by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Zambri - ICBYS (Ice Choir Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ice Choir - Teletrips (MP3)

Fixtures on the Brooklyn scene for a while now, sisterly duo Zambri released their debut, House of Baasa, about a month ago o Kanine records. Dark and sweaty, it's a bit like a Jungle Themed Siouxsie Sioux with a number of standout tracks -- "Carry," "ICBYS," and "Hundred Hearts" which you can watch the video for below. You can stream the whole album below as well.

Zambri have a few other dates coming up -- including the Kanine Records Northside showcase at Knitting Factory on June 14 with Eternal Summers, Bleeding Rainbow, Beach Day and some TBDs -- which are all listed below.

Zambri, with their seriously awesome drummer and complicated microphones, play tonight (5/10) at Public Assembly as part of a pretty good bill. Also playing are Computer Magic (aka Brooklynite Danielle Johnson) who makes appealing retro-y synthpop. Her debut EP, Orion, is out now and you can stream it below.

Openers Test House just released their debut EP, Bitemarks, a couple weeks ago. The duo make glitchy dance music and you can stream the EP below. They have a pedigree too: Peter Schuette used to be in Silk Flowers and Psychobuildings, and James Elliot spent time in Bear in Heaven and School of Seven Bells.

DJing between sets is Pains of Being Pure at Heart drummer Kurt Feldman who also fronts '80s romo-loving Ice Choir. Feldman remixed Zambri's "ICBYS" which is downloadable above, and they just dropped the first taste of Ice Choir's debut album, Afar, which is out in July on Underwater Peoples. You can download that above too.

Streams and Zambri tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Zambri released 'House of Baasa,' playing tonight with Computer Magic, Test House & DJ Ice Choir (who have a new MP3) "

photos by Greg Cristman

As promised, here are the rest of the pictures from the first of two Of Montreal shows at Webster Hall last weekend. More below...

Continue reading "Computer Magic & Hard Nips (opening for Of Montreal) @ Webster Hall (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Metz - Negative Space (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Teenager - Cops (But Not) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Daughter - Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Marble - Pretender (MP3)

Django Django

There is so much going on between now and Tuesday (2/13), I'm breaking This Week in Indie into two parts. Today you get Thursday, Friday and some of Saturday, then tomorrow will be Pt 2 with more Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. For those of you who aren't going to Austin next week (and I know most people aren't even if it seems otherwise sometimes reading the internet) you get a chance to sample some of the international action with bands from all over the world in town before (and after) the fest. I should warn you there are a lot of bands who spell their names with all-caps in the post. I am not shouting at you.

First thing, we're giving away a pair of tickets to Django Django's sold-out U.S. debut at Glasslands Saturday night which BrooklynVegan is presenting with Popgun Booking. For your chance to win, just send an email with your name and the subject DJANGO DJANGO to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and we'll pick a winner at random tomorrow. Remember, it's a late show (doors at 11:30PM) and you must be 21+.

I'm pretty psyched for this show. Their debut album is out now digitally (and on Spotify) in the U.S. and is one of my favorites of 2012: danceable, melodic, trippy and organic, owing more than a little to fellow Scots The Beta Band. (Go figure: main Django Dave Maclean's older brother John was in the Betas and The Aliens.) Says The Guardian:

Those worried that British guitar music has lost its ability to refresh old forms should pay heed to Django Django, whose debut album posits an updated psychedelia that beguiles and delights. Their foundations are a rickety, minimal take on the music of the immediate pre-psychedelic era - Hail Bop employs heavily tremeloed surf guitar; Default takes Bo Diddley's shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits beat and bolts on a jerky R&B guitar line - over which are laid skittering electronics and bleached, vibratoless harmonies, as if Django Django's four members were supplicants worshipping the desert sunrise. Yet it's also an exercise in clever restraint: drummer and band mastermind David Maclean often eschews everything bar his kick drum, floor tom, cymbals and tambourines, creating an amniotic throb.

