by Andrew Sacher

Low Fat Getting High at Cake Shop earlier this month (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Brooklyn punks Low Fat Getting High have been playing raucous local shows for some time now, and as mentioned, they're finally laying down that intensity for a new EP, which is called Bad Yoga, and has just been officially announced. The EP will be out on July 18 via Dead Broke/Money Fire Records. It kicks off with three tracks of menacing, breakneck-speed punk, and culminates in a fourth track of Bleach-style noise and sludge. The whole thing is just over ten minutes and it's a real ripper so keep an eye out for it. You can stream the opening track, "Better Better Worse," along with the artwork and tracklist below.

Low Fat Getting High have a ton of upcoming shows as usual, including a previously discussed Gimme Tinnitus-presented show TONIGHT (5/22) at Big Snow with another solid local punk band, Big Ups, CYHSY-related Radical Dads (for whom the show is a record release party), and Miniboone. $7 at the door gets you into tonight's show. Doors are at 8 PM. All ages. Show flyer below.

After that, they've got a bunch of other local dates, including a Converse Rubber Tracks show on June 12; Silent Barn on June 14 with another great local punk band, Sleepies, noise rockers Eula, indie rockers Shark?, sludgy psych rockers Psychic Blood and others; a release party for the new EP on July 18 at Shea Stadium with Big Ups, Vulture Shit, and Flagland (who play with Butter the Children and Ovlov soon); and even more local dates, all of which are listed below.

In related news, as mentioned, Big Ups and Psychic Blood also play a Northside show with Nu Sensae and Destruction Unit.

All LFGH dates are listed, along with the song stream and album info, below...

Continue reading "Low Fat Getting High announce new EP & upcoming shows"

by Andrew Sacher

Brooklyn bluesy rockers LODRO, who have been hitting the local live circuit like crazy lately, have a few songs out and they've just recorded a new single, "Lazy Bones," which also happens to be the song in their first official video. Like their other tunes, this one comes awash in sludgy blues and psychedelia, and the dimly lit video complements that well. You can watch that video below.

Like we said, LODRO have been playing live a lot, and you've got two chances to see them in NYC over the next four days. Their first show happens on Saturday (5/11) at Mercury Lounge with DIIV, Xray Eyeballs, and DJ Dog Dick as part of Downtown Music Festival (tickets). Then on Monday (5/13) at Knitting Factory), they will play a BrooklynVegan-curated Red Bull Sound Select show with Foxygen, Amen Dunes, and Prince Rupert's Drops. Chris Gethard is hosting and BV's Bill Pearis has just been added as the DJ for the night. Like all shows in the Sound Select series, admission is $3 at the door. All ages, no advance tickets.

LODRO also play another show later this month at Shea Stadium on May 31 with a strong local bill of The Beets, Darlings, and Eula.

Video below...

Continue reading "watch LODRO's video for their new single, "Lazy Bones" (BV Premiere), catch them live Monday with Foxygen"

photos by Dylan Johnson

Peelander-Z at Brain Cave Festival - 4/11/13

Brooklyn's Brain Cave Festival went down this past Thursday (4/11) through Sunday (4/14) mostly at Europa (it also included a free day show on Saturday at the Greenpointers.com Market). The first night had a good dose of rock from Peelander-Z, The Suzan, and Eula, plus a horn-filled set from Zongo Junction and Supremes tribute band Guyanna Ross and the Supremes. Pictures of those bands are this post. It also featured Gunfight! and Hoya, who unfortunately we missed.

You can catch Eula again at Mercury Lounge on May 23 with Friend Roulette and Matty Fasano. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (4/19) at noon.

More pictures, plus video of Guyanna Ross and the Supremes, below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z, Eula, The Suzan, Guyanna Ross & the Supremes, Hoya, and Zongo Junction at the Brain Cave Festival (pics)"

Computer Magic @ Bowery Ballroom, 9/8/12 (more by Erik Erikson)

The Aputumpu Festival is a musical showcase featuring more than two dozen rising Brooklyn-based bands comprising the backbone of the burgeoning Brooklyn music scene.

