As previously announced, the 2011 Ecstatic Music Festival, presented by New York City's Merkin Concert Hall in association with New Amsterdam Records, is a showcase of imaginative collaborations between more than 150 genre-pushing composers, songwriters and performers who represent a new generation of artists combining diverse influences and techniques to explore the intersection of classical and pop music. All concerts will include premieres. The festival opens with a free seven-hour marathon on January 17, 2011, and continues with 13 additional concerts until March 28, 2011. All concerts will take place at Merkin Concert Hall.

The Ecstatic Music Festival 2011 is almost here. Subscriptions and single show tickets are on sale. The full updated schedule (tUnE-yArDs, So Percussion, Dan Deacon, Craig Wedren, ACME, Nadia Sirota, Buke & Gass, Doveman, Owen Pallett, Bang On A Can All-Stars, and more included), and a trailer, below...

Continue reading "Ecstatic Music Festival kicks off on 1/16, runs through 3/28 (updated schedule w/ tUnE-yArDs, Dan Deacon, Owen Pallett)"

And the nominees for "Album of the Year" are:

* The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
* Recovery by Eminem
* Need You Now by Lady Antebellum
* The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
* Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

Crazy.

Also funny: Mumford & Sons are up for Best New Artist against Justin Bieber (and Drake, Florence & The Machine, and Esperanza Spalding)

Robyn is up for Best Dance Recording against Lady Gaga (and Goldfrapp, La Roux, and Rihanna).

Arcade Fire are also nominated for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals against Muse, Kings of Leon, The Black Keys, and... Jeff Beck & Joss Stone.

The Black Keys also landed in the "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" along with... Dave Matthews.

The Black Keys and Mumford & Sons and Kings of Leon and Muse are also all in the "Best Rock Song" category.

"Best Alternative Album" category:

* The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
* Infinite Arms by Band Of Horses
* Brothers by The Black Keys
* Broken Bells by Broken Bells
* Contra by Vampire Weekend

So they give that to Arcade Fire, since Lady Gaga will probably get Album of the Year, or maybe Arcade Fire will just get screwed and they'll give it to someone on a major.

Other names that got nominated: Cee-Lo, Janelle Monae, Big Boi, John Legend & The Roots, Jay-Z, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Flight of the Conchords, Devendra Banhart (for "Best Recording Package"), Oh No Ono (ditto), Anais Mitchell (ditto), Danger Mouse, Gorillaz, and Carol Burnett. Full list at the Grammys site.

by Andrew Frisicano

MV+EE...

Esctatic Peace psych-country duo MV & EE (Matt Valentine and Erika Elder) are on a weeklong trip with the wild-riffing Flower-Corsano Duo. The pairs play Silent Barn this Saturday (4/10) along with Meg Baird playing solo and Nonhorse.

MV+EE will be back for a May 13th show that's part of the Joshua Light Festival at Abrons Art Center. There they'll share a bill with Woods.

Also Saturday you can catch propulsive big band Darcy James Argue's Secret Society at Galapagos (listen here). Tickets are on sale.

And again on the same night, Asobi Seksu perform at Japan Society (333 E 47th St) as part of a 12-hour Open House titled j-CATION. Their show, with opener Me & Mars, starts at 9:30. Tickets will be released first-come, first-served starting at 8pm, and admission to the show is included in the $5 suggested donation for the fest.

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Asobi Seksu playing Japan Society, MV & EE touring, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society shows... "

by Andrew Frisicano

William Parker Quartet

New York Guitar Festival, with shows between January 8th and February 4th, has already been mentioned here in a few different contexts. The "Silent Film/Live Guitars" portion is certainly a big highlight, with one-off performances by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Steve Kimock, David Bromberg and Marc Ribot, Alex de Grassi and James Blackshaw, and the fest closers Chicha Libre and Gyan Riley. Tickets are still available for all but the Vernon/Kimock show.

There's more on the schedule too. World Financial Center Winter Garden hosts a free opening show on Friday, January 8th with Hindustani slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya. There are also theme nights, with Barbes holding Django [Reinhardt] A Go Go (1/24) and 92nd Street Y hosting a Bach Guitar Marathon (1/31).

