by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Flaming Lips @ Wellmont Theatre, 5/16/2013

The Flaming Lips played the first of two New York-area shows last night (5/16) at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey.

It was near-sensory overload -- as all Flaming Lips shows have been since The Soft Bulletin tour -- as strobes and lasers flashed all about the theater. Wayne Coyne ascended a pile of silver half domes where his mic sat atop and he cradled an infant doll for the first three songs as black confetti was shot from cannons, two on either side of the stage, during the second song of the evening, "The Terror." It was everywhere and I found myself fishing confetti out of my camera bag on the train ride home.

It was also a far cry from my first Lips show - "The World's First Headphone Concert" - in Dallas in 1999 when Coyne had a solitary trash bag of confetti and would launch handfuls of it into the crowd. Colors cascaded through fiber-optic cords that snaked around the domes and back behind Coyne. From afar it looked as if he was standing on the glittering remains of a Disney Electrical Parade float. You may have seen it on their Late Night with Jimmy Fallon appearance.

The set leaned heavily on material from their new release, The Terror, and the past few records back to Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. We were treated to one song from The Soft Bulletin ("Race For The Prize") and nothing from the earlier records which I think is a bit of a shame.

Nonetheless, it was a spectacle that looked and sounded great. Spanning thirty years, the Lips maintain an eclectic and wide-ranging age group of fans. The younger part of the crowd did their part as kids toward the front wore costumes and covered themselves in glitter and fake blood. One girl - front and center - even had her own infant doll.

The Flaming Lips, along with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Darkness, will play the first night of Great GoogaMooga 2013 tonight (the Lips are on at 6 PM) before heading over to Europe for a handful of dates.  Setlist and more pictures from Wellmont --  including ones of opener Julianna Barwick -- are below.

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips played Wellmont Theatre (pics, setlist); GoogaMooga is tonight"

Foals @ Coachella 2013 (more by Wei Shi)

Besnard Lakes @ SXSW 2013 (more by Sara Pieper)

today in NYC
* Discipline @ Acheron
* Stornoway @ Maxwell's
* Brian Eno @ Cafe Rouge
* Guy Klucevsek @ Barbes
* Jay Brannan @ Joe's Pub
* Paula Cole @ City Winery
* Earth, Wind & Fire @ NJPAC
* Chia's Dance Party @ Barbes
* The Young Lions @ The Stone
* Atlas Genius @ Original Penguin
* Foals, Surfer Blood, Blondfire @ Terminal 5
* No Regular Play, Justin Miller @ Cameo Gallery
* Johnny Marr, Alamar @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Rush Midnight, Rioux, Candide @ Mercury Lounge
* Not Blood Paint, SWIMM, O Paradiso @ Glasslands
* Xenia Rubinos, Railbird, Leapling @ Cameo Gallery
* Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite @ Beacon Theatre
* Lockets, Breakfast In Fur, Daytona @ Shea Stadium
* Alexi Delano, Matthew Dear, Alejandro Sab @ Output
* Masters at Work, Suzanne Kraft, Jolly Mare @ Le Bain
* A Giant Dog, Neighbors, A. Rex & J. Rex @ Don Pedro
* Gun Outfit, Pampers, Big Ups, Ornament @ Union Pool
* Gramatik, Cherub, heRobust, Alex English @ Webster Hall
* Kastle (live set), Knxledge, Morri$, Peter Fonda @ 285 Kent
* Shannon F. of Light Asylum (DJ), SSION (DJ) @ Glasslands
* Black Taxi, Easter Island, Emily King @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Nails, Xibalba, Early Graves, White Widows @ Saint Vitus Bar
* Crazy Pills, Auto Bonfire, Stereo Off, DJ KGB @ The Rock Shop
* The Besnard Lakes, Gem Club, Weeknight @ Bowery Ballroom
* Janeane Garofalo, Dave Hill, Forbidden Planet NYC @ UCB East
* Knox, QuietDust, August Rosenbaum, Jimi Nxir @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Special Guest, The Snails, Moss Of Aura, Alle Alle @ Death By Audio
* John Legend, Salome Chamber Orchestra, Ryan Leslie @ United Palace Theatre
* Eric Copeland (of Black Dice), Blues Control, Son of Dad, Liz Ber (DJ) @ Silent Barn
* Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg, Andrew W.K. (special vocal guest) @ Santos Party House
* Wax Idols, TV Ghost, The Laurels, Far Out Fangtooth, RITUAL (DJ Sets) @ Cake Shop
* Alex Vans & the Hide Away, Dig For Honey, Heels on Fire, Betty Who, Steven Roth @ Pianos
* Judah Friedlander, Janeane Garofalo, Christian Finnegan, MadDog @ Eastville Comedy Club
* Martin Dosh, Aaron Parks, Chris Morrissey, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Aaron Parks @ Shapeshifter Lab
* Ken Boothe, Crazy Baldhead, Deadly Dragon Sound System, Grace of Spades, Dig Deeper, Mr. Robinson, DJ H @ Littlefield
* French Horn Rebellion (Party Ensemble), Auto Body, JD Samson (of Le Tigre), Ernesto (of Penguin Prison), The Dirty Grand (DJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl

Night Slugs DJ Morri$ has been announced as the "secret guest" for tonight's Kastle and Knxwledge show at 285 Kent. Peter Fonda is on the bill too, and tickets are still available.

Lovers of sweeping guitar rock should consider hitting Bowery Ballroom tonight for Montreal's Besnard Lakes who are touring in support of their soaring new album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO. Gem Club and Weeknight are also on the bill and tickets are still available.

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Flaming Lips have a new video for The Terror track "You Lust," and unsurprisingly at this point, it's extremely NSFW. It's also not safe for people who aren't comfortable seeing electrodes attached to people's gentalia. (NSFPWACSEATPG) So, you've been warned, it's below if you wanna watch.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

GoogaMooga 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

Brooklyn food, drink, and music festival The Great GoogaMooga, who we're sure have been working hard on figuring out to do things better the second time around, have announced the lineup for their second year which goes down from May 17 to 19 at Prospect Park. We just mentioned that the fest begins with a kickoff show on the Friday (5/17) with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Flaming Lips, and The Darkness. The rest of the lineup includes Matt & Kim, Father John Misty, Sharon Van Etten, Lee Fields & the Expressions, and more playing on Saturday; and Sharon Jones & the Dap-KIngs, De La Soul (who recently announced a tour with LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Ice Cube), Cults, The Soul Rebels, Delicate Steve, and more playing on Sunday.

Tickets for the kickoff show and VIP Cocktail Experience tickets for Saturday and Sunday go on sale Thursday (3/28) at noon, and general admission tickets for Saturday and Sunday become available in an online ticket giveaway which runs from April 1 to 3. "Complimentary tickets will be awarded at random and recipients will be notified by email on or before Wednesday, April 10."

Check out pictures of day 1 and day 2 of last year's festival.

Full music food and drink lineup below...

Continue reading "GoogaMooga 2013 lineup & tix (Father John Misty, Sharon Van Etten, De La Soul, Sharon Jones, Matt & Kim, and more)"

The Great GoogaMooga is returning to Brooklyn from May 17 to 19 at Prospect Park this year, and the festival will begin with a kickoff show on the Friday (5/17) from 4 PM to 10 PM with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Flaming Lips, and The Darkness. Whoa! Tickets for the kickoff show go on sale Thursday (3/28) at noon. More info on the rest of the festival coming very soon HERE.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs also play a sold out show at Webster Hall on April 7 and The Flaming Lips also play Wellmont Theatre on May 16 (tickets).

Updated YYYs dates are listed, along with their new video for "Scarilege", below...

Continue reading "Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Flaming Lips and The Darkness playing GoogaMooga kickoff show in Prospect Park"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

The Flaming Lips @ SXSW, 3/14/2013

The Flaming Lips have become known for doing special things at concerts in the last ten years -- confetti, blood, giant hampsters balls. But last night (3/14) as part of SXSW's "Warner Sound captured by Nikon" series that happened at The Belmont in Austin, the Lips did something special and different by playing 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots front-to-back for the first time ever. It was also a straight band performance, with little in the way of special effects, hulk hands, etc.

Could this be how the plan on presenting their thematically heavy, musically experimental new album, The Terror, when they tour later this year? (Like at Wellmont Theatre in NJ on 5/16 [tix]). We shall see. Meanwhile, check out more pics -- and video of the live debut of "Are You a Hypnotist?" -- from their SXSW Yoshimi performance below.

