Lady Lamb the Beekeeper @ Rock Shop (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Singer/songwriter Aly Spaltro - formerly based in Portland, Maine, and known to fans as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper - is blowing up fast. She played at promoter Billy Ruane's rock 'n' roll wake last month, won Folk Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards earlier this month and performs at the Lizard Lounge tonight.

Oh, and she's already managed to get Amanda Palmer's stamp of approval. After seeing Spaltro's BMA set, Palmer tweeted, "chick blew me away live."

The exclamation of love was absolutely warranted: She blew a lot of people away that night.

The only thing off was winning for Folk Artist.

"I don't consider myself folk," Spaltro said during a visit to the Herald. "I'm really honored with the win, but I'm not folk. I don't know what genre I'm in." [Boston Herald]

Listen on MySpace, or watch some of the videos below and decide for yourself what genre the super talented Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is. Or just check her out live at one of the four NYC shows she's playing before the end of the year including the super interesting and free one happening TONIGHT (12/20) at the Delancey:

Main Floor: PAUL WALLFISCH'S SMALL BEAST / SMALL BEAST HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA! with Special guest Curators this week the LYNNS [LYNN FARRELL & LYNN WRIGHT ]Featuring: 8:00 pm PETE SIMONELLI [reading] / PAUL WATSON 8:45 pm LADY LAMB THE BEEKEEPER 9:30 pm AND THE WIREMEN 10:30 pm BEE AND FLOWER 11:30 Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) & Danielle de Picciotto FREE!!!

If you miss that, she plays The Rock Shop Tuesday (12/21) with Cat Martino, Mercury Lounge Wednesday (12/22) with Favourite Sons, and then Rockwood Music Hall on 12/28.

She also plays a trio of shows in January with Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield including the one happening at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Evan & Juliana played shows in NYC in September.

All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is here (for four NYC shows), touring with Evan & Juliana (2011 dates)"

photos by Lori Baily

Martin Bisi and Larkin Grimm played Mercury Lounge on January 24th. Lori got some pictures. They're in this post. They both also shared a bill at the Knitting Facory about three week's prior (at the end of December).

Martin Bisi's next show is tonight (2/1) at Small Beast, a weekly show hosted by Paul Wallfisch, Mondays at The Delancey. Upcoming acts on Small Beast's diverse schedule include kitchen-sink punk Bad Credit No Credit, cabaret singer Little Annie, and punk jazz group Gutbucket. The full schedule for that and more pictures are below...

Continue reading "Larkin Grimm & Martin Bisi pics, Small Beast schedule..."

by Andrew Frisicano

Andrew W.K. w/ Fucked Up in Brooklyn on November 5th (more by Jake Forney)

One of the best kept secrets in the entertainment industry, Jonté is known to the stars as a virtuoso choreographer, able to bring out the beast in his clientelle, which includes Beyonce Knowles among others. As a solo act, he brings it on all fronts, executing the freshest moves while spitting the fiercest vocal heard. His unique urban fem style is shattering culture barriers and leaving liberation in its wake. - Santos website

Jonté and a crew of Santos regulars that include Cherie Lily, Bad Brilliance, Narcissister and DJs Roxy Cottontail and Andrew W.K. will be at the club for a party on Thursday, January 28th. Tickets are on sale. We have two pairs of tickets to give away (one of which comes with a bottle of champagne signed by Andrew W.K.). Details are below.

As previously mentioned, Andrew W.K. has quite a bit going on in the coming months. He appears at Joe's Pub on February 11th as part of Gonzales' residency there. He'll be answering your questions at Santos on February 23rd (the same day he releases a new album), and he'll be on Warped Tour this summer.

Andrew W.K. produced a new album for performance artist/cabaret singer/songwriter Baby Dee, though not her next upcoming record A Book of Songs for Anne Marie, which comes out March 23rd on Drag City (pushed back from its original January release date). An album and book with the same name was released by Dee in 2004, but Dee points out "this is a new version of the album, now produced and arranged by Maxim Moston from Antony and the Johnsons." The album Andrew worked on does not yet have a name or release date. He has also played as part of Baby Dee's band in the past,

On February 4th Andrew will be part of "We Sing Baby Dee! #3," a night at Joe's Pub organized by composer Sxip Shirey and dedicated to "Interpretations of the songs of Baby Dee." Also performing will be Corn Mo, Little Annie and Paul Wallfisch, Curtis Eller, Aimee Curl, Lance Horne, Mathew and Sarah, Philip Raia and Lila, "a special guest appearance by 9 year old singer Frankky Lou Hightower from Kansas City" and Baby Dee herself. Tickets are on sale.

Baby Dee will also be performing at The Stone the next night (2/5) with cellist Matthew Robinson. Baby Dee will be touring extensively this February and March in Europe and April and May in North America.

All tour dates, contest info and videos are below...

Continue reading "Baby Dee playing shows, touring, releasing album --- collaborator Andrew WK playing too (win tix & champagne)"

photos by Greg Cristman

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch played Galapagos in Brooklyn on December 9th. More pictures from their show below...

