Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

There were a ton of great New Year's Eve shows in NYC, but no doubt one of the craziest ones was Amanda Palmer's Terminal 5 show. The show began with a set from Jherek Bischoff (who also plays as a member of Amanda's band) joined by string players, followed by The Simple Pleasure (which included members of Amanda's Grand Theft Orchestra), who were then followed by Skella (aka bellydancers Belladona and SuperKate). Then finally Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra came on for their first set, which included mostly original material from Amanda's solo project and Dresden Dolls, in addition to the theme from '60s kids show Fireball XL-5 (in tribute to its creator, Gerry Anderson, who just died) with help from husband Neil Gaiman and a cover of Bat For Lashes' "Laura."

Then Amanda left the stage for a set by Ronald Reagan ("Boston's Premiere '80s Pop Saxophone Duo") and then finally the clock struck midnight and confetti cannons were shot off into the venue. Then Amanda and her band returned to the stage to perform Prince's Purple Rain in its entirety and a two-song encore. She was joined by John Cameron Mitchell of Hedwig fame for two songs including Prince's "Darling Nikki" and a cover of Hedwig song "Midnight Radio" in the encore. During the Purple Rain portion. And before the encore the venue was graced one more time with confetti.

The full setlist and more pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer celebrated NYE at Terminal 5 w/ Prince covers, special guests, bellydancers & confetti (pics, setlist)"

check out this new photo of Amanda & her band...

The always talented and controversial - mostly because she isn't afraid to try new things and speak her mind (especially on Twitter), Amanda Palmer, is playing a massive New Year's Eve show at NYC's Terminal 5 where she and The Grand Theft Orchestra will be performing Prince's Purple Rain in its entirety in addition to her original songs (get your tickets - regular or VIP).

Meanwhile, we asked Amanda to list her favorite 10 musical things from 2012, and you can see what she listed and watch her new NSFW video for "Do It With a Rockstar", below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer lists her Top 10 of 2012, playing 'Purple Rain' in its entirety on New Year's Eve"

yMusic at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 2012 (more by David Andrako)

NYC contemporary classical ensemble yMusic (known for their work with My Brightest Diamond, St. Vincent, and others) have some upcoming shows scheduled for the end of this year and early 2013. On December 20, they'll play two shows (early and late) at the David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center with Jherek Bischoff (who's worked with David Byrne, Amanda Palmer, Parenthetical Girls, and others) and Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier. The musicians will be teaming up at these shows to perform music composed by Jherek. Admission to both shows is free, though maybe they should consider making the shows fundraisers for yMusic's record label New Amsterdam Records who were decimated by Sandy.

Then, as mentioned, yMusic will open for Dirty Projectors at Carnegie Hall on January 11, and then join them on stage during their headlining set. The ensemble recently recorded with Dirty Projectors on their recent album, Swing Lo Magellan. Tickets for that show are still available.

In related news, Dirty Projectors release their new EP, About to Die, this week (11/6), which features the title track (which appeared on Swing Lo Magellan) and three new ones. You can stream one of the new tracks, "While You're Here," which David Longstreth tweeted was written for the late Gerard Smith (of TVOTR), and check out a list of all yMusic dates below.

Continue reading "yMusic playing shows w/ Jherek Bischoff, Greg Saunier, Dirty Projectors (who released a new EP) & more"

Amanda Palmer @ Webster Hall (Instagram by Dese'Rae L. Stage)

You can read the whole thing at her site, but here's a NYC-show related excerpt:

there were cities like new york where jherek - and everyone in the band - really wanted to make sure we had a 100% tried-and-true string corps. he didn't want to bank on possibly risky volunteers that night. chad raines, my guitarist, who's also in charge of wrangling the horns, agreed on that front as well. so we called our more professional horns and strings friends in new york, and we freed up the budget to pay them. we're doing that in some cities, and in some cities it's a total grab-bag of strangers on stage.

