WFMU's 7 Second Delay Live happens live at UCB at 6:00pm. If you can't make it, you can always just listen on your Internet radio. Kurt Vile then plays Mercury Lounge tonight around 11 (Still Life Still plays the same venue, but much earlier).

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Kurt Vile - Overnite Religion (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kurt Vile - Hunchback (MP3)

Canada's Still Life Still (pictured above) just released their debut, Girls Come Too, in August on Arts & Crafts. Behind the controls for the record were Broken Social Scene's Martin Davis Kinack and Kevin Drew, so it's no surprise that the band takes some sonic cues from the influential collective. Still Life Still impart their BSS-style dense arrangements with lyrics and energy that seem rooted in '90s-era pop-punk. Check it out on their MySpace.

They're in town for two stacked shows at Mercury Lounge on October 7th and 8th. On Wednesday, October 7th they play with Kurt Vile & the Violators, Birds of Maya and Coconuts. Then on October 8th they join a bill with Thee Oh Sees and The Fresh & Onlys (on tour together and playing the next night at the Bell House) and Girls At Dawn. Tickets for both the Oct. 7th and Oct. 8th shows are still on sale.

Still Life Still are also playing a CMJ show October 22nd at Union Pool. It's an Arts & Crafts showcase and they'll be joined by Timbre Timbre, Hollerago, Zues and others.

Kurt Vile's Matador debut, Childish Prodigy, finally comes out October 6th and the Mercury Lounge show is just one of the dates he's playing to support it. Two tracks from that record are posted above ("Hunchback" is especially recommended).

While in town, Thee Oh Sees are also opening for Pierced Arrows at Maxwell's on October 10th (the night before, 10/9, Pierced Arrows play Mercury Lounge). Thee Oh Sees have a new record out (or out soon) called Dog Poison on Captured Tracks (information is somewhat scarce). The new LP takes the band in a slightly more acoustic, less straight-ahead-rock direction (at least compared to their early '09 release Help). Its cover is below.

Still Life Still's album art, tracklist and tour dates are also, below...

Continue reading "Still Life Still on Arts & Crafts - opening for Kurt Vile & Thee Oh Sees (both w/ new records) in NYC this week + CMJ"

photos by Tim Griffin

Yo La Tengo celebrated the release of their new record Popular Songs at D'amelio Terras Gallery in Chelsea last night. Album & gallery artist Dario Robleto was also in attendance to sign autographs, shake your hand and say hello. The paintings on the wall are/were by Joanne Greenbaum. Her show opens at the gallery Thursday night. Tickets were given away for the September 25th Roseland Ballroom show that Yo La Tengo are playing with Black Lips, and.....Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co...

September, 25 2009 08:00 PM - Roseland Ballroom -- with Yo La Tengo!
239 West 52nd Street in Manhattan, New York, New York - Cost? Gosh, what do tix for genuine concerts go for these days?

Go figure. We're playing at Roseland Ballroom with Yo La Tengo. Granted, we're the opening, opening, surprise act -- and we're actually going to be performing in the lobby -- but, yes, we're playing at Roseland Ballroom with Yo La Tengo! We're rather looking forward to it.

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo celebrated their new album @ D'amelio Terras Gallery (pics), added more acts to the Roseland show"

David Bazan - live from your computer, tonight at 8pm

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Journey, Heart @ Nassau Coliseum
* Hymns, Jason Sadie @ City Winery
* Les Paul Trio w/ Larry Coryell @ Iridium
* Mother Mother, The Daredevil Christopher Right @ Pianos
* David Bazan @ House Show (streaming here)
* Cecil Taylor (Highline Piano Series) @ Highline Ballroom
* Ches Smith's Congs For Brums, Sonic Suicide Squad, Amolvacy @ Cake Shop
* Sigmund Droid, Bottle Up & Go, Diet Kong @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Stardeath & White Dwarfs, Circle of Buzzards, Naked hearts, Nice Face @ Mercury Lounge
* Small Beast w/ Greta Gertler, Alex & Janal, Kanipchen Fit, Paul Wallfisch @ The Delancy

Dirty Projectors are on Letterman tonight.

