SUNN O)))

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Islands @ Asbury Lanes (NJ)
* Shakey's Record Fair @ Public Assembly
* Starfucker, Deelay Ceelay @ Bruar Falls
* itsnotyouitsme, Pitcom, Gutbucket @ Zebulon
* Snow Patrol, Plain White T's @ Beacon Theatre
* The Drums, Knight School, Kordan @ Mercury Lounge
* Fanfarlo, Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ The Bell House
* Face to Face, Pegboy, Polar Bear Club @ Irving Plaza
* Slaraffenland, The Silent League, Glass Ghost @ Union Pool
* Sunn O))), Earth, Pelican, Eagle Twin @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple
* People Under the Stairs, Grieves with Budo @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Spank Rock, Big Freedia, Sissy Nobby, DJ Rusty Lazer @ Glasslands Gallery
* Soulsavers (w/ Mark Lanegan), Jonneine Zapata, Red Ghost @ Bowery Ballroom
* Mike Pride's Drummer's Corpse, Blast Off!, Aaron Siegel, Meredith Arena @ DBA
* Musicka Mystica Maxima w/ 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, Daniel Higgs, John Zorn & Bill Laswell, more @ Santos Party House

Musicka Mystica Maxima fest goes into its second and last night with music from 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, Daniel Higgs, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, and John Zorn & Bill Laswell.

Starfucker are getting a new name, but not before playing tonight at Bruar Falls with Deelay Ceelay, and tomorrow at Santos.

Public Assembly becomes a record store tonight. Morningwood plays a secret show at the same venue on Wednesday at 5pm (4pm doors).

Spank Rock is playing Glasslands tonight which means Spankrock may or may not be playing Glasslands tonight.

Soulsavers have a new record and Mark Lanegan sings on it, as he does tonight at Bowery Ballroom. Jonneine Zapata and Red Ghost open.

The Maze at Death By Audio hosts Mike Pride's Drummer's Corpse, Blast Off!, Aaron Siegel and Meredith Arena.

The Drums play with Knight School (not Action Painters as originally scheduled) and Kordan at Mercury Lounge.

itsnotyouitsme, Pitcom and Gutbucket (as always, with sax player Ken Thomson) play at Zebulon.

Fanfarlo are playing the BV CMJ show on October 20th. They also play tonight at the Bell House, which is your last chance to catch Wildbirds & Peacedrums while they're in town.

Face to Face and Pegboy are on tour - they're back in town, playing Irving Plaza with Polar Bear Club tonight (all three just played Gramercy Theatre on 9/17).

Denmark's Slaraffenland are here for one night only to perform at Union Pool with The Silent League and Glass Ghost.

Last but not least, Blackened Music Series presents highly-regarded lineup of Sunn O))), Earth, Pelican and Eagle Twin at Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Sunn O))) videO))) is posted below.

The new video for Flaming Lips' "I Can Be A Frog" is posted below. Wayne Coyne spoke with us at ATP NY.

A sampler of Bob Dylan's forthcoming Christmas album is posted below. Not to be missed for sure...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

'And for like ten minutes she would just do these fucking amazing animal yelps and screams and growling and all this shit.'

Its a beautiful warm Sunday morning at Kutscher's and Wayne Coyne is waiting for me in a golf cart near the main stage. Clad in his trademark light colored suit, I shake his hand and exchange pleasantries. Then he notices that I'm with photographer Ryan Muir.

"You want to take some pictures? Lets head to the pool."

One problem. The pool is separated by a chain-link fence and there is no way around.

"Let's just jump it" Wayne says, but he's already on the other side.

Wayne is a gracious, charismatic ringmaster/shaman who is up for anything, as long as it leaves a lasting impression, much like the lovable oddballs The Flaming Lips that he fronts.

Starting over 25 years ago as an acid-drenched punk band with a Butthole Surfers obsession, The Flaming Lips have aged gracefully into their current role as quirky pop elder statesmen by keeping their punk rock spirit and freak-out tendencies. 1999's The Soft Bulletin began the band's current trajectory towards poignant and epic melodies, which continues with the release of their new LP Embryonic. It impacts record stores on October 13th, and you can listen to it now courtesy of the Colbert Report.

As you probably heard, The Flaming Lips were invited to headline All Tomorrow's Parties New York (ATP NY) as well as curate the final day of shows at the festival this year. We sat with the Oklahoma native on that sunday (9/13), while a team of men in orange jumpsuits (read: The Lips crew) carted around giant lighting sets, trashcans filled with stuffed animals, and yeti costumes....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips "

The new Flaming Lips album is streaming on the Colbert Nation website. Video from last night's Flaming Lips appearance on the Colbert Report, below...

