Slowdance

After moving their show from upstate to Brooklyn Bowl which was then followed by a 50% reduction in ticket price, Saturday's Daytrotter show is now not happening at all, as the bowling alley venue has cancelled all Saturday and Sunday shows "due to the hurricane. Ticket refunds will be offered." No bowling or food on those days either. Affected artists include JBM, We Are Augustines, Guards, Doug Paisley, Des Ark, Christopher Paul Stelling, The Loom, Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra and (DJ) Talib Kweli.

Daytrotter's Monday show at the Living Room is still on though, and you can head to Brooklyn Bowl tonight (8/26) for a free show by Slowdance. The Dex Romweber Duo and Birds of Avalon show tonight was also cancelled, but that was a coincedence.

Cerebral Ballzy at the Acheron in 2010 (more by Samantha Marble)

Daytrotter is presenting the 'Barnstormer 5,' the website's first East Coast tour, at the end of this month into early September. Various bands play on various dates from New Hampshire to Iowa. All dates are listed below.

As of today, the tour hits NYC twice. First on August 27 at Brooklyn Bowl (instead of Ghent, NY where the show was originally scheduled) with JBM, We Are Augstines, Guards, Doug Paisley, Des Ark, Christopher Paul Stelling, and The Loom. Then again on August 29 at The Living Room with Cerebral Ballzy (??!?), Princeton, Guards, and We Are Augustines. Tickets, not cheap, are available for the whole tour including both NYC dates, but we are also giving away a pair of tickets to each NYC show. Details on how to win, with all dates (most with White Rabbits and some with Deer Tick), below....

Continue reading "Daytrotter bringing 'Barnstormer' tour east (NYC shows happen at Living Room & now Brooklyn Bowl) --- win tix"

The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"

photos by Laura Leebove, words by Rachel Kowal

I missed Des Ark (Aimee Argote), the first act last night at the Bowery Ballroom (10/12), but I did arrive in time to catch nearly all of Death Vessel's. I'm hard-pressed to think of an artist whose name is more misleading than Death Vessel. Far from being emo or hardcore, Joel Thibodeau (the man behind Death Vessel), is more likely to sweep you off your feet than to launch a vicious aural attack on your soul.

With his waist-length hair, earnest presentation, and warm demeanor, Thibodeau seemed a bit out of place last night in such a large room, but the Sub Pop artist made it work. His set-up was simple - so simple, in fact that he arrived to the city by Megabus. For his performance, Thibodeau required just an acoustic guitar... and his surprisingly high voice.

Though the audience was courteous for the most part, the chatter emanating from the back of the room became a bit distracting toward the end of the set. (Apparently, Thibodeau hadn't cast his spell back far enough.) Sensing that he had lost part of the audience, he quickly responded by picking up the pace of his next song. Of course, as he later joked, his range was fairly limited - it was only a matter of choosing between 'quiet and quieter' songs.

Of course, a quiet act is a pretty appropriate opener for Bowerbirds. Going into the show, I admit I was a bit worried we'd be in for a stripped down set. But despite the misleading picture on the Bowery Presents website (which depicted just Phil Moore and Beth Tacular), I was relieved to see five people walk on stage. The group has at least temporarily grown to include Rachel Rollins on violin and Dan "Yan" Westerlund on drums in addition to multi-instrumentalist Mark Paulsen (who has toured with Bowerbirds in the past).

The set got off to a bit of a rough start. There were some technical problems in the first two songs (or "little monsters" as guitarist/lead vocalist Phil Moore affectionately called them), but then the issues resolved. If anything, the early set backs rallied the audience to Bowerbirds' side. The band had to re-start their second song (La Denigracion), but numerous people called out encouragements from the floor.

Though the band has traditionally projected a rich, well-rounded sound, it was even more full-bodied last night with the additional musicians. The homemade marimba was a nice surprise, and the violin(s) sounded fantastic.

