Blog: 2scene4thescene

Watch The Teaser Video & Get Tickets: http://reignofterror.tv Sleigh Bells will release their sophomore album, entitled Reign of Terror , on February 14th, 2012 on Mom + Pop Music. Produced by guitarist Derek Miller , and written by Miller and singer Alexis Krauss , Reign of Terror is the highly anticipated follow [...]

Playing two sold-out shows at Webster Hall, The Kooks brought Britain back on the map with their cheery guitar rhythms and signature vocal sound. Complete with moves like Mick Jagger, frontman Luke Pritchard strutted around the stage in similar fashion, expertly cranking out old favorites as well as songs from their latest album, Junk of the Heart . Frequently throughout the night, I felt like I was in a different era, the one where there were four similarly mop-topped boys feverishly playing their instruments for a slew of girls (and in the aughts version, quite a few dandier boys). [...]

Stream "Ghost" At EntertainmentWeekly.com Ingrid Michaelson will release her eagerly awaited fourth album Human Again January 24th on Cabin 24 Records/Mom+Pop Music. Fans can download the debut single, "Ghost," on iTunes and Amazon now as well as stream the track at EW.com. Human Again, produced by David Kahne (Regina Spektor, Paul McCartney), is a triumph in aural range, the music veers from orchestral to percussive, while her accompanying voice swells from contralto to soprano. These darker, impassioned songs plumb the breadth of human emotion and throw a wrench [...]

Hoping to snag a good spot to see Ben Harper, I arrived early enough to catch the opener, Grace Woodroofe. I immediately regretted this decision once I had procured a spot and was able to watch her "perform". Deceived by her deep mature voice, her stage antics were more age appropriate to that of a teenager singing into a hairbrush in her bedroom. Not knowing the proper etiquette for a musician on stage, she chose to imitate the idea of the rock star, by thrashing about with her hair covering her face, and then immediately realizing that this was impractical [...]

Image courtesy of Vincent Cornelli via Brooklyn Vegan A humid dusk settles over Central Park Summerstage. What better scene for Lykke Li, the Swedish songstress, to seduce a group of fawning New Yorkers? Unfortunately I had to sit through the opener, Timber Timbre , who was as annoying as the mosquitoes and dragonflies flying over head. The lead singer also spent the entire set in a beekeeper get up, which did not gain him any sympathy. Finally, after waiting the allotted 45 minutes while [...]

Having missed Of Montreal last year with the infamous incident of Susan Sarandon spanking lead singer Kevin Barnes, I quickly bought tickets to last night's show as soon as they were available. Although there were no celebrity shenanigans, the evening was nevertheless entertaining. The band played through songs off albums old and new with a tone casual nonchalance, as they had no doubt played through the same songs many times before to the same reaction. The real treat was watching the back-up dancers and their ridiculous routines and costumes, and witnessing secondary members of the band have [...]

In the small, intimate back space of Piano's on the Lower East Side, I caught the last night of Yellow Ostrich's residency. I made my way into the room in time to see the opening band, and immediately regretted my decision in doing so but at that point had already found a nice spot in the small room so leaving was not an option. I don't remember what they were called, but they were certainly memorable in how awful they were. It was clear they wanted to be the Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver, but clearly fell short. Even with [...]

Saturday night marked the last night of this year's CMJ and I closed it off with a throwback to my punk rock days at the Fat Wreck Chords showcase. To prepare myself for the long night of music ahead, I remembered last night's mistake and ate way too much Thai food (which was possibly the other mistake one could make, especially before a punk show). The first five bands all sounded the same and I'm not just saying that because I'm a jaded old fart now. Punk rock today isn't the same as it was 10 years [...]

CMJ took over New York this week, bringing hundreds of bands and industry players to town. Last night I went to the Paradigm show at the Mercury Lounge. A tip for next year: eat before you go! Since these showcases typically start at 6:30 with venues not serving food and not allowing re-entry, you're basically left to sustain yourself on booze and olives if you can swing it. The set started with Australian band Ume , which featured a forgettable female vocalist. It could have been because I was too distracted by my hunger, but [...]

