Cocorosie @ MHOW in 2010 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn venue Glasslands have booked a pretty impressive list of upcoming shows this month and next. We've already mentioned last night's John Maus show, the John Maus show coming in June, tonight's Julliana Barwick/Helado Negro show, Adventure and Pat Jordache (5/14), Cymbals Eat Guitars (5/20), an acoustic show with Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles (5/27), and Love Inks (6/2).

Most notably, in addition to those, CocoRosie play Glasslands on May 23. At the moment it is their only US show before heading to Europe for a July tour. Openers TBA. Tickets are on sale now.

Meanwhile, Princeton play Glasslands on Wednesday, May 11 with High Highs, New Villager, and Ivana XL, before they open for CSS and Sleigh Bells at Music Hall of Williamsburg (5/12) and Bowery Ballroom (5/15). Tickets are on sale now.

High Highs also play a show on May 19th with Acrylics and Junip at Bowery Ballroom, and they open for Memoryhouse at two NYC shows in June. All dates are listed below.

Xylos, McDonalds, Mansions & Junipers, and Flashlights are playing Glasslands on May 12. Tickets are on sale now.

Dirty Beaches @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Dirty Beaches plays Glasslands with Psychedelic Horseshit, Pterodactyl, and Beige on May 13 (tickets), a day after they play Mercury Lounge with Widowspeak (5/12). All tour dates, South Street Seaport included, are listed below.

White Mystery, who just released their sophomore full length Blood & Venom, play Glasslands on May 17 as the kick off to a 5-night NYC run that looks like this:

05/17/11 Glasslands Brooklyn, New York
05/18/11 Generation Records New York, New York
05/19/11 Public Assembly Brooklyn, New York
05/20/11 Death By Audio Brooklyn, New York
05/21/11 Brooklyn Fireproof Brooklyn, New York

Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale now. All of their dates and a NYC show flyer, below.

My Teenage Stride play an early show at Glasslands on May 21 with Sea Lions, Beachniks, The Surprisers, and Plains. No advanced tickets for that one, or for the free show they're playing at South Street Seaport this summer.

French Horn Rebellion, who recently released Infinite Music Of French Horn Rebellion, are playing Glasslands on May 26 for their album release party. The show is being opened by Savoir Adore, who play Brooklyn Museum on 5/13 and the In Vino Wine Bar on June 26 (Tickets). Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale now. French Horn Rebellion are on tour with Yelle now.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who are currently on tour with Portugal. The Man and Telekinesis play their own show at Glasslands on June 4, one day after they play Webster Hall with those bands. Unknown Mortal Orchestra are releasing their self titled debut on June 21 via Fat Possum. Hear three songs off the album on Fat Possum's website. Tickets are on sale now for the Brooklyn show with with Balkans + more TBA. Updated dates are below.

The Beets (maybe you saw them Saturday at Cake Shop) play Glasslands on June 24. Openers TBA. Tickets on sale now. Meanwhile they are out on tour.

Videos and dates below...

Continue reading "Cocorosie, Princeton, White Mystery, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Dirty Beaches, Savoir Adore & other shows"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

"In the music industry, buzz can feel like an unseasonably warm stretch in the dead of winter. It's nice while it lasts, but it never does. The buzz dispensers quickly tire of this week/day/moment's object of adoration and soon move on, and the aftermath can be unpleasant.

Consider Tapes 'n Tapes, who first gained notice when 2006's self-released album "The Loon" turned the Minneapolis quartet into blogosphere darlings. But that quickly faded, and each subsequent Tapes 'n Tapes album has picked up worse reviews than the one before. You can trace the devolution of their critical reputation in hipster circles through the influential website pitchfork.com, which awarded "The Loon" an 8.3 (out of 10) rave. But 2008's "Walk It Off" dropped them all the way to a 5.9 rating, and their current album "Outside" (Ibid Records) just picked up a wince-inducing 5.5.

Alas, slings and arrows are part of the gig.

"I don't think there's much value you can put into reviews because they're just somebody's opinion, and we realize that," says Tapes 'n Tapes frontman Josh Grier over the phone from Minneapolis. "I mean, we all love our music and everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Reading too much into that would be a recipe for disaster - make you into a head case trying to cater to someone else. We make the music we want to make. if somebody else doesn't like it, well, we can't let that affect the music we make in the future."

Undeserved opprobrium aside, "Outside" is an immensely likable record that wears well, setting Grier's nervous yelp to elastic, skittery grooves with hooks sharp enough to stick. It's a less-self-conscious take on Vampire Weekend's worldly underground rock, with a vibe recalling prime Talking Heads." [Newobserver.com]

The ex-buzzy Tapes 'n Tapes were joined by the currently-buzzy Oberhofer (their tour-mates) and the ladies (and men) of Xylos (who play Cameo on 2/11) at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday night. More pictures from the sold out show (including some backstage shots and one of T'nT's setlist), with an MPLS.TV video and the rest of their tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Tapes 'n Tapes, Oberhofer & Xylos played MHOW (pics, setlist) "

videos by Ian Perlman

Oberhofer @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Chris Gersbeck)

In case you didn't realize (they tried to keep it a secret until after the Vaccines shows), Oberhofer, who is on tour with Tapes 'n Tapes, is in fact opening for T'nT at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday. Limited advanced tickets are still available for the Brooklyn gig which features Xylos as first-of-three on the bill.

Oberhofer released an "Away Frm U" 7" in January which you can pick up at Inflated Records.

Speaking of the Vaccines shows, right after the Bowery show which we covered with pictures, Oberhofer and the Vaccines played Glasslands. Ian Perlman was there with his video camera. Footage of both bands and all Oberhofer dates, below...

Continue reading "Oberhofer opened for Vaccines, opening for Tapes 'n Tapes"

photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

DOWNLOAD: The War on Drugs - Comin' Through (MP3)

The War on Drugs @ Knitting Factory Monday night

It's been over two years since The War on Drugs released their debut album, Wagonwheel Blues, via Secretly Canadian. And it's via that same label that we'll finally get another taste on October 26th which is the official release date of the band's 2nd album called Future Weather. Grab "Comin' Through", one of that record's eight tracks, for free above now. Cover art and full tracklist below.

Tonight (8/31), The War on Drugs follow up their appearance with Black Mountain at Knitting Factory last night, with a headlining show at the cozy Rock Shop. This time they share a bill with Light Pollution and Xylos.

More about last night's show later. In the meantime, here are some pics, with all tour dates and the new album's cover art and tracklist, below...

Continue reading "The War on Drugs releasing 'Future Weather' (MP3), played Knitting Factory (pics), playing Rock Shop today & other dates"

"Summer On the Hudson", which takes place in Riverside Park South (W 59th St to W 72nd St at the Hudson River), is in its 10th year. Their events include Acoustic Sundays on Sunday nights (July 11-August 15) and Movies Under the Stars (July 7-August 11). Bands include the indie-pop Xylos, reggae-funk Meta and The Cornerstones and Slavic Soul Party. Put em on your almost-full-and-still-growing calendar of free NYC summer shows.

More details and the schedule below...

Continue reading "Summer on the Hudson - free music & movies in NYC"

8 bands

The did it in 2007, and again in 2008, and this year L Magazine is back with their list of "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear" (plus some runner-ups). Check out the 2009 list, and discuss, below...

Continue reading "L Mag's 2009 list of "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear""