Though it may have seemed that the whole hep world was at Madison Square Garden last night, there was another major sold out event spinning in the indie rock solar system. As part of the Guggenheim's ongoing "Dark Sounds" series, Andrew Bird and sculptor/artist/engineer Ian Schneller debuted their collaborative project, the Sonic Arboretum. The mostly instrumental show was commissioned to accompany the exhibition Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance, which is currently on view at the museum through September 6th. more ›

Click on the images for more about this Week in Rock; this week features Dirty Projectors at the Williamsburg Waterfront, Andrew Bird at Green-Wood Cemetery, and Ted Leo at Pier 54. more ›

Also this week: more ›

If you haven't yet seen Andrew Bird live, then you've got a pretty easy decision to make regarding your Thursday night plans: He'll be performing at Radio City Music Hall with his stellar three-piece band, and tickets are still on sale! Of course, if you've already had the Andrew Bird live experience, there's no deciding necessary: to see him once is to be blown away and left wanting more, so you've already got tickets burning a hole in your pocket. We've pretty much exhausted all our superlatives when it comes to Bird, whose voice, violin, guitar, glockenspiel, and virtuoso whistling combine—often simultaneously—to create a sublime, almost unclassifiable pop-Americana soundscape. His most recent album, Noble Beast, is just further proof that Bird's compositional gifts are an embarrassment of riches; but the only proof you'll need, should you remain unconvinced, will be presented in its entirety Thursday night at Radio City, Q.E.D. more ›

Aside from a passing shower in the afternoon, the weather at Liberty State Park was unseasonably mild and sunny yesterday for day one of the "inaugural" All Points West rock festival. The grassy grounds were populated by misting tents, American Spirit free cigarette lounges, a healthy variety of food vendors, a Sony PlayStation tent, and the whimsical art that's become de rigueur for these sorts of things, with curiosities ranging from Christopher Janney's Sonic Forest to the Solar Pavilion shade sculpture designed with "a zero-waste mandate." more ›

Wolves and Wishes, the fourth LP from the wizardly Martin Dosh, may have been fused in Minneapolis (with contributions from artists like Will Oldham and Andrew Bird), but hear it through headphones while wandering New York at dusk and you'll think it was specifically made to accompany aimless strolls through the city's more deserted quarters. That the album's expansive soundscape is richly layered with looping keyboard, guitar, sax, banjo, percussion and other surprising instrumentation will come as no surprise to those familiar with Dosh's last album, this fascinating video, or his immensely fruitful collaboration with Bird. more ›

Traffic on the main commercial strip of Red Hook – Van Brunt Street – will most definitely change when the blue walls of IKEA open their doors in August. One wonders where all these hungry consumers will flock to eat, but an obvious choice, if they can get a table, is The Good Fork. The Andrew Bird-endorsed restaurant is run by Korean chef-owner Sohui Kim and her husband Ben Schneider, who designed and built most off the interior, which is split into two dining rooms: a bigger one with exposed brick and curved wooden ceilings, and a smaller one with five or so tables. (And if you get the seat next to the customer-driven record player in the small room, it feels a bit like being a DJ on a boat parked in Red Hook.) more ›

Disinformation is not an easy show to describe, which is a good thing. The first to note is that Reggie Watts, the show’s mad theatrical scientist with Sideshow Bob hair, is one wickedly funny man. In Disinformation he’s supported by a quartet of tireless performers as he coaxes the absurdity out of the corporate bromides, 2012 eschatology, gangsta rap posturing, and commercialized sex that litter the post-modern landscape. Watts prods his subjects obliquely while relating some wildly fantastic stories about secret underground grottos and science fiction camouflage suits like those found in Predator. Mixed with these hilarious monologues, he’s produced a series of bemusing promotional videos for a friendly/sinister corporation called Carnaidesai, a company with a vague purpose but one portentous mission statement: “There’s not much future left, but we’re using all of it!” more ›

