DOWNLOAD: Tig Notaro - "Little Titties" (MP3)

Tig Notaro at Bonnaroo 2011 (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

Funny comedian Tig Notaro, who you've read about many times on BrooklynVegan, released her debut album, Good One, on Secretly Canadian earlier this month (8/2). It was the Indiana label's first comedy release. You can download the track "Little Titties" from the album above and purchase the album in a number of different formats and bundles at the Tig Notaro webstore.

Tig kicked off a tour in support of the album with three nights at Bloomington, IN's Comedy Attic earlier this month. That tour continues through September and stops in NYC on Saturday (8/20) at The Knitting Factory. The venue lists the show as a seated show with limited capacity. Tickets are on sale now.

Tig also performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week. You can check out a video of that, with all dates, below.

Continue reading "comedian Tig Notaro released a CD, is on tour (MP3 & dates)"

photos by Dana (Distortion) Yavin & Graeme Flegenheimer

Henry Rollins (spoken word) / Bradford Cox (Deerhunter)

"Atlanta's own Deerhunter was the main draw on Thursday night, a low-key alternative to Friday's star-studded lineup. In fact, two people approached me during their set to ask who we were hearing. But no matter: The indie-rock prodigies went pleasantly cerebral on a crowd too tired to do more than sprawl on the grass and nod." [Creative Loafing]

Bonnaroo 2011 kicked off on Thursday and continues through Sunday in Tennessee. If you're not there, you can always stream some of it online in your air conditioned room while people at the fest are battling the heat on the ground. Speaking of which, the heat may be to blame for one untimely death at the festival, though the medical examiner hasn't reached a conclusion yet.

The rest of our pictures from day one (not counting Karen Elson which was posted separately), which are all by Dana unless otherwise noted, continue below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo Day 1 in pics (Deerhunter, Wavves, Henry Rollins, The Drums, Dam-Funk & more)"

"I'm in Austin TX! You know how I know that? Live music in the airport! #AndASignThatSaysAustin #SXSW" - Doug Benson

"Never realized how much I dislike music until hanging out in Austin, Texas during #sxsw" - Michael Ian Black

Tig Notaro at a BV party in 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Music is not the only thing will seem light in NYC next week, as many names in the comedy world are headed to Austin for SXSW as well. Scott Aukerman, Matt Bearden, Doug Benson, Michael Ian Black, Kurt Braunohler, Rob Cantrell, Chris Cubas, Joe Derosa, Chris Fairbanks, Dave Foley, Jena Friedman, Brett Gelman, Donald Glover, Chris Hardwick, Pete Holmes, Anthony Jeselnik, Howard Kremer, Ben Kronberg, Tom Lennon, Darryl Lenox, Al Madrigal, Marc Maron, Doug Mellard, Eugene Mirman, Kumail Nanjiani, Tig Notaro, John Oliver, Chelsea Peretti, Kevin Pollak, Amy Schumer, Brody Stevens, Bryson Turner, Brendon Walsh, Glenn Wool, and Hampton Yountare are among those that SXSW lists as officially being there. Esther's Follie's is the venue where much of it goes down.

Tig Notaro, who performed at a BrooklynVegan Austin event in 2010, returns this year with a few more items on her resume. Not only does she have a Sarah Silverman-produced "new comedy variety show for the Logo Network" to promote, but she has reportedly joined the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans family whose official showcase she'll be MCing. She's also on the lineup of Sasquatch this year, and recently shared a bill with Jens Lekman in LA.

Brody Stevens & Zach Galifianakis

You might know LA's Brody Stevens from Due Date or The Hangover (and the Hangover 2 when it comes out). You may have seen him hanging out with his friend and co-star Zach Galifianakis, possibly on a scooter, or maybe in the audience of Saturday Night Live last night. Maybe you follow him on Twitter (like @BVComedy does) (follow @BVcomedy too!).

