the flyer (with most of the bands playing on it)

BrooklynVegan is proud to team up with M for Montreal again for a FREE Day Party in Austin on Thursday, March 15th from noon-7pm at Hotel Vegan (one of BrooklynVegan's FOUR DAYS in the venue located at 1500 E. 6th St.).

I'll let this full three-stage lineup speak for itself...

Stage 1 (Hotel Vegas Outside)
12:00 Of Monsters & Men
12:45 Glen Hansard (of Swell Season & the Frames)
1:30 We Are Serenades (formerly Serenades, mem. Shout Out Louds)
2:15 Hospitality
3:00 Korallreven (mem. of the Radio Dept)
3:45 Fanfarlo
4:30 The Drums
5:15 The Wedding Present
6:15 This Will Destroy You

Stage 2 (Hotel Vegas Inside)
12:00 Half Moon Run
12:45 Thus:Owls
1:30 Cold Specks
2:15 Cymbals Eat Guitars
3:00 The Velvet Teen
3:45 Yellow Ostrich
4:30 The Jealous Sound
5:15 Parlovr

Stage 3 (Volstead) (BV Austin stage)
12:15 Love Inks
1:00 Feathers
1:45 Gashcat
2:30 Ringo Deathstarr
3:15 Silent Diane
4:00 The Young
5:00 Ume

That's all Austin bands on the BV Austin stage. It's going to a very great day

In addition to the completely free lineup of 24 bands playing on THREE stages, we will also have complimentary drinks courtesy of HobNob Wines, the official wine parter of our entire week of FREE PARTIES at Hotel Vegan (check out HobNob's Facebook page for free music downloads), and a hosted bar courtesy of Sailor Jerry

We will also have FREE VEGAN TREATS courtesy of NadaMoo! and FREE Honest Tea. AND Supercuts will have a team of stylists on-site the entire day providing FREE haircuts and styling!

Special thanks to all of our partners and sponsors for making this party possible - including Vox, Blackstar and Korg, our official backline partners, as well as ASCAP, HobNob Wines, NadaMoo!, Sailor Jerry and M for Montreal! And special thanks to GBH Design for making our awesome flyer!

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This is the first full day at Hotel Vegan announced. 2/3 of the Wednesday lineup is HERE. Friday and Saturday coming shortly.

We also have THREE official showcases (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday), and a Saturday metal day party at Lovejoys,

photos & video by Chris La Putt

Ramesh & band @ Mercury Lounge

Austin represented at Mercury Lounge in NYC on Monday night, 3/5, when Ramesh of Voxtrot, complete with a new band and a new EP, performed along with Feathers (who have since continued on to the UK to play Koko in London tonight and ATP in Minehead on Saturday). Both bands will be back in Austin in time for SXSW.

Ramesh's set included an acoustic take of Voxtrot classic "Raised by Wolves" which Chris caught on video. That video with more pictures from the whole show, below...

Continue reading "Ramesh (of Voxtrot) played Mercury Lounge with Feathers (pics, video)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mac DeMarco - "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: TOPS - Turn Your Love Around (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (For Real For Sure For You) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD:  Young Prisms - Floating in Blue (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Boy Friend - Egyptian Wrinkle (MP3)

Mac Demarco

It begins. Bands from all over the world -- England! Canada! Sweden! New Zealand! Virginia! -- descend on New York as they beat a path to Austin for this year's SXSW. Which is good for those who aren't going, as well as folks who are but want to see bands play longer than 25 minutes and aren't strung out on a four-day diet of free breakfast tacos, Vitamin Water and Amstel Light. There's lots more going on than what is covered below, but it's what I'm interested in over the next few days.

New Captured Tracks signee Mac DeMarco is in town from Vancouver to play a couple shows. He plays an all-C/T bill tonight (3/2) at Music Hall of Williamsburg with DIVE, Hoop Dreams and headliners Beach Fossils (sold out), and then Glasslands tomorrow (3/3) with  headliners Widowspeak and  Quilt.

Demarco, who used to record under the name Makeout Videotapes, has a smoky baritone that is part Chris Isaak and part Tindersticks. His music owes a little to Isaak as well, with an early '60s vibe (Ricky Nelson, Gene Vincent) by way of '80s neon, all on a four-track budget. You can check debut "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans" from his debut, Rock n' Roll Hotel (out 3/20) at the top of this post, which is indicative of what Demarco is all about. You can also watch the video for "Only You" which is kind of NSFW. Dude's a provocateur.

