Kanye makes his grand entrance (this photo by David Andrako)

There were dancers, costume changes, Bon Iver...

Kanye West closed out Coachella 2011 in the only way he knows how, in a grand fashion and dedicated to his mama. We'll have more pictures and recaps from Sunday later, but in the meantime, check out more of what Kanye brought to the Indio stage, and the 27 song setlist, below...

Continue reading "Kanye West closed out Coachella 2011 w/ help from Justin Vernon, dancers & Pusha T (pics & setlist)"

DOWNLOAD: Lia Ices (ft. Justin Vernon) - Daphne (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lia Ices - Grown Unknown (MP3)

Lia Ices @ Bowery Ballroom for CMJ (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, and again, and again, Brooklyn's own folk siren Lia Ices will sing and play piano with her band at Mercury Lounge in NYC tonight (12/14). She shares a bill with her label-cousin Sun Airway (and Mike Wexler and Sebastian Blanck), and it will be her final show of the year and her first since CMJ when she suddenly started getting a lot of attention... which, in addition to her enormous talent, was partially related to the fact that she signed to Jagjaguwar who are putting out her LP, Grown Unknown, on January 25, 2011. "Daphne" off that album can be downloaded for the first time, above. You can also stream it below. Listen for Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver during the second half of the track.

The handclap-featuring "Grown Unknown" from the same album can be grabbed above also. All of her upcoming dates are below too...

Continue reading "a Lia Ices MP3 featuring Justin Vernon & upcoming shows (including Mercury Lounge tonight)"

today in NYC
* Keiku Matsui @ Blue Note
* Nicki Minaj @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* Arlo Guthrie, Gladys Knight, India Arie, Jimmy Fallon & The Roots, Kylie Minogue, Macy Gray, Kool Aid Man, Kanye West & more @ The Thanksgiving Day Parade

SuperVegan lists where to eat today.

Kanye West is supposedly playing a Justin Vernon song in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but unfortunately, though Justin did come to town to play his parts at the Bowery show, he didn't stick around long enough to make an encore appearance.

UPDATE: A video of Kanye's "performance" in the parade, waving people dressed as the Statue of Liberty included, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday? (Thanksgiving)"

"Great show. Though, totally unnecessary 3+ hour wait to get in." - Anonymous

Nicki Minaj & Kanye West @ Bowery Ballroom (photo by Questlove)

Kanye West played his entire new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy from start to finish, followed by a four song encore Tuesday night at the intimate Bowery Ballroom in NYC where Kanye literally brought in "all of the lights" (there were lots of lights). The show started with people who weren't Diddy (he walked right in) waiting on a long line. The show ended with Kanye going on a rant about racism, George Bush, Taylor Swift, the Today Show, etc. Audio of that final portion can be streamed below.

Album guest stars Kid Cudi, Raekwon, Jay-Z and RZA were nowhere to be found, but Terena Taylor, Bon Iver aka Justin Vernon (who might appear again with Kanye in the Thanksgiving Day Parade), Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj (who plays Hammerstein Ballroom on Thanksgiving), Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, Swizz Beatz, and John Legend (whose friend Questlove was in the balcony taking pictures) all performed at the show that started around 12:40am and was was over by around 2:15. Full setlist, videos and that audio below...

Continue reading "Kanye West played Bowery Ballroom w/ many special guests (setlist, videos & audio of the show-ending rant)"

Justin Vernon & Kanye West @ Bowery Ballroom (photo by Ivanka Trump) (seriously)

UPDATE: more on the show & videos HERE

"Dear New York and Me, we won't forget this will we? Oh shit." - J Vern, 5pm EST

Justin Vernon @ MHOW in January (more by Paul Birman)

This Thursday, while the rest of us are pounding down turkey, Mr. West will be performing on a float during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Parade reps tell MTV News that the rapper, whose new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was released on Monday, is set to perform "Lost in the World"--a somber track that features Bon Iver--during the parade. There's been no announcement as to whether falsetto-voiced Justin Vernon of Bon Iver will be joining West, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Kanye will travel along the parade route on the New York Daily News Big Apple float. "The Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and of course Macy's Herald Square, share the landscape with New York's signature taxi cabs and subway stations on the New York Daily News Big Apple float," the reps said. "With a giant, 30-foot inflatable apple at its core, the float perfectly represents the frenzied and bustling city." [MySpace]

