by Andrew Sacher

As recently mentioned, The Middle East are very unfortunately ending their run as a band (for now anyway). They had just recently released the full length I Want That You Are Always Happy. And though they may not exist as a band at the moment, their music still lives on and we've got a premiere of a new video for "Jesus Came to My Birthday Party" off that album, below. The song's got a great folk rock vibe and its video renders vague contrasts of youth and old age in conjunction with the song's surreal lyrics.

Check out the video below, and best wishes to all members of the band (may they change their mind and come tour the states again soon).

Continue reading "The Middle East - 'Jesus Came to My Birthday Party' (video premiere) (yes, they're still broken up)"

The Middle East @ BV-SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

After it was reported that Australian band The Middle East announced their break-up from the stage at Splendour in the Grass, the band issued this statement:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN :

writing to inform you that we're ceasing. i'm not sure if we'll make more music later on or not.
we don't feel like playing anymore for a whole lot of reasons that i won't list here and i'm afraid if we continued any longer it would just be a moneygrab. i'd rather go hungry. thank you to all those who came to shows.
we had fun.
t.s elliot wrote 'you are the music while the music lasts', but he also wrote that confusing little book about cats so don't put too much stock in his quotes.
i'm very tired. until next time.
sincerely yours,
the middle east.

DOWNLOAD: The Middle East - Hunger Song (MP3)

The Middle East @ Mercury Lounge in May (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

It's been a minute since we've heard from Australian band The Middle East. Ok, well it's been a year since they played United States venue Mercury Lounge with Mountain Man while they were here for a tour with England's Mumford and Sons, not too long after SXSW 2010. And all of that was just in support of an EP which wasn't even that new for them at the time, though I think it had just been released in the United States.

And now the seven-member Australian musical collective has finally finished their first full length, The self-produced I Want That You Are Always Happy is due in the U.S. on July 12, 2011 via Missing Piece Records. Download "Hunger Song" from that album, for the first time, above. Stream it below...

Continue reading "The Middle East returning with a full-length (MP3 premiere)"

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Middle East

The exhaustive stateside touring schedule for The Middle East landed in New York this week. Their two opening sets for Mumford and Sons (MHOW & Webster Hall) were followed by a BrooklynVegan-presented, sold-out headlining spot at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday. Much praise been written (here and elsewhere) about the collective from Townsville, Australia since their first shows back in March (including the BV showcase the first night of SXSW) and all of it has been fully deserved.

Mountain Man

Opening were the the female trio, Mountain Man (Molly, Amelia and Alex) who were making their first NYC appearance since announcing that they signed to both Bella Union and Partisan Records. Their sparse, rustic songs, most sung acapella (the final three songs without any microphones) were enchanting and brought to mind other folksy singers like Caitlin Cary or Sera Cahoone with the heart-breaking lilt of Sharon Van Etten. The crowd, which included Amelia's dad (his first time seeing her sing she said) was both silent and attentive. The dad theme continued as they closed their set with "Dad Song" followed by "Holy Father". Their entire setlist (and video of "Dad Song") is below.

Catch Mountain Man next time they're in town. More pictures, some videos, and both setlists below...

Continue reading "Mountain Man & the Middle East @ Mercury Lounge - pics, videos & setlist"

photos by Vincent Cornelli, words by Rachel Kowal

one of the sons

I'm not sure when or how it happened, but sometime in the past year Mumford & Sons got big. From Cleveland to Phoenix, the British four-piece has sold out the vast majority of their upcoming tour dates, and their two shows this week in New York were no exception.

The evening at Webster Hall began with a seven-song set by Australian band, The Middle East. Like the main act, the openers had a lot of energy and a number of talented singers. They also exhibited a wide range of moods during their performance. For some songs, the bass boomed powerfully from the speakers and shook the room. But for others, like "The Darkest Side," they took a much more restrained and melodic approach, and the group's token female keyboard player, Bree Tranter, even had a lovely vocal solo. Their final song, "Blood," was particularly beautiful. The song begins gently but eventually crescendos into a lively round of group vocals.

After a long wait between sets, the impatient audience started cheering when the large Mumford & Sons banner unfurled against the stage's black backdrop. Finally, at the tech guy's signal (a few rapid blinks of a flashlight), the band took to the stage to the crowd's great delight.

