photos by Tim Griffin

Talib Kweli @ Mohawk Friday night

As previously mentioned, Black Star will return for a pair of dates at Best Buy Theater, and on the same night. Saturday December 3rd will see Yasiin and Talib Kweli perform their only LP in its entirety at an 8:00 show and an 11:30 show. Tickets are on sale for both. Talib Kweli joined Res and band to form Idle Warship, at the BrooklynVegan Day Party on Saturday (10/22) before heading to the Duck Down vs Blacksmith showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg next door. Pictures from the BV party are on the way, but we have a set of pictures in this post from the show Talib Kweli played at the Mohawk one night earlier (yes he was in Texas playing a show after midnight the night before he headlined our show at 5pm in Brooklyn!).

In related news, Wu-Tang Clan (billed as with Method Man, RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck, and Masta Killa) will also head to Best Buy Theater in the coming months, hitting the venue on December 18th as part of a string of live dates that will also include Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ on 12/15 and Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY on 12/17. Tickets are on sale for all dates.

Inspektah Deck will also HEADLINE his own show at 285 Kent on 11/4, joining Ava Luna, DJ Dog Dick, and a DJ set from WFMU'S Marty McSorley. Tickets are on sale. The show is meant to wave goodbye to Babycastles, a collective of independent gaming designers that built an arcade inside Silent Barn.

In other "hip hop at Best Buy Theater" news, Jadakiss, Lloyd Banks, Juelz Santana, Fabolous, Meek Mills, French Montana, and Red Cafe will team for a Funkmaster Flex Presents event at the venue on 11/24. Tickets are on sale.

J Cole plays there tonight (10/25).

Talib Kweli's show Friday night at the Mohawk in Austin, TX was with G-Eazy and Franchize. More pictures from that 10/21 performance, and Wu Tang dates, below...

Continue reading "Wu-Tang Clan tour dates, Talib Kweli live pics & stuff"

The NY Art Book Fair runs through Sunday at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, Queens...

"Free and open to the public, the Fair hosts over 200 international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, artists and publishers from twenty countries, offering the best in contemporary art book publishing."

Get there by 5pm on Saturday for "improvised music by Lucky Dragons, Robert A.A. Lowe (Lichens), Driphouse, and Greg Fox (Liturgy, Teeth Mountain)." Sunday they have a "musical performance by DJ Dog Dick. Presented by Showpaper." More details on the "events" page of their site.

"Dan Deacon & Dustin Wong absolutely murdered it tonight at Cake Shop "Silence like the wind overCakes me, 5 yr anniversary!"" -corygreenwell

Dan Deacon @ Cake Shop on May 27th (via Youtube, below)

Dan Deacon played one of the last shows of Cake Shop's five-year-anniversary month on Thursday, May 27th. Also at the gig were Height, Eternal Summers, Big Troubles and Dustin Wong. A YouTube slideshow of pictures from the show is posted below.

Dan Deacon and his friends at Wham City have posted details on this year's Whartscape Festival in Baltimore on July 22-25. Confirmed acts include Wye Oak, Deakin, Javelin, Lightning Bolt, No Ave, Talk Normal, Zach Hill, Arab on Radar, Xiu Xiu, Yip Yip, Dan Deacon Ensemble and Ponytail (Beach House was intially listed but has since been removed). More bands are TBA. Tickets go on sale at WhamCity.com and Baltimore's True Vine Records on June 15th.

For Arab on Radar, this is yet another date to add to the list of reunion gigs they have scheduled in July, August and September.

Wye Oak are also playing Siren in July.

Deakin (ex-Animal Collective) will hopefully schedule a NYC show one day soon.

Dan Deacon will be back in NYC for a show on June 15th at Red Hook Park (part of a series of shows in the park that kicks off TONIGHT - June 1st).

The full Whartscape lineup and pictures from the Cake Shop show are below...

Continue reading "Dan Deacon played Cake Shop, Whatscape 2010 lineup announced (Lightning Bolt, Deakin, Ponytail, tons more)"

"For 4 years now Wham City has been organizing the WHARTSCAPE. What started as a summer warehouse party turned into a much bigger, multi-day outdoor festival with thousands of bands, performers, and folks traveling to Baltimore from all across the US and Europe.
Since, we organize this festival out of pocket and in our spare time, it is important for us to keep it comfortable and enjoyable for us to do. One thing we talked about at the end of last year's festival was shrinking it down slightly and having it feel more community based and familiar.

