Results tagged “sonicyouth”

   

Also this week:

Earlier this month, Sonic Youth dropped The Eternal, the band's 16th album and their first since fulfilling their contractual obligation to Geffen and moving to indie-label paradigm Matador Records. Recorded mostly in Northampton, Massachusetts, where front-couple Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon reside, The Eternal works as both an invigorating new turn in the band's 29 year journey and an ideal point of entry for newcomers, as the 12 tracks span the spectrum from tightly-coiled incendiary art rock to virtuoso mini noise odysseys.

Saturday was the day the music died at McCarren Park Pool (well, not really), but one couldn't have asked for a better note to go out on than one provided by Sonic Youth ("Expressway to Yr Skull" was a perfect finale from the post-punk pioneers). The NY Times spoke to concertgoers and locals about the venue, which could return to its original function as soon as 2011. An elderly resident declared, “This music, very noisy. Swimming, O.K.” but one man noted, “I love this music. I come from Mexico, and in Mexico there is little music like that." And some businesses have enjoyed a 30% increase in sales on show days. The Times said hipsters claim they won't come back to swim because they think it'll be "too dirty" [insert dirty hipster joke here].

              

Hometown post-punk heroes Sonic Youth played a free show for approximately 7,000 fans in Battery Park on July 4th as part of the River to River Festival. The decades-old band started the set with a spellbinding, spacey rendition of “She is Not Alone,” followed by the Kim Gordon-led classic “Bull in the Heather.” By the third song, a blistering “Silver Rocket,” 50-year-old frontman Thurston Moore seemed to have had enough of the photographers separating his band from the frenzied crowd, so he climbed down into the photo pit to thrash through the scrum, before getting back onstage to finish the song.

Don't let the name fool you, The Muggabears aren't creating cute, cuddly pop tunes. (In fact, their songs are peppered with profanities...gasp!) The trio has been garnering attention over the past year for their sound -- something akin to a lo-fi love affair with noise rock. They're not short on comparisons to Sonic Youth and Pavement, so if you like what you hear -- come catch 'em live tonight when they play Galapagos. How did...

Did contemporary art and music come together for the first time in New York? The holy (or unholy -- if you're not a Velvet Underground fan) union can be traced back to, where else, Andy Warhol's Factory scene. So why is the Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967 exhibit being housed all the way in Chicago?

A fine way for the Seaport Music Festival to send off the summer, with two of the year's biggest breakout bands on a lovely evening. We were taking in both Battles and Dearhunter for the first time last Friday and were massively impressed by both bands. Deerhunter, down a man and with their usual shtick toned down, sounded like a young Sonic Youth or stripped down Broken Social Scene. A much lighter and more accessible experience that we had prepared for by listening to their thumping album. Battles was more what we expected, playing a hypnotizing hybrid of Math-Metal and some Jammy-Groove stuff that somehow works. Stereogum has some pretty pics.

Sonic Youth are performing their 1988 album "Daydream Nation" in its entirety this summer at McCarren Park Pool. Don't want to spend $34 + fees for a ticket? Don't worry, we have you covered.

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week.

(AKA The It doesn't feel like Friday and we're still hungover from SXSW edition)

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.

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...

Remember that smart-alecky retort, “It’s a free country”? That's the brazen spirit behind Radical Living Papers: A history of the free, alternative, counter-culture and underground press, 1965-75. Situated in the Passerby bar, it no doubt will inspire many fervent debates about freedom of the press.

On the cusp of November, Music is a Better Noise opened up at P.S.1. The exhibit brings together musicians who make art and (you guessed it) artists who make music - or at the very least, use music as a creative motivator in their art.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube of the concerts that have been happening at McCarren Park Pool this summer. Forget brunch and the Sunday Times, the almost apocolyptic feeling abandoned pool parties have become a Sunday ritual for many (the crowd yesterday was insane, we're sure there are plenty of missed connections).

