photos by Amanda Hatfield

School of Seven Bells just released the video for "White Wind" which was filmed by the For No One folks who like to put bands in empty rooms have them play live to just the cameras. Watch the video at the bottom of this post.

In front of a lot more people, SVIIB played Le Poisson Rouge on May 5 with openers Exitmusic. Pictures of Exitmusic's set are HERE. Pictures of SVIIB are in this post.

The band will head to Beijing for this weekend's China Music Valley International Music Festival on May 19 and will be in Mexico City next weekend (May 25), but will be back in the U.S. will be back in the U.S. for two shows with The Temper Trap, including a NYC show on June 5 at Terminal 5 (sold out). All upcoming tour dates are listed with more pictures from their LPR show below....

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells released new video, played LPR (pics), opening for Temper Trap"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Exitmusic @ Le Poisson Rouge

Secretly Canadian will release Exitmusic's new album Passage on May 22. Listen to the whole thing below.

Exitmusic, who just played Le Poisson Rouge as part of their tour with School of Seven Bells (which also hit Austin), are playing NYC again as part of the Northside Festival at Brooklyn Bowl on June 16 with Exitmusic, Ape School, and Field Mouse (tickets), and then again at Mercury Lounge on June 28 (tickets)

All dates (including NXNE), the album stream, and more pictures from the LPR show, below...

Continue reading "Exitmusic streaming new album, announced more shows, played LPR (pics & dates)"

photos & video by Jessica Amaya

School of Seven Bells @ Merc - 2/28/2012

Behind lavender eyeliner, cropped raven-black bangs and a cache of silver necklaces, bracelets and earrings dangling off her petite person, Alejandra Deheza invoked an indie pop Cleopatra while she lilted through the breathless chorus of Alpinisms opener "Iamundernodisguise." Undisguised by studio multi-tracking, Deheza doesn't boast the ethereal presence she does on tape, but proved she is a talented vocalist nonetheless. After an instrumental introduction, Deheza's pipes were put on blast for the entire 90-minute set, which leaned heavy on new Ghostory tracks, interspersed with occasional older favorites. [CMJ]

The band have another show TONIGHT (3/1) at the same venue with Rewards. That show is sold out too, but they'll also head out on a tour with Exitmusic later this year which brings them back to NYC on May 5 at LPR. Tickets for that show are still available.

More pics, video and setlist below...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells played Mercury Lounge w/ future tour partners Exitmusic (pics, video, setlist)"

School of Seven Bells at Terminal 5 in 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

School of Seven Bells will release their new album, GHOSTORY, on February 28 via Vagrant/Ghostly, and play two release shows at Mercury Lounge (2/28 and 3/1). Both of those shows are now sold out. They'll head out on a full tour in support of the album with Exitmusic (who also opens the 2/28 show) this spring, which culminates in a NYC show at Le Poisson Rouge on May 5. Tickets are on sale now.

You've already heard GHOSTORY's first track, "The Night," which you can grab HERE. They've since revealed that the first official single from the album is "Lafaye," which you can stream, with all tour dates, below.

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells streaming new single, announce tour w/ Exitmusic (dates)"

School of Seven Bells at Terminal 5 in 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Speaking of Ghostly artists, School of Seven Bells have announced a second Mercury Lounge show (3/1), happening two days after their previously announced record release show at the same venue, which is now sold out. Exitmusic open the 2/28 show. Rewards open the 3/1 show. Tickets for the new one go on sale Friday (1/6) at noon.

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells add another show"

DOWNLOAD: School of Seven Bells - "The Night" (MP3)

School of Seven Bells at Terminal 5 in 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

School of Seven Bells will release their third album, and first since Alejandra Deheza's sister Claudia left the band, GHOSTORY on February 28 via Vagrant/Ghostly. Grab the first single from the album, "The Night," above and stream it below, along with the album's artwork and tracklist.

They'll play a record release show for GHOSTORY at NYC's Mercury Lounge on the album's release date (2/28) with Exitmusic. Tickets for the show are on sale now. It is both band's only announced show at the moment.

