The crowd @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - 12/18/12

Pharoahe Monch, formerly of Organized Konfusion and a relatively recent Duck Down signing, showed the crowd how it's done. His brief but powerful set touched upon new songs (joined by the inimitable Jean Grae at one point) and classic material like "Simon Says," including a "Fuck The Police" medley somewhere in the middle. Monch is a consummate performer, but his OG Duck Down labelmates who followed him were up to the task as well. Sean Price took the stage next - the most grizzled, most rotund, and perhaps most fascinating member of the Boot Camp Clik. An animated Grinch parody video began his set. From there, Price simply ripped it, helped out at times by his Heltah Skeltah partner Rock. Price barely moves when he raps, gripping the mic in its stand - and he doesn't need jump around, his presence is engaging enough. [Illiot Gould]

Talib Kweli will play another NYC show next month/year at SOB's on January 20. Tickets for that show, which is a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King and Gil Scott Heron, are still avaialble.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Buckshot, Sean Price, Flatbush Zombies & more played the Duck Down holiday party (pics)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Sufjan Stevens brought his The Surfjohn Stevens Christmas Sing-A-Long Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Disaster Pageant On Ice tour with comedian "Sheila Saputo" (aka singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas) to NYC last week for shows at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (12/21) and Saturday (12/22), the final two nights of the tour. Like the other shows on the tour, he played a long set of mostly Christmas songs and then returned for an encore of Sufjan classics. It was a wild, confetti-filled holiday celebration and pictures from the second night of his NYC run are in this post. More, along with the setlist from night one, below...

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens played 2 nights of Christmas music at Bowery Ballroom (night 2 pics, night 1 setlist)"

photos by Joe McCabe

The Polyphonic Spree at Webster Hall - 12/15/12

For the show the Spree performed two sets: a Christmas spectacular and a regular rock set. But of course this wasn't a solemn Christmas affair. Not a bit of that. Featuring Christmas songs old and new (A Nightmare Before Christmas's "Town Meeting Song" was sung) the set included confetti, balloons, Santa, a snowman, and more rocking the yuletide spirit. And of course there was the large band all dressed up in festive versions of their usual chorus dresses. The only band member in pants was lead singer Tim DeLaughter (his dress came out in the second set) who exuded a wonderful demented Christmas Willy Wonka vibe--especially when he invited the children in the audience up on stage. It was all very silly, and by the time "Feliz Navidad" it was hard not to bounce around, high on the holidays, and forget the latest horrible news [Gothamist]

More pictures and a video from the show, below...

Continue reading "The Polyphonic Spree brought their Holiday Extravaganza! tour to Webster Hall (pics, video)"

NYC rapper Mr. Muthafuckin 'eXquire recently put out his first release for Universal, the Power and Passion EP, which featured the tracks "Telephuck" and "The Message," both of which he just stopped by Sway to perform. While there, he was also interviewed, and you can check out videos of that interview and both performances below.

eXquire will play a hometown show this Wednesday (12/12) at Knitting Factory for a Ladygunn holiday party with Avan Lava and DJs Illyse Singer and Good Goose. Tickets for that show are on sale now. It's his only announced date at the moment.

Videos are below.

Continue reading "Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire performed/was interviewed on 'Sway,' playing holiday party in Brooklyn this week (videos)"

Music/comedy group The Gregory Brothers, who are known for the viral Auto-Tune the News videos (Bed Intruder anyone?), told us their ten favorite viral YouTube videos of 2012. You can check out each video on their list with commentary, and some of their recent hits, at the bottom of this post. Let us know what you think they missed, in the comments.

The Gregory Brothers will play their seventh annual Christmas show in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall on December 12 with Dusty Brown, Melanie Penn, and Sarah and the Stanleys. Tickets for the show are on sale now and all proceeds go to Sandy Recovery. They're promising "Christmas Cheer, Christmas Beer, Hot Toddies, Hot Bodies and music too!"

Sarah and the Stanleys is Sarah Gregory's band and Andrew Rose Gregory also has a number of solo albums out, having most recently released a covers EP over the summer, which featured covers of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," Simon & Garfunkel's "Only Living Boy in New York, Lana Del Rey's "Video Games," and more. You can stream the entire release below or purchase it for $5 on bandcamp.

Check out their Top 10 Viral Video picks, and stream Andrew's EP, below....

Continue reading "Top 10 Viral Videos of 2012, according to The Gregory Brothers (whose annual Christmas show is coming soon)"

photos by Jonathan McPhail

Legendary blues guitarist B.B. King did a two night run in NYC last week at (where else?) BB King Blues Club and Grill on Thursday (11/29) and Friday (11/30). We caught the Friday show and pictures from that show are in this post.

