Mirah with Thao & Mirah at MHOW in June (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Mirah plays Dead Herring tonight (8/19) with two fellow female songwriters. She'll be joined by the anti-folk-leaning K Records labelmate and sometimes-collaborator Tara Jane Oneil, who will be playing guitar in Mirah's band, and the guitar drone of Noveller (aka Sarah Lipstate). According to Tara's website, she'll be playing a singer songwriter style solo set with just her and a guitar.

The show is the first Dead Herring show to have advance tickets on sale. To reserve tickets:

1. send $10 per ticket via paypal to brett@mladysrecords.com
2. make yr subject heading "mirah tickets"
3. yr name will be on the door the night of the show - if you bought more than one ticket, it'll say yr name + 1 or more
4. any questions, write brett@mladysrecords.com for clarity and harmony

Noveller has other upcoming shows too including one this Sunday (8/21) at Littlefield and another on September 6 at Mercury Lounge with Braids, Blue Hawaii, and Painted Palms (tickets).

Mirah recently released a new song, "Low Self Control," featuring Tender Forever. You can stream the track at her website and download it on iTunes.

Mirah's partner in crime Thao Nguyen also has a bunch of shows coming up.

All Mirah/Noveller dates and Littlefield flier below...

Continue reading "Mirah, Noveller & Tara Jane O'Neil playing Dead Herring & other shows"

Lower Dens @ Bowery Ballroom during CMJ (more by Amanda Hatfield)

John Hunter of Lower Dens aka Glory Girls have replaced Lower Dens on tonight's Mercury Lounge show because Lower Dens had to cancel due to losing a member. The band posted this message last week:

"Our guitarist, and sometimes drummer, Will Adams, has decided to leave the band, due to exhaustion. As a result we are very sorry to announce the cancellation of some of our upcoming shows. Will's gonna be sorely missed, and we're not sure yet exactly what that will mean for the future of our band, but there will be one."

Lower Dens vocalist and guitarist Jana Hunter (brother of John) followed that up with:

"To be clear, we're still working things out after Will's departure, but we are BY NO MEANS breaking up, and we still plan on playing all the other shows we have scheduled this summer and beyond, including Marfa, Austin, Houston, NYC, etc. See yall soon. - jh"

One of thsoe upcoming shows they're still playing is at the South Street Seaport this summer. Another is part of Hopscotch, and they'll be at NXNE too. Baltimore City Paper has more info in a new interview with Jana.

Tara Jane O'Neil was also listed on tonight's show, but now the openers are Quilt, Battle Circus and Marlon Rando.

Other Lower Dens dates and a video of Glory Girls playing Glasslands, below...

Continue reading "Will left Lower Dens who are replaced by Glory Girls at Mercury Lounge, but the band is not broken up"

Lower Dens at Bruar Falls (more by Jessica Amaya)

Lower Dens headlined Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday (2/25). How was that show?

Next week Lower Dens will hit the road to get to SXSW followed by a European tour that will last them through mid-April. After a couple of weeks away from the road, they'll play some more shows including one at the more intimate Mercury Lounge on May 1st with Tara Jane O'Neil. Tickets go on AMEX presale Wednesday at noon (3/2), and regular sale on Friday.

Mercury Lounge is one of two NYC dates scheduled for Tara Jane O'Neil. She'll also play Death by Audio on April 24th with Broken Water, Grass Widow, and Talk Normal. That is one of two NYC dates scheduled for Grass Widow (who'll also support Hunx & His Punx at Glasslands).

The Tara Jane O'Neil dates precede the release of "Ruh Roh", A collaborative LP with Nikaido Kazumi (5/24 on K Records) an album described as "an experiment in improvisation and collaboration without shared language". Listen to at track at K.

All tour dates, video from Lower Dens' MHOW show and more below...

Continue reading "Lower Dens played MHOW, playing Merc w/ Tara Jane O'Neil who plays DbA w/ Grass Widow (and other dates)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: The Psychic Paramount - "RW" Excerpt (MP3)

The Psychic Paramount

After releasing a double-disc of solo guitar compositions and a live LP, The Psychic Paramount is back with their second full-length of new material, the aptly titled II due on Feb 22nd via No Quarter Records. Fans of ripping and proggy instrumentation take note and preorder the new LP via No Quarter. Check out an excerpt of the first track to make its way out, "RW" which you can download above/stream below.

TPP will play a record release party on March 5th at Death By Audio, snagging Talk Normal and Eleven Twenty Nine (Tom Carter + Marc Orleans) to warm the masses. The show is one of two scheduled for Eleven Twenty-Nine, who will also play Zebulon on 2/22 with the Gunn/Truscinski Duo, Marcia Bassett/Samara Lubelski and Messages.

