photos by Ryan Muir

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. @ MHOW 4/26/2013

From start to finish, the entire audience was moving and shaking as the guys pumped out bubble machines and confetti and broadcasted quirky cartoons on a massive overhead beach ball, behind which their iconic "JR JR" flashed frenetically. It was somewhere around the bombastic chorus of "We Almost Lost Detroit" that a chill tickled up the back of my neck, and I realized I had been rocking with an ear-to-ear grin for over an hour - these guys are one of my favorite bands. - [Baebelmusic]

The lead track off Patterns is "If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On The Dancefloor)" and you can check out the lyric video, as well as more MHOW pics and upcoming tour dates, below.

Continue reading "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. released new EP, played Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics)"

Cheap but effective ploy, Dales...

Hey there internet. We've been spending the last few months working on a rather ambitious and creatively engaging new live show. We've just confirmed the first handful of venues which we plan on putting on that show inside of. Hope to see a few of you there... - [Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.]

No word of a followup to 2011's It's A Corporate World but there must be something in the works to prompt these shows. In the meantime, you can watch their video for "We Almost Lost Detroit," below.

Continue reading "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. announce spring tour dates"

photos by Winnie Cheung

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at Highline Ballroom - 7/6/12

One of the many shows that CBGB Festival had to offer over the weekend was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at Highline Ballroom on Friday (7/6) with Fawn and Lissy Trullie. Dale's set consisted mainly of tracks from their 2011 LP, It's A Corporate World, plus covers of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and Gil Scott Heron's "We Almost Lost Detroit."

We missed Lissy Trullie, but more pictures of Dale and pics of Fawn are below...

Continue reading "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. played Highline during CBGB Fest (pics)"

As mentioned several times, CBGB Festival is happening in NYC from July 5-8. Still no word on when, where, or even if Superchunk are playing, (or Wyclef Jean or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah for that matter) but the current and changing schedule can be seen at the CBGB website.

Nirvana bassist-turned-politician Krist Novoselic will give the keynote speech at the festival and there will be many other music conferences including a "CBGB - Tales From The Club" with a former Ramones manager.

The music schedule has a huge variety of shows, many of which we've mentioned, like Redd Kross/The Men at MHOW, which The Labor Pool, who were supposed to open the Superchunk/Redd Kross show were added to. They've also opened shows for Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo, Wild Flag, and include Superchunk/Yo La Tengo booking agent Bob Lawton as a member.

Other shows that we've previously mentioned include Agnostic Front, Madball, and Murphy's Law at Webster Hall, Reggie Watts and Radio 4 at the Bell House, Cro-Mags, Sick of it All and more at Webster Hall, MEN at Gramercy Theater, the free Guided by Voices/The Pains of Being Pure at Heart/Cloud Nothings/The War on Drugs show at Central Park and more. There's a ton of other good artists playing shows too, including Mykki Blanco, Escort, Andy Shernoff, David Johansen, Richard Lloyd, and so many more. One of these is the recently announced show with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Lissy Trullie, and Fawn at Highline Ballroom July 6. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

The festival is also screening a number of films, some of which are making their premiere at the festival like the new Archers of Loaf documentary (well, it's making its US premiere, its world premiere was last week in Toronto at NXNE). And then there's the schedule for the film panels and of course the spirits festival.

Tickets for the previously discussed show at The Bell House on July 6 with Reggie Watts, the reunited Radio 4, and The Jigglers are still available if you dont want to trouble yourself with a festival badge. Those badges are still on sale, but if you don't want to pay for one, we have TWO PAIRS of badges to give away. Details on how to enter to win are below.

Continue reading "win CBGB Festival passes; check out the updated schedule (films, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. & more added)"

photos by Chris Graham and Rae Graham

Bon Iver/The Walkmen, variations on a theme at Sasquatch - 5/27/12

Experiencing live music at The Gorge is a powerful and emotional experience. It may seem unlikely, however, that The Gorge has the power to break even the most emotionally strong person down to tears. When Bon Iver performed "Skinny Love" on Sunday night, tears were not a rare sight. In fact, they were pretty common. Sasquatch! fosters an environment that will change the way you listen to music. Your favorite songs will never sound the same. New songs will become life-changing memories. [Oregon Daily Emerald]

Pictures of Friday (5/25) are here and Saturday (5/26) are here and here. And...more Sasquatch pictures to come.

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2012 in pics - the rest of Day 3 (Bon Iver, Zola Jesus, The Walkmen, Little Dragon, Hospitality and more)"

The Horrors @ ATP NY 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

today in NYC
* whiplash @ UCB
* Chromatics @ Le Bain
* Brain Cloud @ Barbes
* Chicha Libre @ Barbes
* Hot Tub @ Littlefield
* Furthur @ Beacon Theatre
* Witch @ Santos Party House
* Bombino @ Highline Ballroom
* Dan Neustadt @ Knitting Factory
* Devin, Young Rival @ Mercury Lounge
* Kevin Costner & Modern West @ City Winery
* Pegi Young & The Survivors @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Dolfish, "the Junkyard", S.L.F.M. @ Cake Shop
* Sleepy Sun, White Hills, Weird Owl @ Glasslands
* Wow, Twin Guns, Drunk Monk, Marloneisha @ Saint Vitus
* The Mastersons, Hawk and Dove @ Mercury Lounge
* The Horrors, Night Beats @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Reverend Vince Anderson & His Love Choir @ Union Pool
* Black Tambourine, Fan Modine, Rose Melberg @ Maxwell's
* Emily Wells, Dan The Automator, Live Footage @ Bowery Ballroom
* Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band @ Madison Square Garden
* Kung Fu, Wyllys & The New York Hustler Ensemble, Mom and Dad @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Japanther, Total Slacker, Night Manager, Osekre and The Lucky Bastards @ Cameo Gallery
* A.J. Roach and the Machines of the Pleistocene, Nels Andrews, A Big Yes and a Small No @ Zebulon
* Tony Scherr Trio w/ Anton Fier and Rob Jost, Jim Campilongo Electric Trio with Stephan Crump, Tony Mason @ Living Room
* XXL 2012 FRESHMEN CLASS LIVE with Machine Gun Kelly, Danny Brown, Kid Ink, Future, Roscoe Dash, Hopsin, Macklemore, Don Trip, Iggy Azalea, French Montana @ Best Buy Theater

