According to Mashable, Amanda Palmer won TED. Check out the full video of her presentation "The Art of Asking", below...

Continue reading "Watch Amanda Palmer's TED Talk"

check out this new photo of Amanda & her band...

The always talented and controversial - mostly because she isn't afraid to try new things and speak her mind (especially on Twitter), Amanda Palmer, is playing a massive New Year's Eve show at NYC's Terminal 5 where she and The Grand Theft Orchestra will be performing Prince's Purple Rain in its entirety in addition to her original songs (get your tickets - regular or VIP).

Meanwhile, we asked Amanda to list her favorite 10 musical things from 2012, and you can see what she listed and watch her new NSFW video for "Do It With a Rockstar", below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer lists her Top 10 of 2012, playing 'Purple Rain' in its entirety on New Year's Eve"

David Byrne, Jherek Bischoff, Amanda Palmer @ MHOW - 6/27/12 (via DaynaR)

Amanda Palmer week continues in NYC with a semi-private art opening/show tonight (6/28). Last night was her big, sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg which ended in a huge way. David Byrne, who we know has been collaborating with Amanda and friends lately, joined her and her band during the encore to perform Talking Heads song "Burning Down the House." Watch bleow...

Continue reading "David Byrne played 'Burning Down the House' with Amanda Palmer @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (video)"

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra (Michael McQuilken, Chad Raines, and Jherek Bischoff) are prepping their new album, which they recorded with producer/engineer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Modest Mouse, Xiu Xiu). In addition, she's releasing an art book with art for the new album. On April 30, Amanda put the project up for funding on Kickstarter and already gained almost four times her goal. As of this post she is at over $400,000. $150,000 ago she wrote this to Bob Lefsetz:

hey bob

don't know if you've noticed, but yesterday i launched the 30-day kickstarter for my new album, "amanda palmer & the grand theft orchestra".

at the moment i'm writing this, we've reached over $250,000 after only one day of being live. go look:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-new-record-art-book-and-tour

that's about $50k MORE than the scheduled recording budget i wouldn't have been given if i'd stayed on roadrunner...AND WE'RE ONLY ON THE FIRST DAY.

i hope we reach $600k or more by the time we're done. or a million. who knows? sky's the limit.

Amanda will be going on a tour in support of the album this summer. In each city that she hits, she'll put on an art show with art from the album and an acoustic set, followed by a full band rock show. That tour includes Brooklyn, where she'll put on her live show at June 27 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and her art show on June 28 at Momenta Art. Tickets for the MHOW show go on sale Friday, 5/11 at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday, 5/9 at noon.

All dates and the video below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer kicking ass on Kickstarter, announces art & live show tour"

photos by Greg Cristman

[The Dresden Dolls have] been on hiatus for a few years, with both members working on other projects. ...It's difficult to find a crowd as receptive as the one that'll skip Halloween parties to show up for a cult act that hasn't played in a few years. This was a sold-out venue full of people who really, really wanted to be there -- most of them to see the Dolls, but also a few older rock geeks who came to see the Legendary Pink Dots, a long-running and hard-to-define act that Palmer calls her favorite.

The fans got their money's worth, too, and not just because of the big balloon drop during a cover of the viral-video "Double Rainbow" song. The band -- Palmer on electric piano and vocals, and the terrific Brian Viglione on drums (and pantomime asides) -- is built to be stagey and theatrical, and they have a looseness that's great to watch. They know each other and their set well enough that they can wind down in the middle of a song to chatter among themselves or talk back to the audience. They pepper their act with storytelling numbers. They've also collected exactly the kind of fan base that enjoys dressing up and gathering together at their feet, which is a good bet for Halloween. -[New York Magazine]

The show was also an anniversary of sorts for the band; it was on Halloween in 2000 that Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione first met. While the band has been on hiatus, Amanda has been busy making an even bigger name for herself. And take note: she is reportedly moving to Brooklyn in July (which is when she is also reportedly getting married to Neil Gaiman).

More Pictures from the gig (including DD's setlist and the costumed crowd), and some videos (including their cover of "War Pigs"), below...

