Jesse Malin & Alejandro Escovedo at Bowery Electric (more by Lori Baily)

Alejandro Escovedo will swing through town with Jesse Malin and The St. Marks Social as part of an April & May tour. Escovedo will hit numerous venues in New York & New Jersey including the previously discussed Port Washington date, The Bell House on April 30 (tickets), and Maxwell's on May 6th (tickets).

Escovedo is also playing the 2011 edition of Calgary festival Sled Island in June, alongside names like Sleep, Blonde Redhead, Cursive, Zola Jesus, The Greenhornes, and countless others. Tickets are on sale. The full lineup and the rest of Escovedo's tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Alejandro Escovedo touring w/ Jesse Malin, playing Sled Island"

Ted Leo at Sled Island Fest 2010 (muffinlab)

"The energy we have inside us is not as boundless as it once seemed, and the amount we have to expend each year becomes more and more of a drain for less and less pay off. These are simple facts - it's not at all a "woe is me" type of complaint - in fact, it's not even a complaint at all - anyone who's seen us play in the last few months knows that we're having as good a time doing it as we ever have, and from my side of things, I can tell you that we're actually having MORE fun most of the time - but I've decided to be honest with interviewers who ask me about "the state of things," because what's the point in sugar coating the realities? As we all push toward forty, exactly how to go forward wisely, in a way that allows each of us to live a full life (and not die between rest stops on I-80), is something I need to think about, and I am thinking about it."
[Ted Leo, in response to "rumors of retirement"]

That note in full (he's not really retiring, exactly, yet) is below.

A few weeks back (June 17th), Ted Leo spent a Thursday split between his video shoot for "Bottled in Cork" at the Bell House and an in-store at Generation Records. His record store set was played solo (and san special guests), ran around about an hour, and included a cover of Nick Lowe's "So It Goes," captured on video below.

As Ted Leo says below, his schedule is packed with shows for the rest of 2010, and after that...who knows. His schedule for the rest of this year includes Siren Fest on July 17th, and a stop at Matador Fest in Las Vegas. All his dates, the rest of that note from Ted Leo and videos from Generation Recs are below...

Continue reading "Ted Leo isn't "retiring" (is touring)"

by Bill Pearis

WhoMadeWho @ Knitting Factory (more by Chris La Putt)

Denmark trio WhoMadeWho were originally supposed to go on last, almost like an afterparty to our official lineup, but when Let's Wrestle couldn't make it we moved them into their slot. Which ended up being a plus for everyone as they kind of stole the show. Looking like a cross between Sparks and Yello (at Octoberfest) and sounding like some kind of synth funk you'd hear from Bizarro World DFA Records, they were weird and awesome and won the initially-perplexed crowd over quickly. If you're going to SXSW, they're definitely a "don't miss" band.

That's what I wrote after the Brooklyn Vegan pre-SXSW party we threw at Knitting Factory back in March. That "don't miss" status remains when WhoMadeWho return to NYC with a June 28 stop at Mercury Lounge. Tickets are on sale.

The trio are over for a few North American dates, including an appearance at the Montreal Jazz Festival the night before. Since the Knitting Factory show in March, I've become a big fan of their current album, The Plot, full of slinky funk and glammy rock not unlike a Danish, DFA version of the Scissor Sisters. Take a minute to watch their excellent video for "Keep Me in My Plane" which is at the bottom of this post.

You should also watch the video for singer Tomas Høffding's  first solo single, "Mother," which he recorded under the name Bon Homme. It's especially funny if you pay attention to music video directors/indie cinema. Both videos were made by Good Boy Creative. Høffding's solo album was released in Denmark two weeks ago... maybe he'll have copies at the merch table?

All North American tour dates for WhoMadeWho and those videos are below.

Continue reading "WhoMadeWho returning this summer - 2010 dates & videos"

The Sled Island Festival will be happening in Calgary, Canada, from June 30th to July 3rd. The bigger acts play on an all-ages outdoor space on July 2nd and 3rd, and the lineup for that includes Dinosaur Jr., Girl Talk, Built to Spill, The Thermals, Why? and Fucked Up. The club shows range from homegrown talent (like the unlikely-to-make-it-past-US-customs grindcore band Hamas) to all kinds of North American bands and familiar Brooklyn names. Tickets are on sale. Full lineup and posters are below...

Continue reading "Sled Island's 2010 lineup"

a shot from Sled Island 2008 (more by Rae Holtsabum)

The Sled Island Music and Arts Festival -- taking place at various venues in Calgary, Alberta from June 24 to June 27 -- is pleased to announce the initial line-up and the inclusion of Olympic Plaza as the main venue on Friday, June 26. This year will include over 200 bands performing at 23 venues plus art shows, film screenings, and a comedy component at the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival.

Sled Island 2009 will feature performances by the influential indie rock darlings The Breeders (featuring Kim Deal of the Pixies) making their first Calgary performance, NYC post-punk revivalists Liars bringing the noise, the legendary Canadian metal band Anvil the recent subjects of the critically acclaimed documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil and the garage rock assault of Tel Aviv's Monotonix known for their incredible live show. New Orleans-based musician and mad genius inventor of the 'drum buddy' Quintron & Ms. Pussycat will bring the party along with blood-soaked party rocker Andrew W.K. and Toronto-based electro tour-de-force Holy Fuck on the more 'offensive' front. Phil Elverum's (of The Microphones) latest moniker Mount Eerie will deliver a symbiotic balance of fuzz and folk matched by Owen Pallett's Final Fantasy surrealist violin stage performance. Calgary-based experimental icons Azeda Booth aim to mystify crowds along with their all-male psychedelic pop counterparts Women making their second festival appearance...The complete festival line-up and schedule will be revealed on June 1. [pr]

Festival passes are on sale now.

As previously reported, Colin Newman, vocalist and guitarist for Wire, will be guest curating this year's festival. Full lineup below...

Continue reading "Sled Island - 2009 fest lineup (Breeders, Liars, Anvil & more) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Outdoor music fest fun...Woodstock '94

Tickets for the Austin City Limits festival - happening this year on October 2nd-4th in Austin's Zilker Park - go on sale today (Tuesday, April 7th) at 11am EST. That sale happens in advance of the fest's official lineup announcement, scheduled for April 28th.

Calgary festival Sled Island hasn't announced its lineup either. But Sled Island does have a pre-fest fundraiser planned for Saturday April 11th (tickets on sale). Headlining that show at Calgary's Royal Canadian Legion will be 2008 fest performer Fucked Up (video below). Sled Island itself takes place June 25th-28th. Curating this year's festivities will be Colin Newman from Wire (who also played Sled Island '08).

Camp Bisco, a three-night fest headlined by The Disco Biscuits, is happening on July 16th-18th in Mariaville, NY. The artists playing include Nas, Chromeo, The Orb, Dr. Dog and more (full lineup below). Tickets are on sale now.

Monolith Festival is happening again this year in September at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorodo. No acts or dates have been announced yet - but last year's lineup was pretty stellar with TV on the Radio, Justice, Band of Horses, and more playing.

Merge Records is running its own 20th-anniversary festival, XX Merge, on July 22nd-26th in North Carolina. The lineup has been partially announced - with acts like Superchunk, Spoon, Conor Oberst, and M. Ward confirmed. Five-day passes go on sale Wednesday, April 8th at 10am.

Glastonbury sold out its last batch of tickets this week. The UK festival, happening June 26th-28th, has confirmed acts that include Lily Allen, Fleet Foxes, Neil Young, Blur, Bruce Springsteen, Emiliana Torrini, Doves, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings, and Echo And The Bunnymen.

Other previously reported summer fests include:

Coachella in Indio, CA, on April 17th-19th. Tickets on sale.

Sasquatch in Quincy, WA on May 23rd-25th. Tickets on sale.

Northside Festival in Brooklyn (June 11th-14th). Badges are on sale.

Bonnaroo is happening too, from June 11th-14th in Manchester, TN.

Pitchfork Festival is taking place July 17th-19th in Chicago's Union Park. The fest recently added The Flaming Lips to its already announced lineup. Tickets are on sale now.

The Flaming Lips will also be co-curating and headlining one night of ATP NY, September 11th-13th in NY's Catskills. Tickets for that are still on sale.

All Points West July 31-Aug 2nd in Jersey City. Tickets on sale

Lollapalooza on August 7th-9th in Chicago, IL. Tickets (and VIP passes) are on sale now. There have been some rumored bands, but the official lineup comes out April 21st.

Bumbershoot in Seattle on September 5th-7th. Three-day passes are on sale now.

There are more confirmed festivals, but I think that's enough for this post. In the unconfirmed department, Woodstock '09 is currently shoping for a venue.

Camp Bisco's lineup, video of Fucked Up at last year's Sled Island Fest and Green Day at Woodstock '94 below...

Continue reading "ACL tix, Sled Island's 2009 curator, Camp Bisco lineup, Monolith, Glastonbury & other music festival news"

DOWNLOAD: Mogwai - Folk Death 95 (MP3)

photos by Rae Holtsabum

Mogwai

I'm still trying to properly wrap my mind around (and recover from) the amazing performances (and blazing sun) I was able to experience at Sled Island. It's hard to believe both the amount and range of wonderful music that was up for consumption over the course of four days, and last night's set from mainstage headliners Mogwai, shredding guitars with grace like only they can, followed by a flawless late-night club show by underrated Canadian folk rockers Rock Plaza Central, was the perfect send-off to a festival that defined itself on eclecticism and near unmitigated musical quality. [Beyond Robson]

As you know, we've been covering the 2008 Sled Island Festival that went down recently in Calgary. In the name of finishing what we started, here are the rest of Rae's pics from day four of the festival (June 28, 2008)...

