After an online leak that included false information about big headliners (like The Strokes, Odd Future, Fleet Foxes, Gayngs, Dan Deacon), and then a promised-but-never-happened announcement about something right after that, NYC show promoters Jelly have officially announced a series of shows at "RockBeach"...

TOPMAN and JELLY have announced their partnership to bring you 'ROCKBEACH'- a brand new festival concept taking place from July to September this summer in the Rockaways of Brooklyn. The series of six free weekend events will deliver the hottest acts and new talent from its brand new home and will also - for the first time ever - offer festival camping for the last three events in the series at the Floyd Bennett Field - the setting of New York's first ever airport.

"After 5 years of Pool Parties in Williamsburg, we are very excited to be moving out to the Aviator Sports Complex near one of our favorite summer destinations, Fort Tilden Beach. We are looking forward to leaving Bedford Ave behind offering an ultimate weekend destination and adventure for all ages." - JELLY

The whole ROCKBEACH experience will deliver weekends of the coolest music and total fun to festival-goers with the likes of slip n slides, dodgeball, beach volleyball and most importantly - swimming pools filled with ice cold water and giant inflatables.

Entry to the festival is free - all festival-goers need to do is register online at WWW.ROCKBEACH.US In addition, there will be a ROCKBEACH festival shuttle bus with roundtrip rides costing $20 - but there are 100 lucky bus tickets up for grabs for each event which can be won by registering online at WWW.ROCKBEACH.US.

The first ROCKBEACH will take place on Saturday 9th July 2011 and will include performances from Penguin Prison, Wild Yaks, Janka Nabay and The Bubu Gang, and Monogold.

The July 9th date is the only one with a lineup, but there's also a less-specific flyer that has a big list of bands, and then there's a list of dates with no bands attached. All of that is below...

Continue reading "Jelly announces RockBeach shows"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Amor de Días - Bunhill Fields (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Damon & Naomi - "Walking Backwards" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Damon & Naomi - "Shadow Boxing" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: BNLX - Burn the Boats (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BNLX - Garbage Strike (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beige - Folds (MP3)

Amor de Dias

This weekend is dominated, for me at least, by NYC Popfest but as I've already written an exhaustive (exhausting) post about that, so go read it and we'll discuss other shows here. There's lots more to cover anyway.

One thing, and this is Popfest related really, is that Amor de Días are here this weekend, playing Knitting Factory on Sunday (5/22) opening for Damon & Naomi. We've got a pair of tickets to give away to this show. Just send an email with your name to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with the subject line "Amor de Dias" and we'll pick a winner at random.

As you may know, the duo (Amor de Días) are Alisdair Maclean of The Clientele and Lupe Núñez-Fernández of Pipas, a group who played the first ever NYC Popfest back in 2007. I actually thought it was going to be Amor de Días in the "TBA" slot at the Thursday night Cake Shop show that turned out to be Pains of Being Pure at Heart. For this show to be happening at the same -- but not part of -- the 'Fest seems a little criminal.

MacLean and Núñez-Fernández formed Amor de Días back in 2008 and wrote and recorded whenever they had time, with help from current tourmates Damon & Naomi, indiepop legend (and master arranger) Louis Phillipe and Ladybug Transistor's Gary Olson. Their debut, The Street of the Love of Days, came out this week on Merge and is a lovely little album as you might imagine from the talent involved. Their styles and voices are a perfect match for one another and the arrangements are just perfect. Among the treats is a particularly nice version of The Clientele's "Harvest Time." You can download "Bunhill Fields" at the top of this post.

Damon & Naomi's new album, False Beats and True Hearts, is a really nice record too. And if it's still pouring out Sunday night, all the better. It's an evening of rainy day music.

