Nat Baldwin on stage w/ DP @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Dirty Projectors member Nat Baldwin is currently on a solo tour with Kurt Weisman and Travis Laplante. "These are two of my favorite musicians and people in the world," Baldwin says in his myspace blog, "it's a short tour, but my longest solo trip since 2008." After recently playing Madison Square Garden with Dirty Projectors, Nat Baldwin returns to smaller venues to showcase his vocals and experimental upright bass playing, including this Monday at SUNY Purchase and Tuesday (11/23) at Sycamore. All dates below.

To follow up the recently released expanded edition of Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors are releasing their second 7" of 2010 on December 6. The 7" features Bitte Orca's "No Intention" b/w their cover of Bob Dylan's "As I Went Out One Morning." DP previously released a different Dylan cover as part of a Levi's promotion.

Bjork, who collaborated with Dirty Projectors on for-charity album Mount Wittenberg Orca earlier this year, also recently released a new single on iTunes called "The Comet Song." All proceeds from the sale of the song are donated to the victims of the 2010 Pakistan Floods. And the song is actually the theme of the 2010 film Moomins and the Comet Chase whose director Maria Lindberg also directed the music video to the song which you can watch below.

Bjork video and Nat Baldwin tour dates below...

Continue reading "Nat Baldwin on tour, Dirty Projectors releasing a single, Bjork recently did (and a video) "

photos by Tim Griffin

The Dwarves

Appreciative crowds turned up at all four [Fun Fun Fun Fest] stages [this past weekend], and the festival's vaunted circus atmosphere was out in force -- with plenty of traffic at the mechanical bull, the Eurobungy, the skate ramps and the arcade games set to free play. After a few weeks with unexpected, last-minute cancellations and other problems, Moody said the organizers were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"All the snafus [like Devo cancelling] happened before the fest. We don't have a record of great luck, you know? Whether it be weather or bands or whatever," said Moody. "So when that kind of thing starts happening you start to wonder, 'Oh (expletive), is this gonna be another year with some weird curveball?' We were just hoping it wasn't a run of bad luck and it wasn't. We got a little bad luck before the festival but all kinds of good luck at the festival."

Even the dust cloud had a silver lining.

"We love the dust this year, because at least it's not raining," Moody said. "We hated the dust when it first happened a few years ago, but after it rained last year we were like 'Bring on the dust!'" [Austin 360]

You saw pictures from Friday night, and the first half of Tim's shots from Saturday (11/6). Here are the rest of that day (with more coming soon). They continue below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 - Day Two in pics (part 2) - Cap'n Jazz, Dwarves, MGMT, Dirty Projectors, GWAR, Delorean & more"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, additional pics by Phoebe Vickers

As you know, Madison Square Garden headliner Phoenix was blessed with a surprise appearance from Daft Punk, another French group who they are related to via early endeavor Darlin'.

Dirty Projectors and Wavves also opened the show (Wavves's first of two shows for the evening). The second was at Purevolume House with Matthew Dear and Two Door Cinema Club who headline Webster Hall tonight (10/21).

The MSG show was announced way before CMJ, but then became a CMJ show when CMJ announced the final CMJ lineup, though reportedly only very few badges were let in, and those badge tickets went to people who showed up to pick the tickets up at CMJ headquarters early that morning. Those who showed up early to the large venue thinking they'd get in with their badge, were out of luck.

(note from BBG: Quick question- can anyone confirm it wasn't a janitor underneath those robot suits? I smell an MF Doom-style conspiracy?)

A bit more about the show HERE. More pictures, the Phoenix set list (sans encore), and some video of the Daft Punk madness is below.

Continue reading "Phoenix, Dirty Projectors, WAVVES & Daft Punk @ MSG (pics, video & setlist) "

Daft Punk @ MSG, 10/20/2010 (picture by Jon Alagem)

Phoenix & Daft Punk bow @ MSG, 10/20/2010 (picture by Jon Alagem)

As prophesized, Daft Punk performed with Phoenix Wedneday night at Madison Square Garden in NYC. It wasn't a long appearance - they only came out for the encore to play with their fellow Frenchmen, but it was Daft Punk at MSG! (just in time to help promote Tron during the biggest music week of the year in NYC). Their set included "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" mixed into "1901".

Wavves opened the show at the very large venue to lots of empty seats, and then didn't even get to stick around to see Daft Punk because their set time at Purevolume House was 10pm (Daft Punk went on at 10:50). At least at the Purevolume show they probably got to play to a packed house (not downplaying the fact that Wavves got to play MSG, full or not).

Dirty Projectors played second, and according to Andrew Frisicano, they sounded "HUGE".