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips played SXSW, performed 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' in full for the first time ever (pics, video)"

The Flaming Lips at Jones Beach in 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The Flaming Lips, who just expanded their tour (it hits the NYC-area on 5/16 at Wellmont Theatre), have finally officially revealed the first taste of their new album, The Terror, which comes out on April 2 via Warner Brothers. NPR is streaming the album's opening song, "Look... The Sun Is Rising," so head to their site to hear that.

As mentioned, the Flaming Lips tour includes SXSW, and while they're there, they'll be premiering Wayne Coyne's iPhone-shot film. The band will also be on the Late Show with David Letterman on April 3.

Updated dates are listed below...

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips streaming first track off 'The Terror', premiering Wayne Coyne's iPhone-shot film at SXSW, playing 'Letterman'"

by Andrew Sacher

The Flaming Lips at Jones Beach in 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The Flaming Lips will be touring internationally this year, beginning with their big shows in Austin for SXSW this month, and they'll make their way to the NYC area for a show on May 16 at The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (3/8) at noon. All tour dates are listed below.

The tour is in support of their thirteenth full length album, The Terror, which is due out on April 2 via Warner Brothers. The Terror is a depressingly existential concept album about the relationship (or lack thereof) of life and love. "We want, or wanted to believe that without love we would disappear," explains Wayne Coyne in a press release, "The Terror is we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on... there is no mercy killing." It's the kind of concept that we can imagine being taken on by a band 30 years into their career, and impressive to see the Lips doing something like this rather than copying their old sounds or fading away.

Musically, it's one of the band's noisiest albums since the '90s, with their multi-layered psychedelia tightly packed into a claustrophobic container of sound. Like last year's The Seer by Swans, it's the type of record that takes you on a trip for the entire listen, but while Swans took you deep into the underworld, The Flaming Lips take you to Mercury, or year 3,000, or both. And while it's more of an album-album than a song-album, it's worth mentioning that The Terror's goal is best executed on its 13+ minute centerpiece; the wildly psychedelic "You Lust."

All tour dates are listed, along with a video of The Flaming Lips performing "You Lust" live with Phantogram, and a recent pitchfork documentary on their 1999 classic The Soft Bulletin, are below...

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips expand tour (Wellmont Theatre included)"

Bradford Cox w/ Deerhunter at Webster Hall in 2010 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* Joey Arias @ Joe's Pub
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Tim Noyes @ The Ace Hotel
* Shawn Colvin @ City Winery
* Imperial Topaz @ The Stone
* Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes
* Franzisca Seehausen @ Barbes
* Hex Breaker Quartet @ The Stone
* Casey Shea @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Once Upon A Time in NYC @ Joe's Pub
* Hooray For Earth, Reputante @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Bradford Cox (of Deerhunter), DIIV @ MoMA PS1
* Local Natives, We Barbarians @ Bowery Ballroom
* Walking Shapes, DRGN King, Nicos Gun @ Glasslands
* Andrew W.K., MC Todd, Aleister X @ Santos Party House
* Feed Me, Mord Fustang, Alex English DJ set @ Webster Hall
* Fair Marie, Larkin Grimm, Yes William, Phoebe Novak @ Cake Shop
* Sharkmuffin, Butter the Children, Liz Hogg, Turnip King @ Pianos
* Tiger Waves, Sport of Kings, Oscar Albis Rodriguez @ Mercury Lounge
* Oberhofer, Total Slacker, Shadow Walker, Night Visions @ Shea Stadium
* The Hairs, What Next?, The Rebel Kind, Juan Wauters (of The Beets) @ Silent Barn
* Bad Boys, Electric People, Secret Lover, Mr. Frank, White Crime @ Death By Audio

Super Bowl XLVII is tonight, and you can watch it a bunch of places, including Brooklyn Bowl, The Bell House, and Knitting Factory.

Beyonce will be performing during the halftime show and is bringing out the reunited Destiny's Child during her set.

Justin Timberlake made his live return after a five-year absence from the stage at a DirecTV party in New Orleans last night (2/2) and brought out Jay-Z for his verse on JT's new single, "Suit and Tie." You can watch a video of that below. Since Justin's in New Orleans, it's looking like there's a chance that he too will come on stage with Beyonce tonight? If he does, hopefully things go better than last time JT played the Super Bowl.

Also look for The Flaming Lips' Hyundai commercial during the game.

You can also catch Andrew WK doing his own halftime show at Santos.

And all Super Bowl excitement aside, have you listened to the new My Bloody Valentine album? If not, you can stream each track below.

