Pictureplane in Chicago in April (more by Tyler Trykowski)

today in NYC
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Les Hot Club @ Barbes
* Mike Birbiglia @ Union Hall
* Jeff Walton Quintet @ The Stone
* M'lumbo, Gary Lucas @ Joe's Pub
* Bob Jones/Jon Sholle Duo @ Barbes
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Hallways, Zambri @ Ace Hotel New York
* Ladysmith Black Mambazo @ City Winery
* Sunday Salon Performances @ The Stone
* Catalpa Music Festival @ Randall's Island
* Rachel Potter, The Vanity Belles @ Joe's Pub
* Joe Cocker, Huey Lewis and The News @ Jones Beach
* Ice Balloons, Triple Hex, Two Times The Gun @ Zebulon
* Calls, Midair, Fishing The Sky, Weird Teeth @ Saint Vitus
* Grimes (DJ set), Pictureplane, Arca, Rezzie @ 285 Kent Ave
* CHURCH Comedy Variety Show, Lost Boy?, Gunfight! @ Big Snow
* Quilt, Young Magic, Secret Mountains, Murals @ Mercury Lounge
* Natural Child, Birdcloud, Respect, Hector's Pets @ Union Pool
* The Mystic Underground, The Dossier, Condo Ron @ Cameo Gallery
* Lame Drivers, The Woolen Men, I'm Turning Into @ Public Assembly
* Banned Books, Circle of Buzzards, Beasty, Tank Attack @ Cake Shop
* Dan Neustadt plays The Police's "Synchronicity" @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Death First, Grudges, Dead People Screaming, Pity Party @ The Acheron
* Golden Animals, Shining Mirrors, Divining Rod, Lead Stones @ Glasslands
* Blest Mess, Dust Angel, Gas NYC, Nihilistics, Rejuvenate, Iconicide @ Tompkins Square Park
* B. Dolan, Sage Francis, Grand Buffet, What Cheer? Brigade, Mux Mool, Vockah Redu, Wheelchair Sports Camp @ The Studio at Webster Hall

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Check out a new song off Bloc Party's upcoming album, Four, called "Day Four" below. Their tour comes to NYC next month for three sold out Terminal 5 shows with The Drums.

The stream of Arctic Monkeys covering "Come Together" at the Olympics Opening Ceremony that we told you about yesterday has been removed, but you can now watch a video of that and the band playing their own "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" at the Domino website. You can also download the Olympics Opening Ceremony soundtrack, which features a studio version of the "Come Together" cover, via iTunes.

Big K.R.I.T. made a video for his song, "What U Mean" (featuring Ludacris), which you can watch below.

Schoolboy Q made a video for his song, "There He Go," which you can watch below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

by Andrew Sacher

Three of the biggest current forces in indie rap, A$AP Rocky (and his A$AP Mob), Danny Brown, and Schoolboy Q will be touring together this fall. Looks like A$AP Rocky's got the headlining spot, as it's dubbed the 'LoveLiveA$AP' tour (after Rocky's album of the same name, due out 9/11), as you can see in the flier above, which borders between provocative and a little creepy.

The tour doesn't hit NYC (yet?), but there are some shows nearby, including Toads Place on September 23 in New Haven, CT and Electric Factory on November 18 in Philly. Tickets for the New Haven show and the Philly show go on sale Friday (7/27) at noon.

Meanwhile, all three rappers have other upcoming shows in the NYC area before this tour kicks off. A$AP Rocky will be on Randall's Island this weekend (7/28-29) for Catalpa Fest. Schoolboy Q plays Rock the Bells at PNC Bank Arts Center (9/1-2) (ASAP only plays Rock the Bells in California), and he and Black Hippy crewmate Kendrick Lamar are among the support acts for Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller's tour which hits Jones Beach on August 2. Danny Brown is keeping it a bit on the smaller spectrum, seeing as he will play Warm Up on August 25 at MoMA PS1 with Just Blaze, Nick Catchdubs, The Stallions, and BAIO (of Vampire Weekend). Tickets for Warm Up are on sale now.