Lead singer Marcus Mumford kicked things off with the title track from their debut album, "Sigh No More." The floor of Webster Hall started shaking during the very first song as the crowd bobbed up and down in time to the music, proving that this was not your typical group of ambivalent scenesters.

"This is one of the biggest shows we've ever played... we're all very excited," Marcus yelled between songs. With the opening notes of "Little Lion Man," about six songs in, the energy level in the room escalated, prompting lots of clapping, dancing, and a sing-a-long session from both the audience and the band. "Roll Away Your Stone" also got pretty rowdy, especially after the invitation to dance that preceded the song. Though Marcus had called more for a hoe-down than anything else, Webster Hall's huge disco ball was suddenly illuminated, sending rainbow-colored patches of light swirling around the room. The members from Middle East even came on stage and started dancing around and banging on drums.

For their two-song encore, Mumford & Sons played an enchanting acoustic performance of "Sisters," followed by the painfully earnest song "White Blank Page." More pictures from the show, and a picture of Mumford's setlist (which shows a 2nd encore), below...

Continue reading "Mumford & Sons & the Middle East played Webster Hall - pics & setlist"

LCD Soundsystem @ Webster Hall in April (more by Ryan Muir)

tonight in NYC
* Alice in Chains in NJ
* Todd Barry @ Carolines
* Josh Ritter @ Town Hall
* Ween @ Starland Ballroom
* The Proclaimers @ City Winery
* ALO, Chris Velan @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Visqueen, Stuyvesant @ Maxwell's
* Val Emmich, Cooper @ Mercury Lounge
* LCD Soundsystem, Holy Ghost! @ Terminal 5
* Pearl Jam, Black Keys @ Madison Square Garden
* Kristeenyoung, Dance Fight @ Santos Party House
* Butch Walker and the Black Widows @ Webster Hall
* Hundred In The Hands, Truman Peyote, Deluka @ The Cameo
* BOAT, You, You're Awesome, Jirapah, Gold Bears @ Bruar Falls
* John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders @ (le) Poisson Rouge
* Light Pollution, Das Racist, The Rassle, The Americans @ Pianos
* Paul Flaherty, Chris Corsano, Okkyung Lee, James Ferraro @ Issue Project Room
* Nini & Ben, Sasha Dobson, Scott Chasolen, Brent Arnold @ The Living Room
* Veronica Falls, Horowitz, Leaving Mornington Crescent, Dream Diary, Elephant Parade, Sweater Girls (NYC Popfest) @ Cake Shop

NYC PopFest starts tonight.

LCD Soundystem's four-night run at Terminal 5 starts tonight.

You can still stop by the Black Keys pop-up store at Housing Works today (they played there last night). They open for Pearl Jam at MSG tonight. Video from Housing Works below...

John Wesley Harding will be joined by Janeane Garofalo, Robbie Fulks, Paul Muldoon, Eugene Mirman, Buffalo Tom and Kristin Hersh at LPR tonight.

Video from our Middle East show at Mercury Lounge last night, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mumford

Mumford & Sons and the Middle East played to a full house last night, 5/17, at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

As the night's only opener, the Middle East (a band on their first US tour who just played their first North American shows period around SXSW in March) had a bit of pressure on them to hold the attention of an audience primed for Mumford's more uptempo fare. Smartly, their set pivoted around two songs "The Darkest Part" and "Blood" - the heartrending twin singles off their debut Recordings of... EP. Around those were dynamic ballads and an onstage shuffle of instruments that included a trumpet, glockenspiel, flute and a bottle-cap-adorned rain stick.

They opened one song with a warning ("It's not a very good song - it's all about the words so you have to listen"), but that proved unnecessary as the talking blues trot grew into a pleasantly engrossing roar. Another, their second-to-last tune, stayed a bit too long in its hushed melody, under growing crowd conversation. It's not unusual for the Middle East to hover around a whisper before breaking free - as they did, led by their suddenly unchained drummer, in the climax of "Blood."

As for Mumford & Sons, the band inspired a Bowery-full sing-along at their packed show in February. Fans at MHOW also tried to match the band in volume and vigor. For both, Mumford & Co. set the bar high, with spot-on harmonies and songs that are arranged with a pop-tuned ear. Though they only have a 12-song debut, their songs are impressively consistent, and come together as a well-structured set (that was structured much the same as the February Bowery show).

