Deerhunter at Austin Psych Fest 2013 (more by Tim Griffin)

Governors Ball is less than a month away, and the fest has now released the daily schedule. They've done a pretty good job with not too many giant conflicts -- though there's a few like Grizzly Bear vs Beirut, Bloc Party vs The xx, Erykah Badu vs Beach House, and Nas vs Guns N Roses. Check out the daily line-ups across their four stages below.

Continue reading "Governors Ball announces set times"

The xx @ Coachella 2013 (more by Wei Shi)

As you may be aware, Baz Lurhmann's glitzy, big-budget adaptatation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, The Great Gatzby, is out May 10 and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby Maguire, and Carey Mulligan. That same week will see the release of its soundtrack which was curated by Jay-Z and features Jack White, The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, Gotye, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce with Andre 3000, and Jay-Z himself.

It's also got a new track by The xx, titled "Together," which was specifically written for the film. You can stream it, and check out the soundtrack art, full tracklist and a trailer for the film, below....

Continue reading "stream The xx's contribution to 'The Great Gatsby' soundtrack"

photos by Wei Shi

New Order / The xx / Danny Brown

Weekend 2 of Coachella 2013 continued on Saturday (4/20), and this time around we caught sets by New Order, The xx, Hot Chip, Danny Brown (who debuted a new Rustie-produced track, "Dope Song," during his set which you can watch a video of below), Action Bronson, Trash Talk, Janelle Monae and more. Pictures of Weekend 2 Day 2 are in this post.

In case you haven't been keeping up with our coverage, pictures of Weekend 2 Day 1 are HERE. For Weekend 1 pictures, check out day 1 (HERE and HERE), day 2 (HERE) and day 3 (HERE).

More Coachella Weekend 2 Day 2 pictures and the Danny Brown video below...

Continue reading "Coachella Weekend 2 Day 2 in pics (New Order, Trash Talk, Danny Brown, The xx, Hot Chip, Action Bronson & more)"

Weird Al and Bonarroo phone bank (including Mike Birbiglia and Eugene Mirman...

With help from Eugene Mirman, Chris Gethard, Mike Birbiglia, Portugal. The Man and more, Weird Al just began announcing the 2013 Bonnaroo line-up on the Bonnaroo YouTube page which happens June 13 - 16 in Manchester, TN. Weird Al just announced Pretty Lights, Wilco, A$AP Rocky, and The xx, and over the next hour, more artists will be announced. We'll update this post as more announcements come.

Other artists playing include Passion Pit, Kendrick Lamar, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Jim James, Big K.R.I.T., Billy Idol, Grizzly Bear, Japandroids, Foals, Wild Nothing, Deap Vally, Killer Mike, Lord Huron, Divine Fits, Nas, Beach House, The Gaslight Anthem, Local Natives, Dirty Projectors, Baroness, The National, The Vaccines, Holy Ghost, Death Grips, R. Kelly, Alt-J, Purity Ring, Cat Power, Wu-Tang Clan, Bjork, Tame Impala, Animal Collective, The Tallest Man on Earth, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, Earl Sweatshirt, Four Tet, Father John Misty, Swans, A-Trak, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Cults, AraabMuzik, DIIV, Charli XCX, Matthew E. White, Frank Turner, JEFF the Brotherhood, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Calexico, Two Gallants, and more.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Saturday (2/23) at noon EST.

There's also now a video of Daniel Tosh announcing the initial lineup, which you can watch, along with the current list of announced names, below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2013 lineup announcement underway"

The xx @ ACL Live earlier this week (more by Tim Griffin)

Whilst on tour in Texas, we decided to cover a song by a Texan. She is one of our favourite artists of all time, Beyoncé. This song has always meant a lot to us and was written with another artist we really admire, Frank Ocean. Happy Valentines day to you all.

Lots of love, xx The xx

As mentioned, The xx will be touring with Grizzly Bear this summer.

Continue reading "The xx cover Beyonce for Valentine's Day (stream it)"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

The XX @ The Moody Theater on 2/11/2013

The xx's tour is currently in Texas and the band played their first of two nights at Austin's Moody Theatre last night (2/11) for ACL Live. Austra opened and pictures from that show are in this post. Both bands do it again tonight (2/12).

