by Black Bubblegum

Golden Triangle with the "W" (Photo by Van Ditthavong)

To the victor go the spoils and on 3/20 at the Dickies Battle Of The Bands in Austin, the winner was the feisty Golden Triangle and the spoils were TEN Gs of cold hard cash... or at least a really big posterboard check certifying said payment. I (Black Bubblegum) was one of the "judges" (hate that term, everything is relative) at the Battle of The Bands, along with both Randy & Dean of No Age and GZA.

The Dickies Battle was one of ELEVEN shows for Golden Triangle during SXSW, not including their appearance on stage with GZA and Black Lips immediately following their win. Four videos of that performance, which I did not stay for (more on that later), are below.

Golden Triangle are currently (back home?) in NYC, and will open for the very SXSW-busy Garotas Suecas at Mercury Lounge TONIGHT (3/24) and play with The Weakends at Don Pedro's on March 27th. A shade over a month later, April 29th, look for the crew (with shiny new instruments, no doubt) to play The Bell House as part of A Benefit for Rory O'Sullivan with Amazing Baby, White Williams, The Fugs, Acrylics, Further Reductions, Mount Olympus, George Positive, and Spiderfang (tickets here).

Black Lips also played Mess with Texas at SXSW, right after Circle Jerks.

All videos and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Golden Triangle playing 3 NYC shows, won the Battle of the Bands where GZA played w/ Black Lips (videos) "

Titus Andronicus @ McCarren Pool (more by Jason Bergman)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* The Fakers @ Glasslands
* The Duke Spirit @ Maxwell's
* Titus Andronicus @ Sound Fix
* Here We Go Magic @ Southpaw
* A Storm of Light, Amenra & Zoroaster @ Europa
* Los Campesinos! & Titus Andronicus @ Bowery Ballroom
* Ocean, Salome, Riff Cannon & Batillus at Public Assembly
* Kidrockers presents Chairlift & The Bloodsugars @ 92yTrbeca (afternoon)
* Iran, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, The Fakers & Pure Horsehair @ Death by Audio

Two bands called "The Fakers" are playing in Brooklyn tonight. At Glasslands is The Fakers that = White Williams & Matt from Ecstatic Sunshine. The other The Fakers are playing Iran's record release party at Death By Audio. Weird.

Ecstatic Sunshine has a show coming up at The Stone.

No Fun Fest tickets were supposed to go on sale today, but they went on sale Saturday.

"Andrew Cedermark, Ian P. O'Neil, and Patrick Stickles, all of Titus Andronicus each perform short solo sets consisting of Titus and non-titus jams. This special show is sandwiched between two sold out shows at Bowery Ballroom with Los Campesinios. We have to start early so the boys can get over to Bowery so this starts at 5pm! Expect a good time, see you there." - 5PM, free, @ SoundFix

More Titus Andronicus dates HERE.

Tickets are on sale for the Music Tapes show at the Bell House.

Misshapes are on the cover of Page Six Magazine.

Brent Hinds of Mastodon guests on the new Zoroaster album. Download the track HERE.

Did you get the free Tim Fite Valentine's Day EP?

Google's YouTube Said to Renew Licensing Agreement With Sony

Los Campesinos's video for "My Year In Lists" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

photos by Michael Gruen

DOWNLOAD: Cale Parks - Some Sew, Some Find (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cale Parks - Wet Paint (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Wallpaper. Dio Remix) (MP3)

Cale Parks (you know him from the band Aloha and his participation in the music of White Williams) just got done playing some solo shows with Ted Leo including the one that happened in Cale's home borough of Brooklyn at Market Hotel last night (12/15). In January Cale is going on tour with Passion Pit - tickets are still on sale for the February 4th show at Bowery Ballroom. All dates, and more Market Hotel pictures below...

Continue reading "Cale Parks (Aloha) - Market Hotel pics, 2009 Passion Pit tour"

photos by Lucas Flores Piran

The Friday evening (August 15, 2008) rain caused the cancellation of an outdoor NYC performance involving 200 guitarists, but like Regina Spektor's gig in Brooklyn, the free show at South Street Seaport went on... it just went on for a slightly shorter period of time than originally planned. Opener White Williams played four songs. Dirty Projectors played for around 50 minutes. It was a not-that-short headlining set that included one new song - the same new song they played at Music Hall of Williamsburg in April, and a song that will likely appear on the new album they're working on in Portland for Domino Records. More Dirty Projectors pics below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors & lightning @ South Street Seaport - pics"

Dirty Projectors @ Pitchfork Fest (more by Joseph Juechao Xu)

AUGUST 11th: Domino Radio hosts David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors!

