photos & words by Caroline Harrison

Russian Circles @ Saint Vitus 4/1/2013

Russian Circles played Saint Vitus last night (April 1), supported by locals Primitive Weapons and Descender. The post-metal band played Highline Ballroom on their last headlining tour (and Radio City Music Hall recently), so it's no surprise that they sold out the Greenpoint bar long before any openers had been announced.

Descender's no-frills post-hardcore kicked off the evening. Primitive Weapons, down a guitarist, ripped through an energetic set on home turf (guitarist Arty Shepherd was actually working the bar that night). Russian Circles' lushly layered sound translates beautifully live. The band expertly weaves in samples and loops, without obscuring Dave Turncrantz's impassioned drumming or Brian Cook's distinctive bass lines (ex-Botch/These Arms Are Snakes).

Primitive Weapons play Music Hall of Williamsburg later this month (4/27) with Dillinger Escape Plan, the Faceless, and Royal Thunder. We'll be posting the RSVP info for that free show as soon as it's available. And if you missed their set last night, you can catch Descender again tonight (4/2) at Saint Vitus supporting Loma Prieta and Goodtime Boys (tickets).

More pictures and a video of the entire Russian Circles set are below.

Continue reading "Russian Circles played Saint Vitus with Primitive Weapons and Descender (pics, video)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

As mentioned, Fell Voices play their first East Coast show ever on Saturday at Saint Vitus (March 23, tickets) with Anicon and Ashencult. The date is a rare appearance before the band jets to Europe.

Couple of important changes to note: Psychic Limb has been added to Floor/Thrones show at Saint Vitus on March 29, and tickets are still available but not for long. Call of the Void's previously discussed show has been moved to Left Field on March 25 (87 Ludlow).

Russian Circles at Saint Vitus is now sold out! Hope you got tickets.

Is KEN Mode responsible for the Brooklynization of metal? Check out the article, which neglects to mention the fact that Pitchfork covered metal for years before writer Brandon Stosuy moved the column to Stereogum.

Grind and Punishment has a must-read oral history on the great Anodyne.

That's it for this week. A list of all Evillive-approved shows for the next two weeks, a stream of all of the new Iron Lung, along with streams of new Altar of Plagues and Uncle Acid, are below

Continue reading "Evillive (Fell Voices, Call of the Void, Iron Lung, the "Brooklynization of metal" and more)"

Russian Circles at Bowery Ballroom (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

This is not an April Fools prank. BrooklynVegan and Invisible Oranges are proud to announce Russian Circles at Saint Vitus on April 1! Tickets are on sale. This announcement comes a few days after the band drew their tour with Coheed & Cambria/Between the Buried & Me to a close at Radio City Music Hall over the weekend (on March 16). Our friends at The Obelisk were there:

Generally speaking, I don't like big venues, big venue shows or big venue bands, but ...Russian Circles struck me as the one to catch.... Russian Circles emerged, their stage lit by two single lightbulbs on either side -- one in front of guitarist Mike Sullivan, one under the keyboard of bassist Brian Cook - and two floodlights behind drummer Dave Turncrantz...

Russian Circles only played four songs, but in that time gave a fair sampling of their catalog. From 2008′s Station came opener "Harper Lewis," followed by the title-track from 2009′s Geneva, which led into "Mlàdek," the gallop-happy highlight from 2011′s Empros, and from 2006′s debut, Enter, the closer "Death Rides a Horse."

Between The Buried and Me at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012 (more by Harriet Roberts)

Russian Circles will head out on a US tour supporting Coheed & Cambria, alongside support from Between the Buried and Me. The US tour, which kicks off in early February in DC, loops the country finishing up in NYC with a show at Radio City Music Hall on March 16. Ticket info is still forthcoming.

All tour dates are listed below, along with video from Russian Circles and Between the Buried and Me.

