Looks like we have openers for Vampire Weekend's show at Barclays Center in September. That's a double dose of Dev Hynes associated pop. Tickets are still available.

LA Fest FYF Fest is celebrating 10 years this year, and will take over Los Angeles State Historic Park on August 24 & 25. Check out the massive lineup in the poster above, and in alphabetical order below...

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2013 Lineup (My Bloody Valentine included)"

Phosphorescent at Brooklyn Bowl in 2011 (more by Tamara Porras)

As mentioned, the Northside Festival is returning to various Brooklyn venues from June 13 - 16, and like in past years, they'll be doing two free shows in McCarren Park as part of the festival. We already mentioned that The Walkmen are playing one on June 15, and that one just got even better because Phosphorescent (who just played Crossing Brooklyn Ferry) were added! The rest of the bill includes Friend Roulette and Abadabad. The show is free, but tickets are required and still available.

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The second free McCarren Park show was also just announced. It will be headlined by Solange (who also just played Crossing Brooklyn Ferry) and support comes from Petite Noir, Cable, and My Midnight Heart. Tickets for that one are on sale now too. If you have a Northside bade, you're guaranteed entry for both free shows.

Northside Festival have added other bands, like Braids, too. An updated list of artists playing (and still more TBA) and lists of all Solange and Phosphorescent dates below...

Continue reading "Solange and Phosphorescent playing free McCarren Park shows during Northside (updated lineup & dates)"

The Polyphonic Spree at BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Progressive pop cult The Polyphonic Spree have a bunch of festival dates scheduled for this spring/summer and they'll also be touring around those fests, playing a number of club dates throughout the US. Those dates include NYC shows happening on July 9 at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg and July 10 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday (5/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/1) at noon.

The Polyphonic Spree were also among the recent additions to this year's Bonnaroo lineup. Other additions include Solange, White Lung, Mac DeMarco, Black Prairie, Maps & Atlases, Royal Thunder, William Tyler, Cat Martino, On An On, Bilal and more. 4-Day passes for the festival are still available.

All Polyphonic Spree dates are listed, along with a full list of the Bonnaroo lineup additions and a video of the Polyphonic Spree covering Nirvana's "Lithium" at our BV-SXSW day party (one of our greatest moments at SXSW this year), below...

Continue reading "The Polyphonic Spree touring --- dates include 2 NYC shows & the recently-updated Bonnaroo lineup"

Phoenix at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/5/2013 (more by PSquared Photography)

Two days after announcing the existence of the second edition of Jay-Z's of Made in America festival, here comes the initial line-up. Set to go down August 31 - September 1 at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, look for appearances from Beyonce, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel (who is collaborating with Kendrick), Solange, The Gaslight Anthem (who just announced two huge NYC shows), Phoenix (who just played MHoW and SNL), Drake, 2Chainz and more.

So far no details on ticketing. Full line-up is below...

Continue reading "Made in America fest initial 2013 line-up: Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Kendrick Lamar, Gaslight Anthem + more "

Pitchfork Festival 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

The final Pitchfork Festival lineup has now been announced, and in addition to previously announced acts like R. Kelly, Joanna Newsom, and Swans, it now includes M.I.A., Lil B, Solange, Wire, Yo La Tengo, Low, Savages, Toro Y Moi, Phosphorescent, Metz, Autre Ne Veut, Mikal Cronin, Parquet Courts, Merchandise, Woods, Julia Holter, Glass Candy, Andy Stott, Pissed Jeans, Frankie Rose, Ryan Hemsworth, Waxahatchee, Blood Orange, Daughn Gibson, Evian Christ, White Lung, KEN Mode, and DJ Rashad.

Three-day passes and single-day tickets are still available.

In other Chicago music festival news, Lollapalooza early bird passes went on sale today, sold out, and then regular 3-day passes went on sale and sold out. Single day tickets go on sale April 9.

Full Pitchfork Festival lineup and schedule below...

Continue reading "M.I.A., Solange, Wire, Savages, Phosphorescent, Julia Holter, Waxahatchee, KEN Mode & more added to Pitchfork Festival"

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As noted, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival will return to BAM from April 25 - 27 and is again curated by The National's Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner. A partial list of 2013 performers has been announced and includes headliners The Roots, Solange and TV on the Radio, as well as Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Julia Holter and Here We Go Magic. Full list of announced performers is below.

Festival passes to all three days of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry are on sale now as are tickets to April 25 (The Roots), April 26 (Solange), and April 27 (TV on the Radio).

