53%ers

We already posted lots of posts today. Here's some more, and some reminders too...

Jay-Z & Beyonce raised a cool $4M for Barack Obama at their benefit last night ("Beyonce could not be a better role model for my girls," Obama said,). Go on and brush your shoulders off, Jigga.

If you bought a ticket to that fundraiser, may we interest you in a live entertainment company?

Meanwhile, the President was on The Late Show with David Letterman last night, chatting about the Mitt Romney "47%" video and other things. Watch it below.

In other money news, Amanda Palmer is now going to pay those previously-volunteer musicians and her new LP debuted at #10 on Billboard.

If you were wondering the #1 album is, it's Dave Matthews Band's Away from the World which beat out Bob Dylan. The xx's Coexist came in at #5, not too bad!

Check out what David Byrne & St. Vincent played last night in Chicago.

Look at pictures from our Jon Spencer Blues Explosion record release party that was last night.

Hope to see you at our Rafiq Batia record release party that Anti-Pop Consortium is also playing.

Check out an excellent profile piece on the legendary Neil Young that appeared in the NY Times Magazine.

Sinead O'Connor wrote to Russian president Vladmir Putin, demanding Pussy Riot's release. Is that helping or hurting?

Deftones are back with "Leathers", the new song from their upcoming Koi No Yokan due on 11/13. Check out that song below in a video stream and/or down load your copy at their site.

more stuff below...

Continue reading "Also: Jay-Z raises serious $$$ for Obama, Yo Gabba Gabba, Deftones, 'Ice Ice Baby' analyzed, Wilco, Neil Young & more"

Amanda Palmer @ Webster Hall in 2008 (more by Dese'Rae L. Stage)

ATTN STEVE ALBINI: Amanda Palmer, who plays Stubb's in Austin tonight, is now going to pay those previously-volunteer musicians she corals locally for stops on her tour. Amanda writes:

for better or for worse, this whole kerfuffle has meant i've spent the past week thinking hard about this, listening to what everyone was saying and discussing. i hear you. i see your points. me and my band have discussed it at length. and we have decided we should pay all of our guest musicians. we have the power to do it, and we're going to do it. (in fact, we started doing it three shows ago.)

Justin Vernon wants this image on his body

We already posted lots of posts today. Here's some more, and some reminders too...

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon is looking to get a tattoo based on '90s TV show Northern Exposure (which is where he got his band name) and maybe you can help? They play this week don't you know.

How did you spend your Occupy Wall Street anniversary? Possibly in temple? What are you doing tonight?

As you can see in this new set of Austin pictures, Twin Shadow bassist Russ Manning has been replaced. Russ is now focusing on his solo project Rush Midnight instead.

We interviewed Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing.

Duo AlunaGeorge made a video for their awesome, recently released single"Your Drums, Your Love" which you can watch below.

Out now on paperback (which I noticed via an ad on this site): Will Oldham on Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

Check out pictures from this past weekend's A.V. Fest / Hideout Block Party (and here).

Can you beat Swans' Michael Gira at a staring contest? Try it below (via Pitchfork).

more stuff below...

Continue reading "Also: Justin Vernon seeks 'Northern Exposure' tattoo; Wye Oak on Papa Roach; 'Palmer Vs. Albini' Round 2, and much more"

Yeasayer in Austin earlier this month (more by Tim Griffin)

We already posted lots of posts today. Here's some more, and some reminders too...

Yeasayer played Summerstage last night (9/12). We missed them but caught them in Austin where Dead Can Dance also recently played. How was the NY show?

As BV Chicago pointed out, Smashing Pumpkins frontman BIlly Corgan opened a tea shop outside of Chicago, and he played acoustic sets there today to celebrate.

Bat For Lashes is releasing her new album, The Haunted Man, on October 21. Back in July, she revealed the first album cut, "Laura," and today she's let loose a second taste of the album. Continuing a trend thus far of naming songs after women's names, this one's called "Marilyn." You can stream it below.

The final track on the new Lower Dens album, Nootropics, has become the inspiration for a new beer brewed by Stillwater Artisanal Brewing for their new Stillwater Sensory Series. The beer is called "Stillwater Artisanal, Sensory Series v.1 - Lower Dens" and will be out this November with a QR code on each bottle that leads to an exclusive video of Lower Dens performing the song when scanned.

