The Twilight Sad @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

tonight in NYC
* Menage A Twang @ Pete's Candy Store
* Rooftop Films @ Brooklyn Tech
* Rooftop Festival @ 210 Cook St, Brooklyn
* Nymph, Africa, Noot d' Noot @ Cake Shop
* D.R.I., Rumplestiltskin Grinder @ Europa
* Mono, The Twilight Sad @ Bowery Ballroom
* Schwervon!, Solvents, Kung Fu Crime Wave @ Bruar Falls
* Cadillac Sky, Spirit Family Reunion, Joe Whyte @ Union Hall
* The Shivers, Natureboy, Smoke, Kelli Scarr @ Mercury Lounge
* Duane Pitre, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Long Distance Poison @ Zebulon
* G. Calvin Weston Group (a Tribute To Ornette Coleman & Free Jazz), John Blum @ Pianos

Mono is on tour with the Twilight Sad. Tonight they play Bowery Ballroom. Mono's Holy Ground: NYC Live DVD is out now. Trailer below.

Gothamist points out that, "this Sunday, Manhattanhenge returns! The visually stunning phenomenon that occurs twice a year when the sun sets in perfect alignment with Manhattan's street grid will take place at 8:17 p.m. Sunday--it will fully illuminate every single cross-street for the last 15 minutes of daylight. And you don't need 3D glasses to melt your mind with this one, bro!"

BKLYN Yard is open, with the Sunday Best party with Michael Mayer on the decks.

Thursday's Brooklyn Rooftop Film was rescheduled for tonight due to rain. No musical guest is listed.

The Buswhick Rooftop Festival is underway for the 2nd day in a row.

Monday is the 12th annual Memorial Day Concert in Green-Wood Cemetery.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday? (Memorial Day Weekend)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD Mono - "Ashes In The Snow" LIVE w/ Wordless Orchestra (MP3)

Mono with orchestra LIVE at The Society for Ethical Culture (more by Teppel)

Let's talk regret. One of my biggest of last year was missing Japanese greats Mono, who are grandiose enough as a foursome, backed by the Wordless Music Orchestra over two nights in May. Thankfully, Temporary Residence Limited will release a live DVD combo pack culled from those shows entitled Holy Ground: NYC Live (trailer here)! The DVD/live CD or DVD/3xLP will hit store shelves via the label on April 27th, and you can check out one of those tracks "Ashes In The Snow" above, or in video form below!

In celebration, Mono and The Twilight Sad are on the road in May through middle June, with a single stop in NYC at Bowery Ballroom on 5/30. Tickets are still available.

The "Ashes In The Snow" live video as well as full Mono/Twilight Sad dates again, below...

Continue reading "MP3 & video from Mono's new live (with orchestra) CD & DVD "

MONO...

Last spring MONO flew from Japan to New York City to perform two truly magical, memorable nights with esteemed Wordless Music Orchestra backing them. The 30-piece MONO played a 90-minute set that ranks among the greatest live experiences we've ever witnessed. What most people don't know is we flew our producer friend Matt Bayles to record the concerts, and the whole glorious event was filmed by a team of poorly-paid superfriends. It all sounds and looks absolutely stunning, and we're so thrilled with how it all turned out. There will be a CD+DVD, as well as a limited-edition 3xLP+DVD with all the bells and whistles you could hope for.

To celebrate the release of their monumental live album and film, Holy Ground: NYC Live with the Wordless Music Orchestra (in stores April 27), the beloved Japanese quartet will bring their legendary live show to just about every corner of North America. This will be MONO's only North American performances in 2010. Supporting all dates are Scotland's The Twilight Sad.

Live video from MONO's NYC shows in May and all tour dates are below..

Continue reading "MONO touring w/ The Twilight Sad (dates), releasing live album & DVD of NYC shows w/ Wordless Orchestra "

A Storm of Light

Josh Graham is multitasking, and not in a chew gum and walk kind of way either. Graham first burst on the scene as the newest member of Bay Area titans Neurosis, handling the visual element which included live pieces and graphic design, eventually leading into the legendary "A Sun That Never Sets" companion DVD. On the heels of that well received DVD, Josh went on to direct music videos and design artwork for Dillinger Escape Plan, Enon, Jesu, Khann, Underoath, Saves The Day, and many others.