And LPR has two shows for the fest as well - a night headlined by James Blackshaw (with Max Ochs, Ben Hall, and Nick Jonah Davis too) on January 26th (tickets) and a previously mentioned show with the stellar pairing of Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Skeleton$ (possibly in Big Band form). A video of the Skeletons Big band from their December show at the Stone is below. Tickets for Marc Ribot/Skeletons show are on sale.

(Le) Poisson Rouge is also one of the main spots for the NYC Winter Jazz Festival this Friday and Saturday, when it hosts Jenny Scheinman & Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer Trio, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society and others. Other Village venues are well-stocked with talent too (and getting better - Saturday's Sullivan Hall lineup just added William Parker Quartet). Tickets to day one and two (or a two-day pass to both) are still on sale.

Iyer is also at the Stone this weekend, on Sunday (1/10), as is Tyshawn Sorey, who plays there Friday (1/8) (and plays the Winter Jazz Fest on Saturday).

While on the topic of Iyer, a few other excellent, top-of-their-game, consistently original pianists have shows in the same week (could be called the 'inadvertent piano fest'). McCoy Tyner Trio with special guest Gary Bartz are at Highline Ballroom on Friday, January 8th on a latin-tinged bill with Francisco Mela's Cuban Safari, Jon Batiste Band and Alfredo Rodriguez. Tickets are still on sale.

Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus has a show at LPR, where he'll open with a solo "cocktail" piano set, with The Respect Sextet on Tuesday, January 12th. Tickets are on sale.

Pianist Brad Mehldau, whose new Jon Brion-produced album is due February 23rd, plays two solo sets at Highline Ballroom on January 14th, as a benefit for JazzReach. Tickets are on sale.

The full schedule for the NY Guitar Fest and videos are below...

Continue reading "NY Guitar Fest, Winter Jazz Fest & a bunch of great piano shows kick off Friday - updated schedules, venues & dates"

by Andrew Frisicano

two of these three guys will be there (one w/ Jenny Scheinman, also on the cover)

NYC's Winter Jazz Fest will be happening Friday, January 8th and Saturday, January 9th at a handful of Village venues. Both nights include more than a few worth-while acts (Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Jamie Saft's Whoopie Pie, Vijay Iyer Trio, Jenny Scheinman & Jason Moran, the late-night triple-play of Mary Halvorson, Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition and Tyshawn Sorrey Guitar Trio). Tickets for Friday-only and Saturday-only are on sale, and two-day passes are available too. The full schedule is below...

Continue reading "NYC Winter Jazz Festival - January 2010 @ various venues "

by Andrew Frisicano

Nadia Sirota

There were (more) strings at September 25th's inaugural show for the Archipelago music series, which happens at Galapagos one Friday a month through next May. Like the Undiscovered Islands fest in May, the shows will be featuring music that crosses boundaries between classical, indie, etc. (and like that fest, it's also being set up by the New Amsterdam label.)

The full schedule is below. It's full of treats (like a way-off show with music by Shara Worden aka My Brightest Diamond in April). The first show featured violist Nadia Sirota and percussion quartet Line C3. Coincidentally, Worden and Nadia will both be playing with the Dessner Bros.' BAM Next Wave show, The Long Count, at the end of October.

Both acts on the first night performed works by Nico Muhly (Line C3 did "Ta and Clap," written by Nico for them in 2004, and he joined Nadia for his piece "Keep in Touch," which features a vocal sample from Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons). Nadia & Nico actually discuss their collaborations in an episode of New Amsterdam's Podcast series.

Speaking of New Amsterdam, they also have a CMJ showcase coming up with Cantaloupe Records at (Le) Poisson Rouge on October 21st. Tickets are on sale. That will feature the music of David Lang and Julia Wolfe (Bang on a Can co-founders) and performances by NOW Ensemble, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society and more. Clips of the Lang-scored film (Untitled) will be screened between performances (the soundtrack of which will be out October 13th).

Full details on the Archipelago series below...

