photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Parenthetical Girls can be very touching

Evangelicals bring the creepiness to Cake Shop's basement

Parethetical Girls played an emotional, energetic and crowd-interactive show in the cozy basement of Cake shop last night (Oct 02). It was the first show PG played here in a while - their last scheduled NYC appearance was cancelled due to mechanical issues. Pwrfl Power, who played a show at Union Hall one night earlier, was in the crowd...and blogged about it...

I headed to Cake Shop after dinner where my big brothers Parenthetical Girls played.
They played very good. it gets better everytime.
I didn't catch the Evangelicals.

He missed another great set then. Miracles of Modern Science and Muggabears were also on the four-artist bill. Rude Bear was also in the house. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Parenthetical Girls & Evangelicals @ Cake Shop, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Deerhoof w/ Zac Pennington of PG - Gut Symmetries (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: No Kids - The Regrettable End (Parenthetical Girls) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Dead Science - Young Eucharists (Parenthetical Girls) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Parenthetical Girls - A Song For Ellie Greenwich (MP3)

"To celebrate the release of Entanglements, their first album for Tomlab, Parenthetical Girls asked some of their friends to cover and remix some of the songs from the album - the first two offerings came from labelmates No Kids and fellow NW avant heroes The Dead Science, who covered "This Regrettable End" and "Young Eucharists" respectively. Now Deerhoof have covered the song "Gut Symmetries" and we use the term "covered" loosely because they kept Zac Pennington's original vocals intact.

Parenthetical Girls tour dates below...

Continue reading "Parenthetical Girls covered by Deerhoof, No Kids & The Dead Science (3 MP3s) ++ 2008 Tour Dates"

today in NYC & NJ
* FREE STUFF
* Sky Larkin @ Pianos
* Passion Pit @ Pianos
* Wilco @ McCarren Pool
* Evangelicals @ Cake Shop
* TWTGDSD & MABR @ Bowery Ballroom
* Jennifer O'Connor @ McCarren Pool
* Slick Rick @ Jackie Robinson park
* Electric Six & Tragedy @ Maxwell's
* Rancid & Sick of It All @ Irving Plaza
* Kyp Malone and friends @ Death By Audio
* Bob Dylan @ Convention Hall in Asbury Park
* Special Disco Version @ Santos Party House
* Joel Dorn tribute @ Lincoln Center Outdoors
* Melvins & Big Business @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Bodies of Water, Port O'Brien & Peasant @ Mercury Lounge

Neil Diamond is taking tonight off.

Evangelicals opened for Conor Oberst at Bowery Ballroom yesterday. They are done touring with Conor now and tonight they are at Cake Shop.

Sadly, it appears there are still tickets available for The Melvins show at MHOW tonight. Happily, that means there are still tickets available. Either way that means it's possible to see The Melvins right after Wilco which will be over at 10 and is right down the street.

What else?

DOWNLOAD: Evangelicals - Skeleton Man (MP3)

You can catch Evangelicals when they open for Shearwater and Frog Eyes at the Music Hall of Williamsburg show Thursday (tickets), OR you can catch Evangelicals tonight (June 17) at Cake Shop WITH Bell. All dates below....

Continue reading "Evangelicals - 2008 Tour Dates (Cake Shop/MHOW) (Bell)"

Shearwater @ Florence Guild Hall, NYC - May 5, 2008 (tasrepus)

Shearwater performed their new album at Florence Guild Hall in NYC on Monday night, and though they are now on tour with Clinic, they won't be playing with Clinic tonight (May 8) at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Violens and Cause Co-Motion will be opening for Clinic tonight instead, and Shearwater will play their own show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in June (with Frog Eyes and Evangelicals).

If you miss Clinic tonight, you can also catch them again on May 31st at Bowery Ballroom. Clinic's new album Do It is out on Domino now. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "Shearwater played Rook, Clinic & Violens in Brooklyn tonight"

DOWNLOAD: Shearwater - Rooks (new MP3)

Shearwater were supposed to be playing Music Hall of Williamsburg with Clinic (who they are touring with) in May, but instead they're playing Music Hall of Williamsburg with Frog Eyes & Evangelicals on June 19th. Tickets for that are now on sale. They're also playing Florence Gould Concert Hall at Manhattan's French Institute in NYC on May 5th. Their new album "Rook" is out on Matador on June 5th (and they'll actually be performing the album at the May show).

I have a pair of tickets to give away to the Florence Guild show. To win, email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: shearwater). Include your first and last name. One winner will be picked at random and contacted.

All dates below.....

Continue reading "Shearwater - 2008 Tour Dates (NOW with Brooklyn) (win tix)"

photo of Bell by Alix Winsby

Bell (aka Olga Bell) is a musician from NYC. That might be how you know her, and/or maybe you downloaded that Radiohead cover she did, or maybe you saw her open for Au Revoir Simone, and/or maybe you read about her on Stereogum the other day. If you haven't heard Bell yet, go check out the songs streaming on her MySpace. If you're like me, Bjork will immediately come to mind. That's why I think Stereogum made a good choice when choosing Bell to cover "It's Oh So Quiet" for their ridiculously awesome-looking new "Post" tribute album called "Enjoyed"
(though I haven't heard it yet).....

Tracklist
1. Liars - "Army Of Me"
2. Dirty Projectors - "Hyperballad"
3. High Places - "Modern Things"
4. Bell - "It's Oh So Quiet"
5. Pattern Is Movement - "Enjoy"
6. Evangelicals - "You've Been Flirting Again"
7. Xiu Xiu - "Isobel"
8. Final Fantasy & Ed Droste (Grizzly Bear) - "Possibly Maybe"
9. White Hinterland - "I Miss You"
10. El Guincho - "Cover Me"
11. Atlas Sound - "Headphones"

Nuts... PLUS, the whole album will be a free download starting March 31st (like the REM & Radiohead ones before it). March 31st is also the day that Klaus Kinski and I are throwing our next edition of Rock 'n' ROFL at Pianos which, coincidentally, also happens to include Bell (aka BELL IS PLAYING ROCK N ROFL).

Takka Takka are playing the show too. It's not the first time they've shared a bill with Bell either, and that's NOT a coincidence. Bell contributed to the new Takka Takka album which is being finished as we speak - an album that takes Takka Takka in a completely new direction with a new sound and a significantly different lineup than who was in the band when their last release came out.

So, it's looking something like this....

BrooklynVegan & Klaus Kinski present
The unofficial & unauthorized "Enjoyed" release party
(aka Rock 'n' ROFL II)
@ Pianos in NYC
on March 31, 2008

7-8 pm: DJ David Bruno AND all the free Newcastle you can drink

8-9 pm: comedy by Will Franken, Larry Murphy, Kumail Nanjiani, Sean O' Connor and Reggie Watts

9-10 pm: music by Bell
10-11 pm: music by Takka Takka
11-12 pm: music by TBA (** can't announce yet, but it's good **)

also: $3.00 Svedka lemon drops all night AND a 2nd hour of free Newcastle (time TBD) (that's 2 hours of open bar). All that for just $10. Tickets are on sale.

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Related story: I put together a whole bunch of shows during CMJ. One was on Saturday October 20th at Pianos, during the day, upstairs & downstairs. The Maccabees were the last band to play downstairs. Doveman, Erik Friedlander and Craig Wedren were playing upstairs at the same time. Jefferson, who was there in a semi-official capacity to take pictures, wanted to shoot the Maccabees, but ended up missing them because of the upstairs lineup.

By the time he came back down, the Maccabees were already long gone and the next, unrelated show had started. He really didn't know the difference and started taking pictures of (who he thought was) the Maccabees. Eventually he figured it out and realized he'd just discovered Bell.

When Jefferson and I finally reunited, I think I said something like (now on like no sleep and 4 days into CMJ), "Where the hell have you been? Did you even see the Maccabees? We have to go see Santogold. Let's get out of here." He said something like, "Dude...chill. I was shooting this girl Bell. She was great." I think then by the next day I totally forgot about it, and it wasn't until I recently showed him the already-booked March 31st lineup that he pointed out that he had some never-before-seen Bell pictures (aka the ones you see in this post.....below) (the end)....

Continue reading "BELL is playing Rock 'n' ROFL w/ Takka Takka & TBA +++ Stereogum, a Bjork tribute & some pics from CMJ"

Headlights @ Iota, Arlington, VA - Feb 21, 2008 (Lexie Moreland)

First up at Mercury Lounge was the Evangelicals, a spooky poppy band not beneath slathering all their gear with glo paint and breaking out the blacklights. The highlight of this show occurred when the lead singer jumped onto the kick drum and steadied himself against the ceiling. He wasn't steady enough though, and he face-planted back onto the stage, knocking the mic stand into the audience and flipping on the floodlights. He finished the song from the bassist's microphone.

Headlights came on and played only songs off the new album, easing into a steady, pleasant groove..... [Impose MAgazine @ the February 24th Mercury Lounge show]

Evangelicals @ Caledonia Lounge - Feb 18, 2008 (Deadlybydesigns)

The continuing tour hits Union Hall in Brooklyn tonight (Feb 29). Headlights' "Cherry Tulip" video below...

Continue reading "Headlights & Evangelicals played NYC + Brooklyn tonight"

DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - In Our Talons (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Evangelicals - Skeleton Man (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Headlights - Cherry Tulips (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phosphorescent - A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise (MP3)

Evangelicals are a pretty good band from Oklahoma that have a pretty good new album called The Evening Descends out on the very awesome Dead Oceans label - the sister label of Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian, and the new home of John Darnielle's favorite band Bowerbirds....

First, Dead Oceans will issue an expanded edition of Bowerbirds' "Hymns for a Dark Horse," with a new album further off in the horizon. The Plug Award nominated (best Americana album) "Hymns for a Dark Horse" will receive several bonus tracks, as well as a release on vinyl for the first time.

As you know, Bowerbirds are playing SXSW and going on tour with Phosphorescent. And as you may or may not know, Evangelicals are playing SXSW and going on tour with Headlights. Headlights have a new album coming out on PolyVinyl on February 19th. The MP3 up there is from that album.

All dates below...

Continue reading "EVANGELICALS & Headlights - 2008 Tour Dates, BOWERBIRDS on Dead Oceans, Phosphorescent"

DOWNLOAD: Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Evangelicals - The Last Christmas On Earth (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cheyenne - All My Friends Are Snowmen (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Polyphonic Spree - Carol of the Bells (MP3)

both tonight
* NY Mag Not Your Office Holiday Party
* The Onion Holiday Rampage

ALSO UPCOMING: CBS/NYC presents a showcase at UCBT w/ God's Pottery,Chelsea Peretti, Jordan Carlos & more.

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Is "Jew-fro" anti-semitic if said in a way that sounds like an insult by a faux-psychopath trying to be clever in a Christmas-themed album-promo video? Do The Apes hate blogs & tight pants? I can't totally decide....

Continue reading "The Onion, Celebration, NY Mag, WAS, UCB & The Apes - Tour Dates, holiday parties & MP3s"