The shortlist has been revealed for the 2011 Mercury Prize. The list includes some major albums like James Blake's incredibly striking self titled debut, PJ Harvey's massive comeback Let England Shake, and Adele's 21, in addition to some other interesting choices like Anna Calvi's self titled debut and King Creosote & Jon Hopkins collaborative album Diamond Mine.

Katy B, who paid a brief visit to the US in June, is also nominated.

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins were just in NYC for two shows, including Thursday (7/14) at Mercury Lounge and Sunday (7/17) at The Rock Shop. The shows were part of a short tour which ends this week. They also play some shows together in August and September.

It's also interesting to note the absence of Radiohead on this list. The King of Limbs is the first of the band's album not to be nominated since Amnesiac's nomination in 2001 (though they've never actually won).

Spotify, which is now available in the US, has a playlist of all the nominated albums. Check it out here if you have Spotify installed already.

Check out the full list below...

Continue reading "2011 Mercury Prize nominees announced"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rayon Beach - Wave Pool Ether (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Wesley Coleman - Ooh Basketball (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Urge Overkill - Effigy (MP3)

Tom Vek

This week is kind of nuts. I know you're all probably just going to be spending it reading A Dance with Dragons or going to see Harry Potter, but here's your TWII action... let's get into it.

Tom Vek is here for two shows, his first U.S. shows since 2005: an early show tonight (7/12) at Mercury Lounge and tomorrow (7/13) at Union Pool. I don't think either are sold out. His second album Leisure Seizure -- six years in the making -- has remained in constant rotation on my stereo since getting a copy in May and I'm pretty excited for these shows.

The new record still sounds like Tom Vek -- the staccato drum beats, sparse arrangements, his laid-back vocal style -- and maybe it's the absence but it still sounds fresh. It's a great record and a welcome return. I have no idea who is in his band these days, but he was fantastic live back when he toured for We Have Sound in 2005. I have a feeling he's still got it.

Wild Beasts

Wild Beasts are over for four East Coast shows, including two nights at Le Poisson Rouge on Wednesday (7/13) and Thursday (7/14). (They're also playing Philly and D.C.) These will be the first the band have done since releasing their third album, Smother, back in May. As I've said before, this is subtler album than Two Dancers that shows the influence of Talk Talk and The Blue Nile in particular. It's a grower, as they say, and a worthy successor to 2009's best album. Check out "Loop the Loop" at the top of this post.

Live, Wild Beasts are truly something to behold,  transcending their records every time (at least every time I've seen them). Sky Larkin's Katie Harkin is playing keyboards with the band on this Stateside jaunt which is an added bonus for some of us. The rest of North America will get a chance to see Wild Beasts in September when they come back for a proper tour.  All 2011 dates are at the bottom of this post.

Urge Overkill

Shifting gears wildly, we've got Chicago rock gods Urge Overkill in town for two shows this week. They play the Rocks Off cruise on Wednesday (7/13) and then the Rock Shop on Saturday (7/16) as part of the venue's big One Year Anniversary which is happening all this week.

Urge Overkill were odd men out in the '90s, doing suave, heavily postured cock rock in an era dominated by slacker indie and stoner sludge. 1993's Saturation is one of the decade's classics, all big riffs and attitude that has only gotten finer with age. The same can't be said for 1995's Exit the Dragon, which found the band succumbed to the rock n' roll excesses the band exemplified. (There were even rumors the band were too fucked up to even play on its recordings, having most parts subbed by session musicians.)

There were various comeback gigs in the '00s but I don't think anybody expected them to make a new album. Which made this year's Rock'n'Roll Submarine (great title) a double shock: it exists and, more importantly, it's pretty awesome. Kato and Roeser keep the same flame alive: badass riffs, supercatchy choruses, and that unfakeable rock n' roll spirit. (No Blackie Onassis, but some chemistry is just too volatile apparently.) There's also a world-weariness that keeps it all real. They aren't trying to pretend they haven't been through some serious shit. But to paraphrase "Effigy" (downloadable at the top of this post), they've always taken the loud way.

