Results tagged “ghostlandobservatory”

We checked in with some folks recently for a little end of '07 "exit interview" before we enter a new year. It's safe to say that our first subject in this series had a pretty big year with his band Ghostland Observatory (let's just say they've certainly outgrown our Movable Hype shows). With a new album coming out in March, they're poised for world domination in the 2008.

FAIR: The International vintage poster fair has arrived. It's time to take that ironic velvet Elvis off the wall and class up your joint. The fair will include "over 25 international dealers with more than 10,000 original vintage posters." More info here.

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.

THEATER: With his zany imagination and distinctive bass-baritone voice, Joseph Keckler (myspace) has been generating buzz throughout the gooey honeycomb of the downtown performance art cabaret scene. Tonight he sprinkles his particular blend of whimsical catnip at Dixon Place with Cat Lady, in which a man re-enacts an ordinary day with his mother, who runs a community theater with cat actors out of her home. “Past lives are recalled, songs are sung, and finally a trip to the vet's is made in this comedic and dark exploration of the relationship between art and trauma.” Part of the HOT! Festival. – John Del Signore

Thousands of people line McCarren Pool on Sundays, standing in place of where water used to be. This summer JellyNYC's Sunday Pool Parties are continuing, in what has become an instant summer tradition.

It seems that every time The White Stripes fade away for a year or two, people seem to forget exactly how amazing they can be live. Perhaps it takes a show like the one at Irving Plaza last Tuesday...filled with hardcore, line-waiting fans and eager and excited members of the media to really drive home just how good a show Jack White puts on, and exactly how impressive Meg is to keep up with him (though not everyone agrees). Those in attendance were in for a treat, as any time an arena band brings it down for a club show, it's always a spectacle. We were floored at Keyspan Park two years ago, and are excited to see them bring it to another level at the Garden next month. Read the reviews at Productshop, The Modern Age, and Stereogum, to (name a few in attendance.) (Pic Via DanFun)

We've never handed our tickets to the door guy at a show before and been asked if we wanted to get a table and buy a bottle. But this, I suppose, is what you get when you go see a show on 16th street and 10th ave. Our experience at the new High Line Ballroom felt as if we were living the opening scene of a Law and Order episode, where at any second some over-tanned I-banker would come stumbling out of the bathroom covered in blood as everybody runs towards the exit. The thumping music, the blinding lights and this lingering sense of false superiority reeked of a disaster, but the ambiance aside, both Spankrock and Ghostface put on one hell of a show. Each act managed to cram as many people as possible on the stage, all rocking and flopping about to the music. Even fellow Wu-Tanger RZA came up briefly at the mic for a brief cameo. Live hip-hop shows are often a mixed bag for us, but while this one started out a bit sketch, it ended with a huge bang. (pic via Gaelenh's Flickr)

Here's a heads up on sunny summertime shows. Sure, after the first week we'll be complaining about the heat, the smell of the city as it melts, and the lack of shade...but it's always nice to have some music to look forward to. So stock up on the SPF for the following shows:

EVENT: Charles Ray, who is thirty years deep in the art world, will be at the New School tonight for a Public Art Fund talk. The leader of the "conceptual realism" movement with a "lively, self-deprecating sense of humor" will discuss his "virtuoso craftsmanship" and his depiction of "familiar elements of everyday life and modern art in disarmingly altered ways."

It was inevitable that indie rock and Playboy merge, we suppose. Next week at SXSW, the two will come together for one big party, and we want to get you in on the action.

It's freezing, it's Monday...and today is the most depressing day of the year. Happy Blue Monday, everyone!

Tonight A & A play at the Awesome, Inc party at Galapagos. It's free, there will be free Sparks, you have no excuse not to go.

