Ari Up & the Slits

today in NYC
* Questlove @ Cielo
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Teddy Thompson @ City Winery
* Daniel Kitson @ St Ann's Warehouse
* Etta Place, Blow, Marra Barr @ Zebulon
* Phillip Greenlief, Jon Raskin @ The Stone
* Connie Crothers, Kevin Norton @ The Stone
* Hannibal Buress & friends @ Knitting Factory
* Moodrings, EULA, Im Turning Into @ Death By Audio
* Stephane Wrembel Presents The Django Experiment @ Barbes
* Right On Dynamite, Le Boum, Hiawatha, Delta Hotel @ Coco 66
* Mister Heavenly, Sun Airway, Little Shalimar @ Bowery Ballroom
* Weasel Walter, Marc Edwards, Goblin War, Fossils @ Silent Barn
* The Toasters, Royal City Riot, The Rudie Crew @ Knitting Factory
* Blitz the Ambassador & the Embassy Ensemble featuring Baloji @ SOB's
* Doris Cellar of Freelance Whales, Mammal of Paradise, Baby Alpaca @ Glasslands
* Tyvek, Fergus & Geronimo, Xray Eyeballs, The Gaming Commission @ Mercury Lounge
* The Beatles Complete on Ukelele w/ Nat & Alex Wolff, Julian Velard, Deni Bonet and Terry Radigan & more @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Neneh Cherry, members of The Slits, members of The Slackers, Brave New Girl, The Band Droidz, Bruce Smith from PiL (Ari Up Birthday Party) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Just as a reminder, tonight at MHOW:

WHAT: In honor of the memory of the legendary Ari Up a/k/a Ariane Forster, lead singer of the pioneering girl punk band the Slits, True Warriors and more, Dunia Best and Aram Sinnreich (Brave New Girl, Agent 99), NYU Punk Professor Vivien Goldman, Joly MacFie of Punkcast.com and friends are throwing a PUNKY REGGAE PARTY on January 16, 2011 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

WHO: Participating artists, led by Musical Director Ira Heaps, include original and current members of the Slits, including Tessa Pollitt, Hollie Cook, Neneh Cherry and AnnA Ozawa; Bruce Smith of PiL and the Slits; members of Brave New Girl; Band Droidz; legendary Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas; Afrobeat superstar Wunmi Olaiya; Felice Rosser (Faith); Dee Pop (Bush Tetras, Radio I-Ching); Lizzi Bougatsis (Gang Gang Dance); Afro-Punk avatar Tamar-Kali, King Django; Honeychild Coleman; Barbara Gogan (The Passions); Sherleen Nubro; Lisa Samuels and many luminaries from the punk and reggae worlds backed by Ira Heaps and the True Warriors performing classic Slits hits, dancehall and previously unheard originals by Ari Up. Lyrical Readings and Remembrances by Michael Patrick McDonald, Greg Tate, Sara Marcus (Girls To The Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution) and Angela Jaeger (ex-Pigbag).
Plus never before seen video footage and MORE SURPRISE GUESTS.

WHEN:Sunday January 16, 2011
Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM

Proceeds will benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

And the Golden Globes are tonight.

What else?

Since we last spoke, official word came back regarding Ari Up's untimely passing: it was cancer. In her memory and the memory of the tunes she left behind, Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg is hosting a show on January 16th called "Ari Up Punky Reggae Birthday Party" featuring appearances from members of The Slits, The Slackers, PiL, as well as Neneh Cherry and many others. Tickets are on sale.

Being that Ari Up was John Lydon's step-daughter, it's not surprising that her passing had an effect on him:

John Lydon has delayed sessions to record new material with Public Image Ltd following the death of his step-daughter, The Slits singer Ari Up.

"We were going to go into the studio but in light of my step-daughter's death, I really can't be doing that at the moment," Lydon said [around November 22nd].

"I don't want to leave my wife alone for any length of time right now. So the music side has had to be held." -[BBC]

Another recent tribute to Ari Up happened in the form of Kathleen Hanna and The Raincoats covering a Slits song at MoMA. Video of that, with info on upcoming Kathleen Hanna-related events, can be found HERE.

