The xx @ ACL Live earlier this week (more by Tim Griffin)

Whilst on tour in Texas, we decided to cover a song by a Texan. She is one of our favourite artists of all time, Beyoncé. This song has always meant a lot to us and was written with another artist we really admire, Frank Ocean. Happy Valentines day to you all.

Lots of love, xx The xx

As mentioned, The xx will be touring with Grizzly Bear this summer.

Continue reading "The xx cover Beyonce for Valentine's Day (stream it)"

Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes on the Grammmys

So this got announced:

Rocks Off Concert Cruise w/ Alabama Shakes

We love being in NYC so to give some love back to our friends and fans here we have added a last minute Valentines Day Rocks Off Concert Cruise!! Yes, we are hitting the high seas and doing an intimate show on a boat. Since capacity for this show is limited (250 people) and we want everyone to have an equal opportunity to attend we are doing a lottery for tickets. Enter your name and info below and you will be entered to win the opportunity to purchase 2 tickets to this special show. You can enter the lottery from now until 5pm ET tonight, Wednesday February 13. Winners will be contacted between 6-7pm ET tonight with purchase details.

Additional show details: Show is Thursday February 14, 2013. Rain, Snow or Shine. Boarding starts at 7pm on 2/14 aboard the Destiny at Pier 81, West 41st Street and West Side Highway. Cruise lasts from 8-11pm. Ages 16+. Please only enter once, registering multiple times will not increase your chances, it will only waste your time.

Check out some footage of the Shakes, who are not feuding with Justin Bieber as far as I know, on the Grammys red carpet, below...

Continue reading "Alabama Shakes playing a boat in NYC THURSDAY (hurry and enter to get tickets NOW)"

by Bill Pearis

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day as you may know. Some folks really enjoy this chance to finally say I love you to that special someone in your life. Others take a more cynical view, echoing the sentiments of Team Spirit's new EP, Love Is For Suckers, which will consists of five garagey covers of classic love songs, mostly '60s pop, but also Meat Loaf's "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." The EP will be a free download on Valentine's Day but you can stream the whole thing right now, below.

Meanwhile, Team Spirit, the band fronted by former Passion Pit member Ayad Al Adhamy, are readying thier first official release for VICE/Warner Bros. It's a five song EP, out April 9, and you can stream "MRDR It's OK" from it below and check out the very NSFW animated video for "Fuck the Beach."

Team Spirit have a few tour dates coming up, including a stint opening for The Joy Formidable (though not in NYC). All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Team Spirit releasing free Valentine's Day covers EP (stream it), another EP in April, touring (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Morrissey, 1/11/2013 @ BAM (more by Dana [distortion] Yavin)

As you may remember, Morrissey was hospitalized last week for what turned out to be a bleeding ulcer, which caused cancelation of a number of dates on his current North American tour. It looks like the tour will indeed resume in Las Vegas on February 9, as per this missive from Moz himself sent to fan website True to You:

The reports of my death have been greatly understated. Once admitted to the William Beaumont Hospital at Royal Oak in Michigan, I received treatment for concussion, a bleeding ulcer, and Barrett's esophagus. The positive from all of this is that there are now no known ailments left for me to try.

I am fully determined to resume the tour on February 9 at the Chelsea Ballroom in Las Vegas. If there's an audience of any kind in attendance, I just might die with a smile on my face, after all. If I am not there, I shall probably never again be anywhere. Equally, I am determined to play Flint (Michigan) if it kills me (which, on the face of it, it almost has.)

Thank you to everyone present at both Brooklyn (New York) and Melbourne (Australia) during recent weeks for two of the best nights of what might charitably be termed my "career". My debt to you will outlive time itself.
pause at my headstone,

MORRISSEY

31 January 2013.

In related news, if lovers intwined pass you by and heaven knows you're miserable now, we may have a Valentines Day event in NYC for you. On February 14, Brooklyn venue The Bell House will present "Unloveable: A Smiths & Morrissey Valentine's Day" featuring our city's finest Smiths' tribute band The Sons & Heirs. A "Smiths cabaret" set from The Hold Steady's Dan Neustadt and Smiths superfan Dave Hill will be onhand as well. Tickets are on sale now.

Flyer for the event is below...

Continue reading "Morrissey on the mend, will resume tour soon; The Bell House hosting Smiths Valentines Day party"

The Drums posted a Ronettes cover to their Facebook in honor of the holiday today, though you need to "Like" them to hear it." "Hey it's Jonny. We wanted to buy you something but we made you something instead. It's Valentines Day so don't be shy with your love. See you soon"

And you can see them soon. The Drums play a free, late show at WIP (Work In Progress) in NYC tonight (2/14) along with DJ Miss Guy and others. You need to RSVP.

