photos by PSquared Photography

Jim James @ MHOW, 2/19/2013

My Morning Jacket's Jim James, who released his first solo album earlier this month, played a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (2/19) with Dean & Britta opening. It was the first of two NYC area dates (a sold-out McKittrick Hotel gig goes down tonight, 2/20). In addition to the songs from Regions of Light and Sound of God, he threw in a few MMJ songs too, like "Wordless Chorus" and finale "Victory Dance" which featured an appearance from that band's Tom Blankenship. Photos from the show, including ones of both Jim and Dean's setlists, are in this post.

The shows were a teaser for a larger set of dates set to go down in April which will include a stop at another sold-out show, Webster Hall on April 29.

In other news, Jim James was recently added to Bonnaroo and also released a video for "A New Life", a new single culled from his recent solo effort Regions of Light and Sound of God. Check out that video as well as more pics from MHOW below.

Continue reading "Jim James played Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Dean Wareham (pics, setlist), plays McKittrick Hotel tonight"

photos by David Andrako

My Morning Jacket at Williamsburg Park - 8/19/12

Psychedelic roots rockers My Morning Jacket and psychedelic rap crew Shabazz Palaces teamed up for a show at Williamsburg Park last night (8/19) as part of a tour that MMJ is on. Their set included material from most of their studio albums and for their encore, Jim James did a solo acoustic performance of "I Will Be There When You Die," and the band were joined by Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna) for a cover of George Harrison's "Isn't It A Pity." The encore also included a cover of Prince's "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man."

More pictures of both bands and the setlist and videos from My Morning Jacket's set are below.

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket & Shabazz Palaces played Williamsburg Park (pics, video, setlist)"

Dean Wareham at Maxwell's in 2011 (more by Chris Gersbeck)

As mentioned, Dean Wareham is touring this summer and coming to NYC for a 'Galaxie 500 show' at Le Poisson Rouge on July 20. Since posting that show, LPR's website has noted that it will be his final 'Galaxie 500 show' in NYC. Tickets for that show are still available.

Dean and Britta also have another NYC area show the day after the LPR show, which happens in Wantagh, NY (near Jones Beach) at Mulcahy's Pub on July 21 with The War On Drugs. it's a benefit show billed as the "SHINE A LIGHT MUSIC FESTIVAL," in support of the Tommy Brull Foundation. Deer Tick played a similar show at the venue last summer, and like that show, this one will also be supported by Wormburner. Tickets for the Mulcahy's Pub show are on sale now.

You can also catch The War On Drugs play a free show in NYC next month when they join Guided by Voices, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Cloud Nothings for a free Central Park Summerstage show on July 7 as part of CBGB Festival. They also play the XPoNential Music Festival in Camden, NJ.

All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Dean & Britta & the War on Drugs playing benefit show in Wantagh; Dean's 'Galaxie 500' LPR show is his last in NYC"

Dean at Maxwell's in 2011 (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Like he's done in years past, Dean Wareham has scheduled a few 'Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500' shows for 2012. One of those shows is in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge on July 20 with TEEN. Tickets are on sale now.

Dean & Britta are also bringing their 13 Most Beautiful... Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests performance to The Met on October 6 in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. Tickets for that are on sale now.

All dates and some videos from Dean's Galaxie 500 show at the Bell House in 2011 below...

Continue reading "Dean & Britta schedule Galaxie 500 & Warhol shows (dates)"

Dean (& Britta) at Maxwell's (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Dean Wareham continues his juggling act of playing Galaxie 500 songs one night (like he did at Maxwell's recently) and 13 Most Beautiful... songs the next (both with Britta Philips taking different roles). The pair play Hanover, Germany on Saturday 4/8, and after a couple days in South America, return to Europe before heading back to the US for some dates.

Those US dates include The Bell House on June 17th, where Dean will play the Galaxie 500 set. Tickets are on sale and if you have missed recent Galaxie 500 shows, Wareham suggests you make it this time: "We won't be playing this show of Galaxie 500 songs again soon in the NYC area". All tour dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Dean Wareham playing one more Galaxie 500 show in NYC (and other dates) "

photos by Chris Gersbeck

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: What made you want to revisit the Galaxie 500 catalog now?

Dean: We did one show of all-Galaxie 500 songs at a Spanish festival about a year ago, and it sounded really good. I came home and the CDs were all being re-released, and I thought now that I have re-learned the songs I might as well go play them -- while I can still hit all the notes. [Critic] Michael Azzerad asked me if I had dropped the key on any of the songs to do that, but I have managed to get there without resorting to that.

