During our CMJ parties this past October, we partnered with Sony Bloggie to film a video series ("Green Room Sessions") of exclusive performances by artists, many of whom also played at our CMJ events. All of the videos were shot on nothing but Bloggies. We've been slowly revealing some of the videos from the series, but the most of them are finally here and can be watched below.

Chelsea Wolfe performed a new/non-album track called "Feral Love," accompanied only by brooding synths and beats from band member Ben Chisholm, making for a more similar performance to Chelsea's "solo" NYC debut than the full band set she delivered at our Friday party (10/21).

Members of Datarock, sitting on a ladder, played an acoustic guitar/saxophone and red-suit-less rendition of their song "True Stories," which they said they have to play when they're in NYC, as it is their tribute to Talking Heads, with every lyric in the song being a Talking Heads song title.

Laura Stevenson and her Don Giovanni labelmates Shellshag both played songs for us. Laura played a solo acoustic version of "Barnacles" from the Laura Stevenson and the Cans' album Sit Resist on the staircase to the green room at Public Assembly, whereas Shellshag took us out to the waterfront for a stripped down performance of "Face to Face."

Ólöf Arnalds played a new song called "Sudden Elevation" and a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man" which is one of the covers on her new mini album.

Peelander-Z took us outside on North 6th Street, shortly after playing our day party in Public Assembly. With no instruments except their voices, they wrote us a theme song.

Similarly to Chelsea Wolfe, Channy Caselle of Polica performed with just a microphone and samples playing through a guitar amp, as opposed to the massive dual drum rumbling set Polica played at our Saturday party (10/22). She performed "Happy Be Fine" off their upcoming debut LP, Give You the Ghost.

New Zealand band Street Chant, who played our Saturday party, played two songs for us after their set, "Stoned Again" and "You Do the Maths." For both songs, frontwoman Emily Littler played guitar and sang as the rest of her band and members of The Suzan provided claps and backup vocals.

Dave Quon of We Barbarians, who were also on the Saturday party, played an acoustic version of "Chambray" off the band's Headspace EP backstage after their set.

We Were Promised Jetbacks, who were announced on our Thursday (10/20) party at the last minute, played as a three piece because one of their members hadn't arrived to NYC yet at that point. Then, to size their lineup down even more, frontman Adam Thompson performed two songs on his own for us with his acoustic guitar (filmed on the same day they headlined Webster Hall).

A few more are coming, but meanwhile watch all of our completed videos below...

Continue reading "WATCH BV 'Green Room Sessions' (shot on a Sony Bloggie)"

As we said we would, we pulled lots of bands aside this past CMJ to capture video footage with Sony Bloggie cameras. What we ended up with ranged from beautiful, crazy-cool & head-bobbing to completely bizarre. I give you exhibit b (for bizarre): the video embedded above starring the one and only Peelander.... Z! Check it out.

The video was filmed on North 6th Street in Brooklyn not long after they played an insane set at the free BrooklynVegan party inside Public Assembly. Video from that craziness, below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z perform new BrooklynVegan theme song (videos)"

Peelander-Z @ the Warped tour (more by Andrew St. Clair)

As you know, Peelander-Z are on the lineup of the free BrooklynVegan day party at Public Assembly on Saturday along with Idle Warship, Vockah Redu, Friends, Memoryhouse, The Stepkids and many more. They also play an official CMJ showcase that night at Bowery Poetry Club with Moonlight Towers from Austin at 11PM and The Clutters from Nashville at 1145PM. You can see both flyers and even more Peelander-Z tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Peelander Z playing 2 CMJ shows on Saturday (and other dates)"

STAGE 1 (front room)
12:00 Street Chant
01:00 Memoryhouse
01:45 Purity Ring
02:30 Friends
03:15 Peelander-Z
04:00 Vockah Redu (New Oreleans bounce)
05:00 Idle Warship

STAGE 2 (back room)
12:00 We Barbarians
12:40 Polica
01:25 We are Augustines
02:10 The Stepkids
03:00 Born Gold
03:40 Electric Guest
04:30 Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
05:15 Fidlar

This Saturday show is going to be non-stop action starting right at noon with New Zealand's Street Chant on the main stage (and We Barbarians in the other room). I'm excited for everyone, but the over the top antics of both Peelander-Z (after the dance pop party that is Brooklyn's Friends) and bounce artist Vockah Redu (who will warm up the crowd for Idle Warship) should make for a very memorable afternoon in more ways than one.