David Bazan is playing a sold-out house show tonight in Brooklyn, but don't worry -- the whole thing is streaming live on Brooklyn Vegan. You can even participate in a virtual/unvirtual Q&A. He also plays a full-band show at the Bowery Ballroom on October 18th.

Cecil Taylor closes the Highline Piano Series tonight with two sets at Highline Ballroom. The show was rescheduled from an earlier date.

Canadian indie rock band Mother Mother plays Pianos with The Daredevil Christopher Right.

Drummer Ches Smith, who plays with Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog (including at Hudson Square last week) among others, brings his Congs For Brums act to the Cake Shop for a show with Sonic Suicide Squad and Amolvacy.

The new music video for Blank Dogs' "Tin Birds," directed by Michael Worthy of Oh Wow (who have an upcoming release on Captured Tracks) is posted below.

Kurt Vile & The Violators, who play the Mercury Lougne in October, performed at Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square earlier this August. A clip from that is below.

Hospitality performed at Littlefield last night. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

DOWNLOAD: Yo La Tengo - Here to Fall (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yo La Tengo - Periodically Double Or Triple (MP3)

Black Lips @ Williamsburg Waterfront in July (more by Bao Nguyen)

NY Times. As an experiment I put your name into Pandora, the Internet radio service, to see if any of these other bands came up as references, and they didn't. But Lambchop and My Bloody Valentine are two bands I'm not surprised are on your list.

MS. HUBLEY of YLT: Lambchop is a band that has meant so much to us, musically and personally as well. We've become very good friends with them. I'm not sure how much we overlap, although I think we do some.

MR. KAPLAN of YLT: I think we overlap a lot with them actually. I hear their music in things we've done; I hear our music in things they've done. I first heard them [15 years ago] at the Merge Records five-year anniversary. I was just completely blown away. It may not have been until the Black Lips that I saw another band onstage that I'd never heard and thought, "Wow, that's amazing."

Check out the rest of that NY Times article for more on what Yo La Tengo are listening to (including their Matador labelmate Kurt Vile). Yo La Tengo's Popular Songs will be out September 8th on Matador. "Here to Fall" and "Periodically Double Or Triple" from the record are re-posted above.

Not mentioned in the New York Times article, are Times New Viking, who are also YLT's labelmate, have opened for then on Hanukkah, and who star in YLT's new new video for the song "Nothing To Hide" (re-posted below).

The Roseland show is part of an extensive fall tour in support of Popular Songs. Those dates, along with a series of videos all from the new album (they've been releasing one each week), are posted in full below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo likes bands (NYTimes) like Kurt Vile & the Black Lips ++ MP3's & 4 new videos (1 w/ Times New Viking)"

DOWNLOAD: Pissed Jeans - Dream Smotherer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pissed Jeans - False Jesii Part 2 (MP3)

Pissed Jeans @ Market Hotel 4/17/09 (photo by Richard Petrucci)

Pissed Jeans played Brooklyn's Market Hotel twice earlier this year - once with Fucked Up on Inauguration Night (January) and again (as you can see above) in April. There's a video of the April gig below.

The group's new record, King of Jeans, is out today (8/18) on Sub Pop who write...

If 2005's Shallow was Pissed Jeans coping with moving out of their parents' homes, and 2007's Hope for Men their initial reaction to the mechanical lifestyle of a wage-earner, King of Jeans is their formal and uneasy acceptance of adulthood, by way of one hell of a rock record. Working with renowned producer Alex Newport (who holds a Fudge Tunnel pedigree and has worked with such luminaries as At the Drive-In, The Locust and Sepultura), Pissed Jeans have pushed further into the raw, minimal core of heavy rock music with King of Jeans. Masters of the mundane, beasts of the banal, high priests of the humdrum: these four, white, male high school graduates hardly look further than their own appendages for artistic inspiration, content to execute their own brand of brash and heavy punk music in the Joe Carducci-approved standard rock formation of guitar, bass, drums and vocals. From simple minds and simple fabrics comes this King of Jeans. And there can be only one.

