by Andrew Sacher

Mountain Goats at Bowery Ballroom in March (more by Ryan Barkan)

Michael Dorf's (founder of Knitting Factory) series of tribute concerts to benefit music education programs for underprivileged youth (which last paid tribute to Neil Young in February) will continue on March 13, 2012 at Carnegie Hall, when 21 different artists will perform the 21 songs from The Rolling Stones' massive document of the early part of their long withstanding career, Hot Rocks 1964-1971. The compilation was released at the tail end of 1971, and was filled with the bluesy cuts that they used to leave their stamp on popular music (though notably includes no tracks from the psychedelic trip they took on Their Satanic Majesties Request in 1967) before putting together the colossal double album Exile On Main St. a few months later.

So far the artists that will be participating in the show include The Mountain Goats, Glen Hansard, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash, Rich Robinson, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. More TBA soon. Tickets for the show are on sale now.

Meanwhile, Steve Earle will be kicking off a residency at Michael Dorf's venue City Winery with Allison Moorer and friends in January. The residency will take place every monday over the five week period of January 9 through February 6. Tickets for all five shows are on sale now. The Carnegie Hall show in March won't be the first time Steve has covered the Stones. He's been known to cover "Dead Flowers" at his shows. You can listen to a version recorded live in Calgary that appeared on the deluxe edition of his 1988 album Copperhead Road below.

The Mountain Goats, who also play at the Stones tribute, will be sticking around after the Carnegie Hall show to play NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival later that month. They'll be performing material with vocal quartet Anonymous 4 that frontman John Darnielle wrote for his new project Transcendental Youth, with arrangements by Owen Pallett. They play on March 24 at Merkin Concert Hall. Tickets for the show are still on sale. John Darnielle also just announced a bunch more 2012 dates, all of which are listed below.

All Mountain Goats & Steve Earle dates and the above-mentioned song stream, below...

Continue reading "a Rolling Stones tribute @ Carnegie Hall, Steve Earle & Allison Moorer residency, and more Mountain Goats dates"

The Ecstatic Music Festival is returning to the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center from February 4 to March 28. The festival includes 11 shows over the course of the approximate two month period including performances by Richard Reed Perry (of Arcade Fire) with Son Lux and yMusic (who recently worked with My Brightest Diamond and St. Vincent), This Will Destroy You with composer Christopher Tignor and his band Slow Six, vocal octet Roomful of Teeth who will present a collaboration with Glasser and also present new work by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Rhys Chatham and Oneida, Dan Deacon with the NOW Ensemble and the Calder Quartet, The Mountain Goats with vocal quartet Anonymous 4, who will be performing material for John Darnielle's new project Transcendental Youth, which were arranged by Owen Pallet. Many other artists are performing too, the full schedule is below.

Tickets for individual shows are available now, as well as a festival pass, which allows you access to all 11 shows. If you purchase your tickets before December 10, you can get them for only $20.

Full schedule below...

Continue reading "Ecstatic Music Festival 2012 announced & on sale --- NYC shows w/ Mountain Goats, Dan Deacon, Glasser & more"

photos by Chris Graham

"John Wesley Harding just sang a song with an Atlantic Yards reference." - Kate

John Hold Steady Walkmen Mountain Goat Wesley Harding

"Well, you know, I've been making music for twenty something years now, and over the years, you meet many people in and out of your lives. They may or may not be your best friends, and you may or may not be close with their families, but there is a mutual respect and in some cases, that blossoms into very long friendships. For example, when I first came into America in 1990, I think my first ever solo show here was in Athens, Georgia. There, I was invited to stay at Peter Buck's house, and staying there was Nikki Sudden who has since sadly demised, and Billy Bragg; it was quite a wild scenario. It was my first time in town really, and my first solo show in America, so I've known Peter 21 years now. Scott, the producer of the record, came up to me at a show in Seattle in 1992 and said, "I'm a fan, I'm in the Young Fresh Fellows," and I said, "Fantastic." Now, bizarrely, he's not only in the Young Fresh Fellows, he's also in The Minus Five who was the backing band of my last album, and R.E.M who are now no more. Rosanne Cash, I met totally by chance in a New York lunch place. We were introduced, and I'm an artist-in-residence at this university, and I asked her to do a talk for the students with me because she's also a writer and musician. We've become very good friends, she's a great user of the social networking device Twitter, and we kind of keep in touch through that. So, I've known her a few years now, and her voice is so very recognizable to me, and I've loved it for so long that she is a very easy person to summon how good she would be in your mind of how good she would be in a song; then there's John Roderick of The Long Winters who is quite a recent friend; also Laura Veirs--I needed a woman to sing the parts of the ghost of my ex-girlfriend in one of the songs; and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos does the horns on everything, and he produced an album for me in 1992 called Why We Fight. He also found me a place to live. I was his neighbor for a couple of years. So, as you can see, it's a lovely web of friendship and mutual history."
- John Wesley Harding to Huffington Post

Tickets are still on sale for the Decemberists-filled Cabinet of Wonders that will go down in the same venue on 11/18. Many of the same musicians will also be in the house the next night at the Bell House and then at Maxwell's right after that.

