photos by David Andrako

"Thoroughly awesome Central Park SummerStage Ratatat show tonight! Preceded by an Omar Souleyman dance party in a torrential downpour." - Miranda Mammen

"Omar Souleyman killed it at Santos 2nite!
the bubu gang also ruled! xelent!" - Jesse Lent

Ratatat

Ratatat headlined the sold-out Central Park Summerstage last night (7/13) with support from Omar Souleyman and Black Pus (aka Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt). It rained pretty hard during Omar Souleyman but things cleared up for Ratatat's set, which was accompanied by an array of video clips and visuals. Omar then played a much drier set after the show at Santos with Janka Nabay and others.

More pictures and videos from the Summerstage show below...

Continue reading "Ratatat, Omar Souleyman & Black Pus played Summerstage (pics & video)"

photos by David Andrako

CSS @ Bowery Ballroom

CSS, no longer a Sub Pop band, are set to release their third full length La Liberación on August 22 via V2/Cooperative/Downtown. The album features contributions from Ratatat, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream and Mike Garson (who provided piano on David Bowie's "Aladdin Sane"). Check out the new artwork and tracklist below.

CSS recently finished up a tour with Sleigh Bells, who also have an upcoming album in the works. They told Rolling Stone:

"Emotionally, it's a really heavy record," guitarist and producer Derek E. Miller says of the new tunes. "Even the early demos that we have now, a lot of the stuff that Derek has recorded, sounds more immense to me," says singer Alexis Krauss. "It sounds really huge, so there's going to still be tons of volume."

All international CSS dates, and a set of pictures from the 5/15 CSS/Sleigh Bells/Princeton Bowery Ballroom show (we posted the Webster Hall show in a more timely fashion), with La Liberación artwork and tracklist, below...

Continue reading "CSS & Sleigh Bells new album details & belated pics from their Bowery show w/ Princeton"

Ratatat @ Terminal 5 in 2008 (more by Leia Jospe)

Ratatat, previously announced on the lineups of Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and HARD Fest in LA this summer, will play their own big headlining NYC show at Central Park Summerstage on July 13th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon. General sale begins Friday ($30 advance / $40 day of show). All tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Ratatat playing Summerstage & other dates "

photos by Brook Bobbins

The Rusko & Doorly tour hit Terminal 5 in NYC on Wednesday night (4/27). Pictures from that HARD-presented show are in this post.

HARD also presents the LA date of the tour which is also the last date of the tour.

LA is also where HARD is holding a 'Summer Festival' on Saturday August 6th. That craziness will include sets by:

"DUCK SAUCE, Boys Noize, CHROMEO live, RATATAT live, Skrillex, ODD FUTURE, JAMES MURPHY AND PAT MAHONEY DFA TENT SPECIAL DISCO VERSION, DIGITALISM live, Jack Beats, KARLSSON and WINNBERG / MIIKE SNOW DJ SET, Caspa, NERO, Noisia, Emalkay, CARTE BLANCHE live featuring dj Mehdi and Riton, BUSY PICTIONARY featuring BUSY P and SO ME, Holy Ghost ! live, SIRIUSMO, GESAFFELSTEIN, GASLAMP KILLER, DESTRUCTO, Juan MacLean, Shit Robot (The Shit Robot Show), Still Going, Nadastrom, DILLION FRANCIS, Acid Jacks, Visuals by Vello V2 labs, + more."

HARD Cruise sails out of Florida in January, and though no lineup has been announced for that yet, I'm sure the lineup will contain at least a few of the artists mentioned in this post.

More pictures from Terminal 5 are below...

Continue reading "Rusko played Terminal 5 w/ Doorly & Destructo (pics), playing other HARD events (dates)"

Lollapalooza last year (more by Josh Darr)

Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with some huge names on its just-announced lineup. See it in full below.

The festival has obviously changed over the years. What started out as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction with a 'touring festival' lineup that included the Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, and Souxsie & The Banshees, has turned into a one-weekend Chicago festival that Lady Gaga co-headlined last year. As leaked a while ago, Foo Fighters, Muse and Eminem all play this year, as will Coldplay, Cee Lo Green, and My Morning Jacket along with the reunited Cars and the continuing-to-be-reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Death From Above 1979, and a bunch of other bands which may or may not be worth the ticket price depending on how you feel about the headliners and generally seeing bands in big, hot, outdoor crowded parks (Lollapalooza happens in Chicago's Grant Park from August 5th - 7th).

