photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

"Amazing performances last night by Death Cab for Cutie and Frightened Rabbitat Williamsburg waterfront in BKLN. Thank you." - JW Byer

Death Cab for Cutie played Williamsburg Waterfront last night (8/20 with Frightened Rabbit as part of their tour together. Like they did at their Bowery Ballroom show in June, Death Cab played a lot of older stuff in their set, only touching on about half of the new album Codes and Keys.

The Death Cab/Frightened Rabbit tour continues through the end of this month, but tonight (8/3) Frightened Rabbit play their own headlining show at MHOW with Right On Dynamite while Death Cab tape an episode of Live From The Artists Den. Tickets are sold out.

Pictures, videos and setlist from last night's show below...

Continue reading "Death Cab For Cutie & Frightened Rabbit played Williamsburg Waterfront (pics, video, setlist)"

Frightened Rabbit at Terminal 5 in November (more by Lionel Bergeron)

As mentioned, Frightened Rabbit are touring with Death Cab For Cutie. That tour brings them to Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn on August 2, one night before Frightened Rabbit will headliner their own show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (8/3) with Right On Dynamite! Tickets are on sale now for the more intimate show, and are still on sale for the Waterfront show too. FR continue their tour with Death Cab on August 5 in Philly. It runs through August 25.

People at Williamsburg Waterfront last year (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

This summer's Williamsburg Waterfront concert season begins this weekend with a free show on Saturday (6/11) (5:30pm doors). For what it's worth, that show is Coheed and Cambria, Adrian Belew Power Trio and Tigers Jaw, but it is free. It's also one of three currently announced free shows (there will be five free shows total, one of which will be classical music). The other two announced free events are Eugene Mirman and Pretty Good Friends (Patton Oswalt will be one of those friends!) and special musical guests They Might Be Giants on July 29, and a children's show with Moey's Music Party and Story Pirates (who recently hosted a benefit) on June 19 at noon.

Ticketed shows include Death From Above 1979, Death Cab for Cutie, Sonic Youth, Bright Eyes, Thievery Corporation (with Dam-Funk & Master Blazter and Raphael Saadiq opening), TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes and more. Check out the full lineup with openers listed below...

Continue reading "Williamsburg Waterfront opens this weekend, here is the full updated summer schedule"

Death Cab For Cutie at Radio City Music Hall (more by Eric M. Townsend)

In addition to the previously-announced "limited 13 date run" of small venues in support of Codes & Keys, Death Cab For Cutie have announced a larger set of North American dates taking place later in the summer. Those include an NYC show at a venue a little bit bigger than (the way sold-out) Bowery Ballroom. Tickets go on fan presale on 4/29 and general sale Friday May 6th for DCFC at Williamsburg Waterfront on August 2nd with Frightened Rabbit who open a bunch of shows on the tour (as you can see in the list of dates below).

The Lonely Forest are Death Cab's tour-openers during the small-venue part. They play the sold out Bowery show, but you can catch them in NYC even sooner: they play NYC this Friday night, 4/29, with the Joy Formidable at Webster Hall. Tickets are still available. All dates from that tour are also below.

DCFC will also appear on a forthcoming episode of VH1's Storytellers (airing 5/27) and recently posted a trio of songs from their new album to soundcloud. Stream all three below alongside all dates below...

Continue reading "Death Cab For Cutie touring w/ Frightened Rabbit (playing Williamsburg Waterfront) -- 2011 dates"

photos by Lionel Bergeron

Craig Finn & Frightened Rabbit

Just hours before Saturday night's Frightened Rabbit show, I wrote "The Craig Finn duet audio is still not available." That is no longer true, though the audio now available is the live audio from the part of the Terminal 5 show where The Hold Steady's Craig Finn came on stage and sang "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" live on stage with the headlining band during their encore (video below). The excitement continued after that when Frightened Rabbit invited up costumed crowd members, of which there were many in attendance since the show's date was October 30th.

Plants & Animals and a very stylish looking Phantom Band (who recently played our Friday CMJ day party) opened the show. More pictures with Frightened Rabbits' setlist and the videos, below....

