by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: oOoOO - "NoWayBack" (Ft. Butterclock) (MP3)

Sam Mickens w/ Zac Pennington at Ecstatic Music Festival (more by David Andrako)

Late last year, Sam Mickens announced a split 7" with Voice on Tape due out "winter 2011/2012." That 7" still hasn't been released but you can stream Sam's contribution HERE. However, he did release a single last week, "One Final Round"/"To Victory or Death," which you can stream and purchase at his bandcamp. The songs have a traditional ballroom pop feel led by organic pianos and horns, until halfway through "To Victory or Death," when the band kicks it up into a double time punk beat.

Sam Mickens, who performed Saturday night as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival, has a few more upcoming NYC shows this month. He'll premiere his "Micropatronage" piece with a string quartet at Roulette on February 16 with Jim Staley and Zeena Parkins and Loren Mazzance Connors (whose new album, A Fire, was scheduled to come out this week but has since been delayed). Tickets are on sale now. Sam will then play the same venue on Feburary 18 when he hosts a live taping of ESP TV, which is also part of Roulette's Experimental Love Festival along with C. Spencer Yeh, Little Women, Grasshopper, MV Carbon, and Amanda Long. The event was curated by Scott Kiernan and Victoria Keddie. Tickets are on sale now.

Sam Mickens will also celebrate his 30th birthday at Shea Stadium on February 23 with performances by Sam Mickens Ecstatic Showband & Revue (who recorded the new 12") and Sam Mickens Fourth World (feat. members of Deerhoof, Extra Life, and Cuddle Magic). The bill also includes White Ring and Mirror Mirror.

White Ring last played in NYC last month at Glasslands (1/21) opening for oOoOO (who just announced an EP). How was that show?

Speaking of oOoOO's EP, Our Living is Killing Us (due April 10 via Tri Angle), Stereogum recently premiered the first track, "NoWayBack," which features vocals from collaborator Butterclock. Her airy vocals and oOoOO's beatwork bring to mind some of Grimes' downtempo material and its easily oOoOO's best track yet. Grab an MP3 of the song above and stream it below.

All dates and stream below...

Continue reading "upcoming Sam Mickens shows & a new oOoOO MP3"

Ende Tymes Festival is a 3 day festival dedicated to DIY experimental music and video art. With workshops, discussions, screenings, and live music performances, Ende Tymes will expose local fans and artists to processes and production techniques, as well as the work of distant and older practitioners of the hands-on, street-level experimental media arts. Workshops will be conducted in DIY radio transmission, and Victorian Synths and Other Analog Wizardry. A discussion will occur between elder members of the noise and experimental music scene to talk about "street-level experimental music and the evolution of interface and community." Screenings and live performances with video will happen on 3 consecutive nights, featuring curated artists as well as selected pieces from a public call for submissions. Live performances of noise and experimental music will happen on 3 consecutive nights featuring nearly 40 acts from across the US.

Continue reading "Ende Tymes Festival of Noise and Experimental Liberation :: June 24-26 @ Silent Barn & Outpost :: Ridgewood NY"

Nick Zinner at MoMA in 2010 (more by Bao Nguyen)

The Met is hosting an evening with Cinema 16 on June 3. The event features Nick Zinner and Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Shahin Motia of Oneida, and MV Carbon of Metalux performing an original score for six short experimental films. Admission is free with museum admission. No reserved seats; space is limited.

Films:

Poeme Electronique (1958), dir. Edgard Varse and Le Corbusier
Screen Test: Salvador Dali (1966), dir. Andy Warhol
The Face (1967), dir. Herbert Kosower
Seeing the World (1937), dir. Rudy Burckhardt
Stone Welcome Mat (2003), dir. Gina Carducci
NY, NY (1957), dir. Francis Thompson

Speaking of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and movies, Karen O recorded a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" with Trent Reznor for the upcoming film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The film is the second adaptation of the Swedish novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson, and the first in English. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is written by Steven Zallian and directed by David Fincher.

Check out Karen O and Trent Reznor's take on "Immigrant Song" in the trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as the preview video for Cinema 16 at The Met below.

Continue reading "Nick Zinner, Brian Chase & friends playing w/ films @ the Met, Karen O & Trent Reznor covered Led Zeppelin (listen)"

DOWNLOAD: Julian Koster - White Chistmas (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Koster - Jingle Bells (MP3)

Julian Koster @ Bell House in March (more by Tim Griffin)

Music Tapes' Julian Koster is on the road with his 2009 Caroling Tour, which kicked off Saturday, December 5th in Georgia. The revised schedule for the trip is posted below. Its NYC portion will be happening on December 16th and 17th. E-mail musictapescaroling@gmail.com to get on the list for the exact location and time of the shows. For more info (including a note about posting things online about the shows) and to offer financial support, visit orbitinghumancircus.org.

Two Xmas tracks off Koster's The Singing Saw at Christmastime are posted above.

Another holiday happening that's already underway is "Eternal Christmas: A Yuletide Dreamland", an art exhibit/show space presented by Flaming Fire at 525 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn. It began over the weekend (12/4) and runs through January 5th (12-8 daily, 12-11 Thurs-Sun, $5 suggested donation). The art work tackles "the mythological and cultural roots of the winter season." The installations' "house band" will be Brooklyn's Lydsod, and the schedule includes a performance by Dewanatron (who opened for Music Tapes in March). More info is below.

Both schedules and Julian Koster singing saw videos are below...

Continue reading "Julian Koster now on a caroling tour +++ "Eternal Christmas: A Yuletide Dreamland" is open on Atlantic Ave"

P.S.1 has announced the lineup for its annual series of Saturday afternoon dance parties in Long Island City. Last year's program featured live music and DJ sets by James Murphy, James Chance & the Contortions and Tony Conrad to name a few.

This year, we get the Arthur Russell ensemble Arthur's Landing, Talibam! and The Phenomenal Handclap Band (on the same bill), Xeno & Oaklander, Growing, Glenn Branca and more. Full schedule, and more info, below...

Continue reading "PS1 'Warm Up' 2009 - Long Island City music series lineup"

Thurston Moore @ ATP NY 2008 (more by Zach Dilgard)

1. Eight Miles High (Das Wilde Leben) - German movie about Uschi Obermaier, super 60s Rolling Stones groupie who was a commune radical in Berlin.

continued below...

Continue reading "Thurston Moore's top 10 things in 2008 "