DOWNLOAD: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Senator" (MP3)

Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) @ Summerstage 2010 (more by Matthew Eisman)

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will release Mirror Traffic on August 23 via Matador (US)/Domino (UK). Like Thurston Moore, Malkmus has chosen Beck to produce the album. Mirror Traffic will be the last album to feature Janet Weiss as a member of the Jicks, who is leaving to focus on Wild Flag full time. Check out the track "Senator" above, and the tracklist and artwork below.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will head out on a month-long tour in September with Jake Morris of The Joggers replacing Janet on drums. The tour hits NYC on September 26 at Terminal 5. Tickets go on sale Friday (6/17) at noon.

Janet's band Wild Flag plays a show with Thurston's band Sonic Youth at Williamsburg Waterfront on August 12th. Stephen's band Pavement played the same venue last year.

All tour dates and Mirror Traffic art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Stephen Malkmus touring w/ the Jicks (dates), releasing Beck-produced, last-Janet Weiss-assisted album (MP3)"

by BBG

I have it on good authority that...
Corin Tucker had more than one leg at Bowery Ballroom... (photo by killerfemme)

The Corin Tucker Band played Maxwell's on 10/23 (with Screaming Females) and Bowery Ballroom on 10/26 as part of a short leg of East Coast dates in support of the new LP 1,000 Years. The shows were part of Tucker's first tour in the East since selling out Webster Hall with Sleater-Kinney in 2006 as part of the band's final leg of dates before going on hiatus. Flanked by a supporting cast of Sara Lund of Unwound and Seth Lorinczi of Golden Bears, Tucker's new project won over the crowd at Bowery with a combination of bombast and tranquility:

At Tuesday night's show, the turned-to-11 jams (like "Riley" and "Doubt," the latter of which sounds the most like Sleater-Kinney) got the biggest reactions, but Tucker's quieter moments were the most stunning. The band paused for a brief acoustic interlude (including strings) for runs through gorgeously-arranged new epics like "It's Always Summer" and "Dragon," both of which began small and swelled to surprising crescendos. "Miles Away," which opened Tucker's encore and features little more than her gentle, dynamic voice and a rolling piano riff, is lovely on the album but became a full-blooded torch song on stage. Sleater-Kinney's songs mostly all swirl and no release, but Tucker's new approach seems to be about resolution. -[MTV]

Meanwhile Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney have a promising new band of their own called Wild Flag also featuring Rebecca Cole (the Minders) and Mary Timony (Helium, Autoclave, Soft Power). The band will record their debut LP for Merge Records and tour on a larger scale in 2011, but so far have only scheduled a handful of West Coast dates (below).

And in case Wild Flag and The Corin Tucker Band just don't do it for you, take comfort in the fact that Tucker also recently told the Seattle Weekly the following in response to questions about a Sleater-Kinney reunion: "We're all still friends and we have talked about doing Sleater-Kinney in the future again... I'm hopeful that that will happen."

The Corin Tucker Band's 1,000 Years is out now via Kill Rock Stars. Video from Tucker's Maxwell's and Bowery Ballroom sets are below, along with all Wild Flag dates...

Continue reading "Corin Tucker's band played NYC, Wild Flag hopefully will soon"

photos by Faith-Ann Young

The Manhattan branch of the Knitting Factory is soon coming to a close. Final shows this month have included an Anticon cLOUDDEAD reunion, a WNYU show with Pylon, a big benefit for NY Cares, and a night of bands curated by Quasi. The latter was this past Satuday night, December 20th. More pictures from Quasi's headlining set below....

Continue reading "Quasi @ Knitting Factory, NYC - pics"

The above drawing is a segment of the songsheet Oneida passed out at Sunday night's show at Maxwell's in Hoboken (12/21). It was the first of eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah parties at the NJ venue this year, and, as promised, the Brooklyn band (Oneida) opened the night. As also promised, comedian Paul F. Tompkins opened with a set of comedy. AND, I'm feeling really good right now because two (sort of) of my guest guesses also came true last night. Both Britt Daniel and Janet Weiss (I guessed Britt and "Quasi") joined Yo La Tengo for some songs. To quote an email I got from Josh,

Oneida opened.
Then Paul F Tompkins.
Then YLT with Janet Weiss
For the encore - Paul F Tomkins joined the band and sang a Hannukah version of [Johnny Cash's] "Ring of Fire"
Then Britt Daniel joined and sang a few songs including "Mother and Child Reunion" [by Paul Simon]

Anonymous adds that there were covers of P.I.L., Amy Winehouse and Burt Bacharach as well.

The shows continue tonight (Monday, Hanukkah night two). We now know the openers for night eight, but who will open tonight? Will it be Titus Andronicus? Will it be Antietam? I'm not sure. Post your guesses and facts in the comments.