Song stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells releasing 'GHOSTORY' (MP3), playing a release show w/ Exitmusic"

DOWNLOAD: Surfer Blood - "Miranda" School of Seven Bells remix (MP3)

The Walkmen at Williamsburg Waterfront recently (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

The Walkmen will join School of Seven Bells, The Kick Drums, Wormburner and many others THIS SUNDAY (10/16) for a rescheduled-due-to-Hurrican-Irene FREE show on Hoboken's Pier A from noon until 10PM. Entry to the hMAG Music Fest 2011 (presented by H Lifestyle Magazine) requires RSVP and set times are below. The show is one of two Northeastern dates for The Walkmen (who play Bloktoberfest in Philly the day before) as they prep for Australian dates on November.

In related news, School of Seven Bells recently remixed a Surfer Blood track for their forthcoming EP, Tarot Classics, due on October 25 via Kanine. SoSB joins names like Speculator, Allen Blickle (Baroness) and Totally Sincere (Peggy of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Connor of The Drums). Check out "Miranda" downloadable above and streaming below, and order a copy of the EP at Surfer Blood's site. Reminder, Surfer Blood is on the road with the Pixies, and will play Wellmont Theatre on 10/27 and Asbury Park Convention Hall in NJ on 10/28.

All tour dates, set times, and some recent live video from Austin City Limits 2011 is below.

Continue reading "The Walkmen play free show in Hoboken Sunday w/ School of Seven Bells (who remixed Surfer Blood)"

Today (9/8/11) is Fashion's Night Out which means tons of free events in stores and late night shopping throughout NYC. We've already mentioned events happening with Real Estate, Memoryhouse, Neon Indian, Andrew WK, Beth Ditto, White Rabbits, Best Coast, and members of MGMT/Chairlift/Violens. There are more.

Drake and Foster the People each make appearances that are sure to draw ridiculous crowds. Tanlines, School of Seven Bells, Sun Airway, Estelle, The Roots, Beach Fossils, Justin Townes Earle and many others also appear at stores tonight (James Murphy DOES NOT). You can browse the FNO website to find stuff, or you can instead check out the handy list we compiled by doing that for you, below....

Continue reading "It's Fashion's Night Out - here's a list of free music stuff happening"

DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Trails (Deerhoof remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Perfectly Crystal (Beach Fossils/Spirit Animal remix) (MP3 premiere)

Asobi Seksu

Shoegazey rockers Asobi Seksu's new album Fluorescence was released via Polyvinyl in February. You'll notice at Polyvinyl's site that the download comes with four bonus tracks, three of which are remixes of the song "Trails", one of which is done by Deerhoof. Download that Deerhoof remix above if you don't already have it. Also grab the Beach Fossils remix version of "Perfectly Crystal" which is making its premiere in this post.

As previously mentioned, Asobi Seksu have a big headlining show coming up at Bowery Ballroom, and that show happens to be TONIGHT (4/7). Openers are Zaza and Consortium Musicum. Consortium Musicum are Greg Saunier of Deerhoof & Sean Lennon.

Asobi also recently announced some May dates with White Lies including a 5/24 show at Antone's in Austin where Asobi recently played SXSW for the fourth time. White Lies have good taste in openers. School of Seven Bells and Sun Airway open their upcoming Terminal 5 show.

And speaking of Beach Fossils, they have their own big show right around the corner. I'm talking about their Friday (4/8) headlining show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Craft Spells, Crinkles, and "Unannounced Special Guest." Tickets are still on sale.

In related news, The Drums play a sold out show at Mercury Lounge tonight (4/7) and other upcoming shows too.

All Asobi & Beach Bossils tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils remixed Asobi Seksu (MP3 premiere), both play big shows this week w/ special guests (and other dates)"

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Crisp pressed shirts, khakis, sport coats, and bulging neck veins (due to vocal exertion) were the order of the evening at Terminal 5 last night (12/2), as The Walkmen headlined the NYC venue.

"The Walkmen deftly tore through a set with singer Hamilton Leithauser playing up the frontman role to a tee. His voice was absolutely fantastic and there are few vocal performances that I've seen in recent memory that had me as captivated. Songs like "Canadian Girl" and Lisbon cut "While I Shovel The Snow" were exquisite, and the set closing crowd favorite "The Rat" was very powerful. This was a set I did not want to end, but I can't say I was angry when it ended before midnight thanks to it being a weeknight. I would go see them again tonight if I could." [I Have 19 Voices]

The Walkmen play a "hometown show" of sorts tonight at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC (the band grew up in the area before moving to NYC), and then call it a day with respect to shows for 2010. The new year means a new batch of dates though. In January Hamilton will belt it out at various venues in the Southeast before heading overseas to bless the UK. All dates are below.

