Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

On Sunday 27th May 2012 Alexandra Palace will host the first show in 13 years from Cincinnati's rock legends THE AFGHAN WHIGS. Formed in 1986, the bands career from then until 2001 saw them release six acclaimed albums highlighted by the classic Gentlemen LP in 1993. Fusing classic rock with grunge-era distortion and a heavy soul influence, Afghan Whigs were one of the most renowned live bands of their time and this long awaited reformation will no doubt be a very special event.

ATP are also pleased to confirm their return to Asbury Park, New Jersey USA where they will follow last year's debut in that city with a 2012 I'll Be Your Mirror event, the Saturday night of which will be headlined by The Afghan Whigs and curated by the Whigs' frontman Greg Dulli.

The second year of ATP I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park will take place September 21st-23rd...

As you can see in the poster, tickets will go on sale in January. More of the lineup will also be announced at that time.

All Tomorrow's Parties' I'll Be Your Mirror UK, which just lost Guided By Voices, will host The Afghan Whigs and has moved further into the "unreal" category with additions of Wolves In The Throne Room, Yob, Dirty Three, Floor, Chavez, Balam Acab, The Oh Sees, Yuck, Archers of Loaf, Demdike Stare, and Siskiyou to appearances from Sleep, Melvins, Mogwai, Codeine and Mudhoney.

Full ATP I'll Be Your Mirror UK lineup is below.

Continue reading "Afghan Whigs reuniting, ATP returning to Asbury Park in 2012"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

Panda Bear

Friday, September 11th - Stage 1:
3.15pm-4.15pm : The Drones performing Wait Long By The River...
4.45pm-5.30pm : The Feelies performing Crazy Rhythms
6.00pm-7.00pm : Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs
7.30pm-8.30pm : Suicide performing Suicide (First LP)
9.00pm-9.45pm : Panda Bear
10.15pm-11.15pm : Iron & Wine
11.45pm-1.00am : The Jesus Lizard

Friday, September 11th - Stage 2:
9.00pm-9.30pm : Jon Glaser & Jon Benjamin
9.45pm-10.15pm : Derrick Brown & The Navy Gravy
10.30pm-11.00pm : Eugene Mirman
11.15pm-11.45pm : David Cross

The floors have been waxed. The bathroom tile is dry and shiny. Couches are not draped with bodies. Kutsher's and it's distinct 1960s time capsule "charm" is still in full force, though the place seems oddly tidied. Doorways that last year lead to muddy, mold infested corridors have been nailed shut. Random holes punched into the drywall have been patched. The musty smell that permeates the building is "covered" by an equally foul carpet deodorizer. I arrived a shade past 3PM on Friday (9/11) and it was obvious the ATP crowds hadn't sunk their fangs into the Country Club yet. Everything was still nice and clean.

As a veteran of multiple music festivals, I think that most feel very familiar... borderline generic even. ATP is an animal all its own. There is an energy that is positive, creative and palpable. Musicians wander about the grounds, checking out the bands. The sound system is killer. It's like an indie summer camp complete with a poorly functioning shower.

We arrived early enough to catch the first part of The Drones whose current tour also had them at The Bell House in Brooklyn two days earlier.

"I hope you like bronchitis, 'cause that's what all you're getting" the guitarist said while pointing toward the front row of the audience.

Bronchitis or no, the band's angular and sometimes atonal pop was immediate and fun despite anyone's poor health.

The Feelies

The Feelies followed with Crazy Rhythms indeed, alternating between jingle bells, timbale, shaker, maracas, hanging lead pipe as well as a satellite floor tom and snare drum. It was great to see those songs come alive. See them in Brooklyn on Sunday night.

Dirty Three was four, as Nick Cave sat in the tickle the ivories. Nick played a backseat role, no singing, none of his songs... For all intensive purposes he was John Q. Pianoplayer. Ocean Songs is a very affecting record, and their engaging post-rock-y compositions swelled and collapsed with emotion. Just don't call them emo.

"I'd like to set the record straight for Pitchfork and those guys... we did not invent emo. Blame it on some other cunts," Warren Ellis quipped between songs.

During songs, Ellis hopped around on one leg while playing his violin, sashaying to melodies and punctuating key moments with jump-kicks. Dude has ups, especially in a suit. Those in NYC have another chance to catch the band Sunday at Bowery Ballroom.

Suicide followed, and I am definitely a fan of their first LP. In the Stardust Ballroom, a ski-goggled Martin Rev banged away at his Triton producing compelling keyboard squelches and 200 BPM kick drum assaults, while Alan Vega barked lyrics from his music stand like an ornery old man. It was very loud. Fun for a while, but I couldn't watch the entire set.