You can go after you catch their Frenchkiss labelmate Devin at Pianos, also a free show.

today in NYC
* The Drums @ WIP
* Dayna Kurtz @ Barbes
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Richard Thompson @ City Winery
* Wyatt Cenac & other comedians @ Union Hall
* Degreaser, Dead Boomers, Modra @ Zebulon
* Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra @ Cameo Gallery
* Gabriel and the Hounds, A>G>E @ Mercury Lounge
* The Sons & Heirs (Smiths tribute) @ The Bell House
* MNDR, Make Out, Psychobuildings @ Pianos
* Devin, St. Lucia, Tiny Victories @ Pianos
* Dave Hill & many others @ Littlefield's Rejection Show
* Lily & The Parlour Tricks, The Squaws @ Bowery Electric
* Dust Angel, Dirty Fences, Youth Quake, Threats @ Cake Shop
* Explosions in the Sky, Grouper, Ducky @ NYU Skirball Center
* Oberhofer, Slowdance, Night Manager, Bear Ceuse, DJ Marty McSorely @ 285 Kent
* "Babes In Toyland, Hole, X, Discount, Spitboy, Mika Miko, Heavens To Betsy, Frumpies" @ Death By Audio

Death By Audio's annual Anti V-Day Riot Grrrl Cover Bands Show is set to channel the likes of X and Hole to show folks exactly what love is good for.

Fiona Apple is playing a church at SXSW.
Thurston Moore played an Austin church over the weekend.

Thanks Heartless Bastards for the site sponsorship today. Grab their new album at iTunes. They play Chicago tonight and will soon bring their tour to Webster Hall in NYC.

Devin opens their Webster Hall show and plays a free show at Pianos tonight!

RIP Chicago jazz artist Jodie Christian.

Aside from rekindling old flames of their own making, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala began streaming their slinky new single as The Mars Volta, "The Malkin Jewel," yesterday (2/13). The band's new album, Noctourniquet, will be released on March 27 via Warner Bros. Listen below.

Watch St. Vincent play a Valentine's Day Party on Gossip Girl, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday? (Valentine's Day)"

Oberhofer @ 4Knots (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Oberhofer, whose official upcoming tour has him/them headlining Bowery Ballroom in March, has been playing some suprise local show lately. The next, though not exactly a secret, happens tonight (2/14) at 285 Kent and tickets are on sale. Slowdance, Night Manager, and Bear Ceuse are also on the bill.

Alternatively, if you're 21+, you can head to Pianos to see a free show by Devin and others.

Dear ridiculously attractive person who just so happens to be looking at this webpage about Tasteful Nudes right now,

Hi. My name is Dave and this is my very first collection of essays. As you can probably imagine, it pretty much has everything. In fact, if you like stories about stolen meat, animal attacks, young love, death, naked people, clergymen, rock-n-roll, irritable Canadians, and prison, you have just hit a street called Easy because my book talks about all that stuff and a bunch of other stuff too.

Getting back to that prison thing for a second though, I can think of almost no place better to read my book than from within the confines of a correctional facility. For starters, you will definitely have the time. Also, cozying up with a good book in front of your fellow inmates is a great way to show them a softer side that for some reason no one ever wants to hear about in the yard.

Fear not though, non-convicts: my book makes for a solid read outside of prison too. At the beach, on the subway, while whitewater rafting, during couples counseling, under local anesthesia--I have personally seen to it that my book is totally readable in all these scenarios as well as most other scenarios out there today. It will make you laugh, cry, and maybe even think so much that it will make you forget all your problems while simultaneously creating a few new ones. In limited instances, it has been known to cause severe dehydration and the occasional groin pull, but honestly I don't know what that's about. That said, it's probably not a bad idea to keep a glass of water handy and really stretch things out before strapping yourself in for a literary thrill ride you will want to experience again and again until you are either dead or your eyesight fails completely, whichever comes first. In fact, if I end up being wrong about any of this stuff, you can kick me right in the privates. Also, I will send you a nice ham (serves twenty). In short, you really can't lose on this one.

