Frightened Rabbit @ T5, Nov. 2010 (more by Lionel Bergeron)

SXSW has just announced another round of bands for the 2013 edition of the annual music festival that will happen March 12 - 17. This brings the total current number of acts to around 1300. Someome of the highlights include Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit, The Thermals, Black Lips, Camera Obscura, Merchandise, Bleached, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Eagles of Death Metal, Parenthetical Girls, Indians, Night Beds, IO Echo, KEN Mode, Prince Paul, Pure Bathing Culture, Sepalcure, UK motorik post-punks TOY, Finnish instrumentalists K-X-P, Toronto's Moon King, UK indie rockers Splashh (not Brooklyn Splash with one "h") and loads more. Head to BV Austin for the whole Round 3 list.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: White Fence - Get That Heart (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: White Wires - Be True to Your School ('Til You Get Kicked Out) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Buffalo Tom - "Arise, Watch" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Modern Skirts - Happy 81 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Modern Skirts - Bumber Car (MP3)

White Fence

It's been kind of a bummer week with way too many great musicians lost (Gerard Smith, Poly Styrene, Pheobe Snow) but Spring is finally here and, well, the beat goes on. Lots of worthy shows this week.

First up is White Fence who are making a rare trip to the East Coast this week, playing a few shows here in NYC: Thursday at 285 Kent with Woods and Spectre Folk, then Saturday (4/30) at Cake Shop. I feel fairly certain that they are also "Beige Swordfights" listed as part of a sweet Death by Audio show on Friday (4/29) that includes The Beets, Fergus and Geronimo and The Sundelles.

White Fence is Tim Presley who also fronts LA psych-rock band Darker My Love. Where that band is more groovy in a JAMC/BJM kind of way, White Fence sounds like a lost nugget from the late '60s flower power scene. White Fence released its debut on Woodsist last year, and the second album, ...Is Growing Faith, came out this January. Both records are weird and wonderful, lots of great songs made more interesting with vintage sound and old-school tape effects. If you like Love, The Left Banke or, more recently, the Lilys (to name three L bands) you'll dig White Fence's scene.

White Wires

Keeping with the color scheme, Ottowa, Ontario's White Wires are back in town for a one-off show on Thursday at Bruar Falls as part of a fun line-up of party rock and power pop. One of my favorite live bands of the last few years, White Wires play no-nonsense three-minute pop and do so with a joy you can't fake. White Wires new album, WWII, gets in and gets out in less than 30 minutes and should appeal to fans of the Nerves, early Tom Petty and The Undertones.

The rest of the show, brought to you by the good folks at Daed Pizza, looks pretty cool too with all-girl trio Babyshakes, and Games which is a new band formed from ex-members of Gentleman Jesse and Busy Signals. Obviously, this is not the synthy Games who now go by Ford & Lopatin. You can listen to this Games' swell debut single over at the Rob's House Records website.

Buffalo Tom

What else? Buffalo Tom play Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (4/28). The Boston trio were once dubbed "Dinosaur Jr. Jr." (being signed to SST and having J Mascis produce your debut, it was an easy joke) but became one of the most popular bands of the early '90s alt rock scene. 1990's Birdbrain and 1992's Let Me Come Over are indie rock classics that were unavoidable on college radio and Alternative Nation (or episodes of My So-Called Life) and still hold up.

The band went on hiatus around 2000 but returned with 2007's Three Easy Pieces and have just released a new album, Skins, which came out in February. It's pretty good. More mature, yes, but Buffalo Tom can still bring the noise too. If you have any doubt, you can download the entirety of Buffalo Tom's Mercury Lounge show from November 2010 courtesy NYC Taper. You can also check out a track from Skins at the top of this post.

Modern Skirts

And finally, Lord Huron are here on Thursday (4/28, the night of Too Many Good Shows) at Mercury Lounge. (And at tonight at MHoW with Femi Kuti) (we're giving away a pair of tickets on Facebook). I like their EP well enough, and the Merc show seems likely to sell out, so I'm really here to say if you're going do go early enough to check out North Highlands who play right before them. It's their first show in a long time, as the band have been putting finishing touches on their debut album which they've been working hard on all winter. The band are promising lots of new songs which is pretty exciting. Anyone who's seen them play know North Highlands are great live and I think 2011 is gonna be a big year for them. Go see 'em! And yeah, stay for Lord Huron I guess.

