Austra at Empty Bottle (more by Chris Hershman)

Currently on tour in Europe, Austra just announced some select North American dates, including September 19th at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for the Brooklyn show go on AMEX presale at noon on May 16th and regular sale on Friday. All dates are listed below.

In between the European and North American shows, Katie Stelmanis will take a break while her bandmates tour with TRUST (who are playing shows with Light Asylum, including a 7/8 date at Music Hall of Williamsburg).

Continue reading "Austra planning North American tour, playing MHOW"

Light Asylum at BV SXSW 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn's Light Asylum, who played a record release party for their self titled debut LP (which you can stream at Spotify) at LPR last week, are hooking up with fellow synth goth duo TRUST for some dates this summer surrounding both bands' appearances at Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party. The dates include a Brooklyn show happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 8. Tickets go on sale Friday (5/11) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/9) at noon. A full tour hasn't been announced but all currently known dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Light Asylum & TRUST playing shows together (dates)"

by BBG

Total Control at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

Total Control's Henge Beat was a favorite around these parts, and now the band recently released a split 12" with Thee Oh Sees. Check out a video for Total Control's "For Lease" from that split below and order your copy via Castle Face.

Total Control currently have no US dates scheduled. Thee Oh Sees, on the other hand, will spend their summer abroad and have a handful of appearances in the US. The band, who recently played Austin Psych Fest, will play a gang of festival dates including the previously discussed Pitchfork, Outside Lands, Hopscotch, ATP I'll Be Your Mirror and the sold-out Woodsist Festival in Big Sur.

In addition, the band just signed on to be a part of the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle WA, joining names like Neko Case, Major Lazer, Fitz And The Tantrums, Phantogram, The Lumineers, Grimes, Aesop Rock w/ Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz, Youth Lagoon, Diplo, Cloud Nothings, The Psychic Paramount, Twin Shadow, Dam-Funk and so many more across six-stages and as many city blocks during three days in July (7/20-7/22). Current lineup is below and tickets are on sale.

All tour dates, the Capitol Hill Block Party lineup and that "For Lease" video is below.

Continue reading "Total Control release video from split with Thee Oh Sees; Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party announces lineup"

most photos by Amanda Hatfield, some shots by Zach Timm

Polica @ Hotel Vegan

In addition to hosting almost 100 bands on three stages for four days straight, BrooklynVegan's Hotel Vegan, located at Austin venues Hotel Vegas & Volstead Lounge, was a place where you could sip some complimentary HobNob Wines from noon-7pm each day. On Friday (3/16/2012), the third day of Hotel Vegan, we teamed with HobNob and The Original Moonshine for a big party that included the following, amazing FREE lineup:

Stage 1 (Hotel Vegas Outside)
12:00 Cold Showers
1:00 Polica
2:00 Youth Lagoon
3:00 Eight and a Half (members of Broken Social Scene & the Stills)
3:45 Django Django
4:30 Tennis
5:15 Light Asylum
6:00 The Black Angels

Stage 2 (Hotel Vegas Inside)
12:00 Lucius
12:45 The Big Sleep
1:30 The Twilight Sad
2:15 Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces)
3:00 Widowspeak
3:45 TRUST
4:30 The Evaporators (Nardwuar's band)
5:15 DIVE

Stage 3 (Volstead)
12:15 Jennifer Castle
1:00 Daughter
1:45 Exitmusic
2:30 Doldrums
3:15 Zeus
4:00 Au Palais
5:00 Craft Spells

It was a very good day. Bill wrote about some of the bands who played on Friday including Nardwuar's band The Evaporators who definitely put on one of the day & week's most memorable performance for those who caught it. As Bill wrote, "At one point, one group of people were holding him up while another group were holding his organ (hello!) while he played it... and then he soon climbed on top of it. There were costume changes, group singalongs, question and answer sessions and a lot of really fun garage punk. One of my Top 5 sets of SXSW 2012."

The Evaporators getting started @ Hotel Vegan

If you got your picture taken in our Smilebooth, make sure to look for yourself in the photos posted to our Facebook.

Special thanks to our official backline providers Vox, Blackstar and Korg, and thank you to NadaMoo for supplying free vegan treats, and to Honest Tea for the tea.

The Black Angels closed the day off right with a set of their 60s-influenced, psych rock n roll to an oferflowing house on the outdoor stage that saw a full crowd throughout the day thanks to names like Polica, Youth Lagoon and Tennis.

So many bands, so little time, so experience it with the pictures that continue below (and stay tuned for more on BV Austin)...

Continue reading "#HotelVegan Day 3 pics (BV, HobNob Wines & Moonshine presents) - Black Angels, Tennis, Youth Lagoon & MANY more"

As you know, BrooklynVegan is taking over ALL THREE STAGES at connecting Austin venues Hotel Vegas & Volstead for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT this week, and it's all 100% FREE (no RSVP or badges either). There's a big outdoor stage, and smaller stages inside Hotel Vegas & Volstead. Collectively we're calling the four day long party "Hotel Vegan" (located at 1500 E. 6th St, Austin, TX).

Friday's party is presented with HobNob Wines, our official wine partner of all four days of Hotel Vegan, and The Original Moonshine, our official spirit partner on Friday and Saturday.

We announced Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday in full.
Here is Friday at Hotel Vegan (March 16, 2012):

Stage 1 (Hotel Vegas Outside)
12:00 Cold Showers
1:00 Polica
2:00 Youth Lagoon
3:00 Eight and a Half (members of Broken Social Scene & the Stills)
3:45 Django Django
4:30 Tennis
5:15 Light Asylum
6:00 The Black Angels

Stage 2 (Hotel Vegas Inside)
12:00 Lucius
12:45 The Big Sleep
1:30 The Twilight Sad
2:15 Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces)
3:00 Widowspeak
3:45 TRUST
4:30 The Evaporators (Nardwuar's band)
5:15 DIVE

Stage 3 (Volstead)
12:15 Jennifer Castle
1:00 Daughter
1:45 Exitmusic
2:30 Doldrums
3:15 Zeus
4:00 Au Palais
5:00 Craft Spells

In addition to the completely FREE lineup of 23 bands, we will also have complimentary drinks courtesy of HobNob Wines and The Original Moonshine.

We will also have free vegan treats courtesy of NadaMoo! and free Honest Tea. Arlo's great Vegan Food truck, located right next door, will be at all four days of Hotel Vegan selling food.

Special thanks to all of our partners and sponsors for making this party possible - including Vox, Blackstar and Korg, our official backline partners.

