DOWNLOAD: Prurient - "God Is Truth And Light His Shadow" (MP3)

Cold Cave at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

Hospital Productions honcho, member of Cold Cave, and Prurient mastermind Dominick Fernow will curate two weeks at The Stone in February. Lasting from February 1st - 15th, the shows will feature two artists per night including names like Northern Cross, Carlos Giffoni, Hell Hoarse, Hoor-Paar-Kraat, Yellow Tears, Pharmakon, Stephen Brodsky (who plays Saint Vitus soon), FFH, Yellow Tears, and many more. Full schedule for The Stone during Fernow's reign is below, and all shows are $5.

Fernow's East Village noise/black metal mecca Hospital Productions closed in December, with Fernow reportedly moving to Los Angeles and selling the remaining stock to Apop in St. Louis.

Dominick's band member in Cold Cave, Wes Eisold, recently played shows with his old band American Nightmare.

Prurient recently released the double 7" Wrapped in the Flame of Illusion, Masked in the Clay of Behavior via Dais. Download a track from that release above and stream it below alongside a listing of all upcoming events at The Stone.

Continue reading "Dominick Fernow curated part of February at The Stone"

photos by Tim Griffin

Spoon @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

Spoon had nothing to promote and no surplus of new songs to unveil. This was just an Austin band -- Austin's biggest indie band ever -- playing an Austin festival for their only major show of 2011 (at least so far). As a live unit, the four-piece that recorded Transmission (augmented here by an additional percussionist) is as precise as Spoon has ever been, cranking out savagely controlled, often slow-building versions of such songs as "Written in Reverse," "Delicate Places" and the instantaneously applauded "I Turn My Camera On." "We got horns!" frontman Britt Daniel proclaimed, bringing out a six-man section for "Cherry Bomb," "The Underdog" and "Jonathan Fisk." By the four-song encore, the crowd had both increased in enthusiasm and decreased in size -- no doubt some people had wandered to another stage to see the Damned, which Daniel himself had said he wished that he could do. [SPIN]

Our first set of pictures from Saturday, Damned included, are HERE. Our second set continues, more of Spoon included, below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 -- Day 2 pics (part 2) -- Spoon, Tune-Yards, Ra Ra Riot, Tinariwen, Purity Ring & more"

by BBG

The Damned @ F F F Fest

Day two of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 was definitely more taxing than day one (pics here and here), in part due to the unrelenting dust storms. But despite a case of brown lung and some fatigue, it was still a blast and I managed to catch most of the sets at the Black Stage, as well as select shows at the Blue Stage and even popped over to checkout M83 at Orange for a bit. Highlights for the day included the Death Grips, the crowd going bat-shit crazy and creating human launch ramps during Paint it Black, Cold Cave blasting out destructive white noise, the return of Hot Snakes and watching The Damned rip through favorites like "New Rose" and "Smash It Up" from their first two albums while making jokes about Danzig (who played a notorious set the night before on the same stage at the same time). Completely different vibe from the night prior (and not the only time a Danzig joke was heard).

The rest of my pictures from Saturday (with more to come) are below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 -- Day 2 in pics (part 1) -- The Damned, Hot Snakes, Negative Approach, Death Grips & more"

Touche Amore at Santos Party House (more by Paul Birman)

Cold Cave regret to announce that due to an unforeseen illness they are unable to travel and thus not able to play their dates in the UK and Europe in August and September.
We hope they will be able to reschedule the shows in 2012.

House of Vans hosted an eclectic lineup last night with Tokyo Police Club, Against Me, Japanther, Big Freedia, and Team Robespierre. Pictures are on the way.

Converge play Richmond TONIGHT (8/19) as part of Best Friends Day with the reuniting pg.99. pg.99 will ALSO play a DC show at Black Cat next weekend (8/27) with Circle Takes The Square and Thou.

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom

After much speculation about who the "xxxx xxxx" was in the previously announced Converge/All Pigs Must Die House of Vans lineup, Converge has confirmed that the two word, eight letter mystery band is in fact Cold Cave (and strangely not Trap Them). What's more, according to Converge, the August 25th show has been moved to August 24th. The RSVP for the new date, unconfirmed by the Vans website at the moment, is still open.

