photos by Bryan Bruchman / BTRtv; words by Bill Pearis

No Joy / Weekend @ Glasslands, 5/17/2013

No Joy's tour swung through NYC this week, with two shows for the Montreal shoegazers, first at Mercury Lounge (5/15) and then at Glasslands last night (5/17). The band's new album, Wait to Pleasure, is very much a studio creation, with producer Jorge Elbrecht of Violens buffing some of their more jagged edges in favor of more a lush sound that would've been right at home on 4AD Records in 1988. It's a terrific record, but I was happy to see no laptops or headphones at their show last night. While still in possession of honeyed vocals from Jasamine White-Gluz (using a harmonizer to great effect), songs like "Hare Tarot Lies" took on more pummeling form. This was especially true of show-closer "E" (which is opens their album) that is kind of their "You Made Me Realize," disintegrating into pure noise.

For fans of goth-leaning shoegaze, this was a great show as support came from Weekend who moved from San Francisco to Brooklyn last year, and even more recently adding a fourth member, Nick Ray, to the band. With Ray on bass, singer Shaun Durkan now plays second guitar. One might expect that to result in an even greater din, but last night's show was a bit turned-down, volume-wise, for the band. (It was still plenty loud.) Which maybe suited the set, which was made up almost entirely of Weekend's forthcoming album, Jinx, that trades white noise for liquid basslines, dark dance grooves and much hookier songs. The new direction suits them well and if you haven't heard first single "Mirror" you can stream it below.

Weekend's next show will be during the Northside Festival where they'll play Knitting Factory on June 15. Tickets for that show just went on sale today. They've got a few shows in California in July, too, and all dates are listed below.

I missed openers Grand Resort, but they have a few shows coming up including tonight (5/17) at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge where they'll play with Minneapolis' great BNLX. Those dates, along with more photos of No Joy and Weekend, are below.

Continue reading "No Joy played Glasslands with Weekend who are playing Northside (pics, dates)"

still from "I Appear Missing" video

As mentioned, Queens of the Stone Age are releasing a new album, ...Like Clockwork, which is due out June 4 via Matador. They already released the first single, "My God Is The Sun," and now they've given us another... well half of it at least. A 30-second teaser for QOTSA track "I Appear Missing" aired on Adult Swim last night (5/5), and now the band have released a three-minute video for the track, but the album version is reportedly a six-minute song. You can watch the three-minute video below.

QOTSA will be playing some festivals this year like Philly's Made In America and Chicago's Lollapalooza.

Speaking of Adult Swim, they just released the free Garage Swim compilation, which features new music from Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff & Gap Dream, Jeff the Brotherhood, Black Lips, Mikal Cronin, King Khan and the Gris Gris, Mind Spiders, OBN IIIs, Weekend, Cheap Time, Bass Drum of Death, and more. You can download it for free HERE and stream the entire thing below.

We just posted pictures of King Khan at Austin Psych Fest. Weekend will return to NYC soon on their tour with No Joy. And Cheap Time will play NYC soon on their tour with Social Distortion.

QOTSA video and Garage Swim stream below...

Continue reading "watch a 3-minute video of a 6-minute QOTSA song; download Adult Swim's free garage rock compilation"

by Bill Pearis

No Joy's new album, Wait to Pleasure, came out last week via Mexican Summer. Produced by Violens' Jorge Elbrecht, the album goes beyond the group's pummeling shoegaze start, showing off previously unheard textures, melody and beauty. They can still attain tinitus-level volume, but they've got other cards too. You can stream it via Spotify, and check out their new video for the LP's almost Cocteau Twins-y "Hare Tarot Lies" below.

As mentioned, No Joy's tour will hit NYC in a couple weeks, playing an early show at Mercury Lounge on May 15 (tickets) and then Glasslands on May 16 with the sonically likeminded Weekend (who were great at Shea Stadium last week) and Grand Resort (who also play with BNLX the next day). You can still get tickets to Glasslands but if you'd like to go for free, we've got a pair to give away, along with a copy of No Joy's album.

Contest details, video, album stream and No Joy's current tour schedule are below.