Your man,
Dave Hill

Catch Dave live at The Rejection Show Valentine's Day Heartbreak Haven taking place at Littlefield on 2/14 with "Lizz Winstead, Dave Hill: The One Man Heat-Bringing Machine, Sara Benincasa, Mandy Stadtmiller, Eliot Glazer, Elna Baker, Adam Wade, Katina Corrao, Ted Travelstead, Tom Shillue, Jordan Carlos, Bridey Elliott, Giulia Rozzi, Liam McEneaney, Blaise Kearsley, The Defibulators, Colleen AF Venable, and pie by the slice by Daly Pie!", and then again at Littlefield on 2/18 for The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society performs MIRAGE ... and more. Yes there will be Fleetwood Mac.

Explosions In The Sky at Wellmont Theater (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

NYU students get a treat this Valentine's Day, a show from Explosions In The Sky! The Texas post-rock quartet will join Grouper and Ducky for a Feb 14th NYU-students-only show (though it's "2 tickets per NYU ID"). The show will be seated on a first come, first serve basis and is a benefit for the Burton CHILL Foundation. Full details, including ticket information, below.

EITS so far has announced a few US festival appearances, but no additional dates. Catch them at Coachella and Sasquatch this year.

In other news, Grouper will team with Tiny Vipers for a collaborative LP entitled Foreign Body. Mirroring, the name for the duo, will release the record on March 19th via Kranky.

So far Liz Harris (Grouper) has a European tour mapped out for March, but no additional US dates to speak of. Full tour schedule is below.

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky playing Valentine's Day benefit @ NYU; Grouper & Tiny Vipers form 'Mirroring'"

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Chicha Libre @ Barbes
* Eszter Balint @ Barbes
* Federico Aubele @ Joe's Pub
* The Godfathers @ Santos Party House
* Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen @ Littlefield
* The Syd Straw Heartwreck Show @ Southpaw
* Abe Vigoda (Radio Happy Hour) @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Tony Scherr Trio, Norman Vladimir @ The Living Room
* Theophilus London, PO PO, New Look @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* 3rd Annual Anti V-day Riot Gurrl Cover Band Show @ Death By Audio
* Controlled Bleeding, Syphilitic Lust, Occultation, Skull @ Lit Lounge
* Vieux Farka Toure, Ramble Tamble, Invisible Familiars, Very Fresh @ Zebulon
* Jim Campilongo Electric Trio, Stephan Crump, Tony Mason @ The Living Room
* Kyp Malone Valentine's Day Party w/ Chica Vas, Hiro Kone, Grey Gersten @ Glasslands
* Genghis Barbie, Stumblebum Brass Band, Raya Brass Band, Frank London @ Mercury Lounge

The Spiderman musical is having a rough time. In related news, the dude who plays Spiderman is in the band Carney who are playing Bowery Ballroom tonight. Acutally all of Carney play in the musical that was written by U2 who Carney are opening for, along with Arcade Fire, at their show in New Brunswick, Canada on July 30, 2011.

Arcade Fire won "Album of the Year" at the Grammys.

LCD Soundsystem are on the Colbert Report tonight.

A video of Little Scream playing "The Heron and The Fox", below...

Video of Cee-Lo's Grammy performance below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday? (Valentine's Day)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Fitz & the Tantrums' main man Michael Fitzpatrick looks like Bryan Ferry, dresses like Paul Weller, sings like Daryl Hall and moves like a nightclub king on the prowl. To say the least, the guy's got style... So it's no wonder... that women comprised the majority of the audience. There were even a few screams when Fitzpatrick got flirtatious with his stage patter: "It's our first date, Boston," he enthused toward show's end, "and I think we got past first base."...

Fitzpatrick's showmanship may be slightly tongue-in-cheek, but his songs are genuine. He's a soul revivalist with a different tack: Instead of taking inspiration from long-lost '60s singles, he reaches back to the '80s, when smooth-soul-infused pop -- the above-named artists plus Prince, George Michael and "Let's Dance"-era Bowie -- was all over the charts and MTV. -[Boston Herald]

And.. the LA group has already scheduled their return to NYC, and soon! Currently still on tour (they play Pittsburgh on Thursday), Fitz & The Tantrums will take on Music Hall of Williamsburg on 2/16, two days after Valentine's Day. Tickets go on sale Saturday at noon, and we have a few pairs you can win! Details below.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, Fitz is holding a Valentine video contest

We'd like you to help us create a valentine video for "L.O.V."

We are certain you've got style and swagger so get your video cameras out and film yourselves...

Pick a creative location - get out of your living room and find someplace great - send us a video of you dancing to L.O.V. or send us a video of you making out with your L.O.V.ed one (nothing to risque, k?) or make a really great valentine for your L.O.V.er and take a picture of it.

We will edit it together and create one fun video to premiere on Valentine's Day.

The most creative location and idea will win a super pack with T-Shirt and Autographed Vinyl.

Have fun and Happy Valentine's Day!
Deadline is Saturday, February 5.

Continue reading "Fitz & the Tantrums played Bowery Ballroom (pics & setlist), add post-Valentine Brooklyn show happening soon (win tix) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Jonathan Richman's tour swung by Music Hall of Williamsburg for three nights over Presidents Day/Valentine's Day Weekend. The last of those was the V-Day show pictured here.

Jonathan was paired as always with his long-running drummer Tommy Larkins (who he's working on a new album with), and they riffed on the classics: "I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar" with an extended dance sequence, the rocking, extra-weird "No One Was Like Vermeer," and deconstructed Modern Lovers tracks "Old World" and "Pablo Picasso." Picking apart those first-album songs, with plenty of perspective on his own lyrics (digging into his use of the antiquated phrase "pick up girls"), was particularly enjoyable. The anti-techology, pro-human-contact shuffle "You Can Have a Cellphone, That's OK, But Not Me" was a good reminder for anyone stuck to their computer or phone most hours of the day (his label, Vapor Records, writes amazing things like: "Please note that Jonathan Richman does not have any direct involvement with the Vapor Records website and does not participate in the internet on any level").

Overall, the set was similar to (if looser than) his summer 2009 shows at Bowery Ballroom (one difference being the somber absence of Vic Chesnutt, who was never mentioned but his presence was felt in the tour's unfilled opening spot). The Valentine's Day touch did make it special for the crowd (like some go to church to get refreshed, others go to see Jonathan Richman). He talked freely in and out of his songs about his own romance and its lows and highs. One Juliet in the house even brought up a bouquet of flowers, which sent him beaming. He closed out the night with "Le Printemps Des Amoreux Est Venue," and, politely asking permission to play just two more, added "Mr. Sorrow" and the perfect "Not So Much to be Loved as to Love."

More pictures and a video are below...

Continue reading "Jonathan Richman played 3 nights @ MHOW (Valentine's pics)"

Jonathan Richman @ Bowery Balroom in June (more by Andrew Frisicano)

tonight in NYC
* Yes @ Town Hall
* Secret History @ Zebulon
* Al Green @ Wellmont Theatre
* Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* John Zorn Stone Benefit Improv Night @ The Stone
* John Wesley Harding, Freedy Johnston @ Maxwell's
* Nite Jewel, Class Actress, Blondes @ Death By Audio
* Suckers, Mexxico, The Tony Castles, Safe @ The Cameo
The Growlers, Gray Goods, Byrds of Paradise @ Union Pool
* Bad Credit No Credit, Noveller, Caroline Contillo, The Shivers @ Coco 66
* Neon Indian (DJ), French Horn Rebellion (DJ), Cubic Zirconia @ Glasslands
* So Cow, Preacher & the Knife, White Blue Yellow Clouds, Babies @ Cake Shop
* Rain Machine, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Iran, Candles of Paradise @ Glasslands
* Miracle Condition (ex-U.S. Maple), The House Floor, Fredrik, Penrose @ Mercury Lounge
* Tearing the Veil of Maya w/ Eugene Mirman, Anthony Jeselnik, Julian McCullough, Wyatt Cenac @ Union Hall
* A Valentine for Jack Rose w/ Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Steve Gunn, Tom Carter, Marcia Bassett, Michael Chapman, Glenn Jones @ Issue Project Room
* The So So Glos, Eskalators, Sweet Bulbs, Starscream, Coasting, Fluffy Lumbers, Blissed Out @ Market Hotel

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fashion Week also continues with at least one notable private show tonight (Nina Persson)

Al Green was supposed to play Wellmont Theatre tonight, but it's been postponed to March 14th.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday (Valentine's Day)?"

DOWNLOAD: Bisco Smith - "Broadcast Live" (Remix of TV On The Radio's "Wear You Out") (MP3)

Rain Machine @ BAM Opera House (more by Vincent Cornelli)

As pointed out in the comments, Noveller's Brooklyn Valentine's Day show at Glasslands will be happening instead at Coco 66. The lineup for that includes Bad Credit No Credit, The Shivers, comic Caroline Contillo and DJ Ropstyle .

