Tickets are on sale for the newly-announced benefit show in Woodstock, NY (ticket link is in the right column of venue site). More dates and info on new box set/tracks HERE.

Jeff Mangum has a website! And that website reports that Neutral Milk Hotel is releasing a box set which includes their entire discography with assorted rarities and 15 unrleased tracks (eight of which are "acoustic recordings)! According to the site the set:

Includes two gatefold 12" records (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and On Avery Island), two 10" records (Everything Is EP with bonus tracks and Ferris Wheel on Fire EP featuring eight previously unreleased acoustic recordings), two 7" records (Little Birds and You've Passed/Where You'll Find Me Now), one 7" picture disc with fold-out poster (Holland 1945/Engine), and two 24"x24" posters.

The box set will be released on November 22 and you can pre-order it now. All 15 of the unreleased tracks will also be available as pay-what-you-wish downloads on bandcamp once the box is released (11/22). Stream two of the tracks, "Oh Sister" and "Wheel on Fire" here and look at the full tracklisting here.

The website also includes a thirty-minute radio broadcast by Jeff that you can listen to HERE.

The site also mentions that a portion of the proceeds made at Jeff's shows at 1 dollar from each box set will be donated to Children of the Blue Sky, a charity founded to help abandoned Mongolian children. More information here.

Updated Jeff Mangum tour dates, including ATP in Asbury Park where Jeremy Barnes of NMH aka A Hawk and A Hacksaw is opening for Jeff, and a benefit show for the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary at the Bearsville Theater in upstate New York on October 27th, below...

Continue reading "Neutral Milk Hotel releasing box set w/ unreleased tracks (and Jeff Mangum has a website!)"

All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic waterfront. For the inaugural U.S. I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate and headline their firrst East Coast shows since 1998 on the Saturday & Sunday.

As well as Day Tickets, ATP have to date been selling two types of weekend pass - "Three Day Jeff Mangum" passes that include Jeff Mangum's Friday show and guarantee access to one of the Portishead shows (as well as everything else at the festival) and "Three Day Portishead" passes that do not give access to Jeff's Friday show but give guaranteed access to both Portishead shows as well as the rest of the festival. Today we announce a third type of weekend pass...

Portishead have invited Jeff to play an extra show on the Sunday night of the festival. Therefore this week we release new "Three Day Jeff Mangum Sunday Passes" - these give access to all three days of the festival to passholders who will see Jeff Mangum on the Sunday night and are guaranteed to see one of the two Portishead shows. The original Three Day passes for the event are now called "Three Day Jeff Mangum Friday Passes."

Say that all three times fast. All three day pass options are still on sale. More details on all ATP ticket options are below.

That means Jeff is playing Asbury Park three times, twice during the actual festival (see above), and, as you know, once on Monday (10/3) at Paramount Theatre (the day after ATP and not actually part of the fest itself). The Monday show has been sold out for a while now, but ATP are releasing a few more tickets for it. "To buy email feedback@atpfestival.com with JEFF MONDAY TICKETS in subject line, and tell us how many tickets you want. We will respond as soon as possible. Payments must be made by Paypal." A Hawk and a Hacksaw (ft. Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeremy Barnes) open the show.

ATP NJ has a few other lineup additions including Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 (they first reunited to play the Animal Collective ATP that recently happened in the UK), avant guitar hero Marc Ribot, avant sax hero Colin Stetson, avant comedian Reggie Watts, and others. Also: "Today we are also very pleased to announce that in conjunction with The Jonathan Levine Gallery, renowned artist SHEPARD FAIREY (who has created the art for this event and will also DJ) will be presenting an exhibition of his art over the weekend entitled Revolutions: The Album Cover Art of Shepard Fairey. More details of the exhibition will be confirmed soon."

The updated lineup is below, along with updated Jeff Mangum tour dates (he added a few other shows recently too)...

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds another Jeff Mangum show, a new kind of pass & some more bands to the lineup"

by BBG

David Yow & David Wm. Sims on stage with The Jesus Lizard (more by Tim Griffin)

Scratch Acid was an Austin, Texas noise rock group formed in 1982... The band was named by music journalist Will Lerner as "the American equivalent of the Birthday Party." After developing a reputation as a crazy, noisy punk band, Scratch Acid disbanded in 1987. According to the liner notes of The Greatest Gift, the band members never received compensation from either Rabid Cat or Fundamental Records (who distributed their releases in Europe).

