Bass Drum of Death at Austin Psych Fest 2013 (more by Tim Griffin)

Garage rock duo Bass Drum of Death (who are a trio live) are wrapping up a tour with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in DC tonight (5/6) that brought both bands to Austin Psych Fest and NYC for a Terminal 5 show this past Saturday (5/4). BDOD also played their own show that night in a more DIY venue, Death by Audio. If you missed that show, or just can't get enough Bass Drum of Death, you're in luck because the band have already announced they'll be returning to Brooklyn in July for two more shows in similar spaces. The first is an all ages show on July 8 at Shea Stadium and the second is a 21+ show on July 9 at Glasslands. Tickets to see them at Shea and at Glasslands are on sale now.

Those shows are about a week after BDOD opens for Unknown Mortal Orchestra at The Space (6/29) in CT (tickets). And that CT show is one day after UMO play a free NYC show at Pier 17 at South Street Seaport (6/28).

We also just mentioned that BDOD are featured on Adult Swim's free Garage Swim compilation with a bunch of other like-minded bands like Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff & Gap Dream, Mikal Cronin, and more. You can stream their contribution, "Dregs," along with a list of all upcoming dates, below...

Continue reading "Bass Drum of Death played NYC twice, announce more dates"

Lollapalooza 2012 (more by James Richards IV)

After it was already confirmed that Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, The Postal Service, The National, The Killers, and Mumford and Sons were playing Lollapalooza 2013, a pretty promising leak came which appeared to potentially reveal the rest of the lineup, and it turns out that leak was real.

In addition to the previously mentioned artists, Lollapalooza will include Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Kendrick Lamar, Grizzly Bear, The Cure, New Order, Baroness, Beach House, Cat Power, Death Grips, Jessie Ware, Father John Misty, DIIV, Wavves, Alt-J, Hot Chip, Disclosure, Baauer, Palma Violets, Angel Haze, Band of Horses, Crystal Castles and many others.

Lollapalooza goes down in Chicago from August 2 - 4 in Grant Park. Single day passes go on sale Wednesday (4/3) at 10 AM.

Full day-by-day lineup below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2013 lineup announced (Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Postal Service, Cure, New Order, Kendrick Lamar & more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher

Austra / APTBS / the crowd

We wrapped up our stay at The Main and The Jr (aka old Emo's) with our fourth and final BrooklynVegan SXSW day party on Saturday (3/16). Unfortunately, Foxygen had to drop off at the last minute because the singer lost his voice. They would have played the outdoor stage (Pianos Stage), where we still saw sets from the arty synthpop of Empress Of, the loudest set of all of our day parties from A Place to Bury Strangers, and a super fun set from catchy UK rockers Palma Violets. Then came the sexy R&B of Autre Ne Veut, followed by a set by Austra, who were previewing expansive material from their upcoming sophomore album, Olympia. Then finally, the outdoor stage was wrapped up with a set from psychedelic pop New Zealanders Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Inside, the show kicked off with the catchy indie pop of TEEN, followed by rockin' UK band Peace, and then three consecutive synthpop groups, Feathers, MS MR, and Doldrums. Then the show took a louder turn with an adrenaline-pumping set from White Lung, bouncy young garage punks The Orwells, and finally King Tuff.

In addition to the music, we had an interactive photo and video booth set up by Oxygen tattoo show, "Best Ink". The second season (hosted by Pete Wentz who made a surprise appearance in their booth) premieres April 3rd. Onkyo was there, sampling their new headphones which hit stores next month. mophie maker of invaluable iPhone chargers, were giving away discount cards good at their pop-up shop which was set up right across the street on Red River. We were also serving complimentary Jameson, and Zico coconut water, and free vegan queso and chips from Food For Lovers. We also had BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 50 people in the door, thanks to American Apparel. Also thanks to our other sponsors, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Creative Recreation, Signazon, Zazoo, and Redigi.

More pictures from Saturday's party below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SXSW Saturday day party in pics (UMO, King Tuff, Austra, Orwells, APTBS, Palma Violets & more)"

Earl Sweatshirt

Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt will be making his SXSW debut this year (he wasn't there when the rest of his crew first played), and will be doing collaborative sets with Captain Murphy, aka Flying Lotus' rap alter ego (who collaborated with him on "Between Friends"). Those sets include the Life or Death showcase on Wednesday (3/13) at Scoot Inn at midnight, the Green Label Sound showcase on Friday (3/15) at Lucille at 9:30 PM, and FADER Fort on Saturday (3/16) at 6 PM. Flyers for all three of those shows with full lineups are below.

