by Tim Griffin

BRMC / Acid Mothers Temple / Warpaint at Austin Psych Fest - 4/26/2013

Last year Austin Psych Fest was held at Emo's East and Beauty Ballroom (RIP), the year before at the Seaholm Power Plant, and this year APF, which happened last weekend (4/26 - 4/28) has found what might be a permanent home at Carson Creek Ranch. The two seemed to fit well; open skies, trees, and a river (just minutes from downtown Austin) made for a great new location. Pictures of the ranch, and many of Day 1's bands (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Warpaint, Raveonettes, Tamaryn, Acid Mothers Temple, Tinariwen and more) and other goings-on are in this post.

BMRC play NYC on Saturday (5/4) at Terminal 5 with fellow Psych Fest vets Bass Drum of Death and tickets are still available.

Sailor Jerry invited me along for the ride and hired me to take some pictures for them as well. They had an AirStream back stage where much ink was dispensed (in the form of tattoos) as well as happiness (in the form of rum). Austin Tattoo artists Keith Underwood and Philip LaRocca manned the needles for those who stopped by for some permanent souvenirs. Pictures of some of that in the set, too.

Over at BV Austin, you can check out portraits taken at the fest by photographer Natasha Ryan. More pics from Day 1 of Austin Psych Fest below...

Continue reading "Austin Psych Fest: Day 1 in pics (BRMC, Acid Mothers Temple, Tinariwen, Tamaryn, Raveonettes, Warpaint ++ more)"

Tamaryn is DJing at New York's Museum of Modern Art on Sunday evening (4/7) as part of a PopRally event called "Abstract Currents." Against projections of one-minute videos submitted by the public, Tamryn will provide a "hypnotic soundtrack to the collectively built abstract videoscape." It's in conjunction with MoMA's Abstraction, 1910-1925 and Abstract Generation: Now in Print exhibition and tickets are still available.

Later this month, Tamaryn will be in Texas' state capital for Austin Psych Fest (Apr. 26 - 28), which features a pretty amazing line-up that runs the gammut of "psychedelic," including Deerhunter, Spectrum, Black Mountain, OS Mutantes, The Moving Sidewalks, Clinic, Besnard Lakes, Elephant Stone, Roky Erickson, Sweden's GOAT and a bunch more. The fest just announced the day-by-day line-ups which are listed below.

Continue reading "Tamaryn DJing MoMA; Austin Psych Fest finalizes lineup"

photos by Greg Cristman

Sleigh Bells / !!! / "ladies night" @ SS Coachella, 12/22/2012

Here are shots from the final day of the second voyage of S.S. Coachella that went down at the end of December. Though most of the boat was a little partied out from the wild day in Jamaica (and afterparty) the day before, people got back in the spirit for Girl Talk, Sleigh Bells and !!!. For the latter's final number, !!! invited members of Warpaint, Father John Misty and others for a group sing-a-long. After that it was a "ladies night" party that made sure everyone was bleary eyed for their trip home the next days. Says our photographer Greg Cristman, "Amazing that no one fell overboard."

You can check out pictures from day 1 HERE, day 2 HERE, day 3 HERE. More pics from day 4 are below.

Continue reading "SS Coachella weekend 2 day 4 pics (Sleigh Bells, !!!, Girl Talk +++ more)"

photos by Greg Cristman, review by Nathan Stout

Yeasayer / Warpaint / Father John Misty @ SS Coachella 2012

The S.S. Coachella cruises went down at the end of last month/year and we've been posting pictures of the one that set sail off the coast of Jamaica (12/19-23). Pictures of day 1 are HERE, day 2 HERE, and pictures of day 3 are in this post. On that day we caught Yeasayer, Black Lips, Warpaint, Father John Misty, and Gaslamp Killer. Of Black Lips, reviewer Nathan Stout writes:

I get shoved in the back so hard I almost hit my head on the microphone stand. Black Lips are belting out 'Bad Kids' and the crowd behind me is going fucking nuts! Moshing, shoving, jumping up and down; this is one of the crazier performances I have seen. It is exactly what I expected. Cole Alexander holds his guitar over his head, spits on it, then shakes his guitar until the spit falls back onto his tongue. Nasty. Dirty. Fun. Another shove. The song crescendos! Cole is running his tongue up his guitar frets in a slow sexual way. He doesn't stop playing. These guys are filthy. Fuck yeah!

Continue reading "SS Coachella weekend 2 day 3 pics (Yeasayer, Black Lips, Warpaint, Father John Misty, Gaslamp Killer)"

Sasquatch! 2012 (more by Chris Graham and Rae Graham)

Quincy, WA music festival Sasquatch! has announced that it will return for its 12th installment to The Gorge over Memorial Day Weekend (5/24 - 5/27) in 2013. A limited number of discounted four-day festival passes will go on sale Friday (11/23) at 9 AM PST at the Sasquatch! website. The lineup will be announced in February.