Brett Bradford went on to form Colorado punk band Great Caesar's Ghost. They disbanded in 1993. He also formed Sangre De Toro and played with Areola 51. Washam went on to perform with many other bands, including the Big Boys, Ministry, Helios Creed, the Didjits, Lard, and Tad. In 1987, Sims and Washam joined Steve Albini in the band Rapeman, which disbanded just before Sims reunited with Yow in 1989 to form the Jesus Lizard. [Wikipedia]

The string of impressive ATP reunions continue, as all four original members of Scratch Acid (David Yow, David Wm. Sims, Rey Washam, Brett Bradford) will reunite again to play ATP Minehead in the UK this December (12/2 - 12/4, tickets). The fest is curated by Jeff Mangum, and will a feature a performance from the Neutral Milk Hotel mastermind, along with Fleet Foxes, Yann Tiersen, Superchunk, The Magic Band, Tinariwen, and others to be announced.

Even better.... David Wm. Sims has promised that "There will be other dates in November and December in the US, and possibly in Europe." Stay tuned.

In related news, tickets are still available in various incarnations for the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror event in Asbury Park on 9/30 - 10/2. The Portishead-curated festival that Jeff Mangum is also playing recently announced the additions of Swans, Battles, Deerhoof, and more.

ATP Minehead flyer and some video from Scratch Acid's 2006 reunion, below.

Continue reading "Scratch Acid reunited, planning tour, playing Jeff Mangum ATP"

Updated ATP flyer

"Can we assume they'll be added to ATP, which starts a few days after the Bklyn date?," asked a commenter in the comments of our post announcing the Swans show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and that commenter was dead on.

ATP NJ (aka "Ill Be Your Mirror") has updated its previously announced lineup to include Swans, Peanut Butter Wolf (who will be DJing), Battles, Deerhoof, Jim Thirwell's Manorexia, and Oneida (who will again perform in Ocropolis formation, like in 2009) "ONEIDA PRESENTS THE OCROPOLIS III which will take place at the Asbury Lanes Bowling Alley - the band will perform continuously throughout the day, sometimes with guests from the rich array of musicians also performing in the festival, sometimes alone and mostly improvised."

Though 3-day passes for the Asbury Park Fest, which include your only shot at seeing Jeff Mangum, are sold out (now called the Jeff Mangum Three Day Pass), tickets are still available in multiple incarnations for the three day celebration, including a new "Portishead Three Day Pass" which allows "passholders to see everything else from Friday-Sunday as well as giving priority access with the day pass holders to BOTH Portishead shows on Saturday and Sunday" (the pass doesn't include entry into Jeff Mangum). The "Portishead Three Day Pass" will go on sale at 10AM EST Thursday (4/21) and individual day passes are currently on sale. The versions of the 3-day pass that are sold out only guarantee you one night of Portishead. "Existing Day ticketholders or Jeff Mangum Three Day pass holders who wish to switch to a Portishead Three Day Pass should contact ATP via feedback@atpfestival.com before May 30th."

The current lineup is below.

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds 'Portishead 3 Day Pass', expands lineup (Swans, Oneida, Battles, Deerhoof, more)"

March 17th Cleveland show setlist (via To Eleven)

"...This wasn't one of those shows where band after band gets up, plays for 1/2 hour, then leaves. The entire Elephant 6 Orchestra was on stage for the whole show, give or take a few members at a time who left to get beer or to just stand and watch. And they looked like they were having fun, which meant that everyone was having fun.

This wasn't just a concert, either. Occasionally, Julian Koster would stop the show to tell surrealist stories about his family (and how they carried dehydrated cities in their mouths as part of a magic trick). At one point, the band took a break so we could watch the Mechanized Organ-Playing Tower, a kind of animatronic puppet that pretended to play a keyboard. And at another point, an audience member was chosen to throw things at an inflatable Snowman. The whole thing might have screamed of "neo-hippy-fest" if it wasn't so genuine.