CMJ continues...

Continue reading "Daft Punk played w/ Phoenix @ Madison Square Garden (pics)"

Nat Baldwin @ Bowery Ballroom in January (more by Bao Nguyen)

Nat Baldwin has been busy playing bass with Dirty Projectors, but he's also been working on his own material. To hear some of those double-bass-and-voice songs, check out Nat's set at Issue Project Room on May 22nd, which is streaming and downloadable at Freemusicarchive.org (there are also a bunch of cool instrumental interludes in that set).

He plays Issue Project Room on November 11th, along with Jen Shyu, Sabrina Lastman and Chris Mann, as part of the venue's three-night Vital Vox Festival. Tickets are on sale.

Before then, Nat Baldwin plays Zebulon twice, on October 13th with Diane Cluck and Spencer Kingman, and on October 27th with Buke & Gass and Delicate Steve.

Video of Nat covering Arthur Russell's "A Little Lost" at Silent Barn in August is below...

Continue reading "upcoming & past Nat Baldwin shows (dates & recordings) "

photos by Matthew Eisman

After a string of festival dates, and shows in DC and Philly, Dirty Projectors returned to their native NYC to headline the cavernous halls of Terminal 5 with Owen Pallett on Saturday night (9/11)...

Pallett's set began after he announced (and tweeted!) that he was having a set list crisis. The set was decidedly split into two acts. First came his solo looping and building detailed architectural songs using just violin and MIDI keyboard... For the second half, Thomas Gill came to the stage, providing multi-instrumental layers on top of the looped violin textures. From bopping auxiliary drums on "The Great Elsewhere," to shredding guitar on "Many Lives -> 49 MP." ...As amazing and obviously talented Pallett is on his own, the addition of a second member to the stage show keeps him from being considered too gimmicky or one trick-y.

... From the beginning of the [Dirty Projectors] set with the harmonic shrieks of "Fucked For Life," and blasting strobe lights into the eyes of everyone in the crowd, it is easy to get sucked into how much of a powerful rock force these guys are and forget how weird these songs actually are. Catchy and rocked out to be sure. But when it comes down to it, these alien harmonies sung by Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian and Haley Dekle, along with Longstreth's finger-mashing guitar licks, these are not songs that many bands selling out big rock venues could dream of writing. - [FreeWilliamsburg]

The perfectly harmonized band (DP) is currently on the road through the end of September (with Happy Birthday and then Dominique Young Unique), but will be back in the tri-state area to play Madison Square Garden with Phoenix on 10/20 (tickets) before playing Fun Fun Fun Fest.

More pictures from the T5 show, a shot of the setlist and a video, below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors & Owen Pallett played Terminal 5 in NYC --- (pics, video, setlist)"

And now comes, "You Can Count On Me", the second in the series of 7" singles from Panda Bear previewing his forthcoming album Tomboy, the much-anticipated follow-up to Person Pitch.

A gentle duet between Panda Bear and himself, "You Can Count On Me" glimmers with third world melodic overtones, an ethereal uplifting number that is over before you become too familiar. "Alsatian Darn" on the other hand is a much different creature...a slightly foreboding track with an off-beat melancholy chord progression that occasionally lets the light break through with a jaunty two-step, if ever so briefly.

A limited edition of "You Can Count On Me" will be available in stores beginning October 19th. Only 500 copies are available for pre-order from the Domino Mart.

Not counting Moogfest on 10/20, Panda Bear's last tour date is 9/12 in Baltimore which is one day after the 9/11 show at Governors Island in NYC. And since we last spoke, there have been a lot of updates related to that NYC show. Not only will there be opening sets by Teengirl Fantasy and Gala Drop, Panda's Animal Collective bandmate Avey Tare will be DJing between sets. Tickets are still on sale, AND we have a pair you can win. Details at the end of this post.

And speaking of 9/11 NYC shows by Domino-signed bands that I have a pair of tickets to giveaway for, Dirty Projectors and Owen Pallett play Terminal 5 on that Saturday. Details on winning those tickets (you can buy those too) below.

Dirty Projectors will release Bitte Orca Expanded Edition on September 28th via Domino...

This limited edition Bitte Orca expanded 2xCD set comes with premium packaging and a second disc that features never before released tunes from a very special and intimate live acoustic performance at New York's Other Music record store, rare vinyl only b-sides and a stunning cover of Bob Dylan's "As I Went Out One Morning". This is the definitive version of Bitte Orca.

Bitte Orca Expanded Edition will be released on CD and digitally. Pre-order Bitte Orca Expanded Edition.