Meanwhile, Josh wielded a heavy (like the music) axe (like the guitar) in Red Sparowes featuring members of the like-minded Isis, Battle Of Mice [RIP] with members of local metallers Made Out Of Babies, and Tribes of Neurot (a Neurosis related experimental project). His tenure with Red Sparowes has recently come to an end, but that hasn't stopped Mr. No-Sleep from starting another band... A Storm Of Light." [Black Bubblegum, March 2008]

Continue reading "Josh Graham lists 10 Great Things About 2009 (A Storm of Light plays w/ Coliseum & Coalesce @ Europa Wednesday)"

Maserati

"Such a great show. I have seen Mono a bunch of times so I knew what to expect and they delivered as usual but Maserati was fucking RIDICULOUS. I saw them a few years ago and I remembered them being good but nothing like what happened last night at [the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia]. Their drummer is an absolute machine and they were loud as fuck. Just driving bass and perfect drumming coupled with 2 guitars and lots of delay. It's seriously impossible to stand still while they're playing. Please go and see these dudes if you ever have the chance."
[The Bastardizer]

More dates HERE. A video of Mono from the Bowery show, below...

Continue reading "Mono & Maserati played Philly & NYC... continue on tour "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Maserati - "Monoliths" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Maserati - "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sages" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Majeure - "Teleforce" (MP3)

Maserati are prepping to release a rarities compilation entitled Passages:

Featuring all four tracks from their blink-and-it's-gone limited-edition split LP with Zombi, as well as their remix LP (featuring The DFA's Tim Goldsworthy and !!!'s Justin Van Der Volgen), Passages is augmented with two previously unreleased tracks - the Moog-fueled meditative trance of Steve Moore's "Monoliths" remix, and the positively sublime emotional heft of "Do You Hear The Nightbirds Calling You?", all remastered from the original master tapes and packaged with eye-popping new artwork.

Also included on the Enhanced CD are two brilliant videos for "Inventions (Live)" and "This Is A Sight We Had One Day On The High Mountain."

Meanwhile, a member of Zombi recently signed with Temporary Residence and is prepping a new LP. Majeure, the nom de plume of A.E. Paterra, will release Timespan (featuring "Teleforce" above) on the label this fall with pre-orders kicking off on 9/1.

Full tour dates and those previously-mentioned videos are below...

Continue reading "Maserati releasing rarities, TRL signs Majeure - MP3 & dates"

The lineup is coming together for Pop Montreal 2009 (September 30th to October 4th). Confirmed acts include Butthole Surfers, Fever Ray, Dinosaur Jr., Lou Barlow + The Missingmen, Loudon Wainwright III, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Thee Oh Sees, tUnE-YaRdS, to name a few.

Those interesting choices (like Lou Barlow with some configuration of Mike Watt's band?) are just part of the fest's usually-strong lineup. Full lineup so far, below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal 2009 - initial lineup (Fever Ray, Os Mutantes, Butthole Surfers, Lou Barlow + the Missingmen...)"

photos by Teppei

DOWNLOAD: Mono - "Ashes In The Snow" (MP3)

The show, held at the acoustically spectacular New York Society for Ethical Culture, opened with the premier of Arvo Part's Symphony No. 4. A beautiful piece given life by the Wordless Orchestra conducted by Jeff Milarsky. It set a calm scene. Essential for the performance Mono was about to lay down.

The quartet, backed by a condensed version of the orchestra, played an hour plus set that quite simply defied my greatest expectations. Their regular sound is already unusually instrumental for a rock band so the inclusion of an orchestra was seamless and, for lack of a better word, epic. The 800 plus die hard Mono fans that had lined up around the block to get in were clearly transcended by the event. They four band members put everything they had out there. At one point the lead guitarist was on his hands and knees while a die hard fan hovered near by. Its an interesting experience, witnessing other people experience what may very well be their live musical apex. Even for someone like myself ,who may not have had an abundance of Mono exposure, the music that was created Friday night left me appropriately wordless. [The World in a Paper Cup]

Mono will tour Europe in July, and then return to North America in September for a nearly month-long string of shows with Maserati. Those will include NYC stops at Bowery Ballroom on September 28th and the Bell House on September 29th. Tickets for the Brooklyn show are on sale.

