today in NYC
* Howl! Festival
* Bushwick Open Studios
* It Is It @ Pianos
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Atlantic Avenue Artwalk
* Jason Kao Hwang @ The Stone
* Hillstock Festival @ 402 Park Ave.
* Justin Vivian Bond @ Joe's Pub
* Pretty Good Friends @ Union Hall
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Xalam Project, Bizi Gara @ Zebulon
* ZWERM Guitar Quartet @ The Stone
* The Baseball Project @ City Winery
* Akiko Pavolka's House of Illusion @ Barbes
* Tanuki Suit, Mancie, Rachel Lee Walsh @ Glasslands
* The Dynamites Featuring Charles Walker @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Joshua Light Show @ American Museum of Natural History
* Stephane Wrembel Presents The Django Experiment @ Barbes
* The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Mommyheads @ Le Poisson Rouge
* All Tiny Creatures, The Carribean, Computer Magic @ Mercury Lounge
* Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Darlings, Dinosaur Feathers, Friends, Grand Rapids, Like, Mountains @ Housing Works Street Fair
* Whale Belly, Panoramic & True, The Robin Electric, Little Grey Girlfriend @ Littlefield
* Hot 97 Summer Jam w/ Lil Wayne, Drake, Birdman, Chris Brown, Dipset, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Lloyd Banks, Waka Flocka Flame, Wiz Khalifa @ the Meadowlands

Hillstock Fest times changed since the initial announcement. Updated list of bands and times is below.

Unkle have a new video starring Nick Cave. Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

photos by Greg Cristman

Onstage at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square on Sunday, in a powerfully loose performance, [Nick Cave] sang "Heathen Child," from [Grinderman's] new record, "Grinderman 2" (Anti-). "She don't care about Buddha!" he called out. "She is the Buddha!" And later, in "Evil!": "Who needs the TV? You are my TV!/ Who needs the record player? You are my record player!"

As he sang, he battered his guitar. Mr. Cave doesn't play much guitar; it's plain to see that the instrument is foreign to him. But he plays it in Grinderman, and it sounds like a car being cut in half. -[New York Times]

Last night, one night later, Grinderman appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (a show that will have Bruce Springsteen on it tonight). After the taping, Nick Cave was spotted hanging at the Delancey. Not sure if they have a TV he could have watched it on. You can watch the episode in an embedded video below.

Grinderman's US tour continues tonight in Washington DC at the 9:30 Club. More Pictures from Best Buy (formerly Nokia) Theater, videos and the Grinderman setlist, below...

Continue reading "Grinderman played Best Buy Theater in NYC & Fallon ---- ----- (pics, videos, setlist) "

Grinderman are Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos. On September 14th they will release their new studio album Grinderman 2 via Anti-Records and follow with a tour of North America beginning on November 11th.

Together Grinderman have forged a distinctly different way of working, having cast off musical baggage, shrugged off accepted wisdom and tested pre-conceptions about who they are as musicians. The new album was co-produced by Grinderman and Nick Launay (Public Image Ltd, Birthday Party) and mixed by Launay.

Grinderman will kick off their North American tour November 11th in Toronto, Canada. [ANTI]

Metamorphosis, another Nick Cave and Warren Ellis project, debuts at BAM on November 30th.

All Grinderman dates below...

Continue reading "Grinderman announce 2010 Tour Dates"

Nick Cave w/ the Dirty Three @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

"You wake up one morning to discover that you've turned into a giant bug. It's the stuff of nightmares, unless you're Kafka's oddly placid Gregor Samsa--more concerned about being late to work than anything else. Iceland's Vesturport Theatre and its fearless director Gísli Örn Gardarsson (who made their US debut with Woyzeck at the 2008 Next Wave Festival) present a topsy-turvy stage adaptation of Metamorphosis, whose protagonist leaps, scrambles, and skitters, telegraphing his mounting despair.

The performance is a tour de force, supported by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' delicately inflected score. The excellent cast, each member embodying the alienation and dysfunction of Kafka's unsparing tale, enhances the precariousness of the predicament as it morphs into outright cruelty. [BAM]

Ticket subscriptions (a package of tickets to 4 or more shows) are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale August 30th for Friends of BAM and September 7th for everyone else.