Continue reading "No Joy released 'Wait to Pleasure' and new video; win copy of new LP and tickets to their Glasslands show"

Phosphorescent at Brooklyn Bowl in 2011 (more by Tamara Porras)

As mentioned, the Northside Festival is returning to various Brooklyn venues from June 13 - 16, and like in past years, they'll be doing two free shows in McCarren Park as part of the festival. We already mentioned that The Walkmen are playing one on June 15, and that one just got even better because Phosphorescent (who just played Crossing Brooklyn Ferry) were added! The rest of the bill includes Friend Roulette and Abadabad. The show is free, but tickets are required and still available.

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The second free McCarren Park show was also just announced. It will be headlined by Solange (who also just played Crossing Brooklyn Ferry) and support comes from Petite Noir, Cable, and My Midnight Heart. Tickets for that one are on sale now too. If you have a Northside bade, you're guaranteed entry for both free shows.

Northside Festival have added other bands, like Braids, too. An updated list of artists playing (and still more TBA) and lists of all Solange and Phosphorescent dates below...

Continue reading "Solange and Phosphorescent playing free McCarren Park shows during Northside (updated lineup & dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Weekend @ BVSXSW 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

As mentioned, Weekend will release their second album, Jinx, on July 23 via Slumberland. Where their debut album, Sports, wormed its way into your head from sheer force, the new album has a much stronger focus on both melody and dynamics (and just a smidge of melodrama). You can also dance to it, in an '80s goth club kind of way. You can stream "Mirror" (which opens the album) below along with choice cuts from their first album and EP.

Weekend are playing tonight (4/26) at Bushwick spot Shea Stadium, where they promise, "New songs, same volume.' I.e. bring earplugs. The show also has the ever-present LODRO, plus Slander, and Napoleon. Advance tickets are available. On Tuesday (4/30), Weekend will play a show at Stony brook University with SDLK. The show, sponsored by campus radio station WUSB, is happening in a classroom that's been converted into a studio. The show is free and all ages (and will be broadcast live on the station) and more info is here.

The band will also open for Montreal's No Joy at Glasslands on May 16 and tickets are still available for that show. (No openers for No Joy's 5/15 show at Mercury Lounge.)

Continue reading "Weekend add shows, playing Shea Stadium tonight and Stony Brook University next week (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Weekend, who moved from San Francisco to Brooklyn last summer, have announced details of their second album. It's called Jinx and will be out on Slumberland on July 23. It's been almost two years since Weekend's dark, dissonant Red EP and the trio have burned a lot of the haze off their sound (and some of the ear-bleeding volume), in favor of more melody and danceability, albiet in a gothy '80s kind of way. (The Chameleons, The Sound and maybe even Ride come to mind.) You can stream the first track released from the album, "Mirror," below.

Expect tour dates a little closer to the albums release but in the meantime Weekend will be playing a NYC show soon, opening for No Joy at Glasslands on May 16. Tickets are still available.

Album art and tracklisting for Jinx are below.

Continue reading "Weekend ready new album 'Jinx' (stream a track), opening for No Joy in Brookyn"

by Bill Pearis

Weekend @ SXSW 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

So we've been wondering what was up with this Weekend show at Cameo on Tuesday (9/25) for a while, as to why the San Francisco band was playing this one off NYC date. Well, now we know -- the band has moved to Brooklyn. Because clearly they thought they weren't paying enough rent in SanFran. Nonetheless, I am personally excited at the opportunity to see the band play more often. Welcome to the neighborhood, guys!

And those opportunities basically start now. In addition to Tuesday's show at Cameo with ERAAS and Woodsman (tickets are still available), Weekend play 285 Kent on October 4 with Cold Showers (who were terrific last night at Glasslands and also play WIERD on 10/2) and will be joining the throngs during CMJ.

The band have also posted of rough mix of "Sirens" which will feature on the band's sophomore album which will be out in 2013. Stream that below, along with a list of all dates and the Cameo show flyer.

Continue reading "Weekend moved to Brooklyn, playing 285 Kent w/ Cold Showers after Cameo ++ LP #2 preview (dates and stream)"

Weekend at BVSXSW 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

San Francisco noise merchants Weekend have just put the finishing touches on their second album for Slumberland which should be out later this year. They were at one point supposed to be here for CBGB Fest but that never materialized but will be in the NYC area next month for what appears to be a one-off show at Cameo on August 28 and tickets for that are on sale.

