photos by Chris La Putt

Blood Red Shoes @ MHOW

After Chris left the BV Loft Party all the way back on Friday, October 22nd, he headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Blue Flowers-presented CMJ showcase for a lineup of mostly UK bands including Chapel Club, Everything Everything, and Blood Red Shoes (who toured North America with Sky Larkin in October). Pictures from that show are in this post.

The occasion (to post these belated pics)? SXSW has already announced an initial lineup of bands playing in Austin from March 16-20, 2011, and Chapel Club is on that list (and I wouldn't be surprised of the other 2 mentioned bands end up coming too). Also on the list: Lia Ices, Braids, Asobi Seksu, Wye Oak, Suuns, Sun Airway, A Place to Bury Strangers and more. Full list under the rest of the MHOW pictures, below...

Continue reading "Chapel Club played CMJ w/ Everything Everything & Blood Red Shoes (pics), playing SXSW 2011 (intial lineup)"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

casiokids @ Littlefield

Casiokids played their 2nd of three NYC shows this week on Sunday (3/14), at Littlefield in Brooklyn. The all-Scandinavian day party at the venue also featured sets by "Denmark's synth-rock quintet" Spleen United, "Denmark's only surf/flamenco band" The Good The Bad, and The Megaphonic Thrift (who play Santos tonight - 3/15).

Casiokids play their their next NYC show tonight (3/15 @ 11pm) at Knitting Factory WITHOUT Let's Wrestle, but with Banjo or Freakout (8pm), The Wave Pictures (9pm) and WhoMadeWho (10pm). NOTE THE NEW SET TIMES (no new bands added, no more midnight set). More pictures from Littlefield below...

Continue reading "Casiokids (still playing at 11 tonight) played Littlefield w/ The Good The Bad and Spleen United (pics) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Megaphonic Thrift - Acid Blues (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Good The Bad - 004 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pirate Love - A Kiss Hello (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction (MP3)

Casiokids

By now you hopefully you know that Norway's awesome Casiokids are playing our Brooklyn Vegan Pre-SXSW party, alongside Let's Wrestle, The Wave Pictures, Banjo or Freakout and WhoMadeWho. There's now also free PBR for an hour or two (exact details on that soon). And I'll be DJing in between sets. It's all very exciting, isn't it? There are still some tickets available -- only $8.

In that previous post about Casiokids, we mentioned a compilation of the band's 2009 singles called Topp stemning på lokal bar that was, as of that writing, only coming out in Norway. The band have since announced that they've signed to Polyvinyl in the U.S. who will release the album, complete with bonus disc of remixes just like in Norway.

The Knitting Factory show is actually one of three that Casiokids will be playing in NYC before they head to Austin for SXSW. They will also play Pianos this Saturday (3/13) along with Banjo or Freakout, Denmark's synth-rock quintet Spleen United and our Italian friends A Classic Education. Casiokids also play Littlefield on Sunday (3/14) afternoon for an all-Scandinavian party that again features Spleen United, plus Denmark's only surf/flamenco band, The Good The Bad, and The Megaphonic Thrift.

The Megaphonic Thrift are made up of members of Casiokids and The Low Frequency in Stereo and are definitely of the '90s indie rock variety (in this case think GBV or Dinosaur Jr.) that seems to be coming back into style lately. You can download their single "Acid Blues" at the top of this post. Their debut, Decay Destroy, just came out in Norway and is available here through your favorite digital store. I haven't seen them play yet, but BV caught them at by:Larm and said they were pretty good. Pictures from their February 18th show at Oslo club Sub Scene are below.

In addition to the Littlefield show, Megaphonic Thrift are playing Sunday night (3/14) at Bowery Electric and then on Monday night at Santos Party House for a Oya Fest / Oh My Rockness party with fellow Norwegians Pirate Love (High energy, Hives-ish garage) and Hanne Hukkelberg (orchestrated pop), plus The Depreciation Guild. Mind you this is the same night as our Knitting Factory show, so Megaphonic Thrift will play Santos then certain members will race across the Williamsburg Bridge to join their Casiokids bandmates in time for that set. It's all going to work out fine.