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What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday? (Super Bowl)"

by Bill Pearis

Flaming Lips will release their 14th album on April 2... and it sounds like a bummer. Says Wayne Coyne:

"Why would we make this music that is The Terror -- this bleak, disturbing record...?? I don't really want to know the answer that I think is coming: that WE were hopeless, WE were disturbed and, I think, accepting that some things are hopeless... or letting hope in one area die so that hope can start to live in another?? Maybe this is the beginning of the answer.

These bleak times, though, may have produced "possibly the best Flaming Lips record ever made," Coyne told Rolling Stone. While no music from The Terror has been released yet, that's the cover art above. Expect a tour, though maybe the confetti cannons and giant hamster ball may be retired for such dark material? The band do have a few dates this spring with The Black Keys (none near NYC) and those dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Flaming Lips get dark with 'The Terror'; playing shows with Black Keys (dates)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Black Keys / good question, Firefly Music Fest 7/22/2012

The Firefly Music Festival wrapped its successful first year on Sunday (7/22) with performances by The Black Keys, Flaming Lips, Girl Talk, The Head & the Heart, Fitz & the Tantrums, Bombay Bicycle Club and many more. As mentioned before, tickets on 3-day passes for the 2013 Firefly are now on presale.

Pictures from Sunday are below and you can also check out previously-posted pics from Friday (7/20) and Saturday (7/21).

Continue reading "Firefly Music Fest day 3 in pics (Black Keys, Flaming Lips, Bombay Bicycle Club, Girl Talk and more)"

With it's cavalcade of guest appearances (Biz Markie, Nick Cave, Yoko Ono, etc.), The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends was arguably the most sought-after Record Store Day 2012 release. (I didn't even see it at any of the stores I went to.) For those who didn't get it, the Lips are making it a legit release, putting it out on CD and digital on June 26th. No new vinyl... for that you're still going to have to go to eBay where it is currently averaging around $40. The tracklist is at the bottom of this post, and if you take a look at it you'll notice that the track with Chris Martin ("I Don't Want You To Die") from the RSD release has been switched with a new song called, "Tasered and Maced," which features Ghostland Observatory's Aaron Behrens.

The band just released a video for, "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face," the album's colaboration with Erykah Badu. The video features Erykah's sister, Nayrok, naked in a bathtub as she's showered in glitter, blood, and... hair conditioner? Needless to say it's NSFW. Do the Flaming Lips make any other kind of video anymore? You can watch it below.

A press release states they're also working on a new Flaming Lips studio album, which should see a release this fall, followed by a tour. That tour hasn't been announced yet, but the Lips are making the festival rounds this summer, playing the Happy Funtime Fest in Dallas tonight (6/1) and the Free Press Summer Fest in Houston tomorrow (6/2). No NYC date on the horizon but a list of all upcoming appearances are below.

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips re-releasing RSD12 album 'Heady Fwends,' made another NSFW video (watch)"

DOWNLOAD: SBTRKT - "Wildfire" (Drumma Boy remix ft. Shabazz Palaces) (MP3)

Back in June, we announced the killer initial lineup for Moogfest 2011 (October 28, 29, 30). That lineup just got even better with additions including TV on the Radio, Special Disco Version featuring James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, St. Vincent, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus, YACHT, John Maus, Araabmuzik Baths, Zomby, Active Child and more. It was also announced that Brian Eno, part of the initial lineup, will be presenting Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings and "Illustrated Talks" as part of this year's fest.

The initial announcement also included Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Austra, M83, Little Dragon, Passion Pit, Toro y Moi, Moby (full band), The Flaming Lips, Battles, CANT, Brandt Brauer Frick (who will be on a US tour that hits Glasslands), and more.

Speaking of CANT (aka Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear), he revealed the song "Believe" from his upcoming debut LP yesterday. Stream the track below. The album comes out September 13 on Chris' own Terrible Records. He's also got an upcoming tour surrounding Moogfest which includes a show on October 25 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of SBTRKT and Little Dragon, Drumma Boy remixed the SBTRKT song with Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano on lead vocals. Shabazz Palaces is also featured on the remix (compare that to Drake's version). Grab the track above via Gorilla vs Bear. Shabazz wrote on Facebook today, "Besides the release of Black Up, I don't think I've seen one article on here create such a surge of activity as this Wildfire Remix has. Amazing."

