by Andrew Frisicano

The Hold Steady @ Rothbury Festival in July (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady, along with author Chuck Klosterman, will be the featured guests at this month's Radio Happy Hour at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Saturday, November 14th (2pm). In past months, the live variety show's hosts have included Andrew W.K., Norah Jones and TVotR's Tunde Adebimpe. Clips of those past shows are below. Tickets are on sale.

Interestingly, Finn is in the process of co-adapting Chuck Klosterman's 2001 memoir Fargo Rock City with writer Tom Ruprecht (of the David Letterman show). It should also be noted that Finn & Kubler's pre-Hold Steady gig Lifter Puller will get its entire catalog of CDs re-released online on December 1st, along with a new book titled Lifter Puller Vs. the End Of and a single/rarities collection.

After Radio Happy Hour, you can catch their Hold Steady bandmate Franz Nicolay at Southpaw for "HARTZVEYTIK! A Heartbreak Survival Society Social." Also on the bill are The Low & the Lonesome, Ariel Schrag, Royal Pink, Soft Power (feat. Mary Timony) and The Shondes. There will be vegan cupcakes. Tickets are on sale.

Then, on Thursday, November 19th, see rock cultural criticism godfather Greil Marcus when he appears uptown at Columbia University's Altschul Auditorium (417 International Affairs Building, 420 West 118th St) at 6pm. The event is a "lecture-performance" for the 20th-anniversary re-release of his book Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, out this month. The book deals with "the cross-currents, tangles, and whirlpools that made such vastly different movements as dada, lettrism, the Situationist International, and punk part of a single current." The event is free and open to the public. A video of Marcus discussing his 2006 book In The Shape of Things to Come is posted below. Greil Marcus wrote the book on Bob Dylan (actually a few of them) - the same night Dylan plays the last show of three shows even further uptown at United Palace Theatre.

Franz Nicolay has more upcoming tour dates, including a show at Mercury Lounge on November 16th (tix). Those and "Lipstick Traces" videos, and the flyer for that event, below...

Continue reading "Greil Marcus, Chuck Klosterman, & members of the Hold Steady - various NYC events & tour dates "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Vacation (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Raveonettes - Last Dance (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Raveonettes - Suicide (MP3)

The Raincoats

It's almost CMJ time and if you (and by "you" I mean "me") were smart you'd rest up till Tuesday... but there's a lot of good shows between now and then, so it's easier said than done. If you don't mind the rain and cold that this weekend is bringing.

Perhaps the most interesting show of the night is at Knitting Factory where legendary all-female post-punk band The Raincoats play as part of The Royal Flush Festival. With odd instrumentation, unconventional songwriting and a generally itchy, discordant vibe, the London group's three original albums (1979's self-titled debut , 1981's Odyshape, 1984's Moving) were mildly successful on the UK indie charts but proved highly influential. (Their records have aged exceptionally well.) Kurt Cobain was a huge fan, and actually got his label DGC to reissue the Raincoats' albums and convinced the band to reform and open for Nirvana on a 1994 UK tour, though he would die a week before it was to start. But the reformation proved creatively successful, and Raincoats recorded a third album, Looking in the Shadows, in 1996. They've stayed sporadically active ever since.

Tonight's show also features Soft Power which is the project from onetime Autoclave/Helium singer Mary Timony -- reason enough for many to go right there. Timony was one of the '90s most distinctive guitarists and songwriters, and her post-Helium solo work has been good too. Soft Power is apparently more of a collaborative effort -- bandmates Jonah Takagi (who plays a homemade baritone guitar) and keyboardist Winston Yu write and sing as well. The two songs on Soft Power's MySpace sound pretty good. The show is rounded out by onetime Slits guitarist Viv Albertine.

If you miss it, Soft Power have another show scheduled on November 14th at Southpaw.

The Horrors @ Bowery Ballroom earlier in the tour (more by Oren Loloi)

The Horrors are back in town tonight (10/15) playing Music Hall of Williamsburg, wrapping up their U.S. tour (their Maxwell's show was cancelled) supporting their great new album Primary Colours, which I've gone on about a couple times already. But we are getting close to Halloween, so what better time to embrace your goth side with this show? Tonight's show is with JAMC/Spacemen 3-loving San Diego band Crocodiles, a definite good fit with The Horrors, and soul/blues/gospel/punks Black Diamond Heavies.

