by Ryan Barkan

The Darkness played a Superbowl commercial

Another Super Bowl, another year where the Cowboys didn't win, and another year of music-filled commercials. The Patriots entered the field to "Crazy Train" by English metal god Ozzy Osbourne (who is currently having a feud of his own with an old bandmate). The Giants entered to "Written in the Stars" by English rapper Tinie Tempah.

Did you catch that map of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the Samsung commercial for their Galaxy (with stylus!)? You know, the one that had a sweet use of The Darkness jam "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"? Yeah, it was there and showed a close up of Berry and N. 1st in Google Maps. Did I mention they also have a stylus? The Darkness are currently in NYC, played Irving Plaza on Superbowl eve and do so again tonight (2/6). Watch the ad which stars the band's Justin Hawkins, below.

My personal favorite music-based commercial of Super Bowl XLVI goes to the Mr. Sandman-induced dream sequence in a new Kia commercial that featured two great music choices.

The spot starts with the Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman" for the first few seconds of the commercial. That song makes way for something completely different, like Motley Crüe. The band actually shows up and plays inside the race track-themed dream of the alpha male hero. He drives the track to impress Adrianna Lima while the Crüe shred on "Kickstart My Heart". Watch "A Dream Car For Real Life" below.

In the "did I just hear Megafaun in a commercial" category, Megafaun wins one for the little guys and gets a song used in a new Toyota ad. The band's song "Hope You Know" sounds super good as the soundtrack to a story-esque spot for the Camry model. Watch it below.

Also of significant note was another brand-infused OK GO music video. The band collaborated with Chevrolet to make a commercial/music video for the song "Needing/Getting", off the 2010 album Of The Blue Colour Of the Sky. The band is filmed strapped inside a Chevy Sonic, singing and utilizing both the car and a strategically placed course sprinkled with over 1100 instruments that more or less sound like the studio version of the song. The set up is meticulous, as is the band's ability to show up in a paid advertisement in an easily-digestible, yet very memorable way.

My single most favorite lyric placed in a Super Bowl commercial goes to the lines I know it must be killing time / unknowingly mine. Audi tries to end the whole Vampire craze with its 2012 game day commercial featuring Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Moon." Watch below.

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Continue reading "music & commercials of Super Bowl XLVI (Darkness, Motley Crue, Megafaun, Art Brut, OK Go, Echo & the Bunnymen, Madonna & more)"

Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch is planning to release his new solo album, Pro Patria Mori, this March. It's his first new album of original material since 2003's Slideling. He's releasing the album via PledgeMusic, where he's also currently funding it. As of this post, he is 74% of the way to reaching his target and there are 60 days left. You can help Ian out by pledging now.

Of the new album, Ian says:

I'm in the studio and I feel it's the same magic in the air as I felt when recording "The Killing Moon" and "Nothing Lasts Forever", amongst others.

Suffice to say, I'm thrilled about it all again. I just want to say that I can't wait for the people - you people - to hear these songs and share your feelings about (or Heavens to Murgatroyed, your lack of), and thoughts on them. Because you already know what I think.... "Different Trees", "Pro Patria Mori" and "Raindrops On The Sun" are the equi-greatest Holy Trinity of songs ever written.

Sincere thanks and love for your love and belief.

Ian McCulloch XXX

All dates below...

Continue reading "Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen releasing solo album, schedules dates"

photos by Vincent Cornelli

It is with huge regret that the Echo & The Bunnymen concert scheduled for the 20th May Las Vegas - Red Rock Casino.

The venue promoter decided to cancel the concert, we appreciate that lots of you have purchased tickets and booked flights and again we apologise. Ticket refunds are available from the place of purchase.

As soon as we have more details we will post them here.

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen still on tour, but aren't playing Vegas (here are the pics from the 2nd NYC show)"

photos by Matthew Eisman

Echo & the Bunnymen @ Irving Plaza

In the last few months they've been extensively touring, playing their first two albums in their entirety each night: 1980's Crocodiles and 1981's Heaven Up Here. It has been very successful thus far, and in May, they bring the Crocodiles & Heaven Up Here Tour to the U.S. It's a real treat for fans who've been there since the beginning. Or fans like myself who dove into the entire discography and cherished these records years after their release. But does playing two entire albums every night wear them out?

