West Coast janglers Craft Spells are heading East next month to play Cincinatti's Midpoint Music Festival (September 27 - 29) which also features the likes of Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen, Dirty Projectors, Sleigh Bells and many more. Tickets for the fest are still available and the whole line-up is at the bottom of this post.

Before the festival, Craft Spells will be in NYC for a show at Glasslands on September 24 with new new romantics Ice Choir. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

You can stream Craft Spells' new-ish EP, Gallery, plus check out the whole Midpoint Music Fest line-up, below.

Continue reading "Craft Spells playing NYC before Midpoint Music Festival (2012 line-up)"

The Soft Pack getting touristy in NYC (@thesoftpack)

today in NYC
* People's Band @ Barbes
* Dawn Cantwell@ Joe's Pub
* Freedy Johnston @ Maxwell's
* Anders Nilsson Band @ Barbes
* Ronnie Spector @ City Winery
* Anti-Pop Consortium @ New Museum
* Nichole Thompson-Adams@ Joe's Pub
* The Growlers, Census @ Glasslands
* Saint Motel, Races @ Mercury Lounge
* Mino Cinelu, Geri Allen @ The Stone
* Pomegranates, Kitten @ Mercury Lounge
* The Flashbulb, Bartel @ Cameo Gallery
* The Soft Pack, The Sundelles @ Union Pool
* Delbert McClinton @ BB King Blues Club
* Karikatura, DJ Ron Like Hell @ Zebulon
* Jill Sobule concert @ Rubin Museum of Art
* Internet Xplorer, Getawolfpup @ Glasslands
* Lydia Caesar, The VeeVees @ Santos Party House
* Mice Parade, Mr. Sila, Kira Kira @ Littlefield
* Dwight Andrews, Geri Allen, Mino Cinelu @ The Stone
* Vows, Miracles of Modern Science, Howth @ Maxwell's
* The Company Band, Lionize, Black Cowgirl @ Saint Vitus
* Zach Brock & The Number, Jamie Reynolds Trio @ 92YTribeca
* Shut Up and Play the Hits w/ DJ Pat Mahoney @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Janeane Garofalo From Two, Mike Yard @ EastVille Comedy Club
* The Head And The Heart, Lost in The Trees @ Prospect Park
* Incendiary, Primitive Weapons, Gang Signs, Divider @ The Acheron
* Mainland, The Doorbells, Ursa Minor, Palomino @ Knitting Factory
* King Khan & The Shrines, Hector's Pets, M. Lamar @ Bowery Ballroom
* Ancient Sky, Tournament, Catalyst, Eidetic Seeing @ Death By Audio
* Poor Lily, The Raindoggs, Kevin Egan, Alarms & Controls @ Cake Shop
* The Mighty Schnitzel, Dumb Talk, Dull Edges, The Pluto Moons @ XPO 929
* Magical Mistakes, Giraffage, Paul Jones, Obey City, Raja @ Cameo Gallery
* Gatekeeper, Total Freedom, James Ferraro, Yen Tech, Arca @ Public Assembly
* Young Heel, Black Light Dinner Party, A Lull, Nightmare Air, Murals @ Pianos
* The Nuclears, Starlight Girls, Boy Girl Party, Backwords, Old Monk @ Shea Stadium
* A Place To Bury Strangers, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hunters @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Rizzla, False Witness, Cakes Da Killa, Depressed Teenager($5 before midnight) @ 285 Kent Ave
* Chris Gethard, Shannon O'Neill, Silvija Ozols, Zach Woods, Michael Delaney, Will Hines, Connor Ratliff at UCB Chelsea
* And So I Watch You From Afar, Zechs Marquise, Brontide, Fifth Nation @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Xeno & Oaklander, Guardian Alien, Black Jeans, Uumans, Oracle DJ set @ The Maze at Secret Robot Project
* Poolside, Ice Choir, D-Video, Caroline Polachek (DJ), Jorge Elbrecht (DJ set), JDH & Dave P (DJ) @ Tribeca Grand

The Soft Pack's show last night with Oberhofer got rained out, but they play Union Pool twice this weekend. You can stream their new single "Saratoga" below.

Your movie choices this weekend include indie romantic/fantasy/comedy Ruby Sparks, suburbs-vs-aliens comedy The Watch (supposed to be bad, but it does star the brilliant Richard Ayoade), noir thriller Killer Joe, and the new Step Up film which promises to throw politics into the 3-D mix this time.

Or for something different and crazy violent, Nitehawk Cinema's midnight series "Summer in the City" is showing 1980's schlock vengance flick The Exterminator and you can watch the trailer for that below.

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Tennis, who will be in NYC in October, played Conan last night, performing "High Road." You can watch video of that below.

Watch video of Kendrick Lemar performing "She Needs Me" and "HiiiPOWER" live in Portland below.

Sophia Knapp, who recently opened for Destroyer, has a new video for her single "The Right Place" and you can watch that below.

The Shins tackle The Magnetic Fields' "Andrew in Drag" for Australian web series "Like a Version" which you can watch below.

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

Tennis at BV-SXSW 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Tennis are teaming up this fall for a tour with Wild Belle, which comes to the NYC area for shows on October 2 at Maxwell's and October 3 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for the Maxwell's show and the Bowery Ballroom show go on sale Friday (7/20) at noon with an AmEx presale for the Bowery Ballroom show starting Wednesday (7/18) at noon.

A list of all dates and videos of both bands are below.

Continue reading "Tennis and Wild Belle going on fall tour together (dates)"

After teasing us with lineup addictions day by day over the past few days, the full lineup of Austin City Limits 2012 is finally here. Check it out below....

Continue reading "Austin City Limits Festival -- 2012 lineup "

"Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Presents and Starr Hill presents, in a partnership with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, are proud to announce the lineup for the fifth annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. The world's only gourmet music festival will once again take place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park August 10 - 12, 2012. Tickets will go on sale Thursday April 19 at 12 noon PDT via www.sfoutsidelands.com. A significant portion of every ticket sold will directly benefit San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department."

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2012 lineup (Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Jack White, Foo Fighters, Beck, Skrillex...)"

The Zombies (featuring original members Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent) celebrated their 50th anniversary last year with a new album and tour. They've got another run of UK dates announced this year for May and June, and just announced two NYC shows which will take place on August 5 and 6 at Highline Ballroom. Tickets for both of those shows go on sale today (4/13) at noon.

The Zombies continue to be influential on new bands, having recently been covered by twee/dream pop groups Memoryhouse and Tennis. Stream Tennis's take on "Tell Her No" and Memoryhouse's take on "This Will Be Our Year" below.

All dates and streams below...

Continue reading "Zombies touring UK, announced 2 NYC shows, were covered by Tennis & Memoryhouse (streams & dates)"

Tennis at Hotel Vegan (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Tennis were last in NYC on their tour with Hospitality for two sold out shows in March, before both making their way to Austin for SXSW where they played Hotel Vegan and the Carson Daly showcase.

Tennis will be in NYC again next week to perform on Letterman on 4/9. While they're here, they'll play a show at Brooklyn Bowl on April 10. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All dates are listed below...

Tennis were recently on other late night TV shows as well, having performed "Origins" on The Tonight Show and aired footage from SXSW on Carson Daly. Videos from both of those performances along with all dates below...

Continue reading "Tennis playing Letterman & Brooklyn Bowl (next week) --- updated 2012 Tour Dates (and Leno & Carson Daly videos)"

most photos by Amanda Hatfield, some shots by Zach Timm

Polica @ Hotel Vegan

In addition to hosting almost 100 bands on three stages for four days straight, BrooklynVegan's Hotel Vegan, located at Austin venues Hotel Vegas & Volstead Lounge, was a place where you could sip some complimentary HobNob Wines from noon-7pm each day. On Friday (3/16/2012), the third day of Hotel Vegan, we teamed with HobNob and The Original Moonshine for a big party that included the following, amazing FREE lineup:

Stage 1 (Hotel Vegas Outside)
12:00 Cold Showers
1:00 Polica
2:00 Youth Lagoon
3:00 Eight and a Half (members of Broken Social Scene & the Stills)
3:45 Django Django
4:30 Tennis
5:15 Light Asylum
6:00 The Black Angels

Stage 2 (Hotel Vegas Inside)
12:00 Lucius
12:45 The Big Sleep
1:30 The Twilight Sad
2:15 Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces)
3:00 Widowspeak
3:45 TRUST
4:30 The Evaporators (Nardwuar's band)
5:15 DIVE

Stage 3 (Volstead)
12:15 Jennifer Castle
1:00 Daughter
1:45 Exitmusic
2:30 Doldrums
3:15 Zeus
4:00 Au Palais
5:00 Craft Spells

The Evaporators getting started @ Hotel Vegan

If you got your picture taken in our Smilebooth, make sure to look for yourself in the photos posted to our Facebook.

Special thanks to our official backline providers Vox, Blackstar and Korg, and thank you to NadaMoo for supplying free vegan treats, and to Honest Tea for the tea.

The Black Angels closed the day off right with a set of their 60s-influenced, psych rock n roll to an oferflowing house on the outdoor stage that saw a full crowd throughout the day thanks to names like Polica, Youth Lagoon and Tennis.

So many bands, so little time, so experience it with the pictures that continue below (and stay tuned for more on BV Austin)...

