by Bill Pearis

The L Magazine's fifth annual "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear" issue just hit the streets and the internet. It's got some familiar names (Twin Sister, North Highlands, Oberhofer) and some less-known ones (Nohow On, Asa Ransom). And like ever year, it's sure to spark some friendly debate, which I'll start: what, no Beach Fossils? Anyway, here's the L's Class of 2010, with each band's next NYC show just in case you wanna check 'em out (three of them are conveniently playing together at Cake Shop this Tuesday, April 6):

• Ava Luna (April 6, Cake Shop)
• MiniBoone (April 6, Cake Shop)
• Twin Sister (April 1, Glasslands)
• Asa Ransom (April 6, Cameo Gallery)
• Nohow On (April 17, Cameo Gallery)
• Ball of Flame Shoot Fire (April 6, Cake Shop)
• North Highlands (April 15, Union Hall)
• Oberhofer (April 6, Music Hall of Williamsburg (opening for Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Honorable mentions include Die Hard, Shark?, and Ribbons. You may remember discussing previous L Mag lists in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

P.S. The L Magazine-produced Northside Festival returns this year: June 24-27

8 bands

The did it in 2007, and again in 2008, and this year L Magazine is back with their list of "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear" (plus some runner-ups). Check out the 2009 list, and discuss, below...

Continue reading "L Mag's 2009 list of "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear""

"This has been a long time coming, but we at The L Magazine are pleased to finally and officially announce the first annual Northside Festival. Taking place from June 11-14 in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, it is, as we've grown accustomed to saying, a four-day celebration of the independent music and art scene that thrives here in New York City, with live music being held at nearly every venue in the area (including some that haven't even opened yet), and art events at some of the most relevant galleries in the neighborhood.

What bands are playing? Well, while we will be booking our fair share of shows on our own, it's important to us that the festival has as many different voices as possible, so we've invited some of our favorite NYC music people to curate their own showcases full of what they think are the bands you should be listening to. There will be a pronounced focus on local artists, obviously, because that's sort of what we do, but be on the lookout for a few special guests from out of town as well.

For the visual art portion of Northside, we've teamed up with the nice people over at the Williamsburg Gallery Association, who will be calling attention to area galleries with some amazing exhibitions on display...

...Four-day passes will on sale shortly at what will surely be a ridiculously low price, and you'll definitely want to get yours quickly, not only so that you can get into every single show at Northside, but also so that you can get drunk for less money than everyone else, as you take advantage of the many drink specials we'll have on offer all weekend." [NorthSide Festival]

The idea behind this is to bring a sort of non-industry, SXSW-like festival to Williamsburg and Greenpoint, an area saturated with venues all within walking distance of each other. Some showcase presenters have already been announced - Kanine Records, WFUV's The Alternate Side, Gothamist, Frenchkiss Records, and BrooklynVegan.com included.

Kickball Katy playing with Fucked Up (more by Chris La Putt)

The L Magazine (aka Marc Hogan): I know you've covered one of the Wipers' songs. Is there an album in particular of theirs that you guys are big on?
Kickball Katy (aka 1/3 of Vivian Girls): We love Youth of America. Like, the first couple. Youth of America, the Over the Edge album and Is This Real, those are three of the best albums ever made, in my opinion. Cassie definitely agrees, and so does Ali. We just wanted to write some crazy songs like that. We're not that good, but we do like those albums a lot, and those are the things that we really had in common. We also really liked Dead Moon. They're in that new band, what is it? Pierced Arrows. I haven't seen them yet, but I saw Dead Moon like two years ago and it was awesome.

...

The L: Not to belabor the point, but with Frankie, that was officially a "kick out" not an "I'm quitting" kind of thing?
KK: Yeah, I wouldn't want to harp on this too much, but yeah, we had to ask her to leave. For various reasons that I won't get into.

The L: You guys are still friends with Crystal Stilts?
KK: We love Crystal Stilts. JB [Townsend, guitar], Brad [Hargett, vocals], and Andy [Adler, bass] are three really, really cool dudes. We were just hanging out with them the other night. We're still good friends with them. Things are cool, still.

Pierced Arrows play Maxwell's in Hoboken tonight (Oct 17). All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls, L Magazine, Crystal Stilts, Pierced Arrows"

from their own mouths....

At the Music Hall of Williamsburg, doors at 7:30, the first band at 8:30. Basically, we figured we could keep reminding you, all year, about all the various opportunities to catch up with our NYC Bands You Need to Hear... or we could just a bunch of them onstage together and give you a shot. The latter seemed easier. So:

continued below...

Continue reading "L Magazine is having a party tonight in Brooklyn"

As you probably saw by now if you live in NYC, the new issue of L Magazine features their yearly "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear". It's a list that BrooklynVegan readers are now famous for tearing apart last year. This year's list:

• The Lisps
• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• Famous Amos
• This Is Ivy League
• La Strada
• Team Robespierre
• High Places
• Violens

There were also a few honorable mentions, like Mussels.

BONUS: They asked bartenders what their 'Best Concert Experience Ever' was.