by Andrew Sacher

Dirty Beaches (aka Alex Zhang Hungtai) is set to release his new double album, Drifters/Love Is The Devil, on May 21 via Zoo Music. The record evokes acid western imagery through lo-fi-as-an-art recording techniques, and the whole thing is really desolate sounding. You can stream a couple of its tracks below. He's also releasing a Japan-only bonus EP, which you can stream a track from at Pitchfork, and a split cassette with TONSTARTSSBANDHT, which you can stream a track from below.

Dirty Beaches already announced a European tour, and mentioned he'd be doing a North American tour later this year. That tour still hasn't been announced, but those in NYC won't have to wait because he's coming here for two shows in June, separate from his future tour. The first is a regular Dirty Beaches show happening at Mercury Lounge on June 26, and the second is a collaborative set of new, original material with Heathered Pearls (aka Jakub Alexander) and Eola at Glasslands on June 28.

Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday (5/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/1) at noon, and tickets for the Glasslands show also go on sale Friday at noon (no presale).

All currently known dates are listed, along with those song streams, below...

Continue reading "Dirty Beaches playing two NYC shows after European tour (dates & song streams)"

photos by Jonathon Bernstein, words by Andrew Sacher

Mac DeMarco & co. making out and crowd surfing

Before the night was over, Mac crowd surfed, told funny stories in between songs using voice that sounded a little like Wolfman Jack, sang at least 15 songs such as the irresistible "Annie," "Cooking Up Something Good," "Rock and Roll Night Club," "I'm a Man," "One More Tear To Cry," and "Viceroy," did a brief cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird," and brought his girlfriend Kira up on stage to dedicate "Still Together" to her. [According 2 G]

Captured Tracks labelmates Mac DeMarco and Naomi Punk brought their tour with Calvin Love to NYC on Friday (3/1) for a sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Tonstartssbandht. Mac and his band brought their usual quirky stage antics (which include making out with each other) and their crowd-pleasing loungey guitar rock. But if you haven't seen Naomi Punk yet, their set was one of the most surprising on the bill. The bass-less trio is a lot grungier live than on record, and more so than any other band on that lineup, which made their set stick out (in a good way).

More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Mac DeMarco, Naomi Punk, Calvin Love & Tonstartssbandht played Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Merchandise @ 285 Kent, 12/31/2012 (via @lkj)

Florida's Merchandise closed out their 2012 with two shows at Brooklyn DIY venue 285 Kent. The first happened on Saturday (12/29) with Philadelphia's Night Sins, plus Pharmakon, Shoxx, and Herzog Rising. Both shows featured Elsner Nino of Shoxx who is now Merchandise's official drummer and gave the songs a harder edge, steering the band a bit back to their punk roots. It almost made stagedivers during "Time" and "Become What You Are" seem semi-normal. OK, not really. You can check out two good-quality videos from Saturday's performance below.

Pharmakon, meanwhile, played a brutal noise set that featured washes of dissonance peppered by blasts of hallowed screams from mastermind Margaret Chardiet. There is a simmering fury that sits just beneath the surface for Chardiet, and in the moments when she lets out that primal scream, it is absolutely terrifying.

Night Sins, who ripped in the small K&M bar back in November, were swallowed whole by the cavernous soundsystem at 285 Kent. The band was sporting a new guitarist with a 12-string awash in reverb which, considering the ambient sound, was completely lost in the mix.

The Saturday show was a last-minute show that was in addition to their previously-announced New Year's Eve show where they played alongside Tonstartssbandht, Blanche Blanche Blanche and "secret" headliners DIIV (though most people had figured out they were playing).

Additionally, Merchandise contributed a list of "merchy's ten taypes_2012" to Pitchfork's end-of-year "Guestlist" feature and you can check out their cassette picks below, along with the video from 285 Kent.

Continue reading "Merchandise played 2 shows @ 285 Kent (video), listed their favorite tapes of 2012"

Love it or loathe it, New Year's Eve is coming. Here are some of this year's NYC concert options, of which there are many.

