photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Frisicano

The "Our Band Could Be Your Life" tribute Sunday night at Bowery Ballroom ran more than four hours with 14 bands playing the music of 13 bands (plus a special encore act that covered Nirvana). Set changes were kept short, and bands generally played about 10-15 minutes (between one and four songs). Unannounced guests included Tim Harrington and Lee Ranaldo singing the Minutemen, Craig Finn playing the role of Minneapolis cop, and Dan Deacon's multimedia barrage and three-piece band. More highlights, lots of pictures, and a bunch of videos (UPDATE: NPR has audio of the show) are below...

Continue reading "'Our Band Could Be Your Life' in pics, video & review (Dirty Projectors, St Vincent, Dan Deacon, Ted Leo, Wye Oak & more)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Wild Flag @ Merge Records Showcase

Lost in the Trees @ Muzzle of Bees BBQ

Catching up a bit. Here's what Dominick saw in Austin on Friday, March 18, 2011....

Continue reading "SXSW 2011 Day 3 pics"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

Austra @ BrooklynVegan Day Party @ Swan Dive

A few days have passed since I got back from Austin, and I'm still struggling to process the week. Yes, it was my first time at SXSW. Thanks to the never-ending supply of free tacos, music, beer, fellow music-devotees, and sunshine, I managed to retain that little-kid-like wonder throughout the week - even when severe sleep deprivation set in. (And I thought CMJ was a rush. Ha.)

By the time I left Austin on Sunday morning, I managed to see some 54 bands (no counting impromptu street performances) play in 20 different venues. Some were of course flops, but on the whole, I was impressed by the showcase of new and emerging artists. CMJ is great, but let's be honest. So many of the bands that play there play nearly every week in New York or Brooklyn anyway. Austin, on the other hand, seemed to get a much wider variety of acts, and I made it my goal to see as many unfamiliar and/or international artists as I could (in addition to of course scouting out some of my favorites like Sam Amidon, The Loom, tUnE-yArDs, and Papercuts).

Instead of potentially boring you with a lengthy play-by-play (which you can catch on my personal blog if you're interested), I'll try to succinctly present the highlights from my week. (Though to be fair, this is something of an impossible task.)

Since I flew into Houston and drove over (waaay cheaper), I didn't get to see a ton of music on Wednesday, but what I did catch was excellent. My first band of the festival, Still Corners (who recently signed to Sub Pop along with Memoryhouse), turned out to be one of my favorites all week. The British group's well-executed, dreamy sound was the perfect accompaniment to the beautiful outdoor setting on the lawn of the French Legation Museum for the the Bella Union/Yours day party. My two other favorite finds of the day were BOBBY (a Mountain Man side project that later played at one of the BV showcases) and the delightful Cali singer-songwriter Sea of Bees, whose eerily beautiful song "Gnomes" played on repeat in my head all week and prompted me to seek her out a second time the following day.

With the exception of the NPR Showcase, which featured the likes of Wild Flag, The Joy Formidable, and The Antlers (more on that later), the majority of Thursday left me lukewarm... that is until I stumbled upon Austra at the Domino showcase. (Austra also later performed at the BV show at Swan Dive on Saturday - pictures in this post.)

Wow. Zola Jesus may drive me a bit crazy at times due to Nika Roza Danilova's overly dramatic performance, but Austra seemed to strike exactly the right balance - theatrical and eye-catching without coming across as disingenuous or too over-the-top. Their beat was addictive, their appearance and dance moves, arresting. No question about it. Austra is definitely an artist to watch - and probably my favorite live act all week. Many of the sets I caught were only partial - I was constantly arriving late and leaving early in order to scamper off to another venue, but Austra held my attention (understatement of the year?), and I stuck around for the entirety of the set (Bill did too).

continued below...

Continue reading "Rachel's Best of SXSW w/ pics by Amanda (Austra, Josh T Pearson, Lost in the Trees, The Loom, Yellow Ostrich & more)"

photos by David Andrako

Say Hi

Eric Elbogen, a.k.a. Say Hi, is more articulate than the title of his new album, "Um, Uh Oh," suggests. The 12 songs aren't wordy but do offer well-observed vignettes of modern life. What's pruned severely on the Seattle one-man band's seventh album is the music.

