by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Generationals - Trust (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - No Lines (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - Blame the Record (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shark? - Down Low (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shark? - Shark? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - Sparrow (MP3)

Generationals

I take you away from trying to figure out the identity of The Modern Weepers (my favorite comment guess: Hard-Fi) to talk about shows happening this weekend. As always, this being New York City, there's lots of great options.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. are in town this week with Generationals and the two bands play tonight (5/11) at Mercury Lounge (sold out!) and tomorrow (5/12)  at The Rock Shop (not sold out!). Dale Jr Jr also play Kidrockers on Sunday [5/14] at the Rock Shop with Pearl and the Beard.

I feel like there's been enough talk about Dale, whose dreamy brand of synth rock can be heard on their pretty good upcoming album It's a Corporate World which is out June 7. So I'm here to talk about Generationals who are surely one of the few indiepop bands in New Orleans. Unlike Big Freedia, they haven't appeared yet on an episode of Treme but their new album Actor-Caster is loaded with clever, tunefull pop. What they do isn't particularly cool at this second in time, but I think stuff like this is never really out of style. You can download the title track to last year's great Trust EP at the top of this post and there's a widget below that will get you two tracks from Actor-Caster for the price of your email.

Malajube

Also here this week for a couple shows are Montreal's Malajube , playing The Rock Shop tonight (5/11) and will be at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (3/13) with the epic and amazing Besnard Lakes (and Nova Scotia's Wintersleep).  If you were in Austin for SXSW this year, you may have seen Malajube at our SXSW day party this year we co-presented with M for Montreal who we are co-presenting a show with this Friday in Brighton (if anyone is headed to the Great Escape).

Like a lot of folks, Malajube made a big impression on me in 2006 with their record Trompe-L'Oeil and, even more, their string of fantastic CMJ performances that year. The tunes were catchy, they were great live, the language barrier didn't matter so much. I must admit 2009's Labarinthes didn't make much of an impression but I've really been enjoying the band's brand new album La Cavern. The album is out now in Canada and will be available in the U.S. sometime soon on MB3 Records. Maybe they'll have it at the merch tables this week.

The new album walks the line between guitar pop and space rock and I keep imagining them performing songs like the vaguely disco "Le Blizzard" on the Muppet Show. There's a general soft filter '70s vibe to the whole of La Cavern that feels very comforting. You can listen to the whole thing via a streaming widget doohickey at the bottom of this post.

And go see the Besnard Lakes, for whom I have declared my love for many, many times. And go early for Malajube.

Echo & the Bunnymen are at Irving Plaza on Friday (5/13) and Saturday (5/15) playing their first two albums -- 1979's Crocodiles and 1980's Heaven Up Here -- back to back, in their entirety. This may not be quite as exciting as seeing them at Radio City doing Ocean Rain with a full orchestra, but it's still pretty awesome.

Especially because the albums are post-punk classics. Crocodiles is all scratchy nervous energy and contains no mediocre songs whatsover. I could list them all if you wanted, each one amazing. The whole thing still sounds fantastic. Heaven Up Here is considerably darker, more paranoid but no less definitive. "Over the Wall" is one of their best-ever songs. These two records are also a great showcase for Will Seargent's guitar-playing that still sounds innovative today. I'm a little sceptical of Mac's ability to belt out these songs -- it's gonna be a workout on his pipes -- but the chance to hear deep cuts like "All That Jazz," "It Was a Pleasure," "Happy Death Men," and "With a Hip" is exciting.

Opening for both shows is Bunnymen megafan Kelley Stoltz, who has covered Crocodiles in its entirety, both on record and as an infrequent but incredible tribute act that also featured Spiral Stairs of Pavement and Shayde Sartin who's now in The Fresh & Onlys. (They played CMJ 2003 at Arlene's Grocery, it was awesome.) Anyway, Stoltz is now an established artist in his own right, putting out terrific records on Sub Pop when not playing drums in Sonny & the Sunsets.  So if you're going to this show, do go early.

Gross Relations

We now enter the local band portion of This Week in Indie. Let's start with L Magazine 8 Bands runners-up Gross Relations who are playing three times this week: tonight (5/11) at Don Pedro with Raccoon Fighter and The Horehounds, then tomorrow (5/12) at Bruar Falls with deVries and Hunktronic, and on Friday (5/13) at Cake Shop with The Bynars, Field Mouse and Infinity Hotel.

The band have been releasing a series of digital singles via their bandcamp page, all of which exemplify their brand of supercatchy, keyboard-friendly indie rock. You can download the A-sides of the last two at the top of this post. "Blame the Records" is especially good. As I said previously, those keyboard lead lines make for easy comparisons to the Rentals which I'm gonna guess is probably what they were going for. Which is fine -- the hooks are undeniable.

Radical Dads

Radical Dads, meanwhile, were actually picked by the L Mag as one of those 8 Bands You Need To Hear and I certainly agree. And hear them you can Thursday at Cake Shop. The band's debut album, Mega Rama, is out next month and it's pretty damn good. I hear a lot of '90s DC  here -- more Simple Machines and DeSoto than Teenbeat -- whether that was intentional or not. Which means, basically, strident, melodic indie rock. The record is also a contender for my favorite album art of the year, done by Michael Deforge, which you can see below. Also below is yet another widget, this one will allow you to stream or download Mega Rama track "New Age Dinosaur." Oh, and they are quite good live.

Also playing that Cake Shop show tomorrow are Shark? whose debut album True Waste comes out May 24. The band worked with former Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone on the record and what I've heard sounds really good. You can download two tracks from the album up top, and Shark?'s Pixies-ish theme song is pretty fun.

And lastly, I'd like to write a little about Vacation who are opening for Oberhofer at Coco 66 on Saturday night (5/14). The band are pretty new. What started as a solo project for Paul Greenfield Daly, formed into a band during one of the blizzards this year. Vacation have only played out a couple of times (Brad Oberhofer was in the live incarnation briefly.) But I really, really like the songs available as free downloads on Vacation's Bandcamp site. While I wouldn't call it synthpop, Vacation are definitely danceable, kind of groovy and motorik.  The track "Jean" in particular sounds like a hit to me, definitely check that one out.

That Coco 66 show also has the lately ubiquitous Widowspeak, and with Oberhofer that makes for a pretty good Saturday night. If you can't make it this weekend, Vacation are playing Pianos on May 22 with Dinner at the Thompsons.

OK that's the big stuff this week. Here are a few more picks, day-by-day:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

It's a night of well-dressed pop at Glasslands with Princeton and the High Highs. I keep meaning to catch High Highs again, I was impressed when they played with Radio Department last year.

