by Bill Pearis

Not content with just two bands, Vivian Girls/La Sera singer Katy Goodman has formed Books of Love with Hush Sound's Greta Morgan. Please don't confuse the duo with '80s synthpop band Book of Love. (You probably won't, though they still exist.) Of the union:

While hiking past the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, friends Katy Goodman and Greta Morgan were struck with the idea to record a song together: A song about physics and love, science and romance, space and time. Have you ever felt the lovesick pain of falling for someone from a different dimension? We have too.

The next morning, the girls recorded "Space Time" in Greta's tiny rehearsal space in Glassell Park. While "Space Time" may not be a hit in this dimension yet, the song is topping charts in many others. The girls have plans to tour the Andromeda Galaxy this summer, appear in Bode's Galaxy this Fall, and make an appearance at the Omega-Palooza Festival to break up the 2.9 million light-year long trip home.

Continue reading "Katy from Vivian Girls/La Sera forms new group, Books of Love (watch a video)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield; words by Bill Pearis

Vivian Girls/Widowspeak/Eternal Summers/Heliotropes @ MHOW

Ladies were out in force at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday night (2/15) for a free show sponsored by Converse featuring Vivian Girls, Widowspeak, Eternal Summers and Heliotropes. I missed Heliotropes but got there about three songs into Eternal Summers' rocking set and the band sounded killer through the venue's soundsystem (definitely the most "pro" place I've seen them). Their set featured a lot of new songs, and the band are heading to Austin soon -- not for SXSW, but to record their next album with Guided by Voices' Doug Gillard producing. After that, Eternal Summers will hit the road with Presidents of the United States of America for a tour that hits NYC on April 15 at Irving Plaza (tickets).

Widowspeak, with their second album under their belts, sounded confident with Molly Hamilton's voice alluring as ever. The band will be touring around SXSW including a homecoming show at Knitting Factory on April 19 (tickets).

As for the headliners, while Cassie and Katy's other projects threaten to overshadow Vivian Girls, the show was a reminder of how fun they are and how many good songs they have. Though I will admit to mostly watching one particularly spirited fan who going bonkers up front stage left for the bulk of their set.

More pictures from Friday night's show below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls, Widowspeak, Eternal Summers and Heliotropes played Music Hall of Wiliamsburg (pics)"

Vivian Girls at Knitting Factory, Sep. 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The latest free "Converse Rubber Tracks Live" show has been announced with headliners Vivian Girls, plus Widowspeak, Eternal Summers and Heliotropes which happens at Music Hall of Williamsburg on February 15. While the 16+ show is free, you do have to get your tickets through Ticketmaster and those will be available on Wednesday (1/30) at noon.

Vivian Girls don't seem to have any other shows at the moment though Cassie and Katy have both been busy with The Babies and La Sera, respectively. Widowspeak just played Mercury Lounge and their very good second album, Almanac, is out now.

For Eternal Summers, the MHOW show is part of a short East Coast tour and those dates are listed below. And, as mentioned earlier today, Heliotropes have a few other local shows coming up as well.

Continue reading "Vivian Girls, Widowspeak, Eternal Summers and Heliotropes playing free Converse Rubber Tracks Live show in NYC"

Hunx as Gayracula

All things considered, we hope you had a Happy Halloween. You already saw what John Vanderslice and Freelance Whales dressed up as, and Dum Dum Girls' nun costumes (Crocodiles in there too). We also already posted Deap Vally, Those Darlins & the Mountain Goats in Halloween attire, and you saw Vampire Weekend all decked out for Kimmel. Here's a whole bunch more. That's Hunx and a punx above. See the rest (sort of NSFW), below...

Continue reading "more pics of Bands in their Halloween Costumes -- (Wayne Coyne, Kickball Katy, Dirty Projectors, Hunx & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Foxygen - "Waitin' 4 U" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Foxygen - "Make It Known" (MP3)

Father John Misty at BV-SXSW 2012 (more by Tim Griffin)

Father John Misty (aka ex-Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman) is continuing to tour in support of his 2012 LP, Fear Fun. He's just announced a new set of dates that kick in September with FYF Fest and run through the rest of the year, culminating in December's S.S. Coachella Cruises. The new dates include two NYC shows, which happen on October 23 at Music Hall of Williamsburg and October 24 at Bowery Ballroom. Both of those shows (and many other dates on the tour) are with La Sera (the project of Vivian Girl Katy Goodman) and psych rockers Jeffertitti's Nile. Tickets for both NYC shows go on sale Friday (7/27) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (7/25) at noon.

