by Andrew Sacher

Laurel Halo at Glasslands - 5/7/13 (via Impose)

Earlier this month (5/7), Brooklyn venue Glasslands hosted a great multi-genre bill as part of the Red Bull Music Academy NYC residency with sets from rappers Mykki Blanco and Le1f, arty electronic music from Laurel Halo, Crazy Bitch In A Cave, and Papercutz, and DJ sets from Venus X and Spank DJs. Did you go to that show? If so, how was it?

Red Bull Music Academy just posted a video of Mykki Blanco performing "Feeling Special" and Le1f performing "Wut" to their Youtube channel, and you can watch both videos below. You can also stream Venus X's set over at RBMA Radio.

"Feeling Special" appears on Mykki Blanco's new EP, Betty Rubble: The Initiation, which came out this week (5/21) via UNO. If you liked Mykki's debut mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss, you'll likely be a fan of the new EP too. You can stream it in full at Pitchfork and listen to two of its tracks below.

Le1f also recently made a video for "Spa Day" off his Fly Zone mixtape. That video, and all other streams and videos below...

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco released a new EP, played Glasslands w/ Le1f, Laurel Halo & others (videos & EP stream)"

Mykki Blanco at BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Andrew Bird w/ Yo La Tengo on Hanukkah 2012 (more by PSquared Photography)

The Red Bull Music Academy already announced a huge NYC residency which includes a number of great shows at multiple venues, and this thing just keeps getting bigger and better. RBMA has now announced some new shows and updates to previously-announced ones. For example, the "Night Of Improvised Round Robin Duets" that's happening on May 1 at Brooklyn Masonic Temple has added Andrew Bird, Robert Glasper, Vijay Iyer and Roy Hargrove to the mix that already included Questlove, Andrew WK, James Chance, Julia Holter, Kim Gordon, Thundercat, and others. Tickets for that show are still available. The full lineup is below.

UK DFA-signed dance trio Factory Floor will be joining their labelmates at the massive 12 Years of DFA Records, which takes place at Brooklyn's dazzling Grand Prospect Hall on May 25 (tickets). They were also added as DJs to the recently discussed Evian Christ and Oneohtrix Point Never show happening at Saint Vitus on May 26 (tickets).

Rapper Mykki Blanco, who just headlined Bowery Ballroom, and who was recently announced for this weekend's (4/5-7) Blues for Smoke festival at the Whitney Museum with Le1f, has also been added to Le1f's RBMA show. That show happens on May 7 at Glasslands with Laurel Halo, Venus X, Spank DJs, and others (tickets).

And UK bass/house producer Mosca and Mathew Jonson have been added to the closing night party on May 31 at 74 Wythe Ave that also features L.I.E.S. feat. Legowelt, Beautiful Swimmers, Marcos Cabral, Willie Burns, Bookworms, Professor Genius, Jahiliyya Fields, Shawn O'Sullivan + Kerri Chandler, and Red Bull Music Academy Allstars. Tickets are still available.

Updated Red Bull Music Academy schedule HERE. The full list of lineup additions for the residency and the full lineup for the "Night of Improvised Round Robin Duets" show below...

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco, Factory Floor, Andrew Bird and more added to Red Bull Music Academy shows"

Le1f (photo by Siobhan Bledsoe)

The Whitney Museum is currently hosting the Blues for Smoke exhibition, which will be up through April 28. The exhibition "explores a wide range of contemporary art through the lens of the blues and blues aesthetics." In conjunction with that exhibition, they are also presenting a festival this weekend with performances and events. On Friday (4/5), former Das Racist member Kool A.D. will team up with Mykki Blanco for a show at 6 PM. Then on Sunday (4/7) between 1 and 4 PM, the other two former Das Racist members Dapwell and Heems, will play with another rapper, Le1f, and psych freaks Prince Rama.

In addition to the two hip hop oriented shows, there will be a show on Saturday from Brooklyn soul ensemble King Holiday. The performances on all three days will be spread out into small, unconventional spaces rather than in a concert space, and will be accompanied by projections. All performances are free with museum admission.

Mykki Blanco recently played the official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase, and his tour brings him to Bowery Ballroom tonight (4/2) for a show with DJ MikeQ, Rizzla, and Ian Isiah. Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Meanwhile, Le1f has another hometown show coming up as part of the Red Bull Music Academy NYC residency. His show takes place on May 7 at Glasslands with Laurel Halo, Venus X, Spank DJs, The Peronists, Crazy Bitch In A Cave, :PAPERCUTZ, and a "very special guest." Tickets for that show are still available.

Stream Mykki's 2012 mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss, and Le1f's recent mixtape, Fly Zone, below...

Continue reading "Le1f, Mykki Blanco, Prince Rama & members of Das Racist playing the Whitney during 'Blues For Smoke' exhibition"

Mykki Blanco at Official BV SXSW 2013 Showcase (more by Amanda Hatfield)

NYC rapper Mykki Blanco is on a tour now, which includes a previously mentioned hometown show on April 2 at Bowery Ballroom. Since we first posted that show, openers were announced -- DJ MikeQ, Rizzla, and Ian Isiah -- and tickets are still available. The tour also hits the Ivy League circuit with stops in Princeton, NJ for a Princeton University show at Terrace Club and New Haven, CT for a Yale University show at Toad's Place. All tour dates are listed below.