More pictures from City Winery below...

Continue reading "John Darnielle, Rosanne Cash, Hamilton Leithauser, John Hodgman & others played John Wesley Harding's show (pics)"

Mountain Goats @ Knitting Factory, Halloween 2005 (more)

As previously mentioned, John Wesley Harding is holding a "Cabinet of Wonders" variety show at NYC's City Winery on October 28th with Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen), Eugene Mirman, John Hodgman, Emma Straub, Paul Harding, and more TBA. Since our last mention, two very special guests have been added to the bill: Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats). Hopefully you didn't sleep on tickets because the show is now sold out.

Tickets are however on sale now for A Haunted Hot Tub Halloween at Littlefield, also a comedy and music variety show, happening one day later (10/29) with Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunohler, Wyatt Cenac, Andres du Bouchet, and... John Darnielle, and more.

Tickets are also on sale for Hot Tub on 10/10 and 10/17.

Tickets are also still on sale for the 11/18 Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery with The Blue Fisherman (from Edinburgh, Scotland), Howe Gelb, Myla Goldberg, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, Audrey Niffenegger AND "Plus for this Cabinet of Wonders, and this Cabinet of Wonders only, the House Band will be THE KING CHARLES TRIO, comprising: Peter Buck (REM), Jenny Conlee-Drizos, Chris Funk, John Wesley Harding (Appearing as Himself), Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five), John Moen, and Nate Query." That's a lot of Decemberists. More upcoming JWH shows HERE

Speaking of Ted Leo and Craig Finn, both are scheduled to make appearances at the BrooklynVegan-presented Replacements tribute shows happening at Bowery Electric in November. The previously announced two shows (and movie screenings) are sold out, BUT a third tribute concert - a late one on 11/17, has been added. Tickets for the new show are on sale. More info HERE.

Mountain Goats dates and flyers below...

Continue reading "3rd Replacements tribute show added, John Darnielle schedules guest appearances, Craig Finn too"

Wanda Jackson @ Bowery Ballroom in Feb. (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

today in NYC
* Ohad Talmor @ Barbes
* Mike Wexler @ Zebulon
* Eszter Balint @ The Stone
* John Esposito @ The Stone
* Black Rob @ Apple Store SoHo
* Aretha Franklin @ Jones Beach
* Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 @ SOB's
* Etran Finatawa @ 92YTribeca
* Anna Calvi @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* Mojo Mancini @ Rockwood Music Hall
* The Big Terrific @ The Cameo Gallery
* Hyro Da Hero, WordSpit @ Knitting Factory
* The Allman Brothers Band @ Beacon Theatre
* Oumou Sangare, Leyla McCalla @ City Winery
* Sia, Oh Land, Ximena Sarinana @ Webster Hall
* Jon Sandler, Kelli Scarr @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Marissa Nadler, Faces On Film @ Mercury Lounge
* Echo Friendly, Young & Wilder, SWF @ Glasslands
* Yvette Perez, Peter Zummo @ The Manhattan Inn
* North Highlands, ARMS, Hospitality @ Mercury Lounge
* Maria Gadu, The Barr Brothers @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Dropkick Murphys, Turbo AC's @ Starland Ballroom
* David Wax Museum @ Madison Square Park (free)
* Wanda Jackson, Imelda May @ Central Park Summerstage
* Avi Buffalo, Nik Freitas, Beast Make Bomb @ The Rock Shop
* Federico Ughi Quartet, Loriot / Ali / Costa Trio @ Sycamore
* Young Circles, Goolsby, Noxious Foxes, Boyfrndz @ Spike Hill
* Audio Insight, Lost Blue, Love Assassin, Odd Man @ Maxwell's
* Disappears, The Psychic Paramount, Spectre Folk @ Cake Shop
* The Gytters, Nighty Night, Beat People @ Brooklyn Fire Proof East
* George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic @ Beekman Beer Garden
* Sugar Blue, The Tangiers Blues Band, Hired Killers @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Bad Credit No Credit, The Back Pockets, Hilly Eye, Hyena @ Bruar Falls
* Twin Sister, Your Youth (SummerScreen w/ Ferris Bueller's Day Off) @ McCarren Park
* Super Big Gulp, Life Size Maps, Milton Melvin Croissant III, Dugoutcanoe @ DBA
* Billy Bragg, The Black Earth Boys, Juldeh Camara @ Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park Bandshell
* Grey Gersten & The Chakra, Fawn Dancers, Ryan Sawyer, Darius Jones, Garrett Devoe @ Union Pool

Twin Sister will be premiering a new video along with their free performance at Summerscren in McCarren Park tonight.

