by Andrew Sacher

Au Palais

Caveman, who recently signed to Fat Possum (who are now selling their album), conclude their North American tour in NYC on Friday (1/20) at Bowery Ballroom. That show is now sold out, but if you've got tickets you should get there early to check out London-via-Toronto duo Au Palais. The Bowery Ballroom show is their last North American show before returning home to London. Heaven is also on the bill.

Au Palais (aka brother and sister David and Elise Commathe) released their debut EP, Tender Mercy on December 5 via The Sounds of Sweet Nothing. The EP has gained pretty accurate comparisons to the dark synth pop of Austra and Zola Jesus but Elise Commathe sings with a much more subdued voice than the howls of Katie Stelmanis and Nika Danilova. Meanwhile, David plays a similar role in the group to that of Jamie xx in the The xx, with a focus on beatmaking that comes across most strongly on the EP's closing instrumental track, "H.o.l.l.a.n.d." Stream the entire EP below and purchase it at The Sounds of Sweet Nothing bandcamp.

Au Palais plan to follow this EP with a full length album that they recently spoke to FADER about:

DAVID: Yeah, we're working on it right now. It's a little brighter. We took a lot of inspiration from like early '90s house music--full-on operatic vocals.
ELISE: Just blame it on my love to dance. I was like, David, we need to write a dance song.
DAVID: There's also like plenty of dark shit in there, too, so don't worry that's still around.
ELISE: Don't worry the moody depressive songs will be back.

All Caveman dates and Au Palais EP stream below...

Continue reading "Au Palais opening sold out, Fat Possum-signed Caveman show (stream their EP)"

UK-based lo-fi indie poppers Gross Magic have just signed to Fat Possum in North America. Gross Magic is the current project of Sam McGarrigle, started after the break up of his previous band Hocus Tocus. Gross Magic's debut EP, Teen Jamz, is available now on iTunes with a bonus track. The bonus-track-less version can also be streamed below. Fat Possum will release the physical version of the EP in the US on October 11. You can also check out a music video and a Bowlegs session of the EP's single, "Sweetest Touch," along with a Bowlegs session of bandcamp bonus track "P.Y.T."

Gross Magic will make their US debut opening for Fat Possum labelmates Yuck at Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 13 and 14. Porcelain Raft is also on both of those shows. Tickets are still on sale. Gross Magic will stick around NYC too, to play Cameo Gallery on October 15. Tickets are on sale for that too.

All dates, videos, and EP stream below...

Continue reading "Gross Magic signs to Fat Possum, making US debut in NYC (opening for Yuck, playing Cameo too)"

photos by Brook Bobbins, words by BBG

Company Flow @ Santos

Brooklyn MC El-P has released a new "censored mix" of a new song, "Drones Over Brooklyn" for Adult Swim. No word on if the track, currently downloadable below or via the Adult Swim site, will appear on El-P's new LP Cancer for Cure due on Fat Possum next year. El-P is now labelmates with Mellowhype, Yuck, The Smith Westerns, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, AA Bondy and many more.

El-P (and collaborator Trent Reznor) also recently provided the soundtrack to a gang of methheads in Jessie Pinkman's apartment on AMC's Breaking Bad, as the sound of smoking blue rocks were drowned out by "Flyentology" from I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.

El-P was supposed to play Terminal 5 with the Streets tonight (8/12), but it was cancelled. However, he and his former crew, Company Flow, reunited at Santos Party House on July 16th with fellow unsung NYC crew The Juggaknots. The sold-out show featured full sets from both, as well as a collaboration between Breezy Brewin of Juggaknots and Company Flow to perform the classic Indelible MC's track "The Fire In Which You Burn". Belated pictures from Santos and "Drones over Brooklyn" below.

Continue reading "El-P signs to Fat Possum, released a new song for Adult Swim, played in Company Flow @ Santos (pics)"

by Andrew Sacher

When we last spoke about Youth Lagoon (aka Trevor Powers) we mentioned that the initial plans for a July 5 release on Juno Beach were scrapped. We now know that's because he's signed to Fat Possum. The label will release his startling debut The Year of Hibernation on September 27 in the US. Lefse will release the album in Europe. Grab two tracks off the album, and stream a third here.

As mentioned, Youth Lagoon will play Midpoint Music Festival in September. He's also scheduled to play Hopscotch Fest and Pygmalion Music Festival the same month.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Youth Lagoon signs to Fat Possum & Lefse, adds more dates"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

DOWNLOAD: Little Dragon - "Nightlight (Unknown Mortal Orchestra Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "How Can U Luv Me" (MP3)

UMO @ Glasslands

Unknown Mortal Orchestra headlined Glasslands on 6/4. Headless Horseman, Balkans, and Fort Lean rounded out the rest of the bill. Despite some gear issues, UMO played an hour long set that concluded with "How Can U Luv Me" to a relatively full crowd. UMO is currrently prepping to release their self-titled debut on Fat Possum on 6/21. Stream three songs at the label site and download one above along with a remix the band did for Little Dragon.

