today in NYC
* Anika (DJ) @ Gallery Bar
* Supershow! @ Coco66
* Greg Garing @ Barbes
* Black Milk @ SOB's
* The Evil Us @ The Stone
* DJ Questlove @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Eliza Doolittle @ Joe's Pub
* Charlie Hunter @ Rose Live Music
* Roseanne Cash @ The Norwood Club
* Neil Young tribute @ Carnegie Hall
* Sarth Calhoun @ The Stone
* Piers Faccini, Nettle @ Zebulon
* The Weal and The Woe @ Barbes
* Free Blood, Lymbyc Systym @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Henry Rollins spoken word @ Joe's Pub
* Bouncing Souls, Strike Anywhere @ the Stone Pony
* Liturgy, Extra Life, Lichens, Chaos Majik @ Glasslands
* NewBorn Trio, Michael Sperone @ Issue Project Room
* Lindstrom, JDH and Dave P(Fixed) @ Santos Party House
* Nat Baldwin, In One Wind, Cuddle Magic @ Knitting Factory
* DJ Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito reunion w/ Lord Sear @ LPR
* Web Dating, Soft Black, The Vacant Lots, Howth @ Silent Barn
* Quiet Loudly, Golden Girls, Landlady, Dirty Fences @ Death By Audio
* Cottonmouth, April White, Subatomic Sound System @ The Bell House
* Yellow Ostrich, Mussels, Mammal of Paradise, HolidayHoliday @ Pianos
* Calvin Johnson, Astronautalis in Montauk (bus leaves from Bruar Falls)
* Titus Andronicus, Care Bears On Fire, Toy Sugar, Deux Chattes @ Mercury Lounge
* Nico Muhly, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sam Amidon, Bryce Dessner @ St Ann's Warehouse
* B Dolan, What Cheer? Brigade, Metermaids, Vockah Redu @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Bang on a Can All-Stars play Bryce Dessner, Karsh Kale and Nick Brooke @ Merkin Concert Hall
* Idle Warship (Talib Kweli & Res), Dead Prez, Ninjasonik, The Wellington Papers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Golden Girls play Death by Audio tonight, and then Purchase on Friday with Screaming Females who play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday.

Tonight at Carnegie Hall, the following artists do Neil Young:

Patti Smith & Jesse Smith • The Roots • Nada Surf
Cowboy Junkies • Juliana Hatfield & Evan Dando
Bettye LaVette • Shawn Colvin • Bebel Gilberto
Aaron Neville • The Wood Brothers • Keller Williams
Joan Osborne • Jakob Dylan • J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) • Glen Hansard • Mason Jennings • DeVotchKa
Ben Ottewell (of Gomez) • Pete Yorn • Joe Purdy
Larry Cambell in the house band.

--

"Tunnelvision" video from Autre Ne Veut's recent show at Pianos, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Rue, in red

"Actress [and animal rights activist] Rue McClanahan died this morning, reportedly of a stroke, at age 76. McClanahan had a wide and varied career on stage, in film and on television, but she's most widely remembered for playing the vivacious and bodaciously lusty senior Blanche Devereaux in the sitcom The Golden Girls. With just the right blend of sass, sashay and Southern charm, McClanahan made Blanche into an icon of sexuality at a certain age, and endeared fans with her character's unashamed enjoyment of life and its, ahem, pleasures.

McClanahan's death leaves Betty White--currently enjoying a Facebook-fueled surge of popularity--as the last surviving Golden Girl after the deaths of Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur. [Time Magazine]

RIP Rue!

Continue reading "Rue McClanahan, RIP "

Betty White killed it all-episode long Saturday night, with one major highlight of course being the death metal tribute to the Golden Girls. Check it out, if you haven't already, below...

Continue reading "Thank You For Being a Friend"

"Like last year, everything will be taking place in Williamsburg and Greenpoint because walking long distances is a drag when there are bands to see and beer to drink, we mean seriously. Us here at The L Magazine will be booking a share of shows on our own, but, for a large chunk of the festival, we've once again handed over curatorial control to some of the most tasteful, talented and dedicated folks in New York's independent music scene -- record labels, bloggers, promoters and more -- allowing them to showcase the bands they think you need to hear. The Williamsburg Gallery Association is again on board to highlight special exhibitions and other events at over 25 art galleries in the neighborhood. And to celebrate Northside's second year, we've invited a few of the city's biggest aficionados of independent film to curate four nights of New York-made movies at Brooklyn's new, as-yet-unopened film house-music club-restaurant-bar, indieScreen."

That message from L Magazine refers to the second annual Northside Festival, taking place in Brooklyn from June 24th through the 27th.