Mykki's Yale show is with Pictureplane, who he also shared a bill with at the BrooklynVegan Official SXSW showcase (pics of that are HERE and HERE), along with Beat Culture and Physical Therapy. Pictureplane is also heading out as a support act on the second leg of Crystal Castles' upcoming tour.

Meanwhile, Doldrums, who also played a BrooklynVegan show at SXSW this year opens the first leg of Crystal Castles' tour. His tour also hits NYC for shows on April 13 at 285 Kent with Arbutus labelmate Sean Nicholas Savage (listen to a track below) and on May 8 at Mercury Lounge. Tickets for the 285 Kent show and the Mercury show are still available.

All Mykki Blanco, Pictureplane, Crystal Castles, and Doldrums dates are listed, along with a stream of Mykki's free mixtape and that Sean Nicholas Savage track, below...

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco on tour, Pictureplane playing with him before Crystal Castles tour (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Earlier this year, rapper Cakes Da Killa put out his full length debut, The Eulogy, which you can stream below and download for free at the Mishka bandcamp. He hails from the same NYC queer rap scene as Mykki Blanco and Le1f (who had their breakout moments last year), and while it's not necessarily fair or accurate to blindly group those rappers together, they do have musical similarities and as Cakes says in an interview with Pitchfork, "We're all cunty, we're all gay, and we're all really out" (referring to Le1f and Antonio of House of Ladosha, though he does say he's a big Mykki Blanco fan too).

(check out pics from LE1f's recent Knitting Factory show)

Like Mykki, Cakes' got don't-give-a-fuck bragging and relentless flow and waits only two lines on The Eulogy to show that off when he spits "Niggas pay my loans just to finger fuck my asshole." Lines like that (which appear all over the album) have earned Cakes descriptions like "pottymouthed," but is it really more pottymouthed than what a ton of heterosexual rappers talk about? Either way, Cakes does what any good rapper should do best. He talks about what he knows, he doesn't censor himself, he's funny, angry, and confident, and so far that all resulted in a hell of a record.

(check out pics from Mykki Blanco's recent BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase)

Cakes plays a previously discussed NYC show this Wednesday (3/27) at NYU's E&L Auditorium with a great lineup of Killer Mike and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire. Tickets are $2 for NYU students and $4 for the general public at the NYU box office, and they go on sale today (3/26) at noon.

Stream The Eulogy below...

Continue reading "get Cakes Da Killa's free mixtape & tix for his NYU show w/ Killer Mike & Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Dave & Andrew Sacher

Zebra Katz & Njena Reddd Foxxx / XXYYXX / The Underachievers

When we weren't throwing free day parties and bridge shows at SXSW last week, we were busy throwing nighttime official showcases. On Saturday (3/16), our metal blog Invisible Oranges put on a showcase at North Door and on Friday, we put on a showcase on Maggie Mae's rooftop which was mainly hip hop and electronic with 3421, Mykki Blanco, Man Without Country, Giraffage, The Underachievers, Pictureplane, Brooke Candy, Zebra Katz, and XXYYXX. With so much rock in our day parties, we wanted to mix it up at night and had a ton of fun doing it. Bonus points for the view from venue down onto the 6th Street mayhem,.

3421, who since played NYC shows at Merc and Knit, came all the way from Israel to kick off the Friday night show with a set of their live dubstep. They were the perfect beginning for the crowd who immediately started to fill the 400-capacity room/roof as soon as doors opened, though 3421 work latenight too. That's when we saw them in Tel Aviv over the summer as part of the Jerusalem Music Conference. That time they were the last act of the night and got the drunk crowd moving with help from bombastic MC Miss Red. Miss Red was originally supposed to play with 3421 at SXSW too, but instead she watched this show from the audience (#majorbummer), With her at the show was The Bug who she was playing SXSW with instead (you can catch Miss Red & The Bug in NYC this weekend).

3421 were followed by NYC rapper Mykki Blanco, who was in his usual abrasive mode on stage, which we and the crowd were loving. Then things cooled down a bit for a shoegazey set by Wales' Man Without Country and the chill electronica of Giraffage. (He really caught our ear when he remixed Alice Deejay's "Better Off Alone." Is it cool to like that song in 2013? I hope so.)