Also playing the Glasslands show will be D. Gookin, a last-minute sub for Kwes who had some visa issues. (I'll be DJing between bands.) If you can't make it Saturday night, Django Django play again on Monday at Santos (we're also presenting this show too with Neon Gold and Popgun) with the very au courant Charli XCX and Clock Opera (who play a now-sold out show at Knitting Factory too). Or go to both! More Charli XCX tomorrow.

Daughter

Playing Glasslands earlier in the night on Saturday (a separate show) is another UK act, Daughter, who also play an early show the night before (3/9) at Mercury Lounge and our Friday day party at Hotel Vegas at SXSW. Originally a solo project for UK singer-songwriter Elena Tonra, Daughter is now a proper band with electric guitarist (and Tonra's boyfriend) Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella. The band just signed to Glassnote who released Daughter's new EP, His Young Heart, which is streamable at the bottom of this post. (You can also download the EP's closing track at the top of this post.) Fans of Sharon Van Etten, Mountain Man and other spooky folk acts should not miss them.

METZ at M for Montreal 2010

Backing up a bit to tonight (3/8) and shifting gears entirely, Toronto trio METZ make their NYC debut at Cake Shop. These guys make blazing, spazzy noise rock, reminiscent of Brainiac, the roster of Amphetamine Reptile, or McLusky. They're pretty excellent in their din, with enough form and hooks to grab hold of too. The band only have a few singles under their belt (all of which you can stream/download for free at their Bandcamp) but their debut album is in the can waiting for some lucky label to release it.

METZ are down visiting our city with their neighbors Teenanger whose debut album, Frights, is a 9-song, 20-minute kick in the head that may remind some of The Hives or The Intelligence. There's a lot of snarl and sneer, and the production is great -- clear but not slick. The whole of Frights is streaming over at Canadian website Exclaim!. You can also download a track above and watch a couple videos (both are pretty cool) at the bottom of this post.

Tonight's Cake Shop show, METZ and Teenanger are the first two bands on the bill so you might get out of there by 11 if you've got somewhere else to go. Tomorrow night (3/9), they both play Death By Audio with Pop. 1280 making for a very appealing, angsty bill.

TRUST

More Canadians in town, this time on the electronic tip: TRUST and Doldrums who play a late show tonight (3/8) at Mercury Lounge and an early show at Glasslands tomorrow (3/9). After that it's off to Austin (where TRUST is also on the bill of our Friday day party at Hotel Vegas), and then some West Coast dates, a few of which are with Blood Orange. All dates, including many SXSW-week appearances, are at the bottom of this post.

TRUST, a duo consisting of is Austra drummer Maya Postepski and vocalist Robert Alfons, make vaguely gothy/sleazy synth pop that you could imagine being danced to in warehouses in 1987. The sleaze is apparent with song titles like "Candy Walls," "Gloryhole" and "This Willing Flesh." Musically, I dig TRUST but Alfons sounds more than a little like Bill Hader's Vincent Price impression which makes the whole thing borderline novelty. Their debut, TRST, is out now on Arts & Crafts and you can stream it on Spotify. I bet it sounds great in a club, though, and will say the vocals are less egregious live, and will say I thought TRUST was good last year when I saw them open for Austra.

Doldrums

Doldrums is Toronto resident Alrick Woodhead who guests on Grimes' Visions and will soon be touring with Bear in Heaven. I've seen him perform a few times, like at M for Montreal where I wrote:

(Doldrums) was wonderfully ADD, twiddling knobs, hammering sample triggers and pacing around the stage. Too many ideas crammed into one 20-minute set? Maybe, but it was exciting seeing talent that is only just now beginning to show its potential.

I thought he was even better when I caught him at Glasslands back in December. You're going to be hearing a lot more about this one in 2012.