Continue reading "Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch @ Galapagos in Brooklyn - pics"

Black Dice when they opened for Animal Collective (more by Tim Griffin)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Mitch Easter @ Maxwell's
* N.A.S.A @ Bowery Ballroom
* Dave Hill: Big in Japan @ UCB
* Wicked Awesomes @ Cake Shop
* Kaki King @ Galapagos Art Space
* Juana Molina, Lia Ices & Jetty Rae @ MHOW
* Alasdair Roberts & Bert Jansch @ City Winery
* Alina Simone, Ben & Vesper, Emilyn Brodsky @ Pianos
* Gringo Starr, Band of Skulls & Joel Plaskett @ Union Hall
* Asshole Parade, Apeshit! & Vermefug @ the Charleston
* Electric Six & Les Sans Culottes on a Rocks Off Cruise
* Amazing Baby (secret show) & No Bra @ Bruar Falls
* Bouncing Souls, Lifetime & None More Black @ Webster Hall
* Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Von Iva & Jennifer O'Connor @ Mercury Lounge
* Das Racist, Best Fwends, Body Language & Natureboy Jim Kelly @ Studio
* Black Dice, Landed & Chinese Stars (Adult Swim party) @ Santos Party House

Bouncing Souls play their first of two NYC shows at Webster Hall tonight. Check out what Greg had to say to Kevin.

Black Dice just opened for Animal Collective. Tonight it's a free show at Santos Party House. "Adult Swim Presents Summer At Santos Series curated by Christy Karacas with Black Dice, Landed and Chinese Stars. Hosted by Tim Harrington"

"Zero Film Festival, the first festival exclusive to self-financed filmmakers, has our New York Premiere August 20th at Galapagos Art Space, in build-up to our week-long festival in December." Music by Kaki King, Soundpool, and Setting Sun.

Amazing Baby, who are headlining their own show at Bowery Ballroom on October 3rd (tickets now on sale), play a secret set at Bruar Falls tonight at 11pm.

Jennifer O'Connor says, "I'm playing 2 shows this week. One on Thursday, August 20, opening for the force of nature that is Amy Ray and her rock band. This will take place at Mercury Lounge in NYC. I will be playing with my own band/brand of rock (Michael Brodlieb on bass - and Jon Langmead on drums - Jon is also the drummer for Choo Choo la Rouge). Then I'm playing on Saturday August 22 at Union Hall in Brooklyn as part of a special Kiam Records showcase/record release party for the Choo Choo la Rouge record. I'll be going on first this night and be playing solo acoustic. I want ALL OF YOU in New York to please come to this show!"

A new video for a new song by Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

photos by Tim Griffin

Baby Dee

Botanica frontman/keyboardist Paul Wallfisch has taken over booking Thursdays upstairs at the Delancey, effectively creating one of the very few "must-see" nights anywhere in the New York rock scene, especially considering that for the time being it's free. Simply put, New York hasn't had a consistent home for intelligent, challenging rock and rock-related music since Tonic closed two and a half years ago. With this new series, playfully titled Small Beast, Wallfisch aims to change that. Typically, he starts the evening solo on piano, perhaps introducing a guest or two and then bringing up the night's featured artist or artists." [Lucid Culture]

Last night's bill (1/29) also featured Erik Sanko (Skeleton Key), Little Annie (who released an album with Paul last year and sang with him at this show), and Baby Dee (currently signed to Drag City and who has shared the stage with Little Annie before). Andrew WK, like he's also done before, sat in as part of Baby Dee's band for the show.

More pictures from the night below...

Continue reading "Baby Dee (w/ Andrew WK), Little Annie, Paul Wallfisch & Erik Sanko @ The Delancey, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Little Annie - It Was A Very Good Year (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Baby Dee - The Only Bones that Show (MP3)

I just realized that the Little Annie & Baby Dee show is tonight at Joe's Pub. Of course the show starts in 2 hours, so you probably won't go if you're reading this, but I thought I would finally stop procrastinating and mention it (and them) at least anyway.

"Baby Dee is an internationally traveled singer, pianist, harpist, songwriter and performer. Dee claimed New York City as home for decades, but now resides in her hometown of Cleveland, OH." I think it was Baby Dee's connection to Antony that first led me to her, and I was definitely excited when I first found out that Drag City was putting out her new album. Then I was even more excited when I found out who else was involved...

Produced by Will Oldham and Matt Sweeney (who also perform on the record), Safe Inside the Day is a record with that blends the Old World with new pop sensibilities. She is also helped by contributions from Andrew WK, Robbie Lee, Max Moston (Antony and the Johnsons), William Breeze (Psychic TV), John Contreras (Current 93), James Lo (Chavez) and Lia Kessel.

The record comes out January 22nd. I have a copy, and while certainly not bad, it unfortunately hasn't excited me to the levels the description first did. I'm not done giving it a chance though, and I'm upset that instead of seeing the show tonight, I'm just typing about it.

Little Annie is also connected to Antony - he produced her last album called Songs From the Coalmine Canary which featured the song "Strange Love" which was used in a Levi's commercial and went on to win "Best Use of Music in Advertising" at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. And like Baby Dee, Little Annie also has a new album coming out (Feb. 2008). It's a partnership with Paul Wallfisch called When Good Things Happen to Bad Pianos - described as a "cycle of songs by Frank Sinatra, Leon Russell, Tina Turner, Jacques Brel, Candi Staton, Michael Legrand and U2." Annie & Paul will also be touring together in 2008.

Continue reading "Baby Dee & Little Annie"