photos by David Andrako

ACME is Nadia Sirota (viola), Clarice Jensen (cello), Chihiro Shibayama (percussion), Andrew Rehrig (flutes), and Alicia Lee (clarinets). On March 1st, ACME performed with Mariam Wallentin and Mikael Karlsson at Merkin Concert Hall as part of the ongoing Ecstatic Music Festival (which continues on March 17th with Oneida and Rhys Chatham). The show was described like this:

Mariam Wallentin, hailed for her "beyond gorgeous" voice in the band Wildbirds & Peacedrums, teams up with acclaimed composer Mikael Karlsson to create a new song cycle, The Spirit & the Cloud, performed with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble ("some of New York's brightest, busiest players." The evening will also include a selection of Karlsson's instrumental compositions and arrangements of Wildbirds & Peacedrums songs for Wallentin and ACME.

Check out more pictures from the event, and the full setlist, below...

Continue reading "Mariam Wallentin of Wildbirds & Peacedrums played w/ Mikael Karlsson & ACME @ the Ecstatic Music Festival (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Toro Y Moi - Blessa (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Patrick Bower - The Dark Lord of Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Morning Benders - Promises (MP3)

Wild Beasts @ Union Pool in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Of all the things going on this week -- and there is no shortage of options as usual -- my number one pick would be for you to see Wild Beasts, who are on tour and play Bowery Ballroom on Friday (2/26, sold out) and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (2/28) Tickets still available for the Brooklyn show and we have a pair to giveaway. Details at the bottom of this post.

Their second album, Two Dancers, was my favorite album of 2009 and I still hear some new and amazing little detail every time I listen to it. I went to all three of their New York shows last September, all of which were great. The fluid interplay between the band is something to behold -- a real case of four people working as one mesmerizing whole. And those who still haven't gotten used to their vocal style, I say go see them live and everything makes more sense. Wild Beasts are one of a kind, at the top of their game, and you're dumb to miss them.

Both shows feature Toronto's Still Life Still as openers, and Violens will also play the MHoW show. Both openers also head to SXSW in March.

Morning Benders

The other undeniable show this weekend is Saturday (2/27) at Market Hotel with a line-up that almost dares you not to go: Surfer Blood, Turbo Fruits, Beach Fossils, Grooms and Morning Benders. All bands I've written about in this weekly column more than once. Now most of these bands -- including out-of-towners Surfer Blood and Turbo Fruits -- play here enough that most people have seen them already. Except Morning Benders, recent transplants from San Francisco who have kind of blown up over the last two weeks thanks in part to a great new album, Big Echo (out March 9 on Rough Trade), as well as a killer live performance video (shot for Yours Truly) of the LP's lead track, "Excuses," that's been making the rounds. The version on the album is already pretty lovely, but here, done Phil Spector style with the Big Echo Orchestra (John Vanderslice and Christopher Owens of Girls among them) is pretty special. You can watch it at the bottom of this post, and download the MP3 of "Excuses" from The Morning Benders website for the mere price of your email address. The MP3 for "Promises" is above. Anyway, see them now before the album comes out and they no longer play places like Market Hotel.

... or the Housing Works Bookstore where they'll play tonight (2/25) with the garagey Shark? and twinkly folkies Cuddle Magic. Max Silvestri hosts. Presented by the Hype Machine, it's also a CD swap where you can take all those CDs you've ripped and trade them for others you don't have yet. Admission is $5 and at least one CD. Do bring something someone people would want to listen to, and not that CD of your cousin's ska band, OK?

The Morning Benders also play Mercury Lounge on April 22 (tickets still on sale). All tour dates for the band are at the bottom of this post.
---

Some more show picks shows by day:

THURSDAY 2/25

Toro Y Moi is playing Cameo Gallery but surprise surprise: Best New Music + 75 person capacity = sold out show. There will be some tickets ($5) available when doors open at 8PM. Twin Sister are also on the bill so if you already have tickets for this, show up early and see them -- they're great. If you don't make it in, Toro Y Moi rolls back through town on March 26 where he'll play Brooklyn Bowl with New Zealand's Ruby Suns. He'll be at SXSW too. All tour dates for him are at the bottom of this post.

Patrick Bower

Patrick Bower and The World Without Magic are likely to play tunes from their new EP, The Dark Lord (of Love), at Bruar Falls. You can download the Scott Walker-esque title track at the top of this post. It's pretty different than the more beardy folk of his solo work. I dig it. The show's free and also features country-ish Beau Jennings & The Holy Tulsa Thunder and the delicate orch-folk of Balene.

North Highlands, Dream Diary and Knight School are at Death by Audio. Now is the time to catch North Highlands, who were excellent at Bruar Falls last week and I think will be taking things to the "next level" (whatever that means) soon. Dream Diary are getting really good too, especially if you like Pastels-style indiepop, and Knight School are NYC's nerdiest, funniest, catchiest, tinniest band.

And at the Bell House there's laptop shoegaze maestro Ulrich Schnauss who made one of my favorite records of the '00s, A Strangely Isolated Place, and apparently had a hand in recently coaxing Chapterhouse out of retirement. It's actually a pretty cool night if you're into dreamy soundscapes. Also on the bill is Mark Van Hoen who was a founding member of awesome '90s band Seefeel (seek out 1993's Quique) and who's made music under the name Locust since the mid-'90s. Local dreamweavers Luxa open the night.

FRIDAY 2/26

If you weren't able to squeeze into Cameo on Thursday, Twin Sister play the equally tiny Matchless. As I said recently, they're probably the best new band I've seen in some time. I will say I'm predisposed to like their mix of Stereolab and Sade, but I was wowed when I saw them at Bruar Falls.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow are back in NYC, playing  Mercury Lounge (tickets). They've got a new EP, Nitetime Rainbows, coming out next week that shows off their more experimental, soundscape-y side. Which side will we get Friday? This is the start of a lengthy tour which of course includes SXSW. Acrylics, who I love, are also playing the Mercury Lounge show.

Another chance to see Knight School, this time early on at Bruar Falls with awesomely loud (yet poppy) duo Sisters, sonic manipulator Noveller and the psych punk assault of Lame Drivers. After this show, Sisters hit the road with another Brooklyn duo, Coasting, for the tour heading to SXSW and then join up with Irish band So Cow after the fest. Tour dates are below.

SATURDAY 2/27

Hospitality haven't played live in at least six months, due mainly to their bass player's duties in White Rabbits. He won't be at Bruar Falls on Saturday so we'll be seeing a slightly different line-up of the band but I'm glad to have them back. Singer Amber Papini is quite the charming singer. They're opening for Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums -- who are also playing an early show at Mercury Lounge on Friday.

Another local band that hasn't played in ages: The Hundred in the Hands, whose song "Dressed in Dresden" I listened to a lot last summer. It's the only song on their Myspace, apart from about 10 different remixes. It's a good track, but I'm curious to see how many other songs they have. With Glasslands doors at 11 and two other bands on the bill (Ra Ra Rasputin, Esque) it'll be a late night.

SUNDAY 2/28

Go see Wild Beasts. Seriously.

That's it for this week. Videos, Wild Beasts contest, and tour dates are after the jump.

Continue reading "Wild Beasts, Morning Benders, Patrick Bower, Toro y Moi, Hospitality, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, more in This Week in Indie"

Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ The Bell House in September (more by Ryan Muir)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums are going on tour with St. Vincent this February. That goes from British Columbia to Philly in one month, but stops short of NYC. The reason for that is probably St. Vincent's appearance, right before the tour starts, at Lincoln Center's Allen Room (as part of their American Songbook series) scheduled for Friday, January 29th (tickets are on sale).

Sweden's Wildbirds & Peacedrums will play their own shows in the city as well, but after the tour is complete. Their first NYC show will happen on Friday, February 26th at Mercury Lounge. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, December 9th (today) at noon. They they play Bruar Falls in Brooklyn the next night (2/27).

All tour dates for both, and St. Vincent's song with Bon Iver that appears on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack are below.

Since we're mentioning Bon Iver, it should also be noted that eight songs from his April concert with Eau Claire Memorial Jazz I, Justin Vernon's former high school jazz band, has been released...

Just in time for the holiday season, Eau Claire Memorial Jazz I is proud to announce the CD release of their A Decade With Duke concert featuring Justin Vernon of BON IVER.

CDs are available for purchase in Eau Claire, Wisconsin only at Brick House Music, Morgan Music, and the offices of Volume One.

