photos by Chris Graham

"John Wesley Harding just sang a song with an Atlantic Yards reference." - Kate

John Hold Steady Walkmen Mountain Goat Wesley Harding

"Well, you know, I've been making music for twenty something years now, and over the years, you meet many people in and out of your lives. They may or may not be your best friends, and you may or may not be close with their families, but there is a mutual respect and in some cases, that blossoms into very long friendships. For example, when I first came into America in 1990, I think my first ever solo show here was in Athens, Georgia. There, I was invited to stay at Peter Buck's house, and staying there was Nikki Sudden who has since sadly demised, and Billy Bragg; it was quite a wild scenario. It was my first time in town really, and my first solo show in America, so I've known Peter 21 years now. Scott, the producer of the record, came up to me at a show in Seattle in 1992 and said, "I'm a fan, I'm in the Young Fresh Fellows," and I said, "Fantastic." Now, bizarrely, he's not only in the Young Fresh Fellows, he's also in The Minus Five who was the backing band of my last album, and R.E.M who are now no more. Rosanne Cash, I met totally by chance in a New York lunch place. We were introduced, and I'm an artist-in-residence at this university, and I asked her to do a talk for the students with me because she's also a writer and musician. We've become very good friends, she's a great user of the social networking device Twitter, and we kind of keep in touch through that. So, I've known her a few years now, and her voice is so very recognizable to me, and I've loved it for so long that she is a very easy person to summon how good she would be in your mind of how good she would be in a song; then there's John Roderick of The Long Winters who is quite a recent friend; also Laura Veirs--I needed a woman to sing the parts of the ghost of my ex-girlfriend in one of the songs; and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos does the horns on everything, and he produced an album for me in 1992 called Why We Fight. He also found me a place to live. I was his neighbor for a couple of years. So, as you can see, it's a lovely web of friendship and mutual history."
- John Wesley Harding to Huffington Post

Tickets are still on sale for the Decemberists-filled Cabinet of Wonders that will go down in the same venue on 11/18. Many of the same musicians will also be in the house the next night at the Bell House and then at Maxwell's right after that.

More pictures from City Winery below...

Continue reading "John Darnielle, Rosanne Cash, Hamilton Leithauser, John Hodgman & others played John Wesley Harding's show (pics)"

Mountain Goats @ Knitting Factory, Halloween 2005 (more)

As previously mentioned, John Wesley Harding is holding a "Cabinet of Wonders" variety show at NYC's City Winery on October 28th with Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen), Eugene Mirman, John Hodgman, Emma Straub, Paul Harding, and more TBA. Since our last mention, two very special guests have been added to the bill: Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats). Hopefully you didn't sleep on tickets because the show is now sold out.

Tickets are however on sale now for A Haunted Hot Tub Halloween at Littlefield, also a comedy and music variety show, happening one day later (10/29) with Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunohler, Wyatt Cenac, Andres du Bouchet, and... John Darnielle, and more.

Tickets are also on sale for Hot Tub on 10/10 and 10/17.

Tickets are also still on sale for the 11/18 Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery with The Blue Fisherman (from Edinburgh, Scotland), Howe Gelb, Myla Goldberg, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, Audrey Niffenegger AND "Plus for this Cabinet of Wonders, and this Cabinet of Wonders only, the House Band will be THE KING CHARLES TRIO, comprising: Peter Buck (REM), Jenny Conlee-Drizos, Chris Funk, John Wesley Harding (Appearing as Himself), Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five), John Moen, and Nate Query." That's a lot of Decemberists. More upcoming JWH shows HERE

Speaking of Ted Leo and Craig Finn, both are scheduled to make appearances at the BrooklynVegan-presented Replacements tribute shows happening at Bowery Electric in November. The previously announced two shows (and movie screenings) are sold out, BUT a third tribute concert - a late one on 11/17, has been added. Tickets for the new show are on sale. More info HERE.

Mountain Goats dates and flyers below...