BNLX

A much louder duo, also in town this weekend, are Minneapolis' BNLX, who play Pianos on Friday (5/20) and The Rock Shop on Saturday (5/21). I've written about them a couple times this year already and I do really dig their mix of rockin' tunes and corporate humor. I'll quote myself again:

Volume isn't just for punishment, though in the wrong hands it most certainly is. But sometimes you just can't achieve that clarity of sound, that particular strain of feedback, that shriiiiiiinnnnng you get from flicking the strings above the headnut, that tone...without cranking the amp. Ed Ackerson, a 20-year veteran guitar slinger of such Minneapolis bands as 27 Various and Polara, knows what he's doing. BNLX didn't just blow eardrums, they kinda blew minds...

...for being just two of them and a laptop, they made quite a racket at the Rock Shop. Normally I'm one to complain about bands using canned backing instead of a real drummer, but vintage drum machine sounds -- right out of 1987, be it Jesus & Mary Chain or Age of Chance -- are kind of integral to what BNLX are doing. With a stroboscopic lightshow (what, no smoke machines?) you didn't really need anyone else.

You can download two tracks from EP#5 at the top of this post, and I have a good feeling they'll have EP#6 at the merch table for the NYC shows. Also playing The Rock Shop show is Black Onassis, which is not the ex-drummer of Urge Overkill but a new group from former member(s) of Kasabian and Daylight for the Birds. Don't know much about them.

More interesting is what's happening earlier that same evening at The Rock Shop: a tribute to Brian Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets featuring a cavalcade of indie rock talent. Here's the press release:

When Brian Eno's first solo record, Here Come the Warm Jets, came out in 1974 it turned heads. It continues to baffle great minds due to the sneaky way it overlays whimsical pop with the beginnings of Eno's whole philosophy of creativity and experimentation.

Indy music stalwart Rob Christinsen (Eggs, Grenadine, East Ghost West Ghost) and Rock Shop booker Jack McFadden team up to present this great curiosity of a recording LIVE with a melange of rockers and experimentalists.

"It sounds fantastic but one of the things that I tried to do with Warm Jets was to bring musicians together who would normally never play together and to play a music that they couldn't agree upon. The music would come from the chemistry. But of course, it was impossible to do. I couldn't expect any of the session people I worked with to go along with it. They literally fought." - Brian Eno, 1974.

In that spirit, fifteen singers and ten instrumentalists from all musical worlds team up to perform this masterpiece.

The evening will be emceed by walking/talking Brian Eno encyclopedia, WNYC's John Schaefer.

Musicians performing include Travis Morrison (Dismemberment Plan), Hamish Kilgour (The Clean), Richard Baluyut (Versus), Rob Christiansen (Eggs), Amy Klein (Titus Andronicus), and Ben Trokan (Robbers On High Street).

Of course the big tribute this weekend is Sunday's Our Concert Could Be Your Life which celebrates the 10th anniversary of Michael Azzerad's chronicle of the American indie rock scene in the '80s. The talent assembled paying tribute to the bands covered in the book is pretty amazing, and it's changed/expanded a bit since first announced:

• Nat Baldwin, David Longstreth and Brian McOmber play Black Flag
• Delicate Steve plays the Minutemen
• Citay plays Mission of Burma
• Ted Leo plays Minor Threat
• Grooms plays Husker Du
• Titus Andronicus plays the Replacements
• Tune-Yards plays Sonic Youth
• Callers plays Sonic Youth
• Dan Deacon plays the Butthole Surfers
• St. Vincent plays Big Black
• Wye Oak plays Dinosaur Jr
• Buke and Gass plays Fugazi
• White Hills plays Mudhoney
• Yellow Ostrich plays Beat Happening

Janeane Garofalo and Eugene Mirman host the evening -- which is sold out, but I wouldn't be surprised if tickets were released day of show. Keep an eye out. UPDATE: They are back on sale as I type this.

[note: both Tune-Yards and Buke and Gass play a sold out show at MHOW one day earlier. Dan Deacon also plays more shows this week. Delicate Steve has a headlining show coming up soon at Brooklyn Bowl.]