Continue reading "#HotelVegan Day 3 pics (BV, HobNob Wines & Moonshine presents) - Black Angels, Tennis, Youth Lagoon & MANY more"

As you know, BrooklynVegan is taking over ALL THREE STAGES at connecting Austin venues Hotel Vegas & Volstead for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT this week, and it's all 100% FREE (no RSVP or badges either). There's a big outdoor stage, and smaller stages inside Hotel Vegas & Volstead. Collectively we're calling the four day long party "Hotel Vegan" (located at 1500 E. 6th St, Austin, TX).

Friday's party is presented with HobNob Wines, our official wine partner of all four days of Hotel Vegan, and The Original Moonshine, our official spirit partner on Friday and Saturday.

We announced Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday in full.
Here is Friday at Hotel Vegan (March 16, 2012):

Stage 1 (Hotel Vegas Outside)
12:00 Cold Showers
1:00 Polica
2:00 Youth Lagoon
3:00 Eight and a Half (members of Broken Social Scene & the Stills)
3:45 Django Django
4:30 Tennis
5:15 Light Asylum
6:00 The Black Angels

Stage 2 (Hotel Vegas Inside)
12:00 Lucius
12:45 The Big Sleep
1:30 The Twilight Sad
2:15 Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces)
3:00 Widowspeak
3:45 TRUST
4:30 The Evaporators (Nardwuar's band)
5:15 DIVE

Stage 3 (Volstead)
12:15 Jennifer Castle
1:00 Daughter
1:45 Exitmusic
2:30 Doldrums
3:15 Zeus
4:00 Au Palais
5:00 Craft Spells

We will also have free vegan treats courtesy of NadaMoo! and free Honest Tea. Arlo's great Vegan Food truck, located right next door, will be at all four days of Hotel Vegan selling food.

Special thanks to all of our partners and sponsors for making this party possible - including Vox, Blackstar and Korg, our official backline partners.

--
The Black Angels (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

HobNob Wines offers free music content at its HobNob Inner Circle on Facebook. Join HobNob's Inner Circle to access exclusive downloads, editorial and info on upcoming events. Previously featured artists include Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Saint Bernadette, The Antlers, Company of Thieves, Xylos, as well as The Black Angels and Polica who are both playing this party.

-----

Friday is just one of four full days at Hotel Vegan. Wednesday lineup HERE. Thursday lineup HERE. Saturday lineup HERE.

We also have THREE official BrooklynVegan showcases - Tuesday (which Alex Maas of the Black Angels is playing a song at), Wednesday, and Friday - and a Saturday metal day party at Lovejoys, AND a bridge show.

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Hospitality @ Public Assembly for BV-CMJ in October 2011

Hospitality's tour with Tennis hits Bowery Ballroom for a sold out NYC show tonight (3/3). If you don't have tickets, you can still buy one for the show happening Monday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg (3/5), and you can catch Hospitality (without Tennis) for FREE in New Haven, CT at Bar on Wednesday (3/7).

You can also catch Hospitality for free at the BrooklynVegan day party happening March 15th at Hotel Vegas in Austin, part of our four day 'Hotel Vegan' extravaganza during SXSW. Stay tuned for more details including the full lineup for that.

Maybe you caught Hospitality for free when they played the Friday BrooklynVegan day party at Public Assembly during CMJ this year. Here are some pictures from that Brooklyn performance. More of them, with all tour dates (stint with Eleanor Friedberger included), below...

Continue reading "Hospitality on tour w/ Tennis, playing free show in CT, playing BV-SXSW 2012, played BV-CMJ 2011 (pics & dates)"

Frankie Rose releases Interstellar this month (2/21) and as Bill points out, she's left the garage pop of her debut behind in favor of synthy, jangly pop. It's a huge step up from her last album and you can stream the entire thing at SPIN. She plays a record release show for the album at Knitting Factory on February 21 with Dive and Night Manager.

The new album from Dr. Dog, Be The Void, is out this week (2/7) and streaming at Conan O'Brien's website Team Coco. Watch the video of their performance on the show last night (2/8) below. Also, don't forget to grab your tickets for their Terminal 5 show on 3/23 while they're still available. More tour dates HERE.

Sharon Van Etten and Shearwater are touring together in support of their upcoming albums which are both currently streaming on NPR. Listen to Sharon's HERE and Shearwater's HERE. Their tour hits NYC on 2/24 at MHOW and 2/25 at Bowery Ballroom. Both shows are sold out but Sharon plays Bowery again the next night (2/26) and tickets are still available.

Islands' new album, A Sleep & A Forgetting, is due out February 14 via ANTI- and you can stream the entire thing below. Their tour in support of it hits NYC on 2/25 at LPR. Tickets are still available.

