Just in time for an announcement of a new set of tour dates, Rival Schools have a new video in "Eyes Wide Open" from their latest LP Pedals. Check out that video, making its debut here, below.

Those new Rival Schools dates will kick off in October with fellow punks Hostage Calm, hitting Brooklyn at The Bell House on October 27th with Balance & Composure. Tickets for the NYC show are on sale. The tour ends one day later at Mexicali Live in NJ. Full schedule is below.

Those of you in Chicago for Lollapalooza (maybe you even won your tickets!) can catch the band sooner though. They play a sold-out official afterparty with the not so punk White Lies at the Double Door in Chicago on August 6th, and at the fest at 1:45 on the Playstation Stage the next day (8/7).

All tour dates and "Eyes Wide Open" are below.

Continue reading "Rival Schools --- 2011 tour dates & new video (premiere)"

Lollapalooza last year (more by Josh Darr)

Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with some huge names on its just-announced lineup. See it in full below.

The festival has obviously changed over the years. What started out as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction with a 'touring festival' lineup that included the Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, and Souxsie & The Banshees, has turned into a one-weekend Chicago festival that Lady Gaga co-headlined last year. As leaked a while ago, Foo Fighters, Muse and Eminem all play this year, as will Coldplay, Cee Lo Green, and My Morning Jacket along with the reunited Cars and the continuing-to-be-reunited Big Audio Dynamite and Death From Above 1979, and a bunch of other bands which may or may not be worth the ticket price depending on how you feel about the headliners and generally seeing bands in big, hot, outdoor crowded parks (Lollapalooza happens in Chicago's Grant Park from August 5th - 7th).

Full 2011 Lineup and a couple of videos (one from 1991, one from 2010), below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2011 lineup announced"

DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Trails (Deerhoof remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Perfectly Crystal (Beach Fossils/Spirit Animal remix) (MP3 premiere)

Asobi Seksu

Shoegazey rockers Asobi Seksu's new album Fluorescence was released via Polyvinyl in February. You'll notice at Polyvinyl's site that the download comes with four bonus tracks, three of which are remixes of the song "Trails", one of which is done by Deerhoof. Download that Deerhoof remix above if you don't already have it. Also grab the Beach Fossils remix version of "Perfectly Crystal" which is making its premiere in this post.

As previously mentioned, Asobi Seksu have a big headlining show coming up at Bowery Ballroom, and that show happens to be TONIGHT (4/7). Openers are Zaza and Consortium Musicum. Consortium Musicum are Greg Saunier of Deerhoof & Sean Lennon.

Asobi also recently announced some May dates with White Lies including a 5/24 show at Antone's in Austin where Asobi recently played SXSW for the fourth time. White Lies have good taste in openers. School of Seven Bells and Sun Airway open their upcoming Terminal 5 show.

And speaking of Beach Fossils, they have their own big show right around the corner. I'm talking about their Friday (4/8) headlining show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Craft Spells, Crinkles, and "Unannounced Special Guest." Tickets are still on sale.

In related news, The Drums play a sold out show at Mercury Lounge tonight (4/7) and other upcoming shows too.

All Asobi & Beach Bossils tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils remixed Asobi Seksu (MP3 premiere), both play big shows this week w/ special guests (and other dates)"

Crocodiles at Mercury Lounge (more by Marcus Lauer)

After a European tour with White Lies (who recently cancelled their NYC show due to snow), Crocodiles will team up with The Fresh & Onlys & Young Prisms for a tour that includes a Brooklyn show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 4/23. Tickets go on AMEX presale Wednesday at noon (2/2) and then on regular sale Friday.

The Fresh & Onlys will also be at SXSW in March, and have a few other scattered dates scheduled before they hook up with the other two bands in April. Young Prisms meanwhile have a very busy schedule including a tour with The Radio Dept that has them back in NYC in February (though for one show, not two)

While we're on the subject of Crocodiles, Echo & The Bunnymen are performing the LP of the same name along with the Heaven Up Here LP on a North American tour this May. Tickets are still available for the NYC show at Irving Plaza.

Crocodiles (the band) were last here for CMJ, but had to cancel their tour right afterwards due to a death in the family. That family also belongs to Dee Dee of the Dum Dum Girls who also cancelled a tour at the same time and have since scheduled a new one too.

Tour dates and videos below...