After solid 4 hours on stage, the band made its way back through the audience while covering Sun Ra's "Enlightenment." Some of us followed the band like they were psychedelic pied pipers heading out the door. And I say us because by the end of the show, it wasn't about how cool anyone was, or whether or not they were seen here. There was a true sense of unity that I've never felt at a show before. We were one audience, and the band was part of "us" too." [To Eleven]

That review snippet, like the above-pictured setlist, come from the 3/17 Cleveland show. The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour hit Brooklyn last night (3/21) at Knitting Factory where they play again tonight before continuing to Manhattan for a Wednesday night show at Le Poisson Rouge. Jeff Mangum was reportedly spotted in the crowd at Knitting Factory, but he didn't perform.

A video of the Elephant 6 Orchestra covering "Let's Get It On" in Cleveland can be watched below...

Continue reading "Elephant 6 tour underway, in NY last night, tonight, tomorrow"

Tickets went on "Artist Presale" Thursday afternoon for Jeff Mangum's upcoming show at Town Hall in NYC. General sale for that show begins today/Friday at 11am, one hour before the presale for the will-call-only Jersey City show starts (password = everythingis). Public sale for the Jersey City show starts Saturday at noon.

Toronto tickets also go on presale at 10am (password: aeroplane).

Cambridge tickets don't go on sale until March 3rd, but Boston tickets go on presale at 10am. More details on each date below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum tickets going on sale & presale"

With both previously announced NYC shows sold out, The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour has added another gig at Knitting Factory. It happens March 21st and tickets are on sale. The full set of updated tour dates is below.

Jeff Mangum, as previously mentioned, is playing a bunch of official shows, including, as previously mentioned, two in NYC that go on sale Friday. All dates below...

Continue reading "Elephant 6 add more 'holiday' shows, Mangum on sale soon (updated 2011 tour dates)"

The presale is over, and tickets are now on general sale for the TV on the Radio show at Radio City Music Hall.

Tickets go on sale at noon for Florence & the Machine show at Summerstage. (presales sold out quickly).

Tickets go on sale Friday, 2/25, for the Jeff Mangum show at Town Hall. The Jersey City Loew's tickets will reportedly go on pre-sale the same day with general sale beginning on that Saturday (2/26).

Shepard Fairey is also DJing the event on Sunday

ATP Asbury Park ("I'll Be Your Mirror") has released the second wave of artist announcements including many of Portishead's choices for the bill! We already knew about Jeff Mangum, Bonnie Prince Billy, Shellac, Chavez and more. New additions include, not surprisingly, Portishead-related acts Anika and Beak> (and this time Anika will be performing live and not just DJing). There's also now a rare reunion of The Pop Group, an Ultramagnetic MC's reunion (WITH Kool Keith), Silver Qluster (Simeon of Silver Apples and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia), Thee Siliver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Mogwai, Earth, The Horrors and more. The full list is below.

Jeff Mangum also just announced a slew of other shows aside from ATP Asbury Park, including a UK ATP.

More details, a bigger Shepard Fairey-designed poster, and the full schedule below...

Continue reading "ATP NJ lineup expands (Pop Group & Ultramagnetic MCs reunions, Mogwai, Horrors & more Portishead-picked bands)"

The mysterious Wordless show will NOT be in NYC (it's in Cambridge, MA), but Jeff Mangum will in fact play NYC's Town Hall on October 29th AND Loew's Theatre in Jersey City (where the Strokes are filming a video today) on November 6th. Tickets TBA. All dates (Toronto in AUGUST included), below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum announces MORE tour dates, Town Hall in NYC"

"ATP Concerts are very excited to present the return of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum to headline and curate one of two festival weekends planned for December 2011 at Butlins, Minehead. After releasing what is now one of the most loved and critically acclaimed albums of the 1990s (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea), Neutral Milk Hotel disbanded before many of those who now love their albums had a chance to see the songs performed live, so Jeff's much anticipated return to the live stage this year will no doubt be a very special occasion for fans throughout the UK and worldwide.

As well as headlining, Mangum will choose around 40 acts to play across the weekend on three indoor stages with a total festival capacity of around 5500 people. Mangum will perform more than once in the more intimate Centre Stage venue, although entry to only one show is guaranteed - he will be performing a solo acoustic set."

Ok, so Jeff is playing two Wordless Music shows in September followed by two NJ Portishead ATP-related shows at the end of September and the beginning of October (both sold out), and now at least two shows at his very own ATP in the UK in December. More shows are sure to come.

Jeff's initial UK lineup (listed below) includes A Hawk and A Hacksaw who (also contain a Neutral Milk Hotel member and) are also on the lineup with Jeff in NJ.

