by Bill Pearis

Fred Armisen & friends / Stefon & Seth / Kanye & Ben on SNL

Even without Kanye's musical appearance, last night's Ben Afleck hosted Saturday Night Live season finale was especially eventful (and teary) as it was the final show for three long-running star players: Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudekis.

Fred got his farewell moment via a sketch featuring his punk character Ian Rubbish who performed song called "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day." His band featured fellow departing castmembers Hader and Sudekis (and Taran Killam, sure to be a big player next season), and then he welcomed a cavalcade of musical talent onstage, including his Portlandia costar Carrie Brownstein, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, and the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones. With a chorus of "It's been alright, I've had a lovely night," it was a nice little sendoff. Video of that is below.

Hader got his sendoff moment, as expected, as Weekend Update nightlife correstondent Stefon, where anchor -- and soon to be Late Night host -- Seth Meyers finally gives in to his advances. "Weekend Update" also featured a surprise appearance by former co-anchor Amy Poehler who came out for "REALLY??" and stuck around to read the news. Seth, who is also SNL's head writer, will leave midseason next year to take over for Jimmy Fallon who is moving up to The Tonight Show.

Hader, Armisen, Sudekis and Meyers' departure leaves a giant comedy hole for next season. It will be interesting to see how Lorne Michaels fills it.

Videos below...

Continue reading "Fred Armisen, Bill Hader & Jason Sudekis bid SNL farewell w/ help from J. Mascis, Carrie Brownstein, Amy Poehler + more"

Kanye on 'SNL'

Kanye West has had a busy weekend. On Thursday (5/16), he played a private show at Roseland for Adult Swim where he performed a few new songs. He also, as is his wont, let loose one of his stream-of-conscious rants, this time mostly about celebrity culture. You can watch video of that below.

One of the songs Kanye performed at Roseland was new track "New Slaves." A video for that song made its debut on Friday night (5/17), projected at, according to maps on Kanye's website, 66 locations around the world. Nine of them were in NYC, including two in Williamsburg: one being outside the Bedford Ave L stop, and the second on the Wythe Hotel, and there's video of the former below.

The song, which features a sample of 1969 single "Gyöngyhajú lány" by Hungarian rock band Omega and vocals from Frank Ocean, will feature on Kanye's follow-up to 2010's My Dark Twisted Fantasy which is, according to Pitchfork, titled Yeezus and has appearances from Daft Punk, Skrillex and more.

This activity was all centered around Kanye's appearance on Saturday Night Live's season finale hosted by Ben Afleck. (The teaser videos are below.) He performed "New Slaves" and debuted another new song, "Black Skinhead," and video of those, along with the other clips mentioned in this post, are below.

Continue reading "Kanye West played new songs from 'Yeezus' on 'SNL,' projected new video on buildings Friday"

Vampire Weekend on SNL - 5/11/13

Vampire Weekend are about to release their excellent new album, Modern Vampires of the City, this week (5/14) via XL (have you streamed it?), and ahead of that release they made their return to Saturday Night Live last night (5/11). They performed two of the new album's cuts, "Diane Young" and "Unbelievers." Kristen Wiig hosted. You can watch videos of both performances below. Next week (5/18) it's Kanye West.

Vampire Weekend is touring for much of this year, and they'll do a big hometown show in NYC on September 20 at Barclays Center. Tickets for that show are still available.

SNL videos below...

Continue reading "watch Vampire Weekend on 'Saturday Night Live' (videos)"

Ian Rubbish opening for Vampire Weekend last weekend (more by Robert Altman)

A few weeks ago, Saturday Night Live ran a filmed segment on fictional UK punk Ian Rubbish (aka Fred Armisen) who hated everything except the late Margaret Thatcher. Well, Fred has been carrying on the joke. You may have seen him as Rubbish opening for Vampire Weekend at Roseland on Sunday, and now he's actually released an EP as Ian Rubbish -- including "Sweet Iron Lady" and "Maggie Thatcher" -- as a free download. You may remember when Fred and Dave Grohl had fun with '80s hardcore on SNL a while back.