The Horrors play their first of two shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight (4/9).

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Just three more days until our free screening of "Marley".

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. have a new video for "We Almost Lost Detroit". Watch below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at ACL 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. announced a tour a while back which includes a NYC show happening on April 1 at Bowery Ballroom. They've since added a Brooklyn show happening one day earlier at Brooklyn Bowl (3/31). Tickets for the Brooklyn Bowl show and the Bowery Ballroom show are on sale now.

Speaking of wacky bands playing Brooklyn Bowl, all-metal tribute to the Bee Gees, Tragedy, complete their February residency at the club this Friday (2/24). A more serious Led Zeppelin tribute band (Zoso) plays there one night later.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are also playing Bonnaroo. An updated list of their dates is below...

Continue reading "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. adds Brooklyn show (updated dates); Tragedy complete residency Friday"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at ACL 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (not to be confused with the freecreditscore band) are about to kick off a tour this month opening for Fitz and the Tantrums. That tour doesn't come to NYC but Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. will make their way over here during the spring to headline Bowery Ballroom on April 1. Tickets go on sale today (1/13) at noon.

All dates and a recent video of the band playing "Nothing But Our Love" in Iceland below...

Continue reading "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. schedule tour dates"

Twin Sister @ MFNW 2011 (more by Autumn Andel)

Twin Sister will release a limited edition 12" remix album of material off of their debut LP In Heaven on January 30. You've already heard Balam Acab's remix of "Kimmi in a Rice Field". It will be backed by a Lindstrom & Prins Thomas remix of "Bad Street," which you can stream below. The 12" is available for pre-order at the Domino webstore.

Twin Sister will have the 12" available on their 2012 tour with Ava Luna, which doesn't come to NYC, but both of those bands play the BV Holiday Party at Bowery Ballroom (12/17) with Widowspeak. Tickets for that show are still on sale and only $8.

Speaking of the 12/17 Bowery show, we're happy to announce some DJ additions to the bill. As soon as doors open and until Ava Luna go on, music will be provided by a mysterious team known as Invisible Glowstix. After that, between bands and until the last person leaves the club, the tunes will be coming courtesy of the slightly more well known Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. who will put down their guitars and mics for the night in favor of laptops and turntables. The Detroit band are also playing (live) shows in Philly and Boston while they're in the area.

Twin Sister recently recorded a live session for The Alternate Side, which aired today (12/9). You can watch the archived session below. They also recently recorded a live in-studio version of "Stop" at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco for Yours Truly. The video of that performance is below too.

Speaking of Balam Acab remixes, he recently remixed Charli XCX's single "Nuclear Seasons," which came out in November. You can stream his remix and watch the video for the original below. The original is available for free download in exchange for your email address at Charli XCX's website and you can download the Balam Acab remix by liking her facebook page.

Video and streams below...

Continue reading "Twin Sister release Lindstrom & Prins Thomas remix (listen); Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr & Invisible Glowstix DJing Bowery show"

photos by Tim Griffin

Arcade Fire / The Walkmen

The 10th annual Austin City Limits festival came to a close on Sunday with a headlining set by Arcade Fire (who also taped an edition of Austin City Limits the TV show one day earlier). It was a rough year for some attendees. I'm talking about smokers. Austin Statesman posted the following before the weekend:

We welcome all the people and music artists attending this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival. It's a special year for the music festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The talent this year is incredible, with headliners Kanye West, Stevie Wonder and Arcade Fire, as well as local favorites such as Asleep at the Wheel.

Before we get this party started, we must advise attendees that the Austin Parks Department has banned smoking at all Austin parks, greenbelts, trails and golf courses. That includes Zilker Park, site of the festival.

We realize that a smoking ban might be an inconvenience for some. But it is necessary to keep everyone safe. So please have fun at the events, which run today through Sunday, but leave the cigarettes, cigars, pipes -- or whatever else one might be smoking -- behind. (The ban also prohibits wood or charcoal grilling in Zilker and other parks.)

Smoking was allowed at previous ACL festivals, but this year is different. This year, Central Texas is dealing with wildfires that have killed two people, destroyed about 1,500 homes and burned tens of thousands of acres in Bastrop County, Steiner Ranch, Pflugerville and other Central Texas communities. In Austin, city firefighters responded to 469 brush fires from January through July. Cigarettes caused about a fourth of those fires, officials said. [Austin Statesman]

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 -- Day 3 in pics (Arcade Fire, Walkmen, DFA1979, Manu Chao & more)"

words by Zach Pollack, photos by Grant MacAllister

Sorry for the delay of our third and final installmet of Lollapalooza 2011 coverage, but here it is! Due to the major downpour on the Sunday of the fest, Grant's pictures were almost lost forever in a wet camera, but are now recovered. If you're just joining us, check out parts one and two first. Here is part three...

