words and photos by BBG, more photos by Samantha Marble

Thurston & Jim @ ATP NY (photo by Abbey Braden for ATP)

My 11 Most Notable Moments at ATP NY 2010 by Adrienne Day

(11) Book club with Samantha Hunt and Luc Sante. Apparently Nikola Tesla thought he was married to a pigeon. #ThingsIlearnedatATP

(10) Jim Jarmusch and Thurston Moore's silly but entertaining exchange about "weird New York"

(9) @janelerner's Mary-Poppins-like bag with its bottomless supply of comforts from home

(8) Sleep's defibrillating two-hour-plus set

(7) Blagdon Lake at dusk: http://twitpic.com/2m59gh

(6) Beak> opening with the terrific "Blagdon Lake" and keeping it surprisingly cohesive / groove-able for the whole set

(5) Injuries sustained while losing at air hockey: a heavily bruised knee and what feels like a torn rotator cuff

(4) Years of incontinence producing an unmistakably ripe aroma in Kutsher's front elevator

(3) Stooges scholarship ("Williamson should go back to designing computer chips"; "Iggy's slowed down a bit but still, holy shit")

(2) This little pumin has apparently already been featured on Brooklyn Vegan: http://twitpic.com/2m59bb

(1) no wifi as its own time warp, leading to in-depth convos and contemplative gazing on the lake

Ron Jeremy & new friend @ ATP NY Sunday night

How do you get out of a conversation with Ron Jeremy? It's 1:30 AM on Monday (Sunday night), my friends are talking to the porn legend, and all I can think about is rest. It's been a brutal weekend of fantastic performances, great conversation, contact highs, 30 packs of beer, fantastic people, not to mention great music. But by the end of Sunday (the final day of ATP NY 2010), I just needed some Zs.

After a day-opening set of psychedelia from White Hills on stage two (which I enjoyed though it didn't manage to give me the kick in the ass I needed), The Greenhornes held down my interest for what I caught of their set. The Detroit Cincinnati band's garage pop played to one of the biggest early day crowds that I had seen on all three days. Kurt Vile's garagey punk followed on the second stage, sounding much heavier live than I had anticipated.

Fucked Up was next on the main stage, so I made sure to secure a primo slot for the mayhem. Madman Pink Eyes, who sang 2/3 of the show from the crowd, did all of the following during his set in the Stardust Room: crushed a coke can like Stone Cold Steve Austin, sprinkled Cocoa Puffs on the crowd, smeared himself with Oreos, performed all of "Crusades" with a plastic bag on his head, laid down in the center of the crowd, instigated a group hug of 20-30 people, and took audience members on piggy back rides. After two days of festival madness, it was definitely the shot in the arm I needed. Vivian Girls, who followed them on the second stage, was a bit of a comedown, but then again who wouldn't be?

GZA's set was moved to later that night on stage two (which I would end up missing due to Altar), so his stage one slot was filled by comedian Hannibal Burress who had also performed Friday night. I missed his set and ended up catching Wooden Shjips' powerful psychedelic set on the second stage. There were many retro-leaning bands playing over the course of the weekend. My favorite sets in that category came from Dungen and The Black Angels. Powerful, trippy and fantastic.

With the lights down low, Hope Sandoval played xylophone and crooned with her enchanting voice to the Stardust Stage crowd. On any other occasion, I might have found the set mesmerizing, but at that moment another pick me up was needed and I surprisingly found that in Girls's sunny Elvis Costello brand of pop directly afterward. With all of the recent brutality (Fucked Up, Wooden Shjips, and in a much different way, um, Vivian Girls) it was a fun change to see the band run through tracks like "Laura" from their recent LP. Great set from this Cali crew.

T Model Ford

Of all the artists walking around Kutshers during ATP weekend, the two that seemingly had the most fans/people clamoring to meet them were Sunday's curator Jim Jarmusch, and T-Model Ford. It didn't hurt that T-Model was apt to take his guitar out and play anywhere with a little battery-powered amp. The bluesman finally got his time under the lights of the second stage on Sunday night though, and the adoration continued, with people cheering while he tuned (multiple times).

Raekwon took the stage a touch late with an introduction from Ron Jeremy, running through the classic Wu material: "Protect Ya Neck", "C.R.E.A.M.", "Ice Cream", set opener "Motherless Child", "House of Flying Daggers" and many more. Though I nerd out to the tracks and even ODB classic-that-felt-like-set-filler-in-a-Raekwon-show "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" on the Stardust Room system, the set felt phoned in. Not to sound insensitive, but is a few-minute shout out to your grandfather who is buried in Monticello really necessary? GZA, Kim Gordon, and Thurston Moore watched the set from the sides of the stage.

I missed GZA's rescheduled set completely on the second stage (because of Altar), but he reportedly delivered a freestyle-heavy set. The Wu-tang rep later showed up at The Deep End Bar to greet the legendary Kool Herc who was DJing late-night...

