by Bill Pearis

Yo La Tengo @ Pitchfork Fest 2009 (more by Joseph Xu)

What, it's Tuesday already? CMJ is here and I'm not really ready. Can we postpone for a week? No? All right. Here we go. Let's not go too crazy tonight (10/19), there's still four more days of this to come.

DAYTIME

Pretty much all the free daytime action happens on Ludlow St. today. Biggest among them is The Music Slut's party at Pianos, which features the dark synths of Brahms, the cheery synths of Hooray for Earth, plus Oberhofer (who play our day party on Friday), Young the Giant, Pearl and the Beard, and more. Party starts at noon, with the first band (Vancouver's Yukon Blonde) on at 1PM.

Moving down the street, Paper Garden Records has a showcase at The Living Room, with Denmark's Alcoholic Faith Mission, two bands from Toronto (Freedom or Death, Kidstreet), Emmanuel and the Fear, Motel Motel, Young Mammals and Saadi. First band is on at 1PM.

And then at Cake Shop, it's the Flower Booking/CapeShok party with Million Young, Sunglasses and Azalia Banks. This one starts a little later -- first band is on at 4PM.

And somewhere between day and night is the free New Zealand showcase at Le Poisson Rouge which starts at 5:45PM. I especially recommend you check out Lawrence Arabia, whose material ranges from delicate folk to ELO style orch-pop. Also playing:  electropop artist Zowie, Kids of 88, Street Chant, Ruby Frost and Electric Wire Hustle. Did I mention it's free? You do need to RSVP if you don't have a badge.

NIGHTTIME

Big ticket shows for tonight: Yo La Tengo play for free at the official CMJ kickoff show at Brooklyn Bowl with Screaming Females (who play our showcase Thursday night) and DOM (who play our Friday day party); Former Afgan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli is at Bowery Ballroom with Craig Wedren; and Jenny and Johnny, Wild Nothing, Times New Viking, Happy Birthday and La Sera (Kickball Katy of  Vivian Girls) at Irving Plaza;

If you wanna dance, you might want to head to Highline Ballroom for a night bands that sound like they could be on a Kitsune Maison compilation: the electro-soul sounds of Dan Black, Italo-disco lovers The Golden Filter, helium voiced Neon Hitch, Denver's The Chain Gang of 1974, and more.

UPDATE: "Chain Gang has dropped off tonight's show due to food poisoning. All other shows are set to occur as scheduled." (10/20 @ Maxwell's, 10/22 @ Cameo, 10/23 @ Santos)

For hip hop, it's Duck Down Music vs. Blacksmith at LPR.

And tonight at Cake Shop is your only chance this week to catch The Billy Nayer Show (11PM), the live band behind such cool sci-fi western musicals as The American Astronaut and last year's Stingray Sam. (Frontman Cory McAbee also directs and stars in them.) They're a one-of-a-kind, and playing as part of the Panache Booking showcase that also features Audacity, Dinowalrus, Onra, Janka Nabay, O'Death and Gary Wilson.

There's tons more shows, obviously. But that's what looks interesting to me. What are you going to see? Flyers and day party set times are below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2010 - Bill's Tuesday picks & stuff (Yo La Tengo, The Billy Nayer Show, Greg Dulli, day parties & more) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Night fell down on Austin Town and it figured it'd be a busy night. And with The xx and Temper Trap setting the table for LCD Soundsystem, Gogol Bordello, Monsters of Folk, Deadmau5, Matt & Kim, MIA and Muse, Saturday did indeed set it self up to be remembered as ACL 2010's strongest.

Except for the part where MIA screwed things up during her set...

...M.I.A.'s set saw plenty of anticipation on the west end of the fairgrounds, but little payoff: The first song saw didn't even see Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam on stage, and, though she came out for the second, that first song worked as a fitting metaphor for her entire mumbled performance.

Here's the thing about performing in festivals, especially on a main stage: Very few people actually see the performers; they rely on the accompanying video screens to share the visual side of the performance. But rather than the performer (or any of her five packing dancers or DJ) , M.I.A.'s screen showed illustrations. M.I.A., meanwhile, spent minimal time in her set's early going on stage, instead opting to interact o the grass in front of her closest fans. An admirable offering, perhaps, but it left the rest of her crowd in the dark, straining their necks to see her dancers or maybe just the neon "Maya" sign that served as her backdrop.