Pissed Jeans will be back in NYC on October 7th with Kurt Vile & The Violators and Coconuts. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

That's one of many shows on Vile's packed fall schedule, which is in full below. He'll also be bringing the Violators along for an appearance on WFMU's Brian Turner Show (91.1 FM or online) today (August 18th) at 3pm.

Over the weekend Kurt played shows at both Cake Shop and Silent Barn with Blues Control. Videos from the Silent Barn show, along with all tour dates, album info and videos are below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile played Silent Barn (video), playing WFMU (today) & Mercury w/ Pissed Jeans (new album out now - MP3, stream)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Kurt Vile - Overnite Religion (MP3)

Troll 2

Kurt Vile will be playing a Rooftop Films event on July 31st. There he'll ditch his backing band the Violators for a performance before a screening of the documentary on the film Troll 2, "the legendary worst movie ever made, according to IMDB ratings."

That flick is such an event, Rooftop Films decided to stretch it over two nights. On July 30th they will show the actual film, accompanied by a performance from The Drums (one of many upcoming shows from that band, who also played last night at the Bell House). Other bands with Rooftop Films shows scheduled include Stars Like Fleas and Teengirl Fantasy. Full schedule below.

Vile (with the Violators on hand) just played the first of several upcoming shows with Blues Control (who announced more fall dates, below) at Bruar Falls on July 17th. Blues Control's distorted wall of sound worked well through the club's cozy sound system, but the arsenal of the Violators maybe pushed the backline a little too far. Lyrics and flourishes that came through crystal clear at Broadway Backyard (where he played one of my favorite sets of the day) roared out as energetic albeit indeterminate gestures. Not quite as engaging, considering many of the songs still aren't out in recorded form.

Vile's Matador debut, Childish Prodigy, is still on the way. Check out mellow jam "Overnite Religion" off that, above. The full Rooftop Films schedule, with all Kurt Vile and Blues Control tour dates, and the Troll 2 trailer, below...

Continue reading "upcoming Rooftop Films (Troll 2) & other Kurt Vile tour dates "

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Andrew Frisicano

The Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival's Day One (7/3) was moved inside the Market Hotel. Thankfully, the weather held out for its second, 4th of July lineup, which went off as planned in the grassy, rock-filled lot of 979 Broadway Backyard.

I arrived just as Real Estate was going on, and the New Jersey band nearly stole the show with dreamy rock that seemed to be made for a sunny afternoon. The Beets held down their set with a casualness befitting a park lodge show (kind of what the fest was on a slightly bigger scale). The guys gave new meaning to the word "ramshackle" as things seemed to be toppling over continually onstage.

German Measles played a set before I got there. Bill caught them and said they "aren't actually that bad... But they're also not very good. And that kind of seems to be the point. Shambolic is an understatement, like 'why rehearse when we can just play shows?"

The Great Excape did a set of Jersey-style pop-punk that included their own theme song, several politically-themed tunes (a nice touch) and a cover of "Summertime Blues." Ganglians brought one of the day's only keyboards, and burst with a flurry of reverb and overdrive.

Brilliant Colors started out with straight-ahead noise punk, with a bit of a melody void left by their super-reverbed vocals (maybe a theme of the night) and washed-out guitar. When the bass stepped up its riffs a few songs in, the band immediately sounded twice as catchy. The Fresh and Onlys took that bass-forward momentum and went with it. Their bassist pounded the notes in between and then some. As a result, the group had one of the most complete sounds of the night (with a tambourine and three-part harmonies rounding it out). They dedicated their last song to the member of Tyvek in the hospital (the reason for that band's cancellation). Hopefully their situation turns out better.

Dum Dum Girls had to be one of the night's cleanest sounding groups. The band relied heavily on singer Dee Dee's vocals, which harmonized with drummer Frankie Rose on their songs' many hooks.

The atmospheric rock of Woods definitely got jammier as it progressed. As Bill Pearis pointed out, the group's fourth member, who sat on the floor twiddling effects and singing into a microphone strapped to his face, was a bit strange considering the rest of the guys were dressed proper enough for church. Whatever you have to do to make it sound good I suppose.

