photos by Amanda Hatfield

Little Boots @ MHOW 5/7/2013

Hesketh and her backing band (which included a live drummer and a pair of synth players) performed nine of "Nocturnes'" 10 songs. There was even a surprise performance of the bubbly non-album track "Headphones" ("I wear my headphones at the disco and nobody ever has to know!") that got a better-than-usual reception for a non-album track. It all culminated with the back-to-basics synth banger "Shake," which closed the encore beneath a sea of confetti (courtesy of openers Avan Lava, who stormed the stage with confetti guns). Still, Little Boots aren't ready to close the book on the major label days, including "Remedy" and another "Hands" track -- "Meddle" (an unlikely collaboration with pop producer Greg Kurstin and Hot Chip's Joe Goddard) -- in the encore. Both inspired as much intensity from the crowd's front rows as any if the set's selections. - [Billboard]

Little Boots (aka Victoria Hesketh) celebrated the release of her new album, Nocturnes, last night at a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg. (Her tour hit LA last week.) It's been four years since her debut, Hands, and the crowd clearly hadn't forgotten her. It was a fun night all around with Austin's Feathers giving the evening a sultry start before AVAN LAVA blew the place up with thier glitter bombast set. Indie rockers who don't go to dance shows that often might recognize AVAN LAVA's Drew Citron as one half of Beverley (that features Frankie Rose on drums).

Before her MHOW show, Little Boots performed live for WNYC radio's "Soundcheck" and you can stream that, and check out more pictures from last night, below.

Continue reading "Little Boots played a record release show at MHOW with Avan Lava and Feathers (pics)"

photos by Wei Shi

Little Boots at Echoplex, 5/2/2013

As mentioned, Little Boots releases her new album, Nocturnes, this week. It's currently streaming over at Pitchfork. Her tour with AVAN LAVA and Feathers will hit NYC tomorrow (5/7) for a sold-out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. She's in town today, though, and will be performing live on WNYC's "Soundcheck" at 2PM.

Last week, Little Boots, AVAN LAVA and Feathers played Los Angeles club Echoplex last Thursday (5/2) as part of BritWeek (the same venue where The Rolling Stones played the weekend before). More pictures from that show below...

Continue reading "Little Boots played LA's Echoplex with Feathers & Avan Lava (pics), playing WNYC today, sold-out MHOW tomorrow"

Little Boots has announced her second album is titled Nocturnes and will be out in May. That's the album cover above. You can stream the album's first single, "Motorway," below and download it for free from her website.

Around the time of the album's release, Little Boots will be coming to America for a few shows on both coasts, finishing with a show in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 7. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale on Wendnesday (3/6) at noon with the regular on-sale happening Friday (3/8) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Little Boots announces 'Nocturnes' (stream a track), U.S. dates"

Little Boots at Webster Hall - 12/14/12 (via)

Little Boots came to NYC for a Girls & Boys party at Webster Hall last month/year (pictured above) and she'll return to the venue on January 25 for another Girls & Boys party but this one is a tribute to Daft Punk and Tron-themed party. It takes place in all there rooms of Webster Hall that feature Doorly, Sean Sharp, Jess Marquis, Matty Glitterati, and more. Doors are at 10PM and admission is 19+. Tickets (including VIP and party packages) are on sale now. Show flyer below.

UPDATE: Webster Hall's website had Little Boots on the event page for the Daft Punk tribute party, but it was a mistake. She's currently on vacation. Come back soon, Little Boots!

Speaking of Daft Punk, Chic member and major pop producer Nile Rodgers, who is working with the duo on their new album, recently posted a blog post which sounds pretty promising that Daft Punk will have their new album out in 2013 (via NME):

The next time I set foot in Japan, my collaboration with Daft Punk would have started to hit people's eardrums, as well as a number of songs I'm working on over the next few months with a select group of artists, and of course finally, my lost CHIC and solo material. No matter how it ends, 2013 Won't Be Boring!

Bestival organizer Rob da Bank says not to expect them to tour though.

Flyer for the Daft Punk party below...

Continue reading "LIttle Boots played 'Girls & Boys' party who are throwing a Daft Punk tribute; Nile Rodgers says new Daft Punk in 2013"

by Bill Pearis

Little Boots, who back in 2008, made everybody want one of those Tenori-on light-up sequencers, is finally ready to put out LP #2 which will come out sometime in 2013. The record still doesn't have a title (or she hasn't told anybody what it is) but recently told This is Fake DIY about it:

I have spent a lot more time and care on the songs and production, it definitely feels more representative of me of an artist, at least now in 2012. It's less 80s synth pop influenced, it's quite an upbeat album, which I think has stemmed from the fact I have been DJing a lot, and listening to a lot of dance music.

If you don't want to wait till next year to hear some new Little Boots, she's playing NYC tonight (12/14) as part of the Girls & Boys party at Webster Hall. It's the Big Apple debut of her new all new club show, Little Boots Discotheque, which is "LB old and new, remixed and re-charged with live vocals, extra gadgets and synth goodness, ushering in a new era of dancefloor devotion." Tickets are still available.

Flyer for tonight's show, that also features Doorly, is below.

Continue reading "Little Boots working on new album, playing NYC tonight"

Obama hugs Bruce Springsteen (pre-election night)

A selection of tweets reacting to Obama's big win last night....

":)" - Grizzly Bear

"YES" - Amanda Palmer

"yeah!!!!" - Laurel Halo

"FUCK YES" - HEALTH

"fuck yeah." - Colin Meloy

"FUCK YEAH AMERICA!!! #OBAMA" - King Tuff

continued below...

Continue reading "Artists react to Obama's win"

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"