words & photos by Tim Griffin

Matt Berninger of The National @ Austin Music Hall 12/04

Last night (12/4), The National and Local Natives continued their current tour visiting a cold and rainy Texas to play Austin Music Hall. Pictures are in this post

The venue was sold-out, and some attendees tweeted that the balcony area had been oversold - leaving many to stand in the aisles and walkways (if they could make it up there at all). While it looked very crowded up top, the floor section below seemed to have plenty of open space (probably not helpful to those with balcony tickets).

Local Natives opened, offering apologies for not having a new album yet since back at their Stubb's show in March, they said they wouldn't tour through Austin without a new one. Being asked to tour with The National was the exception. They did play two new songs as part of their nine-song set, "Black Balloons" and "Elephant".

Matt Berninger was first out, leading The National onstage and opening with "Runaway". The set list drew a little more than half its songs from Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, Alligator, and Boxer. The balance of the list came from High Violet, including "Terrible Love" where Matt took about 150ft of mic cable with him as he jumped the barricade and walked throughout the audience. The final song was an accoustic performance of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks", bringing all the band members front and center to wrap the show.

On Tuesday The National will be in Chicago, then head off for two shows in Canada (Toronto and Montreal). They'll be back in New York on the 12th for 6 (4 original, with 2 more added) shows at the Beacon Theatre. As you know, each night will have a different opening act.

12: THE WAR ON DRUGS
13: SHARON VAN ETTEN
14: SO PERCUSSION
15: WYE OAK
16: MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND
17: THIS IS THE KIT

More pictures from the Austin show, both setlists, and upcoming tour dates (for The National, with opening acts) below:

Continue reading "The National played Austin Music Hall with Local Natives (pics, recap, setlist, 6 NYC shows soon -- back on sale)"

words by Zach Pollack, photos by Grant MacAllister

a member of Cee-Lo's band

Day two of Lollapalooza 2011 began with a slight drizzle over Grant Park, but it didn't deter the determined early festival-goers from moving about the grounds. After a long Friday, I began Saturday over at the Sony Stage with an extremely tight set from Phantogram. What I assumed was a simple setup from listening to their albums, was actually a complex live rig which kept the trio extremely busy. How many times have you seen an electronic-tinged band who just cue samples all set? Phantogram are not that.

Up next on my schedule were Chicago hometown act Maps & Atlases (which unfortunately meant I missed Friendly Fires). Maps & Atlases drew a very large crowd to the Google+ Stage, which has my favorite area of the whole fest. There's no other stage opposing it, it's a bit smaller than most, and massive trees block out much of the blistering sun. What's not to like?

I then attempted to head back towards Music Unlimited for Fitz and The Tantrums, but that didn't seem to be in the cards due to some unexpected foot traffic. Instead I ate and then headed to the oposite side of the grounds to catch the Black Lips at Playstation. The crowd was enormous for the garage-rockers who usually play to a quarter as many people. A few songs in they pulled out "Family Tree," the opening track to their great Mark Ronson-produced album Arabia Mountain. In typical Black Lips fashion, singer/guitarist Cole Alexander threw up on stage without missing as much as a note, and almost all over the Lollapalooza film crew!

From there things just got more and more massive. I caught Death From Above 1979 for the second time this week, and it was just as thrilling and brutal. Kicking things off with the Y.A.W.I.A.M. staple "Turn It Out," the massive beyond massive crowd went completely insane. Not needing to see the full set, I rushed across the complex to catch a bit of Big Audio Dynamite. The reunited group opened with "Medicine Show," and continued to awe the crowd with "A Party." From there I ran to Google+ to catch the tail end of The Drums.

I walked in just as they were speaking about the release of their forthcoming record Portamento (coming out in the US on Frenchkiss). They then played its single, "Money." The band has definitely matured since I last saw them and they sounded super full live. Just to make my legs die a little bit more, I rushed back over towards Sony and Music Unlimited to catch Local Natives. As mentioned, it was the largest crowd the band had ever played to. Opening with "Camera Talk," as per usual, their live sound even surpassed their great recordings. Towards the end of their set, across the way at Unlimited, things started to fall into place for Cee Lo's set.

His band of attractive studio musicians took the stage sans Green around 6:30PM, and jumped into a short intro track. Complete with matching Gwar-like kinky warrior outfits (strange choice), Cee Lo and his band played to a massive audience, many of whom were camped out to see Eminem on the same stage. I left early, before the booing...

