As mentioned, Callers are about to start a March residency at Williamsburg venue Union Pool and we now know the rest bills for each show. The kickoff show on March 7 features Olga Bell and TEEN; the March 14th show is with Fang Island; and on March 21 it's Here We Go Magic's Luke Temple and still-to-be-revealed "special guests." Tickets for each show are $8 and and advance tix for the 3/7 show are on sale now.

Flyer for the residency is below.

Continue reading "Callers announce line-ups for NYC residency (Olga Bell, Luke Temple, Fang Island, TEEN and more)"

Brooklyn/Providence crew Callers released their third album, Reviver, last year via Partisan. Originally a collaboration between Sara Lucas and Ryan Seaton, Callers are now a four-piece band and if you haven't heard the new album, you can stream it below via Spotify.

The band are gearing up for a March residency at Union Pool where they'll play the first three Thursdays in the month (3/7, 3/14, 3/21). Callers are promising some exciting guests to share the bill with for these shows, including Here We Go Magic's Luke Temple, and Fang Island. As full line-ups (which will include "secret guests") and schedules haven't been finalized, we don't know which dates they are playing (maybe on the same bill, maybe not) but we'll keep you informed. No advance tickets as of right now.

Album stream below....

Continue reading "Callers plan NYC residency in March at Union Pool with special guests (Fang Island, Luke Temple included)"

DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (live on Laundromatinee) (MP3)

Here We Go Magic are about to depart on their tour with Grizzly Bear that kicks off after they play three local shows (Town Hall, Town Hall, MHOW), but first, you can catch Luke Temple and band tonight (5/26, 10pm) at a secretish show at Union Pool in Brooklyn with Midnight Masses. FREE SHOW.

For more HWGM, check out their new Daytrotter Session, as well as the one they recorded for Laundromatinee. All dates below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic - secret show in Brooklyn tonight before Grizzly Bear tour ++ new live sessions (MP3s)"

DOWNLOAD: Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game (MP3)

Harlem Shakes @ Highline Ballroom (more by Ryan Muir)

Harlem Shakes' new album, Technicolor Health, is out now on Gigantic. The disc's first single , "Strictly Game," which we've posted before, is posted again above.

The band has upcoming May/June tour dates with Passion Pit and Cale Parks, though none in New York. But that doesn't mean there aren't any Harlem Shakes shows to be had.

First the band plays a "Big Ups to Jules De B." show at Bushwick's Starr Space on Thursday, April 23rd with LD Beghtol (Magnetic Fields, Flare), Hospitality, and Mr. Dream. That show is a party for Jules De Balincourt, who did the artwork for the band's newest record. (More details and artwork below.)

Then the band has a free early show at Pianos on Wednesday, May 6th with The Cringe and Sean Bones. (That's before the Japandroids, The Octagon, Heavenly States show the same night.) Poster for the Shakes gig below.

Then, after a May 16th Sarah Lawrence show (in Westchester County) and the Passion Pit/Cale Parks tour, Harlem Shakes return for a July 1st show at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 24th at noon. Openers aren't announced yet.

Before embarking on that tour, Cale Parks (you may know him as one of the guys who plays percussion/piano/vibes in Aloha) is performing at Santos Party House on Saturday, May 9th with Cymbals Eat Guitars, So So Glos, Real Estate and Luke Temple (Here We Go Magic). The show, hosted by Andrew WK, is a benefit for DKMS, which is the world's largest bone marrow donor center. Tickets for that show are on sale.

One day after finishing their tour with the Harlem Shakes, Passion Pit play two headlining shows of their own at Bowery Ballroom (both now sold out).

Video from the Harlem Shakes' March 26th MHOW gig, details on the band's Bushwick show, and all upcoming tour dates below...

