by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Splinters - Mysterious (MP3)

The Splinters

San Francisco's The Splinters are teaming up with Nashville's Heavy Cream for two shows: Sunday, July 18 at Death by Audio with Reading Rainbow and Elks; and then Monday, July 19 at Cake Shop with Midnight Masses and Oxmen Girl Get Noticed.

While the mixing of '60s girl group melodies and punky edge is a common blend over the last 30 years, it's also a classic that can be successfully mined over and over. Especially when you've got really good songs like The Splinters do. Check out "Mysterious" at the top of this post which is from their new album, Kick. These ladies polish it all off with a does of new wave, which might be why their songs are so catchy.

Heavy Cream

Heavy Cream are pretty much straight-up punk, as can currently be heard on their debut 7" on JEFF the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label who are also releasing their debut album, Danny, out August 24th. In addition to the two shows with The Splinters, Heavy Cream will also play a free show Union Pool on July 20 . The band are currently on tour with JEFF, though that pauses while they're in NYC where JEFF is instead scheduled to play a Pool Party at the Williamsburg Waterfront on July 18th (earlier in the day than the Death by Audio show...).

All Heavy Cream dates, plus two entertaining Splinters videos are below...

Continue reading "Heavy Cream & The Splinters releasing albums, playing NYC & other dates (some w/ Jeff the Brotherhood) - MP3 & dates"

photos by Samantha Marble

Karen Elson @ Studio at Webster Hall

Karen Elson played Williamsburg Waterfront on Sunday, June 20th with Band of Horses and Grizzly Bear. The night before that she headlined a show at Studio at Webster Hall along with Midnight Masses. Samantha Marble was there and wrote: "Looking back on the show I thought that Karen Elson having Midnight Masses open for her was a perfect balance in terms of setting the tone. Midnight Masses posess the kind of power and soul that forces you to see the light. Whereas Karen Elson sings songs gently but powerfully. The mystery in the tone of her voice makes you feel like you are sitting outside during twilight in the country. It's dark but everything is illuminated." Her pictures from that show are in this post.

Karen Elson doesn't have any more shows lined up, but Midnight Masses will be at Union Pool on June 27th with Starring, Wizardry and Skeletonbreath (a Northside show). They'll also be at Mercury Lounge on July 10th with Snowden (tickets) and Cake Shop on July 19th.

The next show at the Williamsburg Waterfront is Silversun Pickups, Against Me! and The Henry Clay People on Friday, June 25th.

Karen Elson's The Ghost Who Walks came out in May on Third Man Records, and a video from her release party set at the label's store/studio in Nashville is posted below (she also played the label's pop-up at SXSW). Conan O'Brien played the same Nashville space on June 10th. A live LP of Conan's performance is available for preorder from the label, and is expected by the end of July.

More pictures from the Studio at Webster Hall show and the above-mentioned video and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Karen Elson Studio pics & Third Man Records performance video, more Midnight Masses dates & the Conan pre-order"

Beach Fossils

Deli Magazine is hosting a "best of NYC" fest at Brooklyn Bowl, Glasslands, the Cameo and Public Assembly Thursday May 13th-Saturday, May 15th.

The BK shows are headlined by Beach Fossils on Thursday, April Smith on Friday and The London Souls on Saturday. Tickets to the Brooklyn Bowl shows are on sale. Other tix are available at the door. The shows are split up roughly by genre, though that doesn't stop Talk Normal, Buke & Gass, Asa Ransom and Miniboone from sharing a bill on Friday night at Glasslands.

Talk Normal also plays Saturday at Knitting Factory with Parts & Labor, Soft Power and Guts For Garters (tickets). (And further in the future with Sonic Youth and Grass Widow at Prospect Park on July 31st.)

Beach Fossils have a short tour with Frog Eyes and Pearly Gate Music planned for this June. All three stop by Mercury Lounge for a show on June 19th. Tickets are on sale.

All of Beach Fossils/Frog Eyes/PGM dates and a flyer for Deli Magazine fest (which has its full schedule) is below...

Continue reading "Deli Magazine 'best of NYC' fest & other Talk Normal & Beach Fossils (+Frog Eyes & Pearly Gate Music) tour dates "

Harlem @ Union Pool over the weekend (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Local Natives will headline Bowery Ballroom on May 6th. Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon.