Members of The Slackers are involved in the Ari Up show at MHoW, and the band has a show of their own in NYC next week. Tickets are still available for The Slackers at Brooklyn Bowl on December 18th. The show is one of two December dates for the NYC ska band. The second is New Years Eve in San Francisco, and the first date on a larger tour for the band who will be pretty busy through June. Openers for the Brooklyn show are Frighteners, the Forthights, and DJ 100dBs with special guest appearances by Greg Lee (Hepcat) & Jesse Wagner (Aggrolites).

All Slackers dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "an Ari-Up birthday party show, Slackers tour dates & more"

John and Nora have asked us to let everyone know that Nora's daughter Arianna (aka Ari-Up) died today (Wednesday, October 20th) after a serious illness. She will be sadly missed.

Everyone at JohnLydon.com and PiLofficial.Com would like to pass on their heartfelt condolences to John , Nora and family.

Rest in Peace.
[JohnLydon.com]

John Lydon and his wife Nora were introduced by Nora's daughter Ari-Up, who was just 48 years old this year.

The Slits released their first new record in 25 years, exactly one year ago TODAY.

a selection of videos below...

Continue reading "Ari-Up RIP (John Lydon reports Slits member dead)"

DOWNLOAD: Lee "Scratch" Perry - Santa Claus (MP3)

Lee "Scratch" Perry @ Central Park Summerstage in July (more by Tim Griffin)

Tickets are still on sale for Lee "Scratch" Perry's Highline Ballroom show on Sunday, December 13th (with Popo and Pace Won & Mr. Green). Lee's Narnack label-mates and fellow legends The Slits play the venue one night after (with The Sundelles and Sisters). I have a pair of tickets for each to give away; details are below.

The Lee Perry show is the kick-off for a one week US tour, the full dates of which are below with a very special video tour announcement from The Upsetter. "Santa Claus," a somewhat seasonal but not really very festive track from his 2008 Andrew WK-produced record Repentence (an album that Ari Up of The Slits makes a guest appearance on), is above.

Tour dates, video and contest info below...

Continue reading "Lee 'Scratch' Perry touring in December (dates) - win tix to the NYC show, download a free Christmas song"

Quietus: What do you think it was about the recording environment that turned Cut into such a great record?

Ari Up: The Slits developed the Slits sound. To this day, no one sounds like us, no one. People trying to categorise the music has fucked us up over the years: "Oh, we can't label you, what are you?" It's... Slits! A totally new sound. We had no heroes. We had no one to look up to. It talks about Patti Smith in the book, but I didn't relate to anyone - I didn't use Patti Smith as my big hero.

Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt: It was just instinctive female music. We weren't trying to play like men. We were just being ourselves.

They're playing a short run of US shows in December. That includes a December 14th gig at Highline Ballroom. Tickets are on sale.

One night before that, fellow legendary Narnack Records artist Lee 'Scratch' Perry is scheduled to play Highline Ballroom (12/13). Tickets for that are still on sale too.

Slits album info, tour dates and a bunch of videos, below...

Continue reading "The Slits - new album & biography out now, December shows (dates) - NYC gig @ Highline Ballroom 1 day after Lee Perry"

by Martin Longley

Friday's gig's sold out, although in the new Knitting Factory this still means that we're not feeling claustrophobic. Still room to move. It's like a mini-history of London punk, with former Slits singer/guitarist Viv Albertine playing a completely solo opening set that feels like it's half monologue as she recalls the days of platonically sharing a bed with Sid Vicious and getting her one-time heroin fix from Johnny Thunders. Mother sits you on her knee, to tell you tales of the old days, but few bedtime stories tend to inhabit such a nihilistic world. The rules of punk are explained, and Albertine's anecdotes come across as a mixture of naîve wonderment and epic sleaze: there's something very strange about this legend-making material becoming a thing of thirty-plus year-old history. Sadly, Albertine's tinny-guitared songs are quite basic and uninspiring, but the massive Slits legacy is indeed a difficult songbook to match.

Albertine fares much better later, guesting with The Raincoats to play "Adventures Close To Home", which was originally a Slits ditty. This is the climax of a short US tour, coinciding with the reissue of the band's ultra-classic 1979 debut album. Predictably, it's these songs that provide the highlights, played in an authentically raw fashion, as if they were scrawled out only a few days previously. The face-painted Raincoats emanate sheer inclusive bonhomie, ebulliently bouncing and bounding. Gina Birch and Ana Da Silva swap vocals and guitars, whilst Anne Wood jumps around gleefully as she bows with a fierce attack to her sawtooth violin riffing.