Oh, and if you do RSVP, you might notice that the confirmation email spits out the following lineup: "Converge, **** **** (SPECIAL GUEST), ***** (SPECIAL GUEST) and All Pigs Must Die". Is there one more five letter band still to be announced? .

RSVP is also still open for the previously discussed Tokyo Police Club / Against Me! / Big Freedia / Japanther / Team Robespierre show happening at House of Vans on 8/18.

Cold Cave played Bowery Ballroom over the weekend with Austra and Cult of Youth...

Before Cold Cave was ready to melt faces, Canadian new wavers Austra opened the show, pleasing the crowd with their stellar chops. Led by singer songwriter Katie Stelmanis, the band's sound could be described as beautifully haunting and catchy. We stood in awe as Stelmanis began to belt out the lyrics to "Lose It," the song that will end up being their break out hit....

When the clock struck the witching hour, Cold Cave took the stage to a massive roar of applause. The show started with Eisold tossing sunflowers into the crowd to the pleasure of fans of both sexes...

The capacity crowd hung on each note and each hardcore synth beat. The front of the house was literally shaking, as concert goers jumped in unison. The tight three piece, all dressed in black, flawlessly recreated songs like "Love Comes Close" and "Confetti" for a live audience, while at the same time extending them into danceable jams. Our only complaint about the show, was the duration of the set as it only clocked in at a touch over an hour. The next time the band returns, we need a two plus hour blistering set. -[Local Bozo]

The Bowery show, the end of a month-long tour for Cold Cave, was also Austra's second NYC show in a month after their appearance at Pier 54.

Cult of Youth plays NYC again on August 17th at Saint Vitus along with the NYC debut of Chelsea Wolfe, and Planning for Burial. Tickets are on sale.

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom and the Cold Cave set list, below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave played Bowery w/ Austra & Cult of Youth (pics), playing House of Vans w/ Converge (on a new date)"

Slayer at Izod Center (photos by Samantha Marble)

Slayer, Thee Oh Sees, Public Enemy, Girls, Danzig Legacy, (Danzig + Doyle von Frankenstein playing Misfits, Samhain & Danzig), Hot Snakes, Diplo, Major Lazer, Henry Rollins, Ted Leo & The Phramacists, Spank Rock, Murder City Devils, Hum, Lykke Li, Passion Pit, Four Tet, Rakim, The Damned, Austra, Purity Ring, and Flynt Flossy are just a few of the acts announced today as part of the Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 lineup. Another amazing year! Check out the full lineup below and stay tuned for more announcements coming in August and September.

The new additions to the Austin, Texas festival, which takes place from 11/4 - 11/6, are in addition to the the previous "lineup leaks" that included Brian Posehn, Odd Future, Okkervil River, M83, X (performing "Los Angeles"), Reggie Watts, Flying Lotus, Tune-Yards, Ra Ra Riot, Kid Dynamite and others

2011 is the festival's sixth year, but first at its new home Auditorium Shores (no more Waterloo Park). Tickets are on sale now.

Slayer also has a NYC performance coming up with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth as part of the "Big Four" show at Yankee Stadium on 9/14. Tickets are still available.

Fun Fun Fun 2011 flyer and almost-full lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 lineup (Danzig Legazy, Passion Pit, Slayer, Lykke Li, The Damned, Henry Rollins & much more)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo & Josh Darr

Fleet Foxes / Zola Jesus

Pitchfork Fest day two (7/16) had a pretty great variety of acts. In addition to newer acts like No Age, Zola Jesus and Twin Shadow, day two made way for a number of more classic artists including the recently reunited Dismemberment Plan, hardcore punk 'supergroup' OFF!, and instrumental hip hop vet DJ Shadow. You might include Destroyer and The Radio Dept. in that group too, who both played day two of the fest.

Fleet Foxes, who also played Pitchfork Festival in 2008, headlined. Catch Fleet Foxes in NYC when their tour with The Walkmen hits Williamsburg Waterfront on September 24. Tickets for this great double bill are still on sale.

Gang Gang Dance (pics) and G-Side (pics) played day two also. More pictures from that day below...

