photos by Rae Holtsabum

I scurried over to the sold-out The Grand Theatre to catch most of RZA's set. The Wu-Tang Clan producer/MC performed as his Bobby Digital alter-ego and controlled the crowd with "Long Time Coming" and "Booby Trap" from the just-released Digi Snacks LP. The set was dominated by material from that album, and RZA turned the gig into a kick-ass block party.

Near the end, he broke out older classics "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit," "Reunited" and "Shame On A Nigga" near the end. They all made the crowd of mostly college kids go absolutely ape-shit, and it was a perfect way to close out my coverage of the fest. [Chart Attack]

Other artists Rae caught on day three (June 27, 2008) of the Sled Island Festival in Calgary included Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, and Yo La Tengo. The rest of the pics from that day below....

Continue reading "Sled Island 2008 day three - RZA, Yo La, Tegan & other pics"

Zooey Deschanel lost her voice @ Webster Hall, NYC (doll sneerpiece)

She & Him played a show at Webster Hall in NYC yesterday. Earlier in the day they recorded a performance for Conan O'Brien which aired later that night. Yo La Tengo sat in as their backing band.....

Continue reading "She & Him & Yo La Tengo on Conan O'Brien (video)"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

Magnetic Field in Brooklyn is closing down, and this is sadly their final week of shows. Last night's show featured The A-Bones and special guests the Condo Fucks. Bryan Bruchman (aka Subinev) was there to document the action....

Continue reading "the A-Bones & the Condo Fucks (Yo La Tengo) @ Magnetic Field's final Friday night of shows, Brooklyn, NY - pics"

not to be confused with Fuck Buttons....

The Condo Fucks are playing Magnetic Field in Brooklyn Friday night (March 28, 2008). It;s one of the venue's last shows ever. Who are they? According to the club they are,

Of "Government Problem," "Fuckin' Gary Sandy," etc. fame.

Adieu Magnetic Field! Friday night of the final week for a venue that must shoulder much of the blame for us still being together. Say it ain't so!!!! We're extra jazzed to be playing with The Condo Fucks of "We're Moving In!" fame.

Legendary Matador Recording Artists Return To The Stage This Friday

The Condo Fucks are supporting the A-Bones this Friday night at Brooklyn's Magnetic Field. Doors open at 8pm, there's an $8 cover and DJ Phast Phreddie will be spinning. Records, presumably.

Fuck Buttons are playing that night too, but at Bowery Ballroom.

words by Jon Roren, photos by Marianne Ways

Todd Barry and Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) @ Rififi, Feb 26, 2008

Eugene Mirman

The penultimate Invite Them Up at Rififi Tuesday night (Feb 26, 2008) was perhaps as close to perfection as downtown comedy gets. It was also about as crowded as it gets. There were so many people that they had to open up the back room, put up a projection screen and seat people in there. This of course inspired some visual humor with Eugene Mirman standing in between rooms, watching himself in the back room while waving his arm in front of the camera in the main room a la "Spaceballs."

Continue reading "Invite Them Up, night 2 of 3 final shows (pics & recap) "

the tenth in a series where we asked comedians to tell us what was good this year....

I first experienced Jon Glaser a really long time ago when he was hosting some show at UCB that had David Cross on the bill. At that point in my life, I'm pretty sure Cross was really the only reason I was there. Glaser came out as Dave Gordon, a man who has tiny hands. It was (and still is) one of the funniest things I had ever seen and I became an immediate fan and follower of Glaser. To me, he is by far the funniest, most unique character actor around, and I rarely see him play the same character twice. Favorites include Johnny Ding-Dong, Silent Fury, one of the Fuggedabuddies (w/ Jon Benjamin), bassist for A Matter of Trust, member of Gloucester-based band The Perfect Storm, and many, many others. A former member of The Second City and writer for Conan O'Brien, he can be heard as voice of DJ Jesus in the Adult Swim cartoon Lucy: The Daughter of the Devil. He also played Dr. Rawstein in Horse Apples on Wonder Showzen. He was in a pilot called Gay Robot that Nick Swardson wrote. Oh, and he's also 50% of Midnight Pajama Jam w/ Jon Benjamin. The list of credits could go on for miles. Here's Jon's take on what was good in 2007 - Klaus