Avey Tare, who recently DJ'd with Deakin, also has a DJ set scheduled for Glasslands on September 24th. Deakin plays Glasslands on September 13th.

Can't wait for 9/11? Teengirl Fantasy play a NYC show at Coco66 SATURDAY NIGHT (9/4) with Detroit In Effect:

CLUB DONUTS with resident DJ Pickpocket (Kat Matutina) and resident video/visual artist AC (Alison Childs) will be throwing their 2nd party in New York this summer.

DANCE PARTY WITH LIVE BANDS, DJS & FREE DONUTS ALL NIGHT ! ! !

Witness the first ever live New York performance of DETROIT IN EFFECT!!! With several releases on CLONE, after more than a decade, witness D.I.E. in full effect! Pure Detroit electro tracks in the tradition of Juan Atkins Model 500 project and AUX88 and the likes. Detroit in Effect pure Detroit Electro Techno that bring back the funk in techno and electro!

Get on the Detroit Party Train with these heavy bassed Cybotron inspired electro tracks!

TEENGIRL FANTASY make dream music. With a beat. They play a crazy, fun live show. Experience it for yourself!

Gala Drop are coming all the way from Panda Bear's current home, Lisbon, to open the Governors Island show though they will play at least one other show while they're here, and that takes September 10th in Chinatown at a No Ordinary Monkey party.

All dates and stuff below...

Continue reading "Panda Bear single & updated dates (w/ Governors opener info), Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca expanded, ticket contests, Teengirl Fantasy & more"

most of the photos by Josh Darr

The Strokes

Lady Gaga & Semi Precious Weapons (pic via Krista Davis)

Phoenix

"Lollapalooza wheeled out some big headliners in its sixth year on the Chicago lakefront, as a record 240,000 people poured into Grant Park over three days to see 130 performers, including Lady Gaga, Green Day and reunited grunge-era icons Soundgarden.

Size matters at Lollapalooza, as the festival expanded its reach westward by shutting down Columbus Avenue and spreading eight stages across 110 acres, up from 80 acres in previous years. Columbus Avenue was converted into a giant sidewalk lined with portable toilets, a simple but effective improvement that allowed fans to avoid the dreaded Buckingham Fountain bottleneck that had turned previous festivals into human traffic jams. The festival topped its previous three-day record of 225,000, reached the last two years.

Still, there was little room during some performances at the northernmost stages on Butler Field, where fans jostled shoulder-to-shoulder for space to see performances by Metric, Phoenix and Arcade Fire. Note to Austin, Texas-based promoters C3 Presents: How about widening the southern entrance to Butler Field or moving one of the stages onto Columbus Drive to relieve what is becoming an annual problem? It's only going to get worse if the festival approaches its new capacity of 95,000 a day in future years." [Chicago Tribune]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2010 -- Day 1 & 2 in pics "

by BBG

Off! (photo by Lindsey Byrnes)

Whether or not the band name Off! is a not-so-subtle reference to another band that featured the great Keith Morris and dealt destruction to the insect populi, one thing is certain, they rule. Besides the incredible vocalist for Circle Jerks/Black Flag, punk supergroup Off! also features a killer lineup including Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From the Crypt) and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) and the foursome have announced their debut material to be released with Vice Records!

Off!, who you may have caught at SXSW this year, will release the accurately titled First EP via limited edition 7" inch on October 12th. Featuring art and an exclusive poster courtesy of Raymond Pettibon, aka the evil genius behind Black Flag's iconic album covers, the release is the first of four 7"s to be compiled on the First Four EPs (another Black Flag nod) due on November 23rd - a collection of 16 songs which will each feature its own Pettibon sleeve art.

As the tour dates indicate below, Off!, in addition to playing FYFFest and Riot Fest this year, has announced their involvement in Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest (happening November 6th and 7th). For those of you counting at home, that brings the list of confirmed FFFFest bands to Woven Bones, Suicidal Tendencies, Slick Rick, Best Coast, Dirty Projectors, Cap'n Jazz, The Gories, Yelle, Snapcase, The Dwarves, High On Fire, and The Hold Steady! Stay tuned for more lineup announcements for the great Texas festival.

Meanwhile, Mario Rubalcaba was NOT part of the recent (and impromptu) Hot Snakes reunion that took place on July 29th at an Obits/Night Marchers show in San Diego, CA (the bands were on tour together).

You can view video of the three Hot Snakes songs from that set, as well as all Off! tour dates & a video from their first show in LA, below...

