by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Limiñanas - Down Underground (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Gytters - Divebombers (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wrong Words - Summer's Gone (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Figurines "New Colors" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The War On Drugs - "Baby Missiles" (MP3)

The Limiñanas

Band of the week is most certainly The Limiñanas (mainly because they haven't played here before) who are from France and play Death By Audio tonight (8/17) and Cake Shop tomorrow (8/18).  I'll quote myself (from my Favorite Francophone Albums of 2011 list) again:

Evoking swinging Parisian scene of the mid-'60s (Gainsbourg, Dutronc, Ye-Ye, et al), The Limiñanas dance their way through 12 hits of groovy garage: fuzz leads, killer basslines, combo organ, smoky vocals. Perfect for your next Love-In.

The band, signed to great Chicago label Trouble in Mind, are normally a trio but are joining forces on this trip with fellow Frenchies Gaz Gaz (who also play their own set) to make a seven-piece motorik garage superpower. Friends who saw them in Chicago last week were knocked out. (There's video from that show at the bottom of this post.) I implore you to make it out to one of these shows.

Both shows have their benefits. The Death by Audio also has The Gytters, a newish group fronted by Scott Rosenthal who plays keyboards in Class Actress and has spent time as one of The Beets ever-rotating list of drummers (he also produced their records). The duo make a slightly twangy brand of indie -- check out "Divebombers" at the top of this post. I was impressed when I saw them at Bruar Falls a few weeks ago. Also on the bill are great locals Diehard who are putting the finishing touches on their debut album.

Wrong Words

The Cake Shop show on Thursday, meanwhile, features yet another Trouble in Mind band, San Francisco's The Wrong Words, who have more of a crunchy, late-'70s powerpop vibe to them. (And maybe just a little Thin Lizzy in there too.) Their self-titled debut is a boppin' good time -- you can download a track from it at the top of this post. If you can't make this one, The Wrong Words also play Bruar Fall on Saturday (8/20). Locals The Judy Blooms open the show.

The Wave Pictures

The Wave Pictures are visiting from the UK, their first time here since playing Sunday night of the 2010 Northside Festival. Dates have changed a bit since wefirst announced them. The band are now playing three shows in NYC: tonight (8/17) at Mercury Lounge, tomorrow (8/18) at Public Assembly and then next Thursday (8/25) at The Rock Shop. We at BrooklynVegan are big Wave Pictures fans, which I think most people who see them become. Here's what I wrote when they played our Pre-SXSW show in 2010:

Next up were the Wave Pictures who I'm pretty sure charmed everyone in the room. Singer David Tattersal, in addition to being a hell of a songwriter and pretty fierce guitarist, is a very funny guy. His between-song stories were just as entertaining and the music. At one point he accidentally unplugged his guitar mid-solo, but he hilariously covered the gaff made for one of the more memorable moments of the evening.

The band have a new album out, Beer in the Breakers, and is another fine example of Tattersal's tongue-twisting prose and snaky solos. But I still don't think any record has quite captured the experience of seeing them live. So I do hope you do so. You won't be sorry.

Emmy the Great

Speaking of artists that pretty much the entire BV staff loves, Emmy the Great is also here, playing the Studio @ Webster Hall on Thursday  (8/18). She's an extremely charming songwriter and performer (and person in general) who can find humor in even the bleakest of situations without cheapening the emotions. Case in point her new album Virtue which deals with some major heartbreak. (She can also be just straight-up funny too.) And like The Wave Pictures, she's much better experienced in person than on record (though the new record is quite good).

I'm not sure if she's here solo or with her band or maybe just collaborator Euan Hinshelwood who has accompanied her before. He's got his own band, Younghusband, whose new single on Too Pure is teriffic (and nothing like Emmy's music).

Figurines

Now we move to Denmark. Figurines were supposed to be here in June but the dates got pushed back to this week. They play tonight (8/17) at Knitting Factory and then an early show tomorrow (8/18) at Mercury Lounge.

The band's fourth album, which came out in Denmark last year, just got a belated but welcome American release. For those who found 2007's The Deer Wore Blue a bit wilfully obscure, the new self-titled album marks a return to the hook-filled indie rock of their 2005's Skeleton. You can download "New Colors" at the top of this post.

