Tyler Sargent plays bass in a little band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which may have caught your eye back in 2005 when they played the Gothamist Movable Hype 3.0 show at the Knitting Factory. We don’t want to call ourselves kingmakers, but ever since that night the band’s become kind of a big deal, in part because they were one of the first bands to break wide through blog buzz and a self-released album that moved over 45,000 copies in six months, all distributed out of Sargent’s Park Slope apartment. Tomorrow night they play a benefit concert at Bowery Ballroom for Planned Parenthood NYC; it’s sold out, of course, but mark your calendar for February 15th, when Gothamist anoints a new crop of indie rock darlings at Movable Hype 12.0 (it's also Gothamist’s 5th birthday.) Anyway, at some point over the weekend Tyler Sargent sat down at his computer and processed pithy answers to our questions. more ›

Singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins has steadily cultivated a loyal following with his warm and thoughtful catalog of tunes. Subdued but soulful, and sometimes swinging, Perkins's debut album Ash Wednesday won critical raves for what Pitchfork called his "ability to merge instrumentation and lyricism to create a romantic's sense of atmosphere." Rolling Stone's review observed a somewhat sombre tone in the album and attributed it to Perkins's unique and rather traumatic family history: His father, actor Anthony... more ›

ART: Tonight a group of artists take what one would normally put in the paper shredder, and look at it in a whole new light. The Dotted Line "presents work that assumes the form of official documents ubiquitous to everyday life. The participating artists seek to imbue these commonplace documents with new meaning and to consider the implications of those moments when we are asked to sign along a dotted line." Open through December 21st.... more ›

Mr. Brownstone is reuniting this weekend with a show at Bowery Ballroom. The Guns n' Roses cover band is led by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah drummer Sean Greenhalgh (who makes for a pretty good Axl!) and touts themselves as the World's Drunkest Tribute to G n' R. We asked them to give us their Top 5 all-time best reunions list to commemorate the event. THE FIVE GREATEST REUNIONS by Mr. Brownstone, the World's Drunkest... more ›

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 more ›

Sure, there are tons of auctions happening - a handwritten draft of a Steinbeck novel will likely take in $500K at the end of the month, Courtney is gonna sell Kurt's pajamas, the Dukes of Hazzard car (the General Lee) took in nearly $10M this weekend and the Met held an "Art for Opera" auction yesterday. more ›

Say what you will about Pitchfork, but it's a good resource and once you get the writer's tastes down, the rating system can help point you in a good direction. That rating system goes from 0 to 10, but has gone as low as, um, this. more ›

Last Friday The Wrens headlined a benefit show for Planned Parenthood, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The band played their usual Meadowlands-heavy mix of old songs, and made an announcement that it would more than likely be their final show supporting their now nearly 4 year old album. They will be working on putting together something new this summer. It's always a treat to see the Wrens live, who for our money is one of the best straight-up rock acts around these days, but even more so in an intimate club such as the Knitting Factory. Speaking of which, perhaps nudged along by the Bowery Presents recent power play to control the live music scene in NYC, The Knit gave a serious makeover to their main room, significantly upgrading their sound system and adding a fancy new array of animated stage lights for the performers. As if it wasn't already one of our favorite local venues, (um, 2 years of Movable Hype?) it now has even further separated itself from the midsize club pack by creating an environment that has the bands looking and sounding that much better than ever before. The ball is now back in Bowery's court to see if any of their many new venues will step up to match this level of quality, or will they rest on their laurels as being the go-to venue empire. We'll have to wait and see. (More pics like the one above here.) more ›

MOVIE: The First Time I Was Twenty is playing tonight as part of the New York Jewish Film Festival. According to Paper, French director Lorraine Levy "tells the story of a smart, chubby Jewish girl who endures rampant sexism and anti-Semitism in order to fulfill her dream of joining her high school’s all-male jazz band. Pretty in Pink it is not." more ›

VINYL SALE: If you're looking for some rare vinyl, you might want to check out this monthly event: Shakey's Record Fair. A meatpacking district locale seems...a little off, but as FreeNYC points out, if you're "looking for that super rare old school funktified 7"...Shakey's Record Fair is probably the only place you'll find it." more ›

2007 is just around the corner, and we've got a little tip sheet on where to be when the clock strikes midnight. more ›

• Sasha Frere-Jones took first place in music criticism for his work in the The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Village Voice and others. We like his blog, too. more ›

It's as if curator Tomoko Ashikawa ripped the pages out of your favorite storybooks to fill the AG Gallery (103 North 3rd St., Brooklyn). Celebrate warm fuzzies and fanciful dreams at the (un)Limited Editions Group Exhibition's opening reception tonight {7 to 10pm). more ›