Tickets are still available for tonight's George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic show at Beekman Beer Garden, and you can win a pair on our Facebook.

We're giving away tickets to Doveman's next 'Salon' show at Le Poisson Rouge, via Facebook. Julia Stone and Peter Pears are confirmed guests.

Super Big Gulp, who play Death By Audio tonight have members of Total Slacker, Beach Fossils, Oberhofer, and Friends.

The Mountain Goats have a video for "Estate Sale Sign." Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

photos by Ryan Barkan

Megafaun @ Bowery Ballroom

The Mountain Goats and Megafaun played their third of three Bowery Ballroom shows in a row on Wednesday, 3/30. NYC Taper has recordings (and the setlists) of the Mountain Goats' set from NIGHT ONE and NIGHT TWO.

We previously posted pictures from the first night, and from the other show John Darnielle (Mountain Goats) played earlier on Wednesday for WNYC. This post contains pictures from the last Bowery show where the Hold Steady's Craig Finn again joined the headliner on stage. They continue below.

Megafaun and the Mountain Goats continue on tour through 4/15 when they hit the Theater of Living Arts in Philly. One day later, Megafaun return to NYC to open for their friend and collaborator Sharon Van Etten at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets are still available). In May you can catch both Sharon and Megafaun at MusicNOW in Cincinnati.

Megafaun recently released a new videeo for their song "Carolina Days." You can watch that, with more Bowery pictures and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Megafaun opened for Mountain Goats (night 3 pics), opening for Sharon Van Etten, playing MusicNOW, made a video"

photos by David Andrako

The Mountain Goats stopped by NYC's Greene Space on Wednesday (earlier in the day than his third in a row Bowery Ballroom show) for a live WNYC "Soundcheck" radio appearance along with Suzanne Vega. Each artist performed three songs, Suzanne's were from her new play, and John's were from his new album "All Eternals Deck." Listen to the whole show, check out the setlist, and see more pictures from it, below.

Oh, and speaking of the Greene Space, "Battle of the Boroughs", the Bronx edition, goes down at the venue tonight (4/1).

Continue reading "Mountain Goats & Suzanne Vega played a few songs @ Greene Space (pics & WNYC stream)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

John Darnielle's The Mountain Goats played their first of three shows at Bowery Ballroom with the amazing Megafaun last night (3/28). Surprise guest Craig Finn from the Hold Steady (whose upcoming Terminal 5 show was being advertised via projection on the wall at last night's LCD Soundsystem show) came out and sang on "This Year" as you can watch in a video below.

And they do it again tonight (3/29). More pictures, the video and the setlist from last night, below...

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats w/ special guest Craig Finn & Megafaun played Bowery Ballroom (night 1 pics setlist, video)"

Mountain Goats @ Planned Parenthood Rally (more by Chris La Putt)

The Mountain Goats will kick off a tour on March 24th in Richmond, VA. That includes THREE SOLD OUT Bowery Ballroom shows with Megafaun on March 28, 29 & 30, and now a March 30th WNYC Greene Space appearance with Suzanne Vega as well (I think Billy Bragg was originally on the bill too). Tickets for that 2pm appearance which will be broadcast on WNYC, are on sale.

All tour dates, a UK run included, below....

Continue reading "Mountain Goats sell out 3 Bowery shows, add Greene Space (updated 2011 tour dates)"

photos by Chris La Putt

The 'Stand Up For Women's Health' rally went down in Foley Square this afternoon (2/26), from 1-3pm. According to a post-event press release,

On Saturday, February 26, thousands of people came together in Foley Square, in downtown Manhattan, to stand up for women's health, and fight back against the recent Congressional attacks against Planned Parenthood and family planning funding.

The rally comes on the heels of passage of dangerous anti-choice legislation in the House of Representatives, which, if made into law,
would eliminate basic health care and education services for millions of Americans - and according to Department of Health estimates, 800,000 New Yorkers.

Continue reading "1000s (including Kathleen Hanna) rally for Planned Parenthood (Mtn Goats & Nellie McKay performed) -- pics & video"

The Mountain Goats at ACL (more by Tim Griffin)

On Saturday, February 26, celebrities, elected officials, musicians and women's health leaders will join thousands of New Yorkers in Foley Square to rally and stand up for women's health.

The rally comes on the heels of last Friday's passage of the Pence Amendment, a dangerous piece of legislation which, if made into law, would eliminate basic health care and education services for millions of Americans - and according to department of health estimates, 800,000 New Yorkers.

This Saturday, thousands from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, along with celebrities, musicians, non-profit organizations, and elected officials, will stand up for women's health, and encourage Senators to reject the Pence amendment, and send a clear message to members of Congress that attacks on women's health are attacks on all of us.

