Speaking of openers on larger tours playing Mercury Lounge shows, Beacon, who are currently on a tour with Tycho, which hits MHOW on February 4 with Oneohtrix Point Never (tickets), just announced a show at the NYC venue happening on March 2 with Xylos and Grimace Federation. Tickets, currently on AmEx presale, go on public sale Friday (1/27) at noon.

Tycho, before hookin up with Beacon (who do their cover of Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" in their live set), played a show earlier this month in Chicago with Active Child. You can see pics and read about that HERE. Beacon released an EP in 2011.

All Beacon tour dates, a stream of them covering Portishead's "The Rip", and the video they made for their Katy Perry cover, below...

Continue reading "Beacon cover Portishead & Katy Perry, add show"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Doldrums - "I'm Homesick Sittin' Up Here In My Satellite" (MP3)

Doldrums is the moniker of Montreal artist Alrick Woodhead. His Empire Sound EP came out on October 31 via No Pain In Pop with six songs of urgent experimental pop not unlike Grimes, whose upcoming LP features guest work from Doldrums. Download the EP track, "I'm Homesick Sittin' Up Here In My Satellite," above, which sounds about as inexplicable as its title with organic sounding horns and drums thrown into an electro infusion. Watch the new video for EP track "Endless Winter" below. The EP is available as LP/MP3 at the No Pain In Pop webstore.

Doldrums is going on a tour in support of the EP which kicks off this Friday (10/4) in Toronto. He'll hit NYC on November 11 for the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival and will stick around for another Brooklyn show at Cameo Gallery on November 12 with Prince Rama and Indian Jewelry. Tickets for the Cameo show are on sale now.

Doldrums is also releasing a split 12" with Portishead, the one first announced on Jimmy Fallon, which officially comes out on November 14 via XL Recordings. The 12" has Portishead's "Chase the Tear" on the A-side and Doldrums' cover of the song on the B-side. You can stream Doldrums' cover below.

All dates, tour flier, video and song stream below...

Continue reading "Doldrums released an EP, going on tour, is the b-side of the new Portishead single (dates, video & MP3)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

To avoid any more Portishead overload after posting about both ATP shows and the first night at Hammerstein Ballroom (and the Chicago show), we never put up the pictures from Portishead's 2nd NYC show at Hammerstein (the 10/5 one). But in honor of Portishead tour opener returning to NYC to play Death By Audio TONIGHT (11/1), here they finally are. They continue below...

Continue reading "pics from Portishead's 2nd show @ Hammerstein Ballroom w/ Thought Forms (who play DBA TONIGHT)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Public Enemy

STEREOGUM: What appealed to you about getting involved with All Tomorrow's Parties?

GEOFF BARROW: I just like that, for the most part, you wouldn't want to be there if you aren't actually into the music. It's not like Coachella where there are loads of girls walking around in bikinis and stuff like that. It's basically people enjoying what is often some really indulgent music. For us, it's like a Charlie in the Chocolate Factory moment. You win the golden ticket and you get to see how the candy is made. You get to choose the bands that play with you, which is just ... amazing. It's like, wow, yes, please.

STEREOGUM: Who in particular are you most excited about seeing?

GEOFF BARROW: We've been really lucky over the years. We've done three of these ATP festivals and it's always such a good experience. I'm always, always, always very into watching Public Enemy. Also, Ultramagnetic MCs because they are just mental and so important to hip hop. I'll also be watching Swans ... with earplugs. I want to watch everything. I want to watch as much as I possibly can.

Before Chuck D joined fest co-curators Portishead on stage during their Sunday I'll Be Your Mirror set in Asbury Park, Public Enemy played their own set, as did reunited hip hop group Company Flow (who will play again this month as part of the Creators Project). Ultramagnetic MCs played on Saturday, as did Swans.

Jeff Mangum played his second of three Asbury Park sets on Sunday (10/2), though like his Friday show, we don't have pictures of his set (he doesn't like pictures). We do have pictures of a lot of other sets from Sunday though, and they continue, along with shots of the general Asbury Park scenery (the conclusion of our ATP NJ 2011 coverage), below...

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror 2011 -- pics from ATP Sunday (Public Enemy, Company Flow, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Deerhoof, Earth & more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Swans @ Paramount Theater

You saw pictures from Friday and Portishead from Saturday (and Portishead Sunday). Here are the rest from that 2nd day in Asbury Park. They continue below...

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror 2011 -- pics from ATP Saturday (Swans, Ultramagnetic MCs, Battles, Beak, Horrors & more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Chuck D on stage with Portishead @ ATP

Portishead completed their NYC & NJ adventure with a 2nd show at Hammerstein Ballroom last night (10/5), and an appearance on Fallon where they performed two songs. On air they played "Chase The Tear" which they first released in 2009 to help raise money for Amnesty International. Jimmy pointed out that you can get a new release of that single exclusively at the XL Records table at the Brooklyn Flea Brooklyn Flea's Independent Label Market this weekend. They also played 1994 song "Mysterons" at Fallon as a web exclusive. And much to the chagrin of the groaning tourists who were trapped in their seats at the show's taping yesterday, the band actually played "Mysterons" in full twice because apparently something went wrong the first time around. You can watch the version they kept, and what aired on TV, below.

