by Bill Pearis

Surfer Blood

NIGHTTIME

As I mentioned in that big post about Montreal bands at CMJ, The High Dials are among them and are just great live -- sort of country-tinged jangly shoegaze -- and they're impressive live. They play Lit Lounge at 10:15 and then Arlene's Grocery at 12:30AM. If you like Ride, The Byrds, or Brian Jonestown Massacre, you shouldn't miss these guys. Also playing at Lit Lounge, earlier in the evening (8:30) are Montreal's Black Diamond Bay which features a couple former members of the Dears and feature a similarly bombast rock sound. They're very good live too, especially if you have an appreciation for the live musician O Face.

If you like electro /dance there is an insane lineup at Santos tonight. And it's free. No badges required. The killer lineup includes three UK dancepop acts: Dan Black whose album Un is pretty fun; the borderline-novelty (but fun) Man Like Me and trio We Have Band who played here back in March. It keeps going: there's also Australia's Midnight Juggernauts, Montreal's We Are Wolves, Denmark's Spleen United (somewhere between Placebo and Presents), Toronto's Parallels, and LA's Paparazzi. There's also a slew of NYC acts: Maluca, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Lemonade,Heartsrevolution, Javelin, and The Golden Filter. Did I mention it was free?

At Union Pool, the folks at Panache Booking are showcasing a big handful of their bands, many of which have unnecessary repeated consonants: recent Brooklyn Vegan Day party veterans JEFF the Brotherhood and Lovvers, plus Flexions, zZz, Turbofruits, UUVVWWZ, and Dark Meat. Having seen at least half of these bands, I'm going to go ahead and say this'll be quite a party, whether you like it or not.

If you're going to the Pitchfork/Showpaper show at Market Hotel and wished that it was rock all night instead of switching over to electronic acts/DJs after midnight, your admission will also get you into the show happening down the street at Todd P's Above the Auto Parts Store venue (600 Bushwick), which has four great bands: Sisters, Screaming Females, Surfer Blood (again) and JEFF the Brotherhood (again). To get in for free you need to get there before 11PM; afterwards it's $10.

Or, you might think about heading to Silent Barn before or after (or instead of). Popjew has a great line-up of bands, including much-loved-by-me Let's Wrestle, A Classic Education (who were great at our Thursday day party), twangy West Coasters Slang Chickens, My Teenage Stride and the electro-rock of Jacques Detergent.

And at The Bell House, there's Au Revoir Simone and the related (literally, by marriage) Pursesnatchers; the lush, 60s-ish chamber pop of Florida's The Postmarks, indiepop ska band Still Flyin' and Brooklyn-via-Australia band The Miracles of Modern Science. The Bell House may seem like truly dedicating your night to one venue, but luckily it's one of the nicest, most comfortable in the city.

Other shows tonight include Mum, Sufjan's BQE screenings, the Sub Pop showcase, the Kemado/Mexican Summer showcase, and the Topman party with the Almighty Defenders and Neon Indian.

And then we rest. Saturday day parties HERE. Hip Hop shows HERE. Flyers and set times below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Saturday nighttime picks"

DOWNLOAD: The Black Ghosts - Any Way (Fake Blood mix) (MP3)

Sebastien Tellier @ LPR - Dec 11, 2008 (natkg)

From Tuesday my week in dance hit a slight hiccup. Thursday night (12/11) it was pouring when I arrived at Le Poisson Rouge for Sebastien Tellier and despite not waiting outside long at all, I still entered the venue sogggy. Unfortunately I also arrived just in time to see Hearts Revolution. I've seen them once before. I'm fine with their beats and I like some remixes of their tracks, but I find their shows to be atrocious (ouch - ed). It's mainly due to Lo's singing which is shrill and unpleasant to begin with, but the lead vocalist's unnecessary commentary which included complaining about the bright stage lights this time around (and wanting to go home and go to bed the previous time I saw her) was not helping matters. Thankfully their show was pretty short and Sebastien Tellier was on not too long after.

While Sebastien Tellier had my Tellier fanatic-friends and I bugging out when we last saw him at Hiro, this time around the experience was much more subdued. The stage show was a little toned down - less pelvic thrusting and fun with the microphone. I brought a Tellier-virgin along and was concerned about what he was thinking of Frenchman... Though everyone seemed really into it, and it was still a decent show, my distance from the stage, and concern that my friend was/wasn't enjoying himself, and a slightly less outrageous performance, made his show at Le Poisson Rouge fall short of the madness I experienced at Hiro in July.

Luckily things picked right back up where they left off Friday night...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Sebastien Tellier, Fools Gold, Fake Blood, Lifelike, Trus'me & more...)"