The Mountain Goats return to town in March as part of a tour that includes three shows at Bowery Ballroom. Two are sold out, but tickets are still available for the third. They also have an album on the way, All Eternals Deck, available for preorder on CD and LP (multiple vinyl colorways) with a bonus cassette-only album of demos (while supplies last).

Nellie McKay @ the Allen Room (more by Chris La Putt)

Nellie also has more upcoming shows. Besides a single date at Mountain Stage in Charleston, WV on April 24th, she is also doing another residency at Feinstein's at Loews Regency from March 22 through April 2nd and tickets are on sale for all nights (most nights have two performances).

The rally flyer & full list of advertised participants is below...

Continue reading "Nellie McKay performing @ Planned Parenthood rally w/ The Mountain Goats, taking residency @ Feinstein's again"

DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice - "Sea Salt" (MP3)

John Vanderslice at Public Assembly (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Though tickets are still available for both the March 28, and the March 29 Mountain Goats/Megafaun shows at Bowery Ballroom, John Darnielle and crew have added a third show at Bowery Ballroom happening March 30th. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

The last time that John Darnielle was in NYC was with The Extra Lens during CMJ as part of a short tour with John Vanderslice who later wooed the crowd in the middle of the day and in the middle of the floor at Public Assembly as part of the BV day party. Now the singer/songwriter (JV) will make his first trip back to NYC since that outing, and with a new LP in tow; White Wilderness is out now via Dead Oceans. So far there are no additional East Coast dates to report, but John Vanderslice will take on Brooklyn's Rock Shop on May 13 with Damien Jurado! A Fine double bill. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (2/11).

And like JV, Damien Jurado, who is still supporting his latest Secretly Canadian release Saint Bartlett, is planning a trek to SXSW in March. Damien will be joined along the way, and for more dates afterwards, by Viva Voce. All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Mountain Goats add 3rd NYC show, John Vanderslice playing Brooklyn w/ Damien Jurado (who is touring w/ Viva Voce)"

DOWNLOAD: The Mountain Goats - Damn These Vampires (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Mountain Goats - Tyler Lambert's Grave (MP3)

John Darnielle's The Mountain Goats will release a new album called 'All Eternals Deck' on March 29 via Merge Records (who also released John's last project "The Extra Lens" in October)...

"As with their last album, The Life of the World To Come, the [Mountain Goats] treated the [All Eternals Deck] recording sessions as commando raids on several studios with a few different producers: four songs at North Carolina's Fidelitorium with John Congleton; one at Q Division in Boston with Brandon Eggleston; four at Brooklyn's Mission Sound with Scott Solter; and four at Mana Recording Studios in Florida, with former Morbid Angel guitarist and current Hate Eternal helmsman Erik Rutan.

Describing the album, Darnielle writes, "If you have ever watched say a 70s occult-scare movie where one of the scenes involves a few people visiting a storefront fortune teller, getting their cards read, and then trying to feel super-hopeful about their predicted outcome when what they're visibly actually feeling is dread, then you have a pretty decent idea of what the album is all about." He elaborates, "Other possible points of reference include 'Burnt Offerings,' 'Go Ask Alice,' and that one scene in The Warriors where they're on the train and the sun's coming up and they're safe but you know the scars are permanent now."" - Merge Records

There are two MP3s above. "Tyler Lambert's Grave" is a new song John released for free on the Internet, but it's not on the new album. "Damn These Vampires" is though. The full tracklist, the new album's cover art, and all dates, below...

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats releasing 'All Eternals Deck' on Merge, touring (MP3s & dates)"

photos by Tim Griffin

""This festival is super-cool," said Strokes singer Julian Casablancas from the stage at Austin City Limits on Friday night. "Lotta stuff." It's true: The festival, now in its ninth year, packs 130 bands onto eight outdoor stages arranged around the 350-acre Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The lineup is a mix of huge rock acts (the Eagles headline Sunday) and big-name indie bands, plus DJs, country singers and the occasional rapper. With an expected attendance of around 70,000 a day, the festival similar in size, if not in spirit, to Lollapalooza. "Lollapalooza has that city energy. It's like the hot girl you want to take home," one organizer, Lisa Hickey, said. "ACL is more laid-back -- it's like your best friend." And unlike South By Southwest, the music and film showcase that takes over the Texas town every spring, ACL doesn't have much of a music-industry angle -- it's almost strictly for fans.

On Friday night, the packed lineup presented the crowd with a happy problem: Four big-name guitar bands -- Spoon, Sonic Youth, Vampire Weekend, and the Strokes -- all had sets starting within two hours of each other, and seeing each set in its entirety was impossible."
[Rolling Stone]

Kings Go Forth pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures from the first day of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival (where Ezra Koenig joined Miike Snow on stage), continue, with a bunch of setlists (including Spoon's which points out that Eleanor Friedberger played a Fiery Furnaces song with Spoon) (video proof too), below...

