RCRD LBL and Theory have joined forces to bring us the best from fashion and music this Thursday (tomorrow) for Fashions Night Out. Freelance Whales (pictured), MNDR, and Tanlines will all perform at the Theory Gansevoort location (38 Gansevoort Street). The fun runs from 6-11pm. You can get pumped for it by listening to the RCRD LBL/Freelance Whales mixtape below!
If you haven’t had enough by 11pm you can head uptown to Theory’s flagship store on 65th st and Madison. Sant Ambroeus sandwiches, macaroons from Ladurée, and prosecco will all be served for guests. Fancy! Fashion!
If you ever thought the Hamptons were just for rich folk with “summer cottages,” you are not entirely wrong. But thanks to our friends at the Music To Know Festival, we’re now making The Hamptons more accessible than ever and with some great music to boot!
Founded by Chris Jones, owner of Sole East Hotel in Montauk, and screenwriter Bill Collage, The Music To Know Festival presented by Bing delivers two days of awesome bands (18 and counting, in fact) plus fashion, lifestyle, chefs, wines and beers, and pop-up shops by the likes of Top Shop, DuMonde, and Duck & Weave. Check out the whole shebang at MTK.com.
Hey you over there, that’s right I’m talking to you – the guy in the corner sporting the sweaty brow and constantly damp hair with a heat ridden limp attitude to match!
Humid, disgusting, muggy, dirty, NYC heatwave got you down? Don’t sweat (literally!) because RCRD LBL is about to invite you to the coolest beach party of the year.
The second annual Jersey City Record Riot returns to Parlay Studios in the Powerhouse Arts District (PAD) this Saturday. We recommend heading out to support your local merchants and buy some handmade crafts, records, CDs and music memorabilia.
There will be more than 35 dealers selling vinyl and CD’s in every genre imaginable, as well as local folk coming out to sell gems from their personal collections. There’s even supposed to be a vendor that sells jewelry made out of their old records!
Record Riot made its Jersey City debut last year via Iris Records owner Steve Gritzan. Gritzan helps organize SEVEN exciting East Coast record collectors’ fairs (held 2/3/4 times a year EACH) including the Brooklyn and Philly Record Riots, along with other high profile events held in Cromwell (CT), Jersey City (NJ), and New Hope (PA) with more to be added. Go check it out this weekend!
Parlay studios is at 161 2nd Street in Jersey City. The Record Riot runs 11am-6pm. $20 early admission starting at 9am and free after 11am.
If Jump Into the Gospel sound familiar, here’s why: The band boasts members of The Drumsand Holy Ghost and lead singer Louis Epstein has played w/ Paul Banks (Interpol), Gabe Saporta (Cobra Starship), and Dan Keyes (Young Love). In short, this band has got the the Amazon “You May Also Like…” recommendation feature for dancy electro-rock on lock down.
The band’s debut self-titled EP was recorded at Brooklyn Recording with Ben Liscio (who has collaborated with producers and artists Rich Costey, Dave Sitek, The Strokes, and TV on the Radio). You can win this EP on wax right here. Just leave a comment below about why you deserve the swag and we’ll pick one lucky winner.
I admit, there’s a lot of name-dropping going on here, but it’s all justified by catchy lo-fi anthems with solid synth leads and indelible hooks. Jump Into The Gospel’s NYC residency at Piano’sover the next two weeks is not to be missed, either:
June 15th – New York, NY – Piano’s – 10pm
June 22nd – New York, NY – Piano’s – 10pm
June 29th – New York, NY – Pianos’ – 10pm
Summer solstice aside, you can tell when it’s officially summer here in NYC because the announcements about various festivals just don’t stop pouring in. We already told you about the Northside Festivaland now you can add the Afro-Punk festival to your summer calendar as well!
