by Bill Pearis

AVC: What do you think your songs are about?

CE: For as long as I can remember, I've always written about anxiety and loneliness, because those are the two common themes in my life. But recently a friend of mine was really insightful. He was like, "Well, your songs aren't really depressing at all. They seem to be all to be a struggle for survival more than anything." I guess that's the underlying note.

AVC: "The Power" seems to be explicitly about that.

CE: That song was born out of futility. I had a 20-month-long breakup. We were together for about three of those months. You know that scene in Brokeback Mountain where Heath Ledger is like, "I wish I knew how to quit you"? It's kind of that, in a song.

AVC: The two-piece band has seemed to have a comeback, from The White Stripes to Japandroids. Why do you think they're so appealing?

AS: I mean obviously, the dynamic between two people is considerably different. These days, for most bands, money is a huge issue, and it's a lot easier to tour as a two-piece.

CE: Even numerically it's appealing; people just generally prefer two of anything. The onus is on us to create a music experience that is comparable to a proper band. I just bought a bass pedal so I can make the guitar sound like a bass whenever I want it to.

AS: Yeah, I'd never thought about that before.

CE: But it's a beautiful thing, there's a male-female dynamic. I don't want to be filthy, but it's kind of like the intimacy of having sex versus the extravagance of being in an orgy. Sure there's more energy going around, but nobody is getting the full experience. But when it's just two people...

AS: Everybody's getting off. [AV Club Toronto]

Army Girls are currently on tour with PS I Love You. That tour comes to NYC this weekend, hitting Mercury Lounge tonight (5/25) (tickets) and Glasslands on Saturday (5/26) (tickets), and Army Girls are worth showing up early to catch. Neither show is sold out. All tour dates with PS I Love You are listed below.

Continue reading "check out Army Girls who are on tour w/ PS I Love You (playing NYC this weekend)"

Now we really know what's going on. The CBGB Festival is happening July 5 - 8 at some 30 venues across the city, with over 300 bands participating, including the previously mentioned free Guided by Voices, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Cloud Nothings show at Summerstage (which now also includes The War on Drugs), the The Baseball Project and Craig Finn at City Winery, L.A. Guns at Highline, the Cro Mags, Sick of it All, Vision of Disorder, Absolution, and Sal Naim show at Webster Hall, and D Generation's Bowery Electric show. Newly added artists include Rocket from the Tombs, MEN, PS I Love You, Reggie Watts, Gary Lucas, Weekend, and more TBA. The full list of currently confirmed artists is below.

It's also a film festival with both new and classic rock films/docs, including the world premiere of The Rise and Fall of The Clash, plus American Hardcore, Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements, The Dead Boys - Live at CBGB/OMFUG 1977, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kurt Cobain About a Son, The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy & Lou 1971-1973 and more.

In addition, they've added a CMJ/SXSW-like music industry conference with panels/workshops concerning the music industry, independent artists, and a CBGB "Tales from the Club" panel each day. All conferences take place at the Sunshine Cinema and East Village Cinema. The festival also closes with the "distilled spirits fest" at Beekman Beer Garden on July 8.

There are variety of badges available too, from music and film showcase badges to one that get you into everything (or potentially at least...badges don't guarantee admission). The press release we got claims badges have been on sale since May 7 but this is the first we've heard about it. Regardless, early bird prices on music showcase badges is $69 and runs through May 31. It jumps to $79 if you buy before July 4 and walk-up badges once the fest starts are $89. Film fest badges are $99/$159/$219 for earlybird/regular/walk-up. You can also get a music conference badge which gains you entry to the showcases, workshops, and panels, and a music/film combo badge which gains you entry to all of that plus the film screenings. Full details on the vast array of CBGB Festival badge options are at their website. What this means to people who already bought tickets to individual shows already but want a badge too, we're not sure.

A list of all confirmed bands, films, conferences, and participating venues is below.

Continue reading "CBGB Festival announces details: badges, bands, films, industry conference, and booze"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - "Princess Towers" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - "Sentimental Dishes" (MP3)

PS I Love You at Deluna Fest 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Canadian duo PS I Love You are set to release their sophomore LP, Death Dreams, on May 8 via Paper Bag. The album follows their 2010 debut, Meet Me at the Muster Station, and like that album, Death Dreams is shaping up to be jam-packed with fuzzy rockers like "Priness Towers" and "Sentimental Dishes," both of which you can download above or stream below.

The band just announced that they'll be following the album's release with a tour of the US and Canada. That tour hits NYC with Army Girls onMay 25 at Mercury Lounge and May 26 at Glasslands. Tickets for the Mercury show go on sale Friday (3/30) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (3/28) at noon. Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale Friday (3/30). not on sale yet but check Ticketfly for updates.

Toronto duo Army Girls, who put out their debut EP called Close To The Bone (produced by Fucked Up's Ben Cook) in September,

All dates and streams below...

Continue reading "PS I Love You releasing new LP, touring (dates & MP3)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by BBG

Weeze & Matt & Kim @ Deluna Fest

Do you think Matt & Kim ever get depressed? Like down-in-the-dumps, face-on-the-bathroom-tile, razor-to-the-wrist bummed? And do you think any of that anger is channeled into their music in ways not visibly noticed? Is that perma-simpleton-smile actually a front for an aryan-supremacy agenda spelled out in morse code via the band's shiny light show? Head to a New Year's Eve celebration at Hammerstein Ballroom with Super Mash Brothers to do some investigation and report back if you come across some leads. Tickets are on sale. All of their dates are listed below.

