DOWNLOAD: DIamond Terrifier - "It's Already After The End Of The World" (Freedom Garden 10-8-11) (MP3)

Diamond Terrifier

Diamond Terrifier (aka Sam Hilmer of Zs) is introducing his new bi-weekly series, 'PRACTICE!' taking place at Zebulon every other Tuesday. This month it takes place on January 17 and 31, and he's performing at and curating each one. The 1/17 show includes Lichens, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix (of Liturgy who are opening for Zola Jesus at Webster Hall), LZA/Dutch E. Germ (of Gang Gang Dance), and DJ sets by Laurel Halo and The Oracle. The 1/31 show includes Dan Friel< GDFX, Rat Attack, and DJ sets by Chief Boima (of Dutty Artz) and The Oracle. All shows in this series are free.

Diamond Terrifier also has a bunch of other shows coming up in NYC this month, including one TONIGHT (1/10) at Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn, where he will perform a live score for the film Shaman of the Blind Country, narrated by William S. Burroughs. He also plays Shea Stadium on Saturday (1/14) with Controlled Bleeding and Dan Friel, and Littlefield on January 18 with Patrick Higgins and Eric Wubbles (tickets). The next night he'll be in Brooklyn again at La Sala (1/19) with Extra Life, and Union Pool on January 24 with Dan Friel, Zulus and Grooms.

Diamond Terrifier is also set to release his first official full length this September via Northern Spy. The album will be produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. Until then, he's been releasing a single every month on his website. Check out this month's installment, a live recording of "It's Already After The End Of The World" from Freedom Garden in October, below, and download it above.

All dates and the stream below...

Continue reading "Diamond Terrifier playing & curating shows w/ many special guests, working on an album (dates & MP3)"

Extra Life at Webster Hall in 2010 (more by Sarahana)

Extra Life have a few shows coming including one at Death By Audio on September 25 with Little Women and Vaz and another at Glasslands on October 9 with Pygmy Shrews, Mick Barr (of Krallice), GDFX (aka Greg Fox who just left Liturgy), and DJ Caroline Teagle. Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale now.

GDFX has other shows coming up including one tonight (9/7) at 285 Kent Ave with The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, Knife City, and Extreme Animals. Greg also plays a record release show for his Guardian Alien project on September 23 at Shea Stadium. Guardian Alien also plays Bruar Falls on October 5 with Alan Watts and Zebulon on October 9, the same night as the GDFX show at Glasslands.

Your last chance to catch Greg playing as a member of Liturgy is on their tour with Boris and Asobi Seksu which hits NYC on October 27 at Irving Plaza. Tickets are still available.

Krallice also has shows coming up including 9/12 at the Bell House Wolves in the Throne Room and Thou. Krallice were supposed to open for the same bill on September 14 at Death By Audio, but they've switched shows. Krallice also play on September 17 at Union Pool with Urfaust, Black Anvil, and Ruin Lust

All dates below...

Continue reading "Extra Life, GDFX, Guardian Alien, Mick Barr & other shows"

Though currently knee deep in a tour with Extra Life (who have a new tour-only 12"), Sam Mickens has released a new video for "One Final Round", out now via iTunes and due on 7" on 8/23 via Shatter Your Leaves. The release is one of two due for Mickens, who will also welcome the "Burning Hell/I'm Evil" 7" that same day via the label, in preparation for an eventual LP Slay & Slake on November 1.

Catch Sam with Extra Life on July 30th at Silent Barn. All tour dates, that Sue-Ling Braun-directed NSFW video clip, and a stream of the Sinistra Secco EP by Mickens are all below.

Continue reading "Sam Mickens on tour now, has a new video (premiere)"

Extra Life

Extra Life and Parenthetical Girls are releasing a tour-only split 12" in support of an upcoming West Coast run together. The run is part of Extra Life's tour with Sam Mickens (The Dead Science, Xiu Xiu) that ends in NYC on July 30 at Silent Barn. All dates are listed below.

