WaterCoolerGossip

Sunday at McCarren Park Pool I saw Human Television, Dr. Dog, and The Walkmen. Sadly, I missed Elvis Perkins. I blame the rain. Despite the inclement weather there was still a pretty good turnout. And although The Walkmen have new clangy piano, the keys still had the same charm of the old one. Hamilton Leithauser's voice was also as scratchy and worn as ever. While Dylan seems to be a big influence on the vocals of their last album, the thought did not even cross my mind at the show. Their sound was undeniably The Walkmen. The band also had two cute girls with horns join them on "Louisiana." This was the best performance I have seen at the JellyNYC shows since Les Savy Fav.

Don't miss the last JellyNYC show of the summer at the pool next Sunday. Hopefully we will have some sunshine. Regardless, Spankrock and The Rub will bring some heat.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:46 PM | Permalink

Black Dice and Oneida performed at Studio B, which is a dance club with 360º sound in Greenpoint. It was a cool place to see Black Dice because weird sounds were all around you and there was a crazy light show going on in the crowd. You would think Black Dice improvised during their show to create an organic sound experiment but actually they were really focused and orchestrated the noise. This band is always really loud so earplugs were necessary.

Oneida was good too. Their visuals of skulls, patterns, and galaxies bleeding into each fit the mood perfectly. The band has such a dense psychedelic sound with layers of keyboards and guitars. I liked the heavier 70s sound they were going for too when the drummer was singing. They jammed on the last song for about fifteen minutes. It was at 2am and I was lost by that point.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:37 PM | Permalink

Everybody knows Beirut. They finally headlined the Mercury Lounge. It was short but sweet. This was the place to get your horns and uke' fix. They have merch now.

I was really tired after Ted Leo and The Pharmacists played the longest Seaport Show I have ever seen. He played a ton of new material, some of it political. One of the new songs was about the CIA with "Only you know what you've done" somewhere in the chorus. The band also played "Suspect Device" by the Stiff Little Fingers in the encore.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:32 PM | Permalink

Atlanta's Snowden was back in New York at Sin-é Thursday. They brought the fuzzy guitars and melodic keyboards. This was the first time I had seen them but it was good melancholic stuff. "Anti-Anti" is still stuck in my head.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:27 PM | Permalink

Tokyo Police Club played a late set at The Annex Thursday. I love how everybody in the band screams on a few songs, but the fractured and shattered keyboards are my favorite sounds from this band. I also appreciate the spray-painted signs they carry and that giant red flag they wave. Slowlands also played that show but I missed their set due to Snowden.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Apes and Androids could be from another planet. Think about the possibilities if Queen, The Scissor Sisters, and David Bowie blasted-off into space and colonized the outer most regions of the galaxy. After spawning children among themselves and a few aliens, their kids would probably form a band like Apes and Androids. The show Wednesday night at Sin-é was a big spectacle. Yes, that is a giant ape-android in the background that has puppet claws, which reach out into crowd after bubbles and glow-stick balloons explode from the stage.

More pics after the jump.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Product Shop / Gothamist show at CBGB's was a success. Tiny Masters of Today, while being preteens, can still say they got on stage at CBGB's before it closed. Unfortunately none of their friends could get into the show because it was 16+. Check out some video from the show on Gothamist. To hear Slowlands' hushed mellow music coming out to of CBGB's cracking speakers was not a pretty as it could have been but they still put on great performance. The Diggs were good too. Their sound was more fitting to the room. Thankfully both The Diggs and Slowlands have a large New York following so the place filled up despite such short notice. CBGB's made a pretty penny but we only had $25 to split among the bands. I guess you need eight bands on the bill or outrageous ticket prices to actually be able to pay them.

More photos after the jump.

TINY MASTERS OF TODAY


SLOWLANDS


THE DIGGS

Posted by 3xWes at 11:42 AM | Permalink

Empty Vessel drops its anchor where 1st Street dead-ends into the Gowanus Canal. The boat has not always been parked there and with exposed wires at the helm, it is not going anywhere easily. A tugboat pulled the WWII rescue boat from the Bronx, where she was a washed-up abandoned houseboat, to the Gowanus Canal. A permanent place to dock has been hard to find because even water space in New York has astronomical rents.

The boat is barely visible from the street behind the overgrowth of foliage on the bank of the canal. The Empty Vessel's deck is covered with plywood and piles of old tires, which makes it look like more of a junk barge than artist's space. But inside the vessel looks like a rustic cabin with wooden planks patching the floor and walls. One of the current projects is tacking the rest of a rusted tin ceiling, salvaged from an old building in Chinatown, to the roof of the boat. Old patio chairs and benches line the edges of the room but many people sat on the floor as the space filled up.