Matt & Kim was one of many artists to perform in Florida at Deluna Fest from 10/14 - 10/16, joining names like Ra Ra Riot, Stars, Ladytron, Girl Talk, Weezer, Cake and others. Belated pictures from the first day of that festival that Jane's Addiction also played, are in this post. Many more below.

Ra Ra Riot has been touring since Deluna. They don't have anything scheduled in NYC, but they will be on the road for a while and all of their dates are also listed below...

Continue reading "Deluna Fest Day 1 pics w/ Weezer, Ladytron & many more, a Matt & Kim New Year's Eve show, Ra Ra Riot tour dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Suuns - Arena (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Leftovers (w/ Diamond Rings) (MP3)

Suuns @ The Rock Shop in January (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

It's Canadian two-fer at Mercury lounge tonight (10/7) with Montreal's Suuns and Kingston, Ontario's PS I Love You. It's a late show after a Robbers on High Street record release party (Suuns doors are 10:15PM) and tickets are still available (a Nirvana tribute band also plays a free show after them, at the same venue - doors at 1am for that one). Both bands play Boston tomorrow night. All dates are listed below.

Suuns have a new 12" single, "Bambi/Red," coming out November 15 on Secretly Canadian and you can stream both sides at the bottom of this post. Says the band:

With a couple weeks off this summer in Montreal, we thought we'd take a crack at a few new songs. Stark and futuristic, these are extended jams that may or may not materialize as condensed versions of themselves on records to come. Open air textures, repetition and exploration were the name of the game for us on this one, and the finished product is a refined mining of the ideas that came out. "Bambi" is a creepy story of love lost and found, while "Red Song" is just that: a song about color.

As for PS I Love You, the band just released Figure it Out, a compilation of early singles, covers (Madonna, Rush) and other leftover tracks like their colaboration with Diamond Rings, "Leftovers," which you can download above. Diamond Rings, by the way, opens for Twin Shadow at Webster Hall tonight -- maybe he'll zip on over after his set to play with PS I Love You? We'll see.

The stream of the new Suuns 12" is below, along with tour dates.

Continue reading "Suuns & PS I Love You are here (Diamond Rings too), both with new releases (MP3s & dates)"

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - "Leftovers" (Feat. Diamond Rings) (MP3)

PS I Love You at SXSW 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

PS I Love You are releasing Figure It Out, a collection of previously released singles and EPs. The compilation includes the track "Leftovers," which was recorded with Diamond Rings. Grab that above. The album drops August 30 via Paper Bag Records.

Diamond Rings was recently here for the Northside Fest and is going on tour with Twin Shadow. Diamond Rings toured and performed with PS I Love You not long before that.

PS I Love You will be touring extensively this fall and summer, and will play NYC on October 7 at Mercury Lounge with fellow Canadian badasses Suuns who also play other dates on the tour. Check ticketmaster for tickets to be on sale soon. PS I Love You are also scheduled to play a CMJ show in Brooklyn on October 20.

All tour dates and album artwork and tracklist below...

Continue reading "PS I Love You releasing comp, going on tour w/ Suuns (dates & an MP3 featuring Diamond Rings)"

Here is the initial lineup for Willamette Week's MusicfestNW, scheduled for Sept. 7-11, 2011 in Portland, Oregon, and it's pretty great. The multi-venue fest includes big outdoor performances by Band of Horses (Sunday, Sept. 11), Explosions in the Sky (Saturday, Sept. 10), and Iron & Wine (Friday, Sept. 9), in addition to shows with everyone from Archers of Loaf to Big Freedia to Butthole Surfers to Neurosis. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 3rd. Check out the full list below...

Continue reading "MusicfestNW 2011 -- dates & initial lineup"

Evan Dando at The Bell House (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

Evan Dando & The Lemonheads have a few random upcoming dates scheduled. The Lemonheads will share a bill with The Canon Logic on April 28th at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are still available. You can also catch Josh Lattanzi of The Lemonheads at Bowery Ballroom on May 26 & 27 as part of the Bob Dylan tribute that will also include members of the Strokes, Hold Steady, etc, etc.

All other upcoming Evan Dando dates are in other countries at the moment, including a June 16th Evan & Juliana Hatfield show in Toronto for the NXNE festival which, like Brooklyn's own multi-venue festival Northside, recently expanded its lineup. Some of the other bands playing are in the title of this post. The rest are listed below.

All Dando-related dates and some videos below too...

Continue reading "Lemonheads playing shows, NXNE expands lineup (includes Descendents, Stars, Devo, OFF!, Juliana Hatfield, more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield and Timothy Griffin

Adventure (by Tim)

Braids (by Tim)

Braids and Adventure are on tour with Toro y Moi now. The three bands play sold out shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (4/10) and Monday (4/11).

As discussed and/or pictured HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, we threw a free, three stage party with M For Montreal at Swan Dive and Barbarella in Austin on Saturday, March 19, 2011.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, to all the bands who played and to Ramesh for DJing. Sorry to Bass Drum of Death for not getting to play due to some confusion. Thanks to the cast of Workaholics for stopping by and for doing some hosting (catch their show on Comedy Central now!). Thanks also to Izzoz, Sensible Portions, Honest Tea, VegAustin, Raw Revolution, NadaMoo, Firefly Vodka, Line 6, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Nudie Jeans, and ASCAP. Thanks to everyone else that helped and to anyone I forgot.

A whole bunch more pictures from the whole day are below...

Continue reading "BV/M For Montreal Austin Day Party in pics (Braids, Adventure, Owen Pallett, Little Scream & many more)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Damien Jurado

Twin Shadow

Catching up a bit. Here's what Dominick saw in Austin on Thursday, March 17, 2011 (St. Patrick's Day)...

