by Andrew Sacher

Merchandise on a bridge during SXSW (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Merchandise, whose recently-expanded lineup puts on way more killer shows than when they were a three-piece, are touring like crazy this year. Their run with fellow punk-minded bands Milk Music and Destruction Unit hits NYC on June 15 at 285 Kent as part of the Northside Festival (tickets), but you'll be able to catch Merchandise in NYC even sooner and for free when they play NYU's Strawberry Festival on May 10 at LaGuardia Place between Washington Sq. and West 3rd St. Library Time is also on the lineup and more bands TBA. The show runs from 12:30 to 4:30 PM and is open to the public.

Merchandise released their new album, Totale Nite, earlier this month via Night People. It's the followup to last year's Smiths/Joy Division-indebted Children of Desire, and brings new elements to their sound like bluesy harmonicas, weird sax freakouts, and a Sabbathian interlude. I'd say it's a pretty worthy followup to Children of Desire. What did you think of it? Did you think it was the worst? If you haven't heard it yet, you can stream it via Spotify, along with an updated list of tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Merchandise playing NYU's Strawberry Fest (updated 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"

Killer Mike in Austin in 2012 (more by Tim Griffin)

As mentioned, Killer Mike will be in NYC next week (3/20) playing a Scion party at Public Assembly. (He's currently in Austin for you-know-what.) You can still win tickets to that show (the only way to get in) via contests on Twitter and Instagram -- deadline for entry is Friday (3/15).

This will not, however, be you only shot at seeing the Atlanta rapper in the near future. Killer Mike will play NYU's E&L Auditorium on March 27 with Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and Cakes da Killa. The show is $2 for NYU students and $4 for non-NYU. Tickets are not on sale yet but should be very soon at the NYU ticket central box office. Flyer for the show is below.

Continue reading "Killer Mike, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and Cakes da Killa playing NYU after Public Assembly show"

Kurt Vile at Terminal 5 in 2012 (more by Gretchen Robinette)

Two artists on different sides of the folk spectrum will be teaming up this month for a show at NYU. The psychedelic heartland folk of Kurt Vile and the noodly emo-folk of Owen (aka Mike Kinsella) will grace the fourth floor of the university's Kimmel Center on February 23 with support from NYU band The Young Women. Admission is $5 for students and non-students alike, and tickets can be picked up at NYU Ticket Central (566 Laguardia Place), which is attached to the Kimmel Center.

The NYU show is exactly a month before Owen plays Maxwell's (3/23) (tickets), which is one of his few other upcoming dates. As for Kurt Vile, his only other announced dates at the moment are festival appearances, including Coachella and Primavera Sound.

All lists of dates and a few videos below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile & Owen playing NYU Kimmel Center and other dates"

The NY Comedy Festival is underway, and includes a show by Slayer and voting fan Rob Delaney at NYU on Saturday (11/10). It now also includes a 2nd Rob Delaney show on the same day in the same venue but later. 100% of proceeds go to Sandy Relief. On Sale now.

Before this show was added, Rob also posted this letter about the early show:

On Saturday I'm doing a show at NYU's Skirball Center. It's sold out, but if you are attending, may I ask you to please bring your checkbook and be prepared to write a check to The American Red Cross in Greater New York? I will be donating 100% of the money I'm making from the show, so if you bring a check too it will be like we're in a cozy little club together. Just give me or one of my volunteers your check after the show and then I'll bring it to the Red Cross in my leather helicopter.

If you aren't going to the show, but would like to donate, you can do so online here:

http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations

Thanks.

Mount Eerie at Le Poisson Rouge in September (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Mount Eerie (aka Phil Elverum) is about to kick off a tour of Japan this week, and upon returning to the US, he'll play "2 full band shows out of nowhere in NYC" on November 28 at Le Poisson Rouge and November 29 at NYU's Kimmel's Eisner and Lubin Auditorium on the 4th floor (60 Washington Square South) with Heaven's Gate, These Days, and ADVAITA. No opener for the LPR show has been announced yet and tickets are on sale now. Admission for the NYU show is free to NYU students and $3 to the general public.

In late January, Mount Eerie will head to Australia (dates TBA), and then in February he'll do his first ever New Zealand tour. All dates are listed below.

Mount Eerie released two albums this year, Clear Moon and Ocean Roar. You can stream some tracks from both albums and check out a list of all dates below.