Kurt Vile & the Violators roared into the night as the sun finally went down. Vile and Vivian Girls (who, as one commenter pointed out, "played with a great intensity") more than warmed up the crowd for Thee Oh Sees, who capped the night (for some) with an unstoppable set. Frontman John Dwyer was literally foaming at the mouth as a streak of white drool smeared across his face for part of the set. Thee Oh Sees' strange, repetition-laced anthems are amazing for shaking and rattling, as the crowd proved. The band even got talked into playing an encore before sending everyone into the night.

The rest of the pictures from Day Two, with a bunch of videos, below...

Continue reading "Woodsist/CT Fest Day Two in pics & video (Thee Oh Sees, Real Estate, Ganglians, Fresh & Onlys, Woods & more)"

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Andrew Frisicano

Kurt Vile & the Violators played without a doubt one of the best sets at the July 4th Woodsist Festival. Having heard only his fragile sounding acoustic material beforehand, the bluesy screeches and wails that came throught the speakers were a welcome surprise. With the Violators behind him, Vile comes armed with a wall of riffing guitars (in addition to his own) that provide all the layers and energy you could hope for in a live show. Pictures from his set are in this post. Vivian Girls played the same day, as did a bunch of other bands (whose pictures are HERE). Pictures from Day One of the fest (which took place in Market Hotel due to rain) HERE.

Kurt's next NYC show, a July 17th Bruar Falls gig, is part of a mini Violators/Blues Control tour that also includes Boston and Western Mass stops.

They'll be back though.

After Blues Control's August 1st CD release show (for Local Flavor, out now) at Cinders Gallery, the acts team up again, this time with Vile solo. They'll play two NYC shows at the Cake Shop and Silen Barn on August 14th and 15th, respectively, and an August 16th show in Vile's hometown of Philly.

In fact, if you feel like getting out of NYC for a night, Vile has a slew of Philly gigs only a bus-ride away. Those are all posted below. At the end of August, he'll be on the West Coast touring into September.

Blues Control's Local Flavor just came out on LP through Siltbreeze and CD through Midheaven/Revolver. (Vile even contributes on a few tracks.)

Kurt Vile's big Matador debut, Childish Prodigy, recorded by "philly-genius engineer" Jeff Zeigler, will be out this fall on the label.

More Woodsist Fest pictures and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile - Woodsist/CT Fest pics & 2009 tour dates (some w/ Blues Control who are playing other shows too) "

DOWNLOAD: Woods - To Clean (MP3)

"...it has been damn near impossible to keep up with [Blank Dog] Mike Sniper's Captured Tracks label, who have hit the ground running with eight releases since the start of the year and many more slated for the near future. Captured Tracks is, to put it plainly, an outlet for Mr. Sniper to release records by bands he loves. In his mind it is "not a boutique label, " and by that he means that the releases are not meant to become instant eBay collectables, and will remain in print as long as there are people buying them. Some will have limited edition versions with alternate artwork or bonuses, but even these editions are easily and widely available. Affordable, available and well made, Captured Tracks is the populist record label. " [Agit Reader]

Continue reading "Woodsist/CT Festival - final 2-day lineup, set times, tickets "

The Feelies @ Battery Park (more by Jason Bergman)

Feelies have added a 3rd Maxwell's show to the two that were already planned for the venue on July 3rd and 4th. The additional gig will happen at Maxwell's on Thursday, July 2nd. Tickets to that show are on sale. Tickets to July 4th gig are still available too. July 3rd is sold out.

Feelies are scheduled to play their 1980 album, Crazy Rhythms, in full at ATP NY on September 11th.

Before that, Feelies will open the Whitney's Dan Graham Retrospective music series on June 26th with a special acoustic set.

That Whitney series had a "TBA" listed for the Friday, July 24th show with YellowFever. The "TBA" band will in fact be Woods who fit in perfectly with rest of the bands playing the museum that month... Vivian Girls, Titus Andronicus, etc..