Panda Bear's loopy harmonious bliss is something that I enjoyed on the Person Pitch LP, but was not looking forward to in a live setting. Nevertheless, I checked out Noah Lennox's knob-twisting live set which contained backlit projections. It's hard to pull off a one man show effectively, especially if there is limited crowd interaction. Noah's other band headlines Saturday night (tonight) of the festival.

Iron & Wine was solo acoustic, and Sam Beam engaged the crowd fully. I caught a few songs until leaving catch some of David Cross's set before The Jesus Lizard.

Kicking off with "Puss" and heading into "Gladiator" and "Seasick", The Jesus Lizard attacked the stage with their trademark screechy guitar lines and high frequency bass lines. Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, and Mac McNeilly were tight as hell and the band roared through their classics to an extremely enthusiastic crowd all while David Yow acted like a buffoon.

Either I'm showing my age, or he his, but I used to find David Yow and his antics menacing. That's not to say he was anything less than riveting. He performed 1/3 of the show from the crowd (surfing or otherwise). When on stage, Yow mock-jerked himself off, hula-danced, slap-boxed the microphone stand, pointed at women while crotch-thrusting, and wished the audience a.... "Happy 9/11".

By the way, if you're wondering who IS responsible for emo. David Yow has the answer.

"That's Slint's fault"

---

The Jesus Lizard pictures are HERE. The Dirty Three pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures (which also include comedians not mentioned above) are below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 1 in pics & review (David Cross, massages, Iron & Wine, Kutscher's, Suicide & more)"

photos by Ryan Muir

Dirty Three were the third band to play at ATP NY on Friday night (9/11). Their set time was 6:00pm, and like most bands playing that night, they played an album (Ocean Songs) from start to finish. They also managed to supply the biggest surprise of the festival so far. He could have headlined one of the days of the festival himself... their fellow Australian, collaborator and friend, Nick Cave joined the Dirty Three as piano player.

But that's not all. According to ATP attendant Natalie Judge, "Today [Saturday, 9/12] has been insane already. Dirty three & nick cave play in a bedroom-6of us in the room. So emotional." Awesome (and a Kutscher's hotel room bedroom I assume). Her picture proof is at the end of this post.

From ATP, Dirty Three head down to NYC for a show Sunday night (9/13) at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale. Will Nick Cave be there again? I have no idea, BUT Nick Cave WILL be at Barnes & Noble in NYC the very next day (9/14), so anything's possible.

More on the ATP set HERE. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Dirty Three and NICK CAVE played ATP NY Friday (and again Saturday in a hotel room) - pics (+++ NYC show Sunday +++)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Hopewell - "Stranger" (MP3)

Hopewell

If you haven't noticed, ATP NY is a little more than a week away, and though there will be a ton of one-off appearances at the festival, one could ATTEMPT to see all of the bands in their NYC appearances. I prefer to kill all of it in one fell swoop, and that's why the ATP set times are below. For those that prefer the former, this post is also for you, as we rounded up some of the NYC shows that surround this mammoth festival.

One show we haven't mentioned thus far is Hopewell, who in addition to their support slot for Dead Meadow on 9/9 on a Rocks Off Cruise, will also play an "ATP warm-up show" at The Cameo Art Gallery show on 9/10 with a full choir (!) and projections. To be more specific, they will actually be performing the Desperation Suite set that they put together for ATP NY.

Want to go to Dead Meadow/Hopewell on the boat? I have TWO PAIRS of tickets to give away. More details on how to enter at the bottom of this post.

Boredoms are scheduled to play Boadrum 9 at Terminal 5 on 9/9 (at 9:09:09?). Tickets are still available.

The Feelies have set aside 9/13 for Brooklyn (namely, Southpaw -tix here) to play TWO sets, that's as many days after they play Crazy Rhythms in it's entirety at ATP.

Circulatory System plays Le Poisson Rouge on 9/9 (tickets).

Deerhoof is scheduled to play Le Poisson Rouge on 9/15. Tickets are on sale.

Melvins are touring NYC with Down, Weedeater, and Evil Army, hitting Nokia on 9/11 (tix). The band headlines ATP Stage Two on 9/12 (Sat).

Super Furry Animals have a pair of NYC-area dates scheduled, including Maxwell's on 9/12 and Highline on 9/11. Tickets for both are here.

Grouper is scheduled to team up with Tim Hecker for a show as part of the Wordless Music Series on 9/11. Tickets are still available.

Dirty Three play Bowery Ballroom on 9/13 (tix), two days after they play Ocean Songs in full at ATP.

The Drones are scheduled to play all of their LP Wait Long By The River at ATP, and will also play The Bell House on 9/9. Tickets are still available. Bridezilla will support The Drones at The Bell House and are also playing The Annex on 9/10.