This year isn't focused around headliners, but mainly performers and friends that make up the community we tour, work and live in.
We are also greatly reducing the number of MEGA-PASSES (the 3 day pass ticket that grants you entry to every show and every day).
ONLY 300 Mega-Passes will be sold; this is the only guarantee that you can see all the shows.

Tickets will be sold to the individual shows, but it is strongly suggested that you buy a Mega-Pass, as it saves you money and assures you take in the entire poo-poo.
Whartscape will take place July 10-11-12 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art Studio Center Parking Lot, and Load of Fun.
We will begin selling tickets at 12 Noon, Monday, June 29th.

More info and full, 140 band lineup below...

Continue reading "Whartscape - 2009 Wham City festival dates & lineup "

by Andrew Frisicano

Andrew WK takes to the stage of Santos Party House, the club he partially owns, this Thursday, May 28th for a show with Cherie Lily, Height with Friends, Ed Schrader, DJ Dog Dick, Ana Lola Romanhas and host Aleister X. Also appearing will be Julia, Samuel and Bad Brilliance. Tickets are on sale.

That event is a release party of sorts for the first record from Andrew WK's Skyscraper Music Maker label. That compilation, DAMN! The Mixtape Vol. 1, released on May 25th, features "Andrew's work as a producer for Skyscraper Music Maker artists, Bad Brilliance, Aleister X, and more." Check out a streaming sample at RCDLBL, and a trailer for it, along with the video for Bad Brilliance's "It's So Fun" (remixed by AWK), below.

This September, Skyscraper Music Maker (with its partner Cargo Records) will release Andrew WK's new record, 55 Cadillac, a disc of solo piano improvisations. There's an advertisement/preview video for the disc, also below.

Just a few days ago, Andrew WK started his own Twitter, and already he's been dropping news bits (and trying to get people to call him). Along with more prosaic observations about pizza and dusty Diet Coke, Andrew announced that his 2006 overseas-only album, delayed previously because of contractual obligations, will finally be see US release, as well as new disc(?) Young Lord. He writes, "Close Calls With Brick Walls is coming in the winter and Young Lord is next!"

Andrew WK is releasing material sooner than that even. Nardwuar, the Canadian music personality, is putting out a 7-inch on June 23rd called A Wild Pear! split between his own band, The Evaporators, and Andrew WK. The CD release party for that EP is part of a larger Andrew WK summer Canadian tour coming in June. That tour includes Sled Island Fest in June, and more shows with The Evaporators (who killed it at SXSW this year). All dates below.

Non-Canadians get Andrew WK love this summer too, as his new TV show, DESTROY BUILD DESTROY, is premiering on Cartoon Network on June 20th. The program is "a game show involving teenagers and 100 foot high explosions, quadruple wide fire-balls, and the will to create from the ashes!" Check out a preview for that below.

All above mentioned videos, show posters, and a "Learn How to Play Andrew WK songs" clip hosted by WK himself, below...

Continue reading "Andrew WK - new music, Nardwuar, live shows, a TV show, his own label Skyscraper Music Maker & stuff"

Friday January 30th @ DANBRO STUDIOS WAREHOUSE (tentative)

:: BKLYN vs. B-MORE BATTLE MARATHON!
:: 2 stages, bands from Brooklyn on one, Baltimore on the other
:: --| $3 |--

:: DAN DEACON
:::: Thank You
:::::: Future Islands
:::::::: dj Dog Dick

:: secret guests tba
:::: secret guests tba
:::::: These Are Powers
:::::::: USAISAMONSTER

| DANBRO STUDIOS WAREHOUSE |
268 Meserole Ave @ Bushwick Pl | East Williamsburg, Bklyn
L-Montrose, JM-Lorimer, G-Broadway | 8pm | all ages | --| $3 |--

How was the Dan Deacon 'house party'?

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound perform "Baltimore Is the New Brooklyn" in the video below...

Continue reading "Broooklyn vs. Baltimore marathon @ Danbro - Dan Deacon, These are Powers, secret guests & more for $3"

DOWNLOAD: Matmos - Rainbow Flag (MP3)

In Baltimore. soon...

Continue reading "Whartscape 2008 lineup, Matmos included "