Most of the LiveLoveA$AP tour coincides with Kendrick Lamar's upcoming tour with Ab-Soul and Jay Rock (aka all of Black Hippy except Schoolboy Q). However, the first few dates, including Kendrick's NYC show at Terminal 5 (9/15) happen before the LiveLoveA$AP tour. Maybe Schoolboy Q will make an appearance at that (more details still TBA)?

A list of all dates on the LiveLoveA$AP tour and videos of all three rappers below...

Continue reading "A$AP Rocky, Danny Brown & Schoolboy Q touring together"

by Andrew Sacher

Though the most talked about hip hop release of this week is probably Nas' Life Is Good, don't let that overshadow The Alchemist's hip hop song cycle Russian Roulette. The album is thirty tracks long, all of which are under three minutes, and it's scattered with impressive guest spots from Danny Brown, Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson, Guilty Simpson, Fashawn, Meyhem Lauren, Evidence, Roc Marciano, and so many more.

The tracks play into each other like the similarly assembled Beach Boys' Smile, their collaborator Van Dyke Park's Song Cycle, or side B of Abbey Road. Not saying that Russian Roulette is the Beach Boys/Beatles of rap albums, but the idea that its DNA is equally rooted in the odyssey of late '60s psychedelia as it is in golden age boom bap stands. While many guest-filled, producer-penned albums can play like inconsistent mixtapes, this one's more focused than some releases by a single rapper.

Check it out for yourself by streaming Russian Roulette in its entirety over at SPIN. A few of its tracks are also streaming below...

Continue reading "stream The Alchemist's guest-filled LP, 'Russian Roulette'"

photos by Fred Pessaro // BBG & Chase Turner

Grimes / Godspeed You! Black Emperor

The 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival continued on Saturday (7/14), and like day 1, Chicago's Union Park was plagued by some rain, but everything moved along as planned and the weather cleared up by mid-afternoon. Day 2 began with sets by The Psychic Paramount and The Atlas Moth (both of who we unfortunately missed) and then continued with Cloud Nothings, Flying Lotus, Schoolboy Q, Chromatics, Hot Chip, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Grimes and much more.

If you weren't at the festival, did you stream it live?

More pics from day 2 are below (all by Fred Pessaro/BBG except Grimes by Chase Turner) and day 1 pics are HERE.

Continue reading "Pitchfork Fest 2012 day 2 in pics (Godspeed, Hot Chip, Grimes, Wild Flag, Chromatics, Flying Lotus, Cloud Nothings & more)"

After teasing folks with a few names here and there -- like Run DMC most recently -- Austin's annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) has revealed it's full line-up, including Public Image Ltd, De La Soul, Superchunk, Santigold, Refused, X peforming Los Angeles, and lots, lots more. 3-day passes go on sale at 10AM CST.

Full FFF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest full lineup (De La Soul, Refused, Fucked Up, Public Image Ltd, Santigold, Sharon Van Etten, Rakim, X, Converge, Japandroids & more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Danny Brown / Schoolboy Q show their best sides at Summerstage 6/25/2012

Despite the rain, Danny Brown (who ended up playing first) and Schoolboy Q opened for Childish Gambino at their first of two NYC shows together last night (6/25) at Central Park Summerstage. Both rappers played their own sets and then also joined Childish Gambino on stage for part of his, which you can watch a video of below.

Danny, Q, and Childish will do it again tonight (6/26) at Prospect Park. Tickets for tonight's show are still available and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to enter, along with more pictures and a video from last night's show are below...