We haven't heard from locals Gray Goods since last year's Northside Fest. They emerge from their cocoon, sonically reborn, tonight at Union Pool, with Zachary Cale and D. Charles Speer and the Helix.

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Continue reading "Generationals, Malajube, Echo & the Bunnymen, Kelley Stoltz, Gross Relations, Radical Dads, Shark?, Vacation, Karaoke Underground & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

It's that time of year again, when The L Magazine picks "8 Bands You Need to Hear Right Now." Like usual, the 2011 list is a mix of bands you may have seen, may have heard of, and more under-the-radar picks. No photoshoot at Bushwick Country Club this year. Here's the list, with the artists' next next NYC area show (where applicable):

Grand Rapids (no upcoming shows)
Devin Therriault (no upcoming shows)
Radical Dads (April 28 [tomorrow], The Delancey)
Mainland (May 25, Brooklyn Bowl)
Luke Rathborne (no upcoming shows)
Slowdance (May 9, Knitting Factory)
Yellow Ostrich (June 3, Mercury Lounge)
Family Trees (no upcoming shows)

This year's Honorable Mentions list includes Gross Relations, The Weed Hounds, The Hairs and more. There's also an entertaining sidebar where The L asks local bands and tastemakers "So, What's Wrong With the Brooklyn Music Scene?"

And if you missed it, The L Mag's Northside Festival just announced a slew of new bands to this year's line-up, including Surfer Blood (opening for GbV), Sharon Van Etten (opening for Beirut), Iceage (U.S. debut), Frankie Rose & the Outs, Teengirl Fantasy, Theophilus London, DOM, Mount Eerie, White Fence, Blondes, Janka Nabay • Holiday Shores, Eternal Summers, Delicate Steve, Gatekeeper and pretty much every band on the "8 Bands" list.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: White Fence - Get That Heart (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: White Wires - Be True to Your School ('Til You Get Kicked Out) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Buffalo Tom - "Arise, Watch" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Modern Skirts - Happy 81 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Modern Skirts - Bumber Car (MP3)

White Fence

It's been kind of a bummer week with way too many great musicians lost (Gerard Smith, Poly Styrene, Pheobe Snow) but Spring is finally here and, well, the beat goes on. Lots of worthy shows this week.

First up is White Fence who are making a rare trip to the East Coast this week, playing a few shows here in NYC: Thursday at 285 Kent with Woods and Spectre Folk, then Saturday (4/30) at Cake Shop. I feel fairly certain that they are also "Beige Swordfights" listed as part of a sweet Death by Audio show on Friday (4/29) that includes The Beets, Fergus and Geronimo and The Sundelles.

White Fence is Tim Presley who also fronts LA psych-rock band Darker My Love. Where that band is more groovy in a JAMC/BJM kind of way, White Fence sounds like a lost nugget from the late '60s flower power scene. White Fence released its debut on Woodsist last year, and the second album, ...Is Growing Faith, came out this January. Both records are weird and wonderful, lots of great songs made more interesting with vintage sound and old-school tape effects. If you like Love, The Left Banke or, more recently, the Lilys (to name three L bands) you'll dig White Fence's scene.

White Wires

Keeping with the color scheme, Ottowa, Ontario's White Wires are back in town for a one-off show on Thursday at Bruar Falls as part of a fun line-up of party rock and power pop. One of my favorite live bands of the last few years, White Wires play no-nonsense three-minute pop and do so with a joy you can't fake. White Wires new album, WWII, gets in and gets out in less than 30 minutes and should appeal to fans of the Nerves, early Tom Petty and The Undertones.

The rest of the show, brought to you by the good folks at Daed Pizza, looks pretty cool too with all-girl trio Babyshakes, and Games which is a new band formed from ex-members of Gentleman Jesse and Busy Signals. Obviously, this is not the synthy Games who now go by Ford & Lopatin. You can listen to this Games' swell debut single over at the Rob's House Records website.

Buffalo Tom

What else? Buffalo Tom play Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (4/28). The Boston trio were once dubbed "Dinosaur Jr. Jr." (being signed to SST and having J Mascis produce your debut, it was an easy joke) but became one of the most popular bands of the early '90s alt rock scene. 1990's Birdbrain and 1992's Let Me Come Over are indie rock classics that were unavoidable on college radio and Alternative Nation (or episodes of My So-Called Life) and still hold up.

The band went on hiatus around 2000 but returned with 2007's Three Easy Pieces and have just released a new album, Skins, which came out in February. It's pretty good. More mature, yes, but Buffalo Tom can still bring the noise too. If you have any doubt, you can download the entirety of Buffalo Tom's Mercury Lounge show from November 2010 courtesy NYC Taper. You can also check out a track from Skins at the top of this post.

Modern Skirts

And finally, Lord Huron are here on Thursday (4/28, the night of Too Many Good Shows) at Mercury Lounge. (And at tonight at MHoW with Femi Kuti) (we're giving away a pair of tickets on Facebook). I like their EP well enough, and the Merc show seems likely to sell out, so I'm really here to say if you're going do go early enough to check out North Highlands who play right before them. It's their first show in a long time, as the band have been putting finishing touches on their debut album which they've been working hard on all winter. The band are promising lots of new songs which is pretty exciting. Anyone who's seen them play know North Highlands are great live and I think 2011 is gonna be a big year for them. Go see 'em! And yeah, stay for Lord Huron I guess.

That's mostly it for this week. A few more daily picks are below:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27

Blogs may have gotten over their crush on Austin band Oh No! Oh My! but that doesn't mean they've gone stale. Hear their still-catchy indiepop tonight at The Rock Shop tonight. Go early to catch Atlanta's underrated Modern Skirts (check out two tracks at the top of this post).

Diehard, who've been busy recording their Kickstarter-funded debut album, try out some songs live at Cake Shop. One of NYC's best indie rock rock bands.

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Continue reading "White Fence, White Wires, Games (not Ford & Lopatin), Buffalo Tom, North Highlands, Modern Skirts, Yelle & more in This Week in Indie"

Theophilus London will headline the "Official Northside Festival Opening Party" at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday, June 16th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and then general sale Friday at noon. You can also try to get in with a Northside Festival badge.

The hip hop artist is one of 65+ new artists being officially added to the lineup of this year's Northside Festival (June 16-19 in various venues across Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY). Here's the full list:

Continue reading "Northside Fest adds 65+ bands to lineup, Theophilus @ MHOW, Mount Eerie, Iceage & more ++ open studios & DIY films"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - Girlfriend (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - Caesar (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sic Alps - Do You Want to Give $$ (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tahiti 80 - Keys to the City (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Small Sins - Pot Calls Kettle Black (MP3)

Ty Segall in San Fran in January (more by kolored)

...and this is the week that SXSW comes to New York. Dear lord, there's a whole lot going on, so This Week in Indie is coming to you in two installments. This one runs, basically, though Thursday, March 10. Do take advantage of this embarrassment of indie rock riches.