Continue reading "the Dresden Dolls & Legendary Pink Dots played a Halloween show @ Irving Plaza (pics, video, setlist)"

today in NYC
* the Halloween parade
* Justin Bond @ Joe's Pub
* tribute bands @ Union Pool
* Sun Ra Arkestra @ Sullivan Hall
* The Dresden Dolls @ Irving Plaza
* The Black Crowes @ Best Buy Theater
* The Old Ceremony, Mascott @ The Rock Shop
* Rocky Horror Picture Show Anniversary Party @ Le Poisson Rouge
* World/Inferno Friendship Society (Hallowmas 2010) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The Felice Brothers, Adam Haworth Stephens @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Robbers On High Street (as ELO), Black Dragon, Blue Album Group @ Mercury Lounge
* Delicate Steve, Golden Ages, Crinkles, Lawrence Welks and Our Bear To Cross @ Cake Shop
* Das Racist, Keepaway, Pictureplane, The Intelligence, The Beets, Cassie Ramone & Justin from The Babies as The White Stripes, Janka Nabay, Blissed Out @ Ridgewood Temple (Todd P's Halloween Party)

This year is the 38th Annual Village Halloween Parade.
This year's theme: "Memento Mori"

Twenty years ago the iconic Day of the Dead puppets first appeared in the Village Halloween Parade, our festival of All Souls to ritual traditions worldwide -the Guede in Port-au-Prince, the Skull and Bones Gang of New Orleans, in the calaveras of Oaxaca, the Midnight Robbers of Trinidad, and beyond. Often it is in the places where tragedy is more ubiquitous and everyday existence can be more of a struggle, that expressions of the Dead are the most exuberant, a reminder that life itself, despite itshardships, is a gift. The Dead - as they return to drink coffee, play checkers, watch TV,but above all, to dance - offer us a mirror to see with fresh eyes the everyday things in our lives, rendered invisible by routine. Every sound, action, and motion we take for granted, they rejoice in - on the one night they can. So each year, when the skeletons take their place at the head of the Halloween Parade, they are not grim expressions of the morbid but rather joyful reminders of all that is vital.

As the beloved dancing skeletons enter their third decade in the Village Halloween Parade, we seek to honor them - and in doing so, to honor all those who have walked in their footsteps. Official Parade puppeteers Superior Concept Monsters, Master Puppeteer Basil Twist and Haitian Artist Didier Civil plan to work with the Mexican, Haitian and arts communities to make and remake, create and re-create, re-envision and resurrect the entire Day of the Dead section, calling forth not only the spirits of the Dead, but many of the puppets of past VHP artists that had long been absent from the streets of Greenwich Village. Drawing on traditional forms from Trinidad to Tibet, Haiti to Mexico, new 12'-foot tall skeletal puppets will add new life to the VHP's jubilant underworld - a cortege drawn by galloping night-Mares, an illuminated Ghost Train, and a dozen brand-new dancing Calaveras skeletons and who knows what else to join their brethren at the head of the Parade.

As the perennial community of Halloween volunteers gathers again this year to build and rehearse our memento mori ("Remembrance of Death") we'll look back on 37 years of Halloween in NY with another Latin adage: "Vita Brevis Ars Longa" : life is short, but art endures.

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black was supposed to play Santos Party House, but the venue is closed.

Did you catch Legendary Pink Dots at Le Poisson Rouge the other night? Since their tour was announced, they were also added as opener for tonight's Dresden Dolls show at Irving Plaza.

That Dresden Dolls show also promises "special guests, rare performances, and a cacophony of Brechtian entertainment." AND: "This triumphant return will be documented by the Dresden Dolls fan base in a project spearheaded by This One Is On Us. Fans from all over the world will record, edit, design, and promote to produce a DVD of the evening for all the world to cherish and enjoy. This project aims to blur the link between author and reader even further - until both are one and the same."

Tonight's show at Union Pool show:

HALLOWEEN
8PM $5
DAMN! a Halloween tribute to WHAM!
(Max and Kev from Pizza Party on EVR)
THE CURE(Warm Ghost)
VIOLENT FEMMES(McDonald's)
ELO(Members of The Mad Scene and The Flaming Fire)
DANZIG/MISFITS(Members of Love as Laughter, Children, and Violent Bullshit

Check out Howlies' new Halloween-friendly video for "Zombie Girl" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday? (Halloween) "

After what seems like a long period of Amanda Palmer establishing herself as a solo artist, Amanda and Brian are getting back together again. Dresden Dolls tour dates and more info below...

