photos by Tim Griffin

Village Voice: When's the last time you were at Coney Island?

Frank Black: The only time I was at Coney Island, I was filming an Electronic Press Kit. Remember those?

VV: Yeah.

FB: The record companies used to spend a few bucks on those. They hired a film director and everything. They had already begun to buy into the myth-well, it's not really a myth- it's the truth of my driving around in large automobiles. They rented us a van to drive around Coney Island. And that was my introduction. I don't think I've been back since.

VV: When was this?

FB: That would've been around 1993 or 1994.

That interview took place before Saturday when Frank Black and his wife Violet Clark introduced their new band Grand Duchy to NYC. The show was part of the Village Voice Siren Festival, in Coney Island 7/18). One night earlier they played a late show at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Fellow Siren-players Frightened Rabbit had played the early show. More dates HERE (and Pixies dates HERE, and Breeders dates HERE).

The Grand Duchy setlists have included the Black Francis song "Threshold Apprehension". The full Maxwell's setlist and more pics, below...

Continue reading "Grand Duchy (Frank Black) @ Maxwells (setlist) & Siren (pics)"

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]

I think she means All Points West, which is actually just one of four shows that Trail of Dead has coming up in NYC.

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) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: JEFF the Brotherhood - Heavy Damage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Coin Under Tongue - The So Far EP (link to zip)
DOWNLOAD: Sisters - Accolades (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sisters - Street Cars (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lovvers - Human Hair (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darlings - If This is Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darlings - Teenage Girl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - Machines EP (link to Zip)
DOWNLOAD: Acrylics - Molly's Vertigo (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Clientele - I Wonder Who We Are (MP3)

JEFF the Brotherhood @ Death By Audio (more by Leia Jospe)

JEFF the Brotherhood are back in town! If you missed them the last two times they were in town, well, you've got three more chances this week: tonight (7/15) at Death by Audio, Thursday (7/16) at Cake Shop and a secret show on Friday (7/17) that will be announced day of show via their Twitter. Seriously, Jake and Jamin put on one of the rockin-est, most fun shows I've seen this year. The boys are putting the final touches on their new album, Heavy Days, which comes out October 6 via their own Infinity Cat label. They've also got a new 7" single, "Heavy Damage," that they should still have copies of at shows, but you can download the a-side at the top of this post. They'll also be touring with the legendary Shonen Knife this fall.

Tonight's show at Death by Audio should be deafening. JEFF shares the bill with noise-pop duo Sisters, who I've written about more than once already, and have become big fans of. Third on the bill are Sisters' Death By Audio Records label-mates Coin Under Tongue who make the kind of stoner, punk-inflected hard rock that Sub Pop used to specialize in, in the label's early days. (I'm talking Tad, Mudhoney, Das Damen). There's other influences in there too -- metal plays a big part, as does UK punk and postpunk I suspect. And there are some really nice guitar parts when the guys aren't stomping on the pedals but basically you're getting balls-to-the-wall, scream-the-chorus rock. It goes without saying Coin Under Tongue are really, really loud. But they've got songs to match the volume. They're finishing work on their new album, but have offered up a progress report of an EP that you can download at the top of this post. It rocks.

Lovvers

Thursday night's show at Cake Shop (JEFF plays first, like 8:30) is also a good lineup, with the kickoff show of Brit band Lovvers' American tour. Try not to hold that double V against them, these guys are good, and play sloppy, catchy garage punk. You see Wipers and Germs comparisons thrown around a lot, but I was more encouraged to check them out when they listed '60s-loving '80s UK act The Baracudas as an influence on their MySpace. There's an EP out now -- you can download it's lead track "Human Hair" at the top of this post -- and their debut album OCD Go Go Go Girls is due out in October.

Also on the bill are Darlings who, now that I've seen them play and heard their album, I don't think sound anything like Teenage Fanclub or Sloan (so said L Magazine). To me, it's more '90s slacker indie rock -- Pavement, Sebadoh (which The L cited too), or even Small Factory. Comparisons or no, Darlings' debut, Yeah I Know, is chock-a-block with stick-in-your-head songs, two of which you can download at the top of this post.

Rounding out the Cake Shop line up is Stupid Party and Ex-Humans.

Acrylics

Savoir Adore have been written about more than a few times this year and am a big fan. Sometimes anthemic, sometimes danceable, singer-guitarists Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer write hopeful, melodic, pristine pop and their isn't a dud among the 14 tracks on their debut album, In the Wooded Forrest, which is out this week digitally and has been in constant rotation on my stereo this week. They're even better live if you ask me, giving maybe the best performance I saw during the Northside Fest. You can see them live and pick up the album at their record release party Friday night at Cameo Gallery (7/17). The $10 entry gets you a copy of the CD which is a pretty good deal. You can get three of the album's songs for free via their Machines EP which is linked to at the top of this post.

