The second-annual Spy Music Festival happens June 29th through July 15th, featuring "46 sets of music at 7 venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn." That's a big expansion from last year when it took place on two nights at Shea Stadium and Zebulon. This year's fest, run by the folks at Northern Spy Records, will happen at Union Pool, the Issue Project Room, The Stone, Vaudeville Park, 285 Kent, Death by Audio and Roulette. Amongst the artists performing are Rhys Chatham, Matthew Shipp, Dustin Wong, Arthur Doyle, Eugene Chadbourne, PG Six, Guardian Alien and Magik Markers.

The full Spy Music Festival schedule -- bands, venues, prices -- is below. There's no all-inclusive festival pass, but tickets to all the shows are available here. And the fest organizers have also made a sampler featuring the artists performing this year and you can stream that below as well.

Continue reading "Magik Markers, Dustin Wong, Eugene Chadbourne, Matthew Shipp and more playing NYC's Spy Music Festival"

Man Forever will celebrate the new LP Pansophical Cataract, out now via Thrill Jockey, with a NYC show TONIGHT at Le Poisson Rouge (5/15). The special outing at the Manhattan venue will double as a tour kick-off and is promising appearances from Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, ex-Liturgy), James McNew (Yo La Tengo), Shahin Motia (Ex-Models, Oneida), Richard Hoffman (Sightings), Sarah Richardson (Creeping Nobodies), Bryan Devendorf (The National), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Ryan Sawyer (Stars Like Fleas). Tickets are still available for the show. Colin Langenus Orchestra and Nymph open.

Look for members of Besnard Lakes, DD/MM/YY, Tortoise, Brokeback, Turn to Crime, White Gregg, Pelt, Cave, Terminal Lovers, Scarcity of Tanks, The Apes, and many more to serve as collaborators on the tour dates listed below.

The tour ends with a homecoming show at Issue Project Room on June 29th. The band will also bless The Stone on July 11th.

Man Forever features Kid Millions, who performed as part of Oneida for NYCTaper's 5th anniversary show (with Man Forever collaborators Greg Fox and James McNew) at 285 Kent over the weekend. Did you go? How was it?

All tour dates, a recent video for "Surface Patterns", and details on "Being Man Forever", are below.

Continue reading "Man Forever going on tour, playing guest-filled show tonight"

Glenn Branca at the 2011 Bang-on-a-Can Marathon (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Fortissimo Records will present Yo Eskerrik Asko NYC!, a two-day event will descend upon Public Assembly on August 24th and 25th. Neptune, Christina Carter, White Suns, Action Beat, and Glenn Branca play the first night. Oneohtrix Point Never, Charalambides, Colin L. Orchestra, Grasshopper, Opponents/Ala Muerte, and Tim Hecker play on the second evening. Tickets for both August 24th and August 25th are on sale separately, or you can buy a two-day pass.

Tim Hecker is also scheduled to play Mutek, an ATP event curated by The National and Pitchfork fest.

Oneohtrix Point Never is also scheduled to play NYC on May 5th as part of the National-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival. More Oneohtrix Point Never dates are listed below....

Continue reading "Tim Hecker playing Mutek, Pitchfork & 2-day 'Yo Eskerrik Asko NYC!' fest in Brooklyn w/ Glenn Branca & more"

by BBG

Hold on tight, the following post may make the internet completely collapse upon itself. Christopher Weingarten, notorious blogger/tweeter (as 1000TimesYes) and ex-drummer of Parts & Labor, welcomed his latest book Hipster Puppies over the summer. In celebration, Weingarten is throwing two upcoming events. The first is a (rescheduled due to hurricane Irene) "Hipster Puppies instore" at Sound Fix Records this Saturday (9/10). "Bring a dog, get a dollar off a book." Chris will be DJing. Flyer below.

The second, more my style, is a release party on September 21st at Public Assembly with live musical appearances from Zs, Burning Star Core, Mountains, and Dinowalrus, all of which appear on the Hipster Puppies: New York Cassette which is also celebrating its release that night. Limited to 350 copies, this 87-minute tape is available for purchase or for free to the first 50 people to buy tickets. Tickets are on sale now.

Zs

In addition, Zs will also celebrate their own release of a Sky Burial cassette, "an extremely limited 18-minute sound collage of lo-fi recordings snatched from the band's European encores". Available in two editions, a golden mirror finish and a white one (limited to 50 and 150 respectively), the release is the first of a trilogy of recordings for Zs that will include a 2x7" called 33 and an LP entitled This Body Will be a Corpse. Look for the LP on Playbutton and the 7" on Northern Spy (who will release many upcoming Zs recordings) but in the meantime, stream "33" and a snippet from the Sky Burial below.

Zs is also scheduled to play a release show for 33 in November (details forthcoming) as well as the first night of the Spy Music Festival going down on Oct 1st (at Shea Stadium) and 2nd (at Zebulon). Zs will join Bird Names, Colin L. Orchestra, Dan Melchior und das Menace, Neptune, Eleven Twenty-Nine, and Haunted House for the first night, while the second night will feature appearances from The Spanish Donkey, Hubble, Angels in America, Weyes Blood, and Zaimph. The shows are in celebration of record label Northern Spy's first anniversary. Full details on the festival are below.

In related news, Sam of Zs also is a member of Diamond Terrifier, who will play The Gutter on Sunday (9/11) with Charlie Looker (Extra Life), Patrick Higgins, and Eric Wubbels. $5 gets you into this 21+ event of avant-garde experimentalism. Stream an excerpt from Diamond Terrifer's forthcoming Himalayan Appalachia below, and look for it on limited cassette on 9/17.

Extra Life also have a show coming up at Glasslands.

All streams, Spy Music Fest details, Zs dates and stuff below...

Continue reading "Hipster Puppy events, limited cassettes, Zs, Spy Music Fest"