Continue reading "3rd Replacements tribute show added, John Darnielle schedules guest appearances, Craig Finn too"

photos by David Andrako

The Mountain Goats stopped by NYC's Greene Space on Wednesday (earlier in the day than his third in a row Bowery Ballroom show) for a live WNYC "Soundcheck" radio appearance along with Suzanne Vega. Each artist performed three songs, Suzanne's were from her new play, and John's were from his new album "All Eternals Deck." Listen to the whole show, check out the setlist, and see more pictures from it, below.

Oh, and speaking of the Greene Space, "Battle of the Boroughs", the Bronx edition, goes down at the venue tonight (4/1).

Continue reading "Mountain Goats & Suzanne Vega played a few songs @ Greene Space (pics & WNYC stream)"

by BBG

2/3 of Hail Mary Mallon (Rob Sonic and Aesop Rock)

Aesop Rock will head out on tour in May with Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz, and though they are billed separately, it means we're getting Hail Mary Mallon aka the crew formed by the trio. The NYC show will happen at Bowery Ballroom on 5/14. Tickets go on sale at noon on Thursday (3/3). All dates and the video for HMM's "D-Up" are below.

Hail Mary Mallon is one of a few active projects for Aesop Rock. He also wrote beats for the San Francisco band Dirty Ghosts (his wife Alyson is a member). Dirty Ghosts, who played their first show last week, will kick of a string of dates with Datarock next week on the West Coast leading up to an appearance at SXSW. Check out a video for "Shout It In" below.

In addition, Aesop Rock has contributed material to the forthcoming Kimya Dawson LP, Thunder Thighs due this summer. Check out "Miami Advice" with Aesop Rock at K Records. Other contributors to Kimya's new album include Nicolai Fraiture, John Darnielle, Thao Nguyen, MURS, Jonah Matranga, Jack Dishel, Angelo Spencer and many other who are all listed below.

All tour dates and some video with the credits for Kimya's Thunder Thighs, below....

Continue reading "Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz (Hail Mary Mallon) -- 2011 tour dates, new Kimya Dawson & Dirty Ghosts too"

photos by Chris La Putt

The 'Stand Up For Women's Health' rally went down in Foley Square this afternoon (2/26), from 1-3pm. According to a post-event press release,

On Saturday, February 26, thousands of people came together in Foley Square, in downtown Manhattan, to stand up for women's health, and fight back against the recent Congressional attacks against Planned Parenthood and family planning funding.

The rally comes on the heels of passage of dangerous anti-choice legislation in the House of Representatives, which, if made into law,
would eliminate basic health care and education services for millions of Americans - and according to Department of Health estimates, 800,000 New Yorkers.

Continue reading "1000s (including Kathleen Hanna) rally for Planned Parenthood (Mtn Goats & Nellie McKay performed) -- pics & video"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

Frank Bruno & John Darnielle (the Extra Lens)

By the time I got to the Extra Lens show at the Mercury Lounge, I had missed John Vaderslice (luckily NYC Taper taped it) and the room was so packed that I had to stand a few inches away from the door. The view may have been terrible, but the sound was anything but. Finally. After the show at The Woods, it was a nice change of pace to see a band who was actually completely comfortable and confident with performing. I must confess I never got into the Mountain Goats (sorry to offend), but I was taken by the Extra Lens and in particular, by John Darnielle. What a charming man. I'm pretty sure he could have instructed the room to do calisthenics, and they would have obliged him. Darnielle and Bruno were so personable between songs. To the delight of the crowd, Darnielle stepped off stage and marched all the way to the back of the room to sing for their pseudo-encore. It seemed kind of odd that they were playing in such a small space, but I guess those Merge bands just likes to keep things intimate, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

John Vanderslice's only other CMJ show was our Friday day party at Public Assembly. The Extra Lens only also played a KEXP session. More pictures from Mercury Lounge, where Dan Mangan who also played our loft party also played, below...

Continue reading "The Extra Lens, John Vanderslice & Dan Mangan played Mercury Lounge (CMJ pics) "

DOWNLOAD: The Extra Lens - Only Existing Footage (MP3)

Comprised of John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) and Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue, the Human Hearts) and formed in the Inland Empire during the region's brief next-Seattle shortlist period, the project began as a potential home for any song John wrote that had a) more than three chords or b) a bridge. New songs for the group only happened when John figured he"d written something that Franklin might find clever or amusing. Reasoning that permanent-bridesmaid status means you never have to actually buy the dress, the duo have approached record-making at a pace that one would call "leisurely" if it wouldn"t make the leisure class look like busy bodies: one 7", several compilation appearances, one full-length at the dawn of the aughts, and now, arriving with Paul Masson-like deliberation, Undercard.