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Cymbals Eat Guitars

And lastly, Cymbals Eat Guitars play their first show in a long time this Friday (5/20) at Glasslands. The band are finishing up their sophomore LP which is due out this fall ,so hopefully we'll get a preview of what's to come which they'll be playing in full at the show. The whole line-up is pretty good, with fellow '90s loving indie rockers Radical Dads (whose member Robbie just announced a new album for one of his other bands), Iranian transplants Yellow Dogs, and the psychedelic sounds of Mirror Mirror.

A few more picks, day by day, are below.

THURSDAY, MAY 19

It should be a fun night at Union Pool with neo baggy kids McDonalds, volatile and soul-bearing Wild Yaks, and The Surprisers.

continued below...

Continue reading "Amor de Días, not Popfest, BNLX, Cymbals Eat Guitars, album & book tribute shows, Cheeseburger, Beige & more in This Week in Indie "

Wild Yaks @ Europa in November (more by Andrew Frisicano)

"Of course you don't believe me that this is the last Wild Yaks show ever. You think I'm your raving uncle? Like you have company over and I'm just talking and talking in the backyard and your guests are like, what's all that racket? And you're like, that's just my raving uncle." [Robert Bryn of Wild Yaks]

Brooklyn's Wild Yaks play their last show tonight, June 29th, at the Cameo Gallery with Imaginary Friend, Jean Eric and Bizi Gara.

The full discursive, poetic (goodbye?) note from frontman Rob Bryn is posted below...

Continue reading "Wild Yaks breaking up, playing their last show tonight"

DOWNLOAD: Team B - The Last Christmas (MP3)

Team B has been very generous lately. First came a free Christmas song (MP3 above). Then a 9-song EP called "The Lost Son" (cover art above). Download the EP at their website. Catch them live with Wild Yaks at Union Pool tonight (1/16). More info below...

Continue reading "a free Team B EP, Christmas song & a NYC show (tonight) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Kurt Vile @ Europa

Kurt Vile fit three shows into a recent two-day NYC trip. The first was a solo performance at an invite-only party at Public Assembly early Tuesday night (11/17). Later that night, he played a show at Europa with the Violators behind him and opening sets from Wild Yaks, Pink Reason and Home Blitz. Then on Wednesday (11/18), KV&V opened up for Big Star at Brooklyn Masonic Temple.

Kurt Vile and the Black Keys added a New Year's Day show after their NYE show in Chicago. In addition to his February tour with Fucked Up (the NYC dates of which are on sale), Kurt Vile will be playing a free show at Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday, December 1st with Small Black and DJ Rezound (as part of the Fader Bowl series).

The next show for Wild Yaks happens Saturday, November 28th at the Living Room. The gig is part of Hex Fest that's happening at Cake Shop, Pianos, the Living Room and Googies the same day. The lineup for that includes Das Racist, Your Nature, Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit, Weird Owl and others. Tickets and days passes are on sale.

More pictures and words on the Kurt Vile/Wild Yaks show at Europa are below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile adds free Brooklyn show (dates), played Europa w/ Wild Yaks (who are playing Hex Fest) - pics & review"

Kurt Vile (in orange) @ Woodsist/CT Fest on July 4th (more by Tim Griffin)

At [D.C.'s] the Black Cat Backstage [Nov. 5th], [Kurt] Vile ambled through the final date of a month of shows with his three-piece band, The Violators, for what he said was the largest crowd he'd played. Double digits, still -- right-sized. He opened the 70-minute set with a solo take of "Peeping Tomboy," which, like so much of the spectral folk side of his songbook, seemed to waft in from some phantom radio. Even when the combo joined him for the stouter stuff -- like "Freak Train," the self-explanatory centerpiece of his just-released "Childish Prodigy" album -- the cacophony was more ethereal than kinetic.