Meanwhile, La Sera are currently on the road with Foxygen, who will release their EP, Take the Kids Off Broadway, this week (7/24) via Jagjaguwar. You can download two album tracks, "Waitin' 4 U" and "Make It Known," at the top of this post or stream them below, and the entire album is streaming over at Foxygen's bandcamp. They go for the whole retro classic rock thing and singer Sam France can sound more than a little like Mick Jagger. All Foxygen dates (none in NYC) are listed below.

In related La Sera news, Katy's other band Vivian Girls recently played a surprise show in LA one night after playing an Impose 10th anniversary show with Grass Widow, The Babies (who have tons of NYC shows coming up), Dunes, and Teenage Burritos. You can watch some videos of Vivian Girls' set at the secret LA show below.

All lists of dates, videos, and song streams below...

Continue reading "Father John Misty and Foxygen touring (separately) with La Sera (dates); Vivian Girls played secret LA show (video)"

Amanda Palmer in Brooklyn in May (more by Bryan Bruchman)

Kurt Braunohler's live talk show, Night of the Living, will next take place at Littlefield in Brooklyn on June 29 with Tim Heidecker (of Tim and Eric), musical guest Amanda Palmer (of The Dresden Dolls), and a live BUNK screening. Tickets for that show are on sale now. As usual, Kurt can also be found every Monday at Littlefield for Hot Tub with Kristen Schaal. Did you catch last night's show?

Tim Heidecker is also playing one of three Impose Magazine 10th Anniversary shows which happen in San Diego July 12 -14, right in the middle of the insanity known as Comic-Con. The other two shows include one with Vivian Girls, who will be playing with Ali Koehler on drums. Ali left the band in 2010 to join Best Coast, but she's since left that band too. That means this Vivian Girls show will be a reunion of Cassie, Katy, and Ali, the lineup who recorded 2009's Everything Goes Wrong. That bill also includes Vivian Girl Cassie's other band The Babies, Grass Widow and others. The third Impose show is with John Maus. The flier for all three is below.

Speaking of Amanda Palmer, Jherek Bischoff who plays on her new album and is part of her live band, will also be opening her previously discussed shows in addition to playing as part of her band. Those shows include a sold out live NYC date at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 27 and a art show at Momenta Art on June 28. Amanda also plays on Jherek's album and played with him at BAM during Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.

All Jherek Bischoff dates are listed below, along with the Impose flier.

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer & Tim Heidecker guest at Kurt Braunohler's 'Night of the Living'; Jherek Bischoff opening for Amanda"

DOWNLOAD: La Sera - "Please Be My Third Eye" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: La Sera - "Break My Heart" (MP3)

La Sera at the Bell House in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

Vivian Girl Kickball Katy Goodman released her second album as La Sera, Sees the Light, earlier this year via Hardly Art. The album continues in the vein of the catchy indie pop of her 2011 self titled debut. You can grab two tracks from the new album, "Please By My Third Eye" and "Break My Heart" above or stream them below.

La Sera will kick off a tour this month in support of the album which culminates in a NYC show at Cameo Gallery on May 19 with Life Size Maps and The New Lines. Tickets are on sale now.

Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone's band The Babies plays Glasslands on June 6 with Nude Beach.

All La Sera dates and streams below...

Continue reading "La Sera going on May tour (dates & MP3s)"

The Babies @ Cake Shop - 2/6/2012 (more by Jessica Amaya)

285 Kent, the most difficult venue to keep track of in terms of who is playing, is hosting a show TONIGHT (Thursday, 2/9):

===| THURSDAY 2/9 @ 285 KENT AVE |====
:: Alex Bleeker and the Freaks
:::: the Babies
:::::: Darlings
:::::::: Life Size Maps --- ep release
:::::::::: Heaven's Gate
285 Kent Ave @ South 1st | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8pm | $7-$10 sliding scale donation | all ages

Continue reading "Vivian Girls playing free Fashion Week event; The Babies are at 285 Kent tonight with Alex Bleeker"

Frankie Rose at Beekman Beer Garden in July (more by Chris La Putt)

Frankie Rose (and not the Outs) will release her sophomore LP, Interstellar on February 21 via Slumberland. She'll welcome the new album with a record release show in Brooklyn on the album's release date, February 21 at Knitting Factory. Tickets are on sale now. As of right now, this is her only upcoming date scheduled. The album's artwork and tracklist are below.

