by Bill Pearis

Murals @ BVCMJ 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Louisville, Kentucky's dreamy Murals had a productive 2012, releasing their lovely debut album, A Passing Cloud, and toured constantly, including a slew of CMJ performances (including one of our day parties). The band recently recorded a Daytrotter session which went up today and includes a couple nice new songs. The band also gave us a list of "the 10 best things we encountered in 2012" that is mostly music (and almost none of it released recently) with a movie or two in there as well. Check that out below.

Murals have more shows coming up, including a few dates on the previously announced Widowspeak (who have a new album out this month) tour. Their dates together include the previously discussed NYC show which happens on January 22 at Mercury Lounge with Prince Rupert's Drops and Alex Laliberte of Vensaire. Tickets for that show are still available.

Murals' best-of list and a list of all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Murals touring with Widowspeak, recorded a Daytrotter session, gave us a Best of 2012 list"

photos by Amanda Hatfield & Dominick Mastrangelo, words by Bill Pearis

Deap Vally @ Public Assembly (by Dominick)

Foxygen @ Public Assemby (by Amanda)

Our Friday not-CMJ day party (10/19) at Public Assembly, our first of two day-long, two-stage shows at the venue over the weekend, had my favorite one-two punch of the entire 2012 CMJ week: Savages followed by METZ both of whose performances we wrote about already (click the links). But I'll add that even though it was a shorter set (that didn't include "Flying to Berlin"_ than when I caught them at Glasslands earlier in the week, Savages were more, relaxed, more electrifying at our show. And METZ bring their insane level of energy (and volume) to every show they do, day or night, and they knocked the crowd for a loop. CMJ in a nutshell right there.

The rest of Friday's line-up was highly diverse: Israeli prog rockers Tiny Fingers; Wisonsin folk duo Blessed Feathers; the retro-fueled shenanigans of the terrific Foxygen; Murals' laid-back dreampop; FIGO and Toys that Kill bringing some punk; Deap Vally bringing riffs and sex appeal; IO Echo's gothy shoegaze pop; MSMR's big pop sounds (a little like an indie Sophie Ellis Bextor?); Doldrums on what was one of their 8000 highly energetic shows that week; Braids' new, electronic direction; and the brainy fake surf of The Intelligence.

Attendees at the show were fueled by complimentary drinks courtesy of Sailor Jerry Rum, complimentary beer courtesy of PBR, and snacked on the free Raw Revolution organic live food bars that were scattered around the venue. Hopefully nobody had a hangover thanks to cans of the Mercy that were given out aplenty. If the PBR and Poggled photographer took your picture, look for it on our Facebook.

We already posted pictures from this party of METZ, Savages, and Sky Ferreira. More from the whole show, below...

Continue reading "BV Friday Day Party pics (Deap Vally, Foxygen, Murals, Toys That Kill, Braids, Io Echo, The Intelligence, Savages, METZ + more)"

photos and video by Jessica Amaya

Foxygen / Field Mouse / Ex Cops @ Pianos, 10/19/2012

During CMJ if you find yourself on the Lower East Side with no specific plans, it's usually a safe bet that Pianos will have something interesting. For instance, BV photographer/videographer Jessica Amaya found herself at Pianos on Friday night (10/19) for The Deli's two-floor showcase and caught Foxygen and Murals downstairs (both of whom played our day party early that same day at Public Assembly, and then Field Mouse and Ex Cops upstairs.

Speaking of, Ex Cops play Glasslands tonight (10/23) with Historics and Young Boys ($10 at the door). More pics from Pianos on Friday night (plus video of Murals and Field Mouse) are below.

Continue reading "Murals, Foxygen, Ex Cops and Field Mouse played Pianos (CMJ pics/video) +++ Ex Cops play Glasslands tonight"

We're at Public Assembly in Brooklyn all day Friday (10/19) and Saturday (10/20). Here's what Friday looks like...

