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"

DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - dj mix (Sendspace zip)
DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - They Live! (Felix Cartal Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Evil Nine - All the Cash (Glitch Mob Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Golden Filter - Solid Gold (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Peter, Bjorn, and John - Lay It Down (The Golden Filter Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stacey Pullen on A Brand New Vibe, 1/13/09 - Best of 2008 Mix (MP3)

This past weekend was infinitely better than the anticlimactic one the weekend prior. Friday night JDH & Dave P warmed up the crowd at Webster Hall with some good, current dance jams. Following that the crowd seemed a bit jarred by Lovelock's more mellow, slow building set, but by the end everyone had eased into it and was more than ready for the heavily 80's tinged French freak-out that followed thanks to the rest of the Valerie Collective: College, Anoraak, and Russ Chimes. Each of their sets had their own little nuances, but I had no idea who was deejaying when (though I've since confirmed the order listed above is the one in which they went on). Suffice to say...everyone's set was good, danceable, 80's yet modern, and definitely a pleasant change from what's been making the blog rounds lately in terms of dance music.

Last weekend is going to be very hard to top (and I haven't even told you how awesome Saturday night was yet), but there are a lot of both new and familiar faces in town. Someone's bound to make you happy on the dancefloor. Here are some possibilities starting with Thursday (1/29) & Friday (1/30):

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (TH & FRI w/ Lindstrom, the Golden Filter, Evil Nine & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Peter Bjorn & John - Lay It Down (The Golden Filter Remix) (MP3) (via)

Peter Moren: I really love New York. I just want to go to some areas I still haven't seen. I haven't seen a lot of Brooklyn and I haven't been up to Harlem. I've covered most parts of Lower Manhattan, and the Upper West and East, but I still have some territories left. It's a good city to explore because you can actually walk quite far and go through different areas without getting too tired. It's not totally hard to find your way. I'm kind of old timey, I like walking around, thinking I'm some old folk singer looking for book shops. [Paper Magazine - April 2007]

I previously mentioned that Peter Bjorn and John have a new album and new tour dates including SXSW. Now you can add to that a Spring tour of North America with Chairlift that includes an April 29th show at Webster Hall, and an April 30th one at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Chairlift is also playing in Brooklyn in February, and then touring with Yacht and Sebastien Tellier all before this PB&J tour even begins. Tickets for the PB&J shows won't be on sale until next week. All dates below...

Continue reading "Peter Bjorn & John and Chairlift - 2009 Tour Dates, a remix"