Neil Diamond @ MSG (more by Eric Townsend)

Rhys Chatham rehearsing '200 Guitars' (more by Jason Bergman)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* FREE STUFF
* J.A.C.K. & a movie
* Neil Diamond @ MSG
* +/- @ Mercury Lounge
* Rancid @ Irving Plaza
* Body Count w/ Ice T @ Europa
* King Crimson @ Nokia Theatre
* Fiasco & friends @ Silent Barn
* Devlin and Darko @ Highline Ballroom
* The Metal Masters tour at Mohegan Sun
* Regina Spektor & Albert Hammond Jr @ McCarren Pool
* Bodies of Water, Port O'Brien & Loxsly @ Union Hall
* 200 Guitars & other stuff @ Lincon Center Outdoors
* Longwave & Alberta Cross @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (FREE)
* Dirty Projectors & White Williams @ South Street Seaport

A bit of coverage from the NJ & NY Metal Masters shows in This Week In Metal.

Regina Spektor performed for and spoke to WNYC.

The Longwave show at MHOW is free and after Regina Spektor at the Pool.

This Sunday at McCarren Pool: Aesop Rock.

The new Friendly Fires video for "Jump in the Pool" is below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

Songs for Tibet - The Art of Peace is a two-CD compilation album featuring a variety of mainstream and indie artists. It includes tracks by Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap, Moby, Damien Rice, Garbage, and others. Proceeds from the album will go toward supporting peace initiatives and Tibetan cultural preservation projects important to the Dalai Lama.

Other albums I have heard and can recommend this week include the Portland Cello Project's self-titled album, the Jesu/Battle of Mice EP, Rilo Kiley bass player Pierre de Reeder's solo album The Way That It Was, Ben Weaver's The Axe in the Oak, and the Widow Babies' The Mike Watt EP (a song cycle that pits Mike Watt against a vampire that looks like Abe Lincoln).

Road Runner: The Chess Masters 1959-1960 collects Bo Diddley's complete 1959 Chess studio recordings (and half of his 1960 recordings) on two discs and contains many previously unreleased songs as well as alternate versions.

Alkaline Trio is reissuing 1500 vinyl copies of its 2003 album, Good Mourning tomorrow.

Have I left anything notable off the list? What can you recommend?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

DOWNLOAD: Nickel Eye - Dying Star (off East Village Radio) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nickel Eye - Brandy of the Damned (off East Village Radio) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Native Korean Rock - Rapt (from MySpace) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Native Korean Rock - OOO (live @ Union Pool) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Native Korean Rock - Day Go By (live @ Union Pool) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: N.E.R.D. - My Drive Thru w/ Santogold & Julian Casablancas (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Albert Hammond Jr. - GfC (MP3)

Band Members: nickel eye (guitar, vocals, electric bass, double bass, harmonica); South: Joel Cadbury (steel guitar), Jamie McDonald (guitar), Brett Shaw (drums) and very special guests: Regina Spektor (piano), Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (guitar), Jack Dishel of Only Son (back up vocals), Jesse Wallace (drums) + more...

About nickel eye: Soon to be released The Time of the Assassins... For the moment, you can visit Mark Ronson's most recent radio broadcast (06/06/08) of "Authentic Shit" at www.eastvillageradio.com. At 1hr and 19mins, you will find a sneak preview of two songs and an interview with nickel eye.

Regina Spektor is also working with Ben Folds and playing a show with another Stroke, Albert Hammond Jr., who has some new music out of his own.

And while Albert and Nickel Eye are busy doing their thing, Julian has been wearing Converse and hanging with Pharrell (soon to be a daddy?) and Santogold. I don't know what's up with The Strokes, but if there is something up, Pharrell also wants to be involved.

And while Nick Zinner has been keeping busy with Nickel Eye, Karen O has been also doing her Native Korean Rock thing which included two shows the other night at Union Pool and some demos on MySpace. Yeah.

Download a whole bunch of MP3s above. The Karen O live tracks were ripped from two of the three YouTube videos you can watch below...