The Wooden Birds

Lovely Austin band The Wooden Birds play two shows this week as well: Thursday (7/14) at Mercury Lounge and Friday (7/15) at The Rock Shop. As you may know at this point, this is Andrew Kenny's post-American Analog Set band, which still has his drony motorik style but in a much more acoustic setting. The Wooden Birds' sophomore album, Two Matchsticks, is (in my opinion) much better than their debut: the arrangements are more dynamic and the addition of Matt Pond (both on guitar and vocally) adds a lot. (Matt Pond PA's Chris Hansen is a touring member as well.) You can check out the title track to the new album at the top of this post.

Tune-Yards @ MHOW (more by Amanda Hatfield)

What else? Hudson River Rocks starts this week (Thursday 7/14) with tUnE-yArDs and Austra which is a pretty hard-to-pass-up free show. While I don't reach for her album much, there's no denying Merril Garbus is a magnetic performer who can win over crowds easily. While Austra's Katie Stelmanis doesn't quite have that charm, there is no denying her stage presence either and I'm a big fan of Austra's debut album which came out earlier this year. Thursday is supposed to be beautiful and this show seems like a no-brainer.

Rayon Beach

Austin's Rayon Beach play three shows this week: Thursday (7/14) at Don Pedro, then Friday (7/15) at Bruar Falls and Saturday (7/16) at Death by Audio. I wrote this a year ago and I think it still holds true:

Like a lot of the bands on Hozac Records (or bands from Austin for that matter), this trio fit under the psych/garage umbrella but there's a decided Brit bent to their music. Baroque garage, is that a thing? Think Syd-era Pink Floyd or The Pretty Things more than Woven Bones. Make no mistake -- Rayon Beach can and do get plenty loud. It's just sometimes with pinkies extended.

Rayon Beach are on tour with fellow Austinite John Wesley Coleman III who is awesome in his own right. Last year's Bad Lady Goes to Jail, on Goner, incorporates country, soul and R&B into his sound (not to mention a unique worldview). He definitely stands out amongst the garage pack. If you feel like you've heard enough of this stuff, do give JWCIII a shot.

Anglophiles might already know that Scottish indiefolk cult legend King Creosote is in town this week, playing a late show at Mercury Lounge on Thursday (7/14) and then at the Rock Shop on Sunday (7/17). Both shows are with the equally talented Jon Hopkins. I wrote about King Creosote back in March:

Scottish indie folk royalty Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote. Anderson (whose brother Gordon was a founding member of The Beta Band and now fronts The Aliens) has been cranking out album after album of melancholic, wry songwriting since the late '90s. (Seriously, check out his discography.) Many of these have been self-released, but he's had records on Warner Brothers and Domino too.

Anderson teamed with Hopkins for his new album Diamond Mine that revisits and reworks gems from Anderson's 40-plus releases. You can check out the video for "Bubble" at the bottom of this post.

The Radio Dept

And now another weekend of Seaport-related shows. Friday (7/15)  is the final night of this year's abbreviated Seaport Music Festival, with The Radio Dept. The band are in the U.S. for this and the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago and that's it -- so we should count ourselves lucky. If you wanted to see them somewhere small, you're out of luck. (Unless you maybe found yourself at a shop that rocked on, say, Thursday night. Maybe.) Last year's Clinging to a Scheme was one of 2010's best albums (according to me) and though I do wish they'd get a drummer to play with them at shows, they still sound pretty great live.

I'm hoping the merch table has the new 180 gram vinyl reissues of the band's three albums. In particular I want to pick up their classic debut Lesser Matters, one of the best albums of the '00s. Opening are Asobi Seksu which is a pretty perfect pairing. The weather's supposed to be gorgeous, the show is free...this'll be sweet.

Saturday is the Village Voice 4 Knots Festival which is going out of its way to let us know it's not trying to be the Siren Festival. It's a nice line-up of bands, though, scaled to fit the Seaport. Apart from Eleanor Friedberger and Oberhofer, it is a pretty rock line-up what with headliners Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, Davilla 666 and Mr. Dream. If you like to dance, they've got an indoor lounge over at 210 Front Street with an all DJ lineup that includes Yeasayer, Dan Deacon, Brahms and the Finger on the Pulse dudes (also DJing as Punches) spinning tunes. Things kick off at 1PM.

