by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: I Is Another - "Prayed For You" (MP3)

Jonah w/ Far at Mercury Lounge in 2009 (more by Chloe Rice)

Jonah Matranga of Far, Onelinedrawing, New End Original, Gratitude, and who also has performs under his own name, has yet another project in the works. This one is a collaboration with Ian Love (Rival Schools, Cardia, Burn) and it's called I Is Another. The duo have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for their upcoming EP. They write:

This isn't a project we're planning to put on a label or tour with or anything. It's just friends making stuff and wanting to share it with you. We'll keep in touch as we go, sending each song to you via download as we complete them. A clip from the first one that feels done is up there (thanks so much to Mel Upstart for putting the cool video clip together). Along with the downloads, depending on how much you chip in, you can get limited edition CDs, vinyl and all sorts of other stuff. As of now, we're planning on recording and releasing an EP of 6 tunes. If everyone chips in enough that we hit our goal so we can pay for everything, then for every $1800 that gets chipped in beyond that, we'll record and release another song, straight to you. We'll make as many as you want (seriously). Let's make good stuff happen!

Thanks so much,

Ian & Jonah

There's no live dates announced for that project but Jonah has some shows of his own coming up, including one in NYC on February 12 at the Gershwin Hotel (7 E 27th St). The show starts at 8 PM and admission is $10.

A list of all dates and video below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga forms new project w/ Ian of Rival Schools, playing solo shows (dates, MP3)"

Jonah Matranga with Far in 2009 (more by Chloe Rice)

Far/Onelinedrawing/Gratitude/New End Original frontman Jonah Matranga has been playing some house shows this month and in November he'll do a couple club dates including one in NYC at Mercury Lounge on November 11 with We Are The Woods. You can get tickets to that show directly from Jonah or via Ticketmaster whose on-sale begins Friday (10/12) at noon with an AmEx presale starting today (10/10) at noon.

A video of Jonah playing "Mother Mary" at his house show in Portland, OR from earlier this month and a list of all upcoming dates are below.

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga playing shows (dates & recent live video)"

Jonah with Far in 2009 (more by Chloe Rice)

Onelinedrawing, the moniker that Jonah Matranga used to record solo material under before reverting back to his own name, will make a return (unless maybe too many people object).

As previously mentioned, Jonah recently scheduled a tour that hits the NYC-area on March 7 at Maxwell's (tickets) and March 14 at Mercury Lounge (tickets). Both of those are still listed as "Jonah Matranga", but the just added Brooklyn show at Union Pool on March 6 is up as "Onelinedrawing". Tickets are on sale now.

Updated tour dates, including a San Francisco Noise Pop show with Christie Front Drive (who played a Brooklyn reunion show over the summer), are listed below...

Continue reading ""Onelinedrawing" adds shows, one in Brooklyn, one at Noise Pop with Christie Front Drive (dates)"

Jonah Matranga released Voices + Dedication, an album made up entirely of cover songs, on January 1. He covers tracks by the reunited Mazzy Star, the slightly less recently reunited Hum, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, and others. You can purchase and stream the entire album at his bandcamp.

He's got a few upcoming dates including two in the NYC-area on March 7 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ and March 14 at Mercury Lounge (he was last around in November). Tickets for the show are on sale now. All tour dates (now updated) are listed below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga releases covers LP (that you can stream), schedules shows (dates)"

Jonah Matranga @ the Gershwin Hotel in 2008 (more by Tim Griffin)

Jonah Matranga is starting a tour of the UK on 11/25, but first he's visting the east coast. Catch the California-based Far frontman at the Gershwin Hotel in NYC tonight (11/21) and at Watermark in Asbury Park, NJ on Tuesday (11/22) (thx Kristian).

I'm not sure where the Occupy Wall Street protestors are currently gathering, if anywhere, now that they've been evicted from Zucotti Park (outside Mayor Bloomberg's home?), but if there is a place, look for Jonah to maybe perform there too. He hasn't said he'll do that, but all you have to do is look at his twitter to know it's a movement he's very interested in.

Jonah on stage with Far at Mercury Lounge (more by Chloe Rice)

Jonah Matranga has a new LP entitled You're All Those Things And Then You're None... or is it a double album? The LP, available in two forms, has one version that is Matranga "solo-style, just me and a guitar" while the second "features vocal and instrumental contributions from fans & friends all over the world". Get a copy of the new LP in all of its various incarnations (vinyl, CD, v1.0, v2.0) at Matranga's site.