In other news, today The XX announced a series of East Coast dates in June with Grizzly Bear. While this heavyweight match-up doesn't hit NYC, per se, both bands will be at Governors Ball Music Festival at Randals Island which happens June 7 - 9. Updated tour dates are below.

Continue reading "The xx played ACL Live, touring w/ Grizzly Bear (pics, dates)"

Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

The xx and Austra @ Hammerstein Ballroom, 1/24/2013

The xx played Hammerstein Ballroom last night (1/24). The show was a make-up date for their show at the Bronx's Paradise Theatre that was supposed to happen back in October but got canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Did you go last night? Austra, who is due for a new album sometime, opened the show and she's still got  Sari and Romy Lightman as indispensable backing singers.

Both bands play Hammerstein again tonight (1/25) and it's sold out. If you're looking for something to do after the show, Austra DJs late night at Glasslands with Heathered Pearls also on the decks. Tickets are still available.

More pictures from The xx and Austra at Hammerstein below...

Continue reading "The xx and Austra played Hammerstein Ballroom (pics), do it again tonight"

Click it for the bigger poster.

Governors Ball, which started as a small NYC festival on Governors Island and moved to the larger Randall's Island last year, keeps getting bigger and bigger. This year's fest takes place June 7th, 8th & 9th, and tickets go on sale Friday. Check out the full lineup, in list, video and flyer format - one unannounced headliner included, below...

Continue reading "Governors Ball 2013 lineup (Kanye West, Kings of Leon, Grizzly Bear, xx, Cut Copy, Kendrick, Anco, Beach House & MUCH MORE)"

Alt-J at Mercury Lounge in May (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Big day for award nominations. The Oscars announced theirs this morning and the Brit Awards just wrapped up their ceremony for 2013 nominations, with Emeli Sandé grabbing four and Mumford & Sons and Alt-J each getting three. All three of those artists were nominated for British Album of the Year, a list that also included Paloma Faith and Plan B. If you don't know, The Brits are basically the UK's equivalent of the Grammys, though nominees are all British apart from a few "International" awards.

Jessie Ware, Muse, and Adele each got two nominations, and single-digit noms went to Bat for Lashes, The xx, Richard Hawley and The Vaccines.

Mumford & Sons have two nights at Barclays Center in February and Alt-J will swing though town in March.

The entire 2013 Brit Awards nominees list is below.

Continue reading "2013 Brit Award nominees announced (Emeli Sandé, Mumford and Alt-J lead the pack)"

The xx in NYC in August (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

The xx, who will be in NYC later this month, gave a holiday gift to their fans across the pond in the form of a three-track The xxmas EP that is being given away free via iTunes in the UK. While it's not available in North America, unfortunately, you can stream Jamie xx's remix of "Sunset" below.

Continue reading "stream Jamie xx remix of The xx's "Sunset""

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork just posted their much anticipated list of the top 100 tracks of 2012. The #1 slot went to... Grimes! Whether you thought the whole of her album Visions was good or not, it was hard to deny the charms of "Oblivion." (Having that great video didn't hurt either.) Do you think it deserved to top the list? If not then what song should've?

You can check out P4K's entire hot 100 of 2012 below.

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2012 (Grimes' "Oblivion" is #1)"

Twin Sister at Bowery Ballroom in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Wyatt Cenac @ Littlefield
* John Hodgman @ The Creek & Cave
* Blood Orange @ Sony Style
* Tony Scherr @ Living Room
* Jim Campilongo @ Living Room
* Ask Me Another @ The Bell House
* Ali Shaheed Muhammad @ Le Bain
* Linfinity, Free Blood, Waking Lights @ Mercury Lounge (cancelled)
* Rita Ora, Iggy Azalea, Havana Brown @ Highland Ballroom
* Lydia Lunch, Thurston Moore, John Moloney @ The Bowery Electric
* Belle Mare, Elephant Wrecking Ball, Four Visions, Wilsen @ Cameo
* Juggernut, Ken South Rock, Filthy Savage, Jah Jah of Ninasonik (DJ set) @ Pyramid Club
* Chairlift, Twin Sister, Empress Of, Slowdance, Jason McMahon, Ice Choir DJ set @ Glasslands
* Ben Taylor, Menahan Street Band, Ki:Theory, Sinkane DJ set, In Transit DJ set @ The Bowery Hotel
* Caribbean Music Festival w/ Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Mr. Vegas, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh @ Barclays Center

ZZZs were supposed to play Pyramid Club tonight but had to drop off the show. However, you can catch them tomorrow at Death by Audio (12/18) with Dead Til Tuesday, Negfi, and Human Crush.