In other US festival news, as recently mentioned on BV Austin, Austin Psych Fest will go down in Carson Creek Ranch from April 26 to 28 with Deerhunter, The Black Angels, Boris, Spectrum, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Clinic, Warpaint, DIIV, and many more. More info HERE.

photos by Debi Del Grande

Refused / Warpaint / Sleigh Bells, FYF Fest 9/1/2012

...Next came the great Warpaint / Hot Snakes / Chromatics dilemma of 2012. We love Hot Snakes, but with not-to-be missed hardcore Refused closing the evening, we needed something cerebral.

We picked Warpaint, and it made all the difference. The Angeleno quartet packed the main stage area to an earnestly mind-blowing set. No joke. Stella Mozgawa's metronomically perfect drumming is infused with the right amount of personality and swagger. To say nothing of the occasionally ethereal vocals and sonically interdimensional floating guitar licks. On top of the brain high, the all-lady act Warpaint drives a bit of a body-moving groove. If it weren't for the, er, gopher pockmarked ground, we might have just laid down and vibed out or whatever. Enough people did anyways... -[LA Weekly]

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2012: day 1 in pics (Refused, Warpaint, Purity Ring, Sleigh Bells, The Vaselines, The Soft Pack and more)"

Baroness at Terminal 5 in May (more by Joe McCabe)

Earlier this week, we posted an update from Baroness showing that things were looking upwards for the band. Unfortunately though, with two members having broken vertebrae and frontman John Baizely having a broken arm and leg, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Baroness have in fact cancelled some of their upcoming North American tour dates, including their NYC show at House of Vans and LA's FYF Fest. They will not be replaced on the House of Vans lineup, which happens on August 29 and now just includes Turbonegro, Doomriders, and Nightbirds. This is a bummer but it makes sense that the band takes the time they need to recover, and we wish them a speedy and successful recovery!

Meanwhile, FYF Fest, which Wild Flag also dropped off of, recently expanded its lineup. It now features The Faint (who just announced they'll be reissuing Danse Macabre and touring the album), Glass Candy, King Tuff, and newcomers The Orwells. Tickets for FYF Fest are still available. The updated lineup and flier are below.

Continue reading "Baroness dropped off House of Vans and FYF Fest, who added bands (updated lineup)"

Concert cruises are all the rage lately, and this is in fact real.

Indio, CA music festival Coachella continues for two weekends in April, 2013. But just because they've decided to keep the fest in Indio, doesn't mean they can't take it on a couple of cruises as well. As seen in the picture above, S.S. Coachella will set set sail off of the Bahamas from December 16-19 and off of Jamaica from December 19-23. The lineup (thus far at least) includes Pulp, Hot Chip, Yeasayer, James Murphy (DJ set), Grimes, Cloud Nothings, Killer Mike, El-P, Sleigh Bells, Father John Misty, and more.

Holy Ship sails in January too.

FYF Fest. September 1st and 2nd, 2012
At the LA State Historic Park, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets are $77 and go on sale Friday June 22nd.

Quicksand recently reunited at Revelation Records' 25th Anniversary on the West Coast, and I would't be surprised if they do the same at Irving Plaza in October.

American Nightmare has two shows coming up at Webster Hall.

Full FYF lineup, in alphabetical order, below...

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2012 lineup: Quicksand, Refused, American Nightmare, Desaparecidos, M83, Hot Snakes & MUCH more"

Treasure Island Music Festival is returning to San Francisco, CA on October 15 and 16. The lineup includes Cut Copy, Beach House, The Hold Steady, Flying Lotus, Death From Above 1979, YACHT, Shabazz Palaces, The Antlers, St. Vincent, and many others. 2-Day passes go on sale Wednesday (7/27) 10 AM and single day tickets on Friday (7/29) at 10 AM.

Speaking of St. Vincent, if you haven't already, check out her new track at StrangeMercy.com. The full album is out September 13th via 4AD. More info and tour dates HERE. Still no info on tickets for her Met show.

Full Treasure Island lineup below...

