photos by Phil Maier

Xeno & Oaklander @ final WIERD, 2/27/2013

As discussed, WIERD has become Very Rare after the final night last Wednesday (2/28) featuring Xeno & Oaklander (read Josh Strawn's thoughts). We've now got a set of pictures from the WIERD's goodbye in this post.

Thankfully, the dark vibes will continue on Wednesdays at Home Sweet Home with the announcement of the appropriately named "Nothing Changes", a new party that will feature much of the same focus, musically. "Nothing Changes" kicks off with this week's FREE party (3/6) featuring Avana and Hi-Fi Hillary, with the rest of the month scheduled to feature Syb Vicious/Hi-Fi Hillary (3/13, FREE), Delphic Oracle + DJs (3/20, $5) and Azar Swan + DJs ($5, 3/27). Check out the flyer below alongside more pictures from the final WIERD (2/27).

Continue reading "'Nothing Changes' takes over WIERD weekly slot (March lineup); pics from final WIERD party w/ Xeno & Oaklander"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Xeno & Oaklander @ BVCMJ 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

I dont know whether to be bummed or happy that WIERD is coming to an end tonight at Home Sweet Home (2/28). On the one hand, I have seen some incredible shows at the space over the years. But on the other hand, I have spent many a rough Thursday morning swearing off alcohol and cursing myself for having too much fun late, late, late into the evening. I'm gonna go with bummed.

Tonight is the FINAL WIERD night at Home Sweet Home, featuring the great Xeno & Oaklander along with DJ sets from Jeralyn, Glenn and Frankie Teardrop. Expect good tunes, great dance songs and beaucoup fog and for future WIERD parties to become "Very Rare." Be there or... be bummed.

Flyer for the final WIERD is below...

Continue reading "The final WIERD weekly party is tonight with Xeno & Oaklander"

On behalf of the Wierd World I wanted to let you all know that the last Wierd Party at Home Sweet Home will be on Wednesday, February 27th. We have staged 500+ events over the course of the last decade, and I feel we have achieved what we all set out to do together when the party began.

Needless to say, the idea of ending IT is a very complex proposition. For above all the one thing I have learned from the Wierd is that because 'IT' is Very Rare - IT does not exist, and as a result ending IT is impossible. VR.

We have built a thorough archive of the party's history with all the fliers and weekly Wierd emails which is now live and up to date, check it out here:

Thank you for your devoted, undying interest and support all these years. I hope you enjoy the last month in the Wierd, we have an incredible set of shows lined up for February. See you all soon once again in our wild latenight world of the fog and the lights.

VRp

Don't get too sad, though. WIERD may well host events in the future, and the record label will continue. Still, it's an end of an era (troll the archives here), so do try to make it out to one of these last Home Sweet Home nights, say goodbye and dance amid the fog and cracked glitterball one last time. Flyer for the final shows is below.

Continue reading "NYC party WIERD coming to an end this month; Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Xeno & Oaklander and more playing final nights"

by Bill Pearis

Featureless Ghost

Tonight's edition of WIERD at Home Sweet Home (11/7) features two live performances. Headlining the night is former Brooklyn duo Featureless Ghost who now call Atlanta their home. They just released their debut album, Personality Matrix, which mixes a lot of '80s synth genres (industrial, New Beat, synthpop, etc) and you can stream the whole thing below. The band are on tour and all dates are listed at the bottom of this post.

Also playing WIERD tonight is Nao Katafuchi who makes his music right here in NYC and whose new EP, Yumegoto, can also be streamed below. The retro-future pop sounds contained within could've been the soundtrack to some William Gibson movie never made. You can stream the EP (cover art by Xeno & Oaklander's Liz Wendelbo) below as well.

Nao is also playing a WT Records party at the Body Actualized Center (143 Troutman St, Brooklyn) on November 16 with labelmates Woz and Seabats playing. More info on that show is here.

Streams and Featureless Ghost tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Featureless Ghost on tour, playing NYC tonight at WIERD with Nao Katafuchi who has other upcoming shows (dates, streams)"

Inspired by k3wl orgs like Public School, Cabinet, Brooklyn Brainery, & with a general commitment to diversity, Public Assembly's putting on the Ritz: gallery shows, panel discussions & radical arts get intermixed with our normal jams: cool bands, killer late night parties, and drank. Pro-women, pro-queer, pro-art, pro-imagination, proproblem solving, fans of the radical, and understanding of your budget - we're here to provide the best week-long version of a state-funded liberal arts college we can. Live
the dream.

Other events include a brewing discussion titled "How Beer Changed Everything" on 9/20, and "The Moon Presents ... A Tribute to Books" with comedian Chris Gethard and The Onion's Todd Hanson. All Et cetera events are listed below and there's more information at their website.

