continue reading "Coachella starts - stream it online, check out the schedule ++ Antony to perform w/ Matthew Herbert"

DOWNLOAD: Sharegroove - Douglass Loft Hot Pot mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: David Bruno - I Went To Miami And All I Got Was This Stupid Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bag Raiders - Turbo Love (MP3)

Jokers of the Scene @ Plan B - April 14, 2009

Last Friday I was too tired to brave Webster Hall for Congorock even though I wanted to, and not being here Saturday or Sunday meant I didn't go out until Tuesday. That night I went to another one of the excellent parties Scion has been throwing monthly at Plan B. I didn't find out about it until the last minute - hopefully some of you saw the details I posted in the comments.

In any case...it wound up being a lot of fun. It wasn't as packed as quickly as usual, but by the time Jokers of the Scene started deejaying, Plan B had filled up nicely. Their set lived up to the two times I saw JoTS previously - great and full of new stuff, hardly any of which I knew, save for "One Day" by the Juan MacLean (who is playing a show at LPR tonight, but more on that and other upcoming events below...).

Toward the end of their set, just minutes after I had finished talking to a friend about Mr. Oizo, the next deejay coincidentally opened his set with "Flat Beat". The shock continued when the other half of the dj duo (who I later discovered were Super Viral Brothers) started to drop verses over the beats. He (Anthony Mills) continued to do so for the rest of the set which consisted of the following tracks (along with a few others) delivered by Olle Cornéer (who also happens to be half of Dada Life):

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Etienne de Crecy, Flying Lotus, Plan B, Coachella & more...)"

MIA @ the Diesel party in NYC (more by Kyle Dean ReinforD)

"Sri Lankan pop sensation M.I.A. has been added to the Coachella festival's Saturday night lineup, the event's producers announced today via their Twitter feed. M.I.A. replaces Amy Winehouse, who was forced to cancel her appearance earlier this month due to an assault charge in the U.K.

Coachella will mark the rapper/singer's first public appearance since the birth of her son last month and her performance of "Paper Planes" with Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne at the Grammy Awards in February.

M.I.A. joins other late additions to the Coachella bill including Devendra Banhart, the Orb, Chemical Bros., Murder City Devils and Etienne de Crecy." [Billboard] (thx Tye)

by Andrew Frisicano

My Bloody Valentine @ Roseland in 2008 (more)

"We are very excited to confirm 7 more artists for the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival [April 17-19]. These include: The Chemical Brothers (DJ Set), Etienne De Crecy, The Orb, The Murder City Devils, Devendra Banhart, Busy P and Plump DJs."

In addition to the Coachella date, Throbbing Gristle is playing a few more US shows, two NYC dates included: a sold-out April 16th show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, and an April 28th gig at the same venue. Tickets for the second are on sale today (3/16) at noon. The first show (possibly both) will be a two-set evening, with TG first playing a live soundtrack to the film "In The Shadow Of The Sun" followed by a "set of material from across Throbbing Gristle's history." Opening on April 28th are Alan Vega (Suicide) and Emeralds.

My Bloody Valentine have also announced a few dates around their appearance at Coachella, though nothing in NYC yet. All of those dates, and a Throbbing Gristle live video, below...

Continue reading "COACHELLA adds artists, MY BLOODY VALENTINE adds dates, THROBBING GRISTLE tickets on sale (at noon)"

Amy Winehouse @ Bowery Ballroom - March 2007 (more)

A spokesman for Amy Winehouse says the singer won't perform in the United States next month, as had been planned.

Spokesman Chris Goodman said Monday that Winehouse isn't going to the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif., in "light of current legal issues."

Winehouse was charged with assault last week for allegedly attacking a fan at a London party in September. The singer is due in court next week.

Being charged with a crime often makes it difficult for people to get U.S. visas. [Billboard] (thx Tye)

Continue reading "Amy Winehouse out of Coachella, in for Islands's 50th Fest"

by Andrew Frisicano

Record Store Day - a nationwide event created to support independently owned record stores - will take place on Saturday, April 18, 2009. A list of participating NYC stores is available online at the Record Store Day venue list.

On RSD, Generation Records (210 Thompson Street, NY, NY) will host an acoustic in-store by punk band The Bouncing Souls, free for customers who pick up a copy of the band's 20th Anniversary Volume 1 7-inch the day of the show.

Other events, such as in-stores at Williamsburg's Sound Fix, which announced its intent to celebrate the event with live music despite ending shows after losing its liquor license in February, are still being announced.

Many record labels are supporting the event with limited-edition records. Matador, for example, will be pressing 2500 copies each of Jay Reatard/Sonic Youth and Sonic Youth/Beck split 7-inches, plus a Pavement Live In Germany LP. Thrill Jockey is sending out 900 copies of Records Toreism, an LP that includes tracks from Mountains, Tortoise, White Hills, Trans Am featuring Tim Soete, and Baltimore's Double Dagger (who cover "Stagger Lee") and will be packaged with two zines (feat contributions from Ian MacKaye and more).

Record Store Day, which coincides with the 2009 Coachella Festival, will also be running a record shop at the fest. The press release, copied below, notes that the Coachella on-site store, "previously operated by Virgin, is noted for its high profile foot traffic and good vibe." Both events come in the same month that the Times Square Virgin Megastore will close - the NYC shop is notable for having the nation's highest sales volume. Its sister location in Union Square will be gone soon after.

Full list of Record Store Day exclusives, in the form of a press release, below...