Earl just appeared at Flying Lotus' LA show at Low End Theory last week (3/7) and they performed three tracks off Earl's upcoming album, Doris, "Burgundy" (produced by Pharrell), "Hive," and "Guild." Mac Miller is featured on that last one and he was at the LA show too. You can check it all out in a video from the show, which is below. Also below is the video for previously released Doris track, "Chum," and Earl has another new video on the way too.

Earl's other upcoming dates include some festival appearances like Bonnaroo, Sasquatch!, and Coachella. All dates are listed, along with those flyers and videos, below...

Continue reading "Earl Sweatshirt performed w/ Flying Lotus (Captain Murphy) in LA, doing it again at SXSW (dates, video)"

This is Day 4 of four BrooklynVegan SXSW Day Parties this year...

As you know, BrooklynVegan is returning to Austin for SXSW this year and throwing four days of day parties at The Main & The Jr aka 603 Red River Street at the corner of 6th aka the old Emo's location. Those happen Wed (3/13), Thurs, Fri and Saturday (3/16). All shows are 100% FREE with RSVP

We've announced Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is on the way. HERE IS SATURDAY..

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan free SXSW 2013 Saturday day party lineup (UMO, Austra, King Tuff, Autre Ne Veut, Foxygen, APTBS, White Lung, Palma Violets, Doldrums & more)"

photos by Jonathon Bernstein

UMO/Foxygen @ Bowery Ballroom, 2/28/2013

There must be something about having the word Foxy in the name of your band (see Foxy Shazam) that has a requirement of the lead singer acting completely nuts on stage. The 5 piece indie rock band from Agoura Hills (shout out to my Cali peeps) played for just about an hour and their music has elements of folk, alternative and lots of psychedelia! Lead singer Sam France walked out on stage with a pimp jacket and Indiana Jones type stetson hat (which you can see a clearer picture of after the jump) and danced/freaked out all over the stage as distorted vocals came pouring out through his mic...

... It appeared that the crowd was there to see Foxygen based on the reaction to their music, but everyone stayed and loved UMO equally as much. They performed largely in the dark, though back lit by those candles that have little battery operated flames in them. - [According2G]

Foxygen hightailed it from Bowery immediately after their set to play a last-minute, late-night show at Pianos.

In related news, for those heading to Austin for SXSW Interactive or Film (or showing up early for the music portion), Seaport Music Fest, Panache Booking and Hot Burrito are putting on Bruise Cruise show on Lady Bird Lake with Milk Music, Fat Tony, The Blind Shake and Outer Minds. Details are here and the flyer is below...

Continue reading "Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Foxygen & Wampire played Bowery Ballroom (pics); UMO playing Seaport Music Festival"

UMO/Foxygen at Austin's Mohawk (more by Tim Griffin)

Jagjaguwar labelmates Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Foxygen are about two weeks into their tour together that will swing into NYC on Thursday (2/28) for a sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom with fellow tourmates Wampire. All three bands hit Texas' state capital last week and BV Austin's Tim Griffin was there and got some great shots (as you can see above) and you can check out more of his pics HERE.

Foxygen will play NYC again at Knitting Factory on May 14 and Mercury Lounge on May 15. Both shows are sold out.

Yesterday (2/25) was an off night for the tour and Unknown Mortal Orchestra took advantage of that by making their television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing "So Good At Being In Trouble." You can watch that clip below.

Continue reading "Unknown Mortal Orchestra on tour, played 'Fallon' and Austin; NYC show with Foxygen is this week"

photos by Autumn Andel, words by Bill Pearis

Wampire @ Mississippi Studios in Portland, 2/8/2013

Portland duo Wampire are gearing up for their debut album, Curiosity, which will be out in May on Polyvinyl. It was produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra bassist Jacob Portrait and the album's first single, "The Hearse," is out next week (2/22) and is streamable below. If you like UMO or SRFTKR, this will probably be up your alley. The single's b-side is a cover of Kraftwerk's "The Model."