Pirate Love will be back after SXSW for a couple shows with UK garage act Thee Vicars. Catch them at Cameo Gallery on March 26 and Lit Lounge on March 27.

Spleen United @ CMJ 2009

The aforementioned Spleen United are also playing this Wednesday (3/10) at Union Hall with fellow Danes Choir of Young Believers. I caught Spleen United at CMJ back in October and they reminded me of the kind of band that 20 years ago would've been on Wax! Trax! or Play it Again Sam records -- the poppier side of goth/industrial. They've had #1 albums in Denmark I've since learned. With multiple percussionists, they put on a pretty good live show too.

Choir of Young Believers were also here at CMJ. Their debut, This is for the White in Your Eyes, is elegiac folk that gets the band compared to Fleet Foxes quite a bit but CoYB are a bit more instrumentally varied and grandiose than Robin Pecknold and co.  It really is a lovely record. The Union Hall show also features The Loom (who played that BV loft show during CMJ 2009) and Spain's The Right Ons. Choir of Young Believers also play Pianos on Thursday (3/11) with Brooklyn's ARMS who are worth checking out in their own right.

Choir of Young Believers

That's more than enough for one post. Below are videos, flyers and tour dates for some of the bands mentioned here...

Continue reading "Megaphonic Thrift, Casiokids, Choir of Young Believers & other Scandinavian bands playing SXSW, NYC, other dates"

by Bill Pearis

Surfer Blood

NIGHTTIME

As I mentioned in that big post about Montreal bands at CMJ, The High Dials are among them and are just great live -- sort of country-tinged jangly shoegaze -- and they're impressive live. They play Lit Lounge at 10:15 and then Arlene's Grocery at 12:30AM. If you like Ride, The Byrds, or Brian Jonestown Massacre, you shouldn't miss these guys. Also playing at Lit Lounge, earlier in the evening (8:30) are Montreal's Black Diamond Bay which features a couple former members of the Dears and feature a similarly bombast rock sound. They're very good live too, especially if you have an appreciation for the live musician O Face.

If you like electro /dance there is an insane lineup at Santos tonight. And it's free. No badges required. The killer lineup includes three UK dancepop acts: Dan Black whose album Un is pretty fun; the borderline-novelty (but fun) Man Like Me and trio We Have Band who played here back in March. It keeps going: there's also Australia's Midnight Juggernauts, Montreal's We Are Wolves, Denmark's Spleen United (somewhere between Placebo and Presents), Toronto's Parallels, and LA's Paparazzi. There's also a slew of NYC acts: Maluca, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Lemonade,Heartsrevolution, Javelin, and The Golden Filter. Did I mention it was free?

At Union Pool, the folks at Panache Booking are showcasing a big handful of their bands, many of which have unnecessary repeated consonants: recent Brooklyn Vegan Day party veterans JEFF the Brotherhood and Lovvers, plus Flexions, zZz, Turbofruits, UUVVWWZ, and Dark Meat. Having seen at least half of these bands, I'm going to go ahead and say this'll be quite a party, whether you like it or not.

If you're going to the Pitchfork/Showpaper show at Market Hotel and wished that it was rock all night instead of switching over to electronic acts/DJs after midnight, your admission will also get you into the show happening down the street at Todd P's Above the Auto Parts Store venue (600 Bushwick), which has four great bands: Sisters, Screaming Females, Surfer Blood (again) and JEFF the Brotherhood (again). To get in for free you need to get there before 11PM; afterwards it's $10.

Or, you might think about heading to Silent Barn before or after (or instead of). Popjew has a great line-up of bands, including much-loved-by-me Let's Wrestle, A Classic Education (who were great at our Thursday day party), twangy West Coasters Slang Chickens, My Teenage Stride and the electro-rock of Jacques Detergent.