"The soul singer scored a huge crowd, but holding its attention seemed to be another matter. Dressed in shoulder pads topped with huge spikes and a chunky neck chain, Cee-Lo channeled his inner-dungeon master/Billy Idol; he even played an R&B-flavored cover of the 80s star's "Flesh for Fantasy." But the set was anything but smooth: Between tunes, which included Cee-Lo's own "Satisfied," "Bright Lights Bigger City," and Gnarls Barkley's smash "Crazy," he turned the spotlight to his DJ, who inexplicably spun Lenny Kravitz, Nirvana and Depeche Mode - a move that inspired boos from the crowd. "Don't you dare let this wonderful outfit go to waste," he said, palpably annoyed. But the irritation may have worked in his favor (and sent a subliminal message to his fans): On his closer, the Motown-inflected kiss-off "Fuck You," his voice sounded richer than it had all night. " [Rolling Stone]

Li and her amazingly talented band were a perfect fit for the stage, and drew as many people as would fit in the area. They started things off with the haunting Wounded Rhymes track "Jerome," and continued in that fashion with "I Follow Rivers", "Sadness Is A Blessing" and other songs as My Morning Jacket started to set up for their headlining set over at Bud Light.

Jim James and Co. kicked off a two hour long set at 8PM. It spanned their entire catalog with crowd favorites like "Off the Record," "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream," "One Big Holiday," and much more. Songs were extended with jam sections, brass solos, etc. Their stage setup was absolutely massive, as was the lighting. That said, I snuck away back to the smaller Google+ to check out some of Beirut who was closing out that stage.

Zach Condon and band played mostly older songs in the more intimate setting, and though tight, I was craving some more My Morning Jacket and so headed back to finish off the night with Jim James.

Friday pictures HERE. Sunday on the way. B.A.D. pics HERE. More pictures from Saturday, Dom included, below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 -- Day 2 pics & review (My Morning Jacket, Beirut, Cee-Lo, DFA1979, Lykke Li, Maps & Atlases & more)"

photos by Josh Darr

Robyn / Death From Above 1979

The four-day, sold out Sasquatch Music Festival is underway in Gorge, Washington this Memorial Day Weekend. Maybe you're listening to it online? Here are some pictures from the first two days, with more from Day 2 HERE (and Day 3 and 4 coming soon). They continue below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 in pics (Day 1, part of Day 2)"

Lollapalooza last year (more by Josh Darr)

Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with some huge names on its just-announced lineup. See it in full below.

The festival has obviously changed over the years. What started out as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction with a 'touring festival' lineup that included the Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, and Souxsie & The Banshees, has turned into a one-weekend Chicago festival that Lady Gaga co-headlined last year. As leaked a while ago, Foo Fighters, Muse and Eminem all play this year, as will Coldplay, Cee Lo Green, and My Morning Jacket along with the reunited Cars and the continuing-to-be-reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Death From Above 1979, and a bunch of other bands which may or may not be worth the ticket price depending on how you feel about the headliners and generally seeing bands in big, hot, outdoor crowded parks (Lollapalooza happens in Chicago's Grant Park from August 5th - 7th).

Full 2011 Lineup and a couple of videos (one from 1991, one from 2010), below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 lineup announced"

photos by Timothy Griffin

Gayngs / Local Natives

"To create the GAYNGS' Regrind EP all of the stems from the bands debut album, Relayted, were arbitrarily named and compiled into a list. Ensuring anonymity, the list was presented in alphabetical order (shown below) to a collection of producers and musicians. They were then instructed to choose only 10, without knowing what songs they came from or what instruments they contained. One could choose anything from four sax solos and six bass lines, to eight keyboards and two background vocals. The combinations that could be chosen were indefinite...the only certainty was that the parts would all be set to the tempo of 69 beats per minute.

From there, the re-grinders were free to chop, pitch-shift, and otherwise pulverize the stems into a new, cohesive song. The only rule was that they must use all 10 stems they were given, and that the tempo must remain at GAYNGS' standard 69 bpm.

P.O.S, Cecil Otter, Lazerbeak, Paper Tiger, MK Larada, and Plain Ole Bill (all from Minneapolis Hip-Hop Collective Doomtree) were the first to step up to the plate.

All turntablin' was done by Plain ole Bill. The Cook Bros (Megafaun) also lent their talents on keys."

Gayngs seem to be taking it day by day - the supergroup of sorts has publicly toyed with the idea of the band only touring once, but the demand seems to be there, and so they continue to hit the road (though Justin Vernon is not always guaranteed to be a touring member). On Friday night they shared a sold out bill at Stubb's in Austin with Local Natives, and this coming week they'll play at least two more Austin shows during SXSW, and in April they do Coachella. Har Mar Superstar, like he has in the past, was filling in for Vernon at the smooth rock & autotune-filled Austin show where they covered Godley & Creme's 'Cry', and George Michael's 'One More Try'.

Local Natives, who also play a SXSW show (but only during Interactive), played songs from Gorilla Manor and apologized for not having much more than that. They promised a new album before their next tour through Austin. You can see their whole setlist, and more tour dates, and more pictures from the Stubb's show, and the Gayngs EP, below....