Continue reading "Harlem Shakes - 2 small NYC shows, 1 free, 1 big one & other 2009 Tour Dates (w/ Passion Pit & Cale Parks) "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Fangela (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Here We Go Magic - Only Pieces (excerpt) (MP3)

Here We Go Magic @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Jonny Leather)

Rarely have a band name and a song title both been so appropriately chosen: In "Tunnelvision," Luke Temple's new project Here We Go Magic quickly establishes that nothing is as it seems. Anyone coming in cold, not knowing about Temple's involvement, would assume that the voice repeating the words "Tunnelvision / Strange decision" is a woman, for one thing.

At the same time, it's hard not to get lost in Here We Go Magic's guitars, which provide a steady pulse at the same time they drench the song in reverb and delay. By roughly the three-minute mark -- around the time Temple sings, "Anything is possible" -- "Tunnelvision" has become engrossing to the point of hypnosis. Which, given the band's name, makes a lot of sense. -[Here We Go Magic on NPR's Song of the Day]

Get the full story on Here We Go Magic and Luke Temple here. As you can see from the pic above, the band played a Bowery Ballroom show with Department of Eagles in January - they'll share a bill with Daniel Rossen again as the band tours with Grizzly Bear this May/June - opening two NYC shows at Town Hall (tix for both May 28 & May 29 won't be on sale for much longer).

Here We Go Magic, whose s/t debut is out now on iTunes and soon on Western Vinyl, is playing a SXSW show at Club 115 on Thursday, March 19, with other Austin appearances listed below.

Before meeting up with Grizzly Bear, Here We Go Magic will headline their own Brooklyn show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, April 7th. Tickets are on sale now. All tour dates and the video for "Tunnelvision" below...

Continue reading "Here We Go Magic -2009 tour (MHOW, dates w/ Grizzly Bear) "

photos by Jonny Leather

Department of Eagles and Here We Go Magic played Bowery Ballroom in NYC on Monday night (1/19). More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Department of Eagles & Here We Go Magic @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics"

"To date, Luke Temple has been unconfined by genre. His full-length debut Hold a Match for a Gasoline World presented heartfelt folk tunes and expansive pop numbers filtered through a unique outsider perspective. Last year's follow-up Snowbeast was an avant statement full of interwoven light and dark imagery recorded entirely in his Brooklyn bedroom.

Developed over a two-month period of stream-of-consciousness recording in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Luke's self-titled debut under his new moniker Here We Go Magic is a remarkable departure from his signature singer-songwriter material. Luke recorded the album at home using analog synths, a cassette 4-track, and his trusty SM-57 mic, coloring the sound with warmth and creating textures you want to wrap yourself in." [says Luke's PR/bio]

The rebranded Luke Temple has a bunch of shows coming up including some with Department of Eagles which includes the sold out show at Bowery Ballroom on January 19th. There's also February 15th at Southpaw, March 3rd at Le Poisson Rouge, SXSW, and a whole bunch of non-NYC/Austin dates across the country, BUT FIRST the old-original-actual Luke Temple will be playing a solo show tonight, January 16th, at Le Poisson Rouge with Jonah Smith.

Definitely check out the three tracks streaming at MySpace. All dates below...

Continue reading "Luke Temple's new band HERE WE GO MAGIC - 2009 Tour Dates (Department of Eagles, LPR, SXSW...)"

Photos by Nathan Miller

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Art Isn't Real (City of Sin) (MP3)

"Deer Tick took the stage at Brooklyn's Southpaw on Saturday for the release of the War Elephant reissue on Partisan Records. Texas based Feow! Records put out the first version of War Elephant last Fall. Unfortunately, the little label run by Jana hunter and Matt Brownlie closed up shop this past August.

