DOWNLOAD: SBTRKT - "Wildfire" (Drumma Boy remix ft. Shabazz Palaces) (MP3)

Back in June, we announced the killer initial lineup for Moogfest 2011 (October 28, 29, 30). That lineup just got even better with additions including TV on the Radio, Special Disco Version featuring James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, St. Vincent, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus, YACHT, John Maus, Araabmuzik Baths, Zomby, Active Child and more. It was also announced that Brian Eno, part of the initial lineup, will be presenting Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings and "Illustrated Talks" as part of this year's fest.

The initial announcement also included Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Austra, M83, Little Dragon, Passion Pit, Toro y Moi, Moby (full band), The Flaming Lips, Battles, CANT, Brandt Brauer Frick (who will be on a US tour that hits Glasslands), and more.

Speaking of CANT (aka Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear), he revealed the song "Believe" from his upcoming debut LP yesterday. Stream the track below. The album comes out September 13 on Chris' own Terrible Records. He's also got an upcoming tour surrounding Moogfest which includes a show on October 25 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of SBTRKT and Little Dragon, Drumma Boy remixed the SBTRKT song with Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano on lead vocals. Shabazz Palaces is also featured on the remix (compare that to Drake's version). Grab the track above via Gorilla vs Bear. Shabazz wrote on Facebook today, "Besides the release of Black Up, I don't think I've seen one article on here create such a surge of activity as this Wildfire Remix has. Amazing."

Sampha, who sings live with SBTRKT and on his album, also recently released his own song, "Indecision." Stream the track below. Moogfest is one of the stops on SBTRKT's recently announced US tour that also hits Bowery Ballroom on October 31 (with Araabmuzik) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 1. Tickets for both shows are still on sale.

Little Dragon plays a BV-presented Record Release show at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg TONIGHT (8/16). The show is sold out, but if you don't have tickets you can catch them in NYC again on their headlining tour which hits Terminal 5 on October 14. Tickets are still on sale.

Song streams and full Moogfest lineup below...

Continue reading "updated Moogfest lineup, new CANT & a Shabazz Palaces/Drumma Boy SBTRKT/Little Dragon remix (MP3s)"

Suicide at ATP 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

The initial lineup is out for this year's Moogfest, which is taking place in Asheville, NC on October 28-30. This year's lineup has some pretty impresive names including three pioneers of electronic music; Tangerine Dream, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Suicide, who are performing their highly influential 1977 self titled debut album in its entirety. The Flaming Lips, Crystal Castles, Little Dragon, Passion Pit, Toro y Moi, Chromeo, Austra, M83, Tim Hecker, and many others on there too. Tickets go on sale Saturday (6/4) at noon. Check out the full initial lineup and a video below.

Continue reading "Moogfest initial 2011 lineup (Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Flaming Lips, Little Dragon, Passion Pit & more!)"

Lollapalooza last year (more by Josh Darr)

Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with some huge names on its just-announced lineup. See it in full below.

The festival has obviously changed over the years. What started out as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction with a 'touring festival' lineup that included the Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, and Souxsie & The Banshees, has turned into a one-weekend Chicago festival that Lady Gaga co-headlined last year. As leaked a while ago, Foo Fighters, Muse and Eminem all play this year, as will Coldplay, Cee Lo Green, and My Morning Jacket along with the reunited Cars and the continuing-to-be-reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Death From Above 1979, and a bunch of other bands which may or may not be worth the ticket price depending on how you feel about the headliners and generally seeing bands in big, hot, outdoor crowded parks (Lollapalooza happens in Chicago's Grant Park from August 5th - 7th).

Full 2011 Lineup and a couple of videos (one from 1991, one from 2010), below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 lineup announced"

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...

And Day Two is today!

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)"

DOWNLOAD: Simian Mobile Disco - Flea in Your Ear (Flange Bliss remix) (MP3)

As previously announced, this Friday and Saturday (3/18-3/19) at Terminal 5 is the pre-Ultra Music Festival HARD Weekend 2011 in NYC. Crystal Castles will play a sold out show at Terminal 5 on Friday with Teengirl Fantasy. On Saturday (3/19), Simian Mobile Disco will take over the Manhattan venue with Skream, Benga, and Fake Blood. Tickets are still on sale for that one.