And at The Bell House, there's Au Revoir Simone and the related (literally, by marriage) Pursesnatchers; the lush, 60s-ish chamber pop of Florida's The Postmarks, indiepop ska band Still Flyin' and Brooklyn-via-Australia band The Miracles of Modern Science. The Bell House may seem like truly dedicating your night to one venue, but luckily it's one of the nicest, most comfortable in the city.

Other shows tonight include Mum, Sufjan's BQE screenings, the Sub Pop showcase, the Kemado/Mexican Summer showcase, and the Topman party with the Almighty Defenders and Neon Indian.

And then we rest. Saturday day parties HERE. Hip Hop shows HERE. Flyers and set times below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Saturday nighttime picks"

by Bill Pearis

Immaculate Machine

NIGHTTIME:

BrooklynVegan's got two parties tonight. Black Bubblegum is hosting an official metal showcase tonight at Fontana's (which happens right after our day party at the same venue), and we've also got the teeny tiny Loft Space party that is sold-out at this point.

One of the bands playing the loft party is Victoria Canada's Immaculate Machine, who may or may not have the lineup pictured above...

...To make life even more tricky for the band, vocalist and keyboardist Kathryn Calder, one of the remaining original members, has had to absent herself from touring after the terrible news of her mum's diagnosis with motor neurone disease; although Lynn Calder very sadly died earlier this year, Kathryn was not with the band this evening. Indeed, the touring line-up looked very different from the line-up advertised on the band's web presences, two boys apparently replaced by two girls.

So, amid confusion that appeared to verge on turmoil, could the band deliver the goods live? It turned out they very much could... [John Kell, Oct 20, 2009]

Immaculate Machine also play early-ish tonight (8:30) at the equally tiny Fat Baby for a showcase for their label, Mint Records. They've got trio of Canadian bands playing, most of whom rarely seem to make it down to America. Or, the East Coast at least -- most of their bands tend to be from Vancouver. In addition to Immaculate Machine, there's the garagey Pack A.D. and Hot Panda, who I caught last year at CMJ and are pretty good. The Mint Records showcase is also a good place to pick up their great fanzine, A Taste of Mint, which always features at least one classic Narduwar interview.

And a bit off the beaten path, the folks at the Seaport Music Festival are putting on a great showcase at their Seaport on the Side gallery space (corner of Front and Beekman). The line-up, which runs from 7PM - Midnight, includes Montreal's We are Wolves, the Danish electro sounds of Spleen United, and UK hip hop act Man Like Me. UK pop artist Dan Black was supposed to play but cancelled and has been replaced by Sweden's Moonbabies who played a killer opening set at yesterday's Brooklyn Vegan day party. Do go see Moonbabies if you can. They also play earlier in the night (8:30) at Crash Mansion.

One of the many, many highlight's of yesterday's Brooklyn Vegan day party at Piano's was JEFF the Brotherhood who put on an absolutely kick-ass closing set. Tonight, they've put together a showcase for their label, Infinity Cat, featuring a slew of Nashville bands: Heavy Cream, Natural Child, Denney & the Jets, Daniel Pujol, as well as Brooklyn's Sisters.

And, of course, JEFF who you should really try and see this weekend at some point. If there was one thing missing at Pianos yesterday, it was the smoke machines Jake and Jamin tend to use (Pianos doesn't allow them) and I have a feeling they'll be in full effect tonight.

And lastly, fellow Brooklyn blog Chocolate Bobka has teamed with Underwater Peoples and twosyllable records for a pretty great night of music at The Delancey, including Holiday Shores, Real Estate, Frat Dad, Pill Wonder and more. They're also promising free moonshine, which sounds a bit deadly to me but, hey, it is Friday night.

Daytime highlights HERE. Hip Hop highlights HERE. Fliers, a Moonbabies video, and other stuff below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Friday nighttime picks (Immaculate Machine, Infinity Cat, Seaport Music & more)"