Matranga has a few dates scheduled across the US and in the UK as well. In early May he comes east to play NJ, Philly and NYC. That includes Maxwell's on May 4th and Mercury Lounge on May 8th. Tickets for Maxwell's are on sale, as are the Philly tix. Mercury Lounge tickets go on sale Friday (4/15) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Speaking of solo 90's frontmen playing Mercury Lounge, don't forget that Tim Barry of Avail has a show coming up soon. Josh Small (who also plays with Tim) opens the April 16th show, as does Jenny Owen Youngs. Tickets are still on sale for the NYC gig which is part of a handful of dates Tim has scheduled this month.

All tour dates and a couple of recent live Jonah videos, below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga announces dates, Tim Barry touring sooner"

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"

words by BBG, photos by Chloe Rice

Far's Jonah Matranga attempts to serenade the crowds on Houston St.

Jonah Matranga is back on the east coast in August with two solo shows scheduled in the NYC-area: a late show at Mercury Lounge on August 10th (tickets) and Maxwell's on August 8th (tickets). The shows will act as a primer for Jonah's new LP You're All Those Things and You're None, which will be "released in a new way" on August 11th. More on that soon. All dates below...

Meanwhile, Far's new album At Night We Live is out NOW via Vagrant Records. The band is currently hosting a contest for a fan-made video for the song "Deafening", choose your favorite.

Far made a triumphant return in late Oct 2009 at two NYC shows, one opening for Thursday at Bowery Ballroom and a second and more intimate show headlining Mercury Lounge with Campbell Apartment and Last Days of Empire on 10/25. Check out pics from Mercury and all current Jonah dates below...

Continue reading "VERY belated pics of Far @ Mercury Lounge w/ new Jonah Matranga tour dates & album news"

a letter posted on Jonah's website...

Right after Jennifer Lopez played on SNL a little while ago, I [Jonah Matranga] got a bunch of messages from people saying she'd used the heart/question mark image that I've been using for many years. Lots of you said I should sue to stop ol' J-Lo from using it further or whatever. I thought it was kind of a bummer that she used it, but pretty funny overall. Mostly, I didn't think that I would have the money or time to deal with whatever high-powered management and lawyers J-Lo has, so I kinda wrote it off as one of those weird things that happens.

Then, a friend who knows about Intellectual Property law got in touch and said I actually do have a valid case. It turns out her new album will be called 'Love?', so it seems like the image might be used by her a whole lot more. When I think about it, I would rather that she didn't use this image that I've come to enjoy so much. I have it on so many albums, posters, shirts. I draw it when I sign stuff for people, I have a tattoo of it, many of you do as well. I'm not sure what the image means to you, but it has come to mean many things to me over the years. One of those things is simply, 'I love ideas'. Anyway, I asked some lawyer friends about what I could do to stop her. I'm putting some stuff together (album covers, etc) to show that I'm a legitimate artist whose art, image and community she'd be messing with.

Here's where you come in: I've also been told that you can help out by sending photos of ways you've used the image in your life, after you found it through my music. So, if you have a tattoo of it, or you've made drawings of it, or you have anything at all that shows the many ways the little heartquestion has gotten out there, I'd love to see it, and so would the lawyers. You can post your pics (or links to them) here, or send them via any number of internetty ways, or just mail 'em to me.

I have no idea what will happen from all this, but it seems as good an excuse as any to gather this stuff together and remember the power and fun of making stuff and putting it out into the world.

Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

Thanks always,

Jonah

The reunited Far will be playing a handful of shows this October. The first is October 10th at the Knitting Factory in LA with Thursday (the band). The one we previously mentioned is also with Thursday. It happens October 25th at Bowery Ballroom in NYC. That show is now sold out. The good news is that Far added a NYC show one day later at the much smaller Mercury Lounge (10/26). Tickets for that show go on sale Thursday (the day) at noon. All dates below...

Continue reading "Far add 2nd NYC show (Bowery sold out) -- 2009 Tour Dates"

by Black Bubblegum

The Get-Up Kids

The Get Up Kids came back strong earlier in the year, playing a few shows including a pair in the NYC-area at Bamboozle and a quickly sold-out Gramercy Theater (setlist below). Now comes word that the band has added another huge tour with THREE more NYC shows: Oct 30th at Gramercy, Halloween at Irving Plaza, and Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 1st. Support for MHOW will come from Kevin Devine and The Life & Times. Presales are going on right now for the whole tour. MHOW tickets go on general sale on July 23rd at 1PM which is also when Irving Plaza tickets go on sale. Gramercy tickets aren't up yet as of this posting. All dates below.