Continue reading "Gayngs released a remix EP, played Stubb's w/ Local Natives (pics), playing other shows (dates)"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

a scene from Sunday's parade (more by Chris La Putt)

today in NYC
* Zion I @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Swingadelic @ Maxwell's
* R. Crumb @ Barnes & Noble
* Jim Campilongo @ Living Room
* David Sedaris @ the Apollo Theater
* Neil Diamond on the Today Show
* Superhuman Happiness @ Coco 66
* Elvis Costello @ The Greene Space
* Recoil, Architect, Conjure One @ Highline Ballroom
* Jonathan Richman, Tommy Larkins @ Bowery Ballroom
* Annie and The Beekeepers, Twain, Birdie Busch @ Union Hall
* The Meligrove Band, Thrift Store Cowboys, Alexis Foxe @ Pianos
* Vagina Panther with Cassette Kids, At Sea, & Phone Home @ S.O.B.'s
* Talib Kweli, Junot Díaz, Lisa Dierbeck, Wahida Clark and Wally Lamb @ LPR
* Florence & The Machine, The Smith Westerns, Hanni El Khatib @ Terminal 5
* A Reading of Joe Mande's Screenplay Adaptation of Glenn Beck's Novel: The Overton Window w/ guests (instead of Whiplash) @ UCB

Glenn Beck's new best-selling political thriller, The Overton Window, was so inspiring to comedian Joe Mande that he sat down and re-wrote the story for the big screen. Come watch as Mande and a few of his friends read the script on stage for the first time, in hopes of getting a movie deal.

Starring:
John Mulaney
Dave Hill
Julie Klausner
Matt McCarthy
Max Silvestri
Gabe Liedman
And a few very impressive SURPRISE GUESTS!

Stay in the Halloween spirit with Recoil tonight at Highline Ballroom. Nicole Blackman is "guest vocalist" on the goth-friendly show featuring Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode. Tickets still seem to be available.

Check out a set of pictures from Sunday's Halloween Parade.

Florence and the Machines play their first of two shows with the Smith Westerns at Terminal 5 tonight.

Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins also play their first of two shows tonight.

Chromeo were Kiss for Halloween. Video from their Chicago show below...

Local Natives encored with "Sun Hands" in Halloween costumes at Webster Hall this weekend. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday? (Day of the Dead)"

photos by Bao Nguyen

Local Natives

Local Natives played a private SPIN/Ray Ban party (that we gave away a pair of tickets to) at the Firehouse (87 Lafayette St.) in NYC on October 21st, the same night as the BrooklynVegan showcase at MHOW. Local Natives will be back to play two nights at Webster Hall this week. Titus Andronicus, who played a short set at our Saturday day party at Public Assembly, opened the SPIN show. Animal Collective's Geologist DJ'd. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Local Natives & Titus Andronicus played the Firehouse (pics)"

Local Natives @ Sasquatch 2010 (more by Chris Graham)

There is so much going on tonight. Here are two more sort-of-options.

Local Natives (who have two shows coming up at Webster Hall) are playing their only CMJ-week show at a secret venue for SPIN and Ray Ban with Titus Andronicus (who play two more shows Saturday - ours and Pitchfork's). The SPIN show is invite-only, but I have a pair of tickets to giveaway. Oh and Geologist from Animal Collective is spinning. Details and flyer below.

Also on the sort of invite-only tip is Cut Chemist who is playing a record release party at the Red Bull Space. The difference here, is that the address is on this flyer (below), and Cut Chemist posted the RSVP info too.

All Local Natives tour dates are down there, with contest details and flyers, too....

Continue reading "Local Natives play SPIN/Ray Ban show w/ Titus Andronicus tonight (win tix), Cut Chemist is @ Red Bull Space"

photos by Tim Griffin

Night fell down on Austin Town and it figured it'd be a busy night. And with The xx and Temper Trap setting the table for LCD Soundsystem, Gogol Bordello, Monsters of Folk, Deadmau5, Matt & Kim, MIA and Muse, Saturday did indeed set it self up to be remembered as ACL 2010's strongest.

Except for the part where MIA screwed things up during her set...

...M.I.A.'s set saw plenty of anticipation on the west end of the fairgrounds, but little payoff: The first song saw didn't even see Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam on stage, and, though she came out for the second, that first song worked as a fitting metaphor for her entire mumbled performance.

Here's the thing about performing in festivals, especially on a main stage: Very few people actually see the performers; they rely on the accompanying video screens to share the visual side of the performance. But rather than the performer (or any of her five packing dancers or DJ) , M.I.A.'s screen showed illustrations. M.I.A., meanwhile, spent minimal time in her set's early going on stage, instead opting to interact o the grass in front of her closest fans. An admirable offering, perhaps, but it left the rest of her crowd in the dark, straining their necks to see her dancers or maybe just the neon "Maya" sign that served as her backdrop.

