November 19, 2009
Not that Dirty Projectors' set of four shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall Of Williamsburg this week needed any help selling out -- that was handily accomplished simply by releasing one of this year's best (and most misunderstood) albums -- but after NY Mag's attempt to survey the Brooklyn scene by crowning David Longstreth its king, and Solange's making an honest R&B track out of "Stillness Is The Move," your prospects at some Craigslist action got slightly more dire. The run kicked off last night at Bowery with support from ascendant BTW tUnE-yArDs, whose shift-key shenanigans are no longer keeping people from tuning in. Which is a very good thing.
Tonight and Saturday the scene shifts to Williamsburg for the MHOW shows before closing out with a return to Bowery on Sunday night. Check these shots of the bands plus early opener Glass Ghost by photographer Jessica Amaya, and here's a list of what Dirty Projectors performed:
Continue reading Dirty Projectors/tUnE-yArDs @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC 11/18/09...
Posted at 3:29 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Dirty Projectors | Glass Ghost | tUnE-YaRdS
latest by erin
November 16, 2009
Friday night in Hollywood, the Raveonettes played to a fairly full house at the Henry Fonda Theatre. Support came from local BTW Crocodiles who performed as a quartet, down a drum machine and up a drummer. Andrew Youssef was on hand to deliver this photo spread.
Posted at 4:42 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Crocodiles | The Raveonettes
latest by Dave-android
November 10, 2009
Few rooms offer what Bowery does in terms of acoustics; dial your levels right onstage and the Ballroom's soundsystem and resonant effects will do the rest. With Cass McCombs's fourth LP, the endlessly repeatable Catacombs, the traveling troubadour has never been quite so forthright with his lyrical content: he's singing about what's on his mind, and what's on his mind is mostly what's in his heart. So Bowery was the right room for this late-support show of his latest LP, where the bed of Korg keys and gently swelling pedal steel guitars could color, but never color over, those sweet Catacombs couplets. At times the locomotive rumble and dustier trappings of his writing can feel like paging through a book of faded photographs, which made the coat rack casually hanging out stage right a perfect prop; the checkered, flickering light rig in back was a curveball, but a good spin for a songwriter that's been tough to pin down over the years. (These weren't all new songs, after all, the setlist dating back all the way to his debut EP Not The Way's title track.)
Opening were Acrylics, who we've seen twice with a drummer (opening for Besnard Lakes at Mercury, again at the Terrible Records showcase during CMJ) -- and after last night, once without. Going without drums shouldn't be a permanent shift, and I don't imagine it was, but it offered a chance to hone in on what makes the band's best songs ("All Of The Fire" and "Vertigo" if you're tracking) tick: the uncluttered and unabashedly '70s radio-pop melodies, the occasional harmony, the voice of Molly Shea. The band's Chris Taylor-produced debut EP All Of The Fire is out now. Download the title track here, and have a pass at these photos by Jessica Amaya. (The early opener was Bad Girlfriends, a band helmed by Cass's touring bassist; she wore red for the early set, black leggings for the late.)
Posted at 4:33 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Acrylics | Bad Girlfriends | Cass McCombs
latest by td
November 9, 2009
Much as Billy Corgan has made a sport of testing Smashing Pumpkins fans' limits this past year, last night's benefit for one-time Smashing Pumpkins Fan Club chief Laura Ann Marusa is a reminder that he really does appreciate those that appreciate him. Of course Laura isn't just your average Pumpkin lover; in addition to making delicious artisanal jams, Masura is a musician in her own right, a Chicago scene drummer and founding member of the bands Evil Beaver, the Prescriptions and Motorhome. A ghastly motorcycle accident shattered her leg, and her health care doesn't cover much of the fallout. True to his beneficial mode of 2009, Billy anchored last night's benefit show at the Echoplex, creating the band Backwards Clock Society for the event, featuring Mark Tulin of the Electric Prunes on bass along with longtime Pumpkin associate Kerry Brown, ex-Catherine drummer and ex-Mr. D'arcy Wretzky (who has recently been found, btw).
Continue reading Backwards Clock Society @ The Echoplex, Los Angeles 11/8/09...
Posted at 1:04 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Backwards Clock Society | Billy Corgan | Light FM | The Pity Party | The Smashing Pumpkins
latest by Luke
Things were different from the last time we saw Girls live, when we hosted their first NYC show at Market Hotel: near unanimous praise for one of the year's best Albums, and a recently reconfigured lineup that saw the abrupt departure of their touring guitarist, replaced for this trek on a few days practice by Ryan Lynch aka BTW Dominant Legs. As a result the jangle-pop was jammed to a manageable tempo, the heartbeat drums dialed down to a low pressure BPM, but the songs remained the same: a batch of 13 finely tuned happy/sad gems (along with their show-closing and -stopping cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End") shaped in a classic-pop mold that took the slower pace to be more dynamic and less California dreamy.