--
The Black Angels (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

HobNob Wines offers free music content at its HobNob Inner Circle on Facebook. Join HobNob's Inner Circle to access exclusive downloads, editorial and info on upcoming events. Previously featured artists include Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Saint Bernadette, The Antlers, Company of Thieves, Xylos, as well as The Black Angels and Polica who are both playing this party.

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Friday is just one of four full days at Hotel Vegan. Wednesday lineup HERE. Thursday lineup HERE. Saturday lineup HERE.

We also have THREE official BrooklynVegan showcases - Tuesday (which Alex Maas of the Black Angels is playing a song at), Wednesday, and Friday - and a Saturday metal day party at Lovejoys, AND a bridge show.

Light Asylum at MHOW in 2010 (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

Brooklyn duo Light Asylum (Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello) made a pretty good impression last year with their In Tension EP, and they're following that with a self titled debut LP, due out on May 1 via Mexican Summer. They just released the gothy first single, "Shallow Tears," with the mostly instrumental "Genesis" on the b-side. You can stream both of those below, along with the album artwork and tracklist.

Light Asylum are going on a short US tour in support of the album which kicks off with an album release party in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge on May 3. TIckets are on sale now. The show is with oOoOO (who also has a new release on the way) and Black Marble, a new project from members of Team Robespierre who has a new release on Hardly Art and are opening for TRUST at Glasslands on 3/9.

All dates, streams, album artwork and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Light Asylum announce LP & tour dates, NYC show w/ oOoOO & Black Marble (dates & new song stream)"

AraabMuzik at Moogfest in October (more by Diana Wong)

When Altered Zones announced last month that they would no longer be operating, editors Ric Leichtung and Emilie Friedlander also announced a new project, AdHoc.fm, which will be "a 100% independent, daily music and visual culture publication" and is "coming in 2012."

Ad Hoc are throwing a New Year's Eve party at 285 Kent (12/31) with sets by AraabMuzik, Balam Acab, Light Asylum, Laurel Halo, Run DMT, a special guest, and Weird Magic DJs. Tickets for the show are on sale now. More details and dates are below.

Laurel Halo will also be DJing in NYC on New Year's Eve at Zebulon with DJ Hiro Kone and a band TBA. They'll be spinning "Italo Disco, House, Soul, Techno, Postpunk; whatever makes you move."

Another similar electronic-filled NYE option is the Nosaj Thing show at Glasslands (12/31). When we first discussed the show, no openers had been announced yet. We now know that the bill also includes El Topo (aka Dave Harrington of Nicolas Jaar's Darkside project), Archie Pelago, and DJIlirjana (Pop Manifesto/Typical Girls). Tickets are still available.

Speaking of AraabMuzik, he released the deluxe edition to his album Electronic Dream last week. The album features six new tracks, including the Deadmau5-sampling "I Remember," which you can stream below. We recently spoke to Gang Gang Dance engineer Sean Maffucci who is in New Moods, and he said "I don't think I've heard a record like this before. It seems to break every production rule and yet sounds so sweet and pleasing to the ears."

That stream, NYE show details and more AraabMuzik dates, below...

Continue reading "AraabMuzik, Laurel Halo, Balam Acab & more on NYE @ 285 Kent, Glasslands & Zebulon"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Xeno & Oaklander - Autumn's Edge (MP3)

Xeno & Oaklander are New York's premier minimal wave, and have been doing it 1981 style -- using patch bays and vintage equipment exclusively, no laptops -- for over five years. Despite the duo's neo-luddite approach to making electronic music, Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo have certainly gotten better at what they're doing, both mastery of their gear and in songwriting.

Sets & Lights, which was released this week on Wierd Records, is the band's third album and easily their best. Arpeggiated synths and sequencers bubble along and Wendelbo and McBride trade vocals... it's like the soundtrack to some gleaming baroque futureworld. You can download "Autumn's Edge" at the top of this post, and be sure to check out the genuinely spooky video to single "The Staircase" further down.

Xeno & Oaklander have a few shows coming up. Tonight (10.12), they celebrate the release of Sets & Lights tonight (10.12) at the weekly Wierd Party at Home Sweet Home. Friday night (10.14) they'll play the afterparty of the first night of the Neon Marshmallow Festival which is happening all weekend at Public Assembly.

Then next Saturday (10/22), Xeno & Oaklander play Altered Zones at the New Museum, which seems to be this year's attempt by Pitchfork at CMJ counterprograming. (Remember #Offline?) In addition to X&O, performers include AraabMuzik, Grimes, Teengirl Fantasy, Trash Talk, Eric Copeland, Prince Rama, Light Asylum, FORMA, and Dive. The show is 21+ and $25 for non-museum members and a portion of the proceeds goes to benefit the 2012 New Museum Triennial, an international exhibition of emerging artists. This actually sounds potentially cool. Flyer for the event is below.

Continue reading "Xeno & Oaklander released Sets & Lights, playing shows, Pitchfork Altered Zones not-CMJ party @ New Museum"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Hedgehog - Toy and 61 Festival (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hedgehog - Waiting for the Last Bus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Royal Baths - Nikki Don't (MP3)

After surviving a couple minor major acts of nature, we deserve a long break. So for your Labor Day weekend... like usual, it's pretty slow, show-wise. But there are some things to do.

We'll start this week with a movie. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is finally getting a U.S. release (it came out in January 2010 in France), albeit a limited one, thanks in part to great reissue label Light in the Attic. The film started it's two-week Film Forum run last night and will be making its way around the country throughout the fall. All play dates are at the bottom of this post.

Heroic maybe, but for sure Serge Gainsbourg led a wild life before succumbing to cancer at age 62 in 1992. You could make a compelling film out of any period of his life, and that the movie tries to cram it all in -- from fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris as a child through his rise to fame, relationships with Bridget Bardot and Jane Birkin to his his '70s dalliance with reggae -- gives too much of your standard Behind the Music story arc.

But it's also untraditional at the same time. Writer-director Joann Sfar is a comic artist (this is his first film) and injects a big element of the absurd courtesy of a puppet-like alter-ego (alter-Id, really) that encourages Gainsbourg to do bad things. Eric Elmosnino, a dead-ringer for Gainsbourg, is terrific, as is the rest of the cast -- including Lucy Gordon as Birkin and Laetitia Casta as Bardot, plus appearances by eccentric singer Philippe Katerine and the late Claude Chabrol. It's got a great sense of style and, of course, the soundtrack is amazing. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life could be better, but it's still worth seeing.

Weekend

As for actual shows, San Francisco's vociferous and awesome Weekend will be here on Saturday (9/3) at Glasslands and Sunday (/4) at Mercury Lounge. Both shows are with the similarly cacophonous Talk Normal.