The band did some shuffling of their own, with frontman Marcus Mumford taking up drums for a few songs, including newer song (and clear single) "Lover of the Light." With tunes like that and other gems, you can't really begrudge Mumford & Sons' clean-cut radio-readiness. Though they have a certain "old-timey style," it seems unforced.

The band came back for and encore and called back The Middle East to join them. Both bands play again tonight at Webster Hall. Tomorrow (5/19) the Middle East play a show at Mecury Lounge with Mountain Man.

More pictures from MHOW (and a video from the past Bowery show) are below....

Continue reading "Mumford & Sons and The Middle East played MHOW (pics) "

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

Gorillaz Clash

The third and final round of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was funky, and not just because the port-a-potties reeked. Keeping a loose theme every day (see Friday & Saturday), Sunday focused on relentless rhythm and groovy basslines. The absolute golden moment belonged to Yo La Tengo's blistering final song. Rhythm that revels in repetition + guitar that tries to destroy itself = wee mind blown. Sometimes the moodiest things are the most uplifting.

Thom Yorke brought his dancing shoes, his favorite Flea, and Nigel Godrich. His band Atoms For Peace played almost every song off The Eraser, many of which featured strong world rhythm sections. When Yorke didn't have a guitar in hand, he danced, whirled, and punched the air like he was rehearsing a scene from Fame. We wanted a high kick, but it didn't arrive. King Khan & The Shrines, on the other hand, featured legs flying all over the place, DJ Lance Rock and Yo Gabba Gabba characters, burning money, as well as a visit from the police-who crept on stage to snap pictures. Probably the first time Khan runs into cops and doesn't leave wearing cuffs. Sunny Day Real Estate had the audience offering bids to buy property, and Phoenix had people choking on dinner as they tried to dance and eat at the same time.

King Khan Gabba Gabba

Not every Julian Casablancas song captivated, but his band delightfully binged on rhythms. Each musician had a personal backbeat player supporting each fill. The drummer plus his sidekick especially sounded great. Matt & Kim's ebullient smiles inspired chaos in the audience, as usual. Mayer Hawthorne and the County revived Motown soulful brassiness and covered Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." The Big Pink played some new songs from next year's album, reaching out for Depeche Mode with a drummer in a pink bathing suit. Electro sweet popper Little Boots forgot her pants as well, wearing a sparkly shirt and knickers, and played with the lasers on stage. Charlotte Gainsbourg inaugurated her "first tour, first everything" with a feminine "Candy-O" sensibility, sometimes in French. Florence & the Machine rounds out the great lady performances of the day, and brought on Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids.

All clad in white, France's DJ ego-powers Club 75 demonstrated the ability to cooperate together with just a few elbows thrown. Cassius, Justice, Busy P, and DJ Mehdi still use CD's (so old school), and took turns passing on the headphones between them and finishing each other's remix sentences, trading places at each station. Backstage security bobbed along while staying tough. When it was their turn, Rusko turned the Sahara tent into a mechazoid robot battle and Orbital live-produced virtual reality anthems for Satan wearing Matrix miner lights around their heads. Infected Mushroom instructed on the benefits of "Becoming Insane" flanked by two mushrooms with red eyes.

The Middle East should not be confused with The Soft Pack, formerly The Muslims. The former may be from Australia but it sounds like a back porch band from Woodstock, and the latter offers a "Parasite" infestation that's as pure as sunshine and a neat drum set up that packs a giant tom punch. What appears as regular rock on headphones reveals its brilliance when experienced live. One of the strangest live moments of the festival belongs to Sly Stone, who played four hours late and on the wrong stage. He bitched, he slurred, he cursed, lay down, walked off, stopped songs and good grief, made a total mess of himself. But that's rock and roll.

Sly Stone made history look unable to get past its youthful drug phase, but Jonsi, Pavement, and Spoon come from a music scene that did a little bit less cocaine. Jonsi repped the awesomeness of Sigur Rós and great hats. Steve Patterson of White Rabbits joined Britt Daniels and the rest of Spoon to add percussion on "I Turn My Camera On". Spoon's tour-mate Bradford Cox (who played earlier in the day in Deerhunter) also joined Spoon on stage, like he did on their recent Kimmel appearance. Pavement ran through the hits during one of their first U.S. shows since reuniting. "That's the 90's in a nutshell," said Stephen Malkmus after the angsty "Unfair"...