Vice Cooler's drumming is almost too professionally session-istic, but we can't really argue with the added thunder-power he provides. There's "No One's Little Girl", with its eeeek-ing violin/vocal harmonies, and the minor fluff of "Babydog" from their fleeting 1996 revival. The true classics, though, are "No Side To Fall In", "Fairytale In The Supermarket", "No Looking" and "Lola", all delivered as a multi-vocalled rabble. The Raincoats remain completely committed, still in touch with their original ramshackle energy-forces.

Check out a video from Viv's set, below...

Continue reading "The Raincoats & Viv Albertine played Knitting Factory"

DOWNLOAD: Lee Scratch Perry - Pum Pum (MP3)

Narnack is excited to announce the signing of "The Slits"... this pioneering all girl act is noted for it's influence on many of music's most acclaimed female musician's and was espousing on the riot girl ethic before most of the movements artists had even picked up an instrument.

The band is rehearsing new material now and will be returning to the studio for their first full-length album with all new material in over 20 years. Look for all the original members (Ari, Tessa & Palmolive) to be back in the studio for the new album which will start recording in February. The Slits will also be touring the US and abroad in 2009.

Also, Lee Scratch Perry's "REPENTANCE" has been nominated for Best Reggae Album of 2008. Oo-produced by Andrew WK and featuring Moby, seminal producer Don Fleming and drummer Brian Chippendale of staccato noise duo Lightning Bolt!. The Upsetter will be attending his first ever Grammy Awards ceremony here in Los Angeles on Feb. 8th. Be sure to tune in...

For more Narnack, check out the pics from their CMJ 2008 showcase.

Bowery Poetry Club, Sep 7 2008

As part of the 2008 Howl Festival in NYC's East Village, a panel discussion on the topic 'Unrest in the 70s - US vs UK' at Bowery Poetry Club, directly opposite the old CBGB premises, brought together a number of punk veterans from both sides of the pond.

Panelists:
Richard Lloyd (Television)
Ari Up (Slits)
Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras)
Judy Nylon (Snatch)
Walter Lure (Heartbreakers)
Arturo Vega (Ramones)
Steve Garvey (Buzzcocks)
Moderator: Mary Harron

Continue reading "Howl Festival Punk Panel 2008 (60 minute Punkcast video)"

The Cockettes

Though free shows are becoming scarcer and scarcer in NYC as September approaches, September 6th now offers three all-day possibilities. This one is part of the annual LES Howl! Festival, takes place in Tompkins Square Park, and looks sort of like this:

Tompkins Square Park, Sept 6, 2008
1.00 p.m. Middle Collegiate Choir
1.30 p.m. Blonde Boy Wilson with On Davis
1.40 p.m. "Bang the Drum for the Brothers,"J. Fitzgerald creates a dazzling spectacle of rhythm and rhyme.
2.05 p.m. TIMBILA
2.25 p.m Baby Soda
2.45 p.m. Tin Pan
3.05 p.m Reverend Billy
3.25 p.m. Trachtenburg Family
4.05 p.m. Becky Wreck
4.20 p.m. Ari Up's Slits
5 p.m. THE COCKETTES and the Thrill Peddlers
6 p.m. The House of HOWL PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF BON VIVANT'S BALLHOUSE TRIBUTE

The other free shows on Septmeber 6th are the East Village Radio Fest at South Street Seaport and the Monser Island Block Party in Brooklyn.

The entire Howl! Festival runs from September 5-11 and involves approximately 30 different venues including the Living Room, Element, Bowery Poetry Club, Niagara, Rehab, St Marks Church and Vaishnava Academy For the Performing Arts.

The Cockettes...

a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 1960s in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The troupe performed outrageous parodies of show tunes (or original tunes in the same vein) and gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure.

In 1971, over differences in philosophy, the group split into two separate groups, the Cockettes and The Angels of Light. The Cockettes continued to work as paid performers while the Angels of Light chose to do free theatre without admission charge.