Continue reading "Stephin Meritt, Andrew McCarthy, Chris Gethard, Gang Gang Dance, Xeno & Oaklander, lectures, movies and more part of 'Et cetera' happening at Public Assembly next week"

Xeno & Oaklander at BV-CMJ 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

NYC synth goth vets Ike Yard played a NYC show earlier this year with contempory NYC synth goths Xeno & Oaklander, and now the two will team up again, this time bringing along another group of goth newcomers, Led Er Est. The three groups will play a late show at 285 Kent on September 7, which starts at midnight (so technically Saturday, September 8). No advance tickets for this one at the moment ($9 at the door), and more details on the show are below.

Xeno & Oaklander have a few other upcoming NYC appearances as well. They'll give a lecture at Public Assembly on September 16 called 'Analog as the New Folk,' where they'll discuss the analog synthesizer as the new folk instrument. The lecture is free and all ages. As mentioned, Xeno & Oaklander will also open the first of two Silver Apples shows in NYC. They support the band at their Public Assembly show (10/4) with Man Forever and La Big Vic (tickets), which happens one day before Silver Apples plays 92YTribeca (10/5) with CFCF and Win Win (tickets).

Meanwhile, Led Er Est member Shawn Devin O'Sullivan will play Death by Audio's Modular Synth Winter Solstice on September 22 (though we're pretty sure that's actually the fall solstice). This event follow's DbA's Modular Synth Summer Solstice, which went down this past June. Joining Shawn Devin O'Sullivan on the lineup will be DeTrop (Ryan Martin of Dais Records), Retribution Body, Matthew Regula (of Telecult Powers), and Nathan Cearley (of Long Distance Poison).

In related news, Led Er Est's Sacred Bones labelmates Pop. 1280 will be going on a short tour this September. The tour kicks off on September 1 at Death by Audio with METZ and Herzog Rising, and culminates in their appearance at Hopscotch Music Fest. After that tour, Pop. 1280 will support The Soft Moon at their previously discussed Bowery Ballroom show (10/30). That show is also with Group Rhoda and tickets are still available. The Soft Moon also play Glasslands on September 20 with Cold Showers and ERAAS (tickets).

A list of all dates, plus videos, are below.

Continue reading "Ike Yard, Xeno & Oaklander and Led Er Est playing shows & stuff (some together, some separate); Pop. 1280 touring (dates)"

Simeon of Silver Apples

Psychedelic electronic music pioneers Silver Apples (aka Simeon, who has performed under the name solo since the death of bandmate Danny Taylor) has a number of European dates coming up and after that he'll head over to the US where he'll play a NYC show on October 4 at Public Assembly with a pretty solid lineup of local (and much younger) openers, Xeno & Oaklander, Man Forever, and La Big Vic. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (8/17) at noon. It's his only announced US show at the moment.

UPDATE: Silver Apples also play 92YTribeca on October 5 with CFCF and Win Win.

Speaking of Xeno and Oaklander, they've been revealed as one of the artists to be featured on the new John Foxx & The Maths album, Evidence, which is due out on September 10 via his own Metamatic Records. John sang on the first three Ultravox albums, after which he had a lengthy solo career, including early minimal synth classic "Underpass." Evidence will be his third album with The Maths, a project he started in 2009. [Seek out 2011's 'Interplay,' it's great. - Bill] The other artists appearing on the new album, like Xeno & Oaklander, are indebted to John Foxx's music in one way or another. Those artists include The Soft Moon, whose contribution you can listen to HERE, Matthew Dear, and Gazelle Twin. The album also features a cover of Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar" and a remix of the track with Matthew Dear by Tara Busch. The cover art and tracklist is below.

The Soft Moon will also be touring soon and hitting NYC on September 20 at Glasslands (tickets) and October 30 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets on sale 8/17 at noon).

Matthew Dear will be touring soon too. That tour includes the previously discussed Webster Hall show (11/17) (tickets), and since we last spoke more dates have been announced, most of which (including Webster Hall) will be opened by Light Asylum. The updated list of dates is below.

All lists of dates and the John Foxx album info are below.

Continue reading "Silver Apples touring; John Foxx releasing a guest-filled LP; Light Asylum opening Matthew Dear tour (dates)"

Laurel Halo at MoMA PS1 in 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Producer turned art pop wizard Laurel Halo and post-hardcore noisemaker turned producer Ital are teaming up for a tour together later this year. That tour hasn't been announced in full yet but a few dates have been revealed, including a NYC show at 285 Kent on September 21. That show, the DC date, and possibly others are also with M. Geddes Gengras and Magic Touch.

