The Treasure Island Music Festival returns to San Francisco on October 13 and 14, featuring an impressive line-up including The xx, M83, Joanna Newsom, Grimes, Public Enemy, SBTRKT, Divine Fits (who just played their first-ever show last night), Ty Segall, The War on Drugs, Youth Lagoon Toro y Moi, Best Coast and more. Tickets are on sale now in both individual day or 2-day packages.

The full Treasure Island Fest line-up is below.

Continue reading "Treasure Island Music Festival 2012 line-up (M83, The xx, Joanna Newsom, SBTRKT, Divine Fits, Public Enemy & more)"

After teasing us with lineup addictions day by day over the past few days, the full lineup of Austin City Limits 2012 is finally here. Check it out below....

Continue reading "Austin City Limits Festival -- 2012 lineup "

Los Campesinos at The Parish (more by Tim Griffin)

Los Campesinos (who recently toured with Parenthetical Girls who are now out on tour with Perfume Genius), are embarking on a string of thirteen mid-Atlantic/Southern dates in June which includes THREE dates in the NYC AREA (an area they skipped last time around). Those shows are Maxwell's on 6/21, Le Poisson Rouge on 6/22 and Brooklyn Bowl on 6/23. All tickets go on sale Friday, 3/30 at noon, get Maxwell's tickets here, LPR tickets here, and Brooklyn Bowl tickets are here. All dates are listed below.

In other news, Gareth of Los Campesinos will join one of his heroes for a string of shows in the UK...

For as long as I've listened to music, my favourite band has been The Beautiful South. The way in which I've loved them has evolved and grown, but they have consistently been the band that I wanted to sing along to when I was young, and the lyrics that I have wanted to emulate since I began writing. The words of Paul Heaton, in The Beautiful South, The Housemartins and in his solo work have been the high-water level that I've attempted to breakthrough...It's safe to say, if it were not for Paul Heaton, I would never have wanted to write lyrics.

So it is with great pleasure I announce my involvement in a Paul Heaton show this coming July. Paul Heaton's The 8th' and 'Paul Heaton & Friends - Greatest Hits set' - Two Shows in One Night will involve a performance of Paul's 70 minute long 'New Soul Opera' (in which I will be singing a solo, among other bits) and then a performance by Paul (and his guests) of some of his Greatest Hits, spanning his whole career.

All dates and a video for "Songs About Your Girlfriend" from last year's Hello Sadness, below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! annnounce tour, 3 NYC-area shows (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Like they've been doing in the past, Parenthetical Girls released a free Christmas EP titled Parenthetical Girls Save Christmas. You can download it at their bandcamp now for any price you name. It's a great 3-song EP that otherwise sounds like any of the recent Parenthetical Girls releases except for the sleigh bells that fill every track.

In early 2012, they're going on tour with Los Campesinos!, who Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls recently recorded a song with. That song, "Dreams Don't Become You," can be streamed below. The tour includes a Chicago show in January but no NYC dates have been announced. Members of the group however will be in NYC in early February for a different type of show.

All dates and song stream below...

Continue reading "Parenthetical Girls released a new free Christmas EP, going on tour w/ Los Campesinos (dates)"

By Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Heavy Times - Future City (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brain Idea - Oh I'm Free (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Strange Boys - Me and You(MP3)

Noel Gallagher

I'm heading to the M for Montreal festival tomorrow which will keep me busy and entertained, but here's what I'll be missing this week while I'm there.

Like last night, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are playing tonight (11/15) at the Beacon Theater and there are still (pricey) tickets available for the show. He'll then head to California for a few shows, and will be back in America in March (no NYC date yet). All Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

As someone who gave up on Oasis about two songs into Be Here Now, I was a bit surprised by how much I like Noel Gallagher's new album, which debuted at #1 on the UK album charts. While nothing  strays very far from his wheelhouse, it sounds like he might have been saving up his best songs for himself. "Aka...What a Life!" is a dancefloor stomper that works surprisingly well, and the songs that revel in pomp and strings sound great loud. It's a good album. There are videos for "Aka...What a Life!" (featuring, um, Russell Brand) and "If I Had a Gun" at the bottom of this post and Spotify users can listen to the whole album.

Unlike Beady Eye, Noel has no problem playing Oasis songs (he did write them after all) so you're probably gonna get "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Wonderwall" (and probably some deep cuts) along with the entirety of his new album. Actually, you can look at last night's setlist, and pictures too, HERE.

Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos! release their new album Hello Sadness today and are here for two shows: tomorrow (11/16) at Bowery Ballroom and then Thursday (11/17) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Their first album made since (amicably) losing vocalist/keyboardist Aleksandra, Hello Sadness finds LC! "maturing" a bit: code for being less manic and shouty than previous albums. Which is fine, you can't do that forever, and it suits the tone of lyrics. (It's a massive breakup album.) There's a fair amount of wallowing going on, but you also get some terrific singles too, like "By Your Hand" which has a giant, stick-in-your-head chorus and is downloadable at the top of this post.

