The Rapture at FYFest (more by Rachel Carr)

The Rapture have released an Emperor Machine Remix Edit of "How Deep Is Your Love?" via the Adult Swim Singles Program (which recently released songs by Best Coast, The Tallest Man On Earth, Mastodon, How To Dress Well, Ford & Lopatin, and Active Child). Listen to the song below now. Download it Wednesday (7/20) along with all the other tracks released so far. Look for upcoming songs from Clams Casino, JJ feat. Ne-Yo, El-P, and Cerebral Ballzy in the coming weeks.

The Rapture play Music Hall Of Williamsburg on 8/20 before they head across the pond to the EU. The show is sold-out. All dates are also listed below.

Continue reading "Adult Swim Singles continues w/ a Rapture remix (listen)"

photos by David Andrako

Big Audio Dynamite

As you know, Arcade Fire played a light-up beach ball-filled headlining show on Saturday, and Odd Future made their presence known to crowd members, security and those watching Lil B, but other exciting stuff, like the reunited Big Audio Dynamite killing it (and bringing some to tears), happened too. The only unfortunate part of BAD's set was that Wire, who people keep reporting was "underattended," were on at the same time. Wire was also up against the very popular Mumford & Sons who played before Animal Collective who played before Arcade Fire.

Animal Collective got their usual mixed reaction thanks in part to their usual choice of playing whatever they want no matter how big the crowd and who's on before and after them. Anonymous | April 17, 2011 6:32 AM said, "fuck animal collective. people went to the festival to have fun [,not] to have images of cum projected for an hour while the boring drones. they had the deadest crowd i've seen on the main stage so far." Anonymous | April 17, 2011 8:25 AM basically agrees and said, "AC should have never been allowed on that stage in that time slot. The worst." Anonymous | April 17, 2011 1:33 PM says, "guys AC just sucks, this ain't no new mystery.... it's almost as if they try extra hard just to be that terrible and make the crowd feel like a bunch of tools for giving them money... They're prob just a social experiment by banksy anyway." But Anonymous | April 17, 2011 3:22 PM asks, "so AC sucks for trying to make innovative, artistically rewarding music instead of god-awful corporate college-rock like arcade fire? every song is like, the same four chords played over and over and over again."

Mumford & Sons went on after Bright Eyes who went on after Broken Social Scene who went on after Erykah Badu aka Erica Abi Wright aka Loretta Brown aka Annie aka Analog Girl in the Digital World aka Medulla Oblongata, etc. (she was great despite technical difficulties).

Erykah Badu

Neko Case helped make the New Pornographers shine under hot sun. Empire of the Suns won best costumes of the day. Phoenix New Times says...

"Also, I suppose yesterday was the "Fuck Arizona" day at Coachella -- Jenny & Johnny, Bright Eyes and One Day as a Lion all had sets during the day. I actually saw someone wearing a Sound Strike t-shirt on Friday. Wearing that shirt to a music festival is doing about as much as de la Rocha and Oberst are collectively doing to combat SB 1070."

The third and final day of Coachella 2011 is underway and streaming on the internet as I type this. Our pictures from Friday are HERE. Check out more pictures from Saturday, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2011 Day 2 in pics (Big Audio Dynamite, BSS, Animal Collective, Erykah Badu, Bright Eyes, Mumford & Sons, more)"

photos by Jessica Amaya, words by Rachel Kowal

DOWNLOAD: S. Carey - In the Dirt (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: S. Carey - In the Stream (MP3)

Even if you don't know much about S. Carey's background, it probably wouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn that he wrote much of the material for his debut album while on the road with Bon Iver. Sean Carey possesses the kind of slow, steady vocals that make you weak in the knees, and the accompanying music benefits from a collection of classy instruments like the upright bass, saxophone, and vibraphone. The set began with a hushed, melodic opening that gradually crescendoed when Carey came in on vocals midway through the song. For once, earplugs weren't necessary - at least for the majority of the set Monday night at Webster Hall (9/27).

