The MTK: Music To Know Festival planned for Saturday - Sunday, August 13 - 14, in East Hampton, New York, is cancelled. A statement is as follows:

"It is with heavy, heavy heart that we regret to inform you that the inaugural MTK: Music To Know Festival in East Hampton will not take place. Despite our unique vision and arranging a world-class line-up, ticket sales were not adequate to allow the event to continue. We wanted to let everyone know now before engaging more deeply.

Along with our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, business associates, colleagues and friends in the community, we too are filled with deep disappointment. We pledge to endure during this difficult time with the same integrity and professionalism displayed throughout the creation of this event.

Ticket holders should check www.musictoknow.com next week for more information.

The MTK Fest's lineup included Vampire Weekend, Chromeo, Dawes, Bright Eyes, M Ward, Ra Ra Riot, Fitz and the Tantrums, Matt and Kim and more.

Truck America, another NY Festival, was cancelled last week (though no official announcement has been made about that yet).

As mentioned, Music to Know Fest makes its debut in East Hampton, NY over the weekend of August 13-14, and features artists such as Vampire Weekend, Bright Eyes, Matt & Kim, Ra Ra Riot, Dawes, and others. Set times have been announced for the festival, which you can check out below.

MTK, not to be confused with Escape to NY, have also teamed up with MTA Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to add an official westbound train for concertgoers:

The train, departing from the LIRR East Hampton station at 10:56 PM, is aptly timed to ensure concert goers will have sufficient time to enjoy the day's line-up and festivities and will be making all the local stops on Long Island into Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The fashion pop-up tents will be set up in a "retail village" and the merchants are anything but your average festival brands. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were first to purchase pop-ups from MTK: Music To Know - planning to debut their much-anticipated website StyleMint and their successful contemporary line Elizabeth & James to the crowd of almost 10,000 people gathered at the event in the Hamptons during the height of the season.

Continue reading "East Hampton MTK Fest announces set times, a special LIRR train,... Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen..."

photos by Tim Griffin

The Thermals @ Stubb's

The Matt & Kim / Thermals tour hit Terminal 5 in NYC last night (6/29). We didn't have a photographer there, but Tim did stop by the Austin show at Stubb's earlier on the tour. Pictures from that show are in this post.

The Thermals headline the Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday night (7/1). Tickets are still on sale!

More pics from Stubb's below...

Continue reading "Matt & Kim & the Thermals played Terminal 5 & Stubb's (pics)"

photos by Dana (Distortion) Yavin & Graeme Flegenheimer

Primus

Arcade Fire

Two New York men who got arrested here Friday never made it to Bonnaroo. That's because law officers allegedly found they were carrying over a pound of cocaine, 1,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

Alberto R. Almonte, 40, and Joseph Cruz, 29, both of the Bronx, N.Y., are charged with possession of drugs for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia. Almonte is also charged with speeding.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, it was around 2 p.m. Friday when Trooper Matilda Mahaney clocked a 2006 Chevrolet Impala doing 83 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone on Highway 111 in Putnam County.

The trooper stopped the car "and discovered that the two occupants were enroute to Bonnaroo in Manchester," says a news release from the THP. [Herald Citizen]

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 -- Day 2 in pics (Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, NOFX, Grace Potter, Lil Wayne, Primus & more)"

Matt & Kim @ ACL 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Who would have thought back in 2006 when Matt & Kim were rising through the ranks of the Todd P Brooklyn DIY scene that one day they'd be third on a three-band tour with Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance?

As you may have heard in a commercial playing in the backseat of a cab or elsewhere, Blink 182 are going on the "Honda Civic Tour" with My Chemical Romance. Openers for that tour, which vary by date, include Manchester Orchestra, Rancid, and.... Matt & Kim. Manchester is supporting the first leg of the tour which hits NJ's PNC Bank Arts Center on August 5 and Long Island's Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on August 6 and 7, though Manchester won't open the August 7 show, as they will be at Lollapalooza. A different opener is to be announced. Pre-sale tickets are on sale now, with a general sale starting Saturday (6/11) at 10 AM. Matt & Kim open most of the dates in September and October, as you can see below.