Her vocals weren't helping matters, either. They were already mixed too low, and Maya, for the most part, mumbled her way through the proceedings. Audiences thinned out--only to be pulled back in once the video screens finally--mercifully--showed the performer stalking the stage, and performing her biggest hit, "Paper Planes." [Dallas Observer]

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 2 in pics (Monsters of Folk, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Broken Bells, deadmau5, Muse & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Local Natives - Camera Talk (Blackbird Blackbird remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Local Natives - World News (the Soundmen remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Local Natives - Eyes Wide (Fool's Gold Remix) (MP3)

Local Natives @ Sasquatch 2010 (more by Chris Graham)

Grab a few choice Local Natives remixes above. Listen to more at their STEMS site.

The band, who was last in NYC for a show at Governors Island, will be back in town at the end of a tour that is now one day longer. Tickets to their show happening at Webster Hall on October 29th are still on sale, but there must not be a lot left because an October 30th show was just added with the same lineup of openers: The Ruby Suns and The Union Line. Tickets for the new show go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and on general sale Friday at the same time.

Updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "Local Natives remixes & updated dates (2nd NYC show added) "

photos by Gabi Porter, words by Rachel Kowal

After Young Man, the second act of the evening, We Barbarians, stepped up the intensity with their pounding drums and deeper and more desperate vocals. In between songs, Young Man talked enthusiastically about playing in Paris. We Barbarians told the audience to buy more beer. After playing a handful of songs, including a cover of a David Byrne/Brian Eno song and a couple of new tunes from their upcoming EP, the group expressed their excitement to be playing and offered some concluding words. "Thanks for showing us a good time. This is an amazing setting, so thank you, you guys. We'll play one more and give you what you've been waiting for."

If you missed them, they open for Maps & Atlases & Cults at Mercury Lounge on Thursday before heading back to California and then going on tour with Ra Ra Riot. All dates and more Governors Island pictures below...

Continue reading "We Barbarians played Governors Island (pics), playing Mercury Lounge, touring w/ Ra Ra Riot (dates)"

photos by Gabi Porter, words by Rachel Kowal

Before the eagerly anticipated, LA five-piece began to play, a couple of openers had a chance to woo the crowd Saturday night at Governors Island. First up was Young Man, the Chicago outfit fronted by twenty-one-year-old Colin Caulfield. For someone who has never played in New York before, starting off at Governors Island is an impressive feat. (Of course, it helps that Young Man recently signed to the same record label as Local Natives, Frenchkiss.) But connections and lucky breaks aside, Caulfield proves that talent doesn't necessarily correlate with age. Caulfield may be young, but his pleasantly melodic and well-executed songs were a good match for the setting summer sun.

It was a one-off NYC show for Colin, but he will be back in October and we're happy to announce that you will be able to catch Young Man at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday, October 21st. The show is the official BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase this year and we have four more artists on the bill to announce shortly (Young Man opens the whole show). Stay tuned.

All dates and more pictures from Governors Island, below...

Continue reading "Young Man played Governors Island (pics), playing the 2010 BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase (and other dates) "

photos by Gabi Porter, words by Rachel Kowal

Outdoor summer shows may be winding to a close in the coming weeks, but the beach front at Governors Island is still heating up. Saturday night, Local Natives played to an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd - their largest yet, according to one of the members. Young Man and We Barbarians were also on the bill.

With bigger names like Grizzly Bear (still to come) at Governors Island this summer, it's impressive that a young band like Local Natives not only earned a coveted spot as a headlining artist but also managed to sell out the huge Governors Island Beach space (3,500 capacity). After all, they only have one album to their name so far. But the LA group didn't let the occasion intimidate them. There were high spirits all around. Each member received a warm round of applause from the audience simply upon walking on stage to set up gear.

"Hello. How are you guys doing tonight?" vocalist/guitar player Taylor Rice offered by way of introduction. They launched into the slowly building tune "World News." Then, after performing a Talking Heads cover ("Warning Sign"), they stopped for a minute to address the crowd again. "Now we're a band from Los Angeles, but this is by far the biggest show we've ever played [...] we're very happy to be here."

Local Natives boasts multiple talented vocalists as evidenced by their penchant for three-part harmonies. But the group shares more than just vocal responsibilities. They often switch instruments between songs, effectively turning the stage into a game of musical chairs. Over the course of their set, the bass player, keyboardist, and second guitar player all took turns bashing on drums.

Mimicking previous shows, a number of people lined up at the exit before Local Natives had stopped playing, but instead of turning to face the gate, many people had turned sideways to get a better look at the stage. Some were even dancing in line.

After playing all but a couple of songs on Gorilla Manor, Local Natives momentarily vacated the stage, but returned after chants of "one more song" permeated the air. They concluded with a single-song encore ("Sun Hands") before officially calling it a night. The remaining people in the pit enthusiastically responded to the bonus track with hands raised, and the crowd's energy seemed to propel the band. Rice was thrashing on guitar and at this point, three members assumed drumming responsibility. At the conclusion of their triumphant set, bass player Andy Hamm whipped out a digital camera and snapped a photo of the cheering crowd to commemorate the occasion.