"Well, we'll play both records in their entirety, then go offstage for a few, then come back and play more songs. Songs that aren't on either of those records, just ones we want to play anyway. It's a long show. It doesn't feel exhausting vocally; it's a pleasure really, and we all get a real thrill from it. I don't feel tired on stage. It's all split up; we play slower songs to relax a little then dive into rougher songs. There's an almost physical ebb and flow to it. Honestly, I could have a broken back, but once I'm on stage I don't feel anything else," said Ian McCulloch to the Aquarian Weekly

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen & Kelly Stoltz played 2 nights @ Irving Plaza (night 1 pics, both setlists)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Generationals - Trust (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - No Lines (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - Blame the Record (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shark? - Down Low (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shark? - Shark? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - Sparrow (MP3)

Generationals

I take you away from trying to figure out the identity of The Modern Weepers (my favorite comment guess: Hard-Fi) to talk about shows happening this weekend. As always, this being New York City, there's lots of great options.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are in town this week with Generationals and the two bands play tonight (5/11) at Mercury Lounge (sold out!) and tomorrow (5/12)  at The Rock Shop (not sold out!). Dale Jr Jr also play Kidrockers on Sunday [5/14] at the Rock Shop with Pearl and the Beard.

I feel like there's been enough talk about Dale, whose dreamy brand of synth rock can be heard on their pretty good upcoming album It's a Corporate World which is out June 7. So I'm here to talk about Generationals who are surely one of the few indiepop bands in New Orleans. Unlike Big Freedia, they haven't appeared yet on an episode of Treme but their new album Actor-Caster is loaded with clever, tunefull pop. What they do isn't particularly cool at this second in time, but I think stuff like this is never really out of style. You can download the title track to last year's great Trust EP at the top of this post and there's a widget below that will get you two tracks from Actor-Caster for the price of your email.

Malajube

Also here this week for a couple shows are Montreal's Malajube , playing The Rock Shop tonight (5/11) and will be at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (3/13) with the epic and amazing Besnard Lakes (and Nova Scotia's Wintersleep).  If you were in Austin for SXSW this year, you may have seen Malajube at our SXSW day party this year we co-presented with M for Montreal who we are co-presenting a show with this Friday in Brighton (if anyone is headed to the Great Escape).

Like a lot of folks, Malajube made a big impression on me in 2006 with their record Trompe-L'Oeil and, even more, their string of fantastic CMJ performances that year. The tunes were catchy, they were great live, the language barrier didn't matter so much. I must admit 2009's Labarinthes didn't make much of an impression but I've really been enjoying the band's brand new album La Cavern. The album is out now in Canada and will be available in the U.S. sometime soon on MB3 Records. Maybe they'll have it at the merch tables this week.

The new album walks the line between guitar pop and space rock and I keep imagining them performing songs like the vaguely disco "Le Blizzard" on the Muppet Show. There's a general soft filter '70s vibe to the whole of La Cavern that feels very comforting. You can listen to the whole thing via a streaming widget doohickey at the bottom of this post.

And go see the Besnard Lakes, for whom I have declared my love for many, many times. And go early for Malajube.

Echo & the Bunnymen are at Irving Plaza on Friday (5/13) and Saturday (5/15) playing their first two albums -- 1979's Crocodiles and 1980's Heaven Up Here -- back to back, in their entirety. This may not be quite as exciting as seeing them at Radio City doing Ocean Rain with a full orchestra, but it's still pretty awesome.

Especially because the albums are post-punk classics. Crocodiles is all scratchy nervous energy and contains no mediocre songs whatsover. I could list them all if you wanted, each one amazing. The whole thing still sounds fantastic. Heaven Up Here is considerably darker, more paranoid but no less definitive. "Over the Wall" is one of their best-ever songs. These two records are also a great showcase for Will Seargent's guitar-playing that still sounds innovative today. I'm a little sceptical of Mac's ability to belt out these songs -- it's gonna be a workout on his pipes -- but the chance to hear deep cuts like "All That Jazz," "It Was a Pleasure," "Happy Death Men," and "With a Hip" is exciting.

Opening for both shows is Bunnymen megafan Kelley Stoltz, who has covered Crocodiles in its entirety, both on record and as an infrequent but incredible tribute act that also featured Spiral Stairs of Pavement and Shayde Sartin who's now in The Fresh & Onlys. (They played CMJ 2003 at Arlene's Grocery, it was awesome.) Anyway, Stoltz is now an established artist in his own right, putting out terrific records on Sub Pop when not playing drums in Sonny & the Sunsets.  So if you're going to this show, do go early.

Gross Relations

We now enter the local band portion of This Week in Indie. Let's start with L Magazine 8 Bands runners-up Gross Relations who are playing three times this week: tonight (5/11) at Don Pedro with Raccoon Fighter and The Horehounds, then tomorrow (5/12) at Bruar Falls with deVries and Hunktronic, and on Friday (5/13) at Cake Shop with The Bynars, Field Mouse and Infinity Hotel.

The band have been releasing a series of digital singles via their bandcamp page, all of which exemplify their brand of supercatchy, keyboard-friendly indie rock. You can download the A-sides of the last two at the top of this post. "Blame the Records" is especially good. As I said previously, those keyboard lead lines make for easy comparisons to the Rentals which I'm gonna guess is probably what they were going for. Which is fine -- the hooks are undeniable.