On a related emo-but-don't-call-me-emo note, Jonah Matranga has scheduled a show at Southpaw in Brooklyn for August 10th (tickets here), but much more interesting is a show that he is putting a few days later in LA:

Aug 13, 14, 15: onelinedrawing at Knitting Factory LA
A onelinedrawing 'reunion'? Why not? :) The plan is to play the entire onelinedrawing catalog over 3 nights, should be fun. And yes, the robot will be in full effect :)

In other Jonah related news, Far recently announced "The Scream-A-Long Project" where they asked their fans to participate by contributing gang vocals to an upcoming song.

Full tour dates for The Get Up Kids & Jonah Matranga, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Get Up Kids tour (3 NYC dates, presale), Jonah Matranga too"

Back in April we posted an interview with Jonah Matranga who is putting out a new Far album, and playing Mercury Lounge solo on May 21st (tickets). Since then he added a NJ show at Maxwell's. That happens to be TONIGHT (5/19). Tickets are still available.

Speaking of NJ shows, that Hold Steady show happening at Starland Ballroom is on sale. The band's NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg are sold out.

The June 22nd NY Dolls show at Music Halll of Williamsburg is not yet sold out, and now they too are playing a NJ show at Starland Ballroom. The June 20th date goes on sale Wednesday at noon.

Poison the Well is co-headlining every date on a "10 For $10 summer tour" - ten bands for $10. Bands will vary at each stop.

Freddy Cricien of Madball said, "This 10 for 10 tour concept is way overdue in my opinion. I'm glad and thankful, that the people involved, stepped up to actually make something like this happen! Our genre (Hardcore) in the states, is in a "strange" place right now. There is somewhat of a lack of appreciation for this "sub-culture". A lot of people want to say they know certain bands, or are affiliated with this underground scene,etc,etc... Because it gives them some credibility, it sounds cool! Well, this is everyone's chance to re-introduce themselves, and actually get involved with a very unique and authentic genre/movement. It's also a chance for all of us, the bands, to show our stuff as well!"

Tickets also recently went on sale for H2O, Sick of it All, Agnostic Front, and many other shows. All 10 for $10 dates below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga, Hold Steady, NY Dolls, Starland Ballroom, 10 for $10, VOD, Madball & other tickets"

by Black Bubblegum

Jonah Matranga & Ian Love at Gershwin Hotel (more by Tim Griffin)

Jonah Matranga of Far/onelinedrawing/New End Original fame has scheduled a solo show at Mercury Lounge on May 21st. Tickets are on sale.

Jonah might be playing that and a few more shows (listed below) solo, but - even more than before - Far is back...

Vagrant Records is proud to announce that Far has signed to the label. The recently reunited quartet is currently wrapping up their fifth full-length release in The Airport studio in Southern California with producer and guitarist Shaun Lopez at the helm and an early spring release date is expected.

"We had no idea all this would happen," says vocalist Jonah Matranga. "We were just planning on getting to know each other again and playing a few shows... all of a sudden, the songs are coming, and it feels really good."

In the tail end of last year (while he was here for that Gershwin Hotel show), we caught up with Jonah Matranga and asked him about Far, his solo venture(s), and what it means to be back in lock-step with the guys again. Check out that interview below.

Meanwhile, some of Jonah's bandmates in New End Original are getting their old band back together as well. Split Lip, which became Chamberlain in 1995, will reunite with all original members to play a handful of shows in their native midwest, and eventually, the east coast. Tour dates are below.

The dates coincide with the re-issue of Chamberlain's emo-influential Fate's Got A Driver LP on color vinyl with bonus tracks.

Chamberlain's Fate's Got a Driver delivers more emotion in its 30 minutes than most bands do over the course of a career. The record is thought provoking and musically adventurous, a rare feat for a band whose members were barely past twenty when it was recorded. With nods to the Everyman side of Sunny Day Real Estate and the insistent melodicism of Fugazi, Fate's Got a Driver consistently impresses. It's all the product of lead guitarist Adam Rubenstein's thick, Fugazi-style progressions and David Moore's highly poetic lyrics... An amazing achievement by such a relatively young band. -[allmusic]

Continue reading "an interview w/ Jonah Matranga of Far (who are back with more tour dates & a new album on Vagrant Records)"

Tickets go on Am Ex presale (@ noon) for the Hold Steady shows coming up at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

White Rabbits are playing Bowery Ballroom on May 21st. Tickets are on Am Ex presale (@ noon).

