by Bill Pearis

chickfactor #1 with cover stars Small Factory

chickfactor will celebrate its 20-year anniversary with five blissful nights of sparkling indie pop on the Northeast Corridor of the USA (three in NY; two in DC) including the first shows in years by Black Tambourine, Small Factory, Pipas, The Aislers Set, A Girl Called Eddy, The Softies, The Lois Plus, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group and Fan Modine and rare performances from such pop luminaries asStevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian), Frankie Rose, Lilys, Lorelei, Dot Dash, Versus, Bridget St John and Honey Bunch.

chickfactor started in 1992 in D.C. and New York by pop-loving maniacs Pam Berry and Gail O'Hara, who used to travel up and down the East Coast seeing Small Factory, Honey Bunch, the Wedding Present and any other fine indie-pop bands of the era. We are spoiled silly and lucky as all get-out to be able to present this super-stellar line-up. Get your ticket fast, do not dilly-dally!

Those who followed indiepop in the '90s most certainly read (and probably still have their copies of) fabled 'zine chickfactor, which was written all in lower-case and was read sideways like a calendar. Stephin Merritt was among the regular contributors and it was fun, funny and turned a lot of folks on to cool new sounds like Black Tambourine, Lois Maffeo, Small Factory, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, Tiger Trap and many more. Stevie Jackson wrote a song about it for the second Belle & Sebastian album, maybe you heard it.

For chickfactor's 20th anniversary, founders Gail O'Hara and Pam Berry have put together a five-day, two-city festival that gathers many of the zine's most loved bands, many of whom haven't performed in 15 or more years. It happens April 6 and 7 at the Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia and then in NYC April 10 -12 at The Bell House (Maybe some of you went to the 10th anniversary show at Fez?).

Tickets for the Bell House are on sale today (1/12) noon and are $25 for individual nights (4/10, 4/11, 4/12) or $70 for a three day pass.

The shows shows break down like this:

April 6 (Artispace, Arlington, VA): Stevie Jackson, Frankie Rose, Honey Bunch, The Dot Dash

April 7 (Artispace, Arlington, VA): Black Tambourine, Lilys, Fan Modine, Lorelei

April 10 (The Bell House, Brooklyn): Black Tambourine, Small Factory, Versus, The Lois Plus + Special Guests.

April 11 (The Bell House, Brooklyn): The Aislers Set, Pipas, Bridget St. John, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group

April 12 (The Bell House, Brooklyn): Stevie Jackson, Honey Bunch, A Girl Called Eddy, The Softies

--

Black Tambourine (first East Coast shows in 20 years) and The Aislers Set (first in almost 10 years) are the big draws here, but this writer is especially excited about folk pop trio Small Factory who haven't played together in 15 years and Minneapolis' The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group whose 1995 album O Brother Where Art Thou? is a lost '90s classic (they're promising a new album this year too).

This comes a mere month before the sixth annual NYC Popfest (happening May 17 - 20) which means this spring is likely to be a very good year for indiepop fans. NYC Popfest hasn't divulged any of its line-up, but I hear it may be their most ambitious yet.

Click though for a detailed rundown of the chickfactor fest line-up, plus some vintage videos from the groups involved.

Continue reading "Black Tambourine, Aislers Set, Small Factory, Legendary Jim Ruiz Group & more reuniting for chickfactor festival"

photos by Bao Nguyen

"Carl Newman is currently mixing his as-yet-untitled long-player - set for a January release - and is especially enthusiastic about the lineup of musicians who contribute to the new tunes. "My friend John Wurster, who drums with Superchunk and the Mountain Goats, did most of the drumming," he says. "A singer named Nicole Atkins did a lot of singing on it. She's a really killer singer; she kind of reminds me of a cross between Mama Cass and the Shangri-La's."

Currently in the home stretch of completing the CD, Newman admits that he is his own best friend and worst enemy when it comes to working on the project. "Every time I make a record, I sit there thinking, 'It sounds too different,' and then the next day I think, 'it sounds the same as everything else,'" he says. "The next day, I'll go, 'It's perfect,' and the day after that I'll think, 'Its all wrong.' I just put my head down, try to work hard, hope for the best and hope that people buy it so I can continue doing this for a living." As soon as the solo effort is complete, Newman plans to "immediately" begin work on the next Pornographers record.

As far as their live performances are concerned, the New Pornographers plan to host a two-day, 10-band indie rock extravaganza on Labor Day weekend in Vancouver, calling it 'The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition.' The lineup for both nights was hand-picked by the Pornographers themselves; while their lead singer refuses to play favorites, Newman admits to being especially anticipatory about a semi-solo performance of a band he especially loves. "I saw Stevie [Jackson, of Belle and Sebastian fame] do a solo show in Brooklyn, and it was really good. Bob Kildea -- who is also in the band -- will be playing with him as well, which is pretty cool. Bob is the prettiest man in rock." [AOL Spinner]

The New Pornographers played the All Points West Festival last weekend. Neither Neko or Dan were in attendance (though I'm almost positive I saw Neko in the crowd at Bob Dylan's Brooklyn show a few days later.). AC Newman collaborator Nicole Atkins also played All Points West. More pics from the New Pornos set, all tour dates, and the whole Stanley Park Singing Exhibition lineup, below...

Continue reading "New Pornographers - APW pics, their own festival, a new AC Newman album (w/ Nicole Atkins) & tour dates"

The very charming and always entertaining Stevie Jackson of Belle and Sebastian performed a solo show at Mercury Lounge last night along with Richard Buckner and the 1900’s. Photo taken by WFMU DJ Michael Shelley in the well heated basement of the venue. From left to right: Matador food blogger Patrick Amory, myself, SJ. [Miwa]

Stevie Jackson @ Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY - Jan 10, 2008 (CRED)

Andy wrote in to say, "Stevie played before the 1900s. Laura Cantrell came out to do a couple songs w/ him during his set including a cover of Hank Williams “Lost Highway”. The 1900s joined him for his last song and then later he joined them for their last song but they didn’t play together other than that."

Tonight it's at Mercury Lounge.

Stevie Jackson of Belle & Sebastian is in town to play two shows with the 1900s. Tonight (Jan 10) they're at Union Hall (with Laura Gibson), and tomorrow they're both at Mercury Lounge (with Richard Buckner).

Then on January 12th, Stevie takes part in the free Guitar Festival show at Royal Albert Hall.

All new interpretations of Dylan classics performed by Laura Cantrell, Kelly Joe Phelps, Stevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian), Marshall Crenshaw, Oakley Hall, Lenny Kaye & Katrina Kiedis (Sufjan Stevens Band), Jason Isbell (Drive By Truckers), Jim Lauderdale, Toshi Reagon, Freeman & Vernon Reid, Harry Manx & Kevin Breit, The Last Town Chorus/Megan Hickey, Jesse Harris, Richard Julian & Jim Campilongo, Chocolate Genius Inc. and others.