Best Coast & Midnight Masses were added as openers to the April 1st Japandroids show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Midnight Masses continue a February residency at Union Pool tonight (2/17).

Japandroids are also playing Sasquatch.

Crystal Stilts have been added to the March 27th Love is All bill at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are on sale.

Catch Crystal Stilts much sooner at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Beets / Christmas Island / Beach Fossils / The German Measles on February 20th. Tickets are still on sale.

Beach Fossils and The Beets will open for Love is All at Knitting Factory on March 28th. Tickets are on sale.

Phosphorescent will play Maxwell's for the first time on April 2nd. Tickets are on sale.

MusicSnobbery celebrates his 5th birthday with a show featuring the Vivian Girls at Maxwell's on April 23rd. Tickets are on sale.

Titus Andronicus and Harlem play the NJ club the very next night (4/24). Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are also still on sale for Titus's headlining show at Bowery Ballroom on March 6th.

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - "There Goes Our Man" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - "Walk On Water" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - "Heaven" (MP3)

Midnight Masses with Conrad and Jason of Trail of Dead

If it's February 2010 and a Wednesday, then odds are even that Midnight Masses are at Union Pool. The band began a weekly residency at the venue on February 3rd which continues this week (on Feb 10) with Mon Khmer and Light Asylum. Feb 17th includes Living Days (+TBA). Finally, they go out with a bang on Feb 24th, as the band will be joined by "the original lineup" of And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead (Conrad & Jason playing as a duo?).

Midnight Masses recently dropped "Red Ribbon Song (For Those Who've Gone)" for a name-your-price download. All proceeds will benefit the National AIDS Fund and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

All Midnight Masses dates, and a whole bunch of videos, below...

Continue reading "Midnight Masses currently in residency at Union Pool - final show is w/ Trail of Dead ('original lineup')"

Here We Go Magic @ South Street Seaport in July (more by Chris La Putt)

Two local NYC bands have scheduled headlining 2010 shows that are going on sale soon. Here We Go Magic, the project of Luke Temple that had its self-titled debut come out in early 2009, play Friday, January 29th at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Midnight Masses and Glass Ghost. Tickets go sale Wednesday, November 25th at noon. The band's busy 2009 included a pair of high-profile opening gigs for Department of Eagles and Grizzly Bear.

Glass Ghost opened for Dirty Projectors at one of their four NYC shows.

White Rabbits are another NYC band with a 2010 date coming up. They play Bowery Ballroom on Sunday, January 24th (no openers announced yet). Tickets go on sale Friday, Nov. 27th at noon. The band played the venue in May with Cymbals Eay Guitars and The Antlers - bands that have gotten considerably bigger since.

The Antlers headline their own show at Bowery on December 15th.

Vidoes and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic & White Rabbits announce shows (dates)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli

Art Brut's most recent tour brought them into the NYC-area three times with three different sets of openers. Last Friday (11/13), the show was at Brooklyn Bowl with Surfer Blood and Midnight Masses. More pictures from that one, with the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Art Brut, Surfer Blood & Midnight Masses @ Brooklyn Bowl - pics & setlist"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

After an exhausting CMJ full of shows including the BV party at Pianos on Thursday (10/22), Surfer Blood are back as part a tour that keeps them on the road for the next month. They open shows for both Art Brut and Japandroids along the way. The Florida band is one of two openers for Art Brut at Brooklyn Bowl tonight (11/13). The other is Midnight Masses.

Right before CMJ it was announced that Surfer Blood signed to Kanine Records. The Brooklyn label will release their album Astro Coast on January 19, 2010. Art Brut also plays Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (11/15), but the openers on that show are Jeffrey Lewis and Murder Mystery.

All Surfer Blood dates and more pictures from Pianos below...

Continue reading "Surfer Blood touring - NYC tonight w/ Art Brut ++ Pianos pics "

As the Jewish faithful begin the Rosh Hashanah holy days or Jewish New Year Friday at sunset, they will be saying special prayers and lighting special candles.