Continue reading "Record Store Day 2009: lots of bands releasing exclusive vinyl, a Bouncing Souls in-store & more..."

by Andrew Frisicano

Cloud Cult @ Bowery Ballroom in November (more by Chris La Putt)

Cloud Cult is set to release a full-length documentary, titled No One Said It Would Be Easy, on April 21st, with a supporting US tour.

Offering an annotated history behind each of Cloud Cult's seven official full-length releases, the film deconstructs the back story, including the recruitment and inclusion of band members, as well as the tragic loss of singer/songwriter Craig Minowa and wife and visual artist Connie Minowa's son, Kaidin....Echoing the emotional catharsis required of a Cloud Cult performance, the film ebbs and flows, is filled with soaring highs and crushing lows, and is about what happens when a group of people commits to something much larger than themselves.

The DVD-supporting tour stretches across the US, hitting the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn with Margot and the Nuclear So and So's on Thursday, April 9th (tickets still on sale) and this year's Coachella Festival in Indie, CA on April 18th.

The band last played a NYC show in November at Bowery Ballroom. Since then we took a look at their "Lucky Today" Esurance ad in an edition of This Week In Music Licensing. All tour dates, the doc trailer, and a Margot & NSS Take-Away show video, below...

Continue reading "Cloud Cult - a new documentary & 2009 Tour Dates (many with Margot and the Nuclear So and So's)"

words by Bill Pearis, LC photos by Leia Jospe

Sky Larkin

Leeds UK trio Sky Larkin, who I've talked about before, are coming back to the U.S. soon. Their March-April tour includes a run at SXSW, an East Coast mini-tour (including March 23 at Mercury Lounge with the Grates), and finally a bunch of dates with fellow UK band Los Campesinos! (who are also playing Coachella while they're here in April, and who recently completed a North American tour with Titus Andronicus).

Sky Larkin's debut album, The Golden Spike, which they recorded last year in Seattle with John Goodmason (The Long Winters, Sleater-Kinney), was released last month in England and comes out in the U.S. in April. It's chock-full of super-catchy songs, like "Beeline" to which you can watch the video below. I've seen them a few times and they're definitely worth catching, and are nice folks too.

Los Campesinos! don't have any future NYC shows scheduled, but when they were here less than a month ago they played two nights in a row at Bowery Ballroom. Pictures from one of those shows, and all tour dates (SL & LC!), below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! - tour dates w/ SKY LARKIN, Coachella & pictures from Bowery Ballroom"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Buraka Som Sistema - Kalemba (Wegue Wegue) (Hot Chip remix) (MP3)

"Kuduro is the new baile funk. No, check that; kuduro is the new kwaito. Or was that grime? Reggaetón, maybe?

For a particular sort of cultural trainspotter, tracking down the newest strains of dance music from diverse parts of the world with the assiduousness of a modern-day Alan Lomax, this Angolan style is the current ne plus ultra.

Built on the fundamentals of house music, with the chilly, playful textures of electro and early rave and faint echoes of the Caribbean, kuduro is full of coarse break beats and bass lines that vibrate just at the edge of collapse. It's lately gained traction in Europe, particularly in Portugal, which has a significant population of immigrants from Angola, a former Portuguese colony.

That's where the Lisbon trio Buraka Som Sistema hails from.
[NY Times saw them DJ at Santos Party House in October]

Unlike last time they visited NYC in October though, this time they'll be with "Full Live Set-Up" which is being further advertised as an "explosive multi-decked live show, involving physics-defying dance troupes, serious percussion and rotating rapid-fire MCs."

Fabric is reissuing/releasing Buraka Som Sistema's full-length debut, Black Diamond, on April 7. Its single, "Sound of Kuduro," featuring M.I.A., is out now at iTunes, and appeared as a bonus track on last year's Kala reissue. The video for that song, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Buraka Som Sistema - 2009 'live' tour dates (Coachella, NYC), album re-release, Hot Chip remix (MP3) & MIA (video)"

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24 -- Mike Patton (Fantômas, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Peeping Tom and the forthcoming Mondo Cane amongst others) has just completed his first major motion film score for the film "Crank 2: High Voltage" (Apr. 17 release).

While Patton has often dabbled in film whether it was lending his voice to the creatures in "I Am Legend", his score for the indie film noir short "A Perfect Place" or Fantômas' film scoring interpretation via The Director's Cut, this marks his first proper film score.

Created during the latter half of 2008, Patton holed up in a Los Angeles studio and eliminated all other projects during the recording, a point worth noting as he is well known for being one of modern music's most prolific artists.

Patton has also provided vocals to several videogames including "Bionic Commando," "Portal," "Left 4 Dead," and "The Darkness." He also lent his voice to Adult Swim's Metalocalypse (character name: Rikki Kix). Patton just wrapped up a trek across Australia with Fantômas as part of the Big Day Out festival. His upcoming schedule includes a performance with labelmates Zu (Mar. 19 @ Great American Music Hall in San Francisco), the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Apr. 17 with Rahzel (ex-Roots beatboxer) and the highly anticipated reunion tour with Faith No More in Europe this summer.

--

In related news, the pre-Patton frontman of Faith No More, Chuck Mosley, "is currently recording a new album at Ante Up Audio recording studios in Cleveland, Ohio. Multi-platinum producer/engineer Michael Seifert (Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, Dave Matthews, Bone Thugs 'n Harmony) is currently working on the new release with Chuck. The album is sure to please fans new and old, with a mix of hard rock and acoustic numbers." (thx Klaus)

Continue reading "Mike Patton scores film... Faith No More reunion confirmed?"