UPDATE: The show is now happening on September 25 and tickets are still available.

All currently scheduled Weekend dates (all of which except NYC are in the UK) are listed below.

Continue reading "Weekend finishing LP #2, playing NYC in September"

Now we really know what's going on. The CBGB Festival is happening July 5 - 8 at some 30 venues across the city, with over 300 bands participating, including the previously mentioned free Guided by Voices, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Cloud Nothings show at Summerstage (which now also includes The War on Drugs), the The Baseball Project and Craig Finn at City Winery, L.A. Guns at Highline, the Cro Mags, Sick of it All, Vision of Disorder, Absolution, and Sal Naim show at Webster Hall, and D Generation's Bowery Electric show. Newly added artists include Rocket from the Tombs, MEN, PS I Love You, Reggie Watts, Gary Lucas, Weekend, and more TBA. The full list of currently confirmed artists is below.

It's also a film festival with both new and classic rock films/docs, including the world premiere of The Rise and Fall of The Clash, plus American Hardcore, Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements, The Dead Boys - Live at CBGB/OMFUG 1977, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kurt Cobain About a Son, The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy & Lou 1971-1973 and more.

In addition, they've added a CMJ/SXSW-like music industry conference with panels/workshops concerning the music industry, independent artists, and a CBGB "Tales from the Club" panel each day. All conferences take place at the Sunshine Cinema and East Village Cinema. The festival also closes with the "distilled spirits fest" at Beekman Beer Garden on July 8.

There are variety of badges available too, from music and film showcase badges to one that get you into everything (or potentially at least...badges don't guarantee admission). The press release we got claims badges have been on sale since May 7 but this is the first we've heard about it. Regardless, early bird prices on music showcase badges is $69 and runs through May 31. It jumps to $79 if you buy before July 4 and walk-up badges once the fest starts are $89. Film fest badges are $99/$159/$219 for earlybird/regular/walk-up. You can also get a music conference badge which gains you entry to the showcases, workshops, and panels, and a music/film combo badge which gains you entry to all of that plus the film screenings. Full details on the vast array of CBGB Festival badge options are at their website. What this means to people who already bought tickets to individual shows already but want a badge too, we're not sure.

A list of all confirmed bands, films, conferences, and participating venues is below.

Continue reading "CBGB Festival announces details: badges, bands, films, industry conference, and booze"

Best Coast at LPR (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Best Coast have announced a big tour in support of their new LP The Only Place, due on 5/15 via Mexican Summer. Check out the tracklisting/art for The Only Place below.

The tour, part of which is with Jeff The Brotherhood (who recently played Terminal 5), and part of which is with Those Darlins (who recently lost a member), kicks off in LA in May and hits NYC at Terminal 5 on July 17th (with Those Darlins who they also played that Planned Parenthood event with at Le Poisson Rouge). Tickets for the NYC show go on AMEX presale Wednesday (3/7) at noon, and regular sale on Friday.

The NYC stop falls toward the end of fashion mogul Beth Consentino's trek, and is also one of TWO stops they'll make to the NYC area this summer, the first being... supporting Metallica in Atlantic City. All dates are listed below.

Those Darlins dont have a new record but do have a new EP on the way, AND they will join on for a covers LP of the Repo Man soundtrack(!)

If you have ever seen Nikki or Linwood's VHS collections, you know that their copies of Repo Man are well worn. Hell, we are pretty sure that Nikki's not driving might have something to do with Miller's philosophizing.

So, it is very cool that we can now announce that Those Darlins have recorded a cover of the Iggy Pop title track for an upcoming tribute album on American Laundromat Records.

All tour dates, SXSW included, and the new BC album cover, below...

Continue reading "Best Coast announces new LP & tours with Those Darlins & JEFF the Brotherhood (dates)"

photos by Stephanie Crumley, words by BBG

American Nightmare in MA

American Nightmare (aka Give Up The Ghost) reunited for two shows: Club Lido in Revere, MA on December 29th and one in Los Angeles on 12/31. The shows, their first in close to eight years, featured the lineup of Wesley Eisold (of Cold Cave), Timothy Cossar, Joshua Holden, Brian Masek, and Alex Garcia-Rivera, and featured notable support with the East Coast getting appearances from All Pigs Must Die, Colin of Arabia, and Salvation while the West Coast got Trash Talk, Touche Amore, and Weekend. Pictures, videos and the partial setlist from the MA show are in this post.