My third and final day of Lollapalooza (8/7) kicked off at Music Unlimited Stage with an opening set from Titus Andronicus. The Garden State punks began things by playing the opening track "A More Perfect Union" from their incredible 2010 LP The Monitor. Titus generally would make for a fantastic start to the day, but their sound was a bit off, and by the look on frontman Patrick Stickles's face, I think he agreed.

After Titus, I decided to calm things down and went to catch Lia Ices. This was my second time seeing the Brooklyn, NY-based songstress this year, but that did not make her less interesting. Lia's well trained voice fluttered effortlessly over the avant pop she produces. I must admit I was skeptical that she and her band would translate well to an outdoor setting. The four-piece shattered any and all of my doubts.

The next set I caught was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.'s at the quite favored Google+ stage. The kitschy group are infectious and totally unavoidable. I stuck around for most of their set which included their handmade "Jr. Jr." light boxes on stage and, more importantly, bubble machines.

I then made my way over to watch The Cars, who again consist of their original lineup, except for Benjamin Orr who passed away in 2000. The Cars ran though many of their hits like "Just What I Needed," "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," and a few new ones too. I didn't initially plan on catching their set, am glad that I did.

I then headed to the Sony stage where Portugal. The Man were setting up. I had caught their aftershow with Wye Oak at the Double Door on the first night of Lolla, and they blew me away. I was psyched to hear so many cuts off of their 2009 LP The Satanic Satanist. I was NOT psyched to hear that their van and trailer (gear and all) had been stolen later on that night. The van and trailer have since been recovered... and so has most of the gear!

I left Portugal's set a bit early in order to make it to Best Coast at Google+. Frontwoman Bethany Cosentino entered the stage and jokingly stated, "Fuck you, we're Best Coast." Unfortunately halfway through their set storm clouds that were hanging over Chicago all day finally burst. It poured for a good hour, letting up just before Explosions In The Sky's set.

The Austin, TX-based post rock band entered the stage stating, "I think you just saw 'us,' but now we're going to play some music." I was glad to hear some of my favorite songs like "The Birth and Death of the Day," "Six Days At the Bottom of the Ocean," and "Your Hand In Mine." Their awesome set was more than enough to keep the muddy, sopping festival-goers around.

Everyone legitimately thought the rain had let up, so I headed across to Music Unlimited for Foo Fighters' headlining set. Their set included a handful of songs from the recently released Wasting Light LP and a bunch of older cuts too. A few songs in it started pouring again and I decided to leave the festival along with Grant whose camera had officially stopped working. Unfortunately that meant that I missed Perry Farrell (of Jane's Addiction and founder of Lollapalooza) joining the band on stage for a second during "Everlong," which included the Foos playing a piece of Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song."

Day 1 pics are HERE and Day 2 pics are HERE. More pictures from Day 3, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Arctic Monkeys included, below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 -- Day 3 pics & review (EITS, TPOBPAH, Best Coast, The Cars, Portugal the Man, Arctic Monkeys & more)"

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr at BV CMJ Party 2010 (more by Chris la Putt)

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr are heading out on tour in September which culminates at Bowery Ballroom on September 24. TIckets for the Bowery show are on sale now. The tour is in support of their recently released album It's a Corporate World, which came out on Warner Brothers last month.

The band recently stopped in with Rolling Stone to perform acoustic versions of two of the album tracks, and a cover of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." They also stuck around after playing for an interview. Check out videos of that, and a recent live video, with all dates, below.

Continue reading "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. tour dates & live videos"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Generationals - Trust (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - No Lines (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - Blame the Record (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shark? - Down Low (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shark? - Shark? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - Sparrow (MP3)

Generationals

I take you away from trying to figure out the identity of The Modern Weepers (my favorite comment guess: Hard-Fi) to talk about shows happening this weekend. As always, this being New York City, there's lots of great options.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are in town this week with Generationals and the two bands play tonight (5/11) at Mercury Lounge (sold out!) and tomorrow (5/12)  at The Rock Shop (not sold out!). Dale Jr Jr also play Kidrockers on Sunday [5/14] at the Rock Shop with Pearl and the Beard.

I feel like there's been enough talk about Dale, whose dreamy brand of synth rock can be heard on their pretty good upcoming album It's a Corporate World which is out June 7. So I'm here to talk about Generationals who are surely one of the few indiepop bands in New Orleans. Unlike Big Freedia, they haven't appeared yet on an episode of Treme but their new album Actor-Caster is loaded with clever, tunefull pop. What they do isn't particularly cool at this second in time, but I think stuff like this is never really out of style. You can download the title track to last year's great Trust EP at the top of this post and there's a widget below that will get you two tracks from Actor-Caster for the price of your email.

Malajube

Also here this week for a couple shows are Montreal's Malajube , playing The Rock Shop tonight (5/11) and will be at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (3/13) with the epic and amazing Besnard Lakes (and Nova Scotia's Wintersleep).  If you were in Austin for SXSW this year, you may have seen Malajube at our SXSW day party this year we co-presented with M for Montreal who we are co-presenting a show with this Friday in Brighton (if anyone is headed to the Great Escape).

Like a lot of folks, Malajube made a big impression on me in 2006 with their record Trompe-L'Oeil and, even more, their string of fantastic CMJ performances that year. The tunes were catchy, they were great live, the language barrier didn't matter so much. I must admit 2009's Labarinthes didn't make much of an impression but I've really been enjoying the band's brand new album La Cavern. The album is out now in Canada and will be available in the U.S. sometime soon on MB3 Records. Maybe they'll have it at the merch tables this week.