After the December 2nd show there will be a post-performance talk with actor/director Gísli Örn Gardarsson and others from the show for ticket holders. Maybe that'll be around the time Nick Cave brings Grinderman back to NYC in support of their upcoming 2nd album.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis released a soundtrack to The Road, via Mute, in January. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds put some reissues in March.

Cave and Ellis previously collaborated with Vesturport Theatre on their adaptation of Woyzeck (which debuted in 2006 and was part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival). Trailers with music excepts from both shows are below...

Continue reading "a Nick Cave & Warren Ellis scored show is coming to BAM"

Grinderman will release their new studio album Grinderman 2 through Mute on September 13th and via Anti- Records in the U.S. on September 14th. Grinderman 2 was recorded in 2009 at London's RAK, State of The Ark and Assault and Battery studios. Co-produced by Grinderman and Nick Launay, the album was mixed by Launay at London's British Grove in August 2009 and LA's Seedy Underbelly in April 2010. Grinderman's twenty-date European tour will kick off at Nottingham's Rock City on 25th September. UK tickets go on sale from 9.00 AM on Friday 28th May and are available from www.seetickets.com or from the 24-hour booking line (Tel: 0871 2200 260).

Continue reading "Grinderman announce 2nd album, European dates "

Move over wolves, crystals, girls and bears. Caves are cool now. Following in the footsteps of cave granddaddies Cave-In (who recently reunited to cash in on the cave phenomenon) and Nick Cave, there seems to be a sudden influx of cave bands hitting the scene. Maybe it all really started back in 2007 when Pretty Girls Make Graves broke up and Derek Fudesco formed The Cave Singers (Pretty Girls Make Caves) who were almost immediately signed to Matador which two years later also became the home of Cold Cave. According to Wikipedia, Cold Cave have been a band since 2005, but the dark synthpop group with hardcore roots didn't actually release anything until 2008. Their Matador debut, which really made them a household indie rock name, came in 2009.

Earlier this year, the popular LA all-girl punk band Mika Miko broke up leaving prominent member JennifEr ClAVin without a musical home, but not for long. She quickly joined cave band Cold Cave, thus adding even more credibility to the cave scene. On April 29, 2010 (last night), Cold Cave played a headlining show at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. How was it? They reportedly played for 35 minutes and it was their third NYC show in less than a week. The first was at Solar One, a free NYU Earth Day concert with HEALTH. The next was up at Barnard in a gym due to rain that forced it inside.

Continuing along with the partial inspiration or this post: Cave and Caves. This one was especially confusing me lately, in part due to the emails I get on behalf of both bands. I had to take a second and confirm in my mind that these were two different groups.

CAVE (I think it's all capital letters) is a psychedelic Chicago rock band with an impressive resume and a bunch of releases dating back to 2006. You may have caught them on their November tour. If not, don't fear, the band have a loaded show schedule this summer that includes the Pitchfork Festival, the Sled Island Festival in Canada, dates with Quintron and Miss Pussycat, and two NYC shows: August 14th at the Studio at Webster Hall and August 15th at Issue Project Room. A new 12" CAVE EP entitled Pure Moods will be released by Drag City in May (though the download seems to be available now). All tour dates below.

Caves (plural) started in San Francisco, but like the Morning Benders, now live in Brooklyn. Like Cave, they also fall into the psychedelic category. And though they are looking for a drummer, they actually have five local shows coming up including a record release party at Cameo tonight (4/30). Said the Gramophone has an MP3. You can listen to more at their SonicBids page. All dates below.

Caveman

Also tonight, 4/30, in the NYC-area: Caveman are opening for Here We Go Magic at Maxwell's. The four-part harmonizing Brooklyn band (who has opened for Here We Go Magic before) is the new project from Matty Pickles of The Subjects. Other members are Subjects guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti, Jeff Berrall of Elefant, Stefan Marolachakis from The End of the World, and Sam Hopkin. Maybe you caught Caveman at Cameo (or Caveo as some call it) on April 19th. Shannon did:

"I returned to the mystical back room just in time to hear Caveman self-deprecate and be casual and charming, then nonchalantly break into a pretty tight, polished set that would stop you in your tracks on Bedford Avenue if you heard it coming out of a record shop. I mean, check out the song "Decide," on Caveman's Myspace here. They have such a lovely, echoed lo-fi sound. I believe the band is somewhat newly formed. I gather this from something they mentioned in their stage banter and because I have their set list from that night in my purse, and more than one song began with "New Jam # ...," which I find incredibly endearing."