Weekend have a new EP, Red, out September 20th on Slumberland which finds the trio exploring new sonic territory, though not the quiet kind. It's still rather pummeling but Shaun Durkan's vocals, previously hidden behind echo and backwards reverb, are dryer and more up front now. The sound is a little sharper all around, but the driving, melodic basslines and guitar squall remain. You can download Red track "Hazel" via a Soundcloud widget at the bottom of this post.

In addition to Talk Normal, the Glasslands show features their Slumberland labelmates Brown Recluse; the Mercury Lounge show also has Fan-Tan on the bill. All Weekend/Talk Normal tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Royal Baths

San Francisco's Royal Baths bring their heavy psychedelia to Death by Audio on Friday (9/2) with Xray Eyeballs, Hunters and Mountain Cult. I wrote previously: "Royal Baths are kind of bad trip acid rock, dark and seedy but not atonal. But it's definitely down the rabbit hole. In a good way." At the top of this post you can download a track off of Royal Baths debut LP  from last year. The band have a split double-7" with Ty Segall due out on HoZac any time now. Keep an eye peeled for that.

Hedgehog

Bejiing's Hedgehog are back in America for the first time since CMJ: they play Bruar Falls on Sunday (9/4) and Cake Shop on Monday (9/5). After that they head out on tour with Xiu-Xiu and Kindest Lines, and all tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

I caught set at The Woods last year and the venue's atrocious sound didn't deter Hedgehog's tenacity, most ably embodied in Atom, their tiny pistol of a drummer. Looking at them, you might expect pop punk a la Japan's Blue Hearts, but Hedgehog make melodic indie rock. There's a couple tracks to download at the top of this post. They're a blast live, and there aren't a lot of shows Sunday or Monday, so here's a good international option for your concert dollar.

That's it of the "big" stuff in my world. Some more shows -- including a fair amount of free ones -- are listed day-by-day below.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

Good show at Shea Stadium tonight. In addition to the recently-profiled Caged Animals, there's also new FatCat singings Forest Fire whose Walkmen-esque album Staring at the X is worth looking out for when it comes out in October on FatCat.

Nerdy rapper and Adult Swim voice talent MC Chris is throwing a record release party at Death by Audio for his new album Race Wars. It's also his birthday. Show is FREE.

continued below...

Continue reading "Serge Gainsbourg, Weekend, Hedgehog, Royal Baths, MC Chris, Hunx, 'English Beat' & more in This Week in Indie"

Flying Lotus at Terminal 5 in 2010 (more by Brook Bobbins)

Flying Lotus, Gang Gang Dance, and Light Asylum are playing a free show at Le Poisson Rouge on September 8 presented by the NYU Program Board. Doors are at 6 PM for the all ages show but admission is open to NYU students only.

Gang Gang Dance recently announced a tour that includes a NYC show at Bowery Ballroom during CMJ. Tickets go on sale Thursday (9/1) at noon.

Speaking of Flying Lotus, he recently announced a multimedia project with Miwa Matreyek. The project, titled The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come, is set to premiere at Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock in LA in June, 2012. According to CFAER:

These multi-disciplinary Los Angeles artists will collaborate together for the first time this year to find inspiration and direct sampling of northeast Los Angeles' imagery and sounds to create The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come, a piece that celebrates the present communities surrounding Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock.

You can help support the collaboration by donating to their kickstarter campaign. Any donations made before November 30 will be doubled by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

In other related news, Thundercat, who was on FlyLo's Cosmogramma LP and his Brainfeeder label, put out his album The Golden Age of Apocalypse this week via Brainfeeder. You can stream the entire thing below and purchase it here.

Light Asylum open for !!! one day after the LPR show at their 9/9 Bell House show. Computer Magic are on that bill too. Even sooner Light Asylum play a free show at Union Pool on Saturday (9/3). Light Asylum will also open for Austra at the 10/5 Bowery Ballroom show the day before Austra open for James Blake at the sold out MHOW show. Tickets for the Bell House show and the Bowery show are still on sale.

Updated dates and album stream below...

Continue reading "Flying Lotus, Gang Gang Dance & Light Asylum playing NYU show & other stuff, Thudercat album streaming"

Austra at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Austra, who just finished up a tour with Cold Cave at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (8/6), will return to the venue as part of a just-announced headlining US/Canada tour this fall. All new dates are listed below.

That tour includes October 5 at Bowery Ballroom with Light Asylum. Tickets go on sale Friday (8/12) at noon with an AmEx pre-sale starting Wednesday (8/10) at noon.

And while Austra headline Bowery Ballroom, James Blake will be not too far away headlining his own show at Webster Hall as part of his upcoming tour (tickets). The next night (10/6) both Austra and James will team up to play a Brooklyn show at Music Hall of Williamsburg together! Tickets are not on sale yet, but check ticketmaster for updates. James will be the headliner of the show at Music Hall (where he played his first US show in March).

The US run also includes Austra's appearance at Moogfest and Fun Fun Fun Fest. Grimes open most of the other US dates. The Canadian shows, and a few US shows are with Austra's backup singers' other band Tasseomancy. Young Galaxy are also on a few of these dates.

The North American dates come after Austra tours Europe at the end of this month through September. That tour includes a date opening for Arcade Fire in Amsterdam a few days after both bands play Popaganda Festival in Sweden (the country James Blake plays in as part of Way Out West this Thursday night).

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Austra announces tour, James Blake adds MHOW show (with Austra!) --- 2011 Tour Dates (includes Bowery Ballroom too)"

DOWNLOAD: YACHTt - Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire) (MP3)

YACHT @ Coachella - 4/15/2011

As the song says, "the Yacht is on fire" (they actually see "the Earth is on fire - see below) (download new track "Dystopia" above). YACHT, long past the days of Jona running around the stage by himself with an iPod, gave an explosive performance on Friday in Coachella's Mojave Tent. Duo Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans look and sound like pros as they trade off vocals and instruments while backed by a very able band. Jona jams on guitar and even sometimes sits on the drums as Claire keeps the front rows hypnotized with her dancing, outfit and vocals. YACHT the dance band prove that DFA ("Long Live LCD Soundsystem," Jona proclaimed from the Coachella stage) is right where they belong. Their new album Shangri-La will be released by the label on June 21st ("Dystopia" included).

UPDATE: Despite it at first sounding like like they are singing "the yacht is on fire" in "Dystopia" (lyrics sites agree), it actually says "the Earth is on fire" (as the title of the song implies it would, and now that I know that, it actually does sound like "Earth").

Meanwhile, YACHT will be out on the road through May 14th. Light Asylum joins the tour as opener on April 25th. Both bands play Webster Hall in NYC on April 27th. YACHT band member and collaborator Bobby Birdman also plays an opening set at that show. Tickets for what might be YACHT's biggest NYC headlining show yet (or maybe the Seaport was), are on sale.

