words & photos by Andrew Frisicano

Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. played Terminal 5 on Saturday, November 21st. Opening up for those established acts were synth-heads Cold Cave (who are Sonic Youth's label-mates on Matador Records).

Dinosaur Jr. went on promptly at 8:40pm and played a set that paired old and new with equal intensity. Farm single "Over It" stood strong along earlier tracks, like the enthusiastically offered You're Living All Over Me classics. Wedged toward the front half of the stage, their towering Marshall stacks were a nice stylistic if not totally practical touch to toughen up their softie-rock anthems. The band closed with good tidings - Lou announced that their next NYC appearances would be at Bowery Ballroom on January 16th and Music Hall of Williamsburg January 17th.

Sonic Youth played in front of artistic backdrops that lit gunpowder trails in brilliant colors. The songs came almost entirely from The Eternal, with brief Daydream Nation, Sister and EVOL interruptions. The new record has a kind of thorough consistency without any outright duds or sure singles, and live it was a similar experience. The total dissection of The Eternal wasn't totally unexpected, but it was a little uneventful (my soft spot for Rather Ripped was left untickled). When "Cross The Breeze" came as the first encore's second song, the crowd applauded in recognition for its intro that slow-built into a rapid climax.

Besides the front row, which seemed packed with younger fans ("I am SO HAPPY" one screamed several times when the band took the stage), those on the outskirts of the totally packed Terminal 5 carried an expression of casual interest. But not for a lack of trying from the band. The theatrics were there - when Daydream's "Silver Rocket" came on, Thurston flew unchained to the floor while beating and prodding his guitar - as were the shout-outs. Thurston gave it up to NYC a few times in the night. He sent the crowd off with the line "See you on the streets."

You can see Sonic Youth at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday, November 24th (with Talk Normal) or Wed, Nov. 25th (with Jemina Pearl).

More pictures and the SY setlist are below....

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr. played Terminal 5 w/ Sonic Youth (pics, setlist), playing Bowery Ballroom & MHOW (2010 tour dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Black Francis - All in My Mind (Love & Rockets) (MP3)

I would like to apologize to the Breeders for saying they would not sell out. I was a jerk about it and am truly sorry. I also apologize to their fans I may have offended with my stupid insensitive comments. Hope you liked the show.-Anonymous

The Breeders @ The Paradise in Boston 8/17 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

"Come one come all-I'm work shopping new introductions bare with me-Welcome to the 18th installment of the Jay Porks Never Ending concert series. Tonight brings us to the 'Sold Out' Bowery Ballroom at 6 Delancey St. in New York City. The Bowery is a venue that's been on my radar for a while, considering that the Bowery owns(or at least sponsors) most of the venues I attend for concerts in the city. Tonight the headliner, the band I'm here to see is the one, the only, THE BREEDERS." [The Jay Porks Blog]

On the horizon, Kim & Kelley Deal will be singing as part of The Long Count at BAM this fall, and Kim will be playing with her other band the Pixies, when they play NYC on their Doolittle tour this November.

Co-Pixie Frank Black recently contributed a track to New Tales To Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets, which came out Tuesday (Aug 18th) on Justice Records. Frank's track from that, "All in My Mind", off L&R's 1986 album Express, is posted above for your downloading pleasure.

He didn't appear at the release party/show on August 18th at the Ben Sherman store in Soho, but he will be at the show for, another tribute comp, Ciao My Shining Star - The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, which happens Sunday, September 20th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Also appearing at the concert will be Joseph Arthur, David Berkeley and more. Non-musical guests (of sorts) include the premiere of the Thom Yorke video "All For The Best" and a reading by graphic novelist Ben Katchor. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

Joseph Arthur also has a series of shows coming up at City Winery.

That Mulcahy comp also has a slightly more personal story, via FrankBlack.net...

