DOWNLOAD: Father John Misty & Phosphorescent - "I Would Love You" (MP3)

Father John Misty aka J. Tillman
with Fleet Foxes on an ACL Episode (more by Tim Griffin)

Farewell Fleet Fans and Friends. Back into the gaping maw of obscurity I go. Tokyo is my last show with the Foxes. Sorry if I was distant and obtuse if we ever met. Have fun.

Both before and during his time in Fleet Foxes, he had been recording solo material as J. Tillman. Since leaving Fleet Foxes, he's announced that he has signed to Sub Pop under the name Father John Misty and will release his first album under that moniker, Fear Fun, on the label on May 1. The album was recorded with Jonathan Wilson and was produced by Phil Ek, who also produced both Fleet Foxes albums, in addition to albums by The Shins, Band of Horses, and others. He's got a few west coast dates announced, which are listed below.

Our first taste of Father John Misty was a collaboration with fellow rural folkie Phosphorescent called "I Would Love You" (via Aquarium Drunkard). Grab an MP3 of that song at the top of this post. You can read the song's lyrics on the Father John Misty tumblr. He's since revealed a song from Fear Fun called "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings," which you can download via a widget below. You can also watch the video for it, which stars Aubrey Plaza of NBC's Parks and Recreation, at Entertainment Weekly.

All dates and widget below...

Continue reading "J. Tillman left Fleet Foxes, became 'Father John Misty', signed to Sub Pop (listen to two songs, 1 w/ Phosphorescent)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Arcade Fire / The Antlers

Rain showers fired up crowds for the second day of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, even as much of the excitement Saturday was for headliner Stevie Wonder, who had fans claiming spots by the main stage throughout the afternoon.

Out-of-towners might not have understood the joyful reaction -- which included singing and dancing -- that rain got throughout Zilker Park. "I say, 'God bless the rain,' and we need it," said Austin photographer Greg Davis, who for the fifth year was selling his photos in the fest's art market. "It's bad for business but great for the community."

Some people used shelters put up for extra protection from the sun to escape the intermittent showers, while others didn't let a little water keep them from staking out spots early around the stage where Motown legend Wonder was to perform. The periphery filled so quickly that by the time R&B singer Cee Lo Green took the stage at 6 p.m., several hundred fans had planted chairs in nondesignated areas, causing security to ask them to move so the expected throng of people would have space to approach the stage.

"Our whole plan today has been to scope out a spot so that we don't have to fight the crowds," said Joelle Barnes of Austin, who along with her husband, James, were among the people asked to move their chairs. Although Barnes and her husband had enjoyed Alison Krauss and Union Station, Cee Lo and other performers they had seen on Saturday, the day was all about Wonder. "He's a legend -- you can't argue with that," James Barnes said. "This is such a rare opportunity"... [Austin360]

Pics from Day One HERE. Day Three streaming online today (9/18). More Day Two pictures below...

Continue reading "ACL 2011 -- Day 2 in pics (Antlers, Phosphorescent, Aloe Blacc, Twin Shadow, Arcade Fire TV taping & more)"

DOWNLOAD: TOKiMONSTA: "Cheese Smoothie" (MP3)

Diplo @ Electric Zoo 2010 (more by Zach Dilgard)

today in NYC
* Assscat 3000 @ UCB
* Rockabilly Festival in Coney Island
* Justin Miller @ Thompson Hotel
* Electric Zoo @ Randall's Island
* Stephanie Wrembel @ Barbes
* Jason Lescalleet @ The Stone
* Space Beach @ The Manhattan Inn
* Manu Chao, La Ventura @ Terminal 5
* Christian Wolff, Keith Rowe @ The Stone
* Sleepies, Hedgehog, Trabajo @ Bruar Falls
* Weekend, Talk Normal, Fan-Tan @ Mercury Lounge
* Stanton Moore (featuring Will Bernard and Robert Walter) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Bandana Splits, Supercute! @ Maxwell's
* Mike Bones/Ryan Sawyer Duo, Quit Your Job, Daniel Carter/Pete Dragotta/Andres Marino Trio @ Cake Shop
* Mortician, Cerebral Hemorrhage, Undivided, Thorn Constellation, Carcinogen, Slaughter The Infidel, Uncreation @ Bowery Electric
* Freddie Stevenson, Tanner Walle, Anna Nelson, Jerome Bell, Mark Lesseraux, Jerome Jordan, Dan Lavoie, Annie Fitzgerald, Butchers Blind, Rice Cultivation Society @ Rockwood Music Hall

If you're going to Electric Zoo today, hurry and get there early for a set by LA's TOKiMONSTA. She goes on at 11am! Richie Hawtin plays 10 hours later. Diplo, for the second year in a row, plays today too. Set Times HERE.