Radical Dads

Radical Dads, meanwhile, were actually picked by the L Mag as one of those 8 Bands You Need To Hear and I certainly agree. And hear them you can Thursday at Cake Shop. The band's debut album, Mega Rama, is out next month and it's pretty damn good. I hear a lot of '90s DC  here -- more Simple Machines and DeSoto than Teenbeat -- whether that was intentional or not. Which means, basically, strident, melodic indie rock. The record is also a contender for my favorite album art of the year, done by Michael Deforge, which you can see below. Also below is yet another widget, this one will allow you to stream or download Mega Rama track "New Age Dinosaur." Oh, and they are quite good live.

Also playing that Cake Shop show tomorrow are Shark? whose debut album True Waste comes out May 24. The band worked with former Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone on the record and what I've heard sounds really good. You can download two tracks from the album up top, and Shark?'s Pixies-ish theme song is pretty fun.

And lastly, I'd like to write a little about Vacation who are opening for Oberhofer at Coco 66 on Saturday night (5/14). The band are pretty new. What started as a solo project for Paul Greenfield Daly, formed into a band during one of the blizzards this year. Vacation have only played out a couple of times (Brad Oberhofer was in the live incarnation briefly.) But I really, really like the songs available as free downloads on Vacation's Bandcamp site. While I wouldn't call it synthpop, Vacation are definitely danceable, kind of groovy and motorik.  The track "Jean" in particular sounds like a hit to me, definitely check that one out.

That Coco 66 show also has the lately ubiquitous Widowspeak, and with Oberhofer that makes for a pretty good Saturday night. If you can't make it this weekend, Vacation are playing Pianos on May 22 with Dinner at the Thompsons.

OK that's the big stuff this week. Here are a few more picks, day-by-day:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

It's a night of well-dressed pop at Glasslands with Princeton and the High Highs. I keep meaning to catch High Highs again, I was impressed when they played with Radio Department last year.

We haven't heard from locals Gray Goods since last year's Northside Fest. They emerge from their cocoon, sonically reborn, tonight at Union Pool, with Zachary Cale and D. Charles Speer and the Helix.

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Continue reading "Generationals, Malajube, Echo & the Bunnymen, Kelley Stoltz, Gross Relations, Radical Dads, Shark?, Vacation, Karaoke Underground & more in This Week in Indie"

by BBG

Echo & The Bunnymen (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

Echo & The Bunnymen will repeat themselves, sort of. The band will return to North America to focus on, like they did at Radio City, playing a full album (actually albums) for a tour that includes Irving Plaza on May 13 (the site of their last NYC appearance) and with Kelley Stoltz, who joined them at the venue in 2008 and on a UK tour in 2010... but that's where the similarities end.

Whereas the Radio City show focused on Ocean Rain in its entirety, Irving Plaza will focus on their first TWO LPs, Crocodiles & Heaven Up Here, in their entirety, plus a selection of "hits". Tickets for the NYC show are on sale in regular and VIP varieties, which include "front of the line access, a poster, and access to a designated area of the balcony". All dates below.

In related news, Kelley Stoltz was involved in a fascinating project by Sonny Smith:

Last year, local songwriter/cool guy Sonny Smith started an art project you may have heard a thing or two about: He invented 100 fake bands, wrote 100 different singles from each one (with an A side and B side!), and made art for those 100 singles.

But then, Smith and a bunch of friends began recording some of those songs... Collaborators on the project include: Ty Segall, Kelley Stoltz, the Sandwitches, Tim Cohen of the Fresh & Onlys, and others. -[SF Weekly]

That song stream, all tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen performing 'Crocodiles' & 'Heaven Up Here' on tour w/ Kelley Stoltz (who's involved in '100 Records')"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

There was nothing wrong with the Bunnymen show [in Washinton DC] on Friday [April 30th]. OK, that's not exactly true. We could have done without some of those meandering medleys that seemed to exist just so Ian McCulloch could sing a verse of "Walk on the Wild Side." The band sounded fine, Will Sergeant still plays great guitar, McCulloch still earns the right to wear sunglasses (and smoke) indoors. We put up with a handful of new tunes and they played all the hits everyone came to hear: "Bring on the Dancing Horses," "Seven Seas," "Villiers Terrace," "Lips Like Sugar," "The Killing Moon," etc.

A few dudes in their 40s and 50s wearing Docksides danced and played air guitar. It was fun, but all nostalgia, as it goes for an increasing number of shows these days. At these kinds of shows expectations will often be met, but rarely exceeded. (Note: This is not a cut-and-dried rule and when you hear me claim that the Clean played show of the year on Friday night, feel free to call me out.) [Washington Post]

All upcoming tour dates, a new Blogotheque session and more pictures from the second NYC show, below...

