The Rapture at FYFest (more by Rachel Carr)

The Rapture have released an Emperor Machine Remix Edit of "How Deep Is Your Love?" via the Adult Swim Singles Program (which recently released songs by Best Coast, The Tallest Man On Earth, Mastodon, How To Dress Well, Ford & Lopatin, and Active Child). Listen to the song below now. Download it Wednesday (7/20) along with all the other tracks released so far. Look for upcoming songs from Clams Casino, JJ feat. Ne-Yo, El-P, and Cerebral Ballzy in the coming weeks.

The Rapture play Music Hall Of Williamsburg on 8/20 before they head across the pond to the EU. The show is sold-out. All dates are also listed below.

Continue reading "Adult Swim Singles continues w/ a Rapture remix (listen)"

Modest Mouse @ Terminal 5 in March 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Modest Mouse will join Faith No More and Nas & Damian Marley (tickets) as one of the acts set to play at Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn this summer. Their Friday, July 23rd show will be ticketed/non-free (like the others mentioned). Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (which is when the just-added Faith no More show goes on sale too).

Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is a week after they play the Pitchfork Festival which recently updated its lineup. New acts playing the Chicago fest include Big Boi, Major Lazer, Neon Indian, Beach House, Free Energy, Local Natives, Robyn & more. Check that out in full below. Single day tickets are still on sale.

UPDATE: Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is one day after they play one in NJ.

Modest Mouse will be reissuing their third album, The Moon & Antarctica, on vinyl for its 10th anniversary, on Record Store Day - this Saturday, April 17th. "The album features restored original artwork and replicates the infinite lock groove found in the original vinyl pressings of 2000. The new vinyl reissue includes a download card for the album." All dates the the P4K Fest lineup, below...

Continue reading "Modest Mouse playing Williamsburg Waterfront, the Pitchfork Festival (updated full lineup) & other tour dates"

photos by Bao Nguyen

"They started their set behind a huge white curtain glorified with epic lighting that showed all three members as huge silhouettes dramatically playing "Intro". They played all of the songs on their debut album, including a cover of a Kyla song called "Do You Mind". Going into the show I was worried about how the xx would put the songs together live while keeping the crowd involved and interested. They had no problem. They gave songs like Basic Space and Night Time a new life live, engaging the crowd with extra bass and dance inspired electronics. Romy Croft and Oliver Sim's voices were top notch live delivering all of their lyrics with the same passionate consignment that made their debut so excellent." [We All Want Some]

The xx didn't play a show on Tuesday night (that we know of... maybe they played an Auto Show party like She & Him did for Audi last night), but jj used her off night to headline Knitting Factory and Nosaj Thing opened for Kode9 and Flying Lotus at Le Poisson Rouge on that evening (which was the show right after Tanlines and Micachu and the Shapes). Reviews of jj's live show haven't been very positive which used to be the same problem The xx had, but now more and more people are starting to say really nice things about the headliner's live show.

After this tour, the xx team up with Hot Chip for shows that include an April 22nd sold out gig at Terminal 5.

Jamie xx (who's working on a remix of Gil Scott-Heron's I'm New Here) DJed after their Webster Hall show at Santos as part of Fixed. Check out his remix of Jack Penate's "Pull My Heart Away" at WNYC. Jamie didn't remix it, but it should be noted that The Notorious xx, a mashup of Notorious B.I.G. and the xx, has been making rounds online.

More pictures and set list from Webster Hall are below...

Continue reading "The xx played Webster Hall w/ jj (who also played KF) & Nosaj Thing (who also played LPR) - pics & setlist"

by Andrew Frisicano

Sam Amidon, accompanied by Thomas Bartlett, ushered in the first show of the 2010 Big Ears Festival at the Knoxville Museum of Art on Friday (3/26) with "Wild Bill Jones," his own version of the Appalachian folk song, punctuated with a piercing scream half-way through. "These are all folk songs, some from around here," said Sam, which was the right thing to say at the KMA, an institution whose collection and staff brims with East Tennessee pride. After a welcome by festival organizer Ashley Capps (whose AC Entertainment also organizes Bonnaroo) and co-curator Bryce Dessner, Calder Quartet and violinist Iva Bittova led the audience through the folk-inspired world of Bartok, Janacek and guitarist/composer Fred Frith.