Maybe Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, who covered "Dammit" (video below), will come out to one of the shows (thinking from her seat during the Brooklyn duo's opening set, "that should be me!"). Mark Hoppus loves Best Coast and also interviewed her boyfriend Wavves.

For now Bethany will have to be satisfied with her contributions to pop punk band New Found Glory. According to the band's website, "Today our friend Bethany from the band Best Coast came into the studio and sang vocals on one of our new songs! We are totally pumped to have her guest on our record."

Best Coast play a Planned Parenthood Benefit w/ Those Darlins at Le Poisson Rouge on June 16, two days after opening the sold out Decemberists show at Prospect Park (6/14). Tickets for the LPR show are still on sale.

Wavves open for Guided by Voices in McCarren Park on June 18th and has other dates scheduled too.

Meanwhile, Matt & Kim are on tour with The Thermals (Who ever thought the Thermals would go on tour with a band that would go on tour with Blink 182?) (though it is consistent with The Thermals' thing about always touring with bands that include at least one female member). Their Terminal 5 show together is sold out, but tickets are still on sale for the show The Thermals are headlining (without Matt & Kim) at The Bell House on July 1 with Big Troubles and (the female-fronted) EULA.

Honda Civic dates & Best Coast 182 video below...

Continue reading "Matt & Kim going on tour w/ Blink 182 & My Chemical Romance, Best Coast & Wavves are probably jealous"

by Klaus Kinski

Do you and your buddies ever throw on your cargo shorts and flip-flops and head out into the mean streets of Brooklyn for an epic brunch and, over some bloody mary's and eggs benedict, eventually end up debating the slow, gory death of old/print media at the hands new/electronic media? About the pointlessness of buying books, newspapers and magazines because it's not only a waste of natural resources but also because even hot-off-the-presses print news is already essentially centuries old because, well, the second something happens WHAM it's on the 'net? And how you can carry around over 3,000 books in your Manhattan Portage messenger bag thanks to wonderful devices like iPads and Kindles? Welp, I hate that debate and I hate you and your buddies. I am no luddite, but as a tweeter, blogger, facebooker, emailer, gchatter, and misery pod, I am still a fan of good old fashioned paper media. I can see the virtue in both sides of the argument, but the bottom line is that if we become a world without printed, glossy, tangible, foldable, "bring into the bathroom and not worry if it accidentally falls into the toilet" printed matter... well, I will kill myself.

OK, so what's my point. Why can't I just cut to the chase and not just cut the cheese? I get on these tangents. Ugh. I know! My point is that sometimes a periodical comes out that is so epic content-wise that you simply must have the hard copy and for a while pretend the internet doesn't fucking exist. Wait, no. TWO copies; one to carry around and muss up, the other to keep and cherish and never look at. Case in point? Under the Rader, Issue #36, Music vs. Comedy. If you are like me and are intrigued with the connections betwixt music and comedy, this is pretty much the most primo group of pages you could hope to see.

In the issue, indie rock musicians and comedians interview each other. The new issue features cover star Aziz Ansari and includes match-ups with The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne vs. David Cross (IFC's The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Arrested Development), Iron and Wine's Sam Beam vs. Nick Offerman (NBC's Parks & Recreation), Loney Dear's Emil Svanängen vs. Ty Burrell (ABC's Modern Family), and St. Vincent's Annie Clark vs. Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille). Ansari (Parks & Recreation) appears on the cover as David Bowie and, for the issue, he talked to both Toro Y Moi's Chaz Bundick and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek.

Other comedians interviewed in the issue include Carrie Brownstein (IFC's Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney), Donald Glover (NBC's Community), Ed Helms (NBC's The Office, The Hangover Part II), Ellie Kemper (NBC's The Office), Danny Pudi (NBC's Community), Henry Rollins (Black Flag frontman and comedian), Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up, Paper Heart), Reggie Watts (Conan), and more.

