by Andrew Sacher

Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, and The Congos - FRKWYS Vol. 9: ICON GIVE THANK

Speaking of Sun Araw (aka Cameron Stallone), he's part of the recently released ninth installment of Brooklyn label RVNG Intl's FRKWYS series, which brings together modern experimental artists and their influential forerunners to collaborate on an album. In the past, we've seen collaborative releases from Julianna Barwick and DNA's Ikue Mori; Daniel Lopatin, James Ferarro, Samuel Godin, and composer David Borden; and Blues Control and Laraaji, among others. The newest release, FRKWYS Vol. 9: ICON GIVE THANK, sees Sun Araw and M. Geddes Gengras, who were both members of the now-defunct Pocahaunted (whose lineup also included Amanda Brown aka LA Vampires and Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast), teaming up with The Congos, who released the dub/reggae classic Heart of the Congos in 1977, produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry. That's the artwork above.

The track, "Happy Song," which you can stream below, sounds too modern for a '70s reggae band but too genuinely nostalgic for modern psych experimentalists, and doesn't really fit anywhere in between.

ICON GIVE THANK was released in conjunction with the film, ICON EYE, a film documenting the album's making. That film will be screened as part of the Unsound LABS on Saturday (4/21) at Anthology Film Archives at 1 PM. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Sun Araw's Cameron Stallones, director Tony Lowe, and project producer Matt Werth.

The movie screening is one of at least three Sun Araw events in NYC this weekend, with the first being a full band show at Le Poisson Rouge Friday night (with Pole & Marc McGuire of Emeralds), and the last being the recently-mentioned DJ set with Heat Wave at Glasslands.

Film trailer, streams, album tracklist, and all dates, below...

Continue reading "Sun Araw collaborated w/ The Congos, appearing at 3 events this weekend (including a film screening)"

Built to Spill at BV SXSW 2012 (more by Ryan Barkan)

The Hopscotch festival in Raleigh, North Carolina will celebrate its third year from Sept. 6-8, 2012 in downtown Raleigh, with 175 bands in 15 venues. The initial lineup, released today, runs the gamut from traditional indie favorites to punk to noise music to hip hop to noisy black metal and all stops in between, featuring performances from Built to Spill, sunn 0))), The Roots, The Jesus & Mary Chain (who played SXSW), Liars (who have a show coming up at Webster Hall), Baroness, Deerhoof, Death Grips (who play NYC soon and have new material on the way), Danny Brown (who was at Coachella and plays Prospect Park soon), Pallbearer (who play an exclusive East Coast Show soon), Screaming Females (who recently played NYC and are on tour now), Thee Oh Sees, The Spits (who just played NYC twice), Tenement, The Mountain Goats (two sets, one of which will be an all metal-covers set!) and so many more.

(and now we know the Jesus & Mary Chain are coming back soon)

Tickets are on sale. The full lineup and flyer (update: and a few more announced J&MC dates) are below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch lineup announced; Jesus & Mary Chain will be in NC in September; John Darnielle to do metal covers set "

by Andrew Frisicano

Julia Holter @ Le Poisson Rouge in March (more by by Amanda Hatfield)

Unsound Festival New York, the Poland-based series of avant-leaning, ambient and experimental music, kicks off five nights in NYC with two events tonight (4/18): instrumental Warsaw band Baaba scores animations at BAM, while Julia Holter, Julia Kent and Jenny Hval playing a sold-out show at Issue Project Room.

Check out the festival's full schedule, which includes several free shows such as LXMP and Peaking Lights at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium on Thursday 19th (both have amazing songs on the comp below). Issue Project Room hosts free day sets Saturday and Sunday (though only tickets for Saturday appear to still be available).

Dark ambient musician and repeat Unsound artist Lustmord recently spoke with Resident Advisor about the experience of seeing someone play a laptop live...

If somebody said "an ambient musician" was playing live in town this evening, I wouldn't exactly rush out, you know? I'd rather stay home and read a book. [laughs]

[he then goes on to describe how seeing Kraftwerk live changed his mind]

I hadn't seen them live for a long time, and they played in LA--four middle aged guys on laptops, how boring is that? But, fucking hell, it was one of the best gigs I've ever seen. That's when I really thought, yeah, you can stand there with your laptop and do your thing as long as you got the fucking sound.

Lustmord collaborates with ambient musician Biosphere at an Upper West Side church on Saturday.

Inner Tube were set to play Le Poisson Rouge on Friday, but have been replaced by Mark McGuire (solo). And:

a visual program has been added to Bass Mutations on April 21, showing the ways in which visual artists have helped shape the way we imagine bass music. Curated by "Big Up Magazine" Editor-In-Chief Katya Guseva in collaboration with Dave Q from Dub War NYC, it will take place in a movie theatre adjacent to the dancefloor at the venue for the night, IndieScreen. Live audio from Bass Mutations performers such as 2562, Teeth, Sepalcure, Distal, Throwing Snow and Nguzunguzu will provide the soundtrack.

Stream an excellent playlist of Unsound artists below...

Continue reading "Unsound Festival (Lustmord, Demdike Stare, Actress, Julia Holter) begins; listen to a mix"

DOWNLOAD: Mark McGuire - Brothers (for Matt) (MP3)

"Mark McGuire's been kicking around since mid-2006 as guitarist for Cleveland heroes Emeralds. He's also put out about 30 solo records, in batches sometimes as limited as 20 copies per pressing. With his new solo LP on Austrian label Editions Mego, who put out Oneohtrix Point Never's Returnal and Emeralds' Does It Look Like I'm Here? earlier this year, McGuire is finally getting the distribution he deserves. Living With Yourself is a deeply personal album, but not in the sense of, say, an Elliot Smith release. McGuire doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve, bare his soul, or poetically expose his innermost desires and tragic flaws. In fact, he hardly says a word. He doesn't have to."
[Ric Leichtung @ Altered Zones]

Every time I read about Mark McGuire (like in that most recent gushing Pitchfork Altered Zones piece) (which came with an accompanying tweet that said the record is "one of 'our favorite records in the world right now.'"), I, like probably anyone might that regularly reads this site and knows who the other Mark McGwire is, think of the ironically named Brooklyn DIY venue Shea Stadium.

Mark McGuire (it's not spelled the same despite what the Photoshopped baseball card above says) has no upcoming dates at the moment - he was in town in April, and in September as a member of Emeralds as part of a tour with Caribou. When he comes back, someone please book him at Shea Stadium (maybe he even played there already?). Grab an MP3 above. Put on your headphones and listen to the live videos below...

Continue reading "Mark McGuire (should play Shea Stadium)"