Continue reading "Flaming Lips - Colbert Report video, full album stream"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

some of the stars of ATP NY 2009

What's almost the exact opposite of a soothing set of Seven Swans performed by one of the most delicate singers in indie rock? Try nine drummers (including Hisham Bharoocha, Zach Hill, and Kid Millions among other notables) bashing your fucking skull for so long that the stage manager has to come out to unplug their gear and remove toms from underneath them! That's how I started my ATP Day 3... with the Boredoms blowing my mind.

Starting off with sparse chords on the monstrous multi-neck guitar/percussive device, Eye set a calm and reflective mood... and then the cymbals. And then the toms. And then eight drummers pummeled away led by Yoshimi P-We. And then the synced rimshots that recalled an Animal Collective beat. All of this happened before a ninth drummer was carried into the show like an emperor while doing a call and response with the other eight.

Within about 10 minutes, I knew that Boredoms would take the prize as best show at Kutsher's that weekend. The sheer power of the coordinated drums, along with pregnant pauses and killer synth effects performed via keys, CD-DJ tables, and broomsticks (!) were beyond jaw dropping.

Following Boredoms, I poked my head into Oneida's Ocropolis for the first of many times. For 10+ hours, Oneida basically had the small and very decorated room all to themselves for a long jam session with their friends. Reportedly, the band had tape rolling the whole time (Ocropolis is the name of their Brooklyn recording studio) and had visuals provided by the Mighty Robot AV Squad. With local standbys like BJ Warshaw of Parts & Labor/Shooting Spires fame, Chris Weingarten (ex P&L), Todd P, and many others spotted in the Sportsman's Bar, it seemed like Brooklyn in the Catskills. Unfortunately, I missed every single special guest appearance (word is, and in part according to a sign on the door, Soft Circle, Yoshimi, Aaron from Tall Firs, Zach Hill, Steven Drozd and many others all popped in) but the band was very interesting to watch, alternating between songs, and droney ambient jams.

Caribou was next in the main room and the 16-piece(!) band including Sun Ra Arkestra member Marshall Allen, Koushik, Kieran Hebden (Fourtet) and many others. I had no expectations heading into the set and was pleasantly surprised, although I found the mix to have waaay too much low end.

I ducked out of Caribou early to catch the last twenty minutes of Hopewell who was billed to be playing "The Desperation Suite," "complete with a female choir and avant-garde saxophonist Mark Marinoff". From what little I saw, the three person "choir" did little but coo, ooh, ahh, and coordinate a dance, but the band did close with a rousing cover of Jane's Addiction's classic "Of Course".

continued below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 3 pics & review (Boredoms, Caribou, Deerhoof, Boris, Jarmusch, Oneida, that crazy guy...)"

photos by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands (MP3)

For those complaining that the Flaming Lips didn't play any old songs, know this: 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' was released in 1939 - benjamin redder

"Those confetti-spewing, peace-loving, Bush-hating hippie weirdos the Flaming Lips are set to tussle with Stephen Colbert on a new episode of "The Colbert Report" airing this Wednesday, according to the TV show's official site. If previous musical guest appearances are any indication, the Lips will perform a song from their new album, Embryonic (due October 13 on Warner Bros.), and take part in a delightfully antagonistic chat with the host." [P4K]

Employing many of their old, but still great, tricks, The Flaming Lips were the perfect Kutscher's headliner (and curator of Sunday's lineup). It was big, yet intimate. Their set was sensory overload with loud music, psychedelic projections, lights, smoke, confetti, balloons, streamers, lasers (that the band gave out to the audience), fans in costumes, people in costume on stage (fully dressed yetis on the left, scantily clad yetis on the right), stage hands in orange jumpsuits, lots of screaming people, Wayne in his gray suit with megaphone, and other various instruments. That includes an old style trumpet that he played a funeral march on, and the gong. Their was Obama cheering and sing-a-longs. There was no hand puppet, War Pigs or Hulk hands. There was talk of weed and the smell of it in the air.

The show started with a projection of a woman with her legs spread - a spinning hypnotic circle covered her most private of areas which got closer and closer and closer until all of a sudden the 3 non-Wayne band members made their grand entrance right through it (through a flap in the video screen at the back of the stage actually). Wayne then immediately kicked things off in the giant inflatable bubble.

They went on around 11:45 on Sunday night. I was outside of Kutscher's and on my way home in a car by 1:40 AM (then after some minor pit stops, I was home in Brooklyn around 4:30 Monday morning).

