New York City Popfest 2009

Its getting on that time of year again when the NYC Popfest invades the area. The lineup, like past years, is nothing less than awesome. The event takes place from Thursday May 14 to Sunday May 17th, which ends as an all day event at NYC’s Cake Shop (we love that place!).

 Amongst the bands performing this year are Casper and the Cookies, Pants Yell!, Burning Hearts, The Icicles, The Radio Dept., Boy Genius and more. The Friday night show at Don Hill’s and the Saturday night show at the Bell House will also have an ‘Indie Dance Party’ after the bands play. Hey, even us indie folks have to dance sometimes, right?

We’ve already got our tickets and are most excited about seeing Georgia’s own Casper and the Cookies on Sunday night. Little factoid for you; Jason Nesmith the singer and guitarist of Casper used to play in Of Montreal.

And speaking of Casper and the Cookies, if you want to be involved with something exciting that afternoon send us a message or comment. We could use your help. Its going to be an afternoon of filming fun. (secret for now but we’ll let it out eventually!)

Learn more about NYC Popfest and buy tickets on their MYSPACE

NYC POPFEST 2009 LINEUP

Thursday May 14th
Venue: Cake Shop
Tickets $ 10

Knight School (NYC)
Soft City (NYC)
Dream Bitches (NYC)
The Metric Mile (NYC)
My Teenage Stride (NYC)
THE BALLET (NYC)

* * * * * * * * * *

Friday May 15th
Venue: Don Hills

Don Lennon (NYC)
The Tartans (CA)
( band T.B.A. )
Liechtenstein (SWEDEN)
CATS ON FIRE (FINLAND)

+ Mondo Indie Dance Party

* * * * * * * * * *

Saturday Afternoon FREE show!
Saturday May 16th
Venue: Cake Shop

Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies (PA)
Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship (MI)
The Hat Company (OH)
Strega (NYC)

* * * * * * * * * *

Saturday May 16th
Venue: Bell House
Tickets $16 Advance / $ 20 DOS | 18+

Computer Perfection (MI)
Eux Autres (CA)
The Secret History (NYC)
Pants Yell! (MA)
THE RADIO DEPT. (SWEDEN)

+ Indiepop Dance Party

* * * * * * * * * *

Sunday All-Dayer
Sunday May 17th
Venue: Cake Shop

Boy Genius (NYC)
A Faulty Chromosome (TX)
Very Truly Yours (IL)
The Smittens (VT)
Rose Melberg (CANADA)
Afternoon Naps (OH)
The Drums (FL)
The Icicles (MI)
Casper and the Cookies (GA)
Burning Hearts (FINLAND)

Download Little King from Casper and the Cookie’s upcoming album, Modern Silence.

The Morning Benders, ‘Heavy Hearts’ Live

The Morning Benders was one of our favorite new bands of 2008, and still Talking Through Tin Cans is in heavy rotation almost a year after it’s release. Is there a catchier record out there? Not that we know of.

The word on the street is the band is already in the process of recording their second album titled Big Echo that may be out by this year’s end. Nice. The Morning Benders are one of those timeless bands. They have a bit of 60’s vibe to them and the most brilliant harmonies we’ve heard in a long time.

I believe we have shared this months ago, but rewatching it today made it seem so new. Its our video of The Morning Benders doing their rarely performed song ‘Heavy Hearts,’ at their Puma Instore at CMJ 2008. The Morning Benders were also the first band we made cookies for….

Check out the video on our VIMEO  page

Check out our Band Interview page for our talk with The Morning Benders.

The band is also doing a few dates with John Vanderslice in May

5.17.09 The Partisan (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.27.09 Velour (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.28.09 Kilby Court (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.29.09 Hi-Dive (w/ John Vanderslice)

Lollapalooza 2009, We Want to Go There

Lollapalooza’s 2009 lineup has recently been announced, and with 130 bands, it leaves little room to complain. Start saving up now for August’s shows in Chicago which includes such bands as Of Montreal, Kings of Leon, Beastie Boys, Cold War Kids, The Killers, TV on the Radio, Andrew Bird, Vampire Weekend, Decemberists, Neko Case, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Chairlift, Los Campesinos!, Crystal Castles, Santogold and so many more.  This is perhaps the best Lolla lineup we’ve ever seen.

The tickets run about $190 for all 3 days. Pretty sweet deal if you ask us. See you there hopefully!

For more information go to www.lollapalooza.com

The Miniature Tigers on Daytrotter with 2 New Songs!

Its always kind of nice to hear one of your favorite new bands are already cranking out new material. The Miniature Tigers stopped by our beloved Daytrotter.com to perform songs off their first and recent record Tell it to the Volcano along with a couple of new songs.  Sometimes, I tend to think that The Miniature Tigers are not human. Maybe they were created by a mad scientist in a petri dish with one ultimate goal: to rock. Their Daytrotter performance is one word: PERFECT and is actually my favorite to date. Charlie Brand’s vocals are impeccable and the Mini T’s blend perfectly together even when stripped down. I can’t urge you enough to check them out!

Download The Miniature Tigers Daytrotter Session HERE

The band will also be on tour this spring with Kevin Devine. Check out their MYSPACE for the complete list of tour dates.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin * Mercury Lounge, NYC * April 9, 2009

Ah there is nothing like springtime when your favorite indie pop band rolls into town. The Mercury Lounge in New York City last week was packed for the highly anticipated Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin show, and we expected no different. Blending recent songs from their second release Pershing and their first Broom, the band did not miss a beat. I’m not sure I’ve personally ever seen a band so flawless, so ‘dead on’ with every little note. Even when Phil Dickey’s cowbell started moving around and giving him trouble, he may have laughed, but it didn’t bother him one bit. When John Robert Cardwell broke a guitar string mid song, he just kept going and smiled. Kids, that is what real rock and roll is about. Enjoying every second of it.  Even though the SSLYBY boys haven’t been around for an extreme length of time, they play better than any band their senior I’ve seen.

John Robert’s voice is just as perfect onstage as on the records and the same goes for when Phil takes the mic. The blending sounds of Phil, Will Knauer and Jonathan James are nothing less than brilliant. The band is really meant for each other because they manage to compliment the other players so well. Thats a rare find.

Some of the night’s highlights were Anne Elephtant, Glue Girls, Think I Wanna Die, We Can Win Missouri! and of course, Modern Mystery (hmm why would we like that song?! It was really sweet of the band to play it for us!) They also played a few new songs for the upcoming record, one in particular called ‘All Hail Dracula’. You can’t even imagine how good this song is.

If you haven’t seen Someone Still Love You Boris Yeltsin live yet you are doing yourself a horrible deed. In other words, jump on the bandwagon! Do yourself  another favor and pick up their records. They will change yr life…or at least impress the hell out of you.

TONS of more pictures after the Jump

Watch Video of  ‘Modern Mystery’ at the Mercury Lounge

Video from wingedfeetxc on Youtube. hehe note our little point from Phil at the end of the song 🙂

New Feist Video, ‘The Water’

Still living up the success of ‘The Reminder’ Feist is now back with a 15 minute mini movie titled ‘The Water’. The film was written by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and stars  David Fox, Cillian Murphy, and Miss Leslie of course. Drew had interviewed Cillian Murphy for Under the Radar and apparently the two have been friends ever since. Leslie is also hinting that she would like to do a bit of acting herself (in movies), but who knows if it will actually happen. Oddly enough, its also not Drew’s first directoral effort.

You can download ‘The Water’ HERE