it's very important to me that we clarify that - not everything you see on stage is black and white, and those specific musicians in new york (and in some other cities) who got paid shouldn't be put in the same category as the volunteers. WE called THEM personally because we had lots of experience with them and knew what we were gonna get.

so you know (and because a photo of them has been circulating), in NYC, they were: sam kulik (who i know from our co-touring days with nervous cabaret), matt nelson (who's also in tUnE-yArDs), kenny warren, phil rodriguez, and "moist" paula henderson (aka Secretary). as many people saw, they ripped it UP on the webcast. sam and paula also showed up to play our kickstarter celebration (and were paid in money...AND beer).

in new york and in DC, three of the eight or nine horn and string players were actually from our opening bands: kelly and alec from the band Ronald Reagan hopped in on sax duty, and jessie from The Simple Pleasure volunteered to play viola at any gig she was at. in DC, we had a combination of people from the opening bands, a couple of horn players who were strict volunteers, and three string players from Classical Revolution who also volunteered their time.

David Byrne, Jherek Bischoff, Amanda Palmer @ MHOW - 6/27/12 (via DaynaR)

Amanda Palmer week continues in NYC with a semi-private art opening/show tonight (6/28). Last night was her big, sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg which ended in a huge way. David Byrne, who we know has been collaborating with Amanda and friends lately, joined her and her band during the encore to perform Talking Heads song "Burning Down the House." Watch bleow...

Continue reading "David Byrne played 'Burning Down the House' with Amanda Palmer @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (video)"

Amanda Palmer in Brooklyn in May (more by Bryan Bruchman)

Comic Book Club Live, a free, live podcast recording event has moved from its previous home of Pianos to fellow LES club Fontana's, and TONIGHT (6/26)'s show features Kurt Braunohler and musical guest Amanda Palmer. Show starts at 7PM.

Last night, Kurt Braunohler did his weekly Hot Tub show at Littlefield with Kristin Schaal that also featured UK comedian Simon Amstell who who plays SWEET tonight (6/26) at Ella Lounge in the East Village. The show, hosted by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon writer Seth Herzog, will also have John F. O'Donnell and Questlove as guests. Show starts at 8:30PM. Simon Amstell's Numb residency begins July 10th.

Friday (6/29) is Kurt Braunohler's live talk show Night of the Living at Littlefield which, as you may remember, has Amanda Palmer as a guest. Tim Heidecker was supposed to be the other guest but he had to drop out so Judah Friedlander will sub in his place. Tickets are still available to this.

It's a busy week for Amanda. Wednesday (6/27) is her sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with her band The Grand Theft Orchestra, and on Thursday she plays the opening of her art show at Momenta Art which is only open to high-level contributors to her Kickstarter campaign. Amanda and her band will be performing a full acoustic set that night, and her bassist Jherek Bischoff will be performing solo as well. Bischoff will open MHOW too, as well as all upcoming tour dates.

Then on Saturday (6/30), Amanda & Her Magical Ukulele will perform an intimate show at the newly-opened top floor of the South Street Seaport Museum. Tickets are $55 and $125 and still on sale, and proceeds benefit the museum. Ticket price includes open Brooklyn Brewery bar.

Anybody going to all five Amanda Palmer events this week?

Amanda Palmer in Brooklyn in May (more by Bryan Bruchman)

Kurt Braunohler's live talk show, Night of the Living, will next take place at Littlefield in Brooklyn on June 29 with Tim Heidecker (of Tim and Eric), musical guest Amanda Palmer (of The Dresden Dolls), and a live BUNK screening. Tickets for that show are on sale now. As usual, Kurt can also be found every Monday at Littlefield for Hot Tub with Kristen Schaal. Did you catch last night's show?

