The December issue of Q Magazine is an 'Artists Of The Century' special edition, covering all of the acts that the fine staff of the good ship Q feel are the most important of the century so far. As befitting a special edition of the UK best selling music monthly requires a special cover was commissioned world renowned photographer John Wright has spent over a year shooting 34 artists to fit on triple fold out cover.

The issue is packed to the gills with pieces written by Russell Brand on Noel Gallagher, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis on Coldplay and Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme on The Arctic Monkeys. In addition it also includes exclusive interviews and photos from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Dizzee Rascal, U2, Dave Grohl, Lily Allen, Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Brandon Flowers from The Killers, Elbow's Guy Garvey, Pink, Muse's Matt Bellamy, Murdoc from Gorillaz, The Kings Of Leon, Mark Ronson, Mika, Nick Cave, Robert Plant, Florence Welch, Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol and Tom Chaplin of Keane.

What do you get when you throw Pitchfork's favorite albums in a blender with NME's? Q's favorite albums of 2009 are (questionable & very UK-centric and) listed below..

Continue reading "Q Magazine's Top Albums of 2009 "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Viva Voce - Octavio (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Holiday Shores - Phones Don't Feud (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jack Penate - Tonight's Today (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dark Meat - Freedom Ritual (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Young Republic - The Alchemist (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Young Republic - The Wolf (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Princeton - The Waves (MP3)

Art Brut @ Mercury Lounge (more by Tim Griffin)

Tonight (6/4) is seriously overloaded with show choices. If you have tickets to Art Brut (who were great on Monday and I heard Wednesday night's show was the best yet) and are looking to do something beforehand, you might consider checking out Jack Peñate at Pianos. He was pretty good at Bruar Falls last night, playing a set entirely made up of songs from his new, world-influenced, Everything is New, which I like way more than his debut. A bit of a nutty dancer, but his enthusiasm (and talent) is there. There's video from the show at the bottom of this post.

Holiday Shores

And going on before Mr. Peñate are Florida's Holiday Shores, who have been getting a bunch of coverage all of a sudden. Their set tonight is an early one because from Pianos they're rushing up to the SPIN Magazine offices to play a private party there. Their debut LP, Columbus'd The Whim, is out this summer on twosyllable Records. The songs on their MySpace page, all reverb and fuzz and bouncy melodies, sound interesting enough to merit checking them out. (And there's an MP3 at the top of this post that might help make up your mind.) If you miss them tonight, they're also at new Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium on Friday (6/5).

You could potentially have a very busy night ahead of you on the L.E.S.

Other Thursday options: Doves are playing Terminal 5, a venue I still haven't been to. Their new album doesn't really grab me the way their previous records did, but they are a dynamic live band whose widescreen sound goes well with bigger venues like T5.

There's also Spanish Prisoners, Sisters and Knight School at Public Assembly; and The Postelles, pow wow! and Real Estate at Santos. Both good choices.

Viva Voce

But if I could go to any show tonight (which I can't, unfortunately) I think I'd probably see Portland's Viva Voce at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The until-now husband and wife duo, who made a lot shoegazy pop on their own, recently ballooned to a four-piece for their fifth album, Rose City, which is almost as good as 2006's stellar Get Yr Blood Sucked Out. On record this expanded Viva Voce don't sound that different, but it will be interesting to see how it affects their live show, which was already pretty awesome. Check out the MP3 for current single "Octavio" at the top of the post. The whole bill tonight at MHoW is worthwhile, with Australia's Cut Off Your Hands (Frenchkiss) and James Yuill, who is more entertaining live than you think he's going to be when he walks out on stage.

