Little Boots at Highline Ballroom (more by Chris La Putt)

Little Boots will hop the pond to play a string of DJ dates across the globe, including three in North America, all in the US. The West Coast gets a pair of dates (11/21 in Hollywood and 11/23 in San Francisco) while the East gets a lone showing, at Le Bain at The Standard on 11/20. Full tour schedule is below.

Little Boots recently posted a new song to Soundcloud. "Shake", out today in the UK, is the first single from her forthcoming as-yet-untitled LP, and you can listen to it along with an accompanying mixtape entitled "Shake Until Your Heart Breaks", with all dates, below...

Continue reading "Little Boots releases single, schedules DJ dates"

photos by Rachel Carr, words by Daiana Feuer

Gorillaz Clash

The third and final round of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was funky, and not just because the port-a-potties reeked. Keeping a loose theme every day (see Friday & Saturday), Sunday focused on relentless rhythm and groovy basslines. The absolute golden moment belonged to Yo La Tengo's blistering final song. Rhythm that revels in repetition + guitar that tries to destroy itself = wee mind blown. Sometimes the moodiest things are the most uplifting.

Thom Yorke brought his dancing shoes, his favorite Flea, and Nigel Godrich. His band Atoms For Peace played almost every song off The Eraser, many of which featured strong world rhythm sections. When Yorke didn't have a guitar in hand, he danced, whirled, and punched the air like he was rehearsing a scene from Fame. We wanted a high kick, but it didn't arrive. King Khan & The Shrines, on the other hand, featured legs flying all over the place, DJ Lance Rock and Yo Gabba Gabba characters, burning money, as well as a visit from the police-who crept on stage to snap pictures. Probably the first time Khan runs into cops and doesn't leave wearing cuffs. Sunny Day Real Estate had the audience offering bids to buy property, and Phoenix had people choking on dinner as they tried to dance and eat at the same time.

King Khan Gabba Gabba

Not every Julian Casablancas song captivated, but his band delightfully binged on rhythms. Each musician had a personal backbeat player supporting each fill. The drummer plus his sidekick especially sounded great. Matt & Kim's ebullient smiles inspired chaos in the audience, as usual. Mayer Hawthorne and the County revived Motown soulful brassiness and covered Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." The Big Pink played some new songs from next year's album, reaching out for Depeche Mode with a drummer in a pink bathing suit. Electro sweet popper Little Boots forgot her pants as well, wearing a sparkly shirt and knickers, and played with the lasers on stage. Charlotte Gainsbourg inaugurated her "first tour, first everything" with a feminine "Candy-O" sensibility, sometimes in French. Florence & the Machine rounds out the great lady performances of the day, and brought on Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids.

All clad in white, France's DJ ego-powers Club 75 demonstrated the ability to cooperate together with just a few elbows thrown. Cassius, Justice, Busy P, and DJ Mehdi still use CD's (so old school), and took turns passing on the headphones between them and finishing each other's remix sentences, trading places at each station. Backstage security bobbed along while staying tough. When it was their turn, Rusko turned the Sahara tent into a mechazoid robot battle and Orbital live-produced virtual reality anthems for Satan wearing Matrix miner lights around their heads. Infected Mushroom instructed on the benefits of "Becoming Insane" flanked by two mushrooms with red eyes.

The Middle East should not be confused with The Soft Pack, formerly The Muslims. The former may be from Australia but it sounds like a back porch band from Woodstock, and the latter offers a "Parasite" infestation that's as pure as sunshine and a neat drum set up that packs a giant tom punch. What appears as regular rock on headphones reveals its brilliance when experienced live. One of the strangest live moments of the festival belongs to Sly Stone, who played four hours late and on the wrong stage. He bitched, he slurred, he cursed, lay down, walked off, stopped songs and good grief, made a total mess of himself. But that's rock and roll.

Sly Stone made history look unable to get past its youthful drug phase, but Jonsi, Pavement, and Spoon come from a music scene that did a little bit less cocaine. Jonsi repped the awesomeness of Sigur Rós and great hats. Steve Patterson of White Rabbits joined Britt Daniels and the rest of Spoon to add percussion on "I Turn My Camera On". Spoon's tour-mate Bradford Cox (who played earlier in the day in Deerhunter) also joined Spoon on stage, like he did on their recent Kimmel appearance. Pavement ran through the hits during one of their first U.S. shows since reuniting. "That's the 90's in a nutshell," said Stephen Malkmus after the angsty "Unfair"...

"...Pavement, the iconic slacker band of the '90s, who took the main stage against what turned out to be one of the fest's chief attractions, the finally wildly popular French dance-rock band Phoenix, who wowed possibly the biggest crowd of the entire fest ... while Pavement played to a field half-full of true believers rather than the massive throngs many expected, and thought the band deserved.

No matter, though. Pavement still delivered a set that vindicated the group of prior crimes -- namely a Coachella performance near the end of their career so notoriously bad, many in attendance point to it as the moment the band decided to break up.