Beginning Saturday or Sunday, depending on the congregation, the sounding of the shofar - a trumpet made from a ram's horn - will begin. The ritual is symbolic of what the High Holy Days are about: a call for introspection, forgiveness and changing one's course in life, said Rabbi Charles A. Klein of the Merrick Jewish Centre.

It "asks us to wake up, to take a serious look at our lives," he said, "and not just to sleep away our lives." [Newsday]

Usher in the Jewish year 5770 this weekend with Trail of Dead and the Secret Machines. The two bands are on tour together and will play post-sundown shows tonight (9/18) at Webster Hall with Midnight Masses, and Saturday (9/19) at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Freshkills and Sleigh Bells. Neither is sold out at the moment.

Saturday night there is an afterparty at Beauty Bar in Brooklyn.

Actual Roch Hashanah event listed in This Week In Indie.

by Black Bubblegum

Thursday @ Terminal 5

Thursday is devoted to tour dates. Not only here at BrooklynVegan every Thursday (and really, every day), but the New Brunswick post-hardcore band Thursday who will hit the road in September with The Fall of Troy, tagging Bowery Ballroom (a venue much smaller than their most recent shows at Terminal 5 and Nokia Theatre) on 9/20. Support will rotate, but Bowery will get BV-SXSW 2009 vets Young Widows and the post-rocky Moving Mountains. Full tour dates are below, with all shows currently on sale via Thursday's Doves Club (general sale kicks off 8/7). Thursday is touring off of their current LP, Common Existence, which was released earlier this year on Epitaph.

Young Widows recently issued an update on new releases and some details with respect to their tour with Thursday:

...we'll be playing Best Friends Day 8 in Richmond this year! There is somewhat of a twist as Jeremy will be in Finland on the day of the fest... Instead, our very good friend Dave Witte (of Burnt By The Sun, Municipal Waste, Melt Banana, etc...) will be filling in for the show! We are excited to be playing with Dave and making him an honorary Young Widow!

We have two releases to announce, both on Robotic Empire and both to be released in the next couple of months. The first is Evan's project Bad Secrets, which was born out of improv jam sessions between him and Kodan Armada's Dan Davis. ...[Their] debut will be released on 9"+CD! The second is a Young Widows live record! We had the privilage to play live on WMUC Radio back in April and it was all recorded... [and] it will be released on 12"+CD of a limited number.

Dave Witte on drums for Young Widows? Wow.

Best Friends Day 8 takes place in Richmond from August 20th -23rd and features a killer lineup of heavy, including Torche (who just played MHOW), Strike Anywhere, Coliseum, Brainworms, Magrudergrind, Off With Their Heads (who are coming to Europa), Asshole Parade (who are coming to The Charleston), Cannabis Corpse (them too), Ultra Dolphins, and many more. Flyer is below with all Thursday tour dates...

Continue reading "Thursday & The Fall of Troy touring (dates include Bowery) with Young Widows (who are playing Best Friends Day 8)"

DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (live on Laundromatinee) (MP3)

Here We Go Magic are about to depart on their tour with Grizzly Bear that kicks off after they play three local shows (Town Hall, Town Hall, MHOW), but first, you can catch Luke Temple and band tonight (5/26, 10pm) at a secretish show at Union Pool in Brooklyn with Midnight Masses. FREE SHOW.

For more HWGM, check out their new Daytrotter Session, as well as the one they recorded for Laundromatinee. All dates below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic - secret show in Brooklyn tonight before Grizzly Bear tour ++ new live sessions (MP3s)"

Anni Rossi

Brooklyn label Social Registry is presenting the show at 92YTribeca in Manhattan tonight (3/27). Sian Alice Group, Lights, Zs, and a group we recently featured, Mountains are on the bill. Updated Mountains tour dates below.

Speaking of NYC shows happening tonight and Mountains... the Mountain Goats, and John Vanderslice are here for their show at the Society of Ethical Culture.

Also related to today (3/27)... Having just played a few shows at SXSW, including the official showcase of her (and the Mountain Goats') label 4AD, Los Angeles/Chicago's Anni Rossi is currently on tour and plays a show at Union Pool in Brooklyn tonight with Midnight Masses and Wild Yaks. You may have also caught Anni when she opened for her label-mates Camera Obscura at Mercury Lounge the other night.

