Laura Stevenson at MHOW in February (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Annual, all ages, Brooklyn DIY music festival Hillstock takes place at 285 Kent Ave on June 3, 106 Emerson Place on June 4 (free admission), and 402 1/2 Park Avenue on June 5. The lineup features a number of local mainstays including So So Glos, Eskalators, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, Ava Luna, and Laura Stevenson (solo) in addition to many lesser known names. Saturday also features a special appearance by Grand Wizzard Theodore. Full lineup and poster below.

Continue reading "Hillstock this weekend (3-day DIY Brooklyn music fest lineup)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Javelin @ Mercury Lounge

Javelin are finishing up a tour with Big Freedia which just stopped by Mercury Lounge on May 26. We already posted the Freedia pics. Here are the Javelin ones. They continue below.

Since that show Big Freedia played a Saturday night show at Brooklyn Bowl, a 3-song set later that night (at like 2:30am) at Drom, and B.O.M.B. Fest. Freedia and Javelin play together in Montreal tonight (5/31). Javelin play their next NYC show on June 18 at Glasslands with Delicate Steve, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Bright Moments (Kelly Pratt of Beirut and Arcade Fire), and Harry Belafonte Live at Carnegie Hall. The show is presented by label Luaka Bop and is part of the Northside Festival. Tickets are still available. Flyer and more tour dates below.

Javelin is currently in the process of completing a Canyon Candy short film. The film is their companion to the Canyon Candy 10". According to Javelin's Kickstarter campaign:

The lone survivor of a brutal massacre, a young girl is plunged into hallucinatory chase through a day and night in the American Southwest. Directed by Mike Anderson and produced by Oscar Boyson, Canyon Candy is unlike any previous Western. Part poem, part play, a modern silent film wholly created on a soundstage: this is the first western of its kind to be shot in the New York Metropolitan Area since The Great Train Robbery was filmed in Milltown, New Jersey in 1903. Completely handmade, Canyon Candy will employ old studio western methods such as rear-projection, dioramas, and scenic matte painting to create a stunningly unorthodox visual rendering of the American West. Javelin's original score fuses original compositions with dollar-bin mined samples.

Continue reading "Javelin played Mercury Lounge (pics), playing Luaka Bop's Northside Mega-Thing w/ Delicate Steve & other dates"

Marty Markowitz & Beirut & L Magazine staff @ Brooklyn Borough Hall

As you can see in the above photo, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was on hand at the press conference this morning, as was now-confirmed Northside Festival headliner Beirut. Tickets will be HERE. More confirmed artists below...

Continue reading "Northside Fest confirms Beirut, Deer Tick, Twin Sister, Allo Darlin' & more (initial lineup)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Jonsi @ Terminal 5 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

The previously-mentioned Wordless Music show featuring Jonsi and Kjartan Sigur Ros, along with Alex Somers Of Riceboy Sleeps, The Hilliard Ensemble, Latvian National Choir and Wordless Music Orchestra, is happening at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle on November 15th. Tickets are on sale through the Lincoln Center, who are putting on the show as part of their White Light Music Festival.

Jonsi kicks off his own solo tour of North America on October 15th. Tickets for the Hammerstein Ballroom show are still on sale (Mountain Man open).

White Light Fest runs from October 28th-November 18th, and its other shows include Antony and the Johnsons at Alice Tully Hall on October 30th (that's their only North American show this year). That's now sold out. Listen to Antony's new LP, Swanlights, at NPR.

Also part of the White Light Festival is an October 28th show featuring the Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble at David Rubenstein Atrium. That crosses over with another new music series, Target Free Thursday at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium. The full schedule for those shows, which run through December, is below. There's also free DJ nights at the Atrium on Saturday night; that schedule is below too.

To bring it back to Wordless Music, Kronos Quartet will be at (Le) Poisson Rouge for two nights this weekend (Oct. 8 and 9), each with different sets of mostly-new music. The first night includes pieces by Terry Riley and Michael Gordon (both with assists by Young People's Chorus of New York City) and young composers Bryce Dessner (of the National) and Missy Mazzoli (of chamber group Victoire). The second has another new work by Gordon, music by JG Thirwell, and new Schubert arrangements, reworked by vocalist Judith Berkson, who'll also be on hand. Unfortunately, both nights are sold out.

And since we mentioned Brooklyn composer Missy Mazzoli above, it should be noted that her band Victoire plays a free show at Dumbo gallery Smack Mellon on November 4th. Victoire's new album, Cathedral City, just came out on New Amsterstam. Their schedule is below too.