I haven't seen Figurines play since CMJ 2006 when they opened for Girl Talk. I thought they were fantastic then, I mix of various '90s influences (Built to Spill, The 3D's, Unrest) but processed through that eccentric Denmark filter than makes everything just a little off kilter. The one thing I really remember about that show was how tight they were. Figurines can really play.

The New Lines

And finally I'd like to highlight a local band I like a lot, The New Lines who play this Thursday (8/18) at Bar4 in Park Slope. Steeped in late '60s/early '70s baroque psychedelia and soundtrack music, it's all groovy rhythms and basslines, icy harmonies, analogue keyboards and vibrato. The band just released a split 7" with Still Corners which is a perfect match. You can download a couple songs for free via a Bandcamp widget at the bottom of this post.

I just love this kind of stuff  -- I made a whole mix of it last week over at Sound Bites -- and The New Lines do it very, very well. No idea what they're like live, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

This is a really good week for music. Do go see some. In addition to the above highlights, there are even more shows I recommend which are listed below on a day-by-day basis.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17

While I'm seeing The Limiñanas, I think the rest of the BV staff will be going to Chelsea Wolfe, Cult of Youth, and Planning For Burial at St. Vitus Bar. I am the black sheep.

continued below...

Continue reading "Limiñanas, Wrong Words, Emmy the Great, Figurines, New Lines, War on Drugs, Gytters & more in This Week In Indie"

DOWNLOAD: The Extra Lens - Only Existing Footage (MP3)

Comprised of John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) and Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue, the Human Hearts) and formed in the Inland Empire during the region's brief next-Seattle shortlist period, the project began as a potential home for any song John wrote that had a) more than three chords or b) a bridge. New songs for the group only happened when John figured he"d written something that Franklin might find clever or amusing. Reasoning that permanent-bridesmaid status means you never have to actually buy the dress, the duo have approached record-making at a pace that one would call "leisurely" if it wouldn"t make the leisure class look like busy bodies: one 7", several compilation appearances, one full-length at the dawn of the aughts, and now, arriving with Paul Masson-like deliberation, Undercard.

Recorded with Brian Paulson (Slint, Beck, US Maple) at the Rubber Room in Carrboro, North Carolina, and with Mitch Rackin (Excepter, Heavy Hands) at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn, Undercard is the first Extra Lens record to arrive as a full collaboration between songwriters. The recording method, however, persists: John plays guitar, sings, and then gets the hell out of Dodge City, leaving Franklin to provide arrangements as the songs required: here sparing, here ornate; sometimes gentle, sometimes not; once with vibraslap, mostly without. [Merge Records]

Merge Records will release "Undercard" by The Extra Lens on October 19th, but you can pre-order and stream it in full at their site now. That's an MP3 up there too.

In support of that release, the boys will hit the road with John Vanderslice for four select east coast dates including the intimate Mercury Lounge on October 21st. The NYC show is part of the CMJ Music Marathon, but advanced tickets also go on sale Friday at noon (weird for a CMJ show at Mercury Lounge). All dates below...

Continue reading "The Extra Lens = John Darnielle + Franklin Bruno -- releasing album on Merge (MP3, stream & tour dates) "

before Courtney Love arrived @ Best Buy last night (mybodystory)

Courtney Love @ Best Buy last night (mybodystory)

tonight in NYC
* Asa Ransom @ The Cameo
* Cruel Black Dove @ Fontana's
* Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Devotchka @ Bowery Electric
* Hanson @ Gramercy Theatre (again!)
* Gogol Bordello @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Gipsy Kings @ Radio City Music Hall
* Jamie Lidell, Twin Shadow @ Bowery Ballroom
* Hole, Little Fish, The Love Loves @ Terminal 5
* Goes Cube, Pistola, Toys in Trouble @ The Bell House
* Hellyeah, Black Water Rising @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Think About Life, Light Pollution (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* Class Actress, MNDR, Keepaway @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Pink Noise, The Art of Shooting, Bronze, Casey Quilty @ Pianos
* Mike Bones, Mark Trecka & Beth Remis, Elephant Micah @ Union Pool
* Tiberius, Monuments, Multitudes, Birthing Of Millions @ Cake Shop
* Franklin Bruno, Jay Sherman-Godfrey, Pete Galub & The Annuals @ Union Hall
* Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Magical Beautiful (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Zach Hill, Anamanaguchi, Soft Circle, Unstoppable Death Machines @ Death By Audio