Peter and The Wolf, Castanets, and Jana Hunter all played a minimal acoustic set with only one amp for a sparsely used electric guitar and bass. There was no microphone but people were quiet enough to hear them sing without one. The show was a leveling of the three artists because each performance was just a singer with their guitar and not representative of their very different albums.

JANA HUNTER


CASTANETS


PETER AND THE WOLF


Jana Hunter's singing has a range and fragility that was so clear and unfiltered without the microphone. Rarely do you hear someone with a pretty voice just sing, with no amplification or manipulation. Raymond Raposa or Castanets was the most adamant about sound quality in the room. He paced the entire length of the boat with his guitar singing to the front and back of the crowd. He even enlisted Red Hunter or Peter and The Wolf (no relation to Jana) to whistle and sing a few verses in the middle of the crowd when he was bound to the "stage" by the electric guitar. Red sat cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the crowd to play his tunes and did not budge the entire set. He said he was out to find the smartest town in America and could do it by asking each audience one important question. "Why do they call them Spaghetti Westerns?" After almost everyone in the room raised their hand with the answer, he said the people of Brooklyn needed to spend less time learning and more time shootin' stuff off fences. Or maybe fixin'-up old boats.

That whole music crew plans to tour the eastern seaboard in a boat, but sadly it was not present at the show because of necessary repairs.

UPCOMING AT EMPTY VESSEL PROJECT
This Friday August 25th
Oil Slick Skies and a concert with
Extra Life
Matt Baldwin
Moth
Zeke Healy
9pm, free, cash bar

More pics after the jump.

Posted by 3xWes at 10:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Frank Black played two sets at Southpaw Saturday. I was at the second one. He is such a prolific songwriter; with 12 solo albums (and those six he did with the pixies), I was hearing a few of those songs for the first time. Still he did play some of my favorites. The last time I saw Frank was with the Pixies in gigantic arena, so it was great to see him at Southpaw. More thoughts and a set list over at Product Shop.

Fall tour dates after the jump.

SEPTEMBER
29, 30 Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA (w/ Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)

OCTOBER
1 Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ
4 Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
6 Jack Daniels (Private), Lynchberg, TN
7 New Daisy Theatre, Memphis, TN
9 Gypsy Tea Ballroom, Dallas, TX
10 La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX
11 Meridian, Houston, TX
13 House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL
14 State Theatre, St. Petersburg, FL
15 Savannah Smiles, Savannah, GA
16 Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA
17 Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
18 Sonar, Baltimore, MD
19 World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
20 Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY
22 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
23 Irving Plaza, New York, NY
24 Avalon Ballroom, Boston, MA
25 Le National, Montreal, QC
26 Opera House, Toronto, ON
27 Mr. Smalls Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
28 Headliners, Louisville, KY
30 House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
31 Southgate House, Newport, KY

NOVEMBER
1 Metro, Chicago, IL
2 High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
3 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
5 Pantages Theatre, Winnipeg, MB
6 Conexus Hall, Regina, SK
7 The Odeon, Saskatoon, SK
9 Reds, Edmonton, AB
10 MacEwan Ballroom, Calgary, AB
12 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
13 Showbox, Seattle, WA
14 Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
15 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
17 House of Blues, West Hollywood, CA
18 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
19 House of Blues, Anaheim, CA

Posted by 3xWes at 04:02 PM | Permalink

Product Shop has teamed up with Gothamist to present a show tonight at CBGB's. Yes, this is short notice but you are probably anxious to keep your weekend rolling. And why not at this legendary club that is leaving for Vegas next month?

We have a fine lineup of:
8pm - Tiny Masters of Today
9pm - Slowlands
10pm - The Diggs

$7 cover. See ya there.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:41 PM | Permalink

I went uptown to Harlem for Sharon Jones and The Dap-kings Super Soul Review on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Park. Sharon Jones is always a pleasure to see live and I have never seen her put on a bad show. She recently celebrated her 50th birthday but, damn, she can still dance. Now, Sharon is usually dressed to the nines and always wears stilettos. Still she busted out The Camel Walk, The Boogaloo, The Pony, The Tighten Up, The Mashed Potato, The Funky Chicken, and The Swim. But when it was time to really get down, she had to take off her shoes. Growing up in Augusta Georgia, some people have called Sharon the female James Brown; she has got the soul but claims she can't do any splits. The Dap-kings hail from Brooklyn and could not be a finer funk/soul band. I am convinced they have a time portal from the sixties, which they use to spring decades ahead and blow peoples mind with songs that don't sound like revivals but golden-era raw funk/soul.

Get MP3s of Naturally here. Get MP3s of Dap Dippin' with Sharon Jones and the Dap-kings here. Do it! I think Daptone Records puts it up for download because they know you will probably want to buy it on vinyl too.