Jacob Bannon recently interviewed Wes & Tim for the Deathwish podcast, discussing the details behind the reunion. Stream that in full on the Deathwish player or download a copy via iTunes. Deathwish recently reissued We're Down Til We're Underground and Background Music on vinyl. Order yours at their eStore.

Pictures/video/setlist, below...

Continue reading "American Nightmare aka GUTG reunited (pics, video, setlist)"

The Kills @ MusicFestNW 2011 (more by Autumn Andel)

The Kills, who are about to celebrate their 10th anniversary, will head out on a headlining tour in early 2012 with JEFF the Brotherhood and Hunters. Beginning in Chicago on January 20th, the Kills will end it back at their favorite NYC venue Terminal 5 on February 11th. Tickets for all North American dates go on band presale today. Tickets for the NYC show go on AmEx presale Wednesday and general sale Friday.

Meanwhile the Kills will spend November traveling around Europe with Weekend. All tour dates and a brand new video for "Baby Says", below...

Continue reading "The Kills going on tour w/ JEFF the Brotherhood & Hunters (dates, presale & new video)"

photos by Diana Wong

Weekend @ Stratosphere Sound

Like last year, a bunch of bands were invited to Stratosphere Sound studios during CMJ to record a couple of songs with recording engineer Geoff Sanoff. The songs are going to be released via Insound for free soon (look out for one to premiere on BV as well). Bands included Caveman (who played like 10 CMJ shows and the BV Hold Steady show a month before CMJ), WATERS, Weekend (who played the BV official showcase and in a Puma store), Gauntlet Hair (who played a BV day party too), Widowspeak (ditto), 1,2,3 (that's the name of a band), and Tall Ships. Here are some pictures from the day (Friday, 10/21). They continue below...

Continue reading "Weekend, WATERS, Gauntlet Hair, Widowspeak, Caveman & other bands recorded sessions @ Stratosphere Sound (pics)"

photos by Chris La Putt

DOM in the Puma Store

For CMJ, SPIN hooked up with the Puma store in Union Square to present a series of free in-stores. Wednesday's schedule included one of the three shows that The Duke Spirit played, one of Dom's many CMJ 2011 appearances, and even a set by Weekend (who played the BrooklynVegan official showcase on Friday night). This Puma commercial continues below...

Continue reading "bands like Dom, the Duke Spirit & Weekend played in a Puma store (pics)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Raphaelle Standell-Preston of Braids/Blue Hawaii @ MHoW

Like she was when in February, Canada's Raphaelle Standell-Preston was fighting a cold when she returned to NYC to play the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday night (10/21). That didn't stop her from performing at the show twice though! Her electronic and atmospheric duo project Blue Hawaii bravely opened the show to the smallest audience of the night at 7pm (less than one hour after the BV day party at Public Assembly ended right next door). She then sang again at 10pm in Braids, but this time to the largest audience of the night. The room was packed to capacity as Braids performed their "absolutely beautiful" music. Seeming overwhelmed by their grand reception, Raphaelle thanked the crowd over and over as they ended their set and their tour with Pepper Rabbit who played at 8.

There's a rumor that the BV showcase may have been Pepper Rabbit's last show ever. Hopefully that's not true. To quote Hannah Angst, "Pepper Rabbit puts on an amazing show- I love when so few people can make that much noise." Maria Sherman said that, "the best part of [the] pepper rabbit show [was] John Norris screaming every lyric."

After Pepper Rabbit and before Braids, came Active Child who some say stole the show.

After Braids came the final set of the night, and that was from the great San Francisco post-punk band Weekend (I feel like it doesn't need to be written anymore that Weekend is not to be confused with The Weeknd or Weekends, but at least one person asked me to clarify this weekend, so I think I should keep writing it). Metro.us saw Weekend and says:

Bringing your own lights is an effective move that makes you stand out from the thousand other bands. You can better capture what you know as the es-sence of your own music. Weekend brought three long red tube lights to put beside their instruments, evoking electric heaters, warming up their icy goth rock sound.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Sorry if for some reason you couldn't get in! More pictures below...

