by Bill Pearis

Selebrities

Brooklyn quartet Selebrities will release their new album, Lovely Things, on June 25 via the Cascine label. You can stream the crystalline first single, "Temporary Touch," and check out album art and tracklist below.

The band have a couple local shows coming up. They'll play Glasslands on May 23 with oOoOO and Dark Sister (tickets); and then Cameo on June 13 for what is an extremely stacked bill if you like '80s style synthpop. Chad Valley headlines, and the line-up also includes fellow Cascine artists Kisses, Rush Midnight and (non-Cascine band) Ice Choir, plus DJ sets from Airbird and Chocolate Bobka (there's a name we haven't heard in a while). Tickets to that show, a Cascine & Newtown Radio showcase which is part of the 2013 Northside Festival, are on sale now or you can try and get in with your Northside badge if you have one of those.

Speaking of, Rush Midnight (aka onetime Twin Shadow bassist Russ Manning) just released a new single, the laid back and sultry "Don't Give Me Your Love," while he finishes up his debut album. You can check out the video for the song and a remix by Lemonade, below. Rush Midnight plays Friday night (5/3) at Mercury Lounge with Candide and Rioux. Tickets to that show are still available.

And more related news, Kisses (which is Jesse Kivel of Princeton and Zinzi Edmundson) will release their second album, Kids in LA, on May 14 which is also on Cascine. The album was produced by Saint Etienne's Pete Wiggs, and the two bands certainly share a love of classic pop and vintage synthesizers. This is superior modern synthpop with big hooks and fresh production and you can stream a couple tracks (including terrific single "The Hardest Part") below.

Kisses and Chad Valley tour dates are listed, along with previously mentioned song streams, below.

Continue reading "Selebrities & Kisses ready new LPs, playing Northside together w/ Rush Midnight who plays NYC this week (dates, streams) "

(photo by Erez Avissar)

Hooray for Earth released the "Never/Figure" single a few months ago, the first taste of what will be their sophomore album that should hit sometime in the first half of 2013. That single now has an epic, effects-laden video that you can watch in its full, seven-minute glory below.

The band will be road testing new material next month on a short tour that will hit the East Coast and Midwest, finishing up in NYC at Knitting Factory on January 31 with Ice Choir opening. Tickets to that show are on sale now. All tour dates are listed below, along with that music video.

Continue reading "Hooray for Earth made a new video, touring in January (dates)"

Twin Sister at Bowery Ballroom in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

There have been countless Hurricane Sandy relief benefits in NYC in the over-a-month since the storm hit and, fortunately as they're needed, there's no sign that they'll be stopping any time soon. There's one going down at Glasslands on December 17 with Chairlift, Twin Sister, Empress Of, Slowdance, Jason McMahon, and a DJ set from Ice Choir (aka Kurt Feldman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart). Tickets for that show are on sale now. It's the only announced date for Chairlift at the moment, and also the only one for Twin Sister except for a Philly show with Ava Luna in January.

You can also catch a member of Chairlift at Glasslands tonight (12/6). Patrick Wimberly will be DJing at Fort Lean's release party for their Change Your Name EP with Ludwig Persik and Cruiser. Tickets for that show are available.

A couple videos are below.

Continue reading "Chairlift, Twin Sister and more playing Sandy benefit at Glasslands; Patrick Wimberly DJing w/ Fort Lean tonight"

West Coast janglers Craft Spells are heading East next month to play Cincinatti's Midpoint Music Festival (September 27 - 29) which also features the likes of Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen, Dirty Projectors, Sleigh Bells and many more. Tickets for the fest are still available and the whole line-up is at the bottom of this post.

Before the festival, Craft Spells will be in NYC for a show at Glasslands on September 24 with new new romantics Ice Choir. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

You can stream Craft Spells' new-ish EP, Gallery, plus check out the whole Midpoint Music Fest line-up, below.

Continue reading "Craft Spells playing NYC before Midpoint Music Festival (2012 line-up)"

Some of you may remember art installation The Maze which took over Death by Audio back in Fall 2009 and at at Chashama's Visual Arts Space in 2009. Well it's back, as the You Are Here Festival has returned for a month-long residency at Secret Project Robot Gallery in Bushwick (389 Melrose St) from July 12 - Aug 4.