If you haven't seen the Ian Rubbish SNL short, you can stream it below.

Continue reading "Fred Armisen's punk character Ian Rubbish opened for Vampire Weekend, released an EP (free download)"

We're only a couple weeks out from Vampire Weekend's third album, Modern Vampires of the City, which hits retailers digital and physical on May 14. Look for the band, who just played Coachella, to preview tracks from the album at their sold-out show on Sunday (4/28) at Roseland Ballroom which is being broadcast live on the internet as part of the American Express Unstaged Performance series. The webcast, which is being directed by Steve Buscemi, starts at 9 PM EDT.

For those in NYC who would like to make the webcast experience a little more concert-like, Brooklyn Bowl, with help from the Tribeca Film Festival (which concludes on Sunday), will be showing it live on their many giant HD screens with "full concert sound." It's free entry.

Speaking of bowling, Vampire Weekend and Steve Buscemi, the band and Boardwalk Empire star are continuing to play out their friendship on the web with a second installment of the "documentary" about prepping for the Roseland show, which ends up at Brooklyn's Melody Lanes. There's also other episodes -- one with Grimes -- and you can watch them all below.

And last but not least, Vampire Weekend will appear on the May 11 episode of Saturday Night Live which is hosted by former castmember Kristen Wiig. So get ready for affable indie rock and the probable return of Gilly. Kanye West and Ben Afleck will apear on SNL's 38th Season Finale on May 18, and next weekend (May 4) it's Zach Galifianakis and Of Monsters and Men.

All upcoming Vampire Weekend tour dates (there are some new ones including Hollywood Bowl with Beirut, not NYC) are listed, along with the bowling video, below...

Continue reading "Vampire Weekend add dates, playing SNL (w/ Kristen Wiig) ++ more Buscemi videos (one with Grimes!); Roseland livestream @ Brooklyn Bowl"

White Lung at SXSW 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Styles P @ BB King's
* Brain Cloud @ Barbes
* Chicha Libre @ Barbes
* Furthur @ The Capitol Theatre
* Joe Pug, Erin Ivey @ Union Hall
* Marc Maron @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Kim Richey & Darden Smith @ Joe's Pub
* Liam Finn, Railbird @ Knitting Factory
* Suuns, Weeknight @ Mercury Lounge
* Marc Broussard, Courrier @ City Winery
* Muse, Biffy Clyro @ Madison Square Garden
* Wyatt Cenac, Mark Normand, Liam McEneaney @ Littlefield
* Bobby Long, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald @ Mercury Lounge
* Matt Costa, The Blank Tapes, Vandaveer @ Bowery Ballroom
* White Lung, Syphilitic Lust, Boca Raton, Goosebumps @ The Acheron
* Jesse Harris, Sophie Auster, Leaves of Green @ Rockwood Music Hall
* The Hysterics, In School, Nuclear Spring, Solid Attitude @ Death By Audio
* J.Period, DJ Concerned, DJ Timoteo Gigante, DJ Wisdon @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Foot Village, Hurricanes of Love, Flaming Dragons of Middle Earth @ Silent Barn
* Living Room, The Reptilian, The Natural Disasters, The Moon Tooth @ Big Snow
* Swaai Boys, Gondola, Horrible Present, Goodbye, Forget It, South Paws @ Pianos
* R. Stevie Moore, Total Slacker, Tropical Ooze, Cassie Ramone (DJ Set) @ Glasslands
* Presidents of the United States of America, Eternal Summers, pow wow! @ Irving Plaza
* Silent Drape Runners, Thelma and the Sleaze, Clinical Trials, Wojcik, Little Band of Sailors @ Cake Shop

If you're headed to Irving Plaza to see The Presidents of the United States of America play their first album in full, get there early for Eternal Summers. They're currently taking pledges/pre-orders for their new album on PledgeMusic.