Frankie is also DJing at the BV-presented holiday show at Brooklyn Night Bazaar (12/16) with Fucked UP, Dom, Big Troubles, Caged Animals, Radical Dads, and DJ Bill Pearis. Tickets are still available (and only $10).

One night later (12/17), you can catch one of Frankie's many former bandmates, Dee Dee (of Dum Dum Girls), DJ at Brooklyn Bowl (tickets) and play acoustic at Glasslands (tickets).

In other news, Hipster Runoff reports that Frankie Rose's fellow former-Vivian Girls drummer turned Best Coast drummer Ali Koehler was "missing" at Best Coast's San Francisco show on Tuesday (12/6), and "in her place was some other random dude who doesn't even look alt." Ali's Twitter seems to confirm the news with tweets like, "Super moved by all the support I received today. Didn't know that many people would care. I love you guys." and "Whether it's in a basement or at an amphitheater, you will always see me playing music in some capacity. Hopefully sooner than later." AND "http://alikoehler.bandcamp.com/." Head there to here a new song by Ali. A happy sad song.

Frankie Rose album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Frankie Rose announces new LP & live show; Ali Koehler apparently not in Best Coast anymore"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Vivian Girls / Widowspeak @ Knitting Factory

"Here's a shocker: Widowspeak live sound pretty much exactly like their record. Meaning: awesome. And if you didn't already know they'd covered Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" as a B-side, their dropping of that track in mid-set was a deal-sealer. [The Phoenix]

Continue reading "Vivian Girls, Widowspeak, Amy Klein & The Blue Star Band @ Knitting Factory (pics)"

by Andrew Sacher

Lana Del Rey at Glasslands last week (photo by Ryan Muir for Stereogum)

Lana Del Rey, who initially announced that her "official live debut" would take place at NYC's The Box and LA's Hotel Cafe, has rescheduled both of those dates and added a number of European shows too. The new US dates haven't been announced yet but, according to a press release, they are set to take place in larger venues than the ones they were originally scheduled for. She also played a secret, unofficial warm up show at Glasslands in Brooklyn on September 14 under the name Queen of Coney Island. That's a picture from the much talked about show above.

Lana Del Rey is also continuing to stir up controversy about whether or not there's any authenticity to her music or image. Amy Klein (of Titus Andronicus) thinks the problem with Lana Del Rey isn't about sincerity, but that she's a representation of what's wrong with the American culture that her image evokes. In her blog, Amy writes:

Lana Del Ray is exactly as real as the past, for the past is exactly what she recalls. She takes the days when women wore floral skirts and orange lipstick and waited at home for their husbands to come home from work so they (the women) could bring them (the men) martinis with olives and makes them real again (the men, the women, the martinis, and the olives.)

Lana Del Ray is sitting at home waiting for you to come home so she can fix you dinner and a drink. Lana Del Ray is waiting for you to come home so she can watch you play video games on the couch and ignore her all day until it's time for bed. Lana Del Ray is waiting for you to come home so you can go to bed and act out all of your wildest fantasies which is exactly what she wants to do--what you want to do, that is. Lana Del Ray is waiting for you because she is your mirror.

So it doesn't matter if Lana Del Ray is entirely sarcastic when she belts out, "It's YOU, it's YOU, it's all for YOU." It doesn't matter that there is an edge to her voice that sounds something like rage and despair. Lana Del Ray has conquered America with plastic surgery, video games, a regression to nostalgia, and an appeal to the sex drive of every male music critic on the planet. It doesn't matter if she has anything real to sell because Lana Del Ray has made us think about the relationship between selling fantasy and selling lies.

Lana Del Ray is the lie we like to tell ourselves--that America has always been, and will always be, this gorgeous woman who can make all our dreams come true. So it doesn't matter if she loves you or hates you because she is going to take all of your money and you are going to let her get away with it. That's the reality of who she is.