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 1 in pics (Strokes, Phish, Black Keys, Spoon, Beach House, Vampire Weekend & more) "

DOWNLOAD: The Extra Lens - Only Existing Footage (MP3)

Comprised of John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) and Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue, the Human Hearts) and formed in the Inland Empire during the region's brief next-Seattle shortlist period, the project began as a potential home for any song John wrote that had a) more than three chords or b) a bridge. New songs for the group only happened when John figured he"d written something that Franklin might find clever or amusing. Reasoning that permanent-bridesmaid status means you never have to actually buy the dress, the duo have approached record-making at a pace that one would call "leisurely" if it wouldn"t make the leisure class look like busy bodies: one 7", several compilation appearances, one full-length at the dawn of the aughts, and now, arriving with Paul Masson-like deliberation, Undercard.

Recorded with Brian Paulson (Slint, Beck, US Maple) at the Rubber Room in Carrboro, North Carolina, and with Mitch Rackin (Excepter, Heavy Hands) at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn, Undercard is the first Extra Lens record to arrive as a full collaboration between songwriters. The recording method, however, persists: John plays guitar, sings, and then gets the hell out of Dodge City, leaving Franklin to provide arrangements as the songs required: here sparing, here ornate; sometimes gentle, sometimes not; once with vibraslap, mostly without. [Merge Records]

In support of that release, the boys will hit the road with John Vanderslice for four select east coast dates including the intimate Mercury Lounge on October 21st. The NYC show is part of the CMJ Music Marathon, but advanced tickets also go on sale Friday at noon (weird for a CMJ show at Mercury Lounge). All dates below...

Continue reading "The Extra Lens = John Darnielle + Franklin Bruno -- releasing album on Merge (MP3, stream & tour dates) "

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Chris Juarez & Rachel Carr

Local Natives & the crowd @ FYF Fest Saturday

Yesterday was FYF Fest. We know all the problems... The lines... And are addressing them now. In no way are we sleeping on these problems. The bands were amazing and the turn out was unreal. I'm speechless. -Sean Carlson & FYF Fest

The day's short sets kept you wanting more from nearly every act, many of whom played for a half hour or 35 minutes (which expanded in 5 minute increments up to an hour for the headliners). That made for tough decisions between overlapping sets. Ted Leo and band blew through their 45 minutes, and Titus Andronicus could've continued for another 35 at least with the momentum from their Monitor songs. Those two, along with Screaming Females, were part of what Ted Leo termed the "New Jersey Takeover" - three punk bands with Garden State roots who all played great sets at the fest.

Ariel Pink

Los Angeles represented with a number of notable hometown acts. Growlers, in grey facepaint, brought an earthy, ramshackle sound and lots of friends. Best Coast, Abe Vigoda, Local Natives and Ariel Pink also repped their hometown - the latter two with mezmerizing late afternoon sets.

Other acts brought some nice surprises. A chorus of kids, costumed as zombie versions of dead historical figures, backed Dead Man's Bones' Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. The Blow introduced some of her new songs written for an unnamed celebrity (and played recognizable earlier songs too, including one "written with Sting...when [she] was 7"). And Big Freedia, the fest's only act with any trace of hip-hop, shocked the crowd with a short pre-headerliner dose of "Azz Everywhere."

Big Freedia

There was plenty of garage rock (Thee Oh Sees brought the man responsible for their cover art, William Keihn, to play tambourine), punk and metal. A reunited Sleep, in New York this week, grinded away, as !!! had people shaking their ass on the sister stage. On the fest's third stage, hardcore band 7 Seconds reminisced about their first time in LA almost 30 years ago and lead a spirited circle pit. Add to those bands, breezy folk from AA Bondy, the jams of Warpaint and Delorean to name a few.

If FYF's organizers are a bit defensive above, it may be with good reason: the few critical organizational errors were fairly memorable. A long line at will call (an hour would be a short estimate) kept many waiting in the 90 degree sun while the first bands of the day (Magic Kids, Let's Wrestle and The Goat) could be heard starting in the distance. Water inside was also an issue, with limited access to free drinking water and bottled water at $4 (which, according to Noah Lennox, ran out).

By the end of the night, the two final acts - The Rapture and Panda Bear - set up on competing stages. Panda Bear aka Noah Lennox interspersed his dreamy lullabies with patches of noise and dissonance while videos and images that could be described only as "trippy" played behind him; I think your response to the set depended largely on your state of mind after the long day: exhausted or ready for a patience-testing string of songs and sounds. He and The Rapture provided, alternately, a place to dance or doze.

--

Unsane also played a rare runion set at the festival where Off! shared a bill with Lower Dens. School of Seven Bells, Davila 666, Cults and Ceremony were there too.

Read what Noah thought about his own set, HERE. More pictures from the entire day, below...