Continue reading "Dresden Dolls return (2010 tour dates) "

photos by Lori Baily

DOWNLOAD: Martin Bisi - Mile High- Apple Of My Eye (w/ Bill Laswell on bass) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Martin Bisi - Drink Your Wine, (w/ Bob D'Amico drummer Fiery Furnaces)

Martin Bisi @ Knitting Factory

Martin Bisi played the first half-hour of his set as a suite, segueing from one part to another by frantically laying down one searing loop of guitar feedback on top of another. This time Bisi's band had lead guitar, bass, drums and a caped crusader wailing frantically on what sounded like a little Casio running through a million noisy effects, sharing the stage with a woman whose graceful miming quickly became the show's focal point. In a strange twist of fate, Bisi, like Visconti, is best known for producing great albums for famous bands (Sonic Youth, Herbie Hancock, the Dresden Dolls, ad infinitum), but ultimately it's his songwriting which is his strongest suit. This evening's numbers had a distinctly early 80s, East Village feel, sort of Nick Cave as covered by Blue Oyster Cult, ornate and haunting but also with a sense of humor that ran from cynicism to unaffected amusement. About halfway into his suite he ran through the mythology-based Sirens of the Apocalypse (title track of his excellent 2008 album), barrelling through the lyrics without a pause to take a breath. A more recent track, Drink Your Wine came off with an irresistible sarcasm, a word of warning to a lightweight; a dedication to his daughter, far from being mawkish, was a dark garage rocker evocative of the Libertines but tighter. They finally closed their set with a big riff-rock anthem that threatened to burst into flame after it had finally gone out, but it didn't. The audience wanted more but didn't get it. [Lucid Culture]

Larkin and Martin again share a bill this Sunday (1/24) at Mercury Lounge. Susu and Snowbaby are both also on the bill. Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls will be playing drums for Martin at the show. Bob D'Amico plays drums for Martin on one of the two free tracks above. More pictures from Knitting Factory below...

Continue reading "Martin Bisi & Larkin Grimm played Knitting Factory w/ Extra Life & HUMANWINE (pics), playing Merc w/ Brian Viglione"

photos by Dese'Rae L. Stage

"The show, which can teeter on almost too much intensity at times, is tempered halfway through by the Ask Amanda segment in which AFP takes random written questions from audience members. This particular night we also had a birthday singalong for Amanda's longtime comrade / photographer / aide de camp Beth Hommel.

Towards the end, Emily Brodsky and opening band The Lisps joined AFP on stage for a rousing version of 'Delilah', a Dresden Dolls number about a girl who seems to enjoy being abused in a bad relationship. Much of Palmer's work is about women in the grip of such badness who can't seem to find a way out.

The show ended with a sweet duet between Amanda's way cool dad, Jack Palmer, and his daughter on Leonard Cohen's tragic love ballad 'One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong'." [Huffington Post]

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer (and her dad Jack) @ Highline Ballroom - pics"

As previously reported, Amanda Palmer is hard at work preparing her own high-school musical...

I am going to be performing in an original play with music titled "WITH THE NEEDLE THAT SINGS IN HER HEART" at lexington high school. the show is inspired by the album "in the aeroplane over the sea" by neutral milk hotel and is being written (and we're almost done!) by me, the cast and my former drama director and mentor, steven bogart.

performances are May 7, 8 and 9 at the LHS theater. doors at 7:30. show at 8. $5 for students. $10 for the general public. come. come come come.

using "in the aeroplane over the sea" by neutral milk hotel as an inspiration, the kids (a cast of 20) have been putting together a play through improvisation. the process started about a month ago and i've been in the last two weeks of rehearsals helping shape the plot and characters and create the musical accompaniment, mostly songs from the record played live. often with me playing the instruments, but the whole cast and some extra musicians will be presenting the music....

As Pitchfork recently reported. Amanda is also making a public effort to get dropped from her Roadrunner Records contract. She even sings a song about it to the tune of "Moon River". Check out the video below. In a letter to Bob Lefsetz she wrote:

my label-dropping game has become very fun. please pray for me.

it's a lesson in how the future of music is working - fans are literally (and i mean that....literally) lining up at the signing table after shows and HANDING me cash, saying "thank you".

i had to EXPLAIN to the so-called "head of digital media" of roadrunner australia WHAT TWITTER WAS. and his brush-off that "it hasn't caught on here yet" was ABSURD because the next day i twittered that i was doing an impromptu gathering in a public park and 12 hours later, 150 underage fans - who couldn't attend the show - showed up to get their records signed.

no manager knew! i didn't even warn or tell her! no agents! no security! no venue! we were in a fucking public park!
life is becoming awesome.