"...On Monday West, who is 33, will release his fifth album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam), and it's terrific -- of course it's terrific -- a startlingly maximalist take on East Coast rap traditionalism. And yet that doesn't matter nearly as much as it should, at least partly because of West's insistence on his own greatness. By not allowing for responses to his work other than awe, the value of the work itself is diminished; it becomes an object of admiration, not of study. Instead the focus is on the whole of West's persona and character, which is more fractured and subject to a far wider range of responses. The result is that West becomes a polarizing public figure who happens to be the most artful pop musician of the day, not the other way around.

Nevertheless, West seems virtually incapable of making a bad record. He's committed to pop, and he's savvy and talented enough to make it great, every time. What's more, for him to make something other than a universally accepted smash would be a thing that his ego couldn't bear. Every Kanye West album, until the cancer of the world around him begins to encroach on the parts of his cerebral cortex that control his musical ear, will be excellent and huge. He'll never have an idiosyncratic period.

Even at his most extreme, West isn't an experimenter. His music is ornate, ostentatious, curious and vivacious. But risky? No. All of his fiddling is within recognized formulas. A producer as well as a rapper, West controls all of the major elements of his songs, unlike other artists who have to rely on their taste (or their record label's taste) in outside producers or songwriters.

To work on this album he retreated to Hawaii, as he did during the making of his previous album. And West's gravitational pull is such that he can import talent. Rick Ross, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Nicki Minaj -- they all made the trip to make music that will appear on the album. The spooky indie folky Justin Vernon from Bon Iver spoke of smoking marijuana with Rick Ross on one of his three sojourns to Hawaii to work with West, about as surreal a tableau as has been created in the making of any pop album this year." [JON CARAMANICA, Sunday New York Times]

Continue reading "Kanye West 'seems virtually incapable of making a bad album'"

DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - "Volunteers" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - "Carolina Days" (MP3)

Megafaun @ Bowery Ballroom in 2009 (more by Kurt Christensen)

Those looking for an excuse for a road trip this weekend:

Megafaun & Fight the Big Bull • 'Sounds of the South'
feat. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver & Sharon Van Etten
Friday, September 17, 2010 | 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 18, 2010 | 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 19, 2010 | 5:00 pm
Hayti Heritage Center
$26 • Duke & NCCU Students $5

The members of Megafaun moved from Wisconsin to Raleigh with Vernon as the band DeYarmond Edison. After Vernon went back north to record as Bon Iver, the Cook brothers and Joe Westerlund stayed on in the Piedmont, crafting a timeless folk-pop that "drinks deeply from the well of the past but could only have been made today" (Drowned in Sound)--an archive of rural America's ghosts.

In this exclusive live recording event, the rustic avant-gardists team with Fight the Big Bull, the "thrilling" (NPR) 9-piece jazz collective from Richmond, VA, along with Vernon and the blisteringly talented Van Etten. Together in Durham for three shows only, they'll cut a live album based on Alan Lomax's collection of shape-note songs and dirt-floor hymns, Sounds of the South, gathered during a two-year trek through the American southeast (1959-1961).

Sharon Van Etten plays two NYC shows and then tours in October.

Meanwhile, Megafaun's fine new mini-LP Heretofore is out today (9/14). Check out two free songs from that above. Grab a remix the band did for The Acron @ My Old Kentucky Blog. And a video of Megafaun covering Gillian Welch with The Tallest Man on Earth, below...

Continue reading "Megafaun LP out now (MP3s), 'Sounds of the South' shows w/ Justin Vernon & Sharon Van Etten this weekend "

As previously mentioned, My Morning Jacket landed some opening slots on the current Tom Petty tour including August 24th in NJ (though not MSG). Tickets for the tour are currently on sale (some with no service fee).