Continue reading "Off! signs to Vice, Fun Fun Fun Fest announces part of the lineup, Hot Snakes reunited (sort of) "

Phoenix @ Hammerstein Ballroom in December (more by Tim Griffin)

The 'indie rock' takeover of MSG continues. Arcade Fire and Spoon play there two nights in August. And on October 20th, Phoenix will headline Madison Square Garden with support coming from... Dirty Projectors (weird?). Tickets go on general sale Saturday, July 17 at 10am.

It's not a big surprise that Phoenix are going for it. This past Coachella everyone was talking about how, unlike Pavement, Phoenix may have had the biggest crowd at the festival, they're considered a headliner at Lollapalooza, they won a Grammy, and their last quickly-selling-out NYC shows have been multiple nights in places like Hammerstein Ballroom, Summerstage, and Terminal 5. They were on SNL over a year ago (the Arizona city is still crushing them in Google results though) (there's a boycott joke in here somewhere).

Who's next? Passion Pit? MGMT? Band of Horses? The Black Keys? (opening doesn't count) Empire of the Sun? (kidding)

In related news, congratulations to Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars on the birth of their second child. Cosmina will be less than 6 months old when her daddy plays the big show.

Dirty Projectors also have a now-cozy-looking show at Terminal 5 in September.

A Phoenix video with all tour dates below..

Continue reading "Phoenix playing MSG w/ Dirty Projectors! (& other tour dates) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Dirty Projectors & Bjork @ Housing Works in April 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

Dirty Projectors and Bjork will be releasing a recorded version of Mount Wittenberg Orca, the suite they debuted at their Housing Works benefit in April 2009. The seven songs run 20 minutes total and are being released online on June 30th.
Stereogum points out...

"The Projectors and Björk recorded the new cycle April 28-May 1 at Rare Book Room with Nicolas Vernhes. (It was mixed by Vernhes with Longstreth and Björk.) It's the first new music since Bitte Orca. In contrast to that complex studio working -- something I mentioned in the press release for the album, full disclosure -- Mount Wittenberg Orca was recorded with the group together in a single room, only overdubbing lead vocals and solos. The songs are instantly recognizable from the Housing Works show (especially the opener), but they've noticeably deepened. The multi-part harmonies feel like the group's most adventurous to date. Nat Baldwin's bass is Sunn heavy. And, as you might expect, Björk's singular voice meshes gorgeously, floating atop when necessary. Something essential that remains was the original's idea of trying to use the book store's natural acoustics and as little amplification as possible. The sound is honest, immediate."

There is a series of teaser videos for the songs by "Stillness" director Matthew Lessner, which are posted below. Each has a different snippet of sound from the record: an eerie vocal cadence at the end of the first video, a dissonant chord burst on the second (and some prairie calisthenics), terse rhythms of the third, and a Xenakis-style glissando of the fourth. The final one has a melodic descending part that's sort of a companion to #1.

Dirty Projectors are on tour currently and play NYC's Terminal 5 on September 11th.

Olof Arnalds opened that Housing Works show, and she'll be in NYC for a show at Rockwood Music Hall on July 19th (tickets). She'll follow that up with three dates opening for Jonathan Richman in San Francisco, where she'll be debuting songs from her forthcoming record, Innundir skinni, (which Bjork guests on) due September 1st on One Little Indian. Maybe she'll give NYC a pre-debut peek at the songs. Pitchfork has a stream of the one Bjork sings on. Olof's dates and more are below...

Continue reading "Bjork & Dirty Projectors releasing album for charity SOON (video previews now), Olof Arnalds playing shows (dates)"

photos by Chris Graham, words by Andrew Frisicano

Dirty Projectors @ Sasquatch Fest

Dirty Projectors have added the rest of the tour dates around their September 11th Terminal 5 show (Tickets are still on sale for that). The band covers a lot of ground on the short tour, going back to Seattle by the end of September. They just played the Seattle-area, Sasquatch Festival's second day (5/30). The pictures here are from that (Day one pictures from the same fest are here).

Between playing for David Byrne and DJing with Bjork, the band found time to cut a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" for Levi's, who will give you the song for your e-mail address. Don't expect too many fireworks - their version is a pretty straightforward, dorm-room take on the song. Levi's is also giving away songs by Nas, The Swell Season, and She & Him (The Shins, Passion Pit, and The Kills all have free tracks coming up).

Dirty Projectors' Terminal 5 show is being opened by Owen Pallett, who opens a few others on the tour too. Sub Pop garage-pop Happy Birthday and electro-party rapper Dominique Young Unique (whose video for single "Show My Ass" is below) open others. Owen goes on to tour with the National.