Finally, last but not least, I'll wrap things up with Cave Bears. They, like Cleveland's Clan of the Cave Bear, have successfully combined both caves and bears, but the mind-expanding experimental, and sometimes silly, Massachusetts band has a sound all their own (at least compared to anyone else in this post). No wonder they recently shared a bill (the same night Cavebear played Cameo) at Death By Audio with guitarist and Thurston Moore collaborator Bill Nace, the Thurston Moore approved Fat Worm Of Error, and Darren Mabee's band We are the Seahorses. Video of their wacky live show with everything else, below...

Continue reading "Caves are the new Bears (except for Cave Bear) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Jim Jones Revue...

Speaking of the BrooklynVegan/AnSO Thursday day party at Austin's Spider House (full schedule here), London's Jim Jones Revue will be taking to one of the stages (right before Cheeseburger). The garage rock powerhouse, whose first record came out in 2008 and who are currently working on a new album with producer Jim Sclavunos from The Bad Seeds/Grinderman, will be making their US debut at the festival.

Since forming The Revue in 2007, Jim Jones - the jet-fuelled ex-Thee Hypnotics vocal powerhouse - has led his band through a hurricane of live shows and the recording of their first, bone-shattering LP. [Their February 4th set at London's Jazz Cafe] was predominantly made up of material from that album: a relentless meld of flame-grilled rock'n'soul and punk-R&B. In fact it's rumoured that the Jazz Café had to hold back on the band's usual volume for fear of broken eardrums and complaints from the entire postcode.

What makes the Jim Jones Revue such an exciting live prospect is their heady mix of quality songs and unpredictability. Their mining of the pre-1960 rock'n'roll sound serves them well. You feel that you've lived with these songs for a long time, yet, in a live setting, their material doesn't feel constrained by category. It just makes you stand up and listen before knocking you off your feet. [Mojo]

WOW. The Kid did it again. All the uber cool chops and camped up suss we've come to know and love from this true legend. Yep that's right Legend, an over used word in describing musicians for sure but hell when you've spent your life playing with three of the greatest front men of all time - Lux Interior, Jeffery Pierce and Nick Cave - you must have done something right. No one can tell me its not a justified description for someone who was in not only one LEGENDARY band but three - The Cramps, The Gun Club and Nick Caves Bad Seed's.

These days Kid Congo is hipper than ever with his own band The Pink Monkey Birds, who's charming, sexy mix of 50's Rockabilly, 60's Garage Trash, 70's Vegas Lounge Muzak, 80's Post Punk all put together with an authentic Hispanic twist - serves up some serious cool medicine both on record and live. [Splash One]

Continue reading "Jim Jones Revue (ex-Thee Hypnotics) & Kid Congo Powers (ex-Cramps/Nick Cave/Gun Club) playing SXSW, other shows"

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers @ SXSW 2009 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

It was approximately a year ago that Shilpa Ray left her band Beat The Devil to focus on her own project with her own band that she calls Shipa Ray and The Happy Hookers. That would make 2009 not only their year, but their first year.

My own excitement for the band came right around January/February when I first heard their 8-song unreleased CD-R. Soon after that they accepted my invitation to play the official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase, and they've managed to keep busy all year. Shilpa ended up self-releasing their album, and she and her hookers have played numerous shows in NYC - too many to count, but they've included a Woodstock tribute at Castle Clinton, a residency at Pianos, and this year's CitySol festival. And they're ending the year strong. They just opened two NYC gigs for the Fiery Furnaces, are opening for Grant Hart of Husker Du this Saturday at 92YTribeca (12/19), and now have a glowing recommendation from Nick Cave.

Shilpa answered some questions about her year. Read them below...

Continue reading "an end of 2009 interview w/ Shilpa Ray "

National Post: What new band gets you going?
Nick Cave: Have you heard of Shilpa Ray?