We interviewed hundreds of people this year, from long-time rockers to the designer of New York’s subway map. Here are a few conversations you may have missed:

• On the day Radiohead’s In Rainbows was released exclusively online, musician Jonny Greenwood talked about the “experiment.” more ›

READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a... more ›

Not too long ago Ronen Givony started the Wordless Music Series, which is pretty much just what it sounds like it would be. Sonic worlds collide and fuse classical with indie, jazz with electronic and listeners with instrumental-only music. In the next week audiences will enjoy the sounds of Do Make Say Think and Beirut from an intimate setting for just such an experience. more ›

The fair is going on all weekend at McCarren Park Pool in Williamsburg (11am to 6pm each day). We plan to hit it up, and suggest you do too if you're in the area. Two years ago we purchased some Andrew Bird artwork from Jay Ryan there. Doesn't look like he'll be around this year, but check out all the other vendors that will be, here. Photo from today at the fair via Hoimoi's Flickr, who says there are "lots of carefully selected and interesting vendors." more ›

Last year a new bar/venue/bocce haven opened in Park Slope called Union Hall. As most good things in New York, everyone seemed to find out about this gem in no time, leading to crowded bocce courts and limited seating on weekends. On most nights, however, the sirens still draw us there. Jack McFadden (affectionately called Skippy by those who know him), books the downstairs venue, which has consistently had solid lineups. We recently asked him about how he makes the magic happen there... more ›

Call us shamelessly grandiose, but when the dust settles on the first disheartening decade of our new century, we're certain that Andrew Bird will be widely acknowledged as one of the artists who best captured (and playfully tweaked) our era's portentous zeitgeist. Indie-rock critics and bloggers have been lauding him for years, and now Bird is finally selling out the big clubs (and touring in a BioDiesel bus). On his albums, his rich, multi-textural sound defies definition as it plunges into dense, hypnotic reveries mottled with lyrics that are often as emotionally stirring as they are whimsical. In concert, Bird's songs become a high-wire marvel to behold, as he lays down multiple loops of himself on a variety of instruments with which he then plays along, joined by and his current fearless and talented tour-mates, Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker. more ›

Andrew Bird, whose inspired 2005 album The Mysterious Production of Eggs was an indie hit, brought his sublime genre-defying songs (and socks) to a sold-out Bowery Ballroom last night. He was joined on percussion and keyboards by regular collaborator Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker – a new addition to his road show – on bass and guitar. more ›

Tonight we'll definitely be heading over to the second show of the series, which will feature Andrew Bird. They're calling it a violin recital, which is cute, but we bet he'll even whistle a little! Joining Bird will be the duo A Hawk and a Hacksaw and pianist Steven Beck. more ›

Gothamist headed down to Manchester, Tennessee with over 80,000 other music fans from across genres and across the world to take in Bonnaroo 2006. Three days of some of the best bands around from Jam to Jazz to Rap to Rock. We were up bright and early Friday morning to get the weekend off to the right start. more ›

Not that you were asking, but we know you wanted it. The obligatory Best of '05 List. We chose to list off the Best NYC Shows in 2005. We compiled this list after closely surveying and consulting...ourselves. Here are our Top 11 NYC Shows of 2005. That's right, we said ELEVEN. more ›

Andrew Bird and M. Ward not only released two of our favorite albums this year, they both put on a perfect live show. Keren Ann is another one of our favorite people to see live. Over the past past few months we've paid to see Keren Ann, M. Ward, and Andrew Bird headline shows in NYC. For that reason we couldn't be more excited that Andrew & Keren are teaming up for a double headlining bill at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, and Mr. Ward is playing a free show at Castle Clinton in Battery Park on Thursday. Keren's album is called Nolita and you can listen to some of it here. M. Ward's album is called Transistor Radio and Merge has some songs you can stream. Andrew Bird's album is the Mysterious Production of Eggs and NPR has some songs and a review. M. Ward is also at Maxwell's on Friday. more ›