Heavy Times

Chicago's Heavy Times and Brain Idea are here this week, playing Shea Stadium on 11/17 and Party Expo on 11/18. Both are worth checking out. Heavy Times just released Jacker on Hozac Records and you can check out "Future City" at the top of this post. As I said previously, it's one big snarl of an album and if you dig Obits and "I Wanna Live" era Ramones (or the HoZac label in general), this is right up your bowling alley.

Brain Idea

Brain Idea, meanwhile, make the kind of jangly guitar pop that was inescapable on college radio in the '80s. (Flying Nun and the paisley underground scene come to mind.) An MP3 for "Oh I'm Free" from this year's Mexican Summer-released Cosmos Factory EP is at the top of this post.

Cover to new Total Control/Oh Sees split 12"

The band I'm most bummed about missing this week is Australia's Total Control, whose album Henge Beat is one of my favorites of the year. They're here for three shows: tomorrow night (11/16) at St Vitus, and then opening for tourmates Thee Oh Sees on Thursday (11/ 17) at 285 Kent and Friday (11/ 18) at Le Poisson Rouge. All Oh Sees/Total Control dates are at the bottom of this post.

I'm just gonna quote myself here:

Although their web presence is minimal and enigmatic, Total Control's lineage is not: Daniel Young is in Straightjacket Nation, and Mikey Young spends time in Eddy Current Suppression Ring and both are also in UV Race. (Fellow UV Racer Alistair Montfort, plus Zephyr Pavey and James Vinciguerra round out the live line-up.) After a string of 7"s the band released Henge Beat back in August, a real corker of a debut album. It divides its time between motorik synth workouts, jittery post-punk and more Eddy Current style stormers, with a nice layer of repetition repetition repetition coating the whole shebang.

The Strange Boys

And finally, Austin's Strange Boys are here this weekend, playing Friday (11/18) at Mercury Lounge, Saturday (11/19) at Glasslands and then a free in-store at Generation Records on Sunday afternoon (11/20, 4PM).

The band's first album for Rough Trade, Live Music, came out last month and knocks a lot of the dust off the band's grubby, in-the-red twangy R&B but I don't think it's necessarily to their detriment. There is grub to spare, and if you like dive bar rock n' roll and can't get enough of things that sound vaguely like early-'70s Rolling Stones you'll probably dig. Check out an MP3 of "Me and You" at the top of this post. None of their records have really captured what they're like live, anyway, which is the best way to experience them for sure. So go check out a show this weekend.

That'll do it for this week. Some day-by-day picks follow for shows not mentioned above.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Hopefully you got tickets to Youth Lagoon's sold out show at Mercury Lounge tonight. Or did you go last night?

David Comes to Life comes to life tonight at Warsaw as Fucked Up perform the album in its entirety. Tickets are still available.

Not sold out and actually free is múm's Kría Brekkan who performs tonight at Church of the Advent Hope along with Julianna Barwick and Aaron Roche, with artwork by EyeBodega.

continued below...

Continue reading "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Los Campesinos, Heavy Times, Brain Idea, Total Control, The Strange Boys and more in This Week in Indie"

Los Campesinos! at MHOW in 2010 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Los Campesinos! are set to release their fourth LP, Hello Sadness on November 15 via Arts & Crafts. The album was produced by John Godmanson, who also produced their two most recent albums. You can pre-order the album now at the band's website in a few different bundles and formats. The artwork and tracklist for the album are below.

Los Campesinos! will go on tour in support of the album this fall. That tour, which hasn't been fully announced yet, includes NYC shows happening on November 16 at Bowery Ballroom and November 17 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for both NYC shows go on sale Friday (9/9) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (9/7) at noon. More dates TBA

Album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! announce new album, NYC shows"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"at music hall WAY early for los campesinos. not early enough for open tables, but early enough for $3 @magichat #9. fruity! bam." - eatdrinksnack

"Playing with Los campesinos! tonight at music hall of wburg. We have the Big Girl 7". Come hang" - darlings

Los Campesinos! @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - 10/16/10

We performed in Johnny Brenda's (Philadelphia on 10/12) on a incredibly impractical stage and my increasingly chirpy mood was nearly threatened by a man shouting out "You looked better when you were Blonde!" at me whilst I was tuning up. I thought about explaining to him that blonde hair was really expensive and hard to upkeep but i figured that would be a really long retort so i settled with "I liked you better when you had hair," because he was bald.

This was cheap a shot and didn't even make much sense because we had never met before, but I had to say something to combat the fact he thought his comment was an okay thing to shout at me.

I continued tuning up and he added "your still hot though," so I felt better about pointing out the fact he was bald.