Continue reading "Russian Circles and Between the Buried and Me touring with Coheed & Cambria, including Radio City Music Hall (dates)"

photos by Greg Cristman

Russian Circles / Chelsea Wolfe, Highline Ballroom 8/18/2012

Chicago's post-rock crew Russian Circles' tour with Chelsea Wolfe and Marriages came through NYC this weekend with a show at Meatpacking District's Highline Ballroom on Saturday (8/18). Pictures from that show are in this post. The three bands continue their tour, playing Montreal tonight (8/20).

In other news Chelsea Wolf will release an acoustic album this fall titled Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs. You can stream "The Way We Used to Be" from it at the bottom of this post and the album will be out October 16.

More pics from Highline Ballroom and the Chelsea Wolfe stream are below.

Continue reading "Russian Circles, Chelsea Wolfe & Marriages played Highline Ballroom; Chelsea Wolfe releasing acoustic LP (pics, stream)"

photos by Zach Pollack; words by Parker Langvardt

Boris / Russian Circles at Dickens, Sled Island 6/20/201

The sixth annual Sled Island festival is in full swing, happening at over 40 venues (and makeshift venues) all over Calgary, Alberta. Aircraft problems delayed our arrival till early evening on Wednesday, with barely enough time to check in to the hotel and the festival before heading over to Dickens for a Sargent House Records centric show.

Calgary metal outfit The Weir opened the sold out show with slow, sludgy doom, complete with growled vocals, dissonant riffing, and droning ambience.

Next up was Barrie, Ontario hard rock duo Indian Handcrafts who opened their set with a spoken word sample over slow, clean guitar. Then fast drumming came in, sending them into them into the heavy, distorted stoner rock of "Starcraft.". The band bantered about their hometown, causing audience members to yell that they had family there. Drummer Brandyn Aikins responded, "That's what everyone says," and proceeded to say, "My cousin's from there!" in a goofy, redneck Cookie Monster voice. Guitarist Daniel Allen then looked at Aikins and said, "Whistle!" and the pair began whistling to open "Centauri Teenage Riot." A split second before the song started, someone yelled, "Get a theremin!" and Allen responded, "No money!" right as they launched into the pulverizing main riff. Later on in the set, they were joined by a guest vocalist to cover Nirvana's "Negative Creep." They followed with the quick, punk-ish "Terminal Horse," which is featured in the promo video for their upcoming album, Civil Disobedience For Losers.

Belfast, Ireland instrumental rockers And So I Watch You From Afar delivered a positive and energetic performance. They opened with "BEAUTIFULUNIVERSEMASTERCHAMPION," which covers a broad spectrum of the band's styles -- crashing chords, tight, fast guitar melodies, and chill melodious sections. They opened with "Gang (starting never stopping)," following that with two songs from their EP Letters, "S is for Salamander" and "D is for Django the Bastard." ASIWYFA won't be there when the Russian Circles/Chelsea Wolfe/Marriages tour hits NYC at Highline Ballroom (8/18), but they play their own NYC show on July 27 at The Studio at Webster Hall. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Chicago instrumentalists Russian Circles began with "309," blasting through the supercharged intro riff with several dramatic mood swings. Drummer Dave Turncrantz broke into the final, heaviest section before falling into the floor tom-based intro of "Harper Lewis," rather than the outro of "309." He occasionally added exaggerated rests in songs to play with the audience's expectation of their otherwise fairly precise representation of their recorded music. They followed with "Geneva," which is highlighted by a serpentine bassline that guitarist Mike Sullivan compliments with a bizarre Middle Eastern-like countermelody. The band then busted through the angular and twisting "Youngblood," kept up the momentum with their classic "Death Rides a Horse," and closed the show with "Mladek."

The night ended with a secret headlining set from Japanese rockers Boris, who played a publicized Sled Island show the next night (6/21) where they played their droning, psychedelic one-song album Feedbacker in its entirety. Boris have also added another Sled Island show at The Distillery tonight (6/22) with Banff, Alberta trio Lost.Book.Found, followed by the bluesy hard rock of Edmonton, Alberta's Black Mastiff, and the Vancouver progressive metal band Ancients.

Sled Island continues through Saturday, June 23 and more BV coverage of the fest is to come. More pictures from Wednesday night are below.