Continue reading "pics from Pitchfork Fest 2011 -- Day Two"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rayon Beach - Wave Pool Ether (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Wesley Coleman - Ooh Basketball (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Urge Overkill - Effigy (MP3)

Tom Vek

This week is kind of nuts. I know you're all probably just going to be spending it reading A Dance with Dragons or going to see Harry Potter, but here's your TWII action... let's get into it.

Tom Vek is here for two shows, his first U.S. shows since 2005: an early show tonight (7/12) at Mercury Lounge and tomorrow (7/13) at Union Pool. I don't think either are sold out. His second album Leisure Seizure -- six years in the making -- has remained in constant rotation on my stereo since getting a copy in May and I'm pretty excited for these shows.

The new record still sounds like Tom Vek -- the staccato drum beats, sparse arrangements, his laid-back vocal style -- and maybe it's the absence but it still sounds fresh. It's a great record and a welcome return. I have no idea who is in his band these days, but he was fantastic live back when he toured for We Have Sound in 2005. I have a feeling he's still got it.

Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts are over for four East Coast shows, including two nights at Le Poisson Rouge on Wednesday (7/13) and Thursday (7/14). (They're also playing Philly and D.C.) These will be the first the band have done since releasing their third album, Smother, back in May. As I've said before, this is 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.

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 playing keyboards with the band on this Stateside jaunt which is an added bonus for some of us. The rest of North America will get a chance to see Wild Beasts in September when they come back for a proper tour.  All 2011 dates are at the bottom of this post.

Urge Overkill

Shifting gears wildly, we've got Chicago rock gods Urge Overkill in town for two shows this week. They play the Rocks Off cruise on Wednesday (7/13) and then the Rock Shop on Saturday (7/16) as part of the venue's big One Year Anniversary which is happening all this week.

Urge Overkill were odd men out in the '90s, doing suave, heavily postured cock rock in an era dominated by slacker indie and stoner sludge. 1993's Saturation is one of the decade's classics, all big riffs and attitude that has only gotten finer with age. The same can't be said for 1995's Exit the Dragon, which found the band succumbed to the rock n' roll excesses the band exemplified. (There were even rumors the band were too fucked up to even play on its recordings, having most parts subbed by session musicians.)

There were various comeback gigs in the '00s but I don't think anybody expected them to make a new album. Which made this year's Rock'n'Roll Submarine (great title) a double shock: it exists and, more importantly, it's pretty awesome. Kato and Roeser keep the same flame alive: badass riffs, supercatchy choruses, and that unfakeable rock n' roll spirit. (No Blackie Onassis, but some chemistry is just too volatile apparently.) There's also a world-weariness that keeps it all real. They aren't trying to pretend they haven't been through some serious shit. But to paraphrase "Effigy" (downloadable at the top of this post), they've always taken the loud way.

The Wooden Birds

Lovely Austin band The Wooden Birds play two shows this week as well: Thursday (7/14) at Mercury Lounge and Friday (7/15) at The Rock Shop. As you may know at this point, this is Andrew Kenny's post-American Analog Set band, which still has his drony motorik style but in a much more acoustic setting. The Wooden Birds' sophomore album, Two Matchsticks, is (in my opinion) much better than their debut: the arrangements are more dynamic and the addition of Matt Pond (both on guitar and vocally) adds a lot. (Matt Pond PA's Chris Hansen is a touring member as well.) You can check out the title track to the new album at the top of this post.

Tune-Yards @ MHOW (more by Amanda Hatfield)

What else? Hudson River Rocks starts this week (Thursday 7/14) with tUnE-yArDs and Austra which is a pretty hard-to-pass-up free show. While I don't reach for her album much, there's no denying Merril Garbus is a magnetic performer who can win over crowds easily. While Austra's Katie Stelmanis doesn't quite have that charm, there is no denying her stage presence either and I'm a big fan of Austra's debut album which came out earlier this year. Thursday is supposed to be beautiful and this show seems like a no-brainer.

Rayon Beach

Austin's Rayon Beach play three shows this week: Thursday (7/14) at Don Pedro, then Friday (7/15) at Bruar Falls and Saturday (7/16) at Death by Audio. I wrote this a year ago and I think it still holds true:

Like a lot of the bands on Hozac Records (or bands from Austin for that matter), this trio fit under the psych/garage umbrella but there's a decided Brit bent to their music. Baroque garage, is that a thing? Think Syd-era Pink Floyd or The Pretty Things more than Woven Bones. Make no mistake -- Rayon Beach can and do get plenty loud. It's just sometimes with pinkies extended.

