Lightning Bolt at 285 Kent Ave on 4/27, photo by Kathy Zikas

"Lightning Bolt pummeled the crowed at Le Poisson Rouge [Thursday] night with their standard blitzkrieg attack of sound. For over an hour the noise duo blasted away through classics from their excellent discography sending the crowd into a near frenzy. Brian Chippendale did his best impersonation of a jackhammer playing the drums and Brian Gibson stood by, ever so effortlessly, as he turned his amps up to 11 and ripped through distorted blasts of thundering bass. Despite the breaks between songs, the non stop bombardment of escalated sound sent shock waves through the crowd that more then likely split a few ear drums. The relentless assault proved that these two men are masters of their craft as they powered aware with such force and precision that kept the crowd screaming for an encore. When the band answered the call they came back to the stage and began to tear through the epic track "Ride the Skies" which nearly sent everyone over the edge after an already incredible performance of hurricane like forces of sound crushing the crowd." [omgnyc]

Lightning Bolt played Le Poisson Rouge Thursday night. It was one of two NYC dates the band played last week (they also played 285 Kent on 4/27, Wed), and the Providence duo will be back this week. NYU will host its annual Strawberry Festival (volunteer here) on Laguardia between West 3rd & 4th street on Friday May 6th with a special appearance from Lightning Bolt, as well as Pterodactyl, Ducktails, and The So So Glos. The fest goes down from 1PM until 5PM, and features food, drink, prizes, and even a DJ battle "with DJ Juan Farrakhan (BX) and DJ Jules Verne (BK, mem. FIASCO)." Unlike in years recent past, this year's event is advertised as "open to the public." More details are below.

In related news, soon after we posted about the May 5th Thermals show at Le Poisson Rouge, it was revealed that the show is actually an NYU show which would explain why advanced tickets were not easy to get. Note that "Advance tickets are only available for NYU. Non-nyu tickets available day of at doors." If you can get a ticket though, the show is a bargain: $7 for students, $10 for non-nyu, and both Twin Shadow and Tyvek were added to the very impressive Cinco de Mayo bill. Though:

IMPORTANT NOTE: those event times are NOT A MISPRINT. The doors for LPR will be open at 6, the first act goes on around 7, and this show WILL BE OVER AROUND 10. GET THERE EARLY.

NYU students can get tix at Ticket Central.

Twin Shadow meanwhile is out on tour with The Pains of Being Pure At Heart and will in fact open the May 6th show at Webster Hall. Tickets are still on sale. All TS dates are listed below.

The Thermals played Maxwell's with Dinowalrus last night (5/1), and in addition to the Le Poisson Rouge show, they're playing NYC at the Bell House in July after their tour with Matt & Kim. Tickets are still on sale.

Strawberry Festival details and Twin Shadow tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals played Maxwell's, Lightning Bolt played 2 NYC shows, both bands playing public NYU shows, Twin Shadow too"

Evan Dando at The Bell House (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

Evan Dando & The Lemonheads have a few random upcoming dates scheduled. The Lemonheads will share a bill with The Canon Logic on April 28th at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are still available. You can also catch Josh Lattanzi of The Lemonheads at Bowery Ballroom on May 26 & 27 as part of the Bob Dylan tribute that will also include members of the Strokes, Hold Steady, etc, etc.

All other upcoming Evan Dando dates are in other countries at the moment, including a June 16th Evan & Juliana Hatfield show in Toronto for the NXNE festival which, like Brooklyn's own multi-venue festival Northside, recently expanded its lineup. Some of the other bands playing are in the title of this post. The rest are listed below.

All Dando-related dates and some videos below too...

Continue reading "Lemonheads playing shows, NXNE expands lineup (includes Descendents, Stars, Devo, OFF!, Juliana Hatfield, more)"

The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"

photos by David Andrako

DFA1979

"While it was kind of a running joke that the gnarled dance-punk band was one of the biggest reunions at this year's Coachella (Death From Above 2005 jokes abounded), the band reasserted what made them such a strange and compelling commodity in the first place.

Lacerating bass, Grainger's falsetto wails and a relentless rhythmic urgency both hearkened back to the mid-'00 dance punk craze, yet reminded the audience that their palpable violence set them apart from their more trend-minded peers.