Continue reading "Danny Brown & Schoolboy Q supported Childish Gambino at Summerstage (pics); playing Prospect Park tonight (win tickets)"

DOWNLOAD: Meyhem Lauren - "Peruvian Desserts" (ft. Action Bronson & Roc Marciano) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Meyhem Lauren - "Special Effects" (ft. Action Bronson & Himanshu (MP3)

Action Bronson at Bambooalze 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Action Bronson is playing a few shows this month, including a few in Toronto for NXNE, which is now underway. After that, he'll return to NYC to play a free show in Red Hook Park on June 19. As mentioned, that show also includes Das Racist, and does not include AraabMUZIK, who was originally scheduled but dropped off. The rest of the bill features Trouble Andrew and Brenmar, who also plays the official Governors Ball afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl on June 23 with Cubic Zirconia, XXXChange, Questlove, and Nobody Beats the Drum. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Action Bronson recently made a video for "Steve Wynn" off Blue Chips, his album with Party Supplies (who played Public Assembly last week). You can watch that video below.

He also appears on fellow Queens rapper Meyhem Lauren's upcoming album, Respect the Fly Shit. He's on the recently revealed track, "Peruvian Desserts," which also features Roc Marciano, and on the track "Special Effects," both of which you can download above.

Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren, and Roc Marciano are all also among the many guests on The Alchemist's upcoming album, Russian Roulette, which is due out July 17 via Decon. Other guests include Danny Brown, Schoolboy Q, Guilty Simpson, Evidence, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, and more. Check out the song "Flight Confirmation," which features Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q below, along with the album artwork and tracklist.

A list of all dates, stream and video are below.

Continue reading "Action Bronson playing shows (dates), has a new video, featured on new albums by Meyhem Lauren & The Alchemist"

by Andrew Sacher

Black Hippy member Ab-Soul released his new album, Control System, this month via Top Dawg Entertainment. Along with Kendrick Lamar's Section.80 and Schoolboy Q's Habits & Contradictions, Control System continues to prove that the Black Hippy team are making some of the tightest indie hip hop around (you're up next, Jay Rock).

While Q is the group's party rapper and Kendrick's the one preaching mile-a-minute prophecies, Ab-Soul falls somewhere in the middle. He channels an abstract flow that traces back to Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030, and Aesop Rock (and plays on it with his own name, "Ab-Soul, abstract, asshole"). On "Pineal Gland," a song about DMT, a doubled-up chorus chants, "Enjoy your mind trip but don't trip on your mind/No man is safe is from the war going on outside," sounding straight off an early Aesop Rock record or Aquemini-era Outkast. In addition to the head-in-the-clouds stuff, Control System is also scattered with recollections of west coast gangsta rap, especially on "Illuminate," his track with Kendrick Lamar that features mock gun shots and the tragic reference, "If I ever go to Columbine and cop 30 nines and cock back and kill."

On the brighter side of his album, he's got a handful references to some of last year's most memorable tracks like Drake and the Weeknd's "Crew Love," ASAP Rocky's "Purple Swag," and of course inner-Black HIppy references like, "Bet I got some weed like Schoolboy Q." In addition to guest spots from Black Hippy members (who all appear on the album's final track), he's got appearances by Danny Brown (of course), BJ the Chicago Kid, Jhene Aiko, his girlfriend Alori Joh (who passed away this year, RIP), and more. You can stream the entire album and check out the videos for "Pineal Gland, "Empathy," and "Terrorists Threats," below. The album is available to purchase digitally on iTunes and physically at the TDE webstore.

Soulo just finished up a tour with Schoolboy Q which hit Chicago earlier this month. Both rappers were just announced for the Rock the Bells 2012 lineup which comes to the NYC-area on September 1-2 at PNC Banks Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. Meanwhile, you'll be able to catch Ab-Soul play his own show in NYC much sooner at SOB's on June 21. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Videos, streams, and a list of all dates are below.

Continue reading "Ab-Soul released 'Control System' (stream it), playing shows"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Azealia Banks - Jumanji (MP3)

Azealia Banks at Coachella 2012 (more by David Andrako)

Azealia Banks, who recently canceled a bunch of summer shows due to "recording commitments," has now added more shows to her summer schedule. Most of those are in Europe, but she was just added to the Hot 97 Summer Jam lineup which goes down in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium on June 3. The rest of the lineup includes Nicki MInaj, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Waka Flocka Flame, Young Jeezy, J. Cole, Wale, and more. Tickets for the fest are available. The full lineup is listed below.