And last, but certainly not least, Autolux & Sleepy Sun are teaming up at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg on 9/14 (tix) and 9/15 (tix) respectively.

Check out the ATP NY Set Times below....

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 is almost here - SET TIMES & related NYC SHOWS (including Hopewell w/ a choir & on a boat) "

All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) is happy to announce its return to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York for the 2nd annual ATP New York festival. The event will be held Sept 11-13, 2009. Last year's festival, co-curated by My Bloody Valentine, was a critical and cultural success with rave reviews from media and fans. This year's Fest will be co-curated by The Flaming Lips.

ATP has announced the final lineup additions to this year's festival. That includes the comedians who will be joining David Cross on Friday night, and official confirmation that it will in fact be Bob Mould who will be playing Husker Du songs (a whole LP to be exact) with No Age (who also just announced some NYC shows). Every act who plays Sunday will be playing some kind of special set...

Recently added were Crystal Castles, Super Furry Animals, Boris performing Feedbacker, Low Lows and "Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew. Other announced acts include Boredoms continuing their BOADRUM series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane), Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra) and more.

Other brand new additions to Sunday are Menomena, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Birds Of Avalon, and Hopewell.

Circulatory System, was added in the last announcement, and have since revealed an entire tour. Dead Meadow play ATP on Saturday and will perform on a boat in NYC that same week. The Feelies have a Brooklyn show scheduled. Super Furry Animals play NYC and NJ in addition to ATP. The list of related shows goes on...

Unfortunately missing from the ATP NY schedule is Nick Cave - not that he was ever supposed to be there, but in addition to being very involved with ATP in general, he was recently confirmed to be only a short car ride away just one day after the festival ends. Full 2009 lineup below...

Continue reading "ATP NY final 2009 lineup -- Bob Mould (now official), Eugene Mirman, Menomena, Hopewell & more (but not Nick Cave) "

Sufjan Stevens w/ Clogs @ BAM in February (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

We are extremely excited to announce the addition of Sufjan Stevens to the ATP-curated Saturday lineup. Stevens, who will be releasing Run Rabbit Run (a re-arrangement of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit) in October, has not played a US show in over two years, and this is sure to be a special performance. [ATP NY]

Sufjan is one of the most recent additions to ATP NY, running September 11th-13th in Monticello, NY. It'll be his first show in a while, though over the past year Sufjan has made appearances joining St. Vincent at BAM, The Welcome Wagon at St. Paul's Lutheran and the Clogs with My Brightest Diamond (which you can see above) again at BAM .

Sufjan will be joined on the Saturday bill by new additions Shellac, Circulatory System and Grouper (who we previously announced).

On the Sunday, the Flaming Lips-curated bill has added Crystal Castles, who has been touring North America and Europe. They're also on the schedule for All Points West on August 1st.

Other Sunday additions are Super Furry Animals (who are also playing Maxwell's and Highline Ballroom), Boris, Low Lows and Oneida, the latter of which will perform a special set, described below...

"Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew.

Limited tickets for the fest are still on sale. Ongoing coverage of ATP NY and related NYC-area shows HERE. Full lineup so far below...

Continue reading "ATP NY adds Sufjan Stevens, Boris, Shellac, Crystal Castles & more - full updated lineup"

Willamette Week's Musicfest NW announces this year's festival line-up which will be held at various venues around the Portland, OR metropolitan area on September 16, 17, 18 & 19. On the heels of the most successful MFNW to date, MFNW 2009 launches with nothing but the hope of a bigger and better festival. MFNW's ultimate aim is to provide Portland with a unique and special musical experience that features all types of acts including nationally renowned artists while still honoring and supporting the special musical scene of the Northwest.

Four-day passes to the fest are on sale now.

The lineup so far, including the newly-reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, is below...

Continue reading "Musicfest NW in Portland, OR (Sept 16-19) - lineup"

Ellis since 1996 has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Ellis and Turner have both released solo albums. In addition, Turner and White have released several EPs as The Tren Brothers, and appear as backing musicians on albums by Cat Power, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and PJ Harvey (White drums). Turner is also an internationally exhibited painter with his own work gracing the covers of all of their major albums except Sad & Dangerous. He also runs the band's own record label Anchor & Hope. In 1999, Dirty Three with Low recorded an In the Fishtank session for Konkurrent records.

Dirty Three have released albums on Touch & Go Records and have toured with Sonic Youth, Pavement, Throwing Muses, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Devendra Banhart and Shannon Wright to name just a few.

Australia's Dirty Three (Warren Ellis on violin, Mick Turner on electric guitar, Jim White on drums) will be playing a handful of U.S. shows in September. That includes one on Sunday, September 13th at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Tickets go on presale Wednesday, June 17th at noon. General sale starts Friday, June 19th at noon.

