words & photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

The old Knitting Factory used to be a bastion for independent hip hop in New York City. The new incarnation just took a big step at continuing that legacy, as it hosted one of the most historic hip hop concerts in recent memory.

On Wednesday night (1/20), An astounding array of legends and rising stars rocked the stage to honor everyone's favorite five-footer, Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. The event, Mind Body Soul, was a benefit to raise awareness for diabetes (Phife just received a kidney transplant related to his trials with the disease). And while diabetes was often on the mind and tongues of the performers, the show was really more of a demonstration of the persisting camaraderie and mutual adoration within a genre too often beleaguered with battles and conflict.

After quick opening sets by Hook, Jasmine Solano, Scotch Davis, and Monica Rush, the venue went from a displaced chill to full on engagement as Talib Kweli lead off the roster of A-listers. Having just arrived at the venue and already sent out to perform, Kweli showed his undying humility and his utmost flexibility though microphone heroics on a short notice set. Greg Nice (of obscure but beloved group Nice and Smooth) then burst out with a virulent spirit, with the mohawked, larger-than-life OG launching himself straight into the audience to parlay with the youngsters up front.

Jeru Tha Damaja was glib and full of grimy charm; he laid down classic tracks and told stories from the tombs of Brooklyn Hip Hop lore. A soft-spoken Dres (from Black Sheep) smoothly enticed with new material to go with that little ditty about train derailment you might have heard.

Compared to the illustrious resumes of many performers preceding and following him, up-and-comer Jay Electronica might have felt a bit overwhelmed. But Jay's heartfelt thanks to his peers was the most touching moment of the night, and his outrageous performance - with help from Mos Def, Hi Tek, and Kweli (all of whom recently cancelled performances at Highline Ballroom) - resonated with the youthful segments of the crowd and proved his position as the brightest star on the hip hop horizon.

Jay might have been the showstopper if he wasn't followed by hip hop ambassador (and its greatest living performer) KRS-One. Accompanied by hype man BusyBee (of the original Zulu Nation crew), KRS got metaphysical with beyond-cerebral freestyles. But still being the most humble braggadocio around, he bumped out covers of Biggie and Tribe to continue the showing of utmost respect and brotherhood that categorized the night.

There were some awkward and antagonizing moments throughout: posse upon posse swelling to the width of the stage and getting shooed away numerous times by Heavy Sound (the presenter) organizers, strange interactions between host Michael Rapaport and house turntablist DJ D-Lyfe, not to mention an off-performance by a sheepish Mr. Cheeks (of The Lost Boyz).

But it wouldn't really be a memorable hip hop conglomeration if it wasn't just the slightest bit disorganized or sporadically contentious. Even without a single piece of original vinyl brandished throughout the laptop-swapping spree behind the DJ table, the event still felt like a storied Bronx block party or an impromptu Brooklyn corner concert or a Queens Native Tongue poetry slam.

As Consequence dragged Phife on stage, followed by Ali Shaheed Muhameed and then Q-Tip to perform the final set of the night as a united Quest, on display was a vivid demonstration of the greatest hope for the future of hip hop: its ability to nurture its own existence through such reciprocal love. It might take a village to raise a child, but on this night, it only took one Tribe to raise up hip hop.

Ghostface was on the bill, but didn't show. More pictures from the night below...

Continue reading "A Tribe Called Quest got together (w/ help from Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Hi-Tek & more) @ Knitting Factory in NYC - pics "

by BBG

Pissed Jeans at Mercury Lounge (more by Jake Forney)

Though I'm starting to look forward to SXSW 2010 in March, I'm also currently pondering the great Pissed Jeans who released one of my favorite LPs of 2009. They were last seen in NYC around Halloween, not long after destroying the tiny Mercury Lounge during CMJ. The noisy punks will return in April as part of a short tour. Tickets are on sale for the Brooklyn show at Knitting Factory on April 9th. No word on support so far.

If you can't wait that long, the band is also playing in Asbury Park on March 12th. All dates below...

Continue reading "Pissed Jeans - 2010 Tour Dates (Knitting Factory) "

words by Ilya Blokh

Mick Barr of Krallice at The Knitting Factory (photo by Justina Villanueva)

Humanity Falls, Ancient Wound and Crucifist opened for Krallice at the Knitting Factory on Sunday, January 7th, 2010. Crucifist were closing up a short east coast tour in support of the recently released Demon Haunted World, while Krallice dropped Dimensional Bleedthrough a few months ago (one of BBG's faves); both records are out on Profound Lore.

A review of Sunday's show continues below...

