by BBG

Altaar at By:Larm (more)

Altaar aren't content with coming all the way from Norway just to level Austin three times (an appearance at the BrooklynVegan/Profound Lore show at Lovejoys on 3/19, the Profound Lore Official Showcase, and the Chaos in Tejas/Stereogum/Sacred Bones show). The Norwegian doom destroyers have added TWO last minute NYC dates this weekend, and a Boston show to boot! Altaar will join fellow Norwegians Deathcrush to play the Acheron in on 3/12 with Occultation, and Silent Barn on 3/13 with Explosive Improvised Device. From there they head to O'Brien's in Allston, MA for a 3/14 show before continuing to Texas.

BUT FIRST: Sten Ove Toft aka TOFT from Altaar will play a solo show TONIGHT (3/11) on an impressive bill that look like this:

1st: TOFT
2nd: Man Forever Duo (mems. of Oneida/Lone Wolf)
3rd: Tall Firs
4th: Scarcity of Tanks
5th: Chris Grier & Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) Duo

Some video and flyers for Altaar's SXSW dates, are below.

Continue reading "Altaar add two NY shows before SXSW, one solo show w/ Tall Firs, Man Forever Duo, Gibby Haynes & more (TONIGHT)"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

some of the stars of ATP NY 2009

What's almost the exact opposite of a soothing set of Seven Swans performed by one of the most delicate singers in indie rock? Try nine drummers (including Hisham Bharoocha, Zach Hill, and Kid Millions among other notables) bashing your fucking skull for so long that the stage manager has to come out to unplug their gear and remove toms from underneath them! That's how I started my ATP Day 3... with the Boredoms blowing my mind.

Starting off with sparse chords on the monstrous multi-neck guitar/percussive device, Eye set a calm and reflective mood... and then the cymbals. And then the toms. And then eight drummers pummeled away led by Yoshimi P-We. And then the synced rimshots that recalled an Animal Collective beat. All of this happened before a ninth drummer was carried into the show like an emperor while doing a call and response with the other eight.

Within about 10 minutes, I knew that Boredoms would take the prize as best show at Kutsher's that weekend. The sheer power of the coordinated drums, along with pregnant pauses and killer synth effects performed via keys, CD-DJ tables, and broomsticks (!) were beyond jaw dropping.

Following Boredoms, I poked my head into Oneida's Ocropolis for the first of many times. For 10+ hours, Oneida basically had the small and very decorated room all to themselves for a long jam session with their friends. Reportedly, the band had tape rolling the whole time (Ocropolis is the name of their Brooklyn recording studio) and had visuals provided by the Mighty Robot AV Squad. With local standbys like BJ Warshaw of Parts & Labor/Shooting Spires fame, Chris Weingarten (ex P&L), Todd P, and many others spotted in the Sportsman's Bar, it seemed like Brooklyn in the Catskills. Unfortunately, I missed every single special guest appearance (word is, and in part according to a sign on the door, Soft Circle, Yoshimi, Aaron from Tall Firs, Zach Hill, Steven Drozd and many others all popped in) but the band was very interesting to watch, alternating between songs, and droney ambient jams.

Caribou was next in the main room and the 16-piece(!) band including Sun Ra Arkestra member Marshall Allen, Koushik, Kieran Hebden (Fourtet) and many others. I had no expectations heading into the set and was pleasantly surprised, although I found the mix to have waaay too much low end.

I ducked out of Caribou early to catch the last twenty minutes of Hopewell who was billed to be playing "The Desperation Suite," "complete with a female choir and avant-garde saxophonist Mark Marinoff". From what little I saw, the three person "choir" did little but coo, ooh, ahh, and coordinate a dance, but the band did close with a rousing cover of Jane's Addiction's classic "Of Course".

continued below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 3 pics & review (Boredoms, Caribou, Deerhoof, Boris, Jarmusch, Oneida, that crazy guy...)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Thomas Function - Belly of the Beast (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thomas Function - Conspiracy (MP3)

Thomas Function

Alabama's Thomas Function are in town this weekend for a trio of shows as part of trawl down the East Coast. Admission: I think I picked up Thomas Function's debut album, Celebration!, about four times last year thinking it was a LCD Soundsystem record -- singer Joshua Macero, whose mug graces the cover, looks a lot like James Murphy, at least when quickly flipping through CDs. After seeing so many times I finally got around to actually listening to it, and while absolutely nothing like the DFA head (not that I expected it to be), these Alabamians raise quite a ruckus with their spirited, organ-driven garage rock.

