photos by Tim Griffin, words by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: The Dutchess & The Duke - Living This Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Dutchess & The Duke - Hands (MP3)

The Dutchess & the Duke @ Spider House

Seattle's The Dutchess and the Duke are led by songwriters Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison. Their most recent americana-folk LP, Sunset/Sunrise, came out in October 2009 (shortly before they played the BV CMJ loft party). Two songs from that record are above. The duo (who sometimes play as a full band) performed an amazing, informative set at the Hardly Art showcase at SXSW earlier this year (Jesse offered one *unverified* tip on how to get around Austin's smoking ban: light up on stage, and it's first-amendment-protected art). That same week they performed an acoustic-on-the-ground show at Spider House. A set of pictures from the latter are in this post. Most recently they opened for New Pornographers at the Bell House and other shows on the collective's tour.

The group comes back to NYC for a pair of shows on a short tour this September. The first is September 3rd at Union Pool. Tickets are on sale. The second happens September 4th at Mercury Lounge with The Wailing Wall. Tickets are on sale.

Videos of the group, more SXSW pics and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Dutchess and the Duke are playing more shows (dates), played Spider House in Austin (belated pics) "

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Dan Bejar on stage with The New Pornographers

One night after they headlined Terminal 5, The New Pornographers played a smaller show at The Bell House in Brooklyn with their tour-mates The Dutchess and the Duke (the Dodos sat the Brooklyn show out). More pictures and both setlists below...

Continue reading "The New Pornographers & The Dutchess & The Duke @ the Bell House in Brooklyn - pics & setlists"

photos by Greg Cristman, words by Rachel Kowal

The New Pornographers may be considered to be hopelessly passé by some, but for better or worse, they got a fair amount of play during my college radio days, so they are one of those bands that that I look back at fondly - even if their last two or three albums left me feeling somewhat ambivalent.

Founded in 1997, they're veterans of the Canadian indie rock movement. They've seen the industry evolve and shift to accommodate one fad or another, and through it all, they held their ground and continued to churn out expansive power pop medleys year after year. With Carl Newman (A.C. Newman), Neko Case and Dan Bejar (Destroyer) in the mix, The New Pornographers also served as something of a prototype for the modern supergroup.

For Saturday night's show at Terminal 5 (one night after the CD throwing incident in Boston), The New Pornographers focused heavily on their newest album, Together, playing all but three songs from it. But in addition to showcasing the new material, they dipped deeper into their discography and pulled out songs like: "Sing Me Spanish Techno," "Mass Romantic," and "The Electric Version." Their set list for the evening was expansive, but the band talked little between songs and sometimes powered into the next with no more than a brief break for applause. One of the show's major highlights came during the final song of their encore, "Testament to Youth in Verse," when Newman engaged the audience with a slowly building sing-along.

The sound throughout the evening definitely seemed to be too loud - especially with the Dodos. The levels were fine for build-ups and breakdowns, but everything in between suffered. Whenever a song picked up the tempo and increased in volume, the sound started to blend together to create one inchoate mass of energy. Individual guitar riffs became muddled and vocals, indecipherable.

Luckily for Terminal 5, the additional New Pornographers show at the Bell House on Sunday night wasn't announced until after Saturday night's show had already sold out. Given the vastly improved sound quality at the Bell House and its more intimate size and layout, couldn't help but wonder what Sunday night's show (where they promised to do at least ten different songs) was going to be like in comparison (pictures from that one coming soon).

I got to the venue too late to see The Dutchess and the Duke, who like the Dodos, are still on tour with The New Pornographers. More pictures (of all three bands) from the T5 show, and the headliner's setlist, below...

Continue reading "The New Pornographers, Dodos & the Dutchess and the Duke played Terminal 5 - pics & setlist"

DOWNLOAD: The New Pornographers - Your Hands Together (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Imaad Wasif - "Priestess" (MP3)

The New Pornographers SXSW "Together" shuttle (kelprecords)

A quick gander and the snowfall-laden countdown to the May 4 release of 'Together' reveals you've got limited time to GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER (sorry) to place a pre-order for the 5th and arguably finest studio album from The New Pornographers. And not to apply undue pressure on a Spring Tuesday morning, but you'll have even less time to get it in gear unless you wanna be on the outside looking in when The New Pornographers roll into your town (sadly, on a bus besides this one) in a few weeks time. Tickets for the North America tour starting June 7 go on presale today (dates below). -Matador

And there's a tour. The New Pornographers will be on the road for most of June and July and a few dates before and after that. Most of that time will be spent with The Dodos, and some of the dates are with The Dutchess and The Duke (three bands total) including June 19th at Terminal 5 in NYC. As mentioned above, tickets are now on presale. Other dates are with Imaad Wasif (who goes on tour with Dead Meadow even sooner). All dates below...