Wayne took time more than once throughout their set to repeatedly thank all the bands who played the festival including the Boredoms who played their killer Boadrum 9 set the same day. As others have pointed out, Yoshimi of the Boredoms (who I can't confirm was actually in the room watching) was there, and the Lips played "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" as part of their set.

"The lyrics of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots concern a diverse array of subject matter, mostly deeply melancholy ponderings about love, mortality, artificial emotion, pacifism, and deception, while telling the story of Yoshimi's battle. The title character is believed to be an allusion to Boredoms/OOIOO member Yoshimi P-We, who also performs on the album. Some listeners consider Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to be a concept album; however, the story is debated, as it is only directly apparent in the first four tracks. However, despite the story-type title and science fiction themes of the album, the Flaming Lips frontman, Wayne Coyne, has made it clear that the album is not intended to be a concept album" [Wiki]

Wayne could also be seen walking around and enjoying the upstate NY festival throughout the weekend. One great moment happened earlier on Sunday as Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier took time out from their set to thank everyone. As he thanked the Lips for inviting them, he turned his head to the side of the stage to direct his comment right at Wayne, who was in fact standing there watching.

No, there weren't old songs. Yes, they did play 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. BBG's take on it, and the rest of the pictures from the weekend are coming soon (though Day One are already HERE). An interview we did with Wayne (with Ryan Muir-taken portraits) is coming soon too. The rest of the Flaming Lips pics and the setlist, below....

Continue reading "Flaming Lips played & curated ATP NY (pics & setlist), appearing on the Colbert Report Wednesday"

Flaming Lips @ Sassquatch Festival 2008 (more by Chris Graham)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* The Feelies @ Southpaw
* Allen Toussaint @ Joe's Pub
* Brent Arnold, Haale @ Zebulon
* Richard Hell (reading) @ New Museum
* Moving Sounds Fest @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* All Tomorrow's Parties @ Kutshers Country Club
* Rasputina, The Shondes @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Dirty Three, Pillars and Tongues @ Bowery Ballroom
* Naked Raygun, Paint It Black, Shot Baker @ Maxwell's
* Harlem Gospel Choir sings Michael Jackson @ BB King's
* Sian Alice Group, Bear in Heaven, Hospitality @ Union Hall
* Mucca Pazza, Sxip Shirey, Stagger Back Brass Band @ Mercury Lounge
* Jedi Mind Tricks, R.A. the Rugged Man, Reef the Lost Cauzer @ Highline Ballroom
* Desolation Wilderness, The Intelligence, City Center, German Measles @ Cake Shop

All Tomorrow's Parties closes out strong at Kutshers Country Club. Today's Flaming Lips-curated lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Boredoms, No Age (as Husker Du), Caribou Vibration Ensemble, Deerhoof, Crystal Castles, Super Furry Animals, Boris, The Low Lows and Oneida doing The Ocropolis all day. Catch some of it on WFMU too.

Back from ATP, The Feelies play two sets at Southpaw. An unofficial video for "Loveless Love" below.

Dirty Three played Ocean Songs in full at ATP on Friday. Tonight they perform at Bowery Ballroom with Pillars and Tongues (and hopefully Nick Cave). Their video for the song "Great Waves" (featuring Chan Marshall) is below.

Moving Sounds Festival continues with music from TimeTable Percussion and others at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

Naked Raygun, Paint It Black and Shot Baker play Maxwell's.

The Howl Festival presents a reading with Richard Hell at New Museum.

On the occasion of the release of newly elaborated editions of his 1973 novelina, The Voidoid (now with drawings by Kier Cooke Sandvik), published in June, and his 1983 Voidoids album (with new guitar parts added by Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, and Ivan Julian), which is re-released September 1 as Destiny Street Repaired, Richard Hell will make a rare [?] public appearance reading from his self-bio in progress, among other works, and will sing at least one song with guitar accompaniment. Possibly other media will get play, too.

Desolation Wilderness and The Intelligence gig with City Center (on tour) and German Measles at Cake Shop.

Wayne Coyne gives a rundown of bands playing ATP NY, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Richard Thompson's Walking on a Wire is in stores tomorrow. The career-spanning box set includes songs from his Fairport Convention Days, his albums with Linda Thompson, and his solo work.

Mid-summer means the music release list is a bit short, but quality music abounds this week. I can recommend Brendan Benson's My Old, Familiar Friend (check him out on tour), The Cave Singers' Welcome Joy, Choir of Young Believers' This Is For The White In Your Eyes, Mount Eerie's Wind's Poem, The Temper Trap's Conditions, and Ramona Falls' Intuit.

