K-Holes on a boat in 2010 (more by Keith Marlowe)

Brooklyn venue Union Pool is bringing back their free 'Summer Thunder' IN 2011. The series consists of free shows in Union Pool's backyard with the El Diablo taco truck and new backyard bongo bar. All shows start at 4 PM. This lineup of this year's series is not fully announced yet, but so far features performances by K-Holes, Silk Flowers, Warm Ghost and many more. it's all listed below.

K-Holes, who headline the June 25th free show, also play Union Hall on July 14 with Gary War and Pop. 1280. Tickets are on sale now for that not-free show. If you're in Chicago, catch the band May 27th at BlackOut.

Silk Flowers, who play the August 27th free show, play the Irving Plaza show with Ariel Pink and R. Stevie Moore on June 2nd. Tickets are still available.

Continue reading "free summer shows @ Union Pool in 2011 (K-Holes, Silk Flowers, Warm Ghost & more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Naked on the Vague - Clock of 12's (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Trust - Candy Walls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys - Do You Believe in Destiny? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cuffs - Privilege (MP3)

Naked on the Vague

It's spring, it's Passover/Easter, flowers are blooming...let's talk goth. Sydney, Australia's Naked on the Vague are here this weekend for two shows: tonight (4/22) at Coco66 with Sacred Bones labelmates Trust and Silk Flowers, and then Saturday (4/23) at Bowery, kicking off their tour with Zola Jesus and Cult of Youth.

Naked on the Vague's new platter, Twelve Dark Noons, which is also the name of a new film that made its U.S. debut last night (yes I'm a little behind) at 92 Y Tribeca, and the band played an "experimental music" set beforehand. Tonight's show is a little more normal for the band -- it's the record release party -- though may not be normal to you depending on what you listen to.

Core duo Lucy Cliche and Matthew Hopkins have recently expanded the band to a four-piece, making for a fuller-sounding dark and doomy racket. Hopkins describes the new album as "Dracula fronting the B-52s." I'm not sure that's how I;d describe it, but this is certainly a more accessible record than last year's Heaps of Nothing which came out on Siltbreeze. If you like the '80s goth touchstones, you'll be into this. Check out "Clock of 12's" at the top of this post and the video is below.

Trust

Opening tonight are Toronto duo Trust who played earlier in the week at the Wierd party at Home Sweet Home. You may recognize Maya Postepski if you've seen Austra play live (she's their drummer). Along with singer Robert Alfons the duo "combine dark synth arpeggios, live and programmed drum beats with haunting, effected vocals." Hear all those things in Trust's debut single, "Candy Walls," which is downloadable above. (And watch the well-photographed, vaguely creepy video below.) Similarities to Postepski's other group are evident, which is to say if you like Austra but wish the songs were sung by a guy who kind of sounds like the Crash Test Dummies dude...Trust is pretty close to that. And not a bad thing. Locals Silk Flowers open tonight's show.

Trust will open for Austra on U.S. dates in May (including 5/23 at Mercury Lounge) if you can't see them tonight.

the Fresh & Onlys

Keeping thing within the Sacred Bones realm, San Francisco's Fresh & Onlys are here tomorrow (4/23) at Music Hall of Williamsburg as they're on tour with Crocodiles. The band have been on a prolific tear for the last two years but have kind of slacked off in 2011. It's April and they've only just released their first record on the year. But it's a good one, Secret Walls (on aforementioned label), continues the band's differentiation from the SF garage scene they were lumped in with. There's not one rocker amongst its six tracks. Which is not a bad thing at all. Tim Cohen's songwriting just keeps getting better and the EP's expansive sound here is a great showcase for the superior musicianship found in all corners of the band. Lovely stuff.

The MHoW show is a pretty happening bill. In addition to Crocodiles, you've got Bay Area shoegazers Young Prisms and Bass Drum of Death, the latter of whom also play tonight at Glasslands.

Karkwa

Shifting gears, tonight at Pianos are Karkwa from Montreal who you might remember won the Polaris Music Prize in 2010 for Les Chemins de Verres, the first-ever Francophone album to receive the award. Yes, that means they sing in French though that really shouldn't stop you from digging them. I've described them before as the French-Canadian Radiohead, which is reductive but gets you there. So if you can listen to Sigur Ros and not worry about what they're saying, you can do the same for Karkwa. Check out their video for single "Le Pyromane" at the bottom of this post. They play giant rooms in Canada so to be in a room as tiny as Pianos should be interesting.