For Laurel Halo, the 285 Kent date is one of many upcoming shows in her hometown of Brooklyn, where she continues to play constantly. Laurel just played a show as part of The Maze last Friday (7/13), and she'll play the previously discussed show at Public Assembly on Saturday (7/21) with Pete Swanson, Noveller and Burning Star Core. Tickets for that show are still available. She's also got upcoming local shows in August, including one at Cameo Gallery on August 2 with Xeno and Oaklander and Telepathe. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Still more: she'll play the Diamond Terrifier (aka Sam Hillmer of Zs) record release show for Kill the Self That Wants To Kill Yourself (due out 8/14 via Northern Spy and produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear) at Littlefield on August 8 with Slava (who also plays countless local shows) and Bubbles. Tickets for that show are available. That show happens after Diamond Terrifier wraps up his monthly residency at Zebulon which happens every Tuesday (like tonight [7/17]). Like Laurel did, Diamond Terrifier also plays a Maze show. His is on July 28 with Amen Dunes, Kel Valhaal: Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, Psychic Reality, Dome Theater, and Das Racist DJs.

Speaking of Telepathe, they play Glasslands on Wednesday (7/18) with Feathers, ERAAS, and Faith. Tickets for that show are available. Faith recently remixed a Feathers song, which you can listen to below. Telepathe also DJ Santos on Friday (7/20 for a Last.fm event with Blondes, TEZEO and Andy Petr. Tickets for that show are available.

A list of all dates, a Pitchfork.tv video of Laurel Halo, and an Ital music video are below.

Continue reading "Laurel Halo touring w/ Ital, playing other NYC shows as usual; Telepathe have upcoming NYC shows too (dates)"

Some of you may remember art installation The Maze which took over Death by Audio back in Fall 2009 and at at Chashama's Visual Arts Space in 2009. Well it's back, as the You Are Here Festival has returned for a month-long residency at Secret Project Robot Gallery in Bushwick (389 Melrose St) from July 12 - Aug 4.

Just like in previous years, the festival will include a "gigantic life size maze", and will host a grip of performers on Thursday - Saturday during their stay at the space. Thursday's kickoff event (7/12) features Miho Hatori's New Optimism, ZS, Bachanalia, Ann Liv Young and DJ JG Thirlwell of various Foetus incarnations. Other performers throughout the month include Xeno and Oaklander, Hubble, Mick Barr, Dan Friel, Zs, VAZ, Amen Dunes, Extra Life, Diamond Terrifier and many many more. Full schedule for "You are Here" is below including details on the art exhibitions at the space.

The festival is also readying a limited mixtape, featuring unheard/rare tracks from many of the performers scheduled for the event. Get a copy at the shows and at the You Are Here site, and check out "Hubble Potatoes" by Hubble which appears on said comp below.

In related news, both Diamond Terrifier and Hubble will perform at Zebulon tonight (7/10), joining Excepter and Hagfish & Poet Lounge. The show is part of a month-long residency durated by Diamond Terrifier (Sam Hillmer of Zs) on Tuesdays at the venue. The remainder of shows will feature a Patrick Higgins electro-acoustic set with Sleng Teng, and Tetryl Red on 7/17, ATM, with Psychic Reality, and Chuck Bettis on 7/24, and the final show on 7/31 with Talibam!, Violet Raid, Sun Watchers, and GADDFJXR.

Full details on the fest are below. The group is currently seeking funding for a Berlin edition in September 2012, contribute if you can.

Continue reading "The You Are Here Festival (aka The Maze) is coming to Secret Project Robot"

DOWNLOAD: Heavenly Beat - "Messiah" (MP3)

Xeno and Oaklander at BV-CMJ 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn synth goths Xeno and Oaklander have an upcoming local show this week at Public Assembly on Friday (5/11) with Frank (Just Frank), and DJ sets by Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J, CREEP and Todd Pendu. (There's also an open Asahi beer bar at 9:30.) Tickets are still available.

Next month, the band will head to Austin for Chaos in Tejas, and upon returning home, they'll play another NYC show at The Studio at Webster Hall on June 11 with fellow goths Plastic Flowers and Religious to Damn and fellow electronic artist Autre Ne Veut. Tickets are on sale now. The flier for this show is below.

In related news, Martial Canterel (aka Sean McBride aka 1/2 of Xeno and Oaklander) is opening for Iceage at LPR on 7/22 with Dirty Beaches and RØSENKØPF. Tickets are still available

RØSENKØPF also plays Glasslands with King Dude soon, in celebration of a new record. That record has a song called "Light The Way" which has a video which you can watch below.

In addition to DJing the Friday Public Assembly show, David J is also DJing tonight (5/10) at Elmurst club Arena Queens. Besides his gigs in Bauhaus and Love & Rockets (and Porno for Pyros and The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy), David J has a long solo career as well, having released his eighth album, Not Long for This World, last year on Starry Records. You can stream some of it here.

In more related news, Plastic Flowers have a NYC show coming up at Glasslands on July 10 with Captured Tracks bands Cosmetics and Beach Fossils side project Heavenly Beat (who has a new song out, download above), and Psychobuildings. Tickets are on sale now.

Speaking of both Cosmetics and Dirty Beaches, Exclaim points out that Montreal's Grand Trine have broken up and member Shubhayan Roy has joined Dirty Beaches while Tobias Rochman has joined Cosmetics.