Continue reading "Craig Finn joined Frightened Rabbit @ Terminal 5. Phantom Band & Plants & Animals played too (pics, setlist & video) "

Frightened Rabbit @ Lollapalooz 2010 (more by Josh Darr)

"Having [recently] kicked off their headlining tour, [Frightened Rabbit] is simultaneously ramping up for their fourth single, "The Loneliness and the Scream" (FatCat Records), due December 8. For the b-side, frontman Scott Hutchison teamed up with The Hold Steady's Craig Finn for an all-male duet of the Elton John and Kiki Dee classic, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." Dressed in Hutchison's individually hand made artwork, the physical single will be included in a limited 500-edition box set that will house all four 7-inch singles from the album.

The unique choice of a cover was actually planned well ahead and Hutchison turned to a respected peer to see it through. "The b-side has been an idea of mine for a couple of years actually, two guys singing the Elton John/Kiki Dee duet. When I was making a list of the ideal Kiki's, Craig Finn was at the top," reveals Hutchison. "I couldn't believe it when he agreed to do the part. Craig is quite simply one of my favorite lyricists and his voice works brilliantly in the role." Frightened Rabbit's part was recorded at Glasgow's CaVa Studios while Finn recorded his vocal in The Hold Steady's studio, Wild Arctic Recording in New York.

Ahead of the single's release, a video for "The Loneliness and the Scream" [was released]

Frightened Rabbit's tour with Plants & Animals and The Phantom Band hits Terminal 5 in NYC tonight (10/30). Looking for last minute plans? I have a few pairs of tickets to give away to the show. Details on how to win them, with all dates and the video, below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit on tour, releasing duet w/ Craig Finn -- win T5 tix, watch their new video "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Phantom Band - Walls (MP3)

The just-announced list of CMJ performing artist is a little light on foreign acts, at least ones I haven't seen before, but one inclusion just made my day: Glasgow's The Phantom Band. While there are surely more shows to be announced, they are playing Knitting Factory on Friday, October 22 with Title Tracks and COOLRUNNINGS.  After CMJ, The Phantom Band will go on tour with Frightened Rabbit, including the October 30 show at Terminal 5 that Plants & Animals are also playing (tickets still on sale).

Last year's debut made my Best LPs of 2009 list, so allow me to quote myself:

Semi-mysterious Glaswegian sextet The Phantom Band sound like a combination of the best moody Scottish groups of the last 10 years: the angst of Arab Strap and Malcolm Middleton's solo work, the sweep of the Delagos, the atmospherics of Mogwai. So it makes sense they're signed to Chemikal Underground, home of all the aforementioned.

Their debut, Checkmate Savage is epic and awesome, nine tracks, nearly an hour long, and not a wasted minute. It's easy to type out a litany of influences (Krautrock, Lee Perry dub, Joy Division, Fairport Convention) but, really, they don't sound like anyone else. At times it's singer-songwritery but then they'll lock into a motorik groove that can only really come from playing together live.

All upcoming Phantom Band shows, plus a video from their first album, are after the jump.

Continue reading "The Phantom Band are coming - 2010 tour dates & new MP3 "

most photos by Josh Darr

Dodos w/ special guest Neko Case / The Antlers

"There were no special effects during Soundgarden's performance on the last night of Lollapalooza -- no lasers, no costume changes, no props or hydraulics. Even the video screens switched over to black and white. But the band didn't need any added visuals: Soundgarden delivered an explosive set of classic '90s songs in front of their biggest audience since their breakup 13 years ago. Chris Cornell underplayed the band's return, suggesting their decade-plus break was more like a few years. "It's good to be back!" said Cornell, who's grown his hair back out to its late-'80s length. "We just took a little break, but now we're back."" [Rolling Stone]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2010 - Day 3 in pics, Soundgarden setlist, videos"

Frightened Rabbit @ Bowery Ballroom in 2009 (more by Natasha Ryan)

