I hate writing year-end lists, as might be obvious to many long-time BrooklynVegan readers. That said, I also like them. They help organize things, which is related to my problem though. I'm too unorganized and hectic to ever get around to making one! But this year a few of us (BrooklynVegan contributors) got together and decided to come up with a collective list of albums that we loved that we think most represented 2011 in BrooklynVegan land. Our indie rock-centric list purposely does not include metal (that's HERE) or hip hop (we should make a separate list). With that in mind, our top 26 albums of 2011, in alphabetical order, are listed (with some commentary and a list of honorable mentions too) below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan's Favorite Albums of 2011"

Josh T Pearson @ BV-SXSW 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Check out Rough Trade's list of the Top 100 Albums of 2011 (yay Josh T Pearson!), below...

Continue reading "Rough Trade's Top 100 albums of 2011 "

words by Rachel Kowal, photos by Amanda Hatfield

Casiokids @ Public Assembly

Well, another CMJ week has come and gone. How did you fare?

Though Northside summoned a number of my favorite artists to town, the CMJ line-up was rather thin by comparison, so I made it my goal to catch as many new acts as possible this year. With help from BV's tightly scheduled day parties, I managed to squeeze in 46 bands. While it's all still fresh in my mind (ie, before I spend the next week hibernating), here's a recap of my week, complete with my favorite finds...

I kicked things off with trance-inducing, one-man knob twittler Sun Glitters. Figuring out how to bring life to headphone-friendly, sample-heavy music in a live audience setting can be a challenge, but the few I saw this week (Million Young, Chad Valley and Luxembourg's Sun Glitters included) were decent.

If last year was the age of the one-man laptop act, 2011 was rife with lo-fi, synth/guitar-heavy (mostly) male groups cloaked in reverb. Each band had its strengths: Sunglasses (great energy on stage), Gauntlet Hair, Guards (perfectly summed up the sound of the moment), 1,2,3, Balkans (nice balance of in-your-face guitars and sunnily-swaggering vox), Tiny Victories. But after a while, I confess they all started to blend together--especially since a good chunk of these bands came early in the week for me.

What did stand out for me in this category was San Diego's garage-psych outfit Tropical Popsicle. Instead of falling flat, the deadpan vocal delivery of Tim Hines pulled me in and kept my attention, making me forget about my plans to leave midset. Another pleasant surprise for me was Dive, the side project of Beach Fossils guitarist Zachary Cole Smith.

But after a rather slow start to the week when schedule issues and cancellations made me abandon my original plans, things definitely picked up midweek. I spent Wednesday evening shuffling around in the rain to some seven venues. From the synth-driven pop music of Norway's Casiokids (whom I managed to sneak in on my lunch hour) to the decent public radio-friendly folk-pop of The Lighthouse and The Whaler and Lissy Trullie's alluringly husky vocals, the day was full of pleasant surprises--not the least of which was John Maus, easily one of the highlights of my week.

As I walked through the door at 285 Kent, I immediately felt as if I had gone back in time. Thick music pumped from the DIY graffiti-covered space, through clouds of cigarette smoke. On stage, Maus shook with intensity as he addressed the mass of dancing, sweaty revelers. Beneath the shambling chaos of the quick synth riffs and simple drum lines is an unhinged but triumphant quality that is intoxicating. I had heard whispered stories of Maus shows before, but I never really understood the fervor until I saw it for myself.

Thursday was also packed with a number of good finds. I somehow found myself in the 7th floor of a swanky hotel for an "acoustic" (as in not electric; not unplugged) Dum Dum Girls set (though only 2/4 band members were present). Other highlights included the seriously talented and take-your-breath-away-beautiful dreamy folk-pop of Gem Club (who just released their debut album on Hardly Art), and Brooklyn's own, Headless Horseman who make fun, glitchy, hook-laden music with inventive beats (Their song "Wavlngth" was seriously one of my favorites all week.)