Then for the next five acts, the show was on a total high. NYC rap duo The Underachievers were totally on point and started really getting the dancing going, including a bunch of their friends on stage and Pictureplane, who was up next. Like Mykki Blanco, we've seen him at shows and parties in NYC for a while now, and it was great to see him bring his always-fun set to Austin too. He stuck around for more of the show too, and also loved Brooke Candy and Zebra Katz as much as we did. Brooke's outfit was tamer than in her video (she did have a see-through top though), but she paid more attention to her rapper side than her stripper side at the show (not a bad thing). The crowd went completely nuts for her. Frank says:

The Tumblr princess-turned-stripper-turned-rapper turned heads at the Brooklyn Vegan showcase, clad in a white fishnet top and latex peplum skirt. The Los Angeles-based rapper played a short but high-energy set, swinging her crazy long braids (and huge boobs) all over the stage. After going viral via World Star Hiphop and the internet in general, Candy has released video after video for her aggressive, sex-heavy tracks. Joined by best friend and DJ, Jesse St. John, Brooke's crowd of homo-cyber-hipster kids screamed along to every word. Hits "Das Me," "I Wanna Fuck Right Now," and "Everybody Does" dominated her 20-minute set, as she twerked in her platforms, fueling the fire that is her online presence with more and more YouTube-worthy content.

The show wrapped up with XXYYXX and for such a young producer (he's 17!), he really knows how to get the party started. The stage filled with people a few songs into his set and everyone was just dancing and going nuts until the club pulled the plug at 2am. Frank says:

Seventeen-year-old XXYYXX headlined the Brooklyn Vegan showcase on the Maggie Mae's rooftop. Despite only recently beginning to tour, the producer was relaxed, barefoot, and very much in his element while onstage playing a combination of his signature chill-out-and-vibe beats, and more hyped up hip-hop remixes including TLC's "No Scrubs" and Waka Flocka's "Fuck This Industry." Following suit with the mellow vibe of the Orlando based producer's music, the security eased up and allowed any crowd member who was feeling it to hop onstage.

Check out some songs played at the show in our Best of SXSW Spotify playlist. More pictures from the party below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan Official SXSW Show pics (XXYYXX, Zebra Katz, Brooke Candy, Pictureplane, Underachievers, Mykki Blanco, 3421, Giraffage, more)"

XXYYXX

The Underachievers

The 2013 BrooklynVegan official SXSW showcase (the one that isn't a metal show or a Red Cross Syria benefit) will take place on Friday, March 15 at Maggie Mae's Rooftop (323 E. 6th Street in Austin, TX). SXSW badges are welcome, and we'll also have some general admission tickets for sale at the door (come early!).

The lineup this year, as you can see in the flyer below, leans toward the dancier side of things, with a headlining 1 AM set from Orlando downtempo artist XXYYXX, who was recently in NYC for two sold out shows at 285 Kent. Before him, there will be sets by 3421, who are bringing their live-band dubstep over to Austin all the way from Israel, a set by manic NYC rapper Mykki Blanco, electro-shoegazers Man Without Country, R&B-indebted producer Giraffage, Brainfeeder-affiliated rappers The Underachievers (whose free mixtape, Indigoism, is out now), the synth pop of Pictureplane, rapper/stripper/Grimes collaborator Brooke Candy, and finally, Zebra Katz, who you know best for "Ima Read.". Though (the show is in a week), it didn't all finally fall in place until last minute, this one was fun to put together.

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To make it even more of a party, we'll have wearable "social lighting" available courtesy of Illuminode. The lights, which people will get to try on when they walk in the door, sync with the music (first come, first served on those, but you can always grab one when someone returns theirs too).

The show begins at 8 PM and as noted above is one of three official BrooklynVegan nighttime events at SXSW, including the one the same night with Omar Souleyman, Black Lips, Deer Tick, and more; and the official BrooklynVegan/Invisible Oranges metal showcase on Saturday (3/16) with Pallbearer, John Baizley (Baroness), and more. We also have four days of day parties (March 13-16, full lineups coming soon!).

As is usually the case with SXSW, many of the bands on our showcase are stopping by NYC for shows before and after SXSW also. As mentioned, 3421 plays Mercury Lounge on 3/20, Man Without Country plays Pianos (tonight, 3/7) and Knitting Factory (3/9), Giraffage plays 88 Palace on 3/9 with JETS. And Mykki Blanco and Pictureplane always have stuff going on in the area too.

See you in Austin.

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan 2013 SXSW showcase @ Maggie Mae's Rooftop (lineup includes XXYYXX, Mykki Blanco, Pictureplane, The Underachievers, 3421 & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Jacques Renault

Pitchfork posted a story yesterday on The New Electronic Brooklyn Underground, where they highlighted the thriving dance parties, labels, and producers that have been coming up in Brooklyn for a few years now and have been experiencing even greater success lately. Some of what they highlighted, like record label UNO and especially their artist Mykki Blanco, have been working their way up so much, they may not even be able to be considered "underground" anymore.

Mykki Blanco is also part of NYC's rising underground rap scene, and along with Angel Haze, CJ Fly, Kirk Knight, and The Underachievers, Mykki is being featured in Spit Gold Under An Empire, a new documentary on the NY rap scene directed by Montreal's Emily Kai Bock, who directed Grimes' "Oblivion" video (via FACT). You can watch the trailer video below.

But back to the electronic stuff. UNO is also responsible for putting out releases by other great artists like Jacques Greene, CFCF, Fatima Al Qadiri, Arca, Gobby, and more. Jacques Greene, who resides in Montreal, is on tour of the US now and he'll be in NYC for a show on February 9 at 88 Palace with Dark Disco and Martyn. All Jacques Greene dates are listed below.