Recorded with Brian Paulson (Slint, Beck, US Maple) at the Rubber Room in Carrboro, North Carolina, and with Mitch Rackin (Excepter, Heavy Hands) at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn, Undercard is the first Extra Lens record to arrive as a full collaboration between songwriters. The recording method, however, persists: John plays guitar, sings, and then gets the hell out of Dodge City, leaving Franklin to provide arrangements as the songs required: here sparing, here ornate; sometimes gentle, sometimes not; once with vibraslap, mostly without. [Merge Records]

In support of that release, the boys will hit the road with John Vanderslice for four select east coast dates including the intimate Mercury Lounge on October 21st. The NYC show is part of the CMJ Music Marathon, but advanced tickets also go on sale Friday at noon (weird for a CMJ show at Mercury Lounge). All dates below...

Continue reading "The Extra Lens = John Darnielle + Franklin Bruno -- releasing album on Merge (MP3, stream & tour dates) "

by BBG

Superchunk at South Street Seaport in 2009 (more by Chris LaPutt)

The Daily Tar Heel: What's different about Majesty Shredding as opposed to past Superchunk records?

Mac McCaughan: I think one thing that's really different..., we'd really written all together as a band just playing a lot in the rehearsal space, basically jamming until we had songs, and I would add lyrics on top of that. With the new record, ...I made demos of songs and sent them around to the band so they could hear them and come up with parts, and we'd just get together and rehearse a couple of times before recording. In some ways it's more like our first couple of records.

And the title is a joke that started when we were in the studio. We recorded all the songs live to tape, and the producer, Scott Solter - we were listening to playback with him to see if it was a take we should keep or if we needed to fix something, and so we started this joke where if we heard a fuck-up on our part, we'd say, "Oh, you can fix that with the 'Majesty Shredding' app in Pro Tools, right?" We joked that there was an app that would make everything sound awesome called "Majesty Shredding," and it ended up being the title.

Superchunk's Majesty Shredding (both the noun and the verb) will be showcased at all of the shows, and is available now in digital/vinyl/CD forms. One of those tracks, "Digging For Something", was recently given the video treatment by former Daily Show writer Scott Jacobson, amd features appearances from John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), comedian Ted Travelstead, and The Love Language among others. Dig on that below.

Superchunk is on board for the Matador 21 shindig in Vegas at the beginning of October, and Superchunk's Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance recently celebrated the same milestone for their own label, Merge Records (their 20th anniversary party was last year).

Videos and all Superchunk dates are below...

Continue reading "new Superchunk video, an Other Music in-store, Fallon & stuff "

Doveman in an apartment in October (more by Ezra Caldwell)

tonight in NYC
* Imogen Heap @ Webster Hall
* Phish @ Madison Square Garden
* McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note
* Happy Ending Music w/ Doveman @ Joe's Pub
* David Thomas w/ Greil Marcus @ The New School
* The Mountain Goats, Final Fantasy @ The Bell House
* The Shaky Hands, Takka Takka, US Royalty @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Titus Andronicus, The Beets, Algernon Cadwallader @ NYU Kimmel Center
* Jaguar Love, The King Left, Yes Giantess, Violent Soho @ Mercury Lounge
* Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica w/ DJ Spooky & ICE @ BAM Howard Gilman Opera
* Phoenix, Passion Pit, Jack's Mannequin, Manchester Orchestra @ Hammerstein

Jaguar Love is a band that includes members of Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Tickets are still available for their gig at Mercury Lounge tonight.

The Mountain Goats are in town for two sold-out shows with Final Fantasy. Last night was at Webster Hall. Tonight they're at the Bell House. John Darnielle also showed up to play a few songs at UCB Monday night. A video of John covering The Hold Steady in Minneapolis, below.

