photos by Vincent Cornelli

"On any given occasion [Do Make Say Think] are a formidable proposition, but tonight [at an October show in London,] their core six members are joined by a revolving cast of guests. All ten musicians appear across the evening, providing instrumentation and support for both the support bands here. Charles Spearin's Happiness Project and Ohad Benchitrit's Years; in essence, side-projects from the full time labour of the headliners. However, there's a genuine sense amongst the crowd that this isn't a typical 'headline + support' concert as such, but rather a collective of musicians who happen to perform under various guises, and are doing so tonight." [INDROSSI]

Do Make Say Think and the Happiness Project played their third NYC show together last night at Bowery Ballroom (11/29). The night before that it was in Brooklyn at Music Hall of Williamsburg (both were with Years). Two months earlier they shared a bill at a venue located at Columbia University (no Years). More pictures from this weekend's Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "Do Make Say Think, Years & The Happiness Project played Bowery Ballroom & Music Hall in NYC (pics) "

Charles Spearin (The Happiness Project) (more by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* Jimmy Scott @ Iridium
* Guster @ Beacon Theatre
* Kria Brekkan @ Glasslands
* The Bones Royal @ Zebulon
* Aki Ona & MB Carbon @ The Stone
* Life of Agony @ Starland Ballroom
* Arlo Guthrie & Family @ Carnegie Hall
* Free Energy, Glint @ Santos Party House
* David Johansen Band @ Highline Ballroom
* Lotus w/ RJD2, Junior Boys (DJ) @ Terminal 5
* Mike Doughty, Vanessa Bley @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Raein, Towers, Black Kites, Tiger Flowers @ ABC No Rio
* Audion (Matthew Dear), Clark Warner @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Do Make Say Think, The Happiness Project, Years @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Cheeky, Zombie Dogs, Slingshot Dakota, Shellshag, Stupid Party @ Death By Audio
* Idle Warship w/Talib Kweli, Trezure the Empress, Jah C+Antidote,Niles @ Southpaw
* Hex Fest w/ Electric Umbilical Cord, Mon Khmer, The Naked Hearts, ZAZA, Das Racist @ Pianos
* Hex Fest w/ Matt Vasquez, Your Nature, Hymns, Wild Yaks, Papa, Strangers Family Band @ Living Room
* Hex Fest w/ Apache Beat, Naam, Bottle Up & Go, Dirty Fences, Weird Owl, Liquor Store, The Siberians, Pinche Gringo @ Cake Shop

Spend Saturday night running between Pianos, Living Room, and Cake Shop for Hex Fest. Among the many highlights is a set by Delta Spirit's Matt Vasquez the Living Room. Wild Yaks also play that venue. Flyer below.

Female-fronted punk band Cheeky play their last show ever, with Zombie Dogs, Slingshot Dakota, Shellshag and Stupid Party at Death by Audio - the show is also a benefit for Polycystic Kidney Disease (PDK) Research.

Cheeky and Stupid Party put out two of Screaming Females' favorite albums of the year.

Glassjaw opens for Brand New at Nassau Coliseum tonight which is probably why their name was changed to "special guest" at the upcoming Starland Ballroom show with Thursday and Dilinger Escape Plan.

Life of Agony will perform all of "River Run Red" at Starland Ballroom tonight. It's sold out, but tickets are still available for the show they have coming up at Highline Ballroom.

Speaking of Starland Ballroom, all December shows there are 50% off including the post-Christmas Danzig show and the above-mentioned Glassjaw one.

Speaking of Christmas, Amazon is giving away a free MP3 sampler of holiday songs.

Ticketmaster is running Black Friday weekend sales. Those and more recent tickets that went on sale HERE.

Tonight is the first of two Jimmy Scott shows at Iridium.

Tonight is the first of two Do Make Say Think / Charles Spearin's Happiness Project shows in NYC this weekend. Sunday it moves to Bowery Ballroom. Charles Spearin videos below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

DOWNLOAD: Do Make Say Think - Other Truths album sampler (MP3)

photos by Chris La Putt

Do Make Say Think

The term "wordless" was perhaps misleading, because the Broken Social Scene founding member's [Happiness] Project was rooted in language, words, and conversation. A year ago, [Charles] Spearin began inviting neighbors from his downtown Toronto neighborhood over for a series of casual interviews in which he asked them questions about happiness and its meaning.

Listening to the recordings, Spearin noticed the musicality of his subjects' voices, as well as their varied and diverse responses. He set about trying to create melodies from the responses, and enlisted his musical friends to help, ultimately arranging the melodies as songs.

[On September 10th], Spearin and other musicians (including some members of DMST) performed these songs, along with the interviews that inspired them. Beginning with bare musical imitations of the voices, the melodies grew and developed into full-fledged songs, featuring repeated sound clips from the interviews. The use of the recordings, a sort of motif in post-rock music, was developed in a truly inspired way.

Following the performance of the Happiness Project, Spearin rejoined Do Make Say Think for a set in which they performed songs from their older albums, as well as new songs from the forthcoming album Other Truths.

During this second half of the evening, the volume went way up, as did the banter, swearing, and on-stage beer drinking. The band's signature distorted guitars, spacey electronic effects, and loud bass was a major shift from the comparatively subdued Happiness Project.

Though the set was at times repetitive, it was more often powerful, intense, and surprising. The songs built up beautifully, and the audience members, restricted by their seats, bobbed their heads in satisfied unison. [Columbia Spectator]

Thursday's show (described above) was just one of the four recent "Wordless Music" shows that happened at Miller Theatre. Destroyer, Grouper, and Doveman were among those who played the other three.

Do Make Say Think and The Happiness Project hit Europe this fall, then return to North America for a series of shows in late November and December. Joining on the tour will be Years, a project of DMST guitarist Ohad Benchetrit. All three play November 28th at Music Hall of Williamsburg and November 29th at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets (finally) go on AmEx presale Wednesday, September 16th at noon. General sale starts Friday, September 18th at noon.

DMST's new record Other Truths is set to come out October 20th on Constellation. A preview of that record is posted above. Artwork and tracklist are below with the rest of the pictures from the Miller Theatre show...

Continue reading "Do Make Say Think & Charles Spearin's 'The Happiness Project' played Miller Theatre (pics) ++ MP3 & more dates..."

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Lullabye Arkestra - "We Fuck The Night" (MP3)

Charles Spearin of Do Make Say Think blowin' the horn for Broken Social Scene @ Mercury (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Do Make Say Think has scheduled a few dates in the coming months, including 9/10 at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University (tickets are on sale) as well as Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom on November 28th and 29th respectively (ticket info forthcoming). And DMST will keep it family, having invited along Charles Spearin's Happiness Project as well as guitarist Ohad Benchetrit's project, Years. Both released their LPs earlier this year on Arts & Crafts. (note: Years is not playing the Miller Theatre show).

Meanwhile, one Do Make Say Think side project will NOT be out on the road with the band, but ARE on their way to NYC in the coming months. The band Lullaby Arkestra features Justin Small of DMST and his wife Kat Taylor-Small, and they are a lot less crescendo, and a lot more melodic heaviness akin to Big Business, Tweakbird, or NYC's Orphan. Lullabye Arkestra are currently prepping their sophomore LP, Threats / Worship, out on Vice Records on Sept 1 and have scheduled an NYC show at Glasslands on 8/13. Check out "We Fuck The Night" downloadable above.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Do Make Say Think touring w/ Happiness Project & Years, Lullabye Arkestra signed to VICE & playing NYC (dates)"