My favorite release of the week is (not surprisingly), Destroyer's Bay of Pigs EP. Destroyer is back in NYC in September.

My favorite Flaming Lips album, The Soft Bulletin, is reissued this week in a 2-LP and CD edition. Other reissues of note include four Musie vinyl albums (Muse: Absolution,, Muse: Black Holes and Revelations, Muse: Origin of Symmetry, and Muse: Showbiz) and The Antlers' Hospice.

If you are already looking to fill your Christmas mix CD, Stockings By the Fire (reissue) has also been reissued, and contains holiday songs by The Bird and the Bee, Hem, Aimee Mann, and others.

What new music can you recommend this week? What's on your shopping list? Have I left any interesting releases off the list?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

photos by Joseph Xu

As previously announced, the World's most lovable band, THE FLAMING LIPS, will release a trio of brand new songs from their forthcoming album beginning today [7/28]. The "Songs From The Future Album Embryonic," 3-track EP will be available for sale via the band's newly redesigned web site. Go to: http://www.flaminglips.com/ for complete details, concert updates, merchandise and general good vibes.

"Songs From The Future Album Embryonic EP," will contain: "Convinced Of The Hex," The Impulse," and "Silver Trembling Hands;" just a tasty taste of things to come in the form of EMBRYONIC, their new studio album to be released later this year. [Warner Brothers]

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips - new EP out ++ pics from Pitchfork Fest"

Explosions in the Sky @ Sasquatch 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

Explosions in the Sky, Constantines and Castanets are playing Central Park Summerstage on Tuesday, June 30th. Tickets for that, which is not one of the NYC park's free shows, are sold out.

Castanets also have a NYC show coming up at Cake Shop on July 10th - part of a much larger July tour. All dates below.

Later this summer, EITS will be opening several dates for the Flaming Lips. Billboard writes that, "Concertgoers who buy Flaming Lips tickets online will receive a digital EP with new songs "Convinced of the Hex," "The Impulse" and "Silver Trembling Hands" [from the Lip's forthcoming album Embyronic]," as well as "three digital B-side tracks" and a "digital download bootleg of the concert they attended."

Explosions in the Sky was also scheduled to play Broken Social Scene's Olympic Island Festival on July 11th. That show has been canceled because, among other reasons, the Molson Indy was scheduled for the same day nearby. BSS's Kevin Drew wrote, "For us to ask, Rattlesnake Choir, Apostle of Hustle and Beach House to play while the sounds of racecars roar across the lake is absolutely ridiculous and insulting."

Instead, there will be a free Broken Social Scene show the same day at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre. Rattlesnake Choir will open. The gig is one of a few July/August dates for BSS, who're recording their fourth full-length album in Chicago with John McEntire of Tortoise. The record will be their first without the production of David Newfeld.

Broken Social Scene recently played a surprise show at Arts & Crafts' NXNE showcase on June 17th. The performance included some new-album material and an appearance by Feist who is rarely a member of BSS these days, and who recently sang at a Grizzly Bear show in the same city. Videos, with the above-mentioned tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky (Tuesday), Flaming Lips (touring), Broken Social Scene (played w/ Feist) - all dates, other news"

Dan Snaith (Caribou, formerly Manitoba)

Message from Caribou: Summer Festivals. Caribou Vibration Ensemble. Marshall Allen. Daphni. John Schmersal.

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry for the long silence. I've been busy making music for a new Caribou album which I'm really excited about. I've just added some summer festivals and DJ sets to our Live Dates. Hope to see you there!

In particular, the Flaming Lips have invited us to play at their ATP New York festival on September 13th. We've put together a special 14-piece band, named Caribou Vibration Ensemble, to play this show and a show at the Opera House in Toronto on Sept 10th. Caribou Vibration Ensemble features Kieran Hebden (Four Tet, Fridge, Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane), a four piece horn section, choir, four drummers, etc.

In addition, for the ATP show only, we will be joined by MARSHALL ALLEN, Sun Ra Arkestra leader and Arkestra member for over 50 years! At both shows we will be playing new and old Caribou songs reworked to make the most of this special line-up.

Also I've just done a remix of Cortney Tidwell's track 'Watusii' under the name Daphni. It's out on City Slang shortly.

Finally, Andy Lloyd who has played bass with us these last couple years is unfortunately not going to be playing with us in the future (apart from the Caribou Vibration Ensemble shows) as he's now touring with our friends Born Ruffians [who just finished touring with Franz Ferdinand]. Andy is a dear friend and a great musician and will be sorely missed but we are very lucky that John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac) will be joining Caribou and playing bass and singing with us from now on - starting with the upcoming shows this summer.