Hoop Dreams

Tonight's MHoW show is the first NYC show we've had from Blacksburg, VA's Hoop Dreams in a long while. They were good when I saw them at Glasslands last year and have the potential to be breakouts for the label if they ever get around to releasing another record (only a single so far). Live, they're more in the Arcade Fire/Editors anthemic style than the single might suggest. It will also be a good opportunity to hear new music from Beach Fossils who are busy at work on their second LP.

And of course, DIVE, who are probably one of the more exciting live bands in Brooklyn right now and are a definite SXSW must-see if you don't live here and have the opportunity to catch them twice a week like we currently do. (They're also touring with Frankie Rose in April.) The show is sold out tonight, but I'd be shocked if there weren't tickets at the door at least when the box office opens.

TOPS

Montreal band TOPS are playing 285 Kent tomorrow night as part of a killer bill that includes Blood Orange, Phone Tag and  Caged Animals. The four-piece is comprised of most (if not all) of MTL's Silly Kissers who played here a few times over the last few years and were a little on the precious side (they sometimes wore mime makeup). TOPS, however, are more in the Ariel Pink/Puro Instict brand of minimal keyboard pop. Their debut, Tender Opposites, came out this week on Artibus Records, which is also home to Grimes (in Canada). You can download "Turn Your Love Around" at the top of this post and stream the whole thing (and watch the further down.

As you may have read, 285 headliners Caged Animals will open the Official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase on March 14 at Bar 69 which also includes Titus Andronicus, Screaming Females, 2:54, The Young and one more TBA. If you haven't heard their tuneful, charming debut Eat Their Own yet, it's still streamable at their BandCamp. And they're terrific live.

So is Blood Orange, despite it just being Dev Hynes, his guitar and a laptop. I saw him last weekend at Glasslands where he spent as much time in the crowd as he did on stage. I do wish he'd get a band, but the one-man Blood Orange is a lot of fun. I haven't seen Phone Tag in a while, but I dig their brand of '80s synthpop.

Korallreven

Sunday night (3/4) at Bowery Ballroom is the NYC debut of Swedish duo Korallreven, one half of which is The Radio Dept.'s Daniel Tjäder. I like their debut album a lot, all lush, synth-driven dream pop but, like a lot of music like this, I wonder how they're going to make it an interesting concert experience. I envision two guys behind laptops and keyboards bobbing their heads and singing, with some projections and hopefully smoke machines.  Maybe they could move the downstairs couches to the main room? Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see. I'm sure it will sound great in any case.  If you haven't heard them yet, you can download "Sa Sa Samoa" in regular and remixed form at the top of this post and watch the video at the bottom of this post. Also playing: Lemonade and Young Magic.

Bachelorette

Also playing Sunday night, at Cameo, is Bachelorette -- aka New Zealander Annabel Alpers who I think lives here now. Buoyed by Alpers delicate, breathy voice, Bachelorette make ethereal synthpop not miles away from The Magnetic Fields, with whom she's going on tour for seven shows. (All dates at the bottom of this post.) I liked it better when she had a band, but the loop pedal incarnation is pretty lovely too. You can check out a couple videos below or stream her most recent album on Spotify.

Young Prisms at the Comet, Seattle (photo by Finest Kiss)

And looking into early next week, San Francisco's Young Prisms and Austin's Boy Friend are at Glasslands on Monday (3/5). Young Prisms new album, In Between, is out March 27 on Kanine and is a real step forward for the band. Their still mining first-wave shoegaze, but the songs are much stronger this time out with a couple that go for jangly Velocity Girl style pop. They will be very loud I guarantee you. Boy Friend will make a nice opener, with their hazy, 4-AD miasma vibe. You can download MP3s from both bands at the top of this post. Also playing, seemingly from another show, are Alex Bleeker & the Freaks and Tanks Amigo.

That's the big stuff for the next four days. But wait, there's more. Day-by-day picks of things not covered above:

The Young Empires at M for Montreal 2011

FRIDAY, MARCH 2

Like Friendly Fires and Foals? Check out Toronto's Young Empires are at Glasslands, with Saint Motel, Fan-Tan, and Transmission NYC (DJ set).

Expect a wild evening at Death by Audio with "original line-up" Tyvek, plus Habibi, Feelings and the Numerators. Stick-in-the-muds, go see something else!

Boston's pop veterans The Figgs play Littlefield. The band's new double album, The Day Gravity Stopped, is out sometime soon.

continued below...

Continue reading "Mac DeMarco, TOPS, Korallreven, Bachelorette, Young Prisms, Boy Friend and more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

Feathers at Mohawk, October 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Feathers are making the trip from Austin with former Voxtrot singer Ramesh to play Mercury Lounge on March 5. The band have been making waves in Texas over the last few months and this will be their first NYC show, and their only scheduled show at the moment outside of SXSW.