READING: The New School's wonderful public lectures and reading series are back in swing as the school year revs up, and tonight, the ethereal Mary Gaitskill will discuss her book (a National Book Award finalist) with moderator Jeffrey Renard Allen. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras

We first heard of Apes and Androids when we saw the video for their song "Radio". The tune was catchy and we felt the same sort of dance in our pants feeling we felt when we first saw Ghostland Observatory. We then made them our Band of the Week, so clearly their mechanical rockbot had climbed into our subconscious. Tonight they play at Sin-e, and we hear it's going to be insane. Good insane. Robotic rock opera-tastic.

The studios are usually set up at the Museum of Television and Radio, but this year they got switched over to Gigantic. This is really nice for the bands, the studio is beautiful - in addition to being Philip Glass' old studio. For the audience, however, it's harder to see and feel connected to what's going on - with a glass window to see through and a wall seperating you from the music.

With KEXP in town there's a lot more music than usual. Check out their in studio shows online while you're at work this week. Off the airwaves there's a lot to see, hear and enjoy as well. Tonight and tomorrow night, Angels and Airwaves and I Am The Avalanche play Bowery Ballroom. If you walk by the venue to see a cluster of pierced tweens waiting to get in, it may help to know that the former band is Tom from Blink 182. Goldfrapp is also in town, playing Irving Plaza tonight.

One of our favorite stations to listen to all day is KEXP, run out of Seattle, and through the magic of online streaming - heard worldwide. This week they're in New York broadcasting (as they are twice a year), putting on some shows and having many in-studio guests. They're in Philip Glass' old studio which is now Gigantic Music, where their musical guests include:

Another week begins and it's time to start penciling in some shows. Tonight, The Concretes are back! The Scandinavian 8+ person band will be playing Bowery Ballroom. While over at Sin-e King of France, Less and Dawn Landes play a more intimate gig.

We announced the lineup for the next Movable Hype show on Friday, and we have one more addition to make that we're really excited about! The Slack Republic has joined the bill, and they'll be closing out the night, so be sure to stick around for them.

We'd been gearing up for SXSW this year for months, with shows to plan and afterparties to help out with - it took up a lot of our time, even when we weren't there yet. Now that it's over, we're not quite sure what to do with ourselves, or how to recap it all. We also haven't been near a computer in a week, so bear with our slow typing.

Yesterday we announced details about the afterparty, and now we're gonna tell you about the "beforeparty" thrown by Austinist and Gothamist, subtitled: "Gonna Gonna Get, Get Down!".

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.

- Ask Gothamist gives you an idea on what to do with your old ticket stubs

CRAFTY CONSUMERISM: The Renegade Craft Fair is a DIY extravaganza which has only since taken place in Chicago. This weekend it sets up shop in Brooklyn with 150 vendors who will showcase and sell their one-of-a-kind handmade wares, including reconstructed clothing, comics, zines, jewelry, silkscreened gigposters, iPod cozies and more.

Last night's Movable Hype was a great time, thanks to everyone who came out and to Nick Catchdubs for deejaying. And a special thanks to all of the bands. Really amazing night!

We're really excited about tonight's show and hope to see you all there. Here are the details and set times:

Call it shameless self promotion if you want, but the place to be tonight (Monday) is Knitting Factory for Gothamist's own Movable Hype 3.0 show featuring some of the hottest bands from NYC and Austin. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah just self-released their debut self-titled album and its quickly become one of our favorite listens of the year (read the Gothamist interview). Fans of Talking Heads and the Arcade Fire should take note (MP3s at their site). And the $8.00 bill doesn't end there. NY Press cover stars The Fame (read the Gothamist interview), local favorites Man in Gray (read the Gothamist interview), and the popular electronic rock duo Ghostland Observatory from Austin make this show more than a bargain. Even Pitchfork agrees with the hotness. Get tickets (also available at the door if it doesn't sell out).

Ghostland Observatory

Gothamist wanted to give you a heads for the next Movable Hype event. It's coming up fast, on JUNE 20th, and we'll be back at the Knitting Factory (main space) this time around.

is described as an epic rock opera fantasy.