"...Pavement, the iconic slacker band of the '90s, who took the main stage against what turned out to be one of the fest's chief attractions, the finally wildly popular French dance-rock band Phoenix, who wowed possibly the biggest crowd of the entire fest ... while Pavement played to a field half-full of true believers rather than the massive throngs many expected, and thought the band deserved.

No matter, though. Pavement still delivered a set that vindicated the group of prior crimes -- namely a Coachella performance near the end of their career so notoriously bad, many in attendance point to it as the moment the band decided to break up.

This night, however, they were tight, they were loud, and they sounded large on that vast field -- an odd statement, given the fact that in their heyday they were far more known for being introspectively small rather than arena-ready..." [The OC Register]

Radiohead Peppers For Peace

Daiana's Weekend Top 10:
1. Yo La Tengo's last song
2. Little Dragon's Yukimi
3. Gossip leading a revolution
4. Thom Yorke dancing to African rhythms
5. PiL giving a history lesson
6. Sly Stone wigging out
7. Bouncing penises + fat people in undies (Die Antwoord + Major Lazer)
8. Devo putting on the hats that ushered in modern pop culture for "Whip It"
9. John Waters corrupting many young minds
10. The Gorrilaz lyric: "Super fast jellyfish going super fast. You can't even see him but you wanna eat him."

--

Owen Pallett, Local Natives, Miike Snow, and Yann Tiersen also played the fest Sunday. Gary Numan was among those who couldn't. Reviews & pictures from Day One, HERE and Day Two, HERE. Setlists (Thom Yorke and Pavement), pictures, and videos from Day Three, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day Three in pics, video & review (the Thom Yorke & Pavement setlists included) "

"One of the best pavement concerts ever... At the fox in pomona... 30 songs u missed it..." - SANDY EGGO

"2 encores, ALL of Slanted (pretty much), and new lyrics to The Hexx." - Karina Longworth

"Sorry Coachella. Pavement played a gazillion songs for the lifers at Fox Theater." - Scott McDonald

"Holy shit I just saw Pavement." - Brian

Pavement & The Middle East at the Fox in Pomona - 4/15/2010 (tperkins67)

"We were responsible for creating the whole suburban Williamsburg thing," Malkmus says. "You know, the Strokes to Arcade Fire." Translation: Pavement taught the indie-rock underground to love itself without sacrificing the ambivalence and irony and smarts that made it what it was. "We were skeptical of record company guys with ponytails," he adds. "The great '80s bands, the Replacements and Hüsker Dü, tried to change their sound to be on major labels; the records they made weren't terrible, but they'd lost something. We didn't want to do that." [SPIN]

The full Pomona setlist and all dates below...

Continue reading "Pavement played a pre-Coachella show @ the Fox Theater in Pomona (setlist), added Hollywood Bowl show w/ Sonic Youth"

DOWNLOAD: The Middle East - Blood (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Middle East - The Darkest Side (MP3)

The Middle East's 2nd US show was packed (more by Tim Griffin)

The Middle East's tour with Mumford & Sons has two NYC stops - May 17th at MHOW and May 18th at Webster Hall. Both are now sold out, and both are The Middle East playing opener.

It didn't seem right to not let them also play their own show during their first visit to NYC. Conveniently, May 19th was a day off on the tour, so... BrooklynVegan is proud to present (again) The Middle East at Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, May 19th. Tickets will go on sale Friday at noon. Opener TBD.

The Australian band will spend a total of two months touring North America in April, May and June. During that time (they tour for a month with Mumford and) they play Coachella, Sasquatch and Bonnaroo. Two top-notch songs from their The Recordings of The Middle East EP, out now, are posted again above. All tour dates and a video of the group performing "Blood" for KCRW at SXSW, below...

Continue reading "The Middle East add 3rd NYC show & other 2010 tour dates "

words & photos by Andrew Frisicano

Wednesday - The Middle East @ Club DeVille (more by Tim Griffin)

I started toward MtyMx about 4 hours after my last SXSW show, so I haven't had much time to reflect on what happened in Austin - but before they become too irrelevant, here are some quick pictures and words of my personal highlights at the fest.

The Middle East covered the stage with an arsenal of instruments and percussion, bringing out a flute, a banjo, keys, an accordion, and a rain stick covered in bottle caps. Their set kicked off with a wobbling country-western number. "The Darkest Part" was a solemn, two-member affair, with the others jumping in as it progressed. And the barn-burning jams that built up to their finale, "Blood," brought to mind the more unhinged tunes Mumford & Sons (it clicked a moment later that they're touring together this May). Overall: a tight, short set (with a few nervous slips) in front of Club DeVille's cave-wall backdrop, which hopefully will lead into an engaging debut and tour.