Anglophiles might already know that Scottish indiefolk cult legend King Creosote is in town this week, playing a late show at Mercury Lounge on Thursday (7/14) and then at the Rock Shop on Sunday (7/17). Both shows are with the equally talented Jon Hopkins. I wrote about King Creosote back in March:

Scottish indie folk royalty Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote. Anderson (whose brother Gordon was a founding member of The Beta Band and now fronts The Aliens) has been cranking out album after album of melancholic, wry songwriting since the late '90s. (Seriously, check out his discography.) Many of these have been self-released, but he's had records on Warner Brothers and Domino too.

The Radio Dept

And now another weekend of Seaport-related shows. Friday (7/15)  is the final night of this year's abbreviated Seaport Music Festival, with The Radio Dept. The band are in the U.S. for this and the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago and that's it -- so we should count ourselves lucky. If you wanted to see them somewhere small, you're out of luck. (Unless you maybe found yourself at a shop that rocked on, say, Thursday night. Maybe.) Last year's Clinging to a Scheme was one of 2010's best albums (according to me) and though I do wish they'd get a drummer to play with them at shows, they still sound pretty great live.

I'm hoping the merch table has the new 180 gram vinyl reissues of the band's three albums. In particular I want to pick up their classic debut Lesser Matters, one of the best albums of the '00s. Opening are Asobi Seksu which is a pretty perfect pairing. The weather's supposed to be gorgeous, the show is free...this'll be sweet.

Saturday is the Village Voice 4 Knots Festival which is going out of its way to let us know it's not trying to be the Siren Festival. It's a nice line-up of bands, though, scaled to fit the Seaport. Apart from Eleanor Friedberger and Oberhofer, it is a pretty rock line-up what with headliners Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, Davilla 666 and Mr. Dream. If you like to dance, they've got an indoor lounge over at 210 Front Street with an all DJ lineup that includes Yeasayer, Dan Deacon, Brahms and the Finger on the Pulse dudes (also DJing as Punches) spinning tunes. Things kick off at 1PM.

Then Sunday (7/17) is the last show of my Sound Bites Series down at the Fulton Stall Market and I'm super pleased to have Hospitality on cleanup. When I found out we were going to be doing the series again, Hospitality were the first band I thought of. If you haven't heard them, you can download their 2009 EP for free from their Bandcamp site. It's quite lovely. The band have gotten less precious since then, though no less charming, and recently the band expanded to a four-piece with drummer Nathan Michel moving to guitar making them decidedly more skronky now.

I am quite enamored with this band and you should definitely come down and see them. They are seriously good. If you come to only one Sound Bites Show this summer... this is your last chance. Hospitality are on at 3PM sharp and I'll be spinning tunes from around 1:30 or so. It's free!

And right after Hospitality finish, you can head across South Street to the Beekman Beer Garden for this week's Beach Party show with Frankie Rose and Xray Eyeballs. Both bands feature on that free downloadable mix you can get over at Insound. The Frankie Rose track is one I hadn't heard before, a cover of Slapp Happy's "Blue Flower" which you may know from covers either by Mazzy Star or Pale Saints.

Last week (Cheeseburger and Hard Nips) was fun and pretty fairly low-key. The spot -- formerly Water Taxi Beach -- is a pretty popular spot on its own, so expect a mixed crowd of those there for the show and those there just for the view/vibe. Bands start at 4PM. It's free.

And that's about it for this week. A few more daily picks are below.

TUESDAY, JULY 12

It's a heatwave today but Cold Cave will have the A/C cranked for their show Knitting Factory tonight. I do really like their new album Cherish the Light Years which kind of reminds me of '80s band Lords of the New Church. The show is with gothy sea chanty singers Cult of Youth, and Zambri who are newly signed to Kanine Records (and who were impressive at Knitting Factory during the Northside fest). The show is part of a tour that ends at Bowery Ballroom with Austra.

The newly reunited Cibo Matto are at Brooklyn Bowl. Though advance tickets sold out, there will be limited availability at the door. Go early. The show is one date of a tour that also hits Bowery Ballroom.

continued below....

