K Records magnate Calvin Johnson (of Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System et al) has a few East Coast/Midwest dates this week, including a show on Wednesday (5/22) at Ran Tea House with labelmate Ian Svenonius' Chain & the Gang, and Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa, and the NYC live debut of Erin Earthling. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa also play another NYC show on Friday (5/24) at Secret Project Robot with Aye Aye Rabbit (featuring Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Many Mansions, and The Drunken Foreigner Band.

In other K Recs news, as mentioned, Heather Rose Dominic's 1998 documentary The Shield Around the K will screen next Friday (5/31) at Videology in Williamsburg as part of 2013 NYC Popfest. Screening is at 5 PM and free.

All Calvin Johnson tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Calvin Johnson touring, playing NYC with Chain & the Gang and more (dates)"

Apparently it's NYC Outdoor Free Show Announce Day. Following Hudson River Rocks, Seaport Music Festival and 4Knots updates comes the 2013 River to River Festival line-up. This year's fest runs from June 15 - July 14 and includes music, dance, theater, visual art, film and "unique participatory experiences" across a number of outdoor stages. Among this years' free events:

The annual Bang on a Can Marathon which happens on 6/16 at Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts and features Bang on a Can All-Stars, Asphalt Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Talk Normal, Talea, Shara Worden, Yungchen Llamo, and more.

Laurie Anderson will perform two nights at Rockefeller Park on June 18 & 19 with guests Gerry Leonard, Doug Wieselman, Eyvind Kang and others TBA.

Ecstatic Summer 2013 which happens at Brookfield Place Plaza on June 29 & 30. Members of Bon Iver, Mantra Percussion, the National, yMusic, Plastic Ono Band and more will perform commissioned works by Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Dave Douglas, Susie Ibarra and Seth Olinsky.

So Percussion and Joshua Light Show team up on July 13 at Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts

The legendary Leon Russell will perform at Rockefeller Park on July 10.

There's also a presentation of of Foetus frontman JG Thirlwell's "cinema for the ears" album, Manorexia: Dinoflagellate Bloom at Tribeca Cinemas on July 11.

Continue reading "2013 River to River Festival lineup announced (Laurie Anderson, Ecstatic Summer, Leon Russell ++ more)"

Then there's Mystical Weapons, an improv duo that came about after Sean Lennon became friendly with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier, and Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda suggested the two try playing together. The resulting album is a really cool, eclectic, loosely powerful collection of experiments with some basic structure.

"All the music is improvised, which is one of the guidelines," Lennon explains. "Then there would be verbal guidelines, which were sometimes based around instrumentation or a key signature or a concept or mood."

"A song like 'Dirty Neon' was as simple as saying, 'All right Greg, you play piano this time and I'll play drums,'" Lennon continues. "And then 'Mechanical Mammoth' was all about playing the ARP 2600 on an atonal setting so the intervals on the keys weren't 12-tone but kinda random. Some songs were about just using the kalimba and the last song, 'Consortium Musicum,' was about playing toys live. I'm really proud of that one because it's very atmospheric, even though it's just us sitting cross-legged, playing toys." - [CBC]

Or you could go see them play live Saturday night (1/12) at Big Sky Works in Williamsburg. They've stopped selling advance online tickets, but you can buy them at the door. $15, 9 PM.

Flyer for the show and video are below...

Continue reading "Mystical Weapons (Sean Lennon & Deerhoof's Greg Saunier) releasing album, playing NYC this weekend"

yMusic at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 2012 (more by David Andrako)

NYC contemporary classical ensemble yMusic (known for their work with My Brightest Diamond, St. Vincent, and others) have some upcoming shows scheduled for the end of this year and early 2013. On December 20, they'll play two shows (early and late) at the David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center with Jherek Bischoff (who's worked with David Byrne, Amanda Palmer, Parenthetical Girls, and others) and Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier. The musicians will be teaming up at these shows to perform music composed by Jherek. Admission to both shows is free, though maybe they should consider making the shows fundraisers for yMusic's record label New Amsterdam Records who were decimated by Sandy.

Then, as mentioned, yMusic will open for Dirty Projectors at Carnegie Hall on January 11, and then join them on stage during their headlining set. The ensemble recently recorded with Dirty Projectors on their recent album, Swing Lo Magellan. Tickets for that show are still available.