Continue reading "SXSW 2011 Day 2 pics"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Forever in Armitron (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fleshtones - Bite of My Soul (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: STRFKR - Death as a Fetish (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Obits - You Gotta Lose (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Destroyer - Chinatown (MP3)

Destroyer

Welcome to the You Didn't Get Tickets to LCD Soundsystem edition of This Week in Indie. Or maybe some of you don't care about James Murphy's Last Hurrah, and if so you can consider this the I Don't Give a Crap About LCD Soundsystem edition of TWII. Luckily for everyone, this is another bonkers week for shows and there's bound to be something for everyone -- even if I don't write about it here.

Let's begin with what is my most-anticipated show of the weekend -- Destroyer, who play Webster Hall on Sunday (4/3).  (Tickets are still available.) I have friends who are Dan Bejar obsessives, but I've always been more of a casual fan. Destroyer's new album, Kaputt, is a masterpiece and easily my favorite of 2011 so far. Gone are the chintzy synths and thin production, replaced by glorious '80s widescreen pop that brings to mind (mine, at least) The Blue Nile and Prefab Sprout. It's got the scope and the arrangements I always imagine Bejar wanted for his songs but never had the means to make real.

It's also the first album I've loved in a long time that has this much saxophone on it. I don't think there's a song on Kaput without it, and it's of the variety that makes you think of a city in the rain. Maybe the saxophonist is playing in the rain on a fire escape somewhere? Or maybe that's just every music video from the '80s. Anyway, Kaputt is evocative of that era for sure but Bejar's unmistakable urbane style keeps it out of cheeseball territory.

For this tour, Bejar has assembled an "eight-piece Destroyer orchestra" to bring Kaputt to life on stage. My friend Toby (who does the blog The Finest Kiss) saw the show in Seattle and said, "Seeing Dan Bejar play with a small band or solo under the his Destroyer moniker was always good, but I had never been blown away. I knew I was going to hear the songs from his latest Kaputt, but I had no idea that what I would get would far exceed that very good record and as well as any expectations I had." That raises my expectations quite a bit, but it does make me more excited... even if the show is at Webster Hall.

BOAT

This weekend also marks the return of Seattle's BOAT, longtime TWII faves whose scrappy underdog status may be in jeopardy. Pitchfork, who has barely acknowledged their existence in the past, gave BOAT's great new album Dress Like Your Idols a 7.6 (besting the day's big review by about two points):

"BOAT's fourth album, then, finds the Crane-fronted four-piece going through something of an underachiever's quarter-life crisis. On one hand, Dress Like Your Idols sees Crane, drummer Jackson Long, bassist/guitarist Mark McKenzie, and multi-instrumentalist Josh Goodman finally making their way into a real studio for the first time. On the other hand, that studio-- Seattle's Two Sticks Audio-- is already defunct. And the songs, like the album cover, are as inspired by the band's youth as ever, merging Stephen Malkmus's obliquely deadpan twang, Tullycraft's sugary scene-skewering, and Modest Mouse's "reptile boy" yelp. Where some slightly younger slackers have been opting for warped 1980s synth-pop, BOAT continue to love the 90s: an era when they didn't know, as per the rueful title track, that "the job you wanted doesn't exist." The result is the best album yet from a band whose style finally appears to be back in vogue, though its sometimes-bitterly sardonic humor still won't be for everybody."

BOAT play The Rock Shop on Saturday (4/2) with Miniboone, Landlady and Creeping Weeds. This is the start of an East Coast tour that will have the band back in town next weekend for an early show at Mercury Lounge on Saturday, April 9 with Moon Taxi and The Human Hearts.

Obits

Also Saturday night (4/2) is the record release party for Obits' second album, Moody, Standard and Poor, which is happening at The Bell House. As a bunch of indie rock vets, Obits aren't so much set in their ways as they know what they like. You know what you're getting with an Obits album, but this new one has a little more breathing room than I Blame You, but rocks all the same. And anyone who's seen Obits play knows they bring it live, no muss no fuss.

Also playing the Bell House show are California's Tijuana Panthers who were last here in December. As I wrote then, these guys are pals with The Soft Pack and evoke a similar -- if less aggressive,  more party-oriented -- style of '60s surf rock. You can listen to the entirety of Tijuana Panthers' self-released debut, Max Baker, via a widget at the bottom of this post. Good stuff.  Tijuana Panthers also play Friday (4/1) at Pianos as part of a solid bill that includes the Sundelles (also playing Obits' show), Shark?, and Air Waves. That is an excellent Friday night option.

Wu Lyf

What else? As you may have heard, WU LYF are making their U.S. debut this weekend, playing tomorrow night at Glasslands (a show BV is presenting) which is sold out, and then Saturday (4/2) at Shea Stadium. To go to the Saturday show, you have to  RSVP. And once you get there, you have to pay $10. I don't know what to make of this Manchester band -- they are careful controllers of their image and we haven't heard much in the way of released music -- but I am intrigued. Says UK music mag The Fly:

Far from being arrogant or appearing above their audience, tonight the band seem lost in their own world, having left the window open for all to see. Roberts is an intense and unforgettable performer, but his bandmates back him with a sound that flits between sparkling and cavernous with a rhythm section pounding a self-affirmed beat destined for far bigger venues than this South London archway. Connected to his organ throughout, Roberts only separates himself from the instrument to sip from a teacup between songs. The cacophony of noise he and his band make is not ground-breakingly unique, a meeting point of Nick Cave and Wild Beasts as displayed on 'Spitting It Concrete Like The Golden Sun God' for example, however, the fire burning inside Wu Lyf, a light that only shines in the souls of a select few, is a truly special one off.

