Robert A.A. Lowe Celebrates Recent Brooklyn Move, Rose Lazar Collabs With a Snow-Dusted Art Opening At By and By Gallery
Posted on February 26, 2010
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Robert A.A. Lowe
Okay, so it’s a little snowy in New York today. That said, if you live in Brooklyn and dig abstract art and Cluster-like drones, we’ve got a spot you need to hit on the way home from work or your local hardware store. (Gotta stock up on salt and shovels, right?) And that’s the By and By art opening of Robert A.A. Lowe & Rose Lazar. The duo first collaborated on Gyromancy, a limited art book/mini-CD that barely hinted at the full-on analog excursions of their freshly-pressed Eclipses LP. Featuring a frame-ready, double-sided poster of the pair’s astral planes, it shows a Kraut-y side of Lowe’s work—one that’s slightly more spacey and accessible than his deeply-spiritual ambient albums as Lichens.
Check out a handful of Lowe & Lazar’s illustrations, and a free MP3, after the jump. Their opening reception is tonight from 6-9 p.m. and features looping, sound installation edits of Eclipses. And if you can’t make it due to that whole frozen tundra thing, you can check their art out through March 30. Read more
A QUICK TALK WITH WILD BEASTS ABOUT … High Art, Fan Letters, and Toeing the Line Between Being ‘Half-Rapist and Half-Elvis’
Posted on February 26, 2010
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By Arye Dworken
Some bands are inherently masculine. Some bands are inherently feminine. Britain’s Wild Beasts are claiming the distinctive androgynous zone found somewhere between the two. This is mostly due in part to singer Hayden Thorpe’s voice which alternates between wildly flamboyant or lecherously creepy. He’s undoubtedly the most distinctive vocalist singing rock music since his influence Jeff Buckley.
And while the band has garnered almost nearly critical acclaim (Two Dancers was one of our favorite albums of 2009), it’s the band’s growing and obsessive fan base that warrants Wild Beasts our attention. What is it about this band that inspires such a feverish response (as we’ve discovered through many conversations, you either LOVE this band or…it’s just not for you)? Thorpe explains to us that perhaps it’s the art rock quartet’s ability to not condescend to the listener, or as he tell us in our chat, “high art [can be] down to earth, and personal, and transfixing.” Read more
FROM THE STACKS: White Hinterland
Posted on February 26, 2010
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We get a lot of crap CDs at the self-titled offices. But once in a while, a pleasant surprise slips into our promo stack. Here’s a recent delivery that knocked the s/t staff on its collective ass. Read more
COFFEE TALK: The Latest Posts, Profiles & Think Pieces On Blank Dogs, jj, Canyons, Bat For Lashes, Suckers, Thom Yorke and More
Posted on February 25, 2010
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Blank Dogs live at (Le) Poisson Rouge
We sift the ‘net for today’s top stories so you don’t have to… Read more
FROM THE STACKS: Midnight Masses
Posted on February 24, 2010
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We get a lot of crap CDs at the self-titled offices. But once in a while, a pleasant surprise slips into our promo stack. Here’s a recent delivery that knocked the S/T staff on its collective ass. Read more
WHY? BECAUSE WE LIKE YOU: Win a Pair of Limited Edition Etnies From Lullabye Arkestra
Posted on February 24, 2010
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We’ve already told you why Lullabye Arkestra is “Canada’s craziest married couple,” a “lo-fi Kylesa” that actually lives up to their song titles (”We Fuck the Night,” “This Is a Storm,” etc. etc.) and leaves most of today’s post-hardcore pack in the dust. So yeah, we’re psyched to be unloading a pair of the band’s limited edition Etnies. Follow us on Twitter in the coming week for your chance to win. In the meantime, here are the band’s looming tour dates with their Vice labelmates Pierced Arrows, a couple of free MP3s from Threats/Worship, and a link to the group’s recent digital EP. It’s enough to make us dust off a copy of Skate or Die. Read more
NOW PLAYING: Consequence, ‘Live For Never’ (Exit, 2009)
Posted on February 24, 2010
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The Details: Consequence, Live For Never (Exit, 2009)
A Quick Review: Read more
Philipp From M.A.N.D.Y. and Matthew Dear Premiere M.A.N.D.E.A.R. Project, Ready New ‘Buddies’ Monthly For a Rare (Le) Poisson Rouge Appearance
Posted on February 24, 2010
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M.A.N.D.Y.: We're pretty sure Philipp is on the left
We got some great news the other day, and it went a little something like this: ‘Matthew Dear and the mustachioed half of M.A.N.D.Y. (Philipp Jung) are looking for a low-key monthly spot in New York. Got any leads?’
Why, yes; yes, we do. And so we suddenly have Buddies, a much-needed middle finger to the super-club scene (see such depressing, $12 drink-driven spots as Cielo and Pacha) that continues to make Manhattan look as culturally bankrupt as the Bridge and Tunnel crowd that invades it every weekend. (Notice we said Manhattan; Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin’s ongoing Mister Saturday Night parties and the Brooklyn-borne Trouble & Bass collective are two bright spots that leave us with some hope for dance music in the city.)
Anyway, if M.A.N.D.E.A.R.’s—their newly-appointed name, not ours—Buddies theme song is any indication, Wednesday’s ridiculously intimate Gallery Bar gig will be like Cheers for club kids, a place where everybody knows your name and the drinks are affordable enough to create a messy situation indeed.
In the words of the night’s host Sigu, “Please learn the words and sing along. Ultimately, we are all Buddies.” Read more
FROM THE STACKS: Fang Island
Posted on February 23, 2010
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We get a lot of crap CDs at the self-titled offices. But once in a while, a pleasant surprise slips into our promo stack. Here’s a recent delivery that knocked the S/T staff on its collective ass. Read more
DOWNLOAD THIS NOW: Bauhaus, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead (Live)”
Posted on February 23, 2010
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The Song In a Couple Sentences: Thanks to Blessure Grave’s flawless ‘gloom and doom guide’ last week, we’ve been discovering our inner goth as of late. And what kind of latent Twilight extras would we be without blasting that quintessential creature of the night anthem, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”? This particular version is from the incredible (seriously—we just ordered the CD pressing, and we never do that anymore) Bauhaus live album that Blessure Grave gave two claws up. It’s nine minutes of pure ambiance that makes us want to hang from our office ceiling upside down. Okay, enough cliches for one day. Just listen, and fall in love with the roots of just about every prickly post-punk band you’ve dug for the past 10 years….
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