S. Carey did make one notable departure from the tranquil presentation. Fitting for its title, "Action" featured a surprisingly rowdy segment as each of the musicians contributed to the song's chaotic and frenzied conclusion.

Considering the fact that S. Carey has never played a show in New York, Webster Hall is a pretty impressive place to start. The sheer size of the venue typically makes it an inhospitable setting for quieter acts, but both S. Carey and Tallest Man on Earth effortlessly captured the attention of the mild-mannered and appreciative crowd.

When it came time for The Tallest Man on Earth to play, the stage had been stripped down to a single mic stand, a simple brown wooden chair, and a guitar rack. Kristian Matsson walked on stage to what sounded like a Swedish song playing in the background. Without a word of introduction, he began singing "A Field of Birds." Whenever he wasn't required to be at the mic, Matsson paced around the stage, sometimes running back over just in time to sing.

"Thank you so much New York. I'm glad to be back. I might have played that song a bit too fast, but don't judge me. This is a big place," Matsson sheepishly confessed after a couple of songs. Matsson's distinctively gruff voice provides an interesting contrast to the melodic strains of his guitar. Though he didn't have a backing band, Matsson's music impressively resonated throughout the large space and the reverent sold-out audience.

The magical star-lit backdrop lining the stage seemed to be perfectly suited for a man whose songs feature motifs like love, the beautiful Scandinavian landscape, and of course - birds. At one point, someone in the crowd asked him about the mysterious message emblazoned in blue on his T-shirt. "Good question. Thank you so much for asking and not yelling something like 'Fuck you.'" He countered. "It's Leksand Delarna. It's where I'm from. It's my home town." He briefly reflected on his homesickness before momentarily turning his back on the crowd and walking over to get a closer look at the celestial backdrop, as if marveling at the beautiful Swedish night sky.

After playing a couple of songs about the ups and downs of love, he returned to the topic of his homeland and the album artwork it inspired. "So I have a new EP. It's only 5 songs. But the cover is awesome... it's like a chimney and a field house... go to the merch. You don't have to buy it. Just check it out." And with that, he launched into "Like the Wheel."

Though the show featured a number of pauses as Matsson stopped to tune a guitar or communicated with the sound technician, this attention to detail paid off and made for quite a robust sound (and the most beautiful and complicated guitar tuning technique I've ever heard).

Matsson capped off his initial set with "Thrown Right at Me," a lovely duet featuring Amanda Bergman (aka Jaw Lesson) (previously Hajen) on vocals. He then returned to wild applause to wrap up with an impassioned three-song encore.

The Tallest Man and S. Carey are on tour (S. Carey will be back for CMJ too). Updated dates, the full Tallest Man setlist, and more pictures from the NYC show, below...

Continue reading "The Tallest Man On Earth & S. Carey played Webster Hall, NYC (pics & setlist) "

DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - "Volunteers" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Megafaun - "Carolina Days" (MP3)

Megafaun @ Bowery Ballroom in 2009 (more by Kurt Christensen)

Those looking for an excuse for a road trip this weekend:

Megafaun & Fight the Big Bull • 'Sounds of the South'
feat. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver & Sharon Van Etten
Friday, September 17, 2010 | 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 18, 2010 | 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 19, 2010 | 5:00 pm
Hayti Heritage Center
$26 • Duke & NCCU Students $5

The members of Megafaun moved from Wisconsin to Raleigh with Vernon as the band DeYarmond Edison. After Vernon went back north to record as Bon Iver, the Cook brothers and Joe Westerlund stayed on in the Piedmont, crafting a timeless folk-pop that "drinks deeply from the well of the past but could only have been made today" (Drowned in Sound)--an archive of rural America's ghosts.

In this exclusive live recording event, the rustic avant-gardists team with Fight the Big Bull, the "thrilling" (NPR) 9-piece jazz collective from Richmond, VA, along with Vernon and the blisteringly talented Van Etten. Together in Durham for three shows only, they'll cut a live album based on Alan Lomax's collection of shape-note songs and dirt-floor hymns, Sounds of the South, gathered during a two-year trek through the American southeast (1959-1961).

Tickets for the three shows appear to still be available. I would go if I could, but knowing a live album will come of it is nice too.

Sharon Van Etten plays two NYC shows and then tours in October.

Meanwhile, Megafaun's fine new mini-LP Heretofore is out today (9/14). Check out two free songs from that above. Grab a remix the band did for The Acron @ My Old Kentucky Blog. And a video of Megafaun covering Gillian Welch with The Tallest Man on Earth, below...

Continue reading "Megafaun LP out now (MP3s), 'Sounds of the South' shows w/ Justin Vernon & Sharon Van Etten this weekend "

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Tallest Man On Earth - Like The Wheel (MP3)

Dead Oceans announced a new EP by The Tallest Man On Earth titled Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird, out now on iTunes. The EP (cover art above) consists of four new songs and a newly recorded version of "Like The Wheel" which he played as part of his encore at the Highline Ballroom show last April. The song was originally released as a bonus track to The Tallest Man On Earth's most recent full length, The Wild Hunt, as a slow piano ballad. The new EP version is primarily guitar based and played at a faster tempo. Download the track for free above.

Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird is currently only available on iTunes but is set for a physical release on November 9. The Tallest Man On Earth plays Webster Hall on Monday, September 27 (tickets are still on sale) as part of his upcoming tour with S. Carey.

Video and updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "new Tallest Man on Earth EP & free MP3"

photos by Kate Gardiner

"And Yawnfork continues." - Jim DeRogatis

Robyn dominated Friday @ the Pitchfork Festival

"Who knew the best performer of the day would be a blonde bombshell spinning Euro-disco? Robyn -- another Swede and a former child star who's fought hard to regain her own artistic control -- came out throwing punches in the air when she wasn't doing that elbows-high, shoulder-leaning dance all '80s female singers used to do. Fiesty, sexy, spunky, Robyn opened with the virtues of being a "Fembot," assured us that love hurts "With Every Heartbeat" and sang flawlessly through new single "Dancing on My Own" in front of a band dressed in all white, twiddling knobs and pounding synth-pad drums. The latter really exploded at the end of "Cobrastyle," with Robyn showing some kick-box dancing. Her Pink-ish pluck reached its zenith in "Don't F---ing Tell Me What to Do," during which she led some kind of aerobics class (sporting a totally Pat Benatar green beret, too). And she was the crowd favorite. Go figure." [Chicago Sun Times]

Robyn is now on tour with Kelis (that tour includes three NYC shows).

This post comes five hours into Day Two of the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival (which is streaming online). Tonight's remaining acts are Wolf Parade, Panda Bear, and LCD Soundsystem. More pictures and a few videos from most of what came prior, below....

Continue reading "Pitchfork Fest 2010 - Day 1 & most of Day 2 (pictures & video) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Tallest Man On Earth @ Highline Ballroom in April (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Sweden's Tallest Man On Earth will be going to Europe after his set at Pitchfork Fest on July 16th. He's back in North America for shows in September, where he'll tour with S. Carey, the project of Sean Carey, who plays with Bon Iver. S. Carey's debut, All We Grow, written while on the road with Bon Iver for the past two years, comes out August 24th on Jagjaguwar. Dreamy, orchestrated tune "In the Dirt" is up on his MySpace.

The Tallest Man On Earth and S. Carey play Webster Hall Monday, September 27th. Tickets went on AmEx presale at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Tallest Man on Earth touring w/ Bon Iver member S. Carey (who is releasing an album) - 2010 tour dates "