Continue reading "The New Pornographers, The Dodos, the Dutchess & The Duke, Imaad Wasif - 2010 Tour Dates, MP3s, stuff"

photos by Joseph Xu

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

More pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival, below...

Continue reading "pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Festival "

photos by Chris La Putt

The Love Language / Local Natives

One of the best times I've had a show in a long time was at the BV loft during CMJ on Friday night, October 23rd. I hope to do it again. The mix of great bands on the bill, the crowd and the location all made for a super memorable night. Both Local Natives (from California) and The Love Language (from North Carolina) said it was their favorite show to play during their hectic week in NYC. Thanks to everyone who played and stopped by.

The night kicked off with a set of catchy post-punk jams by Blacklist. The all-dressed--in-black band warmed up the arriving crowd nicely as people got used to their apartment surroundings which... well, the pictures speak for themselves. The loft filled up to a full, but still comfortable level by the time The Loom came on. As people came and went all night, partially due to informative tweets about the capacity level, it stayed just full enough until The Love Language ended their set (slightly by force) at 2am (we ran late... didn't want to upset the neighbors). It was the first time I had seen The Loom live, and at the time I tweeted that they were "killin it with horns" (though none of the pictures below actually show them playing horns). I'm excited for the new album they said they were working on.

Next up was the Dutchess and the Duke who had just arrived in town and were leaving right after their set to play the Vice party in the same neighborhood on the same night. Now with a new lineup, Canada's Immaculate Machine came on next and continued to entertain at a slightly higher volume than Inlets who came on after them. By that time people were getting their drink on and Inlets play soft music so it was a challenge to pay attention over all the talking coming from the other side of the room, but they still sounded great.

I don't know exactly what time it was, but we were officially running late by the time the two most energetic and buzzed-about bands of the evening came on. Luckily the space's owners let us extend the hours which was enough time to let the out of town bands play medium-sized set that got the room's full attention. Local Natives had everyone cheering, clapping, and dancing. The Love Language ended the night by getting the lights turned off and the entire room dancing. Sorry it took so long to post the pics. They are continued, along with some other reviews and stuff, below...

Continue reading "BV Loft during CMJ 2009 -pics (Love Language, D&D, Local Natives, The Loom, Inlets, Blacklist, Immaculate Machine)"

photos by Chris La Putt

DOWNLOAD: The Dutchess & The Duke - Living This Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Dutchess & The Duke - Hands (MP3)

The Dutchess & The Duke's CMJ week shows included an appearance at the Sub Pop/Hardly Art showcase at Mercury Lounge on Saturday, Oct. 24th and a set at the Brooklyn Vegan loft party the night before (10/23). The pictures here are from that party.

The band tours soon with Greg Ashley into December. For their 2010 dates, they'll tour with Medication, and that trip includes a pair of NYC shows. The Dutchess & the Duke play Union Hall on January 7th and Mercury Lounge on January 8th. Tickets for Mercury Lounge are now on AmEx presale. General sale starts Friday, Nov. 6th at noon. Union Hall tix TBA.

More pictures and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Dutchess & The Duke - 2009 Tour Dates & BV Loft pics "

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Neon Indian show happening at Mercury Lounge in December.

Neon Indian last played NYC during CMJ. This weekend they play in Austin at Fun Fun Fun Fest. Flyer below.

Also playing FFFFest are Fucked Up who play a very big show in NYC on Thursday. Tickets are still available.

Also playing FFFest is Danzig whose only other scheduled show is in NJ in December. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for the show Devendra Banhart just added at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are still available for the show Wolfmother added at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on AmEx presale for the Levon Helm / Okkervil River show coming up at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on sale for a December 15th Retribution Gospel Choir (Feat. Alan Sparhawk of Low) show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for a January 8th Dutchess and The Duke show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for a January 15th Joe Pernice show at Mercury Lounge. This is a new date. He was supposed to play the venue this Friday, but that show was canceled.

