by BBG

Eugene Robinson at Europa (more by BBG)

Scott Kelly (Neurosis) is currently touring the West Coast, but will make his way East for a string of dates with the great Eugene Robinson (Oxbow) that will include a stop at Knitting Factory on March 4th. Tickets go on sale at 10AM on 12/10 (Saturday).

In related news, Relapse Records will reissue Neurosis' classic Souls At Zero and Enemy Of The Sun LPs on 180 2LP sets (color and black). Pre-order yours.

Speaking of the amazing Eugene Robinson, his band Oxbow will be the subject of a new crowd-sourced documentary (they have met their goal, but donations close 12/16 if you still want to give). In addition, we asked Eugene Robinson to discuss some of his favorite things in 2011. His response? Top 10 Revenge Themes for 2011. Check his unmissable list, the kickstarter video and all tour dates below (look for additional lists from some of our other favorite artists in the days to come)...

Continue reading "Eugene Robinson names his "Top Revenge Themes for 2011", going on tour with Scott Kelly, playing the Knit (dates)"

Weedeater words by Lindsay Maharry, photos & Oxbow words by BBG

Weedeater

Weedeater headlined Europa Saturday night (9/10), playing alongside Oxbow, Bison BC, and Fight Amp as part of a larger tour for Weedeater & co. It was a rare one-off for Oxbow.

Weedeater as a band, and as people, are completely unaffected, giving their live show a remarkable jolt of undeniable authenticity. Beloved frontman "Dixie" Dave Collins' collision of dirty Southern grit and seemingly effortless talent is mesmerizing. Collins started the show off with a back pocket full of salami cold cuts and an arm full of American flag Budweiser. After riffing Sleep for the sound test, the band exploded into "God Luck and Good Speed". The room shook.

Cross-eyed madman Collins is also a jack of many trades. One minute he's knocking himself in the head, while the next he's straight-faced and seamlessly manipulating feedback in perfect sync with the rest of the band. Between growled lyrics, Collins shot strands of mucus in and out of his mouth, but not without casualties; spit strung through his beard for the rest of the set. He didn't wipe it away.

At one point, early on, he found a bottle of water on the stage. "What the fuck is this for? washin' clothes or something?," he muttered to himself, then threw the bottle over his shoulder and pounded the rest of his beer. He never missed a beat. - LM

Oxbow

Oxbow (my favorite band of the night) vocalist Eugene Robinson's well-documented knowledge of the combative arts translates to his moves on stage, punctuating big bang moments from the songs with uppercuts and downward fist strikes. Slithering to the band's bluesy-avant-jazz-meets-Am-Rep backing, Robinson would disrobe piece by piece- eventually grabbing, fondling and thrusting himself in his skivvies and a black leather vest. To say Robinson's performance is confrontational is an understatement, but also to discount Oxbow as a band with a novelty frontman would be a travesty. The trio of Dan Adams, Greg Davis, and Niko Wenner are exceptional musicians that write incredibly compelling tunes regardless of the vocal situation. David Yow knows it, so take notes young folk... this is how it should be done: raw, in your face, soulful, brutal and excellent.

Fight Amp and Bison BC also delivered my favorite performances yet. Bison are at the top of their live game. More pictures from the show, below...

Continue reading "Weedeater, Oxbow, Fight Amp & Bison BC brought the crazy to Europa (pics & review)"

by BBG

Dixie Dave on stage with Buzzov*en at MDF (more by BBG)

Apparently resurrected after their encounter with a frightening Mancoon, Weedeater (with a spankin' new website) will hit the road in early September for a round of dates through middle October. Support will come from Saviours, Bison BC & Fight Amp, except for NYC & Philly who Saviours will bypass, with NYC getting a rare appearance from Oxbow! The show goes down on September 10th at Europa (ticketing information is forthcoming). BrooklynVegan is the proud sponsor of the Europa date and the tour as a whole.

Oxbow played an acoustic set at The Stone last year, but havent appeared as a full band since playing Isis's 10th anniversary show at Irving Plaza in 2007.

All tour dates and that "Mancoon/Turkey Warlock" video is below.

Continue reading "Weedeater announce tour w/ Saviours, Bison BC & Fight Amp +++ NYC show w/ Oxbow (2011 dates)"

The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"

by BBG

There are two reasons why you don't want to fight Eugene Robinson. First of all, the Oxbow wildman will probably whip your ass, as documented in his many adventures in his first book, Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking. Secondly, after he whips your ass, he might write a piece on it. ELOQUENTLY. And it may even appear in a forthcoming novel, like Robinson's life-experiences that help to shape A Long Slow Screw, his new book out NOW.

As part of a Toby Driver curated month at The Stone, Eugene will double up for a pair of shows on Friday (2/26). First at 8PM, Eugene will join Niko Wenner (Oxbow guitarist), Zef Noi$e and Alice Genese for a reading of A Long Slow Screw featuring members of Psychic TV. Directly following that (10PM), Eugene and Niko will team up again for Oxbow acoustic. We sat down to ask Eugene about his new book, whats going down with Oxbow, and whether he will remain clothed on Friday...