Continue reading "Mount Eerie playing 2 NYC shows in between Japan and Australia/New Zealand tours (dates)"

Questlove @ PS1 (more by Zach Dilgard)

"Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson will soon be adding another job to his exhaustive list of titles: professor. The Roots' drummer will be joining Universal Music Enterprises vice president of A&R and Grammy winning reissues producer Harry Weinger to co-teach a course titled 'Classic Albums' at the Clive Davis Institue for Recorded Music at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts this coming Spring semester.

The two credit class will focus on the concept of what it means for something to be called classic or seminal, as well as take a close look at the music, lyrics, production, business aspects -- such as promotion and marketing -- that informed the release and reception of the album, and try to provide a context as to why these albums have stood the test of time, according to Jason King, associate professor of recorded music and head of history and criticism at the Institute, who confirmed the course. [Billboard]

BADBADNOTGOOD @ Brooklyn Bowl (5/4/2012) (via @hollaPino)

As I'm sure countless musicians who happened to have shows scheduled yesterday did from stage, Coldplay (at Hollywood Bowl and like they did at All Points West), BADBADNOTGOOD (at Brooklyn Bowl), and Bomb The Music Industry! (at the NYU Strawberry Festival) paid tribute to Adam Yauch with a Beastie Boys cover worked into the set (who else did?). Watch video of the three mentioned, below...

Continue reading "Coldplay, BADBADNOTGOOD & Bomb The Music Industry! paid tribute to MCA (videos from last night)"

photos and video by Jessica Amaya

Laura Stevenson & the Cans @ Knitting Factory

Laura Stevenson & the Cans, who along with Bomb The Music Industry will play the annual NYU Strawberry Fest on 5/4, played a show at Knitting Factory two Fridays ago with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Dangerous Ponies. Here are some pics & two videos from the Brooklyn show. Continued below...

Continue reading "Laura Stevenson & the Cans played the Knit, playing NYU Strawberry Fest (pics & video)"

Lil B has dropped another nugget of ridiculosity with "Ima Eat Her A$$". On YouTube he writes:

THIS IS A BASED FREESTYLE FOR THE WOMEN,
THIS IS VERY RARE THAT LIL B HAS SHOWN HIS FACE FOR THE PEOPLE TO SEE HIM,
PROTECT LIL B AND IF YOU LOVE LIL B TELL THE WORLD- Lil B

The supremely eloquent MC will also speak at an NYU event on April 11th, tickets are $5 with NYU ID and $10 to the public. Make sure to get there to witness the "AMAZING HISTORICAL VERY POSITIVE FIRST LECTURE, PROGRESSION, 4 LIFE".

Videos below....

Continue reading "Lil B speaking at NYU, drops more videos with NSFW titles"

by Klaus Kinski

Kurt Braunohler

Hey readers. Long time no write, amIright? I haven't been writing much these days and I bet you thought/hoped I was dead or something. Wrong! Unlike most people (according to the news media) I have a job and lately it's talons have been dug so deep into my flesh and lard that I haven't been able to deal with anything else. I poked my head outta the trenches today to wipe the sweat and offal from my brow and noticed that we in the Tri State area are on a collision course for some seriously incredible comedy, like, really soon.

Friday February 10th really has us laugh-seekers in a right pickle as there are two amazing shows happening that night, but one happens on one side of the Hudson, while the other happens on the other side of the Hudson. I kall this phenomenon Klaus Kinski's Komedy Krawl.

First off, on Friday February 10th at 7:30pm the UCB Theater (Chelsea) will play host to the great and way-not-famous-enough Tom Shillue and his show Tom Shillue's Funny Story. The show is more a storytelling affair than a stand-up affair and will feature a STELLER line-up including Bobby Tisdale, Bob Walles, and Gavin McInnes. This is an EXTREMELY miraculous line-up and the fact that it isn't sold out tells me that there's probably only one or two tickets left. I cannot tell you how brilliant Shillue is. Get. On. It.

After that show ends, get those gorgeous hemispheres (bunz) of yours upstairs and down (or up) to the PATH train and make your way into Hoboken for a special, off-site-off-nite edition of the great Pretty Good Friends. PGF is usually hosted by Eugene Mirman every Sunday night in the subterranean confines of Union Hall. However, they are shaking the fuck out of things and bringing PGF to Maxwell's in Hoboken on Friday February 10th at 9:30pm. The show will be hosted by Kurt Braunohler and feature the likes of Andrea Rosen, Wyatt Cenac, and Todd Barry. Some tickets are still available, so get yours before they go the way of the Dodo. These two inexpensive events will bring you face to face with some of my personal favorites in the biz. Live it up! You CAN do this.