We have some sad news from a friend of our website and of FBF, Mark Mulcahy. Some of you might recognize the name as the singer/songwriter behind Miracle Legion and Polaris [of the soundtrack to Pete & Pete among other things], both of which featured Catholics David McCafferey and Scott Boutier, or perhaps you recognize the name from the liner notes of Christmass, as Mark provided backing vocals for both "Radio Lizards" and "Don't Get Me Wrong." Or maybe, like me, you saw Mark open for the Pixies in Atlantic City in 2005. Regardless, Mark's wife recently passed away, leaving him as a single dad to two small children. Some friends and admirers, including our Frank Black Francis, have recorded some of Mark's songs for a tribute record called Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.

Radiohead has a new song out now (two actually).

The tracklist and art work for both tribute albums are posted below...

Continue reading "Breeders played Bowery, Frank Black playing Mark Mulcahy show @ MHOW (tix), on Love & Rockets tribute comp (MP3) "

Tickets are on "Internet presale" (@ 11am) (password = eternal) for the Sonic Youth & Dinosaur Jr. show happening at Terminal 5 on November 21st. American Express presale starts Thursday at 10am. General sale starts Friday at noon.

Tickets for the Decemberists show at Terminal 5 do the same thing.

P.S. Sonic Youth have also added a 2nd Boston date. They'll be playing the Wilbur Theatre on November 22nd and 23rd.

photos by Chris La Putt

Dinosaur Jr. played the last free Central Park Summerstage show of the season on August 16th (setlist below). The Walkmen, who played the Guggenheim, just blocks away, two days before, opened. So did Saviours who just announced dates with Saint Vitus and Kylesa.

Dinosaur Jr. will be back in NYC on Saturday, November 21st for a show at Terminal 5 with Sonic Youth. For DJ, that show comes at the end of a long, and previously-announced, tour. SY, who have other shows scheduled too, also just announced another east coast date at Boston's Wilbur Theatre on Monday, November 23rd. Ticket info for both shows TBA.

Dinosaur Jr.'s Lou Barlow is psupporting his new solo CD by opening most upcoming Dinosaur Jr shows with the Missingmen as his backing band. He also plays a non-DJr show at the Mercury Lounge on October 6th (an off day on the Dino Jr tour). Tickets are on sale.

More Dinosaur Jr. Summerstage picturs, with the set list, below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr played Summerstage (pics, setlist), playing Terminal 5 w/ Sonic Youth (who added a Boston show too)"

Dinosaur Jr @ MHOW in June (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Lights On @ Bruar Falls
* Madonnathon @ BB King's
* Gil Scott-Heron @ Blue Note
* Antifolk Festival @ Sidewalk Cafe
* Night Horse, Orphan, Tournament @ Union Pool
* Overmars, Battlefields, Inswarm, Mortals @ Europa
* Peripatetics (Liberty Ellman & Vijay Iyer) @ The Stone
* Dinosaur Jr., The Walkmen, Saviours @ Central Park Summerstage
* Asshole Parade, Gomek, Obnoxious Noise, Psychic Limbs @ Cake Shop
* Jones Street Station, US Royalty, Drink Up Buttercup @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Out of Doors Fest w/ Africa Aye, Ibboru, Ricardo Lemvo, Makina Loca @ Damrosch
* Del tha Funky Homosapien, Gravy Train!!!!, DD/MM/YYYY, Kenan Bell @ Williamsburg Waterfront
* Northampton Woods (Thurston Moore & Bill Nace), Carlos Giffoni, MV Carbon & Okkyung Lee duo @ Glasslands
* Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Bad Credit No Credit, Back Pockets, No Mas Bodas, Adrienne Anemone @ Littlefield

Free outdoor music tonight includes this week's Pool Party with Del tha Funky Homosapien, Gravy Train!!!!, DD/MM/YYYY and Kenan Bell at Williamsburg Waterfront, Lincoln Center's Out of Doors Fest with Africa Aye, Ibboru, Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca at Damrosch Park, and a a Central Park Summerstage show with Dinosaur Jr., The Walkmen and Saviours.

Sidewalk Cafe's Antifolk Festival closes tonight with sets from Larkin Grimm and more.

Lights On play Bruar Falls.

Night Horse, who recently played Pianos with special guest Graveyard, play a set at Union Pool with Orphan and Tournament.