Just like in previous years, the festival will include a "gigantic life size maze", and will host a grip of performers on Thursday - Saturday during their stay at the space. Thursday's kickoff event (7/12) features Miho Hatori's New Optimism, ZS, Bachanalia, Ann Liv Young and DJ JG Thirlwell of various Foetus incarnations. Other performers throughout the month include Xeno and Oaklander, Hubble, Mick Barr, Dan Friel, Zs, VAZ, Amen Dunes, Extra Life, Diamond Terrifier and many many more. Full schedule for "You are Here" is below including details on the art exhibitions at the space.

The festival is also readying a limited mixtape, featuring unheard/rare tracks from many of the performers scheduled for the event. Get a copy at the shows and at the You Are Here site, and check out "Hubble Potatoes" by Hubble which appears on said comp below.

In related news, both Diamond Terrifier and Hubble will perform at Zebulon tonight (7/10), joining Excepter and Hagfish & Poet Lounge. The show is part of a month-long residency durated by Diamond Terrifier (Sam Hillmer of Zs) on Tuesdays at the venue. The remainder of shows will feature a Patrick Higgins electro-acoustic set with Sleng Teng, and Tetryl Red on 7/17, ATM, with Psychic Reality, and Chuck Bettis on 7/24, and the final show on 7/31 with Talibam!, Violet Raid, Sun Watchers, and GADDFJXR.

Full details on the fest are below. The group is currently seeking funding for a Berlin edition in September 2012, contribute if you can.

Continue reading "The You Are Here Festival (aka The Maze) is coming to Secret Project Robot"

by Bill Pearis (w/ Andrew Sacher and BBG)

Northside Festival HQ

Well it's Day 2 of The Northside Festival and as a Williamsburg resident and concertgoer, it did feel like a real festival this year, at least in that I saw lots of people walking around with Northside totes and badges around their necks (though I say loop it through your beltloop and keep it in your back pocket). And the Festival's HQ this year takes up a whole block on N. 5th between Wythe and Kent, where they have panel discussions and live music and some sort of space age dome thing, and loads of free Heineken. Badges, totes, and beer...that's a festival.

Today at McCarren Park is the big outdoor Northside Fest headlining concert, with of Montreal, Jens Lekman, The Thermals, and Beach Fossils (minus Cole Smith). The weather is gorgeous today, the bands are all good and entertaining performers so even if you don't have a badge or want to fork over the $33.50 for a ticket it might be worth just going and hanging out in the park across the street and just hannging out. Beach Fossils start things off at 5PM.

Dean and Britta headline a free show in the same space on Saturday.

Frankie Rose @ Township (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Tonight is also the BrooklynVegan Official Northside Showcase with Caveman, Frankie Rose, Fort Lean, and Hume. Both Caveman and Frankie Rose have been touring their butts off, polishing their live shows to a lovely sheen. And both are coming off great records as well. Opening are Fort Lean and Hume and should be a great evening all around. If you don't have a badge, tickets are still available.

In other Caveman news, you may have noticed their song "My Time" being used as the soundtrack to a new "I Love NY" TV commercial. You can watch it below.

Tonight is also the BBG/BV/Brutal Panda Northside showcase which happens at Union Pool (who only took 30 badges last night, be warned). It's pretty exciting as it features Tacoma's Harkonen who are playing their first NYC show since dissolution in 2005, and who knows when (or if) they'll return back to the East Coast. Also featuring the epic stoner-blues of The Atlas Moth, the Am-Rep-y hardcore of Fight Amp, and the always fun Whores, it'll be a night to remember. Tickets are still available or get in with your Northside badge.