Friday, my band-count escalated rapidly, thanks to the BV day showcase at Public Assembly, which essentially had two bands playing each hour. I knocked out a few of the hyped bands in this fashion, including Chelsea Wolfe and Gauntlet Hair. (I also stepped over to Cameo briefly to catch a few adrenaline-packed songs from the Brooklyn duo Hunters.) With her beautifully haunting (but not annoying operatic) vocals Chelsea Wolfe was certainly one of the more memorable acts of the week. Would she be getting as much buzz if she didn't dress like "a medival [sic] reinactment [sic] person from Medival [sic] Times" (to quote an anonymous BV commenter)? Hard to say, but I have to give the woman credit--I couldn't take my eyes off her, and she was one of the few artists I caught twice. But my surprise favorite of the day show was Young Magic. Hip-hop and dark electro-pop may be unlikely bedfellows, but they sure make for quite an interesting pair. These guys are a force.

Other highlights of the day included the eye-catching electro-pop duo Purity Ring (love the name) and one of my favorite SXSW finds from earlier this year, Sea of Bees. At Webster Hall, Purity Ring's bass was so powerful at times that I almost forgot to breathe. Though the band relies on a lot of samples to craft their sound, they are far more interesting to watch due to their onstage chemistry and mysterious gold-piped instrument. Though nothing alike, my other favorite artist of the evening was Sea of Bees. Singer/songwriter Julie Baeziger's genuinely sweet demeanor and earnest acoustic performance are always a pleasant change of pace from the more aloof, laptop-driven artists that seem to sprout with the speed and frequency of mushrooms.

The week concluded not with a bang (I was turned away at the door of Brooklyn Bowl for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, whom I had hoped to end on), but with more of a slow fade-out. Forced to change my schedule at the last minute, I caught a few acts nearby, including Delicate Steve (how those five people were working from the same set list was a mystery at times given the haphazard nature of their sound, but it was fun to watch them put it all together), Races (pleasant and charming), Bleached, and about four minutes of the Kopecky Family Band (fun!) before hopping on the L and calling it a week.

So how does this year's CMJ stack up? Most people I spoke with seemed unimpressed. No doubt, the growth of SXSW--especially over the past few years--seems to have sucked some of the life out of CMJ. (It's hard to compete with free tacos, 76-degree days, and the compact nature of downtown Austin.) But like a hipster chick desperately scouring the racks at Beacon's Closet, I like the challenge of the frenzied search. There's good stuff in there hiding among the dross. You just have to look a bit harder.

---

Pictures in this post are from day parties at Pianos (We Listen for You) and Public Assembly (Under the Radar) on Wednesday. More of them below...

Continue reading "Rachel's CMJ recap +++ pics from 2 Wednesday day parties"

photos by Ryan Barkan

ASAP Rocky

One, two, and now three. It continues below...

Continue reading "one last set of pics from the 2011 NYC Creators Project"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo, Justice shots by Bryan Derballa

As we were saying, the Creators Project takeover of DUMBO went down this past weekend. Here is a second set of pictures from Saturday, now with Justice, Florence & the Machine, and more. They continue below...

Continue reading "Creators Project in DUMBO in pics -- part 2 (Justice, Florence & the Machine, Queen Sea Big Shark & more)"

words & photos by BBG

Hopefully, there weren't masses that headed to DUMBO on Saturday (10/15) expecting a few Mozz-a-repa stands, a sausage & pepper cart, and a dealer selling his collection of "tobacco" pipes while looking for the live music. The Creators Project had much more to offer. It celebrated the different facets of creativity within art, music, and theater while showcasing live music alongside interactive sculpture to create a wholly different "festival" environment.

The musical portion was limited to two live stages and a third "DJ" stage which also housed a few exhibits. One live stage was located under an archway beneath the Manhattan Bridge. The other was in the "Tobacco Warehouse", a brick structure that has also hosted the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. The shows were free, though you needed to RSVP (and even then you needed a confirmation that you were accepted).

I kicked off my afternoon at the Tobacco Warehouse stage with Teen Daze whose laptop knob-twiddling didn't make for much of a live event. After a few songs I moved on to my first band of the day, Brooklyn's Chairlift. Caroline Polachek is the clear focus of the band's sound, with her vocals pushed to the front and the electronic-pop complementing her lilting voice. Their sunny and simple compositions were sugar-y, well executed and a good way to ease into the day, but not particularly memorable. The next performance would bring about an abrupt change.

