Last night we had a ball at a party to celebrate the release of the new Discovery album, "LP" at Le Poisson Rouge. After the album was played, the guys from Discovery, Wes from Ra Ra Riot & Rostam from Vampire Weekend took over the turntables to DJ a set heavy on poppy summertime jams. Too much fun. By the way, the album is fantastic, fun, and perfect for playing in the backyard with friends over for beers. Even cooler is the fact that if you but the album [...]
OK, so based on letters we've received here, you guys have actually missed our monthy Bakers Dozen Downloads...so apologies for not posting them up the last few months! To make things more managable, instead we'll try to put together more frequent posts of six awesome, legal, and free downloads. Here's the first bunch. Take 'em to the beach with you and tell us what you think. [...]
Seriously...If there is a Comedy Hall Of Fame, Weird Al Yankovic deserves a spot there. And if there's a Musical Comedy Hall Of Fame, Al deserves a statue at the entrance. Here's his newest, "Craigslist", featuring Ray Manzarek of The Doors:
Concert review: Grizzly Bear at Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA June 3, 2009 The first time I saw Grizzly Bear live—at a crowded, stiflingly hot club in Northampton, Massachusetts—was the moment I went from being a casual fan to a mildly obsessed one. These four sweaty, slightly goofy guys put on a dazzling, energetic, virtuosic show, one that transformed the cramped space into a collective religious experience. Nearly two years later at the Berklee Performance Center, [...]
More good news coming from the Siren Festival camp... Spank Rock, Japandroids, Bear Hands, and Future Of The Left have been added to Siren's bill. Already announced are Built To Spill, The Raveonettes, Frightened Rabbit, Grand Duchy, Monotonix, Micachu, and The Shapes. Sounds like there's still a few more acts to be announced...we'll let you know when we find out, natch. In case you missed the original announcement, Siren will be held again on Coney Island on Saturday, July 18. More info on the Village Voice Siren Festival at: http://www.villagevoice.com/si ren . [...]
Maybe it was the giant white ball hovering moonlike above the stage, its surface swarming with abstract film projections. Maybe it was the colored lights mounted under the white-draped tables where the three band members bent over their instruments. Or maybe it was the music itself: layered, percussive, hypnotic, and building moment by moment to a joyous climax. Whatever the reason, Animal Collective definitely brought a '90s rave vibe to Boston's House of Blues last night—even though most of the kids in the audience were probably way too young to recall the era of baggy pants [...]
I'm a sucker for a good pop song. Seriously, as long as the hooks are huge and the lyrics dance off the singer's tongue, I'm in. And show me an album loaded with good pop songs? There's a good chance it'll stay in my player for weeks. Case in point is the new album from Toronto's Matthew Barber , "Ghost Notes". Barber's a pretty great lyricist, but the music really shines as well on this album, which is split between rock stompers, folky pop, and piano-driven slower [...]
It's no surprise to regular reders of extrawack! that we're cookoo for Silversun Pickups . So when we were given the oportunity to giveaway some SSPU and Xbox swag, we jumped on it. The contest is in conjunction with the announcement that Silversun Pickups will play Guitar Hero® World Tour with Xbox LIVE® Gold Members on May 14. If you're an Xbox LIVE Gold Member and you want a chance to play with Silversun Pickups, send a friend request to the Gamertag "Silversun GwF"and be online half an hour before (9:30 [...]
As the weather gets nicer, I love rolling down the windows of my Scion and cranking big-riff jams in the CD player. This past weekend I took the opportunity to enjoy the recent album from The Bronx , The Bronx (III) , in a way I'm sure my neighbors didn't appreciate. Tough luck. It's awesome. Imagine my surprise, when after one of these neighborhood musical education trips, I found a note in my email letting me know that there's not one, but two dope new videos from the album! [...]
For a music fan in this jacked-up economy, there is nothing worse than shelling out big bucks for what turns out to be a lame show. If you are obsessed with making sure every one of your hard-earned pennies is well spent, have we got a triple-bill of goodness for you... The Dears (pictured left), Great Northern , and Eulogies are heading out next week on tour, and as I look around at all the other shows listed for May & June, this package [...]