Continue reading "The Roots, Solange and TV on the Radio headlining 2013 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (initial line-up announced, tix on sale)"

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Solange, who is on the cover of the next FADER, will be going on a tour this year which comes to NYC for two shows at Webster Hall, both of which are sold out. The Webster Hall shows happen on February 20 and February 25 (not 2/20 and 2/18, as initially announced).

Since we last spoke, Solange's tour has been expanded and now includes international club dates and festivals stretching into August, including The Roots Picnic in Philly, Sweetlife in Maryland, Sasquatch! in Washington State, and Primavera Sound in Barcelona. It also includes another appearance in NYC at the 2013 Armory Party at MoMA on March 6, the same part that Neon Indian played last year. The Armory Show, founded in 1994, is the "largest art fair in New York" and will return to Piers 92 and 94 this year from March 7-10. Tickets to the preview party which Solange is playing, and which benefits the Armory Show, are on sale now, starting at $150.

Solange also just teamed up with collaborator Dev Hynes to perform an acoustic version of "Bad Girls" from Solange's album, True, for a Black Cab Session. That video and an updated list of Solange dates are below...

Continue reading "Solange expands tour, playing MoMA's Armory Party, filmed a Black Cab Session w/ Dev Hynes (updated dates, video)"

Phoenix at MSG in 2010 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

First, Phoenix announced that their long awaited followup to 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix would be out this April, then they revealed that it's called Bankrupt! and made their first North American show announcement of 2013: New Orleans Jazz Festival. They've since been revealed as a Coachella headliner and now they've got even more North American dates scheduled, including one that's not too far from NYC: Columbia, MD's Sweetlife Festival, which goes down at Merriweather Post Pavillion on May 11 (about a 3 and a half hour drive from NYC). Their schedule currently has a week or so free on either side of of the Sweetlife fest...hmm.

And the rest of Sweetlife lineup ain't too shabby either. Joining Phoenix will be Passion Pit, Kendrick Lamar, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Solange, Youth Lagoon, Holy Ghost!, Gary Clark Jr, MS MR, and more. Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday (2/8) at 10 AM with a presale beginning on Wednesday (2/6).

The full lineup and announcement video for Sweetlife, and a list of all Phoenix dates below...

Continue reading "Maryland's Sweetlife Music & Food fest announces 2013 lineup; Phoenix playing there and other dates"

Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

The Roots are putting on their 6th Annual Roots Picnic in Philly on June 1 at Penns Landing with a pretty great lineup of Grimes, Solange, Joey Bada$$, How to Dress Well, Hit-Boy, Araabmuzik, DJ Premier, Naughty By Nature (backed by The Roots), Robert Glasper, Gary Clark Jr., Lushlife, and more. Tickets for the festival are on sale now.

Full lineup below...

Continue reading "The Roots Picnic tickets & 2013 lineup (Grimes, Solange, Joey Bada$$, How to Dress Well, Hit-Boy and more)"

Primavera Sound have announced their 2013 lineup, set to go down on May 22-26 in Barcelona, Spain. The announcement came via an animated video and artists performing include Phoenix, The Postal Service, Blur, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, My Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala, Wu-Tang Clan, Dead Can Dance, Grizzly Bear, The Knife, and loads more. Current lineup is below along with the flyer and video...

Continue reading "Primavera Sound 2013 line-up announced"

by Bill Pearis

The Village Voice's annual "Pazz n' Jop" critics poll is up and, as with anything like this with averaged votes, the winners are probably not that surprising. Frank Ocean's Channel Orange takes the top album slot (Kendrick Lamar is #2), and Carly Rae Jepsen's inescapable "Call Me Maybe" comes in at the top of the singles list. (Miguel, who is on the cover of the Voice this week, comes in at #2 with "Adorn.")You can also view individual ballots and read pithy quips about the year as a whole.

The top 10s for Pazz & Jop albums and singles are below and full lists are over at the Voice.

Continue reading "Village Voice still does Pazz & Jop; Frank Ocean and "Call Me Maybe" win 2012"

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in December (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Solange will be going on an international tour in January and February which brings her to NYC on February 20 at Webster Hall. That show has since sold out but Solange just added another date happening at Webster Hall on February 18. Tickets for the newly-added show go on sale Friday (1/18) at noon.

An updated list of dates and a the video for "Losing You" below...

Continue reading "Solange adds 2nd Webster Hall show to tour (updated dates)"

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Solange (Knowles) released the impressive Dev Hynes-co-written/produced True EP late last year and supported it with two sold out NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom. Now she's announced that she'll support the album with a proper tour that includes a show at the much larger NYC venue Webster Hall on February 20. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (1/11) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (1/9) at noon.