The full initial UK ATP lineup and more details below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum curating & playing an ATP UK too!"

The Wordless Music Series has announced:

In September of 2006, the Wordless Music series presented its first concert at the 250-capacity Good Shepherd Faith Church on West 66th Street in New York City. Five years later, we are slightly shocked and humbled to announce the start of our 5th anniversary season with a true musical great: Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, performing his first U.S. live shows since 1998, and in two of the country's great acoustical treasures: on Saturday, September 10, at the 1,050-capacity Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory in Boston; and on Friday, September 9, at an historic 1,150-capacity venue to be announced next week. Tickets for these concerts will be $35 and open to audience members of all ages. A small number of tickets for the Jordan Hall concert go on presale next Friday, February 25 at 10am by phone, online, and (with no service charges) at the Jordan Hall box office; the remaining Jordan Hall tickets will be sold at the same outlets starting at 10am on Saturday, February 26. Ticket info for September 9's concert will be disclosed....imminently.

There goes ATP's claim that the September 30th and October 3rd shows will be "his first large public show of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in over a decade." They will be at least his 3rd or 4th now. Stay tuned for more info as it's released.

So, what venue has a 1,150-capacity?

UPDATE: Jeff Mangum is playing & curating an ATP UK too.

Not surprisingly (since they were down to less than 25, 5 hours ago), all 3-day passes to I'll Be Your Mirror USA, taking place in Asbury Park, NJ from Sept 30 - Oct 2, 2011, are sold out. All tickets to see the October 3rd Jeff Mangum show are gone too, so that means all the Mangum tickets are gone since only 3-day pass holders can get into Mangum's Friday show. If you want to see the rest of Friday, or Saturday (Portishead) or Sunday (Portishead), grab one-day passes on either SeeTickets or Ticketmater before those sell out too (let's see if they all disappear as fast as Coachella's did)

Jeff Mangum is not the only member of Neutral Milk Hotel playing the fest (though he may be the only one singing the band's songs). A Hawk & a Hacksaw (NMH's Jeremy Barnes) is also on the Friday lineup so far. A Hawk and a Hacksaw are releasing a new album, "Cervantine" (pictured above), via their own label L.M. DUPLI-CATION on February 18th. In March they'll tour the west coast before heading to Europe. All of their non-NJATP dates are below...

Continue reading "3-Day 'I'll Be Your Mirror' passes are sold out, A Hawk and a Hacksaw releasing an LP & touring"

Tickets just went back on sale for Jeff Mangum at the Paramount Theater (thx anon). UPDATE: According to the comments, these are now sold out again.

Also, ATP reported this morning that less than 25 3-day passes are left. Get 'em quick.

This was actually posted by ATP on Friday, but probably still all true:

The Jeff Mangum show at the Paramount Theatre is now sold out.

Three Day passes and Day passes are selling fast and the ticket sites are going slow due to the number of visitors so if it doesn't work first time please be patient and try again, or try phoning! Thanks for your understanding. On Seetickets you will know your order was successful when you get email confirmation.

Here are the correct ticket links to use for today's on-sale at 9am EST. Tickets will be limited to 4 per order per ticket type so please bear this in mind and if you need more than that try to get a friend to do a separate order.

Please note 3 day passes are only on Seetickets...

Three Day Passes - SEETICKETS

Friday / Saturday / Sunday Day Passes - SEETICKETS or TICKETMASTER

Please be advised that each site has a different allocation of tickets, so if tickets say they are sold out on one ticket agent, check out the other!

If you want to try phoning for tickets the numbers are:

Ticketmaster - 0844 844 0444
Seetickets - +44 (0)1159 129000 (thats a UK number)

OR if you're in Asbury Park, Day tickets will be available at The Stone Pony Box Office, located at 2nd and Ocean Avenues in Asbury Park, and at the Experience Asbury Store, located in The Grand Arcade off of the 5th Ave Boardwalk.

Remember, only people with 3 day passes get to go to the Mangum show on Friday, and only people with separate Mangum Monday tickets get to go to Mangum on Monday. 3 day pass holders need to choose between seeing Portishead either Saturday or Sunday (though depending on capacity I suppose some lucky people will get to go to both). There doesn't seem to be a way to stop people who buy Saturday and Sunday day passes from seeing Portishead both nights though. Tickets went on sale Friday morning.