Continue reading "Tom Vek, Wild Beasts, Urge Overkill, Wooden Birds, Rayon Beach, King Creosote, Radio Dept & more in This Week In Indie"

photos by Tamara Porras, Prurient photos by Louis Caldarola, words by BBG

Iceage

Prurient and Iceage headlined the Sacred Bones/Stereogum showcase at Public Assembly on June 17th, with help from Cult of Youth (who have a new album and tour with Cold Cave in August), The Men (who played Death By Audio earlier that week), Yellow Tears, Lost Tribe, Pop1280, and Anasazi. The show, part of the Northside Festival, marked the US debut of Iceage and is one of a few shows planned for the band in the coming weeks.

By the time I arrived at the Sacred Bones/Stereogum show after catching Deafheaven, Iceage had already taken the stage and were into their first song. The crowd was dancing like maniacs and had started a pit in front of the stage. The band's reverb and noise-heavy post-punk was as snotty and disaffected on stage as it is on New Brigade, and the audience ate it up.

Prurient

I ducked out of Iceage a touch early though to get into the smaller room to catch Prurient which, as expected, filled quickly to capacity following the close of Iceage. Standing up front, I caught all of Dominick Fernow's violent and fantastic 15 minute set that included his Cold-Cave bandmate Wes Eisold addding another layer of electronic noise. Dominick screamed and thrashed violently (ultimately knocking over his rig) into two microphones while an icy mix of darkwave synths, black metal, and noise blasted through the PA. Incredible set.

If you missed out on the show on Friday (6/17) you can still catch quite a few of the bands in the coming weeks. Cult of Youth play Knitting Factory with Cold Cave on 7/12. Iceage are back in NYC for a few more dates including a FREE in-store Wednesday at Other Music and a show at 285 Kent on Saturday with JEFF The Brotherhood and a suprise guest (Fucked Up).

Yellow Tears have a few dates in their future as well, playing the Ende Tymes Festival of Noise and Experimental Liberation at Silent Barn on June 24th-26th, the Burning Fleshtival III at The Red Light District on 7/29 and 7/30, and The Stone on August 2nd.

We already posted the Men pics from the show HERE. More pictures from the rest of the show and some video of Yellow Tears (most of their set), Iceage, and Prurient, below...

Continue reading "Iceage, Prurient & friends played Public Assembly (Northside pics & video)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Prurient - "A Meal Can Be Made" (MP3)

Prurient (AKA Dom of Cold Cave, Ash Pool, etc) is welcoming his new LP Bermuda Drain via Hydra Head who will put out the CD/LP/digital on 7/19. The cassette version however will be available at the cassette release party which is the Prurient show happening at Public Assembly on Friday night with Iceage, AnasaNude Beachi, Cult of Youth, Lost Tribe, Pop. 1280, Yellow Tears, The Men and Wes Eisold of Cold Cave (DJ set). Tickets are sold-out, but you can try your luck with a Northside badge.

If you don't make it to the Stereogum/Sacred Bones showcase at Public Assembly, Stereogum reports that "the cassette will be available the next day (6/18) at Fernow's Hospital Productions record shop (East Coast) and Hydra Head's Vacation Vinyl (West Coast)" though 7/6 is the cassette version's official release date.

Check out the lead track "A Meal Can Be Made" available for free download above. Full tracklist is listed below.

Cold Cave played NYC during Internet Week and will come back to NYC twice while touring in the coming weeks, at Knitting Factory on July 12th with Cult of Youth (tickets) and Bowery Ballroom on 8/6 with Austra (tickets).

Continue reading "grab a new Prurient track (MP3), get the cassette on Friday"

photos by Ryan Muir for Insider Images

Cold Cave @ Internet Week

This little blurb from Matador sums it up:

Cold Cave kicked of NYC's Internet Week this past Monday with a fantastic set at the Metropolitan Pavilion. Next month they'll head out on their first proper North American headlining tour in support of Cherish The Light Years, which came out this past April on Matador Records.

They'll make stops in Chicago and Seattle amidst this run to play this year's Pitchfork Music Festival and Capitol Hill Block Party, respectively. Support on the first handful of dates will be Cult Of Youth, and the shows from July 21st onward will feature Austra as opener.