Continue reading "Krallice, Crucifist & friends played Knitting Factory "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Charlie Hunter - High Pockets and a Fanny Pack (MP3)

Charlie [Hunter] has wrapped up the recording of his next record titled 'Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid.' The lineup includes Eric Kalb (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, John Scofield) on drums, Curtis Fowlkes (Jazz Passengers, Lounge Lizards, Bill Frisell) and Alan Ferber (Don Byron, Kenny Wheeler) on trombone, and Eric Biondo (Antibalas, TV On The Radio) on trumpet! The official street date for the new album is January 12th!

Eric Biondo, who plays with Charlie, is also a member of Antibalas, who are continuing their Thursday night residency at Knitting Factory Brooklyn into 2010. They're on the schedule for January 7th (tix), 14th (tix), 21st (tix), and 28th (tix). Members of Antibalas play in the Broadway musical Fela!, which is currently selling tickets into June 2010 (we're rooting for it in light of the news that 10 Broadway shows are closing this month alone)...

...[Fela!]producer Stephen Hendel knows that developing audiences for Fela! isn't going to be easy: He needs to sell three times as many seats a week as he did off-Broadway. So he's enlisted rapper Jay-Z and superstars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith to lend their names as producers. He hopes Fela! will become a hot ticket, like it was off-Broadway.

"Suddenly, we were just sold out," he says. "Celebrities calling every day, world-famous musicians. We had no tickets. We'd squeeze them in."

Jones says he's already hearing good word of mouth when he stands at the back of the theater.

"It's a fun evening," he says. "Even with all the things that go down in that second act, I heard some people describing it as 'uplifting' the other day. Uplifting? Well, it ends with people bringing coffins into the theater, but I guess that's ... I've also heard people say, 'It made me want to go out and be an activist!' Well, that's good." [NPR]

All Charlie Hunter tour dates and album info are below...

Continue reading "Charlie Hunter kicks off Brooklyn residency (w/ new album), Antibalas extends theirs (while Fela! continues on Broadway)"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Keren Ann played shows at City Winery (Sunday) and Knitting Factory (Monday). The latter was with Clare & the Reasons, and there are more pictures from that one, below...

Continue reading "Keren Ann, Clare & the Reasons @ Knitting Factory - pics & setlist"

photos by Erez Avissar

The Shaky Hands

Tickets went on sale today for a January 16th Takka Takka / La Strada / Frances show at Mercury Lounge. Wednesday night (12/2), Takka shared a bill with tour-mates US Royalty and The Shaky Hands at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn show was actually kicked off by Josh Wise from French Kicks who played a solo set (Josh made another appearance this week as part of Rumours last night at The Bell House). Josh was followed by an energetic set by US Royalty who were followed by Takka Takka's new lineup which led up to the headliners of the evening. More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "The Shaky Hands & US Royalty played Knitting Factory in Brooklyn w/ Takka Takka - pics & new show on sale"

by BBG

The Slackers (photo by Ben Minehart)

Kevin Seconds: ...Speaking of tours... have you been here and there doing any other touring solo wise with Shanti?

Greg Attonito: Yeah. Shanti, Vic [Ruggiero] from The Slackers... It was a total blast. We ended up just doing a whole bunch of stuff together.

Kevin Seconds: Vic's phenomenal. (Laughs). It's like, I got to know him a little bit last year when we went out on the East Coast and we did some gigs together. I was completely blown away by his ability to pull it off musically and the kind of guy he is... I haven't been inspired like on a musical or an art level in a long time. He was just... wow, this guy is really living.

[from our interview with the two earlier this year]

The Slackers recently dropped a new disc entitled Lost & Found:

Lost & Found is a cd that I culled from our archives going back as far 1998. It includes rarities from back in the day, alternative versions of slacker's classics, and "new" songs that we just finished from basic rhythms that were not completed (it took 5 years for us to finish one of these tracks...that's slackin!)

So yeah, its a fun cd, new and old at the same time. But its all tracks that havent seen the light of day until right now!

Full tour dates and some videos are below....

Continue reading "The Slackers - 2009 Tour Dates (2 nights @ KF)"

by BBG

Antibalas in Philly on 6/6 (more by Tim Griffin)

Much like The Roots, who they shared the stage with at The Roots Picnic in June, have been doing lately, Antibalas will play a NYC residency. Theirs will take place at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn over four Thursdays in December (they exclude Dec 24th), culminating in a New Years Eve show. Tickets are on sale for the 12/3 show, the 12/10, the 12/17 and the New Years Eve show. Antibalas is also scheduled to appear at the Winter's Eve Festival on 11/30 along with Joy Behar. Yes, that one.