Feathers is the new project from Anastasia Dimou who you may know from NYC band Cruel Black Dove (who are now broken up). Galexy from Ringo Deathstarr is also in the band. Band member Destiny Montague was in Shock Cinema and Midnight Masses too.

At this point, Feathers only have a couple tracks to check out -- you can stream them at the bottom of this post -- but "Land of the Innocent" is a good one, all pulsing synths and siren-song harmonies. Comparisons will be made to Austra and Zola Jesus, but Feathers are a little more dancefloor oriented, with some glammy stompers in their repertoire as well. The other track is a remix of the song "Dream Song" (which has no released regular version yet). The remix was done by Maya Postepski of Austra and Trust (who just signed to Arts & Crafts).

While waiting to hear more -- or see them live -- check out photos from our man in Austin, Tim Griffin, from their first-ever show back in October when they opened for Washed Out, and from a show they played not long after that at Beauty Bar, AND from last week's 'Free Week' show as well.

Songs below...

Continue reading "Check out Feathers -- making NYC debut @ Mercury Lounge -- song stream, a remix & live pics too"

Ramesh @ a Fun Fun Fun Fest Nite in November (more by Tim Griffin)

Last year, we discussed that Ramesh (formerly of Voxtrot) kicked off a solo career with a 3-track EP that you can stream at his website. At the time, he had no shows scheduled. Since then, he's played a number of shows (none in NYC) including a Fun Fun Fun Fest afterparty, which we just posted a belated set of pics from on the new BV Austin.

Now he's finally scheduled a NYC show, set to take place at Mercury Lounge on March 5 with Feathers who will be making their NYC debut at that show. Tickets go on sale Friday (1/13) at noon with an AmEx presale starting on Wednesday (1/11) at noon.

The Mercury Lounge show is the only announced show for Ramesh at the moment, but stay tuned for a possible Brooklyn show too.

Kyle Thomas, Ruth Garbus & Chris Weisman

Happy Birthday is Kyle Thomas (aka King Tuff), Chris Weisman, and Ruth Garbus. They formed in November 2008 to play one show at the punk-space "Tinderbox"(RIP), in their hometown Brattleboro, Vermont. Kyle needed a band to play his new pop songs because he was too scared to play by himself. They enjoyed playing with each other so much that they decided to keep doing it. They have now played a total of 5 shows. Kyle sings and plays lead guitar. The songs are mostly his, but the band arranges and finishes them together. He is also a painter and drawer and loves top 40, shoes, texting, comic books, etc. Ruth Garbus plays drums and sings. She also makes her own music and art. Chris Weisman plays "inverted-tuning" guitar, bass, and sings. He makes 4-track songs, enjoys reading and writing, and is a guitar teacher.
-[Sub Pop in September]

Happy Birthday's Sub Pop signing was announced in September, but so far the label hasn't released any of the tracks from the album's worth of songs the band recorded for them (due to be released March 16th, 2010). The record's tracklist is below.

The band was signed only a few months after their first non-Brattleboro, VT show, which happened in Winooski, VT in July. A video from that gig is below. Since then, the group made what we think was their NYC debut at Silent Barn on October 21st (during CMJ) and opened two nights for Devendra Banhart in Burlington and Boston in November.

Happy Birthday are scheduled to visit NYC again on December 12th for a show at Death By Audio with Yellow Fever (their debut album release show) and Vivian Girls
.
Happy Birthday is a supergroup of sorts. In addition to their individual solo projects, Ruth and Kyle are both in Feathers, Kyle (aka King Tuff) is also in Witch, and Chris plays as a duo with Greg Davis.

Chris Weisman (who is not in Feathers or Witch) has a brother named Kurt Weisman who is also in Feathers (who are signed to Devendra Banhart's label Gnomonsong) and Witch (who feature J Mascis as a member).

Ruth Garbus has a sister named Merrill Garbus who recently broke up her band Sister Suvi and is now best known as Tune-Yards.

Ruth (Happy Birthday) just signed to Sub Pop. Merrill recently signed to 4AD. That's a family full of talent with a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. Catch both sisters performing solo on the same NYC bill for the first time at the Stone two days before Christmas.

Happy Birthday album tracklist and a live video of the group (possibly the only way to hear them via the Internet at the moment), below...

Continue reading "Happy Birthday signed to Sub Pop, include King Tuff & Ruth Garbus - sister of Merrill (who signed to 4AD) - live video"