Continue reading "Crocodiles, Fresh & Onlys & Young Prisms -- 2011 tour dates"

snowy Brooklyn (Nate Dorr)

Tonight's sold out White Lies/Asobi Seksu show at Highline Ballroom has been cancelled due to the lovely weather we're having.

Charles Cave, in a note to their fans has said, "we're bitterly disappointed to cancel our NYC show. We've been excited about it for months but a freak snow storm has made it impossible for us to get there. We promise to reschedule the show as soon as possible and return to the big apple in style. We're all really sorry." Ticket refunds are available at point of purchase, stay tuned for news on an upcoming New York City show this spring.

Any other shows cancelled that you know about?

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Yuck - Rubber (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yuck - Georgia (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darlings - Big Girl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - Tiny Spiders (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - Breath the Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Generationals - Trust (MP3s)

Darlings @ the Shank for CMJ 2010 (more by Andrew St Clair)

Dang it! Yuck are still having trouble getting into our country, cancelling tonight's show at Mercury Lounge. But tomorrow's show (1/26) at Glasslands is still on, and I'm gonna write this with fingers crossed. You can still get tickets to tomorrow's show.

Yuck's self-titled debut is due out February 15 and is full of the kind of warm and fuzzy indie rock that will remind certain 30-somethings of their college years listening to Sebadoh, Teenage Fanclub and Bettie Serveert. (They also remind me of underrated mid-aughts band The Comas.) You can check out two songs above. I am super-psyched to see them.

The Glasslands show tomorrow is especially enticing. Darlings don't get enough attention, as they're one of the more tuneful bands we have in this town, and they're always good live. Above you can check out the A-side to their "Big Girl" 7" which was released late last year on Famous Class. They've got a new EP, Warmer, due out any minute. Fergus & Geronimo and Total Slacker too. Solid line-up.

Yuck, if they make it into the country, tour with Smith Westerns and then will back in March for SXSW. All Yuck dates are below. With the trouble they have, maybe they just shouldn't leave.

Also making their NYC debut this week are San Francisco's The Soft Moon who play the Wierd Party at Home Sweet Home tomorrow night (1/26) and at Monster Island on Friday (1/28) as part of an all-Captured Tracks line-up that includes Blank Dogs, Widowspeak and Further Reductions.

You can check out two tracks from The Soft Moon's debut LP which is pretty much in "classic goth" territory: relentless beats, watery bass, whispered vocals. It's all very Clan of Xymox which is a good thing if you ask me. As to what they're like live...we'll see. From footage I've seen on YouTube, they don't seem to have a drummer which is too bad, but otherwise seem to play most everything else live. I really dig the album, looking forward to this one.

Unless you don't have to get up at a normal hour on Thursday (bands don't play till 1am at Wierd), Monster Island is probably the way to go. Plus it's more klang for your buck. I caught Widowspeak last week and thought they were pretty good, not dissimilar to YellowFever (who have a show coming up with Wild Flag by the way). Blank Dogs have finally figured out a workable live line-up, and I'm curious about Further Reductions (side project of Led Er Est) whose 7" on Captured Tracks is superior minimal synth.

There is really too much going on this week. Did you manage to get tickets to one of the two Peter Bjorn & John shows? (Thursday 1/27 at Santos, Friday 1/28 at The Rock Shop) These should be fun.

I think the surprise success of "Young Folks" was a blessing and a curse for PB&J. Here's a group that made cute, very good guitar indiepop and who probably would still be playing small clubs if it wasn't for that mega-smash that sounded like nothing the band had done before? In their case, they made an all-instrumental album (2008's Seaside Rock) and then 2009's ambitious Living Thing that was pretty good, but sounded more like a demo reel for Bjorn Yttling's production resume than something they thought about how they were going to play live.

Working with an outside producer for the first time (Per Sunding who some of you may know from excellent '90s indiepop Swedes Eggstone), Gimmie Some is the return of Peter Bjorn & John sounding like themselves again. It also sounds like three guys playing live, which bodes well for these shows, and is their best collection of songs, hands down, since Writers Block. In addition to adrenalyzed first taste "Breaker Breaker" (video below), there are three or four more crazy-catchy potential singles on the record, including the cowbell-fueled "Second Chance," and funky-ish "Dig A Little Deeper." It's a really good album.

Look for a full-fledged tour around the album's release in March.