In addition to free music, here are some more reasons to stop by Saturday. We will have FREE SNACKS courtesy of popchips and Raw Revolution and FREE DRINKS courtesy of Sailor Jerry and our official CMJ wine partner HobNob Wines. Check out HobNob's Facebook page for free music downloads and go to Sailor Jerry's website to read more about all of their CMJ events.

We'll also have FREE BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 25 people in the door (not many of these exist - we sold them for charity at CMJ last year).

As mentioned in our Thursday Day Party announcement, we've also partnered with Spotify who are offering 48 hour free Premium trials (playlist for this party coming soon) and Sony Bloggie (stay tuned for our post-CMJ video series) for all BV CMJ/not-CMJ events including this one.

Thanks to Zach Jaeger (Tonally Dude) for the flyer you see above.

See you Saturday!

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Japanese action comic punks Peelander-Z recently played Warped Tour. The tour included stops at NY's Nassau Coliseum and NJ's Monmouth Park. Pictures from both shows are in this post.

Peelander-Z will return to the Brooklyn stage later this month when they present P-Pop-Party #2 at Death By Audio on August 24 with "Japanese Gypsy Cabaret" group Izumi Goto, Luke and the Cocktails (members of Peelander-Z and Anamanaguchi), Peelander-Z's sister band Peewonder-Z, and possibly a special guest from Planet-Peelander. A couple of weeks later the often-touring band will get back on the road for yet another tour. Their tourmates include The Aggrolites and Those Darlins. All dates are listed below.

In other Peelander-Z news, their greatest hits album Super DX Hitz is out now via Chicken Ranch Records as a CD/DVD combo that includes five karaoke videos. You can order the CD from the Chicken Ranch webstore. Check out a karaoke video for "S.T.E.A.K.", with more pics from Warped Tour and all dates below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z played Warped Tour, released greatest hits, touring again (pics & dates)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Peewonder-Z

There was red, yellow, pink, black and even Peelander-Z songs. but June 9th at Death By Audio wasn't a Peelander-Z show. It was a Peewonder-Z show! Though the night was hosted by Peelander-Z. Peewonder-Z is a new all-female trio who covered songs by Peelander (like "Ninja High School" and "Mad Tiger"), though they plan on having original material in the future. The other bands on the bill were TheBlackCherry (featuring Peelander Green and Black and a sax player that also plays with Peelander), and Ken South Rock who were Andrew's highlight of the evening. Peelander-Z members introduced all the bands on the bill to the all ages crowd at the Brooklyn DIY venue.

Peelander-Z's future includes a string of dates as part of the Warped Tour, and a new album they recently recorded in Austin. More pictures from the Peewonder-Z show below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z hosted Peewonder-Z, TheBlackCherry & Ken South Rock @ Death By Audio (pics)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, additional Friends photos by Sharese Frederick

Peelander-Z brightened up The Studio at Webster Hall on Saturday, 5/6, with a set of their effervescent pop-punk alongside Friends & Hard Nips. Pictures from the NYC show adorn this post.

Peelander-Z's next officially scheduled rendez-vous in the NYC area will be part of Vans Warped Tour 2011. They'll play all festival dates from 7/20-2/29 including Nassau Coliseum on 7/23 (tickets) and Monmouth Park Raceway in Oceanport, NJ on 7/24 (tickets).

And though Peelander-Z have no proper NYC dates on the calendar, they did announce another special event at the Studio. As you can see in the pictures above, "Sister of Peelander" Peewonder-Z... well, exist, and you can catch them at Death By Audio on June 9th with Peelander-Z side project Black Cherry (comprised of Green and Red) and DJ Yellow. What are Peewonder-Z? We think they may have said they are a Peelander-Z cover band. Stay tuned for more details or just show up to DbA on 6/9 to find out. Update: Facebook invite created.

Hard Nips and Friends both have NYC shows coming up soon, and both at 285 Kent. Friends play with Dan Deacon on May 21st. Hard Nips play with Quintron & Miss Pussycat on May 28th.

More pictures and a video from The Studio are below.

