Nite Jewel at LPR in August (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

Nite Jewel (aka Ramona Gonazalez) is a bit of a musical shapeshifter, having previously recorded lo-fi experimental pieces, performed with Linda Perhacs (along with Julia Holter), and performed a Kraftwerk album in its entirety, among other things. Just recently, she recorded a piano cover of Stevie Wonder's "Visions," which you can watch a video of below.

But on this year's One Second of Love, Ramona went for more of an overtly pop approach than her earlier work, and that interest comes across pretty strongly in her top ten songs of 2012 list, which you can check out below. Half of the list is made up of this year's big rap/R&B faves, and it also includes collaborator Julia Holter, Zebra Katz (whose video we just posted), and more.

Check out her full list and the "Visions" video below...

Continue reading "Nite Jewel covered Stevie Wonder, picked her top 10 songs of 2012"

UK music magazine Uncut put out their list of the top 75 albums of 2012. The top ten leans pretty heavy on long-running '60s/'70s survivors who put out new albums this year, but plenty of the list-topping regulars from newer acts are on there too, along with a few interesting surprises (Sun Araw, M Geddes Gengras & the Congos!). You can check out the full list below.

Continue reading "Uncut's Top 75 Albums of 2012"

Tickets to Tegan & Sara's show at Bowery Ballroom are on sale at noon today.

Tickets to Animal Collective's two Terminal 5 shows (make-up dates for their cancelled Willimsburg Park show) go on "Postponement" presale today at noon (password is "centipede").

The Airborne Toxic Event have added a second show at Webster Hall, which will happen on January 16, 2013, one day after their sold out show at the venue (1/15). Tickets go on AmEx presale today at noon with a regular on-sale on Friday (11/9) at noon.

Lemonade and Rush Midnight play Glasslands on December 15. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Nite Jewel, who was one of the many artists to react to Obama's win last night, is playing a show at Brooklyn Bowl on November 26. Admission is free with RSVP.

We're giving away tickets to the Tinderbox Music Festival happening this Sunday at Webster Hall (it's also a benefit)

Obama hugs Bruce Springsteen (pre-election night)

A selection of tweets reacting to Obama's big win last night....

":)" - Grizzly Bear

"YES" - Amanda Palmer

"yeah!!!!" - Laurel Halo

"FUCK YES" - HEALTH

"fuck yeah." - Colin Meloy

"FUCK YEAH AMERICA!!! #OBAMA" - King Tuff

continued below...

Continue reading "Artists react to Obama's win"

Hunx as Gayracula

All things considered, we hope you had a Happy Halloween. You already saw what John Vanderslice and Freelance Whales dressed up as, and Dum Dum Girls' nun costumes (Crocodiles in there too). We also already posted Deap Vally, Those Darlins & the Mountain Goats in Halloween attire, and you saw Vampire Weekend all decked out for Kimmel. Here's a whole bunch more. That's Hunx and a punx above. See the rest (sort of NSFW), below...

Continue reading "more pics of Bands in their Halloween Costumes -- (Wayne Coyne, Kickball Katy, Dirty Projectors, Hunx & more)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

Nite Jewel at Le Poisson Rouge 8/23/2012

Nite Jewel and Peanut Butter Wolf teamed up to perform Kraftwerk's 1981 LP, Computer World, in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge Thursday night (8/23). They were joined by special guests Chrome Canyon and DJ Scott Mou. Pictures from that show are in this post.

Nite Jewel's tour continues and hits Montauk's Surf Lodge on Saturday (8/25). More pics from Thursday night's LPR show are below.

Continue reading "Nite Jewel, Peanut Butter Wolf & friends performed Kraftwerk's 'Computer World' at Le Poisson Rouge (pics)"

Baroness at Terminal 5 in May (more by Joe McCabe)

Earlier this week, we posted an update from Baroness showing that things were looking upwards for the band. Unfortunately though, with two members having broken vertebrae and frontman John Baizely having a broken arm and leg, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Baroness have in fact cancelled some of their upcoming North American tour dates, including their NYC show at House of Vans and LA's FYF Fest. They will not be replaced on the House of Vans lineup, which happens on August 29 and now just includes Turbonegro, Doomriders, and Nightbirds. This is a bummer but it makes sense that the band takes the time they need to recover, and we wish them a speedy and successful recovery!

