by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Max Tundra - "Which Song" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Max Tundra - Playboy (Hot Chip) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Max Tundra - promo mix 2008 (MP3)

Max Tundra

Enigmatic Brit artist Max Tundra has been releasing music for 10 years but only just released his third album, Parallax Error Beheads You, back in October -- his first in six years. One of the reasons for being such a slowpoke probably has something to do with the way he makes them:

The main technology behind this and all of my albums has been the Commodore Amiga 500 - bestselling home computer at the time - running a $1 public domain software tracker program. The sounds don't emerge from the Amiga itself however; the machine is used to control various synths, samplers and the like. I look at columns of numbers all day on the screen of a black and white television; these digits relate to pitches, durations and tones. A lot of the noises on my record are real; the cello, bass guitar, drums, piano, trumpet and others are all rehearsed and played by me, but sometimes I will use realistic fake versions of these noises. Each song is recorded in a different way; drumkits are recorded on mono cassette recorders twice, then stuck together on the left and right of a mix; string arrangements are planned and then layered up; each note of an electric guitar is sampled so that it can be sequenced in ways too complicated for my fat fingers to play at full speed. And then I have a cup of tea and sing my heart out.

Seems like a painstaking and annoying way to make a record to me, but there's no denying the results: his albums don't sound like anybody else's. (Well, maybe just a little like Scritti Politti.) Max is making his NYC live debut this week, opening for The Rosebuds at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (1/16, tickets) and a headlining FIXED show at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday (1/17, tickets). I'm curious to see how he'll pull it off his music in a live setting as well as how much equipment he'll have. What concert reviews of his I've read have been favorable (like this one from December).

Darren Hanlon

A few more options for you this week. Australian singer-songwriter Darren Hanlon has two NYC shows this week: tonight (1/13) at Googies (above The Living Room), and tomorrow (1/14) at the Bell House where he'll be trading off songs with Graham Smith of Kleenex Girl Wonder in the venue's front lounge. It's a free show. Hanlon's shows are as well known for his witty between-song stories and banter as he is his lovely folk-pop, so if you are fans of Billy Bragg, Robyn Hitchcock or fellow Aussies The Lucksmiths (with whom Hanlon spent a brief stint in the late '90s). He's a charmer.

As I mentioned a while back, Ida Maria is in town this week playing Mercury Lounge on Thursday (1/15) and Union Hall on Friday (1/16) and I am super-psyched for this. Both shows are sold out, but Union Hall usually has a few tickets available night of show if you get there right as doors open (which is 8PM, but Ida's not on till 10).

Also this week: The Muslims make their first New York appearances since switching their name to The Soft Pack. Their EP, which made my Best of 2008 list and has already sold out two vinyl pressings, is getting re-pressed in February under the new moniker with an additional three songs. Maybe they'll have those with them at the merch table for these shows? They play Mercury Lounge on Friday (1/16) and Union Pool on Saturday (1/17). Both shows also feature their 1928 Recordings label-mates the Browns.

Speaking of name changes, SpaceKamp, who I've written about before, now spell their name as SpaceCamp. Same great sound, now with more C. In addition to working with Adam Green, Spacecamp are helping Dev Hynes with the new Lightspeed Champion record as well. (Video of Dev and Spacecamp in the studio below.) They play Zebulon on Friday (1/16) and maybe you can quiz them on the new spelling if you go.

Videos and such after the jump...

Continue reading "Max Tundra, Darren Hanlon, SpaceCamp, Soft Pack, Ida Maria & more in this Week in Indie"

Doug Gillard playing with Yo La Tengo (more by Natasha Ryan)

Doug Gillard kicks off his previously-announced, month-long residency at Pianos in NYC tonight (1/7). Here's who else is on the bills:

Jan 7 - Regal Standard (Jason Narducy & Larry Schroeder acoustic) & Graham Smith (Kleenex Girl Wonder)
Jan 14 - Gramercy Arms & Abigail Warchild
Jan 21 - Unsacred Hearts & Arrows (Russ Fink)
Jan 28 - Mascott (Kendall Meade) & The Octagon

This is not the first time recently that Gramercy Arms & Mascott shared a post.

Graham Smith's band Gates of Heaven are playing Cake Shop on January 9th, Glasslands on January 27th, and Monkeytown on April 28th with Bowerbirds.

Doug Gillard's only other upcoming show is February 8th when he and band open for The Black Keys at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ.

More pictures of Doug playing a recent Hanukkah show with YLT, HERE.

Huey Lewis & the News in Coney Island - Aug 21, 2008 (Taylor T-Sides)

today in NYC
* FREE
* DANCE
* Nas @ Webster Hall
* Ben Lee @ Joe's Pub
* Passion Pit @ Pianos
* Billy Idol @ The Stone Pony
* a tribute to Huey Lewis @ Union Hall
* The Virgins @ Santos Party House (upstairs)
* NIN & Does It Offend You Yeah? @ the Izod Center
* Caithlin De Marrais of Rainer Maria @ Mercury Lounge
* Special Disco Version @ Santos Party House (downstairs)
* Dr. Dog, Senator R. Stevie Moore & Alberta Cross @ Bowery Ballroom

@ Union Hall: DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE? Brooklyn salutes HUEY LEWIS with performances by GRAHAM SMITH / THE GIMME 5 / THE HECKLERS / MICHAEL LEVITON / THE STRUNG OUT STRING BAND and more! $7 : tickets available at the door

Graham Smith is also playing with Passion Pit tonight.

Does it Offend you, yeah? open for NIN tonight in NJ and headline Bowery Ballroom on Saturday. Boy Crisis and Zambri are also on that NYC bill (which means that Amazing Baby must have dropped off)

What else?