...Elbogen has a gruff voice, which he doesn't sweeten with vocal harmonies. Yet this album includes melodious elements that create an interesting tension with the singer's rasp. The pretty riff underlying "Take Ya' Dancin' " promises a sweeping chorus that never quite arrives, and "Trees Are a Swayin'" uses a stately piano motif to certify Elbogen's grand promise to "love you till the end of the world." Both songs are testaments to Say Hi's impressive powers of suggestion." -[Washington Post]

Continue reading "Say Hi, Yellow Ostrich & Blair @ Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

Jon Natchez w/ the Antlers @ BAM (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Yellow Ostrich sent me this well laid out email, so I thought I would share it as is:

First - Jon Natchez has joined the band to play bass and horns. Jon's played with Beirut, The Antlers, Okkervil River, and more.

Second - Our Pianos residency starts TONIGHT. The band will be playing The Mistress in its entirety tonight. This show will be the first time ever that The Mistress will be available for sale in the vinyl format (or any physical format, for that matter).

Third, The Mistress LP is officially coming out on 2/15 but Afternoon Records is giving away a test pressing of the album to one person who can guess the score of the super bowl. Contest details:

Finally, we have an upcoming tour with Say Hi which will stretch across the USA and Canada (with a stop at the Bowery Ballroom on 3/7)

Continue reading "Say Hi touring w/ Yellow Ostrich (who now have Jon Natchez in the band, kick off Pianos residency tonight) --- 2011 dates"

Yellow Ostrich @ Mercury Lounge on 1/4 (more by David Andrako)

Once January (and Linfinity) disappears, LES venue Pianos will have some more residencies to contend with. One of those is for Yellow Ostrich who will be there every Thursday night in February. All four shows including the final night with "additional secret headliner" are on sale.

ARMS are the other band taking residency at Pianos (again) in Feb, and their four Wednesday shows are also on sale. They also have a secret guest listed on their final show.

Meanwhile, as Bill pointed out, you can also catch Yellow Ostrich at Shea Stadium this Saturday night (1/15).

Full Pianos lineups so far, below...

Continue reading "Yellow Ostrich & ARMS taking residency @ Pianos too"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Powerful Lovin' (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Final Club - Tragic World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Final Club - Hot Gaze (MEDIAFIRE LINK - ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - Underwater To (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - 4312 (MP3)

Gruff

Welcome to the first This Week in Indie of 2011. We are 12 days into this year and I have yet to see a show. If you add in the time before Christmas...this might be the longest I've gone without seeing live music in a long time. That drought will end for me this week, maybe tonight, but certainly tomorrow (1/13) as Gruff Rhys plays Rockwood Music Hall. I was a little worried this snow was to cancel his flight today, but he is currently on route to NYC as I write this.

Still no word as to who'll be releasing his new solo album, Hotel Shampoo, in the US but it seems likely someone will. Hopefully we'll get to hear a lot it live. As anyone whose seen him before -- either with Super Furry Animals or solo -- know, Gruff is an entertaining guy, who always puts extra effort into his shows. Highly recommended. Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces opens. Show starts early -- 7:30.

I also just watched Separado!, the musical travelogue documentary about Gruff's quest to track down distant relative (and '70s caped troubadour) Rene Griffiths in Patagonia. Like Rhys himself, the film is charming, scruffy, funny and full of good songs. Still not released in America but you can order the UK DVD (if you have a region-free player or watch on a computer) or, if you live in Williamsburg, rent it from Videology.

Fergus & Geronimo

Fergus & Geronimo release their debut album, Unlearn, on Hardly Art next week, and are playing three shows this weekend in celebration: Friday (1/14) at Death By Audio (official official release party) with Final Club, Easter Vomit (ex Beets), new Captured Tracks signees Widowspeak, and Philadelphia's premiere surf band Dry Feet; Saturday (1/15) at Columbia University hangout The Ding Dong Lounge with Final Club; and Sunday (1/16) at Mercury Lounge with Tyvek. Xray Eyeballs and The Gaming Commission.

While it suffers from a slight case of identity crisis (droney psych, garagey rave-ups, organ-fueled soul), track-by-track Unlearn is a pretty solid record. Fergus & Geronimo are good at all the styles they dabble in. Check out "Powerful Lovin'" at the top of this post -- that shows off their soulful side. And while I haven't seen them play live in a year and a half, they were good then so I can only imagine they've gotten better.

Final Club

If your eyes didn't glaze over at the list of bands two paragraphs up, you may have noticed Final Club are playing with F&G twice this weekend. The two bands were Denton, TX neighbors before Fergus & Geronimo moved to Brooklyn late last summer. Final Club are here just for these shows. They are worth seeing in their own right: sneery, melodic indie rock with a tendency to lean on the tremolo bar which gives them a little Swervedriver vibe. Confident and loud.