Instrumental hip hop producer Mux Mool released his new album, Planet High School, digitally this week and that can be streamed in full below (via FADER).

Field Music will release their new album, Plumb, on February 14 via Memphis Industries. You can stream the whole thing at NPR.

Tennis's new album, Young and Old, is due out February 14 via Fat Possum and you can stream it in full below (via P4K). Their tour in support of it hits NYC on 3/3 at Bowery Ballroom and 3/5 at MHOW. The Bowery show is sold out but tickets for MHOW are still on sale.

Air's new album, Le Voyage Dans La Lune, which features a collaboration with Beach House's Victoria Legrand, and as mentioned is a soundtrack, is out this week and streaming in full on NPR.

It's not exactly an album, but Fucked Up's 15+ minute "Year of the Tiger" single which features Jim Jarmusch, Austra, and Annie-Claude Deschênes of Duchess Says, can be streamed below.

Streams below...

Continue reading "Frankie Rose, Dr. Dog, Sharon Van Etten, Shearwater, Islands, Tennis & other new album streams "

Tennis at the Bell House in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

As mentioned, Tennis will welcome their sophomore LP, Young and Old, on February 14 via Fat Possum and tour in support of it in February and March. When we first announced that tour, it was scheduled to hit NYC on March 3 at Bowery Ballroom. They've since added another NYC show happening on March 5 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Hospitality has been added as an opener to both shows. Tickets for the Bowery show are still available and tickets for the MHOW show go on sale Friday (1/27) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (1/25) at noon.

Speaking of Hospitality, who have a new video and are streaming their debut LP on Spotify, you can catch them in NYC even sooner at their record release show at Glasslands on February 3 with Glass Ghost and Dustin Wong. Tickets are still available.

Updated dates below...

Continue reading "Tennis add 2nd NYC show with Hospitality (updated dates)"

Tennis at the Bell House in March (more by Jessica Amaya)

Tennis will follow their debut LP, which came out earlier this year, with the album Young and Old, which comes out on February 14 via Fat Possum. The album was produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys (who have two MSG shows with Arctic Monkeys in March), who also produced the recently released single, "Origins," which you can stream below.

Tennis will tour in support of the new album in February and March, coming to NYC on March 3 at Bowery Ballroom (two days before an actual game of Tennis happens inside Madison Square Garden). Tickets for the Bowery show are on sale now.

The duo also recently recorded two covers; one being of The Zombies' "Tell Her No," and the other of Broadcast's "Tears in the Typing Pool." You can stream both of these covers below.

Speaking of Broadcast, whose singer Trish Keenan tragically passed away earlier this year, group member James Cargill is working on a new Broadcast album which will use vocals that Keenan had recorded before her death. In an interview with Under the Radar, James said, "Trish left a lot of tapes, four-tracks and stuff, and I've been going through those. It's difficult, and I'm connected to it at the same time. It's wonderful, but I'm also feeling a sense of loss." He's also working on a soundtrack to the Peter Strickland film Berberian Sound Studio, which he and Keenan had begun together.

All dates and streams below...

Continue reading "Tennis announce new LP & tour, cover Broadcast (who are making an album too)"

The Vaccines at Bowery Ballroom (more by Chris Gersbeck)

"Due to medical reasons within The Vaccines camp, Young Buffalo and The Vaccines regretfully have to cancel their fall tour [with Tennis]."

Continue reading "Vaccines, Young Buffalo, Tennis tour cancelled "

Yuck at Bowery Ballroom in May (more by Tamara Porras)

As previously mentioned, POPPED! Music Festival is coming to Philly's FDR Park September 23 and 24. The festival will headlined by The Shins, Cage the Elephant, Girl Talk, and Pretty Lights. It also features performances by Titus Andronicus, Panda Bear, The Hold Steady, The Vaccines, Kreayshawn, and many others. Tennis, who are touring with the Vaccines, were just added to the lineup as were Yuck and Philly hero Questlove 2 Day Passes are on sale now and single day tickets go on sale Friday (7/8) at 10 AM.

Yuck is on tour for much of this summer, though they don't have any NYC dates scheduled at the moment. We wouldn't be surprised if they add a show in September though. All of their current dates and their recently released NSFW video are below.

Full POPPED! lineup and flier below too...

Continue reading "updated POPPED! lineup, Yuck tour dates"

DOWNLOAD: Young Buffalo - "Only We Can Keep You From Harm" (MP3)

Vaccines at Summerstage in May (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The Vaccines and Tennis are going on a fall together, POPPED! Music Festival in Philly and two NYC shows included. They play September 30 at Webster Hall and October 1 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Young Buffalo open both NYC shows and other dates on the tour. Both NYC shows are on Amex presale now. General sale begins Friday (7/8).