Continue reading "Peelander-Z played The Studio w/ Hard Nips & Friends (pics), Peewonder-Z playing DBA w/ Black Cherry"

Peelander-Z at The Studio in January (more by Leia Jospe)

Welcome home Peelander-Z! The NYC band is finally home after an extended tour with Anamanaguchi that kicked off at SXSW and ended on April 30th. And though the tour is over, the band is ALREADY back out on the road, playing Newark, Delaware tonight and a hometown show back at The Studio at Webster Hall Saturday (5/7) with Hard Nips and Friends. Tickets for that one are still available (and, update: we're giving away a pair on Facebook).

Anamanaguchi has a new NYC show on their calendar too, which they say "is gonna be AWESOME. we're gonna have: JAMS // VISUALS // STROBES // UNICORNBROS DOING SECURITY // FURBIES // RAINBOWS // W33D420 // OK." Bowery Presents may have to give some of their staff a night off to make way for those UNICORNBROS, because Anamanaguchi are talking about a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 7/22. Tickets are on sale.

You don't need to wait that link to see Anamanaguchi though. The band will play day one of this year's Blip Festival, the annual three day festival in celebration of "low-bit video games and home computers". This year's fest takes place at Manhattan's Eyebeam (540 West 21st Street) from May 19-21. Tickets are on sale with 3-day and 1-day options available. The full lineup is listed below. It includes Tristan Perich, Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, Starscream and many more.

Anamanaguchi, Starscream and Peelander-Z played a show together at the Studio at Webster Hall back in January. Check out the pics.

Hard Nips, who play with Peelander on Saturday, are also scheduled to support Quintron & Miss Pussycat with Super Nice Bros and X-ray Eyeballs on May 28th at 285 Kent. Friends, who also play with Peelander Saturday, play 285 Kent soon too, with Dan Deacon.

All tour dates, the Blip lineup and some videos below.

Continue reading "Blip Festival coming, Anamanguchi announce shows, Peelander-Z play one this weekend (dates)"

Guitar Wolf at Santos (more by Keith Marlowe)

Guitar Wolf will return to the US for announced dates in NYC and Chicago in May. No word on if these dates will lead to a full-blown tour, but luckily for NYC we know we can look forward to seeing the Japanese garage punks on May 13th at Knitting Factory with Cheap Time. Tickets are on sale.

The last time Guitar Wolf played NYC was with the cartoonish and superfun Peelander-Z. Peelander currently has no NYC dates (they recently played The Studio at Webster Hall), but will hit the road for a string of dates with Anamanaguchi directly following, and including SXSW, and then they're going on Warped Tour.

All dates, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Guitar Wolf announce dates, Cheap Time & Peelander-Z too"

photos by Leia Jospe

"Unlike the heroes of "Tron: Legacy,'' the members of Anamanaguchi haven't gotten trapped inside a video game. But they did get to compose the score for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game,'' which is almost as appropriate. That's because Anamanaguchi plays "chiptune'' music - jumpy, bleepy rock that incorporates the rudimentary tones of such early eight-bit video-game systems as Game Boy and NES.

An American band with a fake-Japanese name, Anamanaguchi doesn't rely entirely on braying electronics. The group adds guitar, drums and bass to its instrumentals, yielding music that suggests a more trebly version of Trans Am, the D.C. trio that melds electro- and arena-rock." [Washington Post]

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi scored the Scott Pilgrim game, played the Studio @ Webster Hall w/ Peelander-Z & Starscream (pics)"

Peelander-Z w/ Starscream at Santos in November (more by Andrew St. Clair)

The wild boys of Japanese-Comic-Punk of Peelander-Z will team up with FourLoko-guzzling boys of Anamanaguchi to play The Studio at Webster Hall on January 14th with Starscream. Tickets are still available or you can try your luck at winning one of two pairs! Details on how to win are below.

The show at The Studio at Webster Hall is the second-to-last date on an Anamanaguchi tour that kicks off TONIGHT at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn (1/6) with Lionshare & The So So Glos. Tickets for that show are still available too.