Before the Eleven Twenty-Nine show at Zebulon, Daniel Higgs will play a special "Happy Hour" set, the second of four of such sets scheduled at the venue happening from 2/21-2/24 which is right before he plays, Issue Project Room on 2/26. The spankin' new Skull Defekts (with Higgs) will play Littlefield on April 3rd.

Talk Normal also has a few other shows in their near future, including one with Liturgy at 285 Kent Ave on 2/25, April 23rd at The Stone, and April 24th at Death By Audio with Grass Widow, Broken Water & Tara Jane O'Neil.

All tour dates, a video and that PP song stream is below...

Continue reading "The Psychic Paramount releasing 'II' & playing a show w/ Talk Normal ++ Daniel Higgs doing 4 shows @ Zebulon & more"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mount Eerie's Phil Elverum @ Market Hotel...

The haunting, cryptic grind of Malkuth and the high-intensity shriek of Liturgy (in full corpsepaint) were quite the introduction for Mount Eerie's headlining set at Market Hotel on Halloween. The latest opus from Mt. Eerie (aka Phil Elverum), Wind's Poem, is a metal-inspired noise odyssey that manages to expertly pair brutal passages of distortion with ethereal lyrics and tender interludes usually found in his acoustic work. The somewhat rare occurrence of Phil's full-band tour, armed with the abrasive new album, was the obvious impetus for the creative holiday-night booking. Mount Eerie's live set, with Elverum backed by No Kids' Nick and Julia on synths and two drummers (one of which manned a massive gong), did not disappoint with its dynamic range - guitars blasted and died alongside Phil's whispered words.

No Kids, the quiet, restrained indie pop trio responsible for 2008's excellent Come Into My House, must have felt a bit out of place in the opening Halloween-night spot, but it was a different scene the following night at (Le) Poisson Rouge (I showed up too late to see them on Halloween so I stopped by the next night at LPR). At that show, the band followed classical pianist Dina Pruzhansky, whose opening set included selections from Debussy and Schumann. Welcoming the diversity, singer and songwriter Nick Krgovich played all his synth parts on the club's grand piano. Phil Elverum has been playing drums with the group all tour (drummer Justin Kellam has been living in Berlin) . His casual, sound-sensitive approach to the kit is rooted in his production style - subtle and unafraid of the occasional slip.

No Kids played a set of all new songs written for a forthcoming LP expected in fall 2010 (no word if they played the supremely excellent "For Halloween" on the night itself). The tunes dealt in Tin Pan Alley melodies (aided by the piano for synth substitution) and lyrics that painted a Hopperesque picture of isolation (and focused on Hollywood in specific terms). The crowd sat, still in a haze from Halloween, and soaked in the restrained songs.

I didn't see Tara Jane O'Neil's set either night. I don't believe she played at Market Hotel, but she was definitely set up to go at LPR. The Mount Eerie/No Kids/TJO tour continues through November 8th. Dates and more pictures from both shows are below...

Continue reading "Mount Eerie & No Kids played LPR & Market Hotel w/ Liturgy & Malkuth on Halloween (pics) "

King Khan & the Shrines @ Sasquatch 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

The Almighty Defenders CD, out September 22nd on Vice, brings together the Black Lips, King Khan and Mark Sultan. The latter two make up King Khan & the BBQ Show, which is the band that'll be playing Brooklyn's Bell House this Halloween (its an early show - 7:30pm doors / over by 10:30pm) (there's a TBA late show at the same venue). Prizes for best costume. As you can see above, King Khan already has some ideas in mind. Tickets are on sale now.

Can't make it Halloween? King Khan and BBQ are also playing Bowery Ballroom one night earlier (10/30). Ticket info TBA. Full tour dates are still forthcoming, but there are a few more below (including November 1st in Philly). They'll be touring in support of the new King Khan & the BBQ Show album, Invisible Girl, out November 3rd on In the Red.

Another Halloween NYC gig happening in Brooklyn is the Mount Eerie metal show at the Market Hotel. His tourmates, No Kids and Tara Jane O'Neil, will also be his backing band for a set that promises "2 drummers, some gongs and a wall of amps." Liturgy is one of the bands on the bill. Another will be Malkuth. That tour formerly had a TBA for another NYC show. That will happen (with No Kids & TJO playing sets too) on Sunday, November 1st at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets for that Manhattan show (which does not include Liturgy or Malkuth) are on sale (Market Hotel doesn't have advanced tickets).