Updated I'll Be Your Mirror USA lineup (they added a couple names since the initial announcement) below....

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror USA lineup & ticket update"

According to a December 23rd tweet by Portishead's Geoff Barrow, Portishead are "doing some split headline shows with arcade fire next year , I'm really looking forward to it..proper band!!" That won't be the promised U.S. Portishead tour though as Geoff later explained "What i mean is that We will be playing with AF at some point next year it's not a tour though!! Sorry." and "The shows with AF are festivals in Europe or I think they are? Hope that helps!" Oh well, I think (stay tuned for the rest of the American dates when they are announced though).

As reported by Pitchfork, "there's going to be more [Jeff Mangum] shows scheduled in the future." Stay tuned for that too.

MEANWHILE, we know that Jeff and Portishead are both playing "I'll Be Your Mirror" in Asbury Park this fall. Tickets go on sale Friday 9am EST at SeeTickets and on Ticketmaster.

For those of you who were wondering if ATP New York was returning to the kitschy resort that is Kutschers, the bad news is that it won't. The good news? All Tomorrow's Parties is instead headed to one of the kitschiest towns in New Jersey this fall, and "American I'll Be Your Mirror" will begin its inaugural year with a BANG!

All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic Asbury Park waterfront. For the inaugural American I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate and headline their first East Coast shows since 1998 on the Saturday and Sunday!

ATP, who are curating on the Friday are also very excited to be able to present Jeff Mangum who on the Friday night will perform his first large public show of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in over a decade.... Please note, as Jeff has chosen to play in the stunning, but smaller Paramount theatre only people who buy 3 day festival passes get access to this show on Friday night.

Also playing on the Friday are Chavez, Shellac, Cults and The Album Leaf, with a headliner and some comedians to be confirmed. The rest of the line-ups for the Saturday and Sunday will be announced in the near future.

I'll Be Your Mirror is a new series of artist curated music, film and art events. Acting as sister events to the ATP Festivals, which take place in holiday resorts, I'll Be Your Mirror retains the curatorial and multiple band and film concept, but will take place in cities worldwide. The events are named after the b-side to The Velvet Underground's original All Tomorrow's Parties 7" single, released in 1966.

Everyone who came to our three events at Kutshers knows how special the place was and how lucky they were to have been a part of our events there and while we are sad to not be returning, we are excited to be moving to the iconic Asbury Park. The Convention Hall has seen the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones grace its stage and the Paramount Theatre has welcomed stars such as Tony Bennett who often insists on playing a song with all the electrics turned off to demonstrate the amazing acoustics of the room.

We will be transporting the whole ATP experience over to this new location on the beach at Asbury Park, with the main shows taking place at the Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre, as well as the nearby Asbury Lanes and the Berkeley hotel, which the man in black, Johnny Cash himself once lived at. We think it will make a stunning successor to Kutshers.

As well as the live music line-up of over 30 acts across the weekend, Friday will feature a Comedy stage, and we're very pleased to announce that our friends at Criterion will return again to run the Cinema across the weekend. All three days will also feature DJs and other activities to be confirmed in the months ahead - we'll also be bringing back some of our popular food vendors including the much loved Asia Dogs, and much, much more. Performances all take place indoors, so you have no need to fear about the weather!

I'll Be Your Mirror will take place from Sept 30 - Oct 2, 2011. Jeff Mangum will ALSO perform a separate show on Monday, Oct 3rd at Paramount Theater. 3 DAY PASSES, DAY PASSES AND JEFF MANGUM (Monday) TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT 9AM EST FROM SEETICKETS & TICKETMASTER via www.atpfestival.com.

Most exciting news ever?

BBG, an ATP NY veteran, in a moment of excitement adds:

This announcement is one big "holy shit" on many levels.
1) Hello Asbury Park, NJ!
2) One of the best things about ATP New York was the "music camp" atmosphere at Kutshers. How will Berkeley Hotel fare?
3) Neutral Milk Hotel!!!
4) Portishead!!!
5) Neutral Milk Hotel again!
6) Portishead again, but maybe not?

Confused by point #6? Well, "Limited 3 Day Passes are available at $249 - these include access to the Jeff Mangum Friday show and the choice of being guaranteed to see Portishead on Saturday or Sunday." More details (including ticket and transportation options) below:

Continue reading "Portishead curating, Jeff Mangum-playing 'I'll Be Your Mirror' ATP in Asbury Park, NJ!!!"