More Sasquatch pictures and videos (which capture the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" to Amber's dad, and some inspired "Stillness" dance moves) and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "updated Dirty Projectors tour dates, a free Bob Dylan cover, pictures & video from Sasquatch"

The Roots Picnic 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

The Roots will be hosting two night of "The Jam" back at Highline Ballroom on June 15th (tickets) and June 21st (tickets). If the shows are anything like their residency shows at the venue last year, there will be special guests.

The band's ninth studio album, How I Got Over, comes out June 22nd (one day after the 2nd NYC show) on Def Jam. Guests on the record include Joanna Newsom and Jim James/Monsters of Folk. The latter's contribution is actually a reworked version of a MoF song, dubbed "Dear God 2.0." You can check it out, along with the video for the album's title track, "How I Got Over," below. Questlove also recently tweeted a video of Dirty Projectors members (friends of the Roots) in the studio with the band. That's below too.

The Highline shows are in addition to the other shows the group has lined up for the summer (with more coming most likely). They're hosting their second annual Roots Picnic in Philly on June 5th. They have a free Celebrate Brooklyn show on July 11th with Talib Kweli and others.

Meanwhile, Questlove has extended his Thursday night DJ residency at Brooklyn Bowl through July. Tickets are on sale for all dates. He's also going to be DJing the free and BV co-presented Fela! On Broadway Original Cast Recording Release Party on Monday, June 7th, along with performances by Fela! co-leads Sahr Ngaujah and Kevin Mambo and members of the cast (more on that later). Questlove will be at the rescheduled Erykah Badu/Janelle Monae show at Roseland on June 5th.

More album info (include the "not final" tracklist) and streaming tracks are below...

Continue reading "The Roots add more NYC shows (on sale), releasing an album w/ indie special guests + Questlove DJ dates & more"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Deradoorian - High Road (MP3)

Dirty Projectors @ MHOW (more by Ryan Muir)

Between their set at Coachella and schedule of summer festivals (plus a September show at Terminal 5), the members of Dirty Projectors have found some time for solo shows around NYC.

Frontman Dave Longstreth DJs at Above the Auto Part Store's Haiti benefit on May 2nd along with Bjork, Battles' Tyondai Braxton and others. Todd P reminds us that "tix @ RECORD GROUCH RECORDS / OLD MADE VINTAGE | 1pm-7pm daily | 441 METROPOLITAN AVE @ MEEKER, BKLYN, NY | 908.246.1512"

Singer/multi-instrumentalist Angel Deradoorian joins Roadside Graves, Mon Khmer and a solo Andrew W.K. for a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society benefit at Santos Party House on Monday, May 3rd. Tickets are on sale. Her solo shows (not counting karaoke) have been semi-rare since the release of her solo EP, The Mind Raft.

Bass player Nat Baldwin has a show (solo bass with voice usually, or with a band) in Connecticut on April 20th, then a short tour planned for May 18th-22nd. That ends with a performance at Issue Project Room on May 22nd with peace, loving and banjoist Woody Sullender. Tickets are on sale. His third and most recent LP, Most Valuable Player, came out in 2008.

Nat Baldwin tour dates and videos are below...

Continue reading "a benefit @ Santos & other solo Dirty Projectors shows "

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

"Wow. The Sahara is past capacity at Coachella for Die Antwoord. No midget. Waiting for the trainwreck but people dig it." - The Scenestar

"Seeing a shirtless Danny DeVito run across the stage while Faith No More played pretty much made my #coachella weekend." - stovn

Die Antwoord, Faith No More

Flopping phalluses are in this year according to Major Lazer and Die Antwoord. Each presented the intersection of beats, party-hyping, gross humor, and dancing in your underwear. Day 2 of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival had an overall far-out theme. Some with sexually explicit lunacy, others with psychedelic music. South Africa's Die Antwoord introduced zef-rap to the festival, South Africa's version of white trash hip hop-a bold, fearless expression of crazy stick a finger up your bum entertainment.

Before arriving at these culminating moments, the day progressed through a series of psychedelic and/or raunchy expressions. John Waters kicked things off with thoughts on crawling through pig poo, taking poppers, the pleasures of sploshing, and strange things he wants to do before he dies. Gossip's Beth Ditto hoped he was watching her blazing disco soul performance but was afraid to look backstage and see him smiling and waving at her. Gossip put on a set that inspired revelations on reality in the most self-empowering ways.