UPDATE: All instances of "Yacht" in this post have been changed to "YACHT."

All tour dates and some more pictures from YACHT's set at Coachella, below...

Continue reading "YACHT 'is on fire', played Coachella, now on tour, releasing 'Shangri-La' (new MP3, pics, dates)"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

TVOTR @ Stubb's (SPIN Party)

"Since TV On The Radio is preparing to drop Nine Types Of Light soon, I just assumed that its Spin party set would be heavy on new, untested material. And as the band slowly warmed up with a few free-jazz drones while Dave Sitek attached a giant set of wind chimes to the end of his guitar, those assumptions turned to worry that said new material was going to herald the beginning of the group's deathly dull "blue period" or something. But all fears were allayed by the crash of opening number "Young Liars," as TVOTR went all the way back to the beginning to remind fans why they'd been missed during their hiatus. Older numbers like "Staring At The Sun" got the benefit of the band's newly forged arena-rock assault, with the set never once waning in energy as it barreled through uptempo songs such as "Dancing Choose" and "Wolf Like Me." Tunde Adebimpe introduced new number "Repetition" by asking everyone whether they would dance if they played it: "But what if it's terrible?" he asked. No worries there. The group turned in easily the best set I've seen all week." [AV Club]

Like OMD, TV on the Radio played Stubb's twice during SXSW. One was their official showcase at night, and one was the daytime SPIN party (Unlike at OMD's showcase though, equipment didn't fall on people at TVOTR). Some pictures from the SPIN party that both bands played are in this post.

Since Austin, TV on the Radio (whose new album is now up for pre-order) have announced who will be opening for them on their upcoming tour. It varies by date. Some shows have Lissie Trullie, others get Glasser, some are with Celebration, and the Radio City show will be opened by Light Asylum.... who play Glasslands in Brooklyn with Banjo or Freakout tonight (3/25). Radio City tickets are still on sale.

All dates (with openers listed), those pictures, and TV on the Radio's new video for "Will Do", below...

Continue reading "TVOTR made a video, played SXSW, announced tour openers (Light Asylum opens Radio City & plays Glasslands tonight)"

DOWNLOAD: Perfume Genius - "Dreem" (MP3)

Perfume Genius released a new version of Learning. In the words of Matador...

Just in time for the holidays, we're reissuing the devastating debut album from Seattle's Perfume Genius, aka Mike Hadreas, in a new slipcase edition. If you missed 'Learning' when it came out last June, now is your chance to explore the most critically acclaimed album Matador released this year. Get one for yourself, then get another for your loved one.

The new version of the CD comes in a cardboard slipcase with new artwork (above), along with a coupon entitling you to downloads of three new tracks: "Dreeem," "Your Drum" and "Divine Faxes." The new version of the LP is stickered with information about the new tracks, which have been added to the standard download coupon inside.

Download one of those new tracks, "Dreem", for free above. Stream it below.

Pefume Genius and Light Asylum (Did you notice them in the Sunday NY Times?) will play Envelope, the "undisclosed Bushwick event space", on December 15th, one week from today. Tickets are on sale for the show at the new venue that you may have previously caught Marissa Nadler at. BushwickBK.com did...

In a neighborhood with more DIY than licensed music venues, Envelope presents a new approach to the homegrown experience. Envelope hosts only one show a month, with a capacity for only 60 guests. The rest of the time, it operates as a recording studio. Shows have been booked for the next 10 months, but at the moment there are no plans to expand performances beyond the once-monthly showcases.

"We'd really like to keep the programming very special and only host bands that we really love," co-founder Chris Garneau told BushwickBK. "More than one show a month at this point could force us to step off of our initial path."

For Nadler, who played solo on her acoustic guitar, it was a perfect setting. In such an intimate space with minimal amplification, all of the nuances of her recordings were maintained, showcasing her equally delicate vocals and finger picking. Despite the living-room sized set up, Nadler talked little to the crowd, though she acknowledged her timid nature....

And the Envelope show makes two upcoming appearances for Light Asylum in the coming week. They also play Santos with Violens on 12/11 (tickets).

Some Perfume Genius videos are below...

Continue reading "Perfume Genius released new songs on a new version of 'Learning', playing NYC show w/ Light Asylum"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Violens - Acid Reign (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Violens - Violent Sensation Descends (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Powerful Lovin' (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Warm Ghost - Open the Wormhole In Your Heart (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weed Hounds - Beach Bummed 7" (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Acylics - Nightwatch (MP3)

Violens

We'll start of this week with a giveaway. Violens play Santos this Saturday and if you'd like to win a pair of tickets to the show as well as a copy of the band's new album, Amoral, just send an email to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with "VIOLENS" as the subject and we'll pick a winner at random.

I think Violens' debut is a pretty sweet slice of glossy goth pop, heavily in debt to bombastic '80s UK mope but with a modern sheen. If it's out-of-step with what's currently in favor in Brooklyn, it's all the more distinctive for it. It also sounds really good loud. Amoral may hold up pretty well down the line, too, as songs like "Violent Sensation Descends," "Acid Reign" (both downloadable above) and "The Dawn Of Your Happiness Is Rising" are cleverly-produced and catchy-as-hell.

The whole Santos show should be pretty fun, with the awesome Light Asylum and Caveman opening (plus, BBG reports that Krallice drummer Lev Weinstein is now playing as a member of Violens too).

John Grant

What else is going on this week? MOJO Album of 2010 recipient John Grant plays two shows this week: an early show tonight (12/8) at Mercury Lounge and then Saturday (12/11) at The Rock Shop. If you haven't checked out the former Czars frontman's solo debut -- produced and backed by Midlake -- you should really do so. From MOJO's year-end review:

[Midlake]'s intervention supplied confidence, empathy and a meticulous '70s soft rock sound, allowing Grant to channel a life's worth of vitriol and self-flagellation into songs of spiritual hunger, emotional fireworks and bile-black humour that always searched for self-improvement and atonement. Here were tales of alcohol and cocaine dependency, self-hate and destructive love affairs that raised the twin ghosts of Patsy Cline and Karen Carpenter. The result was in an intensely bittersweet pop record, that, like a couple of similar MOJO classics before it -- Antony's I Am a Bird Now and Bon Iver's For Emma... -- sounded like it's creator had been waiting his whole life to make.

You can listen to the whole shebang via a widget at the bottom of this post. Unfortunately, Midlake won't be backing him on these shows so we won't get Queen of Denmark is it's truly epic glory but I have a feeling that Grant, with help from multi-instrumentalist  Casey Chandler, will do just fine on a smaller scale.