Also in this post is a set of pictures (including the setlist) from Portishead's Sunday set at ATP I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park. As mentioned in the post of pictures from their Saturday show, Chuck D joined the band on stage during "Machine Gun" on Sunday. As not mentioned, Simeon from Silver Apples joined them on "We Carry On" to help close the show. Chuck D video HERE. Simeon video below.

Silver Apples plays Public Assembly in Brooklyn TONIGHT (10/6).

Portishead associate Anika plays Glasslands tonight.

Portishead's Adrian Utley visited Criterion Cinema while in town, and is involved in a show happening in NYC on 10/29.

ATP pictures & Fallon videos below...

Continue reading "pics from Portishead's 2nd show @ ATP, both videos from Fallon last night ++++ Silver Apples & Anika tonight"

The White Light Festival is an annual exploration of music's power to illuminate our interior lives. From the powerful opening chords of Beethoven's Missa solemnis to an exploration of light itself by Jennifer Tipton, to a meditation by Toni Morrison, Peter Sellars, and Rokia Traoré on the darkness of the soul that leads to the transcendence of love, the White Light Festival offers experiences of passionate beauty and occasions of profound insight into the many dimensions of our individual selves and the collective shared forces of the human condition. The Festival closes in a fitting fashion with the bonding power of spiritual ecstasy as Ensemble Sarband, joined by whirling dervishes from the Muslim Mevlevi tradition, draws startling connections between J.S. Bach's Passions and the Sufi mystics...

The White Light Festival hopes to provide moments to pause and explore the spaciousness and breath within.

Entering into its second year, the White Light Festival takes place from 10/20 - 11/19 care of Lincoln Center at ten venues around the city (including Lincoln Center). The events take place almost daily and feature everything from art installations to Toni Morrison to the London Symphony Orchestra to scores for silent film. Malian artist Bassekou Kouyate kicks off the festival on 10/20 at David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center with a FREE event.

One of the events is a live score to Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc, which will be given a live score by Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) at Alice Tully Hall in the Starr Theater on 10/29. Tickets are on sale.

Check out the fest's site for the full schedule.

Adrian Utley of Portishead, in NYC to play Hammerstein Ballroom, Fallon & ATP, stopped by Criterion this week to discuss some of his favorite films and ended up discussing Joan of Arc and the genesis of his film scoring project with Gregory. Video of that below....

Continue reading "Lincoln Center's White Light Festival returns -- 2011 schedule includes live movie score by Adrian Utley & Will Gregory"

photos by Erez Avissar

"Seriously that was one off the bucket list right there." - Ben Ha-Meen

"portishead stands as the best show ive ever seen " - bryce segall

"Best show I've been to in a very long time." - Chris Denman

"Oh man, Portishead was freaking ridiculous tonight. Holy shit. That is some baby making, ecstacy popping shit right there." - Notorious K.I.M.

"Portishead was a religious experience #portishead" - Chelse D

"Portishead killed me. I cried like an idiot. An unforgettable performance..." - Marine

"On our last tour it collapsed because of personal things, not between the band, but relationships, divorces," Geoff Barrow told BBC 6 Music news.

"We hadn't stopped since [debut album] Dummy," he said, "but it's fine now."

However, producer and instrumentalist Barrow admitted the band's complex, claustrophobic sound often proved a headache to recreate live.

"We have to take out lots of old gear and it's like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to get the right sound," he said.

"It's not like we are pushing 'go' on a computer and singing along to it. It's something a bit more interesting than just straight up rock bands or dance acts."

Portishead achieved overnight success with Dummy, which won the Mercury Music Prize in 1995 with its eerie electronic soundscapes, haunted by Beth Gibbons tremulous vocals.

They followed it up with a grainier, self-titled album in 1997, featuring the top 10 hit All Mine - later covered by Tom Jones.

But the band appeared to split up in the wake of their 1998 US tour, releasing several side projects and producing music for other bands.

However, after making a return to the Portishead name in 2008, they recently confirmed they would start work on a fourth album in January 2012.[BBC]

After two shows at ATP in Asbury Park, Portishead finally made their official return to NYC at Hammerstein Ballroom last night (10/4). Here are some pictures from the amazing show which was their first of two in Manhattan.

The setlists so far have varied by like one song each night. Their 90-minute, 15-song Hammerstein performance began at 9:30pm after a set by their tour-mate Thought Forms. They do it again tonight which is also when they appear on Fallon. Here are some pictures from the first night.

More pictures and the setlist from last night below...

Continue reading "Portishead @ Hammerstein Ballroom (night 1 pics & setlist)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

After leaving us hanging for over 14 years, Portishead finally returned to the east coast of the United States to play one of my personal favorite shows of all time at Asbury Park's Convention Hall as part of ATP's "I'll Be Your Mirror" on Saturday night (10/1). Unfortunately I couldn't stick around to see them do it again on Sunday (with special guest Chuck D of Public Enemy who played before them that day), but I do plan on being at one or both of the Hammerstein Ballroom shows this week to relive it again. I'll definitely watch Fallon too.