That's the bulk of this weekend's action. Actually that's not true, there's lots more but I hit most of the stuff I'm interested in. More picks, day-by-day, are below.

JEFF the Brotherhood

THURSDAY, MARCH 31

JEFF the Brotherhood are at Santos tonight. Their second album, We Are the Champions, is out sometime soon and features songs called "Ripper" and "Shredder" so you know it both rips and shreds. It does! JEFF rules and surely you've seen them by now and if you haven't...go to this show! And more reason to go: Screaming Females, Juiceboxxx and Teen Witch. They also play their NYC spiritual home, Death by Audio, on Saturday but I'm gonna guess that show will be sardine city...not for the squeamish!

PS I Love You and Diamond Rings are at Glasslands tonight which is also a highly recommended. It may seem like an odd pairing but both these artists love each other's music and you're gonna get their collaboration "Leftovers" for sure.

continued below...

Continue reading "Destroyer, BOAT, Obits, Tijuana Panthers, Wu Lyf, Fleshtones, Starfucker, Dam Mantle & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Chris La Putt

PS I Love You w/ Diamond Rings @ Mercury Lounge

"Long before he strapped on the gold lamé tights and donned rainbow facepaint, Diamond Rings (aka John O'Regan) was a member of the Toronto post-post-punk band The D'Urbervilles. Together they released two records between the years of 2005 and 2008 - but now they are no more.

Instead of calling it a day though, The D'Urbs have relaunched under the name Matters and already have a brand new 7? called "Get In Or Get Out," which you can order here from O'Regan's Hype Lighter imprint. The single precedes a full-length album, which currently has no release date.

The band will road test some of their new tunes and re-enter society when they play a handful of dates in April alongside Kingston power duo P.S. I Love You. [Much Music]

Meanwhile John O'Regan is out on tour as Diamond Rings with P.S. I Love You. They play Glasslands tonight (3/31). Last night they played Mercury Lounge, where like at SXSW, John joined P.S. I Love You on stage for their last song... during their first set. John took off beore P.S. I Love You played their second set - the free late-night one at the same venue (did anyone make it out to that one?).

A bunch of pictures and video from the earlier show (video of the collaboration included), below....

Continue reading "Diamond Rings reforms old band (renames it Matters), played Mercury Lounge w/ P.S. I Love You (pics, video)"

PS I Love You & Diamond Rings @ SXSW (more by Bill Pearis)

The PS I Love You / Diamond Rings tour has arrived in NYC, and in case you can't make it to the 10pm show at Mercury Lounge tonight (3/30) (tickets still on sale), or the Thursday Glasslands show (also still tickets), because maybe because you'll be at Terminal 5 for LCD Soundsystem on both nights, well, now you have a chance to see one of the bands. PS I Love You will play a FREE SHOW at Mercury Lounge at 12:30am TONIGHT. The venue will become free after midnight, which also means anyone who goes to the early show is of course free to stick around and see PS I Love You (again) after Diamond Rings.

by Bill Pearis

Wounded Lion @ Shangri La

After Wednedsay and Thursday... I spent most of Friday afternoon -- the hottest day of the fest, well into the '80s --at Sailor Jerry-sponsored East Side dive Shangri La where Chicago label Trouble in Mind was throwing a party in the back yard. Their party at Scoot Inn the year before was one of my favorites of SXSW2010 and I'd have to say the same the same of 2011. The label, run by husband and wife Bill & Lisa Roe (who are also in CoCoComa), is mostly a 7" label, releasing great singles from some of the best garage-pop artists around. Many of whom were there at Shangri La.

I got there as Seattle trio Night Beats were just starting. Never heard them before, but really dug their psych-garage sounds, and they definitely looked the part. They ended their set with a cover of The Count Five's classic "Psychotic Reaction," giving their version a little swing which made it their own. Look for Night Beats debut LP out on Trouble in Mind this summer.

While Cheap Time were playing, I noticed Lars Finberg milling about the yard...what was he doing here? The Intelligence were definitely not here, was his side-project Puberty playing and I didn't know it? No, he told me he was playing drums for L.A.'s Wounded Lion for their Austin shows. I was already looking forward to seeing WL, now even moreso.

I was getting a little antsy and decided to walk around the East Side a bit, stopping by Cheer Up Charlies where I caught a few songs by Norway's Tôg (who are in NYC as we speak) before heading back to the Trouble in Mind party to catch Nashville's The Paperhead. Looking a bit like Red Kross, the band -- all about 19 I think -- are trippier than anyone else on the bill. Their debut just came out on TiM.

Next up Wounded Lion, whose self-titled debut was one of last year's more underrated records. I think seeing them live would change naysayers opinion, they were one of the rockin'est, most fun shows of the week. Two singers: main man Brad Eberhard does the heavy lifting and guitar playing, while singer/percussionist Raffi Kalenderian is more in the Bob Nastanovich of the band, going apeshit with the tambourine and generally keeping things entertaining. There is much switching of instruments. They also let Lars Finberg take lead vocals for the Intelligence's "Turned to Puke." I really thought they'd do "Pony People," a Wounded Lion song that The Intelligence covered on Fake Surfers, but no. Great, great set.

I then Sprinted over to the BrooklynVegan party at Swan Dive for John Grant. Friday was hot and Swan Dive didn't seem to have AC or even ceiling fans and it was an oven in there, but it didn't matter. Another of my favorite shows of the week. I'd seen him play solo at Mercury Lounge, but this show was with Midlake, his backing band on last year's amazing Queen of Denmark. With the band, Grant's late-'70s leaning epics came to lush life. The drums sounded gigantic. So did Grant's voice. All that was missing was sequined clothing and glasses that made points of light look like starbursts. Highlights for me: power-ballad "Mars" and "Chicken Bones" which is some kind of sonic collision of Gordon Lightfoot and Harry Nilsson.