- - -

I have a 21 month old son. As a dad just tryin' to be cool by playing 'non-kid, cool' songs for his child, here are the "Top 10 Songs I Played For My Son In 2007 That I Am Glad He Seemed To Like", aka a pretentious list of my own musical taste that I forced on him. These are all old songs (except one), but were new to my son in 2007.

"Mr. Tough", Yo La Tengo - An early and continuous favorite. He was dancing to it in his bungee swing before he could walk, let alone dance, on his own.

"Blitzkrieg Bop", The Ramones - I didn't want to include this one because the image of kids dancing to The Ramones feels like a lame Huggies commercial (as opposed to a well done Huggies commercial, of which I think there are several). But I kept it in because the way he danced to it one of the first times he heard it was insane. He snapped his neck to the side so hard a couple times I thought he was going to break it.

"You're No Rock N' Roll Fun", Sleater-Kinney - He enjoyed watching himself in the mirror as he danced to this, and at one point yelled "Go!"

continued below.....

Continue reading "Best of 2007 by Jon Glaser"

night eight of eight, 2007...

More photos by Daniel Arnold, info, and setlist, below....

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo & Howard Kaylan (Turtles) @ Maxwells - pics ---- HANUKKAH is OVER"

Times New Viking opened the last Yo La Tengo Hanukkah show of 2007 last night at Maxwell's in Hoboken. David Cross was the special comedy guest. Photos by Daniel Arnold. More below...

Continue reading "Times New Viking @ Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ - pics"

"Ask The Rabbi"....

Continue reading "rabbi David Cross @ Yo La Tengo Hanukkah 2007, night 8"

DOWNLOAD: Times New Viking - (My Head)/R.I.P.Allegory (new MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Times New Viking - We Got Rocket (MP3)

Times New Viking @ Johnny Brenda's, Philly - Dec. 2, 2007 (CRED)

Times New Viking is opening the eighth of eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken tonight (Dec 11). Times New Viking also recently opened some shows for The Clean, and the Clean also opened a Hanukkah show for Yo La Tengo. One of those MP3s on the top of this post (which is two songs combined) will appear on "Rip It Off" - Times New Viking's new album that comes out on Matador on January 22, 2008.

The New Pornographers opened for Yo La Tengo last night. The play the Apple store tonight.

I just received usually-reliable-confirmation that tonight's (Dec. 10) Yo La Tengo Hanukkah show opener is in fact The New Pornographers who are playing the Apple Store tomorrow and the Berklee Performance Center in Boston the day after that (with Neko, but probably not Dan who has two new albums coming out).

night four of Hanukkah @ Maxwell's....

Alex Chilton & Yo La Tengo - Dec 7, 2007

More photos & video below....

Continue reading "Alex Chilton & Yo La Tengo pics/video (4th Hanukkah show)"

DOWNLOAD: Dew Claw - Erection of the Heart (ZIP)

Dew-Claw is Stephen Hunking, former member of the cult pop/rock band Hypnolovewheel. He has been recording for several years as Dew Claw and only recently playing out live.

Redd Kross is opening for Yo La Tengo Sunday night, and Friday night's opener is supposed to be Endless Boogie.

DOWNLOAD: the latest Redd Kross podcast (MP3)

The rumors say that Redd Kross is opening the Sunday night (Dec 9) Yo La Tengo Hanukkah show. That makes perfect sense since they're also playing Southpaw on Saturday. Redd Kross are also working on a new full length album. Old video below....

Continue reading "Redd Kross playing Southpaw & Maxwell's w/ Yo La Tengo"

The dB's @ Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ - Dec 6, 2007 (CRED)

more below...