Air Waves @ The Yard over the summer (more by Sarahana)

Meanwhile, over at Market Hotel is a solid, all-locals line-up, headed by Beach Fossils. I've had quibbles with their sound in the past (silly vocal effects) and they need to write a few more songs, like soon, but they've become a good band very quickly, and the last time I saw them they really had it together. As I've said before, there's a definite New Zealand vibe going on (maybe a little early R.E.M. too), super catchy songs with bouncy arrangements. I like them a lot. Also playing are Air Waves who've been playing around for a while now but have just gotten around to releasing their first EP which is really quite lovely, in a folky Velvet Underground kind of way. Singer Nicole Schneit is a talented songwriter and Air Waves' keep things simple and focused on the songs. Rounding out the bill are acid-prog collective Prince Rama of Ayodhya and PC Worship.

Speaking of Air Waves, they're looking for a drummer:

Someone reliable, good drummer, quick learner, committed, fun. After a bunch of CMJ shows, we have a 2 week European tour for February, and a March tour down to SXSW for the third time.

20-34 if possible. Female or male.

Love, Nicole

If you'd like to apply, you can do so via their MySpace.

Fool's Gold

L.A's Fool's Gold, not to be confused with A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs' record label of the same name, hit town for a string of shows that begins tonight (10/16) at the Cameo, continues Saturday at Cake Shop and runs through CMJ. Conceived by Israeli-born singer Luke Top and guitarist Lewis Pesacov, Fool's Gold are draw heavy influence from Afrobeat, but sing almost exclusively in Hebrew, and the band numbers anywhere from 8 - 11. There's a lot of buzz about Fool's Gold right now, the video for single "Surprise Hotel" has been making the rounds (and you can download the MP3 above). I'm not 100% on these guys yet, but I'm curious enough to see them live. The Cake Shop show also features a DJ set from Lemonade.

In November, Fool's Gold goes out on tour in support of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. That tour includes shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for both are on sale. All Fool's Gold dates are at the bottom of this post.

I should briefly mention Echo & The Bunnymen who play tomorrow (10/17) at Mercury Lounge which will certainly be a fun tiny place to see them if you got tickets. If not, they're back playing Hammerstein Ballroom on November 22. Much like 2005's Siberia, the new album, The Fountain, is better than I was expecting it to be, thanks mainly to Will Seargent's still-inventive, soaring guitar-work. He's a true original. Ian McCulloch's cigarette-fueled vocals are like a great big hug, warm and nostalgic, though his lyrics at times are more than a little cringeworthy ("I love that sweet sack you're in / I love your saccharine"). But they still sound like the Bunnymen (well, circa 1987).

And finally, if you missed The Raveonettes at Webster Hall (or Maxwell's) earlier this week, you can still see them at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (10/18). The band have never really strayed from their Phil Spector meets JAMC formula, but Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo began perfecting and elevating it with last year's Lust Lust Lust, and while they turn down the volume (or at least the distortion) for the new In and Out of Control, I think it's their best batch of songs yet -- nearly every song on it could be a single. You can download two of them at the top of this post. And even when they were making less inspired records, The Raveonettes were always a good live band. And here they're coming off two strong records. Go see them. Opening are Austin's Black Angels, who sound a lot like the Brian Jonestown Massacre but do it pretty well.

That's it for the weekend. Get ready for the CMJ onslaught. Tour dates and videos follow.

Continue reading "The Raincoats, Soft Power, Fool's Gold, Air Waves (need a drummer), Horrors, Bunnymen & more in This Week in Indie"

Mary Timony is a D.C. Rock legend. She was in the bands Autoclave (Dischord Records) and Helium (Matador Records) before embarking on a solo career that has seen her put out albums on Lookout! Records and Kill Rock Stars. In addition, she has been involved in Stephen Merritt's side project 'the 6ths' and had another side project with Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney called the Spells. Her newest band is called Soft Power, formed with her boyfriend, Jonah Takagi (Benjy Ferree) and friend Winston H. Yu (These United States). [Brightest Young Things

Soft Power (formerly called Pow Wow) played what may have been their first show in DC in June. This weekend they're playing three more shows. That short tour includes an August 1st date at Cake Shop in NYC with Gramercy Arms who also play with them again the next day at T.T. the Bear's in Cambridge. Hot Lava and Hologram also play the Cake Shop gig.

Check out two Soft Power songs, "La La La" and "Izabella," on their MySpace. All dates below...

Continue reading "Mary Timony's new band Soft Power is playing shows (dates)"