National Post: Who?
Nick Cave: F--k! I know someone new you don't. She plays the harmonium. She has a band called the Happy Hookers, I think they're called. She has a great voice, she writer great songs, great lyrics.

National Post: I love the harmonium.
Nick Cave: She's really good at it. But I'm not gonna write a book about Shilpa Ray...

Continue reading "Shilpa Ray (now Nick Cave recommended) opening for Grant Hart, Fiery Furnaces + other dates "

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

Panda Bear

Friday, September 11th - Stage 1:
3.15pm-4.15pm : The Drones performing Wait Long By The River...
4.45pm-5.30pm : The Feelies performing Crazy Rhythms
6.00pm-7.00pm : Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs
7.30pm-8.30pm : Suicide performing Suicide (First LP)
9.00pm-9.45pm : Panda Bear
10.15pm-11.15pm : Iron & Wine
11.45pm-1.00am : The Jesus Lizard

Friday, September 11th - Stage 2:
9.00pm-9.30pm : Jon Glaser & Jon Benjamin
9.45pm-10.15pm : Derrick Brown & The Navy Gravy
10.30pm-11.00pm : Eugene Mirman
11.15pm-11.45pm : David Cross

As a veteran of multiple music festivals, I think that most feel very familiar... borderline generic even. ATP is an animal all its own. There is an energy that is positive, creative and palpable. Musicians wander about the grounds, checking out the bands. The sound system is killer. It's like an indie summer camp complete with a poorly functioning shower.

We arrived early enough to catch the first part of The Drones whose current tour also had them at The Bell House in Brooklyn two days earlier.

"I hope you like bronchitis, 'cause that's what all you're getting" the guitarist said while pointing toward the front row of the audience.

Bronchitis or no, the band's angular and sometimes atonal pop was immediate and fun despite anyone's poor health.

The Feelies

The Feelies followed with Crazy Rhythms indeed, alternating between jingle bells, timbale, shaker, maracas, hanging lead pipe as well as a satellite floor tom and snare drum. It was great to see those songs come alive. See them in Brooklyn on Sunday night.

Dirty Three was four, as Nick Cave sat in the tickle the ivories. Nick played a backseat role, no singing, none of his songs... For all intensive purposes he was John Q. Pianoplayer. Ocean Songs is a very affecting record, and their engaging post-rock-y compositions swelled and collapsed with emotion. Just don't call them emo.

"I'd like to set the record straight for Pitchfork and those guys... we did not invent emo. Blame it on some other cunts," Warren Ellis quipped between songs.

During songs, Ellis hopped around on one leg while playing his violin, sashaying to melodies and punctuating key moments with jump-kicks. Dude has ups, especially in a suit. Those in NYC have another chance to catch the band Sunday at Bowery Ballroom.

Suicide followed, and I am definitely a fan of their first LP. In the Stardust Ballroom, a ski-goggled Martin Rev banged away at his Triton producing compelling keyboard squelches and 200 BPM kick drum assaults, while Alan Vega barked lyrics from his music stand like an ornery old man. It was very loud. Fun for a while, but I couldn't watch the entire set.

Panda Bear's loopy harmonious bliss is something that I enjoyed on the Person Pitch LP, but was not looking forward to in a live setting. Nevertheless, I checked out Noah Lennox's knob-twisting live set which contained backlit projections. It's hard to pull off a one man show effectively, especially if there is limited crowd interaction. Noah's other band headlines Saturday night (tonight) of the festival.

Iron & Wine was solo acoustic, and Sam Beam engaged the crowd fully. I caught a few songs until leaving catch some of David Cross's set before The Jesus Lizard.

Kicking off with "Puss" and heading into "Gladiator" and "Seasick", The Jesus Lizard attacked the stage with their trademark screechy guitar lines and high frequency bass lines. Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, and Mac McNeilly were tight as hell and the band roared through their classics to an extremely enthusiastic crowd all while David Yow acted like a buffoon.

Either I'm showing my age, or he his, but I used to find David Yow and his antics menacing. That's not to say he was anything less than riveting. He performed 1/3 of the show from the crowd (surfing or otherwise). When on stage, Yow mock-jerked himself off, hula-danced, slap-boxed the microphone stand, pointed at women while crotch-thrusting, and wished the audience a.... "Happy 9/11".