tonight in NYC
* The Buzzcocks @ Irving Plaza
* Ricky Gervais @ the Theater @ MSG
* The Big Sleep (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* TBA @ The National's High Violet Annex
* Crooked Still, Gabriel Kahane @ 92YTribeca
* Elysian Fields, Doveman @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Blow, Acrylics, Julianna Barwick @ Glasslands
* Nohow On, Pepi Ginsberg, Last Good Tooth @ Zebulon
* Team B, Landlady, The Relatives @ Knitting Factory
* Panda Riot, Midstates, The Twees, Daniel Klag @ Lit
* The Moog, The Photo Atlas, Morning Fuzz @ Studio at Webster Hall
* Drunken Sufis, Jookabox, The Whims, Birfday @ Cake Shop
* Greg Garing, Jacob Jones, Fletcher C. Johnson @ Southpaw
* Woods, MV & EE (Joshua Light Show Fest) @ Abrons Art Center
* Phosphorescent, High Life, Diamond Doves (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Harvard Bass, These Are Powers, JDH & Dave P @ Santos Party House
* Laura Marling, Smoke Fairies, Pete Roe @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Milagres, Twi The Humble Feather, ArpLine, Mancino @ The Bell House
* Borrowed Eyes, Cavedweller, Gregory Stovetop, Racetrack @ Bruar Falls
* Francis and the Lights, Penguin Prison, Ryan Holladay @ Bowery Ballroom
* Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now!, Les Sans Culottes @ Union Hall
* Big Troubles, NT, Knight School, My Teenage Stride, Creeptables @ Death By Audio
* Beach Fossils, Midnight Masses, Mon Khmer (Deli's Best of NYC Fest) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Blitz The Ambassador, Das Racist, Mazzi and Sneakas, Dash Speaks, NSR @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Click Clack Boom, Cavalier Rose, The Shake, Midnight Spin (Deli's Best of NYC Fest) @ Public Assembly

The Big Sleep, returning from a hiatus, play a free show tonight at Mercury Lounge.

The Blow returns tonight too.

Phish is on Fallon tonight.

The Deli Magazine's Best of NYC Fest kicks off.

A video of The Tallest Man on Earth playing his tune "King of Spain" in Manhattan's High Line Park (check it out this weekend!) is posted below. Pictures from his most recent NYC show are here.

Effie Briest played Union Pool last night. Video from that show below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

DOWNLOAD: Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nurses - Caterpillar Playground (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nurses - Technicolor (MP3)

This Tuesday I went to see the "Tallest Man On Earth" at the Highline Ballroom. With a name like the "Tallest Man On Earth" Kristian Matsson is rather scrawny, I have to say. Nevertheless, his was by far one of the best concerts I've ever been to. His new album, "The Wild Hunt" is excellent and he's even better live. Also, did I mention the fact that, despite his scrawniness, he really is quite beautiful? A lot of people say he has a big forehead, but they're just jealous because they can't sing like him.

Overall, a great concert. I would definitely recommend listening to his music and seeing him in concert if you ever get the chance. After the concert I made a bet with my friend, Jeff, that he would pay for my wedding if I managed to get Kristian to marry me. I'm working on it... [nothing&excess]

The Tallest Man on Earth and Nurses, on tour together through mid-May, played a show at Highline Ballroom on Tuesday, April 20th. That gig happened a week to the day after Tallest Man's new CD, The Wild Hunt, came out on Dead Oceans. "King of Spain" from that record is reposted above (as are a pair of Nurses tracks, again).

Tallest Man (aka Kristian Matsson) continues on tour alone up to the Sasquatch Festival at the end of May, then returns to Europe for shows there.

More pictures and videos from the NYC show are below...

Continue reading "Tallest Man on Earth, Nurses @ Highline Ballroom - pics,video"

DOWNLOAD: Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nurses - Caterpillar Playground (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nurses - Technicolor (MP3)

Nurses

The previously announced The Tallest Man On Earth tour is now underway, stopping in NYC on Tuesday 4/20 @ Highline Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

The opening band will be the Portland, Oregon trio, and Kristian's Dead Oceans label-mate Nurses who are on tour with The Tallest Man On Earth until May 15th. Both bands then meet up again at the now sold out Sasquatch Festival (May 29th - May 31st). On February 23rd...