One of the biggest shows of the night is Coldplay and Jay-Z at Barclays Center. If you've seen pictures of Coldplay's tour this year, you know they have this bluetooth controlled, light-up wristbands that (no matter how you feel about their music) makes for a spectacular interactive experience. And certainly Jay-Z will throw a good party at his own house.

Jay-Z's pal Kanye West is doing a three-night run in Atlantic City right before NYE (12/28-30) at Revel. Tickets for those shows are still available.

Another hip hop option includes Nas at Radio City Music Hall that also features Elle Varner. Tickets are still available.

Azealia Banks is playing a black tie party on top of The Standard Hotel (aka Boom Boom Room). More info is at the facebook event. You can RSVP for tickets ($250 minimum) by emailing unifiedpromo@unifiedpromo.com.

Also in the biggest NYE show race there is also Phish's sold-out night at MSG, part of a four night run at the venue.

If jam bands are your thing, you might also want to catch The Disco Biscuits, who kick off their four-night run at Best Buy Theater tonight (12/26) and then play NYE at The Theatre at MSG (tickets).

Another jammy option is Gov't Mule's two-night run at Beacon Theatre (12/30-31). Tickets for both nights are on sale.

If you're more into dancing, RJD2 will be DJing at Gramercy Theater with Com Truise and Chrome Sparks; and Moby and many others will be DJing at an as-yet undisclosed location (tickets).

Pretty Lights is also doing two sold nights at Roseland Ballroom (12/30-31). Another dance option that you might want to avoid is Afrojack is playing two nights on Pier 94 (12/30-31), but it's worth mentioning that if you get there early on night 1, you can catch opening sets by Diplo and Rusko. Night 2 (aka NYE) is sold out but night 1 is still on sale.

Brooklyn dance party The Bunker is throwing an event at the 70 N 6 St loft (above Public Assembly) with John Roberts, Mike Parker, Bryan Kasenic, and Mike Servito. Tickets for that party are on sale now.

Downstairs at the actual Public Assembly, Gaze 4 Daze is throwing two queer parties. Room 1 has DJ sets by Rizzla, Sebastian, and D'Hana, along with Emcee Ryann Supamakenzi and host Cherlyn. In room 2, they've got MIchael Magnan, Amber Valentine, Telfar, Mursi Layne, host Helen Harris, and live performances by House of Ladosha, Cakes Da Killa, and Abdu Ali. $10 at the door gets you into both parties.

Brooklyn warehouse party group Rubulad is presenting "Party-Go-Round" in three separate secret Bushwick locations near the Jefferson L stop. There will be live music by Friend Roulette, Not Waving but Drowning, Viva, and more; dance parties with music by DJ Shakey, Ol' Stark, DJ Mojo, $mall ¢hange and more; a puppet show, a midnight champagne toast, and more. Admission is $20, the events start at 9 PM, and there will be a party bus to navigate between the three locations.

Matthew Dear and Superpitcher are at Le Bain (tix); Ian Pooley, Pat Mahoney and more at Cameo; Onra, Nick Catchdubs, and Samo Sound Boy are at Williamsburg's Villian (tickets).

Holy Ghost! and Midnight Magic are at Brooklyn Bowl (sold out) and after that, Holy Ghost!'s DFA labelmate Juan Maclean will DJ an afterparty at the same venue (tickets).

Chris Keating of Yeasayer is DJing a BangOn!NYC-presented party at a secret warehouse location in Williamsburg near the Montrose L stop with Felix Cartal, Chordashian, Alex English, Sean Glass, and many others. There will also be live music by Carousel, Suntalk, and more TBA, art installations, an inflatable obstacle course, food trucks, and more. Tickets (more info at that link) are on sale and RSVP is open. Location will be revealed with the purchase of tickets or an RSVP.

If you'd rather dance to classic soul and R&B, there's New York Night Train Annual Dusk Till Dawn New Year's Ball at Home Sweet Home featuring a live performance from Kid Congo and the K-Holes, plus Jonathan Toubin and a crew of DJs.

