by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: WATERS - "For the One" (MP3)

Van Pierszalowski, former lead singer of the recently broken-up Port O'Brien, now records under the moniker WATERS. Rather than the indie folk/pop Port O'Brien had become known for, in WATERS Van opts for a fuzzy '90s-lo-fi approach which can be heard above in the song "For the One." WATERS releases his debut LP Out In The Light on September 20 via TBD Records.

He's currently finishing up a tour in Europe with Wye Oak which he'll follow with three NYC dates. WATERS plays the Flavorpill/IROCKIROLL/The Bell House Northside showcase at Cameo Gallery on June 18 with Sean Bones, Neighbors, Zuzuka Poderosa, Young Adults, and Wojick. They also open for Deervana (aka Deer Tick as Nirvana) at their sold out Northside show at Brooklyn Bowl on June 19. WATERS then plays a headlining show at Mercury Lounge on June 21 with Exitmusic, Milagres, and Anni Rossi. Tickets are on sale.

The Cameo show is one of many that Sean Bones has happening at Cameo this month. He already played there last Thursday and he also plays there on June 23rd (with afro-funk band/collective Superhuman Happiness) and June 30th with the great New Moods. Full residency show lineups are below. Sean is playing new songs at the shows. Those songs will appear on the new record he's finishing recording with Shane Stoneback (Sleigh Bells, Cults, Vampire Weekend). Sean's last record came out on Frenchkiss.

New Moods have also been added as the opener on the July 1st Memory Tapes show at Mercury Lounge. Tickets are still on sale.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "WATERS (ex Port O'Brien) releasing debut LP (MP3), playing shows ++++ Sean Bones & New Moods too (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Portugal. The Man - The Dead Dog (MP3)

Wasilla, Alaska, exports Portugal. The Man are releasing a new record, American Ghetto, March 2nd on Equal Vision. The band will tour with Port O'Brien and NY's The Dig in support of that this February and March. The tour kicked off last night (2/24) in Fargo, ND, and visits NYC's Highline Ballroom on March 19th. Tickets are still on sale.

"The Dead Dog," the first song off the record, is posted above (that's also the cover art above).

"The Dead Dog" was the second song that Anthony Saffery, Adam Taylor and I began working on for the American Ghetto project. We started tracking this on my second day back in Boston... it may have been the first, I am not quite sure. This track began with a break beat and a loose set of chords that I had put together in the morning before tracking. Lyrically, this was the first album where I really went out and referenced the streets and places around where I grew up. "The Dead Dog" was a bar out towards Big Lake off Pittman Road where, no offense Pittman ralliers, some pretty shady folks spent their time. I don't know what it was about that area that drew me in but it did, for whatever reason. As with all the songs on American Ghetto there is a focus on our teenage lives and the things we did and the paths we chose. Some of the moments are sadder than others but "The Dead Dog" was written more about the setting than with a specific person in mind. [Portugal. The Man]

You can hear the band's progression (they say "slightly more electronic, beats, samplers, etc.") by comparing it with a video for a song off 2009's The Satanic Satanist, which is posted with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Portugal. The Man - new album (MP3, video), 2010 tour dates "

No Age @ ATP NY in September (more by Ryan Muir)

tonight in NYC
* Lenny Kravitz @ Irving Plaza
* Uninhabitable Mansions @ Cake Shop
* Nick Lowe, Bill Kirchen @ City Winery
* Erin McKeown, Jill Souble @ Union Hall
* Boy Crisis, Das Racist, Paenus @ Pianos
* The Dodos, The Ruby Suns @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Raveonettes, The Black Angels @ Webster Hall
* No Age, Woods, Silk Flowers @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Titus Andronicus, The So So Glos, Eula @ Maxwell's
* So Percussion: Imaginary City @ BAM Harvey Theater
* Regina Spektor, Jupiter One @ Radio City Music Hall
* Trampled By Turtles, Jennifer O'Connor @ 92YTribeca
* A Rose Parade, I.U.D., Here We Go Magic @ Union Pool
* Georgiana Starlington, Boysen Girls, more @ Don Pedro
* Daniel Johnston, The Capitol Years, Hymns @ Highline Ballroom
* Sea Wolf, Port O'Brien, Sara Lov, Sarah Jaffe @ Mercury Lounge
* Built to Spill, Disco Doom, Violent Soho @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Tayisha Busay, DJ Melissa from Telepathe, Bad Brilliance @ Glasslands
* Real Estate, Big Troubles, Honeydos, Oneohtrix Point Never @ Monster Island Basement

Here We Go Magic got kind of big in the last year, so that's kind of cool that they're playing a low key show at Union Pool tonight with A Rose Parade. A Rose Parade is a collaboration between Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio and Shannon Funchess of Chk Chk Chk.

