Why yes, we have posted a lot of stuff already today. Here's some more

Mythbuster? More like Myrthbuster. TV personality Jamie Hyneman apparently abandoned his first born. Luckily, NYC has a history of taking your poor, your tired, and your mustachioed; baby Hyneman has taken up residence at the New York Aquarium. (confused?).

Shades of Scott Tenorman: Radiohead Fan Sells Cheating Girlfriend's Tickets Online, Gets Invited to Hang Out with Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul.

Morrissey is in NYC right now and appeared on Colbert.

Bat for Lashes now streaming 6 songs off The Haunted Man at The Guardian; and you can stream Tamaryn's album (via Gorilla Vs. Bear) at the bottom of this post.

Is Spotify's business model broken? Anybody pay for Spotify Premium? (editor's note: I do)

For those who like free stuff: We are giving away two tickets to see Menomena at Bowery Ballroom on October 11 on the BV Facebook Page as well as tickets to Dark Dark Dark and Emily Wells at LPR on 10/13 and to The Darkness at Terminal 5 on 10/21.

Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" "received more performances on U.S. radio and television than any other song in the BMI repertoire during 2011."

The Rolling Stones "are pleased to announce the WORLD EXCLUSIVE first airplay of the brand new single from The Rolling Stones, 'Doom And Gloom' will take place on Thursday October 11th at 8:15am. The single can be downloaded on the same day from iTunes."

Led Zeppelin were hanging out in NYC on the same day Pete Townshend was.

Toro Y Moi has announced that he'll release a new album called Anything In Return on January 21st via Carpark Records.

Hey arty types: design Richard Hawley's Guitar Skin!

I swear we're not making any of this stuff up.

More stuff below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Radiohead fan whose girlfriend cheated, Bat for Lashes, Tamaryn, Toro Y Moi, Adele, Pixar, cute baby walrus & more"

Justin Vernon & My Morning Jacket before the Grammys (by dariusjagjag)

Someone from Jagjaguwar tweeted the above picture not long before Justin Vernon shouted out "Jagjaguwar" to end his acceptance speech at the Grammys pre-show this evening (2/12).

Bon Iver won "Best Alternative Music Album", beating out Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, Foster the People & Death Cab Cab For Cutie. Other pre-telecast winners include Adele, Foo Fighters (who beat Mastodon, The Decemberists and TV on the Radio), Skrillex (who won three already and beat Cut Copy, Robyn, Deadmau5 and others), Kanye West (who also won three already), The Civil Wars (who won two already and beat Fleet Foxes), Levon Helm, Alison Krauss, Tinariwen, Louis CK, Cee-Lo, and Booker T Jones who won "Best Pop Instrumental Album" for the 2nd time, and nervously thanked Biz Markie, Questlove, Gabriel Roth (of Daptone Records), Matt Berninger (of the National), and Lou Reed.

Arcade Fire also won another Grammy already (for Best Recording Package).

A Numero Group Syl Johnson release was up for two Grammys but lost in both categories.

And that was just all the stuff they don't show on TV. The regular show with all the big awards (and possibly more for Bon Iver) starts at 8pm EST, Whitney Houston tribute included.

UPDATES:
* Jack Black makes "indie cred" joke that includes "Bon Iver" while introducing Foo Fighters
* Denise from PS22 in Adele commercial

DOWNLOAD: The Forms - Fire to the Ground w/ The National's Matt Berninger (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Forms - Steady Hand w/ Pattern Is Movement's Andrew Thibaldeux

The Forms at Cameo (more by Jessica Amaya)

As we discussed, The Forms have a new record on the way in Derealization due on February 15th. Pre-order it now. The Brooklyn band will celebrate the record that features the above Matt Berninger-guested track at Feb 12th at Rock Shop in Brooklyn. Tickets are on sale. The Andrew Thibaldeux-guested track is reposted up there too.

The NYC show is a single one-off date, much like their Boston show with The Dismemberment Plan. But the band will hit the road for a proper tour a week later on their way to SXSW. Full tour dates and a stream of the Matt song is below...

