Corridor is playing at Space 15 Twenty tomorrow, July 30th, 5pm-10pm.
Read more / Permalink
7/29/2011
7/28/2011
7/27/2011
7/26/2011
Still Corners "Cuckoo"
 |
Still Corners Announce North American Tour + MP3 download for Cuckoo London based Still Corners are jumping the pond in support of their Sub Pop debut, Creatures of an Hour, which will be available on Oct 11 in North America and world-wide on October 10. The band, comprised of Tessa Murray (vocals), Greg Hughes (guitar and keys), Leon Dufficy (guitar), Luke Jarvis (bass) and Paul Mayhew (drums) fuse a whispered intimacy with a sonic emotional expansiveness that linger like half-remembered dreams. The group’s lead single “Cuckoo” is available to stream/download by clicking here. For more information on Still Corners please visit: www.subpop.com/artists/still_corners Tour dates: SAT 10/15 Pensacola FL DeLuna Festival SUN 10/16 Atlanta, GA The Earl MON 10/17 Charlotte, NC Snug Harbor TUE 10/18 Washington, DC DC9 WED 10/19 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Neckite THU 10/20 CMJ FRI 10/21 CMJ SAT 10/22 Boston, MA Great Scott MON 10/24 Montreal, QC Il Motore TUES 10/25 Toronto, ON Drake Underground THU 10/27 Chicago, IL Schubas FRI 10/28 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry MON 10/31 Vancouver, BC Media Club TUE 11/1 Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern WED 11/2 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios FRI 11/4 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw stop SAT 11/5 Los Angelese, CA Bootleg ...as gooey and refreshing as a long afternoon in a hotel jacuzzi. The wispy London dream-poppers put those drums front and center of the track, and everything else here-- the ghostly goth-sprite vocals, the organ purrs, the delicate guitar flutters-- exists just to back up that thump-thumpthump-smack. And so the whole thing works as a floaty, ephemeral treat, a happy flirtation with the song's gushy girl-pop ancestors. This sort of blissed-out, subconscious-needling pop music, after all, works best when it remembers that it's still pop music. ("Endless Summer" Song Review 2010)- Pitchfork ...[Still Corners] sound is totally fresh thanks to one of the most gorgeous voices we've heard in a long time...gauzy and ethereal, like she's singing behind an organza veil, and the eerie organs and echo-y drums that accompany her help paint a picture that is both chilling and absolutely beautiful. It's the perfect soundtrack to a close encounter with the third kind (you know, if you ever happen to have one). ("Endless Summer" Song Review 2010)- Nylon Mixing 60s production with dream-pop shimmer, are these wafty British etherealists heralding a new golden age of indie? (Band of the Day 2010)- The Guardian |
Read more / Permalink
Linda Perhacs & Friends
LIVING LIGHT:
An Evening With Linda Perhacs & Friends
Sunday, August 14th | 7:30pm
The twinship between color and sound has captivated artists for centuries. Across film, dance, fine art and music, creators have long sought to convey the harmony between light, movement, and tone that reverberates through nature; it is this synesthetic vision that inspired turned psych-folk songstress Linda Perhacs to record her now mythic 1970 album “Parallelograms”. Crafting transcendental tonal illustrations within the seemingly simple trappings of late-’60s song structures, Linda plumbed the same well of inspiration that drove pioneering filmmakers to eschew representational cinema for a purer way of illustrating the symbiosis of the senses. Join us as we celebrate these visual and sonic explorers, with a rare live set from Ms. Perhacs and her band (featuring selections from “Parallelograms” and new material exclusively debuted at Cinefamily), as well as a selection of boundary-pushing cinema from the masters of the synesthetic form, new video works commissioned for the show, and live dance accompaniment from world-renowned dancer/choreographer Ryan Heffington!
Watch / Listen to Linda Perhacs' "Parallelograms"!
Tickets - $12/free for members
Read more / Permalink
An Evening With Linda Perhacs & Friends
Sunday, August 14th | 7:30pm
The twinship between color and sound has captivated artists for centuries. Across film, dance, fine art and music, creators have long sought to convey the harmony between light, movement, and tone that reverberates through nature; it is this synesthetic vision that inspired turned psych-folk songstress Linda Perhacs to record her now mythic 1970 album “Parallelograms”. Crafting transcendental tonal illustrations within the seemingly simple trappings of late-’60s song structures, Linda plumbed the same well of inspiration that drove pioneering filmmakers to eschew representational cinema for a purer way of illustrating the symbiosis of the senses. Join us as we celebrate these visual and sonic explorers, with a rare live set from Ms. Perhacs and her band (featuring selections from “Parallelograms” and new material exclusively debuted at Cinefamily), as well as a selection of boundary-pushing cinema from the masters of the synesthetic form, new video works commissioned for the show, and live dance accompaniment from world-renowned dancer/choreographer Ryan Heffington!
Watch / Listen to Linda Perhacs' "Parallelograms"!
Tickets - $12/free for members
Read more / Permalink
7/25/2011
Brian Jonestown Massacre: RELEASE THE SINGLES COLLECTION (1992 – 2011)
THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
RELEASE THE SINGLES COLLECTION (1992 – 2011) ON AUGUST 30, 2011
The Brian Jonestown Massacre releases the double CD, The Singles Collection (1992-2011) through a Records/Redeye Distribution on August 30, 2011. Remastered from the vinyl originals this collection features 14 tracks that have not been available on CD before, these versions are completely different from any version that found itself on a full-length album. The package comes with a 24-page booklet featuring the front and backs of the entire original cover art.