A little after 7pm at the gorgeous Bijou Theatre (est. 1909), Terry Riley and his quartet - consisting of his son Gyan on classical guitar, Tracy Silverman on electric violin and Ches Smith on drums and marimba - played a series of extended ragas and genre-morphing songs. By midnight, an ecstatic crowd of all ages filled the hall for the xx. Just a few hours before, University of Tennessee basketball advanced to the NCAA Elite 8, and the partly collegiate crowd carried the celebratory mood to the gig. Some danced in front of their seats or in the aisles, and cheered in anticipation - in one opera box, an exhibitionist couple shared a drunken embrace dangerously close to the railing. Clandestine cigarettes were smoked as the xx performed their moody rock alongside minutely choreographed stage lights.

The earlier jj were even more laid back than the xx, with a sole singer, Elin Kastlander, standing before video projections that included an Italian soccer game, romps on the beach by Elin and co-member Joakim Benon, and whales and other nature scenes. We also got to see Elin roll a big blunt on screen, which might speak to her onstage ambivalence and generally lackluster approach. She did pick up an acoustic guitar once, as did her blond gentleman collaborator, Joakim, for a few numbers. With the music on autopilot, everything else - from the canned "native" beats to the narcissistic video - seemed to follow suit.

The first act had much better luck: Nosaj Thing's post-apocalyptic electronica, riddled with blippy bullets and ghostly echoes, destroyed the darkened theater. The xx gig was one of of the fest's sold out gigs (the others are currently Vampire Weekend and Joanna Newsom) but those with all-access Inner Ear passes ($250 now, but cheaper if you bought earlier) had no trouble finding front-row first-come, first-served seats if they showed at least 15 minutes before doors. The passes are pricey, but a good deal even if you make it to only 1/3rd of the 30-some shows at the fest.

A few blocks away, Andrew WK and the Calder Quartet finished their set with a cover of John Cage's 4'33" - or as Andrew put it "Johnny Cage! Fatality! Mortal Kombat!" The room was divided between those trying to rebel ("Play music!"), those trying to explain the piece ("It's supposed to be people talking"), those shushing, and those just enjoying the spectacle. Andrew returned for an encore of "Party Hard" (piano, voice and crowd participation) and brought out Calder's Eric Byers for a Bach cello piece, accompanied by an interpretive dance by Andrew WK (think "an impressionistic karate kid") dedicated to the late Merce Cunningham.

The compact nature of the participating venues in downtown Knoxville (one mid- and one large-size theater and a handful of smaller club-like spaces) gives Big Ears an intimate feel, and the festival's musicians - most recognizably, Sufjan Stevens, though his only performance is in a supporting role with Clogs (The BQE is being screened too) - can be seen hopping from venue to venue along with the fans.

The difficult decisions of Big Ears day one - Dutch post-punks the Ex against newcomers the xx - only intensify as the festival progresses, with the headliners like Joanna Newsom, Vampire Weekend and composer in residence Terry Riley all going head to head on Saturday.

More pictures and video from Big Ears day one are below...

Continue reading "Big Ears Fest Day 1 - Sam Amidon, jj, The xx, The ex, Terry Riley, Andrew WK, Nosaj Thing, more (pics, video, review)"

Terry Riley

Joanna Newsom is one of the announced acts for this year's Big Ears Fest in Knoxville, TN, March 26th-28th. Others on the initial lineup include Vampire Weekend, St. Vincent, the Calder Quartet, Andrew WK, The Ex, Gang Gang Dance, Clogs, 802 Tour (Nico Muhly / Doveman / Sam Amidon with Nadia Sirota), The xx, Javelin, DJ/Rupture (solo), DJ/Rupture and Andy Moor, My Brightest Diamond, Gyan Riley, and jj. The fest's artist in residence is composer Terry Riley and a number of his works will be performed (including 'In C'). Bryce Dessner of the National is also one of the curators. Weekend tickets are on sale now. Tickets to invididual shows will be announced later this month, along with the schedule (shows are at different venues around town).

Some of those initial acts have tours booked around the same time. That is the case for Vampire Weekend, the xx and jj tour and Joanna. More info on the fest below...

Continue reading "Big Ears Fest - March 26-28 in Knoxville, TN (Terry Riley in residence, Bryce Dessner curator, xx, jj, VW, WK & more)"

Romy Madley Croft @ Le Poisson Rouge - Jan 2, 2010

Saturday night The xx's female vocalist Romy Madley Croft spun records for her headlining 2AM DJ set at the West Village's Le Poisson Rouge. Finger on the Pulse and VHS or Beta packed the dance floor with their pounding DJ sets before handing the decks off to Romy.