He did try and buy me a drink afterwards to apologize, but he still seemed confused as to why I didn't appreciate his commentary on my evolving style. Whilst I do not care whether this man preferred having masturbatory fantasies over me when I had bleach in my hair, I still get slightly thrown by such a comment, I am as insecure as the next person and sometimes I am not in the mood for that kind of rudeness (especially before a show).

I liked being blonde, I like being a brunette but I do my hair for myself, not for anyone else (apart from maybe Tyra Banks if I was on ANTM) and just because I am on a elevated platform in front of you (that stage was really high) does not mean you have more of a right to shout something negative at me.

Dick. -[Ellen of Los Campesinos]

More pictures from Saturday's show are below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! played 2 shows @ MHOW (pics) & 1 in Philly (where the band didn't appreciate a heckler) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Silly Kissers - Treat Me Like You Do (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grimes - Weregild (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wolf Gang - Lions in Cages (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wolf Gang - Pieces of You (MP3)

It's the weekend before CMJ which is usually pretty quiet, but...not this year. Me, I'm probably staying in. But you might want to check out:

Montreal's cute synthpop band  Silly Kissers are visiting, playing three shows this weekend: tonight (10/14) at Cake Shop, then Friday (10/15) at Silent Barn and Sunday at Glasslands. The band were here for CMJ last year, playing the M for Montreal night at Arlene's Grocery where they wore mime makeup which was probably a mistake. They were better when I saw them in their hometown last November:

"Silly Kissers didn't wear mime makeup this time (like they did at CMJ) which is a definite plus, but I really don't think they are "export ready." Which is not a dis. Their low fi, cutesy (sometimes charming) version of '80s synthpop would be more at home at a house party rather than with the fancy lights at club Juste Pour Rire."

All three shows are with fellow MTL-er Claire Boucher who performs under the name Grimes. Her new record, Halafaxa, is a "pay what you want" download from their label's website. Ethereal, occasionally dub-infected and danceable, Halafaxa should appeal to fans of Delorean and Sally Shapiro (or even old 4AD bands like Colourbox or Dif Juz). Definitely worth a click. You can download "Weregild" from it at the top of the this post to give you a taste. Like a lot of music like this, making it interesting to watch in a live setting is the big hurdle. Can she do it? Go see them live.

By the way, I'll talk more about this later, but as we just pointed out, M For Montreal's 2010 CMJ showcase will again be at Arlene's Grocery, but this time with Random Recipe, The Luyas, Uncle Bad Touch, PS I Love You, Radio Radio, and Red Mass.

London's Wolf Gang play the second of their NYC shows tonight (10/14). I have a soft spot for this sort of melodramatic anthemicism, especially when you add a dancey element to it. Did anyone go see them last night at Santos? You can check out two tracks at the top of this post: "Lions in Cages" which is pretty typical of what Wolf Gang do, and "Pieces of You" which sounds a little more like Grizzly Bear or something.

The show also has Acrylics on the bill who I like a lot but have been pretty quiet for the last six months so I'm anxious to see what they've been up to. Like maybe they've been making their debut album? Let's hope. Also playing are Safe and Painted Faces who I know bubkis about.

Toys & Tiny Instruments

And finally I'd like to highlight a pretty cool show at Bruar Falls on Friday (10/15). Headlining are Toys & Tiny Instruments who don't need a lot of explanation. You see their name, and you know what they do.  But they're much better than you might expect. They played Bruar Falls back in the Spring and while the night started with some eye-rolling -- oh boy what is this novelty thing about to happen? -- everyone there ended up kinda being wowed. They may buy their gear at Toys R' Us but that doesn't mean they don't write awesome songs, and that they can't play their instruments well. I liked them so much I had them play my lunchtime series at the Seaport over the summer and they were great there too. Friday is the first show they've played since then and it's a release party for their debut EP.

The rest of the bill is pretty notable and eclectic: Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen (he sang lead on "Punk Rock Girl"); home recording legend R. Stevie Moore; and Beth Sorrentino who some of you may remember from '90s indie pop band Suddenly, Tammy! whose song "Lamp" still makes it onto mixes around my house.

Sparky Deathcap

And a few more DAILY PICKS NOT COVERED ABOVE

THURSDAY, OCT 14

Fans of Los Campesinos!, who play Music Hall of Williamsburg Friday and Saturday night, might be interested to know that Rob Taylor also performs solo under the name Sparky Deathcap and will be doing so tonight at the Rock Shop. It's a free show starts at 8pm sharp.

The Delancey may feel a bit like Silent Barn tonight what with a lineup that includes My Teenage Stride, Lame Drivers, Suprisers and Easter Vomit. You can download five new MTS songs, all of which are good, over at Free Music Archive.