"NURSES played a one-of-a-kind show, performing via webcam on ChatRoulette, the latest cyber-craze. For the uninitiated, ChatRoulette randomly pairs up participants for a one-on-one video chat, meaning that to find Nurses on the site, you had to venture through some uncharted (and very NSFW) waters. Using 15 computers to stream the show via ChatRoulette, the band played a wild set for some unsuspecting internet surfers. The band has since edited a version of new and unreleased song "So Sweet" into a music video, documenting the fun that went down on the internet that night."

You can watch that video below. Two (reposted) MP3s from the band's 2009 album Apple's Acre are above with a (reposted) Tallest Man MP3 from his new album The Wild Hunt (out now).

All dates, the Nurses video and a video of Tallest Man performing an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, below...

Continue reading "Nurses on tour with The Tallest Man on Earth - 2010 dates, MP3s & Chatroulette video "

Modest Mouse @ Terminal 5 in March 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Modest Mouse will join Faith No More and Nas & Damian Marley (tickets) as one of the acts set to play at Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn this summer. Their Friday, July 23rd show will be ticketed/non-free (like the others mentioned). Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (which is when the just-added Faith no More show goes on sale too).

Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is a week after they play the Pitchfork Festival which recently updated its lineup. New acts playing the Chicago fest include Big Boi, Major Lazer, Neon Indian, Beach House, Free Energy, Local Natives, Robyn & more. Check that out in full below. Single day tickets are still on sale.

UPDATE: Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is one day after they play one in NJ.

Modest Mouse will be reissuing their third album, The Moon & Antarctica, on vinyl for its 10th anniversary, on Record Store Day - this Saturday, April 17th. "The album features restored original artwork and replicates the infinite lock groove found in the original vinyl pressings of 2000. The new vinyl reissue includes a download card for the album." All dates the the P4K Fest lineup, below...

Continue reading "Modest Mouse playing Williamsburg Waterfront, the Pitchfork Festival (updated full lineup) & other tour dates"

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) "

DOWNLOAD: Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain (MP3)

Tallest Man on Earth @ BV Northside show at MHOW (more by Chris La Putt)

Tallest Man on Earth's new record, The Wild Hunt, comes out April 13th on Dead Oceans (his first on the label). You can get the track "King of Spain," off the record, posted above. Full tracklist and cover art below.

An over-a-monthlong North American tour kicks off shortly after. Tallest Man (real name Kristian Matsson) plays NYC's Highline Ballroom on Tuesday, April 20th. Tickets go onsale Friday, February 12th at noon.

All tour dates, album info, and a song from Tallest Man's Blogotheque session are below...

Continue reading "The Tallest Man On Earth - new album on Dead Oceans (MP3) & 2010 Tour Dates (Highline Ballroom)"

photos by Ryan Muir

A lot of photographers were in the house at the beginning of the BrooklynVegan Northside show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday (6/12). So not surprisingly I have this second set of pictures from the event (the first set was by Chris La Putt).

For Olof Arnalds, that Brooklyn show was her third in three days, and part of her second trip to NYC in two months.

If you still haven't seen her, there is now yet another chance. In just 8 days from this posting (I really hope she isn't flying back and forth to Iceland every single time), Olof will be back in NYC to open for Blonde Redhead at the free 'Celebrate Brooklyn' show they're playing at the Prospect Park Bandshell on June 26th. I'm sure it will be her biggest audience yet (I was at her South Street Seaport show, and the early afternoon audience was not big).

More of Ryan's pictures of this show below...