A digital version which includes only the second set, featuring Vernon, is also available digitally worldwide at most online music retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc.

All proceeds from the local CD sales and digital sales will be donated directly to Eau Claire Memorial High School's band and jazz band programs.

Bon Iver will be back in NYC in January. The classic-looking A Decade With Duke cover, and full tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Wildbirds & Peacedrums & St Vincent touring (but playing separately in NYC) ++ Bon Iver-related CD released"

photos by Ryan Muir

Fanfarlo

"Collectively, they have a homespun quality, as if still learning how to make do. Three band members played mandolin over the course of the show. Three played drums. On one song Mr. Balthazar put down his guitar and picked up a clarinet. Glockenspiel was used to dramatic effect. A melodica made an appearance." [NY Times]

And as the NY Times pointed out, not only can you compare Fanfarlo to Beirut, they share a member! At least they did at these recent shows which included Monday night at Bowery Ballroom, and last night (Tuesday, 9/22) at the Bell House in Brooklyn. The Beirut member in question is Jon Natchez who you can see with his shaved head and beard playing a saxophone in the pictures. Also joining Fanfarlo as a member of their band for this tour was Jeremy Warmsley who was my favorite multi-instrumental member to watch on stage last night. Catch him play his own show at Pianos in NYC tonight (9/23)

Arcade Fire are the second most obvious comparison to Fanfarlo. I probably wouldn't have also thrown Neutral Milk Hotel into the mix... if they hadn't chosen to close their 2-song encore with a cover of "In the Aeroplane over the Sea"! I wasn't a huge fan of the choice, which made me biased before it even began, but it got lots of applause. A video Bill took of it is also making the rounds on the Internet today. You can watch that below.

Speaking of closing their set, they wrapped it up a little early due to throat problems, and according to one member who spoke to Bill after the show, technical problems that they didn't really let the crowd know about. Speaking of the crowd, despite it generally being a stand-there-with-arms-crossed kind of night, people got loud when applauding, and while cheering for the encore.

Like at other shows on the tour, they started the encore with audience participation and plastic tubes...

"I sold on the band when they flipped the switch on those lovely, glowing lights after the first song of their set, but when they came back for an encore and handed out instruments to the crowd (no idea what they're called, but the band had purchased a gaggle of those plastic tubes you swing around your head to make noise), I became a devoted follower of the church of Fanfarlo. Ten or so audience members were whipping these tubes around in the air, and the pitch of the tubes was aligned perfectly with "Comets". Arms got tired, tubes were passed onto other audience members, and it felt like everyone in the room was part of the band." [Seattle Weekly]

Wildbirds and Peacedrums opened the show for the second night in a row. It was their 5th show in NYC in a week. Their other three shows were at Bruar Falls, Cake Shop and Le Poisson Rouge.

Fanfarlo's album, Resevoir, is well worth a listen, and as Bill taught me, will be released officially as a CD by Atlantic in October. October is also when they'll be back in NYC to play at least two shows including the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

More pictures from The Bell House below...

Continue reading "Fanfarlo & Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ The Bell House - pics "

photos by Lori Baily, words by Andrew Frisicano

Deerhoof

This was a damn good show, and not even because they played their "hits," or because I knew most of the songs. In actuality I knew about half, but the very fact that I enjoyed the songs I didn't know prove Deerhoof to be good performers. They pulled every gag and trick in the concert-giving book: costume changes! pretentious and adorable stage banter! friend found randomly in audience to play the drums for a song! artsy video projections! synchronized dance moves! not one, but TWO encores! props, such as a tiny stuffed penguin and a glow-in-the-dark basketball! all of the band members switching instruments! Sometimes all of these would occur within a single song. [Subbacultcha]

Deerhoof headlined a post-ATP NY show at (Le) Poisson Rouge on September 15th.

Opening up were Chicago duo Serengeti & Polyphonic and Swedes Wildbirds & Peacedrums. It was the first of five NYC shows in the past week for Wildbirds & Peacedrums who played their last one at The Bell House last night (9/22) with Fanfarlo. I caught them at their second show (9/16), where they played a short set at the Cake Shop before the headliner, Sam Mickens' Ecstatic Showband & Revue.