Continue reading "Treasure Island Fest announces 2011 lineup, includes St. Vincent (who recently released a new song)"

today in NYC
* Cylinder @ The Stone
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Lawnmower @ The Stone
* Lenny Kaye, etc @ 2A
* Tony Touch @ Santos Party House
* Pow Wow! @ Fulton Stall Markett
* Wizardry, Iron Thrones @ Acheron
* Los Lobos, Aunt Martha @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Vetiver, Yellowbirds, Meg Baird @ The Bell House
* Cheeseburger, Hard Nips @ Beekman Beer Garden
* Humanity Falls, The Leviathan's Mandible, Flourishing @ Port 41
* Arc in Round, Beige, Long Distance Poison @ Death By Audio
* Stephane Wrembel Presents The Django Experiment @ Barbes
* Zona Mexicana, Spook Houses, Toasted Plastic, Hollow-Eyed @ Maxwell's
* Hate Eternal, Origin, Vital Remains, Abysmal Dawn @ Santos Party House
* Nightmare & The Cat, Jump Into The Gospel, Nonviolence, Little Racer @ Glasslands
* Lily Virginia, PAPS, Schwervon!, Algae & Tentacles, Melissa and Paul, Man Lee @ Cake Shop
* The Verve Pipe, Zany Umbrella Circus & Oko Sokolo, Oran Etkin's Timbalooloo, Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, Brooklyn Steppers @ Central Park Summerstage

Pow Wow! play for free at 3pm @ Fulton Stall Market near South Street Seaport. Then head into Beekman Beer Garden for Cheeseburger, also free.

Check out This Week in Indie for more.

Tons of free shows this week.

Bongripper won't be here.

Coco66 got shut down last night so SBTRKT never got to DJ after PS1.

Warpaint's new "Warpaint" video can be watched below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Warpaint @ Brooklyn Bowl

"Letter by letter, they spelled out the words 'Billie Holiday' until they didn't register anymore, the sort of sing-songy chant you might hear on a playground. The letters, glazed in reverb and sung in unison, slurred into one another over the slack strum of guitar. Out of nowhere, the song suddenly cribbed lyrics from a girl-group anthem from the 1960s, Mary Wells's 'My Guy': 'Nothing you can say/ Can tear me away/ From my guy/ Nothing you can do/ 'Cause I'm stuck like glue/ To my guy.'

The song in question was called 'Billie Holiday,' and it encapsulated the hypnotic powers of the band singing it at the Paradise on Tuesday night. Warpaint is essentially a modern girl group, but one that lingers in a haze of '60s psychedelia and '80s shoegaze. The Shangri-Las on Quaaludes, if you will."-[BostonGlobe]

Continue reading "Warpaint, the Family Band & PVT played Brooklyn Bowl (pics)"

Warpaint at The Studio at Webster Hall (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Warpaint is on the list for Coachella, one date as part of a larger tour for the band with PVT and Family Band. That tour includes NYC shows at Brooklyn Bowl on 3/30 and Bowery Ballroom on 3/31. Tickets for Bowery are currently on AMEX presale, and go on regular sale on 1/21 at noon. Tickets to Brooklyn Bowl go on sale Friday at noon as well.

Family Band meanwhile can be found supporting Asobi Seksu at Mercury Lounge on February 17th. Tickets are on sale.

Warpaint recently played The Studio at Webster Hall, and as we mentioned it would be, the show was is now viewable online courtesy of MTV.

All dates and a Warpaint video below...

Continue reading "Warpaint, PVT & Family Band -- 2011 Tour Dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Yuck - Rubber (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yuck - Georgia (MP3)

The BBC recently published its Sound of 2011 list, its annual picks of artists they think will be hot next year. A few of these you might have read about already: The Vaccines (playing here in January), Anna Calvi (playing here in March), Australia's The Naked and the Famous (maybe you saw them at Brooklyn Bowl in November), Esben and the Witch (been here a couple times), and Warpaint (already kinda big over here). There's also dubstep wizkid James Blake, hotshot producers Nero and more.

The list was determined via "160 influential UK tastemakers," and the artists selected must not have had a UK top 20 single or album by 14 November 2010, and must not already be famous (aka contender for TV talent competition, etc). You can see the whole list at the bottom of this post and the top five from the initial list of 15 will be revealed first week of the new year. Last year's list was topped by Ellie Goulding and also included The Drums, Marina & the Diamonds and, uh, Owl City.

Another of the band on the Beeb's list is Yuck who have scheduled and then cancelled U.S. shows twice this year already, but are now really coming -- they pinkie swear -- for two shows next month: January 25 at Mercury Lounge (on-sale 12/17 at noon) and Jan. 26 at Glasslands (tickets are on sale). Immediately after their NYC shows, Yuck heads out for a North American tour with their Fat Possum labelmates Smith Westerns. Yuck's debut album, loaded with warm and fuzzy indie rock a la early Teenage Fanclub or Yo La Tengo, will be out February 15. You can check out "Rubber" from the album above (and watch its NSFW video further down), as well as previously-released, super-catchy "Georgia."