Brody and Tig (and Mirman and others) perform at Esther's Follie's on Friday, March 18th at 9:30pm, and I'm excited to announce that Brody will also host and tell jokes at the BrooklynVegan Day Party at Barbarella from noon-6pm on Thursday, March 17th! Full lineup TBA momentarily!

Workaholics

Comedy Central will also have a presence down at SXSW, most notably with the cast of their new TV show Workaholics which premieres on the station on April 6th. To quote their press release:

"Graduating from college and entering the real world isn't easy, especially for three unmotivated roommates. The new Comedy Central comedy Workaholics is a look at post graduates as they hilariously cope with working in the real world. Think Office Space if it were a stoner comedy.

Starring Mail Order Comedy's Blake Anderson, Anders Holm, and Adam DeVine, and with former Scrubs executive producer Kevin Etten at the helm, Workaholics is a scripted series that follows three friends fresh out of college who live and work together as telemarketers. Dress codes, deadlines, and waking up before noon isn't something these guys are used to.

They spend their days scheming together to avoid doing any real work and their nights looking for good times."

Good times will be had (despite it being during the day) when Blake, Anders and Adam all host the BrooklynVegan Day Party at Barbarella from noon-6pm on Saturday, March 19th. Full lineup of bands TBA momentarily!

You can also catch the Workaholics guys at Esther's Follies from 4-6pm on 3/17, and at Vice's Closing Night Pre-Party @ Starr Building on 3/9 from 10:30pm-12am. Check out some Workaholics previews, and Brody Stevens videos, below...

Continue reading "comedy @ SXSW (Workaholics, Tig Notaro & Brody Stevens)"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

words by Ian Cohen, photos by Graeme Flagenheimer & Sonny Gerasimowicz

Jens Lekman debuted a new song, at his performance in Los Angeles on Saturday (12/4), inspired by a failed attempt to stalk Kirsten Dunst while she spent time in Sweden. It's pretty familiar subject matter for Jens- romantic awkwardness, celebrities that feel weirdly attainable, etc. But his surroundings that night gave it a weird irony: there was a decent chance he might actually have run into her after the show.

The main talking point among the crowd ( which was reaching fire hazard capacity) was that Lekman was playing an intimate, mostly solo show around the pool at Skybar at Mondrian - for those who've never been, just think of the kind of bar you conjure when you're coming up with reasons you'd never move to L.A. I've gotten parking tickets that cost less than what the valet charges, and pretty much anyone watching Jens that night would've been the most shabbily dressed person in the rest of the hotel, if they were even allowed in.

Nonetheless, there was an acknowledgement of the revenge of the nerds thing going on throughout. As Lekman has done in the past, he had deadpan comedienne Tig Notaro open up and her first remark was indicative of both her sense of humor and the situation: "This is where we all go to meet our friends on a Saturday night, right?" But Lekman was game, cracking wise over the din of loudly mixed, wallet-emptying cocktails and decked-out social climbers in the next space over, and turning in something of an acoustic Greatest Hits package with three unreleased songs (it was a relief to find out that Jens is in fact planning on following up 2007's Night Over Kortedala).

"Black Cab" and "Maple Leaves" were undoubtedly suited for the spare treatment, but the formerly sample-heavy Kortedala inclusions stressed the complexity of Lekman's chording (in particular, "Sipping On The Sweet Nectar" and Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig"). Once Lekman brought out DJ Victor Sjöberg for a two-song encore, it presumably fit the usual requirements that Skybar have a laptop DJ at some point in the evening. But like our hero during his airplane dance and tambourine shaking as for one night, it was the kind of dance party that there was an almost conspiratorial vibe to take comfort in.

The Bird & the Bee play the the next Mondrian Session at the same hotel on December 10th. Jens plays sold out shows in Brooklyn on December 9th and 10th. Jens's full LA setlist with more pictures and videos from the show, below...

