The Rapture @ Webster Hall (photo by davidoliva)

"Embrace for a moment the idea that the most important band to emerge from early-2000s New York wasn't the Strokes but the Rapture. Sure, the Strokes went on to arenas, to overblown follow-up albums, to myth, all while the Rapture idled, then fizzled, then reconstituted, only to fizzle some more.

But that's because there was no way to recapture the specific high of the Rapture's breakthrough, particularly the 2002 single "House of Jealous Lovers," which was the sparkplug of New York's dance-punk revival and remains that scene's greatest document. But while many rock micromovements of the day were ingested by the mainstream, the Rapture stayed small, a champion of a world preoccupied with itself and the preoccupation of few others. It lived as subculture. It died as subculture. It remained a pulsing memory.

At least that's the best way to explain how almost a decade after those earliest hits the Rapture -- Luke Jenner, Gabriel Andruzzi, Vito Roccoforte -- is still able to play to a full Webster Hall, as it did on Friday night, in what was as much a celebration of a lapsed idea about New York as a vital incubator as it was of the band that was once its soundtrack."
[NY Times]

Speaking of DFA-signed bands, YACHT is playing a show at Brooklyn's Dekalb Market on October 9th. The market is a free place. The show is not free. More details below...

Continue reading "The Rapture played Webster Hall, YACHT playing Brooklyn Night Bazaar @ Dekalb Market..."

Santigold show @ Irving Plaza (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

"Santigold will take her endless dance party across the US one more time this spring before heading back into the studio to record the follow up to her smash self-titled debut. Santigold will be performing with a full band and dancers for the first time in North America to bring her genre-blending sound to life. Virgin Records artist Trouble Andrew, who can be heard on the Santigold track "I'm A Lady," along with Downtown Records' singer/mc Amanda Blank will be the openers." [PR]

Not part of the tour is Santigold's upcoming appearance at the new Topshop store opening in SoHo. According to NY Mag, Mark Ronson and Lady Gaga will also be there on April 1st, the day before the store on Broadway and Broome officially opens. And there will be deejays...

"It's always nice to have tunes while you're shopping your latest look. It's even nicer when they're played by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, Justine D, The Whip and other surprise acts. With DJs on hand throughout the opening week, tapping your toe is inevitable. Make sure you check out the instore schedule to see who is spinning the decks daily." [TOPSHOP]

UPDATE: Here's the whole DJ (I think just DJ) schedule:

"Fashionable UK clothing stores Topshop and Topman are opening their first American outpost here in New York City, on Thursday, April 2, and EVR is the first to announce the lineup at their grand opening event. EVR's own Andrew Andrew and Cassie and Harley will be there along with The Rapture, Kid Sister, Misshapes, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy and many more. Located at the corner of Broadway and Broome Street, Topshop and Topman are a celebration of downtown fashion, music, and culture, and East Village Radio is proud to be their radio partner."

Continue reading "updated Santigold tour dates, new TOPSHOP in-store DJ info"

Santigold (then known as Santogold) @ Irving Plaza (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

"Conan O'Brien is being lured by University of South Carolina honor students to make an on-campus appearance to receive their "Cocky Award" (named after the school's Gamecock mascot) in honor of his Bud Light Super Bowl ad, in which the comedian sported bunny ears and spoke in a Swedish accent. Daniel Boulud enjoyed the oysters at The Four Seasons Bar Room, while Robert Morgenthau, Jack Rudin, and Edgar Bronfman Sr. lunched nearby. Kate Moss is expected to hit up NYC on April 1 for the opening of Topshop on Broadway and Broome, celebrating with performances by Mark Ronson, Santigold, and Lady Gaga. Wild child Katy Perry likes kissing boys too. She's dating decidedly un-wild singer Josh Groban." [NY Magazine]

Santigold, fresh off a Vermont appearance at the US Open, has a few big shows coming up - two of which are in NYC. The first happens next Wednesday at the new Topshop store (see above). The next is a headlining show at Terminal 5 on June 9th with openers Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew. $25 tickets for that one go on sale Thursday at noon.

You can also catch Santigold at this year's Ultra Music Festival in Miami (this weekend), Sasquatch Festival, Roots Picnic, and Bonnaroo. All dates below...

Continue reading "Santigold playing Topshop store opening, Terminal 5, the Roots Picnic & Bonnaroo"

photos by Bao Nguyen

DOWNLOAD: Matt and Kim - Silver Tiles (MP3)

Trouble Andrew, Matt & Kim, and Lily Allen played a MySpace Secret Show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night, February 10th. It was the same day Lily's new album It's Not Me, It's You was released.

I missed them, but I'm told Trouble Andrew played for only 15 minutes. Matt & Kim started at 9PM and played to an enthusiastic, but not full, room. It wasn't until Lily Allen went on that the powers who be opened the flood gates and let everyone waiting outside into the venue. Then the room was packed.

It wasn't as rowdy as NYC Matt & Kim shows usually are, but plenty of people in the audience were there just to see the smiling duo from Brooklyn. At least one crowd member told Matt exactly that, during one of Matt's many peppy dialogues. For "Yea Yeah", the song everyone knows from their older album, Matt had all the lights turned off and asked everyone to go even more nuts than usual (which for this show was not very nuts, though there were a few people jumping off the stage). The psychology is that if nobody can see you, you're more likely to dance. Another crowd favorite was "Daylight" off their new album Grand. Before 10, they ended their set with "Silver Tiles".

Lily Allen, backed by a full band, took the stage a little after 10:00. For the next hour she played a mix of old hits ("LDN", "Smile") and new songs. Fans were cheering and singing along to both. Lily jokingly suggested people must have been doing some illegal downloading, but she quickly followed that with a more serious "I don't care, I don't make any money off recordings". The UK celebrity's set closed with a cover of Britney Spears's "Womanizer".

Lily will be back soon, but at a much bigger venue next time. All tour dates HERE. Matt and Kim dates HERE. More pictures, and LA's setlist from the show, below...

Continue reading "Lily Allen, Matt & Kim @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics, setlist"

MySpace Music the world's premiere online music portal, is excited to announce Lily Allen performing 3 Secret Shows on 3 continents. The British singer will put on intimate concerts for her MySpace fans in New York, Tokyo and London at no charge. Lily will kick off the global Secret Show series with a performance at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on February 10th. The concert marks the first time a single artist will take part in multiple MySpace Secret Shows on a global level. The New York show, sponsored by TurboTax® Federal Free Edition, signifies Lily's debut concert celebrating the release of her new album, It's Not Me, It's You. Secret Show performances are exclusively for MySpace users who friend the MySpace Secret Shows profile and are then notified of all details via a MySpace bulletin. In addition, beginning February 10th, Lily's new album will be available to purchase for $3.99 for a limited time on her MySpace Music player through Amazon MP3.

Continue reading "Lily Allen playing MySpace Secret Shows (1 in NYC w/ M&K)"

Photos by Tim Griffin, Words By Black Bubblegum

My night was planned. Rival Schools at Mercury. Thats it. Then Rival Schools done had to go and muck it up... announcing that they would open for Bad Brains that same night. So I craiglist-ed my tix, and Bad Brains (their second of two shows in a row at the same venue) it was (11/6/2008).

My evening started halfway through the Trouble Andrew set, and the crowd was having none of it. The pro-snowboarder's (mostly) skatepunk was NOT a hit with the overwhelmingly straight-ahead hardcore (with a dash of reggae, natch) fan base.

"Worst Black Flag ever," said the shirtless man.

It wasn't THAT bad. And as a matter of fact (guilty pleasure alert) I kind of dug the last song ("Drink?") which DID remind me alot of Black Flag's "TV Party" without all that pesky intensity/fun. What was the "decider" that turned me to the dark side? During the "Drink" song, a guy on stage dripping in gold chains and sporting an oversized skull mask "shotgunned" (or rather, attempted to) beer after beer through the mask.

Rival Schools were reliably great, and Irving Plaza was much more forgiving on Ian Love's guitar flourishes (my main complaint from Knitting Factory). Sticking to their setlist from my last two encounters with them (the BV Day Show at Knitting Factory and Syndicate's CMJ shindig), the boys kicked off their set with with "Travel By Telephone" and closed with "Used For Glue" and their cover of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?". The crowd was much easier on the hardcore veterans.

Bad Brains finally blasted off after 10:30. Clad in a sportcoat with some sort of body-armor underneath, HR walked calmly to the mic with hands together (in praise of Jah?), and ripped into "Attitude" from the self-titled ROIR record. The floor shook. Over the next hour, the band ran through other selections from the self-titled record ("Sailin' On", "Pay To Cum"), I Against I ("Re-Ignition", "Sacred Love") and even Quickness (Daryl began "Soul Craft" with the album's "verbal" intro), with the audience becoming absolutely unglued. In between the hardcore mayhem (and ensuing mosh-pit antics), Bad Brains slowed it up with reggae such as "I & I Survive"... adding delay to the drums, vox, and guitar tracks for that extra dubby feel.

But it wasn't all chocolate waterfalls and rainbows: The mix for Bad Brains was extremely muddy from my vantage point, favoring Daryl Jenifer's tremendously booming basslines instead of balancing with Dr. Know's ripping fretwork. HR mumbled through lyrics and was off at times. Their set was only one hour long, including the encore, "I Against I".

But for every ounce of criticism that I could possibly lay, postive energy was returned tenfold from the electric crowd, and I just could not help but be swept up in it too.

So what did I learn? A few things:
1) It is possible to take a picture while crowdsurfing (see below) (Tim Griffin take note)
2) Old hardcore dudes still mosh.
3) Bad Brains have still got it.
4) Daryl Jenifer is the coolest motherfucker on the planet.

More pictures, and partial setlists, below...

Continue reading "Bad Brains & Rival Schools @ Irving Plaza, NYC - pics"

by Black Bubblegum

HR @ Crash Mansion, CMJ night 1 (by Mark Iantosca for Free Williamsburg)


Bad Brains have announced the opening bands for their previously discussed pair of shows at Irving Plaza. Re-reuniting NYHC heavyweights Killing Time and crazies No Redeeming Social Value are playing the first, and heavier, night (11/5). Trouble Andrew and a little band that you may have heard a little about around here, Rival Schools, are playing night two (11/6)! Tickets are still available for both 11/5 (here) and 11/6 (here).

Rival Schools play (a longer set) at Mercury Lounge later that SAME NIGHT. They also play Maxwell's two days earlier. Both of those are sold out.

Rival Schools recently played the BrooklynVegan Day Party at The Knitting Factory during CMJ while HR of Bad Brains played a CMJ show of his own. I got the chance to interview Walter Schreifels & Sammy Siegler of Rival Schools, and you can check out part one here. Part two is coming soon.

Speaking of Bad Brains... former drummer Chuck Treece and his skatepunk band McRad (see Powell/Peralta videos from the 80s) have a few area shows this week, including tonight (10/27) at Europa (tickets here) and 10/29 in the Old Office at the Knitting Factory (tickets here).

All Bad Brains dates below...

Continue reading "HR played CMJ, Rival Schools, Killing Time, No Redeeming Social Value opening for Bad Brains @ Irving Plaza"

Photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Santogold and the Goldrush tour hit the Fillmore at Irving Plaza in NYC last night (Sept 19, 2008). The place filled up through out the night, ending with a 45 minute (or so) set by Santi to a sold out crowd, (that included Jay-Z and Beyonce). She didn't play "I'm a Lady," but pretty much played the rest of the album and tracks off her Top Ranking mixtape including a song that samples Animal Collective's "Comfy in Nautica"...

"She played a few songs off the mixtape, asking the crowd if they were familiar with it. It didn't seem like a 45 minute set. Plus she only has one album and like 3 or 4 songs on Top Ranking. My only complaint was that there wasn't a full band backing her because I was under the impression that there would be. Other than that it was pretty fun. Her dancers are awesome and she sounded great." [Anonymous]

Continue reading "Santogold's Goldrush Tour @ Irving Plaza, NYC - pics"