Frightened Rabbit will be spending their summer touring the UK, Europe and Australia (with a stop at Lollapalooza in August). This November and December they'll double over the UK again, but will manage another trip stateside. They play NYC's Terminal 5 on Saturday, October 30th (mischief night) along with Plants And Animals. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Frightened Rabbit put out a single for their song "Living in Colour" on June 14th through Fat Cat. The video for that, plus their recent performance on Fallon, an interview, a Plants And Animals video and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit playing Lolla, Terminal 5 & other tour dates"

"@brooklynvegan unlikely... unless they allow us to headline Sunday night. In other words, no." - Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit @ Siren Fest 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

FRIGHTENED RABBIT UNABLE TO APPEAR AT SCHEDULED PERFORMANCE AT COACHELLA MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL DUE TO UK AIRSPACE CLOSURE

LOS ANGELES, April 16, 2010 - Due to unforeseen circumstances, Frightened Rabbit will not be appearing at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, April 17 as planned. As of Thursday, April 15, airspace in the UK has been shut down due to the recently erupted Icelandic volcano, which clouded the sky with volcanic ash. As a direct result, the UK has issued a no-fly deadline and all flights are reportedly shut down until 7 am GMT tomorrow, which ensures the band will miss their 2:45 pm scheduled set.

Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, said the delays will continue into Saturday as the ash cloud moves south and east. The ash has closed the three busiest airports in Europe: Heathrow in London, Frankfurt in Germany and Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

Having just released their new album, "The Winter Of Mixed Drinks," Coachella was to serve as Frightened Rabbit's kick off to their North American tour. The tour is expected to begin Monday, April 19 in Tempe.

Frightened Rabbit's NYC show at Webster Hall on April 28th is sold out, but, assuming they make it here by then, you can still attempt to catch them at Sound Fix earlier that day. The post-Record Store day show is one of five U.S. in-stores the Scottish band will play over the course of their previously announced, spring, post-Coachella-cancellation tour. All of those dates are below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit no match for the Coachella-hating volcano"

Frightened Rabbit, whose North American tour stops at Webster Hall on April 28th, will be doing an in-store at Sound Fix earlier that night. Note that the Webster Hall show (with Bad Veins and Maps & Atlases who are at Maxwell's tonight/Thursday) is sold out.

Also coming up at Sound Fix are Fol Chen on April 18th (whose current tour with Liars hits Bowery Ballroom tonight and Music Hall of Williamburg the same day as the in-store) and Golden Triangle (who have plenty of other shows, listed below) on May 4th.

For Record Store Day, Sound Fix doesn't have any live music, but will be opening at 10:30am to sell the RSD exclusive records from this list. Some discs they should have copies of (according to the clerk there) are Black Moth Super Rainbow's limited double-LP version of 2009's Eating Us, a super-exclusive Rodriguez 7" with "Inner City Blues (recorded live in the streets of Paris) paired with "I'm Gonna Live Til I Die" (live cover of Frank Sinatra song), and a Fela Kuti 10" EP (4 songs, recorded in LA in 1969; cover is replica of first Nigerian Fela Kuti record).

The full schedules for Sound Fix and Golden Triange are below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit, Golden Triangle & others playing Sound Fix Records (but not on Record Store Day) "

"The 2010 Lollapalooza line-up is official: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix will headline, joined by Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, and The Black Keys. With 130 bands on this year's bill, its sure to be a weekend long feast for the ears.

It's a monumental year for Lollapalooza, filled with homecomings, reunions, and first-times. Soundgarden, 1992 and 1996 Lollapalooza alumni, return to the Lollapalooza stage for their first performance since 1997. Green Day will rock Grant Park sixteen years after their first Lollapalooza appearance. While Lady Gaga will headline the festival only three short years after playing the BMI stage at Lollapalooza 2007.