John Maus

No one outcrazys John Maus. After the crew cleared the stage of seemingly every piece of gear, the very unassuming Maus came on to plug his Roland SP-404 sampler into the DI and his microphone into an echo pedal. With the hit of his sampler, Maus kicked off his set by bouncing left and right and jumping around. Veins bulged in his neck and face as he began to scream, sing, whimper and all but cry into his microphone during his vocal parts. Even if I had no interest in his recorded material (which I do, and tons of it), I would, as I'm sure any passerby would, still find the maniacal John Maus live (almost freak) show absolutely enthralling. Catch him again this week at 285 Kent.

After 3+ songs from Clams Casino on the laptop which was about as exciting as it sounds (dramatic key-stroke!), A$AP Rocky opened his set by explaining that people are saying he is the "biggest thing to hip hop since the Wu-Tang Clan". I'd like to meet these people. Regardless of how over/correctly hyped A$AP is, he and his crew (which included an appearance from Spaceghostpurrp) were particularly high energy - stage-diving, inciting mosh-pits, and hopping around on stage. The crowd didn't move with the same enthusiasm though. Despite calls for more participation, the crew didn't ignite similar energy in the crowd.

After a visit to see Four Tet (another knob-twiddling set), I cruised over to see Bradford Cox do a one-man Atlas Sound. I prefer Atlas Sound in full band mode to Bradford solo, but his set was fresh change to the mostly electronic vibe of the day. Cox's voice coupled with the Bridge backdrop and the Manhattan skyline was particularly impressive.

Company Flow

Up next was Company Flow, my main motivation for being there since I missed their recent reunion shows at ATP and Santos Party House.

It had been around 14 years since I saw Company Flow on tour with Organized Konfusion, the former celebrating their seminal Funcrusher Plus and the latter promoting what may be their final effort, The Equinox. That summer in 1997, Co-Flow sounded so alien to everything else in the era; primitive, noisy beats made with crude synths and harsh scratches were complemented by abstract and double-time rhymes. Lead by a white redhead-ed MC (a rarity in the era), Company Flow was truly unique in their time.

Company Flow were massive to me in that certain, early-backpacker Rawkus era, the blast-off point for El-P's noisy and dystopian blueprint at Definitive Jux. So it pains me to say that the primitive Company Flow sound hasn't aged so well live; El-P still has a good stage presence as always, but unfortunately the rawness of the tracks just now come across as simplistic in comparison to his sleeker production. It was good to see the crew though, and with Pharoahe Monch in tow, much like that night in DC in 1997.

After Co-Flow, I caught a bit of Florence & The Machine before calling it an evening meaning I also missed the abbreviated Justice DJ set. Though cops shut down Jusice early and a vocal minority of DUMBO residents complained about the takeover of their neighborhood streets, the complaints were minor leagues compared to the impressive spectacle that descended on art galleries, parks, storefronts, and even an archway underneath the Manhattan Bridge.

We're splitting this into multiple parts, so stay tuned for the rest. Meanwhile, more pictures of everything I saw, below...

Continue reading "Creators Project in DUMBO in pics & review -- part 1 (Company Flow, John Maus, A$AP Rocky, Chairlift & more)"

John Maus @ Creators Project - 10/15/2011 (by ribbonmusic)

As you can see in the above picture, John Maus has hit the Creators Project stage in DUMBO. I think that means nobody will get mad if I reveal now that John Maus is one of the unannounced acts playing the Domino CMJ showcase at 285 Kent on Wednesday. One more act TBA (it's not the Domino-signed Arctic Monkeys who play Music Hall of Williamsburg the same night).

PRESS RELEASE:

The Creators Project will return to New York from October 15 - October 16 by transforming the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn into a colossal two-day arts and technology festival.

After spending the year traveling the world, VICE and Intel's The Creators Project lands back in New York with a marquee lineup of live performances and original Studio works by groundbreaking artists, musicians, designers and filmmakers.