Meanwhile, FYF Fest, which Wild Flag also dropped off of, recently expanded its lineup. It now features The Faint (who just announced they'll be reissuing Danse Macabre and touring the album), Glass Candy, King Tuff, and newcomers The Orwells. Tickets for FYF Fest are still available. The updated lineup and flier are below.

Continue reading "Baroness dropped off House of Vans and FYF Fest, who added bands (updated lineup)"

The Kills at Terminal 5 in February (more by Devan Council)

As mentioned, Montauk vacation spot The Surf Lodge is hosting shows (like the Dirty Projectors one in June) all summer. The summer is nearing its end, but there's still a handful of notable shows left taking place at the venue.

On August 11, Frankie Rose will play, the day after she opens for Little Dragon at Prospect Park (8/10). Then on August 18 it's Chairlift (who tour with The xx this fall) and a day later (8/19), The Kills will play, after playing their free Hudson River Park show (8/18) (which is "sold out"). As mentioned, Nite Jewel plays the Montak venue on August 25, and finally, Ra Ra Riot on September 1. More info at The Surf Lodge's website.

Nite Jewel at Governors Island in 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

Krautrock Classics New York is presenting a show at Le Poisson Rouge on August 23 with Nite Jewel and Stones Throw artist Peanut Butter Wolf performing Kraftwerk's 1981 LP, Computer World, like they did in LA last month. The show will be with special guests Chrome Canyon and DJ Scott Mou. Tickets for the show are on sale now.

For Nite Jewel, the show is one of a few US dates she'll be playing this summer which also includes Montauk's The Surf Lodge on August 25 (where Dirty Projectors, Real Estate, and The Drums recently played shows), FYF Fest and MusicFestNW. She's also part of the recently announced Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup.

Nite Jewel recently made a video for "Clive" off her 2012 LP, One Second of Love. You can watch that video below, along with a list of all dates...

Continue reading "Nite Jewel has a new video, performing Kraftwerk's 'Computer World' in NYC w/ Peanut Butter Wolf, playing other shows too"

After teasing folks with a few names here and there -- like Run DMC most recently -- Austin's annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) has revealed it's full line-up, including Public Image Ltd, De La Soul, Superchunk, Santigold, Refused, X peforming Los Angeles, and lots, lots more. 3-day passes go on sale at 10AM CST.

Full FFF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest full lineup (De La Soul, Refused, Fucked Up, Public Image Ltd, Santigold, Sharon Van Etten, Rakim, X, Converge, Japandroids & more)"

The 2012 edition of MusicFestNW takes place in September 5 - 9 at 18 venues in Portland, OR and will feature performances from over 150 bands, including Passion Pit, Hot Snakes, Girl Talk, Danny Brown, Beirut Silversun Pickups, Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, many more.

In addition to those previously announced artists, MFNW has just added The Hives, Flying Lotus, Wild Nothing, DIIV, Quasi, Moon Duo, My Goodness, DZ Deathrays, and Strand Of Oaks to the already impressive line-up. Wristbands, available various levels and packages, and tickets to individual shows are on sale now. Check out the complete MFNW lineup below.

Continue reading "MusicFestNW 2012 lineup expands (The Hives, Flying Lotus, Quasi, DIIV, Passion Pit, Hot Snakes, Beirut, Swans & many more)"

FYF Fest. September 1st and 2nd, 2012
At the LA State Historic Park, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets are $77 and go on sale Friday June 22nd.

Quicksand recently reunited at Revelation Records' 25th Anniversary on the West Coast, and I would't be surprised if they do the same at Irving Plaza in October.

American Nightmare has two shows coming up at Webster Hall.

Full FYF lineup, in alphabetical order, below...

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2012 lineup: Quicksand, Refused, American Nightmare, Desaparecidos, M83, Hot Snakes & MUCH more"

Toots & the Maytals are returning to Brooklyn Bowl on 3/25 and 3/27. Tickets, at the links, on sale at noon.

Yelawolf is playing Brooklyn Bowl on 3/13. Tickets on sale at noon.

Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon for the recently-added Magnetic Fields show at Beacon Theater.

Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon for the Converge show at Music Hall of Williamsburg which Pianos Become The Teeth is opening.

Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon for the Nada Surf show at Music Hall.

Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon for the Chavez show at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon for the 2nd Rob Delaney show at Bowery Ballroom.

That previously announced Nite Jewel show at Bowery Ballroom finally has a ticket link and it goes on sale Thursday at noon.

Tickets also go on sale Thursday for another War on Drugs show.

Another Roger Waters presale starts Thursday.

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Chairlift released their new-wavey sophomore LP, Something, on January 24 and played a record release show one night earlier at Bowery Ballroom (1/23) with Violens and Dive. The show seemed to have gone pretty well until frontwoman Caroline Polachek was mauled by a drunk fan who refused to get off stage during the last song of the encore. A video of this show finale and another of Chairlift playing Something opener, "Amanaemonesia," along with more pictures from the show (Chairlift keyboardist Olga Bell aka Bell included) is below.

This weekend, Chairlift will kick off an Australian/European tour and upon returning to North America in March for SXSW, they'll head out on a full North American tour with fellow pop strivers Nite Jewel that runs from late March into April. The two bands play their last show together in Philly two nights before Nite Jewel headline Bowery Ballroom on February 24. Tickets are not on sale yet but check ticketmaster for updates. Chairlift have no upcoming NYC show, but stay tuned for an announcement (probably Webster Hall) soon.

All dates, more pics, and videos below...

Continue reading "Chairlift played Bowery Ballroom w/ Dive, Violens & a crazy fan on stage (pics, video & more dates) "

photos by Chris La Putt

Blood Red Shoes @ MHOW

After Chris left the BV Loft Party all the way back on Friday, October 22nd, he headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Blue Flowers-presented CMJ showcase for a lineup of mostly UK bands including Chapel Club, Everything Everything, and Blood Red Shoes (who toured North America with Sky Larkin in October). Pictures from that show are in this post.

The occasion (to post these belated pics)? SXSW has already announced an initial lineup of bands playing in Austin from March 16-20, 2011, and Chapel Club is on that list (and I wouldn't be surprised of the other 2 mentioned bands end up coming too). Also on the list: Lia Ices, Braids, Asobi Seksu, Wye Oak, Suuns, Sun Airway, A Place to Bury Strangers and more. Full list under the rest of the MHOW pictures, below...

Continue reading "Chapel Club played CMJ w/ Everything Everything & Blood Red Shoes (pics), playing SXSW 2011 (intial lineup)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Nite Jewel on Governors Island

Nite Jewel played a perfectly pleasant set at the beautiful Beach @ Governors Island setting on Saturday night. They were 2nd of five on the 'Gone to Governors' bill that was headlined by Neon Indian. The pictures in this post are from that show.

Nite Jewel also played Glasslands later that night, part of their NYC run of shows that also included Cake Shop and Mercury Lounge. But they're not done yet. You can catch Nite Jewel one more time, tonight (8/16), at Other Music. The 8pm in-store show is free, and they'll have copies of their new "Am I Real?" EP available for sale on vinyl.

More pictures from NJ's set at Governors Island below...

Continue reading "Nite Jewel played Governors Island (pics), playing OM instore"

DOWNLOAD: Arp - White Light (MP3)

Nite Jewel, photo by Justin Loy

Nite Jewel, Ramona Gonzalez and collaboratot Cole M. Greif-Neill, have a new EP, Am I Real?, out digitally now (and on vinyl August 16th). It's streaming on their site currently.

"In the last two years, somewhere in between the bedroom & the studio proper (the living room?), the 6 songs of 'Am I Real?' were made and the tape hiss barely made it (please see b-side opener 'Falling Far'). Featuring subtly re-vamped & improved selections from last year's hard-to-obtain 'You F O' euro tour cd, the ep also offers the newer fully established ornate melancholy of 'Forget You & I' and the sophisticatedly restrained funk of the closing title track featuring Daniel & Andrew Aged of Teen Inc. Also found on this release are the further benefits of master facilitator & now-official NJ band member Cole MGN." Jason Darrah, Gloriette Records

Nite Jewel's upcoming tour dates include an August 9th show at Mercury Lounge with Violens and Prince Rama. Tickets are on sale. Then they have a double blast of shows on Saturday, August 14th. The first is a gig opening for Neon Indian, Prefuse 73 and Dom at their free Beach at Governors Island show. The second is a headlining show at Glasslands with The Samps, Blood Orange and Arp (who recently played Warm Up at PS1). Tickets are on sale.