We're got some quality San Francisco garage rock in town courtesy of Ty Segall, fresh off the Bruise Cruise and whose most recent album, Melted, still gets a lot of play in these parts. (Download two tracks from it at the top of this post.) Few are doing this kind of music with more melody, attitude and enthusiasm as Ty, which really comes across in the live show. He plays Mercury Lounge tonight (3/8, sold out!) and Death by Audio on Thursday (3/10).

The Mercury Lounge show is with Brooklynites Devin Therriault and The Sundelles. At Death by Audio, Ty is joined by Nashville's Heavy Cream (yes it's true, they have a new drummer), Liquor Store and Home Blitz. Ty then heads to Austin for SXSW. Look for Ty's new album, Goodbye Bread, out this summer on Drag City.

While many acts under the garage umbrella -- Ty Segall, The Intelligence, The Fresh & Onlys -- have begun to embrace mid-fi recording, Sic Alps remain happily in the sludge. Their new album, Napa Asylum, is 22 tracks -- short songs but thick as molasses. Something about this band raises the temperature, probably because it sounds like it was recorded in a moldy basement in a swamp in July. Some bands use lo-fi as camouflage. For Sic Alps it's all about atmosphere.

Live shows can be just as sweaty, even when it's freezing outside, and the less traditional the venue, the better they tend to sound. Which bodes well for these shows. Sic Alps play the Old Firehouse (aka DCTV HQ, 87 Lafayette in Manhattan) on Wednesday (3/9) and 285 Kent (next door to Glasslands) on Thursday (3/10). Both shows are with touring mates Magic Markers. The Old Firehouse show also has Gary War and Total Slacker; the 285 Kent show is with PC Worship and Hubble.

OMD

Tonight (3/8) also marks the first show first-generation synthpop group OMD have played in New York in 25 years. The show is at Terminal 5 and tickets are still available. As reported before, this is the inarguable classic line-up of the band, the one that created their first six albums. And while there is a new album they're touring for, the shows have been packed with hits. According to Unrest/TeenBeat honcho Mark Robinson's twitter feed, last night's show in Boston included "Messages," "Tesla Girls," "Electricity," "Forever Live and Die," "If You Leave" and pretty much everything else you'd want to hear.

If you're going tonight and still care about music that was made more recently than 20 years ago, do get there early for opener Oh Land who, like OMD, will be at SXSW next week. She plays the BV/M for Montreal day party in Austin on March 19 at Barbarella/Swan Dive.

Tahiti 80

What else? Parisians Tahiti 80 never got as popular as their contemporaries Phoenix but the band have made consistently engaging, danceable pop over the last 15 years, including  what's found on the band's fifth album, the just-released The Past, The Present, & the Possible. The band play Mercury Lounge on Thursday (3/10).

I don't think I've seen Xavier Boyer and the rest of the band play since catching them at Brownies on the Wallpaper for the Soul tour, but have caught a number of their shows and Tahiti 80 are a solid live group. And the new album is good, dividing time between '60s influenced pop and more dancefloor-friendly material, both of which they do well. You can check "Keys to the City" at the top of this post.

Small Sins

Some of you may remember Toronto band Small Sins, who made a small splash back in the mid-'00s, putting out two albums of electronic-inflected indie pop on Astralwerks. They used to play NYC quite often back then. After 2007's Mood Swings the band kind of fell off the map, and I'd assumed singer-songwriter Thomas D'Arby had moved onto something else. Small Sins were basically a solo project for him after the dissolution of his old band Carnations anyway.

But turns out D'Arby was just in hibernation. Working with Tortise's John McEntire, D'Arby and the rest of Small Sins made Pot Calls Kettle Black, which came out last summer in Canada. A little bigger, a little more serious-sounding than the two other albums, Smalls Sins retain that mix of electronics, atmospherics and solid pop songwriting. You can download the album's title track at the top of this post.

I think the last time I saw them live is when they opened for Sloan at Southpaw back in 2007, though maybe I'm misremembering. Anyway, Small Sins are back in town this week, playing Santos Party House on Thursday (3/10) and The Rock Shop on Friday (3/11). The Santos Show is with '90s-rockin' Mr. Dream (who were good at Glasslands last week) and Quitzow; the Rock Shop also has True Womanhood and Suddenland.

Ok, that's the big stuff for mid-week. Stay tuned for Part 2 of TWII where we'll talk Still Corners, Edwyn Collins, Withered Hand, Megaphonic Thrift and more. Some more day-by-day picks are listed here:

TUESDAY, MARCH 8

Kurt Vile, whose new album Smoke Ring for My Halo is out today and garnered a well-deserved Best New Music in Pitchfork. He's doing three in-stores today: Academy in Williamsburg 5PM, then into the City for a stop at Generation (7PM) and Other Music (9PM). Soon to be on tour with J Mascis.

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Continue reading "Ty Segall, Sic Alps, OMD, Tahiti 80, Small Sins, Kurt Vile & more in This Week in Indie (part 1)"

photos by Jessica Amaya, words by Bill Pearis

ARMS

Week two of ARMS' residency at Pianos was a super strong line-up of local talent and one of the better overall shows I've been to in a long time.

Much of ARMS' set was new songs from the band's proper debut, a "sci-fi break up album" that's due, hopefully, this summer. Judging by what we got last night, ARMS are definitely reaching for the stratosphere and may well achieve liftoff. The new songs sound big, with equal-sized hooks, played with an assurance. I was really impressed by their set -- they could be this year's Antlers with whom they occupy the same sonic space. You've got two more chances to see ARMS' during their February residence, you should really go if you can.

Hospitality almost stole the show for me. It had been a while since I'd seen this trio, who only gig sporadically but must practice often because they were tight, confident and surprisingly loud. While some of their music leans in the demure, Belle & Sebastian direction, some of the new material kinda rocked in an undistorted kind of way. They played a number of new songs I hadn't heard before, all of which were good. Hospitality's long-overdue debut is coming out this summer. 2011 could really be their year too.

Somehow I'd never seen Radical Dads before despite them gigging all the time. I'd always assumed Robbie Guertin played guitar for the band, as he does for Uninhabitable Mansions and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. But he's actually their drummer -- and a really good one. Musically, the bassless trio sorta reminded me of the early '90s DC indie, and could have fit on Simple Machines Records alongside Liquorice, Tsunami or Scrawl.

