Anand Wilder with Yeasayer at Jones Beach in July (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The record label David Byrne started in 1988, Luaka Bop, has been curating the club John Zorn started, The Stone, since December 15. If you've been paying close attention to What's Going On posts, you may have noticed more familiar names on the lineups lately (like Lucky Dragons and Kelly Pratt who have both played so far).

The curation continues through the end of the month. Tonight (12/20), Anand Wilder of Yeasayer is playing with Steve Marion of Delicate Steve, and Austin Fisher of Suckers, performing songs they've written specifically for tonight's performance. Steve leads his own group at the venue on 12/27 with members of Banned Books. Also tonight, George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk of Javelin and friends are playing. Those friends include Ahmed Gallab of Yeasayer, Powpow of Man Man, and Miho Hatori of Cibo Mato. According to George, it's going to be an "electronic drum circle rave cave."

On Thursday (12/22), Sleepy Doug Shaw/Highlife is playing. On Friday (12/23), The Present, lead by Rusty Samtos Rusty is playing the venue. Rusty is a singer/songwriter and has produced Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Born Ruffians, Owen Pallet, and others. On 12/28, Hubble (aka Ben Greenberg of Pygmy Shrews and Zs), and on 12/29 it will be Marc Ribot and David Hidalgo.

The Stone will also host their annual end of the year improv party on December 30 and 31 with tons of musicians and special guests including Thurston Moore, John Zorn, Jeremiah Cymerman, Sam Kulik, Ned Rothenburg, Eyal Maoz, David Fulmer, and others. Starting at 11 PM on 12/31, Spiritual Unity (which features Marc Ribot) will perform a ritual/jam that leads through a midnight rendition of Albert Ayler's "Bells."

Check out the full December schedule and more details on these shows at The Stone's website.

Javelin also have a show coming up on 2/24 at Glasslands with Pat Jordache.

by BBG

Kool Keith at APW 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Hip hop oddity and favorite Kool Keith will play 285 Kent on Saturday (8/13), a rare appearance that will also feature Spanish Broads (a Das Racist noise set), New Optimism (Miho of Cibo Matto), Nine 11 Thesaurus, and DJ Marty McSorely. Tickets are on sale, as well as available at Desert Island Bookstore.

Kool Keith will join up with Ultramagnetic MCs to play ATP New Jersey in late September.

Das Racist have two upcoming NYC dates before they hit the road, August 27th at Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park as part of the Afro-Punk Fest and at Bowery Ballroom on 9/12. The 8/27 show is free, and tickets for Bowery Ballroom are still available.

More show details and the Brooklyn show flyer is below.

Continue reading "Kool Keith playing 285 Kent (and ATP NJ)"

Vito & Stephen

Aeroplane is now a one-man operation, Vito having amicably parted company with his bandmate Stephen Fasano. Not that we should be alarmed. "There are worse things in life!" says Vito. "Stephen's gonna do music on his own, I'm gonna do music on my own. I'm the studio guy, he was more the DJ so when the music became more important, the more I was alone in the studio. The future of Aeroplane was this album and I wrote it and played every instrument." The two are still on good terms: "He's picking me up tomorrow at the airport. I'm probably going to produce the stuff he writes in the future and I'm not going to have a word to say about it!"

The next edition of long-running dance (and some rock) party FIXED happens tonight (5/26) at Le Poisson Rouge with Belgium's Aeroplane (aka one-man operation Vito De Luca) and FIXED regulars JDH & Dave P. Aeroplane released a mixtape on soundcloud in April with remixes of Adele, Shit Robot, Alex Winston (who Star Slinger also just remixed) and others. Stream the mixtape below. Tickets for tonight's show are still on sale.

JDH & Dave P bring the other Belgian DJ, one who used to be the the other half of Aeroplane, The Magician (aka Stephen Fasano), to FIXED on July 9 at Good Units in the Hudson Hotel. Tickets are on sale. The Magician will also be performing at Camp Bisco during that trip, as will JDH & Dave P.

FIXED also has a party scheduled on Saturday (5/28) at Public Assembly with Parallels. Parallels (featuring ex-Crystal Castles drummer Cameron Findlay) plays the front room with Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto, who just announced a tour. People at Parties and JDH open the show, and Pendu Disco DJs play the back room with Butterclock and You.

The Aereplane mix is below...