And if you'd like to laugh, Coco 66 tonight hosts Supershow!, a free comedy variety show, that tonight hasThu Tran of IFC's Food Party, the Found Footage Festival guys, Gabe Delahaye of Videogum, and more.

continued below...

Continue reading "Silly Kissers, Grimes, Wolf Gang, Toys & Tiny Instruments, Turbo Fruits & more in This Week in Indie"

Los Campesinos! rockin' the crowd, literally (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Los Campesinos! are back on the east coast in October, with MHOW in Brooklyn getting the look twice for shows on 10/15 and 10/16. Tickets go on sale today/Thursday via Ticketmaster at noon for both shows (10/15, 10/16) for $18+fees, or alternatively, you can buy tickets through the band for $23.66 and it comes with a "free" digital copy of their new EP All's Well That Ends (10/15, 10/16).

Alternatively, the new All's Well That Ends EP (released Tuesday - 8/24) is also available for purchase individually. The four track EP contains four "reworked" songs from their recently rlease LP Romance is Boring.

EP art tracklisting, some video, and full tour dates are below.

Continue reading "new Los Campesinos! EP & 2010 tour dates"

by Dominick Mastrangelo

Midway through "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed", Los Campesinos! lead-singer Gareth speaks the line, "I taught myself the only way to vaguely get along in love/ is to like the other slightly less than you get in return" which seems like sound advice until the next line, "I feel like I'm being undercut!"

And so it is with the Welsh band who filled their show with those mantras and credos at Irving Plaza on Monday (4/26). It was the their first show in NYC since releasing Romance Is Boring, their second official full length. It was also their first show here with new member, Gareth's sister, Kim following the departure of Aleks last year. And though I missed seeing Aleks on stage, Kim more than held her own.

The band finally made it to New York having rescheduled the show from last Thursday due to the volcano in Iceland that disrupted many European bands with touring plans in the States. During a break, a few people in the crowd started chanting, "Fuck volcanoes! Fuck volcanoes!" And there were still some peripheral signs that all was not totally up to speed with their tour when Gareth mentioned they only had shirts to sell at the merch table. "We don't have any records for you. They're in Canada. And Canada won't let us have them."

But their set was killer. Going for just over an hour, it ended with half of the band (Gareth, Kim, Neil and touring member, Rob) in the crowd for the encore, "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats" and its own one-liner, "I'm taking far too many chances on these less than idealistic romances." It was those cathartic and anthemic moments that the crowd devoured, shouting along with Gareth, "We need more post-coital and less post-rock!" on "Straight in at 101" or "Can we all please just calm the fuck down!" n "There is a Flag. There is no wind."

The danciest number was always going to be "You! Me! Dancing!" and the build up was fantastic with Gareth up on the riser for Ollie's drum kit banging away at his cymbals. They followed that with the title track from "We Are Beautiful" and then into the slow, devastating burn of "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future." "She said one day to leave her /sand up to her shoulders / Waiting for the tide / To drag her to the ocean, to another sea's shore / This thing hurts like hell," Gareth sang alternating between a primal scream and painful calmness only for the crowd to join him in another cathartic line "But what did you expect?" before the song exploded with Harriet's violin and Rob's synths pulling the song's chorus along.

Cymbals Eat Guitars opened the show and is on tour with the European band now. More pictures and the setlist from Irving Plaza below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! and Cymbals Eat Guitars actually played Irving Plaza in NYC - pics & setlist"

"I'm smelly, but saw the Vivian Girls and conquered the PATH" - Samantha Onorato

Titus Andronicus w/ Cassie from Vivian Girls @ SUNY - 4/14 (OpenEye)

That's Cassie Ramone from Vivian Girls on stage with Titus Andronicus at the SUNY Purchase student center on 4/14. Her other band The Babies also played that show.

Vivian Girls played with the Grates and Reading Rainbow at Maxwell's in Hoboken last night (4/23). The show was to celebrate 5 years of MusicSnobbery. Titus Andronicus's tour continues with a show at the same venue tonight (4/24). The sold out gig also has Harlem and Spider Bags on the bill, BUT FIRST: Los Campesinos! will play Maxwell's after all. After rescheduling and then cancelling the show completely, Los Campesinos! have re-rescheduled their show at the NJ venue for 3PM TODAY ("NOTE: if you bought tix @ Ticketweb for 4/17 or 4/21 you will need to re-buy. We regret the inconvenience.").

Los Campesinos! kick off the rest of their tour Sunday in Boston. The new date for the NYC show at Irving Plaza is Monday, April 26th.

Harlem played a show last night at Monster Island Basement (originally scheduled for Market Hotel), and at Mercury Lounge the night before that.

DOWNLOAD: You Say Party! We Say Die! - Laura Palmer's Prom" (Los Campesinos Remix) (MP3)

"RIP Devon Clifford. We have never met a more awesome dude than you. <3" - Los Campesinos!