Oh, and speaking of Kurt Braunohler... Kurt got the gig as host and star of a forthcoming IFC comedy series called Bunk. The show will be taping live February 17th through February 24th at Manhattan Center Studios in NYC. Guest panelists will include Ethan T Berlin, Bobby Moynihan, Jordan Klepper, Damien Lemon, Matt Oberg, Chris Gethard, Kumail Nanjiani, John Gemberling, Eugene Mirman, Alison Rich, Michael Che, Dana Gould, Scott Adsit, Tom Lemon, Alex Borstein (no Dave Hill? tha fuck?). Wanna attend a taping or several of them? Head over to the Black List and throw your name in the hat for FREE TICKETS.

Last but not least... first there was ONE, then TWO, then THREE, and now there are FOUR Demetri Martin shows happening at NYU. The newest one happens at the Skirball Center on February 15th, at 9:30pm. Tickets are on sale, and we're also giving away tickets to the third one which is now sold out like the first and second.

ALSO
* Rob Delaney added a 2nd NYC show!
* Those in Chicago should go see Brian Posehn this weekend!
* Follow @bvComedy on Twitter!
* "SXSW Comedy" is expanding its offerings in Austin this year
* We're giving away a pair of tickets to see Tosh at Radio City.

Some videos below...

Continue reading "PGF in Hoboken, Tom Shillue, a FOURTH Demetri Martin show & other comedy stuff"

Explosions In The Sky at Wellmont Theater (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

NYU students get a treat this Valentine's Day, a show from Explosions In The Sky! The Texas post-rock quartet will join Grouper and Ducky for a Feb 14th NYU-students-only show (though it's "2 tickets per NYU ID"). The show will be seated on a first come, first serve basis and is a benefit for the Burton CHILL Foundation. Full details, including ticket information, below.

EITS so far has announced a few US festival appearances, but no additional dates. Catch them at Coachella and Sasquatch this year.

In other news, Grouper will team with Tiny Vipers for a collaborative LP entitled Foreign Body. Mirroring, the name for the duo, will release the record on March 19th via Kranky.

So far Liz Harris (Grouper) has a European tour mapped out for March, but no additional US dates to speak of. Full tour schedule is below.

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky playing Valentine's Day benefit @ NYU; Grouper & Tiny Vipers form 'Mirroring'"

As the language they used when announcing the first one kind of accidentaly hinted, Demetri Martin is playing two shows at NYU on February 18th. Tickets for the early show are now sold out. Late show on sale now.

Reggie Watts @ the Bell House in 2010 (more by David Anrako)

Musical genius funnyman Reggie Watts headlines a public show at NYU's Skirball Center on Sunday (10/23). " Tickets are $27.00 and can be purchased online at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu or by phone at 212.352.3101 (toll free at 866.811.4111). NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square." We also have a pair you can try and win...

Continue reading "big show for Reggie Watts Sunday (win tix!)"

Carissa's Weird @ Neumo's in Seattle on 9/24 (by joshc)

NYU Local reports:

Many believed [their 2003 breakup] was the end for Carissa's Wierd, but last year, the band got back together for a one-off reunion show in Seattle, and last month, they released a new single entitled Tucson. Now the band [played] their first non-Seattle gig in more than 8 years at Kimmel's E&L Auditorium this [past] Monday. For a very small group of people, this show is the equivalent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's five-day stand in NYC last spring.

The Program Board's New Music Chair, Nicole Cobb, who was responsible for booking Carissa's Wierd, explained that she had been in touch with Jen Ghetto, one of the band's two vocalists, to try and book her new project S. "I asked about the possibility of getting Carissa's Wierd to play. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask. At first, she said that it probably wasn't possible, but this July, she let me know that it could be a possibility, and at that point, I did everything in my power to make this show happen."

To round out the bill, Cobb booked Kayo Dot and Arms & Sleepers. "I think they both bring interesting things to the show. Kayo Dot, similarly to Carissa's Wierd has a really strong underground following. Not a lot of people know their name, but those who know them tend to love them," she explained.

A video from the above-pictured Seattle show below...

Continue reading "NYU got Carissa's Wierd to play by first asking Jen Ghetto (who plays Bruar Falls tonight)"

The previously-announced Carissa's Wierd reunion show happens in NYC tonight (10/10). Here are the final details:

Carissa's Wierd
Kayo Dot
Arms and Sleepers

A music and visual arts event.
Doors and Gallery open at 6PM, show at 6:30 PM.

NYU Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
60 Washington Square South, 4th Floor
New York, NY
18+, $4 with NYU ID, $8 non-NYU

Tickets will be sold day of show at the NYU ticket central box office.

