FREE INDOOR SHOW IN BROOKLYN TONIGHT: Ben Sollee, Holly Miranda & Julianna Barwick play @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (7/31).

DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy - When The Devil's Loose (MP3)

AA Bondy @ Sasquatch Fest (more by Chris Graham)

AA Bondy's June tour with Holly Miranda is over. Looking ahead, he will open some shows for Conor Oberst & The Mysic Valley Band this month, and he has a lone headlining show scheduled at Mercury Lounge in NYC on Friday, August 28th. Tickets for that go on sale Thursday, July 9th at noon.

Holly Miranda also has a show on the horizon. She'll be at the 92YTribeca with Joan As Police Woman on Saturday, July 25th. Tickets are on sale.

Conor Oberst doesn't have any upcoming NYC shows, but he just played a huge one the other day.

AA Bondy's new record, When The Devil's Loose, is set to come out September 1st on Fat Possum. Listen to the title track from that, above.

Below you can preview that song again and another from the album (along with Tom Waits and Hank Williams covers) from AA Bondy's June 26th show in Visalia, CA.

Continue reading "upcoming AA Bondy & Holly Miranda (& Conor Oberst) shows "

DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy - When The Devil's Loose (MP3)

A.A. Bondy's sophomore album, When The Devil's Loose, will be released September 1, 2009 on Fat Possum.

Recorded primarily in Water Valley, MS in April and May, When The Devil's Loose expands upon the stripped-down and stirring sound of his debut album, American Hearts. A full band now accompanies him on most tracks, lending a full, roomy sound to 10 haunting songs carried along by Bondy's lived-in voice. When The Devil's Loose sounds almost from another era, whether it's a quiet, spooky twang ("Oh The Vampyre"), lullaby-like ("On The Moon"), inflected with old-time R&B ("To The Morning"), or colored with traces of '60s pop (the buoyant "I Can See The Pines Are Dancing" and the melancholy, ethereal cadence of "When The Devil's Loose"). [PR]

Still out on tour with NYC's Holly Miranda, the pair played The Bell House in Brooklyn on June 6th, and AA was at the Sasquatch Festival not long before that. Videos from the Bell House & Sasquatch, all upcoming tour dates, and the new album tracklist, below...

Continue reading "AA Bondy announces When The Devil's Loose - first MP3 "

AA Bondy @ Sasquatch 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Youssou N'Dour @ BAM
* Fangoria w/ GWAR @ Javits Center
* The Appleseed Cast @ The Bell House
* AA Bondy, Holly Miranda @ The Bell House
* NIN & Jane's Addiction @ PNC Bank Arts Center
* Tribeca New Music Festival @ Flea Theater
* Dark Meat, D. Charles Speer, Nymph @ Bruar Falls
* Blind Pilot, Local Natives, JBM @ Bowery Ballroom
* Dean & Britta, Cheval Sombre @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Disappears @ Union Hall
* Miike Snow, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head @ Studio B
* Rooftop Films w/ The Woes @ Brooklyn Tech High School
* Sex/Vid, Mind Eraser, Iron Age, Rival Mob @ Cake Shop
* Paul Green School of Rock & Roll All-stars @ Gramercy Theatre
* Jonathan Kane's February, Joan As Police Woman (solo) @ The Stone
* Your 33 Black Angels, Apollo Heights, Courtesy Tier @ The Delancey
* Mind Eraser, Failures, Sex Vid, Iron Age, Drunkdriver @ Death By Audio
* NinjaSonik, Lionshare, Anamanaguchi, Previously on Lost @ Public Assembly
* Pink Mountaintops, Quest for Fire, Family Band, Bone Gunn @ Mercury Lounge
* Daddy Long Legs, Nouvellas, The Mess Around, Oh No & The Tiger Pit @ Cameo
* Titus Andronicus, The So So Glos, Blue Album Group, Attack Release @ MHOW
* Dom Flemons & Justin Robinson (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), Brownbird Ruby Relic @ 92YTribeca
* Bomb the Music Industry, The Max Levine Ensemble, Stupid Party, The Toothaches, Air Waves, Ava Luna, You Can Be A Wesley, Submarine Spaceship, Many Mansions, Ism Jisms, Gunfight, Grass Widow, The Honey Dos @ Hillstock Music Fest

Also it's the last night to catch Cirque du Quoi?!?

Steely Dan tickets go on general sale today.

Today is also the Renegade Craft Fair in McCarren Park.

Phish played their third of three shows at Jones Beach last night. Pics from Night One HERE.

The Orb have postponed their upcoming tour.

Looking at Music: Side 2 opens at the MoMA on June 10th.

Cool new videos of Holly Miranda playing "Joints", "Waves" and "Everytime I Go To Sleep + Hymnal" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy - There's a Reason (MP3)

Holly Miranda @ Mercury Lounge 2/18/09 (more by Tim Griffin)

Jealous Girlfriend gone solo Holly Miranda has been added to AA Bondy's June US tour. That includes the Saturday, June 6th show at Brooklyn's Bell House. Tickets are still on sale.