Much like Radiohead recently, Portishead's live lineup included two bald men. Like Radiohead, one of those bald men was Clive Deamer on drums (at least I think it was). The guy is keeping busy.

Jeff Mangum, who played the night before, and the two days after (including tonight) was in the audience to check out the NJ fests's co-headliner. From my seat I could see him talking to the drummer of Shellac (who also played the night before and who also plays tonight). Beth Gibbons crowdsurfed on top of that audience at the end of the amazing set.

More ATP coverage coming. For now, here are the Portishead pics from Saturday (with setlist), and a video of Chuck D joining them on "Machine Gun" on Sunday (like he did in 2008 at Primavera). It all continues below...

Continue reading "Portishead played ATP NJ -- night 1 pics & setlist, night 2 video w/ special guest Chuck D"

I know you're sick of Radiohead posts, but, well, they keep doing things! (and anyway, more importantly, this post also contains Portishead!). But back to the point.... Radiohead just played two shows at Roseland Ballroom, appeared on SNL, and on The Colbert Report. They're also rumored to play for Occupy Wall Street today at 4 PM, though that might not happen. In addition to all of that, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood will perform on Fallon on Monday (10/3). According to Radiohead At Ease, they'll be performing "Give Up The Ghost."

Speaking of Fallon, his week-long run of Pink Floyd covers (that started with the Shins) continued on Tuesday when Foo Fighters played "In The Flesh" with Roger Waters, on Wednesday when MGMT took on "Lucifer Sam" off of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, with help from Bradford Cox who was dressed as Joey Ramone. Dierks Bentley did "Wish You Were Here" last night (9/29). You can watch all three videos below.

MGMT will also perform at The Guggenheim on November 10 and 11 as part of the 2011 Guggenheim International Gala. The 11/10 show is a private party, but the 11/11 show is a public event. Tickets go on sale Friday (10/14) with a member presale starting Thursday (10/13).

Portishead, who plays and curated ATP NJ this weekend, will appear on Fallon on Wednesday (10/5), two days after Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood do. Portishead play their second of two sold out shows at Hammerstein Ballroom the same night.

Fallon videos below...

Continue reading "more Pink Floyd covers on Fallon (videos), Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood & Portishead next week, MGMT @ the Guggenheim"

ATP I'll Be Your Mirror begins in Asbury Park TODAY (9/30). Tickets are still available. Take a look at the previously posted stage times, but note that Sunday at Convention Hall now looks like this:

DD/MM/YYYY - 2.45pm-3.45pm
Deerhoof - 4.15pm-5.15pm
Company Flow - 5.45pm-6.45pm
Public Enemy - 7.15pm-9.15pm
Portishead - 10.00pm-11.30pm

The missing band is Mogwai.

DD/MM/YYYY also plays in NYC tonight.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Anika - Yang Yang (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Anika - Terry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - "Total Decay" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - Breath the Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mikal Cronin - Get Along (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mikal Cronin - Apathy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Howler - I Told You Once (MP3)

Anika

Hello and welcome to the ATP Runoff edition of This Week in Indie. (Aka ATPTWII.) Yes the big news is the Portishead-curated All Tomorrow's Parties which is happening this year in Asbury Park, NJ which looks to be super cool. (I would like to see The Pop Group.) There are still tickets available for most of it -- it gets a little confusing what with "Three Day Jeff Magnum" passes and other variations but this column will not get into that. We're talking bands/artists who are also playing NYC shows while here. And some other stuff too.

First and foremost, for me, is Anika who is making her North American live debut tonight (9/27) at Le Poisson Rouge and tickets still seem to be available. Her debut album snuck in late last year but made my Best of 2011 with it's mix of post-punk and dub, and I've been waiting to see her live ever since.  As I wrote before:

Recorded in 12 days, live with no overdubs, it sounds like the missing link between The Slits and Lilliput. Portishead's Geoff Barrow -- his other band BEAK> is the backing band here -- gets the claustrophobic vibe just right. A lot of people have tried and failed to recreate that Martin Hannett Sound... Barrow nails it. And the material -- a mix of girl group covers and politically-charged originals -- suits Anika's Nico-esque delivery perfectly.

You can download two tracks at the top of this post, cover's of Yoko Ono's "Yang Yang" and obscure British girl group singer Twinkle's "Terry." Anika is here on a limited North American tour and all her dates are at the bottom of this post. Anika's live band is a 5-piece that includes two of the three members of BEAK> (Geoff Barrow is the one who doesn't play with her live).

Opening for Anika is local act Slowdance who you may remember made L Magazine's "8 Bands You Need to Hear" list and whose debut EP, Light & Color, was just released last week. It's a "name your price" download at their Bandcamp site. The whole thing is pretty good but I especially dig the opening track "Cake" which is kind of like early B-52's minus Fred Schneider but in French.