The Cockettes were the subject of a 2002 documentary, The Cockettes... [Wikipedia]

Red 7, Austin, TX - March 12, 2008

Our Wednesday day party got fucked up, or I should say DIDN'T get Fucked Up. It didn't get the Slits either as you can see from the sign we had posted at the door of Red 7 last Wednesday in Austin (March 12, 2008). At least we never advertised F'd Up (they cancelled before we designed the flyer). The Slits cancelled the night before. I didn't even know until I got there. Oh well.

As far as I know The Slits did then go on to play the rest of their SXSW shows, and they probably played all their shows since SXSW too, and they'll most likely play the three more they have to go - two of which are in the NYC area very soon. Dates below....

Continue reading "no "The Slits and/or Fucked Up" ++ 3 more Slits Tour Dates"

BrooklynVegan, Sean Carlson, Transmission Entertainment, Red 7 & Mike Litt present.....

It's this Wednesday in Austin. no RSVP necessary, and it's practically right next door from my official showcase that starts just a few hours later.

Sean Carlson and Transmission are also the people behind the huge Saturday Mess With Texas party, and for that they're offering a contest......

Continue reading "another during-SXSW day party & a Mess With Texas contest"

From Women's Wear Daily......

Cool chick Chloë Sevigny has loads of equally hip friends to call on when she decides to throw a party. But even she was surprised by the turnout at the bash she hosted at Webster Hall Monday night -- along with MAC Cosmetics, Self-Service Magazine and boutique Opening Ceremony -- to celebrate her debut collection for the store and featuring a special performance by British punk rock band The Slits. By the time she arrived around 10:30 p.m., there was a line snaking around the block, three deep with grungesters, alternative chicks and general misfits.

"Oh my God, did you see how many people are out there?" exclaimed Sevigny to Slits lead singer Ari-Up as they made their way backstage. "It's, like, thousands!"

Continue reading "Chloe Sevigny, Ari-Up, Slits, Andy Samberg, Joanna Newsom"

Chloë Sevigny & her clothes on models (not the slits)

LA: Who are some of your fashion icons?
Chloë Sevigny: Women who are outrageous yet effortless. Liz Goldwyn, Cecilia Dean, Angelica Houston, Marlene Dietrich, Debbie Harry, Poison Ivy, Slim Keith, Patti Smith--women who own their looks and themselves. Never looking uncomfortable in your outfit, or skin for that matter is a must.

LA: What music inspired your line?
Chloë Sevigny: The Cramps, Johnny Thunders and Patti Palladin, Lizzie Mercier, The Slits, The Shangri La's.

I'm not sure if that's a private party or not, but the Slits are also playing Mercury Lounge on March 5th, and tickets are on sale. Then they're touring, playing SXSW, and coming back to play Maxwell's on March 24th. Tickets are on sale for that too. All dates below....

Continue reading "The Slits, Chloë Sevigny, 2008 Tour Dates, SXSW"

Sonic Youth fans in an Urban Outfitters - July 21, 2007 (CRED)

Sonic Youth's final USA performance of the Daydream Nation album happens this Saturday July 28th at the historic McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Slits (still reunited) are opening, and the show is now sold out. Want to win tickets? E-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Daydream), and let me know what the last show you saw was. Two winners will be picked at random, contact and awarded a pair of tickets (by 5pm today). Include your first and last name for list.

The Slits are also playing in Philly tonight (July 27), and then a few places in California.

The official McCarren Pool 'Smells Like Records' afterparty is not Saturday night. Instead it's happening on Sunday at The Living Room. The lineup: 7 Tall Firs, 8 John Wolfington, 9 Michelle Cassias w/ Tony Scherr, 10 Chris Lee, and @ 11 Tony Scherr. Sonic Youth's drummer Steve Shelley will be playing drums for John Wolfington and Chris Lee. Tall Firs are on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. It's sure to be a Sonic Youth-filled evening.

In other (depressing?) Sonic Youth news, the band will be releasing a compilation via Starbucks - the new home of Joni Mitchell (and of course Paul McCartney). Eddie Vedder, Jeff Tweedy, David Cross, Beck, and others are part of the Sonic Youth comp as well.

More Sonic Youth tour dates below....

Continue reading "the Slits & SONIC YOUTH, WIN TICKETS, an afterparty, Starbucks & Joni Mitchell"