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This past Saturday's episode of SNL, which featured a performance by Miguel and a new Daft Punk ad, also included a Fred Armisen-led skit, which paid a "punk tribute" to the late Margaret Thatcher. The skit featured a band called Ian Rubbish and the Bizzaros, who write songs about the queen and other British politics (albeit from a different perspective than most punks had). Check out the video of that skit below. And it's not the first time Fred Armisen brought his knowledge of punk to SNL.

Empire of the Sun, the post-Sleepy Jackson pop project from Luke Steele, will release their second album, Ice on the Dune, in June. You can stream first single, "Alive," below.

Did you get your taxes done?

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday? (Tax Day)"

Miguel on 'SNL' / Daft Punk w/ Pharrell & Nile Rogers

Another new SNL, another new Daft Punk commercial. This one -- a slightly shorter version of the one shown to Coachella audiences -- gives us the first substantial taste of Random Access Memories' "Get Lucky," that's been teased in previous ads, and features both Pharrel Williams and and some chic guitarwork from Nile Rodgers, not to mention the men/robots themselves. This is, we assume, a snippet of the "Get Lucky" video? You can watch it below.

Meanwhile, Daft Punk have released the third in their "Collaborators" series of promotional videos with the folks who worked on Random Access Memories. This one is with Nile Rodgers who very humbly talks about his contribution to dance music over the years and you can watch that below too.

Meanwhile, on the actual show (4/13), Miguel performed his Grammy-winning hit "Adorn" and then a rocked-out version of "How Many Drinks," with that magnetism (that we saw at our BV CMJ day party last year) on full display. The next new SNL is May 4 with Of Monsters and Men performing, while Zach Galifianakis hosts. Miguel videos from last night are below.

Continue reading "Miguel played 'SNL,' which featured a new Daft Punk commercial (with Pharrell and Nile Rogers)"

After Phoenix stopped by Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday (4/5) for a surprise, free show, they headed to Saturday Night Live last night (for their second time) to perform three tracks from their new album, Bankrupt!, "Entertainment" and "Trying to Be Cool"/"Drakkar Noir."

Phoenix's tour brings them back to the NYC area for shows on May 12 at Susquehanna Bank Center with Passion Pit and others (tickets), May 13 at The Apollo (sold out), and October 2 at Barclays Center with The Vaccines (tickets).

Watch the SNL videos below...

Continue reading "Phoenix played 'Saturday Night Live' (videos)"

It was probably the most-anticipated episode of Saturday Night Live of the season, with Justin Timberlake on double duty as host and musical guest. The writers love JT and they show usually pulls out all the stops for him. Last night (3/9) was no different. Jay-Z showed up for "Suit and Tie," giving us a preview of what to expect this summer (like at Yankee Stadium on 7/19). He also performed "Mirrors."

Jay-Z was only one of what was one of the most guest-star-filled episodes ever. This was JT's fifth time hosting which put him in the Five Timers Club, where Paul Simon, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, and Chevy Chase were to greet him. (Dan Ackroyd tended bar and Martin Short was there too.) Ackroyd and Martin reprised their wild-and-crazy Festrunk Brothers characters for a dating gameshow sketch that also featured JT and Andy Samberg as the "Dick in a Box" roles. Timberlake also put back on the "bring it on to ____ville" costume, this time as a block of tofu for a vegan restaurant.

The next new SNL is April 6 with Melissa McCarthy hosting and Phoenix as musical guests. Clips from last night's SNL are below.

Continue reading "Justin Timberlake hosted, performed with Jay-Z on a guest-filled 'Saturday Night Live' (watch clips); Phoenix performing in April"

As mentioned, Justin Timberlake is releasing The 20/20 Experience, his first album since 2006's FutureSex/LoveSounds, on March 19 via RCA. You've already seen the music video and some live performances of the first single, "Suit & Tie," which features Jay-Z, and heard the second single, "Mirrors." But if you need a refresher, both of those songs and the album's tracklist are below. That's the cover art above.

JT also just announced that he'll be supporting the album with a tour with Jay-Z, who in addition to guesting on "Suit & Tie," has performed it with him at all of JT's one-offs this year. That tour is a huge stadium tour dubbed the "Legends of the Summer" tour and it hits NYC on July 19 at Yankee Stadium. All dates are listed below. All shows go on sale February 28, except the Yankee Stadium date, for which ticket info has not been announced yet. More specific info on tickets and presales is HERE.

