by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Butter The Children - "Lupus" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ovlov - "Blue Baby" (MP3)

Butter The Children

NYC pop shoegazers Butter The Children (members of Sweet Bulbs, Night Manager, and Le Rug) play local shows a lot and it's recently been announced that they've signed to Downtown Records. Last year they self released their impressive self-titled EP, and Downtown will presumably put out its followup at some point this year. You can download the EP for free at bandcamp and stream in full below. One track, "Lupus," can be downloaded above as well. The EP is a quick blast of punchy pop rock with MBV-inspired guitar wails, and if you've yet to see them at one of their many shows, they bring that same kind of power to the stage too.

As usual, they have upcoming local dates, including one this Friday (5/24) at Big Snow with Big Muff, Roses, (ex-Deer Tick), and Ceramics. They also have a show scheduled at Death by Audio on June 27 with Ovlov, Suns, and Flagland. Both shows are all ages and admission for both shows is $7 at the door. They're also playing Day 1 of Hillstock, which takes place across various Brooklyn venues from June 21-23.

Ovlov

Newtown, CT's Ovlov, who also play that DBA show, are set to release their debut album, Am, on July 2 via Exploding in Sound, who are becoming pretty consistent in supplying good '90s-inspired indie rock (like Speedy Ortiz, who since signed to Carpark). And like most of that label's roster, Ovlov do the sound well. The album's single, "Blue Baby," has buildups that are straight out of the Sonic Youth songbook, and the singer likely learned a thing or two from J Mascis. Check the song out below or download it for free above.

Ovlov is on a tour now with labelmates Grass is Green which includes other NYC shows happening on June 1 at Big Snow with Appomattox and Miniboone, and the previously discussed Exploding In Sound showcase on June 15 at Big Snow with Speedy Ortiz, Pile, Fat History Month, Two Inch Astronaut, and more.

All dates are listed, along with song streams, below...

Continue reading "Butter The Children signed to Downtown, playing shows; Ovlov on tour, releasing debut LP (dates & MP3s)"

Hilly Eye at Acheron earlier this month (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Annual all ages, DIY music festival Hillstock is returning to Brooklyn this year from June 22-24 across four spaces in Clinton Hill. Day 1 (6/22) begins with a kickoff party at Free Candy on 905 Atlantic Ave with Math the Band, Ava Luna, Hop Along, Heaven's Gate, and more. On day 2 (6/23) we'll get the free block party at 106 Emerson Place with Hilly Eye, The Suzan, Life Size Maps, Swear and Shake, surprise guests and more, followed by a $5 afterparty with Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Twitchers, Nuclear Santa Claust, and Sega Genocide. The fest wraps up on 6/24 with a backyard picnic at 402½ Park Avenue headlined by surprise guests and also featuring Archipelago, Emilyn Brodsky, Modern Hut, and more.

The full schedule, flier and a trailer video are below...

Continue reading "Hillstock returning to Brooklyn in June (Hilly Eye, The Suzan, Math the Band, Ava Luna & more)"

today in NYC
* Howl! Festival
* Bushwick Open Studios
* It Is It @ Pianos
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Atlantic Avenue Artwalk
* Jason Kao Hwang @ The Stone
* Hillstock Festival @ 402 Park Ave.
* Justin Vivian Bond @ Joe's Pub
* Pretty Good Friends @ Union Hall
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Xalam Project, Bizi Gara @ Zebulon
* ZWERM Guitar Quartet @ The Stone
* The Baseball Project @ City Winery
* Akiko Pavolka's House of Illusion @ Barbes
* Tanuki Suit, Mancie, Rachel Lee Walsh @ Glasslands
* The Dynamites Featuring Charles Walker @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Joshua Light Show @ American Museum of Natural History
* Stephane Wrembel Presents The Django Experiment @ Barbes
* The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Mommyheads @ Le Poisson Rouge
* All Tiny Creatures, The Carribean, Computer Magic @ Mercury Lounge
* Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Darlings, Dinosaur Feathers, Friends, Grand Rapids, Like, Mountains @ Housing Works Street Fair
* Whale Belly, Panoramic & True, The Robin Electric, Little Grey Girlfriend @ Littlefield
* Hot 97 Summer Jam w/ Lil Wayne, Drake, Birdman, Chris Brown, Dipset, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Lloyd Banks, Waka Flocka Flame, Wiz Khalifa @ the Meadowlands

Hillstock Fest times changed since the initial announcement. Updated list of bands and times is below.