After playing chicken with the weather (Tropical Storm Nicole to be exact), Belle and Sebastian were able to take the stage without any interruption. It was the band's first time in New York since 2006. Playing against an orange-red sky, Belle and Sebastian played songs off their new album Write About Love as well as plenty of classics. At one point during the set, Stuart Murdoch threw out goodies for the kiddies and brought fans up on stage to clap along. After a stellar hour and a half set, Belle and Sebastian bid good night to Brooklyn, hopefully [...]

Belle and Sebastian recently announced a new album entitled Belle and Sebastian Write About Love to be released October 11th in the UK and October 12th in North America via Matador Records. The album features guest vocals from Norah Jones (my neighbor) and Carey Mulligan (Oscar-nominated actress for An Education and in the upcoming film, Wall Street ). Listen to the title track: "Write About Love" The tour in support of the album kicks off September 30th in Brooklyn. 09/30 – Brooklyn, NY – Williamsburg Waterfront [...]

• Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love

Central Park Summerstage Ahh, summer outdoor shows. As this is my first summer in New York City, when I think of summer concerts I think of the cool summer nights that I grew comfortable with in Seattle, with the marine air and the lush grass accompanying the music. Not so in New York. Wednesday's show at Central Park Summerstage was hot and humid and increasingly smelly. I arrived and immediately bee-lined for the bleachers so as to avoid the sweaty masses. Because the only thing worse than bathing [...]

Menomena, the acclaimed Portland, OR art-rock trio, will release their fourth full-length record, Mines , tomorrow on Barsuk Records (and July 30th in Germany, and August 2nd in the UK and the rest of Europe, all on City Slang). The record is now streaming in its entirety as part of National Public Radio's Exclusive First Listen series. Listen to Menomena's Mines [Barsuk Records] in full on NPR: Listen to Mines Download and share Menomena's "TAOS" from Mines [Barsuk Records] courtesy of Stereogum: "TAOS" [...]

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For the last night of the Northside Festival, I attended the show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The first band was Steel Phantoms , a local act (which doesn't really mean anything when local means Brooklyn). I thought that their overall performance was rather stiff, the only one with any character being the drummer, Aaron Harris, who did double duty playing with his former band, Islands. Though they clearly had strong compositional skills, the vocal line in most songs fell flat. It didn't help that one vocalist sounded like the Killers' frontman, and the other vocalist sounded like the [...]

Boston's own electro-pop ambassadors Passion Pit have been known for decent reworks of club favorites. The latest addition to their already impressive catalogue of remixes is a dancefloor-friendly interpretation of Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg's ode to Californian beauties. Check it out below. Thanks MFR . Or, P.S. 22 covers Passion Pit:

This is pretty neat: Local Natives, current darlings of the summer festival circuit and the proud parents of the critically-acclaimed Gorilla Manor,have launched a microsite where artists and fans can snag stems of songs from the band's Frenchkiss Records debut. In exchange for a few personal details (name, email, postal – voilà!), prospective remixers can download stems for Manor standouts "Wide Eyes," "World News," "Camera Talk," and "Who Knows Who Cares." And that's just the first batch – more will be uploaded later this summer. Artists and fans can submit their re-envisioned track and the best will show up on [...]

This is pretty neat: Local Natives, current darlings of the summer festival circuit and the proud parents of the critically-acclaimed Gorilla Manor,have launched a microsite where artists and fans can snag stems of songs from the band's Frenchkiss Records debut. In exchange for a few personal details (name, email, postal – voilà!), prospective remixers can download stems for Manor standouts "Wide Eyes," "World News," "Camera Talk," and "Who Knows Who Cares." And that's just the first batch – more will be uploaded later this summer. Artists and fans can submit their re-envisioned track and the best will show up on [...]

As part of Make Music New York , a "unique festival of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City", I attended the French contribution at the Hiro Ballroom (oddly, a Japanese-themed club). A logical choice seeing as how Make Music New York is based on France's " Fête de la Musique ," a national musical holiday inaugurated in 1982, but has now spread internationally. I arrived in time to catch La Grande Sophie who I can only place in the American equivalent as somewhere between Paula Cole and Rachel [...]

Free shows, and a couple not free shows but worth the extra buck: Central Park SummerStage shows Manhattan SummerStage shows Brooklyn SummerStage shows Bronx SummerStage shows Gone to Governors Island Celebrate Brooklyn @ Prospect Park Bandshell Seaport Music @ South Street Seaport [...]