photos by Greg Cristman, words by BBG

Wovenhand

I will never again underestimate a Norwegian psychedelic/punk/shoegaze band. The quintet's jackhammer volume was enough to drown out even the odious gaggle of industry back-slappers talking next to the stage...

Headbanded singer Emil Nikolaisen offset his Liam Gallagher sneer with a gleefully destructive sense of showmanship. Midway through a glorious finale built upon a single riff that could have gone on for an hour without exhausting itself, Nikolaisen freaked out, nearly destroying his guitar while he assaulted a monitor with such enthusiasm that the crowd jumped back from the stage...

This was perhaps not the best prelude to Wovenhand's sombre mysticism. David Eugene Edwards is a mesmerizing presence with a granite-carved voice. But whether it was the lingering effect of his tourmates' liberation or a set list that -- at least based on the first 40 minutes -- was far more tension than release, the performance was more claustrophobic and less freeing than his appearance at La Sala Rossa during last year's Pop. -[Montreal Gazette]

The trek is ongoing, closing in New Mexico next weekend. Following that Wovenhand will embark on a European tour of their own in late November that will stretch until middle December, before David Eugene Edwards takes his band back across the pond to play Roadburn 2011, joining an already jaw-dropping lineup of Circle (!!!) and Pharaoh Overlord, Winterfylleth, "heavy 70s legends" Incredible Hog, Year of No Light, Pentagram (now with 100% more Victor Griffin), Soilent Green, Alcest, In Solitude, Ghost, Blood Ceremony, sunn O))), Place of Skulls, and oh, did I mention? Swans.

More pictures from Knitting Factory, where they played with Apse and K-X-P, are below.

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh, Wovenhand, Apse & K-X-P @ Knitting Factory (pics) "

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Serena Maneesh - I Just Want To See Your Face (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wovenhand - His Rest (MP3)

Wovenhand (pic by Erwin Verstappen)

Nary a piece on the great Wovenhand goes by without mentioning mastermind David Eugene Edwards' Christian faith. It's an underlying theme that permeates through his riveting work, but doesn't dominate in style and theme like most conventional "worship music". Wovenhand recently landed a slot supporting metal powerhouses Tool; they're just that damn powerful.

And now Wovenhand will hit the road with a wholly (and holy?) different but nonetheless awesome band, Serena Maneesh, for a string of dates which includes an NYC show at Knitting Factory on October 4th. Tickets are on sale. Full dates are below.

Serena Maneesh welcomed their new album No. 2: Abyss in B Minor earlier this year, and....

August 12th will mark the U.S. release of a split 12" single with Toronto's Fucked Up on the Norwegian and Canadian label Best Of Both Records. This will be a limited edition release, with only 1,000 copies being pressed. The Serena-Maneesh side is a 7 minute song called "Opium Priest" and the Fucked Up side is a song called "Here Lies Are"

Tour dates and some video below...

Continue reading "Wovenhand & Serena Maneesh touring & releasing new music - MP3s & dates"

by Bill Pearis

Serena Maneesh @ by:Larm (more)

Tonight (4/8) is NYC's last chance to see Serena-Maneesh for a while, at Le Poisson Rouge. The show is the end of a tour the band has been on since SXSW. We've got a pair of tickets to give away -- just send an email to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with "Serena-Maneesh" as the subject and include your name. We'll pick a winner at random ASAP. Also, along with the tickets you'll win a vinyl copy of S-M's great new album, No. 2: Abyss in B Minor. The show is 18+ and, like our Austin show they played, starts late -- doors are at 11PM, with openers The Depreciation Guild at 11:30 and Serena Maneesh at 1AM (you can go see them after almost any other show tonight).

Maybe it's the quality new album, but Serena-Maneesh have really been bringing their A-game this time around. You can check out video from their by:Larm showcase below.

Openers The Depreciation Guild will be previewing tracks from their new album, Spirit Youth, which scales back the 8-bit electronics to make way, perhaps, for more guitar pedals. I dig it. It's out May 18. You can check out the video to their single "Dream About Me" at the bottom of this post.

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh are here (win tix & vinyl), Thursday night late show w/ The Depreciation Guild (new album soon) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Serena Maneesh

"Not sure about the recorded stuff, but, live, Here We Go Magic's sound made for an enjoyable listen. It was rocky, bouncy, and sometimes outright dancey--but with enough complex time changes thrown in to keep listeners off-guard and from getting too comfortable in one place...