Tomorrow is Fool's Gold Day Off.

Manu Chao plays his first of two shows at Terminal 5 tonight.

Phosphoresecent played a 'Tiny Desk Concert' for NPR. Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

photos by Dana (Distortion) Yavin & Graeme Flegenheimer

Primus

Arcade Fire

Two New York men who got arrested here Friday never made it to Bonnaroo. That's because law officers allegedly found they were carrying over a pound of cocaine, 1,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

Alberto R. Almonte, 40, and Joseph Cruz, 29, both of the Bronx, N.Y., are charged with possession of drugs for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia. Almonte is also charged with speeding.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, it was around 2 p.m. Friday when Trooper Matilda Mahaney clocked a 2006 Chevrolet Impala doing 83 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone on Highway 111 in Putnam County.

The trooper stopped the car "and discovered that the two occupants were enroute to Bonnaroo in Manchester," says a news release from the THP. [Herald Citizen]

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 -- Day 2 in pics (Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, NOFX, Grace Potter, Lil Wayne, Primus & more)"

The 10th Anniversary ACL Festival line-up is on the books. Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nas & Damian "Jr Gong" Marley and Cee Lo top the bill of the over 130 bands. Bright Eyes, Social Distortion, Empire of the Sun, Santigold, Pretty Lights, TV On The Radio, Skrillex, Big Boi and Randy Newman are also on tap to rock September 16-18.

Continue reading "Austin City Limits 2011 festival lineup is here, tickets on sale"

photos by Tamara Porras

Matthew Houk & Kim Krans

"About three quarters the way through the night, The Taking It Easy band left the stage to Houck to perform mostly solo. Joined by Family Band's Kim Krans on the song "Endless Pt. 1" off of Aw Come Aw Wry, and then briefly by his aforementioned metal god keyboard player on an electrifying version of "Wolves" from his 2008 album Pride, Houck turned down the volume but not the energy. If anything, his charisma and charm, which allowed him to pull off a key/capo change right in the middle of "My Dove, My Lamb" and receive only a mild chuckle from the audience, managed to fill the space that had once been occupied by the screech of feedback and the pounding of drums. After a few more solo numbers, the rest of the band finally returned to stage to close out the show, ending with an absolutely devastating version of the song "Los Angeles" that sent the crowd home entertained if not slightly unsettled." [ChunkyGlasses]

Continue reading "Phosphorescent & Family Band played Brooklyn Bowl (pics)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Phosphorescent @ the Parish in Austin

Phosphorescent has been on tour since before Coachella. Let's give Matt and band a proper welcome home at Brooklyn Bowl tonight (5/11). Tickets are still on sale, and if you act quick you can try and win a pair on our Facebook too.

Back on May 5th, Phosphorescent played a show at The Parish in Austin, Pictures from that show are in this post. They include an audience member who helped Matt sing "Wolves" on stage, and opener Family Band (who also open the Brooklyn show). More of those pictures, a recent La Blogoteque Take Away Show video, and more upcoming dates (Bonnaroo included), below...

Continue reading "Phosphorescent & Family Band played the Parish (pics) & a Take Away Show (video), play Brooklyn Bowl (tonight)"

photos by David Andrako

DFA1979

"While it was kind of a running joke that the gnarled dance-punk band was one of the biggest reunions at this year's Coachella (Death From Above 2005 jokes abounded), the band reasserted what made them such a strange and compelling commodity in the first place.

Lacerating bass, Grainger's falsetto wails and a relentless rhythmic urgency both hearkened back to the mid-'00 dance punk craze, yet reminded the audience that their palpable violence set them apart from their more trend-minded peers.

"Romantic Rights" and "Blood on Our Hands" rode slithery, distortion-tangled bass lines over the kind of four-on-the-floor that bassist Jesse F. Keeler would explore more thoroughly in his disco aegis MSTRKRFT.The audience seemed simultaneously enthralled and a bit confused."
[LA Times]

Coachella 2011 concluded on Sunday with a big headlining set by Kanye West. I already posted some pictures from that one, but a more proper set is also in this post which also includes our full set of pictures from the California festival's final day (day one pics HERE, day two HERE).

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon who played Friday night with Gayngs, made two guest appearances on Sunday, first with the National earlier in the day and then with Kanye West during one of the most high profile sets of the weekend.

The other big set of Sunday was by the Strokes who weren't afraid to play the hits. Their full setlist is below.

The Strokes

PJ Harvey (who arrives in NYC this week) played her headlining set on the "Outdoor Theatre." It overlapped with both The Strokes and Kanye...

"Backed by a nimble three piece band, Harvey, with the Strokes audible from the nearby main stage during the silences between songs, delivered the most emotionally intense performance I witnessed at this year's Coachella, singing songs of violence, war, love and lust (mostly from her harrowing new Let England Shake), before a crowd of rabid supporters...." [SPIN]

More pictures from Sunday, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2011 Day 3 in pics (The Strokes, DFA1979, PJ Harvey, The National, CSS, MEN, Nas, OFF! & more)"

photos by Ryan Barkan

DOWNLOAD: Middle Brother - Me Me Me (MP3)

Jonny Corndawg, Matthew Vasquez, Taylor Goldsmith

"There's a singer-songwriter intimacy in many of the songs on Middle Brother, as though band members John McCauley, Taylor Goldsmith and Matthew Vasquez were sharing secrets and anecdotes and decided to set them to music. All three men belong to bands -- Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit -- that trade on folk, blues and country traditions; even their up-tempo songs are less rave-up rockers than hand-clapping foot-stompers." [NPR]

Since then I saw Middle Brother again at SXSW, where, like in NYC, the country-stylish Jonny Corndawg (as seen in today's NY Post) almost stole the show. The Austin show I saw was the BrooklynVegan Day Party at Barbarella, but they also played an official showcase at Auditorium Shores which is streaming at NPR.

I just realized that not only haven't I posted the SXSW pictures yet, I never even post the NY ones, so here is the set from Bowery Ballroom and it continues below...

Continue reading "Middle Brother, Dawes, Deer Tick, Matt Vasquez & Jonny Corndawg @ Bowery Ballroom (pics) "

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

Phosphorescent at RiverRocks (more by Chris LaPutt)

Starting April 9th, Phosphorescent will hit the road for a US tour in Buffalo, making some interesting stops on the West Coast before heading back east. It seems that Phosphorescent has the unique distinction of being the only act on (the now-sold-out) Coachella AND Stagecoach Unfortunately he has other shows scheduled during the Big 4 show.

After West-Coastin' through the end of April, Phosphorescent will mosey on back to home turf to play the final date on the US tour, Brooklyn Bowl on May 11th, before prepping to head across the pond for a European jaunt. Ticket info for Brooklyn Bowl is on the way.

All tour dates and some videos is below.

Continue reading "Phosphorescent --- 2011 Tour Dates"

Coachella sold out in less than a week, but the festival that is going to occupy the same fairgrounds exactly one week later, goes on general sale Friday at 10am (presales happening now), and that is "The Big 4" which will bring together Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax ("together for the first and only time in the US") for one big Indio, California classic metal show on Saturday, April 23rd .

One week after that, Goldenvoice (also responsible for Coachella and The Big 4) will host its annual Stagecoach Festival at Empire Polo Field (same place). "California's Country Music Festival" is being headlined by people you probably don't care about, but will also include sets by names like Wanda Jackson, Loretta Lynn, the Punch Brothers, the Secret Sisters and Phosphorescent who is also playing Coachella. Tickets are on sale.

I unfortunately could not find a ticket link for Brochella. Full lineup (real poster) for Stagecoach, and a Big 4 video trailer, below...

Continue reading "Tickets still available for Stagecoach & "The Big 4""

Phos @ the High Violet Annex in May (more by David Andrako)

Tickets are now on sale for two NYC shows that Akron/Famiily will be playing in 2011, one at Knitting Factory ane at Bowery Ballroom in support of their new album coming soon on Dead Oceans.

Their Dead Oceans label-mate Phosphorescent headlines Bowery Ballroom in NYC tonight (12/10). Man Forever (members of Oneida) and Alex Winston are both opening the show and tickets are still on sale. Phosphorescent brought the full band and then some to David Letterman last night. Video of that horn-filled performance below...