I think that's it for now. As always, apologies to everyone whose emails I have taken an eternity to reply to. Hope to see you at a show,

Dan [Snaith/Caribou]

ATP NY in September is currently Caribou's only NY-area date. The band is playing on the fest's Sunday lineup, which (as pointed out above) is being curated and headlined by the Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips recently received an accolade from the people of their homestate, Oklahoma, who voted the band's "Do You Realize?" as their official rock song. After a resolution to recognize the song faltered in the state's House of Representatives, the honor was enacted by executive order from the state's governor on April 28th (declared "Flaming Lips Day").

EW: you won in the end. What was the official ceremony on Tuesday like?

Wayne Coyne: It was cool, uncomfortable, weird. All the things that you think talking to governors would be. I mean, he's a very cool guy. But it is another world for me. And he declared it Flaming Lips day as part of the ceremony, which we didn't know was going to happen.

EW: Did any special privileges come with that? Were you allowed to molest a goat or something?

Wayne Coyne: I asked the governor while we there: "Can I just go to a restaurant and get a meal for free?" I don't think anyone really had an answer. I didn't suggest molesting a goat.

With that under the bridge, the Flaming Lips have announced their follow-up to 2006's At War With the Mystics will be a double LP tentatively titled Embryonic, which the band expects to finish recording this summer and release in September.

The Flaming Lips are playing the Pitchfork Festival on Sunday, July 19th. Even though that's not the fest's "Set Lists by Request" night, it turns out the Flaming Lips will be will be following the format for at least part of their set anyway.

A video of the Flaming Lips accepting their "Official State Rock Song" honor and all Caribou tour dates below...

Continue reading "Caribou Vibration Ensemble (w/ Marshall Allen) & other Flaming Lips news (new album, state song, Arcade Fire love) "

Boss Hog @ Maxwell's (more by Tim Griffin)

Friday will feature a first New York show in a long time by The Jesus Lizard and newly announced, ATP favourites Iron and Wine. They will join the Don't Look Back shows also taking place on Friday: The Feelies performing Crazy Rhythms, New York's finest Suicide performing their first LP, Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs and The Drones performing Wait Long By The River... The evening will be rounded off with the Comedy Stage hosted and curated by the one and only David Cross.

Saturday is curated by ATP and is headlined by Animal Collective and an exclusive performance by Panda Bear. Other confirmed acts include the newly announced Boss Hog, Deerhunter and Bridezilla, plus the previously announced Melvins, Black Dice, Dead Meadow, Autolux, EL-P, Akron Family, Antipop Consortium, Atlas Sound and the hotly tipped Sleepy Sun.

Sunday is curated by the outlandish Flaming Lips. Every act that plays will perform an exclusive special show, bespoke for this event. First up are the Boredoms who will continue their BOREDRUM [BOADRUM?] series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. No Age will perform a whole LP by Husker Du including special guest vocalist [um... Bob Mould?]. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane) and more. Finally Stardeath and White Dwarfs also join the line-up, with lots more to be announced!

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 adds more acts & crazy stuff w/ Boredoms, Iron & Wine, Boss Hog, Deerhunter, No Age & more..."

"Many labels and bands are making special releases that will be exclusive to Record Store Day and available to purchase in the shop this Saturday only (sorry, no web orders). Here's a list of what we'll be carrying, but keep in mind, quantities are very limited!" - Other Music

Continue reading "Record Store Day Saturday - limited editions @ Other Music"

The Flaming Lips @ Webster Hall '06

The Flaming Lips are playing a free show on Sunday, April 19th in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Earth Day Network/Green Apple Fest show also has moe., Los Lobos, DJ Spooky and others on the bill. Chevy Chase is acting as emcee, and the entire event will be streamed online, from 1-6pm that day, via EarthDayTV.net

Other cities, including New York, will also be hosting Green Apple Earth Day weekend events on April 17th - 19th. So far, the only official NYC concert planned is an Earth-Day-volunteer-only "thank you" show with Deep Banana Blackout at the Bowery Ballroom on Sunday, April 19th.

Green Apple Fest brought acts like Islands and Ghostface to different NYC venues on Earth Day weekend in 2006. Last year the Fest with the Earth Day Network coordinated concerts in eight different cities. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and Big Head Todd and the Monsters played the New York one.

Also this summer, the Flaming Lips will be playing the Pitchfork Festival on Sunday, July 19. The band is also co-curating and headlining a night of ATP NY in September.

All upcoming Flaming Lips dates, with the full Earth Day fest press release, below...

