by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Eight and a Half - "Scissors" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eight and a Half - "Scissors" (Small Black Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eight and a Half - "Scissors" (TOKiMONSTA Remix) (MP3)

Eight and a Half

With Broken Social Scene now on hiatus, drummer Justin Peroff has formed the new project Eight and a Half. Justin is handling beats while Liam O'Neil and Dave Hamelin of fellow recently disbanded Arts & Crafts group The Stills are on keyboards and guitars/vocals, respectively. But the new group is nothing like the anthemic alt-rock of The Stills, and Justin's busy drumming in BSS has been replaced by minimal beatwork. They're instead opting for a dreamy downtempo feel, which you can hear on the single, "Scissors." The track is available for download above along with remixes by Small Black and TOKiMONSTA. The video and streams of the original and its remixes are below. The track will appear on Eight and a Half's self titled debut LP, which comes out on February 7 April 12th via Arts & Crafts. The album art and tracklist is below.

Eight and a Half are scheduled to play two Arts & Crafts showcases with labelmates Zeus and The Darcys. The showcases happen in NYC on February 23 at Mercury Lounge and February 24 at Glasslands. Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale now and tickets for the Mercury show go on sale Friday (12/23) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (12/21) at noon. Zeus and The Darcys also play an A&C showcase in Boston on 2/22 but Eight and a Half are not on that bill.

All dates, streams, video, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "members of Broken Social Scene & Stills form Eight and a Half (MP3, video, remixes & dates w/ Arts & Crafts labelmates)"

The observant Dan Mangan sees a bird flying around the photo studio

Fans of Arts & Crafts are in for a night of good jams, with (ex-A&C-ers) Stars at Music Hall of Williamsburg (with North Highlands) and an early show with Dan Mangan at Mercury Lounge (with Icewater), both going down in NYC TONIGHT (10/11). If you're just making the decision to try and do both, I hope you have your tickets to Stars already, though tickets for Dan Mangan are still available, Stars is sold out. Mangan welcomed his new LP Oh Fortune, which hit stores on 9/27 and is streaming in full below. All of his tour dates are down there too.

In related news, Zeus recently posted "Are You Gonna' Waste My Time?", the new song (streaming below) from their forthcoming A&C release due in early 2012. Zeus has dates scattered across October and into December, including an East Coast tour that will stop in Brooklyn at Knitting Factory on 11/16 supporting Sam Roberts Band. Tickets are on sale. All dates are below.

Feist's Metals is out now. The chanteuse took a few minutes out of her crypt-performing schedule to post a few songs which are streaming below. Catch Feist in a goth-in-a-different-way venue when she plays Howard Gilman Opera House on 11/2. "Very limited availability remains" for tickets, so call 718-636-4100 for more details.

All tour dates and song streams are below.

Continue reading "Dan Mangan & Stars are touring (not together, but both in NY) -- Zeus coming soon (dates, song streams & stuff)"

BSS in Central Park (more by Matthew Eisman)

As you know, Broken Social Scene play Terminal 5 on January 18th with Here We Go Magic. Tickets are still available for all of you procrastinators, but for all of you agoraphobics (and people who just can't make it for one reason or another like maybe you don't even lve in NY) I have some great news. The entire show will be streamed live at 9PM EST, on the Bowery Presents Youtube channel.

The show is one of two upcoming dates for Here We Go Magic, who have also scheduled a secret show in Philadelphia, PA at an undisclosed location on 1/22 with NIGHTLANDS, Ape School, and Norwegian Arms. Keep your eyes on the Facebook invite.

In other Arts & Crafts-related news, Chilly Gonzales is scheduled to play Joes's Pub in NYC tomorrow (1/14), a one off for the composer/songwriter and his only current tour date. Tickets are still available. Chilly was in residence at the same NYC venue during February of last year.

Chilly Gonzales recently released a new video for "You Can Dance" from his 2010 LP Ivory Tower. That video and others, as well as all tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Broken Social Scene Terminal 5 show will be streaming online, Chilly Gonzales will be playing Joe's Pub"

photos by Bao Nguyen

One night after they appeared at Webster Hall, Broken Social Scene played a show at the smaller Music Hall of Williamsburg over in Brooklyn with their Arts & Crafts label-mates Zeus...