The Singles Collection (1992-2011) features tracks only previously available on 7 inch singles including “Convertible,” “Their Majesties 2nd Request (Enrique's Dream)” and also the most recent 2011 vinyl single release “Illuminomi” and “There’s A War Going On.” The collection also features “Thoughts of You” and “Never Ever” recorded in 1993 from the band’s alter ego, Acid.Founded in 1992, singer/guitarist, Anton Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase – the band name comes from Stones guitarist, Brian Jones, combined with a reference to cult leader Jim Jones. During 2000s, Newcombe expanded into aesthetic dimensions of the 1990s UK Shoegazing genre and incorporating influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre has been somewhat of a musical commune for many respected musicians over the years and influenced other great bands ever since. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Foxygen, The Silver Rockets, The Black Angels, The Raveonettes, The Dilettantes (to name a few) are all part of this musical family tree.
The Brian Jonestown continues a prolific relevance into the new decade. Tapping into the band’s atmospheric sentiment, Martin Scorsese chose “Straight Up and Down” from Take It From the Man for his HBO’s hit series, Boardwalk Empire’s opening theme song debuting in 2010. Brian Jonestown Massacre is currently recording a new album in Germany where Anton Newcombe lives, which will be released in 2012.
Track Listing – tracks in bold are previously unavailable on CD before
DISC ONE
1) She Made Me
2) Evergreen
3) Convertible
4) Their Majesties 2nd Request (Enrique's Dream)
5) Hide & Seek
6) Methodrone (Live at the Compound)
7) Cold To The Touch
8) Anemone
9) Never Ever
10) Feelers
11) Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth
DISC TWO
1) This Is Why You Love Me
2) Lantern
3) Malela
4) If Love Is The Drug Then I Want To OD
5) When Jokers Attack
6) Prozac vs Heroin
7) Nailing Honey To The Bee
8) Illuminomi
9) There’s A War Going On
10) Thoughts Of You by Acid
11) Never Ever by Acid
Website: www.brianjonestownmassacre.com
Read more / Permalink
7/22/2011
Foxygen @ The Knockout SF July 25th
Let it not be said that Monday, July 25, 2011 is destined to be a dull date in history, for on that very evening
SMiLE! Presents A Benefit For The Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival, featuring the musical talents of
FOXYGEN (NY/LA) www.myspace.com/foxygen
SOPHIA KNAPP (NY/TX Drag City recording artist) http://www.sophiaknapp.com
FORT KING (LA) www.myspace.com/fortking
ZACHARY CALE allhandselectric.com/zacharycale.html
CABINET OF NATURAL CURIOSITIES (NY/CT) www.last.fm/music/Cabinet+of+Natural+Curiosities
+ DJ Neil Martinson will be on hand spinning ze Psych, Soul, Glam, Bubblegum, Laserboogie and such 45s, all at
The Knockout 3223 Mission near 29th street
9pm – 2am $7 21+
Read more / Permalink
7/20/2011
Foxygen interview
(Photo: Angel Ceballos)
FOXYGEN Interview
By Alexander Laurence
Foxygen are a new young band who are thrilling musicians and talented songwriters. They are from Los Angeles and have existed in some form for many years. They have produced more than eight albums in the past few years. They are presently releasing an EP, called Take The Kids Off Broadway. They hope to finish their first actual physical release later this year, produced by Richard Swift. The main members of the band are Jonathan Rado and Sam France. I got to speak to the band at the practice space in Olympia, WA this past week.
AL: When did you actually start this band?
Rado: We started in 2004 in Westlake Village. We were in another band called The Fionas. We were also called The Boscos. Sam was the singer of that band. The Fionas was like a Doors influenced rock band. We had another singer, who was replaced by Sam, who I didn’t know that well. We had done some instrumentals that Sam took home. He did the vocals and all these crazy sounds. I listened to it and thought it was genius. Everyone else in the band hated them. We had to break up the band and start again. And that is when we started Foxygen.
AL: Did you spend a lot of time thinking of a name?
Rado: We actually left a rehearsal with The Fionas and went to the first Foxygen practice. Foxygen started right there. When we recorded our first album, we didn’t know each other. It was called “Electric Sun Machine.” We decided that Foxygen would be just me and Sam. We recorded the first album in my bedroom in a week. We played all the instruments. It was 2004 or 2005, we are not really sure.
AL: You were very young back then?
Rado: We were babies. Neither one of us had hit puberty yet. Our voices were extremely high.
AL: When you played shows back when you were in High School, did you have a driver’s license, or did your parents have to drive you to shows?
Sam: Yeah. We played at the Whisky a-go-go a few times. Most of our shows were at school. It would be some class show where we would fuck around on melodica and guitar. Our early influences were Brian Jonestown Massacre. We watched Dig The Movie every day. We were into the fact that Anton “played everything.” We wanted to play everything. So I went on Ebay and bought every strange instrument. I would buy an accordian or a xylophone. We would bring them to shows and we couldn’t really play any of them. But it worked for some reason. We tried to get a sitar for a long time.
AL: What was it like playing the Whisky nowadays?
Sam: It’s like a pay-to-play place. They were interesting shows. We had a guy playing a triangle and another playing the trombone. We thought it was funny. The Whisky sucks, but the people there were probably happy that we weren’t another screamo band. The people who worked there were very positive. After you finish they throw your gear on the street. They charge you a hundred dollars and make you sell a bunch of tickets in advance.
AL: When did you get serious about the band?
Rado: The intention was always that we were going to be huge. It was always a bedroom project. We were always hoping to share our music with the people in a big way, but we never went through with that.
Sam: I don’t think the intention of the band was ever to be huge. I guess that is possible. The band was basically me and Rado writing all these songs during high school. Some of the songs had strange lyrics and weird sounds. We did some rapping. We went away to college and came back together in the summer of 2009, and did an album called Kill Art. This was basically us going through all our recordings and keeping the best parts. This record was really popular among our friends and other people who heard it. When we did Kill Art, we discovered we can actually write songs. So Foxygen probably really began around then.