Another party highlighted in the Pitchfork article was Let's Play House, which is a party run by Jacques Renault (not to be confused with Jacques Greene) and Nik Mercer. They've got two upcoming events this month -- first they'll do a free one on January 24 at The Woods (48 S 4 St) with Stockholm producer HNNY (who also plays Le Baron on 1/22 while he's in NYC), and then a co-presented party with The Dog & Pony show at Le Poisson Rouge on January 26 with The Revenge (UK), Mark E, Jacques Renault, and Paul Raffaele (tickets). The flyers for those shows are below. Jacques Renault also has a show tonight (1/18) at The Counting Room (44 Berry St) with Miss Sabado and Son of Sound. Admission is $10 at the door or $5 with RSVP to resonate@misssabado.com.

Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin

The article also highlights the Mister Saturday Night party, which is run by Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin. They have a bunch of parties coming up, and one of the most interesting ones is FaltyDL (who has an album coming out next week) at House of Yes on January 26. More info on that show and a list of all upcoming Mister Saturday NIght events are below.

The article also talks about Aurora Halal's Mutual Dreaming party, which doesn't have any upcoming events at the moment, but you may remember it from the Hieroglyphic Being show at 285 Kent over the summer.

Lists of dates, video, streams, and flyers below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork highlights 'New Brooklyn Electronic Underground' (Mister Saturday Night, UNO, Mykki Blanko & more)"

As mentioned, NYC rapper Mykki Blanco is playing a hometown show at Mercury Lounge TONIGHT (1/16) before heading out on a European tour. Since we last spoke, openers have been added for tonight's show, including Boychild, Psychoegyptian, Fatherhood (who also opens for Laurel Halo and Teengirl Fantasy soon), and Dope Body. Tonight's show is sold out, but you'll have another chance to catchy Mykki in NYC later this year at the larger Bowery Ballroom on April 2. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (1/18) at noon. It's Mykki's only announced North American date that we're aware of at the moment.

A stream of Mykki's 2012 debut mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss, and an updated list of dates, are below...

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco headlining Bowery Ballroom; tonight's Mercury Lounge show is sold out (updated dates)"

Festival Nrmal is happening again this year in Monterey, Mexico, expanding to a multiple day event from March 6 - 10 (just before SXSW if you're keeping track). The line-up for the fourth-annual event was just released and features Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Twin Shadow, Sky Ferreira, Mykki Blanco, Trash Talk, King Tuff, Parquet Courts, Kitty Pryde, Mortuary and many, many more. (English language bands were curated, as before, by Todd P.) The whole line-up is in the flyer below.

Advance tickets ($25) are available here. Flyer with the 2013 line-up is below.

Continue reading "Ariel Pink,Trash Talk, Twin Shadow, Sky Ferreira, King Tuff and more playing the 2013 Festival Nrmal in Monterrey, Mexico"

Mykki Blanco at MHOW in November (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

NYC rapper Mykki Blanco, who puts on a hell of a show, plays in the area pretty often and as mentioned, you can catch Mykki TONIGHT (12/7) at 285 Kent with Autre Ne Veut, Oneohtrix Point Never, and the recently added Majical Cloudz (more on them in a minute). Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

But if you can't make it tonight, or just want to see Mykki again in the near future, you're in luck because it's just been announced that the rapper will play Mercury Lounge on January 16. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday, December 14 at noon.

Mykki Blanco is also featured in the new video for for Autre Ne Veut's great new single, "Counting," off of his upcoming album, Anxiety. You can watch that video below, and here's to hoping they join each other on stage at 285 Kent tonight.

Majical Cloudz, who were added to tonight's 285 Kent show, began picking up speed after appearing on Grimes' album, Visions, and touring with her. They recently released their Turns Turns Turns EP via Arbutus, which made Braids' and Blue Hawaii's top 10 LPs of 2012 lists. You can stream the title track from that EP and another, "What That Was," below.

Streams and video are below.

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco adds new NYC show; Majical Clouds released EP; Autre Ne Veut made new video; all 3 play NYC tonight"

"Every time I mention I like her or Justin
on Twitter though I lose like 20 followers," - Grimes

DOWNLOAD: Doldrums - She is the Wave (MP4)

Grimes at MHOW, 10/25/2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

There is no doubt Grimes has had an amazing, perhaps overwhelming, year, selling out four 600-capacity nights in NYC recently to her album Visions ending up on many Best Albums of 2012 lists (like Rough Trade Shops, NME and Fred Armisen's). But what did Claire Boucher pick as her favorite albums of the year? We asked her and you can check out what she told us below.

She cheated a bit though, listing her tour-mates and Arbutus Records label-mate Doldrums' Lesser Evil as her #1, which doesn't actually come out till February 23, 2013, but if it's a list of what she heard in 2012 then we'll let it slide. You can download a track from that Doldrums album above or stream it below along with its music video.

Check out Grimes Top 10 (plus one more, actually) of 2012, which includes both Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift and possibly some inside jokes (we're just printing what she gave us), and that Doldrums song, below.