After innumerable self-releases, his songs still sound like their paint's still wet, which is part of their appeal. It remains to be seen whether they can, or should, expand beyond the cult of sober head-nodders who paid their respects last night. The only person dancing was a British girl whose accent was pitched just-so to be perfectly audible through the din.

"They're really quite good," she chirped. Cheers. [Washington Post]

The next show for Kurt Vile and The Violators is a November 17th show at Brooklyn's Europa. Also on the bill are local freaks Wild Yaks and Pink Reason and lyrical post-punks from NJ Home Blitz. Tickets are on sale.

The gig comes one day before Vile opens for Big Star at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (11/8). Tickets to that appear to be gone.

In non-New York news, Vile will be playing a New Year's Eve show at Chicago's The Riviera with The Black Keys. Tickets are on sale. Half of the Black Keys, Dan Auerbach, plays Webster Hall on Wednesday, November 11th.

A flyer for Vile's Europa show and all upcoming tour dates (in which Vile goes to Europe this December) are posted below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile playing Europa, opening for the Black Keys on New Years Eve (in Chicago) - 2009 Tour Dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dinosaur Feathers - Early Morning Risers (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hospitality - Betty Wang (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Acrylics - Molly's Vertigo (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Vacation (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Family Portrait - Mega Secrets (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darwin Deez - Bad Day (MP3)

Cymbals Eat Guitars

It's hard to believe online indie record store Insound has been around for ten years. Actually it's just hard to believe 1999 was a decade ago, but the calendar says it's so. Insound is also based out of NYC, so we're lucky enough to be invited to their 10 year birthday party tonight (8/27) at Brooklyn Bowl featuring a hard-to-pass-up line-up of local talent: Cymbals Eat Guitars, These Are Powers, The Drums, Real Estate and at least one band yet-to-be-announced (sort of). $10 gets you in the door and there's free Brooklyn Brewery beer from 6 - 9.

Effi Briest

Another very good option in Williamsburg tonight (8/27) is happening at Glasslands, featuring Effi Briest, Mahogany, and Free Blood (but not Deradoorian). The all-girl Effi Briest are in the same spooky, rhythm-heavy realm as the Life Without Buildings or the Slits (and maybe just a little Siouxsie). They've got a split 7" with Telepathe that's out now and they're working on their debut album as we speak. Mahogany, whose new line-up now (nine-strong according to their Myspace) seems to have been nailed down with the addition of former Dirty on Purpose bassist DJ Boudreau, will hopefully be playing some new material as it's been three years since their fantastic Connectivity. Free Blood bring a surprising amount of heat for such a minimal sound, thanks to the chemistry between ex-!!! John Pugh and Madeline Davy. And rounding out the bill are (The) Tony Castles who share a member with Boogie Boarder and are about to hit the studio with Jake Aron (Chairlift, Yeasayer, Acrylics).

Acrylics

This weekend is the After the Jump Festival which happens Friday - Sunday at Gowanus art space/venue Littlefield. ATJ is a group of bloggers that puts on events throughout the year, but this is the third year for their multi-day event and every night is pretty solid featuring some of the best new bands in NYC and a few from out of town. The full schedule and flyer is at the bottom of the post but I'll highlight a few from each night.

Friday (8/28): I have yet to see sound-collage dance act Javelin but I do like their records and am curious to see how they pull it off live. It's also their last show possibly November, so get in while you can. You can also catchy buzzy Florida band Holiday Shores (more on them below), indie pop royals My Teenage Stride, and the beachy Dinosaur Feathers.

Saturday (8/29): Philly's Free Energy (not to be confused with Free Blood) are a lot of fun if you have no problem with early '80s stadium rock or silly outfits. Despite a feeling I should know better, their live show and giant hooks won me over. Also: the Tom Waits-meets-garage-rock of Wild Yaks and the clattering, poppy Drink Up Buttercup. The night ends as a dance party with just-added Ninjasonik and the wacky Das Racist.