Full 2011 Lineup and a couple of videos (one from 1991, one from 2010), below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 lineup announced"

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"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

today in NYC
* Forro Da Madame @ Barbes
* Tyshawn Sorey @ The Stone
* Pee Wee Herman on Broadway
* Henry Threadgill @ Roulette
* Ian Hunter @ Highline Ballroom
* Tunng, Charles Atlas @ Mercury Lounge
* Lucinda Black Bear, Key Demo @ Maxwell's
* Angelique Kidjo & friends @ Carnegie Hall
* Marissa Nadler & Glass Ghost @ Envelope
* The 1900s, The Light Pines @ Mercury Lounge
* Mkng Frndz, Naked Hearts, Lovers @ Cake Shop
* Endangered Blood, Skuli Sverrisson @ Littlefield
* Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch @ Bowery Electric
* 14 Iced Bears, The Secret History @ The Rock Shop
* Toots and The Maytals, Fear Nuttin Band @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Jen Shyu, Nat Baldwin, Sabrina Lastman @ Issue Project Room
* Highlife, Lichens, Hubble, Swarms, Joe Papas @ Shea Stadium
* Robert Earl Keen, Reckless Kelly, Randy Rodgers Band @ Terminal 5
* The Infamous Stringdusters, Trampled By Turtles @ Bowery Ballroom
* Yvette, Datus, Lycaon Pictus, Boy With Ice Cream Face @ Death By Audio
* Quilt, Ava Luna, Quiet Hooves, Web Dating, Widowspeak, Perfect Bitch @ Silent Barn
* Grandchildren, Warm Ghost, The Antlers (DJ set) & more TBA @ Glasslands
* Hannah Georgas, Marc Farre, Forest City Lovers, Todd Goldstein, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, Murder Mystery, Shiv Hurrah @ The Living Room
* Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Outernational, Tamar Korn (Fortnight Journal Benefit - acoustic performances) @ Southpaw

Ratatat has a new video for "Neckbrace". Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday? (Veterans Day)"

photos by Chris La Putt

"This time it is so sexy to be living in America, Dom. Governors Island greater than Coney Island forsuresure." - Blanca Méndez

"Bad news, this is our last show ever", Dom told the Governors Island crowd on Saturday night (8/15). He was lying of course. Most obviously because the band will be leaving on a tour with Ratatat in September. That's the same tour that comes to Terminal 5 for two nights (October 8th and 9th). Dom is opening at least the first one. Tickets are still on sale for both.

Dom's other funny show moments included a "triple awesome" moment (three things were "awesome" in a row), his shoutouts to many sponsors including Converse (who were affiliated with the event) and Mountain Dew (who weren't, but maybe Dom had a reason to be thanking them too?), and his pausing to check "the little list of songs they had there" (or something like that) (aka the setlist).

The music was entertaining too. Dom doesn't have the best live reputation. The young band was pushed into the spotlight early and has been heavily scrutinized as they figure things out in front of large audiences, but most seemed to agree that they loved them Saturday night (their best songs are especially undeniable, as is the frontman's charisma). More pictures from the show (which Neon Indian headlined), below...

Continue reading "Dom played Governors Island, touring w/ Ratatat (pics, dates) "

photos by Vincent Cornelli

The 2010 season of "Warm Up" at PS1 continued this past Saturday with DJ sets by Air France and Ratatat, and a performance by ARP. Despite extreme heat and competition throughout the city in the form of the Siren Festival, Summerstage, the African Festival, Rock Yard and whatever else was going on that day, the outdoor dance party was packed as you can see in the pictures above and below....

Continue reading "Ratatat, Air France & ARP @ PS1 (Warm Up) - pics "

Ratatat @ FFFFest 2009 (more)

The full dates for Ratatat's fall tour, which starts September 7th in Montreal and ends with two nights at Terminal 5 on October 8th and 9th, are posted below.

Tickets for the NYC shows go on AmEx and ticket+album presale (that album would be their new one, LP4) at 11am. General sale starts Friday at noon.

Check out all the the dates....

Continue reading "updated Ratatat tour dates (NYC tickets on presale) "

It's probably for the best that Ratatat's free South Street Seaport concert never came off, if they're expecting to fill two nights at Terminal 5 (though it's still possible there'll be a Paper-sponsored show somewhere too I guess...). Those T5 show happen Friday, October 8th and Saturday, October 9th. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Ratatat will also be on hand July 17th to DJ at PS1's Warm Up series (which kicked off over the weekend weekend with Delorean and Janka Nabay and others).

