by Bill Pearis

Feathers at Mohawk, October 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Feathers are making the trip from Austin with former Voxtrot singer Ramesh to play Mercury Lounge on March 5. The band have been making waves in Texas over the last few months and this will be their first NYC show, and their only scheduled show at the moment outside of SXSW.

Feathers is the new project from Anastasia Dimou who you may know from NYC band Cruel Black Dove (who are now broken up). Galexy from Ringo Deathstarr is also in the band. Band member Destiny Montague was in Shock Cinema and Midnight Masses too.

At this point, Feathers only have a couple tracks to check out -- you can stream them at the bottom of this post -- but "Land of the Innocent" is a good one, all pulsing synths and siren-song harmonies. Comparisons will be made to Austra and Zola Jesus, but Feathers are a little more dancefloor oriented, with some glammy stompers in their repertoire as well. The other track is a remix of the song "Dream Song" (which has no released regular version yet). The remix was done by Maya Postepski of Austra and Trust (who just signed to Arts & Crafts).

While waiting to hear more -- or see them live -- check out photos from our man in Austin, Tim Griffin, from their first-ever show back in October when they opened for Washed Out, and from a show they played not long after that at Beauty Bar, AND from last week's 'Free Week' show as well.

Songs below...

Continue reading "Check out Feathers -- making NYC debut @ Mercury Lounge -- song stream, a remix & live pics too"

before Courtney Love arrived @ Best Buy last night (mybodystory)

Courtney Love @ Best Buy last night (mybodystory)

tonight in NYC
* Asa Ransom @ The Cameo
* Cruel Black Dove @ Fontana's
* Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Devotchka @ Bowery Electric
* Hanson @ Gramercy Theatre (again!)
* Gogol Bordello @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Gipsy Kings @ Radio City Music Hall
* Jamie Lidell, Twin Shadow @ Bowery Ballroom
* Hole, Little Fish, The Love Loves @ Terminal 5
* Goes Cube, Pistola, Toys in Trouble @ The Bell House
* Hellyeah, Black Water Rising @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Think About Life, Light Pollution (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* Class Actress, MNDR, Keepaway @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Pink Noise, The Art of Shooting, Bronze, Casey Quilty @ Pianos
* Mike Bones, Mark Trecka & Beth Remis, Elephant Micah @ Union Pool
* Tiberius, Monuments, Multitudes, Birthing Of Millions @ Cake Shop
* Franklin Bruno, Jay Sherman-Godfrey, Pete Galub & The Annuals @ Union Hall
* Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Magical Beautiful (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Zach Hill, Anamanaguchi, Soft Circle, Unstoppable Death Machines @ Death By Audio

Seventh Void, a band featuring 50% of Type O Negative, cancelled their opening slot at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight in light of Pete Steele's recent passing (Black Water Rising took their place). Seventh Void's debut album was recently released by Big Vin Records aka Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul's record label. Vinnie's brother Dimebag Darrell was murdered on stage right in front of him while they were performing with their post-Pantera band Damageplan in December of 2004. After that Vinnie went on to join "supergroup" Hellyeah (the headliner at Music Hall tonight). Big Vin Records hasn't actually released much. One of their only other CDs is the self-titled Rebel Meets Rebel which is three members of Pantera (Vin and Dimebag included) backing David Allan Coe. Coe plays Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 11th (with Jonny Corndawg opening).

Writer and musician Franklin Bruno appears at Union Hall tonight with his band The Human Hearts ("me + Matt, w/ Pete, above, sitting in for a couple"). "Above" refers to openers Jay Sherman-Godfrey and Pete Galub. "We have new songs, which, by my lights, bite Big Flame, ABC, Code Blue's 'Whisper Touch,' and The Clean. At least one song by a bald post-punk will be covered."

Hole kicked off their trip to NYC with an in-store at Best Buy last night. Tonight is the first of two shows at Terminal 5.

Devotchka and Gogol Bordello each have last minute shows in NYC tonight and then a free afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl (which is where Gogol is playing)

Tonight's MNDR show at the Studio isn't listed in the tour dates we posted yesterday which included last night's benefit at the Bell House and the VV Brown show tomorrow at Bowery Ballroom.

Think About Life!

Cruel Black Dove finishes up an April residency at Fontana's tonight. Kurt Braunohler, Dave Hill, and other funny people perform at the LES venue on Wednesday.