Dean Wareham and band (Britta included) played another excellent set of Galaxie 500 songs at Maxwell's in Hoboken last night (1/13). Their friend and collaborator Cheval Sombre opened the show (Britta on drums and then bass for two songs included). A picture of the set list (Galaxie's 'Ceremony' New Order cover included), with more pictures from the show, below...

Continue reading "Dean Wareham played 'Galaxie 500' @ Maxwell's (pics, setlist)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Powerful Lovin' (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Final Club - Tragic World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Final Club - Hot Gaze (MEDIAFIRE LINK - ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - Underwater To (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - 4312 (MP3)

Gruff

Welcome to the first This Week in Indie of 2011. We are 12 days into this year and I have yet to see a show. If you add in the time before Christmas...this might be the longest I've gone without seeing live music in a long time. That drought will end for me this week, maybe tonight, but certainly tomorrow (1/13) as Gruff Rhys plays Rockwood Music Hall. I was a little worried this snow was to cancel his flight today, but he is currently on route to NYC as I write this.

Still no word as to who'll be releasing his new solo album, Hotel Shampoo, in the US but it seems likely someone will. Hopefully we'll get to hear a lot it live. As anyone whose seen him before -- either with Super Furry Animals or solo -- know, Gruff is an entertaining guy, who always puts extra effort into his shows. Highly recommended. Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces opens. Show starts early -- 7:30.

I also just watched Separado!, the musical travelogue documentary about Gruff's quest to track down distant relative (and '70s caped troubadour) Rene Griffiths in Patagonia. Like Rhys himself, the film is charming, scruffy, funny and full of good songs. Still not released in America but you can order the UK DVD (if you have a region-free player or watch on a computer) or, if you live in Williamsburg, rent it from Videology.

Fergus & Geronimo

Fergus & Geronimo release their debut album, Unlearn, on Hardly Art next week, and are playing three shows this weekend in celebration: Friday (1/14) at Death By Audio (official official release party) with Final Club, Easter Vomit (ex Beets), new Captured Tracks signees Widowspeak, and Philadelphia's premiere surf band Dry Feet; Saturday (1/15) at Columbia University hangout The Ding Dong Lounge with Final Club; and Sunday (1/16) at Mercury Lounge with Tyvek. Xray Eyeballs and The Gaming Commission.

While it suffers from a slight case of identity crisis (droney psych, garagey rave-ups, organ-fueled soul), track-by-track Unlearn is a pretty solid record. Fergus & Geronimo are good at all the styles they dabble in. Check out "Powerful Lovin'" at the top of this post -- that shows off their soulful side. And while I haven't seen them play live in a year and a half, they were good then so I can only imagine they've gotten better.

Final Club

If your eyes didn't glaze over at the list of bands two paragraphs up, you may have noticed Final Club are playing with F&G twice this weekend. The two bands were Denton, TX neighbors before Fergus & Geronimo moved to Brooklyn late last summer. Final Club are here just for these shows. They are worth seeing in their own right: sneery, melodic indie rock with a tendency to lean on the tremolo bar which gives them a little Swervedriver vibe. Confident and loud.

You can check out "Tragic World" at the top of this post. And if you like that, you can download their Hot Gaze EP as well. Look out for their excellent debut album, Blank Entertainment, later this year. In addition to the two shows with Fergus & Geronimo, Final Club play a headlining gig at Death By Audio tomorrow night (1/13) with Bogan Dust, Clinical Trials and Laserdisc.

Tyvek @ BV-SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Also as mentioned above, Tyvek are in town this weekend. While many of their peers have moved on to mid-fi production, the Detroit band keep it live and murky on their new album, Nothing Fits. It also sounds as anxious, angry and alive as the rest of their material. In addition to the Mercury Lounge show on Sunday mentioned above, they play Saturday night (1/15) at Glasslands with The Beets, Eternal Summers, and Sweet Bulbs. That is a good show. Do note it starts early, 8PM for real, as the Soul Clap dance party starts at midnight. I'll be there.

I should mention that openers The Beets have a new album Stay Home that's just out on Captured Tracks. After last year's swell, cleanly produced "Locomotion" single, they too (like Tyvek) are back to the same intentionally shitty "production" of their first album. (Maybe slightly less shitty.) Which, again, doesn't hurt them at all. The Beets are good songwriters I think, and especially good lyricists. And maybe if they can ever get a drummer to stick around for more than a month they might go places. Or just stay home. There's also a new Beets single, "Time Brought Age," and both the LP and 7" feature the bands signature comic artwork courtesy Matt Volz.