In related news, Dirty Projectors release their new EP, About to Die, this week (11/6), which features the title track (which appeared on Swing Lo Magellan) and three new ones. You can stream one of the new tracks, "While You're Here," which David Longstreth tweeted was written for the late Gerard Smith (of TVOTR), and check out a list of all yMusic dates below.

Continue reading "yMusic playing shows w/ Jherek Bischoff, Greg Saunier, Dirty Projectors (who released a new EP) & more"

Hunx as Gayracula

All things considered, we hope you had a Happy Halloween. You already saw what John Vanderslice and Freelance Whales dressed up as, and Dum Dum Girls' nun costumes (Crocodiles in there too). We also already posted Deap Vally, Those Darlins & the Mountain Goats in Halloween attire, and you saw Vampire Weekend all decked out for Kimmel. Here's a whole bunch more. That's Hunx and a punx above. See the rest (sort of NSFW), below...

Continue reading "more pics of Bands in their Halloween Costumes -- (Wayne Coyne, Kickball Katy, Dirty Projectors, Hunx & more)"

Free Paint at DBA 5th Anniversary Party (more by Andrew St. Clair)

As mentioned, Xiu Xiu and Dirty Beaches released a split 7" for Record Store Day and kicked off a tour together earlier this month/week which hits NYC TONIGHT (5/4) with Father Murphy, who just played The Stone on Tuesday (5/1) with Les Bonhommes (who count Deerhoof's Greg Saunier as a member). Tickets for Bowery Ballroom are still available.

Speaking of Greg Saunier, who also produced/played on a handful of Xiu Xiu records, his band Free Paint plays Zebulon on Sunday (5/6) with Shy Hunters, Shahzad Ismaily/Ryan Sawyer/Darius Jones, and Interstitials. Check out a video of Free Paint at Death by Audio's 5th Anniversary Party below.

Xiu Xiu also has a new video out for "Honeysuckle" off his recent LP, Always. Updated Xiu Xiu dates and videos below...

Continue reading "Xiu Xiu on tour, has a new video; Free Paint playing Zebulon"

The three-night, three-stage-per-night, Dessners-of-the-National-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival begins at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Fort Greene tonight (5/3). The three stages are Howard Gilman Opera House (the big names), BAMCAFE (the smaller names) & BAM Rose Cinemas (a mix of film and other music). Things begin early too. The Walkmen headline the big room at 10:45pm tonight, but the music begins with the JACK Quartet in BAMCAFE at 5pm. The full schedule is at their site.

Before the Walkmen is Sharon Van Etten who spent last night covering the Stooges with Mike Watt and members of Dinosaur Jr. Before Sharon is Twin Shadow who may or may not to continue playing new material like they did recently at Glasslands. And before them is Jherek Bischoff who is rumored to be playing with a very special guest or two which is not surprising at all given who showed up to play with him at the Ecstatic Music Festival, and who appears on his new album Composed (out 6/5 on Brassland). This is the album's tracklist:

Introduction (Defeat)
Eyes (Jherek Bischoff & David Byrne)
The Secret of the Machines (w/ Caetano Veloso & Greg Saunier)
The Nest (with Mirah Zeitlyn & Paris Hurley)
Blossom (Jherek Bischoff with Nels Cline)
Your Ghost (with Craig Wedren)
Counting (with Carla Bozulich)
Young & Lovely (with Zac Pennington & Soko)
Insomnia, Death And The Sea (with Dawn McCarthy)

Continue reading "3-day Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Fest begins tonight at BAM; special guests to join Jherek Bischoff? "

by Andrew Sacher

Buke and Gase at Prospect Park in 2011 (more by Toby Tenebaum)

Buke and Gase will be curating The Stone from tonight (5/1) to May 15. The curation kicks off tonight with Father Murphy at 8 PM and Les Bonhommes at 10 PM.

After tonight's show, Father Murphy, who are here from Italy, head out on tour with Xiu Xiu and Dirty Beaches (which hits Bowery Ballroom this Friday 5/4). Their album was mixed by Deerhoof's Greg Saunier who is one third of, but not the drummer of, Les Bonhommes (that also features William Kuehn from Rainer Maria).