If you need more heavy stuff, there's the WEIRD/Show No Mercy showcase at St. Vitus with Deafheaven, Indian Jewelry, Vattnet Viskar, and Pinkish Black

Kitty Pryde

On the complete other end of the sonic/cultural spectrum, you may be interested in knowing that Kitty Pryde will be in Brooklyn for the Northside Festival tonight (6/15) at Knitting Factory with Deniro Farrar. Tickets for that show are available. Kitty Pryde is a fairly divisive 19-year old rapper from Florida who writes of herself, "I'm Kitty (Pryde) don't listen to what they say on hypebeast!!!! <3 MY MUSIC IS BAD <3." She put up a YouTube video last month for her song, "Okay Cupid" (yeah, it is the same name as that dating website), which went pretty viral (as of this post its got over 300,000 views, 2,300 likes and 1,400 dislikes) and now she's got an EP out called Haha, I'm Sorry, which you can stream or download for $1 on bandcamp. Though the $1 option is there, Kitty also provides a link to get the EP for free from mediafire and writes, "oh btw heres a mediafire link if u wanna do it the FREE WAY idk lol i hate payin for thngs 2." The EP includes "Okay Cupid," a song called "smiledog.jpg" where she addresses her criticism ("You say this little white girl is ruining hip hop/I say damn right and take a look at the ring pop"), and a song called "GIVE ME SCABIES" which overtly samples "Call Me Maybe." She's also got a non-EP track which is a (sarcastically?) stalkerish ode to Justin Bieber. Love her, hate her, or "who?" -- it's likely to be a hot ticket (though still available). Late show, doors at 11PM.

Ice Choir

And more shows...

At Spike Hill, A Heart is a Spade and Punk Photo have put together a nice showcase with sultry sister act Zambri, the totally '80s sounds of Ice Choir, BV pals New Moods, and Fast Years.

The NYC Popfest folks are taking over the new Shea Stadium with Ski Lodge, Beach Day (who were pretty good last night at Knitting Factory), the mopey synths of Plastic Flowers and the provencial South of France.

If you lean toward the dark and synthy, Public Assembly is taken over by the The Bunker tonight with Kassem Mosse, Led Er Est and more.

Pop Montreal comes to Northside for a showcase tonight at Warsaw with Tinariwen and Buke & Gase, one of three Northside shows taking place at the venue this weekend.

You can catch McLovin's band, The Young Rapscallions, at Glasslands tonight. Yes, McLovin's band.

And late night at Glasslands is the Lazerpop party with DJs Pictureplane, Teengirl Fantasy and Hooray For Earth. Pictureplane is playing an actual show (non-Northside) early tonight at 81 Java with Dope Body and more. That's in addition to the Pictureplane dates we posted the other day.

And there's lots more than this, obviously. Check out the whole Friday Northside schedule here. Streams and videos are below.

Continue reading "Northside Fest Friday: Of Montreal, Jens Lekman, Frankie Rose, Caveman, Harkonen, Kitty Pryde, Ice Choir, Thermals & more"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"the most emotional show (@ Mercury Lounge for Active Child, Balam Acab, Superhumanoids and New Moods)" - Nicolette Elvie

Active Child at Mercury Lounge 5/11/12

Active Child brought his tour with Balam Acab and Superhumanoids to NYC earlier this month for sold out shows at Bowery Ballroom (5/10) and a day later at Mercury Lounge (5/11) with New Moods. After the Mercury Lounge show, Active Child DJ'd the Mondrian with DJ Sean Glass and DJ VIkas.

Speaking of New Moods, they've got a Northside show coming up with a pretty stacked local bill of Zambri, Ice Choir (featuring TPOBPAH's Kurt Feldman), and Fast Years at Spike Hill on June 15. Tickets for that show are on sale.

More pictures from the Mercury Lounge show and some videos from the Bowery Ballroom show below...

Continue reading "Active Child played Bowery Ballroom (videos) and Mercury Lounge (pics) w/ Balam Acab & Superhumanoids"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Zambri - ICBYS (Ice Choir Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ice Choir - Teletrips (MP3)

Fixtures on the Brooklyn scene for a while now, sisterly duo Zambri released their debut, House of Baasa, about a month ago o Kanine records. Dark and sweaty, it's a bit like a Jungle Themed Siouxsie Sioux with a number of standout tracks -- "Carry," "ICBYS," and "Hundred Hearts" which you can watch the video for below. You can stream the whole album below as well.