This year's festival will take to the streets of DUMBO, Brooklyn, erecting 30-foot sculptures, showcasing works from over thirty leading international artists, and featuring dozens of live music performances. The event will also include the world premiere of Karen O's psycho-opera, Stop The Virgens, along with film screenings and panels.

Original artworks include Life on Mars Revisited, an immersive short film of David Bowie's classic space-rock anthem from legendary music photographer Mick Rock and filmmaker Barney Clay; 'A Physical Manifestation of Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space,' a cathedral-like physical manifestation of the song created by Spiritualized's J. Spaceman and acclaimed film director Jonathan Glazer; and Origin, a striking thirty by thirty foot audiovisual installation by UVA and composer Scanner, which will be the largest responsive work ever created by the UK based artists.

The festival runs:
Saturday 12-10pm
Sunday 12-8pm

Lineup, venue list, etc, below...

Continue reading "Creators Project announces 2 day DUMBO fest (Florence & the Machine, Atlas Sound, Company Flow, Four Tet, John Maus, more)"

DOWNLOAD: SBTRKT - "Wildfire" (Drumma Boy remix ft. Shabazz Palaces) (MP3)

Back in June, we announced the killer initial lineup for Moogfest 2011 (October 28, 29, 30). That lineup just got even better with additions including TV on the Radio, Special Disco Version featuring James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, St. Vincent, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus, YACHT, John Maus, Araabmuzik Baths, Zomby, Active Child and more. It was also announced that Brian Eno, part of the initial lineup, will be presenting Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings and "Illustrated Talks" as part of this year's fest.

The initial announcement also included Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Austra, M83, Little Dragon, Passion Pit, Toro y Moi, Moby (full band), The Flaming Lips, Battles, CANT, Brandt Brauer Frick (who will be on a US tour that hits Glasslands), and more.

Speaking of CANT (aka Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear), he revealed the song "Believe" from his upcoming debut LP yesterday. Stream the track below. The album comes out September 13 on Chris' own Terrible Records. He's also got an upcoming tour surrounding Moogfest which includes a show on October 25 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of SBTRKT and Little Dragon, Drumma Boy remixed the SBTRKT song with Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano on lead vocals. Shabazz Palaces is also featured on the remix (compare that to Drake's version). Grab the track above via Gorilla vs Bear. Shabazz wrote on Facebook today, "Besides the release of Black Up, I don't think I've seen one article on here create such a surge of activity as this Wildfire Remix has. Amazing."

Sampha, who sings live with SBTRKT and on his album, also recently released his own song, "Indecision." Stream the track below. Moogfest is one of the stops on SBTRKT's recently announced US tour that also hits Bowery Ballroom on October 31 (with Araabmuzik) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 1. Tickets for both shows are still on sale.

Little Dragon plays a BV-presented Record Release show at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg TONIGHT (8/16). The show is sold out, but if you don't have tickets you can catch them in NYC again on their headlining tour which hits Terminal 5 on October 14. Tickets are still on sale.

Song streams and full Moogfest lineup below...

Continue reading "updated Moogfest lineup, new CANT & a Shabazz Palaces/Drumma Boy SBTRKT/Little Dragon remix (MP3s)"

Crystal Antlers at SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Crystal Antlers are in NYC tonight (8/4) to play House of Vans with Man Man and Glass Candy. The show is free and RSVP is still open.

As previously mentioned, Crystal Antlers are also sticking around and playing Glasslands on Saturday (8/6) with Gary War, who according to John Maus (who has issued an apology for being mean to record stores), gives "one of the most uncompromising performances [he's] seen in a while." Team Robespierre and Balkans are also on the bill. Tickets are still available.

Crystal Antlers' new LP Two Way Mirror is out now via Recreation Ltd. You can purchase it in many different formats directly from the band at their website and stream the entire thing at Grooveshark. Check out their new video for the album's title track below.