This night, however, they were tight, they were loud, and they sounded large on that vast field -- an odd statement, given the fact that in their heyday they were far more known for being introspectively small rather than arena-ready..." [The OC Register]

Virtual Snoop Dogg introduced the Gorillaz set, but Blur's Damon Albarn appeared in the flesh, with a few special guests including Paul Simonon, Mick Jones, De La Soul-who kicked their own old school jams earlier in the day-and Little Dragon's Yukimi. One unique rhythm transcended the next, showing the mutability of hip hop and dance music. And then that was it, suddenly. The festival ended and tens of thousands of people started wondering where they left their car keys...

Radiohead Peppers For Peace

Daiana's Weekend Top 10:
1. Yo La Tengo's last song
2. Little Dragon's Yukimi
3. Gossip leading a revolution
4. Thom Yorke dancing to African rhythms
5. PiL giving a history lesson
6. Sly Stone wigging out
7. Bouncing penises + fat people in undies (Die Antwoord + Major Lazer)
8. Devo putting on the hats that ushered in modern pop culture for "Whip It"
9. John Waters corrupting many young minds
10. The Gorrilaz lyric: "Super fast jellyfish going super fast. You can't even see him but you wanna eat him."

--

Owen Pallett, Local Natives, Miike Snow, and Yann Tiersen also played the fest Sunday. Gary Numan was among those who couldn't. Reviews & pictures from Day One, HERE and Day Two, HERE. Setlists (Thom Yorke and Pavement), pictures, and videos from Day Three, below...

Continue reading "Coachella 2010 - Day Three in pics, video & review (the Thom Yorke & Pavement setlists included) "

photos by Tim Griffin

Lucero

"...The bands were running late at Club Deville, but I was pleased to hear Centromatic on the stage. They sounded like classic rock and when Steve Miller Band's "Rock'N Me" came on after their set, it was in the same vein, but Centromatic was above and beyond.

Lucero came on next and killed it. Nichols' voice is like sandpaper on gravel and it has a booze-soaked and sorry quality that makes it sound like the hard nights and heartbreaks that he sings about are real experiences. Lucero is one of the few bands that I've seen (Free Energy comes to mind as well) that broke through to fans. Quite a few folks were dancing, jumping, singing and generally rocking out during their set..." [Rock Candy]

...It was a perfectly rowdy ending to the BrooklynVegan/DailyMotion day party at Club DeVille on Friday, March 19th (one of our seven shows this year). The day's eclectic lineup ranged from country to electro to singer-songwriter to comedy. We also made a huge effort to feed people and give away free stuff this year. Those who stopped by the free show got free Ear Piece ear plugs, Magic Hat beer, Firefly Sweet Tea vodka (that lasted the entire 6+ hours), Gundlach Bundschu wine, Raw Rev bars, Nadamoo ice cream, Hail Merry "Grawnola", breakfast tacos and Daily Juice catering. Action For Animals was on hand with baked goods for sale that helped raise $800 for charity. Somebody (and every band and comedian) won some Original Penguin clothes. Members of Passion Pit (aka the Wet Bandits) played the music between bands. KEXP was filming video. All in all an amazing day.

Catch Lucero in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg this Tuesday, March 30th with Glossary (tickets are still on sale). Centro-matic kicks off a house tour in Houston the same day.

You've already seen some of this Friday party HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Pictures, reviews and videos from it continue below...

Continue reading "Lucero, Centromatic, Nicole Atkins, Holly Miranda, Zola Jesus, more @ Club DeVille (BV/DailyMotion day party) - pics & video"

hi guys

just wanted to say a huge personal apology for the remaining US tour dates being cancelled. i really hope you can understand this is due to circumstances completely out of my control, i hate cancelling shows and was so much looking forward to coming to all the places we've never been and returning to the ones we have... i'm truly gutted and hope you can forgive me and hopefully we will try and reschedule as soon as we are able.

thank you so so much everyone who has bought the record state side i really appreciate it and hope to have some new music for you very soon!

love boots x

Little Boots, who is currently in Austin, is referring to the news that "Due to unforeseen circumstances and commitments in the UK Little Boots is postponing all US & Canadian tour dates after her April 18th Coachella performance." The cancelled dates include Philly, DC, Boston and Atlanta. There wasn't a NYC date, probably since she just played here on March 2nd.

photos by Chris La Putt

There's not much you can say against the laser harp. At the Highline Ballroom on Tuesday night a beam of green light shot up from the floor, then fanned out into eight individual rays. The tiny synth-pop singer Little Boots, wearing a gold lamé gown and face mask, played the melody of her song "Earthquake" by moving her hand among the streams of light; each time she blocked one, it triggered a synthesizer pitch, and she could alter its tone by lowering or raising her hand on each beam.

"Earthquake" isn't much of a song, but that was a beautiful display. It made you feel light. "I'm basically obsessed with lasers," she admitted, chattily, when the song was done...