The band's new album, LP4 (pictured above), came out at the beginning of June on XL to mixed reviews. Two videos for songs from that record are below...

Continue reading "Ratatat released LP4, playing 2 NYC shows & DJing another"

Delorean @ Glasslands in June (more by Chris Doss)

MoMA's annual summer season of parties at PS1 in Long Island City, aka Warm Up, returns on July 3rd and there are lot of familiar names on this year's lineup. That is due in part to this year's curators being Dean Bein of True Panther Records, Jon Galkin from DFA, Kris Chen (XL), Ronan from LPR, writer Brandon Stusoy (Stereogum, etc), and Robin from Tri Angle. Check out the full schedule, directions and more info below...

Continue reading "2010 PS1 Warm Up schedule announced (Delorean, MEN, Big Freedia, Questlove, DFA, Animal Collective DJs & more) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Drake "at" South Street Seaport (more by Leia Jospe)

After a concert at the South Street Seaport last week was canceled when an over-capacity crowd for the rapper Drake and the pop band Hanson became rowdy and aggressive, the Seaport's owner has canceled two more planned concerts there, including a show by Kesha, the pop singer who has one of the biggest songs of the year.

In a letter to Community Board No. 1 of Manhattan sent on June 16, the day after the show, a representative of General Growth Properties, the mall operator that owns the Seaport, said that it had "chosen to cancel any forthcoming concerts in conjunction with Paper magazine," which organized the Drake concert, where seven people were injured and two arrested. In an interview with The New York Times last week, David Hershkovits, an editor and publisher of the magazine, said the magazine had planned for two more shows this summer, by Kesha, the "TiK ToK" singer, and the New York band Ratatat. [NY Times]

In related news, one of the "Play Me, I'm Yours" pianos is set up at the Seaport (and so far nobody has thrown it off a balcony or anything). Videos of people playing that (including J Roddy Walston and The Business) are below...

Continue reading "future Paper Magazine concerts not happening @ the Seaport"

Annual Austin music festival Fun Fun Fun Fest lived up to its name once again today (Saturday, November 7th). And that was just Day One. The fun continues on Sunday which ends with a headlining set by Danzig (and Of Montreal on another stage). More coverage and pictures to come, but before I run out to the Saturday night afterparties (going to try and see Voxtrot at Mohawk and Negative Approach at Red 7), I just wanted to post a few pictures. Check them out below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest - Day 1 in pics "

August 25th, 2009 (Austin, TX) - Transmission Entertainment is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2009 Fun Fun Fun Fest, taking place on November 7th and 8th at Waterloo Park in Austin. Fun Fun Fun Fest made its first appearance on a cold Friday evening in 2006, offering a unique approach to festival booking, filling stages with talent bubbling from the underground: what sounded great, and what was making an impact, regardless of what mainstream media said was cool. What started out as a show for a few touring acts and local favorites has become a movement -- a festival that fans and bands alike realize needs to be experienced year after year.

Now in its fourth year, Fun Fun Fun Fest has made a significant impact on the country's winter calendar, successfully combining the vast worlds of indie, punk, rap, electronica and comedy while showcasing some of the city's most unique local businesses.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009 lineup (Jesus Lizard, Of Montreal, Gorilla Biscuits, LSF, 7 Seconds, D.R.I. & DANZIG!! & more)"

Black Pus, aka Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt, was one of two openers at Ratatat's first of two Terminal 5 shows last night (4/21). Despot and Kid Cudi are opening for Ratatat at the same venue tonight. Black Pus instead plays a show at Death By Audio in Brooklyn with Sisters Necking, Tussle and JEFF the Brotherhood. Black Pus will also appear at the NO FUN FEST at MHOW in May, and in Rhode Island tomorrow...

Continue reading "Ratatat played Terminal 5, Black Pus @ DbA tonight "

by Ryan Barkan

Smashing Pumpkins @ United Palace Theatre, NYC(more by Chris La Putt)

Lately it seems all Billy Corgan wants to do is either get involved in political battles or license his music for entertainment purposes. Case in point, the Billy Corgan avatar is playable in Guitar Hero World Tour, released last October. That was followed by a three-song Smashing Pumpkins GH track pack becoming available for download as DLC in December. Then, on the biggest advertising stage of the year (i.e. the Super Bowl) a new single "FOL" was dropped in a spot for Hyundai. The Super Bowl one-upper came recently when Billy decided to let loose...for the first time...arguably the band's biggest song ("Today") on a Visa commercial. Visa was not done there however, as Billy and the Pumpkins just weren't enough music for the brand to express itself via 30 second spots.