Then Sunday (7/17) is the last show of my Sound Bites Series down at the Fulton Stall Market and I'm super pleased to have Hospitality on cleanup. When I found out we were going to be doing the series again, Hospitality were the first band I thought of. If you haven't heard them, you can download their 2009 EP for free from their Bandcamp site. It's quite lovely. The band have gotten less precious since then, though no less charming, and recently the band expanded to a four-piece with drummer Nathan Michel moving to guitar making them decidedly more skronky now.

I am quite enamored with this band and you should definitely come down and see them. They are seriously good. If you come to only one Sound Bites Show this summer... this is your last chance. Hospitality are on at 3PM sharp and I'll be spinning tunes from around 1:30 or so. It's free!

And right after Hospitality finish, you can head across South Street to the Beekman Beer Garden for this week's Beach Party show with Frankie Rose and Xray Eyeballs. Both bands feature on that free downloadable mix you can get over at Insound. The Frankie Rose track is one I hadn't heard before, a cover of Slapp Happy's "Blue Flower" which you may know from covers either by Mazzy Star or Pale Saints.

Last week (Cheeseburger and Hard Nips) was fun and pretty fairly low-key. The spot -- formerly Water Taxi Beach -- is a pretty popular spot on its own, so expect a mixed crowd of those there for the show and those there just for the view/vibe. Bands start at 4PM. It's free.

And that's about it for this week. A few more daily picks are below.

TUESDAY, JULY 12

It's a heatwave today but Cold Cave will have the A/C cranked for their show Knitting Factory tonight. I do really like their new album Cherish the Light Years which kind of reminds me of '80s band Lords of the New Church. The show is with gothy sea chanty singers Cult of Youth, and Zambri who are newly signed to Kanine Records (and who were impressive at Knitting Factory during the Northside fest). The show is part of a tour that ends at Bowery Ballroom with Austra.

The newly reunited Cibo Matto are at Brooklyn Bowl. Though advance tickets sold out, there will be limited availability at the door. Go early. The show is one date of a tour that also hits Bowery Ballroom.

continued below....

Continue reading "Tom Vek, Wild Beasts, Urge Overkill, Wooden Birds, Rayon Beach, King Creosote, Radio Dept & more in This Week In Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Jon Hopkins - Insides (Rival Consoles RMX) (MP3)

Singer-songwriter King Creosote and producer/Eno collaborator Jon Hopkins, now labelmates with Real Estate, Ducktails & Alex Bleeker, teamed up to record the album Diamond Mine which dropped in the USA via Domino Records on May 24. They go on a short North American tour in July in support of the album. That tour hits Mercury Lounge on July 14 (tickets go on sale Friday at noon) and The Rock Shop on July 17 (tickets on sale now). All dates are listed below.

King Creosote visited the US for the first time in March. As Bill wrote at the time:

"Scottish indie folk royalty Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote. Anderson (whose brother Gordon was a founding member of The Beta Band and now fronts The Aliens) has been cranking out album after album of melancholic, wry songwriting since the late '90s. (Seriously, check out his discography.) Many of these have been self-released, but he's had records on Warner Brothers and Domino too."

Domino released his album Thrawn around that time.

Jon Hopkins also recently recorded a new track for a Japan benefit compilation, and is giving away the remix of his song "Insides" that you can download above. He returns to New York (Troy, NY) in September to perform at EMPAC with Four Tet.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins made a video for the track "Bubble" off the new album. Check it out along with a 'making of' video and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "King Creosote & Jon Hopkins made an album, released it on Domino, touring (dates)"

Brian Eno's new album, Small Craft on a Milk Sea, comes out November 2nd on Warp Records (that's the cover above). On it, Brian Eno worked with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams. Eno described the process of recording the album to the Guardian...

"Mostly the pieces on this album resulted not from 'composition' in the classical sense, but from improvisation," Eno explained. "The improvisations are not attempts to end up with a song, but rather with a landscape, a feeling of a place and perhaps the suggestion of an event. In a sense they deliberately lack 'personality': there is no singer, no narrator, no guide as to what you ought to be feeling."