Dark Meat

A couple other bands of note are in town this weekend. Athens, Georgia's glitter and confetti-loving collective Dark Meat are playing Cake Shop on Friday (6/5) and Bruar Falls on Saturday (6/6). You may have been on a boat with them and Vivian Girls last fall. If you've never attended a Dark Meat show before, it's a bit like walking into a hippie version of Mardi Gras where Frank Zappa is the Grand Marshall. With so many band members, so much going on, so much shiny detritus in the air, it can either be intoxicating or asphyxiating. But it's never boring. Like all hallucinogenics, if you go into Dark Meat with the right mind, you'll have a good time. Both Cake Shop and Bruar Falls will be 1/3 full just from the band alone so expect hi-jinks and wear clothes you don't mind getting paint on.

The Young Republic

And speaking of large masses from the south, also in town this weekend are Nashville's The Young Republic, who are not to be confused with Awesome New Republic, The Most Serene Republic, Savage Republic, Republica, or actual Young Republicans. The six-piece have country, blues and celtic elements into their anthemic sound, which also delves into Tom Waits cabaret territory at times. Unsigned in America, The Young Republic are much popular in the UK where they're on End of the Road Records who also have The Low Anthem and Port O'Brien on their roster. The Young Republic, whose new album Balletesque is due out later this year, play Spike Hill on Friday (6/5) and Pianos on Saturday. Check out two MP3s at the top of this post.

Princeton

Also on that Pianos bill are L.A. trio Princeton who I caught last year at Cake Shop (during CMJ I think) and who make quite charming baroque pop. The band are actually in town to perform on Friday at Lincoln Center's Pope Auditorium. Why? This press release can explain better than I could:

Princeton, the Los Angeles-based trio, join forces with San Francisco's Stephen Pelton Dance Theater in it was this: it was this: an evening of songs and dances inspired by the life and work of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury group.

Princeton will perform all of the songs from their recent EP Bloomsbury, each lyrically focused upon a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Portraits of Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf and John Maynard Keynes are each presented in a different musical framework with lush orchestral arrangements. The band is comprised of twin brothers Jesse and Matt Kivel and Ben Usen. The band will be joined by 8 additional musicians in recreating their frolicsome, exuberant take on the cast of Bloomsbury characters.

Stephen Pelton Dance Theater, known for known its intimate theatricality and emotional intensity, may be familiar to audiences from previous Woolf conferences. This year the company will perform several new works including the premiere of it was this: it was this: a choreographic study of Woolf's punctuation. Using a single paragraph from To the Lighthouse, the company dances their way from the first word to the last, pausing briefly for every comma, parentheses and semicolon in-between. The company also performs a revised version of The Death of the Moth, first seen at the Plymouth State Conference in 1997.

If that sounds a little high falutin', don't be afraid of the Woolf references, Princeton's pop is pretty easy to swallow, though an appreciation of The Left Banke and Village Green-era Kinks is probably advised. There's an MP3 at the top of this post. And there will be no dancers on stage at the Pianos gig, as far as I know.

That's it for this week. Videos and tour tour dates after the jump....

Continue reading "Viva Voce, the Young Republic, Princeton, Dark Meat, Holiday Shores & more in This Week In indie"

photos by Chris Graham

"Sasquatch was hot. H-O-T. Not Paris Hilton "hot," but temperature hot. For a mossed-over clutch of Northwesterners who have been shrouded under rain and clouds for the past eight months, the brutal sun at the Gorge this weekend was a shocking jolt into summer. Sure, it was generally nice to be out in the sun, but any shade cover at the 'Squatch was few and far between, and there was almost no chance of relief. A small row of spindly trees dotted the upper walkway, and overheated concertgoers crammed themselves underneath them. When the sun dipped behind a cloud during Animal Collective's generally unimpressive set, the crowd cheered louder than they had for any band. Clothing sweated clean through, energy was conserved, and water was at a premium. It was a weekend of dizzy sunburning and frizzled brain." [Portland Mercury]

The 2009 Sasquatch Festival ran from May 23-25 (Memorial Day Weekend) in Gorge, Washington. More pictures from Day One, below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2009 - Day 1 in pics "

photos by Chris Graham

"Doves 2005 record, "Some Cities," was one of my favorite albums that year and I had heard nothing but good things about the live sets by this Brit-pop band so I was excited and curious to hear what they were going to offer up on the main stage [of this year's Sasquatch Festival]. I wasn't disappointed as Doves definitely is a band that has to be seen live. Their sound becomes more full, loud and really downright impressively impactful in a live setting." [Seattlepi]

Doves continue their current North American tour until June 7th, with a stop at NYC's Terminal 5 on Thursday, June 4th. Tickets are still on sale, AND you can try to go to a Diesel store to win some free ones. Info on that, along with more pictures from Sasquatch, the Sasquatch setlist, and all dates below...