The full Free Thursdays schedule and more info is below...

Continue reading "Wordless & White Light Music, Josni, Kronos Quartet, free Thursdays, Meredith Monk, Victoire & more"

Brooklyn DIY fest Hillstock will be returning this year for three days of music from June 11-13. It opens with a Friday show at Shea Stadium that features Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, the Eskalators, Ava Luna, The Toothaches, Fiasco and more. The second day is a backyard BBQ headlined by Aa, and the third is singer-songwriters on a rooftop.

Both three-day wrist bands ($15) and individual shows tickets ($7) will be available at the shows.

More info on tickets, venue locations, a full schedule of bands and videos from last year are below...

Continue reading "3-day Brooklyn DIY fest Hillstock happens this weekend "

by Bill Pearis

Surfer Blood

NIGHTTIME

As I mentioned in that big post about Montreal bands at CMJ, The High Dials are among them and are just great live -- sort of country-tinged jangly shoegaze -- and they're impressive live. They play Lit Lounge at 10:15 and then Arlene's Grocery at 12:30AM. If you like Ride, The Byrds, or Brian Jonestown Massacre, you shouldn't miss these guys. Also playing at Lit Lounge, earlier in the evening (8:30) are Montreal's Black Diamond Bay which features a couple former members of the Dears and feature a similarly bombast rock sound. They're very good live too, especially if you have an appreciation for the live musician O Face.

If you like electro /dance there is an insane lineup at Santos tonight. And it's free. No badges required. The killer lineup includes three UK dancepop acts: Dan Black whose album Un is pretty fun; the borderline-novelty (but fun) Man Like Me and trio We Have Band who played here back in March. It keeps going: there's also Australia's Midnight Juggernauts, Montreal's We Are Wolves, Denmark's Spleen United (somewhere between Placebo and Presents), Toronto's Parallels, and LA's Paparazzi. There's also a slew of NYC acts: Maluca, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Lemonade,Heartsrevolution, Javelin, and The Golden Filter. Did I mention it was free?

At Union Pool, the folks at Panache Booking are showcasing a big handful of their bands, many of which have unnecessary repeated consonants: recent Brooklyn Vegan Day party veterans JEFF the Brotherhood and Lovvers, plus Flexions, zZz, Turbofruits, UUVVWWZ, and Dark Meat. Having seen at least half of these bands, I'm going to go ahead and say this'll be quite a party, whether you like it or not.

If you're going to the Pitchfork/Showpaper show at Market Hotel and wished that it was rock all night instead of switching over to electronic acts/DJs after midnight, your admission will also get you into the show happening down the street at Todd P's Above the Auto Parts Store venue (600 Bushwick), which has four great bands: Sisters, Screaming Females, Surfer Blood (again) and JEFF the Brotherhood (again). To get in for free you need to get there before 11PM; afterwards it's $10.

Or, you might think about heading to Silent Barn before or after (or instead of). Popjew has a great line-up of bands, including much-loved-by-me Let's Wrestle, A Classic Education (who were great at our Thursday day party), twangy West Coasters Slang Chickens, My Teenage Stride and the electro-rock of Jacques Detergent.

And at The Bell House, there's Au Revoir Simone and the related (literally, by marriage) Pursesnatchers; the lush, 60s-ish chamber pop of Florida's The Postmarks, indiepop ska band Still Flyin' and Brooklyn-via-Australia band The Miracles of Modern Science. The Bell House may seem like truly dedicating your night to one venue, but luckily it's one of the nicest, most comfortable in the city.

Other shows tonight include Mum, Sufjan's BQE screenings, the Sub Pop showcase, the Kemado/Mexican Summer showcase, and the Topman party with the Almighty Defenders and Neon Indian.

And then we rest. Saturday day parties HERE. Hip Hop shows HERE. Flyers and set times below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Saturday nighttime picks"

Passion Pit (more by Tim Griffin)

Not quite on the scale of their last NYC music event (that I know about), but Diesel Jeans's U:Music tour will visit NYC for a show at Webster Hall on Thursday, July 30th. The lineup for that includes The Roots (with a special guest), Drake, Cobra Starship (huh?), Passion Pit, Theophilus London, and contest winners (two bands won a contest to get on the bill) The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! (as seen HERE and HERE) and Heartsrevolution. "To get in, one has to appear at the store's participating NYC locations wearing a pair of Diesel jeans, though tickets are limited."

