by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: A Winged Victory for the Sullen - "Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears" (MP3)

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

A Winged Victory for the Sullen, a collaboration between Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O'Halloran, released their self titled debut LP last month on Kranky. The album combines the droney soundscapes of Adam Wiltzie's Stars of the Lid project with the gentle classical-tinged piano work of Dustin O'Halloran's solo work. It was recorded onto analog tape in large acoustic spaces using old pianos, strings, horns, and other traditional instruments. The album features guest musicianship from Peter Broderick and Hildur Gudnadottir. You can download album track "Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears" at the top of this post.

The duo are heading out on a North American tour at the end of this month with Kranky labelmates Benoît Pioulard and Ken Camden. That tour hits NYC on October 30 at West Park Presbyterian Church. Tickets are on sale now.

All dates below...

Continue reading "A Winged Victory for the Sullen released an LP on Kranky, touring (MP3 & dates)"

Stars of the Lid @ Brainwaves 2008 (Doug Orleans)

"Thanks to everyone who performed, volunteered, worked, attended, and donated. It was an awesome time and we hope to start linking to people's photographs and reviews of it soon from the brain-waves.org Web site.

We have some merch left over that we want to share:

3xCD set - 29 songs of all exclusive material from Brainwaves performers and friends of Brainwashed (limited to 500 copies).
Shirts - these are heavy cotton Fruit of the Loom shirts (not those flimsy other brands) available in S, M, L, and XL (these shirts are extremely limited)" [Brainwashed]

Stars of the Lid played two shows at (le) poisson rouge in NYC before heading up to the Boston-area for Brainwaves over the weekend. Chocolate Bobka said, " A heavy combo of ethereal arrangements and intergalactic visualizations made me doze off a few times, but in the best way possible." Hooves on the Turf said, says they "played with a fantastic string quartet."

Silver Apples played Brainwaves too, and then on Saturday night joined Grails, both as their opener and as part of their band for great sets at Knitting Factory in NY. Silver Apples' next show is at The Kitchen.

Also on the bill Friday night at Brainwaves: Meat Beat Manifesto, who played a NYC show a couple of days earlier.

Kranky label-mates To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie and Boduf Songs were both at Brainwaves and will next play a show in NYC, at Pianos, tonight, Tuesday November 25th. They also have a show coming up at the Annex. More details and dates HERE.

Video of Stars of the Lid performing @ Brainwaves, below...

Continue reading "Brainwaves happened, Stars of the Lid played, NYC tonight "

Stars of the Lid last time they were here (more by Chris Owyoung)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Ani Difranco @ Town Hall
* Bob Dylan @ United Palace
* Tom Morello @ Irving Plaza
* Brian Wilson @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* We Are Scientists @ The Wonder Bar
* Rasputina & An Horse @ Maxwell's
* The Loom, Rafter & Air Waves @ Cake Shop
* Pharoahe Monch @ Highline Ballroom
* Ambulance Ltd., Tally Hall & Palomar @ The Bell House
* Grails, Psychic Ills & Destructo Swarmbots @ Union Pool
* Crystal Stilts, Cheap Time & German Measles @ Less Artists More Condos
* Stars of the Lid, Hammock, Jocelyn Bonadio @ (le) poisson rouge
* Wierd Records party w/ Blacklist, etc @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Horse Feathers, The Rosewood Thieves, Small Sur @ Union Hall
* Apse, City Center, Talibam!& others @ Death By Audio
* Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls) & friends @ Webster Hall

In Boston: The Brainwaves Festival

Apse is also playing the Knitting Factory this weekend on a bill that does not include the Flower Travellin Band. Grails too.

A bunch of Brooklyn bands hanging out in a park, in one of the videos below...

Another video of a cat rolling down the stairs below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

by Black Bubblegum

I used to take took the infamous Chinatown bus from NYC to Boston all the time, but one ride was particularly memorable. I was sitting in the back of a full bus. There were no more seats, but then one more passenger wanted to get on, so the driver told this passenger to wait a minute and proceeded to put a lawn chair for them in the aisle...

