by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Inlets - Bright Orange Air (MP3)

Inlets @ Music Hall of Williamsburg last February (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Inlets, the musical project of Sebastian Krueger, will finally release its long-awaited debut album, Inter Arbiter, on April 20th through twosyllable. Krueger is best known for playing with Shara Worden/My Brightest Diamond, Osso String Quartet, DM Stith and others. Inlets was established with its 2006 EP, Vestibule, and the debut album isn't short on guests either, with contributions from Zach Condon, Angel Deradoorian, and Osso's Marla Hansen. The track above, "Bright Orange Air," is a devilish piece of minor key pop.

Inlets will play a Friday, March 12th show at 92YTribeca with Bell and Glass Ghost (whose tour dates are below). Tickets are on sale.

Inlets are also playing an invite-only early show at Pianos this Friday (2/12). You can't buy tickets, but we have two pairs of tickets to give away - information on those is below.

Contest details, more album info, and all tour dates (including Inlets at SXSW) are below...

Continue reading "Inlets - debut record (MP3) & tour dates - 92YTribeca, SXSW & an invite-only show at Pianos (win tix) "

DOWNLOAD: Fol Chen - Cable TV (Liars Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Of Great & Mortal Men - Obama: Someone to Wake w/ Will Johnson
DOWNLOAD: James Monroe: The Last Cocked Hat" feat. Marla Hansen (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: DNTEL - Loneliness is Having No One To Miss (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Broken Spindles -Beatdown Breakup (Cassettes Won't Listen Remix)
DOWNLOAD: The Strange Boys - Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dent May & his Magnificent Ukulele - Meet Me In The Garden (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Odd Nosdam - Fly Mode (MP3)

DOWNLOAD: Jennifer O'Connor - Here with Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jennifer O'Connor - Valley Road '86 (MP3)

I'm doing pretty good with my guesses so far. Still no Titus Andronicus, but Britt Daniel and Janet Weiss were there on night one, and Jon Benjamin (comedy) and Jennifer O'Connor (music) opened last night, Christmas Eve, December 24th, the fourth night of Hanukkah (there goes the theory that they don't repeat an opener) (btw, good job Anonymous | December 22, 2008 5:58 PM at predicting night three's special guest Yoni Wolf). Pictures of the show are coming soon. There were no other special guests.

That was Christmas Eve and today is Christmas, so what better time to mention the great new Christmas album called Peace on Earth : Vol. II. The charity holiday album features tracks by Jennifer O'Connor, Anathallo, Pattern is Movement, Marla Hansen, Oxford Collapse, Jason Collett, American Analog Set, and many others. Check it out. Jennifer's song is "Deck the Halls". You can hear it at her MySpace.

Jennifer's next NYC show is at Southpaw on February 14th with Mascott. Tickets are on sale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Jennifer O'Connor - opened YLT night 4, sings on Peace On Earth Christmas album, touring in 2009 (dates)"

photos by Ryan Muir

It was almost two years ago that Beirut played in the venue that occupied the same space that they played last night (May 18, 2008). I don't know what my point is. Last night's last-minute Brooklyn show at MHOW was really great (2 encores, some covers, all the hits, and kick ass new songs). More pictures & comments, and the setlist, below....

Continue reading "Beirut @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC - pics & setlist"

Marla Hansen @ Pianos, NYC - BV CMJ, Oct 20, 2007 (Bao Nguyen)

She plucks that viola in precise patterns–repeated notes, a syncopated chord, a countermelody–as the only accompaniment for her gentle, transparent voice, which has an undercurrent of Celtic melancholy. The songs are sparse, meditative and utterly involving. In “Talk To Me,” as she plucked two alternating notes an octave apart like a slowly ticking clock, she sang, “I wish you could talk to me/You turn away, and it breaks my heart.” There’s a sense of timelessness in that song–and no setup time necessary. [Jon Pareles, NY Times]

Marla Hansen's resume keeps getting cooler and cooler. In addition to all the Jay-Z/The National/Kanye West/Sufjan Stevens stuff we already knew about, I just realized that she helped perform Jonny Greenwood's "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" as part of the Wordless Music Orchestra the other day, AND she'll be playing as a member of Jens Lekman's band on his upcoming European and U.S. tours. Tonight (Jan 21, 2008) she plays solo at Union Hall. Lauren Smith is also on the bill.

What does a Hula Hoop have to do with a crowded urban expressway? Much like the automobile, the hoop relies on the basic laws of physics administrated by the simple machine of the wheel, the greatest of human inventions. Notably, there are no macroscopic wheels to be found in animals or plants. It is a purely human construction. And yet the wheel has come to symbolize spiritual transcendence, reincarnation, yin and yang, Chakra, the wheel of life, the calendar, the seasons, astrology, and divinity. We are contained by the rotations of the planets and moons around the sun; we are all cosmically connected by vast circular motions in the solar system. Is it no wonder, then, that this geometric phenomenon has been appropriated both for the modern convenience of the automobile and for the amusement proffered by a plastic toy? [Sufjan Stevens (PDF)]

Continued below....