The Walkmen, whose tour brings them to NYC for a show at Terminal 5 on October 18 with Dum Dum Girls (tickets) will play Conan tonight.

more below...

Continue reading "Also: The Walkmen, Pig Destroyer, Yeasayer, Bat For Lashes, Lower Dens, Billie Joe Armstrong, Billy Corgan & more"

by Andrew Sacher

Screaming Females in studio (more by Kirstie Shanley)

Screaming Females recently finished recording their fifth LP, which is set for an April 2012 release. They recorded the album at Electrical Audio in Chicago with Steve Albini. The picture above is taken from the recording sessions, which you can see more of at BV Chicago. Listen to a stream of Screaming Females playing one of their new songs live on WFMU below.

Screaming Females opened for fellow New Brunswick band Thursday at Thursday's last New Jersey show at Starland Ballroom on Monday (12/26). It was definitely the heaviest Screaming Females show I've ever seen, and if this any sign of the direction they're taking on the new album, then I'm all ears. They opened their set completely in the dark with the chugging intro of "Sheep" off 2010's Castle Talk, before bursting out into a number of songs filled with even more shredding and screaming from Marissa Paternoster than usual, while throwing in some Sonic Youth-y noise breakdowns.

Screaming Females play the Don Giovanni showcase at MHOW (2/11) with Laura Stevenson and the Cans, For Science, Shellshag, and Black Wine. Tickets are still available.

All dates and stream below...

Continue reading "Screaming Females recorded w/ Steve Albini, played NJ w/ Thursday"

photos by Abbey Braden for ATP

Shellac play their first of two sold-out shows with Helen Money at The Bell House TONIGHT (10/3), just a few days after playing ATP I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park, NJ where Steve Albini also manned the poker tables all weekend on the 8th floor of the Berkeley Hotel. ATP pictures in this post. Steve Albini in NYC (hope he can handle it!). More pictures below...

Continue reading "Shellac are here, played I'll Be Your Mirror (pics)"

Steve Albini (Shellac) @ ATP NY 2008 (more by Zach Dilgard)

Steve Albini tells Gothamist:

Well, there's the thing about New York. New York is such a monolith that it's pointless to have an opinion about it. It's like bitching about the weather. It certainly won't accomplish anything and it certainly won't make you feel better about what you didn't like. New York has a couple of characteristics that are undeniable and one of those is that it's a magnet for assholes who couldn't get any attention at home and decided that the problem wasn't that they weren't interesting but that there were all these squares around them in Dubuque or whatever and they need to go to some big cosmopolitan city like New York where people will appreciate them. So if you can imagine that scenario playing out within every city in North America and every one of those assholes with an opinion slightly outreaching his ability getting on a fucking Greyhound. You end up with a pretty good description of what's annoying about New York is that it's full of people whose self-image just ever-so-slightly outstrips their ability.

I studied painting under in college under Ed Paschke, who is dead now, he was a brilliant, brilliant educator. He was one of the only people in college who actually taught me anything. I mean, I learned a lot while I was in college, don't get me wrong, but not a lot of it was academic and not much of it was taught to me, it was primarily stuff I learned on my own. But he was one of the few people that actually taught me anything. But at one point, and he was the first person to make me aware of this, of being in New York. He described it as the "catch-all of runners up." And I think that's probably what annoys me about New York when I'm annoyed by it. Whatever they're doing at the moment, that's not really them, in their minds. Like, I'm working in this bookstore but I'm not a bookstore clerk, I'm a writer. Or like, I'm working in the restaurant but I'm not a waiter, I'm an actor. There are all these people who are not the thing that they are doing at the moment and therefore feel demeaned by every second of their existence. And the chip on New York's shoulder is the thing that keeps everything on the ground there. It's the massive weight that causes all of the gravity that happens in New York.

Having said that. I'm going to do that English thing. Oh, he's such a cunt. [Fake British accent] I mean that in the nicest way. [Laughter] I mean this in the nicest way really but he is just such a cunt, you know. Really I just want to murder him, I mean I love him, but I just want to murder him.

