Boasting a lineup guided by the invisible hand of our own year-end list, Tuesday night’s show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple was the perfect nightcap to a year of extraordinary live music. And who better than the Walkmen to charm a rapt audience aglow with holiday cheer on a snowy weeknight? Read more…
Do you want sweet or savory? Lightning or thunder? These are questions worth considering when sidling up to the stage for a Dodos show.
Sweet lightning: stick house left and watch traditional blues guitar go warp-speed via Meric Long’s deliriously nimble bends, slides, picking patterns and chugging melodies. Savory thunder: head house right and stand right where the bass drum should be. Read more…
Another Friday night, another voyage to the Gowanus’ veritable heart of darkness, the Bell House. This time around, a birthday blowout for the venue’s proprietor (happy birthday Skippy), consecutive Swedish singer-songwriters bringing their bedrooms to the stage (Loney, Dear and Melpo Mene) and a devastatingly grooving set from perma-EF faves and hometown heroes Takka Takka. Read more…
Stereogum had a little help in celebrating their unfortunately titled Gummy Awards last night, calling in the services of local favorites Bell and Violens and scoring big with a headlining set from Deerhunter. Read more…
Ambulance LTD’s lone full-length album came out in 2004. Since then, they’ve only released one EP (with only four new songs on it), which translates to a not terribly prolific output of only one song a year. But to their credit, almost all of these songs feel so timeless and perfectly at ease within the rock canon that they seem to have been in existence for at least a few decades. And that’s a very good thing. Read more…
Those “bearded slobs” from Pattern is Movement warmed up the Knitting Factory last night with a blisteringly beautiful, yet entirely too brief, set of avant prog pop. Chances that the entire audience has “Right Away” stuck in their collective head for a week as a result? Nearly 100%. Check out the slide show above, song and live dates below. Read more…
Jolie Holland doesn’t sing so much as she rolls words around her mouth, chewing them up before finally allowing them to sail into the air. Even her most heartbreaking lyrics end up sounding delicious, literally. The fantastic acoustics at the Highline Ballroom paid justice to her voice as very few large NYC venues could have. It was my first time there, and in spite of surly staff and overpriced drinks, I hope to return there often, just for the amazing sound. Read more…
Consider Motel Motel as ambassadors of honky-tonk punk rock soul, swarming the Bell House last night with a vital urgency in the midst of a three-band lineup that included the more traditional leanings of troubadour Turnery Cody and duo Herman Dune. Read more…
If there were any closet Republicans, or non-voters, looking for an escape at The Decemberists and Loch Lomond show last Wednesday, they surely must have been disappointed. But they should not have been surprised. Read more…
above: Born Ruffians gettin’ all Badonkadonkey with it at the Bell House.
Canadian rock trios Born Ruffians and Plants and Animals rolled into Brooklyn last Tuesday night and hit The Bell House right up side the head with outstanding performances, both. Slideshows and a song from each band below.
Read more…
I so badly wanted to see TK Webb at the Kemado Records CMJ Showcase after having enjoyed him so much back in September. Sadly, a Friday night spent working late caused me to arrive just in time for Marissa Nadler, a delicate songstress in the dream pop vein. Her ethereal tunes gave rise to mental images of goth mermaids and did nothing to resign me to missing Webb and his belligerent Southern roots rock. Read more…
In her review of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, Manhola Dargis writes, “To say that [this] is one of the best films of the year or even one closest to my heart is such a pathetic response to its soaring ambition that I might as well pack it in right now.” Read more…
above: Goes Cube melts faces at the SESAC party at The Delancey.
On Monday of next week we’ll have a full recap of CMJ 2008, in the meantime you can view some pictures from each day here on EAR FARM. Read more…
So while we continue to plot a full recap of CMJ 2008 for next Monday, here are some more selects from the second night of this year’s marathon, Wednesday, October 22nd. In this batch, two Band of the Week alums, a modern-day Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and the reemergence of 1/2 of DFA 1979. Marvel at my ability to cover this with nary a cab ride…(above: Women; front thumbnail: Pale Young Gentlemen) Read more…
Next Monday EAR FARM will feature a full recap of CMJ 2008; in the meantime, we’ll be updating as we go with pictures from each day. Read more…