In honor of those shows, we're giving away the Flange Bliss remix of SMD's "Flea in Your Ear" (a bonus track from "Temporary Pleasure"). Grab the MP3 above.

SMD is on tour now with Blondes and Juan Maclean (who is DJing). All dates are below.

James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco produced the upcoming, fourth Arctic Monkeys album Suck It and See. The album comes out June 7 on Domino. Video for the James Ford-produced track "Brick by Brick" below.

AM are touring North America in May. Tickets for the May 24 Central Park show are sold out. Video, dates and stuff below...

Continue reading "Simian Mobile Disco on tour, James Ford produced Arctic Monkeys (remix MP3, video, dates & stuff)"

by BBG

Symbolism?

In case you somehow missed the crush of commercials on cable television, MTV has a new and possibly NSFW show called Skins based on a UK series about teens, sex, drugs, mental health and family. Skins, whose demographic seems to be "hip teens" who like nudity (read: teens) and pervy would-be pedophiles, will be celebrated at a FREE NYC party at the tail end of this week.

Rusko, Sleigh Bells, Klever, Drop the Lime, and Kill the Noise will perform at an undisclosed NYC location on January 14th. The party jumps off at 10PM and you must be 16 to get in ("16 to party, 21 to drink."). More details, and directions on how to get in are on the Facebook invite though even with an RSVP, "ENTRY BASED ON CAPACITY AND IS NOT GUARANTEED."

Sleigh Bells' "Kids" is the theme song to Skins, which premieres on Jan 17th. And the show is Sleigh Bells' only U.S. appearance in the coming months. The duo will spend the rest of January into February in Europe. All dates are listed below.

'Skins' party DJ Rusko went on a HARD Fest tour over the summer with Crystal Castles, Sinden & Destructo, though he wasn't on the bill when the tour hit NYC's Terminal 5 in August. Rusko won't be there either when Crystal Castles and Destructo play the same NYC venue on March 18th, 2011 (also a HARD show), and Rusko won't be there when HARD and Destructo return to Terminal 5, one night later, for a March 19th show with Simian Mobile Disco, Skream and Benga, and Fake Blood. Tickets are on sale. It's a "HARD Weekend" (flyer below).

Before then, Simian Mobile Disco are going on tour with Juan Maclean and Blondes (dates below). After then, Crystal Castles, Simian Mobile Disco AND RUSKO (and many others) will play the Ultra Music Festival in Florida (Friday, March 25, Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27, 2011 in downtown Miami's Bicentennial Park). Currently announced lineup at the link.

All SMD & Sleigh Bells tour dates, flyers and some videos below....

Continue reading "Skins is coming... (MTV party Friday w/ Sleigh Bells & Rusko) + a HARD Simian Mobile Disco gig, Ultra Music Fest, other dates"

Crystal Castles (more by Zachary Alex Stern)

Hear that? It's not a Nintendo game feeding back after being cranked past 11, its the pulsing beat of Crystal Castles who will tour North American again in March 2011. That includes a return to NYC to play Terminal 5 on March 18, 2011. Tickets are currently on AMEX presale and will go on sale to the general public at noon. They headlined the same NYC venue in August.

All dates, a video for "Baptism", and a remix for that song (streamable or downloadable) below.

Continue reading "Crystal Castles announce 2011 tour dates"

Crystal Castles @ Don Hill's - 9/12/10 (Nat Ma for Dirty Durty Diary)

So just to recap, the now-renovated Don Hill's reopened for Fashion Week and so far has hosted private shows with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on Thursday, Iggy Pop and The Stooges on Friday, Courtney Love and Hole on Saturday, and (as you can see above) Crystal Castles on Sunday. I'm not sure what happened on Monday, but someone just told me the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playing there tonight/Tuesday. The Dead Weather played pre-renovation.

Video of Courtney Love covering Lady Gaga on Saturday below...