AA Bondy is in the process of finishing the follow-up to his 2007 debut, American Hearts, which was re-released in 2008 on Fat Possum. An MP3 from his debut is above; more news on the new disc to come. Bondy will also be at Sasquatch and Bonnaroo this year.

Holly Miranda comes off a string of NYC shows, including a CD release show at the Mercury Lounge for her self-released Sleep on Fire EP, which took place on May 5th (with Illinois).

A video of that release show at the Mercury Lounge, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Holly Miranda touring w/ AA Bondy - 2009 dates (Bell House) "

April 14, 2009 (lana adinne)

Last night (April 14th), Flight of the Conchords played the first of two NYC shows with Kristen Schaal at Radio City.

Sporting boxy robot helmets (red eyebrows, bobbing antennae) and silver lame shirts, the pop duo Flight of the Conchords took the vast stage of New York's Radio City Music Hall last night and launched into their current hit, "Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor)."

An expressive crowd -- every one of the venue's 6,200 seats was filled, as they will be for an encore performance tonight -- responded to the nerdy New Zealanders with raucous catcalls and applause that rarely let up during the hourlong set. [Bloomberg]

FOTC show star and tourmate Eugene Mirman hosts tonight's sold out Nada Surf show at the Bell House. Want to go? The venue will be selling 40 tickets at the door.

Mirman will also be appearing at John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonder show at (Le) Poisson Rouge later in the evening.

Holly Miranda is also on the bill for the Bell House tonight. If you miss her, she has another NYC show scheduled for Tuesday, May 5th at the Mercury Lounge, with Illinois. Tickets are on sale now.

Like Flight of the Conchords, Neko Case did a two-show NYC run -- the second of her two shows at Nokia was last night. Opening her first show (April 13th) on was Crooked Fingers, who played a second show at the Bell House last night. Tallest Man on Earth played their first of two shows last night - the second is at Bowery Ballroom tonight with Red Cortez - both bands will play Culture Shock at SUNY Purchase this weekend.

Last but not least (and not related), just wanted to throw in a mention of Canadian songster Hawksley Workman, who played Joe's Pub shows in December and January, is at the same venue tonight. Tickets are still on sale.

Did you do your taxes?

Videos from FOTC's set last night below...

Continue reading "Flight of the Conchords, Eugene Mirman, Nada Surf tickets, Holly Miranda, Neko Case, Hawksley Workman & more "

TSOOL at MHOW last night (Bill Pearis)

today in NYC
* So Percussion @ Joe's Pub
* Monks of Doom reunion @ Europa
* Allman Brothers @ Beacon Theatre
* Eli Paperboy Reed @ The Bell House
* Chris Thile's Punch Brothers @ Living Room
* Extra Life, Mi Ami & Mirror Mirror @ Silent Barn
* N.A.S.A. & DJ Stretch Armstrong @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Franz Nicolay, Spoonboy & Emily Brodsky @ the Delancey
* Medications, Edie Sedgwick, Miracles & Gold Drum @ Cake Shop
* Propagandhi, Paint it Black & Gimme Drugs @ Highline Ballroom
* The Soundtrack of Our Lives & Lissy Trullie @ Bowery Ballroom
* Janeane Garofalo, Paul F. Tompkins, Morgan Murphy & more @ 92Y Tribeca
* Tall Firs, Holly Miranda, Meridians & Sharon Van Etten @ Zebulon
* Ringo Deathstarr, The Depreciation Guild & Grand Mal @ Death By Audio
* Woods, Let's Wrestle, caUSE co-MOTION! & Home Blitz @ Monster Island Basement
* Throwing Muses, Screaming Females & 50 Foot Wave @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* The Death Set, Team Robespierre, NinjaSonik, Totally Michael & Cerebral Ballzy @ The Shank

The Pogues were supposed to play tonight.

Tickets are on sale for the recently added Ratatat show at Terminal 5.

When I said Holly Miranda didn't have any shows between the other night at Mercury Lounge and the upcoming Bell House show with Nada Surf, I lied (well, actually her MySpace lied). She is scheduled to play tonight with Sharon Van Etten and the others listed above at Zebulon.

The Jesus Lizard are playing ATP NY.

Who is playing Central Park Summerstage and Prospect Park this summer?

Little Steven introduced TSOOL on state at MHOW last night. Lissy Trullie opens for them tonight.

Video of Billy Corgan testifying to congress, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

photos by Tim Griffin

Last time we spoke, Holly Miranda had four NYC shows coming up. Three of those are now in the past, leaving just the one she's playing with Nada Surf at the Bell House in April coming up. One of them was opening for the White Rabbits at Mercury Lounge. That's where the pics were taken that decorate this post, and that's the venue Holly is playing a newly-added show tonight, March 10th, when she opens for Pela at their second of two NYC residency shows. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Holly Miranda - Mercury Lounge tonight, Mercury Lounge pics "

photos by Ryan Muir

Holly Miranda @ Zebulon

Holly Miranda, known most for her part in the Jealous Girlfriends, has at least four NYC shows coming up. Tonight (2/13) you can catch her at Southpaw, part of the Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival, with Motel Motel, The Canon Logic, and Ro Agents.