Mona

Also on the Sound of 2011 list and also here in January are Nashville-via-Ohio band Mona, who play The Rock Shop on January 12, Mercury Lounge on January 13 and Union Pool on January 15. The BBC describes thusly:

The myth of the last gang in town is an enduring one in rock music. A small town, some big ideas and four kids who've grown up and grown so close that they finish each others sentences. Mona are those tender souls, hoping to outgrow the story that's been written for them. Says frontman/guitarist Nick Brown of their debut single Trouble On The Way. Nick: "It's pretty self-explanatory - there's a sound on the horizon and the volume's gonna grow."

The majority of this Nashville-based four-piece were raised in the church and learned their craft playing to the congregation: Nick and drummer Vince Gard as Pentecostalists and bass player Zach Lindsey in by Southern Baptist. Guitarist Jordan Young is the token heathen. For those within the faith, secular music was banned. Vince's mother would play him Creedence Clearwater Revival records and make him promise not to let on to his father - rock and roll as illicit, secret thrill.

Videos for Yuck and Mona, plus the entire BBC Sound of 2011, after the jump.

Continue reading "the BBC's Sound of 2011 list, new Yuck tour dates, Mona shows & more"

photos by Jessica Amaya, words by Rachel Kowal

Warpaint

Family is the new crystal. Wednesday was Family Portrait. Last night, 12/2, was Family Band. It's hard to put your finger on the vibe projected by Family Band. (They sound nothing like Family Portrait, for the record.) Their performance is characterized by a strange kind of understated intensity, which makes sense for a Brooklyn-based band that retreats to the Catskills to write songs.

Family Band kicked off the evening with a slow, melodic song, but as their set progressed and the room began to fill up, they gradually incoporated heavier, attention-grabbing arrangements to the atmospheric mix. Flanked by her three band mates, each dressed in white from head-to-toe, vocalist/guitarist Kim Krans stood out in her flowing, solid black outfit. Krans has the kind of soul-satisfying, world-weary voice characteristic of fabled singer/songwriters of fading generations. As the energy both on stage and in the room picked up, Krans' voice began to get overshadowed by the moans of the lap steel, but she quickly pulled the mic in closer, cooling retaining complete control over the situation. During the quieter portions of the songs, Jonny Ollsin (also on guitar) periodically walked over to the side of the stage, perched on top of a speaker, and sang along - off mic - in the shadows.

Though their interactions with the crowd were limited, their reservation increased the intensity of the performance and helped shroud them in an alluring air of mystery. Going into the show, I knew very little about Family Band, but their performance was deeply satisfying. At least there was one reward for arriving early.

Next up was the ironically titled artist, Rewards. Rewards is the relatively new project of Aaron Pfenning (formerly of Chairlift), but on stage he has help from three other musicians, including Lightspeed Champion's Dev Hynes. Rewards got off to a rough start. In the first song, there was a technical problem with the vocals. Pfenning quickly dashed over to the sound guy mid song, leaving his backing band to filibuster. After some difficulties, Pfenning's vocals temporarily came through speakers in unnaturally high octaves thanks to the fix.

Throughout the set, Pfenning made feeble (but humorous) attempts to engage the audience. "Hey did you just wink at me?" He asked one lucky audience member as he swaggered to the front of the stage. Family Band may have kept to themselves, but Pfenning seemed to be looking for any and every excuse to engage the crowd, often responding to random comments or even gestures.

Of course, there were also more promising moments - like when the Hynes and Pfenning traded off vocal duties. But for the most part, Pfenning's overwrought fervor threatened to turn the performance into performance art. In one final plea for attention during the last song, Pfenning walked to the front of the stage and leaned in inches from BV photographer Jessica Amaya's camera. (Is this the part where she's supposed to swoon?)

When Warpaint finally came to the stage to deliver us, it was nearly 11:30, and the crowd was eager. "How are you all doing?" guitarist/vocalist Emily Kokal asked the crowd. With the small talk covered, drummer Stella Mozgawa enthusiastically counted off for their opening song, "Bees." Though not particularly dance-y, many audience members greeted the band with surprisingly enthusiastic dancing from the opening bars. Kokal joined in on the action any time she could part with her guitar, and her frenzied movements were just as compelling as her vocals. Warpaint is fortunate enough to have two talented singers with distinct but complimentary voices.

Though the line-up of the band has changed some over the past few years, they seem to have struck the right balance with their most recent addition - Stella Mozgawa on drums. Warpaint's set-up on stage may be a bit unconventional - its two chief vocalists stand on opposite sides of the stage, leaving bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg to constantly roam around in the middle. But if the band lacks a central focal point, it's only because each of its members is positively magnetic.