Continue reading "Olof Arnalds playing Prospect Park w/ Blonde Redhead ++ more pics from MHOW "

photos by Chris La Putt

Dave Deporis / Olof Arnalds

"Opener The Tallest Man on Earth was a pleasant surprise, too. Playing solo with just an acoustic guitar, he overpowered the audience with a GIGANTIC voice that at times reminded me of JEFF BUCKLEY, though the sound was more akin to if Buckley was fascinated with Americana as opposed to NINA SIMONE, GENESIS and THE SMITHS." [The Big Takeover - review from the Philly show]

Thanks all for coming to the BrooklynVegan Northside Festival showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday night (6/12). The lineup worked out perfectly. From 7-9, photographers and friends of photographers hung out around their pictures hanging on the wall. At 9pm, those who were there early enough and were interested in watching the music were wowed by the magical Dave Deporis (at least the people I talked to). His set was especially emotional due to the song dedications to his grandfather who passed away one day earlier. Then Olof Arnalds played to a much more filled in crowd who did not want to let her leave the stage, especially after the amazing Nina Simone cover she closed her set with. Earlier she covered Springsteen. Up next came the, to quote the above review, "gigantic voice" of the not-that-tall Tallest Man On Earth which was followed by the headlining full-band set by the one and only John Vanderslice. More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "John Vanderslice, Tallest Man On Earth, Olof Arnalds, Dave Deporis & the BV photo show @ MHOW in Brooklyn - pics "

DOWNLOAD: The Tallest Man On Earth - The Gardner (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice - Time Travel Is Lonely (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dave Deporis - Be Strong (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ólöf Arnalds - Við og Við (MP3)

With the first BV Northside Fest live show & photo show (both at Music Hall of Williamsburg) just a few hours away, I thought I would take this opportunity to remind you to stop by (tickets will be available at the door and you can use your festival badge), and to finally offer a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show. Details at the end of this post.

Badge holders, don't worry, we will be letting the alotted amount through the door (and then more in when and if others leave). And though the show is not ALL ages, it is 16+. For those 21+, you may enjoy drink specials ($3.00 well/draft) from 7-8 to coincide with the premiere of the photos. Dave Deporis on at 9:00. Some MP3s above. Some new JV videos below...

Continue reading "BV show tonight, WIN TIX ---- new JV videos & some MP3s"

DOWNLOAD: Ólöf Arnalds - Við og Við (MP3)

Olof Arnalds @ Housing Works in NYC (more by Chris La Putt)

Last Friday, 300 lucky guests crowded into Housing Works Bookstore for a very special installment of the bookstore's Live From Home concert series: the occasion was a collaboration between musical legend Björk and the up-and-coming Brooklyn band The Dirty Projectors. It was a night of never before heard music to benefit Housing Works Inc., which provides direct services for homeless New Yorkers with HIV and AIDS.

Guests drank beer from Whole Foods, Hendricks Gin and Reyka Vodka cocktails and wondered what lay in store. Björk and the Dirty Projectors each chose an opening act: Olöf Arnalds, a singer from Björk's native Iceland, and Kurt Weisman, from Vermont were introduced by the headliners. Hosting the evening was bookstore board member and Stereogum writer Brandon Stosuy...

...The music was transcendent, and the night was a huge success as a fundraiser-raising $40,000 for Housing Works, Inc. Thanks to everyone who helped make it such an amazing night."
[Housing Works press release]

That singer from Bjork's native Iceland (Olof Arnalds) will be back again in June, this time to play two shows during Brooklyn's first-ever Northside Festival. And the dates are:

Thursday, June 11 @ Union Pool - Olof Arnalds w/ François Virot, Lisa Li-Lund, Sharon Van Etten, and Ivana XL (Uncensored Interview Presents "The Speakeasy: A Showcase of Transatlantic Alt-Folk")

Friday, June 12 @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - Olof Arnalds w/ John Vanderslice & The Tallest Man On Earth & one more artist TBA. (the BrooklynVegan showcase)

A Northside Festival badge will get you (first come, first served) into either show. Advanced tickets are also available for both shows (Union Pool and Music Hall).

The Tallest Man/Vanderslice/Olof/TBA show at MHOW is now one of two BV Northside Fest shows. The 2nd one is, courtesy of Black Bubblegum, much heavier.

Olof covered Bjork at the Bjork Housing Works show. Watch that video, and others like it, below...