Arcade Fire returns to Grant Park, having played the reincarnated Lollapalooza in 2005. This is the first Lollapalooza for The Strokes - and also their first show in four years. And making their Lollapalooza debut: Phoenix." - Lollapalooza

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

tonight in NYC
* Aziz Ansari @ Comix
* Questlove (DJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* We Sing Baby Dee! #3 @ Joe's Pub
* Ladysmith Black Mambazo @ B.B. King's
* Cold Cave, Nite Jewel @ Mercury Lounge
* Gonzales' Piano Talk Show w/ Sia @ Joe's Pub
* Josh Rouse, Christina Courtin @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Atlas Sound, Neon Indian, Sisters @ NYU Kimmel Center
* Alberta Cross, Hacienda, Your Nature @ Bowery Ballroom
* Delta Spirit, Gordon Gano & the Ryan Brothers, The Willowz @ Pianos
* Up Died Sound, Skeletons @ Zebulon (BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival)
* Prince Rama of Ayodhya, Peace Loving, Living Things, GDFX @ Shea Stadium
* Anti-Flag, Aiden, Cancer Bats, Star Fucking Hipsters @ Highline Ballroom
* Maria Chavez & Shelley Burgon, Mike Wexler, Corridors @ Issue Project Room
* Savoir Adore, French Horn Rebellion, Magic Magic, Pocket Knife @ Cake Shop
* Big Troubles, Twin Sister, Pigeons, Alice Cohen, Run DMT @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Navegante, Dynasty Electric, Dalanshar @ Southpaw (Sounds like Brooklyn Fest)
* The Vandelles, Dinowalrus, The Naked Hearts @ Littlefield (BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival)
* Kelli Rudick, Brent Arnold, Emily Hope Price @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn (BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival)
* M. Lamar, Glass Lamborghini, Tim Kuhl, Yage Gains, Tim Porbaix @ Goodbye Blue Monday (BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival)
* Unsound Festival w/ Vladislav Delay, Sebastian Meissner, Kwartludium @ David Rubenstein Atrium at the Lincoln Center
* Japanther, The Death Set, Cerebral Ballzy, Boogie Boarder, Leaders @ Station 171 (BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival)
* Benefit for Doctors Without Borders w/ DJs Ari Up, Lady Miss Kier, Kim Ann Foxman, Allison Wolfe, and more! @ (Le) Poisson Rouge

The Unsound Festival kicks off.

"Sounds Like Brooklyn" runs all weekend at various Brooklyn venues.

Aziz Ansari does 8 shows at Comix this week.

Those Darlins play Bowery Ballroom on Friday.

Tune-Yards plays The Bell House on Friday.

Blockhead plays Mercury Lounge on Friday.

Tonight's early show at Joe's Pub, "We Sing Baby Dee! #3" will feature "Andrew WK, Corn Mo, Little Annie and Paul Wallfisch, Curtis Eller, Aimee Curl, Lance Horne, Mathew and Sarah, Philip Raia and Lila, a special guest appearance by 9 year old singer Frankky Lou Hightower from Kansas City and Baby Dee herself" Baby Dee plays the Stone Friday.

And though Andrew WK isn't scheduled to appear at the late show at Joe's tonight, he is bound to stick around to see his pal Gonzales kick of his residency. Sia is the special guest on that show. Andrew is the special guest next week.

Sia also has a show coming up at Terminal 5 which went on presale yesterday.

The trailer for the upcoming Stephin Merritt/Magnetic Fields documentary (no NYC screenings to speak of yet) is posted below. The band is in NYC on Feb 13th, then again for multiple dates in March.

Frightened Rabbit's new video for "Nothing Like You", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Frightened Rabbit @ Pitchfork Festival 2009 (more by Joseph Xu)

Spin: Why Frightened Rabbit? "When I first started playing," says singer-guitarist Scott Hutchison, "I was a solo act and, unfortunately, Scott Hutchison is not a catchy band name at all. I thought of Frightened Rabbit because it was a nickname given to me by my mum when I was younger. I was incredibly shy as a child, almost chronically so. My parents would take me to their friends' houses and I'd be expected to play with their kids -- I guess the idea was to socialize me -- but I had no interest. These kids weren't my friends. Why did I have to play with them? I'd end up just sitting silently by myself.

So out of that, my mum called me her frightened rabbit. When I started to play with the other guys in the band, we didn't other finding a new name.

Frightened Rabbit come to the US for SXSW in March. Then they'll be back for post-Coachella shows in April and May. The trip, which runs across North America, stops at NYC's Webster Hall on April 28th. tickets are on sale Friday at noon.