At the Cake Shop, the pair filled the small stage with an arrangement of drums and other percussion (they didn't play anything you couldn't hit). Andreas sat behind a fairly extensive kit, with a sampler and a xylophone tucked to the side, while Mariam stood behind a steeldrum and occasionally stabbied at the drum kit too. She didn't stand still long though, dancing across the stage, jumping around, and still managing to carry most of the songs with only sparse drum accompaniment. Somehow they both kept their place. The bluesy influence on her voice was pretty clear too. Like on their record, the band's lyrics were charming and quirky (not totally unlike fellow Gothenburg-ite Jens Lekman), and live they added another level of raw, theatrical energy to the music.

The rest of the pictures from LPR, below...

Continue reading "Wildbirds & Peacedrums played 5 NYC shows, LPR w/ Serengeti & Polyphonic and Deerhoof (pics)"

"fanfarlo was amazing last night. the experience left me inspired to be happy!" - Christy Gurga

Fanfarlo @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - Sept 21, 2009 (awakinglim)

"Given the mere nine or so songs they played [at Chop Suey in Seattle on September 14th], jet-lagged or no, an encore was definitely in the offing. Nobody was leaving and everyone was clapping and expecting something. Promptly arriving back on stage, plastic tubes were handed out to the crowd to twirl above their heads, an opportunity for the audience to whimsically provide the high-pitched background hum for "Ghosts." It worked out better than I could have imagined (though the taller members of the crowd were probably not all that endeared by a constant threat to their head from all sides). After some mulling over requests, "Fire Escape" was decided as the second song of the encore.

Even after the house music came up, earnest chants of "One More Song! One More Song!" rung out until the band came back for a second encore. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw something like that with a new band like this."
[Sound on the Sound]

Fanfarlo kicked off their US tour in Seattle last week and are now in the midst of a two-night NYC run. If you missed them last night at Bowery Ballroom (9/21), you have another chance tonight (9/22) at The Bell House in Brooklyn (tickets are still available). Wildbirds and Peacedrums opened last night, and they do again tonight. Jonsi and Alex won't be there again tonight though.

If you miss both, or even if you saw both, it won't be long before there's another chance to catch the London-based band in NYC. Fanfarlo are coming back for CMJ, and you'll have at least two chances to see them then. On October 21st they'll be at Bowery Ballroom again. That time it's with Midnight Juggernauts, The Postelles, TigerCity, Findlay Brown, and Freelance Whales (tickets). On Tuesday, October 20th (one night before Bowery), you can catch them at the official BrooklynVegan CMJ show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Full lineup for that one to be announced shortly (and tickets will be on sale soon).

A video from the above-reviewed Seattle show, below...

Continue reading "Fanfarlo played Bowery Ballroom - Bell House tonight then CMJ (BrooklynVegan official show @ MHOW + Bowery again) "

Jonsi and Alex aka Riceboy Sleeps are DJing ("Jonsi From Sigur Ros & Alex - DJ set") at tonight's Fanfarlo & Wildbirds & Peacedrums show at Bowery Ballroom (9/21)

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dream Diary - Bird in My Garden (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Big Troubles - Drastic and Difficult (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - It #1 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fanfarlo - Finish Line (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fanfarlo - I'm a Pilot (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fanfarlo - Luna (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jeremy Warmsley - If He Breaks Your Heart (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Slaraffenland - Meet and Greet (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Slaraffenland - Open Your Eyes (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Horrors - Sea Within a Sea (MP3)

Ty Segall's drummer @ Cake Shop (more by Tim Griffin)

I realize we're all concerned about This Week Next Year in Indie, what with this Pavement stuff, but there are actually good shows in the next few days too, so let's get down to it.

Ty Segall is back in town, playing three area shows before heading down to Memphis for next weekend's Gonerfest. If you haven't picked up his new album, Lemons (which is on Goner Records), you really should -- I think it's one of the year's better slabs of garage. And by all means see him live. He (and his band) were great when they played Cake Shop back in June. You can catch him Friday (9/18) night at Death by Audio (as part of this Maze installation which I have yet to see, and where they recently "chopped some of the walls in half [to help] with the viewing".), Sunday night (9/20) at Mercury Lounge with Golden Triangle, and Monday (9/21) at Maxwell's.