The Glasslands show on Friday is also with Black Marble, a new musical venture from a couple of the Team Robspierre dudes that definitely falls in the minimal wave pigeonhole. Their Weight Against the Door EP came out last month on Hardly Art last month

TEETH

Later that night at Glasslands its a separate show, with UK electro rockers TEETH. TEETH's debut album, Whatever, came out last year on Moshi Moshi and garnered favorable reviews and comparisons to Crystal Castles and Ponytail. It's loud. It's squelchy. It sounds like being off your face which is probably the optimal way to listen to them. You can stream Whatever on Spotify. The show (doors 11:30) also has Extreme Animals, Nike7Up, and a DJ set from True Womanhood so be ready to go all night.

Okay that's the big stuff for TWII Pt. 1. Tomorrow we'll talk Charli XCX, 2:54, Razika, New Build and more. Below are few more day-by-day show picks for things not covered above.

--
Computer Magic

THURSDAY, MARCH 8

It's a fun night of dancey electronic music when those Kitsune folks (they of the many Maison compilations) bring Gigamesh, Plastic Plates, Computer Magic, Perseus, and JDH to Santos.

Street Gnar, BITCHES, Radical Dads, and Newport Reds are at Shea Stadium

continued below...

Continue reading "Django Django, Daughter, METZ, Teenanger, TRUST, Doldrums, TEETH, Datarock & more in This Week in Indie"

"Our new album, Paralytic Stalks, is officially available for pre-order through Polyvinyl Records! It'll be available on CD / 180-gram 2xLP (limited edition fuchsia, or black vinyl) / cassette / MP3 formats on Feb 7th. Check everything out by clicking HERE. Tracklist below."

Of Montreal will go out on tour in support of that album this spring. The newly-announced dates include NYC shows at Webster Hall on March 30 (with Computer Magic and Hard Nips) and Webster Hall on March 31 (with Loney Dear and Kishi Bashi). Tickets for both shows go on sale Friday with an AmEx presale beginning Wednesday at noon. All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Of Montreal announce tour in support of new album (dates)"

The Duke & The King at Mercury Lounge in 2009 (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

The Summer BBQ Blow Out Festival is coming to City Winery this Saturday (8/6). The fest features a lot of food by gourmet chefs and performances by Midnight Magic, Computer Magic, New Villager, and Punches. TIckets are still on sale now and we're also giving away a pair. Contest details below.

The Duke & The King are also playing their album release show at City Winery on Saturday (8/6), though the show is completely separate from the Summer BBQ Blow Out which is outside. Tickets are on sale now.

Lots of other interesting things are happening at City Winery in the upcoming months as well. Bebel Gilberto is continuing her residency at the venue throughout the month of August. Tickets are on sale for all of her upcoming dates including 8/17, 8/24, 8/27, and 8/31.

Martha Wainwright will kick off her own residency at City Winery in November. Tickets are on sale now for 11/11 and 11/21. As mentioned, Martha also plays NYC this month at Cooper Square Hotel on August 22 as part of Joe's Pub's Summer Salon Series.

Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) aka The Nightwatchman plays the NYC venue on September 1 as a short run of September dates in between his US tour with Incubus and his UK tour with Rise Against. The tours are in support of his recently released EP Union Town and the upcoming full length World Wide Rebel Songs. Tickets for the 9/1 City Winery show are on sale now. All Tom Morello dates below.

Keren Ann plays City Winery on September 30 and October 1 before she heads out on a European tour in November. Tickets for both shows are on sale now. All Keren Ann dates below.

As mentioned, Jay Farrar is playing City Winery on October 14 and 15. He's since added a third show at the venue on October 16. Tickets for all three shows are available.

Marianne Faithfull is playing a three-night run at the venue from December 18 to 20. The shows are her only scheduled US shows at the moment. Tickets for all three shows are on sale now. All Marianne Faithfull dates below.

All dates and Summer BBQ Blowout contest details below...