The Glasslands show was one of two NYC dates for UMO, who played Webster Hall with their tour-mates Portugal The Man the night before. They'll return both venues in September while on tour with Toro Y Moi who headlines Webster Hall on 9/14. Ava Luna is also on the bill and tickets are still available. One day later, 9/15, UMO return to Glasslands for another headlining show. Tickets are on sale for that too.

UMO also has a bunch of dates scheduled with Yuck.. All dates and more pictures from Glasslands below...

Continue reading "Unknown Mortal Orchestra played Glasslands (pics), touring with Toro y Moi, playing Glasslands again (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Tyler The Creator - "French" (Toro Y Moi Remix) (MP3)

Left Brain at Santos (more by Brook Bobbins)

As mentioned yesterday, "MellowHype (Hodgy Beats & Left Brain) just announced that they will be re-releasing their most recent record, 'BlackenedWhite,' with two bonus tracks. No details on a label or signing yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before we hear more." As announced today:

MellowHype (OFWGKTA) sign to Fat Possum for a hard release of BlackenedWhite. It was originally featured on Odd Future's website back on Halloween and has since been remixed and remastered with bonus content for a physical release on CD and Vinyl this summer.

Meanwhile, download Blackenedwhite for free.

In related news, Toro Y Moi recently dropped a remix for Tyler The Creator's "French" from the Bastard LP (download it above/stream it below) and Funny or Die posted a video of the crew getting signed that features Paul Scheer and many others. Check out the video alongside the song stream below.

Continue reading "MellowHype signs to Fat Possum, Toro y Moi remixes Tyler the Creator, Paul Scheer signs Odd Future"

by Dominic Masi Jr.

The skateboarding, hip-hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA, Odd Future, OF, Golf Wang) are blowing up. Their lyrics are in your face and offensive, and they have a style that sounds like, to quote Earl, the "reincarnation of '98 Eminem" (FREE EARL!) - more so than the often referenced Gravediggaz HorrorCore anyway. The beats are all made in house by the Odd Future crew and are usually heavy on the synthesizers and bass lines. The signature OF sound is best on display in Tyler, the Creator's new song, 'Yonkers.' The self-directed video for the song has reached over 1.8 million views on YouTube since its February 11th debut. Kanye West tweeted it as "The video of 2011."

They just wrapped up a short sold out East Coast tour, performed with the Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (which included a swagged out co-sign by Mos Def), had a lunch meeting with Jay-Z and finally got to hang out with Justin Bieber. Tyler, the Creator recently signed to XL and will release his second album, 'GOBLIN,' in April. MellowHype (Hodgy Beats & Left Brain) also just announced that they will be re-releasing their most recent record, 'BlackenedWhite,' with two bonus tracks. No details on a label or signing yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before we hear more. UPDATE: the album is coming via Fat Possum.

The group are heading to SXSW in March and Coachella in April - their only dates at the moment, but a full blown tour is definitely on the horizon.

I was lucky enough to tag along with Odd Future on a Chinatown bus to Philadelphia, the day after their Fallon performance (which was the day after their Santos Party House show). Our destination was their sold out show that night at the Barbary which ended up being completely insane. Before the show they skated around the City of Brotherly Love, ran up the ROCKY steps and ate cheese steaks. The bus ride and all the craziness in Philly was documented by MTV (with a bit of my help). Check out the video entitled "The Wonderful Adventures of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All", below. Swag!

Continue reading "'The Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Phenomenon'"

DOWNLOAD: Young Galaxy -Peripheral Visionaries (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Young Galaxy - Cover Your Tracks (MP3)

Chief @ Governors Island over the summer (more by David Andrako)

The Domino-signed band Chief are on tour and headlining Bowery Ballroom this evening, 12/7. Tickets are still on sale, and I have a few pairs you can win. Details, all dates and Chief's new video for "The Minute I Saw it", are below.

Opening the Bowery Ballroom show are The Dig and Oxford, Mississippi's Young Buffalo. If you know one thing about Oxford, it might be that the city is home to Fat Possum Records, and if you know anything about Fat Possum, then you know that since the label recently signed the young Oxford-local band, Young Buffalo must be at least worth a listen (self-titled LP due out in early 2011). You can listen below. Their tour dates are down there too.