Making it an even better deal is that the show also features Acrylics who were easily the best Northside Fest performance by a band I hadn't seen before. Like Savoir Adore, Acrylics make '80s-tinged guitar pop with boy-girl harmonies and big hooks. You can download their song "Molly's Vertigo" at the top of this post.

Grand Duchy

You can also catch Acrylics with fellow Cantora artists Francis and the Lights at Music Hall of Williamsburg for the official Siren Fest afterparty. This year's Siren is the best line-up they've had in ages... maybe ever. Built to Spill, Thee Oh Sees, Micachu, Japandroids, A Place to Bury Strangers, Monotonix, Future of the Left, Frightened Rabbit -- it's pretty much good band after good band. The worst thing about it is having to make a choice between bands, or trying to run between stages and miss half a bands set in the process. I would like to call out Grand Duchy which is Frank Black and his wife Violet Clark. If you haven't heard their album, Petit Fours, it's really good and not quite like anything like Frank Black has been involved with before. You can also catch Grand Duchy on Friday at Maxwell's.

Saturday's weather report isn't so hot right now -- they're calling for thunderstorms -- but we can hope they're wrong.

Also this weekend are a couple shows featuring bands who'll soon play Merge Records' 2oth Anniversary spectacular, XX Merge. This Friday's (7/17) edition of the Seaport Music Festival is Superchunk and Versus. Superchunk's influence on indie rock over the last 15 years cannot be overestimated (and I'm not even considering that Mac and Laura started the label) while Versus were one of the '90s more under-appreciated groups who are currently recording their first new album in nine years!

And then Sunday, The Clientele are playing Music Hall of Williamsburg -- and you can check out "I Wonder Who We Are," the first released track from their new album, Bonfires on the Heath, at the top of this post.

That's it for this week. Videos, flyers and tour dates are after the jump...

Continue reading "JEFF the Brotherhood, Lovvers, Sisters, Savoir Adore, Darlings, Coin Under Tongue & more in This Week in Indie"

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.

Four-day passes to the fest are on sale now.

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"

The Breeders @ McCarren Park Pool, July 13 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

Pixies played their first high-profile UK gig in nearly four years tonight (June 14), performing before Neil Young at the Isle Of Wight Festival.

Opening their Main Stage set with 'U-Mass', the band treated fans to an 80-minute greatest hits set.

Early on in the set, bassist Kim Deal remarked that she found the island "very pretty", before giggling into the microphone. [NME]

The Pixies followed that show with an invite-only release party for their Minotaur boxset the next night in London. (That boxset includes each of the five Pixies studio albums cut onto LP/gold-plated CD/Blu-ray audio/DVD/etc.) Drowned in Sound was there and wrote...

Doubtless you know/saw enough of the last reunion tour to be well aware the Pixies are still very, very good at playing Pixies songs, and a full review would be kind of gratuitous: they were frickin' awesome.

Set lists for both shows are below.

There's no word on any additional Pixies dates yet, though Frank Black has announced some solo Black Francis shows, and is touring with his Grand Duchy project this summer. That group plays NYC's Siren Fest on July 18th, with a show the night before in Hoboken. Updated tour dates (FB and GD) are below.

The Pixies' Kim Deal has shows this summer too, with The Breeders. They'll be at Sled Island Fest in Calgary this weekend (June 26th). The band's also announced several August tour dates. Those include NYC shows on August 18th and 19th at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for both nights go on presale Wednesday, June 24th at noon. General sale starts Friday at 11am.

Kim and Kelley Deal of the Breeders will lso be performing as part of The Long Count, a BAM commissioned project by the National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner. That premieres in Brooklyn in October.

Pixies set lists, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Breeders playing 2 NYC shows, Deals playing BAM, Pixies played 2 shows (setlist), Frank Black announced more dates"

The Village Voice is excited to announce the addition of A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, THEE OH SEES, TINY MASTERS OF TODAY, JUSTINE D. and DeadHeat DJs to the line-up for the 9th Annual Village Voice SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL™ at Coney Island on Saturday, July 18, 2009 from 12:00 noon - 9:00 p.m.

These artists join scheduled performers BUILT TO SPILL, SPANK ROCK, THE RAVEONETTES, FRIGHTENED RABBIT, GRAND DUCHY, MONOTONIX, FUTURE OF THE LEFT, JAPANDROIDS, MICACHU & THE SHAPES and BEAR HANDS at the free, all day, all ages music festival on two outdoor stages in historic Coney Island.