Arp, as Pitchfork points out, "will release his latest full-length. The Soft Light [on] September 14 via Smalltown Supersound". An MP3 from that album is above...

"Leading up to the release of The Soft Wave, Alexis Georgopoulos [aka Arp] composed his first score for modern dance in Replica, a duet between Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown dancers, which debuted at New York's New Museum. He played a live score to artist Doug Aitken's film Migration at 303 Gallery (New York), participated in the Boredoms-curated 8.8.08 88-drummer extravaganza in Los Angeles, and remixed Lindstrøm. His music was featured in director Gary Hurstwit's film Objectified. He also made music in Q&A (formerly Expanding Head Band), his new DFA project with partner Quinn Luke, and his band The Alps released two albums III & Le Voyage (Type) to critical acclaim. ARP shared bills with Cluster on the coast of Big Sur, Sonic Boom, White Rainbow, Four Tet, Lucky Dragons, Growing, and Wooden Ships, among others. The track "Potentialities" from In Light was recently featured on James Holden's DJ KICKS. Most recently, he released FRKWYS Volume III, a collaborative album with minimalist composer Anthony Moore, as part of RVNG's new FRKWYS series. The duo recently performed with a string section as part of New York City's Wordless Music Festival."

Continue reading "Nite Jewel released an EP, playing shows, Glasslands w/ Arp (who has an album coming soon) "

photos by alBerto Trevino

DOWNLOAD: Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms" (Apache Beat Remix) (MP3)

Wall Street Journal: How are you adjusting to the move from Austin to New York?

Alan Palomo: New York has a really funny way of lighting a fire under your a** and keeping you in that state of mind where you have to be creative just to even survive. Whereas I feel like Texas, as much as I love it, it's so laid back it inspires a breed of meandering.

WSJ: Are you feeling pressure to keep up the momentum?

Alan Palomo: As soon as we're off tour in late October, I'm going to start writing the new Neon Indian record. And I'm already halfway done with the VEGA record. I figure for the Neon Indian record, I need to get out of New York, given that I have so many friends there. I need to throw myself into that state of mind that helped spawn the first one, which is to isolate myself in some city that I don't know much about. The fantasy is Helsinki.

And this past weekend, while Dom was playing the Siren Festival (Apache Beat too) (they did the remix you can download for free above), Alan was busy in Chicago hanging out and then playing the 2010 Pitchfork Festival (Neon Indian's set was on Sunday). Some more pictures from his Pitchfork set, and all NI dates, below...

Continue reading "Neon Indian played Pitchfork (pics), touring (dates), gets Governors Island openers (including Dom)"

sweet.jamz @ music hall... most fun show in awhile. Cold Cave had that bass banging! Free Tequila though, is a life killer.. -Small Black

Cold Cave @ The Suffolk during CMJ '09 (more by Tim Griffin)

Cold Cave and Small Black played sets at VBS.TV's holiday party at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night (Tuesday, 12/16). Cold Cave plays for $2 in Philly on Friday.

The band's upcoming tour with Nite Jewel will be kicking off with a February 4th show at Mercury Lounge (no Psychic TV). Tickets go on sale Friday, December 18th at noon.

Updated tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave played MHOW (w/ Small Black), playing Mercury Lounge (w/ Nite Jewel) -- updated tour dates"

Cold Cave @ Market Hotel during CMJ (more by Leia Jospe)

Cold Cave will be playing a free show this Tuesday, December 15th - the VBS.TV Holiday Party with Small Black at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Nick Gazin will be the DJ. The show is 21+; RSVP here to get on the list.

Cold Cave are also playing another holiday bash this Friday, though it's in Philly. The party, hosted by Making Time (aka the some of the same people who put on Fixed and who put on that other pool party last summer), will be at the Voyeur on Friday, December 18th. Tickets are $2 at the door. Flyer below.

In February, Cold Cave have a full slate of tour dates lined up. Those start with a Thursday, February 4th show at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tourmates Nite Jewel will be there, as will the legendary Psychic TV aka Genesis Breyer P-Orridge's post-Throbbing Gristle project. No ticket info yet.