Sampha, who sings live with SBTRKT and on his album, also recently released his own song, "Indecision." Stream the track below. Moogfest is one of the stops on SBTRKT's recently announced US tour that also hits Bowery Ballroom on October 31 (with Araabmuzik) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 1. Tickets for both shows are still on sale.

Little Dragon plays a BV-presented Record Release show at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg TONIGHT (8/16). The show is sold out, but if you don't have tickets you can catch them in NYC again on their headlining tour which hits Terminal 5 on October 14. Tickets are still on sale.

Song streams and full Moogfest lineup below...

Continue reading "updated Moogfest lineup, new CANT & a Shabazz Palaces/Drumma Boy SBTRKT/Little Dragon remix (MP3s)"

Marnie Stern at Santos Party House (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Marnie Stern and No Joy, who coincidentally shared a bill at one of the BrooklynVegan day parties during CMJ, are heading out on a North American tour together in September. The dates haven't been announced yet but a few of them have been revealed, including September 29 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for the NYC show are on sale now.

Marnie and No Joy both have some other upcoming dates this summer too. Though they won't be at the same show, they'll both be in Chicago on July 8, when Marnie Stern hosts a guitar clinic before she opens for the Flaming Lips at Aragon Ballroom. No Joy play the Empty Bottle that night.

Speaking of the Flaming Lips, they played multiple shows last weekend in Atlantic City

"On June 23rd and 24th The Flaming Lips played in Atlantic City - including on the latter night their new arrangement of The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety with highlights from The Wizard of Oz. The next day they were scheduled to travel seven hours northwest to play in Rochester, New York. That show however - a late addition to The Flaming Lips Peace and Punk Rock Summer Tour - was postponed. Its promoters needed more time, so Wayne flew to his home state Oklahoma - where he is shooting a role in a new movie with Melanie Griffith." [psych explorations]

All tour dates and some other videos too, below...

Continue reading "Marnie Stern going on tour w/ No Joy, opening for the Flaming Lips (who played 'Dark Side' in AC, didn't play Rochester)"

The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

Wayne Coyne & bear @ Terminal 5 (more by Vincent Cornelli)

Right before NYC got two Flaming Lips/Fang Island shows (Summerstage & Terminal 5) and three by the Black Keys (Summerstage, Summerstage, Terminal 5), all three bands played one show at CMAC, the Bowery Presents-booked venue near Rochester...

"Patrick Carney (drums) and Dan Auerbach (guitar/vocals) held their own through a high-energy, in-your-face performance that included favorites like "I Got Mine" off the album "Attack and Release." The duo filled the amphitheater with ear-pounding precision despite looking a little lonely on the huge stage for most of the set. The crowd responded jubilantly to the Keys' classic style and the band fed off the upbeat vibe, funneling its stripped-down sound all the way out to the lost lawn dwellers.

But The Flaming Lips, a band known for its ridiculous stage antics, was in a league of its own. The band was birthed on to the stage, emerging from a projected 30-foot vagina. Wayne Coyne, looking much like a fetus in a growing uterus, slowly stood up within a huge, plastic sphere that he called a "spaceball" and rolled his way through the pavilion on the hands of fans during the opening track, "Worm Mountain." The only word that came to mind was "epic."" [Rochester City Newspaper]

Continue reading "Flaming Lips played CMAC w/ Black Keys, Letterman (videos)"

The Flaming Lips in Poughkeepsie in April (more by Ryan Muir)

Remember the five Spin 25th Anniversary shows announced in March? Here they are:

7/26 - Smashing Pumpkins @ Terminal 5
7/27 - The Flaming Lips @ Terminal 5
7/28 - The Black Keys @ Terminal 5 (a late show)
7/29 - The National @ Terminal 5
7/30 - Spiritualized playing Ladies and Gentlemen in its entirety @ Radio City Music Hall

The Spin shows are sponsored by American Express Zync, just like the National @ BAM show that happened in May.

The National have other dates (including Radio City June 16th) coming up. The Flaming Lips and the Black Keys both play Central Park SummerStage around the time of the T5 shows. In fact, the July 28th T5 show is late show following one of the Black Keys SummerStage shows.

Some related recent videos below...

