St. Vincent @ Portlandia @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Look for St. Vincent "on a special Valentine's Day episode of Gossip Girl, Feb 13, performing "Cruel" and "Cheerleader." The show airs Monday, February 13, at 8pm/7pmc on The CW." I honestly didn't even realize Gossip Girl was still a thing until I heard this news. I do however religiously watch Portlandia which featured a guest spot by Annie this week, about two weeks after she was Fred & Carrie's guest at Bowery Ballroom. You can watch her clip from the TV show (Isaac Brock was on the episode too), with a bunch of tour dates and other stuff, below...

Continue reading "St. Vincent was on Portlandia (video), will be on Gossip Girl"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

All day Friday, I kept an eye on the weather forecast, trying to determine if the show on the Waterfront would get rained out, but when I headed over, the sky was bright blue with promise.

Being an out-of-town opener is no easy task - especially when you're opening for a band with the reputation and discography of Modest Mouse. But Morning Teleportation, who are signed to Isaac Brock's label Glacial Pace, were more than equipped to handle the challenge. The Portland five-piece played punchy psychedelic music to match their colorful wardrobe, and they seemed to be having a great time doing it. Guitarist Tiger Merritt may have assumed most of the vocal responsibility, but the other members often sang along, off mic when they weren't singing back-up.

Morning Teleportation's music is engaging, but they also know how to show restraint. Instead of unnecessarily drowning the crowd in sound, they have a handle on their levels. Keyboard jingles, trumpet interludes, guitar riffs, and joyous vocals periodically crescendo and dissipate to create a dynamic sound that benefits from the distinctness of its layers.

At one point between songs, drummer Tres Coker dashed to the front of the stage, and leaned into the mic, saying, "Hey guys. We're playing at the Mercury Lounge soon [July 28th] and you should all come. All 7,000 of you." They may not have managed to build up much of a reputation yet, but the Mercury Lounge does seem like quite a small venue for a band of their talents and enthusiasm.

By the time Modest Mouse began to play, the weather had begun to take a sharp turn, but instead of focusing on the darkening sky, everyone was turned to face the stage. Modest Mouse kicked off their set with the slowly building song "Satellite Skin." After only a few seconds of playing, they suddenly stopped when part of their sound cut out. "That's not going to work, is it?" said Isaac Brock as the crowd expressed their anxious discontent. But the issue was quickly resolved. "We'll restart that song in a second. I'm really glad that didn't happen in the middle of it," countered Brock. But this fleeting technical issue wasn't the only obstacle of the evening. After just a couple of songs, Brock commented on the status of the weather, saying, "We might get a lightening storm [...] Let's hope that doesn't get shit shut down."

And with the unwelcome warning, they launched into "Fire It Up." Modest Mouse hasn't released a proper album since 2007 - just a smattering of singles and an EP last year. Their set list (the little we heard of it) pulled songs from throughout their extensive discography, but unfortunately, everything came to a screeching halt after the surprisingly apt song "Here It Comes" came to a close.

"Apparently, we have to take a 20 minute break. It's about safety - yours," said Brock wryly, when prompted by park officials. After the initial wave of grumbling had subsided, the crowd began to chant, "Fuck that shit." At which point, a woman's voice rung out over the PA, telling everyone to evacuate the park. "We must have 20 minutes since the last bolt of lightning," she said. As the stage lights went dim, I turned around and surveyed the sky. Black clouds hung menacingly over the Manhattan skyline, threatening to swallow it whole. This was the stuff from Armageddon movies. Suddenly, it became clear that all the flashing lights had not been benign camera flashes and stage lights, but regular bolts of lightening. Boos continued to ring out in the crowd as people assessed the situation. After another few minutes, an official jumped back on the PA and told everyone to proceed to the exits. For a minute, I was afraid we'd have a Drake incident on our hands, but then the rain started to fall, sending people scattering. Clearly, the show would not resume.

Sure, it was a real let down to hear only five songs (especially knowing that Brock surely would have continued if it weren't for park officials and safety regulations), but hearing him repeatedly sing the line, "Here it comes" as the sky took on a menacing shade made for quite a dramatic (if not disappointingly abrupt) conclusion.

Modest Mouse's current tour also included full, rain-free sets at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago and at Wellmont Theater in NJ (pics coming soon).

Rain also caused Sunday's Pool Party at the Williamsburg Waterfront to have to change venues. More pictures and the setlist from Friday's short Brooklyn Modest Mouse show (we'll keep you posted if we hear anything about it being rescheduled), below...