DD/MM/YYYY

I mentioned BEAK> who, in addition to sharing members with Anika, will also be performing their own set at ATP and have also just released a split EP with Toronto's proggy, mathy DD/MM/YYYY who are playing Friday night at Cameo with like-minded noisemakers Yvette and Bambara. DD/MM/YY are on short East Coast tour while here for ATP and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

If you like DD/MM/YY or have been curious about seeing them live, you should go to this show... because they're breaking up at the end of October and the Cameo show is their last NYC show before doing so. I last saw them at M for Montreal two years ago, where I wrote:

Also impressive live are Toronto's DD/MM/YYYY who have clearly gotten much tighter than the last time I saw them (Don Pedro's, like three years ago). It's proggy-mathy, but bordering on chaos too. I'm not that crazy about their records -- a little too much going on at one time for my poppier tastes -- but I'd go see them again, no question.

Don't get too sad about them calling it quits, as four of the five are regrouping under the name Absolutely Free and will make their live debut at M for Montreal this year.

Factory Floor

More ATPTWII action: London trio Factory Floor play two NYC shows this week: tomorrow (9/28) at Knitting Factory with Apache Beat and FAN-TAN, and then Thursday (9/29) at Mercury Lounge with fellow Londoners Walls.

Factory Floor get a lot of Joy Division comparisons and JD/New Order drummer Stephen Morris is a fan, remixing last year's "Wooden Box" single. But apart from looking sad in their press shots, Factory Floor are more in the minimal wave camp with drone and repetition being their weapons of choice. Their new single "(R E A L L O V E)" is basically a goth/industrial/techno/Krautrock ode to Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder's "I Feel Love" and is pretty awesome.

The band's next release will be on DFA in November. Judging from live clips on YouTube (like them performing "(R E A L L O V E)" at Rough Trade which you can watch below), Factory Floor are intense live and you might want to rearrange your show schedule to see them.

The Soft Moon

And rounding out the ATP-related shows are San Francisco's The Soft Moon who were supposed to be opening for Mogwai (who had to cancel) but will now play 285 Kent on Saturday (10/1) with White Ring and Beige (video flyer below), and the Wierd Party next Wednesday (10/5). Their new EP, Total Decay, is out on Halloween via Captured Tracks and you can download a track from it (and one from their debut album) at the top of this post. If you like '80s 4AD goth (Clan of Xymox, Xmal Deutchland) you're probably already going.

Veronica Falls

Speaking of goth, in a totally different way we've got Veronica Falls in town for two shows: tonight (9/27) at Glasslands and tomorrow (9/28) at Pianos. Their debut, out last week on Slumberland, is one of my favorite albums of the year so far. I wrote about it over at Sound Bites which I will quote here:

The band get the C-86 tag a lot but, apart from The Velvet Underground (which has inspired 95% of all indiepop), New Zealand seems to be a bigger influence anyway. "Misery" and current single "Bad Feeling" could both be Bats songs. (The Verlaines are a clear influence too, and I bet someone in the band loves The Chills' "Pink Frost.") But this is not a band you really sit around playing "spot the influence" to, as you're too busy swooning to the gorgeous melodies and Roxanne Clifford's truly lovely voice.

There's not a dud in Veronica Falls' 36 minute running time. New songs ("Misery," "Bad Feeling," the effervescent "The Box") are equals to early singles "Found Love in a Graveyard" and "Beachy Head" which appear here in newly recorded versions that might actually improve on the original versions.

When I said "goth" above, I mean more in an old school romance kind of way. Love and death, often intertwined. If you're on Spotify you can listen to the album here. They're great live, do go see them. Tonight's Glasslands show is with German Measles, Tanks Amigo and Darlings; the Pianos show is entirely TWII-endorsed, with McDonalds, Heaven's Gate and The Hairs.

Mikal Cronin

Ty Segall plays Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (9/29) and we've given him a lot of love over the last few years. He's awesome. If you're going, do get there early and see opener Mikal Cronin who plays in Ty's band and used to front Charlie & the Moonhearts. I liked the Moonhearts just fine, but playing with Ty seems to have done wonders. Mikal's self-titled LP on Trouble in Mind (produced by Ty) is far and away the best thing he's ever done, is one of my albums of the year, and I like it more than Segall's Goodbye Bread to be honest.

The album has great song after great song, killer hooks and harmonies -- SoCal garagey surf-pop at it's finest. You can download two tracks from the album at the top of this post.

Total Slacker

Friday is the last night of Monster Island Basement and the DIY venue is going out a big show featuring Regal Degal, Total Slacker, La Big Vic, Hume and Royal Baths. It's the record release party for Total Slacker's debut album, Thrashin', which got a 6.7 on Pitchfork today:

Total Slacker's sense of humor is the album's driving force, and it's both overt and weirdly specific. The lyrics, for the most part, are a goofy celebration of the slacker caricature. Between the references to weed and various snack foods, and the record's languid pace, Rountree perpetuates the archetypal slacker character with his nasal whine. The track "Thyme Traveling High School Dropout", for example, is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-style branding for a guy who goes back to the 18th century because marijuana isn't illegal then. And the title "Stealing From Salvation Army" says it all-- he plans on doing just that after he wakes up in the afternoon. That's pretty much the whole album. Thrashin' largely depends on buying into that character and thinking it's funny, or at least interesting, for 40 minutes.