The following event has been cancelled:

Los Campesinos
04/21/10 9:00 PM EDT
Maxwell's

The tickets you purchased will be automatically refunded to the credit card used to make the purchase. Please allow up to five business days for the refund to post to your account.

Thank you for choosing TicketWeb.

Tonight's Toronto show, and tomorrow's show at Maxwell's, New Jersey are CANCELLED :(
Thursday's New York show rescheduled for Monday 26 April.
Saturday's Boston show will happen one day later than orginally planned on Sunday 25 April.

Above is a re-post of a recent remix LC! did for You Say Party We Say Die whose drummer Devon Clifford passed away over the weekend. According to the Canadian Press, it was a "massive brain hemorrhage that was the result of undetected congenital defects".

"Devon Clifford was an extremely gifted drummer and determined character," the band's publicist, Darryl Weeks, said in the statement.

"He loved his family, loved his band, loved travelling, loved being on stage and loved meeting people around the world. He was smart, witty, passionate, and music meant everything to him.

He was also incredibly generous with his love and respected everybody he came into contact with."

In the statement, Clifford's family reminded young people "to have the courage to follow their dreams like Devon did."

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! cancelling more shows including Maxwell's, Irving Plaza & Boston rescheduled - updated 2010 tour dates"

"Maxwell's, come on! Don't let me down, LCs!" - Anonymous

"As ash continues to belch into the atmosphere from Iceland's now world-famous Eyjafjallajokull volcano, stranding thousands of travelers around the globe, two main questions are: How long will the eruption last, and could it eventually affect the world's climate?

Unfortunately, scientists appear uniform in their uncertainty.

"We don't know how long this eruption will go on," says Stefan Wastegard, a geologist who studies ancient ash falls from Icelandic volcanoes at Stockholm University in Sweden. "That's the problem with volcanic eruptions, you really don't know how they're going to go.""
[USA Today]

Luckily they have some free time in their schedule though (LC! are scheduled to play Toronto on April 20th and Irving Plaza in NYC on April 22nd), because they're going to make up the NJ show on Wednesday, April 21st. All tickets from Saturday will be honored, and I assume there will be refunds and new tickets opening up as well.

Their tour is with NYC's Cymbals Eat Guitars who are still scheduled to appear, earlier in the day, at Generation Records this Saturday (unlike Walter Schreifels who was forced to cancel because of the volcano). (thx Adam & Chris & Chris)

Stay tuned for more Volcano updates as we hear about them.

Los Campesinos @ Cochella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

Though they're not playing Coachella this year (meaning they don't have to cancel the high profile fest like the Cribs just did), Los Campesinos! have announced that they won't get to the States in time to play SUNY Purchase's Culture Shock, also happening this weekend...

We are very sad to announce we will be unable to appear at Culture Shock Festival, Purchase NY, tomorrow. No flights out the UK. Really, really disappointed and I hope we can make it up to the promoters and attendees sometime, but this is totally out of our hands :(

Los Campesinos! are scheduled to kick off a tour with Cymbals Eat Guitars at Maxwell's on April 17th... hopefully.

Other bands scheduled to play SUNY's Culture Shock include Surfer Blood, Jay Electronica, and The Books, and Das Racist. LC were considered one of the headliners.

Generation Records (210 Thompson St. in NYC) has one of the busier Record Store Days this Saturday (4/17), with live sets from Cymbals Eat Guitars, Black Wine (ex-The Ergs/Hunchback who play April 25th at Mercury Lounge), Walter Schreifels (ex-Gorilla Biscuits/Quicksand) and The Budos Band and DJing from Andrew WK, at 2pm.

UPDATE: Walter had to cancel due to volcano.

Space in the store is limited (to say the least), so getting there early is recommended. Though stores generally can't guarantee which Record Store Day records that'll have in stock, one of the released singles is going to be a Budos Band/Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings split with a cover of "Day Tripper" and from Sharon's new record, "Money." Both Sharon and Budos have some other NYC shows coming up too.

Generation Records is one of many NYC record stores with Record Store Day activities on Saturday. Other Music also has an impressive day planned.

Walter Schreifels also plays a Rival Schools show at Union Pool on April 23rd, and a solo gig at Studio at Webster Hall on May 5th.

Cymbals Eat Guitars go on to open for Los Campesinos on their upcoming tour. Both bands play a sold-out Maxwell's show later on April 17th. And they have an April 22nd show at Irving Plaza, which you can still get tickets for. All dates below.

CEG just wrapped their tour with Bear in Heaven with an April 9th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Their encore from that show, all dates and past Generation Records in-stores are below...

