Philadelphia! Sian Alice Group Tonight @ Johnny Brenda’s

Londoners Sian Alice Group dropped their debut full-length 59.59 today on Social Registry and are playing right here in Philadelphia tonight at Johnny Brenda’s with Blood On The Wall and Cause co-MOTION. Don’t miss it!

Also, check out Vice Magazine’s interview with all four bandmembers. Here

Sian Alice Group are a cute gang of friends from all over Britain who naturally gravitated to London because it’s a safe haven for weirdos.

Mentored by Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and including Jesus and Mary Chain founding member Douglas Hart on bass, SAG sound like the spooky laughter of a thousand big fluffy rain clouds made of angel tears. Yup, that is EXACTLY what they sound like.

They’re about to tour America for the first time to promote their new album, 59:59, so we thought we would introduce you to them, one by one, because they’re our new favorite British band.

[MP3]: Sian Alice Group  ”Way Down To Heaven”
59.59, The Social Registry; 2008

Image © 2000-2008, Vice Magazine North America

Gui Boratto | U.S. Dates!

I was reading an interview with promoter/DJ/party thrower Dave P over on Philebrity the other day about the new party he started last week called Snacks. The most interesting thing about it (besides the party itself) was that I found out Gui Boratto is playing the party at Woody’s on April 8th. I sort of did a double take and had a bit of a wtf!? moment, but after heading over to Windish’s site I realized that the Brazillian producer and DJ does actually have a whole North American tour booked following this year’s Winter Music Conference in Miami. The dude didn’t even post his tour dates on his MySpace page and I haven’t heard anything about the tour – so to say the least, I was a bit surprised, but at the same time totally fucking stoked. For old times sake, I might even head up to Brooklyn for Boratto’s night at Studio B. Drunken van filled with crazy dangling shit from Queens anyone? Full tour dates below.

[MP3]: Gui Boratto  ”Scene 1″
Chromophobia, Kompakt; 2007

Gui Boratto North American Dates:
3/27/08 Kompakt/RA Party – Miami, FL
3/28/08 Beatport’s Pool Sessions – Miami Beach, FL w/ M.A.N.D.Y., Dubfire
4/04/08 Circa – Toronto, ON
4/05/08 Sonar Quebec Ville QC M.I.M.
4/06/08 Sugar Shack – Montreal, QC
4/07/08 Great Scott Boston MA Die Young, DJ Etan
4/08/08 Woodys – Philadelphia, PA
4/11/08 Smart Bar – Chicago, IL
4/12/08 Studio B – Brooklyn, NY

A Sunny Day In Glasgow | Johnny Brenda’s 2.14.08

While the other contributors to this site were busy celebrating lovers day by romantically going to see Band Of Horses together (HA!), I took a different route and checked out Philly favorites A Sunny Day In Glasgow at Johnny Brenda’s.

It’s been an very long time since I’ve seen A Sunny Day In Glasgow live and I was curious to see how their live show had progressed over the last year or so. Now a four piece after vocalist Lauren Daniels moved out west, brother Ben shared vocal duties with Lauren’s twin Robin. The band played songs from Scribble Mural Comic Journal and their Tout New Age EP, which I was hearing for the first time live. It’s always difficult transitioning to a live show when a band has such a complex sound as ASDIG, but Ben Daniels and crew pulled it off quite nicely last night. Live, the band retains some of the complexity of the record, but overall it’s a sparser, louder affair. Sister Robin’s vocals are given a little more breathing room, while Brother Ben paints the room with a swirling effect laden reverby guitar all while maintaining a pop essence to their sound.

The band has certainly come a long way since their maiden voyage into live performance two years ago at Cake Shop. Head over to the band’s website to read about the CRAZY shit that happened after the show. ASDIG plays Cake Shop on February 22nd, which will likely be their last East Coast date for awhile.

[MP3]: A Sunny Day In Glasgow  ”Summerlong Silences”
Tout New Age EP, Notenuf; 2007

The Teenagers | Mercury Lounge 1.30.08

The whole new Vampire Weekend album was playing right before The Teenagers came on stage. Yeah you know you were bobbin’ your head. Like what?! My thoughts later.

[MP3] The Teenagers “Starlett Johansson”
[MP3] The Teenagers “Sleeping Bag (YO Version)”

Setlist at the bottom: Read the rest of this entry »

FRICTION Recap | 12.15.07

Thanks to everyone who made it out on Saturday night to The Mercury Lounge for the final FRICTION show of 2007. It was the perfect cap for a year of great shows which began at Sin-e back in January. A big thank you to Brooklyn’s Yeasayer, High Places, Team Robespierre, and Chairlift for putting on such rad sets. I didn’t realize this until Saturday night, but this show marked all four bands Mercury Lounge debut. Also thanks to Darin and Greg of Finger On The Pulse for keeping the party moving in between sets.

Mr. Mammoth has a nice recap of Saturday’s show along with a live video of Yeasayer’s “Wait For The Summer,” which can be viewed below. Here’s a little excerpt of the review, head over to his site for the full post.

There was one storm that wasn’t forecasted yesterday, and that was the media one in effect on the Lower East Side. Bloggers, photographers, and media mavens of all sorts gathered at the clusterfucked Mercury Lounge for Yeasayer’s first New York show since CMJ, a sold out affair courtesy of FRICTION. [Mr. Mammoth]

Expect some more reviews popping up throughout the week, as Mr. Mammoth pointed already pointed out. Head over to our Flickr page for Pat’s photos from the night. We’re currently working on a few things for February and March at The Mercury Lounge. Stay tuned for more info.

Sufjan Stevens | BQE at BAM

I was one of the lucky few to witness the debut of Sufjan Stevens‘ BQE last night at BAM. Set in the regal Howard Gilman Opera House, the show consisted of two parts, the BQE and “Sufjan plays the hits”.

The civic-themed evening was a vision expressed by Sufjan through film and music. 8mm video choreographed to a live orchestra spanned the upper half of the stage, while intermittent live performances of hula-hoopers provided a more comical side to the show. The parallel worked, since the grainy film led us back to the early days of the BQE when car was king and the hula-hoop was invented. Sufjan played with imagery of tires and hoops spinning and our love-hate relationship with car-culture by building quiet melodies to intense frantic compositions.

Following intermission, Sufjan played most of his well-known pieces with perfection and beauty. Many of the songs were reworked with revised melodies or longer endings. After the show, I felt somewhat guilty getting in my car and heading back to the West Village across the Manhattan Bridge. But as I approached the on-ramp, I looked up to see signs for the BQE and just smiled.

More pics after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

No Age | Lerner Hall Columbia University 10.25.07

More hearing loss from No Age at Columbia University. I really can’t hear anything in my left ear and I was moving further and further away as the show went along.

Btw, I just found out Playboy has a blog.

[MP3]: No Age “Everybody’s Down”
[MP3]: No Age “Neck Escaper”
[MP3]: No Age “My Life’s Alright Without You”