For New York City, Aputumpu is a celebration of the best new talent in the city, an amalgam of creative and artistic forces which seem to be as much a part of the air as the weather. In a city overflowing with musical talent, these bands rise above with distinctive sounds and unforgettable performances.

Friday (3/29) is the big night for Aputumpu with a folk/world show at Joe's Pub with Azania, Derrick N. Ashong & Soulfege and more; Computer Magic, Friend Roulette and more at Studio at Webster Hall; and both stages at Public Assembly, with EDM in the front (Rubber Ross, iBeat, more), and punk in the back room (KNTRLR, Religious Girls, Cinema Cinema, more).

The festival closes out on Saturday (3/30) at Ran Tea House, with Eula, Speedy Ortiz, Bambara and more.

Aputumpu Festival passes are $30 and tickets to individual shows are $10. Passes and tickest to Cameo, Public Assembly and Ran Tea House can be purchased here, Joe's Pub tickets are here and Studio @ Webster Hall here.

Festival flyer and full line-ups for all Aputumpu shows below...

Continue reading "NYC's Aputumpu Festival starts tonight (Computer Magic, Eula, KNTRLR, Dickpic, Speedy Ortiz & more)"

Peelander-Z at Knitting Factory in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn's Brain Cave Festival is returning this year from April 11 to 14 at Europa. The festival features four days of local bands including Peelander-Z, Eula, The Suzan, Hooray For Earth, Lemonade, Cat Martino, and more. The full lineup and schedule, along with the trailer video and flyer for the festival, are below.

Tickets for each individual night and a 4-day pass option are on sale now.

Schedule, video, and flyer below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn's Brain Cave Festival 2013 lineup & tix (Peelander-Z, Lemonade, Cat Martino, Eula, The Suzan & more)"

by Bill Pearis

As mentioned, Virals is the new band from Shaun Hencher who used to front Sub Pop-signed Lovvers. They've got a new EP on Tough Love records that's due any time now and you can stream a couple tracks from below. There's a definite West Coast vibe to the melodies but still with that manic energy Hencher brought to Lovvers.

Virals are on their way to Austin for SXSW and have added a couple shows in NYC on the way back. They'll play 285 Kent on Monday (3/18) with Home Blitz (tickets), and Death by Audio on Tuesday (3/19) with EULA and Advaeta. The DbA show is also a fundraiser for the new Dead Herring space. All tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Virals ready new EP, playing NYC after SXSW (dates, streams)"

As mentioned, Scottish indie trio PAWS are over for their first American tour on their way down to SXSW. It starts with two shows in NYC: Tuesday (3/5) at Glasslands with Dinowalrus and OVLOV (tickets); and Wednesday (3/6) at Cake Shop with Shark? and EULA. All tour dates are listed below.

To commemorate the trip, the band recorded three new songs for a cassette that will only be available at merch tables on this tour. (They'll also be selling last year's great Cokefloat! LP.) However PAWS were nice enough to give us one copy of the tape to give away and details on how to win it are below. We're also premiering a stream of the entire tour cassette below.

Continue reading "PAWS are here, recorded new songs for U.S. tour cassette (stream it, win one!)"

Roomrunner at Mercury Lounge in September (more by Tracy Allison)

Baltimore noise punks Roomrunner, who were just in NYC for a few CMJ shows, including one with their sonic brethren METZ, will kick off a tour in NYC at Death by Audio tonight (11/11) with Sleepies and Eula (both of who teamed up as the Pixies for the Halloween covers show at DBA last night), and Big Ups. Roomrunner will return to NYC to open for Future of the Left when their tour hits Knitting Factory on November 27.

A list of all Roomrunner dates, a video of them at Paper Box during CMJ, and a stream of their Super Vague EP, which came out this past May, are below.

Continue reading "Roomrunner kicking off tour in NYC tonight, opening for Future of the Left at Knitting Factory (dates, stream, video)"

Union Pool this AM. Sign reads "Closed! Oh, Sandy!" (photo by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Are you going stir crazy? Most shows are cancelled, but there are some options in Williamsburg tonight. As of 1PM today (10/30), Union Pool has been open for business. So head on over but remember, only one per bathroom due to excess "debauchery". Jonathan Toubin just tweeted, "@UnionPool & i just decided to throw a FREE party tonight to bring everybody together & make them feel better. i'll turning the soul stuff." UPDATE: here's more info.