Cuffs

As previously mentioned, former Swell Maps and Television Personalities guy Jowe Head is here, playing tonight at Bruar Falls and tomorrow (5/23) at Cake Shop. Tomorrow's show is especially enticing, as it's the NYC debut of Cuffs which is the new band from Andrew Churchman who fronted much-loved Boston band Pants Yell! (That's their exclamation point, not mine.) Cuffs also has Pants Yell! drummer Casey Keenan, as well as "a member of Reports and the blonde kid from Big Troubles."

Cuffs are working on some real recordings as we speak but you can listen to some demos at their Bandcamp site, one of which you can download at the top of this post. For those familiar with Churchman's previous band, you already mostly know what to expect here. He's still writing delicate indiepop, though Cuffs have a little more groove. I remember him saying at Popfest (PY!'s last NYC show) that the new stuff would be more Prefab Sprout influenced and you can hear that lonely jazzy sound in "Albert Kroft."

Pants Yell! were always a louder, more rocking band live than on record, and I bet the same holds true for Cuffs. There also seems to be a little jammy-ness with them too (maybe the Big Troubles factor), so I'm really curious/excited for tomorrow's show.

That's the main stuff this weekend, but there are a few more day-by-day picks below.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

Personal & the Pizzas, who played last night at Maxwell's, are at Cake Shop tonight laying on the cheese with Georgia's Barreracudas and Los Vigilantes. Personal & the Pizzas and the Barreracudas also play Bruar Falls on Sunday (4/24).

The Bass Drum of Death show tonight mentioned up the post is also with So So Glos, Xray Eyeballs, and Night Manager.

If you like The Drums, check out The Young Friends (who are signed to the Drums' Holiday Records) at The Gutter with Beacon and Kosovo.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

It's a hard-to-pass-up bill at Glasslands tonight, with Hunx & His Punks, Shannon & the Clams (who played Cake Shop already this week), the wonderful Grass Widow and the K-Holes. Catch Grass Widow again on Sunday (3/24) at Death by Audio with Talk Normal.

And if you want to see that show, chances are you wish you could see Davilla 666 (who played Cake Shop earlier this week too), The Beets and Xray Eyeballs at Knitting Factory.

SUNDAY, APRIL 24

Personal & the Pizzas play Bruar Falls.

That's it for this week. Tour dates and videos are below...

Continue reading "Naked on the Vague, Trust, The Fresh & Onlys, Cuffs, Karkwa, Personal & the Pizzas & more in This Week in Indie "

by BBG

Villains at Europa (more here)

Joe Preston and his solo project Thrones returns to NYC tonight (10/13), as part of a larger tour with Christian Mistress. The duo will team up with Villains to tear down Acheron at 9pm (a joint BrooklynVegan & Todd P production). $10 gets you in.

In other news, though Joe Preston hasn't recently logged any time at the studio, he has a an LP on the way from when he served time as a member of Earth:

A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extraction contains the entire 1990 Smegma Studios sessions which are the debut recordings from Earth. Previously available scattered via the Extra Capsular Extraction EP and Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars CD, ...[this] collection contains every note from the infamous first Earth recording sessions. Earth was founded by Dylan Carlson circa 1989 and in this infancy stage contained several different members including: Slim Moon (Kill Rock Stars label), Joe Preston (Thrones, Melvins, Sunn 0))), High on Fire etc..) and even Dylan's close friend Kurt Kobain.

Tonight's show is one of many Todd P and BrooklynVegan presented shows in the next few days. Thursday will see Todd P present Silk Flowers and CNTRL TOP (mem These Are Powers) along with an art exhibition, prints and film at Elizabeth Foundation For The Arts (323 W 39th St #3 @ 9th Ave in Manhattan) starting at 6PM. Friday (10/15) Todd P will bring Lightning Bolt, Dan Deacon Ensemble, special guests Otouto and the last NYC appearance from Casiotone for The Painfully Alone to the Ridgewood Masonic Temple. Advance tickets may still be available at Desert Island Books (540 Metropolitan Ave).

Desert Island Books also has your $10 tickets (while they last) for the Todd P-presented A Place to Bury Strangers, Japanadroids, Justin Wong, and Grooms show happening at Death By Audio on 10/26. Ticketfly has your tickets for the Japandroids show at Maxwell's.

BrooklynVegan will present a pair of shows at Union Pool: Rosetta, Constants, and Cleanteeth (doors at 9) on Friday (10/15) and Saturday (10/16) means The Gates of Slumber, Hour of 13, and Disma (doors at 9).