You can also see the Vaccines much sooner if you want to travel to the Hamptons. All tour dates are listed below.

--
Young Buffalo @ Bowery Ballroom in January (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Young Buffalo also opened for the Vaccines last time they played Bowery Ballroom (and are not to be confused with Young the Giant who play the Apple Store in SoHo tonight). Check out Young Buffalo track "Only We Can Keep You From Harm" which is from their new EP, Young Von Prettylips, out July 19th on Cantora Records (the band has also released an album on Fat Possum). Young Buffalo will also be around much sooner hitting Pianos on July 21st and Brooklyn Bowl on July 23rd. All of their dates, some with the Arctic Monkeys (who the Vaccines toured with and played Summerstage with), are below.

The Vaccines and Tennis also both play Lollapalooza and MusicfestNW. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Vaccines, Tennis & Young Buffalo tour dates, MP3 & stuff"

Here is the initial lineup for Willamette Week's MusicfestNW, scheduled for Sept. 7-11, 2011 in Portland, Oregon, and it's pretty great. The multi-venue fest includes big outdoor performances by Band of Horses (Sunday, Sept. 11), Explosions in the Sky (Saturday, Sept. 10), and Iron & Wine (Friday, Sept. 9), in addition to shows with everyone from Archers of Loaf to Big Freedia to Butthole Surfers to Neurosis. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 3rd. Check out the full list below...

Continue reading "MusicfestNW 2011 -- dates & initial lineup"

Lollapalooza last year (more by Josh Darr)

Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with some huge names on its just-announced lineup. See it in full below.

The festival has obviously changed over the years. What started out as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction with a 'touring festival' lineup that included the Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, and Souxsie & The Banshees, has turned into a one-weekend Chicago festival that Lady Gaga co-headlined last year. As leaked a while ago, Foo Fighters, Muse and Eminem all play this year, as will Coldplay, Cee Lo Green, and My Morning Jacket along with the reunited Cars and the continuing-to-be-reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Death From Above 1979, and a bunch of other bands which may or may not be worth the ticket price depending on how you feel about the headliners and generally seeing bands in big, hot, outdoor crowded parks (Lollapalooza happens in Chicago's Grant Park from August 5th - 7th).

Full 2011 Lineup and a couple of videos (one from 1991, one from 2010), below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 lineup announced"

photos by Jessica Amaya, words by Rachel Kowal

Sun and surf - rarely do all the bands on a bill have such a distinct (and welcome) common denominator. As we enter the final weeks of winter, what could be better than say, synth-laden pop from the sunshine state, ephemeral vocals from a recent Bruise Cruiser, or infectious melodies from a pair who fell in love at sea?

It was a good line-up at the Bell House on Thursday (3/3) - even if the evening got off to a bit of an uneven start with Holiday Shores' erratic sound and Nathan Pemberton's woozy, reverb-drenched vocals. With their new material especially (and most of it was new), the Florida group touched on a number of different sounds as if their songs were molded to passing whims or random fits of inspiration. From time to time, their underlying pop sensibilities rang out as with the hit from their last album, "Phones Don't Feud." Other times, the arrangements were a bit... creepy.

The catchy keyboard riffs of Holiday Shores may have been more immediately compelling, but La Sera benefited greatly from front woman Katy Goodman's magnetism and daydream-like vocals. Whether excitedly addressing the crowd between songs or rocking out on the bass, Goodman never ceased to smile - even when guitarist Scott Shannon broke a string. She simply turned the dead air into a celebration by welcoming a member of the crowd on stage to commemorate his 19th birthday.

Though the band is based in LA, Goodman used to live in New York, and was clearly "glad to be back." She even dedicated a cover of a Shirelles song ("Dedicated to the One I Love") to Brooklyn to prove it. La Sera also played a handful of "brand new" songs from their recently released self-titled album before closing their set with "Beating Heart," which features hypnotic layers of vocals.

Last up: Tennis. After hastily hand-copying the set list and conducting a brief sound check, the band launched into the light, upbeat song "Seafarer," which conveniently laid out much of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley's story - as if you didn't already know the charming details of their romantic voyage.

Many of Tennis' songs may start out a bit slow, but they have a tendency to burst into a quickened tempo and soaring vocals, as if each song is a slowly building wave.

With the exception of just one song ("Water Birds"), they played through every song of their recently-released album, in addition to showcasing a few new songs, including "Robin." "It's about a baby bird we saved last month," said Moore by way of introducing the song. ("Of course they're saving baby birds," remarked someone in the crowd.)