Denver's Tennis, who will join The Walkmen again in DC, headlined Mercury Lounge the night before Terminal 5. All of their dates are below too.

School of Seven Bells (now a duo, Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis) will hit the road for a string of dates with Interpol in the new year. And though they are not currently scheduled to open for Interpol at Radio City, no openers have been announced for the NYC show yet, and SoSB do open the shows right before and after that one (so maybe they'll get added?).

All dates and more pictures, and videos from Terminal 5, with the Walkmen's setlist, below...

Continue reading "The Walkmen, School of Seven Bells & Tennis played Terminal 5 (pics, video, setlist & more dates)"

The Roots at Prospect Park (more by David Andrako)

For a while there you could ring in the new week with The Roots at Highline Ballroom. You can currently ring in the weekend with Questlove who is on the tables at Brooklyn Bowl every Thursday night, and now you can ring in the new YEAR with the "organic hip hop jazz" crew. The Roots will play three sets at the Williamsburg venue on New Year's Eve starting at 10PM. $85 tickets go on sale 10/29 at noon.

The Roots recently released a collaborative LP with John Legend entitled Wake Up and played a big show Terminal 5, and a whole bunch of other smaller NYC venues together (lots of private and surprise promotional shows).

Guided By Voices, Sharon Jones, Patti Smith, Passion Pit, Phish, and Drive-By Truckers, and Gov't Mule are all also playing New Years Eve shows in the NYC-area.

Last night, 10/27, Gary Wilson sat in with the Roots on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. School of Seven Bells were the musical guest (Gwar is tonight), but Gary Wilson was on there too. School of Seven Bells recently announced that Claudia Deheza left the band, leaving just her twin sister Alejandra and Benjamin Curtis as the core members.

Video of School of Seven Bells playing Fallon (with a drummer which actually made them a trio), and video of the whole episode (Jimmy introduces Gary Wilson right after the intro), below...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells (now a duo) played Fallon (Gary Wilson too), The Roots are playing Brooklyn Bowl New Years Eve"

Tennis at Glasslands in August (more by Jessica Amaya)

Concept albums are nothing new, but the story behind the latest seven-inch from the band Tennis feels pretty fresh. The summery, lo-fuzz songs on the "Marathon" EP, which was released.. on Underwater Peoples, are based on the sailing trip taken by the husband-and-wife duo Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore in 2009 -- an eight-month journey along the East Coast that took them from "Bimini Bay" in the Bahamas through "Marathon" Florida, "South Carolina" and up to "Baltimore" on their 30-foot "Cape Dory." Not bad for two kids from Denver who'd never sailed before -[New York Times]

You don't need to trek all the way to T5 to see the band named after a sport though. They will also will headline a show of their own at Mercury Lounge the night before (12/1). Tickets are currently on AMEX presale, and go on regular sale at noon Friday (10/15). All dates below.

School of Seven Bells meanwhile will be around for CMJ.

Tennis's Marathon 7" is sold out via Underwater Peoples, but the band recently popped by Daytrotter to bless them with "Cape Dory" from that effort, as well as three other live jams you can download for free.

All current tour dates with some videos below...

Continue reading "Tennis announce dates, some w/ the Walkmen ++ Daytrotter"

SoSB @ MHOW - CMJ 2009 (more by Vincent Cornelli)


The CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival "has announced its first round of performing artists." The full list, BrooklynVegan showcase semi-included, and more is below.

One of those performing artists is School of Seven Bells who headline the Windish showcase at Santos Party House on Saturday, October 23rd. Tickets are on sale for that (or you can try to get in with your CMJ badge). SoSB played MHOW during CMJ last year.

Meanwhile School of Seven Bells will kick off a tour with Active Child at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg on September 9th. $5.00 tickets are still on sale.

All SoSB dates, the CMJ artist list, Bad Books info and more, below...