Continue reading "Cold Cave & the Hood Internet played Internet Week (pics)"

Internet Week 2011 is coming to NYC this Monday (6/6). The festival consists of several events, including mixers, panels, conferences, classes, and parties. The Rapture, who are back on DFA, are DJing the official Internet Week opening party with The Hood Internet and DJ Frankenmack. Cold Cave also play a live set at the party. The same night an after-party will take place with DJ sets from Holy Ghost! and Night People. Check out the full event schedule for more events including a discussion with Judah Friedlander and Michael Ian Black and more.

The two parties are invite-only and can be RSVP'd to with an insider pass which can be obtained here for the hefty price of $249 (or HERE for $149). If you can't muster up the cash, even though it may be worth it if you plan on attending all the rest of the stuff Internet Week has going on, we're giving away two insider passes. Contest details below. You can also pick up a HQ pass for just $15 and a tweet about your purchase but will not be allowed access to the parties.

The Internet Week event is one of three NYC shows Cold Cave currently have scheduled this summer. They also play Knitting Factory on July 12 with Cult of Youth and Zambri and Bowery Ballroom on August 6 with Austra. Tickets are still on sale for Knitting Factory and Bowery Ballroom.

Contest details and more about what the Insider Pass gets you, below...

Continue reading "Internet Week is coming, Cold Cave are playing the opening party, The Rapture are DJing (win tickets!)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Iceage - "White Rune" (MP3)

Dominick Fernow on stage with Cold Cave at T5 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Prurient, aka Dominick Fernow who is now also in Cold Cave, will play his first Prurient NYC show in two years as part of the Stereogum/Sacred Bones show at Public Assembly on June 17th. Prurient is a recent addition to the previously mentioned Northside Festival show which also includes the debut NYC performance of Iceage and appearances from Yellow Tears, Lost Tribe, The Men, and DJ Wes Eisold (Cold Cave). Tickets are on sale or you can try to use a badge.

Iceage are preparing to release their new LP New Brigade on June 21st via What's Your Rupture?. Check out "White Rune" from that above and a video for "New Brigade" below. The Danish band's performance at Public Assembly is part of a string of East Coast dates for the band in June, after which they'll return home to graduate high school (no shit).

Prurient is comprised of one Dominick Fernow, he of Hospital Productions/Ash Pool/Cold Cave fame. Prurient recently released the Many Jewels Surround The Crown 7" via Hydra Head Records, a track that is also featured on the forthcoming Hydra Head release Bermuda Drain due in June.

As discussed, Cold Cave are coming back to NYC twice as part of a tour in the coming weeks. Tickets are now on sale for both shows too: Knitting Factory on July 12th with Cult of Youth and Bowery Ballroom on 8/6 with Austra.

All Iceage dates and that video is below.

Continue reading "Prurient added to Iceage show, Iceage announce new LP & tour (MP3, dates & a reminder that Cold Cave tickets are on sale)"

Austra at the BV Day Party (more by Tim Griffin)

Austra have released a new video for "Lose It", the latest single released from their forthcoming Feel It Break (due 5/17 via Domino) and the subject of a new-and-limited 7" due on the same day as the LP. Check out the video for "Lose It" below.

Austra will play a string of East Coast dates in late May which include Mercury Lounge on May 23 (tickets), and the band is also now on board to support Cold Cave on part of their previously announced tour. That includes the Bowery Ballroom show on August 6th (tickets for that go on sale Friday, 5/6 at noon). Cold Cave is also scheduled to play Knitting Factory on July 12th with Cult of Youth, and tickets for that go on sale Friday (5/6) at 10am.

More imminently, Austra is scheduled to perform at a private event at The Whitney on Saturday (5/7) as part of New York Gallery Week. There Austra will be joined by a DJ set from Alex Pasternak (Lemonade, ZZK), "video installations by Jules Marquis (Art & Music by: Sean Hanratty), and a private viewing of Glenn Ligon: America".

The new video for "Lose It", the recent Cold Cave video for "Villains Of The Moon" and all tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Austra has a new video, will tour w/ Cold Cave (and is playing a private show @ the Whitney this weekend)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Like The Kills (who headlined the show), Cold Cave and The Entrance band played Terminal 5 on Friday night (4/29) as part of an ongoing tour for the three bands. Pictures from the opening sets are in this post.