All tour dates, as well as the latest Peelander-Z video for the song "Taco Taco Tacos" (I can't make this stuff up), below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi kicking off tour tonight in Brooklyn (dates), playing Manhattan w/ Peelander-Z (win tix)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

"Second on the bill were, TsuShiMaMiRe. On tour supporting their new album entitled "Sex on the Beach," The trio from Japan, formed by Mari (guitar/vocals), Yayoi (bass) and Mizue (drums) balanced a high-wire dance mix of killer-dressed surf guitar riffs and funk driven grooves to the melodious delectation of the crowd. Their supreme musicianship was punctuated with energy and rapport that navigated any language barriers with sonic speed and graciousness." [Take Cover and Shoot]

Continue reading "Peelander-Z, TsuShiMaMiRe & Starscream @ Santos Party House (pics)"

by BBG

Snapcase

It's 1PM in Texas and I just tied a bandana around my face before its time to get down to business. I'm not some outlaw out to rob a bank and hop on a speeding stagecoach; With the dry dirt and the hordes of kids in full-on circle-pit/floorpunch mode, a bandana or a surgical mask is a key tool in dealing with the clouds of dust that form around the chaos.

Chaos it was, off-stage that is, as the crowd popped for the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, Snapcase, Dwarves, Municipal Waste, Gwar, Mastodon and others on Fun Fun Fun Fest's Black Stage (where I spent a good bit of my time). Though I wandered to the Orange Stage to catch amazing performances from Cap'n Jazz, The Hold Steady & Descendents (among many others) and the Blue Stage to catch scorching shows from Big Freedia, Pharoahe Monch, Dam-Funk, and A-Trak, but it was the Black Stage where I caught pretty much every single band in action.

And that's a lot! One of the great things about the Black and Orange stages is that they are actually TWO stages each. A band will finish their set, and then on a stage right next to it, another band will line check and play. Times between bands varied (due to set time length and on occasion, technical difficulties), but there were moments when it was as low as 5 minutes between sets. More music and less downtime.

I started out my Saturday (11/6) with Black Congress, whose powerful post-hardcore impressed the early crowd. Hatred Surge followed, and even with a new singer in tow, the brutality has stayed a constant. Power Trip was next, and they do crossover-thrash that is less DRI/ Municipal Waste, and more serious/furious. Bands this good shouldn't play this early.

I'm very picky about sung vocals and punk rock, so it's sort of no surprise that I didn't care for either Bad Religion (who had no guitar in the mix for the first three songs), The Briggs or The Vandals, but I did enjoy what I saw of Strike Anywhere's live set (even though I am not into their recorded output). Dreadlocked singer Thomas Barnett is as energetic a frontman as I would see on the Black Stage all weekend, and really added tremendous power to the band's melodic hardcore.

Muncipal Waste (more here)

Strike Anywhere is from Richmond, and the band got a "Richmond represent" shout out from the great Municipal Waste that day. The band thrashed their way through one of my favorite sets of the afternoon, complete with thrown trash cans, a wall of death, stage diving, and an "execution" courtesy of fellow Richmond band Gwar. Gwar was fun in a kitschy way and delivered a great set later in the day, but the crowd energy and the precision of MW's live show was the most memorable.

Also on the Black stage were Valient Thorr and The Casualties who both delivered energetic sets, with the latter giving a crusty spin on the Ramones classic "Blitzkrieg Bop". The mohawk-ed kids went ape, and a wall of death, which was later faux-mocked by Municipal Waste when they initiated their own wall of death, was called upon by vocalist Jorge Herrera.

On the Orange stage, I managed to catch Woven Bones, The Appleseed Cast, and Jeff The Brotherhood. Jeff The Brotherhood is a staple of the small stage in NYC, so it was a bit odd to hear that guitar tone blaring out of 50 feet of PA speakers. Odd, but no less fun/impressive.

Along with Municipal Waste, Big Freedia was another one of my favorite sets of the day. Her nonsense odes to ass, ass, and ass-clapping were a pure sugar-rush and left 90% of the crowd in hilarious amazement and the other 10% with a big old "WTF" look. The Freedia set was tamer than her usual appearances, but no matter, it was still much fun and much booty-shakin. Dam-Funk would also get the crowd moving on that same stage hours later.

Seeing Big Freedia meant missing a good portion of Cap'n Jazz, who announced on stage that Fun Fun Fun would be their last show. Unbelieveably kinetic and powerful, Cap'n Jazz reminds me that emo is short for "emotional" and not just a psuedonym for pop-crossover. Mesmerizing and awesome.

Peelander-Z

Sunday (11/7) was a late start for me, so I got to the venue to see the tail end of Junius (who played 2nd, after Eagle Claw on the Black Stage). They're a band I'm very familiar with for their latter-Isis crunch-and-clean vocals steelo. It was surprisingly the next band that really got me going: Peelander-Z. With a large crowd looking on, Peelander-Z delivered an incredible mix of energy, stage presence, audience participation, fun and simple song-craft, and plain old good times. They played from the crowd. They stage dove. They led the audience in a giant game of limbo. They had a footrace. Totally fun.