AL: How many albums did you do?
Rado: There are “Electric Sun Machine,” then “Cat Food, Dog Food, Motor Oil,” and “The Jurrassic Exxplosion Phillipic,” and “Ghettoplastikk” “Kill Art,” and “Take The Kids Off Broadway,” and the new one. Plus there is us live at the Whisky.
AL: Rado went off to school in NYC. Did that slow down the band?
Rado: Yeah. We were more creative in High School, it’s true. When you get to college it can take up a lot of time. Sam doesn’t go to school anymore. I am still going to SVA. During the summer after high school we started to make a lot of movies. We joined other bands. Sam lived in Washington state a while. I was in NYC. We both came back together. We were unhappy in the bands that we were in. Foxygen officially never broke up. We stopped for a while.
AL: So you are playing a bunch of shows this week. It’s like a six date west coast tour. What should people expect to hear?
Sam: You know, psychedelic punk rock ritual. It doesn’t sound like the record. It’s the same songs, but we have seven guys in the band now. We are playing a lot of newer stuff. It’s like a different beat.
AL: Do you think there will be some stage diving?
Sam: We talked about it. It was a quiet moment. Our bass player said “What happens if someone tries to stage dive?” I said: “I don’t know how high the stages are.” We will see where the music takes us. There may be blood. There could possibly be blood.
AL: So you will be playing songs from “Take The Kids Off Broadway” and some new ones?
Sam: Yeah. We won’t be playing old songs. We like to move forward. We get over our songs pretty quick. I am the curator of vibes and the cult leader.
Rado: I am the manager. I am the accountant of Foxygen. I make most of the phone calls.
AL: I saw some of the pictures that Angel Ceballos took. Are you guys going to wear costumes? Are you going to have capes and makeup?
Rado: Yeah.
Sam: I think we have to now.
AL: Are there any bands that you like?
Rado: Richard Swift and MGMT.
Sam: We like our back up band Holy Komono. I met them years ago before when I lived in Olympia.
AL: You mentioned Richard Swift. Are you going to work with him in the future?
Rado: We are planning that. He is doing a mix of our EP. We will probably get together later this year and work on our first album.
Website: www.myspace.com/foxygen
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/foxygentheband
Read more / Permalink
MGMT + Surfer Blood @ US Open Aug 6th
Known as the world’s largest youth culture and action sports festival, the Nike US Open of Surfing will feature daily concerts Thursday through Saturday, August 4-6, at the conclusion of the surfing competition. All concerts are free and open to the public.
Music Schedule
Thursday, August 4 4:30-6:30pm The Sounds featured with Walk The Walk
Friday, August 5 4:30-6:30pm Jimmy Eat World preceded by Dead Country
Saturday, August 6 4:30-6:30pm MGMT preceded by Surfer Blood
US Open of Surfing Background
The 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing will run from July 30 to August 7. With more than 500,000 people in attendance along a 14-acre stretch of sand on the south side of Huntington Beach Pier, the Nike US Open of Surfing showcases the best in surf, skate, BMX, music, fashion and art. All events at the US Open of Surfing are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Live webcast of all the events can be viewed daily at www.usopenofsurfing.com. Anchored by the world’s largest professional surfing competition, the $460,000 US Open is a pivotal point on the ASP World Tour for both the men and women. The men’s competition will feature a North America ASP Men’s Prime event with valuable points on the line right before the coveted ASP Top 34 rotation. For the women, the US Open of Surfing will host the final event of the 2011 ASP World Title Tour and will potentially crown a women’s world champion in Surf City this summer. In addition to the high-stakes mens and womens divisions, the US Open will feature an ASP Grade Four men’s and women’s Junior Pro as well as the Pacifico Nose Riding Invitational – always a crowd favorite.
The action doesn’t stop at the shoreline. On the beach, Converse Coastal Carnage will once again host the most talented and diverse crew of riders from across the globe as they skate in a state-of-the-art skate bowl. And, a stellar crew of BMX riders will push the realm of possibility at the Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro. The runway will be busy on Thursday, August 4 as five of the nation’s top high schools will compete for $25,000 in the Hurley Walk the Walk National Championship – the ultimate youth fashion competition.
Read more / Permalink
Neon Indian: Us tour
Neon Indian announces new album & Fall tour dates
VIDEO: "HEART : DECAY" -
 |
Cover art for Neon Indian's Era Extraña
Neon Indian is the brainchild of Alan Palomo, who's 2009 debut record Psychic Chasms not only earned the 20 year-old a spot on numerous year-end lists, but assisted the forming of a genre that, though known by a few names now (hypnagogic pop, glo-fi, chillwave), summoned a very unique and specific electro-mangled sound. Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and SPIN all praised Palomo for his adventurous new sound, and he was tapped to perform at top festivals like South by Southwest, Bonnaroo, and Sasquatch and also scored opening slots for bands ranging from Massive Attack and The Flaming Lips to Phoenix and Chromeo.
After nearly two years on the road off the success of his debut, Palomo returns this fall with his proper follow-up LP, Era Extraña. This time around, we see a darker shaded sound document that tosses somewhere between an 8-bit shoegaze record and peering through the fence of a teenage apocalypse drive-in flick.
Written and recorded last winter in an efficiency apartment in Helsinki, Finland during its short solstice days, Era Extraña was ice sculpted from arpeggiated synth-scapes and scribbled journal entries made during his stint there alone in constant solitude. "It's the closest you can get to feeling like you're at the edge of the earth," he says. "And there were moments where I lost sight of what I was really there to do."