Her vocals weren't helping matters, either. They were already mixed too low, and Maya, for the most part, mumbled her way through the proceedings. Audiences thinned out--only to be pulled back in once the video screens finally--mercifully--showed the performer stalking the stage, and performing her biggest hit, "Paper Planes." [Dallas Observer]

Friday pictures HERE. Lucero HERE. The xx HERE. Mayer Hawthorne HERE, and the rest of the Saturday (10/9) pictures continue, with some setlists, below...

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 2 in pics (Monsters of Folk, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Broken Bells, deadmau5, Muse & more)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Patricia Scull

Dan Black @ Bowery Ballroom

Dan Black headlined Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night (9/10), one night before he played a pair of Fashion's Night Out events. Dan returns to play a dancey BMI & SPIN CMJ showcase at Highline Ballroom on on October 19th, eleven days after he is scheduled to play Austin City Limits 2010. Also playing that CMJ show are The Golden Filter, Neon Hitch, Boy Crisis, Body Language, and The Chain Gang of 1974. Tickets are on sale for those who don't have and/or want to chance getting in with a CMJ badge.

Pictures and a review of the Bowery Ballroom show, continue below...

Continue reading "Dan Black played Bowery Ballroom (pics), playing CMJ (tix) "

"On September 10th, 2010, VOGUE, Mayor Bloomberg, NYC & Company and the CFDA will team up for a second time to bring you Fashion's Night Out. The goal of the Fashion's Night Out is to celebrate fashion and retail."

Fashion's Night Out means lots of shopping happening all over the city, and lots of special events. A full list is at the official website, and here are a few highlights...

Metric is playing at Juicy Couture' Fifth Avenue Flagship store at 8:30PM. They are also playing a fashion show on Monday.

Joss Stone is playing in Nine West (5th Ave and 53rd Street).

VV Brown is playing the Teen Vogue and ASOS.com's Fashion's Night Out Block Party. "The event will be held on Bleecker St (btwn Perry and W. 4th) in NYC 6-11pm."

"As part of Vogue's "Fashion Night Out" Bear Hands will be playing at Rockefeller Center tonight, September 10. The show kicks off at 6:30 and previous to Bear Hand's set at 9pm Savoir Adore and Brahms will be playing. The stage is set up between 49th and 50th street and 5th and 6th Avenue."

"My Gold Mask will be premiering "I Don't Need The Reason" live during their performance at the Phillip Lim store for Fashion's Night Out in New York City today on Friday, September 10."

Dan Black is performing an acoustic set at Saks at 9:30pm, and DJing at Dior Homme from 7-9.

Karen Elson will play at 9pm at Balenciaga, West 22 Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.

Mick Rock is taking pictures at the Varvatos store.

"We will also have a live acoustic performance by British band Ramona at the Spring Street Burberry store."

Andrew Wyatt from Miike Snow is DJing a Theory party at 40 Gansevoort Street.

What else?

Shellac @ ATP NY (more by BBG)

today in NYC
* One Ring Zero @ Joe's Pub
* The Black Angels secret show
* Charlie Hunter @ Cameo Gallery
* Blonde Redhead @ Tribeca Grand Hotel
* Hanson, Dan Black @ Roseland Ballroom
* Shellac, Helen Money @ The Bell House
* The Shake, My Dear Disco, Push @ Pianos
* Big Boi, Dr Dog, The Knocks (DJ) @ NYU
* Delicate Steve, Blair, Bluejay @ Union Pool
* Joey Baron and Bill Frisell Duo @ The Stone
* Hank Williams III @ Northern Lights (Clifton Park)
* Pop. 1280, Wizzard Sleeve, Daily Void @ Cake Shop
* Hot Hot Heat, 22-20s, Hey Rosetta @ Bowery Ballroom
* Pennywise, The Riverboat Gamblers @ Starland Ballroom
* The Do, The Paper Raincoat, Aislyn, Papa @ Mercury Lounge
* Dinosaur Feathers, Shark?, I'm Turning Into @ Bruar Falls
* Liquor Store, Heavy Cream, Grooms, Hunters @ Death By Audio
* Happy Birthday, Awesome Tapes From Africa (DJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl (free)
* Ladycop, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, The Vandelles, Nico's Gun @ Knitting Factory
* Altar w/ Sunn O))) & Boris, BXI (Boris & Ian Astbury), Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Tickets are now on sale for all BAM Next Wave Festival shows.