Hopefully Parenthetical Girls, who are in the process of releasing a 5-part Privilege EP series (Part III is the latest), come back to NYC soon too (they do not make it as far as the Silent Barn show).

The split 12" features Extra Life and Parenthetical Girls covering one of each other's songs. Extra Life takes on "I Was the Dancer," while Parenthetical girls deliver their rendition of "Head Shrinker." Pick it up at the merch table, but meanwhile we've got an exclusive stream of the Extra Life track (the one of them doing PG), with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Extra Life touring w/ Sam Mickens & Parenthetical Girls (dates), releasing tour-only split 12" (listen to a song)"

photos by David Andrako

DOWNLOAD: Buke & Gass - Your Face Left Before You (MP3)

Buke & Gass @ Mercury Lounge

"It's Buke and Gass' homemade quality that draws you in at first. Dyer plays a modified baritone-ukulele run through effects that squeal with delight, while Sanchez runs his guitar-bass hybrid through two amps (one for the three low-end strings, another for the treble). The junkyard-Shellac set-up is geeky, yes, and might strike a chord of novelty. But ultimately, it's hard not to be sold on the songs." [NPR]

If you missed the show, Buke & Gass have shows coming up at Silent Barn (with Extra Life), Ridgewood Masonic Temple (with Deerhoof) amd the above-mentioned show at the Stone all before they head to the Netherlands to play some shows with The National, Owen Pallett, Efterklang, and Sharon Von Etten. All dates, an NPR Tiny Desk Concert video, and more pictures from Mercury Lounge, below...

Continue reading "Buke & Gass played Mercury Lounge w/ Talk Normal (pics) & an NPR 'Tiny Desk concert (video), playing more shows (dates)"

words & photos by Sarahana

Headliner Owen Pallett (no longer called Final Fantasy like he was when he played Webster Hall in December) joined opening act The Luyas for a few songs. Luyas singer Jessie Stein, who has an inviting demeanor, commented on Owen's shirt, "That looks like an 80's mom's shirt." It was a black top with some patterns sprawled around the neckline and printed in gold. He replied that it looked pretty manly. Jessie shared a story about how she and Owen used to be roommates (and then neighbors) when she was about 21; Owen would go down to practice and listen to bands like Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart, and Jessie would think "This stuff is never going to fly".

Extra Life was heavy music with a prominently featured violin, which added refined tragedy to raw anger. You could say Shakespeare meets goth, dorky meets scary. Unlike The Luyas and Owen Pallett, who are both from Canada, these guys are from Brooklyn. Front man Charlie Looker should definitely play Bartleby in a movie.

Owen Pallett's set was spectacular. He played several old songs solo, and had an additional musician, Thomas Gill, play percussion and guitar with him on new ones. Thomas is a talent on his own, which was most obvious when he helped Owen sing the chorus on the last song, a cover of Mariah Carey's "Sweet Fantasy".

--

Extra Life's next show is May 9th at Cake Shop with Queening and Larkin Grimm ("Also in May, Planaria will release a split 12" single with Larkin Grimm, featuring the Extra Life cover of R Kelly's "Your Body's Callin'" and two new exclusive tracks from Larkin.").

The Luyas played a 'secret' show in Brooklyn one night earlier with sometime-Luya Sarah Neufeld of the Arcade Fire. Sarah did not join the band at Webster Hall, and she won't be with them tonight (4/23) at Sycamore.

Owen (who played as a member of Arcade Fire at Webster Hall in 2005) played Coachella over the weekend and now continues on tour. More pictures from last night at Webster Hall, with Owen's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Owen Pallett, Extra Life & the Luyas played Webster Hall in NYC - pics & setlist "

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Annie Reichert

Sam Mickens @ Union Pool April 18th, 2010

Dear citizens of America & the Earth,

On this day, April 20th, 2010, I officially issue a challenge, on behalf of myself and my Ecstatic Showband, to Ms. Sharon Jones & her Dap-Kings, to a battle of the bands to determine who is truly the greatest working soul band in Brooklyn. Song for song and musician for musician, I believe this should prove a burning and exhaustive contest.