John Waters & Beth Ditto @ Coachella (this pics via Jermey Scott)

The day's best covers include Faith No More doing "Reunited" (they also covered Michael Jackson's "Ben"), Portugal, The Man's jamming Bowie's "Moonlight Daydream," and Girls' flawless "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. The last was a most appropriate choice for the band with an Ariel Pink sensibility towards '50s ballads. MGMT brought the futuristic 1960s with songs from its new album. Many pointed out that the band didn't play "Kids", but that seems to miss the point that MGMT put on a pretty sophisticated, experimental live performance of the band's signature Indian headdress on Phil Spector Fraggle Rock sound.

The Raveonettes played as a duo and sans drum machine, adorably sharing a mic sometimes. The rest of the band remains trapped under lava in Iceland, figuratively speaking. Camera Obscura also shouted out bands stuck in the UK, dedicating "Let's Get Out Of This Country" to those who could not make it.

It seems almost every DJ this weekend has sampled Major Lazer's "Pon De Floor" except Flying Lotus, who took the stage all on his own (no Thom Yorke cameo included). After warming up the crowd with some first grade experimental hip hop, FlyLo brought out the big guns, sounds combined in layers and pitches that act like quaaludes on the light speed continuum. The Dirty Projectors girls evoked cool electronic birds and the Dezurik Sisters with their harmonizing powers. Beach House cooed the audience romantically as 50% of the band, Alex Scally, rubbed his slide up and down the frets.

Did that sound sexy? It's time to talk about sexy. The xx provided the mellow arousal Blonde Redhead and Portishead have given Coachella the last two years. People like The xx because they want sex that fits this soundtrack. They also want sex as excitingly goofy gross as Die Antwoord and to fall in love with a gal like Sia, all at the same time. Sia's beautiful voice closed the night in the Gobi tent, and though her accent rendered her side comments completely incomprehensible, everyone laughed and agreed with anything she said. On the other hand, as great and sexy as the Dead Weather sounded, I don't know if I want to bed someone who demands I treat her like my mother. Old Crow Medicine Show suggested letting a woman rule your mind leads to troubles during "Minglewood Blues." Instead, let her win your heart with country-fried dinner.

Faith No More's twelve-song set included a cameo by a semi-streaker who happened to be Coachella regular Danny Devito. You can see that happen in one of the videos below. Faith No More's whole setlist is down there too.

Porcupine Tree, Tokyo Police Club, Hot Chip, The Almighty Defenders, Les Claypool, Devo, and Muse were also on the bill Saturday. Our review, pictures and videos from Friday are HERE. Saturday continues below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day Two in pics, video & review (Die Antwoord shots & Faith No More's setlist included)"

Liars @ Bowery Ballroom the other day (more by Erez Avissar)

tonight in NYC
* Fol Chen @ Sound Fix
* The Morning After Girls @ Living Room
* John Wesley Harding house show in Staten Island
* Ludicra, Krallice, Castavet, Atakke @ Europa
* Liars, Fol Chen @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Sam Mickens' Ecstatic Showband & Revue @ Union Pool
* John Wesley Harding & the English Uk @ Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ
* Lazarus, Unbunny, Tiger Saw, The Wailing Wall @ Death By Audio
* Oneida, Trans Am, Nice Nice, Jonas Reinhardt @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* The Music of Louis Andriessen w/ ACME and Eric Huebner @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Eternal Summers, Beachniks, Honey Dos, Maine Coons, Mashmallows @ Coco 66
* Polite Sleeper, Uninhabitable Mansions, The Charming Youngsters, North Highlands @ Glasslands
* Truman Peyote, Weekends, Birthdays, Total Slacker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cop Magnet @ Surreal Estate

More on some of these shows in This Week in Indie.

Catch Fol Chen for free at Sound Fix today before their show with Liars in the same neighborhood tonight.

Sam Mickens' Ecstatic Showband & Revue, a rotating lineup fronted by the Dead Science singer that plays a kind of Sun Ra-inspired soul, is at Union Pool tonight. A flyer is below.

John Wesley Harding plays two shows today.

Despite medical complications, Ludicra plays Europa tonight with Krallice, Castevet, and Atakke.

Coachella concludes today. Stream it. Videos from Dirty Projectors' set there yesterday, below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

Dirty Projectors @ MHOW (more by Ryan Muir)

Dirty Projectors seems to be doing the festival circuit this summer, with shows at Coachella (this weekend), Sasquach, Glastonbury, Roskilde (in Denmark), UK's Latitude, and Lollapalooza in August. They'll also be playing a NYC show at Terminal 5 on September 11th. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Much sooner, Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth will be DJing a Haiti benefit at Above the Auto Part Store on May 2nd along with Bjork and others. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at 5pm, in-person only at Record Grouch/Old Made Vintage (441 Metropolitan Ave).

