Devendra Banhart at Webster Hall (more by Vincent Cornelli)

Devendra Banhart and the Grogs will team up with Adam Green at Terminal Five THURSDAY (8/19, tickets) and we have a pair of tickets available for giveaway. Details on how to win are below.

Devendra doesn't have an album on the way, but is involved in the release of the highly anticipated (and recently leaked) new Swans LP My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. The LP, due on September 27 via Gira's Young God Records, sees Banhart contributing vocals to old label honcho, alongside Bill Rieflin, Grasshopper (Mercury Rev), and Gira's 3 1/2 year old daughter Saoirse. They all lend their helping hand to the release. Stream the new song "Eden Prison" below, and get tickets to their show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple on 10/8. The Bowery Ballroom show scheduled for the next day is now sold out.

Devendra Banhart also contributed to the new Zach Hill solo record, and recently teamed up with Beck for a song to the recently released Life During Wartime, the new movie from the king of awkward hilarity, Todd Solondz (see Happiness, Welcome To The Dollhouse, etc).

The Banhart/Beck song, with lyrics written by Solondz, is streaming, along with the Swans song, Zach Hill album tracklist, all tour dates (including a UK trek with Arcade Fire) and contest details, below...

Continue reading "Devendra Banhart on new Swans, Zach Hill & 'Life During Wartime' soundtrack - touring, in NY Thursday (win tix) "

Sunday in Phoenicia, NY

Dean Wareham (with help from Britta) is about to kick off the first dates of his upcoming sorta-tour where he'll be "playing Galaxie 500". The August 19th Bowery Ballroom show, and the secret show at The Rock Shop on August 18th, have both sold out, but Dean has added yet another NYC show happening on December 17th at Music Hall of Williamsburg (four months after the Bowery show for those counting). It's also billed as "Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500" and Tickets go on sale Friday, August 20th at noon.

Updated tour dates, and a video from Sunday's free porch show in Phoenecia (where Dean & Britta performed with Jonathan Donahue & Grasshopper of Mercury Rev), below...

Continue reading "Dean Wareham adds more Galaxie 500 shows, played a porch in Phoenicia w/ Mercury Rev members (video) "

words & photos by Alexandra Marvar, more photos by Claire Bennnett, Gabe Soria & Sonam Zoksang

Roadside Graves @ Truck America

"After 12 years America got its first taste of Truck at a resort in the Catskills about three hours outside of New York City. A more modest affair in size and lineup than the forthcoming Truck in Steventon this July, the Full Moon resort was perfectly situated for the comparatively small event.

The entire weekend made for a remarkably relaxed experience. While the weather in the Catskills in early May is usually akin to that of Oxfordshire in the summer, the days were unseasonably warm and the nights crisp, making sitting in an unheated converted barn after midnight a pleasant experience." [Clash]

Alexandra Marvar, who performed at British Truck festival offshoot TRUCK AMERICA this past weekend with the Mercury Rev orchestra, and with Common Prayer, reviews the fest's highlights with accompanying pictures. Check it out below...

Continue reading "The Truck America Festival in pics & review"

The Sadies...

Truck America is a 3day festival (april 30-may 2) held up in the catskill mountains @ the full moon resort in big indian, ny. the truck family has been putting on festivals and gatherings in the UK for the past 13 years and have just made the jump to the american market. mercury rev (with a full orchestra), white rabbits, here we go magic, ida, the joy formidable and neil halstead are just a few of the confirmed live performances. in addition to lots of live music, they're also going to have handfuls of workshops, kids activities and late night campfire singalongs. weekend pass is only $120 and includes 3 nights of campsite access and parking (day tickets also available). if camping isn't your thing, accommodations are also available at the resort as well as meal packages.

The full lineup is below and tickets are on sale.

Before then there are a pair of "warm up shows" happening in NYC. The first is tonight (4/21) at The Bell House and features all bands also playing the festival: Atlantic/Pacific (ex-Texas is the Reason), Dusty & The Dreaming Spires (Robin & Joe from Goldrush/Truck), Oxygen Ponies and Cat Martino. The second happens April 26th at Matchless, with The Caulfield Sisters and the Truck Family All Stars (members of Common Prayer, Dusty & The Dreaming Spires & Hopewell).

Sixties-style rockers The Sadies will be one of the bands at Truck America. They also have a new album, Darker Circles, out May 18th at Yep Roc. Their tour dates take them across Canada and down the West Coast, where they play a few shows with Kurt Vile. Back east, Vile plays a release show for his new 12" EP Square Shells, which comes out at the end of May on Matador, at Union Pool on June 18th. Joining him will be Meg Baird and Mad Scene.

The full lineup for Truck America and other tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Truck America's full lineup, NYC warm-up shows, new Sadies album & tour dates, a Kurt Vile EP & show & stuff"

Truck America, the first US version of the 13-years-running UK fest, will take place Friday, April 30th to Sunday, May 2nd at The Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, NY (map), a little less than three hours from NYC. Confirmed bands include White Rabbits, Hopewell, Tim Easton, The Sadies, Ida, The Joy Formidable, Neil Halstead, The Silent League, Cat Martino, Common Prayer, Oxygen Ponies, Brandon Patton, Atlantic/Pacific, Dusty & The Dreaming Spires, The Shoestring Band and headliner Mercury Rev. Tickets are on sale now online (and details on where to get tickets in person are below).

The three-day, three-stage fest will have on-site accomodations, workshops and more. Details and poster are below...