Many of the articles feature hilarious photo shoots with comedians dressed as iconic musicians: Aziz Ansari as David Bowie, LL Cool J, Harry Nilsson, and Bruce Springsteen; Ty Burrell as Joni Mitchell; David Cross as The Who's Keith Moon; Nick Offerman as Willie Nelson; Patton Oswalt as Prince (below); and Charlyne Yi as Elton John.

Reggie Watts @ the Bell House in 2010 (more by David Anrako)

The issue is a flippin' who's who of comedians and musicians I dig, but one name demands further discussion. Yep, you guessed it! BV favorite Reggie Watts yo! After headlining Music Hall of Williamsburg, tearing it up with LCD Soundsystem during their death throes, and getting a three-page spread in the aforementioned magazine, Reggie is about to hit the road for an 11 date tour that includes three NYC appearances, two of which are FREE! His first appearance is, like, tomorrow (5/25) when he opens for Matt & Kim at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

His collaborative masterpiece RADIO PLAY at PS122 was also extended through May 28th (including tomorrow, before M&K)! That means there are now more chances to see him before heads across the USA for his appearance at Sasquatch on 5/29. But then he comes back in June for the previously mentioned free show at Central Park Summerstage on 6/22 and Summerstage in Red Hook on 6/24. All tour dates and some videos below. In the mean time, check out Reggie's Daytrotter Session!

Continue reading "Reggie Watts opening for Matt & Kim, touring, in a magazine, doing more shows @ PS122 & stuff!"

alternate headline: Vampire Weekend headlining Hamptons Music Fest, go figure

Vampire Weekend @ Coachella 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

MTK: Music To Know Festival announces its inaugural line up headlined by Vampire Weekend on Saturday, August 13th and Bright Eyes on Sunday, August 14th. Other confirmed bands include Matt & Kim, Cold War Kids, Chromeo, Tame Impala, Ra Ra Riot, Fitz & The Tantrums, Tom Tom Club, Dawes, M Ward, We Are Scientists, The Limousines, Naked and Famous, Francis and the Lights, Suddyn, Nicos Gun and Young Empires -- 18 of today's most critically-acclaimed and successful new, emerging and well-known bands. The music begins at noon each day, ending at 10PM.

According to Co-Founder Chris Jones "The Hamptons are a unique market to say the least -- full of decision makers, trend setters, and taste generators who have always been eager to embrace the best and the brightest in our culture -- whether that is in literature, film, fashion or music. We are excited to bring this collection of artists together in our community, and hope this is the first of many annual events."

Without knowing how willing people are to travel to the Hamptons, how many people are already in the Hamptons, and how many tickets they need to sell (possibly only "9,500 people over both days"), it's hard to guess how successful the fest will be (from a business/longevity point of view) (Bing is a sponsor so that probably helps), but it definitely beat expectations so far (relatively speaking). More details below...

Continue reading "Music To Know Fest announces lineup (Vampire Weekend, Bright Eyes, Matt & Kim, CWK, Chromeo, M Ward, more)"

by BBG

"Hey world, we are going to be doing the last shot of our music video in the middle of the Brooklyn bridge at 6:30 today! Come and get wild!" - Matt & Kim, 5/3/2011

--
Kim of Matt & Kim reacts to the news of The Thermals playing THREE NYC-area shows around their Terminal 5 date (more by Jessica Amaya)


Seething with an unquenchable jealousy due to their future tourmates The Thermals adding THREE shows in their hometown, NYC's Matt & Kim called their agent to enact revenge, and they did it! Matt & Kim will play their own headlining show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 25th. Tickets are on Fan Club presale now, AmEx presale begins Wed (5/4) at noon, and regular sale starts Friday (and it will probably sell out much quicker than the Thermals' shows at the Bell House).

