DOWNLOAD: Shearwater - Castaways (MP3)

Jonathan Meiburg @ All Points West 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Wye Oak's Andy Stack @ Pianos - BV CMJ 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Shearwater, who released their The Golden Archipelago LP on February 23rd (MP3 above), toured with Wye Oak earlier this year. That trip included a stop at Bowery Ballroom where...

"...Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater joined Jenn and Andy [of Wye Oak] on stage for their final song, a cover song, and then he came back about 20 minutes later with his own band. Jordan Geiger from Hospital Ships was on the stage for the set, and Andy Stack joined them for a couple songs, so there were upwards of 6 performers on stage, bringing Shearwater's beautifully dramatic songs to life. They played a long set, probably 70 to 80 minutes I'd guess, and played almost every song I'd ever heard of in their catalog... [Vague Space]

The tour was one of a few examples of recent collaborations between Shearwater and Wye Oak. Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg recently joined Wye Oak to cover the Kinks' song "Strangers" at as part of A.V. Club's Undercover series (25 bands covering 25 different songs). Video of the performance is posted below.

Next up, Wye Oak's Andy Stack will join Meiburg for a performance at the Whitney Museum on Friday, June 25th at 7pm...

Charles Burchfield reveled in the sounds, sights, and sensations of nature. He often wrote about his experiences in his journals, and his close study of nature is apparent in his paintings. Join us for a reading of excerpts from Burchfield's journals by Jonathan Rosen, author of The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature, paired with a performance of songs by Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater who will be joined by Andy Stack of Wye Oak. Rosen and Meiburg both share Burchfield's enthusiasm for nature, particularly birds. Tonight discover the wonders in paying attention to the backyard bird.

This event is free with Museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays from 6-9 pm; no special tickets or reservations are required.

Speaking of the Whitney, the museum is currently open 24 hours a day as part of its Biennial exhibit. The open-24-hours-ness stops May 28th at midnight. The Biennial runs through May 30th. When that closes, the hazy, somewhat-psychedelic-tinged watercolors of Charles Burchfield will run at the museum from June 24-October 17 (as noted above, the concert is June 25th).

Shearwater don't have any other dates coming up. Wye Oak, who are releasing an EP, My Neighbor/My Creator, June 8th on Merge, do have some. You may have noticed them (Philly and DC) in Deer Tick's tour dates. No NYC date announced for Wye Oak, but when we contacted Andy with some questions about the Whitney show, he hinted that there was "one really fun" show coming in July (Siren?) (answer = yes). Those questions and answers, with a bunch of videos and other stuff below...

Continue reading "Wye Oak & Shearwater recently toured, covered the Kinks, are playing the Whitney (sort of) (and other shows)"

by Chris La Putt

Das Racist took part in the second to last performance piece curated by contemporary California artist Martin Kersels at the Whitney Museum on Friday. Martin originally created an "imaginary" stage to be used for the Whitney's Biennial as a sculpture and place to hold performances. On Friday, CalArts professor Leslie Dick gave a lecture on her interpretation of an essay by famed psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan, Mirror Stage. She says the Mirror Stage is Lacan's conclusion that "knowledge is always detoured through wishful thinking and mistaken identity." In her talk, she admitted that she discovered Das Racist through her 18-year old daughter. She figured that the band and their song entitled "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" was the perfect example for her lecture on how knowledge could be often misconstrued and twisted to what the people want. Scott Plagenhoef from Pitchfork painfully described how some people feel upon hearing the band's hipster summer anthem:

"Reactions within our staff have ranged from "I'd like to punch these guys in the face" and "this was sent here to destroy my interest in music" to "Harold and Kumar existentialism" (this wasn't me) and "a critique of commercialism/lack of a leisure culture" (um, this was). At its heart though, "Combination"-- especially this superior Wallpaper. remix-- is just a funny, stupid, silly, brainy, knowing song all at once."

If that was still a bit wordy for you, MTV Iggy dumbs down it down to a comic on how to explain Das Racist to your mom.

DJ Spooky performed at the event later. Pictures from the Das Racist part below...

Continue reading "Das Racist & Leslie Dick @ The Whitney Museum (pics) "

still from Ari Marcopoulos's film Detroit...

Ari Marcopoulos's photographs and videos capture the rhythm and feel of diverse youth-oriented subcultures from snowboarding to underground music. His honest portraits depict, as he has stated, "something that just stands for life lived." This evening, he brings together musicians from the electroacoustic improvisation scene, including Orphan and Yellow Tears, for a night of performance and noise. [Whitney]

Participants in the "performance and noise" described above will also include Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. It'll happen at the museum at 7:30pm on Friday, March 26th during the museum's pay-what-you-wish Fridays (6-9pm). That's less than a week before Thurston, drummer Ryan Sawyer and Daniel Carter play Rose Live Music.