Young Man @ MHOW for CMJ (more by Ryan Barkan)

Speaking of young bands, Young Man has a new single out today for "Strangers". And with that single came a new video for "Up So Fast" which you can watch below.

Canada's Young Galaxy will release their third LP, Shapeshifting, via Paperbag Records on February 8th. Grab two songs off that new album, above for free and now.

Young Prisms recently toured and played some NYC shows, and one in Boston that they were late to, partially because their tourmates Weekend had some car trouble, and partially because they were taping an Into The Woods session. Watch that below. Young Prisms are going back on tour in January. They don't list another NYC show yet, but they are playing Philly on 1/31. All dates are down there too.

Continue reading "Chief, Young Buffalo, Young Man, Young Galaxy, Young Prisms (dates, a contest, MP3s, videos & more) "

by BBG

Former Acid Bath and Deadboy & The Elephantmen guitarist Dax Riggs is going back on the road. Tickets go on sale today (6/21) at noon for August 14th and August 15th NYC shows at Mercury Lounge. The dates are in support of the Say Goodnight To The World, Riggs's new LP for Fat Possum Records which hits store shelves not long before the Mercury dates (on August 2nd). Stream the new song "Gravedirt on my Blue Suede Shoes" at his MySpace.

All dates (not many of them yet), and a few videos, below...

Continue reading "Dax Riggs releasing new album, playing 2 NYC shows (dates) "

DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy - When The Devil's Loose (MP3)

A.A. Bondy's sophomore album, When The Devil's Loose, will be released September 1, 2009 on Fat Possum.

Recorded primarily in Water Valley, MS in April and May, When The Devil's Loose expands upon the stripped-down and stirring sound of his debut album, American Hearts. A full band now accompanies him on most tracks, lending a full, roomy sound to 10 haunting songs carried along by Bondy's lived-in voice. When The Devil's Loose sounds almost from another era, whether it's a quiet, spooky twang ("Oh The Vampyre"), lullaby-like ("On The Moon"), inflected with old-time R&B ("To The Morning"), or colored with traces of '60s pop (the buoyant "I Can See The Pines Are Dancing" and the melancholy, ethereal cadence of "When The Devil's Loose"). [PR]

Download the title track above!

Still out on tour with NYC's Holly Miranda, the pair played The Bell House in Brooklyn on June 6th, and AA was at the Sasquatch Festival not long before that. Videos from the Bell House & Sasquatch, all upcoming tour dates, and the new album tracklist, below...

Continue reading "AA Bondy announces When The Devil's Loose - first MP3 "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Willem Maker - Hex Blues (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Willem Maker - Red as a Rose (MP3)

Bob Log III @ Southpaw in 2004 (more)

Bob Log III is an American, Slide Guitar, One Man Band. During performances, he plays old silvertone archtop guitars, wears a full body cannonball man suit, and a helmet wired to a telephone which allows him to devote his hands and feet to guitar and drums. The spectacle has been described as a guitar dance party, full of sweaty smiles, jumps and kicks. [Wikipedia]

Bob Log III and country/bluesman Willem Maker are on tour through May. That trip includes a Sunday, May 17th stop at the Mercury Lounge (Tickets are on sale now.) And a show the next night (Monday, May 18th) at Union Hall.

Bob Log III's new disc, My Shit is Perfect, came out March 31st on Birdman Records. Maker's newest, New Moon Hand, came out in March as well, on Big Legal Mess Records and Fat Possum Records.

New videos by both Log and Maker, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Bob Log III & Willem Maker - new albums, new videos & 2009 Tour Dates"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Those Darlins & Deer Tick @ the BV SXSW showcase - Mar 18, 2009

"In a world of emo-boys and reluctant band leaders, Those Darlins, country-punk pals from Murfreesboro, Tenn., had a comically leering sexuality and the kind of abandon that seems scarce these days. Their punk hootenanny sensibility reminds us that you don't have to act serious to be taken seriously. South by Southwest, with its quick set ups and tear downs, is always technically challenged, but when these girls blew an amp, they vamped with the kind of jokes and entreaties that can't be rendered here..... After they borrowed an amp from their friends and tour mates in Deer Tick, they borrowed the whole band as well, with the boys serving as accessories as the girls sang a kind of homage to a bird..."
[NY Times]

The music portion of SXSW ran from Wednesday to Saturday (most of it). Looking back, it went by so fast. At the same time, it feels like Wednesday was so long ago. For me, it started out with the BrooklynVegan/Solid PR day party on one of the three Emo's stages, and ended right down the block the same day with six bands at the official Brooklyn Vegan showcase (two of the four BV parties this year). Jacob Blickenstaff stopped by both shows, and went a few other places, as you can see in the pictures below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2009 - Day 1 in photos by Jacob"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Young Widows - "Old Skin" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Young Widows - "The Heat Is Here" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Young Widows - "The Charmers" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Annihilation Time - "Splashback" (MP3)