All Diesel fans will have a chance to witness this private event with a limited amount of invitations to be given away at participating Diesel stores. One must show up to participating stores in a pair of Diesel jeans to qualify...

Continue reading "Diesel throwing shows @ Webster Hall (Passion Pit, Roots, more), in their store & in their store window..."

words & photos by Chris La Putt

On Friday night (7/10), Brooklyn Bowl became one of the newest concert venues in Williamsburg with Brooklyn band O'Death as the first of many bands to come grace its stage. Bowling and concerts don't necessarily go hand in hand (editor's note: yes they do! I think.), but the sound of the rowdy shirtless band and its fans easily overpowered the sound of the bowling balls crashing into the pins adjacent to the stage. With 16 lanes, multiple bars, wait service, and a booming sound system, this venue definitely gives other venues (in the 600-capacity range) ample competition.

As part of its green commitment, Brooklyn Bowl has implemented a number of eco-conscious designs to its building such as: a no bottle or can policy (you get beer in a glass!), recycled truck tires for the stage floor and the use of LED lighting for the stage which uses 90% less energy than the typical stage lighting. It's also one of the few buildings in Brooklyn that run on 100% wind-powered electricity.

Will it be a success? We hope so. Currently, there's not many upcoming shows announced aside from the 2-night Lebowski Fest. There's also a Clutch listening party scheduled to take place there on Tuesday (7/14) @ 6pm (Clutch's new album, 'Strange Cousins From The West,' is out this week on the band's own Weathermaker Music). The schedule will probably fill out soon though - at least partly with bands that have played Wetlands (which Bowl owner Peter Shapiro previously owned). Right now the venue is still in some state of 'soft launch'.

More pictures from Friday night's show with O'Death and after-party by the Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, below......

Continue reading "O'Death & Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt @ Brooklyn Bowl (the new NYC bowling alley in Williamsburg) - pics "

photos by Ryan Muir

The first concert at the new Brooklyn Bowl will be O'Death, Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt on Friday, July 10th. Tickets are on sale now. You may remember that O'Death's June 13th Northside Festival show, which ended up happening at MHOW, was originally scheduled for the venue. More pictures from that show below...

Continue reading "O'Death played MHOW (pics), playing Brooklyn Bowl (really) "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Bad Brilliance - Non Tradition Ball Head (Girl Talk Remix) / It's So Fun (Andrew W.K. Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julia - Cocaine (The Knocks Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Aleister X - The Git (MP3)

Bad Brilliance & Andrew WK @ Terminal 5 in November (more by Zach Stern)

If you missed Andrew W.K.'s DAMN! The Mixtape release party at Santos on May 28th, don't worry. You'll have another chance to catch W.K. and his Skyscraper Music Maker friends at the club's first Adult Swim Presents Summer at Santos Series show on Thursday, June 11th.

The lineup for that free gig includes Andrew W.K. and special guests, plus opening sets by Cherie Lily, Aleister X, Bad Brilliance and Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Video clips of what exactly went down on the 28th are posted below.

Cherie Lily, Aleister X, Bad Brilliance and that crew are all featured prominently on DAMN! The Mixtape -- a comp produced by Andrew WK and B-Roc of The Knocks. Check out three tracks from that album, above. Those include Bad Brilliance's Girl Talk & Andrew W.K. remixes together as one MP3. And speaking of Girl Talk, he has some shows of his own coming up this summer.

Cherie Lily and Andrew W.K. are also performing at the Street Meat show at Cake Shop the next night (Friday, June 12th). It's a free show that's billed as "Character Comedy with Special Guests." Also playing are Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Jon Glaser, Trevor Williams and more.

As previously discussed, Andrew W.K. has a bunch of projects debuting soon: a solo piano improv album coming in the fall, a Canadian tour in June with Nardwuar (who recently interviewed Vivian Girls) and his own Cartoon Network show called Destroy Build Destroy.

Well, he also contributed to the most recent Current 93 album, and at a July 7th Santos show...

Andrew will perform several pieces from his voice performance contribution to The Journal of Popular Noise. This will be Andrew's first ever performance of this type, and a special night of new sounds and styles. Featuring TV BABY, Walker & Cantrell, Jayson Green and DJ TK.

Flyers for the Santos and Cake Shop shows, with Bad Brilliance vids and live clips from the DAMN! The Mixtape release party, below...

Continue reading "DAMN! - Girl Talk remixed Bad Brilliance (MP3s) who plays w/ Andrew WK others @ Santos courtesy of Adult Swim "