Continue reading "Duke & the King, Bebel Gilberto, Keren Ann, Tom Morello, Jay Farrar, Marianne Faithfull, Martha Wainwright & other shows"

by Andrew Sacher

New album STROKED: A Tribute to Is This It, as the title hints, is a tribute to The Strokes' massively influential debut Is This It. The album was released for free on Stereogum today (7/26). They write:

Is This It was recorded in NYC at Transporterraum with Gordon Raphael. When it was finally released in the States in the Fall of 2001, a decade after Nevermind, it helped not only put contemporary New York City in the forefront of music lovers' minds, it offered an easy reference for people to dig backwards into the Big Apple's rock 'n' roll past. For certain younger fans, it was maybe the first time they carefully considered Television (the late '70s), the Velvet Underground (mid '60s to early '70s), and other lesser known garage and rock and whatever bands that inhabited a dirtier, grubbier Manhattan. The title's pure Richard Hell. The original sexy album cover a minimalist echo of New York Dolls (via Roxy Music). It's no coincidence that 2001 NYC -- eventually, especially Brooklyn -- ended up being known for its post-punk revival. (See, for instance, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Black Dice, Vice Records' No New York nodding collection Yes New York, etc.) Is This It was a history lesson, but one with enough new ideas to also offer a roadmap.

Chelsea Wolfe, Austra, Owen Pallet, The Morning Benders, Real Estate, Peter Bjorn & John and others offer their takes on album tracks as well. Full tracklist below.

--
Cities Aviv

Wise Blood contributed "Someday" to "Stroked". He and fellow weirdo rapper Cities Aviv share a bill on September 1 at Glasslands in Brooklyn. The show is one of many scheduled around the world for Wise Blood, but is Cities Aviv's only date we see scheduled at the moment. Tickets for the Brooklyn show are on sale now.

Wise Blood's tour includes another NYC show two days later. He plays a Jelly RockBeach show on September 3 with Pictureplane and others TBA. More dates are listed below.

Cities Aviv, the self-proclaimed "Post-Death" rapper, is also on the Glasslands bill with Wise Blood. The Memphis native released his debut full length Digital Lows on May 2. The album's production credits go to a number of virtually unknown producers, Muted Drone, RPLD GHOSTS, Danny Dee, Upgrayde, and Royal'T. The beats are dreamy, reverb-soaked headknockers that sound about as woozy as that album art (below) looks. Cities Aviv takes the beats, which on their own would make up a pretty solid chillwave album, and spits biting lines with a classic southern drawl. Fille Catatonique provides sung vocals which blend quite nicely with the album's vibes. The final track, "Float On," features Cities Aviv rapping over chillwaver Blackbird Blackbird's cover of the Modest Mouse song, that he recorded for 2010's Happy High EP. It's a fun way to end the album, and is far better than Lupe Fiasco's "The Show Must Go On," which sampled the Modest Mouse song earlier this year.

Cities Aviv isn't exactly the only rapper crossing into lo-fi/indie-approved territory lately, but he's certainly approaching the crossover from a unique angle. Digital Lows isn't nearly as blown out as, say, Shabazz Palaces, but he's still got way more experimentation going on than guys like Wiz Khalifa or Theophilus London. Grab the album for free at his bandcamp and check out some songs below.

All tour dates, videos, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Stereogum giving away Strokes tribute album, Cities Aviv giving away an album too, playing Glasslands w/ Wise Blood"

Gang Gang Dance @ 2009 WBARBBQ (more by Zach Dilgard)