The issuance of this challenge bears no spirit of disrespect or denigration towards Ms. Jones and her work; in fact my feelings are full of admiration and esteem. It does however bear the assertion that cultural vanguards must be replaced, and that only through an environment of healthy and virile competition can the illest work be produced. We will meet Ms. Jones in the venue of her choosing and with any preconditions she wishes to impose. If Ms. Jones fails to respond to this challenge I will accept the title of Heavyweight Soul Champion of Brooklyn by default.

Thanks and best regards,
Sam Mickens

The band will be opening Thee Silver Mt. Zion's Sunday, May 16th show at Bowery Ballroom (one of two NYC shows on the Mt. Zion's tour, tickets still on sale).

The Estatic Showband's band's individual members (which can vary at any given show) regularly play around town themselves. Drummer Mike Pride is particularly prolific, with almost nightly gigs. Tonight (4/22) he has two: an early show with Jonathan Moritz Trio at Zebulon, and a late gig with bass/keyboardist Jamie Saft as noise-improv duo Kalashnikov at Southpaw with Shaker jazz group Shakers n Bakers and Ben Perowsky's Moodswing Orchestra.

At Union Pool, the group also featured guest vocalists that included Keesha Mishawn, Katie Eastburn (of Young People), Charlie Looker (of Extra Life who, along with the Luyas, open for Owen Pallett at Webster Hall) and Steven Reker. See some of them fronting the band in the pictures below.

As for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, the band was just stuck in Germany because of a volcano, and their upcoming summer tour include two nights at the Apollo Theater on April 30th and May 1st. They were supposed to appear on Letterman this week, but that isn't happening because of the volcano (rescheduled for May 4th).

More Union Pool pictures and older videos are below...

Continue reading "Sam Mickens played Union Pool (pics), challenges Sharon Jones, opening for Thee Silver Mt. Zion & stuff"

by Andrew Frisicano

Forward-thinking group Skeletons are a frequent live presence around NYC, but record-wise, they've been quiet since the release of their 2008 LP, Money. In recent months, Skeletons have played out as the expanded Skeletons Big Band, switched their core lineup, and continued to put on great shows. In the spirit of curiosity, we e-mailed guitarist Jason McMahon for an update on their ongoing projects. He said,

So, Skeletons, eh? Due to the inevitable departure of long-time band member Tony Lowe, Skeletons is changing. In the midst of mixing and mastering at least two brand massive new albums worth of material from the last two years, including the promised concept PEOPLE (an album about specific people), as well as recordings of the 16-piece Big Band, we're also now rehearsing with a new organ player (Mike Gallope, a friend from Oberlin and member of Starring) and a new bass player (Pete Vogl, from Bow Ribbons). I expect there to be a new album coming out on Tomlab this Summer or Fall, and that will be PEOPLE.

We're playing on March 27th at the SILENT BARN, a venue we founded in 2005 and haven't been to in years, with sister bands Zs (of which Tony Lowe is now a member), and Extra Life (whose leader Charlie Looker used to be in Zs). It's all very incestuous. It should be a grand reunion/show down of bands that have so much in common that they're actively differentiable.

Crystal Stilts @ Slumberland Birthday, 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* Red Baraat @ BAM
* Dan Deacon at Suny Purchase
* Evangelista @ The Stone
* Memory Tapes at Tribeca Grand
* Men, MKNG FRNDZ @ The Bell House
* Wakey! Wakey!, Harper Blynn @ Mercury Lounge
* Yemenwed, Light Asylum, Sabine Gruffat @ P.S.1
* The Golden Filter, Nancy Whang @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Man In Gray, El Jezel, Coyote Eyes @ Union Hall
* H2O (15 Year Anniversary Show) @ Gramercy Theatre
* Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, Jogger @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* These Are Powers, MNDR, Blondes, JDH & Dave P @ Coco 66
* Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Mutant Supremacy @ Union Pool
* Aligns, The Yellow Dogs, In Cadeo, Darwin Deez @ The Cameo
* Zola Jesus, Blacklist, Cult of Youth, White Ring @ Cake Shop
* Extra Life, Pink Reason, Silk Flowers, M. Lamar @ Death By Audio
* PC Worship, Ashcan Orchestra, GDFX, Hexbreaker Quintet @ Shea Stadium
* Pygmy Shrews, Golden Girls, Byrds of Paradise, Tough Knuckles @ Bruar Falls
* Greg Kelley, Chris Brokaw, Matthew Heyner, Sean Meehan @ Issue Project Room
* Secret Country, Roadside Graves, WJ & The Sweet Sacrifice, My Name Is John Michael @ Maxwell's
* Crystal Stilts, The Beets, Christmas Island, Beach Fossils, German Measles @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Haiti Benefit w/ Your 33 Black Angels, Bugs in the Dark, Palominos, Hollands, Normandy, Balboa, Winston Troy, MK Groove Orchestra @ East River Bar