The new album walks the line between guitar pop and space rock and I keep imagining them performing songs like the vaguely disco "Le Blizzard" on the Muppet Show. There's a general soft filter '70s vibe to the whole of La Cavern that feels very comforting. You can listen to the whole thing via a streaming widget doohickey at the bottom of this post.

And go see the Besnard Lakes, for whom I have declared my love for many, many times. And go early for Malajube.

Echo & the Bunnymen are at Irving Plaza on Friday (5/13) and Saturday (5/15) playing their first two albums -- 1979's Crocodiles and 1980's Heaven Up Here -- back to back, in their entirety. This may not be quite as exciting as seeing them at Radio City doing Ocean Rain with a full orchestra, but it's still pretty awesome.

Especially because the albums are post-punk classics. Crocodiles is all scratchy nervous energy and contains no mediocre songs whatsover. I could list them all if you wanted, each one amazing. The whole thing still sounds fantastic. Heaven Up Here is considerably darker, more paranoid but no less definitive. "Over the Wall" is one of their best-ever songs. These two records are also a great showcase for Will Seargent's guitar-playing that still sounds innovative today. I'm a little sceptical of Mac's ability to belt out these songs -- it's gonna be a workout on his pipes -- but the chance to hear deep cuts like "All That Jazz," "It Was a Pleasure," "Happy Death Men," and "With a Hip" is exciting.

Opening for both shows is Bunnymen megafan Kelley Stoltz, who has covered Crocodiles in its entirety, both on record and as an infrequent but incredible tribute act that also featured Spiral Stairs of Pavement and Shayde Sartin who's now in The Fresh & Onlys. (They played CMJ 2003 at Arlene's Grocery, it was awesome.) Anyway, Stoltz is now an established artist in his own right, putting out terrific records on Sub Pop when not playing drums in Sonny & the Sunsets.  So if you're going to this show, do go early.

Gross Relations

We now enter the local band portion of This Week in Indie. Let's start with L Magazine 8 Bands runners-up Gross Relations who are playing three times this week: tonight (5/11) at Don Pedro with Raccoon Fighter and The Horehounds, then tomorrow (5/12) at Bruar Falls with deVries and Hunktronic, and on Friday (5/13) at Cake Shop with The Bynars, Field Mouse and Infinity Hotel.

The band have been releasing a series of digital singles via their bandcamp page, all of which exemplify their brand of supercatchy, keyboard-friendly indie rock. You can download the A-sides of the last two at the top of this post. "Blame the Records" is especially good. As I said previously, those keyboard lead lines make for easy comparisons to the Rentals which I'm gonna guess is probably what they were going for. Which is fine -- the hooks are undeniable.

Radical Dads

Radical Dads, meanwhile, were actually picked by the L Mag as one of those 8 Bands You Need To Hear and I certainly agree. And hear them you can Thursday at Cake Shop. The band's debut album, Mega Rama, is out next month and it's pretty damn good. I hear a lot of '90s DC  here -- more Simple Machines and DeSoto than Teenbeat -- whether that was intentional or not. Which means, basically, strident, melodic indie rock. The record is also a contender for my favorite album art of the year, done by Michael Deforge, which you can see below. Also below is yet another widget, this one will allow you to stream or download Mega Rama track "New Age Dinosaur." Oh, and they are quite good live.

Also playing that Cake Shop show tomorrow are Shark? whose debut album True Waste comes out May 24. The band worked with former Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone on the record and what I've heard sounds really good. You can download two tracks from the album up top, and Shark?'s Pixies-ish theme song is pretty fun.

And lastly, I'd like to write a little about Vacation who are opening for Oberhofer at Coco 66 on Saturday night (5/14). The band are pretty new. What started as a solo project for Paul Greenfield Daly, formed into a band during one of the blizzards this year. Vacation have only played out a couple of times (Brad Oberhofer was in the live incarnation briefly.) But I really, really like the songs available as free downloads on Vacation's Bandcamp site. While I wouldn't call it synthpop, Vacation are definitely danceable, kind of groovy and motorik.  The track "Jean" in particular sounds like a hit to me, definitely check that one out.

That Coco 66 show also has the lately ubiquitous Widowspeak, and with Oberhofer that makes for a pretty good Saturday night. If you can't make it this weekend, Vacation are playing Pianos on May 22 with Dinner at the Thompsons.

OK that's the big stuff this week. Here are a few more picks, day-by-day:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

It's a night of well-dressed pop at Glasslands with Princeton and the High Highs. I keep meaning to catch High Highs again, I was impressed when they played with Radio Department last year.

We haven't heard from locals Gray Goods since last year's Northside Fest. They emerge from their cocoon, sonically reborn, tonight at Union Pool, with Zachary Cale and D. Charles Speer and the Helix.

continued below...

Continue reading "Generationals, Malajube, Echo & the Bunnymen, Kelley Stoltz, Gross Relations, Radical Dads, Shark?, Vacation, Karaoke Underground & more in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: EMA - Milkman (MP3)

EMA

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. kicked off a tour in Allston, MA last night (5/10), and are now in NYC for that previously-mentioned May 11th show at Mercury Lounge (sold out), and for a show on May 12th at The Rock Shop (tickets available). Both shows are with Generationals, as are most of Dale's May dates (but not at the one they're playing for kids on Sunday).