Continue reading "Yeah Yeah Yeahs playing Don Hill's tonight? (Crystal Castles played Sunday) (Courtney Love was Saturday)"

photos by Zachary Alex Stern

"Last night I went with some friends to see Crystal Castles at Terminal 5 for HARD Summer Tour and it was an awesome show. Sinden, Destructo, and JDH & Dave P opened and I have never seen so much sweat in my life. Alice Glass fell on me." [Cactus Crown]

More pictures from the Saturday night show (which did not include Rusko), below...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles, Sinden & Destructo @ Terminal 5 (HARD pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Castles - Suffocation (Memory Tapes Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Memory Tapes - Bicycle (Tanlines Remix) (MP3)

Memory Tapes is in the process of recording the follow-up to his/their 2009 debut, Seek Magic. The next show for Dayve Hawk & Co. will be on Saturday, June 26th (NOT Friday, June 25th as it accidentally got listed as in some places), when they headline BrooklynVegan Northside show with Twin Sister, DOM and ZAZA. Tickets are still on sale. We also have a couple pairs to giveaway. If you want them, email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Memory Tapes) with your first and last name. Winners will be picked at random and contacted.

Dayve recently did a remix of Crystal Castles' "Suffocation," while Tanlines gave Memory Tapes' "Bicycle" the treatment. Download both above. A new video for "Bicycle", by Jamie Harley, is posted with all tour dates (including a run of Australia shows with Missy Elliott), below...

Continue reading "Memory Tapes remixed Crystal Castles, was remixed by Tanlines - MP3s, new video, ticket contest & overseas dates"

Alcest (more by Stefan Raduta)

tonight in NYC
* Bargemusic
* Against Me! at the Stone Pony
* Hanson @ the Gramercy (night 4!)
* Kate Nash, Supercute! @ Bowery Ballroom
* Man Benu, Up Died Sound, Vaz @ Union Pool
* Rodrigo y Gabriela @ Radio City Music Hall
* Fixed w/ The Twelves, Grum @ Santos Party House
* Cold Cave, Cult of Youth, Beaut @ (le) Poisson Rouge
* Alcest, Woe, Have a Nice Life @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Patrick Smith (animated work), Tanlines @ Thirty Days NY
* Screaming Females @ Kearny Irish American Club (NJ)
* The Protomen, Skeletonbreath (early) @ Santos Party House
* The Black Lips, Pierced Arrows @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Bad Dream, Yorba Linda, Riff Cannon, Batillus @ Party Expo
* OK Go, Anamanaguchi, The Tangents @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Fiasco, Total Slacker, Life Size Maps, Movement @ Death By Audio
* Little Women, Suite Unraveling, Abacus, Strong Look @ Bruar Falls
* Lloyd Banks, Reflection Eternal, Cory Gunz, Jackie Chain @ Nokia Theatre
* Heavy Trash, Hunters, Chicken Snake, The Sediment Club @ Mercury Lounge
* Horse's Mouth, The Extraordinaires, Cameron Hull, Small Houses @ Cake Shop
* My Dear Disco, The Bloodsugars, The Shake, Super Mirage, Hello Nurse @ Matchless
* Finn Riggins, Patrick Bower World Without Magic, Field Mouse, Candy Heart @ Cameo
* Ghostface, Group Home, Jeru the Damaja, Grand Puba & others @ Warsaw

Hello Nurse are playing shows again.

The Protomen play Santos tonight, and listening to the songs at their MySpace makes me think that at a minimum it will be a good time.

Hidden under Crystal Castles' Best New Music rating today on Pitchfork, Alcest got a score almost as high.

Grab an Alcest MP3 and read more before tonight's show at The Studio.

Cold Cave's show at LPR tonight comes soon after some local college shows that went down over the weekend.

Screaming Females play a show in Jersey tonight. Friday they play a school show for NYU.

If you miss tonight's free Black Lips show at Knitting Factory, they're back this summer to play on a boat.

The Against Me! show tonight is all the way in Asbury Park. They hit Brooklyn (and further North in Jersey) with Silversun Pickups this summer.

Dr. Dog recently played on Jimmy Kimmel. Two videos from that performance below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

new Crystal Castles album cover

Crystal Castles' new, second self-titled album will be out digitally this Friday, April 23rd - way before the original date of June 8th - due to the album's leak online. The physical copy has been moved up too, to May 25th.