Sunday (8/30): Two of my favorite new NYC bands are playing on the early side. I've written a little bit about Acrylics before, but I've caught them three times over the summer and have been more impressed each time. "Molly's Vertigo," which you can download at the top of this post gives you a good idea of their sound, which is sort of '80s-ish with a dusty Southwest vibe, which maybe makes them a bit like the Rosebuds or Mirage-era Fleetwood Mac. Vocalists Molly Shea and Jason Klauber nail the harmonies and they've got an excellent pedal steel player. They're on at 8PM, don't miss them. Right before Acrylics are Hospitality, who I've written about before, are very charming live and don't play often enough. I haven't managed to catch them since May and am hoping for lots of new songs Sunday.

You can still buy discounted $25 passes for the whole shebang until Friday (8/28) morning. Individual tickets are $10 are night. There's also free beer each night from 6 - 7PM. Again, the whole After the Jump Fest schedule is below.

Holiday Shores @ Pianos in June (more by Tim Griffin)

More weekend recommendations. Fellow Brooklyn blogger Chocolate Bobka has put together a solid show at Cameo on Saturday night, with four bands that genuinely compliment each other. My previously-mentioned qualms with their vocals aside, Beach Fossils are hard to dislike and a lot of fun live. I've also been listening to the Holiday Shores (who also play the ATJ Fest the night before) dreamy, melodic debut, Columbus'd The Whim, a lot recently. It's a nice end-of-summer record. Connecticut's Sore Eros are pals with Kurt Vile and Gary War; and Washington DC's Family Portrait are part of the Underwater Peoples scene... Real Estate comparisons aren't entirely inappropriate and you can check out their song "Mega Secret" at the top of this post.

And also Saturday, there's an early show (7PM) at Glasslands featuring Phantogram, a duo who, for lack of a better term, are kind of trip-hoppy but in a '00s sort of way (breakbeats but no John Barry or Morricone samples). Chilled, atmospheric, but still danceable. Their debut album, Eyelid Movies, is a pretty good listen. Also playing are Savoir Adore who I've probably written about enough lately, and Darwin Deez.

Full After the Jump Fest schedule, some Flyers and music videos below...

Continue reading "Insound Party, After the Jump, Holiday Shores, Effi Briest, Beach Fossils, Phantogram & more in This Week in Indie "

Details below...

Continue reading "Bikes in the Kitchen show Saturday (noon-??)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Beets - What Did I Do? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pow Wow! - My House. Your House. Mine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pow Wow! - 23 19 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Browns - For the Saints (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Browns - Forgotten Son (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Browns - Two of You (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Sundelles - So Long (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gary War - Bounce Four (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Papercuts - Future Primitive (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Papercuts - Future Primitve (Ruby Suns remix) (MP3)

The Beets @ Bruar Falls

As you may have heard, L Magazine put out their annual "8 NYC Bands You Must Hear" issue this week. Tonight (5/1), three of the eight are playing live... and two of them are playing the same show. Those two would be pow wow! and The Beets who play at the Red Star bar in Greenpoint and I heartily give the thumbs up to both of them. I caught the latter last Friday when they played with Box Elders at Bruar Falls and thought they were great, maybe even just a smidge better than the Box Elders. In a weird way, The Beets kind of remind me of a more simplified version of '60s frat rock (The Troggs, Swingin' Medallions) by way of New Zealand. Though live their songs don't so much end as stop, somehow it all works. Their vinyl-only album, Spit in the Face of People Who Don't Want to Be Cool (a nod to WWE's Carlito), is well worth seeking out. They've got a new EP on Captured Tracks coming out sooner than later too, so be on the lookout for that too. An MP3 is at the top of this post.

I've written about pow wow! previously and have seen them a couple times now and they are a lot of fun, and have the kind of party vibe about them that would make them perfect for a residency at Ruby's Bar in Coney Island. If such things existed. At both shows I saw, pow wow! had the crowd dancing. Also on the bill are The Wild Yaks and The Subjects. Entry's only $4 and there's free Colt-45 from 9-10. Flyer below.