Continue reading "BV CMJ 2011 showcase @ MHOW w/ Braids, Active Child, Weekend, Pepper Rabbit & Blue Hawaii (pics)"

Braids @ Mercury Lounge (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Though you may have noticed it on Music Hall's site already, I'm excited to announce the lineup of the 2011 BrooklynVegan official CMJ showcase, happening at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, October 21st. It looks like this:

7pm Blue Hawaii
8pm Pepper Rabbit
9pm Active Child
10pm Braids
11pm Weekend

Montreal's Braids (not to be confused with Braid), covered countless times on this site also played a BV-SXSW 2011 party and are currently nominated for the Polaris Award. I'm honored to host them twice in one year.

Blue Hawaii, more of a rarity, is Braids front-woman Raphaelle's solo project. You don't see Blue Hawaii's name on a bill very often, though maybe you just caught them when they opened for Braids at Mercury Lounge on September 6th. Get there early! Raphaelle on stage once is something not to be missed, let alone twice in one night!

Active Child @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Active Child, whose last NYC was a sold out one at Bowery Ballroom just last week, will play an early 9pm set even though they could probably be headlining the night themselves. No lack of BV Active Child posts too if you want to find out more about the LA-based ex-choir boy harp playing artist (Active Child also played a BV SXSW party in March 2010).

Pepper Rabbit also recently shared bills with Braids, though not in NYC where Pepper Rabbit also just headlined their own Mercury Lounge show. Grab the Freelance Whales remix of of their song "Rose Mary Stetch" HERE if you don't have it yet.

Weekend @ BV-SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Last but far from least is Weekend (not to be confused with The Weeknd or Weekends) who also played the same BV SXSW party in 2011 that Braids did (Malajube, who are in NYC now, played that show too). I'm excited to have them back too! To quote one BV contributor who I think speaks for most of us, "Weekend are one of my favorite new bands of the last year." Maybe you just caught them at one of their two packed NYC shows earlier this month. They played both Mercury Lounge and Glasslands with Talk Normal. Download/listen to their new track "Hazel" below.

NOTE: This is one of two official BrooklynVegan CMJ showcases. The other is much heavier and on a boat. Stay tuned for free day party announcements too.

Continue reading "BV-CMJ 2011 official showcase @ Music Hall of Williamsburg -- lineup & tickets"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Hedgehog - Toy and 61 Festival (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hedgehog - Waiting for the Last Bus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Royal Baths - Nikki Don't (MP3)

After surviving a couple minor major acts of nature, we deserve a long break. So for your Labor Day weekend... like usual, it's pretty slow, show-wise. But there are some things to do.

We'll start this week with a movie. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is finally getting a U.S. release (it came out in January 2010 in France), albeit a limited one, thanks in part to great reissue label Light in the Attic. The film started it's two-week Film Forum run last night and will be making its way around the country throughout the fall. All play dates are at the bottom of this post.

Heroic maybe, but for sure Serge Gainsbourg led a wild life before succumbing to cancer at age 62 in 1992. You could make a compelling film out of any period of his life, and that the movie tries to cram it all in -- from fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris as a child through his rise to fame, relationships with Bridget Bardot and Jane Birkin to his his '70s dalliance with reggae -- gives too much of your standard Behind the Music story arc.

But it's also untraditional at the same time. Writer-director Joann Sfar is a comic artist (this is his first film) and injects a big element of the absurd courtesy of a puppet-like alter-ego (alter-Id, really) that encourages Gainsbourg to do bad things. Eric Elmosnino, a dead-ringer for Gainsbourg, is terrific, as is the rest of the cast -- including Lucy Gordon as Birkin and Laetitia Casta as Bardot, plus appearances by eccentric singer Philippe Katerine and the late Claude Chabrol. It's got a great sense of style and, of course, the soundtrack is amazing. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life could be better, but it's still worth seeing.

Weekend

As for actual shows, San Francisco's vociferous and awesome Weekend will be here on Saturday (9/3) at Glasslands and Sunday (/4) at Mercury Lounge. Both shows are with the similarly cacophonous Talk Normal.

Weekend have a new EP, Red, out September 20th on Slumberland which finds the trio exploring new sonic territory, though not the quiet kind. It's still rather pummeling but Shaun Durkan's vocals, previously hidden behind echo and backwards reverb, are dryer and more up front now. The sound is a little sharper all around, but the driving, melodic basslines and guitar squall remain. You can download Red track "Hazel" via a Soundcloud widget at the bottom of this post.