Continue reading "Aeroplane is here, The Magician is coming"

photos by Greg Cristman

Cibo Matto @ Le Poisson Rouge- March 29, 2011

After getting back together for a short set at Le Poisson Rouge at the end of 2010, and then a Japan benefit with Yoko Ono at the same venue in March (belated pictures in this post), Cibo Matto will officially reunite and hit the road for two short tours in June and July (dubbed "YEAH BASICALLY CIBO MATTO"). The latter run will include TWO NYC shows: Brooklyn Bowl on 7/12 and Bowery Ballroom on 7/18. Ticket info for Brooklyn Bowl is forthcoming, while Bowery tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and regular sale on Friday.

Cibo Matto is also working on new material for a new LP, due in 2012. You can hear one of the songs in a video trailer for the tour below. Check that out, with more pictures from the benefit at LPR, and all dates, below...

Continue reading "Cibo Matto working on new a LP & touring, played a Japan benefit (dates, a new song preview & belated pics) "

photos by Chris La Putt

"Saw a very briefly reunited Cibo Matto play "Birthday Cake". #my1999dreamcometrue #soooooawesome" - St. Vincent

Cibo Matto fans (like Chris) may have been a bit disappointed at Le Poisson Rouge last night (12/6). That's because the semi-reunited group only played four songs at the show which was billed as "Yuka & Miho cover Cibo Matto". Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori were backed by Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman), Dougie Bowne, Doug Wieselman and Steven Bernstein (who also played the Bob Dylan event at the same venue one night earlier). After the four songs, a cake was brought out for Yuka who was celebrating her 50th birthday.

The show opened with a 15 minute noisy Nels Cline solo set followed by the Cibo Matto set, followed by a break before Floored by Four took the stage. As you know, Floored by Four is Mike Watt, Dougie Bowne, Yuka Honda, and Nels Cline. (there was more jamming after that - as Nels advertised there would be to the end the night - but Chris took off before the end).

The show was unofficially part of Wilco Week here in NYC which also saw Mikael Jorgensen playing with Yo La Tengo at Maxwell's last night while Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone were not far away in Tarrytown (Jeff, John and Pat played a variety of NYC and Hoboken shows on the three nights prior).

Doug Wieselman plays again tonight, 12/7, at the Stone.

More pictures from the LPR show, two videos and the Cibo Matto setlist below...

Continue reading "Cibo Matto sort of reunited, Yuka Honda, Nels Cline, Mike Watt & friends jammed @ LPR (pics, video, setlist)"

Floored by Four @ Summerstage (more by Paul Bachmann)

The December 6th show at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC:

• is a 50th birthday party for Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda who used to be married to Dougie Bowne who she has a long history of playing music with, used to date Sean Lennon who she frequently collaborates with, and who is now engaged or married to guitar wizard Nels Cline of Wilco (Wikipedia says their wedding was scheduled for late November in Japan, so if that's true, congratulations to them!)
• will feature a live performance by Floored by Four aka Mike Watt, Dougie Bowne, Yuka C. Honda, and Nels Cline. It will be their 2nd live show ever which means their first must have been that Summerstage show with M Ward
• will feature a Nels Cline solo set "+ friendly jamming after 10:30pm"
• will include a set titled "Yuka & Miho cover Cibo Matto" which I assume means a Cibo Matto show, but without any of Yuka and Cibo's other band members?

Whatever it is, the show is sure to be a good one. Tickets are still on sale.

Nels Cline will also be back at the same NYC venue on February 26th for "The Nels Cline Singers and ROVA perform 'The Celestial Septet'". Tickets are on sale for that too. All Nels dates below.

Will Nels Cline, Mike Watt, Yuka Honda, and/or Dougie Bowne play with Yo La Tengo at Maxwell's this week? I don't know, but it would be pretty cool.

Will Nels Cline's Wilco bandmate Jeff Tweedy play with Yo La Tengo at Maxwell's this week? Very likely.

Will Sean Lennon show up and play at all at LPR on 12/6? Maybe? Will Yuka Honda play with Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl aka The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger at Rockwood Music Hall on January 8th? Maybe?

Can Yuka Honda, Dougie Bowne, Sean Lennon, and Nels Cline all be in the same room and everything be completely normal? Apparently?

Oh, and speaking of turning 50, don't forget tickets to Henry Rollins' upcoming shows at Joe's Pub go on sale Friday at noon.