None of the newer songs seem to immediately sparkle as much as their predecessors (especially "South Carolina" or the crowd favorite "Marathon"), but with most clocking in at around three minutes, it hardly matters. The next song is always imminent... at least to a point. "Oh my God this has gone so quickly!" Moore exclaimed after they had breezed through much of the set. After only 40 minutes on stage, Tennis concluded their encore-less set with "Hard Times, a Charles Dickens-themed song.

The same tour hit Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan one night earlier. More pictures and Tennis's setlist from the Brooklyn show, and a video from Bowery Ballroom where Katy Goodman joined the headliners for "Marathon", below...

Continue reading "Tennis, La Sera, Holiday Shores @ the Bell House (pics, setlist)"

photos by Bao Nguyen

La Sera @ Bowery Ballroom

After a recent showing at Mercury Lounge late last year (and an opening slot at Terminal 5 with The Walkmen), Tennis returned to NYC last night (3/2). The show, which took place at Bowery Ballroom, was part of the Colorado couple's larger winter tour with La Sera and Holiday Shores.The play NYC again tonight at the Bell House (tickets are still on sale). The tour ends at SXSW.

It was too dark in Bowery Ballroom to notice, but I'm sure that Kickball Katy of La Sera got a bit of color while she was out on the Bruise Cruise with Black Lips and the rest of the Vivian Girls (part 1 pics/review, and part 2).

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom are below (along with all tour dates)...

Continue reading "Tennis, La Sera & Holiday Shores @ Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

Tennis @ Mercury Lounge in December (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* Armory Art Show
* Totally J/K @ UCB
* Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* The Exposed Blues Duo @ Barbes
* Rafael Toral, Ben Hall @ Issue Project Room
* Summer Camp, High Highs @ Mercury Lounge
* The Wiyos, The Weal and Woe @ The Rock Shop
* Sarah Jaffe, Christine Owman @ The Living Room
* Nate Wooley, Paul Lytton, Ikue Mori @ The Stone
* OK Sweetheart, Daniel Wayne @ The Living Room
* Soulive, Lettuce, Pharoahe Monch @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Heroes & Zeroes, Headwarm Koonda Holaa @ Pianos
* Amy Miles, Milton, Baby Dayliner @ Bowery Electric
* Tennis, La Sera, Holiday Shores @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Get Up Kids, Miniature Tigers, Brian Bonz @ Webster Hall
* Chris Thile, Gabriel Kahane, Brad Mehldau @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Flogging Molly, Moneybrother, The Drowning Men @ Terminal 5
* Dirty Fences, Devin Therriault, The Rakehells @ Littlefield
* Janka Nabay, Bonjay, Dutch E Germ, Weird Magic (DJ set) @ Knitting Factory
* Oceanographer, Minor Stars, The Wicked Tomorrow, Dead Stars @ Bruar Falls
* April Smith & The Great Picture Show, The Orion Experience @ Mercury Lounge
* Prince Rama, Amen Dunes, Sex Worker, Psychic Reality, DJ Non Format @ Glasslands

Check out This Week in Indie for more.

A new unofficial video by "Award-winning director" Jeremy Teicher aka ABemusedFrog, for the Tennis song "Baltimore", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Tennis at Terminal 5 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Tennis supported The Walkmen at Terminal 5 and headlined their own show at Mercury Lounge at the beginning of December, and the romance continues in the new year as the husband/wife duo will hit the road for a tour kicking off this weekend in the UK. After bouncing around Europe for three weeks, the band will head back to their native soil for a string of US dates which include the larger Bowery Ballroom on March 2nd (tickets) and the Bell House in Brooklyn on March 3rd (tickets). Both NYC dates and a chunk of their tour is with La Sera and Holiday Shores.

Tennis's full tour schedule, which will conclude in Austin at SXSW features Lord Huron on select dates as well, is below with some videos...

Continue reading "Tennis & La Sera & Holiday Shores - 2011 Tour Dates"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Crisp pressed shirts, khakis, sport coats, and bulging neck veins (due to vocal exertion) were the order of the evening at Terminal 5 last night (12/2), as The Walkmen headlined the NYC venue.

"The Walkmen deftly tore through a set with singer Hamilton Leithauser playing up the frontman role to a tee. His voice was absolutely fantastic and there are few vocal performances that I've seen in recent memory that had me as captivated. Songs like "Canadian Girl" and Lisbon cut "While I Shovel The Snow" were exquisite, and the set closing crowd favorite "The Rat" was very powerful. This was a set I did not want to end, but I can't say I was angry when it ended before midnight thanks to it being a weeknight. I would go see them again tonight if I could." [I Have 19 Voices]

The Walkmen play a "hometown show" of sorts tonight at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC (the band grew up in the area before moving to NYC), and then call it a day with respect to shows for 2010. The new year means a new batch of dates though. In January Hamilton will belt it out at various venues in the Southeast before heading overseas to bless the UK. All dates are below.