In addition to their internet troubles, the band also had reschedule their show in London tonight because of the vocanic ash (that seems to be clearing up). That's been rescheduled for May 19th.

"Doe Deer," one of the songs on the new record, came out as a Record Store Day 7". That song and the album's tracklist are in a previous post.

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Castles - Crimewave (Midnight Conspiracy Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Crystal Castles - Untrust Us (Alex Zelenka Remix) (MP3)

Crystal Castles @ Irving Plaza - April 14, 2010 (TLC Blog)

"Crystal Castles' new single "Doe Deer" will be released on Record Store Day on April 17th. The release will be limited to 500 copies worldwide as a 12-inch vinyl and will not be available digitally or on CD. The one-minute and 37 second song will be accompanied on the EP by songs recorded by the band in 2004: "Mother Knows Best", "Insectica" and "Seed"."

"Doe Deer" can be streamed in the video below. The track will appear on the band's new self-titled album (not to be confused with their first self-titled album) that is out in June. Tracklist below too. Above, you can grab two free band-approved, but unreleased remixes.

The above picture (more like it at Flickr) comes from last night's Crystal Castles/Pictureplane show at Irving Plaza. The band return to NYC as part of their HARD tour in August.

Continue reading "Crystal Castles played Irving Plaza, releasing limited single (from new album) & old songs EP on Record Store Day (listen)"

by Andrew Frisicano

HEALTH @ The Smell in LA in November (more by Rachel Carr)

HEALTH are going on tour with Indian Jewelry and Gold Panda this June for shows around North America. All three play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday, June 20th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday (4/14) at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

HEALTH will release DISCO2, the follow-up to its 2008 remix record, HEALTH//DISCO, on June 22nd through Lovepump United. Remixers on the disc, which also features new track "USA Boys," include Crystal Castles (who play Irving Plaza tomorrow, April 14th), Javelin, Small Black, Salem, Tobacco and Pictureplane.

They recently released an intense & unspeakably creepy video for their song "We Are Water," directed by Tim & Eric's Eric Wareheim. That, album info and tracklist (with a complete list of remixers) and all tour dates (including dates in Europe) are below...

Continue reading "HEALTH - 2010 tour dates w/ Indian Jewelry & Gold Panda, new remix CD & Eric Wareheim video "

Crystal Castles @ ATP NY (more by Ryan Muir)

Crystal Castles will be playing NYC's Irving Plaza on April 14th with Pictureplane (and LA on April 12th). Tickets for that are gone, but now there are many more chances to see - love them or hate them - the electro duo. They'll be on tour in Europe with dates scattered throughout April, June and July, and then this August they'll be headlining a HARD Fest-organized tour along with Rusko, Sinden and Destructo. The tour's LA stop (at Los Angeles State Historic Park) happens on August 7th and also includes Soulwax, Diplo, Tiga, Digitalism, and Green Velvet on the bill. The tour comes to Terminal 5 in NYC on August 21st. Stay tuned for tickets. All dates below.

And yes that's the same HARD Fest (and the same Destructo) who were just at the same NYC venue with Major Lazer and Boyz Noise and...

More pictures Zach Stern took at Saturday's show (like the above), at the link.

HARD Fest is hosting other shows (that Destructo is also playing) this summer too. M.I.A. is playing two of them - one in LA (with "JOKER, Rye Rye, Theophilus London, 12th Planet, Borgore, Ninjasonik, Nguzunguzu, Gaslamp Killer, Destructo & much much more TBA") on July 17th, and one in NYC at Governors Island (with "Sleigh Bells, Theophilus London, Skream, Benga, Ninjasonik, 12th Planet, Nguzunguzu, Borgore, Destructo & much much more TBA") on July 24th (tickets).

Both Crystal Castles and M.I.A. will be putting out new records this year (as will M.I.A.'s NYC opener Sleigh Bells). Crystal Castles also have a Record Store Day single, "Doe Deer," on the way.