UPDATE: I'm told that the show with Psychic TV is not confirmed. Stay tuned for more info.

UPDATE 2: The NYC show is on February 4th, but without Psychic TV and at Mercury Lounge.

Psychic TV just toured overseas for the final time in November.

"This will be the last tour of PsychicTV/PTV3. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is retiring from touring in any and all bands including TG to concentrate on art, writing and music. Genesis will still consider one-off projects if they are unique, interesting or challenging. S/HE will also continue to work with Tony Conrad occasionally on violin duets and perform expanded poetry projects with Thee Majesty.

PTV3 are rejoined by ALICE GENESE on bass for this last detour and as DAVID MAX Max just became father to a daughter, ONNA Israel Max, he will be replaced by lead guitarist JEFF BUNSEN BERNER."

All tour dates and flyers are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave playing free NYC show Tues & for $2 in Philly ++ touring w/ Nite Jewel & playing NYC in Feb??"

Trend You Wish Would Go Away

1. 90s revivalism (No Age, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars)
2. Afropop indie (Dirty Projectors, Fool's Gold, Abe Vigoda)
3. Animal Collective acolytes (Blind Man's Colour, Our Brother the Native, USF)
4. Balearic (jj, John Talabot, Windsurf/Hatchback)
5. Chillwave/glo-fi (Washed Out, Neon Indian, Nite Jewel)
6. Dubstep and its offshoots (wonky, funky, bassline)
7. Post-Lily Allen UK pop (La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine)
8. Prim, buttoned-up indie (Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent)
9. Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)

words & photos by Erez Avissar

LA's Nite Jewel was a three-piece, joined by a live bassist, which boosted their show tremendously. They played a pair of new tracks, but the highlights to me were the familiar moments: when Ramona Gonzalez asked the sound guy to turn up the bass, I should have known they were about to launch into their evocative noir-disco banger "What Did He Say". It left the crowd no choice but to move their feet and hips. Hearing that devastating bass line played with real fingers and strings brought serious force to the delivery, and I think that that track in particular deserves to go down as an Italo classic. They received lots of shout-outs and volume love from the crowd, and judging by the amount of people who asked me what they're called, successfully won over the house.

Röyksopp opened with a slow-burning builder before launching into a setlist which basically went: hits, worthy gems, hits. Their live vocalist, Anneli Drecker, played such a fitting substitute to Karin Dreijer Andersson that you had be looking pretty close to tell the difference on those songs - every inflection sounded uncanny. Her execution was absolutely flawless, and when they rolled out with the surprise of the night, a note-for-note cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights," she put on a dead-on Kate croon.

Röyksopp stand behind their setup on an elevated riser in the back, occasionally popping out to strut, sing, or bang on something, but mainly leaving the focus on the prominent Drecker, with her many outfits, the light show, and mainly, you know, the music. Their 90-minute set left everyone in the house satisfied, and judging from their faces when the house lights went up, totally drained and disoriented from the experience. As good a sign of a great show as any.

Röyksopp and Nite Jewel played two nights in a row in NYC at Webster Hall (Monday 11/24 - Tuesday 11/25). The review and pictures in this post are from night one. The pictures are continued, with the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Röyksopp & Nite Jewel @ Webster Hall (night 1) -pics, setlist"

photos by Ryan Muir

"You were standing by me almost the whole show, and believe me, I noticed you there. You looked beautiful, stylish and intriguing. Our eyes met quite a few times, and I racked my brain for a way I could strike up a conversation with you. You seemed to wait patiently by and get closer as the night progressed. But instead of coming up with some clever way of talking to you, I rudely bumped into you. I don't know if you heard my apology but whether you did or didn't, I should have expressed myself better, and at least offered to buy you a drink. In the end I tried to talk to you even though I could only think of idiotic things to say. I don't know if you'll ever read this, but if you do, I'm very sorry for my physical and mental clumsiness, and I hope you enjoyed the show. If you'd forgive me, I'd love to buy that drink I should have offered you sometime, and say this all to you in person."
[I bumped into you at Glass Candy - m4w - 30 (le Poisson Rouge)]

Continue reading "Italians Do It Better (Glass Candy, Nite Jewel & Twisted Wires) @ Le Poisson Rouge in NYC - pics"