Continue reading "Archipelago music series to feature Shara Worden, Craig Wedren & more ++ New Amsterdam & Cantaloupe do CMJ"

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society live @ LE POISSON ROUGE - 15 JULY 2009

1) MP3: Zeno
Solo: Ryan Keberle, trombone

2) MP3: Flux in a Box
Solos: Ben Kono, alto sax; Mike Holober, piano

3) MP3: Hard Up on the Down Low
Solo: Ingrid Jensen, trumpet & electronics

4) MP3: Jacobin Club
Solos: Sam Sadigursky, tenor sax & Mike Fahie, trombone

5) MP3: Ferromagnetic
Solo: Nadje Noordhuis, trumpet

6) MP3: Obsidian Flow
Solo: Erica vonKleist, alto sax

ENCORE
7) MP3: The Perils of Empire
DOWNLOAD ALL (ZIP ARCHIVE)

The New Languages Fest, which runs for six nights over two weekends at the former Shank (now "McCarren Hall"), begins with Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, House of Mirrors and The Respect Sextet. Grab a full, recent live set from Darcy James for free MP3 download above.

The Brooklyn Country Music Festival also kicks off tonight at Southpaw (where it runs through Saturday) with sets from The Defibulators, Sammo, Alana Amram & The Rough Gems and more. A Defibulators video below...

Continue reading "New Languages & Country Music fests kick off in Brooklyn"

by Andrew Frisicano

Hercules & Love Affair @ MHOW in August (more by Sara Skolnick)

Hercules & Love Affair's Andy Butler was one of the many DJs at the Electric Zoo Festival that happened over Labor Day weekend. At the fest he was billed as himself, but on September 26th he'll be DJing as H&LA at MoMA MiXX, a new series of dance parties at the museum.

MoMA MiXX uniquely pairs together major artists with world-renowned musicians or DJs, with each featured performer spinning a set of music that night. The Agnes Gund Garden Lobby will be transformed into a dance floor, and MoMA's Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium will serve as a lounge area complete with bars. The money raised benefits the exhibition programming for The Museum of Modern Art and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center.

Opening up the first night will be DJ sets by Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin (of the Mister Saturday Night series among other things). The paired artists are Mickalene Thomas and Derrick Adams. Tickets are on sale, though they're not cheap...

Tickets for each event are $75 per person (or $200 for the first three events), and include an open bar.

The next two events in the series are planned for January and April 2010.

Also on the way, the museum is hosting Between Worlds, an evening-length "pop spectacle" performance by Fischerspooner on November 1st. Tickets TBA. (MoMA is also still running Looking at Music: Side 2, and will be showing a Spike Jonze retrospective with No Age in October.)

Hercules & Love Affair played two live shows in NYC in August. At them, they debuted their new current (but probably not permanent) lineup of Shaun Wright, Aerea Negrot, Kim Ann Foxman, Mark Pistel and Andy Butler.

In the past, Hercules & Love Affair's lineup prominently featured singer Nomi Ruiz. More recently, she's been playing with Jessica 6. They opened for CocoRosie's return-to-NYC show at the beginning of September. Coming up, they're opening for Japanese psych rock band Yura Yura Teikoku at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 18th. Then the next night (Sept. 19th), they play as part of the New Languages Festival, which runs for six nights (starting Thursday, Sept. 17th) on two weekends at McCarren Hall in Brooklyn (on 98 Bayard St, an address that might sound familiar). Tickets are available at the door only.

For Japan's Yura Yura Teikoku, the MHOW is one of three upcoming US dates they have scheduled. The other two are opening for Yo La Tengo on Tuesday (9/15) and Wednesday in Vermont and Boston. Their new album "Hollow Me", which includes their recent EP "Beautiful", is out September 14, 2009 on DFA's Death From Abroad label (which helps explain the Jessica 6 connection). Album tracklist and NYC show flyer below.

The whole lineup for the jazz-based New Languages Festival, which "attempts to provide a panoramic view of 21st century jazz in New York City," is pretty diverse and spectacular. It includes Akoya Afrobeat, which matches the sound of Fela Kuti almost note for note (and integrates some of his songs into their rep), drummer Mike Pride's From Bacteria to Boys combo (who recorded a live session for WFMU in April), a set led by noted improviser and avant-jazz composer Tim Berne, and an opening night performance by Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, whose debut, Infernal Machines, came out in May on New Amsterdam Records.