Where am I going with this? Well, the Brainwaves Festival taking place at the Regent Theatre in Boston this weekend is a good reason to risk sitting in a lawn chair.

Two years ago, [Brainwashed's Jon] Whitney [that's not him in the picture] took on the role of concert promoter in a big way when he organized Brainwaves, an expansive, three-day festival of Brainwashed-related music and video. True to form, it was a monstrously ambitious undertaking.

"Brainwashed was 10 years old. For 10 years it hadn't really made any sense, so why not do a festival that didn't make sense? You know, we needed a party! And though it was two years in the making, all the work was worth it, since we eventually came up with a great group of musicians." [The Phoenix]

This year's eclectic, experimental lineup includes Matmos, Meat Beat Manifesto, Silver Apples, Stars of the Lid along with a day dedicated to Kranky, Major Stars,JG Thirlwell's Manorexia, Gary Wilson, Marisa Nadler (who started a new blog), and one bonafide legend in Peter Christopherson [that's him in the picture above], founder of Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, and the performing Threshold HouseBoys Choir (the latter is the one billed as playing the fest). Christopherson recently told TinyMixTapes he is retiring THBC, so this is your last shot to see him live before he retires to his home in Thailand. Tickets are still available, and check the festival's site for more travel and lodging options.

A few of the festival participants have hit or will be hitting NYC this week as well... Silver Apples will be in NYC with Grails (but not Flower Travellin' Band, who postponed), To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie and Boduf Songs play Pianos and the Annex, Meat Beat Manifesto played Bowery Ballroom Wednesday, and Stars Of The Lid   will play a pair of shows at Le Poisson Rouge while they're on this coast.

Psychic TV (sans Christophersen) recently played Europa. The full Brainwaves lineup is below...

Continue reading "2008 Brainwaves Festival (this Fri-Sun in Boston) w/ Peter Christopherson, Matmos, Major Stars, SOTL, more"

This weekly post was really just meant to be an (arguably) interesting news roundup of where (mostly BV-covered) music and musicians are showing up besides in our stereos/computers/headphones/players/etc. Like all news, it might be positive, negative or neither depending on your point of view. Whether or not an artist is "selling out" by licensing their song to a particular product advertisement and/or TV show is always going to be a valid issue/argument/debate, but I removed "It's Not Selling Out Anymore" from the post title because, lighthearted or not, I think it was making this post into something it's not. Most importantly, I didn't want the title to be misconstrued as an official BrooklynVegan position on anything. There will always be (arguably) cringe-worthy examples of licensing (see Of Montreal + Outback Steakhouse) and licensing-related broken (fan's) hearts (see The Moldy Peaches + Atlantis resorts), but a lot of licensing news (as you can see below), is (arguably) pretty neutral. Are there any Modest Mouse fans offended that a Modest Mouse song appears in a snowboarding video game? I doubt it. Does it bother anyone that Stars of the Lid gave a song to the Environmental Defense Fund? Probably only people that are anti-polar bear... That's all I wanted to say.... I won't write intros to these posts after this week (please try to keep the conspiracy theories to a minimum!), so without further ado... it's "This Week in Music Licensing"...

by Ryan Barkan

Battles @ Irving Plaza (more by Bao Nguyen)

42 Below likes to do things because they can, like make Vodka and wear white suits. The New Zealand spirit maker just launched a campaign and website around the brand's mantra, "Because We Can" - living by your own rules and following your dreams. Pretty deep. The web-based campaign consists of five short films and a user-generated video contest.