With Total Slacker's propensity for instrument-destroying, this last night at Monster Island could be a doozy.

Howler

And finally, Minneapolis band Howler are playing their first NYC shows this week: Thursday (9/29) at Glasslands and Friday opening for Tapes n' Tapes at Bowery Ballroom. The band just signed with Rough Trade who put out their EP, This One's Different, not too long ago. They're getting more UK press than here in the States. NME gave the EP 8/10 saying:

Howler are musical pizza. They're not a band you define yourself by. They're a band you dance to. Which is not to say that Howler are stupid, or people who like Howler are stupid. They just don't feel the need to prove that they're clever.

The title of this first EP by Rough Trade's most recent signings is both misleading and spot on. There's nothing much different about these Minneapolis boys at all, with their sexy bedhead hair, skinny limbs and small-child-romping-at-a-family-wedding goofy energy. Their bratty guitar pop is as familiar as skin, but also as warm and lovable. But then, how many flat, formulaic takes on this same sound are also-running around out there? Howler are different because they make commonplace components fly with a brilliant nonchalance.

Everybody likes Pizza, right? The review goes on to make a Razorlight comparison, so this pie must have extra cheese. You can download a Howler track at the top of this post.

And that's the big stuff for this week. Slightly smaller stuff is below, day-by day:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Portland duo Viva Voce are at Mercury Lounge tonight. They don't get enough attention -- apart from just being two of them there's no "angle" per se, besides good songs and great musicianship -- and their new album The Future Will Destroy You is pretty good.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

Reptar, Savoir Adore at the Neon Gold TV launch party at Tammany Hall. Tickets are $5 in advance, $10 at the door.

Somebody is playing Roseland tonight, can't remember who.

continued below...

Continue reading "Anika, DD/MM/YYYY, Factory Floor, Veronica Falls, Howler, Mikal Cronin & much more in This Week in Indie (ATP edition)"

Edan @ ATP NY 2008 (more by Zach Dilgard)

ATP SAYS:

Today we can confirm that the fantastic Edan will join the Friday line-up of I'll Be Your Mirror USA, bringing one of his renowned DJ sets to the Berkeley Hotel.

We can also confirm the film schedule as presented by the Criterion Collection - which includes appearances from Robert Downey Sr presenting Putney Swope and Stan Warnow presenting Deconstructing Dad about his father Raymond Scott as part of the Lapham's Quarterly Literature Stage. Click here to check out the full film schedule.

Today we have also updated our Accommodation list - new accommodation options are being added all the time, but everything on the page now has been checked in the last 24 hours and has availability.

We will be emailing all ticketholders in the next few days with a full letter giving information on check-in and other important details - keep an eye on your inbox for that (we will post it here too.)

Check-in where you will exchange your festival tickets for wristbands will take place in the Berkeley Hotel from 12 noon each day. Note if you have a Jeff Mangum Weekend Pass, when you check-in we will be giving each of you a physical ticket detailing your seat for the performance you are attending - this is to avoid people queuing throughout the day (which would cause a hazard and make you miss everything else going on!).

And finally here are the Stage Times for the event. Note that Thought Forms now perform on Sunday instead of Saturday...

Set times below...

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds Edan, announces set times & more"

OMD @ Terminal 5 in March (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

As Tune-Yards starts her second of two NYC shows at LPR tonight (9/20), OMD will be beginning their first of two shows at Irving Plaza. And I don't know what is about right now and two-night stands, but Wedneday and Thursday have two Beirut shows (both shows with Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier) and two Opeth shows.Thursday and Friday bring two Wilco shows (tickets went back on sale today) and two Girls shows (who also play Other Music while they're here). Old school East Coast punks (sort of) Blondie (who cover Beirut on their new album) just played two shows at Highline Ballroom. Old school West Coast punks X begin a two night run at Irving Plaza soon, but not before the two Radiohead shows at Roseland Ballroom with Four Tet and friends go on sale, sell out and happen (though Radiohead does overlap with X's Maxwell's show). Megafaun also play two NYC shows next week, as do Mogwai with the Soft Moon. Jay-Z & Kanye West will spend 9/27 & 9/28 11/5 & 11/6 at the Izod Center in NJ. Portishead and Jeff Mangum help end September and begin October with two shows each as part of ATP in NJ. Portishead follow it up with two more shows at Hammerstein Ballroom. I think that's a good place to stop. What else?

Tickets are now on sale for the upcoming Portishead shows at Hammerstein Ballroom.

Portishead @ Coachella 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

The number of bands playing NYC before or after ATP NJ in Asbury Park is multiplying. We've recently mentioned that Shellac play The Bell House and that Anika, whose album was produced by Geoff Barrow of Portishead, plays LPR (it will be her first US live show).