DJ Spooky's collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the multimedia work Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, runs tonight, Friday and Saturday at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Video below.

Bjorn from Peter Bjorn and John is DJing at Cake Shop tonight. It's a free show with a performance by The Suzan who recently opened for the band at Terminal 5.

Doveman's appearance at Joe's Pub is one of many in their future. "Doveman and friends" at Mercury Lounge on January 12th is on sale.

Titus Andronicus also has a show coming up at Mercury Lounge, it's one of many New Years Eve shows in NYC this/next year.

Amazon is giving away a different free holiday song each day until Christmas.

If someone asks you for a miracle while you're walking by MSG this evening, it's because Phish is back. They covered TV on the Radio the other day in Albany. Video below...

Ann from Breakfast at Sulimays interviewed Neon Indian. Video below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

"I was just watching the Colbert Report and on came the Mountain Goats aka John Darnielle, one of the best indie songwriters out there. The interesting part? The ColbertNation.com website is streaming his new album for 24 hours, a nice little window for the curious to visit and listen (and, if they're horrible, horrible people, use a stream catcher to grab the music, but don't do that.)

In short, in the Venn diagram of TV you have Colbert Report watchers and Mountain Goats listeners. Many of us exist, obviously, but the confluence of these two audiences into one tasty streaming opportunity is quite cool." [Crunch Gear]

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats appear on, streaming on, Colbert (video)"

John Darnielle will be in attendance at a screening of a movie of him playing music. The event is this Sunday (10/4) at Housing Works in NYC. Free. First come, first served. For an actual live Mountain Goats show, you'll have to wait until December.

"And the words sound so good sung. 'We were drunk while we were married a week and we both had us a farmer's tan, I like rock songs, hey baby baby yeah' ('What Do'). God, that's good stuff." -heartonastick

There is a gaping hole in rock music between mindless dude rock and what gets foolishly called "literate" rock, and that murky in-between can be a pretty freeing ocean to swim through. Which is exactly what Vulture Whale does. This is a band that knows that the real spectacle of rock and roll is found in playing the music with all of its unruly sound and energy. When your songs are this good, and when they clatter along pushing against their tight and brilliant structures at every turn, well then you don't need light shows or pyrotechnics. You also don't need Pynchon references or 50-cent words. [Pop Matters]

The above review is from the group's self-titled album which came out in early 2009 on Skybucket Records. It's one of two self-titled albums the band has released.

Two videos, "Teedy" and Sugar," both of which showcase the band's bar-rock chops, are posted below with all tour dates (and tour poster), and the new album cover, but first a note from John Darnielle...

"So it is that when I heard there's a band called Vulture Whale I said to myself "self-fulfilling prophecies be damned, a band called Vulture Whale has gotta kick ass." And indeed my brethren the shit is live. They sound like Silkworm. Then after a while they sound kind of like the 3Ds a little. Mainly though there is a heavy Silkworm injection here. That is 100% OK by me. There should be more bands who sound like Silkworm and less who sound like they think they have something original to contribute to the field of Rocking Dionysiac Abandon. That shit is straight played out, man. Vulture Whale is not played out. They groove like Silkworm and I, for one, will take it."

Continue reading "Vulture Whale coming this weekend - tour dates & videos"

FF photos by Joseph Xu

DOWNLOAD: Mountain Goats - Genesis 3:23 (new MP3)

Final Fantasy @ P4K

Final Fantasy played the Pitchfork Festival on July 18th, which is where the photos in this post are from (check out his Mayhem t-shirt). About a week later he played the Hillside Festival at Guelph Lake in Canada during a storm (probably not a good idea)...

A few songs into his bravura one-man baroque-pop set, the skies filled with thunder and lightning as rain began to drench Pallett, who continued shredding his bow fiercely across his violin.

As stagehands covered equipment with plastic, and organizers frantically tried to cut him off, Pallett kept playing the appropriately dramatic 'Lewis Takes His Shirt Off.' "One more minute," he yelled, as sheets of water hit him full force.