"...Saturdays show was the best I've seen them. There's always a sense of discovery with seeing a band for the first time. It's overwhelming, exciting and you become a fan for life. On the hand, location, setlist and performance is what really prevails when you think of memorable concert experiences. With BSS, they've added a handful of fantastic songs from their recent release Forgiveness Rock Record. Texico Bitches, art House Director and Meet Me in the Basement all get the FTW! label..." [Music Snobbery]

The pictures in this post (and the setlist) are from that Saturday night show.

The band's next NYC show will hold more people than Webster Hall and Music Hall combined. It takes place at Central Park Summerstage aka Rumsey Playfield on September 18th (tickets). If you want a more intimate experience head up to Toad's Place in New Haven, CT where they play two days after that, or Theatre of the Living Arts in Philly where they're appearing on September 14th. Those are a few of many tour dates they just announced. All of those, with more pictures from the Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "Broken Social Scene played Music Hall of Williamsburg (pics & setlist), announce more tour dates "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Loose Limbs - Red Hands (Martin Clancy Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: New Numbers - Islands EP (Zip)

Broken Social Scene @ SXSW (more by Bryan Bruchman)

Aquarian Weekly: Where does Broken Social Scene go from here? Are there any cinematic soundtracks on the horizon?

Brendan Canning: We've got a lot of cinematic music in the can. There's a few movies we're working on while we do a month of touring and festivals to promote the record. We're involved with Daydream Nation, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, and This Movie Is Broken, which mixes Broken Social Scene live concert footage with a plot line that's half fiction thrown in. Now's the time to work hard, stay on top of things, and know this is our moment.

This weekend boasts an insane amount of awesome shows: Broken Social Scene, Beach House, The Clean, Caribou, Local Natives, Jonsi... of course they're all sold out. So I'm gonna try and suggest things to do that the more lackadaisical music fan can still get into. It's broken up by day...

Continue reading "Zeus, Broken Social Scene, New Numbers, Penguin Prison, The Primitives, Alex Bleeker & more in This Week in Indie "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Inlets - In Which I, Robert (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Inlets - Bright Orange Air (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Inlets - Pictures of Trees (MP3)

It's a mostly Canadian edition of This Week in Indie, so grab a bag of pickle flavor potato chips and let's dig in. Jason Collett, who is a sometimes member of Broken Social Scene, is here playing tonight (Friday, 4/23) at Mercury Lounge and Saturday (4/24) at Union Hall (tix). Of all the satellite performers of BSS, I think Collett is kind of the unsung hero, making terrific album after terrific album in his understated West Coast country-rock style while Stars and Metric get all the attention. Not undeservedly, necessarily, but Collett's a class act, ace tunesmith, and great performer who deserves a lot more recognition. That includes his new album, Rat a Tat.

As you may have read, Collett is touring with Zeus who used to be his backing band (and will be here) and are really good in their own right. Their new album, Say Us, has a sort of '60s Brit feel, with little moments that make me think of the Kinks, Zombies and late period Beatles. This tour, called the Bonfire Ball, will feature collaborations with Collett and Zeus and, at the Union Hall show, fellow Toronto act Bahamas. (Bahamas aren't playing Mercury Lounge for some reason.) Sounds like a tuneful, convivial evening.

Parlovr @ M For Montreal 2009 (more)

We've written at length about The Luyas being in town for their first-ever NYC shows. I'm kicking myself a little that I didn't go to their secret Loft show on Wednesday (a video is below), but there are plenty of opportunities to see them before they leave. They're playing the teeny tiny Sycamore tonight (4/23), and if you're already going to see The Morning Benders Saturday at Music Hall of Williamsburg, which is/was sold out (tickets back on sale at the moment), do show up early to catch them.

But your easiest opportunity is probably Sunday night (4/25) at Glasslands. As an added bonus, they're playing with their Montreal neighbors Parlovr who I think are pretty awesome and would be worth going to this show just to see them. Here's what I wrote when I saw them at M for Montreal last November:

The band's self-titled, self-released 2008 album does not do them justice, making them sound like a Wolf Parade Jr. Live, Parlovr are way more energetic, fun and melodic -- though it may have also had something to do with a fair amount of new material in their set. Singers Louis Jackson and Alex Cooper semi face each other from opposite sides of the stage rocking back and forth like manic Drinking Birds, flipping their '90s skate rat hair around, while mountain man drummer Jeremy MacCuish holds down the beat. They clearly enjoy playing, and it's a lot of fun to watch too.

