photos by Tim Griffin

"I went to Pettyfest 2009 at Bowery Ballroom [Thursday] night, which was sick. Lots of drunk and stoned people shouting along to the hits and some great performers-- Nicole Atkins, Adam Green, Steve Schiltz, Antony Ellis, members of The Strokes and The Killers.

One of my favorite performances-- and this took me by surprise -- was the dude from Augustana singing "You Got Lucky." They're not a band I generally have a strong opinion about one way or another, but his voice was sick and he had a commanding presence-- like a subdued Mick Jagger with the wrist at the hips with a dash of Joe Cocker in the vocal tone." [EYTAN]

Jesse Malin, Hymns, Teenage Prayers, The Pierces, and members of Little Joy, Love as Laughter, Longwave (Steve) and Five O'clock Heroes (Anthony) were also among those who performed Tom Petty songs at the show. Most of the Killers were there. It was a night off on their current tour with Wolfmother (who used the evening to play a show at Bowery Electric right down the avenue). Kid Rock was there too (are you scared yet?), but didn't perform. He was in town to play a benefit at Terminal 5 one night earlier. More pictures and some pictures of the setlist below...

Continue reading "PettyFest @ Bowery Ballroom - setlist & pics (Adam Green, Strokes & Killers members, Nicole Atkins, Kid Rock, more)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Richard Buckner - "Gauzy Dress in the Sun" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Richard Buckner - "Emily Sparks" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Richard Buckner - "Born in to Giving It Up" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Arbouretum - "False Spring" (MP3)

Modern troubadour Richard Buckner will play a Friday, March 20th NYC show at Mercury Lounge with Arbouretum, Ruby Throat, and Lia Ices
(tickets on sale) before heading out an April/May US tour in support of three previously out-of-print, Merge-reissued CDs.

Bloomed, The Hill, and Impasse are all up now as digital downloads on the Merge online store. In his extended take on the old discs (read it below), Buckner writes that he plans to release a new record on the label in 2010, his first since 2006's Meadow.

Opening the Mercury Lounge show is Arbouretum, who just released a new album, Song of the Pearl, on March 9th on Thrill Jockey. Check out the first track on the album, "False Spring", above.

"For two albums, a split EP, and who knows how many lineup changes, Arbouretum has reached further and further inward, honing and intensifying an idiosyncratic sound that is both doomy and folky, visceral and transcendent. They're powerful songs that sound both angry and melancholic, yet carry a sort of internal hypnotic, pacifying churn. The band's newest release, Song of the Pearl, is its most refined and to-the-point--the noodling of 2007's Rites of Uncovering is gone, the stylistic experiments are exhausted."
[Baltimore City Paper]

Arbouretum is also going on an April tour with Love as Laughter, and playing a few dates with Band of Horse in June. That includes the show at Carnegie Hall on June 11th.

Buckner reissued press release and vids, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "RICHARD BUCKNER - reissues, new album, a NYC show with ARBOURETUM & other 2009 Tour Dates"

DOWNLOAD: USA for Affluence - Cash for Christmas (MP3)

The star-studded video is below...

Continue reading "Beardo Episode 5 - CASH FOR CHRISTMAS (Tim Harrington, Moby, Andrew WK, AC Newman, Will Sheff, etc, etc...)"

DOWNLOAD: Citay - On the Wings (live on WFMU) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Citay - First Fantasy (MP3)

"WFMU presents Selected Sounds from the Free Music Archive vol. 1. This compilation previews 21 of the thousands of tracks that'll be freely available under Creative Commons licenses when the fully interactive Free Music Archive website launches later this year. You can download the album, along with accompanying artwork by Greg Harrison, right here!

Lucky Dragons, Dan Deacon, Psychedelic Horseshit, Citay and many other bands appear on the free comp.

The music of San Francisco's Citay brims with a casual, unforced effervescence that belies meticulous arranging. Formed in 2004 by guitarist Ezra Feinberg of Piano Magic and Tim Green of the Fucking Champs, Citay favors long instrumental sections piled high with acoustic guitars, tambourines, and Beach Boys-style vocal harmonies. [NPR]

Citay is now on tour and they're going to play Cake Shop in NYC tonight (10/10). Can't make it? They're coming back in eight days to share a bill with Love as Laughter at Southpaw on the 18th. All dates below...