Members of Antibalas are also notably a part of the Broadway musical FELA! based on the life of the Afrobeat legend, and produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith/Jada Pinkett-Smith.

A provocative hybrid of dance and Broadway musical, FELA! features the Afrobeat music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a book by Jim Lewis... arrangements by Aaron Johnson and Antibalas with direction and choreography by Tony® Award winner Bill T. Jones...
FELA! uses stirring Afrobeat music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), to tell the story of Kuti's controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. Featuring many of Fela Kuti's most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones's visionary staging, FELA! is the most original new musical on Broadway.

Some related videos below...

Continue reading "Antibalas are playing mutliple shows @ Knitting Factory & are in the Fela! musical (for which they offer a coupon)"

words by BBG, photos by Sam Marble

Cave In, Narrows, and Trap Them completed a short tour of the east coast as part of Cave In's first trek in close to four years. The band was also touring off of Planets of Old, which dropped earlier this year in limited vinyl, and will be released on CD with an accompanying DVD in the new year. Culled from their first reunion show in Boston, the DVD features live footage of the entire show. Dig on a taste of that here.

The show also marked the first East Coast date for supergroup Narrows, which features Dave Verellen of Botch, as well as members of Unbroken, Some Girls (which featured Wes Eisold of Cold Cave), and many others. For Trap Them, it was their first NYC show since pummeling NYC with Napalm Death, Coliseum, Kataklysm and Toxic Holocaust.

Coliseum, who recently played Fun Fun Fun Fest with Coalesce, are heading back out with the KC band and hitting up NYC on Dec 30 at Europa with A Storm Of Light. Tickets are on sale.

More pics from the Brooklyn show below...

Continue reading "Cave In, Trap Them & Narrows played Knitting Factory in Brooklyn - pics & setlist "

by BBG

A pale and heavily photoshopped David Pajo returns from church

As previously discussed, Until The Light Takes Us is the much talked about documentary chronicling the Norwegian Black Metal scene, which after months of anticipation, is FINALLY getting a theatrical release in NYC on Dec 4th (you can catch it at Cinema Village). Featuring a killer lineup of interviewees (Fenriz, Hellhammer, Frost, Abbath, Harmony Korine, and even the elusive and now free Vark Vikernes himself) as well as a soundtrack with many faves of different genres (Darkthrone, Mayhem, Ulver, Thorns, Enslaved, Boards of Canada, Black Dice, Sunn 0))), Múm, many others), fans of all types of music should be able to follow the fascinating story behind one of the most extreme musical scenes in modern history.

Maybe all of the years of research put into the documentary has burned the filmmakers out on buzzing guitars, pained vocals and frost-bitten blasts though, because they recruited bands of a different sort for their release party at Knitting Factory TONIGHT (11/18): Papa M, Rain Machine, Soft Circle, and Devendra Banhart collaborator Kevin Barker. Tickets are on sale. Flyer below.

The director of Until The Light Takes Us Aaron Aites and Rain Machine aka Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio) are in a band together, Iran, who currently have no US dates lined up. Rain Machine have a total of four.

Papa M, aka David Pajo (who is also now in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), will be showcasing all of his 1999 LP Live From A Shark Cage at the show as one of only two US dates (the other is in San Francisco on 12/20), with a third date as part of the previously discussed and sold out Ten Years of ATP show in Minehead. Pajo is also prepping to release his new LP, Evila, which is set to blast off in early December. Full tour dates are below.

Kevin Barker, who has also been known to collaborate with Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan, and Antony and the Johnsons among many others, has one other date on his calendar, Dec 20th at The Stone. His new album You and Me is out now digitally and features many of those same people as guest musicians.

The movie trailer and party flyer with Papa M dates and a video of Pajo covering "Where Eagles Dare" by The Misfits, below..

Continue reading "Papa M performing full album three times (dates) - tonight in NYC w/ Kevin Barker @ black metal movie opening party"

Greenpoint Polish club turned concert venue Warsaw might start having concerts again thanks to Knitting Factory who recently reopened their own permanent space in the neighboring Williamsburg.

The addition of the Warsaw gives the East Coast Knitting Factory talent buying team the flexibility to present concerts in the more-intimate Knitting Factory Brooklyn (capacity approx. 300) or the more expansive Warsaw, a 1,000-capacity showroom.

Continue reading "Knitting Factory is booking Brooklyn venue Warsaw now"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

Titus Andronicus @ Knitting Factory

Titus Andronicus and The So So Glos closed out their six-week North American tour (it kicked off at Monster Island Basement on September 2nd) with a show at the Knitting Factory Brooklyn on Thursday, October 15th. Grooms opened...

