by Bill Pearis

Django Django

We've got some more news on the Django Django front. In addition to Kwes dropping off the March 10th Glasslands show, Django Django have added a second NYC show on Monday, March 12 at Santos Party House, that BrooklynVegan is co-presenting with the folks at Neon Gold and Popgun Booking. Also playing will be Clock Opera and Charlie XCX who also share a bill on March 10 at Knitting Factory. Tickets are on sale now for the Santos show.

Clock Opera

Clock Opera's debut album, Ways to Forget, is out April 9 on Moshi Moshi. You can watch the video for the new single "Once and Again" at the bottom of this post. You can also stream their fantastic, radical reworking of Metronomy's "The Bay" which is included on The English Riveria - The Unreleased Remixes.

Charli XCX

London's Charli XCX got a lot of attention last year for her singles "Stay Away" and "Nuclear Seasons" both of which mined '80s New Romantic synthpop. (You can watch the videos for both below.) She's currently recording her debut album, working with bigshot producers Patrik Berger (The Good Natured, Robyn) and Ariel Rechtshaid (Glasser, Theopolis London) while still attending London's Slade School of Fine Art (she's only 19).

As mentoned above, both Clock Opera and Charli XCX are also playing Knitting Factory on Saturday March 10. That show with Sub Pop-signed Nikki & the Dove, and tickets are still on sale. And they're all playing SXSW of course (Charli's official show is the Pitchfork showcase).

Django Django have just released a stream for "Storm" which was actually the band's first single nearly three years ago. You can stream the whole Django Django album at Spotify and buy it digitally wherever high-quality MP3s are sold.

Click through for flyers for both Django Django shows, along with videos and streams mentioned above.

Continue reading "Django Django add NYC show with Clock Opera & Charli XCX (BV Presents)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Alex Winston - Sister Wife (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Alex Winston - Medicine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Alex Winston - Choice Notes (Tomb Crew Remix) (MP3)

Alex Winston

Detroit singer-songwriter Alex Winston is starting the new year with a few shows before heading out to Europe in February. She'll be in Brooklyn tonight, January 9th, at Public Assembly for the Communion launch party with Emil & Friends, Marques Toliver, Pearl and The Beard, Bobby Long, and Simone Felice. Alex is the headliner, and there will be DJ sets by The Knocks, Neon Gold and Sean Glass.

Communion (not to be confused with the old Tuesday night party at Limelight) is a music community in London founded by Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons), Kevin Jones (Cherbourg) and producer Ian Grimble and has been responsible for showcasing emerging and established British music. The Public Assembly show on January 9 is Communion's debut showcase in New York. It's fitting that Alex Winston is performing at the first showcase, considering she covered Mumford & Sons' "The Cave" for her Covers EP.

Winston was also at Public Assembly for the Neon Gold/Chess Club Showcase this past CMJ. I caught her at that show. Winston takes strong inspiration from Motown girl groups and crafts nostalgic pop songsm but she sets herself apart from her predecessors, by using the pop song formula to showcase more thought provoking lyrics. Her stage persona shifted from dramatic to funny multiple times and she never fails to deliver as a vocalist or performer. Winston has yet to release an album, but that will change on March 8th when her debut, "Sister Wife" is released by HeavyRoc. The Mini LP was produced by The Knocks and Charlie Hugall. Download two tracks from that album (one remixed) above.

All dates and the Communion flyer below...

Continue reading "Alex Winston releasing 'Sister Wife' (MP3), playing Communion (Ben Lovett's new series of showcases in Brooklyn)"

French Horn Rebellion @ Brooklyn Electronic Music Fest (more by Chris Doss)

First Fool's Gold, and now Neon Gold are having a party at the new Tammany Hall. Details and RSVP info for tonight's event (1/6), below...