Enjoy some birthday cake, with all Nels Cline tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Yuka Honda turning 50 -- Floored by Four w/ Mike Watt & her spouse Nels Cline playing 2nd gig ever, Cibo Matto show too"

photos by Bao Nguyen

"If anyone tells you the Gorillaz show at MSG on Friday was anything less than incredible, they're lying to you. Some bands you wish to see in their earlier stages, but now is the time to see Gorillaz. They have never been better, and there's no guarantee they can top this. This is their prime time, and the brilliance of their collaborative musical geniuses was amplified in concert. Not only did we see Damon Albarn in flesh - a personal idol - but he was accompanied by the incredible artists that were featured on Plastic Beach: Mos Def, Lou Reed, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Little Dragon, members of The Clash, etc. Co-creator of Gorillaz, visual man Jamie Hewlett also peeped out from backstage to say hello - to whom Damon planted a big ol' kiss. The entire show was almost too epic to be true... You know when all your favorite superheroes get together and form a league? That is what this was. And this 'league' leader, frontman Damon Albarn, was clearly having the time of his life. He was constantly dancing, jumping around, running around the stage, hugging people - never keeping still unless he was playing the piano. Reminded us of his good old Blur days, sigh. They played almost all of their latest album and included old time favorites like "Clint Eastwood" and "Feel Good Inc."" [morningafterpills]

After launching their tour in Boston, Gorillaz and N.E.R.D. played the giant NYC room that is Madison Square Garden on Friday night (10/8). As the quote above points out, there were many special guests in the house, some of whom are on the whole tour and some who just stopped by for the New York show (like Jay-Z though he was just there to watch).

More pictures, some videos and the full show setlist, below...

Continue reading "Gorillaz played MSG w/ N.E.R.D., Lou Reed, Mos Def & many other special guests (pics & setlist) "

DOWNLOAD: Shonen Knife - Super Group (MP3)

Shonen Knife kick off the North American tour for Super Group (their new album) today (10/16) with a show at Santos Party House. Joining them will be Miho Hatori's New Optimism and Shellshag. Tickets are still on sale.

The rest of the dates for their tour have been greatly updated. Their post-Fun Fun Fun Fest run in November with Jeff the Brotherhood now includes a Saturday, November 14th show at Maxwell's (with Girls At Dawn too). Tickets are on sale. The penultimate date on the tour is a November 18th show at Brooklyn Bowl with Jeff and Golden Triangle. Tickets are up for that.

All updated dates are below...

Continue reading "Shonen Knife kick off tour - updated dates, Santos Friday"

Juan Maclean @ Bowery Ballroom in October (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Old 97's @ Maxwell's
* Peaches @ the Stone Pony (NJ)
* Frances @ Roosevelt Live
* OJ All Day @ Brooklyn Lyceum
* Lucy Wainwright Roche @ Joe's Pub
* John Zorn Improv Night @ The Stone
* Screaming Females @ the Court Tavern (NJ)
* Ume, Aloke, Black Swan Green @ Glasslands
* The NY Dolls @ Starland Ballroom (NJ)
* The Juan Maclean, The Field @ Webster Hall
* Ethel, Gutbucket @ Prospect Park Bandshell
* Vieux Farka Toure, BLK JKS @ Highline Ballroom
* Passion Pit, Shy Child, Cale Parks @ Bowery Ballroom
* HEALTH, Awesome Color, Kid Congo Power @ Market Hotel
* Wild Yaks, The Theater Fire, Robert Gomez @ Union Pool
* The Loom, Cotton Jones, The Wild Moccasins @ Union Hall
* Sick of It All, Capital, Bane, Inhuman @ Gramercy Theatre
* Secret Life of Sofia, No Eye Contact, Joe & Flying Spoons @ The Cameo
* DAT Politics, Miho by Miho Hatori/New Optimism, Lumberob @ Bruar Falls
* The Maccabees, Miike Snow, Hatcham Social @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, Kittens Ablaze, Home Video @ Santos Party House
* Harry & the Potters, Remus Lupins, The Whomping Willows @ The Bell House
* Crocodiles, ArpLine, Big Bang TV, Eytan & His Orchestra, Silvertone @ Mercury Lounge
* Boogie Boarder, Pow Wow!, Darlings, Dinosaur Feathers, Los Basement, Soldier on Dear Friend @ Shea Stadium

The Mermaid Parade is in Coney Island; Clearwater Festival is up at Croton-on-the-Hudson.

Two more chances to see the mighty Screaming Females before they leave on tour with Jack White. Tonight at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, and Thursday when they open for Dinosaur Jr @ MHOW.

Miho Hatori (of Cibo Matto) and band New Optimism have bee added ot the bill at Bruar Falls tonight. She played LPR, The Stone and Glasslands earlier this month.