The stunned (and soaked) crowd broke into wild cheers as one minute turned into two and Pallett sped toward the song's big finish like a man possessed -- until the stage crew finally pulled the plug. Still, his heroics had already created Hillside's most memorable moment. [Spinner]

This November he (Owen Pallett) heads out on tour to open up for The Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), who will be playing as a full band (though there is a much shorter string of Darnielle solo dates too). The trip ends with a pair of NYC gigs on December 1st and 2nd, when they respectively visit Webster Hall and the Bell House. Tickets for Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon; general sale starts Friday, August 7th at noon. Bell House tickets are on sale today at noon.

The occasion for this tour is a new record from The Mountain Goats, enigmatically titled The Life of the World to Come, which comes out October 6th on 4AD. All song titles on the new album are Bible verses. John says,

The album was recorded between April and June: first at Electrical Audio with Brandon Eggleston; then at Sonic Ranch with John Congleton; and finally at Baucom Road with Scott Solter. Scott also mixed the entire album at Baucom Road. The band is still Jon Wurster, Peter Hughes, and me; Owen Pallett did string arrangements & played on the Electrical session.

I guess the obvious question is going to be: "John, have you had some sort of religious awakening?" and while I guess lots of people might want to be coy about answering that, that's never really been my style, so: no. It's not like that. It's not some heavy-narrative-distance deal either, though, and it's not a screed. It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of. More than that I'd want to wait to say until some people have heard it, which won't be long.

Continue reading "Mountain Goats - new Bible album, MP3, 2009 tour dates w/ Final Fantasy (who played Pitchfork & Hillside in a storm) "

John Darnielle & John Vanderslice in Somerville, MA - March 25, 2009 (bradsearles)

KEXP: I hear you're also recording an album with John Darnielle?

John Vanderslice: Yes, we're doing a "comedian's record," and and that will be out by the time we go on tour in March.

KEXP: What does that mean? Will it be spoken word?

JV: Oh! No! sorry. (laughs) That's the band name [The Comedians]. It would be funny if it were an actual comedian's record, though it might be kind of disappointing, but John is very funny.

The Vanderslice/Mtn Goats tour continues through April 6th. John Vanderslice's new album Romanian Names will be released by Dead Oceans on May 19th, and that's right around the time JV will hit the road again, except this time with a full band:

The line up for the May [John Vanderslice] tour is:
JV: Guitar, Vocals
Ian Bjornstad: Wurlitzer, Moog
Matthias Bossi: Drums
Sylvain Carton: Guitar
James Riotto: Bass

A partial list of venues participating in the Northside Festival this year are Music Hall of Williamsburg, Europa, Studio B, Union Pool, Radegast Hall & Biergarten, Zebulon, Public Assembly, Monkeytown, Pete's Candy Store, Spike Hill, Glasslands, The Cameo, Brooklyn Bowl, Bar Matchless, The Knitting Factory, Rose Live Music, The Shank, Black Betty, Berry Park.

The Mountain Goats/Comedians' NYC setlist, some live videos, and all Vanderslice tour dates, below...

Continue reading "The Comedians (John Darnielle/Vanderslice) played NYC, JV playing BrooklynVegan Northside Fest show, other dates"

The Mountain Goats @ Webster Hall (more by Faith-Ann Young)

"We are going to light out for the Territories in a van with two acoustic guitars, some notebooks, our soundman Brandon and a pouch full of charms against ill omen. We are going to get elemental. We are going to stomp our feet and hammer at the strings until we get what we want from them. We, a couple of guys named John, are going to tour, is what we're going to do. We're going to stand alone onstage and play our guitars and sing old songs & new, and then we'll probably play together. We are going to sit side by side with our acoustic guitars like two out of the five guys on the Five Man Acoustical Jam album, only with fewer Tesla songs. Because the whole point of playing an acoustic guitar is not to unplug. It's to get raw and draw blood."
[John Darnielle aka The Mountain Goats]

The Primitive tour kicks off on March 18th in Asheville, NC, and the NYC show will take place at the Society For Ethical Culture on March 27th. It's part of the Wordless Music Series. Tickets are on sale. John and John each also have some other interesting shows lined up between now and then...