...And at two points in the show, putting on a cape and hood and getting behind a red synthesizer, she evoked another great future monger from the past: Sun Ra. This sort of thing has a history. There's a lot out there besides Auto-Tune. [NY Times]

More pictures from the show at Highline Ballroom below...

Continue reading "Little Boots played a laser Harp @ Highline Ballroom in NYC w/ Class Actress & Body Language (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Dragonette - Pick Up The Phone (Van She remix) (MP3)

Little Boots @ Bowery Ballroom in September (more by Chris La Putt)

Little Boots has announced openers and additional dates on her upcoming North American tour. That includes Coachella and the previously announced NYC show on March 2nd at Highline Ballroom. Opening that will be Body Language, JDH & Dave P of FIXED and Fan Death (the latter of which open more dates on the tour) UPDATE: Fan Death cancelled their appearance on this tour. Tickets are still on sale and we have a pair to give away. Details are below.

The show coincides with the US release of Little Boots' debut album, Hands, on Elektra Records, which comes almost a year after its UK release.

Besides Vancouver band Fan Death (who have videos posted below), Class Actress and Dragonette (who have a remix above) also open shows on the tour. Of those mentioned, Body Language, Class Actress and Fan Death will be at SXSW.

Class Actress (Brooklyn's Elizabeth Harper and band) just released their debut EP, Journal of Ardency, on Terrible Records (co-run by Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear). She recently played a Glasslands release party for that album, and plays again tonight (2/9) with Yeasayer and Javelin at MHOW. More tour dates are below.

Contest info and tour dates for all the bands are below...

Continue reading "Little Boots playing shows w/ Fan Death, Body Language, Class Actress & Dragonette - updated 2010 tour dates"

Wow...Public Image Ltd, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Grace Jones, Fever Ray, Devo, Hot Chip, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Mew, Camera Obscura, Gil Scott-Heron, The xx, John Waters, Dillinger Escape Plan, Deer Tick, Gary Numan... Full Coachella 2010 lineup below....

Continue reading "2010 Coachella line up announced (Faith No More, Pavement, Muse, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Jay-Z, LCD Soundystem, ???)"

Trend You Wish Would Go Away

1. 90s revivalism (No Age, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars)
2. Afropop indie (Dirty Projectors, Fool's Gold, Abe Vigoda)
3. Animal Collective acolytes (Blind Man's Colour, Our Brother the Native, USF)
4. Balearic (jj, John Talabot, Windsurf/Hatchback)
5. Chillwave/glo-fi (Washed Out, Neon Indian, Nite Jewel)
6. Dubstep and its offshoots (wonky, funky, bassline)
7. Post-Lily Allen UK pop (La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine)
8. Prim, buttoned-up indie (Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent)
9. Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)

Vote for that & more in Pitchfork's 2009 Reader's Poll. Image via Hipster Runoff.

Little Boots @ Bowery Ballroom in September (more by Chris La Putt)

UK electropop singer Little Boots will be back in the US for a show on March 2nd at Highline Ballroom. Tickets are on sale now. No other North American dates have been announced yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if she makes her way west after NYC for a stop at SXSW in Austin (March 17-21).

In September, the last time she was in New York, Little Boots visited Irving Plaza for an unannounced solo appearance at Perez Hilton's show there before her own headlining gig at Bowery Ballroom.

All tour dates and some recent interview/performance clips are below...

Continue reading "Little Boots returning in March (Highline Ballroom on sale)"

Dirty Projectors in warmer times (more by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* ZO2 @ Mercury Lounge
* Al Green @ BB King's
* America @ Nokia Theatre
* Tyshawn Sorey @ Jazz Gallery
* No Age play 'The Bear' @ New Museum
* R. Kelly, Pleasure P @ WaMu Theater
* Mika, Gary Go @ United Palace Theatre
* Vashti Bunyan, Matteah Baim @ 92YTribeca
* MV & EE, Larkin Grimm @ Issue Project Room
* Girls & Boys w/ Chromeo (DJ) @ Webster Hall
* Punch Brothers w/ Chris Thile @ Carnegie Hall
* Sea Wolf, Port O'Brien, Sara Lov @ Union Hall
* Saint Vitus, Saviours, Orphan, Bassoon @ Europa
* Portugal. The Man, Hockey, Drug Rug @ Maxwell's
* Evan Parker, Tim Berne & Earl Howard @ The Stone
* So Percussion: Imaginary City @ BAM Harvey Theater
* Chromeo, The Phenomenal Handclap Band @ Irving Plaza
* Asobi Seksu, Loney Dear, Anna Ternheim @ Bowery Ballroom
* Iron Age, War Hungry, Mother of Mercy, Thriller @ Cake Shop
* Sunset Rubdown, New Villager @ Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom
* Bear in Heaven, Dinosaur Feathers, The Tony Castles @ Union Pool
* Electric Six, The Gay Blades, Millions of Brazilians @ Hiro Ballroom
* The Raincoats, Soft Power, Viv Albertine @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Shonen Knife, Shellshag, Miho Hatori's New Optimism @ Santos Party House
* The Airborne Toxic Event, Red Cortez, The Henry Clay People @ Webster Hall
* Suicide City, Goes Cube, Black Water Rising, Cinema, Cinema @ Crash Mansion
* Beach Fossils, Prince Rama of Ayodhya, Air Waves, PC Worship @ Market Hotel
* The Horrors, Crocodiles, Black Diamond Heavies @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Child Abuse, Tinsel Teeth, Suffering Bastard, Gay Witch Abortion @ Death By Audio
* Gaslight Anthem, Murder By Death, Jesse Malin, Broadway Calls @ Brooklyn Bowl
* New Yorker Fest w/ Dirty Projectors, House of Ladosha, Jubilee, Liturgy @ The Bell House