After powering through much of their set (including the moody and mesmerizing "Undertow," which is more than vaguely reminiscent of Nirvana's "Polly"), Warpaint momentarily slowed things slowed down with "Majesty," but soon the kids were dancing once again. After hearing just seven songs, it was kind of a shock to get the last-song warning, but the band rewarded those who stayed with a two-song encore.

Warpaint and Rewards also played The Studio at Webster Hall one night earlier. More pictures from the MHOW show, with Warpaint's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Warpaint, Rewards & Family Band played MHOW (pics, setlist)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

If you're wondering why Los Angeles buzz band Warpaint has been around for almost seven years with only two releases to show for it, blame Shannyn Sossamon.

The actress and model, who's probably best known for starring alongside Heath Ledger in the 2001 film "A Knight's Tale," was the founding drummer for the psych-tinged experimental art-rock quartet back in 2004. When she left a year later, it threw the other band members for a loop.

"I think that's largely why it took us so long to get to the point where we recorded an EP," says the band's guitarist and singer, Theresa Wayman, by phone from London's K West Hotel and Spa during a tour stop. "We disbanded after she left. We disbanded for, like, a year. And then we got back together as a threesome and had to spend a lot of time navigating our way through the songs and writing new ones, because some of the songs couldn't be played if they were any of the songs that she played drums on."

Eventually, Wayman, guitarist/vocalist Emily Kokal and bassist/vocalist Jenny Lee Lindberg (who is also Sossamon's sister) regrouped with Wayman as the drummer. Then, Sossamon reappeared. So, in 2007, the band made another go at being a quartet and set out to record a debut EP, "Exquisite Corpse," which was released in 2008 to great reviews and impressive sales.

"And then [Shannyn] left again, halfway through the recording of the EP," laments Wayman.

But the story has a happy ending: The band eventually recruited a new drummer, Stella Mozgawa, and put together a full-length debut, "The Fool," which dropped in October. -[Express Night Out]

More pictures from The Studio below...

Continue reading "Warpaint & Rewards played The Studio @ Webster Hall (pics) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - Facelove (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PS I Love You - 2012 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Warpaint - Undertow (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Never Swallow Fruit Dub (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Never Follow Suit (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Luyas - All New Tiny Head (MP3)

The Radio Dept

After a long weekend of overeating and couchdwelling and Kanye overload, I hope you are all nice and rested up for what is a pretty great week of shows. Here's a bunch of stuff I recommend.

Sweden's The Radio Dept are playing two NYC shows ahead of their first-ever real tour of the U.S. and Canada this week. All dates are listed below, but the NYC shows happen at Knitting Factory Tuesday night (11/30) and Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday (12/01). Both are sold out. This will be the band's first visit to our area since the 2009 NYC Popfest.

It's been a busy year for the somewhat unprolific Scandinavian trio. In addition to their fantastic third album, Clinging to a Scheme, which came out back in April, The Radio Dept. just released a new EP, Never Follow Suit, which takes the dub-heavy album title cut (also on the album) and makes it even dubbier (download both versions above), plus adds three new blissed out tracks.

The band are also finally gathering up all their non-LP singles, b-sides and EPs for a double-disc compilation, Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 which comes out early next year. A lot of their great early EPs are out of print (like 2003's Pulling Our Weight) and it'll be nice to have them all in one place. Double vinyl too for those with turntables. With music spanning from their first single through tracks off Clinging to a Scheme, it makes for a nice overview of the band...but still holds together really well. Little has changed in The Radio Dept.'s sound over the last eight years, but they are one of the best examples of "don't fix what ain't broke."

Abd if you're going to one of the two Radio Dept. shows, be sure to get there early to catch Montreal's Braids, who I just saw play in their hometown.

PS I Love You @ Pop Montreal (more)

While on the Subject of Bands I Saw Play in Canada Recently, one of biggest hits of this year's M for Montreal festival were PS I Love You:

Most everyone seemed in agreement that PS I Love You were the best band of the night. The duo from Kingston, Ontario are an indie Mutt and Jeff, kind of like the Pixies with a new wave back-end. Yelper-guitarist Paul Salnier actually pulls triple duty live, playing bass parts too via a Moog bass pedal setup which is pretty cool. Drummer Ben Nelson plays heavy on the high hat a la New Order's Stephen Morris which gives their songs danceability.  Their record, Meet Me at the Muster Station, is good but, live, PS I Love You are a force.