That's mostly it for this week. A few more daily picks are below:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27

Blogs may have gotten over their crush on Austin band Oh No! Oh My! but that doesn't mean they've gone stale. Hear their still-catchy indiepop tonight at The Rock Shop tonight. Go early to catch Atlanta's underrated Modern Skirts (check out two tracks at the top of this post).

Diehard, who've been busy recording their Kickstarter-funded debut album, try out some songs live at Cake Shop. One of NYC's best indie rock rock bands.

continued below...

Continue reading "White Fence, White Wires, Games (not Ford & Lopatin), Buffalo Tom, North Highlands, Modern Skirts, Yelle & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Oh No Oh My - Walking Into Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Suzan - Home (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bettie Serveert - Deny All (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Elk City - Jerks on Ice (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Intelligence - Like Like Like Like Like Like Like (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: JEFF the Brotherhood - Diamond Way (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Crystal Stilts - Shake the Shackles (MP3)

The Suzan @ Brooklyn Bowl for the Fool's Gold party (more by Brook Bobbins)

Unlike last year, I managed to make it through CMJ week without getting sick. Normally I try and do a sonic detox and not see any music after CMJ for at least a week. But that's not gonna happen as there's some seriously good stuff rolling through town in the next five days. Early next week too (Clinic/Fresh & Onlys), but let's not get ahead of ourselves too much.

Hey, remember Oh No Oh My? No? Oh. Well, people were going apeshit about them a few years ago. I kinda forgot about them, to the point where when I saw they were playing this week I thought it was Danish band Oh No Ono (editor's note: SAME). Anyway, Oh No Oh My are back!... and will release a new album of pleasant acousticy pop, People Problems, in early 2011. And they're here in NYC for a couple shows: tonight at the Rock Shop, and tomorrow (10/28) at Pianos.

More interesting to me are the bands they are playing with. Tonight at the Rock Shop, it's with Japanese bandThe Suzan whose new album Golden Week For The Poco Poco Beat was just released this week. It was produced by Bjorn Yttling of PB&J and you can definitely hear his touch on clever, catchy tracks like "Home" which you can download at the top of this post. Also playing are New Zealand's The Family Cactus.

The Pianos show has another New Zealand band,Street Chant, who were one of the funniest bands, stage-banter wise, I saw at CMJ. One memorable song intro: "We're the biggest rock band in New Zealand and this next song was Number One for nine months in a row!" Street Chant are pretty punk rock and definitely worth catching. Also playing the Pianos show: Boats (not Seattle's BOAT) and Estranged Estates.

The Intelligence @ Market Hotel in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

The Intelligence are visiting this weekend, playing Cake Shop on Saturday (10/30) and then the Todd P/Panache Halloween extravaganza on Sunday (10/31)at Ridgewood Masonic Temple . When it comes to surfy garage rock, The Intelligence are in the 99th percentile and if you haven't picked up the band's new album, Males, it's one of my favorites of the year. You can download a track from it above.

Further reading: Front dude Lars Finberg is keeping a tour diary for The Stranger and so far (one entry) it's a very entertaining read:

It's a 14-hour-plus drive to Fargo (basically 20 after my bathroom stops). We've learned to do this at the beginning of the tour as it can be so depressingly boring that all you can do is listen to Erik Satie and stare into the void. We finally stop around 2 am in Dickenson, North Dakota, and every hotel is booked for hunting season. I thought that the whole point of hunting was to drink the deer's blood and sleep under the stars in its carcass. It doesn't seem right to bag a deer and have a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity breakfast and watch Becker in a warm bed at the Comfort Inn, so we drive on. Wait, there's a vacany sign--a true dump glowing like a beacon! "One room left," the clerk says. Highlights include two towels for five people (I am answered with a blank stare followed by a shrug when I ask if we can get more), a hornet in the room, and a shower curtain that emits such a powerful cigarette smell that I want to steal it to impress others.