Other performances throughout the week include former Parts & Labor noisemaker Dan Friel and Bunnybrains on 5/4; a Tonic reunion featuring Mephista with John Zorn, Steve Bernstein's MTO and more; Extra Life's Charlie Looker, Greg Fox, & Jamie Saft and Glass Ghost on 5/11, gonzo drummer Greg Fox and Hubble on 5/12, a powerhouse grouping of Ryan Sawyer, Colin Stetson, Nate Wooley, C. Spencer Yeh Quartet on 5/13, and Matana Roberts and Ches Smith on 5/15, among others.

Buke & Gase don't actually play any of the shows they curated but they do play the Dessner-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry fest on May 4 at BAM.

The second half of May at the Stone is curated by Gyan Riley.

Check out the full schedule below...

Continue reading "Buke & Gase curating The Stone's first two week's in May"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Andrew Sacher

Tim Harrington @ Death by Audio 3/31/2012

All ages Williamsburg venue Death by Audio celebrated its fifth anniversary last month with sets by Tim Harrington (of Les Savy Fav, playing solo), Free Paint (Deerhoof's Greg Saunier and Flying's Sara Magenheimer), Grooms, and Neckbeard Telecaster. Check out more pictures from the anniversary party below. Meanwhile, they have a number of solid upcoming shows this month and next, which are highlighted in this post.

This Wedneday (4/18), Brooklyn's Hunters will play the venue. We profiled them when they toured with The Kills and Jeff the Brotherhood, after releasing a James Iha-produced, Nick Zinner-mixed EP, which you can stream/purchase at bandcamp. The bill also includes Oakland bands Sister Fucker and Generation, and Brooklyn-via Oakland band Buddy Bag.

Parts & Labor (who are on hiatus) member Dan Friel plays the venue on April 25 and again on May 2. The 5/2 show is with ex-Parts & Labor member Sarah Lipstate aka Noveller, who can also be found at Glasslands on Thursday (4/19) with Lotus Plaza and Disappears (tickets). Dan Friel also plays The Stone on May 4 at 8 PM before Bunnybrains plays at 10 PM. All Dan Friel dates are listed below.

Mr. Dream, who recently returned home after touring with Cloud Nothings, play Death by Audio on May 9 with Yvette, Pile, and Grass is Green.

Guardian Alien, who played DBA this past Friday (4/13), and plays The Stone on Tuesday (4/17), will play Death by Audio on May 11 with DJ Dog Dick and 2 Ton Bug.

The next night, May 12, pg.99 offshoot Pygmy Lush, who opens for Young Widows at Saint Vitus on 4/23, plays with PC Worship, Horse Lords, and Spa Castles. You can catch PC Worship at DBA again on May 25 with Psychic Ills and Ex Cops.

Toronto garage punks Teenanger, who will be in the Northeast US to open for Ty Segall and White Fence in Philly (5/18), will stick around to play Death by Audio in Brooklyn one day later (5/19) with Family Curse.

More pics and dates below...

Continue reading "Death By Audio celebrated 5 years w/ Tim Harrington & friends (pics), have more good shows coming up (as usual)"

Greg Saunier & Liam Finn @ the Rock Shop (photo by David Wexler)

Tonight (1/30) is your last change to catch Liam Finn at the Rock Shop, for now at least. Tickets are still on sale.

The four-show residency began back on 1/9, and at least one person in the crowd drove down from Boston for that show. They wrote:

Finn cruised through two sets (see full setlists for each below), the first as just a man with his looping pedals while on the second he was joined by his brother Elroy on the drums and Jol Mulholland on the bass. In the first set Finn showed off his skills both behind the drums and on guitar, masterfully looping each instrument to create an astonishing amount of sound for one man.

The first set featured songs mostly from his solo debut I'll Be Lightning and his Champagne In Seashells EP, but Finn was also able to work out "Chase The Seasons" off of 2011's FOMO for the first time ever in concert (see video below). For the last two songs of set #1 (as well as a between songs jam) Finn was joined on stage by Wilco's Mikael Jorgensen. The musical chemistry between the two on "Don't Even Know Your Name" and "Lead Balloon" was nearly flawless even though the pair had seemingly had no previous practice time together with the songs....