Music, art and movies will be happening at "30+ venues" and "dozens of galleries" over the course of four days in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Like SXSW & CMJ, you can buy tickets to individual events, or you can get a badge which gets you in to everything that isn't already at badge-capacity. $50 badges are now on sale to those 21 and over. If you buy a badge, "Arrive to venues early - badgeholders are admitted on a first-come, first-served, one-out, one-in basis."

If you buy a badge you can take your chances at getting into one of the four Northside shows happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg (BrooklynVegan showcase included), Fiery Furnaces at Brooklyn Bowl, and WAVVES & Cloud Nothings at Knitting Factory. TONS more shows TBA, but the initial list of bands that will be playing has been announced (I'm especially excited to see The Wave Pictures, Fucked Up, Liars, Parenthetical Girls and Les Savy Fav on there in addition to what we've previously talked about) (and yes Titus Andronicus is on there). Check it out below...

Continue reading "2010 Northside Festival - tickets & intial lineup (includes Liars, Fucked Up, Les Savy Fav, Polvo & many more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beaters - Fishage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nodzzz - True to Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dom - Jesus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Golden Girls - Newports (MP3)

The Soft Pack @ Cake shop in Feb (more by Gabi Porter)

The Soft Pack are here again, the first real shows in town they've played since releasing their debut album on Kemado: tonight (3/31) at Maxwell's, tomorrow (4/1) at Mercury Lounge, and Saturday (4/3) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I've seen these guys a zillion times (and written about them nearly as much) but they remain one of my favorite current live acts. That said, I'm just a tad bit more excited about the bands who they've brought with them on tour: Nodzz, Beaters, and Male Bonding.

Geeky, funny, tuneful Nodzzz were relatively quiet in 2009 -- at least compared to some of their San Franciscan brethren -- touring early in the year and only releasing one single. Mind you, it was an excellent one, "True to Life," which made by Best of the 2009 list. They're bound to have a new record in the works,  so hopefully we'll get a bunch of fresh tunes.

Beaters

Beaters, from The Soft Pack's hometown of San Diego, are signed to Zoo Music, the label run by husband/wife duo Brandon of Crocodiles and head Dum Dum Girl, DeeDee. If you're familiar with their roster at all, you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect: dark, over-caffeinated, paranoid, heavy on the reverb. You can check out their single "Fishage" at the top of this post.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg show adds UK punks (and Sub Pop signees) Male Bonding who also play with The Smith Westerns and So Cow on Sunday (4/4) at Mercury Lounge.

Golden Girls

Two bands from Worcester, Mass are here this weekend -- Dom and Golden Girls. -- who play together tomorrow (4/1) at Pianos and then on Monday (4/5) at Cake Shop.

Of the two, I find Dom a little more interesting. There's some of that fifth-generation cassette tape chillwave sound going on, no doubt (which I'm getting a little waterlogged from frankly).  But they've got some good songs under that hiss (check out "Bochicha" on their MySpace) and appear to play real drums and guitars (as well as crappy old synths) so I have hopes that their live show will prove less gauzy.

Golden Girls are more straight-up indie rock, a duo on recordings but are a four-piece live. Raucous and on the sloppy side,  and with a single about cigarettes, you can draw a line from Golden Girls back to the Replacements pretty easily. They've only got two singles out so far, and I'm definitely curious to hear more.

A few more picks, by night, to take you through the weekend, along with tour dates and videos and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Beaters, Nodzzz, Best Coast, Ash, Abe Vigoda, Dom, Dum Dum Girls, Golden Girls, Soft Pack & more in This Week in Indie"

Conor Oberst & Jenny Lewis in Battery Park on July 4th (more by Chris La Putt)

The Golden Girls had a loyal fan base that still exists to this day, thanks to reruns. The show was often controversial, as its main characters were 4 single older women who lived together, but were still sexually active, and up-to-date with pop culture. Mild profanity and sexual innuendo were common on the program. The effects of Sophia's stroke, which, according to Dorothy, "rendered her totally annoying" and "a complete burden", enabled the character to get away with much more than the other women.

The show often tackled topics that were not frequently aired on TV. These included: the coming out of Blanche's brother and his gay marriage, menopause, gun control, impotence, drug addiction, safe sex, empty nest syndrome, infidelity, interracial marriage, racism, transsexualism, homophobia, age discrimination, organ donation, fixed income, domestic violence, problem gambling, suicide, cross-dressing, lesbianism, plastic surgery, child abandonment, euthanasia, chronic fatigue syndrome, pregnancy, homicide, veganism, cocaine addiction, artificial insemination, health care, agoraphobia, homelessness, immigration, sexual harassment, illegal immigration, and senility. Perhaps the most provocative episode involved Rose getting tested for HIV years after receiving an untested blood transfusion. [Wikipedia]

As Jenny Lewis' music career continues and she gets more famous (for her music), many probably forget or never realized that she started out as a child actress. I was reminded the other day when I was watching a 1987 episode of The Golden Girls where Jenny played an evil girl scout named Daisy. Check out video clips from the show, below...