Continue reading "Wire, Mogwai, and the rest of the pics from Sled Island 2008"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Leia Jospe

DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - "No Epiphany" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - "Royal Swan" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Fucked Up - "Stress" (Justice cover) (MP3)

Question: Your band has ump-teen releases this year and a googleplex of others in seven years of existence. If you are readying another release, is it really news?

Answer: It definitely is, if you consider it's only your second LP.

The band of 1000 releases is none other than T.O. hardcore dudes Fucked Up who have announced that they will release LP #2, The Chemistry Of Common Life (or "ChemCom" as the band likes to call it) on October 7th on their new label Matador Records. Both "No Epiphany" & "Royal Swan" (the MP3s above) are from ChemCom, whereas "Stress" is just for gits & shiggles. Matador will also play house with another one of those pesky Fucked Up releases - the Year Of The Pig 12" is out July 22nd. It originally reared it's ugly head over at What's Your Rupture? (though in an abbreviated, in length AND availability, form).

A new mixtape is also in the works (look for it around the same time as ChemCom) and the dudes/lady dropped a preview of it.

Currently touring Europe (dates below), lead throat-ist Pink Eyes was recently hospitalized in Calgary during night one of the Sled Island Festival (Broken Social Scene was there and so was Of Montreal) after shattering a beer glass into his head during a gig. The band was scheduled for three shows, and missed none. Pink Eyes recalled the incident on night two:

"I had to miss all of the bands I wanted to see, because I was sleeping in the hospital like a baby"

In related news, ex-Fucked Up (or at least songwriter for 'em) and current (?) Cursed member Chris Colohan has left the door open to more Cursed. In contrast to his previous posting, Colohan recounted the events that lead to the turmoil during their European tour and explained that Cursed is currently "a big fat fucking question mark." Well, at least thats better than "it's over".

Cursed dropped the massive III: Architects Of Troubled Sleep on Goodfellow Records this year.

The pictures in this post are from Fucked Up's infamous performance at SUNY Purchase's Culture Shock in April. It was cut short by the police. More of those pics and all the tour dates below...

Continue reading "new music by FUCKED UP ++ long lost Culture Shock pics "

DOWNLOAD: Jane Vain & The Dark Matter - C'mon Baby Say Bang Bang (MP3)

Spin if you like Cat Power. More pics from Jane Vain & The Dark Matter's Saturday show (June 28, 2008) at Sled Island below...

Continue reading "Jane Vain & The Dark Matter - MP3 & Sled Island pics"

photos by Rae Holtsabum

I scurried over to the sold-out The Grand Theatre to catch most of RZA's set. The Wu-Tang Clan producer/MC performed as his Bobby Digital alter-ego and controlled the crowd with "Long Time Coming" and "Booby Trap" from the just-released Digi Snacks LP. The set was dominated by material from that album, and RZA turned the gig into a kick-ass block party.

Near the end, he broke out older classics "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit," "Reunited" and "Shame On A Nigga" near the end. They all made the crowd of mostly college kids go absolutely ape-shit, and it was a perfect way to close out my coverage of the fest. [Chart Attack]

RZA's tour as Bobby Digital is almost over. He hits Webster Hall in NYC this Saturday July 5th. Tickets are still on sale.

Other artists Rae caught on day three (June 27, 2008) of the Sled Island Festival in Calgary included Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, and Yo La Tengo. The rest of the pics from that day below....

Continue reading "Sled Island 2008 day three - RZA, Yo La, Tegan & other pics"

photos by Rae Holtsabum

Broken Social Scene were also scheduled to play for an hour, but everything was running late and they had to cut their set to 40 minutes because of Calgary's noise bylaw [June 27, 2008].

The band came out to insane hoots and hollers and kicked it off with "KC Accidental" from 2002's You Forgot It In People. This version of the group consisted of Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Andrew Whiteman, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Sam Goldberg and Evan Cranley. Sporting a black baseball cap and leather jacket, Drew led the band through vigorous renditions of "Farewell To The Pressure Kids" and "Fucked Up Kid" from his Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew Spirit If... record. The band also played "Churches Under The Stairs" from the new Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning Something For All Of Us... disc.
[Chart Attack]

Watch videos of BSS playing Bonnaroo. Check them out for free in Coney Island on July 19th. Check out Andrew Whiteman solo in NYC on July 29th. More Sled Island pics below....