For the indie rock inclined, you could go see Titus Andronicus at Glasslands which is a pretty small venue for them these days. While So So Glos were originally on the bill for this, they have since dropped off. Dapwell, formerly of Das Racist, is your MC for the evening and tickets are still available.

Right next door at 285 Kent, Florida's (awesomely) mopey Merchandise will visit,  plus Blanche Blanche Blanche, Tonstartssbandht and "speciial guests" (note the two ii's is "speciial") will surely be a wild night. Dive in, tickets ($20) are on sale now.

After that, DJ Rashad, DJ Manny, Sasha Go Hard, and others will play an afterparty at 285 Kent (tickets).

Psychic Ills and Herb Craft are playing Saint Vitus. Tickets for that show are on sale.

Also happening in Williamsburg, They Might be Giants play a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (one of three shows there that week; Reverend Vince Anderson and His Love Choir will be at Union Pool (free); and at Knitting Factory it's a night of cabaret hosted by the great Murray Hill (tix).

More indie rock: Blonde Redhead and Beach Fossils are at Irving Plaza. Tickets are still available and you can also win a pair from us.

Swimming Cities and Gowanus Ballroom (55 9th St) are presenting The First Party Ever: Primal Reset for the Year Zero with dance parties by Barney Iller, DJ Shakey, and DJ Tinseltown; live music at midnight by Stumblebum Brass Band; an open bar from 11:30-12:30; visuals; "Serret's patented coal fire hot tub time machine"; "Live birth of the antichrist, according to Doctor Adventure"; and more. $15 tickets are on sale now (or $20 at the door, cash only) and all proceeds go to recovery at Serret Metal Works and the "BOATEL" art hotel project in Far Rockaway that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy.

Meanwhile across the Hudson, The Hold Steady will ring in 2013 with Lucero at The Wellmont Theatre in NJ. Tickets are still available.

Before that, Lucero will do a two-night run at Brooklyn Bowl (12/28-29) with Nude Beach supporting on night 1 and Hollis Brown on night 2. Tickets for night 1, night 2, or both are still available.

Amanda Palmer will be at Terminal 5, playing Prince's Purple Rain in its entirety which will surely be a spectacle. She'll play a set of originals too. Tickets are still available.

If you'd like to party like it's 1929, Spirit Family Reunion are bringing the old time religion to Pianos. Tickets are still available, includes a champagne toast.

More rootsy options include The Punch Brothers and Michael Daves at Bowery Ballroom (sold out); and The Felice Brothers, Yellowbirds, and Mail the Horse at Mercury Lounge (sold out).

The Felice Brothers also play Maxwell's (12/30) a day earlier (sold out), and on New Year's Eve, the Hoboken venue will host "Maxwell's Rockin' & Rollin' Ass Kickin' New Year's Eve Dance Party feat. The Two Giants: Todd-O-Phonic Todd & Mono-O-Phonic Matt Porter." They get their name from being big San Francisco Giants fans, and they'll be spinning "some of the greatest soul, r'n'b, garage, rock'n'rol etc" all night. Admission is totally free, no cover.

My Morning Jacket is doing a sold out pre-New Year's Eve three-night run (12/27-29) at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester.

After that, Capitol Theatre will host Steve Miller Band on 12/30 (tickets) and funky METERS with Dumpstaphunk on NYE (tickets).

For some old school punk, Manitoba (the project of Dictators frontman Dick Manitoba) and Sylvain Sylvain (of New York Dolls) will play Bowery Electric with The A-Bones and Daddy Long Legs. Tickets for that show are on sale.

To keep the party going the next day, head to SOB's for Questlove's holiday party.

Whatever you end up doing, be safe!.

What did we miss?

Heading to Austin? We have a list of shows happening there too. Update: And Chicago too.