Continue reading "Jim James, Superchunk Mac, John Oliver & Eugene Mirman as Hanukkah w/ Yo La Tengo continues"

DOWNLOAD: The Clean - Tally Ho (MP3)

I saw The Clean at Cake Shop on Saturday night (Dec 1, 2007). It was sweet...

the Clean played a career-spanning smattering of songs, augmented at one point by guitar from Richard Davies (formerly of the criminally underrated Moles). At a time when so many bands of the Clean's stature are cashing in on outsized reunion tours, the whole evening was nothing short of inspiring. [Pfork]

Yep, that's Ira sitting to the right of Joly in the front row. He was way into it. Georgia was there too (she even played guitar with opener Times New Viking The Mad Scene). That's when it occured to me that The Clean were probably going to open one of the eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows this week. And they did - and on the rumored night - aka last night at Maxwell's (Dec 5, 2007).

The show I went to was one of five scheduled Clean shows - four of which were in NYC, and three of which were at Cake Shop. The other NYC show was at Other Music. Maxwell's was their sixth show in two weeks. I'm not sure when their next show will be, but they say they're planning on touring when their new album comes out - the album they're working on right now. Their last new album came out six years ago.

The dB's open the third Hanukkah show tonight (Dec 6, 2007).
Versus opened the first night.

DOWNLOAD: Phofo - Light That Menorah (MP3) (more)

Versus @ Maxwell's, NJ - Dec 4, 2007 (CRED)

Yo La Tengo @ Maxwell's, NJ - Dec 4, 2007 (CRED)

Jon Glaser & Jon Benjamin @ Maxwell's, NJ - Dec 4, 2007 (CRED)

Mark Arm from Mudhoney played with Yo La Tengo too. Mudhoney was in town to play three shows including one at the same venue a few days earlier (and one at Bowery Ballroom).

Money raised from the Hanukkah show went to Community Food Bank of New Jersey. Tonight's show (Hanukkah night 2) will benefit The Stone. Tonight's opener is rumored to be the Clean. Tomorrow is the dB's.

New Yo La Tengo tour dates below....

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo - Hanukkah night 1 (Versus, Jon Glaser, Jon Benjamin, Mark Arm)"

I don't have a good picture of Yo La Tengo's recent show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, but check out this photo by Jonny Leather of rock-n-roll Ira at their last Webster Hall show.....

*Tues. 12/4-Tues. 12/11 The 8 Nights Of Channukah with Yo La Tengo and Their Heavy Friends. All shows are SOLD OUT. What follows is a list of the charities that will be receiving donations on each night in case you would like to contribute or just seek more info:

• *Tues. 12/4: Community Food Bank of New Jersey
• *Wed. 12/5 The Stone (John Zorn's nonprofit performance space in NYC)
• *Thurs. 12/6 Day One (aiding teenagers in violent relationships)
• *Fri. 12/7 MK Charities Inc. (Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans, and related events to preserve and spread awareness of blues, soul, r&b, etc. culture)
  
• *Sat. 12/8 826NYC / Global Kids (2 organizations that promote education for the poor)
• *Sun. 12/9 Clean Ocean Action (of NJ)
• *Mon. 12/10 African Services Committee (immigration and HIV counseling their specialty)
  
• *Tues. 12/11 Fortune Society / Northeast Council of the Wrongfully Convicted

In other news, Yo La Tengo is scoring a new Emily Hubley film, and Yo La Tengo was the special musical guest at the recent non-taping of SNL at UCB.

The dB's are pleased to announce that on Thursday, Dec. 6, they will be special guests of Yo La Tengo, whose annual Hannukah shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, have become an institution. They are $30 benefit shows, on sale now, and likely to sell out.

But wait... The dB's will headline on Friday, Dec. 7, at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY.