Continue reading "Modest Mouse (all 5 songs of them), Morning Teleportation & a rain storm @ Williamsburg Waterfront (pics & setlist)"

DOWNLOAD: TRAA - Don't Haunt This Place (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Orenda Fink - Bloodline (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Orenda Fink - No Evolution (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Old Canes - Taxi On Vermont (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: UUVVWWZ - Shark Suit (MP3)

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson @ Union Hall 10/1 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's Summer of Fear, the follow-up to his 2008 self-titled debut, is set for an October 20th release on Saddle Creek. The label, which recently signed the songwriter, tells the TVotR/Grizzly Bear-littered story of the new record...

TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone--a close friend since the pair met en route to a Grizzly Bear show in 2005--helped bottle Robinson's bruised hymns last winter, ramping up the tension in such standout tracks as "Death by Dust," "Summer of Fear pt. 2," "The Sound," and the 11-and-a-half draining minutes of "More Than a Mess," a haunting epic that deserves its own short film. (Or more than half of Side D; Summer of Fear is spread across two LPs like one of Robinson's favorite records, Tusk.) Since they both "have a tendency toward a generally and hilariously doom stricken worldview," Malone also understood what Robinson was going for with his redemption songs. After all, he was there that summer. He saw it all go down, and now that he's heard the whole thing told through Summer of Fear's relentless and raw tone poems, he can't wait to see what Robinson comes up with next. (Robinson is desperate to record his third record--yes, already. Written last year in the midst of touring to support his unexpected self-titled debut, he describes the disc as containing,"actual songs...as opposed to vaguely melodic litanies of grievance.")

Robinson recently made a video for the song "Woodfriend," which is posted below.

October 20th will be a big day for Saddle Creek (home of Tokyo Police Club, Cursive and Land of Talk). It's also the release date for the latest by new signees Old Canes. The record, Feral Harmonic, is the Lawrence, KS band's second.

Old Canes architect Chris Crisci (also known as half of Appleseed Cast) constructed Feral Harmonic largely alone in his basement studio. He played the majority of the instrumentation himself with additional help from a cast of musician friends contributing various parts, including trumpet, harmophone, cello, and hammer dulcimer, among other instruments. As recording was regularly interrupted by touring, work, other projects, and life in general, production on the album took nearly three and a half years to complete.

Tracklist and album art are below.

The label will also be dropping a new album from Orenda Fink (Azure Ray, Art In Manila, O+S), titled Ask The Night, on October 6th.

Ask The Night was primarily recorded live to 8-track by Stephen Bartolomei (Mal Madrigal) in Orenda's former Omaha, NE, basement (she is now based in Los Angeles, CA), as well as by Andy LeMaster (Now It's Overhead; production on Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Azure Ray) in his Athens, GA, living room.

The album features a wide variety of players and singers, including producers Stephen Bartolomei and Andy LeMaster, Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Dan McCarthy (McCarthy Trenching), and Adrianne Verhoeven (Dri, The Anniversary, Art In Manila), among others. Four songs on Ask The Night are collaborations with Birmingham, AL-based artist and poet Chris Lawson...

Lawson also provided the album's art, which, with the tracklist, is below.

The Rural Alberta Advantage's previously-self-released debut came out on Saddle Creek on July 7th. The band was featured on ABC's Amplified on August 17th, and they have shows coming up. Those include the Positive Jam with the Hold Steady in Ithaca on September 6th, and a show at the Bowery Ballroom on October 7th. Tickets for that go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

UUVVWWZ also released an album on Saddle Creek on July 7th, and they'll also be in NYC in October (for CMJ). In fact, they'll be playing what looks like an extremely sick bill at Union Pool on October 24th with An Albatross, Dark Meat, Lovvers, Flexions, ZzZ, and JEFF The Brotherhood.

For a taste of what Saddle Creek has been up to over the past year (before any of the new bands mentioned above), check out the free sampler they're giving away on Amazon. All upcoming TRAA and UUVVWWZ tour dates, and above-mentioned things, are below...

Continue reading "Saddle Creek: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Old Canes & Orenda Fink ++ Rural Alberta Advantage & UUVVWWZ dates"

During his childhood, Brock and his mother moved around in different offshoot circles throughout the Pacific Northwest. Around this time, Brock's mother left his father for his father's brother. Brock was home-schooled for part of his school career. When his mother's house flooded she was forced to move in to her new husband's trailer where there was no room for Brock, so he stayed behind. He lived on the second floor of the flooded home until he was evicted by the police. After a period of living in a friend's basement, he moved into a shed he built on the land next to his mother and stepfather's trailer. It was there that he, Eric Judy (bass) and Jeremiah Green (drums) first started practicing music together. [Wikipedia]

Modest Mouse tour dates were announced. They included a stop Langerado. Then Langerado was cancelled. Now: Modest Mouse and Mimickng Birds have added a March 15th NYC show at Terminal 5. Tickets go on sale Thursday at noon. No Johnny Marr on this tour. All dates below...

Continue reading "updated Modest Mouse tour dates -Langerado +Terminal 5"