Continue reading "Mikael Jorgensen & Greg Saunier played the Rock Shop with Liam Finn (whose residency finishes tonight) --- videos"

Jherek Bischoff

As mentioned, the Ecstatic Music Festival kicks off on February 4 at Merkin Concert Hall with Jherek Bischoff, who plays with Parenthetical Girls and The Dead Science. He's teaming up with Wordless Music Orchestra and an incredible list of guest vocalists from his upcoming album, which comes out this February, including David Byrne, Craig Wedren (Shudder To Think), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Mirah, and Zac Pennington (Parenthetical Girls. Tickets are still on sale now.

Speaking of Parenthetical Girls, their tour began last night (12/1) at Glasslands with Gauntlet Hair, Dinowalrus, and Eraas. If you missed it, they'll also be in NYC this Friday (12/3) at Santos Party House with YACHT and Midnight Magic (tickets).

As previously mentioned, Brassland Records is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a label and debuted a new/old track every day of November via various methods including Soundcloud. None of those tracks can be heard in the player that's embedded below. Those include "Spinney" by This is the Kit (who are opening for the National at Beacon Theater on 12/17) and "Secret of the Machines (instrumental)" by Jherek Bischoff. The latter also features drums by Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), and will have vocals by Caetano Veloso in its album version.

Continue reading "Jherek Bischoff releasing an album & playing a show -- both with many extra special guests (like David Byrne)"

DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Trails (Deerhoof remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Perfectly Crystal (Beach Fossils/Spirit Animal remix) (MP3 premiere)

Asobi Seksu

Shoegazey rockers Asobi Seksu's new album Fluorescence was released via Polyvinyl in February. You'll notice at Polyvinyl's site that the download comes with four bonus tracks, three of which are remixes of the song "Trails", one of which is done by Deerhoof. Download that Deerhoof remix above if you don't already have it. Also grab the Beach Fossils remix version of "Perfectly Crystal" which is making its premiere in this post.

As previously mentioned, Asobi Seksu have a big headlining show coming up at Bowery Ballroom, and that show happens to be TONIGHT (4/7). Openers are Zaza and Consortium Musicum. Consortium Musicum are Greg Saunier of Deerhoof & Sean Lennon.

Asobi also recently announced some May dates with White Lies including a 5/24 show at Antone's in Austin where Asobi recently played SXSW for the fourth time. White Lies have good taste in openers. School of Seven Bells and Sun Airway open their upcoming Terminal 5 show.

And speaking of Beach Fossils, they have their own big show right around the corner. I'm talking about their Friday (4/8) headlining show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Craft Spells, Crinkles, and "Unannounced Special Guest." Tickets are still on sale.

In related news, The Drums play a sold out show at Mercury Lounge tonight (4/7) and other upcoming shows too.

All Asobi & Beach Bossils tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils remixed Asobi Seksu (MP3 premiere), both play big shows this week w/ special guests (and other dates)"

today in NYC
* Nir Felder @ Barbes
* Spooky Ghost @ The Stone
* David Wax Museum @ Joe's Pub
* Martial Canterel @ Home Sweet Home
* Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* Greg Giraldo benefit @ Beacon Theatre
* Soldiers of Fortune, Water Fai @ Zebulon
* Henry Rollins spoken word @ Joe's Pub
* Hannis Brown, Dead Cat Bounce @ Sycamore
* Huey Lewis and the News @ Gramercy Theatre
* Arms, Hospitality, Radical Dads, Translations @ Pianos
* Soft Black, The Vacant Lots, Will Cam, J'ac @ Maxwell's
* The Loom, Pearl and the Beard, Team B @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Nicole Atkins, The Gay Blades, Mon Khmer @ Bowery Ballroom
* Anna Ternheim, Sonya Kitchell, Nigel Hall @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Janet Hamill (poetty) @ St. Marks's Church
* Rhys Chatham Brass Trio, Tony Conrad, Face the Music @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Consortium Musicum w/ Sean Lennon & Greg Saunier of Deerhoof @ The Stone
* Larry Campbell (The Music of Neil Young Live Rehearsal show) @ City Winery
* Bouncing Souls, Anti-Flag, Full Speed Ahead, The Great Explainer @ Stone Pony
* Cubic Zirconia, the Popo, Machinedrum, Party Supplies, Anika (DJ) @ Mercury Lounge
* The Big Terrific Comedy Show w/ Max Silvestri, Gabe Liedman and Jenny Slate @ Cameo Gallery

Check out This Week in Indie.