There's also come country and bluegrass in there too, as you might expect from a band living that far south but, really, Thomas Function grooves to their own beat. The band have also released a slew of 7" singles, most of which are now out of print or at least hard to find. Maybe they'll have some of them to sell at their shows. They play a free show at Other Music tonight (1/23), Cake Shop on Saturday (1/24) and Mercury Lounge on Sunday (1/25). Full tour dates and video at the bottom of this post.

Golden Triangle

The most interesting show of the weekend for me is Friday (1/23) at Death By Audio. Headlining are locals Golden Triangle, whose debut EP just came out on Kemado's vinyl-only imprint, Mexican Summer. (You can get it digitally from Emusic, though.) Some songs veer towards Vivian Girls/Fuzzbox/Slits territory, other songs remind me a lot of The Fall, and they cover Redd Kross' "Annette's Got the Hits." That's a one-two-three punch for me. (It's also the second band I've written about here to do a Redd Kross cover, the other being Box Elders.) The six-piece are about to head out on tour with King Khan & the Shrines so the rest of the country will get a chance to check them out too.

Also on the bill: Brazilian band Garotas Suecas, who will be compared to Os Mutantes because it's obvious and easy, but these kids are a little more straight up fun garage rock a la Mando Diao or The Fleshtones. I like what I've heard and it's the only NYC performance they have left (they also played Vassar last night). Plus, the lovely, downcast electric folk of NYC's Tall Firs; and hushed trio Metal Mountains that features Helen Rush, Samara Lubelski and Pat Gubler, all of whom spent time in Tower Recordings. So the night starts quiet and gets progressively louder and crazier.

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I'd also like to (also) recommend the Valerie Collective show at Webster Hall tonight (1/23). Collective is a key term here. Many of the groups playing share members and the difference between Anoraak and College (my two favorites of the night), sonically, is minimal (one sings more than the other) but it's such a cool sound. It's big, lush, and retro, unabashedly '80s, and done to perfection. I have no idea if the groups will really translate to the live setting but if you're dancing you probably won't notice if they don't. Steve Moore's Lovelock is also on the bill.

The Week That Was

Lastly, SXSW will be upon us any minute and even if you aren't heading to Austin, New Yorkers are able to experience a little of the excitement as bands from the UK and Europe often make a pitstop here on their way to or from the festival. We already mentioned that Swedish rockers The Soundtrack of Our Lives are playing both Bowery and Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets are on-sale today, 1/23) which I wholeheartedly recommend you check out, but I'm even more excited to see that The Week That Was are playing Mercury Lounge on March 9.

TWTW are one of the two splinter groups created when Sunderland, UK's Field Music decided to retire that moniker but still basically make music together. David Brewis released a phonetics-obsessed solo project under the name School of Language (which toured here last March). His brother Peter created The Week That Was, a concept album equally obsessed with (lyrically) The Media and (sonically) the Big '80s production style of Kate Bush and Trevor Horn. It's a brilliant album that made my Top Five of 2008. Both David Brewis and Field Music keyboardist Andrew Moore, plus about five others on percussion and strings. I'm not sure how many members strong they'll be at Mercury Lounge, but if they even come close to replicating the album's wall-of-sound, it will be worth attending. Tickets are on-sale today since Noon.

All tour dates, videos and flyers after the jump....

Continue reading "Thomas Function, Golden Triangle, Valerie Collective, The Week That Was & more in This Week in Indie"

Self described as "soulful jazzy motherfunkas & a motherfunkette" from São Paulo, Brazil, the band Garotas Suecas are currently visiting our country. You can catch them tonight, Saturday January 17th, at Glasslands Gallery (New York Night Train party), and then again this Friday January 23rd at Death By Audio with Golden Triangle, Tall Firs, and Metal Mountains. GS also play The Bugjar in Rochester, and then Vassar College this upcoming week before returning to Brazil. You may have also recently caught them at Cake Shop and/or Zebulon.