BB King will play NYC again at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival at MSG (4/12-4/13) in 2013 (tickets). He also plays the NYC area right before that at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre on April 11. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (12/7) at noon.

Speaking of the venue BB King's, don't forget Darlene Love is doing her Christmas shows there on December 9 -10 (tickets), and Ronnie Spector is doing her Christmas party there too on December 14 (tickets).

More pics from Friday's show (including opener Chris Bergson) below...

Continue reading "BB King played BB King's (pics)"

Puss & Boots @ Rockwood in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Monday night at the Bell House:

Sex, love, and Country music! Puss and Boots brings to Brooklyn holiday cheer, many P and B special guests/santa's helpers, and hay stacks...lots of them!

Featuring burlesque by Nasty Canaste, and Minnie Tonka plus Speical guests Teddy Thompson, Kaki King, Seth Herzog, Sonia Brown, Michelle Casillas, Jeff Hill, Harper Blynn and more!

7:30pm Doors / 8pm Show / $15 Advance Tickets

Speaking of Norah Jones and Christmas, did you catch her playing the Ace Hotel on Anthony Bourdain's recently-aired Christmas show? Did you catch Fucked Up at the end of the same show?

As their own site reads:

On October 9, the Brooklyn Night Bazaar had its inaugural event at Dekalb Market in downtown Brooklyn. A talented group of local artists, designers, musicians and chefs were joined by over 5,000 visitors for what became a magical evening. Nomadic in nature, the next Bazaar will take place over three nights in a vast 40,000 sq ft warehouse with soaring ceilings. Highlights will include:

-Over 100 local merchant and food vendors.

-Artist films, projections and installations programmed by NBNY Projects.

-Specially designed layout by JDS/Julien De Smedt Architects.

-Live music and DJ sets including James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), The Crystal Ark, Midnight Magic, The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, Wakey!Wakey!, Fucked Up, Dom, Big Troubles and more. See Ticketfly.com for tickets to the Bazaar's performance space.

-Beer and wine garden featuring local breweries and wineries.

When: December 15, 16 and 17 from 5:00 PM until 1AM.

Where: 149 Kent Ave, Brooklyn NY. (Entrance between North 5th and North 6th). Near the Bedford Ave. L train stop or the North 6th Street ferry landing.

Cost: Free except for the ticketed music space.

Look around the Bazaar's website for more info.

By Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Immaculates - New York is Mine for the Holiday (MP3)

Holiday themed singles flow like so much piping hot wassail this time of year. Here's a good one: Brooklyn upstarts The Immaculates' original tune "New York is Mine for the Holiday" lays down a soulful groove without going too heavily on the usual aural signifiers (but even they can not resist a sleigh bell). You can download the MP3 at the top of this post or stream it below. The video, which you can watch below, takes the theme literally by re-editing a familiar NYC-set film from the '90s.

The Immaculates (which feature members of French Miami, Boogie Boarder and Sisters) play the Death By Audio Holiday Party this Saturday (12/10) which, confusingly, is happening at the new Secret Project Robot (389 Melrose) which features headliners A Place to Bury Strangers as well as Evi Antonio.

Look for a second Immaculates EP early next year. Meanwhile, click through for the "New York is Mine for the Holidays" video, plus the DBA Holiday Party Flyer and a couple more streaming Immaculates tracks.

Continue reading "The Immaculates made a Holiday song, playing Death by Audio Holiday Party w/ APTBS (video & MP3 premiere)"

Julian Koster spreads holiday cheer and offends his audience at once

Business idea! Flight cases for "singing saws". Worst case scenario: you will probably have at least one customer in Julian Koster (The Music Tapes), who will need a way to protect his instruments from the elements while on the road as part of his annual Holiday Caroling Tour.

Koster's festive tour centers around caroling and spreading the holiday cheer, and you can join in at one of a few select cities.

Several houses a night will be visited in each city. Houses welcoming outside guests in each area will be listed via email auto-reply two nights prior to the Music Tapes arrival. Write musictapescaroling2011@gmail.com to receive open house list or to make a last minute caroling invitation. Routes are only projected and may change so check often!

Koster recently posted a video for "Nantasket" from the Purim's Shadows (The Dark Tours the World) EP on Merge Records. That video, one starring "badger saw", and the list of dates below...