So far, no reports have come in of The Thermals reaction to the news at Maxwell's over the weekend (they probably didn't know yet), but maybe it will be a different story when they play the NYU event on Thursday (5/5) at Le Poisson Rouge (advance tickets available for NYU students only).

Matt & Kim go on tour with The Thermals a week after the MHoW show. Lets hope they settle their differences before then or at least before the pair play a sold-out Terminal 5 on June 29th. (Note: I hope you know I'm kidding about their differences.)

Look for Matt & Kim on the Brooklyn Bridge TODAY (5/3) (see above Tweet). All tour dates and some video of what happens when Matt & Kim get angry (their "Cameras" video) is below...

Continue reading "Matt & Kim filming on the Brooklyn Bridge (today), add Brooklyn show (on fan club presale now)"

The Thermals @ Irving Plaza in 2010 (more by Alexis Maindrault)

The previously mentioned Thermals/Matt & Kim show at Terminal 5 (tickets on sale now) is actually part of a full blown tour which kicks off after the Sasquatch Festival, and will also include DJ Autobot from Flosstradamus who "will be carrying the nonstop dance party through the evening and between bands".

Before then, the Thermals are heading to Europe, and Matt & Kim are hitting SXSW to play both the Woodie Awards and the Fader Fort (note: they are touring in support of their Sidewalks album which is out on the Fader label). All tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals & Matt & Kim --- 2011 Tour Dates"

Matt & Kim at Webster Hall (more by Jessica Amaya)

Matt & Kim play the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ on March 20th, and the perky (or is that spelled pesky?) duo have added another NYC-area show at Terminal 5 on June 29 and with The Thermals. Tickets go on AMEX presale Wed (3/2) at noon, and regular sale on Friday. All tour dates below.

The Thermals dropped the Not Like Any Other Feeling 7" which is currently available via Kill Rock Stars Records. Their previous Never Listen To Me 7" is also available.

All tour dates, and a recent video for Matt & Kim's "Cameras" below.

Continue reading "Matt & Kim touring, playing T5 w/ the Thermals (dates)"

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

Doveman (more by Tim Griffin)

today in NYC
* Slow/Fast @ Barbes
* Trevor Dunn @ The Stone
* Slick Rick @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Chilly Gonzales @ Joe's Pub
* Smokey Hormel's Round-Up @ Barbes
* MWE, Deli Kanli, Zikrayat @ Zebulon
* Led Zeppelin 2 @ Gramercy Theatre
* Steel Phantoms, Crum @ Cameo Gallery
* Rhett Miller, Bobby Bare Jr. @ City Winery
* Blitz The Ambassador @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
* Janka Nabay, SAADI, Brenmar @ Santos Party House
* Beacon, Food Stamps, Lost Boy?, Kosovo @ Glasslands
* Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven @ Highline Ballroom
* Hoots & Hellmouth, The Ramblers @ Mercury Lounge
* Trap Them, Black Anvil, All Pigs Must Die @ Union Pool
* Black Tape For A Blue Girl, Plushgun @ Knitting Factory
* Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, Ingrid Laubrock Trio @ The Stone
* Lake of Blood, Seidr, Castavet, Falls of Rauros @ The Acheron
* Glass Candy, Chromatics, Desire, Mike Simonetti @ Webster Hall
* Anamanaguchi, Peelander-Z, Starscream @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Air Sex World Championships: East Coast Regionals @ Mercury Lounge
* Katie Gavin, Galia Arad, Driftwood, Sasha Dobson @ The Living Room
* Doveman, Sam Amidon, Glen Hansard, Beth Orton @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Radical Dads, Old Monk, Emil & Friends, Ravens & Chimes @ Cake Shop
* Shark?, Bridges and Powerlines, Creeping Weeds, The Aye-Ayes, WOLFF @ Pianos
* Fergus & Geronimo, Easter Vomit, Widowspeak, Dry Feet @ Death By Audio
* Liturgy, Controlled Bleeding, Weasel Walters Cellular Chaos, PAK, Diablo @ SilentBarn
* the Snow, Lucinda Black Bear, Patrick Bower & the World Without Magic @ Rock Shop
* Matt & Kim (DJ), AraabMuzik, Nacey, Activaire DJs @ American Museum of Natural History
* Monogold, Grandchildren, Bronze, Tiny Victories, The Stationary Set, The Young Friends, We Are Hex, TRTL @ Public Assembly

Matt & Kim are DJIng One Step Beyond tonight.