The credit card company dusted off '70s rock band The Moody Blues' classic jam "Tuesday Afternoon" for a spot dubbed "the Aquarium". To finish off, the coolest of the recent Visa spots has creative direction around the Brooklyn-based performance artist known as "Crutch", Bill Shannon. The commercial sees Bill dance through city streets with his patented crutch dance technique to the Don Thomas song "Come On Train". Watch the Smashing Pumpkins one below.

Other Notable Licensing News:

The Magnetic Fields song "Underwear" appropriately provides soundtrack to an artsy, dream sequence-esque commercial for Puma. Watch it below.

Both Vampire Weekend (about 8 seconds of "Campus") and Beck's "E-Pro" were enlisted for this commercial trailer for the new Paul Rudd film "I Love You Man".

continued below...

Continue reading "This week in Music Licensing"

Ratatat's previously announced tour included an April 21st show at Terminal 5 with Tussle that is still on sale. A second Terminal 5 show was just added. It happens one day later (4/22), and goes on sale Thursday at noon.

Tickets are now back on sale for tonight's Cursive show at Bowery Ballroom

Ratatat @ Terminal 5 in September (more by Leia Jospe)

Evan Mast, or E*vax, is an electronic music artist. He and his brother E*rock run the Audio Dregs record label. His first album, Parking Lot Music, was released on 04 April 2001. Mast's music is minimalist, using everyday sounds samples to create simple electronic beats. E*vax is half of Ratatat, a New York based indie/electronic band. He has released 7-inch singles on Static Caravan and Mold Recordings, along with Shudder To Think singer Craig Wedren. Evan used to work at Upoc. [Wikipedia]

Ratatat have some west coast dates lined in March and April, and Ratatat are playing Terminal 5 in NYC (again) on April 21st. Tickets for the east coast show go on Am Ex presale today at noon and then regular sale Friday.

Animal Collective are also doing some touring. All Ratatat dates, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Ratatat - 2009 Tour Dates (Terminal 5 again), a new 12" w/ an Animal Collective remix"

photos by Leia Jospe

Ratatat headlined the large Terminal 5 in NYC on Saturday night (9/27). More pictures below...

Continue reading "Ratatat @ Terminal 5, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: RATATAT - Mirando (YACHT Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stereolab - Self Portrait With "Electric Brain" (YACHT Remix) (MP3)

"Hardcore fans of 30 Seconds to Mars aren't the only ones who want more of the band's music. Virgin Records has sued the group for $30 million, saying it has failed to deliver." [CNN]

"Australian media say a lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother." [CNN]

Speaking of Yacht, get some new remixes above.

photos by Ryan Muir

The dangerous duo that is Ratatat came on 3 hours after doors opened, and were joined by a third, a keyboardist, who was rocking a serious 'fro and flared jeans, which I hadn't seen in a minute. In true party boy form, Stroud, the lead guitarist, crept onstage with 2 beers and a bottle of Jameson in tow. They played a good mix of tracks, mainly from their newest, more ecletic, album LP3, which dropped last week, and of course, a bunch of tracks from Classics, the house party soundtrack of 2006. As per usual, they projected generally weird stuff in the background (including clips from the "You Can Call Me Al" music video by Paul Simon and digitally-altered '70's reel) and used lighting to project their silhouettes onscreen. To top off the '70s-tinged vibe, there were even a few unexpected bongo solos. [BUST]

Continue reading "Ratatat @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Ratatat - Mirando (MP3)

Ratatat play their sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on Tuesday. Then they'll play NYC again as part of an August and September tour (September 27 @ Terminal 5). Tickets ($22.50) for that go on sale Thursday at noon. Their new album "LP3" is out now and you can listen to the whole thing at Spinner.

LP3 is the third studio album from Ratatat, the follow-up to 2006's Classics and 2004's self-titled debut. Since the release of Classics, Ratatat have toured relentlessly, headlining shows around the world. They were asked to open for Daft Punk at Los Angeles Sports Arena back in June 2007, before they jetted off to play shows in Hawaii and Japan. They have also added their unique sound to a recent remix of Bjork's 'Wanderlust' and released the second in their acclaimed 'Remixes' series, featuring bootleg remixes of Notorious BIG and Young Buck among others.

Continue reading "Ratatat - more 2008 Tour Dates (Terminal 5), album stream"

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for Ratatat's upcoming Brooklyn show.

Tickets for the She & Him show at Terminal 5 are also now on sale (@ noon).