Openers were Translations, whose bassist also plays in ARMS. Their double A-side debut was one of my favorite singles of last year and this was my first time seeing them. There's a sort of dustbowl sound to them, a little Dwayne Eddy twang that works well with Andrew Fox's vocals that are part Robert Pollard and part Don Henley. There's a new wave bent to them as well and at times -- like on the sprawling "The M.O." -- it really opens up and soars. The band have new singles out this spring, something to look forward to.

Next week's ARMS residency is with The Silent League, Your Youth, Inlets and Thunder & Lightning (which is the new band from Brent Katz who was Todd Goldstein's bandmate in Harlem Shakes).

Jessica Amaya shot some great (looking and sounding) video of ARMS and Hospitality which you can see below, along with more pictures of all the bands from last night.

Continue reading "ARMS played Pianos w/ Hospitality, Radical Dads & Translations (pics & video)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Gross Relations - You Don't Know Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Anika - Yang Yang (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Anika - Terry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: ARMS - Floaters (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Martial Canterel - You Today (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Martial Canterel - Retrospective (Zip)
DOWNLOAD: The Vacant Lots - Confusion (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Don Giovanni Sampler (Zip)

Gross Relations

In addition to being Black History Month, National Bird Feeding Month and National Sweet Potato Month, February also seems to consistently have a lot of band residencies. You may already be aware of ones by ARMS (who I'll get to shortly) and Yellow Ostrich,  but I'd also like to point out that up-and-coming Brooklyn indie rock band Gross Relations starts a three-week Tuesday residency tonight (2/8) at Bruar Falls.

Gross Relations have been going less than a year, but seem to have a clear idea with what they want to sound like. Like Mr. Dream and Diehard, the band shares a love of '90s indie rock. With the prominent keyboard lead lines (or maybe it's heavily-treated guitar?) on both sides of their "Fuzzy Timelines" 7", it's pretty easy to make comparisons to The Rentals, but the band they really remind me of is Chicago's late, great Number One Cup.

Either way, it's a good thing. Gross Relations write some majorly catchy songs. You can download the b-side to their single at the top of this post. Tonight's residency also features The Toothaches (whose debut album is a free download), Gone Bad, and NT.

ARMS @ Glasslands in December (more by Andrew St. Clair)

I mentioned ARMS briefly above who are on Week Two (2/9) of their February Wednesdays residency at Pianos. Todd Goldstein and the rest of the band are finishing up work on their debut album (Kids Aflame was more of a Todd solo thing) with Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells). So expect a lot of new songs, I'd imagine. Todd says of the record, "It's a vast, hi-fi album. We're doing everything we can to take full advantage of the studio... the songs are very poppy and a little weird, there are lots of beautiful/scary textures, copious-but-thoughtful use of reverb... sequenced into a song-cycle, a sort of sci-fi breakup album." ARMS are hoping to have it out by the summer.

This week's residency is especially strong I think. It includes the lovely Hospitality, who finally seem to be getting down to business, having wrapped up their long-gestating debut album (also with Stoneback) which could be out as early as the spring. Let's hope! Singer Amber Papini promises a couple new songs at the show.

Also playing: Radical Dads, whose new single is a free  for you (with email address) via the increasingly popular Download Widget (found below). And Translations (who share a member with ARMS) open who I am super psyched to finally be seeing live after months of digging their debut 7".

Show's eight bucks, will be a good one.

Martial Canterel

Also Wednesday is the record release party for Martial Canterel's You Today which came out today on Wierd Records. The show is part of Wierd's weekly Wednesday night party at Home Sweet Home. The flyer says performance at midnight, but I've never seen a band go on there before 1AM.

Martial Canterel is the non de synth of Sean McBride who is also one half of Xeno & Oaklander. McBride is kind of a luddite, making his records entirely on vintage equipment that was probably cutting-edge technology in 1980. Obviously it sounds very retro, but McBride's way of doing things also gives it a sound -- and authenticity -- you can't quite replicate on a laptop. Check out the title track at the top of this post. And if you dig that, also up there is a free downloadable Martial Canterel retrospective, including some rare songs.

Anika

In town this weekend is Anika whose debut album was a late-breaking entry into my Favorite Albums of 2011. Recorded in 12 days, live with no overdubs, it sounds like the missing link between The Slits and Lilliput. Portishead's Geoff Barrow -- his other band BEAK> is the backing band here -- gets the claustrophobic vibe just right. A lot of people have tried and failed to recreate that Martin Hannett Sound... Barrow nails it. And the material -- a mix of girl group covers and politically-charged originals -- suits Anika's Nico-esque delivery perfectly.

You can download two tracks from the album at the top of this post. "Yang Yang" is a Yoko Ono cover, and "Terry" was originally recorded by Twinkle, who is probably best-known for having made the original version of "Golden Lights" that was later covered by The Smiths. (Many Smiths fans' least favorite track, but not mine. That would be "Never Had No One Ever.") The album sort of snuck out at the end of 2011, so catch up now. So good.

Don't get too excited though, Anika is just over for some DJ gigs -- I'm hearing we'll get her performing in May (and probably later at ATP) -- but I'd recommend checking one of them out nonetheless. Especially as three of them are free: on Thursday (2/10) she'll be at Gallery Bar with Blu Jemz, then  Saturday (2/12) at Trophy Bar and a Valentine's Day set  (2/14) at The Commodore. The remaining three NY DJ appearances are atMercury Lounge tomorrow night (2/9) spinning between sets at the Cubic Zirconia show (tickets), and Glasslands on Friday (2/11) where she'll spin in between sets by Javelin, High Life, & Monster Rally (tickets), and finally Santos Pary House on 2/16 as part of the previously discussed Beans show with Edan, Paten Locke & Bluebird (tickets).

That Javelin show on Friday night should be fun, as Anika's tastes will nicely contrast/compliment the sounds of Javelin (always one of the better live bands saddled with the "chillwave" tag), Highlife and Monster Rally.

That's the big stuff this week. Some more picks, day-by-day, are below.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

Gang of Four at Webster Hall, though really it's more like Gang of Two as it's just Jon King and Andy Gill from the original line-up these days. Their new album, Content, isn't bad. But most people will go to hear "To Hell With Poverty," "At Home He's  a Tourist," and other classics. And while Hugo and Dave will be missed, Andy Gill is still amazing to watch spit out those riffs, and Jon King remains possessed on stage -- especially when he's beating the shit out of a microwave on "He'd Send in the Army."

continued below...

Continue reading "Gross Relations, ARMS, Martial Canterel, Anika, Vacant Lots, Javelin, Abe Vigoda, Don Giovanni, more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Flash a Hungry Smile (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - About My Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose & the Outs - Candy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Red Mass - Saturn (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tony Castles - Black Girls in Dresses (MP3)

Blanche?