Tickets are on Am Ex presale (@ noon) for the Vaselines show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale (@ noon) for the Jenny Lewis / Deer Tick show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Jonah Matranga is playing Mercury Lounge on May 21st. Tickets are on Am Ex presale (@ noon).

The Crystal Method are playing Webster Hall on May 9th. Tickets are on Am Ex presale at noon.

Pink Martini is playing Carnegie Hall on June 18th. Ticekts are on sale.

Intimate Fischerspooner shows went on sale this morning.

As previously mentioned, Bon Iver was added to the Dark Was the Night Radio City show. All money from the show goes to a good cause. Tickets are still on sale.

Tyvek, who were a lot of fun at Cake Shop last night, play Death By Audio with Woods tonight (April 1).

Photos by Tim Griffin, Words by Black Bubblegum

Jonah Matranga (Onelinedrawing) played his second show in two days in BOTH event spaces at the eclectic Gershwin Hotel on Tuesday, November 11th. Joined by his old friend and past congtributor Ian Love (Rival Schools/Cardia), a drum machine, and an acoustic guitar, Jonah ran through solo material, covers, and songs from his-old-but-currently-reunited band Far. He also paused for a moment to reflect on the recent events with Deftones bassist Chi Cheng. Along the way Ian Love added some amazing effects-heavy guitar, reminiscient of recent Stars Of The Lid... adding tremendous depth and emotional (I did NOT say emo) power to his set. Partial setlist, beaucoup photos, and video of Jonah performing the Deftones' "Be Quiet And Drive", below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga @ the Gershwin Hotel - pics, video & setlist"

Far @ the Troubadour - Oct 16, 2008 (kata rokkar)

Far reunited for two California shows in mid-October. Proof is in the picture above, and in the setlist below. Five more reunion shows are scheduled for the end of November in Europe.

And though there doesn't seem to any plans for an east coast show (yet?), that doesn't mean Far frontman Jonah Matranga will be a stranger to NYC. Monday (today), November 10th, Jonah will play a solo show at Europa in Brooklyn (tix), and Tuesday he's playing a $10 show at the Gershwin Hotel in Manhattan (7 E. 27th St, 8PM). There are no advanced tickets for the latter, but you can reserve one for eleven cents. All dates below...

Continue reading "Far reunited & played 2 shows, Jonah Matranga is on tour"

"As much as I wanna play along, I can't contain myself...FAR IS BACK! Under the unique moniker, Hot Little Pony, Far has lined up two LA shows and a handful of UK shows to boot. Today the highly influential rock group released a video contest and a steamy new single that covers mid-90s R&B sensation, Ginuwine. Not only that but a they snagged a nice little indie snob article on Filter Magazine's website." [Kata Rokkar]

Continue reading "FAR (Hot Little Pony) is back! - tour dates & a new "single""

Jonah Matranga

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Brooklyn Book Festival
* Apollo Sunshine @ Sound Fix Records
* Jonah Matranga & the Gay Blades @ Maxwell's
* Pink Reason, Woods & friends @ the Lucky Cat
* Signal & Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians
* Trouble & Minsk @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Loved Ones, Franz Nicolay & others @ Knitting Factory
* The Cult @ Irving Plaza (moved from Roseland Ballroom)
* High Places, Soft Circle & Matteah Baim @ Death By Audio

Though both secretly scheduled to perform at Saturday's Lightning Bolt show, neither Fucked Up or No Age showed up

Video of Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin last night on SNL below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

DOWNLOAD: Thao and The Get Down Stay Down - Fear and Convenience (MP3)

Alternative-folk music group, Thao Nguyen and The Get Down Stay Down, consists of Thao Nguyen (vocals, guitar), Frank Stewart (lead guitar, producer), Adam Thompson (Bassist), and Willis Thompson (drummer). Managed by Slim Moon, former president of the Kill Rock Stars label, the band is garnering much attention. After sending Like the Linen to Laura Veirs, Thao was able to get connected to Tucker Martine, Veirs' drummer and producer for The Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens. Their latest album will be released on Kill Rock Stars in January 2008. [Joe's Pub]

What else?

