Oberhofer Premiere “Gotta Go” On Pitchfork, Sign To Glassnote Records

Oberhofer

Brad Oberhofer is on a roll. Recently signed with Glassnote Records, Oberhofer will be releasing their debut album in the early months of next year. While we wait for that, he just premiered on Pitchfork the single “Gotta Go,” which will be released through White Iris and will come out physically on October 4th. You can get “Gotta Go” HERE.

On top of that, the band will be joining Les Savy Fav on stage on September 6th at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg in New York after a year touring with bands like Twin Sister, Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian and Bear In Heaven. Needless to say, the Tacoma native has the indie music scene at his feet.

05.16.11

by Jane Lambert

NYC Shows This Week!

MONDAY

J. Roddy Walston and The Business, These United States, MyNameIsJohnMichael
@ Brooklyn Bowl

Le Sphinxxx, Ah, Moskva!, The Magick Report, Great Republic of Rough and Ready, Great Republic of Rough and Ready, Sonia Megias
@ Cake Shop

TUESDAY

Vivian Girls, Widowspeak, Colleen Green @ 285 Kent Avenue

Urge Overkill, Blackbells @ Bowery Ballroom

Project Jenny / Project Jan, Murder Mystery @ Mercury Lounge

The Head and the Heart, Luke Rathborne (early show) @ Mercury Lounge

Cassettes Won’t Listen, The Freeze Tag, Turnbull Green, Grimace, Eka, Echoes Alike @ The Rock Shop

Lykke Li, Grimes @ Webster Hall

WEDNESDAY

Sam Roberts Band, The Rassle, Anthony D’amato @ Bowery Ballroom

Dustin Wong, Hear Hums, Emily Reo, Dark Sea of Awareness, Philip Seymour Hoffman @ Silent Barn

The Felice Brothers, Shovels and Rope, RIG 1 @ The Bell House

Elvis Costello and the Imposters @ The Wellmont Theatre

Fleet Foxes, The Cave Singers @ United Palace Theatre

Lykke Li, Grimes @ Webster Hall

THURSDAY

Adele, Civil Wars @ Beacon Theater

Junip, Acrylics, High Highs @ Bowery Ballroom

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Dream Diary, Sea Lions, Gold-Bears, Amida, Pet Milk @ Cake Shop

The Antlers, Little Scream @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Cave In, Make Do and Mend, Janes Plotkin @ Santos Party House

White Lies, School of Seven Bells, Sun Airway @ Terminal 5

The Felice Brothers, Tom Brosseau @ The Bell House

Fleet Foxes, The Cave Singers @ United Palace Theatre

FRIDAY

The Antlers, Little Scream @ Bowery Ballroom

Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Yellow Dogs, Mirror Mirror, Radical Dads @ Glasslands

Dan Deacon, Hesta Prynn (DJ Set) @ Museum of Natural History

Thurston Moore, Eileen Myles, I Feel Tractor @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Real Estate, Julian Lynch, Big Troubles, Family Portrait @ The Bell House

Robbers on High Street, Underthings, The Totallys @ The Gutter

11.01.10

by kenami

Concert Photos of CMJ 2010

For a New Yorker such as myself who is deeply into modern music and the direction its headed, there simply is no time greater in the year then CMJ. Last year was my first taste of the five day long Music/Film festival and despite photographing musicians for a full year prior to the festival, never have I experienced such respect, access, and simple gratefulness from musicians for coming out and seeing them perform. What also made this an exciting time was interacting with fellow music fans from all over the world! 2010’s CMJ has ended and though it is sad to imagine such an amazing event being over I was lucky to capture some amazing moments during the concerts of the festival.

For me the festival started on Tuesday (the 19th) where I headed to Music Hall of Williamsburg. Not only did I get to photograph a Kevin Devine headlining gig (who in my opinion is one of the most talented musicians you can find) but since it was CMJ the support list was varied and filled with musicians I’ve never heard of. This gave me the privilege to photograph artists such as:

Oh Land. A Danish electro/pop duo.

Death On Two Wheels. A Georgian hard rock outfit which wears confidence on their sleeves.

River City Extension. An orchestral indie band who make sure their listeners are fully engulfed into their tunes.