Jackie Robinson Park is a great shaded outdoor venue with a cool bandshell and even cooler mural of Jackie Robinson. People bring chairs and just hang out. Next week the first rapper with a record contract, Kurtis Blow, will perform at the park. This man is a legend. “Basketball is my favorite sport, I like the way they dribble up and down the court.” Word. The show starts promptly at 7:00pm next Wednesday.

More pics after the jump.

DOWNLOAD
How Long (MP3)
Pick It Up, Lay It In The Cut (MP3)

Posted by 3xWes at 01:31 PM | Permalink

This Saturday afternoon Peter & The Wolf, Castanets, and Jana Hunter will play on the Empty Vessel Project. They will perform on a salvaged WWII Navy Rescue boat, which doesn't look seaworthy but could probably hold a music show. Supposedly these bands are touring on a boat as a protest to high gas prices among other things.

Austin's Peter and The Wolf play folk music cast under the shadow lo-fi sound. Their boy/girl singing dynamic works dark and lo-fi because is not always in sync, which keeps it coarse. If you are as curious as I am about this show, come down to the Gowanus Canal and wish them bon voyage on their tour of the eastern seaboard. I honestly don't know anything about the other two acts or who all those people are in the picture. But maybe touring on boat is kind of like The Oregon Trail and they have lost a few people to snake bites and malaria.

Access to the Empty Vessel is from the west side of 1st Street, one block south of the Carroll Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal. The Empty Vessel would like to become an Action, Art and Design Center fostering projects focused on Sustainable Living in Urban Landscapes.

SHOW
8/18 at Goodbye Blue Monday (1087 Broadway, Brooklyn), 9pm
8/19 at Empty Vessel, $5, 1pm
8/19 at Northsix, $8, 9pm

DOWNLOAD
Peter and The Wolf - Strange Machines (MP3)
Peter and The Wolf - The Fall (MP3)
Castanets - All That I Know (MP3)
Castanets - Three Days Four Nights (MP3)

Posted by 3xWes at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Takka Takka is having their CD release party tonight 8/17 at Union Hall. I unfortunately could not make their Mercury Lounge show but I will be there tonight. You can't beat $5 for Takka Takka, Slowlands, and all the bocce you can play. Takka Takka was the closest thing we have had to a full band at Blog Radio. They had never even played acoustic before—I have no idea where Damion got that guitar but it complimented Gabe's voice, Conrad's tambourine, and JP's backups and beats on counter nicely. That Sirius show was a serious jam. Think Lou Reed on indie rock. Slowlands is great and I am excited to see them live. Their music is very mellow. But the first time I met Josh, he said he was listening to a lot of CannOx, which I think of as B movie sci-fi rap with futuristic beats by El-P. These guys are well rounded. Enough jabber, come to the show.

SHOW
Takka Takka CD Release Party with Slowlands
Union Hall, $5, 8pm





SLOWLANDS

Posted by 3xWes at 10:49 AM | Permalink

Arizona played a late night set in the backroom of Galapagos on Saturday night. The stage is interesting because it spans the entire width of the room, about half the depth, and rises only slightly from the floor. Arizona split their set in two and started with the softer easygoing songs like "Some Kind of Chill." Elle Retzer who plays the viola da gamba, which looks like a tiny six string cello, joined the band for these four songs. After two other bands, they came back on stage and let some aggression out on "Splintering" and "David." After seeing Arizona for the second time I am still impressed; they are good at making dramatic pop songs with layers of catchy instrumentation. Three other bands also played that evening and the music went past 3am. Murder Mystery was upbeat, slightly twee, but not soft. I enjoyed their proto-punk twist on Buddy Holly. It was a fun evening and Arizona will be back to Galapagos in October.

UPCOMING ARIZONA DATES
September 12th at Fontana's
September 15th at Northsix





MURDER MYSTERY

Posted by 3xWes at 12:11 PM | Permalink

Yesterday I saw The Long Winters at Mercury Lounge. John Roderick is really funny in between songs, which is good because he tuned in between every one. I am new to the band but have been told that their new album is a continuation of the winter from the last album. Go see him tonight at Other Music for their free instore at 8pm if you have a chance. John promised more talk and less music.

Posted by 3xWes at 04:34 PM | Permalink

Two shows you should check out this week. This Friday Takka Takka is playing at the Mercury Lounge, which is one of their three final New York shows before they go on tour with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Architecture in Helsinki. They came into Blog Radio on Monday and it was a blast. Go see for yourself.