Like the two bands that played before them, there was certainly nothing offensive about Local Natives set. At their best, they make truly incandescent music, and all of the performers are competent and enthusiastic musicians. But in many ways, Local Natives seem to embody a safe brand of indie rock music that may cause them to ultimately get lost in the shuffle of talented (but often interchangeable) new bands.

Decide for yourselves if you haven't yet. Local Natives return to New York at the end of October to play at Webster Hall (October 29th to be exact). The Ruby Suns and Union Line open the show. Tickets are on AmEx presale now.

The NYC show is part of a larger tour the LA band is going on with The Union Line. That tour starts with The Love Language along for the trip (not the first time they shared a bill with Local Natives). The Ruby Suns replace the Love Language after ACL and continue on the road until Webster Hall. All dates and more Governors Island pics and the setlist and a video from the encore, below....

Continue reading "Local Natives played Governors Island (pics, selist), touring w/ Ruby Suns & Union Line (and Love Language) (dates) "

photos by Chris Graham & Rae Holtsbaum

Caribou @ Sasquatch

Seattle Weekly: Where did the name Caribou come from?

Daniel Snaith: It came from an acid trip actually. We were touring Canada at the time, and I knew I had to change the name. We had a day off and we were just hanging out in the prairies. We sat in a field and took acid, and that name appeared to me during that.

Caribou, Local Natives & Freelance Whales all play shows on Governors island this summer, as do Wild Nothing (added as opener on the Morning Benders / Freelance Whales date) and Alberta Cross (added as opener for Portugal. The Man). The first free Governors Island show is THIS Saturday (Yeasayer). More pictures, and some videos (including a Caribou dance party) from Sasquatch Day Two, below...

Continue reading "Caribou, Local Natives & Freelance Whales played Sasquatch (pics), Wild Nothing & Alberta Cross playing Governors Island"

DOWNLOAD: The Morning Benders - Cold War (Wallpaper. Winter Remix) (MP3)

Caribou @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

What is now being considered the full lineup for the ten-show, Converse-sponsored "Gone to Governors" series at Governors Island is almost complete (openers still TBA). There are ten shows total - seven of which are on Saturdays. One is on a Friday. Two are on Sundays (one of which is July 4th). All except Local Natives on August 7th are free.

The lineup's latest additions include co-headliners Caribou & Phantogram with The Chain Gang of 1974 (July 16th), and Josh Ritter with openers Justin Townes Earle and Dawn Landes (August 8th).

Here's the whole thing:

1. June 05 - Yeasayer, Keepaway, Delicate Steve
2. June 19 - The Morning Benders, Freelance Whales & TBA
3. July 03 - Portugal. The Man & TBA
4. July 04 (Sunday) - She & Him
5. July 10 - Lucero & TBA
6. July 16 (Friday) - Caribou, Phantogram, The Chain Gang of 1974
7. July 17 - Dr. Dog & TBA
8. Aug. 07 - Local Natives & TBA ($10 ticket)
9. Aug. 08 (Sunday) - Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band, Justin Townes Earle, Dawn Landes & the Hounds
10. Aug. 14 - Neon Indian & TBA
11. Aug 15 - Dr. Dog

The shows will be held at the Beach at Governors Island, one of three venues on the Island. The others are Colonel Row (where Passion Pit will be playing, for instance) and South Island Field (which'll host M.I.A./HARD NYC). Michael Franti & Spearhead w/ Trombone Shorty kicks off the season of pay-shows at the Island with a Thursday, June 3rd performance there.

The Morning Benders will headline the second show in the series on June 19th, and they just released new song "Go Grab A Stranger," a Big Echo b-side currently available as a limited tour 7", streaming below. A remix of their song "Cold War" by Oakland act Wallpaper is available above.

"Go Grab A Stranger" and more info on the Gov. Island shows are below...

Continue reading "Gone to Governors - full 10 mostly-free show lineup (Caribou, Phantogram, Josh Ritter, She & Him & Local Natives included)"

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Local Natives

Both [Local Natives & Suckers] played music from their debut albums, on the Frenchkiss label. Between them there were three-part vocal harmonies, clear-pinging guitars, repurposed dance rhythm. There was electronic geekery and lyrical vagary, and drums pounded by someone other than the drummer. There was a Talking Heads tune, a trumpet, an occasional augment of strings. There was a makeshift cape and memorable facial hair.

Local Natives has two appealing lead singers, the guitarist Taylor Rice (mustache) and the keyboardist Kelcey Ayer (beard). Another guitarist, Ryan Hahn, completes those three-part harmonies, which have earned the band a lot of reflexive comparisons to Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear. But "Gorilla Manor," the band's impressively sure-footed first outing, involves more driving rhythm than either of those other bands typically employs. The show made this distinction even clearer. [NY Times]

Local Natives and Suckers tour together through May. This summer, Local Natives will play an August 7th show on Governors Island.

Suckers have a few big NYC shows coming up: they play their own record release show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 18th, and then play Prospect Park Bandshell with Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club on June 29th and Governors Island with those same bands and We Were Promised Jetpacks on June 30th.