Other upcoming Woods shows include July 15th at the Bowery Ballroom with WAVVES', and the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest happening July 3rd and 4th at 979 Broadway Backyard in Brooklyn. Woods member Jeremy Earl is also head of the Woodsist label (whose roster includes WAVVES).

Woods will also be at the Saturday, June 13th Northside Fest show at The Shank. That Woodsist-friendly bill also includes Kurt Vile (and the Violators), who was on the label and recently signed to Matador, Grooms (ex-Muggabears) (also playing the Whitney), Pygmy Shrews and Blues Control.

Woods' own new full-length, Songs of Shame, was co-released in April by Woodsist and Shrimper Records.

Blues Control's 2007 disc Puff came out on Woodsist; their new LP, Local Flavor, is out July 14th on Siltbreeze. The record includes a guest contribution by Kurt Vile on trumpet and acoustic guitar. And the Northside Shank show isn't the only Vile/Blues Control show coming up. The two bands will share a NYC bill twice in August - at Cake Shop and Silent Barn.

More info on those gigs, plus all Woods and Blues Control tour dates, with album info, below...

Continue reading "Feelies add 3rd NJ show, Woods playing the Whitney & other shows w/ Woodsist bands, Kurt Vile, Blues Control..."

Kurt Vile @ Silent Barn (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Matador reported on Friday that, they are, "REALLY pleased to announce -- perhaps more than ever before in label history -- an addition to the label roster we currently consider to be one of the more important figures in American music circa 2009. Philadelphia guitarist/vocalist Kurt Vile first came to our attention (and possibly yours as well) with the release of the 2008 CD 'Constant Hitmaker' on the Gulcher imprint (a label whose paw prints extend to dusty genius recordings by the Gizmos and MX80-Sound and contemporary stuff from Home Blitz and Magik Markers). What the homemade 'Hitmaker' (recently reissued on vinyl by Woodsist) lacked in fidelity it more than made for in scope --- to dub the album "psych pop" barely scratches the surface of a work that's as impossibly catchy as it is wildly experimental... Subsequent exposure to Kurt's live shows in a variety of settings, both on his own and with crack ensemble The Violators, made it abundantly clear that we'd either have to sign this guy or find someone else who sounded exactly like him. Since the latter task proved impossible, here we are. Having signed a worldwide, multi-album pact with Matador, Kurt Vile's first full-length for the label, 'Childish Prodigy' will be released on LP/CD and digital formats in Autumn 2009."

Kurt Vile's next show is June 13th at the Shank in Brooklyn. The show is part of the Northside Festival. It's also his only upcoming show. A live video below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile is now on Matador, playing The Shank"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Beets - What Did I Do? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pow Wow! - My House. Your House. Mine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pow Wow! - 23 19 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Browns - For the Saints (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Browns - Forgotten Son (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Browns - Two of You (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Sundelles - So Long (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gary War - Bounce Four (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Papercuts - Future Primitive (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Papercuts - Future Primitve (Ruby Suns remix) (MP3)

The Beets @ Bruar Falls

As you may have heard, L Magazine put out their annual "8 NYC Bands You Must Hear" issue this week. Tonight (5/1), three of the eight are playing live... and two of them are playing the same show. Those two would be pow wow! and The Beets who play at the Red Star bar in Greenpoint and I heartily give the thumbs up to both of them. I caught the latter last Friday when they played with Box Elders at Bruar Falls and thought they were great, maybe even just a smidge better than the Box Elders. In a weird way, The Beets kind of remind me of a more simplified version of '60s frat rock (The Troggs, Swingin' Medallions) by way of New Zealand. Though live their songs don't so much end as stop, somehow it all works. Their vinyl-only album, Spit in the Face of People Who Don't Want to Be Cool (a nod to WWE's Carlito), is well worth seeking out. They've got a new EP on Captured Tracks coming out sooner than later too, so be on the lookout for that too. An MP3 is at the top of this post.