I have a lot of recent experience seeing OFF!, High on Fire, Kylesa, Floor, Mastodon, and The Bronx, who all played the Black Stage that day. All gave predictably excellent shows though Kylesa in particular seemed a bit more energetic that usual (lots of Laura pogoing). It might have been the fact that FFF marked the end of their US tour with Torche and High on Fire, but they were particularly good on that sweltering Sunday afternoon. Floor was great as usual, though I enjoyed them more at Red 7 later that night... possibly because their music felt like a bookend to a great weekend. Both High on Fire and Mastodon's setlist delved into all of their recorded efforts which, as a long time fan, was comforting.

I'm not particularly scared of anyone, but Human Furnace of Ringworm gives me the shakes. His gravelly voice propels the rest of the Clevo-hardcore band forward and blew my mind that afternoon. They were one of my highlights of the day, and if I had only seen them and Snapcase on Sunday, I would have been content.

If my dad listened to modern music anymore, he would go apeshit for The Hold Steady. The band cranked out a crunchy Springsteen-esque set and sounded better than I have ever heard them before. Though they were killing on the Orange stage, I made the hard decision to bounce to catch the rest of Suicidal Tendencies' set.

Nothing against Mike Muir, but he isn't in the same shape that John Joseph of the Cro-Mags is (Muir and the rest of the known universe). No matter, it doesn't stop him from zigging and zagging back and forth on stage as the rest of Suicidal Tendencies runs through hits like "You Can't Bring Me Down" and "I Saw Your Mommy". High energy stuff; I can't imagine running in circles while trying to recite the words to "Institutionalized". Catch Suicidal and Cro-Mags together at Terminal 5 on November 14th.

If I was to pick two of my favorite sets from Sunday, the winners easily go to Snapcase and Descendents. Snapcase was brutal, technical, confrontational, and totally fun; the crowd gave back every ounce of energy that the band put in. From the opening notes of their third song, "Zombie Transmission" from Progress Through Unlearning, I knew that this was going to be a highlight. We need more shows from Snapcase.

Descendents, who we also need more shows from, are one of the few bands that pass my "no clean vocals in punk rock" test. Their songs are funny without being goofy, melodic without being overtly pop, and driving/hard when they want to be. Classics like "Suburban Home", "Bikeage" and a good portion of Somery, "Everything Sucks" and many of the highlights from that LP, and tons of others all made their way onto the setlist that night. And yes, the band made sure to fit in "All" and "Weinerschnitzel". Too fun, and though I left Mastodon early to catch them, I have no regrets.

As far as pictures go, we already split the fest up into ten other posts, my pictures from Saturday included. This post is number 11 and it includes all my pictures from Sunday (and it is our final set of Fun Fun Fun pics from this year) which continue, below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest in review w/ more Day 3 pics (part 4) - Snapcase, Floor Suicidal Tendencies, Kylesa, Ringworm & more"

Madeline Follin of Cults & Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast

It was like a buzz band explosion on Sunday when Bethany of Best Coast, who were playing the same stage later, came on stage during Cults' set to lead the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Cults member Madeline Follin who then wished Toro y Moi, who played the same stage earlier, a Happy Birthday as well. Cults were good too. I didn't see any of Best Coast's actual set, though Tim did.

The reason I missed all of Best Coast's set was due to the veggie hot dog eating contest happening on the Yellow Stage. I first met Mike Litt in 2008 when we partnered on a SXSW day party (which was also in partnership with Transmission who puts on Fun Fun Fun). At the time, I didn't know much about Mike except that he was vegan, a bit of an activist, a local Austin event promoter, and that he was responsible for throwing an annual veggie hot dog eating contest every July 4th in Austin. And it was those reasons that made me immediately want to start working with him and we've stayed in contact each SXSW since, and so there was no way I was missing this special edition of his veggie dog eating contest which was happening right at the festival (not to mention I've seen Best Coast multiple times already, I've seen the Bronx, and I wasn't really planning on catching P.O.S. who was also on at the same time).

yum

And I wasn't alone. A healthy size crowd showed up to view the grossness. Unfortunately there were too many contestants to fit at the table on the stage (forcing them to, at the very last minute with the timer ticking, add a 2nd table in the back for more contestants who couldn't be seen by most of the crowd), and there were a lot of introductions and comedy at the beginning that included getting volunteers from the crowd, plugging local comedy shows and musicians, some guys playing the National Anthem, and all the setup of plates and hot dogs and cups of water (not necessarily how you want to spend your valuable music festival minutes), but all in all (after a bit of anxiety waiting for the actual contest to begin), it was a good time, a rare break from the music for me, and for a worthwhile cause (I think). I (literally) love Mike Litt.