Unkle have a new video starring Nick Cave. Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ the Bell House in 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

today in NYC
* Howl Fest
* Evillive
* Red Hook Fest
* Chola @ Barbes
* Sima Bina @ Town Hall
* Bushwick Open Studios
* Thierry Stremler @ Barbes
* Larry Polansky @ The Stone
* Christian Wolff @ The Stone
* Atlantic Avenue Artwalk
* Hillstock @ 106 Emerson Place
* Martin Sexton @ City Winery
* Hallucinogen @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Network Awesome @ 92Y Tribeca
* Mike Birbiglia @ Barrow Street Theatre
* Delexilio @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
* School of Seven Bells @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Stepdad, Sunset Victim @ Cameo Gallery
* Banda Sinaloense de los Muertos @ Barbes
* Pollyester, My Favourite Things @ The Gutter
* Saadi, Janka Nabay, Jogyo @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Captain Beefheart tribute @ Bowery Poetry Club
* Effi Briest, Pillars and Tongues, Hiro Kone @ Cake Shop
* Wolvserpent, A Story of Rats, Ruin Lust @ The Acheron
* Black Label Society, Anchored, Hourcast @ Irving Plaza
* Weston, Morning, Communication Redlight @ Maxwell's
* Joshua Light Show @ American Museum of Natural History
* Sondre Lerche, Nightlands, Kishi Bashi @ Bowery Ballroom
* Jimmy Eat World, Civil Twilight @ The Wellmont Theatre
* Big White Clouds, Amory Sivertson, Commerce @ Sycamore
* Rifle Recoil, My Favourite Things, Pollyester @ The Gutter
* The Machine (Pink Floyd tribute) @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
* Dennis Coffey, The Dirtbombs, The Stepkids @ The Bell House
* All Tiny Creatures, More Humans, The Caribbean @ Sycamore
* Meta and the Cornerstones, DJ Spinach, Veronica @ 92YTribeca
* The Woes, Elk City, Old Monk, Royal American @ The Rock Shop
* Bella Boys, Milly Beau, The Durians, Ben Arsenal @ Shea Stadium
* Psychic Friend, Dangerous Ponies, Mystery Roar @ Public Assembly
* Richard Pinhas, Mountains, Forma, Carlos Giffoni @ The Schoolhouse
* The Sun Araw Band, Matthewdavid, D'eon, M Geddes Gengras @ 285 Kent
* Red Wire Black Wire, Dinosaur Bones, Steel Phantoms, Santah @ Pianos
* Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Yellow Ostrich, Callers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Blitz the Ambassador, DJ Spinna & more @ Target Free Saturday @ Brooklyn Museum
* D. Charles Speer & The Helix, Spider Bags, John Wesley Coleman @ Bruar Falls
* Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Balkans, Fort Lean, Headless Horseman @ Glasslands
* Ken South Rock, Unstoppable Death Machines, Ritz Riot, Filthy Savage @ Silent Barn
* Reverend John DeLore, Doran Danoff, Scott Metzger, Trina Hamlin @ Bowery Electric
* Teenage Angst (Nirvana tribute), MIck's Jaguar (Rolling Stones) @ Mercury Lounge
* Black Dog (Led Zeppelin Tribute), Sabbra Cadabra (Black Sabbath) @ Mercury Lounge
* Bad Manners, The Scofflaws, The Forthrights, The Grace Of Spades @ The Studio
* Unstoppable Death Machines, GDFX, DJ Teenwolf, DJ Jimmy C @ Tortilleria Chinantla (new location)
* Richard Lloyd (of Television), The Bamboo Kids, Heap, Jukebox Zeros, All In Your Mind @ Trash Bar
* Hooray For Goodbye, Clinical Trials, Aggie Doone, Circadian Clock @ Public Assembly (day show)

The schedule for Hillstock keeps changing. Today's up to date schedule is below.

The Captain Beefheart tribute at Bowery Poetry Club is:

Gary Lucas (Beefheart alumni, Jeff Buckley), Nona Hendryx (Labelle, Talking Heads), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Nathan Larson (Shudder To Think), Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices), Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), & Weasel Walter (Behold The Arctopus), will be joined by musicians from the rock, jazz, metal, progressive, blues, experimental, & classical worlds to perform faithful and interpretive versions of songs from Beefheart's entire catalog, from his 1966 debut "Safe As Milk" to his final record "Ice Cream For Crow", released in 1982.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums are on tour and play MHOW with Yellow Ostrich and Callers tonight.