People are having sex with air at Mercury Lounge.

A Place to Bury Strangers remixed Holy Fuck's "Red Lights" and it has a video which you can watch below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

photos by Jessica Amaya

"Matt & Kim shuttin it down!! @ Webster Hall" - Bryan Lam

"Matt and Kim concert. It's time to get crazy in NYC!" - Erik Segura

Despite their constant movement into the audience, onto their equipment and up the scaffolding that held up their light setup, Matt & Kim placed their instruments as close together as the 9:30 Club stage would allow. Their hyperactivity made Sleigh Bells look like slackers and the onstage chemistry was oh-so-cute -- except when it wasn't.

After a short time, it became clear that although Matt & Kim have released two albums and have material ready for a third, all of their songs are pretty much variations on their big hits, "Yea Yeah" and "It's a Fact." All have loud and fast drumbeats, loud and fast keyboards and loud and fast keyboards -- usually with the same chord progressions. But in case anyone got sick of hearing the same "BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM" over and over again, Matt & Kim broke up their own set with samples from stadium staples like Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" and DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat." Adding the jock jams seemed appropriate given that Matt Johnson kept breathing heavily between songs, as if constantly between sprints. The band's bright light setup also added to the illusion that we were really at some overstimulating pep rally. -[DCist]

Matt & Kim's spunky NYC run is over (they're in Rochester tonight) (all dates below), but The So So Glos have another date in town tonight (10/28): they play a free show at Matchless with Titus Andronicus.

Matt & Kim's new album Sidewalks is out 11/2 (iTunes). "Matt and Kim fans around the country have been busy creating art on these postcards, distributed at festivals over the Summer, and sending them into m and k headquarters." Those postcards were compiled into a promotional video which you can watch under the rest of the pictures and videos from Webster Hall, and other stuff, below...

Continue reading "Matt & Kim played 2 nights @ Webster Hall w/ the So So Glos & Donnis (pics & video ) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Night fell down on Austin Town and it figured it'd be a busy night. And with The xx and Temper Trap setting the table for LCD Soundsystem, Gogol Bordello, Monsters of Folk, Deadmau5, Matt & Kim, MIA and Muse, Saturday did indeed set it self up to be remembered as ACL 2010's strongest.

Except for the part where MIA screwed things up during her set...

...M.I.A.'s set saw plenty of anticipation on the west end of the fairgrounds, but little payoff: The first song saw didn't even see Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam on stage, and, though she came out for the second, that first song worked as a fitting metaphor for her entire mumbled performance.

Here's the thing about performing in festivals, especially on a main stage: Very few people actually see the performers; they rely on the accompanying video screens to share the visual side of the performance. But rather than the performer (or any of her five packing dancers or DJ) , M.I.A.'s screen showed illustrations. M.I.A., meanwhile, spent minimal time in her set's early going on stage, instead opting to interact o the grass in front of her closest fans. An admirable offering, perhaps, but it left the rest of her crowd in the dark, straining their necks to see her dancers or maybe just the neon "Maya" sign that served as her backdrop.

Her vocals weren't helping matters, either. They were already mixed too low, and Maya, for the most part, mumbled her way through the proceedings. Audiences thinned out--only to be pulled back in once the video screens finally--mercifully--showed the performer stalking the stage, and performing her biggest hit, "Paper Planes." [Dallas Observer]

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 2 in pics (Monsters of Folk, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Broken Bells, deadmau5, Muse & more)"

photos by Chris Graham

Pavement @ Sasquatch Fest 2010

The above-pictured Pavement show took place in May 2010 (and wasn't free). In September, Pavement will play Virgin Mobile FreeFest (and it is free)....