All dates, stream, and flier below...

Continue reading "more Xeno & Oaklander dates; Autre Ne Veut; David J the DJ; new Heavenly Beat MP3 & a RØSENKØPF video too"

HR with Bad Brains at Music Hall of Williamsburg (more by Erik Erikson)

The two-day benefit for Lucinda's Kids at Bowery Electric begins today (4/29) with Marah, Jesse Malin, Willie Nile, Jimmy Gnecco, Dave Milone, Jim Boggie, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Ptter Ericson Stakee.

H.R. of Bad Brains plays night two, Monday, of that Manhattan benefit, but first he'll headline a Brooklyn show of his own at Public Assembly tonight (4/29) with support from Paranoid Social Club, The WonderMics, Groundswell, Matt Pless, and Jay Samel. Tickets are on sale.

The show is one of a few notable events at Public Assembly in the coming months. Xeno & Oaklander will headline Public Assembly on May 11th with David J (Bauhaus), Frank (Just Frank), and DJ sets by CREEP and Todd Pendu. Tickets are still available. Xeno & Oaklander are currently touring in the Midwest.

Also going down in the near future at Public Assembly, Idiot Glee (who we profiled last year) will play with Nick Diamonds (of islands), Celestial Shore, and DJ Udbhav on May 11th. $8 gets you in. Idiot Glee recently posted a new video for "That's All For Everyone" which is viewable below. The track comes from the band's Don't Go Out Tonight 7" and is a cover of Fleetwood Mac. Pick up a copy.

Public Assembly will host The X-Ecutioners, Da Beatminerz and "special guests TBA" alongside resident DJs Total Eclipse and Gen.Erik on May 3rd. Details, including cost, are forthcoming but prepare for a night of jaw-dropping turntablism.

NYC PopFest is coming to Public Assembly, as is Tombs/Ulcerate in May and Martyrdoom in June!

Check out that Idiot Glee video and more videos below.

Continue reading "HR playing Public Assembly, as are Xeno & Oaklander, The X-Ecutioners and Idiot Glee (but not together)"

photos by Phil Maier, words by BBG

King Dude @ Home Sweet Home

King Dude played his first NYC show with a full band in tow at Home Sweet Home on April 11th as part of "Wierd Wednesdays" at Home Sweet Home. The show was a rare one-off on the East Coast for the Seattle-based goth artist, and one of a very small number of shows for TJ Cowgill (also Book of Black Earth) overall, though you can catch him in Austin at Chaos in Tejas this year as part of a bill that includes Iceage (who play NYC twice in the coming months), Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Kindest Lines, Dangerous Boys Club, Anasazi (who play Acheron next week), RØSENKØPF (them too), and YOU.

Pop 1280, who will embark on a US tour in May, play a NYC show at Death By Audio on Saturday (4/14) as part of a record release celebration for White Suns's new LP Sinews. Stream that release in its entirety at Spin now. Pop 1280 also play a Brooklyn show with O'Death in May.

King Dude pictures from Home Sweet Home are below.

Continue reading "King Dude played Home Sweet Home (pics); White Suns celebrate new LP in Brooklyn Saturday"

King Dude

King Dude "will be playing his first show with an accompanied band" TONIGHT at Home Sweet Home (4/11) as part of the ongoing Wierd Wednesday at the venue. The show is a one-off for the gothic crooner, who is also scheduled to play Chaos in Tejas in Austin with Iceage Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Kindest Lines, Dangerous Boys Club, Anasazi, RØSENKØPF, and YOU.

King Dude released the Love LP last year and is prepping the new "You Can Break My Heart" b/w "Devil's Tail" 7", a new LP due this summer, and a split with the mighty Urfaust soon. Stream all of Love below.

In other news, RØSENKØPF have released a new song from their self-titled debut for Wierd Records. Stream "Burning Spirits" from that record below. Look for RØSENKØPF to play NYC next on 4/20 at Acheron with Puerto Rico Flowers (ex-Clockcleaner, their final show), Anasazi and York Factory Complaint.Catch RØSENKØPF in July when they open for Iceage at one of their two just-announced NYC dates.

All streams are below.

Continue reading "King Dude plays Home Sweet Home tonight; RØSENKØPF releases new track from WIERD debut"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Xeno & Oaklander @ Public Assembly for BV-CMJ, October 2011

As previously mentioned, a month-long tribute to Fad Gadget is underway in NYC this month, and tonight (3/3) is the night Xeno & Oaklander perform with Ike Yard...