The other L Magazine trumpeted band playing tonight are Darlings who'll be at the 92Y Tribeca. I'm not so familiar with them, but here's what the L said:

They call to mind a sloppier Teenage Fanclub or Sloan at times, with whimsical melodies that feel completely timeless. Then, out of nowhere, they turn into a loud, screamy rock band, like early Replacements or the Jason Lowenstein contributions to Sebadoh, or maybe even... Nirvana? Basically, they've held onto the idea that this whole music thing was always supposed to be fun because you get to bang on shit really, really hard -- it just so happens they bring an awful lot of other stuff to the table as well.

Comparing a band to Teenage Fanclub and Sloan is a quick way to get me to listen. Darlings play with Snakes Say Hiss, and Boogie Boarder. They also play May 7 at Glasslands with pow wow! and the Sundelles.

Speaking of, The Sundelles also play tonight (5/1) at Matchless with The Browns who made the L Magazine's "Honorable Mentions" list:. Both bands are on 1928 Recordings which is also home to The Soft Pack and sound not dissimilar to that band. (Actually, Browns frontman Ryan McReynolds owns 1928 Recordings so maybe it all makes sense.) And like The Soft Pack, The Browns do that uninterested-but-sneering-with-contempt attitudede thing particularly well. The Sundelles are a little happier and a little more low-fi, but also quite good. MP3s for both Browns and Sundelles are at the top of this post.

My other recommended Friday show would be The Dears.

Kurt Vile @ Silent Barn (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Moving on to Saturday, there's a potentially good show at Silent Barn (not my favorite Todd P venue i must admit) featuring Kurt Vile and Gary War who have played together there before. They both share a love of putting out a zillion releases in every format and as many labels as possible. Philadelphia's Kurt Vile is a good musician -- don't let his low-fi aesthetic fool you -- and his Woodist album, Constant Hitmaker, is very good. (His EP on Mexican Summer is less interesting to these ears.) Gary War is a bit weirder, more psychedelic and, like Blank Dogs, he likes to run his vocals through weird, watery effects. And also like Blank Dogs, he gives away his music on his blog, including the whole of his new album, New Ratheonport, which features "Bounce Four," which you can download at the top of this post, and a way-trippy cover of Alan Parsons Project's '70s soft rock classic, "Eye in the Sky." Two bands separate Kurt and Gary on the bill: Sightings and Drunkdriver.

Papercuts

And last but not least this week, we've mentioned before that Vetiver are in town for two shows: Sunday (5/3) at Bowery Ballroom and Thursday (5/7) at The Bell House. As much as I like the headliners -- and I do -- I'm more excited about openers Papercuts, who've made one of my favorite records of the year so far, You Can Have What You Want, which came out two weeks ago. The nom-de-rock of San Francisco resident Jason Quever, his second album is dense, layered, melodic and sounds like a warm Sunday morning, not unlike Cass McCombs. I liked Papercuts' 2007 debut, Can't Go Back, but this new one is just miles better. I have yet to see Papercuts the band (Quever augmented with a few friends) play live, and I know previous NYC stops have gotten mixed reviews, but I can't wait to see what they're like.

Videos and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Beets, Papercuts, The Browns, Gary War, pow wow! & more in This Week in Indie"

Brooklyn art-space 3rd Ward is hosting a party for its third birthday on Sunday, May 3rd. The free event includes performances by NY bands The Wild Yaks, Aa, Pterodactyl, Afuche, Lam, and DJs Drew Heffron & Clay Franklin.

Full details (with all upcoming Wild Yaks shows) below...

Continue reading "3rd Ward Block Party Sunday w/ Wild Yaks, Aa, Pterodactyl.."

Anni Rossi

Brooklyn label Social Registry is presenting the show at 92YTribeca in Manhattan tonight (3/27). Sian Alice Group, Lights, Zs, and a group we recently featured, Mountains are on the bill. Updated Mountains tour dates below.