Warpaint

Also visiting us this weekend are Los Angeles foursome Warpaint, who play The Studio @ Webster Hall on Wednesday (12/01) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday (12/02). Their debut for Rough Trade, The Fool, has gotten mostly good reviews. It's a record that has really grown on me in the last month, hitting that sweet spot between dustbowl new age goth and early-'80s post punk. Not that those are mutually exclusive terms. Spindly guitars, groovy basslines, complex percussion, dreamlike vocals... it's somewhere betweeen Haena-era Banshees and Bat For Lashes with just a smidge of Stevie Nicks. Which is a good thing if you ask me. If Warpaint aren't on the next Twilight soundtrack somebody's not doing their job.

The band are good live too, with an especially nimble rhythm section. And if you didn't like the album the first time you heard it, I urge you go give it another chance to sink in. Check out "Undertow" above, and there are a couple live performance videos further down this post along with all upcoming Warpaint tour dates.

Badly Drawn Boy

Like a lot of people, I loved the first Badly Drawn Boy album The Hour of The Bewilderbeast, which rightly won the 2000 Mercury Music Prize (at least given its competition). Damon Gough then went to Los Angeles and lost his way almost immediately after. Good songs here and there, yes, but none of his subsequent albums have been anywhere near as solid or as sonically interesting as Bewilderbeast. Yet I always give the new album a chance.

I'm happy to report that the vibe of BDB's new album -- the mouthful of a title It's What I'm Thinking Pt. 1: Photographing Snowflakes -- returns some of his debut's homespun charm. It's his first since parting ways with EMI and starting his own label and you can sense the freedom this has brought across its 10 tracks. (Parts 2 and 3 are due at some point in the future.) There may not be anything as immediately catchy as "Everybody's Stalking", but you can tell this is music Gough wanted to make, not music he thought someone else wanted to hear. It's a nice album. Give up your email address and you can download a few new songs at BDB's website.

Badly Drawn Boy plays Le Poisson Rouge this Friday (12/03) and Saturday (12/04). Badly Drawn Boy shows have always been a bit of a crapshoot. Shows are notoriously long, ramshackle affairs with extended noodling, rambling stage banter and other digressions. Gough is the only Mercury Prize winner I have ever seen to actually take audience requests, including other people's songs he has never played. (Think twice before you yell "Freebird!" at a BDB show, you may end up regretting it). But there are always moments of brilliance in there too that make you glad you went, which is I guess Gough in a nutshell.

That's the main stuff this week. A few more shows of note, day-by-day, of things not covered above follows:

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1

Garagey soul band Fergus & Geronimo, who recently relocated here from Texas, headline a great night of music at Glasslands, that also features another bunch of recent transplants, former Arizonans The Young Friends. Also on the bill: Little Gold and We Are Country Mice.

Denver duo Tennis play Mercury Lounge, their first shows since a wave of hype packed Glasslands and Cake Shop back in August. Nice folks, but take away all that reverb that coats their recordings (as they do live) and the songs aren't quite as magical. The night's line-up is pretty good overall, with Family Portrait, Miracles of Modern Science and La Big Vic. Tennis also open for The Walkmen (and a slimmed-down School of Seven Bells) at Terminal 5 the next night.

continued below...

Continue reading "The Radio Dept, PS I Love You, Warpaint, Badly Drawn Boy, Raindeer, Peter Hook, Luyas & more in This Week In Indie"

MNDR (playing w/ Ronson last night @ MHOW) (more by Toby Tenembaum)

today in NYC
* Roger Waters @ Nassau Coliseum
* Tony Malaby @ The Stone
* Mike Birbiglia @ Barnes & Noble
* Mark Ronson @ Webster Hall
K. Lloyd, Erik Wunder at Union Pool
* Kruder & Dorfmeister @ Best Buy Theater
* Pepper, Brother Ali, Pour Habit @ Highline Ballroom
* Zebra and Snake, DZ, Zazen Boys, Wolf Gang @ Pianos
* Bowerbirds, Death Vessel, Des Ark @ Bowery Ballroom
* Murder Mystery, North Highlands, Neighbors @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Ben Folds with Nick Hornby @ Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
* Martha Colburn with Thollem McDonas @ Issue Project Room
* Mux Mool, Living Days, Expensive Looks, Warm Ghost @ Glasslands
* Mikolaj Traszka, Joe McPhee, Steve Swell, Jay Rosen @ The Stone
* The Universal Thump, Osso Quartet, Doug Paisley @ The Rock Shop
* Mary J. Blige, Jazmine Sullivan, Miguel, El DeBarge @ Radio City Music Hall
* Punches, Jacques Renault, Midnight Magic, Telephoned (DJ Set) @ Public Assembly

Nardwuar talked to the Drums (the band featuring the villain from Karate Kid and other members). Video below...