Halloween (10/31) is on and poppin' for Union Pool as well, when the venue will host a covers show by the Union Ghouls, that features members of Polygamist, Mutant, Supremacy, Sun Ladders, Weeknight, Reni Lane, Public School, Riverwilde, and Gentlemen. They'll be performing songs by Black Sabbath, Nancy Sinatra, Wire, Suicide, AC/DC, and Celtic Frost. The party is free and starts at 8:30 PM.

Elsewhere in Williamsburg, Glasslands will also be open tonight (10/30) for "The World's Premier Alternative Rock Band Kerosene Hat" that features Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson and members of MGMT, Amazing Baby, Suckers and more is still a go. Heems from Das Racist will DJ. Doors are at 9 PM, $7 to get in.

Glasslands is also throwing a Halloween covers party on Wednesday (10/31) with a bunch of different (surprise) bands playing, choosing songs by:

8:45 GO GO's
9:00 Fleetwod Mac
9:15 Bauhaus
9:30 Stiff little Fingers
9:45 The Stooges
10:00 Led Zeppelin
10:15 Grateful Dead
10:30 Tom Petty
10:45 Mummies
11:00 Gary Puckett & the Union Gap
11:15 The Carrie Nation
11:30 GirlSchool
11:45 Cramps
12:00 BLITZ
12:15 Angry Samoans
12:30 Nirvana
12:45 Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
1:00 Witchfinder General

Around the corner at Death by Audio, they're also doing a Halloween cover bands show that is still on that features:

Sleepies (w/mem of Eula) as The Pixies
Mr Dream as Siouxsie and the Banshees
Acid Problem as The Ramones
Heavens Gate as Joy Division
The Go-Guh's (mems Moonmen on the Moon, Man, Paper Fleet, I'm With Cupid) as The Go-Go's

Cameo will be open on Halloween too, hosting both Big Terrific comedy show on Wednesday early, and then later The Hold Steady's Dan Neustadt and some of his friends will be covering Michael Jackson's Thriller in its entirety, part of his "Off the Record" series.

Big Freedia at Brooklyn Bowl is also still happening as of this post. Same with World Inferno Friendship Society at Warsaw,

DOWNLOAD: The Toothaches - Pretty and Loud (MP3)

To quote a June 7th press release in my inbox:

With the release of their debut studio album, O! Be Joyful (ORG Music), earlier this week, THE TOOTHACHES have unleashed their dynamic, dance-punk sound on the masses.

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, THE TOOTHACHES are a five-piece band comprised of Zimmy (Guitar, Vocals), Rose (Keys, Vocals), Monica (Tambo, Glock, Vocals), Kiril (Drums, Vocals) and Chris (Bass, Vocals).

With New Yorkers feeling the aftereffects of Wednesday's horrible massacre in Aurora, Colorado, it turns out at least two area residents were among the survivors. Christopher Rapoza, a musician from Brooklyn, and Stephen Barton, a Southbury, Connecticut native and recent Syracuse University graduate, were both at the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises when suspected gunman James Holmes began shooting; both were shot, but are recovering.

Rapoza, who plays bass for local punk band The Toothaches and was in Colorado on a trip with his girlfriend, received a grazing wound on his back during the shooting and was treated at an area hospital. He linked to photos of his wound and bloodied t-shirt on Reddit (and as the photos show, he's lucky!), "I'm doing all right just a little shook up," he wrote on the site. "Me and my girlfriend waited until it seemed the shooting was finished so we were some of the last people out of the theatre and there was a lot of blood." He had also posted on Facebook, "Perry and I were just at a midnight showing of Batman in Colorado when some f***ing psycho decided to open fire on the crowd. "I was grazed in the back with a bullet but am fine. Perry is unscathed, but unfortunately has lost her shoes. A lot of other people weren't so lucky."

The Toothaches, who maybe you caught at Hillstock in June or at Aputumpu Fest in March, cancelled a 7/20 NYC show at The Bitter End due to the shooting, but are still scheduled to play on 7/28 at Big Mouth in Brooklyn with Eula, Celestial Shore, and many more, and on 8/9 at Shea Stadium. You can download "Pretty and Loud" from their new album above.