Carissa's Wierd

Carissa's Wierd are reuniting again for a pair of shows in celebration of the new Tucson 7" out now on Hardly Art! The 7" is the band's first new material in over seven years. Listen to half of it, "Meredith & Iris", below.

Carissa's Wierd may be unjustly known as the springboard for Band of Horses and eventually Grand Archives. Benjamin Bridwell and Mat Brooke were both members of the Northwestern crew before their 2003 dissolution, though note that Bridwell is not part of the reunion. Everyone else is.

The live dates are 9/24 at Neumo's in Seattle and 10/10 at NYU's Eisner & Lubin Auditorium in NYC, and the NYC show WILL be open to the general public -- $4 with NYU ID, $8 non-NYU, sold day of show at the NYU ticket central box office. Very exciting news.

Coincidentally (?), Band of Horses lead guitarist Tyler Ramsey is playing NYC the same night, October 10th, at Joe's Pub. Tickets are on sale for that. His show is part of an October tour in support of his new album The Valley Wind. You can see all dates and stream the title track below.

Stream the Carissa's Wierd track too, and check out the video of Band of Horses performing "Infinite Arms" on Conan O'Brien last week, with all dates below...

Continue reading "Carissa's Wierd released new material, playing Seattle AND NYC (Tyler Ramsey too) -- dates & song streams"

photos by Erez Avissar

"If Gang Gang Dance was the massage, then Flying Lotus was the happy ending of the night. The whole venue was packed with students when FlyLo sauntered on stage just short of nine o'clock. The audience went nuts as the producer asked the crowd if their answer (to no question in particular) was "yes" or "no." Students were in the mood to flail their arms aimlessly and pretend that last night was still part of Electric Zoo as Flying Lotus started his long DJ set." [NYU Local]

Continue reading "Flying Lotus played LPR twice on Thursday (pics)"

If you're an NYU student, you should be in line at the moment for the free Flying Lotus/Gang Gang Dance/Light Asylum show happening at Le Poisson Rouge today (9/8). If you're not an NYU student, you should quickly take a nap because FlyLo plays the venue again later tonight. 11pm doors. FREE.

Flying Lotus at Terminal 5 in 2010 (more by Brook Bobbins)

Flying Lotus, Gang Gang Dance, and Light Asylum are playing a free show at Le Poisson Rouge on September 8 presented by the NYU Program Board. Doors are at 6 PM for the all ages show but admission is open to NYU students only.

Gang Gang Dance recently announced a tour that includes a NYC show at Bowery Ballroom during CMJ. Tickets go on sale Thursday (9/1) at noon.

Speaking of Flying Lotus, he recently announced a multimedia project with Miwa Matreyek. The project, titled The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come, is set to premiere at Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock in LA in June, 2012. According to CFAER:

These multi-disciplinary Los Angeles artists will collaborate together for the first time this year to find inspiration and direct sampling of northeast Los Angeles' imagery and sounds to create The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come, a piece that celebrates the present communities surrounding Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock.

In other related news, Thundercat, who was on FlyLo's Cosmogramma LP and his Brainfeeder label, put out his album The Golden Age of Apocalypse this week via Brainfeeder. You can stream the entire thing below and purchase it here.

Light Asylum open for !!! one day after the LPR show at their 9/9 Bell House show. Computer Magic are on that bill too. Even sooner Light Asylum play a free show at Union Pool on Saturday (9/3). Light Asylum will also open for Austra at the 10/5 Bowery Ballroom show the day before Austra open for James Blake at the sold out MHOW show. Tickets for the Bell House show and the Bowery show are still on sale.

Updated dates and album stream below...

Continue reading "Flying Lotus, Gang Gang Dance & Light Asylum playing NYU show & other stuff, Thudercat album streaming"

photos by David Andrako

One night before the Strawberry Fest, NYU hosted a Cinco de Mayo concert with Tyvek, Twin Shadow and The Thermals at Le Poisson Rouge. For the Thermals it was a few days after they played Maxwell's. For Twin Shadow it was a day before they opened for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Webster Hall and the same night they appeared on Fallon. We missed Tyvek (it was an early show), but more pictures of the other two bands at the NYU show, and the Thermals setlist, below...

Continue reading "The Thermals played an NYU show @ LPR w/ Twin Shadow (pics & setlist)"

photos by Lauren Monaco

Despite the sun blaring, sound levels needing to be kept low due in part to the birth of a baby red-tailed hawk, and the temporary shutting down of the show due to people climbing poles and otherwise being too violent, Lightning Bolt managed to play a headlining set at NYU's annual Strawberry Festival on Friday. And in keeping with the bird theme, they shared a bill with both Pterodactyl and Ducktails, and The So So Glos too.

