Why? says:

"Dear fans, due to an unfortunate injury, we are going to have to cancel the rest of our North American tour with a possible exception for Chicago. As of now, the European & UK tour are still going forward as planned. We will keep you updated as things progress."

That seated tour was set to hit NYC at Florence Gould Hall on 9/21. Refunds will happen I assume. The list of cancelled/happening dates is below...

Continue reading "Why? cancels most of tour"

We recently announced that WHY? are presenting preview shows for their new album in intimate seated venues and that they will do so in NYC on September 21 at Florence Gould Hall at 7 PM and 10 PM. Ends up these shows are part of a longer "unplugged-style" tour in September in October, and the sets will not only consist of new material, but also older favorites and covers. "Multi-instrumentalists Josiah Wolf and Doug McDiarmid will be on hand for this soft invasion of halls, theaters, churches, chapels, museums and other intimate spaces where people sit down, cozy up, and listen well.... At each stop, the crowd will be seated, treated to behind-the-scenes jaw-jacking, and given the chance to ask questions. To top it off, WHY? will be selling numbered, hand-screened posters both for the tour and some specific cities along the way."

Serengeti opens the tour. Tickets for both NYC shows are still on sale. All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "WHY? announces seated tour w/ Serengeti (updated dates)"

photos by Lori Baily, words by Andrew Frisicano

Deerhoof

This was a damn good show, and not even because they played their "hits," or because I knew most of the songs. In actuality I knew about half, but the very fact that I enjoyed the songs I didn't know prove Deerhoof to be good performers. They pulled every gag and trick in the concert-giving book: costume changes! pretentious and adorable stage banter! friend found randomly in audience to play the drums for a song! artsy video projections! synchronized dance moves! not one, but TWO encores! props, such as a tiny stuffed penguin and a glow-in-the-dark basketball! all of the band members switching instruments! Sometimes all of these would occur within a single song. [Subbacultcha]

Deerhoof headlined a post-ATP NY show at (Le) Poisson Rouge on September 15th.

Opening up were Chicago duo Serengeti & Polyphonic and Swedes Wildbirds & Peacedrums. It was the first of five NYC shows in the past week for Wildbirds & Peacedrums who played their last one at The Bell House last night (9/22) with Fanfarlo. I caught them at their second show (9/16), where they played a short set at the Cake Shop before the headliner, Sam Mickens' Ecstatic Showband & Revue.

At the Cake Shop, the pair filled the small stage with an arrangement of drums and other percussion (they didn't play anything you couldn't hit). Andreas sat behind a fairly extensive kit, with a sampler and a xylophone tucked to the side, while Mariam stood behind a steeldrum and occasionally stabbied at the drum kit too. She didn't stand still long though, dancing across the stage, jumping around, and still managing to carry most of the songs with only sparse drum accompaniment. Somehow they both kept their place. The bluesy influence on her voice was pretty clear too. Like on their record, the band's lyrics were charming and quirky (not totally unlike fellow Gothenburg-ite Jens Lekman), and live they added another level of raw, theatrical energy to the music.

The rest of the pictures from LPR, below...

Continue reading "Wildbirds & Peacedrums played 5 NYC shows, LPR w/ Serengeti & Polyphonic and Deerhoof (pics)"

"What a fitting day to announce the complete list of artists involved with our upcoming album DARK WAS THE NIGHT - the February 17th 4AD release that will benefit the Red Hot Organization. It's World AIDS Day, and in honor of that, we bring you the exciting news."

More info on the previously mentioned comp below...

Continue reading "Dark Was the Night - full 4AD comp artist list, cover art, etc"