I've written about pow wow! previously and have seen them a couple times now and they are a lot of fun, and have the kind of party vibe about them that would make them perfect for a residency at Ruby's Bar in Coney Island. If such things existed. At both shows I saw, pow wow! had the crowd dancing. Also on the bill are The Wild Yaks and The Subjects. Entry's only $4 and there's free Colt-45 from 9-10. Flyer below.

The other L Magazine trumpeted band playing tonight are Darlings who'll be at the 92Y Tribeca. I'm not so familiar with them, but here's what the L said:

They call to mind a sloppier Teenage Fanclub or Sloan at times, with whimsical melodies that feel completely timeless. Then, out of nowhere, they turn into a loud, screamy rock band, like early Replacements or the Jason Lowenstein contributions to Sebadoh, or maybe even... Nirvana? Basically, they've held onto the idea that this whole music thing was always supposed to be fun because you get to bang on shit really, really hard -- it just so happens they bring an awful lot of other stuff to the table as well.

Speaking of, The Sundelles also play tonight (5/1) at Matchless with The Browns who made the L Magazine's "Honorable Mentions" list:. Both bands are on 1928 Recordings which is also home to The Soft Pack and sound not dissimilar to that band. (Actually, Browns frontman Ryan McReynolds owns 1928 Recordings so maybe it all makes sense.) And like The Soft Pack, The Browns do that uninterested-but-sneering-with-contempt attitudede thing particularly well. The Sundelles are a little happier and a little more low-fi, but also quite good. MP3s for both Browns and Sundelles are at the top of this post.

My other recommended Friday show would be The Dears.

Kurt Vile @ Silent Barn (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Moving on to Saturday, there's a potentially good show at Silent Barn (not my favorite Todd P venue i must admit) featuring Kurt Vile and Gary War who have played together there before. They both share a love of putting out a zillion releases in every format and as many labels as possible. Philadelphia's Kurt Vile is a good musician -- don't let his low-fi aesthetic fool you -- and his Woodist album, Constant Hitmaker, is very good. (His EP on Mexican Summer is less interesting to these ears.) Gary War is a bit weirder, more psychedelic and, like Blank Dogs, he likes to run his vocals through weird, watery effects. And also like Blank Dogs, he gives away his music on his blog, including the whole of his new album, New Ratheonport, which features "Bounce Four," which you can download at the top of this post, and a way-trippy cover of Alan Parsons Project's '70s soft rock classic, "Eye in the Sky." Two bands separate Kurt and Gary on the bill: Sightings and Drunkdriver.

Papercuts

And last but not least this week, we've mentioned before that Vetiver are in town for two shows: Sunday (5/3) at Bowery Ballroom and Thursday (5/7) at The Bell House. As much as I like the headliners -- and I do -- I'm more excited about openers Papercuts, who've made one of my favorite records of the year so far, You Can Have What You Want, which came out two weeks ago. The nom-de-rock of San Francisco resident Jason Quever, his second album is dense, layered, melodic and sounds like a warm Sunday morning, not unlike Cass McCombs. I liked Papercuts' 2007 debut, Can't Go Back, but this new one is just miles better. I have yet to see Papercuts the band (Quever augmented with a few friends) play live, and I know previous NYC stops have gotten mixed reviews, but I can't wait to see what they're like.

Videos and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Beets, Papercuts, The Browns, Gary War, pow wow! & more in This Week in Indie"

We've got another slew of announcements for you today, starting with Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsoon, whose Tallest Man on Earth has been added to the Brooklyn Vegan showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg (along with John Vanderslice and more TBA) on Friday, June 12. We're also pleased to inform you that the good people at the legendary Ninja Tune Records will be hosting a showcase, featuring Megasoid, Daedelus and Ghislain Poirier.

Continue reading "Northside Fest lineup expands w/ Ninja Tune showcase, etc"

words & photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

(It was this photograper's first Todd P show in NYC, I guess I'm quite late getting on the bandwagon, but oh well.)

I checked the address a couple times before opening the door of the unmarked building across from an auto salvage, somewhere in the back of my head asking 'what would Liz Lemmon do in this situation'.