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2010 in pics & review "

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

DOWNLOAD: Fol Chen - In Ruins (MP3)

Liars @ SXSW 2010 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

tonight in NYC
* Cypress Hill @ SOB's
* Questlove (DJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Liars, Fol Chen @ Bowery Ballroom
* Sisters, Darlings @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Fan-Tan, Hopewell, Fuxa, Floorian @ Cake Shop
* Maps & Atlases, Drink Up Buttercup @ Maxwell's
* Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten @ Webster Hall
* 25 O'Clock Band The 25-year reunion @ The Stone
* Surfer Blood @ Terrace Club Princeton
* Mountain Goats' Life of the World to Come @ IFC Center
* Das Racist, Nvr Frvr, Cameron Hull (late) @ Glasslands
* North Highlands, Unwed Sailor, Common Loon @ Union Hall
* Brother Ali, Fashawn, BK One @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Fixed w/ Matthew Dear, JDH & Dave P @ Santos Party House
* The Dirty Pearls, The Party Death (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* Live Footage, Setting Sun, Quitzow, Rykarda Parasol @ Pianos
* Kaki King, An Horse, Glass Ghost @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* We Are Country Mice, Your Youth, Apollo Heights @ Bruar Falls
* The Dirty Pearls, The Click Clack Boom (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Liquor Store, Roman Gabriel Todd's Beast Rising Up Out Of The Sea @ Don Pedro
* Caspian, Arms and Sleepers, Sainthood Reps, Golden City @ Studio at Webster Hall

More in THIS WEEK IN INDIE.

Best Coast will be playing a Seaport show on July 23rd with Free Energy - their new video for "When I'm with You" is below.

Tickets to see Kele of Bloc Party at Webster Hall are now on AmEx Presale.

Tonight's "Cabinet of Wonders" at LPR features John Wesley Harding and his Band, The English UK along with Larry Murphy, Sondre Lerche, Ben Greenman, Rick Moody, Nicole Atkins, Daniel Felsenfeld and Leona Naess.

For Nicole Atkins and Sondre Lerche, it will be at least the second time they've shared a bill in the past month.

Mountain Goats' concert film The Life of the World to Come, filmed by Brick director Rian Johnson, plays at IFC Center tonight. The flyer is below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

Matador announced that Fucked Up's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' charity single "should be available" from iTunes today (December 8th) (still waiting it is). As previously reported, the song is packed with guests, including Yo La Tengo, GZA, Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend), Bob Mould (Husker Du), Tegan & Sara, Andrew W.K., Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio), David Cross and Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene). In February, it'll be released as 7" single. The record is for charity, and you can read what Fucked Up singer Pink Eyes has to say about the causes, below. The band is also putting out a rarities compilation, Couple Tracks, in January and touring with Kurt Vile in Feb. (with 2 NYC area shows).

Another benefit record, Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, is out today on Merge (in digital form, CDs come February 23rd). The proceeds go to New Zealand musician Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love) who suffered a stroke last June. The two-disc collection is all covers of Knox's songs done by acts that include Yo La Tengo, Mountain Goats, Will Oldham, Stephin Merritt, Bill Callahan and...Jeff Mangum (doing "Sign The Dotted Line" by Tall Dwarfs). You can preview songs at Merge. The full track list below.

Don't forget, Bob Dylan's Christmas album is also for charity, benefiting Feeding America. His new video for "Little Drummer Boy" (animated and less jokey than "Must Be Santa") is below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum, Fucked Up, Bob Dylan, Bill Callahan, Will Oldham, Yo La Tengo & others release songs for charity"

Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy concludes his tour with The Mountain Goats at The Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (12/2). Their second to last stop together was last night at Webster Hall (that's a picture from the show above). Final Fantasy also appeared on IFC's Dinner Was the Band last night. He performed "Keep the Dog Quiet" at both shows, but only talked about how he was vegan until he decided to eat lamb one day on the IFC one. Video from the TV show was previously posted HERE. A picture of the Webster Hall setlist is below.

In related news,

To celebrate the January 12th release of Heartland, Final Fantasy will be playing several shows, including dates in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. The third Final Fantasy full-length and the first for Domino Records, Heartland is the product of nine months of work in four countries. It is a fully orchestral record, designed to exist simultaneously as an album, a 45-minute piece of orchestral music and a set of songs for looped violin and voice.
Owen Pallett explains Heartland:
"The songs themselves form a narrative concerning a farmer named Lewis and the fictional world of Spectrum. The songs are one-sided dialogues with Lewis, a young, ultra-violent farmer, speaking to his creator. The album was compositionally modeled upon the principles of electronic music. The principles of analog synthesis informing symphonic writing, like an inversion of a Tomita record. These songs, too, were designed to be as dense with polyphony as the Final Fantasy live shows can become. While writing it, I kept an image in my head of putting so many notes on the page that the paper turned black. This record encapsulates a whole year of work for me, and was difficult to see through, but I'm immensely proud of the results. I hope you enjoy it."

