photos by Amanda Hatfield

inc. / Autre Ne Veut @ Pianos, 5/11/2013

In the cramped back room of Pianos, the workhorse LES bar where the show took place, there is no backstage or side stairway, meaning the only way to the stage is to barge your way directly through the heart of the crowd. The brothers Daniel and Andrew Aged of Inc. broke the ranks cleanly, though, transfixing audience members with the intensity of their attire long enough make their way unencumbered. The brothers, one with a shaved head, the other with slick black locks cropped on the sides and pulled into a knot on top, were dressed in full '90s all-black goth regalia, complete with asymmetrical sweaters, loose-fitting jeans and heavy boots. inc.'s music can be traced back to the '90s too, but it's rooted in the slick, sensual R&B of Playa and Jodeci rather than anything that was happening in the goth or punk scene. It's as if they stumbled into a Taye Diggs movie on their way out of Hot Topic. - [Billboard]

As you may know, the Downtown Music Festival (or DTF as it was known on shirts, maybe not the best acronym) happened last weekend across NYC clubs below Houston St. One of the more packed shows was at tiny Ludlow St. spot Pianos for Inc., Autre Ne Veut and Weeknight. The sexytime R&B vibes of Autre Ne Veut and Inc. played really well back to back in such a small room. Opener Weeknight brought Phantogram-style vibes for a nice kickoff to the evening.

Inc play NYC again at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 14. Tickets to that show go on sale Wednesday (5/15) at noon.

Other Saturday night DTF shows were DIIV at Mercury Lounge and Purity Ring at Bowery Ballroom. More pictures from Pianos are below.

Continue reading "Inc., Autre Ne Veut and Weeknight played Pianos (pics); Inc playing MHOW in July"

photos by Jonathon Bernstein

School of Seven Bells played Music Hall of Williamsburg at the end of January (1/31) with Prince Rama and Weeknight and we've got a belated set of pics from that show in this post.

Since that show the band revealed some bad news: SVIIB guitarist Benjamin Curtis is battling cancer, having been diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. Singer Alejandra de la Deheza wrote on the band's Facebook that "it developed pretty aggressively, and the chemotherapy to treat it will be pretty aggressive, but the good news is that it's TREATABLE." Curtis wrote recently:

The love you've all shown me this weekend has touched me in a way I've never felt before. It's such a huge feeling that, despite the terrible circumstances, I can't help but feel like the luckiest guy on the planet to be surrounded by such beautiful energy. The cancer has affected my eye in a way that makes it a bit hard for me to read and type at the moment, but I do hope to respond to as many of you as I can as that changes. Please bear with me. Until then, keep your thoughts with me and I'll be keeping mine with you. I'm gonna beat this for you just as much as I am for myself. xB

Included with that Facebook post was an Instagram pic from the hospital which you can see below. Our thoughts are with you Benjamin. More pictures from their MHOW show below too...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells played Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics); Benjamin Curtis battling cancer"

photos by Robert Altman

"We love you NYC <3" - School of Seven Bells

School of Seven Bells @ Doc Martens Union Square - 1/16/13

Danceable BrooklynitesSchool of Seven Bells play locally a lot, and as you know they've got a Music Hall of Williamsburg show (1/31) at the end of the month, which fellow Brooklynites Prince Rama and Weeknight were added to (tickets).

But the band also just played a less traditional show in NYC last week. They stopped by Union Square for a show at the Doc Martens' store. They played a five song set (setlist below) and then returned to play "Scavenger," which wasn't on the setlist. The show was free and those in attendance were also treated to free beverages, courtesy of Goose Island and AQUAhydrate, and for the fast food lovers... White Castle. Aaron Pfenning of Rewards provided tunes before SVIIB came on. Pictures of both artists are in this post.

School of Seven Bells also recently stopped by Bait and Tackle in Red Hook, Brooklyn to perform an acoustic version of "Scavenger" for Geocachers in one of the bar's booths. The video of that performance, plus videos of SVIIB at the Doc Martens store, along with more pictures from that show, below...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells played Doc Martens store (pics, videos, setlist); Prince Rama & Weeknight opening their MHOW show"

Merchandise at Mousetrap in Chicago, April 2012 (more by Jimmy Farabi)

You may have noticed the announcements of CMJ artists trickling out as of late (like Sub Pop's lineup), but now comes the official word from the fest on another batch of bands. Highilights include AraabMUZIK, UK acts Savages and Everything Eveything, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Cities Aviv, Ken Mode (playing with Pig Destroyer), Daughn Gibson (playing with Pissed Jeans), Local H, Slug Guts, Dune Rats, Royal Canoe, and Sleepies among many many others. A full listing of the second round of CMJ artists is below.

One of said surprises is Merchandise, who plays NYC tonight at WIERD (9/12). The show is first of THREE NYC dates for the band, who will also play 538 Johnson tomorrow (9/13) before hitting Saint Vitus on Friday (9/14, tickets).

A list of the second round of CMJ artists is below, along with updated Merchandise dates and a recent video.

Continue reading "CMJ announces second round of artists; Merchandise is here, catch them three times this week (tonight at WIERD)"

Slowdance at Le Poisson Rouge, Sept. 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Friday (6/22) marks the first of this year's Seaport Music Festival shows down at Pier 17 with Portland's Miracle's Club. The theatrical disco revelers have just released a new compilation called Ecstacy which features "15 new tracks from our friends and collaborators across the globe." You can stream it below.

Immediately following the show there's a free after-party with Slowdance and Weeknight at Skipper's outdoor bar, which is located right next door at Pier 16.

Slowdance just released a new single, "Boyfriend," which came out via White Iris earlier this month which is an airy, danceable summmer type single if I ever heard one. I'm actually kind of partial to the b-side, "Airports," which drives along with a motorik chug and French lyrics. Both sides are streamable below. This is Slowdance's only upcoming show.

Weeknight, meanwhile, seem to have been together not very long at all. (Their Facebook page is about a month old.) The duo, who only go by their first names (Holly and Andy) make drum machine and twang lonesome West type music not that far off from more recent Raveonettes. You can stream a few tracks at the bottom of this post. Weeknight are also playing July 14 at Cameo.

Continue reading "Miracles Club playing South Street Seaport on Friday; Slowdance and Weeknight playing free afterparty"