Continue reading "Julian Koster out caroling again "

Robert Franklin as Santa @ South Street Seaport last year (more by Chris La Putt)

The South Street Seaport will ring in the holiday spirit on Friday, November 25th when the 28th Annual Seaport Chorus Tree Lighting Spectacular lights up the cobblestone streets of the Seaport's Historic District.

TODAY Show personality and fashion expert Jill Martin will host one of New York City's most beloved holiday traditions, with a 40-foot tree serving as the centerpiece of a seven-minute "Sparkle at the Seaport" light show spectacular. Festivities will kick-off with performances by the Darren Wallis Jazz Trio and the Soul Tigers Marching Band. All-male barbershop chorus, The Big Apple Chorus, will perform seasonal favorites, and costumed characters will help Santa Claus countdown to the tree lighting ceremony. To round-off the evening, Ronnie Spector will give a special performance, making it a night to remember for the whole family.

Ronnie Spector is also having the "Best Christmas Party Ever!" at the Cutting Room in NYC on 12/16 and 12/17...

This year the beloved tradition of twenty five years continues at the new Cutting Room located at 44 west 32nd street in Manhattan.

You can expect all the big Christmas hits-and Ronnie has the largest catalog of Christmas classics of any recording artist including 'Sleigh Ride' (#3 past decade) and 'Frosty the Snowman' (#17 past decade) along with her Ronette hits and cult classics. But what makes Ronnie's Christmas Party so special and endearing is her off-the-cuff patter and her childhood remembrances of Christmas and Santa in New York .

As the New York Times observed, "It's hard to think of a more appealing angel to welcome the holiday season than Ms. Spector."

Dan Hicks gets in the Christmas spirit (photo from 1967)

Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks kick off their annual "Holidaze In Hicksville Tour" in support of their smash debut Christmas album, Crazy For Christmas [released in 2010]. The Billboard-charting album features original Dan Hicks Christmas tunes, some classic favorites, and a few tunes re-worked for the holidays.

Continue reading "Dan Hicks touring for the holidays (2012 tour dates)"

Dan Hicks digs Christmas tunes. But it took him over 30 years in the music business to get around to doing his own album of holiday music. The singer/songwriter/guitarist and leader of the Hot Licks, a swinging band with a cult following in the rock world going back to the '70s, has just released Crazy for Christmas on Surfdog Records and is on his way around the country on a tour he calls "Holidaze in Hicksville". The group will perform at a mix of theaters, clubs and coffeehouses, including the Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., the City Winery in New York City and McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Calif.

Talking via phone from his home in Marin County, California, Hicks says that he's always done Christmas tunes during that time of year with his band, the Hot Licks. "I've been doing Christmas songs with the Hot Licks for a couple of decades. We did about eight or ten tunes, but we didn't do them all at once. We've been doing shows we call Holidaze in Hicksville. We have a canvas backdrop with a cartoon scene of Christmas."
[Jazz Times]

Continue reading "Dan Hicks released a Christmas album, touring (dates)"

Darlene Love will perform her Christmas classic, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," at the lighting of the South Street Seaport Christmas tree at 6:00pm today (11/26). Santa will be there too, as well the "Elves of Heaven" featuring Corinne Caouette, and the Pace University Department of Performing Arts who will read/perform excerpts from A Christmas Carol.

UPDATE: Pictures of the Christmas tree lighting HERE.

And two nights after Ronnie Spector plays her Christmas show at BB King's in Times Square, Darlene Love will play a Christmas show at the same venue. Tickets are on sale for the December 19th show which is one day before Darlene appears again on Letterman. On December 22nd, she does a holiday show in Englewood, NJ.

All dates, a flyer showing all Christmas events at South Street Seaport, and a video of Darlene's 2009 Letterman performance, below...

Continue reading "Darlene Love playing Christmas shows (dates), singing at South Street Seaport tree lighting (today)"

As she has for over two decades, rock icon Ronnie Spector will once again ring in the holiday season with tour dates and other activity in December. On December 15, Ronnie will bring this beloved tradition to a nationwide audience with a special performance on The Late Show with David Letterman. On December 17, she'll perform her annual Christmas show at B.B. King's in New York City...

Ronnie's December dates include a U.K. tour and additional shows at The Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ on Dec 16, The Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, MN on Dec 19-20, and Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT on Christmas day.

The shows will feature a mix of songs from Ronnie's new holiday release, 'Ronnie Spector's Best Christmas Ever,' along with her musings and anecdotes from childhood Christmases in NYC, Ronettes classics - like "Be My Baby" and "Walking in the Rain" - and of course her definitive renditions of "Frosty the Snowman," "Sleigh Ride," and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," each among the most-played Christmas songs of all time.

