Pharmakon will release Abandon, Margaret Chardiet's debut effort with Sacred Bones and first long-player overall. Look for it on May 14th via the label, but first check out the new track "Crawling On Bruised Knees" available for streaming below..

Chardiet's noisy, confrontational and abrasive live show is a must see, and you can catch her at a trio of upcoming NYC shows including, most imminently, the previously discussed April 7th date at 285 Kent with Jason Lescalleet and Spencer Yeh Trio (tickets) and at another show at 285 Kent on June 15th with Marshstepper, Body of Light, Lust For Youth and Foreplay as part of the Northside Festival. Ticketing info for that one is on the way, or get in with your Northside Festival badge.

Pharmakon also has one other NYC date, as part of the upcoming Red Bull Music Academy series of events, and it's a whopper:

On May 2, the Red Bull Music Academy will turn the spectacular Knockdown Center into a temple of thundering noise with some of today's most daring sound artists for Drone Activity In Progress. The night will see performances from sixteen solo artists and duos on three stages, where the sound bleed between stages is entirely intentional.

Joining Chardiet will be performances from Stephen O'Malley, KTL (Stephen O'Malley & Peter Rehberg), Body/Head (Kim Gordon & Bill Nace), Prurient, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy, Oren Ambrachi, Alan Licht, Vatican Shadow, Pete Swanson, Mick Barr, Kid Millions/Jim Sauter Duo, Alberich, Noveller, grassmass and Hiram Martinez, and $8 tickets for the show, which is one night after the big "Round Robin Duet" show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, are on sale and will include shuttle bus service from the Jefferson L train.

All other dates and that stream is below.

Continue reading "Pharmakon readies 'Abandon' (stream a track), adds dates, playing big RBMA show full of experimental artists (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Pete Swanson (formerly of Yellow Swans) will release his new EP, Punk Authority, this Tuesday (3/12) via Software/Mexican Summer. Similarly to his past work, it's an EP of eardrum-damaging technoise, and you can stream the entire thing along with the music video for "Grounds For Arrest" below. That's the album art above.

Pete will celebrate the new EP with a release party in Brooklyn on Friday (3/15) at 285 Kent. It's a Bunker party and also includes Silent Servant, Metasplice, and The Bunker's Bryan Kasenic. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Streams and video below...

Continue reading "Pete Swanson releasing 'Punk Authority' (stream it), playing release party"

by Andrew Sacher

In the past, Laurel Halo has made production based dance music -- like on her Hour Logic EP and the Spring EP released under her King Felix moniker -- but on her new album, Quarantine, she crafts atmospheric art pop led most heavily by her own vocals. At her show at Public Assembly on Saturday (7/21), the mix of these two sounds came across really well. She began her set turning knobs at her boards, creating layers of ambience and head knocking bass drums, and almost never took a breather. But in between her passages of psychedelic dance, she would pick up her microphone to deliver songs from Quarantine like "Thaw," "Years," "MK Ultra," and "Carcass." If you went in expecting to hear Laurel with a piano playing the bulk of Quarantine, you may have left a little disappointed, but blending the sounds of her diverse bodies of work is what makes Laurel Halo the distinct musician she is.

The show began with a set from Burning Star Core (aka C. Spencer Yeh) who rotated between the weird and the weirder, building rhythmic (but rarely melodic) sound collages of what could pass for film sound effects and tying in his frantic, off-kilter violin playing. He was followed by Noveller (aka Sarah Lipstate), who with no more than a guitar and a series of effect pedals, creates compelling melodic passages. As Sarah would close her eyes and rear her head back, she sent both herself and the crowd into a drifting state of intoxication. Then, right before Laurel Halo took the stage to close out the night, we got a set from Pete Swanson (ex-Yellow Swans) who played on the floor almost completely in the dark. He had an analog reel-to-reel tape spinning as he flicked switches and plugs, gradually turning what began as a rather straightforward four-four loop into a thick wall of noise.

