Benjamin Lozovsky

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All Tomorrow's Parties: I'll Be Your Mirror
Asbury Park, NJ
September 30-October 2

Better than: Your favorite worn-out band tee.

Timelessness isn't a foresight. Most experiences can't predict their own longevity, and as much as any creator strives to avoid miring his or her work in a dated exterior, the stamp of the clock can be embossed and brutal. Music, perhaps more than any other arts, always seems to be indelibly linked to the era it was produced in, channeling that moment's trends and social forces to place it in a chronological context. English promoter and record label All Tomorrow's Parties have different thoughts on experiencing both musical history and its present incarnations, though. With this year's I'll Be Your Mirror Festival in Asbury Park—curated by Portishead and featuring special guest Jeff Mangum—ATP once again provided America with a glimpse of its own vision of a Utopian cultural exchange.

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They'll be in the States for the I'll Be Your Mirror festival in Asbury Park this fall, so the doomy British trio Portishead has decided to play a slew of shows around the country in October—and New York City gets them first, with a pair of shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom on October 4 and 5. Tickets went on presale earlier this afternoon (note that for the October 4 show, only seats in the balcony (which come to $82.50 with service charges) are available at present); they go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster. Above, a clip of the jarring Third standout "Machine Gun" from the group's 2008 appearance at Coachella. In case you, you know, need convincing or anything.

​The Portishead/All Tomorrow's Parties-curated festival I'll Be Your Mirror, taking place down the shore in Asbury Park from September 30 through October 2, has added a second performance by the no-longer-all-that-reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum to its itinerary, and is releasing new tickets to accommodate those people who might want to see it. The "Three-Day Sunday Jeff Mangum Pass," currently on sale for $269 plus fees, gets access to all three days of the festival and the Jeff Mangum performance taking place on Sunday. (Early-bird pass buyers have an in to Mangum's previously announced Friday show.) In addition, the weekend's lineup now includes sets by Marc Ribot, Colin Stetson, and Thinking Fellers Local Union 282; comedy performances by Hannibal Burress and Reggie Watts; and a DJ set by the dudes who run the probably self-explanatory music blog Awesome Tapes From Africa. The full lineup as it stands now is below.

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@atpfestival

Last year's All Tomorrow's Parties inexplicably only drew 2,300 people out of a 3000 capacity--mindboggling to us that anyone who actually likes music would miss such a beautifully orchestrated thing--but this year's Portishead/Jeff Mangum double-billed festival, from September 30 to October 2, 2011, is looking like it will sell-out overall. As of now, the Neutral Milk Hotel ascetic is only playing two shows that weekend: one on Friday, September 30 that requires a three-day pass for entry, and another completely separate show on Monday night, October 3. The latter option sold out almost immediately; the $269 former, which also includes the entire weekend's undoubtedly stellar programming, is almost gone.

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​Good lord. All Tomorrow's Parties is bringing their boutique full-immersion indie-rock weekend blowout to a new spot this year: Asbury Park, NJ. ATP's three-day I'll Be Your Mirror fest will be partially curated by Portishead (!) and headlined by none other than fuckin' Jeff Mangum (!!!!), last seen regaling a room full of lucky Bushwickians as part of a tentative comeback attempt he's apparently finally ready to begin in earnest. Show goes down September 30 and October 1-2; a three-day pass (necessary to get into the first of two Mangum shows, with the other one a separate ticket) runs you $249, with the usual ATP amenities -- comedy stage, mini film festival, Steve Albini poker room (well, probably, given that Shellac are among the few other confirmed bands), etc. etc. -- thrown in. This is frankly pretty incredible. Full release with payment/schedule info below: See you in Jersey. Sheesh.

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