Wednesday (2/18) she opens for White Rabbits at the the first of their two shows at Mercury Lounge. Tickets are on sale. Ravens & Chimes are also on that bill. Bell and Polite Sleeper are the White Rabbits openers on Thursday.

Fast forward a month: Thursday March 12th you can catch Holly at Zebulon in Brooklyn (that's the venue I last saw her in, and where the pictures in this post came from). Tall Firs and Sharon Van Etten are also on that solid bill.

A month after that: Holly Miranda is opening for Nada Surf at the Bell House on April 15th. Tickets are not yet on sale.

Holly has a solo album coming out some time soon (probably when she finds a label to release it) . It was produced by TV On the Radio's Dave Sitek and Celebration's Katrina Ford. Holly said,

..its been a truly magical journey and a family affair, for sure. between katrina and dave producing, sean (of celebration) playing everything with ivory (including a pipe organ in baltimore we sent him to with a midi recorder), stewart and eric (from antibalas) killing it with the sax, trumpet and clarinet, and i think by the time we are done every member of tv on the radio will appear on the album..how sweet is that. plus katrina and i sing two songs together. OH and brendan (from ludlow lions) sings and plays on 'forest green oh forest green' ( a song we wrote together years ago)... there may still be a few guest appearances still to come.

Continue reading "Nada Surf playing Bell House & other HOLLY MIRANDA shows"

words & photos by Jonny Leather

DOWNLOAD: Motel Motel - Coffee (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Motel Motel - Harlem (MP3)

If I had a reputation to gamble, I'd put it all on Motel Motel. I've said it all before, but this is a gifted band which equals the sum of all its parts. Each of the 5 members is a technically efficient musician that brings in different tastes and ideas. That in itself is the foundation for a good band with a unique sound. You put 5 guys influenced by the Pixies together, and you're gonna get a band sounding remarkably inspired by the Pixies. Motel Motel, on the other hand has influences all over the map, most noticeably classic folk, indie rock and even a bit of punk rock.

I've seen them quite a few times now, and every time I'm just a bit more blown away at their compositions. With each performance they seem to get tighter, and seem to add something else to make their songs even grander. Their first album "New Denver" was a great record, pretty much overlooked by the music media, but the new songs they are introducing to their sets are even more dynamic and ambitious. The guitars are bigger, the lyrics smarter, and they've very intelligently brought vocal harmonies into the mix.

Saturday night (1/31) they played Market Hotel in Brooklyn and just as always they played with a refreshing enthusiasm, taking a break midway through the set to wish guitarist Mickey Theis a happy birthday with a lit birthday cake.

While they haven't yet gotten the praise they deserve, 2009 could definitely see that change. Their next NYC show is February 13th at Southpaw - part of the BAM Sounds Like Brooklyn festival happening at multiple venues in the borough. The Canon Logic and Holly Miranda are also on that bill. More Motel Motel Market Hotel pictures, and a couple more dates, below...

Continue reading "Motel Motel - Market Hotel pics, MP3s & some more shows "

photos by Tim Griffin

Shudder to Think is an American Post-Hardcore/Alternative rock group. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C. Dischord Records label and have been labeled a punk band, though they drew upon a wide range of stylistic influences, including pop. Their music is characterized by a complex mix of these stylistic influences, as well as by technical precision and melodic virtuosity. Singer Craig Wedren's characteristic operatic singing style set the band apart from other post-punk D.C.-area bands. [Wikipedia]

Continue reading "Shudder to Think, Pattern is Movement & the Jealous Girlfriends @ Webster Hall, NYC - pics, setlist"

photos by Ryan Muir

Saturday (August 30, 2008) was a long day. After four bands in a row at McCarren Pool, (Ryan and) I considered going to watch some bands perform 'round robin', but the idea of a hot Market Hotel didn't seem that appealing. Instead I went over to the much smaller and much less DIY bar and performance space, Zebulon, to catch Holly Miranda (The Jealous Girlfriends) and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (the Internet). Ironically, Zebulon ended up ridiculously crowded and hot, but I'm not complaining.

Holly was great, though I stood towards the back of the bar where I couldn't even see her for most of the set. Miles and band put on a good (and free) (not counting tips) show, but not a great show. I moved near the front of the club early on in his set because there was no chance of enjoying it from the back of the noisy venue. That helped a lot. Unlike Holly's voice who cut through the whole club, you could barely hear what Miles was saying, even from the front row. There's something soft and choppy about his voice live that makes it hard to get into. Production has fixed that on the record. Maybe he just needed to turn his mic way up. That said, the songs still made me want to tap my foot (which is about all the dancing you can do when the setup is such that the whole crowd needs to shift so someone can get from the bar to the bathroom) and there were still a few big clapping moments.

I have yet to read a good review of his live show (here in the comments or elsewhere) (ok, I take that back...). People probably expect a little more once they've seen you on the cover of Fader. Maybe touring with TV on the Radio will be good training. He and full band played for about an hour with no encore (crowd's choice). More pics below...

Continue reading "Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson @ Zebulon, Brooklyn- pics"