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for the January 22nd Serena Maneesh show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for a January 5th Adam Franklin (of Swervedriver) & The Bolts of Melody show at Mercury Lounge.

Noah and the Whale play their third of three shows in a row at Mercury Lounge tonight (11/4).

Tonight (11/4) is also the Very Best & Sleigh Bells show at Santos Party House.

Amy Millan of Stars/Broken Social Scene gets to town Thursday (11/5) for a show at Mercury Lounge followed by one at the Bell House. Amy's new video for "Bury This" below...

Continue reading "Neon Indian, Devendra Banhart, Alan Sparhawk, Serena Maneesh, Adam Franklin, Joe Pernice, Amy Millan, other tix"

DOWNLOAD: The Moondogies - Changing (MP3)

photos by Jake Forney

Pissed Jeans

Sub Pop/Hardley Art held their CMJ showcase at Mercury Lounge on Saturday night. Among those on the lineup was the Dum Dum Girls, in what was their second show that day. They since played again last night (10/17) at Bruar Falls and they'll open for the King Khan & BBQ Show this week. At that Monday show, Bill Pearis took a video of their song "Hey Sis" (posted below). After Saturday's, he wrote:

This was the first day of Dum Dum Girls existence as a live band, but clearly they spent a lot of time working out the details, from the look -- bangs, gorgeous Silvertone guitars and bass, extremely short black dresses and stockings -- to the sound, which is somewhere between the Velvet Underground and '60s girl groups. It was an impressive debut, hot and cool at the same time. I kept thinking, "this is what the Velvet Underground might sound like if all the members were Nico."

Now technically Dum Dum Girls played before Saturday, at the Woodsist / Captured Festival, and some West Coast dates, each with different line-ups. Which could happen again. But this felt like the first real version.

London garage punks Male Bonding, who played NYC shows all week, held down the absolute last slot of the night, while The Dutchess & the Duke (who also played earlier in the week at the BrooklynVegan loft party) warmed the crowd up for Pissed Jeans (who play "NYU Halloween Hardcore Fest" on October 30th at LPR) ...

[The Dutchess and the Duke's] Lortz and Morrison make a good musical pair, trading off guitar leads and contrasting his grainy bark with her smoother harmonies. That's apparent enough on their two albums, but onstage, their chemistry keeps their music from dissolving into Dylan pastiche. In fact, in their best moments-- particularly "Scorpio", whose downhearted call-and-response seemed especially emotionally alienated-- they made an audacious effort not simply to re-create old sounds, but to mold those influences to suit their own modern ends. [Pitchfork]

Easily categorized as "Americana," The Moondoggies marry alt-country with 1970's folk, but Quick's twinkling keyboard brings the band immediately into the 21st century. [KEXP]

Continue reading "pics from the Sub Pop CMJ showcase @ Mercury Lounge - Obits, Pissed Jeans, Dum Dum Girls (who played Bruar Falls)"

Local Natives

Because there can never be enough shows, I helped put together another one happening during CMJ. In addition to Tuesday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Thursday night at Southpaw, and Friday night at Fontana's (not to mention three day parties), BrooklynVegan is proud to present a Friday night (10/23) Williamsburg loft party at a secret location. This is the lineup:

09:00 Blacklist (NYC)
09:35 The Loom (NYC)
10:10 The Dutchess & The Duke (Seattle)
10:45 Immaculate Machine (Canada)
11:20 Inlets (NYC)
11:55 Local Natives (LA)
12:30 The Love Language (North Carolina)

The loft show literally holds less than 100 people aka space is limited. It costs $8 at the door, there will be beer and wine for purchase inside, and if you want to go, you should send an email to loft.rsvp@gmail.com with your name. Those who email will get an immediate confirmation that they made it on to the list, followed by directions to the Williamsburg (Bedford L area) location on the day before the show. RSVPing gets you on the list and gets you the directions, but entrance will still be first come, first served based on capacity on the actual night of the show. To guarantee admission, show up early. We'll tweet the capacity status throughout the night as well.