Continue reading "Jens Lekman played the Mondrian Hotel in LA w/ Tig Notaro (pics, video & setlist)"

by Klaus Kinski

DOWNLOAD: 30 Rock - Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (RAC Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: 30 Rock - "Lemon's Theme" featuring Christopher Cross (MP3)

Mirman, Kitson, Gaffigan & friends @ the Bell House (more by David Andrako)

People like Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry, Kumail Nanjiani and Joe Mande are part of a personal roster of active comedians who keep my zeal for classic stand-up alive. I like the short trip from set-up to punchline and the volume of material that can be crammed into a set, whether it be 10 minutes or an hour. But as a 33 year old with the soul of a 65 year old, I have found myself gravitating towards the art of the monologue lately. And I don't mean the banal current events-based late-night talk show opening garbage. I am talking about long-form storytelling with a central theme that has many diversions and hilarious detours throughout the journey. Mike Birbiglia, a longtime favorite of mine, has evolved from a pretty standard (and prodigal) stand-up comic to an expert monologist. His epic one man show Sleepwalk With Me was my first taste of his stunning evolution. Then a few weeks ago I watched him workshop a new one man show called My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (an unfortunate title as Alyssa Milano recently starred in a movie of the same name. It probably sucked). I also just read his wonderful new book Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories. He's my generation's Spalding Gray, and, man, we definitely need that.

My favorite living story teller in the entire universe, though, is Daniel Kitson. He's British. Americans are simply not afforded enough opportunities to bask in this man's genius, and that sucks. But it makes sense. He lives in Britain. Not America. When he does get here (for The Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, for example), he sells rooms right the funk out. Good for him, bad for us because a sell out surely means some people aren't witnessing the force that is Daniel Kitson. Luckily for us, St. Ann's Warehouse is hosting a whopping 22 show run of Daniel's tale The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church from January 6th to January 30th. From St. Ann's website:

The show to see at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, British Stand up comedian and storyteller, Daniel Kitson, brings the story of Gregory Church to St. Ann's Warehouse for its American Premiere.

Gregory had fifty seven letters to write. He'd never written that many letters, not in one go. In fact, he'd never written a single letter and it was taking significantly longer than he'd anticipated. He'd started, full of optimism, curiously enough, at 9 am and now here he was 8 hours later half way through letter twenty four. He glanced at his watch and then at the noose hanging over his head.

Gregory sighed.

Had he known how long suicide letters take, he thought, he wouldn't have cancelled the milk for the morning.

A story of a death postponed by life.

To give you a better picture, you can read some reviews here and here. If you've never seen Kitson, this is your chance to see him in his purest form.

And, hey, since you have your wallet out, why not buy a ticket or two to 1 of 7 Jim Gaffigan shows happening at the Best Buy Theater. I don't know how many shows he had scheduled there initially, but it definitely wasn't 7. To be honest I have never paid more than $5 to see Jim Gaffigan. As a matter of fact, I've never headed out to a comedy show with the intention of seeing Jim Gaffigan. Jim Gaffigan just likes to test his material out in tiny rooms all over the city, unannounced. So if you can't swing these shows, go to one of the many small but incredible shows around the city. You never know.

Speaking of the Best Buy Theater, did you get your tickets to one of Tim and Eric's two appearances at the Best Buy Theater on November 27th? Some people will probably be lame and still be their families for Thanksgiving that weekend. For those of us who aren't, the night belongs to us.

Klaus Kinski favorite Tig Notaro is working on something that I am not at liberty to mention and she needs your help. She and her comedian friends are coming to your town! If you'd be interested in hosting a live comedy show at your house (like a BV loft party), please post a video submission on her Facebook page telling her why it should be you, where you live and how you would present the show. "From stage, lighting, promotions, audience, to where in your home you will hold the show, it's all up to you." Tig is so f-ing great and I hope you people submit! Submissions must be up by November 23rd!

Look, I am a busy man and would love to write about stuff all day and have you read it and leave hummus comments but I have bills to pay and mouths to feed. Four of them. So I leave you with this: on Tuesday November 16th, the official 30 Rock Soundtrack hit the shelves. At first I thought this seemed like sort of a lame thing for one to want to buy. But then I read the track listing and realized how many funny and amazing songs there have been on the show, especially Werewolf Bar Mitzvah and Lemon's Theme featuring Christopher Cross. Download both of those for free above. Stream the whole thing at MSN. Buy it this Saturday and get it signed by the cast who will be in attendance in a Manhattan store. Details with full tracklistling below...

Continue reading "Daniel Kitson playing 22 NYC shows, Jim Gaffigan adds a 7th, Tig Notaro will play in your house ++ the 30 Rock soundtrack "

photos by Tim Griffin

Lucero

"...The bands were running late at Club Deville, but I was pleased to hear Centromatic on the stage. They sounded like classic rock and when Steve Miller Band's "Rock'N Me" came on after their set, it was in the same vein, but Centromatic was above and beyond.

Lucero came on next and killed it. Nichols' voice is like sandpaper on gravel and it has a booze-soaked and sorry quality that makes it sound like the hard nights and heartbreaks that he sings about are real experiences. Lucero is one of the few bands that I've seen (Free Energy comes to mind as well) that broke through to fans. Quite a few folks were dancing, jumping, singing and generally rocking out during their set..." [Rock Candy]

...It was a perfectly rowdy ending to the BrooklynVegan/DailyMotion day party at Club DeVille on Friday, March 19th (one of our seven shows this year). The day's eclectic lineup ranged from country to electro to singer-songwriter to comedy. We also made a huge effort to feed people and give away free stuff this year. Those who stopped by the free show got free Ear Piece ear plugs, Magic Hat beer, Firefly Sweet Tea vodka (that lasted the entire 6+ hours), Gundlach Bundschu wine, Raw Rev bars, Nadamoo ice cream, Hail Merry "Grawnola", breakfast tacos and Daily Juice catering. Action For Animals was on hand with baked goods for sale that helped raise $800 for charity. Somebody (and every band and comedian) won some Original Penguin clothes. Members of Passion Pit (aka the Wet Bandits) played the music between bands. KEXP was filming video. All in all an amazing day.

Catch Lucero in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg this Tuesday, March 30th with Glossary (tickets are still on sale). Centro-matic kicks off a house tour in Houston the same day.

You've already seen some of this Friday party HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Pictures, reviews and videos from it continue below...

Continue reading "Lucero, Centromatic, Nicole Atkins, Holly Miranda, Zola Jesus, more @ Club DeVille (BV/DailyMotion day party) - pics & video"

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Klaus Kinski

Joe Mande @ Club DeVille

2007 ECNY Emerging Comic Award winning comedian Joe Mande is a major favorite of mine, and he's no stranger to the Brooklyn Vegan Live Event Planning Committee (not a real committee). Not only was he on the bill of the very first installment of our epic comedy / music show Rock n' RoFL, Joe (who also performed at the Stereogum party on Saturday) was also one of two comedians to perform to a chatty crowd at the BrooklynVegan / DailyMotion SxSW Day Party on Friday March 19th, 2010. Tig Notaro was the other comedian on our show, and another personal favorite (you may know her as officer Tig on the Sarah Silverman Program).

I didn't realize until very recently that Joe has been working on a book and that it is set to drop on Tuesday March 30, 2010. The book, entitled Look At This Fucking Hipster, began as a modest Tumblr blog but quickly ballooned into a heavily followed phenomenon.

Look at this Fucking Hipster (LATFH.com) was born in April 2009 as a way to help author Joe Mande help his dad answer the question, "Is that a hipster?" Months later, with millions of followers and dozens of parodies, it has become a cultural phenomenon, referenced in media, newspapers, blogs, and more.

Look at This Fucking Hipster is a collection of photos, snarky captions and short essays exploring--and, let's be honest, poking fun at--the wide world of hipster culture, from Williamsburg to Silver Lake and points between. Chapters cover types of hipsters, celebrity hipsters, hipsters through the ages, hipster love connections, and the next generation of hipsters (AKA hipster babies).