The Death Set at Williamsburg Waterfront, 2010 (more by Leia Jospe)

While not on a full tour, The Death Set are playing select dates this summer, including a visit to the NXNE in Toronto and Osheaga in Montreal as well as two NYC shows: XPO 929 on June 28 with Team Spirit, Bosco Delrey and Eula, and Bowery Ballroom on July 31 with Ninjasonik and Hussle Club. Tickets to the XPO show are already on sale, and Bowery tickets go on sale Friday (6/8) at noon. All listed Death Set tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

The band recently released a new video for their song "Is it the End Again?" which is the "ballad" from last year's Michel Poiccard LP. It's a little NSFW, and you can watch it below.

Continue reading "The Death Set playing XPO 929 and Bowery Ballroom"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Oblivion (Grimes cover) (M4A)

Total Slacker are about to head out on the road with Night Manager. Before they do, they'll play with Heaven's Gate and Turnip King at Cheap Storage in Brooklyn on June 2. Tonight (5/15), Total Slacker will DJ between sets at the Japanther/Night Manager/Wild Yaks/Eula show at the Studio at Webster Hall.

For the tour, Total Slacker have recorded a cover of Grimes' single "Oblivion" which we have for you, hot off the mixing desk (they finished it this afternoon) and free for you to download at the top of this post. Keeping the signature bass line intact, the band's version slowly builds to a post-punk crescendo that wouldn't have sounded out of place in fog machine filled dancefloor in 1981.

Additionally, Total Slacker have given us "Brain Slime," the a-side to the band's new single which is being released on Japanese label Sixteen Tambourines. The cover art for the single is below. The Brooklynites also have a UK split 7" with Friends due out this summer.

Total Slacker tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Total Slacker covered Grimes, going on tour w/ Night Manager"

Frankie Rose @ Township (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

In addition to the Jens Lekman/Of Montreal show at Williamsburg Park, the Northside Festival (June 14 - 17) just announced a slew of confirmed artists who'll be playing this year, including Future of the Left, the U.S. debut of Iceage-spinoff Vår (formerly War), Frankie Rose (playing the BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg with more TBA), Grass Widow, Cleveland's Gap Dream, Wymond Miles of the Fresh & Onlys,  Chain & the Gang, Kool Keith and more.

Other 2012 Northside Festival artists we've already posted about include Olivia Tremor Control, GZA, Neil Hamburger, Eternal Summers, Ceremony and Screaming Females and Royal Headache. Badges are on sale now and the full list of confirmed 2012 Northside artists is below.

Continue reading "more Northside Festival artists announced (Frankie Rose, Grass Widow, Felice Brothers, Buke & Gass, Vår, Gap Dream & more)"

Electric Eel Shock at 502 in San Antonio, TX

After a show at Death By Audio earlier this month, Japan's Electric Eel Shock are returning from a trek down to SXSW with Peelander-Z. Their first trek in the US in six years is almost complete, but they have a few shows left on their itinerary with Hot Cha Cha that include a final show at Cake Shop on March 25th with The Vandelles, Hard Nips and DJ Eric Davidson (Livids, New Bomb Turks). $8 gets you in.

Hard Nips are also on board for the four-day Aputumpu Music Festival that will take place across four venues in NYC over the next four days. The party kicks off TONIGHT (3/22) with a show at Shea Stadium featuring The Suzan, Radical Dads, Osekre & The Lucky Bastards, Habibi, and The Toothaches and continues with shows at Public Assembly, Cameo, and a headlining appearance from Japanther at LPR. Tickets are on sale for the entire weekend.

The full festival lineup with all EES tour dates and some video of EES's metal-punk party vibes, below...

Continue reading "Aputumpu Fest begins today; Electric Eel Shock on tour"

photos by Erik Erikson

"...It's time to stop calling Mission of Burma an "influential band"...

...Of course they are influential, but did you suffer ear trauma and go deaf right before May 2004? Burma tipped their musical output scales towards NEW compared to OLD in 2009!...