Seventh Void, a band featuring 50% of Type O Negative, cancelled their opening slot at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight in light of Pete Steele's recent passing (Black Water Rising took their place). Seventh Void's debut album was recently released by Big Vin Records aka Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul's record label. Vinnie's brother Dimebag Darrell was murdered on stage right in front of him while they were performing with their post-Pantera band Damageplan in December of 2004. After that Vinnie went on to join "supergroup" Hellyeah (the headliner at Music Hall tonight). Big Vin Records hasn't actually released much. One of their only other CDs is the self-titled Rebel Meets Rebel which is three members of Pantera (Vin and Dimebag included) backing David Allan Coe. Coe plays Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 11th (with Jonny Corndawg opening).

Writer and musician Franklin Bruno appears at Union Hall tonight with his band The Human Hearts ("me + Matt, w/ Pete, above, sitting in for a couple"). "Above" refers to openers Jay Sherman-Godfrey and Pete Galub. "We have new songs, which, by my lights, bite Big Flame, ABC, Code Blue's 'Whisper Touch,' and The Clean. At least one song by a bald post-punk will be covered."

Hole kicked off their trip to NYC with an in-store at Best Buy last night. Tonight is the first of two shows at Terminal 5.

Devotchka and Gogol Bordello each have last minute shows in NYC tonight and then a free afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl (which is where Gogol is playing)

Tonight's MNDR show at the Studio isn't listed in the tour dates we posted yesterday which included last night's benefit at the Bell House and the VV Brown show tomorrow at Bowery Ballroom.

Think About Life!

Cruel Black Dove finishes up an April residency at Fontana's tonight. Kurt Braunohler, Dave Hill, and other funny people perform at the LES venue on Wednesday.

Micachu & the Shapes performed at Bruar Falls' one-year anniversary party Saturday night (while the Morning Benders were playing at MHOW). Punkcast video from their performance below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Keep An Eye On The Sky is a 4-CD box set of rarities from Big Star, and is in stores Tuesday. The band plays the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in November.

Another rarities compilation that stands out this week is Local Currency, an album that collects obscure tracks by singer-songwriter Franklin Bruno from 1992-1998. As an added bonus, buyers of Local Currency receive a download coupon for a covers EP of Franklin Bruno songs, with contributions by Lou Barlow, Laura Cantrell, Mac McCaughan, Jennifer O'Connor, and Mecca Normal.

The 7-disc Velvet Underground box set of 7"'s, The Singles 1966-1969 is incredibly tempting, even if I already own most of the songs in multiple formats.

New music I can recommend this week includes The Dodos' Time To Die, Grand Archives' Keep In Mind Frankenstein, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir's ...And The Horse You Rode in On, Simon Joyner's Out Into the Snow, and Slaraffenland's We're On Your Side.

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir are playing the Bloodshot BBQ in Brooklyn later this month.

Two remastered Sunny Day Real Estate (now reunited) discs, Diary and LP2, are available today. Other interesting reissues include six Doors albums on 180 gram vinyl and five New Order LPs.

What new music can you recommend this week? What's on your shopping list?

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

Coney Island Mermaid Parade - June 21, 2008 (more photos by See-ming Lee)

today in NYC & NJ
* DANCE
* free stuff
* Sunday Best
* Polvo @ Maxwell's
* Blondie @ Nokia Theater
* Salif Keita & Haale @ Prospect Park
* Yael Naim & Herman Dune @ Summerstage
* PG Six, James William Hindle, Don Lennon, The Human Hearts @ Union Hall

Folk singer James William Hindle is playing Union Hall with PG Six tonight (the Sunday night comedy shows are on hiatus). Check out James' video for the song "jamie" below. James is also playing a free in-store at Cake Shop on June 27th.

Franklin Bruno is in The Human Hearts. They're playing Union Hall tonight oo.

Franklin Bruno will be reading from his 33 1/3 book Elvis Costello's Armed Forces at Solas Bar on June 26th. His old bandmate wrote one of those books too.

"Salif Keita (born August 25, 1949) is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot's role." [Wikipedia]

Salif Keita is playing the free show at Prospect Park today with Haale. David Byrne is a fan of Haale. Another free option for today is a visit to David Byrne's "Playing the Building" installation.

Did you watch the "Toe Jam" video yet?

Against Me! were on Leno the other day. Video below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"