Tonight: Horse the Band at the Blender Theater

Posted at 3:00 PM, June 4, 2008

Smokin' poster by Faro

Certainly not to be confused with any number of other sensitive Horse bands grazing in the indie rock field, Horse the Band are Nintendo-addled L.A. hardcore caffeine cases who just might be the last bastion of crazy tourdogism before high gas prices ruin punk rock for good. They’re currently on their ambitious “Earth Tour,” on which they hit about 45 countries in four continents. Show up and ask them what the scene is like in United Arab Emirates. With fellow screech-jokers I Wrestled a Bear Once. — CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN.

8 p.m., $14.50. Blender Theater at Gramercy, 127 E 23rd St., 212-777-6800.

UPDATED, 6/05
Rebecca Smeyne went to the show and took photos.

The Skaters and R. Stevie Moore Tonight at the Cake Shop

Posted at 1:30 PM, May 27, 2008

Once the elusive, highly feted, interview-dodging kingpins of Bay Area drone, Skaters have moved to Brooklyn to give Growing and Double Leopards a slow, meditative run for their money. And the super-prolific underground legends don’t end there! Kemialliset Ystavat is the highest profile act currently recording bleary-eyed Finnish psych-folk; R. Stevie Moore is simply the godfather of lo-fi home-recording madness (and finishing his May residency at Cake Shop tonight). — CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN.

THE SKATERS + KEMISALLISET YSTAVAT + R. STEVIE MOORE, Cake Shop, 152 Ludlow St., New York

Kidz in the Hall Tonight at S.O.B.'s

Posted at 3:30 PM, May 20, 2008

Kidz in the Hall sometimes masquerade as hipster rap, but there's no mistaking they'd much prefer to hang out with Little Brother circa 2004 or A Tribe Called Quest circa 1995. Plus, they're now on TRL, so if this keeps up, context is about to matter a lot less than it once did. How liberating. JON CARAMANICA

KIDZ IN THE HALL, S.O.B.'s, 204 Varick St., New York.

Three-Day Tribute to Downtown Maverick Arthur Russell

Posted at 1:00 PM, May 15, 2008

If the innovative composer and disco producer Arthur Russell were still alive, he might be amazed by all the attention that his too-short life (he died of AIDS in 1992, at the age of 40) and work have received lately. His songs, which were clearly ahead of their time, have been popping up everywhere from art shows to T-Mobile commercials. And now there’s Matt Wolf’s new documentary, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, which will be screened tonight as part of the Kitchen’s three-day Russell tribute. (Russell was also the former music director of the Kitchen.) The film includes rare archival footage and commentary from friends, family, and fellow artists, including Allen Ginsberg, Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers), Philip Glass, and Jens Lekman. On Friday and Saturday, check out live performances of Russell’s songs as well as his instrumental works for ensembles. — ANGELA ASHMAN

Thu., May 15, 7 & 9 p.m.; May 16-17, 8 p.m.

Tonight: Atmosphere at Webster Hall

Posted at 3:11 PM, April 27, 2008

Hip-hop's TBS

If you still subscribe to Chuck D's well-worn "rap-as-black-CNN" metaphor, then reflective Twin Cities duo Atmosphere might be thought of as hip-hop's TBS during a Grace Under Fire marathon. Touring in support of their latest album, When Life Gives You Lemons, Record a Track with TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe—or something to that effect—Ant & Slug have rarely met a proverb they couldn't turn into a song title. Don't forget to pull your skully cap extra-low. — PETE L'OFFICIAL.

ATMOSPHERE, Webster Hall, 125 E 11th St., New York, NY SOLD OUT

Destroyer Tonight and Tomorrow

Posted at 1:00 PM, April 22, 2008

Recent multitasking by Dan Bejar—in addition to penning several tunes for last year’s New Pornographers disc, he also just released an album with his girlfriend as Hello, Blue Roses—hasn’t diluted the potent weirdness of his Destroyer project, whose new Trouble in Dreams features another batch of his alien-Bowie ballads and art-glam “rockers.” With Colossal Yes and Andre Ethier. — MIKAEL WOOD

DESTROYER, tonight April 22 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N 6th St., Brooklyn, (tickets here) and tomorrow, April 23 at the Bowery Ballroom (SOLD OUT).

PREVIOUSLY
Kory Grow on Hello, Blue Roses' The Portrait Is Finished and I Have Failed to Capture Your Beauty . . .

UPDATED, 4/24
Rob Harvilla saw Destroyer at the Bowery and then went directly to a computer to tell you about it. Happy?