Wampire are also the opening act on the upcoming Unknown Mortal Orchestra / Foxygen tour which hits NYC this month for a sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom on February 28. The played a tour warm-up show at Mississippi Studios in their hometown this past Friday. Pictures and video from that show and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Wampire releasing debut LP, touring w/ UMO & Foxygen (dates, stream & pics/videos from a Portland show)"

Foxygen at Pianos in 2012 (more by Jessica Amaya)

Retro psych/baroque poppers Foxygen are set to kick off a tour with Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Wampire soon, which hits NYC for the previously discussed Bowery Ballroom show on February 28. That show has since sold out, but you'll get another chance to catch Foxygen when they return to NYC after that tour ends for shows at Knitting Factory on May 14 and Mercury Lounge on May 15. Tickets for the Knit show go on sale Friday (2/8) at 10 AM and tickets for the Merc show go on sale Friday (2/8) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (2/6) at noon. No sign yet if these dates are part of a new North American leg for the band, but they will head over to the UK in June. All upcoming Foxygen dates are listed below.

Speaking of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, they just made a video for "So Good at Being In Trouble" off their new album, II (out now via Jagjaguwar), which stars Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin, who you may remember also drums in a band) and was shot by Animal Collective associate Danny Perez.

The UMO video and a list of all Foxygen dates below...

Continue reading "Foxygen schedule more dates; Unknown Mortal Orchestra made a video (starring McLovin)"

Foxygen @ Pianos, CMJ 2012 (more by Jessica Amaya)

Foxygen's new album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, is out in a couple weeks (1/22), and the band have just released a video to one of the record's most charming songs, "San Francisco," which you can watch below.

As mentioned, Foxygen are about to head out on tour with Unknown Mortal Orchestra (who have a new album too). At the time, Foxygen were not on the bill for the February 28 show at Bowery Ballroom but they are now, as are tourmates Wampire. Tickets are still available.

That video and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Foxygen made a video for "San Francisco," added to UMO show at Bowery (updated dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Foxygen @ BVCMJ 2012 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Foxygen, who were one of the breakout bands at CMJ this year, will release We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic on January 22 via Jagjaguwar records. You can pre-order the album now with a few different "bundle" options. We've got the premiere of video for "Shuggie," which is the album's first single. The black-and-white clip, directed by Ulysses///Onasis, features a lot of people running while carrying giant boxes. Some other stuff happens too, with a very messy ending, but we don't want to spoil it for you, as you can watch it below. The song itself is typical of Foxygen's cross-polination pop approach, that is a little Elton John and a little Jim Morrison, among other things.

Meanwhile, Foxygen are taking their highly-entertaining live show on the road, including some December shows with Of Montreal on their tour which hits NYC on December 11 at Webster Hall. Tickets are still available. Then in 2013, they'll go out with Jagjaguwar labelmates Unknown Mortal Orchestra (but not at their NYC show) for a tour that will take them from the South across the bottom of America and then a trip up the West Coast.

A list of all upcoming dates and the "Shuggie" video, below...

Continue reading "Foxygen release first video from new album, playing lots of shows (dates)"

Unknown Mortal Orchestra at Glasslands in 2011 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

In October, New Zealand's Unknown Mortal Orchestra announced that their sophomore album, II, will come out February 5 via Jagjaguwar, and soon after they came to NYC for a CMJ show at Brooklyn Bowl. Now the band are revealing dates for a proper US tour to support the album in 2013, which brings them back to NYC on February 28 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (11/16) at noon.

The full tour hasn't been announced yet, but stay tuned and check out a list of all currently known dates and a stream of their new single, "Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark)," below...

Continue reading "Unknown Mortal Orchestra revealing 2013 tour (dates)"

Obama hugs Bruce Springsteen (pre-election night)

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

":)" - Grizzly Bear

"YES" - Amanda Palmer

"yeah!!!!" - Laurel Halo

"FUCK YES" - HEALTH

"fuck yeah." - Colin Meloy

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

continued below...

Continue reading "Artists react to Obama's win"

by Andrew Sacher

Copenhagen 4AD signees Indians (the project of Søren Løkke Juul ) already released some great singles this year and he's now announced that he'll release his debut album, Somewhere Else, on January 29 via the label. The album will include his new single, "Cakelakers," which you can stream/download via a widget below. If you enjoyed his other singles, this one's further proof that his album is something to look forward to.

Indians will be in NYC this week for CMJ, where he'll play the WFUV showcase at Living Room TONIGHT (10/16) at 7 PM with Savoir Adore (7:40), Wax Poetic (8:20), and Little Green Cars (9:00); the Hype Machine "Handpicked" show at Brooklyn Bowl on Wednesday (10/17) with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Virgins, The Neighbourhood, Sua, Jjamz, and DJ Goldroom (free with RSVP); and the Fader Fort at Converse Rubber Tracks on October 18.