Tricky

Trip hop pioneer Tricky is here this week as well, with shows at Le Poisson Rouge tomorrow (12/9) and Brooklyn Bowl on Friday (12/10). Here's one of those artists that even that despite a string of lackluster records, I always give the new album a chance. While there are more than a few regrettable moments on Mixed Race (I don't think anybody could make a Peter Gun sample work in 2010), there's also some of the best we've heard from him in ages that drip that paranoid, slow-burn cool that made his first two albums classics.

Atlas Sound, Feb 2010 @ the Bell House (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

While Deerhunter's terrific Halcyon Digest is finding its way into many's Top Ten of 2010 lists (maybe mine, we'll see), Bradford Cox stays busy as Atlas Sound who play an Maxwell's on Friday (12/10) and The Bell House on Saturday (12/11). Has any other artist been on such a creative hot streak as Cox since 2008? The guy releases at least one "official" album a year in one of his two guises, with regular demo dumps via his blog that are almost always worth downloading. Like the four-part Bedroom Databank series we got in the last two weeks. May this ride never end.

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And a few more picks, day-by-day, for shows not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8

It's the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death, and Glasslands pays tribute tonight with a cavalcade of indie names, including: Acrylics, Amazing Baby, Nicole Atkins, Here We Go Magic, Eytan & The Embassy, Psychic, Teen, The Royal Chains, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Bizi Gara, Class Actress, and Brian Harding. Proceeds go to Arts Education International.

My Teenage Stride, who have five new downloadable songs up on WFMU's Free Music Archive, play Pianos tonight with The Art of Shooting, Minneapolis duo Fort Wilson Riot, and Desert Stars.

Over at Death by Audio, you can catch a rock-solid bill featuring bash-pop duo Sisters, Total Slacker offshoot Web Dating, indie rock quartet Shark?, sleazoid garage rockin' X-Ray Eyeballs, and Philly duo Slutever.

Captured Tracks band Further Reductions bring the minimal synth sound to the Weird Party at Home Sweet Home.

continued below...

Continue reading "Violens, John Grant, Tricky, Atlas Sound, Weed Hounds, Acrylics, My Teenage Stride & more in This Week in Indie"

Frankie & The Outs at Coco66 during CMJ (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Coco66 is up to full strength again after their CMJ-week debacle at the Tamaryn/Glasser/Frankie & The Outs/Light Asylum not-CMJ show. Open since Tuesday, this Friday (11/19) will see the venue host its first actual show with Burnt Sugar, MK Groove Orchestra, and Dope Sagittarius.

Sadly, in news I learned while searching for information on the venue's re-opening, that late Friday night show at Coco66 ended even worse than previously realized. A pair of cyclists leaving the show suffered massive injuries from a hit-and-run driver near Franklin & Calyer in Greenpoint (just a few blocks from the venue). Light Asylum goes into further detail"

"everyone who went to our Coco66 show that got busted by the police. Soon after, two of the attendees were heading home by bike and were hit by a car, traveling southbound on Franklin near Calyer. One of them was dragged 30 feet by the car, who did not even stop. She is still in the hospital."

Police are currently on the hunt for the perpetrators (maybe), but, like the MTA signs say, "if you see something, say something". Friends of the victims have set up an email tipline (FRANKLINSTREETBIKEACCIDENT@GMAIL.COM).

A picture of the (gruesome) flyer, which you might recognize from it being posted around the Northside, is below...

Continue reading "Coco66 back open, but hit & run driver still on the loose"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Flash a Hungry Smile (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - About My Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose & the Outs - Candy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Red Mass - Saturn (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tony Castles - Black Girls in Dresses (MP3)

Blanche?

Looks like there are still a few tickets to go see Mystery Jets tonight at Mercury Lounge now that the band have sorted out their visa issues after having to cancel last night's show (which I was going to go to). Frank at Chromewaves caught them in Toronto on Monday night:

Over the course of an hour, they split their set evenly between Serotonin and its predecessor, 2008's Twenty-One, and gave the respectably-sized crowd something to get boisterous about - which they did, right through to the soaring encore-closer "Dreaming Of Another World". Any concerns about what would happen to the rest of the tour were set aside in favour of just enjoying the moment.

Looking through Frank's photos of the show, I was happy to see Mystery Jets aren't sporting any fashion disasters (see above) like when they played at Bowery Ballroom last year. That may sound superficial but it is distracting when a band you really like dresses like Blanche from Golden Girls. As I've said before, I was a huge fan of 2008's Twenty One and think their new one, Serotonin, is maybe better even if nothing on it quite reaches the highs of "Young Love" and "Two Doors Down."

If you're going, be sure to get there early for L.A.'s Dominant Legs whose new EP on Lefse records I like a lot. Any band that lists The Style Council as an influence is gonna grab my attention, at least enough to listen to it. They played last night at Mercury Lounge, their first NYC show, and reports on Twitter seemed to be pretty positive.

Frankie & the Outs @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Mystery Jets' cancellation last night has thrown a wrench into my schedule. I had planned on spending the evening at Glasslands for the Frankie Rose & the Outs' record release party but now I'm gonna hope the show goes late enough that I can do both tonight (9/15). We'll see how this works out. If nothing else I can pick up the record a week early tonight at the merch table. It's a really good album that, if maybe a little economical in the lyrical department, definitely showcases Rose's ease with hooks and harmonies. Check out an MP3 of the single "Candy" above and you can watch the Carrie-inspired video for the song -- which just premiered -- at the bottom.

It should be a fun night all around. Light Asylum, who the Outs shared the bill for their first-ever show last Halloween, headline the party, with opening slots from psych mystics Mirror Mirror and Pigeon who I can't find any info on. (But there are at least three other bands currently called Pigeon so you might want to rethink the name.)  MINKS were originally supposed to play but seem to have fallen off the bill.

Dum Dum Girls

I have to imagine Frankie's pals Dum Dum Girls will be in attendance tonight (you can spot Dee Dee in the "Candy" video near the end) if they can make it in time following the first of their three gigs opening for Vampire Weekend this week at Radio City Music Hall. I would kind of like to see DDGs there, actually, as their echo-y girl group vibe could sound amazing with the venue's acoustics. But I'm not gonna. I might, however, try to catch them on Saturday night (9/18) at Knitting Factory where they'll play with Girls at Dawn and Reading Rainbow. Their self-titled Sub Pop debut has stayed in constant rotation since coming out out in March.

While we're on the subject of bands with whom Frankie Rose used to play drums, Crystal Stilts finally seem to be getting around to making a second record. A new single, "Shake the Shackles," is due out on Slumberland Records on October 21, their first new material in 18 months. The band have struggled a bit post-Frankie, and the last time I saw them play live (Fall 2009 I think) they seemed pretty out of sorts. But both sides of the new single is good -- you can listen to it at the bottom of this post -- and hopefully they've really shaked those shackles and rebounded.