Justin will be in NYC sooner than that though, to host and be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 9 and appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon from March 11 to 15. Maybe we'll get another one of those random one-offs to warm up for Yankee Stadium while he's here?

A list of all dates, song stream, video, and album tracklist below...

Continue reading "Justin Timberlake announces tour w/ Jay-Z (Yankee Stadium included), appearing on SNL and 'Fallon'"

Alabama Shakes (or "Alabama Shake" as SNL host Christoph Waltz accidentally called them the first of three times he said their name last night), who played a Valentine's Day show on a boat while they were in town, were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last night. Not a bad week for the quickly rising young band who also just showed up on the Grammys. My favorite part of SNL is hearing what my parents thought of the musical guest every Sunday. Mom loved them. Dad could only keep asking why they seemed so angry. What did you think? Watch the SNL performances below...

Continue reading "Alabama Shakes shaked (shook) SNL (video)"

Kendrick Lamar appeared on Saturday Night Live last night (1/26) to perform two tracks off of good kid, m.A.A.d city, "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and "Poetic Justice" with a killer live band in TDE shirts. He also appeared in a digital short with The Lonely Island to do a track called "YOLO." You can watch videos of all three songs below.

Kendrick will return to NYC in June for Governors Ball. 3-day passes for that festival are on general sale now.

Continue reading "Kendrick Lamar performed on Saturday Night Live (watch)"

Kendrick Lamar at Terminal 5 in 2012 (more by Julie Schabel)

Kendrick Lamar had an incredible 2012 with the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city, the best rap album of the year by a long shot for many reasons, and he's continuing to achieve widespread recognition, having just announced that he will be in NYC to perform on Saturday Night Live on January 26, like his fellow year-end-list topper Frank Ocean did in September. Maroon 5's Adam Levine is hosting the episode, but at least he won't be performing.

Kendrick was recently interviewed by Life + Times about the meaning of his confessional saga, "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst," and you can watch the video of what Kendrick had to say about that song below. He also recently revealed the video for "Backstreet Freestyle," which you can also watch below.

Continue reading "Kendrick Lamar to play Saturday Night Live (meanwhile watch his new video)"

by Klaus Kinski (and Fred Armisen)

Fred meditates on his top ten...

In my tenure as BV's tallest and prettiest contributor, I've noticed that one of the most polarizing figures we mention on here is the great Fred Armisen. It's like, any time we mention this dude all the negative-Nancys crawl out of the wood work. Oh well... You know what they say ('they' being people who use terrible quips to express themselves); "Haters gonna hate." The reality is, Fred Armisen rules. He's one of my most favorite, funny, uber-talented oddballs in the biz. He's consistently funny on SNL, no matter how abysmal the sketch may be. His show Portlandia (which returns January 4th 2013 on IFC) is one of the funniest shows to hit the gogglebox in recent memory. And he keeps it real with small-venue residencies and club shows. Fred recently hipped us to the top 10 records of 2012 that floated his boat.

In addition to Portlandia's imminent return (many guest stars included), and the Portlandia book which is currently available, don't forget the Fred is hosting the Snow Ball Ball at the Bell (Ball) House on Sunday December 16. The show also features guest DJs Tunde Adebimpe (from TV On the Radio), Peter Hale (from Here We Go Magic) and more!

Check out Fred's 'Best of' list, below...

Continue reading "Fred Armisen names his Top 10 LPs of 2012; 'Portlandia' Season 3 coming soon"

As anyone could have guessed, comedic genius Louis CK's appearance on Saturday Night Live on Saturday night (11/3) was a success. If you missed it, make sure and check out some clips from the show below.