John Grant @ Swan Dive

continued below...

Continue reading "Bill's Week in Austin (Day 3 - Wounded Lion, John Grant, PS I Love You, TSOOL, WhoMadeWho, Wye Oak, Versus & more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Leftovers (w/ Diamond Rings) (MP3)

PS I Love You @ BV/MFM Day Party @ Barbarella

"Band of the night goes to P.S. I Love You, a Canadian guitar-drums duo that delivered concise pop songs with epic guitar strokes. Paul Saulnier approximated the sound of three guitarists on his instrument, his galactic chords and dense note clusters threatening to explode his songs, while Benjamin Nelson banged out precisely orchestrated parts like a human drum machine." [Greg Kot]

As we've mentioned, PS I Love You and Diamond Rings are on tour this month, and Diamond Rings (who were not originally announced on any of the NY dates) will be playing with PS I Love You on Wednesday March 30th at Mercury Lounge and on Thursday March 31 at Glasslands. Tickets are still on sale for Wednesday and Thursday

Both bands were just down at SXSW where PS I Love appeared at the BrooklynVegan & M For Montreal Free Saturday Day Party. A few shots from their set are in this post.

Earlier this month Diamond Rings released a video for "It's Not My Party." You can watch that below. All tour dates are down there too...

Continue reading "PS I Love You & Diamond Rings on tour, collaborated, played SXSW, etc (updated dates, live pics, new MP3 & video)"

If you've been following along, you know that this is finally the NINTH and FINAL BrooklynVegan SXSW 2011 show announcement! This one happens on Saturday, March 19th in Austin, at both Swan Dive and Barbarella (they connect). It runs from noon-6pm and is 100% free. We are doing it with our friends from M For Montreal and it looks like this:

STAGE 1 (SWAN DIVE)
12:00 PM New Moods
01:00 PM Oh Land
2:00 PM Austra
3:00 PM Little Scream
4:00 PM Owen Pallett
5:00 PM Braids

STAGE 2 (Barbarella main stage)
12:00 PM Baths
1:00 PM Misteur Valaire
2:00 PM !!!
3:00 PM Trail of Dead
4:00 PM Mount Kimbie
5:00 PM Daedelus
HOSTED BY: the cast of Workaholics
DJs: Ramesh (of Voxtrot) & 70's Bush

STAGE 3 (Barbarella small stage)
12:00 PM Bass Drum of Death
12:45 PM Adventure
1:30 PM Versus
2:30 PM Malajube
3:15 PM Suuns
4:00 PM Weekend
5:00 PM PS I Love You

And this party will also have:

• FREE vegan Izzoz breakfast tacos while supplies last!
• lots of FREE snacks courtesy of Sensible Portions!
• a lot of FREE Honest Tea!
• FREE Raw Revolution bars to eat.
• FREE vegan ice cream from NadaMoo
• FREE Firefly Vodka cocktails all day (while supplies last.)
• more FREE DRINKS TBA.

• Our official microphone sponsor Line 6.
• and our backline sponsors Korg, Vox & Blackstar.
• our sponsor Nudie Jeans.
• and to ASCAP for sponsoring too.

To celebrate the BrooklynVegan + M for Montreal party, Nudie Jeans is also giving away 5 pairs of jeans (one pair for each day leading up to the party). For your chance to win, friend Nudie Jeans on facebook and send an email titled BROOKLYN VEGAN to nudie@wantagencyinc.com. For those at the party, we'll also be raffling off more Nudie Jeans you can win while you're there.

We're also happy to announce that, for the second year in a row, we'll be partnering with our friends at VegAustin to host a vegan bake sale for charity at the party. All proceeds will be donated to Compassion Over Killing.

Check out the flyer and stuff below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan & M For Montreal Free Saturday Austin Day Party lineup (3 stages @ Barbarella & Swan Dive)"

PS I Love You

Eye Weekly: This is an obvious question, but people want to know. Are you named after that terrible Hilary Swank movie? Or The Beatles song?

PS I Love You: Neither. That movie really haunts me; I've never seen it, but I know that I hate it. The name PS I Love You came about six or seven years ago. It's kind of silly but some friends of mine in Kingston decided that if there was ever a fan club for me, that's what it would be called. PS is my initials -- that's the joke, all my friends call me PS, so it's kind of like this statement where I'm being very self-indulgent and making fun of that, all at the same time.

Neither NYC show has support bands listed yet, but most of PS I Love You's March run is with fellow Canadian Diamond Rings who will pass through NYC when he plays Radio City Music Hall... as part of his tour with Robyn who is headlining the venue on February 5th. All dates for both bands below...

Continue reading "PS I Love You touring w/ Diamond Rings who is touring w/ Robyn (2011 dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Facelove (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - 2012 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Warpaint - Undertow (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Never Swallow Fruit Dub (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Never Follow Suit (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Luyas - All New Tiny Head (MP3)

The Radio Dept

After a long weekend of overeating and couchdwelling and Kanye overload, I hope you are all nice and rested up for what is a pretty great week of shows. Here's a bunch of stuff I recommend.

Sweden's The Radio Dept are playing two NYC shows ahead of their first-ever real tour of the U.S. and Canada this week. All dates are listed below, but the NYC shows happen at Knitting Factory Tuesday night (11/30) and Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday (12/01). Both are sold out. This will be the band's first visit to our area since the 2009 NYC Popfest.

It's been a busy year for the somewhat unprolific Scandinavian trio. In addition to their fantastic third album, Clinging to a Scheme, which came out back in April, The Radio Dept. just released a new EP, Never Follow Suit, which takes the dub-heavy album title cut (also on the album) and makes it even dubbier (download both versions above), plus adds three new blissed out tracks.