Hanson and Dan Black at Roseland Ballroom tonight is free. Dan Black headlines Bowery Ballroom on Thursday. Both shows are timed for Fashion Week.

And Fashion Week is why Blonde Redhead is playing tonight.

Charlie Hunter begins a residency at Cameo tonight.

Delicate Steve continues their residency at Union Pool tonight.

Hank III does not play in PA tonight as originally scheduled. It's Northern Lights instead, and Music Hall of Williamsburg tomorrow.

A video of Helen Money performing live, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Steve Louie's tickets

Dear Sufjan Stevens Fan,

Congratulations on successfully purchasing presale tickets to see Sufjan Stevens at Beacon Theatre on Nov 14!

As you may have already noticed, seat locations were not disclosed during the special fan presale. Seating will be assigned within the next 14 days in the order that tickets were purchased; a new order confirmation email will be sent to you to confirm the location of your seats.

If you are receiving this email, your ticket purchase has been confirmed and is guaranteed. As long as all of your tickets were placed together on the same order, all of your seats will be together.

If you have not received your new order confirmation email verifying the exact location of your seats within two weeks, please reply to this email for further assistance.

Thanks for participating in the Sufjan Stevens presale! We hope you enjoy the show!

Thanks,
eTix Customer Support

Tickets are now on pre-sale for the Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation shows happening at the Beacon Theatre in October. You can use an AmEx or enter this password: TMMATC or this password: OMMATC. General sale starts Friday at 11am.

Sufjan Stevens is also playing two shows at Beacon Theater. The presale for those sold right out (if you got them, you got the above letter). Tickets go on general sale on Friday at 10am.

Dan Black just got done touring with Robyn and Kelis. He'll headline a show of his own at Bowery Ballroom on September 9th. Tickets go on sale at noon.

$3.00 tickets are now on sale for the Wooden Shjips shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg ("All tickets and all drinks only $3 in honor of our 3 year anniversary!").

Tickets are on AmEx presale for Dawes/Vetiver/Peter Wolf Crier show at Webster Hall.

Deerhunter play a free show tonight with Real Estate (before they DJ at Glasslands). Tickets are now also on sale for their show with Real Estate at Webster Hall.

photos by kolored

Robyn @ Webster Hall

"Kelis and Robyn (whose Body Talk Pt. 2 will be out in September) may have been billed as co-headliners for Tuesday night's show at the Trocadero [in Philly], but it was in words only.

In a multiracial crowd of men and women in their 20s and 30s, Robyn was the clear favorite.

Kelis took the stage first. The 30-year-old singer hit pop culture with her infectious and slightly risque "Milkshake" back in 2003, but has since transformed herself from a Neptunes-produced rap/hip-hop/neo-soul star into a club diva.

She came on stage in a one-sleeved, sequined mini-dress - wearing five-inch heels and a platinum-blond wig with a partial weave of Christmas-tree tinsel - and said that all she wanted to do was dance. She wasn't kidding. In fact, while she sang a few songs off her latest album, Flesh Tone, most of her set was a karaoke collection of Top 40 hits from past decades interspersed with snippets of her own songs... [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Robyn (whose Body Talk Part 2 will be out in September - cover art and tracklist below), Kelis (whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard) & Dan Black (who was just nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards - nominated video below) are on a tour (that also includes Far East Movement) that brought them to Music Hall of Williamsburg last week and Webster Hall last night (8/4).

Last night's high energy show was the first of two for the artists at the same venue (they return to Webster Hall tonight, 8/5). All three NYC shows are/were sold out. More pictures from Wednesday's, including Dan and Kelis's setlists, below...