Palmer is also releasing a Who Killed Amanda Palmer book -- "a fine art hardback book of "photographic evidence" with contributions from celebrated blogger and photographer Kyle Cassidy, Beth Hommel, Tegan Rain (of Tegan and Sara) and many others. Fictional stories to accompany the photographs have been penned by best-selling author Neil Gaiman." That book will be available for pre-order on Palmer's website starting Monday, April 20th at noon (cover art above).

Full With the Needle That Sings in her Heart press release, plus Palmer singing an impromptu song with John Wesley Harding at SXSW and other videos, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer - wants out of Roadrunner, playing NYC, writing a play, releasing a book, likes Twitter & other news"

if you hadn't noticed, all of the dresden dolls and amanda palmer official videos have been taken off youtube.

yes, folks...girl anachronism, coin-operated boy, shores of california, almost everything from who killed amanda palmer....pretty much the whole deal.
all gone. go look for yourself.
and you ask...wtf?

this is why:

basically:
"Unable to reach new licensing terms, the Warner Music Group has demanded that thousands of its videos be removed from YouTube, which is owned by Google. Warner Music's videos, the source of a billion views on YouTube, gradually began disappearing from the site on Saturday, although many remained online Sunday evening."

in other words, roadrunner is a subsidiary of warner and i'm stuck in hell with madonna and the other poor bastards, because warner wants more money. even worse, warner has almost no bargaining power...they're not even in the top ten of labels who have huge artists with material streaming on youtube. they're just starving for cash right now and they're doing anything they can think of to come up with cash. it's abSURD. they are looking for money in a totally backwards way.

money that, i should point out, i would NEVER see as an artist. if they got their way and youtube decided to give them a larger revenue share of the videos, it;s very unlikely it would ever make it's way into the artists' bank accounts.

damn, man. this shit is fucked UP.

i'll obviously let you know what happens, but i'm slowly planning some sort of tribute-a-thon of dolls and amanda videos in lieu of our actual clips.

maybe a "everybody re-enact your favorite dolls video in one take on a shitty camera, with hand puppets, for under $5" contest. maybe it will yield a masterpiece.

i loved my videos.

now they are gone.

why is life so hard?

did i mention that being on a major label is starting to seem like.....not such a grand idea?

meanwhile.

i hate the cold. elaine sent me a nice vest, with a hood.

maybe i won't take it off until my videos are back up, in protest.

shovel shovel shovel shovel shovel shovel shovel shovel

x
afp...

PREVIOUSLY: Warner music vs. YouTube

Amanda Palmer @ Webster Hall (more by Dese'Rae L. Stage)

Mr. Brownstone is playing a 2 AM show at Mercury Lounge on New Years Eve. Amanda Palmer is playing a 2 AM show at Bowery Ballroom the same night. Patti Smith is playing Bowery Ballroom earlier that evening.

Stay tuned for Amanda ticket info. All dates below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer - New Years Eve in NYC & other tour dates"

photos by Dese'Rae L. Stage

...And this was blatant Friday night at Webster Hall, where [Amanda Palmer] left the piano bench, parted the audience, and made her way to the top of the bar for the evening's final song -- an acoustic, bittersweet rendition of Radiohead's "Creep" that also had her strumming a ukulele. Despite her epic talents, Palmer remains pleasantly humble and relatable. In fact, she's someone you'd want to clink glasses of Merlot with and call your BFF." [BlackBook]

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer @ Webster Hall, NYC - pics"

Photos and words by Dese'Rae Stage

Amanda Palmer played an involuntarily short show at Sound Fix in Brooklyn on Friday (September 19). Aside from the slew of technical difficulties she had to contend with, the show was shut down due to yet another noise complaint. It was an intimate show with a lot of audience interaction. She played "Ampersand," "The Point of it All," a new song she wrote recently in London tentatively titled "Dear Old House" (the first ukulele-based non-Radiohead song she's ever performed, I believe), and "Icarus" with Jason Webley, who also worked on side project Evelyn Evelyn with her. in town from Seattle, Jason plays his own NYC show Monday night (9/22) at Parkside Lounge, and Amanda will be back in NYC on 11/21 at Webster Hall.