GZA & Kool Herc ATP (Kory Grow)

Partway into [Kool Herc's] set, in walked Wu-Tang Clan's GZA, who had played a sort-of aggressive set at the same time as Altar (I went back and forth between the two.) ...in the presence of Herc, he was nothing but reverent. He nonchalantly stepped behind the turntables and said hello. ...It was one of those rare moments where you felt like you were seeing something rare and historic. GZA grabbed the mic and talked about what a legend Kool Herc was and thanked him before leaving.-
[Sadness Is Delicious]

Pictures from Friday HERE and Saturday HERE, and the rest of Sunday, below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2010 - Day 3 pics (Jim Jarmusch, Thurston Moore, Ron Jeremy, Fucked Up, Girls, T Model Ford, Raekwon & more) "

La Sera

"La Sera - the brand new project of Katy Goodman (Vivian Girls, All Saints Day) - has signed with Hardly Art for their debut LP. La Sera makes lush, dreamy songs of heartbreak, love, and death, all written by Goodman and recorded with Brady Hall in Seattle. Hardly Art will release the first original material by La Sera on November 16th via a 7" featuring the album track "Never Come Around" b/w exclusive b-side "Behind Your Eyes", which will be followed by a debut full-length in early 2011 (release date tbd). La Sera will also have a cover of "Watch Me Jumpstart" on an upcoming Guided By Voices comp, though I don't have further details on that release.

Further! Related to both new projects, the unofficial Hardly Art CMJ showcase - AKA The Great All-Nighter - will be presented by Todd P and will take place on Thursday, Oct 21 at Shea Stadium (20 Meadow St.) in Brooklyn. The lineup is:

Xray Eyeballs
Circle Pit
La Sera
Fergus & Geronimo
Secret Special Guest
Woven Bones
Golden Triangle

Cassie Ramone (the Babies) @ Death By Audio on 8/13 (more by Eric Rex)

"My solo stuff is hard to describe, I haven't been too active about it because I'm really shy, and it's hard for me open up. With Vivian Girls Katy is not shy, she's really good at saying, "listen to my band, come and see my show!" Which I think is awesome, and is one of the reason we were able to do so well because she's so enthusiastic about everything she does, but I'm not like that, I'm more introverted with my artistic endeavors. My stuff that's not Vivian girls is more folksy I would say. I have some keyboard organ songs, it's all over the place really, but I think I'm going to try to record an album over the summer, if I can get it together enough." [CASSIE RAMONE]

White Mystery was last here from Chicago in April, and have no more NYC shows scheduled after tonight, but are on tour. All dates and videos from their Cake Shop show (which I posted one other time coincidentally in a post that was topped by a picture of Cassie Ramone) below.

The Babies played Death By Audio with Ty Segall and Royal Baths over the weekend. Their next scheduled show is September 24th at Cake Shop where they'll share a bill with Garotas Suecas, Sundelles and Holger.

Vivian Girls have upcoming shows too - soon even. You can catch them in their college town of New Brunswick, NJ on Saturday night at a place called Fuck Mountain. It's a basement show. Big Troubles and Coasting are also on the bill which is convenient for Coasting drummer Fiona who is in both bands. Vivian Girls are also playing ATP NY. All dates below..

Continue reading "Cassie Ramone gone solo, Vivian girls playing a basement w/ Coasting, White Mystery on tour (NYC show tonight)"

by BBG

Kurt Vile at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Lori Baily)

It's almost final and official, ATP New York is ruling. The best Hudson Valley festival to ever be held in a 1960s time capsule has announced the "final additions" including two comedians chosen by Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav (more to come... that's all "so far"), as well as a few new and interesting additions to the Jim Jarmusch curated date. Behold:

Continue reading "ATP NY announces (almost) complete lineup (GZA, Kurt Vile..)"

--------------------

1. Feb 2008: Vivian Girls start making a name for themselves on the scene
2. Sep 2008: Frankie Rose leaves Vivian Girls to play with Crystal Stilts full time
3. Sept 2008: Ali Koehler replaces Frankie Rose in Vivian Girls
4. July 2009: Frankie Rose makes her 1st appearance as Dum Dum Girls member
5. Sept 2009: Frankie Rose leaves Crystal Stilts & starts Frankie & the Outs
6. Dec 2009: Best Coast getting popular, announce tour w/ Vivian Girls
7. June 2010: Frankie Rose leaves Dum Dum Girls to focus on Frankie & the Outs
8. July 2010: Ali Koehler leaves Vivian Girls and joins Best Coast
9. July 2010: Fiona from Coasting replaces Ali in Vivian Girls

A video of Best Coast covering WAVVES' "I'm So Bored" at Primavera Sound in May, and a picture of Coasting, below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler leaves VG for Best Coast! (Frankie Rose still just in the Outs)"

Beirut @ MHOW in 2009 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Sir Richard Bishop @ Zebulon
* Jim Campilongo @ Living Room
* Vivian Girls, Dutch Treat @ Union Pool
* Beirut & Woom @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Kaki King, The Ballet & Julia Weldon @ Littlefield
* Unrest, Tuscadero, True Love Always, Jonny Cohen @ The Bell House
* Faith No More, Neil Hamburger & James Chance @ Williamsburg Waterfront

Yesterday was July 4th, but today is the day lots of people get off work, so I hope you're enjoying your day off.