Continue reading "Sled Island fest: Wednesday pics and review (Boris, Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar, Indian Handcrafts, and more)"

Russian Circles at Bowery Ballroom (more by BBG)

Russian Circles will hit the road soon, starting with a string of dates with And So I Watch You From Afar on the West Coast that will include a stop at Sled Island in Calgary next week.

After that, the Chicago post-rock/hardcore/metal hybrid will team up with Chelsea Wolfe and Marriages for a string of dates out East, hitting Highline Ballroom on August 18th. Ticketing info is forthcoming.

For the unfamiliar, Marriages is Greg Burns and Emma Ruth Rundle of Red Sparowes, and they've lassoed in drummer Dave Turncrantz of Russian Circles to sit behind the kit during this set of dates. The band released their Kitsune EP earlier this year, and you can stream that in full below.

Russian Circles will team up with Deafheaven on a few of those dates on the West side, and Deafheaven will be in NYC on Friday to play the Show No Mercy/WIERD Northside Fest showcase at Saint Vitus.

A listing of all tour dates, streams and video are below.

Continue reading "Russian Circles touring w/ Chelsea Wolfe & Marriages (dates)"

The 2012 edition of Calgary, Alberta festival Sled Island is set to take place from June 20-23 at venues throughout the city. This year includes over 200 bands performing at 30 venues plus a large comedy schedule, film screenings, and art shows.

Sled Island 2012 will once again use outdoor venue Olympic Plaza as its main stage, featuring performances by Feist, The Hold Steady, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, The Dudes, Shabazz Palaces, Parlovr, and others.

Acts including Russian Circles, Hot Snakes, The Antlers, Boris, Thurston Moore, Willis Earl Beal, Trust, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, Terry Malts, Neil Hamburger, How To Dress Well, The Evaporators (aka Nardwuar's band), DJ Jonathan Toubin, Hannibal Buress, Andrew W.K., Tim Heidecker, Archers of Loaf, and many more will be performing at various bars and venues. Check out the full lineup at the bottom of this post.

Festival passes, individual tickets for some clubs shows, and tickets for the Olympic Plaza events only are all on sale. The full festival schedule iwill be announced in June.

Full lineup and 2012 festival trailer below...

Continue reading "Feist, Stephen Malkmus, The Hold Steady and lots more playing Calgary's Sled Island Festival (full line-up)"

words & photos by BBG

Russian Circles @ Bowery Ballroom

I'm covered in drool and sweat from last night (11/14), but couldn't be happier. Besides a blown guitar head that hindered The Men's opening set, Russian Circles/Deafheaven's tour stop at Bowery Ballroom went spectacularly, featuring both touring bands in prime form. And if The Men weren't plagued by technical difficulty (I know what that band is capable of), the show could have possibly gone down as one of my favorites of the year.

The Men opened the show energetically, pulling material from their latest LP Leave Home. After borrowing a head from Deafheaven, the band ripped into three songs before trouble started to set in; the head would not work. After fumbling with it for one song and some awkward pauses, the band went into a final track before calling it a night.

"You're blowing our big chance!" the bassist jokingly said to his bandmates before sounding off for the evening. Disappointing set, but by no fault of their own... the band's rendition of "Think" from the new record was particularly ripping (one of the few songs they played from start to finish).

A fuse was replaced in guitarist Kerry McCoy's rig in between bands, and Deafheaven preceeded to wow the crowd with their screamo-infused take on black metal. Though the band was sporting a pair of new members (on guitar and drums), they sounded no worse for the change. In fact, by the time they really dug into the set-opener "Violet" (which we premiered in February), I was convinced that this was my favorite live outing from the band thus far (I have seen them at least four times by this point... at our SXSW parties and Cake Shop). Maybe it was my experience of seeing them on Bowery Ballroom's juggernaut-of-a-system, but the Bay Area band was in rare form last night.