Wye Oak @ Beacon Theater - 1/24/2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

The Decemberists played their first of three NYC shows last night. If you're going to tonight or tomorrow's sold-out shows at the Beacon, do get there early to see openers Wye Oak, one of the best bands around these days. They are chill-inducingly good live. The duo's new album, Civilian, is due out March 8 on Merge and is a real stand-up-and-take-notice stunner. It is crazy good. I don't know what the first single is going to be but if I was picking it would be the soaring "Holy Holy" that they better damn well play this week. There's video of them performing it last week in Berlin at the bottom of this post.

In addition to those shows with The Decemberists, Wye Oak are also playing a private show at The Rock Shop on Thursday that we're giving away four pairs of tickets to. To win, e-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Wye Oak). Include your first and last name in the email. A winner will chosen at random and contacted with more details. Good luck!

Wye Oak head out on tour with Lower Dens then Callers -- none of those shows are in NYC unfortunately but hopefully they'll be back soon.

That's the big stuff this week. Here are a few more picks, day-by-day:

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25

Yuck aren't playing tonight, but Generationals and Country Mice (who seem to have dropped the "We Are" from their name) are still doing their early show (7pm) at Mercury Lounge tonight. Generationals' Trust EP from last year was really good, you can download its title track at the top of this post.

Suuns are at the Rock Shop tonight, the first of three shows this week. They also play Shea Stadium tomorrow (1/26) and Mercury Lounge on Thursday (1/27). I've written about these Montrealers loads of times, they're great, go see 'em.

continued below...

Continue reading "Yuck, Darlings, Soft Moon, Generationals, Peter Bjorn & John, Wye Oak, Suuns & more in This Week in Indie"

Asobi Seksu at the BV-CMJ Day Party (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Asobi Seksu have two NYC shows in their sights, Highline Ballroom on January 27th (tickets) supporting White Lies and February 17th at Mercury Lounge (ticket info forthcoming). The latter is more than just another show for the NYC band, as it will serve as both their record release party and tour kickoff in support of their new LP, Fluorescence, due two days prior on Polyvinyl. Download the first single "Trails" at Polyvinyl's site..

Asobi Seksu's tour will see them head to the West Coast with Brahms and oddly, terminate their tour in Sante Fe, New Mexico before starting back up again a week later in Nashville with Cults. Is that SXSW I smell?

Meanwhile, Brahms play Brooklyn Electronic Music Fest along with Javelin, Kid Sister, and a gang of others on 12/18. Tickets are still available.

Full tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Asobi Seksu releasing a new album, opening for White Lies, touring w/ Brahms & then Cults (dates)"

The December issue of Q Magazine is an 'Artists Of The Century' special edition, covering all of the acts that the fine staff of the good ship Q feel are the most important of the century so far. As befitting a special edition of the UK best selling music monthly requires a special cover was commissioned world renowned photographer John Wright has spent over a year shooting 34 artists to fit on triple fold out cover.

The issue is packed to the gills with pieces written by Russell Brand on Noel Gallagher, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis on Coldplay and Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme on The Arctic Monkeys. In addition it also includes exclusive interviews and photos from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Dizzee Rascal, U2, Dave Grohl, Lily Allen, Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Brandon Flowers from The Killers, Elbow's Guy Garvey, Pink, Muse's Matt Bellamy, Murdoc from Gorillaz, The Kings Of Leon, Mark Ronson, Mika, Nick Cave, Robert Plant, Florence Welch, Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol and Tom Chaplin of Keane.

Continue reading "Q Magazine's Top Albums of 2009 "

"Though promoters around the country report strong early ticket sales for festivals and summer tours, the recession is causing jitters. This year Coachella, which has the most glamorous reputation of all American festivals, began selling tickets on layaway, and 18 percent of its customers took that option, Mr. Tollett said.

The proliferation of big festivals, like Bonnaroo near Nashville and Lollapalooza in Chicago, has not been without casualties. This year Langerado in Miami shut down, citing the economy. The Pemberton Festival in British Columbia is on hiatus after only one year, although its promoter, Live Nation, said the problem was permit delays." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2009 - the official & complete lineup"

photos by Chris La Putt

Friendly Fires

"White Lies and Friendly Fires, a pair of vigorous young bands from Britain, take divergent paths toward much the same destination. In both cases, the unspoken aim is a kind of submissive bliss: they want you in their thrall, not just listening but experiencing, absorbing. By that measure they were impressively but only intermittently successful at the Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night.

Each band has released one album, making a splash chiefly in Britain, at least for now. A few months ago White Lies made its British chart debut at No. 1 with "To Lose My Life ...," which Geffen released in the United States last week. Friendly Fires had more modest success last year with its self-titled album on XL.