Daniel Johnston tours behind his new record with a show tonight at Highline Ballroom. The Capitol Years and Hymns open.

Uninhabitable Mansions, which has members of Au Revoir Simone, CYHSY!, and ex-Dirty on Purpose, play Cake Shop tonight (and a CMJ show next week).

Real Estate, full-length on the way, kick off their tour at Monster Island Basement with Big Troubles, Honeydos and Oneohtrix Point Never.

Sea Wolf (aka L.A.'s Alex Brown Church) plays Mercury Lounge tonight and Union Hall Friday, both with Sara Lov and Port O'Brien.

Port O'Brien is playing a free in-store at Sound Fix tomorrow (10/15) at Sound Fix Records.

Built to Spill, Disco Doom and Violent Soho are at Music Hall of Williamsburg for a show tonight and one more tomorrow. Pictures from last night are HERE.

It's been an amazing week for Regina Spektor. First SNL, and snow tonight she plays Radio City Music Hall with Jupiter One.

Speaking of SNL, Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers were scheduled to play a show at Wellmont Theatre but they canceled.

Nick Lowe and Bill Kirchen play City Winery.

The Dodos and The Ruby Suns play Bowery Ballroom. Pictures from last night's Music Hall show with the same lineup, HERE.

Titus Andronicus and The So So Glos are on tour - the first show of that was at Monster Island in early September. Tonight they play Maxwell's tomorrow and tomorrow the tour wraps at the new Knitting Factory. Titus will then join Fucked Up and guests at that band's Nov. 5th event.

No Age have four NYC shows lined up for this week - tonight's is with Woods and Silk Flowers at (Le) Poisson Rouge in Manhattan. Details on the rest HERE.

Peasant and others are playing a "Jingle Punks" party tonight. Flyer below..

So Percussion's BAM Next Wave show Imaginary City begins tonight, and play through Saturday, at BAM's Harvey Theater.

The BrooklynVegan CMJ show at Music Hall of Williamsburg is less than a week away.

Then three night after the Music Hall show is the BBG/Relapse official.

Japandroids, who have a long list of CMJ and non-CMJ shows coming up, played "Heart Sweats" and "The Boys Are Leaving Town" on Pitchfork's A>D>D, posted below.

A video of Micachu & The Shapes from their October 2nd show at Littlefield is posted below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Sea Wolf

Sea Wolf is the music of L.A. songwriter Alex Brown Church (of Irving). This summer, Church and band have been putting the finishing touches on their Mike "Monster of Folk" Mogis-produced second record, White Water, White Bloom, which is set to come out September 22nd on Dangerbird Records.

The band will be going on a North American tour this fall. That includes NYC shows on Wednesday, October 14th at Mercury Lounge and Friday, October 16th at Union Hall. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on AmEx presale today, July 29th, at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon. Union Hall tickets will probably go on sale soon. Port O'Brien and Sara Lov also play those NYC dates and many others on the tour.

Sara Lov (of Devics) releaed a solo album called Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming on March 31st via Nettwerk. The same label released Sara's EP called The Young Eyes on January 20th. Sara and Alex have toured in the past and are known to sing together on stage. All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Sea Wolf & Sara Lov (Devics) - new albums, 2009 tour dates"

Barack Rock! continues to update its pro-Obama website with free music by bands like The Teenage Prayers, Bell, Sam Champion, Ra Ra Riot, Frank Bango, Clipd Beaks, Mobius Band, Tapes n Tapes, Sera Cahoone, Port O'Brien, Salt & Samovar, Bear Hands, Au Revoir Simone, Foreign Islands and many more.

DOWNLOAD: Bodies of Water - Under the Pines (MP3)

Peasant and Port O'Brien open for Bodies of Water at Mercury Lounge in NYC tonight (August 13, 2008).

Port O'Brien has stirred up quite a lot of press coverage in a few short years, thanks in part to being name-checked by M. Ward as his favorite new band and exposure on tours opening for Bright Eyes, the Cave Singers, and Modest Mouse, among others. The group, based in California when not working in a cannery off the coast of Alaska, also garnered a place on several "Best of 2007" album lists. If you happened to see any of those tours, you know that all the accolades are not empty hipster hype. If you had the misfortune to miss them, a new release offers another chance to get on board. [Popmatters]

Loxsly and Port O'Brien open for Bodies of Water at Union Hall on Friday. The new BOW album "A Certain Feeling" was released on Secretly Canadian on July 22nd. A Port O'Brien video and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Bodies of Water & Port O'Brien- 2008 Tour Dates"