The Cake Shop show is with Philly's An Albatross, plus locals German Measles and McDonalds; the Todd P Halloween show has Cassie and Justin from The Babies performing as The White Stripes, plus The Beets, Das Racist, Janka Nabay, Pictureplane and more. All upcoming Intelligence tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Bettie Serveert

Visa issues kept Dutch band Bettie Serveert from playing Maxwell's and Southpaw earlier this month, but the band are here now, in the middle their North American tour that hits Bowery Ballroom on Friday (10/29), and Maxwell's a few days later. Their 1990 debut, Palomine, is one of my favorite Matador albums ever and they've consistently performed ever since. Pharmacy of Love is the band's ninth album and a little more rockin' than we've heard from the band over the last few LPs. Check out "Deny All" at the top of this post. Carol van Dyk's voice is still smoky cool, and catchy songs abound. And surely they'll play "Tomboy" and "Kid's Alright."

Opening are Elk City whose new album House of Tongues was kind of overlooked. Smart, well-arranged pop, with ex-Luna guitarist Sean Eden providing some shimmery flair. Download album track "Jerks on Ice" at the top of this post.

And finally, Austin's YellowFever are in town this weekend for a string of shows. Hopefully Jennifer made it through Airport security ok this time. They play tonight (10/27) at the Showpaper 42nd St. Gallery with The Babies, Sewn Leather and more. Then they play The Mug at Vassar College tomorrow (10/28), Dead Herring on Friday with Coasting, Julianna Barwick and more; and Saturday (10/30) at 171 Lombardy forThe Pelly Twins Halloween Party with DOM, Smith Westerns, Total Slacker and Sweet Bulbs.

Also, just in time for halloween, the spooky video for Total Slacker's "Crystal Necklace" which you can watch below.

That's the big stuff. A few more shows, day-by-day, not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27

'90s electronic superstars Underworld play Roseland Ballroom tonight. Lager, lager lager!

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Continue reading "The Suzan, Street Chant, Intelligence, Bettie Serveert, Yellow Fever, Sunny Day in Glasgow & more in This Week in Indie "

DOWNLOAD: Oh No Oh My - Walking Into Me (MP3)

Blog buzz band of yesteryear Oh No Oh My (not to be confused with Oh No Ono) are back....

"Oh No Oh My describe their music as "sexy indie." That's what you might expect from an Austin-based foursome who cite Serge Gainsbourg's 'Histoire De Melody Nelson,' Spiritualized's 'Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space' and Nico's 'Chelsea Girls' as influences on their second full-length album 'People Problems,' out January 11th (Koenig Records)." [press release]

A track from that new album can be downloaded above.

And they're on tour, and that tour hits NYC today:

Oct 27 @ Rock Shop w/ the Suzan, the Family Cactus
Oct 28 @ Pianos w/ Boats, Estranged Estates, Street Chant

All dates below...

Continue reading "Oh No Oh My releasing new album, touring (MP3 & dates) "

Gang Gang Dance-led 88Boadrum on 8/8/8 (missdarling)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* FREE STUFF
* Panther @ Cake Shop
* Neil Diamond @ MSG
* VOD in Farmingdale
* Rancid @ Irving Plaza
* Rana @ Mercury Lounge
* Loxsley are playing Pianos
* King Crimson @ Nokia Theater
* Woodhands are at Silent Barn
* Oh No! Oh My! play Sound Fix
* Jana Hunter @ Knitting Factory
* "Song Sung Blue" on Roosevelt Island
* Kelley Polar, Tony Conrad & Metro One @ PS1
* Battles, Gang Gang Dance & Black Dice @ Summerstage
* East River Music Project @ East River Amphitheater
* Suckers, The Blacks & Amazing Baby @ Union Pool

Isaac Hayes was scheduled to play Capital One Bank Theatre in Westbury, NY tonight.

Loxsly is not to be confused with Locksley. Loxsley is from Austin. They played with Bodies of Water at Union Hall last night. Tonight they are at Pianos.

It's been a while since I've noticed Rana'a name on a bill. In fact it's possible that they haven't played a NYC show as a full band in two years. Tonight they return with two sets at Mercury Lounge.

Today's free show at the East River Amphitheater features: itsnotyouitsme, Mark Dancigers, Timberbrit, Alex Sopp & Matt Marks and the Li'l Death Band.

Panther (Kill Rock Stars) play Cake Shop tonight and McCarren Pool with Aesop Rock tomorrow.

These are Powers are playing Silent Barn September 27th.

Oh No! Oh My! play Sound Fix tonight and Mercury Lounge on Sunday.

Death & Taxes Union Pool flyer below...

Video of Body Count playing "Cop Killer" at Europa below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"