In June, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. hook up with EMA for a run of West Coast dates. Who is EMA? Well, to quote the 8.5 Best New Music she just got on Pitchfork,

"Erika M. Anderson has talked about finding "true bliss and terror" in the live performances of her former band, Gowns. The pressure-cooker atmosphere she and her partner in that group (and in life) Ezra Buchla immersed themselves in had to crack at some point, and it did, fatally and finally, at the beginning of 2010. Anderson's way of propping open an escape hatch from the bruised purging of Gowns was to retreat into herself, by gathering her collective musical ideas and putting them out under her own initials. But it's immediately apparent on hearing Past Life Martyred Saints, her debut full-length as EMA, that she's still all tangled up in "bliss and terror.""

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.'s full-length album It's A Corporate World is due June 7 via Quite Scientific Records. All of their, Generational's and EMA's tour dates, below...

Continue reading "EMA released 'Past Life Martyred Saints,' touring w/ Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr (who are on tour, in NY now w/ Generationals)"

"We've released a new digital-only EP. It features "In Every Direction" and remixes by Dale Earnhardt JR JR and White Sea (Morgan Kibby of M83), as well as three brand new, unreleased B-sides; "Näckrosdammen", "Pling", and "White Rain".

The video for "In Every Direction" was directed by our drummer Elias Araya. Elias found inspiration for the video in his father's art, the painter and sculptor, Kent Karlsson.Elias presents images in a simple, iconic way using different backgrounds refracted through a diamond. A few of his father's porcelain dog collection also made the video." - Junip

Junip, José González included, will hit the road for a string of North American dates in April and May with NYC band Acrylics, including May 19th at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for the NYC show go on AmEx presale Wednesday (3/9) at noon, and regular sale on Friday. Junip is also scheduled to play Bonnaroo in middle June. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile Acrylics will be down at SXSW and at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on March 29th with Papercuts & Banjo or Freakout.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. have a few dates scheduled on their way to Austin for SXSW, and it looks like they'll be spending some time on the road in May too, hitting NYC's Mercury Lounge on May 11th. Tickets for that one go on AmEx presale Wednesday (3/9) at noon, and regular sale on Friday. All currently known dates, and the Junip stuff, below...

Continue reading "Junip touring w/ Acrylics, released digital EP w/ remix by Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr (who have upcoming dates too)"

photos bt Chris La Putt

Ted Leo / Big Freedia

Thanks again to everyone for an amazing extended CMJ 2010 weekend that started Thursday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, continued Friday afternoon at Public Assembly followed by a loft party followed by the free Converse-presented show at Public Assembly on Saturday afternoon, 10/23 (the subject of this post), and which ended on a high, and heavy, note at Union Pool later that night.

Thanks again to Converse who just opened a big store in SoHo, and to our sponsors V-Spot (go eat there for a great vegan meal in Park Slope), Firefly Vodka + Bourbon, Magic Hat, and Raw Revolution.

This second set of pictures from the event continues below...

Continue reading "BV & Converse day party in pics & video - part 2 (Jamie Lidell, Big Freedia, Ted Leo, Titus Andronicus, Wild Nothing, more)"

photos by Lionel Bergeron

"[Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.] played a short set of about 8 songs, most of them from their released EP from this year. They have a new album coming out this spring and it's just in time since they only have "like 3 CDs left," as the lead singer said during the show. They played a new track and it's definitely darker than the previous release, maybe they're spending too much time being depressed and lonely on the road...

...Live, they are quite entertaining. They dress in Nascar race suits and look like they're headed to get some "tires to the face" at a local track. They have some great lighted decorations that add to their fun showmanship. You can see it in "Vocal Chords" below, and it by far was my favorite song of the night.

Of course there were some entertaining moments when they invited some buddies to share the stage. They're definitely having fun with being musicians. [notes by spark]"

Continue reading "Bear Hands, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. & the Tony Castles played Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - "Simple Girl" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bear Hands - "Crime Pays" (MP3)

Dale Jr Jr at Cake Shop (more by Chris La Putt)

"The goal of the Green-Screening Project is to bring musicians together to change the way music videos are made - more creative and rewarding for artists, and more engaging material to entertain fans. This whole process has been collaborative, from raising money via a KickStarter appeal, to musicians playing together in the studio, to even crowd-sourcing ideas for the videos.

Twenty-eight (!) exciting acts came in the space of one week to master a live track at Seaside Lounge studios in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The recording studio was rented out especially at the end of October 2010 in parallel to the CMJ Music Marathon event, in order to reach a wider geographic of bands. Each band performed in a space decked-out in full professional 'green screen' backdrops so that bespoke visuals could be added in afterwards to create over thirty amazing music videos. It's an audio-visual experiment that was a wonderful, improvised experience, and we couldn't have anticipated how much fun it would be. From redundancies to stormy romances, the tall tales and magic of Green Screening will live on."

And if you missed them at CMJ, or want to see them again, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are returning to NYC this Friday (12/17) to support Bear Hands at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still available for the show which is one of three on the east coast this week for Dale, and one of two shows left for Bear Hands who were just on a longer tour.

Bear Hands also recently dropped a video of their own for "Crime Pays" from Burning Bush Supper Club which is also viewable below (and downloadable above), with all dates and the other video...