Friday's flyer, a video and all dates below...

Continue reading "Garotas Suecas (from Brazil) in Brooklyn & other Tour Dates"

photos by Tim Griffin, words By Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Iran - "Buddy" (MP3)

Iran @ CMJ 2008

Iran (WITH Kyp Malone) will play a show at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn, TONIGHT (12/18). Also on the bill: Fakers and Lone Wolf and Cub (Ryan Sawyer of Tall Firs and Stars Like Fleas - not the metal band). Presumably, Iran will, uh, run... through tracks from their upcoming record Dissolver, due on Feb 3, 2009 via Narnack.

Back to CMJ for a second....before 2 Live Crew played, a Kyp-less-and-still-named-after-a-'rogue-nation', Iran, played a renamed-The Soft Pack-less (they cancelled) and Lee "Scratch" Perry-less (he cancelled) Narnack Showcase this year, at Santos Party House, with the Sundelles, Vaz and Restavrant. Check out the overdue pics from that show above and below, and note - that's Doug Anson that sat in for Kyp. That probably won't happen again though, as we're told that Kyp plans on playing many more shows with the band, including as part of a 2009 tour out of NYC.

In related news, Kyp Malone's other band TV On The Radio, is garnering accolades-a-plenty including album of the year from The Onion AV Club, and from everyone's favorite weirdo Eric Wareheim of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. The Onion AV Club also cornered Santos Party House co-owner Andrew WK about his favorite record of the year.... Lee "Scratch" Perry's Repentance. Hmm... didn't he have something to do with that record?

In more related-to-Glasslands-tonight news, Tall Firs have teamed up with Awesome Color to play the Knitting Factory on Dec 19th (tickets here). Ryan Sawyer's other band, Stars Like Fleas, are recording a new record and have scheduled a show at Le Poisson Rouge on January 24th with Au (tickets here).

A whole bunch of pictures from the Narnack CMJ showcase, and tonight's Glasslands flyer, below...

Continue reading "Iran shows with (tonight) and without (pics) Kyp Malone, TVOTR is #1?, Awesome Color, Tall Firs, Narnack & stuff "

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

As announced, Emily Haines played back to back shows at Union Pool in Brooklyn last night (Sept 7). The two Emily shows were followed by a third show where Emily joined former tour-mates Tall Firs on stage for a few songs. Ends up, the first two shows weren't Emily solo performances at all. She didn't even play one song off her solo album. Instead, she and Metric guitarist Jimmy Shaw played the new, unreleased 9-track Metric album in its entirety, acoustically, twice. They just finished recording it earlier that day - their reason for being in NYC. Both sets were identical and both ended with the older Metric favorite "Live it Out" - a song the crowd was invited to sing along to.

Future plans for Metric include releasing the new album in November or December, playing more stripped-down, full-album shows, and maybe even recording and releasing the acoustic live version. Kyle stayed for all three sets last night. The below pictures are a mix from all of them (and include the setlist aka the tracklist for the new album)....

Continue reading "Emily Haines (Metric) (x2) & Tall Firs @ Union Pool - pics"

Emily Haines (Metric) @ APW (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

A distinct contrast from Metric's bold, danceable sound, Emily's solo work is an intimate and subtle collection of mellow, piano-driven tunes complimented by soft string and horn arrangements. [EACH] TICKET IS GOOD FOR [ONE] PERFORMANCE. - #1 @ 7:30PM. A REPEAT PERFORMANCE WILL FOLLOW @ 9PM. TICKETS ARE PRESALE ONLY, AND WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR. ALL SHOWS ARE 21+. NO EXCEPTIONS. UNION POOL 484 UNION AVE. CORNER OF UNION & MEEKER BROOKLYN, NY 11211

1. an early show ("EMILY HAINES SOLO PERFORMANCE #1")
2. a late show ("EMILY HAINES (w/ JIMMY SHAW of METRIC) SOLO PERFORMANCE #2")
3. a late-late show ("TALL FIRS featuring EMILY HAINES")

Continue reading "2008 free McCarren 'Pool Party' lineup announced "

Tickets are on sale. Flyer below....

Continue reading "Ecstatic Peace night w/ Thurston Moore @ Knitting Factory"