Thursday - Thee Oh Sees @ (Spider House &) Lamar Pedestrian Bridge

I caught Thee Oh Sees twice on Thursday - once on the gorgeously sunny garden stage of the Spider House; once on a footbridge over Austin's Lady Bird Lake at 2am - and they played other shows as well. On the bridge the band traded songs with Home Blitz, who looked not-exactly-pleased to be standing in the freezing wind at 3am. Amps, a PA and a few worklights ran through a generator, and the assembled equipment threatened to topple over from the surging crowd. The band stretched out into extended jams that made the bridge literally shake. After a more than generous set, the crowd still prodded Dwyer and Co. for more, which they gave.

Friday - Billy Bragg @ MWTX Festival

Billy Bragg's set, to the wristbandless masses of MWTX (formerly Mess with Texas) focused nearly as much on politics as it did on music. He buttered up the crowd with "Help Save the Youth of America" and "To Have and Have Not" before speaking about healthcare reform, defeating the BNP and the ubiquity of corporations at SXSW ("This set is brought to you by my sponsor: Woody Guthrie."). His inspiring asides were genuine and welcome, and they lead into the crowd-pleasing closer, "A New England." He played again later on Friday night with a ton of guests.

Friday - Man or Astroman? @ MWTX Festival

On a completely different note, Man or Astroman? (back after a bit of a hiatus) headlined MWTX's south stage in full space regalia, with video flashing in the background and a pre-recorded narrator between songs. Their short burst of mostly instrumental surf-rock was anything but boring, and they closed it out by flicking on a huge Tesla coil.

Saturday - Major Lazer @ Carniville

My expectations were pretty low for Major Lazer, who were playing to an iced-over crowd on the massive, corporated-out stage at the Mexican-American Cultural Center (aka the Mad Decent/Iheartcomix/Jelly-presented Carniville for the fest), but they proved me wrong. The antics of hypeman Skerrit Bwoy and dancer Mimi made the frozen crowd erupt (the free T-shirts and foam guns being thrown off the stage helped too) - they mounted and humped everything in sight including crowdmembers, the rigging for the lights, and a ladder, which they used to dive onto each other for more dryhumping. Diplo got through most of Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do, with a brief assist from Ninjasonik. Did I mention the huge pink, furry monster on stage? He got some too.

Saturday - The Very Best (and then Freddie Gibbs) @ Scoot Inn

At Scoot Inn, the frigid evening grew on and most of the crowd there for the Pitchfork showcase stayed huddled around a campfire or in the bar's sauna-like interior - until The Very Best (who I missed opening for Major Lazer a few hours earlier). Esau, with a huge grin on his face, his co-mic-man (whose name I can't remember), a pair of dancers and DJ Johan Hugo all made good use of the short set. Their energy passed through the mic into crowd members for songs like "Julia" and "Warm Heart of Africa," which finished with plenty of the crowd on stage.

Freddie Gibbs, who I had never really gotten into before, was up next and seemed similarly unfazed by the cold as he rapped confidently about gangsta life. A handful of friends passed around a blunt and ceded the floor to Gibbs, who cooly made converts with his laid-back approach.

Saturday - Sleigh Bells @ Scoot Inn

Sleigh Bells brought the energy back up for the last set of the night (and for some, of SXSW). Despite being a relatively new commodity, both the band's halves, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, are assured, polished performers, and they made their appreciation for the crowd clear with their faultless set.

My many other highlights (bands I'll definitely be catching again in the future) included Califone (in NYC 3/30 & 3/31), La Strada, The Sandwitches, Kid Congo Powers, Private Life/Katie Stelmanis, Happy Birthday, Avi Buffalo, Man Man (who I've seen before, but seem to have a new thing going on) and Think About Life.

More pictures from all the sets above (and a ML video), are below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 highlights by AF (Thee Oh Sees on a bridge, Man or Astroman?, Major Lazer, Sleigh Bells, Billy Bragg, more) - pics"

April 18th at Coachella won't be Pavement's first US reunion show anymore. An April 15th show at The Fox Theater in Pomona has been added to their schedule. The Middle East open. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10AM (PDT). Tickets are on sale now for other pre-NYC North American shows too, like Philly and Boston. Their first reunion show took place in New Zealand in March. Their nexts ones are in Japan in April (right before the West Coast shows). All dates below...