Looks like there are still a few tickets to go see Mystery Jets tonight at Mercury Lounge now that the band have sorted out their visa issues after having to cancel last night's show (which I was going to go to). Frank at Chromewaves caught them in Toronto on Monday night:

Over the course of an hour, they split their set evenly between Serotonin and its predecessor, 2008's Twenty-One, and gave the respectably-sized crowd something to get boisterous about - which they did, right through to the soaring encore-closer "Dreaming Of Another World". Any concerns about what would happen to the rest of the tour were set aside in favour of just enjoying the moment.

Looking through Frank's photos of the show, I was happy to see Mystery Jets aren't sporting any fashion disasters (see above) like when they played at Bowery Ballroom last year. That may sound superficial but it is distracting when a band you really like dresses like Blanche from Golden Girls. As I've said before, I was a huge fan of 2008's Twenty One and think their new one, Serotonin, is maybe better even if nothing on it quite reaches the highs of "Young Love" and "Two Doors Down."

If you're going, be sure to get there early for L.A.'s Dominant Legs whose new EP on Lefse records I like a lot. Any band that lists The Style Council as an influence is gonna grab my attention, at least enough to listen to it. They played last night at Mercury Lounge, their first NYC show, and reports on Twitter seemed to be pretty positive.

Frankie & the Outs @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Mystery Jets' cancellation last night has thrown a wrench into my schedule. I had planned on spending the evening at Glasslands for the Frankie Rose & the Outs' record release party but now I'm gonna hope the show goes late enough that I can do both tonight (9/15). We'll see how this works out. If nothing else I can pick up the record a week early tonight at the merch table. It's a really good album that, if maybe a little economical in the lyrical department, definitely showcases Rose's ease with hooks and harmonies. Check out an MP3 of the single "Candy" above and you can watch the Carrie-inspired video for the song -- which just premiered -- at the bottom.

It should be a fun night all around. Light Asylum, who the Outs shared the bill for their first-ever show last Halloween, headline the party, with opening slots from psych mystics Mirror Mirror and Pigeon who I can't find any info on. (But there are at least three other bands currently called Pigeon so you might want to rethink the name.)  MINKS were originally supposed to play but seem to have fallen off the bill.

Dum Dum Girls

I have to imagine Frankie's pals Dum Dum Girls will be in attendance tonight (you can spot Dee Dee in the "Candy" video near the end) if they can make it in time following the first of their three gigs opening for Vampire Weekend this week at Radio City Music Hall. I would kind of like to see DDGs there, actually, as their echo-y girl group vibe could sound amazing with the venue's acoustics. But I'm not gonna. I might, however, try to catch them on Saturday night (9/18) at Knitting Factory where they'll play with Girls at Dawn and Reading Rainbow. Their self-titled Sub Pop debut has stayed in constant rotation since coming out out in March.

While we're on the subject of bands with whom Frankie Rose used to play drums, Crystal Stilts finally seem to be getting around to making a second record. A new single, "Shake the Shackles," is due out on Slumberland Records on October 21, their first new material in 18 months. The band have struggled a bit post-Frankie, and the last time I saw them play live (Fall 2009 I think) they seemed pretty out of sorts. But both sides of the new single is good -- you can listen to it at the bottom of this post -- and hopefully they've really shaked those shackles and rebounded.

You can find out for yourself when Crystal Stilts play Knitting Factory on Friday (9/17) with drony, motoroik San Franciscans Moon Duo.

Red Mass @ M For Montreal 2009 (more)

What else? Montreal art punks Red Mass will be here this weekend for two shows: Friday at Party Expo and Saturday at Death by Audio. Both shows are with X-ray Eyeballs. Somewhere between the Damned's goth-tinged punk and Nuggets era psych-garage, Red Mass also bring a sense of theatrics to their live performances. Frontman Choyce (late of CCP Gangbangs) has no problem with high concept and brings the Red to the stage -- both times I've seen them, the band dressed entirely in shades of crimson. But the music still does most of the talking. If you like this kind of thing at all, Red Mass are not to be missed.

Red mass are on their first real tour of the States -- well, the East Coast -- and they'll hook up with King Khan & the Shrines along the way. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

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And finally, Superchunk are here this weekend, playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (9/18) and MHoW on Sunday (9/19). Both shows are sold out, but you can still see them at Other Music on Sunday afternoon (1PM). I've also had good luck getting tickets at MHoW at the box office day of show, so if you're without a ticket it's worth a try.

Even if you don't get to see them, you've still got their seriously awesome new album, Majesty Shredding. No phoning it in here, this is classic Superchunk. Over at Emusic, Michaelangelo Matos wrote a great review of the record and the opening paragraph really nails it:

Superchunk sound like they've been listening to a lot of Superchunk. Well, of course -- what else would they sound like? But think about that for a second. Most bands slow down as they age because most people slow down as they age: Sonic Youth isn't about to start flirting with hardcore again; the Rolling Stones will never cut another "She Said Yeah." That's nature. But Superchunk 2010 could be easily mistaken for Superchunk 1991 -- the tempo hasn't moved and the scrappiness hasn't budged. And scrappy is what this band does.

Majesty Shredding is loaded with classic Superchunk Moments, from new single "Digging for Something" (you've seen the video by now, right?) to the manic "Crossed Wires" (a 7" from last summer) to my favorite song, the anthemic "Hot Tubes." It's so great to see a band 20 years into its career knock one out of the park.

Translations

That's enough for this week. A few more picks for the week, of things I didn't cover above, day by day:

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 15

I've been listening a lot to this Translations digital single which you can download for free. Both "sides" are really good, kind of Flying Nun/GbV style indie. Haven't seen them live but they play tonight at The Woods in Williamsburg. It's a free show.

Power pop fans should head straight to the Rock Shop for Tommy Keene, Title Tracks and Valley Lodge.

continued below...

Continue reading "Dum Dum Girls, Red Mass, Crystal Stilts, Superchunk, Frankie & the Outs, Radical Dads & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Girls with English Accents (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Harder Than It's Ever Been (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - Girlfriend (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - Caesar (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Royal Baths - Nikki Don't (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eternal Summers - Pogo (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rayon Beach - The Memory Teeth (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dog Day - Synastry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dog Day - Wait it Out (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Deerhunter - Revival (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Versus - Invincible Hero (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: How to Dress Well - Ecstasy with Jojo (MP3)

Wild Beasts @ Lollapalooza 2010 (more by Josh Darr)

Just like the August bounty of tomatoes, corn and zucchini that can be currently found at your local farmer's market, we looking at five extremely fertile days of live music, much of it free. Take advantage now -- this crop is extremely perishable.