Russian Circles batted clean-up, utilizing minimal stage lighting and counting on half a dozen light bulbs around stage to set the mood. The Chicago trio played an impressive set of hardcore-infused post-rock, equally as jaw-dropping as their Fun Fun Fun appearance amidst the sunset at Auditorium Shores. Russian Circles cannot make a bad album and in my experience, are incapable of a bad live show.

If you missed the show last night, do your best to get to Maxwell's tonight (11/15). Tickets are still on sale and surely The Men will have worked out their guitar head situation, and will definitely up the ante from an already impressive Bowery Ballroom show last night.

The Men also play a show with Total Control in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom are below.

Continue reading "Russian Circles, Deafheaven & The Men played Bowery Ballroom (pics) ------ catch them again @ Maxwell's tonight"

by BBG

Total Control at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

In addition to their previously discussed dates with Thee Oh Sees, Australia's Total Control have added a third NYC date which is actually happening before the others. The band will team with The Men, Nude Beach & Kicking Spit at Saint Vitus on 11/16. Tickets are on sale OR you can roll the dice and try to win a pair! Details on how are below.

Meanwhile The Men, who are going to SXSW in March, will support Russian Circles and Deafheaven at Bowery Ballroom tonight (11/14) and Maxwell's tomorrow.

Total Control's NYC shows with Thee Oh Sees happen at 285 Kent on 11/17 with The Beets and Doomsday Student who ripped it at Public Assembly (tickets), and at LPR on 11/18 (tickets).

All tour dates, contest details, and some streaming audio, below...

Continue reading "Total Control playing 3 NYC shows this week, The Men too"

by Andrew Sacher

Russian Circles (not Danzig) @ FFF Fest (more by BBG)

Post rockers Russian Circles released their most recent LP, Empros, on October 25 via Sargent House. Some of the album, especially the track "Miladek," which you can grab HERE, tends to cross over into the territory where post-rock meets emo and post-hardcore, similarly to The Appleseed Cast, though the sludgy guitars of their earlier albums still come through in full force. Though the majority of the album is instrumental, vocals do appear on the last track, "Praise Be Man." You can listen to the whole thing at Spotify.

Russian Circles are currently on a tour that just hit FFF Fest in Austin, and will come to the NYC-area for shows on November 15 at Bowery Ballroom and November 15 at Maxwell's with shoegazey San Francisco black metallers Deafheaven. The Men are also on both shows. Tickets are still on sale for the Bowery show and the Maxwell's show.

Updated dates below...

Continue reading "Russian Circles released 'Empros', continue on tour"

photos by BBG

Four stages and more. Fun Fun Fun Fest truly is non-stop fun of many varieties. BBG spent most of Friday at the Black Stage (the one Danzig headlined). His pictures, including Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Murder City Devils, Russian Circles and the afterparty at Red 7, continue below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 -- Day 1 in pics (part 1) -- Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Murder City Devils, Russian Circles & more"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Russian Circles - "Miladek" (MP3)

Russian Circles

Russian Circles willl team with Deafheaven (whose former tourmates KEN Mode just played NYC) for a tour that includes a show at Bowery Ballroom on 11/14. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale on 10/7 at noon.

The tour hasn't been announced in full yet (UPDATE: it has now, dates updated below), but will also include an appearance at Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest and a free show for FFF ticketholders on 11/5 at Red 7 with Boris as part of "Fun Fun Fun Nites", a string of post-festival after parties with a lineup almost as venerable as the fest itself. Full details on FFF Nites are below and tickets for Fun Fun Fun Fest are still available. BrooklynVegan is a proud sponsor of at least one party during FFF Nites, details are forthcoming.

Before Russian Circles hits the road for those dates, they'll be in readying the release of Empros, the band's new LP and follow-up to the awesome Geneva due on 10/25 via Sargent House. The LP features "Mladek" which is available for download above. LP art and album details are below.

Reminder: Boris plays Irving Plaza on 10/27.

More details on FFF Nites, as well as all known Russian Circles dates are below.