Continue reading "Truck America comes to Big Indian, NY in 2010 - lineup includes Mercury Rev, White Rabbits, Neil Halstead, more"

DOWNLOAD: Black Francis - All in My Mind (Love & Rockets) (MP3)

I would like to apologize to the Breeders for saying they would not sell out. I was a jerk about it and am truly sorry. I also apologize to their fans I may have offended with my stupid insensitive comments. Hope you liked the show.-Anonymous

The Breeders @ The Paradise in Boston 8/17 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

"Come one come all-I'm work shopping new introductions bare with me-Welcome to the 18th installment of the Jay Porks Never Ending concert series. Tonight brings us to the 'Sold Out' Bowery Ballroom at 6 Delancey St. in New York City. The Bowery is a venue that's been on my radar for a while, considering that the Bowery owns(or at least sponsors) most of the venues I attend for concerts in the city. Tonight the headliner, the band I'm here to see is the one, the only, THE BREEDERS." [The Jay Porks Blog]

The Breeders completed their two-night run at Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night (8/19). More on that soon.

On the horizon, Kim & Kelley Deal will be singing as part of The Long Count at BAM this fall, and Kim will be playing with her other band the Pixies, when they play NYC on their Doolittle tour this November.

Co-Pixie Frank Black recently contributed a track to New Tales To Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets, which came out Tuesday (Aug 18th) on Justice Records. Frank's track from that, "All in My Mind", off L&R's 1986 album Express, is posted above for your downloading pleasure.

He didn't appear at the release party/show on August 18th at the Ben Sherman store in Soho, but he will be at the show for, another tribute comp, Ciao My Shining Star - The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, which happens Sunday, September 20th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Also appearing at the concert will be Joseph Arthur, David Berkeley and more. Non-musical guests (of sorts) include the premiere of the Thom Yorke video "All For The Best" and a reading by graphic novelist Ben Katchor. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

Joseph Arthur also has a series of shows coming up at City Winery.

That Mulcahy comp also has a slightly more personal story, via FrankBlack.net...

We have some sad news from a friend of our website and of FBF, Mark Mulcahy. Some of you might recognize the name as the singer/songwriter behind Miracle Legion and Polaris [of the soundtrack to Pete & Pete among other things], both of which featured Catholics David McCafferey and Scott Boutier, or perhaps you recognize the name from the liner notes of Christmass, as Mark provided backing vocals for both "Radio Lizards" and "Don't Get Me Wrong." Or maybe, like me, you saw Mark open for the Pixies in Atlantic City in 2005. Regardless, Mark's wife recently passed away, leaving him as a single dad to two small children. Some friends and admirers, including our Frank Black Francis, have recorded some of Mark's songs for a tribute record called Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.

That record comes out September 29th on Shout! Factory records, and includes contributions from The National, Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur Jr., Vic Chesnutt and Elvis Perkins. In addition to the names on the tracklist, below, 20 additional cuts will be released digitally. Look for a London concert to be announced as well.

Radiohead has a new song out now (two actually).

The tracklist and art work for both tribute albums are posted below...

Continue reading "Breeders played Bowery, Frank Black playing Mark Mulcahy show @ MHOW (tix), on Love & Rockets tribute comp (MP3) "

Mercury Rev announced even more tour dates since the last time we checked in with them. That includes a show on December 7th at Highline Ballroom in NYC. It's one of a few dates they'll be playing with Luna's Dean & Britta who also still have one more show coming up at the Zipper Factory in NYC this month. Tickets for the December Highline show show are on sale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Mercury Rev & Dean & Britta - 2008 Tour Dates (Highline)"

DOWNLOAD: Mercury Rev - Senses on Fire (MP3)

As previously announced, Mercury Rev have two shows (in one night) coming up at The Stone in NYC....

Mercury Rev, long known for their pioneering work in experimental music, have confirmed two performances for Sept. 10 at The Stone, John Zorn's lower east side outpost for the avant-garde. The show, curated by Foetus front man Jim Thirlwell, will see Mercury Rev joined by Brooklyn's Feedtank, a collective of digital artists using new technologies to create playful interactive spectacles and light-based musical interfaces. Artist Alex Chechile will also join using a home-built electroencephalograph brainwave machine and hacked electrocardiograph heart monitor producing tones and music directly from the minds of Mercury Rev.

The collaborative performance will feature playing and improvising around motifs from the forthcoming Mercury Rev release Snowflake Midnight and its companion album (available for free download on release date [Sept 30]) Strange Attractor as well as the band's back catalog. The new albums, created using open-source audio technology as well as random note and word generators are a milestone for the band and mark a further embrace of experimental compositional techniques and cutting edge recording methods to make music that Stereogum says "brims with energy and a glossy, trippy feel."

Soon after these performances at The Stone, Mercury Rev will play the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, NY on Sept 21 at the behest of curators My Bloody Valentine.

The above MP3 is off the new album. All dates below...

Continue reading "Mercury Rev - new albums, MP3, 2 NYC shows, ATP & a tour"

On January 10, 2008, Lou Reed and John Zorn, joined by special guest Laurie Anderson, played two benefit shows for The Stone, an avant-garde performance space on the corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street in Alphabet City that supports itselfs solely on donations, giving all door revenues directly to the performers. Zorn, an alto-saxophonist and founder of the music label Tzadik, was the principal force in establishing the Stone in 2005 and currently holds the title of artistic director. [WallyG]

Tonight (Aug 21) @ The Stone in NYC: Beirut's Jon Natchez & Kelly Pratt & Ryan Sawyer "for a set of improvisation and original composition"

Saturday (Aug 23) @ The Stone: Ryan Sawyer/Thurston Moore Duo with Susan Alcorn

September @ The Stone: Everything JG Thirwell picked.

"Catch a rare performance by Harmony Rockets at The Annex on Wednesday June 20. Tickets are available at the venue, or just click here. Doors open at 8pm, the running order is as follows:" [says Mercury Rev]

Continue reading "Mercury Rev or sideproject are playing the Annex tonight?"