It's now been announced that Portishead, who co-curated and headline the NJ festival, as promised, will follow ATP with a North American tour that kicks off on October 4 and 5 at Hammerstein Ballroom!!! Tickets for all dates are on presale now! Tickets "go on sale to the general public July 15th and 16th, with the exception of Chicago, on sale date July 22nd."

According to Adrian Utley, "We've always thought that we must come back to tour in the states, something we wanted to do with the release of Third, but our schedule just wouldn't allow it. Being that we were asked to curate I'll be your Mirror, this just seemed like a good start to touring the states - it set's it off in absolutely the right way. We are absolutely delighted to come back."

Portishead last visited North America to play Coachella in 2008, but never came east. Geoff Barrow's band BEAK> did play here in 2010 though, also around an ATP appearance.

Though it's hard to want a show to be at Roseland or Hammerstein, it's too bad they didn't choose Roseland for old time's sake. All new dates will be opened by Thought Forms (who opened for Portishead in Utrecht on 6/15).

All tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Portishead announce North American tour, two nights at Hammerstein Ballroom included!! (dates)"

All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic waterfront. For the inaugural U.S. I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate and headline their firrst East Coast shows since 1998 on the Saturday & Sunday.

As well as Day Tickets, ATP have to date been selling two types of weekend pass - "Three Day Jeff Mangum" passes that include Jeff Mangum's Friday show and guarantee access to one of the Portishead shows (as well as everything else at the festival) and "Three Day Portishead" passes that do not give access to Jeff's Friday show but give guaranteed access to both Portishead shows as well as the rest of the festival. Today we announce a third type of weekend pass...

Portishead have invited Jeff to play an extra show on the Sunday night of the festival. Therefore this week we release new "Three Day Jeff Mangum Sunday Passes" - these give access to all three days of the festival to passholders who will see Jeff Mangum on the Sunday night and are guaranteed to see one of the two Portishead shows. The original Three Day passes for the event are now called "Three Day Jeff Mangum Friday Passes."

Say that all three times fast. All three day pass options are still on sale. More details on all ATP ticket options are below.

That means Jeff is playing Asbury Park three times, twice during the actual festival (see above), and, as you know, once on Monday (10/3) at Paramount Theatre (the day after ATP and not actually part of the fest itself). The Monday show has been sold out for a while now, but ATP are releasing a few more tickets for it. "To buy email feedback@atpfestival.com with JEFF MONDAY TICKETS in subject line, and tell us how many tickets you want. We will respond as soon as possible. Payments must be made by Paypal." A Hawk and a Hacksaw (ft. Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeremy Barnes) open the show.

ATP NJ has a few other lineup additions including Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 (they first reunited to play the Animal Collective ATP that recently happened in the UK), avant guitar hero Marc Ribot, avant sax hero Colin Stetson, avant comedian Reggie Watts, and others. Also: "Today we are also very pleased to announce that in conjunction with The Jonathan Levine Gallery, renowned artist SHEPARD FAIREY (who has created the art for this event and will also DJ) will be presenting an exhibition of his art over the weekend entitled Revolutions: The Album Cover Art of Shepard Fairey. More details of the exhibition will be confirmed soon."

The updated lineup is below, along with updated Jeff Mangum tour dates (he added a few other shows recently too)...

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds another Jeff Mangum show, a new kind of pass & some more bands to the lineup"

Updated ATP flyer

"Can we assume they'll be added to ATP, which starts a few days after the Bklyn date?," asked a commenter in the comments of our post announcing the Swans show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and that commenter was dead on.

ATP NJ (aka "Ill Be Your Mirror") has updated its previously announced lineup to include Swans, Peanut Butter Wolf (who will be DJing), Battles, Deerhoof, Jim Thirwell's Manorexia, and Oneida (who will again perform in Ocropolis formation, like in 2009) "ONEIDA PRESENTS THE OCROPOLIS III which will take place at the Asbury Lanes Bowling Alley - the band will perform continuously throughout the day, sometimes with guests from the rich array of musicians also performing in the festival, sometimes alone and mostly improvised."

Though 3-day passes for the Asbury Park Fest, which include your only shot at seeing Jeff Mangum, are sold out (now called the Jeff Mangum Three Day Pass), tickets are still available in multiple incarnations for the three day celebration, including a new "Portishead Three Day Pass" which allows "passholders to see everything else from Friday-Sunday as well as giving priority access with the day pass holders to BOTH Portishead shows on Saturday and Sunday" (the pass doesn't include entry into Jeff Mangum). The "Portishead Three Day Pass" will go on sale at 10AM EST Thursday (4/21) and individual day passes are currently on sale. The versions of the 3-day pass that are sold out only guarantee you one night of Portishead. "Existing Day ticketholders or Jeff Mangum Three Day pass holders who wish to switch to a Portishead Three Day Pass should contact ATP via feedback@atpfestival.com before May 30th."

The current lineup is below.

