photos by Rachel Carr

Kurt Vile @ the Henry Miller Library

"We hot footed it down to the Henry Miller Library for the Woodsist festival. It was hidden among the trees like a secret garden and as we laid on our rugs drinking strong vodka cranberry, the place seemed to glow. We watched the bands, perused the library, went exploring and hung out at the merch table and before long the sunlight faded and the fairy lights came out. Oh and then we saw Kirsten Dunst, just hanging out in the bookstore and Joe let his cool mask slip and got all star-struck and gaspy. The day was magical but tinged with melancholy. I couldn't shake this feeling and this feeling was the end." [In Another World]

The described and pictured Big Sur Woodsist Festival happened on Saturday, June 12th at the Henry Miller Library. It was one of two west coast Woodsist events. The second was last night, June 15th, at Echoplex. NYC gets its own on June 25th at Music Hall of Williamsbug as part of the Northside Festival. Tickets are still on sale. More pictures from the Big Sur fest, below...

Continue reading "Woodsist had two fests in California (pics from Big Sur)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Woods - I Was Gone (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys - Diamond in the Dark (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Moon Duo - Stumbling 22nd St. (MP3)

Woods

There's a lot going on in the wild world of Woodsist Records. Firstly is the Woodsist night at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on June 25 that's part of the Northside Festival (June 24 - 27). The show features Real Estate, Woods, The Fresh & Onlys, Moon Duo and Sic Alps. Tickets ($15) go on sale Friday (4/30) at noon. This and the Brooklyn Vegan show with Memory Tapes, Twin Sister, Zaza and DOM on June 26 are two of four Northside events at Music Hall of Williamsburg this year (Thao and Mirah is another).

Woodsist is also doing two mini-festivals on the West Coast next month: June 12 at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur and June 15 at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. The line-ups differ slightly, but both shows feature Real Estate, Woods, Kurt Vile, The Mantles and The Art Museums. Full line-ups for both shows are at the bottom of this post.

Woods, who also have a show coming up at Abrons Arts Center in May, will be releasing their third album, At Echo Lake, next week. Clocking in just under 30 minutes, it's full of catchy West Coast-ish folk pop. It might be their best yet. You can download "I Was Gone" at the top of this post. The band is touring the West Coast leading up to those two mini-fests. All dates are below.

The Fresh and Onlys

The Fresh & Onlys will be here a full month before the Northside Festival too, playing with Golden Triangle and The Babies at Monster Island (which now has real, permanent stage!) on May 14, and Cake Shop on May 15. The band continue to release records at a Pollardian rate, with a fantastic new EP, August in My Mind, our on Captured Tracks (download "Diamond in the Dark" above), a split 7" with Golden Triangle, and at least two other singles out this year already. There's a video for "Vanishing Cream" at the bottom of this post, which is a single on French label Plastic Spoons. They've also finished their third album which will be out on In the Red sometime this year.

Moon Duo, which features Wooden Shjips' Erik Johnson and Sanae Yamada, released an EP on Woodsist earlier this year -- check out "Stumbling 22nd St." at the top of this post. I caught them the final, cold night at SXSW where I was a little worn out and cranky at that point for their droney, extended Loop-meets-Suicide two chord jams but I could imagine digging it more under sunnier circumstances.

Real Estate also have many more dates coming up between now and the end of August. Sic Alps are touring and reporting that a Captured Tracks Fest is happening in NYC again this summer too.

Woodsist Fest lineups, videos and everyone else's tour dates below...

Continue reading "mini Woodsist Fests in NYC & CA, Woods shows, Fresh & Onlys tour dates, Moon Duo & more"

DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - It #1 (MP3)

Ty Segall @ Cake Shop (more by Tim Griffin)

After my own greasy foray into a Popeye's a few blocks away, I was ready to see the wunderkind, who is freshly graduated from the University of San Francisco. Once upon a time, Segall was a one man band, but he's expanded his outfit to a three-piece. Clearly the night's headliner at Amnesia, he packed the joint. After sets by openers Snakeflower 2 and the Rantouls, he mostly played familiar songs from his 2008 self-titled release on CastleFace Records. However, he also delivered a few examples of his self-described "sludgier" work on the brand new Lemons (Goner Records).

Sludge or no sludge, Segall's solid work ethic is evident. He's constantly playing gigs at bars like the Knockout, the Hemlock, and the Eagle Tavern -- basically anywhere flannel is the prevailing fashion, alongside those straw fedora hats favored by the fixed-gear crowd. Despite his omnipresence on SF's dive bar scene, he's pretty modest about his dedication to his music. "There are a lot of ways that I am a slacker," he explains over the phone a month after the fateful Amnesia show as he and his band drive to New Orleans. "But if I'm not doing music, I feel like I'm wasting my time." [SF Bay Guardian]

An MP3 from Lemons is at the top of this post. Ty returns to NYC for a trio of shows on his North American tour in September. On September 18th, he'll play Death By Audio's 'The Maze' (the art installation being supported by this Saturday's 12-hour benefit at the venue).

Ty plays a Mercury Lounge show on September 20th with Golden Triangle and tourmates and fellow SF band The Mantels. Tickets for that go on sale Saturday, July 25th at noon. Ty Segall then goes to New Jersey for a September 21st show at Maxwell's. The Mantels opens that too, with Digital Leather. Tickets are on sale now.

Ty will be one of the acts at Goner Fest 6, put on by Goner Records September 24th-26th in Memphis, TN. Other acts include a reformed version of Jay Reatard's first band The Reatards, Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh & Onlys, Magic Kids (who are in NYC this weekend), Box Elders, The Intelligence, Nobunny, Cheater Slicks and just about every other vital band you could vaguely lump in with the current "garage" scene (No Sic Alps, though). Tickets for day one, two and three of the fest are on sale now (though three-day 'Golden Passes' seem to be either sold out or hard to find).

More info on that festival, with all Ty Segall dates and a couple videos, below...

Continue reading "Ty Segall tour dates (3 NYC shows) + 2009 Goner Fest lineup "