"Romantic Rights" and "Blood on Our Hands" rode slithery, distortion-tangled bass lines over the kind of four-on-the-floor that bassist Jesse F. Keeler would explore more thoroughly in his disco aegis MSTRKRFT.The audience seemed simultaneously enthralled and a bit confused."
[LA Times]

Death From Above 1979's performance on Sunday was the second time the reunited band graced a public stage since announcing their return. The first was a semi-surprise appearance at this year's SXSW at March that got much more attention than anyone even anticipated due to a bit of violence that made the late night news. In May the band does it again at Sasquach.

Coachella 2011 concluded on Sunday with a big headlining set by Kanye West. I already posted some pictures from that one, but a more proper set is also in this post which also includes our full set of pictures from the California festival's final day (day one pics HERE, day two HERE).

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon who played Friday night with Gayngs, made two guest appearances on Sunday, first with the National earlier in the day and then with Kanye West during one of the most high profile sets of the weekend.

The other big set of Sunday was by the Strokes who weren't afraid to play the hits. Their full setlist is below.

The Strokes

PJ Harvey (who arrives in NYC this week) played her headlining set on the "Outdoor Theatre." It overlapped with both The Strokes and Kanye...

"Backed by a nimble three piece band, Harvey, with the Strokes audible from the nearby main stage during the silences between songs, delivered the most emotionally intense performance I witnessed at this year's Coachella, singing songs of violence, war, love and lust (mostly from her harrowing new Let England Shake), before a crowd of rabid supporters...." [SPIN]

a rabid supporter... (this pic not by David Andrako)...

More pictures from Sunday, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2011 Day 3 in pics (The Strokes, DFA1979, PJ Harvey, The National, CSS, MEN, Nas, OFF! & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Hanni El Khatib - "Build-Destroy-Rebuild" (MP3)

Hanni El Khatib at Terminal 5 (more by Chris La Putt)

"Hanni El Khatib is so consistent in his live performances that when you see his name on a bill you know you're in for a fantastic show. Always dressed in black with his hair slicked back and bathed in a blood-red glow, El Khatib sings about violent love, past betrayals, and crumbling cities while backed by his equally talented partner in crime, drummer Nicky Fleming-Yaryan." [OC Weekly]

After a successful outing with Florence & The Machine last year, Hanni El Khatib will head back out the road with Florence again this year, though he won't be opening her sold out show at Central Park Summerstage (that honor is reserved for Twin Shadow and Bubbles). All dates are listed below.

While on that trek, El Khatib will play a pair of his own NYC shows though. You can catch him at Mercury Lounge on 6/24 and at Glasslands on 6/25. Tickets are on sale for Glasslands, and tickets for Mercury Lounge go on sale at noon.

Hanni is also playing Bonnaroo in June, and those in LA can see him for free much sooner courtesy of Record Store Day @ Origami Vinyl where he'll share a bill with Islands, The Growlers, and a "Secret Special Guest." UPDATE: he cancelled, and so did "Islands"? This is what is happening at the LA store:

Alright folks. The list you have all been waiting for. Below you will find all of the titles that we will have on Record Store Day this Saturday.

WARNING: We have yet to receive a couple shipments and have been told they are guaranteed to be delivered tomorrow. As soon as we receive these we will post them up in herrrrrre.

ALSO: Unfortunately Nick T had to cancel his in-store on Saturday. Dude is in Texas and can't get back in time :(((((

So: Secret Suprise Guest @ 2pm ::: The Growlers @ 8pm

We open at 10 AM. The line will be let in 5 at a time to keep from peeps being trampled. Good luck!

---

Speaking of records, Hanni El Khatib released a pair of 7"s in recent months in preparation for his upcoming Will The Guns Come Out debut LP due on Stones Throw this summer. Download "Build Destroy Rebuild" from the 7" and LP above and stream it alongside all tour dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Hanni El Khatib schedules solo shows during Florence & the Machine tour, NOT playing Origami Vinyl on Record Store Day"

Toro Y Moi @ Mercury Lounge in January (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

today in NYC
* MoCCAFest 2011
* It Is It @ Pianos
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Rush @ Madison Square Garden
* Rebirth Brass Band @ Maxwell's
* Mike Birbiglia @ Barrow St Theatre
* Sebastian Baversteam @ Barbes
* Pretty Good Friends @ Union Hall
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Philco Fiction, Amkoullel @ Zebulon
* Charlie Sheen @ Radio City Music Hall
* Taj Mahal, Fredericks Brown @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Sebadoh, Richard Buckner @ Bowery Ballroom
* Steve Adams, Joe Morris, Lisle Ellis @ The Stone
* Wizardry, Eagle Claw, Marching Teeth @ The Gutter
* Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet @ The Stone
* Paul Galbraith @ Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater
* Moon Unit, Chris Forsyth, William Nowik @ Death By Audio
* Toro y Moi, Braids, Adventure @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Matt Jones, Charlene Kaye @ Caponegro Urological Associates
* Coconuts, Mirror Mirror, Nymph, Golden Animals @ Glasslands
* Club d'Elf, John Medeski, Hassan Hakmoun @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Stephane Wrembel Presents The Django Experiment @ Barbes
* Bare Wires, Fergus & Geronimo, The Peacekillers @ Cake Shop
* The Newton Gang, The Buddy Hollers, Ernie Vega @ Bruar Falls
* Deleted Scenes, Hammer No More The Fingers, Manner @ Pianos
* Black Kites, Burdens, Kids, Heartless, We Are All Savages @ Party Xpo
* White Wives, The Demon Beat, The Reveling, Lugosi @ Knitting Factory
* Morgan O'Kane, Spirit Family Reunion, Jus Post Bellum @ The Rock Shop
* DJ Spinna, Jessie White, Brooklyn Jazz All-Stars, Bangstrum @ Littlefield
* Bomb The Music Industry, Tigers Jaw, Bridge And Tunnel, Big Eyes @ Europa
* Unstoppable Death Machines, Filthy Savage, Vacation, Ritz Riot @ Silent Barn
* Drink Up Buttercup, Axis of Awesome @ NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
* Lustmord, Void Ov Voices, Robert Piotrowicz (Unsound Festival) @ Abrons Arts Center
* Alex Fox & the Del Zorro Allstars, Clementine, Rarefaction, Teletextile, Undersea Explosion @ Southpaw
* Mark Mcguire, Dolphins into the Future, Floris Vanhoof, Monopoly Child Star Searchers @ Issue Project Room
* Alan Merrill, The New Gallery Band of New York, Jamie McLean Band, Things They Carried With Them, Sphinx @ Mercury Lounge
* Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, The A-Bones, The Live Ones, Mighty Fine, The Dixons, The Back C.C.'s, The Underthings (Benefit for Japan) @ Union Pool
* DJ Spooky presents: Contemporary Asian/American Music w/ special guests TIMI Modern Music Ensemble, Min Xiao-Fen, Mari Kimura, Huang Ruo, Du Yun, Rosey Chan and works and performances by Paul Miller, Benoit Granier, Anthony Paul De Ritis, Howie Kenty & more

Twin Shadow's new video for "At My Heels", below....

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Damien Jurado

Twin Shadow

Catching up a bit. Here's what Dominick saw in Austin on Thursday, March 17, 2011 (St. Patrick's Day)...

Continue reading "SXSW 2011 Day 2 pics"

words & photos by Andrew Frisicano

Wednesday

Twin Shadow @ Fader Fort

A crowded backyard tent filled with cigarette smoke, free open-faced tacos (pork, chicken, brisket or veggie), a man carting a dolly of Lone Star cases through the crowd, and a pair of middle-aged guys picking a fight with each other on a Wednesday afternoon. "Doesn't he know I'm a ticking time bomb?" the offended guy says, a bit like he's not joking. JEFF the Brotherhood is playing too, which is more or less the occasion for all of this, my first show of SXSW 2011. The JEFF brothers aren't really the focus though, since they'll be playing a dozen other times this week, and most of the people are concentrating on the tacos, their conversations or their inability to get away from the door of the totally (did I say?) packed room.

In spite of that, the band is tearing through songs from Heavy Days and their new LP We Are the Champions, and between songs tossing out free vinyl singles into the crowd: "Those are going to slice someone's neck open," says Jake before slinging a few more across the room. They go into "Bummer," a ballady, Dino Jr.-style headbanger, that's one of the standout new tunes.

Trash Talk @ BV/Feed the Beat Day Party (photo by Samantha Marble)

Ty Segall's entertaining and totally worthwhile band is up next, but the BrookylnVegan day show at Emo's is also currently happening, the highlight of which has to be the simulatneous staging of Cali punks Trash Talk (who went on before Kylesa) and Mister Heavenly (who went on before Surfer Blood). Mister Heavenly are a supergroup of-sorts you've heard about. On the inside, Trash Talk frontman Lee Spielman towers over everyone with the body of a scarecrow and a scary-as-hell perma-scowl; he smashes his forehead with the microphone a few times to draw blood. "Stick around for Surfer Blood," he says, before crawling into the crowd and standing on what I can only hope were someone's shoulders. People start edging toward the door. On the outside stage, Mr. Heavenly performs an appropriately lovely set, its two frontmen trading verses in their own styles.

After that, the Fader Fort brought Twin Shadow on stage, the bedroom-pop project of George Lewis Jr. that's become a wildly good live band. For an outdoor venue, the system sounded impressively balanced and clear - which would turn out to be a rarity at the festival. That was 'specially good for Yelawolf, whose songs sounded vital in a way that your iPod just can't do. With no crew to speak of, his solo athletics put in an early bid for best-of.

Yelawolf @ Fader Fort

Later that night at Stubb's, Yuck and James Blake played what would be the first of several for both. Both did well on the big stage, a portent of things to come, vibing out in their respective styles: fuzz rock and chilled-out pop. Check out both of their sets for yourself at NPR- Blake and Yuck.

continued below...

Continue reading "Colin Stetson, Twin Shadow, Odd Future, James Blake, JEFF the Brotherhood, Yelawolf, more (Andrew F's week @ SXSW)"

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

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)"

by Rachel Kowal

DOWNLOAD: Oh Land - White Nights (Twin Shadow Remix) (MP3)

By the time I arrived at Brooklyn Bowl on November 8th, I had missed Fatty Acid and The Courtesy Tier. With five bands on the bill, I (perhaps unfairly) decided that 3 out of 5 wasn't too bad.

Based on the enthusiasm and size of the crowd, it may have made more sense to save Oh Land for last, but the recent Brooklyn transplant was third on the bill. Luckily, I made it in time to check out the Danish vixen's set.

Oh Land's performance unfolds like a music video. At the beginning of each song, Nanna Øland Fabricius taps out a few notes on the keyboard or on her electronic drum kit just to show us that she can. But then she walks away, and the music magically continues (despite the fact that no pedals seem to factor into the equation). For an artist whose act seems to rely heavily on eye candy like light-up drum sticks, talking balloons, and whimsical outfits, Oh Land's slower songs drag a bit, but she shines during her dancier numbers. Oh Land's drummer, Hans Hvidberg-Hansen, may play an integral role in the music, but with Fabricius parading around the stage, his presence hardly registers.

Oh Land's electro-pop stylings are not groundbreaking, but her music and accompanying presentation are definitely worth a listen (and a look). After being pleasantly surprised by Oh Land's performance during CMJ, her equally short set time at Brooklyn Bowl (just 24 minutes) was a bit of a let down, but she still managed to wow the crowd in the short time she had. (An exchange between two girls nearby: A:"She's going to be so famous." B:"I know. She's so cute." A:"Should we start hyping her up?") And so it begins.

Maybe Oh Land will play a longer set on January 26th at Hiro Ballroom, a one-off date for the artist who is heading out on tour with the reunited Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in March. Tickets are still on sale for the Webster Hall show. Oh Land is also playing SXSW. All dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "Oh Land playing Hiro, touring w/ OMD in March, played Brooklyn Bowl, remixed by Twin Shadow (MP3, dates & stuff)"

by Bill Pearis

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are soon to be back with their second album, Belong, which is out in March. The band have left behind the reverb-heavy sound of their debut into sonic clarity thanks to producer Flood (Smashing Pumpkins' Melon Collie..., Depeche Mode's Violator, U2's Achtung Baby) and mixing talents of shoegaze impresario Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Blonde Redhead). It still sounds like The Pains, just beefed up a little, which is more in line with what they're like live these days.

The album's first single, "Heart in Your Heartbreak," was released last month on Slumberland and you can stream both sides of the 7" at the bottom of this post. Shortly after Belong's release, TPOBPAH will head out on tour with opener Twin Shadow, including a May 6 show at Webster Hall. (On-sale date TBA.) It also seems likely there'll be an NYC record release show before this tour starts, but no word yet.

All TPOBPAH / Twin Shadow 2011 tour dates are below.

Continue reading "The Pains of Being Pure At Heart & Twin Shadow --- 2011 Tour Dates"

photos by Chris Doss

DOWNLOAD: Ray Barretto - Acid (Twin Shadow RMX) (MP3) (via)

Twin Shadow @ Don Hill's

Brooklyn's scuffed beauties Twin Shadow plucked a flagship track by Bronx salsa trailblazer Ray Barretto for a full-bore Chicago house seance. One of the best things about this remix is that Twin Shadow's leader, George Lewis, Jr., is not explicitly a classic dance music producer--even with his mastery of machine beats, his amazing debut album's more about black nubuck, bedroom-isolated new wave guitars and secret emotions plumbed from the diaphragm. But he knew Barretto was a drummer who stayed posted behind the congas, so Lewis beelined for the piano parts, punctuating "Acid"'s intense syncopation with psyched trumpets and ghost vocals. Unexpected remix but in retrospect it totally makes sense, since dude's a medium with drum machines. It's Midwest-to-borough utopia as dictated by maybe 1989. [Fader]

Twin Shadow played the Terrible Holiday Party at Don Hill's on Friday (12/17). A set of pictures from that show continues below...

Continue reading "Twin Shadow remixed Ray Barretto, played Don Hill's ----------- (MP3, pics) "

Twin Shadow @ LPR in September (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Twin Shadow is playing 'A Terrible Holiday Party' at Don Hill's in NYC on Friday, 12/17. Tickets go on sale Friday at 9am for the event that is also advertising "Possible special guest: ???" and DJ sets by Twin Shadow producer Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, Les Enfant Terribles, and Drew Heffron.

Twin Shadow also has upcoming dates throughout North America and Europe, and they are all listed below along with four different streaming remixes of Drums song "Me & the Moon", including one by Matthew Dear and another by Twin Shadow....

Continue reading "Twin Shadow remixed the Drums, playing Don Hill's & other tour dates"

photos by Chris Doss

DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - Put the Days Away (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - Oh, Naoko (MP3)

Bear in Heaven @ MHOW

"Sure, we're all sick of bands with the word "bear" in their names (to the point, that I'm actually sick of jokes about how many bands there are with "bear" in their name).

Bear in Heaven double up on annoying indie band trends by being from Brooklyn as well, but while it would be easy to dismiss them as a poorly named hipster band, they're actually a solid vaguely Krautrock sounding indie act worth seeing." [Tuscon Weekly]

It's on Tuscon!

Bear in Heaven concluded their tour Friday night in their home borough at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Fellow buzzbands Sun Airway and Twin Shadow opened the sold out show.

NYC Taper taped Bear in Heaven. Download it there. Setlist reposted below.

Btw, Bear in Heaven don't have any other North American dates scheduled at the moment, but they will be DJing that previously mentioned Liturgy show at Glasslands on December 9th. Delicate Steve is also on the bill.

Twin Shadow has this coming up:

Twin Shadow's video for "Castles In The Snow", with some more pictures from Music Hall of Williamsburg (Chris's camera broke at the show, so no pics of Twin Shadow and just a few of the other bands), below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven & Sun Airway played MHOW w/ Twin Shadow (who is playing Kidrockers) -- pics, setlist, live recording"

photos by Alexis Maindrault, words by Andrew Frisicano

As their Twitter makes clear, this tour, the Thermals are into Furbys. The blinking, ear-wiggling, talking (though not during the show) animatronic creatures took the stage, courtesy of a roadie, five minutes before the band: The Thermals will not play without their Furbys. The trio came out (Hutch, Kathy and drummer Westin, who always kind of looks like their child playing drums for mom and dad's band), and it was "Here's Your Future," the rousing first track off The Body, the Blood, the Machine (BBM, if you will) that got the blood flowing to start off the night.

"We opened for Sleater-Kinney here five years ago," Hutch said of Irving Plaza, the mildly impersonal hall (partially because of the barricade between band and crowd) that hawks its popcorn and pizza (both a bit too pricy) between bands.

Tonight they were headlining, and playing in support of new record Personal Life, an inward look from the band prone to fist-pumpable anthems (the "When We Were Alive" boast of "you shoulda seen us in our PRIME" being one prime example). Shedding some light on the LP, Hutch remarked, "It's not about my personal life [pause]...it's slightly about my personal life." Which is good news for people looking for the band to take a new direction after the sorta meandering "Now We Can See," the much lighter follow-up to the agit-punk epic BBM.

At Irving Plaza, BBM's "Returning to the Fold" elicited mock baptisms and prayerful hands aloft in rapture. For that same album's single, "Pillar of Salt," even the soundboard operator, who had previously sold me my ticket (multi-tasking!), sang along.

The group also tapped into their first two albums, collections that could be described with words like "arty," "lo-fi," "post-." Thankfully, almost 10 years later, those tracks still stand up to repeated abuse live. They continue to be among the most energetically recieved, and it's fairly easy to see why. The tempos are fast, and Westin at the edge of his seat pounds the beats into the hi-hat and snare.

Personal Life is another beast all together. The drum kit is less manic, often tapping away at the ride cymbal, while the guitar drops at times to out put the bass up front. For those songs ("There's Nothing You Can't Learn," "Never Listen To Me," "Not Like Any Other Feeling") Hutch barely goes to his guitar, instead articulating the lyrics in Craig Finn-like gestures and poses. I'm sure the crowd will be jiving along with him in future shows, but here at least, it was fun to watch.

Second opener Twin Shadow (I missed So Cow unfortunately) filled in ably for Cymbals Eat Guitars, with their laid-back synth-pop. Twin Shadow's sound is immediately appealingly, syrupy and retro (chill, even), but the smooth vocals of George Lewis Jr. make the band a sexier enterprise than other gauzy '80s-inspired bands. In their hands, the big space felt like an intimate bedroom session.

More tour dates HERE. More pictures from the show (So Cow included), and the Thermals setlist, below...

Continue reading "The Thermals, Twin Shadow & So Cow played Irving Plaza (pics & setlist) "

Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Siren Fest 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Hey New York,
We regrettably have to cancel our performance at Irving Plaza tonight. Obviously this is a huge disappointment, but we've had a family medical emergency and family comes first. The Thermals show goes on as planned with Twin Shadow filling in for us. Thanks for understanding.
Love,
CEG

You can grab tickets to tonight's Thermals, Twin Shadow, So Cow show at Irving Plaza for 2 for 1 at Live Nation (Password: FuckinA). You can also probably get tickets at the door, but the discount won't apply there.

Cymbals Eat Guitars have been on tour with The Thermals this entire month, and they will continue on tour with them Thurday in Boston. Hopefully all is well with them, or maybe they just needed a night off while the tour was visiting their hometown.

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Patricia Scull

Holy Fuck

Brooklyn-based Twin Shadow takes the stage first at Le Poisson Rouge Saturday night (9/18), where George Lewis, Jr., mastermind behind Twin Shadow, seems to already have a following. Playing songs off their first album Forget, Twin Shadow seems to have found the portal to the 80's, taking the smoothest beats and synth riffs and totally reinventing the wheel for the here and now, while letting obvious 80's influences shine through. Lewis's vocal style is low and nonchalant but on certain choruses and words, the texture goes way up, almost bordering on screamo, and returns to melodic utterances almost as quickly as it once rose. Someone in the audience shouts for an encore, but they'll just have to wait until Twin Shadow headlines their own show. Twin Shadow is now on tour with Jamie Lidell.

Houston, TX band Indian Jewelry commandeers the LPR stage shortly after Twin Shadow, laying down some ground rules for watching their set: "No flash photography. It makes us look awful. Think about it," along with "No texting on your fucking phones." Opening their set with a completely dark stage, the lighting situation quickly turns to something dangerous for one with epilepsy. Flashing strobe light and indiscernible images projected on a screen complete the visual effects, while bass and reverb boom from the speakers. Using audio effects like consistently grinding electronic bass and guitar layered over an evacuation-type alarm sound with distorted lyrics floating overhead is typical of this band's style, who not only provide a creative visual show but an introspective sound show as well.

The most impressive thing about "electronic" band Holy Fuck is that the multitude of sound pouring off the LPR stage is house-made. While maintaining dance-worthy rhythms and pulses of sound via multiple (toy) keyboards, bass, and drums, keyboardist Brian Borcherdt rips ribbons of 35 mm film through a film synchronizer. This in turn produces an awesome visual element to the show while providing rhythmic sound scratches that are the life and soul of the audio element. The four members come together on stage like some crazy supercomputer from the future, and rock out like madmen using sound in innovative ways to create real-deal compositions that are emotionally and aurally appealing. Because the material presented is all created organically, the live show is more visually engaging, with Borcherdt and fellow keyboardist Graham Walsh busy playing their multiple instruments, turning dials, flipping switches, and pulsing physically with the beats, while Matt Schulz and Matt McQuaid keep things flowing with drums and bass, respectively. Hailed for their innovative methods and quality output, Holy Fuck is keeping the love alive with a US tour promoting their latest release, Latin, that extends through late October.

Updated dates and more pictures from the NYC shows, below...

Continue reading "Holy Fuck played LPR w/ Twin Shadow & Indian Jewelry (pics), on tour now (dates) "

DOWNLOAD: Sun Airway - "Put the Days Away" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bear in Heaven - Ultimate Satisfaction (The Field Remix) (MP3)

Bear In Heaven at Seaport in July (more by Chris La Putt)

Bear in Heaven are in remix heaven. The band employed some killer folks to contibute to a remix LP of the tunes of their 2009 LP Beast Rest Forth Mouth. Justin Broadrick, The Field, High Places, Twin Shadow and others all lend their talents to the project which is currently being packaged for sale with the original release digitally. Get yourself a copy. Field remix above. Full tracklist below.

Meanwhile, Bear in Heaven are prepping to hit the road with Sun Airway, meeting up with one of the culprits from the remix LP, Twin Shadow, for four dates that will include Music Hall of Williamsburg on 11/19. Tickets are still on sale.

Twin Shadow open for Holy Fuck at Le Poisson Rouge this Saturday night.

Three of Bear in Heaven's dates are with Cloudland Canyon, who played Union Pool last night, and who play a free in-store at Permanent Records in Brooklyn today (9/17).

Philadelphia's Sun Airway's debut album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, is due via Dead Oceans on October 26th. Dig on "Put The Days Away" available for download above (grab a 2nd track in a previous post). The band employs tons of visuals in their live show, which come off as videos when watched on their own.

Some of those videos, all dates, and more below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven got remixed, touring w/ Cloudland Canyon, Twin Shadow & Sun Airway (dates) "

photos by Gabi Porter

Twin Shadow @ Mercury Lounge

This weekend Holy Fuck (who were last in NYC to play Siren) will join a slew of notables to play Reading/Leeds Festivals in the UK, but shortly after, the band will skip back across the pond to kick off a North American tour that hits Le Poisson Rouge in NYC on 9/18 with Twin Shadow and Indian Jewelry. Tickets are on sale. The show is one date of a longer tour that will lead them through most of October.

Before that, Twin Shadow will play another NYC area show in preparation of the new LP due on 9/28 via Terrible Records. Look for them to headline Glasslands on 9/11 with Zambri, My Gold Mask, Distractions, Machu Picchu. Tickets are on sale.

Twin Shadow played Mercury Lounge on 8/17 with Sean Bones and New Numbers who open for Robbers on High Street at Rock Shop on August 28th) and You Can Be A Wesley. More pics from that show (none of YCBAW though), a NSFW video of Twin Shadow's "Slow" and tour dates, are below...

Continue reading "Holy Fuck touring, playing LPR w/ Twin Shadow who played Mercury w/ Sean Bones (pics & dates) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Twin Shadow - Slow (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Cops Freak Me Out (MP3)

Summer Blondes

Ok it's a busy weekend of shows. It always is, I always say that. But this TWII is seems more packed than most. No doubt, it is time to try a little harder in the band name department. Especially when it comes to beachy ones of which, anyone who even casually checks in with Pitchfork can tell you, there are too many of. Adding to the band name clutter and confusion are Oakland, CA's Summer Blondes who are visiting us this weekend. They play tonight (7/21) at Shea Stadium, a house party in Bushwick on Friday (7/23) and Bruar Falls on Saturday.

Given their name and hometown, it may not surprise you learn that Summer Blondes (who are dudes, maybe that's a surprise) make low-fi surf garage rock. That said, and lack of moniker originality aside, I like these guys. Alternating between laid back instrumentals and blown-out rockers (and some that most interestingly fall in between), there's more musicality going on here than you might expect. Also: their drummer is a manic powerhouse, and their singer/screamer appears to be a little nuts. No records out yet, but the band do have CDR demos they've been handing out at shows so keep an eye/ear out for those.

Pujol

Also playing that Saturday Bruar Falls show are Nashville's Pujol who are on JEFF the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label. Is it just me or does it seem like there's a Nashville band in town every weekend? Bye bye JEFF and Heavy Cream, but hello Pujol. You may know him from Wizardz or MEEMAW if you follow the Nashville scene closer than I do. Like all the bands on the Infinity Cat roster, Daniel Pujol makes poppy, punky party rock that is hard to dislike.

If you can't make the Bruar show, Pujol also play Silent Barn on Sunday night and that one's with The Beets, Knight School, and Moonmen on the Moon, Man. Check out a couple Pujol music videos at the bottom of this post with all dates.

Moving from Nashville to Memphis, as mentioned in the previous post, we've got Magic Kids in town for a couple of show. Read more about that there.

Twin Shadow

For being in a band who have never done a whole lot for me one way or the other (there, I admit it), I like every band on Chris Taylor's Terrible Records.  The label's next release is the debut from locals Twin Shadow which will be out September 28. The brainchild of stylish New Yorker George Lewis Jr., Twin Shadow mix a variety of '80s influences into a pretty distinctive sound. For example, on "Slow," which you can download at the top of this post, you can hear a little Joy Division in the drumbeat, and the arpeggiated, delay-effected guitar is straight out of The Chameleons or U2's playbook. You can even hear a little Prince ("I Would Die 4 U") and Bruce Springsteen ("I'm on Fire") in there too. But he makes it all into something new.

Lewis, who sounds like The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan but looks more than a little like Phil Lynott, is a charismatic cat on stage... see them now in small places while you can. Twin Shadow play Cake Shop Thursday (7/22) and Coco 66 on Friday (7/23). Both shows are with Hooray for Earth.

Free Energy @ the Pitchfork Festival (more by Kate Gardiner)

And last but certainly not least, this Friday's edition of the Seaport Music Festival might just be the biggest of the Summer with Free Energy, Best Coast and Loose Limbs. Best Coast couldn't be any hotter right now with just about every media outlet writing about their debut album which comes out next week. It's a fine showcase for Bethany Cosentino's natural way with a melody, her great Loretta Lynn-ish voice, and her ability to rhyme the word "crazy." Much has been made of the single-minded lyrical themes -- a very bad breakup, weed -- but I prefer to focus on those melodies and her voice which can stop you in your tracks. It a gorgeous record in that respect, and Best Coast, now with full-time drummer Ali (swiped from Vivian Girls), have been good the three times I've seen them this year (twice at SXSW, once at Knitting Factory). It's also Best Coast's only NYC show (not counting the invite-only one last night) until they return at the end of September. All tour dates are below.

Headliners Free Energy should be right at home on a big outdoor stage, as their album is loaded with festival-ready fist-pumping rock anthems, stealing the best bits of Thin Lizzy, ELO and '80s stadium rock. Perfect summer music, that goes down easier than Bud Light. Get there early for trio Loose Limbs (who are signed to Seaport Music Records), and I'll be DJing a second week in a row. Will I play The Darkness? Seems likely.

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That's gonna do it for this edition. There's some more daily picks of things worth checking out that I didn't cover above:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21

Montreal's Parlovr and Suuns play the first of their two shows this week at Mercury Lounge and both are worth catching (and one is now signed to Secretly Canadian). It's an early show.

You could make a Montreal night of it by then heading over to Home Sweet Home for the Wierd party where Automelodi play at Midnight.

Sludgy noisemerchants Total Slacker (check out new MP3 "Cops Freak Me Out" at the top of this post) and funky Ava Luna (who impressed during Northside) headline a bill at Glasslands that also includes Mala Strana and Baltimore's loud Weekends.

Diehard, who'll have a new EP out soon of catchy, classic-sounding indie rock,  at Union Pool with The Waylons and World War.

continued below...

Continue reading "Summer Blondes, Twin Shadow, Violens, Free Energy, Pujol, Best Coast, Midnight Juggernauts, more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Bao Nguyen

Twin Sister

Tickets to the June 26th BrooklynVegan Memory Tapes / Twin Sister / Dom / ZAZA show at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale Saturday at noon (not today at noon as originally advertised). The four bands are four of many that were just announced as part of this year's Northside Festival.

You don't have to wait until June to see Twin Sister though. As previously mentioned, they'll be at Rooftop Films Opening Night on May 14th and a release show for their Color Your Life EP at Glasslands on May 28th. I also since noticed that the band is booked to play the "Art Directors Club Annual Awards After-Party" at ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th Street on Wednesday, May 19th. That show will set you back a mere $125.

Wednesday night Twin Sister shared a bill with fellow twin band Twin Shadow (twins are the new caves?). NYC Taper taped Twin Sister. Go over there to get the free MP3s (or FLAC).

Both twin bands were the openers for the Morning Benders who were playing (to Jason Schwartzman at) their third sold out NYC show in a short amount of time. The first was also at Mercury Lounge. The second was the BV show at Music Hall with Holiday Shores and The Luyas.

More pictures from Wednesday night below...

Continue reading "Twin Sister played Mercury Lounge w/ Twin Shadow & Morning Benders (pics, audio), more shows coming (one expensive)"