The bands, which are jointly headlining a North American tour, have been sponsored and duly plugged by NME, the British music magazine, with the Soft Pack, from Southern California, as an opening act." [NY Times]

Continue reading "White Lies, Friendly Fires & The Soft Pack @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Micachu - Lips (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Chap - Proper Rock (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Choir of Unbelievers - Next Summer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Youth Group - "Start Today Tomorrow" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fumes - "Automobile" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deastro - Parallelogram (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deastro - Light Powered (MP3)

Micachu @ Cake Shop (more by Tim Griffin)

Welcome to the SXSW Hangover edition of This Week in Indie. Those who went to Austin might not want to go see live music, but for everyone else it's a boon. Most of these bands have been covered before so I'm just going to go night-by-night of the shows I'd recommend...

Continue reading "Deastro, Obits, White Lies, WAVVES, Ladyhawke, Efterklang, Primal Scream & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Hot Legs @ the SPIN party @ Stubb's in Austin - March 20, 2009

AUSTRALIA's THE AGE's SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST BREAKDOWN

Bizarre supergroup: Tinted Windows features members of Hanson, Cheap Trick, Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne playing catchy guitar-pop.

The pin-up: Sienna-lookalike Little Boots combines pre-recorded beats with synth and live drummer.

Commercial breakthrough: Cutesy New Yorkers Chairlift are already featured on an iPod ad.

Novelty act: Hot Leg is the new 1980s hair-metal project for Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins.

Critical darlings: UK act Mumford and Sons and their four-part harmonies.

Stadium potential: London goths White Lies attempt to merge U2 and the Killers. Playing Splendour in the Grass.

Crowd favourite: Boston act Passion Pit -- big on hand claps and synths.

Best new band name: Airborne Toxic Event have just signed to Universal and combine Bruce Springsteen and the Hold Steady.

More pictures Jacob took on Friday, below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2009 - Day 3 in photos by Jacob"

Friendly Fires @ the BV party @ Pianos on Oct 23, 2008 (more by Leia Jospe)

Soft Pack (Muslims) @ the BV party @ Pianos on Oct 23, 2008 (more by Leia Jospe)

White Lies, one of the most hotly tipped new British bands of 2009, confirmed that potential with a No. 1 debut for their first album, "To Lose My Life" (Fiction/Polydor) on the new U.K. album chart. Lady GaGa's "Just Dance" (Interscope/Universal) started a third week atop the singles survey.

White Lies was known as Fear Of Flying until about a year ago. The band has released three singles so far under its current name, of which the most successful, also titled "To Lose My Life," edges 35-34 this week. Its instant album chart success came as the Script's self-titled Phonogenic/Sony BMG debut slipped 1-3, while Kings Of Leon's "Only By the Night" (Hand Me Down/Sony BMG) held at No. 2. [Billboard]

Continue reading "White Lies, Friendly Fires & the Soft Pack - 2009 Tour Dates"

DOWNLOAD: Japanese Motors - Spendin Days (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Japanese Motors - Single Fins & Safety Pins (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Japanese Motors live on AOL's The Interface (MP3)

Japanese Motors have been pretty fortunate, considering the Costa Mesa, Calif. quartet kind of started as a hoax.

It all began when pro surfer Alex Knost, who rides for RVCA, told the surf/skate company that he had a band -- which wasn't really the case.

"At the time, we didn't really know how to play," says Knost with a laugh. "And they kind of knew that, but they were cool. They liked the fact that we wanted a band, and we were trying to have a band." [Chart Attack]

Continue reading "Japanese Motors (VICE) - MP3s, 2008 Tour Dates, CMJ shows"

DOWNLOAD: White Lies - Death (Crystal Castles remix) (MP3)

Trevor Brown writes....

Continue reading ""the crystal castles fiasco: CASE OVER!""

DOWNLOAD: Jay Reatard - See/Saw (MP3)

Matador Singles '08 - out October 7th

Jay Reatard - 2008 NYC Tour Dates
10-23 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's (CMJ) (tix)
10-24 Bowery Ballroom (CMJ) w/ White Lies & Japanese Motors
10-25 Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands Gallery (CMJ)
10-26 NYC - Santos Party House w/ Vivian Girls (tix)

Continue reading "Jay Reatard - Singles Series CD, updated tour dates (CMJ)"