Eric Copeland at Bowery Ballroom in April (more by PSquared Photography)

As you may know, all ages DIY space The Silent Barn is back in action with a new Bushwick location (603 Bushwick Ave), and they've got some pretty great shows happening this weekend (and in general).

TONIGHT (5/3), the venue will be graced by psych rockers Blues Control, Black Dice member Eric Copeland (who just opened for Akron/Family), Jackson Pollis' (of Real Estate) other project, Son of Dad, plus WFMU DJ Liz Berg will be on the boards all night. Doors are 8:30, show starts at 9:30, and admission is $8 at the door.

Then, on Saturday (5/4), there's another great show with Vermont psych weirdos Blanche Blanche Blanche, the even weirder Gary War, post rockers Woodsman, drone folk artist Weyes Blood, Matt Sullivan, and visuals by EyeBodega. Doors are at 8 and admission is $8.

Finally on Sunday (5/5), On Sunday, they've got Oren Ambarchi, Marco Fusinato, Long Distance Poison, and Millions. They're also involved in a Cinco de Mayo party happening at Deep Cuts Barber Shop. In their words:

Cinco De Mayo is a fake holiday.
But our tasty carne asada tacos, grilled corn and beers are real.
Come chill eat some tacos and drink some beers while Mickey Perez and Marty McSorley spin Latin tunes all afternoon.

10% off all Latin records all day.
Tacos for tips & corn for coins.
Free mustache trims for all Zapatistas.

Other upcoming Silent Barn shows include Big Ups on May 9, Twin Sister and Empress Of on May 11, Weed Hounds on May 21, Mick Barr on May 22, and Aye Nako on May 31 (record release).

Some song streams below...

Continue reading "Silent Barn shows this weekend: Eric Copeland, Blues Control, Blanche Blanche Blanche, Gary War, Weyes Blood & more"

Quilt at Mercury Lounge in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn venue Glasslands will a feel a little more like late '60s San Francisco on February 17, when they host Real Estate side project Alex Bleeker & The Freaks (who are way more psych/blues than Alex's other gig), the Summer of Love vibes of Boston's Quilt, and the drone folk of Weyes Blood. Tickets for what should be an all around great show are on sale now.

In related news, Alex Bleeker just interviewed Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham for Relix. One of the things they spoke about was Fleetwood Mac's influence on Alex and the surrounding indie culture:

AB: I have my own opinion on this, but have you noticed a younger audience showing up at your shows or showing an appreciation for not only Fleetwood Mac records but your solo work? Have you noticed any increase in that [demographic] in the past couple of years?

LB: Well, you know, I guess you can qualify anything I say by saying, "The longer you're around, [the] younger people start to look." But yes, I'd say that it's probably true. Even if you were to take the solo work out of the equation and just talk about the body of work that Fleetwood Mac has. Sometimes it takes sowing those seeds and letting things take root and seeing what is going to make sense to people down the line. What's going [on] in an album like Rumours makes sense to any number of generations on a mainstream level, but then you've got something like Tusk which is going to make sense to people that have a more indie sensibility. That's been very gratifying because that's what that album is all about.

...

AB: Well I don't know if [ Relix ] told you anything about me, but I'm not a journalist or writer. I'm 26, I play in a rock band and I can confidently tell you that Fleetwood Mac and of course your solo work has had a tremendous influence and is particularly popular with musicians right now in a more countercultural community.

LB: You know, that's one of the lessons you start to learn. And again, why being in Fleetwood Mac is so helpful and so meaningful is because I can go out there and undermine the brand, if you will.

Some song streams and lists of other upcoming dates for all three artists, below...

Continue reading "Alex Bleeker interviewed Fleetwood Mac, playing w/ Quilt & Weyes Blood playing Brooklyn in Feb"

Frightened Rabbit @ T5, Nov. 2010 (more by Lionel Bergeron)

SXSW has just announced another round of bands for the 2013 edition of the annual music festival that will happen March 12 - 17. This brings the total current number of acts to around 1300. Someome of the highlights include Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit, The Thermals, Black Lips, Camera Obscura, Merchandise, Bleached, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Eagles of Death Metal, Parenthetical Girls, Indians, Night Beds, IO Echo, KEN Mode, Prince Paul, Pure Bathing Culture, Sepalcure, UK motorik post-punks TOY, Finnish instrumentalists K-X-P, Toronto's Moon King, UK indie rockers Splashh (not Brooklyn Splash with one "h") and loads more. Head to BV Austin for the whole Round 3 list.

Ariel Pink at Irving Plaza - 9/12/12 (via Leandro Justen)

As mentioned, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti are on tour now (a tour that hit Austin recently) in support of their new album, Mature Themes, and the tour hits NYC TONIGHT (9/14) at Webster Hall with BODYGUARD (aka James Ferraro) and TEEN. Tickets for tonight's show are still available. All tour dates are listed below.