Miniature Tigers. Festival favorites who stressed the importance of singing along to their songs.

and of course our hometown favorite, Kevin Devine.

The following day featured me and my girlfriend venturing to Madison Square Garden for a highly anticipated show. Indie heroes Phoenix were to grace the stage to celebrate their widely received album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. To everyones surprise old friends of theirs took the stage with them to everyones delight.

WAVVES kept everyones attention afloat with their infectious garage energy.

Dirty Projectors kept the momentum up with an Arcade Fire esque stage presence.

Phoenix and Daft Punk took the entire arena by surprise!

The excitement of CMJ just ran more rampant within me as a band I have been in love with all year finally made their way to the city. Two Door Cinema Club is the most recent export from Northern Ireland, a country which is considered a personal mecca to me in terms of music. Their Webster Hall gig totally sold out quickly and impressed everyone who attended, and I dare say even amaze also.

Grouplove redefined the word enthusiasm as they played through their set. Its always great to see a band thats truly thankful to be there.

Penguin Prison smoothed the crowd with their jazz toned vocals. Dancing was a must as this band made the stage their own.

"Holy shit New York! I can feel the fucking ground shaking from here from all your dancing!" shouted Alex Trimble as the band went into their hit single "Undercover Martyn"

The exhaustion of CMJ was beginning to seep in as I headed to my final gig of the festival. It also felt fitting having it take place in Music Hall of Williamsburg again. What kept me excited was seeing British newcomers Everything Everything. Their debut album Man Alive is certainly one of the most addictive releases of 2010 so far and highly recommended.

Porcelain Raft

Dominant Legs

Mr.Johnny Flynn definitely wins the award for making the most women swoon during CMJ. His honest and well constructed songs are also a firm plus.

Chapel Club aimed to pave the way for British indie bands in New York and surprisingly enough I'd say they were successful in stirring interest.

I clearly wasn't the only concert goer who was tired from the weeks activities, but the energy and stage presence of Everything Everything made us all forget for 30 minutes how tired we were.

Blood Red Shoes filled the room with smoke and ended the night with an explosive set that no one saw coming (or at least being as wicked as it was!)

And that is my recount of CMJ 2010. This has been my second year of taking part of the festival and it truly is a privilege not only to see these acts perform but to interact with these musicians and help spread the word about them. For more photos be sure to go here to enjoy a full gallery of each show I covered.

10.26.10

by Jane Lambert

CMJ 2010 Photos: Miniature Tigers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

One of our favorite bands ever hit up the Music Hall of Williamsburg during CMJ. We totally had flashbacks of interviewing a young Mini T’s during their first ever NYC visit in 2008 at the festival. How time flys. We feel like proud parents. View all of the photos from the show HERE!

05.02.10

by Jane Lambert

The Morning Benders w/ Holiday Shores, The Luyas @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY – 4/24/2010

Excitement was in the air on Saturday night as boys in tailored jackets and girls in summer dresses and leggings flocked to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The second of three sold out shows in one week, and their only non 21+ event, The Morning Benders, and new Brooklyn residents, were ready to take the stage in full force.

Opening the night was the Canadian band, The Luyas. This band the night could have done without. The singer’s voice was not always pleasant sounding, even though I’m certain she was trying to make it sound ‘pretty.’ Nothing amazing stood out about this group, and it was obvious. If they hadn’t played, The Morning Benders could have done a longer set, and that my friends, would have been radtacular. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see this band because, well, they made me sleepy on so many levels.

Next up was Holiday Shores, who were extremely impressive live. The band was missing a few members that night and took on a couple of the guys from Twin Sister for the set. You couldn’t even tell they weren’t part of the band because they were DEAD ON. Originating from Florida (Is it becoming the new Brooklyn, Surfer Blood?), the guys made it up to New York for a one night only set. Nice. The crowd was into it, mouthing the words and dancing around. Things were really getting started.

Around 11pm The Morning Benders finally took the stage. Opening with the spacey number “Stiches,” off of their new record Big Echo (+1 Music/Roughtrade), the audience was howling. “You don’t know me by name,” echoed from singer Chris Chu’s voice. It was at that point chills went down my spine and I knew we were all in for a treat tonight.