Sir Richard Bishop kicks off a four week residency at Zebulon tonight.

Vivian Girls are playing a show?!?! That used to be an extremely common occurrence. Now it's an extremely rare one.

Kaki King headlines a benefit at Littlefield which is where Holly Miranda is playing on Wednesday.

Tonight is Beirut's first of two shows @ Music Hall of Williamsburg. And there's a third show coming in a museum.

What else?

"I'm smelly, but saw the Vivian Girls and conquered the PATH" - Samantha Onorato

Titus Andronicus w/ Cassie from Vivian Girls @ SUNY - 4/14 (OpenEye)

That's Cassie Ramone from Vivian Girls on stage with Titus Andronicus at the SUNY Purchase student center on 4/14. Her other band The Babies also played that show.

Vivian Girls played with the Grates and Reading Rainbow at Maxwell's in Hoboken last night (4/23). The show was to celebrate 5 years of MusicSnobbery. Titus Andronicus's tour continues with a show at the same venue tonight (4/24). The sold out gig also has Harlem and Spider Bags on the bill, BUT FIRST: Los Campesinos! will play Maxwell's after all. After rescheduling and then cancelling the show completely, Los Campesinos! have re-rescheduled their show at the NJ venue for 3PM TODAY ("NOTE: if you bought tix @ Ticketweb for 4/17 or 4/21 you will need to re-buy. We regret the inconvenience.").

Los Campesinos! kick off the rest of their tour Sunday in Boston. The new date for the NYC show at Irving Plaza is Monday, April 26th.

Harlem played a show last night at Monster Island Basement (originally scheduled for Market Hotel), and at Mercury Lounge the night before that.

by Dominick Mastrangelo

Best Coast

"The three-piece [Best Coast] are definitely a good time, packing thick, retro bass and drum lines that could have been ripped from '60s girl groups, and then speeding it all up for scruffy, Ramones-inspired power pop. It's a proven winning formula when it works, and work it does on humorous, peppy anthems such as "Wish He Was You."" [La Times]

The Bitters and Best Coast share a bill again tonight (4/7) at Mercury Lounge. More pictures from last night including one of the BC setlist, below...

Continue reading "Best Coast, the Bitters & the Babies @ Knitting Factory (pics) "

Califone @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Lucero @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

today in NYC
* J. Cole @ SOB's
* CSC Funk Band @ Nublu
* Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes
* Slavic Soul Party @ Barbes
* Necking & Tournament @ the Glass Door
* White Ring & George Quartz @ Glasslands
* Doug Gillard & Doug Keith @ Mercury Lounge
* Julian Casablancas @ Starland Ballroom
* Califone, Sonoi @ The Bell House
* Jaguar Love, Mother/Father @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Immortal & Black Anvil @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple
* jj, Lia Ices @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Lucero, Glossary @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* She & Him, The Chapin Sisters @ Bowery Ballroom
* Flying Lotus, Kode9 (le) Poisson Rouge (Late Show)
* The Big Pink, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Webster Hall
* Micachu & The Shapes, Tanlines @ (le) Poisson Rouge (Early Show)
* Nine 11 Thesaurus, The Calderos, Sam Hilmer (Zs), Mic Blaque, Danny Perez @ Silent Barn
* Avant Ghetto night with Religious Knives + Samara Lubelski + Eskimo King @ Zebulon

Great show options tonight.

Two artists listed above just played the Big Ears Fest in Tennessee: jj and Nasaj Thing.

Lucero played one of our day parties at SXSW.

Califone played our SXSW official showcase.

The Califone show tonight is a regular rock show. The show on Wednesday is a live soundtrack.

Two venues that I wouldn't mind staying at all night tonight: Barbes In Park Slope and Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village are both hosting good early and late shows (though the ones at Barbes are weekly) (though the ones at Barbes are also free).

She and Him play Bowery Ballroom for the second night in a row.

Vivian Girls played Brooklyn Bowl Sunday night. Video from that show below...

What else?

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

Boris @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

There aren't many music news items that get me excited as ATP lineup additions. This one is no different. Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, Torotoise, Bardo Pond, Beak> featuring Geoff Barrow of Portishead, Sleepy Sun, Avi Buffalo, Sunn O)) & Boris performing material from their collaborative album Altar, Dungen, and White Hills have all been added to the already-stellar bill of the 2010 festival at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, NY (Sept 3-5). All confirmed artists and more details below...

Continue reading "ATP NY expands 2010 lineup - Hope Sandoval, SUNN O)) & Boris, Tortoise, BEAK> (Geoff Barrow of Portishead) & more!"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

Vivian Girls @ Club DeVille

"Brooklyn Bowl is gearing up for round two of Local X Local featuring Brooklyn's own indie chick-rockers Vivian Girls, with support from the German Measles. This monthly celebration of Brooklyn art and culture showcases local artists, musicians, food, entertainment and anything else that defines Brooklyn. As the borough continues to emerge as one of the nation's fastest growing culture capitals, Local X Local allows New Yorkers a free, monthly opportunity to sample the fruits of Brooklyn."