Continue reading "Pavement add pre-Coachella show w/ The Middle East (plus Philly & Boston on sale) - updated 2010 Tour Dates "

photos by Tim Griffin

Serena Maneesh

"Not sure about the recorded stuff, but, live, Here We Go Magic's sound made for an enjoyable listen. It was rocky, bouncy, and sometimes outright dancey--but with enough complex time changes thrown in to keep listeners off-guard and from getting too comfortable in one place...

...The Middle East very much lived up to the hype it had earned at last weekend's NX35 conferette in Denton, where it went from a relative unknown to a much-buzzed-about-Denton act. This Austin crowd seemed relatively unfamiliar with the act as well--but also was eventually won over. Gorgeous stuff, indeed, if a little too mellow and unvaried." [Dallas Observer]

Continue reading "Serena Maneesh, Califone, Bowerbirds, Middle East, Dawes & Here We Go Magic @ Club DeVile (official BV showcase) - pics"

by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Middle East @ the BV official showcase @ Club DeVille

Early in the day The Canadian Blast BBQ & Showcase broadcast live back to Canada. I caught an in-form You Say Party! We Say Day! who, according to the presenting DJ, were making their first performance in the US in four years. (A little research found they were banned from performing after touring without visas in 2006.) Earlier on I managed to catch the last half of roots rockers Justin Rutledge and The Beauties. (The Beauties played their own official SXSW show later that night at Soho Lounge.) From there it was on to the evening showcases and the first stop being St. David's Historic Sanctuary for singer-songwriter Miranda Lee Richards who was at the grand piano when we walked in and nearly in the dark off to the side of the altar. She was followed by another singer-songwriter with backing band, Sweden's Sofia Talvik.

I then moved on to the BV party to catch The Middle East who were playing their second-ever show on American soil. The set started slowly but was buoyant by the time they got to "Blood" off their recordings of The Middle East EP. A brisk walk across town and a behind schedule Tap Room at Six allowed me to catch all of England's indiepop quartet Allo Darlin. Behind schedule became a theme as I settled into the Galaxy Room Backyard (KCRW Showcase) where Fitz and the Tantrums were still setting up. Their set was something else. Fun all around, tight contemporary Motown dance numbers that had people dancing and singing and when the sound guy told the band they had only one more song, Fitz responded, "We're playing at least two more." Sadly, they did only play one more. The last band of the night was Sweden's Miike Snow and their dance pop numbers. It took nearly 40 minutes for them to change out from The Tantrums' set and the crowd had been patient but getting anxious by the time they went on. They battled a few sound problem during their set but Animal was the song everyone came to hear and when they closed their set with it, the crowd danced and shouted along to every word. Heading back to the car I stumbled upon Black Top Demon who were set up between 6th and 7th Streets along Red River. St. Patrick's Day revelers were moving and shaking in front of them and their stripped down kick drum, guitar setup as they played all kinds of blues and rock numbers and even a Johnny Cash tune.

More pictures from the day below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 day 1 in pics & review (YSPWSD, Miike Snow, the Middle East, Fitz & The Tantriums, Allo Darlin & more) "

photos by Mike Hollis

"True to the random, follow-your-nose nature of NX35, I was just heading out of Dan's to catch a spot in line at Hailey's before the much-anticipated Walkmen show filled to capacity, when Australia's Middle East kicked off just in time to change my plans.

At first, the sweetly arpeggiated acoustic finger-style struck me as somewhat saccharine--until a more tragic note in singer Jordan Ireland's delicate tenor caught me short.

45 minutes later, the seven-piece closed with "Blood," a haunted rave-up that somehow managed to wrap the contradictory emotions of deep loss and celebration around a celtic-tinged melody with four-part background vocals, leaving the now rapt audience literally yelling for more, and booing when it was clear no encore would be forthcoming." [Dallas Observer]

That tour was already scheduled to stop by Webster Hall on Tuesday, May 18th. Now that show is sold out, and they've added a May 17th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 19th at noon.

More pictures from Denton are below...