This is Parlovr's only NYC show, they just finished up a tour with We Are Wolves and decided to join the Luyas for this last show. It's only $7. Well worth checking out.

Think About Life @ CMJ 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

You could do a Montreal triple play (I guess hat trick would be the more apropos sports metaphor) on Sunday if you go early to the WBAR-B-Q and catch Think About Life who are one of my favorite live bands. You have to try really hard to have a bad time at one of their shows. When they played our official SXSW day party this year, I wrote this:

My favorite set of the day came early. Think About Life are so much fun live, so much genuine positivity, it's hard to be in a bad mood with them on stage. An instant hangover cure. I think this was the first time a lot of the audience had ever seen them play, if the number of people who asked me who they were was any indication. At one point singerMartin Cesar left the stage as if their set was over, only to appear in the middle of the crowd dancing, hyping people up. They were the only band that made me forget how cold it was that day.

If you can't drag yourself out of bed in time to make the WBAR-B-Q (gonna guess they're on before 2pm), which is free, Think About Life are back in the city on Tuesday (4/27) playing at Mercury Lounge playing with Chicago's Light Pollution. There's no LOST this week (not that that should ever stop you from seeing this band)...what else you got to do?

Inlets in a loft (more by Chris La Putt)

One non-Canadian weekend pick before I leave you. Inlets' debut, Inter Arbiter, was released this week and tonight (4/23) is the official release party at Union Hall (with Sparrow House). You can listen to the whole thing over at Spinner. It's a lovely listen, baroque pop with amazing harmonies. I've personally never seen them live and am curious to see how much of this they can reproduce live. I'd imagine that at the record release party there might even be special guests. I am not privy to any inside info,  but Zach Condon [editor's note: whose arm was in a sling at the April 12th John Shade show at Mercury Lounge] and Angel Deradoorian do play on the record (and Sufjan Stevens was there to see them at our CMJ loft party).

And don't forget about Saturday night's (4/24) Bruar Falls One Year Anniversary Party with Micachu & the Shapes, Holiday Shores, Beach Fossils and... balloons! It's free and I have a feeling will be crazy packed (and probably quite debauched) so get there early.

That's it for this week. Some videos and flyers are below...

Continue reading "Jason Collett, Zeus, Parlovr, Think About Life, Inlets & more in This Week in Indie "

DOWNLOAD: Broken Social Scene - World Sick (MP3)

Jason Collett's new record, Rat A Tat Tat, came out Tuesday (3/9) on Arts & Crafts. His tour with his backing band, Zeus (who just put out an album of their own), and other opener Bahamas starts this week in Canada before getting to SXSW next week. One of Collett's shows there will be the BrooklynVegan/M For Montreal day party at Galaxy Room on Saturday March 20th. His full schedule for the fest is below.

The three-band tour comes to NYC for a pair of shows in April. They'll play Mercury Lounge on April 23rd (tickets) and Union Hall on April 24th (tickets). Zeus will be at both of those shows (previously Mercury Lounge was listed as "Jason Collett only").

Jason Collett's other band, Broken Social Scene, will also be at SXSW, where they're scheduled for two shows. The first is Thursday, March 18th @ Stubb's with Drive By Truckers and Band of Horses. The second is the official Arts & Crafts showcase @ The Parish on Friday, March 19th:

8pm - Still Life Still
09pm - Timber Timbre
10pm - Zeus
11pm - Jason Collett
12am - Broken Social Scene

Arts & Crafts extended family band Metric play a SXSW show at Stubb's on Friday, March 19th (probably with Muse). Timber Timbre play at least one more SXSW show while in Austin and kick off a tour with The Low Anthem later in March.

The collective is currently plotting its support shows for new record Forgiveness Rock Record, which comes out May 4th on A&C. The first song off that is posted above, right above the picture of the boxset version of the album

As far as NYC shows, BSS will play Webster Hall on May 7th, and they're playing Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on September 17th (the weekend before Pavement take over the space). They have summer festival appearances lined up too (Sasquatch, Pitchfork, their own Toronto fest), which are listed below.

