DOWNLOAD: First Aid Kit - Sailor Song (live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: First Aid Kit - Hard Believer (MP3)

Swedish female folk duo First Aid Kit never made it to CMJ 2009, MusicSnobbery CMJ show included. So they're going to try it again. MusicSnobbery presents First Aid Kit and The Loom at Joe's Pub on Saturday, October 23rd. It's a late show (11:30pm), and tickets are on sale.

Whether that show is actually part of CMJ or not is unclear (I don't think it is), but the other two shows the band plays in NYC that week definitely are. You can also catch First Aid Kit as part of the Saddle Creek/Wichita CMJ showcase at the Delancey on October 21, and as part of the Windish Agency showcase at Rockwood Music Hall one day later:

10.22 | FRIDAY @ ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL
CMJ Music Marathon
8-12am The Windish Agency Presents:
8:00pm Apache Beat
9:00pm Sun Airway
10:00pm Crayon Fields
11:00pm First Aid Kit
12:00am Lower Dens
1:00am The Prigs

And speaking of Windish showcases, the announced lineup of the one they're throwing at Santos Party House on the 23rd recently got much bigger. In addition to School of Seven Bells, there will also be sets by Asobi Seksu, Cults, Big Freedia, French Horn Rebellion, Bikini, Royal Bangs, Superhumanoids, Dominique Young Unique, Chain Gang of 1974, The Good Natured and Delicate Steve. Tickets are on sale.

Those NYC dates come at the end of a North American tour for the duo. That tour kicks off on September 30th in Seattle, includes Austin City Limits, and a bunch of shows with Ferraby Lionheart opening. All dates are listed below.

If you're familiar with First Aid Kit's music, you probably know that the girls stuck gold with their cover of Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" (video below). It was so good they even included the track on their 2008/2009 release, "Druken Trees" which was released on Karin Dreijer Andersson of Fever Ray/The Knife's Rabid label in 2008, and then re-released by Wichita in 2009.

That 2009 release, though 8 tracks long, fell into the EP or mini-LP category. The girls' debut LP, The Big Black & Blue, was released earlier this year on Wichita. The third single from that album is "Ghost Town" and is being released this Tuesday by Wichita as a 7" with a new great cover as the b-side. That cover is "When I Grow Up" by Fever Ray.

Listen to that cover, the Fleet Foxes cover, the official video for the single, and all dates, below....

Continue reading "First Aid Kit covered Fever Ray (listen!), touring, playing CMJ (MP3, stream, video & dates) "

haircuts @ the 2008 Pitchfork Festival (more by Elizabeth Weinberg)

The 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival will be held in Chicago's Union Park Friday, July 17-Sunday, July 19. This year marks the fourth anniversary of the festival - and the fifth time Pitchfork has presented a music festival in Union Park. The three-day event will once again showcase a wide range of global artists on three stages, with a focus on forward thinking programming at a reasonable price. Beginning with the music and continuing through all facets of its production, the Pitchfork Music Festival is dedicated to providing both attendees and musicians an overwhelmingly positive, comfortable, and fun experience.

Pitchfork also announced their SXSW party. Lineup below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork Music Festival dates & Windish SXSW party lineup "

Phosphorescent @ EMo's Annex - SXSW 2006 (MORE)

4 stages @ Emo's:

1. Emo's Outside (also known as Emo's main room) - 1000 capacity, covered outdoor stage
2. Emo's Inside (also known as Emo's Jr.) - 300 capacity, indoor stage (Emo's outside and inside are connected by a courtyard.)
3. Emo's Annex - 600 capacity, covered outdoor stage
4. Emo's Lounge - 250 capacity, indoor stage

Multiple people have asked me how the BrooklynVegan party could be at Emo's this Thursday if The Onion/Saddle Creek/Arts & Crafts party is at Emo's on Thursday. The answer is: BV = lounge & Annex. Onion = main & jr.

Pitchfork's day party is Friday at Emo's - main & jr. Flyer for that below.....

Continue reading "Emo's in Austin has 4 stages (during SXSW), Pitchfork party"

No Age played a show with Deerhunter @ Shangri La in Brooklyn last night (Oct 22, 2007). No Age also played a show with Deerhunter @ Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday night - that one was the Windish CMJ showcase, and that's the one I was at, and that's where Jefferson took the pictures you see in this post....

Continue reading "No Age @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC (CMJ) - pics"

Like I said, I should have been asleep. I haven't been getting much, had just been at Pianos all day, AND was at Bowery all night the night before. Nonetheless, I not only watched all of No Age, White Williams, and Dan Deacon, I stuck it out 'till the end to watch every last second of Deerhunter's set - Bradford's rants included. So, here's my question: is frontman Bradford's schtick an act, is he just weird, or is it just the drugs kicking in? The last choice was kind of consistent with the show getting better and better as it went along which went right along with Bradford getting crazier and crazier (disclaimer: don't do drugs, even if it is them that makes Bradford a more interesting entertainer. Bradford, don't do them either - it's not worth it.). I thought the show started off pretty boring, and Bradford was being extremely tame. That mixed with my tiredness, had me almost leaving after a few songs.

Next thing you know, the band picked up immensely, the songs were getting better, and Bradford was jumping off drumkits, falling on the floor, saying all kinds of stuff like, (fabricated or not) "I miss my family", and going on and on about how much NY sucks for not allowing him to smoke on stage. Actually, the smoking stuff came off a bit whiney which went hand in hand with the fact that when he finally did light up, he didn't really seem like as much of a rebel as he thought he was being. I haven't seen an artist kicked off the stage for smoking yet, and usually they just do it without saying anything about it. That (and the slow beginning) aside, great show (for me).

Photos of Dan Deacon (who played right before him to a slightly fuller room, and a much better aka earlier set time for a Wednesday night) here. More photos of Deerhunter, below....

Continue reading "Deerhunter @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC (CMJ) - pics"

Dan Deacon does not care about you, and by "you" I mean the person who came to check out what this Dan Deacon guy is all about, and the guy who was tired and leaning against the wall, or the girl who was hoping to have something to look at for $16 (or whatever the ticket price was). Dan Deacon only cares about making sure that those who want to dance with him are having a good time. To prove it once again, he played his sold-out Windish CMJ showcase at the overflowing Bowery Ballroom last night (Oct 17) - on the floor (of course), and completely in the dark. The only light was eminating from his glowing green skull, and coming from the many camera flashes that were surrounding him. It didn't matter where you were in the venue, even those of us who should have been home sleeping, but instead took it all in from the balcony above, basically had nothing to look at. That didn't stop me from having a good time, but there's no way I was enjoying it as much as the hundreds who Dan was really playing for - those who were going crazy and dancing out of their minds on the crowded floor around him.

OK, I lied. As you can see from the pictures, the lights were on - for one song. During that time Dan orchestrated the 'dance party' portion of the show, and he had some lucky crowd members (or his puppets - depending on how you look at the whole thing....the cult-like nature of it all...nevermind...) running around and high-fiving people, running up the stairs to the balcony, and back down, etc...

Jefferson took the pictures you see here from the balcony. Bao was on the floor. More photos below.....

Continue reading "Dan Deacon @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC (CMJ) - pics"