Continue reading "Robyn, Kelis & Dan Black played Webster Hall (night 1 pics) "

"With Body Talk Pt. 1, the first of a potential three new albums tentatively scheduled for 2010, Robyn doesn't just walk the line between what she has called the "commercial" and "tastemaker" realms. She obliterates it. Immaculately produced, fantastically sung, and loaded with memorable choruses, this eight-song effort has plenty to please everyone from post-dubstep crate diggers to teen tweeters-- often at the same time. Like most of Robyn's best tracks, though, from mid-90s teen-pop hit "Show Me Love" to "With Every Heartbeat" a decade later, Body Talk Pt. 1 is capable of not only appealing to many different people, but also touching them emotionally." [Pitchfork, Best New Music]

Swedish pop singer Robyn's new album, Body Talk Pt. 1, is due out June 15th on Konichiwa/Cherrytree/Interscope. She'll be following that up with parts 2 and 3 later this year. The video for "Dancing On My Own," her new single off the album (out now), is posted below. The full album will be streaming in full on Myspace from June 11th-18th.

This summer Robyn has tour dates in Europe as well as North America. The latter trip kicks off at Pitchfork Fest in Chicago on July 16th and continues to her NYC show on August 5th at Webster Hall. That show is part of the "All Hearts Tour" tour, on which she'll join Kelis, Dan Black and Far East Movement. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wedneday at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

She'll also be on Letterman July 19th. All tour dates and the above-mentioned video are below...

Continue reading "Robyn releasing albums, touring w/ Kelis & Dan Black (dates)"

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Tickets go on sale today. The 2010 ACL lineup is below...

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

"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

After extremely accurate early leaks and then much teasing, Lollapalooza oficially announces this year's lineup. Check it out below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Happy Birthday - Girls FM (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Bloodsugars - Light at the End of the Tunnel (Mp3)

Bear Hands

It's another jam-packed week of shows. In addition to Taken By Trees, El Perro Del Mar and The Soundtrack of our Lives, here's some of the ones I'm excited about.

tonight (2/16): New Cantora Records signees Bear Hands play The Studio at Webster Hall. You can download the band's percussion-heavy new single "What a Drag" for free from their website if you're willing to give them your email address. You can also watch the video at the bottom of this post.

Also tonight (2/16), Beast kick off what is now a run of three NYC shows. As we pointed out earlier today, "Beast are at the Living Room tonight. They play the Cameo tomorrow night late...and they've added an early set at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, where the show is with Fight Like Apes, Honor By August, Stationary Set and Tryptics."

The Bloodsugars

This week is last of Savoir Adore's February Thursdays residency at Cake Shop and we've got a pair of tickets up for grabs. Just email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and we'll pick a winner at random. In addition to Savoir Adore (have I mentioned their album made my Best of 2009 list?),  it's another good group of openers. The Bloodsugars make '80s-inspired widescreen pop that at times sounds uncannily like Prefab Sprout -- and good Prefab Sprout, not "hot dog jumping frog Albequerque" Prefab Sprout. Which is to say these folks know their way around big pop hooks, and are kind of a perfect match with Savoir Adore. You can download "Light at the End of the Tunnel" from last year's underrated I Can't Go On, I'll Go On at the top of this post.

Also on the bill: Pittsburgh's chilled-out Ennui and Brooklyn's synth-heavy Red Wire Black Wire with between-sets DJing from Nora of blog I Rock I Roll.

Also on Thursday (2/18), Dan Black is in town at Mercury Lounge. There's a new version of Dan's single "Symphonies" that features Kid Cudi, and you can watch the new video for it at the bottom of this post.

Bear in Heaven @ Mercury Lounge in January (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

A few more shows. Bear in Heaven, who were just great at Mercury Lounge a couple weeks back, play Glasslands on Friday night (2/19) with Secret Machines. What I like about them live is that you can tell they all really enjoying being in Bear in Heaven and playing these songs. They're just a lot of fun to watch, and they're pretty tight too with a drummer beats the shit out of his instrument.

Secret Machines are headlining, a band I haven't seen play in some time but have always liked. They've got a trippy, string-heavy new single, "Like I Can," that you can listen to on their website. Also playing what sounds like a full evening are electro rock quintet Mon Khmer, Noveller and Papa.

Saturday (2/20) marks the end of The Beets/Beach Fossils/Christmas Island tour where they'll play Music Hall of Williamsburg along with German Measels and headliners Crystal Stilts who I still haven't managed to catch since Frankie Rose left the drummer's chair.