Each of the five short films have a few things in common - men in all white suits, left-of-center creative, art installations, cool music, and no relation whatsoever to Vodka. Carpet Cupcake uses Battles' 2007 jam "Atlas". Two different Boards Of Canada songs are used in Beach Dolls and Car Wrap. Domino artist Four Tet provides the sonic background to Mountain Rainbow, a spot where the white suit men create a huge arch of colored plastic chairs on top of a snowy mountain. South African electronic artist Felix Laband is used in Crate UFO.

Do you have a "because I can attitude"? Do you also like to make your own videos? Do you want to win some money for doing those things ($4200)? If so, you can head to the campaign's website to find out more about the contest.

Other Notable Licensing News:

Tokyo Police Club think it is "really cool and really awesome" that they made a cameo on Sunday night's (11/16) episode of Desperate Housewives. They entered a "battle of the bands" contest, performed "In A Cave", and had two of their song titles ("Shoulders And Arms" and "Cut Cut Paste") featured on the club walls as faux band posters. Even more, two band members have lines in the dialogue. Stereogum has the video. In semi-related news, TPC's Graham Wright just released a solo EP online as a free and/or pay download.

On the tube, Gossip Girl featured three tracks from the new Kings Of Leon album, Only By The Night; One Tree Hill for the second week in a row used a song by Margot & the Nuclear So-So's and also had a song by Earlimart; 90210 went with Kanye West, and Stereolab; CSI Miami used both Jenny Lewis and Bloc Party; NUMB3RS had Cold War Kids; Privileged used CSS; Grey's Anatomy had The Coral Sea. All this week Letterman is featuring cover bands.

Nissan'snew Canadian commercial "Morning Light" goes singer-songwriter with Alexi Murdoch's "Breathe". Nice song but I think they could have found a similar style track with a better lyrical match. Watch the video here.

Toshiba's UK agency breaks the broadcast mold a bit with a commercial featuring Matrix-esque cinematography while using the Crystal Castles song "Air War". Watch the video below.

Stars Of The Lid hit NYC's (le) Poisson Rouge on Friday 11/21; I wonder if they will play the serenely spatial "A Meaningful Moment Through A Meaningless Process", a song used by the Environmental Defense Fund to help fight global warming. The web commercial was released at the end of August. The powerful Polar Bear spot can be seen below.

What do 2008 Mercury Prize winning band Elbow and Electronic Arts have to do with each other? Elbow's song "Grounds For Divorce" is the soundtrack to the commercial announcing EA's new first person shooter, Left 4 Dead; the game hits shelves this upcoming week. Video is below.

Ubisoft Montreal just released Shaun White Snowboarding in North America. The game's soundtrack is a good mix of classic (Bob Dylan, Heart, Blue Öyster Cult, Living Colour, Run DMC, Harry Nilsson) and modern (Modest Mouse, MGMT, The Ting Tings, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) bands. Check out the full soundtrack at Wikipedia. Bob Dylan plays NYC this Friday night (11/21).

Interesting downloadable content (DLC) was made available this week via Xbox Live and Playstation Network for both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2: GH got both a Jimi Hendrix and Smashing Pumpkins three song pack and RB2 fans can now play the entire Foo Fighters album The Colour and the Shape.

Videos below...

Continue reading "This Week in Music Licensing (Crystal Castles, Stars of the Lid, Elbow, Battles, Tokyo Police Club, and more) "

SOTL (photo by sita kaylin & christina vantzou)

Stars of the Lid return to NYC on November 21st to play two "Wordless Music Series" shows - both at (le) poisson rouge - early & late. Two days later they head to play the Brainwaves Festival in Boston with JG Thirwell, Matmos, Meat Beat Manifesto, Major Stars, Silver Apples and many more.

Last time SOTL toured they also played a 'Wordless' show in NYC.

JG Thirwell curated this month at the Stone. His lineup also includes Matmos.

Continue reading "Stars of the Lid playing NYC & Brainwaves in Boston in Nov"

photos by Chris Owyoung

The night ended with Stars of the Lid, founded in Austin in 1993 by Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride, making their first New York appearance since 2000. They played slow, soft drones on their guitars, accompanied by string players and abstract projections filling the sanctuary.