The LPR show is put on by Wordless Music, who has a bunch of big shows coming up (not the least Rhys Chatham's A Crimson Grail on Saturday). There's also Warp20NYC, the Wordless series at Columbia's Miller Theatre, Deefhoof and Why?.

The Market Hotel show is curated by Brandon Stosuy - music writer and organizer of Show No Mercy (that Black Bubblegum co-curated this past Sunday). Tonight (August 5th) Brandon will be be presenting from his "in-progress oral history of American black metal [briefly excerpted at Believer] joined by Matt Luem for "Joe's Pub's Happy Ending Reading & Music Series. Also at the event will be "Rachel Cohen reading from her book A Chance Meeting: Intertwined Lives of American Writers and Artists. And Lawrence Weschler reading from his work on the visual artists David Hockney and Robert Irwin. And Colin Stetson delivering an opening invocation on saxophone. And Buke & Gass playing a short set of clear voiced yet fuzzed out pop experiments on homemade instruments." Tickets are still on sale.

Videos, new KK&BBQ album tracklist and tour dates from King Khan & the BBQ Show, below...

Continue reading "King Khan & BBQ Show's new album, tour dates, NYC shows, Halloween in Brooklyn, Malkuth, Mt Eerie, Joe's Pub & stuff "

Hello Everyone,

Myself [Mia Clarke of the indefinitely-on-hiatus band Electrelane] and Sara Jaffe (formerly of Erase Errata) have co-edited a book called The Art of Touring. The book features artwork, photography and writing reflecting life on the road, plus a DVD of live footage. Contributors include Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Devendra Banhart, Electrelane, the Ex, Le Tigre, Explosions in the Sky, Jem Cohen, Tara Jane ONeil and many more.

The book is published by the wonderful Portland-based imprint, Yeti.

We are going to have a couple of events to celebrate the release of the book. The first will be in NYC on August 4th 2009. We will have a reading at Bluestockings bookstore in Manhattan from 7pm, featuring Sara Jaffe, Jem Cohen, Sara Marcus, myself and others. Then, from 10pm-2am, I will be DJing as one half of DARK HABITS at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn.

Any NYC-based people, it would be lovely to see you there!

Mia

The above-mentioned NYC reading & DJ sets are tonight (8/4) (not to be confused with the reading @ Union Hall) (or the Nick Cave one happening in September) .

Then tomorrow (8/5) at Bruar Falls:

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS reading series:
SARA JAFFE [ERASE ERRATA]
SUSAN HWANG [BUSHWICK BOOK CLUB]
AARON HARTMAN [OLD TIME RELIJUN]
SHARON VAN ETTEN 8PM

Portland, Oregon's Fontanelle Gallery is hosting an exhibition of photos from the book, which opens August 6th. The gallery is also holding a special event on August 22nd with Sara Jaffe, Tara Jane Oneil, and Julianna Bright (The Golden Bears). More info on the exhibit and event below...

Continue reading "The Art of Touring - a book w/ related NYC events (tonight) "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Mount Eerie - Wind's Dark Poem (MP3)

Mount Eerie/Phil Elverum is going on tour this fall. In addition to his dates with Why?, Elverum will be headlining a trip with friends and collaborators Tara Jane O'Neil and No Kids. One NYC stop on the tour will be a Halloween show at the Market Hotel with an eclectic bill of metal bands Liturgy and Krallice, the minimal folk of Tara Jane O'Neil, and No Kids's indie pop. (There's also a TBA NYC show for Mount Eerie on November 2nd.)

UPDATE: Krallice are not playing the Halloween show (which is curated by Brandon Stosuy of Show No Mercy), anymore. Another band will be announced instead. We also found out that No Kids will be Phil's backing band. That is all.

If that lineup sounds strange, it might make more sense after looking at the lineup of this year's What The Heck Fest, or hearing the new Mount Eerie record, Wind's Poem, which is out now on his own PW Elverum & Sun label. The double LP covers a range of sounds from the first blast of introductory noise (as heard in the inaugural track, above) to more melodic, image-driven storytelling to creepy marimba-eque textures (notably on "Between Two Mysteries"). No idea if live he'll be doing the songs with band, iPod or solo.

Elverum just wrapped up What the Heck Fest 8, which ran July 17-19 and brought a lot of great artists to his hometown of Anacortes, Washington...

