photos by Tracy Allison, words by Erin Allison

Bright Eyes headlined Radio City Music Hall in NYC twice this week. - March 8 & 9. Conor Oberst's Merge label-mates Superchunk and Wild Flag also opened both nights. I was there on the 2nd night which is also when the pictures in this post were taken.

Wild Flag, the all-girl group from Portland, comprised of Sleater-Kinney and former Helium members took the stage at 8pm for a rocking, half-hour long, six song set. Wild Flag also played The Rock Shop twice on March 5th.

If you would have told a younger Oberst at age thirteen that Superchunk would be opening for his band he would have "kicked you in the shins." The pop-punk band, who released their 9th album this past September, were equally enthusiastic to be opening for Bright Eyes, with singer (and Merge head honcho) Mac McCaughan telling the audience that playing a venue like Radio City alongside bands like Wild Flag and Bright Eyes "makes you feel part of something bigger."

As Oberst took the stage, members of the audience could be heard shouting "Welcome back, Conor!" Bright Eyes played a perfect mix of new and old music during the twenty-song set and three-song encore. The theme for the night seemed to be sexually explicit material, with a dash of family. Two songs were dedicated "to Nancy", the Bright Eyes frontman's mother. Oberst shared the stage with only Nathaniel Wolcott for "Ladder Song," and talked about Lent, telling all of Radio City that he had given up apologizing for the next 40 days. The politically active Oberst discussed the U.S. government trying to control the whole world and encouraged people to do what they can to make a change before playing "Old Soul Song".

There was dancing, tears, squealing audience members, and screams when Oberst jumped into the audience during the encore. Fans could not have been happier to have Bright Eyes back, and as it was eloquently put, "Coberst killed it." Free Gotham said:

"The highlight of the evening? I loved "Hot Knives," "Bowl of Oranges," "Lover I Don't Have to Love" and "Ladder Song," but the epitome of Bright Eyes had to be the performance of "Shell Games." Not only is this one of the best tracks off of The People's Key, it was without a doubt the best song of the night."

The full setlists for both nights, more tour dates, some videos, and more pictures from night two, below...

Continue reading "Bright Eyes played 2 nights @ Radio City Music Hall w/ Superchunk & Wild Flag (pics, videos & setlists)"

"ATP Concerts are very excited to present the return of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum to headline and curate one of two festival weekends planned for December 2011 at Butlins, Minehead. After releasing what is now one of the most loved and critically acclaimed albums of the 1990s (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea), Neutral Milk Hotel disbanded before many of those who now love their albums had a chance to see the songs performed live, so Jeff's much anticipated return to the live stage this year will no doubt be a very special occasion for fans throughout the UK and worldwide.

As well as headlining, Mangum will choose around 40 acts to play across the weekend on three indoor stages with a total festival capacity of around 5500 people. Mangum will perform more than once in the more intimate Centre Stage venue, although entry to only one show is guaranteed - he will be performing a solo acoustic set."

Ok, so Jeff is playing two Wordless Music shows in September followed by two NJ Portishead ATP-related shows at the end of September and the beginning of October (both sold out), and now at least two shows at his very own ATP in the UK in December. More shows are sure to come.

Jeff's initial UK lineup (listed below) includes A Hawk and A Hacksaw who (also contain a Neutral Milk Hotel member and) are also on the lineup with Jeff in NJ.

The full initial UK ATP lineup and more details below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum curating & playing an ATP UK too!"

Conor Oberst (more by Chris La Putt)

Those hoping that Wild Flag might schedule a headlining NYC show on the day before they open for Bright Eyes at Radio City Music Hall, are out of luck, but Wild Flag did add a 2nd NYC show, as did Superchunk. They will both open for Bright Eyes at Radio City Music Hall on March 8th (on sale soon) and March 9th (sold out). Bright Eyes also added a bunch more dates, and they are all listed below.

Tickets for the new NYC show go on AmEx presale Wednesday at 11am, and then general sale on Saturday at 11am. But there will also be pre-sales for all or most new dates via ConorOberst.com.

Wild Flag also added some more dates since we last spoke. All of their and Bright Eyes' dates, below...

Continue reading "Bright Eyes adds 2nd Radio City show, more tour dates"

Yo La Tengo @ Maxwell's (Hanukkan 2008) (more by Natasha Ryan)

Thanksgiving is not even a week past, but Hanukkah is already here and that means eight Yo La Tengo shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken. One for each night, they shed a sweet fucking setlist and opener and comedians and special guests and charities and mixtapes and who knows what. You never really know what you're going to get until it happens, but we can try and figure it out. Who will open each show?

Well, we already know The Parting Gifts are scheduled to appear on night two.

12/1 -
12/2 - The Parting Gifts & ?
12/3 - ?
12/4 - ?
12/5 - ?
12/6 - ?
12/7 - ?
12/8 - ?

Who else seems likely?

The Greenhornes played Bowery Ballroom last night (11/30) and have nowhere to be until December 5th. Ted Leo kicks of a tour on 12/2, so if he's a special guest, it has to be tonight (12/1) or 12/5 (his night off). He's back in town on 12/6 to play Terminal 5 with the New Pornographers, but there's no way he could do T5 and Maxwell's in one night (and he's back on tour right after). The New Pornographers (AC Newman and Neko Case included) on the other hand have almost every single other night of Hanukkah free (and AC Newman's show with John Wesley Harding isn't until December 17th) (John Wesley Harding is free all days except 12/5).

Kurt Vile plays Knitting Factory on December 3rd and has all other days of Hanukkah off. Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, and Pat Sansone are playing Bowery Ballroom on 12/4 and Tarrytown on 12/6, but are free on 12/3 and 12/5. Nels Cline is in NYC on 12/6, and is free 12/7 and 12/8 (but it doesn't look like he'll be around the same time as the other members of Wilco unfortunately).

The Feelies have no conflicts or upcoming dates at all. Mission of Burma play Maxwell's and the Bell House in January, but you never know, maybe they'll come down for this too. Stornoway seems like a longshot, but they are in town on December 2nd and free 12/1, 12/6 and 12/7. Warpaint play Manhattan on 12/1, Brooklyn on 12/2, Philly on 12/3 and DC on 12/4, and then are free after that.

Titus Andronicus, who by the way are opening for Passion Pit at Wellmont Theater on 12/30, have to be in Florida to play a show with Superchunk on 12/4, but are otherwise free. Superchunk have from the time they finish that Florida show until 12/9 to get to Toronto to open for Broken Social Scene. Superchunk are next scheduled to be in NYC in March to open for Bright Eyes who recently popped up as a guest at a NYC show. Screaming Females, who opened for Yo La at Brooklyn Bowl recently, are recently home from Europe and totally free.

Jim Gaffigan is not the most likely comedian to show, but it would be a good warmup for his seven shows at Best Buy Theater. More likely are some mix of Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry, David Cross, Jon Benjamin, John Oliver, John Mulaney, Kristen Schaal, Hannibal Buress, Michael Showalter, Leo Allen, Mike Birbiglia, etc...