Continue reading "The Middle East played their 1st, and only pre-SXSW, US show in Denton, TX (pics), add 2nd NYC show w/ Mumford & Sons"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mumford & Sons @ Bowery Ballroom on February 18th (more by Sarahana)

London four-piece Mumford & Sons will make good on the promise made at their sold-out Bowery Ballroom show earlier this February to return shortly to NYC. The band heads out with Australia's the Middle East across North America this May and June, and they'll both be at NYC's Webster Hall on Tuesday, May 18th. Tickets TBA. You can also catch Mumford at Bonnaroo.

At the Bowery, Mumford & Sons played to an enthusiastic, considerably British crowd (they took a mid-set poll), who had no qualms with singing out the choruses. The UK showing was understandable considering that Mumford's debut, Sigh No More, has been out for almost six months in their home country. In the States the band is still a relatively new arrival (kind of like fellow major label Brit Little Boots, whose Hands came out in the UK last June and is just getting to the US on March 2nd, the same night she plays Highline Ballroom).

That said, the recorded product is both immediate and familiar. Sigh No More benefits greatly from the production of veteran studioman Markus Dravs (whose credits include Bjork and Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and a forthcoming third album). The harmonies on the record are air-tight and brightly polished. Live, the varnish wears off a bit to reveal the affable, passionate, skilled musicians underneath. They benefit from a concert-hall of voices in support (a thing facilitated by the lyrics, which are clear and earnest). Currently, the band is all potential, and their new songs at the Bowery Ballroom showed promise and an encouraging desire to further loosen the neck ties.

Part of their tour with the Middle East includes Sasquatch Music Fest this May (a lineup which also includes Mumford collaborator Laura Marling). Before that, Mumford & Sons will play shows across Europe.

The Middle East will be at Coachella this April, and even sooner they'll be playing SXSW. Their first of four Austin shows will be at the BrooklynVegan official SXSW showcase at Club DeVille on Wednesday, March 17th (also with Dawes, Here We Go Magic, Bowerbirds, Califone and Serena Maneesh). Their full SXSW schedule, all tour dates and Mumford's new video for "The Cave" are below...

Continue reading "Mumford & Sons - 2010 Tour Dates w/ The Middle East (and more about that Bowery show)"

We'll get a more complete press release in the morning (and confirm what is listed below is 100% correct), but in the meantime below is a picture of the 2010 Sasquatch poster (that someone Tweeted) and the lineup as read by Bradford Cox at tonight's Atlas Sound show in Seattle (and being listed all over the Internet)....

Continue reading "Sasquatch announces 2010 lineup (includes Massive Attack & My Morning Jacket) (and many more) "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: The Middle East - Blood (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Middle East - The Darkest Side (MP3)

Way back in November, we mentioned that Australian band The Middle East would be making their first US appearance around SXSW 2010. Well, we can announce one of the shows on that trip (if not the first) will be the official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase with Here We Go Magic, Califone and Serena Maneesh at Club DeVille on Wednesday, March 17th. With those four bands announced, that leaves just two more TBA (stay tuned).

The Middle East will also be at at Coachella in April. And they're on the currently-unannounced lineup for Sasquatch Fest, which is being revealed at a show tonight (2/15) in Seattle with Surfer Blood and Atlas Sound. That festival will be happening in Gorge, Washington, over Memorial Day weekend (5/29-5/31 this year). Pavement will be there. Pictures from last year are here and here. Three day passes for 2010 are on sale.

We also reported back in November that The Middle East would share a few bills with Grizzly Bear while the headliner was touring Down Under, but, as abc.net reported on January 13th, "The Middle East pulled out of their shows with Grizzly Bear after singer and guitarist Rohin Jones broke his collarbone in a bike accident." Ouch.

The two stellar songs above are off the Middle East's debut EP, The Recordings of the Middle East , which came out in the US last October. "Blood" is a slow-build anthem that erupts about 2/3rds through into a joyful group chorus (bolstered by an actual chorus in one of the live videos below). "The Darkest Side" is a more straight-through downtrodden moper - for that reason the hook is all the more sticky.

"Blood" three different times and all tour dates (currently only the festivals) are below...

Continue reading "The Middle East playing the BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase, Coachella & Sasquatch Fest (full lineup coming soon) "

Wow...Public Image Ltd, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grace Jones, Fever Ray, Devo, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Mew, Camera Obscura, Gil Scott-Heron, The xx, John Waters, Dillinger Escape Plan, Deer Tick, Gary Numan... Full Coachella 2010 lineup below....

Continue reading "2010 Coachella line up announced (Faith No More, Pavement, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Jay-Z, LCD Soundystem, ???)"