Founded in 1979, the downtown art band Ike Yard created a new sound by tapping into the UK post-punk dub of PiL and Joy Division, the Neue Deutsche Welle of DAF, and the krautrock experimentation of Can. Their 1982 album 'A Fact A Second' (released on Factory Records) has stood the test of time and is considered a classic in the minimalist genre. -John Allen/WFMU

Ike Yard disbanded in 1983, but reunited a few years back in conjunction with their 1980-82 retrospective CD on Acute Records. The lineup features three of the four original members -- Stuart Argabright, Kenny Compton, & Michael Diekmann. [FreeMusicArchive]

Continue reading "Xeno & Oaklander play with Ike Yard tonight, played BV-CMJ (belated pics)"

photos by Erez Avissar

Since the late-'70s, WILLIAM BENNETT has released and performed extreme noise and industrial music. He played guitar for sax-driven post-punkers ESSENTIAL LOGIC in their early days and formed an industrial group named Come, who are now remembered for their alumni (including J. G. Thirwell a.k.a. Foetus and Mute label head Daniel Miller) rather than their output. In 1980, Bennett's project WHITEHOUSE released their first two, Birthdeath Experience and Total Sex, LPs that marked the end of industrial's first wave and heralded a new genre -- extreme noise -- built with shuddering, arrhythmic bass-rumbles and probing feedback assaults. [The Phoenix]

In related news, Liz Wendlebo of Xeno & Oaklander serves as half of Liz & Laszlo, a band also comprised of Automelodi's Xavier Paradis. L&L are preparing to release the Rien ˆ Paris single via Wierd Records and you can stream it at Pitchfork.

Catch Xenu & Oaklander again this weekend when they help pay tribute to Fad Gadget.

Catch Pop. 1280 at Saint Vitus on March 3rd and with Vaz, Metz, and Teenanger at Death By Audio on March 9th.

More Public Assembly pictures below..

Continue reading "Cut Hands played Public Assembly w/ Xeno & Oaklander & Pop 1280 (pics)"

As Fad Gadget, [Franklin Tovey's] music was characterized by a use of synthesizers in conjunction with sounds of found objects, including drills and electric razors. His bleak, sarcastic, and darkly humorous lyrics, often layered in meaning and discussing subjects such as machinery, building construction, human sexuality, and physical violence, were sung in a droning, often expressionless voice... He continued to perform live, and was working on a new album at the time of his death. Tovey suffered from heart problems since his childhood, and died of a heart attack on 3 April 2002 at the age of 45.

Continue reading "Fad Gadget tribute in NY this month (exhibition opens tonight)"

by BBG

Cut Hands, who you may know as William Bennett of power electronics juggernaut Whitehouse, will play a select set of shows in the US in February. The tour, which mostly focus on the East Coast/Midwest, will kick off in Los Angeles on 2/14 (how romantic!) and eventually make its way to Brooklyn's Public Assembly on February 24th. The show will also feature appearances from Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Veiled, & David E. Williams as well as DJs Pieter Schoolwerth, Caleb Braaten & ning nong; tickets are on sale.

Pop. 1280 recently celebrated the release of their new LP, and will play Saint Vitus on March 3rd (tickets).

Meanwhile, power electronics, noise and the avant garde are the focus of the ongoing Hospital Productions curation at The Stone. Tonight (2/3) the space will welcome Hell Hoarse and Luke Moldof + Reuben Son.

Check out a version of Xeno & Oaklander's "Sets & Lights" recorded in London last July , alongside all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Cut Hands going on tour, playing Public Assembly with Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280 & more (dates)"

by BBG

Saint Vitus @ Irving Plaza in 2011 (more by BBG)

Chaos in Tejas (May 31-June 3 in Austin) have announced ANOTHER batch of bands to add to their ridiculous lineup including Saint Vitus, Church of Misery, No Statik, Toys That Kill, Pegasus, Martial Canterel, Anasazi, Bloodwing (mems of The Spits, who are on tour soon), Harm's Way, Hatred Surge, the Hex Dispensers, John Wesley Coleman, Joyce Manor, and many many others. The current full lineup and flyer is below and tickets are FINALLY going on sale TODAY (1/31).

Doom legends Saint Vitus are currently preparing their new LP Lillie: F-65 for Season of Mist. The record, their eighth and first in seventeen years (!), is tentatively set for release at the end of March. More details are forthcoming.

In related news, members of Mind Eraser also serve as personnel in Magic Circle, another Chaos in Tejas band. Look for Magic Circle to team with Pilgrim (who we recently interviewed), Windhand, and Natur at Public Assembly on March 1st.

The updated Chaos in Tejas lineup is below along with the flyer.

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas 2012 expands again; tickets on sale today"

by BBG

Dropdead at Europa (more by Keith Marlowe)

Chaos in Tejas have announced another round of bands for their 2012 shindig (first round here), including rare appearances from legendary post-hardcore band Moss Icon (a one-time only reunion), as well as Japan's Reality Crisis and Skizophrenia (their only US dates), and repeat offenders/favorites like Dropdead, Municipal Waste, Midnight, Ares Kingdom, Puerto Rico Flowers, Xeno & Oaklander, Thou, the Rival Mob, Boston Strangler, Crazy Spirit, Brain Killer, Power Trip, Wiccans (who just played one of the final shows at Emo's), and many many others. A full list of additions and the new flyer is below.