Orphan have a new video for "Fetus in Fetu". Check it out below...

Warpaint have a new video for "Undertow". Check it out below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Chris Juarez & Rachel Carr

Local Natives & the crowd @ FYF Fest Saturday

Yesterday was FYF Fest. We know all the problems... The lines... And are addressing them now. In no way are we sleeping on these problems. The bands were amazing and the turn out was unreal. I'm speechless. -Sean Carlson & FYF Fest

The day's short sets kept you wanting more from nearly every act, many of whom played for a half hour or 35 minutes (which expanded in 5 minute increments up to an hour for the headliners). That made for tough decisions between overlapping sets. Ted Leo and band blew through their 45 minutes, and Titus Andronicus could've continued for another 35 at least with the momentum from their Monitor songs. Those two, along with Screaming Females, were part of what Ted Leo termed the "New Jersey Takeover" - three punk bands with Garden State roots who all played great sets at the fest.

Ariel Pink

Los Angeles represented with a number of notable hometown acts. Growlers, in grey facepaint, brought an earthy, ramshackle sound and lots of friends. Best Coast, Abe Vigoda, Local Natives and Ariel Pink also repped their hometown - the latter two with mezmerizing late afternoon sets.

Other acts brought some nice surprises. A chorus of kids, costumed as zombie versions of dead historical figures, backed Dead Man's Bones' Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. The Blow introduced some of her new songs written for an unnamed celebrity (and played recognizable earlier songs too, including one "written with Sting...when [she] was 7"). And Big Freedia, the fest's only act with any trace of hip-hop, shocked the crowd with a short pre-headerliner dose of "Azz Everywhere."

Big Freedia

There was plenty of garage rock (Thee Oh Sees brought the man responsible for their cover art, William Keihn, to play tambourine), punk and metal. A reunited Sleep, in New York this week, grinded away, as !!! had people shaking their ass on the sister stage. On the fest's third stage, hardcore band 7 Seconds reminisced about their first time in LA almost 30 years ago and lead a spirited circle pit. Add to those bands, breezy folk from AA Bondy, the jams of Warpaint and Delorean to name a few.

If FYF's organizers are a bit defensive above, it may be with good reason: the few critical organizational errors were fairly memorable. A long line at will call (an hour would be a short estimate) kept many waiting in the 90 degree sun while the first bands of the day (Magic Kids, Let's Wrestle and The Goat) could be heard starting in the distance. Water inside was also an issue, with limited access to free drinking water and bottled water at $4 (which, according to Noah Lennox, ran out).

By the end of the night, the two final acts - The Rapture and Panda Bear - set up on competing stages. Panda Bear aka Noah Lennox interspersed his dreamy lullabies with patches of noise and dissonance while videos and images that could be described only as "trippy" played behind him; I think your response to the set depended largely on your state of mind after the long day: exhausted or ready for a patience-testing string of songs and sounds. He and The Rapture provided, alternately, a place to dance or doze.

--

Unsane also played a rare runion set at the festival where Off! shared a bill with Lower Dens. School of Seven Bells, Davila 666, Cults and Ceremony were there too.

Read what Noah thought about his own set, HERE. More pictures from the entire day, below...

Continue reading "FYF Fest 2010 in pics & review "

Stereogum listed the "40 Best New Bands of 2010". They have a lot more detail, but you can also check out their list, alphabetically, below...

Continue reading "Stereogum lists the "40 Best New Bands of 2010" "

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Devyn Manibo

Javelin @ the Whitney

Javelin and Warpaint played a show at the Whitney on Friday, August 13th as part of their now-finished tour together (previously on the trip, both bands played Lollapalooza). The pay-what-you-wish entry fee covered both the music and the museum's current art, which includes the vividly styled watercolors of Charles Burchfield (his previously mentioned Heat Waves in a Swamp retrospective) and Christian Marclay: Festival, a collection of the artist/composer's sound-centric work with daily performances.

On Friday, the line to get in stretched around the block: I arrived at 6pm and got in the door just before Javelin started their 7pm set. The duo, playing off their Luaka Bop-released debut LP No Más, brought their wall of dismembered, rewired and colorfully spraypainted boomboxes to project the sample-based songs. One half of the band, George Langford, stuck to the drums, playing cymbals and a digital pad, while "frontman" Tom Van Buskirk worked up a sweat on the mic. The excellent No Más covers a lot of '80s-inspired ground: breakbeats, New Wave, downtown disco, dream pop and so on. On top of the samples, Buskirk interpolated his own words with borrowed hip-hop verses and hooks from the same era to complete the circle. A neon-painted keytar and fuzzed-out kazoo rounded out the melodies.