Spencer and Sunset Rubdown play with New Villager at Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom.

Asobi Seksu, Loney Dear and Anna Ternheim finish their tour together with a show at Bowery Ballroom tonight.

The Horrors and Crocodiles pair up for a tour-ending show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Shonen Knife kicks off a North American tour tonight (which will visit Maxwell's and Brooklyn Bowl in November) with a show at Santos Party House with Shellshag and Miho Hatori's New Optimism.

Dirty Projectors are on a New Yorker-curated bill at The Bell House with House of Ladosha, Jubilee and Liturgy. Dirty Projectors then head out on tour with Givers, and then Little Wings, and then tUnE yArDs - that ends with four mid-November NYC shows.

The Gaslight Anthem, Murder By Death, Jesse Malin and Broadway Calls follow up their Terminal 5 show last night with a Brooklyn Bowl gig tonight.

Chromeo has a free BK Bowl show coming up next Friday, but tonight is their sold-out Irving Plaza show with The Phenomenal Handclap Band opening. Chromeo DJs Girls & Boys at Webster Hall post-show.

Electric Six are on tour with The Gay Blades and Millions of Brazilians. Tonight they play Hiro Ballroom, and Sunday they do Maxwell's.

Iron Age, War Hungry, Mother of Mercy and Thriller are at Cake Shop tonight. Iron Age plays The Charleston tomorrow.

So Percussion perform their intricate, far-reaching sound-theater piece Imaginary City at BAM's Harvey Theater.

L.A. doom metalers Saint Vitus play with Saviours, Orphan and Bassoon at Europa.

No Age play their score to "The Bear" at New Museum. Tomorrow they play a regular show in Brooklyn. Last night it was MoMA. The night before that, Le Poisson Rouge.

MV & EE and Larkin Grimm play Issue Project Room.

New Little Boots video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

photos by Ryan Muir

"People who speak in magazine copy will call 2009 The Year Of The Electro Gal. With La Roux and Little Boots leaving their signatures on the last 12 months, it falls to Philadelphia rapper-slash-singer Amanda Blank to own the last quarter of 09.

Blank's been around for almost half a decade. Her potty mouth has been front and centre on electro-rap masters Spank Rock's most beloved tracks (most notably Bump, where she name checked herself as a "boastful bitch MC") and she also appeared on the Diplo Vs Santogold mixtape, as well as NASA's debut. But due to record company machinations and her own caution, her solo debut, I Love You, is only coming out now." [Guardian]

Amanda Blank brought Spank Rock along for her late-night performance at One Step Beyond at the American Museum of Natural History on Friday night (9/9). Spank Rock DJ's Devlin & Darko were also on the night's bill. More pictures (NSFW?) below...

Continue reading "Amanda Blank, her guest Spank Rock, and Devlin & Darko @ the Museum of Natural History in NYC - pics"

photos by Tim Griffin

Ladyhawke

"New Zealand rocker Ladyhawke may sing about Paris burning, but on Wednesday it was New York City that was on fire. At the headliner of the "Perez Hilton Presents" concert at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, Ladyhawke was well-worth her witching-hour performance, featuring crowd-friendly renditions of "Back of the Van" and "My Delirium." Unfortunately, fellow co-headliner Ida Maria was a no-show because of illness. No matter. The two surprises Hilton pulled out of his sleeve certainly made up for it.

"I'm marveling that I was able to pull it off, because I've never put on a tour before," Hilton told MTV News. "The reason why I'm doing the tour, the reason I have a record label, the reason why I write about music on my Web site is because I think music lovers like sharing good music with other music lovers."...