You can check out "Tragic World" at the top of this post. And if you like that, you can download their Hot Gaze EP as well. Look out for their excellent debut album, Blank Entertainment, later this year. In addition to the two shows with Fergus & Geronimo, Final Club play a headlining gig at Death By Audio tomorrow night (1/13) with Bogan Dust, Clinical Trials and Laserdisc.

Tyvek @ BV-SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Also as mentioned above, Tyvek are in town this weekend. While many of their peers have moved on to mid-fi production, the Detroit band keep it live and murky on their new album, Nothing Fits. It also sounds as anxious, angry and alive as the rest of their material. In addition to the Mercury Lounge show on Sunday mentioned above, they play Saturday night (1/15) at Glasslands with The Beets, Eternal Summers, and Sweet Bulbs. That is a good show. Do note it starts early, 8PM for real, as the Soul Clap dance party starts at midnight. I'll be there.

I should mention that openers The Beets have a new album Stay Home that's just out on Captured Tracks. After last year's swell, cleanly produced "Locomotion" single, they too (like Tyvek) are back to the same intentionally shitty "production" of their first album. (Maybe slightly less shitty.) Which, again, doesn't hurt them at all. The Beets are good songwriters I think, and especially good lyricists. And maybe if they can ever get a drummer to stick around for more than a month they might go places. Or just stay home. There's also a new Beets single, "Time Brought Age," and both the LP and 7" feature the bands signature comic artwork courtesy Matt Volz.

Mister Heavenly

What else? Oh yeah, Mister Heavenly play Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (1/16) with Sun Airway and Little Shalimar. This extra super group just signed to Sub Pop, and the label would like you to know the band features Nick Diamonds (Islands/Unicorns), Honus Honus (Man Man) and Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse). Of course most of the press so far has been about the group's sometimes bassist who you may know from his non-musical day job. I don't mean the banana stand.

Going to see a band because there's a famous actor in it is usually a dumb reason to go (see Dogstar, 30 Seconds to Mars , 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, etc)... plus Mr. Cera is not an "official" member of the band and he may or may not be playing with them on Sunday (note that both the label and the venue told us they don't think Michael will be there). Luckily the rest of the band is known in their own right, so mabye you should go for that reason. Unfortunately there's no recorded music to hear yet, but their few shows so far have been well-documented on YouTube.

That's the main stuff. Here's a few shows, day-by-day, not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12

Nashville-via-Ohio band Mona -- one of the BBC's picks for Sound of 2011 -- invade NYC this weekend, starting tonight at Rock Shop. They also play Mercury Lounge on Thursday (1/13) (with Devin Therriault) and Union Pool on Saturday (1/15).

Given the abbreviation of this column you're reading, I would be remiss not to mention that The Twees play The Studio @ Webster Hall, a record release show for their just-released EP. They actually don't sound twee at all. I would say Strokes-esque pop would get you closer to a description.

Quirky, occasionally proggy, pop band Steel Phantoms at Bruar Falls.

more below...

Continue reading "Mister Heavenly, Gruff Rhys, Fergus & Geronimo, Final Club, Tyvek, The Beets & more in This Week in Indie "

photos by David Andrako

What separates Alex Schaaf from other young and talented young men who have recently found themselves buzzworthy in Brooklyn is the sheer quantity of quality music he's already put out. Recording under the name Yellow Ostrich, the Wisconsin native just released his first full-length album in October, but his Bandcamp site is home to another seven albums, including the Morgan Freeman EP, written entirely from the text of Morgan Freeman's Wikipedia page. - [WNYC]

Continue reading "Yellow Ostrich played Mercury Lounge (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Yellow Ostrich - Love More (Sharon Van Etten) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten - Love More (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten - Don't Do It (MP3)

Sharon Van Etten @ Bruar Falls (more by Jessica Amaya)

Above you can download a a timely cover by Yellow Ostrich, who headline Mercury Lounge tonight (1/4), of Sharon Van Etten who headlines Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (1/8). As previously mentioned, The War on Drugs is now opening for Sharon, as is Sebastian Blanck. Tickets are still on sale for the big NYC show.

Enjoy the MP3, and grab the original and another Sharon track up there too. All Sharon dates below...