Man in Gray are back together for one night only tonight at Union Hall! With Coyote Eyes and El Jezel. They played their two final shows in 2008, one of which was at one of our Rock n ROFL shows at Pianos.

Extra Life, who are at DBA tonight, have a new record coming out, called Made Flesh, on March 30th.

Memory Tapes tonight at Tribeca Grand is free (RSVP to events [at] self-titledmag.com). Tanlines are DJing.

Mates of State play the Bell House on Sunday.

Today is the last day of by:Larm in Norway. I've seen a ton of great bands so far. Most are new to me. I'm trying to avoid bands I've seen or will definitely see soon. Serena Maneesh fall into both categories (SXSW = the "see soon" part), but I couldn't help myself and went and checked them out last night at Spectrum Scene in Oslo. They went on after Johann Johannsson who went on after Efterklang (it was 4AD night). I actually watched all three and even saw some bands in nearby venues during set change... there's a band on somewhere every half hour, and all bands only play for 30 minutes.... so if you're quick you can see at least 25 minutes of a 30 minute set twice an hour for about 7 hours straight...except Serena Maneesh actually who got 45 minutes as tonight's big headliner... actually Johann played longer too, but I left before he finished). I don't have videos from the show, so here are some of their official videos instead, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

by BBG

* Toby Driver photo by Gemma Fleming

Toby Driver is an "other". Not like Benjamin Linus or one of the Dharma Initiative, but in that his artistic endeavors Kayo Dot and Maudlin of The Well exist in the in-between, and outside. Driver's current project, Kayo Dot, is prepping to release their fourth album Coyote via Hydra Head on April 6th. On Coyote, elements of goth, avant-jazz, prog, ambient, and the kitchen sink meld with the avant-garde, making for an intensely fascinating and eclectic listen.

Driver was recently asked to curate the month of February at The Stone, John Zorn's non-profit club in the East Village. We sat down to ask Driver about some of the bands he chose which include solo sets from members of Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Extra Life, and Bloody Panda in addition to Baby Dee, Oxbow, Gnaw, and a full performance by his own band doing Coyote from start to finish, and the recent resurrection of Maudlin of The Well.

Full interview and Stone schedule, below....

Continue reading "Toby Driver curated Feb @ The Stone - interview & schedule"

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"

DOWNLOAD: Extra Life - (Pay Up) The Ladder(MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Extra Life - Black Hoodie (MP3)

Extra Life @ Glasslands (more by Lori Baily)

Extra Life's new album Made Flesh is due out March 30. Check out "(Pay Up) The Ladder" from that disc, along with a pre-album version of "Black Hoodie" ("taken from a limited edition split 12" with Nat Baldwin, which has been re-recorded/re-imagined for Made Flesh") for free download above. Cover art below.

Extra Life (think Dirty Projectors & Final Fantasy) is fronted by guitarist/composer Charlie Looker, a core member of Zs" who has worked with Dirty Projectors, Glenn Branca, William Parker and the S.E.M. Ensemble".

The band is heading out on tour in February and March, but in the meantime there's a chance to catch them in Brooklyn, at Union Pool tonight (1/14) with Lichens and (Dirty Projectors member) Nat Baldwin, and then again with Sam Mickens & Mike Pride Duo and Kush at Zebulon on January 31st.