Micachu & the Shapes performed at Bruar Falls' one-year anniversary party Saturday night (while the Morning Benders were playing at MHOW). Punkcast video from their performance below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss (MP3)

It's been about four years since Norway's Serena-Maneesh brought their effects pedals and puffy pirate shirts to America. They return this week. They play a late show at Mercury Lounge on Friday (1/22, after the BV Presents Dawn Landes record release show earlier in the evening) and Littlefield in Brooklyn on Saturday (1/23). Tickets (click the links) are still on sale for both, and we have a pair to give away to the show of your choice. Details below.

It's been even longer since they've released a record, which will also change with the release of the cheerily-titled SM 2: Abyss in B Minor (pictured above) -- which they recorded on two-inch tape in an actual cave! That is some dedication there. You can download an edit (still over six minutes long) of the album's first track, "Ayisha Abyss," at the top of this post. It's kind of a bombastic, bonkers track, a bit like Can at times, but also sounds like two different songs accidentally being played at the same time. It's got me curious to hear the rest of the record (out March 23rd on 4AD) and wondering what to expect from this weekend's shows.

I saw S-M play at Mercury Lounge back in January 2006 and remember being a bit disappointed in the band's short (and not loud enough) set, but heard the next night at NorthSix (now MHoW) was much better. And I've got a friend who swears they're the best live band she's ever seen, and is flying in from Chicago just to go to these shows. (S-M have no other scheduled U.S. dates at this time.)

Openers at Mercury Lounge are The Vandelles; Littlefield also has Zaza and Cruel Black Dove. If I had to pick one show over the other, I'd probably go with Saturday at Littlefield just because it might be over earlier. Last time at the Merc, Serena-Maneesh didn't go on till 1AM. Those pedals take a long time to set up.

All dates, contest details, and a video below...

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh album details, MP3, tour dates & a contest "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Little Girls - Tambourine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Hundred in the Hands - Dressed in Dresden (Zip)
DOWNLOAD: The Hundred in the Hands - Undressed in Dresden (Zip)

Littlefield

Little Girls

We knew it was coming, but just realized that new Park Slope/Gowanus venue Littlefield opens this weekend with two nights of free shows! First a little info on the venue from their website:

littlefield is a new performance and art space in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood nestled between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens. Housed in an old, 6200-square foot warehouse, littlefield merges the Gowanus' industrial past with an organic, eco-friendly future. Green elements include a landscaped interior courtyard, sound walls formed from recycled rubber tires, a bar constructed of salvaged bowling alley lanes, and energy supplied by wind power. Future projects include a greywater system and a landscaped roof, which will reduce littlefield's footprint to virtually zero.

I'm curious enough to go just to check out the space, but both of these free shows look pretty good and would actually be worth paying for. Tonight (5/22) features TWII-approved bands Golden Triangle and Sisters, plus Toronto post punks Little Girls. The latter have records out de rigur labels like Paper Bag, Mexican Summer and Captured Tracks, which might be enough to picque your interest. Personally, I dig that gothy, garage-y sound (more Blank Dogs than Crystal Stilts in this case) which you can hear for yourself -- there's a Little Girls MP3 above.

Cruel Black Dove

The Hundred in the Hands

Saturday's (5/23) free show features Brooklyn duo The Hundred in the Hands who you may have seen back in March opening for Handsome Furs. THITH features former Boggs frontman Jason Freidman and Elanore Everdel who was a touring member of the Boggs and has sung with TV on the Radio. Their sole single to date, "Dressed in Dresden" was produced by Chris Zane (he did Passion Pit and Harlem Shakes' new albums) and sort of sounds to me like Au Revoir Simone being remixed LCD Soundsystem. It's a good track, and you can download it (and the dubby "Undressed" mix) via the link above. Sharing the Saturday night lineup are fellow Brooklynites Cruel Black Dove who swipe more than a little from early-'90s club/goth, and if you like Curve and/or Garbage you might find them appealing. You can download a couple tracks at RCRDLBL and watch a video, and check out the flyer (with more show details), below.

Continue reading "Littlefield - new Brooklyn venue! opening this weekend - free shows w/ Little Girls, Golden Triangle, Cruel Black Dove, more.."