Continue reading "Yellow Ostrich covered Sharon Van Etten (MP3 & tour dates)"

words & photos by David Andrako

Yellow Ostrich, which began as the solo recording project of Alex Schaaf, played a 35-minute midnight set to an enraptured crowd at Bowery Electric on a Monday night in December. The duo, which also features Michael Tapper (We Are Scientists/Bishop Allen) on drums, has been playing shows around New York City (where they now call home) for the last 6 months supporting their latest album The Mistress (which was self released in October). One of those shows was a La Blogoteque Take Away Show taping. The video from that was recently posted and you can watch that below with more pictures from Bowery Electric.

The Bowery Electric set opened with the standout track from the LP, "Whale" (recently featured as KEXP's "Song of the Day") and featured songs from several of Yellow Ostrich's 6 albums and EPs all of which are available for free on the band's Bandcamp site. Afternoon Records, home of Pomegranates and John Vanderslice, will release a remastered version of The Mistress in February of 2011.

Catch Yellow Ostrich this Tuesday night, 1/4, at Mercury Lounge. Pictures, setlist and videos below...

Continue reading "Yellow Ostrich played Bowery Electric & a Take Away Show (pics & video), playing Mercury Lounge (Tuesday)"

Freddie Gibbs

Freddie Gibbs will rhyme all over Glasslands on Friday (10/22) when he hits the Yours Tru.ly showcase alongside Sun Airway, Cults, Kisses, Laurel Halo, Candy Claws, Young Man, Oberhofer, Guards, and James Vincent McMorrow. The show is the day before he hits the #OFFLINE Pitchfork party at Brooklyn Bowl (10/23) which will also feature Cults. Tour dates are below.

Dent May is prepping to play the Chocolate Bobka day party at Pianos as we speak (10/20, set is at 6PM), and will be joined by Woodsman, Sultan, and many others on it's two floors. Git on down there! Or if you can't make it today, then catch Dent May at the #OFFLINE party at Brooklyn Bowl Thursday, or the Forest Family/Gorilla Vs Bear party later that day (doors at 6) at The Pyramids (32D South 1st Street) with Marnie Stern, Eternal Summers, La Cera, Family Trees, Luke Rathbone, Young Prisms, Slow Animal, and... Surfer Blood.

Small Black is hitting the road with Class Actress for a string of US dates, and will follow those up with some in the EU. But before that, the band has a CMJ showcase (and the non-CMJ #OFFLINE show) to headline at Pianos on 10/21, stocked with bands like Sun Airway, La Ices, S.Carey, and Suuns who also plays the BrooklynVegan showcase the same night.

Speaking of the BrooklynVegan showcase and #OFFLINE, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are now playing both. They've always been our Thursday night headliner (tickets are getting close to sold out) and Pitchfork just added them to their Saturday show. They added Titus Andronicus to that day too, and released the set times for all three days. The Fool's Gold 3rd Anniversary Party portion happens late Saturday night (starts at midnight). All the set times are below.

You can spend all day at Public Assembly on Saturday, and still get to Brooklyn Bowl in time to see Ty Segall, Pains, Matthew Dear, Freddie Gibbs, Titus for a 2nd time, and all of the Fool's Gold stuff.

Highlife plays the Chouette show at Bruar Falls today at 4PM (10/20) with Sharon Van Etten and Lower Dens (who play the BV Day Party on Fri), but also will play the Invisible Children/Blogotheque Showcase on 10/22 as well as the #OFFLINE party at Brooklyn Bowl the next day (10/23). The Blogtheque showcase will go down at SPiN NYC (48 East 23rd St) and will also feature Traffique and Yellow Ostrich.

How to Dress Well will do double duty TONIGHT (10/20), playing the Ramiken Crucible with Salem and then the Lefse/I Guess I'm Floating CMJ showcase at The Delancey later on with A Classic Education and many others. In addition to playing the #OFFLINE party at Brooklyn Bowl on 10/22, he'll also DJ the Altered Zones after-party at Glasslands with John Maus, Prince Rama, Greatest Hits, Teen Inc, Hippos in Tanks DJs, and more. The next day, you can catch HTDW at the Fader Fort with OFF!, Teen Inc, Wack Flocka Flame, Royal Bangs, Tanlines, Glasser and others. RSVP here.

Exhausted yet? Our full guide to tonight/Wednesday is HERE. Dates for artists mentioned above, set times and stuff below...