The band played a show at an old movie theater in Cape Cod on April 9th, where they debuted a new song, according to YouTube called "Scrappy Nephew," and dug into some old ones, like The Glad Fact's "Ground Underfoot." Videos of those and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors playing Terminal 5 & other 2010 tour dates "

Bjork & Dirty Projectors @ Housing Works (more by Chris La Putt)

As you can see on the flyer below, cavernous Bushwick DIY spot Above the Auto Parts Store will be the site of a benefit for Haiti with an eclectic lineup of DJs on May 2nd. Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth, Battles' Tyondai Braxton, and music writers Alex Ross and Brandon Stosuy will be joined by...Bjork behind the turntables and iPods for "Rites of Spring." Ross predicts "some combination of Thai soul, death metal, Justin Bieber, and, of course, nude Stravinsky." Brandon, who writes for Stereogum, has the genesis of the event, which involves Bjork/Dirty Projectors show at Housing Works last May, laid out at that site: "Tickets go on sale this Tuesday (4/13) at 5PM at Record Grouch/Old Made Vintage, 441 Metropolitan Avenue (@ Meeker) in Brooklyn. Their hours are 1PM-7PM daily. (There will be no online tickets. Paper tickets only.)"

Speaking of Bjork...

Ólöf Arnalds [who also played that Housing Works benefit with Bjork and Dirty Projectors] was recently featured in NPR's All Things Considered last week. Host Jonathan Richman chatted to the singer songwriter about her new album, and played a snippet of a new song called "Surrender", that features Björk.

Olöf recently finished mixing her second album, Innundir Skinni, at Sundlaugin Studios with Kjartan Sveinsson producing once again. Innundir skinni features more elaborate arrangements and instrumentation than Við og við, with vocals sung both in English and Icelandic. Innundir skinni is set for worldwide release this spring. [Iceland Music]

Continue reading "Dave Longstreth, Tyondai Braxton & others DJing Haiti benefit w/ Bjork (who recorded a song w/ Olof Arnalds) "

"The 2010 Lollapalooza line-up is official: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix will headline, joined by Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, and The Black Keys. With 130 bands on this year's bill, its sure to be a weekend long feast for the ears.

It's a monumental year for Lollapalooza, filled with homecomings, reunions, and first-times. Soundgarden, 1992 and 1996 Lollapalooza alumni, return to the Lollapalooza stage for their first performance since 1997. Green Day will rock Grant Park sixteen years after their first Lollapalooza appearance. While Lady Gaga will headline the festival only three short years after playing the BMI stage at Lollapalooza 2007.

Arcade Fire returns to Grant Park, having played the reincarnated Lollapalooza in 2005. This is the first Lollapalooza for The Strokes - and also their first show in four years. And making their Lollapalooza debut: Phoenix." - Lollapalooza

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

by Andrew Frisicano

Dirty Projectors at Allen Room on Feb 19th...(via)

Dirty Projectors' 2005 album, "The Getty Address," is far more a contemporary chamber opera than indie-rock. It uses woodwinds, brass, strings and orchestral percussion; its music has dissonances and complexities galore, and only fitfully settles into a steady beat. Lincoln Center's American Songbook series is a natural place for it, and on Friday night at the Allen Room, Dirty Projectors performed "The Getty Address," backed by the chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound. It was arranged for the concert by Matt Marks and conducted by Alan Pierson.

It was probably the most abstruse offering to date in the series. Just five years after its release "The Getty Address" sounds like both a precursor and a tangent to the rock Dirty Projectors went on to make. It delved into compositional obsessions that would later be channeled into barely less complex songs. [NY Times]

Between those shows, Alarm Will Sound plays at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Tuesday, February 23rd to showcase the music of the group's own Caleb Burhans. Tickets are on sale. Caleb also performs at a late show at the venue with his layered, lush guitar/violin duo itsnotyouitsme. Avant-electronica act Son Lux opens - tickets to that are on sale. The show is a CD release party for itsnotyouitsme's new album, fallen moments, out now on New Amsterdam Records. AWS's A/Rhythmia came out last year on Nonesuch.

Dave Longstreth and three other composers will be on hand to introduce their work when it's premiered on Wednesday, February 24th at Merkin Hall by Bang on a Can All-Stars (it'll be the world premiere of Longstreth compositions "Instructional Video," "Matt Damon" and "Breakfast at J&M"). Tickets are still on sale.