Overmars, Battlefields, Inswarm and Mortals visit Europa, while Asshole Parade, Gomek, Obnoxious Noise and Psychic Limbs play Cake Shop.

Creed, having conquored Jones Beach last night, moves on to decimate Jersey with a show at PNC Bank Arts Center tonight.

A new video promo for The Most Serene Republic, below...

A clip of Dinosaur Jr. playing "Feel the Pain" live on TV is posted below. Also below is an NME interview with J Mascis.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Lou Barlow - Gravitate (MP3)

Dinosaur Jr. is playing the last free show of the season at the Central Park SummerStage on Sunday, August 16th with The Walkmen and somewhat newly added opener Saviours (who recently played Union Pool).

Dinosaur Jr.'s Lou Barlow will be heading out with the Missingmen (guitarist Tom Watson and drummer Raul Morales of Mike Watt's band) this fall in support of Goodnight Unknown, his forthcoming solo album on Merge. Most of the dates on that tour will be with Dinosaur Jr. as well. That includes Lou's Pop Montreal performance, but not his NYC stop at the Mercury Lounge on Tuesday, October 6th (the same day the album comes out) (and a mysterious gap in Dinosaur Jr's touring schedule). Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, August 7th at noon.

About the new album, the label writes...

In the four years since his career-redefining, mostly acoustic record Emoh, Lou Barlow has reunited with Dinosaur Jr. and reissued three of Sebadoh's classic albums. But as the brilliant new Goodnight Unknown illustrates, he's hardly living in the past. Borrowing the live-band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach of Sebadoh, Barlow has built on Emoh's full production and written a set of immediate, melodic pop songs that Lou describes as, "a cross between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with Sebadoh...to my ears, anyway."

From the surging opening track "Sharing" to the surprisingly soulful performances on "The Right," Goodnight Unknown benefits from Barlow's tunefulness and his decision to record the record relatively quickly, with old friends and new. The Melvins' Dale Crover adds inspired drum work throughout, and Goodnight Unknown's urgent sound owes just as much to frequent Barlow collaborator Imaad Wasif (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, alaska!). The record's considerable power also stems from the new talents on board, including producer Andrew Murdock and Lisa Germano.

J Mascis will depart from Dino Jr. to play sets at the MBV-curated ATP Nightmare Before Christmas on December 4th-6th in Minehead, UK. For that fest, he'll join Witch (where he plays drums) and perform as J Mascis & The Fog, a group that features Dave Schools and Kyle Spence. Other bands on the fest's stellar lineup are Sonic Youth, De La Soul, Sun Ra Arkestra, Fucked Up and Yo La Tengo, to just name a few. Though tickets are sold out, you should really ogle at the fest so-far lineup (still more to come...), with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Lou Barlow - new album, MP3 & 2009 tour dates (NYC show)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Saviours - "Acid Hand" (MP3)

The last time we saw Bay Area badasses Saviours it was at The Charleston. This time the band has scheduled TWO NYC area shows, both with very different but kickass lineups. First up, Saviours are scheduled to take on Union Pool with Children and BV faves Sourvein on July 29th! Tickets are on sale. Then two weeks later on Aug 12th, Saviours will round out a very odd but nonetheless amazing bill with Dinosaur Jr and The Walkmen at Summerstage.

Saviours recently completed production on their follow-up to Into Abaddon, are gearing up to hit the road with Skeletonwitch and Trap Them, and are releasing a series of seven-inches. One of those tracks, "Acid Hand", is downloadable above. Full tour dates are below.

T-Roy of Sourvein's cousin, Dixie Dave of Weedeater, is hitting the road with Down & Melvins.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Saviours - 2009 tour dates (Union Pool and... Summerstage) "

Polyphonic Spree...

Southern Comfort will host a series of free shows beginning this August. The tour's two main headliners will be Ghostland Observatory and the Polyphonic Spree. DJ Lord of Public Enemy is set to open. The tour will bring the Polyphonic Spree to NYC's Webster Hall on October 1st.

What's the catch? You'll have to sign up for Soco's text messaging list to receive a ticket code.