The band are also finally gathering up all their non-LP singles, b-sides and EPs for a double-disc compilation, Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 which comes out early next year. A lot of their great early EPs are out of print (like 2003's Pulling Our Weight) and it'll be nice to have them all in one place. Double vinyl too for those with turntables. With music spanning from their first single through tracks off Clinging to a Scheme, it makes for a nice overview of the band...but still holds together really well. Little has changed in The Radio Dept.'s sound over the last eight years, but they are one of the best examples of "don't fix what ain't broke."

Abd if you're going to one of the two Radio Dept. shows, be sure to get there early to catch Montreal's Braids, who I just saw play in their hometown.

PS I Love You @ Pop Montreal (more)

While on the Subject of Bands I Saw Play in Canada Recently, one of biggest hits of this year's M for Montreal festival were PS I Love You:

Most everyone seemed in agreement that PS I Love You were the best band of the night. The duo from Kingston, Ontario are an indie Mutt and Jeff, kind of like the Pixies with a new wave back-end. Yelper-guitarist Paul Salnier actually pulls triple duty live, playing bass parts too via a Moog bass pedal setup which is pretty cool. Drummer Ben Nelson plays heavy on the high hat a la New Order's Stephen Morris which gives their songs danceability.  Their record, Meet Me at the Muster Station, is good but, live, PS I Love You are a force.

Warpaint

Also visiting us this weekend are Los Angeles foursome Warpaint, who play The Studio @ Webster Hall on Wednesday (12/01) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday (12/02). Their debut for Rough Trade, The Fool, has gotten mostly good reviews. It's a record that has really grown on me in the last month, hitting that sweet spot between dustbowl new age goth and early-'80s post punk. Not that those are mutually exclusive terms. Spindly guitars, groovy basslines, complex percussion, dreamlike vocals... it's somewhere betweeen Haena-era Banshees and Bat For Lashes with just a smidge of Stevie Nicks. Which is a good thing if you ask me. If Warpaint aren't on the next Twilight soundtrack somebody's not doing their job.

The band are good live too, with an especially nimble rhythm section. And if you didn't like the album the first time you heard it, I urge you go give it another chance to sink in. Check out "Undertow" above, and there are a couple live performance videos further down this post along with all upcoming Warpaint tour dates.

Badly Drawn Boy

Like a lot of people, I loved the first Badly Drawn Boy album The Hour of The Bewilderbeast, which rightly won the 2000 Mercury Music Prize (at least given its competition). Damon Gough then went to Los Angeles and lost his way almost immediately after. Good songs here and there, yes, but none of his subsequent albums have been anywhere near as solid or as sonically interesting as Bewilderbeast. Yet I always give the new album a chance.

I'm happy to report that the vibe of BDB's new album -- the mouthful of a title It's What I'm Thinking Pt. 1: Photographing Snowflakes -- returns some of his debut's homespun charm. It's his first since parting ways with EMI and starting his own label and you can sense the freedom this has brought across its 10 tracks. (Parts 2 and 3 are due at some point in the future.) There may not be anything as immediately catchy as "Everybody's Stalking", but you can tell this is music Gough wanted to make, not music he thought someone else wanted to hear. It's a nice album. Give up your email address and you can download a few new songs at BDB's website.

Badly Drawn Boy plays Le Poisson Rouge this Friday (12/03) and Saturday (12/04). Badly Drawn Boy shows have always been a bit of a crapshoot. Shows are notoriously long, ramshackle affairs with extended noodling, rambling stage banter and other digressions. Gough is the only Mercury Prize winner I have ever seen to actually take audience requests, including other people's songs he has never played. (Think twice before you yell "Freebird!" at a BDB show, you may end up regretting it). But there are always moments of brilliance in there too that make you glad you went, which is I guess Gough in a nutshell.

That's the main stuff this week. A few more shows of note, day-by-day, of things not covered above follows:

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1

Garagey soul band Fergus & Geronimo, who recently relocated here from Texas, headline a great night of music at Glasslands, that also features another bunch of recent transplants, former Arizonans The Young Friends. Also on the bill: Little Gold and We Are Country Mice.

Denver duo Tennis play Mercury Lounge, their first shows since a wave of hype packed Glasslands and Cake Shop back in August. Nice folks, but take away all that reverb that coats their recordings (as they do live) and the songs aren't quite as magical. The night's line-up is pretty good overall, with Family Portrait, Miracles of Modern Science and La Big Vic. Tennis also open for The Walkmen (and a slimmed-down School of Seven Bells) at Terminal 5 the next night.

continued below...

Continue reading "The Radio Dept, PS I Love You, Warpaint, Badly Drawn Boy, Raindeer, Peter Hook, Luyas & more in This Week In Indie"

by Bill Pearis

AIDS Wolf

Thursday night was the first "official" day of M for Montreal (Wednesday was the unofficial start), which had us back at club Just Pour Rire, shuttling between its two stages for a diverse evening of music. From a programming standpoint, maybe a little too diverse. But it is one of the unique aspects of this fest, forced exposure.

The night began with the britpoppy psychedelia of Elephant Stone. Front man Rishi Dhir, who played in High Dials for a while, traded between bass, guitar and sitar, the latter of which is the band's most immediately distinguishing feature. Their songs are good too -- jangly psychedelic pop -- but it's certainly a trip to see Dhir sitting crosslegged on a platform playing this massive, cool intstrument. It's a nice, mellow start to the evening.