Continue reading "Russian Circles readying new LP, touring w/ Deafheaven --- MP3, some dates & initial FFFFest afterparty lineup"

Slayer at Izod Center (photos by Samantha Marble)

Slayer, Thee Oh Sees, Public Enemy, Girls, Danzig Legacy, (Danzig + Doyle von Frankenstein playing Misfits, Samhain & Danzig), Hot Snakes, Diplo, Major Lazer, Henry Rollins, Ted Leo & The Phramacists, Spank Rock, Murder City Devils, Hum, Lykke Li, Passion Pit, Four Tet, Rakim, The Damned, Austra, Purity Ring, and Flynt Flossy are just a few of the acts announced today as part of the Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 lineup. Another amazing year! Check out the full lineup below and stay tuned for more announcements coming in August and September.

The new additions to the Austin, Texas festival, which takes place from 11/4 - 11/6, are in addition to the the previous "lineup leaks" that included Brian Posehn, Odd Future, Okkervil River, M83, X (performing "Los Angeles"), Reggie Watts, Flying Lotus, Tune-Yards, Ra Ra Riot, Kid Dynamite and others

2011 is the festival's sixth year, but first at its new home Auditorium Shores (no more Waterloo Park). Tickets are on sale now.

Slayer also has a NYC performance coming up with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth as part of the "Big Four" show at Yankee Stadium on 9/14. Tickets are still available.

Fun Fun Fun 2011 flyer and almost-full lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 lineup (Danzig Legazy, Passion Pit, Slayer, Lykke Li, The Damned, Henry Rollins & much more)"

by BBG

Boris, in pillow and undergarment form

Boris's new LP offerings Attention Please and Heavy Rocks (2011) represent a bit of a stylistic change for the ever-shifting Japanese band. As such, they've recruited some bands outside of the usual suspects in their upcoming North American tour announced today. Boris, who is currently in the EU with Russian Circles, will hit the road in the US for dates with Asobi Seksu, Tera Melos, True Widow (who play Union Pool in August), Master Musicians of Bukkake, Liturgy and others in October. Full tour schedule is below, including an NYC date with Asobi Seksu and Liturgy at Irving Plaza on 10/27. Ticketing info is forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Asobi Seksu play a FREE show at Pier 17 on Friday (7/15) with The Radio Dept AND a show at Brooklyn Bowl on 10/1 (tickets). Full Asobi Seksu dates are below.

All tour dates and a video for Boris's "Hope/Riot Sugar" (a song from each new LP in a single video) is below. For all of you superfans, keep a lookout for Boris - Attention Please underwear and/or pillows (above) which go on presale on 7/30.

Continue reading "Boris playing shows w/ Asobi Seksu, Liturgy, Tera Melos, Coliseum, True Widow & more (2011 Tour Dates)"

words and photos by BBG

CoC

The Animosity lineup of Corrosion of Conformity played all of their Animosity LP at Highline Ballroom on Sunday (10/10) with one-off help from Today is The Day, Keelhaul, and The Ghosts of Saturday Night (who I missed). The three piece headliner (Mike Dean/Reed Mullin/Woody Weatherman) ripped out jams from the fave LP while sprinkling in new material along the way. Look for that soon on Southern Lord.

Today Is The Day is currently writing new material for their forthcoming LP on Black Market Activities/Metal Blade Records. The band now features Ryan and Curran of Wetnurse in addition to TITD mastermind Steve Austin.

In related news, Wetnurse will play Fontana's on 10/23 with Powerglove, Meek is Murder, Pack of Wolves, Batillus, and The Binary Code. The show kicks off at 4PM, 3 hours before the kick off of the Official BV-BBG showcase at Union Pool with The Body, Cough, Inter Arma, and Royal Thunder. The Fontana's show is one of two for presenters MetalSucks & 1000 Knives who are also bringing A Life Once Lost, Baptized in Blood, and Carbomb to Europa on 10/20 (tickets).

Keelhaul is done opening for CoC dates for now, and will hit the road next weekend for a string of dates with Russian Circles and Call Me Lightning (none in NYC). Those tour dates, as well as more pictures and video from Highline are below...