Brooklyn Bowl will be Vivian Girls' first hometown show after returning from a tour that started at SXSW where they played a bunch of shows. One of those was the Insound Party at Club DeVille where they went on after Small Black and before Liars (who we interviewed that morning). Another one of those was an intimate show at Todd P's location, Cheer Up Charlie's (ex Ms Bea's). Cassie was celebrating a birthday that day and the crowd sang for her. We got it on video which you can watch below with other videos of the band playing that venue with all dates and more pictures from Club DeVille....

Continue reading "Vivian Girls played SXSW w/ Small Black (pics, video), playing free Brooklyn show w/ German Measles Sunday & other dates"

Harlem @ Union Pool over the weekend (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Local Natives will headline Bowery Ballroom on May 6th. Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon.

Best Coast & Midnight Masses were added as openers to the April 1st Japandroids show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Midnight Masses continue a February residency at Union Pool tonight (2/17).

Japandroids are also playing Sasquatch.

Crystal Stilts have been added to the March 27th Love is All bill at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are on sale.

Catch Crystal Stilts much sooner at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Beets / Christmas Island / Beach Fossils / The German Measles on February 20th. Tickets are still on sale.

Beach Fossils and The Beets will open for Love is All at Knitting Factory on March 28th. Tickets are on sale.

Phosphorescent will play Maxwell's for the first time on April 2nd. Tickets are on sale.

MusicSnobbery celebrates his 5th birthday with a show featuring the Vivian Girls at Maxwell's on April 23rd. Tickets are on sale.

Titus Andronicus and Harlem play the NJ club the very next night (4/24). Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are also still on sale for Titus's headlining show at Bowery Ballroom on March 6th.

All Tomorrow's Parties will return to Kutsher's Country Club, Monticello for the third ATP New York festival over Labor Day weekend, running from Friday 3rd September - Sunday 5th September. We are very excited to announce that legendary film-maker Jim Jarmusch, well known for his fantastic collaborations and documentaries with musicians will be the guest curator on Sunday 5th.

Continue reading "Jim Jarmusch to curate ATP NY - updated lineup w/ Sonic Youth, EITS, Breeders, Brian Jonestown, F'd Up, Raekwon"

photos by Rachel Carr

The sold-out event, concisely named "No Cancer!" hoped to raise money for Irene Garcia, the mother of a prominent L.A. scenester who was recently diagnosed with what an event volunteer would only call "an extremely rare form of cancer." All proceeds from the daylong festival -- including ticket revenues and merchandise sales -- went directly to the cause.

Organized by local indie promoting giant Sean Carlson and his team at FYF Fest [I HATE ROCK N ROLL RECORDS and VIDEOTHING.COM], "No Cancer!" brought together an eclectic group of well-known and under-the-radar bands from Los Angeles and across the country, with acts hailing from New York and Texas performing over the course of the afternoon. [Daily Trojan]

Continue reading "No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Best Coast & others played a benefit for Irene Garcia in LA - pics"

Abe Vigoda @ The Smell in October (more by Rachel Carr)

If you happen to be in L.A. on Saturday, February 7th, "No Cancer: A benefit for our Friend's Mom" will be happening at a "secret" location (e-mail for info, below). Playing sets will be No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Cowabunga Babes, Best Coast, Nodzzz, Darker My Love and others. A flyer and how to get info on the venue are below.

If you're in NYC, Abe Vigoda visit March 31st for a show at Mercury Lounge with Effi Briest and Cloud Nothings (who have plenty of dates coming up, listed below). Tickets are on sale now.

That show is sandwiched between dates Abe Vigoda opens for Vampire Weekend in March and April. Before those, the band plays the West Coast and Texas in early March with Lovvers.

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Abe Vigoda playing cancer benefit w/ Vivian Girls & No Age in LA, touring w/ Vampire Weekend, playing NYC (dates)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Saxon Shore - "This Place" (MP3)

Saxon Shore (photo by Geordy Peterson)

American post-rockers Saxon Shore hit back. It Doesn't Matter, the quintet's follow-up to 2005's The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore is a welcome return to form for the band and their original leader Matthew Doty.

Having gone through a long period of upheaval - be it line-up changes and relocations - the band spent four solid years as a unit before plucking up the courage to hit the Tarbox Road Studios Cabin out in Cassadega, New York.

Apt then, that the unearthing of It Doesn't Matter follows a line of melodic delicacy that recent post-rock efforts appear to have departed. Album opener "Nothing Changes" rocks gently into the onslaught of feedback drenched guitars while 'Bar Clearing Good Times' maintains an unexpected steadiness that other same-vein bands like Explosions In The Sky often make the habit of breaking from. -[Altsounds]

Les Savy Fav @ BAM - 1/29/10 (photo by Steven P. Marsh)

'Sounds like Brooklyn' kicked off last night (1/29) at BAM (the only venue hosting shows during this first weekend of the fest) with Les Savy Fav and Vivian Girls...