Crystal Antlers will tour in support of the album this November when they open for WU LYF on the UK band's just-announced tour. As mentioned, that tour hits Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 8. Tickets go on sale Friday (8/5) at noon and are currently available for those with AmEx cards.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "Crystal Antlers added to WU LYF tour (meanwhile in NYC for two shows this week) -- dates"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

John Maus @ Mercury Lounge

One night after they played Glasslands, John Maus and Puro Instinct brought their tour to Mercury Lounge. The Wednesday night (6/29) Manhattan show also included Amazing Army and Geneva Jacuzzi on the bill. Amanda summed up the night as "slightly bizarre, very entertaining."

Opener Amazing Amy is a very flexible woman, especially for her age.

Geneva Jacuzzi, a woman dressed as a mime, sang over an iPod playing backing tracks while running back and forth and dancing across the stage.

John Maus also performed with a backing track, but is more riveting. He jumps around stage, pounds himself in the head and chest like he's in physical pain or psychological anguish, and screams without a mic in between singing parts. Hermione Hoby says John is "like a kid doing charade to word "INTENSITY".'" Amanda said she was "sort of afraid he's going to hit me, but I still can't look away." It will be interesting to see if John makes the switch to full band some time in the future.

Puro Instinct delivered a calmer set that will be improved with more years. You can catch Puro Instinct again tonight (7/1) as the no longer secret guest at Pianos. Puro & John continue on the road together again after that.

Videos and pictures from Mercury Lounge below...

Continue reading "John Maus, Puro Instinct, Geneva Jacuzzi & Amazing Amy played (and did weird things on stage) @ Mercury Lounge (pics)"

The "special guest" playing Pianos Friday night with Selebrities is Puro Instinct whose tour with John Maus just brought them to both Glasslands and Mercury Lounge. Pics from Mercury Lounge are on the way, and we already talked about Glasslands (though briefly). If you missed it, Bill wrote:

" I caught [John Maus and Puro Instinct[ at Glasslands. Maus' show, which shouldn't work, does thanks to his dedication and intensity. A little goes a long way, though. (I really like the new album, I should say.) Puro Instict can really sing and play... better songs will come with time. They're young."

The Pianos show is a benefit for human trafficking survivors and advanced tickets are on sale. Slowdance, Yvette, Care Bears on Fire (even younger than Puro Instinct) and Blissed Out DJs are also on the bill.

Updated Puro Instinct tour dates, and a video they posted with a current Kickstarter campaign they have going, below...

Continue reading "Puro Instinct played Glasslands & Mercury Lounge, are the secret guest Friday night @ Pianos (updated dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Sloan - Follow the Leader (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Memory Tapes - "Wait In The Dark" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Memory Tapes - "Today Is Our Life" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Maus - "Quantum Leap" (MP3)

Sloan

Holiday weekends generally mean less bands of note playing in NYC which seems to be the case this year for the Fourth of July, but there is some great stuff happening nonetheless. First and formost for me are Canadian rock icons Sloan, who play Bowery Ballroom tonight (6/29) and Knitting Factory tomorrow (6/30). If you missed it, I interviewed guitarist Jay Ferguson earlier this week which was a lot of fun. Here's him talking about playing Sloan's new fantastic album, The Double Cross, live:

It's fun, especially the first three songs on the record which are kind of a little mini suite that flow into each other. We play those right at the beginning, flowing together so it's a fun exercise to pull off. It's always fun to play the new songs. Maybe more fun for us than the audience. We've been around for 20 years and hopefully the audience is interested the new material but you hope you're not boring them. When Mick Jagger says, "Here's another new one from Bridges to Babylon," everyone goes to get a drink. Hopefully people will patiently listen until we play one of our huge hits from 1998.

It is Independence Day weekend which means The Feelies at Maxwell's. These are now becoming the summertime equivalent of Yo La Tengo's Hanukkah shows and there are three this year:  Friday(7/1)  and Saturday (7/2) which are both sold out and Sunday (7/3) which still has tickets.

In addition to the band's classic catalog -- and host of covers -- The Feelies have a new album this time out as you may know. Here Before is the band's first album in 20 years and finds Glen Mercer, Bill Million and the rest of the band picking up basically where they left off. But really, what else would you expect. It's a lovely album, probably most reminiscent of 1985's  The Good Earth with the prevelance of acoustic guitars. That magic interplay between Mercer and Million is still there. This is an album for early evening Sunday back yard barbeques. And anyone who's seen The Feelies live since they got back together knows they've still got it.