Speaking of tickets, want to win tickets to Thrones, Lightning Bolt, Rosetta, or The Gates of Slumber? I have a pair of tickets available for giveaway for EACH. Details on how to win, as well as some videos are at the bottom of this post... (And this concludes the first ever post to incorporate both The Gates of Slumber AND Dan Deacon).

Continue reading "Thrones tonight, Earth, Japandoids tickets, a Dan Deacon contest, Silk Flowers & other upcoming shows & stuff"

DOWNLOAD: Prince Rama - "Lightening Fossil" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Light Pollution - "Witchcraft" (MP3)

photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

Deakin @ Glasslands

"Just got back from it. Didn't stick around for the cowboys & indians dance party, though I probably should have. I was faced on mushrooms the whole night and felt like the place was being overrun by 16 year olds. Twice some dumb scantily-clad broads approached me to ask if I'd buy them drinks cos they were only "20". This was very different from the demographic I imagined Prince Rama and Deakin would be playing for.

Really bummed out about the arrest of Michael from Prince Rama, and the subsequent abridged setlist. But still they sounded really amazing, and Deakin's set was very cool. It's a shame most people there didn't seem to give much of a shit about the live music.

Can't believe I didn't stick around longer. What did I miss? But don't tell me a bunch of half naked 18 year old girls with face paint prancing around, beseeching older men to buy them drinks. Because I was there for that.

P.S. I was the awkward weirdo in the blue hoodie.
-dreamlight molecule

The trek continues for Prince Rama/Deakin, who play Montreal tonight and scoot across the west coast until the end of September. After that, Prince Rama will then link up with Light Pollution for another tour that kicks off in Chicago in early October before they both play NYC on 10/21 as part of the Carpark/Paw Tracks CMJ Showcase at Cake Shop. More details on that showcase TBA.

It's unclear why the guy from Prince Rama got arrested, but the above account makes at least three times I heard about it.

Prince Rama's new LP, Shadow Temple, is out now via Paw Tracks, dig on one track from the LP, "Lightening Fossil", downloadable above. Light Pollution's new LP, Apparitions, is out now also, and features "Witchcraft" available for download above.

Full tour dates and tons of pics from Glasslands are below...

Continue reading "Despite an arrest, Prince Rama & Deakin played Glasslands (pics), playing more shows (dates) "

photos by Amanda Hatfield

MNDR @ Mercury Lounge

"MNDR's one of the hardest "gigging" musicians as of late, headlining local spots, along with supporting acts like Massive Attack and later this fall, Miike Snow, but this Monday's early show at the Lower East Side venue was all about her solo material; songs well known by the bloggers and journalists that love her, along with two new tracks she debuted for an appreciative audience.

Adding to the heat seeking missile she's currently riding, her aforementioned work with Ronson has garnered the attention of major media outlets like Billboard and Esquire. in which she notes that their partnership all began with a chance meeting during his Authentic Sh*t program (Fridays 8-10pm ET), here on East Village Radio."
[East Village Radio]

And though she isn't on the bill, maybe MNDR will show up for at least a song (like she did at Vice's Creators thing) on October 11th at Music Hall of Williamsburg when Mark Ronson & The Business Intl plays there. Tickets are on sale now. All of Mark's other currently announced dates are in the UK.

All MNDR dates and more pictures from Mercury Lounge, with Mark's new video for "The Bike Song", below...

Continue reading "MNDR played Mercury Lounge w/ Silk Flowers (pics), Mark Ronson & The Business Intl are playing MHOW (tix) "

by Andrew Frisicano

MNDR w/ Mark Ronson @ Creators Project (more by Ryan Barkan)

The debut LP from MNDR/Amanda Warner is still a ways off, due sometime in early 2011. Meanwhile, she features prominently (with Q-Tip) on Mark Ronson's single for "Bang Bang Bang." That song is currently No. 1 on the NME Charts, and they've been promoting it with TV appearances (like the one from the UK program Jonathan Ross, below) and live performances (like at the Creators Project in June). According to her blog, MNDR has also been busy producing the new record from Silk Flowers, to come out on Post Present Medium.

And MNDR has an NYC show coming up, set for Monday, August 30th show at Mercury Lounge. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

All tour dates and videos (including Jonathan Ross, though MNDR's voice doesn't seem to be its usually sturdy self) are below...