Tyler, The Creator @ Pitchfork Fest 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Via Twitter:

"Feel Like I Have To Defend Myself. 1 Idk Who The Fuck Steve Albino Is 2. I Dont 'Nigger Everything Insight' 3. I Never Say Fuck U To Drivers 4. We (odd future) Never Discuss How Much We Are Making A Show In Public, Ever. 5. Me Nor Anyone i Know In My Age Group Know Who You Are, Old Ass. Surprised You Knew how To Use A Computer. And Whats Good With RAPEMAN? Okay, Back To Regular Shit: SO I FUCKING FAILED AT GETTING A PICTURE OF MY FART. FUCK - Tyler

"I am quite happy none of them engaged me directly, because at least one of us would have regretted it." - Steve Albini

Shellac at ATP 2008 (more by Zach Dilgard)

A guy named Steve crossed paths with a guy named Tyler. See what Steve had to say about said encounter below.

Continue reading "Steve Albini doesn't like Odd Future (read his reasons why)"

Shellac at ATP (more by BBG)

Though tickets for their show on October 3rd are still available, the Shellac / Helen Money tour has added a second night at The Bell House on October 4th. Tickets are on sale. An updated set of tour dates is below.

In somewhat related news, Merge is reissuing a remastered version of Superchunk's 1994 album Foolish (which was produced by Brian Paulson at Steve Albini's home studio in Chicago), "some different album art, special bonus material, and extensive liner notes by drummer Jon Wurster" included. Preorder it now at Merge Records. The band previously reissued/remastered No Pocky For Kitty, On The Mouth, and most recently, Here's Where The Strings Come In. All are available at the Merge store.

All updated Shellac dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Shellac add shows, Superchunk keep reissuing"

photos by Samantha Marble

Shellac played the Bell House Tuesday night with Helen Money (aka Alison Chesley and a cello). Both fantastic artists, on tour together, also made an appearance at ATP NY over the weekend (specifically, Saturday 9/4). They also hit Buffalo along the way...

"One of the things that helped make their set most memorable from the last time I had seen them was the amount of crowd banter the band engages in. And last night at the Ninth Ward there were times you may have gotten confused as to whether you were at a rock show or watching stand-up comedy. Albini dropped his most recent favorite one liner. Bassist Bob Weston fielded questions from the crowd during a band solicited Q&A session. And all members took part in ribbing an unwitting attendee." [Buffalo Rising]

Continue reading "Shellac played the Bell House, Buffalo, ATP... (pics, video) "

by BBG

Kurt Vile at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Lori Baily)

It's almost final and official, ATP New York is ruling. The best Hudson Valley festival to ever be held in a 1960s time capsule has announced the "final additions" including two comedians chosen by Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav (more to come... that's all "so far"), as well as a few new and interesting additions to the Jim Jarmusch curated date. Behold:

Continue reading "ATP NY announces (almost) complete lineup (GZA, Kurt Vile..)"

words & photos by Keith Marlowe

Brahms @ 450 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY - July 15, 2010

I felt weird as soon as I walked in the room, which had a girls giving out candy standing by two Toyotas, opened up like they were in a showroom. There was a DJ playing club music, and signs that read Toyota and the Village Voice everywhere, because everyone knows the only thing more important than throwing a party is constantly reminding people WHO is throwing the party. On the other hand, there were pretty women giving out free Cabo Wabo tequila, so I decided to have some drinks and try to relax. As I watched people take photos of themselves in a car turned into a makeshift photo booth, I still felt more like I was at a mall than about to witness one of the most unique touring rock bands in the world.

Brahms was the opener, and they seemed a curious choice to me - not only their music, but because the band stood almost motionless behind orange pieces of plexiglass or something. They were the exact opposite of what was gonna happen when Monotonix came out. I listened to a couple songs, and went backstage to watch my friend Haggai (the drummer) do push-ups in Garfield underwear.

While getting warmed up for the show he told me they had just come from Chicago where they finished a third recording session with Steve Albini. They had originally planned on doing a single, but it went so well they went back two more times and ended up recording an entire album, still untitled, that will drop this winter on Drag City. "I'm really excited about this record, I feel like it's the first time we really got the live show energy into an album format," he said. Monotonix formed in Tel Aviv, Isreal, in 2005. This record will be their third.

continued below...

Continue reading "Monotonix Up The Antics @ Siren Fest pre-party (pics & more) "

Shellac @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

Shellac (aka Steve Albini, Bob Weston & Todd Trainer) and Helen Money (aka Alison Chesley from Verbow) will head out on tour in September around Shellac's September 4th appearance at ATP NY 2010. And like BEAK>, there is a NYC show. It's at the Bell House on September 7th and tickets are on sale now. All dates below...

