"The art made by Baltimore artist Dan Deacon is about community and how to organize and inspire it. From founding a now well-known art collective (Wham City), to organizing and running an annually sold-out DIY music festival (Whartscape), to conceiving, planning and curating a massive 60 person/30 band tour (Baltimore Round Robin Tour), it's clear to see that community and bringing people together is the major theme of his work. Bromst is the embodiment of that way of thinking.

For the last three years Dan Deacon has been working on Bromst. Fusing together the growing intensity of his live performances with his background in electro-acoustic composition, the outcome is a collection of pieces that are intense and epic and at the same time down to earth and welcoming. Bromst embodies the same energy and excitement as Spiderman of the Rings, however the craftsmanship and composition on Bromst have a wider scope and richer palette.

Unlike the completely electronic Spiderman of the Rings, the instrumentation on Bromst is a mixture of acoustic instruments, mechanical instruments, samples and electronics. The player piano, marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, live drums, winds and brass give Bromst a much richer tone than his previous work. The intricate and complex parts, skillfully executed by the performers, are woven together into a rich, dense, noisy dance pop that has become Dan Deacon's signature sound." [PR]

Dan Deacon plays a $3.00 show in Brooklyn on January 30th and the "Brooklyn vs. Baltimore Marathon" now also has Woods and Blank Dogs on the bill (previously their spots were marked "special guest"). The location is still "tentatively" Danbro Warehouse The 1896.

Dan Deacon will also play Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan on May 16th with Double Dagger and Teeth Mountain. The date is presumably part of a bigger tour that is still TBA. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Friday at noon.

Bromst will be released on March 24, 2009 by Carpak Records. Listen to the track "Get Older" at Imeem. Full tracklist below.

Even sooner (Jan 27 via Carpark), you can get your hands on a Dan Deacon / Adventure split 7". The cover of that one is a composite image of Dan Deacon and Benny Adventure. It's got 4 tracks. They are listed below.

Dan also appears on a new Free Yr Radio benefit compilation that is exclusive to Insound. Other bands on the album include !!!, Chairlift, Yeasayer, White Williams, No Age, Mudhoney, King Khan, The Secret Machines, The Walkmen, Tokyo Police Club and Jamie Lidell. Exact songs are also listed below.

Last but not least, Dan is/was looking for interns who can transcribe sheet music...

I'm preparing the scores for 15 of my compositions that are being printed in early March. I'm already insanely busy so I'm seeking 2 or 3 interns to help me with the process. It pays $15 an hour and should be around 20 hours total. I need people to help clean up the MIDI files and transcribe parts from the program Reason and bring them into the program Sibelius.

UPDATE: All known tour dates HERE (including a second one at Danbro).

Some dates, tracklists and cover art, below...

Continue reading "Dan Deacon adds a NYC show, Woods & Blank Dogs added to battle, BROMST, tour dates & stuff "

There were plenty of opportunities, but I only caught Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel's new band She & Him once during SXSW. It was a short, but sweet free outdoor performance and interview on Friday afternoon (March 14th). The whole thing was streamed on MPR too, and you can listen in their archives.

The performance was approximately their sixth-ever live show (as you can hear them say in the stream). One of their first was in San Francisco earlier in the month at Noise Pop. One of their next is May 18th at the Great Meadow Fort Mason in San Francisco too, and strangely Zooey has this coming up at Glasslands in Brooklyn too.....

MONDAY MARCH 24TH 8PM $5 21+ (tickets at door night of)

GlassLands is usually closed on Mondays but will open for this special concert!
ZOOEY DESCHANEL (Featuring Ambrosia Parsley of Shivaree,Dave Palmer, The elegant two, plus surprise guests)
Opener Cameron Hull

This Brooklyn show was "cancelled". More photos from SXSW below....

Continue reading "Zooey Deschanel playing Brooklyn ++ She & Him SXSW pics"

DOWNLOAD: A.A. Bondy - American Hearts (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kaki King - Pull Me Out Alive (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston Cover) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jeffrey Lewis - End Result (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Martha Wainwright - Bloody Mother Fuckin Asshole (MP3)

1) The 2008 (and first ever) official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase takes place at Club De Ville in Austin on March 12th (in case you forgot).

2) Check out SXSW's site for all the other announced showcases.

3) Check out the DoneWaiting SXSW blog for constant SXSW updates. Check out Chromewaves for this year's Hot Freaks lineup.

4) I'm throwing a free BrooklynVegan day party (11am-6pm) on Thursday March 13th @ Emo's Annex (stage 1) & Emo's Lounge (stage 2). Stay tuned, save the date.

5) I'm working with some people on one other day party. Stay tuned.

6) I'll also be sending out SXSW-related text messages while I'm there. So will Gorilla vs Bear, Austinist, and Done Waiting. I might say something like, "hey, I just found out Barry Manilow is the secret guest at the Parish tonight. Get there early. There's going to be a line.", or like "Just caught No Wolf Bear Bat Deer Kids over at Red 7. Amazing, and they're playing 7 more shows before Sunday." Sign up, and view a listing of a zillion official-and-not-official SXSW parties @ Free Yr Radio.

That's it for now. Check out some Shearwater videos below....

Continue reading "SXSW 2008 - the schedule, BrooklynVegan parties & more "