Solange has plans to follow True with a full length album this year, but details are sparse. Check out the video for True single "Losing You" and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Solange announces tour (Webster Hall included) -- 2013 dates"

Local Natives at Bowery Ballroom in October (more by Tracy Allison)

Local Natives, who we hadn't heard from in a while until they were revealed as the secret headliner at a Bowery Ballroom show during CMJ, soon after announced that they'll release their new album, Hummingbird, on January 29 via Frenchkiss, the followup to their 2009/2010 debut, Gorilla Manor. The new album will be supported by a tour which includes three sold out NYC shows in February.

But while we wait for new material from Local Natives, we're still wrapping up our 2012 coverage so we asked Local Natives for a list of their top 10 albums of 2012, which singer/guitarist/bassist Taylor Rice and singer/keyboardist/percussionist/guitarist Kelcey Ayer compiled and sent our way. You can check out their list below.

Continue reading "Local Natives list their Top 10 Albums of 2012"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Solange at Bowery Ballroom - 12/18/12

Solange played her second of two sold out Bowery Ballroom shows last night (12/18) with Sinkane after playing her first with Kelela a week earlier. Like at the first show, Solange was joined on stage by True collaborator Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange). Pictures from that show are in this post.

More below...

Continue reading "Solange played Bowery Ballroom again, this time w/ Sinkane (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork just posted their much anticipated list of the top 100 tracks of 2012. The #1 slot went to... Grimes! Whether you thought the whole of her album Visions was good or not, it was hard to deny the charms of "Oblivion." (Having that great video didn't hurt either.) Do you think it deserved to top the list? If not then what song should've?

You can check out P4K's entire hot 100 of 2012 below.

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2012 (Grimes' "Oblivion" is #1)"

photos by David Andrako

With her mini-LP, True, out and its terrific single "Losing You" starting to catch on, it seems Solange's time has finally come. Bowery Ballroom was packed last night (12/11) for her sold-out show, and the crowd included David Byrne and Solange's sister, Beyonce. Like on their appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (watch below) her band included collaborator/producer Dev Hynes of Blood Orange (who seems to be having a lot of fun in this role) and Chairlift's Patrick Wimberly. It was a short set -- eight songs, mind you True is seven -- but the crowd was into it. Kelela, who contributed vocals to Teengirl Fantasy's Tracer LP and has performed live with TGF, opened the show.

Solange plays Bowery Ballroom again next week on December 18 with Sinkane opening that show, and it is sold out too. More pics and the setlist from Tuesday night, and the video of Solange's Fallon performance are below.

Continue reading "Solange and Kelela played Bowery Ballroom (pics, setlist)"

"Every time I mention I like her or Justin
on Twitter though I lose like 20 followers," - Grimes

DOWNLOAD: Doldrums - She is the Wave (MP4)

Grimes at MHOW, 10/25/2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

There is no doubt Grimes has had an amazing, perhaps overwhelming, year, selling out four 600-capacity nights in NYC recently to her album Visions ending up on many Best Albums of 2012 lists (like Rough Trade Shops, NME and Fred Armisen's). But what did Claire Boucher pick as her favorite albums of the year? We asked her and you can check out what she told us below.

She cheated a bit though, listing her tour-mates and Arbutus Records label-mate Doldrums' Lesser Evil as her #1, which doesn't actually come out till February 23, 2013, but if it's a list of what she heard in 2012 then we'll let it slide. You can download a track from that Doldrums album above or stream it below along with its music video.

Check out Grimes Top 10 (plus one more, actually) of 2012, which includes both Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift and possibly some inside jokes (we're just printing what she gave us), and that Doldrums song, below.

Continue reading "Grimes' Top 10 LPs of 2012 --- includes Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber & Doldrums' 2013 LP (stream a track)"

by Andrew Sacher

As mentioned, Solange Knowles has a lone US show scheduled before the year ends happening in NYC on December 11 at Bowery Ballroom. That show sold out, but if you weren't able to grab tickets, you're in luck because she added another show happening at the same venue on December 18. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (11/30) at noon.

Solange released the Dev Hynes-co-written/produced True via Chris Taylor's Terrible Records this week (11/27), the follow-up to 2008's Sol-Angel and the Hadly St. Dreams. Perhaps most famously known as Beyonce's sister who convinced Bey and her hubby Jay-Z to go to a Grizzly Bear show in 2009 and then signed to Grizzly Bear bassist Chris Taylor's label, Solange may always be pegged as the indie alternative to the pop star that is Beyonce. But on True, Solange proves that those comparisons aren't really fair. She might be on an indie label, but those things matter a lot less in 2012 anyway, and True is a pop record in every way, and a very genuine one. She might not have the maximalist empowered soul and R&B that her sister does, but Solange channels pop music the way it was defined when Madonna was dominating the charts in the mid-'80s. It's more stripped down than Beyonce and her radio-friendly peers, but it doesn't feel like an attempt at indie/pop crossover like Toro y Moi or Twin Shadow. Instead, it just sounds like Solange making the pop music that she loves and if True reaches the right audiences, it has the potential to please the mainstream and the indie crowds, the same way Beyonce did with last year's 4.