SoCo is also involved in a new video series on Playboy.com called "Uncovered." That features musicians performing acoustic covers of their favorite artists -- the first edition, up now, is Dinosaur Jr. playing The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." Upcoming acts include Black Lips, A Camp, The Dears, Patterson Hood and Phosphorescent (who just announced a Brooklyn show). A partial list of who's playing what, with the SoCo tour's schedule and all upcoming Ghostland Observatory dates, below...

Continue reading "Polyphonic Spree, Dinosaur Jr, Ghostland Obervatory, Dears, others playing free SoCo shows, making Playboy videos"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

GREAT Dino show. Lou asked if they should play Billie Jean during the encore... -Anonymous | June 26, 2009 1:59 AM

"Not only was Dinosaur Jr kickass, but HOLY shit did Screaming Females kill. They wail, man." -Anonymous | June 26, 2009 3:11 PM

"Dino Jr has really expensive t shirts in every shape and style anybody could possibly want. Some have funny little snails on them and some have Ents on them. For everyone who doesn't know what an Ent is, this is an Ent.

It's from Lord of the Rings. Duh." [Screaming Females]

Dino Jr's next NYC show: Summerstage
Screaming Females' next NYC show: w/ Jay Reatard @ MHOW
Screaming Females' next NYC show after that: Terminal 5 w/ Dead Weather

More pictures from Music Hall of Williamsburg (the show happened the day Michael Jackson died), below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr & Screaming Females @ MHOW in NYC - pics "

by Andrew Frisicano

Dinosaur Jr. @ ATP NY 2008 (more by Abbey Braden)

Dinosaur Jr.'s ninth LP, Farm, is out today (as is the new record by their Jagjaguwar label-mates Sunset Rubdown). In support of that record, the band has a nearly-two-month North American tour planned for the fall. That includes a show at Pop Montreal among many other places. No NYC date has been announced as part of that tour, but that's probably because of Dino Jr.'s free Summerstage show with the Walkmen on August 16th, not to mention the sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn happening this Thursday (6/25) with Screaming Females.

Joining Dinosaur Jr. on their October dates will be Lou Barlow + the Missingmen, a group that is, as speculated, Lou with Tom Watson and Raul Morales, the crew that toured with Mike Watt a few months ago (including dates supporting Dinosaur Jr.).

The Missingmen will continue to play with Mike Watt too, with scattered shows along the West Coast scheduled (see full dates below).

Watt is also gigging with his other groups. He'll play in August with the Secondmen (with that group's original members, organist Pete Mazich and drummer Jerry Trebotic).

Before that, Watt'll debut a new band at the August 1st Central Park Summerstage show. That group, Floored by Four, also includes Nels Cline, Yuka Honda and Dougie Bowne. M. Ward headlines the show.

Floored by Four has plans to record in the days leading up to the Summerstage show. To tally up Watt's recording projects, his forthcoming records include Hyphenated Man (w/ the Missingmen), a Black Gang (w/ Nels Cline) record, a new Secondmen disc and probably others.

One of Watt's finest records, the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime, will be recognized at the Bowery Poetry Club for a 25th anniversary celebration of the album on Saturday, July 25th. The plans for the party are as follows...

Be prepared for the extreme unusual, with spoken word renditions of songs on the album, musical tributes, rare videos and recordings, and special musical guest stars, including the bassist for the Minutemen, Mike Watt.

Performers confirmed so far include Michael T. Fournier (author of Double Nickels on the Dime (33-1/3 press), New Jersey experimental indie rock band Twede Kamer, Worcester, MA Minutemen cover band Pillowman, mystery punk bassist The Bass Player from Hand Job, electro-poetic mistress Jackie Sheeler, Jazz piano cabaret duo Peter Carlaftes & Kayo, Warhol scenester Ronnie Norpel and punkster poet Kat Georges (author of Punk Rock Journal).

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr. album out, touring w/ Lou Barlow & the Missingmen (dates) sans Mike Watt who is plenty busy"

The lineup is coming together for Pop Montreal 2009 (September 30th to October 4th). Confirmed acts include Butthole Surfers, Fever Ray, Dinosaur Jr., Lou Barlow + The Missingmen, Loudon Wainwright III, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Thee Oh Sees, tUnE-YaRdS, to name a few.