As you may have heard, Louis CK recently released a live set by Tig Notaro, and we're happy to report that you can catch Tig live in Brooklyn soon. Catch a live taping of her weekly podcast Professor Blastoff on November 17th at the Bell House in Brooklyn. The rare live taping promises "special guests" in addition to Notaro's co-hosts/regulars Kyle Dunnigan and David Huntsberger, and tickets are still available (though reportedly selling fast). The agoraphobic can catch up with previous episodes via the interweb.

Swing below for some great SNL videos..

Continue reading "Louis CK killed it on SNL; Tig Notaro hosting a live version of Professor Blastoff in Brooklyn"

by Bill Pearis

Armed with backup singers, Passion Pit played Saturday Night Live last night (10/13), performing "Take a Walk" and "Carried Away" both from the band's Gossamer LP. SNL has notoriously wonky sound, but PP did a pretty good job. Christina Applegate hosted, her first time doing so since Married with Children was still on the air.

Passion Pit are currently on tour and while they won't be hitting NYC this time around, their tourmates Hollerado will play Mercury Lounge on November 7.

Next week (10/20), set your DVRs (or, y'know, don't) as Bruno Mars will not only perform but also host SNL. Video of both Passion Pit performances are below, along with the "Tech Talk" sketch, probably the funniest bit of last night's show.

Continue reading "Passion Pit played 'SNL' (video)"

Muse w/ The Dap-Kings horns & Michael Leonhart backstage (via)

Muse came to NYC this weekend to play Saturday Night Live, and during their set they were joined by The Dap-Kings' horn section and multi-instrumentalist Michael Leonhart. They performed "Madness" and "Panic Station" off Muse's new album, The 2nd Law (available at iTunes). You can watch videos of those performances below.

As mentioned, Muse will return to the NYC area when their 2013 tour hits MSG (4/15) and Izod Center (4/19). That tour also just grew bigger. All dates, and on sale times, are listed under the videos below...

Continue reading "Muse played SNL w/ The Dap-Kings horn section (videos)"

Flying Lotus @ American Museum of Natural History in 2009 (more by Zach Dilgard)

today in NYC
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* New Yorker Festival
* Les Hot Club @ Barbes
* The Four Bags @ Barbes
* Bob Telson @ Joe's Pub
* Blondie @ The Capitol Theatre
* Lotion, Edsel @ The Rock Shop (matinee)
* ZZ Top @ Count Basie Theatre (NJ)
* Celtic Thunder @ Wellmont Theatre
* Leyna Marika Papach @ The Stone
* Ian Anderson @ NJ Performing arts Center
* The Empty Cage Quartet @ The Stone
* The Moth @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Believers, Landlady, Railbird @ Glasslands
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Sewing Machines, Beloved Binge, Poingly @ Cake Shop
* Census, Lantern, Spacin', Acrobat Twin @ Shea Stadium
* Kath Bloom, Ed Askew, Tica Douglas @ Pete's Candy Store
* Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Teebs, Jeremiah Jae @ Terminal 5
* Punch Brothers, Tom Brosseau @ The Paramount (Huntington, NY)
* The Everymen, The Brooklyn What, Secret Country @ Public Assembly
* Royal Baths, Larkin Grimm, Behavior, M. Lamar @ The Bowery Electric
* Nightmare River Band, Jack Grace, Paleface, Jarrod Dickenson @ Littlefield
* The Dearloves, Eastern Hollows, Dead Stars, Memphibians @ Mercury Lounge
* Spectre Folk, Images, Scott & Charlene's Wedding, Gem Trails @ Big Snow
* Kids & Explosions, Steel Phantoms, Dance For The Dying, Ducky @ Cameo Gallery
* Ghost Light, Phone Home, No One & The Somebodies, The Drinkers Themselves @ Deliquency
* Aye Nako, Shady Hawkins w/ readings by Cristy Road, Mimi Nguyen, Osa Atoe, Ana Vo, Mariam Bastani@ Death By Audio
* Kitty Pryde, The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Tigers Jaw @ Stevens Insitute of Technology

You can also catch Andrew WK playing with David Blaine at Pier 54 today at 7:30, live and streaming online.