Continue reading "Jenny Lewis is an evil girl scout on the Golden Girls (video) "

words by Eleanor Whitney and photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

DOWNLOAD: The Secret History - It's Not the End of the World Jonah (MP3)

The Secret History

The New York City Popfest continued on Saturday night (5/16) with a packed line-up and packed house at Brooklyn's Bell House. Following openers Computer Perfection, California-based Eux Autres put in a super energetic set. From the persistent "bam bam bam" of the drums to the classic trade off of boy/girl vocals complete with girl group-esque harmonies, Eux Autres captured true the pop spirit of the festival. The were buoyed by trumpet playing from the Ladybug Transistor's Gary Olson, Brooklyn's go-to musician for indie trumpeting.

The Secret History, who rose from the ashes of indie new wave darlings My Favorite, followed with pop melodies from the eerie, narrative driven side of the spectrum. Lead vocalist Lisa Ronson, clad in all black, and vocalist Erin Dermondy, clad in all white, were a glamorous site, but were too frozen at times for the dramatics the songs demanded as they invoked monsters and dead rock stars. Lisa's talents as a singer were best showcased during a cover of the Smiths' "Reel Around the Fountain," which singer and keyboardist Michael Grace, Jr. explained was "the reason he started writing pop songs and will never write a hit." At one point during the set Michael wore a tambourine as a halo, which served as a fitting popfest metaphor.

Following The Secret History's densely orchestrated anthems, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Pant Yell! played an enjoyably straight-ahead, indie rock set. It was heavy on the jangly guitar and three boys in the band wore their earnest hearts on their stripped sleeves.

The lineup's crown jewel were Swedish headliners The Radio Dept. in their second US appearance since 2003 (their first was one night earlier). The band delivered shimmering, dreamy pop with plenty of laptop-based layers and effects-laden guitars to keep Shoegaze fans satisfied. Their use of electronic, as opposed to live, drums made their set musically less energetic than the other bands, but the sound was still nice and full and the energy on the stage dynamic.

While from stage The Radio Dept. delivered down tempo, atmospheric pop with song titles like "I Wanted You to Feel the Same" and "The Worst Taste in Music" the sold-out crowd acted like they were at the indie-pop equivalent of an arena rock concert. The merest "thank you" uttered by the band brought forth roaring applause and cheers. While The Radio Dept.'s danceable beats and charming crush of sounds seem best suited for mild-mannered bopping, the activity of most of the crowd during their set, they also inspired fist pumping and ecstatic hand waving. After their one-song encore legions of fans rushed towards the stage to thank the band as they exited to howling applause. It was clear Brooklynites demand their pop and have high expectations for Swedish bands to deliver it. Thought their set felt short at 40 minutes, The Radio Dept. fans were not disappointed.

Pictures & videos from Day One, HERE. Day Two, HERE, Day Three, below...

Continue reading "NYC Popfest - night 3 pics & video (The Secret History, Radio Dept. Pants Yell! & more...) "

In 1972, Bea Arthur was cast as the title character in the television series Maude. She played Maude Findlay, an outspoken liberal living in the affluent community of Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York, with her husband, Walter (Bill Macy) and divorced daughter Carol (Adrienne Barbeau). The show was a spin-off from All in the Family, on which Arthur had appeared a couple of times in the same role, playing Edith Bunker's (Jean Stapleton)'s cousin, a feminist, and antithesis to the bigoted, conservative Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), who described Maude as a "New Deal fanatic." Her role garnered several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, including her Emmy win in 1977 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

In 1978, she costarred in the much derided The Star Wars Holiday Special, in which she had a song and dance routine, where the Star Wars character Greedo was one of her dance partners.

After appearing in the short-lived 1983 sitcom Amanda's (an unsuccessful US version of the British hit series Fawlty Towers), Arthur was cast in the hit sitcom The Golden Girls in 1985, in which she played Dorothy Zbornak, a divorced substitute teacher living in a Miami, Florida house owned by Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan). Her other roommates included widow Rose Nylund (Betty White) and Dorothy's Sicilian mother, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty). Getty was actually a year younger than Arthur in real life, and was heavily made up to look significantly older. [Wikipedia]

Video of Bea Arthur singing in the Star Wars cantina, and other videos below...

Continue reading "Bea Arthur, RIP"

Actress Estelle Getty, best known as sarcastic Sicilian octogenarian Sophia Petrillo in US sitcom The Golden Girls, had died at the age of 84. The star, who had advanced dementia, died on Tuesday morning at her Hollywood Boulevard home. Her son, Carl Gettleman, said she was "one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived". Apart from the Golden Girls, Getty's credits included films like Mannequin and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. [BBC]

Continue reading "Estelle Getty, RIP"