Opening were the New Jersey BTW Real Estate, who seem to be in an early slot on most every bill you'll see in NYC these days whether you want them or not (not complaining). But this one was different: this bill was a true pairing, a linking of stylistically related bands with a thread stronger than their respective buzz to tie them together. That's supported by Girls' Chris Owens shaking a tambourine during Real Estate's "Basement," sure (the symbolic lending a hand trick, maybe those people yelling for "Girls!" through the set will shut up now), yet it was made most clear by hearing how both put their own little twists on songs that live on simple progressions and boogie bass: One band anchored by a budding nerd rock laureate, the other by shambling Budweiser and sprite dazes, but both featuring pensive inebriates who built their tracks staring down sunsets over different oceans. A setlist follows, as does Kyle Dean Reinford's photos on the night.
Oh and also: Looks like Chris's story checks out. Girls really are two steps in to a killer Behind The Music one day.
Continue reading Girls/Real Estate @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC 11/6/09...
Posted at 10:45 AM by amrit in ,
Tags: Dominant Legs | Girls | Real Estate | Tough Knuckles
latest by stegasauruslover
November 7, 2009
The Stroke's first solo gigs were in Japan this summer, and Monday's Spaceland show was a last minute surprise, so while last night was JC's 4th ever solo show, it was most stateside fans' first shot to see his synth-pop makeover in person. With elaborate stage backdrops and light-up costumes for their encore, Julian and band played the 8-track Phrazes along with b-sides like "I'll Try Anything Once." (Sadly "Christmas" didn't come early.) Perhaps the real spectacle was Fabrizio Moretti and Albert Hammond, Jr being mobbed by fans upstairs. The pair posed for pics, signed autographs, and -- since they arrived separately -- fans cheered when they hugged. Andrew Youssef delivers these shots, where you'll also see openers Rainbow Arabia and Julian's drummer's oh-so-controversial Mets jacket. Maybe it's his only jacket, you guys! We've also got the tour itinerary after the jump; NYC shows haven't been announced yet, but we're told those'll happen in January.
Continue reading Julian Casablancas @ Downtown Palace Theatre, LA 11/6/09...
Posted at 7:04 AM by Scott in , ,
Tags: Albert Hammond Jr. | Fab Moretti | Julian Casablancas | Rainbow Arabia | The Strokes
latest by JK
November 5, 2009
At some point during the Very Best's set at Santos last night, Johan Hugo -- the half of production team Radioclit that made the trip overseas with the human manifestation of sunshine that is Esau Mwamwaya -- said something like "Yo I think all the journalists are up front, we need the fans to come up and get wild up here!" (I think he made it sound cooler, or at least more Swedish accented; probably both.) There were two ways to know he was right: the ring of photographers creating a flashbulb barricade up front, with a secondary line of lots of white haired dudes holding notebooks. Then again, this bill was built to spill ink: Between the visa issues that kept Esau out of the country during CMJ, and the lack of any real business/promotional infrastructure for opening Band To Watch Sleigh Bells -- making the Brooklyn duo's under-attended but modestly epic sets during that same week the ones people kicked themselves most for missing -- you could understand why more than one person described the vibe in the Santos basement as that of a "showcase."
Continue reading Sleigh Bells/The Very Best @ Santos Party House, NYC 11/4/09...
Posted at 12:48 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Radioclit | Sleigh Bells | The Very Best
latest by John
November 4, 2009
After kicking things off with the "Secret Agent Man" video, the men of DEVO launched into their debut LP Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, 3-D glasses in place. They didn't stop until the album was done -- tonight it's Freedom Of Choice, as both LPs are getting a re-release -- over a short but incredibly energetic set that drew the likes of Zack De La Rocha and Tony Kanal, cited by photographer Andrew Youssef as a testament to the new wave icons' far-reaching influence. Opening the night was the soulful singing and human beatboxing, performance artist/socially satirical stand-up mindbender Reggie Watts (you're welcome to describe him in less clauses), a suitable fit for a crowd with a bent toward unclassifiably whimsical artists.
Other DEVO bits: Next year the band will release the unofficially titled Fresh, their first album in 20 years. And on Halloween, Pearl Jam donned the red energy domes and covered "Whip It." It looked like this:
Continue reading DEVO/Reggie Watts @ The Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles 11/3/09...
Posted at 4:51 PM by amrit in , ,
Tags: DEVO | Pearl Jam | Reggie Watts
latest by Dave-android