Dum Dum Girls

Speaking of Frankie, she'll be pulling double duty Sunday night at Mercury Lounge where her own bandThe Outs will open for Dum Dum Girls (she's their drummer). DDG's debut album for Sub Pop is about six weeks away but you can download the album's first single, "Jail La La," at the top of this post. (It's out on 7" today with a nice cover of the Stones' "Play With Fire" on the flip.) I'm usually not one for re-recording songs that have already been released, but I actually think this recording is spruces things up just enough without unraveling their reverby gauze. After heading to London for a few shows, Dum Dum Girls will be back for SXSW and then will go on tour with Girls in April. All dates are at the bottom of this post.

Frankie & the Outs are really coming along as a band too, and thought they were fantastic at Monster Island this past weekend. The vocal harmonies in particular are the band's strong point, with a bit of soul in there too actually, kind of like some late-'60s girl rockers. I'd love to hear them cover The Kelly Affair/Carry Nation's "Sweet Talking Candy Man" from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. But maybe that's just me.

Also playing are Dum Dum Girls' Sub Pop labelmates Happy Birthday, whose super-catchy song "Girls FM" is downloadable at the top of this post. It's power pop, but kind of gritty/garagy and makes me anxious to hear more.

That's it for this week. Flyers, videos and tour dates after the jump...

Continue reading "Bear Hands, Dum Dum Girls, Happy Birthday, Bloodsugars, Bear in Heaven, Beast & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

Paris-via-London artist Dan Black caused a stir (on the internet at least) in 2008 with "HYPNTZ," his inventive cover of The Notorious BIG's "Hypnotize" (mixed with Rihanna's "Umbrella") -- which later got him in trouble with Biggie's estate over use of the lyrics. So Dan wrote his own rhymes, and the song reappeared a year late as "Symphonies," which has one of the more expensive-looking (and admittedly cool) videos of the last year (and a remix by Kid Cudi). You can watch it below. Some are calling him the male La Roux and that's not too-far off the mark, with production that is super-slick, but pretty clever at times too. Maybe you saw him at CMJ last year?

Black's debut album, ((un)), came out last summer in the UK and gets a belated Stateside release on February 16 and will be playing a few select North American shows in support, including a late show at Mercury Lounge on February 18 with Free Blood. Tickets are on sale.

A few videos below, including the original "HYPNTZ" and CMJ 2009 footage, and all Dan Black North American tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Dan Black releasing album in US, touring - dates & videos"

by Bill Pearis

Surfer Blood

NIGHTTIME

As I mentioned in that big post about Montreal bands at CMJ, The High Dials are among them and are just great live -- sort of country-tinged jangly shoegaze -- and they're impressive live. They play Lit Lounge at 10:15 and then Arlene's Grocery at 12:30AM. If you like Ride, The Byrds, or Brian Jonestown Massacre, you shouldn't miss these guys. Also playing at Lit Lounge, earlier in the evening (8:30) are Montreal's Black Diamond Bay which features a couple former members of the Dears and feature a similarly bombast rock sound. They're very good live too, especially if you have an appreciation for the live musician O Face.

If you like electro /dance there is an insane lineup at Santos tonight. And it's free. No badges required. The killer lineup includes three UK dancepop acts: Dan Black whose album Un is pretty fun; the borderline-novelty (but fun) Man Like Me and trio We Have Band who played here back in March. It keeps going: there's also Australia's Midnight Juggernauts, Montreal's We Are Wolves, Denmark's Spleen United (somewhere between Placebo and Presents), Toronto's Parallels, and LA's Paparazzi. There's also a slew of NYC acts: Maluca, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Lemonade,Heartsrevolution, Javelin, and The Golden Filter. Did I mention it was free?

At Union Pool, the folks at Panache Booking are showcasing a big handful of their bands, many of which have unnecessary repeated consonants: recent Brooklyn Vegan Day party veterans JEFF the Brotherhood and Lovvers, plus Flexions, zZz, Turbofruits, UUVVWWZ, and Dark Meat. Having seen at least half of these bands, I'm going to go ahead and say this'll be quite a party, whether you like it or not.

If you're going to the Pitchfork/Showpaper show at Market Hotel and wished that it was rock all night instead of switching over to electronic acts/DJs after midnight, your admission will also get you into the show happening down the street at Todd P's Above the Auto Parts Store venue (600 Bushwick), which has four great bands: Sisters, Screaming Females, Surfer Blood (again) and JEFF the Brotherhood (again). To get in for free you need to get there before 11PM; afterwards it's $10.