UPDATE: Night One featured an opening set by M. Ward and comedian Todd Barry along with Nash Kato of Urge Overkill as a special guest.

UPDATE2: Syl Johnson & JC Brooks are in town this week too

UPDATE3: Richard Buckner is around this week too

UPDATE4: Floored by Four aka Mike Watt, Nels Cline, Dougie Bowne & Yuka Honda, not to mention Cibo Matto, are playing NYC this week too.

All the Maxwell's shows are long sold out, but Craigslist is hopping. Leave tips and more ideas in the comments. Tour dates for most of the artists mentioned in this post, below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo kicking off '10 Hanukkah shows - Who's opening?"

Ben Kweller just toured through NYC, hitting the Rock Shop in Park Slope for two performances on Saturday night (11/27). Those who chose the early show were treated to guest appearances by both Adam Green and John Shade (who has a show coming up with Mountain Man). Those who chose the late show also got Green and Shade, but won with an appearance by Conor Oberst who joined Ben for a rendition of Bright Eyes song "Another Travelin' Song." A video of that is below.

You might remember Bright Eyes as that band/project Conor led before he started calling himself by his actual name. You may remember seeing Ben Kweller and Conor Oberst play together on stage when Ben opened for Conor at Terminal 5 in 2008.

If my calculations are correct, it's been a bit over three years since "Bright Eyes" played NYC. That November 2007 show was at Radio City Music Hall with Thurston Moore and the Felice Brothers, and earlier that year Bright Eyes played seven nights in a row at Town Hall with special guests that included Britt Daniel, Ben Gibbard, and Ben Kweller.

On March 9, 2011 Bright Eyes will return to NYC and to Radio City Music Hall for a sort-of-all Merge Records bill that will include opening sets by Superchunk and Wild Flag (Conor put out a solo album on Merge and Wild Flag are signed to Merge too). Radio City tickets ranging in price from $25-$39.50 will go on general sale Saturday, December 4th, at 10am, but a presale begins somewhere on December 1st at noon for that show, and for Bright Eyes' only other scheduled gig: June 23rd at Royal Albert Hall in London. There's also an AmEx presale for the NYC show starting Wednesday at noon.

The UK and NYC shows will be in support of a brand new Bright Eyes album, that is coming out on Conor's label Saddle Creek on February 15th, 2011. It's called The People's Key...

"Since 2006 the once revolving cast of Bright Eyes players has settled around permanent members Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nathaniel Walcott, with additional musicians joining them in the studio and on tour. Fully realized and bursting with charisma, The People's Key is an assured and accomplished album, artfully arranged and filled with the engaging and mesmeric songwriting for which Oberst is renowned. Recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, at the band's own ARC Studios, The People's Key was produced by Mike Mogis and engineered by Mogis and Andy LeMaster.

Additional Bright Eyes players on The People's Key: Andy LeMaster, (Now It's Overhead), Matt Maginn (Cursive), Carla Azar (Autolux), Clark Baechle (The Faint), Shane Aspegren (The Berg Sans Nipple), Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds) and Denny Brewer (Refried Ice Cream)." - Saddle Creek

Full tracklist below.

The Radio City show is one day before Wild Flag (the Sleater-Kinney band) plays DC.

Ben Kweller opens for Pete Yorn at Terminal 5 on March 11th.

The Kweller/Oberst video, all dates, and the tracklist below...

Continue reading "Bright Eyes releasing an LP, playing Radio City w/ Superchunk & Wild Flag, Conor played w/ Ben Kweller @ the Rock Shop"

by BBG

Guided By Voices at Matador 21 (via)

"Anyone who walked into the popular casino during the three-day venture witnessed a culture shock like no other as hundreds of well-established, middle-aged rockers filled the building to see label legends Sonic Youth, Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, Guided by Voices and more. Performing inside the small and intimate Pearl, most of the bands were playing in Vegas for the first time.

"It has run smoothly but with a lot of help from the staff and all the people that are working for us," said founder of Matador Records, Chris Lombardi. "It's come together. We were very conscious of all the potential snafus that could arise and so far it's been fun."

Potential snafus were rife but any real problems were kept to a minimum during the first two days, besides Pavement's performance on Friday. Having paved the way for some of the most well-known artists of our generation, (think Weezer and Ben Kweller), the '90s rockers had continuous difficulties with their sound that caused problems both onstage and offstage for the band.

But that didn't seem to faze the crowd, which was made up of fans from all over the world, all who were more than ecstatic to see their favorite Matador artists. The festival went so well, actually, that it's kind of surprising." [The Rebel Yell]

While NYers were fast asleep and trying to stay warm at 5AM, Matador 21 was officially coming to a close in the Las Vegas desert early Monday morning (10/4) with a two hour set from Guided By Voices. Over the course of a full-set and two encores, both Hamish Kilgour (The Clean) and Matt Sweeney (Chavez) made unscheduled appearances with GBV (as a stage-diver/crowdsurfers) as the band tore through classics like "A Salty Salute", "Tractor Rape Chain", "I Am A Scientist", and around 30+ (!) others.

The label's 21st anniversary party kicked off on Friday with sets from Pavement and Sonic Youth (who played the Hollywood Bowl in LA) along with Chavez, Fucked Up, Guitar Wolf (whose flights were delayed, forcing a late Friday night performance), and Harlem. Saturday featured a headlining set from Belle & Sebastian (who recently played Williamsburg Waterfront), in addition to Spoon, Superchunk, Cat Power, Perfume Genius, Come, Esben & the Witch, Cold Cave, and Girls. Collaborations seemed to be the order of the day: Yo La Tengo hopped on stage with The Clean, Hamish returned the favor, Ted Leo joined Liz Phair...

A selection of videos and setlists from the festival, below....

Continue reading "Matador celebrated 21 years in Vegas"

Caribou @ Governors Island over the summer (more by Andrew St Clair)

today in NYC
* Wollesonics @ The Stone
* Gary Smulyan @ The Stone
* Emily Wells, Shilpa Ray @ City Winery
* Caribou, Emeralds, ARP @ Webster Hall
* Ra Ra Riot, Lower Dens @ Bowery Ballroom
* Asher Roth, Gilbere Forte @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Sugarlife, Oars, Pure Horsehair @ Bruar Falls
* Spacehog, The Alternative Outfit @ Maxwell's
* Little Gold, Exit Music, Columboid @ Union Pool
* Fennesz, The American Dollar, Bell @ Littlefield
* Darcy James Augue Secret Society @ Iridium Jazz Club (early & late)
* Klaxons, Baby Monster @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Pavement, Times New Viking @ Central Park Summerstage
* French Horn Rebellion, Savoir Adore, Mighty Five @ The Woods
* Heavy Hands, Future Hunter, ELKS, Long Distance Poison @ Coco 66
* Laurie Anderson (performing 'Delusion') @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
* Larkin Grimm, M. Lamar, Seaven Teares, Opal Onyx @ Death By Audio
* Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Talk Normal, DJ Barry London @ Secret Project Robot
* Anti-Flag, The Menzingers, Outernational, Cerebral Ballzy @ the Bell House
* Theo Bleckmann (Hello Earth! The music of Kate Bush) @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Anti-Flag, The Menzingers, Outernational, Cerebral Ballzy @ The Bell House
* Crocodiles, The Girls at Dawn, Reading Rainbow, Candy Claws @ Mercury Lounge
* The Dennis Padula Band, Emanuel & The Fear, Alfonso Velez @ Highline Ballroom
* Garotas Suecas, Ava Luna, Reverend Vince Anderson, Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa @ Knitting Factory

Anvil are not playing Public Assembly tonight.