All dates, cover art, and a live video below...

Continue reading "Extra Life - new album (MP3, art), upcoming shows (tonight)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DM Stith plays The Stone on X-Mas...
pictured @ 92YTribeca in October (more by Vincent Cornelli)

The Stone has a great lineup of innovative pop-based acts scheduled for this December. Curators Sam Kulik (multi-instrumentalist who plays trombone in Nervous Cabaret) and David Garland (singer & songwriter and host of WNYC's "Spinning On Air" and "Evening Music") are the month's guest curators at the space.

Let's get into some highlights.

Skeletons Big Band and Capillary Action bring their new large-ensemble compositions (which Skeletons have been playing out since September) to the venue on Sunday, December 6th.

Danielson will somehow pack his "family group" into the venue for a night of music on December 22nd. They just put out a new 7" single on his Sounds Familyre label. The video for its lead track "Moment Soakers" is below. Later that night, you can also see M6, a six-person vocal ensemble that performs the work of innovative composer Meredith Monk.

Sisters Ruth and Merrill Garbus (the latter of which heads tUnE-yArDs) will split an evening on December 23rd.

Diane Cluck is there on December 16th.
Larkin Grimm plays after David Garland on the 17th.

Rob Moose plays violin and other instruments with Antony and the Johnsons, My Brightest Diamond, Sufjan Stevens and others. He plays his first-ever solo show at the venue on December 18th.

Currituck County aka Kevin Barker is the late show on the 19th, and the one and only Dave Deporis will be there on the 27th.

And for those with an open Christmas Day, the venue presents an 8pm set from Asthmatic Kitty-signed songwriter DM Stith and a 10pm set that promises to be entertaining: David Garland (piano, clarinet), son Kenji Garland (some-input mixer) and guests present "Processing Xmas" which will features "Familiar seasonal songs processed and emancipated; family improvs; audience sing-alongs; a warm get-together on a winter night."

On December 29th Extra Life, typically a brooding, dark prog ensemble, will play as a duo, with frontman and guitarist Charlie Looker accompanied by the group's violinist Caley Monahon-Ward.

Then the month and year end with "JOHN ZORN'S ANNUAL END OF THE YEAR IMPROV" on Dec. 30th, and a TBA New Year's Eve event.

The Stone's full December schedule is below...

Continue reading "The Stone's December lineup (is really great) - Danielson, DM Stith, Skeletons, Dave Deporis, David Garland & more"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Doomriders - "Lions" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Portal - "Omenknow" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Javelina - "Step Child" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Karma To Burn - Live at Lit Lounge 4/20/09 (Zipped MP3)
DOWNLOAD: 20 Buck Spin Label Sampler (Mediafire, Zipped MP3 via)
DOWNLOAD: Kowloon Walled City - Gambling On The Richter Scale (Zipped MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Converge - "Axe To Fall" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Power Pellut - "Black Molly" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Skies - "Smoke and Mirrors" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yoga - "Seventh Wind" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sleep - Live at ATP 5/9/09 (MP3)

Javelina @ the Northside BV-BBG Showcase (more by Jason Walker)

Alright! I get it. Doomriders rules. Revocation is up there. There's a new Converge and Baroness on the way. But even with all of those great releases, it suprises me that Javelina isn't near some of the top of those lists. The band's filthy debut was a monster and their new one, Beasts Among Sheep, only adds to their considerable reputation. If you are a fan of the last LP, this one is a must have. Dig on "Stepchild" above and preorder the limited edition LP version of Javelina's Beasts Among Sheep via Brutal Panda Records and the CD version via Translation Loss.

Speaking of that Doomriders album, Darkness Come Alive is out NOW via Deathwish Records. Though the party vibe that permeated through Black Thunder is mostly gone, it has been replaced by a propulsive punk rock fury and, at times, a Misfits-era Danzig croon (see "Come Alive")! There are quite a few killer moments on this long-player, but we present to you the most "fuck you" of them all, the galloping "Lions" downloadable above!