You can find out for yourself when Crystal Stilts play Knitting Factory on Friday (9/17) with drony, motoroik San Franciscans Moon Duo.

Red Mass @ M For Montreal 2009 (more)

What else? Montreal art punks Red Mass will be here this weekend for two shows: Friday at Party Expo and Saturday at Death by Audio. Both shows are with X-ray Eyeballs. Somewhere between the Damned's goth-tinged punk and Nuggets era psych-garage, Red Mass also bring a sense of theatrics to their live performances. Frontman Choyce (late of CCP Gangbangs) has no problem with high concept and brings the Red to the stage -- both times I've seen them, the band dressed entirely in shades of crimson. But the music still does most of the talking. If you like this kind of thing at all, Red Mass are not to be missed.

Red mass are on their first real tour of the States -- well, the East Coast -- and they'll hook up with King Khan & the Shrines along the way. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

---

And finally, Superchunk are here this weekend, playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (9/18) and MHoW on Sunday (9/19). Both shows are sold out, but you can still see them at Other Music on Sunday afternoon (1PM). I've also had good luck getting tickets at MHoW at the box office day of show, so if you're without a ticket it's worth a try.

Even if you don't get to see them, you've still got their seriously awesome new album, Majesty Shredding. No phoning it in here, this is classic Superchunk. Over at Emusic, Michaelangelo Matos wrote a great review of the record and the opening paragraph really nails it:

Superchunk sound like they've been listening to a lot of Superchunk. Well, of course -- what else would they sound like? But think about that for a second. Most bands slow down as they age because most people slow down as they age: Sonic Youth isn't about to start flirting with hardcore again; the Rolling Stones will never cut another "She Said Yeah." That's nature. But Superchunk 2010 could be easily mistaken for Superchunk 1991 -- the tempo hasn't moved and the scrappiness hasn't budged. And scrappy is what this band does.

Majesty Shredding is loaded with classic Superchunk Moments, from new single "Digging for Something" (you've seen the video by now, right?) to the manic "Crossed Wires" (a 7" from last summer) to my favorite song, the anthemic "Hot Tubes." It's so great to see a band 20 years into its career knock one out of the park.

Translations

That's enough for this week. A few more picks for the week, of things I didn't cover above, day by day:

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 15

I've been listening a lot to this Translations digital single which you can download for free. Both "sides" are really good, kind of Flying Nun/GbV style indie. Haven't seen them live but they play tonight at The Woods in Williamsburg. It's a free show.

Power pop fans should head straight to the Rock Shop for Tommy Keene, Title Tracks and Valley Lodge.

continued below...

Continue reading "Dum Dum Girls, Red Mass, Crystal Stilts, Superchunk, Frankie & the Outs, Radical Dads & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Nana Grizol - Galaxies (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Naza Grizol - For Things That Haven't Come (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Futureheads - Struck Dumb (MP3)

Sky Larkin @ Pianos during CMJ (more by Bryan Bruchman)

It's not the most action-packed of weekends in TWII land. Stars is sold out, as is Kings of Convenience and Delorean, no twee indiepop from Denmark, or San Francisco garage rockers. So I'm gonna start with mentioning that terrific Leeds, UK trio Sky Larkin (who played one of our CMJ day parties last year) have finished their second album, Kaleide, and it'll be out in August. Like their first album, Kaleide was recorded in Seattle with John Goodmason. But the results this time seem a little more muscular and confident.

Hear for yourself: the band are offering up a free, downloadable EP featuring the album's swell title track (pronounced "collide"). You do have to give up your email address to get it but they're nice folks and I'm sure they won't do anything nefarious with it. Either visit their website or use the download widget at the bottom of this post. Hopefully we'll get the band over here again soon.

Nana Grizol

OK, so what's going on this weekend? Athens, GA's multitudinous Nana Grizol are in town tonight (6/4), playing Silent Barn on their way back from the Primavera Sound festival and we should be glad to have them.  Their wide-eyed folk pop reminds me just a little of much-missed '90s band Small Factory, There's a similar approach to the songwriting, even if the arrangements add about 15 more people (depending on the night) to the mix. You can download two tracks from their latest album, Ruth, at the top of this post. They are super-charming live.

Adding to the fun (and sheer number of musicians onstage at any one time) at Silent Barn are Providence, RI's What Cheer? Brigade which is a 19 piece brass ensemble whose sound is "an aggressive mix of Bollywood, The Balkans, New Orleans, Samba and Hip-Hop, played with the intensity of metal." There's also locals The Eskalators, and Boston singer/songwriter Greg Mullen. Sounds like a pretty fun, probably sweaty, night.

The Futureheads @ Pianos in 2008 (more by Jason Bergman)

The Futureheads play Maxwell's tomorrow (6/5) and Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday (6/8). Like a lot of people, I was a huge fan of their first album, and felt the two following albums were a little too straightforward (and overproduced) for a band who got popular on quirky charm. Some of that off-kilter-ness is back on the band's new album, The Chaos, which I think is easily their best since that first one. They've kind of become a modern, Northern England version of The Knack. Which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Check out "Struck Dumb" at the top of this post.

The band played Music Hall of Williamsburg earlier this week, it was probably the eight or ninth time I've seen them live, and I have to say even when I'm not crazy about whatever record they're touring at the time, they are always worth seeing live. Singer/guitarist Barry Hyde is as manic as ever, guitarist/vocalist Ross Millard provides the punchlines, and the band are tight as hell, and nail those four-part harmonies. And "Decent Days and Nights" and their amazing cover of "Hounds of Love" still sound brilliant.

Athlete

While we're reminiscing about 2004... Athlete play the Bell House tomorrow (6/5). They are not remotely cool anymore, but I have great affection for their debut album, Vehicles & Animals, an exceedingly pleasant bunch of mid-tempo, head-bobbing Brit indie tunes, all of which seemed to have been based on Pavement's "Carrot Rope." It's still a good album to clean the house to.

I saw them at a half-full Mercury Lounge back in March 2004 (they played with, um, Razorlight if memory serves) and remember them being charmingly nerdy. I'm still a bit baffled how/why a year later they turned into Snow Patrol. They're pretty huge in the UK but America has never caught on, but I'm sure that the Bell House will be full of ex-pats and Anglophiles. I'm half tempted to go, if for nothing else than to hear "El Salvador" or "You Got the Style."