UPDATE: She actually plays the Summer Jam pre-show in the parking lot with the even more impressive lineup of Pusha T, Big K.R.I.T., A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, and Fred the Godson. Your Summer Jam ticket gets you into the pre-show.

In addition to her fickle live schedule, Azealia Banks continues to move around her schedule of releases as well. As of right now, she's planning to get her delayed 1991 EP out on May 29 digitally and June 12 physically via Interscope. The cover art for that EP is below. She'll follow it with the Fantastic mixtape, which is due out on July 4, and includes her recently dropped track, "Jumanji," which was produced by Hudson Mohawke and Nick Hook. Grab that track above or stream it below. Finally, her debut full length, Broke With Expensive Taste, which is presumably the album she's been working on with Paul Epworth, is due out in September.

In other news, fresh off her feud with Iggy Azalea (who plays SOBs TONIGHT [5/17]), she's taken a stab at Lil Kim, who refused to collaborate with Azealia because Lil Kim wanted to write her own verse. Azealia had written it for her and insisted, "Everybody knows Lil Kim doesn't write her own raps." We already know that Kim's got beef with Nicki Minaj. Azealia, however, seems down with Nicki and would possibly collaborate with her, but thinks she should ditch the "ugly wigs and ugly costumes." Maybe they'll meet up when they both play Summer Jam next month. On the other hand, Azealia Banks has collaborated with Missy Elliot and Rye Rye on a remix of M.I.A.'s "Bad Girls." Look for that soon.

A list of all dates, Hot 97 Summer Jam lineup, 1991 cover art, and the "Jumanji" stream are below...

Continue reading "Azealia Banks added to Hot 97 Summer Jam lineup, prepping EP, mixtape, and LP"

Nas @ Rock the Bells (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

That didn't take long. We just announced the intitial lineup. Check out the almost-full thing below...

Continue reading "Rock the Bells 2012 full lineup (Nas, Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, Dipset, Schoolboy Q, Missy Elliot, Wiz Khalifa, much more)"

Wiz Khalifa on stage w/ Snoop @ Coachella last weekend

If Wiz Khalifa couldn't play on 4/20, he could at least put tickets on sale on the date. Wiz is headlining Jones Beach (WOAH!) on 8/2. Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar (who also played with Snoop & Dre at Coachella) will open. Tickets on sale at noon

Schoolboy Q (and Danny Brown) also opens for Childish Gambino (who also had Kendrick Lamar (and Danny Brown) as a guest on stage at Coacehlla) at Summerstage and at Celebrate Brooklyn.

Tickets are also on sale at noon for Sigur Ros's Celebrate Brooklyn show.

Tickets are also on sale at noon for M. Ward/Yo La Tengo's Celebrate Brooklyn show. Yo La Tengo played a surprise show at Le Poisson Rouge last night.

Tickets are also on sale at noon for Glassjaw's full album show at Irving Plaza.

Tickets on sale at noon for Bloc Party at Terminal 5 with The Drums who headline Webster Hall this weekend.

photos by Julie Schabel

"Always a good time at @SOBs. Schoolboy Q show was ill." - Robby Rav

"At sobs watching schoolboy q go the fuck in." - Curtis Williams

Schoolboy Q stopped by NYC for a sold out show at SOB's Wednesday night (4/11) ahead of his tour with Ab-Soul. While on stage at SOB's, he called Kendrick Lamar and put him on speakerphone. Here's what Complex had to say about it:

The night's coolest, if not most awkward, moment came when Q telephoned his Black Hippy teammate Kendrick Lamar and put him on speakerphone. A major proving ground for new talents, S.O.B.'s has a way of demanding a little extra star power. Though Lamar couldn't be present physically--he's currently bunkered down recording his debut album--he did the next best thing. Q asked him what he should perform next. Lamar suggested "A.D.H.D," a fan favorite.