In addition to Talk Normal, the Glasslands show features their Slumberland labelmates Brown Recluse; the Mercury Lounge show also has Fan-Tan on the bill. All Weekend/Talk Normal tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Royal Baths

San Francisco's Royal Baths bring their heavy psychedelia to Death by Audio on Friday (9/2) with Xray Eyeballs, Hunters and Mountain Cult. I wrote previously: "Royal Baths are kind of bad trip acid rock, dark and seedy but not atonal. But it's definitely down the rabbit hole. In a good way." At the top of this post you can download a track off of Royal Baths debut LP  from last year. The band have a split double-7" with Ty Segall due out on HoZac any time now. Keep an eye peeled for that.

Hedgehog

Bejiing's Hedgehog are back in America for the first time since CMJ: they play Bruar Falls on Sunday (9/4) and Cake Shop on Monday (9/5). After that they head out on tour with Xiu-Xiu and Kindest Lines, and all tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

I caught set at The Woods last year and the venue's atrocious sound didn't deter Hedgehog's tenacity, most ably embodied in Atom, their tiny pistol of a drummer. Looking at them, you might expect pop punk a la Japan's Blue Hearts, but Hedgehog make melodic indie rock. There's a couple tracks to download at the top of this post. They're a blast live, and there aren't a lot of shows Sunday or Monday, so here's a good international option for your concert dollar.

That's it of the "big" stuff in my world. Some more shows -- including a fair amount of free ones -- are listed day-by-day below.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

Good show at Shea Stadium tonight. In addition to the recently-profiled Caged Animals, there's also new FatCat singings Forest Fire whose Walkmen-esque album Staring at the X is worth looking out for when it comes out in October on FatCat.

Nerdy rapper and Adult Swim voice talent MC Chris is throwing a record release party at Death by Audio for his new album Race Wars. It's also his birthday. Show is FREE.

continued below...

Continue reading "Serge Gainsbourg, Weekend, Hedgehog, Royal Baths, MC Chris, Hunx, 'English Beat' & more in This Week in Indie"

Talk Normal @ Prospect Park 2010 (more by Lori Baily)

The Brooklyn based duo Talk Normal - comprised of Andrya Ambro (Drummer/Vocalist) and Sarah Register (Guitarist/Vocalist) -- are currently at home in NYC, hard at work on their second full-length. Three 7"'s have come out over the summer, most recently M'Lady Records (with artwork by Kim Gordon), preceded by a split on Fast Weapons Records with Thurston Moore, and a split on Klangbad Records with Christy & Emily.

Continue reading "Talk Normal kicking off tour w/ Weekend and then Wire in Europe (dates)"

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)"

Talk Normal @ Mercury Lounge in 2010 (more by David Andrako)

In addition to with EMA tonight, you'll have two more chances to catch Talk Normal in NYC in September when they open for Weekend at Glasslands (9/3) and Mercury Lounge (9/4). The shows are the week before Weekend plays Hopscotch Fest in Raleigh, NC. Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale now and go on sale for the Mercury show Friday (7/22) at noon. UPDATE: More dates announced and listed below.

Guitarist Sarah Register of Talk Normal is also a producer, and she recently produced an album by NYC's GDFX aka Greg Fox (Liturgy, Dan Deacon Ensemble, Teeth Mountain, Guardian Alien). One Thing will be released via Impose Records as a blue 12" on August 16, and GDFX will play a bunch of shows around that time to help promote it. They're listed below along with one of the songs from the album. Liturgy is currently out on tour and will do even more touring later with Boris.

Weekend, recently played LPR instead of the Seaport due to rain. All upcoming dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Talk Normal & Weekend schedule dates, GDFX too"

The Wake and Weekend were scheduled to play the free outdoor show at South Street Seaport this evening, July 8, 2011, but due to rain, the show has been moved to Littlefield in Brooklyn. Doors are now at 9pm, but the show is still free. Bands at 10 & 11.

Poor Chris La Putt braved the weather and went to the Seaport to capture the action. His picture of the non-event is above.