Monday, August 11th from 10am-12noon, Domino Radio hosts David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors. David and company are in town from Portland, OR, where he and his band have been busy at work on their next album (for Domino! no less) to play the South Street Seaport - Friday August 15th with White Williams.. Tune in live, or stream / podcast later..

WHITE WILLIAMS - Violator

Limited Edition , UK 7" Vinyl, In A Picture Sleeve.

Tracklisting:
A. Violator
B. Violator (Hearts Of Darkness Remix)

Tonight is the 2nd of four NYC shows Girls are playing this week.

Animal Collective @ the South Street Seaport, June 2007 (more)

"On-the-Side" with Jack Lukeman, featuring "Jack Lukeman Sings Newman."

Thursday, May 8
6:30 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show

Friday, May 9
6:30 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. shows

"On-the-Side" shows are held at the new arts venue @Seaport, located in the South Street Seaport historic district at 219 Water Street (at Beekman Street). Admission is free.

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors & other free summer SS Seaport shows "

Last week Nine Inch Nails gave away a song. Today Nine Inch Nails are giving away a whole album called The Slip. Trent says....

as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com.

the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon.

White Williams, Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, A Place to Bury Strangers and Does It Offend You, Yeah? are the bands that will be opening various upcoming NIN shows. NJ gets Does It Offend You, Yeah? which actually does kind of offend me given the choices. The NJ presale starts Wednesday. Regular sale begins Saturday. All dates with openers and presale info, below....

Continue reading "NIN release ANOTHER Free album ++ tour openers, PRESALE "

Thursday April 17th, 2008
Get Weird: Fakey and Hex Message
Part of Get Weird
$8 Members, $10 General Admission

April's very special Get Weird welcomes two newly formed musical acts, both featuring gurus of the downtown art and music worlds.

Fakey is a power trio combining the musical stylings of Joe Williams of White Williams (electro dance jams for the people), Moses Archuleta of Deerhunter (ATL ambient punk), and Matthew Papich of Ecstatic Sunshine (good time guitars).

Hex Message takes listeners on a journey of sonic experimentation and positive juju, featuring Dan Hougland (of Excepter) on keyboards, gallerist Pascal Spengemann (of Taxter and Spengemann) on drums, Abigail Portner (of Rings) on keyboards, and artist Andrew Kuo on guitar.

Get Weird is a monthly series of performances featuring experimental and freaky jams. Expect anything from dusted-off salsa to psychedelic harmonies, performed by unknown legends and young-gun mavericks. Get Weird takes place on the third Thursday of each month. [the New Museum in NYC]

Strike Anywhere @ Knitting Factory, NYC - March 1, 2008 (CRED)

Crain's New York contacted Knitting Factory after hearing about the possible NYC move to 14th St......

We are in an active search for a new location and 14th Street is a highly desirable area" said Jared Hoffman, president of Knitting Factory Entertainment, Inc. When asked if he would consider buying out the spot at 74 Leonard St., Mr. Hoffman said "a rock venue underneath newly-converted condos would not be desirable."

A spot on 14th Street--the above address is at Avenue A--would be the Factory's third location, after starting at 48 East Houston Street around 20 years ago. The concert hall has been on Leonard Street for the last 14 years.

But even with a move, the club stands little risk of going the way of knitting itself. Last year, Knitting Factory Entertainment launched a service with ShopText Inc. that allows music fans to buy concert tickets through cell phone text messaging. And in 2006, the company acquired a majority interest in Boise, Idaho-based concert promoter Bravo Entertainment. Mr. Hoffman has said Knitting Factory Entertainment will continue opening new venues throughout the country.

You might recoginze the style of that pretty picture up there as the art of Matt Furie. It's the cover of a new limited edition FADER/Southern Comfort Dirty Projectors/White Williams 7". I have three of them to give away.

I also have three pairs of tickets to the FADER Issue 51 party happening at Studio B in Brooklyn tonight (Jan 16, 2008). Not surprisingly, Santogold is playing it. So is Izza Kizza, and DJ Switch. Details on how to win, below...

Continue reading "Santogold playing FADER party tonight, win tickets or a Dirty Projectors/White Williams 7""

Both of these pieces of news are related to SXSW. Obviously the Lou Reed one is....