Continue reading "Generation Records in-stores on Record Store Day, Cymbals Eat Guitars tour dates, Budos Band, Walter Schreifels, more "

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston Cover) (MP3)

Murphy's Law @ Culture Shock '09 (Serenaz)

The lineup is out for Culture Shock 2010, which will take place April 16th and 17th at SUNY Purchase. Headliners for this year's fest are pop-punk band Bayside (avoid the "Beautiful Girls" cover on their MySpace) (and check out another version above) and indie-pop collective Los Campesinos (who'll play Irving Plaza April 22nd) Friday night, and rapper Jay Electronica and The Books on Saturday. The rest of the bill is a varied mix that includes Surfer Blood, Black Milk, Maps & Atlases, L Mag Band You Need To Hear Ava Luna, Maluca, Das Racist, The So So Glos and Turbo Fruits. The annual event isn't technically open to non-students. The full lineup is below.

Last year's lineup was headlined by Drake and The Cool Kids. In 2008, Fucked Up's headlining performance was cut short by the police.

The bands were announced earlier this month via film at an event at the school. That video, the lineup and more are below...

Continue reading "SUNY Culture Shock 2010 lineup"

DOWNLOAD: You Say Party! We Say Die! - Laura Palmer's Prom" (Los Campesinos Remix) (MP3)

Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos just released their third record, Romance Is Boring, on Arts & Crafts at the end of January. It's their first LP since keyboardist Aleks left the band to go back to school last year. She's been replaced by frontman Gareth's sister Kim on keys and vocals. A video for the record's title track is below.

Speaking of Arts & Crafts, it seems like the Canadian label has been especially busy lately. Upcoming album releases for them include Jason Collett and Zeus, and most excitingly, Broken Social Scene.

Los Campesinos! plays the UK and Europe in February and March before coming stateside in April. They'll be in NYC for an April 22nd show at Irving Plaza. Tickets are on sale.

The above-linked MP3 is a new remix LC! did for Canadian band You Say Party! We Say Die! (that's a lot of !'s). YSP!WSD! has an upcoming tour as well. Dates (in full below) include SXSW and a March 29th show at Pianos in NYC. Speaking of SXSW!, it was just announced that !!! will actually be there too.

The LC! tracklist for their new record, new video and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! released an album (video), remixed You Say Party! We Say Die! (MP3) - 2010 tour dates (for both bands)"

Ken Thomson (Asphalt Orchestra mem.) @ LPR (more by Andrew Frisicano)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Kanye West @ Cipriani
* Carimi @ Brower Park
* The Fabulous Thunderbirds @ BB Kings
* Los Salseros del Hudson @ Wagner Park
* John Scofield Trio @ Madion Square Park
* Alberta Cross, Phonograph @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Asphalt Orchestra @ Lincoln Center's Broadway Plaza
* Cirque Du Rock: Gotham Underworld @ Highline Ballroom
* Tyshawn Sorey, Todd Neufield, Thomas Morgan @ The Stone
* The Pedrito Martinez Project @ Central Park Summerstage
* Yardwork, Beach Fossils, Sam Buck Rosen @ Death By Audio
* Chris Isaak, Michelle Branch, Dorian Spencer @ Beacon Theatre
* Portugal the Man, The Love Language, Hesta Prynn @ Mercury Lounge
* Lincoln Center OoD w/ Amir el Saffar Ensemble & Dave Brubeck Quartet @ Damrosch Park
* Music & Reading Series w/ Rachel Cohen, Brandon Stosuy, Colin Stetson, Buke & Gass @ Joe's Pub

Lots of free outdoor music tonight, so hopefully the weather holds out. One event so far, Fame at the McCarren Park SummerScreen, has been rescheduled for August 26th. (Wild at Heart, last week's cancellation, happens August 19th.) Carimi is at Brower Park. The Pedrito Martinez Project plays the Central Park Summerstage with a screening of I Am Cuba. Los Salseros del Hudson play Wagner Park. John Scofield Trio is at Madion Square Park.

Lincoln Center's Out of Doors Festival kicks off tonight with Amir el Saffar & Dave Brubeck and their respective bands at the Damrosch Park Bandshell. Catch Bang on a Can's Asphalt Orchestra, who will be playing at outdoor locations through Sunday, tonight at the Lincoln Center's Broadway Plaza.

All of the above events are free, as is Alberta Cross and Phonograph at the Brooklyn Bowl.

Tyshawn Sorey plays at The Stone with Todd Neufield and Thomas Morgan -- together they form the trio on Sorey's forthcoming album, Koan.

Happy Ending Music & Reading Series hosts Rachel Cohen, Brandon Stosuy, Colin Stetson, Buke & Gass and more at Joe's Pub.

Portugal. The Man plays a sold-out Mercury Lounge show with The Love Language and Hesta Prynn. They'll be back in October too.

See a pair of Deerhoof videos, including the new "Jagged Fruit," below. They come to NYC on September 15th.