...The Middle East very much lived up to the hype it had earned at last weekend's NX35 conferette in Denton, where it went from a relative unknown to a much-buzzed-about-Denton act. This Austin crowd seemed relatively unfamiliar with the act as well--but also was eventually won over. Gorgeous stuff, indeed, if a little too mellow and unvaried." [Dallas Observer]

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh, Califone, Bowerbirds, Middle East, Dawes & Here We Go Magic @ Club DeVile (official BV showcase) - pics"

Serena Maneesh at by::larm

Serena Maneesh closed outthe BrooklynVegan official SXSW showcase at Club DeVille Wednesday night (3/17). The band didn't skimp on energy, even though their set went late into the night. Due to sound problems that delayed bands earlier in the night, Serena didn't start until 2:00am (one hour after their set time), and then their set was cut shot at 2:30am by the club/SXSW whose staff wanted the show over ASAP. Thanks to everyone who stuck around. Sorry to people who showed up after 2 to see the band only to be told by the uncooperative SXSW door guy that they we weren't letting anyone in even though the band just went on and there was plenty of room (we weren't getting along with them all night). Lots more on the show - including pictures and video - are coming (relatively) soon.

The rest of Serena Maneesh's SXSW shows are posted below, and they'll be in New York on April 8th for a show at LPR.

Their new video for "I Just Want To See Your Face," off S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor, which comes out March 23rd on 4AD, is also posted below...

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh played BV official showcase (a bit late), has a new video"

I've seen a ton of great bands [in Oslo] so far. Most are new to me. I'm trying to avoid bands I've seen or will definitely see soon. Serena Maneesh fall into both categories (SXSW = the "see soon" part), but I couldn't help myself and went and checked them out [Friday] night at [Sentrum] Scene in Oslo. They went on after Johann Johannsson who went on after Efterklang (it was 4AD night). I actually watched all three and even saw some bands in nearby venues during set change... there's a band on somewhere every half hour, and all bands only play for 30 minutes.... so if you're quick you can see at least 25 minutes of a 30 minute set twice an hour for about 7 hours straight...except Serena Maneesh actually who got 45 minutes as tonight's big headliner... actually [I think] Johann played longer too, but I left before he finished). [me, over the weekend]

As mentioned above, Efterklang played the same venue the same night, but the pictures I posted yesterday were from the show they played one night later. Both Efterklang and Serena Maneesh have shows coming up at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. Both will also be at SXSW.

More pictures from Oslo below...

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh @ Sentrum Scene (by:Larm) in Oslo - pics "

Crystal Stilts @ Slumberland Birthday, 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* Red Baraat @ BAM
* Dan Deacon at Suny Purchase
* Evangelista @ The Stone
* Memory Tapes at Tribeca Grand
* Men, MKNG FRNDZ @ The Bell House
* Wakey! Wakey!, Harper Blynn @ Mercury Lounge
* Yemenwed, Light Asylum, Sabine Gruffat @ P.S.1
* The Golden Filter, Nancy Whang @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Man In Gray, El Jezel, Coyote Eyes @ Union Hall
* H2O (15 Year Anniversary Show) @ Gramercy Theatre
* Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, Jogger @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* These Are Powers, MNDR, Blondes, JDH & Dave P @ Coco 66
* Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Mutant Supremacy @ Union Pool
* Aligns, The Yellow Dogs, In Cadeo, Darwin Deez @ The Cameo
* Zola Jesus, Blacklist, Cult of Youth, White Ring @ Cake Shop
* Extra Life, Pink Reason, Silk Flowers, M. Lamar @ Death By Audio
* PC Worship, Ashcan Orchestra, GDFX, Hexbreaker Quintet @ Shea Stadium
* Pygmy Shrews, Golden Girls, Byrds of Paradise, Tough Knuckles @ Bruar Falls
* Greg Kelley, Chris Brokaw, Matthew Heyner, Sean Meehan @ Issue Project Room
* Secret Country, Roadside Graves, WJ & The Sweet Sacrifice, My Name Is John Michael @ Maxwell's
* Crystal Stilts, The Beets, Christmas Island, Beach Fossils, German Measles @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Haiti Benefit w/ Your 33 Black Angels, Bugs in the Dark, Palominos, Hollands, Normandy, Balboa, Winston Troy, MK Groove Orchestra @ East River Bar

Man in Gray are back together for one night only tonight at Union Hall! With Coyote Eyes and El Jezel. They played their two final shows in 2008, one of which was at one of our Rock n ROFL shows at Pianos.

Extra Life, who are at DBA tonight, have a new record coming out, called Made Flesh, on March 30th.

Memory Tapes tonight at Tribeca Grand is free (RSVP to events [at] self-titledmag.com). Tanlines are DJing.

Mates of State play the Bell House on Sunday.