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens performed "BQE" @ BAM"

Greg of the Little Ones & Voxtrot - Oct 14, 2007 (CRED)

Voxtrot play Music Hall again tonight (Oct 15), and then tomorrow (Oct 16) @ Bowery Ballroom for the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase. Ramesh is obviously doing better.

The National - Oct 13, 2007 (CRED)

The band started out with a song they claim to have never played live before: "Santa Clara." Though it's a B-Side that some of us have heard before, it was cool to hear the ballad in its premier. They continued to play tracks almost exclusively off of their latest two albums - "90 Mile" being the lone exception. Matt Berninger was spot on all night with his vocals and crowd interaction (though he did almost kill the guy standing beside me with his mic stand), and the band was very much in sync. My highlights definitely included "Mistaken for Strangers," "Abel," "Ada" (surprisingly great, especially the second half), "Mr. November," etc. "Daughters of the Soho Riots" was absolutely brilliant - I forgot how potent that ballad really is. And the encore, I mean come on. Nice work boys. They even brought out Marla Hansen who sang on Boxer for a few tracks. Though they still didn't play "The Geese of Beverly Road," I can forgive them considering how awesome the rest of the night was. [Cafe Eclectica Music]

The National ended their 3-show run in NYC on Saturday night. Yes, they're playing a fourth show in NYC again tonight, but that one is invite-only. The first show was the opening night of Terminal 5.

More below....

Continue reading "recent shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg"

DOWNLOAD: Marla Hansen - A Friend Indeed (MP3)

Marla & friend

These songs are from my solo project, but I perform with lots of other groups too. I'm the violist for My Brightest Diamond, and I played viola for "Bring Me the Workhorse," her latest record. I also perform with Sufjan Stevens, and recently had the honor of being a member of the Magical Butterfly Brigade. You can hear me on "Illinois," and also on his new Christmas record (vol. 5, playing and singing!) I'm singing on "Boxer," the new record from the National, and I perform all over NYC with my good friend Sebastian Krueger's project Inlets. I have also worked with Devotchka, Clare and the Reasons, Oneida, The New Pornographers, Duncan Sheik, and many other bands in the New York area. I even got to rock it with Jay-Z at Radio City Music Hall last year, and with Kanye West on SNL. [Marla Hansen]

Marla Hansen - 2007 Tour Dates
Oct 12 - Music Hall of Williamsburg, opening for The National Brooklyn, NY
Oct 16 - Glasslands, Social Registry CMJ showcase Brooklyn, NY
Oct 20 - upstairs @ Pianos, Brooklyn Vegan party, NYC (1:45pm) w/ Doveman
Nov 1 - Sufjan Stevens at BAM Brooklyn, New York
Nov 2 - Sufjan Stevens at BAM Brooklyn, New York
Nov 3 - Sufjan Stevens at BAM Brooklyn, New York

Get to the National early tonight! Look for Marla in Sufjan's orchestra at BAM. Stay tuned for more info on the artists playing the BrooklynVegan party upstairs at Pianos on October 20th.

DOWNLOAD: Stylofone - Hotstepper (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Marla Hansen - Wedding Day (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - In Our Talons (live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mekons - (sometimes I Feel Like) Fletcher Christian (MP3)

Jonah Ray & Darren Mabee @ Webster Hall, NYC - Oct 2, 2007 (CRED)

“I’m not really comfortable with being Man Man’s ‘biggest fan,’” says 22-year-old Darren Mabee, alleged superfan of the bouncy, post-pop Philadelphia five-piece, although the energetic, sweat-soaked sasquatch has been spotted and blogged about at many of their shows. “It’s just all about having fun. I don’t put too much thought into this.” [Paper Thin Walls]

* Roseanne Barr is at Comix
* Invite Them Up is at Rififi
* Mekons are at Gramercy Theatre
* Tigercity & Stylofone are @ Southpaw (free)
* Secret Machines are at the Annex
* Georgie James is playing Europa
* Bowerbirds are at Sound Fix
* Patrick Wolf and Bishi @ Webster Hall
* Bloc Party, Tokyo Police Club & Smoosh @ Theater @ MSG
* Boris, Damon & Naomi & Michio Kurihara are @ Music Hall
* Nina Nastasia & Jim White are @ Mercury Lounge
* Sufjan Steven's friends Denison Witmer & Marla Hansen are @ Knitting Factory
* Nightmare of You, Le Loup & The King Left are @ Bowery
* The Brunettes & Ferraby Lionheart are playing Maxwell's
* Dirty Projectors are at Zebulon
* Pop Montreal kicked off in Montreal

What else?