DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - The Fade (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - Kaufman's Ballad (MP3)

Megafaun mixing a new EP

Brad from Megafaun formed a cover band with St. Vincent and Justin Vernon at the BV/BP Haiti benefit at MHOW in January. He'll be back on the road with his twangy Megafaun brethren this March and April. We previously mentioned an April 2nd Megafaun show at Mercury Lounge. War on Drugs open that show. Tickets are on sale.

Their other NYC show, April 3rd at Union Pool, will be opened by Sharon Van Etten, who travels for a week with the tour. After she departs, fragile, harmonizing trio Breathe Owl Breathe join Megafaun on the road.

Megafaun have a new EP on the way, the progess of which they're documenting on their Tumblr. The songs above are from their 2009 record, Gather, Form & Fly. All tour dates and some video are below...

Continue reading "Megafaun - 2010 tour dates & new album progress"

photos by Paul Birman

"Thanks to everyone who came to the BV Haiti benefit last night. You made it really special." - St. Vincent

"St. Vincent and Justin Vernon performing together was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen/heard." - Steph Lo

Wyatt Cenac was funny. Then came Britt Daniel (of Spoon) with White Rabbits frontman Stephen Patterson. They had such a good time on stage together, you can tell they were buds. Janeane Garofalo came next - she has the smartest humor and is a strong rooted New Yorker. Made a ton of jokes about the L train and hipsters which the crowd took very warmly to. Gosh she's tiny. St Vincent went on and sounded like the lovely thing she is. Someone yelled while she was setting up 'show us your bush'????', In which she replied, 'that is the strangest thing someone has ever said to me...on or off stage'. Adorable. Following her was Zach Galifianakis who everyone was undeniably waiting for. It really looked like he just rolled out of bed, picked up some papers from a table and walked on stage totally winging his whole act...hilarious. Alas came Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). His voice sounded just as amazing it does on record. The room was at its most quiet during "Flume". Unreal. He was the last act but did say something about a special guest - I heard it was Megafaun/My Brightest Diamond (had to leave early), which I imagine rounded out the benefit nicely. Really awesome that these guys all came together"...
[Stadiums & Shrines]

Thanks for that partial recap S&S. You should have gotten there earlier and stayed later though!

The night opened with a great debut set by singer-songwriter John Shade (previously Dave Godowsky) who brought out Justin Vernon on drums for two songs. Before and after John, and between every set of the night, came comedy by our two able hosts: Bobby Tisdale and Leo Allen. St Vincent's set included a National and a Nico cover. Justin covered John Prine. Britt Daniel did three songs, which was one less than he played at Sound Fix a few hours earlier.

And yep, the special guest after/during Justin's set was in fact Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) who (after headlining Bowery Ballroom one night earlier) played two jaw dropping numbers - one with Colin Stetson on his most-insane giant saxophone, and a cover of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore".

But it didn't end there. A supergroup called Songer Singwriter featuring Annie, Justin, drummer, and Brad from Megafaun came back to close the night off right with a set of four more covers. Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Tom Petty's "Face in the Crowd" (with Brad on lead), Dolly Parton's "Jolene", and Annie Lennox's "Why". Each of those final covers was better than the next. To quote one of my tweets, "To quote my friend, 'Sounds like sonic youth playing a dolly parton song. Sick!' and now Annie Lennox Why! Full room Bon Iver singalong".

We ran almost non-stop for 3.5 hours straight (8-11:30), and raised over $20,000. I'm still waiting for an exact number. More pictures (one of two sets we have) and some videos from the show, below....

Continue reading "Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon, St Vincent, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo & others raised money for Haiti @ MHOW - pics & video "

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the recently-added Charlotte Gainsbourg show at Hiro Ballroom. Tickets are also still on sale for the two shows at the Bell House.

Laura Veirs is playing Mercury Lounge on February 15th. Tickets are on sale.

Megafaun are playing Mercury Lounge on April 2nd. Tickets are now on AmEx presale.