A magical show happened Saturday night at a loft in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn (at a space also known as The Schoolhouse when it throws shows).

Jeff Mangum, as he said at the show, is thinking of playing out again. He already played a rare 5-song set back in May at the Chris Knox benefit at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR), but he wanted to test out playing live a bit more so his friend set up this last minute show for about 75 lucky attendees, many who were invited just hours before it started, and who were sworn to secrecy and asked very strongly that no visual evidence of the show be posted anywhere afterwards. Like at LPR, there was supposed to be no pictures and no video, and like after LPR, audio evidence quickly appeared online. Word continues to spread.

Brooklyn electro-trio Forma live in, or are associated somehow with, the space, and they opened the show. Definitely check them out if you have a chance, like at TANDEM (246 Troutman Street, Brooklyn) on December 11.

Jeff, dressed in his signature red and black flannel, played 10 Neutral Milk Hotel songs on two different guitars and a microphone. He went on around 9:45pm, and was in top form, bringing many to tears as he opened with 'Oh Comely' followed by 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'. The acoustics in the spacious industrial-looking 3-story-high room were ideal for his powerful voice. He modestly thanked the crowd multiple times and asked for forgiveness for not being good with stage banter. Many were seated, with their jackets still on in the chilly room with a small stage and PA set up in it. Everyone was standing and warm though, and cheering, as the show ended and Jeff said thank you and good night after ending with 'Two Headed Boy Pt. 2'. Full setlist below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum played 10 songs in a Bushwick Loft "

by Andrew Frisicano

I snuck this picture of the t-shirt...

"Chris Knox (born September 2, 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest, unpolished sound and intense live shows. His 4-track machine was used to record most of the early Flying Nun singles." [Wiki]

Jeff Mangum played a set of Neutral Milk Hotel songs for the first time in nine years at the benefit for his friend, musician Chris Knox, last night, Thursday, May 6th. From opener "Oh Comely" to encore "Engine," and "A Baby For Pree," "Two Headed Boy Pt. Two" and "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" in between, Mangum's voice was clear and strong as he sang from a chair into microphones set up a few feet away. Most of the audience looked somewhere between giddy excitement and shock. Some quietly sang along, others broke out into tears - one person choked on frantic, shallow breaths as "Oh Comely" climaxed, another stood with his hand over his gaping mouth, unable to move.

A few photos were furtively snapped in defiance of the posted signs, but most were content to just listen. Though "just listen" doesn't really describe the gasps, tears and unending applause. Mangum played with his eyes mostly closed, neck vein tensed, rocking and swooping to the contours of the songs. His eyelids fluttered open on the chorus of "A Baby for Pree" to reveal eyes rolled back into his head. Between songs Mangum gulped down water and was gracious, bordering on triumphant as he popped up at the end of "Aeroplane." He encouraged the crowd to contribute to the encore, "Engine." After the set, someone caught his attention with a book to sign, which he did. Most people up front looked anxious and ready for a post-show smoke.

It was fitting maybe that the bill for Mangum's last show, in 2001 in New Zealand, was with Chris Knox, who suffered a stroke in 2009. Though Jeff Mangum was a clear pinnacle, the rest of the benefit gig was an engaging, full evening which covered 12 bands and 2 comedians, and ran more than five and a half hours (though at least 1/3 of the venue cleared out after Mangum's 8:50pm set). The show ended at 1am, amazingly, exactly as scheduled.

Coasting (set time: 6:20pm) opened up with appropriately coastal guitar sounds and surefire drums, Sharon Van Etten played three songs with nuanced dynamics on electric guitar. The Magnetic Fields' Claudia Gonson played only one song as a trebly synth trio to cover "Beauty" which the band does on the Chris Knox tribute CD Stroke.

Robert Scott (of the Clean) and TVOTR's Kyp Malone (aka Rain Machine) both played solo guitar sets. Kyp, who told the crowd they should check out the new Devendra Banhart video (he checked it out in a cafe because he doesn't have internet), was joined by Emilyn Brodsky for what he said was a Bob Marley cover. Rachel Feinstein did raunchy comedy.