The South By Southwest Music Conference and Film Festival are pleased to announce that Lou Reed will be the keynote speaker for 2008. Reed’s keynote will be held in conjunction with a screening of Julian Schnabel’s film “Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin,’” which documents a recent performance of the landmark 1973 album.

A longtime presence at SXSW, the London based label (Domino) has announced that they will be presenting The Kills, White Williams, Lightspeed Champion, Sons & Daughters and These New Puritans all in one night on one special Domino Records Showcase!

then, and now....

Though free, the Metromix holiday party at Music Hall of Williamsburg wasn't that packed. I'm guessing that had something to do with it falling on a day that was simutaneously the worst weather we've had this winter AND one of the busiest nights of the year (Dec 13, 2007) (and Pitchfork hasn't given Santogold 'best new music') (and White Williams was on the bill - his 500th show that week). Anyway, it didn't stop Santogold from putting on a fun show - what she called her first real/official show (in NYC, or anywhere - I can't remember). Last time I saw her it was at the FADER party which was probably a shorter set (but honestly not by much), and it was more industry (though this party was a newspaper party, so it wasn't really normal either).

Last time I saw her (Santi), she also wasn't accompanied by Diplo and Amanda Blank. This time she was. Bonus! I really liked her sidekick the first time though, but Amanda was good too, and she seemed to know all her parts really well, and they played a new song that was produced by Diplo. Actually, they played all the songs Santi had/knew (which wasn't very much, but long enough). More pics below....

Continue reading "Santogold, Diplo & Amanda Blank @ Music Hall, NYC - pics"

DOWNLOAD: Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Santogold - you'll find a way (switch and sinden mix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Santogold - Shuv it ft. Spank Rock (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Santogold - Shove It (KMFX rmx) (MP3)

Santogold (a nickname she got from a classmate back in the '80's for her sister-girl style) is a project that's all about Santi: new band, programmed beats, tons of reggae influences, an impressive list of producers and collaborators, all spiked with Whites's varying vocal styles. In her new song "LES Artistes" she addresses the way folks tend to front like they're something they're not. "I'm an old school artist," she says. "I don't care about looking the part all the time, and in the modern entertainer world it's all about looking the part. In fact, you don't even have to have anything beyond that. If you look the part then you are the part. I just can't be bothered half the time." [FADER]

Continue reading "Santogold - pics from CMJ, free show tonight"

Before the show my friend Joey asked, "Is Justice just DJing, or are they, you know, DJING?" It was the lowercase one, though the lowercase and uppercase versions of their set have at least a few songs in common - "D.A.N.C.E.", "We Are Your Friends", and "Killing in the Name Of" at least....

Photos by Bao Nguyen. More below....

Continue reading "Justice, Mos Def, White Williams - photos from FADER's 50th"

White Williams is playing too. I caught him at bowery the other day - still so-so - not as good as listening to the record....

White Williams @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Dec 4, 2007

DOWNLOAD: Fader Issue 50 audio (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fader Issue 50 audio (PDF)

This coming Monday, December 10th, we are celebrating our (Fader) 50th Issue (and the 100th Cornerstone Mixtape) by throwing a little private event in New York with performances by Justice, Mos Def, White Williams and DJs Tony Touch and Enuff, and we're giving away a pair of VIP passes to the Ford Focus Viewing Area at the undisclosed venue (they're the best seats in the house!).

Continue reading "Justice & Mos Def playing a Fader party - WIN VIP TIX"

My opinion hasn't changed. A Dirty Projectors concert is an extremely pleasant experience. Like the friendly heckler said, "Why are you so amazing?!" I just wish they played an encore. More photos by Bao Nguyen below....

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics"

Tinariwen @ Oya Festival, Norway, 2007 (CRED)

Bill made my day yesterday when he pointed out Other Music's upcoming free in-store show schedule...

Tinariwen - Wednesday, November 28 @ 8PM
Celebration - Friday, November 30 @ 9PM
Richard Hawley - Monday, December 3 @ 8PM
White Williams - Thursday, December 6 @ 8PM

NYC, 2007
Nov 27 - Tinariwen @ Highline Ballroom (How was the show?)
Nov 28 - Tinariwen @ Other Music (TODAY!)
Nov 28 - Celebration @ Bowery Ballroom (TODAY!) (win tix)
Nov 30 - Celebration @ Other Music
Dec 01 - Richard Hawley @ Bowery Ballroom (excited) (not sold out yet)
Dec 03 - Richard Hawley @ Other Music (double excited) (all dates)
Dec 04 - White Williams & Dirty Projectors @ Bowery Ballroom (triple excited) (tix)
Dec 06 - White Williams @ Other Music (all dates)
Dev 18 - Celebration @ Crash Mansion (with comedians)

A few new Dirty Projectors dates, below...