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen played Irving Plaza (belated pics) "

"Why I didn't get Echo and the Bunnymen tickets for tonight is beyond me"
- Nicole Atkins

Echo & the Bunnymen @ Coachella (more by Rachel Carr)

"One of the few U.K. post-punk bands still kicking around, Echo and the Bunnymen launched their new tour with a performance at Coachella earlier this month and then hit stateside clubs in support of their most recent album, last year's The Fountain, a moody, atmospheric record that sounds a lot like their subdued releases from the middle of the decade.

Singer Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant are the only remaining original members. They've fleshed out the lineup with a group of capable young hired hands." [Cleveland Scene]

photos by Rachel Carr

Devo

"An aggregate 225,000 people bought tickets to see a [Coachella] roster headlined by Jay-Z, Muse and Gorillaz during the April 16-18 event at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio.

The previous attendance record was set in 2007, when the headliners included a reunited Rage Against the Machine. Final figures are still being tallied, but AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips said the gross will exceed $20 million.

Phillips said the future looked bleak for AEG Live's nascent All Points West festival, which took place in 2008 and 2009 across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J.

"We're probably going to kill it," said Phillips. "As beautiful as (the site) is, it's very hard to get New Yorkers to cross that river. All Points West is an experiment that just didn't work." [Reuters]

Continue reading "more photos from Coachella, more confirmation that All Points West is not happening"

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

Jay-Z, Beyonce & Johnny Rotten

This year, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival reveals that tattoos are more ubiquitous among social scenes than ever before. A walking museum of quotes and legendary faces from Jesus to Michael Jackson decorates the backs, shoulders, calves and fingers of people fashionably reliving their favorite historical decades at this heat-stroke inducing music marathon.

I thought Wale didn't show up, but later found out that he showed up late. Baroness demonstrated the art of rocking out at least three to five times before each song reached a satisfied climax. Metal can be a real turn on, especially surrounded by sweaty good-looking people. Deer Tick performed an R+B version of "Ashamed" followed by John McCauley caressing his nipples. LA band Iglu and Hartly had enthusiasm, but is this Mickey Avalon without the drugs and prostitutes? Which leaves what? Sleigh Bells began with a booty melting bass line palpable from the VIP section across the field, soon overtaken by hipster hop metal pop for people that like beaches and children. The Avett Brothers made an exciting second Coachella appearance on the Outdoor Stage. Two years ago, the band played Sunday gospel time, all manners and simplicity, but the Bros returned with a full band, and a few thousand people singing every word, stomping to the banjo, and hugging during the sweet parts. The banjo will take over America. Just wait. Country music is infiltrating avant-garde and above ground indie worlds alike.

Standing midway between the big stages, just a few feet from yet another girl with the words "Have u seen my friend Molly?" scrawled on her back, the Avett Brothers' heart-wrenching "January Wedding" got a reggaeton remix from Calle 13 booming on the Main Stage. This Puerto Rican dancefloor marvel used a tea kettle for a mic effect, and taught the audience to say "No me jodas las pelotas" against negativity ("Don't fuck my balls"). Speaking of balls, Yeasayer's crowd went absolutely nuts screaming, but the guys barely seemed aware, transported as they were to some space station cloud. The harmonies rocked like angelic aliens-but, smile, guys. Hockey demonstrated a genuine interest in moving indie rock standards forward, especially attracting the PG-13 festival contingency. M. ward raspy singing "Roll Over Beethoven" during She & Him's set delivered tingly shivers, but Zooey Deschanel's approach to "I Put A Spell On You" did not crumble souls. Her jazzy voice and bouncy energy otherwise made for a good time that elicited repetitive shouts of "I Love You!" from the first row.

Gil Scott-Heron

Music should be at least marginally weird or infinitely classic, but Tom Morello's band, Street Sweeper Social Club, brings nothing new to either category and so seems a waste of great musicians. Get weird or the future will never arrive. That being said, the musicians Coachella digs up from history often present the most exciting moments. Rock steady ska pioneers The Specials sent a crispy, warm message to Rudy that every witness appreciated immensely, but it was outrageous that barely any photographers showed up for Gil Scott-Heron's smooth, soulful set [editor's note: ours did!]. The man is partly responsible for getting Martin Luther King, Jr. a holiday, godfathered hip hop, and that doesn't merit attention? A large crowd attended his every word, but the photos won't show it. Later on, James Murphy screamed Gil Scott-Heron's name during "Losing My Edge" as if it were the name of God. Glad he gets it. LCD Soundsystem's first single in 2002, "Losing My Edge" is a historical document worth preserving for the ages, an essence that speaks to what Coachella seems bent on capturing and rewriting every year. Echo & The Bunnymen rode the high-hat zealously-as many have copied since-giving chapped lips sugar kisses. Public Image, Ltd., could not take Jay-Z's audience away from him nor unglue Fever Ray fans from Karin Dreijer Andersson's encompassing fog spell, but I'll be damned if PiL wasn't the best show all day. John Lydon's hair stood on edge and he rolled his rrrr's heroically. His gang of old men put the good junk in post-punk.