Continue reading "Grimes' Top 10 LPs of 2012 --- includes Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber & Doldrums' 2013 LP (stream a track)"

by Andrew Sacher

Autre Ne Veut in Brooklyn in 2011 (more by Erez Avissar)

Autre Ne Veut (aka Brooklyn's Arthur Ashin) has been putting out material for a couple years now, and it's always been solid but he's become more memorable for his, um, provocative cover art than the music itself. That's no longer the case on his new single, "Counting," which will appear on his new album, Anxiety, which is due out on February 12 via Software. The new track brings together the kind of art pop and R&B that we've seen recently from How to Dress Well and d'Eon, and it all culminates in a pretty explosive chorus. You can stream that track, and check out its tracklist and cover art below.

Autre Ne Veut has a hometown show coming up on December 7 at 285 Kent with a great local bill of Mykki Blanco and Oneohtrix Point Never (DJ). Tickets for that show are on sale.

Mykki Blanco has been touring with Death Grips and recently played Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Song stream, cover art, and tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Autre Ne Veut releasing 'Anxiety'; playing Brooklyn w/ Mykki Blanco & Oneohtrix Point Never (song stream)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Death Grips and the raucous MHOW crowd, 11/12/2012

After all of the false starts, Death Grips lit up a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (11/12) with support from similarly tongue-twwisted MC Mykki Blanco (who just played the Broolkyn Electronic Music Fest this weekend), part of their tour that wraps up next week. With only two guys, a drumkit, a pair of Macbook Pros and matching LCD televisions, the now-label-less duo (missing Flatlander) proceeded to stir up moshpits, stagedives and tons of bouncing at the North Brooklyn venue. MC Ride belts out verses at the top of his lungs, slithering like a snake, while his cohort Zach Hill pounded away on his modest kit. Brutal and totally fun.

More pics from Music Hall of Williamsburg are below.

Continue reading "Death Grips played Music Hall of Williamsburg with Mykki Blanco (pics)"

photos by Oliver Correa & Amanda Rohowsky / HiFi Cartel

"Mykki Blanco freaking out the crowd at Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival. #fierceness #nobros" - Tavia Nyong'o

"#BEMF Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival
exceeding expectations after 1 set" - Schuyler Van Horn

Nicolas Jaar / Gold Panda @ MHOW, 11/10/2012

The 2012 Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival went down this past weekend (11/9-10) at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Glasslands, Cameo, Public Assembly, 285 Kent, and Brooklyn Bowl, with shows running until about 4 AM each night. A worthy alternative to people who don't like the excesses of major electronic festivals like Electric Zoo and Ultra Music Festival, BEMF has become one of the most forward thinking ones around. And this year may have been their best lineup yet with some great names in IDM, downtempo, post-dubstep, deep house, instrumental hip hop, and more like Nicolas Jaar, Gold Panda, Photek, Nguzunguzu, Kingdom, Mykki Blanco, Salva, Shlohmo, and many others.

N. 6th St. in Williamsburg was flooded with people, likely due to having Public Assembly right next to Music Hall of Williamsburg which is just down the street from Cameo, and the ticket pickup tent in the parking lot across the street. (Not that N6 isn't a madhouse anyway on the weekends.) But also very likely that on Saturday night it was due to one of the festival's most in-demand acts, Nicolas Jaar, whose set was pushed back from 1 AM to 2:30 AM after the last-minute addition of Dave P. Ashley from Et Musique Pour Tous wrote, "I've never seen Music Hall of Williamsburg as crowded as it was last night. For the first half hour of Nicolas Jaar's hour and a half long set, nobody could move, and dancing was an intimate experience to be shared with strangers." Hazel Sheffield call his set "precocious," writing:

He turned the chorus from Cat Power's 'Cherokee' - "Marry me, marry me to the sky," - into a slowburning, plaintive swirl of a lyric, then slipped the clanging chords from Dave McCallum's 'The Edge', best known as the opening sample on Dre's 'Next Episode', into an interlude, sending people wild for about two seconds, before they realised the joke was on them. Precocious, then. But completely absorbing.

More pictures from the festival below.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival 2012 in pics (Nicolas Jaar, Gold Panda, Photek, Nguzunguzu, Mykki Blanco & more)"

by Bill Pearis

The seventh annual M for Montreal festival happens next week (November 14 - 17) in its namesake Canadian city. Previous years, M4M has featured mainly Montreal (and other parts of Canada) artists, being showcased to a group of "international delgates" (talent buyers, journalists, music supervisors, tour agenents and other industry types) in a tightly controlled set of shows, this year's fest expands its scope with nearly 100 performer at 16 venues, giving it more of an actual festival feel than an industry conference that has music showcases the public could by tickets to.

The line-up is much more global this year as well, with musicians from France, Iceland and, for the first time, the United States playing alongside bands from all over Canada. Artists playing the 2012 edition include Death Grips, Of Monsters and Men, Mac DeMarco, Suuns, Mykki Blanco, Sun Airway, A Place To Bury Strangers, Cadence Weapon, Memoryhouse, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, Bleeding Rainbow and Blue Hawaii. Full list of performers is below and daily schedule is here and advance tickets to shows and panel discussions are available.