The Major Lazer video shoot is underway at Studio B.

Ethel and Gutbucket play their live score to sci-fi flick Nave de los Monstruos at Prospect Park Bandshell. Gutbucket plays an opening set too. That's a free Celebrate Brooklyn show.

The much-delayed NYC debut of Miike Snow is tonight. They'll play the Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Maccabees and Hatcham Social (who already played Don Hills and Cake Shop in the past week). All three of those bands play a sold-out Mercury Lounge show on Monday.

The OJ All Day Fest is having its second and final day at the Brooklyn Lyceum today.Peggy Sue, who fills in for Scary Mansions, plays tonight at 8pm. The full schedule for that fest is below...

Simian Mobile Disco's new video for "Audacity of Huge", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

photos by Ossip Kaehr

Miho by Miho Hatori :
brings you : NEW OPTIMISM with Sound
music squad : Shoko Nagai (keys), Timo Ellis (Bass)
dance squad : Nabe, Ravi Davis, Samer Ghadry
video squad : Prema Murthy

That's how Miho was billed at the Northside Festival show at Glasslands on Thursday (6/11). How did it sound? The pictures in this post are how it looked.

The Brooklyn show was one day before Miho (who by the way is also on the list of people that Thomas Bartlett sometimes plays with) played a Tonic-curated show at the Stone.

Tonight (6/16) you can catch Miho one more time, at what appears to be a DJ gig, at Le Poisson Rouge.

"Nat Geo Music is a free gallery bar party that features modern music from around the globe provided by DJ's from Nat Geo Music, Green Owl Records, & the one and only Miho Hatori."

More pictures from Glasslands, and a video, below...

Continue reading "Miho Hatori - Glasslands Northside pics ++ LPR party tonight"

Since the closing of LES spot Tonic in 2007, The Stone has been one of the venues that's attempted to fill the void left by the experimental-music-friendly space.

Like Tonic did, The Stone frequently brings on guest curators (not coincidentally Stone founder John Zorn was one of Tonic's most regular hosts and played at Tonic's final show). Now, with guitarist Grey Gersten's monthlong May curatorial run ending Sunday, May 31st, former Tonic co-owner Melissa Caruso Scott comes out of booking retirement to take the reigns in programing the first two weeks of June at The Stone.

Speaking about her choices Scott said, "These artists played some of my favorite Tonic shows and I can't wait to see them again." Her picks include Japanese musician Yuka Honda, who's also playing a Summerstage show with Mike Watt, guitarist Charlie Hunter, Elysian Fields, Vernon Reid, Joan as Polcewoman, cellist Erik Friedlander, and more. Her full schedule is posted below.

Speaking of Friendlander, he plays on Yoko Ono's new DON'T STOP ME! EP (out June 9th Via iTunes Exclusive Digital Download), and you can also catch him live on June 5th along with saxophone player Colin Stetson at the Abrons Art Space Recital Hall. The show is presented by The Manhattan New Music Project, and tickets are on sale.

Before the time of both Tonic and The Stone, the original Knitting Factory on Houston Street featured an ecclectic mix of avant and experimental music (frequently with Zorn and others). The co-founder of that venue, show promoter and current owner of City Winery Michael Dorf, will curate the second half of the June at The Stone.

Acts on his schedule include Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers (who have completed their Pianos residency and are also playing Citysol), Ethan Iverson (of the Bad Plus) with saxist Tim Berne, and Marc Ribot, the guitarist who's had considerable presence at each of the aforementioned venues -- gigging regularly at the Knit on Houston St, getting arrested for protesting the closure of Tonic, and hosting several nights of his 55th-birthday retrospective at The Stone in mid-May.

Check out the full June schedule for The Stone, below...

Continue reading "Tonic owner returns, joins City Winery's Michael Dorf to curate John Zorn's club The Stone in June - full lineup"

DOWNLOAD: Blitzen Trapper - Sci Fi Kid (Best Fwends Remix) (MP3)

The Yard is where Dan Deacon & Best Fwends is this Sunday. Also where this will be:

STARRY-EYED FESTIVAL
Budos Band, Miho Hatori and Tim Love, Melanie Moser & the 11th Hour Band, Kaveh Nabattan & Barrett Lindgren
Sunday 9/23
Doors 3pm
Admission $15
On Sunday Sept. 23rdthe Starry-Eyed Festival will give New Yorkers another chance to enjoy some great outdoor music and locally grown food at Brooklyns coolest new music venue The Yard.

More events listed at The Yard's website.