More pictures from Local Natives/Suckers' Friday, May 7th Bowery Ballroom show (they played the same venue the night before too) and Local Natives' new video for "World News" are below...

Continue reading "Local Natives played 2 nights @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Suckers (pics), released a new video for "World News""

Phosphorescent @ the Bell House in 2009 (more by Ryan Barkan)

tonight in NYC
* It is It @ Pianos
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Ratt @ Irving Plaza
* Chicha Libre @ Barbes
* Mike Birbiglia @ Union Hall
* Ricky Gervais @ Hunter College
* Phosphorescent @ Other Music
* Aqualung, Krista Polvere @ City Winery
* Magnetic Fields movie @ the Bell House
* Ane Brun, Olof Arnalds @ Bowery Ballroom
* Reverend Vince Anderson & His Love Choir @ Union Pool
* The Joy Formidable & She Keeps Bees @ Mercury Lounge
* Crash Ensemble plays Donnacha Dennehy, David Lang and Terry Riley @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Silya, Debbie Miller, Sam Bisbee, The Last 55s, Jim Campilongo Electric Trio @ The Living Room

Phosphorescent is at Other Music tonight and play Union Pool tomorrow.

The Joy Formidable play Mercury Lounge tonight, and you can catch them live on the Internet at noon.

Craig Ferguson is playing Carnegie Hall on October 23rd at 2pm (on sale today at 11am) and 7pm (already on sale).

Local Natives made their late night television debut on Craig Ferguson the other day. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

Sleigh Bells & M.I.A. (I think) @ Coco66 on 5/7 (actually 5/8) (Seva Granik)

As if the hype wasn't through the roof enough, M.I.A. helped popularize the act her label co-signed (is that the right term?) a little bit more this evening by joining Sleigh Bells on stage at the end of their show at Coco66. The show's promoter Seva Granik writes, "MIA closes Sleigh Bells' set on "Ring Ring." Crowd go nut. Ima get another drank."

In unrelated news, David Byrne was seen checking out Local Natives cover a Talking Heads song at Bowery Ballroom earlier the same night, and Emily Haines joined Broken Social Scene for three songs at Webster Hall. More on those later.

For prettier pictures of Sleigh Bells, check out the set from their show at Webster Hall earlier in the week. Sleigh Bells play another NYC show on May 11th. M.I.A. and Sleigh Bells officially share a bill this summer on Governors Island.

Suckers @ SXSW (more by Tim Griffin)

Suckers play two sold-out shows with their labelmates Local Natives on May 6th and 7th at Bowery Ballroom. They'll have an NYC show of their own at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, June 18th as a release party for their debut, Wild Smile, out June 8th on Frenchkiss. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Suckers have also been added to the lineup of the sold-out Passion Pit/Tokyo Police Club show at Prospect Park on June 29th and the show the next night at Governors Island with the same bands plus We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Local Natives play Governors Island in August. On Sunday they played Coachella. Passion Pit played the California fest on Friday. Tokyo Police Club played Saturday.

All Suckers dates below...

Continue reading "Suckers opening Passion Pit shows, headlining their own"

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

Gorillaz Clash

The third and final round of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was funky, and not just because the port-a-potties reeked. Keeping a loose theme every day (see Friday & Saturday), Sunday focused on relentless rhythm and groovy basslines. The absolute golden moment belonged to Yo La Tengo's blistering final song. Rhythm that revels in repetition + guitar that tries to destroy itself = wee mind blown. Sometimes the moodiest things are the most uplifting.

Thom Yorke brought his dancing shoes, his favorite Flea, and Nigel Godrich. His band Atoms For Peace played almost every song off The Eraser, many of which featured strong world rhythm sections. When Yorke didn't have a guitar in hand, he danced, whirled, and punched the air like he was rehearsing a scene from Fame. We wanted a high kick, but it didn't arrive. King Khan & The Shrines, on the other hand, featured legs flying all over the place, DJ Lance Rock and Yo Gabba Gabba characters, burning money, as well as a visit from the police-who crept on stage to snap pictures. Probably the first time Khan runs into cops and doesn't leave wearing cuffs. Sunny Day Real Estate had the audience offering bids to buy property, and Phoenix had people choking on dinner as they tried to dance and eat at the same time.

King Khan Gabba Gabba

Not every Julian Casablancas song captivated, but his band delightfully binged on rhythms. Each musician had a personal backbeat player supporting each fill. The drummer plus his sidekick especially sounded great. Matt & Kim's ebullient smiles inspired chaos in the audience, as usual. Mayer Hawthorne and the County revived Motown soulful brassiness and covered Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." The Big Pink played some new songs from next year's album, reaching out for Depeche Mode with a drummer in a pink bathing suit. Electro sweet popper Little Boots forgot her pants as well, wearing a sparkly shirt and knickers, and played with the lasers on stage. Charlotte Gainsbourg inaugurated her "first tour, first everything" with a feminine "Candy-O" sensibility, sometimes in French. Florence & the Machine rounds out the great lady performances of the day, and brought on Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids.