After Brooklyn they continue on a month-long North American tour in support of their new album Black Swan, which isn't half bad. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Po Po

And one last show of interest. Tonight (6/4) at Glasslands is a pretty good bill, headlined by low-fi Philly duo PO PO. Also playing: Light Asylum who I've written about a bit before and you may have seen open for LCD Soundsystem last month at Music Hall of Williamsburg; enigmatic local band Translations whose songs on MySpace sound pretty good; and underheard Brooklynites (and Soft Pack cohorts) The Sundelles.

And one last little note of shameless plugging. If you're looking for something new to listen to, over on Sound Bites I post a weekly downloadable Summer Fridays mix during the warm months. This is the third year I've done it and this week's has new tunes from Foals, Beach Fossils, Django Django, Young Friends, Radio Dept, plus some oldies (B-52's, Lulu, Air Miami + more) as well.

That's it for this week. Flyers, videos, that Sky Larkin download widget, and tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Sky Larkin, Nana Grizol, Futureheads, Athlete, PO PO, Summer Fridays mix tapes & more in This Week in Indie"

Peelander-Z @ Santos in 2009 (more by Gabi Porter)

tonight in NYC
* MGMT @ Fordham
* Sean Bones (afternoon) @ Pianos
* Amazing Baby (late) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Stagger Back Brass Band @ Union Pool
* Suzanne Vega & friends @ City Winery
* Johann Johannsson, Lichens @ Littlefield
* Light Pollution, Memoryhorse @ Under 100
* Kuroma, Bell, Picture Picture @ Glasslands
* Henry Kaiser, Cookie The Clown @ The Stone
* Fountains of Wayne, The Candles @ Maxwell's
* Truck America @ Full Moon in Big Indian, NY
* Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings @ Apollo Theater
* Kate Nash, Supercute! @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* John Doe & Exene Cervenka @ Concerts in the Studio
* The Joy Formidable, The Dig (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* The Styrenes, Tyvek, Pink Reason, Kohoutek @ Cake Shop
* The Gamut, Daughters of the Sun, Vampire Hands @ Zebulon
* Echo & The Bunnymen & Hatcham Social @ Irving Plaza
* Text of Light (Lee Ranaldo & Alan Licht) @ Thirty Days NY
* The Binary Marketing Show, Magnetic Island @ Fort Useless
* The Willowz, The Naked Hearts, Cults (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* The Album Leaf, Sea Wolf, Gregory & The Hawk @ Bowery Ballroom
* Peelander-Z, Math the Band, Anamanaguchi (early) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Overkill, Vader, God Dethroned, Warbringer, Evile @ Nokia Theatre
* Future Islands, Double Dagger, Lower Dens, Light Asylum @ Death By Audio
* Sam Buck Rosen, Delicate Steve, Beauty Feast, Strange Shapes @ Glasslands
* Bad Credit No Credit, Laura Stevenson & the Cans,Air Waves,Kate Ferencz @ Coco66
* King Django Sextet, Glen Adams & Jammyland All-Stars, Shems Disciples, The Equilibrians @ Knitting Factory

The Styrenes are celebrating 35 years. They played Death By Audio last night, and end a two week tour at Cake Shop this evening with Tyvek playing right before them. Tyvek list no other dates at the moment. Kohoutek and Pink Reason are also on the bill.

You might have caught Light Asylum open for LCD Soundsystem recently. Tonight they're on a strong bill with both Future Islands and Double Dagger at Death By Audio.

Today is Free Comic Book Day

It's also First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum.

Help Save Walter.

Sean Bones plays in the afternoon (3pm) at Pianos today.

Cookie the Clown, not to be confused with Cokie the Clown, performs at The Stone tonight.

Speaking of Cokie the Clown, Bamboozle Fest is happening in NJ.

Spring Food and Craft Market at Brooklyn Lyceum.

Alan Licht and Lee Ranaldo play as Text of Light with a light show by Gary Panter and Joshua White.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge's tag sale is happening.

Some live Shellshag (who played Mercury Lounge the other night) videos below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday (May Day)?"

photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

A post about last night's Webster Hall show is coming, but I just noticed that tickets are on sale for a third LCD Soundsystem show at Terminal 5 (May 22). The first two (May 20-21) are now listed as sold out. Meanwhile a 2nd set of pictures from the Music Hall of Williamsburg show (which I happened to have ready to go), continues below....

Continue reading "LCD Soundsystem adds 3rd Terminal 5 show (on sale now) (and here are more pics from MHOW) "

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Bill Pearis

"There's good news and bad news. The good news is we're here. The bad news is I'm wasted." James Murphy, who claimed to be swilling his "special drink" (champagne and whiskey) all night, kept trying to set the bar low for last night's LCD Soundsystem show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, the first the band has played in three years... a fact that he kept hammering into the crowd. "This is the longest we haven't played in the history of the band. It's not really a 'show,' it's a live rehearsal."

He was right, technically. Not only was it the live debut of new material from LCD's upcoming third album, This Is Happening, but also the first for the new six-piece (at times seven) version of the band, still anchored around the core of Murphy, keyboardist Nancy Whang and drummer Pat Mahoney. All of Murphy's hemming and hawing was for nought. This is contender for show of the year. LCD Soundsystem blew the lid off the joint for almost two hours.

The band mostly ignored the new album. "I made a conscious decision not to play too much of the new stuff in the early part of the tour," Murphy said. "I remember being a kid taking the train two hours just to hear 'This Charming Man' only to get 'Panic." (Of all the things to be jealous of, Murphy also saw the Smiths.) Instead we were treated to a cavalcade of hits including "Your City's a Sucker," "Tribulations," "All My Friends," "Losing My Edge," "Yeah," "Someone Great," and show-closer "New York, I Love You."

Only two new songs were played. The VU-meets-Bowie first single "Drunk Girls" and what will surely be the second single, "I Can Change" that is more Gary Numan or Eurythmics (you can hum "Love is a Stranger" to it). The latter was more successful, though I think "Drunk Girls" is gonna turn into a big summer single once people hear it spun in a club at maximum volume. I wish they'd have played a couple more tunes, especially the Roxy/Eno-ish rocker "All I Want" but we'll get those in time.

Seriously, no complaints at all. The crowd was going mental for the last half of the 90-plus minute set, especially during "Yeah" and "Someone Great." Maybe too mental. After an early attempt at a mosh pit, Murphy and Whang put the kybosh on such behavior. "If you're dancing and not within two people of a girl," Whang explained. "You're doing it wrong." Murphy added, "Dance up and down!" In addition to the crowd, the stage was packed on the side like a hip hop show, including Hot Chip's Al Doyle who was LCD's touring guitarist on previous excursions.

