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JC Brooks at BV Chicago SXSW 2013 (more by Sara Pieper)

Chicago's self-described "post-punk soul" band JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound released their third full-length, Howl, last month via Bloodshot Records. The LP was tracked at Montreal's famed Hotel2Tango Studios by producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Godspeed You! Black Emperor). You can stream the whole album via Spotify or Rdio. The band, who played BV Chicago's SXSW 2013 day party, also just made a video for "Rouse Yourself" that stars Jake Johnson (The New Girl) and Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Recreation) which you can watch over at Entertainment Weekly.

This weekend, JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound will be on the East Coast for the Firefly Music Festival, and will then hit NYC for a show at Mercury Lounge on Saturday (6/22) with The Bottom Dollars. Tickets for that show are still available. All upcoming dates are listed below...

Continue reading "JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound released 'Howl,' made a video starring Aubrey Plaza, playing NYC after Firefly fest (dates)" at brooklynvegan

Going to a Hanson show is like entering an alternate universe. A universe in which women have willingly tattooed song lyrics on their bodies… multiple times. A universe in which the venue is packed an hour before the set was supposed to start. A universe in which Taylor, Zac, and Isaac Hanson are musical gods that have been building this cult-like following for years, seemingly without anyone else knowing. So the best (and only) thing to do was take a swig of the ol

When Kevin Gates raps, he makes his emotions as clear as his tattoos. His breakthrough EP The Luca Brasi Story positioned him as the Nicolas Sparks-reading thug and tatted up crooner who valued love to an almost painful degree. He was just doing what came naturally, and

The Bristol legend mines Instagram for his latest video.

The video for ‘Hey Love’ is comprised of thousands of images that were shared with Tricky after an online request for images inspired by the lyrics and mood of the lovelorn song, which features the lilting vocals of Francesca Belmonte.

‘Hey Love’ appears on False Idols, Tricky’s best-in-a-decade new album. Tricky was forced to reschedule a tour due to visa issues. However, he recently sat down with FACT TV (part one and part two) and has been frequently featured in our Talking Heads series.

Andrew WK at Santos in May (more by Dan Bracaglia)

Professional partier Andrew WK is in the midst of some shows singing in Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg (he already did one in NYC), and today he'll attempt to set a drumming world record. At 7 PM today (6/19), Andrew will head to the Oakley Store in Times Square and attempt to drum for 24 hours straight until Thursday at 7 PM, to set the record for "LONGEST DRUM SESSION IN A RETAIL STORE."

Throughout his session, he'll be joined by other drummers, including Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Marky Ramone (Ramones), Questlove (The Roots), Liberty DeVitto (former drummer for Billy Joel), and some serious hard hitters like Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers) and Zac Hanson (Hanson). Plus there will be some surprise guests joining him along the way too.

The session will be hosted by OMusicAwards.com, aka the people who were also behind the Flaming Lips world record attempt. If you can't make it to Times Square, you can also watch the session stream live at the O Music Awards website. More information on O Music Award's blog and Andrew WK's site.

The next NYC stop on the Andrew WK/Marky Ramone tour happens on October 3 at Irving Plaza (tickets).

Continue reading "Andrew WK attempting to set record for "Longest Drum Session in a Retail Store" today in Times Square" at brooklynvegan

Remember a couple of weeks ago when Metallica surprised everyone as Dehaan at Orion Music + More and performed their 1983 debut, Kill ‘Em All, in full on what might have been the smallest stage they’ve rocked on since 1983? It’s okay, we lose a lot of our short-term memory from too much sodium, but truth be told, that all happened. Need proof? The entire performance is now available to stream, thanks to some rockin’ fans with killer biceps. (Seriously, how else do you hold a camera steady for close to an hour?) In celebration, throw your stapler, kick that salad into the garbage, and get your Hump Day Metal on below.

ICYMI, we covered Orion to great effect, including a full writeup; interviews with Baroness, Bassnectar, FLAG, FOALS, Gogol Bordello, and Silversun Pickups; and a short documentary, the latter of which you can watch below.

Photo by Nick Freed

Gang Gang Dance’s 2005 record God’s Money used to feel difficult. To put it in context, at the time, seeing Gang Gang Dance live was alternately the best and most frustrating experience. They’d move from long drones to these moments of percussion-based psychedelic, eyes-roll-back-in-your-head bliss. The difficult parts made everything else that came after so much better. It also helped me understand records that came before that I’d been grappling with, like Out Hud’s S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D., which I wrote about last week.

By the time they released their follow-up, 2008′s Saint Dymphna, they’d largely excised the difficult stuff, with Lizzi Bougatsos’s voice leading the band through a series of damaged percussion-based epics. Essentially, Saint Dymphna and what came after, are focused versions of God’s Money. The sound of Gang Gang Dance giving us what we thought we wanted. They’re great records with moments of absolute perfection, but I’ve always loved God’s Money for what it doesn’t offer just as much as what it does.

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by Andrew Sacher

California shoegazers Whirr (whose Nick Bassett used to be one of the revolving members in post-metal crew Deafheaven) are set to release a new mini-LP, Around, on July 9 via Graveface. The first single from that release, "Swoon," is total shoegaze in terms of atmosphere, but the music itself is darker, heavier, and more similar melodically to a band like Hum than MBV. Check that song out below.

Whirr will be supporting the new mini-LP with a tour this summer. Many of the dates on the tour are with Nothing, including the NYC show happening on August 13 at Saint Vitus. Tickets for that show are not on sale yet, but check Ticketfly for updates. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Nothing also open for Deafheaven when their tour with Marriages comes to NYC for a show at Saint Vitus (7/2) (IO Presents). That show is totally sold out.

All Whirr dates are listed, along with that song stream, below...

Continue reading "Whirr releasing a new mini-LP, announce tour (dates, stream)" at brooklynvegan

Punk weirdos Wavves release another oddball clip with “That’s On Me.” This one is way less trippy than “Afraid Of Heights,” but still contains multitudes of absurdity. Whether it’s a suit seeking stress-relief via slicing up soda bottles or parody metal dude standing in for Nathan Williams, the video is filled with quirk. Check it out below.

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How many super weird music videos is too many? Why would you ask such a thing? That’s not even a question for Canadian noise rock trio METZ, whose visual aesthetic only gets stranger with new each video. METZ released “Wasted” back in March which featured a confused-looking, but completely adorable dog and today’s video features Smahmpy the Flying Retriever, a super hero dog