All clad in white, France's DJ ego-powers Club 75 demonstrated the ability to cooperate together with just a few elbows thrown. Cassius, Justice, Busy P, and DJ Mehdi still use CD's (so old school), and took turns passing on the headphones between them and finishing each other's remix sentences, trading places at each station. Backstage security bobbed along while staying tough. When it was their turn, Rusko turned the Sahara tent into a mechazoid robot battle and Orbital live-produced virtual reality anthems for Satan wearing Matrix miner lights around their heads. Infected Mushroom instructed on the benefits of "Becoming Insane" flanked by two mushrooms with red eyes.

The Middle East should not be confused with The Soft Pack, formerly The Muslims. The former may be from Australia but it sounds like a back porch band from Woodstock, and the latter offers a "Parasite" infestation that's as pure as sunshine and a neat drum set up that packs a giant tom punch. What appears as regular rock on headphones reveals its brilliance when experienced live. One of the strangest live moments of the festival belongs to Sly Stone, who played four hours late and on the wrong stage. He bitched, he slurred, he cursed, lay down, walked off, stopped songs and good grief, made a total mess of himself. But that's rock and roll.

Sly Stone made history look unable to get past its youthful drug phase, but Jonsi, Pavement, and Spoon come from a music scene that did a little bit less cocaine. Jonsi repped the awesomeness of Sigur Rós and great hats. Steve Patterson of White Rabbits joined Britt Daniels and the rest of Spoon to add percussion on "I Turn My Camera On". Spoon's tour-mate Bradford Cox (who played earlier in the day in Deerhunter) also joined Spoon on stage, like he did on their recent Kimmel appearance. Pavement ran through the hits during one of their first U.S. shows since reuniting. "That's the 90's in a nutshell," said Stephen Malkmus after the angsty "Unfair"...

"...Pavement, the iconic slacker band of the '90s, who took the main stage against what turned out to be one of the fest's chief attractions, the finally wildly popular French dance-rock band Phoenix, who wowed possibly the biggest crowd of the entire fest ... while Pavement played to a field half-full of true believers rather than the massive throngs many expected, and thought the band deserved.

No matter, though. Pavement still delivered a set that vindicated the group of prior crimes -- namely a Coachella performance near the end of their career so notoriously bad, many in attendance point to it as the moment the band decided to break up.

This night, however, they were tight, they were loud, and they sounded large on that vast field -- an odd statement, given the fact that in their heyday they were far more known for being introspectively small rather than arena-ready..." [The OC Register]

Radiohead Peppers For Peace

Daiana's Weekend Top 10:
1. Yo La Tengo's last song
2. Little Dragon's Yukimi
3. Gossip leading a revolution
4. Thom Yorke dancing to African rhythms
5. PiL giving a history lesson
6. Sly Stone wigging out
7. Bouncing penises + fat people in undies (Die Antwoord + Major Lazer)
8. Devo putting on the hats that ushered in modern pop culture for "Whip It"
9. John Waters corrupting many young minds
10. The Gorrilaz lyric: "Super fast jellyfish going super fast. You can't even see him but you wanna eat him."

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Owen Pallett, Local Natives, Miike Snow, and Yann Tiersen also played the fest Sunday. Gary Numan was among those who couldn't. Reviews & pictures from Day One, HERE and Day Two, HERE. Setlists (Thom Yorke and Pavement), pictures, and videos from Day Three, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day Three in pics, video & review (the Thom Yorke & Pavement setlists included) "

Modest Mouse @ Terminal 5 in March 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Modest Mouse will join Faith No More and Nas & Damian Marley (tickets) as one of the acts set to play at Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn this summer. Their Friday, July 23rd show will be ticketed/non-free (like the others mentioned). Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (which is when the just-added Faith no More show goes on sale too).

Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is a week after they play the Pitchfork Festival which recently updated its lineup. New acts playing the Chicago fest include Big Boi, Major Lazer, Neon Indian, Beach House, Free Energy, Local Natives, Robyn & more. Check that out in full below. Single day tickets are still on sale.

UPDATE: Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is one day after they play one in NJ.

Modest Mouse will be reissuing their third album, The Moon & Antarctica, on vinyl for its 10th anniversary, on Record Store Day - this Saturday, April 17th. "The album features restored original artwork and replicates the infinite lock groove found in the original vinyl pressings of 2000. The new vinyl reissue includes a download card for the album." All dates the the P4K Fest lineup, below...

Continue reading "Modest Mouse playing Williamsburg Waterfront, the Pitchfork Festival (updated full lineup) & other tour dates"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

DOWNLOAD: Local Natives - Sun Hands (MP3)

""Sometimes - like tonight, this place is sold-out - I get in awe," Kelcey admits. Yet it's only when you delve into Local Natives' background, particularly their astonishing emergence over the last 12 months, that you can fully appreciate why they seem so unfamiliar with and bewildered by the overwhelming support they've encountered so far on the tour. "Last year we did a national tour [in the U.S.] with two other LA bands. We did shitty venues, drawing in 10-30 people a night."