Speaking of NYC shows happening tonight and Mountains... the Mountain Goats, and John Vanderslice are here for their show at the Society of Ethical Culture.

Also related to today (3/27)... Having just played a few shows at SXSW, including the official showcase of her (and the Mountain Goats') label 4AD, Los Angeles/Chicago's Anni Rossi is currently on tour and plays a show at Union Pool in Brooklyn tonight with Midnight Masses and Wild Yaks. You may have also caught Anni when she opened for her label-mates Camera Obscura at Mercury Lounge the other night.

To say that Anni Rossi has given new life to the viola is an understatement. Together with her alternative folk style and lilting vocals, Rossi has reinvented the way this classical instrument is typically used and given new light to how Americana music is structured and presented.

Entrancing and beautiful, Rossi shared several songs with the Current from her upcoming CD, "Rockwell," out in March of 2009. [Minnesota Public Radio]

In April, Anni will go out on tour with Noah and the Whale. That puts her back in NYC, and at Bowery Ballroom, on May 1st. Tickets are still on sale. All dates and a video below.

Camera Obscura also played a show at The Bell House in Brooklyn the other night, and tickets are now on sale for the show they have coming up at Webster Hall.

Midnight Masses (playing Union Pool with Anni) just went on tour with, and share a member with, Trail of Dead (who we also caught at SXSW).

Continue reading "Anni Rossi, Mountains, Social Reg, Noah & the Whale & stuff"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Howlies - Chimera (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gringo Star - All Y'all (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Spacecamp - Girls on Bikes (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swirlies - Chris R. (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swirlies - Bell (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Real Estate - Suburban Beverage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Uninhabitable Mansions - We Misplaced a Cobra in the Uninhabitable Mansion (on WFMU) (MP3)

For about a year now, Cinema 16 has been giving short films a live soundtrack courtesy of local bands. Up till now, it's been happening at the Starr Space in Bushwick, but tonight (2/25) Cinema 16 heads to The Bell House for a double feature with four shorts and original music from Wild Yaks and Artanker Convoy.

Wild Yaks perform to leftist group Public Theater's Pie in the Sky and Edwin S. Porter's early cinema (1906) short Dream of a Rarebit Fiend. I actually caught them doing this at Cinema 16 a couple weeks ago and their ramshackle, Tom Waits-y wailing rock fit well especially with the Depression-era Pie in the Sky (which stars Elia Kazan!). Artanker Convoy, whose music leans toward the instrumental, atmospheric and trippy, are a more obvious fit for this kind of project. They'll be performing to an abstract animation by Harry Smith and Robert Enrico's Oscar-winning 1962 short, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, which was shown in America as an episode of The Twilight Zone. Again, both bands have composed original music for this that's unlikely to be heard anywhere else, so it's definitely something worth checking out. Also: free ice cream.

Howlies

Thursday (2/26) at Death By Audio are two of Atlanta's better rock bands (and there are a lot of 'em down there, let me tell you): Howlies and Gringo Starr. I particularly like the Howlies, who are celebrating the release of their debut album, Trippin' With the Howlies, which is one of the more fun rock records I've heard in a while. While steeped in nods to the '60s (surf rock, the Zombies, Love, the Troggs, etc) they've got good songwriting chops to go along with their good taste. Gringo Star, apart from the groan-worthy name (though it's better than A Fir-Ju Well which is what they used to be called), are a garage-rockin' party band not unlike Mando Diao that don't seem to have more of an agenda than having a good time. (And wanting you to have a good time too.) Which these days, should be enough. I can't say I listen to their latest album, All Y'all, a whole lot but they're fun live. Also on the bill: Brooklyn-via-Brazil duo Soundscapes who make '80s-inspired ethereal guitar pop, and Bonnie Baxter who you may have seen open for Apes and Androids at Music Hall of Williamsburg last month.