After the Webster Hall show BODYGUARD will head to 285 Kent for a show with three secret artists. Any guesses on who they might be?

You might be aware that Ariel Pink was also in NYC a few days earlier and played a private Proenza Schouler Fashion Week party at Irving Plaza on Wednesday (9/12), which is pictured above. If you were at the party, how was it? Weyes Blood (aka fromer Jackie-O Motherfucker member Natalie Mering), who plays with Sun Araw soon, was at the show and sang backup vocals with Ariel Pink for his song "Early Birds." Wonder if Ariel has any surprises like that in store for tonight.

Speaking of shows happening in Manhattan tonight, Holy Other will be opening for Amon Tobin at Hammerstein Ballroom tonight (9/14). Tickets for tonight's show are still available. Amon Tobin is also DJing a boat party on Saturday.

An updated list of Ariel Pink dates is below...

Continue reading "Ariel Pink & Holy Other here; secret show @ 285 Kent tonight"

DOWNLOAD: Sun Araw - "Like Wine" (MP3)

Sun Araw at BV-SXSW 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, psychedelic dub wizard Sun Araw will be in NYC to open for Gang Gang Dance at Public Assembly on September 21, at what is one of three shows for GGD. Tickets for that one are still available. He'll return to NYC soon after to play Death by Audio on September 27 with Sinkane, Weyes Blood (who we wrote about HERE) and Deep Magic. All Sun Araw dates are listed below.

Back in July, we mentioned that Sun Araw had a new album on the way called The Inner Treaty. Soon after that he revealed more details on the release. It will be out on September 18 via Drag City and you can check out the cover art and tracklist below. The album was produced by Sun Araw's Cameron Stallones and mastered by Sonic Boom. You can download the first single, "Like Wine," at the top of this post.

A list of all dates, cover art and tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Sun Araw playing Death by Audio w/ Weyes Blood after Gang Gang Dance show (dates & more info on his new LP)"

DOWNLOAD: The Prefab Messiahs - "Franz Kafka" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Prefab Messiahs - "Prefab Sun" (MP3)

by Andrew Sacher

Bobb Trimble (not a recent photo)

Psychedelic cult enthusiasts take note! Bobb Trimble's Flying Spiders and The Prefab Messiahs kicked off a short tour together this week and it comes to NYC for a show TONIGHT (6/8) at Death by Audio with Weyes Blood & the Dark Juices and Spectre Folk. Doors are at 8 PM. The flier for tonight's show is below.

If you aren't familiar with Bobb Trimble, he released two psychedelic folk full lengths in the early '80s which garnered little to no recognition but have since gained a cult following. Ariel Pink and Thurston Moore are fans of Bobb and his material has seen recent reissues from a number of labels including Secretly Canadian and Mexican Summer. You can stream some tracks below.

Meanwhile, The Prefab Messiahs may be even less known than Bobb. They're from the same Worcester "Wormtown" scene of the early '80s and Bobb's produced some of their material. While Bobb was crafting gentle loner folk, The Prefab Messiahs were more interested in the post-punk scene that had been going on at the time, though they bring in a strong influence from '60s psych/garage rockers like 13th Floor Elevators and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

The Prefab Messiahs didn't actually manage to release anything during their short span as a band (1981-1983) but their material finally saw a release on a 1998 anthology CD-R titled Devolver. In 2011 we got more from the vaults; the "Franz Kafka/Prefab Sun" 7" on Almost Ready Records, and the Peace, Love, & Alienation compilation on Fixed Identity, which was remastered by Jay Rajeck, who has also worked with Ariel Pink. The band have reunited a few times in the past, and are back this year for their 30th anniversary. Stream some tracks from the 2011 reissues below and download a couple above.

Weyes Blood

While seeing two "lost legends" on one bill should be enough, if you're going to the Death by Audio show tonight, be sure to get there early for the openers. Spectre Folk (who count Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley as a member) are on the bill and Weyes Blood, along with her band The Dark Juices are playing as well.

Weyes Blood (aka Natlie Mering, who was a member of Jackie-O Motherfucker) has a few releases under her belt, having most recently put out The Outside Room in 2011 via Not Not Fun. It's a dark, creeping psych folk album that probably wouldn't exist if guys like Bobb Trimble hadn't helped lay the groundwork for this type of music. It's pretty great, and her set tonight is definitely worth showing up for. Stream the track "Romneydale" from The Outside Room below.

A list of all dates, song streams, and some videos below...

Continue reading "Bobb Trimble touring w/ Prefab Messiahs; playing Death by Audio tonight w/ Spectre Folk & Weyes Blood"