Mister Heavenly

What else? Oh yeah, Mister Heavenly play Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (1/16) with Sun Airway and Little Shalimar. This extra super group just signed to Sub Pop, and the label would like you to know the band features Nick Diamonds (Islands/Unicorns), Honus Honus (Man Man) and Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse). Of course most of the press so far has been about the group's sometimes bassist who you may know from his non-musical day job. I don't mean the banana stand.

Going to see a band because there's a famous actor in it is usually a dumb reason to go (see Dogstar, 30 Seconds to Mars , 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, etc)... plus Mr. Cera is not an "official" member of the band and he may or may not be playing with them on Sunday (note that both the label and the venue told us they don't think Michael will be there). Luckily the rest of the band is known in their own right, so mabye you should go for that reason. Unfortunately there's no recorded music to hear yet, but their few shows so far have been well-documented on YouTube.

That's the main stuff. Here's a few shows, day-by-day, not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12

Nashville-via-Ohio band Mona -- one of the BBC's picks for Sound of 2011 -- invade NYC this weekend, starting tonight at Rock Shop. They also play Mercury Lounge on Thursday (1/13) (with Devin Therriault) and Union Pool on Saturday (1/15).

Given the abbreviation of this column you're reading, I would be remiss not to mention that The Twees play The Studio @ Webster Hall, a record release show for their just-released EP. They actually don't sound twee at all. I would say Strokes-esque pop would get you closer to a description.

Quirky, occasionally proggy, pop band Steel Phantoms at Bruar Falls.

more below...

Continue reading "Mister Heavenly, Gruff Rhys, Fergus & Geronimo, Final Club, Tyvek, The Beets & more in This Week in Indie "

Pete's Candy Store photos by Amanda Hatfield, Crash Mansion photos by Jessica Amaya, Pianos & Mercury Lounge photos by Chris La Putt, words by Rachel Kowal

Oh Land @ Rebel NYC (more by David Andrako)

You've been following the CMJ adventures of multiple BV contributors for two weeks now, including the day by day reviews from Rachel Kowal. Before too much more time passes, here is the conclusion of Rachel's week (with the end of day four and all of day five), and assorted pictures from four other shows all rolled into one big post. Check it all out, below....

Continue reading "Rachel's CMJ 2010 recap conclusion w/ lots of pics (Lia Ices, Sarah Jaffe, Ume, Robbers on High Street, Buke & Gass, more) "

by Bill Pearis

Dean Wareham @ the Rock Shop in August (more by Chris Gersbeck)

I'm gonna guess that Bowery Ballroom will be one of the tougher entrances tonight, 10/22, as Dean Wareham will be playing an all Galaxie 500 set at midnight. I saw him do it at The Rock Shop over the summer and while there's no replacing Damon and Naomi, this is a good approximation. And as close as we're ever going to get. Definitely worth seeing if you're a G500 fan. San Diego's JAMC-loving Crocodiles play before at 11PM.

If you missed The Phantom Band at our day party earlier, they play again at Knitting Factory (8:30PM) as part of a super-solid showcase that includes Title Tracks (9:30, excellent power pop from ex-Georgie James man John Davis), Gentleman Jesse and His Men, (10:30), COOLRUNNINGS(11:30, gaining good buzz as CMJ goes on) and Baths (12:30am).  For beer connoisseurs on the cheap this week, KF has cans of Pork Slap for only $3. No need to drink PBR here. $10 without a badge.

Kanine Records takes over Cake Shop tonight, and I like pretty much every band playing: Dinowalrus (who have been focusing more on melody than noise lately), Dream Diary (skilled Pastels-y indiepop), Viernes, Pepper Rabbit, Montreal's ethereal Braids, Young Prisms ("young" is the new "wolf" this year), Roanoke VA's Eternal Summer (definitely a CMJ must-see), We are Country Mice, and Grooms. Matt fromA Heart is a Spade DJs. Set times at the bottom of this post.

Frankie Rose & the Outs are playing their only CMJ week show tonight at Coco 66 (10PM) with Tamaryn (11PM), Light Asylum (midnight), and the just added Glasser (1am).  It's an unofficial show, no badges, but only five bucks to get in. (Buy advance tickets here.) It's also probably your only chance to see Tamaryn with a smoke machine, which will certainly add to her gothy, shoegazy appeal. (Her record is great if you haven't heard it yet.) And Light Asylum are one of the city's best kept secrets.