As I sat there, listening to pieces such as "Ballad of Distances" and "Requiem for Dying Mothers," I felt like there was a cinderblock sitting on my chest. This is music of irrepressible sadness, of deep and abiding loss. It's the soundtrack to a broken heart.

Their last number, "December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface," evoked awe and wonder, filling the space with majestic chords like those at the end of a Messiaen organ cycle, held to the brink of unbearableness. I couldn't tell how they were getting all those sounds out with only five instruments, but whatever it is, these guys have figured something out. [Feast of Music]

More pictures from Friday's show below....

Continue reading "Stars of the Lid @ Good Shepherd Faith Church, NYC - pics"

Making their first New York City concert appearance in seven years, the longtime ambient duo and Kranky institution Stars of the Lid will perform at Wordless Music with a string quartet and films by Luke Savisky. Opening the show will be the electric violin-and-guitar duo itsnotyouitsme, who recently released their debut album, Walled Gardens, on New Amsterdam Records, followed by Face the Music, a New York new-music ensemble comprising 19 students in grades 4-10 from the Kaufman Center's Special Music School. Face the Music will perform recent chamber music by Caleb Burhans (Escape Wisconsin), Ira Mowitz (Kol Aharon), and John Adams (Hallelujah Junction).

Soon to be announced: a series of four free Wordless Music concerts at the historic Whitney Museum uptown -- and another, even bigger event than January's 50-piece orchestra, for which we advise you bring earplugs.

SOTL tix on sale at noon.

outside Rough Trade in London, Jan 16, 2008 (CRED)

No offense to the Wordless Music Series (they are good), but I do think it was confusing to non-Classical people (myself included) to list the show as "Jonny Greenwood" when Jonny Greenwood won't actually be there. If you look at the 2007-2008 Wordless schedule, the list of performers reads: "Do Make Say Think, Beirut, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Grizzly Bear, Mum, Max Richter, Jonny Greenwood: Jonny Greenwood: Popcorn Superhet Receiver". The Jonny one is the only time it's a "piece" instead of a performer. That said, I realize now that there is no real reason for Jonny to be there, and I'm sure the string orchestra performing his work will still be great (though I bet there will be at least one disgruntled Radiohead fan in the crowd). The NY Times has an article today (thx Hiro)....

In a way this is a peculiar program for Wordless Music, now in the middle of its second season. Most of Mr. Givony’s concerts have offered both indie rock bands (or members of more famous groups in solo spinoffs) and classical performers, an expression of Mr. Givony’s conviction, as a longtime rock fan and newcomer to classical music, that anyone who likes Bjork, Radiohead or other experimental pop would also enjoy classical pieces.

The shows are January 16th (tonight) & 17th, 2008 @ The Church of St. Paul the Apostle in NYC.

In related news, Mr. Ronen Givony will soon also be doing shows @ The Village Gate. He is also expanding the Wordless Music Series. Not only is the upcoming Stars of the Lid show in NYC a "Wordless" show, so are the ones in Portland and Minneapolis. Tickets will be in sale in about a week. Plus, there are those upcoming David Byrne shows too.

And further proof Jonny won't be there tonight: Radiohead are about about to webcast a live performance from the Rough Trade shop in London.

I like Stars of the Lid's highly-acclaimed 2007 album "And Their Refinement Of The Decline" as much as the next guy. I've been looking for the opportunity to bring that up, and here it is. If you haven't heard it - it is the ultimate relaxing background music. You can meditate to it. They could probably play it in spas. I don't know what this band will be like live, but I'm sure it will be beautiful. They'll "be accompanied by their projectionist and a small string ensemble". They'll play Good Shepard Faith Church in NYC on May 2nd. All dates below...

Continue reading "Stars of the Lid - 2008 Tour Dates"