All dates on this current tour are with fellow San Franciscans The Mantles whose self-titled debut is just out on Siltbreeze. Every time I think I've heard all the SF bands doing psych-garage, here comes another and they all seem to put their own stamp on it. The Mantles are a little more on the tuneful, paisley side of things -- think Lyres, Mouse & the Traps or even The Turtles -- that the scream through a distorted mic kind of thing, so they make for a good "similar but different" match to Ty's grittier style.

Dream Diary

It's Rosh Hashanah this weekend and the folks at Silent Barn are throwing a party Saturday night in celebration of it: "The party is to celebrate 5770 and will have a Jewish theme but non-Jews are definitely welcome... and encouraged to attend. Gonna be a party and a blast!" Headlining are Dream Diary, who I caught last week at Bruar Falls and thought were really good. Dream Diaryplay what I'd call classic indiepop: jangly guitars, fey vocals, with a love of both sunny melodies and rainy day minor chords. Think The Pastels, Orange Peels, or Trembling Blue Stars. You can check out an MP3 of "Bird in My Garden" at the top of this post, and there's video from the Bruar Falls show below. Also playing: duo Big Troubles who are also Fluffy Lumbers' backing band (if that means anything to you), and The Kezners. Plus: apples and honey!

Fanfarlo

We are in the midst of The Bell House's First Anniversary, which early in the week saw shows from OK Go, Fountains of Wayne and Rhett Miller, and is now ankle deep in the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival. The last day of this weeklong celebration (Tuesday, 9/22), however, is the one I'm most excited about: Fanfarlo. It's one of two dates they're playing in NYC, they also are at Bowery Ballroom on Monday (9/21). I'm a longtime champion of these guys and it's great to see them playing two of my favorite venues in the city -- a big move up from the 40 or so people in attendance at Fat Baby during CMJ 2008. Their debut, Resevoir, has been available digitally for some time (they were even selling it for a dollar for a while there) is finally getting a proper release on Atlantic in October. It's one of my favorites of the year, but I think Fanfarlo are even better in concert where their sweeping anthemicism really comes alive. The Finest Kiss caught the first show of their U.S. tour in Seattle:

Fanfarlo get compared to Arcade Fire quite a lot, but where Arcade Fire are all about pomp and bombast, Fanfarlo soften the corners coming across as a warmer friendlier band. They can sound big, but they also know how to do quiet. They all seem to be able to play multiple instruments, and apparently get tired of playing the same thing all the time based on all the switching off they did, and that restlessness spread to audience during the encore, when the band brought out hollow plastic whistling tubes and handed them out to various audience members for the song Ghost. It was just about perfect (except for ducking a few times) with the whistling forming and eerie bed of sound over which the band played. Like the stage set up, it was just another example of the band making a big impact with tiny props. It was a Monday night, but Chop Suey was pretty full for a UK band touring the US with no album out yet. The majority of the people there must have been fans, because after the encore the audience demanded another song. The house music and lights were coming on but everyone persisted and the band obliged. I rarely see a genuine encore, but this indeed was one, and the band were a little taken aback. They weren't sure that they even knew another song that they could play, but they pulled out the A-side to their second single "You Are One Of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us." It may be the poppiest song they have, and just like the rush of the opening "I'm a Pilot" this put a smile on everyone's face. In a lot of ways a gig is like a salesman making a sale, it's all about the presentation, and Fanfarlo have got it down, visually and sonically.

Tickets are still available for both the Bowery and Bell House shows, though I think the latter's lodge-y vibe will suit the band best. But do go see one -- or both -- shows if you can. Both nights also feature percussion-heavy Swedes Wildbirds and Peacedrums, who played last night at Cake Shop and will also play at Bruar Falls Friday with Ramona Falls.

Jeremy Warmsley

Helping fill out Fanfarlo's sound on this American tour (he's playing as a member of their band) is London musician Jeremy Warmsley who travels in the same circles as Noah & the Whale, Lightspeed Champion, Emmy the Great, Slow Club, the Wave Pictures and the rest of London's new folk scene, much of which was documented last year on his online show Welcome To Our TV Show. (You can watch an episode below.) His debut album from last year, How We Became, has yet to be released in America but it's well worth seeking out, a nice mix of acoustics, electronics and well-crafted songs. While here with Fanfarlo, he's doing his own solo show (which is also his NYC debut) on Wednesday (9/23) at Pianos. He's performing solo acoustic, but maybe some of the Fanfarlo folks will still be around to help him out? We'll see. He's good. You can download his single "If He Breaks Your Heart" at the top of this post.

