Results tagged “indie”

The NY Times looks at some of New York's indie elite in their Men's Style Magazine this weekend. So incase you were wondering what last night's SNL music guests, Vampire Weekend, wear when they aren't decked out in their Columbia University alum apparel, now you know: Marc Jacobs. Or at least that's how The Times translates it.

The Village Voice has taken a page from MTV and begun to invade the cribs of rock stars. Okay, indie rock stars...who haven't quite broken out of their downtown bubble yet.

Last month in Rolling Stone's November 15th issue, the magazine turned 40 -- and while going "over the hill" they may have crossed the line. The issue contained a four-page fold-out section called Indie Rock Universe, which amongst other things included the names of Indie's elite.

Recently, IFC News was at the Walter Reade Theater for a New York Film Festival Press Conference for the Brian De Palma film Redacted, where the director was found defending his edit. At the end of the film disturbing images are shown in a montage sequence, photographs that Brian De Palma says "all exist on the internet." That may be so, but Magnolia Pictures owner Mark Cuban doesn't want them on the big screen.

FUNDRAISER: It's the 3rd Annual Summer, Sex and Spirits cocktail and shopping extravaganza. Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC), in conjunction with Brooklyn Indie Market join forces for the fundraiser, "an evening of mixing and mingling with retail therapy!" There will be $4 drink specials, 1/2 price sangria pitchers, a deejay and a giveaway...we're also guessing everyone will walk away with at least one free condom.

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.

The areas being renovated include an Italian garden of boxwoods and roses; the Rockefeller Fountain, which has provided a welcome spritzing to many of the two million annual visitors; and a suite of Beaux-Arts-style buildings considered to be the heart of the 265-acre zoo.

Continue reading "Bachelorette Pad"

READINGS: Jonathan Lethem reads from his new novel You Don't Love Me Yet. In it, Lethem leaves Boerum Hill for LA "to recount the near-fame experience of a Los Angeles alternative rock band". A girl, a boy and a band - sounds like a hipster love story to us!

READING: John Sellers will be reading from his book, Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, tonight. Idolizing bands like Joy Division, Sonic Youth, Pavement and Guided by Voices, the book outlines how he developed his taste in music. It reads more like a blog, than a book, which makes sense since Sellers has one.

Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't work together. The remarkable feat is that Gillis is able to quickly realize this and seamlessly correct it right there. It's a reminder that he's not just pressing a button and letting the whole set roll, but is actually constructing these mashups on the fly. Nothing made this clearer than when after trying and failing to somehow successfully mix JT's 'My Love' with a variety of songs, finally hitting gold by matching it with the oh so timeless 'Whoop, There it is.' Ever so subtle, the trial and error made the end result that much more rewarding. Getting a peak inside how his head functions in real time gives an added sense of legitimacy to what is an already amazing performance. (Pic via Ben Shapiro's flickr)

Right on the tail of the groundbreaking "bloggers drink in the LES" article in The Observer, The New York Times will not be outdone! Their article, Truly Indie Fans, is about black people listening to rock music, and it has caused quite a stir, with good reason. The article uses the term "blipsters" to describe black indie rock fans, as if another form of the already overused word "hipster" needs to exist - nevermind one based on race. The blog Colonel K Speaks has written an emotional response to the piece.

Ah, the end of the year is upon us...and that means one thing: end of the year lists. Information Leafblower is a little ahead of the game and has posted his fourth annual "Top 40 Bands In America (As Voted On By A Bunch Of Effing Music Bloggers That Only Listen To Cooler Than You Guitar Based Indie Rock And Not Much Else)" list.

Can you think of a better way to spend part of the potentially crazy-humid next couple of days than with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in sweaty Miami? Michael Mann brings his '80s TV staple into the present with , the newest installment in the ever popular teensploitation genre.

Femme Generation is a hard band to describe. Indie-pop-rock-synth dance music is what we would say upon listening to their song "Semper Fi Little Guy". It's more complex than even that however, with listens to their entire catalog. With harmonies, chants and noises we don't even recognize, the music never stays at the same tempo or pace. They can slow it down just as fast as they speed it up. One thing is for sure though, their live performance is an amazing one. We've heard reports from the front lines of past shows, and you better be ready to dance when they close out our Movable Hype show tomorrow night.