Continue reading "CMJ announces initial 2010 lineup (list), School of Seven Bells touring w/ Active Child (dates) ++ "Bad Books" & more"

by BBG

Kurt Vile at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Lori Baily)

It's almost final and official, ATP New York is ruling. The best Hudson Valley festival to ever be held in a 1960s time capsule has announced the "final additions" including two comedians chosen by Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav (more to come... that's all "so far"), as well as a few new and interesting additions to the Jim Jarmusch curated date. Behold:

Continue reading "ATP NY announces (almost) complete lineup (GZA, Kurt Vile..)"

ATP NY, happening over Labor Day weekend (Sept 3-5), continues to expand its lineup.

To complete the line-up for [Saturday, Sept. 4, the fest's second day] our new additions are headed up by HALLOGALLO, a very special new project headed by Michael Rother and featuring Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) and Ben Curtis (Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, and whose brother is now a touring member of Interpol). Hallogallo will perform the music of Rother's 1970s Krautrock legends Neu! - their recent debut show in Barcelona was rapturously received. Also confirmed are cult heros SHELLAC who appear as ATP's House Band, FURSAXA, SIAN ALICE GROUP and TEXT OF LIGHT (featuring Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo). Steve Albini of Shellac is also confirmed to host his Card Games Room over the weekend.

Both of Neu!'s founding members, Rother and now-deceased Klaus Dinger, were also members of Kraftwerk. "Hallogallo" is the name of track #1 on Neu!'s debut Neu...

"The legendary German group NEU! released only 3 albums between 1972 and 1975, but these albums had an influence wildly disproportionate to their modest commercial success; praised by and influential to David Bowie, Hawkwind, Iggy Pop, DEVO, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Autechre, Radiohead, U2, Wilco, Primal Scream, and beyond. In May 2010 Gronland Records [released] a box including these three LP's and an incredible batch of bonus material. Also this year will be the first live presentation of this music in more than 35 years as 'Hallogallo 2010.'"

The new Saturday additions join Friday's Don't Look Back lineup (Friday will also feature a Comedy Stage, details TBA) of Iggy & The Stooges, Sleep, Mudhoney and The Scientists (doing their first US show), Saturday's Sonic Youth, Explosions In The Sky, The Breeders and Tortoise, and Sunday's Jim Jarmusch-curated lineup (which just added the Greenhornes, but dropped Brian Jonestown Massacre who were previously announced for the festival but canceled).

The current lineup for all three dates is posted below...

Continue reading "ATP NY adds Hallogallo (Michael Rother & friends performing Neu!) & other bands ("Neu! 2010" also playing other shows)"

School of Seven Bells @ MHOW/CMJ 2009 (more by Vincent Cornelli)

School of Seven Bells will be playing Mercury Lounge in NYC on June 9th and 10th. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 14th at noon.

The shoegaze trio has a new record due this spring on Vagrant Records.

SSB's Alejandra Deheza: I love Alpinisms, but I definitely think [the new album] is a way better record. I mean, I hope. It's just a different time and the lyrics come from a different place, and so do the songs, just like the music. It seems very different to me. The one thing that is in common with the other record is it's all very sing-able. It's not a noise record or anything.

Under the Radar: Do you feel the tone of the album is different?

Alejandra: Yes. I don't want to generalize it too much. It comes from a darker place, but darker doesn't have to be negative. It comes from a different place of writing than the first record. The album title is Disconnect From Desire.

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells - new album soon & two NYC shows "

by BBG

Good news, good news. If you don't already have tickets to 4/8 at Webster Hall, some tickets are still available. In addition, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have added a second NYC show at Webster Hall on 4/9 with Alberta Cross (who just opened for Guns n Roses at the Varvatos Store). Tickets are on Artist presale (or will be soon), and the Ticketmaster AMEX presale blasts off at noon tomorrow (2/17) with regular folks getting a crack at the tix on Friday (2/19) at noon.

In addition to the previously mentioned tour dates in support of the forthcoming Beat The Devil's Tattoo, BRMC have also confirmed an appearance at the Vagrant Records SXSW showcase with School of Seven Bells, J Roddy Walston & The Business and Murder By Death on March 19th at La Zona Rosa.

Updated tour dates below...