The NYC gig comes two days after the group's appearence at ATP NY, where they'll perform their album Ocean Songs in full. Also at that festival are the reunited Jesus Lizard who also just announced a NYC show or two of their own.

All tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Dirty Three - 2009 tour dates (Bowery Ballroom & ATP NY) "

Boss Hog @ Maxwell's (more by Tim Griffin)

Friday will feature a first New York show in a long time by The Jesus Lizard and newly announced, ATP favourites Iron and Wine. They will join the Don't Look Back shows also taking place on Friday: The Feelies performing Crazy Rhythms, New York's finest Suicide performing their first LP, Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs and The Drones performing Wait Long By The River... The evening will be rounded off with the Comedy Stage hosted and curated by the one and only David Cross.

Saturday is curated by ATP and is headlined by Animal Collective and an exclusive performance by Panda Bear. Other confirmed acts include the newly announced Boss Hog, Deerhunter and Bridezilla, plus the previously announced Melvins, Black Dice, Dead Meadow, Autolux, EL-P, Akron Family, Antipop Consortium, Atlas Sound and the hotly tipped Sleepy Sun.

Sunday is curated by the outlandish Flaming Lips. Every act that plays will perform an exclusive special show, bespoke for this event. First up are the Boredoms who will continue their BOREDRUM [BOADRUM?] series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. No Age will perform a whole LP by Husker Du including special guest vocalist [um... Bob Mould?]. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane) and more. Finally Stardeath and White Dwarfs also join the line-up, with lots more to be announced!

This is great. Full (current) lineup (in list format), and more info, below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 adds more acts & crazy stuff w/ Boredoms, Iron & Wine, Boss Hog, Deerhunter, No Age & more..."

Suicide @ Webster Hall (more by Faith-Ann Young)

FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER - DON'T LOOK BACK/COMEDY

DAVID CROSS - CURATING COMEDY »
SUICIDE PERFORMING FIRST LP »
DIRTY THREE PERFORMING OCEAN SONGS »

SATURDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER - CURATED BY ATP

PANDA BEAR »
ANTI-POP CONSORTIUM »
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE »
ATLAS SOUND »

SUNDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER - CURATED BY TBC

TBC

As previously reported, ATP NY is returning to Kutscher's in upstate NY in 2009, but note the new dates. They originally said the fest would happen Labor Day weekend, but are now listing it as one week later. Tickets are already on sale. (thx Tye)

David Cross also just announced an appearance at Knitting Factory in NYC on December 8th. Patton Oswalt and Eugene Mirman appeared at ATP NY in 2008.

Atlas Sound doesn't have any upcoming shows, but Bradford Cox is playing with Deerhunter at Music Hall of Williamsburg on that same night (12/8).

Suicide are playing Europa on December 11th.

Anti-Pop Consortium are taking over Knitting Factory in NYC on December 12th.

Anti-Pop Consortium Presents: MELTDOWN w/ very special guests Bomb Squad (Hank & Keith Shocklee), Dragons of Zynth & Chin Chin; Sugar Shack Burlesque in the Tap Bar & The Magma Chamber multi-media installation in the Old Office + many more special guests

Tickets are now on sale.

Animal Collective are playing a sold-out show in NYC on January 20th, aka inauguration day, aka the day their new album comes out which will probably leak before then which may or may not be the fault of Grizzly Bear. Chris Bear, Panda Bear cage match date TBA.

Meat Puppets and Built to Spill were among the bands who played full albums at ATP NY in 2008. My Bloody Valentine was the headliner and curated day two.

Other upcoming ATP's (All Tomorrow's Parties) around the world include the one Sleep is playing in the UK, the one the Breeders are curating in the UK, the one The Melvis and Fantomas curated with Boss Hog and others in the UK, and the one Nick Cave chose Silver Apples for in Australia.

For more official info on ATP NY, check ATP's site. For more BV coverage of ATP NY, check brooklynvegan.com/tag/ATP NY.

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - initial lineup (Suicide, Panda Bear, Animal Collective, Dirty Three, Anti-Pop, Atlas Sound..)"

DOWNLOAD: Tren Brothers - Swing Pt.1 (MP3)

Tickets are on sale for a Six Organs of Admittance & TREN Brothers show at Mercury Lounge in NYC on January 29th. TREN Brothers = Jim White & Mick Turner (2/3 of Dirty Three). They came out with a CD on Drag City in July. Drag City also releaed the new Six Organs record. Be prepared for a mellow night with some amazing musicians. Videos, and more tour dates below....

Continue reading "TREN BROTHERS (Dirty Three) & Six Organs of Admittance - 2007/8 Tour Dates & videos"