by Andrew Sacher

Parenthetical Girls at Glasslands on 12.1.11 (via Jonathan Graves)

Parenthetical Girls recently kicked off an east coast tour which brought the band to the NYC-area three times so far, for a Glasslands show (pictured above), an early show at SUNY Purchase (12/3) and a night show at Santos the same day.

I caught their set at Purchase, which opened with singer Zac Pennington crouched inside of a clear plastic box singing "Sympathy For Spastics" with little more accompaniment than light piano lines from keyboardist Amber Smith. While he was under the box, he fogged up the front of it and scribbled the word "metaphor" with his finger, the first of many semi-sarcastic tropes of the set (another great one being when he kicked over a pawn from the student center's giant chess set). Zac's other antics included running into the audience and different rooms of the student center. The band's hour long set was made up mostly of the material from their Privilege EPs, though they reached into their back catalog for a couple of songs and covered The Smiths' "Handsome Devil."

Parenthetical Girls will be back in NYC TONIGHT (12/6) at Shea Stadium with Sam Mickens (who was also on the Purchase show) and guests. Updated dates below.

Speaking of The Smiths, the box set of their complete discography is out now and guitarist Johnny Marr has been banned from driving for 56 days due to being caught doing 72mph in a 40mph zone and pleading guilty. He's also been fined £535.

All PG dates and a clip of Zach singing in the photobooth at Glasslands, below...

Continue reading "Parenthetical Girls played 3 NY shows, playing 2 more (dates)"

William Fitzsimmons

The Wedding Present, Built To Spill's Doug Martsch, Tanya Donelly, Telekinesis, Stars, Katy Goodman, Kitten, William Fitzsimmons, and many others appear on "please, please, please," a new Smiths tribute album that will see the light of day in December via American Laundromat.

Meanwhile Morrissey is about to kick off a North American tour in Chicago on 11/10.

William Fitzsimmons' soft-spoken folk/rock is currently breaking hearts across the EU, a treak that will continue until just before the holidays. After a month off in January, he'll embark on another US tour in support of his recent LP Gold In The Shadow that will include dates from coast to coast and a stop at Bowery Ballroom on 2/18. Tickets for all US dates are currently on fan presale, with regular sale starting today for the Bowery Ballroom date.

All tour dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "William Fitzsimmons on new Smiths tribute album, announces tour (dates)"

Thumbs Down (CRED)

"On January 2, 2008, TBD Records/ATO Records Group will release in North America the physical version of Radiohead's In Rainbows." XL will release it on December 31st in Europe.

Also...
* Dispute surrounds Radiohead numbers
* Hostess to release ‘In Rainbows’ in Japan
* David Byrne interviews Thom Yorke for WIRED
* Adam Buxton reveals all on Radiohead webcast
* The Radiohead Bjork song & other MP3s from the webcasts
* Radiohead telecast videos, Bjork cover, & stuff

More videos from the webcast below....

Continue reading "In Rainbows US release, David Byrne, Adam Buxton, Radiohead"

"....with the only proviso being that Johnny Marr was also in the band." [Press Release]

And about the upcoming shows:

A "season ticket" will be made available in both LA & NYC, eliminating all surcharges for any fans attending every show, which will provide a savings of over $50 in itself.

Also, for the Palladium run, fans will have a special, limited-time opportunity to purchase tickets to all 10 concerts for the price of nine, and to gain early entry into the venue for each show. Starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 27, through 10 p.m. on Wednesday, September 5, special 10-night packages will be available at LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com and via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone. In addition to the great savings, fans will also receive a special commemorative ticket that will allow them to go to the front of the line and get right up close in this GA setting. Considering that these are the last live dates on his calendar, this is a fantastic chance for Morrissey's diehard followers to take in every song and relish every detail of what is sure to be an amazing residency.

For the shows at Hammerstein Ballroom, a similar limited-number offer applies. Fans planning to attend all five shows will receive a special package price of $200, thereby saving $125 off of the individual tickets, as well as a commemorative poster, and they will be allowed to go to the front of the line each night, so they can be the first ones in the building and closest to the stage.