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles announce more 2010 tour dates, a 'HARD' summer tour w/ Rusko, Sinden, Destructo "

Crystal Castles @ Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin

Crystal Castles will be in New York on Wednesday, April 14th to play a show at Irving Plaza with Pictureplane. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 19th at noon.

The last time Crystal Castles played the New York-area was at ATP NY in September, before that it was All Points West, and their last club show was New Year's Eve 2008/2009 at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Pictureplane tour with Small Black and Washed Out this March. That includes two sold-out shows at Mercury Lounge. All three play a tour-ending show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday April 10th - tickets are still on sale for that.

The Irving Plaza date is one of two current US shows for Crystal Castles, the other being April 12th at the Echoplex in LA. All dates are below...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles announce NYC & LA dates & other shows"

"I might have seen Alice Glass stab a man to death with a strobe light. It was dope." - Dead Presidents' Social

...electro-pop band Crystal Castles played opening with their hit "Crimewave." Alice Glass' voice came off more screechy then on the album, but it totally set the ambiance for the show, instigating glow sticks to fly and feet to splash mud. After frivolously cancelling a show in Dallas last spring because the venue "didn't have enough kick drum," I was expecting to be blown away by the power of the kick. Crystal Castles, however, exceeded my expectations. As if the songs themselves didn't rock enough, the kick drum literally shook my internal organs." [Envy]

Crystal Castles were technically not one of the headliners at Fun Fun Fun Fest this year, but they may have pulled the biggest crowd of the weekend. If it wasn't the biggest gathering of people in the muddy Waterloo Park on Sunday, it was definitely the most enthusiastic (though admittedly I didn't catch everyone... like Of Montreal who played on the same stage after CC, but at the same time as Danzig who was on the stage next door) (maybe some people in the large crowd were there because they were waiting for Of Montreal to go on... I don't know, but...).

Alice Glass is a force of nature. She flails around with strobe lights flashing and techno music thumping at super high volume while screeching out lyrics and hypnotizing the dancing masses. The energetic crowd push closer and closer, eyes wide open and arms reaching forward as if hoping to magnetically pull her through the air from the stage. Then she does leave the stage for a bit, propped up and protected by security at the base of the barrier. She even crowd surfs for a minute. That makes her actually in reach and the mayhem just increases.

Mosh pits during other sets at the fest may have been more dangerous (I'm looking at you D.R.I.), but none matched the energy of the CC mass. Maybe there was more excitement when Danzig played "Mother" to close his set (though not to the same crowd of people) (then again I doubt anyone poured their friend's ashes on the stage after Alice Glass walked off stage so Danzig still wins).

It was awesome to witness even though I've seen it before. There seems to be just as many haters as lovers of CC, but they've been proving their strength, aka young and rabid fan base, for a while. They packed the dance tent at All Points West over the summer, attracted thousands to their stage at Lollapalooza, and have pretty much instantly sold out any NYC show they've played in recent times... actually it's been a while since they played a show here that wasn't a festival (the
most recent fest being ATP).

More pictures and some videos from FFFFest, below....

Continue reading "Crystal Castles played to a giant & enthusiastic crowd @ Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin - pics & video "

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

some of the stars of ATP NY 2009

What's almost the exact opposite of a soothing set of Seven Swans performed by one of the most delicate singers in indie rock? Try nine drummers (including Hisham Bharoocha, Zach Hill, and Kid Millions among other notables) bashing your fucking skull for so long that the stage manager has to come out to unplug their gear and remove toms from underneath them! That's how I started my ATP Day 3... with the Boredoms blowing my mind.

Starting off with sparse chords on the monstrous multi-neck guitar/percussive device, Eye set a calm and reflective mood... and then the cymbals. And then the toms. And then eight drummers pummeled away led by Yoshimi P-We. And then the synced rimshots that recalled an Animal Collective beat. All of this happened before a ninth drummer was carried into the show like an emperor while doing a call and response with the other eight.

Within about 10 minutes, I knew that Boredoms would take the prize as best show at Kutsher's that weekend. The sheer power of the coordinated drums, along with pregnant pauses and killer synth effects performed via keys, CD-DJ tables, and broomsticks (!) were beyond jaw dropping.