Continue reading "MP3 of the Forms song Matt Berninger sings on & more dates"

DOWNLOAD: The Forms - Steady Hand w/ Pattern Is Movement's Andrew Thibaldeux (MP3)

The Forms

The Forms, who we interviewed a few short months ago, have a double LP due on February 15th via Triple Down Records/Threespheres, with the CD coming through Ernest Jenning. Half of their release is their new Derealization EP which includes revisited/remixed works and features appearances from Matt Beringer (The National), Craig Wedren (Shudder To Think), as well as members of Pattern Is Movement, Dirty Projectors, St. Vincent and others.

The 2-disc set will also include the band's earlier Steve-Albini-produced opus, Icarus. Download "Steady Hand", a fresh look at "Bones" from Icarus above, and stream it below where you'll also find the full EP tracklist. EP opener "Fire to the Ground" with Matt Berninger has especially been stuck in my head since listening recently.

The Forms are scheduled to play NYC at Cameo Gallery on Saturday (12/18), one of a few dates that the band has on their schedule that includes a Boston date with The Dismemberment Plan. That Boston show is the day before The Dismemberment Plan plays to a sold-out Webster Hall in NYC twice (1/29 and 1/30).

The Dismemberment Plan have also added dates to their reunion tour which now includes three DC dates and a March one in Seattle.

All tour dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "The Forms releasing 'Derealization', Dismemberment Plan add more shows (MP3 & tour dates)"

"Over the years, [The National's] Matt [Berninger] has accumulated a flock of snide nicknames from his band mates, including the Dark Lord, the Naysayer, Mumbleberry Pie, Mr. Knee Jerk, Mr. Sony Headphones and the Echo Chamber -- the last for the coterie of musically astute persons whom Matt frequently invokes supporting his opinion of whatever song they are arguing about. Since the only one of these gifted listeners Matt has ever introduced to the others is his wife, Carin Besser, who until recently edited short stories at The New Yorker, it is Aaron and Bryce [Dessner]'s belief that Matt is not the only fiction expert in the marriage. Matt's assessment of the situation is: "Everybody thinks everybody else has secret ulterior motives because we all do. We purposefully set up decoys and red herrings to attack a song. That we're all playing mind games is sort of funny, but it's also frustrating."" [NY Times]

As promised, the new National album is streaming at the NY Times website now (down the left side next to the article).

The National's temporary NYC venue, the 'High Violet Annex', opens May 11th.

With the new National record coming out, don't forget there's also a new Clogs record, The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton, out March 2nd on Brassland (cover art above). On that record, the band, headed by Padma Newsome and The National's Bryce Dessner, will be joined by vocalists Shara Worden, Matt Berninger and Sufjan Stevens (who is also a confirmed guest on the new National). Clogs just put out a pre-album EP titled Veil Waltz. They're also playing live including a Brooklyn show at the Bell House on March 24th. Tickets are on sale now.

Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond) recently headlined a show of her own at Bowery Ballroom one night before she made a special appearance for Haiti at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

More info on the new Clogs album and all dates below...

Continue reading "new Clogs album features lots of Shara Worden & some Sufjan - 2010 dates include Brooklyn (on sale)"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Aaron Dessner - We Were Born (from the Long Count) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Long Count - Bull Run (feat. Kelley Deal) (MP3)

Twins! (the Dessners & the Deals)

The Long Count kicks off its three show engagement at BAM's Gilman Opera House tonight (10/28). Tickets are still available for the show, as well as for the Friday (10/30) and Saturday (10/31) performances.

The 70-minute music and multimedia piece, commissioned by BAM Next Wave Festival, is the work of Bryce and Aaron Dessner of the National and visual artist Matthew Ritchie. But they haven't been working alone. At every step of composing and arranging the Long Count over the past year, the brothers have tapped into their crew of skilled collaborators. The 12-piece orchestra that will be joining them on stage counts talents like NYC violist Nadia Sirota (who played last month's Archipelago series show), sax/bass clarinet player Colin Stetson, and Antony & the Johnsons' guitarist/violinist/conductor Rob Moose (who in particular assisted with some of the arranging duties).

