Pianos: The reigning princes of Pianos wave to the cheering crowd, say “It’s been fun”, and leave town to conquer bigger kingdoms; Passion Pit plays the last of the three residency shows tonight. On board is their Swedish friend, drummer and singer-songwriter Kristoffer Rangstam, whose song “Swing That Tambourine”, taken from the album Wrong Side of the Room, lets the drums lead as if it, too, were singing, and the result is refreshing. Rangstam’s label mate The Break and Repair Method will join, as will Staten Island’s Gates of Heaven.

Many more bands playing tonight, and all mp3 links after the jump.

Mercury Lounge: End Up Records teams up with Serious Business to showcase an endearing group of Brooklyn-based performers, led by Caithlin De Marrais, previously of Rainer Maria, who plays from her latest solo wanderings, the result of which will be available in the upcoming records My Magic City and The Cottage EP. The almighty, 10-members-or-so-strong Balthrop, Alabama apparently performs “dressed as the aw-shucks residents of a fictional Southern town”, according to Village Voice. Though the band was formed in Brooklyn, founders and siblings Pascal and Lauren Balthrop are from Mobile, Alabama, and together with their “musically-inclined neighbors” they sing “songs about dead people in love”. Joining them are Benji Cossa and Rocketship Park.

Note! Please remember Evergreen Network when you download Caithlin’s free single “The Fire” from below. Founded by her mother over 20 years ago, Evergreen serves children and their families in the greater Bridgeport, CT area affected by HIV/AIDS. So if you like the song, please consider donating.

Rehab: You can listen to “Hey Man” by The Memories on their myspace page. I like the simple effectiveness of the lyrics, “Hey Man / If you’ve got something to say  / To me then say it man / I ain’t got the time / To be late / At this rate / My head’s on ice”. It’s sung in a voice that sure is pretty, but I wish they’d take a lot of that reverb’d guitar out. Playing with Astoria’s Going Gone, Morning Fuzz, Anthem In.

Union Hall: Do You Believe in Love? Brooklyn salutes Huey Lewis with performances by Graham Smith, The Gimme 5, The Hecklers, Michael Leviton, The Strung Out String Band and more // Trash Bar: Thing-One, The Heavenly Tenants, Bothan Spies, In India // Cake Shop: Ribs and someone else.

Santos Party House: The Virgins, The Young Lords // Bowery Ballroom: Another sold-out, rescheduled show from Dr. Dog, with Senator R. Stevie Moore and Alberta Cross.

And don’t forget the DNC. How about that Hillary? Despite all the pretense the Clintons find necessary to embrace (Bill Clinton made me cringe), at least one sensible thing was said: were her supporters in it for her or for the issues, damn it? Joe Biden headlines tonight. See full schedule.

Playlist
Passion Pit: I’ve Got Your Number
Caithlin De Marrais: The Fire
Balthrop, Alabama: Love to Love You
Benji Cossa: Volcano
Rocketship Park: Spinning Globes with You
Kristoffer Rangstam: Swing That Tambourine
The Break and Repair Method: You Won’t Be Able to Be Sad
Michael Leviton: Summer’s The Worst
Going Gone: Salty Teeth
The Virgins: Rich Girls
Dr. Dog: The Ark

Though The Loom hasn’t been around for too long, singer John Fanning says the current line-up feels permanent, and I very much agree. He and drummer Jon Alvarez share a great chemistry from being friends before becoming band mates, and after playing with the band for about 10 months, classically-trained french horn and trumpet player Lis Rubard is happy to focus on it as her main project. Joining them most recently are flutist Bethany Chase (who quit oboe school after literally telling them to “fuck off”) and guitarist Mark Rogers (who seems to treat everything he says and does with a dose of passion). Both musicians are an excellent fit, musically and temperamentally. And though the beloved bassist Dan DeSloover is temporarily away on a biological project that involves stunning fish in order to count them, he was greatly missed as The Loom and friends of The Loom gathered at John’s apartment in Kensington for the shooting of these videos. China, who you will see playing the saw, made an exuberant amount of delicious food for all.

More on The Loom and one more video (my favorite of the two) after the jump.

The song in the first video, “Song for the Winter Sun”, is taken from the band’s self-titled EP, and the second, “In the Wings”, from a collection of new songs that are ready to be recorded for a full-length album. With the addition of Bethany and Mark, says John, the sound of that recording is sure to differ slightly from the EP’s. See the current line-up when The Loom plays four NYC dates before heading for Pop Montreal in October. Filling in for Dan while he’s away is Toby, who also plays additional drums in these videos.