Wild Beasts are stopping in NYC tonight on their way back from Lollapalooza, playing Highline Ballroom. Their second album, Two Dancers, was my favorite album of 2009 and a year later I'm still listening to it. It's up for this year's Mercury Music Prize and if anybody is going to beat The xx it'll be Two Dancers. If you missed their shows last September, or their appearances here in February , don't miss them this time. Tickets are still available. The fluid interplay between the band is something to behold -- a real case of four people working as one mesmerizing whole. And those who still haven't gotten used to their vocal style, I say go see them live and everything makes more sense.

Domino Records is offering a free downloadable four-song EP featuring "We've Still Got the Taste Dancing on Our Tongues" in original and remixed form, a track previously only available as a Japanese b-side and an acoustic version of "The Devil's Crayon." The download widget is at the bottom of this post and expires August 14 so get on that. And do go see them live tonight if you can. Denmark's The Kissaway Trail and UK artist Lone Wolf are also on the bill.

Fergus and Geronimo

It's been a year since Denton, TX's Fergus & Geronimo were last in town, and while they haven't released anything new since last summer's initial flurry of singles, that should change soon. The band have signed with Sub Pop subsidiary Hardly Art who will hopefully be putting out a record sooner than later. In the meantime, UK label Transparent (who put out "Tell it in My Ear" last year) have offered up a new F&G track "Girls with English Accents" that you can download at the top of this post. Maybe a little more dreamy/folky and less soul-tinged than their previous output, it's still another winner from this excellent four-piece.

I saw them at 92-Y Tribeca last summer and thought they were terrific. Fergus & Geronimo play Cake-Shop tonight (8/11) with Radical Dads and Little Gold. They then play Saturday (8/14) at Don Pedro's with Liquor Store, Home Blitz, Moonmen on the Moon, Man, and Nashville's Pujol. That sounds like a party.

Also here from Texas this weekend are Austin's Rayon Beach who play Bruar Falls on Saturday (8/14) and Death by Audio on Sunday (8/15). Like a lot of the bands on Hozac Records (or bands from Austin for that matter), this trio fit under the psych/garage umbrella but there's a decided Brit bent to their music. Baroque garage, is that a thing? Think Syd-era Pink Floyd or The Pretty Things more than Woven Bones. Make no mistake -- Rayon Beach can and do get plenty loud. It's just sometimes with pinkies extended. Check out Memory Teeth's title track at the top of this post.

The Bruar falls show is with Girls at Dawn and Xray Eyeballs; the Death by Audio show also features The Beets and Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch.

Ty Segall

We're just getting started. Ty Segall and The Royal Baths are here from San Francisco, playing Cake Shop on Thursday (8/12) and Death by Audio on Friday (8/13). For my money, it doesn't get much better in the new garage scene than this guy, who has been cranking out records over the last two years. Amazingly, they're pretty much all good, and each record goes somewhere new. The latest, Melted, just out on Goner Records, adds some nice '60s paisley pop touches. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. And he's great live.

The Royal Baths, meanwhile, are sort of the flip side to Ty's sunshine pop. I wrote before that they're "kind of bad trip acid rock, dark and seedy but not atonal. But it's definitely down the rabbit hole. In a good way." Royal Baths debut LP is due out on Woodsist in September and you can check out album track "Nikki Don't" at the top of this post.

Eternal Summers

Still more. Roanoke, VA's Eternal Summers are back -- they were last here for the Northside Festival -- for two shows: Thursday (8/12) at new Williamsburg venue The Pyramids and then Friday night (8/13) at Cake Shop. The band have signed with Kanine records who will put out their first full-length, Silver, in September. You can check out the album's first single, "Pogo," in the popular MP3 format at the top of this post. If you dig C-86 inspired pop like Brilliant Colors or Liechtenstein, you should definitely seek this duo out. Absolutely worth seeing live and nice folks too.

Both shows Eternal Summers are playing have pretty stacked bills. The Pyramids gig is with Philly's Reading Rainbow, all-girl quartet Rescue Bird, the shambly goodness that is German Measles and the wistful surf of Family Trees; Friday's Cake Shop show also has new-ish Brooklyn duo Yvette, the tinny, witty pop of Knight School and Halifax, NS band Dog Day.

Dog Day

Dog Day are actually here playing two shows. They play Thursday (8/12) at Bruar Falls in addition to the Cake Shop show on Friday. It's been a while since Halifax's mid-90s indie explosion that gave us Sloan and Thrush Hermit, but Dog Day are helping put the coastal city back on the map. Led by husband-and-wife team of Seth Smith and Nancy Ulrich, the quartet make moody, melodic indie rock that is not too dissimilar from The Figurines or The Comas. Last year's Concentration was one of 2009's lost gems. There's two songs to download at the top of this post and I highly suggest you do. You might find yourself saying "why haven't I heard these guys before?" Normally a quartet, for these NYC shows Dog Day will just be a duo of Smith/Ulrich and they'll be testing out new songs for their upcoming album.

Savoir Adore @ Coco66 for Northside (more by Don Gochenour)

And last but not least, Friday is the last Seaport Music Festival show of the season but they are really going out with a bang with The Wedding Present and Savoir Adore. I'm told we're getting a full 90-minute set from the Weddoes pretty close to what they played at Bowery Ballroom back in April: a career-spanning "hits" set and then they'll play 1989's Bizarro in full.

I saw the Bowery Bizzaro show and it was fantastic, especially the stuff from Side Two of the LP, the long, jangle-on-speed workouts of "Bewitched" and "Take Me!" David Gedge may be 50 but he can still tear into his guitar like Thatcher was still in office. There's video of "Take Me" from Bowery at the bottom of this post. The hits set was peppered with a few new songs too, which I thought were pretty good.

Savoir Adore, one of my favorite new NYC bands of the last few years, are always good live. If you have yet to check out their self-titled debut from last year, you definitely should.

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As if this wasn't enough, here are a few more picks by day that weren't already covered above:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11

Two of the best new bands of the last year -- Twin Sister and Oberhofer -- play Mercury Lounge with Ontario's MemoryHouse. Twin Sister and Memory House also play together on Thursday (8/12) at Monster Island Basement, the start of a two-week tour together. All dates at the bottom of this post.

At Coco 66 it's another installment of Show Off Your Sugar which pairs one band and one author to benefit 826NYC, a non-profit writing center for New York City students. Rock critic Chuck Klosterman reads and Here We Go Magic will rock.

continued below...