Instead, Glasslands (before its Neon Indian/French Horn Rebellion/Cubic Zirconia DJ party) will be hosting a Valentine's Day show with TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone & friends. There'll be sets by Rain Machine (Kyp's band), Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (Kyp is a huge fan, a friend, and appears on his album), Iran (also Kyp's band) (sometimes) and Candles of Paradise.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's backing band shares members with Holly Miranda's (its a night off from her Tegan & Sara-supporting tour) and Holly's forthcoming album, The Magician's Private Library, was produced by TVotR's Dave Sitek who also produced Iran's Dissolver (which came out last year). In related Sitek news, Dave also has a remix on the new 12" from DOOM (who plays NYC with Mos Def on February 26th).

Miles Benjamin is also playing a show at Le Poisson Rouge on March 10th with Shilpa Ray and Suckers. Tickets just went on sale.

And to complete the TVotR roundup, we should mention that Tunde is one of the guest vocalists on the new Massive Attack record, and TVotR's "Wear You Out" was recently remixed by Brooklyn MC Bisco Smith, re-linked above.

Some classic TV on the Radio videos (and others you'd probably rather not see) are posted below...

Continue reading "Noveller moves to Coco66, Kyp Malone & friends playing Glasslands, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson also at LPR"

Freelance Whales @ Bell House Haiti benefit, Jan 27 (more by Jonny Leather)

Freelance Whales have added another NYC show to their upcoming schedule. The newly announced show is the farthest away - they'll play Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, April 13th. Tickets are on sale.

Before then they open for Mumford & Sons and Shout Out Louds (separately), and go on tour with Cymbals Eat Guitars and Bear In Heaven. That trip goes around North America and includes SXSW. Those two bands, minus Freelance Whales, finish the tour at Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 9th. tickets are still on sale.

Before then you can catch Bear in Heaven at Glasslands on February 19th, when they play with Secret Machines, Mon Khmer (who also play a show at Union Pool with Midnight Masses), Noveller (who plays Coco66 on V-Day; all shows are below) and PAPA. Ticket info is here.

Video from Freelance Whales' recent NYC show and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Noveller touring (dates), Valentine's Day show w/ Secret Machines, Bear in Heaven ++ Freelance Whales add NY show"

Jonathan Richman @ Bowery Ballroom in June (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Jonathan Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins will "put the finishing touches" on their still-untitled new record after their 27-date winter US tour, which started on 1/24. As previously mentioned, three of those shows will be at Music Hall of Williamburg on February 12th, 13th and 14th. Tickets for all three are on sale.

The last of the MHOW shows is on Valentine's Day, and we can't think of a better V-Day date than attending the concert after a nice (vegan) dinner. Which is why we're giving away a pair of tickets to the show and dinner for two at East Village veg eatery / organic wine & martini bar Counter (105 First Ave). A PDF of their menu for that night is HERE. Winners will also get a copy of Jonathan's 2008 record, Because Her Beauty Is Raw & Wild.

More contest details and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Jonathan Richman now on tour (dates), win Valentine's Day dinner at Counter & tix to 1 of the 3 Brooklyn shows"

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Fashion Week
* Paul Simon @ Beacon Theater
* Golden Triangle @ Tip Top Bar
* Grouper, etc @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Japanther & Ninjasonik @ BAM Cafe
* Jennifer O'Connor & Mascot @ Southpaw
* The Harlem Shakes & Shilpa Ray @ Southpaw
* Screaming Females & many others @ Cake Shop
* The Legendary Shack Shakers & O'Death @ Maxwell's
* Los Campesinos! & Titus Andronicus @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Virgins & Mike Bones @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings & Naomi Shelton @ Nokia Theatre
* Kyp Malone, Wild Yaks & Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson @ Glasslands
* Lissy Trullie, Golden Triangle & the Phenomenal Handclap Band for Alexander McQueen

The NY Times does Neko Case.

Mike Bones is going on tour with Phosphorescent later this month.

Tickets are still on sale for the Wrens / Titus Andronicus show at Bowery Ballroom.

Pitchfork TV went on tour with Titus Andronicus. Watch the video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday? (Valentine's Day)"

FMV photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Iran

Fake Male Voice @ Glasslands

Last time we talked about Kyp Malone performing, it was with TV on the Radio on Saturday Night Live and the Colbert Report. Before that it it was with Iran in regards to their upcoming show at Mercury Lounge with Handsome Furs which sold right out.

This time it's about two shows anybody should have no trouble getting into. The first...