Candy Claws opens the Mercury Lounge show tonight that Crocodiles are headlining.

Band of Horses performed "Laredo" on Kimmel. Video below...

Superchunk performed "Digging For Something" on Fallon. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

photos by Chris Gersbeck

"Superchunk top their pulverizing MHOW set with a Misfits cover for their encore. #horrorbusiness" - mike spinella

"i really wish superchunk would tour more often. one of the best shows of the year tonight at mhow." - jarid maged

"It was unclear just who was throwing the water balloons at last night's Superchunk show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, but the band, back in town with Majesty Shredding, their ninth full-length record and first since 2001, were clearly tickled that their fans still had it in them.

"You guys are rowdy tonight," singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan told the packed house of former teenagers halfway through the set, by way of congratulations. "Good for you."" [Capital]

If you were feeling nostalgic last night (9/19) in Brooklyn, where would you go? You had at least two choices. Pavement was playing the Williamsburg Waterfront (one of their five area shows) and Superchunk was at the considerably smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg (their third of three NYC shows) with openers Toddy Barry and Wild Nothing. Well, if you didn't have an advanced tickets to Superchunk, and couldn't get one at the door, at least after your choice was made for you, you could just walk a couple more blocks where Pavement had plenty of room (Pavement also ended early enough to see the headliners of both shows).

Superchunk started their NYC run at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, also played a free in-store at Other Music earlier on Sunday and will play Late Night with Jimmy Fallon TONIGHT (9/20), so set your DVRs if you'll be out too late dancing to tunes chosen by Pavement's Bob Nastanovich at the Living Room. Set Colbert to tape too because that's the TV show Pavement will be on tonight.

Comedian and Music Hall opener Todd Barry, who took part in the Eugene Mirman Comedy Fest earlier in the weekend (and later Sunday night), sat in on drums with Superchunk for a Misfits song. Pics and video of that below.

Wild Nothing will be back in NYC in just 4 short days, as the band is scheduled to support Stars at Terminal 5 on 9/24 as part of a larger tour between the two. Tickets are still available.

More pictures, the Superchunk setlist, and video from both OM and MHOW (including one of Todd Barry playing "Horror Business" with the band), below...

Continue reading "Superchunk played Bowery, Other Music & coverd Misfits @ MHOW w/ Todd Barry & Wild Nothing (pics, video, setlist) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Flash a Hungry Smile (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - About My Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose & the Outs - Candy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Red Mass - Saturn (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tony Castles - Black Girls in Dresses (MP3)

Blanche?

Looks like there are still a few tickets to go see Mystery Jets tonight at Mercury Lounge now that the band have sorted out their visa issues after having to cancel last night's show (which I was going to go to). Frank at Chromewaves caught them in Toronto on Monday night:

Over the course of an hour, they split their set evenly between Serotonin and its predecessor, 2008's Twenty-One, and gave the respectably-sized crowd something to get boisterous about - which they did, right through to the soaring encore-closer "Dreaming Of Another World". Any concerns about what would happen to the rest of the tour were set aside in favour of just enjoying the moment.

Looking through Frank's photos of the show, I was happy to see Mystery Jets aren't sporting any fashion disasters (see above) like when they played at Bowery Ballroom last year. That may sound superficial but it is distracting when a band you really like dresses like Blanche from Golden Girls. As I've said before, I was a huge fan of 2008's Twenty One and think their new one, Serotonin, is maybe better even if nothing on it quite reaches the highs of "Young Love" and "Two Doors Down."

If you're going, be sure to get there early for L.A.'s Dominant Legs whose new EP on Lefse records I like a lot. Any band that lists The Style Council as an influence is gonna grab my attention, at least enough to listen to it. They played last night at Mercury Lounge, their first NYC show, and reports on Twitter seemed to be pretty positive.

Frankie & the Outs @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Mystery Jets' cancellation last night has thrown a wrench into my schedule. I had planned on spending the evening at Glasslands for the Frankie Rose & the Outs' record release party but now I'm gonna hope the show goes late enough that I can do both tonight (9/15). We'll see how this works out. If nothing else I can pick up the record a week early tonight at the merch table. It's a really good album that, if maybe a little economical in the lyrical department, definitely showcases Rose's ease with hooks and harmonies. Check out an MP3 of the single "Candy" above and you can watch the Carrie-inspired video for the song -- which just premiered -- at the bottom.

It should be a fun night all around. Light Asylum, who the Outs shared the bill for their first-ever show last Halloween, headline the party, with opening slots from psych mystics Mirror Mirror and Pigeon who I can't find any info on. (But there are at least three other bands currently called Pigeon so you might want to rethink the name.)  MINKS were originally supposed to play but seem to have fallen off the bill.

Dum Dum Girls

I have to imagine Frankie's pals Dum Dum Girls will be in attendance tonight (you can spot Dee Dee in the "Candy" video near the end) if they can make it in time following the first of their three gigs opening for Vampire Weekend this week at Radio City Music Hall. I would kind of like to see DDGs there, actually, as their echo-y girl group vibe could sound amazing with the venue's acoustics. But I'm not gonna. I might, however, try to catch them on Saturday night (9/18) at Knitting Factory where they'll play with Girls at Dawn and Reading Rainbow. Their self-titled Sub Pop debut has stayed in constant rotation since coming out out in March.

While we're on the subject of bands with whom Frankie Rose used to play drums, Crystal Stilts finally seem to be getting around to making a second record. A new single, "Shake the Shackles," is due out on Slumberland Records on October 21, their first new material in 18 months. The band have struggled a bit post-Frankie, and the last time I saw them play live (Fall 2009 I think) they seemed pretty out of sorts. But both sides of the new single is good -- you can listen to it at the bottom of this post -- and hopefully they've really shaked those shackles and rebounded.

You can find out for yourself when Crystal Stilts play Knitting Factory on Friday (9/17) with drony, motoroik San Franciscans Moon Duo.