Those interesting choices (like Lou Barlow with some configuration of Mike Watt's band?) are just part of the fest's usually-strong lineup. Full lineup so far, below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal 2009 - initial lineup (Fever Ray, Os Mutantes, Butthole Surfers, Lou Barlow + the Missingmen...)"

DOWNLOAD: Screaming Females - Bell (MP3)

New Brunswick's Screaming Females have landed the opening slot on the July portion of The Dead Weather's first national tour. Those stops include both NYC shows at Terminal 5 - July 16th and 17th (ticket info here). Make sure you get to those shows early enough to see Screaming Female Marissa Paternoster shred on guitar. It might make up for the lack of shredding Jack White does in his position of drummer in the headlining band.

Screaming Females also have their own tour (with a lot of TBA dates) scheduled for August, and you can catch the band around the NYC area at one of their many area gigs before they leave. The first chance comes this Saturday, May 30th when Screaming Females play Maxwell's with Shellshag, Pregnant and Mimi & Christian. Tickets are on sale.

After that, the band headlines one night of the previously mentioned Brooklyn DIY festival Hillstock, June 5th-7th. Poster and lineup, now with set times, below.

Screaming Females also have a Northside Festival show coming up, as well as an opening slot for Dinosaur Jr. at MHOW on June 25th (there will be lots of shredding from opener and headliner at the latter).

The band's debut, Power Move, came out April 14th on Don Giovanni Records. "Bell," from that record, is reposted above.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Screaming Females touring w/ Dead Weather, opening for Dinosaur Jr, playing Hillstock, Northside & other dates "

Dinosaur Jr @ Summerstage - July 14, 2005 (more)

When Dinosaur Jr. announced that they were reuniting and playing a show at Central Park Summerstage in 2005, many (myself included) didn't think twice about coming up with the $50 needed for a single ticket. What we didn't know then was that J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph would keep that reunion going strong. Not only did they release new albums in 2007 and 2009 ("Farm" is due out June 23), but they played a zillion more live shows in NYC and elsewhere since 2005, and will probably play a zillion more including the upcoming (and now sold out) show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 25th (ticket price = $25), AND including August 16th, 2009 at Central Park Summerstage (the show previously marked "TBA" on the schedule), but this time the show is FREE.

Broken Social Scene opened in 2005. The Walkmen are opening in 2009. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr return to Summerstage w/ the Walkmen (FREE)"

DOWNLOAD: Dinosaur Jr - I Want You to Know (MP3)

"Download "I Want You to Know," the first mp3 from Dinosaur Jr's new full length "Farm," due out on June 23 in the US and Canada via Jagjaguwar, and June 22 in the UK and EU via PIAS."

Dinosaur Jr's previously announced tour, part of which is with Mike Watt, runs through May 2nd. Where or if J, Lou and Murph play any shows between then and June 25th, I'm not sure yet. But on June 25th they will play Music Hall of Williamsburg. It's two days after their new album, Farm, is released by Jagjaguwar. Tickets for the Brooklyn show go on sale Wednesday at noon. All dates and Farm's tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr adds a Brooklyn show near Farm's release date"

mike watt & the missingmen

I put the missingmen together in the summer of 2006 in order to bring forth my third punk rock opera "hyphenated-man" (the first two being 1997's "contemplating the engine room" and 2004's "the secondman's middle stand"). whereas "...engine room" dealt w/my pop's life in the navy as a metaphor for the story of the minutemen and "...middle stand" was a parallel to dante's "comedia" dealing w/an illness that almost killed me in 2000, this third opera will be quite different in that it has no standard narrative (libretto!) meaning no regular beginning-middle-end and will be as it were "simultaneous" in the way a mirror from just inside my head - right in this middle-age moment of mine - was then shattered into thirtynine pieces, each showing a piece of my state of mind (or out-of-mind) as of now. "thirty tunes?" yes, they're little ones. too heavy to really hear minutemen stuff for many years, I had to face myself and get the nerve up to hear it again when I agreed to let keith scheiron and tim irwin make the "we jam econo" documentary (many thanks to them and all who helped out on that). I even did a few gigs w/george hurley w/us as a duet doing the old tunes and it was trippy for me, like I was digging on how "econo" those tiny tunes were - no filler, right to point. a big influence was those little creatures in those old hieronymus bosch painting - I read a theory about them maybe being visualizations of proverbs or aphorisms and me, not knowing much about sixteenth century dutch/flemish culture, made up my own meanings! -Mike Watt