And like the Kills, Cold Cave have already announced more upcoming shows including another two in NYC: Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on July 12th and Bowery Ballroom on August 6th. KF tickets go on sale 5/6 at noon, and Bowery tickets probably will do something similar. All tour dates are listed below.

The Knitting Factory show is with Cult of Youth who just finished a tour with Zola Jesus at Bowery Ballroom, and whose other upcoming gigs include opening for Steve Ignorant and playing as part of the Northside Festival at Public Assembly on June 17th with Iceage, The Men, Lost Tribe... and DJ Wes from Cold Cave. Tickets are on sale for that one.

With new Cold Cave tour dates also came a new Cold Cave video for "Villains Of The Moon." Watch that with more pictures from Terminal 5 (Kills pics HERE), below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave played T5 w/ the Entrance Band & Kills (pics), announced a video & more dates (some w/ Cult of Youth)"

The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"

photos by David Andrako

Here are a few things that happened on Coachella Day 1:

• it was hot.
• lots of celebrities, like Coachella regular Danny Devito, were walking around
• The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and the Chemical Brothers were the big headlining acts of the day (all on the main Coachella Stage)
• people wore funny outfits, and sometimes NSFW outfits.
• people sinned.
• Lauryn Hill started late, but not too late (aka she still got to play).
• Cee Lo showed up very late, apologized, but acted mad he had to play a short set. He used that anger to give his set-closing hit "Fuck You" context.
• Odd Future predictably drew a huge crowd, and were joined by Pharell.
• Odd Future's set resulted in a possible broken nose (again)
• There were 20 arrests
• Paul McCartney was there, and along with Usher, stood on stage during Afrojack's set.
• YACHT played
• Many other people played, and lots of other stuff happened too, as you can see in the pictures below...

What were your highlights of Coachella Day One? Are you there or watching the stream?

Photographer David Andrako managed to catch 18 acts and other random stuff in between on Friday. His pictures from the whole day continue below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2011 Day 1 in pics (Chemical Brothers, Black Keys, Robyn, Interpol, Cee Lo, Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells & more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Cold Cave - The Great Pan is Dead (MP3)

Perfect news for weather like today: Cold Cave are back with their second album on Matador, Cherish the Light Years, out April 5. You can download the first released track, "The Great Pan Was Dead," at the top of this post. For the price of your email address, you can get a zip of a higher quality MP3 of the track, artwork and handwritten lyrics via a download widget at the bottom of this post. If this track is indicative of the rest of the album, Cold Cave are sounding a little bigger, more ambitious than on their last album. It's almost got an '80s heartland rock vibe to it...run through a gothy filter, of course.

And as bands do when they have a new album coming out, they're going on tour, both headling dates and ones supporting The Kills. CC's only NYC show right now is opening for The Kills at Terminal 5 on April 29. Hopefully Cold Cave will play somewhere smaller on their own here as well.

All Cold Cave tour dates, plus Cherish the Light Years artwork and that download widget, are below.

Continue reading "Cold Cave releasing 'Cherish the Light Years', touring (new MP3 & dates w/ The Kills)"

Alison Mosshart of The Kills on stage with Dead Weather at Prospect Park (more by Jessica Amaya)

With Jack White busy hyping up Wanda Jackson and the Greenhornes about to go on tour, the Dead Weather is on the back burner (for now), and Alison Mosshart's longer-running band The Kills are releasing a new album and hitting the road. They'll going on a tour with Cold Cave and Entrance Band that will kick off in mid-April. That tour impacts Terminal 5 on April 29th and fan presale tickets are currently on sale, with AMEX presale for the NYC show beginning Wednesday at noon (1/19) and regular sale kicking off 48 hours later.

Before then the Kills will be down at SXSW and in Europe. Their new LP, Blood Pressures, hits via Domino on April 5th. The tracklisting for the LP, and all tour dates and some videos, below...

Continue reading "The Kills releasing 'Blood Pressures', touring w/ Cold Cave & the Entrance Band (2011 dates)"

Matador's 21st birthday fest will be happening in Las Vegas October 1st-3rd. For it, they've pulled the cream of the indie-rock crop. Previously speculated headliners Belle & Sebastian and Pavement will be there - on top of that, Guided By Voices will be reuniting to play, "in the band's "classic '93-'96 lineup!" The most recent show for GBV was New Year's Eve 2004/05.