Bands in New York need to be creative to stand out amongst the masses. A year ago we were on an Indie Night School panel discussing how to get your band reviewed and noticed. The general consensus was that a cd will quickly find it's way into a cd player if a friend has recommended the band. Word of mouth from people with similar music taste speaks volumes over, say, receiving fifteen emails from a band in one week promoting their shows.

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.

On Presidents' Day, we are going to exercise our executive power to tell you what shows to go see. Here's our vision of the state of the rock 'n' roll union this week:

We reminded you last week to vote for the Plug Awards, and now is your chance to check out the actual awards ceremony. The awards are tonight at Webster Hall and will include a sampling of some of our favorite bands:

We were really knocked out by Mazarin at Pianos last week. Very fun band. One can only hope that this week holds such surprise awesomeness. Some potential candidates:

The Plug Awards are coming up next week (February 2nd @ Webster Hall). "What the hell are those?," you may be asking. Well, they're independent music awards celebrating "artists who live and flourish in the margins." And YOU can vote on everything from Album of the Year to Music Blog of the Year to Internet Radio Station of the Year. So vote now!

A few months ago Indie Night School asked us to be a panelist, we obliged and promptly discovered our near paralyzing stagefright. Because of this we feel we owe them, ergo, tonight Fringe Benefits and Indie Night School are putting together a Katrina Benefit at Mo Pitkins (you know, Jimmy Fallon's bar). We're really exited to be a mere audience member for this one!

We're proud to announce that Neighborhoodies is sponsoring the Movable Hype 4.0 show on Monday. Amongst other things they'll be giving out goodie bags stuffed with treats! So get there early before they run out, it's first come first served.

The MOMA presents Miramax: 25 Years, showcasing such favorites as City of God, an intriguing and fast-paced look at Brazil’s slum gang wars, Friday @8:30 PM; Kieslowski’s classic Blue, White, and Red, starting Saturday @4:30 PM; Kill Bill, Vol. I on Sunday @ 2:00 PM and Kill Bill, Vol. 2 on Sunday at 5:00 PM.

We couldn't help but notice the abundance of talented white male rockers invading NYC this week. New and old and originating from various corners of the Earth, the white boys of rock n' roll are invading. Let us be your guide.

This weekend it's going to be cold. Again. But don't stay inside sitting on your radiators just because it's snowing, head out there and warm up in theaters! Galleries! And bars! (Oh my!) Here are some suggestions.

Maria Raha, Cinderella's Big Score author

Brooklyn's Fort Ancient have come a long way since their humble days when there were only two members, and humble nights of playing Brooklyn rooftop parties. The band is now five members strong, originating in Kentucky, Wisconsin, Illinois and Texas. An engagement and two weddings later (two of the band members are married to each other), the Fort Ancient family is releasing its third EP, , mixed by Thom Monahan of the Pernice Bros. The band participated in last month's NEMO Music Festival in Boston, and have been deemed playlist-worthy by East Village Radio (New York), Radio Indie Pop (New York), KEXP (Seattle), Indie 103 (Los Angeles), and Friuli Radio (Italy).

Gothamist has retained its passes for the upcoming CMJ Music Marathon and is a bit overwhelmed by the schedule. Shows, lectures, panels and events we want to attend + time in the day is not equalling out very well, but we're going to load up on caffeine and do our best to attend and cover it all. Space-Time Continuum be damned, we'll be everywhere at once.

If you don't know who On! Air! Library! is right now...well, we'd like for you to stop reading this and go educate yourself on good music.

The Thrills have a great new album, Let's Bottle Bohemia (I hear a bit more pop and less California country), and are stopping by Irving Plaza tonight. The much-buzzed-about and Mercury Prize-nominated band The Zutons are opening the show. If your wallet is a little light these days, don't fret. The Thrills are playing at Tower Records at 4th and Broadway tonight at 6pm.