Denver's Tennis, who will join The Walkmen again in DC, headlined Mercury Lounge the night before Terminal 5. All of their dates are below too.

School of Seven Bells (now a duo, Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis) will hit the road for a string of dates with Interpol in the new year. And though they are not currently scheduled to open for Interpol at Radio City, no openers have been announced for the NYC show yet, and SoSB do open the shows right before and after that one (so maybe they'll get added?).

All dates and more pictures, and videos from Terminal 5, with the Walkmen's setlist, below...

Continue reading "The Walkmen, School of Seven Bells & Tennis played Terminal 5 (pics, video, setlist & more dates)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

Tennis

Camaraderie and friendship hung thickly in the air at last night's show at the Mercury Lounge. I missed La Big Vic, but I arrived in time to witness the "orchestral space pop" (their words) of Miracles of Modern Science. The (now) Brooklyn band formed when its five members were undergrads at Princeton. On the surface, their pedigree and jargon-riddled song titles may appear to alienate them from a wider fan base, but their performance was stripped of any signs of petty elitism.

"This song is not very good, but we're playing it anyway," one member joked, mid set. The band's sense of ease on stage is perhaps surpassed only by that of their jocularly ravenous fans. Many people in the audience seemed to know the band, or at the very least - drummer Tyler Pines. ("Show me your tits, Tyler" and "I'm horny for Tyler" were a couple of their choice lines.)

Though they've been playing together since 2005, they are just embarking on releasing their debut album... that is if they can afford it. They've already recorded it. Now it's just a matter of raising the funds to mix it, package it, and promote it.

Like MoMs, Family Portrait is also a made up of old friends. Its members have been buddies since high school (or college) and also maintain a closely curated record label together (Underwater Peoples).

For last night's show, they played a fair amount of new material, which more prominently features elements of electro-pop. They kicked off their show with just snyths, a keyboard, some prefab beats, and a bass. Guitars didn't come into play until later.

Though it was fun to see the band experimenting and branching out, I thought the electronic additions (intergalactic voice distortion, included) were a bit distracting at times. Of course, many of their songs are brand new, so it may just only be a matter of time before their fixation on their new toys wears off a bit and they learn to better integrate the new sound with the old.

The family affair continued with Tennis (who are also on Underwater Peoples). Thanks in part to their charming, publicity-friendly story, this husband/wife duo received a fair amount of hype early on, but they don't seem to be letting it get to their heads. Though their sound is more polished now (thanks in part to their new drummer - James Barone), they still put on a modest show.

Vocalist/keyboardist Alaina Moore was positively charming. Even her jab at one audience member was delivered sweetly. (After someone claimed to be from Coconut Grove of the song "Marathon," Moore demurely replied, "You can't live there. It's covered by the tide probably once a day. You'd drown. I called your bluff!")

Though she is undoubtedly soft-spoken by nature, Moore's vocals are surprisingly rich, which seems only appropriate for both her labor of love with beau Patrick Riley and for the Brenda Lee cover ("Is It True") that she chose late in the set.

My only big complaint was the brevity of Tennis' performance, which Moore herself referenced near the end of their blinkingly fast 11-song set. "We keep writing more songs, but they're all three minutes. So we keep adding and our set keeps getting just as short." They concluded their 35-minute set with a new tune, a love song entitled "Waterbirds." Though not as peppy as many of their more popular songs, "Water Birds" pleasantly drifts along at its own relaxed pace - kind of like the band itself.

Catch Tennis again when they open for The Walkmen at Terminal 5 tonight (12/2). More pictures of all four bands from Mercury Lounge with Tennis's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Tennis played Mercury Lounge w/ Family Portrait, Miracles of Modern Science & La Big Vic (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Facelove (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - 2012 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Warpaint - Undertow (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Never Swallow Fruit Dub (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Never Follow Suit (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Luyas - All New Tiny Head (MP3)

The Radio Dept

After a long weekend of overeating and couchdwelling and Kanye overload, I hope you are all nice and rested up for what is a pretty great week of shows. Here's a bunch of stuff I recommend.

Sweden's The Radio Dept are playing two NYC shows ahead of their first-ever real tour of the U.S. and Canada this week. All dates are listed below, but the NYC shows happen at Knitting Factory Tuesday night (11/30) and Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday (12/01). Both are sold out. This will be the band's first visit to our area since the 2009 NYC Popfest.

It's been a busy year for the somewhat unprolific Scandinavian trio. In addition to their fantastic third album, Clinging to a Scheme, which came out back in April, The Radio Dept. just released a new EP, Never Follow Suit, which takes the dub-heavy album title cut (also on the album) and makes it even dubbier (download both versions above), plus adds three new blissed out tracks.