Red Mass @ M For Montreal 2009 (more)

What else? Montreal art punks Red Mass will be here this weekend for two shows: Friday at Party Expo and Saturday at Death by Audio. Both shows are with X-ray Eyeballs. Somewhere between the Damned's goth-tinged punk and Nuggets era psych-garage, Red Mass also bring a sense of theatrics to their live performances. Frontman Choyce (late of CCP Gangbangs) has no problem with high concept and brings the Red to the stage -- both times I've seen them, the band dressed entirely in shades of crimson. But the music still does most of the talking. If you like this kind of thing at all, Red Mass are not to be missed.

Red mass are on their first real tour of the States -- well, the East Coast -- and they'll hook up with King Khan & the Shrines along the way. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

---

And finally, Superchunk are here this weekend, playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (9/18) and MHoW on Sunday (9/19). Both shows are sold out, but you can still see them at Other Music on Sunday afternoon (1PM). I've also had good luck getting tickets at MHoW at the box office day of show, so if you're without a ticket it's worth a try.

Even if you don't get to see them, you've still got their seriously awesome new album, Majesty Shredding. No phoning it in here, this is classic Superchunk. Over at Emusic, Michaelangelo Matos wrote a great review of the record and the opening paragraph really nails it:

Superchunk sound like they've been listening to a lot of Superchunk. Well, of course -- what else would they sound like? But think about that for a second. Most bands slow down as they age because most people slow down as they age: Sonic Youth isn't about to start flirting with hardcore again; the Rolling Stones will never cut another "She Said Yeah." That's nature. But Superchunk 2010 could be easily mistaken for Superchunk 1991 -- the tempo hasn't moved and the scrappiness hasn't budged. And scrappy is what this band does.

Majesty Shredding is loaded with classic Superchunk Moments, from new single "Digging for Something" (you've seen the video by now, right?) to the manic "Crossed Wires" (a 7" from last summer) to my favorite song, the anthemic "Hot Tubes." It's so great to see a band 20 years into its career knock one out of the park.

Translations

That's enough for this week. A few more picks for the week, of things I didn't cover above, day by day:

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 15

I've been listening a lot to this Translations digital single which you can download for free. Both "sides" are really good, kind of Flying Nun/GbV style indie. Haven't seen them live but they play tonight at The Woods in Williamsburg. It's a free show.

Power pop fans should head straight to the Rock Shop for Tommy Keene, Title Tracks and Valley Lodge.

continued below...

Continue reading "Dum Dum Girls, Red Mass, Crystal Stilts, Superchunk, Frankie & the Outs, Radical Dads & more in This Week in Indie"

by BBG

Superchunk at South Street Seaport in 2009 (more by Chris LaPutt)

The Daily Tar Heel: What's different about Majesty Shredding as opposed to past Superchunk records?

Mac McCaughan: I think one thing that's really different..., we'd really written all together as a band just playing a lot in the rehearsal space, basically jamming until we had songs, and I would add lyrics on top of that. With the new record, ...I made demos of songs and sent them around to the band so they could hear them and come up with parts, and we'd just get together and rehearse a couple of times before recording. In some ways it's more like our first couple of records.

And the title is a joke that started when we were in the studio. We recorded all the songs live to tape, and the producer, Scott Solter - we were listening to playback with him to see if it was a take we should keep or if we needed to fix something, and so we started this joke where if we heard a fuck-up on our part, we'd say, "Oh, you can fix that with the 'Majesty Shredding' app in Pro Tools, right?" We joked that there was an app that would make everything sound awesome called "Majesty Shredding," and it ended up being the title.

"Hyper Enough" indeed. Superchunk, not satisfied with a pair of soldout shows in NYC at Bowery on 9/28 and MHOW on 9/19 will play a FREE Other Music in-store show on 9/19 (SUNDAY) at 1PM and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on MONDAY (9/20).

Superchunk's Majesty Shredding (both the noun and the verb) will be showcased at all of the shows, and is available now in digital/vinyl/CD forms. One of those tracks, "Digging For Something", was recently given the video treatment by former Daily Show writer Scott Jacobson, amd features appearances from John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), comedian Ted Travelstead, and The Love Language among others. Dig on that below.

Superchunk is on board for the Matador 21 shindig in Vegas at the beginning of October, and Superchunk's Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance recently celebrated the same milestone for their own label, Merge Records (their 20th anniversary party was last year).

Videos and all Superchunk dates are below...

Continue reading "new Superchunk video, an Other Music in-store, Fallon & stuff "

photos by Chris Gersbeck

DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Golden Haze (MP3)

There's a lot going on in Wild Nothing's world. The band, who hail from Blacksburg, VA, are packing their bags and moving to Brooklyn. Not really surprising, except that it took this long. They also have a new EP, Golden Haze, coming out on Captured Tracks sometime in the near future. Apart from the title cut (which you can download above), tracklistings on the CD, 12" and digital versions will vary, which reminds me of the way they used to release multiple versions of UK CD singles in the '90s to get a higher chart position. Fun with formats, or milking the fans? I guess if all the songs are worth hearing it won't matter.

No matter which one you buy, "Golden Haze" is another sparkler from these guys who have been playing a lot of new songs at their shows. And if you haven't picked up their debut Gemini yet, I think it's one of the year's best. And with a permanent line-up (and a new, really solid drummer), Wild Nothing have been a really good live band too. [Bill]

Wild Nothing co-headlined (headlined) a show with their label boss's band Blank Dogs at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night. The all-Captured Tracks bill also featured sets by MINKS and Cosmetics. It was sold out. Pictures from Wild Nothing's set are in this post.

On September 22nd Wild Nothing will leave on a tour with Stars who they'll support through October 9th in Detroit. That trip includes the September 24th show at Terminal 5 in NYC (tickets still on sale), which will actually be Wild Nothing's 2nd NYC show after today because they also open for Superchunk at Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 19th (Todd Barry is also on that sold out bill).

All WN dates and more Bowery pics, below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing played Bowery Ballroom (pics), touring w/ Stars, opening for Superchunk (dates)"

Matador's 21st birthday fest will be happening in Las Vegas October 1st-3rd. For it, they've pulled the cream of the indie-rock crop. Previously speculated headliners Belle & Sebastian and Pavement will be there - on top of that, Guided By Voices will be reuniting to play, "in the band's "classic '93-'96 lineup!" The most recent show for GBV was New Year's Eve 2004/05.

In addition to those three, the lineup includes Sonic Youth, Spoon, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, New Pornographers, Superchunk, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Guitar Wolf (who also play NY), Chavez, Girls, Fucked Up, Harlem, Cold Cave, Shearwater, Kurt Vile and Jeffrey Joe Jenson. More will be annonuced July 5th.

A flyer is below...