Continue reading "An interview w/ Eugene Robinson of Oxbow"

by BBG

* Toby Driver photo by Gemma Fleming

Toby Driver is an "other". Not like Benjamin Linus or one of the Dharma Initiative, but in that his artistic endeavors Kayo Dot and Maudlin of The Well exist in the in-between, and outside. Driver's current project, Kayo Dot, is prepping to release their fourth album Coyote via Hydra Head on April 6th. On Coyote, elements of goth, avant-jazz, prog, ambient, and the kitchen sink meld with the avant-garde, making for an intensely fascinating and eclectic listen.

Driver was recently asked to curate the month of February at The Stone, John Zorn's non-profit club in the East Village. We sat down to ask Driver about some of the bands he chose which include solo sets from members of Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Extra Life, and Bloody Panda in addition to Baby Dee, Oxbow, Gnaw, and a full performance by his own band doing Coyote from start to finish, and the recent resurrection of Maudlin of The Well.

Full interview and Stone schedule, below....

Continue reading "Toby Driver curated Feb @ The Stone - interview & schedule"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Arckanum - "Þursvitnir" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Impetuous Ritual - "Ceremonial Disembowelment" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Amenra - "Wear My Crown" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fistula - "Bi-Polar Bear" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fight Amp - "Be Safe" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: KEN Mode - Holiday Sampler (Zipped MP3s)
DOWNLOAD: Elder - "Friendly Fire" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Struck By Lightning - "False Hope" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ludicra - "A Larger Silence" (MP3)

Dark Castle @ Union Pool (more by Sam Marble)

In recent months, the upswing in metal coverage on BV has rendered the moniker "Week In Metal" unnecessary. Small blurbs in "WIM" (as we call it around here) about Dark Castle have given way to photosets from their shows and posting of tour dates as they happen. Chalk it up to progress.

Starting this week, we will introduce a bit of a new direction for the old Week In Metal column, but without straying too far from the previous. The new column, entitled Short Wave Warfare, will scale back a bit, focusing on news that falls below the radar as well as shining a spotlight on new bands and upcoming shows in the NYC area. It won't be weekly. I hope you enjoy it.

Stay tuned for more upcoming shows in addition to Coalesce at Europa, Magrudergrind at Cake Shop, and The Hope Conspiracy at Union Pool, as well as a year-end best of 2009 post from myself and some of my favorite artists.

Thanks for reading. News on Portal, Oxbow, Master's Hammer, a collaboration between sunn O))) and Ulver, a new Haiyaino Daisuki & Gridlink, Amenra, Earthride, Kreator, Mammoth Grinder and so much more as (the new) Short Wave Warfare continues below....

Continue reading "Short Wave Warfare (12/9/09) (formerly This Week in Metal)"

photos by Lori Baily

"How can it be that in the wake of the ten year absence of this band, there's really yet to be a front man as captivating, ferocious, unnerving and entertaining? Sure there's Matt Korvette of PISSED JEANS and Eugene from OXBOW as current torch bearers, and I'm not sure that the world needs another GG Allin. Actually, scratch that...I am sure we don't need another GG. But those bands can't hold a 5W bulb to the music of the Jesus Lizard, and Yow's the propellant that gets it all going. He spent probably as much time in/on the crowd as on stage, and never missed a note while singing propped up by the hands of strangers. Highlights? Truly, there were no lulls. How can there be when you've got the mutated hybrid of "Chrome" coming at you, or the manic "Bloody Mary," or the insistent throbbing of "Gladiator"?" [Big Takeover]

The Jesus Lizard came to town. Night one pictures and discussion HERE. Night two setlist picture and more discussion HERE. Pictures from when they played a show on Halloween HERE. A whole bunch of pictures from the secomd night at Irving Plaza (11/17), with opener Noveller (aka Sarah Lipstate who also plays in Parts & Labor), below...

Continue reading "Jesus Lizard & Noveller @ Irving Plaza (night 2) in NYC - pics "

by Black Bubblegum

Red Sparowes might be sans Josh Graham (A Storm Of Light, Neurosis, etc), but all that means is leaning harder on members of Isis, The VSS, Halifax Pier, and Angel Hair a little more, which could be ALOT worse.

The band hit the studio with producer and new Big Business member Toshi Kasai in May and will drop the EP Aphorisms digitally on August 1 (Vinyl/CD this fall) via Sargent House. Dig on track uno at their myspace, the concisely titled (Red Sparowes are sooo good at that) "We Left The Apes To Rot, But Find The Fang Still Grows Within".

Red Sparowes will also hit the road this week for a set of mostly UK dates including an intersecting show with an ongoing Harvey Milk/Oxbow tour (dates below for that) and concluding with an appearance at the Wickerpark Fest with Isis, Don Caballero, High On Fire, Okkervil River, Russian Circles and approximately one metric shit-ton of other great bands. Dates below.

Harvey Milk is currently streaming one of my favorite albums so far this year "Life.... The Best Game In Town" here. Melvins are also streaming their entire new album.

Big Business & Melvins will be in town very soon, and have their own ATP to curate.

The VSS recently reissued Nervous Circuits. High On Fire may be playing with Opeth. Tour dates below....

Continue reading "Red Sparowes EP, tour dates, Harvey Milk, Oxbow, Melvins"