As previously mentioned, the Breeders' Kim and Kelley Deal (twins) collaborated with the Dessners (also twins) on much of the music - they sing for nearly half of the show. Other vocal turns will be taken by the Nationals' Matt Berninger and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden.

All four singers play roles in the narrative of the Long Count, which takes its story from the Mayan creation myth of Popol Vuh. In that, multiple sets of twins (in the story and on stage) experience repeated cycles of life and death until giving birth to the world as we know it. The original tale ties in strongly with a ballgame played by its main characters - an element which the Dessners have woven in with their love of baseball, particularly Cincinnati Reds and the Big Red Machine.

Musically, the Long Count sections posted above, both from the show's work-in-progress performance at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on September 11th, showcase the piece's diversity. The first, "We Were Born," highlights the minimalist pedigree of the show, while "Bull Run" layers those elements with fearsome orchestral lines and extremely creepy vocals by Kelley Deal.

Paired with the spooky nature of Mathew Ritchie's animation (which you can preview here) the show looks to be a good Halloween night warm-up as any. In fact, the early Saturday night show has the most tickets available, and it follows a pre-show Q&A (ticketed separately) led by Brandon Stosuy (who's curating the Mount Eerie + metal show at Market Hotel later in the night).

Bryce generously answered some of our questions over the phone while in the last week of rehearsal (and in the hectic center of CMJ week). More photos from the production, and that interview, where he reveals the existence of an unreleased Christmas album he made with Sufjan, details on the new National record and more, below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Bryce Dessner of The National whose show, The Long Count, opens @ BAM tonight ++ 2 MP3's"

by Andrew Frisicano

Speaking of Nico Muhly, he just played a Wordless Music show at Columbia's Miller Theatre on September 9th. There he performed with '802 Tour,' a round-robin style stage show with frequent collaborators Sam Amidon and Thomas Bartlett...

Mr. Bartlett's piano-driven ballads, including some from a forthcoming CD, "The Conformist," had a shadowy, confessional intimacy that was accentuated by his tremulous, nearly whispered crooning. In sharp contrast, Mr. Amidon affected a ragged backwoods yelp for traditional shape-note songs and other folksy material.

Mr. Muhly's appealing instrumental compositions drew on Philip Glass's harmonic stasis and the rhythmic vitality of Stravinsky and Ligeti, mixed with a flair for electronic counterpoint that was all Mr. Muhly's own. Yuki Numata, a terrific violinist from the ACME group, brought out an ardent romanticism in "Honest Music," for violin and electronics....

Where genres had been gently mixed during the concert, in an encore medley they were mangled outright. Mr. Muhly waxed rhapsodic at the piano in Mariah Carey's "My All"; Mr. Bartlett offered a limpid rendition of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"; and Mr. Amidon turned R. Kelly's "Relief" into a suitably crooked hootenanny singalong. [NY Times]

Barlett's new Doveman CD, The Conformist, which features Muhly and Sam Amidon prominently, will be out October 20th on the Brassland label. Also featured on the disc are the National's Matt Berninger, Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bryan Devendorf, a string section, and additional guest spots by Martha Wainwright and Norah Jones.

Doveman will be playing fall-winter dates (not announced yet), and unless they are solo shows, those will probably come after the Sam Amidon/Nico Muhly European tour (also with Ben Frost and Valgeir Sigurðsson) that runs October 24th to November 12th. The Eurotrip is less than a week after Muhly appears at the New Yorker Festival to discuss "Radical Opera" with Rufus Wainwright in a talk moderated by Alex Ross.

Martha & Rufus Wainwright recently played with their father at Highline Ballroom, and will both appear in an upcoming show at Carnegie Hall. Rufus also has another benefit show coming up in NYC soon.

The National (members) can be found at BAM at the of October with a member of the Pixies who just announced a 4th NYC show to happen in November.

The new Doveman track that National frontman Matt Berninger sings on, is streaming at Pitchfork.

Doveman album art above. Tracklist and some interesting videos, below...

Continue reading "Doveman's new album The Conformist w/ The National, Nico Muhly, Sam Amidon, Martha Wainwright & Norah Jones"