UPDATE: All upcoming Mike Watt shows are Missingmen dates.

Dates includes May 7th at Maxwell's in Hoboken (tickets on sale now), May 8th at Mercury Lounge in NYC (tickets on sale at noon), a bunch of other headlining dates, and a bunch of shows opening for Dinosaur Jr. (J Mascis and Mike Watt together again).

There's a small gap in Mike's schedule at the beginning of May. I thought maybe new dates would show up, but according to an update I got from Mike himself after I first published this: "in the middle, may 3-4-5 has me three days in the studio w/them to record my third opera at tony maimone's studio in brooklyn (studio g)." Them = the missingmen. Also, Mike's calling the trip "'prac for the 3rd opera' tour 2009."

Dinosaur Jr's. tour starts not long after SXSW..

Having recently signed with Jagjaguwar, Dinosaur Jr will be hitting the road in April to road test new material in a town near you in cozier environs than you might expect. For the fortunate fans who score tickets to these select shows, they will also receive either a limited edition, tour-only 7" or a digital download code with the purchase of a ticket. The songs on this release were recorded live during a Pitchfork.tv feature at J Mascis' own Bisquiteen Studios.

Continue reading "Mike Watt touring with & without Dinosaur Jr. - 2009 dates"

DOWNLOAD: Earthless - Godspeed (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phosphorescent - Reasons to Quit (Willie Nelson) (MP3)

Earthless

Jagjaguwar announced the addition of Dinosaur Jr. to their label family earlier this week. Not many details were released, but they said, "Its not often that the shiny reveries of our younger, more formative years get to coincide with the psyche of our professional lives. Let's call it castle building, start making plans for a new tower, muse on it in our quieter moments, then move on. WE'RE STOKED!" Other Jagjaguwar artists include Okkervil River, Bon Iver, Women, Black Mountain, and Swan Lake who just released their new album along with some free MP3's.

The Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans SXSW showcase takes place at Mohawk in Austin on Thursday, March 19. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Julie Doiron, Foreign Born, These Are Powers, Women, Richard Swift, Bishop Allen, Phosphorescent, BLK JKS, Akron/Family, and "Special Guests" are on that 2-stage bill. I can't say for sure who the special guest is, but Dinosaur Jr. will be at SXSW. They have a publicized SXSW show just one night later. Apparently BlackBerry (yes, the phones) have taken over the Court Street Courtyard for a couple of nights. Dinosaur Jr. are playing that. They go on after Grizzy Bear (one of two shows they're playing) who go on after Peter Bjorn and John.

Phosphorescent is playing two official shows at SXSW. They're doing a normal set at the above-mentioned showcase, and they're performing their new Willie Nelson tribute album from start to finish at the BrooklynVegan showcase at Club DeVille one night earlier which is exactly what they're doing at the Bell House in Brooklyn this Saturday night.

Lou Barlow is also playing at least one show at SXSW. The Dinosaur Jr. bassist is listed as ""Lou Barlow w/ Imaad Wasif" on the Merge/Barsuk showcase at The Parish on March 21st. Telekinesis, The Wooden Birds,, Say Hi, The Rosebuds, and Ra Ra Riot are also playing that show.

J Mascis's other band Witch is currently on tour with Earthless. That tour brings them to Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn TONIGHT (2/25). Children open up and tickets are still on sale. If you go, don't miss San Diego's Earthless.