"To my surprise, [Les Savy Fav] played very tight rhythms that zagged all over the place but were not sloppy. I was reminded of times I had seen Modest Mouse, Built To Spill or The Flaming Lips, with the music being loose and jangly, yet deliberate and well-crafted at the same time. The band itself held my interest quite well, as they played the straight men to the antics of Harrington, who, instead of being a distraction, complemented the instruments rather well, reminding me at times of Jello Biafra with his voice and dialogue with the audience. Yes, he was a crazy looking fat dude running all over the stage and into the crowd, but his angry-goofy-gibberish song rants, energy, enthusiasm and sheer earnestness overcame my pre-judgment. At the start of LSF's set, Harrington dropped into the crowd beckoning people to stand, and it ended up being the right thing to do. Despite the opera house setting with assigned seating, it quickly became apparent that it would take a lot more than that to contain the force that is Les Savy Fav." [Qbertplaya]

The full Sounds Like Brooklyn schedule, along with a Les Savy Fav video from last night, below...

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav played BAM, Saxon Shore playing the Knit, 'Sounds Like Brooklyn' underway - full schedule & more "

photos by Joseph Xu

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

More pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival, below...

Continue reading "pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Festival "

by Andrew Frisicano

Mika Miko @ their almost-last performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest

L.A. punk band Mika Miko announced in October that their set at Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest (on November 8th) would be one of their last, but that they were in process of scheduling an official "last show" for their hometown at The Smell. They've booked three shows there for December 30th, December 31st and January 1st. The third, with Hello Astronaut Goodby Television, My Little Red Toe and OG Silver Daggers, is sold out, but you can still grab a ticket for the first show (openers TBA) and for the New Years Eve show, with Staring Problem, Ima Fucking Gymnist and DiGiTS. Mika Miko also previously mentioned a new 7" in the works through PPM.

Mika Miko's Jennifer Clavin guest drumming for Best Coast...

PPM will also be releasing a 7" by from female-fronted lo-fi duo Best Coast. Best Coast join Vivian Girls on a West Cost tour this February. That swings by the Smell on Feb. 6th. Vivian Girls are in UK from the second week of January right up to their performance at the BAM Sounds Like Brooklyn Fest, where they play at Howard Gilman Opera House with Les Savy Fav on January 29th. Tickets are on sale.

Flyers for the Mika Miko shows, a Best Coast clips and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Mika Miko playing THREE final shows @ The Smell including New Years Eve (tix), Best Coast touring w/ Vivian Girls"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Violens Winter Mixtape (website link to Zip)
DOWNLOAD: Acrylics - All of the Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Class Actress - Careful What You Say (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Air Waves - Lightning (MP3)

Violens

A pretty killer line-up at Mercury Lounge tonight (12/9). Headliners Violens just got back from a big European tour opening for White Lies, and this looks to be their last show of 2009. They've been rather pokey in getting out their debut LP, but it looks set to finally come out early next year. You can get a taste on their downloadable Winter Mix Tape which features a couple album tracks, some remixes, demos, a cover of Saint Etienne's "Avenue" (!) -- plus singer Jorge Elbrecht singing overtop Wire's "Outdoor Miner" and The Byrds' "I See You." (The latter, he sings My Bloody Valentine lyrics). If you've never heard Violens before, this is a pretty good place to start, giving you a sense of the disparate influences the band bring together.

Also playing Merc are Acrylics and Class Actress, both of whom are signed to Grizzly Bear Chris Taylor's Terrible Records. I've written about Acrylics a bunch of times are definitely one of my favorite new local bands. Their debut EP, All of the Fire, was produced by Taylor and came out a couple weeks ago and is at its best when Jason Klauber and Molly Shea sing together. The title track, which you can download at the top of this post, finds them at their Fleetwood Mac-iest, with that dreamy pedal steel and echo handclaps.

Class Actress

Class Actress, meanwhile, could be lumped in with the coldwave/darkwave scene depending on what song you hear first -- the synths on "Careful What You Say" are pretty icy -- but there's a strong heartbeat running through Elizabeth Harper's songs, and the EP (produced in part by Violens' Elbrecht) is pretty varied and quite lovely. I haven't seen her perform live yet, so I'm looking forward to tonight.

Yellow Fever

As mentioned previously, Yellow Fever are in town this weekend, ostensibly to play a record release party Saturday (12/12) night at Death By Audio for their debut LP on Vivian Girls Wild World records. Vivian Girls headline. Happy Birthday open. Yellow Fever's album is basically a compilation of everything they've released to date -- a couple CDR EPs and singles. They definitely work the "less is more" angle, with spare arrangements that play off Jennifer Moore's haunting vocals (not entirely unlike Cowboy Junkies' Margot Timmins). They're something special.