Continue reading "A guide to New Year's Eve shows and parties in NYC"

Merchandise at WIERD in September (more by Phil Maier)

We've got about two weeks to go and still more New Year's Eve options for NYC are getting announced every day. Just yesterday it was announced that Titus Andronicus are playing Glasslands that night (tickets) and now we just found out that Tampa post-punks Merchandise will be next door at 285 Kent with Arbutus Records-signed duo Tonstartssbandht and Vermont psych pop duo Blanche Blanche Blanche. (We're hoping Merchandise will have hired a drummer by then.) The bill also features "speciial guests," and we're not sure who the special guest is, but we couldn't help but notice they spelled "speciial" with two I's. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

A list of all Merchandise dates and a video below...

Continue reading "Merchandise playing NYC on New Year's Eve with Tonstartssbandht, Blanche Blanche Blanche & "speciial guest""

DOWNLOAD: Blues Control - "Iron Pigs" (MP3)

Blues Control at Barnard College in 2010 (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Last year, psych rockers Blues Control collaborated with Laraaji and Arji for RVNG's FRKWYS series and this year they toured together. That tour kicked off with a Brooklyn show in March where they performed the album live for the first time, and just wrapped up at the end of last month in Italy.

Blues Control are now working on a new album of their own, and it will be their first release on Drag City. The album's called Valley Tangents and it's due out on LP/CD/casette on June 19. Download the lead track, "Iron Pigs" (is that a play on "War Pigs" and "Iron Man"?) above or stream it below, along with the album artwork and tracklist.

They'll play a previously mentioned record release show for the album in Brooklyn at 285 Kent on June 23 with Purling Hiss, Tonstartssbandht, Jordan Redaelli of Coconuts, DJ Brian Turner, and DJ Paul Major. The duo have other Northeast dates surrounding the release show in Baltimore and Philly and will hit the road for a longer tour this summer.

All dates, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Blues Control prepping Drag City release, touring (date, MP3)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Psychedelic duo Blues Control collaborated with zither master Laraaji (known for the Brian Eno-produced Ambient 3: Day of Radiance) and musician Arji Cakouros for a release that was part of RVNG's FRKWYS series in November. The quartet will perform live for the first time tonight (March 28th) at Roulette in Brooklyn. Tickets are still on sale. Listen to one of the meditative tracks on Soundcloud.

Russ from Blues Control spoke with Roulette about the album.

ROULETTE: Tell us as about the work you'll be doing at Roulette. Possible things to speak to: what was the origin of the project??

RUSS WATERHOUSE: Matt at RVNG asked Blues Control to participate in his FRKWYS series of collaborative records, in which Matt pairs musicians from different generations. We proposed a collaboration with Laraaji, and fortunately all parties were interested. Lea and I were familiar with Laraaji's records, and we had previously contacted Laraaji about sharing a bill at ESP Records, after seeing him perform in the East Village at Tribal Soundz. In late 2010 we got together to record with Laraaji and his partner Arji Cakouros, improvising for several hours at Black Dirt Studio in upstate NY. Our Roulette performance will be our first time playing together since that day.

After that they'll take the show to Europe for a set of April shows. (Laraaji also leads laughter & music meditation sessions, with some in NYC coming up.)

Blues Control will release a new record, Valley Tangents, on Drag City on June 19th. Surrounding that, the group has a pair of shows planned for June 22nd in Philly and June 23rd at 285 Kent.

All tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Blues Control collaborated w/ Laraaji & Arji for an LP & show (TONIGHT), releasing LP on Drag City, touring"

By Bill Pearis

Half Moon Run

As an "international delegate" at M for Montreal, by Friday you start to get a little worn out. Your day is booked with meet-ups, panels, something called "speed schmoozing" and loads of bands. Most of it's fun or interesting but I went to sneak a catnap on Friday afternoon and ended up sleeping through one whole showcase. (Sorry, I.No and Bobby Bazini.)

But there was a lot of good in what I did see, including what most agreed was the best new band of the week, Half Moon Run. The Montreal trio match songwriting (and harmonies) of '60s folk rock with the atmospherics of Radiohead. A little too like Radiohead occasionally, but for the most part Half Moon Run had found their own way. I was instantly impressed but it took me a day to get their name right: I tweeted praise for something called Full Moon Circle, which I later realized was partially from one of their songs "Full Circle." (That song and another are streaming at the bottom of this post.) Maybe the name's not so memorable but their music sure was.