Following Boredoms, I poked my head into Oneida's Ocropolis for the first of many times. For 10+ hours, Oneida basically had the small and very decorated room all to themselves for a long jam session with their friends. Reportedly, the band had tape rolling the whole time (Ocropolis is the name of their Brooklyn recording studio) and had visuals provided by the Mighty Robot AV Squad. With local standbys like BJ Warshaw of Parts & Labor/Shooting Spires fame, Chris Weingarten (ex P&L), Todd P, and many others spotted in the Sportsman's Bar, it seemed like Brooklyn in the Catskills. Unfortunately, I missed every single special guest appearance (word is, and in part according to a sign on the door, Soft Circle, Yoshimi, Aaron from Tall Firs, Zach Hill, Steven Drozd and many others all popped in) but the band was very interesting to watch, alternating between songs, and droney ambient jams.

Caribou was next in the main room and the 16-piece(!) band including Sun Ra Arkestra member Marshall Allen, Koushik, Kieran Hebden (Fourtet) and many others. I had no expectations heading into the set and was pleasantly surprised, although I found the mix to have waaay too much low end.

I ducked out of Caribou early to catch the last twenty minutes of Hopewell who was billed to be playing "The Desperation Suite," "complete with a female choir and avant-garde saxophonist Mark Marinoff". From what little I saw, the three person "choir" did little but coo, ooh, ahh, and coordinate a dance, but the band did close with a rousing cover of Jane's Addiction's classic "Of Course".

continued below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 3 pics & review (Boredoms, Caribou, Deerhoof, Boris, Jarmusch, Oneida, that crazy guy...)"

photos by Ryan Muir

Crystal Castles played before the Flaming Lips on Stage 1 of ATP NY on Sunday. There were long breaks between bands though, so No Age and Bob Mould, on Stage 2, were actually the second to last band to play the 2009 festival. The conclusion of our ATP coverage is coming right up HERE with a review/pics from this whole, third day, but first here is the set of Crystal Castles pictures in full...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles (Alice in Wonderland) @ ATP NY - pics "

August 25th, 2009 (Austin, TX) - Transmission Entertainment is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2009 Fun Fun Fun Fest, taking place on November 7th and 8th at Waterloo Park in Austin. Fun Fun Fun Fest made its first appearance on a cold Friday evening in 2006, offering a unique approach to festival booking, filling stages with talent bubbling from the underground: what sounded great, and what was making an impact, regardless of what mainstream media said was cool. What started out as a show for a few touring acts and local favorites has become a movement -- a festival that fans and bands alike realize needs to be experienced year after year.

Now in its fourth year, Fun Fun Fun Fest has made a significant impact on the country's winter calendar, successfully combining the vast worlds of indie, punk, rap, electronica and comedy while showcasing some of the city's most unique local businesses.

Greatest. Festival. Ever...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009 lineup (Jesus Lizard, Of Montreal, Gorilla Biscuits, LSF, 7 Seconds, D.R.I. & DANZIG!! & more)"

photos by Paul Birman

The gray skies grew darker Sunday in Chicago when a man allegedly punched a horse as the Lollapalooza music festival drew to a close.

Pablo Fernandez, a 21-year-old Mexican national, is accused of approaching a Chicago police horse at around 9 p.m as the three-day festival was winding down, and when he was told by the mounted officer that he could not pet the working animal, Fernandez became angered and allegedly punched the equine.

The assault caused the horse to rear back in a panic while in the middle of the concert-goers, police spokeswoman Gabrielle Lesniak told the Chicago Tribune. Fernandez was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct.

Police News Affairs Officer Kevin Kilmer told the Chicago Sun-Times that he couldn't confirm that the violence was Lolla-related, but it did take place as the festival was wrapping up and police were trying to get crowds to disperse from Grant Park. Approximately 75,000 people a day attended the festival, which was headlined by acts like Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Kilmer had no word on the status of the horse. [LA Times]

Lollapalooza took place in Chicago last weekend (Aug 7-9).