Schoolboy Q will return to NYC in June to play Central Park Summerstage on June 25 and Celebrate Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Bandshell on June 26 with Danny Brown and Childish Gambino. Tickets for the Brooklyn show are still available. Updated dates are listed below.

The SOB's show was opened by Nemo Achida, Iron Solomon, and Curtains, though Julie missed the first one because she was at the Lil B NYU lecture which was the same night.

More pics and videos from SOB's and dates below...

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q played SOB's (pics & video), playing Summerstage & Celebrate Brooklyn (with Childish Gambino & Danny Brown)"

Stalley @ SXSW 2012 (more by Ryan Muir)

For the month of April, NYC venue SOBs will be presenting 'I Love SOBs Music Fest.' A $100 badge will grant you access to every single show the venue puts on during April. The flier for the fest is below.

The shows include Obie Trice and friends on 4/3, Stalley and friends on 4/4 (also Stalley's album release party), Schoolboy Q on 4/11, Shabazz Palaces on 4/13, Casey Veggies on 4/25, and more. Individual tickets for all of these shows are on sale too.

Meanwhile, for Shabazz Palaces, the SOBs show (4/13) is one of two NYC shows on their upcoming tour which hits Brooklyn Bowl the next day (4/14). Tickets for the Brooklyn Bowl show are still available.

Stalley, like MANY rappers this year, was just down at SXSW where he played with Rick Ross at Fader Fort and was on the huge Warner Sound bill with T.I., Curren$y, B.o.B., and many others.

'I Love SOBs Music Fest' flier below...

Continue reading "SOB's offering pass to all April shows (Stalley, Shabazz Palaces, Schoolboy Q, Casey Veggies & more)"

Schoolboy Q

Rapper Schoolboy Q is playing SOB's in NYC on 4/11, right before he kicks off a tour with fellow Black Hippy member Ab-Soul. That tour doesn't currently include any NYC dates, but it does hit New Haven, CT on 5/2. and Chicago where Q will return in July for Pitchfork Fest. All Schoolboy Q dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q playing SOB's, Pitchfork Fest & other dates"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Kendrick Lamar - "Cartoon & Cereal [ft. Gunplay] (MP3)

ScHoolboy Q

ScHoolboy Q, who has been making tons of buzz lately, has a few upcoming shows, including one in NYC this week happening at Santos Party House on Thursday (2/23) with Kris Kasanova, Flatbush Zombies (who opened the A$AP Rocky show that Q guested at), and Nakim. The flier for this show is below.

If you haven't seen it yet, fellow Black Hippy collective member Kendrick Lamar and Danny Brown (who Q recently joined on stage in LA) are both on the cover of the new issue of the FADER (pictured below) and Black Hippy and Danny Brown were both profiled in the issue. The Black Hippy piece, which you can read HERE, mentions that ScHoolboy Q came up with the idea for the group:

"[Black Hippy] was actually my idea because I was slacking in my music," adds Q. "I figured if I could be in a group I could just write one verse and I could be good." He admits to being intimidated when he first started coming to the studio but eventually the tenacity of his collaborators rubbed off on him. Now he raps effortlessly in elastic word blurs. And while he still habitually clowns everyone good-naturedly--On Lamar: "When I first heard Kendrick, I'm like this nigga a bitch, I don't like this nigga"; on the possibility of a Black Hippy full length: "That shit ain't never gonna come out."--their collective pride in his rapid improvement runs deeply. So much so, that they unanimously anoint him the most talented rapper in the group. Q, of course, concurs.

Danny Brown, whose FADER profile piece you can read HERE, also has a Santos show coming up which happens on March 22. Tickets for that show are still available.

All dates, stream, and show flier, below...