Continue reading "MNDR keeping busy, adds NYC show "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Zs - Acres of Skin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zs - Diamond Terrifier (Zebrablood remix) (MP3)

Avant-garde band Zs are celebrating their new LP New Slaves (out now on Social Registry) with a show at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn tonight (5/11), and they've brought along a pretty amazing cast of characters to pad the show. Kicking off at 8PM, the Brooklyn band will be joined by noise collective Excepter, guitar god Mick Barr and synth band Silk Flowers with river-dredging vocals, in addition to Dutty Artz DJs Matt Shadetek & Lamin. Tickets are still available.

It's one of two NYC shows on the calendar for Zs, with the second taking place June 26th at Issue Project Room with david linton: bicameral research sound & projection system.

New Slaves marks Zs' first full-length LP on Social Registry, after dropping their Music of the Modern White EP on the label last year. The band recently debuted the track and a video for "Acres of Skin". Download that track above, and check out its video below.

The band also sent along an exclusive new remix of their song "Diamond Terrifier" done up by Zebrablood of Excepter (who play their show tonight). The result is a 12-minute dancefloor-from-hell take on the breathy 13-minute drone-like original; don't listen alone with the lights off.

That song figures into the band's plans for future, which include a record of New Slaves remixes with contributions expected from Brian Degraw (Gang Gang Dance), Gabe Andruzzi (The Rapture), Genesis P-orridge (Throbbing Gristle/Psychic Tv) Jim Thirwell (Foetus), Dutty Artz DJs, Zebrablood (Excepter) and others. They plan on touring Europe in late July/early August.

More on what's in the works for Zs and their sax player/community-mover-and-shaker Sam Hillmer (straight from Sam's mouth) - including the last concert of the Real Bushwick/Bushwick Real series on June 4th with Janka Nabay, nine11thesaurus and more, and another Maze, which he says is being planned for fall 2011, and will be constructed of chain link fences outside - is posted below...

Continue reading "the Zs record is out - MP3, a new remix, show tonight w/ Excepter & other dates & Sam Hillmer news"

Seasick Steve

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Wayne Wonder @ Brower Park
* Raul Malo @ Madison Square Park
* Pete Yorn, Zee Avi @ Webster Hall
* Quimbombo @ Stuyvesant High School
* Saviours, Children, Sourvein @ Union Pool
* Ebony Bones, The Drums, Ninjasonik @ Bowery Ballroom
* Liquor Store, Drugwars, Bleeker & the Freaks @ Market Hotel
* Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson & Paul Motion @ Village Vanguard
* Noisemakers w/ Peter Roseberg & Raekwon, The Cypher @ 92YTribeca
* The Grates, The Whims, Buenos Dias, Charlotte Sometimes @ Pianos
* Bosco Delrey, Georgiana Starlington, The Gaye Blades @ Bruar Falls
* Seasick Steve, J Roddy Walson, Spirit Family Reunion @ Mercury Lounge
* Mark Eitzel plays American Music Club, Hotel Lights @ The Bell House

The forecast is affecting some (or all...) of tonight's free outdoor shows...

Due to a threat of inclement weather, tonight's Quimbombo show has been moved to Stuyvesant High School at 345 Chambers St. Start time is still 7pm. Space is limited, so the first come, first served system will be in effect.

Steely Dan is inside, but also cancelled.

Other outdoor gratis shows scheduled for tonight include Wayne Wonder
in Brooklyn's Brower Park and Raul Malo in Madison Square Park

Mark Eitzel plays his American Music Club songs at The Bell House tonight. Steely Dan will perform its 1980 album Gaucho at Beacon Theatre.

The Grates play the final show of their Pianos residency with The Whims, Buenos Dias and Charlotte Sometimes.

Catch members of the Black Lips in the Gaye Blades at Bruar Falls tonight with Bosco Delrey and Georgiana Starlington.

The Drums and Ninjasonik open for Ebony Bones tonight at Bowery Ballroom.

Scarlett Johansson collaborator Pete Yorn plays with Zee Avi at Webster Hall tonight.

Three-string guitarist Seasick Steve warms up for his All Points West set with a show tonight at the Mercury Lounge with J. Roddy Walson & the Business and Spirit Family Reunion.

92YTribeca hosts radio DJ Peter Roseberg in conversation with Raekwon as "jazz hip-hop fusion band" The Cypher perform from the latter's catalog.

The new Dodos album, which got leaked earlier this month, is out now and just $3.00. It's also streaming.

"Here to Fall," the first in a series of five clips from the upcoming Yo La Tengo album, Popular Songs, is posted below.

VBS visited the practice space of Silk Flowers, below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Felt Letters (feat. Ian Svenonius)- Let's All Dream (MP3)

Ian Svenonius...