More pictures and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Mono - 2009 tour dates w/ Maserati ++ Wordless show pics"

by JJ Koczan

We continue with JJ's report from Roadburn in Tilburg, Holland. If you missed it, you might want to start with Day One. Here is Day Two (Friday April 23, 2009)...

Cathedral LIVE at Roadburn (Erik Luyten)

It's really easy to tell as you walk around Tilburg who is here for Roadburn and who isn't. Even when I first got here from Amsterdam on the train, the front of the station looked like an Eyehategod show could have broken out at any minute, all the bearded longhairs and black t-shirts, including my own, standing around looking for a bus or a cab. Like some kind of convention for the International Society Of Social Awkwardness. But oh, we do have a good time.

The thing about the "doom scene," as much as there is one, is that it's really more of a community. Maybe it's because the majority of its patrons are a little older, a little more stoned, a little more concerned with paying their rent, but there are way fewer scene rules than, say, in black metal, where the contest to be more kvlt than thou goes on ceaselessly. Certainly there's a uniform -- see "beards and t-shirts," above -- but there are some normal looking dudes running around here and no one really gives a crap one way or the other what they look like. I'd say it's refreshing, but it's been this way for as long as I've been into doom, so it's nothing new.

This is easily the best festival I've ever seen. The fact that I'm here still astonishes me. Yesterday, as I watched Angel Witch demolish bands half their age (though Saviours would answer back heartily later on), I couldn't help but look around me and be amazed at the gathering of riff worshippers. The Atomic Bitchwax, for example, played to a Green Room so packed that people were lined up into the hallway watching them through the open doors. I've seen the Bitchwax plenty of times in our shared home state of New Jersey, and most of those shows have been relatively empty. Here you can barely go from one part of the venue to the next without doing a bump 'n grind on some poor schlub. It's something to get used to, but I made a conscious decision to take a different approach to day two than I had to day one.

continued below...

Continue reading "Surviving Roadburn, Day Two: Riding To The Sabbath"

"To celebrate their tenth anniversary, MONO will be bringing their infamous, face-melting live show to New York City for two special nights backed by the Wordless Music Orchestra, conducted by Jeff Milarsky. In addition to the previously announced show at the New York Society For Ethical Culture on May 8th, we are happy to announce they have added a second night, on May 9th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. This is the first time in MONO's career they have performed with additional instrumentation, and no better time than now, coinciding with the forthcoming release of Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Presented by the renowned Wordless Music Series, this rare and special performance will be the only North American concert in support of their new album.

After touring almost non-stop for five years, MONO hibernated for over a year to focus solely on writing Hymn To The Immortal Wind, to be released on March 24, 2009."

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: MONO - "Ashes In The Snow" (MP3)

Japan's MONO, who will play The Society For Ethical Culture with a 23-piece orchestra on 5/8 (tickets here), have released a video for "Follow The Map" from the upcoming Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Check it out below and check out "Ashes In The Snow" available for download above. Hymn To The Immortal Wind is currently up for pre-order on CD and 2LP, with the first 1000 copies of the 2LP coming in a "swirling mix of blues, greens and smoky greys". Trippy.

MONO is also reissuing a remastered and packaged-together One Step More And You Die / New York Soundtracks combo in limited colored vinyl which will come with a CD copy of Hymn To The Immortal Wind. More details are here.

Continue reading "Mono - new video, album presale, NYC show still on sale"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Maserati - "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sage" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zombi - "Spirit Animal" (MP3 Snippet)
DOWNLOAD: Mono - "Ashes In The Snow" (MP3)

Zombi (photo by Shawn Brackbill)

Zombi is a space rock duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consisting of Steve Moore on bass and synthesizers and Anthony Paterra on drums. The group makes use of looping to create multi-layered compositions. They have toured with Don Caballero, Isis, Orthrelm, The Psychic Paramount, Daughters, Red Sparowes, These Arms Are Snakes and Trans Am.

First up is Spirit Animal, Zombi's poppin' fresh LP due on Feb 3rd via Relapse Records. The band is currently streaming snippets of a pair of tracks at their myspace and made one of those snippets available for download here... check out "Spirit Animal" above.