More Sound Fix photos below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer's set cut short @ Sound Fix, NYC - pics"

Amanda Palmer has two NYC shows coming up. The first is small, free, probably short and TODAY (Sept 19, 2008 at Sound Fix in Brooklyn). The second is big, costs money (presale), and isn't until November 21st (at Webster Hall). Lots more tour dates below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer - 2008 Tour Dates (Sound Fix, Webster Hall)"

photos by Dese'Rae L. Stage

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer @ Spiegelworld, NYC - pics"

fan art

As a way to flesh out the story and evidence of her upcoming solo release, Who Killed Amanda Palmer (scheduled for release on September 16 on Roadrunner Records), The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer is teaming up once again with long-time video collaborator Michael Pope. The pair has scripted and shot six music videos that collapse together into a short feature film with mysterious segues and recurring clues and objects, which will be posted on a bi-weekly basis on YouTube starting July 1st. Simultaneously, an audio-only version of the song will be streamed on her Myspace page - http://www.myspace.com/whokilledamandapalmer - to allow her fans to hear her new material as soon as possible.

Throughout her career, Amanda has worked independently of her record company to supplement her record-making activities. An album-companion picture book, penned by best-selling author Neil Gaiman and featuring the works of several photographers, including many self-portraits of Palmer herself, is slated for a fall release. Additionally, Amanda will be playing five solo piano shows in the US and three international shows in August, spotlighting songs from the upcoming album.

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer - new solo record, 2008 Tour Dates (tonight)"

Sorcyress documented her Record Store Day experience on Flickr...

As promised, Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls was at Newbury Comics (one of the organizers of Record Store Day) in Boston in her underwear. Brian was there too. More photos below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer (in her underwear) - Record Store Day pics"

...on Record Store Day (Saturday)

note: Regina Spektor will remain fully clothed.

Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls) - Jan 2007 (Todd Owyoung)

Continue reading "St. Vincent's "Marry Me" covered by Amanda Palmer, Sxip Shirey, Reggie Watts & more (video)"

Tickets are on sale for a New Years Eve show with The Dresden Dolls at Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom Luminescent Orchestrii and Meow Meow are also on the bill. Les Savy Fav, Patti Smith, and Earl Greyhound are playing elsewhere in the city the same night. All Dresden Dolls, and related, tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Dresden Dolls - 2007/8 Tour Dates (New Years)"

You've seen her do "Creep". You've seen her do Beth Ditto with "Creep" I mean "Creep" with Beth Ditto. Now you can see 1/2 of the Dresden Dolls do Mercury Lounge on July 28th with Aberdeen City. It's four days after the other half of the Dresden Dolls does Joe's Pub.

The latest Dresden Dolls video is HERE, and more tour dates HERE.

A video of Amanda lip syncing an Aberdeen City song below.....

Continue reading "Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer in NYC w/ Aberdeen City"

the new Gossip song on MySpace is whatever, but this is pretty sweet...

Amanda Palmer, Beth Ditto (& Madame), NYC - June 21, 2007 (CRED)

It was one of those nights... that leaves you wondering, "How the hell did I end up here with Amanda Palmer and Beth Ditto and Madame singing Radiohead's 'Creep' complete with ukelele?" It started with the True Colors concert... which was *amazing*... right from the beginning with the Drag Queen Rockettes (of whom I knew 4!). I also particularly enjoyed The Dresden Dolls, The Gossip, Erasure and, of course, Cyndi Lauper. Margaret Cho was a highlight, too. Chris Tuttle had told me about the after party fundraiser for LifeBeat, so, I scooted over there and got to hang with him and Joe and Madame and Trai La Trash for a few hours... good times. :) [...says lisapodak]

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer & Beth Ditto duet (photos & video) +++++++++ a new GOSSIP song"

Dresden Dolls, The Gossip, Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Deborah Harry...

Continue reading "VIDEOS: behind the scenes on the True Colors Tour"

More skin than Au Revoir Simone in a pool....

Continue reading "VIDEO: The Dresden Dolls - 'Shores of California'"