After that, there was New Zealand band Dimmer (who are in town for a while), The Mad Scene (Hamish Kilgour of the Clean's other band), David Kilgour of The Clean (backed by Yo La Tengo and one other band member) and comedy from John Mulaney (who killed it) (and who you may have seen doing a bit about girl scout cookies on a recent episode of SNL).

"Portastatic" was Mac backed by Yo La Tengo. They closed with Superchunk's "Slack Motherfucker" complete with windmill guitar moves and pogoing from some of the crowd (even though the concert was going into its fifth hour at this point). Yo La Tengo, with extra member David Kilgour on guitar, covered a Chris Knox song, said many kind words about Chris and closed with two songs from their 1993 album Painful, which Chris Knox contributed art work to.

The Clean, who Ira introduced as the greatest band in the world, and who'd already been up several times as their solo bands, closed the night right, both jangly and poppy. And despite the mass exodus after Jeff, a respectable amount of people were still there right until the last song. Catch the Clean again (if you have a ticket because it's sold out) at The Bell House tonight (5/7).

Editor's note: Ben Goldberg did an amazing job organizing the event, keeping scalpers away, and making sure that pretty much every person in that venue (except maybe the bartenders) paid their $75 donation to Chris Knox to get in the door (or $20 if you showed up after Jeff went off). Ben did less of an amazing job during his pre-Yo La Tengo stand up routine, but nobody's perfect!

Illegally shot (not by us!) audio and video from the event, and the new Devendra Banhart video, and Jeff Mangum's setlist again, below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum, The Clean, Yo La Tengo, Portastatic & friends played for Chris Knox @ LPR - review, setlist, video & pic "

tonight in NYC
* A-ha @ Nokia Theatre
* Tarek Atoui @ New Museum
* Lucky Dragons @ Thirty Days NY
* Sia, Girl in a Coma @ Terminal 5
* John Zorn, Marc Ribot @ The Stone
* Beach House, Washed Out @ Webster Hall
* Patrick Watson, Doveman @ The Bell House
* Local Natives, Suckers @ Bowery Ballroom
* Mary Halvorson, Kevin Shea @ The Kitchen
* As Tall As Lions, Bear Hands @ Irving Plaza
* Cinema 16 @ Archway under the Manhattan Bridge
* Willie Nelson @ Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom
* Zeus, Robbers on High Street, New Numbers @ Union Hall
* Ike Reilly Assassination, Brendan O'Shea @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Clipse, Freddie Gibbs, NinjaSonik, XV @ Highline Ballroom
* Guardian Alien, Kokomo, Omnivore, Diana Joy @ Shea Stadium
* Suzanne Vega w/ Yuka Honda, Spooky Ghost and Poez @ City Winery
* Loose Limbs, Gost Trio, Imaginary Friends, Mataromos @ Bruar Falls
* Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, Apollo Heights, Smoota @ Southpaw
* Fixed w/ Van She, Lemonade, JDH & Dave P (late) @ Santos Party House
* Power Animal, ACLU Benefit, Bad Teeth, Dinosaur Feathers @ Silent Barn
* Converge, Touche Amore, Lewd Acts, Black Breath (early) @ Santos Party House
* Lymbyc System, Slow Six, (The) Slowest Runner (In All The World) @ Littlefield
* Tigercity, Sugar & Gold, The Seedy Seeds, Free Blood @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Blondes, Red Wire Black Wire, Shadowbox, The Binary Marketing Show, Teletextile @ Glasslands
* Chris Knox Benefit w/ Jeff Mangum, Yo La Tengo, Kyp Malone , The Clean, Portastatic Sharon Van Etten, more @ (le) Poisson Rouge

The Fall in the slo-mo video for their song "Bury Pts. 1+3" are below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

DOWNLOAD: The Clean - In Dreamlife You Definitely Need Rubber Soul (MP3)

The Clean

"We went back and forth to the edge of insanity on [the $75] ticket price, but we decided this was the fairest price to make it, er, affordable, as well as getting Chris a worthwhile amount of money. A few details about purchasing tickets:

• Tickets on sale at noon Tuesday on Kickstarter. Info will be up there shortly. Show is 18+ which I'm sorry to say is the best we could do in terms of making it as open to as many people as possible.

• You will be limited to choosing one or two tickets per person. You will need to be able to provide the name of the other person if you are buying two. Those are the names we will have at the door and who will get into the club. Nobody can give their tickets to anybody else, you will need to provide ID and match the names on our list... [BaDaBen]

Kickstarter is promising that the ticket link for the 5/6 Chris Knox benefit will appear on their homepage at noon. Meanwhile tickets are already on sale for another show by The Clean, one day later (5/7) at The Bell House in Brooklyn.