A whole bunch of bands just came together to pay tribute to Bob Dylan. Here's some video from that tribute show, of Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes singing "Thunder on the Mountain". Also on hand were Patti Smith, Ryan Adams, Philip Glass, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cat Power, and many more. more ›

Bryan Bruchman, of New York band Man in Gray, and his girlfriend Mary, have started a site to pay homage to all of those ruined songs in life. You know how often a song will stick itself to a situation, an event, a memory...making music a sonic earmark, and the first few notes of a song leading you on an unwanted trip down memory lane. more ›

Moving on, there are four bands used in this "scientific study": Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tapes n' Tapes, Arctic Monkeys and Cold War Kids. more ›

We'll have some video from that soon, but for now - from our 8th show that took place this summer, check out Takka Takka. They play Central Park tonight with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. So if you like music, nature and beautiful days - head up there. more ›

A Benefit for Music for Youth will bring us The Music of Bob Dylan this fall. Will Bob be there? We're hoping so. Those who are on the bill to play a song by Dylan include: Philip Glass, Rosanne Cash, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Bob Mould, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Patti Smith, Phil Lesh, Cat Power, Seal, Lee Ranaldo Project, Medeski Martin & Wood and plenty of others. Including Sandra Bernhard, we hear she does an amazing cover of "Like a Rolling Stone" (not kidding). more ›

THEATER: If you want to avoid the first, hottest days of Fringe fever, a quieter alternative would be Mary Gage's Evensong, which she wrote after interviewing 6 senior citizens in Michigan. Using a sort of jazz composition style, with solos and chorus, Gage weaves their very different tales and bits of life wisdom together into one coherent thread that affirms how much their generation struggled on behalf of this country, motivated by a belief in it that would be smarmy if it weren't quite real. more ›

Horray, more music! Day 2 of Bonnaroo got off to a great start with Dungen at the That Tent. It's quite a trip to hear thousands of people singing along in a language they don't actually understand. Lots of people knew the words, few actually knew what they were saying. Regardless, the energy and presence of this band always impresses, and they left the early risers in high spirits to take on the day. After them were Gothamist pals Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who played to what we assume was the largest crowd they've been in front of that was the most unfamiliar with the songs. We actually had people ask us "Who is Clap Your Hands whatever whatever?" For the first time in over a year. This touches on one of the great things about the festival. Even though the lineup skewed more towards the indie scene than in previous years, the majority of the crowd was still there for the major jam bands. This put bands like CYHSY in a position to show off their talents in front of musically open minded people who may not have otherwise have gone to see them. Their set was marred with technical difficulties, which was a shame cause it hindered the flow a bit, but nonetheless, once the songs came out, the crowd was bouncing along and enjoying themselves as expected. That’s what we always like to see. more ›

EVENT: “Solstice in Times Square” is a celebration of the Summer Solstice which began at 7am, but you still have time to partake. The dawn til dusk event includes a “Mind Over Madness” yoga-thon and live music. Doing yoga in Times Square seems like it might be the worst idea ever, but if you're up for a challenge, go for it. more ›

Mr. Brownstone is a Guns N' Roses cover band (or, if you prefer, "the worlds drunkest GnR tribute band"). more ›

Stephen Dima, Seaport Music more ›

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. more ›

Brooklyn Vegan has the scoop on the inaugural High Line Festival, which will occur, well, a year from now (May 2007). The festival will take place in neighborhoods underneath the High Line, the public park which will be transformed from the abandoned elevated railway line on the west side of Manhattan. Who is curating such an event? David Bowie. more ›

So get your dancin' flip flops on, avoid anyone with a video camera and mark these shows on your calender: more ›

For a long time we didn't listen to Wolfmother just because they had "wolf" in their name. We were sick it. Wolfmother, Wolf Eyes, We Are Wolves..."how could any of them be better than Wolf Parade?" we thought. more ›

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. more ›

What? No New Year's plans? Leaving it a bit late, no? Forget the overcrowded bars, the swarms of amateurs, the lame-o house parties. There are a ridiculous number of shows happening around town, some of which are worth your time and some of which not so much. Many of them are sold out, but it's highly possible you could score with the scalpers. Let's have a little look-see, shall we? more ›

It's that time of year again. The time of year we spend entirely too much money on going to a bar or party or club that any other night would cost nothing to enter. But we go, we pay and we fight the Bridge & Tunnel crowd for a spot at the bar. Why? We don't know. It's just part of NYE in NYC. This year we're fleeing the country, but for those of you staying on the island here's a list of parties to go to (that is, of course, if none of your friends will have you at theirs): more ›