Continue reading "Tinariwen, Richard Hawley, Celebration, White Williams, Other Music, Dirty Projectors"

DOWNLOAD: White Williams - New Violence (MP3)

White Williams @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Oct 17, 2007 (CRED)

White Williams has been added as opener for the Dirty Projectors show at Bowery Ballroom. After seeing White Williams twice during CMJ (one of them being at the show pictured above), I thought, "he's good - kind of mellow, but I don't really need to see him again. Having the album, and having seen him at least once is good enough for now. " That said, I'll still show up early enough to catch him anytime he opens a show that I'm going to anyway. His (their) most recent NYC show was opening for Battles at Webster Hall (which I didn't go to). All tour dates below...

Continue reading "White Williams - 2007 Tour Dates (Dirty Projectors show)"

Battles @ Webster Hall, NYC - Nov 13, 2007 (CRED)

A Place to Bury Strangers also opened the show. I wasn't there, but someone I talked to right after the show said Battles were great. More photos @ Flickr.

Girl Talk @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Sep 15, 2007 (CRED)

Dan Deacon @ The Yard, NYC - Sep 16, 2007 (CRED)

Continue reading "Dan Deacon & Girl Talked invaded NYC this weekend"

DOWNLOAD: White Williams - New Violence (MP3)

Dan Deacon @ Hideout Block Party, Chicago - Sept 8, 2007 (CRED)

Girl Talk, Dan Deacon & White Williams at Webster Hall this Saturday is sold out, so they've added a 2nd show that very same night - afterwards at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are $12. Doors open at 10 PM. White Williams will be on at 11 PM, Dan Deacon at 12 PM and Girl Talk at 1 AM.

Sunday, September 16th AFTERNOON! @ THE YARD ---> OUTSIDE!!!

:: END OF SUMMER / MAGGIE'S & NATASHA'S BDAY PARTAY

:: Dan Deacon
:::: USAISAMONSTER
:::::: Aa aka BIG A little a
:::::::: Best Fwends
:::::::::: Bill Cosby & His White Puddin' Pops (TENTATIVE)
:::::::::::: High Places
:::::::::::::: lots more TBA

[ THE YARD ] ---> OUTSIDE!!!
400 Carroll St btwn Bond St & Nevins St | Gowanus, Brooklyn
F/G-Carroll St, M/R-Union St | --> 2PM <-- | $8 | ALL AGES

Continue reading "Dan Deacon, Girl Talk & White Williams add 2nd NYC show & other 2007 Tour Dates (3 NYC shows)"

DOWNLOAD: White Williams - New Violence (MP3) (via)

White Williams (real name = Joe Williams) was first brought to my attention when he was added to the Dan Deacon / Girl Talk tour. Since then I've been listening to an advanced copy of his forthecoming album Smoke pretty regularly (out nov 6 on TigerBeat). Think laid-back-laptop-dancey-electro-pop-sometimes-sing-along-like-Hot-Chip. One song is a cover of the 80's hit "I Want Candy".

And Williams (23 years old) and Girl Talk Greg Gillis go way back. From his bio:

Williams' first electronic music project was called So Red -- it was part of a tiny scene of Greg Gillis (Girl Talk), Andrew Strasser, Frank Musarra (Hearts of Darknesses) and Luke Venezia (Drop the Lime). Together they played and booked shows and parties.
After two tours with Girl Talk when Williams solo project started coming into its own, Williams started gravitating toward pop music. He wanted to learn about the studio situations of his favorite albums of the 70's and 80's and was fascinated by the idea of re-contextualizing how music could be made with the tools given.

White Williams has never (or barely ever) played live, so that means tonight (Sept 5) @ Mercury Lounge (w/ French all-girl-band Plasticines) will be his first ever show (or close to it) as White Williams. Maybe it will be a great and monumentous occasion you'll be telling your grandkids about, or maybe it will be a dreadful and embarrassing experience that you can't believe you were charged money for. Check it out, or get to Webster Hall early on September 15th, or wait for CMJ, or go see him at the Annex, or when he tours with Battles, etc....

Continue reading "White Williams - 2007 Tour Dates (w/ Dan Deacon/Girl Talk/Battles), CMJ, TONIGHT, etc"