...Last-minute surprise act Little Boots hit the stage sans her band mates (they were stuck across town) and performed solo with only a piano to accompany her. She thanked Hilton with a run through a haunting cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and was followed by another surprise in Kat DeLuna, whose high-octane hip-swirling show made the walls sweat." [MTV]

By "across town", they mean at Bowery Ballroom where Little Boots also played on Wednesday night (9/16). Ida Maria was in fact a no-show, though the type of illness is unclear - it may have been a case of Perez-itis because she seemed to be doing okay when she performed at the Betsey Johnson fashion show a night or two earlier. Officially it became this:

Friday, September 18, 2009

Ida Maria will not be finishing the current Perez Hilton Presents Tour. She is suffering from total exhaustion and will be heading home to Norway to rest and be under Doctor's care. Her personal statement to everyone is:

Dear Friends and Fans. I am so very sorry but I cannot finish this tour. After touring in Scandinavia, Europe, the UK, Australia, Japan and the USA for 3 years straight I am just completely exhausted. I have learned that I am not a superwoman.

I love all the bands, musicians and crew on this tour. Go see these bands! I will be back and look forward to playing you my music both new and old. The new music is in forefront of my mind. Thank you all again. See you soon. I wish you peace.

Ida Maria

One night before the Irving show Ladyhawke played the Apple Store. More pictures from Irving Plaza (NSFW - there were strippers), below...

Continue reading "Ladyhawke, Little Boots, Semi-Precious Weapons & friends @ Irving Plaza in NYC (the Perez Hilton show) - pics (NSFW)"

photos by Chris La Putt

ClickMusic: You've received a lot of critical acclaim with your debut album. But with the advent of the internet, it seems that any artist is never far away from criticism. How important is that criticism to you?

Little Boots: There's not many people that I trust for criticism, so... You know, most people on the internet, there's, like, ten year old kids and, like, middle America, who'll log onto YouTube and say that you're fat and ugly and can't sing for shit. And it's just, you know... I mean, I take criticism from my colleagues and friends and, you know, people who are close to me... and people who are talented. It's stupid to let that affect...

Little Boots headlined a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC last week (and earlier the same night she performed a surprise set at Perez's show at Irving Plaza). More pictures from the Bowery show below...

Continue reading "Little Boots, Plastiscines & Yes Giantess @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - pics "

Olof Arnalds @ Prospect Park in June (more by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* The Rapture @ Matchless
* Blood Orange @ Bruar Falls
* We Are Ivy League @ Union Hall
* Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival
* Son Volt, Sera Cahoone @ Irving Plaza
* Aretha Franklin @ Radio City Music Hall
* The Horrors, Crocodiles @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Sounds, Foxy Shazam @ Roseland Ballroom
* Ramona Falls, Music Video, We Are Country Mice @ Pianos
* Olof Arnalds, Nadia Sirota, Emilyn Brodsky @ Union Pool
* Face to Face, Pegboy, Polar Bear Club @ Gramercy Theatre
* Richard Lloyd & The Sufi-Monkey Trio @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Datarock, Esser, JDH & Dave P, Karin Park @ Highline Ballroom
* Fun., Miniature Tigers, New Numbers, DJ F-Word @ Mercury Lounge
* The Weakerthans, Rock Plaza Central, Tomte @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Drink Up Buttercup, The Art of Shooting, Candle Of Paradise @ Glasslands
* Country Music Fest w/ The Defibulators, Sammo, Alana Amram @ Southpaw
* Grooms, Videohippos, Starring, PC Worship, Anamanaguchi, Dome Theater @DBA
* Nudie Jeans Fashion Party w/ Lykke Li (DJ), Bjorn of Peter Bjorn & John (DJ) & Lemonade (DJ) @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* New Languages Fest w/ Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, House of Mirrors, The Respect Sextet @ McCarren Hall

There's a free VICE / Nudie Jeans Fashion Party with DJ sets from Lemonade, Lykke Li and Bjorn of Peter Bjorn & John at Le Poisson Rouge.. RSVP. 11PM doors, 21+ Free Colt 45 and Well Liquor Open Bar from 11PM-12:30AM. Flyer below. There's a VICE / something else party with a set by the Rapture in Brooklyn.

Fun. is Nate Ruess (The Format), ex-Anathallo multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost and Steel Train's Jack Antonoff.

Son Volt dropped a new album this summer, and now they come to NYC's Irving Plaza for a show with Sera Cahoone.

The Horrors play with Crocodiles at Bowery Ballroom tonight. Both bands return in October.

The Weakerthans play two nights in NYC now. Tonight is at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Rock Plaza Central and Tomte. A live Weakerthans video from 2006 below...

Menomena guy Brent Knopf fronts Ramona Falls, which comes to town this weekend, starting with Pianos tonight. Menomena played ATP NY on Sunday.

Olof Arnalds winds up her recently NYC trip with a show at Union Pool that also includes Nadia Sirota and Emilyn Brodsky.

Face to Face, Pegboy (ex-Naked Rayguy) and Polar Bear Club are currently on a tour that stops at Gramercy Theatre tonight.

Television's Richard Lloyd plays with The Sufi-Monkey Trio at (Le) Poisson Rouge tonight.

Scarlett Johansson is playing a benefit at Carnegie Hall with lots of interesting people. Scarlett and Pete Yorn played "Relator" on French TV. That's below.