The Dutchess & The Duke are playing two shows that same night. From the loft, they'll head to the Vice party at Public Assembly. One night later you can catch them at the official Sub Pop & Hardly Art CMJ showcase at Mercury Lounge.

Local Natives are one of two bands playing two BrooklynVegan parties this week (the other is The Wheel). They also appear at the free Saturday day party at Pianos (full details TBA). The Saturday party is one of two BV day parties at Pianos this year. The other is on Thursday afternoon (details also TBA) which is the same day Local Natives play the Aquarium Drunkard party at Fontana's which is the location of the BV day party on Friday (say that all 5 times fast).

The Love Language just signed to Merge Records.

The loft party is NOT an official CMJ show. It is the only show Blacklist is playing during CMJ week.

Some videos below...

Continue reading "Williamsburg Loft party presented by BrooklynVegan (Friday night during CMJ w/ Local Natives, Blacklist, Inlets, more)"

Flyer and info below...

Continue reading "VICE late night parties @ Public Assembly (CMJ 2009) "

Dum Dum Girls @ Woodsist Fest (more by Tim Griffin)

2009 Sub Pop / Hardly Art CMJ Showcase
Sat 10/24/2009 @ Mercury Lounge in NYC

Male Bonding 2:00
Obits 1:00
Pissed Jeans 12:00
Golden Triangle 11:00
Dutchess & the Duke 10:00
Moondoggies 9:00
Dum Dum Girls 8:00
Unnatural Helpers 7:00

Dum Dum Girls are are also opening shows for King Khan & BBQ later in the month.

DOWNLOAD: Talbot Tagora - Internet Fixture (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Le Loup - We are Gods! We are Wolves! (MP3)

Hardly Art is an independent record label based in Seattle, WA. Founded in early 2007 by Sub Pop Records, Hardly Art is run by two full-time employees and is distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) and Sub Pop. The label's name comes from a lyric the song "No Culture Icons" by [ex-Sub Pop band] the Thermals [who are in town], and the unofficial motto for the label is: Quality records for quality people since very recently. [Wikipedia]

Golden Triangle @ NYU Strawberry Festival 2009 (more by Lauren Monaco)

Golden Triangle's upcoming shows include a gig on Saturday, May 9th at Rubulad with the Homosexuals. The band then plays a free show on Tuesday, May 12th at Southpaw with the Phenomenal Handclap Band. They're also scheduled to perform June 12th as part of the Northside Festival (again with The Homosexuals). All tour dates below.

Earlier this year when Golden Triangle were still unsigned, the group won the Dickies Battle of the Bands down at SXSW. The judges for that included Black Bubblegum, GZA, and Randy & Dean of No Age (who, being signed to Sub Pop, are now label cousins with the winning band).

Hardly Art intends to release Golden Triangle's debut full-length in early 2010. Other new signings by Hardly Art include Seattle bands Talbot Tagora and Unnatural Helpers.

Unnatural Helpers are a pretty righteous Seattle punk band with two former members of The Catheters, an ex-Sub Pop band of which I was especially fond and whose presence on the musical scene I miss dearly. Unnatural Helpers is ex-Catheters guitarists Brian Standeford (also of Idle Times and Tall Birds) and Leo Gephardt (Tall Birds), The Dutchess and the Duke's Kimberley Morrison on bass, though the band is the brain child of Dean Whitmore, who drums and sings. [Seattle Weekly]

Only one other Hardly Art band has an NYC date coming up: indie-pop trio Pretty & Nice play Union Hall on May 14th with the Dig and Middle Distance Runner. Tickets are on sale.

All upcoming Hardly Art tour dates below...

Continue reading "Golden Triangle & other bands signed to Hardly Art (like Talbot Tagora & Unnatural Helpers) - 2009 tour dates & stuff "

The 2009 Capitol Hill Block Party takes over Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood July 24-25. The Block Party is an annual music festival that draws upon and showcases the best indie and underground rock in the US, with a special focus on its Northwest artists. Launched 12 years ago, the Block Party has evolved into Seattle's most anticipated outdoor party. With over 40 bands on 3 stages, great food, and plenty of cheap beer, this is by far the best party of the summer.