Today is the last day of by:Larm in Norway. I've seen a ton of great bands so far. Most are new to me. I'm trying to avoid bands I've seen or will definitely see soon. Serena Maneesh fall into both categories (SXSW = the "see soon" part), but I couldn't help myself and went and checked them out last night at Spectrum Scene in Oslo. They went on after Johann Johannsson who went on after Efterklang (it was 4AD night). I actually watched all three and even saw some bands in nearby venues during set change... there's a band on somewhere every half hour, and all bands only play for 30 minutes.... so if you're quick you can see at least 25 minutes of a 30 minute set twice an hour for about 7 hours straight...except Serena Maneesh actually who got 45 minutes as tonight's big headliner... actually Johann played longer too, but I left before he finished). I don't have videos from the show, so here are some of their official videos instead, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

words by Bill Pearis, one photo by Redboy, the rest by Kirstie Shanley

DOWNLOAD: Serena-Maneesh - I Just Want to See Your Face (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss (MP3)

Serena Maneesh @ Littlefield (by Kirstie Shanley)

For those annoyed that Serena-Maneesh's U.S. visit two weeks ago only consisted of a couple NYC gigs, the Norwegian shoegazers will be back for SXSW where they will play our official BrooklynVegan showcase at Club DeVille on Wednesday, March 17th! (stay tuned for the entire lineup announcement). From Austin they'll leave on a proper North American tour that will include an April 8th stop at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC (tickets are on sale). All dates below.

I caught the band when they played at Littlefield in Brooklyn on January 23rd. They were in fine, ear-pummeling form, crushing us as a wall of Marshall stacks loomed behind them. (I'm told they weren't all actually turned on, but it was plenty loud and the "big stick" philosophy certainly worked.) The band stuck mainly to songs from the forthcoming record, S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor, (out 3/23) but the new material made a good first impression. Download the new single "I Just Want to See Your Face" at the top of this post, probably the poppiest thing the band has done since "Drive Me Home These Lonely Nights" from their first EP back in 2003.

All tour dates with more pictures from their recent shows at Littlefield and Mercury Lounge, below...

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh played NYC (pics), announce more 2010 tour dates (BV SXSW showcase, LPR & more) ++ new MP3"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss (MP3)

It's been about four years since Norway's Serena-Maneesh brought their effects pedals and puffy pirate shirts to America. They return this week. They play a late show at Mercury Lounge on Friday (1/22, after the BV Presents Dawn Landes record release show earlier in the evening) and Littlefield in Brooklyn on Saturday (1/23). Tickets (click the links) are still on sale for both, and we have a pair to give away to the show of your choice. Details below.

It's been even longer since they've released a record, which will also change with the release of the cheerily-titled SM 2: Abyss in B Minor (pictured above) -- which they recorded on two-inch tape in an actual cave! That is some dedication there. You can download an edit (still over six minutes long) of the album's first track, "Ayisha Abyss," at the top of this post. It's kind of a bombastic, bonkers track, a bit like Can at times, but also sounds like two different songs accidentally being played at the same time. It's got me curious to hear the rest of the record (out March 23rd on 4AD) and wondering what to expect from this weekend's shows.

I saw S-M play at Mercury Lounge back in January 2006 and remember being a bit disappointed in the band's short (and not loud enough) set, but heard the next night at NorthSix (now MHoW) was much better. And I've got a friend who swears they're the best live band she's ever seen, and is flying in from Chicago just to go to these shows. (S-M have no other scheduled U.S. dates at this time.)

Openers at Mercury Lounge are The Vandelles; Littlefield also has Zaza and Cruel Black Dove. If I had to pick one show over the other, I'd probably go with Saturday at Littlefield just because it might be over earlier. Last time at the Merc, Serena-Maneesh didn't go on till 1AM. Those pedals take a long time to set up.

All dates, contest details, and a video below...

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh album details, MP3, tour dates & a contest "

Norwegian New Wavers Serena Maneesh recently signed a deal with 4AD to release their new record, which is scheduled to come out in March 2010.

Says SM front-man Emil Nikolaisen to Norwegian daily Dagbladet.no: 'Had anyone asked me which label I'd rather be signed to, my answer would definitely be 4AD. What's really positive about this is 4AD's strong position - the label represents a kind of musical blood-line which we're now a part of. We're the latest addition to a long and rich tradition.'

All tour dates and a selection of videos are below...

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh - new album on 4AD, NYC show in 2010"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: I Was a King - Norman Bleik (MP3)

Oslo, Norway's I Was a King are headed to America for a fairly extensive US tour, including two stops in NYC: May 30 at Mercury Lounge (with UK's great The Wave Pictures) and May 31 at Union Hall. The band's self-titled debut came out earlier this month via The Control Group, who have released albums by The Figurines and El Perro Del Mar.