All tour dates, artwork for the new single, the above-mentioned video and one of the band doing the Christmas song "Walking in the Air" are below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit - 2010 tour dates (SXSW, Coachella, NYC..)"

Wow...Public Image Ltd, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grace Jones, Fever Ray, Devo, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Mew, Camera Obscura, Gil Scott-Heron, The xx, John Waters, Dillinger Escape Plan, Deer Tick, Gary Numan... Full Coachella 2010 lineup below....

Continue reading "2010 Coachella line up announced (Faith No More, Pavement, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Jay-Z, LCD Soundystem, ???)"

SXSWeek 2010: March 12-21
Interactive: March 12-16
Film: March 12-20
Music: March 17-21

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 - dates & initial band lineup "

We Were Promised Jetpacks in NYC in Oct (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

We Were Promised Jetpacks toured North America with Fat Cat labelmates Twilight Sad, BrakesBrakesBrakes and Frightened Rabbit in September and October (though FR didn't play on the leg of the tour that hit NYC). That included shows at Bowery Ballroom and Southpaw.

Well, Jetpacks will be back in 2010, though only two dates of a tour have been announced so far. One will happen on Thursday, February 11th at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are on sale. Before then, the group has plenty of dates in the UK and Europe. You can see them below.

Fat Cat friends Frightened Rabbit just released a 7" single for new song "Swim Until You Cant See Land" (b-side "Fun Stuff") in the UK and Europe. That comes stateside on December 8th; the single artwork and "Swim" music video are below. The single comes in advance of their forthcoming third LP, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, set to be released on March 1st of next year. The Tracklist for that new album is below too.

Tour dates, all the above-mentioned stuff, and a five-part video of WWPJ being interviewed by John Norris at Fontana's between gigs, after the jump...

Continue reading "We Were Promised Jetpacks announce some shows (dates), Frightened Rabbit release a single (w/ new album info)"

The final lineup for Monolith Festival, which takes place at the Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, on September 12th-13th, is below. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Girl Talk headline Saturday night at the festival, and the Mars Volta and MSTRKRFT top the bill on Sunday. Deer Tick, Passion Pit, Doom, The Walkmen, The Thermals, and HEALTH are also some of the bands on the two-day bill.

Tickets and two-day passes are still on sale. We also has a pair of weekend tickets to give away. Details on that, with the full lineup, below...

Continue reading "Monolith Festival - final 2009 lineup ++ WIN a two-day pass"

DOWNLOAD: The Twilight Sad - Reflection Of The Television (MP3)

The Twilight Sad is going on a lengthy fall tour with labelmates (Fat Cat) and countrymen (Scotland) We Were Promised Jetpacks. The first leg of that tour, which also features Frightened Rabbit, kicks off September 13 at Monolith Festival. Frightened Rabbit (who just played the Siren Festival) is replaced by Brakesbrakesbrakes for the second leg, which includes a stop at the Bowery Ballroom on October 6th. Tickets are still on sale.

The Twilight Sad's new record, Forget the Night Ahead, will be out September 22nd on Fat Cat. A track from that is above, with a new video for the album's first single, "I Became A Prostitute," below.

All Twilight Sad tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Twilight Sad - updated 2009 tour dates + new video"

Sir Paul @ Citi Field (more by Bao Nguyen)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Tom Jones @ Beacon Theater
* Paul McCartney @ Citi Field
* Tortoise @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Toots and the Maytals @ BB Kings
* The Mighty Boosh @ Bowery Ballroom
* Sexmob, Fight the Big Bull @ Joe's Pub
* Charlie Haden w/ Ethan Iverson @ Blue Note
* Jackson Browne @ Prospect Park Bandshell
* Lovebug Starski & Friends @ Queensbridge Park
* Casper & The Cookies, Everything Now, more @ Cake Shop
* CeU, Patrizia Laquidara, Andres Godoy @ Highline Ballroom
* Malajube, Previously on Lost, Maricopa, Echo Echo @ Mercury Lounge
* Duane Peters Gunfight, Everybody's Out, Stigma, Jakked Rabbits @ Europa
* Lee Fields, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Fight the Big Bull @ Joe's Pub
* Patrick Cleandenim (DJ), Pablo Picasso, Sophia (of Lights) @ Bruar Falls
* Sessions at Santas w/ Tonstartssbandht, Ducktails, Julian Lynch @ Santos
* ESP-Disk w/ Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, Talibam @ Bowery Poetry Club
* Midsummer Night Swing w/ Catherine Russell, Cat & the Hounds @ Lincoln Center
* Karsh Kale, Gamelatron & Forward Motion Theater @ WFC Winter Garden
* Gutsies, Beach Fossils, Strange Attractors, Georgiana Starlington @ Monster Island
* Mayer Hawthorne, Maya Azecuna, Lordz, Bodega Girls, Kidz in the Hall @ Santos