To say that Anni Rossi has given new life to the viola is an understatement. Together with her alternative folk style and lilting vocals, Rossi has reinvented the way this classical instrument is typically used and given new light to how Americana music is structured and presented.

Entrancing and beautiful, Rossi shared several songs with the Current from her upcoming CD, "Rockwell," out in March of 2009. [Minnesota Public Radio]

In April, Anni will go out on tour with Noah and the Whale. That puts her back in NYC, and at Bowery Ballroom, on May 1st. Tickets are still on sale. All dates and a video below.

Camera Obscura also played a show at The Bell House in Brooklyn the other night, and tickets are now on sale for the show they have coming up at Webster Hall.

Midnight Masses (playing Union Pool with Anni) just went on tour with, and share a member with, Trail of Dead (who we also caught at SXSW).

Continue reading "Anni Rossi, Mountains, Social Reg, Noah & the Whale & stuff"

photos by Jonny Leather

DOWNLOAD: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday (MP3)

As mentioned about a zillion times, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are playing The Bell House in Brooklyn on March 13th with Let's Wrestle and Knight School. That show is now sold out, but if you don't have a ticket, don't worry... Let's Wrestle has other shows scheduled while they're in town, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart now have two more NYC shows on their calendar. One of them is the just-mentioned May 12th Bowery Ballroom show which is now on American Express presale. The other is a month after that - June 18th at Cake Shop with Crystal Stilts. That last show is sure to be packed.

Between the Bell House (March) and Bowery (May) there will also be plenty of chances to see TPOBPAH elsewhere in North America, especially if you're going to SXSW where they currently have TEN shows scheduled including the TBA BrooklynVegan day party at Radio Room on Thursday March 18th, and the previously announced Pitchfork party happening at Emo's on March 20th.

Just the other day, the band opened one of the two NYC Midnight Masses/Trail of Dead shows. The So So Glos were the third band on the Bowery one in Manhattan, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart were the third band on the Brooklyn show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Jonny was at the latter, took some pics, and said,

Also on the bill for this show was pop shoegazers, and equally-long-moniker-possessing, Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Hot off of well-deserved Pitchfork praise for their new self-titled full length, Pains of Being Pure At Heart did not disappoint. Every minute of their all too brief set was just as sweet and luscious as their record, and though the vocals were never quite as enchanting, the rest of their sound was heightened by the great sound system and sheer volume which always seems to enhance shoegaze.

More pictures from that show, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Trail of Dead show pics & 2009 Tour Dates (BV SXSW & Cake Shop included)"

photos by Zach Stern

DOWNLOAD: Midnight Masses - Heaven (MP3)

"Oh Trail of Dead, you had me at the double drums. How do you prevent the incessant talking that goes on during shows? You play an intensely loud, ear-ringing set. Great energy from the crowd and the band. The new songs sounded great too and with the possible of exception of "Fields of Coal" all seemed to fit in nicely with their back catalogue." [Metro Distortion]

"Brooklyn's Midnight Masses is the collaborative fruit of Autry Rene Fulbright and Jason Reece. Fulbright, a native of Atlanta, relocated to NYC in 2007 before joining noisy TV on the Radio cohorts Dragons of Zynth and clocking hours with Kanine indie rockers Shock Cinema. Reece, of course, mans the guitar in Austin, Texas' And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. In Midnight Masses, the duo's songs are complimented by the work of Roger Sisters member Miyuki Furtago, Destiny Montague of Shock Cinema, Santogold touring guitarist Eric Rodgers, and Giselle Reiber."

Trail of Dead and Midnight Masses played Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, and then Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (with The So So Glos), and are now on tour. More pictures from Saturday's show, TOD's setlist, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Trail of Dead, Midnight Masses & the So So Glos @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics (and tour dates & an MP3)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Despot

Despot is playing host at both of the Amazing Baby shows happening at Mercury Lounge this weekend. The Forms appear on the new Guilt by Association comp. Here's a set of pictures featuring the three bands that opened for Islands at Market Hotel earlier this month...

Continue reading "Despot, The Forms & Midnight Masses @ Market Hotel - pics"