Continue reading "3 Strokes side projects, 2 Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 4 bands, 7 MP3s"

DOWNLOAD: Ben Sollee - Dear Kanye (MP3) (lyrics)

Ben Kweller announced a bunch of tour dates including October 17th at Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Tickets for that show go on sale at noon. Ben Sollee penned a song about Kanye West (MP3 above). Ben Folds announced a new album...

Epic Records is proud to announce the release of the much-anticipated new album from Ben Folds, WAY TO NORMAL, on September 30, 2008. The album, Folds' third as a solo artist since the break up of the Ben Folds Five in 2000, was mostly recorded at his studio in Nashville and produced by Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives). Featuring Folds on vocals and piano, Way to Normal also features long-time bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith as well as a guest vocal from indie pop heroine Regina Spektor on the album's first single, "You Don't Know Me."

Continue reading "Ben Kweller tour dates, Ben Folds new album - Regina Spektor, Ben Lee ++ Kanye West dissed by Ben Sollee"

Regina Spektor is playing McCarren Pool in Brooklyn on August 15th. $33.00 tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster on Friday, or you can get them now via Regina's presale or Live Nation's presale (password=concert) (thx Elizabeth!).

Regina's old friend from the Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr, is opening the show. Albert Hammond is also playing a private show at Mercury Lounge on July 1st. His new album ¿Cómo Te Llama? comes out on Rough Trade on July 14th. Check out the video of Regina playing with the Strokes @ MSG, below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor & Albert Hammond Jr playing McCarren Pool "

Rodrigo y Gabriela @ Sasquatch 2008 (more by Chris Graham)

"The multi-faceted, three-day festival will take place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park on August 22 - 24, 2008. Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Jack Johnson will headline the event. Tickets for the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival are available for purchase at www.SFOutsidelands.com."

Beck, Manu Chao, Sharon Jones, Nellie McKay, and Rodrigo y Gabriela are a few of the other artists playing. All of them below....

Continue reading "Outside Lands Music Festival lineup - now w/ more artists"

Only Son & Regina Spektor @ Sound Fix, Brooklyn, NY - Apr 19, 2008 (slicknick1986)

People started lining up outside Sound Fix at 7am for Regina Spektor's free 1pm show in honor of Record Store Day on Saturday. Unfortunately though, Sound Fix (a record store with attached bar and performance space) is still having problems - a lot of them....

...According to Bradley, the Dept. of Health, the Dept. of Buildings, and the Police Dept. have all issued violations on the business, many of them requiring court appearances. "It's been really overwhelming," says Bradley. The record store owner believes the violations are rooted in complaints from a couple of neighbors who live in an adjacent building, one of whom, Teresa Polonski, works for Assemblyman Joseph Lentol. "I'm sympathetic to noise complaints, and we've done a lot to try to mitigate the noise," says Bradley. "All this seems to be really excessive to me." The Dept. of Health shut down the Sound Fix Lounge after serving it with three violations for operating without a food license; the first violation was issued March 6th, the second on March 8th, and the third on March 28th. "On 3/28 the establishment was swarmed by inspectors and shut down. I was advised by DOH that this was actually a Mayor's task force," says Mikelle V. Komor of Wagner Davis P.C., one of the attorneys working for Sound Fix... [Brownstoner]

win tickets....

The Hold Steady and The Virgins are playing Webster Hall on May 2nd. Tickets go on sale April 12th. Regina Spektor, Nick Lowe, Sondre Lerche and many others are playing the annual day show at Canal Room (April 29-May 2). This is all part of this year's Tribeca Film Festival which believe it or not includes movies too (Lou Reed's Berlin directed by Julian Schnabel included). The day shows are for festival pass holders only, but I have two pairs of tickets to give away that get you in to the Canal Room for the whole week. How to win, and full festival details/lineups, below.....