We are narcissistic and self-obsessed and so is Lana Del Ray. We are a country in decadent, navel-gazing decline--fading, intoxicated, and longing for the past, but still so beautiful, staring straight into the lens and smiling as we shoot an American tragedy.

Speaking of Amy Klein, she has shows coming up too. She and "the Blue Star Band" open for Vivian Girls at Knitting Factory on Tuesday (9/20) and play with Bird of Youth at Union Hall on 9/29. Her other project Hilly Eye play Bruar Falls on September 27 with Puta de Cava, Noon:30, and Mensch. They also play Bowery Ballroom on October 8 with Screaming Females, Underground Railroad to Candyland, and Shellshag and November 2 at Death by Audio with Nisennenmondai, Little Women, and Pet Bottle Ningen. Hilly Eye also recently joined facebook and they hint at a full length album being in the works.

All dates below...

Continue reading "controversial Lana Del Rey cancels/reschedules shows, Amy Klein/Hilly Eye announce some dates too"

Vivian Girls at Emo's in Austin in April (more by Tim Griffin)

Vivian Girls are going on tour this September with fellow Brooklyn band Widowspeak. The tour culminates in Brooklyn on September 20 at Knitting Factory. Tickets are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

Vivian Girls also have a new video for "Take It As It Comes" off the cleaner-sounding Share the Joy, which came out earlier this year. You can watch it below.

Widowspeak, who Bill points out are hard to talk about without mentioning Mazzy Star, will release their self titled debut on August 9 via Captured Tracks. Check out the album track "Gun Shy" below. They play a record release show for the album on August 2 at Glasslands with Hoop Dreams, Crinkles and Ex-Cops. Tickets are on sale now and a flier for the show is below. They're also on the bill for the Woods 8/13 show at Bowery Ballroom with Ducktails and White Fence. Tickets are still on sale for that too.

All dates, videos, streams, flier and album art below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls & Widowspeak dates, new video & stuff "

Black Lips at Emo's (more by Tim Griffin)

Black Lips have announced more tour dates. After playing Webster Hall last month as part of a tour with Vivian Girls, the band will return to the NYC-area in July, but this time they're not thinking so big. You can cach the band back at Bowery Ballroom on July 29th (tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday), and at the even more intimate Maxwell's in Hoboken on July 30th (tickets on sale Friday at noon).

In June the Black Lips are touring with Cerebral Ballzy who are currently out on the road with Strung Out and face To Face. That tour hits Best Buy Theater in NYC on Wednesday night. Black Lips are currently in Europe. All tour dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, don't forget that Vivian Girls play a Brooklyn show at 285 Kent TONIGHT (5/17), alongside Widowspeak and Colleen Green. $10 gets you in to the all ages show.

Black Lips recently shot a video for the song "New Direction" from their new LP Arabia Mountain due on June 7th. The video is not ready yet, but you can download that new Mark Ronson-produced song HERE. Watch other recent videos with all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Black Lips announce more dates (Bowery & Maxwell's included), Cerebral Ballzy & a new song too"

Vivian Girls at Emo's (more by Tim Griffin)

Vivian Girls recently completed a round of dates with Black Lips, which included stops at Webster Hall and Emo's, and are now out on the West Coast with No Joy. At the end of the road, Vivian Girls will cap things off with a homecoming show at 285 Kent on May 17th with Widowspeak and Colleen Green. $10 gets you into the 8PM all-ages Brooklyn show. All dates are listed below.

Then Kickball Katy will head back to her new home in time for her La Sera project to open the first of three dates she's doing with Jenny and Johnny (listed below).