It's no surprise then that the thought of a headline tour would have been originally daunting to them, let alone a headline tour on this side of the Atlantic (they've only visited the UK on one other occasion). This feeling still lingers, Andy declares ominously: "We don't know the venues. We don't know the cities. We don't even know if people are going to show up. I'm still really nervous about that." But their label and tour manager will tell them not to be: across the 12 cities they'll visit, sold-out crowds are set to become the norm for Local Natives." [LeedsMusicScene]

In Austin for SXSW, one of Local Natives' shows was BrooklynVegan/M For Montreal day party at the Galaxy Room on Saturday, March 20th. A second set of pictures (first ones are here), and a video from that show, continue below...

Continue reading "Local Natives selling out shows, add Governors Island show ++ more pics from Austin, an MP3"

words by Bill Pearis & (most of the) photos by Tim Griffin

Will Sheff & Roky Erickson

"Welcome to Montreal -- how do you like the Weather?" - Martin Cesar, Think About Life.

After three lovely days of sunny, mild weather, the skies went grey and cold for the last day of SXSW, Saturday, March 20th, with temperatures dropping to around 45 degrees. Almost no one seemed prepared for it, judging by the throngs of under-dressed shivering all over town. With a lot of the Austin venues being outdoor, it especially hurt.  Our final party of a very busy week of parties was a free badge-less official SXSW event that we did with the M for Montreal folks, at the two-stage Galaxy Room (formerly Radio Room & Bourbon Rocks). The main stage was outside -- under a tent, which helped just a little -- and while temperatures were low, spirits were high and it was maybe the most fun I had all week.

My favorite set of the day came early. Think About Life are so much fun live, so much genuine positivity, it's hard to be in a bad mood with them on stage. An instant hangover cure. I think this was the first time a lot of the audience had ever seen them play, if the number of people who asked me who they were was any indication. At one point singer Martin Cesar left the stage as if their set was over, only to appear in the middle of the crowd dancing, hyping people up. That they didn't do "Johanna" is my only complaint. NYers can see them on April 27 when Think About Life play Mercury Lounge. It's part of a fairly extensive U.S. tour, do go see them.

I was also super-pumped to see The Besnard Lakes whose new album The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night is pretty fantastic. Specifically, I wanted to hear its epic opener, "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent," and have it knock me back. Like a lot of Montreal bands, The Besnard Lakes' line-up ebbs and flows. Theirs does so around the core of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. I've seen them seven strong before, but here they were a lean mean quartet and did not disappoint. They're on tour in May, including a 5/28 show at Bowery Ballroom.

Duchess Says

Another set I knew would be fun was Montreal's Duchess Says who played one of our CMJ day parties last year. While their more aggressive take on Devo-style protopunk is fun, it's all about singer Annie Claude who looks very cute and innocent... until the music starts. She shrieks, jumps in the audience, tackles people, pulls them to the floor,  and causes general mayhem. It's more mischief than menace though. There are lots of other singers who do similar things, but never anything quite like her. After you've seen them once, part of the fun is watching other people experience them for the first time. The inside room was packed to the gills (it was warmer there). My favorite part of the show had her sitting down in the middle of the audience, methodically pulling people down with her, draping their arms over her into a giant pile of people. There's video at the bottom of this post.

The other major highlight for me was Roky Erickson with Okkervill River. I'd never seen him before and this was certainly a great live introduction to someone whose music I've loved for a long time. Will Sheff produced Roky's new album (first in 14 years) and Okkervill was his backing band on it, so the set was tight, rocking and just sounded fantastic. Roky was in great form too, and we got a few 13th Floor Elevators nuggets in there, as well as "Starry Eyes," one of my favorites of his solo material. They tour in May including a show at Webster Hall.

And there was lots more: the great Wye Oak kicked off the party with a lovely set despite cold fingers; Jason Collett was a class act with superbly-crafted country-pop (see video of his set below); Crystal Antlers filled in for BEAST who couldn't make it; Andrew WK was in full Meatloaf mode with a set of piano ballads; Plants and Animals were lush and harmony-laden; metal legends Voivod showed they've still got it; and a percussion-heavy set from L.A.'s Local Natives was probably the biggest draw of the day -- they were excellent.

Local Natives

Somehow I entirely missed sets by Holy Fuck (who I heard were great) and Suckers (who I've seen before many times here in NYC). A last minute addition, Nardwuar was there too, providing funny, heavily-researched band introductions as only he can. It was a great, if cold, day. Stay tuned for his video interview of Will and Roky.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this all together, and to our sponsors. More pictures and videos from the whole day below...

Continue reading "Roky Erickson/Okkervil River, Local Natives, Think About Life, Duchess Says, others @ Galaxy Room (BV/MfM day party) - pics"