"Breaking from traditional festivals, the Virgin Mobile FreeFest presented by Kyocera unveiled its lineup for the award-winning festival, selecting relevant, important, and eclectic headliners to represent this year's free show. This morning, Chairman of the Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson announced the lineup on Virgin Mobile Live, the company's new Internet music stream available on Virgin Mobile websites.

The lineup will include:

M.I.A., LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, PAVEMENT, T.I., LUDACRIS, JOAN JETT, THIEVERY CORPORATION, MATT & KIM, JIMMY EAT WORLD, THE TEMPER TRAP, EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, AND YEASAYER;

DANCE FOREST: CHROMEO, SLEIGH BELLS, DIE ANTWOORD, MODESELEKTOR, AND NEON INDIAN

Not bad for a free show (and yet another Pavement show!). More details, with the full set of pictures of Pavement playing this year's Sasquatch Fest, below...

Continue reading "Virgin Mobile FreeFest lineup +++ Pavement Sasquatch pics "

Stillwell Stage photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

"To close out the night, fans had the option of checking out Matt and Kim at the main stage or Holy Fuck at the alternate stage. The choice was clear, I went with the latter, and they easily turned out to be my favorite performance of the night. Their weird, intellectualized sound came to the forefront for the masses to witness firsthand and it's quite the process. With film reels rolling and making glorious sounds, lead singer Brian Borcherdt sporadically took the mic, shoved it between his teeth, and danced just as hard as any of the onlookers. It was clearly the most-lively show of the night. Holy Fuck as a satisfying headliner for the bill was a question on many people's minds, so the band had some expectations to live up to, but they totally thrived on those exact expectations and exceeded them tenfold. Even though the event was fully sponsored/curated, Holy Fuck performed in all aspects with the heart of any DIY performer." [Neon Musical Insight]

Continue reading "Siren Fest 2010 in pictures (part 3) (Holy Fuck, the rest of the Stillwell Stage, more Ted Leo, Mabee & more)"

Caribou @ Governors Island Friday night (more by Andrew St Clair)

As previously mentioned, Matt & Kim, who played the Siren Festival on Saturday, will play two shows at Webster Hall in October. Both are on sale now. All dates below.

Caribou, who played Governors Island on Friday, also added a show at Webster Hall today. That's happening on September 22nd, and tickets go on sale Friday at noon. Caribou play the Midpoint Music Festival in Ohio on September 24th.

Kele from Bloc Party rescheduled a show at Webster Hall today.

Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit plays there on August 13th (he opens for Deer Tick who play Maxwell's tonight).

All Caribou and Matt & Kim dates below....

Continue reading "Caribou & Matt & Kim add Webster Hall & other shows (dates)"

Siren photos by Dominick Mastrangelo, ocean afterparty photos by Laura June Kirsch

Kim getting freaky w/ the crowd

Marissa Paternoster joined Ted Leo on stage

"Punk rock singer-songwriter Ted Leo and his band spurred fans into fits of unison clapping and extravagant crowd surfing (one guy held up a beach umbrella while being passed around like a prison bitch), while performing "The Sons of Cain," "Even Heroes Have Die," and "Where Was My Brain?". During one song, Screaming Females lead singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster (who performed at Siren earlier in the day) joined the Pharmacists as a guest vocalist. The short-lived duet was a treat considering the fact that I missed the Screaming Females set." [Yeah Develop]

As you can hear in one of the videos I posted yesterday, Matt invited the crowd to join him for a swim in the ocean after his and Kim's headlining set at the Siren Festival in Coney Island on Saturday. As you can see above (and below) it really did happen.