Grooms, who can sling the drone and feeback as good as anyone, also play the free Impose party at Don Pedros tonight. It's an all-Brooklyn line-up, a good bet if you're from out of town and want to get a crash course in the DIY scene. Go early to see Regal Deagal who sound a little like Wire (punky, Krauty, nervy), and stay for Grooms, terrific noisepop duo Sisters, underrated pop band Darlings, and the dreamy, melodic Tony Castles: Also playing: Tough Knuckles and Snakes Say Hiss. Again, it's FREE.

Also on the free tip, the YoursTru.ly folks are throwing a party at Glasslands which is no cost to you, the music fan. You could pay for much worse: Sun Airway, Cults, Kisses, Laurel Halo, Candy Claws, Young Man, Oberhofer, Guards, and James Vincent McMorrow.

Those are my picks for the night (the daytime ones are HERE). You can also check out the list of all official CMJ shows in a not-particularly easy-to-read format.

ALSO TONIGHT:
* Matthew Dear @ Webster Hall
* Ghostface @ BB King's
* Four Tet @ Webster Hall
* Nada Surf @ Mercury Lounge
* My Morning Jacket @ Terminal 5
* Hard Skin, Forgetters @ Europa
* Lissie & Dylan Leblanc @ Hiro Ballroom
* Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on a boat
* Massive Attack & Thievery Corporation @ Beacon Theater
* Big Freedia, Javelin, Dominique Young Unique @ Southpaw

Also catch Big Freedia and Dominique at, and don't forget about, our Saturday day party at Public Assembly. In the meantime, hope to see you at the one we're doing today.

Friday flyers, set times and such are below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2010 - Bill's Friday NIGHTTIME picks (Dean Wareham, YoursTru.ly, Kanine Records, Tamaryn, Impose & more)"

Dean & Britta played Galaxie 500 in August (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 is already happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg in December. Turns out, Dean and friends (Britta, etc.) will be doing the same thing much sooner as part of CMJ. The new show takes place at Bowery Ballroom where they did the Galaxie 500 thing previously, one night after the same show at Rock Shop. Catch them at Bowery Ballroom again on Friday, October 22nd, on an eclectic bill with Crocodiles, Wakey! Wakey!, Brian Bonz & The Major Crimes, James Vincent McMorrow and Young Buffalo. Tickets are on sale now (you can also try and get in with your CMJ badge).

And actually, Dean & Britta do a "13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests" set earlier that same night (10/22) at NYU's Skirball Center. Tickets for that are up too. That makes at least two CMJ shows for Dean and Britta who were part of our own CMJ show at Bowery Ballroom in 2007.

For Crocodiles this gig comes a few days before they kick off a tour with Golden Triangle at Maxwell's.

Recent live videos are below...

Continue reading "Dean & Britta playing two CMJ shows, one as Galaxie 500 w/ Crocodiles (dates) "

photos by Chris Gersbeck

"Dean Wareham just played ALL the hits. Perfect set. The Rock Shop is the best new ny show space I have been to in a looong time." - Erik

"Sometimes living in ny rules. Seeing Dean Wareham do Galaxie 500 songs at The Rock Shop to a crowd of under 75 people. This show space rules" - Erik

Dean Wareham (with Britta Phillips) played a secret show at Rock Shop last night (8.18), as a prelude to "the Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500" series of shows that continue at Bowery Ballroom tonight with Crystal Stilts. Bowery is, much like Rock Shop was, sold out. Pictures and the setlist from the Brooklyn show are in this post.

The pair have quite a few shows on their docket for the coming months, though some fall under the guise of "plays Galaxie 500", others as "13 Most Beautiful..." shows and some under the "regular" Dean & Britta tag. A show that falls under the first category is a recently announced show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Dec 17th. Tickets are currently on AMEX presale, and go on regular sale Friday 8/20 at noon.

Full tour dates for the forthcoming Dean & Britta trek (that extends far into the new year) and what version of Dean & Britta you can expect at the show, as well as a recent video taken of them performing at East Village Radio and another from the Phoenicia porch show, with the setlist and more pictures from Rock Shop, below.

Continue reading "Dean & Britta played Galaxie 500 @ Rock Shop (pics, setlist)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Weekend - End Times (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weekend - All American (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Procedure Club - Feel Sorry for Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Procedure Club - Rather (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: No Joy - No Joy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ceremony - Someday (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Games - Everything is Working (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Family Trees - Dream Talkin (MP3)

Weekend @ Cake Shop

I hope you all survived the insanity that was last week. Thankfully, this week is not quite as action packed but still a lot of cool stuff going on. Let's get to it.