About eight or nine songs in [to the Music Hall of Williamsburg show on 1/19], I turned to my cousin and my girlfriend, (the usual Burma crew: we've probably seen Burma together eight or nine times) and I said, "They haven't played any OLD OLD songs yet ... Fuck influential!"

Mixed into that were NEW NEW songs that haven't come out yet and I imagine are on the new record that Burma recently finished recording and I expect to come out some time after the ground thaws. They played six brand spanking new songs by my count... and a few of the new songs were a lot louder and more chaotic than anything on The Sound The Speed The Light. Drummer Peter Prescott had a lyric sheet in front of him and roared behind the kit for two of the new songs, which makes me think the new album may be more like The Obliterati, which was heavy on Presscott singing songs. But I won't even really think about it until it comes out because every Burma album is its own." -[ShortWaveRockin]

More pictures from Brooklyn show are below.

Continue reading "Mission of Burma played NEW songs @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics)"

You can actually still donate if you want, but the official Kickstarter end-time was about two hours ago and "The Punk Singer: The Documentary about Kathleen Hanna" is already almost $20,000 over its original goal. Congrats to them and time to celebrate at Death By Audio tonight (10/27). Flyer above. More details (which include EX-TITUS Andronicus member Amy Klein), below...

Continue reading "Kathleen Hanna documentary funded on Kickstarter, Riot Grrl Cover Bands Show at DBA tonight"

photos by Eric M. Townsend

B.O.M.B. Fest went down over Memorial Day Weekend at Comcast Theatre in Hartford, CT. You already saw the Dan Deacon pictures from the first day of the two day fest. Now here are the rest from that Saturday (May 28th) (we have no pics from Sunday). They continue below...

Continue reading "B.O.M.B. Fest 2011 - Day 1 in pics"

Record Store Day 2011 is Saturday (4/16)! Shops will be flooded with limited/rare releases from tons of notables (watch a video below of some of the stuff), and they will hopefully make lots of money. Some area stores will also host free live events...

Other Music, though they seem to have scaled it back a bit from last year, has a special show scheduled for Saturday, but set your alarm clocks.

We also have a very special in-store performance on Saturday from NYC's own Regina Spektor ...The first 100 customers who buy her new RSD 7" Four from Far at Other Music on Record Store Day will get one ticket to see a private solo performance Regina is giving right next door to OM at 2 p.m. on Saturday. That's the only way to see the show, so come on down early, get in line and buy her new RSD 7" record.

OM will also have "a ton of cool gifts and prizes, records, CDs and swag, including a backpack and a gift certificate for a pair of sneakers from our friends at Onitsuka Tiger for the first five customers who spend $250 or more". Other Music opens at 11am.

As previously discussed, Obits, The Jay Vons, I Hate Our Freedom, and Spa Castles will team up on Saturday, but Generation Records have also added DJ Sets from Yo La Tengo (all three members), Tom Scharpling (WFMU's Best Show), Eric Davidson (New Bomb Turks), Bill Dolan (American Standard), Mike Longo (Hoboken Heartthrob). Doors are at 11AM, bands start at 1PM... full set times and flyer are below.

As also previously discussed, Damon & Naomi play a free in-store at Sound Fix Records who open at 10:30am on Saturday.

Eula will appear at Permanent Records "throughout the day" before playing Bruar Falls later that night with Shark?, Ghost Bunny, Pow Wow & DJ Ron Like Hell as part of their Maurice Narcisse record release party.

As discussed, Fat Beats & Waxpoetics will open a pop-store in DUMBO that will host a ton of hip hop/funky notables including The Stepkids, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Neek The Exotic & Large Professor, CSC Funk Band and many more. The pop-up store opens at noon.

East Village Radio will broadcast live from Academy Records in the East Village (12th between 1st & A) from 4 - 6PM.

Kim's Music & Video will host Angel Olsen (5pm) and Bow Ribbons (6pm) for RSD, with the store opening at 9AM.

Though it isn't exactly a record store or a free show, Fontana's will host a "RSD Afterparty" from 3PM to 7PM with Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, The Kickdrums, Midnight Spin, and The Pass. The show costs $10.