Fred Armisen, who maybe you caught flashing an upskirt on SNL last night, helps close out the New Yorker Festival today along with Carrie Brownstein "for an afternoon With the IFC show "Portlandia," featuring a conversation with Margaret Talbot."

Big Bird also made a more family-friendly appearance on SNL last night. Watch the video below. Muse was the musical guest, and those videos are HERE.

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Perfume Genius made a video for "Take Me Home." Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Passion Pit @ The Backyard in Austin - 9/15 (more by Tim Griffin)

As mentioned earlier today, Muse are the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this Saturday, but we also just realized Passion Pit is playing the week after that! Congrats guys! Christina Applegate will host that one which is one week before Bruno Mars hosts and sings. The full list of known hosts and musical guests for this season so far (Mumford & Sons played two weeks ago), and other upcoming Passion Pit dates, below...

Continue reading "Passion Pit playing SNL (but first Muse)"

Grizzly Bear are on the cover of the new issue of NY Magazine, which makes two weeks in a row that Brooklyn was prominently featured.

Despite making it into Billboard's Top 10 with their new album, Shields, the band still aren't making a lot of money.

Check out pictures from the show they just played in Chicago with Lower Dens.

And speaking of Brooklyn, get ready for Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas.

"The Artwork of Robert Pollard & Tobin Sprout" is opening in Brooklyn soon. Meanwhile check out our recent Guided by Voices pictures from both Austin and the Deluna Fest in Florida.

Crystal Castles and HEALTH play Roseland on Wednesday (10/3). We're giving away tickets here and on our Facebook too.

Also on Wednesday, M83 plays Hammerstein Ballroom and we're giving away tickets to that on Facebook too. Tickets are also still on sale.

Another Facebook contest: win tickets to see Raveonettes and Melody's Echo Chamber at Webster Hall on Friday (10/5).

The Compact Disc turns 30 years old today. The first CD pressed in America was Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA (though Billy Joe's 52nd Street came out in Japan before that). What was the first CD you bought?

Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, Kenny's Castaways, where he used to play is hosting their final show tonight.

Producer and TV On the Radio member Dave Sitek has launched Federal Prism, "a new record label where Sitek will personally record, mix, produce, and release a series of limited edition 12-inch vinyl picture discs with a uniquely curator-driven perspective. The vinyl will be limited to 500 numbered copies each with a jacket personally hand silkscreened by Sitek."

Federal Prism's first release is "Destroyer" by Telepathe. "The b-side of the vinyl will feature a remix by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor with Alessandro Cortini and Atticus Ross. Sitek adds, "I told Trent I was starting my own label and would love to have him remix something on the first release. I sent him the session and before he actually said 'YES', he sent back this mighty dark space that he, Alessandro and Atticus had built for me! I was shocked and am certain I will have to keep ripping them off for years!"" It's on sale now.

Speaking of Trent Reznor, he says his his band How To Destroy Angels, have "formally partnered with Columbia Records for our next series of releases. The first of these will be available in November and it's called An Omen EP."

Scary: Ryan Adams revealed via Twitter: "Recording a track with my new pal @deadmau5 today. Sounds like BladeRunner starring Don Henley."

More scary: As if it wasn't bad enough that Bruno Mars has been announced as the host of the 10/20 episode of SNL, they're letting him be the musical performer for that episode too!

But here's some good news: Now That's What I Call Music 83 will reportedly be the last in the series.

more stuff below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Grizzly Bear on cover of New York; CDs turned 30; Dave Sitek's new label, Trent Reznor, Ryan Adams, Deadmau5, more"

Frank Ocean, Seth MacFarlane & Fred Armisen (who is no longer Obama) @ SNL

We actually already posted this in WGO Sunday, but in case you missed the awesomeness:

Frank Ocean appeared on Saturday Night Live last night (9/16) to perform "Thinking About You" and "Pyramids," and was joined by John Mayer on guitar. He also just revealed the music video for "Pyramids," which also features an appearance from John Mayer.