Continue reading "Final Fantasy played Webster Hall (setlist) - announces 2010 tour dates in support of new Domino Records album "

Doveman in an apartment in October (more by Ezra Caldwell)

tonight in NYC
* Imogen Heap @ Webster Hall
* Phish @ Madison Square Garden
* McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note
* Happy Ending Music w/ Doveman @ Joe's Pub
* David Thomas w/ Greil Marcus @ The New School
* The Mountain Goats, Final Fantasy @ The Bell House
* The Shaky Hands, Takka Takka, US Royalty @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Titus Andronicus, The Beets, Algernon Cadwallader @ NYU Kimmel Center
* Jaguar Love, The King Left, Yes Giantess, Violent Soho @ Mercury Lounge
* Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica w/ DJ Spooky & ICE @ BAM Howard Gilman Opera
* Phoenix, Passion Pit, Jack's Mannequin, Manchester Orchestra @ Hammerstein

Jaguar Love is a band that includes members of Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Tickets are still available for their gig at Mercury Lounge tonight.

The Mountain Goats are in town for two sold-out shows with Final Fantasy. Last night was at Webster Hall. Tonight they're at the Bell House. John Darnielle also showed up to play a few songs at UCB Monday night. A video of John covering The Hold Steady in Minneapolis, below.

DJ Spooky's collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the multimedia work Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, runs tonight, Friday and Saturday at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Video below.

Bjorn from Peter Bjorn and John is DJing at Cake Shop tonight. It's a free show with a performance by The Suzan who recently opened for the band at Terminal 5.

Doveman's appearance at Joe's Pub is one of many in their future. "Doveman and friends" at Mercury Lounge on January 12th is on sale.

Titus Andronicus also has a show coming up at Mercury Lounge, it's one of many New Years Eve shows in NYC this/next year.

Amazon is giving away a different free holiday song each day until Christmas.

If someone asks you for a miracle while you're walking by MSG this evening, it's because Phish is back. They covered TV on the Radio the other day in Albany. Video below...

Ann from Breakfast at Sulimays interviewed Neon Indian. Video below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

FF photos by Joseph Xu

DOWNLOAD: Mountain Goats - Genesis 3:23 (new MP3)

Final Fantasy @ P4K

Final Fantasy played the Pitchfork Festival on July 18th, which is where the photos in this post are from (check out his Mayhem t-shirt). About a week later he played the Hillside Festival at Guelph Lake in Canada during a storm (probably not a good idea)...

A few songs into his bravura one-man baroque-pop set, the skies filled with thunder and lightning as rain began to drench Pallett, who continued shredding his bow fiercely across his violin.

As stagehands covered equipment with plastic, and organizers frantically tried to cut him off, Pallett kept playing the appropriately dramatic 'Lewis Takes His Shirt Off.' "One more minute," he yelled, as sheets of water hit him full force.

The stunned (and soaked) crowd broke into wild cheers as one minute turned into two and Pallett sped toward the song's big finish like a man possessed -- until the stage crew finally pulled the plug. Still, his heroics had already created Hillside's most memorable moment. [Spinner]

This November he (Owen Pallett) heads out on tour to open up for The Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), who will be playing as a full band (though there is a much shorter string of Darnielle solo dates too). The trip ends with a pair of NYC gigs on December 1st and 2nd, when they respectively visit Webster Hall and the Bell House. Tickets for Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon; general sale starts Friday, August 7th at noon. Bell House tickets are on sale today at noon.

The occasion for this tour is a new record from The Mountain Goats, enigmatically titled The Life of the World to Come, which comes out October 6th on 4AD. All song titles on the new album are Bible verses. John says,

The album was recorded between April and June: first at Electrical Audio with Brandon Eggleston; then at Sonic Ranch with John Congleton; and finally at Baucom Road with Scott Solter. Scott also mixed the entire album at Baucom Road. The band is still Jon Wurster, Peter Hughes, and me; Owen Pallett did string arrangements & played on the Electrical session.

I guess the obvious question is going to be: "John, have you had some sort of religious awakening?" and while I guess lots of people might want to be coy about answering that, that's never really been my style, so: no. It's not like that. It's not some heavy-narrative-distance deal either, though, and it's not a screed. It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of. More than that I'd want to wait to say until some people have heard it, which won't be long.

Continue reading "Mountain Goats - new Bible album, MP3, 2009 tour dates w/ Final Fantasy (who played Pitchfork & Hillside in a storm) "

John Darnielle & John Vanderslice in Somerville, MA - March 25, 2009 (bradsearles)

KEXP: I hear you're also recording an album with John Darnielle?

John Vanderslice: Yes, we're doing a "comedian's record," and and that will be out by the time we go on tour in March.