More pictures of the eating contest, metal jean jackets, Suicidal Tendencies, and other sights from Sunday (some which were not covered in the last TWO SUNDAY POSTS), below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 - Day 3 pics (part 3) - Cults w/ Bethany Best Coast, veggie hot dog eating contest, Hold Steady, more "

photos by Tim Griffin

Peelander Pink & fan

As just mentioned, Fun Fun Fun Fest closed out Sunday night with competing headlining sets by Mastodon and the Descendents. Earlier that day, NYC's own Peelander-Z played a set to a massive crowd of punks, metalheads and indie kids alike. I already thought Peelander were awesome before I saw them wow Austin, but now I'm even more enamored with them. Don't forget to catch them out on tour and greet them at Santos Party House on November 20th when they get home. Like LaneHolloway.com says:

"At first I had no clue what Peelander Z was about, but any band named Peelander Z has to be worth seeing at least once. PZ is off-the-wall fun -- it was the most fun I've had watching a band in a long time. Any band that replaces themselves with people from the audience then begins to run around in the audience doing human bowling, crowd surfing, calisthenics and banging on pots and pans is worth seeing multiple times. The songs were simplistic, but fun and the energy they gave off was something not to be missed."

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 - Day Three in pics (part 1) - OFF!, Peelander-Z, Kylesa, Mastodon, Ringworm & more"

Guitar Wolf photos by Keith Marlowe, Peelander-Z photos by Harriet Roberts

Most Guitar Wolf Fans express their feelings with words like "awesome!" and "bad fuckin' ass," and with good reason: Their music just doesn't lend itself to measured critical reflection. This was clear as soon as they came out in their signature black leather and sunglasses. Drum Wolf and Bass Wolf established a rhythm first, and the crowd was getting rowdy before Guitar Wolf (aka Seiji) began playing. Seiji has as much rock star charisma as it's possible to imagine, and impressed us with his heroics, aiming his guitar at the crowd like a machine gun during "Machine Gun Guitar." His stage patter, although difficult to make out, was also entertaining: "Motherfucker ... [inaudible] motherfucker!" ...

Seiji's Ramones- and Link Wray-inspired playing is amazing, but the band's overall guitar tone is perhaps the most distinctive aspect of their live performance -- a crushing, ultra-distorted rumble not quite like any we've heard before. -[Nashville Scene]

Peelander-Z are currently on tour, but will return to NYC on 11/20 to play Santos Party House with Starscream and current tourmates TsuShiMaMiRe. Tickets are still available.

More pictures from Santos are below...

Continue reading "Guitar Wolf played Gonerfest, Matador 21 & Santos w/ Peelander-Z (pics) "

DOWNLOAD: Peelander-Z - E-I-E-I-O (MP3)

Peelander-Z at Death By Audio in July (more by Leia Jospe)

"Japanese action comic punks" Peelander-Z will be supporting the one and only Guitar Wolf at Santos THIS THURSDAY (9/23). Tickets are still on sale. The show is not one to be missed.

On November 20th the colorful group will return to the same exact NYC venue as a headliner, with support from Starscream, and Japanase girl group TsuShiMaMiRe who they'll be ending a month-long tour with. Tickets are also currently on sale for that 2nd NYC show.

TsuShiMaMiRe

"Food is a noticeable subject in [Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's] lyrics. In the rap-rock title song from no-miso shortcake (brain shortcake), lead singer Mari invites the listener to eat her brain. In Kamaboco (Fish Cakes), all three girls play the roles of food ingredients in Japanese hotpot, with fish cakes (Mari) feeling rejected and lonely because she is never added to hotpot. In their very first single, American Hamburger, an upbeat pop song, the singer describes herself as fat and food-loving but beautiful; the first line is, "I'm a pig so I eat pork." (Actually, all three band members are usually quite svelte.)