The National (who played the Studio @ Webster Hall last night) are playing a private fashion week show tonight.

Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier (who played Europa last night) is playing with Sean Lennon at the Stone tonight.

Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson are responsible for the programming at the Stone this month.

Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye are doing poetry at St. Mark's Church (no advanced tickets).

Grimes have a new (unofficial but band approved) video that you can watch below...

Fellow Canadians Braids have a new video too. Also below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

DOWNLOAD: Greg Saunier vs. WOOM - Quetzalcoatl's Ship (MP3)

Greg on stage with Deerhoof (more by Chris Gersbeck)

We already knew that we could catch the very talented Greg Saunier of Deerhoof at one of two upcoming NYC shows (Ridgewood Masonic Temple on 2/8 with Buke & Gass and Le Poisson Rouge on 3/14-tickets), but we can also see the Deerhoof trapsman extraordinaire THIS FRIDAY, 2/17, at Bruar Falls. It doesn't look like Saunier will be behind the kit though, but he will be manning the drums... on a drum machine if the billing of the show is correct. Bruar Falls lists it as "SARA MAGENHEIMER (WOOM) AND GREG SAUNIER (DEERHOOF) DRUM MACHINE IMPROV DUO. The show kicks off at 8PM and will also feature sets by The Psyched and Antimagic. WOOM won't play the show, but they do have dates coming up elsewhere which are listed below. All Deerhoof dates are in a previous post.

This is not the first time Woom and Deerhoof will have collaborated either...

Last July the duo WOOM released their debut album, Muu's Way. Since then, word of mouth has been spreading about the chaotic, tender, startlingly original world the album creates. The band's reputation has grown slowly but persistently at the edge of visibility, like a slime mold spreading across the parking lot of modern independent pop music. So who is it listening to WOOM? Well, take for example some of their biggest fans: the musicians featured on this new release, Muu's Way Remixed.

Deerhoof's Greg Saunier takes on the underwater pop splash "Quetzalcoatl's Ship". Adding stuttering distorted drums, his version rolls the song like an over-ripe melon down a rocky hill in the hot sun. His longtime collaborators, Xiu Xiu, have a remarkably different take on the same song, chopping and looping to create a moody piece of midnight electro-minimalist doom.

BJ Warshaw (Parts and Labor, Shooting Spires) turns "The Hunt" (human-breath-based dance beat) into a psychedelic trash-can rave-up. Lucky Dragons ease the album's political-sleeper-love-song "Judith" into a pastoral latin-bumping cloud of rain. Talk Normal flip folk-concrete "Backwards Beach" into a no-wave sing-a-long. Meanwhile, Japanther get mellow with "Salt" and Butchy Fuego (Pit er Pat, The Boredoms) invents a new genre ("Woombia") for "Back In."

In related news, the "driver" half of Deerhoof's "Hoofdriver" project (that 7" is out now) will play two nights at Southpaw as part of "Search And Restore & Manhattan New Music presents...4 nights of Kneebody". Kneebody's four night residency will feature two sets from the band each night, and will take place on 1/26 -1/29 with Wayne Krantz on the first night (tickets), Busdriver on board for the second night (tickets), Busdriver & Mark Guiliana on the third (tickets), and Daedelus on the final night (tickets).

It's not the first time that Kneebody and Busdriver have collaborated for a show or on stage; in fact, the pair were in NYC in February for Kneebody's four day residency at Bleecker St Theater. Videos of the two artists playing together are below.

If you can't make it to catch Daedelus at Southpaw, you can still catch him support Lotus with Tobacco at Terminal 5 on February 5th. Tickets are on sale. Lotus is also on board to play Mercury Lounge the night before, and tickets to that show are currently on sale as a package with the Terminal 5 tickets.

Full tour dates and everything else below...

Continue reading "Deerhoof's Greg Saunier playing w/ WOOM's Sara, Kneebody playing w/ Busdriver & Daedelus (who opens for Lotus too)"