The Hold Steady @ McCarren Pool, 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

today in NYC
* Brooklyn Book Fest
* Eugene Mirman Comedy Fest
* Roland Auzet @ The Stone
* Avan Lava @ Cameo Gallery
* Steely Dan @ Beacon Theatre
* Led Zeppelin 2 @ Gramercy Theatre
* Ghostland Observatory @ Terminal 5
* D Generation, The Biters @ Irving Plaza
* The Men, Vaz, Pygmy Shrews @ Saint Vitus
* "Brooklyn Indie Music Fest" @ Littlefield
* Patrick Wolf, Justin Bond @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Hanni El Khatib, Free Blood @ Mercury Lounge
* Widespread Panic @ Williamsburg Waterfront
* Dave Matthews Band Caravan @ Randall's Island
* The Hold Steady, Caveman @ Beekman Beer Garden
* Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, John Zorn @ Roulette
* Frankie Rose, Dirty Beaches, Lantern @ Glasslands
* Strange Rivals, Ohnomoon, Spirit People @ The Gutter
* Oxblood, Battle Cry, Fed Up, Offensive Weapon @ Europa
* Urfaust, Krallice, Black Anvil, Ruin Lust @ Union Pool
* Barn Owl, Gunn/Truscinski Duo, Noveller @ Shea Stadium
* Starfucker, Beat Connection, Alexico @ Bowery Ballroom
* Javelin, Prince Rama, Amil Byleckie Band @ 285 Kent Ave
* Jovita Zaehl, Philipp Kronbichler, Martha Cluver @ The Stone
* Diamond Terrifier, Dan Friel, No Babies, Nymph @ Death By Audio
* LTJ Bukem, MC T.R.A.C., PLACE 42 Ft Jett, Stunna @ Brooklyn Bowl
* the NOTORIOUS MSG, Wolf's Blood/Earth A.D, The Dirty Shames @ Southpaw
* Sick of It All, Suicidal Tendencies @ Crazy Donkey (Farmingdale)
* The Boston Strangler, Waste Management, Beware, Brain Slug @ The Acheron
* Malajube, Les Sans Culottes, Johnny Chan & The New Dynasty 6 @ The Rock Shop
* Easter Vomit, Air Waves, Heaven's Gate, La Defense, ACLU Benefit @ Bruar Falls
* Hunx and His Punx, Natural Child, The Beets, Making Friendz @ Knitting Factory
* Drawn and Quartered, Disma, Mortal Decay, Mausoleum, Death Sick, Mutant Supremacy @ Cake Shop
* Saritote, Taku Unami, Takahiro Kawaguchi, Annette Krebs, Taku Sugimoto (Minor Musics Japan) @ Issue Project Room
* Forro in the Dark, Karsh Kale, Garth Stevenson (Wanderlust Williamsburg: A Live Yoga & Music Experience) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

If you were able to get a ticket, don't forget to get over the Beekman Beer Garden early tonight. Beach opens at noon. Doors at 6. Caveman on at 8. The Hold Steady on at 9.

If metal is more your thing, we're also presenting Urfaust, Krallice & Black Anvil at Union Pool.

Check out This Week in Indie for more.

ACL is this weekend in Austin and streaming.

PaperGarden Records is hosting this event at 104 emerson place in Brooklyn...

Multiverse Playground part III: an exploration into the evolution of music, art and comedy, has come at last! Featuring over 19 acts including bands, special guest DJs, visual artists, and comedians, Multiverse Playground's 3rd installment delivers a collaborative and community-driven, multimedia event of epic proportions.

Musically, we have brought an array of acts, both within and outside of the Paper Garden roster. Showcasing Paper Garden Records' Pree and Little Tybee, we have also brought on outside guest DJ sets from Bear Hands, Delicate Steve, and DJ Bearbait (Pattern Is Movement) as well as performances from Snowmine, Twi The Humble Feather, ARMS, Team Genius, EULA, Caged Animals, Data Dog, Afuche, Whale Belly, Lowell, Progress, and Marra Barr.

In addition, we will have comedy sets from Chris Betts and Aaron Kominos-Smith (Funny Aaron) amongst visual art from Ugly Art Room, PBR Art, and more.