The crowd seemed intent on every word, every guitar hum, every cymbal crash that the band had to offer. What we were witnessing is one of the greatest acts to have come out in the past ten years. Their harmonies are reminiscent of early Beach Boys records and even more prominent live than on their records.

“We’re going to play you our new album tonight, Big Echo,” said Chu and fans were noticably ecstatic to be experience nearly every single song.

I’m not sure if I could say there was a ‘standout’ tune of the night, because nearly everything stood out. When it came time to play their second single “Promises,” everyone was singing along. When the band promised us they’d play songs we can dance to, they started it off with “Cold War (Nice Clean Fight)” one of the most incredible and fun songs to hear live.

Throughout the show, only one old song was played, which was a slower version of “Damnit Anna.” No one seemed to mind it though and it fit in perfectly. They also played a new track called “Go Grab a Stranger,” which was amazing beyond words.

It’s amazing to me to see this band that I saw play a Puma Instore two years ago when CMJ took place (and they weren’t part of the festival), completely grown. The store wasn’t even full, and John Norris from MTV was sitting on the floor watching the band. Flash forward to today where The Morning Benders are one of the hottest indie bands around and their newest release is produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear? Talk about coming along way.

Amongst some personal song highlights of the night were “All Day Day Light,” “Pleasure Sighs,” “Hand Me Downs,” and of course, “Excuses.” For this song, Chu came into the crowd and sung to a few audience members as he roamed around the front portion of the floor. He really knows how to work a crowd, and you can see he enjoys every moment of it. So does the fans. There was no encore, and Chu told the crowd that the band would be in the lobby after the show to greet and talk to fans.

This is what makes me love music. This is what makes me love The Morning Benders.

CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE

Watch two videos from The Morning Benders show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

“All Day Day Light”

“Hand Me Downs”

06.11.09

by Jane Lambert

The Miniature Tigers Music Hall of Williamsburg June 7 2009* Brooklyn, New York*

Its always a fun time with The Miniature Tigers come to town. The band has currently been on tour with Kevin Devine and Brian Bonz, and their stop at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this past Sunday was the last night of the tour. You can see that these bands have become like old friends in such a short period of time. The Miniature Tigers took the stage and Brooklyn gave them a very warm welcome as the venue was packed. The word about the band is really getting out there and they deserve it.

They opened with ‘Last Night’s Fake Blood’which is a personal favorite of mine. The band had everyone dancing before they were even done with the first verse. This time around, the band has a few lineup changes, recently losing bass player, Lou Kummerer and temporary guitarist Darren Robinson (also of Phantom Planet). The new members of the band Alex Gerber and Algernon Quashe seem to work perfectly into the lineup, and didn’t miss a note. Even though they didn’t have a lot of time to practice with each other before the tour started, you would never know it. The Miniature Tigers played incredible as always.

Like prior performances we have seen from the band, Charlie Brand and Rick Schaier are dead on. They play together like a band that is beyond their years. They are flawless and it is obvious they have a passion for what they are doing. Rick has also seemed to be doing more harmonies which blend perfectly with Charlie’s voice. Its a nice little addition to the songs.

Other songs of the night included not only tracks off their highly acclaimed ‘Tell It To The Volcano’ , but also new songs like ‘Egyptian Robe’ and ‘There’s a Japanese Woman in My Closet.’ Both incredible new songs that already have fans craving for the new record. On the album the band is perfect but onstage they bring a whole new life to the songs, filling them with astonishing little surprises and a giant burst of energy. Its amazing what they can do and I’ve seen very little bands be able to put so much heart and soul into their live set. For the last song, The Miniature Tigers brought Brian Bonz, Kevin Devine and their band members onto the stage. They first started with a short and surprising version of Reel 2 Reel’s ‘I Like to Move It’ which oddly enough sounding really good! The band then launched into the most unbelievable version of ‘Cannibal Queen’ the world has ever laid it’s ears upon. It was like one giant party and everyone was singing along.

The Miniature Tigers have a few more dates minus Kevin Devine before they head home so if you haven’t caught them live yet, I suggest that you do so. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t.

More Photos from the Brooklyn Show AFTER THE JUMP

WATCH OUR VIDEOS OF ‘TELL IT TO THE VOLCANO’ AND ‘CANNIBAL QUEEN’ with Kevin Devine and Brian Bonz HERE