Or, you might think about heading to Silent Barn before or after (or instead of). Popjew has a great line-up of bands, including much-loved-by-me Let's Wrestle, A Classic Education (who were great at our Thursday day party), twangy West Coasters Slang Chickens, My Teenage Stride and the electro-rock of Jacques Detergent.

And at The Bell House, there's Au Revoir Simone and the related (literally, by marriage) Pursesnatchers; the lush, 60s-ish chamber pop of Florida's The Postmarks, indiepop ska band Still Flyin' and Brooklyn-via-Australia band The Miracles of Modern Science. The Bell House may seem like truly dedicating your night to one venue, but luckily it's one of the nicest, most comfortable in the city.

Other shows tonight include Mum, Sufjan's BQE screenings, the Sub Pop showcase, the Kemado/Mexican Summer showcase, and the Topman party with the Almighty Defenders and Neon Indian.

And then we rest. Saturday day parties HERE. Hip Hop shows HERE. Flyers and set times below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Saturday nighttime picks"

by Bill Pearis

Immaculate Machine

NIGHTTIME:

BrooklynVegan's got two parties tonight. Black Bubblegum is hosting an official metal showcase tonight at Fontana's (which happens right after our day party at the same venue), and we've also got the teeny tiny Loft Space party that is sold-out at this point.

One of the bands playing the loft party is Victoria Canada's Immaculate Machine, who may or may not have the lineup pictured above...

...To make life even more tricky for the band, vocalist and keyboardist Kathryn Calder, one of the remaining original members, has had to absent herself from touring after the terrible news of her mum's diagnosis with motor neurone disease; although Lynn Calder very sadly died earlier this year, Kathryn was not with the band this evening. Indeed, the touring line-up looked very different from the line-up advertised on the band's web presences, two boys apparently replaced by two girls.

So, amid confusion that appeared to verge on turmoil, could the band deliver the goods live? It turned out they very much could... [John Kell, Oct 20, 2009]

Immaculate Machine also play early-ish tonight (8:30) at the equally tiny Fat Baby for a showcase for their label, Mint Records. They've got trio of Canadian bands playing, most of whom rarely seem to make it down to America. Or, the East Coast at least -- most of their bands tend to be from Vancouver. In addition to Immaculate Machine, there's the garagey Pack A.D. and Hot Panda, who I caught last year at CMJ and are pretty good. The Mint Records showcase is also a good place to pick up their great fanzine, A Taste of Mint, which always features at least one classic Narduwar interview.

And a bit off the beaten path, the folks at the Seaport Music Festival are putting on a great showcase at their Seaport on the Side gallery space (corner of Front and Beekman). The line-up, which runs from 7PM - Midnight, includes Montreal's We are Wolves, the Danish electro sounds of Spleen United, and UK hip hop act Man Like Me. UK pop artist Dan Black was supposed to play but cancelled and has been replaced by Sweden's Moonbabies who played a killer opening set at yesterday's Brooklyn Vegan day party. Do go see Moonbabies if you can. They also play earlier in the night (8:30) at Crash Mansion.

One of the many, many highlight's of yesterday's Brooklyn Vegan day party at Piano's was JEFF the Brotherhood who put on an absolutely kick-ass closing set. Tonight, they've put together a showcase for their label, Infinity Cat, featuring a slew of Nashville bands: Heavy Cream, Natural Child, Denney & the Jets, Daniel Pujol, as well as Brooklyn's Sisters.

And, of course, JEFF who you should really try and see this weekend at some point. If there was one thing missing at Pianos yesterday, it was the smoke machines Jake and Jamin tend to use (Pianos doesn't allow them) and I have a feeling they'll be in full effect tonight.

And lastly, fellow Brooklyn blog Chocolate Bobka has teamed with Underwater Peoples and twosyllable records for a pretty great night of music at The Delancey, including Holiday Shores, Real Estate, Frat Dad, Pill Wonder and more. They're also promising free moonshine, which sounds a bit deadly to me but, hey, it is Friday night.

Daytime highlights HERE. Hip Hop highlights HERE. Fliers, a Moonbabies video, and other stuff below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Friday nighttime picks (Immaculate Machine, Infinity Cat, Seaport Music & more)"