Continue reading "Corrosion of Conformity played Highline Ballroom w/ Keelhaul & Today is the Day -- pics, video, more dates & stuff"

words by BBG, photos by Greg Cristman

I don't know where you were on Friday night, but if it wasn't at the sold-out Boris and Torche show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, I feel bad for you....

Torche's set was great. Melodic doom? If I had to guess, I'd say Torche might be the heaviest band playing in standard tuning. And if that's not standard tuning [ED: it definitely isn't], these guys play a lot of happy chords, but can still run a nasty bass line underneath for a giant cosmic explosion at the end. I'm not sure if a lot of bands not Boris ever used Boris' equipment, but Torche was allowed and it sounded great. My one complaint was the music could stand on its own without singing, maybe even profit from less.

Boris opened with "Farewell." The set was up and down in terms of slow beautiful Boris songs to fast crazy-as-hell Boris songs. I think sometimes the audience wanted more of the latter, but "Rainbow" with hired gun Michio Kurihara's guitar shredding and Wata's "16:47:52" were highlights for me. I was standing near Wata because I'm in love with her. She's so serious! I've seen Boris plenty of times and for some reason I always describe the sets as a lot of fun and Boris is not like U.S. metal bands-the members actually have a lot of fun. I don't know why I say these things because Wata, Michio and Takeshi are expressionless. Japanese metal stoicism?...

...When I see Boris play, I'm embarrassed for the entire U.S. metal scene. -[NY Press]

Boris will be back in NYC in a month, but this time with sunn o))) and performing Altar at BMT (tickets) in it's entirety (which they'll also do at ATP NY).

More pictures from MHOW below...

Continue reading "Boris, Torche & Russian Circles played MHOW (pics) "

by BBG

Boris @ Scion Rock Fest (more by Steven Brown)

As hypothesized, Boris will team up with Russian Circles for a NYC show on August 6th. It's at Music Hall of Williamsburg. What I didn't foresee? It's with TORCHE. Tickets are on sale, full tour dates are below. Um, I'm in.

Continue reading "Boris & Russian Circles add Brooklyn show with Torche"

by BBG

Boris at ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

The Japanese rumblers are back. Boris will strap on their double necked-axes and hit the road this summer for a US tour with Russian Circles, and then Red Sparowes. No NYC dates scheduled as of yet (there is a pretty glaring hole on 8/5 and 8/6 though....), but the band will be at ATP 2010 as part of Altar with sunn O))).

Boris recently released a trio of limited 7"s and played ATP in the UK curated by Pavement. All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Boris touring w/ Russian Circles, Red Sparowes - 2010 dates "

by Black Bubblegum

They say that the clothes make the man, but in the music world, the drummer makes the band. That's the only way to explain the string of successes that have followed Dave Witte since he first sat behind the kit as a member of the influential yet under-appreciated Human Remains. Since then, Witte has played with some of the greatest bands in the heavy underground, laying the back beat to names as powerful as Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis, Anodyne, Black Army Jacket, Melt Banana, and we can't forget about Burnt By The Sun.

Burnt By The Sun recently released their swansong, Heart of Darkness, via Relapse Records. In celebration of this last LP, the band will embark on final tour of Europe in October with only one US date scheduled: October 2nd at Cake Shop with Tombs, Black Anvil, Bloodhorse, and Torchbearer. Considering the band members' current undertakings, it isn't out the question to say that this could be their last show for a very very long time.

With that as a primer, I fired some questions at Dave Witte about Municipal Waste, the end of Burnt By The Sun, and the possiblity of him returning to the kit for Human Remains, Discordance Axis or Black Army Jacket. The conversation is below....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Dave Witte (of Burnt by the Sun, Municipal Waste, Human Remains, Black Army Jacket...)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Russian Circles - "Malko" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bad Secrets - "Gimme Sound" (MP3)

Russian Circles (photo by Chris Strong)

Russian Circles have Geneva due on 10/20 and are hitting the road with Young Widows, tagging Bowery Ballroom on 12/1 in the process. Tickets for Bowery, which will also feature Phantom Family Halo, are on AmEx presale now, and go on general sale Friday (9/25) at noon.