And if you can't make the Maxwell's shows, The Feelies play Celebrate Brooklyn on July 23.

If you want to let it all hang out, maybe go see Nobunny who plays Knitting Factory on Friday (7/1) and a late show at Mercury Lounge on Saturday (7/2). He will certainly be hanging out, most of him at least, as it's a rare show where he doesn't strip down to his tightie whities. The sleazoid schtick remains fun because Nobunny's songs are pretty undeniably catchy in a Ramones-y pop-punk meets Happy Days kind of way. As can be heard on last year's First Blood. Live shows remain unhinged. If you're in a Nobunny state of mind, it's a good time.

I do wonder about that mask, though. He does wash it occasionally, right? If you can wash it.

And if you're in an electronic pop kind of mood, Memory Tapes play a late show on Friday night (7/1) at Mercury Lounge. Main Memory man Dayve Hawk has crafted a lovely thing with his second album Player Piano which comes out next week. Using mostly live drums this time out gives it a real human beating heart, I think, and bodes well for the live shows this time around. (I was a little underwhelmed when I saw them at the Pool Parties last summer but that wasn't an ideal venue for what MT do.) I dig the record's songwriting and production, both of which are pretty teriffic. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. And do check out the very cool video for "Yes I Know" at the bottom of this post.

And that's mostly it for this holiday weekend. Happy America! A few more picks -- and shameless plugging -- below.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29

John Maus and Puro Instinct are at Mercury Lounge. I caught both last night at Glasslands. Maus' show, which shouldn't work, does thanks to his dedication and intensity. A little goes a long way, though. (I really like the new album, I should say.) Puro Instict can really sing and play... better songs will come with time. They're young.

continued below...

Continue reading "Sloan, Memory Tapes, John Maus, Feelies, Real Estate, Nobunny, Seaport shows & more in This Week in Indie "

by Andrew Sacher

John Maus releases the We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves on Tuesday (6/28) the new Domino-related Ribbon Music label. The album is slightly more polished than his previous efforts, but still far more lo-fi than the new romantic artists John so heavily channels. John will play an Other Music in-store on June 28 at 8 PM in support of the album's release. He also plays Glasslands that same night (tickets) and Mercury Lounge on June 29 (tickets) as part of his tour with Puro Instinct.

While you wait, you can pre-order the album and stream the album on NPR.

John also recently made a video for "Head for the Country" directed by Jennifer Juniper Stratford. Check that out, along with updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "John Maus adds NYC in-store, made a new video ------------- updated tour dates & album stream too"

John Maus at Glasslands - 5/9/11 (via Contrast and Compare)

John Maus (not to be confused with the John Maus who just sadly passed away) played Glasslands last night (5/9) with Gary War, Holy Shit, DJ International Tapes, and DJ WEIRD MAGIC. It was one of just three dates that Maus had/has scheduled in middle May, the next being 5/13 in LA on Maus's home coast. How was Glasslands? Bill, who didn't really know anything about John going in, tweeted, "it was just him onstage with canned backing but it was 4real, unlike, say, How To Dress Well bs. Still, he played too long." A video from the show is below.

If you missed it, look for Maus when he returns to the same exact Brooklyn venue on the date of his new LP's release. We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves is out via Ribbon Music on June 28th.

The next Glasslands show is also part of a tour with Puro Instinct, and actually one of two new NYC dates: there's Glasslands on 6/28 with Geneva Jacuzzi (tickets) and also Mercury Lounge on 6/29 (tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon). All dates are listed below.

Continue reading "John Maus played Glasslands, adds more Puro Instinct dates"

John Maus aka John Walker

Singer-guitarist John Maus, whose L.A.-bred pop trio the Walker Brothers attained major chart success and induced hysteria in '60s Swinging London, died May 7 in Los Angeles.

Known professionally as John Walker, he was 67, and succumbed to liver cancer.