In related news, Matt & Kim have just announced two headlining shows at Webster Hall (October 26 & 27). Tickets are on sale now.

More pictures of the swim, along with all the bands who played on the main stage, below...

Continue reading "more pictures of the 2010 Siren Festival (and of Matt & Kim & friends running into the ocean afterwards) "

photos by Jessica Amaya

Molly Siegel (with a mysterious bulge) & Screaming Marissa Paternoster

"it was very hot out. i was covers in sand and sweat, it was not too nice. but it was fun just to go to coney island and to people watch..im a bit fan of that. also siri of ringo, have a banana has a boyfriend alex who is in the pains of being pure at heart, who played the show. i got to see her, we ran into each other while getting pinkberry from the booth they had set up. we were supposed to meet up after alex's band played and packed up, but my friend started feeling sick, and we were very uncomfortable and in desperate need of ice cold showers so we left a bit early."
[it girl, rag doll]

Continue reading "Siren Fest 2010 in pics & video (part 1) "

The schedule (above). The pre-party flyer... (below)

Continue reading "Siren Festival announces schedule & Monotonix/Brahms preparty (Matt & Kim headlining the whole fest) "

the Night Marchers @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009 (more)

The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, is excited to announce the addition of THE NIGHT MARCHERS, CYMBALS EAT GUITARS, EARL GREYHOUND, SCREAMING FEMALES and WYE OAK to the line-up for the 10th Annual SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL at Coney Island, NYC on Saturday, July 17, 2010 from 12:00 noon - 9:00 p.m. These artists join scheduled performers MATT AND KIM, TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS, THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART, SURFER BLOOD and HARLEM with more to be announced.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in historic Coney Island, SIREN has solidified its status as a leading New York City outdoor music festival, drawing over 100,000 music fans each year. With over 120 bands making their mark at SIREN over the last decade, this year will recognize SIREN's roots with the first ever return of past performers. MATT AND KIM and TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS will be heading back to the SIREN stage to celebrate. This free, all ages, all day festival is not to be missed.

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

"This year, we proudly celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Siren Festival. In the history of the our free Coney Island corndog bonanza, no band has ever played Siren twice. This was a conscious decision on behalf of our fearless festival founder and organizer, who long ago decided that if this crazy all-ages, free show thing ever reached ten years, Siren would rehost some of its best performers." [Village Voice]

Continue reading "VV Coney Island Siren Festival announces initial 2010 lineup "

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

Gorillaz Clash

The third and final round of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was funky, and not just because the port-a-potties reeked. Keeping a loose theme every day (see Friday & Saturday), Sunday focused on relentless rhythm and groovy basslines. The absolute golden moment belonged to Yo La Tengo's blistering final song. Rhythm that revels in repetition + guitar that tries to destroy itself = wee mind blown. Sometimes the moodiest things are the most uplifting.

Thom Yorke brought his dancing shoes, his favorite Flea, and Nigel Godrich. His band Atoms For Peace played almost every song off The Eraser, many of which featured strong world rhythm sections. When Yorke didn't have a guitar in hand, he danced, whirled, and punched the air like he was rehearsing a scene from Fame. We wanted a high kick, but it didn't arrive. King Khan & The Shrines, on the other hand, featured legs flying all over the place, DJ Lance Rock and Yo Gabba Gabba characters, burning money, as well as a visit from the police-who crept on stage to snap pictures. Probably the first time Khan runs into cops and doesn't leave wearing cuffs. Sunny Day Real Estate had the audience offering bids to buy property, and Phoenix had people choking on dinner as they tried to dance and eat at the same time.