The rain puts some of tonight's outdoor music in question.

Due to the threat of inclement weather, this evening's 6:00 pm performance of SITELINES: A Space Funk Invasion by Nicholas Leichter Dance has been cancelled. Future performances will go ahead as scheduled.

The cast of The Mighty Boosh will be at Other Music at 6pm and Bowery Ballroom tonight. Both are free, but Bowery probably requires you to your MySpace profile printed out with MySpace Secret Standup as your friend.

Paul McCartney plays his third of three Citi Field shows tonight, and there's a chance he'll make an appearance at MSG in October.

Tortoise returns to NYC after its Pitchfork Fest appearance for a show at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

The Roots continue their Highline Ballroom residency.

Tom Jones plays Beacon Theater. His last NYC show was at Terminal 5.

Sexmob and Fight the Big Bull play an early show at Joe's Pub. The latter comes back for the late gig with Lee Fields and The Phenomenal Handclap Band.

The ESP-Disk label brings jazz acts Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone and Talibam to the Bowery Poetry Club. At the Blue Note, the Bad Plus' Ethan Iverson plays with Charlie Haden (who's there all week). Catch Ethan with his band at the Highline Piano series in August.

Casper & The Cookies play the first of two NYC show on their tour with Everything, Now tonight at the Cake Shop.

Nellie McKay played 92Y Tribeca Saturday night. Video below...

A video of Frightened Rabbit, who just played Siren Fest and with the now-retired Oxford Collapse, playing at the warehouse of Fat Cat Records, is below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

photos by Tim Griffin

Frightened Rabbit @ the Siren Festival

"Before starting their encore, Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit admitted to the crowd, "We had such a crazy year of touring last year that it was like 'Oh fuck, touring again?' But you guys have changed our mind tonight." It was clear that he was being sincere. The sold out crowd at Maxwell's in Hoboken (7/17) was a rabid one. They cheered loudly after each song, listened intently to most, and sang along to a few. The band grew more comfortable as the set went on despite how hot the room got." [Blackraptor]

07.17 - Hoboken, N.J. @ Maxwells
07.18 - Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Siren Festival
07.19 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge w/ Headlights
07.19 - Chicago, Ill. @ Pitchfork Festival

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit played the Siren Fest, Pitchfork & Maxwell's w/ Oxford Collapse (pics, setlists & video)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Thee Oh Sees

"Largely unfamiliar with the bands on the roster, my husband and I went to Coney Island on Saturday to see Built to Spill headlining on the main stage of the annual Siren Music Festival. Normally, I love free shows. I like the freedom to walk away from a disappointing or uninteresting performance-as we did from Monotonix-without feeling guilty. And ticketless shows tend to draw all types, which appeals to the voyeur in me. Neither of us had been to Coney Island before, so it was mildly amusing to see the confluence of century old kitsch and aggressive marketing tactics by softdrink companies. (We tried a sample of something called Vio, "the world's first vibrancy drink," and it tasted vaguely like flourescent lighting and perfume.)

Anticipating the rush toward the stage as Built to Spill began, we found a decent spot where we'd be able to hear the band, if not see their faces. It was as close as we could get without my cheeks grazing across sweaty pectorals while trying to squeeze through. This is the point at any show when the fan in me starts to grin and breathe faster, to feel like I'd rather be right here than anywhere else in the world. To our horror, not only were the people around us talking so loud that we could barely hear the music, they weren't even facing the stage. The crowd was mingling as though at a singles mixer, drink in hand, shouting over the din, completely oblivious to the band on stage.