As Dave Longstreth and Dirty Projectors get more involved with the classical world, they're also getting more intertwined with mainstream pop. Solange Knowles, who performed with Of Montreal (again) in January, covered the DP's popiest tune, "Stillness Is the Move," in 2009. The singer joined the band for a performance of the song and a cover of Groove Theory's "Tell Me" at a Fashion Week party held at Ace Hotel on Feb. 13th. Videos of that set are below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors played an album w/ an orchestra @ Allen Room & with Solange during Fashion Week ++ more shows "

We'll get a more complete press release in the morning (and confirm what is listed below is 100% correct), but in the meantime below is a picture of the 2010 Sasquatch poster (that someone Tweeted) and the lineup as read by Bradford Cox at tonight's Atlas Sound show in Seattle (and being listed all over the Internet)....

Continue reading "Sasquatch announces 2010 lineup (includes Massive Attack & My Morning Jacket) (and many more) "

Back in 2005, an earlier iteration of the Dirty Projectors released their concept album The Getty Address, which Pitchfork's Jason Crock called "a modern opera about post-9/11 America, the destruction of our natural wilderness, the confrontation between Hernan Cortes and the Aztecs in the early 16th century, and a protagonist named after Don Henley." An ambitious album, to say the least.

Dirty Pro frontman Dave Longstreth has come a long way since that album, but he hasn't forgotten it. And at two forthcoming shows in New York and Los Angeles, the band will play the album in full, with the 15-piece ensemble Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson helping out. They'll also play songs from last year's Bitte Orca at both shows.

The New York show will go down February 19 at Lincoln Center, as part of the American Songbook concert series. The L.A. show is scheduled for February 27 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the band will co-headline with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. During the first half, the Philharmonic will play orchestral pieces that Longstreth picked out. The band will take over and play the album during the second half. [Pitchfork]

A letter Dave Longstreth wrote to Don Henley as well as the source of the above picture, at thegettyaddress.com. A recent free digital 7" the band released, is in a previous post.

Other upcoming DP shows include the Big Ears Fest and Coachella.

Dirty Projectors' last NYC shows took place at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom. David Byrne showed up at one of them. David Byrne more recently showed up at St Vincent's show just this past Friday night at The Allen Room which is the same location and part of the same 'American Songbook' series that the Dirty Projectors are playing on February 19th. All dates and two Getty Address videos below..

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors playing 2005 album The Getty Address in full w/ orchestra @ NYC & LA shows "

photos by Bao Nguyen

It's been almost a year since the Dirty Projectors announced that upright bassist Nat Baldwin would be rejoining the band. Since then Nat has become more of a household indie name than he was when his third solo album was released. "Most Valuable Player", released on April 29th of 2008, was produced by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor and features contributions by Taylor and the Dirty Projector's Dave Longstreth. It was also around that time that Nat recorded a Daytrotter session which you can still download now.

Most recently, Nat contributed to Vampire Weekend's new album, Contra. He also opened the show they played at Bowery Ballroom on the night they found out that album hit #1. The pictures in this post are from that show. Tonight (1/23), you can catch Nat playing solo again at Sycamore in Brooklyn. More Bowery pics and a video below...

Continue reading "Nat Baldwin - Bowery pics & a show tonight"

The Big Ears Festival, happening March 26-28 in Knoxville, TN, recently expanded its lineup to include the National, Dirty Projectors, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Iva Bittova, Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, Tracy Silverman, and Buke & Gass. Those are in addition to the previously announced acts of Vampire Weekend, the Calder Quartet, 802 Tour (Nico Muhly/Doveman/Sam Amidon with Nadia Sirota), Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent, Andrew WK, The Ex, Gang Gang Dance, Clogs, The xx, Javelin, DJ/rupture (solo), DJ/rupture and Andy Moor, My Brightest Diamond, Gyan Riley and jj.

Big Ears is being co-curated by Bryce Dessner of the National, who's also bringing some great acts to his hometown of Cincinnati for MusicNOW Festival. For that, the city's Memorial Hall will host three shows: Joanna Newsom on March 30th, St. Vincent and yMusic on 31st, and Justin Vernon April 1st. Annie Clark a.k.a. St. Vincent has been commissioned to write a piece for the fest that yMusic will perform. More guests TBA. Tickets and three-night passes are on sale.

Joanna Newsom is coming to NYC in March. Tickets are now on AmEx presale. Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) is here sooner (this Thursday). St. Vincent has a show coming up at Lincoln Center.

Wow...Public Image Ltd, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grace Jones, Fever Ray, Devo, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Mew, Camera Obscura, Gil Scott-Heron, The xx, John Waters, Dillinger Escape Plan, Deer Tick, Gary Numan... Full Coachella 2010 lineup below....

Continue reading "2010 Coachella line up announced (Faith No More, Pavement, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Jay-Z, LCD Soundystem, ???)"