My Morning Jacket now has new dates that include Canandaigua, NY (outside Rochester) on August 28th (tickets on sale Friday at noon) and Philly on August 29th. On those headlining dates "the guys will be donating $1 from each ticket to a local charity." All dates and the list of charities are below.

Before those, Jim James will be a part of the Appalachain Voices tour with Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore in July. That includes a July 30th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets are on sale Friday.

You can also catch Yim Yames on May 26th performing with John Prine on Letterman. MMJ is among those who contributed to a new Prine tribute album entitled Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Gayngs, Deer Tick, Josh Ritter, Conor Oberst, Drive By Truckers, Those Darlins and others have tracks on the CD too.

The full tribute tracklist, a video of J Vernon covering Prine at the Haiti benefit @ MHOW, and all MMJ tour dates, below...

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket announce more tour dates, contribute to John Prine tribute CD"

live photos by Drew Kaiser

DOWNLOAD: Gayngs - The Gaudy Side of Town (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gayngs - Faded High (MP3)

Channy Moon Casselle, Justin Vernon & Dessa (Gayngs) @ First Avenue on Friday

Who are Gayngs? A druggy-disco supergroup comprised of the following...

Ryan Olson (Digitata), Zach Coulter (Solid Gold), Adam Hurlburt (Solid Gold), Joe Westerlund, Phil Cook (Megafaun), Brad Cook (Megafaun), Michael Lewis (Happy Apple), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ivan Rosebud (The Rosebuds), Stefon LeRon Alexander (POS), Mike Noyce (Bon Iver), Jake Luck (Leisure Birds), James Buckley (James Bukley Trio, Mystery Palace), Nick Ryan (Leisure Birds), Shön Troth (Solid Gold), Danny Krzykowski, Chaney Moon Cassell (Roma di Luna), Katy Morley, Maggie Wander, Maggie Morrison (Lookbook, Digitata), Joe Mabbott (Passions), Grant Cutler (Lookbook), Xander.

Gayngs played their first ever show on Friday, May 14th at First Avenue in Minneapolis. The show was in Minneapolis, so naturally Prince showed up, and actually almost joined them onstage (there is even photo evidence of the funky one with guitar in hand). Gayngs all wore tuxedos in line with the night's theme, The Last Prom On Earth. The set of pictures in this post are from that show. They continue below with some videos.

The band will play their next live shows this September and October. Those include the just-announced ACL Festival, and a pair of NYC dates. They play Webster Hall on October 3rd and Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 4th. Tickets should be on sale this week. All dates below.

A video of the group at work/play, the video for their cover of Godley & Creme's "Cry," some porny teaser trailers (nothing says sexy like a clarinet), more pictures and some videos from their first gig, all dates, and much more, below...

Continue reading "Gayngs (starring Justin Vernon) played a show - sort of with Prince (pics), announced more dates (w/ ACL, 2 in NYC)"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Vernon & Shade

John Shade, who made his live debut at the BV/BP Haiti benefit at Music Hall of Williamsburg that Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) also played, recorded his debut album at Bon Iver's studio in Wisconsin late last year. Early this year, Shade recorded another version of the record (with string quartet) - it was produced by Paul Kolderie (Pixies, Radiohead, Hole, Dinosaur Jr, Warron Zevon, etc). Paul offered to make the record after coming to a John Shade gig in Boston. We posted an MP3 from that session in our announcement of John Shade's next (and 2nd) NYC show which happens (with string quartet) at Mercury Lounge tonight (Monday, 4/12). John also plays Lizard Lounge in Cambridge on Wednesday (4/14).

Justin Vernon and John Shade sat down (in front of their respective computers) and had an IM chat about various topics including John's new record, movies, books, and sometimes I'm not sure what. That conversation, and more (never-before-seen) pictures from the Haiti benefit, below...

Continue reading "John Shade in conversation with Justin Vernon"

DOWNLOAD: Anais Mitchell - Flowers (Eurydice's Song) (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Anais Mitchell - Wait For Me w/ Justin Vernon (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Anais Mitchell - Cosmic American (MP3)

Speaking of The Low Anthem, The Low Anthem's Ben Knox Miller recently joined Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Greg Brown, Ani DiFranco, and Petra, Rachel, and Tanya Haden to play on the new record by Anais Mitchell, Hadestown, which is due out March 9th on Righteous Babe. The record is a concept album about the Greek myth of Orpheus & Euridice, and each of those singers plays a role...