Next up was Marco Calliari, an Itallian Tom Colicchio (a musician too) lookalike who spent part of the '90s in thrash metal band Anonymous but now plays Italian folk music not too far off in style from, say, The Gypsy Kings. Calliari is an exuberant performer and his band is tight, but he's out of place of this otherwise electrified line-up. Also out of place: singer-songwriter Jason Bajada who was pleasant enough but didn't leave much of an impression.

Most everyone seemed in agreement that PS I Love You were the best band of the night. The duo from Kingston, Ontario are an indie Mutt and Jeff, kind of like the Pixies with a new wave back-end. Yelper-guitarist Paul Salnier actually pulls triple duty live, playing bass parts too via a Moog bass pedal setup which is pretty cool. Drummer Ben Nelson plays heavy on the high hat a la New Order's Stephen Morris which gives their songs danceability.  Their record, Meet Me at the Muster Station, is good but live PS I Love You are a force. As previously mentioned, they're touring and playing NYC next week with Holiday Shores (12/03 at The Rock Shop, then Pianos the next night). Go see 'em.

Bad sound marred the set from Black Feelings who I could tell I'd really like given proper circumstances. Like their name implies, the trio grind out dense, foreboding post punk (PiL, Big Black). They are intense live, but it was like the sound guy forgot to turn the fader up on the guitars and the mix was muddy in general. Not so on last year's self-titled debut (out on  Alien8 Recordings, also home to Think About Life, Duchess Says and others). They're also the kind of band better suited to grungy DIY spaces than fancier venues like this one.

Ditto that to Aids Wolf who are a defiantly acquired taste, even for those with adventurous palates. Entirely out of their element, the confrontational art-noise group settle into freakout mode that sound, to casual ears, entirely improvised a la Throbbing Gristle. (Anyone who's heard their records and then seen them live knows these three are insanely tight, serious musicians.) Chloe Lum spends most of the show with the microphone in her mouth. They are not boring but a little goes a long way and most of the room cleared out well before their set finishes. I'm told Gene Simmons, one of my fellow "international delegates" for the weekend, really dug them.

With the "official selection" finished for the night came the afterparty entertainment: Quebec City's Dance Laury Dance. who seemed super-psyched to have Simmons in the house. (He watched sitting from the balcony, like a mafia don, nodding approvingly.) Clad in denim and leather and testosterone, DLD are like Wolverine: The Band, with a sound and schtick somewhere between Motorhead and The Darkness. Ridiculous, but entertaining. Not that much irony here, either. The songs are a little more than riffs and slogans, which is fine, but when the band covered AC/DC their lack of potent hooks became apparent. Still, for pure rawk spectacle overload, they're something all right.

Still to come: Reports from Friday and Saturday. More blurry photos taken by me are below, along with PS I Love You tour dates and a Dance Laury Dance music video.

Continue reading "M For Montreal 2010 - night 2 in pics & review (PS I Love You, AIDS Wolf, Dance Laury Dance, Gene Simmons & more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Red Mass @ CMJ 2010

M For Montreal, the annual mini Montreal music festival that invites "delegates" from all over the world to come experience Montreal music for a few days is kicking off today, 11/17. And like in 2008 and 2009, Bill Pearis will be up there reporting back.

Some of the artists he'll be seeing in Canada this week, like PS I Love You, AIDS Wolf and Braids, were just in NYC for CMJ. Some weren't, like Gene Simmons (no, not an ironically named band, but that's what I assumed at first) (like he would let that band exist).

The 'M For Montreal' CMJ showcase this year took place at Arlene's Grocery in NYC on Thursday, October 21st. That lineup consisted of Braids, The Luyas (whose only other show was one of our day parties), Uncle Bad Touch, PS I Love You, Random Recipe, Red Mass (who Bill first caught at M For Montreal in 2009), The Pack AD, and Radio Radio. Chris stopped by for the last three bands. His pictures, and a poster for the actual fest in Canada, below...

Continue reading "M For Montreal kicks off in Montreal, was recently in NYC for CMJ (Red Mass, Radio Radio & Pack AD pics)"

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)"

Surfer Blood @ Siren Fest 2010 (more by Jessica Amaya)

The Drums/Surfer Blood show at Webster Hall is sold out, and the Surfer Blood shows just keep on coming including a secret show at Cake Shop that happened Monday night (10/18), and the previously mentioned MTV show (which you'll be able to watch at MTV's website) last night at the Studio at Webster Hall. As also previously mentioned, Surfer Blood were added to one of Pitchfork's events and to a show at Bowery Ballroom, but that's not all:

SURFER BLOOD TAKE CMJ 2010
10/18 @ Cake Shop (secret show)
10/19 @ The Studio @ Webster Hall (MTV taping)
10/20 @ Webster Hall w/ The Drums
10/20 @ The Marlin Room at Webster Hall (AFTER THE DRUMS SHOW)
10/21 @ Brooklyn Bowl (Pitchfork's #OFFLINE Festival)
10/22 IN PHILLY
10/23 @ Bowery Ballroom (VFW Group showcase)

And The Drums have added a show too. As also mentioned, they are the headliner at the PopGun/Stereogum show happening at Santos Party House tonight (10/20) (aka they also play 2 sets in one night). They go on after Wild Nothing.

Neither Surfer Blood or the Drums are one of the unannounced bands playing the BrooklynVegan party at Public Assembly on Friday.

One of the other bands playing the Marlin Room tonight is PS I Love You who are from Canada (and who play many more times this week).

More Surfer Blood dates HERE. Flyers below...