Buddy McNeil and the Magic Mirrors

The afternoon show Half Moon Run were part of also featured Buddy McNeil and the Magic Mirrors, punchy twang-n-roll dressed in Nautical outfits; Toronto four-piece The Midway State who make commercial-sounding alt-rock (clearly talented but definitely MOR); and the widescreen roar that was Passwords, who all the Brit journalists in attendance seemed to go gaga for.

Hollerado

After the unplanned three-hour konk-out and some much-needed dinner it was off to La Sala Rossa again for the official evening showcase, which was co-presented by CMJ. Hollerado headlined the show and are a lot of fun. And know their way around a giant hooks, the kind that would've made them hugely popular in the mid-'90s. Songs like "Americanarama" and "Juliette" (from their debut Record in a Bag) would've fit perfectly in between "Seether" and "Sucked Out" on a mixtape. As it is, Hollerado are merely Very Popular in Canada and fans are vocal and rowdy in a good-natured way. The band encourage it with confetti cannons, glowing beach balls and a cover of "Fat Bottom Girls." They also had awesome t-shirts at the merch table co-opting the Wu-Tang Clan logo and the Heisenberg sketch the Cousins pray to in Breaking Bad.

Parlovr

The showcase also had Parlovr on the bill who I've seen a handful of times over the last three years and have become a really solid live band. There's a lot of flying hair and the drummer is crazy tall with long arms flying the whole time. I'm not sure they have yet to write a song as catchy as "Heaven/Hell" which opens their set. If they have, they're not playing it yet.

Uncle Bad Touch

Also on the La Sala Rossa bill: Montreal's Uncle Bad Touch who recently signed to JEFF the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label and that probably tells you a lot about their sound. (Riffy, sneery, Nuggets-y party rock.) For those in NYC, Uncle Bad Touch play Death By Audio on November 29.

We also got duo TONSSTARTBANDHT who started off Animal Collectively but became progressively more prone to dissonance. I still don't know how to pronounce their name.

Doldrums

Like the previous night, they had us running across the street to Casa Del Popolo to see more bands. Toronto's Doldrums (aka Alrick Woodhead) was wonderfully ADD, twiddling knobs, hammering sample triggers and pacing around the stage. Too many ideas crammed into one 20-minute set? Maybe, but it was exciting seeing talent that is only just now beginning to show its potential.

Thus:Owls

The other band at Casa Del Popolo was Candian/Swedish combo Thus:Owls, the only band of the week to use a colon in their name. The band stay busy in Montreal, backing Patrick Watson and Marie Pierre Arthur (who would play the next night). Here, fronted by harpsichord-wielding Erika Angell, they are delicate and stirring and swoony. Angell's got some pipes.

Misteur Valaire

After the Salla Rosa show, we headed over to the late-night after party at Club Soda, one of Montreal's many amazing venues. (Seriously, no city I've visited has more clubs with great sound, great lighting and intelligent layout as Montreal.) I walked in about three songs into Plaster's set which was pretty great. Squelchy and banging, they do live dance music right. If there was a little more flow in their set, they'd give Soulwax a run for their money.

Next was Misteur Valaire who some of you may have seen at one of our day parties during SXSW this year. Seeing them on their home turf, however, is something else. Montreal loves Misteur Valaire who, like a lot of groups genuinely popular with the locals, come with a thick slice of fromage coating everything they do. They definitely put on a show, complete with costume changes. Hipster nerd Franco-Canadian boy band who have serious musical chops applied totally in the pursuit of a good time. The crowd was going mental for the entire set, which didn't finish till 2AM.

At that point I was finished and left before Bran Van 3000 started, choosing instead sweet sleep.

Click through for a few more pictures from Friday's showcases, plus the Half Moon Run streaming player and some video of Hollerado and TONSTARTSSBANDHT in action.

Continue reading "M for Montreal 2011 -- Night 3 in pics & review (Half Moon Run, Hollerado, Parlovr, Doldrums, Uncle Bad Touch, Misteur Valaire & more)"