Continue reading "watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. play in front of green screen (video), see them live this week w/ Bear Hands (dates)"

most photos by Andrew St. Clair, Jamie Lidell photos by Leia Jospe
videos by Bleary Eyed Brooklyn

Jamie Lidell / Marnie Stern

"As a sucker for daytime events, I headed to Williamsburg's Public Assembly around noon for a show curated by BrooklynVegan. First up (and by "first", I mean, "the first artist I woke up in time to see") was Ted Leo. Performing skeletal, solo versions of his Pharmacists material, Ted more than compensated for the sparse arrangements with furious strumming and hilarious banter. It was nice to see an older, established artist opening a free show designed to showcase rising stars; it sort of set the tone for the rest of the day. His hit-heavy set spanned the full-duration of career, touching on high-water marks like "The High Party" and "Bottled in Cork", and closing with a cover of Euro-dance phenom Robyn's "With Every Heartbeat". This was a perfect set to open the day, and my only recommendation is that the next synth jam he covers be "Chewing Gum", by Annie...

...Closing the show, metal prodigy Marnie Stern dominated stage two, directly opposite neo-funkster Jamie Lidell headlining the main room. While she reveled in the loose atmosphere, dropping hilariously lewd stage banter and slamming PBR's, Lidell tried a throwback set reflecting his early, robotic Warp Records catalog." [MTV Music Blog]

Hopefully you got there early on Saturday to catch Morning Teleportation who went on when we opened the doors around noon. If so, you may have also grabbed one of the free EarPeace earplugs we gave out, and grabbed a free V-Spot empanada. Hopefully you also had your fill of the free Firefly Vodka + Bourbon and Magic Hat beer we were giving out, snacked on free Raw Revolution bars, bought a free t-shirt or poster for charity (email if you still want one - we have more left). If you weren't there, maybe you caught the live stream (if we can ever make it available for podcast, I will let you know).

Thanks to Line 6 and Vinny's Music for providing gear. Thanks to Vinnie's Pizza for helping feed our bands!

Speaking of the bands, hopefully Titus Andronicus's short set didn't bum you out. And if it did, hopefully Big Freedia cheered you right back up.

Like for the Friday party, there are two sets of pictures for this one. The second one is on its way. The first one, along with a bunch of videos, continues below...

Continue reading "BV Saturday day party in pics & video - part 1 (Marnie Stern, Dominique Young Unique, Heavy Cream, No Joy & more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

""Nobody's been in my vagina for sooo long!" If you haven't been made aware of Marnie Stern's monotone hollers and fiercely angular guitarwork by now, then maybe you've just been purposely ignoring her. Again in the Cake Shop's sweaty, packed, and miserable basement Stern and her two bandmates gave the supportive crowd her thing just so - blast beats and rapid-fire guitar taps meet in perpendicular, with plenty of raunchy between-song banter from the infamously dirty-mouthed and adorable Stern." [City Pages]

Continue reading "Marnie Stern, Baths & more Terrorbird party pics, more Dale"

words by Rachel Kowal, photos by Amanda Hatfield

The Drums @ Santos, late Wednesday night (this photo by Nathan Lee Bush)

When I started to scope out the schedule for Wednesday night, I planned on spending the first part of the night running back and forth between Spike Hill and Bruar Falls, but I decided to head over to Rock Shop instead, comforted by the knowledge that most of the bands I wanted to see (Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., The Magic Bullets, etc.) would be playing more sets later in the week anyway.

When I arrived at the Park Slope venue, Tape Deck Mountain was mid-set. At the time, I was fairly satisfied with the few songs I did catch (including a cover of "Mother" by Danzig) (a theme this week?). The band has decent vocals and execution, but when I later reflected on the bands I had seen, I realized that nothing about their set really stuck with me.

Up next was Cloud Nothings. The energy in the room picked up immediately when the Cleveland group began to play (of course it helped that the crowd had begun to fill out at that point). Possibly propelled by nerves or sheer excitement, the youthful band raced through their set as if competing at a track meet, slowing down just long enough for vocalist Dylan Baldi to entertain the audience with his endearing asides. Baldi may not have what you'd generally consider to be a 'good' voice, but he more than makes up for it in his delivery.

Just when I had begun to get a little sick of all-guy groups, the next two acts on the bill each featured a more even distribution of the sexes. Up first - Blair. Right before she and her backing band began their set, there was a bit of an upset when her acoustic guitar came crashing down, but she didn't let the setback dampen the mood. "I just broke a guitar, but it's ok," she said surprisingly nonchalantly. Thanks to their matching tie die shirts (worn by 3 out of 4 people anyway), sunny indie pop melodies, and Blair's unadulterated voice and accompanying song topics (she sings about things like love, candy, and dancing to Whitney Houston), things suddenly took a turn for twee, but I was totally ok with that.

For what it's worth, it was Blair's upbeat diddy "Hello Halo" that I found stuck in my head at the end of the night, and given the position of her set (right in the middle), that's saying something.

The Rock Shop was treating me well, but sadly, my itinerary called for me to return to Manhattan. I did get to stay just long enough to know what I was missing with Braids though. Their set-up may have been nearly identical to that of Blair, but their sound was much more polished thanks to the many overlapping layers of instrumentation and vocals that they carefully crafted on stage. Though I would have gladly stayed longer, I made my way to the train midway through their set.

When I arrived at Santos Party House for the Stereogum/PopGun show, I was a bit dismayed to see the long line extending down the block, but I somehow managed to get into the venue. I made my way to the smaller downstairs room to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Just when I was really starting to get upset about the obnoxiously long wait (I could have seen more of Braids set!), I understood the reason for at last part of the hold-up: the group's two main members (Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott) had run backstage to change into their costumes. Yes, costumes. Head to toe Nascar uniforms to be exact. It's hard to say whether this kind of shtick will hold up in the long run, but it's a pretty good way to stand out on a long list of relatively unknown bands (well that and their ridiculous name).