Right around the same time, Cassie Ramone will play a few shows with her band The Babies on a very short run with Times New Viking including May 27th at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Less than a month later The Babies open for Guided by Voices in McCarren Park. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls on tour (schedule a Brooklyn show), The Babies playing shows w/ Times New Viking (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Black Lips - "Modern Art" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: WIN WIN - VICTIM featuring Blaqstarr (Black Lips Remix) (MP3)

photos by Tim Griffin

[Black Lips] took the stage with their typical energy of 100 firecrackers and ripped into "Sea of Blasphemy", a helpful fan tossing a beer to lead guitarist Ian Saint Pé afterward. Shortly after, the band played my favorite song from their catalog, "Dirty Hands", arguably the best track from their awesome "live" album, Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo (and earlier, Let It Bloom). This track had people lip synching and lightly air punching, which then got kicked up a few notches with the first notes of "Katrina", which unsurprisingly got the biggest crowd reaction of the night. Lead singer and bassist Jared Swilley took a moment to mention that, "It feels good to be in Austin when it's not South by Southwest," -[Soundcheck]

Vivian Girls are now on tour with No Joy. Black Lips are heading to Europe before coming back for more North American tour dates in June. All of those dates are below.

Black Lips have a new LP produced by Mark Ronson entitled Arabia Mountain due on June 7th. Check out the first single "Modern Art," released officially yesterday, above. While you're up there grab the band's remixing debut via a new WIN WIN remix that appears on a new Scion-sponsored WIN WIN remix EP. Vivian Girls' new LP Share The Joy is out now via Polyvinyl.

More pictures and some videos from Emo's and all dates, below.

Continue reading "Black Lips released a new song & remix (MP3s), toured w/ Vivian Girls, played Webster Hall & Emo's (pics & video)"

Yellow Dogs

Brooklyn/Iranian band post punk band Yellow Dogs are playing a show at The Morgan tonight (4/11). It's free and Cole from the Black Lips is DJing (the Morgan is located at 25 Bogart St). The Black Lips are in town for their big headlining show at Webster Hall on Tuesday (4/12), part of their tour with Vivian Girls. Tickets are still on sale for the NYC show, and I have a pair you can win. Details below.

If you miss Yellow Dogs in Brooklyn tonight, they also play Wednesday (4/13) at Pianos with Ohnomoon and others.

Contest details, the Black Lips' new video for "Modern Art", and updated tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Yellow Dogs are here ++ the Black Lips are on tour & play Webster Hall Tuesday (win tix) +++ updated dates, new video"

photos by Patrice Jackson

Turbo Fruits

"Over the weekend, I see many other compelling images: Black Lips bassist Jared Swilley launching his instrument into the sea while shooting a music video. Surfer Blood singer John Paul Pitts hunting for a hot blackjack table. Former MTV News anchor John Norris, on assignment for noisevox, interviewing pool-bound members of Vivian Girls while a Fellini-esque cast of hipster paparazzi snap away on SLRs. And finally, in Nassau, four of the cruise's acts--Black Lips, Vivian Girls, The Strange Boys, and Turbo Fruits--playing to a crowd of Bruisers and fratboys and bachelorette partiers at the least punk rock establishment in any port of call in the entire Atlantic Ocean: Señor Frog's.

"I think a lot of people on this cruise hate us. I think they think we're gay," Swilley tells me on Sunday. "I was drunk last night walking through the hallway, I only had my underwear on, and some guy was like, 'Get back in your room, faggot!'" He points across the pool. "Some guy who looked like that guy, with the backward visor." [Washington City Paper]

Continue reading "more pictures from Bruise Cruise"

photos by Bao Nguyen

La Sera @ Bowery Ballroom

After a recent showing at Mercury Lounge late last year (and an opening slot at Terminal 5 with The Walkmen), Tennis returned to NYC last night (3/2). The show, which took place at Bowery Ballroom, was part of the Colorado couple's larger winter tour with La Sera and Holiday Shores.The play NYC again tonight at the Bell House (tickets are still on sale). The tour ends at SXSW.

It was too dark in Bowery Ballroom to notice, but I'm sure that Kickball Katy of La Sera got a bit of color while she was out on the Bruise Cruise with Black Lips and the rest of the Vivian Girls (part 1 pics/review, and part 2).

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom are below (along with all tour dates)...

Continue reading "Tennis, La Sera & Holiday Shores @ Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

video shoot on the Bruise Cruise (more by Gabi Porter)

As previously mentioned, The Black Lips and Vivian Girls are touring together and releasing new albums this year. This past weekend, the two bands spent some time together on a boat where a video was filmed. You saw the pictures of the filming. The actual video is below...

Continue reading "Black Lips announce new album in Bruise-Cruise-filmed video (starting Vivian Girls and more) "

words & photos by Gabi Porter

If you're just joining us, start with PART ONE before continuing on....