today in NYC
* Gray @ New Museum
* Nurit Tilles @ The Stone
* Questlove @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Imelda May @ Mercury Lounge
* The New Mellow Edwards @ Barbes
* Clutch @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
* Theophilus London @ Bowery Ballroom
* Marc Cohn, Matraca Berg @ City Winery
* Diane Cluck, Petaluma Vale @ Sycamore
* The Monkees @ Seaside Summer Concerts
* Rihanna, Cee-Lo, J. Cole @ Izod Center
* Fountains of Wayne, Mike Viola @ Maxwell's
* Tidal Arms, Yorba Linda, Bezoar @ Union Pool
* Lucinda Williams, Amos Lee @ Beacon Theatre
* N.O.R.E., Funkmaster Flex @ Queensbridge Park
* Alana Amram & The Rough Gems, Wolf @ Zebulon
* Gang Gang Dance, Bubbles @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
* Min Xiao-Fen, Jane Ira Bloom, Jin Hi Kim @ The Stone
* ZEBU!, Werewolves, Battle Ave., El Hollin @ Bruar Falls
* Cass Mccombs, Lower Dens @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Balkan Beat Box, Nyle vs The Naysayers @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The Vandelles, The Boom Bang, The Plastic Traps @ Union Hall
* Ex Cops, Haunted Hauses, TEEN, Magik Markers @ Cameo Gallery
* Paperhead, D. Watusi, The Hairs, The Gytters @ Death By Audio
* Slum Village, The White House Band, Jalayna @ Knitting Factory
* The Urban Guerilla Orchestra, Miles Jaye @ MetroTech Commons (noon)
* A Million Years, Bellevue's Finest, Whale Belly @ Mercury Lounge
* The White Panda, Audiodax, Moosh & Twist: OCD @ Highline Ballroom
* Death Grips, Nguzunguzu, Traxman, Azizaman, Thomass @ Santos Party House
* Nude Beach, The Poison Control Center, Chandeliers, Bloodweiser @ Cake Shop
* Julian Lynch, Dent May, Alex Bleeker & The Freaks, Prince Rama (DJ set) @ Glasslands
* Taurus, Pretty Good Dance Moves, Young Buffalo, Beast Make Bomb, Shake The Baron, Onward Soldiers @ Pianos

Haunted Hauses, who play Cameo tonight with Magik Markers, have members of Trail of Dead, Here We Go Magic, and Ex Cops.

Computer Magic, who was just added to the September !!!/Light Asylum show at the Bell House (tickets), has a trippy video for "Running," directed by John McSwain (Yo La Tengo, Jacuzzi Boys) Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Midnight Magic @ MHOW in Feb (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Finger on the Pulse and City Winery are presenting the first annual Summer BBQ Blowout Festival outdoors behind City Winery on August 6 from 12 to 4 PM. The festival features a number of different chefs grilling all day and musical performances by Midnight Magic, Computer Magic, New Villager, Punches (members of Finger on the Pulse) and others. Tickets went on general sale via City Winery today (6/16).

Midnight Magic also has some shows coming up. They play a Northside show with YACHT and The Miracles Club at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 19. Tickets are still available. They also open for Cut Copy at Prospect Park on August 11. Tickets are still available. Midnight Magic also play a PS1 'Warm Up' show with Justin Miller and others on September 3.

Full Summer BBQ lineup and flyer below...

Continue reading "Summer BBQ Blowout Festival behind City Winery & other Midnight Magic shows"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Yuck @ Stubb's

Yuck last and first visited NYC during a blizzard in January to play Glasslands after cancelling their Mercury Lounge show that was scheduled one day earlier which came after they cancelled CMJ due to similar visa issues. Earlier this month the UK band returned to America for a string of shows at SXSW that included a BV Day Party and a showcase at Stubb's which is streaming at NPR and which is the source of the pictures in this post.

The band are now already back on home soil, but Daniel Blumberg of Yuck will be back here soon to play Glasslands on 4/7 and a sold-out Bowery Ballroom show with Sebadoh on 4/9 as part of his side project Oupa (who also played SXSW). The Oupa shows precede a Yuck tour with Tame Impala that include Webster Hall on 4/25, after which Yuck will play their own, just-announced NYC date at Bowery Ballroom on May 7. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale now with regular sale starting on Friday at noon.

The Oupa show at Glasslands on 4/7 is with Porcelain Raft, who played a few NYC dates in late February, and with Young Magic and Computer Magic. Tickets are still available. Oupa have a new record on the way, Forget, and you can stream the title track below.

All tour dates, the new Yuck video for "Get Away" and, UPDATE: a new streaming track called "Doctors in My Bed", and more SXSW pictures, also below...

Continue reading "Yuck played SXSW (pics & stream), add NYC show (dates) ++ side project Oupa is playing shows too"