BrooklynVegan FRIDAY DAY PARTY - 10/19/2012

STAGE 1 (front room)
12:00 Tiny Fingers (from Israel)
01:00 Murals
01:45 Deap Vally
02:30 Savages
03:15 METZ
04:00 MS MR
05:00 Braids

STAGE 2 (back room)
12:00 Blessed Feathers
12:40 Foxygen
01:25 FIGO (live)
02:10 IO Echo
03:00 Sky Ferreira
03:40 Doldrums
04:30 Toys That Kill
05:15 The Intelligence

And show up early for complimentary drinks courtesy of Sailor Jerry Rum and complimentary beer courtesy of PBR. You can also grab a free hangover prevention beverage courtesy of Mercy, and stay energized with free Raw Revolution organic live food bars. Get your photo taken in our free photo booth courtesy of PBR and Poggled.

Saturday lineup (same time, same place) coming soon...

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Meanwhile you'l also find us, or our BV Austin site to be more specific, repping Texas at Rebel (a free and official CMJ party), and at Saint Vitus on Saturday night.

Murals at Pianos, July 2012 (more by Eric Townsend)

Louisville's Murals are visiting NYC this week for CMJ and are certainly contenders for the Most Shows award, playing nine times between now and Saturday, including the BrooklynVegan day party on Friday (10/19) at Public Assembly. Full line-up is still forthcoming but Murals play at 1 PM right before Deap Vally. If you haven't heard Murals's On a Passing Cloud LP, you can stream it below. The band were last here over the summer.

The band's run of shows begins tonight (10/15) with a Oh My Rockness Kickoff Party at Pianos, that also features Scott & Charlene's Wedding, Infinity Shred, Life Size Maps and Noxious Foxes. $8 at the door.

Other shows this week include Aquarium Drunkard's showcase at Mercury Lounge on Tuesday (10/16, 8 PM) with Rafiq Bhatia, Tashaki Miyaki and more, and then Pianos upstairs shortly after (9:30 PM, free) that same night that also features Team Spirit, Slam Donahue and more.

On Thursday (10/18), Murals play two shows: Pianos (1:30 PM, free) for the I Guess I'm Floating day party with Chad Valley, Hundred Waters and more, then the Bird Dog/Golden Ratio party (6:45 PM, being relocated from Deliquency, venue TBD, free) with Ava Luna, Royal Canoe and more.

On Friday (10/19) in addition to our day party, they'll play Pianos/The Deli's official CMJ showcase (9:30) with Young Magic, Mac Demarco and more. Then two shows on Saturday (10/20): the Bowery Presents Day Party at Pianos (3:30, free) with Savages, the Orwells and more; and finally Cake Shop that night (10 PM) with Francisco the Man, Field Mouse and more.

All Murals CMJ week dates are listed below, along with their album stream and show flyers.

Continue reading "Murals are in NYC for CMJ, playing 9 shows including kickoff party at Pianos tonight & BV day party on Friday (dates)"

Action Bronson at MHOW in August (more by Ryan Muir)

Paul Banks at FYF Fest 2012 (more by Debi Del Grande)

Complex is throwing a big, free, multi-genre, non-CMJ party during CMJ at Brooklyn's House of Vans on October 18. The show's got two stages -- a rap and a rock stage -- with the rap stage being headlined by Action Bronson and the rock stage by Interpol frontman Paul Banks. The rest of the lineup includes The Alchemist, Ratking, Ka, Spaceghostpurrp, Savages, Savoir Adore, and a surprise special guest. RSVP is required for the free show and you must be 21+. The flier is below.

Meanwhile, you can catch Action Bronson in NYC even sooner when he plays a free show at Public Assembly on October 10, and he'll also be back for a show at Highline Ballroom on October 30 with Cypress Hill.

Paul Banks, whose tour brings him to NYC for a headlining show on November 13 at Webster Hall, will also play one of the just mentioned KEXP shows in Union Square during CMJ.

We also just mentioned that Hot Charity signees Ratking have CMJ shows scheduled including free shows at Glasslands and Mercury Lounge on October 19 and a not-free show at Glasslands on October 20.

Savages have a number of CMJ shows scheduled too. They're playing Mercury Lounge on October 19 with Choir of Young Believers, Daughter, San Cisco, Emma Louise, and J. Thoven. Advance tickets for that show are sold out but you can still try to get in with your CMJ badge. They also play the Stereogum showcase with Dum Dum Girls, Guards, Port. St Willow, IO ECHO, and Icona Pop (DJ) (tickets), and it was just announced that they'll play the free Bowery Presents day party on October 20 at Pianos with The Orwells, Foxygen, Born Ruffians, Little Green Cars, Ava Luna, J. Thoven, San Cisco, Sky Ferreira, Opossom, Murals, Zulu Pearls, and Blessed Feathers.