As mentioned, you have many more chances to catch Laurel Halo in her hometown of NYC, including Cameo (8/2), Littlefield (8/8), and 285 Kent (9/21). Noveller will next play Secret Project Robot (8/4) as part of The Maze.

by Andrew Sacher

Laurel Halo

Brooklyn's Laurel Halo released her excellent new album, Quarantine, earlier this month and recently finished up a European tour in support of it. Now that she's back home, she's already begun scheduling local shows, including a Quarantine release party at 285 Kent on June 30 with Gatekeeper, Slava, Anenon, Wish, and DJ sets by Brenmar and Teengirl Fantasy, whose new album Laurel guests on. Tickets for that show are available.

Laurel Halo has another Brooklyn show set to take place on July 21 on Public Assembly with a great local bill of Pete Swanson, Noveller, and Burning Star Core (aka C. Spencer Yeh). As usual, New Yorkers will get plenty of more chances to catch Noveller, like at Entwine on Thursday (6/28) and at Secret Project Robot on August 4, but for Pete Swanson (ex-Yellow Swans), he's saying the Public Assembly show is likely his last NYC show for 2012. If you've yet to hear his new album, Man With Potential, you can stream it below.

Speaking of Gatekeeper, who play the 285 Kent show, they'll release their debut full length, Exo, on July 17 via Hippos in Tanks, along with an accompanying video game. Gatekeeper will celebrate Exo with a record release show in Brooklyn at Public Assembly on July 27. Thunder Horse FX will be doing visuals for their set and the bill also includes Total Freedom, James Ferraro, Yen Tech and Arca. Tickets for that show are on sale now. The show flier and Exo cover art/tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Laurel Halo playing shows; 1 w/ Gatekeeper who also have a record release show"

Oneida at Ecstatic Music Fest (more by David Andrako)

As previously mentioned, live concert recording site NYC Taper just turned five years old and is throwing a party at 285 Kent on Saturday (5/12) to celebrate, with performances by Oneida, Sightings and Prince Ruperts Drops. Joining Oneida onstage will be James McNew of Yo La Tengo/Dump fame and Greg Fox (Guardian Alien/GDFX). If you can't make it, we're going to guess someone will make an downloadable audio document of it. Meanwhile peruse NYC Taper's awesome catalog of nearly live recordings. There's nearly 1000 of them at present -- like the recent Lower Dens show at Glasslands, and the Crystal Stilts/Woods show that took place at 285 Kent last weekend. The flyer for the NYC Taper show is at the bottom of this post.

Greg Fox plays the Stone earlier the same night as part of the ongoing Buke & Gase-curated series of shows.

While we're talking about 285 Kent, tonight (5/11) the Brooklyn venue hosts an evening of electronic avant garde and noise, with former Yellow Swan man Pete Swanson, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Forma, and SSPS.

Then on Sunday (5/13), Woodsist Records is throwing a record release party for MV&EE's Space Homestead, with a live performance by the band as well as Steve Gunn and Herbcraft. MV&EE have some tour dates coming up and those are below, along with a stream of a song from the new album....

Continue reading "Oneida, James McNew, MV&EE & more this weekend @ 285 Kent (where Crystal Stilts & Woods recently played)"

Dam-Funk at Union Pool (more by Erez Avissar)

It's that very special time again...

WBAR Barnard College Radio is pleased to announce WBAR-B-Q XIX happening Saturday, April 28th from 2-10 PM at Barnard College in New York City

2 stages, 9 acts, 8 hours of music, free BBQ, ALL FREE, ALL AGES, ALL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC...

Come early for the free food and BBQ starting at 1:30 PM, stay for the jams

TELL ALL YER FRIENDS

Friends, make sure and head to the WBAR-B-Q on April 28th at Barnard College. The show will feature FREE performances from Bush Tetras (who just played a show at LPR), Widowspeak, Dam Funk, Forma, Archie Pelago, Night Birds, Midtown Dickens, Mike Slott, and Pete Swanson (ex-Yellow Swans) across two stages. More details below.

The show is one of four NYC-area shows scheduled for Widowspeak, who also play Maxwell's on 4/13 with Crystal Stilts and two NYC shows on their tour with 2:54. Their full tour schedule is below alongside some video.

Continue reading "WBAR-B-Q 2012 lineup (free show w/ Bush Tetras, Dam-Funk, Widowspeak, Forma & many more)"