Results tagged “elliottsmith”

No "Lost" spoilers in this post. Stephen Merritt doesn't bring the band around too often, so it's always a treat when The Magnetic Fields take the stage in town. Despite the band hailing from Brooklyn, this is the first local show they've played in quite a few years, and the sold-out 4 night run at Town Hall did not disappoint the anxious fans. While their latest album, Distortion, casts a fuzzy haze over the otherwise deliberate, straight forward folk/pop tunes; the live show stripped them down completely, leaving nothing but acoustic instruments and voices. Every song comes across sharp, witty and with complete confidence, and manage to sound universally better then they ever do on record. (pic via coeur-sang's flickr)

Damien DeRose, aka Peasant, tip-toed into our playlist last year just before playing Gothamist House at CMJ. Hailing from Doylestown, PA, his small town sound has been calmly floating around this city with more and more frequency -- enchanting everyone within earshot. This Thursday he's back to play the Brooklyn Vegan show at Pianos (tix).

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse.

We interviewed co-owner of Luna Lounge Rob Sacher in 2004, and he told a little story about Elliott Smith (who wrote his album XO at the bar at Luna). The story starts out, "Before I knew who Elliott Smith was, I knew him as this very quiet guy that had discovered the bar (at Luna) and would stay there till closing or near closing most nights, writing constantly in a journal with some kind of dark whiskey drink on the rocks or straight-up in front of him; he always had some kind of bourbon or something like that in front of him. Week after week after week."

Mid song, about two and a half in after I got to the Knitting Factory last night during Owen's quiet solo set, someone by the bar shouted out "Emo Sucks!" and the place went quiet. Yikes. I'm not sure anyone knew how to react. Well, yea, it does? But, no, this guy's good...But is this really emo? Perhaps, in the most basic and grounded sense of the word, but...is this EMOSUKS! emo? Or does emo that sucks involve hysteric teenage girls and eyeliner? This was more Elliott Smith or Bright Eyes emo, which most people seem to agree doesn't suck at all. Wait, was that guy actually even serious? It was really quite the loaded statement, uttered by someone who was either a paying attendee of the show or a guest of the band. The idea even crossed my mind that this was part of the song. Mike Kinsella (aka Owen) stopped and attempted to address the guy, but was mostly drowned out by the even more curious calls from the audience that the heckler was a terrorist and hated our freedom. Yeah, this was weird. And we hadn't even gotten to Joan of Arc yet.

- And if you were wondering why Bubba Sparxx, Rick Ross, and Dem Franchise Boyz were at the Time Warner Center today, it's because they got Gold/Platinum certification for their (duh!) - photographs from MGChan on Flickr

Camera phone looky-loos, this one's for you. We're talking about the biggest band to hit small to medium sized NYC venues since Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and The Arcade Fire. We're talking about Montreal's latest buzz band Wolf Parade. You've got three chances to see them this week. That's three chances to see them before they come back to play Webster Hall. If you can't find a ticket to the sold out shows Monday and Tuesday at Bowery Ballroom and Northsix, try to snag one of the non-student tickets available at the door to the NYU performance on Thursday. Listen to songs at their MySpace page.

Mary Lou Lord

It looks like the MTA is doing what matters: The NY Post reports that the MTA is busting a Brooklyn bagelry, F Line Bagels in Carroll Gardens, for mentioning the subway in its name and in its store's decorations. Apparently an MTA lawyer went into their store to let them know that the MTA wants the Smith Street store cease-and-desist with its various subway memorabilia, not to mention the store's name, or pay the MTA a licensing fee. The owner, Farid Assad, said he decorated the store with signs and pole he found on the MTA website, saying, "If they don't want people to use this stuff, then why make it available for anyone to buy? We bought the stuff on the MTA Web site, so we assumed it would be OK to use it." Mister, the MTA is not supposed to make sense, okay? Just because the MTA is trashing their stuff doesn't mean it's supposed to be enjoyed by mom-and-pop businesses. Of course, Gothamist hasn't visited F Line Bagels, so if anyone has, let us know; we'd understand that the MTA would be upset if the store's bagels absolutely sucked.

1994 was a big year for music.

For a while now Music For America has been providing us with endless amounts of entertainment, events and information.

different that it's not falling under the indie rock category. They have been known to pack houses, start sets with instrumentals and have surely dazzled even the most disaffected looking hipster with their slightly obscure-lyrics and melodic tunes. There's a spectrum here in the music world, and they are spanning it and breaking beyond any boundaries that were previously set. The guys were even kind enough to let us ask them some questions this week...let's hear it for brevity!

Rob Sacher, Co-owner Luna Lounge

BookExpo America will be in NY next year; for Chicago news, certainly check out Chicagoist. And when Gothamist remembers to think of it, we do watch Book Notes.

Rachel Kramer Bussel, Smut Editor/Writer

Reading about comic artist keaner (kean) and his brother's trip to New York is refreshing not just because he's cleverly cataloged visits to different parts of the city using a subway map - it's just nice to see the city from an out-of-towner's perspective, in this case, an intrepid pair of brothers from Ottawa who stay in a hostel on the Bowery. Ah, the days when we'd get mixed up and ride on a downtown train when we meant to go uptown...it almost happens every week. For a short visit, they covered a lot of ground with the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, and Guggenheim; next time, Gothamist suggests they check out the outer boroughs. [Via Metafilter]

A memorial concert in the memory of Elliott Smith is set for November 3 at the Henry Fonda Theater in L.A. Performers include Beck, Beth Orton, Rilo Kiley, Future Pigeon, Alaska, Lou Barlow, Grandaddy, Radar Bros and other special guests. Unsurprisingly, tickets are already sold out. The concert will be preceded by “Strange Parallel," a documentary about Smith by Steve Hanft. Proceeds will benefit the Elliott Smith Foundation for Abused Children.

- Of course OUR president looks the stupidest in this picture

"We are deeply saddened by Elliott Smith's tragic death and send our condolences to his friends and family. He was perhaps his generation's most gifted singer-songwriter. His enormous talent could change your life with a whisper. We will miss him." - Dreamworks Records statement.

Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died yesterday of an apparent suicide. He was found in his Silver Lake, CA apartment and brought to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead an hour later. According to MTV News, there was a single knife wound that seemed to be self-inflicted but police are investigating. This is very sad to hear about this death because his songs, depressing and dark countered with his soft voice and lyrical guitar playing, have made our days much sweeter.

The possibility of Field Day Fest happening in Riverhead, NY, is becoming even less likely, with the Riverhead town board tabling a the resolution to have Field Fest there. Dude, it's clear to Gothamist that all the town board members' children were harrassing them not to deny Field Day Fest, but really, there was no way the town board was going to have that kind of chaos on their records, especially with the Suffolk County police not being able to help out with handling crowds. It looks like Giants Stadium will be the new venue, but more information is scheduled to come from Field Day Fest organizers.

Even though Suffolk County has denied their permit, promoters claim the Field Day Festival, the two-day concert with acts like the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Beck, and Liz Phair, will still go on. Schedule for June 7-8, the concert is to be held at a former Grumman U.S. naval facility in Calverton, NY. The accusations/excuses the town of Riverhead faces are that roads wouldn't be able to handle the traffic, the land would be irrevocably damaged, etc.