As this first 12 hour music summary comes to a close, a few acts remain worth giving a hoot about. Grizzly Bear's hypnotic power hardly needs mentioning and Vampire Weekend knows you love "Horchata." New cool La Roux magnetizes with a disco flavor that Anita Ward might approve. As hoped, Little Dragon's gentle fire breathing soul pop fronted by Yukimi's sexy voice and adorable stage presence comes in as Friday's second favorite. The music's weird enough, bent on discovering surprises. One-woman band Imogen Heap, as well, is the queen of surprises. She moves around her instruments, looping this and dubbing that as if casually mixing a magic potion or prepping a sandwich. Jay-Z's "On To The Next One" is an appropriate theme song for the attention span needed to get your money's worth at Coachella. And then Beyonce came out. We all bowed down before her short shorts.

Them Crooked Vultures, Passion Pit, Dillinger Escape Plan, Yo Gabba Gabba, and The Whitest Boy Alive also played sets on Friday. The Cribs were among those who could not. Coachella continues for a second day today/Saturday (Record Store Day). More pictures and videos and stuff from the first day, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day One in pics, video & review "

As previosuly mentioned, Echo & The Bunnymen are going to be touring North America after Coachella. Tickets for the May 1st Irving Plaza show are on sale now. All dates below...

Continue reading "Echo & The Bunnymen - 2010 tour dates (Coachella to NYC)"

Echo & the Bunnymen @ Mercury Lounge last November (more by Bao Nguyen)

Echo & The Bunnymen have scheduled a return to the US (after their shows last November were canceled because of visa/work permit issues). They're on the schedule for Coachella, and they'll be touring after that. One of those shows will be May 1st at Irving Plaza in NYC (a venue significantly smaller than the one they were supposed to play in on the cancelled tour) , with opening band Hatcham Social (who were the opener on that canceled tour). Tickets will be on sale through Live Nation.

Full dates are forthcoming; current dates are below...

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen playing Coachella then touring North America - dates will include Irving Plaza w/ Hatcham Social"

Wow...Public Image Ltd, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grace Jones, Fever Ray, Devo, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Mew, Camera Obscura, Gil Scott-Heron, The xx, John Waters, Dillinger Escape Plan, Deer Tick, Gary Numan... Full Coachella 2010 lineup below....

Continue reading "2010 Coachella line up announced (Faith No More, Pavement, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Jay-Z, LCD Soundystem, ???)"

Echo @ All Points West 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

NY Magazine: A popular opinion about the Bunnymen is that, big as you are, you could have been as big as U2.

Ian McCulloch: Bands all say they want to be as big as U2, but weirdly no one ever says they're influenced by them. That's because there's nothing there, really. They've got good tunes, and you can see that it works on 14-year-olds. But I can't see mature people or kids who are looking for something, something deep--something that you just know it's art and it's going to change your life--caring. For U2 it's always flag-waving and "Yippee." That's a failing of Springsteen as well. I saw him at Glastonbury and it's like, What are you doing, climbing into the crowd? It's not a football match, it's about making someone see the light--a proper inside light.

Last night (12/2) Ian performed at an invite-only event at the Esquire SoHo Apartment. It was said that he would be "playing acoustic tracks from the band's new album, 'The Fountain' - with guests invited to listen or even join the session."

Tomorrow (12/4) is yet another sort-of-private acoustic show, sponsored by East Village Radio, at the Studio at Webster Hall. I've got 10 pairs of tickets to give away if you want to go. Details below...

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch is here for some shows (win tickets to one of them) "

Echo and the Bunnymen @ Mercury Lounge (more by Bao Nguyen)

If you caught Echo and the Bunnymen at Mercury Lounge last month, well, you aren't just lucky for getting to see the UK band in such a small venue, you're lucky for getting to see them at all! They say that the IRS has some rule that bands needed to pay a lot of the money if they already toured here within 30 days. Due to this unforeseen restriction, Echo can no longer make their upcoming tour work and so they say they were forced to cancel all dates including Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC.

One tragically funny outcome of this is that UK band Hatcham Social was supposed to be opening the whole tour. They landed the gig after losing their slot on the Charlatans UK tour that was also cancelled before it ever happened! Maybe they should team up with Free Energy who just suffered a similar setback after The Rakes decided to break up after booking an entire US tour too.

Affected dates below...

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen cancel US tour (Hammerstein Ballroom) - Hatcham Social screwed again!!"

photos by Bao Nguyen

"A talkative Ian McCulloch greeted the tightly packed, high-energy crowd at New York's Mercury Lounge on Saturday night as Echo and the Bunnymen took the stage as part of their fall North American tour, less than two months after the death of Jake Drake-Brockman, the band's longtime keyboardist, in a motorcycle accident on the Isle of Man.

