Archers of Loaf at Webster Hall (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Archers of Loaf, still reunited, have a handful of dates scheduled in 2012 so far. The seminal 90s band has a pair of West Coast dates: LA and San Francisco (as part of Noise Pop), and two East Coast dates: Bowery Ballroom on April 26th and Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on April 29th that same week (date TBA shortly). Tickets for the NYC shows go on sale at noon on 2/3. The last time that Archers of Loaf played NYC it was over two nights at Webster Hall and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Archers will also be at Primavera fest in Spain in May. More dates will be announced soon, as Merge is getting ready to release more remasters...

On February 21, Merge will re-issue Archers of Loaf's sophomore release Vee Vee on dbl-CD, limited edition mossy-green LP and digital download.

Re-mastered by Bob Weston and featuring new liner notes by Magnet Magazine editor Eric Miller, Vee Vee will include sixteen bonus tracks and new cover art re-imagined by graphic artist Jay Ryan. Reissues of All the Nation's Airports and White Trash Heroes will follow later in 2012.

All known tour dates and a couple of videos below...

Continue reading "Archers of Loaf schedule 2 NYC shows, 2 in CA & Primavera"

Crooked Fingers at Nokia Theatre in 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

As mentioned, Crooked Fingers (Eric Bachmann of Archers of Loaf's other project) are touring in support of their upcoming album, Breaks in the Armor, this fall. The tour includes the previously announced NYC-area shows happening on November 3 at Maxwell's (tickets) and November 4 at Mercury Lounge (tickets), and they've since added a third NYC-area show happening on November 5 at Cameo Gallery. Strand of Oaks, who opens the Mercury show, also opens the Cameo show. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Archers of Loaf are now done touring the US for 2011, but recently played MusicFestNW in Portland and a set at A.V. Fest in Chicago.

Updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "Crooked Fingers add another show --- updated Tour Dates"

Crooked Fingers at Nokia Theatre in 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Eric Bachmann's (of Archers of Loaf) other project, Crooked Fingers is set to release a new album, Breaks in the Armor on October 11 via Merge. You can check out a trailer video for the album below and pre-order the album at the Merge webstore.

Crooked Fingers will tour in support of the album this fall which kicks off shortly after the album's release. That tour hits Maxwell's on November 3 and Mercury Lounge on November 4. Singer/songwriter Strand of Oaks (aka Timothy Showalter) will provide support at the Mercury show. Tickets go on sale Friday (8/19) at noon for the Maxwell's show and the Mercury show. AmEx presale for the Mercury show starts Wednesday (8/17) at noon.

You can also catch Crooked Fingers at MusicfestNW in Portland, OR this September. All dates and album trailer below...

Continue reading "Crooked Fingers releasing album, touring (dates)"

photos by Andrew Youssef

DOWNLOAD Archers of Loaf - "What Did You Expect" (MP3)

Archers of Loaf @ the Troubadour

The Archers of Loaf reunion continues and keeps getting bigger. Not long after they played Sasquatch, it was announced that the Eric Bachmann-led band will appear at MusicFestNW in September. Since then even more dates were announced in Seattle, Atlanta, and North Carolina, AND you can catch them on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on June 24. Updated dates are listed below.

Archers just played two nights at the Troubadour in LA over the weekend with The Globes (who also played Sasquatch). We've got pictures from the June 4th show in this post. Christopher Gordon went on 6/3...

"they opened with 'step into the light', and it kind of went from there. the bass player was having more fun than anyone, it was great. i was surprised how tight they were. they sounded fucking perfect. 'harnessed in slums' was a highlight for me. i really liked 'dead red eyes' where bachman played the keyboard. we were definitely the youngest two people in the crowd. it was strange. everyone was 35 - 40 years old and still cooler than me. they all had i-phones and such it was strange. a lot of them looked like they raided rivers cuomo's closet. i would have liked everyone to be 17 - 22 years old crowd surfing and such, but what can you do. they played two encores it was the coolest. an hour and a half set. it'll be hard for another show to beat that for me. definitely the best thing i've seen all year."

The band will hit Austin, TX this weekend and then make it over to NYC for the previously announced Music Hall of Williamsburg (6/25) and Webster Hall (6/26) shows. The MHOW show is sold out but tickets are still on sale for the one at Webster Hall. Mr. Dream open both NYC shows.

Eric's solo project Crooked Fingers also recently announced a few new shows, including Maxwell's on June 30 (four days after the Webster Hall show) with Laura Stevenson and The Cans. Tickets for the NJ show are on sale. All dates are listed below.

Crooked Fingers' new album, Breaks in the Armor, will be released in October. Merge will start re-issuing Archers of Loaf albums even sooner...

"Merge Records will reissue all four Archers of Loaf studio albums, starting with their acclaimed 1993 debut album Icky Mettle on August 2.