Speaking of Young Widows, Evan Patterson recently dropped a 9" with his side project Bad Secrets on Robotic Empire. The lo-fi, somewhat sparse psychedelic look at post-punk is the product of a few weekends in 2007 when Patterson teamed up with Dan Davis (Kodan Armada). Dig on a track from the Bad Secrets 9"/CD above.

And while we're on the subject of Robotic Empire, the label is currently taking preorders for a MASSIVE TWELVE LP (!) box set of Floor material. The comp, which will set you back $250, comes with an exclusive (and rather rad, I must say) Floor tee. Pre-order that sumbitch here. Members of Floor went on to form Torche, Dove, and House of Lightning.

Young Widows JUST played Bowery with Thursday and Fall of Troy on 9/20.

"Since Settle Down City, the band has toured with little rest, contributed to a bevy of split 7-inch records alongside acts like Coliseum and Melt-Banana, replaced a drummer, and released the combustible Old Wounds. More work (including a third full-length) is forthcoming but Patterson insists that all of Young Widows' output reach a personal high mark. "This is what I want to be passionate about," he says." [Hartford Advocate]

Continue reading "Russian Circles & Young Widows touring (dates), Bad Secrets release music (MP3), Floor box set coming soon"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Russian Circles - "Malko" (MP3)

TAAS

Minus The Bear are touring and working on new material. Their Suicide Squeeze labelmates have been busy as well!

These Arms Are Snakes, who we already knew were playing Mercury Lounge on 9/26, have scheduled a date the night before (9/25) at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn. TAAS also recently dropped the digital single "Washburn" from their previously released split with All The Saints. Vinyl split cover art below.

Russian Circles currently dont have any NYC dates, but the band is hitting the road in late October, hitting up Fun Fun Fun Fest along the way. Russian Circles have a new long-player on the way, Geneva, due on 10/20. Dig on "Malko" from that record above.

Full Russian Circles and TAAS dates, below...

Continue reading "These Arms Are Snakes add 2nd NYC show - updated tour dates +++ new Russian Circles MP3"

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)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Slough Feg - "Tiger Tiger" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Prizehog - "Husky" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wildildlife - "Shining Son" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Funeral Mist - "Jesus Saves" (EDIT) (MP3)

Slough Feg have announced their new album, Ape Uprising, due June 3nd on Cruz Del Sur! Recorded by Justin Phelps and Justin Weis (again), and later mastered at Traxwork studio. Check out the Larry Luna cover art above. Iron Kodex will do the vinyl honors for Ape Uprising in "the end of April" in a limited edition run of 666 copies. Slough Feg will join the mighty Absu, Wildildlife, and many others as part of the WFMU/Acquarius Records show at Spiro's on March 20th during SXSW. Prizehog is also along for the ride... check out "Husky" downloadable above, and pick up their CD-R at Aquarius Records!

Karma To Burn are BACK and have scheduled a short tour of the east coast, though no NYC date is scheduled.... you'll have to travel up to Danbury to check 'em out on Apr 22 at Cousin Larry's. Full tour dates are below.

The music portion of SXSW kicks off in Austin today (3/18). if you're there, stop by our party and check our our guide for even more heavy show options, or just to grab all the free music.

Church of Misery have completed recording of their new album, Houses of the Unholy, and are streaming a new song, "El Padrino", at their myspace. Look for the new record on Rise Above Records, which is on pre-order here.

Zoroaster, The Gates of Slumber, and Serpentcult are tripleteaming the US, having added US dates including a night at The Studio @ Webster Hall on August 9th. Ticket info is forthcoming. Zoroaster recently dropped Voices of Omens on their own Terminal Doom Records, while Serpentcult recently dropped The Weight of Light on Rise Above.

Funeral Mist's Maranatha is out NOW. Check out an edit of "Jesus Saves" available for download above.