Ten years ago John Vanderslice founded the Tiny Telephone recording studio in San Francisco, CA. To celebrate the occasion, John will be performing a show at the Great American Music Hall on January 30 with The Magik*Magik Orchestra in a 30-piece configuration. "Together they will pull favorite tunes from his catalog, and introduce new songs from a forthcoming album currently being recorded at Tiny Telephone." Special guest DJ Aesop Rock will spin records before and after the performance. All proceeds from the event will benefit Magik*Magik, the house Orchestra of Tiny Telephone.

The Mountain Goats are keeping busy before March comes too. First of all there's Ships & Dip V...

Barenaked Ladies and Sixthman are up to some more shenanigans! It's the real McCoy - Introducing Ships and Dip V, sailing through the Caribbean February 1-6, 2009. We're bringing you the goods again, in what's sure to be the craziest, zaniest time at sea!

Join Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea, The New Odds, Boothby Graffoe, The Weakerthans, and more bands to be announced throughout the year, as we set sail on the Norwegian Jewel for 5 days of revelry, recreation and boatloads of musical fun! With NCL's Freestyle Cruising, you won't get the bum's rush for doing exactly what you want! You can get dolled up, or keep it casual. With 12 restaurants and 11 bars and lounges to choose from, a luxurious spa, a full service casino, and plenty of other features, there won't be any trouble making your cruise experience the cat's pajamas. We set sail from Miami to NCL's private island of Great Stirrup Cay and Cozumel, Mexico- two great places to get some sun on those gams!

When you're not jiving to the amazing artists, relaxing by the pool or dining in one of the many hot spots on board, you can be sure to find tons of other activities to keep you on your toes!

Continue reading "the Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice: Gone Primitive (2009 Tour Dates), Ships & Dip & Tiny Telephone too"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Graf Orlock - "Run Over By A Truck" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Graf Orlock - "A Shocking Interrogation" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wetnurse - "Not Your Choice" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lewd Acts - "Play Me Something That I Know" (MP3)

Sweeeet undies, GOrlock!

What do you get when you cross a metal band with a serious case of ADD and multiple personality disorder, spazzy-grinders with a Point Break fetish, and a crew from a whale's vagina with a Deathwish? A f'n good show, that's what!

Wetnurse, Graf Orlock, Lewd Acts, and 26 Beers will redline the RPH meter (that's riffs per hour) when they team up to destroy The Charleston in Brooklyn on Sunday Jan 18th. The shindig kicks off at 9.

Graf Orlock and Lewd Acts are in the midst of an East Coast tour that also brings the band to New Brunswick, NJ on Saturday Jan 17 and completes in Atlanta on Jan 24.

As we reported in July, Graf Orlock is prepping Destination Time Today, due on March 3rd via Level Plane. Decibel proclaimed it one of the most anticipated albums of 2009. I gotta agree.

Wetnurse recently released Invisible City, garnering heaping shit-tons of end-of-year accolades, including by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats...

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats' Best of 2008:
Wetnurse, Invisible City (Seventh Rule)
Larkin Grimm, Parplar (Young God)
Tata Young, One Love (Sony/BMG)
Kaki King, Dreaming of Revenge (Velour)
Aura Noir, Hades Rise (Tyrant Syndicate)
Cece Winans, Thy Kingdom Come (EMI Gospel)
Killer Mike, I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind 2 (SMC Recordings)
Planet Asia & DJ Muggs, Pain Language (Gold Dust Media)
the Breeders, Mountain Battles (4AD)
Enslaved, Vertebrae (Season of Mist)

Lewd Acts recently signed on with hardcore heavyweights Deathwish Inc, and are finishing up their LP with Kurt Ballou at God City Records. Until that drops, the band has a few 7"s including their latest one, Lung Patrol, on 16oh Records... check out "Play Me Something That I Know" from the Lung Patrol 7" above and pick one up at the show!

By the way, I'm not usually one to point out merch, but one gander at Graf Orlock's merch from past and present is good for a chuckle.

All dates and Sunday's flyer below...

Continue reading "Graf Orlock & Lewd Acts -2009 tour dates (Wetnurse Sunday)"

words and photos by Faith-Ann Young

You know who I'd like to see duel? Kaki King vs. Gabriela from Rodrigo y Gabriela. just a random thought.