"In a room packed with family and friends, So So Glos absolutely killed it. I love this band. Every time they get up on stage they put their all into what they are doing, and they clearly love rock and roll. You know someone really loves what they're doing when, after six weeks of the same thing every night, the guys in this band are still moshing and mouthing all the words to Titus after their own set. What a genuine bunch of dudes. When they take the stage, they make it seem like the guitars are their weapons, and they're using rock and roll to energetically fight for everything good in the world. I did once see them almost start a fight at Death By Audio, but tonight was just good vibes all around, with an energetic under-aged crowd moshing along up front and us older folk enjoying ourselves, merely absorbing the So So Glos from the back.

Titus Andronicus was about the same as well. Patrick Stickles is an amazing front man. He's totally bizarre, with an enormous black beard and eccentric stage banter. You can tell he's obviously the force behind both the literary and smart punk songs the band churns out. I'd seen Titus in the past with a bigger lineup and more instruments, including a keyboard. This time around they were just guitar, guitar, bass and drums. While I do think that they lost some of their grandeur with the departure of the keyboards, Titus didn't just power through their angst-ridden teenage tunes. Stickles mastered his guitar feedback to dramatic effect, with exciting builds and pauses. When this band releases their next album in 2010 (around March, Stickles promised), their career will certainly be unstoppable." [Breakthru Radio]

The So So Glos are currently touring Europe with The Virgins. Dates are below.

Brooklyn's Grooms (who used to be called Muggabears) have a slew of CMJ appearances coming up. They play a non-CMJ show on Tuesday (10/20) at Death by Audio, a Force Field CMJ show at Pianos on Oct. 21, the In Tandem Magazine CMJ show at Littlefield on on Oct. 23, and an After the Jump day show on Oct 24 at Brooklyn Bowl. Rejoicer, Grooms' debut, came out October 20th on the Death By Audio label.

The rest of the Knitting Factory pictures, some fliers and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus & Grooms played w/ The So So Glos @ Knitting Factory (pics), playing CMJ shows (dates) "

by Martin Longley

Friday's gig's sold out, although in the new Knitting Factory this still means that we're not feeling claustrophobic. Still room to move. It's like a mini-history of London punk, with former Slits singer/guitarist Viv Albertine playing a completely solo opening set that feels like it's half monologue as she recalls the days of platonically sharing a bed with Sid Vicious and getting her one-time heroin fix from Johnny Thunders. Mother sits you on her knee, to tell you tales of the old days, but few bedtime stories tend to inhabit such a nihilistic world. The rules of punk are explained, and Albertine's anecdotes come across as a mixture of naîve wonderment and epic sleaze: there's something very strange about this legend-making material becoming a thing of thirty-plus year-old history. Sadly, Albertine's tinny-guitared songs are quite basic and uninspiring, but the massive Slits legacy is indeed a difficult songbook to match.

Albertine fares much better later, guesting with The Raincoats to play "Adventures Close To Home", which was originally a Slits ditty. This is the climax of a short US tour, coinciding with the reissue of the band's ultra-classic 1979 debut album. Predictably, it's these songs that provide the highlights, played in an authentically raw fashion, as if they were scrawled out only a few days previously. The face-painted Raincoats emanate sheer inclusive bonhomie, ebulliently bouncing and bounding. Gina Birch and Ana Da Silva swap vocals and guitars, whilst Anne Wood jumps around gleefully as she bows with a fierce attack to her sawtooth violin riffing.

Vice Cooler's drumming is almost too professionally session-istic, but we can't really argue with the added thunder-power he provides. There's "No One's Little Girl", with its eeeek-ing violin/vocal harmonies, and the minor fluff of "Babydog" from their fleeting 1996 revival. The true classics, though, are "No Side To Fall In", "Fairytale In The Supermarket", "No Looking" and "Lola", all delivered as a multi-vocalled rabble. The Raincoats remain completely committed, still in touch with their original ramshackle energy-forces.

Check out a video from Viv's set, below...

Continue reading "The Raincoats & Viv Albertine played Knitting Factory"

by Black Bubblegum

Cave In: Gods of Woodland Hardcore

It was bound to happen, and now it has. Cave In will play NYC on 11/19 at Knitting Factory as part of a short east coast tour with Narrows and Trap Them! Ticket info is forthcoming.