Ian Svenonius has his Soft Focus online TV show (where he recently interviewed Pierced Arrows), he contributes to projects like the Journal of Popular Noise with Felt Letters (sample above), and he continues to turn the cogs of his political garage group Chain & the Gang (whose K Recs debut came out in April). That band will go on the road this fall in a trip that includes two early October NYC stops. Those will be October 3rd at Brooklyn's Market Hotel and October 4th at the Mercury Lounge.
. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday, July 24th at noon.

Opening the Oct. 4th show will be Silk Flowers, a New York-based band that just released their debut LP on Post Present Medium (artwork below). Its CD release show was last Saturday (July 18th) at the Cake Shop.

"I went to see Silk Flowers (members of Soiled Mattress and The Springs) record release show Saturday Night July 18th at The Cake Shop. Silk Flowers are truly one of my favorite bands...They have taken their own spin on minimal/cold wave and industrial pop. It is truly zooming this style of music into a modern window and changing how to make pop music. They play everything live, including live drum pads, keys, and samples with very little sequenced parts. Also Aviram Cohen's voice is haunting. One of my favorite voices I have ever heard and also his live performance is awesome and sounds even better. The keyboard parts (played by Peter) are sonically distinct using new synth sounds and complicated parts with a lot of development. The third, noise/concrete layer is played by Ethan and is no less some of the best use of sonic layers in a pop set I have heard. They play a lot and their blog is killer." [MNDR]

Continue reading "Chain & the Gang tour dates include Market Hotel & Mercury Lounge w/ Silk Flowers (whose debut just came out)"

"For 4 years now Wham City has been organizing the WHARTSCAPE. What started as a summer warehouse party turned into a much bigger, multi-day outdoor festival with thousands of bands, performers, and folks traveling to Baltimore from all across the US and Europe.
Since, we organize this festival out of pocket and in our spare time, it is important for us to keep it comfortable and enjoyable for us to do. One thing we talked about at the end of last year's festival was shrinking it down slightly and having it feel more community based and familiar.

This year isn't focused around headliners, but mainly performers and friends that make up the community we tour, work and live in.
We are also greatly reducing the number of MEGA-PASSES (the 3 day pass ticket that grants you entry to every show and every day).
ONLY 300 Mega-Passes will be sold; this is the only guarantee that you can see all the shows.

Tickets will be sold to the individual shows, but it is strongly suggested that you buy a Mega-Pass, as it saves you money and assures you take in the entire poo-poo.
Whartscape will take place July 10-11-12 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art Studio Center Parking Lot, and Load of Fun.
We will begin selling tickets at 12 Noon, Monday, June 29th.

Continue reading "Whartscape - 2009 Wham City festival dates & lineup "

photos by Zach Stern

Mika Miko

IM // UR: Is the reason why you chose to go for a punk sound because you're not formally trained in playing your instruments?

Jenna from Mika Miko: We have been formally trained in punk music and we got christened at the Church of Satan.

How do you guys cope with touring? Who's period comes first (the dominant female always goes first and the rest align with hers)?

Jenna: We cope with touring by trying to relax very deeply whenever we can, sometimes cracking each other's backs and drinking kava kava, and organizing the van so that everything is like a Tetris maze, leaving us the most room possible (not very much). Also Seth gets his period first, and it stinks.

We read somewhere that you're all pretty vinyl crazy; how does this make you feel about the whole blog evolution and what how that whole scene has affected music?

Jenna: I myself am uninterested in music blogs because I think most critics have shitty opinions. I like when people share music with people that they think no one has heard, because that's useful and sweet.

Continue reading "Mika Miko, The Strange Boys, X-Ray Eyeballs, Silk Flowers @ Cake Shop in NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Stilts - Love is a Wave (MP3)

Crystal Stilts @ Less Artists More Condos (more by Gabi Porter)

For a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, tonight's lineup is jam packed with bands (3/14). Originally just a stop on the Women / Crystal Stilts tour (which goes from Brooklyn to Austin for SXSW), the show now also includes Blank Dogs, Naked On The Vague, and Silk Flowers on the bill. Tickets are currently still available.

The new Crystal Stilts song linked for download above comes from their upcoming Love is a Wave 7" which will be released by Slumberland on March 31st.

Once in Austin, Crystal Stilts will be keeping busy by playing at least five shows, one of which is Cake Shop's showcase, and another at Ms. Bea's for Todd P. Crystal Stilts also have a show coming up at the much smaller Cake Shop (in NYC) with Pains of Being Pure at Heart in June. All dates below...

Continue reading "Crystal Stilts tour dates (BK tonight, SXSW) & a new MP3"