According to Hopkins, many of the album's "more melodic pieces" were born out of randomness. "Brian [asked] Leo and myself to write down a series of random chords, which he would then write on a white board, along with a number - the number of bars we should stay on that chord for," he said. "Brian would then stand and point to chords at random, not knowing how (and if) they will link to each other, and Leo and I would lay down parts in the corresponding keys for the written number of bars."

One of the album's tracks, "2 Forms of Anger," is posted below.

Jon Hopkins tours with Four Tet in October. They're at Webster Hall on October 22nd. Tickets are still on sale.

The streaming track and more info are below...

Continue reading "listen to new Brian Eno ++ Jon Hopkins tour dates "

words by Kon Glikos, photos by Zach Dilgard

Flying Lotus / ravers

As we were saying, This past Labor Day weekend saw the second installment of the Electric Zoo festival, taking place on Randall's Island. The two-day festival boasted a line up of over 70 artists on 4 stages, catering to most genres of electronic music. The line up ran the gamut. Commercial dance DJ's/acts such as: The Chemical Brothers, Moby, Armin Van Buuren, and house and techno staples the likes of: Richie Hawtin, Claude Von Stroke, and Steve Bug found themselves along side each other on the bill. In addition, artists such as Martyn, Erol Alkan, and Aeroplane represented genres like dubstep, electro, and nu-disco.

Highlights on Saturday included a blistering live techno set from Reboot, taking place in the Sunday School tent. In the evening, Major Lazer brought the crowd into a frenzy with their all-encompassing musical mash-ups. Over on the Red Bull Academy stage, Flying Lotus's much anticipated set had its moments of brilliance, namely a re-edit of Radiohead's Idioteque towards the end of his set. The Chemical Brothers closed out the night on the main stage, starting off with a string of new songs, signifying a musical directional change, giving way to older crowd favorites. Additionally, the visual production paired with their music, made their performance memorable for the thousands that listened in.

Day 2 started off on a high note, with Jon Hopkins's thoroughly original take of a live electronic set, which seemed largely improvisational. The next time slot called for witnessing a meeting of the techno minds back at the Sunday School tent. Techno heavy weights: Martin Buttrich, Mattias Tanzmann and Davide Squillace performed a track for track DJ set that was mainly composed of their favorite techno classics. It quickly became one of the highlights of the weekend. On the main stage, Moby played his DJ set to a sea of people in full on festival mode. His set was a retrospective, made up of tracks from dance eras gone by. What he played was a nice contrast to the seemingly endless stream of commercial trance and progressive house sounds coming from the main stage all day long. He was one of the top main stage performances all weekend.

While the aforementioned performances made up what I thought to be some of the most significant of the weekend, there was no shortage of cringe-worthy music being performed. For example, the countless musical crimes being committed in the Hilltop Arena tent (aptly re-named the Jersey Shore tent by many), aided in shedding some of the festival's musical credibility. Still, the premise of this festival seems to be that there is something for everyone because "you get what you pay for". Only time will tell if this is the electronic music festival that New York City deserves.

--

As promised, here are more pictures from last weekend's event. Part 1 is HERE. Part 2 is HERE. Part 3 continues below...

Continue reading "Electric Zoo in pics - part 3 (Flying Lotus, Moby, Reboot, more) "

photos by Andrew St. Clair

"Dutch this, Swedish that! Germany's answer to house, Boys Noize, put on one hell of a set. Almost every track he dropped was welcomed by a roaring cheer. Technically he was breathtaking and proved once again why he is the future of electronic music." [Dancing Astronaut]

Here is Part Two of our continuing coverage of the 2010 Electric Zoo Festival that took place over Labor Day Weekend on Randall's Island in NYC. We had multiple photographers and reviewers on hand. Andrew's pictures of Saturday (day one) were posted HERE. His pictures of day two (Sunday), continue below...