Whether it's your bag or not, chances are you might end up seeing these guys at some point during the week if you haven't already. They're certainly putting in the time. It was apparently their third show of the day. There wasn't much room for dancing in the packed room, but that didn't stop people from trying, and their light-hearted and energetic set certainly helped propel me through the rest of the night.

To close the evening, I darted upstairs to the main room at Santos to catch (the second half of) Wild Nothing and The Drums. It was kind of a weird succession of moods at that point. After leaving the lively basement room, Wild Nothing seemed even more subdued than I had remembered, but the group (under Jack Tatum's lead) put on a tight set. Considering the next band's laid back, sun-drenched sound, "Summer Holiday" was particularly enjoyable since it was distinctly more upbeat than their other tunes.

Then, finally a bit after 1:00am - The Drums. At this point, I was pretty exhausted, so I was pretty glad when singer Jonathan Pierce announced that they were going to play everything "twice as fast" so we could get home. The Drums seem to have mastered that fine balance of playfulness and artistry. It's hard not to grin at Pierce's over-the-top delivery. With a distinct swagger in his voice and some ridiculously exaggerated dance moves, he's a sight to behold - but so is the rest of the band, swaying in the background. These boys have come a long way since last summer.

I may not have gone to sleep until nearly 4:00am last night, but the constant adrenaline rush from just knowing how many good acts there are tonight should be more than enough to keep me going... that and the knowledge that I'm already planning on taking a personal day tomorrow.

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Also Wednesday: "Viral sensation" Kyle Andrews, Animal Collective friends Prince Rama, and Minneapolis-based "chamber-folk sextet" Dark Dark Dark played the Terrorbird day party at Cake Shop with Kordan, Botany, Revolver, Baths, Marnie Stern, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Pics of the first three adorn this post.

Dark Dark Dark are also on board for Supply & Demand/InDigest CMJ Official Showcase at CoCo 66 on Friday 10/22 with Franz Nicolay, Vandaveer, The Lisps, Milageres, and Spirit of the Red City. The band will also then Fontana's during the day on Saturday 10/23 to team up with Swells, Brian Bonz, Fairmont, New Numbers, and Skyler.

Prince Rama have a few dates this week, as discussed, including the Paw Tracks/ Car Park show at Cake Shop tonight (10/21) with Cloud Nothings, and the WFMU Record Fair on Saturday (10/23) with Ted Leo (who will also play the BV Day Party earlier that day).

Cloud Nothings also have shows coming up at the Fader Fort and Don Pedro's.

More pictures from Cake Shop show, with all Cloud Nothings dates, below...

Continue reading "CMJ Day 2 in review & pics (The Drums, Wild Nothing, Cloud Nothings, Prince Rama, Dale again & more)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

Sharon Van Etten

"If you've ever seen Sharon Van Etten live, you'll know that she's got an awful lot going for her. Chief among them is that stunning voice. Not since Neko Case first came on the scene has there been a more plainly stunning, shockingly natural singing voice than Van Etten's. But if her last, mostly acoustic record, Because I Was In Love deftly put the confessional intimacy of her songs on display, then her new record, epic, goes in a whole other direction. This fantastic new album blows up the music behind Van Etten's powerful voice, giving these songs all the depth and strength her singing, and her songwriting, lures us in with." [PopMatters]

Yesterday, 10/20, Bruar Falls hosted the Chouette day party, and the Quite Scientific CMJ showcase later that night. The Chouette party featured appearances from Highlife, Sebastian Blanck and Sultan, Sharon Van Etten and Lower Dens. Quite Scientific kicked off their show with appearances from Magic Bullets and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr (who were later followed by Chris Bathgate with Comanche! and Drunken Barn Dance).

Jessica was there from Lower Dens through Magic Bullets (who you should get to Public Assembly early on Friday to see. Then stick around for Lower Dens at the same show).

More Sharon dates HERE. The rest of the Bruar Falls pictures and some videos from those shows, below...

Continue reading "Sharon Van Etten, Magic Bullets & Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. played Bruar Falls (pics & video) "

For those keeping count, BrooklynVegan will be at Music Hall of Williamsburg Thursday night, Public Assembly on Friday day, and Sunday night at Union Pool. Add to that list (as previously mentioned): Saturday day at Public Assembly. And for this one we teamed up with Converse to bring you the following stellar 100% FREE SHOW....

The date: Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
The time: noon-6pm
The place: Public Assembly (70 North 6th St)
the bands:

STAGE 1
12:00 Morning Teleportation
01:00 Ted Leo (solo)
01:45 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
02:30 Wild Nothing
03:15 Titus Andronicus
04:15 Big Freedia
05:00 Jamie Lidell
DJ sets by SUNCELEb

STAGE 2
12:15 Evan Voytas
01:00 S. Carey
01:45 The Crayon Fields
02:30 Heavy Cream
03:15 Dominique Young Unique
04:00 No Joy
04:45 Reggie Watts
05:05 Marnie Stern

* free EarPeace (while supplies last)
* free V-Spot breakfast burritos & empanadas (while supplies last)
* free Firefly Vodka + Bourbon (while supplies last)
* free Magic Hat beer (while supplies last)
* free Raw Revolution bars

Can't make it? We'll be streaming select sets live on Converse Radio. Tune in.