Jordan Blaugrund (vocals, guitar), Brett Sherman (bass), Michael Blaugrund (drums), Eliot Wadsworth (guitar)

We're at the home stretch! Sunday was a bit of a quieter day for us, but by no means did the music disappoint. The plan was to make it a short day and get back to civilization that night, but due to some travel miscalculations we ended up sticking around till they kicked us out. Very glad we did.

Tonight is a BIG night, TV-wise, so much so that we can't stand to DVR anything - we need to see it actual time. (Well, we are DVRing it so we can watch it over and over again, but you get the idea and urgency.) There's the Gilmore Girls finale, the Veronica Mars finale, and then a Kathy Griffin special on Bravo! (Okay, the Kathy Griffin special will probably repeat 10 times before the weekend, but we'll probably watch all 10 times because a Dakota Fanning-has-a-drug-problem joke is classic.) The Gilmore Girls finale will also feature Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, and Joe Pernice - thanks to music-lovin' creator Amy Sherman-Palladino (we will miss you next season) - which makes it aces in our book, but overall, it's been a very uneven season for the double G. But we're most excited for Veronica Mars to be on Tuesday at 9PM after all this time - too bad the season must end. And we think she might be visiting NYU in order to get that other witness to confirm Steve Guttenberg's Woody Goodman's bad man tendencies. Of course, many of you will probably be watching American Idol and House - it's okay to disagree, but for all of you who have been missing out of Veronica Mars because of House or Lost, we strongly advise you to pick up DVDs of Season 1 and 2 (when it's out).

," as part of the acclaimed 33 1/3 series. The book takes a look at the 1989 release of the Pixies sonic masterpiece of the same name, gaining insight from the band themselves.

As the holiday countdown continues, this part of Gothamist has noticed that the number of major national touring acts has dwindled. All those midwestern indie-rockers had to get back to the Mall of America and finish up their shopping. Luckily, this is New York, where there are no malls, but there are hundreds of bands eager to play for indifferent ears no matter the season. This week, here's who should be on your list:

FAIR: The WFMU Record & CD Fair is this weekend. Hundreds of music dealers will be there to help with your vinyl fix. Sift through obscurities and maybe you'll find what you've been searching for on eBay for the past 4 months.

Hey Kids, Got a guitar? We bet you do. Well, Gothamist wanted to give you a nice big heads up on the CMJ Battle of the Bands.

Do you truly appreciate this city?

Hello Gothamist readers. Allow me to introduce myself. Some of you may know me as the music-obsessed blogger over at BrooklynVegan.com. Now you'll also know me as the music-obsessed blogger here at Gothamist. I'll attempt to keep you informed of the shows you don't want to miss each and every week. I'll try my best not to miss anything, not make mistakes, and bring you as much variety as possible, but unfortunately I'm only human. Work with me. Use the comment section to offer your own recommendations, suggestions, and corrections. And now on to the shows...

Other Passengers are Billy (vox/keys/guitar), James (drums), Kevin (guitar), Tobin (bass) and Travis (guitar).

Trying to describe the Head Set we wanted to avoid the catch phrases that litter today's reviews. Post-punk, "the new Strokes"...you get the idea. It's hard though, with this band, because they are those things, in the best way imaginable. We don't usually do this, but listen to them right now, then come back and read the rest.

If you plan on hitting the clubs next week and taking part in the annual CMJ music binge, why not use the coming days to rest up, get some sleep and save your pennies? A week of rest woudln't hurt, would it?

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.

Jay Brida, Publisher/Copywriter

Gothamist loves movie soundtracks. Paying attention to them has led us to learning about new composers or new artists, whose own albums we realize we must rush out to buy. French critic and film director Olivier Assayas loves the music in movies too and he's programmed a series at BAMcin�matek of his favorite film soundtracks called "I Can Hear The Guitar: Selected by Olivier Assayas," which begins today.