Continue reading "Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle - initial 2009 lineup"

by Andrew Frisicano

M83 @ Webster Hall (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

M83 has been added to Pitchfork Festival, which is taking place from July 17th - Sunday, July 19th in Chicago. Other bands added to the bill include Black Lips, Fucked Up, Wavves, the Dutchess and the Duke, and Matt and Kim. The whole, updated lineup is below. Tickets for the fest are still on sale.

Five days before he performs in Chicago, M83's Anthony Gonzalez will perform a free show at NYC's World Finanial Center Winter Garden (July 14th). For that NYC gig:

Anthony Gonzalez, M83's chief stargazer, performs a special one-off ambient performance. New York-based artist Janet Biggs begins the night with a screening of her short film, Vanishing Point.

More Pitchfork Fest info below...

Continue reading "P4k Fest updates lineup, M83 (solo) playing a free NYC show"

Jane's Addiction - @ Echoplex, Los Angeles - Feb 16, 2009 (revolute)

Live Nation and Adam Zacks are pleased to announce this year's line up for the Sasquatch! Music Festival at the legendary Gorge in Eastern Washington. The festival, now in its eighth and most ambitious year yet, has evolved from a unique, homegrown & low key fest into a full blown three day extravaganza. A festival-goer's dream, it comes complete with camp-outs, canyons, sunsets, three stages and new this year, an expanded comedy and dance music tent. The tent will feature performances from comedians throughout the day, and then come dusk, will spotlight electronic and dance music artists.

Already the official opener to summer for music fans, the Sasquatch! Music Festival is becoming a certified monster of a musical event: this year features another exciting and diverse line-up for the musically adventurous, and ups the ante on an event already hailed for its independent spirit. Tickets go on sale Saturday February 28th at 10AM

Today it was announced that Jane's (feat. all four original members), NIN, Kings of Leon, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Erykah Badu, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio, Animal Collective, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Santigold, and many others are playing this year's Sasquatch Festival (May 23, 24, 25, 2009 @ The Gorge in Quincy, WA). Full lineup and ticket info below...

Continue reading "Jane's Addiction played LA, headlining SASQUATCH Festival (which just announced most of the 2009 LINEUP)"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Mission Of Burma headlined the Rhapsody/Becks/IBM/McDonalds/Taco Bell party at Music Hall Of Williamsburg along with The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Dutchess & The Duke, and Jay Reatard (pics here). OK, so it wasn't all those sponsors. And granted, there was free Becks beer all night. .. but somewhere between the giant video truck parked outside, multiple video cameras in the audience and on stage, spotlights reading Rhapsody and Becks, and the swag, I found the corporate sponsorship of the show a tad annoying. But hey, I guess that's the price you pay when you are getting a line-up like this for five measly bills.

Unfortunately, I slid in a touch late (Sorry Jay, Dutchess, Duke) to see King Khan on stage with BBQ. Lots of very simple, garagey soul-inflected fun but frankly, I find his live show with The Shrines much more compelling. Not only is the music much more dynamic (and just as FUN), it gives King Khan much more breathing room to do what he does best... act like a horse's ass in ridiculous costumes. That said, you know King Khan isn't showing up in his civvies.... no sir e bob. King Khan was wearing a ridiculous sparked bikini bottom and a Stevie Wonder wig circa Hotter Than July. Good times.

The thing that shocked me the most about Mission of Burma (and I hope I am not coming off as an age-ist here - NOT my intention) is how much energy they have and how just plain amazing they are on stage... STILL. Lead guitarist Roger Miller's angular riffs were just awesome, and punctuated with swift headbutts of the microphone in between his pogo-ing. I enjoyed seeing these post-punk legends thoroughly.

MOB's setlist and more pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Mission of Burma, King Khan & BBQ show, and the Dutchess & the Duke @ the Rhapsody party @ MHOW, NYC - pics"

Mission of Burma @ P4K Fest 2008 (more by Elizabeth Weinberg)

Mission of Burma are headlining a Rhapsody party at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on Thursday, October 23rd. That's during CMJ, but the show is not part of CMJ. Instead it is completely open to the public and only costs $5.00. Also on the bill: The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Dutchess & The Duke and Jay Reatard.

