Hunka hunka burnin' love: Ken Stringfellow & Margaret Cho

Posies singer Ken Stringfellow released his fourth solo LP, Danzig in the Moonlight, last fall which found him a little more raw mode than the harmonied pop his band is known for. You can stream it via Spotify below.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Ken has released a video for "Doesn't it Remind You of Something?" which we're premiering in this post. While the album version is a duet with The Head & the Heart's Charity Rose, the video co-stars comedian Margaret Cho. Theirs is a burning love in the most literal sense. Watch it below.

Ken is also currently on tour and will be in NYC this weekend for two shows: Friday (2/15) at Union Pool with Bird of Youth and Sky White Tiger; and Saturday (2/16) at Mercury Lounge with Chris Mills (tickets). All tour dates, album stream and video premiere are below.

Continue reading "The Posies' Ken Stringfellow made a video with Margaret Cho, on tour now (two NYC shows this weekend)"

photos by Mike Benigno

The Posies @ the Rock Shop on September 23rd

The Posies don't usually rehearse before tours, but they did for the one that starts next week in Spain. The reason: 'Blood/Candy,' an unusually complex album the band releases Tuesday and performed in full Thursday night at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"Welcome to half the Mercury Lounge," singer and guitarist Jon Auer said at the top of the set, looking out at a room that, indeed, might fit twice in that Manhattan venue. Not surprisingly, the show was sold out, and as the Posies unveiled songs from their seventh studio effort, fans listened politely, keeping even between-song clapping to a minimum. -[Spinner]

The Posies played the Rock Shop in September to prep for that EU-followed-by-US tour, and to celebrate the release of Blood/Candy with they performed in its entirety.

The band returns to NYC to play Highline Ballroom tonight, November 13th, as part of their tour with Brendan Benson and Aqueduct. Tickets are still on sale.

Updated tour dates and more pictures from the Rock Shop, below...

Continue reading "the Posies on tour w/ Brendan Benson & Aqueduct (NYC tonight) -- updated dates & some pics from the Rock Shop "

The Posies

The Posies will debut new material for the very first time at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on September 23rd. That show is sold out, but now there are many more chances to see the band, and with Brendan Benson (of solo and Raconteurs fame) to boot. I also have two pairs of tickets to give away to the Brooklyn show. Details below.

After a month-long tour of Europe, The Posies will kick off a trek with Brendan in Milwaukee on November 5th. Their NYC show together will be at Highline Ballroom on November 13th (ticket on-sale date TBA). The Posies are promising a mix of new material and the hits at the shows. All dates below.

The Posies' Blood/Candy is out September 28 on Ryko. Brendan hasn't announced a new record (yet), but he can be found on Margaret Cho's new album which is out Tuesday...

"Can't wait until later this year for more Brendan goodies? Well, we have something to tide you over.

Brendan is making a cameo on Margaret Cho's comedy music album, Cho Dependent, due out on August 24th. You can pre-order the album now HERE and get an instant download of all 13 tracks, including "Baby I'm With the Band," the song Brendan co-wrote and performs on.

Other artists on the album include Andrew Bird, Grant Lee Phillips, Ben Lee, Tegan and Sara, Fiona Apple, Ani DiFranco, Tommy Chong and many more."

All dates below....

Continue reading "The Posies touring (dates) w/ Brendan Benson (who is 1 of many guests on Margaret Cho's new CD) ++ win Rock Shop tix"

The Posies, who like to play full albums lately, are playing their new album "Blood/Candy" in its entirety at their record release show on September 23 at The Rock Shop. Tickets are now on pre-sale (password = candy). General sale begins Monday at noon

The new album, which featurs guest vocals by Broken Social Scene's Lisa Lobsinger, will be released September 28th by Rykodisk (cover art above). The band starts a tour of Europe that same day. All dates below...

Continue reading "The Posies releasing a new album, playing it live"

Lollapalooza tickets go on sale at 10am CST, or to be more specific ("Three-Day passes for Lollapalooza 2010 go on-sale March 30, at 10am CST. A limited number of Advance-priced three-day passes will be available for $190. When this allotment sells out, Regular-priced three-day passes will be available for $215. Prices are inclusive of all service fees. VIP Lolla Lounge passes will also be on-sale [too]"

in semi-related news, "We are excited to announce that Sasquatch! Music Festival has officially sold out! The sellout occurred in record time, selling the highest number of tickets since the festival's inception. Additionally, the day schedule has been finalized with the addition of comedian Aziz Ansari, They Might Be Giants, and more. See below for [the full lineup which also now includes Bobcat Goldthwait]."

Continue reading "Lollapalooza on sale, Sasquatch sells out & adds more acts"

The Long Winters @ Castle Clinton in 2008 (more by Elizabeth Weinberg)

"A couple of months ago, the Long Winters got some mixed news: Our drummer, Nabil Ayers, was taking a full-time job in New York that would preclude his touring, and our band was invited to play Bumbershoot. We cried, we laughed. Happy as we were for our friend, his new direction meant we would have to start searching for a new drummer, a grueling process under the best of circumstances.

Since then, we've been auditioning drummers from all walks of drummer life, playing with a dozen different characters in search of a good fit. ....

....In our case we ended up with something I never expected: three drummers who made the grade. I've been agonizing over the decision for a couple of weeks, setting up increasingly difficult initiations to try to wear them down, but all three are stalwart. Meantime, Nabil will fly out to play one last show with us at Bumbershoot, and we'll choose a new drummer after the break." [John Roderick for Seattle Weekly]

Bumbershoot happened the weekend before last. John Roderick appears at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC (where his old drummer now lives) TONIGHT (9/16), not for his own show though, but as part of John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders.