By the way, if you're wondering who IS responsible for emo. David Yow has the answer.

"That's Slint's fault"

---

The Jesus Lizard pictures are HERE. The Dirty Three pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures (which also include comedians not mentioned above) are below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 1 in pics & review (David Cross, massages, Iron & Wine, Kutscher's, Suicide & more)"

photos by Ryan Muir

Dirty Three were the third band to play at ATP NY on Friday night (9/11). Their set time was 6:00pm, and like most bands playing that night, they played an album (Ocean Songs) from start to finish. They also managed to supply the biggest surprise of the festival so far. He could have headlined one of the days of the festival himself... their fellow Australian, collaborator and friend, Nick Cave joined the Dirty Three as piano player.

But that's not all. According to ATP attendant Natalie Judge, "Today [Saturday, 9/12] has been insane already. Dirty three & nick cave play in a bedroom-6of us in the room. So emotional." Awesome (and a Kutscher's hotel room bedroom I assume). Her picture proof is at the end of this post.

From ATP, Dirty Three head down to NYC for a show Sunday night (9/13) at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale. Will Nick Cave be there again? I have no idea, BUT Nick Cave WILL be at Barnes & Noble in NYC the very next day (9/14), so anything's possible.

More on the ATP set HERE. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Dirty Three and NICK CAVE played ATP NY Friday (and again Saturday in a hotel room) - pics (+++ NYC show Sunday +++)"

...to talk about The Death of Bunny Munro

"The lead singer of the Birthday Party, the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman, Nick Cave has been performing music for more than thirty years. His album Murder Ballads has sold close to one million copies. In addition to his previous novel, he has authored King Ink, a collection of lyrics and poetry, and the screenplay and score for the film The Proposition. He recently composed the soundtrack for the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Born in Australia, Cave now lives in Brighton, England."
[Barnes & Noble, Union Square, NYC - September 14, 2009]

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis are releasing White Lunar, a double CD set...

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have been creating music together for more than fifteen years, with The Bad Seeds, Grinderman and The Dirty Three. More recently, they have collaborated on soundtracks for such films as The Proposition (2005) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007). White Lunar, a two CD set to be released by Mute on September 22, 2009, contains music they composed from the aforementioned films, along with a selection of their cinematic scores, including rare and previously unavailable material.

Arctic Monkeys played a Nick Cave cover at Highline Ballroom last night. An official video of them doing that, a video of Nick reading from the book, and the track breakdown for the Nick & Warren CD, below...

Continue reading "Nick Cave releasing double CD, will be in NY in September..."

Ellis since 1996 has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Ellis and Turner have both released solo albums. In addition, Turner and White have released several EPs as The Tren Brothers, and appear as backing musicians on albums by Cat Power, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and PJ Harvey (White drums). Turner is also an internationally exhibited painter with his own work gracing the covers of all of their major albums except Sad & Dangerous. He also runs the band's own record label Anchor & Hope. In 1999, Dirty Three with Low recorded an In the Fishtank session for Konkurrent records.

Dirty Three have released albums on Touch & Go Records and have toured with Sonic Youth, Pavement, Throwing Muses, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Devendra Banhart and Shannon Wright to name just a few.

The NYC gig comes two days after the group's appearence at ATP NY, where they'll perform their album Ocean Songs in full. Also at that festival are the reunited Jesus Lizard who also just announced a NYC show or two of their own.

All tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Dirty Three - 2009 tour dates (Bowery Ballroom & ATP NY) "

Mutek banner in Montreal - May 27, 2009 (bneely)

Mutek, the electronic music festival celebrating its tenth year, is currently underway in Montreal. The five-day fest runs to Sunday, May 31st, and it's streaming online. Moderat, the Modeselektor & Apparat supergroup, performed at Mutek on Thursday, May 28th; the group plays NYC's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, May 30th (the show was originally planned for Webster Hall). Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of parties up North this summer... three other biggies are Ottawa Bluesfest (July 8th-19th), Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 17-19th) and Calgary Folk Music Festival (July 23rd-26th). Each of those suitably transcend the "blues" and "folk" labels, hosting bands like The Dead Weather and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (in Ottawa), The Weakerthans and Rock Plaza Central (in Vancouver), and The Decemberists, Apostle of Hustle, Kid Koala and Akron/Family (in Calgary). Full lineup for the Calgary Fest (Ottawa in particular is much too massive to post) and ticket info below.