A spotify stream of True and a list of all Solange dates are below.

Continue reading "Solange adds 2nd Bowery Ballroom show; 'True' is out now"

Solange and Dev

As pointed out before, Solange Knowles has a new seven-song mini LP, True, which she made with Blood Orange's Dev Hynes, that comes out digitally November 27 on Terrible Records with a physical release to follow in early 2013. If you haven't heard its terrific single "Losing You" you can check out the video below.

NYC folk can catch Solange in concert when she plays Bowery Ballroom on December 11. Tickets to that show go on sale Friday (11/16) at noon.

Continue reading "Solange playing Bowery Ballroom in December"

Yesterday we mentioned that there was a secret opener for tonight's long-sold-out Grimes show at Bowery Ballroom. Today (10/26) it has been revealed as Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes) who has shared a bill with Grimes in NYC before. He's on at 9pm sharp.

We last saw Dev a week ago in the crowd watching Sky Ferreira at the BrooklynVegan day party at Public Assembly. One day earlier he revealed on Tumblr that her new EP has a reworked version of a song he wrote.

Dev also contributed, as writer and producer, to the new Solange release, announced today, called "True" - out digitally on 11/27 via Terrible Records (in stores in January). That's the cover art above. More info and a video below.

Tonight's show is Grimes' 2nd of four shows total this weekend. Pictures from last night coming in a minute are up. Watch a Blood Orange video and get the Solange info below...

Continue reading "Blood Orange revealed as Grimes opener; Solange EP announced (Dev co-wrote & co-produced it)"

Dev Hynes w/ CANT @ Mercury Lounge in 2011 (more)

Blood Orange, aka the R&B-leaning solo project of Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion (ex-Test Icicles), was in Australia for a couple shows earlier this month, possibly losing some of his equipment along the way. "I want to go home. I love NYC," the NYC-via-the-UK musician wrote on his Tumblr after reporting a theft last week (bummer!).

Though slightly more rare lately, there have been plenty of chances to catch Blood Orange around town since Dev started using that name in 2009. Apparently none of them have been headlining shows though because Dev will play his first headlining Blood Orange show in the city at Glasslands on February 25. Tickets are on sale now.

Dev released Coastal Grooves, his Chris Taylor co-produced debut LP for his Blood Orange moniker, last year. You can buy it on eMusic and watch the video for album single "Sutphin Boulevard" below. The "Dinner" 7" is still on sale now at Chris' Terrible Records, though they note: "FEW MORE LEFT. HOT." Listen to that single below too.

In other news, Dev and Pharrell Williams have been producing the new album for Solange Knowles (who recently became an aunt).

"Dev was a complete surprise, his role changed substantially throughout the process," Solange says of the singer-songwriter who's written for Florence and the Machine, the Chemical Brothers and more. "It's very rare that you work with someone with whom you have this creative chemistry, it's almost like a relationship. You have a sort of musical love affair." [Billboard]

Blood Orange video/songs below...

Continue reading "Blood Orange headlining a show; Solange album coming soon"

photos by Erez Avissar

Warm Up at MoMA PS1 continued last Saturday (8/20) with Juan Maclean, Blood Orange, Solange, Pictureplane, Grimes, and Ford & Lopatin. Pictures from that show are in this post.

Pictureplane will be in NYC two times next week for the previously mentioned shows at Cameo (9/1) and The Morgan (9/3). He'll also be part of the Check Yo Ponytail Tour this fall.

Blood Orange plays a free show at Mercury Lounge this Sunday with CANT who he's also going on tour with in October.

This Saturday's (8/27) upcoming Warm Up lineup includes Tanlines, Nguzunguzu, Teengirl Fantasy, Sun Araw, and Physical Therapy. The show is one day after Sun Araw and Prince Rama present the NYC debut of their joint project Prince Sunarawma at Music Hall of Williamsburg (8/26). Julianna Barwick, Pterodactyl, and Teengirl Fantasy (DJ) are also on the MHOW bill. Tickets are still available.

More PS1 pictures from last Saturday below...

Continue reading "'Warm Up' continued w/ Juan Maclean, Blood Orange, Solange, Pictureplane, Grimes, and Ford & Lopatin (pics)"