Continue reading "Surfer Blood played Cake Shop, add even more shows. The Drums revealed as a secret guest too"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Facelove (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - 2012 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Suuns - Arena (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Suuns - Up Past the Nursery (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The High Dials - Chinese Boxes (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Elephant Stone - I am Blind (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: No Joy - Headless (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Parallels - Find the Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hot Panda - Mindlessnesslessness (MP3)

Radio Radio

There's never any shortage of Canadians at CMJ but this year... there seems like more than usual. So lets get to it.

On Thursday (10/21) The M for Montreal folks are back for a second year at Arlene's Grocery with eight diverse bands (not all from MTL) they deem worthy of seeing. The band with the most buzz coming into CMJ is probably Kingston, Ontario PS I Love You who play at 9PM.  For a duo, these guys have a pretty giant sound, and their debut LP,  Meet Me at Muster Station, recently got a 8.1 on Pitchfork. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. PS I Love You are playing five shows this week ( 20th - 23rd) and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

Capping the evening at 1AM are Acadian hip hop group Radio Radio whose album Belmundo Regal was up for this year's prestigious Polaris Prize. (They lost to Karkwa.) You can listen to the whole record via a widget at the bottom of this post. They are, I'm pretty sure, the only act to rap in the Chiac dialect, which is kind of the French Canadian equivalent of Spanglish. I saw them two years ago in Montreal and they were super fun -- even though I had no idea what they were saying. If you have no Last Show tonight, definitely head over to Arlene's Grocery. It's their only CMJ show.

Also playing the M for Montreal show: our good friends The Luyas who will also play our free day party on Friday (their only other show); Red Mass who bring a touch of theatrics to their Damned-esque garage punk; the low fi garagey folk of Uncle Bad Touch (who get the JEFF the Brotherhood Seal of Approval); Vancouver duo The Pack A.D.; and laid back folk-soul-hiphop group Random Recipe (check out their LP widget at the bottom of this post).

Random Recipe

If you show up at 6PM you'll be treated to a little pre show action: dream pop outfit Braids and free poutine, the official drunk food of Montreal (though not vegan). Set times for the whole night are at the bottom of this post. Braids play six times this week and all of their shows are listed at the bottom as well.

The biggest bummer about this show is it happens at the same time as the official BrooklynVegan Showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg. But you can get a taste of Montreal at our show as Suuns are playing at 8:45 PM. You can download two Suuns tracks at the top of this post. If you dig shoegaze, Krautrock, or Clinic, you don't wanna miss this band. I caught them at Mercury Lounge over the summer and was impressed. If you can't make our show but still wanna see Suuns, they also play later Thursday (11:45 PM) at Pianos as part of the Secretly Canadian showcase. Those are their only two shows during CMJ week.

High Dials

There are more Montreal bands here this week too. One of my favorites, The High Dials, play on Saturday (10/23) at the 269 Bar at 11PM. Their new album, Anthems for Doomed Youth, is another great offering of jangly psychedlia, shoegazy guitars and sunny harmonies. You can download "Chinese Boxes" from it at the top of this post.

You may remember that The High Dials used to have a sitar player who left after the band's first album. That guy, Rishi Dhir, now has his own group, Elephant Stone, whose album The Seven Seas, was up for the 2009 Polaris Prize.  Elephant Stone play the Trash Bar on Thursday (10/21, 10PM). If you can't see them then, Elephant Stone will be back in NYC in November.

More Montreal action: No Joy, who split their time between L.A. and MTL and will have your eardrums bleeding from their awesome, sludgy shoegaze. They play seven CMJ week shows, including the BV day party on Saturday (10/23) at Public Assembly. (Official announcement soon.) After CMJ,  No Joy head out with Vivian Girls offshoot La Sera (who plays a bunch her own CMJ shows) -- all dates are at the bottom of this post.

Folk band The Barr Brothers play two shows tonight tonight (10/19): Cameo Gallery at 7:30PM and then The Rock Shop at 11PM. They also play tomorrow (10/20, 7PM) at Rockwood Music Hall.

More MTL: rawkers Priestess play Mercury Lounge on Wednesday (10/20, 8:30PM); and AIDS Wolf play a late show at Knitting Factory Saturday night with Ty Segall (10/23, 1AM).

Time, space and sanity doesn't permit me to go through every single Canadian act here for CMJ, but here's a few more of note:

Much-buzzed, glammy, glitzy Diamond Rings plays six CMJ week shows, starting with tomorrow night's (10/20) killer Stereogum/Popgun party at Santos, that also includes Wild Nothing, Tamaryn, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., now-revealed headliner The Drums, and more. (Only $5 with RSVP.) All Diamond Rings CMJ dates, including an Underground Press/Distiller day party at Knitting Factory on Thursday, are at the bottom of this post.

Toronto synth-disco duo Parallels play two shows on Wednesday (10/20): Backstage (formerly the Annex) at 1opm and then 11:45PM at The Bell House (that's gonna be cutting it close). Check out their track "Find the Fire" at the top of this post.

Hot Panda

Edmonton, Alberta's cute, frenetic indiepop foursome Hot Panda play two shows on Wednesday (10/20): a day show at Fontanas (2:40PM) and then that night at the Trash Bar (11PM). Check out "Mindlessnesslessness" from the band's new album, How Come I'm Dead? at the top of this post.

Two Hours Traffic hail from Prince Edward Island and traffik (sorry) in Weezer-ish power pop. They play the R Bar on Saturday (10/23) at 9PM.

And Woodhands, from Toronto, will bring their somewhat nerdy, definitely catchy snyth rock to The Bell House for a midnight set.

Tour dates, some flyers, videos, album widgets and other stuff are below.

Continue reading "Canadian invasion @ CMJ 2010 (PS I Love You, Hot Panda, No Joy, Radio Radio, Diamond Rings, High Dials, Braids, more) "