Continue reading "Shellac schedules tour w/ Helen Money around ATP (dates) "

ATP NY, happening over Labor Day weekend (Sept 3-5), continues to expand its lineup.

To complete the line-up for [Saturday, Sept. 4, the fest's second day] our new additions are headed up by HALLOGALLO, a very special new project headed by Michael Rother and featuring Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) and Ben Curtis (Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, and whose brother is now a touring member of Interpol). Hallogallo will perform the music of Rother's 1970s Krautrock legends Neu! - their recent debut show in Barcelona was rapturously received. Also confirmed are cult heros SHELLAC who appear as ATP's House Band, FURSAXA, SIAN ALICE GROUP and TEXT OF LIGHT (featuring Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo). Steve Albini of Shellac is also confirmed to host his Card Games Room over the weekend.

Both of Neu!'s founding members, Rother and now-deceased Klaus Dinger, were also members of Kraftwerk. "Hallogallo" is the name of track #1 on Neu!'s debut Neu...

"The legendary German group NEU! released only 3 albums between 1972 and 1975, but these albums had an influence wildly disproportionate to their modest commercial success; praised by and influential to David Bowie, Hawkwind, Iggy Pop, DEVO, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Autechre, Radiohead, U2, Wilco, Primal Scream, and beyond. In May 2010 Gronland Records [released] a box including these three LP's and an incredible batch of bonus material. Also this year will be the first live presentation of this music in more than 35 years as 'Hallogallo 2010.'"

The new Saturday additions join Friday's Don't Look Back lineup (Friday will also feature a Comedy Stage, details TBA) of Iggy & The Stooges, Sleep, Mudhoney and The Scientists (doing their first US show), Saturday's Sonic Youth, Explosions In The Sky, The Breeders and Tortoise, and Sunday's Jim Jarmusch-curated lineup (which just added the Greenhornes, but dropped Brian Jonestown Massacre who were previously announced for the festival but canceled).

The current lineup for all three dates is posted below...

Continue reading "ATP NY adds Hallogallo (Michael Rother & friends performing Neu!) & other bands ("Neu! 2010" also playing other shows)"

photos by Chris La Putt

NY MAG: How was working with Steve Albini on Further Complications?

Jarvis Cocker: It was kind like the polar opposite of most producers. He didn't want to get his fingerprints all over the record. And we're not that dissimilar in age; even though we were growing up in other continents, I guess it's that punk movement that brought us into music, so there were some points of reference in common. You know, being in the studio can be very, very dull, but this wasn't at all because when he wasn't playing poker online, we actually had some quite interesting conversations. And I suppose it's well-known -- he wears overalls to work because he treats it as a job rather than a creative enterprise, and that was quite a refreshing thing.

Continue reading "Jarvis Cocker & Little Joy @ MHOW in NYC - pics "

DOWNLOAD: Future of the Left - The Hope That House Built (MP3)

Future of the Left @ Webster Hall (more by Nathan Miller)

Welsh trio Future of the Left (ex-mclusky) are coming to North America for a July tour in support of their latest record, Travels With Myself And Another, which is out now on 4AD. The first single from that is above.

That tour starts with a secret show (shhh) at Brooklyn's Spike Hill on Sunday, July 12th. The 8pm gig will act as an unofficial after-party to the Mission of Burma/Fucked Up/Ponytail show at Williamsburg Waterfront earlier in the day. I think the Spike Hill show will also be FOTL's first first headlining NYC show, and their first-ever Brooklyn show.

Their tour also makes NYC-area stops at Maxwell's on Monday, July 13th (with Me You Us Them) and Siren Fest on July 18th. Tickets to Maxwell's are still on sale.

Future of the Left's Andrew Falkous recently had a nice, long rant about why people should leave him alone about working with producer Steve Albini, who recorded a bunch of Falkous' Mclusky records. Faklous said...

..."I'm usually polite about it for the most part but it is very difficult to summon up the effort to answer the question for the seventh time in a day. You end up saying 'I just told that guy over there, see the guy in the orange, fucking ask him what it's like to work with Steve Albini, because I've already used up all the variant ways I can think of of expressing it."...

Continue reading "Future of the Left - 2009 tour dates (SECRET SHOW @ Spike Hill + Maxwells + Siren Fest + more)"

by Black Bubblegum

"So I have to be guarded in a way and kinda prepare myself for what's gonna happen, because when it happens, I don't even know."