The band, opening with crowd favorites like "Rescue," were met with immediate enthusiasm from the audience. But the music was soon interrupted as frontman McCulloch took a break from singing and honed in on his social skills. A few sentences into his monologue, he asked guitar player Will Sergeant to stop playing, because he was "in the middle of a speech." A soliloquy, McCulloch called it, then asked the crowd if they knew how to spell the word, giggling at his own odd request.

Such teasing quickly became the theme of the evening, as fans were treated to both straight-up unadulterated versions of favorite songs and a stand-up routine by McCulloch." [Spinner]

Continue reading "Echo & The Bunnymen @ Mercury Lounge, NYC - pics, setlist"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Vacation (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Raveonettes - Last Dance (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Raveonettes - Suicide (MP3)

The Raincoats

It's almost CMJ time and if you (and by "you" I mean "me") were smart you'd rest up till Tuesday... but there's a lot of good shows between now and then, so it's easier said than done. If you don't mind the rain and cold that this weekend is bringing.

Perhaps the most interesting show of the night is at Knitting Factory where legendary all-female post-punk band The Raincoats play as part of The Royal Flush Festival. With odd instrumentation, unconventional songwriting and a generally itchy, discordant vibe, the London group's three original albums (1979's self-titled debut , 1981's Odyshape, 1984's Moving) were mildly successful on the UK indie charts but proved highly influential. (Their records have aged exceptionally well.) Kurt Cobain was a huge fan, and actually got his label DGC to reissue the Raincoats' albums and convinced the band to reform and open for Nirvana on a 1994 UK tour, though he would die a week before it was to start. But the reformation proved creatively successful, and Raincoats recorded a third album, Looking in the Shadows, in 1996. They've stayed sporadically active ever since.

Tonight's show also features Soft Power which is the project from onetime Autoclave/Helium singer Mary Timony -- reason enough for many to go right there. Timony was one of the '90s most distinctive guitarists and songwriters, and her post-Helium solo work has been good too. Soft Power is apparently more of a collaborative effort -- bandmates Jonah Takagi (who plays a homemade baritone guitar) and keyboardist Winston Yu write and sing as well. The two songs on Soft Power's MySpace sound pretty good. The show is rounded out by onetime Slits guitarist Viv Albertine.

If you miss it, Soft Power have another show scheduled on November 14th at Southpaw.

The Horrors @ Bowery Ballroom earlier in the tour (more by Oren Loloi)

The Horrors are back in town tonight (10/15) playing Music Hall of Williamsburg, wrapping up their U.S. tour (their Maxwell's show was cancelled) supporting their great new album Primary Colours, which I've gone on about a couple times already. But we are getting close to Halloween, so what better time to embrace your goth side with this show? Tonight's show is with JAMC/Spacemen 3-loving San Diego band Crocodiles, a definite good fit with The Horrors, and soul/blues/gospel/punks Black Diamond Heavies.

Air Waves @ The Yard over the summer (more by Sarahana)

Meanwhile, over at Market Hotel is a solid, all-locals line-up, headed by Beach Fossils. I've had quibbles with their sound in the past (silly vocal effects) and they need to write a few more songs, like soon, but they've become a good band very quickly, and the last time I saw them they really had it together. As I've said before, there's a definite New Zealand vibe going on (maybe a little early R.E.M. too), super catchy songs with bouncy arrangements. I like them a lot. Also playing are Air Waves who've been playing around for a while now but have just gotten around to releasing their first EP which is really quite lovely, in a folky Velvet Underground kind of way. Singer Nicole Schneit is a talented songwriter and Air Waves' keep things simple and focused on the songs. Rounding out the bill are acid-prog collective Prince Rama of Ayodhya and PC Worship.

Speaking of Air Waves, they're looking for a drummer:

Someone reliable, good drummer, quick learner, committed, fun. After a bunch of CMJ shows, we have a 2 week European tour for February, and a March tour down to SXSW for the third time.

20-34 if possible. Female or male.

Love, Nicole

Fool's Gold

L.A's Fool's Gold, not to be confused with A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs' record label of the same name, hit town for a string of shows that begins tonight (10/16) at the Cameo, continues Saturday at Cake Shop and runs through CMJ. Conceived by Israeli-born singer Luke Top and guitarist Lewis Pesacov, Fool's Gold are draw heavy influence from Afrobeat, but sing almost exclusively in Hebrew, and the band numbers anywhere from 8 - 11. There's a lot of buzz about Fool's Gold right now, the video for single "Surprise Hotel" has been making the rounds (and you can download the MP3 above). I'm not 100% on these guys yet, but I'm curious enough to see them live. The Cake Shop show also features a DJ set from Lemonade.

In November, Fool's Gold goes out on tour in support of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. That tour includes shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for both are on sale. All Fool's Gold dates are at the bottom of this post.