Continue reading "Flaming Lips, Black Keys & the National, Smashing Pumpkins & Spiritualized playing SPIN 25th birthday shows (on sale now)"

photos by Ryan Muir

The Flaming Lips played the 2nd date of their April tour at Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York with The Hood Internet and Stardeath and White Dwarfs. The Vassar-sponsored Saturday night show was one night before they played Barton Hall at Cornell in Ithaca, and one night after they performed the Pink Floyd song "Breathe" on Late night with Jimmy Fallon.

Monday night is the show at Wellmont Theater in NJ. More pictures from Poughkeepsie, with videos from Fallon and Ithaca, below...

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips played Ithaca, Poughkeepsie (pics) & covered Pink Floyd on Fallon (video) "

Wayne Coyne @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

The Flaming Lips have revealed they're in talks with Des McAnuff to turn their hit 2002 album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots into a theatrical spectacular.

Frontman Wayne Coyne tells WENN, "We've talked about doing something with Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots now for about five or six years. They did it with Tommy and Des McAnuff was the director, and he's the one that wants to do Yoshimi.

"We've actually pursued it to a certain extent and I think that where it sits is really just me deciding to dedicate a couple of years of my life to making it.

"It's a strange opportunity but I know we've talked about it since 2003. We would incorporate all the songs and probably write some other music that told a little bit more of a story. I guess my biggest dilemma is there's not really a story with Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots; it's just a series of unconnected songs that sound connected when you listen.

"That being said, I don't think it would be overly impossible to draw some connections and come up with some type of emotional storyline." [WENN]

They play Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie (put on by Vassar College) on Saturday, April 17th - tickets are still on sale. Stardeath & White Dwarfs open both the Vassar show and Wellmont, and The Hood Internet play Vassar too. Between those, Flaming Lips perform in Ithaca (Cornell University's Barton Hall to be exact).

The same month as the Central Park show, Flaming Lips have other New York State/New Jersey gigs: July 4th at Atlantic City House of Blues (tickets), July 22nd at ArtPark in Lewiston, NY, near Buffalo (tickets), and July 23rd on an awesome bill with Black Keys and Morning Benders (together in NYC later in July) at CMAC Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, NY, south of Rochester (tickets).

All Flaming Lips tour dates and more are below...

Continue reading "Flaming Lips making a musical? ++ updated tour dates include many NY & NJ shows that are still on sale "

by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

'And for like ten minutes she would just do these fucking amazing animal yelps and screams and growling and all this shit.'

Its a beautiful warm Sunday morning at Kutscher's and Wayne Coyne is waiting for me in a golf cart near the main stage. Clad in his trademark light colored suit, I shake his hand and exchange pleasantries. Then he notices that I'm with photographer Ryan Muir.

"You want to take some pictures? Lets head to the pool."

One problem. The pool is separated by a chain-link fence and there is no way around.

"Let's just jump it" Wayne says, but he's already on the other side.

Wayne is a gracious, charismatic ringmaster/shaman who is up for anything, as long as it leaves a lasting impression, much like the lovable oddballs The Flaming Lips that he fronts.

Starting over 25 years ago as an acid-drenched punk band with a Butthole Surfers obsession, The Flaming Lips have aged gracefully into their current role as quirky pop elder statesmen by keeping their punk rock spirit and freak-out tendencies. 1999's The Soft Bulletin began the band's current trajectory towards poignant and epic melodies, which continues with the release of their new LP Embryonic. It impacts record stores on October 13th, and you can listen to it now courtesy of the Colbert Report.

As you probably heard, The Flaming Lips were invited to headline All Tomorrow's Parties New York (ATP NY) as well as curate the final day of shows at the festival this year. We sat with the Oklahoma native on that sunday (9/13), while a team of men in orange jumpsuits (read: The Lips crew) carted around giant lighting sets, trashcans filled with stuffed animals, and yeti costumes....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips "

The new Flaming Lips album is streaming on the Colbert Nation website. Video from last night's Flaming Lips appearance on the Colbert Report, below...

Continue reading "Flaming Lips - Colbert Report video, full album stream"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

some of the stars of ATP NY 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

continued below...