Zombi's second release is decidedly different... the Sapphire 12" will be released on Throne Of Blood (aka The Rapture's label). Look for that on dancefloors, in February as well.

Finally, Zombi have paired up with Maserati to release a split LP on Temporary Residence Limited, due in, you guessed it, February. The kind folks at TRL have made one of those Maserati tracks (and an intro) available for download. Check out "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sages" above. Maserati will be embarking on a short East Coast tour, hitting Le Poisson Rouge along the way on March 10th. Tickets are on sale.

While we are on the Temporary Residence Limited tip, labelmates MONO have dropped of an MP3 from their upcoming LP Hymn to the Immortal Wind check it out above. Tickets are still available for their 10th anniversary show at The Society For Ethical Culture with a 23-piece orchestra.

And that's not all for Steve Moore... the Zombi multi-instrumentalist wears many faces, a few of which will be showcased in the coming weeks. Look for a solo Steve Moore to hit Connolly's with Future Islands and Anamanaguchi on Jan 16th, and then again at Cake Shop with Jonas Reinhardt and ARP on Jan 30. He's also in Titan (who have no shows scheduled at the moment) and Lovelock who play Jan 23rd with College, Anoraak, and Russ Chimes as part of the Valerie party at Webster Hall.

All Maserati, Steve Moore, College, and Anoraak dates (none for Zombi yet), below...

Continue reading "Maserati, College & Anoraak tour dates, new Zombi releases, Steve Moore shows, Valerie & MONO"

Now we can officially announce the release of our 5th album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind. It has been 3 years since the release of our last album and we are truly grateful to still be able to create our music today. Being together as a band for 10 years has brought forth some changes and has hopefully allowed us to grow. We have created a special site to give you a preview of what to expect from Hymn To The immortal Wind. Please check it out.

As some of you may have heard, we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary with a special concert backed by a 23-piece orchestra conducted by Jeff Milarsky. The show will take place for one night only at the Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall in New York City. This is actually our first time in our career to perform with additional instrumentation and we are excited to do this for the release of our newest album, Hymn To The Immortal Wind. It will be our only North American concert in support of Hymn To The Immortal Wind so please come join us on 5/8 in New York City. We are looking forward to share our new music live with all of you.

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Disfear - "Get It Off" from "Live The Storm", out 1/22 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lair Of The Minotaur - "Horde of Undead Vengeance" from "War Battle Metal Master" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rwake - Leviticus from "Voices Of Omens" (MP3)

A Storm Of Light

How do you top what will surely be one of the greatest metal shows of the year? Try adding A Storm Of Light - the new project from Josh Graham (recently ex- Red Sparowes, Battle Of Mice, Neurosis visuals)! Graham, Domenic Seita (ex-Asea), and Pete Angevine (Satanized) will open the January 25th date @ the Brooklyn Masonic Temple (now sold out), but not before playing Union Pool on Jan 20th with Ghastly City Sleep & Titan. Stream their new track, "Mass" from their upcoming LP "And We Wept The Black Ocean Within" @ MySpace. (and look for my interview with Josh coming very soon!)

D-Beat fiesta up in this mutha! Swedish D-Beat badasses Disfear will release their new crusher-of-an-album, "Live The Storm" on 1/22 via Relapse. Produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, et al.), the album features the first go around by ex-Entombed axeman Uffe Cederlund.... Download "Get It Off" above!

more below.....

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (1/18/08)"

DOWNLOAD: Mono - Gone (MP3)

Japanese post-rock pioneers MONO have amassed nearly all of their hard-to-find material on next month’s ambitious rarity collection, Gone. Out September 11th via Temporary Residence, the record tells the tale of MONO’s astounding eight-year journey, setting forth the band’s rare and out-of-print non-album tracks chronologically, from the modest opening notes of “Finlandia” to the scorched finale of “Little Boy (1945-Future).” Beautifully re-mastered from their original master tapes, each song is culled from a series of highly sought-after releases – the Japanese-only debut Hey, You. EP, the band’s split LP with Pelican, the Cameron Crowe-commissioned Memorie dal Futuro vinyl 10”, and The Phoenix Tree, MONO’s out-of-print EP for the storied Travels In Constants series.

Continue reading "Mono & High on Fire - 2007 Tour Dates & 'Gone' MP3"