The Afro-punk Festival is returning to Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park August 27-28. The 2011 festival has the most stellar line up yet with Cee-Lo Green, Santigold, Janelle Monae, Fishbone, Jay Electronica, Toro Y Moi, Toshi Reagon, Ninjasonik, Cerebral Ballzy, Gordon Voidwell, Reggie Watts, Res, Joi, Rocky Business, Straight Line Stitch and more to be added.
Since the hunger for music will be satiated with the above stellar line-up, there will be some delicious edibles to satisfy the hunger in the your stomach. Over 20 of the NYC area’s hottest food trucks and vendors have been brought together for the Afro-Punk Bites and Beats Food Truck Festival, which will bring cuisine from around the world and the 5 boroughs to the festival. In addition, Chef Marcellus Coleman, Executive Chef of Alias Restaurant in NYC, will provide his eclectic contemporary American cuisine to the festival artists, athletes and VIP’s.
TVD NYC Contributor Danny Meza explains the history and the hype around Thee Oh Sees’ new record.
Many previews and reviews of Thee Oh Sees’ Castlemania brand the new record as an evolution of the band from a hard-core garage outfit into a sunny, psychedelic ensemble. These characterizations tell only half of the truth, however.
Castlemania implies more musical revolution than evolution (no, that wasn’t a shameless, half-witted vinyl pun) in that the music returns to an earlier sound and is not an entirely new venture. Three of Thee Oh Sees’ previously acclaimed records, Warm Slime, Help, and The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In, are in fact true, genius psychedelic-garage freak shows. Before these achievements, though, Thee Oh Sees released gentler, yet occasionally creepy folk records. Sucks Blood, Dog Poison, and Cool Death of the Island Raiders are just three testaments to the sound John Dwyer and company crafted prior to becoming perhaps the foremost high-energy rock band in America. Until now, these folk sounds existed as obscured DNA strands from which Thee Oh Sees came.
One element to Castlemania’s revolutionary quality is the homecoming of a Dwyer-centric sound. The new LP doesn’t feature second guitarist Petey Dammit or drummer Mike Shoun, both playing huge parts in the more recent, heavier sound of Thee Oh Sees. In fact, Dwyer fashions himself much like San Francisco-born, neo-psychedelic legend Anton Newcombe on this record; playing guitar, bass, harmonica, keyboards, synthesizer, flute, and clarinet, in addition to his vocals. Brigid Dawson returns as the beautiful foil to Dwyer’s often echoing voice. Several guests also contribute to Castlemania, including Ty Segall on drums for the cut “A Wall, A Century.”
TVD NYC Contributer Danny Meza reports on the latest from The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
A slew of musicians and bands see themselves as the nexus of garage rock and trash blues revival over the past ten years (see Anton Newcombe’s interview at the end of DIG!). The credit really should go to a handful of seminal 80s and 90s acts, such as Dex Romweber, Mick Collins, Billy Childish, Holly Golightly, and one Jon Spencer.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion just wrapped up another American tour and many folks inside the industry are raving about their latest stint of performances. Ben Swank of Soledad Brothers and Coco Motion of The Ettes were among those lavishing praise on the band after some evidently memorable recent dates in the American South. Coco was even compelled to follow Spencer, Judah Bauer, and Russell Simins even after the final portion of the American tour no longer included The Ettes. She posted on twitter, “headed to Asheville for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tonight…yes, we just toured together [and] no, I can’t get enough!”
According to Swank, JBSX also stopped by Third Man Studios before they played Nashville April 29 and fans can only hope they decided to lay down some 7” sides for the Jack White-produced “Blues Series.” Third Man already captured studio efforts from rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson and The 5.6.7.8’s, so cutting some Blues Explosion to vinyl isn’t too out of the question.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion made a much-anticipated return from hiatus in 2008 after a mostly unannounced show at the East Village’s Bowery Electric. New Yorkers were also treated to the group’s set at Brooklyn Bowl last year, kicking off their American and European touring that also included participation in the Pitchfork Festival and The Matador @ 21 Festival.