Some of their most powerful songs address death and its inevitability. In Na-mellow (Nameru), the singer plays the role of the young daughter of a fisherman, who gradually realizes her father will never return from a fishing voyage. In Manhole, the singer speculates about where manholes in the street might lead to, perhaps to the land of the dead.

Another common theme is sex, which is frequently juxtaposed against the squeaky-clean stereotype of the innocent-looking Japanese girl. In the title song from Pregnant Fantasy, the unborn baby of a pregnant teenager asks why her mother will bear her when she is not wanted. In World Peace & BOU, the singer appears to be speculating that world peace can be brought about by a cartoon penis." [Wikipedia]

Continue reading "Peelander-Z opening for Guitar Wolf before touring w/ TsuShiMaMiRe in support of a new album (MP3, video & dates) "

photos by Leia Jospe

Dude brought a vuvuzuela to blow in the audience during Peelander Z show. It was funny the first 5 mins. Then I wanted to break it over ... - -BicoastalBitchn

Peelander-Z and Anamanaguchi played a show at Death By Audio on Saturday, July 3rd with Math The Band and Previously on Lost.

Peelander-Z have a few shows outside of NYC coming up - the closest is at NJ's Asbury Lanes on August 14th.

More pictures from the show (World Cup fever continues) and a video of Anamanaguchi playing their theme to the forthcoming Scott Pilgrim (movie tie-in) video game (not at DBA) are below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z & Anamanaguchi played Death by Audio (pics) "

Peelander-Z @ South Street Seaport - Aug 2009 (more by Oliver Lopena)

NYC costumed party rockers Peelander-Z will be playing a March 6th show at Death by Audio (along with Math the Band, Uncle Monsterface, The Eskalators and Lima) before heading out on an extensive US tour that'll include shows at SXSW and a tour-closing gig at Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday, May 1st with Math the Band (who join them on tour) and Anamanaguchi. Tickets to that are on sale.

Remember back to last summer when Peelander solicited people (especially people named 'Mike or John') for a video shoot: Well the resulting video for "So Many Mike" is out, and posted below. That, all tour dates and extra videos from Red, Green & Yellow are below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z video & tour dates (DbA, SXSW, B Bowl, more)"

Peelander-Z & Ponytail mug for the camera

Epic is often an overused term when it comes to describing a live show, but having seen Ponytail a bunch and going to loads of other shows, epic is the only way to describe Friday night at the Ottobar. See for yourself above, as Valerie captured each and every energy-filled moment in stellar fashion. Hear for yourself below, as the Baltimore Taper has provided us with the exclusive live recording of the show in MP3 and FLAC format. [Bmore Musically Informed]

Ponytail, and another extremely photogenic band, Peelander-Z, are playing shows this weekend (though not together).

Peelander performs their superhero rock tonight (10/9) at Maxwell's with Math The Band, The Eskalators and Lima Research Society. Tickets are still on sale. Tomorrow (10/8) they play Studio at Webster Hall with Math The Band and Uncle Monsterface. Tickets are also on sale. In a week and a half, they'll be on tour in Europe and they'll be hitting up Japan in December.

The manic live show of Ponytail, their first in NYC in three months, comes to the Bell House with Javelin on Saturday (10/8). Tickets are on sale. Javelin, who recently remixed the Very Best, are one of the bands booked for 10000 CMJ shows. Their full schedule is below.

If you want more of the above pics, they're from Peelander's South Street Seaport Yo-Yo Fest show in August and Ponytail's Pool Party gig in July. Peelander-Z just filmed a video for "So Many Mike.". That video isn't finished yet, but a live video of that song that was filmed in the same Baltimore club referenced above, and a Ponytail clip, with all tour dates, are below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z, Ponytail & Javelin - NYC shows this weekend, tour dates, CMJ, a live recording & video "

Peelander-Z played a Yo-Yo contest (more by Oliver Lopena)

On Saturday [August 29th], we are shooting a music video for Peelander-Z and the success of the video depends upon you and everyone showing up! The audience is a BIG part of the video and if your name is Mike or John, you'll actually be heavily featured in this! And if you're not named Mike or John, just rock out and the harder you rock, the more of you there probably will be in the video! It would be super awesome if everyone came and filled the room with drunken dancing and love. [-video director, Jonathan Yi]

Continue reading "Peelander-Z needs you to be in their video on Saturday, especially you Mike and John"