Hadestown began its existence in 2006 as a live "folk opera" that the Vermont-based singer/songwriter created in collaboration with director Ben t. Matchstick (Bread & Puppet Theater) and arranger/orchestrator Michael Chorney. After loading the sets and the 22-member cast of Vermont performers into a former circus bus and touring New England during "full-on winter," it was time to rework a few songs. Next, Mitchell called upon a few fellow musicians to lend their voices to a recorded version--not a cast album, but a stand-alone, self-contained song cycle. The result is a veritable Who's Who of modern indie folk/rock: Justin Vernon of Bon Iver plays Orpheus; Greg Brown is Hades, Lord of the Underworld ("king of the kingdom of dirt"); and Ani DiFranco plays Hades' strong-willed, subversive wife, Persephone. Also on hand in smaller roles are the Haden Triplets (Petra, Rachel, and Tanya) as the Greek-chorus-like Fates and Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem as the messenger Hermes. Mitchell herself sings the part of Eurydice, the character whose (metaphoric) death propels Orpheus into "Hadestown."

In other Justin Vernon collaboration news, he recently performed live with St. Vincent two times (one, two) in NYC, and one of his Bon Iver songs is covered on the new Peter Gabriel album.

Anais's upcoming shows include an April 23rd show at Joe's Pub billed as "Anais Mitchell & the Hadestown Orchestra". Tickets are on sale. All dates and a video of Anais performing with Justin, below...

Continue reading "Anais Mitchell playing shows, releasing 'Hadestown' - concept album w/ Justin Vernon, Greg Brown, Hadens, more (MP3s)"

photos by Chris La Putt

"St Vincent brought out David freaking Byrne!!" - Kari

For the second week in a row, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) performed together at a NYC show. Last week it was the Haiti benefit. Last night it was St Vincent's headlining show at Lincoln Center's Allen Room. Last week included a bunch of covers. Last night included the Twilight song. Shara Worden, saxophonist Colin Stetson and a member of Megafaun were surprise guests last week. David Byrne, Budos Band horns, and a member of The National (and Justin) were surprise guests last night.

St Vincent appears on David Byrne's new album, as does Nicole Atkins who shares a bill with David at Bowery Ballroom on February 3rd. Bon Iver and St Vincent are both playing MusicNOW fest in March. The National just announced a new album and a tour that includes Radio City Music Hall, and the Big Ears Festival that St. Vincent is also playing.

St. Vincent heads out on tour with Wildbirds & Peacedrums on February 3rd. More pictures and the setlist from the Allen Room, below...

Continue reading "St. Vincent (and David Byrne, Justin Vernon, Bryce Dessner & more) played Lincoln Center's Allen Room - pics & setlist"

photos by Paul Birman

"Thanks to everyone who came to the BV Haiti benefit last night. You made it really special." - St. Vincent

"St. Vincent and Justin Vernon performing together was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen/heard." - Steph Lo

Wyatt Cenac was funny. Then came Britt Daniel (of Spoon) with White Rabbits frontman Stephen Patterson. They had such a good time on stage together, you can tell they were buds. Janeane Garofalo came next - she has the smartest humor and is a strong rooted New Yorker. Made a ton of jokes about the L train and hipsters which the crowd took very warmly to. Gosh she's tiny. St Vincent went on and sounded like the lovely thing she is. Someone yelled while she was setting up 'show us your bush'????', In which she replied, 'that is the strangest thing someone has ever said to me...on or off stage'. Adorable. Following her was Zach Galifianakis who everyone was undeniably waiting for. It really looked like he just rolled out of bed, picked up some papers from a table and walked on stage totally winging his whole act...hilarious. Alas came Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). His voice sounded just as amazing it does on record. The room was at its most quiet during "Flume". Unreal. He was the last act but did say something about a special guest - I heard it was Megafaun/My Brightest Diamond (had to leave early), which I imagine rounded out the benefit nicely. Really awesome that these guys all came together"...
[Stadiums & Shrines]

The night opened with a great debut set by singer-songwriter John Shade (previously Dave Godowsky) who brought out Justin Vernon on drums for two songs. Before and after John, and between every set of the night, came comedy by our two able hosts: Bobby Tisdale and Leo Allen. St Vincent's set included a National and a Nico cover. Justin covered John Prine. Britt Daniel did three songs, which was one less than he played at Sound Fix a few hours earlier.