Saturday morning we all woke up in the Bahamas, hit the buffet and the pool before the next show, fueling up for a day on the beach and a night at Senor Frogs. Situated on deck chairs with coconuts in hand, two pro-surfers were up-and-at-em bright and early. Alek Parker and Dylan Graves were there to judge Jonathan Toubin's late-night Soul Clap party, along with John Norris, Ben Blackwell from the Dirtbombs and others. Parker and Graves set the tone and brought the party - and their bathrobes - to the Lido Deck.

The Vivian Girls held court poolside and Kickball Katy (aka Katy Goodman aka La Sera who plays NYC shows with Tennis this week) won the hearts and lots of hugs from all the kids on board. In their set on Saturday at Senor Frogs they sounded more confident and melodious than I'd ever seen them before, finally growing into their echo chamber garage sound, or maybe it was the fruity "yard long" drinks their biggest fan (seriously, he had a different Vivian Girls t-shirt for every day of the cruise) bought for each of them before the show. Watch out for a cameo from them in the forthcoming Black Lips video.

New Orleans based Quintron and Miss Pussycat closed out the Bruise Cruise with their psychedelic organ fest. Miss Pussycat brought along her absolutely delightful puppet show for that morning's "Pancakes and Puppets" breakfast. I didn't see enough of The Strange Boys - if they'd played just one more set I suspect they might have been my faves, but at least that means I have something to look forward to the next time they play New York. They were on the bill at Senor Frogs and I loved their jangly guitars, open sound and the tight and twisted vocals from Ryan Sambol. And ditto for Miami youngsters The Jacuzzi Boys who were loved by many, including John Dwyer from Thee Oh Sees. After all the bands had finished playing at Senor Frogs on Saturday, Dwyer grabbed his beer and said he was off to tell The Jacuzzi Boys "they were the best thing [he'd] seen at this thing."

Ty Segall's one short set on Saturday before Thee Oh Sees wasn't enough - Ty Segall opened the festival on board the ship that day and played a restrained and somewhat shy set behind his curtain of hair. Someone commented that if they work on their stage presence one day they might grow up to be like Thee Oh Sees.

Everyone was curious how the Bruisers (aka the people there for the bands) would get along with the "normal' cruisers (who were also on the same ship) (Bruisers were given wristbands so the cruise staff knew they were allowed in the shows), and I'd like to think that we brought a little something-something to people's normal, regular vacation. Poolside at a photo shoot with Turbo Fruits (see above) one very nice lady asked me, completely unperturbed about the quadruple cannonball photo-op that splashed everyone, "Is that one of the bands on the Bruise Cruise?" I told her it was Turbo Fruits. "Oh, I've never heard of them," she said a little sadly, then she looked at the bright side, "But at least now I can tell people I saw them!"

You already saw one set of pictures. The rest of the pictures from the Bruise Cruise continue below...

Continue reading "the Bruise Cruise in pics & review (part 2)"

Black Lips on a Rocks Off cruise (more by Keith Marlowe)

The Black Lips and Vivian Girls are preping for a few days of sun and indie rock as part of Bruise Cruise 2011. After the hangovers wear off and the tans fade, the pair will reconvene for a string of US dates together in April which will include April 12th at Webster Hall. Tickets go on AMEX presale at noon tomorrow (1/26) and regular sale at the same time two days later. Full tour schedule is below.

La Sera, the solo project of Kickball Katy of VG, is scheduled to play March 2 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets) and March 3rd at Bell House (tickets) with Tennis and Holday Shores.

Both The Black Lips and Vivian Girls have new LPs on the way in 2011. Vivian Girls recently signed to Polyvinyl and will release their new LP Share The Joy via the label this spring. The Black Lips just wrapped production of a new LP with Mark Ronson for release this summer via Vice Records. Check out a video of the band at work in a video below, alongside all tour dates.