Continue reading "Tribeca Film Festival music programming - The Hold Steady, Regina Spektor, Nick Lowe, Sondre Lerche, movies & stuff"

Sound Fix (the place that IS still open) announced this free show:

Apr 19, 2008 1 PM Regina Spektor
yes, it's true. more details to follow. it's free, first come first serve. short performance. signing to follow. doors will not open til after 12:45. please don't call store to ask questions

Continue reading "Regina Spektor - Sound Fix, Atlantic City & 2008 Tour Dates "

Produced by True Colors Concerts in partnership once again with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the 24 city North American tour is presented by Logo in support of the newly created True Colors Fund of Stonewall Community Foundation. The concerts feature nearly five hours of nonstop music with exciting special guests appearing on select dates throughout the tour including Wanda Sykes, Tegan and Sara, Regina Spektor, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Joan Armatrading, Indigo Girls, Nona Hendryx, Deborah Cox and The Cliks.

This is the tour started by Cyndi Lauper that featured that last year featured Erasure, The Gossip, Dresden Dolls, Debbie Harry, and Cyndi herself. Last year's NYC-area show was at Radio City Music Hall. This year's show is at Radio City again (June 3rd w/ Cyndi Lauper, The B-52s, Regina Spektor, Rosie O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, The Cliks, & host Carson Kressley), but it's also at Jones Beach two days earlier (w/ the same lineup, but without Regina for some reason). That sucks that we don't get Tegan & Sara at all.

An "HRC Exclusive" presale starts March 10th. Regular tickets go on sale March 15th. All dates below....

Continue reading "'True Colors' is back - 2008 Tour Dates & lineup"

Kate Nash @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Jan 9, 2008 (Bao Nguyen)

UK singer-songwriter Kate Nash played to a packed, industry-heavy room at Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night (Wed Jan 9, 2008) It was my first time seeing her - I missed Joe's Pub, Luna Lounge, and the Virgin Megastore shows. And I loved every second it....until the encore.

Kate seemed comfortable on stage - even in front of the tough NYC crowd. Her keyboard playing, singing, lyrics, backing band, and stage presence were all good. Her guitar playing wasn't bad either. If I left before the encore, I would have left raving about how much I loved it start to finish. I would have agreed with you that there's already a Regina Spektor and Lily Allen, but I would have just said that I'm happy to have all three of them (actually, I'll still say that).

But then came the first song of the two-song encore. It was a slow song, and she sang it solo - just her, her keyboard, and her microphone. It wasn't just that the song was kind of boring - it was that, at one point, she suddenly transformed into Regina Spektor in a fake-quirky-I-studied-live-Regina-Spektor-tapes kind of way. It turned me slightly against her at that moment. By the time her band came back on stage for the very final song (a high-energy one), I was turned off. I may have liked it more if they played it ealier in the show when the other high energy songs were making it hard to stand still. That said, I forgive her for what was a mostly-great show, and hopefully she (only 20 years old) eventually develops more of her own quirks.

I'll be surprised if Kate doesn't get more famous in the USA than Lily and Regina combined. Then again, I guess I won't be surprised if she doesn't. She definitely has the show to back up the songs though, and I hope to catch her at least one more time next time she visits.

More photos by Bao, and the setlist and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Kate Nash @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics, review"

* Lily Allen says Radiohead are arrogant
* Regina Spektor collapsed before a show, but is OK
* Lily Allen in Talks to Star in 4th Season of Doctor Who
* Regina Spektor made a list of the 50 most influential Jews
* Lily Allen will not be modeling lingerie

The "Dan in Real Life" soundtrack "features 11 new Sondre Lerche compositions, a duet with Regina Spektor, Sondre's cover of Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door", a Lerche-produced version of "Fever" by a Fine Frenzy as well as songs from Lerche's previous records featured in the film." Sondre announced a solo November tour. Tickets are on sale for shows at Bowery Ballroom, Music Hall of Williamsburg, and Maxwell's. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "Sondre Lerche - 2007 Tour Dates, duet w/ Regina Spektor"

Almost as fun as watching her many rabid fans go nuts as she took the stage at this year's Austin City Limits festival....

Continue reading "VIDEO: Regina Spektor - Better"

Regina in Scotland (CRED)

* Get tickets for Deerhunter's CMJ show.
* Get tickets for British Sea Power's CMJ show.
* Get tickets for the Irving Plaza Comedians of Comedy shows.
* Get tickets for Justice's 2nd show at Terminal 5
* Get tickets for the Decemberists (long and short) shows at Terminal 5
* Get tickets for PJ Harvey at Beacon Theatre
* Get tickets for The Hold Steady & Art Brut show at Terminal 5

Vampire Weekend's first big headlining show with Yeasayer at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this weekend is sold out. I also noticed that Regina Spektor did in fact sell out Hammerstein Ballroom.