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds 'Portishead 3 Day Pass', expands lineup (Swans, Oneida, Battles, Deerhoof, more)"

Shepard Fairey is also DJing the event on Sunday

ATP Asbury Park ("I'll Be Your Mirror") has released the second wave of artist announcements including many of Portishead's choices for the bill! We already knew about Jeff Mangum, Bonnie Prince Billy, Shellac, Chavez and more. New additions include, not surprisingly, Portishead-related acts Anika and Beak> (and this time Anika will be performing live and not just DJing). There's also now a rare reunion of The Pop Group, an Ultramagnetic MC's reunion (WITH Kool Keith), Silver Qluster (Simeon of Silver Apples and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia), Thee Siliver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Mogwai, Earth, The Horrors and more. The full list is below.

Jeff Mangum also just announced a slew of other shows aside from ATP Asbury Park, including a UK ATP.

More details, a bigger Shepard Fairey-designed poster, and the full schedule below...

Continue reading "ATP NJ lineup expands (Pop Group & Ultramagnetic MCs reunions, Mogwai, Horrors & more Portishead-picked bands)"

by BBG

Anika's new and self-titled LP skirts the lines between funk, no-wave, goth, dub, and a mish-mosh of many other genres with Nico-style vocals in front. It's odd, but very compelling, and her accompaniment is nothing short of on point which is to be expected when Beak> (Geoff Barrow of Porsishead, Billy Fuller and Matt Williams) is your backing band. Barrow also produced the record which you can listen to in its entirely below. Watch a video of her Yoko-Ono cover "Yang Yang" down there too. Pick up a copy of the record at her label Stones Throw.

Though Anika has no North American live tour dates scheduled, she will be on hand to DJ a ton of events in the next couple weeks - once in LA and six times in NYC. Three of those NY appearances are free: 2/10 she'll be at Gallery Bar with Blu Jemz, 2/12 at Trophy Bar & 2/14 at The Commodore. The remaining three NY DJ appearances are at Mercury Lounge on 2/9 spinning between sets at the Cubic Zirconia show (tickets), Glasslands on 2/11 where she'll spin in between sets by Javelin, High Life, & Monster Rally (tickets), and finally Santos Pary House on 2/16 as part of the previously discussed Beans show which now also includes Edan(!) with Paten Locke & Bluebird (tickets).

Anika will be performing live sometime later in the U.S. - maybe at the Portishead-curated I'll Be Your Mirror in NJ (maybe sooner), and definitely at the Portishead-curated I'll Be Your Mirror in London. I'll Be Your Mirror USA single day tickets are still on sale.

All upcoming dates, that video, and the album stream, below...

Continue reading "Listen to the Geoff Barrow-produced Anika, see her DJ (at least 7 times in February)"

'I'll Be Your Mirror USA' is not the only 'I'll Be Your Mirror' that Portishead is curating for ATP. As previously mentioned, the English band is also helping pick the bands for the event happening in London in July (tickets still on sale by the way).

So far we don't know any of the bands that will open for Portishead in NJ in October, but it would be crazy if they didn't have at least a few of the same bands on both. This is who they have on the UK one so far: PJ HARVEY (also playing Coachella), DOOM, COMPANY FLOW, THE BOOKS (played ATP NY 2010), FACTORY FLOOR, BEAK> (played ATP NY 2010), DD/MM/YYYY, GRINDERMAN, SWANS, BEACH HOUSE, LIARS, THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, ANIKA, and S.C.U.M. The full UK lineup so far, is listed by day below...

Continue reading "the bands playing Portishead's ATP in the UK"

This was actually posted by ATP on Friday, but probably still all true:

The Jeff Mangum show at the Paramount Theatre is now sold out.

Three Day passes and Day passes are selling fast and the ticket sites are going slow due to the number of visitors so if it doesn't work first time please be patient and try again, or try phoning! Thanks for your understanding. On Seetickets you will know your order was successful when you get email confirmation.

Here are the correct ticket links to use for today's on-sale at 9am EST. Tickets will be limited to 4 per order per ticket type so please bear this in mind and if you need more than that try to get a friend to do a separate order.

Please note 3 day passes are only on Seetickets...

Three Day Passes - SEETICKETS

Friday / Saturday / Sunday Day Passes - SEETICKETS or TICKETMASTER

Please be advised that each site has a different allocation of tickets, so if tickets say they are sold out on one ticket agent, check out the other!

If you want to try phoning for tickets the numbers are:

Ticketmaster - 0844 844 0444
Seetickets - +44 (0)1159 129000 (thats a UK number)

OR if you're in Asbury Park, Day tickets will be available at The Stone Pony Box Office, located at 2nd and Ocean Avenues in Asbury Park, and at the Experience Asbury Store, located in The Grand Arcade off of the 5th Ave Boardwalk.

Remember, only people with 3 day passes get to go to the Mangum show on Friday, and only people with separate Mangum Monday tickets get to go to Mangum on Monday. 3 day pass holders need to choose between seeing Portishead either Saturday or Sunday (though depending on capacity I suppose some lucky people will get to go to both). There doesn't seem to be a way to stop people who buy Saturday and Sunday day passes from seeing Portishead both nights though. Tickets went on sale Friday morning.