Kid Cudi's "Make Her Say" featuring Kanye West & Common is below too. Tonight...

CASIO G-Shock will celebrate their advancements in wristwatch technology, outline the future evolution of the Casio family of timepieces and unveil an entirely new collection of limited edition collaborative pieces.

The star-studded evening kicks off with a press conference highlighting these milestones. Cipriani 55 Wall Street will be transformed into the ultimate showplace for both the brand and for Kanye West, who will cap the night off with an exclusive performance.

Cipriani * 55 Wall Street (Between Wall and William Street): Press conference at 6:30PM, expected celebrity arrival
8:30PM

Los Campesinos! played Webster Hall last night. Video from that below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Smith Westerns - Be My Girl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Portugal the Man - People Say (MP3)

The Smith Westerns

Last night (8/3) I went to the semi-secret Los Campesinos!/Girls show at Union Pool and both bands were great. This was a warm-up gig for their North American tour ("Welcome to our rehearsal," joked lead singer Gareth), which officially launches tonight at Webster Hall. (Tickets are still available.) As mentioned previously this will be the last Los Campesinos tour to feature singer/keyboardist Aleks, though they made no mention of that last night -- It was all smiles and glockenspiels and shouted choruses. Losing Aleks is definitely going to change the band dynamic, so do go see them on this go-round if you can.

And get there early for the openers, too. Last night was the third time I've seen Girls in the last two months and my only complaint was their set was too short. I wrote this when they played Mercury Lounge back in June:

Sometime in the last twelve months, Girls got good. They were good last July when I saw them at both Market Hotel and Glasslands, but but there was a ramshackle vibe that felt like they weren't sure whether they were really ready to leave the bedroom. But at Mercury lounge they are really good. Like "Whoa what happened" good. Credit new drummer (all loosey-goosey Keith Moon fills) and a nimble-fingered lead guitarist for the transformation. Christopher Owens and Chet White have always had the songs, mind you. In a lot of ways Girls are the ultimate San Francisco band: the laid-back vibe, the folky jammy-ness that has always been present there, as well as the neo-psych scene that has popped up over the last ten years. But Girls are working on a whole other plain of dreamy, hazy beauty and noise.

Pitchfork: You're all under 21 Does that make playing shows in clubs tough?

Cullen Omori: Yes and no. You can't really go to a show and expect that you're going to be able to drink there. They're really strict about it. We have no problem getting shows, but it just sucks because you just sit around without being able to drink.

Pitchfork: When you're as young as you guys are, how do you learn about garage rock?

CO: We got Nuggets from one of my parents' old friends. We were making music, and it was just awful punk music. And he's like, "Well, you know, it sounds like this. So here, listen to this." And so he gave us Nuggets and Back From the Grave stuff. And that's how we went about making it. It was just, like, straight that. And then we started listening more to David Bowie and Marc Bolan, T. Rex kinda things. [Pitchfork]

Portugal. The Man

Also in town this week are Portland-via-Alaska quartet Portugal. The Man who have an annoying period in the middle of their name and are a little more hippie-friendly than most of the stuff I write about in this column. But I do like their new album, The Satanic Satanist, which focuses more on solid pop songs than psychedelic freakouts. I would call them more groovy than soulful, but it works, and there more memorable songs on the album than you usually get theses days. Tomorrow's show (8/5) at Mercury Lounge is sold out but they play tonight at Union Pool (8/4) and there should still be tickets at the door. If you miss both of those, they will be back in October with a show at Maxwell's (10/16, tickets) and one at Bowery Ballroom (10/23, CMJ). All dates below.

This column to be continued with more going on this week. Tour dates from the above-mentioned bands, below...

Continue reading "The Smith Westerns, Los Campesinos!, Girls, Portugal. The Man & more in This Week in Indie (part 1)"

Girls @ Cake Shop in NYC (more by Tim Griffin)

Girls and Los Campesinos! are kicking off a tour together at Webster Hall in NYC on Tuesday (8/4, tickets), but first you can catch them at secret-ish show at Union Pool in Brooklyn TONIGHT (8/3). $10 tickets at the door only, 8pm doors, 8:30 show.

The show takes place before Reverend Vince Anderson gets there. Maybe Natalie Portman will stop by.

Aleks Campesinos! (in the red dress) @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

I don't really know how to start this. I'm not sure I can really find the right words to express how I feel about leaving the band. Not in a vaguely coherent manner anyway so I'm sorry if this all comes across as either overly-sentimental or strangely detached.

Making the decision to leave was very difficult and even though I'm excited about what the future has in store for both me and the rest of Los Camp! (once they unveil their bright spangly new line-up), I still get a lump in my throat every time I think about my time in the band coming to an end. Trust me, I'm gutted. The past 3 years have given me some of the best times of my life full of incredible experiences and wonderful people. I am really grateful to have been a part of the Los Campesinos! story. I'm going to miss so much about the whole thing and no doubt regret this move a thousand times over when I'm stuck in some dark corner of a library, while the band are busy playing to thousands in some paradise location...