If you ask me, at this point in their popularity, Vivian Girls + Death By Audio = too much nutty behavior for me, so I'll probably catch Yellow Fever at Bruar Falls on Friday (12/11) where they play with Tyvek, Air Waves (a nice NYC match to Yellow Fever, download their song "Lightning" above) and Noveller (the musician, not the macroblogging service). Yellow Fever also play Silent Barn on Sunday (12/13).

Mountain Man

For those looking for a quieter option on Friday (12/11), Brooklyn blog Chocolate Bobka has put together a unique show at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Greenpoint featuring the spooky folk of Vermont's Mountain Man, Real Estate bassist Alex Bleeker, and Liam the Younger. It's not only acoustic, it's unamplified. The suggest brining blankets or yoga mats to sit on. More info on the exquisite flyer which is at the bottom of this post or available in a big version here.

Fiery Furnaces are playing this Friday (12/11) at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Saturday at Bowery Ballroom (Shilpa Ray opens both nights). While I don't like everything the Friedbergers do, it's always good to check back in with them as, chances are, it will sound completely different from the last thing. They've just released Take Me Round Again (out 12/15 on Thrill Jockey), which they're calling a covers record -- Matthew doing some of Eleanor's songs, and vise versa. The reworked versions of songs were also influenced by their "deaf descriptions" project on their website, where fans wrote reviews of FF's other 2009 release, I'm Going Away, before they actually heard the record. The AV Club NY has a nice interview with Matthew this week, where he talks about '70s television theme songs and what's next for Fiery Furnaces:

AVC: How do you see your music evolving from here?

MF: It's good to write music all the time, if that's what you want to do. When you're in a band, when you have something going, the hardest thing you have to do is to put everything into what's ongoing.. Especially these days you never know what you're supposed to do--if you should be more hectic, give away songs, or do a project with the voice from the Muppets. You have to have a record on Twitter. The band lends itself to do that sort of thing,

AVC: You mean gimmicky stuff?

MF: Yeah, we do a lot of gimmicky things, but it comes from us. We don't think that's so strange for us. But we've had people tell us, "Give a song away so you get people's e-mail addresses and you can send them an e-mail saying, 'Buy our box set for $90.'" All these [music] professionals, they don't know what they're doing. What can you do? You just have to do what you have energy to finish. Luckily you probably won't follow through on things you're not really into.

AVC: Does that mean we're not going to see you giving away an album on Twitter any time soon?

MF: Well, we are on Twitter, but someone did tell us, "If you're not on Twitter, you don't exist." That's the way the world is now. You could just be interested in writing in 140 characters, but it's also your obligation to be friendly too. We still have to figure out which way to go with that, so our Twitter posts aren't very interesting.

Continue reading "Violens, Class Actress, Acrylics, Mountain Man, YellowFever, Fiery Furnaces & more in This Week in Indie (part 1) "

Les Savy Fav rides the ladder at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more)

"Launched in 2007, Sounds Like Brooklyn Music Festival (formerly known as Brooklyn Next) is BAM's annual showcase of the some of the most innovative music coming out of the borough. The program features concerts in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAMcafé, and partner venues around Brooklyn that highlight the breadth and depth of music produced by Brooklyn artists working in jazz, hip-hop, rock, electronic, brass band, and every other hybrid genre in between. As a vehicle for artist development, Sounds Like Brooklyn focuses on emerging and mid-career musicians working at the intersection of innovation and tradition."

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav, Antlers, Vivian Girls, Ra Ra Riot & more playing 2010 BAM Sounds Like Brooklyn shows"

Trend You Wish Would Go Away

1. 90s revivalism (No Age, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars)
2. Afropop indie (Dirty Projectors, Fool's Gold, Abe Vigoda)
3. Animal Collective acolytes (Blind Man's Colour, Our Brother the Native, USF)
4. Balearic (jj, John Talabot, Windsurf/Hatchback)
5. Chillwave/glo-fi (Washed Out, Neon Indian, Nite Jewel)
6. Dubstep and its offshoots (wonky, funky, bassline)
7. Post-Lily Allen UK pop (La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine)
8. Prim, buttoned-up indie (Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent)
9. Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)

Dan Friel @ Cake Shop NYE 2008 (more by Lori Baily)

Parts & Labor have a short string of shows coming up: one in Massachusetts on December 5th, one in Connecticut on December 6th, then a free show at Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday, December 8th with The Tony Castles. Flyer for the latter and more details below.

Before that, P&L member Dan Friel plays a solo set at Union Pool on December 3rd. Also on the bill are Knyfe Hyts 81, Dinowalrus and Electric Tickle Machine.

Another Parts & Labor affiliate, their former guitar player Sarah Lipstate (she left the band in July to focus on her solo project after being a member for only 14 months), who plays as Noveller, will perform at Bruar Falls on December 11th with Yellow Fever and Air Waves (who are also playing December 5th with Talk Normal, US Girls and Total Slackers at Secret Project Robot).