Tim Heidecker is also playing one of three Impose Magazine 10th Anniversary shows which happen in San Diego July 12 -14, right in the middle of the insanity known as Comic-Con. The other two shows include one with Vivian Girls, who will be playing with Ali Koehler on drums. Ali left the band in 2010 to join Best Coast, but she's since left that band too. That means this Vivian Girls show will be a reunion of Cassie, Katy, and Ali, the lineup who recorded 2009's Everything Goes Wrong. That bill also includes Vivian Girl Cassie's other band The Babies, Grass Widow and others. The third Impose show is with John Maus. The flier for all three is below.

Speaking of Amanda Palmer, Jherek Bischoff who plays on her new album and is part of her live band, will also be opening her previously discussed shows in addition to playing as part of her band. Those shows include a sold out live NYC date at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 27 and a art show at Momenta Art on June 28. Amanda also plays on Jherek's album and played with him at BAM during Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.

All Jherek Bischoff dates are listed below, along with the Impose flier.

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer & Tim Heidecker guest at Kurt Braunohler's 'Night of the Living'; Jherek Bischoff opening for Amanda"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

In a Gowanus parking lot Thursday evening, author Neil Gaiman was standing near the adult-film star known as Stoya, discussing fundraising techniques.

Mr. Gaiman and Stoya were at an impromptu party thrown by Amanda Palmer, cult favorite singer/songwriter and Mr. Gaiman's wife, to celebrate the end of her campaign on Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website. Ms. Palmer, best known for founding cabaret punk band the Dresden Dolls, had asked for $100,000 to fund her next album, but she'd wound up raising over $1 million. Stoya, a longtime friend, will star in Ms. Palmer's next music video. [WSJ]

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer played a private loft party (pics) after her Kickstarter block party in Gowanus"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by David Andrako

The Walkmen @ BAM

BAM's Bryce and Aaron Dessner-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry series/festival had its first night Thursday. It continues tonight/Friday with a lineup headlined by St. Vincent and The Antlers (and Saturday with Beirut and Atlas Sound).

Music kicked off at 5pm with early slots filled by indie-classical acts like yMusic and JACK Quartet. Composer-uke-player Jherek Bischoff started things out inside the Howard Gilman Opera House at 7pm, and his set featured guest spots from David Byrne and Amanda Palmer. Check out the pictures below.

The first band I saw was Twin Shadow, an act that always sounds a lot better to me on record than live (something about George Lewis Jr.'s voice and the intricacies of the production don't translate exactly on stage). A welcome special guest, the Blackfire Percussion, added drum corp percussion on a few of the songs.

Sharon Van Etten powered through a set that highlighted how much she's evolved since her early acoustic days. She offered a throwback to her Because I Was In Love debut with a solo version of "I Fold" dedicated to her parents. Aaron Dessner, who produced Tramp, played guitar on a few of the tracks. And Sharon tapped "Serpents" for the triumphant, soaring closer.

Sharon Van Etten @ BAM

The Walkmen navigated a set of new tunes and classics: in addition to putting out their sixth LP, Heaven, in June, this year marks the 10th-anniversary of their debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. Among the songs played were "Angela Surf City," "In the New Year," "Blue As Your Blood" and new tracks "Heaven," "Heartbreaker" and "Southern Heart." Hamilton, as always, stretched the limits of his voice to good effect, especially on the haunting A Hundred Miles Off track "All Hands and the Cook." The band closed with an encore of "We've Been Had," which they noted was the first song they wrote as a band.

Between those last two I ventured to the BAM Cafe to see Zs, playing as a duo and sounding completed different than the last time I saw them in July. Guitarist Ben Greenberg describes the change as "The old stuff was like an old Soviet tank driving down Main Street; the new stuff is like a spaceship landing on City Hall." The shift from angular guitar and skronking saxophone to whatever they do now was pretty evident in the small snippet that I caught. Greenberg's guitar laid dubby rhythms lines while Sam Hilmer's sax played melodies and riffs off in the distance. Hopefully they'll line up more shows soon. (As Hubble, Greenberg makes the NYC debut of that project's "quadraphonic Hubble Superposition set" tonight.)