On the other hand, I can't wait to attend my first Los Camp! gig and watch from the audience: I'll be like a proud parent. (Or a bitter heckler, we'll see how it goes) I know they can only get better. In any case, they better put me on the guest list.
And now our Wikipedia page will have a "Former Members" section: won't that look impressive...

That all seems massively inadequate.

To sum up:

:(

Leks x

Almost all dates are with San Francisco's Girls who will also be making a trip to NYC even earlier...

Friday June 26th @ MONSTER ISLAND BASEMENT

:: Real Estate
:::: Girls
:::::: Beach Fossils

| MONSTER ISLAND BASEMENT |
128 River St @ Metropolitan Ave | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8:30pm | all ages | $7

Tickets for the Webster Hall show are now on AmEx presale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! losing a member - 2009 tour dates (Webster Hall) w/ Girls (who have 2 sooner NYC shows too)"

"Though promoters around the country report strong early ticket sales for festivals and summer tours, the recession is causing jitters. This year Coachella, which has the most glamorous reputation of all American festivals, began selling tickets on layaway, and 18 percent of its customers took that option, Mr. Tollett said.

The proliferation of big festivals, like Bonnaroo near Nashville and Lollapalooza in Chicago, has not been without casualties. This year Langerado in Miami shut down, citing the economy. The Pemberton Festival in British Columbia is on hiatus after only one year, although its promoter, Live Nation, said the problem was permit delays." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2009 - the official & complete lineup"

photos by Darren Kim

"Coachella exists in two time zones: the event itself and its digital afterlife. The second zone, on cameras and blogs and Twitter and video-sharing sites, comes a heartbeat after the first, like a rockabilly slap-back echo. In its 10th year now, Coachella has been the music festival for the most technologically advanced teenagers-to-young-professionals, sniffing around the alternative mainstream. Even when the music doesn't present an argument they haven't heard before, they're controlling their own media representation of it; the act of listening is almost immediately contextualized into their own lives." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Coachella 2009 - Day 1 in Pictures "

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Leia Jospe

It's a cliche, but Titus Andronicus has got to be one of the hardest working/most tour-prone bands around. After a show-filled 2008, the band headed out on a monthlong winter tour with Los Campesinos, culminating in two Bowery Ballroom shows on February 14th and 15th (pics from Los Campesinos set). That was followed by a set of European dates, a Mar 13th KEXP Benefit at Bowery Ballroom with the Wrens , two shows with Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, and a bunch of SXSW shows in Austin (where they also met the mayor).

After SXSW, Titus Andronicus played three dates with Here We Go Magic, leading up to tonight (Friday, March 27th)'s show at Market Hotel with Real Estate (read more about them here) and Dinowalrus.

In April, the band heads out on tour with Lucero, stopping at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 18th (Tickets are still on sale). In June, the band will play a series of dates with their friend Ted Leo. No NYC date on that tour, but they will hit Toad's Place in New Haven on June 19th.

The band also recently released an iPhone application. Description: "Think Tetris, except you're their roadie and you have to load their gear into their tiny touring van."

More Bowery Ballroom pictures and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus - a tour with Ted Leo, Bowery pics, Market Hotel tonight, Lucero & other stuff"

photos by Tim Griffin

"We got to have an awesome pals pre tour reunion with the dear Sky Larkin last night, which involved heading into New York to watch them support The Grates at the Mercury Lounge. Incidentally this is where we performed our first ever New York show, our name misrepresenting us and leading to us being put on some kind of world music bill showcase. It was reminiscent of the cd incident at Lollapalooza, where they ordered in a shipment by the Peruvian folk band Los Campesinos De Michigin by mistake.

It was lovely to see the Larkin and try and contain our ridiculous smouldering unrelenting jealously over SXSW, but we prevailed and Doug had some nice snazzy new glasses I admired. Post gig we managed to rush over to Cake Shop and see Micachu, another British band who were awe inspiringly ace. Although I did get asked if I was friends with the band because of the accent, its like when you say you are from the UK and people assume you live in London and know that guy Brad they hooked up with once. To score a hat trick I popped along to watch Peggy Sue and The Pirates a few doors down at Pianos. It was one those really hip places which started out selling pianos but then realised giving mixed drinks to wide-eyed scenesters would be more profitable.

Anyway those ladies have a very large lung capacity, and have got a nifty drummer since I saw them last. He had a good trilby on, so well done.

It did seem like the British were out in force though, as we stumbled into Huw Stephens and gazed at Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura." [Los Campesinos BLOG]

Continue reading "Sky Larkin played SXSW & Mercury Lounge (pics) - Los Campesinos was in the audience"