Cave In, who came out of hiatus over the summer, are also playing shows with Coalesce in the next week for FREE in ATL on 10/7, and 10/8 in LA at The Knitting Factory (one of the last shows at the California venue). RSVP for those FREE shows here.

The tour announcement comes on the heels of the announcement that the limited Planets Of Old 12" will be re-released as an CD EP in the new year. All dates below...

Continue reading "Cave In playing shows! - Knitting Factory in NYC, an East Coast tour w/ Trap Them (dates), free in ATL & LA (RSVP)"

Neil Hamburger @ Knitting Factory in Manhattan in 2008 (more by Lori Baily)

The days are officially numbered for Hollywood's Knitting Factory. The club, says a spokesman, will host its last show on Oct. 25, with pop-punk band Hit the Lights currently booked on the venue's final day.

Pop & Hiss reported in July that the Knitting Factory intended to leave its current location at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. at the end of October. The club's lease is up Oct. 31, and there were no last-minute changes of heart.

"We are definitely not staying here," says the club's head of promotion and publicity, Bruce Duff, via email.

The Knitting Factory's flier for its final Hollywood shows teases a new venue opening in 2010. Duff says nothing has yet been finalized on a new locale, although "several are in the running."
[LA Times]

The "Washington DC, Nairobi, USA, Kenya" band Extra Golden released their third record, Thank You Very Quickly via Thrill Jockey in March. They were scheduled to open for Ted Leo on Pier 54 in NYC over the summer, but their set got cut due to rain. Tonight (9/23), they're back in town to perform (inside) at the new Knitting Factory in Brooklyn with Antimagic and Grandchildren. All dates below...

Continue reading "Extra Golden is back in NYC again & on tour "

photos by Tim Griffin

Knitting Factory's move to Brooklyn is finally complete and the doors are open. After a friends and family performance-less soft opening on Tuesday, Les Savy Fav truly broke in the place with one of the band's trademark bonkers performances on Wednesday evening (9/9). Comedian and new SNL writer Hannibal Burress warmed up the attentive, approximately-250-capacity crowd with a solid 20 minute set. The room was full, but never too packed. Bill wrote a little bit more what it was like inside on the previous night.

Check it out tonight (9/10) when Boss Hog hits the Brooklyn stage (with Shilpa Ray opening). On Saturday, Boss Hog perform at ATP in Monticello. Full Knitting Factory schedule HERE.

More pictures from opening night, below...

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav & Hannibal Buress helped open the new Knitting Factory in Brooklyn - pics "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Princeton - Calypso Gold (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wild Beasts - All the Kings Men (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sondre Lerche - Good Luck (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Marmoset - Peach Cobbler (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Marmoset - Florist Fired (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Marmoset - Winter (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Marmoset - Lemon Meringue Live (Zip)

Wild Beasts @ Joe's Pub, Tuesday night - 9/8/09

Even without All Tomorrow's Parties, this week is bananas with quality shows, so much so I'm dividing this week's column into two parts. (Which means more tomorrow.) I caught Wild Beasts' New York debut last night (9/8) at Joe's Pub and they were fantastic, wowing pretty much everyone in the room. I wrote over at Sound Bites...

Wild Beasts' magic is in the interplay between the four members, and it's best just to think of them as one slithering unit. Vocals trade lines between Flemming and Thorpe like twins, and the guitar lines snake around one another, bass pulses and ebbs, while drummer Chris Talbot (the band's secret weapon) gives most songs a tribal feel -- lots of toms, not so much cymbals. Nobody stood still for a second, bassists-guitarists-singers Hayden Thorpe and Tom Flemming swinging and swaying, hooting and howling. A bit more "rock" than the versions on new album Two Dancers (Talbot plays a little more four-on-the-floor live) but if it's subtleties are missing, it's made up in a mesmerizing group performance.

Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, Tuesday night - 9/8/09

After Wild Beasts, I bolted back to Williamsburg for the "soft opening" of the new Knitting Factory space which will get baptized officially tonight (9/9) by Tim Harrington and the rest of Les Savvy Fav. No bands last night, just drinks and a looksee around the place. It's nice. The Knitting Factory folks have completely transformed the Luna Lounge space which suffered from being one giant space with nowhere to go if you wanted to escape the noise. They smartly divided the space in half, with a bar room up front and the performance space in back. The front bar room has a number of booths and a nook where a small band could play. The actual bar is set against the wall that divides it from the performance space which is where the double-layer of super-thick soundproof glass windows are, so you can still see the bands play even if you'd rather be talking to friends. They'll pipe in a monitor feed to the bar room so you can still hear the bands, just at a much lower volume.

Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, Tuesday night - 9/8/09

The elongated Knitting Factory performance space looks to be about the same capacity as Mercury Lounge, with what looks to me like a slightly smaller stage than when it was Luna Lounge. There's a bar stage right so you don't have to go to the other room for a drink. The floor slopes down slightly from the sides of the room, like the world's gentlest half-pipe so the shorter among us might want to stay to the sides for a better view. There was no band playing last night, so I can't say how it sounds, but stage lighting looked really nice and they have built-in smoke machines for when Blacklist or Cold Cave play. It's a nice space and I'm anxious to actually see a band play there. Tonight will definitely be a trial by fire with Les Savy Fav, and the place should have a bit of that lived-in feel after they get done. Tomorrow night (9/10) is Boss Hog and Shilpa Ray, and Friday has Seattle's The Spits and Austin's Woven Bones, two bands who might just put those smoke machines to use. More on them tomorrow in TWII Pt2. More upcoming shows mentioned HERE. More pictures inside the new venue at Gothamist.

Sondre Lerche @ Bowery Ballroom, Tuesday night - 9/8/09 (more by Tim Griffin)

Just a couple other reminders of shows I've mentioned before. Sondre Lerche played Bowery Ballroom last night (9/8), which was a record release party of sorts for his very entertaining sixth album, Heartbeat Radio. He does it again tonight, this time in his neighborhood at Music Hall of Williamsburg. You should be able to get tickets at the door. As I said last week, he's a funny, entertaining performer with lots of between-song stories.

Princeton

Princeton play Union Hall tonight (9/9) which is kind of a record release party for their full-length debut, Cocoon of Love. It's not actually out till Sept 29 but you can get it via iTunes as of yesterday. It's a really nice bit of harmony-laden chamber pop (you can stream the whole thing at Spinner), with shades of Belle & Sebastian and Magnetic Fields. You can download the album's "Calypso Gold" at the top of this post. They're pretty good live too. After tonight's Union Hall show, Princeton head out on tour with Ra Ra Riot. All tour dates are below.

Maromoset

And Indianapolis' Marmoset hit town today for their first of two shows. Tonight (9/9) it's Cake Shop and Thursday is Bruar Falls. If you like your indie rock heavily influenced by the likes of early Creation records, Syd Barrett, and Swell Maps while being filtered through some sort of off-kilter David Lynch sensibility, well you probably already know and like Marmoset. In reviewing their 2007 album Florist Fired, Pitchfork wrote "Marmoset's previous full-length, 2001's 13-song, 33-minute exercise in Anglophilic indie Record in Red, quietly ranks among the best albums released by Secretly Canadian." Marmoset's brand-new album, Tea Tornado, is more of the same. And that's a good thing.

Tomorrow in TWII Pt2: Kings of Convenience, Super Furry Animals, The Intelligence, Woven Bones, The Spits and more.

Tour dates and appropriate video after the jump...

Continue reading "Wild Beasts (played Joe's, 2 more to go), Knitting Factory (opens tonight), Princeton & more in This Week in Indie"

Knitting Factory Brooklyn - May 14, 2009 (Aonghais MacInnes)

Knitting Factory is opening its Brooklyn location on September 9th. More info on the venue itself, below...

Continue reading "Knitting Factory BK - the design, bars & performance space"

Les Savy Fav @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Natasha Ryan)

BROOKLYN KNITTING FACTORY SET TO OPEN / BROOKLYN'S LES SAVY FAV TO PLAY OPENING NIGHT

"The Knitting Factory, a leader in the New York arts scene for over two decades, is proud to announce that our new venue at 361 Metropolitan Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY will be opening September 2009. Brooklyn-based favorites, Les Savy Fav, will perform and host the opening night on Wednesday September 9th. Upcoming shows will feature performances by: Boss Hog, Rasputina, Mayer Hawthorne, Titus Andronicus, The Raincoats, The Spits, Mucca Pazza, Melissa Auf der Maur, cEvin Key, A Wilhelm Scream, Helado Negro, Maps and Atlases, No Neck Blues Band, Dub Trio, Smokey's Secret Family and much more to be announced. Upcoming special events include this year's Williamsburg Fashion Week's Fashion and Arts Premiere, the Miss LEZ Pageant and the Royal Flush Film Festival.

Tickets for the September 9th Les Savy Fav show are on sale (thx Coma). They also play Fun Fun Fun Fest in November.

Boss Hog is September 10th (tickets). They play ATP NY on September 12th.

The Titus Andronicus/So So Glos show (tickets) is the last date on a long tour that also includes a show at Maxwell's.