The Caribbean Fever Music Festival, which was supposed to take place on November 2 but was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy, goes down at the Barclays Center tonight with Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Mr. Vegas, Slick Rick, and Doug E. Fresh. Tickets are still available.

For more old school hip hop in NYC tonight, you can also head to The Standard at Le Bain to catch Ali Shaheed Muhammad (of A Tribe Called Quest) DJing.

T.I., who plays a sold out show at Best Buy Theater with A$AP Rocky on Tuesday, has landed in NYC ahead of that show. He'll be taping a performance in midtown this afternoon and will head to Fuse Studios after that for a performance at 9 PM, which will stream live at the Fuse YouTube channel. His new album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head, drops tomorrow and since we last spoke, he revealed two more songs: "Hello" feat. Cee Lo Green and "Wildside" feat. A$AP Rocky. You can stream them both below.

And for even more hip hop, don't forget that the Duck Down Music and Javotti Media holiday party, which BrooklynVegan is co-sponsoring, is tomorrow (12/18) at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Buckshot, Sean Price, Smif-N-Wessun, Flatbush Zombies, Skyzoo, and Dyme-A-Duzin. Tickets for that show are still available.

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It's about that time of the year when the Christmas songs start piling. We just heard Ex Cops take on Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime", and now The xx have revealed a cover of Wham's "Last Christmas" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge this morning. Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

"Here's a riddle: Grimes + LDR = the #1 and #2 most-blogged artists of 2012. Grimes LP on tons of year-end blogger lists. Why not LDR?" - Dev Sherlock

Hype Machine, which compiles data from countless music blogs, posted the Top 50 Most Blogged About Artists, complete with pretty pictures (like the one of the #1 artist above), and ways to listen to those artists. Head to their site for the full list, but you can check out the top 10 below...

Continue reading "The Most Blogged About Artists of 2012"

by Andrew Sacher

FACT is still one of the best sources for cutting edge electronic music, and I always look forward to their top 50 albums of the year list, which they've just published for 2012. As usual, it doesn't only contain electronic albums.

This year's list has a good deal of indie rap (Haleek Maul, Schoolboy Q, Le1f, Main Attrakionz, Spaceghostpurrp) and it's the only non-metal list I've seen so far with Black Breath's Sentenced to Life (!). And of course, to compliment the dancefloor records, it's got its fair share of electronic-tinged indie pop, forward thinking R&B, and outsider experimental music.

Check out the full list below.

Continue reading "FACT's Top 50 Albums of 2012"

by Andrew Sacher

SPIN have revealed their list of the top 50 albums of 2012. It continues SPIN's trend of giving love to crossover punk and metal (which they've been pretty consistent with since naming Fucked Up's David Comes to Life their top album of 2011) with the inclusion of Baroness, Torche, Pallbearer, Cloud Nothings, and Japandroids, but rather surprisingly excludes the SPIN Essential'd Ceremony - Zoo and The Men - Open Your Heart, in favor of popular blowouts by Taylor Swift, fun., and Nicki Minaj. The list also shares its #1 and #2 with the two highest Pitchfork-rated albums of the year. And no Grimes.

The list begins with the Kanye-cribbed disclaimer, "Most critics' taste levels ain't at our waist level. Ain't nobody fucking with our clique." Check out SPIN's Top 50 LPs of 2012 list below.

Continue reading "SPIN names their Top 50 Albums of 2012 (Frank Ocean is #1)"

UK music magazine Uncut put out their list of the top 75 albums of 2012. The top ten leans pretty heavy on long-running '60s/'70s survivors who put out new albums this year, but plenty of the list-topping regulars from newer acts are on there too, along with a few interesting surprises (Sun Araw, M Geddes Gengras & the Congos!). You can check out the full list below.

Continue reading "Uncut's Top 75 Albums of 2012"

Long-running UK music weekly NME has just published their Year-End issue and have named Tame Impala's Lonerism as album of the year, with Grimes, Frank Ocean, Crystal Castles and Alt-J rounding out the Top 5. Tame Impala offshoot Pond comes in at #7. Check out the entire Top 50 list below.

As mentioned before, Tame Impala just announced a 2013 tour, and will play Terminal 5 in NYC on February 19. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (11/30) at noon.

NME's Top 50 LPs of 2012 are listed below.

Continue reading "NME Top 50 Albums of 2012; Tame Impala 'Lonerism' gets #1"

The xx @ T5, 8/2/2012 (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

The xx's second of two shows at The Paradise Theatre was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy and the band promised nearly a month ago to announce the make-up date "soon" and has finally been announced. As you may remember, The Paradise Theatre suffered damages from a fire shortly after Sandy, so now the show will now happen at Hammerstein Ballroom on January 24. All previously bought tickets for the Paradise show will be honored and the show is sold out.

Continue reading "The xx announce NYC make-up date for postponed Paradise Theatre show, now happening @ Hammerstein (updated dates)"

The Fly is the "UK's most popular new music magazine," but if you haven't heard of it, its because it's a free monthly that doesn't really get international distribution. You can however read it online. The mag just released it's year-end issue and topping their Best Albums of 2012 is Sharon Van Etten's Tramp (which was just released in a Deluxe edition, a fine Xmas gift don't you know). Sharon narrowly beat out Grimes, whose Visions came in at #2. The whole list, in ascending order, is below and you can read what The Fly said about each album here.

By the way you can still get tickets for the December 15 show at Cameo that Sharon curated with She Keeps Bees and Speck Mountain and "Special Guest."

A list of the Fly's Top 50 Albums of 2012 is below.

Continue reading "'The Fly' magazine's Top 50 LPs of 2012 (Sharon Van Etten #1)"

Jack White @ Radio City Music Hall, 9/30/2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

In addition to the Fleetwood Mac cover story (and Rumours cover CD that comes with it), the new issue of MOJO is the 2012 Year-End wrap-up with the best albums list which is topped by Jack White's Blunderbuss. Their list is definitely different than most, but also in line with the mag that puts the Beatles on the cover at least once a year. You can check out MOJO's Top 20 below.

Continue reading "Jack White tops MOJO's Best LPs of 2012 list"

photo via News12BX

photo via Paulbisceleb

photo via Norwood News

Not much to report at the moment, but News12BX says "Fire at Paradise Theater appears to be under control. No word how badly the building was damaged." NYScanner says it was a 2 Alarm "heavy fire on the upper levels of the theater." FDNY confirms. (thx Deeee). Hopefully not a huge deal.

The xx were supposed to play the Paradise Theater twice last week but the 2nd show was cancelled due to the hurricane. The first went on though. Check out a video below...

Continue reading "Paradise Theater in the Bronx is/was on fire"

The xx at Terminal 5 in August (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

As mentioned, The xx were forced to cancel shows in NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore this week due to Hurricane Sandy but promised that they would make up for them in 2013. Well the band has acted quickly and announced a 2013 tour, which includes the rescheduled Philly and Baltimore dates, and they note on facebook that there are "details of a rescheduled New York date to come very soon." The rescheduled shows will honor all tickets for the cancelled shows and presales for most of the other shows begin Thursday (11/1) at 10 AM with general on-sales beginning Friday (11/2) at 10 AM.

All dates are listed below.

Continue reading "The xx announce 2013 US tour dates, including rescheduled Hurricane Sandy shows (though NYC show TBA)"

UPDATE: This post was mostly about Sunday. Monday's cancellations HERE.

We'll keep you posted, but at the moment, Swans @ Bowery, Sic Alps @ Knitting Factory, and the show at Cake Shop are still listed as happening. Most other Sunday night shows (and a bunch of Monday shows) we would have listed are cancelled or postponed due to Frankenstorm (Hurricane Sandy). Subways and buses stop running at 7pm which is also when people living in "Zone A" are supposed to be evacuated by.

UPDATE: The Juan Maclean's DJ set at Le Bain is also still on (as of this post) CANCELLED too.

UPDATE: The Men are playing Don Pedro.

Union Pool doesn't have a show tonight, but is open.

ASPCA reminds you: All pets are accepted on the subway, taxi and trains during evacuation.

Fontana's says, "Hey everyone - we're going to be open this evening till we can. At least 2am. All Manhattanites workin the shifts - come keep us company."

Pianos is closed.

The Living Room is closed.