Anyway, Sunday night, Kaki King closed out almost a year of touring. Though she was visibly tired, relieved and even teary-eyed at times, Kaki cathartically plucked, strummed, and beat her long-nailed fingers over her guitar...ferociously, yet seemingly effortlessly. In the first 5 minutes, she proved worthy of Rolling Stone's label of one of the 100 best guitar players of all time. Plus, with the help of her band, (a feirce bassist/guitarist, a fiercer drummer, a synth dude, and a guy who plays an quirky electronic valve instrument that looks like a bong), she cohesively melded punk rock, acoustic folk, and shoegaze throughout the set. (set list in pictures below)

How much is a Mountain Goats show worth? One chick in the front spent $500 to fly from Indiana just to see The Mountain Goats perform in NY this weekend (Saturday at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Sunday at Webster Hall) (not to mention accomodations and concert tickets)....pretty impressive. Anyway, Mountain Goats entered the stage to "December 63 (Oh What A Night)." In minutes, John Darnielle was full of sweat and energy, chatting with his usual easy banter, making his fans both clap, laugh and cry. Kaki came back on to play a few songs mid-set, first on guitar, and then on what looked like an electronic autoharp....To prove how close they had gotten during the tour, at the end of set, the whole Kaki crew came out and danced onstage alongside the goats......Hugged, cried - it was good (if emotional) night...

More pictures and a whole bunch of setlists below...

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats & Kaki King @ Webster Hall - NYC - pics & selists (from both NY shows)"

The Mountain Goats @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

When I try to talk about Kaki my usually reliable fund of superlatives seems insufficient. She is just the best. I am so excited about this tour. We can't wait to play music with her every night, and we can't wait to see you all there. [John Darnielle]

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats & Kaki King - 2008 Tour Dates"

Nancy Garcia & Thurston Moore @ No Fun Fest 2008 (more by Lori Baily)

John Darnielle @ Housing Works Bookstore - May 17, 2008 (ian.crowther)

tonight in NYC
* 205 Tuesdays
* Nemeth @ Monkeytown
* Kidz in the Hall @ SOB's
* Sam Champion at Union Pool
* The Dead Science @ Zebulon
* Devotchka & Basia Bulat @ Terminal 5
* R. Stevie Moore's Cake Shop residency
* Candlemass & Daylight Dies @ BB King's
* Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra @ Bowery Ballroom

What else?

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats) played solo at Friday night's benefit show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple (May 16, 2008). He took fan suggestions for the setlist which ended up including a lot of older stuff that he usually doesn't play, as well as a new song called "Wizard Buys A Hat," which he said is the worst song title he's ever written. Rock Plaza Central, John Oliver and Dave Hill were also on the bill. More pictures from the evening below....

Continue reading "the Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), Dave Hill, John Oliver & Rock Plaza Central @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, NYC - pics"

by Black Bubblegum

John Darnielle knows his tunes. Not just his own, everyone else's too. I mean, how many people can blog away about Dionne Warwick, sing the praises of Con Funk Shun, AND review the Maryland Deathfest?

John also knows a thing or two about writing (check his blog or his column in Decibel) but it wasnt until recently that he decided to focus his energies into his first book, Master Of Reality. As #56 in the popular 33 1/3 series, Master Of Reality is a profile of the seminal Black Sabbath record which may or may not have laid the ground work for the entire stoner rock genre ("Sweet Leaf" anyone?).

Master Of Reality is out now and in celebration of his accomplishment, John Darnielle will be reading from Master Of Reality at Housing Works Used Book Cafe in NYC this Saturday, May 17th at 7PM.

But that's not the only thing Darnielle has going down this weekend..... The night before, his band The Mountain Goats will headline the AIDS Walk benefit at Brooklyn Masonic Temple with The Daily Show's John Oliver, Rock Plaza Central, and Dave Hill on the assist tip. Tickets are still available and it's for a great cause, so scoot on over and get'em while you can.