Like in years past (2011, 2010, 2009, 2008), I'll be heading up for the M fest, and will be reporting the goings-on.

If you want a taste of Montreal this week in NYC, beyond the snow we're currently experiencing, Montreal rapper Cadence Weapon plays Glasslands on Friday (11/9) with Fat Tony. Tickets are still available. Cadence Weapon tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "2012 M for Montreal Festival: full line-up (Death Grips, A Place to Bury Strangers, Of Monsters & Men, Mac DeMarco + more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"Grimes.The most amazing show. God I will marry you illegally in a heartbeat." - @HannahKuo

Grimes @ MHOW, 10/25/2012

"I took Dramamine before the show and that's why I'm forgetting the words to my songs!" admitted/joked Grimes' Claire Boucher last night on stage. Lyric recollection or not, Grimes packed Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (10/25) for the first of four back-to-back, sold-out NYC shows, and fans (many of whom have adopted Claire's style) were there to dance. With a stage adorned with flora and backed by Myths (who did their own support set as well), Grimes kept everyone moving. Mykki Blanco, who fared pretty well at CMJ too, opened the night.

Tonight, Grimes moves to Bowery Ballroom with openers Elite Gymnastics and just-announced Blood Orange. She'll stay at Bowery for Saturday's show (10/27) then it's back to MHOW for her final NYC show on Sunday (10/28). Different openers each night while in NYC. More pictures from Music Hall of Williamsburg are below.

Continue reading "Grimes played Music Hall of Williamsburg with Myths and Mykki Blanco (pics); three more sold-out NYC shows to go "

photos by Chase Turner

Grimes & friends @ Metro in Chicago - 10/23/2012

To quote our photographer Chase Turner, "Grimes played a very sold out show at Metro with openers Myths and Elite Gymnastics. Grimes decorated the stage with children's dolls (Pikachu, Teletubbie, Totoro) and had dancers with green/blue hair with dark face paint crawling around the stage bizarrely." Pictures from that show, which happened Tuesday night in Chicago, are in this post.

Grimes is now in NYC for four sold out shows in a row starting tonight (10/25). Each show has different openers, and they look like this:

THURSDAY: Myths, Mykki Blanco
FRIDAY: secret guest, Elite Gymnastics
SATURDAY: Myths, Blue Hawaii
SUNDAY: Elite Gymnastics, Majical Cloudz

Blue Hawaii (Raphaelle from Braids) also plays Cameo Friday with Opossom and ARMS. Maybe you caught them during CMJ, or maybe you caught Braids.

Majical Cloudz also had a show at Pianos earlier this week with Popstrangers, and one night before Opossom played there.

I wonder who the unannounced Grimes opener is. More pictures from Chicago below...

Continue reading "Grimes on tour w/ Elite Gymnastics & Myths, now in NYC for 4 shows (one with a secret guest), played Metro in Chicago (pics)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher

Prince Rama at Cake Shop - 10/17/12

BV photographer Amanda Hatfield and I were both running around the L.E.S. on Wednesday (10/17) and we crossed paths at the Terrorbird/Impose day party at Cake Shop. I got there when Jerome LOL was on. Jerome was one half of the now-broken-up LOL Boys, and even without his partner (Markus Garcia, who is also working on solo material now), Jerome was one of the better DJs I saw at this year's CMJ. Jerome LOL was followed by Mykki Blanco, who blew the roof off of Cake Shop (and not just because he's almost as tall as the basement's low ceiling). The venue really began filling up for him and he had most of the crowd dancing along. Fellow NYC locals Prince Rama followed and kept everyone just as upbeat as Mykki just made them. Though CMJ is a great time to check out new bands from around the world, parties stacked with local faves are a great time too. The show ended on an equally high note with a set from Pictureplane, who isn't from around here, but plays NYC all the time too, and is always worth showing up for.

Amanda was there for Prince Rama and Pictureplane, and she also caught Win Win earlier in the day, who I unfortunately missed. More pictures of those three artists are below.

Continue reading "Pictureplane, Prince Rama, Win Win & more @ Cake Shop (pics)"

by Andrew Sacher

Maria Minerva & LA Vampires - The Integration

As mentioned, warped pop singer Maria Minerva is releasing a collaborative album with Not Not Fun/100% Silk label head LA Vampires (aka Amanda Brown, formerly of Pocahaunted) called The Integration. The album will be out digitally and on vinyl on October 30 and it comes out on CD on November 13. GvsB just premiered the video for the album's single, "Seasons Change," which you can watch below. That's the cover art above and the tracklist is below.

Maria Minerva is playing a number of CMJ shows this week (maybe you saw her at the Panache showcase at Public Assembly on Wednesday or at Trip House or Le Poisson Rouge last night?) and you still have some chances to see her. She plays the Ad Hoc unofficial showcase at 285 Kent tonight (10/19) with Solar Year, Prince Rama, Le1f, Physical Therapy, Mykki Blanco, and Pictureplane (DJ). I just caught Prince Rama, Mykki Blanco, and Pictureplane (though it was live a set) at the Terrorbird party at Cake Shop on Wednesday and they were all great, plus Maria Minerva doesn't disappoint in a live setting, so that showcase is looking like a pretty solid show. $8 at the door.