Earthless is the brainchild of Mario Rubalcaba, Mike Eginton & Isaiah Mitchell. Rubalcaba a prolific drummer has worn the alias of Ruby Mars during his stint with Rocket From The Crypt, went on to bang away for the Hot Snakes, was the drummer for hardcore art-punks Clikatat Ikatowi and previously was in the Black Heart Procession... and prior to that? Mario was a member of Tony Alva's Alva Team skateboarding crew. He now finds himself, along with bassist Mike Eginton and guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, knee deep in the near opposite direction of all things punk rock, ensconced in the world of jam, space and "cosmic nodding" a.k.a. Earthless.

Speaking of Hot Snakes, and the Bell House and SXSW, Obits kick off a tour on March 15th.

Video of Earthless performing at Roadburn 2008 (the performance they just released as a live album), below...

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr, Jagjaguwar, Witch, Lou Barlow and Earthless"

Photos by Edwina Hay

DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - No Epiphany (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - Twice Born (MP3)

In order to capture as much of the 12 hour show that the band Fucked Up played at the Rogan Store on the Bowery near where CBGB used to be yesterday (10/14), we set up photographic shifts. Ryan was 4-6, Chris was 6-8, Edwina was 8-midnight and Tim was midnight until 2am. We failed at getting anyone there from 2-4 in the afternoon when it started. We also ended up with overlap because naturally, people stayed longer than their alotted time period, especially Ryan who was there for 8 hours. That's Jon Josef of Cro-Mags and Cro-Mags (jam) fame above in the red t-shirt (not the first time a hardcore/punk legend has joined FU on stage). The rest of Edwina's pics are below...

Continue reading "Fucked Up & friends @ the Rogan Store - the final set of pics"

Photos by Ryan Muir

Ryan's official shift at the 12-hour Fucked Up show was really only 4-6, but he got there a little late and stayed much longer. John Joseph did two Cro-Mags songs with Fucked Up ("Malfunction" and "Life of My Own"). Tim Harrington sang "Over the Edge" by Underdog, "Victim in Pain" by Agnostic Front, and then moshed while someone grabbed the mic and sang Agnostic Front's "Last Warning" F'd Up played "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones twice. First with Moby singing and then later with Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend singing. Moby also did "12XU" by Minor Threat and "Nervous Breakdown" by Black Flag. Ezra also sang "Parents" by the Descendents and a Blitz song. J. Mascis did "Chunks" by Last Rites (a song D Jr often covers) with them while Matador's Gerard was on guitar and then J. played drums while Fucked Up played "I Saw It" by Deep Wound. Fucked Up of course played lots of hardcore and punk covers on their own too, and even some originals. Pictures of it all below...

Continue reading "Fucked Up, Moby, Vivian Girls, John Joseph, Matt Sweeney, J Mascis & frends @ the Rogan Store (4:30-12:30) - pics"

Photos by Tim Griffin

The 12 hour Fucked Up show yesterday (10/15) was much more than just a Fucked Up show. Not only, as advertised, were there plenty of special guests over the course of the day, other bands did their own sets while F'd Up took breaks. We were there in shifts. Tim Griffin got there around 11:45pm and stayed until the 2am end. During that time the (comedian) Jeff Jensen project played, Endless Boogie played, and J Mascis returned for a second time. More pictures from that part below...

Continue reading "Fucked Up, Endless Boogie, J Mascis & the Jeff Jensen project @ the Rogan Store (midnight-2am), NYC - pics"

interview by Black Bubblegum, photos by Zach Dilgard

DOWNLOAD: Om - Gebel Barkal (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Om - (Version) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Holy Sons - Gnostic Device (MP3)

Al Cisneros & Emil Amos

Om is the brainchild of Al Cisneros. In the wake of Sleep's dissolution, Al founded Om with his former Sleep and Asbestosdeath band-mate Chris Hakius. Sleep's guitarist Matt Pike went on to form High On Fire. Over five years, Om has carved a unique path... retaining the doom appeal of Sleep, while forging a new somber, yet also oddly calming tone over the course of three studio albums and various vinyl releases. Chris Hakius recently left the group, but was quickly replaced by drummer Emil Amos of former Om tourmates Grails.

