Liam Finn is wrapping up his new album and will be testing out new material with one of his "murmurations," his word for residency. This will happen every Monday in April at Knitting Factory. April 1 is with Rifle/Recoil; April 8 is with Celestial Shore; April 15 has no opener as of now; April 22 is billed as "Liam Finn featuring Railbird"; and April 29 is with Rohypnotize. Tickets to all five shows are on sale now.

You can watch "video letter" about the Knitting Factory murmuration, which features a bit of new song "I," below.

Continue reading "Liam Finn finishing up new album, announces Brooklyn "murmuration" residency"

NYC folk who are still disappointed about that canceled School of Seven Bells show back in November and didn't/couldn't make the trek out to their free show at the Sony Style Store in Long Island in December may want to clear next Wednesday on their calendars. SVIIB will play a free show at the Doc Martens' store in Union Square on January 16. It's an after-work kind of thing (6 PM - 8 PM) and, in addition to the live performance, beverages will be provided by Goose Island and AQUAhydrate, and food provided by, um, White Castle. While it is free, you do need to RSVP.

Meanwhile, the band have remixed Railbirds' song "Mirrors" which you can stream below. Railbirds have an upcoming show too, playing Rockwood Music Hall on January 25 and tickets are on sale now.

Remix and SVIIB flyer are below.

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells remixed Railbird (stream), playing free NYC show; Railbird playing NYC too"

DOWNLOAD: Railbird - Jump Ship (MP3)

Still from the "Jump Ship" video

Railbird have just released a video for their slinky single "Jump Ship" which you may have already heard and features Sean Rowe and Phantogram's Sarah Barthel. We've got the premiere of the video right here and you can watch it below.

Railbird have a few shows coming up, including two in NYC: Thursday, August 23 at Cameo with Celestial Shore and Zula; and September 7 at The Rock Shop with Xenia Rubinos and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. You can get tickets at the door for the Cameo show but there are advance tickets for The Rock Shop.

All tour dates are listed below, along with the "Jump Ship" video.

Continue reading "Railbird made a video for "Jump Ship," playing shows (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Railbird - Jump Ship (MP3)

Brooklyn's Railbird are currently in residency at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg where they play every Wednesday in July. Tonight (7/18) the electronic-leaning quartet share the bill with Ryan Martin. You can watch a little video trailer for the residency at the bottom of this post.

The band have a few other Brooklyn shows coming up including Pianos on Thursday (7/19) with Way Yes; Mercury Lounge on August 8 opening for Heather Christian & the Arbornauts (tickets); and Cameo Gallery on August 23.

Railbird have a new single, "Jump Ship," that features ANTI recording artist Sean Rowe and Sarah Barthel of Phantogram with whom they've played shows (like Bowery Ballroom in 2010). You can download it above, or stream it below where you'll also find a cool cover of Fleetwood Mac's "That's All." There's more Railbird music to check out at their Facebook page.

Speaking of Phantogram's Barthel, she's DJing at Hudson Terrace tomorrow night which is free with RSVP. So if Barthel is in town, wonder if she'll pop over to Pete's to sing tonight?

As for Phantogram, they're currently on tour and play Philadelphia on Friday with Sleigh Bells and Twin Shadow. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Railbird playing shows, released new single with Phantogram's Sarah Barthel (who's DJing in NYC on Thursday)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Way Yes - "Important" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Way Yes - "Ties" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Way Yes - "Gino" (Larry Gus Remix) (MP3)

Columbus, OH outfit Way Yes released Walkability on Lefse earlier this year. The five-song EP comes with remixes of each song. There's a fair amount of diversity for just five songs, though they wear their influences on their sleeves a bit. "Important," which you can download above, shows the band doing their best Fleet Foxes impression, whereas the title track (video below) pulls almost directly from early '70s Paul Simon. You can also download the polyrhythmic "Ties" and a remix of "Gino" by Larry Gus above.