After that I caught a few songs by Yellowbirds, hidden up in Cinema 3 and playing to a crowd of about 20 people (including Conrad Doucette). The Jonathan Richman-esque two-piece was a nice surprise to find soaked in the smell of movie-theater popcorn.

(People Get Ready and Heather Broderick played, and a program of short films screened, but I arrived too late to see them. And I only caught a snippet of Callers by skipping the end of Twin Shadow.)

One bummer about the schedule is that, with the exception of the extremely early classical sets, it's impossible to see more than a few minutes of the smaller bands without skipping the headlining acts. That scheduling, and the vague, unnecessary "Brooklyn" theme, are a bit puzzling, but all in all the fest is a good chance to see bands like the Walkmen and Sharon Van Etten in the gorgeous Howard Gilman Opera House, a space that's surprisingly intimate and cozy for its size (and having the first few rows of seats removed for the crowd to stand was a nice touch).

More pictures from Thursday below...

Continue reading "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry night 1 pics & review (The Walkmen, Sharon Van Etten, David Byrne, Amanda Palmer, Zs & more)"

The three-night, three-stage-per-night, Dessners-of-the-National-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival begins at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Fort Greene tonight (5/3). The three stages are Howard Gilman Opera House (the big names), BAMCAFE (the smaller names) & BAM Rose Cinemas (a mix of film and other music). Things begin early too. The Walkmen headline the big room at 10:45pm tonight, but the music begins with the JACK Quartet in BAMCAFE at 5pm. The full schedule is at their site.

Before the Walkmen is Sharon Van Etten who spent last night covering the Stooges with Mike Watt and members of Dinosaur Jr. Before Sharon is Twin Shadow who may or may not to continue playing new material like they did recently at Glasslands. And before them is Jherek Bischoff who is rumored to be playing with a very special guest or two which is not surprising at all given who showed up to play with him at the Ecstatic Music Festival, and who appears on his new album Composed (out 6/5 on Brassland). This is the album's tracklist:

Introduction (Defeat)
Eyes (Jherek Bischoff & David Byrne)
The Secret of the Machines (w/ Caetano Veloso & Greg Saunier)
The Nest (with Mirah Zeitlyn & Paris Hurley)
Blossom (Jherek Bischoff with Nels Cline)
Your Ghost (with Craig Wedren)
Counting (with Carla Bozulich)
Young & Lovely (with Zac Pennington & Soko)
Insomnia, Death And The Sea (with Dawn McCarthy)

Continue reading "3-day Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Fest begins tonight at BAM; special guests to join Jherek Bischoff? "

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra (Michael McQuilken, Chad Raines, and Jherek Bischoff) are prepping their new album, which they recorded with producer/engineer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Modest Mouse, Xiu Xiu). In addition, she's releasing an art book with art for the new album. On April 30, Amanda put the project up for funding on Kickstarter and already gained almost four times her goal. As of this post she is at over $400,000. $150,000 ago she wrote this to Bob Lefsetz:

hey bob

don't know if you've noticed, but yesterday i launched the 30-day kickstarter for my new album, "amanda palmer & the grand theft orchestra".

at the moment i'm writing this, we've reached over $250,000 after only one day of being live. go look:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-new-record-art-book-and-tour

that's about $50k MORE than the scheduled recording budget i wouldn't have been given if i'd stayed on roadrunner...AND WE'RE ONLY ON THE FIRST DAY.

i hope we reach $600k or more by the time we're done. or a million. who knows? sky's the limit.

Amanda will be going on a tour in support of the album this summer. In each city that she hits, she'll put on an art show with art from the album and an acoustic set, followed by a full band rock show. That tour includes Brooklyn, where she'll put on her live show at June 27 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and her art show on June 28 at Momenta Art. Tickets for the MHOW show go on sale Friday, 5/11 at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday, 5/9 at noon.

All dates and the video below...