The sample-happy stylings of his previous efforts have been traded in for acid-stained commodore 64 jams (See 'Polish Girl, 'Future Sick') and bit-pulped guitar sludge ballads (see 'Hex Girlfriend', 'The Blindside Kiss'). All throughout, the undulating moods of the record are guided by a haunted three-part instrumental titled Heart: Attack, Heart: Decay, and Heart: Release. Once completed, the layers were then thawed and reassembled by Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT), who mixed the album and did additional production with Palomo at his upstate Tarbox Studios. The album sessions there were briefly taken on a scenic detour by a drop-in four-song EP collaboration with The Flaming Lips which was released earlier this year.
The album's Spanish title plays with the loose-hinges of the word extraña, which not only directly translates into 'strange', but also means to 'command the act of longing'. These themes of feeling an eerie absence in new strange times are explored throughout the album as a whole in his teenage ethos peppered lyrical musings in an end-days obsessed climate. Many of this is inspired by an ongoing love affair with the notion of what cyberpunk means in a year like 2011. The feeling can best be described in a recent interview where he noted, "We're now living in the era mysticized by a lot of future-geared 70s and 80s cinema, but it's definitely not quite how they imagined it."
Era Extraña is slated for a September 13th release on Palomo's own Static Tongues imprint in conjunction with Mom + Pop Music in North America, Transgressive Records in the United Kingdom and Europe, Pop Frenzy/Inertia in Australia and Big Nothing Records in Japan.
NEON INDIAN
9/15 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
9/16 Washington DC - Rock n Roll Hotel
9/17 Carrboro, NC - Moog Festival
9/19 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
9/20 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree *
9/21 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks *
9/22 Houston, TX - Fitzgeralds *
9/23 Austin, TX - The Mohawk
9/24 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
9/26 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
9/27 San Diego, CA - Belly Up Tavern *
9/30 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour *
10/1 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop * ^
10/3 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
10/4 Vancouver, BC - Venue *
10/5 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe *
10/7 Boise, ID - Reef * ^
10/8 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge * ^
10/10 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater *
10/12 Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar * ^
10/13 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry * ^
10/14 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall * ^
10/15 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop * ^
10/16 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick * ^
10/18 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace * ^
10/19 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
10/20 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall ^
10/21 New York, NY - Webster Hall ^
* w/ Com Truise
^ w/ Purity Ring
Read more / Permalink
7/18/2011
Foxygen west coast tour
The FOXYGEN west coast tour starts this week. The first show starts
this Thursday in Olympia. They are an LA based band who have been
living in Olympia and NYC the past few years. You lucky people get to
see them on their first actual tour. They have an EP Take The Kids
Off Broadway, which is being mixed by Richard Swift.
WEST COAST DATES
July 21st: Foxygen @ Grandma's House (Olympia Washington)
July 22nd: Foxygen @ The Woods (Portland) w/ Novosti and Youth
July 23rd: Foxygen @ Axe & Fiddle (Cottage Grove, OR) w/ DJ Richard Swift
July 25th: Foxygen @ Club SMILE + The Knockout (San Francisco)
July 27th: Foxygen @ Silverlake Lounge 11pm (LA)
July 29th: Foxygen @ Center Stage Theater (Agoura Hills, CA)
Website: www.myspace.com/foxygen
Spread the word!
Read more / Permalink
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Jessica Lea Mayfield will be playing Detroit Bar Wednesday, July 20th. She will also be at Pioneertown on Friday, July 22nd.
Read more / Permalink
7/17/2011
Here Comes The Strokes
PART TWO: THE STROKES
The Strokes become the iconic NYC band of the decade.
By Alexander Laurence
Around Y2K there were many changes in the music scene. You can look at the lineup of Woodstock 99 and see how much people were into crap music. Besides Metallica, nobody listens to any of those bands anymore. Napster took over and people stopped buying CDs. There used to be music magazines and people actually read them. Now there were a bunch of cool music sites like The Modern Age, Stereogum, and Fluxblog. I met all these people at CMJ in those years. There are bunch of new publicists like Johnny Kaps, Girlie Action, Nasty Little Man, and Big Hassle.
I remember calling up publicists and telling them that I was writing for an online magazine Free Williamsburg. “Print magazine: how old fashioned!” I visited London in February 2000, and I did an interview with Divine Comedy. His manager was in the same building as Chemical Brothers and Primal Scream. I remember seeing “Go Let It Out” by Oasis on TV. It was the first lousy album by Oasis. Although people were just getting into Britpop in the USA then, by London standards it was stale. People were waiting for Kid A to come out. Things were speeding up and everyone was joining social networks. One of the first was Live Journal. When I got back to NYC, I started hearing about The Strokes.
The Strokes had been on a few magazine covers: “The best band from NYC.” Most of us hadn’t seen them. Liars and Yeah Yeah Yeahs did a tour with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The Strokes played a big show at the Troubadour in August 2001. The biggest record of the summer was actually White Stripes “White Blood Cells.” The Strokes and the White Stripes played a bunch of shows together in Fall 2001.
I ended up not seeing THE STROKES until many years later. But their first album was excellent and they definitely stole the thunder and were the coolest band in NYC for a few years. They have done four studio albums and have been around for ten years. They can play some big venues. Some of the solo records have been good too. Not only did the Strokes become an international success, they dragged some other bands into the limelight, such as Moldy Peaches, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Regina Spektor. They have survived and endured and have aged better than most of the bands from that time.
I remember getting a copy of New York Magazine. The “New Rock City” issue from September 30th, 2002. Also there was a few compilations like This Is Next Year (2001) and Yes New York (2003). These anthologies highlighted many of the bands on the NYC scene, and many of them signed to big labels and gained much publicity. Going back to New York Magazine. Here’s who they included in the issue:
LIARS are on the cover and are probably my favorite band from NYC. They have done five albums now, all brilliant and different. They have followed me here to LA. They are huge in Europe but still play medium size venues in the USA. Recently they opened some shows for Radiohead who respect the Liars for their experimental streak. Liars are always a fun show. They are equal parts retro and futuristic. They are artistic and modern and always up to date.