Pay whatever you want for...
* Paste Magazine
* Saul Williams' Trent Reznor-produced album
* Radiohead's new album In Rainbows
* Jonah Matranga stuff (sort of)
* Jane Siberry's music
* other music
* coffee

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's debut solo album, the soundtrack to the film Into the Wild, is out this week, along with long-awaited debuts by two singer-songwriters I have followed for some time, Placelessness by Alina Simone and Kismet by Jesca Hoop. Kevin Drew releases his solo debut disc, Spirit If..., as well, and Hard-Fi drops their sophomore effort with the "No Album Art" cover, Once Upon a Time In the West, in the US.

Nothing Is Free by Corn Sister Carolyn Mark is alt-country at its husky-voiced finest, and Fog's Ditherer keeps rocking itself into my CD player...

Discs I haven't heard yet but am highly anticipating include Jamie Cullum's In the Mind of Jamie Cullum, the Green Pajamas' Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic 2, and Jana Hunter's Carrion. Are these worth picking up?

Have I left anything noteworthy off the list? What new music releases can you recommend this week? What should I avoid?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

DOWNLOAD: Jonah Matranga - How Does Life Go? (MP3) (info)

FUN FACT: Jonah Matranga is the guy singing "And he never lies" on "Instrumental" --> Track 7 on Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (one of my favorite albums of 2006).

Jonah is playing two solo shows at SXSW, touring, and will be in the NYC area at the beginning of April. Tickets are on sale for an April 3rd show @ Maxwell's, and there's a good chance he'll schedule some more shows while he's here.

The new 19-song compilation CD you see pictured to the left is available in Jonah's store. Check out Jonah's guest blog at So Much Silence.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga - 2007 Tour Dates (SXSW, Maxwell's)"

My Chemical Romance is a really popular band. Ultragrrrl caused quite a stir recently when she said they were this generation's Nirvana.

Lifetime are a great older band who recently reunited. I forget who said it, but someone told me that Lifetime are to older people what MCR is to the kids. Lifetime are not nearly as popular as MCR though, but they are on Fall Out Boy's label now. I got really excited when I found out Lifetime would be at SXSW. I was surprised when I found out, that not only was My Chemical Romance playing Emo's (a very small venue for them), but that Lifetime was playing right before them at the same benefit show (March 17, 2006). Though I don't know a single song by My Chemical Romance (except maybe Helena because I downloaded it when I saw it making all sorts of 2005 lists), there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to check them out at a show I was already at.

My Chemical Romance know that (a minority of hip) people think they suck. They also know (this same hip minority think that) Lifetime are cooler than them. In fact, those things basically came right out of singer Gerard Way's mouth. After the first song he told all the cool people to leave; that way they could still tell people they "left after Lifetime". Later he said how honored he was to share a stage with Lifetime (not sure whether he really thinks it, but he knows it's the right thing to say). The promoters understood that people were there for one band or the other too. At least that's how it appeared since they were selling two different versions of the event poster. You got to choose your headliner (Lifetime on top, or MCR on top - I wish I had a pic).

The young crowd was way into it - more into it than me. It was fun, but the things Gerard said between songs were funn(i)er. He was obsessed with cred, and he lost me when he started talking about interviews he gave to teen magazines. He told the crowd that the interviews were stolen, and he urged everybody to steal, and then burn, the magazines after the show.

It wasn't a bad show. I would have stayed for the whole thing if Jonah Matranga wasn't playing on the second stage in the next room at the same time. Like an idiot I left before Helena came on, but at least I got to see a few songs by Jonah in Texas. Pitchfork's Amy Phillips said the MCR show was f*cking awesome. Andrew Kendall's pics are f*cking awesome. There's a video on YouTube. Another review on Buzznet.

Jonah Matranga scheduled a last-minute, free show Saturday night (March 4, 2006) at Snitch - the club owned by ex-Fuel’s Brett Scallions, Slash, Duff, and others. In fact, Brett Scallions himself was supposedly playing later that night (I didn't wait around to find out). It was a birthday party that someone asked Jonah to play only a few hours before his Mercury Lounge show the night before.

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga @ Snitch, NYC | pics"

You know Jonah Matranga from Far, Onelinedrawing, New End Original, and Gratitude. You know Ian Love from Rival Schools and Cardia. Jonah just came out with a new live CD/DVD. Ian just came out with a solo album. If you've been to enough Jonah-related shows, you know that Jonah and Ian often play/tour/record together. Together they'll play on March 3rd, 4th & 5th @ Mercury Lounge, Maxwell's, & Southpaw. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Jonah Matranga & Ian Love | Tour & new music"