An hour after doors was apparently still a couple hours early to get there. The three bands on the bill from Philly (all except Gary War) were delayed by the crummy spring rain storms that befell the region. Todd P paced around, making eclectic selections on his iPod and announcing to the small crowd distributed on the couches that there was a rain delay. It was cold and damp, wind blew in through the open and broken windows and a resident orange tabby climbed in and out making its way over to a Fender amp to use its grill as a scratching pad. Spirits picked up for Todd and his crew when the pizza guy arrived.

Expecting unhinged DIY bacchanalia, the vibe turned out to be subdued and mellow. The opening band, Birds of Maya, was the last to arrive. There were reports they had gotten lost in the no-man's-land of outer Bushwick/Ridgewood. They set up quickly and played a short set, hard rock riffs with impressive 'dee-da-lee dee-da-lee waaaaah' guitar solos. Next was U.S. Girls consisting of Megan Remy and a red suitcase containing a cassette recorder and a couple pedals. Her voice and reminded me of Cindy Lauper even through the distortion and chant-like structures of her songs. Gary War was third with a three-piece outfit playing fast-paced punk stuff with some kind of underwater/Aquaman sounding effect on the vocals.

Now to Kurt Vile - I liked this guy. Underneath the codification of his music as psych, lo-fi, bedroom music, etc. is a very good singer/ guitarist/songwriter. Kurt played acoustic guitar, run through a bit of effect and echo, and sang. He started and ended solo, and had two additional guitar players with him, one of whom also played a mean harmonica on one song. Led by the guitar and the lyric, the music was much more direct than anything I had heard of on his recordings. Some of the songs did have a cyclical, drone structure but there was movement within it, and the lyrics and delivery pulled me in like Lou Reed singing a Leonard Cohen recording with the Band in the basement of Big Pink. The guitar work owed a lot to John Fahey (and I mean that as a compliment) with the finger picking, echo effect and alternate tunings. I hate to throw such big names around, but there is something special to Vile's songs and music and I hope the music world will see it all come together soon.

More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Birds of Maya, U.S. Girls, Gary War & Kurt Vile @ Silent Barn in Ridgewood, Queens - pics"

photos by Tim Griffin

Tyvek (first), Kurt Vile (second), and Psychedelic Horseshit (third) played Less Artists More Condos - a loft space / DIY venue in Manhattan, on Friday night (1/9). Nick Masi told me that even though he loves Tyvek, Psychedelic Horseshit were his favorite of the night. To quote, "Anonymous | January 12, 2009 12:42 PM",

Tyvek were pretty good at Less Artists - they were touring with their stripped down lineup (with a new bassist too) - so their set was a tad rough - but still pretty good - just not as tight and fiery as they usually are.

Psychedelic Horseshit was definitely a surprise (and the highlight) - their new material was fucking fantastic - dude's gonna put out a great record this year.

Continue reading "Tyvek, Psychedlic Horseshit, and Kurt Vile & The Violators @ Less Artists More Condos, NYC - pics"

The band formerly known as Tyvke, TVK and Tyvek are back in NYC in a few days to play three shows in a row...

1. Jan 09 - LESS ARTISTS MORE CONDOS, Manhattan, NYC - Tyvjk w/PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT, KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORSc NYC
2. Jan 10 - Market Hotel - Tyvjk w/ CRYSTAL STILTS, BOX ELDERS, MEDICATION, KID ROMANCE New York City
3. Jan 11 - GLASSLANDS, Brooklyn, NY - Tyvjk w/CAUSE CO-MOTION!, BEACHNIKS, KID ROMANCE, THE BEETS, TODD PURPLE, and DJs Brooklyn, NY

Cause Co-Motion do have more shows listed. They're also opening for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Mercury Lounge on February 7th, playing Monster Island Basement on March 12th, and perrforming at Silent Barn on April 25th.

All Tyvjk dates below...

Continue reading "Tyvjk - 2009 Tour Dates (3 NYC shows, Crystal Stilts, Psychedelic Horseshit, CAUSE CO-MOTION!, SXSW)"