Slaraffenland

If I wasn't going to the Fanfarlo show at Bell House I would probably be at Union Pool to see Denmark's Slaraffenland, their only NYC date of their current U.S. tour, most of which was spent opening for Akron/Family. Their new album, We're on Your Side, came out this week and while it's a little more straightforward than 2007's weird, wonderful Private Cinema, it's no less lovely. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. And I wholeheartedly recommend seeing them live. I wrote this about their show last year at Knitting Factory: "Live, Slaraffenland are pretty fascinating to watch, as all the members sing and play at least two instruments... often within the same song. The guitarist played the oboe; the percussionist played a variety of woodwinds; the bassist also played flute; and the keyboardist / sampler was often seen with a trombone. There is a lot of live sampling going on in their show -- many songs started with everyone playing horns which would become a backing loop -- so live percussion blended with canned bits. Very little of their music follows pop conventions, but there is melody and beauty if you stop waiting for the chorus and just let the music wash over you." You can also watch their Takeaway show further down this post.

If you're looking for things to do tonight, I can recommend three shows. At Glasslands (9/17), it's Savoir Adore, Drink Up Buttercup, The Art of Shooting, and Candles of Paradise. Savoir Adore, who I've plugged many times before here on this site, are a great live band and I really like their debut, In the Wooded Forrest which is out this week on CD and vinyl. (They're giving away three tracks from it at their website.) I've also written about Drink Up Buttercup more than once, and the band have just signed to Yep Roc who will release their debut album early next year. In the meantime, you can download the A-side of their new single "Even Think" from YepRoc's website after giving them your email address.

There's also The Horrors at Bowery Ballroom. They didn't win the Mercury Prize (no surprise) but as I've said before, their new album Primary Colours is pretty great. I'll quote myself: "Mind you, I'm prone to like things that owe to '80s post punk and goth, as well as '90s shoegaze, but they transcend the influences I think. Like My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, some of the sounds on the record make you wonder if your stereo is melting. In a good way." Opening are Crocodiles who do a good JAMC / Spacemen 3 impersonation that works, I think, because they've got the attitude and snarl to back it up. Or maybe it's the sunglasses. If you miss them, both bands will be back in October.

And at Union Hall tonight (9/17) are We Are Ivy League, Americans who do wispy Brit indiepop just about perfectly. They got most of their press from being part of another band who wrote the Snakes on a Plane theme song, but I think their album from last year stands on its own. They've been mostly quiet since releasing it. It might be worth going to the show just to find out what's going on with them these days.

That's it for this week (and a bit of next). Flyers, videos, and tour dates follow...

Continue reading "Fanfarlo, Jeremy Warmsley, Ty Segall, Dream Diary, Slaraffenland, Horrors & more in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Ramona Falls - Russia (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ramona Falls - Russia (Live on KEXP) (MP3)

Ramona Falls is the new band by Brent Knopf of Menomena. In August, he put out his debut, Intuit, on Barsuk. That record, as mentioned a while back, has guests that include Mirah and The Helio Sequence. A track from it is posted above, and the entire album is currently streaming at Barsuk.

Menomena is playing ATP NY on Sunday. Before and after that show, Ramona Falls is on tour. He'll play September 17th at Pianos, and then September 18th at Bruar Falls with Apocathary Hymns, Small Black, and Wildbirds and Peacedrums.

That Bruar Falls shows makes five upcoming NYC shows for Wildbirds, the first of which is opening for Deerhoof on September 15th at Le Poisson Rouge.

Two videos of Brent and all dates, below...

Continue reading "Ramona Falls (Menomena) on tour (dates) - 2 NYC shows including Brooklyn w/ Wildbirds & Peacedrums (their 5th)"

photos by Lori Baily, words by Andrew Frisicano

Zs clapping

On September 3rd, Glasslands hosted an eclectic lineup of Larkin Grimm, Extra Life, Zs and Liturgy. If you missed it, there are plenty of opportunities to see every band on the bill again. For instance, Liturgy is playing both The New Yorker Festival at The Bell House, and a Halloween show at Market Hotel.