And yep, the special guest after/during Justin's set was in fact Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) who (after headlining Bowery Ballroom one night earlier) played two jaw dropping numbers - one with Colin Stetson on his most-insane giant saxophone, and a cover of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore".

But it didn't end there. A supergroup called Songer Singwriter featuring Annie, Justin, drummer, and Brad from Megafaun came back to close the night off right with a set of four more covers. Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Tom Petty's "Face in the Crowd" (with Brad on lead), Dolly Parton's "Jolene", and Annie Lennox's "Why". Each of those final covers was better than the next. To quote one of my tweets, "To quote my friend, 'Sounds like sonic youth playing a dolly parton song. Sick!' and now Annie Lennox Why! Full room Bon Iver singalong".

We ran almost non-stop for 3.5 hours straight (8-11:30), and raised over $20,000. I'm still waiting for an exact number. More pictures (one of two sets we have) and some videos from the show, below....

Continue reading "Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon, St Vincent, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo & others raised money for Haiti @ MHOW - pics & video "

I am very happy to announce....

A Night of Comedy and Music to Benefit Haiti
Presented By Bowery Presents and BrooklynVegan
With short sets by:
Zach Galifianakis, Britt Daniel (of Spoon), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), St. Vincent, Janeane Garofalo, Wyatt Cenac (of the Daily Show), the live debut of John Shade (ex Dave Godowsky) & possibly more TBA (stay tuned)

Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Date: Sat 1/23 (AKA IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS)
Notes: 18+, Doors 6:30 PM / Show 8:00 PM

Tickets (on sale Friday at noon) are only going to be $35 in advance, and $40 at the door if there are any left. A more expensive VIP option will be available so we can raise as much money as possible. 100% of the proceeds will be split between an orphanage in Haiti (that Zach chose) and the Red Cross.

Note: this show is not to be confused North 6th for Haiti (1/27 @ MHOW) which will also be announced any second (and is already on Ticketmaster)

---

We were lucky to get Justin Vernon who was in town just long enough after tonight's appearance (1/21) for the NY Guitar Festival.

Spoon was also in town tonight for a show, and Britt Daniel will be playing a show at Sound Fix that same day at 7pm (1/23).

Zach Galifianakis speaks to Natalie Portman in the video below...

Continue reading "Haiti benefit SATURDAY NIGHT (Zach Galifianakis, Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon, St Vincent, Janeane Garofalo & more) "

The Big Ears Festival, happening March 26-28 in Knoxville, TN, recently expanded its lineup to include the National, Dirty Projectors, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Iva Bittova, Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, Tracy Silverman, and Buke & Gass. Those are in addition to the previously announced acts of Vampire Weekend, the Calder Quartet, 802 Tour (Nico Muhly/Doveman/Sam Amidon with Nadia Sirota), Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent, Andrew WK, The Ex, Gang Gang Dance, Clogs, The xx, Javelin, DJ/rupture (solo), DJ/rupture and Andy Moor, My Brightest Diamond, Gyan Riley and jj.

Big Ears is being co-curated by Bryce Dessner of the National, who's also bringing some great acts to his hometown of Cincinnati for MusicNOW Festival. For that, the city's Memorial Hall will host three shows: Joanna Newsom on March 30th, St. Vincent and yMusic on 31st, and Justin Vernon April 1st. Annie Clark a.k.a. St. Vincent has been commissioned to write a piece for the fest that yMusic will perform. More guests TBA. Tickets and three-night passes are on sale.