As mentioned, Indians will also return to NYC on his tour with Other Lives, which hits Bowery Ballroom on 11/28 and MHOW on 11/29. Tickets for both of those shows are still available.

Speaking of Little Green Cars, who also play the WFUV showcase at Living Room today, the Glassnote-signed Dubliners are also playing a KEXP show at CMJ Union (10/18) and the Bowery Presents day party at Pianos (10/20).

A list of all Indians dates and the MP3 widget are below.

Continue reading "Indians announce LP details, in NYC for CMJ (dates, stream)"

UMO at Glasslands in 2011 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

New Zealand psych pop project Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who were recently in NYC opening for Grizzly Bear, have announced the follow-up to their 2011 self titled debut. It's called II and it's due out on February 5 via Jagjaguwar, unlike their debut which came out on Fat Possum/True Panther. You can stream the album's single, "Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)," at the bottom of this post, where you'll also find the album's kind-of-NSFW cover art and tracklist.

The band have a few upcoming dates scheduled including the Hype Machine CMJ Party at Brooklyn Bowl on October 17 with The Virgins, The Neighbourhood, Indians, Sua, Jjamz, and DJ Goldroom. That party is free but RSVP is required.

In related news, UMO frontman Ruban Nielson's brother Kody (aka Opossom) and a number of other New Zealand bands will be here for CMJ too.

A list of all UMO dates, song stream, cover art, and tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Unknown Mortal Orchestra announce new album and shows, playing CMJ (dates & stream)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin; words by Andrew Sacher

Grizzly Bear at Radio City Music Hall, 9/24/2012

"This is surreal," said Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste upon taking the stage the historic Radio City Music Hall last night (9/24) -- the band's largest headlining hometown gig to date -- "It makes me think back to our first show at Zebulon in 2004." It is pretty crazy to think that in eight years this "Brooklyn indie band" went from playing local clubs to one of the city's most famed and renowned concert halls, but needless to say, they've paid their dues. When the applause died down, Grizzly Bear went into "Speak in Rounds," one of the most tremendous tracks off the recently released Shields, their fourth in a line of brilliant studio albums and grandest statement yet. The song's explosive, speedy chorus lent to a technicolor light show with hues as layered as Grizzly Bear's sound. Though once "Speak in Rounds" fizzled out into psychedelic ambience, the stage went black, and dim lanterns slowly drifted to the ceiling behind the band. When they'd all risen, Daniel Rossen took over with the spiraling guitar riff of prog fantasy, "Sleeping Ute."

Throughout the set, those lanterns would crawl up and down the backdrop of the stage, creating a hallucinatory light show with the illusion that the stage itself was rising and falling. Mixed with the dreamlike scope of the band's songs, the audio/visual experience transported you out of Radio City, or any other fathomable place, to a world of Grizzly Bear's own. Song after song, the crowd was captivated and the setlist was arranged in such a way that it didn't ever matter what song came next. Of course there were standout moments (the booming "ahhs" and spectacular light show of "While You Wait for the Others" being a huge one), but overall each song contributed equally to the trip that is Grizzly Bear's live show. The minimalist "Shift" provided a moment of tranquility against the ferocious noise breakdown at the end of "Yet Again." "Sun In Your Eyes" (for which the band actually shined bright yellow lights at the audience) acted as a moment of awakening before the comedown of the pre-encore break, which ended with the "moment you've all been waiting for" feeling of "Knife." (That song saw some technical difficulties in the beginning but they were fixed about 45 seconds in.)

Grizzly Bear at Radio City Music Hall, 9/24/2012

It's been mentioned a thousand times that Grizzly Bear plays in a row on stage, and that it helps to show the equality of the band members. So there's no real use repeating this for the sake of repeating it -- but it really is such a crucial part of their set. Especially on the songs off of the ultra-collaborative Shields, Christopher Bear's drums add as much to the melody as Daniel's guitar and piano, and Chris Taylor's backup vocals are as vital to the band's sound as Ed and Daniel's lead, and that's not even in reference to their four-part harmonies. For this tour, they've added a fifth member, Aaron Arntz (previously a member of Zappa Plays Zappa). Aaron is the one member who stays at the back of the stage, and though he's the most hidden, his contributions were noticeable and really fleshed out the complex studio arrangements that couldn't otherwise be replicated live by a four-piece band.