[The Walker Brothers] soulful hits, produced in an opulent Phil Spector style by Johnny Franz and featuring lead vocalist Scott Walker's aching baritone, flew to the top of the charts in 1965. While their remake of Jerry Butler's "Make It Easy On Yourself" and the Bob Crewe-penned "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" only reached the top 20 in the U.S., they vaulted to No. 1 in Blighty.

The Walkers logged several other big singles and three albums, and staged several riotously received British tours (the last of which featured another expat, Jimi Hendrix, as the opening act) before Scott Walker's solo ambitions broke up the band in 1967. Maus cut two solo albums, "If You Go Away" (1967) and "This is John Walker" (1969).

The trio regrouped in 1975 to record three more albums; the highly experimental "Nite Flights" (1978) ended the act for good.

Maus' later solo discography included "You" (2000). He performed the Walkers' hits as part of the Solid Silver Sixties Tour, and released a live album in 2004.

He is survived by his wife and four children. -[Variety]

---

In not related/unrelated/weird-timing news, John Maus (the one born in 1980) is in from California and plays a show at Glasslands tonight (5/9).

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: John Maus - "Quantum Leap" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Maus - "Believer" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gary War - "Sirens" (MP3)

John Maus is preparing his new LP We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves (awesome title!) for Ribbon Music on June 28th. Check out a pair of songs ("Quantum Leap" and "Believer") and a video for "Believer" above/below. Fans of Joy Division, Cold Cave, and cold & reverb-y darkwave take note.

In celebration, Maus will hit the road for some dates in May before a larger tour with Puro Instinct in June that will send him from coast to coast. The first set of dates include a Brooklyn show at Glasslands on May 9th with Gary War, Holy Shit!, DJ International Tapes, and DJ WEIRD MAGIC. Tickets are on sale, but reportedly going fast.

Gary War's Police Water EP is out now via Sacred Bones, and the band recently released a track from the EP for download. Check out "Sirens" streaming below/downloadable above.

Puro Instinct plays an RSVP-free show in Brooklyn on Thursday (4/28) with Cults & Oberhofer. Oberhofer also just added another Brooklyn show happening at Coco 66 on May 14th with Widowspeak and Vacation. Tickets are on sale.

All tour dates, the song stream and that video is below.

Continue reading "John Maus releasing LP on Ribbon Music, touring (MP3, dates) +++ Oberhofer adds show"

"secret location"

To quote Altered Zones...

[This MP3 is an] Excellent new romantic pop jam from innovator + former Ariel Pink/Panda Bear-collaborator John Maus, teasing his forthcoming album We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves, coming soon on Upset the Rhythm. (via Gorilla Vs Bear)

MP3: John Maus: "And The Rain"

Keep an eye on Upset the Rhythm for more info, or ask the man yourself at one of the two shows happening in Brooklyn, both after midnight, this Friday at a secret location and Saturday at Knitting Factory

UPDATE: Despite previously reported info, this MP3 of "And The Rain" is not the official album version and is a rough cut leaked by Maus' brother.

Psychedelic Horseshit @ Less Artists More Condos (more by Tim Griffin)

TooCoolToDie: I've heard rumours that you've now signed with Woodist. If so, why the change up from Siltbreeze?

Matt of Psychedelic Horseshit: The funny thing, at this level, is that there is no actual 'signing' per se. It's just an agreement usually made in person or via the phone/net. I ordered some stuff from Woodsist like a year ago and Jeremy (the boss), who is super nice and awesome, offered to do a 7" for us. Over the course of 9 months it grew into a 12" and came out a couple weeks back. We aren't exclusively 'signed' to Woodsist though and will release our next proper full length on Siltbreeze, which is our real label 'home' if we have one. If anyone out there wants to actually 'sign' us though, for real, with money and stuff, then we are totally down. Not opposed to 'label' labels at all.

PH will also stick around at least 2 more days after the fest, to headline their own Brooklyn show on July 5:

Continue reading "Psychedelic Horseshit playing 2 July shows ++ single day Woodsist Fest tickets on sale (July 3-4)"