Joanna Newsom is coming to NYC in March. Tickets are now on AmEx presale. Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) is here sooner (this Thursday). St. Vincent has a show coming up at Lincoln Center.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ The Bell House in September (more by Ryan Muir)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums are going on tour with St. Vincent this February. That goes from British Columbia to Philly in one month, but stops short of NYC. The reason for that is probably St. Vincent's appearance, right before the tour starts, at Lincoln Center's Allen Room (as part of their American Songbook series) scheduled for Friday, January 29th (tickets are on sale).

Sweden's Wildbirds & Peacedrums will play their own shows in the city as well, but after the tour is complete. Their first NYC show will happen on Friday, February 26th at Mercury Lounge. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, December 9th (today) at noon. They they play Bruar Falls in Brooklyn the next night (2/27).

All tour dates for both, and St. Vincent's song with Bon Iver that appears on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack are below.

Since we're mentioning Bon Iver, it should also be noted that eight songs from his April concert with Eau Claire Memorial Jazz I, Justin Vernon's former high school jazz band, has been released...

Just in time for the holiday season, Eau Claire Memorial Jazz I is proud to announce the CD release of their A Decade With Duke concert featuring Justin Vernon of BON IVER.

CDs are available for purchase in Eau Claire, Wisconsin only at Brick House Music, Morgan Music, and the offices of Volume One.

A digital version which includes only the second set, featuring Vernon, is also available digitally worldwide at most online music retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc.

All proceeds from the local CD sales and digital sales will be donated directly to Eau Claire Memorial High School's band and jazz band programs.

Continue reading "Wildbirds & Peacedrums & St Vincent touring (but playing separately in NYC) ++ Bon Iver-related CD released"

DOWNLOAD: Volcano Choir - 'Island, IS' (MP3)

Speaking of Bon Iver and his new Volcano Choir. Download the first song above.

words by Andrew Frisicano, P4K photos by Joseph Xu

DOWNLOAD: Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Shampoo (MP3)

Elvis Perkins @ Clearwater Festival 6/21 (more by Chris La Putt)

Drift: You're playing Bonaroo this year, and you did last year. Do you enjoy playing festivals?

Elvis Perkins: Yeah. The festival atmosphere and scene is good fun. Especially when people are all sort of holed up in one place, have pilgrimaged their way to a certain spot, like what you get at Bonaroo or Sasquatch, that you don't necessarily get at Lollapalooza. That behind-the-scenes thing is fun, and just taking part in something like a modern day religious-less pilgrimage, a Mecca of sorts, if good. It lets everyone know that they're alive. The playing of the sets themselves can sometimes be challenging, but once you get thrown to the fire, you get used to the temperature. And if you can accept that it's going to be somewhat chaotic and that it's not going to sound very good, at least to you, on stage, then it can definitely be an enjoyable moment. The last time I was at Bonaroo, I certainly wasn't in the best spirits, or in the best shape rest-wise or nutrient-wise, so it was a bit of a struggle for me against the heat and the dust. But this time I'm prepared, and I know what awaits. This time I'm going to take Bonaroo before it takes me.

Bonnaroo wasn't the only festival Perkins played this summer. We recently posted pics of him at Newport Folk Festival and at the Clearwater Festival. He'll also be at Seattle's Bumbershoot in September.

Perkins's winter '09 tour made two NYC stops - one at the Bell House and one in March at the Bowery Ballroom. At the latter, Perkins ended the night by leading the packed crowd through the soapy confines of the NYC subway system for an encore. Elvis Perkins in Dearland will return to that venue for a show on Friday, December 4th with Bowerbirds. Maybe this time they'll head over the Williamsburg Bridge. Which would leave them not far from their next show, December 5th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for the NYC shows go on AmEx presale Wednesday, August 12th at noon; general sale starts Friday at noon.

Bowerbirds are not playing the Music Hall show - opener TBA on that one. Bowerbirds are currently still on tour with Megafaun who they played Bowery Ballroom with in July 2009 which was not that long before they played the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago (more pictures from that show below). In July 2008, Bowerbirds opened for Bon Iver at Bowery Ballroom (it was part of a larger tour).

Bon Iver has a new project with a new album and tour dates too.