Continue reading "Phosphorescent played Letterman (plays Bowery tonight!) ++ Akron/Family tickets on sale"

Phosphorescent at Pier 54 (more by Chris La Putt)

...Phosphorescent stopped by Coco66 in Greenpoint [and]..it was a much more intimate affair than their last New York City outing at Pier 54 a few weeks ago. Being 2 band members short, Team Houck launched into an hour+ long set of improvised versions consisting of classics, covers and newer material alike. Improvised or not, the show portrayed the same artistic excellence that marks this band's every step. -[FreeWilliamsburg]

Phosphorescent is in Europe for most of September, but these locals will play another local show at Bowery Ballroom on December 10th. Tickets are currently on AmEx presale and go on regular sale Friday (8/27) at noon.

If you can't wait til December, Phos will also be performing on NPR's World Cafe today (8/26). Coco66 video, an official video, and all dates below...

Continue reading "Phosphorescent played Coco66, playing Bowery (and NPR)"

DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Casual (Sun Airway Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - Oh, Naoko (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Terminally Chill (Neon Indian Cover) (MP3)

Here We Go Magic have announced an October 13th headling show at Bowery Ballroom with The Love Language (tickets on sale Friday at noon).

For HWGM, that's three days before they leave on tour with Dr. Dog. For the Love Language, that's less than a week after they get back from tour with Local Natives.

The above downloadable HWGM remix was done by Philadelphia's Sun Airway whose album Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier will be released by Dead Oceans on October 26th (that makes Sun Airway and HWGM label cousins). A track from that album is up there too.

Sun Airway open for BRAHMS and Class Actress at Mercury Lounge on Thursday, August 19th. Tickets are on sale.

HWGM's last NYC show was an 826NYC benefit at Coco66 with Chuck Klosterman. The next show in that "one band + one author" series happens this Thursday night, August 19th, and features a full electric set by Phosphorescent (who are now label-mates with Sun Airway). The author speaking at that show is Sloane Crosley. Tickets are on sale.

The other track up there is HWGM covering Neon Indian who, like Dr Dog, and Local Natives, just played Governors Island.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Sun Airway remixed Here We Go Magic who are playing w/ Love Language ++ Phosphorescent playing Coco66, other dates"

Owen Pallett @ MSG last night (more by Bao Nguyen)

tonight in NYC
* Kathleen Supové @ The Stone
* The London Souls @ John Varvatos
* The Dixons, The Weight @ Maxwell's
* Julian Lynch & La Big Vic @ ESP-Disk store
* Gil Scott-Heron @ Marcus Garvey Park
* Lower Dens, Air Waves, Inoculist @ Cake Shop
* Auntie Mame: Broadway2Battery @ Elevated Acre
* Blam Blam, So So Santo, Sonias party @ Coco 66
* U.S. Girls, Miracles, Night Beats @ Union Pool
* Asphalt Orchestra @ Lincoln Center Hearst Plaza
* Andrew Bird w/ Ian Schneller @ Guggenheim Museum
* An Evening with John Legend @ Seaside/Asser Levy Park
* Ivo Perelman, Daniel Levin, Andrew Cyrille @ Roulette
* Steve Earle/Allison Moorer & Greg Trooper @ City Winery
* Unsane, Keelhaul, Pigs, Disappear @ Santos Party House
* Arcade Fire, Spoon, Owen Pallett @ Madison Square Garden
* Robyn, Kelis, Dan Black, Far East Movement @ Webster Hall
* Reni, Standard Fare, R. Stevie Moore, Brian @ Bruar Falls
* Pete Rock, Talib Kweli (DJ), Mick Boogie @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Tremenda Rumba! Tiempo Libre w/ Román Díaz @ Rockefeller Park
* Mike Pride's Drummer's Corpse, Ki, Chat Logs @ Death By Audio
* Mon Khmer, The Tony Castles, Caveman, Monogold @ Mercury Lounge
* Metric, Joan As Police Woman, Holy Miranda @ Prospect Park Bandshell
* Paul Taylor Dance Company: 80th Birthday Celebration @ Damrosch Park
* Shark?, The Great Unwashed, Conversion Party, The Rabbits @ The Rock Shop
* Underground System Afrobeat, Xylos, Bushwalla, The Party Faithful @ Pianos
* Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, The So So Glos, Bad Girlfriend @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The Pendulum Swings, Christy & Emily, The Bridesmaids, Buckminster @ Glasslands
* In Cadeo, Eytan & The Embassy, Zaza, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson @ Knitting Factory
* The Everly Sisters, Daddy Long Legs, The A-Bones, Danny Kroha & The Del Torros @ The Cameo

Check out THIS WEEK IN INDIE.

Arcade Fire, Spoon & Owen Pallett play their 2nd show at MSG tonight. Stream the Terrry Gilliam-directed video it at YOUTUBE. Pics and setlist from last night HERE.