For all intents and purposes, I Was A King are a duo: Frode Strømstad, who's a Norwegian indie gadabout and owner of Hype City Records) and Anne Lise Frøkedal (who also fronts her own excellent band, Harrys Gym). The album was actually made in Brooklyn, at the Ladybug Transistor's Marlborough Farms studio with big help from head Ladybug Gary Olsen and fellow Norwegian Emil Nikolaisen of Serena Maneesh. Sufjan Stevens helps out on a few tracks, as does Danielson. Live, the band is fleshed out to a five-piece, including ex-Serena Maneesh member Håvard Krogedal on bass.

If you like '60s pysch pop, '90s psych pop (Elephant 6), Dinosaur Jr. and Teenage Fanclub, chances are you're going to like I Was a King. Teenage Fanclub, actually, are punnily namechecked on the band's first single, "Norman Bleik," which you can download at the top of this post. Video of them performing the song on Norwegian television and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "I Was A King (from Norway) - 2009 Tour Dates, video & MP3"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Danielson - Animal In Every Corner (Version) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dan Zimmerman - Symbols In This World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dan Zimmerman - Everyday In My Heart (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dan Zimmerman - Either Or (MP3)

Danielson (top, middle)& Dan Zimmerman (bottom)

Upon hearing Dan Zimmerman's music, his rich, distinctive, roasted baritone, somewhere in between Lee Hazelwood and Tom Waits, will be your first impression. It's all character, with nothing pretended or imposed. Dan's been singing since he picked up the guitar in 1957, and his resonance is pure experience. He's a Methodist preacher's kid turned '60s art-school van-gypsy, married by a swami, turned Northwestern mountain-man singing at lunch-hour for fellow workers at a tree-packing plant... And that's just the groundwork. Six years in the making, his new album, Cosmic Patriot, features Daniel Smith (Danielson), Emil Nikolaisen (Serena-Maneesh), Josiah Wolf (Why?), Joshua Stamper, Jason Kourkounis (Bardo Pond) and many more. It captures the band and the man perfectly.[Glen Galloway @ Sounds Familyre]

Zimmerman's new disc is his first since 2001's Great Small, which was the Sounds Familyre label's first non-Danielson (and second overall) release. As on that record, Danielson and "Famile" appear in supporting roles on Cosmic Patriot.

Last year Danielson released a retrospective album, Trying Hartz, and played a Halloween show at NYC's Knitting Factory.

All Danielson/Zimmerman tour dates, and an episode of Breakfast at Sulimay's where Danielson gets the Philly diner treatment, below...

Continue reading "Dan Zimmerman & Danielson - albums & shows "

Goldfrapp @ Coachella 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

* nothing @ Luna Lounge
* The Verve @ theater @ MSG
* 120 Days is Deejaying Europa
* Feist @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* South is playing Mercury Lounge
* Tribeca Film Festival day parties
* Santogold at the Virgin Megastore
* Crowded House is at Irving Plaza again
* Jaymay is opening for Goldfrapp @ Beacon Theater
* Gang Gang Dance & High Places are playing Southpaw
* Urge Overkill will be playing Bowery Ballroom soon

Spinner is also streaming the new live Les Savy Fav album that was taped at Bowery Ballroom on New Years Eve. Les Savy Fav just played Coachella and tickets are on sale for their next NYC show.

A Cocorosie show from Amsterdam will be webcast at 4:30pm.

Have you seen Roger Waters' pig?

Two video below. The first is a new song 120 Days played last night at Mercury Lounge with a member of Serena Maneesh. The second is the new Van She single.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

I'm not a huge Nine Inch Nails fan, but I would never pass up the opportunity to see them live. Such was the case at this year's Oya Festival where they headlined the first day - Wednesday August 8, 2007 at 9:45 pm on the Enga stage. No complaints...

My only Norweigian celebrity sighting The only person I recognized during all four days of the festival (that wasn't playing), was the unmistakable (even in Norway) Hilma Nikolaisen of Serena Maneesh. In 2006 she and Serena Maneesh played the festival. This year she was just watching bands and hanging out. I saw her twice actually. Once during Jesus & Mary Chain, and once during Nine Inch Nails - who she had the honor of opening for just a few months earlier in Australia & Japan.

In related news, Trent Reznor is pitching a TV show based on the new Nine Inch Nails concept album Year Zero. More photos below....