Maria plays the 285 Kent show at 9 PM and after that she'll head to Delancey for a 12:30 AM set at the Underwater Peoples showcase with La Big Vic, Future Shuttle, Ian Drennan, and Limited. $5 at the door.

Then, as mentioned, Maria will play the Life or Death showcase at 92YTribeca on Saturday (10/20) with Kilo Kish, Sky Ferreira, Mac DeMarco, DIIV, Twerps, Starred, Dogbite, Slug Guts, and Jozef Van Wissem. $10 at the door, or you can try to get in with your CMJ badge.

A list of all dates, that video, and the album tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Maria Minerva has a new video from her collaborative LP w/ LA Vampires, playing CMJ shows"

Pictureplane at MoMA PS1 in 2011 (more by Erez Avissar)

Braids in Austin in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Mac DeMarco at NXNE Bruise Cruise in June (more by David Andrako)

today in NYC
* Icona Pop, JJAMZ, Matt Sucich, Kate Earl @ Jet Blue's Terminal 5 (JFK)
* 12 Dirty Bullets, Dogbite, Denise Barbarita, Oh! My Blackbird @ Spike Hill (FREE)
* Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls 'Meet the Musician' discussion @ Apple Store SoHo (2 PM)
* Dent May, Mac DeMarco, Teen Suicide, Poor Lily, The Deloreans, Attic @ Public Assembly (FREE)
* Friend Roulette, Kate Earl, Christopher Paul Stelling, Zach Williams (& the Bellow) @ Living Room (FREE)
* Daughter, High Highs, Cody Chestnutt, & Paul Banks @ CMJ Union (FREE w/ RSVP)
* Antigone Rising, Rachel Sage, A Fragile Tomorrow, Seth Glier, Julia Hatigan @ Rockwood Music Hall (FREE w/ RSVP)
* Conveyor, Sean Rowe, Pretty & Nice, Mean Creek, Generationals, Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes @ Fontana's (FREE)
* Pictureplane, Prince Rama, Myyki Blanco, Jerome LOL, Flume, Michna, Win Win, Eraas, Wild International @ Cake Shop (FREE)
* Psychobuildings, Dynasty Electric, GHXST, Magmana, The Tall Pines, Clementine & the Galaxy, Wojcik @ The Bowery Electric (FREE)
* Braids, Maus Haus, Blackbird Blackbird, Team Spirit, Solid Gold, Filligar, Triple Hex, Zulu Pearls, The Bowery Riots, Jon Derosa, Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Correatown @ Pianos (FREE)
* The Click Clack Boom, Avan Lava, Filligar, The Suzan, Generationals, Lazyeyes, Local H, The Hounds Below, The Life & Times, Turf War, Country Mice, American Royalty, Luke Rathborne, Joywave, The Danvilles, Wild International, Edelweiss, Cultfever @ The Studio at Webster Hall

It's CMJ week in NYC and, in addition to all of the showcases at night, that means venues will be hosting day parties, almost of all of which are totally free to the public, with or without a CMJ badge. Those parties are listed above, and we've pointed out which are free and when RSVP is required. Most start at or around noon, some a bit later. Another What's Going On post with tonight's shows will be posted later today.

Follow @bvcmj on Twitter for more CMJ coverage.

Braids, who play the Tell All Your Friends party at Pianos today, also headline the free BrooklynVegan day party on Friday (10/19).

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What else?

As mentioned, the always-impressive UK producer Zomby is working on his next album and EP for 4AD and he just dropped a new track, "Devils," which you can stream below or download for free.

Zomby will be in NYC for one last-minute show during CMJ, which happens at new-ish Greenpoint venue Autumn Bowl (67 West St.) on Thursday (10/18) with Mykki Blanco, Arca, Gobby, Kuhrye-oo, Aquarian, Anthony Naples, and Eddie Mars. The party runs from 8 PM to 4 AM. It's free before 10:30 and $5 after with RSVP.

Autumn Bowl is also where the Four Tet, Jamie xx, and Floating Points show (10/26) is happening next week. A cavernous space that was formerly the home to a rope factory (built in 1890!), it has recently begun to be used for shows. Other upcoming shows include Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio) on Saturday (10/20) with Monogold, Kelli Rudick, Bird Courage, and David Watson/Fair Use. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

That Zomby song stream and the flier for his show are below.

Continue reading "Zomby playing CMJ show at Greenpoint warehouse Autumn Bowl (where Four Tet & Jamie xx are playing soon)"

Ringo Deathstarr in Austin in August (more by Tim Griffin)

Austin trio Ringo Deathstarr released their new album, Mauve, late last month (9/25), and if you've yet to hear it, you can stream the whole thing below. Also below is the video for the album's lead track, "Rip."