Continue reading "more bands, CMJ parties & tour dates (#OFFLINE set times, Freddie Gibbs, Small Black, TPOBPAH, Dent May & more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: A Classic Education - I Lost Time (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tamarayn - Love Fade (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sky Larkin - Year Dot (Spirit Spine Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sky Larkin - Barracuda (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - About My Girls (MP3)

Tamaryn

My picks for day parties are HERE. Here are my picks for things to do tonight, Wednesday, Day Two of CMJ 2010. Set times are included for shows that don't have flyers.

Tonight's biggest ticket is Phoenix/Dirty Projectors/Wavves at MSG. But to get in with your badge you need to go to the exhibitor hall to pick up what few tickets they have (which is probably none at this point). Time is probably better spent elsewhere, as good as all those bands are. You can also go see Wavves later at the Purevolume House with Matthew Dear.

I think tonight's hottest ticket is going to be the Stereogum/Popgun showcase at Santos Party House, a pretty unmissable two-floor assault featuring wild tambourine action of The Drums (who also play Webster Hall tonight with Surfer Blood), Wild Nothing's immaculate indiepop, gothy shoegaze temptress Tamaryn, the undeniably catchy Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr., plus Marnie Stern, Diamond Rings and more. If you're badgeless and were smart, you RSVP'd for discount admission. (Too late now.) All others pay $10 smackers. Set times on the flyer at the bottom of this post.

It's pretty clear that Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr (I may have to start referring to them as DEJJ) are contenders for the Overachievers crown at CMJ2010. If you wanna tick them off your list early, you might want to swing by Bruar Falls where they'll play at 7:30 PM. I'd advise you to stick around afterwards for awesome Magic Bullets (8:20PM) though I'm sure you're going to see them when they open our day party on Friday.

Anglophiles should head straight to Littlefield for the U.S. debuts of three new UK acts: Frankie & the Heartstrings (9PM), the Good Natured (9:45) and  Chapel Club (10:30).  Also on the bill: the blissed-out sounds of Miami dancepop artist Millionyoung. (11:30) $8 without a badge.

Staying in the neighborhood (Park Slope), The Rock Shop has a good line-up: Tape Deck Mountain (7:30), Cloud Nothings (8:30), Blair (9:30), Braids,(10:30) Lesands (11:30)and Beach Fossils. (12:30AM). $10 if you don't have a badge.

Sky Larkin

Or, at The Bell House, it's the Pop Justice/Highrise PR showcase with an international lineup, including personal faves Sky Larkin, (9:50PM)  fist-pumping electro-rockers Fenech Soler (who I saw last night at Pianos, pretty good if a l'il cheesy), French disco act The Aikiu (10:30PM) Canadian disco act Parallels (11:45PM), and more. The party goes late -- Fenech Soler aren't on till 1:35AM (ugh) so if you live in the neighborhood, maybe stop by there before you go home. There's like 10 bands playing this total and it's only $5 to get in. Bargain.

The good folks at Free Williamsburg are throwing a big unofficial party at Glasslands with North Highlands (a local must see if you're visiting from elesewhere), Zambri, Pujol, Yellow Ostrich and more. $7. Set times are on the flyer which is at the bottom of this post.

And lastly, the I Guess I'm Floating/Lefse Records showcase at The Delancey is loaded with great new talent, including Dominant Legs (7PM), A Classic Education (7:45PM), Candy Claws (12:15AM) and seven more. The night ends with How to Dress Well (1:45AM) who is playing a bunch of shows this week, which hopefully means he's put some thought into his performance. His live debut at Glasslands back in August was kind of disasterous.

Again, these are just MY picks. There's a zillion shows tonight including:

ALSO TONIGHT
* Surfer Blood @ Webster Hall (twice)
* The Knocks & Holy Ghost! @ Bowery Ballroom
* STRIFE, Disembodied, Iron Age, Earthless, Priestess, Naam @ Mercury Lounge
* Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Langhorne Slim, Jesse Sykes & Phil Wandscher, Mimicking Birds @ Highline Ballroom

Go see something. Show flyers are after the jump.

Continue reading "CMJ 2010 - Bill's Wednesday NIGHTTIME picks & stuff (Tamaryn, Sky Larkin, Frankie & the Hearstrings & more)"

"The new location is a pristine secluded beach area called Raptor Point, at the North end of the main (decommissioned) runway of the abandoned airport, right on Jamaica Bay. Gorgeous views of Jamaica Bay, Mill Basin, and of the distant Manhattan skyline; and a pretty phenomenal sunset spot." - Todd P

Details below...

Continue reading "Todd P's Unamplified Acoustic BBQ is Sunday (new location) "