!!! (CHK CHK CHK) has been a great band over the past ten years although the name didn’t help them any. They have continued to put out amazing records and now they are on my favorite label Warp Records. The band members have changed over the years but the songs are great and they seem to show up at many festivals. Besides LCD Soundsystem, !!! are one of the best dance group from this era.
THE RAPTURE ruled heavily early in the decade. What party wasn’t complete without “House of Jealous Lovers” or “Get Myself Into It.” They often did shows with odd bands like Mogwai, Mars Volta, or BRMC, but they usually blew them all off the stage. There was a five year break and Matty Safer left. Things got weird when they were managed by Paul McGuinness and opened up a bunch of shows for U2. I saw them last year at FYF Fest, and a new record is on the block. So let’s see if The Rapture can make a comeback?
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM is probably the greatest band from NYC during the past ten years. From their first single “Losing My Edge” to their final show at Madison Square Garden this year, there were few mistakes. James Murphy doesn’t have the looks of The Strokes or the flash of Fischerspooner. He just has great songs and a great live band. His shows have a great overall feel. Murphy worked on a few DFA records like the first Rapture record, so it took him a while to release the first LCD Soundsystem in 2005. He would play epic shows with MIA and Arcade Fire. He will be missed.
RADIO 4 was a great punk/funk band at one time. They seemed amazing during the time of their first album Gotham! (2002). But once they signed to Astralwerks EMI they soon became invisible. I last saw them open for the Libertines in 2004. Apparently they still exist. Maybe they were more like a NYC 1990s band? But now they seem like a faint echo of LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture.
YEAH YEAH YEAHS have always been one of the most popular bands in this scene. They were on the cover of many magazines before they had a full album out. They seem to be more productive than just three albums worth all these years. There are a lot of side projects.
INTERPOL came on innocently and now they are one of the most mainstream acts of all these mentioned. They had a cool sound and they dressed well: in a way, they seem the most obvious. They are probably the most mainstream and suburban band of them all. They have done four albums and play large venues now. There was even some shows with U2. I am starting to suspect opening for U2 is where these band start to lose it. But hey, Interpol is for the most part successful although they are dull. It turns out that no one in this NYC centric band is from New York. In their own way, Interpol has played with other influential NYC bands like Luna, Blonde Redhead, and Calla, and even Secret Machines. Brandon Curtis, the main songwriter for Secret Machines, has since joined Interpol.
CALLA have been mentioned before. They are in this New York Magazine article but they are more like an older brother to these bands.
PROSAICS is a band I never heard of really. Reading about them, they sound like a light version of Interpol. They broke up in 2005.
MOMMY AND DADDY were another short lived band. I was friends with Vivian Sarratt at some point. They were most happening later in 2005. Supposedly they broke up and quit the band. The name was never internet friendly.
W.I.T. was one of the lamest bands and more about the bad side of electroclash. Ladytron is a great band because they have done great records. WIT is a lousy “electroclash” band at its worst.
THE WALKMEN are probably the most prolific and deep band of all of these NYC bands. They are produced six albums and numerous Eps and toured with so many bands: everyone from Weird War to Fleet Foxes and Kings of Leon. They would have been included in the previous post of influential bands, since they somewhat existed in a previous form as Jonathan Fire*Eater. They had drug and big label issues. Got a new singer and became one of the great bands of the time.
FRENCH KICKS I saw a few times. I never got into them. They have done four albums and are shockingly still at work.
LONGWAVE was a good band at one time. I remember liking their second album. They have done four albums and are also still in the running.
THE ROGERS SISTERS were an amazing band. They put out three records and toured a lot during 2003-2006, mostly in the UK. I knew Laura Rogers because she worked at the Pink Pony in NYC. They opened a bar in Williamsburg called Daddy’s. The band broke up in 2007. Miyuki Furtado has continued on in bands, and I think Jennifer Rogers got married and had some kids.
THE STAR SPANGLES were much like the punk bands I found uninspiring in the 1990s. I knew the lead singer Ian Wilson when he first moved to NYC in 1998. But in 2002, at a Doves concert he pretended not to know me. He recited lines from “Withnail and I” to me back in the day and then he became a snob. They were one of the last NYC bands signed to a label, and when their record Bazooka! came out in 2003, and bombed, Capitol dumped them. Ian always claimed that The Strokes ripped off their look. It’s ten years later and pretty much everyone will tell you that Is This It? is better than Bazooka!
THE MOLDY PEACHES seemed like they were around way before everyone else. They toured with the Strokes and when Moldy Peaches started to get popular in 2003, they broke up. Adam Green and Kimya Dawsom have had prolific solo careers.
THE WITNESSES were a more convention rock and roll band, who had little to do with the new NYC scene. I heard that they played a lot at Canter’s Deli in LA.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE were also mentioned in this article. They have their own record label Paw Tracks and Merriweather Post Pavillion is one of the best albums of the decade.
BLACK DICE and FLUX INFORMATION SCIENCES are fucking weird bands. It’s good to always drop these bands names as essential important bands and watch people freak out. Flux Information Sciences broke up in 2001, soon after they appeared in the movie “Kill Your Idols” which is another keystone to this scene.
NORTHERN STATE was a good rap group. Their first album, Dying In Stereo (2002), was an amazing record. Hesta Prynn went solo in 2010.
METRO AREA never heard of them.
BEN KWELLER and THURSDAY probably don’t belong here either. Kweller was born in San Francisco, and was in Radish. Thursday is a crap band from New Jersey.