They're on tour now supporting the album, and as discussed they'll come to NYC for shows at Shea Stadium on October 21 and Cake Shop on October 22. Those shows happen right after CMJ, and as predicted, the band have since added a CMJ show which happens on October 20 at Ding Dong Lounge with Dead Leaf Echo, Brief Candles, and Scren Vinyl Image. There may be more CMJ week shows added as the fest gets closer (it's pretty close already).

After their 3-night run in NYC, Ringo Deathstarr will return to the NYC area to play the annual Fall Fest at SUNY Purchase on October 27 with Atlas Sound, Mykki Blanco, Joey Bada$$, Pop. 1290, Leather, Tetsuo, Chit Chat, and Ravi Shavi. That festival is technically only open to students and their guests.

An updated list of Ringo Deathstarr dates, the video and album stream are below.

Continue reading "Ringo Deathstarr expand tour, playing 4 NYC area shows including SUNY Purchase Fall Fest (dates & lineup)"

It seemed inevitable that Adele would be tapped to do a Bond theme and here we are with Skyfall. The movie actually looks like it might be good! As for the theme song, Adele and cowriter/producer Paul Epworth are channeling classic John Barry-era Bond and will be drawing comparisons to Shirley Bassey. A lyric video of the song is at the bottom of this post. (you can also buy it on iTunes)

Speaking of buying on iTunes, that's one place you can get the new album by Flying Lotus who just announced a CMJ show which happens about a week after all his other NYC appearances including this weekend's record fair.

The Raveonettes are on tour and playing Webster Hall on Friday, but first you can catch them on Letterman tonight. Meanwhile check out some pictures from their Chicago show.

Still time to get a ticket to our free-with-free-ticket AC Newman show happening Monday in Brooklyn. Meanwhile you can stream the new album in its entirety below.

The Punch Brothers are on tour and have plenty of upcoming shows, like Gramercy Theater on 10/5, and Bowery Ballroom on New Year's Eve, and The Paramount Theater in Long Island on October 7, which we're giving away tickets to on Facebook (you can also buy some).

Speaking of the Punch Brothers, as mentioned, primary Brother Chris Thile is one of this year's MacArthur Fellows. Which means he gets lots of money. Congrats also to winner Claire Chase of the International Contemporary Ensemble (aka ICE)., Maybe you caught her recently at the new Original Music Workshop venue, or during the 2010 Bang on a Can Marathon, or at one of the many other times she has performed in and around Brooklyn where she lives.

The big Animal Collective show at Williamsburg Park is this Friday. Tickets are still available. If you go, make sure and get there early for Micachu & the Shapes, or just go see Micachu headline LPR on Monday with recently added opener Mykki Blanco. Win tickets at the BV Facebook.

Micachu also DJs a Brooklyn Bass-presented After Hours party at Cameo Gallery (10/5) after the Williamsburg Park show with DJ Rezzie, No GLow, Evan MIchael, Judge Wise, and T'Angelo. It starts at midnight and admission is $8 at the door or $5 with RSVP to bass.brooklyn@gmail.com.

Sondre Lerche, who recently played Austin, is on tour and plays the Wolf's Den @ Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT on Friday (10/5).

Robert Pollard & Tobin Sprout's art show opens in Brooklyn on Friday. Check out pictures from the show Guided By Voices recently played at Emo's.

Kraftwerk, Rush and Public Enemy might be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Finally an answer to Rolling Stone's "Women Who Rock!" issue: Seattle's The Stranger presents, "Men Who Rock!," complete with sexy pinup photos. Hot! What, no Lars Finberg?

PD spotted what is estimated to be 7-10 Million Dollars worth of pot growing on a Chicagoland farm with "plants as big as trees."

The first "official" photos of the reunited cast of Arrested Development have surfaced. The improbably fourth season of the show will "air" (stream) on Netflix in 2013. Meanwhile, New York Magazine has details on how you can win a walk-on.

more below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Adele's Bond theme, Micachu, Raveonettes, RDIO, AlunaGeorge, Claire Chase, Divine Fits, the Hobbit + more"

Hieroglyphic Being

Warm Up continues at MoMA PS1 on Saturday (8/18) with Jacques Greene, Floating Points, Hieroglyphic Being, and Secret Circuit. Tickets for Saturday's show are still available.

While Chicago mainstay DJ Hieroglyphic Being (aka Jamal Moss) is in town, he'll play a late night party at 285 Kent on Friday (8/17) with Maxmillion Dunbar, Antennes, SFV Acid, a DJ set by James Gerard and visuals by Aurora Halal. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

In related news, SFV Acid will play an UNO party one night earlier (8/16) at The Hester with Mykki Blanco, Physical Therapy, Krystal Klear, and a "Special Secret Guest." No promises on who the guest is, but perhaps it will be one of the people in town for Saturday's Warm Up, like past Warm Ups have yielded. Maybe you should go and make your friends envious. The flier for this show is below.

A list of all Hieroglyphic Being dates and some song streams below.

Continue reading "Hieroglyphic Being playing 285 Kent before Warm Up; UNO throwing a party at The Hester w/ a secret guest (dates)"