Cat Power @ MHOW 2/5 (more by Ryan Muir)

tonight in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB Theatre
* Steely Dan @ Beacon Theatre
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* Rev. Vince Anderson @ Union Pool
* The xx, Holly Miranda @ Monkey Town
* Jonah Matranga, Laurent Bourque @ Southpaw
* Les Paul Trio w/ Bucky Pizarelli @ Iridium
* Forest Fire, Shilpa Ray, Hologram @ Union Hall
* Daytime, Jenn Snowden, Apollo Heights @ Pianos
* Mark Burgess (Chameleons) & Blacklist @ the Bell House
* White Mice, Cacaw, Liturgy, White Suns @ Death By Audio
* The Pretenders, Cat Power, Juliette Lewis @ Central Park Summerstage
* Hockey, Sigmund Droid, Atomic Tom, Claymation Velociraptor @ Mercury Lounge
* Borrowed Eyes & The Blood Red Road, Midnight Masses @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Out of Doors Fest w/ Estudiantina Boliviana, Griot 3, Bonafide Rojas @ National Museum of the American Indian

Free outdoor music tonight includes a Lincoln Center Out of Doors Fest show with Estudiantina Boliviana, Griot 3 and Bonafide Rojas at the National Museum of the American Indian, and Teena Marie, Jeffrey Osborne and special guest Ruben Studdard at Wingate Field.

Steely Dan plays another night of its neverending Beacon Theatre run.

The Roots continue their Highline Ballroom residency, while Rev. Vince Anderson plays his regular free Monday set at Union Pool.

The Pretenders/Cat Power/Juliette Lewis tour hits the Central Park Summerstage, with great food options.

UK band The xx play yet another NYC show, this time at Monkey Town with Holly Miranda, leading up to its Seaport show this Friday with School of Seven Bells.

Costumed noise rock band White Mice play Death By Audio with Cacaw, Liturgy and White Suns, just one stop on its East Coast tour.

Bucky Pizarelli sits in for Les Paul at Iridium, as Les recovers from a recent illness.

Jonah Matranga will play the entire onelinedrawing catalog over three nights in L.A. (Aug 13-15). He plays tonight at Southpaw.

UCB Theatre presents its weekly Whiplash show, which tonight features Todd Barry, Jim Norton, Matt Walsh and Nick Kroll. The Benson Interruption takes place earlier in the evening at the same venue.

NYC's Peelander-Z played South Street Seaport's Yoyo Festival on Saturday. A video of that is posted below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

photos by Oliver Lopena

"World-class yo-yo talent takes the stage deep in the heart of the Big Apple! The 2nd Annual International Yo-Yo Open and New York State Yo-Yo Contest brings the world's best yo-yo players to the Big Apple for a day of entertainment, education, and eye-popping yo-yo ability. This international yo-yo showdown will draw competitors from all over the world.

In addition to watching head-spinning yo-yo tricks and the crowning of this year's New York State and International Open yo-yo champions, visitors can check out live music, DJs, breakdancers, jugglers, and spin-top and diabolo performers, and mini-contests and giveaways -- as well as try out the best in yo-yo equipment for beginners and experts." [official description of the event]

Continue reading "Peelander-Z & the world's best yo-yo players in NYC - pics"

Peelander-Z plays at 4:30.

Peelander-Z @ the Studio @ Webster Hall - May 16, 2009 (by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* Les Paul @ Iridium
* Green Day @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Roots @ Highline Ballroom
* The XYZ Affair & free comedy @ Pianos
* Busta Ryhymes @ Santos Party House
* The Shins, Delta Spirit @ Terminal 5
* Bob Log III, Willem Maker @ Union Hall
* Passion Pit @ Rocks Off Concert Cruises
* Iron and Wine, Partyface @ Abrons Art Center
* Azita, Wrekmeister Harmonies @ Mercury Lounge
* The Vaselines, Adam Green @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Jason Anderson, The Wailing Wall, Alden Barton @ Cake Shop
* Little Boots, Heartsrevolution, DJ Dave P @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Beets, My Teenage Stride, Tom Hamilton @ The Bell House
* Apeshit, Necking, Sex Negatives, Totally Ripped, White Suns @ Death By Audio

the Peelander-Z show (pictured above) happened the same night in the same venue, but in a different room, as Peaches.

Cage's new video for "I Never Knew You" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"