Continue reading "Wild Beasts, Fergus & Geronimo, Rayon Beach, Ty Segall, Eternal Summers, Dog Day, the Wedding Present & more in This Week in Indie "

DOWNLOAD: Arms - Tiger Tamer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Arms - Kids Aflame (MP3)

The face of Arms...

Arms (Todd Goldstein, guitar player of the defunct Harlem Shakes) will be playing a NYC CD release show at Pianos on Thursday, November 12th for his full-length debut, Kids Aflame, which is out now on Gigantic Music. Two songs from the record are posted above, with a video and info below. Goldstein debuted his three-piece band that fills out his bedroom-recorded album at CMJ this year.

Strange Glue: Have you been to CMJ before and what are your thoughts about playing such a vibrant festival?

Todd: I've played several CMJs, now - although I have to say i've never been to a CMJ show other than my own. I never have time.

SG: Is it just you performing the Arms set or are you joined by any other talented musicians?

Todd: It'll be me, a drummer, and a bassist/singer. The harmonies alone are worth the price of admission.

Tickets for the Pianos show are on sale.

Also at the gig will be an acoustic set by Dave Monks, frontman of Tokyo Police Club. Monks will be playing some songs off Tokyo Police Club's forthcoming, second record, due in early 2010 on mom+pop.

mom+pop was formed in 2008 by Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch and Michael Goldstone. Burnstein and Mensch are the owners of Qprime, one of music's most respected management firms, with a roster featuring the likes of Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, Muse, Silversun Pickups, and The Mars Volta, among others. Goldstone is a veteran A&R exec whose most recent tenure at Sire saw him sign Regina Spektor and Tegan and Sara. In August 2008, he inked Joshua Radin as the first artist on the mom+pop label. Radin's album, Simple Times, released 21 days later on September 9, has since sold over 100,000 units and 400, 000 tracks. Other mom+pop artists include An Horse, signed to the label by Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara. mom+pop is a fully staffed label distributed independently by RED.

Radical Dads, another group that shares members (Robbie and Chris are in Uninhabitable Mansions, and Robbie, again, plays with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), are also playing, with Sherlock's Daughter (who have a residency at the club) opening.

Dave Monks recently posted a cover he did of Harlem Shakes' "Strictly Game," as well as a new TPC song. Those and more Arms below...

Continue reading "Arms (ex-Harlem Shakes) playing CD release show (full band) w/ Dave from Tokyo Police Club (solo acoustic) ++ MP3s"

photos by Chris La Putt, words by Bill Pearis

Au Revoir Simone have spent the better part of 2009 working on, promoting and touring in support of their second album, Still Light, Still Night, wrapping things up -- for now, at least -- with a Brooklyn show at the Bell House on October 24 (tickets), which is part of the CMJ Music Marathon. The Bell House is also where their new video, "Shadows," was filmed. You can watch it over at the David Lynch Foundation Television website. Lynch has been a fan ever since he and ARS were paired together for that Barnes & Noble Upstairs at the Square event two years ago. He even wrote a nice little blurb for the girls:

"I LOVE AU REVOIR SIMONE ..... THESE GIRLS HAVE WHAT IT TAKES ..... MUSIC JUST FLOWS OUT OF THEM SO NATURALLY - AND IT'S GREAT MUSIC ...... THIS VIDEO FOR "SHADOWS" - FROM THEIR NEW ALBUM "STILL NIGHT, STILL LIGHT" IS MIGHTY - THE COLOR AND THE LIGHT ARE STELLAR - THE MOVES AND LOOKS - MINIMAL - CLEAN - MODERN AND SOLID ..... IT ALL COMES ALONG SO WELL SUPPORTING THE GIRLS AND THEIR MUSIC ..... ANNIE, ERIKA AND HEATHER HAVE GOT THEIR ACT TOGETHER - THEY'RE BIG - BUT THEY'RE GONNA BE BIGGER - THEY'RE GONNA BE REAL BIG"

I hope someone has since told David his Caps Lock was on. That Bell House CMJ show also has baroque pop band The Postmarks, and San Francisco's folk-ska ensemble Still Flyin' on the bill.

In November, Au Revoir Simone travel to China for shows in Beijing and Shanghai. Tour dates are at the bottom of this post, as are more pictures from Au Revoir Simone's Bowery show from back in June. Findlay Brown, who is also playing CMJ at the same venue (Bowery), opened that June show.

In between now and ARS's trip to China, ARS member Annie Hart will spend some time with her other band, Uninhabitable Mansions, which also features Robbie and Tyler from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Uninhabitable Mansions' debut album, Nature is a Taker, is out now digitally, with the CD version due at the end of October and vinyl in January. Uninhabitable Mansions, which now includes Annie Hart's husband (and former Dirty on Purpose member) Doug Marvin on drums, has two NYC shows coming up: a free show next Wednesday (10/14) at Cake Shop which is part of the MIXER Reading Series, then they'll play the Bell House on October 22 (part of CMJ) with Robbers on High Street, Freelance Whales (who are also on the Bowery Ballroom show Findlay is playing), Pomegrates and others. After that, they're going on a short East Coast tour, ending with a October 30 show at Union Pool. Then the band's on hold until the new year when they expect to launch a more extensive U.S. tour.

And while we're here, Robbie and Chris of Uninhabitable Mansions have another band,Radical Dads, whose new self-titled EP is downloadable for free.

CYHSY front-man Alec Ounsworth meanwhile has been doing his own thing and is appearing at Mercury Lounge during CMJ, as well as at a free BrooklynVegan day party at Pianos that same day (10/22). More details TBA.

Tour dates for Au Revoir Simone and Uninhabitable Mansions, plus more pictures from Au Revoir Simone's June 28 Bowery Ballroom show are below...

Continue reading "Au Revoir Simone, David Lynch, Uninhabitable Mansions, Radical Dads & CMJ - tour dates, pictures, free music & more"

words & photos by Anna Scialli

Islands packed the Bell House Wednesday night (8/19). Their new album, Vapours, due out September 22nd on Anti-. Opening was Brooklyn-based Radical Dads and viral internet sensation, Das Racist.

Radical Dads, who share two members of Uninhabitable Mansions and one member of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, took the stage first in front of a sizable crowd despite the early set. While their songs are catchy, Radical Dads' live show was lacking in energy. It's understandably hard to play to a room of people anxiously awaiting Islands and Radical Dads failed to leave an impression. Especially when followed by Das Racist, a bizarre and confusing sight to take in.