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Friday (2/27): The Spicy Times blog (a joint production of the ladies behind Jinners and I Rock I Roll) is having its monthly party at Union Hall with a pretty great lineup with two bands I've written about before: Uninhabitable Mansions that features Robbie and Tyler from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Annie of Au Revoir Simone and who will be selling their debut 7" at the show; and Spacecamp, who are as we speak finishing up work as backing band on Lightspeed Champion's second album. Maybe they'll bring him along? Weirder things have happened. Also on the bill: Staten Island's all-girl seven-piece Vessels and free Colt 45.

Also Friday is that Swirlies show at Mercury Lounge, their first NYC show in five years. Swirlies also play Philly tomorrow (2/26) and Boston on Saturday (2/28).

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Saturday (2/28): It's Cake Shop's monthly The World's Birthday Party party. If your birthday is in February you get free admission, a gift at the door and two free drink tickets. If you're not a February child, it's $8. Bands include Boston's Major Stars who should light up the joint with their stoner hard rock riffs, and Spectre Folk which features Mike of Magik Markers.

Real Estate

Late night Saturday at Cake Shop, it's a free show with New Jersey's Real Estate who are kind of getting a ton of hype right now from the likes of Pitchfork and Stereogum and Gorilla Vs Bear and others, all on the back of one three-song, white vinyl 7" which I have to admit I do like a lot. (Also having Matt Mondanile [aka Ducktails] in the group doesn't hurt.) Galaxie 500 seems to be the go-to reference for Real Estate and there is that dreamy vibe to their songs, but I'd also site criminally-overlooked '90s band Acetone as well. They've got a second 7" due out soon on Woodsist, so don't expect the interest to die down anytime soon. In addition to the Cake shop show, Real Estate have shows next week at Glasslands and Dead Herring, as well as an upcoming tour that includes a bunch of stops in Austin during SXSW (though none of them at official showcases). All tour dates at the end of the post.

Also Saturday: lovers of shoegaze, dreampop and goth should head straight to Mercury Lounge for a pretty stellar bill of Mahogany, The Depreciation Guild, Blacklist, Cruel Black Dove, and Home Video. Tickets are on sale.

That's all for this week. Tour dates and some videos after the jump....

Continue reading "Real Estate, Cinema 16, Howlies, Spicy Times, Major Stars, Mahogany, Swirlies & more in This Week in Indie "

Gothamist: So you're curating this New Year's Eve show. What does curating a concert entail?

Miles Seaton of Akron/Family: Oh, man, you should ask my girlfriend; she's a curator. The Knitting Factory wanted us to get all the bands together for this last night at the club, and it's been a lot of back-and-forth during a really busy time for us and the club. But it means the opportunity to have Dirty Projectors and Deerhoof play, and also our friend Greg Davis and our other friends like Megafaun play. And also, to keep an eye on what the night looks like for people and the pacing of the night.

How is this going to work in terms of set times? Are people going to have to choose between Deerhoof, Dirty Projectors and Akron/Family?

You know, that's the thing that curating would normally entail but we haven't really had a chance to communicate with the club a lot about the production end of things. So I can't answer that, to be honest with you. But I imagine they'll try to stagger it a bit, you know; start one show on the hour and another show on the half hour. And we also just got two of the guys from Oneida to play; they call themselves Groover's Paradise.

also on New Years Eve in NYC....
* Crystal Castles are DJing a party in Brooklyn after their two shows @ MHOW
* Matthew Dear & Drop the Lime @ LePoissonRouge - doors @ 2AM
* The Bunker will go for 18 hours (10-4PM) @ Public Assembly
* The Damned have cancelled their show @ Blender Theater
* Knitting Factory's final Manhattan show flyer above
* Shilpa Ray & Wild Yaks are playing @ Monkeytown
* These are Powers are playing Cake Shop
* party @ Surreal Estate
* EVERYTHING ELSE

P.S. I think the special guest at Santos Party House recently played Market Hotel