And don't forget about the previously reported Breeders-headlined Sled Island Fest in Calgary on June 24th-27th, Montreal's Osheaga, NXNE, and Toronto's Olympic Island Fest on July 11th, which will host Broken Social Scene and its Arts & Crafts cohorts.

Across the pond, UK's Glastonbury Festival, which runs from June 24th to 28th, has been sold out since February even though the full lineup wasn't announced until this week. Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Blur will be joined by The Specials, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Spinal Tap, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Madness, Tom Jones, Animal Collective and many others.

And finally in the States, Monolith Festival, which runs from September 12th to 13th at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorado, has announced its intial lineup, Girl Talk, Passion Pit, and The Walkmen included. The whole thing is posted below.

The weekend before Monolith, Bumbershoot will take place in Seattle (September 5th-7th). That fest's lineup has been updated too. New additions include Vivian Girls, Akron/Family, and Elvis Perkins. All new additions, with previously announced acts, are below. Tickets are still on sale.

In Michigan, the Rothbury Festival over July 4th weekend will feature the only summer fest performance by The Dead, as well as sets by Bob Dylan, String Cheese Incident, Broken Social Scene and more. A few more jam-friendly acts were also just added to the bill. Full lineup below. Tickets are on sale.

Info on all the above fests, with ticket info, below...

Continue reading "Mutek underway, Monolith & Glastonbury lineups, Rothbury, Bumbershoot, Calgary Folk & other festival updates"

photos by Lori Baily

[Marianne Faithfull's] new album [Easy Come, Easy Go] adds some great new interpretations to her rich repertoire, including songs by older artists (Smokey Robinson, Billie Holiday) and younger ones (the Decemberists, Neko Case).

Faithfull found a particular kinship with Case. "I read that she took one line for her song from the 'Brothers Karamazov,'" the singer says. "That's something I would do." [NY Daily News]

Marianne played two shows at NYC's City Winery - March 27th and 28th. The pictures in this post are from the first. On March 31st she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman where she performed the Decemberists' "The Crane Wife 3" (without Nick Cave who helps her sing it on the album).

The Letterman video, and everything else, below...

Continue reading "Marianne Faithfull - new covers album full of special guests, City Winery pics & Letterman (Decemberists) video"

DOWNLOAD: Steinski - The Payoff Mix (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Steinski - Lesson Two (James Brown Mix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Steinski - Lesson Three (History of Hip Hop) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bon Iver - Skinny Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shearwater - Leviathan Bound (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (Dj Doc Rok Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - No Epiphany (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - Twice Born (MP3)

Plush's Fed & The Dodos' Visiter

It's the time of year when people start talking which album was the best this year. That usually means I start cramming and trying to figure out what I still haven't heard and look forward to what others have to say to make my selection process slightly easier. Part of what I'm saying is, I'm not ready to answer that yet. According to the aggregated critics at MetaCritic, this is what was best this year...

1 London Zoo by The Bug
2 Fed by Plush
3 For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver
4 Dear Science, by TV On The Radio
5 Exit by Shugo Tokumaru
6 Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
7 Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
8 Robyn by Robyn
9 Hercules And Love Affair by Hercules And Love Affair
10 What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective by Steinski

Other bands currently ranking in Metacritic's Top 30: The Dodos, The Music Tapes, Shearwater, Portishead, Harvey Milk, Torche, The Hold Steady, Drive By Truckers, and Fucked Up.

Also put out albums this year: Sigur Ros, Jamie Lidell, Laura Marling, Lykke Li, Marnie Stern, Jenny Lewis, She & Him, Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket, MGMT, The Black Keys, Calexico, Crystal Stilts, Crystal Castles, Crystal Antlers, Grails, Al Green, Anathallo, Flight of the Conchords, Frightened Rabbit, Wolf Parade, Vampire Weekend, Vivian Girls, The Walkmen, Santogold, Parts & Labor, Cut Copy, Hot Chip, David Byrne, Death Cab For Cutie, Beck, Beach House, Elbow, REM, M83, NIN, No Age, Of Montreal, Destroyer, Department of Eagles, Deerhoof, Deerhunter, The Dears, and Deer Tick (though Deer tick was out in 2007 and reissued in 2008) (and I guess Radiohead is qualified too) (and Metallica, AC/DC and Guns N' Roses) (and JACK JOHNSON) (and a million others).