Tim Heidecker stars in Clues' new video for "You Have My Eyes Now," which is posted below.

Little Boots was in town last night. Coverage of that coming soon. In the meantime, her interview with Nardwuar below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - "Earthquake" (Yes Giantess remix) (MP3)

Little Boots' Tenori-On @ LPR (more by Chris La Putt)

Little Boots is in town to play a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom tonight (9/16) with Plasticines and Yes Giantess. The latter is responsible for the remix you can download on top of this post. The show goes right up against the Perez Hilton tour stop which is happening not that far away at Irving Plaza.

Thanks to a tip by Renaldo, I called Irving Plaza. In addition to a recording saying the show wasn't sold out, it listed these set times:

8:00 doors
9:00 Frankmusic
9:30 Little Boots
10:00 Semi Precious Weapons
10:45 Ida Maria
11:45 Ladyhawke

Ladyhawke also played the Apple Store yesterday. All Little Boots dates below...

Continue reading "Little Boots is here (tour dates) -- playing Irving Plaza too? "

photos by Zach Dilgard

Grace Jones

"Late of the Pier played a 20 minute shmeh set and crystal castles had no sound. crookers were better than usual and orbitol were awesome. grace jones is fucking mad and fucked up the schedule. Fever Ray is a shamanic wonder." [The Naked Smiles Club]

Grace Jones has shows coming up in both NYC and LA. The 2009 Sonar Festival took place June 18-20 in Barcelona. More pictures from that weekend in Spain, below...

Continue reading "Sonar 2009 in pictures"

"Woah just watched crystal castles at sonar, sound was awful throughout kept cutting out so at te end alice started trashing the stage..." - Little Boots

Crystal Castles @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

"Toronto synth-rockers Crystal Castles were involved in a melee with security while onstage in Barcelona early Sunday morning. Their show, part of the Sonar festival, had been marred by technical issues. At some point during the set singer Alice Glass went into the crowd and punched a security guard. She then climbed back on stage, and pulled out the kick drum and appeared to be about to heave it when a sound technician grabbed her. And that's when her bandmate Ethan Kath jumped in and rushed to her aid." [National Post]

Videos below...

Continue reading "Crystal Castles fight w/ security @ the Sonar Festival (video) "

Little Boots @ (Le) Poisson Rouge in May (more by Chris La Putt)

Pop music in recent years has tended towards the prosaic and straightforward, whether it's the Arctic Monkeys' and Lily Allen's tales of urban teenage life, or Coldplay's stadium-filling platitudes about feeling like a puzzle with a missing piece and lights guiding you home. By contrast, Little Boots is an altogether more complicated sell: a female "synth-geek" who has to restrain herself from boring interviewers with discussion of "casual circuitry", and describes her style as "cosmic Coronation Street". "People are really black and white about stuff," she says. "They either want you to be Kylie, where you don't write the music and you're part of the machine, or a singer-songwriter. You can't be seen to be both." [Guardian UK]

Little Boots (aka UK singer Victoria Hesketh) last visited the US in May for a one-off show at NYC's (Le) Poisson Rouge. She'll return to the US in the fall for a couple more shows -- at least four this time. Those include a Wednesday, September 16th gig at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets go on today at noon; general sale starts Friday, June 12th.

Boots' debut record, Hands, is out now in the UK, but still doesn't have a set US release. That'll come sometime in the future on the newly rebooted Elektra label. Stateside fans get the US-only Illuminations EP, which is out now. The singers' website is currently hosting a free minimix of songs from the new album.

All tour dates, with a video of Little Boots playing a piano cover of Blur's "To The End," below...

Continue reading "Little Boots - 2009 tour dates (Bowery Ballroom), EP out now"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Chris La Putt

Little Boots, aka UK singer and Warner/Atlantic Records signee Victoria Hesketh, performed at her sole scheduled U.S. appearance last night (Monday, May 18th) at (Le) Poisson Rouge in NYC. Her previous visit to our country was for SXSW, and she was last in NY for a show at Studio B in February. You also may have caught her during CMJ.

Local dance punks Heartsrevolution opened the show, performing on LPR's circular stage which was somewhat awkwardly placed in the center of the main room. Singer Lo barked over the band's dueling synth and drums in a set that ended with dreamy pop tune "Digital Suicide."

Little Boots took the stage with similar drum and synth accompaniment, but one that produced a decidedly poppier sound. The singer, dressed in gold, spoke minimally during her 10-song set, instead communicating through the songs of her forthcoming album, Hands, due in June. The tracks were all polished, poppy and danceable. The singer worked the intimate space well, despite the packed, but not 100% party-ready Monday crowd (many of whom were roped off in a large VIP section). The single "New in Town," which came third in the set, has potential to be a summer hit. Almost all of Little Boots' other songs would serve similarly well as summer-jam anthems.