The festival's mascot, a human dressed as a strawberry was in attendance and seen crowd surfing. Some video of that, and more pictures from the whole day, below...

Continue reading "Lightning Bolt, crowdsurfing strawberries & more (NYU's 2011 Strawberry Fest in pics & video)"

Lightning Bolt at 285 Kent Ave on 4/27, photo by Kathy Zikas

"Lightning Bolt pummeled the crowed at Le Poisson Rouge [Thursday] night with their standard blitzkrieg attack of sound. For over an hour the noise duo blasted away through classics from their excellent discography sending the crowd into a near frenzy. Brian Chippendale did his best impersonation of a jackhammer playing the drums and Brian Gibson stood by, ever so effortlessly, as he turned his amps up to 11 and ripped through distorted blasts of thundering bass. Despite the breaks between songs, the non stop bombardment of escalated sound sent shock waves through the crowd that more then likely split a few ear drums. The relentless assault proved that these two men are masters of their craft as they powered aware with such force and precision that kept the crowd screaming for an encore. When the band answered the call they came back to the stage and began to tear through the epic track "Ride the Skies" which nearly sent everyone over the edge after an already incredible performance of hurricane like forces of sound crushing the crowd." [omgnyc]

In related news, soon after we posted about the May 5th Thermals show at Le Poisson Rouge, it was revealed that the show is actually an NYU show which would explain why advanced tickets were not easy to get. Note that "Advance tickets are only available for NYU. Non-nyu tickets available day of at doors." If you can get a ticket though, the show is a bargain: $7 for students, $10 for non-nyu, and both Twin Shadow and Tyvek were added to the very impressive Cinco de Mayo bill. Though:

IMPORTANT NOTE: those event times are NOT A MISPRINT. The doors for LPR will be open at 6, the first act goes on around 7, and this show WILL BE OVER AROUND 10. GET THERE EARLY.

Twin Shadow meanwhile is out on tour with The Pains of Being Pure At Heart and will in fact open the May 6th show at Webster Hall. Tickets are still on sale. All TS dates are listed below.

The Thermals played Maxwell's with Dinowalrus last night (5/1), and in addition to the Le Poisson Rouge show, they're playing NYC at the Bell House in July after their tour with Matt & Kim. Tickets are still on sale.

Strawberry Festival details and Twin Shadow tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals played Maxwell's, Lightning Bolt played 2 NYC shows, both bands playing public NYU shows, Twin Shadow too"

photos by Timothy Griffin

Darwin Deez @ Emo's (BV/Feed the Beat Day Party)

!!!, Darwin Deez, and NYU student band EMEFE will play NYU's E&L Auditorium at the Kimmel Center on March 31 as part of a benefit called "Dance Against Cancer", a joint effort from NYU's Program Board, IRHC and the American Cancer Society to as raise money for cancer research. Tickets are currently available for NYU students, and will go on sale to the general public on the day of the show at at 556 LaGuardia Place, but we also have two pairs we're giving away for anyone. Contest details below.

Das Racist will also be at NYU in the near future, as the crew will take on the same space on April 5th with Wallpaper and Small Black. The show is for NYU students only and closed to the public, but NYU students can bring one non-NYU guest... so make some calls to your homies. Oh, and we also have two pairs of tickets to giveaway for this too. Contest details below.

Das Racist were just down at SXSW where they played a bunch of shows and, like Odd Future, conducted an interview with Nardwuar. That video is below.

Darwin Deez played a coordinated dance-tastic set at our Wednesday day party at Emo's. Some pictures from that set are in this post and continue below...

!!! played three Austin shows including the BrooklynVegan/M for Montreal party on 3/19 at Barbarella. Another couple pictures from their set are in this post too, and also below...

Continue reading "Das Racist, Darwin Deez & !!! playing NYU (win tickets), played SXSW (pics & a Nardwuar video)"

photos by Samantha Marble

Fucked Up @ ATP NY 2010

hey everyone,

Just a reminder that the show is tonight! Doors at 7:30, with music starting promptly at 8! Show will be done by ~11, so get there early. Plus, cupcakes are first come, first serve!

If you are not a NYU student, you may buy tickets (max 2/person) at ticket central beginning at noon, located at 566 LaGuardia Place, just below washington square south. It's in the same building as the venue. You just need a government issued ID and $7.

I would highly recommend that you buy your ticket before doors open, because this one is going to sell out...

See you tonight!

Continue reading "Fucked Up at NYU tonight (tix on sale to the public at noon) ++ a set of unpublished pics from ATP NY"