KEXP: What does that mean? Will it be spoken word?

JV: Oh! No! sorry. (laughs) That's the band name [The Comedians]. It would be funny if it were an actual comedian's record, though it might be kind of disappointing, but John is very funny.

The Vanderslice/Mtn Goats tour continues through April 6th. John Vanderslice's new album Romanian Names will be released by Dead Oceans on May 19th, and that's right around the time JV will hit the road again, except this time with a full band:

The line up for the May [John Vanderslice] tour is:
JV: Guitar, Vocals
Ian Bjornstad: Wurlitzer, Moog
Matthias Bossi: Drums
Sylvain Carton: Guitar
James Riotto: Bass

A partial list of venues participating in the Northside Festival this year are Music Hall of Williamsburg, Europa, Studio B, Union Pool, Radegast Hall & Biergarten, Zebulon, Public Assembly, Monkeytown, Pete's Candy Store, Spike Hill, Glasslands, The Cameo, Brooklyn Bowl, Bar Matchless, The Knitting Factory, Rose Live Music, The Shank, Black Betty, Berry Park.

The Mountain Goats/Comedians' NYC setlist, some live videos, and all Vanderslice tour dates, below...

Continue reading "The Comedians (John Darnielle/Vanderslice) played NYC, JV playing BrooklynVegan Northside Fest show, other dates"

The Mountain Goats @ Webster Hall (more by Faith-Ann Young)

"We are going to light out for the Territories in a van with two acoustic guitars, some notebooks, our soundman Brandon and a pouch full of charms against ill omen. We are going to get elemental. We are going to stomp our feet and hammer at the strings until we get what we want from them. We, a couple of guys named John, are going to tour, is what we're going to do. We're going to stand alone onstage and play our guitars and sing old songs & new, and then we'll probably play together. We are going to sit side by side with our acoustic guitars like two out of the five guys on the Five Man Acoustical Jam album, only with fewer Tesla songs. Because the whole point of playing an acoustic guitar is not to unplug. It's to get raw and draw blood."
[John Darnielle aka The Mountain Goats]

The Primitive tour kicks off on March 18th in Asheville, NC, and the NYC show will take place at the Society For Ethical Culture on March 27th. It's part of the Wordless Music Series. Tickets are on sale. John and John each also have some other interesting shows lined up between now and then...

Ten years ago John Vanderslice founded the Tiny Telephone recording studio in San Francisco, CA. To celebrate the occasion, John will be performing a show at the Great American Music Hall on January 30 with The Magik*Magik Orchestra in a 30-piece configuration. "Together they will pull favorite tunes from his catalog, and introduce new songs from a forthcoming album currently being recorded at Tiny Telephone." Special guest DJ Aesop Rock will spin records before and after the performance. All proceeds from the event will benefit Magik*Magik, the house Orchestra of Tiny Telephone.

The Mountain Goats are keeping busy before March comes too. First of all there's Ships & Dip V...

Barenaked Ladies and Sixthman are up to some more shenanigans! It's the real McCoy - Introducing Ships and Dip V, sailing through the Caribbean February 1-6, 2009. We're bringing you the goods again, in what's sure to be the craziest, zaniest time at sea!

Join Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea, The New Odds, Boothby Graffoe, The Weakerthans, and more bands to be announced throughout the year, as we set sail on the Norwegian Jewel for 5 days of revelry, recreation and boatloads of musical fun! With NCL's Freestyle Cruising, you won't get the bum's rush for doing exactly what you want! You can get dolled up, or keep it casual. With 12 restaurants and 11 bars and lounges to choose from, a luxurious spa, a full service casino, and plenty of other features, there won't be any trouble making your cruise experience the cat's pajamas. We set sail from Miami to NCL's private island of Great Stirrup Cay and Cozumel, Mexico- two great places to get some sun on those gams!

When you're not jiving to the amazing artists, relaxing by the pool or dining in one of the many hot spots on board, you can be sure to find tons of other activities to keep you on your toes!

Continue reading "the Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice: Gone Primitive (2009 Tour Dates), Ships & Dip & Tiny Telephone too"

Kaki King @ SXSW 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

The Hold Steady and Drive by Truckers play their second of two shows together at Terminal 5 in NYC tonight (11/7), and two more big indie rock pairings are rolling into town to play their own doubleheaders this weekend. Deerhunter, Times New Viking play Music Hall of Williamsburg (with Knyfe Hyts) and Bowery Ballroom (with Vivian Girls) on Friday and Saturday. The Mountain Goats and Kaki King are at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall on Satuday and Sunday.

Also this weekend: Conor Oberst at Terminal 5 (Saturday and Sunday), and the show I'm presenting, Deer Tick at Southpaw on Saturday. I have one pair of Deer Tick tickets to giveaway. If you want them...

Continue reading "Mountain Goats, Kaki King, Deerhunter & Times New Viking"