2010 also marked the reissuing of a series of JBSX albums on CD: Extra Width, Orange, Acme, and Now I Got Worry. Vinyl enthusiasts will soon have the chance to pick up the wax reissues of these recordings, set to be released June 14.
TVD NYC Contributor Danny Meza reports on Jeff The Brotherhood and The Greenhornes.
The Greenhornes and Jeff The Brotherhood set out on a five-week tour of the United States and Canada this week. To mark the occasion, the two bands will offer a split 7” record, released through the label owned by Brotherhood members Jake and Jamin Orrall, Infinity Cat. In rather subversive fashion, 666 copies will be made available only at the shows. Don’t fret, however, copies of this record should make it to auction sites in the coming weeks, should your budget allow you make the commercially inclined concert-goers a slight profit.
Those of you who saw The Greenhornes in recent months play The Mercury Lounge, Maxwell’s (NJ), The Bowery Ballroom, or The Bell House know how this band offers energetic, R&B-tinged rock after several years on the sidelines. Their release this past fall, ★ ★ ★ ★, demonstrated that the band hasn’t run out of ideas. Not only do The Greenhornes take care of audiences with their own sets, they seem to always bring a fabulous opener with them as well. Before teaming up with Jeff The Brotherhood, The Greenhornes recently toured with The Ettes and Hacienda, the backing band for Dan Auerbach’s solo effort a couple of years back.
Jeff The Brotherhood brings their own momentum to this May tour. They performed at Jack White’s Third Man Studios late last year, capturing their intense show as part of the label’s fabulous live series, available only on vinyl. In addition to the split 7,” Jeff The Brotherhood also has a full-length vinyl up their sleeves, We Are The Champions. This record will also be made available on vinyl, before its yet-to-be-announced street date, at their upcoming shows.
5/5 — Houston, TX — Fitzgerald’s 5/6 — Austin, TX — Antone’s 5/7 — Laredo, TX — Old No. 2 5/9 — Tucson, AZ — Club Congress 5/10 — San Diego, CA — The Casbah 5/11 — Los Angeles, CA The Echo 5/12 — Costa Mesa, CA — The Detroit Bar 5/13 — Visalia, CA — Cellar Door 5/14 — San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill * 5/16 — Seattle, WA — The Crocodile Café 5/17 — Vancouver, BC – The Venue * 5/18 — Portland, OR — Dante’s 5/19 — Boise, ID — Neurolux 5/20 — Salt Lake City, UT — Urban Lounge 5/21 — Denver, CO — Larimer Lounge 5/23 — Lawrence, KS — The Bottleneck 5/24 — Little Rock, AR — Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack 5/25 — Memphis, TN — Hi-Tone Café 5/26 — Oxford, MS — Proud Larry’s
The new full-length from The Wilderness of Manitoba, When You Left The Fire is out next week. To help celebrate, the lovely Canuck have given a lucky TVD NYC reader the chance to win a vinyl copy of When You Left The Fire.
Leave us a comment about why you deserve to win the wax and we’ll award the best plea, accordingly.
TVD NYC Contributor Danny Meza breaks the news about Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs.
Holly Golightly spent the 1990s and the first few years of the new century establishing herself as the undisputed queen of garage rock with seminal records like Serial Girlfriend (1998) and God Don’t Like It (2000). In the few years since, however, she’s teamed up with “Lawyer Dave” Drake, an accomplished slide-guitar player from Texas, to shed some of the musical skin that weathered so many fantastic years at the now legendary ToeRag Studios in London. It was at this analog-based recording studio that Holly Golightly, under the early tutelage of Billy Childish, cemented her celebrated reputation as a trusted blues, country, and R&B musician.