Coming up, Little Boots has only European and Japanese shows scheduled, though more dates, hopefully stateside, should be coming. One appearance this summer will be at Field Day Festival in London's Victoria Park on August 1st. The lineup for that includes Mogwai, Santigold, Four Tet and many more. Full details below.

In addition to her new record, Hands, Little Boots also has a US-only EP, Illuminations, scheduled for a June 9th release on Elektra. All photos from LPR, with a video from the show and other Little Boots clips, and all upcoming dates, below...

Continue reading "Little Boots played Le Poisson Rouge in NYC (pics & video), playing Field Day (full UK fest lineup) & other tour dates"

DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - Meddle (AC Slater & DJ Skeet Skeet remix feat. Goldielocks) (MP3)

Blackpool pop sensation Little Boots is in talks with Yamaha to create a keyboard that will excite budding musicians as much as a guitar.

The 25-year-old, who has just supported Kasabian at the Camden Crawl uses a Yamaha Tenori-On handheld music sequencer live on stage.

Little Boots, real name Victorias Hesketh said: "I'm really quite nerdy. It's a great ­visual aid - so much better than just another laptop.

"We're working with Yamaha to create a special one to take out to festivals.

"So often people think it's just robots and machines.

"To me it should be just as exciting as seeing a great guitar player. That's what I'm trying to do." [Click]

Hopefully this new Tenori-On works better than the current one she's using. At the singer's Studio B show in February, we reported that her onstage sequencer was having "technical problems."

Maybe she'll also have the new toy...erm, instrument, on hand at her upcoming NYC show at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday, May 18th. That new show comes sandwiched between a string of UK/European shows (though there may be just enough time for another gig to spring up). Openers include Hearts Revolution, who played Studio B in March, and DJ Dave P, of the NYC-dance staple FIXED. Tickets for the show are on sale.

Hands, Little Boots' debut album, is due in early June on Atlantic. She'll also be putting out an EP, Illuminations, on June 8th. Her record is being producted by "Greg Kurstin [of The Bird and the Bee] who is also producing her EP with Joe Goddard of Hot Chip."

Full track list of that EP with Little Boots' new video for "New In Town," her album's first single, and a YouTube-ready cover of Sugababes' "Overload," below...

Continue reading "Little Boots - new EP, video, Tenori-On & NYC show (on sale)"

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Hot Legs @ the SPIN party @ Stubb's in Austin - March 20, 2009

AUSTRALIA's THE AGE's SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST BREAKDOWN

Bizarre supergroup: Tinted Windows features members of Hanson, Cheap Trick, Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne playing catchy guitar-pop.

The pin-up: Sienna-lookalike Little Boots combines pre-recorded beats with synth and live drummer.

Commercial breakthrough: Cutesy New Yorkers Chairlift are already featured on an iPod ad.

Novelty act: Hot Leg is the new 1980s hair-metal project for Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins.

Critical darlings: UK act Mumford and Sons and their four-part harmonies.

Stadium potential: London goths White Lies attempt to merge U2 and the Killers. Playing Splendour in the Grass.

Crowd favourite: Boston act Passion Pit -- big on hand claps and synths.

Best new band name: Airborne Toxic Event have just signed to Universal and combine Bruce Springsteen and the Hold Steady.

The novelty act played two shows (that I know of) at SXSW this past week. There was the Friday afternoon SPIN party (pictured above), and the 11pm set at Emo's Annex the next night. I caught the latter which satisfied my need to see the leader of the Darkness's new band at least once. I doubt i would go see them again, or even really listen to more than maybe a single, but they were fun, and they shred on guitar.

More pictures Jacob took on Friday, below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2009 - Day 3 in photos by Jacob"

by Andrew Frisicano

Ida Maria @ Union Hall (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

I wanted to re-release my album, the way I wanted it to be.

I have designed the artwork, added three new songs, and changed the track listing.

Now it sounds, looks and feels like I want it to feel, and I am so excited again.

The story behind this cover is a story similar to a homebaked applecake.

You take what you have in your kitchen and experiment a little and hold tumbs that no one will notice you kinda forgot the recipe.

And then it turns out tasting good as hell and nobody can ever make it again.

My drummer Olle is a photographer (!) and has shot the genius cover photo in his apartment in Stockholm, with use of just the light that was there. Lamps in the livingroom, and pocket flashlight.

The cover art is designed by my friend Jon Edergren. -[Ida Maria's Myspace blog]

Fortress Round My Heart, Ida Maria's 2008 debut, is coming out in the US, digitally on March 24th and on CD, April 14th, on Universal's Mercury Records. The US release will sport a new cover and re-arranged track list, but won't include the bonus tracks described above (though new song "In the End" will replace previous closer "See Me Through").

Ida Maria is one of the many scheduled to be at SXSW this week. She was/is supposed to play KCRW's Showcase at Buffalo Billiards, a show at Maggie Mae's , and is on the bill of Perez Hilton's "One Night in Austin" party on Saturday.