The full schedule of shows and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Herc & Love Affair/Fischerspooner playing MoMA, Jessica 6 playing w/ Yura Yura Teikoku & New Languages Fest (lineup)"

Woods @ 979 Broadway Backyard (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Dayna Kurtz @ Sycamore
* Sara Siskind @ Joe's Pub
* Aimee Mann @ City Winery
* Bonnie Baxter @ Silent Barn
* Kaki King @ Music on the Oval
* NY Philharmonic in Prospect Park
* Toby from Youth Group @ Living Room
* Jucifer, Mount Vicious, J.A.C.K. @ Cake Shop
* Asher Roth, Kid Cudi @ Nokia Theatre Times Square
* Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black @ Bell House
* Wavves, Woods, Real Estate, PoPo @ Bowery Ballroom
* Don Byron plays Junior Walker @ Madison Square Park
* Midsummer's Night Swing w/ Otros Aires @ Lincoln Center
* Charlie Hunter/Douge Wamble/Tony Mason @ Jazz Standard
* Darcy James Argue's Secret Society @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Sweet Divines, The Bo-Keys, The City Champs @ Southpaw
* The Jaguar Club, The Grates, Apollo Run, Spiral Beach @ Pianos
* Cheval Sombre, Speck Mountain, Georgiana Starlington @ Bruar Falls
* Jeff the Brotherhood, Coin Under Tongue, Sisters, Lame Drivers @ Death By Audio
* Air Waves, Dan Friel, Ed Schrader, Turn Into Something, Lesser Gonzales Alvares @ Market Hotel

Free music for tonight includes Kaki King at the Stuy Town Oval, Don Byron plays the music of Junior Walker at Madison Square Park, Luisito Rosario y su Orquestra play at Battery City Park and George Lamond and Judy Torres perform at Crotona Park.

Wavves returns to live performance tonight (despite a broken wrist) at the Bowery Ballroom. Woods and Real Estate (who play tomorrow at the Cameo) open with PoPo.

Andy Rourke of the Smiths DJ's at Beauty Bar (in Manhattan). Flyer below...

Jeff the Brotherhood kick off three nights of NYC shows with a gig at Death By Audio. Coin Under Tongue, Sisters and Lame Drivers also play.

Aimee Mann caps her trio of shows at City Winery tonight.

"Wearing jeans and a tailored black blazer, she played a solid two-hour set, breezing through old hits (a folksy take on her '80s hit with 'Til Tuesday, "Voices Carry," was a highlight) and newer favorites, including some from her latest disc, the Grammy-nominated @#%&*! Smilers. It was a fantastic show, but I was secretly hoping she'd rock out a little more--and she eventually did, trading in her acoustic for an electric bass during the encore." [Elle]

The Grates start their Pianos residency.

Michael & Michael Have Issues, the new show from Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black, premieres tonight on Comedy Central. The pair appear for a performance and release party at the Bell House.

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, at LPR tonight, is a big band with a modern twist. See a video of the group below.

Black Moth Super Rainbow has a new video, below...

Breakfast at Sulimays listened to St. Vincent and Isis -- that video, below...

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

Darcy James Argue

New Amsterdam Records is putting on Undiscovered Islands, a month-long exhibition of work by label artists and friends at Brooklyn's Galapagos Art Space (16 Main St in DUMBO). The series' four Friday shows start May 8th. Tickets are on sale now.

The lineups include two record release shows: one for Darcy James Argue's Secret Society's Infernal Machines on Friday, May 8th; and another on May 15th for Nadia Sirota's first things first. Sirota will be appearing with the Chiara Quartet, itsnotyouitsme, Clarice Jensen, Nico Muhly and others.

Friday, May 22nd's show will feature ensemble Signal premiering Sarah Kirkland Snider's Penelope with Brad Lubman, Steven Mackey and Rachel Calloway, and So Percussion playing new works.

The final Undiscovered Islands of the month will feature NOW Ensemble and Abigail Fischer premiering Missy Mazzoli and Stephen Taylor's "Song from the Uproar" followed by a preview premiere performance of William Brittelle's Television Landscape on Friday, May 29th. New work Television Landscape is described in the release as "a fully-notated concept album that brings together the epic tradition of Pet Sounds, Purple Rain, and OK Computer with Brittelle's idiosyncratic... compositional style."

Continue reading "Undiscovered Islands - an 'indie' classical series in May @ Galapagos, Matmos in Princeton & more "