This past week,Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs dropped their fourth piece of vinyl in as many years, No Help Coming, and showed no signs of cheating listeners out of the no-pretense country-blues that earned them so much recent acclaim. The duo continues to churn out dusty numbers and refine the sound that originated on their 2007 effort, You Can’t Buy a Gun When You’re Crying. Cuts such as “Burn, Oh Junk Pile, Burn” and “You’re Under Arrest” provide their audience with that familiar, hypnotic Delta sound and wry charm many followers have grown to love. Read More »
The L Magazine’s Northside Festivalwill be ushering in the summer across more then 25 Brooklyn music venues June 16-19. Guided by Voices, Beirut, Wavves, Deer Tick, Twin Sister, Iceage, Allo Darlin’, Ava Luna, Cult of Youth, and Javelin are among the first bands that have already been announced and you can grab festival badges and tickets here.
There’s also a film component to the festival, which includes an in-competition DIY Film Festival, as well as a non-competitive screening series. Festival judges include Rosie Perez, Ted Hope and Todd P. The non-competition screening series is curated by IFC, Rooftop Films, Film at Lincoln Center, Animation Block Party, and many more to be announced.
Canada sure has a habit of consistently throwing us Americans some solid music from up north. This time they’ve exported a collection of warm folky melodies from Toronto known as The Wilderness of Manitoba.
Fresh off a spring release of a digital EP called Summer Fires, The Wildnerness of Manitoba are releasing a full length, When You Left The Fire on May 10th via Tiny Ogre. They recorded it in the basement of their house where all 5 members live together, trading in electric instruments for contemplative arrangements, incredibly warm vocal harmonies and organic melodies. If you haven’t already started paying attention to this Canadian quintet, I’d recommend you start now – the buzz is building faster than you can say, “Who the fuuugggg is Arcade Fire??”
The band are playing Mercury Lounge this Thursday (4/28). TVD NYC has got your tickets to Thursday’s show AND a vinyl copy of the album before you can buy it. Leave a comment below with your best explanation as to why Canada is so much better at producing precious indie bands than us Americans. We’ll pick the most enlightening reason and send you off to the show on Thursday with two tickets and some nice wax.
Don’t let the post Record Store Day blues get you down. For one thing, depending on where you are, there’s still some neat stuff going on at your local record store. If you are bummed about not getting all of the exclusive limited edition pieces your heart desired this weekend, that’s what we’re here for! The Vinyl District is giving away a limited edition Frank Kozik vinyl figurine.
This year, for the first time in Record Store Day history, there was an exclusive collectible vinyl figure designed by renowned artist Frank Kozik available at participating stores. Frank Kozik, widely touted for single-handedly bringing back the lost art of the concert poster and currently one of the most prolific and popular contemporary artists in the world, has created RPM, a specially designed 5″ vinyl figurine. The packaging comes in a Blind Box style where one of the four unique figures are enclosed and hidden: The Anarchy Punk, The Super Hero, The Monster and The Let’s Party Bear. The figures will be limited to only 5,000 pieces (1500 each of the Punk/Hero/Monster and 500 Let’s Party).
We’ve got your RPM right here! Just leave a comment below with your greatest Record Store Day find or favorite experience from Saturday. We’ll choose the best story and send an RPM your way.
You can also win some Record Store Day goodies including an RPM figure and RSD pieces from Peter Bjorn & John, Dio, Dennis Coffey from our buddies at Thrillist.
If this doesn’t cure your Record Store Day hangover, there’s only 361 days to go until the next one!
TVD NYC Contributor Cathy Hsiao Takes Us Into Wonderland with Phyllis Chen.
In honor of Easter next weekend take a bunny hop down to Brooklyn’s own version of Alice in Wonderland at the Voorhees Theatre this weekend for multimedia artist and pianist Phyllis Chen’sLooking Glass ReWondered . Chen asks the age – old question: what would we hear if we ate some magic mushrooms and fell down the rabbit hole?
It might sound something like this: the tinkling of a toy piano and music box, the ticking of a pocket watch, the shuffling of a deck of cards, the banging of a frying pan, and the clattering of a china tea set… Phyllis manipulates all these sounds through the use of microphones, amplification, a magnifying glass and a live video feed to re – create that elusive experience of being a kid when we’d drink from anything that said “DRINK ME” and eat any cake put in front of us, just like Alice.