John Mayer, Metallica, Tom Waits, and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder are among the artists who will join Neil Young for his 21st annual Bridge School Benefit concerts near San Francisco on October 27-28.

Also on this year's bill are Tegan and Sara, Regina Spektor, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Tickets for the Bridge concerts, which will take place at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, will be priced at $150, $75 and $39.50 (plus service charges). [Yahoo]

DOWNLOAD: Nellie McKay - There You Are In Me (MP3)

Though it would rule if they were, Nellie and Regina are not touring together. They both do have upcoming shows though, and I already posted some dates for Regina, and some for Nellie, but now there are more - so, here they are....

Continue reading "updated Regina Spektor & Nellie McKay Tour Dates"

DOWNLOAD: Strokes - Modern Girls & Old Fashioned Men (f Regina Spektor) (MP3)

Regina Spektor @ the 2007 Virgin Festival (MORE)

Part of me is "YAY REGINA!", and part of me is "WHY, REGINA?!" $35.00 tickets go on sale Friday for an October 16th Regina Spektor show at the large-and-not-intimate Hammerstein Ballroom. Don't forget, Ryan Adams at-the-same-venue goes on sale Friday too.

Check out Bao's review & pics of Regina @ Virgin, and some pics of Regina playing Lollapalooza the same weekend, and more tour dates below....

Continue reading "Regina Spektor - 2007 Tour Dates (Hammerstein)"

words & photos by Bao Nguyen

Girl Talk

So this was a very last minute idea, meaning I left New York for Baltimore at 12 PM on Saturday when gates had already opened at 10 AM. Not knowing at the time whether I had a pass waiting for me at the festival, I made the 4 hour drive, hindered by the beach bound crowd on the NJ Turnpike, armed with a Polaroid, 4 hours of sleep, and a sense of regret for missing the previous night's CSS show. I arrived at Pimilico Field at exactly 4 PM and after nearly being run over by Richard Branson on a golf cart, I made it just in time to catch the start of Peter Bjorn and John's set. I think their music plays better in a small club than a large festival type atmosphere especially when the entire crowd seems to be waiting for only one particular song that everyone can whistle to. Following Peter Bjorn and John was an high energy set from LCD Soundsystem that included a very unusual mosh pit where three people were doing their best Thom Yorke seizure dance....

Continue reading "The 2007 Virgin Festival in Baltimore - review & pics"

Regina Spektor

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O

more pictures below....

Continue reading "Photos from Lollapalooza 2007 - Day 2"

Regina Spektor's upcoming shows include Paris, Stockholm, Israel, Bonnaroo, and Purchase College in Purchase, New York. A few dates have a pre-sale. Check iTunes for a new EP recorded live in California. All tour dates below.....

Continue reading "Regina Spektor - tour dates, presale, new iTunes EP"

Well, not CocoRosie exactly, but he does love their side-project Metallic Falcons. Chromewaves hearts The Mountain Goats.

REGINA SPEKTOR & KIMYA DAWSON'S BABY PANDA (VIA)


"Regina would like to apologize profusely to all her fans in Europe who had purchased tickets for the scheduled shows in December (including 2 unconfirmed shows in Germany in November). Unfortunately, due to international scheduling issues Regina is unable to appear for the shows. Regina would like to pass her personal regards and apologies to all her fans that have already purchased tickets."

Tickets are on sale for a November 20th show @ Warsaw in Brooklyn. All dates below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor adds Brooklyn show, cancels European gigs | Tour Dates"

Tickets are on sale for a September 28th show which is one day after the previously announced show on September 27th. All of Regina Spektor's tour dates below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor adds 2nd NYC date @ Town Hall | Updated Tour Dates"

Regina Spektor is playing Town Hall in NYC on September 27th. Tickets supposedly go on sale today at Noon. All known tour dates below...

Continue reading "Regina Spektor playing Town Hall | Tour Dates"