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer kicking ass on Kickstarter, announces art & live show tour"

Remember that Dessner brother-curated festival, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," which is happening at BAM from May 3-5? And remember how when we posted the National-curated ATP lineup we suggested (for obvious reasons) that it might hint at the BAM lineup? Well, the lineup is out now, and there are definitely some similarities to that, and also not surprisingly, to the ongoing Ecstatic Music Festival which is great at highlighting the growing mix between indie rock and indie classical that the Dessners are huge fans of and participants in.

The three day Brooklyn Academy of Music festival includes The Antlers, My Brightest Diamond (w/ yMusic), Sharon Van Etten, and Buke and Gase who are all playing ATP, in addition to The Walkmen, St. VIncent, Beirut, Atlas Sound, Tyondai Braxton (formerly of Battles), Oneohtrix Point Never, Caveman, Sinkane, Twin Shadow, Jherek Bischoff, Pat Mahoney and Nancy Whang (DFA DJ set), Ava Luna, and others which are all listed below. As mentioned, the fest also includes the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the NOW Ensemble.

3-Day Festival Passes go on sale Monday (3/5) to friends of BAM and Tuesday (3/6) to the general public. More details and schedule at the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry website.

Full lineup below...

Continue reading "National-curated BAM Festival lineup announced (Walkmen, St. Vincent, Beirut, Sharon, Antlers, Zs & many more)"

photos by David Andrako, words by Andrew Frisicano

Jherek Bischoff & some of his guests

It wasn't the marathon that opened the inaugural Ecstatic Music Fest in 2011, but this year's opening show on Saturday (2/4) had some of that same collaborative energy, focusing on the compositions and arrangements of Jherek Bischoff, a musician known for his work primarily with The Dead Science, Parenthetical Girls and The Degenerate Art Ensemble. For the show, billed as a preview of Bischoff's forthcoming CD from Brassland ("composed"), the composer got help from the Wordless Music Orchestra and nine guest vocalists.

After a too-brief instrumental opening, David Byrne came out to sing a swaying Afro-Cuban-tinged piece. In what would be a recurring theme, Bischoff's composition wasn't entirely different than the type of song Byrne might sing at one of his own shows. Next up, Charlie Looker intoned through "The Secret Life of Machines" (which you can find an instrumental version of at WNYC) in a style that'd be a close fit to his Extra Life material. Mirah's voice sounded as warm and honeyed as always. Parenthetical Girls's Zac Pennington sang a duet with Sam Mickens, both of them playing up their own strengths, Pennington the animated, Wildean dandy and Mickens the snazzily dressed crooner. The other singers, Craig Wedren from Shudder to Think, Carla Bozulich of Evangelista, and Steven Reker and Jen Goma, were idiosyncratic in their own ways, and Bischoff's string-laden avant-pop tunes bent to their strengths. Deerhoof's Greg Saunier stood out with a few good improvisatory fills but mostly hung back in the ensemble. For his part, Bischoff played ukelele, guitar, bass and sang a song. His young cousin came out to hit a gong at the end of one tune.

The second part of the program, only five songs long, consisted of Bischoff's arrangements of the singers' own material. Craig Wedren, Zac Pennington, Mirah and Carla Bozulich all returned. (In particular, Mirah's vibrant Latin number, "The Country of the Future," was great). For the finale, David Byrne premiered a new song, which he sang with Reker. It took a few verses, but eventually I worked out that "The Fat Man's Comin'" was a song about Santa Claus. As a closer, it was a small gesture where I would have preferred a grand finale, but it seemed to fit with Bischoff's humble collaborator-focused ambitions.

While in town, Mirah plays tonight (Monday) at Glasslands, where she'll be accompanied by cellist Lori Goldston and percussionist Geo Wyeth (Mirah's Facebook says they'll be "performing songs seldom heard from [her] repertoire"). The Ecstatic series continues with three more shows this week. The full schedule is here.

More pictures from Saturday's show at Merkin Concert Hall,below...

