Posted on 08 March 2010
Some MP3s and videos you might wanna check out in this one. But first, backstory: Right around CMJ 2K9, Ernest Greene dropped by NYC’s Santos Party House for a one-off show as the one-man button pusher behind the hazily grooved pop reveries of Washed Out. With the industry getting into gear for its annual spring […]
Posted on 02 March 2010
Dirty Projectors play well in lots of environments, though “A Very Special Night With … ” is a frequent and strong one for them lately. This Very Special Night featured DP co-headlining with L.A.’s Philharmonic Orchestra, who began the night with classical pieces that Dave Longstreth selected — two from Ligeti (you might know him […]
Posted on 15 February 2010
The chamber folk of the Magnetic Fields latest, Realism, was the center point for a two-hour seated affair at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Saturday night. It was the night before Valentine’s Day, but of course that was a mostly meaningless designation to sardonic Stephin. “It’ll be Valentine’s Day soon,” Claudia Gonson offered at one point. “It’ll be Monday after that,” Merritt responded. Gonson: “Monday is the day of the moon.” Stephin: “Valentine’s is the day of martyrs.” And so on. So no, 69 Love Songs wasn’t given much love, though that didn’t mean the night was without its caustic and deadpan lover’s laments (like “The One You Really Love,” or i’s “I Don’t Really Love You Anymore”). Realism is the companion piece to 2008’s Jesus & Mary Chaining Distortion, and this show similarly mirrored that album’s support show at Town Hall back then: Mag Field kin Shirley Simms, Claudia Gonson, guitarist John Woo, cellist Sam Davol, and Merritt lined up left to right. Lots of Realism (”You Must Be Out Of Your Mind,” “Interlude,” “We Are Having A Hootenany,” “I Don’t Know What To Say,” “The Doll’s Tea Party,” and “Always Already Gone”), lots of Stephin droll take-downs of Claudia’s banter. As always, Stephin’s demeanor was like we were doing him a favor by being there, which, fair enough. And as always, the crowd was engaged in a mostly insufferable game of self-congratulatory guffaws for catching the finer points of Merritt’s wry phrases. (Gabe knows what I’m talking about.) A little sleepy, and not the Valentine’s date night some would have hoped, but what do you expect from a guy who is upfront about needing a new heart. The band will be back for three shows at Town Hall in March. Until then, there are options: the Mag Fields doc trailer, Peter Gabriel scratching Stephin’s back (and Stephin scratching back), and these photos by Natasha Ryan. Also, upcoming tour dates:








Continue reading The Magnetic Fields @ BAM, Brooklyn 2/13/10…
Posted on 11 February 2010
Posted on 10 February 2010
After getting artsy in L.A. earlier this week, Yeasayer returned to their adopted home in time for a snowstorm, and for two sold-out shows at Bowery Ballroom and the following night at Music Hall Of Williamsburg. We sent Ryan Muir, fresh off a triumphant photo set at Glasslands gallery, and it turned out Ryan doubled up on his Class Actress intake for one week — not a bad thing, at least not on the back of the free-spirited night-closer at Glasslands last Saturday. Alongside Class Actress on opening duties was the crate-digging dance of Javelin, the Brooklyn-via-Providence duo whose audiophilic and sometimes 8-bit dance jams are a mutant stew of genre-/genealogical-/generational-crossing samples and beats. Solid bill, and a partial preview of what our European friends will get starting next week when Javelin and Yeasayer do a bunch of dates together there.
Yeasayer are still in town tonight, hitting 30 Rock to do Fallon’s show (Jimmy’s having a very Gummy week — tomorrow he’s hosting Neon Indian) before setting off on a long tour for which we’ve got the full dates below. In fact, stack that with a new remix of “Ambling Alp” by one-time A+P mastermind Alan Wilkis, and a three-part video-interview with the Yeasayer Three for M(usic)TV in which they go through Odd Blood track-for-track, and this is a jump worth taking:








Continue reading Yeasayer/Class Actress/Javelin @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn 2/9/10…
Posted on 05 February 2010
Posted on 25 January 2010
Via a surprise auction, the band raised “as much money as possible” for Oxfam relief to citizens of Haiti. Finally tally is said to be $572,754 with the highest bidder having purchased two tickets for $4k. The audience (which included celebs like Daniel Craig, Anna Paquin, Aziz Ansari, Justin Timberlake, Drew Barrymore, Famke Janssen, Charlize Theron, Rosanna Arquette, and Thom Yorke???? bandmate Nigel Godrich) got to choose between “Airbag” or “Just” toward the end of the set. (The former won, according to readers Charlie Love and Michael Stutts.) Andrew Youssef was on hand to deliver these photos and setlist. He reports that cheers for “The Bends” were deafening.








Continue reading Radiohead For Haiti @ The Music Box At Henry Fonda Theater, Hollywood 1/24/10…
Posted on 15 January 2010
“Let’s hear it for New Yoooooork.” Early on in Julian’s set at Terminal 5 last night, the first of a pair at that Hell’s Kitchen hellhole, he began paying props to Alicia Keys’s performance on SNL. “Both songs,” he said, but it was “Empire State Of Mind” he kept teasing. It was the solo Stroke’s “first show in New York in a long fucking time,” and though it’s often difficult to pin down his mood through that ever-present onstage mumble — sober or not — clearly he was glad to be home. Julian’s career frustrations been highly publicized; this recent New York profile quotes him at length about how disappointed he was with RCA’s botched job promoting Phrazes For The Young, and how he hemorrhaged money on the elaborate stage sets towering over his run of L.A. shows, scrapping them entirely for these gigs. (”In the end, it wasn’t a positive experience for me at all … I went broke doing it.”) So last night we didn’t get Julian’s full vision for live Phrazes, though he “want[s] to do that in New York eventually. Badly.”
We also had to make sense of his material in the three-tiered boom-room that is Terminal 5, offering the acoustic experience of overhearing a music festival from inside a port-a-potty but with more high end. The trade off was worth it, though, spending a night with an icon of post-millennial cool who can still rock head-to-toe leather despite a signature move that amounts to hanging on a mic stand for dear life. He looked uncomfortable on the Tonight Show — though these days he isn’t the only one. Last night he was home.








Continue reading Julian Casablancas/Tanlines/Telepathe @ Terminal 5, NYC 1/14/10…
Posted on 14 January 2010
Surfer Blood. As far as indie rock debut LPs go, this is about as good as it’s going to get in 2K10. These are dudes that will toss off a Neutral Milk Hotel cover without even bothering to unslouch on the couch, slack but properly studied, like the jams that populate their ace Astro Coast. Last night they headlined a triple bill at Bowery, alongside the much blogged Drums (joined by the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s Peggy Wang, for extra blogpower) and early opener the Depreciation Guild. The show seemed to mildly let down most who’ve reported back, combined remarks of the lineup including being pretty good, or looking tired, or nervous, or too much like the Cobra Kai from Karate Kid. While you figure which bit fit whom best, have a pass at Ryan Muir’s always ace photos.







Posted on 13 January 2010