Unmistakeably absent from this issue is THE STROKES. I guess they refused. They didn’t want to be mixed with such lame bands. They had already been on the cover of a few magazines by then, so it didn’t matter. Also they mentioned Free Williamsburg in this article so that helped me get some interviews later.
When I met these bands in LA later when I moved here in 2003, I realized I knew a few of them. Sam from Interpol worked at Beacon’s Closet. I knew the Rogers Sisters. I used to see the Walkmen, TV on the Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs walking around Williamsburg before I knew they were in bands. By 2003, NYC had a scene, but the successful bands have been on tour most of that time, or in the studio. So they created a vacuum for something else to happen.
Read more / Permalink
7/16/2011
The New York Scene: a look back at the last decade
The New York Scene 1998-2010
The gift that keeps on giving until now.
By Alexander Laurence
When I moved to NYC in 1995, musically there was still a hodge podge of bad grunge, horrible hair metal bands, lame punk groups, silly techno acts, corporate boy bands, and sincere singer/songwriter types. It was massively unorganized and vague. Nobody bothered to be cool anymore. There were no cool influences. It was more like a band's desperate attempt to have a hit and get signed. The major labels were still in control and always looking for the next big thing. I used to go to places like Coney Island High, Fez, Brownies, Luna Lounge, Limelight, and underground parties in Williamsburg and Bushwick. No Doubt, Alannis Morrisette, Ani Difranco, and a million other forgettable bands were in the press at the time. I would get a dozen CDs by no-hit wonders sent to me every day.
I remember seeing Marilyn Manson in Times Square in 1996. This was like an important gig at the time. This stuff was supposed to be controversial? MTV had a lot of power back then as apparently every band wanted to be a clone of whatever was MTV ready. People in bands didn’t seem like hardcore music fans. They were more like fans of any band who was on TV. The majority of the radio stations in NYC sucked. They were very formulaic. They played Korn and Limp Biscuit. The only slightly cool NYC bands at the time were Luna, Sonic Youth, Ivy, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
I remember a time when techno and drum and bass took over NYC for a few years. It was supposed to be the next big thing. There was a time when Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy were pretty big, and they devolved into the rave culture, which was more suburban and out in the sticks. Besides the few years when some dance club would open up in NYC every month, and got closed down, there was no sustained scene.
I spent a few years looking around for cool new bands. I read a bunch of music magazines. I hung out with Shirley Halperin in the offices of Smug Magazine on Orchard Street. Bands like Royal Trux and Radiohead used to stop by back in those days. I didn’t know who they were. This diligent search brought me to some Japanese Noise like Merzbow and others. I ended up seeing landmark shows by Mercury Rev, Massive Attack and Portishead. I caught the tail end of the Britpop scene and saw Pulp, Stereophonics, Supergrass, Black Box Recorder, Saint Etienne, and Dot Allison. There were some cool labels like Matador and Warp. But where were all the NYC bands?
PRECUSORS TO THE NYC SCENE
As the Britpop scene faded out, UK journalists started to look out for new bands. Some of the bands who were on the cover of NME and Select Magazine in 1999 were Gay Dad and Catatonia. I visited London a few times at the end of the decade and people had mostly moved on from Oasis. America was always a few years behind in the Britlove. There were plenty of Britpop clubs in NYC at the time. Those UK bands usually played at Don Hills or Brownies. At the time, many of the NYC bands who would gain popularity had some connection to England.
One of the bands that I soon discovered was BLONDE REDHEAD. Their first album was produced by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. They were very favorable to people who listened to Japanese bands and Sonic Youth. I saw them play often in the early days to small audiences. They were without a gimmick and had no hits. They were the first band that seemed like they were familiar with the No Wave scene, and they in fact named themselves after a DNA song. They toured later with Interpol, who they were a big influence on. By the time they got to the song “23” they had a big hit, and now they are a big touring band. It took fifteen years but they have finally received the recognition they deserve as one of the most influential NYC bands.
At the time, many NYC bands were playing this punk rehash, like Lunachicks and Toilet Boys. In 1996, the Please Kill Me book came out, and Richard Hell even came out with a novel. For some reason there was some punk revivialism, but it took many years for a breakthrough. If a band wasn’t a Ramones rehash, it was rare. I would run into Joey Ramone, Ric Ocasek, or Richard Hell on the street quite often.
The next band I discovered was CALLA. They were from Denton, TX and had been in NYC a while. I read about them in Time Out and saw they released a record with Young God Records. I saw them play a show at CMJ in 2001. I recognized them on the street and saw a few of them who worked at Kim’s Video. They were one of the bands who rediscovered the post-punk era. They had a previous band called The Factory Press that was very Joy Division influenced. They toured heavily from 2003-2007 and even opened some shows with Interpol. They were one of the first Texas bands who moved to NYC: later there was Secret Machines and Spoon. It turned out that they were extremely influential, since many of the NYC bands were interested in the post-punk period. They have been on hiatus for a few years, and I look forward to their return.
Around the end of 2000, I attended the very first Electroclash festival. The best and most enduring of these bands were Fischerspooner, Ladytron, Peaches and Adult. FISCHERSPOONER actually singlehandedly usurped the whole scene and hit NYC like a hurricane. They were the big band on the scene pre-Strokes. They did three amazing albums but their success was never as great as when they first emerged. Signing to a failing Capitol Records was probably a mistake. Bands had tried to be theatrical and have elements of cabaret and fashion before. Fischerspooner blew all these bands out of the water. It was not till Fever Ray or Die Antwoord years later that you had something visually compelling. Fischerspooner should be a big touring act by today. But they are marginalized as a dance act, and have went back underground.