After a few songs, Rollins spoke out. "We love coming to New York and playing at this beautiful place that has our namesake." (Bowerbirds, Bowery Ballroom... someone had to say it).

All in all, it was a lovely evening - if a bit sleepy at times. In addition to playing songs from their first two albums, Bowerbirds also showcased a couple of new ones (one so new that it is still untitled). Rollins and Moore's vocals were spot-on as always, and the audience seemed engrossed in the music. Like their openers, Bowerbirds may have been more suited for a smaller, more intimate setting, but they embraced what they had (it was their namesake, after all). For much of their final song ("My Oldest Memory"), they even dared to forsake the mics, which seemed to make the size of the room shrink - if only for a few moments.

The 5-piece Bowerbirds have a few dates left on their tour. Their Bower-setlist with a few more pictures from the show, below...

Continue reading "a bigger Bowerbirds playerd Bower-y Ballroom w/ Death Vessel & Des Ark (pics & setlist)"

DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - Beneath Your Tree (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - Northern Lights (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - In Our Talons (MP3)

a Bowerbird (f_letter)

"Bowerbirds have expanded their line-up to a full five members for this tour. Joining Phil and Beth, Bowerbirds' core, will be Dan "Yan" Westerlund, Mark Paulsen, and Rachel Rollins. You can expect added percussion including both a full kit and the old-style bass drum with rim clicks reminiscent of Bowerbirds' first record Hymns For A Dark Horse. On other songs there will be a string section with both Mark and Rachel playing violin. And the ever-clever and always handy Phil Moore actually built himself a marimba which will also be featured on some songs. This will all be in addition to the traditional mixture of accordion, guitar, bass synths, and organ. This is sure to be an interesting new take on the Bowerbirds sound we all know and love."

This previously-mentioned Bowerbirds tour hits Bowery Ballroom in NYC tonight (10/12) with a supporting cast of Death Vessel and Aimee Argote (from Des Ark). Tickets are still available and I have a few pair to giveaway. Contest details and all dates below...

Continue reading "Bowerbirds touring as a 5-person band (dates), NYC w/ Death Vessel tonight (WIN TIX) "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Frodus - "Bull of Juarez" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frodus - "Invisible Time Lines" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Van Pelt - "The Speeding Train" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Edie Sedgwick - "Edie Sedgwick II" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Des Ark - "Jesus Loves You (But Yr Still Coming_Home With Me Tonight)" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Poison Arrows - "Casual Wave" (MP3)

2009 has seen the world economy crumble due to the unethical practices of businessmen and corporate oligarchy. The current administration with the assistance of Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, has reached out to the Frodus Conglomerate International for aid. Calls were made, doors were closed and numbers adjusted. After weeks of vicious negotiation both parties agreed on a proper course of action.

The Frodus Conglomerate International will address the public for the first time in 10 years on Saturday March 21st, 2009 at 4:35 pm in Austin, Texas. Austin will be the first of several public forums to address current global conditions forewarned by the FCI in years past. The Conglomerate has employed Liam Wilson of the Dillinger Escape Plan to supply bass guitar for this address while Nathan Burke organizes his North-West Contingency. We are the economic police.

I couldn't resist... I had to rock that whole quote. That's right... Frodus is BACK and playing SXSW as part of Slip Productions and Lovitt Records day party at The Radio Room on March 21st with Cursive, Young Widows, The Van Pelt (who are reuniting), Des Ark, Milemarker, Pygmy Lush, and a boatload of others. Full details are below and MP3s of some of the participants are above.

Frodus recently reissued their 1998 album Conglomerate International on 2LP mastered at 45RPM. Limited to 600. Um, get on that.

Shelby Cinca of Frodus was recently interviewed on Dissonance Radio. Download that podcast here.

Videos and SXSW party details below...

Continue reading "Frodus is back, playing the Slip + Lovitt = love party @ SXSW"