Saturday Feb 14th 8:00pm $8
GlassLands Valentines Party: Live Music and Food! Presented by Kyp Malone
Performances by: The Wild Yaks, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, The 100 and the hands, Rain Machine (Kyp Malone) will open the show with a short set. DJ Megan Offner
All food made by chef Christine Buckley

Kyp's TVOTR bandmate Tunde performed as Fake Male Voice at Glasslands a few days ago with True Primes. More pictures from that show below...

Continue reading "upcoming Kyp Malone & Iran shows, pics of Fake Male Voice "

After celebrating Halloween with two free digital albums, 2007's Its Only Ketchup and 2008's ding dong Ditch, Tim Fite is adding Valentine¹s Day to the short list of holidays that warrant free LPs with the February 14th release of Change of Heart. The record will be available on Fite's website

Fite writes: "Change of Heart is a group of songs that I wrote over the past year alongside Fair Ain't Fair in an effort to come to terms with a broken-heart. The songs on this album are about longing and pain. They are about sorrow and loss. They are about heartache and tenderness. But, most of all they are songs about love. There is a rich history of recordings made in the name of love, and a beautiful tradition of exchanging hearts in the form of music. Change of Heart is my small contribution to that exchange, and if you can excuse its broken state, my heart is yours."

While the rest of us are home, crying into our boxes of chocolate listening to Change of Heart, Fite will be setting out for his first ever headlining tour supported by fellow genre-defiers Benjy Ferree and DeLeon which kicks off February 19th in Cambridge MA.

Tim, Benjy & DeLeon play the Bell House in BK on Feb 20. Tix are on sale.

DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - Meddle (AC Slater & DJ Skeet Skeet remix feat. Goldielocks) (MP3)

Matthew Herbert @ Studio B - February 7, 2009

Last week in dance wound up being a lot of fun. Friday night I went to see Little Boots at Studio B. I arrived sometime around midnight and was shocked at how packed the floor was by the time she went on around 1:15. Despite her set being good, especially her cover of Giorgio Moroder's "Love Kills", and including everything I expected after seeing her at CMJ, overall I wasn't as engaged by her performance this time around. It was just me though. Everyone in the place was bugging out and there really wasn't any good reason not to. As brief as her set was, the late start (she was originally scheduled to perform at 12) derailed the entire rest of the night and I ended up missing both One Man Party and Danger at Webster Hall. A friend there texted me highlights of One Man Party's set which read like a more intensely awesome mix of the Soulwax/2ManyDJ's remixes and current electro that he played at Webster last month. As great as it sounded, the regret really hit when I watched the following video of the beginning of Danger's set which started with "Ave Maria" and went into a great live version of "9h20":

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Streetlab, Matthew Herbert, Justice, One Step Beyond, DJ Sneak, more...)"

As previously noted, Grouper returns to NYC this weekend. Catch the show tonight (2/13) at the New Museum with High Places. Or opt for "An Evening of Sensual Machine Music" at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday.

Wordless Music and Ghostly International co-curate a special Valentine's Day dinner concert, with music from four corners of the ambient/experimental music world. Including live sets from The Sight Below and Lusine (Ghostly/SMM), Grouper (Type Records), and pianist Michael Brofman, who will perform solo piano works by the early-20th-century inventor of ambient music, Erik Satie. Seating is extremely limited and will include a three-course pre-fixe menu by Le Poisson Rouge's celebrated house chef Idelfonso "Pons" Cordero.

Continue reading "Grouper is here for the weekend, a Ghostly Valentine's Day, and other High Places tour dates"

photos by Ryan Muir

Love 'em of hate 'em, MGMT played with Yeasayer at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn last night (Feb 14, 2008). More photos below...

Continue reading "MGMT @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC - pics"

photos by Paul Bachmann

Dirty on Purpose opened for Band of Horses last night (Feb 14, 2008). More pictures below...

Continue reading "Dirty on Purpose @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, NYC - pics"

Band of Horses @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, NYC - Feb 14, 2008 (Caberger915)

The Gutter Twins @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Feb 14, 2008 (Caryn Rose)

My odd thought about tonight was that this show was just - grown up. I haven't seen the lyrics and haven't lived with the songs enough, but this is not about Are you here to make par-tay or even the themes of loss and, well, loss that have hung over acres of Twilight Singers material. Don't get me wrong, this is still a collaboration between Dulli and Lanegan and it's not rainbows and puppies and roses, and it's plenty fuckin dark. But it was just at another level, and maybe because Mark's ass is also on that line, but I have never seen the band this whip-smart and sharp and just totally together, like Greg can put up one hand and conduct the band and they turn on a dime. [jukeboxgraduate]