In our last round up, we shined a light on into the deepest fathoms of Australia and the truly frightening Portal. The band's claustrophobic and positively frightening new death metal LP, Swarth, relies as much on freak-out atmosphere as it does killer discordant riffery. Swarth is due out on 10/20 via Profound Lore and we have a second taste in the form of "Omenknow" above.
Misery Index have completed four new songs and are looking to enter the studio in early 2010 to record their follow up to Traitors! Stoked.

Iron Age @ Cake Shop (more by Jason Walker)

I still remember that kick ass Cake Shop show with Iron Age, Mind Eraser, and Sex Vid, and walking out of that show wanting more. Thankfully, I can add to those great memories with a PAIR of Iron Age shows in the coming weeks! First up, the rowdy Texans will team up with the great Mother of Mercy (profiled here) for a show at Cake Shop (10/16). The next day (10/17), look for the band to pull a double header with a day show at Generation Records and a night show at The Charleston with Brain Killer, Naam & Descender. Speaking of Mind Eraser, the band will team up with the kick ass Iron Lung for a string of east coast dates which will include Cake Shop on 11/8! Full Iron Age and Iron Lung dates are below.

Black Skies will release the limited edition vinyl from their 2008 EP Hexagon on I'm Better Than Everyone Else Records. The Chapel Hill doom trio is currently on the hunt for drummer #5, but not before blessing us with some seriously killer riffage in the form of "Smoke & Mirrors" above. Preorder Hexagon here.

Power Pellut is also releasing their debut LP via I'm Better than Everyone Else Records. Preorder that here and dig on "Black Betty" from that LP above!

Church of Misery will release a live record culled from their recent set at Roadburn 2009! More details are to come, but look for Burning World to do the honors in November/December of this year. In the meantime, dig on this killer live video from Roadburn 2009!

That video, news on Kowloon Walled City, Boris, Asphyx, Struck By Lightning, Ringworm, Repulsion and more!

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (09/30/09)"

photos by Lori Baily, words by Andrew Frisicano

Zs clapping

On September 3rd, Glasslands hosted an eclectic lineup of Larkin Grimm, Extra Life, Zs and Liturgy. If you missed it, there are plenty of opportunities to see every band on the bill again. For instance, Liturgy is playing both The New Yorker Festival at The Bell House, and a Halloween show at Market Hotel.

Zs' Sam Hillmer is co-curating Death By Audio's The Maze, which takes place through October 2nd, with Zs performing that last night. The inaugural gig for the space will be a show on September 10th with Skeletons Big Band, who are currently doing 3 nights at Roulette. That group's expanded lineup shares some members with Sam Mickens' Ecstatic Showband & Revue. Mickens (of The Dead Science) & Co. are playing the Cake Shop on Wednesday, September 16th with Wildbirds & Peacedrums (who are playing NYC with Deerhoof and Fanfarlo that same week), Katie Eastburn, and Charlie Looker (of Extra Life who also plays in the Revue).

Extra Life has their own shows at both Death By Audio (on September 12th) and Cake Shop (on November 5th) as well as one at Alphabet City spot Drom on October 9th.

More pictures from Glasslands and dates below...

Continue reading "Extra Life & Zs played Glasslands (pics), Wildbirds & Peacedrums add NYC show w/ Sam Mickens & more (dates)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Liturgy - "Ecstatic Rite" (MP3)

Liturgy in a moment of "om"

Liturgy's killer new album Renihilation has only been out around eight days now, and Hunter and the boys are already swimming in accolades. A short US tour kicks off next week, but until then look for them at one last hometown show to sate those who haven't seen them live and can't wait until The New Yorker Festival in October or Halloween with Malkuth and Mount Eerie.

Tonight (9/3) Liturgy will team up with Extra Life (mem STATS), Zs, and Larkin Grimm at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn.

Both Liturgy and STATS are alumni of BV-BBG events; Liturgy played Europa and STATS played the Show No Mercy/BV-BBG event at Public Assembly.