Internet darlings Das Racist introduced themselves with some middle school-esque "potty humor" and incoherent rambling as they launched into a set full of rap songs about pop culture, white people, and well, I have no idea what else. Das Racist has attracted attention to themselves with their amusing and oddly catchy song "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell", and by the crowd's bewildered reactions, it seemed that some people were unfamiliar with the rap-comedy trio. I was intrigued to see Das Racist perform, and their lyrics and commentary were certainly amusing but it didn't sustain itself. Their schtick got old; Das Racist is beating the irony dead horse to a bloody pulp. And they didn't even play "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell".... how ironic. Maybe I just don't get it... or maybe there's nothing to get. To their credit, it was a different act opening for a band like Islands and the crowd was entertained.

Finally, after all that waiting, it was time for Islands. Nick Diamonds, known for his grand entrances (remember Siren 2008?), sauntered onto the stage in a flashy, rhinestone-covered cape. Yes, a cape. If anyone could pull it off, it's Nick Diamonds. Islands roared through their set, playing almost all new songs from Vapours, with the exception of four old songs off Return to the Sea and Arm's Way. The crowd was energetically dancing to the new songs, although the excitement was only really tangible when old favorites were played such as 'Creeper' and 'Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby'. The songs from the new album were catchy but I couldn't help but wish we heard more crowd-pleasing favorites. Also, what happened to the violin? It was a great compliment to Islands' punchy-dancy songs and its absence was palpable.

Islands finished with a strong encore of 'Swans from Return to the Sea' and once they left the stage, people were still dancing and smiling. Despite playing mostly brand new songs, Islands were engaging, interesting, and a great live show. More pictures, and the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Islands, Das Racist & Radical Dads played the Bell House - pics & setlist"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Uninhabitable Mansions - Do You Have a Strategy? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hooray for Earth - A Simple Plan (Zip)

Hospitality

In my haste to bring you my weekend picks I realized I left out some stuff. First of all there's the opening of Littlefield, and its two free shows.

Second... Brooklyn's Hospitality, who play at Death By Audio tonight (5/22), have opened for Stereolab and Frog Eyes but remain mostly under-the-radar. (They did make L Magazine's "8 NYC Bands" runner-up list.) Singer Amber Papini's delicate, airy voice matches so perfectly with her songwriting: jazzy pop that kind of reminds me of '60s chanteuse Claudine Longet or Austin's Yellow Fever. I've yet to see them live but I'm kinda in love with the songs. While the focus tends to be on Papini, Hospitality are a trio and the most recent songs on their MySpace (recorded on a telephone, believe it or not) have a definite band feel to them. Also on the bill tonight at Death by Audio: Arizonans Stephen Steinbrink and Hell-Kite (who play at Cake Shop with The Kingsbury Manx tomorrow), and the countryish Little Gold, which all should make for one of the gentler nights at Death by Audio...ever?

Darlings

And on Memorial Day if you haven't been put into a food coma from too much BBQ, there's a great show that night at Union Pool featuring Uninhabitable Mansions, Darlings, Boogie Boarder and Ambergris. The show is a benefit for Smoke Signals, a new all-comics newspaper that Williamsburg comic/book/art store Desert Island is going to start publishing. This is likely to be Uninhabitable Mansions' only show till the fall, as Annie Hart will be busy touring with her main band, Au Revoir Simone for most of the summer. Their debut 7" is worth picking up, and you can check out it's b-side in MP3 form above. Darlings, you may remember, are one of L Magazine's "8 NYC Bands You Need To Hear" and their description of Teenage Fanclub-meets-Sloan is all I need to get me to the show. As for the other bands: Boogie Boarder are noisy low-fi and mostly instrumental; Ambergris have been dabbling in arty psych folk weirdness for a few years now. The show's $8 and all proceeds go to printing costs A worthy cause if you ask me.

And Speaking of Uninhabitable Mansions, Robbie (who is also in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) and Chris of that band are also in Radical Dads, who play Public Assembly on Wednesday (5/27) with the interesting, somewhat genre-defying Hooray For Earth (I've seen comparisons to Joy Division, Guided by Voices, and Yeasayer... really?) and catchy synth-rockers Zambri.

Videos and flyers after the jump. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Continue reading "Hospitality, Darlings, Uninhabitable Mansions, Radical Dads & more in This Week In Indie (part 2) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Rakes - 1989 (click to stream)

London's The Rakes are back in New York this week (Monday 4/6 at Bowery Ballroom; 4/7 at Union Hall) for their first shows in almost two years. The band took a break after their second album, Ten New Messages (which didn't get a U.S. release), but reconvened last year in Berlin to record their new album, Klang!, which was just released in the UK. It's been two years since The Rakes last played NYC. Klang! was recorded in Berlin with producer Chris Zane (Les Savvy Fav, The Walkmen). Why Berlin? Singer Alan Donohoe told Drowned in Sound:

The London music scene is so dull right now - it's like wading through a swamp of shit. We just wanted to be somewhere more inspiring...The album is raw, playful, exciting, complex and schizophrenic - much like the personality of Berlin itself. It couldn't be more of a fitting place to record it. Chris has found this raw but massive sound, it's sharp like razors; like pouring boiling bleach on our peers.

While you couldn't call Klang! a big departure from their two previous albums (tales of urban ennui set to spiky guitars and nervous rhythms), it's another solid record from one of Britain's more underrated bands. Check out the album's first single, "1989," at the top of this post. (Its video is below.) And of the UK Class of 2004/2005, the Rakes have always been one of the best live bands, playing even faster than on record, and are as tight as they are tightly-wound. But for me it's singer Donohoe's awesomely spazzy dance moves that really make The Rakes so much fun to watch, some of which can be seen in a live video at the bottom of this post. below. Tickets are still available for both the Bowery (The Dig and Sean Bones open) and Union Hall (Radical Dads open) shows.

Videos and tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Rakes are here - new album & 2009 Tour Dates"

Martin Bisi

Just when you thought there couldn't be another Au Revoir Simone, Dirty on Purpose or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah side project... Radical Dads is a bass-less trio that shares two members with Uninhabitable Mansions. One of the members of both of those bands is Robbie from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Listen to Radical Dads at MySpace. See them live at Cake Shop tonight (2/19) or at the Castle in Hell in Brooklyn tomorrow (2/20). Uninhabitable Mansions play Union Hall on 2/27. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played BAM last week.

After making her first post-Be Your Own Pet solo appearance at Music Hall of Williamsburg in January, Jemina Pearl promised she would "start playing around New York and New Jersey pretty frequently." Staying true to that promise, you can catch her and her band "Bad Attitude" at Glasslands tonight (2/19).

Martin Bisi's name tends to be preceeded with "New York super producer/musician/studio owner/legend". He is performing tonight (2/19) at Death By Audio in Brooklyn with Bill Laswell. All dates below...

Continue reading "Martin Bisi, Radical Dads, Jemina Pearl - tonight, other dates"