Zambri have a few other dates coming up -- including the Kanine Records Northside showcase at Knitting Factory on June 14 with Eternal Summers, Bleeding Rainbow, Beach Day and some TBDs -- which are all listed below.

Zambri, with their seriously awesome drummer and complicated microphones, play tonight (5/10) at Public Assembly as part of a pretty good bill. Also playing are Computer Magic (aka Brooklynite Danielle Johnson) who makes appealing retro-y synthpop. Her debut EP, Orion, is out now and you can stream it below.

Openers Test House just released their debut EP, Bitemarks, a couple weeks ago. The duo make glitchy dance music and you can stream the EP below. They have a pedigree too: Peter Schuette used to be in Silk Flowers and Psychobuildings, and James Elliot spent time in Bear in Heaven and School of Seven Bells.

DJing between sets is Pains of Being Pure at Heart drummer Kurt Feldman who also fronts '80s romo-loving Ice Choir. Feldman remixed Zambri's "ICBYS" which is downloadable above, and they just dropped the first taste of Ice Choir's debut album, Afar, which is out in July on Underwater Peoples. You can download that above too.

Streams and Zambri tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Zambri released 'House of Baasa,' playing tonight with Computer Magic, Test House & DJ Ice Choir (who have a new MP3) "

Frankie Rose @ Township (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

In addition to the Jens Lekman/Of Montreal show at Williamsburg Park, the Northside Festival (June 14 - 17) just announced a slew of confirmed artists who'll be playing this year, including Future of the Left, the U.S. debut of Iceage-spinoff Vår (formerly War), Frankie Rose (playing the BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg with more TBA), Grass Widow, Cleveland's Gap Dream, Wymond Miles of the Fresh & Onlys,  Chain & the Gang, Kool Keith and more.

Other 2012 Northside Festival artists we've already posted about include Olivia Tremor Control, GZA, Neil Hamburger, Eternal Summers, Ceremony and Screaming Females and Royal Headache. Badges are on sale now and the full list of confirmed 2012 Northside artists is below.

Continue reading "more Northside Festival artists announced (Frankie Rose, Grass Widow, Felice Brothers, Buke & Gass, Vår, Gap Dream & more)"

by Bill Pearis

Chairlift play Webster Hall tonight (5/8, tickets still available) and if you're going you would do well to consider getting there early for openers Ice Choir. (Laurel Halo also plays.) It's the newer band from Pains of Being Pure at Heart drummer Kurt Feldman who used to front 8-bit shoegazers The Depreciation Guild.

The Ice Choir recently announced that their debut album, AFAR, will be released by Underwater Peoples on July 31. The label, mainly known for hazy stoner-friendly guitar rock, seems like an odd match for a band whose main influences seem to be Scritti Politti and Prefab Sprout but people can like all sorts of different styles of music, so so can labels. The album was produced by Feldman and mixed by Violens' Jorge Elbrecht.

No tracks from AFAR have been released for us to hear yet, but album art is below and you can stream both sides of Ice Choir's debut single which came out last year on Shelf Life records. The band also have a few more shows lined up and those are below as well.

Also below are updated Chairlift tour dates and a capella live version of their song "Have We Met Before?" performed by an all-female choir comprised of local indie scene talent.

Continue reading "Ice Choir opening for Chairlift tonight, releasing 'AFAR' in July"

by Andrew Sacher

Laurel Halo at Warsaw 4/20/12 (via)

Laurel Halo's Spring EP which was originally set to come out in March under the moniker King Felix as the first release for Mute's new Liberation Technologies imprint, was pushed back and finally released earlier this month. Like her 2011 EP, Hour Logic, Spring focuses on Laurel's talents as a producer rather than her voice. It boasts a wide variety of sounds ranging from footwork to deep house to ambient. Although it's probably more suitable blasting through the PA at a club, it's just as listenable on headphones in a bedroom. Liberation Technologies is selling the EP on vinyl at their European webstore and its available digitally on iTunes. Streams of two of its tracks below.