"One Night in Austin" will feature Yelle, Solange, Lady Sovereign, Margaret Cho, Ladyhawke, Little Boots, Ida Maria and Thunderheist, plus "a very special Surprise Musical Performance." No word on who: "Not Tori Amos [but] one of our FAVORITEST acts of all time!!!!!!" [RSVP for the party].

UPDATE: Ida Maria never made it to her official SXSW showcases...

I don't think Ida Maria played either Maggie Mae's or Buffalo Billiards. I wanted to see her play while I am down here, but both nights, she was removed from the official sxsw.com website. She was replaced with Zee Avi on wednesday and with Val Emmich yesterday. I hope she actually plays the perez show. Looking forward to seeing her at MHOW regardless" [Ashok]

EW confirms that, "...Zee Avi, a tiny girl with a warm smile filled the lonesome last spot at the KCRW showcase on Wednesday night. It was huge opportunity for the newcomer -- her self-titled debut will be out May 19 -- filling in for Norwegian rocker chick/hype magnet Ida Maria, who was reportedly stuck in U.S. customs."

After the festival (if she makes it at all), Ida Maria is touring with Glasvegas through March, including a March 28th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (on sale ) and a March 30th one at Webster Hall (on sale). Ida Maria also has a scheduled appearance at Coachella Festival on April 18th.

Ladyhawke visits NYC after SXSW. Little Boots was here in February.

All Ida Maria tour dates and the "Oh My God" video below...

Continue reading "Ida Maria - now on a major label, playing Perez Hilton's SXSW party???, Coachella & other places"

DOWNLOAD: Little Boots - Meddle (AC Slater & DJ Skeet Skeet remix feat. Goldielocks) (MP3)

Matthew Herbert @ Studio B - February 7, 2009

Last week in dance wound up being a lot of fun. Friday night I went to see Little Boots at Studio B. I arrived sometime around midnight and was shocked at how packed the floor was by the time she went on around 1:15. Despite her set being good, especially her cover of Giorgio Moroder's "Love Kills", and including everything I expected after seeing her at CMJ, overall I wasn't as engaged by her performance this time around. It was just me though. Everyone in the place was bugging out and there really wasn't any good reason not to. As brief as her set was, the late start (she was originally scheduled to perform at 12) derailed the entire rest of the night and I ended up missing both One Man Party and Danger at Webster Hall. A friend there texted me highlights of One Man Party's set which read like a more intensely awesome mix of the Soulwax/2ManyDJ's remixes and current electro that he played at Webster last month. As great as it sounded, the regret really hit when I watched the following video of the beginning of Danger's set which started with "Ave Maria" and went into a great live version of "9h20":

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (Streetlab, Matthew Herbert, Justice, One Step Beyond, DJ Sneak, more...)"

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Noah Perabo

Little Boots strolled onto the stage at Studio B just before 1:30 am in a hooded black dress to an enthusiastic welcome from the Brooklyn crowd that had patiently awaited her appearance (2/6). While her signature Tenori-On was lit up on a stand next to her, she explained that it was suffering from technical difficulties and would not be used. She proceeded to sing, dance, play tambourine and keyboards throughout a playful 30-minute set of throbbing electro-pop. Backed by impressive beats from her drummer and keyboardist, she exuded confidence and sass throughout the night even getting on the crowd's case at one point for not dancing as hard as their London counterparts. While her keyboard playing and lyrics ("I'm gonna take you home tonight, I'm gonna make you feel alright") leave something to be desired, her songs' constant hooks made it clear that she is poised for mainstream success. - Noah

Speaking of US mainstream sucess for UK artists, Adele, Duffy, and Estelle all, appeared, and took home awards, at the Grammys on Sunday night. More pictures from Little Boots' Friday night show below...

Continue reading "Little Boots @ Studio B in Brooklyn, NYC - pics"

Lucero @ Terminal 5 Friday night (more by Mike Lerner)

today in NYC
* DANCE
* Lucero @ Mercury Lounge
* Elysian Fields @ Joe's Pub
* The Black Keys & Doug Gillard Wellmont Theater
* Blank Dogs, Woods, WAVVES & Nodzzz @ Underground Lounge

Underground Lounge is located 955 West End Ave @ 107th St in Morningside Heights. The WAVVES show starts at 2PM.

Kanye West has been blogging about a lot of 'indie' music (and comedy) lately. There was the recent Aziz Ansari post, and the exclusive new Peter Bjorn and John track he posted. Kanye's other recent likes include TV on the Radio's David Bowie cover, Bon Iver covering Feist, Friendly Fires, Francis and the Lights, Passion Pit, Animal Collective AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, LAND OF TALK.

Kanye will be performing at the Grammys today. So will Radiohead. Nominees include MIA, Adele, No Age, Hot Chip, Daft Punk, My Morning Jacket and Death Cab For Cutie.

Antony was just on NPR.

Little Boots played Studio B last night. Video below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday (besides the Grammys)?"