That's also another show for Austin's Yellow Fever, who are already lined up to play a December 12th show at Death By Audio with Vivian Girls. Yellow Fever's self-titled LP is available now through Wild World, a label run by Vivian Girls, and the show is a release party for that record. Happy Birthday is also on the bill. Yellow Fever also lists a TBA NYC show on December 13th.

Happy Birthday member Ruth Garbus plays a show with her sister Merrill Garbus at The Stone in December too.

As of now, it's the last scheduled Vivian Girls show for '09 before they tour the UK in January.

All tour dates and a poster for the Parts & Labor BK Bowl show are below...

Continue reading "upcoming shows for Parts & Labor, member Dan Friel & EX-MEMBER Sarah Lipstate (Noveller) - 2009 dates"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Jake Forney

Apart from a few deviations, Fucked Up succeeded in performing their 2008 album The Chemistry of Common Life in full and in sequence at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Thursday, November 5th. The program even found room for the record's hazy instrumentals "Golden Seal" and "Looking for God," both of which featured guest keyboardist Andrew W.K. On the latter, one of the last songs of the night, W.K. was noodley and playful, tacking pointy chords to the song's building progression.

Vivian Girls were another of the night's guests. They added eerie siren-like back ups to "Crooked Head" and "No Epiphany," as they do (with Frankie Rose who was playing her own show across town) on the recorded version.

Another album guest, Katie Stelmanis, who stole the show with her band's unique opening set, dueted with Pink Eyes on the apocalyptic slow-builder "Royal Swan." Her operatic voice tangled with the burly singer's cryptic proclamations. Andrew W.K. was there too, and led the way with an introductory piano figure, cued with a huge wink by guitarist Ben Cook. The epic took minutes to unfold, and it was one of the night's rarer moments.

The pacing of the album did need some energy injected at times - that came in the form of "Crusades," which the band inserted after "Black Albino Bones" (dedicated to "anyone who collects records"). "Peaceable Kingdom," a ChemCom bonus track almost never performed live, was uneventful, until Pink Eyes decided to join the night's many stagedivers (many annoying and wasted) by falling into the crowd and writhing on the ground for a while.

For the encore, the band treated the crowd to "David Comes to Life" and a full-guest version of "Louie Louie." There was no "Party Hard" as requested many times, and that was for the best. Titus Andronicus hinted at that song by jamming on its opening riff while setting up. They played tightly-packed opening set, which had one brief lull. "I thought it was okay after one string broke, but now I'm down to four..." said singer/guitarist Patrick Stickles before grabbing a seafoam green guitar backstage. "I hope the very nice lady in the first band doesn't mind."

That would be the guitarist for Katie Stelmanis, who joined the singer and a percussionist (also on marimba) to perform gothy pop with a booming, crisp sound. On stage, Stlemanis projected a world of drama with the subtlest gesture. The following act, The Girls at Dawn, did off the cuff, girl-group-inspired punk. Their front-woman (girl) was covered in fake blood.

Pink Eyes stuck around until the last fan got his 7-inch signed and a shirtless hug. More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Fucked Up performed an album w/ Vivian Girls, Andrew WK, Titus Andronicus, Katie Stelmanis & The Girls at Dawn @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple - pics & review"

by Bill Pearis

Austin's understated, lovely Yellow Fever launched a short West Coast / South West tour last night in San Diego, and are also set -- any day now -- to release their debut album on Wild World Records, the label run by Vivian Girls. The album appears to be a compilation of Yellow Fever's three EPs to date. For those who haven't been following along, it'll be a nice one-stop way to play catch-up. Hopefully we'll get a new record sometime soon -- it's been at least a year since we've gotten fresh music from them. Yellow Fever will also be playing Death By Audio on December 12 with Vivian Girls, which probably means they'll be doing a few more NYC dates around then as well. Stay tuned.

Until now, Wild World has just released Vivian Girls singles ("Surf's Up" and "Wild Eye") but will release a posthumous LP of Cassie Ramone's other, now-defunct band, Bossy, as well as the debut single from Babies, which is Cassie and Justin from Bossy, plus Kevin from Woods. The Yellow Fever and Bossy LPs will be out mid-November, the Babies single "coming soon."

Vivian Girls are busy this weekend, beginning tonight (11/5), where they'll back up (with help from Andrew WK) Fucked Up at Brooklyn Masonic Temple. And then they play Market Hotel Friday night with Grass Widow, The Bitters and Stupid Party.

All dates for Yellow Fever and Vivian Girls are below....

Continue reading "Vivian Girls label Wild World Records releasing Yellow Fever, Babies & Bossy -- VG & YF playing DBA & other dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Grass Widow - To Where (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose - Thee Only One (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Mary Onettes - Puzzles (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Mary Onettes - Dare (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Carsick Cars - You Can Listen You Can Talk (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Carsick Cars - Zhong Nan Hai (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PK-14 - Behind All Ruptures (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Xiao He - MTV (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Answering Machine - Another City, Another Sorry (MP3)

Frankie & the Outs - debut show @ The Woods on Halloween

I'm barely recovered from post-CMJ cold and we've got a week that is so packed with good shows it feels like another festival is in town.