OK, lets say you've been wanting to catch a Red Bulls soccer match at Giants Stadium, but the team's lackluster play this season is making you stay home. Or maybe you're not sure if its worth the drive out from wherever you're at for a mere 90 minutes of action. Finally, here's your incentive to make it out to the Swamp... The MetroStars/DC United rivalry is the closest thing in the USA to a Boca Juniors/River Plate style "Classico", so you've got that going for you this Sunday. [...]
Of all of the "influential" or "seminal" bands that have reunited in recent years, only one has really knocked my socks off hard enough to really make me pay attention... The New York Dolls . Their "reunion" album, 2006's One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This was dead solid, and the tour that followed was nothing less than a ball. Now comes word that The Dolls have reunited with Todd Rundgren, producer of their influential 1973 debut, to record their fourth studio album, 'Cause I Sez So , on Atco Records. [...]
Oh Snap! Just for kicks, here's a good one from the Vertifight series of dance battles, featuring Bingo Players - "Get Up (Diplo Remix)" at the start:
Lou Reed will be playing the Blender Theater at Gramercy next Thursday and Friday (April 23 and 24) with his Metal Machine Trio (Lou on guitar and electronics, Ulrich Krieger on tenor sax and live-electronics, and Sarth Calhoun on live processing and Fingerboard Continuum). The show is billed as "A Night Of Deep Noise", so don't expect "I Love You Suzanne"... Check the widget below for samples of what to expect at these shows, though it's important to note that these shows are improvised, so no two shows will be alike: [...]
If you are a fan of extrawack! , you know that we are big fans of free music...and that's why we're fans of Green Label Sound , the label/website that offers free downloads from a sweet roster of bands. One of the best shows we saw at SXSW was Matt and Kim at the Green Label Sounds party, and since we're still fired up from our trip to Austin, we want to share some tunage with a couple of extrawack! readers... We'll have the following treasure trove of Green Label Sound [...]
Phoenix have just released a video for the song "Lisztomania", from their forthcoming album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix . The album is released (you'll never catch me saying "drops") on May 26. Ch-ch-check it out: Phoenix - Lisztomania from 35east on Vimeo .
Although they've not officially announced their summer free show line-up, The Seaport Music Festival apparently already has some great shows lined up. According to the good folks at Oh My Rockness , here are some of the shows they've confirmed: Fri 7/03 6:00 PM Here We Go Magic, Bachelorette Fri 7/10 6:00 PM The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Fri 7/24 6:00 PM Black Moth Super Rainbow Fri 8/07 6:00 PM Casiokids, The Wave Pictures, Slow Club [...]
Maximo Park has a new album out next month called Quicken The Heart , and they've just put out a video for the single, "The Kids Are Sick Again". Here 'tis: Their website lists a ton of live dates for Europe, but none yet for the States. Fingers crossed.
With this review, extrawack! welcomes new Boston correspondent Anna Kramer... Asobi Seksu at the Middle East, Cambridge, March 30, 2009 Last night's show began with an unexpected twist: A last-minute move from the 500-person capacity Middle East Downstairs club to the much smaller Upstairs section of the venue. But whatever this shift may have meant for Asobi Seksu , they didn't seem to [...]
Wow! Just got a press release stating that Andy Partridge's Ape label will be re-releasing the two excellent Dukes of Stratosphear albums on April 21, complete with bonus demos and new liner notes! I'll let that email speak for itself: The Dukes of Stratosphear came about in the 80s with a release of an EP (25 O'Clock) by those cheeky lads in Swindon, UK, otherwise known as XTC. It was a side-project put out semi-anonymously, without fanfare, which came about from a shared love of 60s-inspired psychedelic, Lewis Carroll-tinged power [...]
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Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
Metric Debuts Album via Synthetica Hide+Seek, Tickets On Sale Now For Fall Tour
THE MASTERSONS — BIRDS FLY SOUTH