The show opened with a set from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who played mainly off their 2011 self titled LP, but also included a new song and a well-executed cover of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam." UMO's album is very indebted to Beatles' Revolver, but live frontman Ruban Nielson rips fuzzed out guitar solos and feedback that are way more San Francisco than Liverpool (which was especially great on the distortion-drenched extended version of "Boy Witch"). Admittedly, Ruban is a bit more talented and fun to watch than his bandmates, but in their defense, Radio City is a pretty big stage for a relatively new band with a sound better suited for smaller clubs.

Grizzly Bear's tour with UMO continues in Toronto on Wednesday (9/26) and then at the end of the month, they'll kick off their final leg of the North American portion which Lower Dens supports. If you missed last night's show, did you stream it online? If you missed that too, you can watch an archive of the entire show (via the Fuse YouTube channel), along with more pictures and the setlist from the show, below.

Continue reading "Grizzly Bear played Radio City w/ Unknown Mortal Orchestra (pics, review, setlist & video of the full set)"

West Coast janglers Craft Spells are heading East next month to play Cincinatti's Midpoint Music Festival (September 27 - 29) which also features the likes of Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen, Dirty Projectors, Sleigh Bells and many more. Tickets for the fest are still available and the whole line-up is at the bottom of this post.

Before the festival, Craft Spells will be in NYC for a show at Glasslands on September 24 with new new romantics Ice Choir. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

You can stream Craft Spells' new-ish EP, Gallery, plus check out the whole Midpoint Music Fest line-up, below.

Continue reading "Craft Spells playing NYC before Midpoint Music Festival (2012 line-up)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Opossom - "Blue Meanies" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Opossom - "Getaway Tonight" (MP3)

The breakup of New Zealand's The Mint Chicks led to member Ruban Nielson forming Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who have been experiencing way more success in the US than Mint Chicks ever did. Now, Ruban's brother and fellow Mint Chicks bandmate Kody Nielson is also fronting a new project, under the name Opossom. Opossom's debut LP, Electric Hawaii, is out this week (8/7) via Fire Records and it's not too far removed from the psych pop that his brother is making in UMO. You can stream the entire album and watch some videos from it below. Two of its tracks, "Blue Meanies" and "Getaway Tonight," are also available to download above.

Opossom is currently playing some shows in support of it in Australia and he'll come over to North America in October for a tour which will bring him to NYC for CMJ. More info on that to come, but we know that after CMJ ends, he'll play another NYC show a few days later at Pianos on October 24. Tickets for that show are on sale now. Kody recorded the album on his own but live he'll be joined by veteran NZ artist Bic Runga (who he worked with on Bic's 2011 album, Belle) and fellow Mint Chick Michael Logie.

A list of all dates, videos and streams are below.

Continue reading "Opossom released LP, touring (dates, videos, streams & MP3s)"

words and photos by Fred Pessaro // BBG, more photos by James Richards IV and Chase Turner

Vampire Weekend/Ty Segall/Araabmuzik crowd - Pitchfork Fest 2012

Thank god for the Chicago Transit Authority. Several "cooling stations" (city buses) that provided respite from the onslaught of heat and humidity at the third day of Pitchfork 2012 in Chicago's Union Park (7/15), a weather pattern which replaced the previous days' periodic downpours. The heat, combined with squirt guns & bikini tops, helped create the perfect setting for performances from the sunny tennis-sweater rock of Vampire Weekend and dream pop of the oh-so-aptly named Beach House.

Random thoughts on the day: Personal highlights for me included a stretch of bands that were unfortunately all clustered across the three stages in the afternoon: Milk Music, Iceage, The Men, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees and Chavez. From catching moments of Kendrick Lamar on the Blue Stage, it was proven to me that he's an excellent live performer, a sentiment clearly echoed by Lady Gaga (who looked on during his set). Onohtrix Point Never's material is compelling, but doesnt fit well on an outdoor festival stage. And it's confirmed, this reviewer still detests Vampire Weekend.

Vampire Weekend uber-fans

Pictures from the third and final day of Pitchfork 2012 are below, including pictures of all bands mentioned above, as well as King Krule, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Araabmuzik, and The Field. If you didnt make it to Chicago, maybe you streamed it? If you haven't been keeping up with our coverage, make sure to check out pictures from day one (one set HERE, another HERE) and day two (HERE and HERE) along with video from the festival to complete your desktop Pitchfork Festival experience. Hopefully from an ice cold room.