Continue reading "Doves played Sasquatch (pics & setlist), on tour, in NYC on Thursday (Diesel store giving away free tix)"

Tickets are on Am Ex presale and Doves presale for the Doves show coming up at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on Am Ex & venue presale for the MGMT show at Prospect Park. Password?

Tickets are on Am Ex presale (@ noon) for the Explosions in the Sky show happening at Summerstage.

Tickets are on sale (at noon) for the Peaches show coming up at Webster Hall.

Tickets are still on sale for the Dredg / Torche show at Highline Ballroom on April 19th. Check out our interview with Steve Brooks.

Kevin Devine is playing MHOW on June 7th. Tickets are on sale (@ noon). Kevin is also playing Bowery Ballroom much sooner.

by Andrew Frisicano

"Doves have been recording their follow-up [to 2005's Some Cities] for the past 18 months, having ensconced themselves to a farm house-come-studio in Cheshire."

The band took a similar approach to the acclaimed Some Cities, locking themselves away in the Scottish and Welsh countrysides to complete the album. The result this time - their new album Kingdom of Rust (out via Astralwerks Records on April 7th).

The band's supporting tour includes a visit to North America in May and June, and that includes a stop at the Sasquatch! Music Festival on Saturday, May 23rd, and a Thursday, June 4th show at Terminal 5. Tickets for the NYC show go on regular sale on Friday, 3/13 at noon, with two separate presales both start on Wednesday.

In June, the band returns to the county of Cheshire to play Delamere Forest - in a series of concerts hosted by the UK Forestry Commission. The show is a homecoming of sorts for the band. They were founded in Wilmslow, about 30 minutes away. The night before, the same park hosts a sold-out Paul Weller show. (Noah and the Whale and Elbow played Delamere Forest last year.)

All tour dates, a video for first single "Kingdom of Rust," and the new album track list, below...

Continue reading "Doves - new CD, video & 2009 Tour Dates (Terminal 5)"

Jane's Addiction - @ Echoplex, Los Angeles - Feb 16, 2009 (revolute)

Live Nation and Adam Zacks are pleased to announce this year's line up for the Sasquatch! Music Festival at the legendary Gorge in Eastern Washington. The festival, now in its eighth and most ambitious year yet, has evolved from a unique, homegrown & low key fest into a full blown three day extravaganza. A festival-goer's dream, it comes complete with camp-outs, canyons, sunsets, three stages and new this year, an expanded comedy and dance music tent. The tent will feature performances from comedians throughout the day, and then come dusk, will spotlight electronic and dance music artists.

Already the official opener to summer for music fans, the Sasquatch! Music Festival is becoming a certified monster of a musical event: this year features another exciting and diverse line-up for the musically adventurous, and ups the ante on an event already hailed for its independent spirit. Tickets go on sale Saturday February 28th at 10AM

Jane's Addiction, reunited once again, played a show at the Echoplex in LA last night. They announced it last week via their website and mailing list.

Today it was announced that Jane's (feat. all four original members), NIN, Kings of Leon, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Erykah Badu, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio, Animal Collective, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Santigold, and many others are playing this year's Sasquatch Festival (May 23, 24, 25, 2009 @ The Gorge in Quincy, WA). Full lineup and ticket info below...

Continue reading "Jane's Addiction played LA, headlining SASQUATCH Festival (which just announced most of the 2009 LINEUP)"