To celebrate the release of the book (which you can get at Amazon), the March 31, 2010 installment of Totally J/K with Joe and Noah at NYC's UCB Theater will be devoted to celebrating its release with guests including Reggie Watts, Kurt Braunohler & Kristen Schaal (who you can also catch this Friday, 3/26 at Karma Lounge), BEEAAAANNSSS, and MANY MORE. And don't forget that the UCB theater is a dark, dank, subterranean venue that always has $2 hipster champagne (PBR). So grab your mom's glasses, your tightest jeans, your daddy's Red Wings (that may have actually seen some hard labor in their past), and your terrible cassette tape / bird / star tattoos and join the fun!

P.S. By BEEAAAANNSSS we assume they mean they got the actual Darren Mabee (a regular character on the latfh site) to make an appearance.

More pictures from our SXSW party, and a video of Joe interviewing Ben Gibbard at the Stereogum party (with Scott from Stereogum), below....

Continue reading "Joe Mande interviewed Ben Gibbard (video), played a BV day party w/ Tig Notaro (pics), releasing a book about 'hipsters'"

*Friday, March 19, 2010*
BrooklynVegan Free Day Party Presented by DailyMotion
@ Club DeVille - 900 Red River St, Austin, TX (NOON - 6 PM)
*free and open to the public, no RSVP necessary

Main stage:
12:00 Princeton
12:45 Twin Sister
01:30 Nicole Atkins
02:15 Sondre Lerche
03:00 Holly Miranda
03:45 The Antlers
04:30 Centro-matic
05:15 Lucero

DJs: Passion Pit

Inside stage:
12:30 - Active Child
01:15 - Pearly Gate Music
02:00 - Tig Notaro (comedian)
02:15 - Katie Stelmanis
03:00 - Joe Mande (comedian)
03:15 - Zola Jesus
04:00 - Abe Vigoda
04:45 - MNDR
05:30 - The Wave Pictures

FREE DRINKS COURTESY OF: Magic Hat & Firefly Vodka
(while supplies last)
FREE VEGAN BREAKFAST TACOS FROM: Izzoz Austin
(starting @ noon. while supplies last)
VEGAN BAKE SALE FOR CHARITY BY: VegAustin & Action for Animals
MORE FREE FOOD COURTESY OF: Daily Juice (catering from 2-5)
MORE FREE FOOD COURTESY OF: Raw Revolution Bars
MORE FREE FOOD COURTESY OF: Hail Merry
FREE EAR PLUGS FROM: Ear Peace
+ more TBA

If you've been following along, both on this site and at our @bvSXSW Twitter account, you probably pieced most this lineup together already. And I'm extremely happy to report that this is the final BrooklynVegan party lineup we have left to announce this year. We'll see you on Wednesday at Emo's and Club DeVille, Thursday at Hoek's and Spider House, Saturday at Red 7 and Galaxy Room and on Friday right here at Club Deville from noon-6pm (on TWO stages) (the second stage is inside).

Thanks to DailyMotion for helping make this all possible. They're not only our presenting partner on this party, but we'll be uploading live footage from SXSW all week long to our account at their site. Some of that footage, including from this party will be shot by our official radio partner, KEXP.

Thanks to also to Original Penguin clothing for providing some clothes to giveaway to a few lucky attendees at the show.

Like at Emo's and Red 7, we'll have 10 kegs worth of Magic Hat beer to give out at this show, not to mention lots of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka to pour. And like at Emo's and Galaxy Room, we'll have free breakfast tacos and then late afternoon free catering by Daily Juice. All of our parties will be stocked with free Raw Revolution bars and Hail Merry Grawnola as well. And as if that's not enough, we're hosting a vegan bake sale for charity, courtesy of the fine folks at VegAustin.com and Action for Animals at this show. All money raised goes to Food for Life, an organization feeding Haitian and Chilean earthquake survivors.

Flyer design by Tammijean Triplett. Videos below...

Continue reading "a BrooklynVegan & DailyMotion Austin day party @ Club DeVille - full free lineup (Lucero, Antlers, Abe Vigoda, more) "