This weekend has so many awesome shows, it makes me sick! Most of that is due to L Magazine's Northside Festival. Now, I don't really trust L Magazine, given their picks for "eight NYC bands you need to hear", but they've got a lot of cool people doing showcases and it's really going to kick ass. This is also the weekend of Todd P's big outdoor acoustic BBQ party, so clear your calendar of anything that isn't music-related. You aren't going to have time to do anything but go to shows.
TOMORROW, Wednesday, June 10
Elvis Costello @ Beacon Theater | UWS, Manhattan | SOLD OUT(?)
Yeah.
Thursday, June 11
Meat Puppets @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $15
Meat Puppets were one of the best of the early 80's American punk scene, the scene that eventually became hardcore. But Meat Puppets aren't hardcore, they play pretty, twangy cowpunk and just put out a great album this year.
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Strength In Numbers): Marnie Stern @ Shea Stadium | Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Best album of 2008. [MySpace]
Friday, June 12
Meat Puppets @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $15
See above.
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Pop Tarts Suck Toasted): Grooms (fka Muggabears), Sisters, Home Video + more @ Public Assembly | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Grooms (fka Muggabears, or ex-Muggabears, depending on how you think about it) sound a lot like Sonic Youth when they are being moody. Sisters sound a lot like Sonic Youth when they are being punky. Home Video...I don't know what they sound like, but I've heard very good things. [Grooms MySpace] [Sisters MySpace] [HV MySpace]
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Ear Farm): Shilpa Ray, The Secret Life of Sofia, Coyote Eyes, Pow Wow! @ Spike Hill | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Shipla Ray rocks. TSLOS is a noise-folk band that can be depressing, but also extremely lovely. Coyote Eyes are my newest indie-rock crush, and I just wrote about them. Pow Wow! are a good if unnotable lo-fi pop buzz band. [Shilpa MySpace] [TSLOS MySpace] [CE MySpace] [PW MySpace]
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Panache Booking): Pterodactyl, Aa @ Union Pool | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Now, I can't miss a chance to plug Pterodactyl. I'd put this on a short list of bands in NYC that I think are truly original and actually contributing to the development of pop/rock. As for Aa, well, I've heard the name and I didn't want Pterodactyl to feel lonely up there in the heading. [MySpace]
Saturday, June 13
Coathangers, Mika Miko @ Market Hotel | Bushwick, Brooklyn
Two female punk bands from out of town. Two of the best punk bands around. And I mean punk in that lo-fi, pop sort of way. Thanks, Todd P! [CH MySpace] [MM MySpace]
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Less Artists More Condos): Grooms, Woods, Kurt Vile@ The Shank | Greenpoint, Brooklyn
I just explained about Grooms (fka Muggabears) and how they sound like Sonic Youth. Woods are one of the best bands around, otherworldly lo-fi folk-pop. And Kurt Vile does a similar thing, but less otherworldly, heavier on the lo-fi and the folk, and slightly lighter on the pop. [Grooms MySpace] [Woods MySpace] [KV MySpace]
Sunday, June 14
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL: The Dodos @ Studio B | Greenpoint, Brooklyn | $8
**Afternoon show** The Dodos are a really nice folk band who put out an amazing album last year. [MySpace]
NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL: Ponytail @ Studio B | Greepoint, Brooklyn | $12
Ponytail is a really nice experimental, noisy pop band who put out a great album last year. (This show is in the evening, after the Dodos show.) [MySpace]
FORT TILDEN BEACH BBQ (Todd P): Kurt Vile, So So Glos, Shilpa Ray, Phosphorescent, Pterodactyl, Mika Miko, Ponytail, Homosexuals, Real Estate, Coathangers + many, many more @ Fort Tilden Beach | Rockaways, way the hell out there | FREE
Wow, pretty much everyone you'd want to hear is playing an acoustic set at this free all-ages barbecue. Almost makes two hour trip (by subway, then bus) worth it. (more info)
Showing posts with label The Dodos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Dodos. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
Best Albums of 2008 - Part 2 - #20-16
Hey! This is part #2!
PREVIOUS>> Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
#20
Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
FatCat Records
This rather conventional pop record just managed to squeeze on the list on the merits of both songwriting and sound. I was a bit surprised, since Glasgow breeds almost exclusively boring and overrated bands, but this one actually knows how to rock! Particularly notable, the guitar arrangements are driving and innovative. Yeah, the words are a bit whiny, but most bands' lyrics are, and at least these are from the heart. It's all-around solid pop album with a rough-shod Scottish attitude, perfect for crying in your beer to, but also suitable for rocking out.
