Takka photos by Maryanne Ventrice

DOWNLOAD: The Acorn - Restoration (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Acorn - No Ghost (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ola Podrida - Monday Morning (Abacus remix) (MP3)

The Acorn

Ottawa group The Acorn's record, No Ghost, came out June 1st in Canada (and digitally in the US); it comes out in the US in physical form August 10th through Bella Union/Yep Roc. The record is the followup to their 2007 LP Glory Hope Mountain, and two tracks off the new album are above.

The Acorn will be in the NYC-area for a trio of shows to support that record, starting with a Tuesday, July 13th show at Maxwell's with Communipaw (tickets). After that they play the next night (7/14) at Mercury Lounge with the Loom (tickets) and Thursday at Littlefield with Takka Takka and Ola Podrida (tickets).

We have a pair of tickets to the Mercury Lounge show to give away. Details below.

For Ola Podrida, the Littlefield show is one of two NYC shows on their current tour which also visits Cake Shop on July 17th. They're out supporting their new album Belly of the Lion. Grab a remix of one of the tracks from that album above.

Takka Takka played a show at Cameo on the first night of the Northside Festival this year. A few pictures from that show and the contest and album info and all tour dates for all the bands below...

Continue reading "The Acorn & Ola Podrida have new albums, are touring, playing w/ Takka Takka (who played Northside) - dates "

photos by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: Fleet Foxes - Oliver James (MP3)

If I had to do it over, I definitely wouldn't have put Fleet Foxes (think Crosby Stills & Nash, Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket) on after Clipd Beaks (think noise) who came after Genghis Tron (think metal). Actually, I wouldn't have done it that way the first time either. Fleet Foxes' set time at my Thursday SXSW day party was more of a last minute necessity, and I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to have one of the bands I wanted to see the most at SXSW on the bill - even if it meant they went on after Clipd Beaks. It did end up being a little of an awkward transition, and there were a lot more people across the street checking out Holy Fuck at the time (I went back and forth), but ultimately it didn't matter. Fleet Foxes' performance on the stage of Emo's Lounge was great (as were the bits and pieces I caught of some of the other shows they played in Austin that week).

After the show, an employee of Emo's told me that he discovers that "ONE BAND" at SXSW each year, and it looked like Fleet Foxes were filling that slot for him in 2008. Seattle PI had something similar to say...

I didn't even try to see the festivals' buzz bands, which had impossible three-hour lines looping around the block. The only band I waited for was Seattle's Fleet Foxes. They gave what was the most professional-sounding concert I heard all week. Their Crosby, Stills, and Nash vocal harmonies were effortless and blissful, and they had the stage presence of The Band.

The excitement of seeing them for the first time won't be there for me tonight (March 29 at Bowery Ballroom in NYC), but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still looking forward to it. And it's a much more fitting bill for them this time: Fleet Foxes play before Blitzen Trapper and after Ola Podrida. More tour dates HERE. More SXSW pictures below.....

Continue reading "Fleet Foxes in NYC tonight!, on tour, played SXSW (pics)"

by BrooklynVegan Mike

DOWNLOAD: Ola Podrida - Instead (MP3)

Earlier this year, an interesting news bit on Pitchfork appeared reporting they had noticed that the album cover for Interpol's then upcoming album Our Love To Admire was suspiciously similar to just released Ola Podrida's self-titled debut. It was just a funny case of "great minds think alike," but despite their disparate sounds, there are other aspects that link them together.

Both call New York home, but Ola Podrida's wistful folk ballads (in the vein of Iron and Wine and Micah P. Hinson) are miles away from Interpol's urban decadence. Both have band members immersed in film composing, but Podrida front man David Wingo made his name in that field first - before branching out with his band, scoring among several films,David Gordon Green's classic George Washington. And both bands have received great write ups from the music press, but while Interpol's latest has received mixed reviews, Ola Pordrida's release has more more consistent praise.

They've been building a steady buzz over the last year, due in part to their very good album, but also their fantastic live show (they were one of the hot tickets to Pop Montreal). Definitely worth checking out. Dates below...

Continue reading "Ola Podrida (CMJ Spotlight) - 2007 Tour Dates"