Re-mastered by Bob Weston and featuring new liner notes by Robert Christgau, Icky Mettle will come with bonus material including the entire Archers of Loaf vs. The Greatest of All Time EP as well as singles and b-sides from the Icky Mettle era. It will be available in stores beginning August 2 on CD, limited-edition blue vinyl and digital download. Reissues of Vee Vee, All the Nation's Airports and White Trash Heroes will follow next year"

Laura Stevenson and the Cans also open for Nick 13 of Tiger Army at Bowery Ballroom on June 24 Tickets are on sale.

More LA pictures and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Archers of Loaf played the Troubadour (pics), announce reissues & stuff, Crooked Fingers tour dates too"

Here is the initial lineup for Willamette Week's MusicfestNW, scheduled for Sept. 7-11, 2011 in Portland, Oregon, and it's pretty great. The multi-venue fest includes big outdoor performances by Band of Horses (Sunday, Sept. 11), Explosions in the Sky (Saturday, Sept. 10), and Iron & Wine (Friday, Sept. 9), in addition to shows with everyone from Archers of Loaf to Big Freedia to Butthole Surfers to Neurosis. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 3rd. Check out the full list below...

Continue reading "MusicfestNW 2011 -- dates & initial lineup"

As The Vine pointed out...

"US Indie rock legends Archers of Loaf played a secret reunion show in their hometown of Chapel Hill [on January 15th].

The band broke a thirteen year silence on [that] Saturday evening, by performing an unannounced support slot for local band the Love Language. According to reports on twitter and the Merge Records forum, the original Archers of Loaf lineup - Eric Bachman, Matt Gentling, Mark Price and Eric Johnson - played a 12-song set at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill. No word yet of whether the reunion is permanent, though..."

In the meantime frontman Eric Bachman is heading back out on the road with/as Crooked Fingers for a handful of shows including The Bell House in Brooklyn tonight/Saturday (2/19) with Neckbeard Telecaster. All dates and videos and the setlist from the January reunion, below...

Continue reading "Crooked Fingers playing shows (Archers of Loaf too)"

DOWNLOAD: Nicole Atkins - Vitamin C (Can Cover) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nicole Atkins - Vulture (MP3)

Nicole Atkins covering Bob Dylan @ LPR (more by Chris La Putt)

With her new album, Mondo Amore, coming out Jan 25 (Razor & Tie), New Jersey-born, Brooklyn-based crooner, Nicole Atkins has just released the Vultures 7". The record features her first single of the same name backed with her beautiful cover of "Vitamin C," the classic hit from German kraut-rockers Can.

"'Vitamin C' is my favorite song from one of my favorite bands. I also wanted to record something that wasn't so centralized around the vocals but more about the overall feel of the band. It was like 'let's record a song that I wish was my own.'" - Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins recently took part in tributes to both Bob Dylan and John Lennon, and will honor yet another person with music at a show tonight (12/11), though this time it's the much sadder kind of tribute. Musician Zach Arrias passed away suddenly on Thanksgiving due to a blood clot that went to his heart. Friends, including Nicole Atkins, David Pattillo and Mollie King, will gather and perform in his memory upstairs at Pianos from 7-10pm.

Nicole Atkins kicks off a tour in support of her new record (see above) on February 9th at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are on sale. No openers are announced yet for that show, but she will be joined by Cotton Jones on the rest of the tour.

Cotton Jones just so happens to be playing in NYC tonight as well, at Mercury Lounge with Crooked Fingers.

All dates below...

Continue reading "a Zach Arrias tribute & other Nicole Atkins tour dates w/ Cotton Jones (who is in NYC now w/ Crooked Fingers)"

Crooked Fingers @ Nokia Theatre last night (more by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* St Vincent @ 92YTribeca
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* The Roots, Dave Matthews Band @ MSG
* The Dead Weather & Crystal Stilts @ Bowery Ballroom
* Neko Case, Joan As Police Woman @ Nokia Theatre
* The Tallest Man On Earth, Red Cortez @ Union Hall
* Crooked Fingers, Pomegranates, Wye Oak @ The Bell House
* Flight of the Conchords, Kristen Schaal @ Radio City Music Hall
* Youth Group, The Break Mission, Statis Jacks, Jon Farrel @ Pianos
* Live Fast Die, Nobunny, Rock & Roll Adventure Kids, Liquor Store @ Union Pool
* Sessions at Santa's (w/ The Present, Hex Message, Brian Degraw, Taka Imamura) @ Santos Party House

Crooked Fingers is on tour with, and played last night at Nokia Theatre with Neko Case, but tonight Joan as Policewoman opens for Neko so Crooked Fingers plays The Bell House with Wye Oak instead.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs play Letterman tonight.

