photos by Tim Griffin

Last night (April 19) Williamsburg's expansive new venue, Brooklyn Bowl, was filled to the brim with Snoop Dogg fans. Dressed in a Yankees bomber jacket, the West Coast legend and his Dogg Pound ran through an hour-long set of their greatest hits.

Snoop opened up with his classic track "Murder Was the Case" and kept the momentum going with explosive performance of "Gin and Juice."

Towards the middle of the show The Doggfather held a tribute to hip-hop's beloved fallen soldiers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G, leading the crowd in a sing-along of the rap icons' biggest songs, including "Hail Mary" and "Hypnotize," respectively.

The show then took a smooth turn as the D-O-double G went into "Sexual Eruption." Surprisingly, Snoop's band transformed the laid back cut into a cover of House of Pain's "Jump Around," whipping the audience into a frenzy.

After finishing off his set with his funkdafied banger "Who Am I? (What's My Name?)," Snoop reminded everyone of the three most important things to do everyday--brush your teeth, be thankful for another day...and you know the rest.

Snoop Dogg's new album, More Malice, is in stores now.
[Claire Lobenfeld]

DJ Fancypants (aka Paul Banks from Interpol aka Julian Plenti) opened the night.

Snoop follows that up with a 4/20 show at Irving Plaza in NYC tonight (4/20). More pictures the full setlist from last night (4/19), below...

Continue reading "Snoop Dogg played Brooklyn Bowl (pics & setlist) "

photos by Vincent Cornelli

"On Friday night we stopped in at the Guggenheim for the second in the museum's "It Came From Brooklyn" concert series [(the first featured The Walkmen)]. This time around, the main event was Paul Banks' solo project Julian Plenti, with a solid dose of comedic input from MC Eugene Mirman...

...Banks took to the stage around 10:30, with a band significantly larger than his usual four piece. In addition to Banks on guitar, there was an additional guitarist, bass, drums, and a three piece string section. The mix of instrumentation served to flesh out the sound, and moreover it served as a solid foundation for the atmospheric sound of Julian Plenti....

...One of the more interesting points of the evening was Banks' choice of covers. They included America's "Horse With No Name" and the Pixies B-Side "Into The White". [Hippies Are Dead]

Banks/Plenti's core band consisted of the unmistakable Damian Paris of The Giraffes (who played their own show one night later at The Studio) on guitar, Nick Stumpf of The French Kicks on drums, and Dmitry Ishenko of I'm In You on bass. I'm In You was also the opening band and is currently still on tour with Julian. Banks was also joined by Yuiko Kamakara on viola, Erica Dicker on violin, and The Great Yoed Nir on cello.

There were also readings by Hampton Fancher and Rivka Galchen before Julian played.

Due to Julian's 10:30 set time, there was actually time on Friday to see Passion Pit and Phoenix at Summerstage before Julian, and then Rorschach and Hellbastard at The Charleston afterwards. At least a few people did just that.

Julian Plenti plays two more NYC shows in November. Tickets are on sale.

More pictures from the Guggenheim (where Kandinsky works are now on display), and Julian Plenti's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Julian Plenti & band played The Guggenheim w/ I'm In You, Eugene Mirman & friends - pics, setlist "

DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Fun That We Have (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Games for Days (MP3)

Though the solo debut of Julian Plenti (aka Paul Banks of Interpol) has been out for over a month, the singer still hasn't played any shows. His official live debut takes place September 25th gig at the Guggenheim Museum, as part of its It Came From Brooklyn series (which brought the Walkmen and High Places in August). Also on the bill are I'm In You, authors Rivka Galchen and Hampton Fancher, and host Eugene Mirman. Tickets are still on sale to that show. We also has a pair to give away - details are below.

Past that it looks like Julian will be going on a North American tour in November, though not many dates are public yet. NYC was announced though, and the shows are November 24th at Bowery Ballrom and November 25th at Brooklyn Bowl. Ticket info TBA (on sale Friday?). He's also scheduled to play Europe in December.

Two tracks from Julian Plenti is Skyscraper are posted above. Contest details and known tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Julian Plenti tour dates, 2 more NY shows ++ WIN TICKETS "

Tickets are on sale for the Julian Plenti aka Paul Banks of Interpol show happening at the Guggenheim Museum.

DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Fun That We Have (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Games for Days (MP3)

'Plenti' of tour dates on the way?

The inaugural "It Came From Brooklyn" show at the Guggenheim happens this Friday, August 14th with The Walkmen (who also play Summerstage on the 16th with Dinosaur Jr. and Saviours), High Places and the Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band (plus Colson Whitehead and emcee Leo Allen). Tickets are still on sale.

The next edition of that monthly series on September 25th will feature a headlining set by Julian Plenti (aka Paul Banks of Interpol). Presumably this will be his first real show as Julian Plenti (and the September show that was promised). Also on the museum bill are I'm In You, readings from Rivka Galchen and Hampton Fancher and host Eugene Mirman. No tickets yet.