Who else? What are your favorites this year? Who will Pitchfork pick as #1?

The Bug is going on tour with Nine Inch Nails. Those dates are below...

Continue reading "What is the best album of 2008? (when did it come out?)"

Nick Cave @ WaMu Theater, MSG, NYC Saturday (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Thanks Sebastián for pointing out that, despite not being listed on his own website, Nick Cave has two more US shows scheduled including tonight/Monday in DC and one in Philly on Tuesday that is still not sold out. Pics, setlist and reviews from Saturday night's show in NYC are HERE.

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds played the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in NYC on Saturday night, October 4th. The show was part of a short North American tour that ends in Philly on Tuesday. And though Nick doesn't come around that often, it was actually his second NYC show with the Bad Seeds this year. The first was at the Plug Awards at Terminal 5 in March which was less than a year after Nick was here with Grinderman to play the larger room at MSG with the White Stripes and Porter Wagoner (RIP). About Saturday night someone said...

So densely layered and deep and yet at the same time oh so sparse and simple, Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds are an encumbering mindfuck and a freewheeling fiesta all at the same time. Playing some maddeningly good classics like "Tupelo", "Red Right Hand", "Love Letter", "God is in the House", "The Lyre of Orpheus", "Deanna" and the big finale of "Stagger Lee", Nick, Warren, and the rest of the clan breathed life into their dark, rich, thundercrackers as well as Nick's restless hearted but nevertheless calming ballads. [Sonic Parthenon]

Continue reading "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds @ WaMu Theater - pics & setlist"

by Black Bubblegum

Earth @ Knitting Factory in May (more by Zach Dilgard)

Earth have announced two east coast dates: Allston, MA on October 13th with Arbouretum (tickets here) and another on October 19th at Knitting Factory "with Special Guests" (tickets here). The band have also lined up a few dates with Stebmo and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Full tour schedule below.

Earth recently dropped a limited edition CD called Live Europe 2006. It was recorded on their European tour with sunn 0))) in the early part of that year (2006). The CD was previously only available on tour, but now there are copies available through Southern Lord.

The Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds tour hits NYC on October 4th. Tickets are still available for the WaMu Theater show.

sunn 0))) will be back in NYC the same week as Earth! All Earth dates below...

Continue reading "Earth - 2008 Tour Dates (Knitting Factory, MA, Nick Cave)"

Tickets went on sale last week for some upcoming Nick Cave shows. New video below...

Continue reading "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Night of the Lotus Eaters (video)"

As previously mentioned, Nick Cave tickets are now on sale.

Tickets go on sale Friday morning for the upcoming Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds show in NYC. Other dates are already on sale.

Continue reading "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 2008 Tour Dates"

Continue reading "Nick Cave playing Hollywood & other Cat Power tour dates"

The Donnas @ Music Hall, NYC - March 6, 2008 (Bao Nguyen)

Faux Punk @ Music Hall, NYC - March 7, 2008 (Bao Nguyen)

* Vampire Weekend on SNL
* Nico Muhly is @ The Kitchen
* Levon Helm is at the Beacon
* Hey Hey My My is at Sound Fix
* Aa is playing Union Docs Bodega
* Todd Barry headlines Comix again
* Holy Ghost (DFA) at FIXED at Studio B
* School of Language is playing Cake Shop
* Lightspeed Champion is playing Union Pool
* Obits (ex-Hot Snakes) are playing Union Hall
* Sia and Har Mar Superstar are at Webster Hall
* The Stills, Wild Light & Wintersleep are @ Bowery
* Working for a Nuclear Free City is playing Music Hall

The Last Shadow Puppets posted their first video: "The Age of the Understatement".

BusinessWeek: SXSW: Where Tech Mingles with Music

Video of Nick Cave at the Plug Awards below. What else?

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