Murphy must've reminded us ten times that this was LCD's first show in ages and they were under-rehearsed. (Though I heard they used MHoW as a practice space all week.) But clearly New York had missed LCD Soundsystem. And they missed playing. Three years was definitely too long. But, thankfully, absolutely, they haven't lost their edge.

Editor's notes:

Light Asylum were a great opener and sounded booming on the Music Hall sound system. Bill said they're like a goth Yaz. I just wish they would showcase Shannon Funchess's frontwoman abilities more. She used to shine when she was on stage with !!!. She later joined LCD for a bit during "Someone Great", but mostly just in the background. Before she left the stage James gave her a great big bear hug.

Other LCD band members included Dave Stone, who as Murphy told the crowd, plays with the Melvins and many others, and Gavin Russom, who, as Murphy told us, can be found at gavinrussom.com.

Murphy pointed out that he was 40 years old "which means every show I saw had Fishbone opening". That was a nice intentional-or-not intro to "Losing my Edge".

The crowd really was moving all night. The closest thing to a mosh pit came during the punk rock "Movement", and there was a bit of a fight near the stage earlier in the night (I think because someone thought people were being too rowdy).

The lasers all over the walls and ceiling during "Yeah" were the coolest thing I ever saw visually happen at Music Hall.

Though the band took an encore break before "Someone Great", James announced before leaving the stage that it wasn't an "encore" because in NY aka home, we don't have encores. They're for "other places". Nancy moved from her keyboard to a piano for the show-closing "New York I Love You".

Definitely the show of the year (so far). Stay tuned for the announcement that they're playing another one at Webster Hall on Monday (ANNOUNCED AND ON SALE). You can also catch them twice at Terminal 5 and at other places. More pictures and the full setlist from Music Hall below...

Continue reading "LCD Soundystem returned @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn - pics & setlist"

by Bill Pearis

There's a lot going on this weekend but the show I'm most excited about this weekend is The Wedding Present who are in town performing their 1989 classic Bizarro in its entirety. They'll do it at Maxwell's on Saturday night (4/10, Sold Out) and then Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (not sold out) (4/11).

I won't lie: you're looking at a Wedding Present superfan. Like a lot of Americans, Bizarro was the first album I heard and is near and dear to me for that reason. (1991's Seamonsters is my all-time fave, though.) Bizarro is the peak of their early sound -- jangle pop played hard and very fast -- ten bashers that climax with the nearly ten minute "Take Me!" that might be the band's most manic song ever. Magnet asked frontman David Gedge, who turns 50 on April 23rd, a question I was wondering about.

Magnet:There's a lot of frantic guitar strumming on Bizarro, songs like "Kennedy" in particular. Twenty-plus years later, how worried are you that you might need frequent breaks during the shows?

David Gedge: I'm not going to deny that it's a challenge! With Bizarro, we took the original idea of the Wedding Present--namely, to play songs as fast and for as long as possible--to its logical conclusion. As a result, it's a collection of fairly extreme recordings, and obviously, we've never played them back to back like this before. Rehearsals have been more like training sessions for a marathon, but I have no doubt that we'll get there in the end.

A little clarification: the band are doing the original 10-song UK version of Bizarro, not the 14-track U.S. CD version so don't expect them to play their cover of Pavement's "Box Elder." They are, however, playing about seven songs from throughout the band's career (and a couple new ones) before launching into the album.

White Mystery

Guitar-bass garage rock duos are a dime a dozen, but White Mystery from Chicago stand out and not just because siblings Alex and Francis are flaming redheads. (If they ever need to change their name, may I suggest Firecrotch?) Alex, formerly of Red Orchestra, has a soulful wail that she lets belt out at top register. They're also less blues-y than many of their brethren -- even without the singing nobody's gonna confuse them with The White Stripes, Thee Oh Sees, etc. Their self-titled debut is a lot of fun. And you just know -- you just know -- they're gonna be good live.

White Mystery play Don Pedros on Friday night (4/9) with Girls at Dawn, Medication, Lil Daggers, and The Psyched. They'll also play Cake Shop on Saturday with QXBXRX, Zbornak, and the Richie White Orchestra.

In addition to Serena Maneesh, Here's a few more picks for tonight and Friday...

Continue reading "The Wedding Present, White Mystery, Mon Khmer, ARMS, Zaza, Light Asylum & more in This Week in Indie (part 2) "

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - "There Goes Our Man" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - "Walk On Water" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - "Heaven" (MP3)

Midnight Masses with Conrad and Jason of Trail of Dead

If it's February 2010 and a Wednesday, then odds are even that Midnight Masses are at Union Pool. The band began a weekly residency at the venue on February 3rd which continues this week (on Feb 10) with Mon Khmer and Light Asylum. Feb 17th includes Living Days (+TBA). Finally, they go out with a bang on Feb 24th, as the band will be joined by "the original lineup" of And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead (Conrad & Jason playing as a duo?).

Midnight Masses recently dropped "Red Ribbon Song (For Those Who've Gone)" for a name-your-price download. All proceeds will benefit the National AIDS Fund and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

All Midnight Masses dates, and a whole bunch of videos, below...

Continue reading "Midnight Masses currently in residency at Union Pool - final show is w/ Trail of Dead ('original lineup')"

Sia just peed all over our van. We are on herbal x. And we bought a whistle -jd samson

Men...

I just saw the Marie Claire with CHRISTINA AGUILERA on the cover and I realized we are waaaay overdue for an update. Yes, the rumors are true...Le Tigre wrote and produced a couple of songs with Christina! Not wanting to break the spell of this magic opportunity as we wait in suspense to hear if our tracks make it on the album, we've been quiet on the topic. But now that the buzz is getting crazy I just can't contain myself. Needless to say, for a feminist band obsessed with pop music, it was pretty much a dream come true.[Johanna Fateman of Le Tigre]

This is the second "working with Christina Aguilera" news we've posted this week. The first was Sia, who also happens to be JD Samson of Le Tigre's girlfriend.

"Le Tigre" might be actively working with Christina Aguilera, but they still don't have any shows coming up. MEN, a project headed by Le Tigre's JD Samson, does. That group, which used to pair JD and Joanna, now has a "core group" of "Hirsute members Michael O'Neill (Princess, Ladybug Transistor) and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (LTTR, The Ballet) with Johanna and artist Emily Roysdon contributing as writers, consultants, and producers."

MEN play a party called "That's My Jam" at the Bell House on February 20th, with MKNG FRNDZ, DJ Kingdom and DJ Tikka Masala (no advance tickets). They're also playing a March 10th show at Mercury Lounge with Light Asylum. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, February 3rd (today) at noon.

All dates and the full post about their work with Christina Aguilera are below...

Continue reading "Le Tigre work with Christina Aguilera, MEN schedule shows"