Continue reading "Olof Arnalds playing 2 Northside Festival shows (BV showcase included), helped raise lots of $$$ for HW (amount) "

DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice - Fetal Horses (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: John Vanderslice - Too Much Time (MP3)

John Vanderslice @ 92Y Tribeca (more by Chris La Putt)

As previously reported, John Vanderslice will be playing a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Tallest Man on Earth on Friday, June 12. That show is part of the Northside Festival and is presented by Brooklyn Vegan and we'll be adding two more bands to the bill (soon, hopefully). Tickets for the show are still on sale, as are 4-day Northside Festival passes which may also get you in.

The show it turns out is part of a bigger tour with the Tallest Man on Earth that now also includes a non-Northside Bowery Ballroom show on Saturday, June 13th. Tickets for that new show are also on sale now. JV will play last at Music Hall, TMOE, who recently sold out the same venue by himself, will play last at Bowery.

John's new album, Romanian Names, comes out May 19th on Dead Oceans. Info about the preorder for that record, which includes a chance to download it more than three weeks before it comes out, is below. Two tracks from that album are posted above.

As previously mentioned, John Vanderslice also recorded a new album with The Mountain Goats. The limited edition EP has since been released. It's called Moon Colony Bloodbath.

Vanderslice will be performing as a five-piece band on this tour, which stretches across the US from May to June, and includes performances at the Ottawa Bluesfest on July 12th, San Fran's Outside Lands Festival at the end of August, and Austin City Limits on October 3rd.

All tour dates and info on the album presale below...

Continue reading "John Vanderslice & Tallest Man on Earth - 2009 Tour Dates"

photos by Fresh Bread

"Quite simply, the Tallest Man on Earth has an impossible voice. Looking a bit like Production Simple's Joe Argabrite, Kristian Matsson's "Tallest Man" status must surely come from his voice because no mere human should be able to sound like this (that, and it clearly does not come from his height). Although I was late to the game on TMOE, his debut Shallow Grave was amongst the best albums of 2008. Having fallen in love with the Dylanesque croons of Shallow Grave, I was beyond pleasantly surprised to find that live, it gives way to a penetrating growl of emotion that made the audience feel that Matsson was reliving each moment and truly experiencing every word as it was spoke." [Backbeat Sandbar]

That review, and the pictures in this post, come from The Tallest Man On Earth's Bowery Ballroom show the other night (Red Cortez opened). The Tallest Man will be back, next time at MHOW during the Northside Festival. More pictures, the setlist, and a video from Bowery, below...

Continue reading "Tallest Man on Earth @ Bowery Ballroom - pics, setlist, video"

The Tallest Man on Earth @ MHOW (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The Tallest Man on Earth completed a two-night run of shows in NYC last night (4/15). Tuesday's show was at Union Hall. Wednesday was a headline gig at Bowery Ballroom (pictures coming soon). On tour with Red Cortez, Tallest Man has just two US shows left - a coffee shop in Alfred, New York on Friday, and a spot at SUNY's Culture Shock Fest on Saturday.

After that it's back to Sweden (probably), but not for long. The Tallest Man on Earth is the second band confirmed for the BrooklynVegan Northside Festival show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on June 12th. The first band confirmed was John Vanderslice. More artists TBA.

Other Northside shows at MHOW include The Hold Steady, Bill Callahan, and Asobi Seksu who are also playing with Yann Tiersen at Irving Plaza tonight (4/15).

Vanderslice/Tallest Man tix are on sale, or you can go the badge route.

Tallest Man's "It Will Follow the Rain" video, below...

Continue reading "Tallest Man on Earth played NYC, playing BV Northside show "

Fucked Up @ Culture Shock '08 (more by Leia Jospe)

SUNY Purchase's annual Culture Shock Festival is taking place this year on Friday, April 17th and Saturday, April 18th.

Both headliners for the ninth annual fest will be hip-hop acts. Rapper/actor Drake will end Friday night's show, while Saturday's top act will be the Cool Kids (who are also playing All Points West).

You may remember 2008's Culture Shock as the festival where the mild mannered Canadians in Fucked Up "almost got arrested and their set got cut short" (as one commenter succinctly put it). Hopefully NYHC staples Murphy's Law will help make this year just as memorable (they are playing on Friday).