The Long Winters played a new song at Bumbershoot. Before Bumbershoot they played the Doe Bay Festival with Mike Musburger (formerly of the Fastbacks and Posies) on drums. Videos of/from both of those and more below...

Continue reading "the Long Winters played Bumbershoot with their drummer for the last time +++ John Roderick is here..."

"Big Star served as a Rosetta stone for a whole generation of musicians." -Peter Buck, R.E.M.

Rhino is releasing Big Star's 4-disc boxed set which includes 98 tracks spanning from 1968-1975. This power pop band created music that turned artists as diverse as Cheap Trick, R.E.M., and The Replacements into Big Star fans. The 4-disc boxed set, Keep an Eye on the Sky, includes extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band's history. These influential tracks will be released September 15, 2009.

Also, on RECORD STORE DAY, a special Limited edition Big Star 7" Vinyl will be available. Only 3,500 vinyl will be pressed. These 7" vinyl will only be available at independent records on September 5th.

I'm not sure what Record Store Day has to do with anything, but that's a picture of the 7" above.

Big Star is:

Jon Auer
Alex Chilton (original member)
Jody Stephens (original member)
Ken Stringfellow

Jon and Ken, both members of the Posies, joined in 1993. The Posies recently got back together to perform "Frosting on the Beater" at Gramercy Theatre and The Bell House. Ken often plays solo shows, like when he opened for Robyn Hitchcock at the Bell House recently. Jon also plays solo shows, like the one he has scheduled at The Bell House on September 15th with Fountains of Wayne.

Alex Chilton still plays shows too, often in Hoboken, and sometimes with The Box Tops. In 2005 he survived Katrina. Posts about him are usually accompanied by comments like "Big Star please!"...

Tickets are on sale for a Wednesday, November 18th Big Star show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple.

Videos from a show Big Star played in Hyde Park in July, with a picture of the Rhino box set and the tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Big Star releasing box set, PLAYING NYC SHOW (on sale)"

John Wesley Harding & Eugene Mirman @ CoW in April (more by Tim Griffin)

John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders variety show, which graced the city in February, March and April, in addition to tour dates around the country, will be back for shows on September 16th, October 7th and November 18th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets for all three are on sale now, AND now the shows have full lineups.

Like before there will be many special guests at each show. These include Tanya Donelly, John Roderick, A.C. Newman, Todd Barry, Rhett Miller, and many others. Each night is different. Full lineups with all JWH tour dates, below...

Continue reading "John Wesley Harding bringing John Roderick, Tanya Donelly, AC Newman, Rhett Miller & many more to LPR (dates) "

photos by Lori Baily

backstage shenanigans at the Bell House

On Thursday [June 11th] I saw Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 - R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey - at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Ken Stringfellow of the Posies opened in a solo capacity; he was preceded by Takka Takka.

Despite owning at least eight of his albums, and enjoying them always, I'm not the world's biggest Robyn Hitchcock expert. But I was surrounded by people who were, and they rated it one of his better shows... [Tony Fletcher]

Robyn Hitchcock opened for the Decemberists at Radio City a day before that. Two days after the Bell House show, he performed at this year's Bonnaroo...

"This is the first festival I've really been to since seeing Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wright in 1970," [Hitchcock] tells Spinner. With his typical self-deprecating sense of humor -- we think that's what it is, anyway -- he recalls that after the massive Isle of Wright festival, as a performer he "decided to take a different tact and wherever there were going to be lots of people I'd be naught," says Hitchcock. "And, 40 years later, I'm beginning to reconsider my game. Should I do more public appearances where there are people? A lot of my colleagues in show business have answered with a vigorous nod -- 'Yes, Robin, play in front of an audience.'"

So Robin Hitchcock and the Venus 3 did indeed take the stage, to massive applause and in front of thousands...

That trend continues. His next show is at Glastonbury later this month. His next scheduled stateside gig will be at the Austin City Limits Festival in October. More Bell House pictures below...

Continue reading "Robyn Hitchcock (now playing festivals) played Bonnaroo & the Bell House w/ Ken Stringfellow & Takka Takka (pics) "

As previously reported, the Posies are playing their 1993 record, Frosting on the Beater, for the first time in the US at Brooklyn's Bell House on Friday, June 12th. Tickets are still on sale.

The band have now also added a second night of that Frosting on the Beater set on Saturday, June 13th at the Gramercy Theater (not the Blender Theater) in Manhattan. Tickets are on sale.

The Posies performed Frosting on the Beater on a short tour of Spain last fall. Videos from one of those shows below...

Continue reading "The Posies add 2nd NYC 'Frosting' date (Gramercy Theater)"

by Bill Pearis

Last October, power pop legends The Posies performed their classic 1993 album, Frosting on the Beater, in Madrid, Spain. The band will be doing it again for a special, one-off performance at The Bell House in Brooklyn on June 12. Tickets are $18 and on sale now. It's been at least two years since the band has played New York, not that founders Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer perform often together as the Posies much these days anyway.

Formed in Bellingham, Washington, The Posies put out their first album, Failure, in 1988 on PopLlama which was also home to the Young Fresh Fellows, the Fastbacks and other bands from the Pacific Northwest. The Posies then soon signed to Geffen where they released three albums, including Frosting on the Beater, which was a hit on college and comercial alternative radio ("Flavor of the Month" and "Dream All Day" were kind of inescapable at the time) and is generally regarded to be their masterpiece. After getting dropped by Geffen after its 1996 follow-up, Amazing Disgrace, The Posies wen't back to PopLlama for a fourth album, 1998's Success, and then basically called it quits.

Founders Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer did occasionally get back together for shows here and there, and toured as The Posies in 2001, and recorded a new album, Every Kind of Light, in 2005 but have been quiet since. According to the band's website, this will be the first time ever in the U.S. that the band has played Frosting on the Beater in its entirety.