Cattle Decapitation were already on their way to NYC to play with Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Withered, AND the just-added Lair of The Minotaur at Irving Plaza on May 21st (tickets here). But NOW the band has added another NYC show, part of yeat another round of dates for the band, but this time as headliners! Ticket info is forthcoming for Cattle Decapitation, Rose Funeral & Woe of Tyrants at The Studio @ Webster Hall on May 1. Full tour dates are below. In related news, make sure and check out the mighty Withered (who absolutely killed it at Scion) when they headline Union Pool on April 16th!

Bison BC & Children will team up for a show at Death By Audio on April 18th, linking up with Violent Bullshit (ex-Panthers), Circle of Buzzards (with Bob D'Amico and Jason Lowenstein of Sebadoh and Fiery Furnaces) and Naam. Children's new record is due on Kemado on April 14th, no word on the title yet. Bison BC are riding high off of their killer record from last year, Quiet Earth, and Death By Audio will be the bands first appearance since they played Europa with Harvey Milk. Full Bison BC tour dates are below.

The Devil & The Sea

One record that I gave alot of spins in 2008, but didnt make my year end faves was The Devil & The Sea's Heart vs Spine (pick that up here). The band is gearing up to tour the Northeast and have added a date at The Charleston on Mar 31st with another band that has been ringing my ears lately, Music Hates You. Full tour dates are below.

Justin K Broadrick dropped a MEGA-update on all of his projects, including Jesu, GreyMachine (with Aaron Turner), White Static Demon, Solaris BC and his many many remix projects. On the Jesu front, look for TWO live LPs, Opiate Sun EP in July, Infinity in June, Heart Ache reissue with a bonus Unreleased EP from 2003, and a reissue of the ENVY/jesu with an "Unconfirmed Bonus Mix". Check out the full update here.

Grief have called it quits... again. Sob. Their appearance at Maryland Deathfest has been cancelled as well. In honor of the fallen, Kill That Cat posted a video from a show before they kicked the bucket for the first time. Check that out below.

That video, and news on Atheist, Craft, Obscura, Municipal Waste, and soooo much more as The Week In Metal continues!...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (03/18/09)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Wino - "Release Me" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Bakerton Group - "Peruvian Airspace" (MP3 Snippet)
DOWNLOAD: The Bakerton Group - "Bait & Switch" (MP3, from Space Guitars EP)
DOWNLOAD: The Bakerton Group - "Mainstream" (MP3, from Space Guitars EP)
DOWNLOAD: The Bakerton Group - "The Mack" (MP3, from Space Guitars EP)

Recognize those dudes? That's the original members of Clutch.... but it's also The Bakerton Group, aka "the psychedelic instrumental jazz-laden alter ego" of Maryland's finest. The Bakerton Group have recruited Per Wiberg (Opeth) for their third release, the J.Robbins (Jawbox) produced LP El Rojo!. The album will be released, on their own Weathermaker imprint, on Feb 17th, 2009. Check out the MP3 snippet of "Peruvian Airspace" above.

The Bakerton Group & The Bakerto-, er-, I mean Clutch, will tour (together?) in February around the release of El Rojo!, so look for those dates as the come up. In the meantime Clutch have some shows scheduled this month in Jersey, CT and elsewhere (dates below). In the Spring, Clutch will hit the studio to record their follow-up to From Beale Street to Oblivion. Full Fathom Five, a live CD (and separately, a DVD) dropped on Nov 11th.

Clutch/TBG skinsman extraordinaire Jean-Paul Gaster is also manning the kit on the new album by doom legend Scott "Wino" Weinrich, Punctuated Equilibrium. We previewed the record recently (and also way before that). Look for it in January 2009 on Southern Lord and check out the first track "Release Me", downloadable above.

Neil Fallon of Clutch is also frontman for The Company Band featuring members of Fireball Ministry, Fu Manchu, CKY, and Puny Human. The Company Band released their debut EP in early 2008, Sign Here, Here, & Here, with plans of a follow-up LP in 2009.

Per Wiberg's band members in Opeth have a masterful side project as well, Bloodbath.

Clutch dates below...

Continue reading "new album by The Bakerton Group, Clutch tour dates, MP3s"