Culture Shock may or may not be open to the public/non-students -- a fact that sparked much debate last year.

The Tallest Man On Earth, currently on tour from Sweden (and in NYC as we speak), plays the fest on Saturday. Full 2009 line-up below...

Continue reading "SUNY's Culture Shock this weekend - here's the 2009 lineup "

DOWNLOAD: Red Cortez - World At Rest (MP3)

The Tallest Man On Earth is playing a show at Union Hall on April 14th (tickets are on sale). That's one day before the previously announced show at Bowery Ballroom (tix still on sale).

Both NYC shows are with California's Libertines-U2-like band, Red Cortez (formerly The Weather Underground), who, as recently pointed out, are now on tour with Morrissey (sort of).

The music that [Red Cortez] makes is an odd mash of a multitude of things - including beat poetry, ragtag clothing, the fertile hope of equality, The Black Crowes, The Walkmen, peace marches and that audacity of human content that the new president-elect has been talking about and which has been a calling card since the 60s. [Daytrotter]

After Morrissey-touring, and before they hit the road with The Tallest Man, Red Cortez will play around six shows in Austin for SXSW. Those include the My Old Kentucky Blog official showcase at Radio Room, and Mess With Texas.

The Tallest Man on Earth will be at SXSW too, and one of the seven shows he's playing is Roky Erickson's seventh annual Psychedelic Ice Cream Social with Okkervil River who will be playing with Roky. The flyer, full lineup, some videos, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Tallest Man on Earth touring w/ Red Cortez, playing Union Hall, Roky Erickson's Ice Cream Social, other places"

The Tallest Man on Earth @ MHOW (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Thank you america, and thank you boys and girl of Francis...

It's a sunday of grey weather, bored dogs and mending of everything you neglect trying to tune a guitar for a career. So I need a little help today, well I always do I guess, and I found it in a song from a group of friends called francis. Listen to Take it easy here: myspace.com/francisishere.

I'm greatful for december, it was something else. Lovely audiences and lovely new friends. Hope to see you again in march.

Best

ttmoe

The Tallest Man on Earth's letter there is referring to his North American tour with Bon Iver. While in NYC, he played Mercury Lounge, Town Hall, Town Hall, and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

And as ttmoe points out, he will be back in the US in March, to play SXSW and some other shows which will eventually lead him to the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on April 15th. Tickets for that show are on Am Ex Presale. More tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Tallest Man on Earth - 2009 Tour Dates (SXSW, Bowery B)"

People like Fred Armisen, Carrie from Sleater-Kinney (and NPR) (man, she was rough on Tallest Man on Earth), Joe Mande and Nick Kroll will be watching comedy shorts (with piano accompaniment) tonight...

Continue reading "ThunderAnt, Max Silvestri, others & film @ MoMA Tuesday"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Bon Iver (Justin Vernon), with three-piece band, returned to Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn Friday night (12/12). It was his third NYC show in three days, and his last NYC show of 2008 according to what he told the crowd. He also said he was excited to almost be done touring so he can spend some time at home getting back down to earth after a crazy (sucessful) year.

Their set included two new songs, one of which was played during the one-song encore, and a cover of The Outfield's "Your Love" - a song he said he knew the bloggers would love. He was right. Actually I think everyone in attendance loved it, along with the whole show, though the highlight had to be the powerful crowd-sing-a-long to "The Wolves (Act I & II)".

Justin at one point lovingly and modestly joked, "How about that Tallest Man On Earth? I'm not sure why we decided to bring him on tour" (or something like that). He was referring to the Dylanesque opener, that was, as he pointed out, solid (though sometimes hard to hear over people talking).

"What is shocking about this is the fact that this man (who is of average height) seems to understand American folk music better than any other performer today is from Sweden." [Tone Marrow Reviews]

More pictures from the Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "Bon Iver & The Tallest Man on Earth @ MHOW, NYC - pics"