Continue reading "Matador Fest lineup announced - Guided by Voices reunion! + Guitar Wolf, Belle & Sebastian, Pavement & many more"

DOWNLOAD: Versus - Invincible Hero (MP3)

Superchunk @ South Street Seaport July 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Those at LPR's Chris Knox benefit on May 6th got a taste of Superchunk when frontman Mac McCaughan closed his Portastatic set (backed by Yo La Tengo) with a rousing version of Superchunk's anthemic early single "Slack Motherfucker." Well, good news: Superchunk will be in NYC for proper shows at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, September 18th and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday, September 19th. Tickets for both shows go on sale Wednesday, May 19th at noon.

Maybe the shows will be in support of a new album...

"Superchunk never broke up or went on hiatus, they've just been moving slowly -- very slowly -- for the last decade, recording a handful of songs, playing one or two charity or small gigs a year. No particular event, (I thought it may have been their Coachella show last year) really pushed the idea of recording forward for Majesty Shredding, awesomely (just) named ninth Superchunk LP, according to drummer Jon Wurster. "I think it was having the time. Or maybe not even having the time but knowing that if we wanted to do this we have to make the time for it, which is kind of how it turned out. There was never really a defining moment where we decided, let's do this again, actually making an album," he says. "And I don't even think we had a goal in mind. I think it was just 'Let's see how it goes, and if we're still into it-it's like five songs, let's keep going.'" They found time together between their other gigs: Jon Wurster's been drumming for Mountain Goats, touring with Ben Gibbard, Jay Ferrar, and Carl Newman, and hosting WFMU's The Best Show, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance run Merge records, while guitarist Jim Wilbur plays in Portastatic and works at a bookstore in Durham, North Carolina." [Stereogum]

Last time they were in NYC (July '09), Superchunk played an outdoor show with labelmates Versus, who just announced the details of their first album in ten years, On the Ones and Threes, due August 13th on Merge. Versus will be at the Bell House on July 9th and in DC on July 10th as part of the six-date Teen Beat Records tour with Unrest, the Rondelles and more. The NYC show is sold out.

About the new Versus album, Merge writes:

On the Ones and Threes is something of a return to form, featuring the reappearances of original member Edward Baluyut, and engineer Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Deerhunter, Cat Power, Spoon) who worked on Secret Swingers and Two Cents Plus Tax.

The deluxe-edition double-LP format will feature an alternate sequence and two additional tracks from the album's recording sessions. These extra tracks will also be available as a bonus for immediate download when you pre-order the CD or the deluxe double-LP in the Merge store beginning June 8.

Versus has more tour dates TBA. Other dates for Superchunk include a set at Primavera Fest, a gig in North Carolina and assorted fests. Videos from Superchunk's appearance at SXSW 2010 and more info about the Versus album are below...

Continue reading "Superchunk playing NYC (dates) ++ new Versus soon (MP3)"

by Andrew Frisicano

I snuck this picture of the t-shirt...

"Chris Knox (born September 2, 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest, unpolished sound and intense live shows. His 4-track machine was used to record most of the early Flying Nun singles." [Wiki]

Jeff Mangum played a set of Neutral Milk Hotel songs for the first time in nine years at the benefit for his friend, musician Chris Knox, last night, Thursday, May 6th. From opener "Oh Comely" to encore "Engine," and "A Baby For Pree," "Two Headed Boy Pt. Two" and "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" in between, Mangum's voice was clear and strong as he sang from a chair into microphones set up a few feet away. Most of the audience looked somewhere between giddy excitement and shock. Some quietly sang along, others broke out into tears - one person choked on frantic, shallow breaths as "Oh Comely" climaxed, another stood with his hand over his gaping mouth, unable to move.

A few photos were furtively snapped in defiance of the posted signs, but most were content to just listen. Though "just listen" doesn't really describe the gasps, tears and unending applause. Mangum played with his eyes mostly closed, neck vein tensed, rocking and swooping to the contours of the songs. His eyelids fluttered open on the chorus of "A Baby for Pree" to reveal eyes rolled back into his head. Between songs Mangum gulped down water and was gracious, bordering on triumphant as he popped up at the end of "Aeroplane." He encouraged the crowd to contribute to the encore, "Engine." After the set, someone caught his attention with a book to sign, which he did. Most people up front looked anxious and ready for a post-show smoke.

It was fitting maybe that the bill for Mangum's last show, in 2001 in New Zealand, was with Chris Knox, who suffered a stroke in 2009. Though Jeff Mangum was a clear pinnacle, the rest of the benefit gig was an engaging, full evening which covered 12 bands and 2 comedians, and ran more than five and a half hours (though at least 1/3 of the venue cleared out after Mangum's 8:50pm set). The show ended at 1am, amazingly, exactly as scheduled.

Coasting (set time: 6:20pm) opened up with appropriately coastal guitar sounds and surefire drums, Sharon Van Etten played three songs with nuanced dynamics on electric guitar. The Magnetic Fields' Claudia Gonson played only one song as a trebly synth trio to cover "Beauty" which the band does on the Chris Knox tribute CD Stroke.

Robert Scott (of the Clean) and TVOTR's Kyp Malone (aka Rain Machine) both played solo guitar sets. Kyp, who told the crowd they should check out the new Devendra Banhart video (he checked it out in a cafe because he doesn't have internet), was joined by Emilyn Brodsky for what he said was a Bob Marley cover. Rachel Feinstein did raunchy comedy.

After that, there was New Zealand band Dimmer (who are in town for a while), The Mad Scene (Hamish Kilgour of the Clean's other band), David Kilgour of The Clean (backed by Yo La Tengo and one other band member) and comedy from John Mulaney (who killed it) (and who you may have seen doing a bit about girl scout cookies on a recent episode of SNL).

"Portastatic" was Mac backed by Yo La Tengo. They closed with Superchunk's "Slack Motherfucker" complete with windmill guitar moves and pogoing from some of the crowd (even though the concert was going into its fifth hour at this point). Yo La Tengo, with extra member David Kilgour on guitar, covered a Chris Knox song, said many kind words about Chris and closed with two songs from their 1993 album Painful, which Chris Knox contributed art work to.

The Clean, who Ira introduced as the greatest band in the world, and who'd already been up several times as their solo bands, closed the night right, both jangly and poppy. And despite the mass exodus after Jeff, a respectable amount of people were still there right until the last song. Catch the Clean again (if you have a ticket because it's sold out) at The Bell House tonight (5/7).

Editor's note: Ben Goldberg did an amazing job organizing the event, keeping scalpers away, and making sure that pretty much every person in that venue (except maybe the bartenders) paid their $75 donation to Chris Knox to get in the door (or $20 if you showed up after Jeff went off). Ben did less of an amazing job during his pre-Yo La Tengo stand up routine, but nobody's perfect!