Quite different from what you'd expect to hear on an album by The xx, Romy's solo set consisted of hip hop and pop classics from the likes of Aaliyah, Adina Howard and beyond. It was a great way to kick off the first Saturday of 2010. [Tastes Like Caramel]

Tickets are also on sale for the show jj are playing at Knitting Factory one day earlier.

DOWNLOAD: jj - Ecstacy (MP3)

Sweden's jj put out a debut single and album in 2009, jj n° 1 and jj n° 2, respectively. The albums got them lots of attention including a spot on Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2009. Their second full-length, jj nº 3, will be released by Secretly Canadian, in conjunction with Scandinavian label Sincerely Yours, on March 9th in the US (UK TBA). The Lil Wayne-sampling "Ecstacy," off their first full-length, is posted above.

Though it says "they," the exact lineup of the live group is unknown. A video below indicates that they've played before as a twosome, with a backing track and live vocals and tambourine. We'll see what happens when the group joins the xx for the previously announced set of shows across North America (their first ever here) in March and April.

The two double letter bands start out together in the South on March 22nd and get to NYC by the end of that month. The NYC shows, which were previously unannounced, are on 3/30 and 3/31, but there's a bit of a mystery at the moment about exactly who is on each bill. jj definitely play both dates including the March 30th show at Knitting Factory which is only $10 and already on sale (no xx listed there, and probably too cheap of a ticket price for them to be added).

The next show is March 31st at Webster Hall (a venue big enough for the xx). The xx currently have a hole in their tour schedule for both days, so it seems likely they'll play at least the show at Webster Hall (stay tuned for more info)... which is definitely with the xx. Tickets go on American Express presale Wednesday at noon, and then general sale Friday the same time

The xx and jj then stay on the road together until 4/16 which is when the xx join Hot Chip for late April shows that include a Terminal 5 gig on April 22nd. Tickets are still on sale.

All jj tour dates and a pair of videos are below...

Continue reading "jj announce next album on Secretly Canadian & a tour with the xx (now with TWO NYC shows) - 2010 dates"

Animal Collective @ ATP NY (more by Ryan Muir)

So how the hell did Merriweather Post Pavilion-- an album closer in spirit to the sub-aquatic psychedelia of 2005's Feels and Panda Bear's 2007 solo Person Pitch than its predecessor-- wind up in the Billboard Top 20 and outsell both the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand's most recent albums in North America? That mystery is ultimately the most wonderful thing about the album. Unlike so many indie-rock crossover artists before them, Animal Collective did not breach the mainstream by cleaning up their act, or adopting classic-rock conventions, or scoring a strategic soundtrack or iPod-commercial placement. And, above all, they did little to formalize their defining mercurial quality. [Pitchfork]

Pitchfork also listed their Top 100 Tracks of 2009, and the Top Albums of the Decade.

Animal Collective is DJing the Museum of Natural History in January.

"Not that happy w/ the XX's (too short) set tonight. But Friendly Fires blew me away. wow." - TheGreyestGhost

"Lots of cute frat boys at the Friendly Fires concert. Which was surprising. Yum anyway!" - HereAndNow3

photos by Chris La Putt

Friendly Fires @ Webster Hall

"It makes us giddy with delight to announce that New York's finest, Holy Ghost, are going to join the line-up [of our December 11th show at London's Coronet Theatre]. As if their addition weren't early christmas present enough, we're also going to be revealing an exclusive and highly limited 12" at the show. We've recorded an entirely new reworking of 'on board', showcasing the lung capacity of our brass section. On the other side of 'On Board'(pig bag version) is a fun loving remix by the boisterous Joakim. So as not to rub in the face of the ticketless too much, the 12" is also going to be available in a very limited number of record shops as well. Perfect stocking filler for any nan on the scene. [Friendly Fires]"

The xx start up again in March with US dates running almost to the end of April (aka look for them to appear at both SXSW and Coachella this year). The xx's next NYC show is April 22nd at Terminal 5 with Hot Chip (tickets still on sale). Hot Chip are DJing the above-mentioned UK Friendly Fires show - the show where people will get a first shot at picking up the hot new Joakim remix on vinyl. You can listen to the song now though - thanks to someone ripping it from Annie Mac's BBC show and posting the clip to YouTube.

That video, all dates, and more pictures from Webster Hall, below...

Continue reading "Friendly Fires played Webster Hall with The xx (pics), releasing limited 12" w/ Joakim remix (listen now)"