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Download “Dying Is Fine” | Ra Ra Riot fans gathered yesterday at Union Square’s Virgin Megastore for a mini show, followed by signing. The occasion was the release of their debut album, The Rhumb Line, which will be accompanied by a limited-edition blue 7-inch at participating indie retailers. It features the B-Side “Can You Tell (Epochs Remix)”, a song that’s also included in the iTunes version of the album. On September 2, the album itself will be released as an orange vinyl with a fold-out poster.
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Virgin Megastore: You don’t get much love on Tuesdays, so work that butt; see Ra Ra Riots for free at Virgin Megastore, Union Square, but first beat the pack flocking there to get a wristband by purchasing The Rhumb Line, which came out today. The performance is at the store’s cafe at 7PM, and of course space is limited so you must get there early.
The Tank: But never fear, Todd P will show you love; Best Friends Forever, Acht(en), Screaming Females and Puttin’ On The Ritz look promising. (On a side note, I recently found out from all the furrowing and scouring my friend Enid Crow does in the neighborhood that there are secret house shows happening right here in Crown Heights! And not that part of Crown Heights that real estate people like to call Prospect Heights. This secret spot is east of New York Avenue, so it’s 100% CH. New Jersey’s Screaming Females are also playing there on September 26th)
Bowery Ballroom: New York’s sextet Frances is my favorite amongst the bands playing tonight. The music is a dynamc blend of opposites stirred in to strike a compelling balance: pop against the unpop, wanderings against the hooky, and so on. With the right kind of energy, their set show should be delightful. They’re opening for The Walkmen and The Muslims, so it’s a pretty good line-up.
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Download “I Woke Up Today” | I headed straight for Union Hall after seeing Regina Spektor at McCarren Pool, and from the 30 or so minutes spent with Port O’Brien in the room, I’m sure everyone picked up on the band’s affability–this is one of those bands who really means it when they name their album All We Could Was Sing. When singer Van Pierszalowski said that they were sad to leave New York and told the audience, “You guys live in the best place”, he was actually quite earnest, as was he when he asked if anyone knew what “Cha Cha” was. The dance? Nope–I guess that would be three cha’s? He, the official caretaker of the band’s myspace, was referring to the the “Ask Away” mobile service, saying “Try it out right now, we won’t mind if we see you texting”. Except, only the super-magical beings get service down there, and a few may have been present.
Last evening’s Regina Spektor show at McCarren Pool was pretty much perfect, despite the rain and a tornado warning, and I say that mainly because she seemed to have made all the right choices. As a new album approaches, I hope these are a sign of having managed to regain control after being led by others in the industry:
She’s dropped the horrid guitar-bass-drum band since the last time I saw her–their presence also weakened her last album, Begin To Hope. This time she played a segment and part of the three-song encore (“Us” & “Samson”) with a two-piece (or three?) string section that provided just the right amount of accent to the piano’s gorgeous sound, without overwhelming it one bit. The cello’s sound, in particular, was warm and fantastic.
All photos, by Kashish, and more stories after the jump.
Union Hall: The perky gang of Port O’Brien will be dispersing their share of Californian sunshine with Loxsly, who has managed to emerge unscathed from the saturated music scene of Austin, Texas, which I imagine looks like a big ball of fire. It has to. Headliners are Bodies of Water.
Cake Shop: Forget Seattle. Revival Times hails from Brooklyn’s own mountainous region, “directly above the United North East’s largest oil spill,” where the band “forges its motorik American sound from within the walls of a decrepit casket factory”. Listen to “Curious Storm”, which they just “finished” mixing (which means they didn’t) last night. They’re playing with Medicine Man, Secretary, Azalia Snail, and go on second.
Monkeytown: I’m liking Guitars‘ ”minimal country”. Their EP Faster is up for free download, and are joined tonight by He Can Jog & his friends, who include Sebastian Krueger of Inlets. Though admission is free at this show, a minimum of $10 needs to be spent on either food or drinks, but you needn’t worry as the menu is pretty good. Read more about the venue.
Southpaw: While preparing this post, I listened to John Brown’s Body’s ”Give Yourself Over” many many times on their myspace. Their show’s gotta be fun (will try to post mp3 shortly); playing with Joseph Isreal who follows more literally in the spirit of Bob Marley.
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Download “Sleepyhead” | Passion Pit–Boston’s Michael Angelakos and his four-man crew–was greeted by supportive fans and friends at its first show in New York City, the first of the three being played as part of a residency at Pianos. Emboldened by a full range of synths (Ian Hultquist, Ayad al Adhamy and Michael all huddled and leaped behind keys) and a high-pitched singing style complimentary to a synth-based aesthetic, the band let the room go giddy for its sweet grooves. For a group that plays under such an ambitious name (to be the pit of passion is quite a feat isn’t it?) it definitely stirs a good deal of spirit in its flowing concoctions, but there’s also a hint of sweetness that feels almost a little wide-eyed (in a good way), and that honeyed element is traceable in the band’s personality too. The crowd loved it anyhow and asked for one more song when the short rendezvous came to a close, though there was to be no more. They saved “Sleepyhead” to be the last song but one (out came the laptop), and that tune performed live is quite a ruckus. Next two shows are on August 20th & 27th; definitely go see.
Hurray for Passion Pit’s four-week residency kicking off at Pianos tonight. There’s going to be a lot of basic, pleasant pop rock there, except for Murray Flexor whose electronica would seem slightly out of place if it weren’t for Passion Pit’s own gadgetry. UK’s Sky Larkin will play an early set, and joining them are TheToothaches and You Can Be a Wesley.
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Download “We Are Animals” | There isn’t really any standing room at Monkeytown; the performance space is like someone’s spacious living room. It’s a nice square, at least, with video projections on all four walls, all along which guests seat themselves either on low canvas couches or spare chairs, and dinner and drinks can be had on the slim, low tables that you’ll share with few other guests if you’re a party of less than 4. The performance takes place at the center of this room, sans stage, and coupled with the proximity to the artist and a very low capacity, it makes for a unique “concert-going” experience.
Being a collective, Portland’s Au is mostly a big band that should be expected to vary in tour-size. Last night they played as a duo, consisting of the amazing Dana Vlatka on drums and founder Luke Wyland on everything else (keyboards plus gadgetry). At first I worried, as I worry with every Broken Social Scene show, “Where are the girl singers?”. But within the first song, I made two notes: (1) go see Au again at Spiegeltent on September 29th, opening for the Dodos (2) recommend everyone else to do so.
hooves on the turf is a mostly-music blog based out of brooklyn. i can be reached at hoovesontheturf [at] gmail [dot] com - please send me your lovely music as an attached mp3 or an mp3 link. if i like what you send, i'll be sure to ask for more.
Aqua: Love TEEN. Man they can sing. Cool. Different.
Suraj Joshee: Sarahana, Loved the video. You captured the simple raw essence of the music and band really really...