Illegally shot (not by us!) audio and video from the event, and the new Devendra Banhart video, and Jeff Mangum's setlist again, below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum, The Clean, Yo La Tengo, Portastatic & friends played for Chris Knox @ LPR - review, setlist, video & pic "

DOWNLOAD: Sweet Apple - Do You Remember (MP3)

Thurston w/ Sonic Youth @ MHOW in November (more by Lori Baily)

Society's Ills: In 1994 Society's Ills (Moore, Cadena, Watt, Markey) made their world premier with the now coveted "Skins, Brains, and Guts" release - a slab that managed to cram (9) 7 seconds covers onto one 7". In 2010, the band is back and once again fronted by Thurston but he brings with him a new crue of slayers to launch the hardcore fury:

Thurston Moore: Vocals
J Mascis: Guitar
Don Fleming: Guitar [SY producer & Velvet Monkeys/Gumball frontman]
Andrew W.K.: Bass
Awesome Allison: Drums [from Awesome Color]

This set is their first, but don't worry if you miss it cause I'm sure we can put this together again in another 15 years! [Ecstatic Peace]

Society's Ills play in addition to Thurston Moore solo, Talk Normal, The Entrance Band, Violent Soho, the Slits' Viv Albertine, Awesome Color, Jemina Pearl and more at the Ecstatic Peace SXSW Showcase happening Friday, March 19th at Red 7 in Austin. Curious about Society's Ills? Their version of 7 Seconds' "I Hate Sports" is below.

J Mascis will also be playing at SXSW with Sweet Apple, who are playing Mercury Lounge on April 20th. One of their SXSW sets will be at the showcase for TeePee Records, who are putting out the Sweet Apple debut, Love & Desperation, a track from which is above. That show is Thursday, March 18th at Habana Calle 6, and also on the bill are Priestess, Iron Age, Nebula, Naam, Imaad Wasif and more. Full details and a poster are below. Tee Pee Records has also teamed up with BrooklynVegan and Chronic Youth for another day party taking place on Saturday, March 20th in Austin. This is the first we've mentioned it. Stay tuned for more info.

Lou Barlow will also be at SXSW (backed again by The Missingmen) - one of his shows will be the Merge Records showcase at Cedar Street Courtyard on March 18th also featuring Let's Wrestle, She & Him, and others. Full lineup below. For She & Him it's one of two official SXSW shows. They also play Saturday night (March 20th) at Auditorium Shores (with Justin Townes Earle & TBA). Cheap Trick play the same slot at Auditorium Shores one night earlier.

Merge's showcase mentions that one slot will be filled by "Special Guest". We don't know who that is, but we'd have to guess Superchunk is a strong possibility since Mac & Laura have a speaking engagement (in a bookstore) on March 17th, and another one (official SXSW) at the convention center on March 19th (with Michael Azerrad), and the band is on the bill of the Village Voice day party happening at La Zona Rosa the afternoon of March 19th (with the xx, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Surfer Blood). It's definitely not Spoon who play the NPR show at Stubb's on March 17th with Deerhunter (their tour-mates) and The Walkmen.

Society's Ills Bassist Andrew W.K. will also be performing separately (and speaking) at SXSW (and at MtyMx in Mexico).

Kim and Thurston are playing with the Plastic Ono Band in their two-night Brooklyn Academy of Music run. They were at the dress rehearsal (aka the first night) last night (2/16). BV photographer Greg Cristman was in the audience and told us, "One definite highlight was Thurston and Kim played with Yoko as a trio and did a killer version of Mulberry from Unfinished Music No. 2 while the film Fly was projected on a huge screen behind them!" - a (poor quality) video clip of one of the other songs is below.

Full lineups for the showcases and videos are below...

Continue reading "Thurston Moore (& Kim) rehearsed w/ Yoko @ BAM, recreating Society's Ills (w/ Mascis, WK), appearing @ SXSW (like She & Him, Merge Records, Tee Pee...) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Mac and Britt embrace (Triangle Music)

The much anticipated XX Merge Festival took place last week in North Carolina with a five-day (July 22-July 26), Wednesday to Sunday run of shows. Last night (Sunday)'s show with She & Him, American Music Club and Wye Oak was the only fully announced lineup. The other four nights (and one day) were a grab bag of any number of Merge bands past and present. Did you go? What were the highlights?

Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, who recently played a pair of big NY shows, headlined the fest's first night (which also included Magnetic Fields). Superchunk, which features Merge founders Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan, topped the bill of the second night. The third night included the reformed/reunited lineups of Spent, Polvo and Pipe.

Mac McCaughan came out on stage before [Pipe] instead of the night's emcee and announced that there was a lone protester outside. He invited him up on stage and it was Jon Wurster decked out in Phillies gear as Philly Boy Roy. He was holding a sign that said "Boycot MERGE." He complained that Merge didn't have any Philly bands on their roster and Mac said that they have bands from Jersey, which is close to Philly. You never compare Jersey to Philly in front of Philly Boy Roy. It was hilarious.

All of this led to the introduction of New Jersey punks Pipe. As soon as they kicked into their first song, beer cans and plastic bottles started flying. Frontman Ron Liberti ate it up and even put himself in the line of fire, headbutting some of the cans while kicking some back into the crowd. Liberti bounded around the stage, essentially taunting the crowd. The crowd loved the band's antics as did I (but that may have been different if I hadn't managed to stay dry). [triangle music]

You can see the partial setlist from Spoon, who headlined that night, below.

In addition to the Cat's Cradle shows (the venue for 4/5 of the night shows), Saturday featured a day show that included Julian Koster solo as Music Tapes and Mac McCaughan with violin accompaniment as Portastatic. A few videos from that set, below.

M. Ward, who's playing the Central Park Summerstage this Saturday (August 1st), played at the fest's Saturday night showcase. Zooey Deschanel joined him for a cover of the Beatles' "Birthday." Not too big of a surprise considering She & Him headlined the Sunday night show.

Other XX Merge artists who recently stopped in NYC include The Clientele and Richard Buckner (they played Music Hall of Williamsburg last Sunday), Versus and Superchunk (they played South Street Seaport last Friday), and Spent (they played Coco 66). Spoon didn't play a NYC show, but they were spotted in the audience of Paul McCartney's third of three shows at Citi Field in Queens. Destroyer is on his way up. He plays Bowery Ballroom on Thursday. Mark Eitzel (as American Music Club) played Le Poisson Rouge and Maxwell's before XX Merge, and now he's on his way back for a show at The Bell House.

Lineups for each night of XX Merge, with videos, and a bunch of setlists, below...

Continue reading "Merge celebrated their 20th w/ 5 days of shows in North Carolina (lineups, reviews, pics, video setlists...)"

photos by Chris La Putt

'Superchunk were awesome. I couldn't believe how much energy they had onstage. But Versus were good too.' - ]Anonymous | July 18, 2009 9:21 AM

"Twenty years of Superchunk. Twenty years of Merge Records. Mac MacCaughan and Laura Ballance, co-founders of both, have got to be feeling pretty good about things. And they certainly weren't at a loss for energy on Friday night. Following a great set from Versus (a sometimes-Merge band that's back at it after quite a few years off), Superchunk hit the gas and never let up.