Zs' Sam Hillmer is co-curating Death By Audio's The Maze, which takes place through October 2nd, with Zs performing that last night. The inaugural gig for the space will be a show on September 10th with Skeletons Big Band, who are currently doing 3 nights at Roulette. That group's expanded lineup shares some members with Sam Mickens' Ecstatic Showband & Revue. Mickens (of The Dead Science) & Co. are playing the Cake Shop on Wednesday, September 16th with Wildbirds & Peacedrums (who are playing NYC with Deerhoof and Fanfarlo that same week), Katie Eastburn, and Charlie Looker (of Extra Life who also plays in the Revue).

Extra Life has their own shows at both Death By Audio (on September 12th) and Cake Shop (on November 5th) as well as one at Alphabet City spot Drom on October 9th.

More pictures from Glasslands and dates below...

Continue reading "Extra Life & Zs played Glasslands (pics), Wildbirds & Peacedrums add NYC show w/ Sam Mickens & more (dates)"

Kevin with 7 Seconds @ Webtster Hall in August (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* Warp20 Films @ New Museum
* Counting Crows @ Central Park
* Black Anvil & guest @ Fontana's
* Darlings, The Whims, Rifle Recoil @ Cake Shop
* Liturgy, Zs, Extra Life, Larkin Grimm @ Glasslands
* Wolfmother, The Depreciation Guild @ The Bowery Electric
* The Octagon, Kleenex Girl Wonder, Au Large @ Bruar Falls
* Woman, K-Holes, Pop. 1280, Kid Congo Powers (DJ) @ Union Pool
* Kevin Seconds, Don Chambers & Goat, Ocha La Rocha @ Union Hall
* Petty Fest 2009 w/ Hymns, Little Joy, The Pierces, Nicole Atkins, Jesse Malin, more @ Bowery Ballroom
* Phil & The Osophers, Sleepies, Sally Head, Poingly, Prince & Pearl, Inoculist, Bellhammers @ Coco 66

Liturgy, whose new CD, Renihilation, just came out, play Glasslands tonight with Zs and Extra Life and folk singer Larkin Grimm (who's on the bill of the Musicka Mystica Maxima Fest at Santos later this month).

Warp20's film programming screens at the New Museum today (where its runs through Sunday). Friday is the !!!/Battles show at Terminal 5.

Kevin Seconds, who played with Joe Jack Talcum in Jersey last night, performs at Union Hall with Don Chambers & Goat and Ocha La Rocha.

Joe Jack Talcum plays Cake Shop tomorrow.

Wolfmother play a secret show between bigger gigs at the Bowery Electric tonight. The Depreciation Guild opens.

Petty Fest 2009 takes over Bowery Ballroom with a cast that includes "Hymns, The Pierces, Jody Porter of Fountains Of Wayne, Nicole Atkins, Morning Pages, Jesse Malin, Sammy James Jr of The Mooney Suzuki, Adam Green, Love As Laughter, Matt Romano & Rodrigo Amarante of Little Joy, Steve Schiltz of Longwave, Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes, Mikki James of Burke, Teenage Prayers and Antony Ellis of Five O'Clock Heroes". The London Souls open.

The new Wild Beasts video for "All the Kings Men" is below...

The teaser trailer for a documentary on UK's Killing Joke is posted below.

Czech journalist Jana Trzilova follows the trail of Killing Joke and charismatic frontman Jaz Coleman from Czechoslavakia to Iona and on to Glastonbury Tor, Egypt, Iceland, the Nazca Lines in Peru and New Zealand. Discovering a web of mysticism, numerology, white heat experiments, a recording session in the heart of the Great Pyramid, occult rituals and prophecy she discovers more than she ever imagined; coming soon.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums' new video for "My Heart" is posted below too....

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

DOWNLOAD: Wildbirds & Peacedrums - There is No Light (MP3)

Improbable recipients of the prestigious Jazz In Sweden 2008 prize, Mariam and Andreas [the two members of Wildbirds & Peacedrums] used their winnings to record at the Soundtrack Of Our Lives-owned Svenska Grammofonstudion in Gothenburg. Vocals and drums were brilliantly recorded live to tape, and the spontaneity of the resulting album captures the intense bond between the couple, while expanding their sonic palette to include steel drum, piano, xylophone, marimba, Rhodes and more. "We tried to deconstruct the roles we have as a drummer/singer, so Mariam plays the same number of instruments as me," Andreas explains.