Track pick: "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms"
MySpace
#19
Why? - Alopecia
Anticon Records
I thought about not considering Why? for the list because as I explained, I've left out rap albums. However, a full listen revealed as much indie rock as rap here. Either way, it's a great album of well-performed music, with interesting hip-hop rhythms, beyond-solid drum and guitar work and bold originality. For Ohio-born former high school band dweebs, these guys are pretty ill.
Track Picks: "The Hollows," 'The Fall of Mr. Fifths"
MySpace
#18
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Mute Records
If this album's finest moments were more indicative of its overall quality, it would have fallen much higher on the list. M83's electronic shoegaze creates some of the most stunning walls-of-sound of the year, and some of the most interesting hooks too. The album includes too many skippable tracks to win out against the other albums on the list, but if you're thinking of picking up a copy, do it! It may not be solid throughout, but the good stuff is some of the best music out there these days.
Track pick: "Kim & Jessie"
MySpace
#17
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
We Are Free Records
Ponytail has beat out Women for the "Best Blatantly Experimental Indie Rock Band That Put Out An Amateur But Promising Release In 2008" award, because while I can compare Women to other post-rock bands, Ponytail goes in a more original direction. I'm not sure how to describe it without making it sound dreadful, and indeed, if you can't handle edgy, you may want to steer clear. High-speed noise rock from guitars and drums plus random whooping and wailing doesn't sound like a good idea, but Ponytail makes it work and makes it awesome. And their entirely fearless approach to musical innovation makes me suspect this may be only a first hint of something truly great.
MySpace
#16
The Dodos - Visiter
Frenchkiss Records
I tossed this album on the "annoying" pile when I first heard it, but something (I don't remember what) made me go back and give it another try. And yeah, it has its annoying moments, but they don't do anything to counteract the much more important moments of simple, pure beauty. In 14 tracks of percussion-driven indie folk, the Dodos spin quiet tales of love, heartache and regret, without being remotely cliched or whiny. The careful arrangements are so subtle that they might be overlooked if it weren't for the album's consistently killer songwriting. A quirky charmer indeed!
Track picks: "Walking," "Jodi"
MySpace
NEXT>> Part 3: #15-11
Part 4: #10-6
Part 5: #5-1
PREVIOUS>> Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
#20
Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
FatCat Records
This rather conventional pop record just managed to squeeze on the list on the merits of both songwriting and sound. I was a bit surprised, since Glasgow breeds almost exclusively boring and overrated bands, but this one actually knows how to rock! Particularly notable, the guitar arrangements are driving and innovative. Yeah, the words are a bit whiny, but most bands' lyrics are, and at least these are from the heart. It's all-around solid pop album with a rough-shod Scottish attitude, perfect for crying in your beer to, but also suitable for rocking out.
Track pick: "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms"
MySpace
#19
Why? - Alopecia
Anticon Records
I thought about not considering Why? for the list because as I explained, I've left out rap albums. However, a full listen revealed as much indie rock as rap here. Either way, it's a great album of well-performed music, with interesting hip-hop rhythms, beyond-solid drum and guitar work and bold originality. For Ohio-born former high school band dweebs, these guys are pretty ill.
Track Picks: "The Hollows," 'The Fall of Mr. Fifths"
MySpace
#18
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Mute Records
If this album's finest moments were more indicative of its overall quality, it would have fallen much higher on the list. M83's electronic shoegaze creates some of the most stunning walls-of-sound of the year, and some of the most interesting hooks too. The album includes too many skippable tracks to win out against the other albums on the list, but if you're thinking of picking up a copy, do it! It may not be solid throughout, but the good stuff is some of the best music out there these days.
Track pick: "Kim & Jessie"
MySpace
#17
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
We Are Free Records
Ponytail has beat out Women for the "Best Blatantly Experimental Indie Rock Band That Put Out An Amateur But Promising Release In 2008" award, because while I can compare Women to other post-rock bands, Ponytail goes in a more original direction. I'm not sure how to describe it without making it sound dreadful, and indeed, if you can't handle edgy, you may want to steer clear. High-speed noise rock from guitars and drums plus random whooping and wailing doesn't sound like a good idea, but Ponytail makes it work and makes it awesome. And their entirely fearless approach to musical innovation makes me suspect this may be only a first hint of something truly great.
MySpace
#16
The Dodos - Visiter
Frenchkiss Records
I tossed this album on the "annoying" pile when I first heard it, but something (I don't remember what) made me go back and give it another try. And yeah, it has its annoying moments, but they don't do anything to counteract the much more important moments of simple, pure beauty. In 14 tracks of percussion-driven indie folk, the Dodos spin quiet tales of love, heartache and regret, without being remotely cliched or whiny. The careful arrangements are so subtle that they might be overlooked if it weren't for the album's consistently killer songwriting. A quirky charmer indeed!
Track picks: "Walking," "Jodi"
MySpace
NEXT>> Part 3: #15-11
Part 4: #10-6
Part 5: #5-1
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