Tonight: She & Him Moved to Webster Hall

Posted at 1:44 AM, April 22, 2008

photo by Rebecca Smeyne

Indie-film girl Zooey Deschanel and indie-rock guy M. Ward met while recording a duet of Richard and Linda Thompson's "When I Get to the Border" for the soundtrack to last year's The Go-Getter; now they've made an album together as She & Him and are supporting it on the road with a series of live dates. The CD is a modest little charmer comprising Deschanel originals and a handful of covers; she sings lead while Ward plays guitar, produces, and lends the occasional backup vocal that provides an appealingly woozy Nancy-and-Lee vibe. Judging by her songs, Deschanel is the proud owner of a vintage vinyl collection full of records by Peggy Lee, the Ronettes, Blossom Dearie, and Kitty Wells; as it happens, those ladies are probably the only ones Ward hasn't worked with over the past couple of years. Come for the novelty; stay for the tunes. — MIKAEL WOOD

At 8. Moved from Hiro Ballroom to Webster Hall, limited tickets now available, all tickets for 4/21 & 4/22 will be honored. Refunds available at point of purchase. $23.

On Wednesday, 4/23, they're also playing the Skirball Center at NYU, tickets open to the general public and available here.

PREVIOUSLY
Cristina Black on She & Him, Volume One

UPDATED, 4/23
Gabi Porter went to the show and took photos.

The Misfits at the Warsaw: Tonight

Posted at 12:03 PM, April 18, 2008

Could be Michale Graves, could be Jerry Only, could be the janitor—whoever’s singing Friday night, it won’t be Glenn Danzig. Now a supergroup that’s at times more super (Dez Cadenza, Marky Ramone) than others (Myke Hideous, Graves), the Misfits probably should only be allowed to reprise their horrific schtick come Halloween, but here they are, nevertheless. Yell for “Night of the Living Dead.” — ZACH BARON.

THE MISFITS, Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave., Brooklyn. Tickets maybe available here.

RELATED
Danzig and Doyle at the Nokia Theater in October 2007

Tonight: Dan Deacon + Ed Schrader + Michael Showalter

Posted at 10:15 AM, April 17, 2008

photo by Rebecca Smeyne

One-man band Dan Deacon reps Baltimore by being a frenetic, unkempt, sampler-assisted Pied Piper, a la Atom & his Package, but with less jokes and more pseudo-rave energy. Here, he’s the musical guest on Ed Schrader’s live-action talk show, which tonight will supposedly also feature Michael Showalter. — ZACH BARON.

Tonight, Thursday, April 17 at the Ridgewood Temple, 1054 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn, NY.

Tonight: Catchdubs and A-Trak at the Hiro

Posted at 8:00 AM, April 10, 2008

Fools Gold is the record label started by DJs A-Trak, famous for being Kanye West's tour DJ and the youngest ever to win the World DJ Championship, and Nick Catchdubs, famous for many a legendary blog post and ironic mashup. Yes, they have already remixed that track you were gonna bang out on your MPC next week. They'll be spinning club music alongside Steve Aoki, Sammy Bananas, Sinden, and Kid Cudi, so wear a fresh digi-color-print tee and expect a Kid Sister cameo. — PETE L’OFFICIAL

FUN-TIME BONUS
MYSTERY SAMMY BANANAS MIX FROM JULY 2005 (LIMITED EDITION)

'FOOLS GOLD VS DIM MAK TOUR': Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel, 371 W 17th New York. Tickets are $10 and available here.

Elton John & Hillary Clinton: One Night Only

Posted at 1:07 PM, April 9, 2008

She’s no Princess Di, but she does need the money, and apparently that’s reason enough. For one night only, Elton John and noted gay-marriage opponent Hillary Clinton will unite to print up what will hopefully be the last batch of souvenir tickets commemorating Clinton’s ’07-’08 presidential campaign. With any luck, the imaginary snipers who tried to take her out last time she dared appear in public with an entertainer (what up, Sinbad?) will be too busy fighting imaginary wars elsewhere to return and cause trouble, but be warned: 15 years from now you may find out that tonight, you inadvertently (though bravely!) ventured into a war zone. — ZACH BARON




'ELTON JOHN & HILLARY CLINTON: ONE NIGHT ONLY,' Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Ave., New York, NY 10020

French Kicks Residency at Mercury Lounge: Tonight and Tuesday 4/15

Posted at 1:14 PM, April 8, 2008

Unlike their Franco-military counterparts, the eternally almost-famous French Kicks have refused to accept defeat. The hard-touring Washington D.C. natives saw their first success in Brooklyn and released their latest album, Two Thousand, in 2006, bringing a less-abrasive pop-rock touch to the proceedings. The French Kicks reign now as the equivalent of alt-rock middle-management, but they still have time to catch up to the kings of the scene. NICHOLSON.

Tonight's the second night of a three-week French Kicks residency honoring their new release Swimming (already out on iTunes) at the Mercury Lounge. From the French Kicks site:

"Tuesday, April 8 is Subjects night. For those of you who do not yet know what that means, this will be something you will not want to miss." It is technically sold out.

BUT, next week April 15th isn't. Opener "will be our friend Miguel Mendez, artist and songwriter who wrote some hits for Dios Malos, and has been consistently putting out cool music from his bedroom in Brooklyn for years." Tickets here.

Mercury Lounge, 217 E Houston St.

Tonight: Explosions in the Sky at Terminal 5

Posted at 8:00 AM, April 8, 2008

These guys and Mogwai are all you have left.

There's no doubt that Austin's Explosions in the Sky play music that we in the rock-critical complex like to call "post-rock." For starters, they do without the vocals (that tired rock-era relic), and though they aren't free of a flair for memorable melodies, their music is defined not by compact hooks, but by long, dramatic crescendos and intricate, lengthy stretches of instrumental interplay. Yet perhaps more than any of the band's post-rock peers, EITS conceive their stuff as a conduit for emotion with a capital E, which is the primary reason they've developed a healthy sideline as film-score composers; their soundtrack for 2004's Friday Night Lights managed to make high-school football seem pretty epic. With Lichens and Ola Podidra. — MIKAEL WOOD

Explosions in the Sky, "Welcome Ghosts" (MP3)

Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street, terminal5nyc.com, $17, SOLD OUT, at 7

Dark Meat: Tonight with Monotonix, Tomorrow at Union Pool

Posted at 3:47 PM, April 7, 2008

photo by Rebecca Smeyne

One of the most claustrophobic spaces in New York gets downright harrowing. First up, Dark Meat, a multi-headed psych-rock mutant that’s a cross between tent revival and bad acid trip, a big and brassy 17-member typhoon lighting up a venue that holds, like, 100 people. No less daunting are Israeli dirt-punx Monotonix, who rant and wail like Extreme Blues Explosion, assaulting audiences with flaming drums, arcing ropes of beer, and loads of too-close-for-comfort sweating. — CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN

Union Hall, 702 Union St., Park Slope. Tomorrow: Dark Meat will be at at Union Pool. Both bands play together again at the Cake Shop on April 20.

P.S. We hear tonight's thing will be over by "around 10:45." Skip dinner and go out early!

Tonight: Wolf Eyes and Absolute Body Control at the MHOW

Posted at 7:00 AM, April 4, 2008

The guy in middle is Fuckface. No really.

Noisemasters General Wolf Eyes graciously turn over the spotlight (or, given the circumstances, lack thereof) to Absolute Body Control, the icy-cold pioneers of Belgian electronic bummer-dance, formed more than 20 years ago and finally getting around to playing their first U.S. show. A sharp, throbbing early-’80s link to electronic, noise, goth, industrial, and Suicide-style art-punk, the reuinited ABC has been hitting the festival circuit for a little while now. With the stiff boogie of analog coldwaver Martial Canterel and the gurgling soul-noise of Carlos Giffoni. — CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN.

Eels at the Highline Ballroom Tonight

Posted at 2:00 PM, April 2, 2008

Eels have been more renowned of late for their ever-cynical frontman E’s dry gags—inviting George Bush to their show in D.C., attempting to buy a one-second Super Bowl ad—than for their patented Paxil pop. But it’s still just as you remember it—brooding, intense, mildly funky. They’ve just released a greatest-hits set, a two-disc B-side comp (both with corresponding DVDs), and their fifth(!) live album (available only at their shows)—all of which don’t have many revelations beyond a few decent singles since they last fell off your radar. — CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN.

Eels, Highline Ballroom, 431 W 16th St., Chelsea. SOLD OUT

Tonight: Cormega at the Knitting Factory

Posted at 12:30 PM, April 2, 2008

Surprise guest: This spectacular animated gif!

The last time Cormega played the Knitting Factory—yes, there was a last time—he was in good form, making jokes from the stage while still being menacing, and politicking with the crowd post-set like he'd never been signed to a major. Plus, like his Queens frenemy Prodigy, he's hitting his prime. With Gang Starr affiliate Big Shug, Brooklyn mixtape champ of the moment Skyzoo, Reks, and Statik Selektah, the DJ whose debut album, last year's Spell My Name Right, refuses to acknowledge any sonic or regional evolution in hip-hop since the mid-‘90s. — JON CARAMANICA.

Cormega, Knitting Factory Main Space, 74 Leonard St., New York, NY. Tickets still available here.