Continue reading "NIN @ the 2007 Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway - pics"

"March 8, 2007, Los Angeles: The Shortlist Organization announced today the Long List of nominees for the sixth annual Shortlist Music Prize, a peer-selected award that recognizes the most creative and adventurous albums of the year. The 61 nominees were selected by a panel of nine Listmakers: recording artists Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol), Ronnie Vannucci (the Killers), Franz Ferdinand, KT Tunstall, Panic! at the Disco, Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Sufjan Stevens, and journalists Toure (BET, Rolling Stone) and Rev. Moose (Editor-In-Chief, CMJ New Music Report)."

Here's who Sufjan nominated: Dabrye, Danielson, Kidd Jordan, Matmos, Midlake, OOIOO, Serena Maneesh, & The Blow.

Here's who Wayne Coyne nominated: Cat Power, CSS, Teddybears, Wolfmother, & Girl Talk.

Here's who Panic at the Disco! nominated: Cursive, Mew, Forgive Durden, The Velvet Teen, The Stills, The Hush, The Bronx, & Mute Math.

All other nominees @ the Shortlist site & on their MySpace.

(As I've previously bitched) Picking 2 hours of commercial-free music for my Sirius radio show each week is a lot of work, especially when you have no time to begin with. So what better way to lighten the work load than to include special guests on the show, especially when the special guests are picking out half the music!

This week (July 18, 2006) I brought in Mike Nouveau the NYC party promoter, "DJ", and sober hipster. We chatted on air about his various projects and plugged his upcoming parties. Like this one:

I picked the first 16 songs...

1) Scott Walker - Psoriatic

Continue reading "Sirius Playlist - Week 7 (special guest Mike Nouveau)"

I don't think I've ever had a bad time at the Siren Festival...

Continue reading "The 2006 Village Voice Siren Festival, Coney Island | pics"

The new issue of the Voice adds Serena Maneesh to the list of bands playing this year's Siren Festival. They don't have Priestess yet, but in addition to the 13 bands listed the ad, there's an "And More". It also says "MisShapes DJing all day".

Previously
Priestess & Man Man playing Siren | Hatred for Stars too?
Serena Maneesh played SXSW, live MP3s

Thanks to all the attention Norway's Serena Maneesh received in 2005, they were one of the bands to see at SXSW this year. I only caught a few minutes of a set they played during a daytime show at Emo's; having already seen Serena Maneesh, I opted to stay in the other room where Of Montreal was playing. The next day I passed the band walking down 6th Street like a band of pirates. Playing 'name that band' while walking around Austin was one of my favorite aspects of SXSW.

SM played Cambridge, MA on March 8th. Bradley was there. He taped it and posted the audio as MP3s.

Serena Maneesh played a short, but intense, set at Mercury Lounge Saturday night (Jan 21, 2006).

Stream a song at Honeymilk Records.

"Serena Maneesh has been compared to wall-of-noise bands like Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain, mixed with the grand orchestration of Sigur Ros and M83. They even had their friend Sufjan Stevens play the flute and marimba on their latest self-titled album. Not too many bands can kill you with feedback AND flutes. If that's not musically manic-depressive, I don't know what is." [Oh My Rockness]

note: Sufjan was spotted at their Northsix and Mercury Lounge shows (two nights in a row). No flute though.

They were scheduled to go on at midnight, but didn't start until 12:45. Around 1:30 they were finished. No encore. They're a spectacle to watch, and to listen to. Danfun has more pics and a review.

Tickets for some of their shows in March are already on sale.

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh @ Mercury Lounge, NYC | pics"

As previously reported here and on Pitchfork, Serena Maneesh, the band from Norway that made Pitchfork's 29th favorite CD of 2005, are visiting NYC for the first time this month. They were originally playing one show. Now there are three:

1/20/06 Northsix in Brooklyn (tix)
1/21/06 Mercury Lounge (tix still on sale)
1/21/06 Free Soundfix instore @ 4PM

According to the original tour dates posted at Pitchfork, they also have a fourth NYC date already scheduled for March 8th at an undisclosed location. It's during their short U.S. tour that leads up to a March 15th SXSW appearance and continues on to California.

What are your thoughts on this band? They're discussing it at I Love Music.

Norway's Serena Maneesh play Mercury Lounge in NYC on Jan 21, 2006.

"Shoegaze. Dream pop. Space rock. Indie pop. Drone pop. Noise pop. Whatever the hell you call it......Tickets went on sale yesterday for the January show in NYC, so get on it! That Mercury Lounge sure is small." [Pitchfork where you'll find the rest of the tour dates]

Nick Sylvester gave their new self-titled album a Pitchfork 8.6. Cokemachine glow gave it an 8.1.

DOWNLOAD
Un-Deux (MP3)

Buddyhead has another MP3.