Continue reading "new Neon Gold club night "Popshop" kicking off @ Tammany Hall (w/ MNDR, French Horn Rebellion, Brahms, more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Allo Darlin' - Dreaming (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Allo Darlin' - My Heart is a Drummer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hedgehog - Toy and 61 Festival (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hedgehog - Waiting for the Last Bus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Sound of Arrows - M.A.G.I.C. (MP3)

Thg Sound of Arrows

I'm just going to declare Thursday to be the bonkers, overstuffed day at CMJ2010. Even without a badge, you're gonna have to make some tough choices about what you want to do. It would also be a good day to call in sick.

Impose magazine is putting on great FREE unofficial shows all week -- nights at Don Pedros, days at The Woods.  Today's lineup currated by Pop Jew. It's definitely where I'll be this afternoon, and not just because it's four blocks from my house. The whole lineup is great  but above all else,Allo Darlin' is playing at 6PM, a band that has the ability to put a smile on the face of even the most hardened curmudgeon. (Chris Weingarten is currently in Finland so I can't actually prove this.) You would be dumb to miss them. It's one of two shows they're playing at CMJ.

The rest of the line-up is swell too: Bejiing  trio Hedgehog (their drummer is a pint-sized pistol); , Brooklyn's best new indiepop band, Dream Diary;  slacker-ish Bright Lights and local punks The Sleepies and Othermen. Bands start at 2PM and the show is not too crowded so there might be longer sets than you get elsewhere.... and there's a good taco truck in the back. This would make a great warm up if you are going to our night-time showcase at MHOW. Just an idea.

Of course there is good action as always on Ludlow St. At Pianos, I Guess I'm Floating presents two floors of bands, including This Week in Indie faves Violens, Oberhofer and Beach Fossils, plus Baths, Pepper Rabbit (a band I need to check out this week), Teen Daze, Million Young,  Young the Giant, Young Man (that's three "Young"s!), Coolrunnings and more! Bands start and noon. Free entry, free beer.

(note: also catch one of those Youngs, Young Man at our MHOW showcase at 8pm sharp)

Down the street at Cake Shop, it's the NYC Taper day party, with 12 bands in six hours on one stage, which seems pretty ambitious, but that's what CMJ is all about. Overload. The line-up is pretty choice too, including Soft Black, Diamond Rings (one of two day parties for Diamond Rings today), Keepaway, She Keeps Bees, ArpLine and more. First band (Courtesy Tier) is on at 12:30 and if you can't make it, I'm sure all the sets will be up on NYC Taper at some point. Free.

There are also two all-day parties going on. The first I'll mention is the Neon Gold party at Public Assembly which goes from 3PM to 3AM. Pop is the key word here, be it on the guitar side (Obefhofer, Savior Adore, Ava Luna) or the dancey side (Penguin Prison, Fenech-Soler, Brahms, The Knocks). Most interestingly, to me, is that Swedish band The Sound of Arrows is playing their first American show. I didn't even know they played live at all. The band have only released a few singles in their three-year existence, but their track "M.A.G.I.C" (downloadable above) was my #3 Single of 2009. I'm a little skeptical about them pulling it off live, but... might be worth checking out. The Neon Gold website has MP3s of every band playing. Limited badge entry, $12 otherwise.

Then there's Day 1 of Pitchfork's #Offline Fest, which runs from 2pm - midnight, with such bands as Dave Sitek/Maximum Balloon (he's DJing), glitchy UK act Gold Panda, Surfer Blood, Wild Nothing, Small Black and more. While it's hard to question the line-up, almost all of these are all bands are playing many other times during the week, often for free. And while Brooklyn Bowl is an awesome place in theory, it is pretty much insufferable Thurs - Sat nights: the bar is five deep, and half (if not more of) the crowd doesn't even realize there are bands playing at all. And I don't think the weekend conditions will be different because there's a "festival" happening. This will no doubt be the most tollerable of the three nights though, as I said, no arguing with the talent they've got on the stage.

NIGHTIME picks coming right up HERE. Flyers, some set times, etc after the jump.