I should briefly mention Echo & The Bunnymen who play tomorrow (10/17) at Mercury Lounge which will certainly be a fun tiny place to see them if you got tickets. If not, they're back playing Hammerstein Ballroom on November 22. Much like 2005's Siberia, the new album, The Fountain, is better than I was expecting it to be, thanks mainly to Will Seargent's still-inventive, soaring guitar-work. He's a true original. Ian McCulloch's cigarette-fueled vocals are like a great big hug, warm and nostalgic, though his lyrics at times are more than a little cringeworthy ("I love that sweet sack you're in / I love your saccharine"). But they still sound like the Bunnymen (well, circa 1987).

And finally, if you missed The Raveonettes at Webster Hall (or Maxwell's) earlier this week, you can still see them at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (10/18). The band have never really strayed from their Phil Spector meets JAMC formula, but Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo began perfecting and elevating it with last year's Lust Lust Lust, and while they turn down the volume (or at least the distortion) for the new In and Out of Control, I think it's their best batch of songs yet -- nearly every song on it could be a single. You can download two of them at the top of this post. And even when they were making less inspired records, The Raveonettes were always a good live band. And here they're coming off two strong records. Go see them. Opening are Austin's Black Angels, who sound a lot like the Brian Jonestown Massacre but do it pretty well.

That's it for the weekend. Get ready for the CMJ onslaught. Tour dates and videos follow.

Continue reading "The Raincoats, Soft Power, Fool's Gold, Air Waves (need a drummer), Horrors, Bunnymen & more in This Week in Indie"

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Echo & the Bunnymen show at Mercury Lounge. Tickets are also on sale for the show they're playing at Hammerstein Ballroom.

Speaking of Hammerstein Ballroom, Goodie Mob are playing there too.

Elefant (are still a band and) are playing Irving Plaza on November 15th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Phenomenal Handclap Band show at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are on sale for the Rain Machine CMJ show at Bowery Ballroom. Imaad Wasif, whose recent credits include the Where the While Things Are soundtrack with Karen O, is also on the bill.

Tickets are still on sale for the Gaslight Anthem show at Brooklyn Bowl.

The Roots played Brooklyn Bowl last night. Flobots play there on December 3rd. Tickets are on sale (@ noon).

Continue reading "Echo & the Bunnymen, Elefant, Gaslight Anthem, Imaad Wasif, Kyp Malone and other tickets "

Echo & The Bunnymen are playing the tiny Mercury Lounge in NYC on October 17th. That's more than a month before they're back in town to play the much larger Hammerstein Ballroom as part of their North American tour in support of their new album. Stay tuned for more details.

UPDATE: Tickets are going on sale Friday.

R.I.P. "Fifth Bunnyman"

A former keyboard player with Echo and the Bunnymen has been killed in a motorbike crash on the Isle of Man.

Jake Brockman, who was 53 and married, lived in Bristol. He died when his bike was in collision with a converted ambulance near Kirk Michael on Tuesday [Sept. 1st].

Known to fans as the "Fifth Bunnyman", he had been associated with the Liverpool band since its 80s heyday and became a full-time member in 1989.

In 1989 the band's first drummer Pete De Freitas died in a similar crash. [BBC News]

Echo and The Bunnymen are going on tour in support of that album this fall. Its North American leg happens in November and includes a show at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom on November 22nd. Tickets go on Live Nation presale Wednesday, September 9th at 10am. General sale starts Saturday, September 12th at 10am.

Opening the show will be Hatcham Social, a band that's been described on this site as "direct musical descendants of Orange Juice, Echo & the Bunnymen or, more recently, Clearlake: scratchy but melodic, with an occasional flair for the melodramatic, and very, very British." They were scheduled to play NYC-area shows in September opening for Charlatans UK, who were forced to cancel their tour because of injury.

All Echo & The Bunnymen tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Jake Brockman dies in bike crash (RIP), Echo & the Bunnymen announce new album & 2009 tour dates (Hammerstein)"

DOWNLOAD: Lou Reed - Perfect Day (Carillon April 30th, 2009) (MP3)

Lou Reed & his Metal Machine (more by Lori Baily)

"Lou Reed's (b. 1942) music written for the Velvet Underground propelled him to rock stardom. His Metal Machine Music, a distorted sound wall of guitar feedback, has been called the precursor to punk. Critical rejection at its first release in 1975 led to a cult-like interest. Ulrich Krieger has accomplished a feat once deemed impossible by transcribing and arranging Metal Machine Music for classical instruments"...

Ulrich Krieger was 1/3 of the Metal Machine Trio that played the Gramercy Theatre in April. (The others on stage were Sarth Calhoun, Reed himself and special guest John Zorn.) That trio has dates later this year in Europe, which are posted below.

This weekend, Reed is at Lollapalooza in Chicago, where he'll play a "songs" set (if you recall, the Metal Machine shows advertised themselves as "No Songs No Vocals" to curb any suspicion about the program).

Reed recently collaborated with Barenaked Ladies instrumentalist Kevin Hearn on a "song about overfishing the oceans stands out like a sore sea-hugger."

Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle's Havana Winter, released on [July 28th] from Hearn's indie label Celery Music, is nakedly invested in...natural subjects. "Coma," which features Reed on backing vocals and guitar, was inspired by Charles Clover's The End of the Line, an alarming documentary about fishing, technology and extinction. Reed and Hearn use that as a point of departure to also criticize urban sprawl.

Reed plays screeching guitar on three [of the record's] tunes ("Coma," "In The Shade," "H.I.T.S."), while his wife, performance artist Laurie Anderson adds electric violin on "Reeling."

Another track, posted above, is a version of Reed's "Perfect Day," originally released on 1972's Transformer, being played on the Riverside Church carillon (a huge mass of bells and the largest of its kind in the world) last April. Why you ask? Here's the description of the event...

Continue reading "Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music & ensemble show in NYC (tix), Lollapalooza (this weekend), Barenaked Ladies & more"

photos by Tim Griffin and Chris La Putt

"After a soggy Friday and sunny Saturday, the thunderstorms returned for the third and last day of All Points West, this time resulting in major delays and canceled sets for the festival held at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ. But after the rain cleared and mercifully stayed away, organizers hustled to get the schedule back on track, culminating in a dazzler of a headlining set by British rockers Coldplay.

Sunday's line-up, scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. in the comedy tent and 2 p.m. on the music stages, was pushed back several hours due to severe storms that hit the area midday. Fans who arrived early were turned away at the gates, and it wasn't until just before 4 p.m. that ticket holders were invited to line up at the festival entrance for an even longer wait for admission. Comedians Todd Barry, Christian Finnegan and Janeane Garofalo, originally slated for 45-minute sets at the Queen of the Valley tent, were rushed through with 10 minutes each to make way for the musical acts that followed them. "I might do a tour of entirely rained-out festivals," said Barry, "it's big money for not a lot of work at all."

Some sets were canceled altogether--indie rockers Steel Train and New Jersey punk band the Gaslight Anthem, scheduled to take the main Blue Comet stage in the afternoon, were scrapped to allow later bands to perform at their scheduled times." [Billboard]

MGMT played against Coldplay on Sunday, and Echo and The Bunnymen instead opened for Coldplay on the main stage (with Courtney Love watching in the wings). Akron/Family, Silversun Pickups, Mogwai, Lykke Li, Elbow, the Black Keys, and others also played sets on the shortened, very wet day. More pictures, and the two Coldplay cover videos, and some setlists, below....

Continue reading "All Points West 2009 - Day 3 Pictures (Coldplay, mud, MGMT)"

Echo & the Bunnymen @ All Points West - Aug 2, 2009, 7:50pm (by Courtney Love)

Courtney Love (and Ultragrrrl?) @ All Points West - Aug 1, 2009 (by Tim Griffin)

I walked by Courtney Love at All Points West on Saturday (8/1), and thought, "That was Courtney Love. No it wasn't." Then I forgot until someone else later said, "I saw Courtney Love", and then someone else... That's when I thought, "I guess it was Courtney Love". She's been tweeting including the above picture of Echo and the Bunnymen who are on the stage as I type this (right on, or slightly behind, schedule).

It ends up there is an APW webcast, but it appears to be mostly taped (thx anon). The only performances they're streaming today, that happen today, are Elbow and Echo and the Bunnymen (and those aren't actually live).

Nouvelle Vague in Dublin 2008 (voss)

French cover band Nouvelle Vague will be playing a show at NYC's Irving Plaza on Wednesday, June 17th. It's the group's only US date on its list of upcoming shows so far. Tickets are on sale.

The band's last LP was 2006's Bande à Part, which, "like their eponymous first album, is a collection of Bossa Nova cover versions of 1980s New Wave tracks." [Wikipedia]

Though there's no 100% official word on a new record from the band, info is scattered about regarding a new album called NV3 which may be coming out on June 3rd which is not long before the Irving Plaza show. Apparently...

Nouvelle Vague reaches the point where a song, although already perfectly rendered in its original version, can still become a completely different one, to the extent that sometimes the public doubts whether it is a "cover" or not.

Nouvelle Vague's approach is so unusual that some of the original authors accepted to participate in the recording of the "NV3" cover of their own songs.

This is the statement of this 3rd album.

We never hear of any artists singing on covers which dissemble so much from the song their originally wrote nearly 30 years ago, or even covering their own song.

There are a variety of musical tones proposed by Nouvelle Vague on this third album such as Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Americana, Pop...

And the loop is looped when we hear on a "Nouvelle Vague" cover the voice of Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), Ian McCullough (Echo and The Bunnymen), Barry Adamson (Magazine), Terry Hall (The Specials), Samy Birnbach (Minimal Comact) or Chris Bailey (The Saints)...

Continue reading "Nouvelle Vague playing NYC, releasing NV3 (more covers, but with original singers too?) "