Continue reading "the dB's - 2007 Tour Dates (Southpaw & Maxwell's)"

Kitson, Oliver, Schaal, Clement (CRED)

Daniel Kitson added a FOURTH show at Union Hall. The Sunday and Monday shows are completely sold out, but there's a handful for tickets left for the remaining shows. I'm telling you, if ever there was a comedy show that absolutely cannot be missed it's this one. As a matter of fact, I'm giving away one pair of tickets to the Wednesday 12/5, 10pm show (details at the end of this post). Maybe they'll release a ticket or two the nights of the peformances, maybe they won't. It's totally worthy a shot though.

And don't forget about the NY Mag Not Your Office Holiday Party featuring We Are Scientists and the UCB Theater happening on 12/18/07 at the Canal Room. The show will be hosted by Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle who will also serve as The Boss. Partygoers will be provided with fakey name tags as well as a checklist of inappropriate office things that you should be partaking in such as admitting your best excuses for taking a sick day, kissing a co-worker under the mistle toe, brown nosing your boss, and photo-copying your buns. It sounds like lots of fun. I've got two pairs of tickets to give away (also at the end of this post).

Taking a page out of Sub Pop's book, indie label Matador Records has signed their first comedy act! Earles and Jensen Present: Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 and 2 will be released February 19th on Matador Records. Their myspace page has an ever changing sample of their work, so check it out. Scads more info at Chunklet.

MUCH MORE BELOW......

Continue reading "Klaus Kinski's Comedy Canon (12/01/07)"

Four of the eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows are now sold out. Tickets are also on sale for a November 16th Yo La Tengo show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (which some people remember going on sale and then disappearing from Ticketmaster a week or two ago - it was because they accidentaly announced it before their Long Island benefit show was sold out). I didn't go to that, but I did see them in Austin this summer.

Hey everybody,

Dateline: Hoboken. It's official. For the fifth time in the last seven years, Yo La Tengo will lift their collective voices in song to commemorate the eight days of Hanukkah. The concerts will once again take place at Maxwell's in Hoboken, beginning December 4 and concluding on December 11.

As in the past, each show will begin with an opening band, followed by some comedy, and then a Yo La Tengo set. And perhaps more. That's all we're going to tell you, so don't ask who's playing. We can guarantee that it'll be great, and that no matter what night you're there, you'll wish you had come another night instead. That's just the way you are; there's nothing we can do about that.

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo will play 8 Hanukkah shows this year"

Fiona Apple interviewed @ New Yorker Festival, NYC- Oct 6, 2007 (CRED)

Yo La Tengo @ New Yorker Festival, NYC- Oct 6, 2007 (CRED)

* Be Online B'd
* Tall people took a stand
* Diplo DJ'd at Hiro Ballroom
* Arcade Fire played Randall's Island
* Arcade Fire played in the crown on the Island
* LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead, & Les Savy Fav played too
* Bruce Springsteen was in Philadelphia
* The Melvins played a couple of shows
* Mark Ronson played Webster Hall
* Sigur Ros played three mini shows
* Sharon Jones played the Apollo
* Spoon played Saturday Night Live
* Caribou played Bowery Ballroom
* David Byrne talked about bicycles
* What else went on Saturday & Sunday

A healthy-sized crowd - me included - showed up early (12:30 pm) to see Yo La Tengo play on the final day (Sunday Sept. 16, 2007) of this year's Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, TX. We were rewarded by a sweet set of songs, sunny weather, and lots of wailing on the guitar by rock god Ira Kaplan....

Continue reading "YO LA TENGO @ Austin City Limits - pics & their latest 2007 Tour Dates"

Ani Difranco, RZA & Steve Albini @ 2005 New Yorker Festival (CRED)

The eighth annual New Yorker Festival happens in NYC from October 5-7, 2007. Though not completely announced yet, this year's lineup will include all of those you see in the title, and more....

Continue reading "Diplo, Fiona Apple, Sigur Ros, David Byrne, Roseanne Cash, Yo La Tengo & more for the 2007 New Yorker Festival"