Archive | announcements RSS feed for this section

Friday Dance Jam: LO-FI-FNK and NYC shows tonight (Small Factory, The Secret History)

13 Apr

Lo Fi FnkWhat a freaking week, man. Started a new job. Danced my ass off in the pit at The Aislers Set. Life was changed forever hearing Pam Berry sing “Throw Aggi Off the Bridge” in real life. This weekend will probably be chill. Might grab a drink with a friend tonight (still considering attending the NYC Popfest Alumni event *details below*), hanging out with a friend in a veg-out party tomorrow night, might get dinner Sunday night.

But this week really reminded me why I love living in NYC. I lived in Buffalo, NY for a long time… Sometimes cool stuff would come into town, but most of the time when that happened, it was because of me and my ex-beau’s efforts to bring more pop music to the area (ironically, The Hive Dwellers are playing there at Sugar City tonight; so awesome). But I don’t even have to leave town to see amazing bands now. In fact, sometimes I have to choose between amazing bands, like how I had to choose between Chickfactor and Pulp, which really took hours of self-reflection and honest internal-debate. I also have a lot of rad friends here who share my enthusiasm for this stuff.

That’s why this week’s Friday Dance Jam is none other than “City” by my favorite Swedish dance bros, Lo-Fi-Fnk. I saw these dudes open for Architecture in Helsinki years ago, and they were so good, Architecture in Helsinki seemed like a waste of time, and I walked out half way through their set (seriously, true story). I hope you enjoy, whether you belong in a city or not.


LO-FI-FNK, “City”

Events happening tonight that I am probably too lazy to attend:

Small Factory
Air Waves
@ Cake Shop
152 Ludlow
New York, NY
8pm, $10

The Secret History
Summer Fiction
The Smittens
Adam & The Amethysts
@ The Rock Shop
248 Fourth Ave
Brooklyn, NY
8pm, $8

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Upcoming shows I’m stoked on

14 Mar

The Smittens

Eternal Summers, Widowspeak, Shark?, Bleeding Rainbow
Sat. March 24, 8pm
Death by Audio
49 South 2nd St. Brooklyn, NY
More info at Oh My Rockness

Crystal Stilts, Widowspeak, What’s Next
Fri. April 13, 8pm
Maxwell’s
1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ
Tickets at TicketFly

The Secret History, The Smittens, Summer Fiction
Fri. April 13, 8pm
The Rock Shop
249 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Tickets at TicketFly

Jonny from The Drums

The Drums, Craft Spells, Part Time
Sun. April 22, 8pm
Webster Hall
125 East 11th Street, New York, NY
More info at the Bowery Presents

Allo Darlin’, The Wave Pictures, Ski Lodge, The Field Recordings
Tue. April 24, 7:30pm
Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street, New York, NY
More info at The Bowery Presents

Spectrals, Brown Recluse, The Twerps
Fri. May 4, 8:30pm
Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
More info at Popgun Booking

Brown Recluse

Frankie Rose, Spectrals, DIVE
Sat. May 5, 8pm
Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street, New York, NY
More info at The Bowery Presents

NYC Popfest
Featuring Pushy Parents, Comet Gain, Burning Hearts, The Pooh Sticks, and more
Thurs. May 17-Sun. May 20
Various Locations, New York, NY
More info at NYCPopfest.org

The Pooh Sticks

that dog.
Thurs. May 24, 9pm
Fri. May 25, 9pm
Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N 6th St, Brooklyn, NY
More info at The Bowery Presents

Best Coast, Those Darlins
Tues. July 18, 8pm
Terminal 5
610 West 56th Street, New York, NY
Tickets at Ticketmaster

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Veronica Falls, “My Heart Beats” Video Debuts

13 Mar

Let’s face it; most of the time, when you love a band’s first record to the extent to which I loved Veronica Falls’ debut, the follow up is a disappointment. It happens to me all the time. And I get it, bands evolve or some shit, but I really just want a better version of what I liked the first time around, and that’s a difficult thing to do when people have Artistic Integrity ™.

Today has eased some of my fears with Slumberland-darlings Veronica Falls. The video for the first single since the debut LP has crazed the Tweeter-sphere (see what I did there?). “My Heart Beats” comes out on Bella Union on March 26 and is available for pre-order. That means I have to literally sit at my computer and hit refresh on this goddamn Vimeo video until then but for reals, no fucking problem.

And can we talk about this video? It is ethereal and pop-art inspired, colorful and easy on the eyes. It’s makes me wanna steal a Vespa. It’s basically all the best stuff about VF, but in visual form.

I do think it’s super interesting how colorful the video is when you think about this single in comparison to VF’s first record. The first record was laden with poppy melancholia, a stark black and white barn on the cover of the record. The songs, while containing a lot of depth, were sepia tone in sound, lacking the punch “My Heart Beats” has. This new single is all color. There is an optimism that was missing from the first record, but not unwelcome at all. The Line of Best Fit (who premiered the video) said it best when they said it is the “most outwardly accessible tune to date.”