In related news, tonight's Yankees game is postponed for the same reasons and that means Derek Jeter will have to wait a little bit longer before attempting his 3000th hit.

P.S. Want to see Animal Collective for free at Merriweather Post Pavillion (the MD venue) on Saturday night? We're running a last minute contest for two tickets now at our Facebook.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mickey - For You (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fungi Girls - Doldrums (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pure X - Dry Ice (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grooms - Tiger Trees (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wake - Oh Pamela (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weekend - End Times (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: pow wow! - It's Not That Easy (MP3) 

Mickey

Ok it's really hot out but don't let that stop you from seeing some great stuff this weekend. We've got a couple bands on the Hozac label in town this weekend. First is Chicago glam punks Mickey whose debut Rock n' Roll Dreamer just hit the racks. It's a sleazy vision of excess that is part The Sweet, part Johnny Thunders, part Schlitz malt liquor and three bags of glitter dumped on top. It's hook-filled debauched fun. Check out "For You" at the top of this post for a taste. I have not seen Mickey live but all signs point to chaos.

Mickey play Death By Audio tonight (7/7) with Liquor Store, Ex-Humans, The Fucking Ocean and Sleepies (this show sounds like trouble), and then Friday (7/8) at Cake Shop with Habibi, Jigglers, Teardrops and Siberians.

Fungi Girls

The other Hozac band is Austin trio Fungi Girls who I've been wanting to see for some time. They play Friday night (7/8) at Death By Audio with Xray Eyeballs and The Beets, and on Saturday (7/9) at Ding Dong Lounge as part of a Group Tightener curated show with the label's bands Pure X (more on them below) and Expensive Looks, plus Cool Cough.

Still in their teens, Fungi Girls seem to have already digested a lifetime of psych-pop influences and make a racket that sounds fresh and well beyond their years. (Why aren't these guys on Slumberland?) 2009's Seafaring Pyramids was excellent and I can't wait to hear the new album, Some Easy Magic, which is out next month. You can download "Doldrums" at the top of this post which was the b-side to a Hozac 7" that came out last year.

Pure X, who play with Fungi Girls on Saturday, are also from Austin and maybe you knew them as Pure Ecstasy which they used to be called. (A San Francisco cover band laid claim to the name.) Now Pure X, the band just released their debut LP, Pleasure, this week and you can download "Dry Ice" from it at the top of this post. Altered Zones has a stream of the whole thing. Recorded live with no overdubs, Pleasure is lovely and languid, not unlike the first Cowboy Junkies album or Galaxie 500. It's a nice Sunday morning kind of album as I'm fond of saying.

The band are in town for two shows. In addition to the previously mentioned Saturday show with Fungi Girls, Pure X also play Friday (7/8) at sweaty 285 Kent for a Chocolate Bobka curated show with Tonstartsbandht, Forma, and Run DMT.

Grooms

If you go see Mickey tonight, Fungi Girls tomorrow and wanna make it three smoky nights in a row at Death By Audio, on Saturday (7/9) it's the record release party for Grooms' very good second album, Prom, which officially comes out next week on Kanine. The show is with Pterodactyl and The Immaculates.

The new album is a big leap from the band's debut, Rejoicer. The overt Sonic Youth-isms have melted and Grooms have come into their own with this one which feels confident and accomplished. It rocks pretty hard too, at times, but has pretty moments as well. Check out album opener "Tiger Trees" at the top of this post. Grooms were fantastic when I saw them at Northside but I imagine they'll be even more on their game at their Death By Audio home base.

The Wake @ NYC Popfest 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

And finally a bunch of Seaport-related shows. Friday (7/8) is the third installment of the Seaport Music Festival with Scotland indiepop legends The Wake. As I wrote when they played Popfest last year:

"While they didn't get the attention their Factory Records labelmates New Order and Happy Mondays (or even A Certain Ratio) received, The Wake's catalog is well-regarded, especially 1985's Here Comes Everybody which is a bona fide  indie classic. Check out "O Pamela" at the top of this post. The band's hazy, reverb-laden sound has parallels to current bands like The Radio Dept or Wild Nothing, or any of the chillwave groups out there."

(editor's note: I was definitely wondering what random tourists may have thought when they came upon John Lennon's son and his supermodel girlfriend playing a show on the same stage recently).