Way Yes have been playing a few shows here and there this summer, and their next two are in NYC this week: Pianos on Thursday (7/19) with Strange Shapes, Rimar (who is also one of the remixers on the EP), and Railbird (tickets); and Friday (7/20) at Glasslands with Neighbors and Friend Roulette (tickets).

A list of all dates and that video are below.

Continue reading "Way Yes released 'Walkability,' touring, playing 2 NYC shows"

photos by Michael Dubin, words by Rachel Kowal

It's hard to know where to even begin when it comes to Railbird, the relatively unknown opener. When I walked into the Bowery Ballroom and saw Railbird on stage, I didn't know where to focus my energy. The bass player wore a top hat paired with his t-shirt, the female back-up singer wore some kind of Bill Cosby-inspired jacket, and then there was the singer, Sarah Pedinotti. Pedinotti was decked out in a red sparkly number and had three huge turkey feathers tucked into her unruly nest of curly brown hair. She was quite a sight to behold, and her lyrics - which covered nervous break downs, dreams, and haunted houses - were no less intriguing. Railbird closed their set with a "Limousine," which features the harmonica and an old-timey microphone, which certainly added pizzazz to the vocals.

Light Pollution followed Railbird's theatrical set of Americana/folk. This band didn't really do it for me. There's nothing particularly offensive about the Chicago band - their melodies are pretty good and the singer definitely had a lot of energy - but there was nothing particularly memorable about them either.

In the lull before Phantogram began performing, the stage was stripped bare and entirely re-arranged. Luckily, Phantogram doesn't require much - just a keyboard or two, a couple of mics, and a guitar... oh yeah, and the projection screen. Throughout their performance, images of dolphins swimming around, a rain-stained car window, and wind blowing through a meadow danced across the screen.

Given the experimental style of their music and their flashy appearance, it's hard to believe that Sarah Barthel and Joshua Carter practice in a barn in upstate New York and didn't just step off the L train. Their music relies heavily on samples and pre-recorded beats that are made to make you dance. (It's fun to imagine Sarah wearing pumps and a skin-tight black ensemble, head banging next to some chickens though.)

Phantogram's set was short - just 10 songs, including the encore. But their moody dance music, hip outfits, and intoxicating lyrics make for a compelling show. The allure of Sarah's smooth voice compliments Joshua's more raucous vocals.

And they were clearly excited to be playing to a sold-out crowd. "We're a very young band and from the bottom of our hearts, we're just so glad you're here," said Josh as their show neared to a close. With a big smile on her face, Sarah whipped out her iPhone and proceeded to take a photo of the crowd before walking off stage.

The Bowery Ballroom show happened last night, May 19th, and was part of a tour that also included a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken one night earlier. The Bowery setlist with more pictures of the headliner from Maxwell's, below...

Continue reading "Phantogram played Bowery & Maxwell's - pics & setlist "

by Andrew Frisicano

Phantogram @ Brooklyn Bowl in December (more by Ryan Muir)

"When you go out at night in a place like Saratoga Springs, people just want to hear 'Freebird' covers, Journey covers, at the bar all night," [Phantogram's Saratoga-born Josh] Carter said in a recent phone call during Phantogram's tour with the Antlers. "We had to set up the community ourselves by doing DIY shows."

Carter, a guitarist, and keyboardist Barthel have been friends since junior high. When Barthel finished college in Vermont and Carter quit the band he played with in New York City to work on his solo material, both wandered back to Saratoga Springs and rekindled their friendship over trips around town scanning the dollar bins for records. They shared a mutual love for Motown classics, drony indie-rock, and '60s French pop, like Serge Gainsbourg. [Seattle Weekly]

Then there's more touring on top of those, including shows with Light Pollution (who recently played Mercury Lounge). Both bands play Maxwell's on Tuesday, May 18th (tickets still on sale) and Bowery Ballroom on May 19th (tickets still on sale), the second of which has the lush, female-fronted Railbird, also from Saratoga Springs, on it too.

Light Pollution will be also back on June 8th and 9th as part of a tour with This Will Destroy You. Ticket info for those and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Phantogram & Light Pollution - 2010 Tour Dates "