I am waiting with baited breath for what’s to come, Veronica Falls.

Veronica Falls – My Heart Beats from Army Of Kids on Vimeo.

Tags: , , , ,

I Love Best Coast, and I Don’t Care! New Record and a Tour, too!

7 Mar

Hey, so I kind of love Best Coast. I feel like that makes me unhip or something because it is so obviously good and very n00b-alt/Tumblr-chic, you know? But as I like to say, fuck that shit. Bethany Cosentino has a way about her, an uncanny ability to perfectly capture insecure, boy-related neuroticism into a catchy pop ditty like few else in the biz can. She’s one of my go-to artists when I’m feeling melancholic and desperate. Truth is, any girl who can rhyme lazy and crazy the way she does speaks to my soul.

Cute-ass fat cat.

I’m stoked to find out that Best Coast has announced their next full-length, and it’s titled The Only Place, which is set to be dropped by Mexican Summer on May 15. BestCoast.us also posted a track-listing, and the titles of these songs illicit the same feeling and mood that made me fall in love with them in the first place. The May 15 release date means there will be plenty of time for me to lay out on Rockaway Beach and daydream about crushes and mull over heartbreak and tacos in the sun.

Here’s the track listing courtesy of BestCoast.us:

01 The Only Place
02 Why I Cry
03 Last Year
04 My Life
05 No One Like You
06 How They Want Me to Be
07 Better Girl
08 Do You Love Me Like You Used To
09 Dreaming My Life Away
10 Let’s Go Home
11 Up All Night

Of course that’s not all… Best Coast is going on tour, and Brooklyn Vegan has all of the dates. Unfortunately their NYC stop is at Terminal 5… ick, but I’ll probably still go so whatever.

Best Coast, “Crazy for You”
This song is a total banger, and can we talk about these cats for a minute?

Tags: , , ,

that dog. Reunion!

7 Mar

As if yesterday’s NYC Popfest Line Up wasn’t enough to keep my fragile heart aflutter, it has been announced that that dog. will be playing Music Hall of Williamsburg this coming May. I seriously just found out, and no joke, if you saw me last night at around 10:45pm I was singing along slightly too loudly for my tiny apartment building to “He’s Kissing Christian” as I wont to do on most every Tuesday night completely unawares of the exciting news I just received.

The show is slated for May 24, which is totes my dad’s birthday so it’s like a Matthews family indie pop birthday party all month, I guess! Tickets go on sale Friday 3/9 at noon. I will be there, and I hope to see you there, and all of your gay ex-boyfriends.

(via Brooklyn Vegan)

that dog., “He’s Kissing Christian”

Tags: , , , ,

NYC Popfest Line Up Announced

6 Mar
Comet Gain

Comet Gain

It’s a really good time to be a pop fan, let me tell you. Today Maz and the crew at NYC Popfest announced the 2012 line up to their annual shindig that I find myself waiting for with baited breath every year. Oh, it also happens to fall on my birthday, just sayin’! The dates this year are May 17-20 (18th baby here–Go Sailor was my birthday present last year! Thanks Popfest!).

This lineup is one of the best I’ve seen in years, featuring some surprises, some bangers, some popstars and some bands I’ve never even heard of! Who am I most excited about?

There’s this little old band from Sweden called Pushy Parents consisting of members of one of my all time favorite acts, Free Loan Investments. There’s been very little press and play on this band, and it has been kind of unspoken that they were a studio project, with no intentions of touring. Until now!

Pushy Parents, “Secret Secret”

I am also quite excited by Saturday Looks Good to Me, a band I haven’t really paid all that much attention to myself since junior year of high school. Could these appearance be the precursor to another album (they have not released anything since 2007)?

Saturday Looks Good to Me, “Meet Me By the Water”

You’ll also see me cutting a rug to The Pooh Sticks, Ladybug Transistor, Comet Gain, Allo Darlin, Burning Hearts and uh… well, let’s just say I might be buying my first full fest pass.

To check out the entire line up and keep up to date on ticket sales, go to http://www.nycpopfest.org.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Upcoming shows of note

18 Feb

Here are some upcoming shows in NYC I’m stoked about. You should be too! Some are sold out, so it’s time to start combing through Craigslist now.


Danielson

Danielson

WHY?
Danielson
03/16/12
(le) poisson rouge, New York NY

Leslie & The Ly’s
03/17/12
Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, New York NY

Hunx & His Punx
04/04/2012
Mercury Lounge, New York, NY
04/05/2012
Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn, New York NY

Allo Darlin’
The Wave Pictures
04/24/12
Mercury Lounge, New York NY

Pulp
04/10/12, 04/11/12
Radio City Music Hall, New York NY

Chickfactor 2012: For the Love of Pop
04/11/12-04/13/12
Black Tambourine, Aislers Set, The Softies, and more
Check out the entire lineup here

Tags: , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.