In other SY news, the Thurston-led hardcore band re-forming for SXSW, Society's Ills, has changed is name to Demolished Thoughts (the lineup is still Thurston Moore: Vocals, J Mascis: Guitar, Don Fleming: Guitar, Andrew W.K.: Bass, Awesome Allison: Drums). They're playing at the Ecstatic Showcase on Friday, night (3/19) and a Mog day party on Saturday at the Mohawk (with the Black Keys). For their set, they'll expand on their 7 Seconds repertoire with a mix of hardcore selections from scenes that include Boston, Detroit, LA, DC and NYC.

Back in NYC, Lee Ranaldo, photographer/artist spouse Leah Singer and their two sons will be performing at IVANAHelsinki & Love Contemporary pop-up store (238 Mulberry St btwn Spring + Prince) on Sunday, March 14th. The event, titled "What Is That Little Black Thing I See There In The White?" features Lee Ranaldo/Leah Singer/Sage Ranaldo/Frey Ranaldo doing "Music/Movies/Candy/Paper Cutting." It's all ages and runs from 4-6:30pm.

Videos of some recent Lee Ranaldo sound performances are below...

Continue reading "Ari Marcopoulos @ the Whitney, Demolished Thoughts & other Sonic Youth-related happenings "

DOWNLOAD: Wilderness - Strand the Test of Time (MP3)

Wilderness's new record (k)no(w)here was released by Jagjaguwar on Nov 4th.

Written for a performance at this year's Whitney Biennial, this obnoxiously titled release continues Wilderness's exploration of icy post-punk that falls tonally between PiL and U2. Guitarist Colin McCann uses delay and echo to create repetitions similar to those of the Edge and Keith Levene; the slowly shifting harmonies from Brian Gossman's calm bass gives those repetitions forward movement -- something similar to the dub influence of Jah Wobble and the solid simplicity of Adam Clayton. Singer James Johnson, meanwhile, has a howl that combines the idiosyncratic style of John Lydon with the populist war cry of Bono: Johnson's voice bays and every note seems to emanate from the back of his throat before tightening into focus. As for songs, the band lets them flow into one another to create a 40-minute piece. This could prove strenuous, but the album is more contemplative than didactic -- a (k)no(w)here that's difficult to study but easy to inhabit. [The Phoenix]

Tonight, Wedesday November 19th, Wilderness kick off a tour in NYC with a show at Cake Shop followed by a Thursday night show at Union Pool. Both shows are with San Serac. Video from the Whitney performance, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Wilderness - 2008 Tour Dates, a Biennial album, an MP3"

photos by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: Lucky Dragons - Fake is Forever (MP3)

It's not easy to get people to interact with each other at shows. But Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara of L.A. experimental duo Lucky Dragons have it down pat. It's all about a box that turns electrical resistance into sound.

Fischbeck created a box that contains four braided wires, or "touchers," extend from it, and the whole contraption feeds into a laptop. Fischbeck and Rara often perform in small gallery spaces, where they present the box to an audience by setting it on the floor. The touchers produce channels of feedback when touched, but here's the catch: the audience has to touch each other as well. At least two people have to touch each other and touch a wire to trigger the first note. Lucky Dragons calls the concept "Make a Baby."

"Everyone playing Make a Baby has to form a bridge between each other for it to work," Rara says. The device produces a series of tonal progressions based on different levels of electrical resistance. The progressions are created by the number of people who touch each other and the way they touch each other.

Adding more layers of meaning, Fischbeck and Rara describe Make a Baby as a game and a ritual. "There's a lot of magic in these performances. [It's] asking people to do things they wouldn't ordinarily think made any sense," Fischbeck says. [Venus Zine]

More pictures from Friday night's free show at the Whitney Museum (part of the 2008 Biennial Live Series) below....

Continue reading "Lucky Dragons @ the Whitney Museum (Biennial), NYC - pics"

The 2008 Biennial, the seventy-fourth in the series of Whitney Annual and Biennial exhibitions held since 1932, presents eighty-one artists working at a time when art production is above all characterized by heterogeneity and dispersal. However, within the enormously differentiated field that we (perhaps absurdly) continue to yoke under the term "contemporary art," certain prevalent modes of working and thematic concerns are particularly germane to the moment.

@ The Whitney Lower Gallery
April 04 - Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
April 18 - DJ Olive & Marina Rosenfeld
May 09 - Gang Gang Dance
May 23 - Matthew Brannon & Lucky Dragons

Gang Gang Dance are also playing March 9th in the Park Avenue Armory (also part of the Biennial), and at Southpaw in Brooklyn on April 29th, and all the dates below...

Continue reading "Whitney Biennial 2008 kicks off tomorrow, Gang Gang Dance"