Cake Shop used to be a record store and it will be again on Record Store Day. As Bill said, "Eternal Summers also play Cake Shop on Saturday (4/16) which is the venue's Record Store Day extravaganza, featuring a slew of great -- mostly local -- bands. The downstairs will be a record mart during the day (noon - 6PM). Bands during the evening include the previously-mentioned McDonalds, Natural Child, Widowspeak, Overlord, Hands & Knees, Night Collectors and Twitchers." The flyer is reposted below.

Looney Tunes in West Babylon is sure to actually be looney, as the store will host free shows by Thursday, Kevin Devine, The Pretty Reckless, Alex Skolnick, Grace Read, Tiger Riot, and Hotel of The Laughing Tree starting at 2PM. More details on how to get into see each band (each has a different entry condition) head to the Looney Tunes site.

Vintage Vinyl in NJ has... John Leguizamo. (whatever works)

J&R Music World will host Lez Zeppelin "and others to be announced" on Record Store Day. Doors open at 10AM.

Elsehwere you have Dom playing in Newbury Comics right before TV on the Radio do a signing, My Morning Jacket at CD Central in Lexington, Off! at Fingerprints in Long Beach, tons of bands at Grimey's, The Growlers and special guest at Origami Vinyl, and much more. There will be a Record Store Day tent at Coachella for those braving the sun at the sold out fest this weekend. Check the Record Store Day site for many more listings (though note their list is far from complete).

What did we miss?

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BrooklynVegan is also a proud Record Store Day partner this year. Look for our metal-centric ad in a free Decibel mini-mag that will be available at various record stores on Saturday. The cover looks like this:

If you can't get the mag, you can also download the free sampler that comes with it online And though heavy music isn't strongly represented this year live, we are happy to remedy that in recorded format by giving away a massive prize pack of vinyl to one (seriously) lucky reader. It includes:

• Trap Them's Darker Handcraft on vinyl
• a Kvelertak t-shirt
• Red Fang - limited edition Wires 7" vinyl
• A prize pack of Goes Cube 7" vinyl featuring every song on Of Tides & Drifts "Property" (sorry, the label informed us that they instead only have "Property" for this contest)
• Obscura - Omnivarium LP on vinyl (clear, not available to the public, 100 copies pressed)

Continue reading "a guide to Record Store Day 2011 (NYC in-stores, Regina Spektor @ Other Music, a big metal vinyl contest & more)"

"Like last year, everything will be taking place in Williamsburg and Greenpoint because walking long distances is a drag when there are bands to see and beer to drink, we mean seriously. Us here at The L Magazine will be booking a share of shows on our own, but, for a large chunk of the festival, we've once again handed over curatorial control to some of the most tasteful, talented and dedicated folks in New York's independent music scene -- record labels, bloggers, promoters and more -- allowing them to showcase the bands they think you need to hear. The Williamsburg Gallery Association is again on board to highlight special exhibitions and other events at over 25 art galleries in the neighborhood. And to celebrate Northside's second year, we've invited a few of the city's biggest aficionados of independent film to curate four nights of New York-made movies at Brooklyn's new, as-yet-unopened film house-music club-restaurant-bar, indieScreen."

Music, art and movies will be happening at "30+ venues" and "dozens of galleries" over the course of four days in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Like SXSW & CMJ, you can buy tickets to individual events, or you can get a badge which gets you in to everything that isn't already at badge-capacity. $50 badges are now on sale to those 21 and over. If you buy a badge, "Arrive to venues early - badgeholders are admitted on a first-come, first-served, one-out, one-in basis."

If you buy a badge you can take your chances at getting into one of the four Northside shows happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg (BrooklynVegan showcase included), Fiery Furnaces at Brooklyn Bowl, and WAVVES & Cloud Nothings at Knitting Factory. TONS more shows TBA, but the initial list of bands that will be playing has been announced (I'm especially excited to see The Wave Pictures, Fucked Up, Liars, Parenthetical Girls and Les Savy Fav on there in addition to what we've previously talked about) (and yes Titus Andronicus is on there). Check it out below...

Continue reading "2010 Northside Festival - tickets & intial lineup (includes Liars, Fucked Up, Les Savy Fav, Polvo & many more)"