photos by Chris La Putt

The Love Language / Local Natives

One of the best times I've had a show in a long time was at the BV loft during CMJ on Friday night, October 23rd. I hope to do it again. The mix of great bands on the bill, the crowd and the location all made for a super memorable night. Both Local Natives (from California) and The Love Language (from North Carolina) said it was their favorite show to play during their hectic week in NYC. Thanks to everyone who played and stopped by.

The night kicked off with a set of catchy post-punk jams by Blacklist. The all-dressed--in-black band warmed up the arriving crowd nicely as people got used to their apartment surroundings which... well, the pictures speak for themselves. The loft filled up to a full, but still comfortable level by the time The Loom came on. As people came and went all night, partially due to informative tweets about the capacity level, it stayed just full enough until The Love Language ended their set (slightly by force) at 2am (we ran late... didn't want to upset the neighbors). It was the first time I had seen The Loom live, and at the time I tweeted that they were "killin it with horns" (though none of the pictures below actually show them playing horns). I'm excited for the new album they said they were working on.

Next up was the Dutchess and the Duke who had just arrived in town and were leaving right after their set to play the Vice party in the same neighborhood on the same night. Now with a new lineup, Canada's Immaculate Machine came on next and continued to entertain at a slightly higher volume than Inlets who came on after them. By that time people were getting their drink on and Inlets play soft music so it was a challenge to pay attention over all the talking coming from the other side of the room, but they still sounded great.

I don't know exactly what time it was, but we were officially running late by the time the two most energetic and buzzed-about bands of the evening came on. Luckily the space's owners let us extend the hours which was enough time to let the out of town bands play medium-sized set that got the room's full attention. Local Natives had everyone cheering, clapping, and dancing. The Love Language ended the night by getting the lights turned off and the entire room dancing. Sorry it took so long to post the pics. They are continued, along with some other reviews and stuff, below...

Continue reading "BV Loft during CMJ 2009 -pics (Love Language, D&D, Local Natives, The Loom, Inlets, Blacklist, Immaculate Machine)"

by Bill Pearis

Immaculate Machine

NIGHTTIME:

BrooklynVegan's got two parties tonight. Black Bubblegum is hosting an official metal showcase tonight at Fontana's (which happens right after our day party at the same venue), and we've also got the teeny tiny Loft Space party that is sold-out at this point.

One of the bands playing the loft party is Victoria Canada's Immaculate Machine, who may or may not have the lineup pictured above...

...To make life even more tricky for the band, vocalist and keyboardist Kathryn Calder, one of the remaining original members, has had to absent herself from touring after the terrible news of her mum's diagnosis with motor neurone disease; although Lynn Calder very sadly died earlier this year, Kathryn was not with the band this evening. Indeed, the touring line-up looked very different from the line-up advertised on the band's web presences, two boys apparently replaced by two girls.

So, amid confusion that appeared to verge on turmoil, could the band deliver the goods live? It turned out they very much could... [John Kell, Oct 20, 2009]

Immaculate Machine also play early-ish tonight (8:30) at the equally tiny Fat Baby for a showcase for their label, Mint Records. They've got trio of Canadian bands playing, most of whom rarely seem to make it down to America. Or, the East Coast at least -- most of their bands tend to be from Vancouver. In addition to Immaculate Machine, there's the garagey Pack A.D. and Hot Panda, who I caught last year at CMJ and are pretty good. The Mint Records showcase is also a good place to pick up their great fanzine, A Taste of Mint, which always features at least one classic Narduwar interview.

And a bit off the beaten path, the folks at the Seaport Music Festival are putting on a great showcase at their Seaport on the Side gallery space (corner of Front and Beekman). The line-up, which runs from 7PM - Midnight, includes Montreal's We are Wolves, the Danish electro sounds of Spleen United, and UK hip hop act Man Like Me. UK pop artist Dan Black was supposed to play but cancelled and has been replaced by Sweden's Moonbabies who played a killer opening set at yesterday's Brooklyn Vegan day party. Do go see Moonbabies if you can. They also play earlier in the night (8:30) at Crash Mansion.

One of the many, many highlight's of yesterday's Brooklyn Vegan day party at Piano's was JEFF the Brotherhood who put on an absolutely kick-ass closing set. Tonight, they've put together a showcase for their label, Infinity Cat, featuring a slew of Nashville bands: Heavy Cream, Natural Child, Denney & the Jets, Daniel Pujol, as well as Brooklyn's Sisters.

And, of course, JEFF who you should really try and see this weekend at some point. If there was one thing missing at Pianos yesterday, it was the smoke machines Jake and Jamin tend to use (Pianos doesn't allow them) and I have a feeling they'll be in full effect tonight.

And lastly, fellow Brooklyn blog Chocolate Bobka has teamed with Underwater Peoples and twosyllable records for a pretty great night of music at The Delancey, including Holiday Shores, Real Estate, Frat Dad, Pill Wonder and more. They're also promising free moonshine, which sounds a bit deadly to me but, hey, it is Friday night.

Daytime highlights HERE. Hip Hop highlights HERE. Fliers, a Moonbabies video, and other stuff below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Friday nighttime picks (Immaculate Machine, Infinity Cat, Seaport Music & more)"

Local Natives

Because there can never be enough shows, I helped put together another one happening during CMJ. In addition to Tuesday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Thursday night at Southpaw, and Friday night at Fontana's (not to mention three day parties), BrooklynVegan is proud to present a Friday night (10/23) Williamsburg loft party at a secret location. This is the lineup:

09:00 Blacklist (NYC)
09:35 The Loom (NYC)
10:10 The Dutchess & The Duke (Seattle)
10:45 Immaculate Machine (Canada)
11:20 Inlets (NYC)
11:55 Local Natives (LA)
12:30 The Love Language (North Carolina)

You may be wondering why we would throw two shows on Friday night. Well, I figured that the Relapse Records-heavy-BBG bill at Fontana's was different enough, and far enough away (Manhattan vs Brooklyn), that it wouldn't matter. Not to mention the combined capacities of the two parties is less than even one show at Music Hall.

The loft show literally holds less than 100 people aka space is limited. It costs $8 at the door, there will be beer and wine for purchase inside, and if you want to go, you should send an email to loft.rsvp@gmail.com with your name. Those who email will get an immediate confirmation that they made it on to the list, followed by directions to the Williamsburg (Bedford L area) location on the day before the show. RSVPing gets you on the list and gets you the directions, but entrance will still be first come, first served based on capacity on the actual night of the show. To guarantee admission, show up early. We'll tweet the capacity status throughout the night as well.

The Dutchess & The Duke are playing two shows that same night. From the loft, they'll head to the Vice party at Public Assembly. One night later you can catch them at the official Sub Pop & Hardly Art CMJ showcase at Mercury Lounge.

Local Natives are one of two bands playing two BrooklynVegan parties this week (the other is The Wheel). They also appear at the free Saturday day party at Pianos (full details TBA). The Saturday party is one of two BV day parties at Pianos this year. The other is on Thursday afternoon (details also TBA) which is the same day Local Natives play the Aquarium Drunkard party at Fontana's which is the location of the BV day party on Friday (say that all 5 times fast).

The Love Language just signed to Merge Records.

The loft party is NOT an official CMJ show. It is the only show Blacklist is playing during CMJ week.

Some videos below...

Continue reading "Williamsburg Loft party presented by BrooklynVegan (Friday night during CMJ w/ Local Natives, Blacklist, Inlets, more)"