Continue reading "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club add 2nd NYC show (w/ Alberta Cross), playing Vagrant SXSW showcase - updated Tour Dates "

photos by Vincent Cornelli

School of Seven Bells

Friday night's show at Music Hall of Williamsburg had its share of problems. First it was moved from Webster Hall to Music Hall of Williamsburg (presumably for less-than-expected ticket sales). Then one of its openers, First Aid Kit, couldn't get into the country. They were replaced by the Depreciation Guild. Then the other opener, Warpaint, mysteriously disappeared off the bill and was replaced by Phantogram. Finally, to add insult to injury, School of Seven Bells were supposed to be the headliner, but not surprisingly, some of the crowd cleared out after the much hyped xx played third of fourth on the bill at the sold out show.

"Their stage setup was really xxxxxxxxxx-core, with two large X podiums from the left to the right with the band members dressed up in dark colours. The band's stage presence was very striking; this only complemented their minimalist dream pop sequence.

The XX do not have the energetic stage presence that most bands at CMJ have. They just hammered out each song without any variation. It was as if their hearts did not skip a beat.

If the XX come to your town, expect a good show but not one that's too jumpy. You can shout out the lyrics from the audience but the XX will remain stoic, just to deliver and concentrate on putting on a live show." [B Sides]

Continue reading "The xx, School of Seven Bells, Phantogram & the Depreciation Guild @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (CMJ) - pics"

DOWNLOAD: The xx - Basic Space (Micachu Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love (The xx Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: School of Seven Bells - Iamundernodisguse (Alt Mix) (MP3)

The xx @ South Street Seaport in August (more by Chris La Putt)

UK's the xx will have already played a large amount of shows in New York City by the end of 2009, and there are more to announce. The xx have augmented their CMJ schedule with a performance at the Apple store in Soho on Thursday, October 22nd. Before that, they play at Mercury Lounge on Oct. 21st with Javelin and Lia Ices (tickets and CMJ badges at the door). Then the xx play an Oct. 23rd show with School of Seven Bells and First Aid Kit. That gig was supposed to be at Webster Hall, but it has now been moved to Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets are still on sale.

School of Seven Bells has a deluxe release of 2008's Alpinisms that's coming out digitally on October 13th. The first song on that, an alternate version of "Iamundernodisguise," is posted above.

The xx's November 11th show at Bowery Ballroom also changed venues - it was originally scheduled for at Mercury Lounge. It's now sold out. Finally, they play December 5th at Webster Hall with Friendly Fires. To recap:

The xx back in NYC
Oct 21 @ Mercury Lounge New York (CMJ)
Oct 22 @ iTunes Instore (Apple Store, SoHo)
Oct 23 @ MHOW w/ School of Seven Bells (CMJ)
Nov 11 @ Bowery Ballroom
Dec 05 @ Webster Hall New York w/ Friendly Fires

Speaking of the Apple Soho store, Phoenix was just there last week (9/24) and Ladyhawke played the store the week before that (9/15). That same day (September 15th), Sonic Youth was to release an iTunes-only four-song EP of their June performance at the store. The record never came out, and seems to be delayed for an unknown period of time. Sonic Youth play NYC's Terminal 5 on November 21st with Cold Cave and Dinosaur Jr. It's sold out, but the Feelies show happening the same night at Maxwell's isn't yet.

The xx recently remixed Florence and the Machine's "You've Got the Love." That is posted above. Florence will come from the UK to play an October 27th show at the Bowery Ballroom. It's sold out, but I wouldn't be surprised if they add another show too.

The xx's debut self-titled record comes out October 6th on Young Turks/XL Recordings. All tour dates for the xx (and Florence) and videos for the xx's two singles are posted below...

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells moves to MHOW, The xx add more CMJ shows, remixed Florence & the Machine (dates, MP3, stuff) "

The xx @ South Street Seaport in August (more by Chris La Putt)

"Strongly influenced by modern R&B-- the [xx] made hay with an early cover of Womack & Womack's "Teardrops", while UK copies of xx come packed with their version of Aaliyah's "Hot Like Fire"-- the xx use a drum machine to complement their copiously tidy compositions. Unlike contemporary R&B fetishists Hot Chip or Discovery, who have clearly spent long hours internalizing Timbaland, the Neptunes, and other radio cognoscenti, the xx incorporate more abstract elements of the genre: a liberal use of bass tones and an unwavering focus on sex and interpersonal relationships." [P4k - Best New Music]

The xx play a show on November 11th at Bowery Ballroom - the new date and location for their previously-scheduled November 12th show at Mecury Lounge ("All tickets will be honored."). Tickets are currently listed on Ticketmaster (for "November 12"), but not actually back on sale yet.