Meanwhile, Laurel Halo is readying Quarantine, her debut full length which is due out under her usual moniker on June 5 in the US and May 28 in Europe via Hyperdub. Maybe you caught her previewing some stuff off the new album at her Unsound show at Warsaw this past Friday (4/20) (how was that?).

Quarantine is a drastic departure from all of Laurel's previous work and is by far her biggest and most distinct statement yet. After introducing and confirming her skills as a producer on Hour Logic and Spring, Laurel leaves almost all of her beatwork behind on Quarantine in favor of centering the songs on her own voice. Though she did use her vocals in the forefront of 2010's King Felix EP, the new album bares little resemblance to the reverby electronic pop of that release. Here, she's channelling a Bjork-like falsetto and overexposing her vocals to the point where you feel like you're in the room with her as she's recording them. The off-kilter melodies and sparse arrangements bring to mind early Laurie Anderson with a Berlin Trilogy type of itchingly addictive ambience. Sample the album for yourself with its closing track, "Light + Space," which is available to stream below.

Laurel will tour Europe in support of the album surrounding its release date, but before she leaves town, she'll play another NYC show opening for Chairlift at Webster Hall on 5/8 with Pains of Being Pure at Heart drummer Kurt Feldman's Ice Choir project. Tickets are still available. Chairlift just finished their tour with Nite Jewel (who headlined Bowery Ballroom last night). Check out pictures from the Austin show.

All dates and song streams (when Soundcloud stops being down) below...

Continue reading "Laurel Halo reading 'Quarantine', opening for Chairlift"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Big Troubles - "Misery" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Diehard - A VerySerious Man (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Diehard - Diehard (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cave - Adam Roberts (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dive - Sometime (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Heaven's Gate - Salome (MP3)

Welcome to the first day of Autumn! The air is crisp, it's a pleasure to be outside...which is where you'll be on your way to the many good show options this week. Where to start...

I guess I should mention R.E.M.'s decision to "call it a day." It's the right thing to do... but I sorta wish it'd happened 13 years ago. The post-Bill Berry records had their good songs, but it was never really R.E.M. to me. But their first decade, few bands were as important and influential. Hopefully they continue to make music on their own (Peter Buck's got like four other bands anyway), and cross our fingers that doesn't mean a Micheal Stipe solo album of "standards."

This leads nicely into this week's first real item:  Big Troubles' record release party tomorrow night (9/22) at Glasslands. Mitch Easter, who produced R.E.M.'s first two albums, was behind the boards for their new album, Romatic Comedy, which is out next week on Slumberland.

Those familiar with Big Troubles' sludgy, shoegazy debut album, Worry, might wonder if it's the same band this time. Working with Let's Active's Mitch Easter (who twiddled knobs on R.E.M.'s first two albums [and Pavement's Brighten the Corners), the band have cleaned up into a sparkling pop band. It's a dramatic transformation, not unlike the one Easter helped make happen with '90s shoegaze band Moose on their debut album, ...XYZ. With crazy catchy song after crazy catchy song, Romantic Comedy is a terrific album. You can download "Misery" at the top of this post.

The rest of the country will get to see them soon, as they're heading out on tour with their Slumberland labelmates The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (who headlined Bowery Ballroom this week) and then later with Real Estate who they play Bowery Ballroom with in November. All 2011 Big Troubles tour dates are at the bottom of this post, along with the video for their single "Sad Girls."

In addition to Big Troubles, their record release party also has  The Ice Choir and Cuffs playing as well, plus Ford & Lopatin on DJ duty.

Cuffs is the new band from former Pants Yell! frontman Andrew Churchman (one of Big Troubles is also in the band). They are at the same time more pure pop than PY! were and also more rockin'. They're good live.

Ice Choir

The Ice Choir is the new project from Kurt Feldman who plays drums for Pains of Being Pure at Heart and used to front The Depreciation Guild. It's funky synthpop that sounds an awful lot like...Scritti Politti?! It's true. Listen to the songs on Bandcamp and compare with this. I'm very curious to see what The Ice Choir will be like live. Will Kurt wear a while suit with giant shoulder pads? I hope so.

Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts are back, playing two nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg (Friday 9/23 and Saturday 9/24) with BOBBY opening both shows. The band's third album, Smother, has been a real grower for me and find myself going back to it a lot.  It's definitely a subtler album than Two Dancers  that shows the influence of Talk Talk and The Blue Nile in particular. It's a grower, as they say, and a worthy successor to 2009's best album. Check out "Loop the Loop" at the top of this post and there's a new video for "Bed of Nails" below.

Live, Wild Beasts are truly something to behold,  transcending their records every time (at least every time I've seen them). Sky Larkin's Katie Harkin is back again playing keyboards with the band on this go-round which is an added bonus for some of us. I haven't seen them tour this album yet, so I'm really looking forward to this weekend's shows. All Wild Beasts tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

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So Girls' new album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost debuted at #37 on the Billboard which is pretty impressive -- and also means they'll be playing much bigger places next time they roll through town. Their Bowery Ballroom shows this weekend are sold out, natch, but you can try and squeeze into Other Music tonight (9/21) for their free in-store.

Diehard

What else? '90s-rocking locals Diehard are set to release their debut album, The Times We Didn't Have Fun, next week and it's a ripper, full of big riffs, bigger choruses, oohs and ahhs, and hooks o' plenty. You can download two tracks from the album at the top of this post. You can listen to the whole shebang at their Bandcamp page.

The band are throwing a record release party this Friday (9/23) at Bruar Falls with likeminded pals Radical Dads, Shark? and Thunderclap also playing.

Cave @ Issue Project Room in 2010 (more by Greg Cristman)

Cave are here this weekend, playing Saturday, September 24 at soon-to-be-closed Live With Animals (with Amen Dunes, K-Holes & PC Worship), and then Sunday, September 25 at Cake Shop. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

As I wrote earlier this week, the band's new album  Neverendless finds finds them locking onto a groove and staying with it in the Neu!/Spacemen 3 tradition. You can download the "Adam Roberts" (the album's spaciest cut) at the top of this post and watch the video for the album's chugging, motoroik single, "WUJ," below.

Dive @ Shea Stadium

And finally, two bands I wrote about last week -- Dive and Heaven's Gate  (MP3s for both above) -- play again together tomorrow night (9/22) at 285 Kent, with Dustin Wong and Prussia. At the time, I hadn't seen either play live but remedied that last Friday at Shea Stadium. Both bands were very good, but different than I was expecting.

Heaven's Gate are much less shoegazy than their old band Sweetbulbs, with more of a blues-punk vibe (think Cramps or maybe JSBE or early YYYs). But their best songs still have some of that melodic swirl to them.

As for Dive, their recordings are very Beach Fossils-y (frontman Cole Smith is in the band). But live, Dive are a motorik dynamo, very Krautrock at times. There's a lot of flying hair, the band are whirling dervishes on stage. I was impressed. Dive are also playing Pianos earlier Thursday night (9PM) if you want to catch them there.

Here are some more picks, by day, not mentioned above:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Cymbals Eat Guitars play Music Hall of Williamsburg. Their new album, Lenses Alien, is more '90s style indie rock guitar heroics, maybe a little more pop than their first. Hooray for Earth and Beige open.

Though if you're a '90s indie rock fan, you might instead be seeing Olivia Tremor Control and The Music Tapes at Le Poisson Rouge. OTC's Dusk at Cubist Castle remains a '90s classic. if you can't make it, NPR will be streaming it online.

Or if the '80s is more your thing, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are at Irving Plaza.

There's also the Hipster Puppies Cassette Release Party at Public Assembly. Music critic and frequent Twitter fighter Chris Weingarten is putting out a mix tape companion to his book which is based on his tumblr. Zs, Dinowalrus, Mountains and Burning Star Core all play sets. More info here.

continued below...

Continue reading "Big Troubles, Ice Choir, Wild Beasts, Girls, Diehard, Dive, Heaven's Gate & more in This Week in Indie"