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips playing Earth Day in DC & streaming online"

by Andrew Frisicano

Outdoor music fest fun...Woodstock '94

Tickets for the Austin City Limits festival - happening this year on October 2nd-4th in Austin's Zilker Park - go on sale today (Tuesday, April 7th) at 11am EST. That sale happens in advance of the fest's official lineup announcement, scheduled for April 28th.

Calgary festival Sled Island hasn't announced its lineup either. But Sled Island does have a pre-fest fundraiser planned for Saturday April 11th (tickets on sale). Headlining that show at Calgary's Royal Canadian Legion will be 2008 fest performer Fucked Up (video below). Sled Island itself takes place June 25th-28th. Curating this year's festivities will be Colin Newman from Wire (who also played Sled Island '08).

Camp Bisco, a three-night fest headlined by The Disco Biscuits, is happening on July 16th-18th in Mariaville, NY. The artists playing include Nas, Chromeo, The Orb, Dr. Dog and more (full lineup below). Tickets are on sale now.

Monolith Festival is happening again this year in September at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorodo. No acts or dates have been announced yet - but last year's lineup was pretty stellar with TV on the Radio, Justice, Band of Horses, and more playing.

Merge Records is running its own 20th-anniversary festival, XX Merge, on July 22nd-26th in North Carolina. The lineup has been partially announced - with acts like Superchunk, Spoon, Conor Oberst, and M. Ward confirmed. Five-day passes go on sale Wednesday, April 8th at 10am.

Glastonbury sold out its last batch of tickets this week. The UK festival, happening June 26th-28th, has confirmed acts that include Lily Allen, Fleet Foxes, Neil Young, Blur, Bruce Springsteen, Emiliana Torrini, Doves, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings, and Echo And The Bunnymen.

Other previously reported summer fests include:

Coachella in Indio, CA, on April 17th-19th. Tickets on sale.

Sasquatch in Quincy, WA on May 23rd-25th. Tickets on sale.

Northside Festival in Brooklyn (June 11th-14th). Badges are on sale.

Bonnaroo is happening too, from June 11th-14th in Manchester, TN.

Pitchfork Festival is taking place July 17th-19th in Chicago's Union Park. The fest recently added The Flaming Lips to its already announced lineup. Tickets are on sale now.

The Flaming Lips will also be co-curating and headlining one night of ATP NY, September 11th-13th in NY's Catskills. Tickets for that are still on sale.

All Points West July 31-Aug 2nd in Jersey City. Tickets on sale

Lollapalooza on August 7th-9th in Chicago, IL. Tickets (and VIP passes) are on sale now. There have been some rumored bands, but the official lineup comes out April 21st.

Bumbershoot in Seattle on September 5th-7th. Three-day passes are on sale now.

There are more confirmed festivals, but I think that's enough for this post. In the unconfirmed department, Woodstock '09 is currently shoping for a venue.

Camp Bisco's lineup, video of Fucked Up at last year's Sled Island Fest and Green Day at Woodstock '94 below...

Continue reading "ACL tix, Sled Island's 2009 curator, Camp Bisco lineup, Monolith, Glastonbury & other music festival news"

X have announced updated dates for their upcoming "Total Request Live!" tour, where the band will be allowing fans to pick the set list for each show. Voting is open now on the X's TRL tour website. As you can see above, "The Have Nots" is currently the most requested song for the band's first of three NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale for all three: May 29, May 30, May 31, and the three day pass.

All of the bands playing the first night of the Pitchfork Festival this year are doing something similar. By the way, Flaming Lips was recently added to that festival, but not on the Choose Your Own Adventure night.

X is also putting two VIP/Meet & Greet passes for each gig up for auction on Ebay to raise money for Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

All tour dates and some classic X videos below...

Continue reading "decide what X play at upcoming shows - updated 2009 dates"

JESUS LIZARD, MELVINS, EL-P AND MORE FOR ATP NY! DAY TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Today we're pleased to announce the second group of announcements for our second ATP New York festival which runs from 11th-13th September 2009 and is co-curated by The Flaming Lips. The first event received widespread rave reviews and the second is shaping up to be just as good.

On Friday 11th September, joining the previously announced Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs, Suicide performing their legendary first LP and David Cross curating a comedy stage, we have:

THE JESUS LIZARD - their first New York show in many many years
THE DRONES - performing Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of The Enemies Will Float By

On Saturday 12th September, joining the previously announced Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Black Dice, Antipop Consortium, Autolux and Atlas Sound we have:

MELVINS
EL-P
DEAD MEADOW
AKRON FAMILY
SLEEPY SUN

We will be announcing some of the bands that THE FLAMING LIPS, our Sunday headliners, have announced in the near future.