Continue reading "Broken Social Scene @ Sled Island 2008, Calgary - pics"

photos by Rae Holtsabum

DOWNLOAD: Amplive - Of Montreal vs MGMT (MP3)

Divorce and mental illness are not often hallmarks of danceable indie rock records, but they played a big part on Of Montreal's critically acclaimed 2007 release, "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"

On "Skeletal Lamping," due Oct. 7 via Polyvinyl, "I've tried to incorporate more tension and dissonance, while still maintaining a super poppy sound," group leader Kevin Barnes tells Billboard. "I think the album is more bipolar than schizophrenic, though. I guess it represents its author more closely in that way." [BILLBOARD]

More pics from Sled Island day 4 (June 28, 2008) below....

Continue reading "Of Montreal - Sled Island pics, new album info, tour dates"

photos by Rae Holtsabum

DOWNLOAD: Elliott Brood - Second Son (MP3)

Unlike Wednesday night's Grizzly Bear show, very few people left their seats during the changeover. Okkervil River took the stage to deafening applause and immediately played "The President's Dead" and "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene," a pair of rockers that got the crowd going.

Decked out in a black and white suit and glasses, singer/guitarist Will Sheff paused briefly after the third tune to address the audience.

"I didn't know we were playing in a church and I thought this might go against my Catholic upbringing," he joked. "But then I saw the flat screen TV and thought this might turn out alright." [Chart Attack]

Okkervil River are touring in the fall. Tickets are already on sale for a NYC show at Webster Hall.

Some of the other artists that played Sled Island on Thursday night (June 26, 2008) were Jonathan Richman, Extra Golden, Blitzen Trapper (again), Crookers, Chad VanGaalen, Langhorne Slim and Elliott Brood. Rae caught the last two downstairs at the Royal Canadian Legion #1 after the Okkervil show.

Langhorne Slim has a concert streaming at NPR. Elliott Brood is the name of a three piece band from Toronto. The rest of the pictures are below....

Continue reading "Sled Island 2008 day two (Okkervil River, Langhorne Slim & Elliott Brood), Calgary, Alberta, Canada - pics"

photos by Rae Holtsabum

My night started downtown at the Central United Church. Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Grizzly Bear took the stage pretty much on time and wowed the audience with their sonic atmospheres and hypnotizing guitar swells [June 25, 2008]. Every band member took on another instrument at some point, and they incorporated accordions, flutes and recorders to great effect.

With such a similar sense of textures and ambience, it's no wonder these guys are opening for Radiohead this summer. Many of their songs sound like something ripped directly from the Oxford band's Amnesiac, but Grizzly Bear actually managed to hold their own throughout their 80-minute set. The beautifully strummed chords of "Knife" resonated through the cathedral, while "Marla" caught my ears with its catchy, waltzy hook. [Chart Attack]

Hopefully the rare addition of new Grizzly Bear photos makes up for the fact that this is yet another Dan Deacon post. Grizzly Bear played the church, Dan Deacon played a venue called Warehouse, and Blitzen Trapper played The Underground with Library Voices. This was all part of (and what Rae saw on) day one of this year's Sled Island Festival in Calgary. Other bands who played that night include Woodpigeon, the Tren Brothers, and the Mae Shi, No Age played a kick off party the night before. Days 2-4 are coming soon. The rest of the pics from day one below...

Continue reading "Sled Island 2008 day one (Grizzly Bear, Blitzen Trapper & Dan Deacon), Calgary, Alberta, Canada - pics"

photos by Rae Holtsabum

DOWNLOAD: Libary Voices - Step Off The Map And Float (MP3)

While researching the Canadian band Library Voices for my first post about this year's Sled Island Festival, I found myself listening to the above song over and over. The pictures in this post are from a show they played with Blitzen Trapper at The Underground in Calgary on Wedneday (June 25, 2008). A couple more pics and all of their (Canadian) tour dates below....

Continue reading "Library Voices - MP3, Sled Island pics & 2008 Tour Dates"

Sled Island is an event with many parts. The bulk of the festival happens in Calgary June 25, 26, 27 and 28. There are music shows in many venues around town and we have a main outdoor site at Mewata Field operating on June 27 and 28. There are art shows happening in various galleries including the Glenbow, as well as movies and comedy shows. The Main site features the following bands-

Friday June 27th Main Site at Mewata Field 3pm- 10:45pm:
Yo La Tengo, Tegan and Sara, Broken Social Scene, Broken West, Portastatic, Wet Secrets, Ramblin' Ambassadors, Spreepark, Elliot Brood, Chixdiggit, Beans

Saturday June 28th, Main Site at Mewata Field 11am- 10:45pm:
Of Montreal, Wire, Jose Gonzales, Secret Machines, Mogwai, Drive By Truckers, Dodos, Gutter Twins, Jonathan Richman, Still Flyin', Jain Vain and the Dark Matter, Hot Little Rocket

A full list of bands is at their site.