Ulrich Schnauss plays the Bell House on February 25th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets for the Murder City Devils show at Nokia are still on sale.

Cursive/Alkaline Trio tickets are on pre-sale.

More Wilco tickets are going on presale at noon.

Dam-Funk, Nada Surf, xx, jj, Xiu Xiu, Tune-Yards, Japandroids & other tickets are on sale too.

Modeselektor @ Bowery Ballroom in January (more by Zach Dilgard)

vs

tonight in NYC
* NY Comedy Festival
* Jookabox @ Bruar Falls
* Vijay Iyer Trio @ Jazz Standard
* The Glorytellers, Ida @ Union Hall
* Radical Sons, Your Nature @ Cake Shop
* Tahiti 80 & Soulico @ Mercury Lounge
* Modeselektor @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band @ MSG
* The XYZ Affair, Poor But Sexy @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Fixed w/ Basement Jaxx (DJ) @ Santos Party House
* Sharon Van Etten, Natureboy, Rey Villalobos @ Union Pool
* Crystal Stilts, Grass Widow, The Beets @ Brooklyn Museum
* Brother Ali, Evidence, Toki Wright, BK One @ Irving Plaza
* Osso Quartet, Sufjan Steven's The BQE (film) @ The Bell House
* Idea Fire Company, Infinity Window, Sons of God @ Issue Project Room
* The Helz, Me You Us Them, Dinowalrus, Exit Clov @ Santos Party House
* Dougle Negative, Pollution, Prsms, Passive Aggressor @ The Charleston
* Vader, Decrepit Birth, Warbringer, The Amenta, Augury @ Gramercy Theater
* Carsick Cars, P.K.14, Xiao He, BJ Rubin, Knyfe Hyts @ Santos Party House
* Double Dagger, Black Wine, Night Birds, Dope Body, Modern Hut @ Maxwell's
* Emanuel And The Fear, Peasant, Darla Farmer, Boy Crisis, Das Racist @ 3rd Ward
* Grass Window, Small Black, Pictureplane, Girls at Dawn, Cale Parks @ Market Hotel

Lots of free stuff at the Brooklyn Museum today.

Megafaun is playing today at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.

The Boss will be playing a full album at Madison Square Garden tonight. Mariska Hargitay has tickets.

Don't forget
tickets are on sale for the 2010 season of Lincoln Center's American Songbook.

Fun Fun Fun Fest is happening in Austin. Today's full, four stage schedule below.

The Bitters played Market Hotel last night. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

photos by Darren Kim

"Those of you reading outside of Los Angeles might need a primer on the cemetery. It's situated in the middle of Hollywood, shares a southern border with the Paramount Studios lot, is this incredibly peaceful and quiet place a five minute drive from downtown Hollywood. Among the American royalty enshrined on the grounds are Charlie Chaplin, Mel Blanc, Cecil B. DeMille, John Huston, Art Pepper, Yma Sumac, Johnny Ramone and Eva Tanguay. Amidst the tombstones are gorgeous mausoleums, quiet ponds, elegant statues and a building with a vast white wall the exact size of a movie screen. For much of the year the ownership opens its gates for film screenings.

So starting at midnight the cemetery and Bon Iver's founder, singer and songwriter, Justin Vernon, programmed an all-night event that culminated in a two-hour performance by Bon Iver. The evening went as follows:

12 a.m.: Doors
12:30 a.m.: Bon Iver DJ Set I (see full set list below)
2 a.m.: The Feature Film: Bottle Rocket
3:30 a.m. Bon Iver DJ Set II (see full set list below)
4 a.m.: Documentary Film: Planet Earth (Jungles)
5:15 a.m.: Blessing of Audience and Stage by Buddhist Monks
5:45 a.m.: Bon Iver Performs
[LA Weekly]"

Darren Kim (our photographer) arrived at 4:15am Sunday morning (9/27). It was "foggy as hell". As you can see in the pictures, people were spread out on blankets and in sleeping bags on a large grass field like a giant slumber party. Before 5:00, Darren wandered over to visit Johnny Ramone. Amazingly, there at the grave was a black cat just hanging out (you can see in the pics). At 5:15 the monks came on like like a giant alarm that woke everyone in time for the sunrise show, though you couldn't actually see the sun ("it just got whiter").