As the sun disappeared behind the looming skyscrapers of the Financial District and mist thickened over the East River, the band laid down a set of songs from all over their two decades of existence. Though the Seaport has the potential to kill rock 'n' roll vibes with its touristy surroundings, Superchunk was immune to any such bumming-out. Instead they chugged, jumped, squealed and shouted like they were trying to blow the roof off of some smoky and sweaty midsized club.

And, indeed, they even seemed close to blowing the roof off of the dark and cloudy Manhattan sky, as a few errant rain drops hinted at an impending downpour. Fortunately, the deluge held off long enough for the band to bust out an encore of "Slack Motherfucker," a killer finale for a refreshingly spirited show." [John Ruscher]

More pictures and some videos from Friday's free show, below...

Continue reading "Superchunk & Versus @ South Street Seaport - pics & videos "

a shot from the 1st Pool Party (last week) (more by Bao Nguyen)

Chances of rain aside, the free show prospects for this weekend are amazing. Tonight/Friday its the South Street Seaport (with Superchunk and Versus), Saturday is the Siren Festival in Coney Island, and Sunday brings Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Co, and Crystal Antlers (not White Denim) to the Williamsburg Waterfront Pool Party.

Alternatively, Saturday also offers the the African Festival in Prospect Park, and Q-Tip and friends at Central Park's Summerstage.

Video of Magnolia Electric Co performing live (recently) (including one with The Avett Brothers), below...

Continue reading "Superchunk Friday, Siren Saturday, Waterfront Sunday (free NYC shows this weekend also include Q-Tip & African Fest)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: JEFF the Brotherhood - Heavy Damage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Coin Under Tongue - The So Far EP (link to zip)
DOWNLOAD: Sisters - Accolades (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sisters - Street Cars (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lovvers - Human Hair (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darlings - If This is Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darlings - Teenage Girl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - Machines EP (link to Zip)
DOWNLOAD: Acrylics - Molly's Vertigo (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Clientele - I Wonder Who We Are (MP3)

JEFF the Brotherhood @ Death By Audio (more by Leia Jospe)

JEFF the Brotherhood are back in town! If you missed them the last two times they were in town, well, you've got three more chances this week: tonight (7/15) at Death by Audio, Thursday (7/16) at Cake Shop and a secret show on Friday (7/17) that will be announced day of show via their Twitter. Seriously, Jake and Jamin put on one of the rockin-est, most fun shows I've seen this year. The boys are putting the final touches on their new album, Heavy Days, which comes out October 6 via their own Infinity Cat label. They've also got a new 7" single, "Heavy Damage," that they should still have copies of at shows, but you can download the a-side at the top of this post. They'll also be touring with the legendary Shonen Knife this fall.

Tonight's show at Death by Audio should be deafening. JEFF shares the bill with noise-pop duo Sisters, who I've written about more than once already, and have become big fans of. Third on the bill are Sisters' Death By Audio Records label-mates Coin Under Tongue who make the kind of stoner, punk-inflected hard rock that Sub Pop used to specialize in, in the label's early days. (I'm talking Tad, Mudhoney, Das Damen). There's other influences in there too -- metal plays a big part, as does UK punk and postpunk I suspect. And there are some really nice guitar parts when the guys aren't stomping on the pedals but basically you're getting balls-to-the-wall, scream-the-chorus rock. It goes without saying Coin Under Tongue are really, really loud. But they've got songs to match the volume. They're finishing work on their new album, but have offered up a progress report of an EP that you can download at the top of this post. It rocks.

Lovvers

Thursday night's show at Cake Shop (JEFF plays first, like 8:30) is also a good lineup, with the kickoff show of Brit band Lovvers' American tour. Try not to hold that double V against them, these guys are good, and play sloppy, catchy garage punk. You see Wipers and Germs comparisons thrown around a lot, but I was more encouraged to check them out when they listed '60s-loving '80s UK act The Baracudas as an influence on their MySpace. There's an EP out now -- you can download it's lead track "Human Hair" at the top of this post -- and their debut album OCD Go Go Go Girls is due out in October.

Also on the bill are Darlings who, now that I've seen them play and heard their album, I don't think sound anything like Teenage Fanclub or Sloan (so said L Magazine). To me, it's more '90s slacker indie rock -- Pavement, Sebadoh (which The L cited too), or even Small Factory. Comparisons or no, Darlings' debut, Yeah I Know, is chock-a-block with stick-in-your-head songs, two of which you can download at the top of this post.

Rounding out the Cake Shop line up is Stupid Party and Ex-Humans.

Acrylics

Savoir Adore have been written about more than a few times this year and am a big fan. Sometimes anthemic, sometimes danceable, singer-guitarists Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer write hopeful, melodic, pristine pop and their isn't a dud among the 14 tracks on their debut album, In the Wooded Forrest, which is out this week digitally and has been in constant rotation on my stereo this week. They're even better live if you ask me, giving maybe the best performance I saw during the Northside Fest. You can see them live and pick up the album at their record release party Friday night at Cameo Gallery (7/17). The $10 entry gets you a copy of the CD which is a pretty good deal. You can get three of the album's songs for free via their Machines EP which is linked to at the top of this post.

Making it an even better deal is that the show also features Acrylics who were easily the best Northside Fest performance by a band I hadn't seen before. Like Savoir Adore, Acrylics make '80s-tinged guitar pop with boy-girl harmonies and big hooks. You can download their song "Molly's Vertigo" at the top of this post.

Grand Duchy

You can also catch Acrylics with fellow Cantora artists Francis and the Lights at Music Hall of Williamsburg for the official Siren Fest afterparty. This year's Siren is the best line-up they've had in ages... maybe ever. Built to Spill, Thee Oh Sees, Micachu, Japandroids, A Place to Bury Strangers, Monotonix, Future of the Left, Frightened Rabbit -- it's pretty much good band after good band. The worst thing about it is having to make a choice between bands, or trying to run between stages and miss half a bands set in the process. I would like to call out Grand Duchy which is Frank Black and his wife Violet Clark. If you haven't heard their album, Petit Fours, it's really good and not quite like anything like Frank Black has been involved with before. You can also catch Grand Duchy on Friday at Maxwell's.

Saturday's weather report isn't so hot right now -- they're calling for thunderstorms -- but we can hope they're wrong.

Also this weekend are a couple shows featuring bands who'll soon play Merge Records' 2oth Anniversary spectacular, XX Merge. This Friday's (7/17) edition of the Seaport Music Festival is Superchunk and Versus. Superchunk's influence on indie rock over the last 15 years cannot be overestimated (and I'm not even considering that Mac and Laura started the label) while Versus were one of the '90s more under-appreciated groups who are currently recording their first new album in nine years!

And then Sunday, The Clientele are playing Music Hall of Williamsburg -- and you can check out "I Wonder Who We Are," the first released track from their new album, Bonfires on the Heath, at the top of this post.