The 2nd Annual Official SIREN AFTER PARTY returns to Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, July 18 at 9:00pm. FRANCIS AND THE LIGHTS and GORDON VOIDWELL are scheduled to perform with more to be announced.

Tickets for the after party are now on AmEx pre-sale, and go on regular sale Friday. The festival itself is free. You just take the train to Coney Island and follow the crowd.

Thee Oh Sees are also playing the Woodsist Fest on July 4th.

APTBS play Santos Party House with the Secret Machines this Friday night (6/19).

The following Siren bands also have shows scheduled at Maxwell's: Future of the Left, Built to Spill, Grand Duchy, and Frightened Rabbit.

"Frank Black is an unassuming monster. In between songs at Harlow's last Monday, he affectionately listened to his wife, Grand Duchy singer/bassist Violet Clark, as she recounted unfunny anecdotes. But Black nursed his red wine, eyes peering from behind neon-lens black sunglasses, and let her jaw. Nice husband.

When Black's took his turn on the mic, he first soothed up to it, coiling his portly build like a chunky cobra about to strike. And then he did, ripping into songs with that gentle, inimitable Frank Black baritone that pretty much every 16-year-old teenage poseur wanted to hear emerge from their pubescent throat back in 1989." [Sacramento News & Review]

Frank Black's new band Grand Duchy has already played a bunch of shows - just none in the NYC-area yet. That changes in July.

Like Frightened Rabbit, Grand Duchy will be playing the Siren Festival in Coney Island on July 18th, and Maxwell's in Hoboken one day earlier. Frightened Rabbit's show is early. Frank Black's show is late. Tickets are on sale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Grand Duchy playing NJ before Brooklyn (and Chicago) "

Monotonix @ Mess With Texas (during SXSW 2009) (More)

[The Village Voice is] downright ebullient to announce the official details on this year's Siren Festival, which will, as always be free, all ages, and rain or shine. It'll take place on Saturday, July 18 at Coney Island and likely involve a crowd-surfing drummer. Without further adieu:

SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL
At Coney Island, NYC

Saturday, July 18, 2009
Noon - 9:00pm

BUILT TO SPILL
THE RAVEONETTES
FRIGHTENED RABBIT
THE GRAND DUCHY
MONOTONIX
MICACHU & THE SHAPES

+ more TBA

Looking good already (thx Ryan).

Micachu is also playing the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle later that month.

Monotonix also has another Brooklyn show coming up much sooner.

Grand Duchy is Frank Black and Violet Clark.

by Andrew Frisicano

Pixies are back again - so far with just one UK date: June 14th at the Isle of Wight Festival (featuring Neil Young and more - tickets on sale here). "More [shows] to come", as promised by the band's Myspace.

Meanwhile, Frank Black and Violet Clark (husband+wife) have recorded a full-length as Grand Duchy. The record, Petits Fours, will be out April 14th in the US on Cooking Vinyl (out now in Europe). Track list below. The group's Myspace also asks for "submissions of an artistic nature for the creation of a compendium of Grand Duchy-themed art."

Frank Black's BlackFrancis.net cryptically speculates: "The negotiators continue the discussion about BLACK FRANCIS concerts for this year of the Ox 2009. Acoustic? 3 piece? GRAND DUCHY? PIXIES? Duets with movie stars? Poetry slam? Art exhibition? WHO SHALL KNOW THESE THINGS? Checking the site of blackfrancis.net can be a habit to have!!" Part of that picture is put together above, with certainly more to be announced.

Black also recently produced Art Brut's third LP Art Brut vs. Satan out April 20th (Europe on Cooking Vinyl) and May 12th (US on Downtown Records). The first officially released track "Alcoholics Unanimous" has a video which was posted here on Sunday and can also be watched below.

A book on the Pixies, Pixies: In Print, recently came out on Rock Reader Books. The 1,000-copy first printing "collects all of the revered and influential band's essential press interactions. Focusing on the group's 1987 - 1992 heyday and its subsequent 2004 - 2007 reunion, PIXIES: IN PRINT chronicles the history of the Boston-bred musical icons through essential interviews, essays and articles."

And, as previously mentioned, Kim Deal and The Breeders are curating/playing ATP UK Weekend 2 May 15-17. Full line-up, the Grand Duchy track list, some videos, and more below...

Continue reading "Frank Black back w/ Pixies (date), Grand Duchy & Art Brut "