Continue reading "CMJ 2010 - Bill's Thursday DAYTIME picks (Sound of Arrows, Hedgehog, Allo Darlin, NYC Taper, lots of Youngs & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Devin Therriault - "You're Mine" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Devin Therriault - "I Don't Think I" (MP3)

Brooklyn singer-songwriter Devin Therriault (pronounced "theory-alt") is making two appearances at the CMJ Music Marathon. Devin and his live band, The Little Angels, are headlining Pete's Candy Store on Tuesday, October 19 and also playing the Neon Gold/Chess Club Records CMJ Showcase at Public Assembly on Thursday, October 21. Flyer for the latter below.

Devin combines the sounds of '50s rock and roll groups and '60s girl groups with the intensity of punk and garage rock to create catchy songs with a feeling of familiarity. However, he still puts his own spin on every song. Therriault's flamboyant stage presence mixed with his passionate vocal delivery make his performances extremely memorable. His energetic antics recall those of Iggy Pop and New York Dolls era David Johansen, while maintaining his own on-stage personality.

Therriault finished up a home demo in late 2009, on which he recorded all instrumental and vocal parts on his own. Two of these tracks, "You're Mine" and "I Don't Think I" are available for free download above.

Dates and a couple of live videos below...

Continue reading "a spotlight on Devin Therriault (MP3s & 2 CMJ shows) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Wolf Gang - Lions in Cages (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wolf Gang - Pieces of You (MP3)

Hyped UK act Wolf Gang are in town making their first-ever American appearances, playing a free show tonight (10/13) at Santos Party House with Emil & Friends and The Knocks, and then Thursday (10/14) at Glasslands with Acrylics, Safe and Painted Face.

The alter ego of Max McElligot, Wolf Gang make anthemic, danceable pop that really aims for the rafters. Wolf Gang's debut album, due next month, was produced by Dave Fridman, who I'm pretty sure has an "Epic" knob on his mixing desk. It's been turned to at least 8 for new single "Lions in Cages" which you can download at the top of this post. If you like the Arcade Fire or MGMT (there's a little "Kids" in "Lions") or fellow Brit melodramaticists Monarchy, you might want to make your way to one of Wolf Gang's shows.

A couple Wolf Gang videos and flyers and all dates are after the jump.

Continue reading "Wolf Gang arrive in NYC for 2 shows -- MP3s & dates "

DOWNLOAD: Make It Better (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Knocks - Make It Better" (Stylus Dust Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Knocks - Make It Better (Monsieur Adi Remix) (MP3)

The Knocks

"I DJed a show with DJ B-Roc of The Knocks a few months back. Dude was on point and I was blown away. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of the set came when B-Roc dropped his group's new single "Make It Better." The song is so dope, so summery, so perfect. And you can download it now at the Neon Gold blog. Be sure to pre-order the single so you can cop all of the remixes when they drop." [Panda Toes]

NYC's The Knocks are listing "NYU w/ Mystery Guests (dj set)" happening on September 7th on their tour dates. That would be the annual NYU Mystery Concert which I accidentally revealed will also include a set by certain member of Outkast on the bill.

The Knocks then have a few other scattered dates scheduled before CMJ, and then at least three scheduled during CMJ including the just-announced late show happening at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, October 20th with DFA's Holy Ghost. Tickets for that show will go on sale Wednesday, 9/8, at noon (or you can try to get in with your CMJ badge).

If you can't wait that long to see Holy Ghost!, don't forget that they also happen to appear on the lineup of this weekend's final 'Warm Up' of 2010 at PS1:

September 4th
Holy Ghost! / DFA Records, New York (live)
House of House / Whatever We Want, New York (DJ set)
DJ Mehdi / Ed Banger Records (DJ set)
Plus Special Guests TBA

The Knocks also list two other CMJ shows already. One is a Neon Gold / Chess Club showcase happening at Public Assembly on October 21st and the other is an NME show happening at the Studio at Webster Hall on October 23rd.

All dates for the Knocks & Holy Ghost!, below...

Continue reading "The Knocks playing NYU Mystery Concert, CMJ w/ Holy Ghost! who play PS1 Saturday & other dates "