Cake Shop's show is now cancelled, but they "might still be open upstairs for fun and the bored-at-home-with-only-comic-books-you-haven't-read-yet-from-the-early-2000's. Stay tuned."

Spectre Folk, who were set to open for Sic Alps, at Knitting Factory tonight "have cancelled due to weather related travel issues. The show will go on with Sic Alps and PC Worship but will end early (10pm)." Tickets are still available.

Hannibal Buress is stuck in Houston. Not sure if his Knitting Factory show is going on without him.

UCB: "Due to MTA shutdown, both ASSSSCAT 3000 shows are cancelled tonight. Refunds will be issued to ticket holders."

All shows past 5:30pm at UCB East are also cancelled.

Pretty Good Friends is cancelled at Union Hall which will also be closed Monday.

The Bell House postponed an event tonight, and sadly cancelled Monday's Pat Kiernan Halloween trivia night.

Grimes, who has been in NYC the past few nights for her sold out four-night run, was set to play her last of those shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight with Elite Gymnastics and Majical Cloudz, but due to the incoming Frankenstorm, tonight's show has been cancelled. Refunds are available at the point of purchase.

Mercury Lounge is also cancelled/closed.

Brooklyn Bowl is closing at 6pm.

The Molly Nilsson show at Glasslands tonight has been cancelled.

The xx were scheduled to play their second of two shows at the Paradise Theater tonight. They write...

Due to safety concerns related to Hurricane Sandy and the MTA shutdown in New York, we have been forced to postpone our remaining shows in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, including tonight's show at the Paradise in the Bronx. We are working with our partners to reschedule as soon as possible, so please hang on to your tickets and we'll advise as soon as we can. We'll have another announcement coming later in the week, including information on these shows and a new run of US dates in early 2013. In the meantime, please be safe. We'll be back to see you all soon.

Villains is cancelled at Saint Vitus who write "We are closed this evening due to mandatory evacuation of "zone A". Obviously Mayor Bloomberg is not a Metal Head. We will reopen as soon as we can. In the meantime, enjoy this!"

Child Abuse at The Paper Box is cancelled.

Cat Power's Philly show at the Electric Factory has been postponed to January 2.

Brandie Carlile and Blitzen Trapper were set to play their first of two Beacon Theater shows tonight, but both tonight's show and Monday's show have been postponed.

Drom has cancelled multiple Sunday & Monday shows.

Sunday & Monday shows at Joe's Pub are cancelled.

"Due to impending hurricane, S.O.B's will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Shows will be rescheduled at a later date."

The Trey Anastasio Band show at Capitol Theater has been postponed to Monday, November 5. All tickets for tonight's show will be honored.

Louis CK was set to wrap up his run at the New York City Center tonight but has postponed the shows until March 2. Read his letter about postponing HERE.

"Pace Presents at The Schimmel Center for the Arts is disappointed to announce that, due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the city, our 2012 Banjo Summit with BELA FLECK tonight, Sunday October 28, has been CANCELLED. We are currently in discussions with the artists regarding rescheduling this show. More information will be released as we have it. Again, our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Stay safe and dry in the storm!"

Irving Plaza says, "Tonight's Xavier Rudd show is postponed. We're working on a rescheduled date, will send out info asap. Refunds avail at point of purchase."

The Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) show at Apollo Theater, which was initially postponed to tonight from June 14, has now been cancelled.

"BAM Rose Cinemas will close today following the 4:40 screening of Argo. The cinemas will remain closed tomorrow and possibly Tuesday."

Blue Oyster Cult at Best Buy Theater is postponed.

Maxwell's says, "tonight's show with Ours has been postponed to Sunday, December 2nd. all tickets will be honored and refunds are available as well."

Carnegie Hall's Sunday & Monday shows are cancelled or postponed.

City Winery says, "Due to the inclimate weather in the New York area and the suspension of all major travel services tonight's (10/28/12) Shawn Colvin concert has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The show has been rescheduled for February 3, 2013. In addition the Eric Hutchinson show scheduled for Monday, 10/29/12 has also been cancelled and will be rescheduled for a later date."

If you had been planning on celebrating Halloween with Rusko at Pacha tonight, you'll have to settle for spending New Year's with him. Tonight's show has been postponed until December 30.

UPDATE: This post was mostly about Sunday. Monday's cancellations HERE.