On December 1, she'll appear at the Penn Plaza Borders to sign copies of 'Best Christmas Ever' beginning at 5pm. In honor of World AIDS Day, Borders will donate 25% of the purchase price to Lifebeat - Music Fights HIV.

Continue reading "Ronnie Spector confirms 2010 Christmas tour "

Broken Bells at Terminal 5 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

101.9 RXP has announced their 2010 "Yule Rock Holiday Concert Series" - four NYC concerts at 2 different Live Nation venues over the course of 2 weeks. Tickets are currently on presale for all shows in various incarnations:

• Broken Bells/Karen Elson at Irving Plaza on 12/1 (presale password = "1019RXP", AMEX presale now & regular sale at 10AM on 11/5 via LiveNation)
• My Chemical Romance/The Gaslight Anthem at Roseland Ballroom on 12/3 (RXP presale sold out, AMEX presale now & regular sale at 10AM on 11/5 via TM)
• Cake ("an evening with") at Irving Plaza on 12/7 (Presale password = "1019RXP", AMEX presale now & regular sale at 10AM on 11/5 via LiveNation)
• Florence + The Machine/Civil Twilight will play Irving Plaza on 12/14 (RXP presale sold out, AMEX presale at 8AM on 11/4 & regular sale at 10AM on 11/5 via LiveNation)

Speaking of holiday radio shindigs, WFUV will host their sixth annual "Holiday Cheer" on 12/6 at the Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Amos Lee, Punch Brothers, The Secret Sisters, and Citizen Cope are all on board in this go around and tickets will range you $500 - $45 depending on your choice to VIP pre-party or not.

by Andrew Frisicano

The Music Tapes @ The Bell House in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

This November and December, The Music Tapes will be bringing a comforting, enchanting, and very special evening of Music Tapes' dreamlike songs, stories and games for sleepover parties to ordinary homes across the land (US and Canada). The Music Tapes are now accepting invitations, and plan to visit over 200 homes! As with the Music Tapes' caroling and lullaby travels of years past, they will stop at several houses a night in each city visiting also far off out of the way places most tours never get to go.

The Lullaby evenings with include songs from the Music Tapes forthcoming 2011 record, as well as from Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes, The 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad, and The Singing Saw at Christmastime, along with new Music Tapes games and stories. The entertainment, though sometimes more exciting than lulling, are all in honor of the comforting moments directly preceding and following sleep when we find ourselves happily unsure of whether we are awake or are dreaming. [Merge]

The announcement is also confirmation that the Music Tapes will have a new release in 2011 (possibly titled The 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking)

Complete dates and how to get in touch with the tour (and invite them to your house!) are below...

Continue reading "The Music Tapes announce 2010 holiday tour, plan for new LP"

John Waters & Divine

"Giving gifts is incredibly difficult. The smarter you are, the easier it is to find a gift for you, because you have interests. And if you're really smart, you tell people what you want and they get it for you. If you leave it up to people who you know are going to get you bad gifts, that's your own stupid fault. Basically, a lot of the time people want to be told what to get you, because then they don't have to worry if you'll like it. But the best kind of presents are when someone you know collects something, and you find something that they never even knew existed. That's the top present, even if it costs a nickle. It's just finding something that they want that they didn't know existed.

The worst present is something that's obviously regifted. In that case, you should demand a receipt. [John Waters]"

Continue reading "John Waters adds a 2nd Christmas show in NYC, Ronnie Spector plays BB King's Saturday & Sunday"

DOWNLOAD: Julian Koster - White Chistmas (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julian Koster - Jingle Bells (MP3)

Julian Koster @ Bell House in March (more by Tim Griffin)

Music Tapes' Julian Koster is on the road with his 2009 Caroling Tour, which kicked off Saturday, December 5th in Georgia. The revised schedule for the trip is posted below. Its NYC portion will be happening on December 16th and 17th. E-mail musictapescaroling@gmail.com to get on the list for the exact location and time of the shows. For more info (including a note about posting things online about the shows) and to offer financial support, visit orbitinghumancircus.org.

Two Xmas tracks off Koster's The Singing Saw at Christmastime are posted above.

Another holiday happening that's already underway is "Eternal Christmas: A Yuletide Dreamland", an art exhibit/show space presented by Flaming Fire at 525 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn. It began over the weekend (12/4) and runs through January 5th (12-8 daily, 12-11 Thurs-Sun, $5 suggested donation). The art work tackles "the mythological and cultural roots of the winter season." The installations' "house band" will be Brooklyn's Lydsod, and the schedule includes a performance by Dewanatron (who opened for Music Tapes in March). More info is below.