Continue reading "Electric Zoo 2010 in pics - part 2 (A-Trak, Armin Van Buuren, Boys Noize, Diplo, Steve Aoki, JDH, Dave P & more) "

DOWNLOAD: Four Tet - Angel Echoes (Caribou Remix) (MP3)

Four Tet will be releasing a new 12" single for his song "Angel Echoes" to feature a pair of remixes. One is the above track cut up by Caribou (who will be playing Governors Island with Phantogram on July 16th), and the other side is a remix by Londoner Jon Hopkins. It's out July 19th in the UK and Europe, and August 3rd in North America, and the cover is above.

Kieran Hebden will be taking Four Tet on the road this summer to Europe, and in October to North America. He headlines Webster Hall on Friday, October 22nd. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

All dates are below...

Continue reading "Four Tet releasing 12" w/ Caribou remix (MP3s), headlining Webster Hall, playing other shows (dates)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli

DOWNLOAD: Mixhell (Black Metal SoundSystem) - Doombox Mixtape (MP3)

Prefuse 73 @ LPR

David Ellis' exhibition at (Le) Poisson Rouge is a misnomer. It consists of a handful of sculptures wrought from records (and their sleeves) that are neat bits of ornamental design but that don't invite any kind of reflection. The same is true of his "movement sculpture", which comes off like a sneaker commercial. Perhaps noticing this, someone tacked on a looped playback of Ellis' collaboration with Italian street artist Blu.

The opening was followed by a show with performances by Prefuse 73, Jon Hopkins and MIXHELL. Not much happened. The high point turned out to be a set of horror-inspired stuff from Jon Hopkins, in which he used the venue's cavernous interior and well-spread speaker system to creepy and then chest-rattling effect. Prefuse 73 played a rambling, messy set that was disappointing coming from such royalty. One sequence, a sustained sampling of guitar solos (including some Hendrix), was smart if totally undanceable. He was probably just drunk, or bored, as were we." [Dossier]

For Jon Hopkins it was his first of three NYC shows in three days. One of his other shows was opening for The xx at Bowery Ballroom.

MIXHELL (aka Iggor Cavalera of Sepultura) plays as duo with his wife and alternates between the DJ booth and a drum set. We're not sure what he did at the free LPR show on Tuesday night though (because Vincent needed to take off before his late set) .

And MIXHELL may be a DJ now, but he hasn't forgotten his metal roots. Check out the new mixtape he made under the name of his new side project, Black Metal Soundsystem, above.

More pictures from Tuesday night below...

Continue reading "Black Metal Soundystem is Mixhell - made a mixtape (MP3), played w/ Jon Hopkins & Prefuse 73 @ LPR - pics "

Jon Hopkins

As mentioned, the UK electronic musician and producer Jon Hopkins opened for the xx last night at Bowery Ballroom. He does the same at their upcoming shows in DC, NC, and GA before playing a couple of dates with Roksopp in CA. Two nights ago he played that free show at Le Poisson Rouge with Prefuse 73 and Mixhell. Tonight (11/12) there is one more NYC chance to see him at Mercury Lounge when he opens for The Asteroids Galaxy Tour who are also visiting from overseas and who also play more than one NYC show while they're here. If you miss tonight, you can catch them at the Tribeca Grand Hotel on Saturday (free with RSVP). All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Jon Hopkins (played LPR & Bowery) plays Merc (tonight) w/ Asteroids Galaxy Tour who play Tribeca Grand too (dates)"

When I got to the xx show at Bowery Ballroom last night (11/11), I was told by someone reliable that Gil Scott-Heron was planning on joining the headlining UK band on stage for some songs - both with them and on his own for a few. At first I thought that was completely random. Then I realized that the xx's label XL Recordings recently announced that they signed Gil. They'll be releasing "I'm New Here", his first album since 1994's "Spirits", on Jan. 11, 2010. And according to jamespenycate, "The XX are remixing the entire Gil Scott Heron album". You can listen to four song clips, and watch video of Gil in the studio, at imnewhere.net.

Ends up Gil didn't join The xx on stage, though I saw him there after the show and apparently he did sound check with them (it's unclear why the change of plan). Ends up Baria Quresh didn't join The xx on stage either. The band performed as a trio and XL confirms that Baria's hiatus is permanent.

Fellow UK musician Jon Hopkins opened the show with a set of solo electro that had him pushing all kinds of buttons on stage to the delight of those that bothered to check him out. "Hopkins's third album, Insides, was released by Just Music in conjunction with Domino Records on May 5, 2009."

I'm in love the xx album, so seeing them live can't be that bad, which it wasn't, but it's nowhere near as good as the album. The young band will hopefully improve their show over time. The annoying crowd (people were talking through the performance on every side of me... and there was at least one person who answered her cell phone) generally appreciated it though - there was lots of clapping especially for favorites like "Basic Space". The band said it was good to be back in NYC which they said was like their second home. It's true. They played a bunch of shows here before CMJ and then a bunch more during CMJ, and they'll be back again in December with Friendly Fires. Tickets are still on sale for that Webster Hall show.

The video for "Basic Space" and some Gil Scott-Heron clips, below...

Continue reading "Gil Scott-Heron now on XL (2010 album), was @ Bowery Ballroom to see labelmates/remixers? The xx (now a trio)"

Prefuse 73 @ Terminal 5 in November 2008 (more by Zach Stern)

David Ellis is an artist born into a family immersed in music. His paintings are often recorded in a form of digital time-lapse animation he calls motion painting. Like jazz, these works provide Ellis with an opportunity to combine ideas with collaborators and work solo within a form that promotes improvisation and spontaneity.

Ellis often stages events when exhibiting his motion paintings, inviting musicians, performers, and sound artists to interpret the work live. His motion painting, Paint on Trucks in a World in Need of Love was exhibited at MoMA. Ellis further explores sound with kinetic installations that produce analogue sequences in rhythm. His latest work, often in collaboration with composer Roberto Lange, deconstructs the inner workings of player pianos to create sprawling sculptures that automatically play percussive rhythms with recycled typewriters, buckets, bottles and cans.

(Le) Poisson Rouge is hosting an opening party for David Ellis: Recollect on Tuesday, November 10th. Performing at the free show (besides Ellis himself) will be Prefuse 73, Jon Hopkins and Mixhell.

Not free, but also a party at (Le) Poisson Rouge, Buraka Som Sistema are back. Maluca and DJ Geko Jones open the show which takes place at the West Village venue TONIGHT (11/4) @ 11pm. Be prepared to stay out late.

All Buraka Som Sistema dates, a video of Ellis painting a piece and a song from Prefuse's latest LP, Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian, which came out earlier this year, and more below...

Continue reading "Buraka Som Sistema are back (dates) - show w/ Maluca @ LPR tonight ++ free Prefuse 73 & Mixhell art show Tuesday"

by Andrew Frisicano

Four Tet (aka electronic musician Kieran Hebden) has announced six dates in US and Canada, including a NYC performance (UPDATE: DJ SET) at The American Museum of Natural History's monthly One Step Beyond party on Friday March 13 (tix here). The gig, with Jon Hopkins and Mapei, is the first time Hebden will play a NYC "Four Tet" set (UPDATE: DJ SET) since canceling his June 2008 Studio B show.

In 2008, Hebden paired up with drummer Steve Reid to release the collaborative record NYC. Appropriately, the duo visited New York in December and July.

Opening for Four Tet at the AMNH (and two other shows) will be Domino signee Jon Hopkins, a British "composer, pianist and self-taught studio wizard," who is releasing his third record, Insides, on May 5 - free single "Wire" is up at Domino Records. Hopkins also plays Pianos on 3/14.

You may know Four Tet's Madvillainy remixes - released by Stones Throw and as part of the Domino released Four Tet Remixes 2xCD - well, Hebden and other remixers should have new source material soon, as Lex Records reports that it will release (MF) DOOM's new CD, Born Like This, on March 24, 2009. We reported last Fall that DOOM might be preparing his MM..FOOD follow-up for an unexpected release. The new disc is currently available for pre-order, and tracks "That's That" and "Ballskin" are now streaming on DOOM's Myspace.

All tour dates, "Rhinestone Cowboy" Four Tet remix video, and Born Like This track list below...

Continue reading "Four Tet & Jon Hopkins tour dates & a new MF DOOM album"