Updated I'll Be Your Mirror USA lineup (they added a couple names since the initial announcement) below....

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror USA lineup & ticket update"

According to a December 23rd tweet by Portishead's Geoff Barrow, Portishead are "doing some split headline shows with arcade fire next year , I'm really looking forward to it..proper band!!" That won't be the promised U.S. Portishead tour though as Geoff later explained "What i mean is that We will be playing with AF at some point next year it's not a tour though!! Sorry." and "The shows with AF are festivals in Europe or I think they are? Hope that helps!" Oh well, I think (stay tuned for the rest of the American dates when they are announced though).

As reported by Pitchfork, "there's going to be more [Jeff Mangum] shows scheduled in the future." Stay tuned for that too.

MEANWHILE, we know that Jeff and Portishead are both playing "I'll Be Your Mirror" in Asbury Park this fall. Tickets go on sale Friday 9am EST at SeeTickets and on Ticketmaster.

For those of you who were wondering if ATP New York was returning to the kitschy resort that is Kutschers, the bad news is that it won't. The good news? All Tomorrow's Parties is instead headed to one of the kitschiest towns in New Jersey this fall, and "American I'll Be Your Mirror" will begin its inaugural year with a BANG!

All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic Asbury Park waterfront. For the inaugural American I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate and headline their first East Coast shows since 1998 on the Saturday and Sunday!

ATP, who are curating on the Friday are also very excited to be able to present Jeff Mangum who on the Friday night will perform his first large public show of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in over a decade.... Please note, as Jeff has chosen to play in the stunning, but smaller Paramount theatre only people who buy 3 day festival passes get access to this show on Friday night.

Also playing on the Friday are Chavez, Shellac, Cults and The Album Leaf, with a headliner and some comedians to be confirmed. The rest of the line-ups for the Saturday and Sunday will be announced in the near future.

I'll Be Your Mirror is a new series of artist curated music, film and art events. Acting as sister events to the ATP Festivals, which take place in holiday resorts, I'll Be Your Mirror retains the curatorial and multiple band and film concept, but will take place in cities worldwide. The events are named after the b-side to The Velvet Underground's original All Tomorrow's Parties 7" single, released in 1966.

Everyone who came to our three events at Kutshers knows how special the place was and how lucky they were to have been a part of our events there and while we are sad to not be returning, we are excited to be moving to the iconic Asbury Park. The Convention Hall has seen the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones grace its stage and the Paramount Theatre has welcomed stars such as Tony Bennett who often insists on playing a song with all the electrics turned off to demonstrate the amazing acoustics of the room.

We will be transporting the whole ATP experience over to this new location on the beach at Asbury Park, with the main shows taking place at the Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre, as well as the nearby Asbury Lanes and the Berkeley hotel, which the man in black, Johnny Cash himself once lived at. We think it will make a stunning successor to Kutshers.

As well as the live music line-up of over 30 acts across the weekend, Friday will feature a Comedy stage, and we're very pleased to announce that our friends at Criterion will return again to run the Cinema across the weekend. All three days will also feature DJs and other activities to be confirmed in the months ahead - we'll also be bringing back some of our popular food vendors including the much loved Asia Dogs, and much, much more. Performances all take place indoors, so you have no need to fear about the weather!

I'll Be Your Mirror will take place from Sept 30 - Oct 2, 2011. Jeff Mangum will ALSO perform a separate show on Monday, Oct 3rd at Paramount Theater. 3 DAY PASSES, DAY PASSES AND JEFF MANGUM (Monday) TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT 9AM EST FROM SEETICKETS & TICKETMASTER via www.atpfestival.com.

Most exciting news ever?

BBG, an ATP NY veteran, in a moment of excitement adds:

This announcement is one big "holy shit" on many levels.
1) Hello Asbury Park, NJ!
2) One of the best things about ATP New York was the "music camp" atmosphere at Kutshers. How will Berkeley Hotel fare?
3) Neutral Milk Hotel!!!
4) Portishead!!!
5) Neutral Milk Hotel again!
6) Portishead again, but maybe not?

Confused by point #6? Well, "Limited 3 Day Passes are available at $249 - these include access to the Jeff Mangum Friday show and the choice of being guaranteed to see Portishead on Saturday or Sunday." More details (including ticket and transportation options) below:

Continue reading "Portishead curating, Jeff Mangum-playing 'I'll Be Your Mirror' ATP in Asbury Park, NJ!!!"

Geoff Barrow posted the following messages to Twitter (via)...

There will be NO iTunes only There will be NO press launch There will be NO asian version There will be NO radio friendly

There will be NO press/blogger gig There will be NO acoustic session There will be NO meet and greet There will be NO edited version

There will be NO £25 unit cost There will be NO streetteam There will be NO myspace There will be NO celeb producer There will be NO twitter

There will be NO additional content There will be NO corporate partners There will be NO fashion lines There will be NO tabloid pictures

There will be NO free downloads There will be NO bonus tracks There will be NO remixes There will be NO hidden footage

Just music and us.

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