Tickets are on sale now for $235 with or without accommodation at an extra cost.

We are also placing on sale today a VERY limited amount of day passes
for this festival. Friday day passes cost $75, Saturday and Sunday
passes cost $95 per day. These are on sale now and due to high demand
are not expected to be available for very long.

CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS! (thx Jason!)

Melvins are also performing some shows in May, where, unlike at ATP, they'll be playing their album Houdini from start to finish.

The Drones, coming all the way from Australia, will also be here in the States this month. Unlike at ATP though, they won't be performing an album from start to finish this time around.

I wonder who the Flaming Lips will add. As some have already pointed out, we know it won't be Arcade Fire.

Sleepy Sun is an ATP Recordings-signed band from San Francisco who are also playing SXSW. Check out a video below...

Continue reading "The Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Dead Meadow & others added to ATP NY!! -- limited day passes on sale NOW"

"I'm a fan of [Arcade Fire] on one level, but on another level I get really tired of their pompousness," says [Wayne] Coyne [of the Flaming Lips]. "We've played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, 'Who do they think they are?' I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be like, 'Fuck you, get outta here.'

He continues, "People treat Arcade Fire like they're the greatest thing ever and they get away with it. Those sort of opinions change my view of their music. They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so fuck 'em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I've been around groups. I've been around the Edge from U2 and he's the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don't, then fuck 'em." [Rolling Stone]

Flaming Lips, New Years Eve setlist (Dec 31, 2008) (by Ruharvey)

Wayne Coyne was born on January 13, 1961 in Pittsburgh, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Dolores Coyne. Relatively uninterested in school, Coyne preferred music, painting, and football to his assignments. His brothers and other friends played in a backyard football team named the "Fearless Freaks." He continued making art for many years, and designed many of the early graphics for The Flaming Lips himself (in recent times, he has also provided the artwork for both Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War with the Mystics).

Coyne worked as a fry cook at a Long John Silver's restaurant for 11 years, and was awarded a special badge to honor his service. Although he had been toying with an acoustic guitar since he was fourteen, it was this job which enabled him to purchase an electric guitar, a Les Paul, which he did after eight months of employment. Wayne was a senior in high school at the time. [Wikipedia]

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips was born today in 1961.

VBS.TV chatted with Wayne.

Flaming Lips are curating and playing ATP NY 2009.

The Wrens are playing SXSW.

Some albums came out today.

AC Newman plays "Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer" in the DUMBO Session video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Continue reading "holiday greetings from Wayne Coyne, Oklahoma New Years"

Wayne Coyne, director of Christmas on Mars and visionary frontman of rock band the Flaming Lips, will join fans and friends for Cinema Purgatorio's screenings of Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips, on Wednesday, November 5, 7pm and 9:30pm, at the KGB / Kraine Theater.

Below you will find the CoM trailer(s)/ads, AND some (other?) Halloween-related Flaming Lips videos...

Continue reading "Wayne Coyne to appear at NY Christmas on Mars screenings"

Love it or hate it, licensing songs seems to be the new reality for "indie" bands (or any bands) looking to make money and gain exposure. As an avid music fan and Senior Director of Advertising & Video Games at Primary Wave Music Publishing, Ryan Barkan makes sure to stay on top of news related to artists getting their songs in ads, on TV, in movies, in video games and just about anywhere else a band would get paid to put a song. As someone who never pays attention to any of that, I thought the site could use a weekly column to identify who sold out this week help fill in what I'm missing (think M.I.A. in the Pineapple Express commercial, Nick & Norah, Santogold shilling Bud Light, Chairlift & CSS for Apple, etc..). For that...please welcome Ryan (who also goes by the blog and photographer name "Fresh Bread")....

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by Ryan Barkan

Microsoft's Halo 3 video game commercial was so amazing that it won the Grand Prix (i.e. best of show) at this past year's Cannes Advertising Awards, in June, in the "Film" ad category. The spot, titled "Believe", was created by San Francisco advertising agency T.A.G. and featured the dramatically delicate "Raindrop Prelude No 15" by Chopin against a violent and disturbing war scene.

Another huge 2008 release for Microsoft is the upcoming sequel to the game Gears of War, creatively called....wait for it...Gears Of War 2 (available November 7th exclusively on Xbox360). What works once should work again right? T.A.G. thought so and took the same approach with the music as they did with the "Believe" spot, juxtaposing the hard war visuals against a beautiful song, but this time with a more contemporary artist, Devotchka. The beautiful song they used by the Colorado band is called "How It Ends" and the trailer will debut on network television this Sunday, November 2, during NFL Sunday Night Football. You can also watch it right now. The video for that, and of the full version of "Believe", are below.