Continue reading "Pitchfork Fest 2012 day 3 in pics (Vampire Weekend, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Beach House, Araabmuzik, & more)"

shittychandelier with a pitchfork

If the many artists playing the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago this weekend, only a few will be part of the webcast on Pitchfork's Youtube Channel. Check out the schedule (in Chicago time I assume), and the stream itself, below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork Festival 2012 livestream webcast schedule"

photos by Chris Graham and Rae Graham

Metric/St. Vincent

7:32pm Metric wrapped up a touch early; partly because one new song ("Lost Kitten") was stopped 10 seconds into it and Emily decided to strike it from the set. Aside from that odd error, Metric played a fair set. They cited the show as their "public debut" of Synthetica and they did play mostly new material (7 out of 11 songs), most of which sounds promising. It's always hard to judge new material accurately as the audience doesn't know it so it always comes across slightly weak or stiff. Metric opened their set with newbie "Artificial Nocturne" (also the album's opener). It was one of the stronger new tracks. The other stand outs were "Youth Without Youth" (when played live it seemed to lose it's sluggishness of it's studio version) and "Nothing But Time", a synth/piano number that builds each verse until drums kick in and the song finishes with a flourish of Emily Haines' Pro-One synth. The band closed with an acoustic version "Gimme Sympathy" that had pretty much the entire amphitheater singing along. [The Province]

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2012 in pics - the rest of Day 2 (Metric, St. Vincent, Shins, Dum Dum Girls, Araabmuzik, and more)"

photos by Chris La Putt

If you're going to GoogaMooga on Sunday, you might want to eat and drink before you get there. More pictures from Saturday below...

Continue reading "GoogaMooga day 1 in pics (Roots, UMO, Aziz, James Murphy, food, LONG LINES, Marc Maron, Holy Ghost! & more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Bear in Heaven - Sinful Nature (Anika With BestMate Remix) (MP3)

Bear in Heaven at Hotel Vegan party, Austin (more by Tim Griffin)

Just a reminder that Bear in Heaven wrap up their North American tour this week with two hometown shows: tonight (5/8) at Bowery Ballroom and tomorrow (5/9) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Both shows are $15 with two solid openers: synthy Portlanders Blouse and Montreal's Doldrums. After these two shows, Bear in Heaven head to Europe for most of the summer -- all tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Bear in Heaven last played NYC back in early March at Union Pool where they were billed as "Adventure Hippies":

...watching them play last night with waves of roto-toms and giant synth pads washing over us, it struck me what that is: the Miami Vice soundtrack (Jan Hammer, Phil Collins, Yello, Glen Frey, etc) condensed into one band, albeit one that also loves Yes and late '80s/early '90s techno. Which is a really strange combination, but Bear in Heaven make it work, due in part to excellent musicianship and that they clearly love playing. All three members (singer Philpot, bassist/guitarist Adam Wills and drummer Joe Stickney) let the O Face slip when they're in the moment, which, in their case, is endearing.

Openers Doldrums will tour with Grimes in Europe after their stint with Bear in Heaven wraps up and then head back this way for a string of dates with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, including June 7 at Mercury Lounge and June 8 at Glasslands. Those dates are at the bottom of this post as well.

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven wrapping up tour with Blouse and Doldrums"

UMO at Glasslands in 2011 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Psych poppers Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who were just announced on the lineup of the Great GoogaMooga, have also announced a short tour to take place this June in between their appearances at Sasquatch and NXNE. The tour is being supported by Doldrums and Vinyl Williams. It hits NYC on June 7 at Mercury Lounge and June 8 at Glasslands. Tickets for the Glasslands show are on sale now and tickets for the Mercury Lounge show go on sale Friday (4/27) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (4/25) at noon. UMO will also play Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this July.

Speaking of Doldrums (aka Alrick Woodhead), you can catch him in NYC even sooner when he and Blouse support Bear in Heaven on their upcoming tour which hits NYC on May 8 at Bowery Ballroom and May 9 at MHOW. Tickets for both of those shows are still available.

Check out UMO's relatively new video for "Nerve Damage" off their 2011 self titled debut and all dates below...

Continue reading "Unknown Mortal Orchesta & Doldrums announce tour dates"

"The Festival will feature two stages of music per day, both located in the Nethermead Meadow. More artists to be announced. Performances start at noon and end at 8:30 pm on Saturday. Performances start at noon and end at 7:30 pm on Sunday." Announced music lineup for the two day Prospect Park food and music festival, below...

Continue reading "GoogaMooga music lineup announced (and updated)"