As the fog slowly cleared and daylight began to break, Bon Iver played an absolutely perfect set, hitting all of their songs. I have to believe even the dead people buried nearby appreciated the resonating beauty of his music, mostly from For Emma, Forever Ago, and some newer work. Justin made a disclaimer that unlike most bands, he would not be playing an encore. "We're a young band still. We don't have that many songs yet." And sure enough a few songs later, about an hour and fifteen minutes after the set began, he said, "This is the last song we know how to play. I'm a little embarrassed," before launching into a beautiful, eerie version of "Wolves," with everyone joining in on the chorus. [Indie Muse]

Megafaun was in the house and also joined Bon Iver on stage.

More pictures, some videos, and the three Bon Iver setlists, below...

Continue reading "Bon Iver @ sunrise, monks, a black cat & the ghost (grave) of Johnny Ramone in a Hollywood cemetery - pics, video, setlist "

photos by Kurt Christensen

DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - Beneath Your Tree (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - Northern Lights (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - The Fade (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - Kaufman's Ballad (MP3)

Bowerbirds are supporting their new album Uppper Air (released 7/7) out on tour now. Joining them on all dates are Megafaun whose new album Gather, Form & Fly will be released by Hometapes on 7/21. A whole bunch of MP3's from both albums above. And for even more free music, check out Bowerbirds' new Daytrotter session.

Last night (7/8), the two bands played Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Tonight (7/9), Megafaun "+ special guests" play at Monkeytown in Brooklyn. Bowerbirds (also?) played Monkeytown when they were here in April.

More pictures from the Bowery show, as well as video from "a Studio B session for their local NBC affiliate in Raleigh, NC", and video from "the beautiful Stadtpark in Vienna, Austria" where they "played a few selections from their new album", and all dates, below...

Continue reading "Bowerbirds played Bowery Ballroom w/ Megafaun (pics), in a park (video), 'Studio B' (video) & for Daytrotter (MP3s)"

DOWNLOAD: Bowerbirds - Northern Lights (MP3)

Bowerbirds @ Mercury Lounge (more by Chris La Putt)

NORTHERN LIGHTS LYRICS:
I don't need, from you, a waterfall of careless praise, and I don't need a trophy for all the games I've played. All I want is your eyes, in the morning as we wake, for a short while. I don't need you to catch my wandering mind, and I don't expect a southern girl to know the northern lights. All I want is your eyes, in the morning as we wake, for a short while. And I do need the wind across my pale face. And I do need the ferns to unfurl in the spring. And I do need the grass to sway. Yes, I do need to know my place. But all I want is your eyes, in the morning as we wake, for a short while.

[New album] Upper Air will be released on July 7th (July 6th in the UK) and in support of their new long player, Bowerbirds will be touring far and wide across North America. Opening for Bowerbirds on all dates will be Megafaun.

"Northern Lights" appears on that new album. Download it above.

The NYC show on the new tour will take place at Bowery Ballroom on July 8th. Tickets just went on AmEx presale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Bowerbirds - new MP3 & 2009 tour dates (Bowery Ballroom)"

Akron/Family curates New Year's Eve! Featuring performances by Deerhoof, Akron/Family, Dirty Projectors, Deer Tick, Megafaun, tons more & very special surprise guests - a full-club farewell to the Leonard Street Knit! - Knitting Factory

Tickets are $35 and ON SALE NOW.

If you haven't been following along, this will also be the last show at Knitting Factory's Manhattan location, ever. Infinity Window is one of the tons more.