Converse is doing a lot lately to help support music, and has especially hooked up Brooklyn. You might have heard about this:

"Converse announced details for an unprecedented initiative that directly supports artistic creativity and the music community in a unique way through the opening of a new, state-of-the-art recording studio in Brooklyn, NY later this year. Converse Rubber Tracks will provide emerging artists with the incredible opportunity to record music in a high-quality studio alongside a team of experienced local engineers at no cost. Converse Rubber Tracks will provide a platform for new musicians and directly help them overcome one of the biggest hurdles in their career-affording studio time."

Stay tuned to @bvCMJ for even more CMJ news and updates than you'll find on BrooklynVegan.com.

Oh, and if you oversleep, you can also catch Ted Leo later that day at the WFMU Record Fair or in December at Terminal 5 with the New Pornographers.

Thanks to: Zach Jaeger of Tonally Dude Productions for the sweet flyer you see above, and to Vinny's Music for providing us with some sweet gear, and to Underground Press (who have their own day party on Thursday) for getting us some merch printed to help raise money for charity including screenprinted versions of the above poster that we'll have available at the show.

Some videos below...

Continue reading "free BrooklynVegan & Converse Saturday day party @ Public Assembly -- lineup (15 bands, free drinks, food & more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Nothing But Our Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kordan - Closer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Revolver - Get Around Town (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lower Dens - Tea Lights (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lower Dens - Hospice Gates (MP3)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Day two and things are heating up. Here are my picks for things to do today. Set times are included for shows that don't have flyers.

Ludlow St. action: Chocolate Bobka gets in on the day party action with a two-stage extravaganza at Pianos which offers a line-up of idiosyncratic artists (Woodsman, Family Portrait, La Big Vic and more) which sure to draw the Altered Zones contingent. (He's a contributor). Don't know many of the bands? Dude has a very good track record of picking soon-to-be-hyped talent. Trust the Bobka. Bands start at 12:30. Free.

Over at Cake Shop, Terrorbird Media have put together solid lineup of about-to-breaks, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Kordan (Check out their MP3 above), Prince Rama, and Baths. Plus: Parisian chanson rockers Revolver and hammer-on queen Marnie Stern. First band's on at noon. Free.

The print version of Paste Magazine may be dead, but its CMJ day parties live on at the Living Room, with a line-up of acts any fan of The National is sure to like once they start playing them on KEXP. I kid, I kid. Big draw here is Martina Topley Bird, whose sultry pipes were so much of the appeal of those first two Tricky albums. Her new album, on Damon Albarn's label Honest John, is pretty good. Also playing: The Lines (stadium-ready Britrock), Gringo Star (catchy garage from Atlanta), Brooklyn duo Harper-Blynn and more. First band's on at 1:45. Free.

Over the bridge in Williamsburg, there's a swell day party at Bruar Falls with Sultan (ambient instrumental bliss-out), Sebastian Blanck (delicate, lovely folk), HighLife (afro-influenced, 8.0-scoring pop), Baltimore's excelent Lower Dens, and the soon-to-be-big Sharon Van Etten. Bands start at 2PM and there is a cover for this one: $6.

NIGHTTIME stuff coming shortly HERE. DAYTIME Flyers below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2010 - Bill's Wednesday DAYTIME picks & stuff (Chocolate Bobka, Sharon Van Etten, Dale E, Lower Dens, Kordan & more)"

words & photos by David Andrako

Nada Surf headlined The Syndicate's 12th Annual Pre-CMJ "Conflict of Interest" Party at Rebel NYC on Monday night (10/18). The free show, hosted by Allison Hagendorf also featured performances from Kitten, Oh Land, Bo Burnham, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Reggie Watts..

The club filled to capacity early in the evening as concert-goers took full advantage of drink specials, numerous giveaways and bags of free swag. Los Angeles band, Kitten kicked things off with a loud, noisy set that showcased lead singer Chloe Chaidez, who at just 16 years old, has a commanding stage presence. Oh Land aka Nanna Fabricius, the Brooklyn by way of Denmark electronic artist gave the second performance of the night. Nanna sang and played a six padded drum machine that was hooked up to a band of LED lights and topped off with balloons that had videos projected on them.

Bo Burnham, the 20 year old Youtube sensation who's first Comedy Central special aired last weekend "Words Words Words", greeted the audience with bags of candy and a 20 minute set of songs, poems and prerecorded bits. Burnham who calls himself "the best rapper in the world" has a cd/dvd of his special hit stores on the 19th of this month.

White-hot band of the moment, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (playing the first of 7 shows this week) took to the stage in their standard NASCAR Racing Suits and large JR JR light up letters behind them on stage. The Detroit based duo performed songs from their Horse Power EP as well as a pair of covers, Gil Scott Heron's "We Almost Lost Detroit" and The Beach Boy's "God Always Knows." Their brief set was a highlight of the evening.

Reggie Watts followed with his trademark looping, improvised, rapping, singing set to a welcoming crowd that included members of Nada Surf who were enjoying his performance from the soundboard area. Reggie managed to name check Oh Land and also made a point of mentioning the passing of Minneapolis rapper Micheal Larsen, aka Eyedea.

Headliners Nada Surf took to the stage just after midnight and lead singer Matthew Caws laughed that he and bassist Daniel Lorca held their first practice as a band in a rehearsal space upstairs at the club. The band was joined by Guided By Voices guitarist, Doug Gillard who played with the band for their entire 15 song, close-to-90 minute set.

More pictures from Rebel NYC, and the Nada Surf setlist from last night, are below.

Continue reading "Nada Surf, Reggie Watts, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Bo Burnham & friends played 'Conflict of Interest' (pics, setlist)"