What the Heck Fest is a festival out of Anacortes, Wa put on (more-or-less) by Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie and Geneviève Castrée of Woelv. It's kind of like summer camp with tons of indie bands. They've been at it for 8 years now. This year's fest was awesomely diverse (highlighted humorously saturday night with Olympia black metal superstars Wolves in the Throne Room following posi indie folkster Kimya Dawson) and I really couldn't have been more pleased to have the presence of so many things that didn't fit the k records/indie rock mold that people assume this festival is in the mix. [Letters With Mixtapes]

Other NYC Halloween shows this year include Lez Zeppelin, The Get Up Kids and the Misfits. All Mt Eerie tour dates, album art and tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Mount Eerie - 2009 tour dates (Market Hotel on Halloween w/ Liturgy, No Kids, Tara Jane O'Neil & ???) +++ MP3"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mirah + No Kids @ Highline Ballroom (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Mirah will play a show at NYC's Market Hotel on Sunday, May 3rd with TJO (aka Tara Jane O'Neil), Tall Firs, and Air Waves. Mirah's latest record, (a)spera, came out on K Records on March 10th. O'Neil's own K Recs release, A Ways Away, is due out May 5th.

Market Hotel is a considerably different venue than the Highline Balroom, which Mirah and O'Neil played when they last visited NYC during last year's CMJ. In May, Mirah will tour across Europe with Tara.

Mirah, Tara and No Kids all also meet at What the Heck Fest in Anacortes, WA, which runs July 17th-19th. The line-up for the three-day fest is posted below. Passes are on sale.

No Kids, who also played that Highline show, have their own NYC dates coming up in May. Singer Nick Krgovich will play two shows with To Bad Catholics, his side-project with No Kids singer/synth player Julia Chirka. They'll visit the Cake Shop on Tuesday, May 19th with Skeletons. Then, they'll perform at new Ditmas Park venue Sycamore on Wednesday, May 20th. Katie Eastburn (from Young People) opens both shows.

Nick Krgovich recently gotten into writing musicals (which seems to be a something of a trend). Perfomances of Krgovich's "In The Yard, Havin' Fun," commissioned by Vancouver's PUSH Festival, took place in early February. The show included contributions by Parenthetical Girls, Juana Molina, and others.

On No Kids' Myspace is a remix of the band's "For Halloween" done by "Robby from the terrific PDX [a.k.a. Portland] group WHAT'S UP?...for an upcoming 12"."

"In The Yard, Havin' Fun" poster, all tour dates and full What the Heck Fest line-up, below...

Continue reading "Mirah, Tara Jane O'Neil & No Kids - new albums, projects, NYC shows, 2009 tour dates & What the Heck Fest"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Tara Jane O'Neil opened with her minimalist folk, backed by a drummer and a guitarist. The music, especially the last song with Mirah on bells and backups, explored pulses and rhythms with a droning guitar and extremely spare instrumentation.

No Kids took the stage, opening with "For Halloween" off of, what I'll admit is one of my favorite records of the year, Come Into my House. Having different expectations for No Kids than most, I was pretty forgiving, just excited to hear the songs live, but even so, the stage-show was a bit underwhelming. The arrangements, fleshed out with vocal harmonies, precision tight drums, and ample low-end on their Elverum-produced record, sounded hallow and stilted live. Another vocalist accompanying singer Nick Krgovich (any maybe even some of the album's acoustic-instrument flourishes) would have gone far. The songs where the two synths let loose and cut through the overbearing drums shined, and the band closed strongly with "Whatcha Doin'" off the Worried Noodles compilation CD. (Check out No Kids' singles, including the new "Prisoner of Desire," streaming at their Myspace, for how good they can be.)

(Note: No Kids return to the NYC-area for a post-CMJ Sunday show at Maxwell's with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone & Katie Eastburn.)

Mirah's voice alone is enough to freeze even the most obnoxious concertgoer (like the girl behind me broadcasting her conversation over the previous set). Sound issues, like the incessant guitar hum from the stage lighting, were a mild annoyance early on, with Mirah stopping songs short a few times and making asides about the sound throughout. She played a set peppered with favorites, including a good portion of Advisory Committee, and new tunes (she mentioned recently finishing work on a new album). O'Neil joined on electric guitar for a few songs in the middle of the set. Some highlights: Mirah and No Kids' Nick Krgovich duetting a capella on "Words Cannot Describe," the last track on Mirah's debut, "You Think It's Like This but Really It's Like This," and Mirah's set closers: "Cold Cold Water" and "Apples in the Trees." She returned with all of the night's performers for a foot-stomp and sleigh bells rendition of "The Garden."

More pictures from Wednesday night's show (10/22) below...

Continue reading "Mirah & No Kids @ Highline Ballroom (CMJ), NYC- pics"