Now, while I've been known to complain about NYC hipsters at opportune times (like when I'm on the downtown L train), I generally think people are too hard on them. They're pretty benign as far as contrived fashion/music subcultures go. But when they prevent me from hearing and seeing a live performance by one of my favorite bands, simply because they can't stop yakking and flirting for a single minute, I feel, well, displeased.

Next show is hopefully Trail of Dead at All Points East. I'm bringing pepper-spray and my slapping hand." [Home on the Fringe]

Chris's Built to Spill pics are HERE, Raveonettes pics HERE, and the rest below...

Continue reading "the 2009 Siren Music Festival in Coney Island - pics (part 1) "

DOWNLOAD: The Twilight Sad - Reflection Of The Television (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices (MP3)

If only they had jetpacks...

A trio of Scottish bands, We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit, are touring parts of North America this September -- they'll stick to the West Coast and the South, starting out at Monolith Festival in Colorado on September 12th and 13th.

For the tour's second leg, Frightened Rabbit drops off, and Jetpacks and The Twilight Sad will be joined by Brakesbrakesbrakes (featuring Eamon Hamilton of British Sea Power). The dates and cities for that section are still TBA, but there will be a stop at NYC's Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, October 6th. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 10th at noon.

Besides being from Scotland, all of the above-mentioned bands (even Brakes, but they are from England) are on Fat Cat Records. Jetpacks' debut, These Four Walls, is out now (July 7th) on the label. That album's "Quiet Little Voices" is posted above. The video for the same song is below.

The Twilight Sad's Forget the Night Ahead (their follow up to Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters) will be out September 22nd on Fat Cat. "Reflection of the Television" from the new record is posted above. The full track list is below. The Twilight Sad just visited NYC on their spring tour with Mogwai, which included three nights at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Frightened Rabbit won't be at that October 6th Bowery show, but they will be in NYC a bit earlier for their appearance at Siren Festival on July 18th. The night before the band plays a show at Maxwell's, which will be the first of two final Oxford Collapse gigs. Those shows are all part of the Frightened Rabbit's July tour.

All tour dates, and the above-mentioned stuff, below...

Continue reading "We Were Promised Jetpacks & The Twilight Sad tour with (alternately) Frightened Rabbit & BrakesBrakesBrakes"

Oxford Collapse @ Prospect Park (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Oxford Collapse announced on June 22nd that they are breaking up...

Hey friends,
After eight years, 450 shows, and four albums, we've decided that we've reached the end of the line. To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, "what a long, strange, eye-opening, stomach-bursting, heart-breaking, bittersweet, educational, enlightening, mind-numbing, 'why-are-we-doing-this-shit?'/'who-gets-to-do-this-shit?,' absurd, amazing trip it's been." To paraphrase another sage poet, "you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em." To quote G. G. Allin, "life sucks, scum fuc."

The band's final two shows will be July 17th at Maxwell's with Frightened Rabbit (already sold out) and July 18th at Under the Tracks (508 W. 25th St) with CaUSE co-MOTION!, The Beets and Rape Excape (aka The Great Excape who are reuniting for the Woodsist Fest on July 4th) (and promised special guests as well). We're not exactly sure what the venue is like, but the band writes "Don't worry about advance tix - this place is huge!"

UPDATE: The final show has moved to COLLECTIVE HARDWARE @ 169 Bowery

Full details and more of the band's goodbye note, below...

Continue reading "Oxford Collapse breaking up - final 2 show details (NJ & NYC)"

Willamette Week's Musicfest NW announces this year's festival line-up which will be held at various venues around the Portland, OR metropolitan area on September 16, 17, 18 & 19. On the heels of the most successful MFNW to date, MFNW 2009 launches with nothing but the hope of a bigger and better festival. MFNW's ultimate aim is to provide Portland with a unique and special musical experience that features all types of acts including nationally renowned artists while still honoring and supporting the special musical scene of the Northwest.

The lineup so far, including the newly-reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, is below...

Continue reading "Musicfest NW in Portland, OR (Sept 16-19) - lineup"