That ups the number of NYC-area shows Jay is playing that week to five (so far). There's also the shows at Santos, Bowery Ballroom, Glasslands, and Maxwell's. Amazingly, the Maxwell's show is the same night as this $5.00 Williamsburg show...

Jay Reatard - 2008 NYC Tour Dates
10-23 MHOW w/ Mission of Burma & King Khan & BBQ Show (tix on sale Oct 3)
10-23 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's (CMJ) (tix)
10-24 Bowery Ballroom ) w/ Violens, White Lies, Longwave & Japanese Motors (tix)
10-25 Glasslands w/ Amazing Baby, Women & Crystal Antlers (tix)
10-26 Santos Party House w/ Vivian Girls (tix)

King Khan & the BBQ Show also have NYC dates scheduled at the end of November. The Dutchess & the Duke are also playing the Sub Pop / Hardly Art showcase. More JR tour dates HERE. All (barely any) Mission of Burma dates below...

Continue reading "Mission of Burma for $5.00, more King Khan & Jay Reatard shows, CMJ & other tour dates "

Friday October 24, 2008 @ Pianos in NYC

Upstairs room:
Pretty & Nice 8:00 - 8:30 pm
The Coathangers 8:45- 9:15pm

Downstairs room:
Cotton Jones: 8:30-9:00pm
Death Vessel: 9:15pm-9:45pm
Dutchess and the Duke: 10:00pm-10:30pm
sBACH: 10:45pm- 11:15pm
Oxford Collapse: 11:30-12am
The Ruby Suns: 12:15am-12:45am

Sub Pop has Death Vessel, Oxford Collapse and The Ruby Suns.

Pretty & Nice and Dutchess and the Duke represent Sub Pop's sister label Hardly Art who now represents six artists in total including Le Loup who are opening for Stereolab at Irving Plaza on October 4th.

sBACH (member of Hella), Cotton Jones (ex-Page France) and The Coathangers (friends with the Black Lips) are reppin' Suicide Squeeze. The Coathangers signing was announced September 4th. Cotton Jones was announced in August.

Sub Pop usually does a sell-out show at the larger Bowery Ballroom, so they're definitely taking it easy this year. Merge's is small too.

Check out the Pianos flyer below...

Continue reading "Sub Pop, Suicide Squeeze, Hardly Art, CMJ 2008"

DOWNLOAD: James Jackson Toth - Nothing Hides (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: James Jackson Toth - Doreen (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jex Thoth - Separated at Birth (MP3)

James Jackson Toth (ex-Wooden Wand) released an album called Waiting In Vain on 7/29 on Rykodisc. The album features, among others, Nels Cline (Wilco), John Dietrich (Deerhoof) and Andy Cabic (aka Vetiver) on guitar, and it was produced by Steve Fisk (Nirvana, Screaming Trees). You can download two tracks from that above.

Jex Thoth (not Toth, THOTH) is married to James Jackson Toth and used to be in Wooden Wand with him. Jex Thoth is also the name of Jex Thoth's band that used to be called Totem. Jex Thoth (the band) recently released a self-titled album that James (aka Grim Jim) played guitar and bass on. So just to recap: James Toth contributed to Jex Thoth's new Jex Thoth album Jex Thoth (someone please correct me if I messed that up). Stream Jex Thoth HERE. Get an MP3 above.

Jex Thoth has no upcoming shows, but James Jackson Toth is on tour with Hardly Art recording artist The Dutches & the Duke. The NYC shows are Sunday at Mercury Lounge and the day after that at Union Hall. James is also playing some dates with the Silver Jews. All dates below...

Continue reading "James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand) & the Dutchess & the Duke - 2008 Tour Dates + MP3s (Jex Thoth too)"

photos by Elizabeth Weinberg

DOWNLOAD: The Dutchess & The Duke - Reservoir Park (MP3)

As Largehearted Boy pointed out, The Dutchess & The Duke have a new album out this week called She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke. Their label is Hardly Art which you might remember is a sister label of Sub Pop. Sub Pop is the home of Seattle's Fleet Foxes. Fleet Foxes are who Seattle's The Dutchess & The Duke are currently on tour with. They both played Bowery Ballroom last night (July 9, 2008), Tour dates and more pictures from that below...

Continue reading "The Dutchess & The Duke - new Hardly Art album, MP3, Bowery Ballroom pics & tour dates"