Continue reading "watch Frank Ocean on Saturday Night Live & his new video for "Pyramids" (videos)"

Mount Eerie at Inferno Festival 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

today in NYC
* The Prisoner @ Barbes
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Brian Posehn @ Caroline's
* Et cetera @ Public Assembly
* Chris Thile @ Rockwood Music Hall
* The Silos, Heap @ Mercury Lounge
* Touch Ensemble @ Issue Project Room
* Lee Burridge, Matthew Dekay @ The Well
* Beach Day, Blonds, Fete @ Cameo Gallery
* Hairy Sands, Source of Yellow @ Zebulon
* Alex McMurray / Cristina Black @ Joe's Pub
* Comedy Night @ The Knit w/ Hannibal Buress
* Nungan, Veronika Jokel @ The Mercury Lounge
* Mount Eerie, Loren Connors @ (le) poisson rouge
* Devotchka, Clare & the Reasons @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Cool Serbia, Apache Dropout, King Prom, Bad Boys @ Death By Audio
* Germany Germany, Brother Tiger, Night Shining, Catamaran @ Glasslands
* Vital Remains, Mutant Supremacy, Irony of Chaos, Leech @ Saint Vitus
* Joshua Light Show, Debo Band, Forro in the Dark @ NYU Skirball Center
* Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Michelle Shocked, Lee Ranaldo, Kool A.D., My Brightest Diamond & more @ Foley Square

Public Assembly is not calling it a festival but their week-long Et Cetera begins today with three events: an afternoon (3 PM), all-ages draw-a-thon; then later tonight Xeno & Oaklander discussing "Analog as the New Folk" with demos of their vintage synths; and a series of mini-lectures called "Presentation Party Night." All of it is free.

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Frank Ocean appeared on Saturday Night Live last night (9/16) to perform "Thinking About You" and "Pyramids," and was joined by John Mayer on guitar. He also just revealed the music video for "Pyramids," which also features an appearance from John Mayer. Watch the videos of his SNL performance and the "Pyramids" music video below.

Grizzly Bear, whose incredible new album, Shields, comes out this week, performed the album's opening track, "Sleeping Ute," on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this past Friday (9/14). Watch the video of that performance below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

Frank Ocean at Lollapalooza 2012 (more by James Richards IV)

As mentioned, Frank Ocean who now has a much emptier September schedule after canceling a bunch of European dates will be in NYC to play the Afghan Whigs-curated ATP NY, which goes down on Pier 36 from September 21-23. Frank plays on the Friday (9/21). Tickets for ATP NY are still available.

He'll be heading to NYC a bit sooner than though, because as Entertainment Weekly points out, Frank Ocean will be the musical guest on the 38th seaosn premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 15. That episode will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane, who will be plugging new seasons of Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show, along the DVD release of his new movie, Ted.

Frank Ocean will also perform at the MTV VMAs, which airs on September 6. He's going up against Carly Rae Jepsen, fun., One Direction, and The Wanted for Best New Artist and his song "Swim Good" is nominated for Best Male Video against videos by Chris Brown, Drake, Justin Bieber, and Usher. It was also nominated for Best Direction.

The "Swim Good" video is below.

Continue reading "Frank Ocean performing on SNL and VMAs before ATP"

Speaking of Andy Samberg, well actually that isn't his tattoo, but now the pressure is on for him to outdo this fan whose body art "is based on the Joanna Newsom Ys album and was done by the wonderful Rachel Baldwin at Modern Body Art Birmingham." More pictures of the tat, and a recent video entitled "7 Minutes in Heaven with Joanna Newsom" by Saturday Night Live writer Mike O'Brien, along with a couple of dates, below...

Continue reading "check out this Joanna Newsom tattoo"

The NY Times says:

It's time to take a last nostalgic look at Jim, Pam and Dwight and their quotidian struggles and successes at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company as they've been documented on "The Office." When that NBC comedy begins its ninth season on Sept. 20, it will be the final season of the series, its executive producer Greg Daniels said on Tuesday.

Producers at "Saturday Night Live" are continuing to audition new cast members for the show, which begins its 38th season on Sept. 15. NBC will also broadcast two prime-time "Weekend Update" specials on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27.