The Bronx

What are you up to Wednesday, March 18th? If you're in the greater Austin region, it might be a good idea to slide on down to Emo's for a day of killer bands, suds, and full on badass-ed-ness. To get all official and shit, we'd like to announce the FREE BROOKLYN VEGAN/SOLID PR DAY PARTY featuring

• 5:45pm: The Bronx
• 5:00pm: Young Widows
• 4:15pm: Annihilation Time
• 3:30pm: Trash Talk
• 2:45pm: Psychedelic Horseshit
• 2:00pm: Garotas Suecas

The bands kick off at 2PM, but get there by 1:15 to experience the NEW Big Business record Mind The Drift before it hits the shelves on Mar 31st. Our friends from ilovemikelitt will also be on hand to help spread good causes and cheer, and special thanks goes out to Timmy for all his help in putting this together.

This all goes down inside Emo's on the 2nd stage on the afternoon of the first day of SXSW Music. Happening at the same time on the main stage of the same venue is the also-killer, also-free Fat Possum Records day party with King Kahn & BBQ, Wavves, Thomas Function, Strange Boys, Crocodiles, Thomas Function and more.

Later that same night is the official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase at Club De Ville, about a block away. We're (BrooklynVegan) also doing sorta-TBA, free day parties on the Thursday and Friday of SXSW (full details coming shortly).

---

Young Widows recently dropped the video for "Old Skin" from Old Wounds, a song that premiered right here on BrooklynVegan. The band is logging some miles in the coming months (dates below), linking up with Australian band My Disco for the trek and playing Europa in Brooklyn with The Austerity Program & Tournament on April 1st in the process (tickets here). The pair will also drop a split 7", one of a series with the likes of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Pelican, and Melt-Banana.

The Bronx are touring the US like mad dogs including playing a show at Bowery Ballroom with Trash Talk on April 20th (tickets here), and a show at Maxwell's on April 22nd (tickets here).

NYCers will have FOUR chances to check out Garotas Suecas in the coming month, three in person and one on the Pat Duncan Show on WFMU on March 26th. The band has lined up live appearances at Mercury Lounge on March 24th (tickets here), Death By Audio on April 5, and Zebulon on April 6th.

Psychedelic Horseshit have a "a self released LP collecting our very first and oldest 4 track recordings" due in "March or April" entitled Golden Oldies as well as a TON of new material including Shitgaze Anthems 12" EP on Woodsist (spring 09), Acid Test 12" EP on Troubleman Unltd. (late spring/early sum 09), Beached Wails 7" with a "surprise release date", and their second LP, Too Many Hits, on Slitbreeze (late summer 09). The Columbus, Ohio crew have a few dates on the calendar as well, check THOSE out, along with everyone's tour dates, below...

Continue reading "a BrooklynVegan/SolidPR day party @ Emo's and other YOUNG WIDOWS & THE BRONX & TRASH TALK tour dates"

DOWNLOAD: Heartless Bastards - The Mountain (MP3)

Erika Wennerstrom is the singer, guitarist and songwriter in a band that immediately gets your attention in two ways. She calls her trio Heartless Bastards, easily one of the best rock-band names of the last decade. And then there's Wennerstrom's voice, soul-deep yet never hysterical, tinged with vibrato. It sounds deeper than the earth and timeless, as if it could just as easily be found on a scratchy 78-rpm blues platter as it is on an MP3 file.

That voice has never sounded more potent than it does on the Heartless Bastards' third and best album, "The Mountain" (Fat Possum). Wennerstrom says she can't remember a day when she didn't want to sing, when she didn't feel that singing would be her life. [Chicago Tribune]

As Largehearted Boy highlighted, the new Heartless Bastards album was just released. Grab track #1 above. Catch the band live at Maxwell's in Hoboken TONIGHT (2/4). Catch them tomorrow in Philly, or Friday and Saturday at Terminal 5 when they (and Lucero) open for the Black Keys. Catch them all over the country as they continue to go on a tour that includes a stop at SXSW, shows with their Fat Possum labelmate Andrew Bird, and a lot of dates with the Gaslight Anthem that include the previously-mentioned gig at Webster Hall on March 27th (tix). Catch them February 10th on David Letterman. Listen to their recent Daytrotter session. All dates below...

Continue reading "HEARTLESS BASTARDS - new MP3 & 2009 Tour Dates (@Maxwells tonight, w/ Black Keys, w/ Gaslight Anthem)"