Download the whole Oneida songsheet (thx Josh) as a PDF HERE. Check out a Yo La Tengo video from last year's Hanukkah run, below...

Continue reading "It's Hanukkah Bitch! Britt Daniel & Janet Weiss joined Yo La Tengo, Oneida & Paul F Tompkins @ Maxwell's last night"

by Bill Pearis

Quasi

This time of year is usually pretty slow, show-wise, but this seems to be an especially-packed week for shows. Here's some of the stuff I'm considering attending while I procrastinate on holiday gift shopping and doing all my year-end lists over on my own blog.

Crystal Stilts @ Less Artists More Condos (more by Gabi Porter)

Speaking of, while I haven't posted my Best Albums of '08 yet, I will tell you Crystal Stilts' Alight of Night did make the Top Ten. They're playing tonight (12/17) at Le Poisson Rouge and even though I've seen them more times this year than I'd like to admit (and will probably see them again later this week), I will probably be in attendance. They're opening for Bay Area neo-fokies Vetiver, whose new covers album, Thing of the Past, is rather lovely.

Vetiver

Hot Snakes

Also tonight (12/17), is that double-shot of ex-Hot Snakes/Drive Like Jehu/Pitchfork bands at Santos Party House: Obits, that's fronted by Rick Froberg; and headliners The Night Marchers, which features John Reis and two other members of Hot Snakes. I have to admit Obits is more of a draw for me, as the band also features Sohrab Habibion who used to front Edsel, one of my favorite bands from the '90s DC scene. Obits just released their debut 7", "One Cross Apiece," which I like a lot. Will there be a mini Hot Snakes reunion tonight? Probably not, but you can always hope for a Christmas miracle.

Plus Minus

Speaking of '90s indie rock survivors, Thursday (12/18) at Music Hall of Williamsburg is +/-, which is the band/solo project James Baluyut formed when Versus called it quits in the early part of this decade. Versus are playing shows again - and maybe recording new material (so I hear) - but +/- are still very much their own thing and going strong, having released their fourth album Xs on Your Eyes, back in October. Actually the whole line-up at MHoW that night is pretty great: Philly duo Pattern is Movement (who played a BV CMJ day party this year), Brooklyn indie royalty The Ladybug Transistor, and In Interview who I caught at NYC popfest back in June and who don't play nearly enough.

Also on Thursday (12/18): That A.C. Newman Get Guilty listening party at Stanton Public, which I originally thought was last week but wasn't. You can still RSVP for it at Insound. 8-10PM, free beer n' booze.

Sic Alps

And last but absolutely not least, the can't miss show of the week has to be Saturday's (12/20) three floor-event at Knitting Factory curated by indie rock's original keyboard-drum duo, Quasi. Mates of State, Matt and Kim, etc, bow down to Sam Combes and Janet Weiss. The line-up is kind of staggering: awesome San Francisco garage rock duo Sic Alps (who I've plugged before), the aforementioned Crystal Stilts (a late addition to the bill), Jeffrey Lewis, Soft Circle (ex-Black Dice), plus films by legendary animator Sally Cruikshank (one of which is where Quasi got their name) and Craig Baldwin. Oh yeah, Marnie Stern is also playing. Tickets are $20, and worth it.

Continue reading "Quasi, Vetiver, Crystal Stilts, Marnie Stern, +/-, Hot Snakes, Sic Alps & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Bao Nguyen

The year's festival could be the last in its established location. As usual the bands played on two stages on parallel streets leading to the boardwalk. The main stage was so close to the landmark Cyclone rollercoaster that drumrolls could easily segue into the clatter of the coaster rounding a turn.

Siren isn't the most comfortable of rock festivals. The sound systems are mediocre and the pedestrian routes between the stages are irrational. But Siren does place the tattooed-nerd fashion sense of indie rock in the diverting context of Coney Island's other freaks and sideshows.

A prospective redevelopment, replacing the old amusement area, could break ground next year. The rides of Astroland, next to the Siren main stage, were supposed to close forever last year, but reopened this year in a reprieve. The area's fate is still hanging. "It's my first time here," said Kevin Drew, the leader of Broken Social Scene, as the band ended its set. "I don't want it to be the last."
[NY Times]

Part 1 HERE. Polaroids HERE. More pictures below....

Continue reading "the 2008 Coney Island Siren Festival in pictures (part 2)"

photos by Ryan Muir

Mr. Malkmus's old band, Pavement, is one of the few remaining first-tier holdouts not to reconvene for Coachella. The quieter reunions this year were those of Swervedriver and Love and Rockets; the more significant one was Portishead, reunited after 10 years, which played a mesmerizing set on Saturday. (The main stage at Coachella in the evening is one of the glories of concertgoing in America: enormous sound, ample space, desert air.) [NY Times]

More pictures below....

Continue reading "Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks @ Coachella 2008 (day 2) - pics "