Melissa Auf der Maur plays KF on October 17th as part of the Royal Flush Film Festival which makes sense since she made a movie. Tickets for that event are on sale.

And tickets and dates to all of the above mentioned shows are HERE.

More about the space, HERE.

Tim Harrington apologizes to his mom, in the video below...

Continue reading "Knitting Factory Brooklyn opening September 9th w/ Les Savy Fav (tix on sale) ++ other upcoming shows like Boss Hog"

Titus Andronicus @ the Whitney Museum - July 10, 2009 (more by Leia Jospe)

The art of Losing: You pay a lot of "homage" (for lack of a better word) to your hometown of Glen Rock. Suburbia is a lot different in Texas than the Northeast, or so I thought until I watched the video of the Streets of Glen Rock on your blog. But nonetheless, can you describe a little bit about New Jersey and how exactly it shaped you guys?

Patrick from Titus Andronicus: "Well, New Jersey kind of instills in it's residence that sort of underdog spirit. Just because so much of the identity of New Jersey is based around the flack that New Jersey receives from internal and external forces. When you tell people that you're from New Jersey, it's just like a big joke to most of America. They think that we smell bad and that we are all stupid. And even so much of the best art that has come out of New Jersey is about trying to get away. Like, Bruce Springsteen in particular. There was even a time, in New Jersey when they were campaigning to get "Born to Run" to be the official state song... which is sort of ridiculous in that it is about how hopeless New Jersey is... I mean, I love New Jersey. It is definitely very special to me... People from New Jersey have always got something to prove, know what I'm saying?"

The So So Glos have a couple NY gigs beforehand, including an August 1st show that wraps up the summer North American tour of UK band Lovvers. Also on the bill are The Sundelles, Babies and That Ghost. You can also catch them tonight (7/28) at the Delancey.

Titus recently played a show at the Whitney museum. That honor goes to the Vivian Girls and These are Powers this Friday (7/31).

All Titus/So So tour dates below...

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus & The So So Glos - 2009 Tour Dates "

by Black Bubblegum

Subhumans

U.K. anarchist punk collective Subhumans formed in the Trowbridge area of Wiltshire in 1980, comprised of vocalist Dick, guitarist Bruce, bassist Phil, and drummer Trotsky. The band enjoyed success as one of the more literate and musically athletic British punk ensembles between 1980 and 1985, occupying the middle ground between the Clash's political songcraft and Crass' experimental warfare. Through five full-length records on their own BLUURG label (The Day the Country Died, From the Cradle to the Grave, Worlds Apart, 29:29 Split Vision, and Rats) and six EPs (not to mention a bevy of D.I.Y. cassettes), the band challenged both the government and its people to not only rage against the world, but to improve it. - [allmusic]

OKAY, for the uninitiated, beginners, confused or curious, here's a quick explanation:

Citizen Fish = 2 members of Subhumans + Jasper + Silas (as of july 2006)
Subhumans = 2 current members of Citizen Fish + 1 ex member + Bruce
2 members of Citizen Fish were once in Culture Shock (Dick and Jasper)
Culture Shock contained one member of Subhumans + Bill, Nige and Paul (replaced by Jasper)
There yer go, simple innit. Clear as treacle. -[Subhumans bio]

The Knitting Factory isn't the only NYC show for Citizen Fish either. They are also scheduled to be the secret guest (billed as "UK Punk Ska") with The A-Heads at "Phil & Erika's Wedding Bash" at Trash Bar on July 10th. Flyer for the show is below.

Subhumans are touring in support of the reissue of their entire back catalog via their Bluurg imprint. All remastered LPs are available through the band directly or via your favorite distro.

Full Subhumans and Citizen Fish dates, as well as a live video from earlier this year, are below...

Continue reading "Subhumans/Citizen Fish - 2009 Tour Dates (and secret show) "

by Andrew Frisicano

NY EYE & EAR FEST II - JULY 9 - 12, 2009!
4 DAYS - 3 VENUES - 2 BOROUGHS
Knitting Factory & 92Y Tribeca in Manhattan & Death By Audio in Brooklyn
Pendu presents: NY Eye & Ear Fest II ... a massive 4-day New Music and Arts Fete showcasing some of the most exciting bands, artists, and filmmakers currently living and working here in NYC. In addition, NYE&E assembles a Record Fair featuring NYC-based Record Labels and Vendors selling LPs, CDs, 7''s, cassettes, lathes, comics, zines, stickers, and art prints.