Fischerspooner today (photo: Angel Ceballos)
Read more / Permalink
Viva Brother @ The Echo (cancelled)
VIVA BROTHER will be playing here again in a week at the ECHO on Tuesday July 19th. They used to be called Brother UK. In celebration of all those great albums over the years, we are giving away two pairs of tickets to those amazing LA music lovers out there. All you have to do is send your name or email address and mention Viva Brother.
To win, please do one of the following:
1) Leave a comment below with name or email.
2) Follow us on twitter, or
3) send an email to PORTINFINITE @ aol.com and we will pick a winner.
Don't just stand around. This is for real. Enter sooner than later. Good luck.
Read more / Permalink
7/15/2011
A Place To Bury Strangers: guitars stolen
The band are in Netherlands right now. They had a bass and a guitar stolen in Eindhoven. Please help find them and please get them returned to rightful owners.
Read more / Permalink
Henry Miller Library: 30th Anniversary
Big Sur's Henry Miller Library celebrates its 30th Anniversary this Summer!!!
Summer festivities include: Fleet Foxes, Woodisist Festival, Explosions in the Sky, John Waters, Gillian Welch, Philip Glass conducts the score to Dracula + more!!!
 |
The story begins in the 1960s, when painter and Miller-confidant Emil White bought a piece of property in the heart of Big Sur, 35 miles south of Carmel. It was here that he built his house, which in 1981 he converted into the Henry Miller Memorial Library, a space devoted to the incalculable artistic legacy of his friend who passed away the previous year. Emil died in 1989 and bequeathed the Library to the Big Sur Land Trust; in 1998 the Library became an independent 501 (c)3 organization. All the while, it stayed true to Emil's vision, servingas a retreat and cultural center for artists, musicians, and writers from all around the world.
And what of the space itself? And a tiny one at that.
It contains most of Miller's in-print work, rare books, vinyl, and healthy doses of the old stand-bys: Beats, the classics, Eastern philosophy, and the occasional best-seller about the emotional lives of an animal. The front lawn houses live performances with a capacity of 300 (hence the Spinner article that Arcade Fire played a "backyard show." Though it's technically our front yard.)
Well, for starters, it's not a lending library -- it's a bookstore. The Library exists solely thanks to in-store and online book sales, income from events, and - most importantly - tax-deductible donations, which can be made at henrymiller.org. (donations are always great - click here to donate!) But we're slightly getting ahead of ourselves. Something happened in 1993 that, over time, transformed the library from a cozy little bookstore to the beloved sanctuary we've all come to love. That would be the ascension of Magnus Toren to role of Library Executive Director.
Magnus is from Sweden, and in addition to circumnavigating the globe in his tiny schooner, has built boats in Seattle, drove a truck out of Fresno, and as a teacher, where he made his students dress up like Hells Angels. ("But," Toren says, "my favorite job of all time was to be coat-check atthe Opera house in Stockholm.") As his tenure progressed, events at the Library became more frequent and impressive in their diversity and scope. In 2004, Patti Smith played their Library's first official show. It was orchestrated by the esteemed Magnus Toren with help from Jesse Goodman.
"It was sublime to play in the mist under the gigantic trees.One of the most beautiful and spiritual places in the world." - Laurie Anderson
"I have a feeling that the redwoods, plus the canopy above, creates a kind of acoustic environment that is unparalleled, it's like being embraced...it is a beautiful place to play." - Philip Glass
"I'm a big Henry Miller fan so I'd actually been wanting to play at the library for a while and meet those folks. They've got a great scene down there of literary-minded folks and music folks and artists and it really is just wonderful. It's kind of how things should be, where artists in different genres and different mediums all sort of coexist" - Gillian Welch, as told to SFGate, July 6, 2011
http://www.henrymiller.org/
2011 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
07/07/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
07/08/11 - Author, Colleen Morton Busch: FIRE MONKS: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara
07/09/11 - Theatre & Music w/ Rose, Razowsky & Hunicutt
07/14/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
07/16/11 - Book signing w/ Andy Couturier
07/21/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
07/28/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
07/30/11 - Film screening: "My Suicide"
07/31/11 - Woodsist Festival
08/04/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
08/10/11 - MGMT
08/11/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
08/13/11 - An Evening with John Waters
08/13/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
08/25/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series
08/26/11 - Big Sur International Short Film Series w/ The Dodos
08/31/11 - Poetry Night presented by Philip Glass
09/01/11 - DRACULA: Music by Philip Glass; string quartet & piano
09/05/11 - Explosions in the Sky
09/06/11 - Little Dragon
09/11/11 - Fleet Foxes
09/24/11 - Twin Shadow
10/10/11 - Gang Gang Dance
LITTLE DRAGON
Read more / Permalink
7/14/2011
7/08/2011
Black Angels garage sale
The Black Angels Garage Sale @ 4507 South 3rd Street in Austin TX, tomorrow Saturday (7/9) & Sunday (7/10) starting @ 9am.
"We're moving houses & we need to sell everything!
Items include: couches, desks, magazines, books, records, CD's instruments, clothes, shoes, boots, appliances, artifacts, etc...." The Black Angels
Just imagine? Rare and personal Black Angels acid soaked collectables!!!
Read more / Permalink
7/07/2011
Ringo Deathstarr
RINGO DEATHSTARR
Interview by Alexander Laurence / Photo by Angel Ceballos
Ringo Deathstarr is one of the best new bands this year. They have a new album out called Colour Trip. The line up has changed since their beginnings in Austin TX in 2005. The latest version of the band includes Elliot Frazier (guitar/vocals), Alex Gehring (bass/vocals), and Daniel Coborn (drums). They have made some cool videos. They made a buzz at SXSW this year. I caught them on a tour with Trail of Dead.
AL: You are over at KXLU right now?