Cymbals Eat Guitars played Cake Shop on Easter. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's Going on Tuesday?"

photos by Chris La Putt

Neko Case played her first of two shows at the Nokia Theater in NYC last night (4/13). Guests and bandmembers included Rachel Flotard from Visqueen, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Norah O'connor and Kelly Hogan. At one point Neko gave a shoutout to fellow New Pornographer AC Newman who appeared on Letterman (with Nicole Atkins) on the same night. Neko will play Letterman on Wednesday (tomorrow). The second Nokia Theatre show is tonight (4/14). More pictures from the first night, including one of the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Neko Case & Crooked Fingers @ Nokia Theatre - pics, setlist"

DOWNLOAD: Neko Case on AOL's The Interface (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Neko Case - People Got A Lot of Nerve (MP3)

Neko Case's latest tour has arrived in NYC. Crooked Fingers open for Neko at the
Nokia Theatre tonight (4/13). Joan as Policewoman open for Neko at the same venue tomorrow (4/14). Tickets for both shows are still on sale. I also have a pair for each show to giveaway. Details below.

Wondering what it will sound like? NPR is now streaming Thursday's DC show in its entirety. As a bonus, Will Sheff opened at that one, and you can listen to that @ NPR too.

The stage was set in something out of a nature cartoon with trees painted on long banners and an owl overseeing it all. Behind them videos of cyclones, airplanes and anthropomorphic animals were projected on a screen. But the attention was clearly on Case, her stunning voice, as well as her solid backing band. [NPR]

You can also listen to Neko on WFUV on Tuesday at 1pm, and on a recent episode of AOL's The Interface (MP3 above).

Recent collaborators for Neko include Dexter Romweber and Marianne Faithful.

All Neko dates, her new video, and contest details, below...

Continue reading "Neko Case is here (win tix) - NPR show stream, dates & stuff"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Wye Oak - Warning (MP3)

Andy Stack of Wye Oak @ Pianos (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Baltimore duo Wye Oak (Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack) is set to play two NYC dates during its month-long tour, which kicks things off at the Bell House on Tuesday, April 14th (tix on sale). Crooked Fingers and Takka Takka are also on that Brooklyn bill. From there they hit the road with Ohio's Pomegranates which eventually has them back in NYC on Wednesday, May 13th for a show at the intimate Mercury Lounge with Winter Gloves (who recently had some trouble getting into our country) (tix on sale).

Since starting to actively tour in early 2008, Wye Oak has played NYC almost non-stop with '08 shows in January, February, April, June, July, September, four CMJ shows in October (including a BV day party at Pianos, 10/23/08, and Merge showcase at Mercury Lounge, 10/23/08)), and most recently a December 5th show with O'Death at Bowery Ballroom.

Live, Wye Oak doesn't let its diminutive lineup diminish the sound. The pair mix up arrangements with drastic dynamic shifts and sections that snowball from quiet melodies to shoegazy rock-outs. Still no word on a follow-up to 2008's If Children, understandable with all this touring.

Merge is currently offering the band's single "Prodigy," originally released on a Record Store Day 7-inch, as a free download.

All tour dates and a video below...

Continue reading "Wye Oak - 2009 Tour Dates (Bell House, Mercury Lounge) "

Photos by Nathan Miller

"Anytime I've ever seen Okkervil River perform live, they've seemed like the world's most under-slept, under-shaved band coming off a four-day bender, shredding their guts onstage as if it were their last show before their dark demise in an alley. And yet here they are on their brilliant new record with their hippie hair all tamed and their sound semi-polished and pop, as though they spent the summer at rock-hottie camp with Stuart Murdoch learning new dance moves." [EyeWeekly]

"If the record took off we would have to re-evaluate and I wouldn't have a problem dancing with the devil," Bachmann said, making a half-joking reference to big retailers like Walmart with whom he shares little in common philosophically. "I don't think the system is innately bad, we're just trying to manipulate the system to where we can keep as much money that's ours as possible." [StarNews]

Continue reading "Okkervil River, Crooked Fingers, & Black Joes Lewis @ Webster Hall, NYC - pics & setlists "

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Austin's Okkervil River are in the midst of a tour that brings them to NYC to play two shows at Webster Hall this coming Monday and Tuesday with Crooked Fingers (Eric Bachmann) and Austin's Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears...

Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears were one of the really fun, live suprises of SXSW 2008 for me. I had heard mention of this band when they were out opening for Spoon last year, but had yet to hear the recorded work or see a live show. The Club DeVille set was full of big, bold soulful grooves that had everyone dancing. With his soul revival sound, James Brown-esque yells, a fresh face and a big smile, Black Joe Lewis was very easy to love. [My Old Kentucky Blog]

Continue reading "Okkervil River played ACL (pics, setlist), in NYC on Monday w/ Crooked Fingers & Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears"