Girls @ Cake Shop in NYC (more by Tim Griffin)

Girls and Los Campesinos! are kicking off a tour together at Webster Hall in NYC on Tuesday (8/4, tickets), but first you can catch them at secret-ish show at Union Pool in Brooklyn TONIGHT (8/3). $10 tickets at the door only, 8pm doors, 8:30 show.

The show takes place before Reverend Vince Anderson gets there. Maybe Natalie Portman will stop by.

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Paul Birman

Saviours-a-slayin'

Saviours and Sourvein took over Union Pool on 7/29, with an assist going out to Children. The date was one of three for Saviours in the coming weeks, including supporting The Walkmen & Dinosaur Jr, as well as Cake Shop on 7/31 where they will team up with Pollution and Bezoar.

Pics from Union Pool (is that Natalie Portman?) and tour dates are below....

Continue reading "Saviours & Sourvein - Union Pool pics ++ Cake Shop added"

by Black Bubblegum

Jebb Riley of Doomriders (& Disappearer) on stage at the BV-BBG Showcase during the Northside Festival (more by Jason Walker)

Though Doomriders are directly responsible for throbbing neck pains due to the head-nodding whiplash incurred on June 14th at the BV-BBG showcase, the band is determined to punish the tri-state further when they hit the road for a handful of dates including Union Pool on August 9th. Along for the ride are recent Deathwish signees Acid Tiger (featuring Ben Koller of Converge), Moutheather (featuring Nate Newton's bandmate in Jesuit, Brett Mathews), and I Hate Our Freedom (who are also scheduled to play Mercury Lounge with errortype:11). Full tour dates are below.

Meanwhile, bassist Jebb Riley of Doomriders' other project, Disappearer, have recently made their new LP The Clearing available for free download (much like their last EP). Disappearer are scheduled to support the reunited Cave In at their reunion show THIS WEEKEND in Allston, MA (7/19). More on Disappearer here.

Sourvein also played the BV-BBG show at Europa, and will be at Union Pool in the coming weeks as well.

Continue reading "Doomriders announce a few shows (including 1 in Brooklyn)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Saviours - "Acid Hand" (MP3)

The last time we saw Bay Area badasses Saviours it was at The Charleston. This time the band has scheduled TWO NYC area shows, both with very different but kickass lineups. First up, Saviours are scheduled to take on Union Pool with Children and BV faves Sourvein on July 29th! Tickets are on sale. Then two weeks later on Aug 12th, Saviours will round out a very odd but nonetheless amazing bill with Dinosaur Jr and The Walkmen at Summerstage.

Saviours recently completed production on their follow-up to Into Abaddon, are gearing up to hit the road with Skeletonwitch and Trap Them, and are releasing a series of seven-inches. One of those tracks, "Acid Hand", is downloadable above. Full tour dates are below.

T-Roy of Sourvein's cousin, Dixie Dave of Weedeater, is hitting the road with Down & Melvins.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Saviours - 2009 tour dates (Union Pool and... Summerstage) "

Advice for attending July 4th fireworks: arrive early and expect crowds [Everything Hudson]

What are you doing on the 4th? Below we've listed a bunch of other options if you'll be in NYC (and a few if you want to leave)...

Continue reading "Independence Day 2009 - 4th of July events in NYC (Conor Oberst, Woodsist Fest, Japanther, Feelies, fireworks, more)"

On June 15th, Black Betty regulars Rev. Vince Anderson and his Love Choir played the final show at that Brooklyn venue. Since then, after 4+ years at Black Better, Reverend Vince has moved his act to Brooklyn venue Union Pool for a Monday night residency, which debuted on June 22nd. Admission to the shows is free.

More info on Rev. Vince and his residency, which includes "special weekly guests," below...

Continue reading "Reverend Vince Anderson every Monday at Union Pool"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Bloodhorse - "Paranoiac" (MP3)

Combining elements of punk, doom, and plain 'ol brute force, Boston's Bloodhorse have dropped their new LP Horizoner on Translation Loss. Check out the sublime "Paranoiac", available for download above, and stream the entire LP at MySpace.

In celebration of the release of Horizoner, Bloodhorse will play a record release show at Union Pool in NYC (?) on June 10th with the mighty Medusa (mems Racebannon, profiled here) and Pollution! Check out the flyer below, that's a great triple bill.

Continue reading "Bloodhorse - an MP3, new album & NYC record release show"

DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (live on Laundromatinee) (MP3)

Here We Go Magic are about to depart on their tour with Grizzly Bear that kicks off after they play three local shows (Town Hall, Town Hall, MHOW), but first, you can catch Luke Temple and band tonight (5/26, 10pm) at a secretish show at Union Pool in Brooklyn with Midnight Masses. FREE SHOW.

For more HWGM, check out their new Daytrotter Session, as well as the one they recorded for Laundromatinee. All dates below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic - secret show in Brooklyn tonight before Grizzly Bear tour ++ new live sessions (MP3s)"

WAVVES & Psychedelic Horseshit - BFF

Psychedelic Horseshit are back in town! Catch them at Brooklyn's Union Pool with Little Girls and Sisters tonight (5/20).

PH's good friends Times New Viking will be back in Brooklyn in June.

And tickets are now on AmEx pre-sale for the much larger show that PH's best friend of all, WAVVES, is playing at Bowery Ballroom in June.

photos by Justina Villanueva, words by Black Bubblegum

Coady and Toshi of Big Business

"After much anticipation, Los Angeles based rock heroes BIG BUSINESS have just released their latest and most epic album to date. Entitled "Mind The Drift," the album is available courtesy of the renowned Hydra Head Records, and was produced by Phil Ek (Built To Spill, Fleet Foxes, The Shins) in his Seattle studio.

Featuring the ferocious vocals and bass duties of Jared Warren (ex-Karp, Tight Bros From Way Back When), dominating drumming abilities of Coady Willis (also of the newly revived Murder City Devils), and for the first time, guitar madman Toshi Kasai (also a respected producer in his own right), "Mind the Drift"... [PR]

The Big Business and Tweak Bird train landed at Union Pool on 5/9 and Mercury Lounge on May 10th (with Titan). All tour dates, and more pictures from the Brooklyn show below...

Continue reading "Big Business (new album out now & streaming) & Tweak Bird @ Union Pool in Brooklyn - pics (and tour dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Au Revoir Simone - Shadows (MP3)

Au Revoir Simone @ Union Pool - Apr 13, 2009

Au Revoir Simone have announced more dates for their upcoming US tour. As mentioned before, tickets are already on sale ARS's two upcoming NYC shows: Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 29 and Bowery Ballroom on June 27.

The Brooklyn trio played a fun, packed show on Monday at Union Pool as a warm-up for this extensive haul on which they're about to embark. They stuck mainly to tracks from their upcoming album Still Night, Still Light which is out May 18 on the band's own Our Secret Record Company label - a double 10" vinyl version included. The first single is "Shadows" and you can download the MP3 of it at the top of this post.

Tour dates and video of ARS performing "Shadows" at Monday's Union Pool show after the jump...

Continue reading "Au Revoir Simone played Union Pool - new MP3, more dates "

"She was talkative, funny, charming, adorable. She had a tattoo on her back that read "I Love Beards.""

Someone sent me a link to VICE's "DEPARTMENT OF OOPSIES! - WE HIRED A GRIFTER" article the other day (above picture included). I assumed, being that it was VICE, that it was a joke. I wasn't really sure what the point was.

It wasn't until someone else sent me the link to Wednesday's Observer article that I realized this was a true story. Gawker sums it up like this:

It's a crazy new hipster character fond of criminal and sexual hijinks! Let's meet Kari Ferrell, the 22 year-old tattooed Utah girl who scammed her way through hipster Brooklyn. Sex, lies, cancer, and bands, yea!

Kari's story first came out when she lied her way into a job at Vice. That lasted a week, until someone there Googled her and found out she was wanted back in Utah for fraud, theft, and $60K in bad checks, and was generally a con artist.

But today [4/15] former Gawkerer Doree Shafrir comes out with a monstrous piece in the Observer on Kari's whole freaking life story (Doree is most comfortable when dealing with the criminal element). Oh it is delightful, assuming you weren't personally unfortunate enough to come in contact with the brash young pathological liar/ vixen! The short version: Kari stole and scammed her way around Salt Lake City for a while, then decamped to Brooklyn, where she resumed stealing and scamming, using aggressive sex appeal and wild lies like "I have cancer" or "I'm pregnant" or "I work there" (sometimes all at once, to her boyfriends!) to get...money? Validation? She's obviously mad psycho. [Gawker]

It's strange that she came to Brooklyn and used her real name. Check her out in the Salt Lake City Police's Most Wanted video below...

Continue reading "Kari Ferrell - the tattooed 'hipster grifter' invaded Brooklyn"

by Bill Pearis

1/3 of Au Revoir Simone @ Radio Room in Austin (BV party) (by Ryan Muir/Metromix)

Brooklyn's Au Revoir Simone release their second full-length, Still Night, Still Light, next month and are about to head out on on a European tour (where their album comes out this month). As a warm up though, Annie, Erika and Heather are playing a "secret" show this Monday (4/13) at Union Pool. Tickets are also on sale now for two upcoming proper NYC shows: May 29 at Music Hall of Williamsburg, which will start their U.S. tour and then Bowery Ballroom on June 27 which comes at the end. Full dates are still pending.

Still Night, Still Light was produced by Thom Monahan who is a member of The Pernice Brothers and has recently twiddled knobs for Vetiver, Little Joy, and The Broken West. Au Revoir Simone played a really nice set last month as part of the Brooklynvegan day party during SXSW, and footage of them performing new song "All or Nothing" is at the bottom of this post. You can also check out early versions of three songs from the new album (which I like a lot) over at The Recess Sessions, which were filmed by Vincent Moon of La Blogothèque Take-a-Way show fame.

SXSW video and all known tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Au Revoir Simone - new album & tour dates (3 NYC shows) "

Akron/Family's three March NYC shows were previously sold out, but now tickets are back on sale for the March 29th one with Larkin Grimm at Union Pool. That venue is much smaller than Bowery Ballroom where their NYC show after that will take place. The May 6th date was just announced and tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Also just announced: Akron/Family are playing ATP NY on September 12 with Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Melvins and many more.

Their new album, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, will be released by Dead Oceans one day before the Bowery show...

"Everyone is Guilty" is the first single from AKRON/FAMILY'S upcoming May 5th full-length release, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free. Featuring album opener "Everyone is Guilty" along with non-album b-side "Total Destruction," this single is available as a limited edition 7" and digital release. The vinyl will be available at Akron/Family shows and via record stores participating in Record Store Day 2009.

Continue reading "Akron/Family - a Bowery show, ATP NY, SXSW, Union Pool (TIX back on sale) & other tour dates"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Weird Owl - "Mind Mountain" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weird Owl - "Skeletelepathic" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Naam - "Kingdom" (MP3)

Weird Owl, stone cold lampin' at the pearly gates.

Its retro-psychedelia night at Union Pool as Weird Owl, Naam, and Heavy Hands will team up for a show at TONIGHT (2/20) to celebrate the release of Weird Owl's Tee Pee debut, Ever The Silver Cord be Loosed out NOW... pick it up here. NSFW show flyer is below.

With Tee Pee Records debut, Ever the Silver Cord Be Loosed, the Brooklyn-based band has figured out how to make their alt-country psych rock work for them. Sure, there's plenty of "Heart of Gold" twang to tracks like "13 Arrows, 13 Stars" and "Phases of the Moon," but this time around, Weird Owl doesn't sound so indebted to the Crazy Horse frontman's body of work (okay, maybe parts of "In the Secrecy of Oceans" are very reminiscent of "Ohio").

The band's best on "Mind Mountain," "Do What th' Owl Wilt," and "Flying Low Through the Air After Thunder," numbers where they up the psych quotient while still maintaining strong songwriting focus. -[Stoner Rock]

Naam, who recently signed on with Tee Pee Records, are currently working on their full-length long-player, due in late 2009. Heavy Hands' debut, Smoke Signals, dropped in November of last year. Julian Cope had some kind words to say about it.

Continue reading "Weird Owl - 2 NYC shows (1 tonight), new album & MP3's"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Dead Man - "Rest In Peace" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Radio Moscow - "Frustrating Sound" (MP3)

Swedish throwback proto-doomers Dead Man are teaming up with Radio Moscow for a short US tour kicking off TONIGHT (2/5) at Union Pool and concluding Feb 21st at Cake Shop! Union Pool gets Headdress while Cake Shop will also feature Bogan Dust and D. Charles Speer & the Helix.

Dead Man, whose members possess a wealth of musical experience derived from time spent in various Swedish acts (including the hard rock band Norrsken, which also featured in its ranks current Witchcraft front man Magnus Pelander and Graveyard members Joakim Nilsson and Rikard Edlund), play magnetic, spirited rock with melancholic undertones and "a slight touch of darkness" (calling for comparisons to Jefferson Airplane, Blue Cheer, Dungen and Dead Meadow).

Radio Moscow drops their new record Brain Cycles on April 14th via Alive Records, thats just nine days after the band is scheduled to play Roadburn with Neurosis, Saint Vitus, Om, and many many more.

Tour poster and all dates below...

Continue reading "Radio Moscow & Dead Man - 2009 Tour Dates, MP3s "

We are excited to unveil the first details of Akron/Family's forthcoming album, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, which will arrive May 5, 2009 on Dead Oceans. In celebration of this new chapter for Akron/Family, the band is previewing much of the material from Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free in special shows this coming March. Akron/Family will be playing a series of intimate residencies in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, playing multiple nights in venues far smaller than they normally would visit. Additionally, they will be doing co-headline shows with Born Ruffians in Toronto and Montreal, performing a St. Patrick's Day blow out at Denver's beautiful Oriental Theater, visiting the SXSW festival and playing at the New Museum in New York City. The band has hand-picked openers for each night of the residencies, and every city will feature special guest musicians joining Akron/Family on stage, with the hope that each night the audience will receive a unique experience.

03/27 in NYC @ The New Museum w/ The Lexie Mountain Boys
03/28 in Brooklyn @ Union Pool w/ Gold Sparkle Band (TICKETS)
03/29 in Brooklyn @ Union Pool w/ Larkin Grimm (TICKETS)

I don't see tickets yet to the New Museum show, though there are tix on sale for the February 13th High Places / Grouper show at the same venue.

All Akron/Family dates below...

Continue reading "Akron/Family -2009 tour dates, mini-residencies (Union Pool)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Plenty of bands opt for unprintable names -- last year was a great one for **** Buttons, ****** Jeans and ****** ** -- but what about an untenable one? Really, how far could a group calling itself the Muslims get in this day and age?

"It's just a band name," the guitarist Matty McLoughlin told an interviewer early last year. "It isn't meant to describe us or associate us with anything." But by the end of the year, the band had switched to the Soft Pack. "We were sick of it," he later said. "Sick of questions, jihad comments, basically everything about it. It became a total nuisance."

It did its job, though, helping this Los Angeles-via-San Diego mope-punk outfit break through to wider attention last year. At the Mercury Lounge on Friday night, some fans still shouted "Muslims!" as the band took the stage. And the band wasn't above teasing a bit, twiddling through a few bars of "Lawyers, Guns and Money," by Warren Zevon, who passed away in 2003, before the singer Matt Lamkin deadpanned, "We were better before we died." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Those Darlins & the Soft Pack @ Union Pool, NYC - pics"

A "child" of Andy Warhol, friend of Debbie Harry, buddy of artist Keith Haring, inspiration to Marc Jacobs and collaborator with them all, Stephen Sprouse was among the first generation of artists who didn't distinguish between fashion, art and rock. Mostly known for his upscale version of downtown street fashion, Sprouse's artwork extended from design to silkscreen to paper. Before his premature death in 2004, Sprouse had been preparing for a retrospective of his life's work. And this January, five years later, it will be ready for display in a full-blown Sprouse-esque exhibition called "Rock on Mars" -- a futuristic, pop-influenced smorgasbord -- at Deitch Projects.

"Hopefully people saw his fashion designs when people were wearing them out," says Suzanne Geiss, director at Deitch, "but I'm excited to see what he did on clothing extended to total installations. Seeing these things together will be a first." Sprouse often incorporated musicians into his work -- in this exhibition, designed and curated by long-time collaborator Jamie Boud, there will be paintings of a crucified Iggy Pop and a rarely-seen Sid Vicious with his pants down. In conjunction with the exhibition, Rizzoli is set to release a book of Sprouse's work by Roger and Mauricio Padilha, The Stephen Sprouse Book; and Louis Vuitton has created a new line of clothing and accessories based on the original Vuitton-Sprouse 2001 collaboration.

The exhibition runs from Jan. 9 through Feb. 28, 2009, at Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster St., New York.
[Paper Magazine]

Vuitton will honor the late artist with three events this Thursday [January 8th/today]. The night will kick off with cocktails at the Vuitton boutique on Greene Street, with a simultaneous event at nearby Deitch Projects' Wooster Street Gallery for the opening of the "Rock on Mars" Sprouse retrospective [see above]. Afterwards, Vuitton and Jacobs will host a bash at the Bowery Ballroom, featuring a performance by Sprouse's friend Debbie Harry, followed by DJ Jus Ske. The venue is expected to have a Sprouse feel, with a special graffiti-and-neon decor.

Continue reading "Stephen Sprouse remembered @ Deitch, by Louis Vuitton, Debbie Harry plays Bowery tonight, Cat Power @ Union Pool"

words and photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Last night (11/10) I caught the first-ever performance of Team B at Union Pool in Brooklyn. I normally wouldn't try to hit a concert two hours after flying back from Austin, but the night was too tempting. Team B is Kelly Pratt (Beirut/Arcade Fire) 's brainchild, and the record features appearances from many great musicians including other members of Arcade Fire and Beirut.

I'm glad I made the effort. The group of multi-instumentalists played about half of the new album, along with a few other songs. "On My Mind," "Empty Hallways," and "Papa's Waltz" were personal favorites. Overall, I was overwhelmed with the amount of musical talent on the stage.

If you were there, you probably also remember the constant yelling of a drunken friend of the band in the front row. After they played "Hang Me", she yelled "Yay! Suicide!!!".... This spoiled some of the intimacy of the small venue, but, to accentuate the positive, I guess it also helped ease some of the tension of the band's first-ever-show and made for less awkward transitions between songs.

Kelly and band-member Jon Natchez are getting ready to hit the road with Herman Dune for a month or so (including 2 NYC shows this week), so don't expect to see any upcoming Team B shows soon, BUT Kelly told me he's trying really hard to make sure this band happens. Based on what I saw last night, I really hope it does. More pictures and the setlist below...

Continue reading "Team B (Kelly Pratt) @ Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Team B - On My Mind (MP3)

Team B is the new musical endeavor of Kelly Pratt. While written and recorded primarily on tour with Arcade Fire and Beirut in 2007 and 2008, help was also found with his amazing friends Pat Mahoney on drums (LCD Soundsystem), Jon Natchez and Perrin Cloutier from Beirut, and Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) on a track or two.

We don't have a label yet, but the cd is available now through this website, and will be available in a couple of weeks through other online outlets. If you want a copy just click on the link below and ye shall receive. Price is only $10 plus $2.50 for shipping (in the U.S). If you live outside the US please include $6.50 for shipping.
[Team B]

Kelly Pratt (Beirut, Arcade Fire)
Tracy Pratt (Beirut)
Ryan Smith (Twin Thousands, Stars Like Fleas)
Jon Natchez (Beirut, Stars Like Fleas)
Jason Poranski (Beirut, FreeTime)
Mike Fadem (The Jealous Girlfriends)

Jon Natchez's credits also inlude Shugo Tokumaru's live band, Bishop Allen, The Citizens Band, Escort and.... Skavoovie! Jon and Kelly also sometimes play together at venues like the Stone.

Mike Fadem's band The Jealous Girlfriends are going on tour with Nada Surf and have a NYC show coming up (Dec 10) at The Studio at Webster Hall where they also played during CMJ.

Stars Like Fleas have a track on Habitat, "a two disc set including 29 artists, covering the various manifestations of 'electronic music,' and produced as a benefit for Habitat for Humanity." You can get that at Asthmatic Kitty.

A video of Kelly, Tracy and Jon playing with Herman Dune at Union Hall below...

Continue reading "Team B (Kelly Pratt + Jon Natchez & other Beirut members) - an MP3, a Brooklyn show Monday"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Leia Jospe & Zach Dilgard

Trap Them by Zach Dilgard

As discussed before, Trap Them are here, just in time to bludgeon Union Pool TONIGHT (Oct 28, 2008) with their Entombed-hardcore-grind hybrid and local Swordswallower-s Tournament in tow. Their new album, Seizures In Barren Praise, drops November 11th on Deathwish.

Trap Them was also on hand this past Saturday (Oct 25th) at the Brooklyn Vegan Day Show at the Knitting Factory along with Rival Schools and many many others. The show my first experience with recently recruited ex-Unearth drummer Mike Justain, who is a force to be reckoned with in both skill and intensity in live performance. Anchored by the short violent outbursts of vocalist Ryan McKenney (when his mic wasn't crapping out on him), a great band just got better, and if you are free tonight and are a fan of heavy music, make sure and swing on down.

Due to some time changes Saturday, Trap Them, unfortunately, played in the Old Office while the main stage featured Made Out of Babies who brought their big guns as well. Made Out Of Babies pics are comin right up. In the meantime the rest of the surly Trap Them evidence is below...

Continue reading "Trap Them - BV party pics, Brooklyn show tonight"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

As announced, Emily Haines played back to back shows at Union Pool in Brooklyn last night (Sept 7). The two Emily shows were followed by a third show where Emily joined former tour-mates Tall Firs on stage for a few songs. Ends up, the first two shows weren't Emily solo performances at all. She didn't even play one song off her solo album. Instead, she and Metric guitarist Jimmy Shaw played the new, unreleased 9-track Metric album in its entirety, acoustically, twice. They just finished recording it earlier that day - their reason for being in NYC. Both sets were identical and both ended with the older Metric favorite "Live it Out" - a song the crowd was invited to sing along to.

Future plans for Metric include releasing the new album in November or December, playing more stripped-down, full-album shows, and maybe even recording and releasing the acoustic live version. Kyle stayed for all three sets last night. The below pictures are a mix from all of them (and include the setlist aka the tracklist for the new album)....

Continue reading "Emily Haines (Metric) (x2) & Tall Firs @ Union Pool - pics"

Emily Haines (Metric) @ APW (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

A distinct contrast from Metric's bold, danceable sound, Emily's solo work is an intimate and subtle collection of mellow, piano-driven tunes complimented by soft string and horn arrangements. [EACH] TICKET IS GOOD FOR [ONE] PERFORMANCE. - #1 @ 7:30PM. A REPEAT PERFORMANCE WILL FOLLOW @ 9PM. TICKETS ARE PRESALE ONLY, AND WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR. ALL SHOWS ARE 21+. NO EXCEPTIONS. UNION POOL 484 UNION AVE. CORNER OF UNION & MEEKER BROOKLYN, NY 11211

1. an early show ("EMILY HAINES SOLO PERFORMANCE #1")
2. a late show ("EMILY HAINES (w/ JIMMY SHAW of METRIC) SOLO PERFORMANCE #2")
3. a late-late show ("TALL FIRS featuring EMILY HAINES")

DOWNLOAD: Nickel Eye - Dying Star (off East Village Radio) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nickel Eye - Brandy of the Damned (off East Village Radio) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Native Korean Rock - Rapt (from MySpace) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Native Korean Rock - OOO (live @ Union Pool) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Native Korean Rock - Day Go By (live @ Union Pool) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: N.E.R.D. - My Drive Thru w/ Santogold & Julian Casablancas (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Albert Hammond Jr. - GfC (MP3)

Band Members: nickel eye (guitar, vocals, electric bass, double bass, harmonica); South: Joel Cadbury (steel guitar), Jamie McDonald (guitar), Brett Shaw (drums) and very special guests: Regina Spektor (piano), Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (guitar), Jack Dishel of Only Son (back up vocals), Jesse Wallace (drums) + more...

About nickel eye: Soon to be released The Time of the Assassins... For the moment, you can visit Mark Ronson's most recent radio broadcast (06/06/08) of "Authentic Shit" at www.eastvillageradio.com. At 1hr and 19mins, you will find a sneak preview of two songs and an interview with nickel eye.

Regina Spektor is also working with Ben Folds and playing a show with another Stroke, Albert Hammond Jr., who has some new music out of his own.

And while Albert and Nickel Eye are busy doing their thing, Julian has been wearing Converse and hanging with Pharrell (soon to be a daddy?) and Santogold. I don't know what's up with The Strokes, but if there is something up, Pharrell also wants to be involved.

And while Nick Zinner has been keeping busy with Nickel Eye, Karen O has been also doing her Native Korean Rock thing which included two shows the other night at Union Pool and some demos on MySpace. Yeah.

Download a whole bunch of MP3s above. The Karen O live tracks were ripped from two of the three YouTube videos you can watch below...

Continue reading "3 Strokes side projects, 2 Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 4 bands, 7 MP3s"