Continue reading "Black Lips & Vivian girls touring together, releasing new LPs"

DOWNLOAD: Surfer Blood - Take it Easy (Red Wax Session) (MP3)

Surfer Blood recording the above track (more by Diana Wong)

"On October 21st, 2010, Insound & Maker's Mark hosted an artist lounge & recording session at Stratosphere Sound in New York City, the likes of which has never been done before. Grammy winning engineer Geoff Sanoff (Nada Surf, Secret Machines, A Camp) took on the insane task of recording eight of indie music's most talked about new bands in eight hours, and the results are nothing but stellar." [Insound]

And speaking of Surfer Blood, they've been added to Bruise Cruise...

Bruise Cruise is a rock 'n' roll music festival aboard the Carnival Imagination, sailing from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas and back February 25-28, 2011. Tickets are on sale now for this exclusive and all-inclusive Caribbean getaway.

Bruise Cruise is pleased to announce West Palm Beach's SURFER BLOOD on the festival line-up. Their "floating vibes" are a welcome addition to the Bruise Cruise party barge as it sails from Miami to the Bahamas over the course of 3 days filled with sun, rock'n'roll and relaxation. SURFER BLOOD recently completed a US tour with The Drums and are preparing for an upcoming European tour with Interpol.

Just a reminder that Bruise Cruise is also excited to announce the launch of Bruise Cruise Records. BCR will be releasing a series of limited edition vinyl. Each performing artist will be featured on one side of a 7" vinyl release over the next few months. The first record will be distributed in the first week of November featuring un-released songs from Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees. The 7"s will feature artwork by Rob Corradetti [www.radrox.com].

Every Bruiser will receive at least one complimentary record. As the sailing date nears, Bruise Cruise will be gifting the entire box set through a variety of contests that will be announced on our site.
In the midst of attendees' three days at sea, Bruisers will have the pleasure of soaking up the sun experiencing 24 hours in the Bahamas. Bruise Cruise will be announcing a series of events that will occur in Nassau, including the big island party concert at Señor Frog's, which will feature select Bruise Cruise artists and conclude with New York Night Train's Soul Clap and Dance-Off.

Continue reading "Insound releasing free Red Wax Sessions (MP3) w/ Surfer Blood who are playing Bruise Cruise (lineup)"

DOWNLOAD: La Sera - Never Come Around (MP3)

Vivian Girl Katy Goodman is La Sera, and she pulls through with a contender for video of the year, just in time for Halloween. Check it out below...

Continue reading "sexy, gory new La Sera video in time for Halloween"

photos by Samantha Marble

Vivian Girls @ ATP NY

"Andrew Edlin Gallery is pleased to present Henry Darger, its third solo exhibition of the renowned self-taught artist's work. The show, comprised of approximately two dozen works taken from the gallery's inventory and borrowed from private collections, encompasses some of Darger's very earliest experiments in collage, as well as an ample selection of his large-scale, late-career masterpieces. Among them, are several works that are being exhibited for the first time, including a panoramic composition that showcases creatures never before encountered in Darger's Realms of the Unreal: green-skinned plant/human hybrids with vines and blossoming flowers growing from their girlish bodies...

...The opening reception on Saturday, September 11th, from 4 to 7 pm, features two special events: At 5 pm, the acclaimed author Rivka Galchen (Atmospheric Disturbances, 2009), accompanied by Karen Russell, will lead a discussion on Darger centered around John Ashbery's poem Girls on the Run. At 6 pm, the indie rock band The Vivian Girls will give a musical performance.

That's on Saturday (today). On Sunday, Cassie plays a ten minute set at Todd P's annual Unamplified event. For a full set from Cassie, who has gone solo, you'll have to wait until September 19th when she plays Glasslands. La Sera, aka Kickball Katy, plays NYC during CMJ, and October 2nd at Funhouse in Seattle.

And as we pointed out already, the Vivian Girls played a set at ATP NY last weekend. A second set of pictures from that show, and a video of Cassie playing solo at Cinders Gallery in August, below...

Continue reading "Cassie Ramone played solo (video), Vivian Girls played ATP (pics), playing actual Henry Darger event (today), other shows "

"The new location is a pristine secluded beach area called Raptor Point, at the North end of the main (decommissioned) runway of the abandoned airport, right on Jamaica Bay. Gorgeous views of Jamaica Bay, Mill Basin, and of the distant Manhattan skyline; and a pretty phenomenal sunset spot." - Todd P

Details below...

Continue reading "Todd P's Unamplified Acoustic BBQ is Sunday (new location) "