The band are also finally gathering up all their non-LP singles, b-sides and EPs for a double-disc compilation, Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 which comes out early next year. A lot of their great early EPs are out of print (like 2003's Pulling Our Weight) and it'll be nice to have them all in one place. Double vinyl too for those with turntables. With music spanning from their first single through tracks off Clinging to a Scheme, it makes for a nice overview of the band...but still holds together really well. Little has changed in The Radio Dept.'s sound over the last eight years, but they are one of the best examples of "don't fix what ain't broke."

Abd if you're going to one of the two Radio Dept. shows, be sure to get there early to catch Montreal's Braids, who I just saw play in their hometown.

PS I Love You @ Pop Montreal (more)

While on the Subject of Bands I Saw Play in Canada Recently, one of biggest hits of this year's M for Montreal festival were PS I Love You:

Most everyone seemed in agreement that PS I Love You were the best band of the night. The duo from Kingston, Ontario are an indie Mutt and Jeff, kind of like the Pixies with a new wave back-end. Yelper-guitarist Paul Salnier actually pulls triple duty live, playing bass parts too via a Moog bass pedal setup which is pretty cool. Drummer Ben Nelson plays heavy on the high hat a la New Order's Stephen Morris which gives their songs danceability.  Their record, Meet Me at the Muster Station, is good but, live, PS I Love You are a force.

Warpaint

Also visiting us this weekend are Los Angeles foursome Warpaint, who play The Studio @ Webster Hall on Wednesday (12/01) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday (12/02). Their debut for Rough Trade, The Fool, has gotten mostly good reviews. It's a record that has really grown on me in the last month, hitting that sweet spot between dustbowl new age goth and early-'80s post punk. Not that those are mutually exclusive terms. Spindly guitars, groovy basslines, complex percussion, dreamlike vocals... it's somewhere betweeen Haena-era Banshees and Bat For Lashes with just a smidge of Stevie Nicks. Which is a good thing if you ask me. If Warpaint aren't on the next Twilight soundtrack somebody's not doing their job.

The band are good live too, with an especially nimble rhythm section. And if you didn't like the album the first time you heard it, I urge you go give it another chance to sink in. Check out "Undertow" above, and there are a couple live performance videos further down this post along with all upcoming Warpaint tour dates.

Badly Drawn Boy

Like a lot of people, I loved the first Badly Drawn Boy album The Hour of The Bewilderbeast, which rightly won the 2000 Mercury Music Prize (at least given its competition). Damon Gough then went to Los Angeles and lost his way almost immediately after. Good songs here and there, yes, but none of his subsequent albums have been anywhere near as solid or as sonically interesting as Bewilderbeast. Yet I always give the new album a chance.

I'm happy to report that the vibe of BDB's new album -- the mouthful of a title It's What I'm Thinking Pt. 1: Photographing Snowflakes -- returns some of his debut's homespun charm. It's his first since parting ways with EMI and starting his own label and you can sense the freedom this has brought across its 10 tracks. (Parts 2 and 3 are due at some point in the future.) There may not be anything as immediately catchy as "Everybody's Stalking", but you can tell this is music Gough wanted to make, not music he thought someone else wanted to hear. It's a nice album. Give up your email address and you can download a few new songs at BDB's website.

Badly Drawn Boy plays Le Poisson Rouge this Friday (12/03) and Saturday (12/04). Badly Drawn Boy shows have always been a bit of a crapshoot. Shows are notoriously long, ramshackle affairs with extended noodling, rambling stage banter and other digressions. Gough is the only Mercury Prize winner I have ever seen to actually take audience requests, including other people's songs he has never played. (Think twice before you yell "Freebird!" at a BDB show, you may end up regretting it). But there are always moments of brilliance in there too that make you glad you went, which is I guess Gough in a nutshell.

That's the main stuff this week. A few more shows of note, day-by-day, of things not covered above follows:

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1

Garagey soul band Fergus & Geronimo, who recently relocated here from Texas, headline a great night of music at Glasslands, that also features another bunch of recent transplants, former Arizonans The Young Friends. Also on the bill: Little Gold and We Are Country Mice.

Denver duo Tennis play Mercury Lounge, their first shows since a wave of hype packed Glasslands and Cake Shop back in August. Nice folks, but take away all that reverb that coats their recordings (as they do live) and the songs aren't quite as magical. The night's line-up is pretty good overall, with Family Portrait, Miracles of Modern Science and La Big Vic. Tennis also open for The Walkmen (and a slimmed-down School of Seven Bells) at Terminal 5 the next night.

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Continue reading "The Radio Dept, PS I Love You, Warpaint, Badly Drawn Boy, Raindeer, Peter Hook, Luyas & more in This Week In Indie"