Both schedules and Julian Koster singing saw videos are below...

Continue reading "Julian Koster now on a caroling tour +++ "Eternal Christmas: A Yuletide Dreamland" is open on Atlantic Ave"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Phil Kline - From Light (MP3)

Phil Kline's Unsilent Night is a free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassettes, CDs and mp3s, and played through a roving swarm of boomboxes carried through city streets every December. People bring their own boomboxes and drift peacefully through a cloud of sound which is different from every listener's perspective. Since 1992, this 45-minute work has grown into a worldwide annual communal event that has become an essential part of many winter holiday celebrations

This year's Unsilent Night New York will happen on Saturday, December 12th. The group starts at the Arch in Washington Square Park at 7pm and walks to Tompkins Square Park (approx. by 8pm). The track posted above, "From Light," is meant to accompany the group's "arriving in the quiet of the East Village, 7th Street to Second Avenue."

Clips from the previous three NYC Unsilent Nights, more info on its creation from Phil Kline and all dates are below...

Continue reading "Phil Kline's 'Unsilent Night' happening in multiple cities (dates) - NYC event starts in Washingston Square Park..."

John Waters as the other creepy old Santa...

A John Waters Christmas is hitting the road this December. Six dates are scheduled with a New York City stop at BB King's on December 22nd. The show takes the form of a monologue that "explores and explodes traditional archetypes as [Waters] shares his compulsive desire to give and receive perverted gifts, a religious fanaticism for Santa Claus, and an unhealthy love of true crime holiday horror stories." Tickets for the NY show are on sale. He visits New Brunswick, NJ's State Theatre four days before (12/18) and tickets for that are on sale too. All dates below.

A John Waters Christmas is actually the name of the director's own holiday compilation that features the likes of Fat Daddy, Alvin & The Chipmunks and Tiny Tim. Videos of few of those are below.

BB King's will host another holiday show with Darlene Love on December 13th. The singer is a 2010 nominee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and she appeared at the museum's two-night MSG show with Bruce & the E Street band. A video of her annual Letterman performance of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is below. Tickets are on sale.

Darlene Love's Love for the Holidays will also be at Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ on Sunday, December 20th. Tickets are on sale.

Elsewhere in Jersey, Darlene teams up with Ronnie Spector for "A Christmas Gift for You" at Red Bank, NJ's Count Basie Theater on Thursday, December 17th. (Both got their holiday start in part from their songs on 1963's A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.) Tickets are on sale.

Then, Ronnie Spector's annual X-Mas Party runs for two nights at BB King's on Saturday, December 19th and Sunday, December 20th. Tickets are on sale.

Spector's new disc The Last of the Rock Stars (...) has guest appearances that include Keith Richards, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Patti Smith, Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs) and Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather). There's also a version of "It's Christmas Once Again" to add to your holiday rotation alongside ubiquitous Ronettes versions of "Sleigh Ride" and "Frosty the Snowman."

Speaking of Patti Smith, she has some annual holiday shows coming up of her own, but those are after Christmas and include New Years Eve.

Dates & songs from all three are posted below...

Continue reading "John Waters, Ronnie Spector & Darlene Love - holiday albums, videos & 2009 shows in NY, NJ, other places (dates) "

by BBG

The Bouncing Souls @ Webster Hall (more by Tim Griffin)

We're well on our way to making HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS the Jersey Shore's rockinest holiday tradition! This is our third year which marks the distinction between 'maybe we can pull this off' and 'a lifetime commitment'. We're happy to assemble a wild cast of our friends and comrades to entertain you and wish you well for the coming year. What's better than getting together with a couple hundred of your closest friends for the holidays and toasting each others' health? [The Bouncing Souls via press release]

• 12/26 getting Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, and Detournement
• 27th getting The Pietasters, a reunion of Worthless United, and Dave Hause
• 28th with their current tourmates Bayside, as well as P.O.S. & Static Radio NJ
• and on 12/30 with Chuck Ragan, Screaming Females, and The Night Brigade.

Screaming Females continue to make NJ proud as they've also just announced a tour with the Arctic Monkeys.

Chuck Ragan was just in town over the weekend, bringing his Revival Tour to Gramercy Theatre on Saturday night.

Blacklisted are scheduled to play the Deathwish day party at Santos during CMJ.

The Bouncing Souls are currently on tour with Bayside and Broadway Calls, a tour which ends in early November. Full tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Bouncing Souls announce 2009 holiday shows @ The Stone Pony (openers include Pietasters, Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, Screaming Females...)"