Phosphorescent has a new video for "it's hard to be humble (when you're from alabama)". That video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

this is insane!
the police have recovered the van
and
all of our gear is in there
and appears to be un-damaged

speechless right now,
more soon, love phos

note from label/management: we will of course return everyone's generous donations. thanks so much for your love and support!

Continue reading "Phosphorescent's van AND gear recovered by police!"

Phosphorescent @ Pier 54 (more by Chris La Putt)

Phosphorescent sent out a thank you/update message today about the theft. Check it out below...

Continue reading "a message from Phosphorescent (and just 2 cancelled dates)"

Phosphorescent's management and label are offering a $5000 for the return of Phosphorescent's stolen gear, or $1000 to anyone that provides a tip that leads them to the return. Contact phosphorescentgearfund@gmail.com if you know anything!

Phosphorescent @ Pier 54 last night (more by Chris La Putt)

Last night, after an amazing show at Pier 54 in New York City, Phosphorescent's rental van -along with all of their equipment - was stolen from outside a residence in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Last night's show was the first night of their scheduled six-weeks US Tour. Among the stolen items was Matthew Houck's custom, irreplaceable 1955 Gibson ES-125 guitar, vintage amplifiers, and a vintage pedal steel with losses totaling around $40,000. If anyone has ANY information or leads on what might have happened, or if you see any of this gear in pawn shops, on Craigslist, etc, please call the NY Police Department, Vector Management, or anyone you think might be able to help recover this gear. The van rental company is insured - they are covered for their van and are therefore not greatly concerned with recovering it. Phosphorescent DOES care though, greatly, about recovering any of this gear possible, and figuring out how to rally up and make this US Tour happen. Anything anyone can do to help would be simply amazing. We have set up a Paypal account for anyone wishing to donate funds to help replace gear - anything helps. We will be sending updates about the upcoming tour dates ASAP. Thanks in advance for any goodwill and assistance and thank you for your support over the years.

Paypal donations can be made here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=U3W83W68KFTXW

Vector Management:
Nick Stern

Stolen equipment list below...

Continue reading "Phosphorescent's van & gear stolen in Greenpoint after Pier 54"

Black Tusk @ the Studio in April (more by Markus Shaffer)

tonight in NYC
* Lebron James in Miami
* Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival
* Anais Mitchell @ Jalopy
* The Blow @ Joe's Pub
* Hugo, Baye Kouyate @ Zebulon
* Mary Halvorson Trio @ Roulette
* Chico Mann @ Water Taxi Beach
* Jones Street Station @ 92YTribeca
* Bear in Heaven, Zola Jesus @ South Street Seaport
* Snowden, ZAZA, The Naked Hearts, Bronze @ Glasslands
* Junk Culture, Common Loon, k.Flay, Ava Luna @ Coco 66
* American Schemes: A play by Radah Blank @ Crotona Park
* Pearl & The Beard, Defibulators (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Lady Gaga, Semi Precious Weapons @ Madison Square Garden
* Real Estate, Kurt Vile, Big Troubles @ (le) Poisson Rouge
* Midnight Spin, The Grates, Akudama (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* Janka Nabay, Oberhofter, Teengirl Fantasy (DJ) @ 260 Moore
* Ozomatli, Fidel Nadal, Toy Selectah @ Prospect Park Bandshell
* Dark Castle, Zoroaster, Black Tusk, Hull @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Masakari, Death First, Terror Level Red, Zhenia Golov@ The Acheron
* Cass McCombs, Lightspeed Champion, Melanie Moser @ Bowery Ballroom
* Yellow Fever, Wet Dog, Larkin Grimm, MINKS @ Monster Island Basement
* Jessica 6, Re:Redux, Navegante (Celebrate Brooklyn Afterparty) @ Southpaw
* Ana Lola Roman, Bandit Teeth, Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk, Blissed Out @ Cake Shop
* Unrest, Versus, The Rondelles, Bossanova, Cotton Candy, John Funke @ Bell House
* Hex Breaker Quintet, Slasher Risk, Loud OBJECTS vs Crud Labs, Nonhorse Smell Bad, more @ Silent Barn

The Blow plays Joe's Pub tonight!

Bear in Heaven and Zola Jesus can be seen for free at South Street Seaport.

ZAZA opened the BrooklynVegan show at MHOW during the Northside Festival. Tonight they appear with Snowden at Glasslands Gallery.

BrooklynVegan presents Dark Castle, Zoroaster, Black Tusk, Hull @ Studio at Webster Hall.