From their crust punk origins of more than twenty years ago, Scott Kelly and Neurosis have forged their own path with searing imperial riffery and singular artistic vision. Over the course of nine LPs including 2007's critically acclaimed Given To The Rising, Neurosis's firebrand mix of hardcore, metal, psychedelia, and all-of-the-above has inspired fans and musicians alike, giving way to sub-genres and sub-sub-genres based on their compelling, emotive songwriting.

Outside of Neurosis, Scott Kelly has took on additional projects like Blood & Time, Tribes of Neurot, solo recordings, his online radio station Combat Music Radio, and Neurot Recordings. In addition, Kelly announced his involvement in Shrinebuilder, an underground metal supergroup featuring Scott "Wino" Weinrich, Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), and Dale Crover (Melvins).

With Roadburn 2009 going down this weekend in Tilburg and Neurosis on board to curate Beyond The Pale, we sat down with Scott Kelly in March to discuss Neurosis, the making of Shrinebuilder's debut LP, and why children's mobiles should come installed with music box versions of Lunar Womb!

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Where are you exactly in the process as far as Shrinebuilder is concerned? I know you provided recent updates on your blog, but since then, how's it coming along?

We are basically in the same spot we were... Not finished mixing yet, artwork's not done yet, but getting closer on both. Wino ended up doing an extra day of guitar in Baltimore about ten days after he did the initial recording and Dale's done a little bit of percussion overdubs and we've been kinda dialing in each song a little at a time. Its actually really close to a final mix. Al is recording the new Om album in Chicago, so when he gets done he'll be in there with those guys. I'd expect to have it all mixed probably within a couple weeks... it's really close.

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Scott Kelly (Neurosis, Neurot, Shrinebuilder)"

by Black Bubblegum

Sleep in Germany, 1993 (permission from Al Cisneros)

Sleep departed from this Earth 'round 1996, and not with a bang, but a whimper. In 1995, the future members of Om and High On Fire began work on their third LP, the follow-up to their highly-acclaimed Holy Mountain. Upon completion, Sleep delvered their new album, entitled Dopesmoker to their label, London Records, who deemed it "unmarketable". Undeterred, the band headed back to the studio and reemerged with Jerusalem, a leaner version of Dopesmoker with re-written lyrics. Again, London Records refused and as a result, Sleep disbanded.
Jerusalem AND Dopesmoker have since seen the light of day, and in that time the legend of Sleep has grown by leaps and bounds.

Nowadays Sleep is cited by most (if not all) doom metal enthusiasts as a seminal band, and usually in the same breath as such heavyweights as Saint Vitus (who are also reuniting) & Pentagram.

Since it was announced that Sleep would reunite for the ATP's The Fans Strike Back Festival, fans have been clamoring to hear more details about the reunion, as well as the reasons behind it and whether they would play any additional shows. Luckily, we were able to corner Al Cisneros of shortly after his tour of Europe with Om to discuss some of these issues as well as shed some more light on Om, Shrinebuilder, and High On Fire's new album!

---

When I interviewed you in September, were the plans already in the works, or did the ATP folks corner you at the festival and start to nail it down then?

Continue reading "another interview w/ Al Cisneros of Om & Sleep -------------------------- on the reunion, future plans"

photos by Zach Dilgard

Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland will release his second solo album on November 18, a decade after his first solo outing hit stores.

"Happy," which will be issued on Weiland's own Softdrive label, boasts guest appearances from three members of No Doubt: bassist Tony Kanal, guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young. It was co-produced by Weiland and Doug Grean, with Steve Albini also engineering a handful of songs. [Billboard]

Continue reading "Shellac @ the ATP NY festival in the Catskills - pics"

Patton Oswalt @ the Sub Pop Festival (more by Shawn Brackbill)

We are pleased to announce further artists for the ATP New York event. The final batch of tickets and accommodation is now available through www.atpfestival.com

The latest acts to be confirmed are...

Patton Oswalt who will be both performing and curating an evening of other comedians on Friday September 19th.

Curated by My Bloody Valentine - Brian Jonestown Massacre and Robin Guthrie plus more acts to be announced.

Curated by ATP - Lightning Bolt

We are also pleased to announce that the Criterion Collection will be working in conjunction with ATP to host the cinema at the event.

(Also, look out for the games room where you'll find Steve Albini at the card table...)

Continue reading "ATP NY addes Lightning Bolt, Patton Oswalt, BJM & more"