On Saturday, Arizona is going to play a late but free show at Galapagos. They will finally have copies of Welcome Back Dear Children for sale. Also if you ask them nicely, they might just give you a copy of their EP The Sun and The Room. This will be the other place to be in Williamsburg Saturday evening and won't cost you $35. But even if you already spent that you could come after the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Finally, you would be stupid not go to the pool the next day for Jelly NYC's free show with Deerhoof, Beirut, Apollo Sunshine, and The Harlem Shakes. This one will be packed.


WEDNESDAY 8/9
Black Dice @ Knitting Factory
IO's @ Southpaw
A Place to Bury Strangers @ The Annex
Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players @ Mercury Lounge

THURSDAY 8/10
The Church @ Irving Plaza
RJD2, Lyrics Born @ Pier 54 Hudson River Park
Southpaw says they are closed to save energy

FRIDAY 8/11
Takka Takka, Illinois @ Mercury Lounge
Blood on the Wall, Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ McCarren Park Pool
Jeremy Enigk (ex-Sunny Day Real Estate), Stars of Track and Field @ Bowery Ballroom

SATURDAY 8/12
Arizona @ Galapagos (FREE – starts at 11pm)
Antifolk Fest @ Sidewalk Cafe (This goes for nine days)
Awesome Color, Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ McCarren Park Pool

SUNDAY 8/13
Deerhoof, Beirut, Apollo Sunshine, The Harlem Shakes @ McCarren Park Pool (FREE – starts at 2pm)
Celebration @ Joe's Pub

Posted by 3xWes at 03:59 PM | Permalink

Will Sheff of Okkervil River and Shearwater was kind enough to come into Product Shop NYC's Blog Radio show on Sirius two weeks ago. This was hectic day for him because he was moving back to Texas the following day to prepare for Okkervil River's upcoming tour. He played five tracks and I was blown away. We have the MP3s for you over at Product Shop. A big thanks goes out to Dave from Secretly Canadian / Jagjaguwar for helping to set this up.

Be sure to check out "The President's Dead" because you are not going to hear it anywhere else. Also be sure to get tickets to their Bowery show in October.

Get the live MP3s here. More pics after the jump.

Posted by 3xWes at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Snowglobe's third album is titled Oxytocin, which is a hormone that is released during sex and involved in social recognition and bonding. You could probably get some good spins out of the album while in the act. The music is not sexy but there is the warble of a relaxed theremin and the bounce of horns. Pianos and cellos make a big enough appearance for track titles of their own.

Or maybe the album walks the line with platonic love because there are some really friendly songs on here. Even the sad and lonely songs are trying to make pals by the end. Brad Postlewaite is the mastermind behind Ocytocin but the other guys will eventually direct their own albums for the band. For now, Snowglobe's pop sounds vaguely familiar but still fresh and plays nicely all the way through.

DOWNLOAD
Happy (MP3)
Simple Song (MP3)

Posted by 3xWes at 01:22 PM | Permalink

"There needs to be a chocolate flavor available in this model."

483 other reviews and counting here.

Posted by 3xWes at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

As Pitchfork reported today, The Knife is finally coming to New York on November 1st (CMJ Jumpoff!). People should still be in spooky moods left over from Halloween. Andreas Nilsson, who directed the "Silent Shout" video, is going to coordinate the visuals.

THE KNIFE – USA TOUR DATES
11-01 New York, NY - Webster Hall
11-03 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine (TIX!)
11-04 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater

SILENT SHOUT

Posted by 3xWes at 10:38 AM | Permalink

Think About Life for a moment. Review over at Cake Product Shop.

Posted by 3xWes at 06:14 PM | Permalink

Bloc Party is great live, even on an arena-size stage in Williamsburg. Jerry Yeti really wanted them to end the encore, like the alway have before, with "The Answer." Instead they ended with "Pioneers." The Secret Machines and Mew also played. More pics at Product Shop.

DOWNLOAD
The Answer (MP3)
Pioneers (MP3)
Pioneers - Tunng Cover (MP3) - This is an exceptional cover

Posted by 3xWes at 01:33 AM | Permalink

Pela was dead on at the Mercury Lounge Thursday. They even had somebody rig some special lighting for added drama. More at Product Shop.

DOWNLOAD
The Trouble With River Cities (MP3)
Lost To The Lonesome (MP3)

Posted by 3xWes at 01:20 AM | Permalink

The Hold Steady played a free show at Castle Clinton last Thursday. It would have been great except that they were playing the songs acoustic, which also was a factor in people remaining seated for the show. But the band did played a bunch of new songs, similar to the acoustic set they did for The Current 89.3. More thoughts at Product Shop.

DOWNLOAD – LIVE FROM THE CURRENT
Stuck Between Stations (MP3)
Modesto Is Not That Sweet (MP3)

Posted by 3xWes at 09:55 PM | Permalink