Previously:
Girls in Trouble sings at the Secret Garden
Sharon van Etten sings at the Secret Garden

It’s freaking Tuesday! And how brilliant that the Olympics finished just in time for the Democratic National Convention. Here is the DNC’s full Tuesday schedule; Hillary Clinton headlines.

Music Hall of Williamsburg: Dr. Dog plays a rescheduled, sold-out show with Senator R. Stevie Moore and Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson // Cake Shop: Brooklyn’s Callers will release their full-length album Fortune on September 9, and will play tonight with The Chris Forsyth (of The Peeesseye).

McCarren Pool: L Magazine’s Summer Screen series is showcasing two local bands; The King Left will play an acoustic set, and are joined by Trashed on Fiction before showing Wes Anderson’s Rushmore.

More bands and all mp3 links after the jump.

Bowery Ballroom: A “Bone Marrowthon/Stem Cell-Abration” benefit with Nada Surf playing an acoustic set, joined by Richard Buckner, Dean & Britta, Sam Champion, Victoria Williams; Brooklyn’s Australian transplant Scott Matthew, who “strips with his music” and “dissects himself to reveal his very innards with great parsimony”–listen to his “Spinning on Air” appearance on WNYC last year; and California’s Hawaii-born songstress Simone White. Also, for the next three days you can buy Sam Champion’s new album Heavy Blender at Amie Street for just $3.

Playlist
Callers: More than Right
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson: Who’s Laughing
Simone White: The Beep Beep Song
Nada Surf: See These Bones
Scott Matthew: Abandoned
Sam Champion: Be Mine Everyone
The King Left: The Storm in a Teacup
Dr. Dog: The Old Days

Girls in Trouble is classically-trained violinist, fiddle aficionado and singer-songwriter Alicia Jo Rabins, who has made Brooklyn her home for the past several years. I went to see her at her sister’s Bushwick apartment, outside which there is a small overgrown garden with tall sunflowers and ripe tomatoes. The first floor is a church, and narrow stairs inside eventually lead to a pretty kitchen where Alicia was brewing green tea when I got there. We shot three songs, all taken from a song cycle she plans to record as an album later this year. The first, “Who sent the heat?”, and the second, “Snow”, which I’ve decided to pick as my favorite, are performed with Aaron Hartman of Old Time Relijun on upright bass. For the third, “Hunter”, Alicia takes on the loop pedal with her violin. Watch all three, and get your literary paws dirty to figure out what binds these stories.

(Note: I’m taking a break from tonight’s show listing to bring you these videos from Girls in Trouble. The listing will return tomorrow).

Two more videos after the jump.

Previously:
Sharon van Etten sings at the Secret Garden

Download “Where Has Sally Gone” | Everyone from Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps seemed pretty likable, and they were quick to make new fans at their first-ever performance in New York City. Of the small crowd present last night–the room was half-full–it seemed most were friends of other bands playing: Measure, Olivia Mancini and Donny Hue are all local acts. Apart from myself, there were perhaps three others who knew of Caroline prior to the show: the band’s jovial mailing list guy, that guy’s friend, and another person Caroline greeted before the show. When the music got going, however, there were howls of approval, enthusiastic roars of applause; when it was time to announce they had only two more songs left, there was a unanimous expression of disappointment; finally as the last song came to a close, there was the request for an encore.

Continued, and all photos after the jump.

The show was a pleasure to watch, and the performance didn’t betray the recordings. The foundation of acoustic guitar, drums and bass guitar was accented with banjo, keyboard, xylophone and tambourine. The main strength is definitely Caroline’s voice, and the boys pulling forward to back her up with harmonized vocals help lift it up further. There was one cover song, “All My Loving” by the Beatles, which quite pleased the crowd. Afterward I heard a girl say she wanted to marry the bass player–great beginnings in New York City!

Pianos
East Village, New York City
August 21, 2008

Previously
The Americans, Christina Courtin, Caroline Smith & more tonight

Pianos: Austin’s The Lovely Sparrows is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Shawn Jones. Over a free-flowing, plucked rhythm of his acoustic guitar, he creates a tender sound fit for accompanying folk fairy tales. His storytelling vision is evident in the way he sparingly deploys little details of various instruments (like flutes, piano, violin, etc) as if each were a character coming in and out of a scene–this disciplined restrain of his adds a lot of texture to the tunes. Pay attention to the lyrics, too. In “Year of the Dog” he sings, “I was waiting out / To save you / You were into that / Romantic shit / And wanted to die young / It was plain to see / To everyone but me / There are no haunted places / Only people we / Still wish that we could see”. The band is playing at Pianos tonight with Satori, Illamanjaromo, and at Union Hall tomorrow.