Since the original announcement, two previously announced bands have dropped off the original lineup: Mexican black metal band Nyogthaeblisz disappeared from the lineup after their anti-Islamic/Semitic/Abrahamic stance and involvement in known NSBM (National Socialist) label Satanic Skinhead was pointed out by a few blogs. That led to Antisect and The Mob even threatening to not play. Word then spread that Disma's Craig Pillard released nazi-glorifying records under the name Sturmfuhrer. Disma then dropped out as well due to "the drama" that ensued. Craig would not comment on the matter, but other members of Disma say he has changed.

In related news, Thou will hit the road for a string of dates with The Body this week on the West Coast. Both bands will also be at the inaugural Gilead Media festival (chaired by the Gilead Media label) in Oshkosh, Wi on 4/28 and 4/29 which will feature appearances from (in alphabetical order) Arms Aloft, Aseethe, Ash Borer, Baby Boy, Darger + Plague Mother, False, Fell Voices, Get Rad, Hell, Loss, Mutilation Rites, Northless, Protestant, A Scanner Darkly, and Sleepwalker. More details are available at the site.

All tour dates, new additions to Chaos in Tejas, and the show flyer is all below.

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas adds bands & loses some due to controversy; Gilead Media launches festival"

STAGE 1 (front room)
12:00 Races (new Frenchkiss signing)
12:45 Bleached (ex Mika Miko)
01:30 Widowspeak
02:15 Young Magic
03:15 A Place To Bury Strangers
04:15 Chelsea Wolfe
05:00 J Mascis (solo)

STAGE 2 (back room)
12:30 Cold Specks (1st-ever US show)
01:15 Lord Huron
02:00 Emmy the Great
02:45 Silver Swans
03:30 Xeno & Oaklander
04:15 Hospitality
05:15 Gauntlet Hair

In addition to free music, here are some more reason to stop by Friday. We will have FREE SNACKS courtesy of popchips and Raw Revolution and FREE DRINKS courtesy of Sailor Jerry and our official CMJ wine partner HobNob Wines. Check out HobNob's Facebook page for free music downloads and go to Sailor Jerry's website to read more about all of their CMJ events.

We'll also have FREE BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 25 people in the door (not many of these exist - we sold them for charity at CMJ last year).

As mentioned in our Thursday Day Party announcement, we've also partnered with Spotify who are offering 48 hour free Premium trials (playlist for this party coming soon) and Sony Bloggie (stay tuned for our post-CMJ video series) for all BV CMJ/not-CMJ events including this one.

Thanks to Zach Jaeger (Tonally Dude) for the flyer you see above.

See you Friday! And meanwhile to see A Place to Bury Strangers at Union Pool tonight, and see you Thursday afternoon at Knitting Factory too.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Xeno & Oaklander - Autumn's Edge (MP3)

Xeno & Oaklander are New York's premier minimal wave, and have been doing it 1981 style -- using patch bays and vintage equipment exclusively, no laptops -- for over five years. Despite the duo's neo-luddite approach to making electronic music, Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo have certainly gotten better at what they're doing, both mastery of their gear and in songwriting.

Sets & Lights, which was released this week on Wierd Records, is the band's third album and easily their best. Arpeggiated synths and sequencers bubble along and Wendelbo and McBride trade vocals... it's like the soundtrack to some gleaming baroque futureworld. You can download "Autumn's Edge" at the top of this post, and be sure to check out the genuinely spooky video to single "The Staircase" further down.

Xeno & Oaklander have a few shows coming up. Tonight (10.12), they celebrate the release of Sets & Lights tonight (10.12) at the weekly Wierd Party at Home Sweet Home. Friday night (10.14) they'll play the afterparty of the first night of the Neon Marshmallow Festival which is happening all weekend at Public Assembly.

Then next Saturday (10/22), Xeno & Oaklander play Altered Zones at the New Museum, which seems to be this year's attempt by Pitchfork at CMJ counterprograming. (Remember #Offline?) In addition to X&O, performers include AraabMuzik, Grimes, Teengirl Fantasy, Trash Talk, Eric Copeland, Prince Rama, Light Asylum, FORMA, and Dive. The show is 21+ and $25 for non-museum members and a portion of the proceeds goes to benefit the 2012 New Museum Triennial, an international exhibition of emerging artists. This actually sounds potentially cool. Flyer for the event is below.

Continue reading "Xeno & Oaklander released Sets & Lights, playing shows, Pitchfork Altered Zones not-CMJ party @ New Museum"

Grouper at Terminal 5 in 2009 (more by Natasha Ryan)

Mini festival Neon Marshmallow is making its way to NYC, after two successful outings in Chicago. The festival will call Public Assembly home over three days (10/14 - 10/16), featuring live performances, DJ sets, and visuals from many artists who embrace experimentalism. Among the bands performing at the fest are names like Tim Hecker, Rhys Chatham (who celebrates 40 years of The Kitchen in September), Grouper, Phill Niblock, and many others that range in genre from Alan Licht to The Men (who are currently touring and will play Saint Vitus on 9/17) to Xeno & Oaklander to La Big Vic. The festival is currently selling weekend passes, though no word on individual days or who will perform on each day. Full lineup is below.