Junk Culture and Common Loon are here for two shows.

Todd P presents:

====| FRIDAY 7/9 @ MONSTER ISLAND |====

:: Yellow Fever
:::: Wet Dog ------- Captured Tracks records
:::::: Larkin Grimm
:::::::: MINKS ------ Captured Tracks records

| MONSTER ISLAND |
128 River St @ Metropolitan Ave | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8pm | all ages | $9

Unrest play their third and final area show tonight.

Oberhofer play on a roof with Janka Nabay in Brooklyn tonight. We already posted the flyer, and it is reposted below..

Phosphorescent played a free NYC show last night. An unARTigNYC video from that show below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

photos by Chris La Putt

Pictures from Thursday evening's free Phosphorescent and Dawes show at Pier 54 in NYC, continue below...

Continue reading "Phosphorescent & Dawes played RiverRocks (pics)"

Dawes @ Sasquatch 2010 (more by Chris Graham)

Like the Seaport Music Series, RiverRocks is giving away a free mixtape on Insound to help promote their summer series of free shows which kick off TONIGHT, 7/8, with Phosphorescent and Dawes.

It's a one-off show for Dawes who are back in their hometown of LA two days later to play a free show there too. But on July 14th they kick off a tour in Texas that brings them back to NY and NJ four more times before the month is over. On July 18th they hit the XPoNential Music Festival in Camden, on July 22nd they open for Edward Sharpe at Webster Hall (sold out), on July 23rd they headline Maxwell's (TICKETS), and on July 24th they head out to the tip of Long Island top play the Montauk Surf Lodge.

All dates, and a couple of cool "Yours Truly" session videos that Dawes recorded with The Morning Benders playing as part of their band, below...

Continue reading "Dawes played w/ the Morning Benders (videos), playing RiverRocks w/ Phos (tonight) & other tour dates"

Damian Abraham & child @ NXNE - 6/17/2010

After working all day in a hotel room on Thursday, I headed out into for my first-ever taste of both NXNE and Toronto music clubs. I've been to the city once before, but that was a very long time ago.

Things were kicking off at 6pm on the outdoor stage set up at Young Dundas Square. Locals will tell you that its Toronto's Times Square, but after being there I'd say its more like Union Square (in shape and size anyway). That said, I don't know what it normally looks like there, but for NXNE they turned the whole paved center of the square into a festival site complete with sponsored booths (free sample of flavored water anyone? Would you like to learn more about Sirius XM radio?) and a huge stage that anyone is free to check out (Iggy Pop plays there on Saturday).

Entry to any other NXNE venue will cost you. A festival badge, which you could purchase in Young Dudas Square, costs $50 and gets you into everything capacity permitting (though we never had a problem once). It's like CMJ and SXSW - there are NXNE shows in all the Toronto clubs.

We got to Young Dudas in time for Free Energy's set, and for the speeches that came before them. The first was by the man himself, Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham from Fucked Up, aka the mayor of Toronto (he was the first of three Fucked Up members I spotted over the course of the evening). He, and a lady friend whose name I didn't catch, introduced the band and Michael Chan, the Minister of Tourism & Culture, who gave a nice little speech before the bands began.

More pictures and commentary below...

Continue reading "NXNE 2010 in pics - part 1 (Free Energy, Young Galaxy, more)"

photos by David Andrako

The Antlers, Phosphorescent, and Sharon Van Etten each played 20-25 minute sets at the High Violet Annex last night (5/13). That was followed by members of The National improvising over projected movies by Margarita Jimeno, Sufjan Stevens, Jonathan Dueck, Deborah Johnson, Ryan Irvin, and Justin Anderson.

The first National-related group was Bryan & Scott Devendorf, trumpet player Kyle Resnick and guitarist/trombonist/Beirut member Ben Lanz (both who also played on Letterman with the National yesterday). The second group was The Dessner Brothers who played along with an 11 minute experimental film that Sufjan Stevens made "using a digital camera while I had insomnia." Sufjan was in attendance (if you haven't figured that out yet) and introduced the song.

It was the third night of the National's temporary venue next door to Other Music. Even more people played live on the second night. It continues for a fourth night tonight/Friday (and ends Saturday) (lineups for those are both TBA, but expect some actual National songs to be played at at least one of them). More pictures from Thursday, below...

Continue reading "The National sort of played the High Violet Annex w/ the Antlers, Phosphorescent, Sharon Van Etten & films (pics) "