Continue reading "Citay - 2008 tour dates, MP3's and a free WFMU comp"

photos by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: Sera Cahoone - Only As The Day Is Long (MP3)

Handsome Furs, SXSW 2008

The Sub Pop showcase was one of the greatest official lineups at SXSW this year (Friday, March 14, 2008).

BOURBON ROCKS STAGE (inside)
Love As Laughter - 8pm
Sera Cahoone - 9pm
Grand Archives - 10pm
Kelley Stoltz - 11pm
Fleet Foxes - 12am
Blitzen Trapper - 1am

BOURBON ROCKS PATIO STAGE (outside)
The Ruby Suns - 8:30pm
Pissed Jeans - 9:30pm
Handsome Furs - 10:30pm
The Helio Sequence - 11:30pm
No Age - 12:30am

Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper are currently on tour together. The March 29th Bowery Ballroom show (which also has Ola Podrida on the bill) is still not sold out. Handsome Furs are opening for Spoon at Terminal 5, and playing Bowery Ballroom without Spoon even sooner. No Age have a Bowery Ballroom show coming up, and Pissed Jeans have one scheduled at Knitting Factory.

The Ruby Suns just played two NYC shows, and they're coming back soon with Foals (also on Sub Pop). All those dates and pictures of them from SXSW are HERE. The rest of the SXSW showcase photos are below....

Continue reading "Handsome Furs, Pissed Jeans & more SubPop (dates & pics)"

Dad, what the hell?

Kid 4077 - otherwise known as Nile Marr, the 15-year-old son of Smiths legend Johnny Marr - took to the stage at Bar Amp in Sale for his first live solo performance. Meanwhile his dad's latest band Modest Mouse - who performed at Manchester's Ritz earlier this week - were performing in Barcelona.

Modest teenager Nile has said he is influenced more by Modest Mouse than by The Smiths because they were before his time. [Manchester Evening News - June 2, 2007]

I have bad news for those hoping to see Modest Mouse & Clipse on August 8th. Better yet - I have bad news for those who didn't get tickets to see Beastie Boys at Summerstage because they thought they were seeing Modest Mouse with Band of Horses in Keyspan Park. The August 8th show has been postponed exactly one month, and moved: Modest Mouse is now playing McCarren Pool on September 8th. Love as Laughter are still opening, but Band of Horses and Clipse are up in the air.

Now Band of Horses' only upcoming NYC date is the Hiro Ballroom thing (where Ryan Adams played last night).

Muse is still playing MSG on August 6th. Want to win a pair of tickets? E-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: MUSE), and tell me if I should finish posting Andrew's Bonnaroo coverage now that Bonnaroo was so long ago. One winner will be picked at ramdom, and contacted, on Monday July 2nd, 2007. Your email will not be shared with anyone.

Modest Mouse @ Primavera in Barcelona, June 1, 2007 (CRED)

Modest Mouse was formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Wash. After years of acclaim for its independent recordings, it broke through to a mass audience with the edgy but upbeat hit single "Float On" in 2004.

Many of the band's old fans were uneasy about seeing their heroes with a hit, and the cries of "sellout" increased this year when "American Idol" contestants sang "Float On" in a music video sponsored by Ford.

His manager warned him that allowing the song to be used in that way could be a bad PR move, but Brock says he couldn't resist the opportunity.... [San Jose Mercury News]

Modest Mouse is headlining Keyspan Park in Coney Island on August 8th. Band of Horses, Love as Laughter, AND CLIPSE are opening. Tickets go on sale June 9th. All Modest Mouse tour dates below....

Continue reading "MODEST MOUSE playing Keyspan w/ CLIPSE + 2007 Tour Dates"

Man Man are playing a bunch of their own shows from April 1st to 15th. Then on the 25th they're going on tour with Love as Laughter and Modest Mouse - April 29 & 30 at United Palace in NYC. Modest Mouse has been selling a lot of records. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Man Man (+ Modest Mouse) - 2007 Tour Dates"