In other news, Grouper, who recently played LPR and Glasslands, has a new digital 7" available. Stream the title track from Grouper's latest Water People 7" below alongside the full Neon Marshmallow lineup.

Continue reading "Neon Marshmallow fest coming to Brooklyn (3 days @ Public Assembly w/ Tim Hecker, Grouper, many more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Seapony - Dreaming (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Seapony - Blue Star (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eternal Summers - Prisoner (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kindest Lines - Destructive Paths to Live Happily (MP3)

Seapony

It's year three of the Northside Festival, which for one weekend a year makes Williamsburg's music scene just a little crazier than it already is. This first night (tonight) is maybe the strongest overall, in that there are a lot of great showcases set up where -- if you don't have a badge -- you can stay put and get a quality night of music. Or if you do have a badge ($70 bucks, a good deal if you plan on going all four nights) -- some tough decisions. These are my personal picks, and not a comprehensive guide. Clearly lots more is going on (and even more shows that aren't part of Northside).

Radical Dads

NYC Popfest has put together a really good show at Bruar Falls tonight featuring Eternal Summers, Reading Rainbow, The Secret History and Seapony. I highly recommend all four bands, but do consider going early (8:30) for Seapony who are here from Seattle and should appeal to those who covet 7"s from Sarah and Creation Records. MP3s from Seapony and Eternal Summers are at the top of this post.

Over at Union Pool,  Tiger Mountain booking (aka Skippy who books the Rock Shop) has a quality line-up of locals for ya. If you're looking for a great way to kick off your night, go here at 7:30 for Hospitality who make winsome but not unmuscular pop. Highly recommended. Later on in the evening is '90s indie rock loving Radical Dads whose great debut, Mega Rama, was released this week. (But not on vinyl...boo!). Pursesnatchers (Doug from Dirty on Purpose's band) finishes the night. Also playing: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Indian Rebound.

Kindest Lines

Meanwhile at Public Assembly the good folks of No Fun Productions, The Bunker and Wierd Records, have an evening of minimal synth, coldwave, industial and other dark arts planned. Performers include noise and sound artists Rene Hell and Carlos Giffoni; the ethereal, danceable sounds of Laurel Halo; synthpop traditionalists Xeno & Oaklander who make their music with seriously old-school sequencers and keyboards (patch bays are involved); and New Orleans' Kindest Lineswho make pop music that should appeal to fans of early New Order (and, yes, The Cure).  There's also a host of acclaimed DJs spinning in-between sets.

X-Ray Eyeballs

Primo Chicago garage label HozAc Records is hosting the debauchery at Shea Stadium tonight, with Xray Eyeballs (who also play the Kanine show Friday at Knitting Factory), the K-Holes, Making Friendz and My Teenage Stride in there as well to pop things up a bit.

Randoms: I also recommend catching Zaza at Coco66 (11:45, dark and sexy) and Mr. Dream at Glasslands (Midnight, '90s indie rawk).

Again, just my picks. Do go see some music tonight!

Continue reading "Bill's Northside Fest picks (Day 1)"

Theophilus London will headline the "Official Northside Festival Opening Party" at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday, June 16th. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and then general sale Friday at noon. You can also try to get in with a Northside Festival badge.

The hip hop artist is one of 65+ new artists being officially added to the lineup of this year's Northside Festival (June 16-19 in various venues across Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY). Here's the full list:

Continue reading "Northside Fest adds 65+ bands to lineup, Theophilus @ MHOW, Mount Eerie, Iceage & more ++ open studios & DIY films"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Weekend - Coma Summer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weekend - End Times (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Young Prisms - Sugar (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Acrylics - Nightwatch (MP3)

This will be a shorter column than usual (please hold your applause till the end) as I'm heading across the Canadian border to attend this year's M for Montreal festival where I'll be seeing the likes of The Dears, PS I Love You, Valleys and a bunch of bands who sing in French. (Also, Gene Simmons has been invited for some reason and will be filming his reality show while there.) It will also be about 20 degrees colder up there so, gentle readers, don't be too jealous of my international travels. There's plenty of cool stuff going on here.

Darwin Deez plays his last NYC show of 2010 at Mercury Lounge tonight (11/17) with Bell (who just played Glasslands the other night with Suuns), King Charles (a UK artist who just got done touring with Mumford & Sons - you might have caught him the past two nights at Terminal 5 - he also plays the Rock Shop on Thursday) and Friends. Darwin's had a good year... in the UK. He came in at #10 on NME's Cool List 2010 (in between Marcus Mumford and Carl Barat, for context) and was pictured on the cover of the issue (see above - the guy with the string on his forehead), and his self-titled debut came in at #56 on Rough Trade Shops' Best LPs of 2010 list.