Lovers of shoegazy noisepop will want to be at Silent Barn tonight (8/18) for a pretty killer quadruple bill at which earplugs are definitely recommended. San Francisco's Weekend and New Haven, CT's Procedure Club are both signed to Slumberland Records. Weekend are pretty clean-cut looking dudes who make a dark-edged squall that shows a direct through-line from Joy Division to Jesus and Mary Chain to Ride and beyond. I caught them last night at Cake Shop and despite a few microphone problems I thought they were pretty good. Loud. Really loud. The band have already released singles on Transparent and Mexican Summer -- download tracks from those at the top of this post -- and the Slumberland album, Sports (is the title perhaps a tip of a hit to fellow Bay Area musician Huey Lewis?), is out in November. Weekend also play Death by Audio tomorrow (8/19) tomorrow night with sonic compatriots A Place to Bury Strangers.

Procedure Club

Procedure Club, meanwhile, are more on the bedroom pop side of things. Their album, Doomed Forever, came out in June and is a pretty low fi affair, but the songwriting begins to shine through the cacophony on repeated listens. Check out two tracks from the album above, and there's a video for "Rather" at the bottom of this post.

As for the rest of the Silent Barn bill, there's LA/Montreal duo No Joy who I've written about before (but still haven't seen) and are possibly the loudest band on a very loud night. The band's debut 7" is out now on Mexican Summer (grab the b-side above) and is recommended to those whose taste leans towards the sludgy side of things. No Joy are also playing the Death by Audio show with APTBS and Weekend tomorrow night, and will then head out on tour with Dungen, and those tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Rounding out the show are Fredericksburg, VA's Ceremony who crib more than a little from JAMC (and Medicine and The Radio Dept.), though their album, Rocket Fire, has some nice moments on it -- you can download an MP3 of "Someday" at the top of this post.

Dean and Britta

Dean Wareham kicks off his "Plays Galaxie 500" tour tonight at the Rock Shop, and he'll do it again tomorrow night at Bowery Ballroom with Crystal Stilts opening. Both shows are sold out so I won't go on and on here, but I'm looking forward to this trip down Memory Lane. Hopefully he'll pull out some of my favorites ("Strange," "Parking Lot," "Oblivious"). Dean talked to the AV Club about the difficulties of rearranging the songs for his current band:

AVC: You play with four people now instead of three.

DW: We like four people, because I listen to the records, and there's generally two guitars, because there's an overdub on each track. Or sometimes Matt [Sumrow] plays keyboards; he switches back and forth. I think it sounds fuller with the live guitar. When I go back and look at the old Galaxie 500 live recordings, sometimes Kramer would get onstage with us and play a few songs. It sounded a little fuller. There are times when it works great as a three-piece, too.

AVC: Does touring the Galaxie songs as a four-piece involve some rearranging?

DW: It involves some rehearsing. The songs are more difficult to play than I remember. I listened to the live Galaxie 500 album from Copenhagen, and I realized that's at the end of a tour, after we had been touring for a couple of months and had gotten pretty good at it. In terms of chord structure, the songs are incredibly simple. For example, a song like "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste" is only one chord, but there's a whole lot going on in it.

AVC: Peter Buck talks about how hard it was late in R.E.M.'s career to relearn some of their early songs. Because they didn't know what they were doing at first, it's incredibly difficult to replicate.

DW: On "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste," when I was going over my guitar solo, I had no idea what I was doing and I was completely lost. Then I'm like, "How did I do that?"

AVC: It's hard to stumble into the same thing twice.

DW: Well, obviously I don't have to replicate it note-for-note. Mind you, I've got fans who get mad if I play "Snowstorm" and I do the solo with the fuzz pedal instead of the wah-wah. "What! How could he do that?"

Dean & Britta, meanwhile, have a new album, 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests, which they'll be touring in the fall.  (NYC's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on 10/22.) All Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 tour dates (including the Music Hall of Willimsburg one that was just added in December) , HERE, and video of the original band doing "Strange" is at the bottom of this post.

Deva

And a few more picks, day-by-day of shows that weren't covered above.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18

Family Trees, who probably own a Galaxie 500 record or two, play their dreamy folk pop to Pianos tonight opening for Julian Lynch and Family Portrait. Check out Family Tree's lovely "Dream Talkin'" at the top of this post.

Quality indie rockers Diehard highlight a fun bill at Bruar Falls that also has The Vandelles and The Sanctuaries.

Air Waves, The Beets, Easter Vomit and Rifle Recoil play a benefit for Yellow Fever's Jennifer Moore at Death by Audio.

continued below...

Continue reading "Weekend, APTBS, Procedure Club, Galaxie 500, Games, No Joy, Ceremony, Family Trees & more in This Week in Indie"