Banks's Julian Plenti is Skyscraper album came out on August 4th. Two tracks from it are above, and the full record is streaming at Rhapsody. It looks like he'll be planning a bigger tour around the Plenti material this fall.

Interpol frontman Paul Banks has revealed today (August 11) that he plans to tour as his solo alter-ego Julian Plenti.

The singer, who recently released the album 'Julian Plenti... Is Skyscraper', spoke to NME Radio about his plans for his solo project.

"I'm really enthused about this music and making more of this music and doing everything that goes into it," he told DJ Iain Baker. "There are some shows that are just getting booked now. There will be a tour!" [NME]

He played the album's first single, "Games For Dates," August 8th on Jimmy Fallon. That video, with the Emily Haines-starring official music video, below...

Continue reading "Julian Plenti playing Guggenheim & will tour ++ Fallon video"

"after seeing this video I lost any respect I had for Perry Farrell. Why is he even bothering with music anymore? He and his wife should stick with porn exclusively". - Anonymous | August 8, 2009 1:32 AM

"Perry's" stage @ Lollapalooza - August 8, 2009 (by kazahel)

Julian Plenti FTW....

Continue reading "Paul Banks (Julian Plenti) & Emily Haines VS Perry Farrell & Etty Farrell VS Perry Farrell & LeAnn Rimes (VIDEOS)"

DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Fun That We Have (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Games for Days (MP3)

We just wrote about Julian Plenti, the solo project of Interpol's Paul Banks. His debut under that name, Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper, is due out August 4th on Matador. A second MP3, "Games for Dates," is now legally available for download above.

It was also announced today that Plenti/Banks will be making a TBA live appearance in September (stay tuned for details), and that he'll be on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Friday, August 7th. Album art and tracklist (again), below...

Continue reading "Julian Plenti (Paul Banks) will play TV & somewhere + an MP3"

DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Fun That We Have (MP3)

Since we just mentioned one new solo project from a band on hiatus (Julian from The Strokes), it'd be good to mention two other similar albums in the works.

In May, it was announced that Paul Banks of Interpol will be releasing a solo record called Julian Plenti is Skyscraper (Plenti being his own moniker) through Interpol's ex-label Matador on August 4th. Listen to "Fun That We Have," from the record, above.

This'll be the recording debut from "Julian Plenti," but the project itself is nothing new.

From 1998 to 2003, Julian Plenti performed in and around Manhattan as an acoustic solo artist. Venues that played host included Tobacco Road, Pete's Candy Store, The Knitting Factory, The Living Room, and "Lach's Antihoot" at Sidewalk Cafe.

In 2006 Plenti began to demo a selection of his music using Logic Pro, including some older acoustic songs ("Girl on the Sporting News," "On the Esplanade," "Fly as you Might," "Fun that We Have") with added beats and string arrangements.

In the Fall of 2008 Mr. Plenti took the demoed album to the Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn to be re-recorded with live instrumentation.

He hired session performers to play the string and horn arrangements, and also enlisted some friends. Mike Stroud of Ratatat and Charles Burst of The Occasion guest on "Skyscraper;" Sam Fogarino of Interpol plays drums on "Games For Days;" and Striker Manley of Stiff Jesus appears on "No Chance Survival" and "Fun That We Have."

Shows in support of the record are expected (...as are Julian Casblancas shows. I vote they play a show together).

And it was announced this week that another frontman-cum-solo-performer, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (who we reported in January will be taking a break... possibly a very long one), will be releasing his debut, Mo Beauty, on October 20th on Anti- Records. That album was recorded at New Orleans' Piety St. recording studio...

For Mo Beauty, Ounsworth was backed by George Porter, Jr. on bass, Stanton Moore on drums, Robert Walter on keys, and Matt Sutton on baritone and pedal-steel guitars, with additional help from some members of the diversely talented New Orleans community such as Mark Mullins, Craig Klein, Greg Hicks, Washboard Chaz, Shannon Powell, John Boute, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, and Meschiya Lake. The album was produced by veteran musician/producer and fellow Philadelphian Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Blasters, John Lee Hooker, The Replacements).

This is not the first non-CYHSY project from Alec (though maybe the first that has a record), and this is not the first announcement this month from Anti regarding a new solo album from a popular Brooklyn band member (though I think Alec actually calls Philly home).

Other CYHSY side-projects include Uninhabitable Mansions and Radical Dads. Interpol Sam drums in Magnetic Morning. None of these bands have any upcoming dates.

Tracklists for Mo Beauty and Skyscraper, with a YouTube video that purports to be the first 30 seconds or so of each Julian Plenti track, below...

Continue reading "Interpol's Paul Banks (Julian Plenti) & CYHSY's Alec Ounsworth are releasing solo albums too"