Five minutes had not elapsed before bronze-voiced McCauley was shirtless. A detail that lent to a level of intimacy that one usually doesn't get from a standing-room-only concert. It was best illustrated in the couple of songs he played with one of the ladies from Those Darlins (I have a crush on the curly haired one, by the way). They had written some ditties at 6am, just hanging out. McCauley's stage presence exudes simply that: we're all friends and we're hangin' out, singing together. The first half of the set consisted of newer, meloncholy songs. I was annoyed by some drunk members of the audience that wouldn't STFU during a beautiful piece of just acoustic guitar, upright bass and harmonica (I don't know why, but this girl brought an aloe vera plant to the show and wouldn't stop talking about it). At the halfway point, McCauley started a sing-along hootenanny with "Ashamed" - to which my friends and I drove our fists into the air and exclaimed in chorus: "Oh oh oh ohhhhhh, a crying shame! A cryin' shame, what we became!" Highlights included the foot-stomping "These Old Shoes" and a song dedicated to president-elect Obama. The night ended with a glorious cover of "La Bamba."" [BLT / IDM]

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick, Those Darlins & Luke Temple @ Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY - pics"

photos by Faith-Ann Young

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston Cover) (MP3)

"Despite the dismal Spiegeltent acoustics, Deertick's rough-hewn blues folk is a refreshing break from today's production-heavy pop. John McCauley screeching, slurring, scratching and finger-plunking with lazy eyes. It's easy to succumb to band's loose playing style and 'my-porch-is-your-porch' Americana charm. Like life's greatest ephiphanies, the more beer imbibed, the more the words made sense. By the end of their set, Deertick had the crowd woozy and warm. Then, they did a cover of "La Bamba." Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba." Now, let's be honest: though Ritchie Valens may be an inspiration of McCauley's, pretty much any white country blues band that covers "La Bamba" is asking for associations with (bad) wedding bands. We'd have much preferred their killer rendition Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girl"......But hey, truth told, the crowd seemed to love it and sway along....and sure it made the whiskey go down smoother." - Faith

The Sean Kingston cover Faith speaks of available for download above. The show she was at was the one that happened Sunday night, November 2nd, at Spiegelword by the South Street Seaport in NYC. More pictures from that below, but first....

Some may remember that I announced this show almost two months ago, but got in trouble and quickly removed the post. This is what I wrote at the time:

BrooklynVegan is proud to present Deer Tick's NYC record re-release party at Southpaw in Brooklyn on November 8th. Luke Temple and Those Darlins will open the show. Tickets are on sale.

The Southpaw show is six days after Deer Tick plays the Spiegeltent in Manhattan with the Felice Brothers who are playing Maxwell's with AA Bondy this Saturday (9/13).

Now that Spiegelworld is over, I'm allowed to say it. Better late than never.

Deer Tick also have another record re-release party, Friday in Rhode Island. The record is out November 11th. All dates and Spiegelworld pictures below....

Continue reading "Deer Tick - record release (BV Presents) show Saturday in Brooklyn, pics from Spiegeltent"

Portastatic @ Sled Island 2008 (more by Rae Holtsabum)


It's the "CMJ Artist Lounge at Red Bull Space Presented By Paste, KCRW.com, and indie outlaw." Open to CMJ artist badges all day. Free to the public at night. Band schedule and flyer below...

Continue reading "free 2008 CMJ 'Artist Lounge' shows @ the Red Bull Space"

Beach House @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Apr 2, 2008 (Ryan Muir / Metromix)

"Went to this show last night. Papercuts, perhaps the most boring live show I've ever seen." [Anon]

"papercuts were absolutely awful" [Jason]

"beach house was bad. papercuts were the worst live band i've ever seen." [Jason again]

"I thought beach house was great. maybe you never heard like their records?" [Anon]

"Papercuts were all right. Beach House was excellent." [Eduardo]

DOWNLOAD: Luke Temple - People Do (new MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Joe's Pub interviews Luke Temple (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Luke Temple - Old New York (MP3)

Download some of the sweet sounds of Brooklyn's Luke Temple above. Sufjan Stevens even says that, "Luke Temple has one of the most beautiful voices in pop music.", and Sufjan knows. Check him out for free tonight (August 20) at Sound Fix, or not-for-free on Thursday at Joe's Pub. His new album Snowbeast is out tomorrow (August 21, 2007). Some more songs are streaming at MySpace. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "Luke Temple - new album, MP3s & 2007 Tour Dates"