LPR will be hosting a benefit on May 6 for New Zealand artist Chris Knox who suffered a series of strokes last year. Many of the aritsts performing at this show have contributed to a fantastic tribute/benefit album for Knox that was recently released.

Tickets for the benefit will go on sale through Kickstarter on March 30 (more details coming soon).

Artists appearing will include Yo La Tengo, Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio), Portastatic, Claudia Gonson of the Magnetic Fields, Sharon Van Etten, and The Clean. There will also be a short acoustic performance by Jeff Mangum (formerly of Neutral Milk Hotel).

DOWNLOAD: Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power & the Amorphous Strums - And How (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power & the Amorphous Strums - Teddy Bear (MP3)

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"I flew around a little room once." A line from Supernatural.
He was just that. He possessed an unearthly energy and
yet was humanistic with the common man in mind. He was
entirely present and entirely somewhere else. A mystical
somewhere else. A child and an old guy as he called himself.
Before he made an album he said he was a bum. Now he
is in flight bumming round beyond the little room. With his
angel voice.

-Patti Smith dec 25 2009

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"in 1991 i moved to athens georgia in search of god, but what I discovered instead was vic chesnutt. hearing his music completely transformed the way i thought about writing songs, and i will forever be in his debt."

-jeff mangum, neutral milk hotel

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Kristin Hersh also wrote something & is taking donations for Vic's family.

Michael Stipe also publicly acknowledged the sad news.

A video interview with Vic where he talks about being a bum, Michael Stipe, dying, his new band and more, below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith & Jeff Mangum remember Vic Chesnutt "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Naza Grizol - For Things That Haven't Come (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Koster - Jingle Bells (MP3)

Nana Grizol @ Cake Shop

T.O. Snob: Most of the press material I've seen points out connections between the band and Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, and other Elephant 6 groups. Based on that association do people approach Nana Grizol's music with certain expectations? If so, what do you believe they are?

Nana Grizol's Theo Hilton: I don't know... I guess we share some personnel with those groups in particular, and pretty much all of us were part of the latest incarnation of the Music Tapes; I love those folks and I feel like in a lot of ways we're going for the same things with our music. I guess what I'd say is that it's so nice to have a LOT of friends who are really fun to collaborate with on musical projects. I don't feel like we personally go out of our way to affiliate or disaffiliate ourselves with any organized collectives or anything, not that Elephant 6 is an organized collective. I just really want to play music with my friends! And share cool weird experiences with them!! I don't think people approach our band with any specific expectations, at least I don't know what they could be, but if anyone decided to check out our band because they like our friends band, and they like our band, then great!

Athens band Nana Grizol's tour was in town on November 8th for a show at Cake Shop. Even with ex-Neutral Milk Hotel members Laura Carter and Robbie Cucchiaro in the band and Jeff Mangum in the audience, it'd be a mistake to overemphasize the "Elephant 6"-ness of the show. The band is really Theo Hilton's gig, and as a songwriter he has his own direct, personal style. The band too has an urgency about it, with insistent melodies and rotating instruments (that pair up occasionally as double drums and double trumpets). The new album, Ruth, was present in the set list and at the merch table. The above song "For Things That Haven't Come," listed on the setlist as "Ginsburg" maybe for obvious reasons, is characteristic of their basement pop vibe (or maybe farm house pop as the case may be).

Nana Grizol's current tour continues through November 20th. More pictures from the NYC show and the set list are below.

Music Tapes ringleader Julian Koster (a member of Neutral Milk Hotel who wasn't at Cake Shop last week) will be coming around again this holiday season for an apartment/house tour. Currently the tour runs from December 7th to December 21st with the proposed NYC stops happening toward the end of the trip. But only if you invite them to play - and don't think they won't. Julian & Badger (his saw) unbelievably showed up at my place last year for a short set of songs before disappearing into the night. Even if they don't visit you, you can e-mail for the tour's location in your town. Details on how to do that are below. A track from his The Singing Saw at Christmastime is posted above, with the rough itinerary below...

Continue reading "Nana Grizol played Cake Shop (pics), Julian Koster caroling again in December (invite him to your house)"