Depeche Mode were one of the headliners on the first day (Friday). Since then they had to cancel a few shows. Crystal Castles also played that day. From there that band went on to just barely played at HARD Fest in LA. Thievery Corporation were also one of the many bands on that day's bill. They have since announced a Halloween show in NYC at Terminal 5. Tickets for that are on sale.

More pictures from the first day of Lollapalooza, below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2009 - Day 1 in Pictures "

"Inglewood police dispatched a riot unit, and by 1:25 a.m. Sunday, more than 17,000 attendees had been sent home." -LA Times

Balcony climbin' @ Hard Summer '09 in L.A. Saturday night (downtownlobby)

A back door of the VIP section, where tickets began at $125, flew open and fans ran in from the parking lot in what [concert-goer Will] Fan described as a "stampede."

"We saw about 200 kids run right through the bar area," said the 35-year-old Sherman Oaks resident. "It was a little scary. I saw the bartender push one kid down, but everyone else just ran around him. Eventually, security was able to stop more people from coming in. But the kids ran out of the bar...and basically hopped over the balcony and onto the floor. Then the music stopped."

The sold-out all-night Hard Summer concert, which featured a lineup that included U.K. dance duo Underworld and Canadian electronic rockers Crystal Castles, was halted at about 10:50 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which cited "hazardous life-safety things taking place inside the event."
[L.A. Times]

Hard Summer '09 @ L.A. Forum (beltran)

"We were required to shut down Hard Summer at The Forum Saturday [August 8th] night by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. They declared the event a "hazard" after seeing concert-goers jumping from the balcony to the floor. The Inglewood Police Department backed the decision of the Fire Department and assisted in clearing the venue.

While we, the promoters, worked with the authorities to consider other options to continue the concert, ultimately they made the decision to end it. We are happy to report that there were no major injuries.

We are offering refunds to all concert-goers and are deeply disappointed that the fans were not able to see this incredible show come to fruition." [official statement]

Underworld and Chromeo were among those who were supposed to play.

Hard Fest NYC is set to take place October 10th at Terminal 5 where we doubt any problems like that will happen. Crookers and Major Lazer (Soundsystem) headline, and tickets are still on sale.

LA refund info and the continued Hard Summer story with videos (showing people climbing, falling & jumping over railings and ledges), below...

Continue reading "chaos at HARD Fest LA causes shut down - people broke in, climbed over balconies, etc (VIDEOS) --- refunds available"

All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) is happy to announce its return to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York for the 2nd annual ATP New York festival. The event will be held Sept 11-13, 2009. Last year's festival, co-curated by My Bloody Valentine, was a critical and cultural success with rave reviews from media and fans. This year's Fest will be co-curated by The Flaming Lips.

ATP has announced the final lineup additions to this year's festival. That includes the comedians who will be joining David Cross on Friday night, and official confirmation that it will in fact be Bob Mould who will be playing Husker Du songs (a whole LP to be exact) with No Age (who also just announced some NYC shows). Every act who plays Sunday will be playing some kind of special set...

Recently added were Crystal Castles, Super Furry Animals, Boris performing Feedbacker, Low Lows and "Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew. Other announced acts include Boredoms continuing their BOADRUM series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane), Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra) and more.

Other brand new additions to Sunday are Menomena, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Birds Of Avalon, and Hopewell.

Circulatory System, was added in the last announcement, and have since revealed an entire tour. Dead Meadow play ATP on Saturday and will perform on a boat in NYC that same week. The Feelies have a Brooklyn show scheduled. Super Furry Animals play NYC and NJ in addition to ATP. The list of related shows goes on...

Unfortunately missing from the ATP NY schedule is Nick Cave - not that he was ever supposed to be there, but in addition to being very involved with ATP in general, he was recently confirmed to be only a short car ride away just one day after the festival ends. Full 2009 lineup below...

Continue reading "ATP NY final 2009 lineup -- Bob Mould (now official), Eugene Mirman, Menomena, Hopewell & more (but not Nick Cave) "

photos by Chris La Putt & Tim Griffin

mud, Tool & Ice T

During his Friday night set at the All Points West festival in Jersey City, Jay-Z took a moment to salute trail-blazing gangsta-rapper Ice-T, who, Jay-Z said, was "in the house." And Saturday afternoon, Ice-T took the stage to perform as a backing rapper during Kool Keith's second-stage performance.