King Khan Gabba Gabba

Not every Julian Casablancas song captivated, but his band delightfully binged on rhythms. Each musician had a personal backbeat player supporting each fill. The drummer plus his sidekick especially sounded great. Matt & Kim's ebullient smiles inspired chaos in the audience, as usual. Mayer Hawthorne and the County revived Motown soulful brassiness and covered Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." The Big Pink played some new songs from next year's album, reaching out for Depeche Mode with a drummer in a pink bathing suit. Electro sweet popper Little Boots forgot her pants as well, wearing a sparkly shirt and knickers, and played with the lasers on stage. Charlotte Gainsbourg inaugurated her "first tour, first everything" with a feminine "Candy-O" sensibility, sometimes in French. Florence & the Machine rounds out the great lady performances of the day, and brought on Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids.

All clad in white, France's DJ ego-powers Club 75 demonstrated the ability to cooperate together with just a few elbows thrown. Cassius, Justice, Busy P, and DJ Mehdi still use CD's (so old school), and took turns passing on the headphones between them and finishing each other's remix sentences, trading places at each station. Backstage security bobbed along while staying tough. When it was their turn, Rusko turned the Sahara tent into a mechazoid robot battle and Orbital live-produced virtual reality anthems for Satan wearing Matrix miner lights around their heads. Infected Mushroom instructed on the benefits of "Becoming Insane" flanked by two mushrooms with red eyes.

The Middle East should not be confused with The Soft Pack, formerly The Muslims. The former may be from Australia but it sounds like a back porch band from Woodstock, and the latter offers a "Parasite" infestation that's as pure as sunshine and a neat drum set up that packs a giant tom punch. What appears as regular rock on headphones reveals its brilliance when experienced live. One of the strangest live moments of the festival belongs to Sly Stone, who played four hours late and on the wrong stage. He bitched, he slurred, he cursed, lay down, walked off, stopped songs and good grief, made a total mess of himself. But that's rock and roll.

Sly Stone made history look unable to get past its youthful drug phase, but Jonsi, Pavement, and Spoon come from a music scene that did a little bit less cocaine. Jonsi repped the awesomeness of Sigur Rós and great hats. Steve Patterson of White Rabbits joined Britt Daniels and the rest of Spoon to add percussion on "I Turn My Camera On". Spoon's tour-mate Bradford Cox (who played earlier in the day in Deerhunter) also joined Spoon on stage, like he did on their recent Kimmel appearance. Pavement ran through the hits during one of their first U.S. shows since reuniting. "That's the 90's in a nutshell," said Stephen Malkmus after the angsty "Unfair"...

"...Pavement, the iconic slacker band of the '90s, who took the main stage against what turned out to be one of the fest's chief attractions, the finally wildly popular French dance-rock band Phoenix, who wowed possibly the biggest crowd of the entire fest ... while Pavement played to a field half-full of true believers rather than the massive throngs many expected, and thought the band deserved.

No matter, though. Pavement still delivered a set that vindicated the group of prior crimes -- namely a Coachella performance near the end of their career so notoriously bad, many in attendance point to it as the moment the band decided to break up.

This night, however, they were tight, they were loud, and they sounded large on that vast field -- an odd statement, given the fact that in their heyday they were far more known for being introspectively small rather than arena-ready..." [The OC Register]

Radiohead Peppers For Peace

Daiana's Weekend Top 10:
1. Yo La Tengo's last song
2. Little Dragon's Yukimi
3. Gossip leading a revolution
4. Thom Yorke dancing to African rhythms
5. PiL giving a history lesson
6. Sly Stone wigging out
7. Bouncing penises + fat people in undies (Die Antwoord + Major Lazer)
8. Devo putting on the hats that ushered in modern pop culture for "Whip It"
9. John Waters corrupting many young minds
10. The Gorrilaz lyric: "Super fast jellyfish going super fast. You can't even see him but you wanna eat him."

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Owen Pallett, Local Natives, Miike Snow, and Yann Tiersen also played the fest Sunday. Gary Numan was among those who couldn't. Reviews & pictures from Day One, HERE and Day Two, HERE. Setlists (Thom Yorke and Pavement), pictures, and videos from Day Three, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day Three in pics, video & review (the Thom Yorke & Pavement setlists included) "