Saturday (7/9) at the Seaport is an official "warm up" to next weekend's 4 Knots Festival, with Ted Leo and Screaming Females. Ted has played the Seaport five times and often not under the best conditions. He played in torrential downpours and with generator power the night of the 2003 blackout. Saturday he'll be marking the 10th anniversary of his album The Tyranny of Distance by playing it in full. Weather is supposed to be lovely.

Then on Sunday (7/10) is the penultimate Sound Bites Series show with pow wow! who are currently finishing up their debut album. After garnering a lot of buzz (and playing what seemed like every week) back in 2009, they took most of last year off to regroup and rethink. With a slightly retooled sound -- they're definitely a little more '80s indie and a little less early '00s rock now -- they'll play the Fulton Stall Market at 3PM. I DJ before and after. Check out "It's Not That Easy" at the top of this post.

Then after the Sound Bites show, you should head over to the Beekman Beer Garden for the first of the summer's Beach Party shows. This week it's the wildness that is Cheeseburger, plus Hard Nips. I hope Beekman (formerly Water Taxi Beach formerly Spiegeltent) is ready for flying beer. This should be fun. With the truncated Seaport Music Festival schedule this year (and no Pool Parties) I'm glad more is going on down at the Seaport, one of my favorite places during the summer.

If you want to hear more from the bands playing the Sound Bites Series, the Beach Parties, as well as Hudson River Rocks, the Seaport folks partnered with Insound for some free downloadable mixes. Bands include Austra, Metronomy, Xray Eyeballs, The Beets, pow wow!, DOM, Raveonettes, Radical Dads and more. I curated the Brooklyn Local mix with bands who have played both years of the Sound Bites Series, plus some other Brooklyn bands I think people should check out. 

OK that's it for this week. A few more Thursday picks are below.

THURSDAY, JULY 7

Steel Phantoms, ARMS, and Shark? are at Brooklyn Bowl. It's free if you go before 7PM. After that it's five bucks.

Colorado band School Knights play Shea Stadium with The Hairs whose singer used to have a band called Knight School. Weird, right? Also playing: Grand Rapids and Radical Dads whose new video for "New Age Dinosuars" is at the bottom of this post.

contininued below...

Continue reading "Mickey, Fungi Girls, Pure X, Grooms, The Wake, Weekend, pow wow! & more in This Week in Indie"

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

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

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

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

Hopscotch lineup below...

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

fireworks @ the Seaport in 2010 (more by Chris La Putt)

INITIAL SOUTH STREET SEAPORT CONCERT LINEUP
June 24: The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger (Sean Lennon) + TBA
June 26: My Teenage Stride (Sunday)
July 01: Lower Dens & Dirty Beaches
July 03: The Hairs (Sunday)
July 08: The Wake & Weekend
July 10: Pow Wow! (Sunday)
July 15: The Radio Dept. & Asobi Seksu
July 16: 4Knots Music Festival (Saturday)

All Friday shows start at 7pm. Sunday shows, which are the return of our own Bill Pearis' Sound Bites series (but now on Sundays instead of at lunch), begin at 2pm. Both are part of the annual River To River Festival at The Seaport.

More free Seaport dates, shows and bands TBA, including maybe a Mad Decent Block Party.

photos by Amanda Hatfield and Timothy Griffin

Adventure (by Tim)

Braids (by Tim)

Braids and Adventure are on tour with Toro y Moi now. The three bands play sold out shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (4/10) and Monday (4/11).

As discussed and/or pictured HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, we threw a free, three stage party with M For Montreal at Swan Dive and Barbarella in Austin on Saturday, March 19, 2011.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, to all the bands who played and to Ramesh for DJing. Sorry to Bass Drum of Death for not getting to play due to some confusion. Thanks to the cast of Workaholics for stopping by and for doing some hosting (catch their show on Comedy Central now!). Thanks also to Izzoz, Sensible Portions, Honest Tea, VegAustin, Raw Revolution, NadaMoo, Firefly Vodka, Line 6, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Nudie Jeans, and ASCAP. Thanks to everyone else that helped and to anyone I forgot.

A whole bunch more pictures from the whole day are below...

Continue reading "BV/M For Montreal Austin Day Party in pics (Braids, Adventure, Owen Pallett, Little Scream & many more)"