Videos of the above-mentioned Bonnaroo collaborations, P4k pictures, and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Elvis Perkins & Bowerbirds played festivals, returning to NYC (pictures, videos & 2009 tour dates) "

photos by Natasha Ryan, words by Andrew Frisicano

Dark Was the Night live finally happened Sunday, May 3rd at Radio City. Right before showtime, there were still tickets available, but the auditorium seemed fairly full as the Dirty Projectors set began. The band sounded great with its newly fleshed out six-piece lineup (though I didn't catch the titles of the first Bitte Orca song). The reverb of the room was almost a special guest of its own and a welcome addition throughout the night. On new single "Stillness Is the Move" singer Amber Coffman really let loose with the dance moves and the added vocal acrobatics the song deserves. David Byrne joined the band on their Dark Was the Night collaborations -- the not-on-the-comp "Ambulance Man" and album opener "Knotty Pine."

Red Hot executive director John Carlin (Red Hot being the AIDS advocacy group that put out Dark Was the Night along with many other benefit comps) came out and said a few words about the performers before My Brightest Diamond/Shara Worden burst into her cover of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good." Worden was backed by Thomas Bartlett (Doveman) on keys, members of the National including the two Dessners brothers (who were obvious fixtures through the night), drummer Bryan Devendorf, plus horns and strings. Worden's massive voice filled the hall, but sadly took the lead for only one song.

The rest of The National guys came on stage for Boxer song "Slow Show," followed by new song "England." Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and band were on stage for backups, and for The National's Dark Was the Night contribution, "So Far Around the Bend," Vernon even picked up a guitar and took a solo. The band closed with another new song, which singer Matt Berninger mumbled the title of a few times (anyone catch it?).

For the next set, TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek took the stage in a sharp looking suit and performed one track, his DwtN Troggs cover "With a Girl Like You." Here it was backed by a fuzzed out bass, horns, keys, and a collection of the night's performers on handclaps and tambourines (Dirty Projectors, Dessners, others).

As John Carlin announced earlier, the first half of the show was to close with David Byrne's three Red Hot compilation contributions. Led by five hand percussionists, Byrne opened with Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In." Second, he played "Dreamworld: Marco De Canavesems" with Justin Vernon sitting in on vocals for Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso (who originally collaborated with Bryne on the track). The tune's hyped up bossa nova, with the Dessners on guitars, was one of the night's many highlights. Finally, Byrne sang with Feist (who subbed for the original's Marisa Monte) on the Antonio Carlos Jobim song "Waters of March" ("Aguas de Março"). Even with Byrne starring down at the lyric prompt for nearly the whole song, the jumping melody of that tune was an amazing end to the first set.

continued below...

Continue reading "Dark Was the Night @ Radio City Music Hall in NYC (Brightest Byrne Bon National Feist Projectors) - pics, review & setlist"

"Sarah Siskind (1978 - ) is a singer and songwriter based in Nashville and grounded in folk and Appalachian roots. Her music has been classified as: rock, folk, americana, and alternative. Alison Krauss has championed Sarah and values her songs so highly that she's recorded two of them, both of which became singles and videos that received widespread airplay. Bluegrass/Folk legend Tim O'Brien calls her a rare talent...

...In 2002, Sarah released "Covered." Despite its title, it featured mostly original songs that dealt with love, family and relationships... Sarah invited Bill Frisell, a modern-day giant of jazz guitar, to anchor the studio band.....

...Indie-rock act Bon Iver was so taken with Sarah's song "Lovin's For Fools" that the group closed most of their 2008 tour sets with the song each night, and invited her to join them on their December 2008 European tour. In addition, Ireland's legendary artist, Paul Brady, invited her to join him on-stage for a collaboration in New York City that same year, and had her contribute backing vocals on his new album." [Wikipedia]

Tonight (Monday, April 27), Sarah is in NYC to play a free show at the Living Room...

7PM - Sarah Siskind
8PM - Jo Williamson
9PM - Caroline Jones
10PM - The Makepeace Brothers
11PM - Jim Campilongo

Continue reading "Sarah Siskind, who plays w/ Bon Iver & Bill Frisell (videos), is in NYC - free show tonight & other tour dates"