Elliott: Yeah. We were supposed to guest DJ on KXLU today. When we pulled into the security booth at the college. We drove up from San Diego and were hung over. Daniel got car sick and we had to pull over and he threw up. There was a narrow lane and the van is very big. I hit a pole and the security guys had to call up for reinforcements. They made us get out of the car and they questioned us. I didn’t realize it was a crime to puke. So they wouldn’t let us in there.
AL: You also played with Dandy Warhols? How did that go?
Elliott: It was at an early stage of the band. It’s a bummer that we couldn’t play with them right now. We are a lot better now.
AL: Have you been to Japan?
Elliott: We have been there twice. We are going back again in July.
AL: When you hear the name Ringo Deathstarr, you think of Brian Jonestown and Dandy Warhols: bands that have a play on a name. Did you think of any of any other names for the band?
Elliott: No. It was a bother. When you start a band the last thing you think of is what to call it.
AL: There is this other band callled Gringo Starr, and there’s you. Do you think Ringo Starr will send you a cease and desist letter at any point?
Elliott: If he was going to do that, he would have done it by now. His granddaughter has our album. Our old manager knew her. She had our album and she liked it. Gringo Starr is from Atlanta. We played a show with themk in London in 2009. I think they are still around.
AL: In an average day, what pisses you off? Sound guys?
Elliott: Yeah. I almost got in a fight with a sound guy. He was getting in my face. He was getting ornery. He was kinda like a thug. There was a bunch of feedback and the speaker was behind the microphone.
AL: When did you record Colour Trip?
Elliott: We started recording it in the summer of 2009. We didn’t have a label yet. We financed it ourselves. We would record a few songs at a time, and by the end of 2009 we had 30 songs recorded. It was supposed to come out on Club AC30. It kept on getting held back, and the record finally came out this year 2011.
AL: How do you write the songs in the band?
Elliott: I have been in the band the longest so I wrote most of the songs. Now that it has been the same band for a while we work together al the time. Alex recently wrote a new song. She had a melody and we worked on it together. I watched a movie and wrote some lyrics based on the movie.
Read more / Permalink
7/06/2011
Devendra Banhart: 2 shows in LA
Two nights with
DEVENDRA BANHART
Friday, July 1555 Degree Wine
3111 Glendale Blvd. (in Atwater Village)
10pm - $35, 21+
and
Thursday, July 21
Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly Blvd (across from Brooklyn Bagel)
8:30pm - $25, 18+
Tickets for both events on sale to the general public this Friday, July 8th at 11am at Ticketfly.com...
Devendra came to our attention back in 1999 or so when he would sit on stage at the Silverlake Lounge, singing nervously (and excitedly) along to recordings he had made on his boombox. Before long, Devendra began making wider waves in underground music circles with a debut album compiled from the voluminous collection of audio recordings he'd accumulated whilst hoboing around the world. Over the next few years, he recorded a series of ground-breaking albums supported by international touring that earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim the world over. Banhart appeared on the covers of The Fader, Signal To Noise, Arthur, Paper, Harp, both the German and Japanese editions of Rolling Stone, and was featured in Vanity Fair, GQ, Spin, Filter, The Believer, Blender, Sunday New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Washington Post, Mojo, the Village Voice and Under The Radar, Magnet and many, many more as well as received countless ecstatic CD and live reviews.
In 2005, we asked Devendra to curate his own mini-festival at Los Angeles' El Cid , out of which came the 5 night extravaganza he named "Hypnorituals and Mesmemusical Miracles Hanging in the Sky: 5 Nights of Soleros and Bandoleros," and then he was a guest curator in 2006 for the All of Tomorrows Parties festival in London. In 2007 Devendra headlined the "Welcome To Dreamland" bill at New York's Carnegie Hall, a bill hand-picked by ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne that boasted acts from Devendra's extended musical family: Vetiver, Vashti Bunyan and CocoRosie.
Next week's show (in the wine cellar!) at 55 Degrees is something we've had in mind for quite some time, so it will be a special evening to remember.
The following week's full band performance at Bootleg Theater will help Devendra warm-up for this summer's upcoming tourdates in Australia and Japan.
Read more / Permalink
7/05/2011
7/04/2011
Cults vs. Richard Swift
IS THIS PLAGIARISM OR HOMAGE?
CULTS has released one of the most anticipated records of the year. They claim in interviews that they wrote all these songs on this debut record in two hours. One of the best and most complicated songs on the album is "BUMPER." You can listen to this song above. You can read in interviews about CULTS' retro sound, much like Lesley Gore, The Ronettes, and The Shangri- Las all in one. This band CULTS is supposed to be both excitingly fresh and retro too.
The problem with this song "Bumper" is it a rip-off of a previously released song "The Bully" by Richard Swift. I don't understand why CULTS decided to rewrite "The Bully?" I can't say that "Bumper" is a better song. At best, it sounds like a clumsy cover with some changed lyrics. I have, when I tried to write songs, pulled out something like the Noel Coward songbook and played song chord sequences, and changed it a bit, until it was something different and something more original. I am wondering how much of CULTS is original. Most of their songs have a deja-vu moment recalling something in the past. It's just up to some musicologist and lawyers to figure out which songs were actually lifted?
I can't believe that a band like CULTS would take credit for someone else's work. Swift himself was not negative (on his facebook page) and considers it "a homage." I know that PJ Harvey refers to Eddie Cochran in a recent song, and Death In Vegas "Scorpio's Rising" has the same riff as Status Quo's "Matchstick Men" but those new songs were entirely different from the originals. I don't understand why a band as big as CULTS doesn't even get challenged for their slight plagiarism? I wonder why not one journalist has asked CULTS about their song "Bumper?" I guess what passes for "journalism" nowadays is a bunch of fan's notes and laziness. Please move on from the press materials next time, you so-called writers.
Read more / Permalink