The Fest then switches to the 92YTribeca on Saturday for a concert and a free record fair. Also at 92Y will be a program called "Women of NYCinema," with films and music from Sarah Lipstate (aka Noveller), Liz Wendelbo, Rachel Blackwell and Dirty Churches. The vendors range from big names like Matador Records to the recently featured Journal of Popular Noise to notable jazz label ESP-Disk.

The fest's final, fourth day moves to Brooklyn for a closing party at Death by Audio. That lineup includes Murdertronics, Team Robespierre, Talibam!, Total Abuse and Drunkdriver.

Tickets for Thursday, Friday, and a variety of Saturday packages are available.

Separate from the festival, on Thursday, July 9th the 92YTribeca will screen filmmaker Brendan Toller's I Need That Record, a documentary about the problems facing record stores around the country. It will be the NYC premiere of the movie that was getting some attention already all the back on Record Store Day 2008. The movie includes interviews with Thurston Moore, Ian Mackaye, Mike Watt, Chris Frantz and more. Toller will be on hand for the showing. Tickets are on sale.

More details on the film (with video trailer) and the Ear and Eye Festival, below...

Continue reading "NY Ear & Eye Fest II - shows & record fair this weekend @ KF, DBA & 92Y Tribeca (also screening 'I Need That Record')"

Since the closing of LES spot Tonic in 2007, The Stone has been one of the venues that's attempted to fill the void left by the experimental-music-friendly space.

Like Tonic did, The Stone frequently brings on guest curators (not coincidentally Stone founder John Zorn was one of Tonic's most regular hosts and played at Tonic's final show). Now, with guitarist Grey Gersten's monthlong May curatorial run ending Sunday, May 31st, former Tonic co-owner Melissa Caruso Scott comes out of booking retirement to take the reigns in programing the first two weeks of June at The Stone.

Speaking about her choices Scott said, "These artists played some of my favorite Tonic shows and I can't wait to see them again." Her picks include Japanese musician Yuka Honda, who's also playing a Summerstage show with Mike Watt, guitarist Charlie Hunter, Elysian Fields, Vernon Reid, Joan as Polcewoman, cellist Erik Friedlander, and more. Her full schedule is posted below.

Speaking of Friendlander, he plays on Yoko Ono's new DON'T STOP ME! EP (out June 9th Via iTunes Exclusive Digital Download), and you can also catch him live on June 5th along with saxophone player Colin Stetson at the Abrons Art Space Recital Hall. The show is presented by The Manhattan New Music Project, and tickets are on sale.

Before the time of both Tonic and The Stone, the original Knitting Factory on Houston Street featured an ecclectic mix of avant and experimental music (frequently with Zorn and others). The co-founder of that venue, show promoter and current owner of City Winery Michael Dorf, will curate the second half of the June at The Stone.

Acts on his schedule include Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers (who have completed their Pianos residency and are also playing Citysol), Ethan Iverson (of the Bad Plus) with saxist Tim Berne, and Marc Ribot, the guitarist who's had considerable presence at each of the aforementioned venues -- gigging regularly at the Knit on Houston St, getting arrested for protesting the closure of Tonic, and hosting several nights of his 55th-birthday retrospective at The Stone in mid-May.

Check out the full June schedule for The Stone, below...

Continue reading "Tonic owner returns, joins City Winery's Michael Dorf to curate John Zorn's club The Stone in June - full lineup"

As reported earlier in the year, the Knitting Factory has plans to move from its Tribeca location into the ex-Luna Lounge space in Williamsburg. The Tribeca venue had a "final show" with Akron/Family on New Years Eve. Since then, it has reopened in the same spot, where it has shows scheduled through mid-summer when its Manhattan lease is up (including BLK JKS on June 2nd).

Some are speculating about the status of that move, which seems to have been stalled somewhat...

I was by [the old Luna Lounge / future Knitting Factory space] last weekend and it doesn't look like any work has been done and the exterior looked bad. A couple months ago, this place looked "kept up". There were flyers for shows at the Knitting Factory in the display cases, the building walls were clean, etc. The display cases are now gone and the walls are covered with graffiti. You have to wonder if this move is really taking place. The Knitting Factory has shows booked in the "old location" through July and this is completely contradictory to the "closing in January, reopening in Williamsburg in March" story that was going around last year. [Brooklyn Rocks, May 5th, 2009]

The Satellite Lounge will hold about 60-75 people. You'll be able to hear plenty of current indie rock as well as lots of favorite older stuff from many of the previous music scenes from the last twenty years. It will not have 'live' music...We will be doing CD listening parties, birthday events, and be open seven days per week.

Continue reading "Satellite Lounge opening, Knitting Factory Brooklyn still not"