"Sometimes it's just cool to stand on the side of the stage and be a hype man," said Ice-T.

He did, though, perform parts of his own raps, "Hardcore" and "God Forgive Me," a cappella.

With his confident, casually commanding flow, he made a strong impression in his few brief moments in the spotlight.

In addition to Jay-Z and Kool Keith, hip-hop acts like Q-Tip, the Knux and the Cool Kids have performed at All Points West. Hip-hop, though, will not figure prominently in the third and final day of the festival, Sunday. [NJ.com]

Though it didn't rain on Saturday (8/1), it was still super muddy. There were dry spots, but you literally could not walk from one place to another without going through some mud. Other highlights of the second day of All Points West included comedy by Tim & Eric in the tent (aka the third stage), back-to-back sets by St. Vincent and Neko Case on the 2nd stage, and the Arctic Monkeys and Gogol Bordello on the main stage. But nothing topped the end of the day. Now fully dark out and perfect weather, My Bloody Valentine, with the Statue of Liberty to their right and the Manhattan skyline straight ahead of them, delivered the power. The hour they played was, for me, the perfect festival experience.

My Bloody Valentine

It helped that My Bloody Valentine, as they are known for being, were LOUD. Maybe they didn't seem as loud as they did inside a club, but they were loud enough that even those in the bleachers were putting on their earplugs if they had them. After their set I ran all the way back to the dance tent (pretty much the farthest distance you would have to ever go at this festival) to catch Crystal Castles. The tent was packed with the largest concentration of youth I'd seen in Liberty State Park up until that point. Everyone was dancing and cheering. Before CC were finished I ran back to the main stage to watch Tool.

During My Bloody Valentine I thought, "well, there are plenty of people here, but I guess they could fit a lot more". Ends up, all of those people that could fit, they showed up for Tool! Did they all just get there? Were they hiding in other areas? Either way, it totally hit me by surprise when I got back to the stage. I was also surprised, but happy, that Tool hadn't gone on yet. They don't play a super long set, so maybe they delayed to make the show go until curfew.

Once they did start, the amount of fist pumping (much bro fist pumping included) going on almost matched the amount of people in the park. I wouldn't consider myself a Tool fan, but there was no denying the awesomeness of their show.

"On a bill loaded with indie rock, Tool seemed initially distinguished by their popularity. They were the only band on Saturday's bill to have a platinum record, and the only performers to have won Grammys, and the only ones with enough starpower to sell out arenas on their own. And yet despite their high profile, Tool hardly behave like a mainstream band. Saturday's set was an exercise in atmosphere -- a dark, riveting performance that minimized the members of band while foregrounding their stranger sensibilities.

Visually, the show was stunning. Tool perform to a series of bleak films mostly created by the artist Adam Jones, and beamed out giant-size across Liberty State Park they seemed more imposing and unnerving than ever. Opening with the sinister, twisting "Jambi," the group slowly worked its way through a set that spanned its small catalog. Part of what makes Tool concerts such visceral experiences is the band's peerless sense of control and release. Songs start with icicle drip guitars and rolling, tribal percussion, steadily building to perfectly timed explosions of sound. When paired with Jones' frightening films, it became more like a theater experience than a concert. At times it was remarkably easy to forget there was a band onstage at all." [Rolling Stone]

I took the light rail to the park, but then the ferry home. Props to APW for making the ferry experience a much, much better one this year (no line at all, huge boats, very quick trip home, and I didn't even leave until Tool was finished).

Pictures from APW day one HERE. More from day two below...

Continue reading "All Points West 2009 - Day 2 in Pictures (Tool, mud & Ice T)"

Crystal Castles DJ the official All Points West afterparty on Friday. They play All Points West on Saturday. Tokyo Police Club also play All Points West on Saturday, and they DJ the APW afterparty happening that night (sponsored by Toyota, free with RSVP). Flyer below...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles & Tokyo Police Club are DJing official All Points West afterparties @ Red Bull Space in NYC (RSVP)"