Mercury Prize nominees The Invisible are playing their first U.S. shows this week, starting with a free one tonight at Brooklyn Bowl. Their lauded debut album doesn't fit into one easy category, which befits a band on Matthew Herbert's label. It's all fairly warm and soulful, but with forays into funk, sparse ballads, electro and Krautrock. There's a lot going on and I'll be curious to see how a three-piece can pull it off live. The Invisible also play Santos tomorrow (11/5) opening for Dragonette, and then on Friday at Pianos (11/6) where they'll be on the same bill as Freelance Whales.

The Mary Onettes, here from Sweden, play their first NYC show this year, tonight (11/4) at Union Hall where they'll play with Blacklist. As I said before, like a lot of the bands on Labrador, The Mary Onettes love the '80s and wear those influences on their black-clad sleeves. But their second album, Islands, wears them a little more subtly, though they are still writing reach-for-the-stars chorus -- now with strings. I like them a lot. They also play Friday (11/6) at Studio @ Webster Hall and then Sunday (11/8) at Mercury Lounge.

Grass Widow

San Francisco's awesome Grass Widow are also in town this weekend for a string of dates, starting tomorrow (11/5) at The Woodser with Frankie & the Outs, Air Waves and Hot Box. (There was to be a second show tomorrow, late at Monster Island, but that has been cancelled.) There are more than a few all-girl trios out there playing vaguely C-86 style indie (including fellow San Franciscans Brilliant Colors), but Grass Widow write better songs than most, and I really like both 12" EPs they've released this year.

The Woodser show was to be notable as the live debut of Frankie & the Outs, but then they went and played Halloween night at similarly named Willliamsburg bar The Woods (picture above). Frankie's debut single, "Thee Only One," is out now and is worth picking up -- though I think more for the dreamy b-side "Hollow Life" than the A-side (good as it is, and downloadable above) which is a little more of what you'd expect from someone who spent time in Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts. Frankie's got a way with harmonies, and the less that gets in the way of them, the better. There were a couple of songs The Outs did Saturday which were similarly laid back, and the best songs of the night.

The Bitters

Grass Widow also play Market Hotel on Friday night (11/6) along with Vivian Girls, The Bitters and Stupid Party. If you haven't heard The Bitters, the Toronto duo feature Ben Cook of Fucked Up (who play Thursday at Masonic Temple) and Aerin Fogel. They've got a single and an EP on Captured Tracks, the latter of which I dig (haven't heard the single yet). While definitely on the "low" end of the "fi" scale, Bitters are different from anything else on Captured Tracks with an early-'60s rock n' roll vibe (or early '80s West Coast punk), and Ben and Aerin's harmonies front-and-center.|

Grass Widow also play Saturday (11/7) afternoon at the Brooklyn Museum with Crystal Stilts and the Beets, a show which finally today was officially announced by the museum...

"Inspired by Gail's idea, and because we love Brooklyn photographers, on First Saturday we are inviting local photographers to come and shoot the bands that are playing and post their photos to the Brooklyn Museum's flickr group. Afterwards, Bob Gruen, a rock photography legend who is featured in the exhibition and has shot the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and The Clash, will look at the photos and blog about his favorites here!" [Brooklyn Museum]

Carsick Cars

There's also the China Underground Invasion tour this weekend, with three of Beijing's best indie rock bands: Carsick Cars, PK-14 and Xiao He. In particular, I'm excited about Carsick Cars who I've actually heard of prior to this tour thanks to a friend who is living in Beijing and occasionally sends me music. They're definitely of the Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr school of noise n' drone. I only just got their new album, You Can Listen, You Can Talk, but have been listening to their 2008 debut a lot, and am told that its "Zhong Nan Hai" is like the Beijing indie anthem. The tour hits PowerHouse Arena tomorrow (11/5), Glasslands on Friday (11/6) and Santos on Saturday (11/7).

Tonight (11/4) is also the second week of The Answering Machine's three-week residency at Coco 66. The band has also added three more NYC dates while they're here: Nov. 9 at Pianos, Nov. 11 at Bruar Falls and Nov. 12 at Cake Shop.

Tahiti 80

And finally, Saturday night (11/7) French pop band Tahiti 80 play Mercury Lounge (tickets). When it comes to Franco-pop, Phoenix get the lion's share of the attention, but Tahiti 80 have been at it almost as long (if not just as long) and have made four danceable, hook-filled albums. The most recent of which, Activity Center, came out last year in France but is just now getting an American release. The band have retreated a bit from the full-on disco that was 2005's Fosbury, and gone back to the '60s sunshine of 2002's Wallpaper for the Soul which definitely suits them better. I haven't seen them play in ages, but they were always a good live band. Opening is Brookville, the other band from Ivy's Andy Chase -- who also produced Tahiti 80's first two albums.

Videos, tour dates and flyers are after the jump...

Continue reading "The Bitters, Grass Widow, Tahiti 80, The Mary Onettes, Frankie Rose, The Invisible & more in This Week in Indie "