Speaking of bands that played BV-BBG at Europa, Howl are scheduled to play Europa on Sunday (9/6) with Toxic Holocaust. Tickets are still available.

The last time that Howl played NYC was at a FREE show at Fontana's, and ANOTHER one of those takes place TONIGHT (9/3)! Black Anvil will be celebrating the re-release of their awesome 2008 LP, Time Insults The Mind, on Relapse. The band will be joined by a very special guest and The Binary Code. Flyer is below, and again, it is FREE.

Also this sunday (9/6), the previously mentioned Show No Mercy at Public Assembly featuring Gnaw, Mick Barr, Castevet, and Period. Period shares a member with Extra Life.

All Liturgy tour dates as well as flyers for Show No Mercy and the Black Anvil Fontana's show are below.

Continue reading "Liturgy tour dates, Glasslands tonight, Black Anvil for free @ Fontana's, Show No Mercy Sunday & more upcoming shows"

Sam Hillmer (left) playing with Zs @ the Yard (more by Sarahana)

You Are Here (The Maze) is a performance festival in a sculptural maze taking place at Williamsburg's Death By Audio from September 10 - October 2, 2009. Emphasizing the sprawling and interconnected nature of New York's underground, a trip through the maze offers a peak inside NYC's diy art/music scene. A meditation on passage and desire, You Are Here engulfs the space and presents beckoning inhabitants, dead ends, and uplifting epitaphs. Medium and genre vary and overlapping and simultaneous performances are frequent, each performer establishing a different corner or dead end as his or hers.

Skeletons kick off the first night of the festival on September 10th as the Skeletons Big Band, a 12-piece band (expanded from their usual four) that's also playing September 7-9th at Roulette. There they'll be performing "New Works for a Larger Ensemble" which includes "excerpts and new arrangements from their record in progress "PEOPLE," a long form piece based around conversations in Greyhound busses and stations, and beyond..."

The full schedule for the Maze (and the lineup for Skeletons Big Band) is below...

Continue reading "Death By Audio's The Maze - schedule (includes 1 of 4 upcoming Skeletons Big Band shows & much more) "

Remember Death By Audio's 12-hour benefit on July 25th for something called You Are Here: A Maze?

Sam Hillmer & Laura Paris, who dubbed their art collaboration Trouble, had the first You Are Here festival in 2007, at 44th street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. Paris drew out the floor-plan of the maze, while Hillmer, who plays tenor saxophone for the Zs, booked bands to play in the space and coordinated efforts to bring people inside to interact with the maze.

"It didn't seem like the kind of thing that could just sit in a gallery, it needs constant traffic," Hillmer explained. "That is the piece, people dealing with the situation [presented by the maze]."

This year's festival, scheduled for Spetember 10th through October 2nd, will take up the entire space of Death by Audio and feature a maze constructed out of salvaged doors from Built It Green, a nonprofit organization that sells surplus building materials. The space will also have woodchip-covered floors ("to reference mazes built out of bushes," Hillmer notes). The twists and turns of the venue will be littered by some 200 of Paris' sculptures, molded from some of her pieces and then cast repeatedly. [Greenpoint Gazette]

The preliminary lineup (aka almost a month's worth of shows at the venue while the maze is up) mixes interesting out of town names (Calvin Johnson, Ty Segal, The Coathangers) with local acts like Skeletons (as 'Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities'), Mick Barr (he is local right?), Extra life and Stars Like Fleas. Full lineup to be announced soon but more of it is below, along with video footage of the first Maze (starring Dave Longstreth, Thee Oh Sees and others), and other details and the flyer for the new Maze...