Black Sabbath Version 2.0, aka Heaven & Hell, are part of the Metal Masters Tour with Judas Priest, Motorhead & Testament. Tickets for those shows are still on sale too.

Popmatters was able to delve into why John Darnielle chose Master Of Reality and what he loves about metal.

Check out some of Darnielle's other favorite metal albums in a guest blog he did with Powell's. Darnielle profiles WASP's The Headless Children, Judas Priest's Sad Wings Of Destiny, Black Sabbath's Born Again (really? that one?), Guns N Roses's Appetite For Destruction, and Mercyful Fate's Don't Break The Oath.

Continue reading "John Darnielle, Black Sabbath, a book reading & stuff"

DOWNLOAD: The Mountain Goats - Palmcorder Yajna (MP3)

Hodgman, Oliver & Darnielle (The Three Johns) (Lalitree)

March 19, 2008 Australian Tour Cancelled

As some Australian ticketholders have already heard, we have had to cancel the Australian tour. This is really devastating for us to do. Everybody knows I don't cancel a show unless I absolutely have to; what's worse, coming to Australia is the highlight of our year. So many of our favorite shows ever are from our Australian tours, and we were excited about showing everyone the full-band lineup. The note sent out by our wonderful Australian agents, Handsome Tours, says "for personal medical reasons," and that says as much as need be said; if it weren't serious, I would be leaving for Oz next week, believe me. You'll be doing me a great favor if you keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and if you know in your heart that I don't play around in doing right by the people I love: I will be back to make this up to you.

Thank you for your understanding and again I am really really sorry. Love to you all

John D.

For more Mtn Goats, check out a feature on NPR and an article at the Guardian about his love for monsters and Black Sabbath.

Kimya is the new Feist, @ Europa, Brooklyn, NY - Jan 16, 2008 (CRED)

If you were wondering why Kimya Dawson and Adam Green never ended up reuniting on the Conan O'Brien show....

Well, we said yes initially because I didn't realize what the situation still was with the strike. Then John Darnielle emailed me and told me what the deal was with Conan being forced back on and when I realized that no agreement had been reached with the writers, I cancelled. [Kimya Dawson to Gothamist]

DOWNLOAD: Pig Destroyer - Gravedancer (MP3)

by Black Bubblegum (a BV metal correspondent)

Calculators out..... The Dillinger Escape Plan will be back in NYC on Sunday December 16th, to play hits (and I mean that in a Tony Soprano kinda way) from their critically acclaimed new Faith-No-More-meets-odd-time-signature-Napalm-Death LP, "Ire Works". Tickets are still available.

Getting all morse code-y with DEP is Genghis Tron, who recently posted "Board Up The House" off of their new upcoming record for Relapse. Check it at their MySpace. Also, you can catch Mookie Singerman's (Genghis Tron) awesome monthly column "Route 666" in Decibel Magazine.

Speaking of Decibel, check out their picks for 2007's best heavy records.... I wonder which ones were Mookie's, John Darnielle's (Mountain Goats) & Jeffrey Walker's (ex-Carcass) faves? (they all write for Decibel)

Decibel's Top 40 Records of 2007
1.Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (John's #4)
2.Watain - Sworn to the Dark
3.The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
4.Jesu - Conqueror
5.Baroness - The Red Album
6. Neurosis - Given to the Rising (playing some shows)
7. Witchcraft - The Alchemist
8. Portal - Outré
9. High on Fire - Death is this Communion (Dave Hill liked this too)
10. A Life Once Lost - Iron Gag

Continue reading "Dillinger Escape Plan, High on Fire, Genghis Tron, Decibel's Top 40 of 2007, 2008 Tour Dates"

1. Bowerbirds - Songs for a Dark Horse (Burly Time)
2. CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn (Touch and Go)
3. Bloody Panda - Pheromone (Level Plane)
4. Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (Relapse)
5. Bottomless Pit - Hammer Of The Gods (Comedy Minus One)
6. Various Artists - The Kings of Reggae (compilation. Rapster)
7. Babyshambles - Shotters Nation (Astralwerks)
8. Foetopsy - In the Bathroom (Barbarian)
9. Mayhem - Ordo ad Chao (Season of Mist)
10. Om - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)