Throughout the day, we have invited sponsors from some of the best up-and-coming music-related tech startup companies to join us and create fun and interactive ways to use their services. We'll be joined by the lovely folks from Thinglink, Grooveshark, and Livetapp.

Oh, and did we mention FREE BEER from PBR and FREE VITAMINWATER yet? Because yeah, that's happening too!

$8 suggested donation, 12 noon till 11pm

The flyer is below.

New Bonnie Prince Billy video for new song "Quail and Dumplings" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

Deerhoof in Boston in October (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

today in NYC
* Mos Def @ Blue Note
* Jesse Harris @ The Stone
* Gross Relations @ Bruar Falls
* Mike Birbiglia @ Joe's Pub
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Gerald Kurdian @ The Stone
* Cowboy Junkies @ City Winery
* Tell Your Friends! @ Lolita Bar
* Slaughterhouse @ Highline Ballroom
* Petr Cancura's Down Home @ Barbes
* Gang of Four, Hollerado @ Webster Hall
* Favourite Sons, Mike Bones @ Union Pool
* Henry Rollins spoken word @ Joe's Pub
* the National @ the Studio @ Webster Hall
* Chris Thile, Michael Daves @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Miracles, Yvette, Adult Themes @ Death By Audio
* Malachi, The Dough Rollers, Dear Old Pals @ Zebulon
* Anni Rossi, Little Anchor, Deidre, Uncles @ Glasslands
* Deerhoof, Ben Butler & Mousepad, Buke and Gass @ Europa
* Doveman, Justin Bond, Beth Orton, The Poison Tree @ Le Poisson Rouge
* ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Takka Takka @ Littlefield
* Alina Simone, Wolff (McSweeney's Book Release Party for "Donald") @ Pianos
* Jon Glaser book release party w/ Paul Rudd, John Hodgman, more @ Bell House
* Jennifer O'Connor, Richard Baluyut, Kendall Meade, Charles Bissell of The Wrens @ The Rock Shop
* Dred Scott Trio, Twi The Humble Feather, Jon Darling, Dina RuDean, Night Shining, Utah Green, Rachel Brotman @ Rockwood Music Hall

Check out This Week in Indie for more.

Twi the Humble Feather return to the stage this evening, Tuesday, 2/8. Catch them at Rockwood Music Hall. They go on at 11pm on Stage 1, an hour after Chris Thile starts on Stage 2.

Twi also have a gig scheduled for March 31st at Joe's Pub with Brooklyn quintent Build who will be celebrating a CD release that night.

Speaking of Joe's Pub, Henry Rollins kicks off his 50th birthday celebrations at the NYC venue this evening. I thought tickets were totally sold out for all five night, but as of this writing they seem to be available for three of them.

Jennifer O'Connor's Rock Shop residency continues tonight. Charles Bissell will be there and this is what he wrote about it:

Charles will be playing a little differently solo (than the usual loop-happy set, hidden behind a veil of electronics and studio trickery), as part of the wonderful Jennifer O'Connor's new monthly "Tower of Song" series at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on Tues. Feb. 8th. Also on this one are the equally estimable Richard Baluyut (of Versus) and Kendall Meade (of Mascott).

It's sort of a round-robin affair with all four onstage, each playing their songs in a row, maybe talking a bit about them etc...

Then there's a homework assignment for each performer to write a new song based on a theme (this Tower of Song's theme is an anti-Valentine's Day or anti-love song, mostly due the early Feb. show date).

Additionally, each will be covering one of the other's songs.

Yikes, Charles will probably be closer to a Tower of Unpreparedness and copying of the paper of the singer next to him.

Anni Rossi is at Glasslands. Alina Simone appears upstairs at Pianos.

Don't for get that Deerhoof's show has moved to Europa. Check out their new video for " Super Duper Rescue Heads" below....

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

by Rachel Kowal

DOWNLOAD: The Luyas - Tiny Head (MP3)

Given the falling temperatures and the looming work week, it would have been tempting to stay in last Sunday (12/5)... if it wasn't for the solid bill at Glasslands. Up first was Little Anchor, a band so young that their Myspace page just hit 3000 page views. The Brooklyn four-piece makes sweet, largely acoustic songs that range from quiet to quieter, depending on whether vocalist Alexa Cabellon is playing a buoyant line on keyboard or softly plucking out a delicate melody on guitar. Their material may be a bit mellow for a Friday night show, but it was fitting for a Sunday.

Next up was the otherworldly [2008 buzz] act Twi (rhymes with 'why') the Humble Feather, who you also may have caught at 92Y Tribeca with Julianna Barwick a couple of weeks earlier. The set-up was simple: just two men, each toting a well-worn acoustic guitar and sharing vocal duties. The band's website mentions "a mythical interstellar traveler," but the duo never referenced this inventive back story during their show, leaving audience members to form their own impressions from the odd, experimental (often wordless) vocals and subtle finger pickings. Their performance may not be very compelling visually, but it is no less mesmerizing.

After a quick succession of mellow acts, the energy in the room picked up significantly when The Luyas' began to play, thanks in large part to vocalist/guitarist Jessie Stein's zeal. The crowd had been hanging back a bit for the first two bands, but at Stein's request, they moved in closer to the stage almost instantaneously. Having established a closer connection to the audience, Stein turned to her bandmates. "Ready boys?"

From the very first song, a single light bulb on Stein's mic stand made her child-like delight all the more apparent, but don't let her sweet demeanor fool you. The girl is fierce when she pulls out her electric guitar and cranks it up.

Stein warned the crowd early in the show that the band had been through its fair share of hardships during the tour. Apparently things were constantly breaking. First it was just an amp or two - no big deal, but on Saturday night, a drunk driver drove into their car (no one was hurt). As if to prove her point, she bumped one of the light bulb contraptions on her way to the Wurlitzer, sending it crashing to the ground. "I told you, this is the tour where everything breaks!" She joked.

For their grand finale, "Here's to You," Stein had all of the stage lights turned off, but the band didn't play in the darkness for long. The slow, melodic intro soon gave way to more chaotic instrumental arrangements and a jarring sensory experience as the strategically placed light bulbs and semi-hidden overhead lights rapidly flickered on and off, casting quick flashes of light onto the venue's trademark tissue paper sculpture ceiling.

What began as the bedroom project of Brenda Malvini in the summer of 2009 has nicely evolved into group effort of North Highlands. Given Malvini's history of small, intimate house shows, it makes sense that North Highlands' New York shows are often populated by a dedicated fan base, but I was still surprised to witness the intensity of their fervor. From the first few songs, the audience danced around, energetically - not bad for a Sunday night in December at midnight. Of course, it helped that Malvini, herself, couldn't stop dancing around the stage. As a gesture of gratitude for their dedication, Malvini even threw free koozies into the crowd, each emblazoned with the band name. "We have presents for you! You have to catch it! They don't hurt. Don't be afraid," she said playfully.

It was their last show of 2010 and a good night for them to go out on. For their final song, the dance floor had all the energy of a mosh pit without the bruises. People were clapping with joy and jumping up and down in time to the music as Malvini repeated the song's infectious tag line: "We don't care any more." During the last minute of the song, Malvini began to grab audience members to join the band on stage. First it was just a couple of people, but soon five eager fans crammed onto the already tight platform to dance in the spotlight before the band called it a night.

--

The Luyas' debut album Too Beautiful To Work will be released February 22nd via Dead Oceans (cover art above). They have a new video for the song "Tiny Head (which you can dowload above). Watch it below...

Continue reading "new Luyas video, North Highlands/Twi show review"

julianna barwick at cafe grumpy, greenpoint, BK (Alias Pail)

The way that I found out about Bjork was I was 14 or something and I saw at the mall the cover of Debut and I was totally drawn to it...If you start at Bjork, you're gonna find some good things along the way, and I was definitely more into the indie side of music after that. Radiohead was huge for me too. But I've always loved like pop, too. I love Rihanna and I love Boys II Men and Mariah Carey and things like that, too. [Julianna Barwick @ 17dots]

Tonight (Wed, June 3rd) Julianna Barwick is having a CD release party at Pianos for her Florine EP, which came out at the end of April. Joining her will be local dream pop trio Twi the Humble Feather.

The show kicks off Barwick's three-week Wednesday residency at Pianos. The singer will also play the Northside Festival on June 11th at Cameo Gallery.

Twi the Humble Feather will be at Northside too, on an amazing bill with Bell, Death Vessel, Teengirl Fantasy, Arrington De Dionyso and Weekends. That show, on Saturday, June 13th, was to happen at new Williamsburg venue Berry Park, but has since been moved to Public Assembly. Berry Park is not quite ready for business yet.

And that's not the only Northside show to switch from a not-yet-opened venue. O'Death's Northside show that same day moved from Brooklyn Bowl to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Both gigs coincide with Williamsburg Walks, which will close Bedford Avenue to traffic on select Saturdays.

Julianna Barwick's Florine EP track list and art, with all tour dates for her and Twi, below...

Continue reading "Julianna Barwick kicks off Pianos residency w/ Twi the Humble Feather who are NOT playing Berry Park"

DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten - For You (MP3)

Sharon Van Etten's proper debut, Because I Was in Love, will be out May 26th on Language Of Stone. An MP3 of "For You," from that album, is above, with its video below.

Van Etten is currently on tour with Great Lakes Swimmers in Europe. So far, all of her scheduled summer shows are hometown NYC gigs. The first is a Northside Festival show at Union Pool on June 11th. The next night, June 12th, she plays 92YTribeca with Stars Like Fleas and Twi the Humble Feather. Tickets for that show are on sale.

Other scheduled dates for Sharon include June 16th at Mercury Lounge with Laura Gibson, July 3rd at Sycamore, July 16th Monkey Town with Speck Mountain, and August 14th at Union Hall with Alele Diane. No ticket info on those yet.

Twi the Humble Feather, who share a bill with Van Etten at 92YTribeca (and shared a bill with the singer at a BV show last CMJ), are playing tonight (5/21) at Monkey Town with Ann Andersen. Reservations are available.

All Sharon Van Etten tour dates, track list and album art, plus a movie trailer featuring Sharon's vocals, below...

Continue reading "an MP3 from Sharon Van Etten's debut CD ++ 6 NYC shows"

Cloud Cult and M Shanghai String Band @ Cross-Pollination 4/18/06 (more photos)

Free, weekly NYC music series Cross-Pollination is celebrating its 5th anniversary at Pianos tonight, May 12th. The night's bill pairs Brooklyn bands Dinosaur Feathers and The Bloodsugars.

Cross-Pollination was created by Jay Goettelmann and Wesley Verhoeve, the founders of creative collective Liberated Matter, with the hope of bringing artists together in a unique way. They came up with the concept of pairing two artists together, with each playing a 45-minute set, followed by a collaborative set in which both performers share the stage. These special sets are 'one time art' and have included everything from bands joining in on each others songs, collaborating on covers, and co-writing new songs for the event.

Back in 2005, Jay and Wes spoke with BrooklynVegan about their series...

What is your most memorable Cross-Pollination experience?

Wes: Hmm, I'd say the Kimya Dawnson/Paleface collaboration with a whole set of newly written songs was very special. Seeing Jaymay hold a note for about a full minute once during her performance was quite spectacular as well.

Jay: For me it was probably one of our big alumni shows where Casey Shea and Jeff Jacobson (of the Undisputed Heavyweights) did a rendition of the entire second half of Abbey Road. Or when Jason Trachtenburg ended his show in punk style, knocking the mic over and trying to bash these wooden flame decorations with his guitar.

We just asked Wes the same question (now almost four years later).
His answer this time:

Wes: There's a lot of memorable moments, but to highlight a few: Frightened Rabbit and The Brother Kite's performance was phenomenally packed and amazing. Casey Shea and Wakey!Wakey! covering Dick In A Box mere days after it was on TV was a big hit with the crowd. Cloud Cult playing with great intensity to a fire-hazard stuffed upstairs. Dave Deporis and My Brightest Diamond were so delicate and beautiful, then still at the Apocalypse Lounge. Jason Trachtenburg also played there early on and destroyed the stage and the wall behind the stage at the end of his set in front of a baffled audience. It was amazing, sort of a nebbish version of Terminator.

Cross-Pollination is currently streaming a 5th anniversary mixtape with new and exclusive tracks by Dawn Landes, Takka Takka, Twi the Humble Feather, Jaymay and others. You can stream it or download it below. They posted a similar mix in 2007 for their 3rd anniversary.

Both bands playing tonight are series regulars (The Bloodsugars even played the Cross-Pollination's 4th anniversary bash last year, video below.) They're both at other local-music celebrations this summer too. Dinosaur Feathers will be playing Saturday, May 16th at Park Slope's Bar 4 as part of the weeklong Local Correspondents Festival hosted by the venue. The Bloodsugars will play a Northside Festival show at Public Assembly on June 14th.

Cross-Pollination 5th anniversary mixtape (streaming and downloadable), with track listing, and all upcoming shows, below...

Continue reading "the weekly Cross-Pollination series turns five (party tonight, more upcoming shows & a free mixtape- stream & download) "

DOWNLOAD: David Thomas Broughton - Weight of My Love (MP3)

Talented UK experimental-folk artist and friend of Doveman/Sam Amidon, David Thomas Broughton will make a rare and brief stop in NYC before heading to SXSW next week. All in all he'll play only two shows in the US, both of which are for The Local. "The Local is an evening of fine live music hosted by Howard Monk. It's an unpretentious affair, and friendly too." More specifically, The Local is a UK EVENING of fine live music, and on March 17th they will be "in New York for a second time"...

Hosted by Howard Monk ('Later with Jools Holland meets Phoenix Nights. Result!' Time Out), The Local hosts two events in the U.S, in NYC and Austin, Texas (SXSW) and will feature live performances from the inimitable David Thomas Broughton (SXSW & NYC), last seen layering and sampling his melancholy tales with a banana in his mouth; the much celebrated Liz Green (NYC & SXSW), winner of Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent competition last year, and with a new album on its way, the 'flickering and hummable' stories of Shearwater (SXSW) and the much vaunted Alela Diane (SXSW).

Full lineups for both shows below...

Continue reading "David Thomas Broughton & The Local coming to NYC, SXSW "

Twi getting crazy with Jose Gonzalez

Twi the Humble Feather open for Lambchop tonight (2/12) at Bowery Ballroom. They're also playing Glasslands with Rings on March 4th, Music Hall of Williamsburg with Stars Like Fleas on March 5th, and the Living Room with She Keeps Bees on March 17th. Those exact dates repeated below...

Continue reading "upcoming shows Twi the Humble Feather are playing"

Continue reading "free Twi & Suckers @ Glasslands tonight/Wednesday"

DOWNLOAD: Twi the Humble Feather - Finale (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (White Sirens Of Burr Remix) (MP3)

The Walkmen

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Fake Blood @ Plan B
* Doveman @ The Stone
* DJ Andy Rourke @ Beauty Bar
* Immortal Technique @ SOB's
* Neil Young, Wilco, Everest @ MSG
* Of Montreal @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* James Murphy & Sam Lipsyte @ Joe's Pub
* Corn Mo, .357 Lover & Growler @ Glasslands
* The Walkmen & The Dodos @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple
* The Antlers, Dark Dark Dark & Kate Ferencz @ Cake Shop
* Twi the Humble Feather, Here We Go Magic & Sharon Van Etten @ Bell House
* Souls of Mischief, The A-OK Collective, Takya Morgan & Rob Flow @ Knitting Factory

Kevin Barnes will also be at The Bell House tomorrow.

Tickets are still on sale for tonight's Neil Young show.

Tickets are on sale for David Byrne's show at Radio City Music Hall.

Tickets are on sale for Sharon Jones's shows at Nokia Theatre.

Tickets are on sale for Tim & Eric's show at Nokia Theatre.

Tomorrow is the Obits/Night Marchers show at Santos.

Dan Fogelberg died today in 2007.

Video of Louis CK "boxing and getting his stupid fat ass kicked" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Joan as Policewoman will play shows at 8 and 10 pm at the Stone in NYC on New Years Eve. The 'Annual End The Year Improv Night' with John Zorn happens at the same venue three nights earlier. Other names on the Stone's schedule for December (curated by Jennifer Charles) include Gary Lucas, Erik Friedlander, Doveman, Alan Licht, Hal Willner's Parade (Yuka Honda & Sean Lennon), Elysian Fields, JG Thirwell, and Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog (tonight, Sunday December 7th).

January's schedule, curated by Craig Taborn, doesn't have many names
I recognize, but February, curated by Shannon Fields of Stars Like Fleas, has Twi the Humble Feather, Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Chris Schlarb, Diane Cluck, Jon Natchez, Kelly Pratt, Lexie Mountain Boys, Megafun, John Zorn, Ecstatic Sunshine, Sam Amidon, and Tristan Perich,

For other NYC shows on New Years Eve, browse HERE.

Joan Wasser (as Policewoman) and at least one band member also contribute to Gramercy Arms.

Marc Ribot is also playing December 9th at Blue Note and December 11th at Knitting Factory.

Twi the Humble Feather (upstairs) @ Pianos (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Saturday, November 15th (downstairs) @ Pianos in NYC

1am - WOLFF
midnight - DJANGO JAMES & THE MIDNIGHT SQUIRES
11pm - AMERICAN DOLLAR
10pm - ON MONO
9pm - FREDRIK
8pm - TWI AND THE HUMBLE FEATHER

Twi the Humble Feather were supposed to play 92YTribeca tonight, Friday November 14th, but that has been cancelled, so they're playing this early show at Pianos on Saturday instead, AND they go on right before Sweden's Fredrik.

Also worth noting: Django James (playing Pianos Saturday at midnight) is (Eurythmics) Dave Stewart's 17 year old son. Django came to NYC to play a party at the Morrison Hotel Gallery located in the old CBGB's Gallery on Bowery Thursday night (11/13). The occasion was an exhibit of photographs by Mick Rock (many of which are of Django).

Tonight (Friday) @ Pianos: Obi Best & Phonograph.

Also Friday: Fredrik @ a record store, and other stuff

A Fredrik video below...

Continue reading "a Twi the Humble Feather update, this Saturday @ Pianos "

Photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Our Thursday (10/23) day party at Pianos got a late start - the upstairs anyway. That ended up being a good thing for Twi the Humble Feather whose set time switched from 12:15 pm to the usually more-desirable 2:00.

Unlike the Mercury Lounge show where they had a full choir, Twi (rhymes with eye) played this one as a trio, each of them with a guitar. To quote L Magazine,

The exclusively acoustic three-piece come across as a live-action tape-loop of sorts, their chanting falsettos bleeding through cycles of finger strumming dwindles and swells. It's part Gregorian chant, part Christmas carol and part Panda Bear's Person Pitch unplugged.

One excited patron of the Pianos shows called them otherworldly.

Your next chance to see Twi is November 11th at Music Hall of Williamsburg when they open for The Sea and Cake. Death Vessel, another artist that utilizes a high voice (though unlke Twi I think his isn't falsetto), is also on the bill. More The Sea and Cake dates HERE. More Twi pictures and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Twi the Humble Feather - 2008 tour dates & BV party pics "

DOWNLOAD: Pretty & Nice - Tora Tora Tora (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eagle Seagull - Photograph (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Twi the Humble Feather - higher than the end (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: James Jackson Toth - Nothing Hides (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: James Jackson Toth - Doreen (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Muslims - Beside Myself (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Shad - I Get Down (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Japanese Motors - Spendin Days (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Japanese Motors - Single Fins & Safety Pins (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Peasant - Exposure (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten - It's Not Like (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PWRFL POWER - It's Okay (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PWRFL POWER - Alma Song (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sebastien Grainger - American Names (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wye Oak - Warning (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phosphorescent - A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Friendly Fires - Jump in the Pool (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Crystal Antlers - A Thousand Eyes (MP3)

ABOVE: You can download at least one MP3 from every artist playing the BrooklynVegan party at Pianos today (Oct 23, 2008). Which one do you like best?

Phosphorescent's video for "At Death, A Proclamation" below...

Continue reading "OCT23 PIANOS DAY MIXTAPE (17 songs to download)"

@ Pianos in NYC, full club, Thursday, October 23, 2008, FREE

time (PM), band, stage
12:00 Pretty & Nice (downstairs)
12:15 Twi the Humble Feather (upstairs)
12:45 Eagle Seagull (downstairs)
01:00 James Jackson Toth (upstairs)
01:30 The Muslims (downstairs)
01:45 Shad (upstairs)
02:15 Japanese Motors (downstairs)
02:30 Peasant (upstairs)
03:00 Friendly Fires (downstairs)
03:15 Sharon Van Etten (upstairs)
03:45 Crystal Antlers (downstairs)
04:00 Pwrfl POWER (upstairs)
04:30 Sebastien Grainger (downstairs)
04:45 Wye Oak (upstairs)
05:30 Phosphorescent (upstairs)

I already announced the downstairs stage. That's why the upstairs artists are bolded.

Check out James Jackson Toth's video for "Doreen", below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan CMJ day party @ Pianos - full, free lineup "

Photos by Chris La Putt

Tonight (10/7) is a good chance to try out the new venue (le) poisson rouge if you haven't already because Twi The Humble Feather are playing a free Wordless Music Series show there. The pictures in this post are from the set they played (with a chorus) before Shugo Tokumaru at Mercury Lounge on September 23rd. More of them and other dates below...

Continue reading "Twi the Humble Feather - free show today, past show pics"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Twi the Humble Feather - finale (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Twi the Humble Feather - before the morning lights (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Twi the Humble Feather - for the sorcerer forest (MP3)

Twi

there is legend and rumor of a new interstellar adventurer, by the name of twi, who came to be by the will of an ancient sorcerer forest existing unknown in a nameless galaxy. those aware of this rumor say twi seeks the wisdom of vast green worlds, as well as the sating secrets of sound. inspired by the adventures of this new mythical character, the trio 'twi the humble feather' compose guitar and vocal based music depicting environments recently visited by twi; such as magical castles and forests, and various realms of the uncharted cosmos.

Saturday, Sept 6 at Sound Fix Records in Brooklyn, 8pm:

The Burg for Barack - a grassroots fundraising event featuring La Strada, Twi the Humble Feather, and Amber Rubarth. Plus a cupcakes-and-brownies-galore bake sale, and a silent auction including fine apparel, jewelry, yoga classes and spa packages, and more from stylish neighborhood boutiques and stores. 100% of the proceeds go to the Obama campaign. $5 suggested donation at the door.

Brooklyn acoustic guitar-and-voice trio Twi the Humble Feather is coming off a series of opening gigs for Jose Gonzalez earlier this summer and the release of their sci-fi/fantasy concept album "Music for Spaceships & Forests" in June (out on non-label Friendly Ghost Recordings). The FGR site reports that the band is in the process of prepping a new piece for live performance called "Twi Presents the Antek Songs," as well as its second album. Other upcoming shows include opening for Japanese popster Shugo Tokumaru at Mercury Lounge (tix still on sale), a show at Williamsburg DIY gallery/space Paris London West Nile, and a free Wordless Music Series gig at (le) poisson rouge.

Speaking of Obama benefits and (le) poisson rouge, the West Village venue ia hosting a fundraiser of its own on September 10th. Living Colour, The Family Stand, Earl Greyhound, Danielia Cotton, and Viva Mayday are on that bill.

These aren't the first Obama events of the year, and they certainly won't be the last. Another, The Audacity of Jokes II, takes place Monday September 15th at Comix. It will feature Fresh Prince creator Andy Borowitz, SNL's Fred Armisen, comedian and Barack impersonator Kyle Grooms, Last Comic Standing alum Amy Schumer, and Weird Al surrogate Jonathan Coulton. Tix $45 ($100 VIP).

See a video of the Twi guys at Goodbye Blue Monday HERE, and Kyle Grooms's Barack above the tour dates below....

Continue reading "Twi the Humble Feather tour dates & other Obama benefits"