Emil Amos is a juggler. Besides Grails and his new venture with Om, Amos also has a solo project called Holy Sons. Of course, Al Cisneros is also on the move, most recently forging an indie metal supergroup of sorts called Shrinebuilder - a four piece with Scott "Wino" Weinrich (of Saint Vitus, Hidden Hand, The Obsessed, many others), Scott Kelly (of Neurosis and Blood & Time), and Dale Crover (of Melvins and Porn).

Om was one of many bands who performed at the ATP festival at Kutscher's resort in upstate NY this past weekend. While there, we were able to coax the duo into taking a ride with us in one of the "sea nymphs", aka rowboats, on Kutsher's Lake. Along the way we paddled, and poked and prodded the band about Om, Shrinebuilder and their many other projects including, "Gebel Barkal", a limited Sub Pop 7" they recently put out (both songs from it are available for download on the top of this post). Among other things, we also found out about an electrician who happens to be very talented on the guitar.

Warning, if you have an aversion to poor yachting, please look away now.

Continue reading "an interview w/ Al Cisneros & Emil Amos of Om"

photos by Abbey Braden for atp 2008

Dinosaur Jr. @ ATP NY

The Meat Puppets @ ATP NY

Sep 24 - Dinosaur Jr & Om @ the Stone Pony (tonight)
Sep 24 - Built to Spill & Meat Puppets @ Ram's Head Live (Baltimore)
Sep 25 - Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets & Built to Spill @ Terminal 5 (TICKETS)
Sep 26 - Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets & Built to Spill @ Terminal 5 (SOLD OUT)
Sep 27 - Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets & Built to Spill @ Orpheum Theatre (Boston)

Built to Spill performed Perfect From Now On at ATP on Friday. Meat Puppets performed Meat Puppets II on the same night. Dinosaur Jr. didn't perform an album, but they did also play ATP. On Thursday and Friday of this week all three bands perform on the same bill at Terminal 5 in NYC. Dates above. More ATP pics, including one of the DJ setlist, below....

Continue reading "Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets & Built to Spill played ATP (pics), about to hit NYC (and other places)"

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Black Bubblegum

After a great (and late) Saturday-night, morning (3pm) bloomed with Robin Guthrie (co-founder of Cocteau Twins) and his shimmering ambient soundscapes in the main room. Backlit by projections of fractals and waves, it was the perfect way to ease into Sunday. Le Volume Courbe and Wounded Knees (both opening for MBV tonight at Roseland) had already played on stage two, but sadly, I missed them.

While Guthrie shined on, I scooted on over to stage deux and caught a few minutes of sunny pop by The Lilys (opener for MBV in NYC night two).

continued below...

Continue reading "ATP NY day 3 - Lilys, EPMD, TOD, YLT, Dinosaur Jr., more..."

photos by Lori Baily

"There was really nothing to complain about if your expectations were correct when you got there. Verlaine did the same boring crap he has been doing for 10 years. The SY set could have been longer and contained at least SOME melody. Their set was the only disappointed of the night. Nels set was great, but only because of the pairing with Norton Wisdom. Very nice. J ripped it like always, he was never one to noodle. Dave Schools of Widespread Panic ripped it up on bass." [Anonymous 1]

vs.

"wtf that review is just WRONG. It was cool and fun to see all these guys doing their Jazzmaster thing. Lee and Moore's set disappointing I don't think anyone there would agree with that. Mascis was more disappointing after setting up 3 huge stacks of amps on stage to get just an ok sound out of all that. Nels Cline nothing without the painter? come on man, get off your ass and listen." [Anonymous 2]

Continue reading "J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Nels Cline & friends @ Fender's 50th anniversary @ KF, NYC - pics"

I asked an Edison Glass representative how the Long Island band got on this bill of guitar legends (that now also includes Lee Ranaldo). They replied, "You're the millionth person to ask. Fender loves them, so they put them on."

I have one pair of tickets for tonight's sold out show at Knitting Factory in NYC. To win....

Continue reading "Fender's 50th anniversary party tonight - win tickets "