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Other Notable Licensing News:

The Walmart-exclusive AC/DC edition of Rock Band is out November 2nd and now MTV/Harmonix have announced a Beatles video game that will be based on the "Rock Band" engine, but not branded "Rock Band". "The Best Of The Who" edition of Rock Band was released in July as DLC (downloadable content).

Hypebeast has the info on a new line of Miles Davis-inspired T-shirts by urban boutique and shoe company, Supreme.

Flaming Lips, the B-52's, BB King and others were commissioned by NBC to create their own interpretation of the network's classic "Chime In"...

You may not know that the notes to NBC's famous chimes are G, E, and C, but chances are you'd recognize the Peacock jingle in an instant. With that in mind, executives at the network decided to have some fun with their famous chimes and launched a national campaign calling for a 21st century reinvention of the 75-year-old television staple. [Hollywood Insider]

What do Friendly Fires, The Duke Spirit, The Submarines, The Black Keys, Black Kids, The Virgins, and Robyn have in common? They've all had songs featured in an episode of Gossip Girl this month.

What about Lykke Li, Passion Pit and The Kooks? Well, as you may have read earlier, they'll all be appearing in future episodes of Gossip Girl/OC-creator Josh Schwartz's new "music-themed scripted web series" Rockville, CA.

I really dig the new spot for the Google Android Phone. The commercial features a song by The Black Angels called "Black Grease" - not sure if it'll convince me to switch from the iPhone but it's a nice placement nonetheless. Video below...

Continue reading "It's Not Selling Out Anymore -- This Week in Music Licensing"

Christmas on Mars screening @ Sasquatch 2008 (more by Chris Graham)

Christmas on Mars screens in a custom-designed screening room within the Kraine Theater of the KGB Complex at 85 East Fourth Street. A former Ukrainian Socialist Social Club, the KGB Complex features two theater spaces, a comedy club, and a bar. For Christmas on Mars, Cinema Purgatorio is converting the KGB's Kraine Theatre into a superb screening room with high definition video and the custom designed Zeta Bootis Mega Supersonic Super-Sound Surround System, which the Flaming Lips created specifically for this film.

Continue reading "Flaming Lips' Christmas in Mars playing in NYC theaters "

photos by Ailecia Ruscin

The Flaming Lips are hitting at least 17 music festivals this summer. Of that 17, four have already happened. There was Summer Camp, Jam on the River and Sasquatch. And then there was last weekend at Wakarusa in Lawrence, Kansas (home of Williams S Burroughs from 1981-1997). Like Jam on the River, Wakarusa was heavy on the jam bands. STS9, Lotus, Galactic, Tea Leaf Green, and Keller Williams were all on the bill. So were Mates of State, Dr. Dog, Cake, Tilly and the Wall, Bettye Lavette, Old 97's, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Arrested Development, Built to Spill and many more. And like a lot of summer festivals, Wakarusa was forced to deal with rain delays and related artist cancellations. And there was camping....

People of all ages find elaborate ways to set up their campsites, entertain themselves, sleep comfortably, at least as well as you can in 85 degrees, and grill up some grub. Since it's equal parts music and camping at Wakarusa, having the right supplies improves the experience. T.J. Baker, 23, Lawrence, said sleeping comfortably is key. Hammocks are the best, he said.

"I'm envious I don't have one with me, especially for napping," he said, looking at a yellow hammock his friend was sound alseep in. Eric Blakie, 22, and Jake Via, 23, both from Buffalo, N.Y., made the 16-hour road trip for the festival, so there was no going back for that forgotten toothbrush or towel... [Lawrence Journal]

As you know by now, Flaming Lips have integrated nudity into their already-over-the-top stage show. That stayed true at Wakarusa and one of the girls even seemed to be sending NYC a message. We read you loud and clear...

Continue reading "Wakarusa 2008 pics, sticks, Flaming Lips, more nude women"

photos by Chris Graham

OK, let's get this 2008 Sasquatch Festival coverage over with. You've seen R.E.M., The National and Modest Mouse and other pictures from day one. On day three there was Flaming Lips and naked ladies, The Mars Volta and everything else. The festival offered comedy and even more comedy. And then there was day two which included The Cure, Death Cab & Rogue Wave, and (almost*) everything you see below....

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2008 - day 2 in pictures (Sunday May 25)"

photos by Chris Graham

Michael Showalter & the gorge, Sasquatch 2008

Michael Showalter was at Sasquatch last year too. More pictures from Monday (day three of Sasquatch) below....

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2008 - day 3 in pictures (Monday May 26)"