Continue reading "Death by Audio maze installation running Sept 10-Oct 2 (Skeletons, Mick Barr, Calvin Johnson, Extra Life, Ty Segall)"

Sunday June 14th @ FORT TILDEN BEACH
:: FREE ALL AGES UNAMPLIFIED ACOUSTIC BBQ 2009
:: each year we throw an informal, quiet party in a beautiful public place, w/
:: many diverse musicians playing two or three songs w/ no amplification
:: this year, it's on Fort Tilden Beach in the Rockways! best beach in NYC! [Todd P]

Continue reading "Todd P's UNAMPLIFIED ACOUSTIC BBQ 2009 (at Fort Tilden)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: The Dead Science - Throne Of Blood (The Jump Off) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Dead Science - Make Mine Marvel (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Dead Science - Days Of Future Past [mixtape track] (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Dead Science - Garden Wall [mixtape track] (MP3)

The Dead Science

Seattle's The Dead Science (not to be confused with The Dead Weather) are planning a North American tour this June. That includes two NYC shows: Monday, June 15th the band plays the Studio at Webster Hall with Bobby Conn & Monica Bou Bou and Zs (Tickets). The next night, Tuesday, June 16th, the band performs at Death By Audio with Skeletons, From Bacteria to Boys and Charlie Looker.

The Dead Science's last record, Villainaire, came out on Constellation Records in 2008. The supporting tour for that release brought the Dead Science to NYC's Knitting Factory on a bill with Brooklyn band Extra Life. This time around, the band will play with Extra Life's songwriter/frontman, Charlie Looker, on its second NYC show, and Zs, a band that included Looker for six years, on its first.

Extra Life are currently on a month-long tour of Europe. The DBA show is scheduled to be Looker/Extra Life's first show back in the US.

Also opening at DBA is From Bacteria to Boys, jazz project of drummer Mike Pride. On April 8th, the group played a live set, now streaming, at WFMU's studios.

Pride plays in a number of local groups (that counts collaborating with Charlie Looker on a project called Period). Recently, Pride gigged as part of Whoopie Pie at Pie member Jamie Saft's Wednesday residency at Zebulon. On Wednesday, May 6th, Whoopie Pie's special guest was Marc Ribot (who's in the midst of a weeklong b-day retrospective). Tonight, Wednesday, May 13th, at Zebulon, the group will be joined by Dead Science frontman Sam Mickens as "special guest vocalist."

Mickens returns to Zebulon just two days later, on Friday, May 15th, to record and film a live album with the "Sam Mickens Ecstatic Showband and Revue." That band includes Mike Pride on drums and in the past has featured Charlie Looker and other members of Extra Life.

The final band on that June 16th DBA bill, Skeletons, has other upcoming NYC dates too. Those include May 19th at the Cake Shop with Nick Krgovich, To Bad Catholics and Katie Eastburn and June 24th with Zs at the Studio at Webster Hall.

All Dead Science and Skeletons tour dates below...

Continue reading "Sam Mickens playing Zebulon (twice), the Dead Science touring (Studio & DBA) - 2009 dates & MP3's"

Papercuts merch will be available tonight (more by Fresh Bread)

tonight in NYC
* Wale @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Olof Arnalds @ Scandinavia House
* Junior Boys, Max Tundra @ Webster Hall
* Fear, Mongrel, Cerebral Ballzy, Runny @ Europa
* Mike Watt & The Missing Men, Mad Happy @ Maxwell's
* Franz Ferdinand, Born Ruffians @ Roseland Ballroom
* pow wow!, Shark?, The Sundelles, Darlings @ Glasslands
* Vetiver, Papercuts, These United States @ The Bell House
* Mr. Falcon, Diehard, So Cow, German Measles @ Bruar Falls
* Fischerspooner, Drop the Lime, No Bra @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Extra Life, Nat Baldwin, Rain Machine (Kyp Malone) @ Union Pool
* Trouble Andrew, Team Facelift, Juiceboxxx @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Glenn Branca, Neg-Fi, Paranoid Critical Revolution @ Issue Project Room
* Cut Off Your Hands, So So Glos, US Royalty, Grandmas Boy @ Mercury Lounge
* The Rhythm Method, Grooms, Real Estate, Taigaa, @ Public Assembly

Nat Baldwin is in Dirty Projectors. Kyp Malone is in TV on the Radio. This summer the two bands are touring together. Tonight they share a bill with Extra Life at Union Pool.

A 4 minute Loney Dear documentary below...

The new We Were Promised Jetpacks video for "Quiet Little Voices" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"