Sally Seltmann will also be at SXSW, though she isn't on the lineup of that Parish show. You might remember her from her old moniker, "New Buffalo". Sally's new album "Heart That's Pounding" is out April 6, 2010 on Arts & Crafts. Cover art and all dates below.

Speaking of Arts & Crafts, A&C alums Stars will be putting out a new album, The Five Ghosts, on their own Soft Revolution Records on June 22nd.

We have never written an album with this much cohesion and unity' says vocalist Amy Millan , 'It is the first time we've had the luxury of being together in a huge room writing songs off the floor. The
Five Ghosts is quintessential STARS.'

They're planning a North American tour for this May and June, where they'll be playing The Five Ghosts in its entirety followed by a set of fan-picked songs. The album tracklist, a video of the band in the studio, and tour dates for all of the above are below...

Continue reading "a big Arts & Crafts update - Broken Social Scene, Stars, Jason Collett & more - new albums, MP3s, tour dates"

Jason Collett, Zeus and Bahamas have announced a North American revue tour featuring all three artists performing together and alone. The three acts have a long history of collaboration, as intertwined as their musical lineage. Instead of the typical show in which each act plays its own set, Collett, Zeus and Bahamas will all take the stage together, playing songs by all three. The tour comes on the heels of new albums for Collett (Rat A Tat Tat, March 9) and Zeus (Say Us, February 23), and songs from both will be featured throughout the evening. [Arts & Crafts]

Zeus initially formed to play as Collett's backing band in 2008, and the group will be in NYC for two shows before the joint tour starts. On February 26th, they'll open for Franz Nicolay (doing one of his first NY shows since his departure from the Hold Steady was made official) and Tim Fite at Knitting Factory (tickets are on sale). They're also playing with The Sadies and People of the North on February 27th at Mercury Lounge. Tickets to that are available as well.

Bahamas is songwriter Afie Jurvanen, and he has backing-band bonafides too. As documented on Alfie's Myspace, "for the last many years he's been playing other people's music-- PasoMino, Great Lake Swimmers, The Stills, Howie Beck, Amy Millan, Jason Collett, Hayden and zeus. He's spent the last few years playing piano and guitar with Feist." Later in February, he'll be opening some Canadian dates for Wilco, who kick off a tour very soon.

The three-band tour starts in earnest this March, and includes SXSW. They'll play across the US and Canada before ending up in NYC near the end of April. There's a Union Hall show in Brooklyn on April 24th (tickets TBA), and one the night before, Friday, April 23rd, at Mercury Lounge (though that one lists "Jason Collett only" for some odd reason). Tickets for the Manhattan show are on AmEx presale now. General sale starts Friday at noon.

Jason Collett's other band, Broken Social Scene, are touring and releasing a new album this summer.

Full tour dates, Zeus' new stop-motion video for "Through Your Head" (and it's making-of), and a free Jazon Collett track are below...

Continue reading "Jason Collett & his band Zeus both releasing albums, playing together & separately, touring w/ Bahamas (2010 dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Takka Takka - Silence (MP3)

(the new) Takka Takka @ Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn - CMJ 2009

photo by Erin Molitor

Brooklyn band Takka Takka are playing a show in DUMBO tonight (11/5). This gig follows a few shows that the band played in town during CMJ. You can see them playing at one of the showcases in the picture above. If you're familiar with the band, you may notice some changes including one less member, and no it's not front-man Gabe Levine aka Samuel Izdat. Gabe/Samuel has started playing solo, but that's in addition to being in the band.

In light of all this, I asked Takka drummer Conrad Doucette if he would answer a few questions...

---

BV: Name and position?

Conrad: Conrad Doucette, second base

BV: Did you watch the last game of the World Series last night?

Conrad: I did.

BV: Were you jumping up and down and screaming really loudly when the Yankees won?

Conrad: I was jumping up and down and screaming loudly in the alternate universe where the Cincinnati Reds have a chance to win a World Series.

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Conrad Doucette of Takka Takka (who have a new lineup & a free show in DUMBO tonight) "