The flier for the Complex show and an updated list of Action Bronson and Paul Banks dates are below.

Continue reading "Action Bronson, Paul Banks, Spaceghostpurrp, Savages, Alchemist & more playing House of Vans party during CMJ"

Loren Connors at Le Poisson Rouge in September (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Speaking of Loren Connors, who opens for Jozef Van Wissem tonight, he's releasing a collaborative single with singer Suzanne Langille called I Wish I Didn't Dream on Northern Spy Records. You can order that single and listen to some samples at the Northern Spy website. They'll be celebrating it with a Northern Spy-presented release show in Brooklyn on November 13 at 285 Kent with Text of Light (aka Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht, and Ryan Sawyer and Tom Carter & Pat Murano. No advance tickets for that one at the moment. $10 at the door.

This isn't the first time that Loren Connors associated with a member of Sonic Youth. Over the summer he played a collaborative set with Thurston Moore as part of Spy Music Festival.

Speaking of Sonic Youth members, Steve Shelley isn't in Disappears anymore but he's still in Spectre Folk with Pavement/Sonic Youth bassist Mark Ibold, and Spectre Folk will play a Brooklyn show on Sunday (10/7) at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge with Scott & Charlene's Wedding (who also play the Oh My Rockness CMJ kickoff show at Pianos on 10/15 with Murals), Images, and Gem Trails.

The Yoko Ono, Kim Gordon, and Thurston Moore album, YOKOKIMTHURSTON, is out now. You can stream that in its entirety below via a spotify widget.

Continue reading "Loren Connors playing shows (one w/ Lee Ranaldo's Text of Light); Spectre Folk playing w/ Scott & Charlene's Wedding"

photos by Eric Townsend; words by Bill Pearis

Black Light Dinner Party / Murals, Pianos 7/27/2012

For those looking to see a bunch of newly-hyped bands from around the country in one place, Friday night (7/27) at Pianos was a good place to be, hosting Brooklyn's Black Light Dinner Party, Chicago's A Lull and Louisville, KY's Murals, and LA's Nightmare Air.

I was there early for Murals, a young six-piece whose ambitions are maybe just slightly out of their grasp at this point. While the core songwriting is folk pop not dissimilar to The Shins or '80s New Zealand, the songs suffered sometimes from overly busy arrangements or sudden stops. That said, when it comes together (and it did more than a few times), Murals are capable of bliss-out moments that are mellow but never dull. They are a new band with lots of potential, they just need time to figure it out.

I left after Murals to go see The Soft Pack at Union Pool, but our photographer stuck around for BV Chicago favorites A Lull, and Black Light Dinner Party who apparently turned Pianos into a full-on dance party and gave away copies of their vinyl EP to the pumped-up crowd. Photos of all three bands are below. He also stopped by The Living Room a few doors up Ludlow to catch Los Angeles' Family of the Year (who were in town after supporting Milo Greene at Mercury Lounge [7/26] a day earlier) and photos from that show are below as well.

Continue reading "Black Light Dinner Party, A Lull, and Murals played Pianos (pics); Family of the Year played The Living Room (pics)"

Louisville's Murals released their debut album, On A Passing Cloud, earlier this month. It's a nice dose of Shins-y folk pop with some lighthearted psychedelia mixed in. You can stream the whole album below. That's the cover art above.

Murals are going on a tour in support of the album which comes to NYC for four shows: July 26 at Cameo with Indian Rebound, Treppenverter and The Split; July 27 at Pianos with A Lull, Black Light Dinner Party, and Nightmare Air (tickets); July 28 at Delinquency BLVD (1031 Grand St.); and July 29 at Mercury Lounge to open the Quilt/Young Magic show with Secret Mountains (tickets).

A list of all dates and the album stream are below.

Continue reading "Murals released 'On A Passing Cloud,' touring, playing 4 NYC shows (dates & album stream)"