And before that, they'll be in NYC for a CMJ show with School of Seven Bells (who they opened for at the Seaport this August) on Friday, October 23rd. Also on this Webster Hall bill are First Aid Kit and Magic Wands. Tickets are still on sale (and we assume some CMJ badgeholders will be let in). More SOSB dates HERE.

Clips from an August 20th in-store in Brighton, UK, with updates tour dates (including a few more new November shows) are below...

Continue reading "The xx - Mercury show moved to Bowery (Best New Music), 2nd Webster Hall date added (CMJ w/ School of Seven Bells) "

photos by Chris La Putt

"The xx, a four-piece from the United Kingdom, were a competent enough opening band, with interesting song structures and crystal-clear guitar lines. However, we haven't seen a more morose crew of characters in a while, and the fact that all four of them stood rooted to their positions on stage throughout the performance made them a less than inspiring live act. Still, their wistful vocals and rhythmic drum machine beats were enough to keep most the crowd entertained and happily spaced out.

School of Seven Bells, appropriately, were the highlight of the night. Only consisting of three members -- twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and The Secret Machines' Benjamin Curtis -- the ethereal, full-bodied sound they established on their debut LP Alpininisms shone through uncommonly well. Live, their sound is similar to that of dream-pop godfathers Blonde Redhead -- unsurprising considering they've toured together -- but School of Seven Bells manages to get a lot more done in their live show." [20 Watts]

Continue reading "School of Seven Bells & The xx @ South Street Seaport - pics "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Lights On - John and Anne (MP3)

Trashcan Sinatras

Glasgow's Trashcan Sinatras have been with us for 20 years now, having perfected their brand of sparkling, literate guitar pop that initially garnered them comparisons to The Smiths. Like fellow Glaswegians The Blue Nile, the Trashcan Sinatras take their time between albums -- the brand new In the Music is only the band's fifth. (It should be noted that time between albums is not entirely their doing -- the band have had colossally bad luck with record labels.) The band made the album here in New York with Ivy guitarist Andy Chase behind the boards. Like their other four records, it's loaded with gorgeous songs, arpeggiated guitar lines and swoon-worthy harmonies. Weirdly, it's also got Carly Simon singing backing vocals on the song "Should I Pray?" How did that come about? Guitarist Paul Livingston explained to Bullz-Eye.com:

PL: Well, after we recorded the backing tracks in New York, the producer, Andy Chase, was going to set up a studio at his house in Martha's Vineyard. And he said, "Come on, Carly Simon lives here." And we were floored, and thought, "That would be great if we could meet her." And so he asked her to sing on a song, and we got her a lot of the songs we were working on. But the disappointing thing was, when we were in Martha's Vineyard, she was in New York. So we didn't meet her, which is kind of a bummer.

BE: Oh, that's no fun.

PL: Yeah, that's shit, isn't it? The idea was that she'd come to Martha's Vineyard and sing, and that'd be great. And then when people asked us in interviews, 'what was it like,' we thought we'd have a better answer than, "We didn't meet her." But we're going to invite her to some of these gigs, see if she'll come. But it was really nice of her to be so into the music.

Miles Hunt

You could make it a night of late-'80s/early-'90s UK pop Saturday (8/15) if you bolted from Bowery Ballroom right after the Trashcans and hit Cake Shop where former (and sometimes current) Wonder Stuff frontman Miles Hunt will be performing. For those who don't remember, the band were originally part of the short-lived UK "grebo" scene (bands that looked like hippies but sounded punk-ish) that also included Pop Will Eat Itself (Hunt was their original drummer) and Neds Atomic Dustbin, but the band soon developed a celtic pop sound that got them into the British charts many times. In those days of the most unfortunate fashion in modern history, The Wonder Stuff were staples on U.S. college and commercial alternative radio too, with cheeky songs like "A Wish Away," "Don't Let Me Down Gently," and "Welcome to the Cheap Seats." Miles is touring with Wonder Stuff violinist Erika Nockalls which is nice since fiddle played heavily into their sound.