More bands and all mp3 links after the jump.

More of The Lovely Sparrows: Daytrotter Session | iTunes | And the video below.

Cake Shop: Brooklyn’s She Keeps Bees are big-voiced, bluesy singer Jessica Larrabee and drummer Andy LaPlant. Cat Power comaprisons are numerous, with one blog in SF writing just today, “If Johnny Cash and Cat Power had an illegitimate love child, it would be named She Keeps Bees. And Janis Joplin would be their Godmother”; LVHRD posted back in January, when the duo had a residency at Pianos, “While She Keeps Bees seems to owe a lot to Cat Power’s What Would the Community Think?, Larabee’s voice stands alone as a straight-shooting, tell-it-like-it-is motown quality.” After releasing a 10-track Minisink Hotel in 2006, the band released Shhhh EP in 2007, and this year’s newest is titled Nests. They’re playing with King Darves, Viking Moses, Neckbeard Telecaster, Barghest.

Music Hall of Williamsburg: Optimum Friday night dancing with New York’s Professor Murder and Free Blood. The former’s “Civilization Three” reminds of me Strawberry-Jams-esque Animal Collective actually. In a much brighter spirit, of course. This show is free.

Bowery Ballroom: Brooklyn’s quartet Jupiter One just released a self-titled debut, filled with mostly upbeat, sparkly, catchy tunes. Founding members K Ishibashi and Zac Colwell met while on a national tour with Barnum’s “Kaleidoscape” Circus in 2000! Of all places. New York Times described the circus back then as “the big-time one-ring circus filled with superb acts that has pitched its red-and-white spired tent through Dec. 31, in Bryant Park, where even jaded New Yorkers are likely to find themselves dazzled.” The band is playing with Your Vegas, Band of Thieves, Jeff Taylor.

Union Hall: Looker began as a “hot summer’s experiment” amongst childhood friends Boshra Alsaadi and Nicole Greco, eventually evolving into a three-part woman, one-part man quartet creating vintage-flavored pop rock songs. The Unstacked Hearts is “your favorite experimental bar band”. Watch out for lyrics like this: “They say martinis are like women’s breasts / Three is too many, one is not enough”. Headlining is The Homosexuals.

Mercury Lounge: For the early show, New York’s five-piece Jacksonknife is opening for The Head Set. Evidence of xylophone and violin are in the video below. Late show is Petty Fest 2008 celebrating greatest hits from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, featuring all or some members of Fountains of Wayne, Hymns, Longwaves, etc.

Death by Audio: There are two insane drummers in Necking, one certainly more so than the other. When I saw them at Cake Shop last, he dashed into the audience and engaged in entertaining antics, then later sat smiling, selling CDs. This transformation of behavior was cute and hilarious, to say the least. Joined by The Fucking Ocean, The Dashing Suns, Doppelganger.

Rehab: Some 80’s-styled lifestyle inspiration to kick-start the weekend with, courtesy Ruby Isle, “Hey, hey, hey, that kid’s okay / He’s just another sucker with bills to pay / Money only matters when you work all day / But you’re gonna blow it on the weekend anyway”. Playing with Apteka, The Buddy System, Cof Cof, Shock Cinema. Early show: Cruel Black Dove, Pelagia.

Le Royale:  Holy Ghost, Alex English and friends // Union Pool: Traveling Circle, Whooping Crane, White Clam // Southpaw: BK Loves New Orleans, Hot 8 Brass, The Pimps of Joytime // South Streat Seaport: Grand Archives , Violens (free!).

Playlist
The Lovely Sparrows: Year of the Dog
She Keeps Bees: Focus
Professor Murder: Civilization Three
Ruby Isle: Hey Hey Hey
Jacksonknife: Healthy Diets
Free Blood: Quick and Painful
Jupiter One: Unglued
Looker: After My Divorce
The Unsacred Hearts: I am Joe
Necking: Sweet Pollen
The Fucking Ocean: Literacy Test
The Homosexuals: Heart in Exile
Grand Archives: Minature Birds