Upcoming Shows: New York Dolls, Secret Machines + more

Sorry for the absence and generally being flaky on the blog recently. Regular posts will resume after this weekend's show.


TONIGHT - Wednesday, June 17

Jonathan Richman @ Bowery Ballroom | LES, Manhattan | $15
Jonathan Richman is the guy from the Modern Lovers. If you don't know the Modern Lovers, I'd describe them as an unpretentious version of the Velvet Underground. Richman was indie before there was indie, he was straight-edge before there was straight-edge, he was twee before there was twee. In other words, he's one of the great innovators in American pop and has been for about 40 years. [MySpace]


TOMORROW - Thursday, June 18

Twee As Fuck: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cause Co-Motion!, Crystal Stilts @ Cake Shop | LES, Manhattan | $10 / $8 (students)
Nevermind that only one of these bands (The Pains) could remotely be called twee, this is an amazing line-up. And the bands will probably be on the ball, given how often they've played Cake Shop and how much they love the place. The downside is that it's going to be crammed full, wall to wall, with indie pop kids, and you undoubtedly won't be able to move or see anything. So, I'd personally stay home, but if big crowds in small rooms are your thing, you couldn't choose a better set of bands. [Pains MySpace] | [CCM MySpace] | [CS MySpace]


Friday, June 19

Secret Machines, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Santos Party House | Chinatown, Manhattan | $10
Secret Machines are shoegaze-inspired wash-ups trying to make a comeback after the decline of a middling career that saw them flicker on the Billboard 200 in 2006. The band is kind of past its prime, but they're still better than most of what's out there. And APTBS are just fucking amazing. Ten bucks for both? Don't think twice. [SM MySpace] | [MySpace]


Saturday, June 20

Radio Flyer Review Presents: New York No-Gaze - 28 Degrees Taurus, Ifwhen, Gracefully @ 255 McKibben St. | Bushwick, Brooklyn | $5-8 suggested donation
I picked these bands because I think they are amazing and I really admire what they do. They all play experimental, uncompromising shoegaze-influenced music. And they're all great live acts. Booking them for my first RFR Presents show is the highest recommendation I could give. [28DT MySpace] | [Ifwhen MySpace] | [Gracefully MySpace]


Monday, June 22

The New York Dolls @ Music Hall of Williamsburg | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | $32.50
If any pre-punk band was directly responsible for the rise of New York punk, this was it. Though still glammy hard rock, the Dolls raw music and image were one of the most important influences on the inventors of punk proper on both sides of the Atlantic. Without them, there may have been no Ramones, no Richard Hell, no Sex Pistols, at least not as we know them. And the recently reunited Dolls aren't getting any younger, so pay up and get your ass to MHOW on Monday or live a life of shame and regret.

Radio Flyer's Christmas List!

OK, here's the list of music-related Christmas gifts I gave this year. It's too late for you to use these tips for your own Christmas shopping, but I couldn't run this sooner because some of the giftees read this blog (or claim to). So hopefully you know people who have birthdays coming up, or maybe you have gift certificates to spend. (The names are from the random name generator - I can't get enough of that thing.)

Mom & Dad
Mom likes: things she can sing along to, female vocalists, NPR, NOT "headbanging" music (i.e. everything I listen to, or so she thinks)
Dad likes: hippies, music to listen to while driving, democrats, NPR
What I got them:
- Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
- Wye Oak - If Children
- Joan as Police Woman - To Survive

"Ursula"
Likes: feminism, female vocalists, badassery
What I got her:
- Marnie Stern - This Is It...
- Electrelane* - The Power Out

By the way, Ursula (who also likes "booty-shaking music") got me the new L'il Wayne and a CD by a band called Heathrow.

"Agnes"
Likes: weirdos, weird stuff, music
What I got her:
- Deerhoof - Reville
- The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers

"Helga"
Helga introduced me to Good Music when I was 15, first by lending me Siamese Dream, then starting me on Sonic Youth, the Pixies and eventually leading me to folks like The Cure, Dinosaur Jr., Jawbreaker, Slint, Minor Threat and even Joy Division.
Likes: black clothes, Bauhaus, walls of sound, heavily produced music, history, psychology
What I got her:
- Electrelane* - No Shouts, No Calls
- Autodrone - Strike a Match
- Blacklist - Blacklist [EP]
- Blacklist - Solidaire [EP]

"Wilbur"
Wilbur is going through a really tough time.
Likes: pop, cats, Electrelane*
What I got him:
- Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

*I just discovered Electrelane this year (as did Wilbur), which is why it's populating so much of my Christmas list.