That's it for this week. Videos, flyers and tour dates are after the jump...

Continue reading "JEFF the Brotherhood, Lovvers, Sisters, Savoir Adore, Darlings, Coin Under Tongue & more in This Week in Indie"

"It's simple really: Summer. Friday night. New York City. The first port in the new world hosting some of the best new music, as well as those established and influential artists you already know and love. All of this amidst the city's most inspiring views of tall buildings, historic ships and nighttime sky. All for FREE.

Get ready, cause summer is coming and with it another great line up on Pier 17 at the Seaport. Hard to believe we're entering our eighth season of summer shows but 2009 promises to be amongst our best.

Highlights this year include Superchunk, Polvo, Obits, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and well, pretty much every night is a highlight to us.

Our FREE, outdoor series runs every Friday night from July 3 to August 14. The music starts at 6pm with a Guest DJ and bands go on around 7pm. Join us downtown to take in the stunning backdrop and enjoy New York's best open air venue.

Seaport Music is presented by the River to River Festival."

Updated free NYC show lineup below...

Continue reading "updated 2009 South Street Seaport Music lineup (free shows)"

DOWNLOAD: Guv'ner - Bay's Way Cruel (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Guv'ner - Help Me (MP3)

In celebration of our 20th anniversary, Merge bands of the past and present will converge for 5 days of live music, July 22-26th in the heat of the sunny North Carolina summer. We are calling these 5 days of live music and mayhem, XX Merge.

XX Merge Wednesday, July 22nd - Sunday, July 26th
4 nights at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC
1 night at Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill, NC on UNC Campus Details of additional music & bedlam yet to come!

Featuring over 25 of your favorite Merge artists including...Superchunk, Spoon, Conor Oberst, Spent, M. Ward, The Rosebuds, Destroyer, Guv'ner, Polvo, Pipe & The Broken West. Many more bands both expected and unexpected still to-be-announced!

5-Day Passes are $150 and will get you in to all XX Merge festivities. Passes will go on sale on Wednesday, April 8th at 10 AM EST via catscradle.com and mergerecords.com. 5-day passes are nontransferable. A limited number of tickets for individual Cradle shows and the Memorial Hall show will be made available at a later date.

And this interesting tidbit from their FAQ's: "We will announce a (nearly) complete list of Merge bands who will be playing prior to the festival, but you will have to come to each show to find out who is playing on which night. We think it's more fun that way!"

The Rosebuds are now in the midst of their April tour that brings them back to NYC for two shows soon.

M Ward is also playing Coachella and Central Park Summerstage this year. All dates below.

Check out the video for Spent's "Umbrella Wars", below...

Continue reading "XX Merge - ticket info & initial festival lineup announced (Guv'ner, Spent, Pipe, Spoon, Conor & M Ward included)"

photos by Chris Graham

DOWNLOAD: Portastatic - Some Small History (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Koster - Jingle Bells (MP3)

Superchunk @ Bumbershoot - Sept 1, 2008

Saturday 10/25/2008
Merge Records CMJ Showcase @ Mercury Lounge, NYC w/
* The Music Tapes
* Wye Oak
* Portastatic
* The Broken West
* The Rosebuds
* Oakley Hall

That's a great lineup for Mercury Lounge. No advanced tickets, approximately 150 tickets sold at the door, and another 100 go to CMJ badgeholders.

The Music Tapes (Julian Koster)'s new album is out on Merge this week. The Singing Saw At Christmastime (from whence the above Chrismas MP3 came) is out October 7th. He/they'll also be touring before CMJ as part of Elephant 6's Holiday Surprise Tour. One day Elephant 6, the next Merge - lots of sleeping around, kind of like...

...Conor Oberst whose new self-titled album is out now on Merge (and not on Saddle Creek or Team Love- two labels he founded). Conor's tour dates are HERE.

Wye Oak, another band that recently came out with an album on Merge (and is playing the showcase) are on tour as we speak. They're next Brooklyn show happens before September is over.

The Rosebuds will be playing at least one more show during CMJ, probably with the Ladybug Transistor who aren't on the Merge showcase, but could be. The Rosebuds' new album Life Like is out October 7th and some of the new songs are streaming at MySpace.

The Broken West, in addition to October 25th, are also playing Mercury Lounge on September 21st. That earlier show has them opening for Bobby Bare Jr. Tickets are on sale. Their new album Now or Heaven is out this week. All tour dates below.

The Broken West will also bid a fond farewell to drummer, Rob McCorkindale. A new baby and other family commitments have made Rob's departure necessary, but everyone will miss him! Sean McDonald will take over the skins and join Dan, Brian, Ross and Jeff on the road this fall.

Oakley Hall is playing Webster Hall on September 24th with Calexico.

Though not playing the CMJ show, Lambchop shares that MErge affiliation. Kurt Wagner (Mr Lambchop) plays Joe's Pub on October 8th. OH (Ohio) is out October 10th.

You can now subsribe to SCORE! Merge Records: The First 20 Years.

And last but not least you'll notice that one of Mac (Mr. Merge himself)'s bands is on this Mercury Lounge CMJ bill too. Portastatic has a 2-CD compilation of singles (covers included) coming out this week. The entire "Some Small History" tracklist is below.... right under the rest of the pictures (and a rough setlist) from Superchunk's set at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle on Labor Day.....

Continue reading "Merge's CMJ Showcase, Broken West tour dates, new Portastatic, Superchunk Bumbershoot pics & more"

David Bowie & Obama

Arcade Fire, Superchunk & Obama
"Tickets can be picked up in Forsythe, Guilford, Randolph, Almanace, Orange, Durham, and Wake Counties at the following locations during early voting hours starting Thursday April 24" [Merge]

Arcade Fire did this in Ohio too.

Get your David Bowie vs Obama t-shirts at Zazzle.

Listen to Flight of the Conchords' David Bowie song on their new album that's streaming at Spinner.

DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - Precision Auto (Superchunk Cover) (live @ Citysol) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - Disco Drive live in Atlanta (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - Reprobates Resume live in Atlanta (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Les Savy Fav - In These Woods live in Atlanta (MP3)

Les Savy Fav @ Citysol (more)

Speaking of Citysol, here's an MP3 of Les Savy Fav covering Superchunk at their Citysol performance last summer. Three live MP3's from a 2005 show in Atlanta too. And speaking of Les Savy Fav live, the next NY Magazine weird event will be at Highline Ballroom on May 21st with Zach Galifianakis (again) AND Les Savy Fav. No ticket info yet.

Les Savy Fav's new live album that was recorded at Bowery Ballrom and also includes a lot of covers, will be released at the end of this month. All dates below.....

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav playing NYC w/ Zach Galifinakis, MP3s, tour"

The dB's @ Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ - Dec 6, 2007 (CRED)

more below...

Continue reading "Jim James, Superchunk Mac, John Oliver & Eugene Mirman as Hanukkah w/ Yo La Tengo continues"