Here in his home town (or home country), Darwin doesn't get much press or blog love. Mind you, his album hasn't even come out in the U.S. yet -- it's due February 2011, nearly a year after its UK release. (I also don't think his look is doing him any favors over here.) When it does hit these shores, it's definitely worth checking out -- a poppier, funkier take on Strokes-style indie rock that shows off impressive melodic and lyrical talent. It's an immediately likeable record and he deserves more attention than he's getting. Check out the Cosmos-inspired video to his single "Constellations" at the bottom of this post.

Xeno and Oaklander @ PS1 in 2009 (more by Zach Dilgard)

Tonight is also the seventh anniversary of the Wierd parties which started at Brooklyn's Southside Lounge and grew into a label specializing in minimal synth and darkwave. Wierd Records has released some great stuff this year, including debut albums from Automelodi and Frank (Just Frank). Their weekly party now happens at Home Sweet Home on Christie St. in the L.E.S. and for tonight's special occasion, in addition to great tunes and smoke machines they've got Xeno and Oaklander performing live. These two perform like the last three decades never happened, strictly analogue, with piles of vintage gear strung together with patch cables. Squint and you might think you'd been transported back to Sheffield, England circa 1979.

Zoos of Berlin

Detroit's Zoos of Berlin are taking a break from recording their second album to hit the East Coast for a couple of NYC dates this weekend. They play Friday (11/19) at Cake Shop and then a show at Spike Hill on Saturday (11/20). I've written about ZoB a bunch of times over the last year and always try and catch them when they're in town. There's no other band that sounds quite like them, a mix (as I've said before) of Berlin-era Bowie and Steely Dan.

If you haven't checked out their music yet, now's a perfect time as they've made both their eponymous EP and first album,"Taxis," available as free downloads from their Bandcamp page. And do go see them play if you can, they're tight and surprisingly funny given their regal sound.

Acrylics

One of my favorite new bands of last year, Acrylics, have finally put the finishing touches on their debut album which will drop on January 25, 2010. It's ten songs of dusty, dreamy pop (Mirage-era Fleetwood Mac gets you in the right ballpark) that is above all else a showcase for the duo's enviable songwriting abilities. The sparkling arrangements and soaring harmonies are impressive too.

With the new album in the can, Acrylics are starting to play live again and have two shows this weekend. They play Friday night at Glasslands with Chicago's Light Pollution (who leave on tour with Delorean and Lemonade a day later), Blood Orange (Dev of Lightspeed Champion who opened for Glasser last night and who also plays a show at Union Pool tonight), and Unsolved Mysteries. Acrylics also play Cameo Gallery on Saturday (11/20) with their pals Amazing Baby , and two hard-to-Google bands I'm not familiar with: TEEN, and Psychic (at first I thought the band was Teen Psychic, but it's apparently two separate groups).

Acrylics, Amazing Baby, and, and Teen are also part of an upcoming John Lennon Tribute show taking place at Glasslands on December 8th along with Nicole Atkins, Beige, Eytan & The Embassy, Here We Go Magic, Psychic, The Rassle, The Royal Chains, and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

Big Troubles @ Mercury Lounge last week (more by Amanda Hatfield)

And I'll hopefully be back from Montreal in time Sunday night (11/21) to hit Glasslands for their killer bill of Weekend, Young Prisms, Minks and Big Troubles (maybe you caught them recently opening for Magic Kids), one of the more solid, well-curated line-ups I've seen in a long time. If you like any one of these bands, you'll probably like the rest. As I've said before, Weekend's debut album, Sports, is a superior slice of post-punk shoegaze that is both pummeling and beautiful. Weekend aren't reinventing the wheel, but the San Francisco trio are expert drivers. Two MP3s are at the top of this post.

Their tour-mates are fellow San Franciscans Young Prisms who practice similar hazy, loud sonics and will release their debut album on Kanine early next year. You can check out an MP3 from it at the top of this post. If you can't make this show, Weekend and Young Prisms will be back after Thanksgiving for a show at Cake Shop on November 27.

The rest of the Glasslands bill: Minks, whose debut album on Captured Tracks is one of my highly anticipated releases of 2011 as I've dug both their singles so far, as well as their live show.  And if you haven't heard Big Troubles' debut, which came out early this year on Olde English Spelling Bee, I recommend you remedy that, especially if you have a fondness for early-'90s shoegaze. Big Troubles know their stuff, have digested it all and come up with their own appealing version.

That's it for this week. Tour dates, videos, some others shows and flyers are below.

Continue reading "Darwin Deez, Xeno and Oaklander, Weekend, Zoos of Berlin, Acrylics, Big Troubles & more in This Week in Indie"