All Tiny Creatures are here for two nights of shows.

Mike Birbiglia's show keeps getting extended. More chances to catch it!

Check out This Week in Indie.

My Morning Jacket VH1 Storytellers premiered on TV last night. Look for a repeat.

My Morning Jacket play Mountain Jam is this weekend.

The Roots Picnic is today and streaming.

Mutek is this weekend.

Chaos in Tejas is this weekend.

We're giving away a pair of passes to Internet Week.

DJ Shadow 'Gotta Rokk'. Video below...

New Tyler the Creator/Frank Ocean video, below...

Wu Lyf's new video for "Dirt" below....

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

Laura Stevenson at MHOW in February (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Annual, all ages, Brooklyn DIY music festival Hillstock takes place at 285 Kent Ave on June 3, 106 Emerson Place on June 4 (free admission), and 402 1/2 Park Avenue on June 5. The lineup features a number of local mainstays including So So Glos, Eskalators, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, Ava Luna, and Laura Stevenson (solo) in addition to many lesser known names. Saturday also features a special appearance by Grand Wizzard Theodore. Full lineup and poster below.

Continue reading "Hillstock this weekend (3-day DIY Brooklyn music fest lineup)"

Brooklyn DIY fest Hillstock will be returning this year for three days of music from June 11-13. It opens with a Friday show at Shea Stadium that features Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, the Eskalators, Ava Luna, The Toothaches, Fiasco and more. The second day is a backyard BBQ headlined by Aa, and the third is singer-songwriters on a rooftop.

Both three-day wrist bands ($15) and individual shows tickets ($7) will be available at the shows.

More info on tickets, venue locations, a full schedule of bands and videos from last year are below...

Continue reading "3-day Brooklyn DIY fest Hillstock happens this weekend "

DOWNLOAD: Screaming Females - Bell (MP3)

New Brunswick's Screaming Females have landed the opening slot on the July portion of The Dead Weather's first national tour. Those stops include both NYC shows at Terminal 5 - July 16th and 17th (ticket info here). Make sure you get to those shows early enough to see Screaming Female Marissa Paternoster shred on guitar. It might make up for the lack of shredding Jack White does in his position of drummer in the headlining band.

Screaming Females also have their own tour (with a lot of TBA dates) scheduled for August, and you can catch the band around the NYC area at one of their many area gigs before they leave. The first chance comes this Saturday, May 30th when Screaming Females play Maxwell's with Shellshag, Pregnant and Mimi & Christian. Tickets are on sale.

After that, the band headlines one night of the previously mentioned Brooklyn DIY festival Hillstock, June 5th-7th. Poster and lineup, now with set times, below.

Screaming Females also have a Northside Festival show coming up, as well as an opening slot for Dinosaur Jr. at MHOW on June 25th (there will be lots of shredding from opener and headliner at the latter).

The band's debut, Power Move, came out April 14th on Don Giovanni Records. "Bell," from that record, is reposted above.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Screaming Females touring w/ Dead Weather, opening for Dinosaur Jr, playing Hillstock, Northside & other dates "

by Dominic Masi, Jr.

DOWNLOAD: Stupid Party - 1234 (MP3)

"I'm in a more serious relationship with the two of them than I have been with any girlfriend I've ever had in my life. We were all in shittier bands before this." - Cory of Stupid Party

Stupid Party are not just another three piece from Brooklyn. They've actually been around for a few years, playing their raw punk, metal and punch you in the face, pop songs, in lands both home and away. Literally. "We kept/keep playing shows at our house which without a doubt has hosted the best punk shows in New York," said Cory, the band's vocalist and guitarist (who I had a chance to talk to via email).

Stupid Party released a 7" on Starcleaner Records last year, which is now in it's 2nd pressing, and in March they put out their first LP on Freedom School Records. Check out one MP3 above with more streaming at their MySpace.

Tonight (5/11) they open for Times New Viking (who played Market Hotel last night) and Vivian Girls at Bowery Ballroom (making this a sick triple bill!) According to Cory, "We'll probably be blacked out." Let's hope not. Get there early to make sure you don't miss them.

They also play Brooklyn D.I.Y. festival Hillstock on June 6th. All tour dates and fliers below...

Continue reading "Stupid Party - MP3 & upcoming shows (w/ Vivian Girls & Times New Viking tonight, Silent Barn & Hillstock)"