Warpaint started shortly afterward, but I didn't see much of them, opting for a quick walk around the museum before closing (in hindsight, pretty stupid: the exhibits require a few hours). Like Javelin, Warpaint's funky drums got the crowd moving and bobbing along, and the band sounded at home in the crowded basement-like space. The sidewalk outside actually provided one of the best viewpoints on the action below.

Warpaint go on tour with the xx and Zola Jesus in September. That includes an October 2nd show at United Palace Theatre (tickets still on sale).

Javelin's next show is Friday, August 20th (TONIGHT) the Yard at Soho Grand along with a DJ set from JD Samson as part of their free Summer Hummer series (RSVP). Javelin also just cut a recently posted Daytrotter session.

The last Whitney Live show of the summer happens August 27th with DJ/Rupture and Tanlines.

More pictures of Javelin and some video of Javelin & Warpaint are below...

Continue reading "Javelin played the Whitney w/ Warpaint (pics, video), playing the Soho Grand (tonight) "

most of the photos by Josh Darr

The Strokes

Lady Gaga & Semi Precious Weapons (pic via Krista Davis)

Phoenix

"Lollapalooza wheeled out some big headliners in its sixth year on the Chicago lakefront, as a record 240,000 people poured into Grant Park over three days to see 130 performers, including Lady Gaga, Green Day and reunited grunge-era icons Soundgarden.

Size matters at Lollapalooza, as the festival expanded its reach westward by shutting down Columbus Avenue and spreading eight stages across 110 acres, up from 80 acres in previous years. Columbus Avenue was converted into a giant sidewalk lined with portable toilets, a simple but effective improvement that allowed fans to avoid the dreaded Buckingham Fountain bottleneck that had turned previous festivals into human traffic jams. The festival topped its previous three-day record of 225,000, reached the last two years.

Still, there was little room during some performances at the northernmost stages on Butler Field, where fans jostled shoulder-to-shoulder for space to see performances by Metric, Phoenix and Arcade Fire. Note to Austin, Texas-based promoters C3 Presents: How about widening the southern entrance to Butler Field or moving one of the stages onto Columbus Drive to relieve what is becoming an annual problem? It's only going to get worse if the festival approaches its new capacity of 95,000 a day in future years." [Chicago Tribune]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2010 -- Day 1 & 2 in pics "

photos by Amanda M Hatfield

Warpaint

"What's enjoyable about their hour-long set was that they aloud the songs to breathe and play out. While they performed maybe 8 or 9 songs, they stretched it out for an hour giving their tunes a sense of space and grandeur. I can imagine how sweet it would sound if they brought out strings for the songs that have them. Another thing, I took away from them is how proficient musicians they are, especially the drummer." [Music Snobbery]

Continue reading "Warpaint & Sherlock's Daughter @ Mercury Lounge - pics "

Interpol, who just announced a summer tour that didn't include a NYC show, will play NYC's United Palace Theatre on Friday, November 5th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Monday, June 28th at 11am. General sale starts Thursday, July 1st at 10am.

That show is a proper hometown show for the band that'll be debuting their new lineup at the semi-closed Creators show on June 26th. Other shows for the quintet include a string of dates in the North America this summer (with a few in New Jersey) and two tours in Europe (one with U2) going into December.

Speaking of the United Palace (and bands with monochromatic wardrobes) - the venue is hosting the xx on October 2rd. That show is part of a tour that'll pair the band with spacey rock group Warpaint and the gothy, operatic Zola Jesus (who just played Glasslands and will be in NY this July). Tickets are still on sale. Right around the time of the show, Zola Jesus will also be dropping a new EP on Sacred Bones (October 12th to be exact). Her tour dates (which include a whole run with the xx and Warpaint) are below...

Continue reading "Interpol adds NYC show, Zola Jesus & Warpaint touring w/ xx"

Javelin @ Bowery Ballroom in February (more by Jessica Amaya)

Whitney Live: Summer 2010
Presented by Keds
Fridays: July 2, July 23, Aug 13, Aug 27
Lower Gallery / Sculpture Court 7pm

JULY 2
HIGH PLACES + TORO Y MOI

JULY 23
BEAR HANDS + DARLINGS

AUGUST 13
JAVELIN + WARPAINT

AUGUST 27
DJ/RUPTURE + TANLINES

Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg and Wye Oak's Andy Stack are playing a show at the museum on Friday, June 25th to ring in an exhibit of art by painter Charles Burchfield.

Last year's summer Whitney shows included Vivian Girls & These are Powers and the Feelies.

The Biennial just closed at the museum - there's a video tour of it below...

Continue reading "Whitney Live 2010 - free shows @ the museum in July "