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q playing Santos & other shows; Kendrick Lamar dropped a new song (MP3 & dates)"

photos by Ryan Muir, words by Andrew Sacher

"ASAP Rocky show @ Irving Plaza was CRAZY!!!" - Atiba Newsome

"ASAP ROCKY KILLED IRVING PLAZA!!!!" - Vic Damone

"Shout out to Jim e stack bun b waka flocka and da homie school boy" - AsapTwelvyy

A$AP Rocky brought the A$AP Mob tour to Irving Plaza last night (2/1). He brought out a number of guests like Bun B, Waka Flocka, and ScHoolboy Q, and Danny Brown opened the show, along with Flatbush Zombies and G-Eazy. More pictures and a video from this show are below.

One day earlier, A$AP Rocky appeared on The Angie Martinez Show on Hot 97. He was shocked when during his interview, Rakim, who Rocky's mother named him after, joined Rocky and Martinez on the show. A video of this interview is below too.

The Irving Plaza afterparty went down at The Studio at Webster Hall where a very tall Jim E Stack DJ'd in celebration of his new release. Did any of the advertised special guests show up?

ScHoolboy Q also showed up at the recent Danny Brown show in LA.

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

Continue reading "ASAP Rocky played Irving Plaza w/ special guests Danny Brown, Bun B, Waka Flocka & ScHoolboy Q (pics, video)"

photos by Nathanel Turner

Danny Brown @ Echoplex

Danny Brown walked on stage [...] rocking a leather jacket and combat boots, as if ready for war. He'd come to town to please his fans who hadn't caught him at the Roxy last fall, and likely left with many new ones. Kicking off the set with "Radio Song," Brown emoted cool confidence. One thing I immediately noticed was how much his distinct, nasally cadence manages to stand out over the beat. During "Lie4," you could hear every one of his lyrics clearly, something practically unheard of for a hip-hop concert, which often drown the vocals in bass. The crowd showed appreciation by yelling back the chorus: "Got that income tax swag."[LA Weekly]

Danny Brown will be in NYC while on tour this March. Tickets for his Santos Party House show are on sale now.

Main Attrakionz will be in NYC for two shows in March when they play Glasslands (3/4) (tickets) and The Studio at Webster Hall (3/5) (tickets).

ScHoolboy Q JUST (minutes before I typed this) released a new video for "Nightmare On Figg St." off his great new mixtape Habits & Condtractions. Watch that video below (and one we previously posted HERE).

More pics and videos below...

Continue reading "Danny Brown, Main Attrakionz & Kid Sister (and ScHoolboy Q) played Echoplex (pics & videos)"

The A$AP Mob is kicking off their tour this week, which brings them to NYC on February 1 at Irving Plaza. That show is now sold out.

That same night, New Orleans DJ/producerJim-E Stack (pictured above) is having a release party for his Come Between EP at The Studio at Webster Hall (2/1) with Azizaman and Mess Kid. The flier (pictured below) also mentions there will be "$PECIAAL GUEZT APPARANCES." Tickets for the Studio show are on sale now. You can stream the whole Jim-E Stack EP, and the Jim-E Stack Bootleg version of ASAP Rocky's "Purple Swag" (cover art above), below. Also down there streaming: a Sonic Router mix Jim-E made that also includes a track by ASAP Rocky.

--
A$AP Rocky at Creators Project in 2011 (more by Ryan Barkan)

In related news, Kendrick Lamar associate (aka Black Hippy member) ScHoolboy Q just made a video for "Hands on the Wheel," which features A$AP Rocky, off of ScHoolboy Q's most recent mixtape, Habits & Contradictions. Watch that below.

Speaking of the Studio at Webster Hall, upcoming shows there include Cloud Nothings this Thursday (1/26) and (A$AP Rocky collaborators) Main Attrakionz on 3/5.

Continue reading "Jim-E Stack streaming new EP, celebrating @ The Studio (with "$PECIAAL GUEZT APPARANCES")"