The Swedish group's second album, The Snake, just came out August 25th on Leaf Label. MP3 above. Video below.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums will be playing a trio of NYC gigs this September. The first is a "Wordless Music" show with Deerhoof at LPR on September 15th. The other two are a pair of opening dates for Fanfarlo at the Bowery Ballroom and the Bell House on September 21st and 22nd, respectively.

Speaking of Wordless Music openers, No Age's October 14th show at LPR will be opened by Woods. Tickets are still on sale.

All tour dates with their Black Cab Session and other videos below...

Continue reading "Wildbirds & Peacedrums - new album, MP3, video & NYC shows w/ Deerhoof & Fanfarlo (dates)"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

LET'S get this lot out of the way right at the start: sex, saunas, suicide. And there will be no more mention of Ingmar Bergman, Greta Garbo, Ulrika Jonsson, the humble herring, and last and definitely least, Sven-Göran Eriksson. Lykke Li is Swedish but already in her short but promising pop life, she's fed up talking about her homeland.

"Why does everyone ask me about Sweden?" she says in the bar of a London hotel en route to her Scottish debut. What she probably means is: "Why does everyone resort to Swedish cliché and want to know if all my sisters are blonde, whether it's better to give than to receive regarding birch-twig beatings, and the name of my favourite Abba song?" Actually, I was interested in the Swedish characteristics she liked and disliked, but Lykke Li isn't playing. "Yes, we're obsessed with sex and death and, yes, all my girlfriends are slim and beautiful," she says with a chuckle, closely followed by a frown. "But I'm banned from saying anything negative about my country now." By the government? "No, by me. When I've said bad things I've been attacked and I didn't like that. So, as of today, no more Sweden." [Scotland on Sunday]

Wildbird and Peacedrums opened for, and later joined headliner Lykke Li for some songs at Webster Hall in NYC last night (2/2). Lykke put on a great show that included covers of Kings of Leon's "Knocked Up" (like she's done before) as well as "Can I Kick It" by A Tribe Called Quest (a song she once actually played WITH a member of ATCQ). Tonight (2/3) they do it again at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. More pictures and the full setlist from last night, below...

Continue reading "Lykke Li, Wildbirds & Peacedrums @ Webster Hall, NYC -pics"

photos by Chris La Putt

Lykke Li's February 2nd Webster Hall show is probably almost sold out because another NYC date just got added. Tickets go on sale Wednesday at noon for a February 3rd show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Last time Lykke played MHOW was the day before CMJ which was one day before she last played Bowery Ballroom which was the same night as the BV CMJ showcase at MHOW. In all the confusion, a set of pictures from that Lykke Bowery show never got posted. So here they are, along with all dates, below...

Continue reading "Lykke Li - a new Brooklyn show, old Bowery Ballroom pics "

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Wildbirds & Peacedrums are flying back to Sweden from New York a day early, cancelling their Williamsburg street shows on Saturday 21 June in the process. This will not affect the duo's final show at Coco 66, Brooklyn, on Friday 20 June. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

UPDATE: They are NOT PLAYING in Union Square at 6pm today either

This great sounding Swedish duo called Wildbirds & Peacedrums are paying us a visit this week, and while they're here they plan on performing at least eleven times in NYC alone! TONIGHT (June 10th) you can catch them opening for Adem at his only area show (was Domino having a convention or something?) at Union Hall in Brooklyn....

This is the only US show in which Adem will be showcasing songs from his 3rd solo lp 'Takes' which is out Stateside Tuesday on Domino.

Then W & P are going to DC to play The House of Sweden (because they're from Sweden), and then back to NY to not only play Joe's Pub, Union Hall again, and Coco66, but also to play shows in parks and on the subway and IN FRONT of Sound Fix and other places. Hey look, their new album "Heartcore" got an 8.0 (and four out of five stars).

An amalgam of clattering drums, exotic instrumentation and wild scat singing, they veer between the controlled cacophony of Tim Buckley, the playful kookiness of Mary Margaret O'Hara and Bjork at her most otherwordly. [Yorkshire Evening Post]

All tour dates and videos below......

Continue reading "Wildbirds & Peacedrums (Sweden) 11 NYC shows!, tour dates"