Lights On

Also this week: San Diego's Lights On make their first trip to NYC, playing four shows starting Thursday night (8/13) at Club NME at the Annex. I don't know a whole lot about them, but their self-released debut EP is a nice collection of '80s-influence pop -- most reviews I've read bring up New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen, both of which are pretty easy to detect in their sound. But it's definitely more influence than imitation, and I like them enough to check out one of the four shows (all dates at the bottom of this post). If you could go to any of the four, I'd recommend the Saturday (8/15) show at Union Hall in which they're part of a solid lineup that also includes Philly's can-banging Drink Up Buttercup, Kiwi-influenced Brooklynites Beach Fossils, and Florida buzz band Blind Man's Colour.

Blind Man's Colour

Blind Man's Colour make the sort of cut-n-paste psychedelia that gets you quick comparisons to Animal Collective, and they've been praised by Kanye West ("SOME DOPE SHIT FOR MY APARTMENT"), as well as by people you might more expect (Ed Droste, Stereogum, Pitchfork). Their debut album, Season Dreaming, which I like about half of, is out next week on Kanine Records (Grizzly Bear, Chairlift, Princeton) but I'd have to imagine they'll be selling it at the merch table. These guys had their first-ever live show a couple weeks ago, so you might want to go in with lowered expectations. BMC are playing a number of shows this weekend, and all area dates are listed at the bottom of this post.

Other shows happening this weekend: Tonight (8/13) at Hudson River Park at Pier 54 we've got a free River Rocks show with Yeasayer and Amazing Baby. I haven't seen Yeasayer since All Hour Cymbals was still fresh (circa CMJ 2007?), so I'm curious to hear some of their new material and check out the now five-strong lineup. As for Amazing Baby, it's well documented on this site I'm a fan but realize many are not. Chacun à son goût.

Friday is the final show of this year's Seaport Music series, ending strong with School of Seven Bells and The xx. The forecast looks good, and shows have been sounding great at the Seaport all summer so this is how I'd recommend you kick off the weekend, though I realize many will be at Prospect Park for Animal Collective. But Seaport is free.

Too much going on Friday. If you want to dance, Littlefield has Canada's slightly nerdy duo Woodhands and the Latin-loving Project Jenny/Project Jan.

And if shambly DIY pop is more your thing, The Beets (who will soon be hitting the road with Vivian Girls), German Measles, Pop.1280 and the new-but-quite-promising Fluffy Lumbers play Silent Barn. It's a birthday bash for my pal Rachel (full disclosure!) but everyone's welcome. Flyer below.

I think that about does it. Tour dates, videos and flyers are after the jump...

Continue reading "Trashcan Sinatras, Miles Hunt, Lights On, Blind Man's Colour, Yeasayer, School of Seven Bells & more in This Week In Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Robin Guthrie - Some Sort of Paradise (MP3 premiere)

"When it comes to School of Seven Bells' sound, they're frequently, very frequently, compared to My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins - but there is more to them than 'just' being shoegazers - there's an emphasis on electronically-created sounds that underpins each track, and on songs like 'TranceFigure' the vocals take on a tribal feel. "I love My Bloody Valentine and you know, Robin Guthrie did a remix of one of our early demos, 'My Cabal', so I can understand where that idea would come from - [but] we didn't do that intentionally to be completely honest," says Alley. "It's cool because usually the people who say that are people who love shoegaze, so it's a good thing, you know. But we weren't really thinking about that when we made the record."
[School of Seven Bells said to Sweet Oblivion Blog]

This spring, Guthrie released a four-track EP called Angel Falls. Before the year's out he's set to release another, titled Songs To Help My Children Sleep. Album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins - new MP3 from new album "

Tickets are on sale for the Warp20 show at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on sale for the These Arms are Snakes show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on sale for the School of Seven Bells CMJ show at Webster Hall.

Tickets are on sale for the A Place to Bury Strangers show at Bowery Ballroom.

Other tickets recently on sale: Built to Spill, Mew, Islands, Get Up Kids, and Cool Kids.

Here We Go Magic play a free show at the Diesel Store at 4pm.