In addition to those three, the lineup includes Sonic Youth, Spoon, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, New Pornographers, Superchunk, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Guitar Wolf (who also play NY), Chavez, Girls, Fucked Up, Harlem, Cold Cave, Shearwater, Kurt Vile and Jeffrey Joe Jenson. More will be annonuced July 5th.

A flyer is below...

Continue reading "Matador Fest lineup announced - Guided by Voices reunion! + Guitar Wolf, Belle & Sebastian, Pavement & many more"

photos by Nikki Sneakers

Cold Cave

Already briefly discussed in "Caves are the new Bears", Cold Cave and Cult of Youth played a late show at Le Poisson Rouge on Thursday night. A set of pictures from that show continues below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave & Cult of Youth @ Le Poisson Rouge - pics "

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."

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) "

by Andrew Frisciano

The on-again, off-again rain on Sunday didn't cancel the 17th annual WBAR-B-Q, but it did move the show inside to Barnard's LeFrak Gym, a bit different aesthetically from the lush spring greenery outside but serviceable enough. It helped that the lineup had a focus on experimental noise and noise-inspired acts - every act I saw had the reverb and distortion keyed up, so the added resonance of the hall wasn't really an issue.

The show kicked off with Prince Rama, U.S. Girls and Think About Life, all of whom went on before I got there a little after 2pm. By then the free food was gone too, but the cotton candy machine and sno-cones were stocked all day.

On the center stage, Baltimore's Lower Dens (with guitarist Jana Hunter) played floating, moody distorted rock; drone violinist and loopmaster Burning Star Core/C Spencer Yeh serenaded (with huge bass drops) along the back wall; and Blues Control performed effects-heavy keyboard-and-tape jams.

The room looked fairly empty for most of the day (being a huge gym), but by the time Cold Cave went on people were on their feet and dancing. New member Jennifer Clavin (ex-Mika Miko) played keys and stepped in for vocals, and the band was off after a short-ish, no-encore set. Twin Stumps and their crazily enthused frontman set up on the floor across the gym and kept the show going with dissonant, pointed punk. Liturgy closed the show, but I took off before they played.

It was the second free show of the weekend for Cold Cave, who played the HEALTH-headlined NYU Solar One show the day before (which I heard also had plenty of room for people to move around). They play (Le) Poisson Rouge on Thursday with Cult Of Youth, Beaut, Max (reading), Mike Goodstein (WFMU) and DJ Mike Simonetti (Italians Do It Better). Tickets are still on sale.

More pictures from Barnard and a video of HEALTH at Solar One are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave (and a lot of bands) played free shows @ Solar One (for NYU) & in Barnard's LeFrak Gym (WBAR-B-Q rain location)"

HEALTH is the secret band at Saturday's free, open to the public, NYU, Earth Day, Cold Cave show at Solar One (thx Mike!). If you miss it, HEALTH are back in June as part of a tour.

by Andrew Frisicano

Cold Cave @ Market Hotel during CMJ (more by Leia Jospe)

Cold Cave and a surprise headliner will top a free concert on Saturday, April 24th at Solar One (same location as the annual CitySol, 23rd Street at East River) as part of NYU Earth Week. Also on the bill are lightly orchestral, layered pop band North Highlands and echo\y, tuneful Oberhofer. The show starts at 4pm and Andrew WK DJs between bands. The headliner will be announced the day of the show.

Columbia University is hosting a show with Of Montreal, Wiz Khalifa and Ghostface Killah the same day.

Cold Cave also playing the WBAR-B-Q the next day (4/25) and LPR on April 29th.

Also NYU-related is the annual Strawberry Festival on Friday, April 30th, noon to 4pm, outdoors on LaGuardia Place between W 3rd and 4th Sts. The show (an "NYU only event") includes music from Hop Along, Little Lungs, Fiasco, Screaming Females and Japanther.

Video from last year's Strawberry Fest and a recent gig by Japanther at Party Expo are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave, a surprise headliner, Screaming Females, Japanther & other bands playing upcoming free NYU shows"