Continue reading "Jherek Bischoff, Wordless Orchestra, David Byrne, Mirah & more guests opened the Ecstatic Music Festival (pics, review)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten @ The Greene Space (MP3)

Sharon Van Etten @ the Greene Space

As you know, Sharon Van Etten played a show at WNYC's Greene Space in Tribeca back on 1/17 (with Audra McDonald & Norm Lewis), one day before she played her entire new album in full at Mercury Lounge. Not only do we have some pictures of that show, you can listen to and download the whole thing too. MP3 above. More pictures and the embedded audio player below.

We recently posted a reminder that the 2012 Ecstatic Music Festival is beginning in NYC on 2/4, but what we didn't mention was that a festival preview event was going down at the Greene Space on 2/1:

Hosted by WQXR's Terrance McKnight, Q2 Music's preview concert features music and conversation with Ecstatic Music Festival composer-performers Jason Treuting, Angélica Negrón, and Jherek Bischoff as well as a conversation with composer and festival founder and curator, Judd Greenstein.

Jherek Bischoff's actual Ecstatic Fest show happens on 2/4 with the Wordless Music Orchestra and special guests David Byrne, Craig Wedren, Greg Saunier, Mirah, Zac Pennington, Carla Bozulich, Charlie Looker & Sam Mickens.

WQXR has also announced that they'll be streaming and archiving select Ecstatic shows as part of their Q2 Music series.

Greene Space pics & audio and contest details below...

Continue reading "Sharon Van Etten played the Greene Space (pics & audio); Ecstatic Music Fest hosting a show there (WIN TIX!)"

Jherek Bischoff

As mentioned, the Ecstatic Music Festival kicks off on February 4 at Merkin Concert Hall with Jherek Bischoff, who plays with Parenthetical Girls and The Dead Science. He's teaming up with Wordless Music Orchestra and an incredible list of guest vocalists from his upcoming album, which comes out this February, including David Byrne, Craig Wedren (Shudder To Think), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Mirah, and Zac Pennington (Parenthetical Girls. Tickets are still on sale now.

Speaking of Parenthetical Girls, their tour began last night (12/1) at Glasslands with Gauntlet Hair, Dinowalrus, and Eraas. If you missed it, they'll also be in NYC this Friday (12/3) at Santos Party House with YACHT and Midnight Magic (tickets).

As previously mentioned, Brassland Records is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a label and debuted a new/old track every day of November via various methods including Soundcloud. None of those tracks can be heard in the player that's embedded below. Those include "Spinney" by This is the Kit (who are opening for the National at Beacon Theater on 12/17) and "Secret of the Machines (instrumental)" by Jherek Bischoff. The latter also features drums by Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), and will have vocals by Caetano Veloso in its album version.

Continue reading "Jherek Bischoff releasing an album & playing a show -- both with many extra special guests (like David Byrne)"

The Ecstatic Music Festival is returning to the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center from February 4 to March 28. The festival includes 11 shows over the course of the approximate two month period including performances by Richard Reed Perry (of Arcade Fire) with Son Lux and yMusic (who recently worked with My Brightest Diamond and St. Vincent), This Will Destroy You with composer Christopher Tignor and his band Slow Six, vocal octet Roomful of Teeth who will present a collaboration with Glasser and also present new work by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Rhys Chatham and Oneida, Dan Deacon with the NOW Ensemble and the Calder Quartet, The Mountain Goats with vocal quartet Anonymous 4, who will be performing material for John Darnielle's new project Transcendental Youth, which were arranged by Owen Pallet. Many other artists are performing too, the full schedule is below.

Tickets for individual shows are available now, as well as a festival pass, which allows you access to all 11 shows. If you purchase your tickets before December 10, you can get them for only $20.

Full schedule below...

Continue reading "Ecstatic Music Festival 2012 announced & on sale --- NYC shows w/ Mountain Goats, Dan Deacon, Glasser & more"