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

DOWNLOAD: Black Francis - All in My Mind (Love & Rockets) (MP3)

I would like to apologize to the Breeders for saying they would not sell out. I was a jerk about it and am truly sorry. I also apologize to their fans I may have offended with my stupid insensitive comments. Hope you liked the show.-Anonymous

The Breeders @ The Paradise in Boston 8/17 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

"Come one come all-I'm work shopping new introductions bare with me-Welcome to the 18th installment of the Jay Porks Never Ending concert series. Tonight brings us to the 'Sold Out' Bowery Ballroom at 6 Delancey St. in New York City. The Bowery is a venue that's been on my radar for a while, considering that the Bowery owns(or at least sponsors) most of the venues I attend for concerts in the city. Tonight the headliner, the band I'm here to see is the one, the only, THE BREEDERS." [The Jay Porks Blog]

On the horizon, Kim & Kelley Deal will be singing as part of The Long Count at BAM this fall, and Kim will be playing with her other band the Pixies, when they play NYC on their Doolittle tour this November.

Co-Pixie Frank Black recently contributed a track to New Tales To Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets, which came out Tuesday (Aug 18th) on Justice Records. Frank's track from that, "All in My Mind", off L&R's 1986 album Express, is posted above for your downloading pleasure.

He didn't appear at the release party/show on August 18th at the Ben Sherman store in Soho, but he will be at the show for, another tribute comp, Ciao My Shining Star - The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, which happens Sunday, September 20th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Also appearing at the concert will be Joseph Arthur, David Berkeley and more. Non-musical guests (of sorts) include the premiere of the Thom Yorke video "All For The Best" and a reading by graphic novelist Ben Katchor. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 21st at noon.

Joseph Arthur also has a series of shows coming up at City Winery.

That Mulcahy comp also has a slightly more personal story, via FrankBlack.net...

We have some sad news from a friend of our website and of FBF, Mark Mulcahy. Some of you might recognize the name as the singer/songwriter behind Miracle Legion and Polaris [of the soundtrack to Pete & Pete among other things], both of which featured Catholics David McCafferey and Scott Boutier, or perhaps you recognize the name from the liner notes of Christmass, as Mark provided backing vocals for both "Radio Lizards" and "Don't Get Me Wrong." Or maybe, like me, you saw Mark open for the Pixies in Atlantic City in 2005. Regardless, Mark's wife recently passed away, leaving him as a single dad to two small children. Some friends and admirers, including our Frank Black Francis, have recorded some of Mark's songs for a tribute record called Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.

Radiohead has a new song out now (two actually).

The tracklist and art work for both tribute albums are posted below...

Continue reading "Breeders played Bowery, Frank Black playing Mark Mulcahy show @ MHOW (tix), on Love & Rockets tribute comp (MP3) "

All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) is happy to announce its return to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York for the 2nd annual ATP New York festival. The event will be held Sept 11-13, 2009. Last year's festival, co-curated by My Bloody Valentine, was a critical and cultural success with rave reviews from media and fans. This year's Fest will be co-curated by The Flaming Lips.

Recently added were Crystal Castles, Super Furry Animals, Boris performing Feedbacker, Low Lows and "Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew. Other announced acts include Boredoms continuing their BOADRUM series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane), Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra) and more.

Circulatory System, was added in the last announcement, and have since revealed an entire tour. Dead Meadow play ATP on Saturday and will perform on a boat in NYC that same week. The Feelies have a Brooklyn show scheduled. Super Furry Animals play NYC and NJ in addition to ATP. The list of related shows goes on...

Unfortunately missing from the ATP NY schedule is Nick Cave - not that he was ever supposed to be there, but in addition to being very involved with ATP in general, he was recently confirmed to be only a short car ride away just one day after the festival ends. Full 2009 lineup below...

Continue reading "ATP NY final 2009 lineup -- Bob Mould (now official), Eugene Mirman, Menomena, Hopewell & more (but not Nick Cave) "

Sufjan Stevens w/ Clogs @ BAM in February (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

We are extremely excited to announce the addition of Sufjan Stevens to the ATP-curated Saturday lineup. Stevens, who will be releasing Run Rabbit Run (a re-arrangement of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit) in October, has not played a US show in over two years, and this is sure to be a special performance. [ATP NY]

Sufjan will be joined on the Saturday bill by new additions Shellac, Circulatory System and Grouper (who we previously announced).

On the Sunday, the Flaming Lips-curated bill has added Crystal Castles, who has been touring North America and Europe. They're also on the schedule for All Points West on August 1st.

Other Sunday additions are Super Furry Animals (who are also playing Maxwell's and Highline Ballroom), Boris, Low Lows and Oneida, the latter of which will perform a special set, described below...

"Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew.

Continue reading "ATP NY adds Sufjan Stevens, Boris, Shellac, Crystal Castles & more - full updated lineup"